Chapter 23

[97]Buckler’s Eltham Hall.[98]This is in the open court, and, being exposed to the rain, cannot be explored with convenience but in summer, when the subterraneous passages on which it opens, are accessible.[99]Sed memorabilis amœnitas penè citius animum quam oculos diffudit aspectu, non Britanniâ tantum, sed fortasse tota Europa pulcherrimo! Ingens planities aliquot suspensa colliculis, rursus montes in orbem effusi, neque cito castigabant oculos, neque illos per immensum cœlum spargebant. Tamesis lætissima ubertate in viciniam exudat, et ad radices mentis redeuntibus ni gyrum fluctibus insulam pene molitur. Passim toto alveo naves, et omnis generis onerariæ: ut proximas quidam totas aspicerem cæterum longius stantes, aut sub altiori ripa, ex malis antennisque tantum nudam ut brumalem sylvam cognoscerem.—Lysons—Barclaii Icon. Animorum, 518.—1614.[100]See Holinshed—Stow—Hasted—Kilburne—Lambard—with the condensed account by Lysons.[101]M. de Caumont.[102]Jean de Culmien, in his “Détails sur l’Architecture des Forteresses,” has left us a vivid picture of this wretched state of society; for which see “France Monumentale,” vol. iii., following Note.[103]See the Roll, in France Monumentale, vol. iii.[104]C’est l’usage de nos jours, dit Culmien, pour les hommes les plus riches et les plus nobles, ou pour ceux qui, par conséquent, consacrent le plus exclusivement leur temps à satisfaire leurs haines privées par le meurtre, de se procurer avant tout une retraite où ils puissent se mettre à l’abri de l’attaque de leurs ennemis, combattre leurs égaux avec avantage, et retenir dans les fers ceux qui se sont trouvés les plus faibles.The following is a correct description of a baronial fortress:—Ils élèvent aussi haut qu’il leur est possible un monticule de terre transportée; ils l’entourent d’un fossé d’une largeur considérable et d’une effrayante profondeur. Sur le bord intérieur du fossé, ils plantent une palissade, de pièces de bois équarries et fortement liées entres elles, qui équivaut à un mur. S’il leur est possible, ils soutiennent cette palissade par des tours élevées de place en place. Au milieu de ce monticule, ils bâtissent une maison, ou plutôt une citadelle, d’où la vue se porte de tous côtés également. On ne peut arriver à la porte de celle-ci que par un pont qui, jeté sur la fossé, et porté sur des piliers accouplés, part du point le plus bas au-delà du fossé, et s’élève graduellement jusqu’à ce qu’il atteigne le sommet du monticule et la porte de la maison, d’où le maître le domine tout entier.—France Historique, p. 416.[105]Our antiquarian friends will readily excuse us if, in our anxiety to make the subject intelligible to every class of readers, we avoid as much as possible all technical phraseology.[106]See this exemplified in one of the subsequent illustrations, page 153.[107]To this we have alluded in Scotland Illustrated. See also New Statistical Account of Glamis, or Glammiss; Art. Forfarshire, part xii. p. 344.[108]Odonem fratrem suum de proditione in se accusatum, cepit et incarcerari præcepit, (fol. 11, ii.A.D.1078.) Cum olim Willielmus rex senior coram Lanfranco conqueretur se ab Odone fratre suo episcopo descri, tum Lanfrancus: “cur,” inquit, “apprehensum vinculis non coerces?” Rege autem respondente: quod “clericus et episcopus esset;” respondit archiepiscopus—“nonepiscopum Baiocensemapprehendes, sedCantiæ comitem.” Hujus itaque consilio Odo custodiæ est. Matth. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 14, 1088. See further traits of this prelate in the same authority.[109]History of England. Civ. and Milit.[110]Ibid.—Pictor. Hist.—Paris.[111]In Anglo-Saxon, a niddering, or un-nithing—“one of the strongest terms of contempt,” says Camden. The original expressions are, “Baed that aelc man the waere un-nithing, sceolde cuman to him, Frencisce and Englisce, of porte and of upplande.” Literally, “ordered that every man who is not a mere nothing, be he French or English, in town or country, should repair to him.” Hist. of Engl. Civil and Military Transact. vol. i. 394.Nithing,—quod Latinènequamsonat: Paris, f. 15.[112]Episcopum vero in posteriori castello Pevensey interceptum, vinculis mancipavit. Milites autem regii ad castrum Roffense illum ducentes, ab illis qui castro præerant, ingressum postulant: hoc enim dominum suum velle, hoc regem absentem jubere dicunt. Erant autem tunc in castro illo omnis fere juventutis Angliæ et Normanniæ nobilitas, tres scilicet filii comitis Rogeri, et Eustachius comes Bononie, junior, cum multis aliis.... Illi vero qui in castro erant ex muro prospicientes,vultumepiscopi cum militumverbisnon convenire percipientes, ocyus apertis valvis exeuntes, omnes cum episcopo milites vinctos reducunt.... Obsessi autem longiorem obsidionem ferre non valentes, castellum regi reddiderunt. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 15.[113]History of England—Civil and Military Transact. vol. i.[114]Ibid. p. 395.[115]History of Eng. Civ. and Milit. Transact. vol. i. 395, quoting the authority of Thierry, Chron. Sax. Orderic. Vitalis, etc. Also, Selecta Monum. 203-280. Paris, f. 15. 8.[116]Holinshed, fol. 188.[117]The following passage illustrates the preceding facts:—“Duraverat autem obsidio tribus ferè mensibus: unde Rex tum propter multitudinem interfectorum, tum propter infinitam pecuniæ summam, quam in obsidione consumpserat, nimio furore succensus, universos nobiles illos, sine misericordiæ consideratione, patibulo suspendi praecepit. Sed vir nobilis Savaricus de Malloleone, in faciem Regi resistens, ait: Domine Rex, guerra nostra nondum finita est, unde vobis diligenter considerandum est, quàm varios eventus bello sortiantur. Nempe si nobis istos nunc suspendio tradatis, Barones adversarii nostri, vel me fortè vel alios de exercitu vestro nobiles intercipere potuerunt; et consimili casu in brevi et exemplo vestri suspendio tradere, quod absit à vobis, ne contingat: quia tali conditione nullus in vestro obsequio militaret. Tunc Rex, licèt invitus, consilio ejus et aliorum virorum prudentum adquiescens, Willielmum de Albineto, W. de Lancastre, W. de Emeford, Thomam de Muleton, Osbertum Giffard, Osbertum de Bonbi, Odinellum de Albineto, et alios nobiliores misit ad Castrum de Corf, sub arcta custodia deputandos. Robertum verò de Chaurna, et Richardum Giffart, cum Thoma de Lincoln, apud Castrum de Nothingham; aliosque per loca diversa carcerali custodiæ mancipandos direxit.“Servientes vero omnes, præter balistarios, qui multos in obsidione milites et servientes interfecerant, patibulo suspendi præcepit. His ita gestis, pars Baronum non erat mediocriter infirmata.”—Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 268, et seqq.[118]The names here enumerated as the friends and abettors of Albini were—William de Lancaster, William de Emeford, Thomas de Muleton, Osbert Gifford, Osbert de Bobie, Odinell de Albiney, Robert Charnie, Richard Gifford, and Thomas de Lincoln—names which are variously spelt in the different chronicles.—See the preceding note.[119]The following occurrence, as mentioned by the same historian, shows the force upon which King John had calculated in addition to the powerful army with which he actually beleaguered the castle:—“Here is to be remembred, that whilest the siege laie thus at Rochester, Hugh de Boues, a valiant knight, but full of pride and arrogancie, a Frenchman borne, but banished out of his countrie, came down to Calice with an huge number of men of warre and souldiers to come to the aid of King John. But as he was upon the sea with all his people, meaning to land at Dover, by a sudden tempest which rose at that instant, the said Hugh with all his companie was drowned by shipwracke. Soone after the bodie of the same Hugh, with the carcases of other innumerable both of men, women, and children, were found not farre from Yermouth, and all along that coast. There were of them in alle fortie thousand, as saith Matthew Paris; for of all those which he brought with him, there was (as it is said) not one man left alive.“The king (as the same went, but how true I know not) had given by charter vnto the said Hugh de Boues the whole countrie of Northfolke, so that he ment to have expelled the old inhabitants, and to have peopled it with strangers. But whether this was so or not, sure it is that he was verie sorowfull for the losse of this succor and aid which thus perished in the seas, though it happened verie well for his subiects of England, that should have been sore oppressed by such multitude of strangers, which for the most part must needs have lived upon the countrie, to the utter undooing of the inhabitants wheresoever they should have come.”[120]Una dierum dum obsidio castri Roffensis duraret, Rex et Savaricus circumibant castrum, ut infirmiora ejus considerarent. Quos cùm cognovisset quidam optimus arcubalistarius Willielmi de Albineto, ait illi: Placeat tibi, domine mi, ut occidam Regem hostem nostrum cruentissimum spiculo hoc, quod habeo promptum? Cui ille: Non, non, absit gluto pessime, ut in sanctum Domini mortem procuremus. Et ille: Non parceret tibi in consimili casu. Tum Willielmus: Fiat Domini beneplacitum: Dominus disponet, non ille. In hoc similis erat David parcentis Saul, cùm occidisse potuit. Hoc posteà non latuit Regem, nec ob hoc voluit parcere capto, quin ipsum suspendisset, si permissum ei fuisset.—Matth. Paris. Hist. Angl. 270.The above anecdote is also related in the “Admirable Curiosities of Englande, 1682,” with some little difference in the expression. It is honourable to Albini, of whose character notice has already appeared in this work.[121]Holinshed, 188. Also Paris.[122]Hist. and Antiq. of Rochester. Hume, Hist.[123]Op. citat.—Chronicles.—Antiq. of Roch.—Paris. Hist. Angl. fol. 282.[124]Hist. of the Castle. Civil and Milit. Transact.—Chronicles.[125]Between the reign of Henry the Third and that of Edward the Fourth, who contributed the last repairs to the Castle, Guy de Rochfort, one of the King’s foreign minions—William de St. Clare, Robert de Houghan, Robert de Septuans, Stephanus de Dene—“a great enemy to the monks”—William Skarlett, and William Keriel, had each in turn the custody of this fortress; but they have left behind them no remarkable traits of character.—Hist. of Rochester.[126]One incident, however, may be mentioned, namely; in 1382, the fifth year of Richard the Second, while the rebellion of Wat Tyler was at its height, a party of the insurgents had the hardihood to lay siege to Rochester Castle, and penetrating into the interior, carried off a prisoner in triumph. (History of Rochester Castle, 34.) From all the information recorded respecting this fortress, it has never apparently sustained a siege with that degree of obstinacy which its strength and position would have led one to suppose. Pestilence in the first—starvation in the second instance, compelled the surrender of its garrison; and on the third occasion it was only saved from a similar fate by the unexpected recal of Leicester from under its walls to more important duties in Sussex. But, ill provisioned, the siege could be protracted neither by the thickness of the walls, nor the bravery of the garrison.[127]King James I. having in 1610 granted this castle, with all the services and emoluments appertaining thereto, to Sir Anthony Weldon, of Swanscombe; Walker Weldon, a descendant, sold the timber-work belonging to the castle to Gimmet, who, not many years ago, applied a part of it in building a brewhouse on the common.—Antiquities of Rochester Castle.[128]But all the beer, it is said, ever brewed within the new precincts partook so largely of the virtues of oak, that the drinkers underwent the internal process of tanning, till the beverage became known as the “Baron’s Oak-wort.” The case was then laid before a learned chemist, who declared that “whereas the oak was without bark, so ought the beer to have been without bitter.” But another, much more acute in questions of taste, gave it as his opinion, that the old oak having been thrice steeped in the bitter tyranny of King John, as he proved from history, had imbibed so much of the spirit of these times, that the flavour now complained of was nothing more than the natural consequence of using old baronial oak for modern brewhouses; a measure, he averred, that could not be too severely reprobated. The solution thus given to an intricate question was lucid and satisfactory; but the brewer “never once blessed the day that he bought the venerable roof-tree and beams of Rochester Castle at the hammer.”—MS. Old Castles.[129]Some masons of London bought the stone stairs, and other squared and wrought stones of the windows and arches; and the rest of the materials were offered to a pavior, but he declined purchasing them, finding, upon trial, the cement so hard, that the expense of separating and cleaning the stones would amount to more than their value. This essay was made on the eastern side, near the postern leading to Bully Hill, where a large chasm shows the effects of it.—History and Antiquities of Rochester.[130]Antiquities of Kent—Rochester.[131]In this we shall be guided by the authorities of Grose, Denne, Kilburne, the Kentish Tourist, and the various archæological and historical writers who have successively made the “Castrum Cantuariorum” the subject of personal study and research; but still reserving to ourselves the privilege of making such comments or corrections as a personal investigation of the Castle shall appear to warrant.[132]History and Antiquities of Rochester Castle.[133]In the old palace of Stuttgardt, the grand staircase is so spacious, and so gradual in the ascent, that a cavalier might ascend and descend without any difficulty. It is the old feudal mansion of the Dukes of Wirtemberg, and possesses many striking characteristics of the castles of that age and country.[134]See the Work above quoted.[135]See the Engraving, p. 146, with these arches.[136]See also Mr. Dallaway on this subject; “Rape of Arundel;” Discourses on Architecture, 277.[137]From a dateless rescript in the Regist. Roff. it appears that there was a Chapel in the Castle; but whether in this Tower, or some other part, we cannot determine. “It was named the King’s Chapel, and the ministers that officiated in it were called King’s Chaplains. Their stipend was fifty shillings a-year.”[138]From the many urns and lachrymatories found on Boley Hill, there is no doubt but it was the burying-place of the Romans, when stationed at Rochester. Denne’s Antiquit. Rochester.[139]Military Architecture in England.—Dallaway, 285.[140]Discourses.—Milit. Archit.[141]Dallaway’s Discourses, etc.[142]Military Architect. in England, p. 274. Antiq. of Rochester.[143]Lambard, Perambul. ed. 1576.[144]Antiquities, p. 148.[145]Antiq. of Rochester.[146]Ibid.[147]Kentish Traveller, p. 140. Joneval, p. 85.[148]Such were the general features of this bridge down to 1793, when a series of improvements was commenced under the direction of Mr. Alexander, a London architect. The breadth of the road-way then was increased from fifteen to twenty-seven feet, by springing new arches in every opening of the bridge from the points of the piers in the old work, without any new foundations. The centre arch was then formed by throwing the two middle arches into one, and is nearly as large as that of Blackfriars, London; so that great convenience has been offered to the navigation in the Medway above Rochester. The balustrade is formed of white freestone, very substantial and elegant in appearance, with commodious footpaths on either side; and the whole expense was defrayed from the improved income of the bridge-estates, without establishing any toll upon the thoroughfare. Since that period it has undergone various minor repairs, and with the Castle in the background, and the various trading craft passing and repassing with every tide, few objects can be more pleasing and picturesque than the bridge of Rochester.[149]In the Dutch life and achievements of Van Ruyter, a goodly 4to, there is a large engraving of Rochester, Upnor Castle, and the bridge, with a most exaggerated picture of the engagement.[150]Hist. of Rochester. Hist. of the War—Reign of Queen Elizabeth.[151]Warton also mentions his having seen a ballad by Faire, called “Gadshill,” under the year 1588; and adds in a note—See Clavell’s “Recantation,” a poem in 4to, London, 1634. Clavell was a robber, and here recites his adventures on the highway. His first depredations were on Gadshill. Further particulars in the Kentish Traveller’s Companion, ed. 1799.—Simmons and Kirby.[152]Simul et videbatur voluntati religiosæ nomen applaudere, quod Theokesburia dicatur quasi Theotokos-biria, id est, Dei genetricis curia, vocabulo ex Græco et Anglicano composito. Will. Malmesbur. Edit. fol. 1596, p. 162.[153]Sir R. Atkyns, Rudder, Camden, Dyde, and the various “Directories;” Notes on the Great Charters, Dugdale’s Monasticon, Chron. of Tewkesb., etc.[154]HĀNC · ĀVLĀM · RELIĀM · ÐODO · DVX · CONSECRĀRI · FECIT· IN ECCLESIĀM · IN HONOREM · SĀNCTÆ · MĀRIÆ · VIRGINIS · Monast. f. 154.[155]Dugdale, Leland.[156]Speaking of the cell of Cranburne, belonging to Tewkesbury:—Alredus Meauw, Comes Glocestriæ, primus fundator.—Fabulabatur huic antiquitus monasterium Theokesbyri: sed Robertus, filius Haimonis, comes Glocestriæ, dedit prædia hujus domus monasterio de Theokesbirie.—See Dugd. p. 163.—Chronic. of Tewkesburye.[157]Being sent as ambassador to the Court of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, Brictric made so tender an impression upon the heart of the Count’s daughter, Matilda, that, unable to disguise her partiality for the English noble, she resolved to unite her destiny with his. No object could delight her eye, no sound could charm her ear, but the figure and voice of Brictric! But here the course of true love did not run smooth—it ran all on one side; for, occupied perhaps with politics, or haply with some early predilections nearer the Severn, Brictric was obviously insensible to the tender appeal, and so ungallant, moreover, as to treat the affections lavished upon him by the fair Maud with a callousness of look and expression which proved almost a death-blow to so doting a heart. The ambassador, however, little consulted his own interest when he slighted these tender overtures on the part of the maid of Flanders. But he lived in times when plenipotentiaries were not so wise as they are in the present day; for on the very first protocol being submitted to his consideration, he broke off the negotiations and returned to England. For a time the daughter of Baldwin was inconsolable. Like Queen Dido of old, she exclaimed in great bitterness—for Latin was no mystery to the ladies of her time———“Siquis mihi parvulus aulaLuderet Æneas, qui te tantem ore referret,Non equidem capta ac deserta viderer,Crudelis”——But while the lady was thus giving vent to her love in pathetic hexameters, Brictric had arrived at Tewkesbury, little thinking of that storm which was soon to burst on the shores of Britain, and in which he was to be stripped of his ancient patrimony.[158]In “France Monumentale” there is a full-length portrait of the Conqueror, which bears a striking resemblance to that of Henry the Eighth.[159]Dudg. 154, 50.[160]Fuerat Illiud monasterium primitus apud Craneburnam: sed abbatis Giraldi prouisione, provicini fluminisopportunitate, et dominicarum terrarum contiguo. Theokesburiæ aptius locari visum. Will. Malmesbur. (fol. 162.)[161]Ibi nempe (Theokesburiæ) Cœnobium Sanctæ Mariæ, Robertus filius Haimonis, super Sabrinam fluviumconstruxerat et multis opibus temporeGulielmi junioris Anglorum regis affatimlocupletavit. Ord. Vital. Hist. Eccl. 600.[162]His words are, (folio 162, edit. 1596,) “Est et monachorum Theokesburiæ, quod noviterRobertus filius Hamonisfavore suo prouexit, nec facile memoratu, quantum exaltavit vbi et ædificiorum decor, et monachorum charitas aduentantium rapit oculos et allicit animos.” This is a repetition of what the same writer has stated in the same words at fol. 89, sect. 28-9.[163]Order. Vitalis Histor. Ecclesiæ, p. 598-600. Giraldus autem in veteri monasterio Sancti Petri Monachile Schema devote suscepit ... unde post aliquod tempus ad regimen ecclesiasticum canonice provectus est et Theokesburiæ primusAbbaseffectus est.[164]Willielm. Malmesbur. fol. 89, ed. 1596. Non tamen sine sanguine tantam victoriam consummans multos ex charissimis amisit. Inter quos Rogerium de Glocestre, probatum militem in obsessione Falesij arcubalistæ jactu in capite percussum, prætereaRobertum filium Haimonisqui conto ictus tempora, hebetatusque ingenio non pauco tempore, quasi captus mente, supervixit.... Robertus monasterium Theokesburiæ suo favore, etc. This compliment is repeated at fol. 162.[165]His high titles were—Prince of Glamorgan, Earl of Corboile, Baron of Thorigny and of Granville, Lord of Gloucester, Bristol, Caerdiff, and Tewkesbury, and near kinsman of the king. But having in 1091 made a descent into South Wales, slain its last prince, Rhys ap Tewdwr, and subdued Glamorgan, he assumed in his charters the proud title of Conqueror of Wales.—Hist. of Tewkesb.—Baronage.[166]Robert of Gloucester, in commemorating these objections on the part of the Lady Mabilia, and their removal and adjustment on that of King Henry, gives the following shrewd and amusing dialogue. The king having proposed to the heiress, as a state measure, that she should give her hand to his son Robert, the lady, who was fully sensible that the grand charm which made the King suitor for his son was her princely “heritage,” answers him thus:Mabel.Sir, she saide, ich wote your herte upon me isMore for myne heritage, than for myselfe, I wis;And suche heritage as ich have, itt were to mee grit shameTo take a lorde but he haddé any surname.K. Henry.Damoseill, quod the Kingé, thou seest well in thys case,Sir Robert Fitz-Häyman thi faders namé was;As fayre a name he shall have, as you may see,Sir Robert le Fitz-Royshall his name be.Yea, Damoseill, he sayd, thy lorde shall have a nameFor him and for his heires, fayre without blame:ForRobert Earl of Gloucestrehis name shall be, and ’tisHee shall be Earl of Gloucestre, and his heirés, I wis.This declaration on the part of the king having instantly removed every possible objection, the heiress no longer hesitates, but in great and amiable simplicity answers—Mabel.Inne this forme, quod shee, ich wole that all my thyng be hys.Robert, a monk of Gloucester, is supposed to have finished his rhyming Chronicle about 1280.—Campbell’s Essay on English Poetry, note, p. 37. This extract from the Chronicle is slightly modernized; but in Hearne’s edit. vol. ii. 431, the reader will find it in its original purity.[167]Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.[168]Dyde.[169]It is extremely uncertain what Richard de Clare is alluded to in the Baronial Covenant in the time of King John. The Richard who was living nearest to the time died in 1200, 8vo. K. John; and in 1215 the title was held by his eldest son Gilbert de Clare, who was also one of the witnessing barons. See Milles, Catal. of Honor. Lond. 1610, p. 334, who states that this Richard died the 3 Kalend. Dec. in the year 1218. That this account is probable may be shown from the following circumstance:—All genealogical writers agree that he married Amicia, second daughter (and co-heiress) of the Earl of Gloucester, by whom he had Gilbert his successor and a daughter.—Notes on the Great Charters, 271.[170]Dugd. 1. 156. Dyde, 38. Leland. Collect. vol. i. p. 456.[171]It is recorded among the memorabilia of this earl, that a Jew having accidentally fallen into a common sewer on Saturday, refused all assistance to extricate him from his loathsome prison, lest he should profane the Sabbath of his nation. Richard de Clare, lord of the manor, hearing of the circumstance and the man’s obstinacy, gave orders that none should assist him on the Sunday, resolving to make him observe the Christian Sabbath with the same solemnity with which he had observed his own. But before Monday this strict observer of the ceremonies of the law had fallen a victim to his conscientious scruples.—Dyde.[172]Lord of the Isles, 267.[173]Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.—Dugdale, Chron.[174]To the office of sacrist in the Abbey of Tewkesbury he appropriated certain rents in Bristol: and to the priest who should say the first mass for the soul of the said Guy every day at the altar of St. Margaret in the church of Tewkesbury, with certain prayers specified for his surviving kindred, and his kindred deceased, the mass of the Trinity on Sunday, the mass of the Holy Ghost on Monday, the mass of St. Thomas on Tuesday, the mass of the Holy Rest on Wednesday, the mass of Ascension on Thursday, the mass of the Holy Cross on Friday, the mass of St. Mary on Saturday—twenty-one pence weekly. Farther, to him who should celebrate mass on his anniversary, or on that of his wife Elizabeth—if the abbot, five shillings; if the prior, three shillings and four-pence: to him who should read the Gospel, to the reader of the Epistle, to him who should hold the paten, and to the precentor and his two assistants, eight-pence each; to the prior twelve-pence, and to every monk four-pence.—Monast. Anglican. I. 157.[175]The custom of the day: trinkets, robes, needlework, apparel of all kinds, were usually left to the church, which declined nothing by way of gifts, from a coronet to a coral bead.—See the enumeration in the Monast. Anglican. I. 157.[176]Then under the guardianship of Edmund, Duke of York, who had married him to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Ralph Nevil, Earl of Westmoreland. He left no issue, and was buried with his ancestors in the Abbey church. Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.[177]See Dyde, Hist. and Antiq. Chron. of Tewkesb.[178]Edward the Fourth confirmed all the privileges granted by his ancestors to the Abbey of Tewkesbury, as well as the charter of fishing in the Severn and Avon, granted by Warwick. Hist. of the Abbey, p. 48.[179]Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesbury, 1798, p. 51.[180]Ibid.[181]Edit. 1574, p. 164.[182]Dimensions.—Original length of the Church, including the Lady Chapel, nearly400ft.Length from east to west, in its present state300“of the great Cross Aisle120Breadth of the Choir and side Aisles70““West front100Height from the area to the roof of the Tower120[183]Analysis of Cathedral Churches, &c.[184]History of Gloucest.[185]Here her deare Devonshiere, noble Covrtney, dyed;Her faithful friend greatSomersethere fell.—Drayton.[186]Ejus corpus, cum reliquis interfectorum cadaveribus, in proximo Cœnobio monachorum ordinis Divi Benedicti humatur.[187]LIVINGS.PARSONAGES.VICARAGES.InGloucestershire410Worcestershire22Warwickshire2—Wiltshire and Bristol53Oxfordshire12Somersetshire3—Devonshire—1Cornwall—2Glamorgan—5Dorsetshire—2

[97]Buckler’s Eltham Hall.

[98]This is in the open court, and, being exposed to the rain, cannot be explored with convenience but in summer, when the subterraneous passages on which it opens, are accessible.

[99]Sed memorabilis amœnitas penè citius animum quam oculos diffudit aspectu, non Britanniâ tantum, sed fortasse tota Europa pulcherrimo! Ingens planities aliquot suspensa colliculis, rursus montes in orbem effusi, neque cito castigabant oculos, neque illos per immensum cœlum spargebant. Tamesis lætissima ubertate in viciniam exudat, et ad radices mentis redeuntibus ni gyrum fluctibus insulam pene molitur. Passim toto alveo naves, et omnis generis onerariæ: ut proximas quidam totas aspicerem cæterum longius stantes, aut sub altiori ripa, ex malis antennisque tantum nudam ut brumalem sylvam cognoscerem.—Lysons—Barclaii Icon. Animorum, 518.—1614.

[100]See Holinshed—Stow—Hasted—Kilburne—Lambard—with the condensed account by Lysons.

[101]M. de Caumont.

[102]Jean de Culmien, in his “Détails sur l’Architecture des Forteresses,” has left us a vivid picture of this wretched state of society; for which see “France Monumentale,” vol. iii., following Note.

[103]See the Roll, in France Monumentale, vol. iii.

[104]C’est l’usage de nos jours, dit Culmien, pour les hommes les plus riches et les plus nobles, ou pour ceux qui, par conséquent, consacrent le plus exclusivement leur temps à satisfaire leurs haines privées par le meurtre, de se procurer avant tout une retraite où ils puissent se mettre à l’abri de l’attaque de leurs ennemis, combattre leurs égaux avec avantage, et retenir dans les fers ceux qui se sont trouvés les plus faibles.The following is a correct description of a baronial fortress:—Ils élèvent aussi haut qu’il leur est possible un monticule de terre transportée; ils l’entourent d’un fossé d’une largeur considérable et d’une effrayante profondeur. Sur le bord intérieur du fossé, ils plantent une palissade, de pièces de bois équarries et fortement liées entres elles, qui équivaut à un mur. S’il leur est possible, ils soutiennent cette palissade par des tours élevées de place en place. Au milieu de ce monticule, ils bâtissent une maison, ou plutôt une citadelle, d’où la vue se porte de tous côtés également. On ne peut arriver à la porte de celle-ci que par un pont qui, jeté sur la fossé, et porté sur des piliers accouplés, part du point le plus bas au-delà du fossé, et s’élève graduellement jusqu’à ce qu’il atteigne le sommet du monticule et la porte de la maison, d’où le maître le domine tout entier.—France Historique, p. 416.

The following is a correct description of a baronial fortress:—Ils élèvent aussi haut qu’il leur est possible un monticule de terre transportée; ils l’entourent d’un fossé d’une largeur considérable et d’une effrayante profondeur. Sur le bord intérieur du fossé, ils plantent une palissade, de pièces de bois équarries et fortement liées entres elles, qui équivaut à un mur. S’il leur est possible, ils soutiennent cette palissade par des tours élevées de place en place. Au milieu de ce monticule, ils bâtissent une maison, ou plutôt une citadelle, d’où la vue se porte de tous côtés également. On ne peut arriver à la porte de celle-ci que par un pont qui, jeté sur la fossé, et porté sur des piliers accouplés, part du point le plus bas au-delà du fossé, et s’élève graduellement jusqu’à ce qu’il atteigne le sommet du monticule et la porte de la maison, d’où le maître le domine tout entier.—France Historique, p. 416.

[105]Our antiquarian friends will readily excuse us if, in our anxiety to make the subject intelligible to every class of readers, we avoid as much as possible all technical phraseology.

[106]See this exemplified in one of the subsequent illustrations, page 153.

[107]To this we have alluded in Scotland Illustrated. See also New Statistical Account of Glamis, or Glammiss; Art. Forfarshire, part xii. p. 344.

[108]Odonem fratrem suum de proditione in se accusatum, cepit et incarcerari præcepit, (fol. 11, ii.A.D.1078.) Cum olim Willielmus rex senior coram Lanfranco conqueretur se ab Odone fratre suo episcopo descri, tum Lanfrancus: “cur,” inquit, “apprehensum vinculis non coerces?” Rege autem respondente: quod “clericus et episcopus esset;” respondit archiepiscopus—“nonepiscopum Baiocensemapprehendes, sedCantiæ comitem.” Hujus itaque consilio Odo custodiæ est. Matth. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 14, 1088. See further traits of this prelate in the same authority.

[109]History of England. Civ. and Milit.

[110]Ibid.—Pictor. Hist.—Paris.

[111]In Anglo-Saxon, a niddering, or un-nithing—“one of the strongest terms of contempt,” says Camden. The original expressions are, “Baed that aelc man the waere un-nithing, sceolde cuman to him, Frencisce and Englisce, of porte and of upplande.” Literally, “ordered that every man who is not a mere nothing, be he French or English, in town or country, should repair to him.” Hist. of Engl. Civil and Military Transact. vol. i. 394.Nithing,—quod Latinènequamsonat: Paris, f. 15.

[112]Episcopum vero in posteriori castello Pevensey interceptum, vinculis mancipavit. Milites autem regii ad castrum Roffense illum ducentes, ab illis qui castro præerant, ingressum postulant: hoc enim dominum suum velle, hoc regem absentem jubere dicunt. Erant autem tunc in castro illo omnis fere juventutis Angliæ et Normanniæ nobilitas, tres scilicet filii comitis Rogeri, et Eustachius comes Bononie, junior, cum multis aliis.... Illi vero qui in castro erant ex muro prospicientes,vultumepiscopi cum militumverbisnon convenire percipientes, ocyus apertis valvis exeuntes, omnes cum episcopo milites vinctos reducunt.... Obsessi autem longiorem obsidionem ferre non valentes, castellum regi reddiderunt. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 15.

[113]History of England—Civil and Military Transact. vol. i.

[114]Ibid. p. 395.

[115]History of Eng. Civ. and Milit. Transact. vol. i. 395, quoting the authority of Thierry, Chron. Sax. Orderic. Vitalis, etc. Also, Selecta Monum. 203-280. Paris, f. 15. 8.

[116]Holinshed, fol. 188.

[117]The following passage illustrates the preceding facts:—“Duraverat autem obsidio tribus ferè mensibus: unde Rex tum propter multitudinem interfectorum, tum propter infinitam pecuniæ summam, quam in obsidione consumpserat, nimio furore succensus, universos nobiles illos, sine misericordiæ consideratione, patibulo suspendi praecepit. Sed vir nobilis Savaricus de Malloleone, in faciem Regi resistens, ait: Domine Rex, guerra nostra nondum finita est, unde vobis diligenter considerandum est, quàm varios eventus bello sortiantur. Nempe si nobis istos nunc suspendio tradatis, Barones adversarii nostri, vel me fortè vel alios de exercitu vestro nobiles intercipere potuerunt; et consimili casu in brevi et exemplo vestri suspendio tradere, quod absit à vobis, ne contingat: quia tali conditione nullus in vestro obsequio militaret. Tunc Rex, licèt invitus, consilio ejus et aliorum virorum prudentum adquiescens, Willielmum de Albineto, W. de Lancastre, W. de Emeford, Thomam de Muleton, Osbertum Giffard, Osbertum de Bonbi, Odinellum de Albineto, et alios nobiliores misit ad Castrum de Corf, sub arcta custodia deputandos. Robertum verò de Chaurna, et Richardum Giffart, cum Thoma de Lincoln, apud Castrum de Nothingham; aliosque per loca diversa carcerali custodiæ mancipandos direxit.“Servientes vero omnes, præter balistarios, qui multos in obsidione milites et servientes interfecerant, patibulo suspendi præcepit. His ita gestis, pars Baronum non erat mediocriter infirmata.”—Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 268, et seqq.

“Servientes vero omnes, præter balistarios, qui multos in obsidione milites et servientes interfecerant, patibulo suspendi præcepit. His ita gestis, pars Baronum non erat mediocriter infirmata.”—Matt. Par. Hist. Angl. fol. 268, et seqq.

[118]The names here enumerated as the friends and abettors of Albini were—William de Lancaster, William de Emeford, Thomas de Muleton, Osbert Gifford, Osbert de Bobie, Odinell de Albiney, Robert Charnie, Richard Gifford, and Thomas de Lincoln—names which are variously spelt in the different chronicles.—See the preceding note.

[119]The following occurrence, as mentioned by the same historian, shows the force upon which King John had calculated in addition to the powerful army with which he actually beleaguered the castle:—“Here is to be remembred, that whilest the siege laie thus at Rochester, Hugh de Boues, a valiant knight, but full of pride and arrogancie, a Frenchman borne, but banished out of his countrie, came down to Calice with an huge number of men of warre and souldiers to come to the aid of King John. But as he was upon the sea with all his people, meaning to land at Dover, by a sudden tempest which rose at that instant, the said Hugh with all his companie was drowned by shipwracke. Soone after the bodie of the same Hugh, with the carcases of other innumerable both of men, women, and children, were found not farre from Yermouth, and all along that coast. There were of them in alle fortie thousand, as saith Matthew Paris; for of all those which he brought with him, there was (as it is said) not one man left alive.“The king (as the same went, but how true I know not) had given by charter vnto the said Hugh de Boues the whole countrie of Northfolke, so that he ment to have expelled the old inhabitants, and to have peopled it with strangers. But whether this was so or not, sure it is that he was verie sorowfull for the losse of this succor and aid which thus perished in the seas, though it happened verie well for his subiects of England, that should have been sore oppressed by such multitude of strangers, which for the most part must needs have lived upon the countrie, to the utter undooing of the inhabitants wheresoever they should have come.”

“The king (as the same went, but how true I know not) had given by charter vnto the said Hugh de Boues the whole countrie of Northfolke, so that he ment to have expelled the old inhabitants, and to have peopled it with strangers. But whether this was so or not, sure it is that he was verie sorowfull for the losse of this succor and aid which thus perished in the seas, though it happened verie well for his subiects of England, that should have been sore oppressed by such multitude of strangers, which for the most part must needs have lived upon the countrie, to the utter undooing of the inhabitants wheresoever they should have come.”

[120]Una dierum dum obsidio castri Roffensis duraret, Rex et Savaricus circumibant castrum, ut infirmiora ejus considerarent. Quos cùm cognovisset quidam optimus arcubalistarius Willielmi de Albineto, ait illi: Placeat tibi, domine mi, ut occidam Regem hostem nostrum cruentissimum spiculo hoc, quod habeo promptum? Cui ille: Non, non, absit gluto pessime, ut in sanctum Domini mortem procuremus. Et ille: Non parceret tibi in consimili casu. Tum Willielmus: Fiat Domini beneplacitum: Dominus disponet, non ille. In hoc similis erat David parcentis Saul, cùm occidisse potuit. Hoc posteà non latuit Regem, nec ob hoc voluit parcere capto, quin ipsum suspendisset, si permissum ei fuisset.—Matth. Paris. Hist. Angl. 270.The above anecdote is also related in the “Admirable Curiosities of Englande, 1682,” with some little difference in the expression. It is honourable to Albini, of whose character notice has already appeared in this work.

The above anecdote is also related in the “Admirable Curiosities of Englande, 1682,” with some little difference in the expression. It is honourable to Albini, of whose character notice has already appeared in this work.

[121]Holinshed, 188. Also Paris.

[122]Hist. and Antiq. of Rochester. Hume, Hist.

[123]Op. citat.—Chronicles.—Antiq. of Roch.—Paris. Hist. Angl. fol. 282.

[124]Hist. of the Castle. Civil and Milit. Transact.—Chronicles.

[125]Between the reign of Henry the Third and that of Edward the Fourth, who contributed the last repairs to the Castle, Guy de Rochfort, one of the King’s foreign minions—William de St. Clare, Robert de Houghan, Robert de Septuans, Stephanus de Dene—“a great enemy to the monks”—William Skarlett, and William Keriel, had each in turn the custody of this fortress; but they have left behind them no remarkable traits of character.—Hist. of Rochester.

[126]One incident, however, may be mentioned, namely; in 1382, the fifth year of Richard the Second, while the rebellion of Wat Tyler was at its height, a party of the insurgents had the hardihood to lay siege to Rochester Castle, and penetrating into the interior, carried off a prisoner in triumph. (History of Rochester Castle, 34.) From all the information recorded respecting this fortress, it has never apparently sustained a siege with that degree of obstinacy which its strength and position would have led one to suppose. Pestilence in the first—starvation in the second instance, compelled the surrender of its garrison; and on the third occasion it was only saved from a similar fate by the unexpected recal of Leicester from under its walls to more important duties in Sussex. But, ill provisioned, the siege could be protracted neither by the thickness of the walls, nor the bravery of the garrison.

[127]King James I. having in 1610 granted this castle, with all the services and emoluments appertaining thereto, to Sir Anthony Weldon, of Swanscombe; Walker Weldon, a descendant, sold the timber-work belonging to the castle to Gimmet, who, not many years ago, applied a part of it in building a brewhouse on the common.—Antiquities of Rochester Castle.

[128]But all the beer, it is said, ever brewed within the new precincts partook so largely of the virtues of oak, that the drinkers underwent the internal process of tanning, till the beverage became known as the “Baron’s Oak-wort.” The case was then laid before a learned chemist, who declared that “whereas the oak was without bark, so ought the beer to have been without bitter.” But another, much more acute in questions of taste, gave it as his opinion, that the old oak having been thrice steeped in the bitter tyranny of King John, as he proved from history, had imbibed so much of the spirit of these times, that the flavour now complained of was nothing more than the natural consequence of using old baronial oak for modern brewhouses; a measure, he averred, that could not be too severely reprobated. The solution thus given to an intricate question was lucid and satisfactory; but the brewer “never once blessed the day that he bought the venerable roof-tree and beams of Rochester Castle at the hammer.”—MS. Old Castles.

[129]Some masons of London bought the stone stairs, and other squared and wrought stones of the windows and arches; and the rest of the materials were offered to a pavior, but he declined purchasing them, finding, upon trial, the cement so hard, that the expense of separating and cleaning the stones would amount to more than their value. This essay was made on the eastern side, near the postern leading to Bully Hill, where a large chasm shows the effects of it.—History and Antiquities of Rochester.

[130]Antiquities of Kent—Rochester.

[131]In this we shall be guided by the authorities of Grose, Denne, Kilburne, the Kentish Tourist, and the various archæological and historical writers who have successively made the “Castrum Cantuariorum” the subject of personal study and research; but still reserving to ourselves the privilege of making such comments or corrections as a personal investigation of the Castle shall appear to warrant.

[132]History and Antiquities of Rochester Castle.

[133]In the old palace of Stuttgardt, the grand staircase is so spacious, and so gradual in the ascent, that a cavalier might ascend and descend without any difficulty. It is the old feudal mansion of the Dukes of Wirtemberg, and possesses many striking characteristics of the castles of that age and country.

[134]See the Work above quoted.

[135]See the Engraving, p. 146, with these arches.

[136]See also Mr. Dallaway on this subject; “Rape of Arundel;” Discourses on Architecture, 277.

[137]From a dateless rescript in the Regist. Roff. it appears that there was a Chapel in the Castle; but whether in this Tower, or some other part, we cannot determine. “It was named the King’s Chapel, and the ministers that officiated in it were called King’s Chaplains. Their stipend was fifty shillings a-year.”

[138]From the many urns and lachrymatories found on Boley Hill, there is no doubt but it was the burying-place of the Romans, when stationed at Rochester. Denne’s Antiquit. Rochester.

[139]Military Architecture in England.—Dallaway, 285.

[140]Discourses.—Milit. Archit.

[141]Dallaway’s Discourses, etc.

[142]Military Architect. in England, p. 274. Antiq. of Rochester.

[143]Lambard, Perambul. ed. 1576.

[144]Antiquities, p. 148.

[145]Antiq. of Rochester.

[146]Ibid.

[147]Kentish Traveller, p. 140. Joneval, p. 85.

[148]Such were the general features of this bridge down to 1793, when a series of improvements was commenced under the direction of Mr. Alexander, a London architect. The breadth of the road-way then was increased from fifteen to twenty-seven feet, by springing new arches in every opening of the bridge from the points of the piers in the old work, without any new foundations. The centre arch was then formed by throwing the two middle arches into one, and is nearly as large as that of Blackfriars, London; so that great convenience has been offered to the navigation in the Medway above Rochester. The balustrade is formed of white freestone, very substantial and elegant in appearance, with commodious footpaths on either side; and the whole expense was defrayed from the improved income of the bridge-estates, without establishing any toll upon the thoroughfare. Since that period it has undergone various minor repairs, and with the Castle in the background, and the various trading craft passing and repassing with every tide, few objects can be more pleasing and picturesque than the bridge of Rochester.

[149]In the Dutch life and achievements of Van Ruyter, a goodly 4to, there is a large engraving of Rochester, Upnor Castle, and the bridge, with a most exaggerated picture of the engagement.

[150]Hist. of Rochester. Hist. of the War—Reign of Queen Elizabeth.

[151]Warton also mentions his having seen a ballad by Faire, called “Gadshill,” under the year 1588; and adds in a note—See Clavell’s “Recantation,” a poem in 4to, London, 1634. Clavell was a robber, and here recites his adventures on the highway. His first depredations were on Gadshill. Further particulars in the Kentish Traveller’s Companion, ed. 1799.—Simmons and Kirby.

[152]Simul et videbatur voluntati religiosæ nomen applaudere, quod Theokesburia dicatur quasi Theotokos-biria, id est, Dei genetricis curia, vocabulo ex Græco et Anglicano composito. Will. Malmesbur. Edit. fol. 1596, p. 162.

[153]Sir R. Atkyns, Rudder, Camden, Dyde, and the various “Directories;” Notes on the Great Charters, Dugdale’s Monasticon, Chron. of Tewkesb., etc.

[154]HĀNC · ĀVLĀM · RELIĀM · ÐODO · DVX · CONSECRĀRI · FECIT· IN ECCLESIĀM · IN HONOREM · SĀNCTÆ · MĀRIÆ · VIRGINIS · Monast. f. 154.

[155]Dugdale, Leland.

[156]Speaking of the cell of Cranburne, belonging to Tewkesbury:—Alredus Meauw, Comes Glocestriæ, primus fundator.—Fabulabatur huic antiquitus monasterium Theokesbyri: sed Robertus, filius Haimonis, comes Glocestriæ, dedit prædia hujus domus monasterio de Theokesbirie.—See Dugd. p. 163.—Chronic. of Tewkesburye.

[157]Being sent as ambassador to the Court of Baldwin, Count of Flanders, Brictric made so tender an impression upon the heart of the Count’s daughter, Matilda, that, unable to disguise her partiality for the English noble, she resolved to unite her destiny with his. No object could delight her eye, no sound could charm her ear, but the figure and voice of Brictric! But here the course of true love did not run smooth—it ran all on one side; for, occupied perhaps with politics, or haply with some early predilections nearer the Severn, Brictric was obviously insensible to the tender appeal, and so ungallant, moreover, as to treat the affections lavished upon him by the fair Maud with a callousness of look and expression which proved almost a death-blow to so doting a heart. The ambassador, however, little consulted his own interest when he slighted these tender overtures on the part of the maid of Flanders. But he lived in times when plenipotentiaries were not so wise as they are in the present day; for on the very first protocol being submitted to his consideration, he broke off the negotiations and returned to England. For a time the daughter of Baldwin was inconsolable. Like Queen Dido of old, she exclaimed in great bitterness—for Latin was no mystery to the ladies of her time———“Siquis mihi parvulus aulaLuderet Æneas, qui te tantem ore referret,Non equidem capta ac deserta viderer,Crudelis”——But while the lady was thus giving vent to her love in pathetic hexameters, Brictric had arrived at Tewkesbury, little thinking of that storm which was soon to burst on the shores of Britain, and in which he was to be stripped of his ancient patrimony.

——“Siquis mihi parvulus aulaLuderet Æneas, qui te tantem ore referret,Non equidem capta ac deserta viderer,Crudelis”——

But while the lady was thus giving vent to her love in pathetic hexameters, Brictric had arrived at Tewkesbury, little thinking of that storm which was soon to burst on the shores of Britain, and in which he was to be stripped of his ancient patrimony.

[158]In “France Monumentale” there is a full-length portrait of the Conqueror, which bears a striking resemblance to that of Henry the Eighth.

[159]Dudg. 154, 50.

[160]Fuerat Illiud monasterium primitus apud Craneburnam: sed abbatis Giraldi prouisione, provicini fluminisopportunitate, et dominicarum terrarum contiguo. Theokesburiæ aptius locari visum. Will. Malmesbur. (fol. 162.)

[161]Ibi nempe (Theokesburiæ) Cœnobium Sanctæ Mariæ, Robertus filius Haimonis, super Sabrinam fluviumconstruxerat et multis opibus temporeGulielmi junioris Anglorum regis affatimlocupletavit. Ord. Vital. Hist. Eccl. 600.

[162]His words are, (folio 162, edit. 1596,) “Est et monachorum Theokesburiæ, quod noviterRobertus filius Hamonisfavore suo prouexit, nec facile memoratu, quantum exaltavit vbi et ædificiorum decor, et monachorum charitas aduentantium rapit oculos et allicit animos.” This is a repetition of what the same writer has stated in the same words at fol. 89, sect. 28-9.

[163]Order. Vitalis Histor. Ecclesiæ, p. 598-600. Giraldus autem in veteri monasterio Sancti Petri Monachile Schema devote suscepit ... unde post aliquod tempus ad regimen ecclesiasticum canonice provectus est et Theokesburiæ primusAbbaseffectus est.

[164]Willielm. Malmesbur. fol. 89, ed. 1596. Non tamen sine sanguine tantam victoriam consummans multos ex charissimis amisit. Inter quos Rogerium de Glocestre, probatum militem in obsessione Falesij arcubalistæ jactu in capite percussum, prætereaRobertum filium Haimonisqui conto ictus tempora, hebetatusque ingenio non pauco tempore, quasi captus mente, supervixit.... Robertus monasterium Theokesburiæ suo favore, etc. This compliment is repeated at fol. 162.

[165]His high titles were—Prince of Glamorgan, Earl of Corboile, Baron of Thorigny and of Granville, Lord of Gloucester, Bristol, Caerdiff, and Tewkesbury, and near kinsman of the king. But having in 1091 made a descent into South Wales, slain its last prince, Rhys ap Tewdwr, and subdued Glamorgan, he assumed in his charters the proud title of Conqueror of Wales.—Hist. of Tewkesb.—Baronage.

[166]Robert of Gloucester, in commemorating these objections on the part of the Lady Mabilia, and their removal and adjustment on that of King Henry, gives the following shrewd and amusing dialogue. The king having proposed to the heiress, as a state measure, that she should give her hand to his son Robert, the lady, who was fully sensible that the grand charm which made the King suitor for his son was her princely “heritage,” answers him thus:Mabel.Sir, she saide, ich wote your herte upon me isMore for myne heritage, than for myselfe, I wis;And suche heritage as ich have, itt were to mee grit shameTo take a lorde but he haddé any surname.K. Henry.Damoseill, quod the Kingé, thou seest well in thys case,Sir Robert Fitz-Häyman thi faders namé was;As fayre a name he shall have, as you may see,Sir Robert le Fitz-Royshall his name be.Yea, Damoseill, he sayd, thy lorde shall have a nameFor him and for his heires, fayre without blame:ForRobert Earl of Gloucestrehis name shall be, and ’tisHee shall be Earl of Gloucestre, and his heirés, I wis.This declaration on the part of the king having instantly removed every possible objection, the heiress no longer hesitates, but in great and amiable simplicity answers—Mabel.Inne this forme, quod shee, ich wole that all my thyng be hys.Robert, a monk of Gloucester, is supposed to have finished his rhyming Chronicle about 1280.—Campbell’s Essay on English Poetry, note, p. 37. This extract from the Chronicle is slightly modernized; but in Hearne’s edit. vol. ii. 431, the reader will find it in its original purity.

Mabel.Sir, she saide, ich wote your herte upon me isMore for myne heritage, than for myselfe, I wis;And suche heritage as ich have, itt were to mee grit shameTo take a lorde but he haddé any surname.K. Henry.Damoseill, quod the Kingé, thou seest well in thys case,Sir Robert Fitz-Häyman thi faders namé was;As fayre a name he shall have, as you may see,Sir Robert le Fitz-Royshall his name be.Yea, Damoseill, he sayd, thy lorde shall have a nameFor him and for his heires, fayre without blame:ForRobert Earl of Gloucestrehis name shall be, and ’tisHee shall be Earl of Gloucestre, and his heirés, I wis.

This declaration on the part of the king having instantly removed every possible objection, the heiress no longer hesitates, but in great and amiable simplicity answers—

Mabel.Inne this forme, quod shee, ich wole that all my thyng be hys.

Robert, a monk of Gloucester, is supposed to have finished his rhyming Chronicle about 1280.—Campbell’s Essay on English Poetry, note, p. 37. This extract from the Chronicle is slightly modernized; but in Hearne’s edit. vol. ii. 431, the reader will find it in its original purity.

[167]Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.

[168]Dyde.

[169]It is extremely uncertain what Richard de Clare is alluded to in the Baronial Covenant in the time of King John. The Richard who was living nearest to the time died in 1200, 8vo. K. John; and in 1215 the title was held by his eldest son Gilbert de Clare, who was also one of the witnessing barons. See Milles, Catal. of Honor. Lond. 1610, p. 334, who states that this Richard died the 3 Kalend. Dec. in the year 1218. That this account is probable may be shown from the following circumstance:—All genealogical writers agree that he married Amicia, second daughter (and co-heiress) of the Earl of Gloucester, by whom he had Gilbert his successor and a daughter.—Notes on the Great Charters, 271.

[170]Dugd. 1. 156. Dyde, 38. Leland. Collect. vol. i. p. 456.

[171]It is recorded among the memorabilia of this earl, that a Jew having accidentally fallen into a common sewer on Saturday, refused all assistance to extricate him from his loathsome prison, lest he should profane the Sabbath of his nation. Richard de Clare, lord of the manor, hearing of the circumstance and the man’s obstinacy, gave orders that none should assist him on the Sunday, resolving to make him observe the Christian Sabbath with the same solemnity with which he had observed his own. But before Monday this strict observer of the ceremonies of the law had fallen a victim to his conscientious scruples.—Dyde.

[172]Lord of the Isles, 267.

[173]Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.—Dugdale, Chron.

[174]To the office of sacrist in the Abbey of Tewkesbury he appropriated certain rents in Bristol: and to the priest who should say the first mass for the soul of the said Guy every day at the altar of St. Margaret in the church of Tewkesbury, with certain prayers specified for his surviving kindred, and his kindred deceased, the mass of the Trinity on Sunday, the mass of the Holy Ghost on Monday, the mass of St. Thomas on Tuesday, the mass of the Holy Rest on Wednesday, the mass of Ascension on Thursday, the mass of the Holy Cross on Friday, the mass of St. Mary on Saturday—twenty-one pence weekly. Farther, to him who should celebrate mass on his anniversary, or on that of his wife Elizabeth—if the abbot, five shillings; if the prior, three shillings and four-pence: to him who should read the Gospel, to the reader of the Epistle, to him who should hold the paten, and to the precentor and his two assistants, eight-pence each; to the prior twelve-pence, and to every monk four-pence.—Monast. Anglican. I. 157.

[175]The custom of the day: trinkets, robes, needlework, apparel of all kinds, were usually left to the church, which declined nothing by way of gifts, from a coronet to a coral bead.—See the enumeration in the Monast. Anglican. I. 157.

[176]Then under the guardianship of Edmund, Duke of York, who had married him to Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Ralph Nevil, Earl of Westmoreland. He left no issue, and was buried with his ancestors in the Abbey church. Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesb.

[177]See Dyde, Hist. and Antiq. Chron. of Tewkesb.

[178]Edward the Fourth confirmed all the privileges granted by his ancestors to the Abbey of Tewkesbury, as well as the charter of fishing in the Severn and Avon, granted by Warwick. Hist. of the Abbey, p. 48.

[179]Hist. and Antiq. of Tewkesbury, 1798, p. 51.

[180]Ibid.

[181]Edit. 1574, p. 164.

[182]Dimensions.—Original length of the Church, including the Lady Chapel, nearly400ft.Length from east to west, in its present state300“of the great Cross Aisle120Breadth of the Choir and side Aisles70““West front100Height from the area to the roof of the Tower120

[182]

[183]Analysis of Cathedral Churches, &c.

[184]History of Gloucest.

[185]Here her deare Devonshiere, noble Covrtney, dyed;Her faithful friend greatSomersethere fell.—Drayton.

[185]

Here her deare Devonshiere, noble Covrtney, dyed;Her faithful friend greatSomersethere fell.—Drayton.

[186]Ejus corpus, cum reliquis interfectorum cadaveribus, in proximo Cœnobio monachorum ordinis Divi Benedicti humatur.

[187]LIVINGS.PARSONAGES.VICARAGES.InGloucestershire410Worcestershire22Warwickshire2—Wiltshire and Bristol53Oxfordshire12Somersetshire3—Devonshire—1Cornwall—2Glamorgan—5Dorsetshire—2

[187]

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