Chapter XVI: Part 16

“This Kyng Herolde at Waltam, which he found,
Of foure score chanons, full fayre was buryed
At the hye aulter, and as a kyng was crownde,
All yf he were intrusor notifyed,
And in batayl slayne and victoryed,
Of gentylnesse the Conquerour bad so
As yf he were afore his mortall fo.”--Hardyng, 3234.

<g>WALTHAM.--Death of Harold</g>, Text, p. 266.--“Ipse carens omni decore quibusdam signis nequaquam facie recognitus est, et in castra Ducis delatus qui tumulandum eum Guillelmo agnomine Maletto concessit, non matri pro corpore delectæ prolis auri par pondus offerenti.” The quantity of gold which Harold’s mother is here related to have offered to the victorious duke for the body of her son, may be reasonably estimated, as Maseres has shown in a note on this passage of the “Gesta Guillelmi,” at eleven thousand pounds. The supposed visit of Harold’s mother to the field of battle in search of his body, and that of Edith with the Swan’s neck--mentioned in the text, who finally discovered it by some secret token--are thus described in a MS. ballad on the subject:--

“The day is lost! The din of war is hushed on Hastings’ field:
In triumph rolls the Norman car o’er England’s trampled shield.
‘Prepare the feast!’ Duke William cries. The midnight feast is spread;
And there, in gilded canopies, they banquet ’midst the dead!
The bowl is drained, the oath renewed of fealty to their Chief;
But how shall gilded tents exclude the wail of woman’s grief!
‘Where is my son?’ a mother cries; ‘his corse but to behold,
And lay it where his kindred lies, I’ll give its weight in gold!’
‘Thy son is slain! his crown is sold! Duke William wears it now;
We’ll give thee iron for thy gold--Lady, what more would’st thou?’
She heard and wept--then faltered on: her heart with anguish bled,
As wistfully she gazed upon the faces of the dead!
But ’midst the thousand forms of death that show’d the ghastly wound.
And weltering strew’d the gory heath, her HAROLD was not found!
She sat her down and wept aloud: and sighed--‘Undone--undone!
Now lay me in the hallowed shroud that should have wrapt my son!’

* * * * *

At length the gentle Edith came, led by a holy man,
And, lighted by a taper’s flame, again the search began.
Darkly her raven tresses hung upon her neck of snow,
And still her lily hands she wrung in ecstacy of woe!
Around her, HAROLD’S warriors true lay heaped upon the plain,
Where high the Norman banner flew insulting o’er the slain;
A friar of Waltham’s Holy Rood stood in that mournful ring,
And wiping off the clotted blood--‘Oh, Christ! is this the king?’
Down to the earth fair Edith bent, upraised the lifeless head,
And ’neath the light that taper lent, gazed wildly on the dead!
One pause of fearful agony--a breathless, deep suspense--
Was visible in every eye, and felt in every sense!

There, like a cedar in his pride struck down, a warrior lay;
And here extended at his side a chieftain’s proud array.
They scann’d his features o’er and o’er, but ’wildered was their view,
Until the secret mark appeared, which Edith only knew--
And then a shrill and piercing shriek the fearful truth confess’d,
The hue of death was on her cheek--she sunk upon his breast!
But Harold’s lip and Harold’s eye, in cold forgetfulness
For ever sealed, made no reply to Edith’s frantic kiss.
Oh, must I see thee thus, and live? Yet Heaven be witness here,
How gladly would thy Edith give her bosom for thy bier!’”

* * * * *

* * * * *

<g>ROCHESTER CASTLE.</g>--Anno dominicæ incarnationis DCCCI. nativitatis autem Ælfredi regis xxxiv. exercitus in duas turmas divisit. Una etenim turma in orientalem Franciam perrexit; et altera ad Britanniam veniens, Cantium adiit; civitatemq’, quæ Hrofceastre Saxonicè dicitur, in orientali ripa fluminis Medwæg sitam obsedit. Ante hujus portam pagani Castellum ibimet firmum subitò fabricauerunt. Nec tamen illam civitatem expugnare potuerunt; quia cives illi se viriliter defenderunt, quousque Ælfred rex cū magno exercitu adiutorium illis conferens superuenit. Et tunc pagani relicta arce sua et omnibus equis, quos de Francia secum adduxerant derelictis; maxima parte nec non captiuorum suorum in arce dimissa adueniente subitò rege, ad naues suas confestim confugiunt. Et Saxones statim derelictos à paganis captiuos et equos diripiunt.--Asser. de Ælfred. Reb. Gest. fol. 11.

<g>CARISBROOKE CASTLE</g>, p. 284.--Of the circumstances mentioned in the text, the following is the relation given by the learned monk already quoted:--“Rogerius verò de Britolio, Comes Herefordensis ad curiam regis vocatus venit, et inquisitus manifestam toti mundo proditionem negare non potuit. Igitùr secundùm _leges Normanorum_ judicatus est, et amissa omni hæreditate terrena, in carcere Regis perpetuò damnatus est. Ibi etiam Regi multoties detraxit, et contumacibus actis, implacabiliter offendit. Nam quondam, dum plebs Dei Paschale festum congruè celebraret, et Rex structum preciosarum vestium Rogerio Comiti per idoneos satellites in ergastulo mitteret; ille pyram ingentem antè se jussit præparari, et ibidem, Regalia ornamenta, chlamydem sericamq’ interulam, et renonem de preciosis pellibus peregrinorum _murium_ subitò comburi. Quod audiens Rex iratus dixit: ‘Multùm superbus est qui hoc mihi dedecus fecit; sed, _per splendorem Dei_, de carcere mea in omni vita mea non exibit.’ Sententia regis tàm fixa permansit, quòd nec etiam post mortem Regis ipse, nisi mortuus, de vinculis exiit. Rainaldus et Rogerius filii ejus, optimi tirones, Henrico Regi famulantur et clementiam ejus--quæ tardissima iis visa est--in duris agonibus præstolantur.” In commenting upon the above passage, a learned writer has made the following remarks:--“It appears from the text that Roger, Earl of Hereford, was brought to his trial before the king’s court, or council of the _proceres_, or great men of the kingdom, and was condemned by them to suffer perpetual imprisonment, with the loss of all his inheritance. So that, in this instance, as well as in the case of Ralph de Guader, the said court or council appear to have acted as a court of criminal jurisdiction. But it seems remarkable that the judgment they passed upon this great and notorious rebel, who could not, and did not, deny the crime he was charged with, should not have extended to his life; more especially, as Waltheof, Earl of Northampton, who had refused to have any share in the rebellion raised by the other two earls, and had only been guilty of concealing his knowledge of their intentions, was, in a short time after, condemned to lose his life for that lesser offence, and was, as stated in the text, actually beheaded at Winchester. One would almost suspect that they were tried by two different laws; namely, Roger, Lord of the Isle of Wight, who was a Norman, by the _law of Normandy_; and Waltheof, Earl of Northampton, who was an Englishman, by the _law of England_; and that the Norman law of that period did not punish high treason with death, although the English law did. With respect to the garments sent by the king to this haughty prisoner, they are understood by commentators on the original passage to have consisted of--First, an outer

garment or coat; secondly, an inner garment or waistcoat, made of silk; and thirdly, a short cloak to be thrown over the shoulders, and that reached only to the waist, made of the rich furs of some foreign animals, which the author calls mice (murium), and were probably either ermines or martins. It is also conjectured that the present thus sent to the earl was a set of robes, suited to the rank and office of Earl of Hereford, which he had lately held, and to which it might have been King William’s intention to restore him, “if his inconceivable pride had not prevented it.”

In his interesting notice of the lives and fortunes of this great family, the learned monk of Utica concludes with these striking moral reflections on the transitory nature of all human grandeur:--“Verè gloria mundi, ut flos fœni decidit et arescit; ac, velut fumus deficit et transit. Ubi est <g>Gulielmus Osberni filius</g>, Herefordensis Comes, et Regis Vicarius, Normanniæ dapifer, et magister militum bellicosus? Hic nimirùm primus et maximus oppressor Anglorum fuit, et enormem causam per temeritatem suam enutrivit, per quam millibus ruina miseræ mortis incubuit. Verùm justus Judex omnia videt, et unicuique, prout meretur, redhibet. Proh dolor! ecce <g>Gulielmus</g> corruit, audax athleta recipit quod promeruit. Ut multos ense trucidavit, ipse quoque ferro repentè interiit. Denique post ejus occasum antequam lustrum compleretur annorum, spiritus discordiæ filium ejus et generum contra dominum suum et cognatum hostiliter excivit, qui Sichimitas contrà Abimelech (quem occicis LXX. filiis Jerobaal sibi præfecerant) commovit! En veracitur à me descripta est offensa, pro qua <g>Guillelmi</g> progenies eradicata sic est de Anglia, ut nec passum pedis, nisi fallor, jam nanciscatur in illa.” Duchesne--Excerp. Order. Vital. De Gul. primo rege Anglorum 322. Selecta Monumenta.

That the Conqueror’s philosophy was not proof against any little disappointment of the palate is evident from the following anecdote:--“When his prime favourite, William Fitz-Osborne, steward of his household, served him with the flesh of a crane scarcely half roasted, he was so highly exasperated that he lifted up his fist, and would have struck him had not Eudo, appointed ‘dapifer,’ immediately after warded off the blow.”--Warner, i. 307.

<g>It</g> was to the Isle of Wight that the Earl of Warwick--when brought to trial along with the Earl of Arundel--was banished in these terms: “Earl of Warwick! this sentence is very favourable, for you have deserved to die as much as the Earl of Arundel; but the handsome services you have done in time past to King Edward, of happy memory, and the Prince of Wales, his son, as well on this as on the other side of the sea, have secured your life; but it is ordered, that you banish yourself to the Isle of <g>Wight</g>, taking with you a sufficiency of wealth to support your state so long as you shall live, and that you never quit the island.”--Froissart.

<g>The</g> passage referred to Monstrelet in the text, is as follows:--“In this year Waleran, Comte de St. Pol, assembled at Abbeville, in Ponthieu, about sixteen hundred fighting men: among whom were numbers of the nobility, who had made great provisions of salted meats, biscuits, wines, brandy, flour, and other things necessary on board of ships. From Abbeville the Count led them to Harfleur, where they found vessels of all descriptions ready to receive them. When they had remained there some days, to arrange their matters and to recommend themselves to St. Nicholas (the sailors’ patron-saint), they embarked on board these vessels, and sailed direct for the Isle of <g>Wight</g>. Landing on the island, they made a bold countenance to face their enemies, of whom they had seen but little on their landing; for all, or at least the greater part of the islanders, had retreated to the woods and fortresses. In the meantime several new knights were created by the Count; namely, Philippe de Harcourt, Jean de Fosseux, Lord of Guiency, and others, who went to burn some miserable villages, and set fire to some other places. In the meanwhile a sensible <g>priest</g> of the island came to the Count to treat for the ransom and security of the island; for which he gave the Count to understand that a very large sum of money would be paid to him and his captains. The Count lent a ready ear to this proposal; but it was a mere ruse on the part of the priest to delay their operations, till the military force of the island could be brought together. Waleran discovered the plot, but it was too late to take revenge; and re-embarking his men in all haste, set sail, and returned home without doing anything more. The nobles were much displeased at this conduct; for they had expended large sums in laying in stores for the expedition, which, after all, was completely defeated by a single priest.”--Monstrelet, vol. i. 32.

<g>NETLEY ABBEY.</g> The following incident--interesting as connected with the ruins--is related by Digby in his Mores Catholici:--“I found a stranger,” says he, “once in <g>Netley</g>, on the eve of <g>St. John</g>, standing contemplative, who, after some space, accosted me. It was some holy solitary man, who told me he had been singing <g>vespers</g> to himself within the ruins of the church, and a thought had been suggested to him by a verse of the Magnificat, which he was eager to communicate. ‘The poor persecuted monks,’ said he, ‘are now for ever blessed in the centre of all felicity, while the proud, who made their dwelling-place a heap of ruins, as we see, have been scattered in the conceit of their heart, and dispersed through all the wastes of doubt, distrust, and error.’ Thus did the ruins assist his meditation.” The elder Pliny observes, that the houses which had been once inhabited by heroes of a noble race, lamented when they passed to new and unworthy masters; and that the very walls reproached the cowards who entered a place consecrated by the monuments of virtue.” A modern author also says, “It may be generally remarked, that the more nobly a mansion has been tenanted in the day of its prosperity, the viler are its inhabitants in the day of its decline. Thus, boors are the only inhabitants of Croyland, gipsies of <g>Netley</g>, while other religious houses are now possessed by the same class as that which caused their overthrow.”

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Having thus faintly premised the leading features of the work in hand, it may be proper to add a few words respecting the origin of the design, and the humble qualifications of the writer for the task he has undertaken. Familiar in early life with the feudal and monastic ruins which invest Border history with so many stirring tales and traditions, a taste for the deeds and days of old, fostered both at school and college, was much strengthened by subsequent travelling in France and Italy; where, besides the classical monuments of antiquity, an unlimited field was thrown open for the study and investigation of those which more forcibly illustrate the middle ages. To the facilities acquired on the shores of the Mediterranean, others were presented to him in Germany, where much of the feudal character is still preserved in the living habits of the people. Honoured with the commands of a late illustrious Personage{*}, on three successive occasions, to attend him professionally at some of the minor courts of that country, he had various opportunities of visiting those religious and baronial edifices which, in the old German principalities, are both numerous and splendid. He next spent a considerable time in Switzerland, among the High Alps and in the valleys of Piedmont, where many vestiges of feudal customs and government were found to illustrate the history of the middle ages in Great Britain.--But although the writer had published works descriptive of the countries mentioned, the plan of the work now in hand was partly the result of a conversation with a late distinguished and highly accomplished lady{**}, whose family honours had descended to her through a long succession of ancestors. Being at that time engaged in an illustrated work on Scotland, her Grace favoured the author with an original drawing of her ancestral castle; and on a subsequent occasion suggested an illustrated history of our castellated mansions, with their legends and traditions, as a popular subject. He was honoured at the same time with a family memoir, and some MSS. respecting the ancient Sutherland estates, such as might have been useful in a work like the present. Circumstances, however, which occurred shortly after, precluded all further attention to the subject; and it was not till the beginning of last autumn that leisure was found to make arrangements for publishing the work in a cheap, popular form: a plan which it is hoped will bring an originally voluminous and expensive field of illustration within the reach of every admirer of English monuments.

{*} His late Majesty William IV., while Duke of Clarence.

{**} The late Duchess-Countess of Sutherland.

[2] Asser de Ælfred. rebus. gestis, fol. 23.; Athelmo vero fratris mei filio, &c.--Appendix to this vol. p. 331.

[3] Ibid.--Camden, 308. 230. See the original in Append. to this volume, p. 331.

[4] Ingulph. folio 510.--Hardyng, p. 229.--Simeon Dunelmensis, 184.--Hovedon, fol. 254.

[5] Caraccioli, p. 5.--Dallaway.--Archit. in England.--Forty-nine Castles are enumerated in Domesday Book, _that of Arundel only_, as existing in the reigns of Edward the Confessor, p. 269. The Castle of Arundel dates perhaps its true origin from that monarch, King Alfred.--p. 316.

[6] Camden, 229-30. Fama vero tota est ex Castro, quod Saxonico imperio flouit. See Append. p. 331.

[7] Wilhelm. Gemitens, f. 686. Ingentes possessiones habuit in diversis regionibus Normanniæ.

[8] Dugd. Bar. 1. 26.--Camden, p. 86. “Normanni.” Primam Normannorum aciem ducebant Rogerus Montegomericus et Guil. Fitzosberne.

[9] Ord. Vitalis De Gul. primo. Excerp. p. 208-254. A Wilhelmo rege Anglorum Comitatus Arundelliæ, et Salopesberiæ dono accepit.

Ao. Dni. 1071. Rogerus de Montegomerici, Comes Arundel, fuit pacificè seizit’, &c. Inprimis de Castro Arundell, forest’ Warren’ hundr’ et aliis libert’ spectant’ ad Honorem Castri, &c. Tierney, 1. 14.

[10] Dallaway’s Rape of Arundel.--Hist. of Sussex.

[11] Estimated at 57·460 acres. Hist. of Arundel, p. 21.

[12] Honour, in this sense, means a superior Seignory to which other lordships and manors owe suit and service, and which itself holds only of the Sovereign.--Feudal Syst.

[13] Orderic, 522.--Excerpt. p. 254.--App. 332.

[14] Order. Vitalis, 708. monachile seema devotus suscepit, etc.--v. also Dugd. Bar. i, 28.

[15] Girald. Cambrens. Itinerar. p. 194.--Dugd. Bar.

[16] Polyd. Virgil, f. 173.--Hovedon, f. 268.--Speed, 445.--Grafton, i. 177.--Tierney, i. 158.--Append. to this Volume, p. 332.

[17] History of Arundel, i. 15. Orderic Vitalis, p. 708.

[18] Chalmers’ Caledonia, vol i. 572--4. Anno 1158. “Ego Milcolumbus, rex, confirmavi, _Waltero, filio Alain_ (Fitzalan), Dapifero meo, et heredibus suis, in feodo et hereditate, senescalliam meam ... ita bene et plenarie, sicut Rex David senescalliam suam ei dedit.” In consequence of this grant, Richard Fitzalan, Earl of Arundel, sold the stewardship as an hereditary possession in 1336 to Edward the Third. Sec Dugd. Bar. i. 314.--Append. to this Vol. p. 334.

[19] Mem. Howard Family--Descent of the Earldom, in Tierney’s Hist. and Antiq. of Arundel, vol. i.

[20] See Appendix to this vol. p. 338, also Ellis’s Metrical Romances, vol. ii. p. 245.

[21] Castrum Harundel T. R. E. reddebᵈᵉ qoda molⁱⁿᵒ XL. solⁱᵈ. et de iiibus conuviis (conviviis?) XX solⁱᵈ. et de uno pasticio XX solⁱᵈ. etc. etc.--Domesday Survey, quoted by Tierney.

[22] A careful examination of the evidence in respect to its foundation, inclines us to refer that event to the time of Alfred, whose policy, it will be remembered, led him to augment the national security by the erection of numerous fortresses, particularly in the maritime districts; and it may be readily concluded that the ‘Castrum de Harundel,’ a royal residence, was one of those which survived the demolition of English fortresses which succeeded the Conquest. [Tierney, i. 33; and Dallaway.] It is supposed that, at the death of Alfred, fifty castles or upwards had been raised under his direction, and it is not probable that the whole of that number could have disappeared in the comparatively short period which elapsed between the demise of that monarch and the establishment of the Norman dynasty. Ante, p. 8, n. ¶.--Also App. p. 334.

[23] For other particulars the reader may consult Wright--Caraccioli--Dallaway--Horsfield, and Tierney.

[24] For other particulars the reader may consult Wright--Caraccioli--Dallaway--Horsfield, and Tierney.

[25] Register, R. f. 106. quoted in Tierney, vol. i. 44.

[26] A.D. 1275.

[27] Tierney, i. 45. Pat. 3. Edw. I. m. 30--1.

[28] As shown in the view taken from the battlements of the castle, p. 26.

[29] Abridged from the History.

[30] Tierney, vol. i. 48-9.--Dallaway’s Arundel.--Horsted, vol. i. 120-5, 6.--Wright 32-36.

[31] Tierney, vol. i. 48-9.--Dallaway’s Arundel.--Horsted, vol. i. 120-5, 6.--Wright 32-36.

[32] Tierney, vol. i. 48-9.--Dallaway’s Arundel.--Horsted, vol. i. 120-5, 6.--Wright 32-36.

[33] In a cause tried at Hawarden, in Flintshire, long previous to his reign, we have a list of the twelve jurors; confirmed, too, by the fact that the descendants of one of them, named Corby of the Gate, still preserve their name and residence, at a place in the parish called the Gate.--PHILLIPS.

[34] See list of authorities at the end of this subject, also Append. to this volume.

[35] Portrait of Captain Morris.

[36] The late Duke of Norfolk.

[37] Henry Howard of Greystoke.

[38] H. C. Coombe, Esq. Alderman of London.

[39] On the corner of a stone in this superb hall is the following votive inscription:--

“LIBERTATI
PER BARONES REGNANTE JOHANNE
VINDICATÆ,
CAROLUS HOWARD NORFOLCIÆ DUX,
ARUNDELIÆ COMES
A.C. MDCCCVI.
ÆTATIS LX.”
D. D.

[40] Sepulchral Antiq. Hist. of Arundel Church and Priory--Dallaway and Wright.

[41] Causa nominis nec ab Arundelio, Bevisii fabuloso equo, nec ex Charudo, Cimbricæ Chersonesi promontorio, quod Goropius per quietem vidit; sed ex valle in qua sedet ad Arun flumen.--CAMDEN.

[42] See ante. p. 12, also Appendix to this Vol. p. 338-9, where the legend is given.

[43] See Appendix to this vol. pp. 336, 7; also Dugdale Bar. i. pp. 42, 118.

[44] Rediit ad vigiliam Paschæ in Angliam, appulit apud Arundel. Henr. Huntingd. lib. vii. 216.

[45] Tierney. i. 55. Patent 30th Edw. I. M. 9, is dated at Arundel.

[46] See a full and interesting account of this conspiracy, with its disastrous consequences, at pp. 49, 50, 51, of this vol.

[47] Tempore quoque sub eodem domino rege adhuc moram Londini continuante, venit ad eum in Cameram suam Isabella, Comitissa Harundelliæ relicta Comitis Harundelliæ H. et ejusdem regis cognata; ut pro jure suo de quadam custodia ipsam contingente verba faceret sibi profectura, &c. Paris, p. 853, A. D. 1252. The original will be found in the Append. p. 339.

[48] The particulars are thus related by Speed:--Henry, “after he had calmed the boisterous stormes of warre, in the partes beyond the seas, came over into England well appointed, unto whom also resorted many of the nobilitie who yeelded up themselves, and above thirtie strong castles, to the young duke, now hasted to raise the siege of Wallingford; Stephen following hastily to succour his men--though with the lesse edge, for that he never sped well in any assault of that castle--pitched downe his tents, even neere his enemy, and ready on bothe sides to give battaile, the winter stormes were suddenly so troublesome that nothing could be done, but those somewhat overblowne, and the armies scarce three furlongs asunder, as Kinge Stephen was busied in disposing of his hoaste, and giving directions for order of the battaile, his horse under him, rising with his fore feet fell flat back upon the earth, not without danger to his rider; and thus did he thrice ere hee left; which things his nobles secretly muttering, interpreted for an unlucky presage; when William, Earle of Arundell, a bold and eloquent man, went to him and advised him to a peace, affirming the title of Duke Henry to be just: that the nobilitie on bothe parts there present were nearly linked in alliances and bloud, and how these stood affected was very doubtfull. Yea that brethren were there assembled, the one against the other, whereof must needs follow an unnatural war betwixt them, and of dangerous consequences even to him that conquested. With these and the like allegations, at last Stephen began to bend, and a parley for peace was signified unto the Duke.”--Speed, edit. 1629, fol. 481.

[49]

“ ...estre grand voyagier,
Tournoiz suir et jouster pour sa mie.”--

Deschamps, cité par Sainte Palaye.

[50] Siege of Caerlaverock.--Edited by Sir Harris Nicolas.

[51] Hume, 4to, 175; Wals. 148.

[52] Speed, fol. 689.

[53] Froiss. C. 132.

[54] The fortunes and fate of the noblemen and prelates will be detailed in a future page of this work.

[55] “They sware each to other to be assistant in all such matters as they should determine; and therewith received the sacrament at the hands of the Archbishop of Canterbury, who celebrated mass before them the following morning, which done, they withdrew into a chamber and fell into conversation together. When in the end they light upon this point--to take King Richard, the Dukes of York and Lancaster, and commit them to prison; and also the lords of the King’s Council they determined should be drawn and hanged. Such was the purpose which they meant to have accomplished in the August following. But the Earl Marshal, Arundel his son-in-law, discovered all to the King.” Holinshed, 1. 448.

[56] “He was arrayned,” says the old picturesque chronicle, “in a red gown and scarlet hood; and forthwith the Duke of Lancaster, John-of-Gaunt, said to the Lord Neville, Take from him his girdle and hood, and so it was done; and herewith the appeal being to the said Earl declared, with a valyaunt and bolde minde he denies that he was a traytor, and required benefit of y pardon, protesting that he would not go from the benefit of the King and his grace. The Duke of Lancaster then said, Why didst thou purchase the pardon? The Earl answered, To the tongues of mine enemies, whereof _thou art one_. The Duke of Lancaster said, Thou traytor, this pardon is revoked. The Earl answered, Truely thou lyest, I _never was a traytor_.”

[57] “The constancy of this Earl’s courage,” says Speed, “as well as his arraignement, passage, and execution, in which he did not discolour the honour of his blood with any degenerous word, look, or action, encreased the envy of his death upon his his persecutors. That he was a traitor either in word or deed, he utterly did deny, and died in that denial.”--Speed, 739.

[58] “In the form and manner as you have heard did Duke Henry take King Richard, his lord. The duke led him straight to the Castle, which is fair and strong, and caused him to be lodged in the dungeon. And then he gave him in keeping to the son of the Duke of Gloucester, Humphrey Plantagenet; and Thomas Fitzalan, the son of the Earl of Arundel; who hated him more than any man in the world, because King Richard had put their fathers to death.”--French Metrical History, deposition of King Richard, Archæologia, vol. xx. 173. By the Rev. John Webb, M.A.; also Dallaway, p. 139.

[59] Froissart, vol. ii. 295. Dallaway, 139.

[60] “The next day after the coronation, were kepte triumphant joustes and tourneys, in which the Erle of Arondelle and the Bâtard de St. Pol, by the judgement of the ladyes, wanne the prize.”--Holinshed.

[61] Monstrelet, vii. 51.

[62] The French historians bear ample testimony to his prowess:--“Le Comte d’Arondelle, Anglais de grande réputation, se mit en campagne pour prendre des places sur les Français.”--Dallaway, quoting Montfaucon, t. iii. 309.

[63] Grafton’s account of this affair is very picturesque:--“The which town of Builleyne, he, King Henry VIII., so sore assaulted, and so besieged with such abundance of great ordnance, that never was there a more valyaunt assaut made, for beside the undermyning of the castell, tower, and walles, the towne was so beaten with ordinaunce, that there was not left one house whole therein. In the morning the Duke of Suffolk rode into Bulleyne, to whom in the king’s name they delyvered the keyes of the towne; and at afternoone departed out of Bulleyne all the Frenchemen. The last person that came forthe was Monsire de Verinne, graund captaine of the towne, which, when he approched near where the kinge stoode, he alighted from his horse, and came to the kinge. And after he had talked with him a space, the kinge toke him by the hande, and he reverently kneeling upon his knees, kissed his hand, and afterward mounted upon his horse and so departed. The xviii. day the kingis highnesse, having the sworde borne naked before him, like a noble and valyaunt conqueror rode into Bulleyne, and all the trumpetters standing on the walles of the towne, sounded their trumpettes, to the great comfort of all the kinges true subiectes, the same beholding.”--Vol. ii. 492.

[64] Arundel affirmed that the only method of making atonement for their past offences, was by a speedy return to the duty which they owed to their lawful sovereign; the motion was seconded by Pembroke, who clapping his hand to his sword, swore that he was ready to fight any man that expressed himself of a contrary sentiment.--Hume, 373.

[65] This however did not “enable him to ascertain, according to the old English proverb, the exact length of her Majesty’s foot!”--Anon.

[66] Shakspeare, in his Richard the Third, has introduced this incident into the opening scene of the battle.

NORFOLK. This found I in my tent this morning. [_Giving a scroll._

RICHARD. [_reads_] “Jocky of Norfolk, be not too bold, For Dickon, thy master, is bought and sold.” A thing devised by the enemy. _Then dismissing them, continues_: Go, gentlemen--every man unto his charge, Let not our babbling dreams affright our souls; Conscience is but a word that cowards use, Devised at first to keep the strong in awe; Our strong arms be our conscience, swords our law. King Richard III. act v. sc. 3.

[67] History of Framlingham and its Lords, p. 89, 90. R. Green.

[68] Hist. of Framlingham, note, p. 90.

[69] Sir Walter Scott’s Lay of the Last Minstrel.

[70] Arundelian Marbles, called also the Parian Chronicle, are ancient stones on which is inscribed, in capital letters, a chronicle of the city of Athens, supposed to have been engraved in the island of Paros, 264 years before Christ. They take their name from the Earl of Arundel, who procured them from the East, or from this Earl, his grandson, who, as above stated, presented them to the University of Oxford.

[71] The origin of this screen is thus gravely recorded: During the Abbot Richard’s visit at Tinmouth, he received a wonderful cure of a withered arm, with which he had been afflicted many years. It is related, that being present at Durham, when the monks were removing the corpse of St. Cuthbert, the founder of Durham Cathedral and the Apostle of the North, he assisted to lift and support the shrine, and received from that instant a cure of his malady, and found his arm restored to health. And accordingly, on his return, he built a wall, or screen, across the nave of the church, about 50 feet below the choir; and, adjoining to the wall, a chapel, dedicated to St. Cuthbert. This chapel stood on the west side of the said screen, and had service performed in it, and an altar; but has been long since pulled down, though the screen remains to this day.--_Lives of the Abbots._

[72] “It is to be understood, that in those days,” says the historian of the abbey, “there was no screen at the top of the choir, that the great altar stood where the rails and table now stand, and the shrine was placed in what is now the consistory; so that it was all open, even from Cuthbert’s screen, to the view of the whole choir and congregation.

“Abbot Symond caused the shrine to be a little elevated, for a better view, and to appear directly before the eye of the priest who was celebrating mass; whose place it was to stand and kneel with his back to the people, and on the west side of the altar. This position of the shrine was not only the most splendid to the eye of the beholder, but was intended to raise and elevate the devotion of the priest; and to this purpose, also, was intended the Decollation of St. Alban, which was painted on the wall opposite.

“THE SHRINE was in form somewhat resembling an altar-tomb, but rising with a lofty canopy over it supported on pillars, and was intended to represent the saint lying in great state. The inside contained a coffin, wherein had been deposited the bones of Alban by Abbot Geoffrey. This was enclosed in another case, which, on the two sides, was overlaid with figures cast in gold and silver, showing the chief acts of Alban’s life, in work that was highly raised and embossed. At the head, which was toward the east, was placed a large “Crucifixion,” with a figure of the Virgin Mary on one side and of St. John on the other, ornamented with a row of very splendid jewels. At the feet, which were towards the east and in front of the choir, was placed an image of the Virgin, holding her son in her bosom, seated on a throne; the work seemingly of cast gold highly embossed, and enriched with precious stones and very costly bracelets.

“The four pillars which supported the canopy, and stood one at each corner, were shaped in resemblance like towers, with apertures to represent windows, and all of plate gold, supporting the roof or canopy, whose inside was covered with crystal stones.”--_Newcome, ed. 1793, p. 76._

[73] In the “Philosophical Transact.” No. 333, p. 426, the reader will find a paper on the extraordinary size of human bones dug up in this neighbourhood, communicated by the celebrated Mr. Cheselden.

[74] “As protector of the realm,” says Hollinshed, “he was highlie esteemed of learned men, himselfe also not meanlie furnished with knowledge, hauing rare skill in astrologie, whereof beside manie other things he compiled a singular treatise, obteining the name of Tabula directionum.” Whethamstead, the abbot above-named, concludes a copy of Latin verses on the death of the Good Duke in the following complimentary terms:--

Fidior in regno regi duce non fuit isto,
Plusque fide stabilis aut major amator honoris,
Et tamen ut prædo voto potiretur iniquo,
Fraudem consuluit, cum fraude dolum sociavit,
Sicque ducem falsi maculans cum proditione
Obtinuit votum praedator oratque bonorum
Illius, et tristis obiit Dux criminis expers.

[75] Abbot Geoffrey de Gorham built a large and noble hall, with a double roof, to entertain strangers in; near which he built a fair bedchamber. Abbot John of Hertford built a noble hall for the use of strangers, adding many parlours, with an inner chamber and a chimney, (no common luxury in those times,) with a noble picture. He built also an entry, a small hall, and a most noble entry with a porch or gallery, and many fair bedchambers, with their inner chambers and chimneys, to receive strangers honourably.--_Willis’ Mitred Abbeys._

[76] The buildings called the “royal lodging,” were separated from the rest of the monastery by a range of cloisters, running nearly the whole length of the church, but divided from it by the great square, and by all the principal buildings of the convent. The royal apartments were pleasantly and quietly situated near the southern edge of the hill, overlooking the valley of the Ver.--Notes to “St. Albans Abbey,” p. 89.

[77] In the Archæologia, vol. xx. p. 519, is an interesting account of the first battle of St. Albans, from a contemporary MS., communicated by John Bayley, Esq., F.S.A., to which the reader is referred.

[78] History of St. Albans, p. 358.

[79] The Rev. Peter Newcome, Rector of Shenley, Herts, whose history of St. Albans is compiled from that of Matthew Paris and Walsingham (both monks of this Abbey, and men of undoubted veracity), and from numerous MSS. in the Cotton Library, Harleian Collection, &c. &c. London, printed for the author, 1793, 4to. pp. 547.

[80] Sir Thomas Meautys, who erected the monument, was Lord Bacon’s private secretary. He continued his faithful services to him through all his troubles, and at his death inherited as next heir the family possessions.

[81] The woodcut here introduced, shows the north entrance, with part of the interior, of the LADY-CHAPEL, through which there is a common passage leading to the town, called the ante-chapel.

[82] Among the lesser works expressly devoted to Eltham Palace, Mr. Buckler’s “Historical and Descriptive Account,” published about sixteen years ago, and just when the repairs had been commenced, under the direction of Mr. Smirke the Architect, is the best. But in “the Gentleman’s Magazine,”--the grand repertorium of subjects of this class--some excellent papers, accompanied with illustrative engravings of Eltham, have appeared from time to time, during the last fifty years.--Some years ago, “The Graphic and Historical Illustrator,” edited by E. W. Brayley, Esq., F.S.A. &c. opened a fine field of investigation; but, much to the regret of every littérateur and antiquary, it was discontinued. It contains a good paper on Eltham.

[83] From the Doomsday record it appears “Hanno the sheriff of the county holds of the bishop Aletham, which is taxed at one suling and a half. The arable land is twelve carucates: on the demesne there are two ploughs: there are forty-four villans and twelve bordars who employ seven ploughs: there are nine slaves, and twenty-two acres of meadow: there is pasture for fifty hogs. In the time of Edward the Confessor it was valued at sixteen pounds, when it came into the present owner at twelve pounds; now at twenty pounds. Alwold held this manor of the Confessor.”--Hasted’s “Kent;” also “Eltham Palace.” Lond. 1804.

[84] “Eltham Palace.” Anon. 1804, with authorities from history.

[85] Camden, in his brief notice of Eltham, confirms this charge in the following terms; “Antony Becke, Bishop of Durham and patriarch of Jerusalem, built this ‘Eltham,’ in a manner new, and gave it unto Queen Eleanor, wife of Edwarde the Firste, after he had craftily conveyed unto himself the inheritance of the Vescyes, unto whom the place before belonged. For that Bishope, whom the last baron de Vescye had made his feofie for trust of all his inheritance to the use of William Vescye his little base sonne, dealt not so faithfully as he should with this orphan and warde of his, but despoiled him of Alnwick Castle, of this Eltham, and other faire lands.”--Camden, 327, 8.

[86] Chronicles. Stow. Holinshed. Grafton.

[87] King Henry keeping his Whitsuntide at the palace of Eltham, the next year ensuing, commanded that for those valiant acts against the Scots, as also for that his ancestors bore the eagle in their crest, he should be proclaimed Lord of Mounteagle, which was accordingly then and there done; and he gave to the officers of arms five marks, besides the accustomed fees, and likewise to Garter, principal king-at-arms, his fee; whereupon, he had special summons to parliament, the same year, by the title of Mounteagle, and was installed one of the Knights of the Garter. Rot. Parl. Collins, vol. ii. p. 450. This title has been recently revived, and conferred on Mr. Spring Rice, late Chancellor of the Exchequer.

[88] After the martyrdom of King Charles, three years later, the manor-house was surveyed and the materials valued at £2754. It was then described in the Parliamentary survey as built of brick, wood, stone, and timber--consisting of one fair CHAPEL, one great HALL, thirty-six rooms and offices below stairs, with two large cellars. Above stairs were seventeen lodging-rooms on the King’s side, nine on the Prince’s side, and seventy-eight rooms in the offices round the court-yard, which contained an acre of ground. None of the rooms enumerated were then furnished, except the chapel and hall; and the house was reported as untenantable. Parliam. Survey. Paper on the Hall of Eltham, N. R. S., also Lysons, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 50.

[89] It appears, by a passage in the works of Erasmus, that Henry the Eighth and all the children of Henry the Seventh, except Prince Arthur, were educated at Eltham. The learned writer describes a visit which he paid them, accompanied by his friend Mr. Thomas More, afterwards Lord Chancellor, and at this time a student at Lincoln’s Inn. [Ed. 1811, Lysons, vol. i. 788, refers to Knight’s Life of Erasmus, p. 69.]

[90] Lysons--Buckler--Hist. of Kent.

[91] Parliam. Survey--Lysons, vol. i. pt. ii.

[92] Mr. Buckler remarks, that the external wall within the moat was built with great care and strength, and that its basement is likely to remain long after all other traces of the palace have disappeared. See “Eltham Hall,” edit. 1828.

[93] Lysons--Buckler--“Environs.”

[94] Buckler’s Eltham.--Graph. Illustrator.

[95] See Gent. Mag., sig. N. R. S. 1811-1822.

[96] The upper or western part had suffered the most from neglect; the cornices and beams, which were dangerously decayed, had been repaired, and perhaps restored to their original stability. Formerly, the deficiencies were supplied with chestnut, which is now substituted by oak, strongly bolted and strapped with iron. Whatever might have occasioned the injury, which was arrested several centuries ago, it is certain that the mischief which has been in operation upwards of fourscore years to the present time, was not accelerated by the dry-rot, which has not been discovered in any part of the building, except a small spot in the principal wall-plate, over the south bay-window.--Buckler’s Eltham.

[97] Buckler’s Eltham Hall.

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

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

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

[101] M. de Caumont.

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

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

[104] C’est l’usage de nos jours, dit Culmien, pour les hommes les plus riches et les plus nobles, ou pour ceux qui, par conséquent, consacrent le plus exclusivement leur temps à satisfaire leurs haines privées par le meurtre, de se procurer avant tout une retraite où ils puissent se mettre à l’abri de l’attaque de leurs ennemis, combattre leurs égaux avec avantage, et retenir dans les fers ceux qui se sont trouvés les plus faibles.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[110] Ibid.--Pictor. Hist.--Paris.

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

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

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

[114] Ibid. p. 395.

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

[116] Holinshed, fol. 188.

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

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

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

[119] The following occurrence, as mentioned by the same historian, shows the force upon which King John had calculated in addition to the powerful army with which he actually beleaguered the castle:--“Here is to be remembred, that whilest the siege laie thus at Rochester, Hugh de Boues, a valiant knight, but full of pride and arrogancie, a Frenchman borne, but banished out of his countrie, came down to Calice with an huge number of men of warre and souldiers to come to the aid of King John. But as he was upon the sea with all his people, meaning to land at Dover, by a sudden tempest which rose at that instant, the said Hugh with all his companie was drowned by shipwracke. Soone after the bodie of the same Hugh, with the carcases of other innumerable both of men, women, and children, were found not farre from Yermouth, and all along that coast. There were of them in alle fortie thousand, as saith Matthew Paris; for of all those which he brought with him, there was (as it is said) not one man left alive.

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

[120] Una dierum dum obsidio castri Roffensis duraret, Rex et Savaricus circumibant castrum, ut infirmiora ejus considerarent. Quos cùm cognovisset quidam optimus arcubalistarius Willielmi de Albineto, ait illi: Placeat tibi, domine mi, ut occidam Regem hostem nostrum cruentissimum spiculo hoc, quod habeo promptum? Cui ille: Non, non, absit gluto pessime, ut in sanctum Domini mortem procuremus. Et ille: Non parceret tibi in consimili casu. Tum Willielmus: Fiat Domini beneplacitum: Dominus disponet, non ille. In hoc similis erat David parcentis Saul, cùm occidisse potuit. Hoc posteà non latuit Regem, nec ob hoc voluit parcere capto, quin ipsum suspendisset, si permissum ei fuisset.--Matth. Paris. Hist. Angl. 270.

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

[121] Holinshed, 188. Also Paris.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[130] Antiquities of Kent--Rochester.

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

[132] History and Antiquities of Rochester Castle.