DESCRIPTION 
 
 OF 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 FOR THE USE OE VISITOUS. 
 
 ALNWICK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY W. DAVISON, BONIGATE STREET. 
 
 1846. 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE, FROM THE N. W. 
 
 DESCRIPTIOJf OF 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 Lord Percj^ made a solemn feast 
 
 III Aliiwirk's princel.y hall ; 
 And thrre cair e lords, "and there came knights. 
 
 His chiels and barons all. 
 
 HERMIT OF WARKWORTH. 
 
 Alnwick Castle is situated in the Parish of Aln- 
 wick, in the East Division of Coqiietdale Ward, in 
 the County of Northumberland. It is one of the 
 principal seats of the great family of Percy, Dukes 
 and Earls of Northumberland, and certainly one of 
 the best specimens of a baronial residence in the 
 kingdom. It stands on the south side of the river 
 Aln, upon an elevation which presents its lofty towers 
 
6 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 and embattled fronts in all the dignity and grandeur 
 of a Gothic palace. In ancient times its situation 
 rendered it an important fortress, and its history is 
 interwoven with that of the kingdom at large. 
 
 The Castle stands in a spacious area, which at the 
 time of its greatest strength totally surrounded it, 
 defended by a complete circumvallation, with an inner 
 and an outer moat. At present the front is open on 
 the northeast, towards the Battery; and the wall 
 having towers at proper intervals, shuts it in on the 
 other quarters. To the south-east the gardens and 
 pleasure grounds called Barneyside appear beautifully 
 disposed ; and to the south and west, the town of 
 Alnwick is seen spreading on the back ground. 
 
 From the observations of Mr. Grose, it seems 
 pretty evident that Alnwick Castle owes its origin to 
 the Romans. It is believed to have been founded by 
 them, although no part of the original structure is now 
 remaining. But, some years ago, when part of the 
 Castle K(»ep was taken down to be repaired, under the 
 present walls were discovered the foundations of other 
 buildings, which lay in a different direction from the 
 present, and upon some of the stones appeared Roman 
 mouldings. 
 
 The Keep of the Castle may have been founded at 
 a later period, probably in the Saxon times. The 
 zigzag fretwork round the arch that leads into the 
 inner court is evidently of Saxon architecture ; and yet 
 this was probably not the most ancient entrance ; for 
 under the flag-tower, before that part was altered by 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 7 
 
 the first Duke of Northumberland, there was an ap- 
 pearance of a gateway that had been walled up, directly 
 fronting the present outward gateway into the town. 
 
 In the third year of the reign of Edward II., 1309, 
 the Castle and Barony of Alnwick came into the pos- 
 session of the Percies, a family of great distinction in 
 the County of York from the time of the conquest. 
 Immediately on this acquisition, the Lord Henry de 
 Percy began to repair the Castle ; and he and Iiis suc- 
 cessors, afterwards Earls of Northumberland, perfected 
 and completed both this citadel and its outworks. 
 
 The two great octagon towers which were super- 
 added to the old Saxon gateway, and constitute the 
 entrance into the inner ward, were erected about 
 the year 1350, by the second Lord Percy of Alnwick. 
 
 The date of the erection of these two towers is 
 ascertained very exactly by a series of escutcheons 
 sculptured upon them, which sufficiently supply the 
 place of an inscription. It is very remarkable, that 
 although these towers have now stood since the middle 
 of the fourteenth century, so excellent is the masonry, 
 that they have neither received nor wanted repair. 
 
 The escutcheons are arranged in the following 
 order : — 
 
 I. A plain shield with a bend : supposed to be the 
 original arms of Tyson, the proprietor of this Castle 
 in the time of the Saxons. 
 
 II. The shield of Vescy, Lord of Alnwick after 
 the conquest, Or, a cross sable. These were the arms 
 afterwards quartered by the house of Clifford, as heirs 
 general of that of Vesci. 
 
8 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 III. Of Clifford. Idonea, daughter of Robert 
 Lord Clifford, was wife of Henry, the second Lord 
 Percy of Ahiwick, who built these towers. In 
 colours the arms would be Chequered^ or and azure, 
 a fess gules, 
 
 IV. Of Percy, the proprietor and builder of the 
 towers, viz. Or, a lion rampant azure. These were 
 not the original arms of Percy, but the adopted arms 
 of the Earl of Brabant. 
 
 V. Of Bo lam. William de Bolam, Earl of 
 Northampton, was in 1350 made Lord Warden of 
 the Marches, and so continued for two years after : 
 viz. Azure, a bend argent charged with three mullets 
 sable, between two cottices and six lions rampant or, 
 
 VI. Of Plant AGE NET. Mary, daughter of 
 Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, and grandson 
 of Henry III., was wife of Henry, the third Lord 
 Percy of Alnwick, son to the founder of these towers : 
 viz. Gules, three lions rampant or, charged with a 
 label of five points. 
 
 In the centre are the arms of the sovereign King 
 Edward III., viz. France and England quarterly ; 
 France being then Semee de Jleurs de lis. 
 
 VII. Of Warren. Eleanor, daughter of John, 
 Earl of WVren and Surrey, was wife of Henry Lord 
 Percy, the founder's grandfather: viz. Chequered, or 
 and azure, 
 
 VIII. Of Arundel. Eleanor, daughter of John, 
 Earl of Arundel, was the founder's mother, and the 
 wife of Henry Percy, the first Lord of Alnwick : viz. 
 Gules, a lion rampant or. 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 9 
 
 IX. Of Umfreville. Margaret Percy, one of the 
 founder s daughters, was then married to Robert, son 
 and heir of Gilbert de Umfreville, Earl of Angus: viz. 
 Azurey a cinque-foil or, between six croslets argent 
 
 X. Of Percy again. Isabel Percy, another of 
 the daughters, was then unmarried. She was after- 
 wards wife of William de Aton. 
 
 XI. Of Neville. Maud Percy, the founder's 
 eldest daughter, was wife of John Lord Neville of 
 Raby : viz. Gules, a saltire argent. 
 
 XII. Of FiTZ Walter. Eleanor Percy, his 
 second daughter, was married to John Lord Fitz- 
 W^ alter : viz. Or, a Jess between two chevrons 
 gules. 
 
 It deserves remark, that the first Duke of North- 
 umberland was by his grandmother, the daughter of 
 Marmaduke Lord Langdale, lineally descended from 
 the two ladies last mentioned, and through them from 
 the ancient Lords de Percy. 
 
 The ruin of this Castle, from its ancient grandeur, 
 may be dated from the time of the destructive orders of 
 Oliver Cromwell's parliament. But by the death of 
 Algernon, Duke of Somerset, in 1750, it devolved, 
 togetlier with all the estates of this great Barony, to 
 the first Duke and Duchess of Northumberland. They 
 rescued this ancient castle from the decay in which 
 it mouldered, and restored it to more than its pristine 
 splendour. His Grace repaired the surrounding 
 towers, and added those that were wanting with a 
 minute exactness. The citadel was a heap of ruins ; 
 but he retained much of the old walls and restored 
 its original form, still observing the Gothic exterior 
 
10 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 in every corrparrme it, and unitins^ it w\t\ all the 
 magnificence of the modern ; so that it may deservedly 
 be considered one «>t the noblest and most superb 
 models of a ^reat baronial castle. 
 
 The Castle is a noble structure, and built originally 
 in the Saxon style, although it has. been added to 
 and altered at various periods. On the battlements 
 are numerous effigies, according to the taste of the 
 Normans, in whose time it uriderwent a principal repa- 
 ration. These effigies represent warriors in the act of 
 defence, wielding such arms as were then used. Some 
 of them are disposed with great ])ropriety. The 
 building is of freestone, in chiseled work. Its form is 
 singular, being composed of a cluster of semicircular 
 and angular bastions. 
 
 Alnwick Castle contains about five acres of ground 
 within its outer walls, which are flatiked with sixteen 
 towers and turrets, that now afford a coinj)lete set of 
 offices to the castle, and many of them retain their 
 original names^ as well as their ancient use and desti- 
 nation. These are, 
 
 I. Tlie (jreat or Outward Gate of entrance, an- 
 ciently called the Utter Ward : containing the porter a 
 lodge and men-servants' sleeping apartnients. 
 
 II. Tfie Garner or Avener's Tower, appropriated 
 as the apartments of the Master of the horse ; behind 
 which are stables, coach-houses, riding house, and 
 conveniences ; in all respects suitable to the magni- 
 tude and dignity of this great castle. 
 
 III. The Water Tower; containing the cistern or 
 reservoir that supplies the castle and offices with water. 
 In this tower is the Clock, which was placed there by 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 11 
 
 the present Duke ; the Bell is about six feet in height, 
 and weighs thirty-eight cwt. Adjoining to this is the 
 laundry, &c. 
 
 IV. The Caterer s Tower, now used as the larder ; 
 adjoining to which are the kitchens and other conve- 
 niences. 
 
 Behind the adjacent w^alls there is a range of 
 buildings throe stories in height, forming a complete 
 set of offices and apartments for most of the principal 
 officers and attendants in the castle. These buildings 
 are seen to the best advantage from the White Swan 
 Inn Garden or Yard. 
 
 V. The Middle Ward, which contains the Chapel. 
 
 VI. The Auditors Tower, now disused. 
 
 VII. The Guard House. 
 Vill. The East Garret. 
 
 IX. The Record Tower ; of which the lower story 
 contains the Evidence Room or repository of many of 
 the Archives of the Barony. Over it is a circular 
 apartment designed for a banqueting room, and ex- 
 ecuted with great taste and beauty. It is twenty-nine 
 feet in diameter, and twenty-four feet six inches high. 
 It is now appropriated for the valuable collection of 
 Egyptian Antiquities formed by Lord Prudhoe. 
 
 X. The Ravine Tower, or Hotspur's Chair. Be- 
 tween this and the Round Tower there was formerly 
 a large breach in the w^alls, which for lime immemorial 
 had been called, by the town's people, the Bloody Gap, 
 
 XI. The Constable's Tower; which remains chiefly 
 in its ancient state, as a specimen how the castle itself 
 was once fitted up^ Jn the upper apartment of this tower 
 there are accoutrements for the Cavalry, arranged in 
 
12 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 beautiful order, under the charge of an artillery-man. 
 These arms were formerly used by the Regiment 
 raised at the expense of the late Duke during the war, 
 called the Percy Tenantry Volunteers, amounting to 
 1500 men, consisting of six troops of cavalry, seven- 
 teen companies of riflemen, and a company of artillery. 
 In the same apartment there is a canoe, with the dress, 
 darts, harpoon, &c. formerly belonging to an Esquimaux 
 princess. This canoe was brought to England by the 
 late Duke when he returned from the American war, as 
 a present from its owner to his mother. It is 17 feet 
 8 inches in length, and its girt at the centre is 4 feet 
 4 inches : the paddle is 6 feet 8 inches in length. 
 Besides specimens of Arms lately brought from China. 
 
 XII. The Postern Tower, or Sally Port. The 
 upper apartment formerly contained old armour and 
 arms, but now some Roman Antiquities found in the 
 county. The lower story has a small furnace and 
 elaboratory for chymical or other experiments. 
 
 Between this tower and the next is the Battery, 
 mounted with several pieces of ordnance. The view 
 from the Battery, on a summer's evening, is beautiful. 
 The green freshness of the grassy park, studded 
 with trees — the broad sheet of water — the Lion- 
 bridge of three arches to the west, and the distant view 
 of Brisley Tower — on the right or east the Denwick 
 bridge, and in the horizon the ruins of Ratcheugh 
 Crag, are altogether a lovely sight for the eye to 
 dweH upon. The cows and flocks of the inhabitants 
 grazing in the rich pastures, fed by the sanction of 
 His Cirace, rather than herds of deer, are not only more 
 pleasing but more satisfactory, contributing as they 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 13 
 
 do to the welfare of the inhabitants, as well as to 
 the beauty of the scene. 
 
 XIIL The Armourer s Tower ; in which was former- 
 ly deposited a quantity of different kinds of ancient 
 armour. 
 
 XIV. The Falconers Tower. 
 
 XV. The Abbot's Tower; so called either from its 
 situation nearest to Alnwick Abbey, or from its con- 
 taining an apartment for the abbot of that monastery, 
 whenever he repaired to the castle. It now contains 
 a Museum of curiosities collected by Her Grace the 
 Duchess of Northumberland. 
 
 XVI. The West Garret. 
 
 The Castle properly consists of three courts or 
 divisions, the entrance into which was defended with 
 three strong massy gates, called the Utter Ward, the 
 Middle Ward, and the Inner Ward. Each of these 
 gates was in a high embattled tower, furnished with a 
 portcullis, and the outward gate with a drawbridge 
 also. They had each of them a porter's lodge, and a 
 strong prison, besides other necessary apartments for 
 the constable, bailitF, and subordinate officers ; and 
 under each of the prisons was a deep and gloomy 
 dungeon, into which prisoners were let down with cords. 
 
 The only remaining prison is situated on the right 
 of the inner ward, and is entered by a narrow passage 
 about sixteen feet in length. It is eleven feet four 
 inches long and ten feet four inches wid(^ Beneath 
 this prison, under ground, is the dungeon in all its 
 original horrors. It is nine feet long, eight feet wide, 
 
14 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 and eleven feet deep, and has no entrance but by a 
 trap-door or iron grate, the Gothic emblem of lawless 
 and arbitrary power. 
 
 The approach to the Castle retains much of the 
 solemn grandeur of former times. The moat is drain- 
 ed, and the ceremony of letting down the drawbridge 
 is discarded, but the walls which inclose the area still 
 wear the ancient countenance of strength aiid defiance. 
 It is entered from the town by a machicolated gate, 
 defended by an upper tower, and, after passing a 
 covered way, the interior gate opens to the area. This 
 entrance is defended by all the devices used in ancient 
 times, — iron-studded gates, portcullis, open galleries, 
 and apertures in the arching for aimoying assailants, with 
 the figures of warriors in stone mounted on the battle- 
 ments. Over the great gateway of the ancient 
 barbican is the armorial escutcheon, a lion rampant. 
 Above it is the motto of the Percy family — 
 
 d^epecance mt comforte* 
 
 Below it is the inscription and motto — 
 
 a^spjrance )p» en fiDieu. 
 
 The initials t>. P are probably those of Lord Henry 
 Percy, who came into the possession of the Castle and 
 Barony of Alnwick, in 1309, when he began to repair 
 the castle and its outworks. 
 
 Nothing can be more striking than the effect at 
 the first entrance within the walls from the town, when, 
 through a dark gloomy gateway of considerable length 
 and depth, the eye suddenly emerges into one of the 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 15 
 
 most splendid scenes that can be imagined, and is 
 presented at once with the groat body of the inner 
 Castle, surrounded with the smooth lawn and formed of 
 fair semicircular towers, finely swelling to the eye, and 
 gaily adorned with pinnacles, figures, battlements, &c. 
 
 The impression is still further strengthened by the 
 successive entrance into the second and third courts, 
 through great massy towers, till the stranger is landed 
 in the irmer court, in the very centre of this great 
 citadel. The ancient archway leading into the inner 
 court is eighteen yards through ; the entrance is de- 
 fended by two pieces of cannon. The inner arch, of 
 Saxon architecture, still retains its zigzag ornament. 
 On the northern wall of the Inner Court are medallion 
 portraits of the first Duke and Duchess of Northum- 
 berland. On the right of the Inner Court is a curious 
 draw-well, with its antique machinery for supplying 
 the Castle with water in case of a siege. 
 
 Opposite to the Saxon Arch is the great Door or chief 
 entrance to the Castle. Immediately on entering, the 
 visitor is struck with the beauty of the staircase. It 
 is of a very singular yet pleasing form, expanding like 
 a fan. At the bottom of the staircase is a piece of 
 sculpture, by Lough, of Samson slaying his enemies. 
 The cornice of the ceiling is enriched with a series of 
 one hundred and twenty escutcheons, displaying the 
 principal quarterings and intermarriages of the Percy 
 family. The space occupied by this grand staircase 
 i« forty-six feet long, thirty-five feet four inches wide, 
 and forty-three feet two inches liigh. 
 
16 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 The apartments at the Castle are generally shown 
 to visitors in the following order, and it is thought 
 best, for their convenience, so to describe them. 
 
 The interior of the Castle is fitted up with 
 consummate taste and judgment, in a magnificent 
 style of Gothic decoration, but as conformable as 
 possible to the general character of the exterior, so as 
 to render this ancient and renowned fortress one of 
 the noblest models of a great baronial residence. 
 
 The first room to the left of the grand staircase is the 
 Saloon, which is a most beautiful apartment, de- 
 signed in the gayest and most elegant style of Gothic 
 architecture. It is forty-two feet eight inches long, 
 thirty-seven feet two inches wide, and nineteen feet 
 ten inches high. The walls are panelled resembling 
 stone. The family paintings are chiefly to be found 
 at Northumberland House, Sion House, and Petworth ; 
 but Alnwick Castle contains some fine portraits of the 
 Percy family. In the Saloon are the following : — 
 
 THOMAS, SEVENTH Earl of Northumberland, in the 
 robes of a knight ot the garter, with his right hand placed on 
 a book lyii^g on a table. This painting is placed in a com- 
 partment on the left hand of the entrance from the Saloon to 
 the Drawing-room, and is a copy by Phillips. The Earl joined 
 in the northern insurrection against Queen Elizabeth, and this 
 enterprise ultimately proved fatal to him. He fell into the 
 hands of the borderers, who betrayed him for a sum of money 
 to Murray, the regent of Scotland, and was confined in 
 Lochleven Castle, till he was given up to the English, and carried 
 to York, where he was beheaded on the 22nd of August, 1572. 
 
 HENRY, EIGHTH Earl of Northumberland, in a sitting 
 posture, with his head resting on his hand. This painting is 
 placed over the entrance, and is a copy from Vandyck, by Phil- 
 lips. This Earl was a younger brother of the seventh Earl ; 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 17 
 
 and being suspected of plotting to set Mary Queen of Scots 
 at liberty, he was committed prisoner to the tower ; and on the 
 21st of June, 1585, he was found dead in liis bed, having 
 three shots from a pistol lodged under his left breast, his 
 chamber door being fastened on the inside. 
 
 HENRY, NINTH Earl of Northumberland ; a fine paint- 
 ing representing the Earl in a contemplative sitting posture, 
 in the Tower, his head leaning on his elbow, under which lies 
 a paper, said to be the stipulation for his release on which he 
 is deliberating. This painting is in a circular frame over the 
 chimneypiece, and is a copy from Vandyck. 
 
 The Earl being suspected as an accomplice in the Gun- 
 powder Plot, was sentenced to imprisonment for life, and a 
 fine of ^30,000, though he was convicted in the Star- 
 chamber for misprisonment of treason only, without the least 
 proof of his having had any knowledge of the plot. In 1614, 
 he paid his fine, but did not gain his liberty till the 18th of 
 July, 1621, having been confined fifteen years. He was a 
 munificent patron of learning and learned men, and died at 
 his seat, at Pet worth, in 1632. 
 
 ALGERNON, tenth Earl of Northumberland, Lord 
 High Admiral of England; a full-length painting in the 
 naval costume of the time of the commonwealth. In the 
 back ground is a view of the sea with a ship on fire. The 
 painting is placed on the left-hand of the fire-place, and is a 
 copy from Vandyck, taken from the original at Petworth. 
 The Earl died on the 13th of October, 1668, and was interred 
 at Petworth. 
 
 JOSCELINE, eleventh Earl of Northumberland; a 
 full-length painting in the Court dress of his time. It is on 
 the right of the fire-place, and is a copy from Sir Peter Lely, 
 from the original at Petworth. The Earl died at Turin, on 
 the 21st of May, 1670, and was buried at Petworth. 
 
 ELIZABETH, Duchess of Somerset, and Baroness 
 Percy in her own right, only child of Josceline, Earl of Nor- 
 thumberland. Ti)is painting is placed above the entrance 
 from the Saloon to the Prawing-room. It is also a copy 
 from Sir Peter Lely. Her Grace died in 1722. 
 
 CHARLES, Duke of Somerset; a full-length paint- 
 ing by Sir Peter Lely, and placed to the right of the door 
 leading from the Saloon to the Drawing-room. 
 
 HUGH, second Duke of Northumberland, Baron 
 Percy, &c. ; a full-length portrait in military costume, by Sir 
 B 
 
18 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 Thomas Lawre nce. It is placed on the left-hand of the en- 
 trance door to the Saloon. His Grace, who was a field officer 
 during the American war, and commanded at the battle of 
 Lexington, died on the 10th of July, 1817, and was interred 
 in Westminster Abbey. 
 
 HUGH, THE THIRD AND PRESENT DuKE OF NORTHUMBER- 
 LAND ; a full-length portrait, in his robes of Knight of the 
 Garter, painted by Phillips. 
 
 CHARLOTTE-FLORENTIA, the present Duchess 
 OF Northumberland ; a cabinet portrait, in a gold frame, 
 painted by Mrs. Robertson. 
 
 His Grace, the present Duke ; of the style and size of 
 the portrait of Her Grace, and painted by Mrs. Robertson. 
 
 The Drawing-room, which adjoins the Saloon, 
 consists of one large oval, with a semicircular projection, 
 or bow window. It is forty-six feet seven inches long^, 
 thirty-five feet four inches wide, and twenty-two 
 feet high. The wails are hung with crimson silk with 
 a gold sprig, of the manufacture of the weavers of 
 Spitalfields, — a portion of an order given by His 
 Grace to them, during a period of distress in that 
 trade. 
 
 The transition from hence is very properly to the 
 Dining-room ; which was one of the first executed, 
 and is of the purest Gothic, with niches and other 
 ornaments, that render it a very noble model of a 
 great baron's hall. In this room was an irregularity 
 in the form, which has been managed with great skill 
 and judgment, and made productive of beauty and 
 convenience. This is a large bow window, not in 
 the centre, but towards the upper end, which now 
 affords a very agreeable recess when the family dine 
 alone, or for a second table at public dinners. 
 This room is fifty-three feet nine inches in length, 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 19 
 
 twenty feet ten inches wide, (exclusive of the circular 
 recess, which is nine feet in diameter), and twenty-six 
 feet nine inches high. The walls are of stone colour, 
 with white mouldings and pendent spandrels. The 
 roof is further ornamented with coats of arms. In 
 this room, over the chimneypiece, is a full-length 
 painting of Elizabeth, first Duchess of Northumber- 
 land, by Lindot, from the original of Sir Joshua 
 Reynolds. On the right and left of Her Grace's 
 portrait are the shields, in colours proper, of the six 
 baronies of Percy, Lucy, Poynings, Fitz- Payne, Bryan, 
 and Latimer, to which Her Grace was lineal heiress, 
 by the intermarriages of her ancestors with the several 
 heirs of those baronies. Her Grace died December 
 5th, 1776, and was buried in the Percy Vault in 
 Westminster Abbey. 
 
 From the Dining-room the stranger is ushered 
 into a Gothic apartment over the gateway, called the 
 Breakfast-room. It is thirty-eight feet four inches 
 long, nineteen feet ten inches wide, (exclusive of the 
 recesses, which are four feet seven inches), and sixteen 
 feet one inch high. At the further end of this room 
 are two small apartments, situated in the two octagon 
 towers before described. The one on the right is not 
 shown; but that on the left is called the Duchess's 
 Boudoir. It contains paintings of — 
 
 Hugh, the present Duke of Northumberland, when Earl 
 Percy, in the uniform of the Percy Tenantry ; a half-length 
 portrait, a very excellent likeness, by Phillips. There is aiso 
 a small marble bust of His Grace, beautifully executed. 
 
 Above the fire-place is a painting of Sir Watkin Williams 
 Wynne, the present Baronet, and nephew of Her Grace. 
 
20 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 The Wife of Rubens, painted by Lady Caroline Stanhope. 
 
 Good's celebrated painting of a boy tickling a sleeping man 
 with a straw. The mode in which the light is thrown upon 
 this painting is the distinguishing character of this Artist. 
 
 There are also several miniature paintings, and other objects 
 of attraction in this small room. 
 
 Returning through the Breakfast-room the visitor 
 is conducted to the oval hanging stone staircase, from 
 which is the entrance to 
 
 The Library. — A very fine room in the form of a 
 parallelogram, being sixty-four feet long, twenty- three 
 feet one inch wide, and sixteen feet one inch high. 
 It is ornamented with stucco-work in a very rich 
 Gothic style, and contains a good collection of rare 
 and valuable works The walls are stone colour. In 
 the centre of the room are equestrian statues of Queen 
 Victoria and the Duke of Wellington, in bronze. At 
 the end of the Library is a door which leads to 
 
 The Chapel, which fills all the upper space of the 
 middle ward. Here the highest display of Gothic 
 ornaments in the greatest beauty has been exhibited ; 
 the several parts have been designed after the most 
 perfect models of Gothic excellence, and the whole is 
 superbly adorned throughout. The walls are divided 
 into panels, with gilt, purple, and scarlet mouldings. 
 Three clustered pilasters branch out palm-like from 
 each side, and in each panel is an armorial shield in 
 colours proper, painted under the authority of Arthur 
 Collins, Esq., the author of the Peerage of England. 
 Pedigrees of this ancient family are painted on the 
 walls on each side. The great east window of the 
 Chapel is in the style of one of the finest in York 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 21 
 
 Minster ; the ceiling is borrowed from that of King s 
 College, in Cambridge ; and the mouldings and stucco- 
 work are gilt and painted after the great church in 
 Milan. The windows of painted glass, three in number, 
 are for lightness and elegance equal to any thing that has 
 yet been attempted, and worthy of the present more 
 improved state of the arts. Exclusive of a beautiful 
 circular recess for the family, the Chapel is fifty feet 
 long, twenty-one feet four inches wide, and twenty-two 
 feet high. 
 
 Under the great east window is an elegant Ceno- 
 taph of statuary marble, erected to the memory of 
 Elizabeth, the first Duchess of Northumberland. In 
 the centre of this is a bust of the Duchess in bass-relief, 
 and on each side of the bust, also in bass-relief, a full- 
 length figure. At one end of the Cenotaph are the 
 arms of the Duchess, and at the other the arms of the 
 Duke her husband. On the top are a lion and unicorn 
 couchant, and between them, on a small tablet, is the 
 following inscription : — 
 
 Sacred to the Memory of 
 Elizabeth Percy, Duchess of Northumberland, 
 Daughter of Algernon, Duke of Somerset, 
 Heiress of the Ancient Earls 
 of Northumberland, 
 who inherited their great 
 and good qualities 
 with every amiable 
 and benevolent virtue, 
 and died December 5th, 1776, aged 60, 
 universally beloved, revered, lamented. 
 
 Conjuge Optima? H. Dux. Nor. Moerens posuit. 
 
22 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 Returning from the Chapel through the Library, 
 and passing by the oval staircase which fills a 
 space twenty-two feet nine inches long, and fifteen 
 feet three inches wide, a passage or gallery leads to 
 two State Bed-chambers, each thirty feet long, most 
 nobly furnished, with double dressing-rooms, closets, 
 and other conveniences, all in the highest elegance. 
 The walls are hung with Indian paper. The first 
 to which the stranger is conducted is beautifully fur- 
 nished ; the cabinets originally belonged to Queen 
 Charlotte. There is an old painting of the city of 
 Venice above the door. 
 
 The next State Bed-room contains several paint- 
 ings, viz : — 
 
 Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector in 
 the reign of Edward VI., taken from life by Holbein, and 
 possessing the velvet softness and lustre of colouring, which 
 distinguished that great painter. 
 
 General Count Platoff, in military costume. 
 
 The Charger, which General PlatofF presented to His 
 Grace the Duke of Northumberland. The painting is by 
 Ward, and the scenery is a view of Ratcheugh Crag, from 
 the East. 
 
 The celebrated Arabian Horse, belonging to His Grace, 
 the Duke of Northumberland ; painted by Ward. The back 
 ground represents buildmgs of Eastern Architecture. 
 
 Two oblong Paintings; one representing King Henry V,, 
 who iy kneeling before a desk, on which is a missal and 
 the sceptre and globe. Behind him, on their knees, are 
 his three brothers, Thomas, Duke of Clarence ; John, Duke 
 of Bedford; and Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; all 
 dressed in dark purple robes, like the king's, and wearing 
 golden coronets. The other painting represents Queen 
 Catherine of Valois, kneeling before a desk, in the same 
 manner as the other, except that there is no sceptre on her 
 desk ; behind the Queen are four ladies dressed like her and 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 23 
 
 with coronets. Walpole says, "the first two after the queen are 
 probably the king's sisters, Blanche, Duchess of Bavaria, and 
 Philippa, Queen of Denmark ; but who the other two are is 
 more difficult to decide." Another supposition is that these 
 five portraits are of Queen Catherine at different periods of 
 her life. These two paintings are copies of two of the portions 
 of the altar-piece formerly at Sheen, supposed to be executed 
 in the reign of Henry VII. — (Walpole*s Works, iii. 35.) 
 
 From the state bed-chambers the passage opens to 
 the grand stah-case, and completes a tour not easily 
 to be paralleled. 
 
 How different is the Castle now fitted up compared 
 with the days of Henry Algernon Percy, the fifth 
 Earl of Northumberland, as may be gleaned from his 
 celebrated Household Book, begun A. D. 1512. The 
 sum of £1000 was assigned for keeping my Lord's 
 House, consisting of 166 persons. Whenever the 
 Earl removed from one castle to another, from Aln- 
 wick to Warkworth, or from Warkworth to Wresil, 
 or Leckenfield in Yorkshire, 17 carriages were allowed 
 for removing the stuff "of the Wardrobe, Vestry, 
 Children, Servants, Kitchen, Attorney, two Auditors, 
 Carvers, Servers, Gentlemen Waiters, Ushers, Dean, 
 Sub-Dean, Priests, Gentlemen and Children of my 
 Lord's Chapel, Clerk of the Foreign Expences, Clerk 
 of the Works, Clerk of the Brevements, Clerk Avener, 
 Chaplains, Officers at Arms, Yeomen of the Chamber, 
 Yeomen Waiters and Porter, the Joiner, Smith, Painter, 
 Minstrels, Huntsmen, and divers other persons, all en- 
 umerated with great exactness. The head officers have 
 special charges as to my Lord's stuff and his chariot, 
 and that all this retinue be gone *' at the leist a fort net 
 afoir my Lords removal." The Beds, Hangings, 
 and Furniture, were thus conveyed ; the Tapestry or 
 Arras was hung upon tenter hooks, from which it 
 was easily taken down upon every removal. Glass 
 was not commonly used, but lattice work fitted with 
 thin panels of Horn ; and " Yt were good the whole 
 
24 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 leights of evrie window at the departure of His Lord- 
 shippe from lying at any of his said castels and houses 
 and during the time of his Lordship's absence, or 
 others lying in them, were taken down and laid up 
 safely." Instead of Carpets, the floors were strewed 
 with clean Rushes ; — so that, when my Lord was 
 absent, the rooms were open to the winds of heaven 
 and to the birds of the air ; previous to his arrival, 
 the rooms were cleaned — the windows placed — the 
 arras pinned up — the rushes strewed, and the fires 
 kindled ; and thus were the Nobles in the land housed 
 in those days. And as to the mode of living, the 
 family rose at 6 — dined at 10 — supped at 4 — and the 
 gates shut at 9, and no further ingress or regress 
 permitted. It would occupy too much space to give 
 many particulars which are spread over this curious 
 volume of 500 pages, but one extract more will suffice. 
 My Lord and Lady have set on the table for breakfast 
 at 7 in the morning a loaf of bread in trenchers, 2 man- 
 chetts, a quart of Beer, as much wine, two pieces of 
 salt fish, six baconed herrings, four white ones, and a 
 dish of sprats ; and on flesh days half a chyne of mut- 
 ton or a chyne of boiled beef. Wooden trenchers 
 were in common use, and pewter as an ornamental 
 addition on great holidays. 
 
 This Earl was a Nobleman of great magnificence 
 and taste — a lover of literature, as his MSS. in the 
 British Museum, prove — and a patron of arts and 
 genius. Hall, in his Chronicle, describes the splendid 
 manner in which he conducted the Princess Margaret 
 to Scotland on her marriage with James IV. in 1303. 
 He was made a Knight of the Garter very early in 
 life, and died in 1527. 
 
HISTORY OF 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 Prhice Henry to Thomas Percy, Earl of Worcester, 
 
 Tell your nephew. 
 The Prince of Wales doth join with all the world 
 
 In praise of Henry Percy 
 
 I do not think, a braver gentleman, 
 More active-valiant, or more valiant-young, 
 More daring, or more bold, is now alive, 
 To grace this latter age with noble deeds. 
 
 First part of Henry IV,, Act V., Sc. I. 
 
 No authentic account of this Castle can be written, 
 however succinctly, without embracing at the same 
 time a history of the noble family of Percy. 
 
 The Castle is supposed to be of Roman origin, 
 and, in the time of our Saxon ancestors, it flourished 
 under the great northern family of Tyson. It belonged 
 to Gilbert Tyson, a great baron, whose son and heir, 
 
26 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 William Tyson, was slain fighting for King Harold at 
 the memorable battle of Hastings. Of his daughter 
 and heiress, Alda, William the conqueror assumed 
 the right of disposal, and gave her in marriage to one 
 of his Norman chieftains, named Ivo de Vescy, toge- 
 ther with the extensive possessions of her late father, 
 in Yorkshire, as well as at Alnwick. 
 
 From the Norman Conquest until the reign of 
 Edward II. this Castle was possessed by the baronial 
 family of De Vesci or Vescy, whose immense possessions 
 made them one of the most powerful in the kingdom. 
 
 Ivo de Vescy had issue by his marriage with Alda 
 Tyson, one child, Beatrix, who, at the instance of 
 Henry I., became the wife of Eustace Fitz-John. 
 W^illiam, son and heir of Eustace Fitz-John, changed 
 his father's name, and assumed to himself and posterity 
 the surname and arms of De Vescy, in right of his 
 mother Beatrix. He married Burga, the daughter of 
 Robert Stuteville, Lord of Knaresborough, and had 
 issue Eustace Lord Vescy, who married Margery, 
 the daughter of William king of Scotland. Eustace was 
 slain at Barnard Castle. William, his eldest son and 
 heir, had issue by his wife Agnes, daughter of William 
 de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, John Lord Vescy and 
 W^illiam. John, leaving no issue, was succeeded by 
 his brother William, who married Isabella the daughter 
 of Robert Perington, and widow of Robert Lord Wells. 
 William Lord Vescy, dying without legitimate issue, 
 did, by the king's license, enfeoff Anthony Bee, 
 Bishop of Durham, and titular patriarch of Jerusalem, 
 in the Castle and Barony of Alnwick, to him and his 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 27 
 
 heirs for ever. At the same time William gave to a 
 natural son of his, named also William de Vescy, large 
 possessions in Yorkshire, which he settled absolutely 
 on him and his heirs ; appointing him, as he was then 
 a minor, two guardians, whose names were Thomas 
 Plaiz and Geoffrey Gypsiner Clerk. 
 
 This deed of enfeoffment, still extant, in which the 
 conveyance to the bishop is absolute and unconditional, 
 confutes a report too hastily taken up by some histo- 
 rians, that this Castle and Barony were only given to the 
 bishop in trust for William, the bastard above-men- 
 tioned, and that he was guilty of a violation of this 
 trust in disposing of them otherwise. 
 
 The Castle and Barony of Alnwick continued twelve 
 years in the possession of Anthony Bee, bishop of 
 Durham, and were then by him granted and sold to 
 Henry Lord Percy, one of the greatest barons in the 
 north, who had distinguished himself in the wars with 
 Scotland, and whose family had enjoyed large posses- 
 sions in Yorkshire from the time of the conquest. 
 The grant was afterwards confirmed by the king at 
 Sheen, on January 23rd, 1310, (3 Edward 11.) to 
 Henry de Percy and his heirs ; who, to remove every 
 pretence of complaint, obtained a release of all right 
 and title to the inheritance from Sir Gilbert de Aton, 
 knight, the heir at law of the Lord William de Vescy 
 above mentioned. 
 
 From this period Alnwick Castle became the great 
 baronial seat, in the north, of the Lords de Percy, and 
 of their successors the Earls of Northumberland ; from 
 whom it has been transmitted in lineal succession to 
 
 9 
 
28 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 their illustrious representative, His Grace Hugh tlie 
 present Duke and Earl of Northumberland. 
 
 This noble family is descended from Mainfred, a 
 Danish chieftain, who made irruptions into France in 
 the ninth century, and his posterity settling in Nor- 
 mandy, took their name from the domain of Percy, in 
 that Province, which was granted by the famous 
 RoUo to Geoffrey, the son of Mainfred, 
 
 From this Geoffrey were immediately descended 
 William and Serlo, who came to England with the 
 Norman conqueror. William enjoyed the especial 
 favour of the king, who bestowed on him immense 
 territories and dignities. Serlo took orders, and 
 became abbot of Whitby Abbey in Yorkshire, founded 
 by his brother. William de Percy, surnamed Le 
 Gevnon or Algernon, married Emma de Port, lady 
 of the honour of Semar, whose father, a great Saxon 
 Lord, had been slain fighting for Harold. By her he 
 had issue three sons, of whom Allan the eldest suc- 
 ceeded him. He married Emma, daughter of Gilbert 
 de Gaunt, Lord of Hummundbre, and grand-daughter 
 of Gilbert, Earl of Lincoln, by whom he had five sons, 
 and was succeeded by William the eldest, who married 
 Alice, the daughter of Robert Lord Ross, and had 
 issue four sons, Allan, the eldest, dying without 
 issue, his titles devolved upon William, his brother, 
 one of the northern barons who distinguished them- 
 selves at the battle of Northallerton against the Scots. 
 He made a journey to Jerusalem, and died at Mount- 
 Joy in the Holy Land. He married Adelidis de 
 Tunebrigge, and had issue four sons, who all died 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 29 
 
 without issue, and two daughters, of whom Agnes 
 was his successor. She married Josceline de Louvaine 
 (a lineal descendant from the Emperor Charlemagne) 
 sou of Godfrey, Duke of Brabant, and brother to 
 Adelidis, wife of King Henry I. of England. On his 
 marriage with Agnes, he took the name of Percy, but 
 retained the arms of Brabant. 
 
 Richard, their eldest son and successor, died without 
 issue, and was succeeded by Henry his brother, who 
 married Isabel, daughter of Adam de Brus, of Skelton, 
 and was succeeded by his eldest son William, who 
 married Elan, daughter of William Lord Bardolph, 
 and had issue seven sons. He was succeeded by 
 Henry the eldest, who married Eleanor, daughter of 
 John, Earl of Warren and Surrey. He had three sons, 
 and on the death of the eldest, the honours and estates 
 devolved upon his youngest son Henry. 
 
 Previous to the reign of Edward I. the Percies were 
 Barons by tenure, but from this period they sat in 
 Parliament under a writ of summons. 
 
 L— 1 Edward L, a. d. 1272. 
 
 This Henry de Percy became of age 22 Edward L, 
 and he was created Baron Percy by writ of summons, 
 27 Edward I., 1299. He was an important personage 
 in this reign, especially in tlie Scottish Wars. He 
 purchased the Castle and Barony of Alnwick in 1309, 
 and died in 13 1 5. By Eleanor his wife, daughter of John 
 Fitzallan he had issue two sons, Henry and William. 
 II. — 8 Edward II., a. d. 1315. 
 
 Henry, his son, was second Baron Percy, and was 
 sixteen at his father's death : he was an active soldier, 
 c 
 
so 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 and was at the siege of Berwick, by Edward III., at the 
 battles of Hallidown Hill and NeviFs Cross. He was 
 the first of the Percies who possessed the Castle of 
 Warkworth, which he received by grant from the 
 crown, in lieu of an annual salary of 500 marks paid to 
 him for certain stipulated services. His life was 
 active and glorious, and, after signalizing himself in 
 many battles, he died February 26th, 1352, full of 
 years and honours, and was buried in the Abbey of 
 Alnwick. By Idonea his wife, daughter of Robert 
 Lord Clifford, he left four sons. He was succeeded 
 by his son Henry. 
 
 HI.— 26 Edward HI., a. d. 1352. 
 
 Henry, the eldest son, was thirty years of age when 
 his father died : he was the third Baron Percy. He 
 was at the battle of Crescy, and leader of one of 
 the wings at the battle of Nevifs Cross, where his 
 father had the chief command. He married the Lady 
 Mary Plantagenet, daughter of Henry Earl of Lan- 
 caster, and great grand-daughter of King Henry HI. 
 By this marriage there were two sons, Henry, his 
 successor, and Thomas, Earl of Worcester. He died 
 in the 42 of Edward HL 
 
 IV. — 42 Edward HL, a. d. 1368. 
 
 Henry, the fourth Baron Percy, and first Ear) of 
 Northumberland, K. G., was a great supporter of Wick- 
 lifte the reformer, by which his life was in imminent 
 danger. He was appointed Marshal of England ; 
 created Earl of Northumberland, July 16th, 1377, by 
 King Richard II., and was distinguished with the office 
 of High Constable of England and other high honours. 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 31 
 
 by Henry IV. But having suffered unmerited indignity 
 from King Henry IV. which the blood of the Percies 
 could not brook from one raised chiefly by them to 
 the throne, he joined in an insurrection against the 
 king, and was slain at the battle of Bramham Moor, 
 in the year 1408. He married, first, Margaret, 
 daughter of Ralph Lord Nevil, and sister of Ralph, 
 first Earl of Westmoreland. By her he had issue 
 Henry and other children. He married, secondly, 
 Maud, sister and heir of Anthony Lord Lucy, by 
 whom he had no issue. 
 
 His eldest son, Sir Henry Percy, Knight, from hia 
 Talour and magnanimous courage called Hotspur, 
 was one of the most distinguished personages of this 
 period. He was a Knight of the Garter, and filled 
 most important offices in the reigns of Richard II. and 
 Henry IV. He was Warden of the West Marches, 
 Sheriff of Northumberland, Governor of Berwick and 
 Roxburgh Castles ; Justice of Chester, North Wales, 
 and Flintshire ; Grantee for life of the Castle and 
 Lordship of Bamburgh ; Constable of Chester, Flint, 
 Conway, and Caernarvon Castles ; and Sheriff of Flint- 
 shire for life ; Grantee for life of the whole County 
 and Dominion of Anglesey, and the Castle of Beau- 
 maris. After a life distinguished by valorous achieve- 
 ments and martial glory, he was slain at the battle of 
 Shrewsbury, on the 22nd of July, 1403. He married 
 Eleanor, eldest daughter of Edmund Mortimer, Earl 
 of March, by Philippa his wife, only daughter and 
 heir of Lionel, Duke of Clarence, second son of Edward 
 III., by whom he had issue one son and a daughter^ 
 
32 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE, 
 
 Hotspur and his brother were taken prisoners at 
 the battle of Otterburn in the year 1388, in which 
 fight he slew Earl Douglas. He was afterwards ex- 
 changed for Sir Hugh Montgomery, a prisoner taken 
 by the English. 
 
 This fray began at Otterbiirne, 
 
 Between the night and day; 
 There the Douglas lost his life, 
 
 And the Percy was led away. 
 
 Battle of Otterburn, Fercy^s Reliques. 
 
 v.— 9 Henry IV., A. d. 1408. 
 Henry, the son and heir of Hotspur, the fifth 
 Baron Percy and second Earl, after the death of his 
 father, was carried into Scotland in the time of King 
 Henry IV. ; but in the reign of King Henry V., by the 
 labour of Joan Countess of Westmoreland, whose 
 daughter Eleanor he had married in coming into 
 England, he recovered the King's grace and the county 
 of Northumberland. The early history of this Earl 
 and his Countess is beautifully told in the ballad of 
 the " Hermit of Warkworth." 
 
 She, suppliant at her nephew's throne, 
 
 The royal grace implor'd : 
 To all the honours of his race. 
 
 The Percy was restor'd. 
 The youthful Earl still more and more 
 
 Admir'd his beauteous dame; 
 Nine noble sons to him she bore, 
 
 All worthy of their name. 
 
 The Castle of Alnwick was his favourite residence, 
 and he caused the town to be fortified by a stone 
 wall flanked by four gates and square towers. In the 
 time of peace and leisure, he patronized learning and 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 33 
 
 the liberal arts. In the dreadful carnage at St. Albans, 
 A. D. 1455, this nobleman fell fighting in support of 
 the king. Of the nine sons above referred to, he was 
 succeeded by his eldest son Henry. 
 
 VI.— 33 Henry VI., a. d. 1455. 
 Henry, the sixth Baron Percy and third Earl, was 
 thirty years of age at his father's death : he married 
 Eleanor, daughter and sole heiress of Richard Lord 
 Poinings, Fitz-Payne, and Bryan; and by the title 
 of Poinings he was summoned to parliament in 
 the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Henry VL 
 In the contention between the houses of York and 
 Lancaster, the Earl joined the party of King Henry. 
 He commanded the van-guard of the army at the 
 famous battle of Ferrybridge ; and the snow blowing 
 in the face of his troops, he led them on to charge 
 sword in hand, when a sanguinary conflict continued 
 for ten hours, and the valiant Earl fell in the general 
 carnage. On the succession of Edward IV. the late 
 Earl was attainted, and the earldom of Northumberland 
 was granted to John Nevill, Lord Montacute, and 
 brother to the Earl of Warwick. 
 
 VIL— 1 Edward IV., a, d. 1461. 
 Henry Percy, the son and heir, seventh Baron Percy 
 and fourth Earl of Northumberland, being in minority 
 when his father was slain, he was committed to the 
 tower till the year 1469, when on taking the oaths of 
 allegiance to Edward IV. his titles and possessions 
 were restored to him. In the fourth year of Henry 
 VII. the Earl was appointed Lord Lieutenant of the 
 county of York, and being active in enforcing the tax 
 levied for carrying on the war in Brittany, he enraged 
 
34 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 the populace, who assaulted the Earl, and put him to 
 death at Cockledge, near Thirsk, in the year 1489. 
 He married Maud, daughter of William Herbert, first 
 Earl of Pembroke of that name. 
 
 VIII.— 5 Henry VIL, a. d. 1489. 
 
 He was succeeded by his son Henry, the eighth 
 Baron Percy and fifth Earl of Northumberland, K. G., * 
 who, on the marriage of Margaret to the Scottish mon- 
 arch, is said to have exceeded in splendour all the 
 nobility present, being more like a prince than a subject. 
 He married Catherine, daughter of Sir Robert Spencer 
 and Eleanor his wife, who was daughter and coheir of 
 Edmund Beaufort, Duke of Somerset. This Earl 
 caused the celebrated Household Book to be prepared, 
 the best record now existing of the economy of a 
 great Baron's Household, in the days of Henry VII. 
 and VIII. This Earl died in the eighteenth year of 
 Henry VI IL, and was buried at Beverley. He was 
 succeeded by his eldest son Henry. 
 
 IX.— 18 Henry VIII., a. d. 1526. 
 
 Henry, the ninth Baron Percy and sixth Earl, 
 K. G., married Mary, daughter of George, Earl of 
 Shrewsbury. On November 4th, 1530, he arrested 
 Cardinal Wolsey of high treason. He died without 
 issue, in the twenty-ninth year of Henry VIII. He 
 was passionately attached to the beautiful and un- 
 fortunate Anne Boleyn. 
 
 X —29 Henry VIIL, a. d. 1538. 
 
 Sir Thomas Percy (the last Earl's brother) having 
 been attainted for rebellion, the earldom became vacant 
 on the death of the Earl. However, Queen Mary, in 
 the fourth year of her reignj restored Thomas Percy, 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 35 
 
 nephew of the sixth Earl, to the honours of his 
 ancestors ; the patent setting forth that his restoration 
 was made "in consideration of his noble descent, 
 constancy, virtues, valour in deeds of arms, and other 
 shining qualifications." He was the tenth Baron 
 Percy and seventh Earl. Some causes of discontent 
 having arisen, he joined the northern conspiracy, and 
 appeared in open rebellion in the thirteenth year of 
 the reign of Queen Elizabeth. He and his Countess, 
 Ann, daughter of the Earl of Worcester, were convicted 
 of high treason, and he was beheaded at York on the 
 22nd of August, 1572. He left no male issue. 
 
 XL— 14 Elizabeth, a.d. 1572. 
 Sir Henry Percy, his brother, became the eleventh 
 Baron Percy and eighth Earl, by virtue of the entail in 
 Queen Mary s patent. In the eighteenth year of the 
 reign of Queen Elizabeth, he was summoned to parlia- 
 ment by the distinction of Earl of Northumberland 
 and Baron Percy. Being suspected of plotting to set 
 the Queen of Scots at liberty, he was committed to 
 the tower, in 1585, where he was found dead in his 
 bed, having three pistol shots under his left breast. 
 He married Catherine, eldest daughter and coheir of 
 John Nevill, Lord Latimer, and had issue eight som 
 and three daughters. 
 
 XIL— 37 Elizabeth, a. d. 1585. 
 He was succeeded by his eldest son Henry, the 
 twelfth Baron Percy and ninth Earl. He was just 
 twenty-one when his father died. He was one of 
 those lords who hired vessels to accompany the Lord 
 High Admiral against the Spanish Armada. But 
 being suspected as an accomplice in the Gunpowder 
 
36 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 Plot, he was committed to the tower. In 1614 he 
 paid a fine of thirty thousand pounds for misprison of 
 treason only ; and in 1621 his liberty was restored, 
 after a confinement of fifteen years. He died on 
 the 5th of November^ 1632, and was buried at Pet- 
 worth. It is a curious coincidence that he who had 
 suffered so much on account of the Gunpowder Plot, 
 should have departed this life on its anniversary. He 
 married Dorothy, daughter of Walter Devereux, Earl 
 of Essex, and had issue four sons and two daughters. 
 XIII.—8 Charles L, a. d. 1632. 
 His two eldest sons dying in infancy, he was succeed- 
 ed by his third son Algernon, K. G., the thirteenth 
 Baron Percy and tenth Earl, who was appointed Lord 
 High Admiral of England, and elevated to the highest 
 dignities. He partook of those unhappy reverses 
 of fortune which followed his sovereign Charles L 
 Being disgusted with state affairs, he retired from 
 public business till the restoration of Charles IL, in 
 which he took an active part. By Elizabeth, daughter 
 of Theophilus, Earl of Suffolk, he had issue Josceline, 
 his only son and successor. He died in October, 1668. 
 XIV.— 20 Charles II., a. d. 1668. 
 Josceline, the fourteenth Baron Percy and eleventh 
 Earl of Northumberland, married Elizabeth, daughter 
 of Thomas^ Earl of Southampton, and Lord High 
 Treasurer of England. He was made Lord Lieuten- 
 ant and Custos Rotulorum of the county of Sussex, 
 and Lord Lieutenant of the county of Northumberland. 
 He died at Turin, on 21st May, 1670, and, being 
 brought to England, was interred at Petworth. His 
 only son, Henry, died in infancy. 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 37 
 
 XV.— 22 Charles II., a. d. 1670. 
 
 Lady Elizabeth Percy was the eldest and only 
 surviving daughter of the last Earl, and Baroness 
 Percy in her own right, the fifteenth in succession. 
 She was married while a minor: first, in 1679, to 
 the Earl of Ogle, son and heir to the Duke of New- 
 castle ; secondly, claimed in marriage by Thomas 
 Thynne, Esq., who was murdered ; and thirdly, married 
 to Charles, Duke of Somerset. She was the greatest 
 heiress of the age. By the Duke she left issue three 
 sons and four daughters. Only one son, the Earl of 
 Hertford, lived to maturity ; and of the four daughters 
 only one left issue, from whom were descended the 
 Earls of Egremont. This Baroness died on the 
 23rd of November, 1722. 
 
 XVI.— 9 George I., a. d. 1722. 
 
 Algernon, her only surviving son, the Earl of 
 Hertford, became sixteenth Baron Percy, and took 
 his seat in the house of Peers in the place of that 
 ancient Barony in 1722 : he was also heir of the 
 other five Baronies. He was created Earl of Northum- 
 berland. He married Frances Thynne, daughter and 
 coheir of Henry only son of Thomas first Viscount 
 Weymouth. He succeeded as Duke of Somerset on 
 the death of his father, on the 2nd of December, 1748. 
 He was a military officer, and Colonel of the Royal 
 Horse Guards. His Grace died on the 7th February, 
 1750, without issue male, but leaving an only child, 
 Elizabeth, wife of Sir Hugh Smithson, Bart, His 
 Grace had an only son, George Lord Viscount Beau- 
 champ, who died at Bologna, on the 22nd of July, 
 1744, aged 19. 
 
38 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 XVII. — 23 George IL, a. d. 1730. 
 
 Lady Elizabeth was married on the 16th July, 1740, 
 to Sir Hugh. On the death of her father, she suc- 
 ceeded to the title of Baroness Percy (the seventeenth 
 in succession), and to the other five Baronies of Lucy, 
 Poynings, Fitz-Payne, Bryan, and Latimer. She was 
 the first Duchess of Northumberland ; her husband 
 having been, by George IL, created Baron Warkworth 
 and Earl of Northumberland, and by George III., 
 Duke of Northumberland. His Grace was also 
 created, in 1784, Lord Louvaine, Baron of Alnwick, 
 with remainder to Algernon, his second son, and the 
 heirs male of his body. His Grace held the high and 
 princely office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and died 
 in 1786. Her Grace died on the 5th of December, 
 1776. By his illustrious consort. His Grace had two 
 sons, Hugh, the second Duke of Northumberland, and 
 Algernon, Earl of Beverley ; also one daughter, Anne 
 Frances, who died unmarried. 
 
 XVIII. — 26 George III., a.d. 1786. 
 Upon the death of his mother, Hugh, the eldest son, 
 
 became eighteenth Baron Percy, and succeeded to the 
 other Baronies; and, at his father's death, second Duke 
 of Northumberland. He married in July, 1764, the 
 Lady Ann Stewart, third daughter of John, Earl of 
 Bute, which marriage was dissolved by act of parliament 
 in May, 1779. His Grace was afterwards united to 
 Frances Julia, third daughter of Peter Burrell, Esq. of 
 Beckenham, in Kent, by whom he had issue six 
 daughters, of which number one only survives, the 
 Lady Agnes ; and two sons, Hugh Earl Percy, born 
 April 20th, 1785 ; and Algernon, born December 
 
ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 39 
 
 15th, 1792, and created Baron Prudhoe of Prudhoe 
 Castle in Northumberland, on August 14th, 1816» 
 XIX.— 57 George III., a. d. 1817. 
 Hugh, the third and present Duke, the nineteenth 
 Baron Percy and fourteenth Earl of Northumberland, 
 was member of Parliament for the city of West- 
 minster, and for the county of Northumberland, 
 from 1807 until he was called to the House of 
 Lords in his father's life-time : he was summoned 
 there as Baron Percy, on the 12th of March, 1812, and 
 was placed by the House in the precedency of that 
 ancient Barony, created in 1299. He succeeded his 
 late father on July 10th, 1817. He married on the 
 29th of April, 1817, the Lady Charlotte-Florentia 
 Clive, youngest daughter of Edward, Earl of Powis. 
 His Grace's arms, emblazoned with those of the 
 
 Duchess's are in the 
 margin. His titles 
 are — " The Most 
 Noble Hugh Duke 
 and Earl of North- 
 umberland, Earl and 
 Baron Percy, Baron 
 Lucy, Poynings, 
 Fitz- Payne, Bryan, 
 Latimer, and Warkworth ; and Baronet ; Lord Lieu- 
 tenant and Gustos Rotulorum of the County of North- 
 umberland, and of the town and county of the town of 
 Newcastle upon Tyne, Vice- Admiral of the same and 
 of the maritime parts thereof, one of the Lords of 
 Her Majesty's most honourable Privy Council, H^r 
 Majesty's Trustee for the British Museum, Chancellor 
 
40 
 
 ALNWICK CASTLE. 
 
 of the University of Cambridge, Constable of Launces- 
 ton Castle, High Steward of Launceston, and Knight 
 of the Most Noble Order of the Garter." 
 
 Lord Prudhoe married, on the 28th of August, 
 1842, the Lady Eleanor Grosvenor, daughter of 
 Richard Earl Grosvenor, now Marquis of Westminster. 
 
 For the curious in heraldry, subjoined is the descrip- 
 tion of the Arms of this ancient and noble Family. 
 
 ARMS. — Quarterly, first and fourth grand quarters, counter- 
 quartered. First and fourth, Or, a lion rampant az* 
 (being the ancient arms of the Duke of Brabant and 
 Lovaine). Second and third, Gu, three luces or pikes 
 haurient ar, for Lucy. Second and third grand quar- 
 ters, A%. Jive fusils conjoined in fess or, for Percy, 
 
 CREST. — On a chapeau gu. turned up with erm. a lion 
 statant az. the tail extended, 
 
 BADGE. — A crescent ar, within the horns per pale $a, and 
 gu, charged with a double manacle fessways or, 
 
 SUPPORTERS Dexter, a lion rampant az. Sinister, a 
 
 lion ramp, guard, or, ducally crowned of the last, gorged 
 with a collar gobony ar, and az, 
 
 MOTTO. ESFERANCE EN DjEU, 
 
-^^^>.:7 */ ^ 
 
GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE 
 
 3125 01034 2661