RICHARD. [_reads_] “Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold,
For Dickon, thy master, is bought and sold.”
A thing devised by the enemy. _Then dismissing them, continues_:
Go, gentlemen--every man unto his charge,
Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls;
Conscience is but a word that cowards use,
Devised at first to keep the strong in awe;
Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law.
King Richard III. act v. sc. 3.
[67] History of Framlingham and its Lords, p. 89, 90. R. Green.
[68] Hist. of Framlingham, note, p. 90.
[69] Sir Walter Scott’s Lay of the Last Minstrel.
[70] Arundelian Marbles, called also the Parian Chronicle, are ancient
stones on which is inscribed, in capital letters, a chronicle of the
city of Athens, supposed to have been engraved in the island of Paros,
264 years before Christ. They take their name from the Earl of Arundel,
who procured them from the East, or from this Earl, his grandson, who,
as above stated, presented them to the University of Oxford.
[71] The origin of this screen is thus gravely recorded: During the
Abbot Richard’s visit at Tinmouth, he received a wonderful cure of
a withered arm, with which he had been afflicted many years. It is
related, that being present at Durham, when the monks were removing the
corpse of St. Cuthbert, the founder of Durham Cathedral and the Apostle
of the North, he assisted to lift and support the shrine, and received
from that instant a cure of his malady, and found his arm restored to
health. And accordingly, on his return, he built a wall, or screen,
across the nave of the church, about 50 feet below the choir; and,
adjoining to the wall, a chapel, dedicated to St. Cuthbert. This chapel
stood on the west side of the said screen, and had service performed
in it, and an altar; but has been long since pulled down, though the
screen remains to this day.--_Lives of the Abbots._
[72] “It is to be understood, that in those days,” says the historian
of the abbey, “there was no screen at the top of the choir, that the
great altar stood where the rails and table now stand, and the shrine
was placed in what is now the consistory; so that it was all open, even
from Cuthbert’s screen, to the view of the whole choir and congregation.
“Abbot Symond caused the shrine to be a little elevated, for a better
view, and to appear directly before the eye of the priest who was
celebrating mass; whose place it was to stand and kneel with his back
to the people, and on the west side of the altar. This position of the
shrine was not only the most splendid to the eye of the beholder, but
was intended to raise and elevate the devotion of the priest; and to
this purpose, also, was intended the Decollation of St. Alban, which
was painted on the wall opposite.
“THE SHRINE was in form somewhat resembling an altar-tomb, but rising
with a lofty canopy over it supported on pillars, and was intended
to represent the saint lying in great state. The inside contained
a coffin, wherein had been deposited the bones of Alban by Abbot
Geoffrey. This was enclosed in another case, which, on the two sides,
was overlaid with figures cast in gold and silver, showing the chief
acts of Alban’s life, in work that was highly raised and embossed. At
the head, which was toward the east, was placed a large “Crucifixion,”
with a figure of the Virgin Mary on one side and of St. John on the
other, ornamented with a row of very splendid jewels. At the feet,
which were towards the east and in front of the choir, was placed an
image of the Virgin, holding her son in her bosom, seated on a throne;
the work seemingly of cast gold highly embossed, and enriched with
precious stones and very costly bracelets.
“The four pillars which supported the canopy, and stood one at each
corner, were shaped in resemblance like towers, with apertures to
represent windows, and all of plate gold, supporting the roof or
canopy, whose inside was covered with crystal stones.”--_Newcome, ed.
1793, p. 76._
[73] In the “Philosophical Transact.” No. 333, p. 426, the reader will
find a paper on the extraordinary size of human bones dug up in this
neighbourhood, communicated by the celebrated Mr. Cheselden.
[74] “As protector of the realm,” says Hollinshed, “he was highlie
esteemed of learned men, himselfe also not meanlie furnished with
knowledge, hauing rare skill in astrologie, whereof beside manie
other things he compiled a singular treatise, obteining the name of
Tabula directionum.” Whethamstead, the abbot above-named, concludes a
copy of Latin verses on the death of the Good Duke in the following
complimentary terms:--
Fidior in regno regi duce non fuit isto,
Plusque fide stabilis aut major amator honoris,
Et tamen ut prædo voto potiretur iniquo,
Fraudem consuluit, cum fraude dolum sociavit,
Sicque ducem falsi maculans cum proditione
Obtinuit votum praedator oratque bonorum
Illius, et tristis obiit Dux criminis expers.
[75] Abbot Geoffrey de Gorham built a large and noble hall, with a
double roof, to entertain strangers in; near which he built a fair
bedchamber. Abbot John of Hertford built a noble hall for the use of
strangers, adding many parlours, with an inner chamber and a chimney,
(no common luxury in those times,) with a noble picture. He built also
an entry, a small hall, and a most noble entry with a porch or gallery,
and many fair bedchambers, with their inner chambers and chimneys, to
receive strangers honourably.--_Willis’ Mitred Abbeys._
[76] The buildings called the “royal lodging,” were separated from the
rest of the monastery by a range of cloisters, running nearly the whole
length of the church, but divided from it by the great square, and by
all the principal buildings of the convent. The royal apartments were
pleasantly and quietly situated near the southern edge of the hill,
overlooking the valley of the Ver.--Notes to “St. Albans Abbey,” p. 89.
[77] In the Archæologia, vol. xx. p. 519, is an interesting account of
the first battle of St. Albans, from a contemporary MS., communicated
by John Bayley, Esq., F.S.A., to which the reader is referred.
[78] History of St. Albans, p. 358.
[79] The Rev. Peter Newcome, Rector of Shenley, Herts, whose history of
St. Albans is compiled from that of Matthew Paris and Walsingham (both
monks of this Abbey, and men of undoubted veracity), and from numerous
MSS. in the Cotton Library, Harleian Collection, &c. &c. London,
printed for the author, 1793, 4to. pp. 547.
[80] Sir Thomas Meautys, who erected the monument, was Lord Bacon’s
private secretary. He continued his faithful services to him through
all his troubles, and at his death inherited as next heir the family
possessions.
[81] The woodcut here introduced, shows the north entrance, with part
of the interior, of the LADY-CHAPEL, through which there is a common
passage leading to the town, called the ante-chapel.
[82] Among the lesser works expressly devoted to Eltham Palace, Mr.
Buckler’s “Historical and Descriptive Account,” published about
sixteen years ago, and just when the repairs had been commenced, under
the direction of Mr. Smirke the Architect, is the best. But in “the
Gentleman’s Magazine,”--the grand repertorium of subjects of this
class--some excellent papers, accompanied with illustrative engravings
of Eltham, have appeared from time to time, during the last fifty
years.--Some years ago, “The Graphic and Historical Illustrator,”
edited by E. W. Brayley, Esq., F.S.A. &c. opened a fine field of
investigation; but, much to the regret of every littérateur and
antiquary, it was discontinued. It contains a good paper on Eltham.
[83] From the Doomsday record it appears “Hanno the sheriff of the
county holds of the bishop Aletham, which is taxed at one suling and
a half. The arable land is twelve carucates: on the demesne there are
two ploughs: there are forty-four villans and twelve bordars who employ
seven ploughs: there are nine slaves, and twenty-two acres of meadow:
there is pasture for fifty hogs. In the time of Edward the Confessor
it was valued at sixteen pounds, when it came into the present owner
at twelve pounds; now at twenty pounds. Alwold held this manor of the
Confessor.”--Hasted’s “Kent;” also “Eltham Palace.” Lond. 1804.
[84] “Eltham Palace.” Anon. 1804, with authorities from history.
[85] Camden, in his brief notice of Eltham, confirms this charge in
the following terms; “Antony Becke, Bishop of Durham and patriarch of
Jerusalem, built this ‘Eltham,’ in a manner new, and gave it unto Queen
Eleanor, wife of Edwarde the Firste, after he had craftily conveyed
unto himself the inheritance of the Vescyes, unto whom the place before
belonged. For that Bishope, whom the last baron de Vescye had made his
feofie for trust of all his inheritance to the use of William Vescye
his little base sonne, dealt not so faithfully as he should with this
orphan and warde of his, but despoiled him of Alnwick Castle, of this
Eltham, and other faire lands.”--Camden, 327, 8.
[86] Chronicles. Stow. Holinshed. Grafton.
[87] King Henry keeping his Whitsuntide at the palace of Eltham, the
next year ensuing, commanded that for those valiant acts against the
Scots, as also for that his ancestors bore the eagle in their crest, he
should be proclaimed Lord of Mounteagle, which was accordingly then and
there done; and he gave to the officers of arms five marks, besides the
accustomed fees, and likewise to Garter, principal king-at-arms, his
fee; whereupon, he had special summons to parliament, the same year,
by the title of Mounteagle, and was installed one of the Knights of
the Garter. Rot. Parl. Collins, vol. ii. p. 450. This title has been
recently revived, and conferred on Mr. Spring Rice, late Chancellor of
the Exchequer.
[88] After the martyrdom of King Charles, three years later, the
manor-house was surveyed and the materials valued at £2754. It was
then described in the Parliamentary survey as built of brick, wood,
stone, and timber--consisting of one fair CHAPEL, one
great HALL, thirty-six rooms and offices below stairs,
with two large cellars. Above stairs were seventeen lodging-rooms on
the King’s side, nine on the Prince’s side, and seventy-eight rooms in
the offices round the court-yard, which contained an acre of ground.
None of the rooms enumerated were then furnished, except the chapel
and hall; and the house was reported as untenantable. Parliam. Survey.
Paper on the Hall of Eltham, N. R. S., also Lysons, vol. i. pt. ii. p.
50.
[89] It appears, by a passage in the works of Erasmus, that Henry the
Eighth and all the children of Henry the Seventh, except Prince Arthur,
were educated at Eltham. The learned writer describes a visit which he
paid them, accompanied by his friend Mr. Thomas More, afterwards Lord
Chancellor, and at this time a student at Lincoln’s Inn. [Ed. 1811,
Lysons, vol. i. 788, refers to Knight’s Life of Erasmus, p. 69.]
[90] Lysons--Buckler--Hist. of Kent.
[91] Parliam. Survey--Lysons, vol. i. pt. ii.
[92] Mr. Buckler remarks, that the external wall within the moat was
built with great care and strength, and that its basement is likely to
remain long after all other traces of the palace have disappeared. See
“Eltham Hall,” edit. 1828.
[93] Lysons--Buckler--“Environs.”
[94] Buckler’s Eltham.--Graph. Illustrator.
[95] See Gent. Mag., sig. N. R. S. 1811-1822.
[96] The upper or western part had suffered the most from neglect;
the cornices and beams, which were dangerously decayed, had been
repaired, and perhaps restored to their original stability. Formerly,
the deficiencies were supplied with chestnut, which is now substituted
by oak, strongly bolted and strapped with iron. Whatever might have
occasioned the injury, which was arrested several centuries ago, it
is certain that the mischief which has been in operation upwards
of fourscore years to the present time, was not accelerated by the
dry-rot, which has not been discovered in any part of the building,
except a small spot in the principal wall-plate, over the south
bay-window.--Buckler’s Eltham.
[97] Buckler’s Eltham Hall.
[98] This is in the open court, and, being exposed to the rain, cannot
be explored with convenience but in summer, when the subterraneous
passages on which it opens, are accessible.
[99] Sed memorabilis amœnitas penè citius animum quam oculos diffudit
aspectu, non Britanniâ tantum, sed fortasse tota Europa pulcherrimo!
Ingens planities aliquot suspensa colliculis, rursus montes in orbem
effusi, neque cito castigabant oculos, neque illos per immensum
cœlum spargebant. Tamesis lætissima ubertate in viciniam exudat,
et ad radices mentis redeuntibus ni gyrum fluctibus insulam pene
molitur. Passim toto alveo naves, et omnis generis onerariæ: ut
proximas quidam totas aspicerem cæterum longius stantes, aut sub
altiori ripa, ex malis antennisque tantum nudam ut brumalem sylvam
cognoscerem.--Lysons--Barclaii Icon. Animorum, 518.--1614.
[100] See Holinshed--Stow--Hasted--Kilburne--Lambard--with the
condensed account by Lysons.
[101] M. de Caumont.
[102] Jean de Culmien, in his “Détails sur l’Architecture des
Forteresses,” has left us a vivid picture of this wretched state of
society; for which see “France Monumentale,” vol. iii., following Note.
[103] See the Roll, in France Monumentale, vol. iii.
[104] C’est l’usage de nos jours, dit Culmien, pour les hommes les plus
riches et les plus nobles, ou pour ceux qui, par conséquent, consacrent
le plus exclusivement leur temps à satisfaire leurs haines privées par
le meurtre, de se procurer avant tout une retraite où ils puissent se
mettre à l’abri de l’attaque de leurs ennemis, combattre leurs égaux
avec avantage, et retenir dans les fers ceux qui se sont trouvés les
plus faibles.
The following is a correct description of a baronial fortress:--Ils
élèvent aussi haut qu’il leur est possible un monticule de terre
transportée; ils l’entourent d’un fossé d’une largeur considérable
et d’une effrayante profondeur. Sur le bord intérieur du fossé, ils
plantent une palissade, de pièces de bois équarries et fortement liées
entres elles, qui équivaut à un mur. S’il leur est possible, ils
soutiennent cette palissade par des tours élevées de place en place.
Au milieu de ce monticule, ils bâtissent une maison, ou plutôt une
citadelle, d’où la vue se porte de tous côtés également. On ne peut
arriver à la porte de celle-ci que par un pont qui, jeté sur la fossé,
et porté sur des piliers accouplés, part du point le plus bas au-delà
du fossé, et s’élève graduellement jusqu’à ce qu’il atteigne le sommet
du monticule et la porte de la maison, d’où le maître le domine tout
entier.--France Historique, p. 416.
[105] Our antiquarian friends will readily excuse us if, in our anxiety
to make the subject intelligible to every class of readers, we avoid as
much as possible all technical phraseology.
[106] See this exemplified in one of the subsequent illustrations, page
153.
[107] To this we have alluded in Scotland Illustrated. See also New
Statistical Account of Glamis, or Glammiss; Art. Forfarshire, part xii.
p. 344.
[108] Odonem fratrem suum de proditione in se accusatum, cepit et
incarcerari præcepit, (fol. 11, ii. A.D. 1078.) Cum
olim Willielmus rex senior coram Lanfranco conqueretur se ab Odone
fratre suo episcopo descri, tum Lanfrancus: “cur,” inquit, “apprehensum
vinculis non coerces?” Rege autem respondente: quod “clericus et
episcopus esset;” respondit archiepiscopus--“non _episcopum Baiocensem_
apprehendes, sed _Cantiæ comitem_.” Hujus itaque consilio Odo custodiæ
est. Matth. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 14, 1088. See further traits of this
prelate in the same authority.
[109] History of England. Civ. and Milit.
[110] Ibid.--Pictor. Hist.--Paris.
[111] In Anglo-Saxon, a niddering, or un-nithing--“one of the strongest
terms of contempt,” says Camden. The original expressions are, “Baed
that aelc man the waere un-nithing, sceolde cuman to him, Frencisce and
Englisce, of porte and of upplande.” Literally, “ordered that every man
who is not a mere nothing, be he French or English, in town or country,
should repair to him.” Hist. of Engl. Civil and Military Transact. vol.
i. 394. _Nithing_,--quod Latinè _nequam_ sonat: Paris, f. 15.
[112] Episcopum vero in posteriori castello Pevensey interceptum,
vinculis mancipavit. Milites autem regii ad castrum Roffense illum
ducentes, ab illis qui castro præerant, ingressum postulant: hoc enim
dominum suum velle, hoc regem absentem jubere dicunt. Erant autem tunc
in castro illo omnis fere juventutis Angliæ et Normanniæ nobilitas,
tres scilicet filii comitis Rogeri, et Eustachius comes Bononie,
junior, cum multis aliis.... Illi vero qui in castro erant ex muro
prospicientes, _vultum_ episcopi cum militum _verbis_ non convenire
percipientes, ocyus apertis valvis exeuntes, omnes cum episcopo milites
vinctos reducunt.... Obsessi autem longiorem obsidionem ferre non
valentes, castellum regi reddiderunt. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 15.
[113] History of England--Civil and Military Transact. vol. i.
[114] Ibid. p. 395.
[115] History of Eng. Civ. and Milit. Transact. vol. i. 395, quoting
the authority of Thierry, Chron. Sax. Orderic. Vitalis, etc. Also,
Selecta Monum. 203-280. Paris, f. 15. 8.
[116] Holinshed, fol. 188.
[117] The following passage illustrates the preceding
facts:--“Duraverat autem obsidio tribus ferè mensibus: unde Rex tum
propter multitudinem interfectorum, tum propter infinitam pecuniæ
summam, quam in obsidione consumpserat, nimio furore succensus,
universos nobiles illos, sine misericordiæ consideratione, patibulo
suspendi praecepit. Sed vir nobilis Savaricus de Malloleone, in
faciem Regi resistens, ait: Domine Rex, guerra nostra nondum finita
est, unde vobis diligenter considerandum est, quàm varios eventus
bello sortiantur. Nempe si nobis istos nunc suspendio tradatis,
Barones adversarii nostri, vel me fortè vel alios de exercitu vestro
nobiles intercipere potuerunt; et consimili casu in brevi et exemplo
vestri suspendio tradere, quod absit à vobis, ne contingat: quia
tali conditione nullus in vestro obsequio militaret. Tunc Rex, licèt
invitus, consilio ejus et aliorum virorum prudentum adquiescens,
Willielmum de Albineto, W. de Lancastre, W. de Emeford, Thomam de
Muleton, Osbertum Giffard, Osbertum de Bonbi, Odinellum de Albineto,
et alios nobiliores misit ad Castrum de Corf, sub arcta custodia
deputandos. Robertum verò de Chaurna, et Richardum Giffart, cum Thoma
de Lincoln, apud Castrum de Nothingham; aliosque per loca diversa
carcerali custodiæ mancipandos direxit.
“Servientes vero omnes, præter balistarios, qui multos in obsidione
milites et servientes interfecerant, patibulo suspendi præcepit. His
ita gestis, pars Baronum non erat mediocriter infirmata.”--Matt. Par.
Hist. Angl. fol. 268, et seqq.
[118] The names here enumerated as the friends and abettors of Albini
were--William de Lancaster, William de Emeford, Thomas de Muleton,
Osbert Gifford, Osbert de Bobie, Odinell de Albiney, Robert Charnie,
Richard Gifford, and Thomas de Lincoln--names which are variously spelt
in the different chronicles.--See the preceding note.
[119] The following occurrence, as mentioned by the same historian,
shows the force upon which King John had calculated in addition to the
powerful army with which he actually beleaguered the castle:--“Here is
to be remembred, that whilest the siege laie thus at Rochester, Hugh de
Boues, a valiant knight, but full of pride and arrogancie, a Frenchman
borne, but banished out of his countrie, came down to Calice with an
huge number of men of warre and souldiers to come to the aid of King
John. But as he was upon the sea with all his people, meaning to land
at Dover, by a sudden tempest which rose at that instant, the said
Hugh with all his companie was drowned by shipwracke. Soone after the
bodie of the same Hugh, with the carcases of other innumerable both of
men, women, and children, were found not farre from Yermouth, and all
along that coast. There were of them in alle fortie thousand, as saith
Matthew Paris; for of all those which he brought with him, there was
(as it is said) not one man left alive.
“The king (as the same went, but how true I know not) had given by
charter vnto the said Hugh de Boues the whole countrie of Northfolke,
so that he ment to have expelled the old inhabitants, and to have
peopled it with strangers. But whether this was so or not, sure it
is that he was verie sorowfull for the losse of this succor and aid
which thus perished in the seas, though it happened verie well for
his subiects of England, that should have been sore oppressed by such
multitude of strangers, which for the most part must needs have lived
upon the countrie, to the utter undooing of the inhabitants wheresoever
they should have come.”
[120] Una dierum dum obsidio castri Roffensis duraret, Rex et Savaricus
circumibant castrum, ut infirmiora ejus considerarent. Quos cùm
cognovisset quidam optimus arcubalistarius Willielmi de Albineto,
ait illi: Placeat tibi, domine mi, ut occidam Regem hostem nostrum
cruentissimum spiculo hoc, quod habeo promptum? Cui ille: Non, non,
absit gluto pessime, ut in sanctum Domini mortem procuremus. Et ille:
Non parceret tibi in consimili casu. Tum Willielmus: Fiat Domini
beneplacitum: Dominus disponet, non ille. In hoc similis erat David
parcentis Saul, cùm occidisse potuit. Hoc posteà non latuit Regem, nec
ob hoc voluit parcere capto, quin ipsum suspendisset, si permissum ei
fuisset.--Matth. Paris. Hist. Angl. 270.
The above anecdote is also related in the “Admirable Curiosities of
Englande, 1682,” with some little difference in the expression. It is
honourable to Albini, of whose character notice has already appeared in
this work.
[121] Holinshed, 188. Also Paris.
[122] Hist. and Antiq. of Rochester. Hume, Hist.
[123] Op. citat.--Chronicles.--Antiq. of Roch.--Paris. Hist. Angl. fol.
282.
[124] Hist. of the Castle. Civil and Milit. Transact.--Chronicles.
[125] Between the reign of Henry the Third and that of Edward the
Fourth, who contributed the last repairs to the Castle, Guy de
Rochfort, one of the King’s foreign minions--William de St. Clare,
Robert de Houghan, Robert de Septuans, Stephanus de Dene--“a great
enemy to the monks”--William Skarlett, and William Keriel, had each in
turn the custody of this fortress; but they have left behind them no
remarkable traits of character.--Hist. of Rochester.
[126] One incident, however, may be mentioned, namely; in 1382, the
fifth year of Richard the Second, while the rebellion of Wat Tyler
was at its height, a party of the insurgents had the hardihood to lay
siege to Rochester Castle, and penetrating into the interior, carried
off a prisoner in triumph. (History of Rochester Castle, 34.) From
all the information recorded respecting this fortress, it has never
apparently sustained a siege with that degree of obstinacy which its
strength and position would have led one to suppose. Pestilence in
the first--starvation in the second instance, compelled the surrender
of its garrison; and on the third occasion it was only saved from a
similar fate by the unexpected recal of Leicester from under its walls
to more important duties in Sussex. But, ill provisioned, the siege
could be protracted neither by the thickness of the walls, nor the
bravery of the garrison.
[127] King James I. having in 1610 granted this castle, with all the
services and emoluments appertaining thereto, to Sir Anthony Weldon, of
Swanscombe; Walker Weldon, a descendant, sold the timber-work belonging
to the castle to Gimmet, who, not many years ago, applied a part of it
in building a brewhouse on the common.--Antiquities of Rochester Castle.
[128] But all the beer, it is said, ever brewed within the new
precincts partook so largely of the virtues of oak, that the drinkers
underwent the internal process of tanning, till the beverage became
known as the “Baron’s Oak-wort.” The case was then laid before a
learned chemist, who declared that “whereas the oak was without bark,
so ought the beer to have been without bitter.” But another, much more
acute in questions of taste, gave it as his opinion, that the old oak
having been thrice steeped in the bitter tyranny of King John, as he
proved from history, had imbibed so much of the spirit of these times,
that the flavour now complained of was nothing more than the natural
consequence of using old baronial oak for modern brewhouses; a measure,
he averred, that could not be too severely reprobated. The solution
thus given to an intricate question was lucid and satisfactory; but
the brewer “never once blessed the day that he bought the venerable
roof-tree and beams of Rochester Castle at the hammer.”--MS. Old
Castles.
[129] Some masons of London bought the stone stairs, and other squared
and wrought stones of the windows and arches; and the rest of the
materials were offered to a pavior, but he declined purchasing them,
finding, upon trial, the cement so hard, that the expense of separating
and cleaning the stones would amount to more than their value. This
essay was made on the eastern side, near the postern leading to Bully
Hill, where a large chasm shows the effects of it.--History and
Antiquities of Rochester.
[130] Antiquities of Kent--Rochester.
[131] In this we shall be guided by the authorities of Grose,
Denne, Kilburne, the Kentish Tourist, and the various archæological
and historical writers who have successively made the “Castrum
Cantuariorum” the subject of personal study and research; but still
reserving to ourselves the privilege of making such comments or
corrections as a personal investigation of the Castle shall appear to
warrant.
[132] History and Antiquities of Rochester Castle.
[133] In the old palace of Stuttgardt, the grand staircase is so
spacious, and so gradual in the ascent, that a cavalier might ascend
and descend without any difficulty. It is the old feudal mansion of the
Dukes of Wirtemberg, and possesses many striking characteristics of the
castles of that age and country.
[134] See the Work above quoted.
[135] See the Engraving, p. 146, with these arches.
[136] See also Mr. Dallaway on this subject; “Rape of Arundel;”
Discourses on Architecture, 277.
[137] From a dateless rescript in the Regist. Roff. it appears that
there was a Chapel in the Castle; but whether in this Tower, or some
other part, we cannot determine. “It was named the King’s Chapel, and
the ministers that officiated in it were called King’s Chaplains. Their
stipend was fifty shillings a-year.”
[138] From the many urns and lachrymatories found on Boley Hill, there
is no doubt but it was the burying-place of the Romans, when stationed
at Rochester. Denne’s Antiquit. Rochester.
[139] Military Architecture in England.--Dallaway, 285.
[140] Discourses.--Milit. Archit.
[141] Dallaway’s Discourses, etc.
[142] Military Architect. in England, p. 274. Antiq. of Rochester.
[143] Lambard, Perambul. ed. 1576.
[144] Antiquities, p. 148.
[145] Antiq. of Rochester.
[146] Ibid.
[147] Kentish Traveller, p. 140. Joneval, p. 85.
[148] Such were the general features of this bridge down to 1793, when
a series of improvements was commenced under the direction of Mr.
Alexander, a London architect. The breadth of the road-way then was
increased from fifteen to twenty-seven feet, by springing new arches
in every opening of the bridge from the points of the piers in the old
work, without any new foundations. The centre arch was then formed by
throwing the two middle arches into one, and is nearly as large as that
of Blackfriars, London; so that great convenience has been offered
to the navigation in the Medway above Rochester. The balustrade is
formed of white freestone, very substantial and elegant in appearance,
with commodious footpaths on either side; and the whole expense was
defrayed from the improved income of the bridge-estates, without
establishing any toll upon the thoroughfare. Since that period it has
undergone various minor repairs, and with the Castle in the background,
and the various trading craft passing and repassing with every tide,
few objects can be more pleasing and picturesque than the bridge of
Rochester.
[149] In the Dutch life and achievements of Van Ruyter, a goodly 4to,
there is a large engraving of Rochester, Upnor Castle, and the bridge,
with a most exaggerated picture of the engagement.
[150] Hist. of Rochester. Hist. of the War--Reign of Queen Elizabeth.
[151] Warton also mentions his having seen a ballad by Faire, called
“Gadshill,” under the year 1588; and adds in a note--See Clavell’s
“Recantation,” a poem in 4to, London, 1634. Clavell was a robber, and
here recites his adventures on the highway. His first depredations were
on Gadshill. Further particulars in the Kentish Traveller’s Companion,
ed. 1799.--Simmons and Kirby.
[152] Simul et videbatur voluntati religiosæ nomen applaudere, quod
Theokesburia dicatur quasi Theotokos-biria, id est, Dei genetricis
curia, vocabulo ex Græco et Anglicano composito. Will. Malmesbur. Edit.
fol. 1596, p. 162.
[153] Sir R. Atkyns, Rudder, Camden, Dyde, and the various
“Directories;” Notes on the Great Charters, Dugdale’s Monasticon,
Chron. of Tewkesb., etc.
[154] HĀNC · ĀVLĀM · RELIĀM · ÐODO · DVX · CONSECRĀRI · FECIT· IN
ECCLESIĀM · IN HONOREM · SĀNCTÆ · MĀRIÆ · VIRGINIS · Monast. f. 154.
[155] Dugdale, Leland.
[156] Speaking of the cell of Cranburne, belonging to
Tewkesbury:--Alredus Meauw, Comes Glocestriæ, primus
fundator.--Fabulabatur huic antiquitus monasterium Theokesbyri: sed
Robertus, filius Haimonis, comes Glocestriæ, dedit prædia hujus domus
monasterio de Theokesbirie.--See Dugd. p. 163.--Chronic. of Tewkesburye.
[157] Being sent as ambassador to the Court of Baldwin, Count of
Flanders, Brictric made so tender an impression upon the heart of the
Count’s daughter, Matilda, that, unable to disguise her partiality
for the English noble, she resolved to unite her destiny with his.
No object could delight her eye, no sound could charm her ear, but
the figure and voice of Brictric! But here the course of true love
did not run smooth--it ran all on one side; for, occupied perhaps
with politics, or haply with some early predilections nearer the
Severn, Brictric was obviously insensible to the tender appeal, and so
ungallant, moreover, as to treat the affections lavished upon him by
the fair Maud with a callousness of look and expression which proved
almost a death-blow to so doting a heart. The ambassador, however,
little consulted his own interest when he slighted these tender
overtures on the part of the maid of Flanders. But he lived in times
when plenipotentiaries were not so wise as they are in the present day;
for on the very first protocol being submitted to his consideration,
he broke off the negotiations and returned to England. For a time the
daughter of Baldwin was inconsolable. Like Queen Dido of old, she
exclaimed in great bitterness--for Latin was no mystery to the ladies
of her time--
----“Siquis mihi parvulus aula
Luderet Æneas, qui te tantem ore referret,
Non equidem capta ac deserta viderer,
Crudelis”----
But while the lady was thus giving vent to her love in pathetic
hexameters, Brictric had arrived at Tewkesbury, little thinking of that
storm which was soon to burst on the shores of Britain, and in which he
was to be stripped of his ancient patrimony.
[158] In “France Monumentale” there is a full-length portrait of the
Conqueror, which bears a striking resemblance to that of Henry the
Eighth.
[159] Dudg. 154, 50.
[160] Fuerat Illiud monasterium primitus apud Craneburnam: sed abbatis
Giraldi prouisione, pro _vicini fluminis_ opportunitate, et dominicarum
terrarum contiguo. Theokesburiæ aptius locari visum. Will. Malmesbur.
(fol. 162.)
[161] Ibi nempe (Theokesburiæ) Cœnobium Sanctæ Mariæ, Robertus filius
Haimonis, super Sabrinam fluvium _construxerat et multis opibus
tempore_ Gulielmi junioris Anglorum regis affatim _locupletavit_. Ord.
Vital. Hist. Eccl. 600.
[162] His words are, (folio 162, edit. 1596,) “Est et monachorum
Theokesburiæ, quod noviter ROBERTUS FILIUS HAMONIS favore suo prouexit,
nec facile memoratu, quantum exaltavit vbi et ædificiorum decor, et
monachorum charitas aduentantium rapit oculos et allicit animos.” This
is a repetition of what the same writer has stated in the same words at
fol. 89, sect. 28-9.
[163] Order. Vitalis Histor. Ecclesiæ, p. 598-600. Giraldus autem in
veteri monasterio Sancti Petri Monachile Schema devote suscepit ...
unde post aliquod tempus ad regimen ecclesiasticum canonice provectus
est et Theokesburiæ primus <g>Abbas</g> effectus est.
[164] Willielm. Malmesbur. fol. 89, ed. 1596. Non tamen sine sanguine
tantam victoriam consummans multos ex charissimis amisit. Inter
quos Rogerium de Glocestre, probatum militem in obsessione Falesij
arcubalistæ jactu in capite percussum, præterea <g>Robertum filium
Haimonis</g> qui conto ictus tempora, hebetatusque ingenio non pauco
tempore, quasi captus mente, supervixit.... Robertus monasterium
Theokesburiæ suo favore, etc. This compliment is repeated at fol. 162.
[165] His high titles were--Prince of Glamorgan, Earl of Corboile,
Baron of Thorigny and of Granville, Lord of Gloucester, Bristol,
Caerdiff, and Tewkesbury, and near kinsman of the king. But having in
1091 made a descent into South Wales, slain its last prince, Rhys ap
Tewdwr, and subdued Glamorgan, he assumed in his charters the proud
title of Conqueror of Wales.--Hist. of Tewkesb.--Baronage.
[166] Robert of Gloucester, in commemorating these objections on the
part of the Lady Mabilia, and their removal and adjustment on that of
King Henry, gives the following shrewd and amusing dialogue. The king
having proposed to the heiress, as a state measure, that she should
give her hand to his son Robert, the lady, who was fully sensible that
the grand charm which made the King suitor for his son was her princely
“heritage,” answers him thus:
_Mabel._ Sir, she saide, ich wote your herte upon me is
More for myne heritage, than for myselfe, I wis;
And suche heritage as ich have, itt were to mee grit shame
To take a lorde but he haddé any surname.
_K. Henry._ Damoseill, quod the Kingé, thou seest well in thys case,
Sir Robert Fitz-Häyman thi faders namé was;
As fayre a name he shall have, as you may see,
SIR ROBERT LE FITZ-ROY shall his name be.
Yea, Damoseill, he sayd, thy lorde shall have a name
For him and for his heires, fayre without blame:
For ROBERT EARL OF GLOUCESTRE his name shall be, and ’tis
Hee shall be Earl of Gloucestre, and his heirés, I wis.
This declaration on the part of the king having instantly removed every
possible objection, the heiress no longer hesitates, but in great and
amiable simplicity answers--
_Mabel._ Inne this forme, quod shee, ich wole that all my thyng be hys.
Robert, a monk of Gloucester, is supposed to have finished his rhyming
Chronicle about 1280.--Campbell’s Essay on English Poetry, note, p. 37.
This extract from the Chronicle is slightly modernized; but in Hearne’s
edit. vol. ii. 431, the reader will find it in its original purity.
[167] Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.
[168] Dyde.
[169] It is extremely uncertain what Richard de Clare is alluded to in
the Baronial Covenant in the time of King John. The Richard who was
living nearest to the time died in 1200, 8vo. K. John; and in 1215 the
title was held by his eldest son Gilbert de Clare, who was also one
of the witnessing barons. See Milles, Catal. of Honor. Lond. 1610, p.
334, who states that this Richard died the 3 Kalend. Dec. in the year
1218. That this account is probable may be shown from the following
circumstance:--All genealogical writers agree that he married Amicia,
second daughter (and co-heiress) of the Earl of Gloucester, by whom he
had Gilbert his successor and a daughter.--Notes on the Great Charters,
271.
[170] Dugd. 1. 156. Dyde, 38. Leland. Collect. vol. i. p. 456.
[171] It is recorded among the memorabilia of this earl, that a Jew
having accidentally fallen into a common sewer on Saturday, refused all
assistance to extricate him from his loathsome prison, lest he should
profane the Sabbath of his nation. Richard de Clare, lord of the manor,
hearing of the circumstance and the man’s obstinacy, gave orders that
none should assist him on the Sunday, resolving to make him observe the
Christian Sabbath with the same solemnity with which he had observed
his own. But before Monday this strict observer of the ceremonies of
the law had fallen a victim to his conscientious scruples.--Dyde.
[172] Lord of the Isles, 267.
[173] Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.--Dugdale, Chron.
[174] To the office of sacrist in the Abbey of Tewkesbury he
appropriated certain rents in Bristol: and to the priest who should
say the first mass for the soul of the said Guy every day at the altar
of St. Margaret in the church of Tewkesbury, with certain prayers
specified for his surviving kindred, and his kindred deceased, the mass
of the Trinity on Sunday, the mass of the Holy Ghost on Monday, the
mass of St. Thomas on Tuesday, the mass of the Holy Rest on Wednesday,
the mass of Ascension on Thursday, the mass of the Holy Cross on
Friday, the mass of St. Mary on Saturday--twenty-one pence weekly.
Farther, to him who should celebrate mass on his anniversary, or on
that of his wife Elizabeth--if the abbot, five shillings; if the prior,
three shillings and four-pence: to him who should read the Gospel, to
the reader of the Epistle, to him who should hold the paten, and to
the precentor and his two assistants, eight-pence each; to the prior
twelve-pence, and to every monk four-pence.--Monast. Anglican. I. 157.
[175] The custom of the day: trinkets, robes, needlework, apparel of
all kinds, were usually left to the church, which declined nothing by
way of gifts, from a coronet to a coral bead.--See the enumeration in
the Monast. Anglican. I. 157.
[176] Then under the guardianship of Edmund, Duke of York, who had
married him to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Ralph Nevil, Earl of
Westmoreland. He left no issue, and was buried with his ancestors in
the Abbey church. Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.
[177] See Dyde, Hist. and Antiq. Chron. of Tewkesb.
[178] Edward the Fourth confirmed all the privileges granted by his
ancestors to the Abbey of Tewkesbury, as well as the charter of fishing
in the Severn and Avon, granted by Warwick. Hist. of the Abbey, p. 48.
[179] Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesbury, 1798, p. 51.
[180] Ibid.
[181] Edit. 1574, p. 164.
[182]
_Dimensions._--Original length of the Church, including the Lady Chapel, nearly 400 ft.
Length from east to west, in its present state 300
“ of the great Cross Aisle 120
Breadth of the Choir and side Aisles 70
“ “ West front 100
Height from the area to the roof of the Tower 120
[183] Analysis of Cathedral Churches, &c.
[184] History of Gloucest.
[185]
Here her deare Devonshiere, noble Covrtney, dyed;
Her faithful friend great SOMERSET here fell.--DRAYTON.
[186] Ejus corpus, cum reliquis interfectorum cadaveribus, in proximo
Cœnobio monachorum ordinis Divi Benedicti humatur.
[187]
LIVINGS. PARSONAGES. VICARAGES.
In Gloucestershire 4 10
Worcestershire 2 2
Warwickshire 2 --
Wiltshire and Bristol 5 3
Oxfordshire 1 2
Somersetshire 3 --
Devonshire -- 1
Cornwall -- 2
Glamorgan -- 5
Dorsetshire -- 2
[188] Who had been put in possession of the ancient manor of Brictric
in the way already mentioned.
[189] In his observations on the value of silver at the time of the
Survey, 1086, Sir Robert Atkyns gives the following statement:--The
rate of necessaries which subsist human life is the true estimate of
money. Since, therefore, wheat-corn seems to be the _most_ necessary of
anything, we may best value _coin_ by the price of wheat in the several
ages. A bushel of wheat, soon after the Norman Conquest, was sold for
a penny, which was equal in weight to our threepence. At this day
(1729) a bushel of wheat, one year with another, may be valued at four
shillings, which is sixteen times the value of it six or seven hundred
years ago. The conclusion will be, that a man might live in that time
as well on twenty shillings a year of our money, as on sixteen pounds a
year at present. And, to carry it further, _two_ pounds money would buy
as much wheat as _ninety-six_ pounds of the present.--_Dyde_ on Atkyns’
Hist. Gloucest. 142. Hist. of the Abbey.
[190] “Anno Domini M.C. Nam idem <g>Rex</g> pridie ante necem suam,
vidit per somnum sese fleubotomiæ ictu sanguinem emittere, et
radium cruoris in cœlum usque extentum, lucem obnubilare, et Dei
interpellare claritatem. Rex autem Sancta Maria invocata et somno
excussus, lumen inferri præcepit, et cubicularios à se discedere
non permittens, residuum noctis insomne peregit. Mane verò cùm
aurora illuxisset, Monachus quidam transmarinus, qui pro ecclesiæ
suæ negotiis Regis curiam sequebatur, <g>Roberto filio Hamonis</g>
viro potenti et Regi familiari somnium retulit, quod nocte eadem
viderat mirificum et horrendum. Vidit enim per somnum Regem in
quandam venire ecclesiam, gestuque superbo et insolenti (ut solebat)
cœpit despicere circumstantes, ubi crucifixum dentibus apprehendens,
brachia illius corrosit, et crura pene detruncavit. Quod crucifixus
cum diu tolerasset, Regem demum dextro pede ita depulit, ut caderet
in pavimentum supinus: et ex ore jacentis tantam exire flammam
conspexit, et ita diffusam, ut fumorū nebula, quasi chaos magnum
usque ad sidera volitarat. Hanc visionem cùm <g>Robertus</g> Regi
retulisset, cachinnos ingeminans ait: Monachus est, et lucri causa
_monachiliter_ somniavit: da ei centum solidos, ne videatur inaniter
somniasse. Item videbatur Regi per somnium nocte proxima ante diem
mortis suæ, quòd vidit unum <g>Infantem</g> pulcherrimum super altare
quoddam, et cupiens et esuriens supra modum, adiit et corrosit de carne
infantis, et videbatur ei prædulce quod gustaverat: et volens plus
avidius sumere, infans torvo aspectu et voce minaci ait: Desisti, nimis
accepisti. Expergefactus à somno Rex, consoluit mane super hæc quendam
episcopum. Episcopus autem suspicans judicium vindictæ, ait: Desine Rex
bone à persecutione ecclesiæ præmonitio enim hæc Dei est, et beniga
castigatio; nec ut proposuisti, venatum eas. Rex contemnens salutaria
monita, in sylvas venatum ivit. Et ecce casu, cervus magnus cum ante
eum transiret, ait Rex cuidam militi, scilicet Waltero Tyrell: Trahe,
diabole. Exiit ergò telum volatile, de quo bene et vere potuit dici, et
vaticinio denotari,
Et semel emissum volat irrevocabile telum.
Et obstante arbore, in obliquum reflexum faciens, per medium cordis
Regem sauciavit, qui subito mortuus corruit. Sui autem, et præcipuè
miles ille, in partes fugerunt. Aliqui tum redeuntes corpus in sanguine
suo circumvolutum et tabefactum, supra bigam cujusdam carbonatoris
imposuerunt fragilem, et macilentissimo jumento vno tractam. Rusticulus
igitur coactus corpus ad civitatem transportare, dum transiret per
quandam profundam et lutosam viam, fracta biga sua debili, corpus,
immo cadaver rigidum et fœtens, in luto circumvolutum, volentibus
asportare dereliquit. Eadem hora Comes Cornubiæ, in sylva, ab illa in
qua hæc acciderant per duas dietas distante, dum venatum iret, et solus
casu à suis sodalibus relinqueretur, obviavit _magno piloso et nigro
hirco_, ferenti Regem nigrum et nudum per medium pectoris sauciatum.
Et adjuratus hircus per Deum-trinum-et-unum quid hoc esset, respondit:
Fero ad judicium suum Regem Vestrum, immo tyrannum <g>Willielmum
Rufum</g>. Malignus enim spiritus sum, et ultor maliciæ suæ, qua
desævit in ecclesiam Christi, et hanc suam necem procuravi, imperante
promartyre Angliæ beato Albano, qui questus est Domino, quòd in sula
Britanniæ, cujus ipse fuit primus sacrator, supra modum grassaretur.
Comes igitur hæc sociis statim narravit. Infra triduum autem hæc omnia
vera reperit, per mediatores oculata fide expertus.”--Matth. Par. p.
51-2, fol. ed. 1565.
[191] “The Dictum de Kenilworth,” here referred to, was made by twelve
persons, bishops and peers of the king’s selection; the object of which
was to soften the severity of the parliament holden at Winchester,
which had entirely confiscated the estates of the rebels and their
adherents; instead of which, this decree--that they might not be
rendered desperate--sentenced them only to a pecuniary fine of not more
than five years’ income of their estates, nor less than two.--Hist.
[192] “Of this Erle speaketh Ranulph, Monke of Chester, in his
Policronion, and calleth him Symon the ryghtwise, sayinge that God
wrought for him _miracles_ after his deth: The whyche, for fere of
the kynge and Sir Edwarde, his sonne, were kept close and secret, so
that no man durst speke of theym.” Fabyan. 358. Not only the Monk of
Chester, however, but also Matthew of St. Albans, gravely records the
same popular belief; for it was supposed that, having fallen in defence
of the national liberty and in the performance of his oath, his death
was that of a martyr: and afterwards, when free utterance could be
given to this opinion without fear of the court, the clergy was reviled
for not granting him the honours of canonization. “Sir Symon” was a
brave soldier; and, compared with other saints of his day, would have
been no disgrace to the calendar.
[193] “He spent,” says Lombard, “greatlie upon it; in so much, as
Leland wryteth, that he consumed a round table and tresselles of massie
golde, which the same King Edward had not long before made to honoure
the knighthood of that order withall.”
[194] In the old Baronage, vol. i., p. 143, the circumstances attending
this splendid fête are thus somewhat differently and more fully
related:--Having procured the honour of knighthood to be conferred upon
him by Edward the First, Mortimer, at his own cost, caused a tournament
to be held at Kenilworth, where he sumptuously entertained a hundred
knights and as many ladies for three days, the like whereof was never
before in England; and there began the Round-table--so called by reason
that the place wherein they practised those feats was environed with a
strong wall, made in a round form. Upon the fourth day, at the close of
the fête, the golden lion, in sign of triumph, being yielded to him, he
carried it, with all the company, to Warwick. The fame thereof being
spread into foreign countries, occasioned the Queen of Navarre to send
unto him certain wooden bottles, bound with golden bars and wax, under
the pretence of wine, which, in truth, were all _filled with gold_, and
for many ages after were kept in the Abbey of Wigmore--whereupon, for
the love of that queen, the said Sir Roger Mortimer added a carbuncle
to his arms.
[195] Of both these apartments, as of the White Hall, nothing now
remains but fragments of walls and staircases, and a part of two
large bow windows; the inner of which, like those of the hall, is
picturesquely festooned with ivy.--Notes.
[196] Isabel, daughter of Philip the Fair, King of France, married in
her twelfth year to Edward, Jan. 22, 1308, in the church of Our Lady at
Boulogne, was “his wife twenty years, his widow thirty, and died at the
age of sixty-three.”--See ELTHAM HALL, in this work.
[197] By his first wife, the countess of Kenilworth, he had, besides
his son and heir (Henry de Bolingbroke), two daughters, Philippa, Queen
of Portugal, and Elizabeth, Countess of Pembroke. By his second wife,
Constance, daughter of the King of Portugal, he had another daughter,
Catherine, who became consort of the Spanish king. And by Catherine
Swinford, his third wife, he had five sons, namely, John Beaufort,
Earl of Somerset; Henry, Bishop of Winchester; Thomas, Earl of Dorset,
afterwards Duke of Exeter; and a daughter, Joan, who married, first,
Sir Robert Ferrers, and secondly, the Earl of Westmoreland.--Dugd. Bar.
art. Lancast.
[198] Harrison.
[199] Holinshed.
[200] Among other repairs and alterations, he is said to have caused
the “banqueting-house,” erected by Henry the Fifth, to be taken down,
and part of it to be rebuilt within the base-court, near the Swan
Tower. But the “banqueting-house” here mentioned, appears to have been
the same as that already noticed as “le Plaisant Marais.”
[201] Book ii. Chap. 15. Surely one may say of such a guest, what
Cicero says to Atticus on occasion of a visit paid him by Cæsar:
“Hospes tamen non es cui diceres, Amabo te, eodem ad me cùm revertere.”
Lib. xiii. Ep. 52. If she relieved the people from oppressions (to
whom it seems the law could give no relief), her visits were a great
oppression on the nobility.--See Hume.
[202] Among other embellishments of the “great chamber of state,” was a
most sumptuous <g>Chimney-piece</g>, composed of alabaster or marble,
richly carved and gilt. It was usually of very large dimensions,
widely spread, and reaching from the floor to the ceiling. There were
sometimes statues placed within columns and niches, which represented
some of the cardinal virtues, or grotesque termini, in the Roman
manner, then lately introduced into this country. The whole was painted
with gaudy colours; and the armorial bearings of the family, in one
large escóchéon, or the quarterings dispersed into many others, were
an indispensable decoration. In certain instances, the chimney-piece
was of carved freestone, left plain. The almost perfect resemblance of
these to the superb monuments which in that age were dedicated to the
memory of the dead, leave no doubt that the original idea had the same
analogy. Of this opinion one most splendid instance will suffice--that
of the mausoleum of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, in the Beauchamp
Chapel, Warwick, and the CHIMNEY-PIECE (see preceding
Woodcut) of Kenilworth Castle.--Dallaway’s Discourses, page 363, 364.
[203] Hock-Tuesday, Hoke-day, or Hoke-tide. The origin of this once
popular game, or play, which the author of Kenilworth describes as
being represented to the Queen by the men of Coventry, is involved
in considerable obscurity. By some writers it is supposed to be
commemorative of the massacre of the Danes, in the reign of Ethelred,
on the 13th of November, 1002; whilst by others, the deliverance of
the English from the tyranny of the Danes by the death of Hardicanute,
on Tuesday, the 8th of June, 1042, is pointed out as its origin. The
weight of argument preponderates in favour of the national deliverance
by Hardicanute’s death: and it must not be forgotten, that the festival
was celebrated on a Tuesday, and that Hoke-Tuesday was the Tuesday
in the second week after Easter. Spelman derives the term from the
German Hocken, in reference to the act of binding, which was formerly
practised by the women upon the men on Hoke-Tuesday; an opinion which
Mr. Denne has well supported. [Archæolog. vol vii. p. 244.] A payment,
called Hock-Tuesday money, was anciently made by the tenant to the
landlord, for the permission given by the latter to the former to
celebrate the festivities of this memorable day. [Jac. Law Dic. in
verb.] Whatever the etymology of its name, or the origin of the game
itself might be, its subject was the massacre of the Danes, expressed
in actions and rhymes, and acted annually in the town of Coventry,
till its suppression, shortly after the Reformation. It consisted of
fierce sham contests between the English and Danish forces; first by
the “launce knights,” on horseback, armed with spears and shields, who,
being many of them dismounted, then fought with swords and targets.
Afterwards succeeded two “hosts of footmen,” one after the other; first
marching in ranks, then facing about in military array, then changing
their form from ranks into squadrons, then into triangles, then into
rings, and then, “winding out again, they joined in battle. Twice the
Danes had the better; but at the last conflict they were beaten down,
overcome, and many of them led captive for triumph by our English
women.”--Illustration of the Waverley Novels, vol. iii. p. 45.
[204] In Lands, £16,431 9_s._ In Woods, £11,722 2_s._ The Castle,
£10,401 4_s._--Total, £38,554 15_s._ Thus the whole demesne, including
the Castle, is valued little more than the half of what, only a few
years previously, Dudley had expended in improvements.
[205] The romance of this story is certainly not improved by the fact,
that the gallant knight had left behind him one who justly claimed
him as her husband, namely, the Lady Alice Leigh. “But,” says the
author of the Baronage, “to countenance his marriage with Mistress
Southwell, he did allege his marriage with the said Lady Alice Leigh
to be by the canon law illegal, inasmuch as, &c.,” and obtaining a
papal _dispensation_ for that purpose, espoused [Biog.] “the said
Blanche Southwell at Florence, who, as well as other members of her
family, was not aware,” according to the MS., “of the Knight’s previous
engagement.”--ED.
[206] This was Doctor Julio, or Giuglio. Camden says that the disgrace
of Archbishop Grindal was owing “to his having condemned the unlawful
marriage of this Julio, an Italian physician, with another man’s wife,
while Leicester in vain opposed his proceedings therein.”
[207] This legend is preserved in two manuscripts now in the British
Museum (MS. Harl. No. 3776, and MS. Cotton., Julius, D VI.), both
of which formerly belonged to Waltham Abbey, and were written in
the twelfth century, the date of both the manuscripts. It was to
the following effect:--In the time of King Canute, there lived at
Lutegaresberi a smith, a man remarkable for the simplicity of his
life, and respected amongst his neighbours for his virtues. One night
he had a vision--an angel appeared to him, and directed him to repair
early in the morning to the priest, and exhort him to proceed in solemn
procession to the top of the hill, and there dig. The smith passed it
over as a mere dream; but the warning was repeated the following night.
He then consulted his wife, and by her advice again disregarded the
injunction of the angel; but the latter repeated his visit on the third
night, and threatened him with severe punishment for his continued
disobedience. On the morrow the smith arose, and told his dream to the
priest, who proceeded immediately with the town’s people to the summit
of the hill, where, after digging according to their directions, they
found a large cross, with a smaller one, a little bell, and a book.
(Ecce repentè apparuit oculis intuentium inestimabilis imago decoris
crucifixi Salvatoris ex atro silice sic manuum extensione et omnium
corporis liniamentorum compositione miro fabrili et inaudito opere
composita, ut ipsius summi artificis manibus perpendens operatam,
et sub dextro ipsius brachiis alteram crucifixi effigiem modicam in
sinistra parte, nolam antiqui operis quales bestiarum collo applicare
solet antiquitas, ne iudesuetione insolescant, librum etiam cognomento
<g>Nigrum Tertum</g> sicut vix perpendere possumus Evangeliorum quem
usque hodiè celebrem habet Walthamensis ecclesia propter multa quæ ipsi
oculis nostris perspeximus miracula.) Having made known their discovery
to Earl Tovi, they placed the cross on a cart, to which they yoked
three red oxen and three white cows. Uncertain whither to convey their
precious burden, the priest uttered in succession the names of the most
famous monasteries of that day, such as Dover, Winchester, Glastonbury,
London, &c., but the oxen and cows remained fixed to the spot. At
length some one mentioned by accident the name of Waltham, when the
animals immediately put themselves in motion, and conducted the cart
to that place, amid the acclamations of the people, and of the crowds
of cripples and invalids who were cured on the way by the miraculous
influence of the cross. This story was long implicitly believed by our
superstitious forefathers.
[208] See the Vita Haroldi, in the Chroniques Anglo-Normandes, Rouen,
1836, tom. ii. p. 156. The portions of the other Waltham Legend (De
Inventione Sanctæ Crucis Walthamensis), which relate more particularly
to the history of Harold, are printed in the same work.
[209] Jaciuntur festinato ecclesiæ amplioris fundamenta, surgunt
parietes, columpuæ sublimes distantes ab invicem, parietes arcuum
aut testudinum emicidiis mutuo fœderantur, culmen impositum
æris ab introgressis plumbei objectivæ laminis variam secludit
intemperiem.--Vita Haroldi, p. 161.
[210] Venusto enim admodum opere ecclesiam à fundamentis constructam
laminis æreis, auro undique superducto, capita columnarum et bases
flexurasque arcuum ornare fecit mirâ distinctione.--De Invent. Sanct.
Cr. Waltham.
[211] De Invent. Sanctæ Crucis Waltham. p. 231.
[212] Decano cessit præ cæteris Westwaltham, ut aliis in eo
præcelleret, qui primatum et regimen cæterorum habebat, in victualibus
etiam aliquantisper magis auctus, _quid pluribus habebat benefacere
quam simplex canonicus_.
[213] Ailric was probably the schoolmaster of the Abbey, for we know
that a school was part of Harold’s foundation.
[214] This is the story given in the treatise, De Inventione Sanctæ
Crucis Walthamensis.
[215] This legend forms the body of the Vita Haroldi, printed, with
the treatise De Invent. Sanct. Cr. Waltham., in the Chroniques
Anglo-Normandes.
[216] Vita Haroldi, pp. 162, 163. De Invent. S. Crucis, pp. 252, 253.
[217] MS. Harl. No. 3776, fol. 3, iº and vº.
[218] Hanc insuper ecclesiam, quasi novam Christi sponsam nova dote,
sicut decebat, dignum duximus esse ditandam.--The alliteration in this
passage is remarkable.
[219] Matthew Paris, sub ann. See Fuller’s History of Waltham Abbey, p.
21.
[220] The account of these disputes is chiefly taken from Fuller, and
from Farmer’s History of Waltham Abbey.
[221] Farmer’s History of Waltham Abbey, p. 100.
[222] A dark vaulted structure of two divisions connected with the
Convent Garden, is all that remains of the old Abbey House, the
residence of the Dennys; even the large mansion erected on its site,
of which a view is given in Farmer’s History of Waltham Abbey, has
been long demolished. In the Convent Garden, which is now tenanted by
a market-gardener, there is a tulip-tree, remarkable equally for its
magnitude and antiquity. The Abbey mills are still used as a cornmill.
[223] Cujus corporis translationi, quum sic se habebat status ecclesiæ
fabricandi, vel devotio fratrum reverentiam corpori exhibentium, nunc
extremæ memini me tertio affuisse, et, sicut vulgo celebre est et
attestationes antiquorum audivimus, plagas ipsis ossibus impressas
oculis corporeis et vidisse et manibus contrectam.--Chron. Anglo-Norm,
tom. ii. p. 250.
[224] The following attested account of this discovery is preserved by
Fuller, in his Worthies:--
“The ensuing relation, written by the pen of Master Thomas Smith, of
Sewarstone, in the parish of Waltham Abbey, a discreet person, not long
since deceased.
“It so fell out that I served Sir Edward Denny (towards the latter
end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth of blessed memory), who lived in
the Abbey of Waltham Cross, in the county of Essex, which at that
time lay in ruinous heaps; and then Sir Edward began slowly now and
then to make even and re-edify some of that chaos. In doing whereof,
Tomkins, his gardener, came to discover (among other things) a fair
marble stone, the cover of a tomb hewed out in hard stone: this cover,
with some help, he removed from off the tomb; which having done, there
appeared to the view of the gardener, and Master Baker, minister of the
town (who died long since), and to myself and Master Henry Knagg (Sir
Edward’s bailiff), the anatomy of a man lying in the tomb abovesaid,
only the bones remaining, bone to his bone, not one bone dislocated.
In observation whereof, we wondered to see the bones still remaining
in such due order, and no dust or other filth besides them to be seen
in the tomb: we could not conceive that it had been an anatomy of
bones only, laid at first in the tomb; yet if it had been the whole
carcass of a man, what became of his flesh and entrails? For (as I
have said above) the tomb was clean from all filth and dust, besides
bones. This when we had all observed, I told them, that if they did but
touch any part thereof, that all would fall asunder, for I had only
heard somewhat formerly of the like accident. Trial was made, and so
it came to pass. For my own part, I am persuaded, that as the flesh of
this anatomy to us became invisible, so likewise would the bones have
been in some longer continuance of time. O! what is man then, which
vanisheth thus away, like unto smoke or vapour, and is no more seen!
Whosoever thou art that shalt read this passage, thou mayst find cause
of humility sufficient.”
In Mr. Edgar Taylor’s translation of “Master Wace, his Chronicle of
the Norman Conquest,” (London, 1837,) p. 259, is given a beautiful
drawing from a manuscript of the thirteenth century, representing the
deposition of the body of King Harold in his tomb at Waltham.
[225] According to the parish books, quoted by Farmer, (History of
Waltham Abbey,) p. 149, the sum of £100 was expended between 1669 and
1672; £46 4_s._ 10_d._ in 1674; £64 13_s._ 5-1/2_d._ in 1679; and £78
5_s._ 2_d._ in 1680.
[226] MS. Cotton. Julius D. VI. fol. 117, vº, nearly contemporary.
[227] Ricardus Pungiant tenet Latelie. Aluuardus tenuit de Rege
Eadwardo, et potuit ire quo voluit.
[228] This matrix was exhibited before the Society of Antiquaries
of London, by the Rev. John Brand, Jan. 26, 1797. An account of it,
and the other seals, will be found in the thirteenth volume of the
Archæologia.
[229] This grant is mentioned in the Placit. de Quo Warranto, of the
9th Edw. I.; but in the original document the name is _Nottele_ (not,
as quoted in the common books, _Notele_), and it is probable that the
grant has no reference to Netley in Hampshire.
[230] The legend says it was the key-stone of the east window; but that
is still standing.
[231] The college Combination-Rooms were formerly called Parlours
(_parluræ_).
[232] The work from which this anecdote is taken is inedited, and
exists only in one contemporary manuscript. The story has been printed
from it in the first volume of the Reliquiæ Antiquæ, by Wright and
Halliwell.
[233] J. Bullar’s Companion in a Visit to Netley Abbey, p. 10.
[234] Tot enim videas piscium genera, assa quidem et elixa, farta et
frixa; tot ovis et pipere cibaria cocorum arte confecta; tot sapores
et salsamenta ad gulam irritandam et appetitum excitandum eorundem
arte composita. Ad hæc etiam in tanta abunduntia vinum hic videas et
ciceram, pigmentum, claretum, mustum, et medonem, atque moretum, et
omne quod inebriare potest, adeo ut cervisia qualis in Anglia fieri
solet optima, et præcipue in Cantia, locum inter cætera nou haberet;
sed hoc ibi cervisia inter pocula, quod olus inter fercula.--Giraldus
Cambr. Specul. Eccles. in MS. Cotton. He is here speaking of the
Cistercian monks of Canterbury.
[235] “And the wicked Ham with his people drew him towards the
wood:--Arviragus followed him, and continually struck [his men] to
the ground. At last he gained very little by his treason; he overtook
him at a haven, and slew him right there:--it were little harm if
all traitors were served so. The haven where he was slain, after
Ham’s name truly, was called Hampton, as it is called yet,--for it is
called Southhampton, and will be evermore.”--_Robert of Gloucester’s
Chronicle_, ed. Hearne, p. 64.
[236] Of which a description and view will be found in the present
volume, p. 37. See also Appendix, p. 338.