[527]From the MS. Diary of sir Richard Torkington, quoted in Mr. Fosbroke’s “British Monachism,” 51, from the “Gentleman’s Magazine” 1812.[528]Strype’s “Memorials.”[529]Brand.[530]Gentleman’s Magazine, 1814. Inscription beneath Worlidge’s print.
[527]From the MS. Diary of sir Richard Torkington, quoted in Mr. Fosbroke’s “British Monachism,” 51, from the “Gentleman’s Magazine” 1812.
[528]Strype’s “Memorials.”
[529]Brand.
[530]Gentleman’s Magazine, 1814. Inscription beneath Worlidge’s print.
In December, 1751, the following “Uncommon Natural Curiosities” were exhibited in London.
1. ADwarf, from Glamorganshire, in his fifteenth year, two feet six inches high, weighing only twelve pounds, yet very proportionable.
2.John Coan, a Norfolk dwarf, aged twenty-three; he weighed, with all his clothes, but thirty-four pounds, and his height, with his hat, shoes, and wig on, was but thirty-eight inches; his body was perfectly straight, he was of a good complexion, and sprightly temper, sung tolerably, and mimicked a cock’s crowing very exactly. A child three years eight months old, of an ordinary size, with his clothes on, weighed thirty-six pounds, and his height, without any thing on his head, was thirty-seven inches seven-tenths, which on comparison gives an idea of the smallness of this dwarf.
3. ANegro, who by a most extraordinary and singular dilatation and contraction of the deltoid and biceps muscles of the arm, those of the back, &c., clasped his hands full together, threw them over his head and back, and brought them in that position under his feet. This he repeated, backwards or forwards, as often as the spectators desired, with the greatest facility.
4. AFemale Rhinoceros, or true Unicorn, a beast of upwards of eight thousand pounds weight, in a natural coat of mail or armour, having a large horn on her nose, three hoofs on each foot, and a hide stuck thick with scales pistol proof, and so surprisingly folded as not to hinder its motion.
5. ACrocodile,alive, taken on the banks of the Nile in Egypt, a creaturenever seen before alive inEngland.[531]
This is a verbatim account of these sights published at the time; the prices of admission are not mentioned, but they were deemed worthy of notice as remarkable exhibitions at the period. In the present day the whole of them would scarcely make more than a twopenny show; and, at that low rate, without a captivating showman, they would scarcely attract. London streets are now literally “strewed with rarities,” and “uncommon things,” at which our forefathers stared with wonder, are most common.
“A Reader,” atp. 1584, should have had “Lyneham, Wilts,” as the place of his residence, attached to his remarks on an account of “Clack Fall Fair,” atp. 1371, which was supplied by “an old correspondent,” with whose name and address the editor is acquainted, and whose subjoined communication claims regard. He writes in explanation, and adds some very pleasant particulars.
To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Dear Sir,—I cannot allow your pages to close without replying to the “Corrections and Illustrations,”p. 1584, made by “A Reader” respecting “Clack and its vicinity.”
First.I observe that Bradenstoke priory is usually called the “Abbey,” in the neighbourhood,—not the “Priory.” There is a tree growing upon the tower, and a legend respecting it. I was once taken up to see it blossom, having slept in the room under it with my schoolfellow, John Bridges, whose mother, at that time a widow, kept the farm, and a most excellent woman she was.
Secondly.I should have considered the stating, “that a carpenter, while digging, struck his spade against an image of gold, and has it in his possession,” was sufficient, without further inquiry or remark. I repeat the fact for a truth. Iknowtheman, and haveseentheIMAGE. As an antiquary myself, I assure you, sir, I could fain dig for similar hidden treasures in the hope of like reward. The person who owns the image is not needy, he therefore would not part with his weight of gold for more sovereign current weight.
Thirdly.When young, I descended several feet into the “subterraneous passage” referred to by your “Reader.” Though I am willing to admit the possibility of monkish imposition—such a passage has, however, been believed to have existed by the oldest people of Clack. Similarly, it is conjectured, that a passage once ran from Canonbury-tower, Islington, to the palace Kensington. Your “Reader” is rather too sceptical to challenge me to a proof, which I take only in a topographical sense. Of whatever effect tradition may be, much historical truth is notwithstanding embodied in it: furthermore, it is well known, that subterraneous passages led from place to place, when castle building was in vogue.
Fourthly.The oldest man living in Seagry, at the time I was shown the stone in Malmsbury abbey, whose name was Carey, was the occasion of my going to that place to see the stone: I paid sixpence to the person who gave me a view of it. He represented it to have been done by “Geoffry Miles”—the boy was a choirister: this is his information, not mine. The impression ever after guarded my conduct in school.
Fifthly.As to “Joe Ody,” your “Reader’s” own words prove the truth of what I have said of him, and the “may be correct” is not called for. The lord chancellor could not have been more doubtful than your anonymous “Reader,” as to my information and communication. Some of the Ody family are now residing in Camberwell, whither your “Reader” may resort, should he be desirous of learning more of Joe’s merry-andrewism, who was no mean disciple of the rev. Andrew, his patron.
Sixthly.Your “Reader’s” hit at “Bowles” is corrected by me at the page in which his reference stands. Would that the “Bowles’ controversy” with Byron and Roscoe, respecting Pope, had been as easily terminated, and with as little acrimony and as much satisfaction!
Seventhly.The room I have already occupied in this paper prevents my stating much concerning “Clack Mount;”—this mount is, however, remarkable for two things,—the resort of bonfire makers, November 5, and the club at Whitsuntide. At the time of theox-roastingmany years since, in peaceful-ending times and rejoicing, this “mount” was a scene of delight and festivity. A band of music resorted thither, a line was formed as on club-day, beer was given round, and the collected people of both sexes, young and old, joined in the hilarious jubilee; after which the band, graced by every pretty girl, paraded to the priory, and played there in the best room. Its furniture, I remember, looked clubbed, dark, and glossy; it seemed, to me, a pity to tread on the shining floor, it was so antiquely neat and sacred. Given to kissing, when very young, I shall never forget touching the rosy cheeks of Miss Polly Bridges behind the awful door of the sacristy, at which theft I was caught by her laughing mother;—I beg to apologise to your “Reader,” sir, for this (digression)confession, but as my ancestors came from the priory, andChristmasbeing near, I trust he willpardonme, as Polly’s mother gave meabsolution. On this ox-roasting occasion, Clack seemed really rising out of the stones. Dancing, music, holyday, and mirth, pervaded every house; and, very unusual, every poor person that brought a plate for the portion of slices of sheep, roasted opposite at baker Hendon’s, pretended to havemorechildren than there were at home; some families imposed on the cook by two and three applications.—Who does not recollect the ox and sheep roasting? I can hardly resist a description of the many scenes I witnessed several days successively in the various villages—of the many happy hearts, and their intimate enjoyments. I could almost follow the example of “Elia” himself, and at once be jocose, classical, and fastidious. But mercy on your readers’ patience denies me the pleasure.
Therefore,Lastly, “The Maypole.” It was standing, fifteen feet high, thirty-six years ago. The higher part was cut off at the request of Madam Heath, before whose house, and the Trooper, it stood. I once myself saw the “morris-dance” round it, when cowslips, oxlips, and other flowers were suspended up and down it: nails were driven round the lower part to prevent a further incision. Unfortunately for the writer, the land which lies from “Clack to Barry-end,” a distance less than two miles, once belonged to my forefathers. Maud Heath, who caused acausewayto be made and kept in order to this day, from Callaway’s-bridge to Chippenham, was one of my collaterals.
Thanking you, sir, for your indulgence, and a “Reader” for his giving me an opportunity of illustrating his positions,
I am,truly yours,An Old Correspondent.
Dec. 11, 1826.
Mean Temperature 38·82.
[531]Gentleman’s Magazine.
[531]Gentleman’s Magazine.
This day is so marked in the church of England calendar and almanacs. It is the Romish festival of “The Immaculate Conception of the Holy Virgin,” whom that church states to have been conceived and born without original sin. A doctrine whereon more has been written, perhaps, than any other point of ecclesiastical controversy. One author, Peter D’Alva, has published forty-eight folios on the mysteries of the Conception.
The immaculate conception and happy nativity of the Virgin are maintained to have taken place at Loretto, about 150 miles from Rome; and further, that at that particular place, “hallowed by her birth,” she was saluted by the angel Gabriel, and that she there nurtured our Saviour until he was twelve years of age. The popular belief readily yielding to that which power dictated, Loretto became one of the richest places in the world, from the numerous pilgrimages and votive presents made to the “Sancta Casa,” or “Holy House,” to enclose which, a magnificent church was erected and dedicated to the Virgin, hence generally styled “our Lady of Loretto.”
Peter the Lombard originally started the mystery of the immaculate conception in the year 1060; though Baronius affirms, that it was “discovered by Revelation” in the year 1109, to one, (but his name is not recorded,) “who was a great lover of the Virgin, and daily read her office.” On the day he was to be married, however, he was “so much occupied,” that this usual piece of devotion escaped his attention until he was in “the nuptial office,” when, suddenly recollecting the omission, he sent his bride and all the company home while he performed it. During this pious duty, the Virgin appeared to him with her son in her arms, and reproached him for his neglect, affording, however, the glorious hope of salvation, if he would “quit his wife and consider himself espoused to her,” declaring to him the whole of the circumstances of her nativity, which he reported to the pope, who naturally caused her feast immediately to be instituted.
The canons of Lyons attempted to establish an office for this mystery in the year 1136, but Bernard opposed it. The council at Oxford, in 1222, left people at liberty either to observe the day or not. Sixtus IV., however, in the year 1476, ordered it to be generally held in commemoration, although the alleged circumstances attendant upon this immaculate conception are not, even in the church of Rome, held as an article of faith, but merely reckoned a “pious opinion.” The council of Trent confirmed the ordinances of Sixtus, but without condemning as heretics those who refused to observe it; and Alexander V. issued his bull, even commanding that there should not be any discussion upon such an intricate subject. The Spaniards, however, were so strenuous in their belief of this mystery, that from the year 1652, the knights of the military orders of St. James of the sword, Calatrava, and Alcantara, each made a vow at their admission to “defend” the doctrine.
In the popish countries, the Virgin is still the principal favourite of devotion, and is addressed by her devotees under the following, from among many other titles, ill suiting with the reformed sentiments of this country.
Empress of Heaven!
Queen of Heaven!
Empress of Angels!
Queen of Angels!
Empress of the Earth!
Queen of the Earth!
Lady of the Universe!
Lady of the World!
Mistress of the World!
Patroness of the Men!
Advocate for Sinners!
Mediatrix!
Gate of Paradise!
Mother of Mercies!
Goddess! and
The only Hope of Sinners!
Under the two latter, they implore the Virgin for salvation by the power which, as a mother, she is inferred to possess of “commanding her son!” The legends afford tales in support of the opinion, that she not only possesses, but actually exertssuch authorities.—“O Mary,” says St. Bonaventure, “be a man never so wicked and miserable a sinner, you have the soft compassion of a mother for him, and never leave him until you have reconciled him to his judge.” One instance of which peculiar protection of sinners is recorded from father Crassett, who with much solemnity states, that “a soldier, hardened by his occupation, had not only renounced Christ, but given himself up wholly to the devil and the most vicious courses, though, as he did not also renounce the Virgin, he in a time of much necessity fervently prayed for her intercession.” This application, he adds, “was instantly attended to, and the man heard the benevolent mother of our Lord desire her son to have mercy upon him; who, not to refuse his parent, answered, he would do it for her sake, notwithstanding he had himself been wholly forgotten and unnoticed.”
The first who was particularly noticed as introducing this worship of the Virgin, is Peter Gnapheus, bishop of Antioch, in the fifth century, who appointed her name to be called upon in the prayers of the church. It is said that Peter Fullo, a monk of Constantinople, introduced the name of the Virgin Mary in the public prayers about the year 480; but it is certain, she was not generally invoked in public until a long time after thatperiod.[532]
Mean Temperature 38·22.
[532]Mr. Brady’s Clavis Calendaria.
[532]Mr. Brady’s Clavis Calendaria.
On the 9th of December, 1809, the following cause was tried in the court of King’s-bench, Guildhall, London, before lord Ellenborough and a special jury.
Holmeand others v.Noah.
Mr. Garrow stated this to be an action upon a bill of exchange for a small sum of money for coals, which the plaintiffs, who were coal-merchants, had furnished to the defendant, who was an ingenious lady, employing herself in drawing pictures. The bill, when due, had not been honoured.
Mr. Park, in defence to the action, maintained, that the defendant was a married woman, and said he held an excellent treatise in his hand, called “Uxor Hebreiaca,” from whence he cited in behalf of his client, who was a Jewess, whose husband was alive.
Mr. Philips, reader of the Synagogue of the Jews in Leadenhall-street, proved the marriage to have taken place in the year 1781; he was present at it. The proper priest, now dead, officiated in the usual form and solemnity, and these parties were duly united in lawful marriage, according to the Mosaic form. He was one of the attesting witnesses of the entry of the marriage in the book of the priest.
Mr. Levi proved that he knew the husband and wife; was present at the marriage, he being then only thirteen.
Jos. Abidigore, a teacher of the Hebrew language, read in English the entry in the priest’s book of this marriage; the ceremony was executed by the priest. The entry in English was thus:
“Fourth day of the week, in the second month Neron, in the year 5541 after the creation of the world, according to the reckoning here in London. Henry Noel said to Emily—“Become thou a wife unto me, according to the law of Moses, and I will ever after maintain thee according to the rites of the Jews;” and the priest said, “I heard him account her wife, and she shall bring to him the dowry of her virginity according to the law, and she shall remain and cohabit with him.” To which the lady did consent and become unto him his wife, and she offered him presents consisting of silver and gold, and splendid ornaments of gold, and 100 pieces of fine silver; and the bridegroom accepted these presents of the bride, and brought also 100 pieces of the like gold, ornaments, and fine silver; the whole amounting together to 200 pieces of gold and fine silver; and the bridegroom doth take all the responsibility of the care of all for himself, for his bride, and for their children. And their maintenance to be had out of the property which he doth possess, under this solemn union.”
Lord Ellenborough.—This marriage being proved to be duly had according to the solemnities of the Mosaic law, the plaintiffs must be called.—Plaintiffs non-suited.
Mean Temperature 37·85.
For the Every-Day Book.
On the 10th of December, 1813, in passing through the small village of Llangemuch, in Carmarthenshire, I observed several of the villagers assembled round the door and windows of one of the cottages, and heard within the loud tones of what proved to be one of their preachers. I entered, and found them employed in the baptism of a child. The font was a pint basin, placed on a small plate; the humble table was covered with a clean napkin. The minister, a brawny, round-shouldered young man, with deep-cut features and overhanging brows, his eyes closed, and his body moving in every direction, roared out in the most discordant and deafening din; his voice then suddenly fell—then rose, and fell again, with most surprising, but most inharmonious modulation. The child he then proceeded tocross, “in the name, &c.,” the whole being in the Welsh language: the name of the child (Henry) was the only English sound which caught my ear. Next followed, what appeared to me, an address to the parents. The scene was picturesque. The cottage rude, and but half illumined by the dim light—the vehement contortions of the preacher—the mother and the child, with several young women, whose cheeks were as ruddy as the Welsh cloaks with which they wereadorned, sitting beside the fire—the father, in his countenance a mixture of rudeness and of puritanism, leaning against the wall in an attitude of the profoundest attention—two or three old women coughing and groaning around the preacher—some labourers standing in a group, in a dark corner, scarcely discernible—and the chubby children, half wishing, but not daring, to continue their sports: these, and the other features of this unstudied scene, would have formed an admirable subject for the pencil of a Wilkie. At length the preacher approached to a conclusion, and wound up his address in a peroration, distinguished by increased energy of manner, by more hideous faces, by accelerated motions of his limbs, and by louder vociferation. He suddenly sat down: the religious part of the ceremony was over, and I was invited to partake of the rustic fare which had been provided for the occasion.J. D.
Mean Temperature 37·90.
Ledyard, the traveller, who died at Cairo in 1788, on his way to accomplish the task of traversing the widest part of the continent of Africa from east to west, in the supposed latitude of the Niger, pays a just and handsome tribute to the kind affections of the sex.
“I have always observed,” says Ledyard, “that women, in all countries, are civil and obliging, tender and humane; that they are ever inclined to be gay and cheerful, timorous and modest; and that they do not hesitate, like men, to perform a generous action. Not haughty, not arrogant, not supercilious, they are full of courtesy, and fond of society; more liable, in general, to err than man, but, in general, also more virtuous, and performing more good actions than he. To a woman, whether civilized or savage, I never addressed myself in the language of decency and friendship, without receiving a decent and friendly answer. With man it has often been otherwise. In wandering over the barren plains of inhospitable Denmark, through honest Sweden, and frozen Lapland, rude and churlish Finland, unprincipled Russia, and the wide-spread regions of the wandering Tartar; if hungry, dry, cold, wet, or sick, the women have ever been friendly to me, and uniformly so: and to add to this virtue, (so worthy the appellation of benevolence,) these actions have been performed in so free and so kind a manner, that, if I was dry, I drank the sweetest draught; and if hungry, I ate the coarse morsel with a double relish.”
Mean Temperature 38·20
To the Editor of the Every-Day Book.
Sir,—I perceive inpage 539of the present volume, you have inserted the national song of “God save the King,” in the Welsh language, as translated by the able and learned Dr. W. O. Pughe, perhaps the following version of the samein theGaeliclanguage, or that spoken by the Highlanders of Scotland, may prove acceptable to many readers.
O Dhia! cum suas, ard Dheors’ ar Righ,Gleidh fad ’a slan an Righ,Dhia tearn án Righ.Cuir buaidh, air a shluagh ’sa chath,Dion iad, fo d’ sgiath ’s mhaghGu’m fad a riaghlis é gu maith,Dhia sabhal an Righ.O Dhia! le d’ sgiath dion da shliochd,Gun choirp ’s gun chunart am feasd,Crun ’oirdearg na Righachd.Thoir dha, thar uile namhid, buaidh,Air tir agus, air a chuan,’S gliocas mòr an fheum uair,Dhia bean’ichdo shluagh an Righ.Bithidh ait’n diugh thar tir na ’n tònn,Aoibhneas, aighar, ceol’s fònn,Air son deugh shlaint ’an Righ.Deich agus da fhichid bliadhnaLe cumhachd, onair agus cial,Lion è caithir alba na buaidh,Buanich O Dhia! sa’ ol an Righ.
O Dhia! cum suas, ard Dheors’ ar Righ,Gleidh fad ’a slan an Righ,Dhia tearn án Righ.Cuir buaidh, air a shluagh ’sa chath,Dion iad, fo d’ sgiath ’s mhaghGu’m fad a riaghlis é gu maith,Dhia sabhal an Righ.O Dhia! le d’ sgiath dion da shliochd,Gun choirp ’s gun chunart am feasd,Crun ’oirdearg na Righachd.Thoir dha, thar uile namhid, buaidh,Air tir agus, air a chuan,’S gliocas mòr an fheum uair,Dhia bean’ichdo shluagh an Righ.Bithidh ait’n diugh thar tir na ’n tònn,Aoibhneas, aighar, ceol’s fònn,Air son deugh shlaint ’an Righ.Deich agus da fhichid bliadhnaLe cumhachd, onair agus cial,Lion è caithir alba na buaidh,Buanich O Dhia! sa’ ol an Righ.
O Dhia! cum suas, ard Dheors’ ar Righ,Gleidh fad ’a slan an Righ,Dhia tearn án Righ.Cuir buaidh, air a shluagh ’sa chath,Dion iad, fo d’ sgiath ’s mhaghGu’m fad a riaghlis é gu maith,Dhia sabhal an Righ.
O Dhia! le d’ sgiath dion da shliochd,Gun choirp ’s gun chunart am feasd,Crun ’oirdearg na Righachd.Thoir dha, thar uile namhid, buaidh,Air tir agus, air a chuan,’S gliocas mòr an fheum uair,Dhia bean’ichdo shluagh an Righ.
Bithidh ait’n diugh thar tir na ’n tònn,Aoibhneas, aighar, ceol’s fònn,Air son deugh shlaint ’an Righ.Deich agus da fhichid bliadhnaLe cumhachd, onair agus cial,Lion è caithir alba na buaidh,Buanich O Dhia! sa’ ol an Righ.
Among the translations of Dr. Owen Pughe, his version of “Non nobis Domine” is excellent. I subjoin it, that you may make what use of it you please.
O, nid i ni, ein Jor, o nid i ni,Ond deled i dy Enw ogoniant byth,Ond deled i dy Enw ogoniant byth.Gwilym Sais.
O, nid i ni, ein Jor, o nid i ni,Ond deled i dy Enw ogoniant byth,Ond deled i dy Enw ogoniant byth.
O, nid i ni, ein Jor, o nid i ni,Ond deled i dy Enw ogoniant byth,Ond deled i dy Enw ogoniant byth.
Gwilym Sais.
Mean Temperature 39·05.
Lucy.[533]
Be virtuous; govern your passions; restrain your appetites; avoid excess and high-seasoned food; eat slowly, and chew your food well. Do not eat to full satiety. Breakfast betimes; it is not wholesome to go out fasting. In winter, a glass or two of wine is an excellent preservative against unwholesome air. Make a hearty meal about noon, and eat plain meats only. Avoid salted meats: those who eat them often have pale complexions, a slow pulse, and are full of corrupted humours. Sup betimes, and sparingly. Let your meat be neither too little nor too much done. Sleep not till two hours after eating. Begin your meals with a little tea, and wash your mouth with a cup of it afterward.
The most important advice which can be given for maintaining the body in due temperament, is to be very moderate in the use of all the pleasures of sense; for all excess weakens the spirits. Walk not too long at once. Stand not for hours in one posture; nor lie longer than necessary. In winter, keep not yourself too hot; nor in summer too cold. Immediately after you awake, rub your breast where the heart lies, with the palm of your hand. Avoid a stream of wind as you would an arrow. Coming out of a warm bath, or after hard labour, do not expose your body to cold. If in the spring, there should be two or three hot days, do not be in haste to put off your winter clothes. It is unwholesome to fan yourself during perspiration. Wash your mouth with water or tea, lukewarm, before you go to rest, and rub the soles of your feet warm. When you lie down, banish all thought.
Mean Temperature 38·57.
[533]See vol. i. 1570.
[533]See vol. i. 1570.
In December, 1738, was shown at the Linen Hall, in Dublin, a piece of linen, accounted the finest ever made; there were 3800 threads in the breadth. The trustees of the linen manufacture set a value of forty guineas on the piece, which contained 23 yards. It was spun by a woman of Down. About two years before, Mr. Robert Kaine, at Lurgan, county of Ardmagh, sold 24 yards of superfine Irish linen, manufactured in that town, for 40s.per yard, to the countess of Antrim which occasioned the followinglines:—
Would all the great such patterns buy,How swiftly would the shuttles fly,Cambray should cease, and Hamburgh too,To boast their art! since Lurgan! youMay, like Arachne, dare to vie,With any spinning deity;Nay, tho’ Asbestos she should weave,Thou, Lurgan, should’st the prize receive.
Would all the great such patterns buy,How swiftly would the shuttles fly,Cambray should cease, and Hamburgh too,To boast their art! since Lurgan! youMay, like Arachne, dare to vie,With any spinning deity;Nay, tho’ Asbestos she should weave,Thou, Lurgan, should’st the prize receive.
Would all the great such patterns buy,How swiftly would the shuttles fly,Cambray should cease, and Hamburgh too,To boast their art! since Lurgan! youMay, like Arachne, dare to vie,With any spinning deity;Nay, tho’ Asbestos she should weave,Thou, Lurgan, should’st the prize receive.
Mean Temperature 38·20.
On a certain day, the date of which is uncertain, in the month of December, 1730, the books and MSS. of Dr. Tanner, bishop of St. Asaph, being on their removal from Norwich to Christchurch college in Oxford, fell into and lay under water twenty hours, and received great damage. Among them were near 300 volumes of MSS. purchased of Mr. Bateman, a bookseller, who bought them of archbishop Sancroft’s nephew. There were in all seven cartloads.[534]
It may be recollected that bishop Tanner was the friend of Mr. Browne Willis, respecting whom anaccounthas been inserted, with an original letter from that distinguished antiquary to the prelate when chancellor of Norwich.
Mean temperature 38·67.
[534]Gentleman’s Magazine.
[534]Gentleman’s Magazine.
Cambridge Term ends.
The meaning of this term in the calendar is in vol. i. 1571.
Is a diversion of necessity in winter, when we are confined by the weather, and must make entertainment in the house, because we cannot take pleasure in the open air. Though at any time we may like, yet now weloveto hear accounts of sayings and doings in former times; and, therefore, it seems that a description of an old house in the country, and an old and true story belonging to it, may be agreeable.
Littlecotes-house, two miles from Hungerford, in Berkshire, stands in a low and lonely situation. On three sides it is surrounded by a park that spreads over the adjoining hill; on the fourth, by meadows, which are watered by the river Kennet. Close on one side of the house is a thick grove of lofty trees, along the verge of which runs one of the principal avenues to it through the park. It is an irregular building of great antiquity, and was probably erected about the time of the termination of feudal warfare, when defence came no longer to be an object in a country-mansion. Many circumstances in the interior of the house, however, seem appropriate to feudal times. The hall is very spacious, floored with stones, and lighted by large transom windows, that are clothed with casements. Its walls are hung with old military accoutrements, that have long been left a prey to rust. At one end of the hall is a range of coats of mail and helmets, and there is on every side abundance of old-fashioned pistols and guns, many of them with matchlocks. Immediately below the cornice hangs a row of leathern jerkins, made in the form of a shirt, supposed to have been worn as armour by the vassals. A large oak-table, reaching nearly from one end of the room to the other, might have feasted the whole neighbourhood; and an appendage to one end of it, made it answer at other times for the old game of shuffle-board. The rest of the furniture is in a suitable style, particularly an arm-chair of cumbrous workmanship, constructed of wood, curiously turned, with a high back and triangular seat, said to have been used by judge Popham in the reign of Elizabeth. The entrance into the hall is at one end by a low door, communicating with a passage that leads from the outer door, in the front of the house, to a quadrangle within; at the other it opens upon a gloomy staircase, by which you ascend to the first floor, and passing the doors of some bed-chambers, enter a narrow gallery, which extends along the back front of the house from one end to the other of it, and looks upon an old garden. This gallery is hung with portraits, chiefly in the Spanish dresses of the sixteenth century. In one of the bed-chambers, which you pass in going towards the gallery, is a bedstead with blue furniture, which time has now made dingy and threadbare; and in the bottom of one of the bed-curtains you are shown a place where a small piece has been cut out and sewn in again; a circumstance which serves to identify the scene of the followingstory:—
It was a dark, rainy night in the month of November, that an old midwife sat musing by her cottage fire-side, when on a sudden she was startled by aloud knocking at the door. On opening it she found a horseman, who told her that her assistance was required immediately by aperson of rank, and that she should be handsomely rewarded, but that there were reasons for keeping the affair a strict secret, and, therefore, she must submit to be blindfolded, and to be conducted in that condition to the bed-chamber of the lady. After proceeding in silence for many miles through rough and dirty lanes, they stopped, and the midwife was led into a house, which, from the length of her walk through the apartment, as well as the sounds about her, she discovered to be the seat of wealth and power. When the bandage was removed from her eyes, she found herself in a bed-chamber, in which were the lady, on whose account she had been sent for, and a man of haughty and ferocious aspect. The lady gave birth to a fine boy. Immediately the man commanded the midwife to give him the child, and, catching it from her, he hurried across the room, and threw it on the back of the fire, that was blazing in the chimney. The child, however, was strong, and by its struggles rolled itself off upon the hearth, when the ruffian again seized it with fury, and, in spite of the intercession of the midwife, and the more piteous entreaties of the mother, thrust it under the grate, and raking the live coals upon it, soon put an end to its life. The midwife, after spending some time in affording all the relief in her power to the wretched mother, was told that she must be gone. Her former conductor appeared, who again bound her eyes, and conveyed her behind him to her own home; he then paid her handsomely, and departed. The midwife was strongly agitated by the horrors of the preceding night; and she immediately made a deposition of the fact before a magistrate. Two circumstances afforded hopes of detecting the house in which the crime had been committed; one was, that the midwife, as she sat by the bed-side, had, with a view to discover the place, cut out a piece of the bed-curtain, and sewn it in again; the other was, that as she had descended the staircase, she had counted the steps. Some suspicions fell upon one Darrell, at that time the proprietor of Littlecote-house and the domain around it. The house was examined, and identified by the midwife, and Darrell was tried at Salisbury for the murder. By corrupting his judge, he escaped the sentence of the law; but broke his neck by a fall from his horse in hunting, in a few months after. The place where this happened is still known by the name of Darrell’s hill: a spot to be dreaded by the peasant whom the shades of evening have overtaken on hisway.[535]
Mean Temperature 38·67.
[535]In Dr. Drake’s “Shakspeare and his Times,” from sir Walter Scott’s “Rokeby.”
[535]In Dr. Drake’s “Shakspeare and his Times,” from sir Walter Scott’s “Rokeby.”
During the reign of Henry VIII., and even of Mary, they were, if we except their size, little better than cottages, being thatched buildings, covered on the outside with the coarsest clay, and lighted only by lattices. When Harrison wrote, in the age of Elizabeth, though the greater number of manor-houses still remained framed of timber, yet he observes, “such as be latelie builded, are com’onlie either of bricke or hard stone, or both; their roomes large and comelie, and houses of office further distant from their lodgings.” The old timber mansions, too, were then covered with the finest plaster, which, says the historian, “beside the delectable whitenesse of the stuffe itselfe, is laied on so even and smoothlie, as nothing in my judgment can be done with more exactnesse:” and at the same time, the windows, interior decorations, and furniture, were becoming greatly more useful and elegant. “Of old time our countrie houses,” continues Harrison, “instead of glasse did use much lattise, and that made either of wicker or fine rifts of oke in chekerwise. I read also that some of the better sort, in and before the time of the Saxons, did make panels of horne instead of glasse, and fix them in woodden calmes. But as horne in windows is now quite laid downe in everie place, so our lattises are also growne into lesse use, because glasse is come to be so plentifull, and within a verie little so good cheape if not better then the other. The wals of our houses on the inner sides in like sort be either hanged with tapisterie, arras worke, or painted cloths, wherein either diverse histories, or hearbes, beasts, knots, and such like are stained, or else they are seeled with oke of our owne, or wainescot brought hither out of the east countries, whereby the roomes are not a little commanded, made warme, and much more close than otherwise they would be. As for stooves we have not hitherto usedthem greatlie, yet doo they now begin to be made in diverse houses of the gentrie. Like in the houses of knights, gentlemen, &c. it is not geson to behold generallie their great provision of Turkie worke, pewter, brasse, fine linen, and thereto costlie cupbords of plate, worth five or six hundred or a thousand pounds, to be deemed by estimation.”
The house of every country-gentleman of property included a neat chapel and a spacious hall; and where the estate and establishment were considerable, the mansion was divided into two parts or sides, one for the state or banqueting-rooms, and the other for the household; but in general, the latter, except in baronial residences, was the only part to be met with, and when complete, had the addition of parlours; thus Bacon, in his Essay on Building, describing the household side of a mansion, says, “I wish it divided at the first into a hall, and a chappell, with a partition between, both of good state and bignesse; and those not to goe all the length, but to have, at the further end, a winter and a summer parler, both faire: and under these roomes a faire and large cellar, sunke under ground: and likewise, some privie kitchens, with butteries and pantries, and the like.” It was the custom also to have windows opening from the parlours and passages into the chapel, hall, and kitchen, with the view of overlooking or controlling what might be going on; a trait of vigilant caution, which may still be discovered in some of our ancient colleges and manor-houses.
The hall of the country squire was the usual scene of eating and hospitality, at the upper end of which was placed the orsille, or high table, a little elevated above the floor, and here the master of the mansion presided, with an authority, if not a state, which almost equalled that of the potent baron. The table was divided into upper and lower messes, by a huge saltcellar, and the rank and consequence of the visitors were marked by the situation of their seats above and below the saltcellar; a custom which not only distinguished the relative dignity of the guests, but extended likewise to the nature of the provision, the wine frequently circulating only above the saltcellar, and the dishes below it being of a coarser kind than those near the head of thetable.[536]
Mean Temperature 39·50.