Digitized by the Internet Archive - in 2014 https://archive.org/details/journeyfromchestOOpenn THE JOURNEY FROM CHESTER TO LONDON, BY THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ. WITH NOTES. LONDON: PRINTED FOR WILKIE AND ROBINSON; J. NUNN J WHITE AND COCHRANE ; LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN ; VERNOR, HOOD, AND SHARPE J CADELL AND DAVIES ; J. HARDING ; J. RICHARDSON } J. BOOTH ; J. MAWMAN J AND J. JOHNSON AND CO. 1811. ADVERTISEMENT. The ground which is described in the following sheets, has been for some centuries passed over by the incurious Traveller ; and has had the hard fortune of being constantly execrated for its dul- ness. To retort the charge, and clear it from the calumny, is my present business. To shew that the road itself, or its vicinity, is replete with either antient historic facts, or with matter worthy of pre- sent attention, is an affair of no great difficulty. Possibly my readers may subscribe to the opinion, that the tract is not absolutely devoid of entertain- ment, and that the blame rests on themselves, not the country. Whatsoever entertainment they may meet with, let them join with me in thanks to the fol- lowing contributors. Firstly and chiefly, to the ADVERTISEMENT. Reverend Mr. Cole of Milton, near Cambridge ; after him, to the Reverend Doctor Edwards, of Nuneaton, near Coventry ; to Mr. Greene, Sur- geon, in Lichfield ; and to the Reverend Arch- deacon Coxe, of Flit ton, Bedfordshire. To these Gentlemen I owe great obligations for their assist- ance. Public ! smile on what is right: candidly con- vey correction of what is wrong. THOMAS PENNANT. Downing, March 1782. vii ITINERARY. PART I. Page Chester .... 1 Christleton .... 2 Tarvin 5 Torporley .... 9 Beeston Castle ... 14 Bunbury . . . 19 Acton 26 Nantwich .... 32 Wybunbury ... 49 Doddington Hall . . 53 Wore 60 Swinerton .... 65 Darlaston .... 66 Stone 77 Sandon 80 Chartley 84 Stow Church ... 87 Heywood .... 89 Shugborough ... 91 Tixal 94 Ingestre 97 Stafford 99 Page Colwich ..... 107 Blithefield . . . .110 Maveston Ridware . 118 King's Bromley . . 120 Wichnor . . . . . 121 Rudgley 128 Longdon 129 Beaudesert . . . .130 Lichfield .... 136 Ilford 159 Croxal 162 Tamworth . . . .164 LichHeld 171 Canwell 172 Moxhull ..... 173 Coleshill 174 Blithe Hall .... 179 Maxstoke Castle . . 182 Packington . . . .184 Mireden 185 Coventry 188 Combe Abbey ... 237 Knightlow .... 250 \ ■ ITINERARY. Page Dunchurch . . . .251 Braunston .... 253 Daventry . . . .255 Borough Hill ... 258 Wedon 264 Stow Nine Churches 267 Toucester .... 272 Easton Neston . . .275 Stoney Stratford . . 284 Blecheley . . . . ib. Fenny Stratford . . 289 Little Brickhill . . .290 Hockliffe .... 291 Dunstable .... 292 Market Cell .... 299 Redburn ! .... 301 Gorhambury . . . 304 Verulamium . . . 339 St.Alban's .... 348 Hadley . : ... 386 Barnet . . . . . 390 London . . . . .392 PART II. Daventry .... 393 Badby 393 Fawsley 394 Page Northampton . 402 Castle Ashby . , . 418 Easton Mauduit . 426 Northampton . . . 432 De la Pre Abbey . ib. Horton Church . 435 Tyringham . . . 455 Newport Fagnel . 458 Woburn Town . . . 463 Abbey . . 464 Ampthill . . . . . 498 Houghton Park . . 505 Maulden Church . . 507 Flitton Church . . . 521 Ho . . . . 529 TT 1.H _1 J too Enfield Palace . . . 560 Waltham . . . . 562 Theobalds . . . . 567 THE J O LI R N E Y TO LONDON. In March 1 780, I began my annual journey to London. At Chester some improvements had taken place since my last account of the city. A very commodious building has been erected in the Yatchjicld, near the Watergate street, for the sale of Irish linen at the two fairs. It surrounds a large square area; on each side of which are piazzas, with numbers of shops well adapted for the purpose. In digging the foundation for certain houses near the street, were discovered some Roman buildings, and a large Hypocaust with its several conveniences ; and some other antiquities, parti- cularly a beautiful altar a , dedicated Fortune Reduci et JEsculapio. Much of its inscription is a Engraven in Moses Griffith's Supplemental Plates to the Tours in Wales, tab. X. B BOUGHTON. CI1RISTLETON. defaced; but the rudder, cornucopia, rod, serpent, and various sacrificial instruments, are in good preservation. On leaving the city, I passed under the fine arch of the East Gate : a work owing to the mu- nificence of Lord Grosvenor. Boughton. Boughton, a suburb in the parish of St. Osxvald. a little disjoined from this part of the city, had before the dissolution an hospital 5 for poor lepers, as early as the beginning of Edward II. From an eminence, the retreat of the unfortunate brave c , is a view of very uncommon beauty. It commands two fine reaches of the Dee, one bounded by meadows and hanging woods, the other terminated by part of the city, the antient bridge, and over it a distant view of the Cambrian hills. Adjoining to that part of Bought on which is within the liberties of the city, is the township of Bought on, in the county of Chester; the inhabit- ants of which appear at the court of the dean and chapter of Chester, and pay there a chief rent : but usually clame and dispose of the wastes. Near the two miles stone I crossed the canal to Christ let on } a pretty village, seated, as is usual Tanner, 65. c Criminals are now executed by the new city gaol, which ha 1 ? been erected near the infirmary, En. CHRISTLETON. with those of Cheshire, on the freestone rock, Cristetone, as it is called in Doomsday book, was held before the Conquest by Earl Edwin. At that event, probably, it had a chapel, or very soon after. This manor had been bestowed by Hugh Lupus on Robert Fltz Hugh, one of his followers, who gave the chapel of Cristentune, with the land belonging to it, and the land of a certain peasant, with the peasant himself, to the abbey of Chester*. His great great grand- daughter Isabel, wife of Sir Philip Burnet, joined with her husband in suing the abbey for this, and some other contiguous manors. It is probable that the monks mi«;ht have taken advantage of a fit of remorse for some crime, or the weakness of an illness, to obtain this gift from her ancestor. They thought fit to compromise the matter with her ; and on payment of two hundred pounds re- ceived, in 1280, the ninth of Edzvard I. a con- firmation of the grant : and at the same time full liberty was given to the abbot to make a reservoir of water, and to convey it to the abbey. In the year 1282, William de Birmingham had free warren given him of all his demesne lands in this village ; but it is apprehended he was only an inferior lord to the paramount privileges of the A Dugdde, Mon. i. 201. CHRISTLETON. abbey. In the Saxon times, every man was allowed to kill game on his own estate, but on the Conquest the king vested the property of all the game in him- self, so that no one could sport, even on his own land, under most cruel penalties, without permission from the king, by grant of a chase or free warren. By this, the grantee had an exclusive power of killing game on his own estate, but it was on con- dition that he prevented every one else ; so that, as our learned commentator e observes, this seem- ing favour w r as intended for the preservation of the beasts and fowls of ivarren ; which were roes, hares, and rabbits, partridge, rails, and quails, woodcocks and pheasants, mallards, and herons, for the sport of our savage monarchs. This liberty, which they allowed to a few individuals, being designed merely to prevent a general de- struction. Christ let on passed from the Birminghams, in Richard II.' s time, to Sir Hugh Browcr : Sir Hugh lost it by his attachment to the house of York; and Henry the IVth, in the fourth year of his reign, bestowed it on John Mamvaring, of Over Peover, an attendant on his son, afterwards Henry V f . Mamvaring having no lawful issue, bestowed this place on Sir Thomas le Grosvcnor, e Judge Blackstone. f Leicester, 333. CHRISTLETON. TARVIN. 5 lord of Hulme; but it passed immediately from him to John de Macclesfield, in the 10th of Henry V. One of his descendants alienated it, in 1442 y or the 21st of Henry VI. to Humphrey (afterward Duke) of Buckingham. Henry Lord Stafford, son to Edzvard Duke of Buckingham, sold it to Sir William Sncyde, of Keel; and Sir Ralph Sneyde, to Sir John Harpur, of Swersion, in Derbyshire ; one of whose descendants sold it to Thomas Brock*, Esquire, the present lord of the manor. The living is a rectory, in the disposal of Sir Roger Mostyn : the church is dedicated to St. James. From hence I took the horse-road across Brownheath, by Hockenhall, formerly the seat of a family of the same name. The rising country to the left of this road appears to great advantage, opposing to the traveller a fair front, beautifully clumped with self-planted groves. Passed over a brook, and reached the small town of Tarvin, which still retains nearly its British name Terfyn, or the Boundary, being so to the forest of Delamere. In Doomsday book it is stiled Terve : the bishop at that time held it. It then contained six taxable hides of land. The bishop kept on it six cowmen, three radmen, seven * On Mr. Erodes decease, the manor devolved on his nephew John Brock Wood, Esq. Ed. m 6 TARVIN. villeyns, seven boors, and six ploughlands. The first were to keep his cattle ; the second to attend his person in his travels, or to go wheresoever he pleased to send them ; the third, by their tenure, to cultivate his lands ; and the fourth, to supply his table with poultry, eggs, and other small matters. The plough land, or caruca, was as much as one plough could work in the year. This shews the establishment of a manor in those early times ; which I mention now to prevent repetition. In Henri/ VI. s time the village and manor were estimated at 23/. a year, and were held by Regi- 7iald, bishop of Lichfield, in the same manner as they were held by his predecessors, under the Prince of TVales, as earl of Chester. They conti- nued possessed by them till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when they were alienated to Sir John Savage, who procured for the town the privilege of a market. The church is a rectory, and still continues part of the see of Lichfield ; being a prebendary, originally founded about the year 1226, by Alexander de Stavenby, bishop of that diocese. It is valued at 267. 1 3s. Ad. the highest endowment of any prebend in that cathedral. It is called the prebend of Tarvin, which presents to the living. The same prelate also bestowed this church TARVIN. 7 on the vice-prebendal church of Burton, in t¥irdi h ; and formed out of its revenues an hos- pital for shipwrecked persons. This hospital was probably at Burton, Tarvin being too remote from the sea for so humane a design. Against the church-wall is a monument, in memory of Mr. John Thomasine, thirty-six years master of the grammar- school. The epitaph de- servedly celebrates the performances of this ex- quisite penman, as " highly excelling in all the " varieties of writing, and wonderfully so in the " Greek characters. Specimens of his ingenuity " are treasured up, not only in the cabinets of i( the curious, but in public libraries throughout " the kingdom. He had the honour to tran- " scribe, for her Majesty Queen Anne, the Icon u Basilike of her royal grandfather. Invaluable " copies also of Pindar, Anacreon, Theocritus , u Epictetus, Hippocrates s Aphorisms, and that <£ finished piece the Shield of Achilles, as described " by Homer, are among the productions of his " celebrated pen. " As his incomparable performances acquired (i him the esteem and patronage of the great and " learned ; so his affability and humanity gained u him the good-will of all his acquaintance ; and h Anglia Sacra, i. 446". 8 STAPLEFORD. UTKINTON. " the decease of so much private worth is re- " gretted as a public loss." From Tarvin I travel on the great road, and at about two miles distance, leave on the right Sta- pleford, which retains the name it had at the Conquest, when it was held by Radulpus Venator from Hugh Lupus. After a long interval, it fell to the BreYetons. In 1378, or the second of Richard II. it was held by Sir William Brereton of the king, as earl of Chester. From that family it passed to the Bruyns, and was purchased by the late Handle Wilbraham, Esquire. Two miles farther, on the left, stood Ut hint on Hall: the manor, with Kingsley, and the bailey- wick of the forest of Delamere, was given by Handle Meschines, earl of Chester, to Handle de Kingsley ; whose great grand-daughter Joan, about the year 1233, conveyed it to the Dones. Richard Done was possessed of it in 1311, the sixth of Edward II. He held it by a quarter part of a knight's fee, and the master forestership of Mere (Delamere) and Mottram, by himself, and a horseman, and eight footmen under him, to keep that forest, then valued at 1 0/. 1 0s. 3d. Upon the failure of issue male of Sir John Done, in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the manor of Utkinton came to his daughters, and has been since held by them, or persons claming THE DONES. TORPOR LEY. under them. Mary, the second daughter, mar- ried, in 1636, John, second son of Sir Handle Crew, of Crexv ; and Elinor, the younger, Ralph Arderne, Esquire. The Dones of Flaxy ard, in this neighborhood, were another considerable family, at constant feud with the former, till the houses were united by the nuptials of the heir of Flaxyard with the heiress of Utkinton. But at this time both those antient seats are demolished, or turned into farm-houses. From hence I soon reached Torporky, a small town, seated on a gentle descent. It had once been a borough town, of which Richard Francis was mayor in the twentieth of Fdxvard I. In the tenth of the same reign, Hugh de Tarpoley had licence to hold a market here every Tuesday, and a fair on the vigil, the feast day, and the day after the exaltation of the Holy Cross ; but he alienated this privilege, with this property, to Reginald de Grey, chief justice of Chester, In the eighth of Richard II. this manor was divided into two moieties ; one of which was held by John Done, the other by Reginald Grey, of the family of Lord Grey, of Ruthin. The manor and rectory of Torpor ley are now divided into six shares : four belong to the Ar- dens ; one to the dean and chapter of Chester ; 10 TORPORLEY. and another to Philip Egerton 1 , Esquire, of Quit on. The living is a rectory, the advowson of which is divided into the same portions as the manor. The church is dedicated to St. Helen, the Empress of Const ant ius 9 the daughter of Coel y a British prince, a popular saint among us, if we may judge from the number of churches under her protection. That in question is of no great antiquity, in respect to the building ; nor has it any beauty. Within is much waste of good marble, in monumental vanity. The best are two monuments in the chancel, seemingly copied from half-length portraits. Two figures in mezzo relievo are included in carved borders of marble, in imitation of frames : that of Sir John Done, Knight, hereditary forester and keeper of the forest of Delamere, who died in 1629, is picturesque. He is represented, in a laced jacket, and with a horn in his hand, the badge of his office : which horn descended to the different owners of the estate, and is now in the possession of John Arden, Esquire. When that Nimrod, James L made a progress in 1617, he was entertained by this gentleman at Utkinton; " who ordered so wisely and content- 1 His son John Egerton, Esquire, is the present proprietor. Ed. / TORPORLEY. n ;f fully" says King*, "his Highnesss sports, that a James conferred on him the honor of knighthood." He married Dorothy, daughter of Thomas JVil- braham, Esquire, of I Food hey ; who left behind her so admirable a character, that, to this day, when a Cheshire man would express some excel- lency in one of the fair sex, he would say, " There i 6 is Lady D o sr e for you. The other figure is of John Crew, Esquire, second son of Sir Randle Crezv, of Crexv, Knight, married to Mary, daughter of Sir John Done. His face is represented in profile, with long hair. He died 1670. His lady, and her elder sister Jane Done, an antient virgin, lie at full length in the Utkinton chapel, with long and excellent characters. One lies recumbent ; the other reclined and strait laced, which gives little grace in statuary. Jane died in 1662; Mrs. Crezv, in 1690, aged 86. Sir John Crezv, Knight, son of Mr. John Crezv, lies reclined on an altar-tomb, with a vast perri- wig, and a Roman dress, with a whimpering ge- nius at his head and feet. Sir John married, first, Mary, daughter of Thomas Wagstaff, of Tach- brook, in IVarzvicksldre, Esquire; and secondly, k Vak Royal, ii. 106. BEESTON HALL. Mary, daughter of Sir JVillughby Aston, of As- ton, Baronet. He died in 1711, aged 7 1 . I must not quit this place without letting fall a few tears, as a tribute to the memory of its ho- nest rector John Allen ; whose antiquarian know- lege and hospitality, I have often experienced on this great thoroughfare to the capital. From the antient rectorial house, at the bottom of the town, is an aweful view of the great rock of Bees- ton, backed by the Peckfreton hills, tempting me to take a nearer survey. The distance is about two miles. In my way I crossed the canal at Beeston Bridge, and called at the poor remains of Beeston Hall, the manor- house, inhabited by the agent for the estate. This place was burnt by prince Rupert, during the civil wars. There is a tradition, that he had dined that day with the lady of the house. After dinner, he told her, that he was sorry that he was obliged to make so bad a return for her hospita- lity; advised her to secure any valuable effects she had, for he must order the house to be burnt that night, lest it should be garrisoned by the enemy. Tins manor had been part of the barony of Malpas, and was held under the lords, by the fa- mily of De Bunbury ; who changed their Norman BEESTON HALL. 13 name, St. Pierre, and assumed that of the place where they first settled. In 1271, or the fifty-sixth of Henry III. Henry de Bunbury, and Margery his wife, gave it to their nephew Richard, who made the place his residence, and assumed its name. It continued in his family for many generations. Sir George Beeston possessed it in the forty-fourth of Queen Elizabeth. At length, by the marriage of Mar- garet, daughter of Sir Hugh Beeston, with Wil- liam Whitemore, of Leighton, it was conveyed into that house ; and as suddenly transferred, by Bridget, heiress of Mr. Whitemore, to Darcie Savage, second son to Thomas Viscount Savage, of Rock Savage ; whose grand-daughter, another Bridget, brought it by marriage to Sir Thomas Mostyn, Baronet, with the lordships of Peckf re- ton, Leighton, and Thornton ; in whose house they still remain. This lady was a Roman Ca- tholic. Tradition is warm in her praise, and full of her domestic virtues, and the particular atten- tion that she shewed in obliging her domestics, of each religion, to attend their respective churches. Her husband and she ' were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they xvere not divided: they died within a day or two of each other, at Gloddaeth, in Caernarvonshire, and were 14 BEESTON ROCK, AND CASTLE. interred in the neighboring church of Eghvys Rhos. At a small distance from the hall, is the great insulated rock of Bees ton, composed of sand-stone, very lofty and precipitous at one end, and sloped down into the flat country at the other. Its height, from Beestoi Bridge to the summit, is three hundred and sixty-six feet. From the sum- mit is a most extensive view on every side, ex- cept where interrupted by the Peckfreton hills. The land appears deeply indented by the estuaries of the Dee and Mersey, and the canal from Ches- ter appears a continued slender line of water from that city to almost the base of this eminence. To this place its utility has been proved to all the market-women of the neighboring farmers, who have the benefit of Treck-schuyts to convey their merchandize to their capital : a few coals also come up, and a little timber ; and these form the sum of their present commerce. This rock is crowned with the ruins of a strong Beeston fortress, which rose in the year 1220; founded by Cattle. /Jtfwtffe Blondeville, earl of Chester, on his return out of the Holy Land ; for which purpose, and for the building of Chariley Castle, he raised a tax upon all his estates \ At that time it belonged 1 Polychronicon, cccvi. BEESTON CASTLE. to the lords of the manor of Bcestoji ; from whom he obtained leave to erect his castle. It devolved afterwards to the crown; for, according to Er- desxvick™, Sir Hugh Beeston purchased it from Queen Elizabeth^ and restored it to his lordship. It had been a place of very great strength. The access, about midway of the slope, was defended by a great gateway, and a strong wall fortified with round towers, which ran from one edge of the precipice to the other, across the slope ; but never surrounded the hill, as is most erroneously represented in the old print. Some of the walls, and about six or seven roundel's, still exist. A square tower, part of the gateway, is also stand- ing. Within this cincture is a large area, per- haps four or five acres in extent. Near the top is the castle, defended, on this side, by an ama- zing ditch, cut out of the live rock ; on the other, by the abrupt precipice that hangs over the vale of Cheshire. The entrance is through a noble gateway, guarded on each side by a great rounder, whose walls are of a prodigious thickness. Within the yard is a rectangular building, the chapel of the place. The draw-well was of a most surprising depth ; being sunk through the higher part of the Polychromcon, cccvi- BEESTON CASTLE. rock, to the level of Beesto?i brook, that runs be- neath ! In the area just mentioned, was another well : both at this time are filled up ; but King remembered the first to have been eighty, the other ninety-one, yards deep, although the last is said to have been half filled with stones and rub- bish n . We are quite unacquainted with the events that befel this strong hold, for several centuries after its foundation. $toxv° says, that Richard 11. lodged^here his great treasures during his expedi- tion into Ireland, and garrisoned it with an hun- dred men of arms, chosen and able ; who, on the approach of Henry duke of Lancaster, yielded it to the usurper. But other historians assert, that his treasures were placed in the castle of Holt. The fortress certainty fell into decay soon after this reign ; for Lcland, in his poem on the birth of Edward VI. speaks of it as in ruin, when he makes Fame to alight on its summit, and foretell its restoration. — Explicuit dehinc Fama suas perniciter alas, Ahaque fulminei petiit Jovis atria victrix, Circuiens liquiui spatiosa volumina cceli. Turn quoque despexit terrain, sublimis, ocellos Sidereos figens Bisduni in mcenia castri, &c. n Vale Royal, iii. Annals, 321. BEESTON CASTLE. 17 Thence to Joves palace she prepare! to fly With out-stretch'd pinions through the yielding sky ; Wide o'er the circuit of the ample space, Survey'd the subject earth and human race. Sublime in air she cast her radiant eyes. Where far-fam'd Beestons airy turrets rise: High on a rock it stood, whence all around Each fruitful valley, and each rising ground, In beauteous prospect lay ; these scenes to view, Descending swift, the wondering goddess flew. Perch'd on the topmost pinnacle, she shook Her sounding plumes, and thus in rapture spoke : structions to the natives. Salt was an early import into Britain, but it was only to the Cassiterides u , and the neighboring parts which -w ere remote from the salt-springs. These advantages are but sparingly scattered over Great Britain: Scotland and Ireland are totally destitute of them. In England there are several, but few that contain salt sufficient to be worked. Thus, there are some which rise out of the middle of the Were, in the bishoprick of Durham ; others in Yorkshire, Cumberland, Lan- cashire, and Oxfordshire x ; all those are neglected, either on account of their weakness, or, in some places, by reason of the dearness of fuel. These in Cheshire, and those at Droitwich, in Worces- tershire, with the small works at Weston in Staffordshire, are the only places where any busi- ness is done. Droitxvich, and those in Cheshire, were worked by the Romans, and had the common name of Salince. From that period to the present, they have been successively in use. The Saxons, according to their idea of liberty, divided them between the f Fitet e puteis in salinas ingestis. PI in. xxxi. 7. u Strabo, 2G5. * See CampbeVs Politic, Survey, i. 7G. SALT-WORKS. king, the great people, and the freemen. Thus, at Nantzvich was one brine-pit, which gave employ to numbers of salinte, or works. Eight of them were between the king and earl Edwin, of which the king had two shares of the profits, the earl one. Edwin had likewise a work near his manor of Aghton, out of which was made salt sufficient for the annual consumption of his houshold ; but if any was sold, the king had a tax of two pence, and the earl of one penny. In this place were likewise numbers of works belonging to the people of the neighborhood; which had this usage : From Ascension-day to the feast of St. Martin, they might carry home what salt they pleased ; but if they sold any on the spot, or any-where in the county, they were to pay a tax to the king and the earl : but after the feast of St. Martin, whosoever took the salt home, whether his own, or purchased from other works, was to pay toll, except the before-mentioned work of the earl; which enjoyed exemption, according to an- tient usage. It appears, that the king and earl farmed out their eight works ; for they were obliged to give, on the Friday of the weeks in which they were worked, xvi. boilings ; of which xv. made one sum of salt. This is a measure, which, according to Spelman, amounts to a horse-load, or eight SALT-WORKS. bushels. The pans of other people, from Ascen- sion-day to that of St. Martin i were not subject to this farm on the Friday ; but from St. Alar tins- day to Ascension they were liable to those cus- toms, in the same manner as those of the king and the earl. The Welsh used to supply themselves from these pits, before the union of their country with England. Henry III. in order to distress them, during the wars he had with them, took care to put a stop to the works, and deprive them of this necessary article. All these salt-works were confined between the river and a certain ditch. If any person was guilty of a crime, within these limits, he was at liberty to make atonement by a mulct of two shillings, or xxx. boilings of salt; except in the case of murder or theft, for which he was to suffer death. If crimes of that nature were com- mitted without the precinct, the common usage of the county was to be observed. In the time of the Confessor, this place yielded a rent of xx. pounds, with all the pleas of the hundred ; but when earl Hugh received it, it was a waste. The Germans had an idea of a peculiar sanctity attendant on salt-springs ; that they were nearer to heaven than other places ; that the prayers of SALT-WORKS. mortals were nowhere sooner heard ; and that, by the peculiar favor of the gods, the rivers and the woods were productive of salt, not, as in other places, by the virtue of the sea, but by the water being poured on a burning pile of wood 7 . Whether this notion might not have been de- livered from the Germans to their Saxon progeny, and whether they might not, in after-times, deliver their grateful thanks for these advantages, I will not determine : but certain it is, that on Ascension- day the old inhabitants of Nantwich piously sang a hymn of thansgiving, for the blessing of the brine. A very antient pit, called the Old Brine, was also held in great veneration, and, till within these few years, was annually, on that festival, bedecked with boughs, flowers, and garlands, and was encircled by a jovial band of young people, celebrating the day with song and dance \ This festival was probably one of the reliques of Saxon paganism, which Mellilus might permit his proselytes to retain, according to the political instructions he received from Gregory the Great*, on his mission, least, by too rigid an adherence to the purity of the Christian religion, he should deter the English from accepting his doctrine. In fact, salt was, from the earliest times, in the y Taciti Anml xiii. c. 57. 2 Hist. Nantwich, 60. * Bede, lib. i. c. 31. SALT-WOKKS. highest esteem, and admitted into religious cere- monies : it was considered as a mark of league and friendship. " Neither shalt thou," says the Jewish Legislator b , " suffer the salt of the cove- " nant of thy God to be lacking from thy meat- u offering. With all thy offerings thou shalt " otfer salt." Homer gives to salt the epithet of divine. Both Greeks and Romans mixed salt with their sacrificial cakes. In their lustrations they made use of salt and water, which gave rise, in after- times, to the superstition of holy water; only the Greeks made use of an olive branch in- stead of a brush, to sprinkle it on the objects of purification. " Next, with pure sulphur purge the house, and bring " The purest water from the freshest spring; " This, mix'd with salt, and with green olive crown' d, " Will cleanse the late contaminated ground." Theocritus, Idyl. 24. Stuckius tells us, that the Muscovites thought that a prince could not shew a guest a greater mark of affection, than by sending to him salt from his own table c . The dread of spilling salt, is a known superstition among us and the Germans, being reckoned a presage of some future calamity, b Levit. ch. ii. v. 1 3. c Pane ipso princeps suam erga aliquem gratiam ; Sale vcro amorem ostendit, Antiq. Conriviales, 171. NANTWICH. and particularly, that it foreboded domestic feuds ; to avert which, it is customary to fling some salt over the shoulder into the fire, in a manner truly classical d : Mollibit aversos penates Fane pio, et saliente mica. In this town was an antient hospital dedicated to St. Nicholas, endowed with a portion of tythes, which were granted to W. Grys by Queen Eliza- beth e . The historian of this place also mentions a priory, dependent on Cumbermere, and a domus leprosorum, or lazar-house, called St. Laurences Hospital; both which stood in the Welsh Rota, the street next to Acton; but at present, even their scite is hardly known. Here was, besides, a chapel called St. Anne's, near to the bridge ; but that, likewise, has been totally destroyed. Near the end of the Welsh Rozv stands a large house, called Toxviis End, formerly the residence of the very worthy family of the Wilbrahams. That honest and distinguished lawyer, Handle Wilbraham, was a younger brother of the late owner, and, with unblemished reputation, raised a vast fortune by his profession. For several years before his death, he retired from business, A Horace, lib. iii. ode 23. c Tanner, 65. NANTWICH. and enjoyed the fruits of his labors in an hospita- ble retirement. The church is a very handsome pile, in the form of a cross, with an octagonal tower in the centre. The east and west windows are filled with elegant tracery. The roof of the chancel is of stone, adorned with pretty sculpture. The stalls are neat. Tradition says, that they were brought, at the dissolution, from the abbey of Vale Royal. The only remarkable tombs are, a mutilated one of Sir David Cradoc in armor, with three gerbes on his breast for his coat of arms ; and an- other of John Maisterson and his wife, engraven on a large slab, and dated 15S6. The following quaint epitaph records the good intentions of the husband : " Within this fading tomb, vaulted, lies " John Maisterson, and Margaret his wife; " Whose soules do dwell above the moving skies, *' In paradise with God, the Lorde of lyfie. " This John wrought means to build this Nawptv/ich town, " When fyer hir face had fret & burnde hir downe." Among some lumber in this church I found the fragments of a white smooth monument, with the following inscription : Johamnrs Crew Kx antiqua famiiia de Crew oriundus Vir Pius. NANTWICH. Susceptum ex Alicia Manwaring. Uxore reliquit sobolem Ranulphum, Thomam, Lucretiam, Prudentiam. Vixit annos 74. Obiit An Do 1598. The two sons were brought up to the law. Ran- die became chief justice of the Kings Bench, and was the founder of the respectable house of Crew, near this town : Thomas was Speaker of the House of Commons in the latter end of the reign of James I. and in the first parlement of Charles I. The father of John Crew was a wealthy tanner of this town, whom tradition still records by the name of Golden Roger, who had a small monu- ment in the church, with the figure of himself and wife ; which an aged lady born in the parish re- membered standing. I shall have occasion when I reach Wrest to give a further account of his illustrious posterity. This town was the only one in the county which continued firm to the parlement from the beginning to the end of the civil wars. It under- went a severe siege in January 1643, by Lord Biron ; who, after the signal defeat he here expe- rienced from the army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax f , on the 25th of that month retired with his shattered forces to Chester. The place was f Rushworth II. part iii. 302. CAP T - SANDFORD'S LETTER. defended only by mud-walls and ditches, formed in a hasty manner by the inhabitants and coun- try people; who were highly incensed at some cruel and impolitic treatment they had met with from the royalists. The garrison defended themselves with great obstinacy. The most re- markable attack was on the 18th of January, when the besiegers were repulsed with great loss. Among the slain on their side, was the famous Captain Sandford ; who again employed the elo- quence of his pen, but to as little purpose as he did before at Hawarden. On each occasion g he maintains the same stile. " To the Officers, Soldiers, and Gentlemen " in Namptzvyehe, these. " Your drum can inform you, Acton church is " no more a prison, but now free for honest men " to do their devotions therein ; wherefore be per- " suaded from your incredulity, and resolve God " will not forsake his anointed. Let not your " zeal in a bad cause dazzle your eyes any " longer; but wipe away your vain conceits, that " have too long let you into blind errors. Loth " I am to undertake the trouble of persuading " you into obedience, because your erroneous " opinions do most violently oppose reason « Tour in Wales, vol, 1 133. CAP r - SANDFORDS LETTER. " amongst you ; but, however, if you love your " town, accept of quarter ; and if you regard " your lives, work your safeties by yielding your " town to Lord Byron, for his Majesty's use. if You see now my battery is fixed ; from whence " fire shall eternally visit you, to the terror of " the old, and females, and consumption of your " thatched houses. Believe me, gentlemen, I " have laid by my former delays, and am now " resolved to batter, burn, storm, and destroy " you. Do not wonder that I write unto you, cc having officers in chief above me : 'tis only to C£ advise you, because I have some friends u amongst you, for whose safety I wish you to " accept of my Lord Byron's conditions ; he is " gracious, and will charitably consider of you. " Accept of this as a summons, that you forth- " with surrender the town ; and by that testimony " of your fealty to his Majesty, you may obtain i( favour. My firelocks, you know, have done " strange feats, both by day and night ; and -• hourly we will not fail in our private visits of " you. You have not as yet received mine " alarms ; wherefore expect suddenly to hear " from my battery and approaches before your " Welsh Row. " This 15th of January, Tho. Sandford, " 1643. Captain of Firelocks.'" GENERAL MONK. t£ Gentlemen*, " Let these resolve your jealousies concerning " our religion : I vow by the faith of a Christian, " I know not one Papist in our army ; and, as I " am a gentleman, we are no Irish, but true- " born English, and real Protestants also, born " and bred. Pray mistake us not, but receive " us into your fair esteem. I know we intend " loyalty to his Majesty, and will be no other " but faithful in his service. This, Gentlemen, " believe, from " Yours, " January 15. Tho. Sandford" Among many other prisoners of distinction taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax, was Colonel George Monk, in after-times the famous instru- ment of the restoration of Charles II. Fairfax was so well acquainted with his merit, that lie was determined that he never should have an opportunity of exerting his courage again in the royal cause. He sent him up to London, where he was committed prisoner to the Tower, and confined near four years. On his release he joined the parlement; but, through a sense of honor, declined acting against his old master ; and employed his sword against the Irish rebels, in which service he was engaged till after the death of the King. NanPwich was the residence of the widow of MILTON'S WIDOW. the great Milton, during the latter part of her life. h She was the daughter of Mr. Minshul, of Stoke, in this neighborhood. The poet married her in the fifty-third or fifty-fourth year of his age, wanting, in the season of his infirmities, assist- ance from a dearer relation than that of domes- tics. I fear that he was disappointed ; for she is said to have been a lady of most violent spirit. Yet she maintained a great respect for his me- mory ; and could not bear to hear the least im- putation of plagiarism ascribed to him. She used to say, that he stole from nobody but the muse who inspired him, and that muse was God's grace, and the Holy Spirit, which visited him nightly. She probably had heard him say as much, in the composition of his invocation to Urania, in his 7th book: upled by Thee, Into the heav'n of heav'ns I have presum'd, An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air, Thy ternpYmg. And again, with greater force, More safe I sing with mortal voice, unchang'd To hoarse or mute, though fall'n on evil days, On evil days though fall'n, and evil tongues; In darkness and with dangers compass'd round, And solitude; yet not alone, while Thou Visit'st my slumbers nightly. h Life of Milton by Bishop Newton. She died in a very advanced age, in March 172G. GERARD, THE BOTANIST. In this town, in 1545, was born the good old botanist John Gerard. He was bred an apothe- cary ; and removing to London was patronized by Lord Burghky, and during twenty years was su- perintendant of his lordship's fine garden. He often speaks of his own poor garden in Holborn, which probably was a very respectable one. Doc- tor Bulky n says it contained 1100 plants. It is said to have been the first physic-garden we ever had. The catalogue was given in print by him- self in 1596 and 1599- There were two editions of his Herbal: the first in 1597. The second published in 1633 and 1636 by the ingenious and brave Thomas Johnson, also an apothecary ; but who afterwards was honored with the decree of Doctor of Physic conferred on him in 1643 by the university of Oxford. He had entered into the royal army, and was advanced to the rank of lieu- tenant-colonel ; behaved with distinguished gal- lantry, and at length (in 1644) fell, greatly la- mented, at the siege of Basinghouse, which was soon after relieved by the loyal Colonel Gage. Gerard died in the year 1607. I continued my journey along the London road, flat, tedious, and heavy. At the fourth stone lieth, a little out of the way, Wybunbury, a small village, supposed to have taken its name from JVibba, second king of the Mercians, who WYBUNBURY. died in 615. The manor was antiently in the great family of the Praers. Sir Robert de Praer gave it to his son Richard, about the reign of King John, upon condition of rendering to the heirs of his elder brother two barbed arrows yearly, on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, in lieu of all other services. But the Praers re- mitted all their right in this manor, and the pa- tronage of the church, to the bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in 1276, the fifth of Edward I. and the bishops continued to be lords of the ma- nor till the second of Queen Elizabeth; about which time it was alienated : but the bishops still continue patrons of the church. There had been, in much earlier times, a fa- mily in this place which took their name from it ; for Richard de Wibbunbury was sheriff of Cheshire in 1233. Whether the Praers ever assumed that name, is uncertain. It is probable, that the Ri- chard abovementioned was the same with the she- riff, and took the addition on receiving the place from his father. This village was formerly surrounded with gen- tlemen's seats. Among those was Lee, the resi- dence of a family of the same name ; from which were descended the Lees, earls of Lichfield, de- rived from Benedict, a son of this house, who made a settlement at Quarendon, in Bucking- WY BUN BURY CHURCH. hamshlre, in the beginning of the reign of Ed- ward IV. The church is a very handsome building, em- battled and pinnacled : the tower lofty ; the roof is timbered on the inside, and carved with the arms of the various benefactors. Part of the church was taken down in 1591 ; at which time many of the monuments were destroyed : of those remaining, are several in memory of the Delves of Doddington. The most antient is a large altar- tomb of alabaster, with the figures of a father, and son, and lady, engraven on the stone : at the feet of each is a dog, and beneath, a dolphin : on the front of the tomb, several figures, their progeny. The persons represented are Sir John Delves, his son John, and his wife Ellen, daughter of Ralph F.gerton, of JVrinehill, in the county of Stafford ; for his marriage with whom, probably on account of consanguinity, a dispensation was granted in 1439 Sir John was in high favor with Henry VI. and enjoyed several lucrative posts under him. This he repaid by the most faithful adherence, raised forces in his support, and lost his life va- liantly fighting, in the fatal field at Tewkesbury, on Saturday, May the 4th, 1471. His son, with CoHi/is's Baronet, ed. 1720. p. 300. WYBUNBURY. TOMBS. numbers of persons of distinction, took refuge in the abbey. The furious Edzcard pursued them, with his drawn sword, into the church k ; but was opposed by a resolute priest, who for the present diverted his vengeance by lifting up the host, in- terposing the sacred mystery, and denied him ad- mittance till he obtained a promise of pardon ; depending on the king's word, they neglected making their escape, and continued in the sanc- tuary till the Monday, when the relentless monarch caused them to be drawn out and beheaded, ac- cording to the custom of the times, without any process. The bodies of this unfortunate pair were at first buried at Tewkesbury \ but afterwards translated to this place ; where their remains lie, with the following inscription : Hie jacet Johannes Delves, miles, et Elena uxor ejus, nec non Johannes Delves, armiger, filius et heres predicti Johis. qui quidem Johannes miles obiit quarto die Mali, anno Dni. MCCCCLXXI. quorum animabus propi- tietur Deus. Amen. Ralph, the second son of Sir John, and his wife Catharine, are represented on a tomb by two brass plates. The inscription imports, that he died the 11th March, 1513. * Stoiv's Annals, 42 k Ldand It in. vi. 83. DODDINGTON HxYLL, &c. 53 The tomb of Sir Thomas Smith, of the Hough, in this parish, and his lady, is magnificent in its kind. Sir Thomas lies beneath a canopy, sup- ported by four pillars of the Tonic order, of white marble, gilt and painted. He is represented re- cumbent and armed, with his gauntlets lying at his feet: his hair long, curled, and flowing: his visage bearded and whiskered. His lady ( Anne, daughter of Sir William Brereton ) has a fashion- able fore-top, a great ruff, and extended hood. Sir Thomas died on the 21st of December 1614; and his relict erected this monumental compli- ment. On getting into the great road, I passed on the left the scite of the antient seat of Lee, and an iron forge. A little farther stood the antient seat of Doddington, originally belonging to a family of the same name ; but in the reign of Edward II. it passed to the Praers : in 1352, the twenty- sixth of Edward III. to the Brescies, by marriage with the heiress of the house : but in the thirtieth of the same reign, John Brescie, with Margaret his wife, alienated it to John Delves, of Delves- hall in Staffordshire, one of the four renowned 'squires who distinguished themselves under the Lord Audley, at the battle of Poitiers. Sir John Bernicrs, Lord Bourchier, the noble translator LORD AUDLEY AND HIS 'SQUIRES. of Froissart, relates the deed with all the sim- plicity of the original. " But when Lord James " Audeley sawe that shoulde nedes fyght (he sayde " to the Pry nee) I have alwaies served truly my " lorde your father, and you also, and shall do as " long as I live. I say this, because I made ones " a vow, that the first batayle that other the " Kynge your father, or anie of his chyldren, " shoulde be at, ho we that I wulde be one of the cl fyrst setters on, or else to dye in the fayle. " Therefore I requyre your Grace, as in rewarde u for any servyce that ever I dyde to the Kynge " your father, or to you, that you will gyve me " licence to departe fro' you, and to set up my " self there, as I maye accomplyshe my vowe. The " Prince, according to his desyre (and sayde) Sir " James, God gyve you this daye that grace to be u the best Knyght of all others, and to take hym " by the hande. Than the Knyght departed fro " the Prince, and went to the foremost front of u all the batayles all, onely accompanyed with " four Squyers, who promysed nat to fayle him. " This Lorde James was a ryghte sage and a va- " liant knyght, and by hym was muche of the u hooste ordeyned and governed the day before. — u The Lord James Audeley, with his foure Squyers, " was in the front of that battel, and these dyd " marvels in armes ; and by great prowes, he LORD AUDLEY AND HIS 'SQUIRES. 55 " came and fought with Sir Arnolde Dandrchen, " under his own banner ; and there they fought " longe togyder, and Sir Arnolde was there sore ¥ handled. — And there was Sir Arnolde Dan- " drchen taken prysoner by other men than by " Syr James Audeley or his foure Squyers ; for " y l daye he never toke prisoner, but always " foughte and wente on his enemyes. — On the " Englyshe parte, the Lord James Audeley \ with tc the ayde Gf his foure Squyers, foughte alwayes " in the chyefe of the batayle : he was sore hurte u in the bodye, and in the vysage. As longe as " his breth served him he fought : at last, at the iC end of the batayle hys foure Squyers toke and " brought hym out of the felde, and layed hym " under a hedge syde, for to refreshe hym. And " they unarmed hym, and bounde up his woundes " as well as they coude. — After the battle, the " Prince demanded of the Knyghtes that were " aboute him, for the Lord Andley, if any knewe ft any thing of him. Some Knights y l were there a year. On the dissolution it was granted to Roxvland Lee, bishop of Lichfield. Besides these, were two hospitals, and the free chapel of Saint Nicholas, in the castle. The town was defended partly by the river Fortifi- Sow, which bounds one half of it ; the rest was CATI0NS ' guarded by a wall, and by a ditch, supplied by the river with water. It had formerly four gates ; of these two are yet standing. The place never 1 Tanner, 499. m Angl. Sacra, i. 435. This house was dedicated to St. Thomas Becket, exactly ten years after his death. 102 ORIGIN OF STAFFORD. CASTLE. was defencible ; at least never stood a siege. Sir William Brer et on, the parlement general, took it by surprize, in May 1643, with the loss only of a single man. Origin of The origin of Stafford is very uncertain : the Stafford. ' \. , ,*f \ _ f first name of it is said to be Bethency, and that it had been the seat of an hermit called Bertelin, in high fame for his sanctity. The earliest authentic mention of the place is in the year 913, when Ethelfieda n Counters of Mercia, and sister of Edward the Elder, built a castle here. This lady had one child by her lord Ethelred ; when, ba- lancing the pangs of parturition with the joys of connubial rites, Amazon like, she determined to forbear for the future all commerce with him. From thenceforth her delight was in arms, in con- quests, and in securing her dominions. Such was her prowess, that, laying aside all feminine titles, she received that of King, as if Countess and Queen were inadequate to her heroism . The scite of this fortress is not precisely known. Doctor Plot is of opinion, that it lay within the entrenchments at Billington, at some distance from Stafford, and seems to found his conjecture from the lands wherein they are being still a remaining part of the demesne land of the barony of Stqf- n Saxon Chr. 104. ° Tour in Wales. STAFFORD CASTLE. 103 ford ? . Camden attributes a tower to Edxcard the Elder, founded in the year after that which m as built by his sister, and places it on the north side of the river. A mount still remains near the new bridge, called by Speed, Castle-hill; at present named Bully hill, on which it probably stood. The poor remains of the castle, which was gar- Castle. risoned in the civil wars, stand on a little insulated hill, a mile south from the town. The keep was on an artificial mount : the whole is surrounded with a deep foss, which, on the south side, has be- sides the additional strength of a high rampart. This was founded by William the Conqueror, and was soon after demolished. It is supposed, that, during the time it stood, the custody of it was committed to Robert de Tonei, younger son of Roger, standard-bearer of Normandy q , a follower of the Conqueror, who took from this circumstance the name of Stafford. It is conjectured, that the king at that time reserved this manor to himself, and that it was not included in the vast grant made by him to Robert, of eighty-one manors in this county, twenty-six in that of JVarivick, twenty in Lincolnshire, two in Suffolk, and one in each of those of Worcester and Northampton. It ap- pears that it continued in the crown till the second P Hid, Staff. 410. r ' Dugdak's Baron, i. 156. 104 MANOR-HOUSE. BILLINGTON BURY. of Edward II. when Edmund Lord Stafford re- ceived the grant, and held it in capite by barony, together with that of Rradeley and Madeley, by service, of rinding for forty days, at his own charge, three armed men, with three equis cooper- tis, horses harnessed for war, as often as there should be war with Wales or Scotland 1 ". I know not for certain who was the restorer of this castle. Mr. Erdeszvic says, it was Ralph de Stafford, a distinguished warrior, cotemporary with Ed- ward III. It was garrisoned by the king in the civil wars ; was taken by the parlement forces, and demolished in 1644. Manor- About a quarter of a mile south of the castle, HOUSE. t 1 in a low situation, stood the manor-house of the family, fortified by the same Ralph; for I find from Dugdale*, that he had permission, in 1348, to make castles of his manor-houses at Stafford and Madeley. This great family had in it barons, earls, and dukes ; and in the year 1637 became extinct : at that time humiliated into barons again. The moat of their antient residence is still to be seen, surrounding a rectangular piece of ground, the scite of the house. Billing- My curiosity led me about two miles further, to miUngton, to examine the supposed scite of r Blunt s Tenures, 25. Baron, i. 1G0. BOROUGH. BARONY. 105 the antient Stafford castle. Near the extremity of a high hill, steeply sloping on three sides, and commanding a most extensive and beautiful view, I found a large area, surrounded in some parts with one, in others with two, deep fosses. This had been a British post, as it agrees with those we find in many parts of the kingdom ; but as it retains the name of Billing ton Bury, it probably might have been occupied by the Saxons, whose posts are distinguished by the addition of Borough, Bury, and Berry. The town of Stafford is governed by a mayor, recorder, ten aldermen, and twenty common-coun- cil-men; and was incorporated in the third of Edzvard VI. It first sent burgesses to parlement in 1294, the twenty-third of Edzvard I. They are elected by inhabitants paying scot and lot, and are returned by the mayor l . The borough still retains one antient custom, Borough. the privilege of borough English, or the descent of lands, within its liberty, to the youngest sons of those who die intestate : an usage which is sup- posed to have been originally founded on the pre- sumption, that the younger child was the lest ca- pable of providing for itself. The barony was, even at the Conquest, one of Barony. 1 Willis, iii. 50. CANK WOOD. the greatest in England, and afterwards, like other great seigniories, stiled the Honor of Stafford. None were such originally, but which were royal ; but were afterwards bestowed in fee on some no- bleman, as proved the case with this, as mentioned in page 1 04 ; when it w as given to Edmund Lord Stafford with eighty-one dependent manors, with sixty knights fees, viz. nine in his demesne, and fifty-one in service. After leaving the town, I crossed the Wolver- hampton Navigation* at Radford Bridge. This may be called a port to Stafford. A little farther is Weeping Cross; so stiled from its vicinity to the antient place of execution. A little farther on, opens the rich view of the vale of Shugborough, varied with rivers and canals, and bordered with the several seats before described. ». On approaching Cank Wood y I find on its con- fines Heyivood Park ; a small house, the property of Lord Paget, remarkable for the beautiful woody dingles that wind into the sides of the forest. When I was wandering through them, I imagined myself engaged in those of my native country. Here I suppose to have been the park of red deer, which Leland says the bishop of Lichfield had in his u Distances. Hei/ivood, to its junction with the Biri?iingha?)i canal, near Wolverhampton, 22. 4. 0; rise 125 feet: Stahiport on the Severn, 24. 0. ; fall 301 feet. COLWICH. 107 manor of Shugborozv. I skirted part of the wood, which here ends boldly, almost driving the tra- veller into the Sozv. This front has received from Mr. Anson a wonderful change. Miraturque novas frondcs. Pines instead of oaks ; which, waving over the head of the passenger, would recall to his memory, had he been abroad, the idea of many an alpine scene. Returning over Heyivood bridge, I passed through the two hamlets of that name ; and within two miles of the first, reached the church and vil- lage of Cohvich. I must imagine the traveller, as Colwich, well as myself, blinded, if we rode this space in- sensible of the most elegant view of the vale. It is perfectly prodigal in its beauties, and spreads at once every charm that can captivate the eye. It shews here at once, all that I before mentioned en detail. The parsonage and church of Colzvich contri- bute to the variety of the view, from another sta- tion : both are antient. This place had been the property of a family of the same name x , at lest from Henry III.'s reign to about the beginning of Elizabeth ; when it passed into that of Leicester of Tablet/, in Cheshire, by the marriage of the x Erdestcic, 10S COLWICH CHURCH. BISHTON. daughter of Edward Colwich 7 to Peter Leicester, Esquire. Church. The church is dedicated to St. Michael, and is a prebend in the cathedral of Lichfield. Within is a tomb, with the recumbent figure, dressed in a gown, of Sir William JVolsely. Here is also the burial-place of the Ansons, made a V antique, in form of a catacomb. I must not forget an inscrip- tion, in memory of another Sir William Wolsely, which does not commemorate his unlucky and sin- gular end ; being drowned in his chariot, on the 8th of July 1728, owing to the accidental break- ing of a mill-dam, in the village of Longdon, by a thunder-shower. His four horses perished. The coachman was saved, being carried by the torrent into an orchard, where he stuck till the water abated. Bishton. At a little distance from Cohvich is Bishton, near which I cross the navigation again, and in- Wolsley stantly after the Trent, at Wolsley Bridge, placed at the foot of the hanging- woods of Wolsley park ; an inclosure of much native wild beauty. The antient mansion of the family of the same name, lies low, and near the river. This manor is a member of Heyzvood. In the twentieth year of y Leicester's Cheshire, 303. THE BURBOT. the Conqueror, Nigeilus, the paternal ancestor of Greski, held it of the bishop. About the reign of Henry II. it was a divided manor, between Ri- chard Hints and Richard J Vols ley z . Soon after this, they seem to have become sole proprietors. After riding a little way along the Lichfeld road, I turned to the left, and crossing the vale, which now expands and grows less riante, repass the Trent at Colton, on a bridge of a fine single arch. Near this place is sometimes taken the Burbot*, a fish of disgusting appearance, but of The Burbot. a delicate flavor, and very firm. It is not common in these parts, but abounds in the TVithani, and in the fens of Lincolnshire ; and is very common in the lake" of Geneva, where it is called Lota. According to the new arrangement of fish, it is ranked among the gadi, or cod fish : by Mr. Ray, among the eel-shaped fish. The form is long; the head depressed ; the mouth large, armed with small teeth ; the nose furnished with two beards, the chin with one : on the back are two fins ; the skin smooth and slippery, of a disagreeable green color, spotted with yellow. It is very voracious, and very prolific. The noted old fisherman of the Rhine, Leonard Baltner, took out of a single fish not fewer than 123,000 eggs. z Erdcsv.k\ a Plot, 241. tab. xxii. Br. Zool. I 1 1 N" no COLTON. BLITHEFIELD. Mr. Erdesccik informs us, that at the time of COLTON. j-he Conqueror, one Galfridus was lord of Cotton. Soon after, Sir Hardidph de Gastenoys had either all, or shared it with another ; for in the year 1315, Sir IVilliam Gastenoys and Anselm le Marshal were joint lords of it. After many generations, a female (Thomasine, sole heiress and daughter of Sir Thomas Gastenoys, last male heir of the fa- mily, by marriage with Sir Nicholas Greislei, about 1379) transferred it to the house of Drakelow. The old hall, which was large enough to contain fourscore lodging-rooms, was burnt down in the time of Charles I. by the carelessness of a ser- vant. It at that time belonged to Lord Aston h . The country now alters for the worse, and the soil becomes wet and miry. About two miles Blithe- distance from Colt on stands Blithe field, the re- PIELD. spectable old seat of the respectable family of the Bagots ; a most anticnt race. At the time of the Conquest they were found possessed of Bagofs Bromley. In 1193, or the fifth of Richard I. younger branch became ennobled, by the marriage of Millisent, heiress of Robert Lord Stafford*, with Hervey Bagot ; from which match sprung a long line of peers of every rank. The elder branch acquired this place by the marriage of Sir b Mr. Allen's MSS. c Dugdale, i. 158. PORTRAITS OF LORD BURLEIGH, Hi Ralph Bagot (before the reign of Henry IV.) with Elizabeth, sole heiress of Richard Blithe- Jiehh lineally descended from a Saxon of the name of Hereman, or the warrior. The house d is built round a court, and still retains, on the outside, the simplicity of appear- ance of that of an antient baron ; and within, the old hospitality. The best rooms are, the hall, the library, and a large drawing-room, lately added. The first is a noble apartment, unadorned, except- ing over the chimney-piece, where is a representa- tion in bold and good sculpture, in free-stone, of an event dear as life to every true Englishman ; that of King John granting to his subjects the great charter of liberty. Among the portraits, I observed on a board, * J , 0RD 1 7 7 Ireasurer in a flat manner, the head of lord treasurer Bur- Burleigh. leigh, with a white beard, bonnet, collar of the garter, the George, and a white wand. His abi- lities as a statesman were inimitable ; his private virtues, his honesty, temperance, moderation, in- dustry, and justice, not beyond the power of the great to copy ; Iris magnificence was attended with hospitality ; his annual deeds of alms were to the A Blitheficld has within these few years received considera- ble improvements, with an attention to comfort and propriety, not always observable in the alteration of houses of so antient a date. En. 112 EARL OF HUNGTINGTON, SIR W. ASTON, amount of five hundred pounds e . As his life was excellent, so his death was happy ; dying in the fulness of years and of glory, envied, as his greatest enemy declared, only because his sun went down with so much lustre ; not clouded, as generally is the fate of great ministers. Henry A co temporary of his is painted in the same Earl of Hunting- manner, with the collar of the garter; his beard T0N * forked: the date 1588, set. 52. This preserves a likeness of a very different character, Henry Earl of Huntington, lord president of the north, and one of the peers to whom the custody of the queen of Scots was entrusted. Burleigh created a fortune by his prudence ; Huntington dissipated his, by being the dupe to the ministers of the rising fana- ticism of the age, which, nurtured by such wooers of popularity as Leicester, Essex, and this noble peer, in the next age attained strength sufficient to subvert the church it pretended to purify. Sir Walter j± neighboring statesman, Sir Walter Aston, Aston. of Tixal, is painted on board. He appears with a firm countenance, short hair, and whiskers ; in a black dress, laced with gold on the seams, and graced with a triple gold chain. Sir Walter was ambassador to Spain in the time of the negotia- tions about the Spanish match, in the reign of e Camden's Annals, year 1598. WALTER EARL OF ESSEX, 113 James I. and favored the designs of the young prince, and his favorite Buckingham. He was resolute and prudent, and had great knowlege of the importance of the English trade with Spain f . He might serve his master, but he hurt his own fortune ; dissipating great part of £. 10,000 a year in supporting the dignity of his character, and the honor of his country. His reward was a Scotch peerage ; being created by Charles I. in the third year of his reign, Lord Forfar, An half-length of Walter Earl of Essex, father Walter to the unfortunate Robert. He is represented in Essex° F rich armor. On one side are the words Virtutis comes invidia ; allusive to the constant ill usage he met with from the worthless favorite of Eliza- beth, the Earl of Leicester. He was a nobleman of great merit and courage ; was sent to command in Ireland, in 1573, and performed services wor- thy of his character ; but at length, worn out by the ill usage of the ministry, who with-held from him the necessary support, he came over to Eng- land, to lay his complaint before the queen. He was artfully received, and sent back with the pro- mises of better usage. Grief, or, as others say, poison, administered by the instigation of Leices- ter ; who loved his wife, cut him off at the age of Lloyd's Worthies, ii. 248. I 114 COLONEL BAGOT, MRS. SALUSBURY, thirty-five, at Dublin, in 1576. Perhaps the in- famy of Dudley s character, and the speedy and indecent marriage of the countess with that fa- vorite, might give rise to the scandal ; for an in- quisition was made on his death, and the report in consequence was, that he died of the flux ; a disorder very frequent in Ireland in those days. Here are several portraits of different persons, Colonel of this worthy house. Among them is Colonel Bagot. Richard Bagot, governor of Lichfield, who fell in the cause of loyalty, in the fatal battle of Naseby. He is dressed in a buff coat, and represented with long hair. I must not omit a curious picture of acountry- Mrs. woman of mine, Mrs. Salusbury, of Bachymbed, in Denbighshire, in a vast high sugar-loafed hat and kerchief, bordered with ermine. Near her are two of her grandchildren, Sir Edzvard Bagot, and Elizabeth, afterwards Countess of Uxbridge, by her daughter Jane, who married Sir JValter Bagot, and conveyed the Welsh estate into the family. A head of her son Charles Salusbury, in long hair, and flowered night-gown, is also pre- served here. Lady Mary Countess of Aylesford, painted in her A YLliSFORD. ^ . . . old-age, by Hudson, sitting, is a most beautihu portrait. She is dressed, simplex munditiis, in pale brown sattin, white hood, handkerchief, LADY AYLESFORD, AND OF MOLIERE. 115 apron, and short raffles: a reproach to the un- suitable fantastic dress of these times, which at- tempts to disguise respectful years, and renders that inevitable period the object of ridicule. Mary, daughter to Hervey Bagot, Esquire, of Pipehall, first married to Sir Charley Berkeley Earl of Falmouth z , and afterwards to Charles Earl of Dorset ; a brown beauty of the gay court of Charles II. and, as Grammont says, the only one that had the appearance of beauty and wis- dom in the departments of maids of honor to the Dutchess of York. William Legge, first Earl of Dartmouth, and his lady ; parents of the late Lady Barbara Bagot. That eccentric statesman, Henry Earl of Bo- llngbrokc, when young, dressed in his robes. A head of that great actor, and dramatic poet, Mohere. Mollere. He lived the adoration of his country- men ; but, dying in his profession, was, according to a custom of the church of his nation, refused Christian burial by Harlai de Chairoalon, a de- bauched archbishop of Paris. The king (Lezcis XIV.) at length prevailed to have him buried in £ According to Lord Clarendon's account, he was a very worthless young favorite of Charles II. He was killed in the great sea-fight with the Dutch, in IG65. Charles wept bitterly at his death. The loss of better men never went so near bis heart. Clarcndo,''-: Continuation, 268. T 2 116 BLITHEFIELD PARK. a church ; but the curate would net undertake th(* office. The populace with difficulty could be per- suaded to suffer his remains to be carried to the grave. Bouhonrs marks the injustice done this great man, in the following lines : Tu reform as et la ville et la cour, Mais quelle en fut la recompense ? Les Francois rougiront un jour De leur peu de reconnaissance* II leur falut un comedien Qui mit a les polir sa gloire et son etude ; Mais Moliere, a ta gloire il ne manquera ries, Si parmi les defauts que tu peignis si bien, Tu les avais repris de leur ingratitude. I quit the subject of paintings, notwithstand- ing there are multitudes of pictures, by the best masters, in this house. They were all undergoing a removal ; therefore I avoid further mention of them, until they are fixed in their permanent situ- ations \ But I must not be silent about the col- lection of coins, one of the most valuable and in- j structive in England, the bequest of his beloved neighbor and friend Thomas Anson, Esquire. Park. The park is at some distance from the house. The oaks are of a very great size : a twin-tree was lately sold for £. 120> and some single ones for h A catalogue of the pictures, according to their present arrangement, will be given in the Appendix. Ed. CHURCH. HERMITAGE. 117 half that sum ; and I am told, that there are se- veral now standing equally large. The church is very near the house, in the gift Church, of Sir William Bagot, dedicated to St. Leonard. Within, are several sculptured tombs, of the fif- teenth century ; some with imaged figures, others engraven ; mostly in memorial of the Bagot s: one of an Aston of Brought on, and another expressed by a little skeleton of a Br ought on, a child of three months old. The monument of Sir Edward Bagot, who died in 1673, is mural, and supersedes the ten commandments, being placed over the altar. The inscription tells us, that he was a true assertor of episcopacy in the church, and heredi- tary monarchy in the state ; which probably enti- tled him, in those days, to this sacred place. On the outside of the church, two modest heaps of turf, parallel to each other, mark the spot where the remains of the last amiable owners of the place repose. I found myself here not very distant from Whichenoure Hall, and could not resist the desire of visiting the seat of the celebrated Flitch, the desperate reward of conjugal affection. In my road, not far from BUthejield, I again Hermitage. met with the Trent, and the Canal: the last a most fortunate embellishment to the neat seat of Mr. Lister of Hermitage, The proprietors (with US MAVESTON BID WARE. the respect they usually pay to gentlemen) have before this house given it an elegant form ; and, to add to the scenery, luckily the aweful mouth of a considerable subterraneous course of the naviga- tion opens to view, and affords the amazing sight of barges losing themselves in the cavern, or sud- denly emerging to day from the other side. Church. The church of Hermitage, seated on a small eminence, forms another beautiful object. This belongs to the cathedral of Liehjield, and is s tiled the prebendary of Hansacre, a hamlet in this pa- rish, founded by Bishop Clinton. Maveston On the opposite side of the Trent is Maveston RlDWARE. ri Ridware, a rectory, whose church is dedicated to St. Andrew. This was the property of the Mave- stons, at lest from the time of Henry I. to that of Henry IV. Hugo Mauvesin was in this reign Lord of Ridware, and founder of the priory of 'Blithhurgh, in Suffolk. He was son of Henry Mawvesin, who came into England with the Con- queror. The corpse of Hugo was discovered in September 1785, after it had lain there six hun- dred years. That of Sir Henry, his great great grandson, was discovered at the same time. The tomb of Sir Robert Maveston, or Mauvesine, in the parish-church, recals to memory a melancholy story. In the beginning of the reign of the usurp- ing Henry, when the kingdom was divided against MAVESTON RIDWARE. mj itself, two neighboring knights, Sir Robert Ala- veston, and Sir William Handsacre, of Handsacre, took arms in support of different parties : the first, to assert the cause of Bol'in g broke ; the last, that of the deposed Richard. They assembled their vassals, and began their march to join the armies, then about to join battle, near Shrews- bury. The two neighbors, with their respective followers, unfortunately met, not far from their seats. Actuated by party rage, a skirmish en- sued : Sir William was slain on the spot. Sir Robert proceeded to the field, and met his fate with the gallant Percy. What a picture is this accident, of the miseries of civil dissension ! What a tale is the following, of the sudden vicissitude of hatred to love, between contending families ! Mar- garet, one of the daughters, and co-heiress of Sir Robert Maveston, gave her hand to Sir William, son of the knight slain by her father ; and with her person and fortune compensated the injury done by her house to that of Handsacre' 1 . The other daughter, Elizabeth, married Sir John Cawardinc, whose posterity became extinct in the male line by the death of Thomas Cazvar- dine> Esquire, in 1592. David Cawardine, one of this antient line, had served under Henry V. at the Erdcsiiik. 1*20 SIR ROBERT MAVESTON'S TOMB. battle of Agincourt, and William was knighted at the siege of Boulogne, where he attended Henry VIII. The tomb of Sir Robert is altar-shaped : his figure armed and helmed, with a great sword on one side, and a dagger on the other, is engraven on the incumbent alabaster slab, with the follow- ing inscription: Hie jacet Dns. Robertus de Mauvcsine, miles, Dns. de Mauvesinc Ridware, qui oceubuit juxta Salopiam, 1403, stans cum rege, dimicansex parte sua usque ad mortem, cujus animae propitietur Deus. Here is a tomb of two Mawoesins, one cross- legged, with each hand on his sword ; both under arches in the wall. The cross-legged knight is supposed to represent the Sir Henry before men- tioned. Near the church is the gateway, part of the antient mansion of the family of Mauvesin; and on the other side of the Trent, beyond High Bridge, is a moated fragment of the rival house of Handsacre. At the distance of about two miles from Mave- K wig's ston, I passed by King's Bromley. Before the Bromley. L" r * 7 , . , Conquest, this manor had been the residence of the Earl of Mereia. Here, in 1057, died the pious Leqfric k > husband to the famous Godiva. * Dugdak's Baron, i. 1 0. KING'S BROMLEY. ORG RAVE. 121 At that time, it was called Broin-legge. After the Conqueror took it into his own hands, the name was changed to that of Kings Bromley. It continued in the crown till the year 1258, or the forty-third of Henry III. when Roger Corbet died, holding it of the king in capite 1 . It con- tinued in that family till the year 1451, or the thirtieth of Henry VI. when it came by descent to Praters of Baddeleigh, in Cheshire ; from him to one Partridge, who sold it to Francis Agard, of Ireland ; whose descendants possessed it for some generations, when it was sold to John Newton, Esquire, of Barbadoes ; in whose line it remains m . From hence I passed by Or grave, one of the Or grave. seats of George Anson, Esquire, lately the pro- perty of the Turtons. Afterwards, through the village of Alrewas. The manor was in possession of Algar Earl of Mercia; but on the forfeiture of his son, the brave Edzvin, was bestowed by the Conqueror, with the following, on J Falter de So- mervily one of his Norman followers. From hence I visited Whkhenoure, or JFichnor, Whichb- where I crossed a bridge of the same name over manor. the Trent, not far from the place where it receives 1 Erdcsivik. n After the death of the last Mr. Newton it became the pro- perty of John Lane, Esq. Ed, W WHICHENOURE. CHURCH. the Tame. The Roman road passes this way, and on this marshy spot was formed upon piles of wood. It runs from the east side of Lichfield, and points to the north-east. Much brass money has been found, and, as I am informed, there are vestiges of a Roman camp in Whichenoure park. Church. The church stands on an eminence, on the north side of the river. The house is at a small dis- tance, and enjoys a most beautiful view. I believe this to have been on the site of a very antient man- sion, which Leland observes to have been quite down in his days : and that the seat was then below, much subject to the risings of the Trent. Singular f } ie present house is a modern building, remark- Ienure. r m . able for the painted wooden bacon flitch, still hung up over the hall chimney, in memory of the sin- gular tenure by which Sir Philip de Somervile, in the time of Edward III. held the manors of Whichenoure, Sirescote, Ridware, Netherton, and Cow lee, of the Earl of Lancaster, then lord of the honor of Tut bury. The services clamed were these, viz. two small fees; " that is to say, when " other tenants pay for releef one whole knight's " fee, one hundred shillings ; he, the said Sir " Philip, shall pay but fifty shillings; and when " escuage is assessed throgheout the land, or ayde " for to make the eldest son of the lord knyght, or WHXCHENOURE TENURE. for to marry the eldest doughter of the lord, the sayd Sir Philip shal pay bot the moiety of it that other shal paye. " Nevertheless, the sayd Sir Philip shal fynde meyntienge and susteiyne one bacon flyke hang- ing in his halie, at JVichenore, ready arrayed all tymes of the yere, bott in Lent, to be given to everyche mane or womane married, after the dey and yere of their manage be passed ; and to be given to everyche mane of religion, arch bishop, prior, or other religious ; and to everyche preest, after the year and day of their profession finished, or of their dignity reseyved, in forme following. Whensoever that ony such before named wylle come for to enquire for the baconne in their owne person, or by any other for them, ' they shall come to the bayliff or porter of the ' lordship of Whichenour, and shall say to them in ' the manere as ensewethe : " Baylife, or Porter, I doo you to knowe, " that I am come for my self (or, if he " come for any other, shewing for whome) " one bacon flyke, hanging in the hallc of " the lord of JVhichemur, after the forme " thereunto belondnse. 4 After which relation the bailiffe, Oi* porter, shal £ assigne a daye to him, upon promise by his ' fey the to return, and witb him to bring tw eyrie 124 WHICHENOURE TENURE. " of his neighbours ; and in the meyn time the " said bailif shal take with him tweyne of the free- " holders of the lordship of JVhichenoure, and they " three shal goe to the mannour of Rudlowe, belong- " ing to Robert Knyghtley, and there shall somon " the foresaid Knyghtley, or his bayliffe, com- " manding him to be ready at Whichenour the " day appoynted, at pry me of the day, with " his carriage; that is to say, a horse and a sadyle, " a sakke, and a pryke, for to convey and carry the said baconne and corne a journey out " of the county of Stafford, at his costages ; and 4C then the sayd bailiffe shal, with the said free- " holders, somon all the tenants of the said manoir " to be ready at the day appoynted at IVhichenoiw, u for to doe and per for me the services to the " baconne. And at the day assigned, all such as " owe services to the baconne, shal be ready at " the gatte of the manoir of Whichenour, from the " sonne risinge to none, attendyng and away ting " for the corny ng of hym and his felowys cha- u paletts, and to all those whiche shal be there, to " doe their services deue to the baconne : and " they shal lede the said demandant, wythe tromps " and tabours, and other manner of mynstralseye, " to the halle dore, where he shal fynde the lord " of Whichenour, or his steward, redy to deliver " the baconne in this manere : WHICH ENOURE TENURE. 125 <{ He shal enquere of hym which demandeth wife indeed! 150 THE CLOSE. WATER. sides, ornamented with arches, like the approach ; but the lost pillars, instead of being restored, are now supplied with an uniform plaister, supported in the center by a clustered column. Above is a library, instituted by Dean Heywood, containing some valuable books and manuscripts. The Close. The close, or surrounding space, is built on three sides. The palace, originally founded by Bishop Lqngto?i, was rebuilt in a very handsome manner by Bishop Hacket. The deanry, destroyed in the civil wars, was restored after the restora- tion. In the hall of the antient palace was painted the life and most memorable transactions of Ed- ward I. and his officers ; among which were the valiant deeds of Sir Roger de Pulesdon against my countrymen \ The prebend al houses are built around the close. The whole property of which is in the church, except two houses on the south side, bordering on the pool, which, before the present causeways were made, were granted to the city, that the inhabitants might have landing-places, and access to the cathedral ; which in old times had a vast concourse of devotees to the shrine of St. Chad. Water. This precinct is supplied with water from 6 Erdeswik. MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. 151 Maple Hay, about a mile and a half to the north ; two fountains having been bestowed on the church by Thomas Bromley, for ever, on the annual pay- ment of 15s. 4d. I find that this donation was made before 1293; for in that year a dispute arose between the dean and chapter, and Thomas de Abbenhale, about the passage of the water through his lands \ The whole close is of exempt jurisdiction, and Membe rj of . , , (• l * t i thbCh CRCil. quite independent oi the city. Its members are, a dean, precentor, chancellor, and treasurer, who have prebends annexed to their offices. There are twenty-seven other prebends, of which that of Eccleshal is annexed to the bishoprick. Out of these thirty-one, the dean and four more are stiled canons residentiary ; which four are chosen out of the prebendaries and dignitaries. Here are twelve minor canons : five of whom are called priest- vicars ; the other seven, lay-vicars, or singing- men. Both these were formerly collegiated, and had their hall and houses. That of the priest- vicars is a handsome room, rebuilt, and usually lent for the purposes of assemblies, and other amusements. A new house also stands on the ground once occupied by the house of the cho- risters : before it stood, within memory, a very * Mr. Greene's MSS. m MARY'S. S T - MICHAEL. pretty gate, which formed the entrance ; on which was inscribed Domus Choristes. Besides these members, are an organist, two vergers, a sacrist, and sub-sacrist. It is remarka- ble, that the four archdeacons have here no stalls, as is usual in all other cathedrals. St. Mary's. The other churches are that of St. Mary, re- built since the year 1716, when, the body being ruinous, its fine spire steeple was unnecessarily pulled down. In the time of Edward III. a re- ligious guild was instituted, and after that much promoted by Dean Heywood. Five priests be- longed to this society, who officiated in the church u . It is a vicarage, in the gift of the dean. St. Mt- St. Michael, or Greenhill, is on an eminence CHAEL. iii/*. east of the town ; remarkable for its extensive church-yard. This, and that of Stow, or St. Chad's, are curacies dependent on St. Mary's. St. Chad is reckoned the oldest of the churches of this city. In its north end formerly stood the shrine of St. Catherine, whose chauntry-priest had his stipend from the vicars-choral of the ca- thedral. Near it is the well of the saint, where he had his first oratory; which in antient times was much frequented by devotees. Grey The grey friars had a house here, founded Friars. u Ldand It in. iv. 117. GREY FRIARS. TOMB-STONE. about 1229, by Bishop Alexander, who gave certain free burgages, on which it was erected. It was destroyed by fire in 1291, but rebuilt in the thirty-sixth of Henry VIII. It was granted to Richard Crumblethorn. At present, both house and land support an hospital at Seal, in Leicester- shire. The water which now supplies the city, was granted on St. James's day, in 1301, by Henry Campanarius, son of Michael de Lichfield, bell-founder. Henry gave his fountains at Foul- xvel, near Alreschaxv, in pure and perpetual alms to the friars of this house, with power to cover them with a head of stones, and of carrying the pipes through his land, on condition that, when- ever they wanted repair, the friars were to indem- nify him and his heirs for the damage done to the jround. Several parts of the house are yet stand- ing, and form a pleasant and comfortable habita- tion. In digging near it, was found a large tomb- s.one, with a cross fleury, surrounded by a sin- gular inscription, to the following purpose : Ricardus mercator victus morte noverca Qui cessat mercari pausat in hue ierarca. Extulit ephebus paucis vivendo diebus Ecclesiam rebus ditat variis speciebus, Vivat ut in Calls nunc mercator Michaelis. " Richard the merchant here extended lies, " Death, like a step-dame, gladly clos'd his eyes. IH ST. JOHN'S HOSPITAL. " No more he trades beyond the burning zone, ** But happy rests beneath this sacred stone. *' His benefactions to the church were great ; " Though young, he hasten' d from his mortal state. " May he, though dead in trade, successful prove, " Saint Michael's merchant in the realms above." The stone is stiil to be seen there. A figure of it was sent to the Gentleman s Magazine, by Mr. Greene, in this city. The inscription and transla- tion are copied from the same magazine : the latter appearing to me to be equally faithful and inge- nious. Hospital or ^ little beyond, stands the hospital of St. St. John. consisting of a master and twelve poor bre- thren. The master is a clergyman, who has a good house and stipend for superintending the charity, and reading daily prayers in the chapel belonging to it. The founder is uncertain. We only know that William Smith, while bishop of Lichfield, h the time of Henry VII. formed here a new foun- dation for a master, two priests, and ten poor men. Henry patronized the charity, and endowed it with the old hospital of Denhal, and the lards and impropriation of Burton church, both in Wiral, in Cheshire, Smith also founded the grammar-school in this city x . Among other things worthy of attention in this x Ldand Itin. iv. 117. LICHFIELD CITY. city, is the cabinet of curiosities, antient, natural, and artificial, in the possession of Mr. Green r 9 surgeon. It contains numbers of most valuable and instructive pieces in each class. A visit to my worthy friend is the more agreeable, as he takes great pleasure in gratifying the curiosity of all that favor him with their company. The city is divided from the close by a large piece of water, of which there were originally three; at present remain only this and another, called Stoxvpool, a little to the east. Bishop Langton made the causeway, bridges, and dams, at each end of the pool. Before that, the great road went round Stowpool, near Stozv church. The city is neat and well built; contains littlo more than three thousand souls'; is a place of great passage, has a considerable manufacture of sail cloth, and a small manufacture of saddle-- cloths and tammies. - It was originally governed by a guild and guild- master; which were the origin of corporations, and took rise before the time of the Conquest; the name being Saxon, signifying a fraternity, which unites and flings its effects into a common y Mr. Green died in 1793. His cabinet has been dispersed since his decease. Ed. z In the Census of i SOI the population is stated at 45 152, Ed. 156 LICHFIELD DISTRICT. stock, and is derived from Gildan, to pay*. A guild was a public feast, to commemorate the time of the institution; and the guild-hall the place in which the fraternity assembled : these (at lest after the Conquest) paid fines to the crown, and formed part of its revenue. Richard I. enabled it to purchase lands to the value of ten pounds ; but it was not chartered till the reign of Edward VI. who formed it into a regular corpora- tion by its first charter. This was confirmed by Queen Mary and Elizabeth; and Charles II. granted a new one, confirming all the others. This city is governed by a recorder, high steward, sheriff, two bailiffs, a town-clerk, and coroner. One of the bailiffs is elected by the bishop ; the others to be elected annually by and out of the brethren which form the corporation. The city has the power of life and death within its jurisdiction; a court of record, and a pie-powder b court, which regulated the disputes arising in fairs. District. The district of the city and county of Lichfield is called the sheriff's ride, and lies at unequal a Spehnan, 260. Rennet's Gloss, to Paroch. Antiq. b So called from pieds poudreaux, or dusty feet, because country people usually come with dusty shoes to fairs. See Doctor Pettingal's able dissertation on the word, ArchaoL i. 190. LICHFIELD CASTLE. 167 distances around. In this the corporation has ex- clusive jurisdiction. This city sent representatives in the thirty- Members. third of Edward I. ; the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and twentieth of Edzvardll. ; and first, fourteenth, and twenty-seventh of Edward III. ; from whose reign they were discontinued, till that of Edward VI c . The members are returned bv the sheriff : J and bailiffs. The right of electing is in the free- men by servitude ; in the burgage-holders, or such who live in the town and pay a small acknow- legement to the corporation; and in the free- holders of forty shillings a year, within the sheriffs ride. Lichfield is quite an open town : all the traces of the ditches made by Bishop Clinton are lost, as well as of the tower, on which he is said to have bestowed such great expence d . The name only of Castle Ditch, in the east part of the town, pre- Castas. serves its memory. Probably in this fortress Richard II. kept his sumptuous Christmas, in 1397, when he consumed two hundred tuns of wine, and two thousand oxen*; but with more certainty we know that it was his place of confine- ment, in his road to the tower of London, in 1 399, c Willis's Not it la Parlia m. iii. 50. d Goodwin, 307, « Stow's Chr. 318. WALL. LOWS. a Captive prince. The unhappy Richard here at- tempted his escape, by slipping from the window of the high tower into a garden ; but being seen, was carried back to his imprisonment f . J^ajll, or JVall) the antient Etocetum, lies about a mile and a half from Lichfield, on the Watling- street road, on a rising ground. There are still some remains of the walls to be seen, mixed with roots of some very old ash-trees. Coins and tiles evince it to have been the Roman Etocetum, as well as its distance from Pcnnocrucium, a place somewhere on the river Penk, not far from Penkridge ; but the site not well ascertained. The Waiting-street road enters the county near Tamxvorth, and is con- tinued into Shropshire, as far as Wroxeter. Near Wall, another Roman road crosses it ; and at the intersection is an exploratory mount, about forty feet in diameter, called Offlo, in sight of Borough Cop, near Lichfield, on which the mar- tyrdom of the thousand Christians, in the tenth persecution, is said to have happened. This is asserted by John Ross, a Warwickshire antiquary, who died in 1491, near twelve hundred years after the event ; which he alone relates. Lows. These lows, which have the same signification as laws in Scotland, and mean a mount, and f Sioiv's dir. 322. WHITTINGTON. ELFORD. placed here in sight of one another, were usually designed as exploratory, and for the repetition of signals ; and sometimes were sepulchral. I made one day an excursion; passed through Whittington, a village with a church and spire- steeple, about two miles N. E. of Lichfield; thence proceeded through Fisherwick park s , a fine seat of the Earl of Donegal, built from a design of Mr. Brown's : the grounds bounded by the Tame, a beautiful river. Elford church, village, and house h , the seat of the late Earl of Suffolk, form a pretty groupe of objects on the opposite bank. I forded the river, and went by Elford Low, a verdant mount, which Doctor Plot proved, from examination, to have been sepulchral ; but, from its situation and elevation, I suspect it might have had on it a specula, or watch-tower. Elford, before the Conquest, was possessed by Elfobw. Earl Algar ; after which the Conqueror himself seized on it for his own use. About Henry the Third's reign, William of Arderne was lord of it, Ftmerwzck has recently been purchased by Richard Hoi:- ard, Esq. and the noble mansion is now (1810) in a state <•( demolition for the value of the materials. Ed. h On the death of Lady Andover, daughter-in-law to the Earl of Suffolk, Elford devolved on her daughter Frances, wife to Richard Bagot, Esq. who assumed the name of Howard T.D. 1G0 ELFORD CHURCH. and his posterity was seised of it till the marriage of Maud, sole heiress of Sir John Arderne, with Thomas, second son of Sir John Stanley, of Latham, Knight; he dying in 1463, the 6th of Edward IV. Margaret, his daughter, conveyed it by marriage to the Stantons : by the same means it passed from the Stantons to the Smiths ; from the Smiths to the Huddlestons ; and from the Huddlestons to the Bowes. So very rapid was the change of family in this place ! It continued with the Bowes four or five generations ; but, about the end of the seventeenth century, became the property of the Honorable Craven Howard, by marriage with Mary, daughter of George Boxves, Esquire : and continued in his posterity (the Earls of Suffolk) till the death of the late able and honest peer ; when it devolved to his sister, the Honorable Frances Howard. Church. In the church are several fine monuments, in the antient stile. Iy the north wall is a painted figure, with curled hair, gown down to his knees, buskins on his legs, sword, gold chain, his hands closed, and a ring on his thumb. An alabaster tomb of an Arderne, in a conic helmet, mail round his neck, chin, and shoulders, and a collar of S S : one of his hands clasps that ELFORD CHURCH. of his wife, who has on a rich pearl bonnet, a cloak, and gown. Around the tomb are various figures, in the dress of the times. Sir William Smith, who died in 1500, lies armed, has a collar of SS, and is represented beardless. He lies between his two wives : Isabel, in long hair and a coronet, daughter of John Nevil Marquis of Montacute, brother to the great Earl of Warwick ; and Anne, daughter of William Stanton, by whom he acquired this place. Monks, and coats of arms, surround the tomb : the first, to express his piety ; the last, to gratify the vanity of survivors. Sir John Stanley, son of Thomas Stanley and Maud Arderne, lies under an arch, with both hands supplicatory, in armor, with a mail muffler. His head rests on a helm, with the Eagle and Child, the cognizance of the Stanleys. Under another arch is his eldest son, a child with curled hair, and in a long gown, recumbent: one hand points to his ear; the other holds a ball, the unfortunate instrument of his death ; on which was inscribed Ubi dolor ibi digitus. About two miles further, in a place called Eljbrd Park Farm, I observed a barrow which is small, and evidently sepulchral. There had pro- bably been a battle on this spot during the hep- m CROXAL CHURCH. CLIFTON. farchy : whether between Savons and Da?ies, or two Savon princes, is uncertain. Croxal Croxal church stands on an eminence. Within Church. are two tombs, with the figures of an armed man and his wife, curiously engraven on each. One commemorates John Horton, of Caton, and his spouse, Anne, daughter of John Curzon, of this place. He died in the year 1500. His name is expressed in form of a rebus ; the word Hot cut upon a tun. The other tomb is of George Curzon, Esquire, and his wife Catharine, who died in 1605. By the marriage of their only daughter Mary, to the famous Sir Edward Sackoille Earl of Dorset, it was conveyed to that noble family, in which it still remains. The Curzons had been possessed of it ever since the reign of Henry I. Pass by Hazelar hamlet and chapel. The last is prebendal, and at present converted into a pig- stye. Ride for some time by the side of the little river Mease, the boundary, in this part, between Staffordshire and Derbyshire. A little further is Clifton. \\ ie village and church of Clifton, usually called Clifton Camville, from a family of that name, who possessed it from the year 1 200, or the second of King John, to about the year 1315. The spire of the church is extremely elegant, joined to the THORP. 163 tower by flying buttresses. In the church is a tomb, with the effigies of Sir John Vernon of II dr- iest on, in this neighborhood, and Dame Allen, his wife. He is dressed in a long bonnet and gown, with a chain from his neck, as usual with people of worship; for he had been one of the kings counsel, and custos rotuloruni of the county of Derby. His wife is dressed in a square hood, with a purse, knife, and beads by her side. They died in 1545. Visit Thorp Const ant ine, a small church close Thorp. to the seat of my matrimonial relation William Inge \ Esquire, who deservedly bears the respect- able and useful character of being the best justice of any country gentleman in England. The living is in his gift, and the whole parish his property. The manor once belonged to the see of Ely ; for it appears that Hotham, bishop of that diocese, in 1316, obtained for it a charter of free warren. Henry Lord Scrope, favorite of Henry V. be- headed for his ungrateful plot against his master, left to this church a vestment worth Q6s. 8<7. on condition that the priest should pray for his soul on Sundays, and in all his masses. His will, made before his treason was discovered, was a curious piece of hypocrisy k . 1 William Inge, Esq. died in 1785. Ed. k Rymer's F(zdero, ix. 275. M 2 164 SEKINDON. TAMWORTH. I continued this little ramble to Sekindon, a mile distant, on the edge of Warwickshire, re- markable for a lofty artificial mount, the keep of a Saxon castle, with a flat area beneath ; at the bottom are the remains of a great rampart, and the whole surrounded with a deep ditch. This place is celebrated for the battle between Ethelbald, king of the Mercians, and Cuthred, king of the West Saxons, in 755 \ when Ethelbald, disdain- ing flight, was slain by Beonred m , one of his own officers, who, for a short time, usurped the kingdom. Tamworth. . - About four miles farther lies Tamworth, be- tween the conflux of the Tame and the Ankor, which formed at this place the appearance of an island ; its Saxon name being Tameneordige and Tamanweorthe ; ige signifying an island. It had long been the residence of the Mercian princes, who preferred it on account of its pleasant situation, and the quantity of woodland, which afforded them in plenty the pleasures of the chase. Offa dates a grant, in 781, to the monks of Worcester, from a royal re- his r oval palace at Tamzvorth. Ceonulf, Bern- FIDENCE. J * wulf, and Burthred, date other charters, in the years 814, 841, and 854, from the same place". The precinct of their residence was an enormous 1 Saxon Chr. 50. m Browpton, 769. Ingulphus, 853. n Dugdak's Warxkkh. ij. 1 130. Plot's Staffordsh. 410. TAMWORTH. 165 ditch, forty-five feet wide, protecting the town on the north, west, and east ; the rivers serving as a defence on the other side. The ditch is filled up in many places, yet still there are vestiges of it, and also of two mounts, on which probably stood two small towers. Tamworth was totally ruined by the incursions Ruined by of the Danes ; at length it was restored by the rest^re^by celebrated Ethelfleda, who, in the spring of 913, Ethelfleda. erected a tower on the artificial mount on which the present castle stands. Here, in 920, she finished her glorious life, and in 922 she received, I may say, posthumous honors, by the assemblage of the Mercian tribes she had conquered, who, with the princes of North Wales, here acknow- leged the sovereign power of her brother Ed- ward*, probably obtained by her valour and prudence. The town, or borough, as it was called on the Conquest, continued part of the royal demesne, but was afterwards set at a certain rent to the lords of the castle ; the first of whom, after that event, was Robert Marmion, one of the followers Marmions. of the Conqueror, on whom it was bestowed. His posterity remained masters of it for some generations, holding of the crown in capite, by the Saxon Chr. 10 k p The same, 110. 166 TAMWORTH. service of finding three knights at their own costs, for forty days, in the wars of Wales. On the death of Philip Marmion, in 1291, the twentieth of Edward I. this fortress descended to his eldest daughter Joan, wife of William Mortem ; who dying without issue, it fell three years after, by agreement among the co-heirs, to Joan, a relation of Philip Marmion, and wife of 'Frevilf.&. Alexander Frevile. The Freviles by this means owned it till the year 1419, or seventh of Hen- ry V., when Sir Baldwyn Frevile dying childless, Thomas Ferrers, second son of William Lord Ferrers, of Groby, became master of it, in right of Elizabeth his wife, eldest of the three sisters Ferrers, of Sir Baldwyn. The Ferrers held it till the be- ginning of the present century ; when it passed into the family of the Comptons, by the marriage of James Earl of Northampton with Elizabeth^ sister to Robert Lord Tamworth, grandson and heir apparent to Robert Earl Ferrers, who had obtained it by his marriage, in 1688, with Anne, daughter of Sir Humphrey Ferrers, of this place. Lady Charlotte Compton, sole surviving daughter of the match, Baroness de Ferrers, in right of her mother, married the present Lord Townshend, whose son, now Lord De Ferrers, enjoys the place. I must not forget to add, that Sir John Baldwyn, Knight, on the coronation of Richard TAM WORTH CASTLE. 167 II. clamed the honor of being the kings champion, by virtue of tenure of this castle (a service per- formed by his predecessors the Marmions) ; but it being found that the Marmions held their right only from the tenure of Scrivelsby manor, it was challenged by Sir John Dymock, the then owner, and adjudged to him q . Till the present century the castle was the Castle. seat of its lords. The rooms are numerous, but inconvenient and irregular, except a dining-room and drawing-room ; each with large projecting windows. Around the first are painted great numbers of coats of arms of the family of the Ferrers, and its alliances. The chimney-piece of the drawing-room is richly carved, in the old taste, and beneath the arms is the motto, Only one. The beauty of the situation of Tamxvorth is seen from the castle to great advantage, varied with rich meadows, two bridges over the Tame and the Ankor, and the rivers wandering pictu- resquely along the country. Michael Drayton, born on the banks of the last, most elegantly paints out his love-complaints, and celebrates the last in the sweetest strain. * Dugdale's Warwkksh. ii. 1134. 168 TAMWORTH TOWN. Clear Ankor, on whose silver-sanded shore My soul-shrinM saint, my fair idea lies : A blessed brook, whose milk-white swans adore Thy crystal stream refined by her eyes; Where sweet myrrh-breathing zephyr in the spring Gently distils his nectar-dropping showers ; Where nightingales in Arden sit and sing Amongst the dainty dew-impearled flowers. Say thus, fair brook, when thou shalt see thy queen ; Lo, here thy shepherd spent his wand'ring days, And iu these shades, dear nymph, he oft has been, And here to thee he sacrificed his tears. Fair Arden, thou my Tempe art alone ; And thou, sweet Ankor, art my Helicon. Town. The town is large and well-built; part is situated in Staffordshire, and part in Warwick- shire ; for which reason its members are returned by the sheriffs of both counties r . It first sent re- presentatives in the fifth year of Queen Elizabeth : and was made a corporation two years before ; which consists of two bailiffs, a recorder, and twenty-four capital burgesses. The right of voting is in the inhabitants paying scot and lot. Church. The church is large, built at different times. Near the chancel are tw r o great round arches, with zigzag moldings, which were prior to the reign of Henry III. when this species of arch fell into * Willis Notitia Pari. iii. 51. TAMWORTH CHURCH. disuse. Here are numbers of monuments, some antient, of the Freviles and Ferrers, with their figures, and those of their wives. Here is also a handsome monument of John Ferrers, Esquire, who died in 1680, aged 32; and of his son Sir Humphry Ferrers, knight, who died in 1678, aged 25. Their figures are represented in marble, as large as life, in a Roman dress, long flowing hair, and half-kneeling. Sir Humphry was the last male heir of his line. The church is dedicated to St. Edith a, daugh- ter to king Edgar ; who, preferring the cloistered life to the troubles of a throne, received after death the honor of saintship. It has been said, that she founded here a nunnery, and that Robert Mar- mion, lord of this place, received from her very sensible marks of resentment, for daring to remove the holy sisters. St. Editha descended from heaven, and, while Marmion was lying down, after a costly feast, in Tamworth castle, she ad- monished him to restore them to their rights, and, by way of memorandum, gave him such a blow with her crosier on his side, that he rose in ex- treme torment ; which instantly ceased on repent- ance and restitution s . It is probable that this very % Dugdalcs Baron, i. 37 5. 170 TAMWORTH HOSPITAL. Marmion made the church collegiate, and placed here a dean and six prebendaries, each of whom had his substitute, or vicar ; for it is the opinion of Leland, this foundation arose from the piety of one of the name 1 . The idle legend might have been formed from some real offence u , which might have been expiated in the manner usual in old times. Saint Edit ha had also an image here. After the dissolution, the seven incumbents had pen- sions, as late as 1553 x . Queen Elizabeth granted the college, and all its prebends, to Edzvard Downing and Peter Askton. At present, this great church is only a curacy. Hospital; In 1286, the fifteenth of Edward I. Philip Marmion dedicated here an hospital to St. Ja??ies y intending to found a house of Premonstrensiam ; but, till he could execute his design, granted it to William of Combery-hall, with all its appurten- ances, and pasture in Asfifteld for four oxen and 4 Itin. iv. 121. * As it is very doubtful whether there had been any nunnery here, the offence might be the expulsion of the nuns from Poksworth convent, dedicated to Saint Editha ; which were restored by Robert Marmion and his wife. Stevens, 125 1 . Tanner, 566. x Willis, ii. 218. SWINFEN. 171 two horses, on condition that it should celebrate mass for his soul y . There is now an hospital founded for more useful purposes, by Mr. Guy. From Tamxvorth I returned to Lichfield, and resumed my journey along the London road. About two miles from the city, see on the left Swinfejt. Swinfen, the seat of a gentleman of the same name; happy in its beautiful demesne, ornamented with an extent of water, meads, and hanging-woods. This place was once the property of the Sper- mores ; but in the time of Henry VI. by marriage of Joyce, daughter and heiress of the family, with William Szvinfen, it came into that name. The executors of the last of that line, a Doctor Swin- fen, sold it, in the present century, to Mr. Szmnfen, of London ; in whose family it continues. A little farther, the great J Vat ling-street crosses the road near TVeford, or the ford on the way. This is seated on Blackbrook, a small stream, now furnished with a bridge. The stream runs through a beautiful tract of narrow but rich meadows, prettily bounded by low and fertile risings. This spot had been the scene of much civil rage. A Purefoy was here slain by Sir Henry IVilloughby, in the cause of Edward IV. ; and Sir Henry in the same place fought, and was y Tanner, 502. CANWELL. desperately wounded by, Lord Lisle*. JVeford Common*, a black heath, succeeds; and a little beyond, on the left, stood Canwell priory, founded about the year 1142, by Geva, widow of Jeffry Riddel, and daughter of Hugh Earl of Chester, for Benedictine monks. It had ten pounds a year in spiritualities, and fifteen pounds ten shillings and three-pence in temporalities. It became at length a cell for a solitary monk ; was suppressed, and granted by Henry VIII. to Cardinal Wolseii, towards the endowment of his two colleges b . Near this place I entered WARWICKSHIRE, in the parish of Middleton ; from which the JVil- loughbies take their title. The road is over part of the common of Sutton Colfield, which is finely bounded on the left by a long-continued range of woods. " There is a common report (which pass- " eth for currant amongst the vulgar) that the great " heape of stones, which lyeth near the road way " from Litchfeild towards Coleshill, upon Bassets " heath, called the Bishops Stones, and those other z Leland Jtin. iv. 120. Probably one of the neighboring L' Isles of MoxhulL a Now inclosed, and in a state of excellent cultivation, as is the common of Sutton Colfield, mentioned below. Ed. b Tanner, 497. MOXHULL. 173 u lesser heapes, which lye in the valley below ; were " at first laid there in memorie of a bishop and his " retinue, who were long since rob'd and killed, " as they were travailing upon that way : but this " is a meere fabulous storye : for upon an inquisi- a tion made in King James his time, concerning " the extent of common upon that heath, betwixt " Weeford and Sutton; there was an old woman, " called old Bess of Blackbrooke, being then above " an hundred yeares of age, who deposed (inter " alia ) that the Bishop of Exeter (of whom men- " tion is made in pag: 667. of this booke) living " then til Moore Hall : taking notice how trouble- " some such a number of pibble stones as then " lay in the roade thereabouts, were to all passen- " gers, caused them to be pickt up, and thus " layd upon heapes c ." A few miles farther, I passed Moxhull hall, Moxhuix, the neat-dressed seat of Mr. Racket, a descendant of the worthy bishop of that name ; whose son, by marriage with Mary, eldest daughter of John Lisle, became owner of it, after it had been in the L 'Isles, or de Insula, for some hundreds of years d . On the right is the parish-church, c The note above written is in Sir William Dugdak's own hand, in a copy of his Warwickshire ; in Lord Stamford's library at Envil. d DugdaU, Warwicksh. ii. 936, 174 CURD WORTH. COLESHILL. Curdworth. Wishazv, and a little farther, that of Curdworth. That manor was possessed, in the time of the Conqueror, by TurchU de Warxvik, son of A Irvine. a potent Saxon in the time of Edzvard the Con- fessor. TurchU is recorded to have been the first in England who, in imitation of the Normans, took a surname, stiling himself TurchU de Eardine 9 , or Arden, from his residence in that part of the country then called Arden, or the forest ; a word, according to Camden f , by which both Britons and Gauls expressed a woodland tract. He was an- cestor to the antient and respectable family which flourished under the same name till the year 1643, when it was lost in the male line by the death of Robert Arden, About half a mile from Curdworth, I crossed the Tame at Curdworth Bridge s , and a mile far- ther the Cole. The view from hence, of the stream watering a range of rich meadows, bounded on one side by hanging-woods, is extremely agreeable ; as Coleshill. is, a little further, the town of Coleshill, covering the steep ascent of a lofty brow, on whose top ap- pears the handsome church and elegant spire. The place had been long a royal demesne ; was possessed by Edzvard the Confessor, and after- e Dugdale Wanvicksh. ii. 925. f i. 606. 8 Near Curdworth the road crosses the Birmingham and Fazeley canal. Ed, C0LESH1LL. wards by the Conqueror. It fell, either in his reign or that of William Rufus, into the hands of the Clintons, in whom it continued till the year 1353, the twenty-seventh of Edward III ; when it passed to Sir John de Mountfort, by virtue of his marriage with Joan, daughter of Sir John Clin- ton h . The Mountfort s held it till the reign of Henry VII. when, by the cruel attainder and ex- ecution of Sir Simon Mountfort, for sending thirty pounds, by his younger son Henry, to Perkin JVarbeck, on supposition that Perkin was the real son of his former master Edward IV., this brought ruin on himself and family. He was tried at Guildhall in 1494, and condemned to be drawn through the city, and hanged and quartered at Tyburn \ His manor of Coleshill was immediately bestowed on Simon Digby, deputy-constable of the castle, who brought the unfortunate gentleman to the bar. He was a younger son of the house of Tilton, of Leicestershire, ancestor of the Lord Digby, the present worthy possessor. In the upper part of the town is a small place, neatly built. The church-yard commands a fine view of a rich country. The vicarage was for- merly belonging to Markgate, in Bedfordshire. but is now in the gift of its lord. The spire, lofty h Dugdale IVarzuicksh . ii. 925. 1 Dugdale Warwcksh. ii. 1012. Dl^by Pedigrer, viii. 15. COLESHILL CHURCH. as it is, was fifteen feet higher, before it had been struck with lightning in 1550; when the inhabit- ants sold one of the bells towards the repairs. In the church are numbers of fine tombs of the Digbies, with their figures recumbent. Among others, that of the above-mentioned Simon, and his spouse Alice, who lie under a tomb erected by himself. He died in 1519 : she survived him, and left by her will a silver penny to every child under the age of nine, whose parents were house- keepers in this parish (beginning with those next the church) on condition that, every day in the year, after the sacring of the high mass, they should kneel down at the altar and say five pater- nosters, an ave, and a creed, for her soul, that of her husband, and all Christian souls ; and the an- nual sum of six shillings and eight pence to the dean, for seeing the same duly performed, and likewise for performing the same himself. At the reformation this custom was changed. The inha- bitants purchased from the crown the lands charged with this money : part maintains a school : the rest is distributed to such children who repair to the church every morning at ten o'clock, and say the Lord's prayer ; and the clerk has an allowance for seeing the performance, and for ringing the bell to summon them \ k Dugdale Wanvicksh, ii. 1013, 1014. TOMBS IN COLESHILL CHURCH. The figure of Simon Digby is in armour, with lank hair, and bare-headed. His grandson John, and his great grandson George, knighted at the siege of Zutphen, are represented in the same manner, with their wives. The first died in 1558; the last in 15 86. These are of alabaster, and painted. The tomb of Reginald, son of Simon, who died in 1549, differs. His figure, and that of his wife, are engraven on a flat slab of marble, with twelve of their children at their feet. On a pedestal, with an urn at the top, is an inscription to Kildare Lord Dighy, of Geashil, in the kingdom of Ireland, who died in 1661 ; and on the opposite side is another, in memory of his ' lady, who died in 1692, drawn up by Bishop Hough, forming a character uncommonly amiable and exemplary ; the integrity of that worthy pre- late giving sanction to every line. I felt great pleasure in perusing an epitaph, by a grateful mistress to the memory of a worthy domestic, Mary Wheely ; whom she stiles an ex- cellent servant and good friend ; for what is a faithful servant but an humble friend ? Beneath two arches are two antient figures of cross-legged knights, armed in mail, with short 1 Mrs. Charlotte Urid^man, with whom Mary Wheely lived thirty-eight years: she died in 1747. Ed. 178 COLESHILL HALL. surtouts ; in all respects alike, only one has a dog, the other a lion, at his feet. On their shields are two fieurs de lis, which denote them to have been some of the earlier Clintons ; and by Dugdale it appears, that one was John de Clinton, lord of this place, a strong adherent to the barons against Henry III. who suffered a temporary forfeiture of his estate ; but was restored to it by the famous Dictitm de Kenelwor^th. He became a favorite of Edward I. and clamed for his manor of Coleshill by prescription, " assize of bread and beer, gallows, " pillorie, tumbril, a court-leet, infangthef, outfang- "thef, mercate, faire, and free warren." He died in the year 1291, the period of crusades, and is buried cross-legged. I observe, that the piety of the Catholics has given the same attitude to several of the Slier- boms, in the church of Mitt on, in Yorkshire, who were interred in the seventeenth century ; so that I suspect it to have sometimes been considered j merely as a reverential sign of our Saviour'* suffering m . Coleshill The deserted seat of the Dibbles lies about a Hall mile or two from the town, in a fine park. The house consists but of one story, besides garrets ; ' I 1 Dugdale, &c. 1009. m The circular font in Coleshill church merits notice; round It are rude bas reliefs, representing the crucifixion, saints, j a;id ornamental mouldings. Eo. BLITHE HALL. 179 yet the apartments are numerous, approachable by ways strange and unintelligible to all that are unacquainted with them, according to the stile of old buildings. < From Coleshill I descended to pay a respectful pilgrimage to Blithe Hall, the seat of the great antiquary Sir William Dugdale ; from whose in- defatigable labors, his successors in the science draw such endless helps. In respect to this county, he has fairly extinguished all hope of dis- covering any thing which has escaped his pene- trating eye. The house lies about a mile below Coleshill, on the river Blithe; was purchased by Sir Wil- liam from Sir Walter Aston, and made his place of residence. It at present belongs (by female descent) to Richard Guest, Esquire; whose po- liteness to an inquisitive intruder I shall ever ac- knowlege. He was so obliging as to show me an excellent half-length of his ancestor, dressed in black, with a bundle of manuscripts in his hand, painted at the age of sixty, by Peter Bosscler n , in 1665. Another portrait of his wife, Margery, daugh- ter of John Huntback, Esquire, of Sexval, in Staf- fordshire ; a head of Lord Keeper Bridgeman, a I imagine, the same with the person Mr. Walpolc calta Bustler, ii. 26. X 2 Blithf Hall. Portrait of Sir William Dugdale, 180 PORTRAITS IN BLITHE HALL. a thin primitive face; another of Lord Clarendon; Keeper anc * a third °f Lord Keeper Littleton, with a jo- Littleton. v j a i p en countenance. As a judge (for he had been chief justice of the common pleas) he was, as Sir Edward Coke said, a well-poised and weighed ??ian°. As lord keeper, dispirited, from the me- lancholy apprehensions he had of the approaching calamities of the times. For a while he tempo- rized with the views of the opposition. At length, finding the resolution of the leaders to seize on the seals, and make use of them against his royal master, he gave them up, to a messenger, ap- pointed for that purpose, and followed them, at the hazard of his life, to the king at York p ; where he loyally resumed their use, till his death, at Ox- ford, in 1645; when he at once performed the functions of lord keeper, privy-counsellor, and colonel of a regiment of foot. Elias Ash- A half-length of the famous Elias Ashnolc, MOLE. whom Antony Wood stiles " the greatest virtuoso " and curio so ever known or read of in England. " Uxor solis took up its habitation in his breast, Ci and in his bosom the great God did abundantly " store up the treasures of all sorts of wisdom and " knowlege V It is well for poor Ash mole, that the peevish historian never read the wonderful Lloyd, ii. 322. • Clarendon, ii. 57 4-. ' Athen. Oxoii, ii, 28 P. PORTRAITS IN BLITHE HALL. diary of his life, in which is a most minute and filthy detail of all his ails and strange mishaps r ; otherwise Antony never would have been so pro- fuse of his praise. Yet, amidst his foibles, he was an able botanist ; of most uncommon knowlege in the study of antiquity and records ; a physician, herald, chemist, and astrologer. On rectifying his nativity, he found his birth to have been on the 23d of May 1617, about three in the morning, or " 3 hours 25 minutes 49 seconds A. M. the " quarter 8 of n ascending; but, upon Mr. Lih consisting of a mayor and two bailiffs, whom the inhabitants were to select from among themselves. The first mayor was John Ward, who was chosen in the year 1348. Henry VI. in 1451, bestowed on this city a very particular mark of his affection, by erecting it, with a considerable district around, into a county c , by the name of the city and county of couTty, Coventry ; and ordered that the bailiffs from that time should be sheriffs : so that at present, it is governed by a mayor, recorder, two sheriffs, ten aldermen, thirty-one superior and twenty-five infe- rior common-council-men. Henry came expressly to Coventry, heard mass in St. MkhaeVs church, presented the church with a gown of cloth of gold, and then created the first sheriffs. The representatives are returned by the sheriffs Right of c Accurately laid down in Mr. Beckons map of Wanckk- shirc. COVENTRY. of the city, after being chosen by the freemen, who are all enrolled, and are freemen from having served seven years as apprentices within the" city or suburbs. To be qualified to vote, a man must have been enrolled a full year before the time of an election. He must produce his indentures be- fore the mayor at a time appointed, and take an oath that he hath not absented himself from the service of his master during the term of his ap- prenticeship. The city sent members in the four first parle- ments of Edzvard I. That privilege was inter- rupted (except in the eighth of Edzvard II. and twentieth and twenty-fifth of Edzvard III.) till the thirty-first of Henry VI. when it was resumed. Among all its privileges, unfortunately for the magistrates, it has that of life and death d . The county of Coventry extends about four miles round the city, but the service of an ap- prenticeship in this extent beyond the city and suburbs does not entitle a man to his freedom, or to the privilege of a vote; neither can a man, though possessed of land to the amount of 1 000/. per annum, that lies within the county of Coven- try, be entitled to vote at an election for the d The magistrates never avail themselves of .this privilege, as the judges in the Midland circuit regularly preside at the assizes, and are paid by the sheriffs. Ed, COVENTRY. 193 county of JFarxvick, so that the land-owners of the county of the city of Coventry may truly be said not to be represented in parlement. A trial of this particular was made in the ge- neral election of 1774, and claims to vote for the county of Warxvick upon freehold in two parishes were given in, which, being in the county of Co- xentry, were not admitted. It was therefore re- quired to give the votes upon freehold in the county of Warwick, The freeholders had not been called upon to vote for seventy years, but they had it upon record, that lands within the county of Coventry were not entitled to vote at an election for the county of Warxvlck. Two parlements have been held in this city, in Parlements the great chamber of the priory. The first, in HELD HERE * 1404, by Henry IV. which was stiled Parlia- mentum incloctorum ; not that it consisted of a greater number of blockheads than parlements or- dinarily do, but from its inveteracy against the clergy, whose revenues it was determined not to spare : whence it was also called the Laymen's Parlement. The other was held in the chapter-house of the priory, in 1459, by Henry VI. and was called Parliamentum diabolicum, by reason of the multi- tude of attainders passed against Richard Duke of York, and his adherents. o 1 94 COVENTRY. Trade, Tiiv trade of this city consisted originally in C/LOI H. the manufacture of cloth, and caps, or bonnets e , which arose to a great degree of consequence, as early as 1436, and continued till the seventeenth century, when it was changed for the worsted bu- siness ; and, for a long time, the making and sale of : shags, camblets, lastings, tammies, 8$c. fyc. proved very extensive and profitable ; but this gradually migrated into Leicestershire and North- amptonshire ; and at present, only a few articles, such as camblets and lastings, constitute the wool- len trade f . c Anderson's Diet, u 262. f The Editor has been favored by Robert Simson, Esq. with ' the following observations on the present state of the manu- factures in the city of Coventry : " The manufactory of woollen cloth continued till 1696, " about which period it was nearly lost by the long war be- " tween England and France, which destroyed the Turkey u trade ; about which time the making of mixt or striped " tammies was introduced. The worsted manufactory was af- w tervvards increased by the making of lastings, camblets, calli- i( mancoes, and shalloons; but this trade,- except sh a gs, has •< wholly emigrated into Northamptonshire and Yorkshire. '* Ribands still remain the staple trade. " The trade in gauzes speedily declined, and has been for " many years discontinued. " The manufactory of shags is still important, and has lately .*? been increased by the making of silk shag for the covering ,( of men's hats. In the whole about two hundred looms are COVENTRY. 195 Blue Thread. I must remark, that in the beginning, or mid- dle, of the sixteenth century, Coventry had a vast manufacture of blue thread ; which was lost before the year 158 1 s . So famous was it for its dye, that true as Coventry blue became proverbial. About eighty years ago, the silk manufacture r IB ands. of ribands was introduced here, and, for the first thirty years, remained in the hands of a few peo- ple, who acquired vast fortunes ; since which, it has extended to a great degree, and is supposed to employ at lest ten thousand people ; it has like- wise spread into the neighboring towns, such as Nuneaton, and other places. Such real good re- sults from our little vanities ! There are about a dozen traders in Coventry, who have houses in London ; to which they send employed, which gives a further employment to about a thousand persons. " The manufactory of ivatches was introduced about the year 1770; within the last twenty years it has increased rapidly, and is yet in a progressive state ; it employs about seven hundred persons. " About the year 1793 a manufactory of calicoes was esta- blished, which upon an average makes about five hundred pieces per week. " A fancy -net trimming manufacture employs a considerable number of hands, and is in a progressive and flourishing condition." Ed. * Anderson* 6 Diet, i, 422. o 2 COVENTRY. up weekly great quantities of ribands ; and, before our unhappy breach with America, a very exten- sive trade was carried on with the colonies : but the home-consumption has been always reckoned most material. A few ribands are exported to Spain, Portugal, and Russia; but the French un- dersell us at those markets. Within these few years, four or five houses have begun to introduce the making of gauzes; and for that purpose chiefly, employ hands from Scotland. This branch is at present in its infancy. A manufacture of broad silks was likewise set up, which, I am sorry to find, does not go on with the expected success. The military transactions of this city are very few. It was an open town for many centuries, and, of course, incapable of sustaining a siege. Walls. The walls were not begun till the year 1355, and then by virtue of a licence granted by Edward XXL twenty-seven years before ; nor were they finished in less than forty. They were built with money raised by taxes, and by customs on the wine, malt, oxen, hogs, calves, and sheep, consumed in Coventry. These walls were of great strength and grandeur, furnished with thirty-two towers and twelve gates; they continued till the 22d of July 1661, when great part of the wall, and most of the towers, and many of the gates, were pulled COVENTRY. 197 down, with certain circumstances of disgrace, as a punishment for the disloyalty of the inhabitants, for refusing admission to their monarch Charles I. on the 13th of August 1642. His majesty, after setting up his standard at Nottingham, had sent to this city, to acquaint them that he meant to re- side there for some time, and desired quarters for his forces in and about the place. The mayor and aldermen, with many expressions of affection, of- fered to receive the king, but refused admittance to any of the soldiery. Incensed at this, his ma- jesty attacked the city, and with his ordnance City at- r t r i i ii TACKED BY forced open one of the gates ; but was repulsed Charles I. by the valour of the citizens, and obliged to retire with loss \ In the following month Coventry was regularly garrisoned by the parlement 1 , and re- mained in its possession during the whole war. I should have mentioned before, that in the fifteenth century another monarch had been de- nied the possession of this city. The great Earl of JVarxvick armed it against Edward IV. in 1470, when he attempted entering on the side of Gosford Green. The king amply repaid the insult on the citizens, who perhaps acted by constraint. He deprived them of their privileges, and made them pay five hundred marks for their recovery, by hav- ing the sword restored to them. h Vicar's Parliament. Chron. 14-1. * Whitclobk, 63. 198 COVENTRY CASTLE. Castle. Before the building of the walls, there had been, from very early times, a castle on the south side of the town, near Chylesmore, with a park belonging to it. This had been the residence of the kings and earls of Mercia : it afterwards fell to the earls of Chester, and at length was vested in the royal line. No vestige of it is now to be seen : in its place is a very antient wooden build- ing, the remains of the manor-house of Chyles- more, probably built after the demolition of the castle. It was of Sclvou origin, and was bestowed by the Conqueror on Robert de Marmion, the same to whom he had granted Tamworth and its dependencies. King Stephen forcibly took this fortress from Handle de Gernons Earl of Chester. The earl, in 1146, attempted to reduce it, not by siege, but by erecting a fort near it, in order to distress the garrison, by cutting off supplies. The king twice attempted its relief; the first time with- out success, but in the second action he de- feated the earl, forced him to fly, covered with Demo- wounds, and then demolished the castle \ There LISHED, . r was a great enmity between Robert, son ot the first Robert Marmion, and Randle de Gernons, and he determined to dispossess the earl of his castle in the year 1 142 ; it being at that time the k Leicester's Cheshire ex gestis Stephani, 1 COVENTRY. 199 place of his residence. Marmion seized on the priory and fortified it, after expelling the monks. He then sunk pit-falls in the adjacent fields, and covered them lightly with earth, in order to entrap any who attempted to approach him. But seeing the earl's forces drawing near, he went out to reconnoitre, and was caught in his own snares ; for falling into one he broke his thigh, and was seized by a common soldier, who in- stantly cut off his head \ 1 shall take notice of the ecclesiastical his- tory, churches, remains of religious houses, and the public buildings, in the course of my walk through the city, in which I was accompanied by the Reverend Doctor Edzvards ; whose hospitality and politeness I have more than once had occasion to experience. Coventry is seated on ground gently sloping on City • i i i r tt-77 DESCRIB most sides : its length, from Hillstreet-gate to Gosford-gate, is about three quarters of a mile, exclusive of the suburbs. The streets in general are narrow, and composed of very antient build- ings, the stories of which, in some, impend one over the other in such a manner, as nearly to meet at top, and exclude the sight of the sky. By the appearance of the whole, it is very evident that it 1 Dugdales Warwickshire, ii, p. 1 1 n /2. 200 COVENTRY. never underwent the calamity of fire ; which, de- precated as it ought to be, is usually the cause of future improvement. Numbers. The number of inhabitants, taken at different periods, in the last two hundred years, is very dif- ferent. Before 1549, they were found to have been 1 5,000 ; but on that violent convulsion, the Dissolution, trade grew so low, and occasioned such a dispersion of people from this city, as to reduce them to 3,000. To remedy this evil, Ed- ward VI. granted the city a charter for an addi- tional fair. To this cause perhaps was owing the increase, by the year 1586, to 6,502. In 1644, when the inhabitants were numbered, from the apprehension of a siege, they were found to amount to 9,500 m . By Bradford's Survey 11 of Coventry, made in 1748 and 1749, there appears to have been 2,065 houses, and 12,117 people. The accounts of the present population vary from 20,000 to 30,000 ; but, from my enquiries, the middle sum between both may come nearest the truth °. m Dugdale, i. 146, J 50, 152. n Published by Jefferys, in 1750. On a survey made in 1694, the population of Coventry amounted to 6,710 souls. The present numbers are about 25,000; the returns made to government under the recent act, stating them at 16034, are glaringly incorrect. When an al- COVENTRY. 201 The city is watered by the Radford and the Sherburn brooks, which, from N. and S. meet within the walls, and, after a short current, bound the north-eastern parts without the walls. We began our progress from the Chester road, Sponne 1 ° ( Hospital, on the western side of the city, at the reliques of for Lepers. Sponne hospital, consisting of the chapel and gate- way. It was founded for the lepers which hap- pened to be in Coventry, by Hugh Ceveilioc Earl of Chester ', out of affection to William de Auney, a knight of his houshold, afflicted with the leprosy. Here was also a priest, to pray both for the living and the dead ; also certain brethren and sisters, to pray, with the lepers, for the good estate of all their benefactors. This hospital is said once to have belonged to the abbey of Basingwerk, in Flintshire ; but at length was appropriated to the monks of Coventry, from whom it passed to the crown, in the time of Edxvard IV ; who gave it to the canons of Studley, in order to obtain their prayers for him, and all his connections. That loathsome disorder, which gave rise to Leprosy, it: this, and numbers of other similar foundations, ^p^tr^Ln 7 7 IN JLNGLAND was introduced into England in the reign of Henry I. and was supposed to have been brought lowance of bread, meat, and beer, was distributed to as many of the inhabitants as chose to accept it, on the occasion of the Jubilee 1809, there wore fourteen thousand applicants. Ei>» CHURCH OF ST. JOHN. out of Egypt, or perhaps the east, by means of the crusades. To add to the horror, it was con- tagious ; which enhanced the charity of a provision for such miserables, who were not only naturally shunned, but even chaced, by royal edict, ixom the society of their fellow-creatures p . All the lesser Lazar houses in England were subject to the rich house at Burton, in Leicestershire ; which again was subject to that in Jerusalem q . They were usually dedicated to St. Lazarus, from whom they derived their name. A little farther is the entrance into the city; within my memory under a venerable and magni- ficent gate, called Sponne Gate; demolished in 1771, in order to give admittance to the enormous waggons, loaden beyond the height of arches erect- ed when war was our chief trade. Immediately within the walls, on the left, stands the church of St. John, a very handsome building, with a neat but not lofty tower, placed in the centre : the inside is in form of a cross, in- tersected by a short transept : the windows high, and forming a long range, with very narrow divi- sions. This church was originally a chapel to the merchants gild, the most antient in Coventry, li- P Edward III. drove from London all the lepers, except fourteen, who clamed admittance into St. Giles's hospital. * Tanner* 239. CHURCH OF ST. JOHN. censed by Edward III. in 1340, for a fraternity of brethren and sisters, with a warden, or master, to be elected out of the body, who might make chauntries, bestow alms, and do other works of piety ; constitute ordinances, and purchase lands to the value of £.20 a year, within the liberty of the city, for founding a chauntry of six priests, to sing mass every day in the churches of the holy Trinity and St. Michael, for the soul of king Ed- ward, queen Philippa, their children, and for the souls of the gild, and others. Soon after, Isabel, queen-mother, assigned the land on this spot, then called Bablake, for building a chapel, in which masses were to be sung daily for the same purposes, which was finished and dedicated in 1350. At length, in 1399, licence was given for celebrating divine service here, provided it might be done without injury to the mother-church r . On the dissolution, its revenues were found to be £. 1 1 1 1 3s. Sd. which supported a warden and eight priests, who had chambers in the precinct, a master of a grammar-school, two singing-clerks, and two singing-boys, and several poor men, who had been brethren of the gild. The church has of late years been rebuilt; made a rectory by act of * Dugd. W. i. 188. 204 COVENTRY: BABLAKE HOSPITAL. parlement, in 1734, and settled on the master of the free-school of Coventry \ Behind this church is Bablake hospital, an old building, with a court in the middle : one part is occupied by Bond's alms-houses, founded in 1506, by Thomas Bond, mayor of Coventry in 1497, for ten poor men and one poor woman, with a priest to pray for the soul of the founder, his grandfa- ther, father, and all Christian souls. At that time the revenues were °£.49. 1 Is. 7d. In the first* of Edzvard Vlth's time, they were vested in the city. The revenues being improved, they maintain at present eighteen old men and a nurse, each of whom has three shillings a week, a black gown, and other emoluments. About the year 1619, an infernal ambition of becoming chief of the house, seized one of the alms-men ; who, to attain his end, poisoned eight of his brethren; five of whom instantly died. On detection, the wretch effected his own destruction by the same method, and was buried with the usual marks of infamy. Had his fortune flung him into a higher station, his deeds would have paralleled him with Cesar Borgia, or his more monstrous father, Pope Alexander VI. The other part of the building is allotted for 5 Ecton, 93. 1 Dugd. W. i. 193, COVENTRY: CANAL. 205 the blue boys : a foundation owing to a very sin- gular accident. Mr. Thomas Wheatly, mayor of Coventry in 1556, and ironmonger and card-maker by trade, sent his servant, Ought on, to Spain, to buy some barrels of steel gads ; which he thought he did, in open fair. When they were brought home and examined, they were found to contain cochineal and ingots of silver. Mr. Wheat ly kept them for a considerable time, in hopes of dis- covering the owner ; for his servant did not know from whom he bought them. At length he applied the profits, as well as much of his own estate, for the support of poor children. From thence my walk was continued along the Canal. west side of the city, to Bishopsgate-street. A little without is the head of the great canal, which, pass- ing by the neighboring collieries at Hazvkesbury, is to extend to Brinklow, Hill- Morton, Br aims ton in Northamptonshire, return into Warwickshire, and, after passing by Banbury, conclude at Ox- ford*. By another branch, likewise begun near to Coventry, it is to pass by Atherston and Tam- zvorth, and to unite with the great Staffordshire u Distances. Coventry to Hill-Morton, 20 1 Napton Napton Field, 17 1 5, rise 88 f. Clay don, - 8 5 1 Oxford, - 36 7, fall 20 1. 206 COVENTRY: FREE-SCHOOL, canal on Fradley heath, three miles N. E. of Licit- field*; which, by means of the St our Port canal, would have become the uniting spot of the com- merce of the Thames, the Severn, and the Trent, had Britain flourished in the manner it did when these vast designs were undertaken, in the full in- toxication of its prosperity. At present it is only finished as far as Atherston y . Free At the lower end of this street is the frce- SCHOOL, ill* once St. school, dedicated to St. John Baptist : it sprung Hospital. °ut of an hospital, founded in the beginning of the reign of Henry II. by Laurence, prior of Coven- try, and his convent, at the request of Edmund, archdeacon of Coventry, for the reception of the sick and needy. At the dissolution, John Hales, clerk of the hanaper in the time of Henry VIII. a gentleman who had a large share in the plunder of the church, and having neither wife nor child, x Distances. Staffordshire canal to Atherston, 21 0, rise 95. Coventry, 14 4 Branches to coal mines, 14 y These great undertakings are now completed ; the former is distinguished by the name of the Oxford, the latter by that of the Coventry canal. Near Braunston the Oxford unites with the Grand Junction canal, which forms a more ready commu- nication with the Thames, and serves to supply the metropolis with coal from the central parts of the kingdom. The shares in the Coventry canal, originally of one hundred pounds, now sell for eight hundred guineas. Ed. COVENTRY: FREE-SCHOOL. converted this foundation, which he had purchased at a very cheap rate, into a free-school, and en- dowed it with CC marks a year in land. At first, the boys were instructed in the church of the White Friars; but the magistrates finding that Mr. Hales had bought the lands but not the church, took advantage of the flaw, removed the scholars to the present place, and pulled down the church 2 . The chapel, now reduced to one aile, is the present school ; and the master resides in the house belonging to the antient master of the hospital. The school has also a library belonging to it. Mr. Hales died in 1572 : his fortunes, which chiefly lay in Warwickshire, devolved to John, son of his eldest brother Christopher, who made his residence at Hales Place, the antient house of the White Friars in this city, and in 1660 was dignified by Charles IX. with the title of Baronet. Pass by Cookstreet Gate, on the outside of the city, and a little further, by the Three Virgins, or Priory Gate, between which there is a complete part of the wall. On the outside was a paved road, in imitation of the military way from turret to turret on the famed wall of S'everus*: and be- sides, here were four other similar roads, which went a mile each way from the city. 2 Dwjcl W. i. 179, 180. a Tour Scotl. vol, m. 283. C08 COVENTRY: PRIORY. At a small distance without the Priory Gate, is Swanszvell Pool, which works the wheel that supplies a part of the city with water. This did belong to the priory, but was at the dissolution purchased by the corporation from the crown b . Priory. From hence I returned to the priory, seated on the south side of the brook Sherburn. What bears that name is an uninhabited house c , of much later date than that monastery ; but built on some part of the site of this great foundation. About the year 1043, earl Leofric and his fair countess more than repaired the loss in 1016, in the destruction of the famous Saxon nunnery, by founding in its stead a magnificent monastery. They placed here an abbot and twenty-four monks of the Benedictine order ; enriched the very walls and the church with massy gold and silver, and endowed it with half the town and twenty-four manors. All this they did with the advice of king Edward the Confessor and the reigning pope, and dedicated the church to the honor of God and his blessed mother, St. Peter, St. Osburg, and all saints. The pious founders were buried, accord- ing to the custom of the times, in the porches ; for the distasteful custom of church interment did not prevale till long after. Dugd. W. i. 1 46. c It is now occupied. Ed. COVENTRY: PRIORY. The first abbot was Leofrin ; but that dignity was of short duration, for, on the removal of the see of Lichfield to this place, in 1095, by Robert de Lvnisie, the office was suppressed, the bishop oeing in such cases always esteemed supreme of the house d in his stead ; a prior was appointed, but without derogating from the honor of the house ; for the priors were barons in parlement as well as the preceding abbots, and the place a mitred abbey. This first prelate was more at- tracted by the wealth of the house than by any spiritual call ; for he at once scraped from a single beam five hundred marks worth of silver, in order to carry on the intrigue at Rome against the poor monks. He reduced them to such short com- mons, that he depressed their spirits, discouraged all sorts of knowlege among them, and, in short, rendered them too dejected to think of obtaining any redress. This was a prelude to greater misfortunes. In the latter end of the following century, Hugh No- rani, a Norman, became bishop. He soon quar- relled with the monks ; who, in a synod held be- fore the high altar, doubtless on some high pro- vocation, broke his head with the holy cross. Tantcene animis ccelestibus irre ! 4 Willis's Alleys, i. 70. P '210 COVENTRY: PRIORY. This enraged the proud prelate (as he was called by those meek monks) to lay his complaint against them at Rome. The pope attended to it, expelled the antient inhabitants, and placed in their room a set of secular canons. The monks, now driven into the wild world, had only the satisfaction of seeing their persecutor struck with deep remorse ; for, in 1 198, lying on his death-bed, in the abbey of Bee in Normandy, he was seized with fierce horrors at his conduct towards those holy men ; implored forgiveness, and desired their interces- sion with the Almighty in his behalf. He re- quested to be buried in the habit of the order, that he might receive the benefit of its protection in the other world, and finally consigned himself to purgatory, ibi in diem judicii cruciandus. Luckily at the time of this event, Thomas, a monk of Coventry, happened to be at Rome soli- citing the cause of his brethren : but Innocent III. (then pope) was so enraged by his importunities, as to order him to withdraw. The poor monk, with tears, replied, ' Another pope will come, to c whom I shall not sue in vain. I therefore will ' patiently wait your death, as I have that of your c two predecessors.' " Here is a devil of a fel- " low" (says his Holiness, in high wrath, to his attendants) " by St. Peter ! he shall not wait " for my death ; so I will not put him off any COVENTRY: PRIORY. " longer, but make out the purpose of his petition " before I put a morsel more into my mouth V This troublesome affair ended, they were re- placed with double advantage; their privileges, as if by way of atonement for their short suffer- ings, increased beyond all reason ; for in the time of Edward III. they obtained, that they and their tenants, except those who held by knight service more than half a knights fee, should be quit of murder, robbery, suit to the county or hundred courts, aid to the sheriffs, view of frankpledge, and repair of the king's castles or pools f . Reign after reign they received fresh emoluments ; so that in the end they became possessed of revenues to the amount of £.73 1. 1 9s. 5 d., or, after re- prises, £A99. 7s. 4d. g Among the sacred furniture was an image of the Virgin Mary, adorned with a chain of gold enriched with gems, bestowed by the Countess Godeva on her death-bed : to which the devotees were to say as many prayers as there were in it precious stones. ' And besides this, an arm of St. Augustine of Hippo, which Agelnethus, archbishop of Canter- bury, in 1020, bought at Rome from the pope, for e Dugdale, W. u 161. f Dugdale, i. 161. I Tanner, 567. P 2 212 COVENTRY: PRIORY. the small sum of C talents of silver, and one of gold h . But even this arm had not power to ward off the blow given by the more irresistible one of Henry VIII ; who, not content with the expul- sion of its inhabitants, and seizure of the revenues, directed this noble pile to be levelled with the ground ; which he did, notwithstanding the earnest prayers of its bishop, Rowland Lee, one of his most servile tools. A deed equally wanton and impious ! The loss is the more to be regretted, as this cathedral is supposed to have been built on the model of that of Lichfield* and to have been equally beautiful. Nothing remains except a fragment, constituting part of a private house, to be seen with difficulty, and after some search. The pa- lace stood between the priory and St. Michael's, and was sold in 1651, for its materials, to Natha- niel Lacy and Obadiah Chambers, for the sum of one hundred guineas. The last prior, Thomas Camsel, in 1538, was prevalcd on to make a sur- render of the house, either through fear of death for withstanding the tyrant's pleasure, or through lucre of pension ; for he had not less than k Dugclak W. i. 158. Goodwin, TS. COVENTRY: S T « MICHAEL'S CHURCH. 213 .£.133. 6s. Sd. annuity, besides other allowances to the monks 1 . The site was then granted to John Combes and Richard Stansjield, after flou- rishing under monastic government above five hundred years. When the cathedral was standing, Coventry possessed a matchless group of churches, all within one coemetery. St. Michael's at present is a spe- St. Mi- CHAEL S ciinen of the most beautiful steeple in Europe • & Church. tower enriched with saintly figures on the sides ; an octagon rising out of it, and that lengthened into a most elegant spire. Every part is so finely proportioned, that it is no wonder Sir Christopher JVren spoke of it as a masterpiece of architecture. The outside is extremely handsome; the inside light and lofty, consisting of a body and two ailes, divided by four rows of high and airy pillars and arches. The height of the steeple and length of the church are the same, three hundred and three feet ; the width of the latter a hundred and four. In king Stephens time, this church was a chapel to the monks ; it became afterwards a vicarage, and on the dissolution fell to the gift of the crown. This, Trinity, and St. Johns, form the parishes of this great city ; so numerous are the dissenters. Its beautiful steeple was begun in the reign of 1 Stevens, i. 223. Willis's Abbeys, i. 72. COVENTRY; TRINITY CHURCH. Edward III. in 1372, by two brothers, Adam and William Botener, at their own charges, which amounted annually to one hundred pounds ; nor was it finished in less than twenty years. By the stile of architecture, I agree with Sir IVilliam Dug- dale, that the present body was built in the reign of Henry VI. Some ornament was also added to the steeple at the same time. Coventry seems to have £>een particularly favored by Henry, or, to speak more properly of that meek prince, by the heroine Margaret ; for this city used to be stiled the secret harbour of that queen. Church Trxnity church, and its spire, w r ould be spoken of as a most beautiful building, was it not eclipsed by its unfortunate vicinity to St Michael's. With- in are two epitaphs, which I give for their singu- larity. One is on Philemon Holland, the famous translator. He was schoolmaster and physician in the city. A wag made this distich on one of his labors : Philemon with translations doth so fill us, He will not let Suetonius be Tranquillus. He was called translator-general of his age; acquired much credit by his fidelity, but none greater than by his translation of Camden, in that great antiquarian's life-time, and by his consent ; to whose work he made considerable additions. COVENTRY: CHURCHES. 215 He wrote a great folio with one pen, and, as he tells us, did not wear it out : With one sole pen I writ this book, Made of a grey goose quill : A pen it was when it I took ; A pen I leave it still k . At length (if I may be allowed to pun with Fuller) death translated this translator to the other world, in 1636, at the good old age of eighty-five ; leaving behind this epitaph of his own composition : Nemo habet hie, nemo'? hospes salveto, Philemon Holland hac recubat rite repostus hurao : Si quadras ratio qusenam sit nominis, haec est, Totus terra fui, terraque totus ero : At redivivus morte tua servabor, Iesu, Una fides votis, haec est via sola salutis. Hac spe fretus ego, culpa pcenaque solutus Jamque renatus, et inde novo conspectus araictu, Ccetu in sanctorum post redimitus ero. Claudicat incessu senior mea musa, videsne? Claudatur capulo mecum simul ipsa, valeto. Valedictio Ad liberos et nepotes superstites. Dantque omnes una dudum de stirpe creati Henrice ah ! septem de fratribus une superstes Orphanici patris Qulielmi nuper adempti Et mihi (bis puero) nutricis Anna, Maria Cumque tuis angelis Elizabeta ; valete l ; k Fuller's Worthies, 127, 128. 1 Copied from Dugdalc. 216 COVENTRY CROSS. The other, which is in St. Michael's church, commemorates a Captain Geroas Scrope, written, as the proem tells you, in the agony and dolorous pains of the gout, soon before his death. Here lies an old tennis-ball, Was racketted from spring to fall, With so much heat and so much haste, Time's arm for shame grew tir'd at last. Four kings in camps he truly serv'd, And from his loyalty ne'er swerv'd. Father ruin'd, the son slighted, And from the crown ne'er recruited. Loss of estate, relations, blood, Was too well known, but did no good. With long campaigns, and pains of gout, He could no longer hold it out. Always a restless life he led ; Never at quiet till quite dead. He married, in his latter days, One who exceeds the common praise ; But wanting breath still to make known Her true affection and his own, Death timely came, all wants supply'd, By giving rest, which life deny'd. On leaving these churches, I surveyed with indignation, such as antiquaries experience, the Cross. site of the elegant and antient cross, till of late years such an ornament to the city. I am not furnished with an apology for the corporation who destroyed this beautiful building; so must leave COVENTRY: SAINT MARY HALL. £17 it doubtful, whether the gothic resolution was the result of want of money, or want of taste. In 1629, the city paid it such respect, as to expend <£.3Q3 4s. 6d. in its repair" 1 . It was built, or rather begun, in 1541, to re- place another cross, taken down some years be- fore. The founder was Sir William Hollies, lord mayor of London, and son of Thomas Hollies, of Stoke near this city, who left by his will two hun- dred pounds towards the design. The base was hexangular, finely ornamented with gothic sculp- ture ; above, rose three stories of most light and elegant tabernacle-work, lessening to the summit. In the niches were saints and English monarchs, from Henry II. to Henry V. and around each story a variety of pretty figures with flags, with the arms of England or the rose of Lancaster ex- pressed on them : and on the summit of the up- permost plate Justice, and other gracious attri- butes. A little south of St. Michaels, stands St. St - Mart Hall. Mary Hall, at present used for corporation-as- semblies. This place was built in the beginning of the reign of Henry VI : a venerable pile, whose entrance is beneath a large gateway, over which are the figures of a king and queen sitting ; pro- Dvgdale W. i. 1 16. COVENTRY : SAINT MARY HALL. bably Henry and his consort Margaret, Within this building is a fine old room : in the upper end is a noble semicircular window, divided into nine parts, elegantly painted with figures of several of our monarchs, with coats of arms and ornaments, but now very imperfect : those in the windows on the one side are lost ; several of those on the other are entire, and were designed to represent some of our great nobility, who had honored this hall with their presence as brothers and sisters of the gild, for whose use this hall was founded. This had been the gild of St. Katherine, established by certain citizens of Coventry, in 1343, by licence of Edward III ; after which it was united to those of the Holy Trinity, Our Lady, and St. John the Baptist, The illustrious personages represented here, are William Beauchamp, lord of Abergavenny \ and fourth son to Thomas Earl of Warwick ; and by him is his countess Joan, daughter of Richard Earl of Arundel Richard Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, and his second wife Isabella, daughter of Thomas Lord UEspencer ; Humphry Earl of Stafford, with a battle-ax in his hand ; and one of the John Mow- brays Dukes of Norfolk. All those great men are dressed with the magnificence and luxury of the east, in long robes lined with ermine, and with VERSES IN SAINT MARY HALL. large and singular hoods. These were the gar- ments of peace, when they passed the festive day in honor of their fraternity. Along the walls are ranged a number of Latin verses, with a sort of Sternhold translation oppo- site. I shall only give the latter, as Doctor Stukdy has already preserved the former in his Itinerary. Edward the floure of chivalre, whilesome the Black Prynce hyghte, Who prisoner tooke the French king John, in claime of grandames right ; And slew the kyng of Brame in field, whereby the ostrich penn He won, and ware on crest here first; which poesie bare Ich Dien. Amid their martial feats of arms, wherein he had no peere, His countie eke to shew this seate he chose and lov'd full deer. The former state he gat confirmed, and freedom did encrease ; A president of knyghthood rare, as well for warre as peace. Since time that first this antient town Earl Leofrike feoffed free, At Godines suite and merit strange, or else it could not bee. In princes grace by long descent, as old recordes do date, It stood inanteind, until at length it grew to cities state. Ouene Isabel, sole heire of Frannce, great favor hither caste, And did procure large fraunchises by charter ay to last. We owe, therefore, in loialtie our selves, and all wee have, To Elizabeth, our ladie liege ; whom God in mercy save. When florishing state gan once to fade, and commonwealth decay, No wonder that in cities great ; for what endureth aye ? John, late Duke of Northumberland", a prince of high degree, Did graunt fuire lands for- commons weale, as here in brass you see. n John Dudley, beheaded in 1553 : a character as wicked as that of his son. mo COVENTRY: GREY FRIARS. And Leicester mid thos great affairs, whereto high place doth calf, His father's worthy steps hath traced to prop, that his might fall On forth in prince and countrie's cause hold forth this course your days: Such deeds do noble bloud commend, such bring mortal praise. In the apartments of this building are held the balls and assemblies of the city. In one of the drawing-rooms is to be seen, in high preservation, a piece of antiquity equally delicate and curious ; an unique, which Coventry alone has the happi- ness of possessing. Here it is known by the name of The Ladys Spoon, but is doubtless no other than the Scaphium of the antients, described by Ccelius Rhodiginus and Pancirollus, Rerum me- morabil. deperd? D ^ A "^ S The front of the Drapiers Hall is very elegant, ornamented with Tuscan pilasters, and does much credit to the city. It was lately rebuilt on the site of the antient hall, founded by certain dra- piers, whose names have long since perished. Grf.y From hence we crossed the city to the Grey Friars. j % ^ Friars, which stood on the south side. This order arrived in Coventryheiore the year 1234, when they had only an oratory, which was covered with shin- • As quoted by the learned author of The Dialogue on De- cency, &c. &c. 40, 41. — I greatly lament that the citizens of Coventry, mistaking my panegyric for ridicule, have destroyed this matchless morsel. CORPUS CHRISTI PLAYS. 2'2\ gles from Kenehvorth wood, by an order of Henry III. to the sheriff of Warwickshire. Both the house and church, of an order devoted to poverty, were built by pious alms, on a spot of ground bestowed on them by the last Randle Earl of Chester, out of his neighboring manor of Cheylesmor. The church seems not to have been built till the time of Edxvard III. when the Black Prince permitted the friars to take stone out of his park of Cheyles- mor for that purpose. A beautiful steeple, with a spire springing from an octagon, is all that re- mains of this church. Dugdale supposes the Hastings to have been great benefactors ; for numbers of them were interred here, in a chapel of their name, and many in the habit of the order, from a superstition of the respect the Evil Spirit would pay to it on the last day. These friars were celebrated for their annual Corpus . ClfRISTl exhibitions of the mysteries called Corpus Ghristi Plays. plays, which they performed on that day, to their great emolument, before crowds of spectators, who resorted hither at that season from ail parts. Tike Thespis of old, they are recorded Plaustris vexisse pcemata, and to have gone to the most advantageous parts of the city, with portable theatres drawn on wheeled carriages, from which they exhibited their page- 222 CORPUS CHRISTI PLAYS. ants, which amounted to forty. The subjects are announced in a sort of prologue, by a person called Vexillator, who probably carried a flag painted with the subject of the day, and at the same time gave out to the crowd the history it was to expect. The history is taken up at the creation, and ends with the last day. I have said much of these religious dramata in my Welsh Tour p , therefore will not pester the reader at pre- sent with more than Eves rhetoric, after being tempted by the serpent, to persuade poor Adam to taste of the forbidden fruit. My semely spouse and good husbond, Lystenyth to me ser, I zow pray ; Take yis fayr appyl all in zow hond, Yerof a mursel byte & asay To ete this appyl loke that ze fond Goddys felaw to be alway ; All his wisdom to undyrstonde, And Goddys per to be for ay. All thyng for to make, Both fysch & foule, se & send, Byrd & best, watyr & lond, Yis appyl you take out of myn hond A bete herof you take X Henry VIII. put an end to the performances of these poor friars, who had the honor of falling p Tour 1773, p. 137. 8vo. ed. 1810. i. p. 185. * Stevens, i. 145, &c. COVENTRY : GREY FRIARS. with the greater monasteries ; having escaped the wreck of the lesser, because they had nothing worth seizing to gratify his rapacious court. But the king, not content with their ruin, added to it the mortifying obligation of making their surrender on the 5 th of October 1538, and to sign it with their names and common seal. The instrument is curious, and worthy perusal. cc For as moche as we the wardens and freers " of the house of Saynt Frances in Coven t re, " commonly callyd the Grey Freers in Coxentrt% " in the county of Warwick, doo profoundly con- f* sider, that the perfection of Christian livynge " dothe not consist in dume ceremonies, werynge M of a grey coot, disgeasinge our selfe aftur " straunge fassions, do kynge, noddynge, and " beckyng, in guyrdyng our selves wythe a gurdle " fulle of knotts, & other like papisticall ceremo- " nies, wherein we have ben mooste principally " practised and mislyd in tymes paste ; but the " very true waye to plese God, and to live a tru " Christian mon, wytheout all ypocrisie and fayned " diseimulation, is sinceerly declared unto us by " our Mr. Christe, his evangelists and apostles ; " being myndyd hereafter to followe the same, H conformynge our self unto the will and plesure €24 COVENTRY : GREY FRIARS. " of our supreme hedde under God in erthe, the " kynges majestic, and not to folowe henseforth " the superstitious traditions of any forinsecall " potentate or peere ; wythe mutuall assent and " consent do surrendre and yelde up into the " hondes of the same, all our seide house of Saynt " Frances, in the cite of Coventre, commonly " callyd the Grey Freer s in Coventre, wythe also " the londs, tenements, gardens, medows, waters, " pondiards, fedings, pastures, comens, rents, re- <£ versions, & alle other our interest, ryghtes, or " titles appertaining unto the same ; mooste hum- " bly beseechinge his mooste noble grace to dis- " pose of us, and of the same, as beste shall stonde " wythe his mooste gracious pleasure. And fur- " ther, frely to graunte unto every on of us his li- ff cense under wretyng & seealle, to chaunge our " habits into secular fashion, and to receive suche " maner of livinges as other secular priests com- " monly be preferred unto. And we all faithfully " shall pray unto Almighty God long to preserve " his mooste noble grace wythe increase of moche " felicite and honour. And in witnes of alle and " singular the premisses, we the seide warden and <£ coven t of the Grey Freer s in Coventre to thes " presences have putte our covent seealle, the " fivithe day of October, in the thertythe yere of COVENTRY : GREY FRIARS. 225 " the raynge of our mooste soveraynge lord king " Henry the eyghte. a Per me Johannem Stafford, Guardian, " Per me Thomas Mailer, " Per me Thomas Sanderson, " Per me Johannem A bell, " Per me Johannem J Food, " Per me Rogerum Lilly, " Per me Thomam Aukock, u Per me Matheum Walker, " Per me Robartum Walker, " Per me Thomam Bang sit, " Per me WiUielmum Gosnelle." Which said house, or site, was in the thirty-fourth of Henry VIII. granted by the king fiwfer flfid^) to the mayor, bailiffs, and commonalty of this city, and their successors for ever. Not far from the friary is a fine gate, called The Grey Friars Gate, the most beautiful of any left standing r . A little further to the east is Cheleysmor, where is still to be seen part of the manor-house ; a wooden building, with a gateway beneath. This, or some other on the site of it, had been the resi- dence of the lords of the place, and of the kings T This elegant gate was taken down in 1781. Ed, 226 COVENTRY: WHITE FRIARS. and earls of Mercia ; after that, of the earls of Chester ; and finally, it fell to the crown, when that earldom was resumed : which, with the park, about three miles in circumference, belongs to the Prince of Wales as Earl of Chester \ The castle stood not remote from the manor-house. From hence we proceeded to the Carmelites, or White Friars ; whose house stands at the east end of the city : another order devoted to poverty, who lived on charity both from the living and the dead ; for they often received legacies, supposed expiations for sins. Their house was built about the year 1 342, by Sir John Poultney, four times lord mayor of London; a gentleman deservedly celebrated for his pious munificence 1 . At the dissolution it was granted to Sir Ralph Sadler. It was afterwards sold to John Hales, who, re- siding here, occasioned it to be called Hales Place. Here are considerable remains of the building: part of the arched cloisters, the refectory and dor- mitory, and vast vaulted rooms, which served as magazines for provisions. A very handsome gate- way, with three niches on the front, is still stand- ing; and on an inner gate are three arrows, th$ s The Prince of Wales, under the act for redeeming the land-tax, has sold the manor-house and park to the Marquis of Hertford: great part of it is now enclosed. Ep c 1 Burton's Leicestershire, 191, COVENTRY: COMBUSTIBLE WOMAN. £27 arms of the Hales. Sir Christopher Hales, Ba- ronet, and after him Lady Hales, resided at the White Friars many years in the memory of some who were lately living : during which time the pre- mises were kept in good repair. The mansion- house was afterwards sold, and is now filled with weavers and Jersey-corn bers u . In the course of my walk a chamber was shewn to me, in Gos ford-street, noted for the melancholy end of Mary Clues, in February 1772; who was found almost consumed by fire, occasioned by an accident of a most uncommon nature. She had been confined to her bed by illness, the conse- quence of intemperance. The room was floored with brick ; the bed furnished with only one cur- tain, and that was next to the window. The fire- place was on the other side. She was left, the evening before the accident, with two small bits of coal put quite back in the grate, and a rush- light on the chair, by the head of the bed. The next morning a great smoke was perceived in the room. On bursting open the door some flames appeared, which were easily extinguished. The remains of the woman lay on the floor, but the u White Friars has been purchased by the city of Coventry for a house of industry : the exterior of tbe antient part has been preserved ; the cloisters are glazed, and fitted up as a dining-room for the poor inhabitant*. Ed. Q 2 228 REMARKABLE PHENOMENA. furniture of the room was only slightly damaged ; the bedstead superficially burnt, but neither sheets, feather-bed, or blankets destroyed. The solution of this phenomenon is rather ri- diculous. Mrs. Clues was excessively addicted to dram-drinking : she would drink a quart in a day, either of rum or anise-seed water; and by those means, filling her veins with pure spirits, be- came as inflammable as a lamp. She tumbled out of bed, took fire by the candle, and in about two hours was fairly burnt out to her thighs and one leg, and nothing left except her bones, com- pletely calcined *. This is not the only instance I have read of persons being burnt by their own phlogiston, natural or acquired. Two Courland noblemen, after a drinking-match of spirituous liquors, died scorched and suffocated : and the Countess Cor- nelia Baudi, of Cesena in Italy y , was found in the situation of Mary Clues, but without imputation of the guilty origin. Semele was certainly one of those combustible ladies ; but the gallant Ovid has ascribed her fatal end to another cause. Corpus mortale tumultus Non tulit iEthereos ; donisque jugalibus arsit. x Philosoph. Trans. LXIV. part i. p. 340. v Annual Register, 1763. GOSFORD GREEN. In Gosford-street I took horse to visit Combe abbey, the seat of Lord Crave?! ; passed through Gosjord-gate, and by a green of the same name, memorable for the single combat which was to have been fought there in September 1398, be- tween the Duke of Hereford 2 - and the Duke of Norfolk, earl marshal*. The former had basely betrayed a private conversation, in which he said that Mowbray had dropt several expressions of a treasonable nature. The accusation was denied, and, according to the barbarous usage of the times, Mowbray demanded the privilege of acquitting himself by single combat. Each of the dukes, agreeable to the laws of chivalry, flung down his glove, which was taken up before the king and sealed b (I suppose, to prevent any future denial of the challenge). The king appointed Coventry for the place of combat, and caused for that pur- pose a vast and magnificent theatre to be erected on this green c . The rival dukes made all requi- site preparation, and particularly about the essen- tial article armour. Froissart relates the steps they took ; which shews the preference which was given to foreign armourers. This I shall deliver in the words of his noble translator d . z Afterwards Henry IV. 3 Thomas Mowbray. b Polychronicon cccxxiv. c Vita Ricardi II. 145. 4 Sir John Bourchier, Lord Berncrs. GOSFORD GREEN: " These two lordes made provision for that was " necessarye for them for their battayle. The " Earl of Derby e sent his messangers in to Lom- " bardy, to the Duke of My Hay m, Sir Galeas, for " to have armure at his pleasure. The duke agreed (C to the erles desyre, and caused the knight that cc the erle had sent thyder, whose pame was a Fraunces, to se all the dukes armorye ; and " whan the knight had chosen such as he lyked, " than the duke furthermore, for love of the erle " of Derby, he sent four of the best armourers " that were in Lombardy to y e erle into Englande " with the knight, to thentent y* thei shuld arme " & make armure accordyng to the erles en- " tent. The Erie Marshal, on his part, sent in " to Almayn, and in to other places, to provyde " him for the journey. The charge of these two " lords was greate. But the Erie of Derby was " at mooste charge." The armour of the great men was uncommonly splendid and expensive ; usually inlaid with gold and silver, with most elegant devices and patterns. That of Francis I. in possession of Mr. IValpole, and that of George Earl of Cumberland, at Ap- pleby castle, exist as specimens of the great atten- tion given to that circumstance. Besides beauty, e The Duke of Hereford. INTENDED COMBAT THERE. 331 the utmost regard was paid to the essential requi- site of its being proof. This was to be the result of the skill of the armourer, not of art-magic ; for the combatants were to clear themselves by oath, from having any commerce with incantations, or of rendering their armour or bodies invulnerable by any charm. Let their cause be ever so bad, they determined to die like good Christians ; dis- avowed all dependence on the power of Satan, and supplicated the prayers of the pious specta- tors. Add proof unto my armour with thy prayers, And with thy blessings steel my lance's point f . I shall give the consequence of this important affair in the very graphical words of honest Ho- Unshed, who minutely describes the pomp and ce- remony preceding the resolution taken by the un- fortunate monarch, which in the end cost him his crown and life. " At the time appointed, the king came to Co- " ventrie, where the two dukes were readie, ac- Xl cording to the order prescribed therein ; com- " ming thither in great arraie, accompanied with " the lords and gentlemen of their linages. The " king caused a sumptuous scaffold, or theater, f Shakespeare. Richard II. in a speech of Hereford on this occasion. 232 GOSFORD GREEN: " and roial listes there to be erected and pre-* " pared. The Sundaie before they should fight, " after dinner, the duke of Hereford came to the V king (being lodged about a quarter of a mile " without the town, in a tower that belonged to " Sir William Bagot) to take bis leave of him. " The morrow after, being the daie appointed for " the combat, about the spring of the daie came " the duke of Norfolke to the court, to take leave " likewise of the king. The duke of Hereford " armed him in his tent, that was set up neere to " the lists ; and the duke of Norfolke put on his " armor betwixt the gate and the barrier of the " town, in a beautiful house, having a fair perclois " of wood towards the gate, that none might see " what was done within the house. " The duke of Aumarle that daie being high " constable of England, and the duke of Surrie " marshal, placed themselves betwixt them, well " armed and appointed. And when they saw their " time, they first entered into the lists with a great " company of men, apparelled in silke sendal, im- " brodered with silver both richlie and curiouslie; " everie man having a tipped staff, to keep the " field in order. About the houre of prime came " to the barriers of the lists the duke of Hereford, " mounted on a white courser, barded with green " and blew velvet, imbroidered sumptuously with INTENDED COMBAT THERE. rected all her affairs, and gave a most distinguish- ing proof of his esteem, by building for her use, at his estate in Berkshire, a magnificent palace. The difference of rank alone prevented the publi- cation of their union, which is generally supposed to have taken place. Her spotless fame was never aspersed with improper connection. William I must step to another room, the picture-gal- Earl Craven, lery, for the portrait of her admirer ; a fine head, with the body armed, and crossed with a sash. Let me finish his history with saying, that after the death of Gustavus, he retired from the Swedish army into the service of the Dutch, and, notwith- standing he never interfered in the civil wars of his own country, yet, in 1650, his estates were confiscated by the parlement (as is said) through false accusations of favors done to the exiled king. On the restoration he came over, and in 1670, on the death of the Duke of Albemarle, he was ap- pointed colonel of the Coldstream regiment of guards. His gallant spirit never forsook him : he braved the pestilence in its greatest fury, and, with a few other worthies, undertook the care of Lon- don in 1665, during the desolation of the plague; PORTRAITS THERE. 243 and in every fire, was so active in preventing the devastation of that other scourge, that it was said, " his very horse smelt it out." I must return to the parlour, to mention a fine Conversa- conversation-piece, consisting of Prince Rupert, Piece. Prince Maurice, and the Duke of Richmond at table, in the manner of Dobson, by Hont hurst. Those of the king of Bohemia and his queen are by the same hand ; Honthurst having had the honor of instructing that unfortunate princess and her family. A head of Raphael. The brazen serpent, surrounded by the terrified multitude : a fine performance. Judith and Holqfernes. Her maid, a swarthy old woman, is performing the operation of cutting off the head. On the stair-case is a large picture of Lord c LoRD Craven on horseback, with a truncheon in his hand. In the breakfast-room is a fine scene among the Alps, by John Loten, a Dutchman, who, re- siding much in Szvitzerland, became celebrated for his wild romantic views. In the picture-gallery is a fine half-length of David, with the head of Goliah, by Guercino. Frederick Tromellus, count Lavella, a head. John Ernest duke of Savoy. r 2 244 , COMBE ABBEY: Gustavus Gustavus Adolphus, a half-length : and the head* Adolphus. ; , of sixteen of his illustrious generals, by Mirevelt. These, and most of the other portraits of men of eminence in Germany, were brought over by the queen of Bohemia, and by her bequeathed by will to Lord Craven. Mireveltv A head of Mirevelt, and another of Honthurst, AND Honthurst. painted by themselves. The former resided chiefly at Delft, and was prevented visiting England by reason of the plague. The latter was here some time, by the encouragement of Charles I. Christian Christian Duke of Brunszvick, a fierce hero in Brunswick, the army of Gustavus, subdued by the charms of our royal countrywoman. It is said, that he snatched a glove from her, put it in his cap, and swore he would never part with it, till he saw her husband in possession of the capital of Bohemia" 1 . Lord Sir Edward Cecil, third son of the Earl of imbledon. £ xeter ^ a ce i eDra ted commander during thirty-five years in the Netherlands. He died in 1638, after being honored with the title of Lord Wimbledon*. m Harte's Gustavus Adolphus, i. 177. n He is buried in a chapel erected for the purpose, opening to the chancel of Wimbledon church, under a very handsome tomb, with the following inscription : " Sir Edward Cecil, Knt. u Lord Cecil, Baron of Putney, and Viscount Wimbledon, 3 u son of Thomas earl of Exeter, and Dorothea Nevil, one of the " coheirs of Lord Nevil, and grandchild of Lord Treasurer " Burleigh. 1638." PORTRAITS THERE. 245 His picture is a head, with short grey hair; his body in rich armour, with a sash. From this the print by Simon Pass was taken. A REMARKABLE legend of OttO, Or Otho I. Legend^ earl of Oldenberg, represented as wearied with the chace, and separated from his companions, on a wild mountain. When he was almost fainting , with thirst, a beautiful virgin, in white, with long flowing hair, and a garland on her head, burst out of the side of the hill, and offered him drink out of a rich horn, which she put into his hand, assur- ing him, that if he drank, prosperity would attend him and his house. He disliked the proposal, suspecting deceit. Accordingly, pouring some of the liquor on the hind part of his horse, he found it so noxious as to take off the hair. He instantly rode off with the horn full speed, terrified at the adventure, and the spectre retired into the bowels of the mountain. The horn, which gave rise to this fable, is of silver, gilt, and of most exquisite workmanship, and is still preserved in the mu- seum at Copenhagen . Instead of being of the age of Otho I. or about the year 918, it is proved to have been made by Christian I. in honor of the three kings of Cologne, whose names are in- scribed on it; for it seems it was customary, • Museum Regium Haimia, &c. pars II. sect. iii. par. 60. tab, v. C46 COMBE ABBEY: among the northern nations, to dedicate their cups or horns to saints, and make large libations out of them, invoking the saint to assist the mighty draught: Help Got unde Maria dat Iw Got p . What gave rise to the particular legend relative to the horn, is the figure of a woman on the recur- vated tip, with a label, with this jovial exhortation, Drinc all wt ; and round the lip, O mater Dei memento meL In several apartments, whose names I have for- gotten, are a variety of other paintings and portraits. Among them is one of the founder of the fa- Sl C^AVEN AMm ^^' ^ r ^ l ^ iam Craven, lord mayor of London, by Jansen; two full-lengths of Earl Craven, in armour, one very spirited ; and a portrait of Sir Lucy William Craven of this place, by Sir Peter Lely ; Countess of Lucy countess of Bedford, by Jansen, in the same EDroRD. att - tuc | e an j dress m wn ich she is painted at Wo- burn and at Alloa" 1 . Henry An elegant figure of Henry prince of Wales, in Prince of . . , , . , Wales, a gay silk jacket, crimson nose, roses to his shoes, a white silk hat and feather before him, and a glove in one hand. He stands in a room with a pretty view through the window. Drawn while that amiable prince was in his boyhood. P Museum llegium Havnice, &c. pars II. sect. iii. par. 62. i Tour Scotl. 1772, part ii. p. 222. PORTRAITS THERE. 247 Charles II. when young; his body armed with Charles II. steel, the rest with buff. General Monk, cloathed entirely in buff. General This species of defence was usually made of the skin of the elk, and oftentimes of the stag, and was proof against a ball. Duke of Ormond, by Sir Peter Lely. £ UKE 0F 7 J u Ormond. A pretty half-length of Lord Herbert, young, Lord it ii-ii i r Herbert. in armour, laced cravat, and his helmet before him. The punishment of sloth: a man whipping a woman out of bed. A fine decollation of St. Joint, by Albert Durer. The executioner sheathing his sword; Herodiass daughter receives the head with great satisfaction of countenance; and her swelling waist shews the price of the Baptist's destruction. Four musicians : two, a Flemish gentleman and a lady ; the other, peasants : a capital per- formance, by Frank Hah. The offering of the wise men in the east, by Paul Veronese, equally fine. An old woman and boy, heads, by candle-light, likewise fine. Two fine paintings, by Rembrandt, of two phi- losophers ; each with a noble pupil : one in a Turkish dress ; the other in an ermine robe. These young figures are called Prince Rupert and Prince %) Afon tre, the town of the two Avons, or ri- vets, from its situation between them. Certainly it w&fe a pl&Se of ftote at the Conquest ; had in it ai&teeft plough-lands; in the manor three, with three slaves, twenty villeyns, a presbyter, and ten boors, and twelve acres of meadow. It had been 256 DAVE N TRY PRIORY. worth three pounds ; after that event improved to eight. This was a part of the great possessions of the countess Judith, niece to the Conqueror, whom he had married to the brave Waltheof Earl of Northumberland ; and farther to engage his fide- lity, he gave with her this county, and that of Huntingdon. Waltheof unfortunately engaged in a conspiracy, and, notwithstanding he repented, and flung himself at the king's mercy, was be- headed in 074, at the instigation of his wife 7 . It seems she had cast a favorable eye on another person, but was disappointed ; for the king offered to her Simon de Liz, a noble Xomnan, lame of one leg: him she rejected; which so enraged her un- cle, that he deprived her of the two earldoms, and gave them to De Liz, with her eldest daughter ; which obliged Judith to a state of penitentiary widowhood during life. Priory. Here are some remains of the priory, inhabited by poor families. The place is easily discovered, by several gothic windows, and a door accessible by a great flight of steps. Four Cluniac monks were Originally placed at Preston Capes, in this county, by Hugh de Leicester, sheriff of the county, and steward to Maud, sister to the first y Order: Vital DAVENTRY PRIORY. S. Liz Earl of Huntingdon ; but rinding the situa- tion inconvenient, for want of water, he built a priory, and removed them here, about the year 10^0. It was dedicated to St. Augustine, and was subordinate to St. Mary de Car it ate*. Its spiritualities were valued at ,£.115 17s. 4 i Anno Virtute prasclarissima) (.Dni. 1630. Commutavit Saecula ; non obiit. She left three sons and seven daughters by her first husband. Sir Charles, the eldest, lost his head through his unfortunate attachment to the ill-fated Earl of Essex ; Henry, an able warrior, died Earl of Danby, full of years and glory ; Sir John married into the great family of the New- ports^ in Shropshire. This noble monument was erected by the lady in her life-time, and was the chef d'ceuvre of that TOMBS IN THE CHURCH. great statuary Nicholas Stone, master-mason to king James and Charles I. statuary and stone- cutter ; so humbly does he stile himself. It ap- pears by a note of his, that, " March the 16. 1617. " I undertook to make a tomb for my lady, mo- " ther to Lord Davers; which was all of whit mar- " bell & touch p ; and I set it up at Stoxv of the " nine Churches, in Northamptonshire, som 2 yeare " after. One altar tombe : for the which I had 220 li. q " Opposite to this is a very handsome cenotaph, in memory of the Reverend Doctor Thomas Tur- ner, born at Biistolm 1645, and buried in 1714, at Corpus Christi college, Oxford, of which he had been president. He laid out his great income in acts of hospi- tality and charity; and on his death, after be- f Touch, Pierre de Touche was a name applied to any black stone which was used for the touching or trying of gold. At length the statuaries bestowed it on all the black marbles, be- cause they were sometimes used for that purpose. * Mr. Walpole, in the 2d vol. of his Anecdotes of Painting, p. 23, informs us, that this able artist was born at JVoodbury, near Exeter, in 1586, and died in London, 1647. I refer the reader to that elegant performance for a list of his works. Let me add, that the first time I saw this beautiful tomb, it was going fast to decay; but, since that time, has been fully re- stored, by the care of the worthy rector and (I think) patron af this church, Doctor Lloyd. <270 STOW-NINE-CHURCHES t queathing .£.4000 to his relations and friends, left the rest of his wealth to pious uses. He aug- mented the stipends of the poorer members of Ely cathedral, in which he was prebendary : he left of. 100 to be expended in apprenticing poor children of that city : he left £.6000 for improving the buildings of the college he presided over : and finally, left ',£'.20,000 to be laid out by his execu- tors in estates and lands, to be settled by them on the governors of the charity for the relief of the poor widows and children of the clergy. Accord- ingly they purchased this manor, and other estates h£re, and at iVest Wratling in Cambridgeshire* to the amount of upwards of £. >0OO a year, and settled them, in 1716, agreeable to his whV. This manor was purchased from tldward Hwlty, Esquire, for ,£.16,000; which occasioned the ho- norable mark of gratitude in this church. It is singular, that Francis Turner, bishop of Ely, lost his preferments in 1690, for refusing the oaths to William and Mary, when this gentleman, his bro- ther, had the good fortune to preserve his, without injuring his conscience. In 1702, the last year allowed" for undergoing the test, he left London on the £&th of July, and went to* Oxford with a full resolution to sacrifice r Willis's Cathedrals, ii. 3S9. A TOMBS IN THE CHURCH. all his preferments on the first of August, the last day allowed by the act. He wisely made no re^ signation, well knowing that his refusal would be ample deprivation. Whether he was forgotten, or w nether the omission was winked at, does not ap- pear ; but he retained all his benefices to his dying day *. This charitable divine is placed standing in a graceful attitude, in his master of arts robes, h* his own hair, under a canopy supported by two* fluted pillars of the Corinthian order, of colored marble. On the side of him is Religion, repre- sented by a woman on a celestial globe, with a cross in one, and a font in the other hand. Oil the last is inscribed ePHSKETA KA&APA amtantos ITAPA to 0EH. The doctor stands on a terres- trial globe, with a book in his hand, in which is written fftN I"I A P A K AT A® H K 1 1 N $TAA2X)N. Thg account of his various charities is placed on the pediment. To the corner of an aile, to make room for this sumptuous monument, was removed the tomb of across-legged knight, armed in mail, and partly covered with a surf out. One hand is on his breast, the other on his sword. On an enormous shield, which is belted to his body, is a rude figure of £ * Bentham's Hist. Ely, 263. 272 TOUCESTER. lion passant guardant, and crowned. He is sup- posed to be one of the Gilbert cle G a fits, the an- tient owners. There were five of them. The first was great nephew to the Conqueror ; the last died in 1295. From hence I descended to the great road : the country hilly and clayey. The quarries are of a coarse grit stone, often filled with shells, but of too shattery a nature to be used, except in ordi- nary buildings. A few miles farther is an emi- nence, called Forsters Booth, so named from a booth erected here by one Forster, a poor coun- tryman. It grew at length into a scattered street, of several houses and carriers inns, through which runs the IVatling- street road in a direct line to Toucester, four miles distant. Toucester. This is a pretty considerable town, seated on a plain, on a small stream called the Tove, from which the name is derived ; Toucester, or the castle on the Tove. The great tumulus on the east side of the town, points out the site of the speculum or watch tower. The Roman coins found in digging about, prove it to have been an appendage to a Roman .station, whose name has never reached us. The Saxons took advantage of tiiis little fortress, and added the foss which surrounded it. From them it received its present title of the Bury, or TOUCESTER. 273 Borough, to which has been since added the dou- ble tautology of Berry Mount hill. The Saxons called the town Tofcceastrc. In the time of Edzvard the Elder it was almost ru- ined by the ravages of the Danes ; but in 92 1 the king determined to restore it, and for that purpose detached part of his forces ; who, soon after their arrival, were attacked by the Danes resident in Northampton and Leicester 1 ; but, assisted by the townsmen, they repelled the barbarians ; and Ed- \ ward, in order to prevent future insults, fortified the whole place with a stone wall u . But time hath destroyed every vestige of it. This manor, after various changes, became the property of the famous Sir Jlichard Empson, one of the instruments of the avarice and oppression of Henry VII ; who, in 1509, lost his head, with Edmund Dudley, on Tower-hill ; perhaps more deservedly than legally. Empson was the son of a sieve-maker in this town ; by his great abilities in the profession of the law, he was promoted to the chancellorship of the duchy of Lancaster ; but by his unbounded submission to the will of his ra- pacious master, fell a victim, in the next reign, to the demands of an enraged nation. At present, the manor belongs to the Earl of Pomfret, who 1 Sax. Chr. 107. ■ Ibid. 108. T 37* TOUCESTER CHURCH. derives it from his ancestor Richard Termor, a merchant of Calais, and a younger brother of the antient house of the Fermors, of Oxfordshire. Church. There was a church here at the Conquest, which was given by the Conqueror to the abbey of St. Wandragasile, in Normandy. In the pre- sent, is nothing remarkable, excepting the tomb, of William Sponne, archdeacon of Norfolk, and rector of this parish in the reign of Henry VI t who founded here a college and chantry for two priests to say mass for his soul, and the souls of his friends. At the dissolution, it was worth £. 19. 6s. Sd. a year x . He was also a great be- nefactor to the town, and his charities are still felt here, governed by feoffees, consisting of fifteen of the principal inhabitants. His figure is represented recumbent, dressed in a red gown, which reaches round his feet, with ermine hood and sleeves. Beneath is another re- presentation of him after death, with a sunk nose and emaciated body, and all the changes wrought by that fell monster on the human frame. The town is supported by the great concourse of passengers, and by a manufacture of lace, and a small one of silk stockings. The first was im« ported from Flanders, and is carried on with much j * Tanner, SS$, EASTON-NESTON. MANOR. 275 success in this place, and with still more in the neighboring county of Buckingham. I took a walk about a mile east of the town, to see Easton-Neston, the seat of the Earl of Pom- Eastojt- Neston. fret. The wings were built by Sir Christopher Wren, in 1682 ; the centre by Hawkesmore, about twenty years after, who is said to have departed greatly from the original design. It has nine win- dows in front, and is enriched with pilasters. The inside has been long since despoiled of its curious portraits and valuable statues : the latter having been presented to the university of Oxford, by the late Countess of Pomfret, grandaughter to the lord chancellor Jeffries. This manor was purchased by the same Richard Manor, Termor, in 1530, from Thomas, son of Sir Richard Empson. The antient house stood below the church, in a park inclosed by Sir Richard, by li- cence from Henry VII, at the time it came into the possession of Mr. Termor. He lived here with boundless hospitality, till the year 1540, when, for sending Sd. and a couple of shirts, to one Nicholas Thane, his confessor, then in prison at Buckingham for denying the king's supremacy, he incurred the tyrant's displeasure. He fell under a praemunire, and, in his old-age, being stripped of all he had, was forced to live with the parson of Waperiham (whom he had presented), and with T 2 276 WIL. SOMMERS: SINGULAR ANECDOTE. whom he lived for several years, an example of consummate piety and resignation y . The recovery of part of his fortune was owing to a singular accident. During his prosperous days he kept, as was usual in those times with people of rank, a fool or jester : his was the noted Wil. Som- WIL Sommers, who, for his drollery, was promoted MERS. J 1 to the same office under Henry VIII. I have a very scarce print of this illustrious personage, by Delaram, with all the insignia of his place about him. Wil. with a gratitude not frequent at courts, remembered his old master ; and in the latter days of Henry, when his constitution was weakened by infirmities, took occasion, by some well-timed speech, to awaken the kings conscience; who, touched with a compunction rarely known to him, ordered restitution 7 ; but died before it could be effected. His pious successor, Edward VI. re- stored to him this manor, that of Toucester, and some others of his estates, and added many grants, by way of compensation for the injury done him J but all fell short of the great losses he had sus- tained from the cruel father. He returned to his house, which he enjoyed only two years, dying in January 1552-3. He seemed to have a presage of his end ; for on the day of his death he had in- 7 Bridges. 290. 7 CoUim's Peerage, v« 50. TOMBS IN EASTON-NESTON CHURCH. 277 vited a number of his friends and neighbors, took his leave of them, retired to his closet, and was found dead in an attitude of devotion 3 . His tomb, with his figure in brass, and that of his wife, are still to be seen in the adjacent church. There are, besides, several other family-monu- Church. ments. Sir John Termor (son of Richard) and Maud his wife, are represented kneeling at a desk, beneath an arch: she is dressed in a great ruff and lappets. He, perhaps out of respect to his father's sufferings in the cause of the see of Rome, received the honor of Knight of the Bath at the coronation of queen Mary, He died in 1571. His son Sir George lies in alabaster, recumbent and armed, with peaked beard and small whiskers. His wife, Mary daughter of Thomas Curzon, of Adding ton, Bucks, lies by him, dressed in a gown tied neatly with ribands from top to bottom, a quilled ruff, and great tete d caleche. Beneath are represented, kneeling, their seven sons and eight daughters. Above all, is a vast quantity of ornaments, arms, §c. This gentleman might, like Sir Fulk Grevil, have boasted of being the friend of Sir Philip Sydney, having contracted an intimacy with him in the wars in the Netherlands, where he served all his youth, under William % Collinses rcerftgr, v. 50. TOMBS IN EASTON-NESTON CHURCH. prince of Orange, and walked at the funeral of the celebrated English hero. He also improved him- self by foreign travel; lived at home with vast splendor and hospitality; and, on June 11, 1603, his house had the honor of being the place of meeting between James I. and his queen, on her journey from Scotland, to receive her new crown. Here they dined, and were entertained, with all their trains, in a princely manner 15 . He quitted this life in 1612. Sir Hat ton Fermor, who with nine other gen- tlemen were knighted at the above interview, is also buried here. He died of the consequences of a broken leg, in 1620. He and his lady are very elegant figures, placed standing ; he armed ; in great boots, flapping down ; vast whiskers ; peaked beard ; and, what was not in use at the time of his death, a cravat. It seems the monu- ment was not erected till 1662, when his widow Anna, daughter of Sir William Cockain, lord mayor of London, gave this proof of her affection. She is dressed in a loose gown, and with long flowing tresses : her hand is on an hour-glass ; his on a scroll : between, is a bust of a man in long hair: above, are three most aukward figures of kneeling women. I must not quit the lady, with- b Collins, 52. WHITTLEBURY FOREST. 279 out saying she suffered, with exemplary patience, a long imprisonment and great confiscations, on account of the loyalty of her family ; which were rewarded with a peerage in the person of her son Sir William Termor. From hence I continued my journey southward, and much of the way near the borders of Whittle- wood, or Whittlebury Tor est, which still continues g"™* wooded for several miles in length, and of different Forest. extents in breadth, in a most deep and clayey country. Much of the timber is cut in rotation, but in parts tow ards the edge of Buckinghamshire, are considerable quantities of good oak. This forest remained in the crown till the year 168J, when Henry Titz-roy, first duke of Grafton, was appointed hereditary ranger. The present duke hath an elegant house, called Wakefield Lodge , originally built by Mr. Claypole. son-in-law to Oliver Cromwell, and ranger of the forest. This was one of the five tracts, called walks; viz. Wakefield, Shelbrook, Hazel bury, Shrob, and Hanger. Fourteen townships are allowed the right of common in the open coppices and ridings, from the principle of justice, that some reparation might be made to them for the damages sustained by the deer. In this great tract are two lawns, c Designed by W. Kent. 2S0 WHITTLEBURY FOREST. i. c. spots inclosed with pales, for pasture for the deer : one is Wakefield Lawn, the other Sholbrook Lawn, which are secluded from the forest cattle. That fierce animal the wild cat, is still met with in this forest. In the reign of Richard I. the abbot and convent of Peterborough had a charter for hunting in this place the hare, the fox, and the wild cat; which was confirmed to them, in 1253, by Henry III d . By these charters, it appears the wild cat should be added to the beasts of forest, or of venerie ; which the book of St. Albans, and old Sir Tristram, in his wort hie Treatise of Hunting, confined to the hart, the hynde, the hare, the boare, and the wolfe : the hart and hind being separated, because the season of hunting them was different ; yet they remain in species still the same. Beasts of the chace (which was an inferior sort of forest) were the buck, the doe, the fox, the martin, and the roe e . The fondness that seized the regular clergy for the pleasures of the chace, did not appear till after the Conquest. The Saxon clergy were expressly forbidden the amusement. Kins Edgar directs the priest " to be neither a hunter nor hawker, nor yet a tippler ; but to keep close to his books, as becomes a man of his order V d Morton, 443. Y Leges Saxon. 86. e Mamvood's Forest Laws, 39. POTTERS PERY. 231 The canon law still preserved its severity, and forbad to spiritual persons the amusement of the chace. This probably was rather designed to check what might, by the excess, estrange them from their sacred function. The common law, from a principle of good sense and humanity, per- mitted the recreation, because nothing could con- tribute more effectually to the performance of their duty than good health, resulting from fit exercise; as nothing could disqualify them so greatly as the disorders arising from a sedentary life. This in- dulgence probably soon ended in abuse. In the twelfth century, we find Abelard unhappy in pre- siding over a monastery of huntsmen. Chaucer* as I have before quoted, flings a fine ridicule on the sporting monk. Finally, the chace became so necessary an appendage to the ecclesiastical state, that every see had a number of parks : that of Xoricich, thirteen ; and the sixth mortuary which the king clamed on the death of a prelate, was his kennel of hounds. Pass by Potters Peri/, a village which takes Potters its name from the manufacture of coarse ware, Pery ' such as flower-pots, 8§c. which has been long car- ried on here. The clay is yellowish, pure, and firm ; yet the pots made with it are very brittle, unless glazed ; when they endure the weather as ^\ ell as any. 282 PASSENHAM. OLD STRATFORD. The post-road is still continued the whole way on or near the IVat ling-street. Near Potters Pery I quitted it, through the curiosity of visiting Passenbam. Passenham, about a mile or two distant, on the banks of the Ouze, near this village. Edxvard the Elder encamped here to cover his workmen, who were employed in building the walls of Toucester z , from being interrupted by the Danes. A square entrenchment is supposed to have been cast up by him, and garrisoned for that purpose. Church. The church is small, and without ailes ; dedi- cated to Guthlaius, the saint of the fens. It was rebuilt in 1626, at the sole expence of Sir Robert Banastre. This gentleman was lord of the ma- nor; he died in 1649, aged about eighty. His figure is a half-length, with a book in his hand, placed against the wall. His epitaph informs us, that he was born at Wem, in Shropshire ; that he was bred at court, and served three princes ; that he had three wives, and by the last an only daugh- ter, who conveyed the estate, by marriage with William lord Maynard, into that family ; a younger branch of which possesses it, as I apprehend, at present. I regained the great road, and passed through Stratford, the hamlet of Old Stratford, seated on rich mea- 5 Saxon Chron. 108. OLD STRATFORD. dows, watered by the Ouzc, which rises in this county, not remote from Brackly. This place is reasonably supposed to have been the Lactodorum, or Lactorodum, of the Itinerary, as the distance suits extremely well], and Roman coins have been found in the neighboring fields. Antiquaries de- rive it from Llech dzvr, and Llech ryd : one signi- fying the stone on the water ; the other, the stone on the ford h : a name bestowed on it by the Bri- tons, probably because the bank of the river was marked by a miliary stone on this great military way. I here cross the river into BUCKINGHAMSHIRE ; which, with Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire, form- ed the country of the Catticuchlani. The present name is, according to Mr. Camden, taken from the quantity of beeches found in parts of it; a word derived from the Saxon bucken. Two argu- ments serve to confirm the assertion of Ccesar> that this tree was not found in Britain at the time of his invasion : one is, that the woods of it are merely local, and confined to a very few of our southern counties : the other is, that the Britons had no name for it, but what they derived from * See Gale, 60, and Burton, F44. 284 STONEY STRxVTFORD. the Latin fagus ; for they stiled it, as we do still, Ffaxvydden, and Prenffaxvydd. On crossing the Ouze I entered Stoney Strut- Stoney . J Stratford, ford, a town built on each side of the t Fat ling- street. It suffered greatly by fire on May the 19th, 1742, which almost destroyed the whole place ; but it was soon restored by the vigour of English charit}'. One church (that of St. Giles) has never been rebuilt ; the body of the other (St. Magdalene s) is restored in a very handsome man- ner, by Mr. Irons, architect in Warwick, and, I suppose, enlarged sufficiently to supply the want of the other. St. Giles's had been a chantry, va- lued at £%0. 2s. 6d. a year ; and was at the time of its ruin a curacy : St. Magdalene s was a cha- pel belonging to Wolverton, but is now in the pre- sentation of the parishioners. My journey was continued along the Street road to the 47th stone, where, tempted by the fame of certain monuments in Blecheley church, I BLECHELEY mi i-i Church, digressed about a mile and a quarter to the right. I found there a very fine alabaster tomb of Richard ToMB op Lord Grey of Wilton, restored by the celebrated Lord Grey, antiquarian Broxvn Willis, Esquire, who added an inscription, and in the front the arms. From the former we find, that besides Richard, his son Re- ginald, who died February 22, 1493; and his BLECHELEY CHURCH. TOMBS. 285 great grandson Edmund, who died in Water-hall on May 6th, 1611 ; were interred here. This Richard Lord Grey, by will, dated at Blecheley, August 12, 1442, bequeaths his body to be buried in the church of the B. V. Mary of Blecheley ; and directs his executors to find a priest, for four years, to perform divine service in the said church for his soul ; and that they make a tomb of alabaster or marble, according to his state and degree. He bequeaths to the lady Mar- garet his wife, his manor of Burry-hall, in Essex, for life. The residue of his lands and goods he gives to his executors, to dispose of for the health of his soul ; viz. the lady Margaret Grey, Robert Darcy, Esquire, John Habethal, Esquire, Roger Eton Clerc, rector of Blecheley, and William Barker 1 . The tomb is of alabaster: his figure is armed, his hair cropt, his face without a beard ; round his neck is a collar of SS, and round the lower part of his armour is another collar of jewels, in the midst of which is a small shield with the cross of St. George ; for he was made Knight of the Gar- ter by Richard II. On the fingers of his left hand are not fewer than six rings. Notwithstanding it may be thought tedious 1 His will, dated Aug, 12, 1442. Mr. Cok y s MSS. 286 TOMBS IN BLECHELEY CHURCH. to many, yet I cannot forbear describing two mo- numents, full of the fashionable emblem, pun, and quibble of the times. The first is in memory of Dr.Sparke. Thomas Sparke, S. S ce . Theol. Dr. celeber. hu- jus eccle. rector vigilant issimus, as inscribed round the oval that contains his figure. A little altar with sparkling flames is placed near his name. The monument is a small but extremely neat one of brass, set in a white marble frame : on the top is the crest, a demi talbot rampant, studded with torteauxes, and sparks of fire issuing from his mouth : on the brass is finely engraven an altar- tomb, on the table of which is an urn, with sparks issuing from the mouth; and on the belly is written Non extincta, sepulta licet ; Scintilla favilla est. On the left side of the urn stands Death, in form of a skeleton, holding a spade, on the flat part of which, going to cover the mouth of the urn, is wrote Mors tegit ; and an angel in the heavens sounding a trumpet, from the end of which issues these words, Reteget nuntius iste tuba ; and on a scroll, in the same hand, is written, Ista caduca rosa est : just above which, in the other hand of the angel, is a fresh-blown rose, inscribed Sed rc- novata tamen ; about the angel's head, and in the clouds, are several stars : and quite at top is writ- TOMBS IN BLECHELEY CHURCH. 2S7 ten, Qui multos ad justitiam adducunt, ut stellar semper splendebunt. Fame, with her usual attributes of ears, eyes, and tongues, blowing a trumpet, stands on the other side of the urn. On each side of her are two scrolls : on one is, Vindex fama libros fatali tollit ab urna; on the other, Sic Scintilla micat quern tegit atra cinis. Fame holds in one hand a book, near the mouth of the urn, on which is written Funeral Sermons. On other books, scattered about, are inscribed, A Persuasive to Conformity ; A comfortable Treatise for a troubled Conscience ; Motives to Qu. Eliza- beth for her Successor ; A Treatise of Catechising ; A Confutation of J. Albin ; and out of the mouth of the trumpet, The high way to Heaven. These were the works of the Doctor, who was a most famous controversialist, in the reigns of Elizabeth and James L He is engraven in front of the tomb, a half-length, in gown, cassock, scarf, scull- cap, ruff, and square beard. On each side of him is a shield : on one is Scutum fidei : on the other, Anna nostra sunt spiritualia. On one side of the figure are three clergymen in their habits, kneel- ing, with a church by each ; and beyond them two 238 TOMBS IN BLECHELEY CHURCH. women in high-crowned hats. These five were his children, whom he admonishes, Filioll cavete vobis ab idolis ; and above their heads are these lines : Bis geniti, retinete, fidem zelumqae paternum : Hoeredes vestri sic decet esse patris ; Sic decet, O mea tunc quam molliter ossa cubabunt Si licet in natis sic superesse meis : ScintiUam Scintilla meam si vestra sequetur Orba sua flamma mors erit ara Dei. On the other side of his picture are represented mY parishioners, with these verses : 2 Cor. iii. 5. Ut sacra in populo signatur epistola Pauli Sic mea in hoc sancto lucet imago grege. Corporis in tabula datur imperfecta; sed ilia Cordibus in vestris vivafigura mei est. Viva mei, dixi, Christi at sit vera figura ; Sat mihi si populus vera figura Dei. The Doctor died in 16 16; his wife the year before. Luckily, her name was Rose; which afforded fresh matter of allusions. Sixty-eight years a fragrant Rose she lasted : No vile reproach her virtues ever blasted. Her autumn past, expects a glorious spring, A second better life, more flourishing. The other is in memory of Mrs. Faith Taylor > wife of Mr. Edzvard Taylor ^ minister of the parish, FENNY STRATFORD: CHAPEL. 289 with many pretty sportings on the . word Faith ; but the dulness of this species of epitaph has so .wearied me, as I fear it has the reader, that I dare not venture on the transcript of what was probably much admired at the period of its composition. From hence I got into the great road at Fenny „ Fenny . 7 . Stratford. Stratford, so called from its situation. The cha- pel, which is in the parish of Blecheley, was re- Chapel, built, and endowed at the expence of Mr. Brown JVillis and his friends. His residence was near the church of Blecheley ; but, having a great predilec- tion for the works of his own hands, he intrusted to the Reverend William Cole, then rector of the parish, the following inscription ; which Mr. Cole was requested to cause to be inscribed on a white marble stone fineered with black, to be laid over him in this chapel. Hie situs est Broivn Willis, antiquarius Cujus CI. Avi °Y Mytens* m white, with a hat and feather HAM - on a table. A minion of fortune, who owed his rise to a handsome face and elegant person, merits irre- sistible with James I. The King, by the insolence and ingratitude of his favorite, received sufficient punishment for his folly. Buckingham was pos- sessed of abilities, clouded and almost rendered useless by the violence of his passions. In his em- bassy to France, in 1 6525, he had the presumption to make his addresses to the Queen Anne of Austria a . On receiving the treatment which his vanity me- rited, he not only, in revenge, involved his country in war, but endeavoured to alienate the affection of his master Charles from his spouse, her lovely sister-in-law, Henrietta Maria. I ought to have mentioned the common report, that his ill-success with the wife of Olivarez, the Spanish minister, and a cruel deception in consequence 1 , was the a Clarendon, i. 3S. b Granger, i. 326, note. PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. 329 primary cause of the breach of the Spanish match, and the hazard his young prince ran in escaping from an incensed court. He fell at length by the hands of the melancholy Felt on, who, taught by the murmurs of the people, thought he did an ac- ceptable service, by freeing his country from so distasteful a minister. A large picture, by Vandyck, containing the ^ G "^ N portraits of Algernon Earl of Northumberland, in Northum- black, standing: his lady in blue, sitting, and a BERLANB ' child by them. This generous peer stepped for- ward in the cause of liberty, in the beginning of the troubles of Charles I. while he held the post of lord high admiral : a post he w r as displaced from by the popular party, by reason of his moderation, which they suspected would be a check to their unreasonable views. He was constantly a me- diating commissioner in all treaties on the side of the parlement, in which he behaved to them with dignity, spirit, and integrity. He was appointed governor of the king's children while they were se- parated from their parents, and behaved to them with respect and affection. He joined in oppos- ing the ordinance for the trial of his master; after whose death he retired to Tetworth, and took no part with the usurping powers. He joined heartily in the Restoration ; but, like a true friend to his country, wished for it on terms of security to the 330 PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. people, and advantage to the nation. He re- ceived from the restored king honors suited to his rank, and enjoyed them till his death in 1668. Earl of The favourite Devereuv, Earl of Essex, by SEX ' Milliard, in black and gold, with a ruff : a chain round his waist, and a sword by his side ; date 1594. Ii Liz abet h ^ IS r °y a l mistress in a dress of black and gold, and of materials resembling the former; with a great lawn ruff, and three long chains of pearls round her neck. This was also painted by Hilliard, and presented by her Majesty to the lord keeper Bacon. Countess of ^ FINE f u ll_l e n2th f the Countess of Suffolk, bUFFOLK. ° JJ •> daughter of Sir Henry Knevit, and wife to the lord treasurer. A lady, who, like Lord Verulam, fell under the charge of corruption, should have been placed next to him. She is dressed in white, and in a great ruff ; her breasts much ex- posed ; her waist short and swelling ; for she was extremely prolific. This lady had unhappily a great ascendency over her husband, and was ex- tremely rapacious. She made use of his exalted situation to indulge her avarice, and took bribes from all quarters. Sir Francis Bacon, in his speech in the star-chamber against her husband, wittily compares her to an exchange-woman, who kept her shop, while Sir John Bingley, a teller of PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. 331 the exchequer, a tool of hers, cried, What d ye lack ? Her beauty was remarkable, and I fear she made a bad use of her charms. " Lady "Suffolk" says the famous Ann Clifford, in her diary under the year 1619, " had the small-pox " at Northampton-house, which spoiled that good " face of hers, which had brought to others much " misery, and to herself greatness which ended in " much unhappiness." Charles I. by My tens. Charles I. Next appears a fine full-length portrait, by Sir Francis Vansomer, of Sir Francis Bacon Lord Veralam, AC0N ' who succeeded his brother Antho7iy in the posses- sion of Gorhamhury. Much is said of his depravity during prosperity, and more of his abject fawning after his fall. For my part, I look on the latter part of his life as the period in which he shone with greatest dignity. That soul, which sunk, dur- ing good fortune, beneath the temptation of cor- ruption, arose, unbroken by disgrace, and superior to obloquy. He passed his latter days in labors which have made him the admiration of succeed- ing times. He was then disengaged from business, which fettered his genius, and was supported (not- withstanding assertions to the contrary) by a great pension (o£\1800 a year) which enabled him to - Wilson, 97. PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. pursue his studies at ease, removed from every fear of the embarrassments of poverty. Sir Natha- Near him is his accomplished kinsman, his half-brother Sir Nathaniel Bacon, knight of the bath, leaning back in his chair, in a green jacket laced, yellow stockings, a dog by him, and sword and pallet hung up. "In the art of painting, " none," says Peacham, " deserveth more respect " and admiration than master Nathaniel Bacon, 61 oi Brome, in Suffolk ; not inferior, inmyjudg- " ment, to our skilfullest masters V He im- proved his talent by travelling into Italy ; and left in this house, as a proof of the excellency of his performances, this portrait, and a most beau- tiful one of a cook, a perfect Venus, with an old game-keeper: behind is a variety of dead game, in particular a swan, whose plumage is expressed with inimitable softness and gloss. Sir Thomas A remarkable picture of Sir Thomas Meau- Meautys. tys c , secretary to Lord Verulam, by Vansomer. d Complete Gentleman, 127. Walpole's Anecdotes of Painters, i. 163. where the portrait of Sir Nathaniel is engraven. e Sir Thomas Meautys was of Norman extraction*; his an- cestor John Meautys came into England with Henry VII. and was his secretary for the French tongue. His grandfather Sir Peter was enriched by the spoils of the church in the possession of Stratford abbey in Essex, and sent ambassador to France Morant's Essex, i. 1 9. PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY, 333 His dress confirms the account of the choice he made of his servants, whom he selected from the young, the prodigal, and expensive f . Sir Thomas makes a most finical appearance : his habit ele- gant : he has on a sash, a hat with a white feather, laced turn-over, a Ions love-lock extended on his left arm, an ear-ring in one ear, a spear in the other, and brown boots. He was clerk of the privy council to two kings ; and got possession of Gorhambury from his master, who conveyed it to him on foreseeing his fall. Like a grateful ser- vant, Meant ys erected a handsome monument to him in a neighboring church, more to shew his respect, than from any necessity of endeavouring to preserve the memory of one self- immortalized. In Lady Grims ton's dressing-room, The head of Sir Nicholas Bacon, his dress a Sir ^ lc ^ furred robe. He w r as a person of a very corpu- lent habit ; for which reason Queen Elizabeth used to say, " that her lord keeper's soul lodged well." To what I have given of him before, I shall only add, that he caught his death by sleeping in his chair with his window open. He awoke dis- ordered, and, reproving his servant for his negli- by Henry VIII. who conferred on him the honor of knighthood. Sir Thomas Meautys married Anne eldest daughter of Sir Nathaniel Bacon, of Culford. En. f Wilson, 150. 334 PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. gence, was told, that he feared to awake him. " Then," replies the Keeper, " your complaisance " will cost me my life." He died in 1579> His second A head of his second wife in a close cap and Wife. white gown, worked with oak-leaves and acorns. This distinguished lady was Anne daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, of Giddy hall, in Essex. She had great abilities, natural and acquired, was emi- nently skilled in Greek, Latin, and Italian, and had the honor of being appointed governess to Edward VI. To her instructions was probably owing the surprising knowledge of that excellent young prince. She shared his education with her father, Doctor Cox, and Sir John Cheek g . Her sons Anthony and Francis were not a little indebted, for the reputation they acquired, to the pains taken with them by this excellent woman in their tender years \ When they grew up, they found in her a severe but admirable monitor. She translated from the Italian the sermons of Bar- nardine O chine ; and from the Latin Jewels Apo- logy for the church of England : both which met with the highest applause. She died in the be- ginning of the reign of James I. and was buried in the neighbouring church of St. Michael 1 . e Chauncy's Hertfordshire, 464. h Complete Hist. England, ii. 274. * Ballard's Br. Ladies, 136. PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. 335 Here is also preserved a very singular* portrait 3** in wood, called Sylvester de Grimston, a no- Duke of , . , T , t 1 , ^ Burgundy ble Norman, standard-bearer to the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings, and afterwards his cham- berlain. He held lands in Yorkshire of the Lord Roos : amonsj others that of Grimston in Holder- ness ; from whence he took the name. The pic- ture is antient and curious, but wants four centu- ries of the great period in which Sylvester lived ; neither did that age afford any artists that could give even a tolerable representation of the human figure, much less convey down a likeness of the fierce heroes of their times. I premise this, to show the impossibility of this portrait having been a copy of some original of this great ancestor. The dress is singular : a large bonnet, with a very long silken appendage ; a green jacket, hanging sleeves : a collar of SS held in one hand : his face k This portrait is now supposed by the noble owner to represent Edward Grimston, who was* ambassador to the court of Burgundy in the reign of Henry VI. ; and as the family arms are painted on the back and front of the pic- ture, the conjecture does not appear improbable. It must however be remarked, that the resemblance to the Duke of Burgundy may be traced in other prints, exclusive of that referred to in the Monarchic Francoisc. Ed. * Rymer's Fccdera, xi. 230. 336 PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. beardless. On the back of the picture is the fol~ lowing inscription : DETRVS ME FEBST-ft-m® The artist is unknown to rne ; but the habit of the person is that of the date : for I find in Mont- faucons Monarchie Francoise several persons of rank in the dress, particularly Philip Le Bon Duke of Burgundy : between whom and this por- trait there is so strong a resemblance of feature, that I do not hesitate to imagine that the Gorham- bury portrait is no other than one of this illus- trious prince. He was born in 1 396 ; died in 1467 : so that he was a youth when the picture was taken. Catherine. The beautiful picture of Catherine Queen to Charles II. in the character of St. Catherine, in one of the bed-chambers. Thomas In a dressing-room is a head of Thomas Arundel. Howard, the virtuoso Earl of Arundel; who, by much residence in foreign parts, acquired a tho- rough contempt for his own country. Filled PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. 337 with family-pride, he was sent to the Tower for a contempt shewn in the House to a nobleman less highly born than himself ; yet on the break- ing out of the troubles of his royal master Charles I. he shewed a great want of true spirit, con- sulting his own safety and ease rather than risque them by siding with either party. He quitted England, for which, as Lord Clarendon says, he had little other affection than as he had a great share in it, in which, like a great leviathan, he might sport himself. He was a man of a no- ble presence, and affected a plain garb. He ac- cordingly is here dressed in a dark habit robed with fur. His countenance corresponds to the description : his hair short, and his beard bushy : his turn-over plain ; and the only ornament is the pendent order of the Garter. James I 1 , in inconsistent armour, black and James I. gold, with each foot on a rock. Above him, Jam turn tenditque fovetque, 1 These royal portraits, and a few others, were too much injured to bear removal from the old house, or were thought unworthy to occupy a place in the collection of the modern Gorhambury. Ed. In the house are several valuable paintings by foreign masters, a list of which will be given in the Appendix. Ed, z PORTRAITS AT GORHAMBURY. beneath, Jacobus unitor Britannia plantator Hibernice conditor im- perii Atlantki. The last, I fear, a piece of the characteristic adu- lation of the chancellor. Near him are two monarchs, not in fact coeval with Bacon, but placed here from the admiration he had of their abilities, in extending their domi- Fmanuel • King U of wons to the Indies. By Emanuel king of Portu- Portugal. g a ^ ^ pointed out the advantage of commerce, re- ceived by the discovery of the new passage to India under his auspices, by Vasco di Gama : Ferdinand . qf Spain, by lerdmand V. he points out the discovery of America by Columbus. The first monarch he calls Conditor imperii Europce super Indicts ori- entates ; the other Super Indias Occident ales. Both of the princes are represented knee-deep in water : but I suppose, by the situation of their cautious master, he would shew he had too much prudence to wet his feet. I now resume my journey, and, in my way to St. Albany about a mile and half distant, pass by the site of St. Mary de la Pre, de Pratis, or the Meadows ; an hospital for leprous women, found- ed about 1 ] 90, by TVarine, abbot of St. Albans. VERULAMIUM. 339 It afterwards rose to a priory of Benedictine nuns, but fell in 1528, when JVolsey, commendatory ab- bot, obtained from Clement VIII. a bull for its suppression, and for annexing it to the abbey ; after which he got a grant of it for himself from the king, who, on the ruin of the cardinal, gave it to Sir Ralph Rowlet m . Immediately after quitting th/s place, I en- tered the celebrated Verulamium, at a spot distin- guished by a great fragment of the antient wall, known by the name of Gorhambury -block, which probably bounded one side of one of the porta, or entrances, being exactly opposite to that on the eastern part. The precinct departs from the rec- tangular form of the Romans, this being among those which were laid out, Prout loci qualitas aut necessitas postulaverit*. It inclines to an oval shape ; is placed on a slope, and the lower side bounded by the river Ver, which in former times might have spread into a lake, and given greater security to the town. According to Humphry Lloyd °, it gave also the name to the place, Gwer- Uan, or the temple on the Ver ; rightly bestowing on the Britons a pre-occupancy of it to the Ro- mans. I shall not dispute the notions of the parti- m Tanner, 185. n Vegetius, lib. i. c. 23. * Commentariol, 31. z 2 840 VERULAMIUM. Cular fcrd over which Caesar crossed the Thames, when he penetrated into our island. It probably was at or near Coway Stakes. Ccesar leaves us no room to depart from that opinion, as he expressly tells us that he led his army to the river Thames, towards the borders of the territories of Cassive- laumis*, the golden-locked leader of the country of the Cassi :' and these Cassi are reasonably sup- posed to have been a clan of the Cattieuchlani, and to have inhabited the hundred of this county now called Cashio, in which Verulamium stood. But I must contend, that the distance of that city is far too remote from the ford able parts of the Thames, to admit it to have been the town of the British leader destroyed by the invader. It lies, in the nearest line, thirty-seven miles from those parts of the river : a distance too great for the time given to Ccesar for his second campaign in Britain. The town, or rather post, which was forced by him, was not remote from the camp oc- cupied by him on the side of the river ; and most likely was that which is still very entire, in the park of her Grace the Dutchess dowager of Port- p Caesar cognito consilio eorum ad flu men Tamasin in fines Cassivelauni exercituai dux it. Bel. Gal.Y\b.v. Preceding this, he speaks of the fines Cassivelauni, as being a rhavi circiter millia passuum lxxx. VERULAMIUM. 341 land, at Bulstrode, about fifteen miles distant from the Roman camp : whose vestiges are still to be seen, not far from the famous ford q . Partly by length of time, partly by constant cultivation, this post has lost some of the characters ascribed by Casur to the town of Cassivelaanus ; for it wants at present the marshy defence it had in his days. The town alluded to was within the territories of the British chieftain, and one of the strong-holds into which the Bi^itotis were used to drive their cattle in time of danger. This, by Caesar s ac- count, was certainly not the most capital ; for his first relation informs us, it only contained satis Hume- rus pecorum, a pretty considerable number of cat- tle. Notwithstanding his vanity, a few lines lower, swells his booty into magnus numerus, a vast num- ber". At Shepperton, also, near Coxv ay Stakes, in a field called War Close, are found spurs, swords, bones, and other marks of a battle. See Camden, i. 366 : but in all likelihood, the first is the nearest to the truth. Verulamium was the capital of this country, and the residence of its princes. I do not reckon Cassivelaanus among them ; he was a chieftain of the Cassi, and, for his great abilities, elected general on the Roman invasion, if our British history is to i Syhis paludibusque munitum. r Lewis Hist. Br. 73. % 342 VERULAMIUM. be trusted. He was guardian to his nephews, Anarwy and Tenafan s (the last) father to Cunobo- li?ie, whose coins are so frequent. Here was one of the British mints ; for we find the word Ver on the coins, but no prince's name to distinguish the reign. After the Romans had effected their conquest, they added walls to the ordinary British defence of ramparts, and ditches. Many great fragments of the former still remain, proofs of the strength and manner of the Roman masonry. On one Walls, side is a vast foss ; on another, two. The walls are twelve feet thick, where entire, formed of flints bedded in mortar, now grown into amazing hard- ness. By intervals of about three feet distance, are three, and in some places four rows of broad and thin bricks, or tiles, which were continued the whole length of the walls, which seem designed as foundations to sustain the layers of flints and lime, while the last was in a moist state. There were, besides, round holes, which penetrated quite through l ; but these are either filled up, or escap- ed my notice. According to Doctor Stukelys measurement, the area is five thousand two hun- dred feet in length, and the greatest breadth 5 Stukely Itin. i. 1 17. % See Doctor Stukely's admirable plan of this place. VERU LAMIUM . 343 about three thousand. It is at present inclosed ; but under the hedges, in many places, are ves- tiges of buildings, and, as I am told, when it is under tillage, the sites of the streets appear, by the different color of the corn above them. The Wat ling-street comes to the Porta Decumana, the gate on the western side, and passes quite through the city. There is another road goes on the outside on the south side ; a small military way, like that which passed from turret to turret on Severuss wall u , for the conveniency of external passen- gers. This place, by its attachment to the conquerors, acquired the privileges of a free borough, a muni- A jyj UNICI _ cipium, or municipal city, whose inhabitants en- PIUM « joyed all the rights of the Roman citizens ; for which reason such towns derive their name a mu- neribus capiendis, their power to bear public offices. They had their senators, knights, and commons ; magistrates and priests ; censors, ediles, questors, and flamens. The attachment of this town to its new masters, proved the cause of a heavy misfortune, which be- fel it under the reign of Nero. Boadicea, widow c c> ' Sacked by of Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, enraged at the Boadicea. cruel indignity offered to her and her daughters, u Tour Scotl. 1772. partii. p. 288, / 344 VERULAMIUM. raised an insurrection against the Romans and their friends, and repaid with the most dreadful cruelties the injuries they had received. Camolodanum, Londinium, and Vcrolamium, suffered from the fury of the Britons, and seventy thousand citizens and allies fell by the edge of the sword. This city was remarkable for its wealth x , which was an- other incentive for the Britons to attack it, add- ed to a particular animosity against a people who had forsaken the customs and religion of their an- cestors. The place in a short time emerged from its Albanus. misfortune ; and had the honor of producing Alba- nus, the proto-martyr of Britain, a wealthy citizen of Verulamium, and, by privilege, of Rome also. He had been a Pagan, but was converted by means of a guest, whom he had sheltered during the great persecution of Diocksian as I have be- fore related. St. Alban suffered in the year 302. Let not legend destroy the credibility of the mar- tyrdom, by assigning attendant miracles, long after their cessation. We are told, that after he had re- fused to sacrifice to the heathen gods, the usual test of the alleged crime of Christianity, he was, as customary, whipped with rods, and then led to ex- ecution, and beheaded on Holmhurst, where the * Taciti Annul, lib. xiv. c. 31. fyc. VERULAMIUM. §45 town of St. Albans at present stands. In his pas- sage, the torrent, which then divided the place from Vtrulamium, like the Red-sea, divided its waters, and gave dry passage to the Saint and his followers : a fountain sprung up where the martyr kneeled: one of the executioners relenting, was converted, and suffered with A lb anus ; another, who performed the deed, lost his eyes, as a penal- ty for his cruelty ; for they dropped out of his head at the moment in which he gave the blow y . St. Alban was interred on the spot ; and his remains were miraculously discovered several centuries after their interment. In 429, this place was honored with a synod, Synod i • i o i r -rr 1 HELD HEF m which St. Germanus and Lupus, two trench prelates, assisted. A chapel was erected, about the year 945, by abbot Ulsin, in honor of the for- mer, on the spot in which he preached ; whose ruins were to be seen the beginning of the last century. After the Savon invasion, the name of the town was changed for that of Verlamcester and lVatlincester. The British hero, Uther Pendra- gon, after a long siege, wrested it out of the hands of the Saxons, and held it during his life ; after y Bede Hist.Eccl lib. i. c. 7. Father Cressy, in his Oturch History, lib. vi. has given a much longer detail. 346 VERULAMTUM. his death they soon recovered it ; but by reason of the cruel wars that raged during the contest be- tween them and the Britons, the place became to- tally-desolated. Great Like the antient Deva z , Verulamiurn had its ULTS * great vaults, or subterraneous retreats, strongly and artfully arched. These are supposed, by Sir Henry Chauncy, to have been designed as places of retreat in time of war for the women and child- ren, and for the concealment of the most valuable effects. In g60, they were found to give shelter to thieves and prostitutes, which caused Eldred, the eighth abbot, to search after these souterreins; he discovered several ways and passages, all which he caused to be destroyed, but preserved the tiles and stones for rebuilding the church, then in ruins a . The present St. Albans arose from the ruins of Veruiamiurn, Offa king of the Mercians, direct- ed, says legend, by a vision from heaven, discover- ed the reliques of St. Alban, by beams of glory springing from the grave \ In 793, he erected on the spot the magnificent monastery, for the main- tenance of a hundred Benedictine or black monks, and in a parlementary council, which he held in the same year, bestowed on it most liberal endow- 2 Tour in Wales, p. 108. Sth ed. 1810. 1. p. 149. 3 Chauncy, 431. b Crcssy, lib.xxv. c. 6. ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH. 347 ments. Verulamium was now reduced to the state elegantly described by Spenser, assuming the cha- racter of the Genius of the place. I was that city which the garland wore Of Britain s pride, delivered unto me By Roman victors, which it wore of yore, Though nought at all but ruins now I be, And He in mine own ashes, as ye see. Verlame I was : what boots it that I was, Sith now I am but weeds and wasteful grass ? Ruines of Time. Before I quit these antient precincts, I must note the church of St. Michael, built within them by the same pious abbot who founded the chapel Ch " rch of J r ... St. Michael. of St. German. It became an impropriation of the abbey, and, after the dissolution, a vicarage. The church is small, supported within by round arches. It is most distinguished by the monument of the great Lord Verulam. His figure is of white marble, sitting in a chair, and reclining, in the easy attitude of meditation. He is dressed in robes lined with fur, and a high-crowned hat. Any emblems of greatness would have been unne- cessary attendants on this illustrious character. The spectator's ideas must render every com- plimental sculpture superfluous. The epitaph 348 SAINT ALBAN'S. conveys high honor to the grateful servant: his master could receive nothing additional. H. P. Francisc. Bacon, Baro de Verulam, Sanct. Albani viceco* Seu notioribus titulis Scientiarum lumen, facundiae lex, Sic sedebat : Qui postquam, omnia naturalis sapientise Et civilis arcana evolvisset, Naturae decretum explevit. Composita solvantur. Anno Dom. MDCXXVI. Mt, LXVI. Tanti viri Mem. Thomas Meautys Superstitis cultor, Defuncti admirator. On leaving St. Michael's, I passed through a St. Albans. sort of suburbs to St. Albans, and crossed the Ver, to the site of the palace of Kingsbury. It had long been the residence of the Saxon princes, who, by their frequent visits to the abbey of St. Albans, became an insupportable burden to its revenues. At length abbot Alfric, by his inter- est with king Ethelred II. prevaled on him to dispose of it, the king only reserving a small for- SAINT ALBAN'S. tress in the neighborhood of the monastery b . This also continuing to give offence to its pious neighbors, was destroyed by king Stephen, at the intercession of Robert, the seventh abbot c . I see in Doctor Stukeleys plan, a bury, or mount, called Osterhill, on which the palace might have stood ; and a ditch called Tonman Ditch, which took its name from this Tommin, or Tu- mulus. On ascending into St. Albans, up Fishpool p IS street, the bottom on the right reminded me of the great pool which once occupied that tract. This had been the property of the Saxon monarchs, and was alienated by Edgar to the all-grasping monks. Those princes were supposed to have taken great pleasure in navigating on this piece of water. Anchors have been found on the spot ; which oc- casioned poets to fable that the Thames once ran this way. One of them, speaking to the Ver, says, Thou saw'st great burdened ships through these thy valliea pass, Where now the sharp -edg'd scythe shears up the spiring grass ; And where the seal and porpoise us'd to play, The grasshopper and ant now lord it all the day d . Chauncy, 431, 463. c The same, 436. 4 Drayton, song xyi. Spenser sings in tha same strain, see Ruins of Time. 350 I ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN. Abbey. The town spreads along the slopes and top of the hill. The magnificent mitred parlementary abbey graced the verge of the southern side. Of this there does not remain the lest vestige, except the gateway, a large square building, with a fine spacious pointed arch beneath : so that all the la- bors of Offa, and the splendid piety of a long train of abbots, and a numerous list of benefactors, are now reduced to the conventual church; and the once-thronged entrance of the devout pilgrims to the shrine of our great proto-martyr, is now no more than an empty gateway. A Murder. A barbarous murder was the true spring of Offas munificence. The Mercian monarch cast a longing €ye on the dominions of Ethelbert, prince of the East Angles; treacherously invited him to court, under pretence of marrying him to his daughter Althrida ; seized on the young prince (who is represented to have been the most amiable of his time), beheaded him, and seized on his do- Cause of the minions e . Off a had recourse to the usual expia- F o°Fm A AB°. N ti° n °$ n * s crime, that of founding a monastery; BEY - when the grateful monks, to conceal the infamy of their benefactor, call down a vision from heaven, as a motive to his piety. But Off a did not trust to this solely : he made a penitential pilgrimage to Rome, and, by the merit of his monastic institution e Carte, i. 272. ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN. 35\ at St. Albans, readily obtained absolution, and not only procured for the house exemption from the Its great J Privilege. tax of Peter -pence, but power to collect the same for its own use, through the whole province of Hertford; a privilege which no person in the realm, the king himself not excepted, ever enjoyed. By the same bull, his holiness granted, that the abbot, or monk, whom he appointed archdeacon, should have pontifical jurisdiction over the priests and laymen of the possessions of this church ; and that no person whatsoever, save the pope himself, should offer to interfere. It was, by the charter of the king, to be free from all taxes, repair of bridges and castles, and from making entrench- ments against an enemy ; to be exempt from epis- copal jurisdiction ; and, by the same charter, the fines for crimes, which belonged to the king, were given for ever to this monastery. Offa, not con- tent with this, inclosed the body of the Saint in a shrine of beaten gold and silver, set with precious stones ; and, encircling the scull with a golden diadem, caused to be inscribed on it, Hoc est caput Sancti Alb an i, Anglorum protomar- tyris*. Wilxgord was the first abbot. It flourished First and ° last Abbot. f Mat. Paris, 084. ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN. from his time to the dissolution, and received vast endowments and rich gifts. At that fatal period it was surrendered, on the 5th of December 1538, by Richard Boreman*, alias Stevenache, the last abbot; who got, in reward for his ready com- pliance, the annual pension of £. 266 1 3s. 4d. ; and the thirty-nine monks, then of the house, lesser sums ; some even as small as five pounds a year\ The house, and the greatest part of the lands, were granted to Richard Lee, captain of the band of pensioners, as scandal reports, in reward for his prudence in winking at the king's affection for his handsome wife h The town, or, as Willis says, the abbot, purchased the church from the king for ,£.400, and by that means preserved it from destruction ; which gave him so much merit with Queen Mary, that when she determined to restore the abbey, she appointed him to preside over it\ It is said that he died of a broken heart, within a few days after he received the news of her death. s The reverend Peter Neivco?ne, in his elaborate History of the Abbey, p. 439, says, That Boreman was put in the place of abbot Catton, who died in 1538, with no other view than to make a surrender in form; an artifice practised whenever^ there was a vacancy. Ed. k Willis, i. 27. 1 Stevens, i. 265. k Willis, i. 27. ST. ALBAN S CHURCH. 353 The revenues at the dissolution were valued by Revenues. Dugdale at ~£\2102. 7s. \d. per annum; by Speed at £.25 1 0. 6s. 1 d. 1 Notwithstanding the purchase made by Boreman, Edward VI. granted the mo- Granted to i • r o Ail i i-ii THE TOWN. nastery to the corporation of St. Albans, which he had lately instituted, and ordered that the church should be reputed the parish church of the place, and be served by a rector, to be nominated by the mayor and burgesses of the town. The abbots lived in splendor, suitable to their rank and revenues. They dined in the great hall, at a table to w hich there was a flight of fifteen steps. The monks served up the dinner on plate, and in their way made a halt at every fifth step, where there was a landing, and sung on each a short hymn. The abbot usually sat alone in the middle of the table; and when any persons of rank came, he sat towards the end of the table. After the monks had waited some time on the abbot, they sat down at two other tables, placed on the sides of the hall, and had their services brought in by the novices; who, when the monks had dined, sat down to their own dinners m . The church, in its present state, is a most Church. venerable and great pile : its form that of a cross, with a tower. At the intersection the length is Tanner, 180. m Antiquarian Repertory, iii. 60, 2 A 354 ST. ALBAN'S CHURCH. six hundred feet; that of the transepts one hun- dred and eighty. The height of the tower one hundred and forty-four feet; that of the body sixty-five ; of the ailes thirty ; the breadth of the body two hundred and seventeen. Ruined j By neglect, or by the ravages of war, the ori- ginal church fell to decay. Abbot Ealdred, who lived in 969, designed to pull down and rebuild it; and for that purpose collected, from the ruins of Verulamium, all the stone, tiles, and timber, he could find. Death put a stop to his intention. His successor, Eadmer, resumed the task of get- ting together the materials ; and in his search, found great quantities of curious antiquities ; such as altars, urns, 8$c. which the pious man broke to pieces, as heathen abominations. He also, as is said, discovered several books, some in British, others in Latin ; and a great one in a language and character unknown to any but an old priest. This was found to be the authentic life of St. Al- ban ; which was carefully treasured up, being a confirmation of what Bede had written on the same subject. The other books, being only ac- counts of heathen mythology, inventions of the de- vil, were instantly condemned to the flames n . A famine stopped the design of the new n Stevens, i. 237. ST. ALBAN'S CHURCH. 355 church, under the abbot Leqfric. The troubles that ensued, under the remaining Saxon monarchs, and the unsettled state of the kingdom at the Con- quest, occasioned the plan to lie dormant till the year 1077? when it was executed by abbot Paul, and rebuilt. a Norman monk. He applied to that purpose the timber, the stones, and tiles, collected by his predecessors : accordingly we see the far greater and more antient part of the walls a motley com- position of stones and Roman tiles. Ma ny other parts afterwards were pulled down, Altera- 1 * TIONS. and rebuilt in the stile of the times ; and I suspect that, in general, the present windows are long pos- terior to those coeval with the walls ; being point- ed, and in the taste of another age. The windows in the great tower, and perhaps the range along the nave, are of an intervening period; for they differ from the mode of each of the others. I find this confirmed in the lives of the abbots. John (first of the name) who died in 1214, pulled down the front-wall, which was built of old tiles, so strongly cemented with mortar, that it proved a work of great labor. Master Hugh Goldcliffi) a \ 8 Ex lapidibus et tegulis veteris civitatis Verolamii et mate- rie lignea quam invenit a praedecessoribus suis collectam et reservatam. Mat. Paris. 1001. 2 a 2 558 ST. A LEAN'S CHURCH. most excellent workman, was employed ; who, consulting more the ornaments of sculpture, of images and flowers, neglected the security of his building ; so that it fell down, and was left unfi- nished during the life of this good abbot p . His successor, William of Trompington, had the honor of completing his design. He not only rebuilt that front, but made new windows, and put glass into them, so as to give more light to the church. He also raised the steeple much higher, covered it with lead, and died full of good works, in 1235 q . In the abbacy of John of JVhethamstead, this church received the most considerable alterations. To avoid prolixity, I omit the numerous works of that most munificent abbot : I shall only note the change he made in the exterior part, by enlarging and glazing the windows on the north side of the church, which was before dark, and by causing a large window to be made at the west end of the north aile, which was as destitute of light as the other part 1 . John died in 1464; before which time the narrow windows had been changed for those more expanded, lightsome, and less pointed. 'saxon. LL It is in the inside only that any part of the original *Mat. Paris, 1047. T Stevens, i. 202, * The same, 1054, 1063. * ST. A LB AN 'S CHURCH. building, or the genuine Savon architecture, is pre- served ; which is to be seen in the round arches which support the tower, and some of the enormous pillars with round arches in the body of the church, and in the stile of each transept. After the Conquest the round arch was continued, but the pillars were also round and massy: these are square, and not less than twenty-nine feet thick, with capitals totally unadorned. Their composition, as well as that of j the stair-cases, is of brick : the other pillars are light, and the arches pointed ; evidently of a far later date than the others. Above, are two gal- leries; the lowest is very elegant, divided with light slender pillars, much enriched ; but I find no authority to ascertain the time. Above the antient arches are galleries, with openings round ; of a stile probably coeval with the former. The upper part of the choir is entirely of go- Choir. thic architecture, and is divided from the body by a stone skreen, ornamented with gothic tabernacle- work. Before this stood the chapel of Saint Cath- bert : a work owing to the piety of abbot Richard, who happening to be present at the translation of the incorruptible body of that Saint to the church of Durham, apprehending, from its pliantness then, it was going to fall to pieces, caught it in his arms ; ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN'S. and in reward, one of them, which was withered, was instantly restored s . High Altar. The high altar fills the end of the choir: a most rich and elegant piece of got hie sculpture, once adorned with images of gold and silver, placed in beautiful niches : the middle part is not of a f piece with the rest, being modern and clumsy, This altar was made by abb$£ Wallingford, either in the reign of Edward IV. or Richard III. at the expence of eleven hundred marks. Chapel of The hind part of it, which stands in the chapel St. Alban. q £ g£ Alban, is of gothic work ; inferior indeed to the other side, but still of much elegance. The tops of both are nearly similar ; consisting of a light open-work battlement: at the bottom is a large arched recess, in which stood the superb Shrine shrine which contained the reliques of St. Alban, made of beaten gold and silver, and enriched with gems and sculpture. The gems were taken from the treasury, one excerpted, which, being of singu- lar use to parturient women, was left out. This \vas no other than the famous JEtites, or Eagle- stone, in most superstitious repute from the days of Pliny 1 to that of abbot Geffry, re-founder of the shrine ; which had been taken down and concealed, during the reign of Edward the Confessor, to pre- 3 M. Paris, 1006, 1 Lib. xxxvi. c. 21. ABBEY OF ST. ALBA IPS. m serve it from the ravages of the Danes' 1 . To guard the invaluable treasures, a careful and trusty monk was appointed, who was called Gustos Fere- tri, and who kept watch and ward in a small wooden gallery, still standing, near the site of the martyr's shrine*. On the north side of the hidi altar stands the Ramridge Tomb magnificent chapel of abbot Ramridge. who was elected in the year 14^6\ The fronts are of most elegant gothic open-work ; the upper part supplied with niches for statues : in many parts are carved, allusive to the abbot's name, two rams, with the word Ridge inscribed on their collars, supporting a coronet over the arms of the abbey. At the foot of this beautiful structure is a large flag, with the figure of an abbot, with figures of rams : pro- bably the spot of the good man's interment. On the south side of the chapel of St. Alban is the magnificent tomb y of Humphry Duke of Glo- Tomb of © w J Humphry cester, distinguished by the name of The Good. Duke of Glocester, He was uncle to Henry VI. and regent of the king- dom, under his weak nephew, during twenty-five years. His many eminent qualities gained him the u Mat. Paris, 996. x Such a guardian was appointed to the shrine of St. Am- phibalus, at Redbourn. M. Paris, 1054. J Finely engraven in Sandford's Genealogical History, p. 318. 360 ABBEY OF ST. ALBAN'S. love of the people; his popularity, the hatred of the queen and her favorites. His life was found to be incompatible with their views. They first ef- fected the ruin of his dutchess by a ridiculous charge of witchcraft, and after that, brought as groundless a charge of treason against the duke. He w r as conveyed to St. EdmoncTs Bury, where a parlementwas convened in 1446, before which the accusation was to be made. His enemies, fearing the public execution of so great and so beloved a character, caused him to be stifled in his bed, and then pretended that he died of vexation at his sud- den fall. His body w^as interred in this church, the scene of his detection of the pretended mira- cle of the blind restored to sight at the virtuous shrine of St. Alba??. Shakespeare gives us the re- lation admirably z . Glocesler had a predilection for this place: he had bestowed on it rich vest- ments, to the value of three thousand marks, and the manor of Pembroke, that the monks should pray for his soul : and he also directed that his body should be deposited within these holy walls. The fees attendant on his funeral, were not of the most moderate kind ; unless we may suppose, as probably w r as the case, that the house was at the charge of erecting the monument to so great a be- llenry VI. part ii. sc. 2. taken from Grafton p. 597, 598. BURIAL CHARGES. 361 nefactor. Sir Henri) Chauncy expressly says *, that abbot IVhethamsted adorned Duke Hum- phry s tomb; which shews, that part at lest of the expences were borne by the convent. The ac- count is curious. " CHARGES of the burial of Humphry Duke Funeral t, r n i it 1 i Expences, From that period it became consi- derable, and frequently was the seat of parlements, and was on several other occasions honored with the royal presence. I must particularize the great council held there in 1164, in which the contumacy of Thomas Becket was punished by a heavy fine. At this time, the whole people came, as one man ; and yet all were unequal to the pride and obstinacy of the single prelate" 1 . The other great council, or parle- ment, was summoned in 1 1 76, to confirm the statutes of Clarendon ; in which the rights of the crown and customs of the realm, especially as to judicial proceedings, had been established". During the civil contests in which England was so unhappily involved, Northampton came in for its share of the calamities incident to war. Ill that between king John and the barons, it was 3toutly defended on the part of the king against 1 Blunt* s Antient Tenures, 16. m Lord Lyttelton's Henry II. 41 to 56. n The same, v. 264, octavo, 2d edit. NORTHAMPTON. 405 Robert Fitzxvalter, fanatically stiled marshal of the army of God and the holy church -, who, for want of military engines, was obliged to raise the siege p . This post was of such importance, that, after the charter of liberties was extorted from John, the constable for the time being was sworn (by the twenty-five barons appointed at a com- mittee to enforce its execution) to govern the castle according to their pleasure. This was done in the fullness of their power ; but as soon as the perjured prince got the upper hand, he appointed Fulk de Breans (a valiant but base-born Norman ) to the command, as one in whom he could entirely confide q . In the year 1263, the younger Mountfort and his barons held it against their sovereign Henry III. The king marched against them with a strong force ; and having with his battering rams formed a great breach in that part of the town- walls nearest to the monastery of St. Andrew, en- tered the place, and, after a short but vigorous re- sistance, made the whole garrison prisoners r . In 1460, Henry VI. made Northampton the place of rendezvous of his forces. The strengtn * Cambden, i. 519. P Dugdale Baron, i. 219. 9 J)ugdak Baron, i. 743. r Carte, ii. 141, 406 NORTHAMPTON. of his army encouraged his spirited queen to offer battle to his young antagonist, the Earl of Marche, then at the head of a potent army. A conference was demanded by the earl, and rejected by the royal party; who marched out of the town, and encamped in the meadows between it and Hard'mston. The battle was fierce and bloody ; but by the treachery of Edmund Lord Grey of Ru- tken, who deserted his unhappy master, victory declared in favor of the house of York. Thou- sands were slain, or drowned in the Nen : among them the duke of Buckingham, Earl of Shrews- bury, John Viscount Beaumont, and Lord Egre- mont. The duke was interred in the church of the Grey Friars ; others of the men of rank, in the adjacent abbey of De la Pre ; and others, in the hospital of St. John, in the town. The town had been inclosed with a strong wall, probably before the reign of King John ; for men- tion is made, in the second year of his reign, of the east-gate, one of the four. The walls were of breadth sufficient for six men to walk abreast. Both walls and castle were early neglected ; for they appear to have been in 1593 in a ruinous state 5 ; yet the latter was used as a prison before 5 Norden, as quoted by Bridges, 432. NORTHAMPTON. 407 the year 1675 : and within had been a royal free- chapel, dedicated to St. George; to which a chap- lain was presented by the crown, with a salary of L OF S II KIR WSB I T MY, From the Original Picture ,// Cootie ./.<■///>, . CASTLE ASHBY. 421 TON J herald's surtout properly emblazoned. Her cap is worked with lions rampant, the arms of her hus- band : her neck ornamented with gold chains. She died June 14th, 1468, and was interred in St. Paul's cathedral. The body of her lord was brought over and buried at I Fhit church, Shrop- shire. Here is a portrait of Spencer Earl of North- Spencer ampton (the justly-boasted character and hero of Northamp- the house) represented in armour. His genius was so extensive, that in his youth he at once kept four different tutors in employ, who daily had their respective hours for instructing him in the different arts they professed. In the civil wars he was the great rival of Lord Brooks, whom he drove out of his own county of Warwick ; and was a most successful opponent to the Earl of Essex. He brought two thousand of the best-disciplined men in the army to the royal standard at Nottingham. At length fell in Staffordshire, in March 1643, desperately fighting ; forgetting, as is too frequently the case with great minds, the difference between the General and common man. His eldest son, James Earl of Northampton, is in armour, and with a great dog near him. He inherited his father's valour, and w r as wounded in the battle in which his father was slain. In all the following actions he maintained a spirit worthy his Son James. 422 CASTLE ASHBY, of his name. On the fall of monarchy he lived retired. On the Restoration he was loaden with honors, and died in fullness of glory at this place, in December 1681. Sir Spencer A portrait, which I take to be Sir Spencer COMPTON? . # # 1 Compton\ his third brother, is dressed in a green silk vest, a laced turnover, and with long hair. This youth was at the battle of Edgehill, at a time he was not able to grasp a pistol ; yet cried with vexation that he was not permitted to share in the same glory and danger with his elder brothers. Edw. Sack- Th e celebrated Edward Sackville Earl of Dorset VILLE EARL of Dorset, is painted in armour. His well-known spirit, in the duel between him and Lord Bruct, would make one imagine that he would have appeared with peculiar lustre in the field of action, during the civil wars ; but fortune flung him but once into the bloody scenes of that period. Lie fought with distinguished bravery at Edgehill, and retook the royal standard, after its bearer, Sir Edmund Verney, was slain. Might not the weight of the sanguinary conflict at Tergose rest heavy on his mind, and make him shun for the future scenes of destruction? for he could do it with unimpeached reputation. Certain it is, that his lordship acted chiefly in the cabinet, was a faithful servant to his master, and a true friend to his country ; and 1 In the house he is called Earl of Northampton. CASTLE ASHBY. 423 spent the rest of his service in earnest and unre- mitting endeavours to qualify affairs, and restore peace to his country. After the king's death, he never stirred out of his house; and died in 1652, at his house, then called Dor set -house, in Salis- bury-court. Here is a singular head, called that of George Geo. Vil- ° ° lieks Duke Villiers Duke of Buckingham; bearded, whiskered, of Bucking- and represented as dead. The heads of the Duke of Somerset, Protector, Francis first Earl of Bedford, and Sir Thomas More, and another, the name of which I have forgotten, are beautifully painted in small size. That favorite of fortune Sir Stephen Fox, is Sir Stephen represented sitting, in a long wig and night-gown : a good-looking man. He was the son of a private family in Wiltshire, but raised himself by the most laudable of means, that of merit. After the battle of Worcester, in which his elder brother was engaged, he fled with him to France, and was entertained by Henry Lord Percy, then lord cham- berlain to our exiled monarch. To young Fox was committed the whole regulation of the house- hold ; " who," as Lord Clarendon observes, c< was ighy ; but from the romantic circumstance attending it, the dress, and the likeness to other pictures of Sir Ksnehn, I cannot help supposing it to be his. PORTRAITS. 451 neim, whom he esteemed as a just model of perfec- tion. It is probable that the princess would not have disobeyed the commands of her lord : but whether the painting alludes to our knight's cruelty on this occasion, or w hether it might not describe the ad- venture of the Spanish lady, recorded in an ele- gant old ballad ,l , I will not pretend to determine. In the long room above stairs, is the picture of tt Lady ° r VBNETIA. his beloved wife Venetia Anastatia Stanley, in a Roman habit, with curled locks. In one hand is a serpent; the other rests on a pair of white doves. She is painted at Windsor in the same em- blematic manner, but in a different dress, and with accompaniments explanatory of the emblems. The doves shew her innocency ; the serpent, which she handles with impunity, shews her triumph over the envenomed tongues of the times. We know not the particulars of the story. Lord Clarendon must allude to her exculpation of the charge, whatsoever it was, when he mentions her as " a lady of extraordinary beauty, of as extraor- " dinary fame V In the same picture is a genius about to place a wreath on her head. Beneath her is a Cupid prostrate : and behind him is Ca- lumny, with two faces, flung down and bound ; a beautiful compliment on her victory over Male- " Antient Songs and Ballads, ii„ 231. * Lord Clarendon s Life, 3 lr: 2 G 2 GOTHURST: volence. Her hair in this picture is light, and differs in color from that in the other. I have heard, from a descendant of hers, that she affect- ed different hair-dresses, and different-colored eye- brows, to see which best became her. Sir Kenelm was so enamoured with her beauty, that he was said to have attempted to exalt her charms, and preserve her health, by a variety of whimsical experiments. Among others, that of feeding her with capons fed with the flesh of vi- pers y ; and that, to improve her complexion, he was perpetually inventing new cosmetics. Pro- .bably she fell a victim to these arts ; for she was found dead in bed, May 1st, 1633, in the thirty- third year of her age. She was buried in Christ- church, London, under a large insulated tomb of black marble, with her bust on the top. This perished in the great fire ; but the form is repre- sented in the Pedigree-book, and from that en- graven in the Antiquaries Repertory. . Both the pictures are the performances of Van- dyck. In this at Gothurst are two of her sons, of a boyish age, and in the dress of the times. y I am told, that the great snail, or Pomaiia, (Br. Zool. iv. N*. 128) is found in the neighboring woods, which is its most northern residence in this island. It is of exotic origin. Tra- dition says, it was introduced by Sir Kenelm, as a medicine for the use of his lady. PORTRAITS. Here are, besides, two most beautiful busts of the same lady, in brass ; whether by Le Soeur or Fanelli, I am not certain. One is in the dress of the times : an elegant laced handkerchief falls over her shoulders, leaving her neck bare. Her hair is curled, braided, twisted, and formed on the hind part of her head into a circle ; beneath which fall elegant locks. On this bust is inscribed, JJxorem vivam amare voluptas, defunctam, religio. The other is a V antique. The head is dressed in the same manner, only bound in a fillet : the drapery covers her breast ; but so artificially, as not to destroy the elegancy of the form. I know of no persons who are painted in greater variety of forms and places, than this il- lustrious pair : possibly because they were the finest subjects of the times. Mr. Walpole is in possession of several most exquisite miniatures of the lady, by Oliver, bought from the heirs of Bod- ?*hyddan and Pembedw, at a very high price. The most valuable one is in a gold case, where she is painted in company with her husband. There is another, said to be painted after she was dead : and four others, in water-colors. The same gentleman is in possession of a beau- tiful miniature of her mother, Lady Lucy Percy, 453 Busts of Lady Venetia. 454 GOTHURST : PORTRAITS. purchased at the same time. She is dressed like a citizen's wife, and with dark hair. LordKeeper Among other portraits 2 , is a fulUensth of the Wright. r 5 r lord keeper, Sir Nathan Wright, in his robes, and Sir Joseph a he&d of Sir Joseph Jekyll, in a long wig and JEK.YLL. robes. The first received his appointment in the year 1700, unfortunately for him, as successor to Lord Somers; whose precipitate dismission, in fa- vor of a Tory, hardly allowed time for reflection on the impropriety of the choice. Sir Nathan kept his place till the year 1703, when he was dismissed, not without disgrace ; more through defect of ability than want of integrity : but con-, temned by both parties. Sir Joseph was a very different character ; a staunch Whig, and a man of great abilities, and worth. He died Master of the Rolls, in 1738. His wig was probably none of the best, if we are to trust these complimentary lines of Pope a : A horse-laugh, if you please, on honesty ; A joke on Jekyll, or some odd old Whig Who never chang'd his principle or wig. * Here is also preserved a good portrait of Sir Leoline Jen-* kins, plenipotentiary at Cologn and Nimeguen, and secretary of state in 1680. Ed. a Epilogue to (he Satires. GOTHURST CHURCH. 455 The church lies at a little distance from the Church. house ; it is new, and very neat, having been re- built, in pursuance of the will of George JV right, Esquire, son of the keeper. The figures of father and son face you as you enter the church : the first in his robes : the other in a plain gown : both furnished with enormous Parian perriwigs. In the old church was a grave-stone, lying in the chancel, supposed to have been laid over John de Nouers, who lived in the time of Edward III. The inscription was in French*. JO : DE : NOVERS : GIST ICI DIEV : DE : S'ALME : EIT : MERCI : AMEN. From Gotharst I crossed the Ouze, to the re- spectable old house of Tyringham c , (once the seat Tyringhj of a family of the same name) which stands very high in point of antiquity. Giffard de Tyringham gave the church of Tyringham to the priory of Tickford, near Newport Pagnel, in 1187. Sir b Communicated by Mr. Cole, from church-notes, taken 1634. e Tyringham is now in the possession of William Praed, Esquire, in right of his wife Elizabeth, sister and heiress to Ty- ringham Bachvell, Esquire. The old mansion was pulled down in the year 1800, at the time an elegant modern house, built by Mr. Pracd, was finished. Ed. 456 TYRING HAM HOUSE. Roger de Tyringham was one of the knights who attended Edward I. into Scotland; and Roger, his son, was sheriff of this county as early as the fifteenth of Richard II d . A Sir John Tyringham had the honor of losing his head in the cause of Henry VI. ; being, with several others, put to death unheard, in 1461, for the murder of the Duke of York ; that is, for being present at the battle of Wakefield, where that prince fell by some unknown hand. It continued in this antient family, till 1685, when, on the death of Sir Wil- liam Tyringham, it devolved to John, son of Ed- ward Backzvell, alderman of London, who had married his only daughter. The house has been neglected for some time, but not wholly unfurnished. Several family-por- Portraits. traits still continue there : such as a head of Lady Tyringham, in a yellow laced cap and ruff ; of the same kind with that in which the famous Mrs. Turner went to be hanged, for her concern in Overbarys murder. A very curious picture, full-length, of an aged lady, in a great quilled ruff and gauze cap, dis-r tended behind, with an enormous gauze veil.fall- d In 1322, or the fifteenth of Edward II., Roger de Tyring- ham was appointed to superintend the estates forfeited in this county, on the Earl of Lancaster's rebellion. Rymer, iii. 963. TYRINGHAM HOUSE. 457 mg to the ground; a black gown spotted with white ; jewels, in form of a cross, on her breast ; another on her arm, and great strings of pearl round her wrists. She stands beneath a canopy, on which is a crown and coat of arms. Another, of a young lady leaning on a chair, in a gauze cap, falling back ; yellow petticoat flowered with red, and a feather-fan. A half-length of Colonel Backwell, in blue, gold sleeves and frogs, a sash ; and a battle in view. A small portrait of Edzvard Backwell, Es- Edw. Back- quire. He is represented in long hair and a flowered gown, with a table by him. I have a fine print of him, given me by the late Mr. Back- uell, one of his descendants. He was, says Mr. Granger, an alderman of London and a banker, of great ability, industry, and integrity, and of most extensive credit ; but ruined in the reign of Charles II. by the infamous project of shutting up the Exchequer. He retired to Holland, where he died, and was brought over to be interred in the church of Tyringham ; where he lies em- balmed. A glass is placed over his face ; so his visage may possibly be seen to this time. I could not but admire a spirited picture of a falcon stooping at Bitterns. Jn the hall is a curious table, of an ash-colored 453 NEWPORT PAGNEL. marble. I should call it a polynesious marble, being veined like a chart filled with little islands, nicely shaded at their edges. As my curiosity led me to explore the kitchen, I found on the walls the rude portraits of the fol- lowing fish, recorded to be taken in the adjacent river, in the years below-mentioned. A carp, in 1648, 2 feet 9 inches long. A pike, in 1658, 3 7. A bream, 2 3f. A salmon, 3 10. A perch, 2 0. A shad, in 1683, 1 11. These are the records of rural life ; important to those who were perhaps happily disengaged from the bustle and cares attendant on politics and dis- sipation. The adjacent church is dedicated to St. Peter, and united with Filgrave : it is in the gift of Mr. Backwell. The village of Tyringham is quite de- populated, and the church of Filgrave dilapidated ; but the inhabitants of that parish make use of the church of Tyringham. About a mile farther, go through the village of Lathbury. Zathbury ; near which is the church, and a large old house. Newport ^ L ittle farther is Newport Paznel : in former NEWPORT PAG N EL. 459 times of dangerous approach, by reason of the overflowing of the Ouze. This small town stands between that river and the Lovet, near their junc- tion. Soon after the Conquest, it was the pro- perty of William Fitz-Ausculph* ; from him it passed in the reign of William Rufus to the Paganels, or Paine Is, who continued possessed of it above a century. Leland mentions them as lords of the castle of Newport Pagnel*. On the death of Gervase Pagnel, in the reign of Richard I. this manor became the property of John de Somerie, by marriage with Hazvise, daughter of Gervase 5 . His son Ralph gave King John a hundred pounds, and two palfreys, for livery of this lord- ship, and did homage for it. In the reign of Henry III. Roger de Somerie forfeited his lands, for ne- glecting (on summons) to receive the honour of knighthood \ The king then granted the farm of this place to Walter de Kirlzham for life, quitting him of suits to county and hundred, and of aid to sheriffs and his bailiffs ; and that, when the king or his heirs should tallage their manors and de- mesnes, the said Walter might by himself, and to his own use, tallage the said manor in like form as it might be tallaged if it were in the king's e Dugdale Baron, i. 431. f Leland Itin. i. 26. s Dugdale Baron, i. 612. * Dugdah*, p. 613. 460 NEWPORT PAGNEL. HOSPITALS. hand 1 . But I find that it afterwards reverted to the Someries. In the reign of Edzvard II. it was conveyed to Thomas de Botetourt, by his marriage with Joan, one of the sisters of John de Somerie, last male heir k . I now lose sight of the succes- sion, and can only say, that it continued a place of strength till the civil wars of the seventeenth cen- tury, when its strength was demolished, or, ac- cording to the phrase of the time, slighted, by order of parlement, in 1646*. Lace Manu- I t flourishes greatly, by means of the lace ma- FACTURlv. # J 7 J _ nufacture, which we stole from the Flemings, and introduced with great success into this county. There is scarcely a door to be seen, during sum- mer, in most of the towns, but what is occupied by some industrious pale-faced lass ; their sedentary trade forbidding the rose to bloom in their sickly cheeks. Church. The church is dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul; was an impropriation belonging to the neighboring abbey of Tickford; and is in the gift of the crown. Hospitals. Here were three hospitals, founded in early times. That by John de Somerie, about the year 1280, still survives, for three poor men, and the * Madox Antiq.Exch. i. 418. k Dugdale Baron, ii. 46. 1 Whitelock, 167, 236. WOBURN SANDS. 461 same number of poor women ; having been re- founded by Anne of Denmark, and from her is called Queen Annes Hospital The vicar of Newport for the time being is appointed master m . About eight miles from Nezvport, at the forty- four mile-stone, at Hogsty-house, enter the county of BEDFORD, on IVoburn Sands, seated on the extremity of the Wobcrx- range of hills which traverse the east end of the former county, and contain the parishes of the three Brickhills. Near the road side are the noted pits of fullers' earth, that invaluable sub- Fullcrs' » • i Earth stance which is supposed to give the great supe- riority to the 'British cloth (honestly worked) over that of other nations. The beds over this important marie are, firstly, several layers of reddish sand, to the thickness of six yards ; then succeeds a stratum of sand-stone, of the same color ; beneath which, for seven or eight yards more, the sand is again continued to the fullers' earth ; the upper part of which, being impure, or mixed with sand, is flung aside, the rest taken up for use. The earth lies in layers ; under which is a bed of rough white free-stone; m Tanner, S3, 4G2 FULLERS' EARTH. about two feet thick, and under that sand ; be* yond that the laborers never have penetrated. The great use of this earth is cleansing the cloth, or imbibing the tar, grease, and tallow, which are so frequently employed by the shepherds, in healing the external diseases which sheep are liable to ; neither can the wool be worked, spun, or woven, unless it be well greased. All this grease must be gotten out, before the cloths are fit to wear. Other countries either want this species of earth, or have it in less perfection. The British legislature therefore have, from the days of Charles I. guarded against the exportation of it under severe penalties. The Romans attended to the fulling business by their lex Metella, which was made expressly to regulate the manufacture". They used various kinds of earth : the ci?nolia, the tarda, (which came from Sardinia ), and the urn- hrica. The two first were white ; the latter might be allied to ours : crescit in macerando ; it swells n Neque enim pigebit hanc quoque partem attingere, cum lex Metella extet fullonibus dicta, quam C. Flaminius, L. jEmilius, censores dedere ad populum ferendam. Adeo omnia majoribus curse fuere. Ergo ordo hie est : primum abluitur vestis Sardd, dein sulphure suffitur: mox desquamatur Cimolia quag est coloris veri. Plinii Hist. Nat. lib. xxxv. c. 17. — The finest foreign earth of this kind, is what the prince of Biscari sent me from Sicily, under the title of Terra Chiamata sapo- nara della quale si servono quei Paesani per lavare i pannilinu WOBURN TOWN. CHURCH. TOMBS. 4t)S Wo BURN Town. in water* ; a property of the true marles. But the application of earths in the woollen manufacture, and for the purpose of cleansing, was of very early times : — But who may abide the day of his coming, and zvho shall stand when He appear 'eth ? for He is like a refiner s fire, and like fullers' sope p . At a small distance from hence lies the little town of TVoburn, in which is a free-school, found- ed by Francis I. Earl of Bedford, and a charity- school for thirty boys, by Wriotheshj Duke of Bedford. The church was built by the last abbot Church. of TV iburn q , and belonged to that religious house ; having been a chapel to Birchmore, a church long since demolished. This place is of exempt juris- diction, under the patronage of the adjacent great family r . The steeple is oddly disjoined from the church. The chancel has been very elegantly fitted up with stucco by the late duke. The pulpit is a pretty piece of gothic carving, probably coeval with the abbey. A neat monument of Sir Francis Stanton, is preserved here ; who, with his lady, is kneeling at an altar. In the south aile stood a grey marble, robbed of the figure of a priest under a large canopy, and four coats of arms, with the inscription entire, ° Plin. HisL Nat. lib. xxxv. c. 17. 1 Willis, ii. 4. r Ecton, 911. T Maluchi Hi. 2. WOBURN ABBEY. Hie jacet Joh* Morton, filius quonda Jokes Morton, de Ports- grave, domini de Lovelsbury, qi obiit in die comemorcois Sci Pauli, anno Dni Millmo C. C. C. nonagesimo quarto. Quor aie ppicietur Deus ». In the east window were the arms of Robert Vere Earl of Oxford, impaling Samford ; the last, in right of his wife Alice, daughter and heiress to Gilbert Lord Samford, chamberlain to Elinor, consort to Edward I. * Abbey. At a little distance from the town was situated the abbey, founded, in 1 145, by Hugh de Bolebec y a nobleman of great property in this neighbor- hood ; who, inspired by God, made a visit to the abbot of Fountains, to advise him about his pious design*. The abbot encouraged him to proceed ; and Hugh erected the buildings, endowed them, and peopled them with monks of the Cistercian order, and placed over them, as first abbot, Alan, brought from the monastery of St. Mary, at York*. The place prospered, by several benefac- tions ; and at the dissolution, was found, accord- ing to Dugdale, to be possessed of revenues to the amount of £. 391. 18.?. %d. a year, or to f£. 430. 13*. lid. according to Speed*. s These two particulars I collect from Mr. Cole's papeEf* 1 Dugdale Monast. i. 829. Willis, ii. 4* % Tanner, 4. WOBURN ABBEY. The last abbot, Robert Hobbs, was hanged at JVobum, in March, 1537, for not acknowleging the king's supremacy. The monastery and its re- venues, in 1547, were granted by EdzvardVI. to Lord Russel, soon after created Earl of Bedford by the same prince. None profited so greatly by the plunder of the church as this family : whose fortune, even to . the present time, principally originates from gifts of this nature. To the grant of JVobum it owes much of its property in this county, and in Bucks ; to that of the rich abbey of Tavistock, vast fortunes and interest in Devon- shire ; and, to render them more extensive, that of Dunkeswell was added. The donation of Thorney abbey gave him an amazing tract of fens in Cambridgeshire, together with a great revenue. Melchburn abbey (I should have before said) in- creased his property in Bedfordshire ; the priory of Castle Hymel gave him footing in Northamp- tonshire, and he came in for parcels of the apper- tenance of St. Albans, mid Mount grace in York- shire; not to mention the house of the friars preachers in Exeter, with the revenues belonging to the foundation ; and finally, the estate about Covent Garden, with a field adjoining, called The Seven Acres, on which Long Acre is built, apper- tenances to the convent of Westminster ; the first, a garden belonging to the abbot. 2 H 466 WOBURN-HOUSE. PORTRAITS. The superstitious will stand amazed, that no signal judgment has overtaken these children of sa- crilege ; yet no house in Britain has thriven more than the house of Russel. House. The 7 house is situated in a very pleasant park, well wooded, but defective in water ; the several pieces being too much divided, and the dams too conspicuous. The present house was built by the late duke, excepting a paltry grotto, by Inigo Jones (which shews that his taste was superior to such childish performances), and the great stables, which were part of the antient cloisters, and still preserve their pillars and vaulted roof. The offices are also the work of the late duke, and form two magnificent but plain buildings, at a small distance from the mansion. Portraits. This house is a treasure of paintings ; of por- traits of the great, now illustrious by the figure they make in the eyes of posterity, undazzled by the wealth, rank, power, dr qualifications, men- y Considerable additions were made to Jfoburn by its late noble owner, and the grounds greatly improved ; the detached pieces of water are united so as to form a sufficient expanse bounded by flourishing plantations. To pass unnoticed theJaud- able attention of Francis Duke of Bedford to agriculture, would be invidious, but to particularise the perfection to which he brought it, and the patriotic endeavours he exerted in its dif- fusion, requires a space incompatible with the tendency of this work. Fd. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 467 tal or corporeal, which concealed their failings, and made them pass at lest unnoticed openly by their cotemporaries. They now undergo a posthumous trial, and, like the Egyptians of old, receive cen- sure or praise according to their respective merits. The greater number are now collected in the gallery, a room unparalleled for its valuable and in- structive series of portraits ; their history would make a volume. I can only pretend to point out some principal facts, that the spectator, who honors me with his company, through this illus- trious assemblage, may not have to reproach me with suffering him to depart wholly uninformed. I lament they are not placed in chronological order. I must give them as they are now 2 arranged. Beginning at the east end, the first I shall point out is Sir Nicholas Baco?i, in a black dress, furred ; by Sir Nicho- r-, , las Bacon. Zuccnero. A fine portrait by Sir Antonio More of Edw. Cour- _ ~ _, » teney, Earl Ldxvard Courteney, last Larl of Devonshire of nis of Devon- shire. z The editor here, as at Gorhambury, has preserved the description of the whole of the portraits mentioned in the first edition of this work, arranging them in the order in which they are placed at present. The late Duke of Bedford added several valuable paintings of the Flemish school, and the very interesting series of the portraits of artists which adorn the elegant library. A general catalogue of the pictures at Wobum is given in the Appendix. Ed. 2 H 2 468 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. name ; who, for his nearness in blood to the crown, was imprisoned by the jealous Henry, from the age of ten till about that of twenty-eight. His daughter Mary set him at liberty, and wooed him to share the kingdom with her. He rejected her offer, from preference to her sister Elizabeth ; for which, and some false suspicion's of disaffection, he suffered another imprisonment with Elizabeth. He was soon released. He quitted the kingdom, as prudence directed, and died at the age of thirty at Padua. He is represented as a handsome man, with short brown hair, and a yellow beard, a dark jacket, with white sleeves, and breeches ; behind him is a ruined tower ; beneath him this inscrip- tion, expressive of his misfortunes ; En! puer et insons et adhuc juvenilibus armis : Annos bis septem carcere clusus eram. „ Me pater his tenuit vinclis, quae fiiia solvit : Sors mea sic tandem vertitur a superis. Fourteen long years in strict captivity, Tyrant-condemn d I passed my early bloom, 'Till pity bade the generous daughter free A guiltless captive, and reverse my doom. R. W. Sir Philip Sydney is painted in the twenty se- cond year of his age ; in a quilled ruff, white slashed jacket, a three-quarter length. He was a deserved favourite of Queen Elizabeth : who well might think the court deficient without him ; for, PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. to uncommon knowledge, valour, and virtuous gallantry, was joined a romantic spirit, congenial with that of his royal mistress. His romance of Arcadia is not relished at present : it may be tedious; but the morality, I fear, renders it dis- gusting to our age. It is too replete with inno- cence to be relished. Sir Philip was to the Eng- lish, what the Chevalier Bayard was to the French , Un chevalier sans peur, et sans reproche. Both were strongly tinctured with enthusiastic virtue: both died in the field with the highest sen- timents of piety. Queen Alary in her usual deformity, by Sir Antonio More. The head of Frances Countess oiSomei*set z . She ^ Frances is dressed in black, striped with white, and her ruff Somerset. and ruffles starched with yellow. This fashion soon expired ; for her bawd and creature, Mrs. Turner, went to Tyburn in a yellow ruff, and put the wearers out of conceit with it. I need not en- a This bears so little resemblance to the print by Passe, of the same infamous character, that the editor is inclined to doubt its being the portrait of the person it is said to re- present. The inscription formerly called it Anne Countess of Somerset, a misnomer which has been corrected. The head of her sister Catharine Countess of Salisbury, which oc- cupies a place in the gallery, is admirably painted, and in the stile of dress and features, though much embellished, is a striking likeness of the above mentioned engraving. Ed. 469 Queen Mary. f 470 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. large on the well-known marriage and divorce of this lady from the Earl of Essex. They are too notorious to be insisted on ; as is her weakness, in having recourse to the impostor Forman for philtres to debilitate Essex, and impel the affec- tions of Somerset towards her. Her wickedness, in procuring the death of Overbury, who ob- structed this union ; her sudden fall, and confes- sion of guilt on her trial, need no repetition. Her Earl avowed his innocency; he had been more covert in his proceedings. Her passions were more violent, her resentments greater, and, of course, her caution less. They both obtained an unmerited pardon, or rather reprieve, being con- fined in the Tower till the year 1623, and then confined, by way of indulgence, in the house of Lord Walling ford. The little delicacy which people of rank too frequently shew, by counte- nancing the vices of their equals, was too conspi- cuous at this time. The Countess felt their pity, and was visited even by the stern Anne Clifford. Somerset lived with his lady, after their confine- ment, with the strongest mutual hatred : the cer- tain consequence of vicious associations. He died in the year lG45 b ; she, before him. In her end may be read a fine lesson on the vengeance of Providence on the complicated wickedness of her b Dugdale Baron, ii. 420. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 471 life. It may be held up as a mirror to posterity, persuasive to virtue, and teach that Heaven in- flicted a finite punishment on the criminal, in mercy to her, and as a warning to future genera- tions. I give the relation (filthy as it is) in the Appendix ; but hope the utility of the moral will excuse the grossness of the tale. On the north side of the gallery Sir Nicholas Sir Nicho- LAS THROG- 1 hrogmorton. morton. A full length portrait of Robert Earl of Essex, RobertEarl by Zucchero, in white. Elizabeth's passion for Essex certainly was not founded on the beauty of his person. His beard was red, his hair black, his person strong, but without elegance, his gait un- graceful . But the queen was far past the heyday of her blood : she was struck with his romantic valour, with his seeming attachment to her per- son, and I may add, with the violence of his pas- sions ; for her majesty, like the rest of her sex, probably Stoop'd to the forward and the bold. At length his presumption increased with her favor ; her fears overcame her affection, and, after many struggles, she consigned him to the scaffold ; having thoroughly worked himself out of her gra- cious conceit d . : Reliquia: Wottoniance, 3d. ed. 170. I Ibid. 165- 473 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. ThomasEarl Thomas Earl of Exeter, eldest son to the great of Exeter* Burleigh, is painted a full length. Notwithstand- ing this nobleman was inferior in abilities to his younger brother, yet was he a man of spirit and of parts. He served as a volunteer at the siege of Edinburgh castle in 1573; distinguished him- self in the wars in the Low Countries ; and, with his brother, served on board the fleet which had the honor of defeating the Spanish armada. He entered also into the romantic gallantries of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and was a knight-tilter in the tournaments performed for the amusement of her illustrious lover, the Duke oiAnjou, in 1581. In the following reign he was employed as a man of business ; was created Earl of Exeter ; and finished his course, aged eighty, in February 1622. RobertEarl jj is younger brother is placed near him, stand- bury. ing : a mean, little, deformed figure, possessed of his father's abilities, but mixed with deceit and treachery. His services to his master and his country, will give him rank among the greatest ministers, but his share in bringing the great Raleigh to the scaffold, and the dark part he acted, in secretly precipitating the generous, un- suspecting Essex to his ruin, will ever remain in- delible blots on him as a man. His dress is that of the Spanish nation, (though he was averse to PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 473 its politics) a black jacket and cloak, which add no grace to his figure. Three heads of Diana, Margaret and Anne, Ladies t« j/» j RUSSEL. daughters of Francis, fourth Earl of Bedford. Lucy, Countess of Bedford, exactly resembling Lucy J J J ° Countess of that at Alloa. Bedford. Diana Russel, wife to Francis, Earl of Nezo- t Lady Newport. port, a head. Her sister Margaret, wife to James Earl of Countess oe , Carlisle. Carlisle. A fine full length of a nobleman, in a black A Noble- & # MAN. and gold vest, and with a high-crowned hat in his hand. On the back ground is a curtain, almost concealing a lady ; of whom only one hand and a part of her petticoat are seen. By this is iEtatis. 1614. L cy I. Edward Earl of Manchester, lord chamber- Edward lain to Charles II. Long hair and robes. Manches- Catherine, eldest daughter of Francis, fourth Earl of Bedford, and widow of the unfortunate Lady Brook. Robert Lord Brook, who was killed at Lichfield, She is represented in mourning. Thomas, Earl of Southampton, in black with a Thomas Earl or star on his mantle. . Southamp- Head of Anne Countess of Bedford. Anne Christiana, daughter to EdwardLord Bruce, ^lll^ * of Kinloss. and wife to the second William Earl of Christiana, ' Countess of Devon- shire. 474 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. Devonshire, a small head 6 , with long hair; her dress white. This lady, who is less talked of than others, was by far the most illustrious character of the age in which she lived. Her virtues, domestic and public, were of the most exalted kind. Hos- pitality, chanty, and piety, were in her pre-emi- nent. I speak not of her great maternal cares ; nature dictates that, more or less, in all the sex : but her abilities in the management of the vast affairs of her family, perplexed with numberless litigations, gave her a distinguished character. She at least equalled her lord in loyalty, and was in- defatigable in inciting the nobility, who had quitted the cause of majesty, to expiate their error. After the battle of Worcester, she lived three years in privacy at her brother's house at Ampthill, and had correspondence with several great personages, on the subject of restoring the exiled king. The reserved Monk had such an opinion of her pru- dence, as to communicate to her the signal by which she might know his intentions on that sub- ject. She lived in high esteem, to a very advanced age ; died in 1674, and was interred by her be- loved lord, at Derby. It is no wonder that so illustrious a character e This and eleven other heads of the same size, are copies by a painter of the name of Mussel PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 475 should attract the powers of the poets. She had the honor of being celebrated by one equal in rank to her own. That accomplished nobleman Wil- liam Earl of Pembroke, wrote several poems to her, and dedicated a collection of them to her. " There is wit and ease in several ; but a great " want of correction ; and often of harmony." The following is the least faulty f ; the subject; That he would not be beloved. Disdain me still, that I may ever love; For who his love enjoys can love no more ; The war once past, with peace men cowards prove, And ships returned, do rot upon the shore. Then tho' thou frown, Til say thou art most fair, And still Til love, tho' still I must despair. As heat to life, so is desire to love; For these once quench/d, both life and love are done. Let not my sighs nor tears thy virtue move ; Like basest metals, do not melt too soon. Laugh at my woes, although I ever mourn : Love surfeits with rewards, his nurse is scorn. A portrait formerly called Lucy Countess of Lucy t> m i • t • • ii., Countess c Bedfora, in a white satin gown worked with Bedford. colors, a laced single ruff, and a long scarlet velvet f Communicated to me by Mr. Wulpole ; who is in pos- session of this very scarce book : a thin small quarto, published in 1660. It consists of the Earl's poems, and responses by Sir Benjamin Rudyard; and other poems, by both, on other subjects. See Royal Authors, i. 192, for a farther account of this noble poet. 476 PORTRAITS AT WOBURPv. cloak hanging gracefully with one arm folded in it. On her head is a pearl coronet, and pearls on her wrists. In the back ground, she appears in a garden, in the true attitude of stately disdain, bent half back, in scorn of a poor gentleman bowing to the very ground. Unfortunately for her lover, it is probable that Donne had just told her, Out from your chariot, morning breaks at night, And falsifies both computations, so; Since a new world doth rise here from your light, We your new creatures by new recknings go. This shews that you from nature lothly stray, Thus suffer not an artificial day. In this you have made the court the antipodes, And will'd your delegate the vulgar sunne, To doe profane autumnal offices, Whilst here to you wee sacrificers runne, In all religions as much care hath bin Of temples frames and beauty, as rites within. HenryEarl A half length of Henry Earl of Southampton, AMPTON. by Solomon de Caus g , with short grey hair; in black, with points round his waist, a flat ruff, leaning on a chair, with a mantle over one arm. This nobleman was a friend to the Earl of Essex, and through friendship, not disaffection, attended him in the mad and desperate insurrection which brought the favorite to the block. The plea was admitted, he was condemned, but reprieved ; and s Walpofe's painters, i. 20. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 47; continued in the Tower till the accession of James I. when he was instantly restored to his honors and estate. By reason of his love to the Earl of Essex, he never was on good terms with the minister, the Earl of Salisbury. He was one that attended Mansfield's army into the Netherlands, and died in 1624, at Bergen op Zoom, of a fever, contracted in that fatal expedition. Head of Dorothy, daughter to Thomas Lord Countess ^ ? ° of Bekk- Viscount Savage, and wife to Charles, second shire, Earl of Berkshire. Heads of Edward, John, Francis, and Cathe- rine, children of Francis, fourth Earl of Bed- ford. A full length of a nobleman, in a black jacket, Henry 6 ' . Karl of double ruff, brown boots, and a stick in his hand; Northum- armour by him; a manly figure, with short black bt " LANiJ hair and square beard, miscalled Car Earl of So- merset 11 . I forget whether the print among the illustrious heads (Vol. II. 19.) was not copied 1 from this. But Car was a person of effeminate features and light hair. A full length of Henry Danvers, created Earl of Baron Daunt sey by James I., and Earl of h It is now considered as the portrait of Henry Earl of Northumberland, who came to the title in 1585. Ed. 1 It certainly was. Ed. ' PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. Danby by Charles I. ; by Vandyck. His beard square and yellow, his jacket black ; over that a red mantle, furred and laced with gold. His rich armour lies by him. Near him is writ- ten, Omnia prcecepi. He was son of Sir John Danvers of Dauntsey, in Wiltshire, by Elizabeth, daughter and co-heir of John Nevil Lord Latimer*. His elder brother, Sir Charles Dangers, lost his head for his concern in Essex's insurrection. James, who on all occasions testified his respect to that unhappy nobleman, countenanced every family who suffered in his cause, and accordingly, had Dangers restored in blood. Besides a peerage, he made him governor of Guernsey, and created him knight of the Garter. He passed his life as a soldier, under Maurice Prince of Orange, in the Low Countries ; under Henry IV. in France ; and under the Earl of Essex and Lord Monjoy in Ireland. At length, in 1 644, died, as his epi- taph says, at his house of Cornbury Park, Ox- fordshire, full of honor, wounds (verified in.the portrait, by a great patch on his forehead), and days, in the seventy-first year of his age. Besides his military glory, we may add that of founding the Physic Garden at Oxford, in 1632, pur- chasing for that use the ground (once the Jews' Ce- k Dugdale's Baron, ii. 416. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 479 rnetery) and inclosing it with a wall and beautiful gate, at the expence of five thousand pounds l . William Duke of Bedford, a full length, in William a long wig, and the robes of the Garter. Bedford. The head of Lady Cook, dated 1585, set. 44. Lady Cook. She has on a quilled ruff, is dressed in black, richly ornamented with pearls. I apprehend this lady to have been the wife of the son of Sir An- thony Cook, one of the tutors to Edward VI. , and distinguished by being father to five daughters, the wonders of their age for intellectual accom- plishments. At the west end of the Gallery General Monk. Monk. A fine three quarters of Killegrew, leaning on Killeguew, a table, a medallion with the portrait of Charles the First near him. A read of Lord William Russet, the sad vie- Lord Wr. tim to his virtuous design of preserving our liber- ties and constitution from the attempts of as aban- doned a set of men as ever governed these king- doms. True patriotism, not ambition or interest, directed his intentions. Posterity must applaud his unavailing engagements, with due censure of the Machiavelian necessity of taking off so dan- gerous an opposer of the machinations of his ene- mies. The law of politics gives sanction to the 1 Wood's Hist. Oxon. lib. ii. 45. and Dusdalc as above, o liamRussel. 480 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. removal of every obstacle to the designs of states- men. At the same time, we never should lessen our admiration and pity of the generous charac- ters who fell sacrifices to their hopes of delivering, purified to their descendants, the corrupted go- vernment of their own days. To attempt to clear Lord Russel from the share in so glorious a de- sign, would be to deprive him of a most brilliant part of his character. His integrity and ingenu- ousness would not suffer even himself to deny that part of the charge. Let that remain unimpeached, since he continues so perfectly acquitted of the most distant design of making assassination a means ; or of intriguing with a foreign monarch, the most repugnant to our religion and freedom, to bring about so desired an end. Lady Ra- The sad relict of this virtuous nobleman, the helRussel * daughter to the good and great IVriothesiey, Earl of Southampton, is placed near him ; a small full length, in widow's weeds, with her head reclined on one hand, and a book by her, with a counte- nance full of deep and silent sorrow. I imagine her in the third month of her affliction, filled with the following meditation. " Lord, let me understand the reason of these " dark and wounding providences, that I sink not " under the discouragement of my own thoughts. " I know I have deserved my punishment, and PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 481 f will be silent under it; but yet secretly my " heart mourns, because I have not the dear " companion and sharer of my joys and sorrows; " I want him to talk with, to eat and sleep with. <( All these things are irksome to me now : the " day unwelcome, and the night so too. All " company and meals I would avoid, if it might " be, yet all this is, that I enjoy not the world in H. my own way, and this sure hinders my com- " fort. When I see my children before me, I " remember the pleasure he took in them ! This " makes my heart to shrink. Can I regret his " quitting a lesser good for a bigger ? O ! if I " did stedfastly believe, I could not be dejected ! " But I will not injure myself, to say I offer my " mind any inferior consolation to supply this " loss : no, I most willingly forsake this world, " this vexatious, troublesome world, in which I " have no other business but to rid my soul from " sin, secure by faith and a good conscience my " eternal interest; with patience and courage " bear my eminent misfortunes, and ever here- " after be above the smiles and frowns of it; and " when I have done the remnant of the work ap- " pointed me on earth, then joyfully wait for the " heavenly perfection, in God's good time ; when, " by his infinite mercy, I may be accounted " worthy to enter in the same place of rest and 2 i 48* PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. u repose, where he is gone for whom only I " grieve." Dudley The series of portraits on the south side com- Earl of Warwick, mences with Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick, a head with a bonnet, black dress, the George pen- dent. Dudley His unworthy brother the Earl of Leicester. Letter. A head of John Russel first Earl of Bedford, otBew ord a P ron ^ e > w i tn a long white beard, and the George hanging from his neck ; this gentleman was the founder of the family, and owed his rise to his merit and accomplishment. Philip Archduke of Austria, being in 1508 driven by a storm on the coast of Dorsetshire, was entertained by Sir Tho- mas Trenchard ; who sent for his neighbor, Mr. Russel, who was skilled in the languages, to wait on his highness. The Duke was so pleased with his conversation, as to insist on his going with him to the King, then at Windsor. Henry, at the recommendation of the Duke, took him into his service. In the following reign he advanced in fortune with vast rapidity. He fortunately was ±0 temporary with the fall of monastic life, and ob- tained vast grants of the possessions of the church. Edward VI. created him Earl of Bedford. The last act of his life was a voyage to Spain, to bring over Philip II. (grandson of the prince to whom he owed his rise), to espouse his royal mistress. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 483 He died in March 1555, and lies buried at Chey- neys in Buckinghamshire, with his lady, by whom he acquired that estate. The church of Cheyneys, from that time, became the sterna domus of all this great family, and contains a most superb col- lection of different fashioned monuments. An- Earl of Rutland, a full length, in a rich Earl op ' . Rutland. flowered jacket, red full skirts, a single laced ruff, short hair and beard, brown boots ; a plumed helmet near him. He wears the honor of the George. From his boots (a fashionable part of dress in the time of James I. and Charles I.), I suspect him to be Francis Earl of Rutland, who commanded the fleet which conveyed Charles, when Prince of Wales, in his return from his ro- mantic expedition into Spain. This nobleman died in 1632. Next is the portrait of Sir William Russel William (afterwards Duke of Bedford) when young. He Bedford. is dressed in the robes of the order of the Bath, leaning on his sword ; and by him a dwarf, aged thirty-two. On the picture is inscribed Johannes Privezer di Hungaria, fecit 169,7; a painter of merit, but whose works are rare. Lady Anne Ayscou^h, eldest daughter of the Lady Anne . ° ^YSCOUGH. first Earl of Lincoln, and wife to William Ays- cough, son to Sir Francis Ayscough of Lincoln- shire. 2 I 2 484 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. Comptrol- A head of a gentleman of the name of Rogers, ler Rogers. ° m . Comptroller to Queen Elizabeth. I imagine him to be Sir Edward Rogers, a person of some con- sideration at the time of her accession ; for he was one of the few who waited on her at Hatjield, on the death of Queen Mary, and formed one of the privy-council held there on that great event. Prince de j± strange figure of a man, in black, half- Nassau. ° . length, in a close black cap, and a letter in his hand, directed to Pr. de Nassau. I am informed, by a very able herald, that from the arms on the picture, the personage represented is the Count de Nassau-Uranien Nassau. ^Duke or Head of the Duke of Monmouth. * Sir Edw. Sir Edward Stradling, of St. Doners, in South Stradling. jYales. A head, with whiskers, a turn-over, and black dress. I imagine him to be the gentleman who had a regiment under Charles I., who w r as taken prisoner at the battle of Edgehill, and who died on his release at Oxford. James Earl J ames Earl of Carlisle, in long hair, buff coat, OfCaRLISLE.^ g ^ Anne Coun- Anne, wife of Ambrose Dudley, Earl of War- Warwick. - and daughter to Francis, second Earl of n This is probably not the portrait of the nobleman of whom so full an account is given in the Tour of Scotland, but of his son who married Catherine, daughter to Francis fourth Earl of Bedford. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 485 Bedford, in black and white sleeves, and a black body. Lady Wimbledon, wife of Lord Wimbledon. , Tr Lady Wimbledon - * Lady Bindloss, wife to Sir Francis Bindloss, ^ of Berwick, near Lancaster, and daughter to Tho- Bindloss. mas third Lord Delawar. Edward Earl of Bedford, sitting. He is dressed £ DWARD in black and sold, with a high-crowned hat : his £ ARL OF e * to ' :. Bedford. hand in a sash, being gouty. This nobleman was an exception to the good understanding this family- is blest with ; and unluckily was matched with a lady whose vanity and expences were boundless. Sir William Russel, in a black slashed vest. SirWilliam He was lord deputy of Ireland in the reign of RusSEL - Queen Elizabeth, in 1 594 : a wise and most gal- lant commander, and successful in various expe- ditions against the rebels ; but not brooking a divided power with the general, Sir John Nor r is, he was, at his own request, recalled. He was created by James I. Baron of Thornhaugh, and died in 1613. Giles, the third Lord Chandos, in a high-crowned Giles Lord hat, white jacket, black gown laced with silver, HAND0S * short hair and beard. J$A. 43, 1589. He died in 1594. The first Francis Earl of Bedford, with a long p IRST fran- white beard and furred robe, and George pen- C b E dford° F dent; a head. Another illustrious personage of 486 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. this house, who discharged several great offices in the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. Such was his hospitality, that the latter used to say of him, that he made all the beggars. He died, aged 58, on the 28th of July 1585, the day after his third son, Francis, was slain, happily unknowing of the mis* fortune. Frakcisand This youth, and his elder brother Edward Edward j Russel. Lord Russel, are represented in small, in two paintings, and so alike, as scarcely to be dis- tinguished : both dressed in white close jackets, and black and gold cloaks, and black bonnets. The date by Lord Edward, is set. 22, 1573. He is represented grasping in one hand some snakes, with this motto, Fides homing scrpentibus fraus ; and in the back ground he is placed standing in a labyrinth, and above is inscribed, Fata viam in* lenient. This young nobleman also died before his father. His brother Francis has his accompaniments not less singular. A lady, seemingly in distress, is represented sitting in the back ground, sur- rounded with snakes, a dragon, crocodile, and cock. At a distance is the sea, with a ship under full sail. The story is not well known ; but it cer- tainly alludes to a family transaction, similar to that in Otways Orphan, and gave rise to it. He, by the attendants, was perhaps the Poly dor e of MARGA1ET, C©t T NTESS OF CUMBE1LAHU). From tke Original /•/<•////;■ ,// Wbbum /'nl>ti.t/ir,/ May iMnjby White &• CbtArano, iiy. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 487 the history. Edxvard seems by his motto, Fides homini, serpent ibusfraus, to have been the Casta- Ho, conscious of his own integrity, and indignant at the perfidy of his brother. The ship alludes to the desertion of the lady. If it conveyed Sir Francis to Scotland, it was to his punishment ; for he fell there on July 27th, 1585, in a border fray. Francis Russel, third son to the fourth Earl Francis of Bedford, in armour. Russel, His brother Colonel John Russel. John Russel. A head of Catherine °, youngest daughter to Catherine the Treasurer, Earl of Suffolk, and wife to Wilr Countess cr ' M 9 Suffolk. Ham Earl of Salisbury. She is in a flowered dress ; her ruff worked with gold, and her breasts naked. Head of the fair Geraldlnc, the third wife of The fair Edxvard Earl of Lincoln. Her hair yellow ; her Geraldine - face a proof how much beauty depends on fancy ; her dress far from elegant. Ma rga ret Countess of Cumberland ; she was Margaret youngest daughter to the first Francis Earl of Bed- CouNTESS or JO O C-UMBER- ford, and wife to the celebrated George Clifford land. Earl of Cumberland*. Lord Treasurer Burleigh, the able statesman Loud of Elizabeth ; a favorite, whom she chose, as she BuRLEIGI1, ° This is the portrait alluded to above, in the note relative to the Countess of Somerset. Ed. p For an account of both see Tour m Scotland, vol. iii. 355. 488 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. expressed it, not for his bad legs, but for his good head q . His maxims did not quite agree with those of the ministers of later days ; for he held, That nothing could be for the advantage of the prince, which makes any way against his reputation ; wherefore he never would suffer the rents of lands to be raised, nor the old tenants to be put out r . This great statesman is represented sitting. His countenance comely, his beard grey, his gown black and furred, and adorned with a gold chain. His mistress lost this faithful servant in 1598, aged 77. Edward Edward Clinton, first Earl of Lincoln, sitting : Lincoln. a half-length in black, a short ruff, bonnet, and with his George, by Cornelius Ketel, the whimsi- cal artist, who took it into his head to lay aside his brushes, and paint with his fingers only ; and at length, finding those tools too easy, undertook to paint with his toes s . This nobleman was one of the most distinguished persons of his age, and shone equally as a soldier and a sailor ; for, du- ring the reigns of Henry VII L, Edward VI., Mary and Elizabeth, there were scarely any ex- peditions in which he did not signalize himself. He was Lord Great Admiral for thirty years, counsellor to three princes, and of unspotted re- * Lloyd's Worthies, i. 360. r Camden's Elizabeth* 3 Walpole's Lives of Painters, i. 138, 139. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 489 putation. In an advanced age he married for his third wife the fair Gerald'me, the subject of the gallant Earl of Surry s affection, and of his amo- rous muse. Their union never took place. It is probable that she deserted him; for soon after his sonnet, descriptive of the fair, From Tuscane came my ladies worthy race, follow several others, complaining of his hard lot, in experiencing the scorn and inconstancy of his mistress ; but what affects him most is, the giving the preference to a lover of meaner rank. I know (though she say nay, and would it well withstand) When in hir grace thou yeldest the most, she bare thee but in hand. I see her pleasant cheere in chiefest of thy suite, When to art gone I see him come that gathers up the fruite ; And eke in thy respecte, I see the base degree Of him to whom she gave the heart that promised was to thee l . Near him is the head of Charles Brandon Brandon Duke of Suffolk, son of Sir William Brandon, ? UKE op M ' SUFFOLK. standard-bearer to Henry VII., slain in the battle of Bosworth. His dress is black, with red sleeves, with the collar of the Garter and the George. His beard is white, his countenance bluff, not un- x Fol. ii. edition 1585. 490 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. like that of his master Henri/ VIII. Their quali- ties, happily for the favorite, were different; for the inscription with truth says, that he was " gra- u tiose with Henry VIII. ; void of despyte; " most fortunate to the end ; never in displeasure " with his kynge. 1 ' He was brought up with his master, and justly beloved by him for his noble qualities, for his goodly person, courage, and con- formity of disposition (I suppose only) in all his exercises and pastimes u . He was a principal figure in every tilt and tournament. In his younger days (1510) he appeared at Westminster in the solemn justs, held in honor of Catherine of Arra- gon, in the dress of a recluse, begging of her highness permission to run in her presence ; which obtained, he instantly flung off his weeds, and came out all armed. He signalized himself at the justs at Tournay, in 151 1, instituted by Margaret Princess of Castile, in compliment to his royal master. The place was flagged with black marble, and the horses of the knights were shod with felt, to prevent them from slipping \ He here won the heart of the fair foundress of the entertain- ment ; but fortune reserved him for another prin- cess. In 1514 he performed amazing deeds of arms » Herbert's Henry VIII. 35. * lb. n. PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. at Saint Denys, at the coronation of the youthful Mary, sister to Henry, on her marriage with the aged and decrepid Louis XII. The good king, says Henault, forgot his age, and met with death in her arms in less than three months. This opened the way to his possession of the beautiful dowager. Her heart was lost to him at the preceding tourna- ments, in which she had an opportunity of com- paring the feebleness of her bridegroom with the dexterity, the grace, and strength of her valiant knight, who, at single combat, overthrew man and horse. The French, envious of his prowess, in- troduced into the lists a gigantic German, in hopes of bringing the English hero into disgrace. He treated the Almain so roughly, that the French in- terfered; but in a second trial, Suffolk caught him round the neck, and pummelled him so severely about the head, that they were obliged to convey the fellow away secretly ; who had been surrepti- tiously introduced in disguise, merely on account his great strength*. Mary, on the death of her royal consort, pro- posed to Suffolk, and gave him only four days to consider of the offer y . This seems to have been concerted, to save her lover from the fury of Henry, for daring to look up to a dowager of * Halle, xlix. Holinshed 833. r Herbert's Henry VIII. 54. 4ijl PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. France, and, what was more, his sister. His master fortunately favored the match. He con- tinued beloved by the king to the end of his life ; after seeing the following knights and attendants on the conjugal festivities, the Earl of Devonshire, Lord Leonard Grey, Sir Nicholas Carezv, and Anna Boleyn, sent headless to their graves. But Charles went off triumphant with his royal spouse ; carried with him her jewels, to the amount of 200,000 crowns ; the famous diamond le mirroir de Naples ; and secured her jointure of sixty thou- sand crowns z . He married almost as many wives as Henry, leaving his fourth to survive him. He died universally lamented, in 1545, and was buried magnificently at the expence of his master; his loss being one of the few things that touched his hardened heart. ^ Queen Queen Elizabeth, full length, with a rich gown, white, embroidered with flowers, ana a fan of fea- thers in her hand. I find that her majesty would condescend to accept of the smallest present, as a mark of her subjects' love ; for, in passing through a Doctor Puddins house in her way to the cele- brated wedding of Mrs. Anne Russel with Lord Herbert, she did the Doctor the honor of accept- ing from him a fan en passant. Sir Richard Head of Sir Richard Bingley. BlNGLEY. ^ J z Herbert's Henry VIII. 55, PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 493 Another of Sir Edward Gorges ? ^%SSw$ SiRjoscelyn Percy, seventh son of Henry eighth SlR p°^; LY * Earl of Northumberland, closes the list. He and his brother Charles were concerned in the Earl of Essex s insurrection. Both received their par- dons : and Joscelyn survived till 1631. That gloomy* insipid pair, Philip II. and his Philip a xd consort Mary, are painted in small full-lengths by Sir Antonio More. The first of these ungracious figures is dressed in a black jacket, with gold sleeves and hose ; the Queen sitting in a black and gold petticoat, and furred sleeves. Her black conic cap is faced with gold and jewels. A rich chain of great pearls and small vases, red and gold, are other ornaments to our bigotted sovereign. The date is 1553. Sir Antonio was sent from Spain to draw 7 her picture ; so has placed her and Philip in a scene of auk ward courtship ; for they were not married till the following year. Isabella, daughter to Henry Bennet, Earl of Isabella . Dutchess of Arlington, and wife to the first Duke of Grafton, Grafton. is represented a half length in white, with long flowing hair, very handsome. a This curious picture, and some of the portraits mentioned below, are removed to a room destined to receive the over- flowings of the house ; others have gradually disappeared from JVoburn, are placed in the attics, or are no longer shewn- Ed. 494 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. Elizabeth A large family picture, by Jervis, of Elizabeth D Bedfori>. OF Howland, Dutchess to the first Wriothesley Duke of Bedford, in her weeds, with her four children. Above her, in the back part of the picture, hangs the portrait of her lord ; the same who built Covent Garden church, and was called the good Duke. Gertrude In another apartment is a large picture, repre- -Dutchess of Bedford, senting Gertrude, Dutchess of Bedford, present- ing her daughter (the Dutchess of Marlborough) to Minerca, the sciences and graces painted by Hamilton, an artist settled I believe at Rome. Nobleman A full length of a nobleman in a hat with u red crown and feather, square black beard, red ear- rings and stockings : in his robes, with a white rod in his hand. This was brought from Thomhaugh, a seat of the family in Northamptonshire. Lady Portrait of a lady in black, a red and white UNKNOWN. petticoat, nat run, and a great string of pearls across her breast. Ladies Two children in one piece, Lady Diana and Lady Anne Russet, daughters of William first Puke of Bedford. They had the misfortune of being poisoned, by eating some noxious berries which they met with. Lady Anne died ; Lady Diana survived, and is again painted, in more ad- vanced life, by Sir Peter Lely. A man in a grey jacket, red breeches, short hair, PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 495 and small beard ; a stick in his hand, and helmet by him. Date 1592, set. 28. Elizabeth Bruges, or Bridges, aged 14, Elizabeth i • -i i Tr ? . Bruges. 1589, painted in a flat stile, by Hieronymo ai Custodio, of Antwerp. She is represented in black, flowered with white, with full sleeves, a gold chain, great pearl set in gold on one shoulder, and a gold ornament on the other. This lady was eldest daughter to Giles, Lord Chandos, and wife to Sir John Kenneda, knight b : she dying childless, the whole fortune of her family devolved to her se- cond sister, Catherine, Countess of Bedford. A full length of that fantastic lady, Lucy, „ LucY ° % Countess of Countess of Bedford, in a dancing attitude, dressed Bedford. in a fantastic habit, with an immense transparent veil distended behind her. Present Dutchess of Marlborough. Dutches? ^ of Marl- Lord Francis Russel in a black dress, a minia- borough. Lord Fr. ture. Russel, A female, dwarf to Catherine, Queen to a Dwarf, Charles II. Catherine Countess of Bedford, wife to Catherine Francis Earl of Bedford, and daughter to Giles C B™roRD°* Bruges, third Lord Chandos. Her dress a pearl coronet, and hair flowing below her waist, a worked gown, and red mantle : a tine full length. b Dunhilc's Baronage, W. 39.5, 496 PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. Anne Anne, daughter of that infamous pair, Robert COUNTCSS OF ° . Bedford. Car, Earl of Somerset, and his Countess, is paint- ed by Vandyck, in blue, drawing on a glove : a most beautiful half length. She was the wife of Sir William Russel, above mentioned, married to him in the year 1637. She proved worthy of the alliance she made. It is said that she was igno- rant of her mother's dishonor, till she read it in a pamphlet she found accidentally left in a window. It is added, that she was so struck with this de- tection of her parent s guilt, that she fell dow r n in a fit, and was found senseless, with the book open before her. She died on May 10, 1684. The anecdote is omitted in the histories of the family, probably to avoid the revival of a disgraceful tale. Francis Earl of Bedford, was so averse to the alliance, that he gave his son leave to chuse a wife out of any family but that. Opposition usually stimulates desire : the young couple's affection were only increased. At length the king inter- posed, and, sending the Duke of Lenox to urge the Earl to consent, the match was brought about. Somerset, now reduced to poverty, acted a gene- rous part; selling his house at Chiswick, plate, jewels, and furniture, to raise a fortune for his daughter of twelve thousand pounds, which the Earl of Bedford demanded ; saying, that seeing her PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. 497 affections were settled, he chose rather to undo himself than make her unhappy d . Her father in law, the second Francis Earl of Th " second Francis Bedford, by Vandyck, is in the drawing room. A Earl of full length in black, with light hair and short peaked beard ; painted in 1636, aged forty-eight. He died in 1641, and left behind him a distin- guished character. He was of the popular party, but of such an excellent understanding, so good a heart, and of such great moderation, that it is sup- posed, if he had lived, his influence with his friends would have been exerted to have com- posed the unhappy violence of the times. This was the nobleman who undertook and succeeded in the arduous attempt of draining the vast fen in Cambridgeshire, called the Great Level, contain- ing three hundred and six thousand acres*. Gertrude late Dutchess of Bedford. Gertrude A fine full lerigth of her worthy husband, Bedford. John, Duke of Bedford, represented sitting in his j OHN y) UKE robes. 0F Bed ™* d - The late Lord and Lady Tavistock. His lord- Lord and ship in a red gown, furred. He is again repre- Tavistock. sented in another room, in the uniform of the Dun- stable hunt. Lady Russel, wife of Sir William Russel, lord Lady RUSSEL, A British Biogr. v. 3534. * Dugdale on embanking, 344. 2 K 49S PORTRAITS AT WOBURN. AMPTHILL. deputy of Ireland, is painted in great sleeves. She was daughter to Edward Long, Esquire, of Thin- gay, in Cambridgeshire, and died two years before her lord. Francis Her son Francis, afterwards Earl of Bedford, o^Bbd^rd! ls paired in his childhood, in white, with green hose ; with a hawk in his hand, and two dogs in couples near him. Catherine A full length of Catherine, wife of the second C Bedford? F Francis Earl of Bedford, in black, with roses in her hand. Lady Frances Lady Chandos, daughter of the first Earl of Lincoln, in a great ruff, a black dress rich in pearls, a>t. 37, 1589 i lived till the year 1623. From JVoburn, for the sake of variety, I left the great road, and, crossing the county, went through the village of Ridgemont, and, soon after, through that of Millbrook, whose church is pleasantly seated on the bluff point of a hill. About two miles far- Ampthill. ther, reach Amp thill, a small market- town, on a rising ground, noted in old times for the magnifi- cent mansion built by Sir John Cornxvall, Lord Fanhope, as Leland says, with such spoiles that he xvanne in Fraunce { . He married Elizabeth, second daughter to John, Earl of Lancaster, commonly called John of Gaunt, and widow to John Earl of Exeter : for her he is supposed to have built the f hin. i. 1 1 5. AMPTHILL. house, which was worthy of so illustrious a princess. It had four or five fair towers of stone in the inner court, beside the basse court z . This hero was son of Sir John Cornxvall: his mother, niece to the Duke of Brit any, was delivered of him at sea. He was usually stiled green Cornwall, from the color of that element. He rose by his merit; was cele- brated for deeds of arms and acts of chivalry, and those equally in the field, and in the lists of arms. At York he fought and vanquished, in the pre- sence of Henry IV. two valiant knights ; one a Frenchman, the other an Italian. In reward for his prowess, Henry created him knight of the garter. He signalized himself at the battle of Azincourt, where he took prisoner Louis de Bour- bon Count of Vendome, and had his ransom con- firmed to him h , with which he might have built the house ; for it seems to be the spoils alluded to by Leland. In reward for his services, he was created by Henry VI. baron of Fanhope and Millbrook, and died in 1443. He had no lawful issue ; nei- ther were the large grants made to him by the crown, for more than the term of life, so that they reverted on his decease. The place was afterwards bestowed by Edzvard IV. on Edmund Lord Grey, The gift was not (as Leland supposes) founded on the ruin of Lord ■ It in. i. 115. h SancJford's Geneahg. Hist. 2£8. 2k2 / 500 AMPTHILL. Fanhope, after the battle of Northampton ; for that event did not take place till seventeen years after Fanhope died peaceably in his bed. It continued in the family of the G reys till the death of Richard Earl of Kent, who made it over to Henry VIII. That prince added it to the crown, and erected it, with the great estate belonging to it, into the honour of Ampthill 1 . Here was the residence of the injured princess Catherine of Arragon, during the period that her divorce was in agitation ; and from hence she was cited to appear before the commissioners, then sitting at Dunstable \ About the year 1774, John Earl of Ossory, on the site of the castle, erected a gothic column (designed by Mr. Essex) to perpetuate the memory of this ill- fated Queen, with the following elegant inscription 1 : In days of old, here Ampthill's towers were seen, The mournful refuge of an injur'd queen ; Here flowM her pure, but unavailing tears ; Here blinded zeal sustain' d her sinking years : * Yet Freedom hence her radiant banner wav'd, And Love aveng'd a realm by priests enslavM ; \ From Catherine* 's wrongs a nation's bliss was spread, And Luther's light from Henry's lawless bed. Johannes Fitz-Patrick, Comes de Ossory, posuit, 1773. 1 Camden, i. 340. k She died at Kimbolton, in Huntingdonshire, on the 8th of January, 1535-6. 1 Written by the late Lord Orford. Ed. AMPTHILL PARK. 501 The only remarkable thing I observed in the church, was a mural monument in memory of Church. Richard Nicolls, governor of Long Island after the expulsion of the Dutch. He was a gentleman of the bed-chamber to the Duke of York, and was slain in the celebrated engagement of May 28th, 1672, attending his royal highness on board of his ship. What is singular in this monument is, the preservation of the very ball with which he was killed, a five or six pounder, which is placed within the pediment, inlaid in the marble ; and on the molding of the pediment, on each side of the bullet, are the words, Instrumentum mortis et immortalitatis. Mr. Sandford m has given a plate of the figures of Sir John Cornwall and his wife, as painted in a window of this church. They are either lost, or I have overlooked them. They are represented kneeling, and both with mantles of their arms over them : she in her ducal coronet. Between them, at top, is a banner with her arms ; at bottom, his arms included in the Garter. From the town I descended to Ampt hill Park, A p*™ ILL the seat of the Earl of Ossory ; a modern house, plain and neat, with eleven windows in front, and wings. Within, is the portrait of Richard Lord L° RD ° 1 GOWRAV. Gowran, in his robes : he was ancestor to the noble ™ Gmcal. Hist, 259. AOS AMPTHILL PARK. owner, and married, in 1718, to Anne, younger Sir John daughter of Sir John Robinson of Faming; Wood, in Northamptonshire. Another Sir John Robin- sons portrait is preserved here : a half-length, in a great wig, cravat, sash, and buff coat. He was an eminent loyalist ; was lord mayor of London, in 1663, and lieutenant of the Tower, from the Restoration to the time of his death. His double employ is expressed by a distant view of the Tower, and the gold chain placed by him on a table. Laud. The indiscreet prelate Laud, is admirably paint- ed by Vandyck. Catherine Here is a full length of Catherine Cornaro, Queen of Cyprus : a bulky woman, in black, with flaxen hair, much curled. This distinguished fe- male was daughter to Mark Cornaro, the most il- lustrious of the Venetian families. James Lusignan, or James the Bastard, king of Cyprus, in order to strengthen himself on his throne, demanded, by his ambassador, a wife out of the republic of Venice, The senate fixed on this lady, adopted her as their own, and stiled her, from its tutelar saint, the daughter of St. Mark. She reigned long in that island, and governed fifteen years after the death of her husband. He had left the senate of Venice protectors of her, and of the child with which she was pregnant at the time of that event. The in- fant son lived only ten months ; and the Venetian AMPTHILL PARK. 503 state considered itself as heir to the kingdom, in right of its daughter Catherine. Apprehensions arose, that the Turkish emperor Bqjazet, and the Christian monarch Ferdinand, had designs on it : they determined to frustrate both, and sent George Cornaro, brother to the Queen, to assist her in the government. By his eloquence, he succeeded in the arduous task of persuading a lady out of her love of power. He promised her regal state in her native country. She accepted the terms, erected the Venetian standard in her capital, and, on her arrival at Venice, was met by the whole senate, and the ladies of rank, and received, dur- ing life, every mark of esteem which her patriot- ism merited, with a magnificent establishment, equal to the dignity she had so generously quitted. This event happened about the year 1489". Albert archduke of Austria, commonly called the Cardinal Infant, in black, a great ruff, and Cardinal with a sword. He was fifth son of the emperor lNrANT * Maximilian II. and was originally brought up in the church ; became cardinal, and had the arch- bishopric of Toledo conferred on him His talents were more fitted for the field and cabinet. Ac- cordingly, we find him in universal esteem, for his prudent administration as regent of Portugal, and n Gratiani's Wars of Cyprus, 10, 11. 504 AMPTHILL PARK. as a brave and enterprizing general in the Low Coun- tries, in the reign of Philip II. who had invested him with their government. In the year 1598, Philip bestowed on him his daughter, the Infanta Isabella, and with her the sovereignty of the Ne- therlands. Under him w r as undertaken the famous siege of Ostend, which cost the Spaniards a hun- dred thousand men. He lived till the year 1621, and died universally lamented by his subjects. He was a patron of the arts. He was so struck with the merit of Rubens, that he detained that able painter some time at Antwerp; and to him we owe the portrait of this illustrious prince . Here is a fine half-length of a general, by Paroccio ; an artist who died at a great age, in 1612. The person is represented with light hair and whiskers, a hat, armour, and red sash. A conversation ; consisting of Edzcard late Duke of York, Lord Ossory, Lord P aimers ton y Topham Peauclerk, Colonel //. St. John, and Sir William Boothby : done when they were at Florence, by Prompt on. Ampthill Park, and that of Houghton, con- tiguous to it, were granted by James h to Sir Edxvard Bruce of Kinloss (a favorite, brought by his majesty out of Scotland ), or to his son Thomas Q Anecdotes of Painting, ii. 81. HOUGHTON PARK. $05 Earl of Elgin. It continued for some time in his - posterity, the Earls of Elgin and of Aylesbury. It became, about the year 1690 (by purchase) the property of Lord Ashburnham, who built the house, which still retains nearly the original form. It was alienated by John, the first earl of that title, between the years 1720 and 1730, to Lord Viscount Fitz-lViliiam. His lordship sold it, in the year 1736, to Lady Gozuran, grandmother to the present Lord Ossory. From hence is a very short ride to Houghton Houghton J & . Park. Park, formerly part of the estate of AmpthilL The house is seated on a bold eminence, and com- mands a fine view. The fronts are unequal ; one being a hundred and twenty two feet in extent ; the other, only seventy three feet six inches : two of these are very beautiful ; each has an elegant portico and loggio above, ornamented with co- lumns of the Doric and Ionic orders : the rest of the house is of brick. On the intervening space are a variety of cyphers, devices, and crests ; such as bears and ragged staves, staves and palms, crowned lions and crowns, and beards of arrows, or hedge-hogs and porcupines p . Some of these certainly relate to the Sydnies. This gave rise to p In an old edition of the Arcadia, date 1629, is a hedge- hog, or porcupine, as a crest to the top of a frontispiece. HOUGHTON PARK. the assertion of the editor of Camden, that it was built by the Countess of Pembroke, Sydney 's sister, Pembroke's mother ; and that the model was contrived by her brother, the incomparable Sir Philip Sydney, in his Arca- dia. Let this be admitted, we are not to wonder at seeing his devices employed as ornaments. From the letters on the south front, I. R. with a crown over them, it is evident that the house was built in the time of James I ; and, there is great reason to suppose* 3 , that Tnigo Jones, who was warmly patronized by her son William Earl of Pembroke, and from whose designs the Earl built the noble front of his seat at Wilton, was the architect. *3 It has since been ascertained', that Houghton house was built by this celebrated countess. In 1615, Sir Edward Conquest, keeper of the park, made over his interest in it to Matthew Lister and Leonard Welstead, as her trustees, when she erected a splendid mansion. After her decease, it was in 1 630 granted in fee to Lord Bruce, and was, for a considerable time, the re- sidence of his descendants, the Earls of Elgin and Aylesbury. In 1738, John Duke of Bedford purchased Houghton. The late duke took down the venerable remains, and applied the materials to the erection of the Swan Inn, at Bedford; the estates belonging to it became the property of the Earl of Ossory, by exchange in 1801. Ed. T Ly son's Magna Britannia, i. 96. TOMBS IN MAULDEN CHURCH. 507 This place must not be confounded with Houghton Conquest : a very antient house, at the Houghton Conquest. foot of the hill. This had been the property of the very old family of the Conquests, and was pur- chased, with the manor, from the last Mr. Con- quest, by the late Earl of Ossory. I did not leave the neighborhood without visit- Tombs in ° . Maulden mg the church of Maulden, a mile or two to the Church. east of AmpthilL This is noted for the octagonal mausoleum erected by Thomas Bruce Earl of Elgin, in honor of his second wife Diana, daughter of William Lord Burghly, and by her first marriage Countess of Oxford. Her tomb, of white marble, is placed in the center. On it is a sarcophagus, or at lest what was designed to represent one ; out of which rises a miserable figure of the countess in her shroud : on whom the country people, by a very apt similitude, have bestowed the title of The lady in the pwich-bowl. In a niche in the wall of the building is the bust of her husband, with long hair, a short beard, and turnover ; and on the floor is another bust (I think) of her son-in-law, Robert Earl of Elgin, placed at a respectful distance, as well as the other, for the reason given in the in- scription, Eminus stantes venerabundi, quasi con- templabuntur 1 '. r See the whole epitaph in the Appendix. T/jowflsEarl of Elgin died in 1663; the countess in 1654. 508 WREST. In the church are the brasses of Richard Faldo and his family, inlaid on a tomb of shell-marble. After a short ride, I reached the large house of Wrest, seated in a low and wet park, crossed with formal rows of trees. The pleasure-grounds have, since their first creation, been corrected by Brown : his hand appears particularly in a noble serpentine river. Several parts are graced with obelisks, pavilions, and other buildings, the taste of the age before. From his melon-ground the peasant slave Had rudely rush'd, and levelled Merlin's cave. In the quarters of the wilderness are to be seen two cenotaphs, for the late duke and dutchess, erected by the duke himself: and, if }'ou gain a steep ascent, from the hill-house is a most ex- tensive view of the country. The front is plain and extensive. Within, is a great court. This place is the property of the Earl of Hardwicke*; in right of his Lady Jemima, marchioness Grey, daughter to Jb/mEarl of Breadalbane, by Amabel, daughter to Henry Grey, thirteenth Earl and first Duke of Kent of the name. That illustrious % Philip Earl of Hardwicke, died in 1790, when Wrest came into the possession of his eldest daughter, the Baroness Lucas. Ed. WREST. 509 family had been possessed of the manor of Wrest \ and other estates in this county, at lest from the time of Roger de Grey, who died owner of it in the year 1353. The portraits and their history would take up a volume. I must, therefore, be excused for giving a more brief account 'than their merits might de- mand. In the hall is a full length of the unfortunate Portraits. Mary Queen of Scots, cet. reg. 38, 1580, in black, MaryQueew with her hand on a table: a copy from one at OF i5C0TS * Hampton Court. Another of her grandmother, Margaret, Margaret daughter of Henry VII. and Queen of James IV. Scotland. of Scotland. Another full-length, in black hair, naked neck, with a marmoset in her hands. Three very fine portraits of James I. in his James I. robes. Anneoi Denmark, in white; dressed in a Anne of hoop, with a feather fan, and neck exposed. Their son Henry, in rich armour, boots, and with a Henry truncheon. His military turn appears in the dress Prince * of most of his portraits. Had he lived, England might probably have transferred the miseries of war to the neighboring kingdom. His mother had inspired him with ambitious notions, and filled his head with the thoughts of the conquest of France. She fancied him like Henry V. and expected him 510 WREST. to prove as victorious. I am sorry to retract the character of this lady, but I fear that my former was taken from a parasite of the court t . She was turbulent, restless, and aspiring to government, incapable of the management of affairs, yet always intriguing after power. This her wiser husband denied her u , and of course incurred her hatred. Every engine was then employed to hurt his pri- vate ease : she affected amours, of which she never was guilty, and permitted familiarities, which her pride would probably have never con- descended to. James was armed with indifference. At length, in 1619, he saw her descend to the grave; but not with the resignation of a good Christian monarch, as might have been expected from her conduct. Lord Lord Somers, in a long wig and his chancel- SOMERS. -, \ , .... lor s robes, sitting. A person unknown ; a full length, in a black cloak laced with gold, laced bonnet, triple gold chain. Cornaro Over the chimney is a copy of the Cornaro Family ' family. Philip In the eating-room is a full-length of Philip Baron Wh AR TON". 1 Wilson. u See Carte, iii. 74G. This historian is far from being sin- gular in this account. WREST. 511 Baron of Wharton, with long hair, breast-plat^ and truncheon, and boots; at, 26, 1639. This nobleman took part with the parlement in the civil wars. Mr. Granger* relates on the authority of Walker, that at the battle of Edgehillhe hid himself in a saw-pit : a fact incredible, as he gave a very clear account of the battle, in a long speech in Guildhall 7 . He survived long, and in 1677 was sent to the Tower for doubting the legality of one of Charles s parlements, after a recess of fifteen months 2 . Lady Rich, in black. This is, I suspect, the Lady Rich lady who was married by Laud to Charles Blount , Earl of Devonshire, during the life of her first husband, Robert Lord Rich, afterwards Earl of Warwick. She was daughter to Walter Devereux Earl of Essex, and had been addressed by Blount while he was a younger brother, and she favored his passion. Her friends broke off the match, and married her to a very disagreeable suitor, her first lord. When Blount, after some years' absence in the Irish wars, returned laden with glory, and, by the death of his elder brother, honored with the title of Mountjoy, he commenced a criminal con- nection with his former mistress. She was fully x Biog. Hist. ii. 142. f Drake, xi. 474-. T Macphcrson, i. 216. 512 WREST. and legally divorced from Lord Rich. Blount, now Earl of Devonshire, determined to make her reparation, and persuaded Mr. Laud, then his chaplain, to marry them. In those days this was looked on as so high a crime, that King James was for several years extremely averse to the bestow- ing any perferment on him: and Laud himself had such a sense of his fault, as to keep an annual fast on the unlucky day ever after. These two pic- tures were painted by Vandyck, and formed a part of the Wharton collection; they were bought by Sir Robert JValpole, and sold after his death. Earls Lord chancellor Hardzvicke, in his robes, Hardwicke. by Hoare : a character superior to my pen. His son, the present Earl, by Gainsborough. Henry Earl On the stair-case is Henry seventh Earl of of Kent. Kent, a full length, in black. Elizabeth, daughter of Gilbert Earl of Shrewsbury, is painted in the same color, with a ruff, flaxen frizzled hair, and a great black egret. He died in 1639 ; she in 1651. Anthony His successor Anthony, grandson of Anthony, Kent. third son of George Earl of Kent, is drawn in black, with his hand on a book : a meagre person- age. He was surprised with the peerage at his parsonage of Burbach, in the county of Leicester, where he lived in hospitality, and the full dis- charge of that great character, a good parish- WREST. priest. He was summoned to parlement, but pre- ferred the duty to which he was first called*; never would forsake his flock, and was buried among them in 1643. H i s wife, Magdalene Purefoy, a half-length, is represented sitting, with a book in her hand, and a long motherly black peaked coif on her head. Amabella, surnamed, from her super-eminent Amabella \ Countess of virtues, The good Countess of Kent, is drawn in Kent, black and ermine, full curled hair, and a kerchief over her neck ; at. 60, 1 675 : by Lely. She was second wife to Henry, son and successor to the parson of Burbach, and daughter to Sir Anthony Ben, of Surrey, Her epitaph speaks her deserts b . Her husband is in his robes, with a small beard and whiskers, painted by Closterman ; cet. 53, 1643. He died in 1651. Their son, Anthony Earl of Kent, and his lady, Mary, daughter and sole heir to John Lord Lucas; both in their robes, by Lely. The date to his por- trait is 1681, at. 36. He died in August 1702; she, in November, in the same year. The old dining-room is most curiously furnish- ed : mock pilasters finished with stripes of velvet, and worked silk festoons between each. This is said to have been done for the reception of Anne of Denmark. a Fuller's Worthies, 299. h See appendix, 2 L WREST. In this apartment is the portrait of that eminent statesman and honest man Sir William Temple : a copy from one by Lely ; yet a most beautiful pic- ture. He is placed sitting, and looking towards you, in a red vest ; his hair long, black, and flow- ing ; his whiskers small. In his hand is the triple alliance : the greatest act of his patriotic life ; but soon frustrated by the profligate ministry of the time. In the chapel-closet is the glory of the name c , LA Gray ANE k a( ty Janz Gray, the sweet accomplished victim to the wickedness of her father-in-law, and the folly of her father. Her person was rather plain ; but that was amply recompensed by her intellec- tual charms. She was mistress of the Greek and Latin tongues ; versed in Hebrew, Chaldee, Ara- bic, French, and Italian ; skilled in music ; and excellent at her needle. I have seen in the library at Zurich several of her letters, written in a most beautiful hand, to Bullinger, on the subject of re- ligion ; and a toilet, worked with her own hand, is preserved there with great reverence. She fell at the age of seventeen. Could there be wanting any proof of her amazing fortitude, it was supplied near her last moments with the most invincible one : — As she was passing to the scaffold (whether c This interesting portrait ha3 been removed to the library. Ed. WREST. by accident, or whether by the most cruel inten- tion) she met the headless body of her beloved husband. A line in Greek, to the following pur- pose, was her consolation : " That if his lifeless " body should give testimony against her before in the church of St. Pauls', London, in 1363; be- fore which he had been rector of St. Andrews, Holborn. In 1379? Richard II. made him custos of the hospital of Farle, in Bedfordshire p . He died in 1392, and was buried here, in pursuance p See Bromfield's Collect, article Lirox. 528 LUTON CHURCH. of his will. By the garter, in which one of the coats of arms is included, it is evident that the tomb was erected by the founder of the chapel. This also directs us to the origin of Lord JVenlock. It is most likely that his father was related to this prebendary, and that he left his possessions to him ; and that Lord JVenlock, in the height of his prosperity, paid this ostentatious compliment to the memory of his kinsman. In the middle is an altar-tomb of shell-marble, with the brass plate of a woman. In the wall, beneath two arches, are the tombs, I think, of the Rotherhams, owners of this chape} after the JVentocks. On one had been an inscrip- tion to a Rotherhaniy who had married Catherine, daughter of a Lord Grey ; and was himself nephew to Scot, alias Rotherham, archbishop of York. The following odd medley of English and La- tin, merits transcribing. It is on the tomb of John Ackworth* Esquire, who died in 1513 ; and is represented here with his two wives, eight sons, and nine daughters. O man, who eer thow be, timor mortis shulde trouble the y For when thow beest wenyst, Veniet te Mors superare. And so grave grevys Ergo mortem memorare Jesu mercy : Lady helpe : Jesu mercy. LUTON CHURCH. Near the altar is a large mutilated figure in the wall, in a priestly habit, with a pastoral staff, or a crosier, lying on him. He was an abbot, and probably of St. Albans, for the abbots had a seat near this town r . The chancel appears to have been rebuilt by abbot JVhethamsted ; whose motto, Val les ha bun da bunt val les, is to be seen on the walls. Part of this place was said to have been be- stowed by king Offa on the monks of St. Albans. Gilbert de Clare Earl of Gloucester, had the pa- tronage of the church ; which they bought from him in 1166, for eighty marks, and kept in their own hands, till they were compelled to appoint a vicar. The purchase was in the time of abbot Robert \ It appears that this place, Houghton, and Potesgrave, had been bestowed on the mo- nastery, for the support of the kitchen for the guests. This is seen in the charter of confirma- tion, made by King John, in the first year of his reign \ The church is dedicated to St. Mary, and is a vicarage in the gift of the Earl of Bute. Luton Ho, the seat of that " nobleman, lies near Luton Ho. r Jutland Itin. vi. 63. 9 Chauncy, 438. 1 Dugdale Mon. i. 17P. Henry I. had confirmed the same. In his charter the names are mis-spelt. See Chauncy, 434. M John Earl of Bute, who died in r7<>2. En. ' S M 53© LUTON HO. the London road; about three miles from the town. I lament my inability to record his taste and magnificence ; but alas ! the useful talent x , Principibus placuisse viris, has been unfortunately denied to me. I must therefore relate the antient story of the favored spot. In the twentieth of Edward I. it was possessed by Robert y , who took the addition of de Hoo, from the place ; which sig- nifies a high situation. His grandson, Thomas, was created Lord Hoo and Hastings, by Henri/ VI. in 1447. He, if no mistake is made in the account, settled two parts of the tithes on the x The editor, not having had an opportunity of visiting Luton Ho, takes the liberty of borrowing the following ac- count of it from Mr. Lysons's Magna Britannia. " The principal rooms, particularly the library, which is " one hundred and forty-six feet in length, the drawing-room, " and the saloon are on a magnificent scale. The collection " of pictures is very large and valuable, chiefly of the Italian " and Flemish schools. Among the portraits are, Margaret " Queen of Scots, with her second husband Archibald Douglas ; " the first Earl of Pembroke; the Earl of Strafford; General " Ireton; Mr. Pym; Mrs. Lane, who assisted Charles II. on " his escape after the battle of Worcester; Lord Chancellor " Jefferys ; Ben Jonson ; Dr. Samuel Johnson, Dr. Armstrong, '« and the late Earl of Bute, by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The " chapel is fitted up with very rich gothic carving in wood, " said to have been originally executeol for Sir Thojnas Pope " at Tettenhanger in 1548, but brought to Luton by Sir Rabat « Napier." Ed. y Chauncy, 352. SOMMERIS. abbey of St. Albans, for the use of strangers. Lord Hoo left only daughters. From one, who married Sir Geofry Bullen, was descended Queen Elizabeth. I do not discover the time in which the tower in Luton Park was built. It is an an- tient structure, of flint and Tottenhoe stone inter- mixed. About two miles to the north-east of Luton Sommerjs, Hoo, is the village of Sommeris, where, as Leland informs us, Lord JVenlock had begun sumptuously a house, but never finished it : that the gatehouse of brick was very fair and large. The gateway and part of a tower are yet to be seen. In the last are fourteen or fifteen brick steps ; and there was originally a hole, or rather pipe, which con- veyed the lowest whisper from bottom to top. Part of this, and of the other building, was pulled down by Sir John Napier, about forty years ago. Leland also acquaints us, that these estates of Lord JVenlock passed, by marriage of an heir general 35 of his, to a relation of Thomas Scot, alias Kother* ham, archbishop of York from 1480 to 1500 : a prelate remarkable for nepotism, and the prefer- ment of his kindred by marriage, and other ways a . This family assumed the name of Rotherham, and flourished here for some centuries. John was sheriff of the county in the seventeenth of Edzvard 2 Leland, vi. 63. a Goodwin Prats. Angl. 70. 2 M 2 HATFIELD, fV. and others, in after-times, enjoyed the same honor \ Luton Hoe and this place became the property of the Napiers ; from them they passed to Mr. Hearn, who sold them to the Earl of Bute. From Luton I pursued my journey southward : entered HERTFORDSHIRE, and near the twenty-sixth mile-stone, passed through the village of Hardin, or Harpedon, and by its chapel, dependent on TVhethamsted. This manor belonged, in 1292, to Robert Hoo, and continued in his line till the death of Thomas Lord Hoo and Hastings, about the latter end of the reign of Henry VI. ; when it devolved to his three daughters c . The manor was sold soon after their marriages to Matthew Cressi/, in the time of Ed- ward IV. It continued in his line till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, when, by the marriage of a female descendant, it fell to the Bardolfs. Itfch- ard Bardolf sold it to Sir John Witherong, created baronet in 1 662 ; and it is now possessed by John Bennet, Esquire. b Fuller s British Wort fries, 123, 124. c Channel/, 525. HATFIELD. 533 About four mites from this village, passed through St. Peter s street, in St. Albans, and turning towards the east, after a ride of about five miles, reach the small town of Hatfield, prettily Hatfield. seated on a gentle ascent. Its Sa.von name was Haethfeld, from its situation on a heath. The important synod, held during the heptarchy, at Synod. the instance of Theodora, consecrated archbishop of Canterbury in 668, in which the most interest- ing tenets of Christianity were declared and con- firmed d , is generally supposed to have been held at a place of the same name in Yorkshire. Hat- field was part of the revenues of the Saxon princes, till it was bestowed by Edgar on the monastery of Ely. At the time of the Conquest, it was found to be in the possession of that great house; in which it continued, till that abbey was converted into a bishopric, in the reign of Henry I. It then became one of the residences of the prelates ; for they had not fewer than ten palaces belonging to the see e ; and from that circumstance was called Bishop's Hatfield, to distinguish it from other places of the same name. It probably fell into decay during the long wars between the houses of York and Lancaster ; for I find it was rebuilt and d Beda, lib. iv. c. 17. p. 160. Beda had been an eleve of this venerable archbishop. * Bentham's Ely, 1 63. HATFIELD. ornamented by Bishop Morton, in the reign of Henry VII f . Among the shameful alienations made from the bishopric of Ely, by Queen Eliza- beth (by virtue of the imprudent statute, which gave her power of exchanges over all) must be included the manor of Hatfield. The palace had at times been an occasional royal residence, not- withstanding it was the property of the church. William, second son of Edward III. was born herein 1335, and was called, from that circum- stance, William of Hatfield. Queen Elizabeth resided here many years before she came to the crown g ; and, on the death of her predecessor, removed from hence, on the 23d of November, to take possession of the throne. This place did not continue long a part of the royal demesne. James I. in the fifth year of his reign, exchanged it for Theobalds, with his minister, Sir Robert Cecil, af- terwards Earl of Salisbury ; who built, on the site of the palace, the magnificent house now standing ; and inclosed two large parks, one for red, the other for fallow deer. At the bottom of the first was a vineyard, in being when Charles I. was conveyed there a prisoner to the army h . f Hentham's Ely, 181. z See the curious account of the practices of the lord ad- miral on her at this place, in 154-8, in Burghlcys State Papers, 99, 100. h Herbert's Memoirs, 30. HATFIELD, S3S The building is of brick, and of vast extent, in House. form of an half H. In the center is an extensive portico of nine arches : over the middlemost rises a lofty tower, on the front of which is the date 161 1, and three ranges of columns of the Tuscan^ Doric , and Composite orders. Between the se- cond are the arms of the family, in stone \ In the chapel is a small antient organ ; a fine Chapel. window of stained glass, in twelve copartments ; and a gallery, on the front of which are painted the twelve apostles. Since the publication of the foregoing sheets, the grounds have been improved with great judg- ment, according to the present taste. The house has undergone a complete repair, consistent with the original style, under the conduct of Mr. Dono- well the architect* The pictures have been re- paired by Mr. Tomkins, and disposed from the former dispersed state into the several apartments ; and the splendor of this noble family is reviving with all the magnificence of the Cecils. The roof of the hall is supported from the sides Hall. with lions, each holding a shield of family arms ; the gallery by grotesque figures : a bad taste not having been quite extinct at the period in which this house was built. On the cieling are copart- ' Among Kip's Views is one of this house, engraven from a drawing by Thomas Sadler, Esquire. o3(i HATFIELD. ments with profiles of the Cccsars. Over the fire place is a painting of a great clumsy grey horse, given by Queen Elizabeth to Sir Robert Cecil ; a sign that our breed was at that time far from ex- cellent. On the posts of the grand stair-case are figures of lions, and naked boys with musical instru- ments. Dudley In the breakfast room is a portrait of Robert J-T ^ OF Leicester. Dudley Earl of Leicester, the unmerited favorite of Queen Elizabeth. His hair and beard are re- presented grey, his gown black, his vest white and gold ; on his head a bonnet, and by him his white rod as steward of the queen's household. Sir Simon Sir Simon Bennet of Bechampton, in the county Benivet. Bucks, knight. His dress is that of a magi- strate in a robe furred, and ornamented with a gold chain : he has on a ruff, and high hat. He died in 1631 ; was uncle to Simon Betinet, who was his heir, and whose daughter Frances married James, fourth Earl of Salisbury. The date on this picture is aet. 70. 161 1. His Lady. His lady in a great ruff, red dress furred; gold chain, jewels on her breast, and with a feathered fan set in silver. Francis de A head of Francis de Coligni, Lord of Dande- oligni. ^ Short hair and short divided beard, with gilt armour. He was youngest son of the first Gas- HATFIELD. 537 par de Coligni, Marshal of Finance, by Louise de Montmorenci. He was brother to the famous admiral who perished in the massacre of Paris. He served during the wars of Italy and Pi- cardie in the reign of Henry II. and was made colonel-general of the infantry in 1555. By his intercourse with the protestants in Germany he adopted their opinions. He acted under his brother when besieged at St. Quintin ; and after- wards assisted at the taking of Calais. In 1558, he was closely questioned by the king respecting his religion, but having too high a spirit to conceal his sentiments, he was committed to prison : on his release he joined the Huguenots, and died in 1569, aged 48) not without suspicion of being poisoned ; leaving behind the character of a great soldier, of. great genius, activity and enterprize. The subtle Gondamar appears here a three Gondamar. quarters piece. A thin figure with a spirited look ; dressed in black, with a high hat. The most ver- satile man of his time ; out-drank a king of Den- mark ; was gallant among the ladies ; a speaker of false Latin to King James, that the princely pedagogue might have the pleasure of correcting him ; and finally, was hardy enough to assure the Earl of Bristol, our ambassador at Madrid, that he was an Englishman in his heart ; adroitly de- ceived all, and most effectually made our monarch his dupe. He died in 1625 at Boinmel in Quel- HATFIELD. derland ; sent, as was supposed, to propose the surrender of the Palatinate, and conciliate mat- ters ; and bring on a peace between his master and our pacific court. Ambrose Ambrose Dudley Earl of Warzvick, eldest sur- Dudley. viving son of Dudley Duke of Northumberland. Condemned with his father, but restored in blood : took to a military life ; was appointed by Queen Elizabeth Master of the Ordnance, Earl of War- wick, and elected Knight of the Garter ; and had the more substantial favor of a grant of the castle, manor, and borough of Warwick, forfeited by his father. He died in the year 1589, and lies be- neath an elegant tomb in Warwick church. Lord Bur. Lord Burleigh and his son Robert, afterwards LEIGH AND • J his Son. Earl of Salisbury, are in one piece, half-lengths ; each with a blue ribbon and white rod. The fa- ther in a bonnet ; the son respectfully bare-headed. This picture must have been drawn after the death of Burleigh, for the son had neither the ribbon or the white rod till long after the death of his father. Here is besides a half-length of the latter, in black, with the George pendent to a chain ; a bonnet and white rod : also a third in his robes with a white beard, and the motto, Car unum, via una, truly ex- pressive of the integrity of his character. Ja que line A portrait of the famous Jaqueline Dutchess Dutchess op ri £ jjainault, only daughter of William Duke of llAINAULT. J O Ilainaulf, in her advanced life : a very ugly old HATFIELD. 539 woman, in black ermine, and a cap worked with lions, alluding to the arms of her country of Hai- nault, which are, or, a lion rampant sable. This lady passed through a variety of adventures : was first married to John of France, Dauphin of Vi- enne, and son of Charks VI. She afterwards espoused John Duke of Brabant, cousin-german to Philip the good Duke of Bur gundy. After living ten months with John, she eloped, and was conveyed into England by Sir Robsart knight, where she married (her husband still alive), the good Humphry Duke of Glocester. She after that raised forces to maintain her dominions for this favoured husband, who was obliged to desert her on the Pope, Martin V. disannulling this adulterous connection. She then gave her hand to Francis Lord of Borselle and Count of Ostrevant, Knight of the Golden Fleece; on which Philip Duke of Burgundy arrested him, and in the end Jaqueline was obliged to ransom him by the cession of her estates to this good duke, her cousin-german. Soon after which she died of grief, in 1436. On the portrait is this inscription ; Vrow Jacobea van Beiren gravana van Holland. Starf. 1433. A portrait of Queen Elizabeth, richly dressed. Queei* Eli- On the table is a great sword, as if she was sitting ZABETH - 540 HATFIELD. ready to confer the honor of knighthood : a spot- ted ermine, with a crown on its head and collar round its neck, is represented running up the arm of her highness. This little beast is an emblem k of chastity, and placed here in compliment to the virgin queen. Margaret The next portrait is on wood, of a princess of CoUNTFiSS , . of Rich- high rank, celebrated for her piety and great au- M0ND ' sterity. The love of her people, or the love of power, might determine the spirited Elizabeth to shun the nuptial bed. Margaret Countess of Richmond, with equal mental purity, did not pique herself (virtuous as she was) on any such romantic ideas. The pious prelate Fisher, to whom she entrusted her conscience, gravely tells us, she ac- cepted her first husband, Edward Earl of Rich- mond, at the instance of St. Nicholas, patron of virgins, who appeared to her in a dream. We are not told at whose recommendation she took Sir Henry Stafford, and Thomas Earl of Derby; for she liked the state matrimonial so well, as afterwards to accept the hands of both. She sig- nalized herself during life by her piety, charity, humility, and chastity. The first appeared in her rigorous attendance on the duties of the church, and her admittance into the fraternity of five reli- gious houses. The second, in her noble founda- k Gwilivis Heraldry, 14. HATFIELD, tions of Christ College, and that of St. Joints in Cambridge, besides a number of other great deeds of charity. The third, in her declaration, that, , " if the princes of Christendom would undertake a crusade, she would chearfully be the laundress to the army :" and then for her chastity ! In her last husband's days she obtained a licence from him to live chaste, and after his death made the marvellous self-denying vow in the presence of Bishop Fisher, the year after her grand climac- teric, in words and form below given 1 ; for this 1 " In the presence of my Lord God Je.su Christ, and his " blessed mother, y e glorious Virgin St. Mary, and of all y e " whole company of heaven, and of y° also my ghostly father. "■ I Margaret of Richmond, with full purpose and good deli- " beration for y e weale of my sinfull saul, with all my hearte " promise from henceforth y e chastyty of my bodye, that is, *' never to use my bodye having actual knowledge of manne M after the common usage in matremony, the w ch thing I had " before purposed in my lord my husband's days, then being " my ghostly father y e byshop of Rochester, Mr. Richard " Fitzjames, and now eft-sence I fully confirm it, as far as in u me lyeth : beseeching my Lord God that he will this poore " wylle accept to y e remedy of my wretched lyfe, and relief " of my sinful soule, and that he will give me his grace to perform the same ; and also for my more meryte, and " quyetness of my soule in doubtful things perteyning to the " same, I avowe to you, my Lord of Rochester, to whom I am, " and have been sense y e first time I see you admitted, ve- " rely determined as to my cheife trusty counsellcur, to owne " my obedience in all things, concerning the weale and pro- " fyte of my soule." 54S HATFIELD. reason she is usually painted in the habit of a nun, and is here represented veiled. Curious ■ I N this room is the very curious picture on Historical Piece, board, representing some of the amusements of the court of Henry VIII., who frequently relaxed his savage disposition in little progresses about the neighborhood of his capital. This appears to have been in the spring of the year 1533; for Halle says m , that " this seasone the kynge kepte his pro- "gresse about London, because of the queue which means on account of Queen Anna Bullens being then pregnant. Accordingly we see Henry, with his royal consort n , in the condition described, at a country wedding, fair, or wake, at some place in Surrey, within sight of the Tower of London. In the back ground is an open room, in a tempo- rary building, with the table spread. At the en- trance appears a man, seemingly Henrys favor- ite, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, inviting them in. There are great numbers of other figures: many of which appear to have been portraits. In one group, is a lady with a gold chain, between two men with white beards. The utmost festivity is exhibited. There are four fidlers, and a number of dancers. Behind the king, is his 'squire, carry- m P. CCXVII. n I think the king and queen are masked. HATFIELD. o4S ing the dagger and buckler ; and near Henry are a boy and a girl. Other figures are a man on foot, with a buck- ler on his back : a yeoman of the guard, in red, with a rose and crown on his breast : a person very much resembling Cranmer, who, at this period, was in high favor, appears with another, walking on each side of a young lady : five figures on horse- back; the first with a hawk on his hand, and a portmanteau before him ; the second, on a buy horse, followed by a lady on horseback ; after her, a cavalier, with another lady behind him. A beautiful painting of a Madonna and the A Madonna. Child by Rubens, concludes the list of pictures in this room. In the drawing-room are heads of that gloomy Philip anb . " . _ to . „. " j j 8 J Mary. pair, Queen Mary and rlnlip 11. A portrait of Charles Gerard, Baron Gerard 5? ERA \^ of Brandon, created Earl of Macclesfield in Maccles- J FIELD. 1679; he died January 7th, 16,94. He is dressed in black, in a sitting attitude, with his head on his breast ; a close coif on his head, a turnover on his neck, and with grey hair and beard. He was a brave and successful commander on the side of Charles in the civil wars ; yet, notwithstanding his zeal for the royal cause, he was one of the persons who thought it his duty to present the Duke of York, in the King's Bench, as a Popish recusant : 544 HATFIELD. in which he thought he did his country equal ser- vice, as when he bled in the field in support of regal authority. It is thus, that sometimes Tories are taken for Whigs, or Whigs for Tories, w hen they censure the deed of their party disgraceful to mo- rality, or adopt a measure urged by the opposite, which they may think essential to the interests of the community. An honest man cannot be a par- tizan. The Due de Guise, called Le Balafre, or the slashed, from a scar on his left cheek, occasioned by a wound he received in the battle of Thierri against the Huguenots. He is dressed in black with a blue ribbon ; his beard peaked. He was a prince of great military talents ; and by his success, the most popular leader of the league ; by his insolence and his turbulent disposition, he became dangerous to the state. He was grown too potent to be taken off by the ordinary means of justice. It was determined, by his king Henry III. that he should be assassinated. No notice from his friends could prevent him from rushing on his fate. The beau- tiful Noirmoutier went to him at Blois for that pur- pose, and passed the last night in his arms. He fell the next day by the poinards of a select party of the guards, on December 23d, 1588, at the age of 38. His brother the cardinal was killed the next day ; and both their bodies reduced to ashes, HATFIELD. 545 least the tragical sight should excite the people, by whom Guise was idolized, to rise into open re- bellion . Jane, the mother of lord treasurer Burleigh, Mother op 7 t . Treasurer and daughter and heir of William Heckington, of Burleigh. Bourn, in the county of Lincoln. She died March 10th 1587, far advanced in years, and was buried at Stamford. She is sitting, dressed in black, with a stick in her hand, and represented blind and very decrepid. This portrait has hitherto been mistaken for the wife of the treasurer p . As a contrast, in the same room, is a head by Lelyy of the profligate, rapacious Dutchess of DuTCHESSOF . Cleveland. Cleveland, the well known mistress of Charles II. To stamp the utmost infamy on her, no more need be added, than that she contributed to the ruin of the virtuous Clarendon, who, with a generous pride, scorning to stoop to so worthless a character, incurred her insatiable revenge. A beautiful picture, hvKneller, of a dowager A Countess r ... . ofSalis- countess of Salisbury, sitting in her weeds in an bury. easy attitude, pensive, with her arms across. This lady was Frances, daughter to Simon Bennet, esq. and relict to James fourth Earl of Salisbury. She died in 1713. ° See in Davila, book ix a full and curious account of the whole transaction. p This mistake was corrected by T. C. Brooke, Esquire. 2 N 546 HATFIELD. A most charming picture, by Vandyck, of Al- Earl of Northum- vernon Earl of Northumberland, of Ann, his first BERLAND. wife, daughter of William second Earl of Salisbury, and of one of their daughters, a child in white. Both Earl and Countess are in black : he standing, lady sitting. His abilities as a seaman are well known. He took the side of liberty at the beginning of the civil wars, but soon grew weary of counsels which he foresaw tended to the sub- version of the state. After the unsuccessful treaty of ILvbridge, in which he acted as first commissioner for the parlement, he had the charge of the king's children till they effected their escape. After the murder of the king, he retired to Petworth, till the Restoration, which he was active in promoting; he received several honorary acknowledgements, when he returned again into retirement, and died in 1668, aged 66. Lord Cran- A lord Cranburn, in yellow hair, dressed in BURN * black : a fine three quarters piece. Catherine Catherine, daughter of the first Earl of Salis- Cumber- bury, and wife to Henry Earl of Cumberland; land. jjgj^ f u jj k a j^ a k erc ki e f over ner nec j c . dressed in black, with coloured ribbons. L 0RD Lord Burleigh, by Zucchero, a three quarters. Burleigh. jj e j s m y g ro b eSj a bonnet, and has a white beard. HATFIELD. 547 A full-length on board, of Mary Queen of Queen of Scots. Scots, in a rich close cap, a long black mantle edged with white, reaching to the ground, and greatly distended, body black, sleeves striped, a small gold crucifix, a cross and rosary ; beads of gold richly wrought, and set in rubies. The in- scription, Maria D. G. Scotiae piissima regina Franciae dotaria. Anno aetatis regnique 36. Anglicse captivitatis JO. S. H. 1573. This very much resembles one I have seen in Scot- land ; the inscriptions the same, only the dates on the latter are 36 and 1578, which is right, for she was born in 1.542. Her cruel rival, Queen Elizabeth, by Zucchero. ~ Q rjEEN 7 7 J JlLIZABETH. A portrait extremely worth notice ; not only be- cause it is the handsomest we have seen of her, but as it points out her turn to allegory and apt devices. Her gown is close bodied ; on her head is a coronet and rich egret, and a vast distended gauze veil : her face is young, her hair yellow, fall- ing in two long tresses ; on her neck, a pearl neck- lace: on her arms bracelets. The lining of her robe is worked with eyes and ears, and on her sleeve a serpent is embroidered with pearls and rubies, holding a great ruby in its mouth : all to imply vigilance and wisdom. In one hand is a 2 n 2 S48 HATFIELD. rainbow, with the flattering motto. Non sine sole THIS. Robert Robert, first Earl of Salisbury, in his robes, FIRST . Earl of with his wand as Lord High Treasurer : short grey Salisbury. , . hair. Henry vih. Henry VIII. painted thinner than I ever saw, with a hooked nose; in a bonnet and feather, rich jacket, black cloak furred : the George pendent from a rich chain; his hand on his sword. A three quarters piece. William William, second Earl of Salisbury, in black, second Earl . . of Salis- with long hair, a star on his cloak, and a dog by £URY * him. He was captain of the band of gentlemen pensioners to Charles L privy-counsellor and ambassador extraordinary to the court of France. He was one of those characters who preferred his own safety, to all other considerations. He had been in two reigns so supple a courtier, as to over- act every thing he was required to do ; no stretch of power was ever proposed, which he did not ad- vance and execute with the utmost tyranny ; but on the first appearance of danger he deserted his royal master, fled to the parlement, and subscribed an engagement to be true to his new party, to whom he passively adhered : and on the usurpa- tion, condescended to be a member in Crom- well's parlement. He ended his inglorious life in 1668, aged 78. This portrait and that of his sou, HATFIELD. Charles, Viscount Cranbourn, who died in his fa- ther's life-time, are both by Lelg q . Henry VI. onboard, in a close black cap; Henry vi. blue body, black sleeves ermine^ rich chain : a meagre, meek, devout figure with his hands clasped. There is another picture of this prince at Kensington, from which Vertue made a print. William Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke, in William a black dress, sitting : has a blue ribbon and pur- TH q£ p^, RL pie hose. broke. Richard III. represented with three rings ; Richard nr. one of which he is taking off or putting on his little finger. His countenance discredits the re- lation of his having been a handsome man. JAMES I. James i. Henry VIII. in a gold vest, by Mabuse. Henry \uu Fair Rosamond, and her bowl: fictitious as to f air r sa- the painting. M0ND - The head of Laura, in a furred robe with red Laura. sleeves, reading. La Belle Lanre, the celebrated object of love with the virtuous and elegant Petrarch, for the space of twenty one years before, and twenty six after her death ; for he first saw her on April 6th 1 327. She devoted herself to religion, and persuaded him to do the same. Laura died in ' Of the latter, there is a fine whole length, in a Vandyck dress, at Petworth : his sister Anne married Algernon Percy, Earl of Nor it lumber land, the owner thereof. $50 HATFIELD. the convent of the Cordeliers, in Avignon, April 6th, 1348 : he in 1374, in Italy, his native coun- try, to which he had retired, after the loss of the object of his affection. Her age was probably about 40, his 70; both of them became the sub- ject of the finest pens for centuries after their death. Francis I. celebrates her memory in a beautiful epitaph. The tender and amorous Earl of Surrey made them the subjects of two sonnets : he modestly yields the palm to Petrarch, but de- nies the superiority of beauty in Laura, in pre- ference to his mistress, the fair Geraldine. The inscription on this picture is, Laura fui ; viridem Raphael fecit, atque Petrarcha. Elizabeth Elizabeth of York, in a rich crimson gold and ermine dress, with a red rose in her hand. She was eldest daughter to Edzvard IV. born at Westminster, February 11th, 1466", promised in marriage to the Dauphin, son of Lewis IX. wooed by Richard III. red with the murder of her two innocent brothers, and, at length, married to that ungracious prince Henry VII. Happy only by that alliance, in giving peace to this kingdom, long visited with the scourge of civil war. She died on her birth day in 1502, and was interred with great pomp in Westminster abbey. HATFIELD. 551 In the room called my Lord's apartment, is the head of a Due de Guise, with short brown hair Charles 1)UC DE and turnover, pale brown and red jacket; black Guise. cloak ; a narrow blue ribbon. I believe him to have been Chaises, son of Le Balafre. After the death of his father, he was imprisoned in the castle of Tours, from which he escaped, and made se- veral fruitless attempts to resist the power of Henry IV. Struck with the virtues of that great prince, he returned, by the mediation of Sully, to his allegiance, and served the king with distinguish- ed zeal, courage, and success. He died in the year 1640, aged 69 - Here is the head of another Due de Guise. A Henry Due de Guise. thin, pale, long-faced figure, in a black dress ; a bonnet with jewels, and a blue ribbon. Perhaps another Henry, second son to the former, who succeeded to the title r . A head of the enthusiastic assassin Ravaillac, Ravaillac. is among these illustrious personages. His dress is black ; on his head is a bonnet ; his face is deformed by several stains of black, and other colours. A head of our great physician, doctor Syden- Doctor Sydenham. r The portraits of foreigners, in the houses of our antient nobility, are well worth notice, as they are generally originals, presented on embassies and other negotiations. I am told the French give any money for them when sold. 552 HATFIELD. ham, as noted for his charity and liberality, as his extraordinary skill in his profession. Among his other great merits, was his introducing the cool regi-- men in the small pox. Thousands have fallen a sacrifice to the neglect of it by his successors ' 5 , till in our days it has been happily revived, to the pre^ servation of thousands. First Earl Thomas, eldest son of the treasurer Burleigh, created Earl of Exeter by James I. in . 1604. He was a nobleman of great merit, and shone equally in the field and in the tilt yard ; distinguished him- self in the wars of the Low Countries, and with his brother, Sir Robert, was a volunteer on board the fleet which destroyed the Spanish armada. His pious foundations were also very considerable. He died in February 1622, aged 80. His dress is a black cloak furred ; a bonnet. In his hand is a glove. He has a white rod, and by his white beard, (which is divided) appears to have been advanced in life, at the time he was painted. I do not know his pretensions to the wand. * I had the small pox when I was a child, it was in the heat of summer. I lay in a red bed in a room exposed to the western sun ; and was half smothered with bed cloaths. My fever increased by a great fire, and by the exclusion of all air, m -i.sorder, which was an excellent kind, had a good chance of becoming putrid. I recollect very well, that the very air about me was infected, and I abhorred my own at- mosphere. HATFIELD. 553 Catherine Cornaro Queen of Cyprus. I have Catherine . . r . CORNAKO. given an account of this illustrious lemale m p. 502. James, the late and sixth Earl of Salisbury, a Late Earl head in crayons. He is in his robes, with mil grey bury. wig. A very fine Madonna, after Corregio : and another, by Guido. An antique of Alexanders head. On the back An antique. of the helmet, is the face of Socrates. This was found in the park. It is set, and has round it a Saxon inscription. Possibly it might have been converted into an amulet, and used as such by an ignorant and superstitious people. In one of the apartments is a statue, in brass, of James I. In the coffee-room is a painting of Hatfield, be- fore it underwent any alteration. In King James's dining-room, is a full-length of that lunatic hero, Charles XII. in his blue cloaths Charles xn. and boots. His illustrious rival, Peter the Great ; a full- P £ ™r the Great. length, in armour, with a rich robe over it ; at a distance a view of a fleet. Lady Sondes in grey, sitting; by old Stone. Lady She was wife of Sir Gregory Sondes, of Leescourt, 0NDES * in the county of Kent, afterwards created Earl of Fever sham. Present Earl of Salisbury in his robes, by p R ESENT Earl of Salisbury. 554 HATFIELD. Romney, and his lady in yellow by Reynolds, the latter is engraved. Charles i. A very good portrait of Charles I. in a grey jacket and boots, with the blue ribbon tied under his arm, instead of being pendent, a mode begun in his reign. This is said to have been the dress in which he set out for Spain, on his romantic court- ship. Margaret Margaret Countess of Salisbury, wife to Salisbury F James the third Earl. A half-length in blue, with flowers in her hand ; by Lely. Mary Queen of Scots, full-length. Count Christopher de Harlay, count Beaumont, Beaumont. ambassador from Henry IV. to Queen Elizabeth in her last year, and the first of her successor. He was a nobleman of great personal merit, and an able negotiator. He is painted as a tall thin man, in a dark jacket with white sleeves, and a great ruff, cet. 34, 1605, the year in which he concluded his embassy. He died governor of Orleans in 1615. Gallery. The gallery is a hundred and sixty-two feet long, with two great wooden chimney pieces on the sides, and the same at each end. Here is pre- served a small and very antient organ. Library. The library is fifty eight feet and a half by twenty six. Over a vast marble chimney-piece is HATFIELD. 555 a portrait, in mosaic, of the first Earl of Salisbury, with grey hair, cet. 48. The room is hung with the original gilt leather. In the winter dining-room, (for this vast house hath both its winter and summer apartments), is a three quarters piece of Thomas, sixth Earl of Earl of Thanet, in his robes, and a great full-bottom black wig ; and another portrait, by Lely, of his lady, in His Lady. blue with a red mantle, and dark hair. They were connected to this family by the marriage of their daughter Anne with James, fifth Earl of Salis- bury. James third Earl of Salisbury, a full-length, in James third his robes of the garter ; a full-bottom wig, with hat Salisbury. and feather on a table. He was called to the council board in 1 679, elected knight of the garter in 1680 ; measures merely of policy to deceive the people into a notion of a change of measures. Other popular leaders received marks of favor from the court, but to no sort of effect, for the earl not only voted for the exclusion bill, but even seconded the violent Shaftesbury s motion for the king's divorcing his queen, and taking another from a protestant house. He died in 1683. His lady Margaret Manners, daughter of Hr S Lady. John Earl of But land ; a full-length, in brown, with a blue mantle. A beautiful picture of a Lady Latimer, in t Lady 1 J Latimer. 556 HATFIELD. brown, with a blue mantle : with her hands clasped, reading; by Lely. She was daughter and co- heiress of Simon Be?met, of Bechampton co. Bucks, esquire ; wife of Edward Osborne, Lord Latimer, eldest son of Thomas, Earl of Danby, and sister of Frances, wife of James, fourth Earl of Salis- bury. Lady A lady in a loose dress and green mantle: a Ranllagh. ... . . three-quarters piece, sitting. This I believe to be the beautiful Lady Ranelagh, daughter of James, third Earl of Salisbury, and second wife to Richard Jones, Earl of Ranelagh. She was first married to the elder brother of the last Lord Stawel, who piqued himself on having the finest woman, horse, and house in England. He had begun the last, but died before it was half finished. Lady Ranelagh is among the beauties at Hampton Court. In the decline of her beauty, she never would be seen but by candle light. Frobenius. I missed in this visit, a picture very worthy of preservation, a head of John Frobenius, by Hol- bein. He is dressed in a black gown, lined with fur. Frobenius was a native of Franconia ; but • settled at Basil in Switzerland, of which city he became a citizen. He was a man of considerable learning, and the finest printer of his time. Eras- mus resided a long time with him, attracted by his personal merit and his admirable skill in his HATFIELD CHURCH. 557 profession ; for to him we are indebted for the most beautiful edition of the works of his illustrious friend. Frobenius died in 1527, and was honored by the same hand with two epitaphs, one in Greek, the other in Latin. Neither did I find the picture inscribed Frederic P. la gra, de Dieu comte Palatyn de Ryk. Small, and in an ermined cap, in his hands two covered dishes, with a napkin over them. I be- lieve this prince to have been Frederic XV. father of the unfortunate palatine, king of Bohemia. I forgot to mention in their places, in the n Other r 7 Painting' first rooms ; a holy family, by Leonardi di Vinci ; a naked child lying at full length, contemplating a scull ; and a Jupiter and Leda ; all by the same great master; also a good painting of a young woman, with a melancholy look, sitting, and leaning on one hand, behind her is an old woman with a letter. A flight into Egypt, very good ; and another painting, both by Bassan. The church of Hatfield is dedicated to St. Church. Ethelreda, the virgin wife; first, of Tonbert, prince of the South Girvii, and afterwards of prince Egfrid, son of Oswy, king of Northumber- land, as I might prove by several credible wit- nesses \ 1 Bentham's hist. Ely, 49, to whom I refer for the evidences. HATFIELD CHURCH. In the Salisbury chancel, built by the first earl, is the monument of the great founder, who is re- presented in white marble, in his robes, recum- bent on a black slab, beautifully executed. This is supported at each corner by a cardinal virtue, with the attributes of each, poorly done. Beneath is a skeleton, in white marble, lying on a mat of the same colored marble, admirably counterfeited. . A strange figure, sprawling on one side with a great bird, naked arms, and well-cut drapery, in stone, commemorates William Gurle, cur war do- rum et libaconum. He died April 16th 1617, cet. 78. A mural monument of Sir John Brocket, of Bracket Hall, in this parish, who died in 1598. By the death of Sir James Brocket, this antient and respectable family became extinct in the male line. Here is a large monument with two ladies one over the other, lying on their sides. One is dame Elizabeth, wife of the aforesaid Sir John Brocket ; she was widow to Gabriel Fowler, esquire, and daughter of Roger Moore, esquire, by Agnes Hussey, relict of three husbands, Moore, Curson, and chief baron Saunders" 1 . The other figure is of this Agnes, who died in 1588. This memorial was erected by Richard Fowler, son to Lady Brocket, by her first husband. u An extraordinary person, see Granger III. 367 octavo. GOBIONS. 559 A monument of Sir James Read, baronet, of Brocket Hall, which descended to him by the marriage of his grandfather Thomas Read, esquire, with Mary, fifth daughter of Sir Thomas Brocket. This is mural, with a bust of him and his wife, who left daughters, coheirs. From hence I continued my journey along the Gobions. great road. Passed by Gobions, in the parish of North Mims, which took its name from the old family of the Gobions, its antient lords, as early as the time of King Stephen*. The Mores afterwards possessed it for some generations. Sir John, the father of the celebrated Sir Thomas More, owned it in the reign of Henry VII. and it became the residence of that illustrious character till the time of his cruel sacrifice ; when the son was stripped of every part of his fortune by the most arbitrary attainders. It reverted again to the family, but the grandson of Sir Thomas, being ruined by the civil wars, sold it to Sir Edxvard Desborevy. It afterwards came by sale to Mr. Pitchford, and to Sir Jeremiah Sambroke. From his sisters it devolved to Mr. Freeman, of Hammels, and was afterwards sold to the present owner, Mr. Hunter. Not far from a place called Potters-bar, (proba- bly from some pottery, such as is still carried on x Salmon's Herts, 46. 5 6o ENFIELD PALACE. at Woodside, about two miles to the north, on the same road) I entered the county of MIDDLESEX : kept along the edge of Enfield Chace y to Hadley ; passed through Cheping Barnet, and, in less than a mile beyond, quitted the great road at Pricklers Hill; again skirted the Chace, descended Winch- more Hill, and concluded the day's journey at En* field, the object of this little digression. New River. The New River, the work of my illustrious countryman Sir Hugh Middleton * (which on the north edge of this parish, for some yards, as till lately at Islington? is conveyed in a trough of wood lined with lead, called The Boarded River, over a brick arch fifteen feet high) was the first object of my attention. I next visited the antient brick house called Enfield Palace, built by Sir Thomas Lovel, knight of the Garter, and privy counsellor to Henry VII; y This chace was inclosed by act of parliament in 1779 ; and of the 8000 acres whereof it consisted, 2584 were appropriated to the use of the Crown, and the residue divided between the four adjoining parishes of Enfield, Edmonton, Hadley, «and South Mims. * See some account of it in my Welsh Tour, vol. ii. p. 29. ed. 1810. vol. ii.p. 152. ENFIELD PALACE. 561 where he died in 1524 a . It is conjectured that Henry VIII. bought it for a nursery for his chil- dren b . Here Edw ard VI. received the first news of his father's death, and his own accession. On the chimney-piece of the great parlour are the arms of England in a Garter, supported by a Lion and a Griffin ; on the sides, the Ptose and Portcullis crowned ; with E. It. beneath. These initials are also on the stucco in front of the house. Queen Elizabeth used sometimes to make this place a visit. Robert Cary Earl of Monmouth- informs us he once waited on her Highness at En- field, where she went to take a dinner, and had toiles set up in the park, to shoo4 at bucks, after she had dined . In the time of the great plague, in 1665, a very flourishing school was kept here by Mr. Uvedale. That gentleman was very fond of gardening, and, among other trees, planted a cedar of Lib anus ; Great which is still in being. The storm of 1703 broke Cedar ' off eight feet from the top. The dimensions of it at present are : a Camden, i. 398. b See the Antiquarian Repertory, ii. 231 ; where a print of this palace is given. It is now divided into several dwellings. c His Memoirs, 2d edit. p. 136. 2 o 562 WALTHAM CROSS. Height 45 feet 9 inches. Girth at top 3 7 Second girth 7 9 Third 10 Fourth 14 6 d Worcester Not far from hence, on the north side of Four- House. tree-hill, stood Worcester House, built by the ac- complished John Tibetot, or Tiptoft, Earl of Wor- cester , who was beheaded in 1470. The manor, which still retains his title, descended to him from his father, Sir John Tiptoft. The house was re- built on higher ground, by Sir Nicholas Raynton, knight, lord mayor of London in 1640, who died in 1 647, and has a splendid monument in Enfield church. The place is now owned by Eliab Bret on , Esquire, who married a co-heiress of the Raynton and IV ilstenholme families. I made a visit from hence to Waltham Abbey, seated in Ess:ex, about three miles from Enfield, Waltham on the west side of the river Lea. I past by Wal- -.ross. fj iam Cross, one of the affectionate memorials of Edward I. towards his beloved queen Eleanor. The cross is in excellent preservation, and richly d See the ingenious account of cedars planted in England, by my respected friend the Reverend Sir John Culhim, bait. Gent. Mag. 1779, p. 138. e Norden's Middlesex, 1 9. WALTHAM CHURCH. 563 adorned with gothic sculpture. This tract is a rich flat of verdant meadows, watered by the Lea, and bounded on each side by gentle risings. The meads belonging to the abbey are distinguished by the name of Halifield, or The holy field. The present church of JValtham is only the nave Church. of the antient structure,which was in the form of a cross, with a central tower ; the latter fell down after the dissolution, and the new tower was built at one end in 1555. Within are six massy pillars ; some carved with spiral, others with zigzag furrows, like those of the nave of Durham cathedral. The arches are round ; above them are two rows of gal- leries, in what is called the Saxon stile. At the east end remains one vast ronnd arch of the tower. The only monuments of any note, are those of the Dennies. That of Sir Edzvard Denny, and Joan his wife, has on it their figures, in a reclined posture; he in armour; in front are the figures of six of their sons and four of their daughters kneeling. Sir Edward was of the privy chamber to Queen Elizabeth ; governor of Kerry and Des- monde, and colonel of some Iri di forces. He died in 1599, aged about fifty-two, and, I hope, merited this eulogy inscribed on the tomb : Learn, curious reader, how you pass; Your once Sir Edward Denny was 2 o 2 564 WALTHAM ABBEY. A courtier of the chamber, A soldier of the field ; Whose tongue could never flatter ; Whose heart could never yealde. The tombs of Earl Harold, founder of the abbey ; of the famous Hugo Nevill, who slew a lion in the Holy Land, and of several others, are now lost, having perished with the fall of the tower on the eastern part of the church, in which they were placed f . Abbey. The abbey stood near the church. Its only remains are a gate and postern, with the arms of England in the time of Henry III ; part of a clois- ter, and an elliptic bridge over the moat. The edifice was pulled down after the dissolution, and the materials applied to building a mansion by Sir Anthony Denny (father of Sir Edward) to whom the place had been granted by Edzvard VI. I lis lady afterwards purchased the reversion in fee of Waltham manor, from the same prince, for be- tween three and four thousand pounds, with seve- ral large privileges in the adjoining forest g . This, and the great estate of the family, passed after- wards to the luxurious Hay Earl of Carlisle, by his marriage with the heiress of Edward Denny Earl of Norwich, grandson of Sir Anthony. The f Weever, 0-U. s Fuller's Hist. Waltham Abbey, 13. WALTHAM ABBEY. fortune was soon dissipated ; and the estate sold by their heirs to Sir Samuel Jones of Northampton- shire, who gave it to the Wakes ; it is at present owned by Sir William Wake, baronet. The abbey was founded in 1062, by Earl Harold, afterwards king of England. It might more properly be stiled a college, having a dean and eleven secular black canons, who were excel- lently provided for; six manors being appropriated to the dean, and one to each canon. A copy of the charter of confirmation by Edward the Con- fessor is preserved by Sir William Dugdale h . After the battle of Hastings, Git ha, the mo- ther of Harold, and Osegod, and J Uric, by their prayers and tears moved the Conqueror to deliver to them the corpse of the Saxon monarch, and of his brethren Girth and Leofwin, to be interred here. Harold's tomb was of rich grey marble, with a cross fleury on it, and supported by four pedestals l . Henry II. in 1 177, changed the foundation into an abbot and regulars, of the order of St. Austin \ The first abbot was Walter de Gaunt, who ob- tained the privileges of the mitre, and of being exempt from episcopal jurisdiction 1 . Robert Fuller was the last abbot, who, with h Monast. it II. 1 Fuller s Waltham, 7. * Tanner, )\9. 1 Willis, i. 191. 566 COPTHALL. seventeen of his religious, resigned the monastery to the king, March 23d, 1540. Their whole num- ber was twenty-four. Their revenue, according to Dugdale, was <£. 900. 4s. 3d. ; to Speed, £. 1079. ISfc. Id. The largest tulip-tree, I believe, in England, stands within the abbey precinct ; being fourteen feet in circumference near the bottom. Copthall. From hence, at a distance, on a rising ground, I saw Copthall, once a villa and park belonging to the abbots. Richard I. bestowed the lands on Richard Fit z- Anchor, to hold them in fee, and hereditarily of the abbey. He fixed himself at this seat. At length the abbot became possessed of it, and retained it till the dissolution. Queen Elizabeth granted it to Sir Thomas Heneage. His daughter, afterwards Countess of JVinchelsea, sold it to the Earl of Middlesex, in the reign of James I. Charles Earl of Dorset sold it, in 1700, to Thomas JVebster, Esquire, created Baronet in 1703 : and he sold it to Edward Cony ers, Esquire, of Walthamstoxv, whose grandson, John, is the present possessor" 1 . m The late Mr. Conyers took down the old house (of which a print may be seen in Farmer s History of Waltham Abbey J and built the present on a higher site, about thirty years ago. The beautiful east window in St. Margaret's church at West^ minster, came originally from the chapel of this old mansion. THEOBALDS. 567 Returning the same way over the Lea, I could not but reflect on the different appearance this tract now makes, to what it did in the days of King Alfred, when it was navigable for ships to e^'oits'* the Thames, and by which the piratical Danish 8 ^°- navy came up quite to Hertford. Our great monarch instantly set about frittering this vast water into various small streams; and, to the amaze- ment of the free-booters, left their fleet on dry land". At present a useful canal passes along the country. Close to Cheshunt stood the magnificent palace Theobalds. of Theobalds, built by lord treasurer Burleigh. When James I. came from Scotland to take pos- session of the English throne, on May 3d, 1603, he was received here by the lords of the privy council, and was most sumptuously entertained by the owner, Sir Robert Cecil, afterwards Earl of Salisbury. James fell in love with the place, ob- tained it from Cecil in exchange for Hatfield, en- larged the park, and inclosed it with a brick wall ten miles in circuit : it was resigned to the king and queen, on the 22d of May 1607. A poetical entertainment was made on the occasion, by Ben Jonson, and suitable scenery invented, in all probability by Inigo Jones . The Genius of n Saxon Chr. 96. Chr. J. Bfomton, 813. Tour in Wales, ii. 142. THEOBALDS. the place is at first very anxious about her lot ; at last is reconciled to it by Mercury and the Fates, and the piece concludes with a most flattering chorus p . James was particularly fond of this palace, and finished his days here in 1625. In 1 65 1 , the greatest part of this magnificent place (so particularly described by Hentzner ) was pulled down, and the plunder given to the soldiers. The small remains (such as the room in which the king died, and a portico with the painting of the genealogical tree of the house of Cecil) were de- molished in 1765, by the present owner, George Prescot, Esquire, who leased out the site to a builder, and erected a handsome house for him- self a mile south of it ; so that its memory is only preserved by the picture in the possession of Earl Poulet, at Hint on St. George ; and the descrip- tion, from Lord Burleigh's own hand-writing, pre- served in Murdens State Papers q . I returned by Enjield, pursued the direct road to London, passed by Tottenham High Cross (so called from a wooden cross formerly placed on a little mount) and in a short time joined my friends in the great metropolis. p Ben Jettison' s Works, v. 226. * Mr. Gough's Br. Topogr. i. 426. APPENDIX. APPENDIX. I. 571 l-H x E « o P % 03 v. ft? 4-1 CD 9 I i - 5 7 w 73 y t« _ o rt H Q co 9 V * C3 -w ? 1 •5 j^-J owe, and all th'appurtenances, remayne & turne unto Mr. Tho\ Bucksall, maister of the colledge of Fodringhey, in the shier of Northampton, to have and to holde all the saide manor of Pentlowe, and all th'appurtenances, to the saide now master of the saide colledge of Fodringhey, and to his successors, maisters of the said colledge, forevermore ; so alwaies that the same maister & his successors fynde for evermore towe preistes dayleye for to singe in our Ladye chappell there, for the soule of me the saide Edmonde, and the soules before rehearsydd ; & also hold and keep my anniuersarye in the maner and forme aboue writtenn, and all other chargis and things, before rehearsed, do ob- serue and fulifill yerely in the saide colledge, in manner and forme as ys aboue specifyed and declared evermore. Also, I charge and requier, and will that none of myne executors, in absense of the other, in the execution of this my testament and laste will, take upon them, nor presume to doe any thinge w th out the agreement, will, and assent of WILL OF SIR EDMUND MULSHO. them all, or the more parte of them ; and when neede be, they to take thadvise of the overseers hereafter named of this my testament, exeept only as for the ccl markes be- quethed and assigned to my saide sister Margareit Lang- ley, and my cosen Richard Whylwell, in forme aforesaid; and also all suche thinges as of right and very nescessitye must be done in Callace and marches of the same ; the which I comytt only, by this my testament, to my saide cosen Rychard WhytweU, in absence of his fellowship co- executors with hym, wholly to execute and parforme. Of this my present testament and last will, I make 8c ordayne myne executors ; that is to saye, the wor u knight William Oldehalle, Mr. Robert Wyatt, clerke, the saide Wilbn, Mulso, Symon Reyham, and Rychard Whyttwell. And I bequethe to the sd. William Oldhall, knight, for his labour in this behalfe to be had, xx L sterlinge, and a gowne of fyne French blacke, or of puewke, and a furre w T ith a pursle of browne martirs for the same. Alsoe, I bequethe to the saide Mr. Robert, Wm. Mulso, & Symon Reyham, for their labore about the premyssys trewly to be done, xxl sterlinge eche of them to have. And to the sd. Rychard Whytt- well, for hys labor,' I bequethe fiftye poundes sterlinge. And I make overseers of y s my present testament and laste will ; that is to say, the mooste reverende Father in God, and my right goode lorde, Thomas archebishop of Canter- bury ; the high, mightie, and my full good lorde, Rycli- arde earle of Warwicke ; Henry Bourchere, knight, lord Bourchire; & th'aforesaid M r . Thomas EboralL And 1 bequethe to the saide most reverende Fader the Areh- bishopp, xxt, sterlinge ; to the saide mightie earle, my double harneys complete, that I had of the gifte of the dolphin of France ; to my saide lorde Bourchir, xx L ster- 598 APPENDIX. VI. linge; and to the saide M r . Tnomas Eborall, x L sterlinge; instantly beseeching & desyreing my saide goode lordes, and requireinge all other of my overseers and executors of this my testament and laste will, to shew and doe for me, in th'execution of all the premisses, as they would I did for them in semblable wise one God his behalfe. Over this, I will that an able preiste of conversation synge and pray for my soule, and the soules of my fader & moder, and of all other soules that I am in deade to praye for at Scala : Cell, in Rome, by the space of one wholle yeare and xxx daies; and, w th in the same tyme, I will that the same preiste shale synge and praye for my soule, and the soules afore rehearsed, a trentall in certeyne principall churches at Rome aforesaide in suche forme, and at suche tymes, as Saincte Gregory did, and as yt is there used and accus- tomed ; for the which seruice so to be done by the saide preiste, I will that my saide executors giue him a compe- tent sallary, in suche forme as they w th hym conveniently may accorde. Also, I will that my saide executors ordeyne and doe prouide a gentill and a well doinge horse, w th an harneys to the same ; and that the saide horse and harneys, and also my chawferyn w th the whyght feather for the saide horse, by my executors, for and in my name? be giuen to righte noble lorde the earle of Marclte, as for my remembrance to his goode lordshipp. Provydid al- wayes, that if any goods moueable, as well here as CaU lace, and in the marches of the same, as in Englonde, and my londes and tenements beinge in my feoffees hands, wheresoevere they byn, will not suffice ne streche casely to the performing and fulfillinge of these my saide bequestes and will (as I trust to God they shalle), than I will and ordeyne by this my testament and laste will, that WILL OF SIR EDMUND MULSHO. 599 my saide executors abridge and make defaleaeon of parte of ail and every of my saide bequestes, wills, and ordinan- ces, in suche forme as they shall eseeme most expedient and behofefull to be done for the health of my soule, except only the ccl markes bequethed and assigned to my saide sister Margarett Langley, and to my cosen Rychard Whyttwell, and also the said xx tic markes to the said Johane at Farm; whiche towe somes I will specially to be performed, and my debtes payed. In wyttness whereof, to this my present testament and laste will I have putte my seale, wrytten and yearenthe day and yeare afore rehearsed. Testamentu Edmundi Mulso, militis, quo ad disposio- nem tarn omnia et singuloru manerioriu, terrarfi, et tene- mentora suorQ quam omnia et singuloru bonoru suora mobilia ; ultimam suam in se contineu volunt ap.te lect p. dicta Edmundu sigillo suo ad arma sigillat. in p.sentia testiu subscriptoru specialiter ad hoc vocatora. JErat. John Graue "\ Jb/m Wryghi Robt. Wynnington I John Deley John Pycharde I Willm. Taste Radi Knyston f Robti. Leche Thome Laverocke I Guuley Walmesley, Thome Vsher J coo APPENDIX. VII. N° VII. CATALOGUE OF PICTURES AT WOBURN ABBEY, NOT MEN- TIONED IN THE BODY OF THE WORK. Sept. i8io. P. 467. DINING ROOM. Twenty-four Views in Venice Canaleiti LIBRARY. Portrait - - - Rembrandt Daniel My tens and Wife - Vandyck JL\iLlUt>lio mm *• — JL x lIUcCIl Philip Le Roy - - Vandyck John Kupetzky - - Himself Sir Godfrey Kneller - Himself IVfirhnp] At vpfiplf _ „ 1-1 1 nrt c r* 1 r XJlIIlbCli r? ' PYYihmwflt — mm 1— 1 i rvi col t 111 lilac 11 AJlVgtZllCO mm mm ma Salvator Rosa r ebuieur — ■■- — Titian ^tVIXC' civ J. diet,! ™ minseir I /i/f^//)0 ft ft iK.'t nil r>vi t Kjillu ihz> ue iviuLitry — — Vandyck Franck Halls Himself Bartoleme Estevan Morelli Himself Tintoret - Himself Joannes Spellinx Vandyck Paul de Jode and Family Vandyck Martin Pepyn Himself John Stcen - Himself " Joan Worevius of Antwerp" Vandyck Titian - Himself Colbert - Champagne 9 PICTURES AT WOBURN. 601 ETRUSCAN ROOM. Landscape with Cattle Paul Potter Sea Piece - Vandevelde Landscape with Cattle Both Landscape - Berghem SlPfl PlPPP m m m VflYlffmiPYI Dutch Merry-making Teniers Sea Piece - - - Van dc Capelle Fall of Hippolytus Rubens Dutch Feast Teniers Fishing under the Ice Cuyp INDIAN SILK ROOM. NORTH FRONT. Fruit Piece over the Chimney Snyders INDIAN PAPER ROOM. Game Piece over the Chimney FRENCH BED ROOM. Landscape over the chimney Ditto over the east window Ditto over the west door FRENCH DRESSING ROOM. Landscape over chimney Portrait at west end. Gertrude Duchess of Bedford Sir J. Reynolds Landscape over west door Do. over east door Portrait at east end. Francis Marquis of Tavistock - Sir J, Reynolds 602 APPENDIX. VII. BILLIARD ROOM. Inside of a Hall Landscape Landscape - - Landscape with Bridge, &c. from M. de Calonne's Collection Landscape, Cattle, &c. Landscape Sea- coast, Beacon, &c. Dutch Cottage, &c. (in manner of Browers ) Portrait of Cuyp Sea Piece Landscape Landscape Madonna and Child, from M. de Ca- lonne's Collection Landscape with Ruins, &c. Virgin teaching Infant Jesus to read Portrait of Descartes Flemish Prize-Ox Flemish Merry-making Inside of a Church Landscape ; the original in Lord Staf- ford's Collection. Copy from Lions -v Flemish Twelfth-day Feast Horse in a Stable Portrait of Lady Coventry Van Delen Everdingen Pynaker Ruysdael Isaac Ostade Lingelbach Woverman Tenters Himself Backhuysen G. Poussin Both Mvrillo Ruysdael Schedoni P. de Champagne Cuyp Teniers Peter Nief G. Poussin Rubens Jan Steen Cuyp Gavin Hamilton PICTURES AT WOBURN, INNER DRAWING ROOM. Landscape Claude, copy View of a Cavern Salvator Rosa Gallery of Paintings and Sculpture Teniers View of a Cavern Salvator Rosa Landscape, Mountains and Cattle Berghem Landscape. Extensive View of Fields, Water, &c. with Cattle Cuyp Playing at Bowls Teniers Flemish Girl Rembrandt Dogs - - Titian Boy with Pigeon Francisca Mola Landscape ; Hawking Paul Potter View ; Sea-coast with Traders, &c. Wouverman Sea Piece Van de Capelle Landscape Claude Fish Stall and Poultry Van Staverow, a Scholar of Gerard Dow Landscape ; Ruinous Bridge John Ascleen itinerant Tooth-drawer * Andrew Both Old Woman and Child Teniers Sea Piece - D. Vlujer Four Seasons ZRotenhamer and iBreugel Ballad Singers Andrew Both DRAWING ROOM. NORTH OF SALOON. Landscape - - Wynants View of Old Rome - Claude 601 riCTURES AT WOBURN. Landscape Landscape View of Houghton House Landscape Landscape View of Nimeguen Landscape Wynants Ppussin Wilson Poussin Wynants Cuyp Wynants SALOON. Dcrdalus and Icarus Elizabeth (KeppelJ Marchioness of Tavistock Portrait; Adrian Panlido Parcja Joseph interpreting the Baker's Dream Sportive Boy ; Angels flying, &c. Abel slain The Israelites' departure from Egypt Landscape Landscape Christ in the Garden Portrait ; Francis Duke of Bedford Christ's Vision Samson's Parable Vandyck Sir J. Reynolds Velasquez Rembrandt Murillo Rubens Castaglione G. Poussin G. Poussin Annibale Caracci Hoppner Euca Giordana Guercino DRAWING ROOM. SOUTH OF SALOON. Portrait ; Francis Earl of Bedford, setatis 48. Vandyck 1636 Anne Countess of Bedford, Wife to William fifth Earl of Bedford, and first Duke - - Vandyck LADY JANE SEYMOUR. 605 Earl of Haddington ; from the Orleans Collec- tion - - Vandyck The Lady Herbert ; formerly in M. de Calonne's Collection - Vandyck Albertus Minus, Dean of Antwerp - Vandyck Person unknown, formerly in M. de Calonne's Collection - - Vandyck Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland - Vandyck Dutchess of Orleans - - Vandyck Person unknown, in a rich dress, from the Orleans' Collection - - Vandyck WAITING ROOM. Digby, Earl of Bristol, and Sir William Russel Vandyck Louis Quinze, from - - Varloo OMITTED AT PAGE 482, 1. 3. I now turn my eyes to a lady whose felicity consisted in Lady Janb a different fate ; in being early cut off from the embraces of Seymour. a capricious tyrant, whose inconstancy and whose lusts would probably have involved her in misery, had not Heaven, in its mercy, taken her to itself. Lady Jane Seymour, the lady in question, became queen to Henry VIII. in 1536, and was released from him, by death, in 1537. The por- trait expresses the elegance of her person. She is dressed in red, with great gold net-work sleeves, and rich in jew- els. Her print, among the illustrious heads, does her little justice. 606 APPENDIX. VIII. N° VIII. ON THE DEATH OF THE COUNTESS OF SOMERSET. P. 174. " Her death was infamous : and though she died (as it " were) in a corner (in so private a condition), the loath- n someness of her death made it as conspicuous as on a a house-top : for that part of her hody which had been the " receptacle of most of her sin, grown rotten (though she " never had but one child) the ligaments failing, it fell " down, and was cut away in flakes, with a most nauseous " and putrid savour ; which to augment, she would roll " herself in her own ordure in her bed ; took delight in " it. Thus her affections varied; for nothing could be " found sweet enough to augment her beauties at first, " and nothing stinking enough to decypher her loath- " someness at last. Pardon the sharpness of these ex- " pressions ; for they are for the glory of God ; who often " makes his punishments (in the balance of his justice) of " equal weight with our sins." Wilson's Life of King James I. p. 83. APPENDIX. IX. N° IX. EPITAPH IN AMPTHILL CHURCH. P. 501. M. S. Optimis parentibus nunc tumulo conjunctus Pietate semper conjunetissimus Hie jacet Richardus Nicolls Francis. I sti - ex Mar gar, Bruce Filius, Il.limo Jacobo Duci Ebor. a cubiculis intimus ; Anno 1663, relictis musarum castris, Turmam equestrem contra rebelles duxit, Juvenis strenuus, atq; impiger, Anno 1664, aetate jam & scientia militari maturus In AMERICAM Septentrionalem cum imperio missus Longam I.s.lam cseterasq; insulas, Belgis expulsis, vero Domino restituit. Provinciam arcesq; munitissimas Heri sui titulis insignivit, Et Triennio pro preside rexit. Academia Literis Bello Virtute Aula Candore Animi Magistratu Prudentia Celebris : Ubiq; bonis carus, sibi & negotiis par, 28° Mail, 1672, Nave prsetoria contra eosd. Belgas 60S APPENDIX. IX. Fortiter dimicans, Ictu globi maioris transfossus occubuit. Fratres habuit, Prseter Gulielmnm praecoci fato defunctum, Edvardum, et Franciscum. Utrumq; copiarum pedestrium centurionem, Qui faedoe et servilis tyrannidis Quae tunc Angliam oppresserat impatientes Exilio prsslato (si modo regem extorrem sequi exit, sit) Alter Parisiis, alter Hagd comitis, Ad coelestem patriam migrarunt. APPENDIX. X. 609 N° X. EPITAPH IN MAULBEN CHURCH. P. 507. Diana Oxonii et Eligini Comitissa Quae Illustri orta sanguine, sanguinem illustravit, Cecilio- rum meritis clara, suis clarissima, ut quae nesciret minor esse maxim is. Vitam ineuntem honoravit, et prodeun- tem ampla virtutum cohors, et exeuntem mors beatis- sima decoravit, volente Numine ut nuspiam deesset aut virtus aut felicitas. Duobus conjuncta maritis, utriq ; cha- rissima; primum (quern ad annum habuit) impense di- lexit; secundum (quern ad 24) tanta pietate et amore co- luit, ut cui vivens obsequium, tanquam patri praestitit, mo- riens testimonium filio reliquit. Noverca quum esset ma- ternam pietatem facile superavit ; famulitium adeo mitem prudentemq; curam gessit ut non tarn domina familiae prae- esse quam anima corpori inesse videretur; deniq; cum pudico, humili, forti, sancto animo, virginibus, conjugi- bus, viduis omnibus exemplum consecrasset integerrimum, terris anima major ad similes evolavit superos Anno salutis 1654, April 27, aetatisq; 58. Ita gemuit Dominus Thomas Bruce, Comes Eliginensis et Baro Bruce de JVhorlton, qui hoc monumentum aeque sacellum In perpetuam conjugis optimee memoriam Erigendum curavit Anno 1656. 2 R 610 APPENDIX. X. The following inscription appears under a busto : Thomas Comes de Elgin Baro Bruce de Whorlton In comitatu Eboracensi, Hanc dilectissimi patris sui effigiem Robertas Comes de Ailesbury et Elgin, &c. filius unigenitus in extimo sacelli eirculo erigendam curavit. Medium quippe soli Comitis- sae de Oxford uxori suae carissimae praedictus Thomas sa- crum voluit, cujus in aeternam memoriam monumentum illud centrale extruxit, quod et ipse et prosapia sua, fatis olim cessura, eminus stantes venerabundi quasi contempla- buntur. Obiit Decemb. anno salutis 1663. JEtatis sues 73. Edwardus Bruce Armiger, Rob. Bar 15 Bruce, filius do- m* Diance Henrici Grey Com* 1 * de Stamford, filiae n u . m« quinetiam Thomce Comitis de Elgin nepos a quo hanc vi- vendi rationem cum didicisset, gratus scholaris exemplo suo docuit avum (ei vix paucis mensibus superstitem) mori. Anno salutis 1663. iEtatb sua? 17 m \ EPITAPH ON LADY KENT. 611 . N° XI. EPITAPH IN FLITTON CHURCH, ON THE GOOD COUNTESS OF KENT. P. 522. Here lyes the Right Hon ble . Amabella, late countess dow- ager of Kent, entombed by her dear lord Henry Earl of Kent, to signifie her resolution to dye with him to the rest of ye world, and to live after so great a loss only to God, & the interest of this noble family. This she made good, by her exemplary piety & regular devotion in her chappel ; whereto she obliged all her domesticks, every morning & evening, to attend her. And, surviving her own monument 45 years, she had time to raise to herself a more lasting one, by restoring the fortune of this illustrious family, which she found under an eclipse, to near the height of it's ancient splendour. This she effected by her wise conduct & large acquisi- tions, 8t by the advantageous disposal of her only son An- thony Earl of Kent, in marriage, with Mary, sole daughter and heiress of the R*. Hon ble . John Lord Lucas, baron of Shenjield, in Essex. To the concerns of her children 8c grandchildren she confined her thoughts ; & fixed her residence at JVrest, their usual seat; which she wonderfully improved & imbellished ; continually adding to the profit or orna- ment of the place, until death gently seiz'd her, Av,g st . 17 th , 1698, in the 92 d year of her age; & was here in- terred by the R*. Hon ble Anthony Earl of Kent, her most dutiful son; who would have caused y z to be engraven, had not a sudden death prevented him ; but it was after - wards performed, in due acknowledgement of her great be- 2 r 2 612 APPENDIX. XI. neficence, & to perpetuate her precious memory to all his posterity, by her grandson, Henry Duke of Kent. Mary, one of the daughters of Sir George Cotton of Combermere, in y e county of Chester, knight, first espowsed to Edward earle of Derby, & after, to this Henry earle of Kent ; who deceased the 16 th of November, in the yeare of our Lord God 1580, and lieth buried at Great Gaddesden, in the covnty of Hertford. In tender affection & good respect of w h . lady, the said earle of Kent, her husband, caused this remembrance to be made of her. Here lyeth the body of the most noble, vertvous, & worthy peere, Henry Grey earle of Kent, lord Hastings, Weisford, & Rvtkyn, lord lievtenant of the covnty of Bed- ford : ever loyall to his prince, assvred to his covntry, kinde to his friends, loving to al good men, & charitable to the poore; the first erector & fovnder of this chapell; who deceased the 31 st of Janvary, 1614. INDEX. A Abbot, archbishop, page 324 Acton church, 26 Alban's, St. See Saint Al- ban's. Albert, archduke of Austria, 503 Allescy village, 1 88 Altar, Roman, at Chester, 1 Amphibalus, St. 301 Ampthill, 49tt park, 501 Ankor river, Drayton's verses on, 168 Anne, dutchess of Bedford, daughter to Robert Car earl of Somerset, her story, 496 Anson, Thomas, his amiable life, 91. 93 Ardbury hill, 394 Armour, great attention paid to, 230 Arundel, Thomas earl of, 336 Ashmole, Ellas, 1 80 Assassination, vindictive, 90 Aston-hall, 79 Aston, Sir Edward, tomb of, 99 Aston, Sir Walter, lord For- far, 112 Audley church, 58 Audley, lord, and his E- squires, 53 Avon river, 250 B Backwell, Edward, 457 Bacon, Sir Francis, 33 1 , his monument, 347 , Sir Nathaniel, 332 , Sir Nicholas, 333. 467 ■ , lady, second wife of Sir Nicholas, 334 Badby manor, 393 I N D E X. Bagot family, 1 14 Baltimore, first lord, 319 Barnet town, 390 Barrows, 64 Battle of Barnet, 382 B lore heath, 61 Hop ton Heath, 98 Northampton, 433 St. Alban's, first, 377 St. Alban's, se- cond, 379 Beaudesert, 130 Bedford family, 465 , Anne, countess of, 496 • , Edward, earl of, 485 , Francis, second earl of, 485 , , fourth earl of, 497 , Gertrude, duchess of, 494. 497 ; — , John, earl of, 482 , Lucy, countess of, 475 , William, duke of, 4S3 Beeston-hall, 12 family, 13 castle, 1 4 Beighton, the surveyor, 252 Berttlin, the hermit, 102 Bethenei, now Stafford, 1 02 Millings, Little, 43 1 Billington Bury, 1 04 Binley church, elegant, 237 Bishton, 108 Blecheley church, tombs in, 284 Blithe-hall, 180 Blithefield, 110 Bloreheath, battle of, 6 1 Boadicta sacks Verulamium, 343 Bohemia, Elizabeth queen of, 241 Borough-hill, near Daren- try, 258 Boughton, 2 Brandon, Charles duke of Suffolk, account of, 489 Braunston village, 253 Brickhill, 290 Brindley, James, 72 Brook, lord, 141 Brought on family, 59 Bruff, the, 63 Buckingham, George Villiers, first duke of, 328 Bunbuiy church, 19 Burbot fish, 109 Burleigh, lord treasurer, J 1 1. 487. 538 Burnt walls, 262 Burston, 79 Bury-bank, near Stone, 66 , Stafford, 105 I N D E X. C Calveley, 25 , Sir Hugh, his tomb and history, 21 Camp hills, 64 Canal, Cheshire, 14 — , Staffordshire, 68 , Oxford or Coventry, 205 Cank wood, 106. 133 Canwell, 172 Cas/Ze Ashby, 418 dikes, 266 hill, 132 Catesby, 394 Cecil, Sir Edward, 244 CW, St. or Ceadda, 1 36 C7/«Z&, antiquity of its use, 292. 303 Chalk-hill, 291 Chart ley castle, 85 — — house, 84 Chartreux, 248 Chester, 1 Christleton village, 2 Clarendon, Hyde, earl of, 323 Cleveland, Barbara, dut chess of, 545 , Thomas, earl of, 327 C/zjford hill, 431 C/(/2ore church, 162 village, 162 Clinton, Roger de, bishop of Lichfield, 138 Coleshill, 174 hall, 178 Cohort, 1 10 Colwich, 107 Coro&e abbey, 237 Combustible woman, 227 Compton family, 421 Copthall, 566 Cornara, Catherine, queen of Cyprus, 502 Cornwallis, first lord, 316 Corpus Christi plays, 221 Courtney, earl of Devonshire, his story, 467 Coventry, 188 castle, 198 trade, 194 , its churches, 202. 213, 214 , the priory, 208 , lord keeper, 325 Craven, Sir William, 246 , William lord, 242 Crew, bishop, 519 lord Crew, 518 , Sir Randle, 516 Croke, Sir George, a judge, 310 Cross, queen Eleanor's, 433 Cro.ru 11 church, 162 I N D E X. Cumberland, Margaret, coun- tess of, 314, 487 Curdworth, 174 D Dauby, Henry, earl of, 477 Danes, at Toucester, 273 Danvers, earl of Danby, 477 • , lady, her fine tomb, 267 Darlaston, 66 Daventry, 255 Delves, Sir John, 5 1 Devonshire, Christiana, coun* tess of, 473 — — , Courteney, earl of, 467 }. Digby, George, his singular epitaph, 82 family, 439 , Sir Everard, 439 — — , S\rKeneh?i, 448. 450 — pedigree-book, 441 , Lady Venetia, 451 Doddington-hall, 53. 59 Dodford church, 263 Dorset, Edward, earl of, 309. 422 Duel, great, in 1398, design- ed at Coventry, 231 Dugdale, Sir William, 179 Dunchurch, 251 Dunsniore heath, ib. Dunstable, 292 Dwina, first bishop of Lich< field, 136 E Easton Mauduit church, 430 house, 426 Easton Neston, 275 Eleanor, queen, her crosses, 433 Elford church and village, 159 Elgin, Diana, countess of, her strange tomb, 507 Elizabeth, queen, portraits of, 330. 492. 539 Eltavon, 434 Empson, Sir Richard, 273 Enfield chace, 560 Epitaphs, absurd, 148 Erdeswik, Sampson, 81 Essex, Robert, earl of, 330. 471 , Walter, earl of, 1 1 3 Ethelfleda, countess of Mer- cia, 102 Etoceium, 158 Exeter, Thomas, earl of, 472. 552 I N D E X. F Fainvell church, 134 Fanhope, lord, 499 Fawsley house, 394 Fenny Stratford, 289 Fermor family, 275 Finchley common, 391 Fisherwick, 159 Flamsted, 300 Flitton church, 521 Flore church, 401 Font at Luton, 524 Stafford, 100 Fox, Sir Stephen, 423 Free-warren, 3 Frevils, 166 Frobenius, the printer, por- trait of, 556 Froissart, quotation from, 230 Fuller' s~earth, 401 G Geese dropping down mira- culously, 265 Geraldine, the fair, 487. 489 Gerard family, 49 Gobions, seat of Sir Thomas More, 559 Godiva, 189 Goldington, 437 Gondamar, 537 Gorges, Sir Edward, 493 Gorhambury, 304 Gosford-green, remarkable duel designed at, 229 Gothurst, 437 Gray, lady Ja?ae, 514 Greene, Mr. of Lichfield, his cabinet, 155 Grey family, 508 Grimston, Sir Edward, 325 , Sir Harbottle, 308 Gzme, due de, 544. 551 H Hacket, bishop, 1 43 Hadley, 386 Hardingwood, 59 Hatfield house, 535 church, 557 Heledd-Wen, 36 Henry, prince of JFa/m, 509 VI. 549 VIII. 548, 549 Hermitage, Mr. Lyster's, 1 1 7 Hey wood, 89 bridge, 90 Highgate, 391 Historical piece, curious, at Hatfield, 5i2 Hockley, 290 Hockliffe, 291 INDEX. Ho family, 530 Hopton-heath fight, 98 Horton church, 435 Houghton Conquest, 507 park house, 505 Humphry, duke of Glouces- ter, his tomb, 359 Hunsborough, 434 Huntington, Henry, earl of, 112 I Jekyll, Sir Joseph, 454 Iknield-strcet, 292 Ingestre, 97 K Kent, Amabella, countess of, 513 , earls of, 512 Kings Bromley, 120 Knightley family, 395 Knightlow, 250 L Langton, b i shop, 139 Latimer, lady, 555 Laud, archbishop, his por- trait, 502 Laura, portrait of, 549 Lazar houses, 201 Lea river, 567 Leicester, Dudley, earl of, 536 Leofric, earl of Mercia, 1 89 Lepers, 201 Lichfield, 136 cathedral, 137 castle, 157 Lincoln, Clinton, first earl of, 488 Littleton, lord keeper, 180 Longdon village, 129 Lucas, Sir Charles, 515 Lucy, countess of Bedford, 239. 473. 475 Luton town and church, 524 Ho, 529 M Macclesfield, Gerard, earl of, 543 Madning-money, 293 Magiovinum, 292 Maiden's Bower, ib. Maisterson, his epitaph, 43 Mandeville, Sir John, his birth-place, 368 Margaret, queen of Henry VI. 61. 214. 379 Market -street cell, 299 INDEX. Market- street, 300 Mary queen of Scots, 547 Maulden church, 507 Maveston, Sir Robert's tomb and singular history, 118 Maxstoke castle, 182 Maynard, Banaster, lord, 515 Meautys, Sir Thomas, 332 Mere, Staffordshire, 63 Middleton, 172 Milton's widow, account of, 47 Mireden village, 185 Moliere, 1 1 5 Monk, General, his begin- ning, 47 y 9 — charac- ter, 3 1 8 Mostyn, Sir Thomas, 13 Mowbray, duke of Norfolk, 229 , his designed du- el, ib. Moxhull, 173 Mucckston church, 60 Mulso family, 296 , Sir Edmund, his cu- rious will, 432 N Nantwich, 32 Nassau, count de, 484 Nehelennia, goddess, 202 iVe?i river, 402 A r eu> River, 560 Newport Pagnel, 458 Nicolls, governor, his epi- taph, 501. 607 Norfolk, Thomas, duke of, 327 Northampton, 402 , Comptons, earls of, 421 Northumberland, Algernon, earl of, 546 Nottingham, chancellor, 317 Noucrs de, family, 455 O Offa, king, 350 Offiey family, 61. 128 Orgrave house, 1 2 1 Orphan, supposed origin of that play, 486 Otho I. legend of, 245 Ouse river, 437 P Packington house, 18 4- Paget family, 131 Pagnel, Newport, 458 620 INDEX. Parliamentum diabolicutn et indoctum, 193 Parr, William, lord, 435 Passenham church, 282 Pembroke, Philip, earl of, 311 1 " , William, earl of, 316 Pennocrucium, 158 Philip Le Bon, duke of Bur- gundy, 335 Portland, Weston, earl of, 321 Potter's Peri/, 28 1 Pre, de la, abbey, 432 R Ramridge, abbot, his tomb, 359 Ranelagh, lady, 556 Redburn, 301 Rich, lady, her story, 5 1 1 Richard III., 549 Richmond, James, duke of, 240. 328 « , Ludovic, duke of, 317 — , Margaret, coun- tess of, 540 Roger and Civis, dialogue between, on the battle of Barnet, 385 Rogers, comptroller/ 484 Roman roads, 158. 251. 284. 2y2. 343. Roos family, 254 Rotheram family, 528 Rudgley village, 128 Rufin, prince, 136 Russel, lady Rachel, 480 , lord William, 479 — lord Edward and Sir Francis, singular portrait* of, 486 S Saint Alban's abbey, 350 town, 375 Salince, 37 Salisbury, Robert, earl of, 472, 548 """>■ ■ ■ ■ , William, eafl of, 548 Salt, its antient history, 35 Salt-works, 34 Sandon church, SO Scioppius, account of, 82 Sekindon tillage and church, 164 Seymour, lady Jane, 623 Shugborough, 90 Someris tower, 531 So?nerset, countess of, her infamous life, 469 ,, loathsome death, 606 I N D E X. Somerville, Sir Philip, 122 Sommers, Will, the jester,276 Sopewell nunnery, 381 Southampton, Henry, earl of, 476 — , Thomas, earl of, 322 Sow river, 90 Sparke, reverend Dr., quib- bling epitaph on, 286 Stafford town, 99 castle, 103 family, 104? Stapleford, 8 Stone, 77 Stonejield, 68 Stow church, near Lichfield, 152 , near Chartley, 87 Stow -nine-Churches, 267 Strafford, Wentworth, earl of, 321 Stratford, Fenny, 289 , old, 282 , Stoney, 284 Strayler, Alan, an old painter at St. Alban's, 365 Suffolk, Brandon, duke of, 489 — — , countess of, 330 Surrey, earl of, his passion for the fair Geraldine, 489 Swinerton house, 65 Swinfen, 171 Sydenham, doctor, 55 1 Sydney, Sir Philip, 468 T Talbot, John, first earl of Shrewsbury, curious por- trait of, 419 Tame river, 164 Tamworth, ib. Tarvin village, 5 Tenure, singular, 122 Tern river, 63 Testament, singular, 442 Theobalds, 567 Thomasine, John, 7 Thornhaugh, baron, 485 Tfwrp, Constantine, 163 Throgmorton, Sir Nicholas , 520 7W, 94 Torporley village, 9 Totness, George Carew, earl of, 312 Toucester, 272 Tore river, ib. Trent river, 67 Tyringham house, 455 V Ver, or Vtrlume river, 33d INDEX. Verses on a column at Amp- thill, 500 Verulamium, page 339 Upton village, 402 Utkinton, 8 W Wall, the antient Etocetam, 158 Wahingham, secretary, 520 Waltham abbey, 564 cross, 562 Watling-street, 17 1 . 284. 290 Wedon, 264 Wenhck, lord, 525 Wharton, Philip, earl of, 510 Whethamsted, abbot, his tomb, 364 Whichenoure flitch, 122 Whitley, 250 fVfiittington, 159 Whittlebury forest, 279 Willoughby, 25 1 #7//*, curious, 442 Wimbledon, lord, 244 Woburn town, 463 abbey, 464 Wolseley bridge, 10S , Edward, earl of, 326 Wore, 60 Worcester house, 562 Edward, earl of, 326 Wrest house, 50S Wright, Sir Nathan, 454 Wybunbury, 49 JfycA Weston, 89 Y y"e/rer/o» family, 427 tombs, 430 York, Elizabeth of, 550 THE END. Printed by S. Hamiltou, Weybridge. *. 2 YV TY CENTER SRARY