Chapter XIX: Part 19

[105] Rupis Aurea, eò quod aurei coloris saxa sole repercussa miro fulgore sunt rutulantia: nec mihi de facili persuasio fieri posset, quod frustratum dederit natura nitore saxis, quodque suo fuerit flos hic sine fructu, si foret qui venas ibidem, et penitima terræ viscera arte prævia transpenetraret.--_Gyraldus Cambrensis._

There is a hill near famed Caerleon,
Which, if the sun but dart a ray on,
It shines like gold; hence Goldcliffe hight,
But if there’s gold, ’tis not in sight.
--_Wonders of Wales._

[106] With regard to this tract Camden relates:--Beneath this lieth spred for many miles together a _Mersh_, they call it the _Moore_, which, when I lately revised this worke, suffered a lamentable losse; for when the Severn sea, at a spring tide in the change of the moone, what being driven back for three daies together, with a south-west winde, and what with a verie strong pirrie from the sea troubling it, swelled and raged so high, that with surging billowes it came rolling and inrushing amaine upon this tract lying so low, as also upon the like flates in Somersetshire over against it, that it overflowed all subverted houses, and drowned a number of beasts and some people withal. _Camden_, 635. See also _Note supra_, page 5. Neere to this place there remaine the reliques of a _Priorie_, that acknowledge those of _Chandos_ for their founder and patron.--_Ibid._

[107] County Hist. vol. ii. p. 57.

[108] Ibid.

[109] Neere Throgos, where we saw the wall of a castle that belonged to the high-constables of England, and was holden by the service of high-constableship.--_Camden Silures_, 634.

[110] See _ante_, page 32.

[111] _Mathern_ is “derived from Merthern Tuderic--or Martyrdom of Theodoric.” When a Christian chief, who, like Theodoric, fell in conflict with the Saxons, then pagans, he was admitted to the honours of martyrdom.

[112] For the avouching and confirming of the antiquity of this place, I think it not impertinent to adjoin here those antique inscriptions lately digged forth of the ground, which the Right Reverend Father in God, Francis Godwin, Bishop of Llandaffe, a passing great lover of venerable antiquity, and of all good literature, hath of his courtesie imparted unto me. In the year 1602, in a meadow adjoining Mathern, there was found by ditchers a certain image of a personage, girt and short-trussed, bearing a quiver--(but head, hands, and feet were broken off)--upon a pavement of square tile in checkerworke; also a fragment of an altar, with this inscription engraven in great capital letters three inches long, erected by _Haterianus_, the lieutenant-general of Augustus, and proprietor of the province of Cilicia--HATERIANUS LEG. AUG. PR. PR. PROVINC. CILIC.--The next yeere following hard by, was this table also gotten out of the ground, which proveth that the foresaid image was the personage of _Diana_, and that her temple was repaired by Titus Flavius Posthumius Varus, an old soldier, haply of a band of the Second Legion--T. FL. POSTUMIUS VARUS V. C. LEG. TEMPL. DIANÆ RESTITUIT. Also, a votive altar, out of which Geta, the name of Cæsar, may seeme then to have been rased, what time as he was made away by his brother Antonine Bassianus, and proclaimed an enimie; yet so as by the tract of the letters it is in some sort apparent. PRO SALUTE AUGG. N. N. SEVERI ET ANTONINI [ET GETÆ CÆS.] P. SALTIENUS P. F. MÆCIU THALAMUS HADRI. PRÆF. LEG. II. AUG. C. VAMPEIANO ET LUCILIAN.--_Camden. Silures. Britan._ pp. 637, 638.

[113] Hist. of Engl. quoting Bishop Godwin.

[114] See Speed’s Chronicle.

[115] Pict. Hist. of England: Ecclesiast. Affairs.

[116] Ibid.

[117] Pict. Hist. Book vi.

[118] Ibid.

[119] Nat. Papers quoted in Hist. of England. Civ. and Mil. Transact. vol. ii. page 346. Pict. Hist.

[120] Nat. Papers quoted in Hist. of England. Civ. and Mil. Transact. vol. ii. page 346. Pict. Hist.

[121] Headed in the North by Lord Darcy, Robert Aske, &c. See history of that year, 1539, in Pict. Hist.

[122] Ellis’s Orig. Letters in Pict. Hist.

[123] On the 11th June, 1539.

[124] Wilkins’ Concilia, quoted in Hist. of Engl. Civil and Milit. Transact. vol. ii. 403.

[125] In the taxation of 1291, being the nineteenth year of the reign of Edward the First, the entries relating to the possessions of Tinterne are thus given:--

SPIRITUALIA DIOC. HEREF.

£ _s._ _d._
Porcio in ecclesia de Tudenham, 3 6 8

TEMPORALIA DIOC. LANDAF.

<g>Abbas</g> de Tynterne habet Grang: de Asarto ubi sunt tres caruc. terr. prec. cujuslibet, 1 0 0 De prato ibidem quatuor acr. prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 6 De silva cedua per annum, 0 5 0 De redd. assis, 1 2 0 De plantis et perquisitis, 0 6 8 De gurgite et piscar. in Weyt, 1 16 0 De pastura vasti, 0 4 2 Item idem habet apud Rogenston quatuor caruc. terræ prec. cujuslibet, 1 0 0 De gardino et curilag, 0 1 6 De Molend. per annum, 0 15 0 De pastura de vasto, 0 10 0 Apud Marthog’m duas caruc. terr. et dimid. et novemdecim acr. prec. cujuslibet car. 1 0 0 Et prec. cujuslibet acr. de prædictis novemdecim acris, 0 0 3 De redd. assis ibidem, 0 5 0 In parochia de Magor de redd, 0 3 0 In parochia de Wundy, 0 13 4 Et in eadem parochia novemdecim acr. terræ prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 2 Et ibidem quatuordecim acr. prati prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 6 Apud motam duas caruc. terr. prec. cujuslibet, 1 10 0 De prato ibidem quatuor acr. prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 6 In la Bredeme deme in paroch de magir. quinquaginta et duas acr. prati. prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 6 Ibid. in aedil. assis, 0 10 6 Apud Penthleng. tres caruc. terr. prec. cujuslibet, 0 6 8 Apud Exellek sex caruc. terr. prec. cujuslibet, 0 6 8 Apud platelande tres caruc. terr. prec. cujuslibet, 0 6 8 Apud Hardstrete unam caruc. terr. prec., 1 4 0 Ibidem viginti quatuor acr. ten. prec. omnium, 0 6 0 In villa de Sturggyl de redd. assis, 0 4 0 Apud Eriket unum molend foler prec., 0 6 8 Ibidem ac redd. assis, 0 12 0 Do molend, 1 10 0 De una gurgite et dimid. per annum, 2 0 0 De sub bosco venet, 0 13 4 De pannag, 0 6 8 De perquis cur, 0 13 4 De melle vend, 0 5 0 De Fanneria, 2 0 0 Apud Penbo sexdecim acr. terr. prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 6 De redd. assis apud Uskam, 0 1 4 De Willielmo de Hereford pro quadem grang. de redd. assis, 0 0 6 De Johanne de Stonsœu’arl pro quadam grang. 0 1 8 De Landavenio triginta acr. pastur. prec. cujuslibet, 0 0 3 --------- Summa £38 5 0 --------- Abbas de Tynterne habet cens. reacc. prec. omium, 7 10 0 De mult. duo mill. ducent. et sexaginta quatuor exitus omnium, 37 14 8 De ovibus matricibus mill. exitus omnium, 25 0 0 -------- Summa £70 4 8

[126] Monaster. de Eleemosyna paternalis domus de Tynterna.

Tynterna in Hibernia, } filiales domus de Kingeswodde in Gloucestershire, } Tynterna.

[127] Archdale has preserved the following names and dates of some of the abbots:--

John Torrell was the first; another John occurs in 1308; Roger Codd, 1346; David Furlong succeeded; Thomas Wyggemore, 1355; William Walsh, 1356; Thomas Young, 1471; John Power was the last abbot, he surrendered it in the 31st Henry VIII.

The abbey itself is stated to have been rebuilt in 1447. It was granted, with all its lands and appurtenances, 27th August, 18th Elizabeth, in capite, to Anthony Colcleugh, at the annual rent of £26. 4s., Irish money.

King John’s Charter is dated Hamstede, iii die Decembris--but no year.

[128] King Henry the First’s Charter, authorising Roger de Berkeley’s gift of Ackeolt to the monks, will be found in the appendix to the Monasticon, with William de Berkeley’s letter to Pope Innocent, praying for his ratification of the grant of Kingswood, followed by five other charters, confirming the land at Kingswood, from Roger de Berkeley the elder, Roger de Berkeley the younger, and King Henry the Second. The last instrument given in the former edition of Dugdale, is a cession from Nicholas de Kingestone of certain land called Jonesham.

[129] Monasticon and Baronage.

[130] The following is a list of the pensions granted to the monks of this house at the dissolution:--

“Here cumeth such stipends as is thought necessary and expedient by us, John Tregonwell, Nicholas Peyntz, Knight; John Peyntz, Esquyer; John Freeman; and Edward Gosewike, commissioners appointed for the dissoluement of the late monastery of Kingswood, in Wiltes, for the abbote and monks thereunto, euery of them appoynted what they shall have by yere during their lyves, that is to say--

Furst to William Bandlaie, late abbot _li._ _s._ _d._
there, by yere, i
-- to Thomas Redinge, prior there,
by yere, vi xiii iiii

-- to John Wensbury, monke there, by yere, iiii xiii iiii -- to John Gethin, monke there, and curate of the parishe, by yere, iiij xiii iiii -- to William Wotton, grangitor there, by yere, iiij vj viii -- to William Hughes, monke there, by yere, iiij -- to John Sodbury, monke there, by yere, iiij -- to Nicholas Hampton, subprior there, iiij -- to William Pakker, monke there, iiij

-- to Nicholas Acton, cellarer there, iiij xiii iiij

-- to Edward Ermingham, sexton
there, iiij

-- to Thomas Orchard, monke there, iiij

-- to John Stonley, monke there,
being no prest, xi”

To this are annexed the signatures as above.

[131] Mores Cathol., quoting Epist. lib. iv. p. 17.

[132] Floquet, Hist. du Parl. de Norm., quoted in Mor. Cath.

[133] Mor. Cath., quoting St. Ambros. Orat. lib. v.

[134] Macaulay.

[135] Ibid.

[136] Macaulay’s History of England.

[137] Bishop Godwin. See Pict. Hist. Eccl. Affairs.

[138] Blunt’s Sketch of the Reformation in England. See Pict. Histor. ii. 404. Hist. and Fate of Sacrilege.

[139] Latimer’s Sermons. Hist. above quoted, vol. ii. 404.

[140] It would be difficult in the present day to find much of the church property, thus alienated, in the hands of any descendant of those royal favourites on whom it was sacrilegiously bestowed.

[141] Letter from Fitzwilliam to Cromwell, dated at Hampton Court, Sept. 12, 1537, and given in Pict. Hist. vol. ii. p. 405.

[142] Latimer’s Sermons, &c., quoting Blunt’s Sketch of the Reformation. Ibid. vol. ii. p. 405.

[143] See Letter from Coverdale to Cromwell in 1538.

[144] Hist. Henry VIII.

[145] Madden, Penalties, p. 49.

[146] Page 77.

[147] According to Hall, the following barbarous verses were set up in great letters upon the stake or gallows, to which the unhappy victim was bound:--

David-Darvel-Gatheren,
As saith the Welshmen,
Fetched outlaws out of hell;
Now is he come with spear and shield,
In harness to burn in Smithfield,
For in Wales he may not dwell.

And <g>Forest</g> the friar,
That obstinate liar,
That wilfully shall be dead;
In his contumacy
Of the Gospel, doth deny
The King to be Supreme Head.

[148] See the facts in Hall, Stow, and Godwin, abridged in the popular History quoted above.

[149] Warton, Monastic Influence on Poetry and the Fine Arts.

[150] Brit. Monach., Manners and Customs of Monks and Nuns.

[151] Opus citat. Brit. Monach.

[152] Fosbroke, in quotation of various ancient authors, p. 259.

[153] Gregory had a whip with which he threatened the young clerks and singing boys, when they were out, or failed in the notes; they also fasted the day before they were to chant, and constantly ate beans.--_Hawkins’s Music._ Fosbroke, p. 273.

[154] Knighton, a canon of St. Mary-le-Prè, has, to his own disgrace, recorded his bitter condemnation of the translation made by his contemporary <g>Wickliffe</g>:--“Christ intrusted his gospel,” says that ecclesiastic, “to the clergy and doctors of the <g>church</g>, to minister it to the laity and weaker sort, according to their exigencies and several occasions; but this Master John Wickliffe, by translating it, has made it vulgar, and has laid it more open to the laity, and even to women who can read, than it used to be to the most learned of the clergy, and those of the best understanding; and thus the gospel jewel, the evangelical feast, is thrown about and trodden under feet of swine.”--Decem Script. Col. 2644.

Such language, as an ingenious and learned divine has justly observed, was looked upon as good reasoning by the clergy of that day, who saw not with what satire it was edged against themselves.--Nichols’s Append. to the Hist. of Leicester, vol. i. p. 108. Fosbroke, p. 253.

[155] Fosbroke, p. 252.

[156] Fosbroke, p. 246.

[157] Ibid. p. 247.

[158] Conviv. Religios.

[159] Cruditis. Fosbroke, p. 253.

[160] Mem. de Petrarque, iii. 606. Fosbroke.

[161] Fosbroke, quoting Parsons’ MSS. in the Bodl. Libr., Oxford.

[162] One of the last important occasions, on which the abbey seal of Tinterne was used, was in ratifying an instrument, whereby the abbot and convent appointed Charles, Earl of Worcester, and Henry Somerset, Lord Herbert, his son and heir apparent, chief stewards of their manor of _Acle_, or Oakley, in Norfolk, 6th Hen. VIII.

[163] Taylor’s Index Monasticus Pref. ap. Brit. Monach. p. 229, note.

[164] MS. Harl. 1051. Fosbroke, art. Cloister.

[165] Monachus quidam Sagiensis cænobii de cella quadam in partibus Angliæ longinquis ad aliam cellam loci ejusdem remotis in Walliæ finibus, super mare Milvordicum et Hibernicum gyrovagando discurrens, ne _solus_ esset in via, quia, vae soli!--non socium sibi, sed _sociam_, elegit; ejus turpitudo, terque quaterque, turpiter deprehensa fuit. Adeo quidem, quod à Castellanis partium illarum demum captus et in carcerem missus, sociaque ipsius et confusionis causâ ribaldis exposita fuerit et garcionibus prostituta. Tales autem honores, et tales honestates ex monachis ad cellulam missis ordine monastico pervenire solent.--MSS. Cott. Tiber B. 13. ap. Fosbroke, p. 271.

[166] In the notes to Robert of Gloucester’s <g>Chronicle</g> [vol. iii. § 8-9] we read:--“About this tyme the order of <g>Cysteaux</g> was fyrst brought into Englande by one Walter, that founded the first abbey of that religion at <g>Ryuall</g>.” The question, however, has been set at rest by the extracts already given from the Chronicles of Tinterne, in which the date of their appearance in Englande is fixed at the beginning of the twelfth century, regnante _Henrico primo_.

[167] Quidam monachi dicunt _omnes esse monachos qui in paradiso erant_, vel potius nullum ibi esse non monachum.

[168] Mox ut mortuus fuero, cucullam Ordinis Cisterciensis mihi induite, et ne fiat me vivente, diligentissime cavete. MS. Roy. Lib. 7. A. III. ap. Fosbroke, 173.

So--when the devil was sick, the devil a monk would be;
But when the devil got well, the devil a monk was he.

[169] It appears, however, that the books so carefully transcribed in the monasteries were seldom understood, or even perused, by the higher clergy; for it is told that Lewis Beaumont, bishop of Durham, 1317, understood not a word of either Latin or English. In reading the _bull_ of his appointment to that see--which he had been taught to spell for several days before--he stumbled upon the word _metropolitice_, which he in vain endeavoured to pronounce; and, having hammered over it a considerable time, at last cried out in his mother tongue, “Soit pour dite! Par Seynt Lowys, il ne fu pas curteis qui ceste parole ici escrit.”--Robert de Greystanes. Anglia Sacra, 1. 761., as quoted by Craik, 1. 137.

[170] Sketches of the History of Literature and Learning in England, vol. i. p. 69. By Geo. L. Craik.

[171] See Fosbroke. Dallaway’s Heraldic Enquiries.

[172] Henniker, Norman Tiles.

[173] Cowel, Mosaic Work, apud Fosbroke.

[174] The Signor left the banks of the Wye the day after relating the preceding anecdote, or the narrator would have shared another experiment with him. “While at Derby, however, it is related that such was the wonderful power of his imitative faculties, that he far outsoared the violins when playing in _alt_, whose masters laid them down in the orchestra in astonishment at being so entirely eclipsed by a human voice. They next played a hunting song, in which the signor appeared to equal advantage. The rich and mellow tones of the French horn were as successfully imitated, as the still finer and more distinct ones of the violins; and in some shakes he quite enraptured his audience. They then played a full piece together, which was such a grand display of his talents, that the admiration and delight of his auditors could go no further--they seemed electrified by his powers.”

[175] The river’s bank is here the haunt of otters, and the resort of herons and halcyon kingfishers. The rocky precipices abound in rabbits, foxes, weasels, martins, and polecats; whilst the more umbrageous parts afford protection to hedgehogs, dormice, and squirrels.--_Thomas._

[176] Ibid.

[177] See view of the Refectory.

[178] See view of the door leading into cloisters.

[179] “The Beaufort Arms,” where the writer experienced much civility with moderate charges, is, unfortunately, too small to accommodate more than a party of three or four persons; but it is comfortable.

[180] See page 38-62.

[181] See page 33, passim.

[182] See page 38-39, passim.

[183] See page 65, passim.

[184] Running across the neck of land, it shortens the distance between the Abbey and Tinterne Parva.

[185] In this engraving, the modern iron gate which shuts up this passage, dividing the church from the cloisters, has been _intentionally_ omitted, as not in harmony with the subject.

[186] See page 52, passim.

[187] Published by order of Parliament, 1827.

[188] Acle, or Oakley, eleven miles east from Norwich, and situated near the Bure, on grounds which rise suddenly from the marshes below. The church, dedicated to St. Edmund, is a rectory, value £20.

[189] Monast. ii. 724, v. 269.

[190] Munimenta Antiqua, vol. iii. p. 250.

[191] Munimenta Antiqua, vol. iii. p. 252.

[192] Dugdale’s Baronage, vol. i. p. 327.

[193] Munimenta Antiqua, vol. iii. p. 251.

[194] By Gertrude, daughter of Manners, Earl of Rutland, his first wife, he had issue four sons and three daughters. His second wife was Elizabeth, widow of Sir William Cavendish, whose son Henry married the Lady Grace, one of the earl’s daughters by his first wife.

[195] Messrs. Brayley and Britton: 1805. King, Whitelocke, Itinerary, and other sources.

[196] The cut here inserted represents specimens of [supposed] ancient armour in the Gateway Tower.

[197] Raglan, elegans comitis Wigorniæ Castellum, etc. Silur., p. 510.

[198] Son of Thomas ap Gwillim ap Jenkin, by his wife Maud, daughter and heiress of Sir John Morley, Knt., Lord of Raglan Castle.

[199] This gallant warrior fell by the side of his master, Henry V., at the battle of Agincourt.

[200] Collins, vol. iii. 25, 27.

[201] Robert Hillyard.

[202] Speed, p. 858, 859. Which the reader may compare with Dugdale, p. 257; and Collins, vol. iii. p. 28, by whom the circumstances are somewhat differently stated. See also Hollinshed, p. 672.

[203] The Herberts in former times were spread all over this county, and possessed several of its best estates and mansions; but, notwithstanding the immense possessions of this ancient family, yet it is very singular that there is not one landowner of £50 a year of the name of Herbert to be found in the whole county; although it must be allowed that the family of _Jones_ of Lanarth, is of an elder branch of the Earls of Pembroke.--_Williams._

[204] Grafton, vol. ii. p. 15, 16.

[205] Whose mother and Henry Duke of Somerset were brother’s children.

[206] At the Festival of the Virgin Mary, 1514.

[207] See notice of Chepstow, ante, page 4.

[208] See vol. i. of this work, art. Arundel Castle.

[209] As stated by Collins--Mr. Thomas says, “at Raglan Castle; adding, ‘two headless and mutilated parts of alabaster statues of this nobleman and his lady, which are, alas, kicked about by every chance visitor to the church, alone remain of the magnificent tomb erected to their memory!’”--_Raglan_, p. 137.

[When the Editor visited the place in August, 1848, the monument presented the same pitiable state of dilapidation--a bitter homily on the vanity of wealth, birth, and titles--yet in sad but perfect harmony with the desolation of the adjoining Castle.]

[210] Collins, 1768, vol. iii. p. 208.

[211] Illustrations of British History, vol. i. p. 490.

[212] Illustrations of British History, vol. i. p. 490, 491, ed. 1838.

[213] History of England, _Manners and Customs_, book viii. chap. vi. p. 629.

[214] Till the year 1627, it was customary in these two counties to have but one sheriff.

[215] Charles Sackville was the direct descendant of the great Thomas Lord Buckhurst. Of his youth it is disgraceful enough to say, that he was the companion of Rochester and Sedley; but his mature life, like that of Sedley, was illustrated by public spirit, and his fortune enabled him to be a beneficent friend to men of genius. He attended the Duke of York as a volunteer in the Dutch war, and finished his well-known song, “_To all you ladies now at land_,” on the day before the sea-fight in which Opdam, the Dutch admiral, was blown up with all his crew:--

“To all you ladies now at land,
We men at sea indite;
But first would have you understand,
How hard it is to write;
The Muses now, and Neptune too,
We must implore to write to you.
With a fa, la, la, la, la.

“Should foggy Opdam chance to know
Our sad and dismal story;
The Dutch would scorn so weak a foe,
And quit their fort at _Goree_;
For what resistance can they find
From men who’ve left their hearts behind!
With a fa, la, la, la, la.”
--_Campbell’s British Poets_, p. 316.

[216] Peck’s Curiosa.

[217] Ibid.

[218] Opus citatum in Pict. Hist. Engl., book vii. chap. vi. p. 629.

[219] It was fortunate that, while the aristocracy were thus becoming more vitiated, the common people had become more temperate than formerly; but to this assertion Stow adds--“It was not from abstinence but necessity; ale and beer being small, and wines in price above their reach.” During the period of the Commonwealth, greater temperance in eating and drinking naturally prevailed, from the ascendancy of Puritan principles, which recommended simplicity and self-denial.--_Manners and Customs_, Pict. Hist.

[220] Something like the court-suit of Prince Esterhazy.

[221] Pictor. Hist. Engl., cit. _Winwood_, book vi. chap. vi. p. 630.

[222] Harleian MS., quoted by Miss Aikin, in her ‘Memoirs of the Court of James I.’ This Lady Compton, who valued herself upon being “so reasonable,” was the daughter and sole heiress of Sir John Spencer, who was probably the wealthiest citizen of his time, as he died worth nearly a million sterling. He was called “The Rich Spencer.” Lord Compton, her husband, was so transported at his inheritance, that he went out of his wits, and remained in that condition for several years.--_Winwood_, quoted in the Pict. Hist. of England.

[223] Osborne’s Memoirs of King James, in Pict. Hist. of Engl., book vii. chap. vi. p. 630.

[224] _Manners and Customs_, Pict. Hist. of England.

[225] Ibid.

[226] History of England, _Manners and Customs_, quoting from “Peck’s Curiosa,” “Evelyn’s Diary,” “Strutt,” “Somers’ Tracts,” and “Court of King James.”

[227] So much was swearing identified with loyalty, that Cromwell, after a skirmish with the Scottish horse at Musselburgh, sent word to the Parliament that the enemy had English cavaliers in their ranks, _because_ he heard one of their wounded exclaiming with his last breath, “_D--n me! I’m going to my King._”--_Howel’s Letters_, quoted in the History of England.

[228] The woodcut here introduced represents the <g>boar’s head</g>--a favourite dish in the olden time--on its way from the kitchen to the banquet-room.

[229] See notice of him in this work, art. “Chepstow Castle.”

[230] Tour throughout South Wales and Monmouthshire, by J. T. Barber.

[231] Bayly, p. 36-44.

[232] Churchyard. See Wood’s “Rivers of Wales.”

[233] Was it here that Henry Bolingbroke was confined, as traditionally believed?

[234] The reader is probably aware that in certain churches, palaces, &c., obnoxious pictures and statues were treated in this manner by the soldiery; and hence the lamentable destruction of these works of Art, which were once the ornaments of the country.

[235] See the Woodcut.

[236] See Thomas’s Tinterne, p. 133.

[237] See paper in the “Archæological Journal.”

[238] See Description and Anecdote in a subsequent page of this Volume.

[239] Archæolog. Journal, art. “Raglan Castle.”

[240] Ibidem.

[241] By removing the ivy from a portion of the great Hall, in the course of last autumn, another magnificent window has been brought into view; and by a similar course of discovery, other interesting features of baronial splendour will no doubt reappear.--[Note by Mr. G. May, “Warden” of the Castle, whose efforts to preserve what remains, and bring into view what is yet concealed of these noble ruins, is alike creditable to his taste and his industry.]

[242] This appears ungenerous. There seems no just ground for suspecting the Marquess of any motive incompatible with the most devoted loyalty.--See his own declaration in a subsequent page of this article.

[243] Lord Clarendon’s Hist., vol. iii. p. 154, ed. 1706.

[244] “Out of a window they (the rabble) killed Colonel Lawley, and two officers more, without hurting a common soldier.”--_Clar. Hist._

[245] Lord Clarendon’s Hist., vol. ii. p. 156, ed. 1706.

[246] An allusion possibly to some design on the part of Charles to forsake rebellious London, and make York his capital; but more probably--as I am reminded by a correspondent--to an old prophetic saw in rhyme, viz.--

“Lincoln _was_, London _is_, and York _shall be_
The greatest city of the three.”

[247] Ubi Troja nunc seges.

[248] Literally, having been created Marquess very recently.

[249] This quaint phrase may mean two days or two months.

[250] Thus the King had his money, and the poor Marquess was indulged with the royal conversation, which Dr. Bayly worked up into the “Certamen Religiosum,” a duodecimo of 232 pages.--_Certamen Religiosum_, p. 2-11, Lond. 1649.

[251] In variety of wines, and the copious use of them, the wealthier classes of England in this age were not a whit behind their ancestors. The arrival of the Danish King and his courtiers in the reign of James, had greatly increased the national thirst; insomuch that it was observed, “The Danes have again conquered England!” In the reign of Charles the First the <g>Cavaliers</g> were as little famed for temperance as the Courtiers of King James. The English followed also, very scrupulously, the Danish custom of drinking healths; and foreigners were astonished to find that when a company amounted to some twenty or thirty, it was still expected that every guest should drink the health of each in rotation. Such festivals, of course, inflamed the love of quarrel. Toasts were given which produced discussion, or refusal to drink them; and if the overheated parties did not immediately come to blows, still duels and bloodshed were the usual consequences. Sometimes, when a lady or an absent patron was toasted, the company pledged the toast upon their knees. Among other disgusting modes of drinking healths at this period, the toper sometimes mingled his own blood with the wine.--“_Manners and Customs of England._”

[252] Apophthegm 25, Bayly, p. 52.

[253] Nothing can be more wondered at than that the King should amuse himself about forming a new army in counties which had been already vexed and worn by his own troops, and the licence of those governors whom he had put over them; and not have immediately repaired into the west, where he had an army already formed, and a people generally well devoted to his service; whither all his broken troops, and General Gerrard, might have transported themselves, before Fairfax could have given them any interruption.--_Clarendon._

[254] The branch of the Morgan family here mentioned, like that of Worcester, were devoted to the royal cause, and on all occasions evinced that unshrinking loyalty which added lustre to their descent. In the halls of Tredegar, as in Raglan Castle, Charles found an asylum--the only asylum, perhaps, that could then be a sure guarantee for his personal safety. The Morgan family was descended from the ancient princes of South Wales, and as much distinguished by its hospitality as its antiquity.

[255] Sir Henry Ellis’s Orig. Lett., vol. iii. p. 310.

[256] Grandfather of the famous Dean of St. Patrick’s.

[257] Apophthegms.--See the former _note_.

[258] Among what are called “_The King’s Pamphlets_,” in the British Museum, the collection of which, begun by a Mr. George Thomason, and continued by order of King Charles the First, there is a single folio sheet printed at London, containing “VERSES lately written by Thomas Earle of Strafford.”--_Sir Henry Ellis’s “Original Letters” illustrative of English History_, vol. iii. p. 238.

[259] Of this disastrous event a sympathising French poet writes:--

Tel qu’un lion forcé de repaire en repaire,
En dépit des chasseurs regagne sa tanière.
Mais <g>Charles</g>, en cet asile investi sans sécours,
Ne pouvait s’y flatter que d’un frêle recours--
Trop déplorable objet de tant de trahisons,
Indigné, trainé de prisons en prisons,
L’imfortuné Monarque, abreuvé de misères,
Finit sur le billot ses destins sanguinaires.

[260] See Thomas’s “Tinterne,” p. 78.

[261] Rowland Williams of Llangibby was distinguished by royal favour, both in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and that of her successor, and in proof thereof received the honour of knighthood. His grandson, the Sir Trevor Williams here mentioned, in consideration of his loyal attachment to the interests of King Charles, was created a baronet on the 14th of May, 1642.

[262] See Letter published by Mr. Thomas in his “Account of Raglan,” _note_ 23.

[263] Stated by Rushworth, as only 1,500 men, while the garrison in the Castle amounted to 800 men.

[264] Of this document the following is a copy:--

“To our trusty and well-beloved Sir Thos. Glenham, Sir Thos. Tildesley, Col. H. Washington, Col. Tho. Blagge, Governors of our Cities and Towns of Oxford, Lichfield, Worcester, and Wallingford, and all other Commanders of any Towns, Castles, and Forts, in our Kingdome of England:--

<g>“Charles R.</g>

“Having resolved to comply with the desires of our Parliament in every thing which may be for the good of our subjects, and leave no means unessayed for removing all differences amongst us, therefore We have thought fit, the more to evidence the reality of our intentions of settling an happy and firm peace, to require you to quit those Towns, Castles, and Forts intrusted to you by us, and to disband all the Forces under your several commands.

“Newcastle, the 10th June, 1646.”

[265] The Marquess, like many other royalists, considered that the King was under restraint; and that it was his _duty_ to disobey the royal orders for surrender. In fact, Charles himself had written to the Queen that he was in durance in the hands of the barbarous and perfidious Scots; and that she, his son, and all his faithful counsellors, were to regard every order from him, C. R., as forced or surreptitious. The Marquess, therefore, regarded the document with well-grounded suspicion, and took exception to his Majesty’s warrant, because, while it specified others, it did not name him or his Castle.--_Hist. of Engl., Civ. and Milit. Transact._ p. 356.

[266] It is worthy of remark, that Sir Thomas Fairfax, on his arrival, does not so much continue the siege already commenced by Colonel Morgan, as begin a new siege by a new summons. It was thought, perhaps, that the Marquess would be more disposed to surrender his Castle to a man of General Fairfax’s rank than to Colonel Morgan; and from what follows, the opinion was not without foundation.

[267] A prohibition, by-the-by, which the noble owner and his royal master do not seem to have applied to themselves.--See _Certamen Religiosum_.

[268] “An exact and true Relation of the many several Messages that have passed between his Excellency Sir Thomas Fairfax and the Marquess of Worcester, Governor of Raglan Castle, touching the Surrender thereof: Together with a Copy of the Propositions sent to the General from the Marquess of Worcester out of Raglan Castle, and his Excellency’s Refusal to treat on them: Also, the Names your Commissioner appointed to treate with the Enemy upon the Propositions sent to them from the Generall. Certified in a Letter to a Member of the Honourable House of Commons, on Tuesday, August 18th, 1646, and commanded to be forthwith printed and published. London. 1646.”

[269] Fairfax was encamped on a rising ground north of the Castle, which commanded the whole line of the fortress occupied by the Marquess of Worcester.

[270] It is deserving of notice, that the communication above quoted was ordered by the House of Commons to be made public the moment it was received, although it describes very frankly all the plans and difficulties of the besieging army. In other cases it would probably have formed the substance of a secret despatch.

[271] An account precisely similar to that quoted is given in the “Mercurius Civicus--London’s Intelligencer; or, Truth impartially related from thence to the whole Kingdom, to prevent misinformation. From Thursday, August 13, to Thursday, August 20, 1646.” This singular-looking gazette, determined it would seem on impartiality of honours, ornaments its title-page with a likeness of Sir Thomas Fairfax, faced by that of King Charles.

[272] Part of this building remains, with the date 1616. In the parish church of Llandenny, is a monument of Roger Oates of Kevantilla, who died 1706, ætatis 67.

[273] “History of England,” Charles I. p. 607.

[274] Among the gentlemen who took part with him in the defence was Sir Harry Killigrew, of whose melancholy fate Clarendon gives some interesting particulars.--_Clarendon_, part ii. p. 39, ed. 1706; also, vol. v. p. 40.

[275] “In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats.”--Isaiah ii. 20.

[276] Dr. Henry Edwards, author of “History of the Siege of Jerusalem.”--_Archæol. Journ._, vol. i. p. 112.

[277] “Thomas’s Tinterne,” p. 158.

[278] From lines ascribed to Lord Strafford.--_Sir Henry Ellis’s_ “_Original Letters_,” vol. iii.

[279] “Tout est perdu, hors _l’honneur_.”

[280] Carlyle’s “Cromwell:” [quoting Hist. of Independ. London, 1683-5.]

[281] See description of this walk, _ante_ p. 158.

[282] London, 1650; a thin folio volume.

[283] Douay, 1654.

[284] Quoting from Sacred Writ.

[285] “Guide to Piety.”

[286] A small volume with this title: “Worcester’s Apophthegms; or, Witty Sayings of the Right Honourable Henry (late) Marquess and Earle of Worcester, delivered upon several occasions, and now published for the benefit of the reader, by T. B., a constant observer and no less admirer of his Lordship’s wisdom and loyalty. 1650.”

[287] See _ante_ page 175, the King’s letter to Glamorgan.

[288] This, in some degree, explains the strong motives by which the Marquess was actuated in his devotion to the King.

[289] On the coffin was this inscription, engraved on a brass plate:--“Depositum illustrissimi principis Edwardi, Marchionis et Comitis Wigorniæ, Comitis de Glamorgan, Baronis Herbert de Raglan, Chepstow, et Gower, nec non serenissimo nuper Domino Regi Carolo Primo, South Walliæ locum tenentis, qui obiit apud Lond., tertio die Apriles, An. Dom. MDCLXVII.”

[290] August 18, 1660.

[291] See description of the moat, &c., _ante_ p. 158.

[292] Tinterne and its Vicinity, page 130.

[293] Page 131.

[294] Monmouth, Gloucester, Worcester, Hereford, Salop, Wilts, Somerset, Devon, Brecon, Glamorgan, Caermarthen, Cardigan, and Radnor; together with the British Channel to some distance beyond the Holms. Near the latter is a Tower called “Kemey’s Folly.” Its founder, boasting to his father that the tower could be seen from thirteen counties, was answered--“I am sorry, my son, that so great an extent of country should be witness to thy consummate folly;” and from that day, we are told, the tower assumed the name which it still retains.

[295] Or, according to Mr. Thomas, 1720 feet.

[296] “Thomas’s Raglan,” p. 155.

[297] A MS. plan, which has just been sent to the Editor from Raglan, in confirmation of the above, seems to complete the evidence which was hitherto wanting.

[298] One solitary attempt to imitate the jousts and tournaments of former days, was made a few years ago at the expense of the Earl of Eglinton; but “the burlesque was apparently too extravagant, if not too costly, for repetition.”

[299] In the bowling-green attached to the residence of a gentleman at Muswell Hill, Hornsey, the ancient national game is still kept up--_ritu majorum_.

[300] Fosbroke, Nares, Strutt, Gage’s Hengrave Hall.--_Encyclopædia of Antiq._, vol. ii. p. 674.

[301] See “Strutt’s Sports,” p. 97.

[302] “Fosbroke’s Gymnastics.” The late Sir S. R. Meyrick gives various kinds of jousts, _i. e._ where the combat is limited to two rivals.

[303] Page 175 of this volume.

[304] The contributor of this anecdote is not sufficiently acquainted with the habits of birds as to pronounce that no bird builds its nest of white-thorn; but if such be really the case, that circumstance might surely have led the cavaliers to suspect that the prophecy had received some aid in its fulfilment from the worthy townsmen of Caernarvon. But the explanation given by the Marquess is, as usual, felicitously characteristic, and veiled in a politico-religious guise.

[305] Bayly, Apophthegm xix.

[306] The woodcut represents the old baronial <g>kitchen</g> with its appendages, as described page 154.

[307] See note, page 138.

[308] As an author, he is known by a work relating to that curious monument of former ages, Stonehenge, which he pronounced to be a Roman temple, dedicated to Cœlus; an opinion, however, which antiquaries have decried as erroneous and absurd.--_Biog._

[309] See account of the King’s visit to Raglan, p. 163.

[310] He died in 1348.

[311] The lordship of Grosmont was absorbed in the acquisitions of the house of Lancaster, and a court-baron is held for the district, called “the Hundred of the Three Castles”--Grosmont, Skenfreth, and White Castle, or Castle Gwyn.

[312] 1326.--See Hist. of Monmouth.

[313] 1387.--Ibid.

[314] Life of Henry V.

[315] In the “Shakspeare,” edited by the late poet Campbell, it is thought that the parts of _Gloucester_ and _Edgar_ are taken from the story of the Paphlagonian King in Sir Philip Sydney’s “Arcadia.” There was also a play, entitled “The True Chronicle Historie of King Leare and his 3 Daughters,” entered at Stationers’ Hall in 1594, which kept possession of the stage several years, and must have been familiar to Shakspeare himself.

[316] The recent epic poem by Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton, Bart., entitled “King Arthur,” is one of the few poems of our own times that promises to descend to posterity. What Milton admired, and Dryden projected, as the subject of a national poem, Sir Edward has accomplished with that felicitous taste and ability which have impressed his name on the popular and classic literature of the day. Pope himself had at one period of his life resolved to complete, what Milton and Dryden had only planned--a heroic poem on the same subject.

[317] Among the estates thus rejected was the ancient manor of Berkeley, in the Vale of Gloucester. “Nam cum eis aliquando tota provincia de Bergelay a Rege et Regina, gratis offeretur,” etc. etc.

[318] Regina verò Matildis sanctitatis ignara quanta videlicet mentis constantia insaturabilem divitiarum fugeret ingluviem; cum aliquando _rogare cœpit ut modis omnibus sineret eam manum suam in sinum ejus mittere_, etc.

[319] The precise year of its foundation has never been ascertained; but there is no doubt that it was commenced after 1108, and completed before 1136, when the greater part of the brotherhood were removed to Hereford, and subsequently to New Llanthony, near Gloucester. We have the testimony of Giraldus Cambrensis that, in 1186, the Mother-Abbey had been long completed. He describes it as covered with lead, and not inelegantly constructed with a roof of stone.

[320] Hist. Abbatiæ de <g>Llanthony</g>, in Bibl. Cotton, Sub. Effigie Julii DXI. fol. 30. B.; also, Monasticon Angl. vol. iii. p. 58. Ed. 1673. It is too long for our purpose; but the article will be interspersed with extracts from it.

[321] Translated by the late Sir R. Colt Hoare, Bart., 1806.

[322] The name of the place in Welsh, as he explains it, is Nanthodeni. _Nant_ signifies a running stream, from whence this place is still called by the inhabitants, Llandevi Nantodeni, or, the Church of St. David upon the river Hodeni. By the English, therefore, it is corruptly called Llanthoni; whereas it should either be called Nanthodeni, that is, the brook of the Hodeni, or Lanthodeni, the church upon the Hodeni.

[323] This was before the _New_ Abbey had been thought of; or, in the original words, “Before the Daughter had existence; and I sincerely wish,” adds the devout historian, “that she had never been produced.”

[324] Resembling in many respects--though in a less inhospitable region--the Augustine monks of “the Great St. Bernard,” and holding no intercourse with the world around them, unless by means of those pilgrims who resorted to their shrine, and spread abroad the fame of their sanctity.

[325] Seneca’s Morals.

[326] This anecdote, somewhat differently told, we have already noticed in the sketch of Tinterne Abbey.

[327] This reminds us of a visit to a celebrated monastery in Tuscany, where the writer was received by one of the superior monks with great politeness and hospitality. In the course of the evening he mentioned the principal circumstances of his life--“court intrigue, dissipation, extravagance, and moral depravity; at last,” said he, “I became utterly disgusted with the life I had led, and flew for refuge to this sanctuary, where I have lived many years, and found, to my soul’s content, that there is no happiness in this life but in preparing for the next--_pensare, pensare, sull’ éternità_.”--Ed.

[328] Sir R. C. Hoare, quoting Giraldus.

[329] Orig. Nova Marchia. Chr. New March?

[330] See the account already given of the Clare family.

[331] In those times the Wye was considered the boundary between England and Wales.

[332] See _ante_, founders and benefactors of Tinterne Abbey.

[333] Of the strict legal phraseology of this document, the following is a specimen:--Volo et firmiter præcipio quod Canonici <g>Lanthoniæ</g> Primæ, omnia tenementa sua in terra de <g>Ewias</g>, tam laica quam ecclesiastica quæcumq: in præsenti habent vel in posterum, emptione, donatione, vel quocumq: alio titulo habituri sunt, bene et in pace, liberè et quietè teneant in omnibus locis et rebus ubicumque fuerint in terra de <g>Ewias</g>, quieta de omnibus placitis et querelis, et auxiliis, et _sumagiis_, et _cariagiis_, et clausturis; et de pontium et castrorum ædificatione, et de conductu thesauri, et de omni operatione et lestagio et stallagio et summonitionibus, et de assisis, et superassisis; et de omnibus foris functis, quacumque occasione emerserint; et de assartis. Nullus verò de Forestariis nostris quicquam se intromittat de boscis Prioris et Canonicorum <g>Lanthoniæ</g> Primæ; sed omnem potestatem et libertatem, quam ego et hæredes mei in boscis nostris habemus, vel habere poterimus, habeant prædicti Prior et Canonici in boscis suis, sint verò et homines et res ipsorum quieta de telonio, et ex omnibus exactionibus, et consuetudinibus in Nundinis, foris, et mercatis; et omnibus locis et rebus _per totam terram de_ <g>Ewias</g>. Habeant prædicti Prior et Canonici omnem justiciam de _assaultu_ et _murdro_ et sanguinis effusione, et pacis infractione et thesauri inventione, et quicquid ad nostram pertinet potestatem.... Concedo quod habeant de hominibus suis et de tota possessione sua, quam habent vel habituri sunt, in terra de <g>Ewias</g>, etc. etc. Concedo quod predicti <g>Prior</g> et Canonici omnes libertates prædictas et liberas consuetudines habeant adeo liberè et quietè, pacificè et integrè sicut ego et antecessores mei, ipsius libertatis unquam melius, plenius, et liberiùs habuimus. Concedo etiam quod habeant omnes libertates quas ego et successores mei per Regem Angliæ, vel alium, habere poterimus in terra de <g>Ewias</g>, etc. etc.--Datum per nostrum manum apud <g>Langley</g>, Anno regni nostri decimo octavo.

[334] These Canons were to live in common; to have but one table, one purse, one dormitory. But as many of them had begun to abate somewhat of the strictness of their first rules, a new set sprang up that pretended to reform upon the rest; and these, from their more pointed observance of the vow, were styled <g>Regular Canons</g>; whereas those who had fallen from the original purity of the Order were called, by way of reproach, <g>Secular Canons</g>. In this manner the monks of New Llanthony, who affected a more exemplary life, called themselves Regulars--which they did not permit those of the parent Abbey, in Wales, to assume, but addressed them only as Canons or Seculars. It was by this distinction--“I am holier than thou”--that they endeavoured to justify their “unfilial conduct,” and promote their own ascendancy, in their connection with Old Llanthony. [But in the <g>Charters</g> they are often called _Regulars_.]

It seems uncertain at what precise period the title or designation of Canons was assumed in the church; but the first Regulars we read of were those employed by Pope Alexander II., in his mission to St. John Lateran. But so irregular, says a historian, were those Regulars, and so addicted to crimes, that even Pope Boniface VIII. was forced to drive them away, and placed Secular Canons in their room.

They were introduced into England about the middle of the seventh century.

[335] The paper is entitled, “LICENTIA PER REGEM EDWARDUM QUARTUM, pro unione Prioratûs de <g>Llanthony</g> _Prima_, in Wallia, Prioratui de <g>Lanthony</g> juxta Gloucestriam.”

[336] In the Original, the contrast between the two monasteries, in their position and outward circumstances, is thus picturesquely and forcibly drawn. Speaking of the introduction of the old Canons to their new cells on the Severn, he says--Nam valdè dissimiliter sibi respondere experti sunt, <g>urbem</g> Gloucestriæ et montem <g>Hatyre</g> [Hatterilhills], et fluvium <g>Sabrinæ</g>, et aquam <g>Hodanie</g>; _Anglos_, ditissimos et Wallenses pauperrimos: Illic, agros fertiles; hîc saltus steriles, unde illorum copia blandientæ illecti; istorum inopia urgente pertæsi locum istum, nec hominum quorum libet nec dum religiosorum inhabitatione dignum censuerunt.

The next is quite in keeping:--

Audivi quidem dici et ex parte credo, quosdam linguæ levitate (et utinam non odii livore) desiderâsse ut quilibet hujus Ecclesiæ lapis _lepus_ foret: alios autem, quod in pace illorum dixerim, ore sacrilego impetisse ut Ecclesia cum omnibus officinis abyssi voragine absorberetur! Omnes verò <g>Ecclesiæ</g> hujus redditus pro suo arbitrio expenderunt; illic excelsa et decentia officinarum ædificia fabricantes; hìc verò fabricata situ et vetustate deferentes.

Et quoniam eis indignissimum videbatur ut locus [old Llanthony] tam antiqua religione sacer et tam amplis possessionibus ditatus, omninò virorum religiosorum residentiâ destitueretur, destinare solebant genes debiles, et abjectiores, qui nec sibi nec aliis multum prodesse valebant, qui non immeritò cum <g>Apostolo</g> dicere poterant: _tanquam purgamenta fratrum facti sumus omnium paripsima usque adhuc_.--_Pri. de Lanth. ord. S. Aug._

[337] In old writings it is spelt Hodenay, Hondy, Hodenie, &c.

[338] We have not introduced the original Welsh; but the reader may see the whole in the “Historie of <g>Cambria</g>, now called Wales, a part of the most famous Yland of Brytane, by <g>David Powel</g>, Doctor in Divinitie, [=c] privilegio. 1584.”

[339] State of Europe during the Middle Ages.--_Hallam._

[340] Ibid.

[341] Hallam’s Middle Ages.

[342] Whewel.

[343] Sir Thomas More said to his lady that the consideration of the time--for it was Lent--should restrayne her from so scolding her servants. “_Tush, tush_, my lord,” said she; “_Lookye! here is one step to heavenward_,”--shewing him a frier’s girdle. “Alas! I fear me,” said he, “this _step_ will not bring you up one step higher.”--_Camd. Remains_, quoted Brit. Monach. p. 173.

[344] Dugdale gives it at £71. 3_s._ 4_d._; Speed at £112. 1_s._ 5_d._ At the Dissolution, John Ambrose was Prior, and with John Nealand and three other Canons subscribed to the Supremacy in 1534.

[345] See the notice of Tinterne Abbey.

[346] The north aisle is occupied by a wash-house and skittle-ground. The cloisters, dormitories, and other offices are used for the reception of visitors, under the direction of a resident steward. Latterly, the ruins appear to have suffered little from time or desecration. The western front is very perfect and beautiful, but the tracery of the great window is obliterated. The owner of the property is Walter Savage Landor, Esq., the poet.--_Archæol. Journ._

[347] _Edition_ 1806; but serious dilapidations have taken place since then, and even within three or four years. Great credit is due to the house of Beaufort for the pains taken in the conservation of the religious houses and castles that have fallen to its possession and custody; and it is very gratifying to know that the example is followed by the present Proprietor of Llanthony.

[348] London: Pickering.

[349] Now, in Walter de Troucestre’s Chron., we read, “A.D. 1301, on the first day of April, being Easter-eve, the Church of Llanthony, near Gloucester, was entirely burnt to the bare walls, together with its _four_ belfries, nor did any bell remain that was not either broken or melted.”--_Roberts._

[350] Supposed by some to have been the Sacristy or Vestiary.--See preceding pages.

[351] See Tinterne Abbey: Descrip. of Dole.

[352] Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. iii. Orat. August.

[353] The <g>Rules</g>--of which the above are but a meagre and imperfect outline--are expressed with great beauty and simplicity in the original, to which the reader is again referred. It is worth mentioning that the celebrated Thomas à Kempis was a monk of this Order; and, perhaps, no devotional work has appeared in so many languages, or run through so many editions, as his “_De Imitatione Christi_.”

[354] The tracts written, and supposed to be written, by him, were published by Bertrand Tissier in 1662.

[355] Vol. iii. page 66.

[356] Conveyances of smoke by holes in the walls are of very ancient date in English castles; but the earliest certain instance of chimneys, properly so called, is understood to occur in some castles abroad, about the year 1347.

[357] See Raglan Castle, description and woodcut, _ante_.

[358] The Castle of Grosmont, by a grant of King John, belonged to the family of Breoses, but afterwards to Hubert de Burgh, who, to “calm a court tempest,” resigned it with three others to Edward III. See description of the Castle in this work.

[359] Thomas’s Glendower, 132

[360] Memoirs of Owen Glendower, 1822.

[361] See the preceding account of Raglan Castle.

[362] “Secunda urbicula, quam Burrium Antoninus dixit, sedet ubi Brithin profluens Iscae commiscetur, Britannis hodie, transpositis literis, Brumbegie pro _Burenbegie_, et Caer-Uske--Gyraldo Castrum Oscæ--et Anglis Usk, nunc solum Castri ampli ruinas ostendit, quod amænissimé intersidet inter Iscam flumen, et Oilwy rivulum ...”

[363] Monuments Antiqua, Kennet’s Rom. Antiq., Tacitus, Vegetius de re Militari, Thomas, p. 141.

[364] We do not read of any nuns having been “stolen from the nunnery” of Uske; but as the reader may be aware, poor Sir Osbert Giffard paid severely for his sacrilegious gallantry in stealing not one but _two_ nuns out of Wilton Abbey. He was ordered never to enter a nunnery more! never to be in the presence of a nun without special leave of his Diocesan. Nor was this enough: he was condemned to go thrice “naked in his shirt and breeches” to the parish church of W., though not, it is said, in presence of the nuns; to be each several time beaten with a rod, much to the comfort of his own soul, and the edification of the by-standers; and so, also, in Salisbury market, and in Shaftesbury church. He was condemned, moreover, to doff the insignia of knighthood, and don a coarse garment of russet, trimmed with lamb or sheep’s wool; to wear calf-skin on his nether extremities, and not to wear any shirt after flagellation. And all this ignominious treatment to be rigorously enforced, until he, the said Osbert, should have been three years in the Holy Land, or recalled by royal authority.--_Brit. Monachism_, iii. 161. _County Hist._

[365] The town is incorporated and governed by a portreeve who has concurrent jurisdiction with the county magistrates, a recorder, two bailiffs, and burgesses. The recorder appoints the burgesses, from among whom the portreeve is chosen at a court-leet, on a day previous to St. Luke’s day, or the 29th of October. The recorder is appointed by the lord of the borough. Four constables are chosen at an annual court-leet of the lord of the manor of Uske, who is also lord of the borough, although the latter is no part of the manor. The quarter-sessions are held alternately here and at Monmouth. The town-house, erected by the Duke of Beaufort, is a handsome building. There are monthly fairs, and the inhabitants, besides the japan ware already mentioned, are occupied in the salmon fishery and agriculture. A free grammar-school for boys was founded here in 1621, by Roger Edwards, with almshouses for twelve poor persons, and an exhibition at Oxford. These almshouses, forming three sides of a quadrangle, have been recently rebuilt. In the main street the houses are much scattered, and ornamented by intervening gardens, which give an air of healthy cheerfulness to the place. The Wesleyans, Independents, and Roman Catholics, have all their meeting-houses or chapels.--_Parl. Gaz._

[366] Or in the elegant lines of Ausonius:--

“Nec te puniceo rutilantem viscere salmo
Transierim, latæ cujus vaga verbera caudæ
Gurgite de medio summas reseruntur in undas.”

[367] See vol i. of this work, art. “Arundel.”

[368] A.D. 1189. Hen. Rex ... dedit Maritagium Isabellæ, filiæ Ricardi <g>Strongbow</g>. Willelmo <g>Marescallo</g> primo, et sic factus est Comes totius Pembrochiæ, et dominus totius hæreditatis.--_Will. Worcest._

[369] See history of Tinterne Abbey, _ante_ p. 44.

[370] See his character as already given in this work.

[371] See the original, as above.--Tinterne, p. 46.