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diff --git a/old/68128-0.txt b/old/68128-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 83deb3c..0000000 --- a/old/68128-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12214 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Memorials of Old Dorset, by Various - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Memorials of Old Dorset - -Author: Various - -Editors: Thomas Perkins - Herbert Pentin - -Release Date: May 19, 2022 [eBook #68128] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Les Galloway and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MEMORIALS OF OLD DORSET *** - - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. Variations -in hyphenation and accents have been standardised but all other -spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_, bold thus =bold= and -superscripts thus y^{en}. - -The repetition of the title immediately before the title page has been -removed. - -The footnotes are at the end of the book. - - - - -[Illustration: - Ringstead and Holworth. - - “Where one may walk along the undulating downs that skirt the Channel, - held in place by parapets of cliff that break down straight into the - sea; where one may walk mile after mile on natural lawn and not meet a - soul—just one’s self, the birds, the glorious scenery, and God.” - (_See page 109._) -_From a water-colour sketch by Mr. William Pye._] - - - - - MEMORIALS OF THE COUNTIES OF ENGLAND - - General Editor: REV. P. H. DITCHFIELD, M.A., F.S.A. - - - - - MEMORIALS - OF OLD DORSET - - - EDITED BY - - THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. - - LATE RECTOR OF TURNWORTH, DORSET - - AUTHOR OF - - “_Wimborne Minster and Christchurch Priory_” - “_Bath and Malmesbury Abbeys_” “_Romsey Abbey_” _&c._ - - AND - - HERBERT PENTIN, M.A. - - VICAR OF MILTON ABBEY, DORSET - - VICE-PRESIDENT, HON. SECRETARY, AND EDITOR - OF THE DORSET NATURAL HISTORY AND ANTIQUARIAN FIELD CLUB - - WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS - - - LONDON - BEMROSE & SONS LIMITED, 4 SNOW HILL, E.C. - AND DERBY - 1907 - - [_All Rights Reserved_] - - - - - TO - - THE RIGHT HONOURABLE - - LORD EUSTACE CECIL, F.R.G.S. - - PAST PRESIDENT OF THE DORSET NATURAL - HISTORY AND ANTIQUARIAN FIELD CLUB - THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED - BY HIS LORDSHIP’S - KIND - PERMISSION - - - - -PREFACE - - -The editing of this Dorset volume was originally undertaken by the -Rev. Thomas Perkins, the scholarly Rector of Turnworth. But he, having -formulated its plan and written four papers therefor, besides gathering -material for most of the other chapters, was laid aside by a very -painful illness, which culminated in his unexpected death. This is -a great loss to his many friends, to the present volume, and to the -county of Dorset as a whole; for Mr. Perkins knew the county as few men -know it, his literary ability was of no mean order, and his kindness to -all with whom he was brought in contact was proverbial. - -After the death of Mr. Perkins, the editing of the work was entrusted -to the Rev. Herbert Pentin, Vicar of Milton Abbey, whose knowledge of -the county and literary experience as Editor of the Dorset Natural -History and Antiquarian Field Club enabled him to gather up the threads -where his friend Mr. Perkins had been compelled to lay them down, and -to complete the work and see it safely through the press. As General -Editor of the series, I desire to express my most grateful thanks to -him for his kind and gracious services in perfecting a work which had -unfortunately been left incomplete; and all lovers of Old Dorset and -readers of this book will greatly appreciate his good offices. - -Few counties can rival Dorset either in natural beauty or historic -interest, and it deserves an honoured place among the memorials of -the counties of England. In preparing the work the Editors have -endeavoured to make the volume comprehensive, although it is of -course impossible in a single volume to exhaust all the rich store of -historical treasures which the county affords. After a general sketch -of the history of Dorset by the late Editor, the traces of the earliest -races which inhabited this county are discussed by Mr. Prideaux, who -tells of the ancient barrows in Dorset, and the details of the Roman -occupation are shown by Captain Acland. Dorset is rich in churches, -and no one was more capable to describe their chief features than Mr. -Perkins. His chapter is followed by others of more detail, dealing -with the three great minsters still standing—Sherborne, Milton, and -Wimborne, the monastic house at Ford, and the memorial brasses of -Dorset. A series of chapters on some of the chief towns and “islands” -of the county follows, supplemented by a description of two well-known -manor-houses. The literary associations of the county and some of its -witchcraft-superstitions form the subjects of the concluding chapters. -The names of the able writers who have kindly contributed to this -volume will commend themselves to our readers. The Lord Bishop of -Durham, the Rev. R. Grosvenor Bartelot, Mr. Sidney Heath, Mr. Wildman, -Mr. Prideaux, Mr. Gill, Mrs. King Warry, and our other contributors, -are among the chief authorities upon the subjects of which they treat, -and our thanks are due to them for their services; and also to Mr. -William Pye for the beautiful coloured frontispiece, to Mr. Heath for -his charming drawings, and to those who have supplied photographs for -reproduction. We hope that this volume will find a welcome in the -library of every Dorset book-lover, and meet with the approbation of -all who revere the traditions and historical associations of the county. - - P. H. DITCHFIELD, - _General Editor_. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - Historic Dorset By the Rev. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. 1 - - - The Barrows of Dorset By C. S. PRIDEAUX 19 - - The Roman Occupation of Dorset By Captain J. E. ACLAND 28 - - The Churches of Dorset By the Rev. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. 44 - - The Memorial Brasses of Dorset By W. DE C. PRIDEAUX 62 - - Sherborne By W. B. WILDMAN, M.A. 75 - - Milton Abbey By the Rev. HERBERT PENTIN, M.A. 94 - - Wimborne Minster By the Rev. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. 117 - - Ford Abbey By SIDNEY HEATH 131 - - Dorchester By the LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM, D.D. 145 - - Weymouth By SIDNEY HEATH 157 - - The Isle of Portland By Mrs. KING WARRY 177 - - The Isle of Purbeck By A. D. MOULLIN 187 - - Corfe Castle By ALBERT BANKES 200 - - Poole By W. K. GILL 222 - - Bridport By the Rev. R. GROSVENOR BARTELOT, M.A. 232 - - Shaftesbury By the Rev. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. 240 - - Piddletown and Athelhampton By Miss WOOD HOMER 257 - - Wolfeton House By ALBERT BANKES 264 - - The Literary Associations of Dorset By Miss M. JOURDAIN 273 - - Some Dorset Superstitions By HERMANN LEA 292 - - Index 307 - - - - -INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS - - - Ringstead and Holworth _Frontispiece_ - (_From a water-colour sketch by Mr. William Pye_) - - PAGE, OR - FACING PAGE - - Bronze Age Objects from Dorset Round Barrows 20 - (_From photographs by Mr. W. Pouncy_) - - Part of the Olga Road Tessellated Pavement, Dorchester 38 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - Tessellated Pavement at Fifehead Neville 41 - - St. Martin’s Church, Wareham 48 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - The Chapel on St. Ealdhelm’s Head 50 - (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) - - Brass to William Grey, Rector of Evershot 70 - (_From a rubbing by Mr. W. de C. Prideaux_) - - Sherborne Abbey (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) 76 - - The Entrance to Sherborne School 86 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - Milton Abbey (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) 94 - - The Paintings in Milton Abbey 95 - - Milton Abbey: Interior (_From a photograph by Mr. S. Gillingham_) 96 - - The Tabernacle in Milton Abbey ” ” ” 97 - - Abbot Middleton’s Rebus 101 - - St. Catherine’s Chapel, Milton Abbey 104 - (_From a photograph by Mr. S. Gillingham_) - - Holworth Burning Cliff in 1827 106 - (_From a coloured print by Mr. E. Vivian_) - - Liscombe Chapel (_From a photograph by Mr. S. Gillingham_) 107 - - Milton Abbey in the year 1733 110 - (_From an engraving by Messrs. S. and N. Buck_) - - The Seal of the Town of Milton in America 116 - - Wimborne Minster (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) 118 - - The Chained Library, Wimborne Minster 128 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - Ford Abbey (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) 132 - - Details from Cloisters, Ford Abbey 134 - (_From drawings by Mr. Sidney Heath_) - - The Chapel, Ford Abbey 136 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - Panel from Cloisters, Ford Abbey 136 - (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) - - The Seal of Ford Abbey (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) 140 - - High Street, Dorchester 146 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - Judge Jeffreys’ Lodgings, Dorchester 149 - (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) - - Cornhill, Dorchester (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) 153 - - “Napper’s Mite,” Dorchester ” ” ” 155 - - The Quay, Weymouth ” ” ” 158 - - Chest in the Guildhall, Weymouth ” ” ” 164 - - Sandsfoot Castle, Weymouth ” ” ” 166 - - Doorway, Sandsfoot Castle ” ” ” 167 - - Some Weymouth Tokens ” ” ” 169 - - The Arms of Weymouth ” ” ” 170 - - Old House on North Quay, Weymouth 171 - (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) - - An Old Chair in the Guildhall, Weymouth 172 - (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) - - The Old Stocks, Weymouth (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) 176 - - Portland Cottages ” ” ” 185 - - “Kimmeridge Coal Money” 192 - (_From a photograph by Mr. A. D. Moullin_) - - Corfe Castle (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) 200 - - The Town Cellars, Poole ” ” ” 222 - - Shaftesbury ” ” ” 240 - - Gold Hill, Shaftesbury ” ” ” 248 - - Piddletown Church ” ” ” 258 - - Athelhampton Hall ” ” ” 262 - - Wolfeton House ” ” ” 264 - - The East Drawing Room, Wolfeton House 268 - (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) - - William Barnes (_From a photograph by Messrs. Dickinsons_) 280 - - Thomas Hardy (_From a photograph by the Rev. T. Perkins_) 284 - - Came Rectory (_From a drawing by Mr. Sidney Heath_) 291 - - - - -HISTORIC DORSET - -BY THE REV. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. - - -The physical features due to the geological formation of the district -now called Dorset have had such an influence on the inhabitants and -their history that it seems necessary to point out briefly what series -of stratified rocks may be seen in Dorset, and the lines of their -outcrop. - -There are no igneous rocks, nor any of those classed as primary, but, -beginning with the Rhætic beds, we find every division of the secondary -formations, with the possible exception of the Lower Greensand, -represented, and in the south-eastern part of the district several of -the tertiary beds may be met with on the surface. - -The dip of the strata is generally towards the east; hence the earlier -formations are found in the west. Nowhere else in England could a -traveller in a journey of a little under fifty miles—which is about the -distance from Lyme to the eastern boundary of Dorset—cross the outcrop -of so many strata. A glance at a geological map of England will show -that the Lias, starting from Lyme Regis, sweeps along a curve slightly -concave towards the west, almost due north, until it reaches the sea -again at Redcar, while the southern boundary of the chalk starting -within about ten miles of Lyme runs out eastward to Beechy Head. Hence -it is seen that the outcrops of the various strata are wider the -further away they are from Lyme Regis. - -Dorset has given names to three well-known formations and to one less -well known: (1) The Portland beds, first quarried for building stone -about 1660; (2) the Purbeck beds, which supplied the Early English -church builders with marble for their ornamental shafts; (3) Kimmeridge -clay; and (4) the Punfield beds. - -The great variety of the formation coming to the surface in the area -under consideration has given a striking variety to the character of -the landscape: the chalk downs of the North and centre, with their -rounded outlines; the abrupt escarpments of the greensand in the -neighbourhood of Shaftesbury; the rich grazing land of Blackmore Vale -on the Oxford clay; and the great Heath (Mr. Hardy’s Egdon) stretching -from near Dorchester out to the east across Woolwich, Reading, and -Bagshot beds, with their layers of gravel, sand, and clay. The chalk -heights are destitute of water; the streams and rivers are those of -the level valleys and plains of Oolitic clays—hence they are slow and -shallow, and are not navigable, even by small craft, far from their -mouths. - -The only sides from which in early days invaders were likely to come -were the south and east; and both of these boundaries were well -protected by natural defences, the former by its wall of cliffs and the -deadly line of the Chesil beach. The only opening in the wall was Poole -Harbour, a land-locked bay, across which small craft might indeed be -rowed, but whose shores were no doubt a swamp entangled by vegetation. -Swanage Bay and Lulworth Cove could have been easily defended. Weymouth -Bay was the most vulnerable point. Dense forests protected the eastern -boundary. These natural defences had a marked effect, as we shall see, -on the history of the people. Dorset for many centuries was an isolated -district, and is so to a certain extent now, though great changes -have taken place during the last fifty or sixty years, due to the two -railways that carry passengers from the East to Weymouth and the one -that brings them from the North to Poole and on to Bournemouth. This -isolation has conduced to the survival not only of old modes of speech, -but also of old customs, modes of thought, and superstitions. - -It may be well, before speaking of this history, to state that the -county with which this volume deals should always be spoken of as -“Dorset,” never as “Dorsetshire”; for in no sense of the word is Dorset -a shire, as will be explained further on. - -We find within the boundaries of the district very few traces of -Palæolithic man: the earliest inhabitants, who have left well-marked -memorials of themselves, were Iberians, a non-Aryan race, still -represented by the Basques of the Pyrenees and by certain inhabitants -of Wales. They were short of stature, swarthy of skin, dark of hair, -long-skulled. Their characteristic weapon or implement was a stone -axe, ground, not chipped, to a sharp edge; they buried their dead in a -crouching attitude in the long barrows which are still to be seen in -certain parts of Dorset, chiefly to the north-east of the Stour Valley. -When and how they came into Britain we cannot tell for certain; it was -undoubtedly after the glacial epoch, and probably at a time when the -Straits of Dover had not come into being and the Thames was still a -tributary of the Rhine. They were in what is known as the Neolithic -stage of civilisation; but in course of time, after this country had -become an island, invaders broke in upon them, Aryans of the Celtic -race, probably (as Professor Rhys thinks, though he says he is not -certain on this point) of the Goidelic branch. These men were tall, -fair-haired, blue-eyed, round-skulled, and were in a more advanced -stage of civilisation than the Iberians, using bronze weapons, and -burying their dead, sometimes after cremation, in the round barrows -that exist in such large numbers on the Dorset downs. Their better -arms and greater strength told in the warfare that ensued: whether the -earlier inhabitants were altogether destroyed, or expelled or lived -on in diminished numbers in a state of slavery, we have no means of -ascertaining. But certain it is that the Celts became masters of the -land. These men were some of those who are called in school history -books “Ancient Britons”; the Wessex folk in after days called them -“Welsh”—that is, “foreigners”—the word that in their language answered -to βάρβαροι and “barbari” of the Greeks and Romans. What they called -themselves we do not know. Ptolemy speaks of them as “Durotriges,” -the name by which they were known to the Romans. Despite various -conjectures, the etymology of this word is uncertain. The land which -they inhabited was, as already pointed out, much isolated. The lofty -cliffs from the entrance to Poole Harbour to Portland formed a natural -defence; beyond this, the long line of the Chesil beach, and further -west, more cliffs right on to the mouth of the Axe. Most of the -lowlands of the interior were occupied by impenetrable forests, and the -slow-running rivers, which even now in rainy seasons overflow their -banks, and must then, when the rainfall was much heavier than now, have -spread out into swamps, rendered unnavigable by their thick tangle of -vegetation. The inhabitants dwelt on the sloping sides of the downs, -getting the water they needed from the valleys, and retiring for safety -to the almost innumerable encampments that crowned the crests of the -hills, many of which remain easily to be distinguished to this day. -Nowhere else in England in an equal area can so many Celtic earthworks -be found as in Dorset. The Romans came in due course, landing we know -not where, and established themselves in certain towns not far from the -coasts. - -The Celts were not slain or driven out of their land, but lived on -together with the Romans, gradually advancing in civilisation under -Roman influence. They had already adopted the Christian religion: they -belonged to the old British Church, which lived on in the south-west -of England even through that period when the Teutonic invaders—Jutes, -Angles, Saxons—devastated the south-east, east, north, and central -parts of the island, and utterly drove westward before them the Celtic -Christians into Wales and the south-west of Scotland. Dorset remained -for some time untouched, for though the Romans had cleared some of the -forests before them, and had cut roads through others, establishing at -intervals along them military stations, and strengthening and occupying -many of the Celtic camps, yet the vast forest—“Selwood,” as the English -called it—defended Dorset from any attack of the West Saxons, who -had settled further to the east. Once, and once only, if we venture, -with Professor Freeman, to identify Badbury Rings, near Wimborne, on -the Roman Road, with the Mons Badonicus of Gildas, the Saxons, under -Cerdic, in 516, invaded the land of the Durotriges, coming along the -Roman Road which leads from Salisbury to Dorchester, through the gap -in the forest at Woodyates, but found that mighty triple ramparted -stronghold held by Celtic Arthur and his knights, round whom so much -that is legendary has gathered, but who probably were not altogether -mythical. In the fight that followed, the Christian Celt was -victorious, and the Saxon invader was driven in flight back to his own -territory beyond Selwood. Some place Mons Badonicus in the very north -of England, or even in Scotland, and say that the battle was fought -between the Northumbrians and the North Welsh: if this view is correct, -we may say that no serious attack was made on the Celts of Dorset from -the east. According to Mr. Wildman’s theory, as stated in his _Life of -St. Ealdhelm_—which theory has a great air of probability about it—the -Wessex folk, under Cenwealh, son of Cynegils, the first Christian King -of the West Saxons, won two victories: one at Bradford-on-Avon in -652, and one at the “Hills” in 658. Thus North Dorset was overcome, -and gradually the West Saxons passed on westward through Somerset, -until in 682 Centwine, according to the English Chronicle, drove the -Welsh into the sea. William of Malmesbury calls them “Norht Walæs,” -or North Welsh, but this is absurd: Mr. Wildman thinks “Norht” may be -a mistake for “Dorn,” or “Thorn,” and that the Celts of Dorset are -meant, and that the sea mentioned is the English Channel. From this -time the fate of the Durotriges was sealed: their land became part of -the great West Saxon kingdom. Well indeed was it for them that they had -remained independent until after the time when their conquerors had -ceased to worship Woden and Thunder and had given in their allegiance -to the White Christ; for had these men still been worshippers of the -old fierce gods, the Celts would have fared much worse. Now, instead -of being exterminated, they were allowed to dwell among the West Saxon -settlers, in an inferior position, but yet protected by the West -Saxon laws, as we see from those of Ine who reigned over the West -Saxons from 688 to 728. The Wessex settlers in Dorset were called by -themselves “Dornsæte,” or “Dorsæte,” whence comes the name of Dorset. -It will be seen then, that Dorset is what Professor Freeman calls a -“ga”—the land in which a certain tribe settled—and differs entirely -from those divisions made after the Mercian land had been won back -from the Danes, when shires were formed by shearing up the newly -recovered land, not into its former divisions which the Danish conquest -had obliterated, but into convenient portions, each called after the -name of the chief town within its borders, such as Oxfordshire from -Oxford, Leicestershire from Leicester. The Danes did for a time get -possession of the larger part of Wessex, but it was only for a time: -the boundaries of Dorset were not wiped out, and there was no need to -make any fresh division. So when we use the name Dorset for the county -we use the very name that it was known by in the seventh century. It -is also interesting to observe that Dorset has been Christian from the -days of the conversion of the Roman Empire, that no altars smoked on -Dorset soil to Woden, no temples were built in honour of Thunder, no -prayers were offered to Freya; but it is also worth notice that the -Celtic Christian Church was not ready to amalgamate with the Wessex -Church, which had derived its Christianity from Papal Rome. However, -the Church of the Conquerors prevailed, and Dorset became not only -part of the West Saxon kingdom, but also of the West Saxon diocese, -under the supervision of a bishop, who at first had his bishop-stool -at Dorchester, not the Dorset town, but one of the same name on the -Thames, not far from Abingdon. In 705, when Ine was King, it received a -bishop of its own in the person of St. Ealdhelm, Abbot of Malmesbury, -who on his appointment placed his bishop-stool at Sherborne: he did -not live to hold this office long, for he died in 709. But a line -of twenty-five bishops ruled at Sherborne, the last of whom—Herman, -a Fleming brought over by Eadward the Confessor—transferred his see -in 1075 to Old Sarum, as it is now called; whereupon the church of -Sherborne lost its cathedral rank. - -The southern part of Dorset, especially in the neighbourhood of Poole -Harbour, suffered much during the time that the Danes were harrying -the coast of England. There were fights at sea in Swanage Bay, there -were fights on land round the walls of Wareham, there were burnings of -religious houses at Wimborne and Wareham. Then followed the victories -of Ælfred, and for a time Dorset had rest. But after Eadward was -murdered at “Corfes-geat” by his stepmother Ælfthryth’s order, and -the weak King Æthelred was crowned, the Danes gave trouble again. The -King first bribed them to land alone; and afterwards, when, trusting -to a treaty he had made with them, many Danes had settled peacefully -in the country, he gave orders for a general massacre—men, women and -children—on St. Brice’s Day (November 13th), 1002. Among those who -perished was a sister of Swegen, the Danish King, Christian though she -was. This treacherous and cruel deed brought the old Dane across the -seas in hot haste to take terrible vengeance on the perpetrator of the -dastardly outrage. All southern England, including Dorset, was soon -ablaze with burning towns. The walls of Dorchester were demolished, -the Abbey of Cerne was pillaged and destroyed, Wareham was reduced -to ashes. Swegen became King, but reigned only a short time, and his -greater son, Cnut, succeeded him. When he had been recognised as King -by the English, and had got rid of all probable rivals, he governed -well and justly, and the land had rest. Dorset had peace until Harold -had fallen on the hill of Battle, and the south-eastern and southern -parts of England had acknowledged William as King. The men of the west -still remained independent, Exeter being the chief city to assert its -independence. In 1088 William resolved to set about to subdue these -western rebels, as he called them. He demanded that they should accept -him as King, take oaths of allegiance to him, and receive him within -their walls. To this the men of Exeter made answer that they would pay -tribute to him as overlord of England as they had paid to the previous -King, but that they would not take oaths of allegiance, nor would they -allow him to enter the city. William’s answer was an immediate march -westward. Professor Freeman says that there is no record of the details -of his march; but naturally it would lie through Dorset, the towns of -which were in sympathy with Exeter. Knowing what harsh and cruel things -William could do when it suited his purpose, we cannot for a moment -doubt that he fearfully harried all the Dorset towns on the line of his -march, seeking by severity to them to overawe the city of Exeter. - -In the wars between Stephen and Maud, Dorset was often the -battle-ground of the rival claimants for the throne. Wareham, -unfortunate then, as usual, was taken and re-taken more than once, -first by one party, then by the other; but lack of space prevents the -telling of this piece of local history. - -King John evidently had a liking for Dorset. He often visited it, -having houses of his own at Bere Regis, Canford, Corfe, Cranborne, -Gillingham, and Dorchester. In the sixteenth year of his reign he put -strong garrisons into Corfe Castle and Wareham as a defence against his -discontented barons. - -In the wars between his son, Henry III., and the Barons there was -fighting again in Dorset, especially at Corfe. Dorset, among other -sea-side counties, supplied ships and sailors to Edward III. and Henry -V. for their expeditions against France. - -The Wars of the Roses seem hardly to have touched the county; but one -incident must be mentioned: On April 14th, 1471, Margaret, wife of -Henry VI., landed at Weymouth with her son Edward and a small band of -Frenchmen; but she soon heard that on the very day of her landing her -great supporter, though once he had been her bitterest enemy, Warwick -the King-maker, had been defeated and slain at Barnet. This led her to -seek sanctuary in the Abbey at Cerne, about sixteen miles to the north -of Weymouth; but her restless spirit would not allow her long to stay -in this secluded spot, and she started with young Edward, gathering -supporters as she went, till on May 4th her army was defeated at -Tewkesbury, and there her last hopes were extinguished when King Edward -IV. smote her son, who had been taken prisoner, with gauntleted hand -upon the mouth, and the daggers of Clarence and Gloucester ended the -poor boy’s life. - -We hear nothing of resistance on the part of Dorset to the Earl of -Richmond when he came to overthrow Richard III. Probably, as the -Lancastrian family of the Beauforts were large landowners in Dorset, -Dorset sympathy was enlisted on the side of the son of the Lady -Margaret, great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt. - -Like all the rest of England, Dorset had to see its religious houses -suppressed and despoiled; its abbots and abbesses, with all their -subordinate officers, as well as their monks and nuns, turned out of -their old homes, though let it in fairness be stated, not unprovided -for, for all those who surrendered their ecclesiastical property to the -King received pensions sufficient to keep them in moderate comfort, if -not in affluence. Dorset accepted the dissolution of the monasteries -and the new services without any manifest dissatisfaction. There was no -rioting or fighting as in the neighbouring county of Devon. - -Dorset did not escape so easily in the days of the Civil War. Lyme, -holden for the Parliament by Governor Creely and some 500 men, held -out from April 20th to June 16th, 1644, against Prince Maurice with -4,000 men, when the Earl of Essex came to its relief. Corfe Castle and -Sherborne Castle were each besieged twice. Abbotsbury was taken by Sir -Anthony Ashley Cooper in September, 1644. Wareham, also, was more than -once the scene of fighting. In the north of Dorset a band of about -5,000 rustics, known as “Clubmen,” assembled. These men knew little and -cared less for the rival causes of King and Parliament which divided -the rest of England; but one thing they did know and greatly cared for: -they found that ever and again bands of armed horsemen came riding -through the villages, some singing rollicking songs and with oaths on -their lips, others chanting psalms and quoting the Bible, but all alike -treading down their crops, demanding food, and sometimes their horses, -often forgetting to pay for them; so they resolved to arm themselves -and keep off Cavaliers and Roundheads alike. At one time they encamped -at Shaftesbury, but could not keep the Roundheads from occupying the -Hill Town; so they, to the number of 4,000, betook themselves to the -old Celtic camp of Hambledon, some seven or eight miles to the south. -Cromwell himself, in a letter to Fairfax, dated August 4th, 1645, tells -what befell them there: - - We marched on to Shaftesbury, when we heard a great body of them was - drawn up together about Hambledon Hill. I sent up a forlorn hope of - about 50 horse, who coming very civilly to them, they fired upon - them; and ours desiring some of them to come to me were refused with - disdain. They were drawn into one of the old camps upon a very high - hill. They refused to submit, and fired at us. I sent a second time to - let them know that if they would lay down their arms no wrong should - be done them. They still—through the animation of their leaders, and - especially two vile ministers[1]—refused. When we came near they let - fly at us, killed about two of our men, and at least four horses. The - passage not being for above three abreast kept us out, whereupon Major - Desborow wheeled about, got in the rear of them, beat them from the - work, and did some small execution upon them, I believe killed not - twelve of them, but cut very many, and put them all to flight. We have - taken about 300, many of whom are poor silly creatures, whom, if you - please to let me send home, they promise to be very dutiful for time - to come, and will be hanged before they come out again. - -From which we see that “Grim old Oliver,” who could be severe enough -when policy demanded it, yet could show mercy at times, for throughout -this episode his dealings with the Clubmen were marked with much -forbearance. - -Charles II., after his defeat at Worcester, September 3rd, 1651, -during his romantic wanderings and hidings before he could get safe -to sea, spent nearly three weeks in what is now Dorset, though most -of the time he was in concealment at the Manor House at Trent, which -was then within the boundaries of Somerset, having only recently been -transferred to Dorset. This manor house belonged to Colonel Francis -Wyndham. Hither on Wednesday, September 17th, came Jane Lane, sister -of Colonel Lane, from whose house at Bentley, Worcestershire, she had -ridden on a pillion behind one who passed as her groom, really Charles -in disguise, with one attendant, Cornet Lassels. Jane and the Cornet -left Trent the next day on their return journey, and Charles was -stowed away in Lady Wyndham’s room, from which there was access to a -hiding-place between two floors. His object was to effect his escape -from one of the small Dorset ports. Colonel Wyndham rode next day to -Melbury Sampford, where lived Sir John Strangways, to see if either of -his sons could manage to hire a boat at Lyme, Weymouth, or Poole, which -would take Charles to France. He failed in this, but brought back one -hundred pounds, the gift of Sir John Strangways. Colonel Wyndham then -went to Lyme to see one Captain Ellesdon, to whom he said that Lord -Wilmot wanted to be taken across to France. Arrangements were then made -with Stephen Limbrey, the skipper of a coasting vessel, to take a party -of three or four royalist gentlemen to France from Charmouth. Lord -Wilmot was described as a Mr. Payne, a bankrupt merchant running away -from his creditors, and taking his servant (Charles) with him. It was -agreed that Limbrey should have a rowing-boat ready on Charmouth beach -on the night of September 22nd, when the tide was high, to convey the -party to his ship and carry them safe to France, for which service he -was to receive £60. September 22nd was “fair day” at Lyme, and as many -people would probably be about, it was necessary that the party should -find some safe lodging where they could wait quietly till the tide was -in, about midnight. Rooms were secured, as for a runaway couple, at a -small inn at Charmouth. At this inn on Monday morning arrived Colonel -Wyndham, who acted as guide, and his wife and niece, a Mrs. Juliana -Coningsby (the supposed eloping damsel), riding behind her groom -(Charles). Lord Wilmot, the supposed bridegroom, with Colonel Wyndham’s -confidential servant, Peters, followed. Towards midnight Wyndham and -Peters went down to the beach, Wilmot and Charles waiting at the inn -ready to be called as soon as the boat should come. But no signs of the -boat appeared throughout the whole night. It seems that Mrs. Limbrey -had seen posted up at Lyme a notice about the heavy penalty that -anyone would incur who helped Charles Stuart to escape, and suspecting -that the mysterious enterprise on which her husband was engaged might -have something to do with helping in such an escape, she, when he came -back in the evening to get some things he had need of for the voyage, -locked him in his room and would not let him out; and he dared not -break out lest the noise and his wife’s violent words might attract -attention and the matter get noised abroad. Charles, by Wyndham’s -advice, rode off to Bridport the next morning with Mistress Coningsby, -as before, the Colonel going with them; Wilmot stayed behind. His horse -cast a shoe, and Peters took it to the smith to have another put on; -and the smith, examining the horse’s feet, said: “These three remaining -shoes were put on in three different counties, and one looks like a -Worcester shoe.” When the shoe was fixed, the smith went to a Puritan -minister, one Bartholomew Wesley, and told him what he suspected. -Wesley went to the landlady of the inn: “Why, Margaret,” said he, “you -are now a maid of honour.” “What do you mean by that, Mr. Parson?” said -she. “Why, Charles Stuart lay at your house last night, and kissed you -at his departure, so that you cannot now but be a maid of honour.” -Whereupon the hostess waxed wroth, and told Wesley that he was an -ill-conditioned man to try and bring her and her house into trouble; -but, with a touch of female vanity, she added: “If I thought it was the -King, as you say it was, I should think the better of my lips all the -days of my life. So, Mr. Parson, get you out of my house, or I’ll get -those who shall kick you out.” - -However, the matter soon got abroad, and a pursuit began. Meanwhile, -Charles and his party had pressed on into Bridport, which happened -to be full of soldiers mustering there before joining a projected -expedition to capture the Channel Islands for the Parliament. Charles’s -presence of mind saved him. He pushed through the crowd into the -inn yard, groomed the horse, chatted with the soldiers, who had no -suspicion that he was other than he seemed, and then said that he must -go and serve his mistress at table. By this time Wilmot and Peters had -arrived, and they told him of the incident at the shoeing forge; so, -losing no time, the party started on the Dorchester road, but, turning -off into a by-lane, got safe to Broadwinsor, and thence once more to -Trent, which they reached on September 24th. On October 5th Wilmot -and Charles left Trent and made their way to Shoreham in Sussex. But -they had not quite done with Dorset yet; for it was a Dorset skipper, -one Tattersal, whose business it was to sail a collier brig, _The -Surprise_, between Poole and Shoreham, who carried Charles Stuart and -Lord Wilmot from Shoreham to Fécamp, and received the £60 that poor -Limbrey might have had save for his wife’s interference. - -Dorset was the stage on which were acted the first and one of the -concluding scenes of the Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion in 1685. On June -11th the inhabitants of Lyme Regis were sorely perplexed when they saw -three foreign-looking ships, which bore no colours, at anchor in the -bay; and their anxiety was not lessened when they saw the custom house -officers, who had rowed out, as their habit was, to overhaul the cargo -of any vessel arriving at the port, reach the vessels but return not -again. Then from seven boats landed some eighty armed men, whose leader -knelt down on the shore to offer up thanksgiving for his safe voyage, -and to pray for God’s blessing on his enterprise. When it was known -that this leader was the Duke of Monmouth the people welcomed him, his -blue flag was set up in the market place, and Monmouth’s undignified -Declaration—the composition of Ferguson—was read. That same evening the -Mayor, who approved of none of these things, set off to rouse the West -in the King’s favour, and from Honiton sent a letter giving information -of the landing. On June 14th, the first blood was shed in a skirmish -near Bridport (it was not a decisive engagement). Monmouth’s men, -however, came back to Lyme, the infantry in good order, the cavalry -helter-skelter; and little wonder, seeing that the horses, most of them -taken from the plough, had never before heard the sound of firearms. - -Then Monmouth and his men pass off our stage. It is not for the local -Dorset historian to trace his marches up and down Somerset, or to -describe the battle that was fought in the early hours of the morning -of July 6th under the light of the full moon, amid the sheet of thick -mist, which clung like a pall over the swampy surface of the level -stretch of Sedgemoor. Once again Dorset received Monmouth, no longer -at the head of an enthusiastic and brave, though a badly armed and -undisciplined multitude, but a lonely, hungry, haggard, heartbroken -fugitive. On the morning of July 8th he was found in a field near -Horton, which still bears the name of Monmouth’s Close, hiding in a -ditch. He was brought before Anthony Etricke of Holt, the Recorder -of Poole, and by him sent under escort to London, there to meet his -ghastly end on Tower Hill, and to be laid to rest in what Macaulay -calls the saddest spot on earth, St. Peter’s in the Tower, the last -resting-place of the unsuccessfully ambitious, of those guilty of -treason, and also of some whose only fault it was that they were too -near akin to a fallen dynasty, and so roused the fears and jealousy of -the reigning monarch. - -Everyone has heard of the Bloody Assize which followed, but the names -and the number of those who perished were not accurately known till a -manuscript of forty-seven pages, of folio size, was offered for sale -among a mass of waste paper in an auction room at Dorchester, December, -1875.[2] It was bought by Mr. W. B. Barrett, and he found that it was -a copy of the presentment of rebels at the Autumn Assizes of 1685, -probably made for the use of some official of the Assize Court, as no -doubt the list that Jeffreys had would have been written on parchment, -and this was on paper. It gives the names of 2,611 persons presented -at Dorchester, Exeter, and Taunton, as having been implicated in the -rebellion, the parishes where they lived, and the nature of their -callings. Of these, 312 were charged at Dorchester, and only about -one-sixth escaped punishment. Seventy-four were executed, 175 were -transported, nine were whipped or fined, and 54 were acquitted or were -not captured. It is worth notice that the percentage of those punished -at Exeter and Taunton was far less than at Dorchester. Out of 488 -charged at Exeter, 455 escaped; and at Taunton, out of 1,811, 1,378 did -not suffer. It is possible that the Devon and Somerset rebels, having -heard of Jeffreys’ severity at Dorchester, found means of escape. -No doubt many of the country folk who had not sympathized with the -rebellion would yet help to conceal those who were suspected, when they -knew (from what had happened at Dorchester) that if they were taken -they would in all probability be condemned to death or slavery—for -those “transported” were really handed over to Court favourites as -slaves for work on their West Indian plantations. It is gratifying to -know that it has been discovered, since Macaulay’s time, that such of -the transported as were living when William and Mary came to the throne -were pardoned and set at liberty on the application of Sir William -Young. - -Monmouth was the last invader to land in Dorset; but there was in the -early part of the nineteenth century very great fear among the Dorset -folk that a far more formidable enemy might choose some spot, probably -Weymouth, on the Dorset coast for landing his army. Along the heights -of the Dorset downs they built beacons of dry stubs and furze, with -guards in attendance, ready to flash the news of Napoleon’s landing, -should he land. The general excitement that prevailed, the false -rumours that from time to time made the peaceable inhabitants, women -and children, flee inland, and sent the men capable of bearing arms -flocking seaward, are well described in Mr. Hardy’s _Trumpet Major_. -But Napoleon never came, and the dread of invasion passed away for ever -in 1805. - - In the wild October night time, when the wind raved round the land, - And the back-sea met the front-sea, and our doors were blocked with - sand, - And we heard the drub of Dead-man’s Bay, where bones of thousands - are, - (But) knew not what that day had done for us at Trafalgar.[3] - -The isolation of Dorset, which has been before spoken of, has had much -to do with preserving from extinction the old dialect spoken in the -days of the Wessex kings. Within its boundaries, especially in “outstep -placen,” as the people call them, the old speech may be heard in -comparative purity. Let it not be supposed that Dorset is an illiterate -corruption of literary English. It is an older form of English; it -possesses many words that elsewhere have become obsolete, and a grammar -with rules as precise as those of any recognised language. No one not -to the manner born can successfully imitate the speech of the rustics -who, from father to son, through many generations have lived in the -same village. A stranger may pick up a few Dorset words, only, in all -probability, to use them incorrectly. For instance, he may hear the -expression “thic tree” for “that tree,” and go away with the idea that -“thic” is the Dorset equivalent of “that,” and so say “thic grass”—an -expression which no true son of the Dorset soil would use; for, as -the late William Barnes pointed out, things in Dorset are of two -classes: (1) The personal class of formed things, as a man, a tree, a -boot; (2) the impersonal class of unformed quantities of things, as a -quantity of hair, or wood, or water. “He” is the personal pronoun for -class (1); “it” for class (2). Similarly, “thëase” and “thic” are the -demonstratives of class (1); “this” and “that” of class (2). A book -is “he”; some water is “it.” We say in Dorset: “Thëase tree by this -water,” “Thic cow in that grass.” Again, a curious distinction is made -in the infinitive mood: when it is not followed by an object, it ends -in “y”; when an object follows, the “y” is omitted:—“Can you mowy?” but -“Can you mow this grass for me?” The common use of “do” and “did” as -auxiliary verbs, and not only when emphasis is intended, is noteworthy -(the “o” of the “do” being faintly heard). “How do you manage about -threading your needles?” asked a lady of an old woman engaged in -sewing, whose sight was very dim from cataract. The answer came: “Oh, -he” (her husband) “dô dread ’em for me.” In Dorset we say not only -“to-day” and “to-morrow,” but also “to-week,” “to-year.” “Tar’ble” is -often used for “very,” in a good as well as a bad sense. There are -many words bearing no resemblance to English in Dorset speech. What -modern Englishman would recognise a “mole hill” in a “wont-heave,” or -“cantankerous” in “thirtover”? But too much space would be occupied -were this fascinating subject to be pursued further. - -National schools, however, are corrupting Wessex speech, and the -niceties of Wessex grammar are often neglected by the children. -Probably the true Dorset will soon be a thing of the past. William -Barnes’ poems and Thomas Hardy’s Wessex novels, especially the latter, -will then become invaluable to the philologist. In some instances Mr. -Barnes’ spelling seems hardly to represent the sound of words as they -are uttered by Dorset, or, as they say here, “Darset” lips. - - - - -THE BARROWS OF DORSET - -BY C. S. PRIDEAUX - - -The County of Dorset is exceedingly rich in the prehistoric -burial-places commonly called barrows. At the present time considerably -over a thousand are marked on the one-inch Ordnance Map, and, -considering the numbers which have been destroyed, we may surely claim -that Dorset was a populous centre in prehistoric times, owing probably -to its proximity to the Continent and its safe harbours, as well as to -its high and dry downs and wooded valleys. - -The long barrow is the earliest form of sepulchral mound, being the -burial-place of the people of the Neolithic or Late Stone Age, a period -when men were quite ignorant of the use of metals, with the possible -exception of gold, using flint or stone weapons and implements, but who -cultivated cereals, domesticated animals, and manufactured a rude kind -of hand-made pottery. Previous to this, stone implements and weapons -were of a rather rude type; but now not only were they more finely -chipped, but often polished. - -The round barrows are the burial-places of the Goidels, a branch of the -Celtic family, who were taller than the Neolithic men and had rounder -heads. They belong to the Bronze Age, a period when that metal was -first introduced into Britain; and although comparatively little is -found in the round barrows of Dorset, still less has been discovered in -the North of England, probably owing to the greater distance from the -Continent. - -Hand-made pottery abounds, artistically decorated with diagonal lines -and dots, which are combined to form such a variety of patterns that -probably no two vessels are found alike. Stone and flint implements -were still in common use, and may be found almost anywhere in Dorset, -especially on ploughed uplands after a storm of rain, when the -freshly-turned-up flints have been washed clear of earth. - -In discussing different periods, we must never lose sight of the fact -that there is much overlapping; and although it is known that the -long-barrow men had long heads and were a short race, averaging 5 ft. -4 in. in height, and that the round-barrow men had round heads and -averaged 5 ft. 8 in.,[4] we sometimes find fairly long-shaped skulls in -the round barrows, showing that the physical peculiarities of the two -races became blended. - -Long barrows are not common in Dorset, and little has been done in -examining their contents. This is probably due to their large size, -and the consequent difficulty in opening them. They are generally -found inland, and singly, with their long diameter east and west; -and the primary interments, at any rate in Dorset, are unburnt, and -usually placed nearer the east end. Some are chambered, especially -where large flat stones were easily obtainable, but more often they -are simply formed of mould and chalk rubble. Their great size cannot -fail to impress us, and we may well wonder how such huge mounds were -constructed with the primitive implements at the disposal of Neolithic -man. One near Pimperne, measured by Mr. Charles Warne, is 110 yards -long, and there are others near Bere Regis, Cranborne, Gussage, and -Kingston Russell; and within a couple of miles of the latter place, -besides the huge long barrow, are dozens of round barrows, the remains -of British villages, hut circles, stone circles, and a monolith. - -[Illustration: _PLATE I._ Figs. 1 3 2 4 6 5 -BRONZE AGE OBJECTS FROM DORSET ROUND BARROWS -(IN THE DORSET COUNTY MUSEUM). - _⅕ Scale._] - -[Illustration: _PLATE II._ Figs. 1 3 2 4 -BRONZE AGE OBJECTS FROM DORSET ROUND BARROWS -(IN THE DORSET COUNTY MUSEUM). - _⅕ Scale._] - -The late Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, in 1893, removed the whole of Wor -Barrow, on Handley Down,[5] and made a very exhaustive examination of -its contents, which presented many features of peculiar interest. This -barrow, with ditch, was about 175 feet long, 125 feet wide, and 13½ -feet high; inside the mound on the ground level was an oblong space, -93 ft. by 34 ft., surrounded by a trench filled with flints. The earth -above the trench bore traces of wooden piles, which were, no doubt, -originally stuck into the trench with the flints packed around to keep -them in place, thus forming a palisade; the wooden piles in this case -taking the place of the stone slabs found in the stone-chambered long -barrows of Gloucestershire and elsewhere. - -Six primary interments by inhumation were discovered at the south-east -part of the enclosure, with a fragment of coarse British pottery. Three -of the bodies were in a crouched position. The remaining three had been -deposited as bones, not in sequence, the long bones being laid out by -the side of the skulls; and careful measurement of these bones shows -that their owners were the short people of the long-headed or Neolithic -race, which confirms the first part of Dr. Thurnam’s axiom: “Long -barrows long skulls, round barrows round skulls.” Nineteen secondary -interments of a later date were found in the upper part of the barrow -and in the surrounding ditch, with numerous pieces of pottery, flint -implements, fragments of bronze and iron, and coins, proving that the -barrow was used as a place of burial down to Roman times. - -In Dorset the round barrows are generally found on the summits of the -hills which run through the county, more particularly on the Ridgeway, -which roughly follows the coast line from near Bridport to Swanage, -where may be seen some hundreds of all sizes, from huge barrows over -100 feet in diameter and 15 feet in height to small mounds, so little -raised above the surface that only the tell-tale shadows cast by the -rising or setting sun show where a former inhabitant lies buried. - -In the western part of the county they may be traced from Kingston -Russell to Agger-Dun, through Sydling and Cerne Abbas to Bulbarrow, and -in the east, from Swanage Bay to Bere Regis; and also near Dorchester, -Wimborne, Blandford, and other places. - -In the Bronze Age cremation and inhumation were both practised; but -in Dorset burials by cremation are the more common. The cremated -remains were sometimes placed in a hole or on the surface line, with -nothing to protect them from the weight of the barrow above; at other -times they were covered by flat slabs of stone, built in the form -of a small closed chamber or cist. Often they were placed on a flat -piece of stone, and covered with an inverted urn, or put in an urn, -with a covering slab over them; and they have been found wrapped in an -animal’s skin, or in a bag of some woven material, or even in a wooden -coffin. - -The inhumed bodies are nearly always found in a contracted posture, -with the knees drawn up towards the chin; and a larger number face -either east, south or west, than north. In the case of an inhumation, -when the body was deposited below the old surface level, the grave -was often neatly hewn and sometimes lined with slabs of stone, and -it was the common custom to pile a heap of flints over it, affording -a protection from wild animals; above the flints was heaped the main -portion of the mound, which consisted of mould and chalk rubble. - -A ditch, with or without a causeway,[6] usually surrounds each barrow, -but is so often silted up that no trace of it can be seen on the -surface; it probably helped to supply the chalk rubble of the barrow. - -Bronze Age sepulchral pottery, which is hand-made, often imperfectly -baked and unglazed, has been divided into four classes: the beaker or -drinking vessel, the food vessel, the incense cup, and the cinerary -urn. The two former are usually associated with inhumations; the two -latter with cremations. - -As a type of prehistoric ceramic art in Britain, the Hon. J. Abercromby -says that the beaker is the earliest, and the cinerary urn the -latest.[7] - -Plate II., fig. 2, is a typical drinking vessel or beaker which was -found in the hands of a skeleton during alterations to the Masonic -Hall at Dorchester. It is made of thin, reddish, well-baked pottery, -and from the stains inside it evidently contained food or liquid at -some time. The beaker is more often met with than the food vessel, -being found on the Continent as well as in England. The food vessel, -on the other hand, is a type unrepresented outside the British -Isles, and is entirely wanting in Wiltshire,[8] although common in -the North of England, Scotland, and Ireland. In the Dorset County -Museum at Dorchester there are several fine examples found in the -county, and Plate I., fig. 1, represents one taken from a barrow near -Martinstown.[9] It is of unusual interest, as one-handled food-vessels -are rare. In this inhumed primary interment the vessel was lying in -the arms of the skeleton, whilst close by was another and much smaller -vessel, with the remains of three infants. - -The terms “drinking-vessel” and “food-vessel” may possibly be accurate, -as these vessels may have held liquids or food; but there is no -evidence to show that the so-called “incense cups” had anything to do -with incense. The more feasible idea seems to be that they were used -to hold embers with which to fire the funeral pile, and the holes with -which they are generally perforated would have been most useful for -admitting air to keep the embers alight.[10] These small vessels are -usually very much ornamented, even on their bases, with horizontal -lines, zigzags, chevrons, and the like, and occasionally a grape-like -pattern. They are seldom more than three inches in height, but vary -much in shape, and often are found broken, with the fragments widely -separated, as if they had been smashed purposely at the time of the -burial. Plate II., figs. 3 and 4, are from specimens in the Dorset -County Museum, which also contains several other Dorset examples. - -There can be no doubt as to the use of the cinerary urn, which always -either contains or covers cremated remains. The urn (Plate II., fig. 1) -is from the celebrated Deverel Barrow, which was opened in 1825 by Mr. -W. A. Miles. The shape of this urn is particularly common in Dorset, -as well as another variety which has handles, or, rather, perforated -projections or knobs. A third and prettier variety is also met with, -having a small base, and a thick overhanging rim or band at the mouth, -generally ornamented. - -It is rare to find curved lines in the ornamentation of Bronze Age -pottery, but sometimes concentric circles and spiral ornaments are met -with on rock-surfaces and sculptured stones. Mr. Charles Warne found in -tumulus 12, Came Down, Dorchester, two flat stones covering two cairns -with incised concentric circles cut on their surfaces.[11] - -There is no clear evidence of iron having been found in the round -barrows of Dorset in connection with a Bronze Age interment; but of -gold several examples may be seen in the County Museum, and one, which -was found in Clandon Barrow, near Martinstown, with a jet head of a -sceptre with gold studs, is shown in Plate I., fig 2. Others were -discovered in Mayo’s Barrow and Culliford Tree.[12] Bronze, which is -an alloy of copper and tin, is the only other metal found with primary -interments in our Dorset round barrows. - -The County Museum possesses some excellent celts and palstaves; a set -of six socketed celts came from a barrow near Agger-Dun, and look as -if they had just come from the mould. They are ornamented with slender -ridges, ending in tiny knobs, and have never been sharpened (two of -them are figured in Plate I., figs. 3 and 4); another celt, from a -barrow in the Ridgeway, is interesting as having a fragment of cloth -adhering to it. Daggers are found, generally, with cremated remains, -and are usually ornamented with a line or lines, which, beginning -just below the point, run down the blade parallel with the cutting -edges. The rivets which fastened the blade to the handle are often in -position with fragments of the original wooden handle and sheath.[13] -These daggers seem to be more common in Dorset than in the northern -counties, and many examples may be seen in the County Museum, and two -are illustrated in Plate I., figs. 5 and 6. - -Bronze pins, glass beads, amber and Kimmeridge shell objects, bone -tweezers and pins, slingstones and whetstones, are occasionally met -with; but by far the most common objects are the flint and stone -implements, weapons, and flakes. - -In making a trench through a barrow near Martinstown,[14] more -than 1,200 flakes or chips of flints were found, besides some -beautifully-formed scrapers, a fabricator, a flint saw, most skilfully -notched, and a borer with a gimlet-like point. - -Arrow-heads are not common in Dorset, but six were found in a barrow in -Fordington Field, Dorchester. They are beautiful specimens, barbed and -tongued; the heaviest only weighs twenty-five grains, and the lightest -sixteen grains. Mr. Warne mentions the finding of arrow-heads, and also -(a rare find in Dorset) a stone battle-axe, from a barrow on Steepleton -Down. - -Charred wood is a conspicuous feature, and animal bones are also met -with in the county, and in such positions as to prove that they were -placed there at the time of the primary interment. Stags’ horns, often -with the tips worn as though they had been used as picks, are found, -both in the barrows and in the ditches. - -So far only objects belonging to the Bronze Age have been mentioned; -but as later races used these burial-places, objects of a later date -are common. Bronze and iron objects and pottery, and coins of every -period, are often found above the original interment and in the -ditches. This makes it difficult for an investigator to settle with -certainty the different positions in which the objects were deposited; -and unless he is most careful he will get the relics from various -periods mixed. Therefore, the practice of digging a hole into one of -these burial-mounds, for the sake of a possible find, cannot be too -heartily condemned. Anyone who is ambitious to open a barrow should -carefully read those wonderful books on _Excavations in Cranborne -Chase_, by the late Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, before he puts a spade -into the ground; for a careless dig means evidence destroyed for those -that come after. - -Most Dorset people will remember the late curator of the County Museum, -Mr. Henry Moule, and perhaps some may have heard him tell this story, -but it will bear repeating. A labourer had brought a piece of pottery -to the Museum, and Mr. Moule explained to him that it not only came -from a barrow, but that it was most interesting, and that he would like -to keep it for the Museum. The man looked surprised, and said, “Well, -Meäster, I’ve a-knocked up scores o’ theäsem things. I used to level -them there hipes (or heäps) an’ drawed awaÿ the vlints vor to mend the -roads; an’ I must ha’ broke up dozens o’ theäse here wold pots; but -they niver had no cwoins inzide ’em.” Those who knew Mr. Moule can -imagine his horror. - -Much more remains to be done by Dorset people in investigating these -most interesting relics of the past, for we know little of the builders -of these mounds; and, as Mr. Warne says in his introduction to _The -Celtic Tumuli of Dorset_:— - - If the Dorsetshire barrows cannot be placed in comparison with many - of those of Wiltshire ... or Derbyshire, they may, nevertheless, - be regarded with intense interest, as their examination has - satisfactorily established the fact that they constitute the earliest - series of tumuli in any part of the kingdom; whilst they identify - Dorset as one of the earliest colonised portions of Britain. - - - - -THE ROMAN OCCUPATION - -BY CAPTAIN J. E. ACLAND - -_Curator, Dorset County Museum_ - - -Although we are dealing with historic and not prehistoric times in -describing the occupation of the County of Dorset by the Romans, it is -to the work of the spade and not of the pen that we must turn for the -memorials of that most interesting and important period, which lasted -nearly four hundred years; when the all-powerful, masterful race, the -conquerors of the world, held sway, enforced obedience to their laws, -and inaugurated that system of colonisation which was perhaps the best -the world has ever seen—a system designed and developed according -to exact regulations, which savoured more of military discipline -than of that civil liberty which we associate with the profession of -agriculture. - -The Roman occupation was indeed an admirable combination of military -and civil rule; and the memorials fall naturally into two distinct -classes, corresponding with two distinct periods. There is, first, the -period of conquest, embracing the years during which the Roman Legions -drove back the native levies, and captured their strongholds; not in -one summer campaign we may well believe, but year after year, with -irresistible force, until the subjugated tribes laid down their arms -and yielded the hostages demanded by the conquerors. Then followed the -period of peace, of civilisation, and of colonising; of improving the -roads, and marking out of farms; the days of trade and commerce, and -of building houses, temples, and places for public amusement. - -Now both aspects of the occupation are to be seen as clearly at this -day as if they were described in the pages of a book; and yet what is -the fact? Scarcely a sentence can be found of written history which -deals with it. General Pitt-Rivers, who, living in Dorset, devoted -many years of his life to antiquarian research, asserts that having -read with attention all the writings that were accessible upon that -obscure period of history, some by scholars of great ability, nothing -definite can be found to relate to the Roman Conquest. It is, however, -generally assumed that it fell to the lot of Vespasian, in command of -the world-famous “Legio Secunda,” to commence, if not to complete, the -subjugation of the Durotriges, the people who are believed to have -inhabited the southern portion of the county. The only reference to -Vespasian’s campaign by contemporary historians is made by Suetonius. -He says that Vespasian crossed to Britain, fought with the enemy some -thirty times, and reduced to submission two most warlike tribes and -twenty fortified camps, and the island (Isle of Wight) adjacent to -the coast. In this statement, which is all too brief to satisfy our -curiosity, may lie the main facts of the passing of Dorset into Roman -power. The work begun by Vespasian may, indeed, have been completed by -others—by Paulinus Suetonius, the Governor of Britain about the year -60, and by Agricola; and where so much is left to conjecture, it is -at least worth while to give once more the theory propounded by the -well-known antiquary, the late Mr. Charles Warne, F.S.A. In a paper -read before the Society of Antiquaries in June, 1867, he suggests that -as the south-eastern parts of Britain had been previously visited by -Roman armies, Vespasian directed his course further to the west, and -either made the Isle of Wight the base of his operations or anchored -his ships in the harbours of Swanage or Poole. Close by is the -commencement of the long range of hills, The Ridgeway, which, with few -interruptions, follows the coast line, and still shews by the number of -the burial-mounds the district inhabited by the British. - -Mr. Warne proceeds to enumerate the various camps along this route, -all at convenient distances from one another, some of which shew by -their construction that they were Roman camps, and others British -camps, captured by the conquering legions, as narrated by Suetonius. -If Vespasian had pursued this plan of campaign, it would have had -the additional advantage of enabling him to keep in touch with his -transports. As one hill fortress after another was captured in the -march westward along the Ridgeway heights, so the fleet might have -changed its anchorage from Swanage Bay to Lulworth, from Lulworth to -the shelter of Weymouth and Portland, and finally to the neighbourhood -of Charmouth or Lyme Regis. - -There is this also to be said in favour of Mr. Warne’s conjecture. -An attacking force must find out and capture the strongholds of the -defenders, which would naturally be made more strongly, and therefore -last longer than the camps of the invaders. And this is what we see in -the suggested line of the Roman advance. First, on the east, Flowers, -or Florus Bury Camp, and Bindun, then Mai-dun (Maiden Castle), after -that Eggardun, and finally, at the western limit of the county, Conig’s -Castle and Pylsdun. All these are (as far as can be seen now) British -camps of refuge; all of them must have been captured before the Roman -generals could feel secure in their own isolated position on a foreign -shore. That they were one and all occupied by the conquerors is also -most probable, and would account for the discovery of Roman relics -within their areas. No Roman camps can be seen at all approaching in -strength or size these magnificent hill fortresses. It is, of course, -well known that the armies of Rome never halted for a night without -forming an entrenchment of sufficient size to include not only the -fighting men, but the baggage train, and though traces of these still -remain on the hills of Dorset, the majority have long ago disappeared. - -Perhaps the most interesting example of the military occupation of -the two races is to be seen at Hod Hill, near Blandford, where a -well-defined Roman Camp is constructed within the area of a previously -occupied British fortress, and here have been found spear heads, arrow -heads, spurs and portions of harness, rings and fibulæ, and fragments -of pottery, all indicating the Roman occupation; iron was found more -generally than bronze, and the coins are those of the earlier emperors, -including Claudius, in whose reign Vespasian made his conquests. -Badbury, four miles north-west of Wimborne, Woodbury, near Bere Regis, -and Hambledon, five miles north of Blandford, may be referred to as -memorials of the time of the Roman occupation, though not of Roman -construction. - -Poundbury Camp, with its Saxon appellation, deserves special mention, -for, being situated on the outskirts of Dorchester, it has been studied -more frequently perhaps than any other earthwork in the county. It -has the form of an irregular square, with a single vallum, except on -the more exposed west side, where it is doubled, and traces have been -discovered of other ramparts now obliterated. On the north the camp -overhangs the river and valley, once probably a lake or morass, and -here the defences are slight. The area within the vallum is about -330 yards from east to west, and 180 yards from north to south. -Some authorities affirm that it was raised by the Danes about A.D. -1002, when they attacked Dorchester. Stukeley regards it as one of -Vespasian’s camps when engaged in his conquest of the Durotriges, while -other antiquarians claim for it a British origin, prior to the Roman -invasion. Mr. Warne, whose opinions are always worthy of most careful -consideration, “holds it to be a safer speculation to regard it as a -Roman earthwork,” and, no doubt, in form and general outline and size -it is very similar to other Roman camps, and altogether different to -the magnificent British fortress Maiden Castle, not two miles away. -Many Roman relics have been found, including coins ranging from the -times of Claudius to Constantine, and a tumulus is still to be seen -within the vallum, which alone would be an argument against its Celtic -origin. - -Poundbury is insignificant indeed when compared with Mai-dun, and it -is impossible by mere description to convey an adequate impression -of this great earth fortress, singled out by many as the finest work -of its kind. It certainly surpasses all others in the land of the -Durotriges, and probably nowhere in the world can entrenchments be -seen of such stupendous strength. This camp, which is said to occupy -120 acres, is in form an irregular oval, embracing the whole of the -hill on which it stands; its length is nearly 800 yards, and width -275 yards. On the north, facing the plain, there are three lines of -ramparts, with intervening ditches, the slopes being exceedingly steep, -and measuring over 60 feet from apex to base. On the south the number -of ramparts is increased, but they are not so grand, and, indeed, as -Mr. Warne remarks, they appear to have been left in an unfinished -condition. At the east and west ends are the two principal entrances, -and here the ingenuity of the designer is manifested in a surprising -manner. At one end five or six ramparts, at the other as many as seven -or eight are built, so as to cover or overlap one another; vallum and -fossa, arranged with consummate skill, to complete the intricacies of -entrance, and to compel an enemy to undertake a task of the utmost -difficulty and danger. - -In later times this camp was, no doubt, occupied by Roman troops as -summer quarters, its healthy position rendering it very suitable -for the purpose. Perhaps, still later, it became the residence of -some Roman magnate, who selected that fine eminence for his country -villa; at any rate, there should be no difficulty in accounting for -the discovery of Roman coins and implements, or even of villas, on -the sites of the camps and castles of the British. Many a hard fought -battle must have raged around their earthen walls. - - Ever and anon, with host to host, - Shocks, and the splintering spear, the hard mail hewn, - Shield breakings, and the clash of brands, the crash - Of battle axes on shattered helms. - -Many a shout of victory must have been heard as the conquering legions -forced their way over the ramparts and planted their eagles on the -summit of the captured fortress. And once captured they must have -been retained, at first perhaps by a fairly large garrison sufficient -to prevent re-capture, then as the tide of battle ebbed from the -neighbourhood the numbers might have been reduced; but the sites, -always in some commanding position, would have been long utilised as -points of observation and centres of control over the conquered tribes. - -No revolt is recorded as taking place in the west of Britain such as -that led by Queen Boadicea in the east, in the year 61; so in looking -back to the Roman occupation, it is reasonable to suppose that before -the end of the first century it was reduced to the condition of a Roman -province. Trade would soon commence with this, the latest, addition to -the Empire, and the soldiers, no longer necessary except as garrisons -and guardians of the peace, would be employed in improving the means -of communication. The warlike Briton (in these parts at any rate) was -transformed into a peaceful husbandman, who sowed and reaped, and paid -his taxes, grumbling perhaps, but on the whole contented with his lot. - -Roads, or trackways, of some kind there certainly were in use by the -British, linking tribe to tribe, or camp to camp, and, judging by the -line of what we now term Roman roads, it is most probable that to a -very great extent the ancient routes were taken as the foundation of -the new system developed by the Romans. The details of this system -are given by an authority of contemporary date in _The Itinerary -of Antonine_, which is believed to have been compiled in the third -century, and possibly corrected and added to later. In this work we -find, as regards the County of Dorset, a description of roads which -are easily recognised to-day, roads which are still in use throughout -a considerable portion of their length. It must not be lost sight -of that these roads are in very close connection with some of the -principal British hill-fortresses, which fact would stamp them as being -originally constructed by the British race, though to all appearance -they are grand examples of Roman skill and energy. The main road, the -Via Principalis, of the third and fourth centuries, comes to Dorset -from Old Sarum, in Wiltshire, one of the grandest of British camps; -it passes close to Badbury Camp, and then makes for Maiden Castle, -and onwards to Eggardun, all of earlier date than the Roman invasion. -But notwithstanding this obvious connection, the roads as we see them -now bear witness to the power of Rome, and are, perhaps, some of the -most obvious of the memorials of the past. They are described in the -_XV. Iter._ of Antoninus, with the names of the Roman stations and the -distances between them along the road from Silchester (Calleva) to -Exeter (Isca Dumnoni), which forms a portion of the great Via Iceniana. - -After passing Old Sarum, this road crosses the north-east border of -the modern county of Dorset at a small hamlet called Woodyates (near -Cranborne), taking a south-westerly course; it passes over Woodyates -and Handley Down, and is described by Sir R. Colt Hoare as being at -that point “the finest specimen of a Roman road I know.” It runs by -Badbury Camp, and thence to Dorchester, where the direction changes to -due west, parallel with the coast line, and after leaving the county -near Lyme Regis proceeds towards Exeter. - -It must not be supposed that this, or any other Roman road, can be -traced exactly throughout its whole course. Far from it: the hand of -the destroyer has been heavy indeed on these relics of the past, built -with a prodigal expenditure of time and material. It is often the -case that the modern “turnpike,” or county, road has been made on the -very site of the ancient road, the old embankment being levelled to -gain additional width. In other places cultivation and the demands of -agriculture may have proved the cause of its obliteration. Here and -there, especially on waste land and heather-clad downs the true Roman -work may still be seen, though covered, perhaps, by grass; but with the -aid of the Antonine _Itinerary_ much may be learnt and many a portion -be recognised. He names, however, only two stations within the county, -and the mileage is short by nearly twenty miles, so in all probability, -through error in copying, one other station has been omitted. The two -stations mentioned are Vindogladia and Durnovaria. Authorities differ -greatly as to the true position of the former of these places; the -other station, however, is remarkable for the proofs of its former -importance. Here we find no less than four roads meeting, from north, -south, east, and west, the east and west roads being the Via Iceniana; -the others are roads of less importance, that to the south leading -to the sea and towards the Roman settlement, Clavinio (or Jordan -Hill), near Weymouth, and that to the north passing Stratton and on to -Ilchester. - -Other branch roads were made as necessity required in different -parts of the county. Thus we find traces of a road leaving the Via -Principalis, near Badbury, to connect with the harbour of Poole, and -another, starting from the same point, running northwards. Mr. Warne is -considered to have made a very interesting and clever discovery of a -station which is missing in the _XV. Iter._ of Antoninus. The distance -there given between Vindogladia and Durnovaria is quite obviously too -short by some fourteen miles. But on Kingston Down, near Bere Regis, -the cultured eyes of the learned Dorset antiquarian discovered traces -of a Roman settlement, and on due investigation being made, it was -considered that there was sufficient proof to establish at this point -a station called Ibernium, referred to by other writers as existing in -the county. - -The position of Vindogladia, though a subject of long and frequent -debate, and though stated by some to have been at Badbury, by others -at Wimborne Minster, has now been accepted as on Gussage Down, not -far from the north-west border of the county where crossed by the Via -Iceniana. This is due to the researches of Sir R. C. Hoare, and stands -on a par with Mr. Warne’s discovery of the other Roman station on the -great military road. - - * * * * * - -We come now to a very interesting period of the Roman occupation, -when we may imagine the military operations at an end, a firm and -beneficial government established, and the colonists (at any rate), -who usually obtained a third part of the conquered territory, becoming -rich and enabled to build those houses that must have been the envy and -admiration of the native population, with their decorative floors and -walls, and ample comforts for seasons of heat or cold. - -Still, as we have said before, it is not to any printed records that -we can turn for its history, but rather to the result of careful -excavation and the relics unearthed after fifteen centuries’ burial -in the soil: in a word, we trust to the use of the spade for bringing -before our minds the life of the past and restoring the memorials of -ancient Dorset. - -In Warne’s map of the county, prepared in the year 1865 after most -patient research and personal investigation, there are more than fifty -sites given where relics of the Roman colonisation have been found, -exclusive of Durnovaria. Mr. Moule, writing in 1893, says: “Roman work -of one kind and another has been found here in Dorset in eighty places, -and that for the most part casually.” But year after year this number -is increased, and, truth to tell, so frequent are the discoveries that -in Dorchester the ordinary labourer, when excavating in the streets, -or elsewhere, is ever on the alert, and many a treasure rewards his -watchful care; and even children whose eyes have been trained aright -will find, when digging in some neglected corner of garden or field, -a bit of common pottery, a fragment of Samian ware, or perhaps a coin -bearing the image of an Emperor of Rome. And thus our history is -written: a word discovered here, a sentence there, until the story of -the life of those days may be once more told afresh. The frequency of -these discoveries is so far interesting that it draws attention to the -large area over which the Roman settlers were distributed. No doubt -they found this land of the Durotriges a pleasant land to dwell in, as -we do now in this twentieth century. But here may be said, in passing, -that Roman colonists were partly at least a Roman garrison. They were -frequently old soldiers intended to keep in check the conquered nation, -and liable to be called back to active service. But if there was no -fear of a hostile rising, the military character of the colony would -gradually be lost. And that, no doubt, soon happened here, for the very -great majority of the relics of the Roman occupation are signs of its -peaceful character. - -The discovery of the sites of Roman villas scattered in more or less -isolated positions throughout the county tend also to prove this, and -especially when the villa is shown to have possessed one of those -beautiful mosaic floors which can only have belonged to a prosperous -and wealthy colonist or to a British landowner left undisturbed in -his possessions, and who employed the Roman craftsmen to build him -a house. These tessellated floors have been frequently exposed to -view in various parts of Dorset, and too frequently, alas! through -ignorance or carelessness, been neglected or destroyed; others, -again, have been examined, plans or drawings made, and been covered -up once more. Among those which have been described may be mentioned: -Thornford and Lenthay Green, near Sherborne; Halstock, six miles south -of Yeovil; Rampisham, twelve miles north of Dorchester; Frampton, -six miles north of Dorchester; Preston, near Weymouth; Creech, near -Wareham; Fifehead Neville, north-west of Blandford; Hemsworth, five -miles north of Wimborne; and in Dorchester itself no less than twenty -different pavements, either complete or in portions, besides one on the -upper area of Maiden Castle. It is difficult to assign a date, even -approximately, to these villas, for the coins found amidst the _débris_ -cover practically the whole period of Roman occupation, and the other -objects generally discovered on the site are not of much assistance. -There are no records of inscribed stones being found, which might -have helped; and, as a rule, the more valuable part of the building -materials, such as cut stones, roof slabs, and timbers, must have been -taken away when the houses were left; but the wells and refuse pits are -the happy and profitable hunting-ground of the antiquary. - -The tessellated pavements are so interesting and attractive that it is -worth while to describe them in detail. The system adopted in their -construction seems to have been as follows:—If no provision was made -for heating the rooms by means of a hypocaust or hot-air flues, the -ground was prepared by rough levelling, and 6 to 8 inches thick of -flints rammed, or coarse, gravelly mortar or concrete laid; on this 3 -or 4 inches of better class white cement, and above some fine cement to -take the tessellæ; and after these were laid a liquid cement would be -run into the interstices before the final polishing was commenced. The -system of laying is well shewn in the annexed illustration, taken of -a pavement _in situ_, before removal to the Dorset County Museum. - -[Illustration: PART OF THE OLGA ROAD TESSELLATED PAVEMENT, DORCHESTER.] - -The tessellæ themselves, as generally found in Dorset, consist of -small cubes of stone or brick, but vary in size from about ⅜ or ½ -inch to 1½ inch; the smaller are used for the decorative portions; -the larger for the borders, or for passages, or for the floors of -houses of a humbler character. The colours are for the most part only -four—namely: white, dark slate (or blue-black), red, and a sort of drab -or grey; occasionally yellow is found, but not often. - -The materials of which the tessellæ are composed has given rise to much -discussion and, indeed, much difference of opinion; but, as a general -principle, it may be assumed that, wherever possible, local stone was -used. The red tessellæ are merely brick or tile of a fine description; -but, as a means of obtaining a scientific opinion of the other stones, -microscopic sections have been cut from the tessellæ and submitted -to an expert mineralogist, who has given them the following names. -The very dark stone is a fine-grained ferruginous limestone; the grey -is also a fine-grained limestone; the drab or yellow is an oolitic -limestone; and the white is a hard chalk, showing foraminifera very -well. It is believed that the colour may be altered by submitting the -stone to heat, an opinion held by Professor Buckman, and explained in a -very interesting chapter of his book, _Roman Art in Cirencester_. - -The mosaic floors found in Dorchester are, as a rule, of very simple -but effective design, consisting of geometrical arrangements of the -single guilloche, the twist or plait, the double guilloche (which is -extremely handsome in mosaic work), and the ordinary fret. These, being -arranged as outlines of intersecting squares and circles, leave spaces -of varying dimensions, spandrels, or trefoils, which are utilised -for the introduction of many diverse emblems, such as the fylfot or -swastika, the duplex, sprays of foliage, urns, and interlacing knots. -In the County Museum may be seen laid on the floor (in which position -alone can full justice be done to the skill of the Italian artist) two -nearly complete mosaic pavements. One of these shows the area of three -adjoining rooms, with entrances or vestibules; the other pavement, -found in 1905, is in excellent preservation, measuring 21 feet by 12 -feet 6 inches, and is remarkable for two ornamental vases, with two -serpents issuing from each. - -The pavement at Preston, near Weymouth, still _in situ_, was discovered -in 1852, the coins found near the villa dating from the middle of the -third century. At Jordan Hill, close by, is the Roman settlement, -Clavinio, which has been productive of a large number of very -interesting relics. - -At the entrance to the village of Preston, coming from Weymouth, may be -seen an arch spanning a small stream. The form and masonry of the arch, -as well as its proximity to the other remains here noticed, point to -the probability of Roman construction, and is of special interest, as -examples of Roman masonry are but rarely found still existing in the -county. - -The pavement at Lenthay Green was discovered in 1836, and was carefully -removed to the dairy of Sherborne Castle. It contains a representation -of a sitting figure playing on a lyre, and a second figure dancing and -playing a pipe. - -The villa on Maiden Castle was discovered by Mr. Cunnington in 1882, -and as a result of his excavations he sent to the County Museum many -interesting objects: fragments of mosaic floor, wall-plaster, and roof -tiles, a curious bronze plate (repoussé work) representing a helmeted -figure holding a spear, and coins from Helena, A.D. 290, to Arcadius, -A.D. 408. - -A mosaic floor at Frampton is remarkable for the introduction into the -design of the Christian monogram ☧, known as the Labarum. Extensive -excavations were made here at the end of the eighteenth century, -and four different pavements were found. They contain numerous -representations of heathen deities, Neptune being especially favoured; -a motto worked into one of the borders runs: “_Neptuni vertex regmen -sortiti mobile ventis_,” and some other words partly lost. The -introduction of the monogram of Christ is probably of a later date than -the original work. The pavement is now covered up, but Mr. Lysons, -who superintended the excavations in 1797, obtained accurate drawings -of the whole site, the mosaic work being shown in correct colours on -seven large plates which were published, together with an accurate -description. - -[Illustration: TESSELLATED PAVEMENT AT FIFEHEAD NEVILLE, DORSET.] - -The pavements uncovered at Fifehead Neville are also of great interest. -The first was discovered in 1881, measuring about 14 feet by 12 feet, -the design consisting of an urn, or vase, in the centre, around which -seven small fish are depicted, and outside them are four sea-monsters, -like dolphins. Coins found here date from A.D. 270 to 340. The second -pavement, found in 1903, requires no description, as we are permitted, -by the Editor of the Dorset Field Club, to reproduce an illustration -which appears in the Club’s _Proceedings_. The general plan of the -design is almost identical with a pavement found in Dyer Street, -Cirencester, though the details are altogether different. They may well -have been designed by the same artist. - - * * * * * - -Very little has been said, so far, of Dorchester itself, and yet the -modern town is full of memories of the Roman Durnovaria. It lies within -the boundaries of the ancient walls, their position, still plainly -discernible in many places, being marked by broad walks and avenues of -trees. One small portion of the masonry of the wall itself may still be -seen in the West Walk. The position of the gates is also fairly easy to -decide, though no vestige of them remains. The roads which issued from -them have been referred to at a previous page. - -It has been asserted recently—and, indeed, proved to the satisfaction -of many local authorities—that the course of a Roman aqueduct can be -traced here and there to the west of Dorchester skirting the adjacent -valleys and hills. It is believed to have been an open water-course, -obtaining its supply from the source of a small stream some twelve -miles distant. - -Perhaps, however, the most remarkable relic of the Roman occupation -is the amphitheatre, said to be the best preserved in Britain. It is -larger than the so-called “Bull Ring” of Cirencester, and, being quite -free from trees and bushes, stands out more boldly than the similar -work at Silchester. It is built of chalk, now covered with grass, -somewhat elliptical in plan, the height of the sides being given as -about 30 feet, and the internal measurements 218 feet by 163 feet. On -each side of the entrance there are walks which ascend gradually to the -centre of the mounds, where there are small platforms as if for seating -the principal spectators or judges, but there are no traces of steps -or ledges for the accommodation of the general public; and, judging by -the remarks of early Roman writers, it is very probable that the people -were obliged to stand throughout the public games. - -But in addition to these more obvious relics of a bygone age, the -subsoil of Dorchester is full of treasures that emphasise the Roman -occupation. It would be impossible to describe in these pages even -the most interesting of the objects that have been brought to light -in recent years, but it is fortunate that they find their way very -frequently to the County Museum, of which the people of Dorset are -justly proud. It must suffice at the present time to mention that in -its cases may be seen a fine collection of objects made of Kimmeridge -shale; glass hairpins, brooches and bracelets, and a metal mirror; -pottery of all kinds; many examples of mosaic floors, fragments of wall -plaster retaining their brilliant colouring, three curious antefixæ, a -Roman sword handle, which is believed to be almost unique, and a base -and capital of a column of a temple. In looking at these memorials of -the past, and stepping the while on the ancient pavements, the mind is -taken back with irresistible force to the men and women who made use of -them in their daily occupations—the Romans, who for a period of four -hundred years exercised their wise and beneficial influence over the -people of Britain. - - - - -THE CHURCHES OF DORSET - -BY THE REV. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. - - -Out of about three hundred churches which are to be found in Dorset, -three stand out as far ahead of all the rest—the church (once -collegiate, now parochial) of Wimborne Minster; the church of the -Benedictine Abbey at Sherborne, now the parish church; and the great -Benedictine Abbey Church at Milton, now in parochial use. These three, -which receive separate treatment in the present volume, are the only -three Dorset churches that can rank with the great parish churches of -England. - -There were before the Reformation many religious houses, each with -its own church, in the county, but at the time of the Dissolution, -in the reign of Henry VIII., most of these, as being of no further -use, fell into decay, and their ruins were regarded as quarries of -hewn stone whenever such material was needed in the neighbourhood. -Of the Benedictine nunnery of Shaftesbury, once one of the most -wealthy religious foundations in the kingdom, nothing remains save -the foundations, which recent excavations have disclosed to view; of -Cistercian Bindon, only the gatehouse and a few ivy-clad walls, rising -only a few feet above the ground; of Benedictine Cerne, a splendid -barn and a beautiful gatehouse, and a few fragments incorporated in -some farm buildings; of its daughter abbey at Abbotsbury, a still -larger barn, testifying to the wealth of the community, and some -ruined walls—this is all that remains to mark the spots where day -after day through many centuries the words of prayer and praise rose -almost without ceasing, and monks and nuns lived their lives apart from -the busy world, spending their time in meditation, in adorning their -churches with the carving of capital and boss or miserere, in copying -and illuminating manuscripts, in teaching the young, in giving alms to -the needy, in tilling their lands in the days while yet they cherished -the high ideals of the founders of their orders, before they lapsed -into luxury and riotous living. - -A few monastic barns remain in other places, as at Tarrant Crawford -and Liscombe. These owe their preservation to the fact that they could -at once be utilized; for those who received grants of abbey lands, no -less than their predecessors, required buildings wherein to store their -corn; whereas the refectory, dormitory, cellars, and other domestic -buildings designed for a community of monks or nuns were useless when -such communities no longer existed; and the churches, unless they could -be turned to account as parish churches, would also be of no use. - -After the three great ministers already mentioned there is a wide gap, -for though many of the Dorset parish churches are of architectural -or archæological interest, either generally or because they contain -some special object—a Saxon font, a Norman doorway, a Decorated Easter -sepulchre, a canopied tomb, or the effigy of a noble who fought in -the French wars of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries—yet as a -rule the churches are comparatively, if not actually, small, and are -for the most part built in the Perpendicular style, the most prosaic -and uninteresting of the mediæval styles of architecture, though in -mason-craft it can hold its own against all the rest. And, moreover, -Dorset Perpendicular is not equal to that which is to be found in the -neighbouring county of Somerset. We look in vain for the splendid -fifteenth century towers which are the glory of the Somerset churches; -here and there in isolated places, and, strange enough, not on the -Somerset border, we find traces of the Somerset influence; but for the -most part the Dorset towers are utilitarian appendages, not structures -carefully designed with a view to beauty of outline and richness and -appropriateness of ornament, as the finest of the Somerset towers are. -Spires of mediæval date are rare in Dorset. There are but two—one at -Winterborne Steepleton, near Dorchester, and one at Trent, a parish -added for administration purposes to the County of Dorset in 1895; -there is a spire also at Iwerne[15] Minster, but it cannot be called -a mediæval one, for though the tower of this church was formerly -surmounted by a beautiful spire, yet that to be seen to-day is only a -reproduction, built of some of the stones of the old spire, which was -taken down at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The upper part -above the lower of the two moulded bands, preserves the original slope; -the lower has a different slope, as the builder had, in a vertical -distance of about ten feet, to connect the base of the original spire -with the horizontal section of the upper part, which was originally -about thirty feet above the base. The original spire was forty feet in -height; the present one is only twenty feet. The stone not used in the -rebuilding was sold to a road contractor for metalling the roads. - -The hand of the restorer has been laid very heavily on Dorset -churches. In some cases, where there was absolutely no necessity for -it, old churches were entirely destroyed to make room for smart new -buildings; others have been restored—a few judiciously, the majority -injudiciously; a few only, so far, have entirely escaped. Many causes -in Dorset, as elsewhere, have led to extensive restoration—the desire -to adapt the building to the form of worship fashionable at the time, -or to put back, as it is called, the church into what was supposed -to be its original form, as if such a thing were possible; the -love of uniformity, which has led to the removal of seventeenth and -eighteenth century additions, such as pulpits and galleries, which were -supposed to be out of keeping with the main portion of the church; -by which removals much interesting history has been destroyed. Oak -pews, sometimes carved, have been swept away in order to put in more -comfortable benches of pitch pine; encaustic tiles have taken the -place of the old stones, which, if they had become uneven, might have -been relaid; ancient plaster has been stripped from walls, and the -stones pointed; churchyards have been levelled, and, in some cases, the -paths have been paved with old headstones. Unfortunately for Dorset, -there has been found no lack of money to carry out these supposed -“improvements,” so that the work of “restoration” has been done most -thoroughly throughout the length and breadth of the county, and there -is now little more that is likely to be done. It is, indeed, almost too -late to utter the prayer of Thomas Hardy:— - - From restorations of Thy fane, - From smoothings of Thy sward, - From zealous churchmen’s pick and plane, - Deliver us, good Lord![16] - -But despite the fact that Dorset is architecturally much poorer at -the beginning of the twentieth century than at the beginning of the -nineteenth, there is still much that the archæologist may take joy in, -though his joy may be mingled with regret at treasures of old time that -have vanished for ever. - -One of the most interesting ecclesiastical buildings in Dorset is the -little church, disused for many years save for an occasional service, -of St. Martin, at Wareham. Some of it is probably of Saxon date; in -size and proportion it bears a remarkable likeness to St. Ealdhelm’s -recently re-discovered church of St. Lawrence, at Bradford-on-Avon. -This is specially interesting, as it is said that St. Ealdhelm founded -a monastery or nunnery at Wareham, and the similarity of this church -to that which he built at Bradford gives some confirmation to the -belief that this church also was built by him during the time of his -episcopate at Sherborne (705-709). Some authorities, while recognising -the church as of Saxon foundation, would date it approximately 1050. -The chancel arch is low, like that at Bradford, but not so narrow; the -nave, though subsequently lengthened, is short, narrow, and high—long -and short work may be seen in the coigns of the walls; all these seem -to indicate its Saxon origin. The church, however, has been enlarged -from time to time; the north aisle is divided from the nave by -round-headed arches; the windows at the east of the chancel and aisle, -now walled up, are of the Perpendicular period; and a window in the -south wall of the nave is of Decorated date; but an early Norman one -may be seen on the north side of the chancel. The tower, with a gabled -roof, is an early addition to the building. When, in 1762, a great fire -destroyed about a third of the town of Wareham, many of those whom -this disaster rendered homeless found a refuge within the walls of -the little church, which even then had ceased to be used for service. -Beneath the church a vast number of burials took place; it would seem -that the limited space within the walls was used over and over again -for this purpose. - -Among other examples of Saxon work to be found in Dorset may be -mentioned a walled-up doorway, with triangular head, on the south -wall of Worth Matravers church, in the Isle of Purbeck; a fragment of -herring-bone work in Corfe Castle, which may possibly be a portion -of a wall of the chapel founded here by St. Ealdhelm, though it may, -on the other hand, be of Norman date; and fonts at Toller Fratrum -and Martinstown; and the carved stone over the doorway of Tarrant -Rushton, the chancel arch of which church is also probably of -pre-Conquest date. - -[Illustration: ST. MARTIN’S CHURCH, WAREHAM.] - -Norman work is naturally more abundant. The church at Studland, in the -Isle of Purbeck, is no doubt the most complete example to be met with -in the county. It is also a fine example of restoration at its best. -The church was in great danger of falling, owing to the sinking of an -artificial bed of clay on which the foundations of some of the walls -were laid; wide cracks had opened in the walls, in the chancel arch, -and other places; the mortar of the core of the walls had perished; -but by underpinning the walls, grouting with cement, the insertion of -metal tie-beams, and stopping the cracks, the church has been made -safe. There is little work of post-Norman date, but it is by no means -certain that the Norman builders built the church from its foundations; -there is good reason to suppose that a previous church of rude rubble -masonry existed here, and that a great part of the original walls was -left standing, and that the Norman builders cut out portions of the old -walls to insert their own more perfect work in various places. It is -a long, narrow church, without aisles; a low central tower, probably -never completed, covered with a gable roof, stands between the nave and -chancel. The tower arches are low, and the roof is vaulted. The Norman -work probably dates from about 1130. The church bears some resemblance -to the well-known church at Iffley, but the decoration is not so -elaborate. - -Next to Studland in interest comes the church of Worth Matravers, -also in the Isle of Purbeck. Here, however, the tower stands at the -west end. The chancel is Early English, the roof is of wood; but the -chancel arch is elaborately carved, as is also the door within the -south porch. In the parish of Worth stands a unique building—the chapel -of St. Ealdhelm, on St. Ealdhelm’s (or, as it is often incorrectly -called, St. Alban’s) Head. It shares with the later chapel of St. -Catherine, near Abbotsbury, the peculiarity of being built, within and -without, walls and roof alike, of stone. The chapel of St. Ealdhelm -stands four square, with a pyramidal roof, now surmounted by a cross, -which has taken the place of the cresset in which the beacon fire -blazed on nights of storm or national danger. No doubt it showed -one of the “twinkling points of fire” of Macaulay’s ballad when the -Armada had been sighted off Alderney. There is a legend that it was -built by St. Ealdhelm, who, finding that he could not by land get at -the heathen of what we now call Dorset, came in a boat and climbed -the cliff, and afterwards founded this chapel to mark the spot where -he landed. That he landed here is probable enough, but the style of -architecture—Norman—shows that it was built long after St. Ealdhelm’s -time. It is far more likely that his chapel was built on the hill at -“Corfes-geat,” now crowned with the ruins of Corfe Castle. Another -more romantic story tells us that this chapel on St. Ealdhelm’s Head -was founded by the Norman Lord of the Manor, who, when his daughter, -who had just been married, set out from Poole Haven to sail down -channel to her home, came to this high spot to watch the vessel that -bore her pass, and saw it wrecked on the rocks below. Hence it is said -that he built this chapel so that masses might be said there for her -soul’s rest. Be this as it may, it is certain that for many centuries -the chaplain received his yearly stipend of fifty shillings from the -Royal Treasury, and the chapel was a seamen’s chantry, where prayers -for their safety might be offered, and whose flaming beacon served -as a lighthouse. A narrow Norman window, or, rather, a slit, near -the north-west corner of the east wall, alone admits light. A Norman -doorway, in the opposite wall, is the only entrance. The stone vault is -supported by ribs springing from a central pier, an arrangement similar -to that common in polygonal chapter houses. The local name for the -building was at one time “The Devil’s Chapel,” and people sought to -gain their objects by some process of incantation, one part of the rite -being the dropping of a pin into a hole in the central pier, a custom -not altogether abandoned even now. On Worth “club walking day,” in -Whitsun week, the building was used as a dancing room; at other times -of the year as a coastguard store. It has, however, been refitted as a -chapel, and service for the coastguard station is held at stated times -by the rector of Worth. - -[Illustration: THE CHAPEL ON ST. EALDHELM’S HEAD.] - -It is neither possible nor desirable to mention all the Norman work -which is to be found in Dorset, but attention must be called to that -at Bere Regis. In this church may especially be noticed some curious -carved heads on some of the capitals; on one, an arm comes down from -above, and the hand raises the eyelids—evidently the gift of sight -is here indicated; on another in like manner the fingers open the -mouth—probably the gift of speech is here represented, although the -carving might be intended to represent the gift of taste. - -Work of the Early English period (thirteenth century) is not very -common in Dorset. We meet with it, however, in the east end of Wimborne -Minster, in the churches of Knighton, Cranborne, Corfe Mullen, -Portesham, and Worth, among others. - -Nor is the Decorated style more fully represented. The best examples -are Milton Abbey Church, which is almost entirely in this style, and -the aisles of Wimborne Minster; but it may also be seen in Gussage St. -Michael, Tarrant Rushton, and Wooton Glanville, and at St. Peter’s, -Dorchester, a well-preserved arch for the Easter sepulchre of this -period may be seen. It was customary in such arches to set up at Easter -a movable wooden structure representing the grave in Joseph’s garden, -where certain rites commemorating the Burial and Resurrection were -performed. These sepulchres were very elaborate, and associated with -them were figures, of course of small size, representing Christ, the -Father, the Holy Ghost, the armed guard, and angels and devils. - -The great majority of the Dorset churches are of Perpendicular date, -and in churches of earlier date there are few that do not contain -some addition or insertion made after the time when this peculiarly -English style had had its birth in the Abbey Church at Gloucester, and -had been adopted by William of Edington and William of Wykeham in the -transformation of the Norman Cathedral Church at Winchester during the -latter half of the fourteenth century. - -Why was it that so many churches were built during the fifteenth -century? Probably because conditions had changed, and the building -was no longer the work chiefly of the bishops or of the religious -orders as it had been up to the thirteenth century, or of the nobles -as it had been in the fourteenth, but of the people. The French wars -of Edward III. emptied the purses of the nobles and the monasteries; -the Black Death also counted many monks among its victims, and had -entirely swept away many of the smaller religious houses, and decreased -the numbers of brethren in the larger;[17] and the middle class rose -after the Black Death to a position that it had never occupied before. -This class demanded parish churches, as well as trade halls and guild -chapels, and built them, too—that is, supplied money to pay masons. -Architecture became more of a trade and less of an art. Norfolk and -Somerset were especially rich districts at a time when England exported -the raw material, wool, and not, as now, manufactured goods; and hence -in these two counties some of the largest and grandest parish churches -were built. And Dorset, lying as it does on the Somerset border, -showed, though in less degree, the results of the new conditions. It -has no churches of this period to match in size St. Mary Redcliffe at -Bristol, or St. Mary Magdalene’s at Taunton; it has no Perpendicular -towers to rival those of Shepton Mallet, St. Cuthbert’s at Wells, or -Huish Episcopi; but it has some fine examples, nevertheless, distinctly -traceable to Somerset influence. The parent design in Dorset may -perhaps be seen in Piddletrenthide, 1487; Fordington St. George, -the top of which tower has not been very wisely altered of late, is -a little more in advance; St. Peter’s, Dorchester, and Charminster -are still further developed; the two last probably are the finest -individual towers in the county. Bradford Abbas may be thought by some -more beautiful, but the builder borrowed details from the Quantock -group of churches. The tower at Cerne is probably by the same builder -as Bradford, judging from the similarity of the buttresses and -pinnacles in the two churches. Beaminster also has a fine tower, and -so has Marnhull, though the general effect of the latter is ruined by -the clumsy modern parapet. Milton Abbey tower has good details. In all -these cases, excepting Cerne, there are double windows in the belfry -stage; but this arrangement is not so common in Dorset as in Somerset, -and the writer knows no instance of triple windows. A Somerset feature -that is very commonly met with in Dorset is an external stair-turret, -an arrangement not found in the East of England. The Somerset builders -often placed pinnacles on the offsets of their buttresses; these are -rarely seen in Dorset. Generally, the Dorset towers are not so richly -ornamented as those of Somerset. - -It has been said before that there are only two Dorset churches with -spires built before the Reformation. A few words may not be out of -place descriptive of the two. Steepleton is a long, narrow church, -with nave and chancel, but no aisle. A blocked-up Norman arch, and a -pointed one, similarly blocked, in the north wall of the nave, indicate -that originally a chapel, or chapels, stood here. A curious stone, -carved with the figure of a floating angel, probably taken from the -interior, was at some time built into the exterior of the south wall -of the nave. It has by this means escaped destruction, but the damp -has caused lichen to grow on it. It bears a strong resemblance to the -angel to be seen over the chancel arch of St. Lawrence’s Church at -Bradford-on-Avon. It is not unlikely that the corresponding angel is -on a stone that has been used in blocking one of the arches mentioned -before. They possibly date from pre-Conquest days, or, at any rate, -from a time before the pre-Conquest style had died out in this -remote village, and may have formed part of a representation of the -Ascension. The western stone may possibly date from the fourteenth -century, as a window in its east face, now covered by the raised roof, -shows geometrical tracery; the windows in the other faces are much -later—probably they have been altered. The main octagonal spire that -rises from the tower does not seem to have been part of the original -design. On the four spaces between the corners of the tower and the -spire are four spirelets; these do not stand as pinnacles of the tower, -nor are they used, as sometimes spirelets were used, to hide the -awkward junction of a broad spire with a square tower, for this is not -a broad, but rises, as fourteenth century spires generally do, from the -tower roof, though here a parapet hardly exists. - -Trent Steeple, standing midway on the south side of the church, -is a very beautiful one; the tower has double-light windows, with -geometrical tracery, and a pierced parapet, with pinnacles, from -which rises a very graceful spire, the edges of which have a circular -moulding. The spire is slightly twisted from some subsidence, and -cracks have occurred in the tower. The church has no aisles, but the -projecting tower, the lower part of which serves as an entrance porch, -on the south, and the chapel and organ chamber on the north, give -it a very picturesque appearance. A modern addition is a distinctly -pleasant feature, namely, an octagonal baptistery, which stands -beyond the church at the west end of the nave. The interior is also -pleasing. There are bench ends of oak, black with age, a reading desk -on the north side, of like material, and a fine oak chancel screen. -The carved wooden pulpit, if not entirely modern, is very largely so. -In the churchyard are the steps and base of a churchyard cross. It is -an exceedingly beautiful church, and the few houses in its immediate -neighbourhood, with stone mullioned windows, are all in keeping with -the church. The straggling cottages, the winding lanes, render it one -of the most picturesque villages in the county. It was a distinct loss -to Somerset and gain to Dorset when this parish was transferred from -the former to the latter county. - -This sketch of the Dorset churches would be incomplete without -reference to some of the noteworthy features to be met with in the -fittings of some of them. The cast-lead font of St. Mary’s, Wareham, -on which figures of the Apostles are still distinguishable from each -other, despite the rough usage to which they have been subjected, may -possibly date from Saxon days, and from the resemblance it bears to -the font in Dorchester Abbey, Oxfordshire, they may well have been -contemporaneous. If so, it gives countenance to the belief that this -font dates from the time when, as yet, the whole Wessex kingdom was one -diocese with its Bishop-stool at the Oxfordshire Dorchester—that is, -sometime between the conversion of Cynegils by St. Birinus in 635 and -the division of the diocese into the two separate sees of Winchester -and Sherborne in 705; as after this event the Oxfordshire Dorchester -would have little to do with Dorset. - -The church at Piddletown has escaped the drastic restoration that has -destroyed the interest of so many of our Dorset churches. Archæologists -may well rejoice that the gallery and pews have not been swept away -with ruthless zeal, and will pray that they may, for many years to -come, stand as witnesses of what was being done in Dorset at a time -when the storm was gathering that was destined for a while to overthrow -the power of king and priest. - -In Bloxworth Church there still remains in its stand the hour-glass by -which the preacher regulated the length of his sermon. This probably -was placed in its position about the middle of the seventeenth century. -The people in those days liked sermons, and expected to be able to -listen to one for at least an hour, though sometimes the preacher, when -all the sand had run into the lower half of the hour-glass, would give -his congregation another hour, turning the glass; and sometimes yet -once again the glass was turned. As we look on this relic of sermon -loving days, we cannot help thinking of the eyes of the weary children, -doomed to sit under these long-winded preachers, turned on the slowly -trickling sand, and the sense of relief they must have felt when the -last grain had run down, and the hour of their enforced listening was -at an end. - -To this same seventeenth century may be ascribed many of the -elaborately carved oaken pulpits which are to be found in Dorset, as, -for instance, those at Beaminster, Netherbury, Charminster, Iwerne -Minster, and Abbotsbury. In the last may still be seen two holes caused -by bullets fired by Cromwell’s soldiers when the church was garrisoned -by Royalists under General Strangways. - -At Frampton a stone pulpit, of fifteenth century date, much restored, -still exists. At Corton Chapel a fine pre-Reformation stone altar -stands, which escaped destruction when the order for the removal of -stone altars was issued in 1550, because Corton was one of those free -chapels which had been suppressed and deprived of its revenue three -years before by the Chantry Act of 1 Edward VI. - -In the neighbouring church at Portesham a window on the north side -of the nave shews signs of the influence which on the Continent led -to the Flamboyant style. A fine Jacobean screen may be seen at West -Stafford Church, which was removed from its original position and put -further to the east when the church was lengthened a few years ago. - -In Hilton Church there are twelve noteworthy mediæval panel paintings, -each more than six feet high, representing the Apostles. These once -belonged to Milton Abbey. - -When Tarrant Rushton Church was restored, on the eastern face of the -chancel arch were found two earthenware vases. Their use is a matter of -doubt, but an idea formerly prevailed that such vessels gave richness -to the voice, and from this idea they were sometimes let into the -walls, and were known as acoustic vases. - -Dorset is fairly rich in monumental effigies in stone and alabaster. -One of the most beautiful and best preserved of the latter is that -erected in Wimborne Minster by the Lady Margaret, in memory of her -father and mother, John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and his wife. -Cross-legged effigies are to be seen in Wareham, Bridport, Piddletown, -Wimborne Minster, Dorchester, Trent, Horton, Wimborne St. Giles, and -Stock Gaylard. The first four bear a close resemblance to one another. -The knight wears a sleeved tunic or hauberk of mail, a hooded coif, and -over this a helmet. This costume indicates a date before the middle -of the twelfth century. The feet rest upon an animal. At one time the -fact that the legs were crossed was held to indicate that the person -represented was a Crusader; if the legs were crossed at the ankles it -was supposed that he had made one pilgrimage to the East; if at the -knees, two; if higher up, three. But all this is probably erroneous, -for on the one hand some known Crusaders are not represented with their -legs crossed, while others who are known not to have gone to the Holy -Land are so represented. And even a stronger proof may be adduced, -namely, that some of the crossed-legged effigies represent knights -who lived after the Crusades were over; for example, that found on -the tomb of Sir Peter Carew at Exeter, who died in 1571. In Mappowder -Church there is a miniature cross-legged effigy, about two feet long. -This is often spoken of as a “boy crusader”—a child who is supposed to -have gone with his father to the Holy Land, and to have died there. -But this is probably a mistake. Similar diminutive effigies are found -in divers places; for instance, that at Salisbury which goes by the -name of the “Boy Bishop,” and Bishop Ethelmer’s (1260) at Winchester. -Many authorities think that, as it was customary in the twelfth and -thirteenth centuries to bury different parts of the body in different -places, these effigies mark the spot where the heart was buried. The -figure at Mappowder holds a heart in its hands, and this certainly -lends countenance to this theory. A similar monument formerly existed -at Frampton, but it has disappeared. At Trent is a crossed-legged -effigy of a “franklin”—a civilian who was allowed to wear a sword. -There are two figures in St. Peter’s, Dorchester, laid on the sills of -windows; it is said they were removed from the old Priory Church. These -are of later date, namely, the end of the fourteenth century. They wear -plate armour, and on their heads pointed bassinets, while the great -helms that were worn over these serve as pillows for their heads to -rest on. - -At West Chelborough there is a curious monument without date or name: -a lady lies asleep on a bed with a child enveloped in the folds of -her drapery; probably this indicates that she died in giving birth to -the infant. Another curious monument is met with in Sandford Orcas -Church, whereon may be seen William Knoyle kneeling with one of his -wives in front, and one behind him, and behind the latter, four corpses -of children; the knight and first wife have skulls in their hands, to -indicate that they were dead when the monument (1607) was erected; -the second wife is dressed in black to show her widowhood; her seven -children are also represented, the four girls by her, and the three -boys behind the father. It will be noticed that the recumbent figures -of earlier time gave place to kneeling figures in the sixteenth -century, when the husband and wife were often represented opposite to -each other, with their children behind them in graduated sizes. These -are far less pleasing than the monuments of earlier date; but worse -was to come, an example of which may be seen at St. Peter’s Church, -Dorchester, in the monument of Denzil, Lord Holles, so well known in -the history of the reign of Charles I. - -A bare mention must suffice for other monuments. In Marnhull, Thomas -Howard (1582), a man of huge stature, lies between his two wives, small -delicate women, who are absolutely alike in person and dress. It would -seem as if their effigies were mere conventional representations. In -the neighbouring church of Stalbridge lies an emaciated corpse in a -shroud without date or name. - -In Netherbury is a mutilated alabaster figure with “S.S.” on the -collar; at Melbury Sampford the alabaster effigy of William Brounyng, -who died 1467, wears plate armour and the Yorkist collar. At -Charminster are several canopied tombs of the Trenchards, in Purbeck -marble, of a form found in many Wessex churches, and the figure of a -daughter of Sir Thomas Trenchard, wife of Sir William Pole, who died -in 1636. She kneels before a book lying open on a desk, and wears a -fur tippet. In Chideock Chapel may be seen a knight in plate armour, -possibly Sir John Chideock, who died in 1450. In Came Church are the -recumbent figures of Sir John Miller and his wife Anna (1610). - -In Farnham, over the altar, is a plain stone in memory of one Alexander -Bower, a preacher of God’s Word, who is said to have died “in the year -of _Christes_ incarnation (1616).” This is interesting as showing the -unabridged form of the possessive case. - -Built in the wall over the door of Durweston Church is a piece of -carving, which originally was above the altar and beneath the east -window, representing a blacksmith shoeing a horse; and over the west -door of Hinton Parva is a carving of an angel, a cross, and a butterfly. - -The finest timber roof in the county is undoubtedly that of Bere Regis -nave. It is said that Cardinal Morton placed this roof upon the church -when he was Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born near, or in, this -village, and after the battle of Towton was attainted. In the central -shield on the roof the arms of Morton are impaled with the arms of -the See of Canterbury; this gives the date of the erection somewhere -between 1486 and 1500, but a Cardinal’s hat on one of the figures -limits the date still further, as it was not until 1493 that Morton -became a Cardinal. The figures, which project from the hammer beams -and look downwards, are popularly known as the Apostles, but the dress -precludes this idea, as one is habited as a Deacon, and one, as said -above, wears a Cardinal’s hat. The painting of the roof is modern, done -when the roof was restored. - -One of the most remarkable buildings of the fifteenth century is St. -Catherine’s Chapel, on the lofty hill which overlooks the sea near -Abbotsbury. In the construction of this, wood plays no part—all is -solid stone. The roof is formed of transverse ribs, richly bossed where -ridge and purloin ribs intersect them, and each of the two rectangular -compartments between every pair of ribs on either side thus formed is -simply foliated like blank window lights. There is not a thin stone -vault below a stone outer roof above with a space between them, but it -is stone throughout, and on St. Catherine’s wind-swept hill the chapel -has stood uninjured since the Benedictine Monks of Abbotsbury built -this chantry nearly five hundred years ago. The massive buttresses, -from which no pinnacles rise, the parapet pierced by holes for letting -out the water, the turret with its flat cap, in which once the beacon -fire used to be lighted in its iron cresset, render the chapel still -more unique. Nowhere else in England, save on St. Ealdhelm’s Head, can -such a solidly-built structure be found. The simple tracery of the -windows remains, but the glass has disappeared. The windows are boarded -up to keep out the rain and the interior is bare. Resting on a hill -top, washed by the pure breezes, such a chapel is fitly dedicated to -St. Catherine of Alexandria. - - - - -THE MEMORIAL BRASSES OF DORSET - -BY W. DE C. PRIDEAUX - - -Dorset is by no means rich in the number of its monumental brasses. -Haines, in his list (1861), gives their number as thirty-three, -distributed over twenty-four churches; but recent researches and -alterations in the county boundaries have rendered his list no longer -strictly accurate. Yet only about one hundredth of the brasses to be -found in England are preserved in Dorset, though its area is about -one fiftieth of the area of England; and so it will be seen that the -number of its brasses is considerably below the average, although it -must be remembered that brasses are very unequally divided, the Eastern -counties having by far the largest proportion. - -The earliest known brasses in England date from the latter part of the -thirteenth century; and for three centuries this form of memorial was -in great favour. Brasses had many advantages over carved effigies in -stone; they occupied less space, formed no obstruction in the churches, -were more easily executed, and possibly cheaper. Fortunately, also, -they have lasted longer, and have preserved a wealth of valuable detail -relating to costume and heraldry far in excess of any other form of -monument. - -Monumental brasses may be divided roughly into two classes: those in -which the figure is engraved on a rectangular plate, the background -being plain or filled in with diapered or scroll work, which is seen to -such great advantage on many Continental brasses, and those in which -there is no background, the plate being cut around the outline of the -figure, and fastened down into a similarly shaped shallow matrix or -casement in the stone slab. Examples of both kinds are found in Dorset; -but none of our examples are of very early date. One of the oldest, -commemorating Joan de St. Omer, dated 1436 (an engraving of which may -be seen in Hutchins’ _Dorset_, vol. ii., p. 380, and a rubbing by the -late Mr. Henry Moule in the library of the Society of Antiquaries, -London[18]), has disappeared from St. Peter’s Church, Dorchester, -although the matrix still remains. The Oke brass at Shapwick, if of -contemporary workmanship, may be older. - -Sometimes brasses were pulled out and sold by the churchwardens for -the value of the metal.[19] Sometimes, indeed, brasses which had -commemorated some warrior, priest, or worthy of former times were taken -up, turned over, re-engraved, and made to do duty in honour of someone -else, as may be seen in the retroscript brasses at Litton Cheney; but -in several cases the brass, after weathering the stormy times of the -civil wars, and escaping the greed of those whose business it was to -guard their church from the mutilation, were lost through the gross -neglect of the nineteenth century restorer. The writer knows of several -specimens now loose and in danger. - -The following is a list of all the known brasses in Dorset:— - - _Beaminster._—Ann, the wife of Henry Hillary, of Meerhay, 1653. - - Elizabeth, the wife of William Milles, and daughter of John Hillary, - of Meerhay, 1674. - - Mrs. Ann Hillary, died 1700. - - William Milles, Esq., of Meerhay, and Mary, his wife. He died 1760, - aged 82; she died 1771, aged 95. - - And outside the wall of south aisle, inscriptions to— - - Elizabeth Smitham, 1773, aged 61. - - Rev. Edmund Lewis, 1766, aged 40. - - Joseph Symes, gent., 1776, aged 75; also Frances, his wife, 1737, aged - 47. - - And on a large slab in the floor of south aisle, formerly on an altar - tomb— - - Pray for the soule of S^{r} John Tone,[20] - Whose bodye lyeth berid under this tombe, - On whos soule J’hu have mercy A Pat’nost’ & Ave. - - All small inscriptions only. - -_Bere Regis._—J. Skerne and Margaret, his wife, 1596. Kneeling figures, -with heraldic shield and an eight-line engraved verse, on altar tomb. - - Robert Turberville, 1559. Inscription only. - -_Bryanston._—John Rogers and Elizabeth, his wife, 1528. Inscription -below matrices of their effigies and heraldic shields. - - Cecilia Rogers, wife of Sir Richard Rogers, of Bryanston. A ten-line - verse below matrices of her effigy and heraldic shields, 1566. - -_Bridport._—Edward Coker, gent. Inscription only, 1685. - -_Caundle Purse._—William Longe, 1500; Elizabeth Longe, 1527; Richard -Brodewey, rector, 1536. All small effigies, the two latter with -inscriptions; and all loose when seen by the writer, with the exception -of a small plate to Peter Hoskyns, 1682, above Longe altar tomb. - -_Compton Valence._—Thomas Maldon, rector, rebuilder of church, 1440. -Half effigy, from which issue two scrolls, with words from Ps. li. 1. - -_Chesilborne._—A small inscribed brass to John Keate, 1552, and -Margaret, his wife, 1554. - -_Corfe Mullen._—A small effigy of Richard Birt. Below this there is a -mutilated inscription to Ricardus Birt and Alicia, his wife, 1437. - -_Crichel, Moor._—Isabel Uvedale, 1572. An effigy with a ten-line -engraved verse. - - William Cyfrewast, Esquyer, 1581. Inscription and two six-line verses. - -_Crichel, Long._—Johan’ Gouys. A small inscription only. - -_Cranborne._—Margaret, daughter of Henry Ashelie, the wife of William -Wallop, 1582. Inscription only. There is another inscribed plate -bearing date 1631; otherwise illegible. - -_Dorchester, St. Peter._—Inscription and scroll to the lost figure of -Joan de St. Omer, widow of Robert More, 1436. - - William and Johanna Sillon. Part of inscription. Inscription to John - Gollop. - -_Evershot._—William Grey, rector, 1524, with chalice and host. -Inscription below effigy composed of quite a different alloy. - -_Fleet Old Church._—Robert and Margaret Mohun, with seventeen children, -1603. - - Maximillian Mohun, his son, showing his wife and thirteen children. - -_Holme Priory._—Richard Sidwaye, gent., 1612. - -_Knowle._—John Clavell, 1572, and two wives; the first with three sons -and one daughter; the second wife, Susan, daughter of Robert Coker, of -Mappowder, is kneeling alone. - -_Litton Cheney._—Ralph Henvil, of Looke, 1644. Anne Henvill, daughter -of Richard Henvill, of Looke, 1681. Inscriptions only. - - There is also an interesting retroscript brass, in two pieces, having - three inscriptions:— - - 1.—Johes Chapman, ffysch mōger, 1471. - - 2.—Alexandriam (?) Warnby, 1486. - - 3.—Johis Newpton et Thome Neupto. - -_Lytchett Matravers._—Thomas Pethyn (_als._ Talpathyn), rector, in -shroud, _c._ 1470. - - Margaret Clement, “generosa, specialis benefactrix reedificacionis - huius ecclesie,” 1505. - - A matrix of a very large fret (the arms of Matravers), with marginal - inscription, to Sir John Matravers, 1365. - -_Langton._—John Whitewod, gent., and his two wives, Johanna and Alicia; -three effigies, with inscription, bearing dates 1457, 1467, and portion -of scrolls. - -_Melbury Sampford._—Sir Gyles Strangwayes, 1562, in tabard. Two -shields, with thirteen and fourteen quarterings respectively, and -inscriptions to Henry Strangwayes, Esq., who “died at the syege of -Bolleyne,” and his wife, Margaret, daughter of Lord George Rosse; and -to Sir Gyles Strangwayes and his wife, Joan, eldest daughter of John -Wadham, Esq. There are also strip brasses around recumbent marble -effigies of Sir Gyles Strangwayes the elder, and William Brunyng, and a -rectangular brass plate to Laurencius Sampford, _miles_, and another to -John and Alicia Brounyng, with three coats of arms. - -_Milton Abbey._—Sir John Tregonwell, D.C.L., 1565, in tabard, with -heraldic shields and inscription. - - John Artur, a monk of the Abbey. A small brass of about the middle of - the fifteenth century. - -_Milborne St. Andrew._—John Morton, Esq., 1521, son of Richard Morton, -and nephew of John Morton, Cardinal. Brass plate on altar tomb, below -matrix of a knight in armour. - -_Moreton._—James Frampton, 1523. He is shown kneeling, with text on -scrolls. - -_Owermoigne._—John Sturton, Esq., 1506. Inscription, “causyd this -wyndowe to be made.” - - On a loose plate, now lost, Nicholas Cheverel, Esq., and Jane, his - wife, who both died in the year 1548. - -_Piddlehinton._—Thomas Browne, parson for 27 years, in hat and clerical -habit, having staff and book, with a twelve-line verse and inscription, -1617. - - There was formerly a brass inscription to John Chapman, 1494, in the - north aisle. - -_Piddletown._—Roger Cheverell, 1517. Half effigy, with inscription and -two shields of arms. - - Christopher Martyn, Esq., 1524. Kneeling effigy, in tabard, with - shield of arms and partial representation of the Trinity. - - Nicholas Martyn, Esq., and wife, 1595, with three sons and seven - daughters, with armorial brass and inscription between effigies, on - back of altar tomb. - -_Pimperne._—Mrs. Dorothy Williams, wife of John Williams, curate, 1694. -A very curious effigy, with skeleton below. “Edmund Colepeper fecit.” - -_Puncknowle._—William Napper, Esq., brother of Sir Robert Napper, in -armour; by his wife, Anne, daughter of Wm. Shelton, Esq., of Onger -Park, he had six sons. Brass engraved _c._ 1600, before his death. - -_Rampisham._—Thomas Dygenys and his wife Isabel. Two figures, with -inscription at their feet, “gud benefactors to this churche.” Both died -in 1523. - -_Shaftesbury, St. Peter._—Inscription to Stephen, son and heir of -Nicholas Payne, steward of the Monastery, 1508. On the slab are -matrices of four brass shields. This was removed from the Abbey. - - In Holy Trinity churchyard is half a large blue slab, having thereon - the matrix of a large brass which local tradition says was to King - Edward the Martyr. - -_Shapwick._—Inscription to Richard Chernok, _als._ Hogeson, vicar, 1538. - - A fine effigy of Maria, heiress of Lord de Champneys, and wife of - John Oke. The inscription is to the latter; the former has a dog at - her feet. Her first husband was Sir William Tourney, and she married - William Oke in the reign of Richard II.; so it is quite likely that - this brass is of the fourteenth century. - -_Sturminster Marshall._—An effigy of Henry Helme, vicar, in gown, with -moustache and pointed beard. He was the founder of Baylye House (the -vicarage), 1581. The inscription is a ten-line verse. The brass is -fastened on a black marble slab. - - Also, “Here lyeth Wylla’ Benett, on whose sowle Gode have merci.” (No - date.) - -_Swanage, als. Swanwich._—William Clavell (effigy lost), with Margaret -and Alicia, his wives, _c._ 1470. - - John Harve, 1510. Inscription only:— - - Suche as I was, so be you, and as I am, so shall you be, - And of the soule of John Harve God have mercy. - - Henry Welles, of Godlinstone, 1607, and Marie, his first wife, 1560. - Inscriptions only. - - Susan Cockram, wife of Brune Cockram, parson of Swanw^{ch}, 1641. - - Thomas Serrell, the sonn of Anthony Serrell, of Swanwhich, 1639. - -_Swyre._—John Russell, Esq., and Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of John -Frocksmer, Esq., 1505. Inscription, with arms. - - James Russell, Esq. (son of John Russell), and Alys, his wife,, - daughter of John Wise, Esq., 1510. Inscription, with arms.[21] - - George Gollop, of Berwick, tenth son of Thomas Gollop, of Strode, - Dorset; brass, _c._ 1787. Long inscription only, to many of this - family. - -_Tincleton._—Inscription to Thomas Faryngdon, _armiger_, 1404. - -_Tarrant Crawford._—In the year 1862, a small brass plate was found on -the Abbey site in memory of “d’ns Joh’es Karrant.” - -_Thorncombe._—Sir Thomas and Lady Brook. Two fine effigies, with long -inscription. Sir Thomas died 1419; Lady Brook, 1437; “on whose soules -God have mercy and pite that for us dyed on the rode tree. Ame’.” - -_Upwey._—William Gould, 1681. Inscription only, on outer side of north -wall of chancel, opposite altar tomb. - -_West Stafford._—Inscription to Giles Long, 1592, “then Lord of Frome -Bellett and patrone of the parsonage and Stafford.” - -_Wimborne Minster._—St. Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, martyr, -“Anno Domini 873 (871?) 23 die Aprilis per manus dacorum paganorum -occubuit.” Half effigy, engraved _c._ 1440; inscription restored _c._ -1600. - -_Woolland._—Mary, daughter of Robert Williams, of Herringston, and wife -of Robert Thornhull, and then of Lewis Argenton, 1616. The inscription -of twelve lines is curious and descriptive, beginning:— - - Here lyeth our landladie loved of all, - Whom Mary Argenton last wee did call. - -_Yetminster._—John Horsey, Esquire, 1531, Lord of the Manor of Clifton, -and Elizabeth, his wife, Lady of the Manor of Turges Melcombe. Two fine -effigies, with scrolls at sides and inscription at foot. - -Of the foregoing brasses, the following deserve a longer notice:— - -_Bere Regis._—J. Skerne and Margaret, his wife. This monument consists -of two kneeling figures, fourteen inches high, cut round the outline, -and represented as kneeling on the pavement; between them is a -rectangular plate, with coat of arms (Skerne impaling Thornhull), and -an inscription on another plate below. Skerne wears a long gown, with -sleeves nearly touching the ground; his wife, a dress, with ruff and a -widow’s wimple. The inscription states that the memorial was erected by -the aforesaid Margaret in 1596. - -In the same church there is an inscription to Sir Robert Turberville, -1559. There are also remains of three altar tombs, all with empty -matrices; two in the south aisle probably mark the last resting-places -of members of the Turberville family. It is of these that John -Durbeyfield, in Thomas Hardy’s _Tess_, boasted, “I’ve got a gr’t family -vault at Kingsbere and knighted forefathers in lead coffins there.” - -[Illustration: WILLIAM GREY, 1524. RECTOR OF EVERSHOT.] - -_Caundle Purse._—The brass of W. Longe, 26 ins. high, represents a man -in armour, with long flowing hair; the head is inclined to the right. -Its matrix was found by the writer in the North, or Longe, Chantry. -The brass is heavy, being ⅜-in. thick; it is poor in execution, and -is, unfortunately, away from its slab. - - The monument of Richard Brodewey, rector, is far more interesting. The - head has been broken off; the figure, only ten inches high, represents - the priest as laid out for burial, clad in eucharistic vestments. This - brass is specially noteworthy, because it is the only known memorial - in England in which the maniple is represented as buttoned or sewn, so - as to form a loop to prevent it from slipping off the wrist. This was - the final form that the maniple assumed; in earlier times it simply - hung over the arm without attachment. - -_Evershot._—The brass commemorating William Grey is rather larger than -that at Caundle Purse, and is in better condition. Like Brodewey, -Grey is represented as laid out in his eucharistic vestments—amice, -alb, maniple, stole, and chasuble; between his raised hands he holds -a chalice, with the host (similar to Henry Denton, priest, Higham -Ferrers, 1498). There are only about a dozen representations of -chaliced priests in England, so that this memorial may be classed among -rare examples. It was customary to bury a chalice (usually of some -secondary metal) with all ecclesiastics in priests’ orders.[22] - -_Fleet._—The two brasses in this church are engraved on rectangular -plates. In each, the husband kneels on the opposite side to the wife -(he dexter, she sinister), with a _prie Dieu_ between them. Their many -sons and daughters kneel behind the father and mother respectively. - -_Milton Abbey._—Sir John Tregonwell is represented, kneeling, in a -tabard; and this is the latest tabard brass in England. - - Another very interesting and almost unique brass in the Abbey is - that to John Artur, of this place “_monachus_.” Brasses to monks are - exceedingly rare. - -_Moreton._—The inscription on the monument of James Frampton is -unusual; the letters are raised above the background, instead of being -sunk in it. - -_Piddletown._—The effigy of Roger Cheverell has only the upper part -left—10½ in. by 6 in. in size. The dress is that of a civilian of -good standing, for the cloak is lined with fur; the head is bare and -the hair long. - - Christopher Martyn’s brass is engraved on a rectangular plate. The - lower half is occupied by the inscription; above it kneels the figure - in conventional armour, with a tabard bearing arms over. A scroll - comes from the mouth, bearing, in abbreviated form, the prayer, - “Averte faciem tuam a peccatis meis, et omnes iniquitates meas dele.” - Two shields, one low on the right side of the figure, another high - above the left shoulder, bear the well-known Martyn arms; and above - the former, the All Father sits on a throne, with two fingers of - the right hand raised in blessing, and the left hand holds between - the knees a Tau-shaped cross, on which the Son is nailed. There - is, however, no dove, so that it cannot be regarded as a complete - representation of the Trinity. At Bere Regis there is a matrix of an - enthroned figure of almost identical outline. - - The memorial to Nicholas Martyn and his wife belongs to the other - type of brass. In the centre, indeed, are two rectangular plates, - one bearing the heraldic shield (Martyn impaling Wadham), the other - the inscription; but the other plates are cut round the figures, and - have little background. On the right or dexter side, the husband, - clad in armour, but not wearing a helmet, kneels, with hands clasped - in prayer, before an altar covered with a fringed cloth, on which - lies an open book; behind him kneel his three sons, wearing cloaks, - with ruffs around their necks. On the left-hand side, Margaret, his - wife, kneels before a similar altar and book; behind her are her - seven daughters, all engaged in prayer. They all wear Elizabethan - costume—hoods, large ruffs, long bodied peaked stomachers and skirts, - extended by farthingales of whalebone. - -_Thorncombe._—The brasses to Sir Thomas and Lady Brooke, of Holditch -and Weycroft, are two of the most distinguished to be found of the -fourteenth century. He was sheriff of Somerset, 1389, and of Devon, -1394, and is shown clad in a long gown with deep dependent sleeves, -guarded with fur around the skirt, and pulled in at the waist by a belt -studded with roses; within the gown a second garment appears, with four -rows of fur around the skirt. His hair is short, and his feet rest on a -greyhound couchant, collared. Lady Brooke wears a long robe, fastened -across the breast by a cordon with tassels, over a plain gown; her -hair is dressed in semi-mitre shape, and confined by a richly jewelled -net, over which is placed the cover-chief, edged with embroidery and -dependent to the shoulders. At her feet is a little dog, collared and -belled. Sir Thomas and his wife each wear the collar of SS.; their arms -are in tightly-fitting sleeves, and the hands are raised in prayer. -The inscription around the effigies has been restored, and plain -shields inserted in place of originals, which would have shown Gules -on a chevron argent a lion rampant sable; Brooke with, among others, -Cheddar, Mayor of Bristol, 1360-1, and Hanham. - -_Wimborne Minster._—The Ethelred effigy here is only half length. -The king is represented, in part, in priestly vestments. (“As kings -by their coronation are admitted into a sacred as well as a civil -character, the former of these is particularly manifested in the -investiture with clerical garments.”) Though the brass commemorates -a king of the West Saxons, it dates only from 1440. The inscription -is on a copper plate, and the king’s death is said thereon to have -occurred in 873, two years too late. A brass plate on which the date -is correctly given is preserved in the Minster Library. It is supposed -that the figure and the plate bearing the inscription were removed -from the matrix and hidden for safety in the time of the Civil Wars, -and that the plate could not be found when the figure was replaced, so -that the copper one now on the slab was engraved to take the place of -the one lost, which, however, was afterwards found, but not laid on the -stone. It is a noteworthy fact that the effigy is fastened to the stone -with nails of copper, not of brass; doubtless these are contemporary -with the copper plate which bears the inscription. The Ethelred brass -is the only brass commemorating a king that is to be found in England, -and is so illustrated in Haines’ _Manual_, p. 74. - -_Wraxall._—Elizabeth Lawrence, wife of Mr. William Lawrence, 1672. A -six-line verse and an impaled coat of arms. - -_Yetminster._—This brass, one of the finest in Dorset, was at one time -loose at East Chelborough Rectory, but it has now been fixed to a slab -on the south wall of the church. It was originally laid on a large -stone in the floor of the chancel. John Horsey is represented in full -and very richly ornamented armour; his wife is in a graceful gown and -mantle, with dependent pomander, and fine head-dress. - - - - -SHERBORNE - -BY W. B. WILDMAN, M.A. - - -Sherborne, as far as we can tell, owes its existence as a town to the -fact that it was chosen in 705 to be the site where the bishop-stool -was fixed of St. Ealdhelm, the first bishop of Western or Newer Wessex. -Sherborne, like its daughter-towns Wells and Salisbury, is a Bishop’s -town; but, unlike them, it was also, from 998 to 1539, the seat of a -Benedictine Monastery. Thus Sherborne has suffered two distinct shocks -in its career; the first came upon it when it lost its bishop in 1075; -the second, when its Abbey was dissolved in 1539. - -Another point worth mentioning concerning the past dignity of the town -is this, that Sherborne, or at any rate, a part of it—Newland—was -once actually a borough, as was also what we may call the suburb of -Castleton. - -This part of Sherborne is still called the Borough of Newland; it was -given burghal privileges by Richard Poore, Bishop of Sarum, in 1228, -and, according to Hutchins, it actually sent members to the House of -Commons in 1343. But long after Newland got rid of this then burdensome -privilege it still kept the name and other privileges of a borough, -and both it and Castleton were for administrative purposes outside -the Hundred of Sherborne; they kept their own tourns twice a year, -and their own courts every three weeks; they had their own view of -frank-pledge quite apart from the rest of the town and Hundred. It -is not known to what bishop Castleton owed its title and dignity of -_burgus_. - -When Sherborne came into being, the surrounding country bore a very -different look from that which we see to-day. It lay on the western -edge of the great forest of Selwood, a fragment of which still -remains to us here in Sherborne Castle Park. There were then no trim -water-meadows, and the course of our river was marked by moor and -marsh. Here, in the last fold of the Wessex hills, under which lies the -great plain of Somerset, Ealdhelm’s seat was fixed, in a site central -and convenient for the new district, which had barely a quarter of a -century before been added to the West Saxon realm. - -Sherborne was never a walled town; it lay under the protection of the -fortified palace of its bishop, and in troublous times of Danish inroad -its site was a safe one. The story that Swegen ravaged the town rests -on nothing like contemporary evidence; on the other hand, the safety -of its position, coupled with the fact that it was once the second -city of Wessex, accounts for its being chosen by King Æthelbald for -his capital, so to speak, when Winchester, in 860, was laid waste by -the Danes; indeed, the change may have taken place soon after 856. -Sherborne continued to be the capital of Wessex till about the year -878. During a considerable part of that time we may well believe -that King Alfred spent his boyhood here, almost certainly during -King Æthelberht’s reign; and here, in this centre of education which -Ealdhelm had founded, he may well have received such education as he -got during his boyhood. There is no other centre of education which has -so good a claim to him; here were buried his two brothers, Æthelbald -and Æthelberht, who successively reigned before Æthelred and himself. -Æthelberht was his guardian after his father’s death. Alfred must have -known Sherborne well; he was a benefactor of our church, and we claim -his boyhood. - -[Illustration: Sherborne Abbey - _Sidney Heath_] - -But besides Alfred and Ealdhelm, early Sherborne claims other heroes; -Ealhstan, our bishop, the first West Saxon general to win a decisive -victory over the Danes, was the right-hand man of Kings Ecgberht, -Æthelwulf, Æthelbald, and Æthelberht; he was the most powerful man -of his time. Here, in Sherborne, he lies buried beside Æthelbald and -Æthelberht. - -We claim, too, among our Sherborne bishops, St. Heahmund, who fell -fighting against the Danes at Merton (probably Marden, Wilts.); -Asser, the biographer of King Alfred, who is said to lie buried among -us; Werstan, another warrior who fell in battle; St. Wulfsy and St. -Alfwold, names rather forgotten now, but great and famous in their day. -St. Osmund, who compiled the _Use of Sarum_, was one of our abbots; and -St. Stephen Harding, the author of the _Carta Caritatis_, and the real -founder of the Cistercian Order, is the earliest scholar of Sherborne -School whom History records as such. - -Nor can Sherborne forget what it owes to the great Roger Niger, that -dark, stalwart Bishop of Sarum, who built the Norman Castle here and -the Norman part of our Abbey Church, who organized the English Court -of Exchequer, was the trusted adviser of the “Lion of Justice,” Henry -I., and deserved a better end than to break his heart in a contest with -such a poor creature as King Stephen. - -Our Abbot, William Bradford, will not be forgotten by lovers of -architecture, for under his rule in the fifteenth century the choir of -our Abbey Church was rebuilt; while to another Abbot, Peter Ramsam, we -owe, later in the same century, the restoration of our nave. To Abbot -Mere we are indebted for a little building, which every visitor to -Sherborne knows, the Conduit, which stands in our old market-place, now -called by the somewhat affected name of the “Parade.” This conduit, -though it was built, as we have said, by Abbot Mere (1504-1535), is -described by one of those omniscient gentlemen who have lately been -enlightening us about the beauties of Wessex, as “a structure of the -fourteenth century.” It originally stood on the north side of the nave -of the Abbey Church, inside the Cloister Court, which is now a part of -Sherborne School; but it was removed to its present site, or nearly -its present site, by the school governors in the latter part of the -sixteenth century. It is to this day the property of the school. - -And so we are brought to the time when our ecclesiastical lords, the -Bishop of Sarum and the Abbot of Sherborne, passed away from us, and -their places were taken by lay lords. Here, too, we meet with famous -names. We have the Protector Somerset, to whom, indirectly, Sherborne -School may owe its post-Reformation endowment. We have, also, Henry, -Prince of Wales, that “young Marcellus of the House of Stuart,” the -eldest son of James I., whose hatchment, as that of a squire of -Sherborne, still hangs in our Abbey Church; we have Walter Ralegh, -that restless, strenuous soul, whose dearly-loved home Sherborne was, -where he would gladly have been buried; we have John Digby, first Earl -of Bristol, whose name stands high among those of English worthies in -the reigns of James I. and Charles I., a man worthy to have lived in a -better age, and to have hazarded his all in a better cause. And another -name insistently presents itself to anyone who has followed Sherborne -history—that of Hugo Daniel Harper. To him Sherborne town and school -owe much that is precious and enduring. That a little town like ours -has kept something of its ancient state, that here we can still so -easily call back the past of Wessex, can still see standing in beauty -and dignity these buildings which the Middle Age has left us—all this -is in no small degree owing to that famous headmaster of Sherborne -School and to his successors. - -We now proceed to write more particularly of the most interesting of -these ancient buildings and institutions. They are four in number: the -Abbey Church, the School, the old Castle, and the Almshouse. - -With the exception of a small part of the west front of the Abbey -Church, there is, so far as we can tell, not a single piece of wall -standing now in Sherborne which was standing in the year 1107, when -Roger of Caen became Bishop of Sarum and Abbot of Sherborne. We know -that the doorway, now blocked up, on the north side of the west front -of the church, and, therefore, also some of the adjoining wall, is -older than Bishop Roger’s time; but with that exception, we are -forced to admit that the Norman from Caen pulled down all the rest of -Ealdhelm’s church. If he left any more of it, either time has destroyed -this, or he so used the walls that they cannot now be recognised with -any certainty. At the same time there is a piece of outside wall at the -north end of the north transept, in the old slype, which looks very -like pre-Norman work. - -The church which Roger built extended as far east as the present church -does, excluding the lady chapels; for the lady chapel of the thirteenth -century must have abutted on the Norman east end, just as it now does -on the Perpendicular ambulatory. The church extended probably rather -further to the west than the present church does, for there exists -evidence to show that, before the parish church of All Hallows was -built on to the west end of the Abbey Church in the fourteenth century, -the west front of the Abbey Church was embellished with a large porch -of Norman work. - -The chief traces of Roger’s work still existing in the church are the -piers and arches that carry the tower, the transept walls, the arches -leading from the transept into the side aisles of the nave, and the -walls of these aisles. Other interesting traces of Roger’s work will -be found in the little chapel which projects eastwards from the north -transept; also in the south and west walls of the early English chapel -on the north side of the north aisle of the choir, commonly called -Bishop Roger’s Chapel, and now used as the vestry; these Norman walls -were outside walls of Roger’s church before this early English addition -was made. There is also the jamb of a window to be seen on the outside -of the east wall of the south transept, the only relic which gives us -an idea of what the Norman clerestory was like. - -The choir of Roger’s church extended west of the central tower, and to -allow room for the stall-work, the shafts of the east and west tower -arches were corbelled off above the line of the stalls, as may still -be seen in the existing church. That part of the Abbey nave which lay -to the west of the Norman choir was used, until the building of All -Hallows, as the parish church; and the fine Norman south porch, which -has been rather over-restored in the nineteenth century, was, no doubt, -a parochial porch, for it faces the town, not the monastic buildings, -which are on the north side of the church. - -The tower up to the floor of the bell-chamber is Norman. Over the -pier-arches which carry it, except on the east side, there is a passage -in the thickness of the wall, with an arcade of semi-circular arches -resting on circular and octagonal shafts, eleven inches in diameter. -On the east side the Norman pier-arch was removed at the rebuilding of -the choir in the fifteenth century, and the removal of this arch so -weakened the tower that its condition in the course of years became -dangerous. The tower was made secure in 1884-5, and these shafts on the -north-west and south sides of the lantern, which had been concealed by -the fifteenth century masonry, were again displayed to view. - -A large lady chapel was added in the thirteenth century; the fine Early -English arch, by which it was entered from the church, may still be -seen in the east wall of the ambulatory. The centre of this arch is to -the south of that of the fifteenth century arch, and hence the corbels -of the Perpendicular vaulting do not correspond at all with the Early -English arch; one of them is actually constructed to hang as a pendant, -free of this arch altogether. - -The changes made inside the church in the fourteenth century were so -slight as to need no mention. Outside the church, however, a great -change took place, for towards the end of this century the church of -All Hallows was built. The great west porch was pulled down so that -All Hallows might stand directly against the west front of the Norman -church. There are still to be seen remnants of All Hallows, viz., the -lower part of the north wall of the north aisle, and four responds -built into the west wall of the Abbey Church. When All Hallows was -standing with its pinnacled western tower, one would have seen a church -some 350 feet long, with a central and a western tower. This latter -tower had a ring of bells of its own, at least five in number; and it -was to this ring of the parish, not to the Abbey, that Wolsey gave our -great bell. - -In the fifteenth century Sherborne saw great things in the way of -building; not only was the Almshouse then built, but the church also -underwent those changes which gave it the appearance it keeps to-day. -The choir was taken down during the last year or two of Abbot John -Brunyng’s rule, and rebuilt from the ground by his successor, William -Bradford (1436-1459). During this same century the smaller lady chapel, -called the Bow Chapel, was built, and the nave restored in the style -of the time by Abbot Peter Ramsam (1475-1504). To these two men we -owe our present splendid fabric. Any visitor to Sherborne Abbey can -for himself easily perceive the differences which mark off the choir -as a building from the nave. The choir from floor to vault is one -harmonious piece of work, so lovely, so complete, that the wit of man -could scarcely design anything finer; while the nave is a compromise, -for in the nave yet stand the old Norman piers cased in Perpendicular -panelling, and the effect which the nave gives us is that of two -stories distinctly marked off the one from the other, the lower story -bearing strong traces of its Norman origin, the upper or clerestory -plainly a Perpendicular work, and worthy of the companion clerestory -of the choir. The pillars of the southern arcade of the nave are not -opposite those of the northern arcade, and the arches are of different -widths; the clerestory arches of the nave, on the other hand, are of -equal widths, and hence the clerestory arches are not directly above -the arcade arches. This compromise has, however, been effected so -cleverly that few people notice the irregularity. - -The rebuilding of the Abbey Church choir in the fifteenth century -recalls to our mind the great quarrel between the Abbey and the -townsfolk, which came to a head in the year 1437. It has already been -noted that in ancient times the townsfolk had been allowed by the Abbot -and Convent to use the western part of the Abbey Church nave as a -parish church. Thus the Abbey Church had become a divided church—part -was conventual, part parochial. But as time went on this arrangement -ceased to please one or other, or both, parties, and the consequence -was that All Hallows was built at the west end of the Abbey Church -for the use of the parishioners. After this addition was made, the -large Norman doorway at the west end of the south aisle of the Abbey -Church nave was narrowed by the insertion of a smaller doorway. Now, -All Hallows had not the _status_ of a parish church; technically, the -parish church was still the western part of the Abbey Church nave, and -here it was still necessary for all Sherborne children to be baptised -in the font, which originally stood where the present font stands. The -parishioners, to get to the font, had to enter All Hallows’ Church, and -pass thence into the Abbey Church through the Norman doorway, which -had been narrowed. This the parishioners regarded as a grievance. It -appears, also, that the Abbot had moved the font from the place where -it now stands to some other site which the parishioners regarded as -inconvenient. The parishioners, therefore, in 1436, took the law into -their own hands, and eight of them are charged before the bishop with -having set up a font in All Hallows. The Abbot, of course, regarded -this as a usurpation of the rectorial rights of the Convent; he -complained, also, of another grievance, to wit, that the parish bells -rang to matins at too early an hour, and disturbed the morning slumbers -of the monks. For though they got up at midnight to sing matins and -lauds, they went to bed again, and slept till the hour for prime, -somewhere between 6 and 7 a.m. Abbot Bradford, therefore, appealed to -the Bishop of Sarum, Robert Nevile, who came to Sherborne and held -an inquiry on the 12th November, 1436, in what is now the chapel of -the school, but was then the Abbot’s hall. He examined one hundred -or more of the parishioners, many of whom had not approved of the -high-handed course taken in the matter of the font. After a thorough -investigation, the Bishop, by the advice of his counsel learned in the -law, gave his decision from his manor of Ramsbury, on the 8th January, -1437. It was to this effect—(_a_) that the font in All Hallows was to -be at once utterly destroyed and removed and carried out of the church -by those who had caused it to be set there; (_b_) that the ringing of -the bells to matins for the parishioners throughout the year was not -to be made till after the sixth hour had struck on the _clocka_ or -_horologium_ of the monastery, except on the following solemn feasts: -All Saints, Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter; (_c_) that the font of -the Abbey Church was to be replaced in its old accustomed position, -and all infants born or to be born in Sherborne were, as of old, to be -baptised therein; (_d_) that the intermediate door and entrance for the -procession of parishioners to the font was to be enlarged and arched -so as to give ample space and bring it to its original form; (_e_) -that the manner of the procession and other ceremonies about the font -were to be observed in the old and wonted way; (_f_) that there must -be made, at the expense of the monastery, in the nave of the monastic -church, close to the monks’ choir, a partition, so that there should be -a distinct line of separation between the monks and the parishioners; -(_g_) that the replacing of the Abbey Church font in its wonted place, -and the enlarging of the door, must effectually be completed before the -following Christmas. - -This admirable judgment was not received by the disputants with the -respect which it deserved; delays and evasions on both sides brought -about a violent termination of the dispute. The monks induced “one -Walter Gallor a stoute Bocher dwelling yn Sherborne” to enter All -Hallows, where “he defacid cleane the Fontstone; the townsmen, aided -by an Erle of Huntindune lying in these Quarters ... rose in playne -sedition ... a Preste of Alhalowes shot a shaft with fier into the -Toppe of that part of St. Marye Church that divided the Est Part that -the monks usid; and this Partition chauncing at that tyme to be thakked -yn the Rofe was sette a fier, and consequently al the hole Chirch, the -Lede and Belles meltid, was defacid.” After the fire the monks were -induced to agree to the legal transformation of All Hallows’ _Chapel_ -into the parish _Church_, in order to get rid of the parishioners -altogether. - -The monks never removed the smaller doorway by which the old Norman -entrance was narrowed; there it stands to this day, a monument of that -stormy time, and connected with it there is still a curious tale to -tell. Among the eight parishioners who, “casting behind them the fear -of God,” set up the obnoxious font in All Hallows, and complained of -the narrowed doorway, there was a certain Richard Vowell. Anyone who -now examines this doorway will notice that the wall, which now blocks -it up, is almost wholly occupied by a large monumental tablet to the -memory of Benjamin Vowell, who died in 1783, and to his three wives; -thus, as Professor Willis neatly showed, the doorway which in the -fifteenth century Richard Vowell felt to be too narrow, Benjamin Vowell -in the eighteenth blocked up altogether. The “partition” referred to, -which was being thatched, must have been the tower, which was being -raised in height, and was covered with a temporary roof of thatch to -keep out the rain; no doubt, also, the new choir, which was already -built as high as the springing-stones of the vault, was also thatched -for the same purpose. The reddened stones in the choir and tower still -bear witness to this fire. - -John Barnstaple, last Abbot of Sherborne, surrendered the Abbey into -the hands of King Henry VIII. on the 18th March, 1539. He received a -pension of £100 a year, and the Rectory of Stalbridge in 1540; this -living had been in the patronage of the Abbot and Convent. He died in -1560; we know neither the place of his death nor of his burial, but -he certainly was not buried at Stalbridge; he left a small legacy to -Sherborne School. - -Henry VIII. sold the Abbey Church, and the demesne lands of the -Abbey, to Sir John Horsey, of Clifton Maybank; Sir John, in 1540, -sold the Abbey Church to the parishioners; the lead, however, with -which the church was roofed, had not been granted to Sir John, and -the parishioners had to buy that through him from the King. The -parishioners appear to have begun at once to sell All Hallows for -building stone. The parish accounts for 1540 and 1541 are missing, but -that for 1542-3 shows the process of selling going merrily on, until, -finally, in the account for 1548-9, we get the last of it in such -entries as these: “George Swetnam, for vi. yerds off one syde off the -Tower, xxs.; Robert ffoster, for foundation stones of ye Northe Syde of -ye Tower, xiiis.; Mr. Sergyer, for a yard off the grace table off the -sowthe syde and for the dore yn the north syde off ye Tow^{r}, xs.”! - -It may be interesting to set down here what the parishioners paid -for the Abbey Church and lead. We have already noted that the parish -accounts for 1540 and 1541 are missing. They were not missing, -however, in the eighteenth century, as is evident from an entry in -the parish account book in use from 10th April, 1721, to 4th April, -1809. This entry is due to Francis Fisher, a Sherborne attorney, who -was steward to the Governors of the School during the years 1720-1730. -He tells us that by an indenture made the 28th September, 1545, -between the King on the one part and Sir John Horsey on the other, the -parishioners paid £230 for the body of the church and tower and for -the lead. He adds that the parish account rolls give us the following -information: In 1540 the parish paid £40 for the church, in 1541 £26 -13s. 4d. for the same, in 1541 £17 17s. 6d. for the bells of the -Abbey, in 1542 £100 for the lead, in 1544 £80 in full payment for the -church and lead. So that, if the King got in 1545 £230, and the parish -actually paid £264 10s. 10d., Sir John put into his pocket the balance. -However we may regard this matter, the parishioners of Sherborne made -an excellent bargain. - -No man can doubt but that the dissolution of the monastery meant -serious loss to Sherborne. Its Abbots had ruled wisely and well, as -far as we can judge, a strip of territory stretching, though not in an -unbroken line, from Stalbridge to Exmouth. Anyone who will make for -himself a map of the manors in Dorset and Devon belonging to our Abbey, -will see that this is so; and besides these, our Abbey held other lands -as well, so that when Sherborne ceased to be the _caput_ of this fair -estate, much that had once come our way ceased to come hither any more. -Though the presence of the school here has in later times done much to -redeem this loss, one cannot say that it has entirely done so. - -[Illustration: THE ENTRANCE TO SHERBORNE SCHOOL.] - -Of all the ancient institutions in Sherborne, that one which has kept -its dwelling-place longest, which is to-day what it was before Wessex -became one with England, is Sherborne School. The old Castle is a ruin, -the Almshouse dates only from the fifteenth century, the Abbey -Church became the parish church only in 1540. But the School, though it -suffered pecuniary loss in 1539 by the dissolution of the monastery, -suffered no breach of continuity; it was in existence when the -Almshouse was founded, it educated St. Stephen Harding in the eleventh -century, and we have no reason to think that its existence suffered -any break from Ealdhelm’s day till then. A school with such a history -may well call forth some reverence from those who love Wessex and know -something of its history. Our school has roots which stretch down into -the very beginnings of things Christian among the West Saxons, and -there is certainly no existing school in Wessex that can rival its -claim to antiquity. - -Sherborne School is fortunate in possessing many ancient documents -illustrative of its history; among these special mention must be made -of a series of accounts commencing in 1553 and continuing to the -present time. Only eleven are missing. Till towards the end of the -eighteenth century they are written on rolls of parchment, and are for -the most part in excellent condition. Besides these there are a few -early court rolls of the school manors at Bradford Bryan and Barnesby, -Lytchett Matravers and Gillingham, and schedules and leases of its -other lands. Among these documents, too, are records belonging to the -old chantries, with the lands, of which Edward VI. endowed the school; -some of these go back to the reign of Henry VII. - -There is no existing minute book of the governors’ proceedings older -than that which begins in 1592; but, luckily, a draft of minutes exists -relating to the years 1549 and 1550, relating, that is to say, to the -time of transition from the old condition of things which obtained -before the dissolution of the monastery, to the new condition created -by the charter granted to the school by Edward VI. The series of minute -books from 1592 onward is complete. - -From the school statutes much can be gathered about the character -of the education given in the school. The oldest statutes of the -post-Reformation epoch are lost; they were based, as we learn from the -accounts, on those drawn up by Dean Colet for his school, once attached -to St. Paul’s Cathedral. In 1592, however, a new set was drawn up for -the School of Sherborne by its visitor, Richard Fletcher, Bishop of -Bristol, who, as Dean of Peterborough some years before, had imposed on -him the terrible task of attending Queen Mary Stuart on the scaffold. -Great stress is laid in these statutes on the “abolishing of the Pope -of Rome and all fforrein powers superiorities and authorities.” From -time to time after this new statutes were made to suit the changing -educational and political views. The statutes all still exist, except -those made in 1650 by the Puritans; of these all trace is lost, except -the bill for engrossing them, which amounted to 25s. Statutes were -drawn up in 1662 by Gilbert Ironside, Bishop of Bristol, which the -Governors were unwilling to accept, because by these statutes the -headmaster was protected from arbitrary interference on the part of the -Governors. It was not till 1679 that Bishop William Gulston succeeded -in making them accept a new body of statutes, which contain almost all -that Gilbert Ironside proposed, together with some additional matter. -In Bishop Ironside’s draft and Bishop Gulston’s statutes, it is laid -down that it is never lawful “for subjects to take up armes ag^{t} -theire Soveraigne upon any pretence w^{t}soever.” The language used in -and out of school in all official matters was Latin, and no scholar was -to go about the town alone, but with “a companion one of the Schollars -that may be a witness of his conversation and behaviour under penalty -of correction.” The system of monitorial rule has always been in -vogue in the school; in 1592 these rulers are called _Impositores_—a -somewhat awkward term one must admit; in 1662 and 1679 they are called -_Prepositores_; nowadays they are called _Prefects_. In 1679 they were -four in number: “One for discipline in the Schoole, to see all the -Schollars demeane themselves regularly there, the Second for manners -both in the Schoole and abroad any where, the Third for the Churche and -Fields, the Fourth to be _Ostiarius_, to sitt by the doore, to give -answere to strangers and to keepe the rest from running out.” - -When the assizes were held at Sherborne, the judge sat in what is now -the schoolhouse dining-hall—it was then the big schoolroom; and just -before the assizes took place, we get from time to time an entry of the -following kind in the school accounts: “for washinge of ye King, 6d.” -The King referred to is the statue of Edward VI., which still adorns -the room; it is of painted Purbeck marble, and is the work of a certain -Godfrey Arnold; it cost £9 5s. 4d., and was set up in 1614. - -The two royal coats of arms, which may still be seen on the south wall -of the old house of the headmaster, and over the south door of the -schoolhouse dining-hall, were taken down by order of a Commonwealth -official in 1650; but they were carefully preserved, and were restored -to their old positions at the Restoration. That on the old house dates -from 1560; that on the dining-hall from 1607. They used to be bright -with tinctures and metals, but since 1670 they have been “only washed -over with oil or some sad colour, without any more adorning.” The -chronogram on the dining-hall is unique, for it can be made to give two -different dates, according to the ways in which the significant letters -are taken. Mr. Hilton, our chief authority on chronograms, knows of -no other which gives two dates in this fashion. The first date which -our chronogram gives is 1550, the date of the granting of the charter; -the second date which it gives is 1670, that of the rebuilding of the -dining-hall. - -Among other school buildings of ancient date we must not omit the -library, partly of the thirteenth century, but certainly restored in -the fifteenth; and the school chapel, with its undercroft of the -twelfth century, and its upper story of the fifteenth. The undercroft -is a very precious relic of the past, but the school chapel, which was -once the Abbot’s Hall, has undergone changes and additions; it still -keeps its fine fifteenth century timber roof. The library, on the other -hand, has gone through little change. It was the Guest House of the -Monastery, and has kept its timber roof of the fifteenth century. It -is curious that the windows on the east side of the room are not quite -opposite those on the west side, nor is the divergence uniform; the -large window in the south end of the room is not in the middle of the -wall, but rather towards the west side. - -The modern buildings of the school harmonize well with the older work, -for they are all built of the same lovely stone, and the style in which -they are built, though it is in no sense an imitation of this older -work, is yet in harmony with and worthy of it. One of these buildings -deserves more than passing notice, viz., the new big schoolroom, -completed in 1879. The whole group of buildings, with its surroundings, -classrooms, museum, laboratory, drawing school, music house, Morris -tube range, bath and fives courts, deserves more attention than it -usually gets from visitors to Sherborne. These sojourners often forget -that the north side of the exterior of the church is likely to be as -interesting as the south side; if once they take the trouble to get to -this north side, they will be surprised to find how much fine work, -ancient and modern, is to be seen there. - -Sherborne Old Castle is situated on an elevated piece of ground to the -east of the town; this ground is about 300 yards long by 150 yards -broad; the surface has been made level, and an oval area, 150 yards -long by 105 yards broad, has been traced out, and its edges scarped -to a steep slope, with a ditch about 45 feet deep. The material taken -away in forming this scarp and ditch has been thrown outward, so that -the counter scarp is formed of a mound more or less artificial. It was -within this area, above described, that our Pageant of 1905 was given. - -The remains of the Castle are as follows: parts of the curtain wall, -with the gatehouse, the keep, the chapel and hall, along with other -parts of the domestic buildings—all ruinous. The builder of this -castle was Bishop Roger; and William of Malmesbury, who knew it well, -has described the masonry in glowing terms. All that remains is of -this Norman period, though it was somewhat restored and altered -in the fifteenth century. The keep belongs to the class of square -keeps. To judge from two windows of the chapel which still remain -in a fragmentary condition, that building must have been of a very -ornate character. The barrel vaulting of the basement of the keep is -worth study, and a Norman pillar, still standing and supporting a -quadripartite vault, is well known to students of architecture. There -is also a Norman chimney with three flues in the gatehouse. - -The ruinous condition of the Castle is not so much due to time as to -gunpowder, for in 1645, after the Castle was taken by Fairfax, it was -blown up by order of the Long Parliament, so as to be no longer tenable -as a fortress. After this, while the troops of the Parliament occupied -Sherborne, their barracks were the school, and their “Court of Guard” -the schoolhouse dining-hall. - -This is not the place to deal with the vicissitudes in the tenure of -Sherborne Castle—how the Bishops of Sherborne lost and regained it. -It finally passed from Bishop Henry Cotton into the hands of Queen -Elizabeth in 1599. Sir Walter Ralegh had, however, been tenant of it -since 1592, and when Queen Elizabeth got the fee-simple of it, she -gave it to Ralegh. Ralegh, however, did not care to live in it; other -magnates in this part of the world were building fine modern houses, -and he followed their example. Thus arose the modern Castle, known in -former days as Sherborne Lodge, on the other side of the lake, the -central and loftier part of which is due to Ralegh. There is no trace -of any evidence that Sherborne Castle was ever besieged before the -great Civil War. It was used at times in the Middle Ages as a prison; -for example, in King John’s reign. King John himself stayed here in -1207 and in 1216. - -After some tragic vicissitudes the Sherborne estate came to the Digbys -in 1617, and since this date, with the exception of the troublous -period of the great Civil War, it has remained with them. - -Sherborne Castle was twice besieged during the Civil War, first -in 1642, and again in 1645. The first siege was uneventful and -unimportant. In 1644 Charles I. had been here after his successful -campaign in the West; Prince Rupert, too, had come, and there had -been great doings with reviews of men in Sherborne Park, after which -followed the second battle of Newbury and the self-denying ordinance -and the creation of the New Model. The second siege, that of 1645, was -more important; not only was Fairfax drawn hither by it, but Cromwell, -too, came as general of cavalry. Though the Parliamentary troops -destroyed much of the old castle that we should like to see standing -now, we must, on the whole, acquit them of having done any great injury -to the buildings of the church or school. - -In 1688, King William III.—then Prince of Orange—on his advance from -Exeter to London, stayed in the modern castle here; his proclamation to -the English people is said to have been printed in the drawing-room at -a printing-press set up on the great hearth-stone, which was cracked by -it. - -Let us now turn to the last of our four ancient institutions, viz., the -Almshouse. This institution is certainly older than the year 1437, in -which year, by a license from King Henry VI. to Robert Nevile, Bishop -of Sarum, to Humfrey Stafford, Kt., Margaret Goghe, John Fauntleroy, -and John Baret, it was refounded in honour of St. John the Baptist and -St. John the Evangelist. It is actually older than this, because some -accounts of the charity exist for a few years prior to this date. Some -day, no doubt, the history of the institution will be more fully worked -out than it is at present. Plenty of material exists in its account -rolls which could hardly fail to throw light on old Sherborne life. - -According to the deed of foundation, there were, we are told, to be -twenty brethren, called the Masters of SS. Johns’ House—they are now -called master and brethren—together with a perpetual priest to pray -for the good estate and the souls of the founders and inmates. The -house was to contain twelve poor men and four poor women, who were -to be governed by one of themselves, called the Prior, of their own -election, and a woman of domestic ability was to buy their food and -dress it, wash their clothes and make their beds, who should be called -the Housewife of SS. Johns’ House. The older part of the building was -finished in 1448, and here still stand, not much altered from what -they were then, the chapel, ante-chapel, and dining-hall, with a long -dormitory over the dining-hall; this dormitory used to open into the -chapel, so that the sick and infirm might hear the service, and, so far -as they could, join in it. The chapel contains an interesting triptych -of the fifteenth century by a Flemish artist, name unknown. One cannot -imagine a more desirable haven of rest than this for those who are -fortunate enough to become its inmates. - -Enough has now been told to show that among old English towns Sherborne -holds a peculiarly interesting place. It still keeps much of its -old-world look and ancient dignity, and its inhabitants, many of whom -bear the names of the old stock who were living here in in the time -of Henry VI., are a kindly race, among whom it is a pleasure and a -privilege to live. - - - - -MILTON ABBEY - -BY THE REV. HERBERT PENTIN, M.A. - - -The county of Dorset is one of the few counties in England that contain -three great minsters in good repair and in parochial use—Sherborne, -Wimborne, and Milton. And each of these minsters is of Saxon and -Royal foundation. King Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great, -founded the Monastery and Collegiate Church of Milton for Secular -Canons, in or about the year 938. In the year 964 King Edgar and -Archbishop Dunstan of Canterbury converted the monastery into an abbey, -with forty Benedictine monks, and chose a very able man, Cynewearde -(or Kynewardus), as the first Abbot. This Cynewearde, a few years -afterwards, to the loss of Milton, was made Bishop of Wells. - -The original minster built by Athelstan was a noble stone building of -its time, and was very rich in shrines and relics. The King gave a -piece of our Saviour’s Cross, a great cross of gold and silver with -precious stones, and many bones of the saints, which were placed in -five gilt shrines. The bones of his mother were also brought to the -church (for burial). We also know that the Saxon Minster was restored -and enlarged, if not rebuilt, in Norman times. It has been reasonably -conjectured that the size of the Norman Abbey was that of the choir -and presbytery of the present church. Some large fragments of Norman -masonry have been dug up,[23] which show that the Norman Abbey was a -building of some considerable architectural pretensions; and encased -in the south wall of the present choir and presbytery are the remains -of two enriched Norman arches which escaped destruction in the fire of -1309. In that year the church was struck by lightning, and was almost -entirely burnt to the ground. Thirteen years later, however, under -Abbot Walter Archer, the present Abbey Church was commenced on the same -site, but on a much larger and grander scale; and building operations -went on, from time to time, until within a short period before the -Dissolution in 1539. - -[Illustration: MILTON ABBEY.] - -[Illustration: KING ATHELSTAN. -Founder of Milton Abbey. -(_From a Painting in the Church._)] - -[Illustration: “ATHELSTAN’S MOTHER.” -Buried in Milton Abbey. -(_From a Painting in the Church._)] - -The following styles of architecture are represented in the main -portions of the church, built of stone from Ham Hill and Tisbury:—First -Decorated, the choir and presbytery of seven bays, with aisles; Second -Decorated, the south transept; Third Decorated, the two western piers -of the “crossing”; Perpendicular, the north transept and central tower. -The Perpendicular work was undertaken by the penultimate Abbot, William -de Middleton, assisted by Bishop Thomas Langton, of Salisbury and of -Winchester, the Abbey of Cerne, and the families of Bingham, Coker, -Latimer, Morton, and others. - -At the Dissolution, the Abbey estates were granted by Henry VIII. to -Sir John Tregonwell, who had helped to procure the King’s divorce from -Catharine of Aragon; but the whole of the Abbey Church was preserved -for the parishioners, with the exception of the Ladye Chapel, which -was pulled down, although some of its vaulting shafts can still be -seen outside the east end of the church. The last of the Abbots (John -Bradley, B.D.), after leaving Milton in Tregonwell’s hands, was -consecrated Suffragan Bishop of St. Asaph, with the title of Bishop -of Shaftesbury,[24] and the Abbey Church of Milton then passed under -the sole spiritual control of Richard Hall, Vicar of Milton, and his -successors. - -[Illustration: MILTON ABBEY: INTERIOR.] - -Unfortunately, the Abbey underwent a “restoration” in 1789, when the -church was despoiled of many of its fittings; and chantry chapels -and other valuable objects of interest went down under the hand of -the “restorer.” But Sir Gilbert Scott, in 1865, restored the church -at the expense of the late Baron Hambro, and left the Abbey in -its present beautiful condition, and, as far as was possible, in its -original state. - -[Illustration: THE TABERNACLE.] - -The view of the church at the beginning of this chapter will save the -necessity of a description of its exterior. But the interior contains -many things which demand notice. - -And first of all must be mentioned the “ornament,” which many -antiquaries consider to be a Tabernacle for reserving the Eucharist. -This very beautiful and richly carved “Sacrament-house” dates from the -fifteenth century, and is made of oak in the form of a spire composed -of four storeys, the lowest containing the opening through which the -reserved elements may have been passed. It is not in its original -position, but is now fastened to the west wall of the south transept -beneath the triforium. - -The great altar-screen is a very lofty, beautiful, and peculiarly rich -construction, even though the two long rows of ornamental niches now -lack the statues of the saints that once stood in them—saints with -“very bluff countenances, painted in very bright colours and heavily -gilded.” On its lower portion there is a Latin inscription, which bids -prayers for the souls of William Middleton, Abbot of Milton, and Thomas -Wilken, Vicar of the parish, who worthily decorated (“_honorifice -depinxerunt_”) the screen in 1492. The three stone sedilia in the -sanctuary are fine specimens. The bosses throughout the church are of -very rich design. - -The Abbey also contains two fifteenth century oil paintings of a -crude description, one of which represents Athelstan, the founder, -giving to the first head of the monastery a model of the minster -(with three spires)[25] over which he was to preside. The other -painting is supposed to represent Athelstan’s mother—Egwynna, “_femina -illustris_.”[26] - -The tombs of the abbots within the Abbey are most interesting. In -front of the altar steps there is a Purbeck marble grave-slab of the -fourteenth century, which was once inlaid with the brass figure of an -abbot clad in _pontificalia_, with a marginal Latin inscription in -Lombardic capitals: - - ABBA : VALTERE : TE : FATA : CITO : RAPVERE : TE : RADINGA : DEDIT : - SED : MORS : MALE : NOS : TVA : LEDIT. - -This is the slab of an Abbot of Milton whose Christian name was Walter, -and who was formerly a monk of Reading, probably Walter de Sydelinge, -who died in 1315. In the north transept there is a thirteenth century -grave-slab of another abbot. This slab is also of Purbeck marble, but -the upper portion is broken off. The remaining portion shows part of -an incised figure of an abbot, with pastoral staff, chasuble, stole, -maniple, alb, and an imperfect marginal inscription in Norman French: - - VVS ⁝ KI ⁝ PAR ⁝ I ⁝ CI ⁝ PASSET ⁝ PVR ⁝ LEALME ⁝ PRIE... - ...RCI ⁝ LISET ⁝ LE ⁝ PARDVN ⁝ I ⁝ CI[27] - -There are other large marble grave-slabs, without inscriptions, in the -church, which are supposed to cover abbots, monks, and benefactors. -On some there are the matrices of missing brasses. One, in front of -the altar steps, shows the outline of a civilian in a plain gown, and -his wife wearing a “butterfly” head-dress, with their five sons and -four daughters, _circa_ 1490. In St. John the Baptist’s Chapel, at the -east end of the north aisle of the church, there is a small fifteenth -century brass to John Artur, one of the monks of the Abbey, with a -Latin inscription, which bids God have mercy on his soul. In the same -chapel, a very fine coloured armorial brass over Sir John Tregonwell’s -altar-tomb contains the latest tabard example on a brass in England -(1565).[28] - -But to mention all the ancient or modern memorials (some of wondrous -beauty, such as those of Lord and Lady Milton, and Baron Hambro) would -take far too much space. A marble tablet in the vestry informs the -reader that John Tregonwell, Esquire, who died in the year 1680, “by -his last will and testament gave all the bookes within this vestry to -the use of this Abby Church for ever, as a thankfuld acknowledgement of -God’s wonderfull mercy in his preservation when he fell from the top -of this Church.” This incident happened when he was a child; he was -absolutely uninjured, his stiff skirts having acted as a parachute.[29] -The chained library of sixty-six leather-bound volumes comprises the -works of the Latin and Greek Fathers and other early Christian writers, -and some standard theological works of the seventeenth century. The -books have been kept at the vicarage for many years. - -[Illustration: ABBOT MIDDLETON’S REBUS.] - -The abbey now contains very little painted glass.[30] There is a -large “Jesse window” by the elder Pugin in the south transept, and -some coloured coats of arms and devices of kings, nobles, and abbots -in some of the other windows. The dwarfed east window contains the -only pre-Reformation glass in the church.[31] The Abbatial Arms are -emblazoned in several parts of the building. They consist of three -baskets of bread, each containing three loaves. On one of the walls in -the south aisle, near the vestry, there is the carved coloured rebus of -Abbot William de Middleton, with the date 1514 in Arabic numerals—the -4 being represented by half an eight. It comprises the letter W with a -pastoral staff, and a windmill on a large cask—in other words, a mill -and a tun (Mil-ton). The old miserere seats still remain in the choir, -but the carving thereon is not very elaborate, and many of them have -been renewed. The inscriptions on the Communion plate (which consists -of two large silver barrel-shaped flagons, a bell-shaped chalice, and -a large and a small paten) tell us that “John Chappell, Sitteson and -Stationer of London, 1637,” and “Mary Savage, 1658,” and “Maddam Jane -Tregonwell, widdow, 1675,” gave these to “Milton Abby.” - -There are several other interesting things in the church, albeit not -ancient—_e.g._, the rood-loft, the font, and the pulpit. - -The rood-loft, although not entirely ancient, is composed of ancient -materials. When the party-walls of St. John the Baptist’s Chapel, -the chantry of Abbot William de Middleton, and other side-chapels, -were destroyed or mutilated at the “restoration” in 1789, some of the -materials were used to reconstruct the rood-loft. The eastern cornice, -for instance, is probably a portion of Abbot Middleton’s chantry, and -bears thirteen coats of arms, including those of the Abbeys of Milton, -Sherborne, and Abbotsbury, and the families of Chidiock, Latimer, Lucy, -Stafford of Hooke, Thomas of Woodstock, and others. - -The font of the Abbey, in the south transept, is modern, but of unusual -design. It is composed of two beautiful life-sized white marble female -figures, representing Faith and Victory, with a baptismal shell at -their feet. - -Near the font is an oak case containing a fourteenth century coffin -chalice and paten, and fragments of a wooden pastoral staff and -sandals, discovered during the restoration of the church in 1865.[32] - -The pulpit is also modern, of carved oak; but it is interesting, -because it contains statues of all the patron saints connected with the -Abbey and the parish, and of these there are no fewer than six, viz.: -St. Sampson of Dol, St. Branwalader,[33] St. Mary the Blessed Virgin, -St. Michael the warrior-archangel, St. Catherine of Alexandria, and St. -James the Great. - -St. Catherine of Alexandria is the patron-saint of “King Athelstan’s -Chapel,” which stands in the woods at the top of the hill to the east -of the Abbey. And this little church has also had a history well worth -the telling. When Athelstan was fighting for his throne he had to pass -through the county of Dorset, and he encamped on Milton Hill, and threw -up an earthwork, or made use of one already existing there, the remains -of which can still be seen beyond the east end of the chapel. During -the night he believed that some supernatural revelation was made to -him, assuring him that he would conquer his many enemies and become -King of all England. He pushed on, and at Brunanburh, “Christ helping -him, he had the victory, and there slew five kings and seven earls” -(_Saxon Chronicle_). The song commemorating this important and decisive -victory is given in the _Old English Chronicle_; and the first stanza -of Professor Freeman’s version and that of Lord Tennyson reads thus: - - Now Æthelstan King, - Of Earls the Lord, - In warriors the ring giver - And his brother eke, - Eadmund Ætheling, - Eld-long glory - Won in the fight - With the swords’ edge - By Brunanburh, - The boardwall they clave, - And hewed the war-linden, - With hammer’s leavings - Offspring of Eadward. - _Freeman._ - - Athelstan King, - Lord among Earls, - Bracelet bestower and - Baron of Barons, - He, with his brother - Edmund Atheling - Gaining a life-long - Glory in battle, - Slew with the sword-edge - There by Brunanburh, - Brake the shield-wall, - Hew’d the linderwood, - Hack’d the battle-shield, - Sons of Edward, with hammer’d brands. - _Tennyson._ - -[Illustration: ST. CATHERINE’S CHAPEL.] - -Athelstan, being a thoroughly religious man, as well as a great -warrior, expressed his thankfulness to God in the way usual in -those times. He founded the monastery at Milton, and erected the -_ecclesiola_, afterwards dedicated to St. Catherine, within the -entrenchment where he received the remarkable revelation. Chapels on -the top of hills were often dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, -on account of the legend which tells that St. Catherine’s body was -buried by angels on Mount Sinai. Other instances, in many places, -of this dedication with its connection still remain—in Dorset, for -example, at Abbotsbury and Holworth. The little church at Milton did -its work in Saxon times, and then underwent a considerable restoration -in Norman days. It also underwent a lesser restoration in the early -part of the sixteenth century. As it stands at present, it consists -of a nave and chancel. The main walls, which are very thick, and the -door arches are Norman. On the west jamb of the south door there is -a curious and rare inscription in Lombardic capitals relating to an -indulgence: - - INDVLGENCIA ⁝ H’ ⁝ SC̄I ⁝ LOCI ⁝ C ⁝ E ⁝ X ⁝ DIES ⁝[34] - -The windows in the nave are Early Norman and Perpendicular. The old -west front was taken down for some reason in the eighteenth century, -and at this time an effigy of a monk in his habit (lying along and -resting on his hands, looking down at the Abbey below) was destroyed. -Some paintings also perished at the same time. The chancel was also -partly rebuilt, and the roof raised, but the Transition-Norman -chancel-arch was preserved. On the south side of the altar is a -pedestal, on which the statue of St. Catherine may have formerly -stood. The encaustic tiles in the chancel were removed from the Abbey -Church in the year 1865. Some of these mediæval tiles are heraldic, -and contain the arms of the See of Exeter, the Earls of Cornwall, -Gloucester and Hertford, and others. A tile manufactured at Malvern has -an inscription and date, 1456. - -In pre-Reformation days King Athelstan’s Chapel was possibly used as -the _capella extra portas_—the chapel, that is, outside the gates of -the monastery, at which strangers and women who were not admitted -within the gates might hear Mass. That women used St. Catherine’s -Chapel for another purpose is also possible. St. Catherine is the -patron-saint of spinsters, and in days gone by she was supposed to -have the power of finding a husband for those who sought her aid. The -following Milton rhymes in use to-day may be echoes of the mediæval -Latin doggerels:— - - St. Catherine, St. Catherine, O lend me thine aid, - And grant that I never may die an old maid. - - A husband, St. Catherine, - A _good_ one, St. Catherine; - But arn-a-one better than - Narn-a-one, St. Catherine. - - Sweet St. Catherine, - A husband, St. Catherine, - Handsome, St. Catherine, - Rich, St. Catherine, - _Soon_, St. Catherine. - -After the Reformation the chapel was allowed to decay and to become -desecrated. In the eighteenth century there is a record that it was -being used as a pigeon-house. Then, when more houses were needed -in the parish, the “Chapel Royal” was turned into a labourer’s -cottage—the interior was whitewashed, and a ceiling added; the chancel -became a bedroom, and the nave a living room, with a kitchen grate -and chimney affixed. Afterwards the little church was used as a -carpenter’s workshop, and then as a lumber store. But, in 1901, the -neglected building was cleaned out, and a service was held there on -St. Catherine’s night (November 25th). The parishioners assembled in -the building, the roof of which was full of holes (admitting ivy, -wind and wet), the windows had long been broken, and the south wall -was dangerously bulging. Confession of wrong was made for the past -desecrations, and prayers were offered that the Church of St. Catherine -might for the future be reverently treated as a “holy place” (as the -Indulgence-inscription calls it); and, happily, the building has since -been most conservatively restored by Mr. Everard Hambro, the lord of -the manor. Thus, the little church which commemorates a very critical -event in the early history of England has been saved from further -desecration and - -[Illustration: THE SEA-SIDE HAMLET OF MILTON. -_Holworth, in 1827, showing the Burning Cliff._] - -decay; and King Athelstan’s Chapel is once again used for the service -of God, while remaining a valuable historic relic of Saxon days. - -[Illustration: LISCOMBE CHAPEL.] - -Another _capella_ belonging to the Abbey, but now in private ownership, -has been less fortunate. Liscombe Chapel,[35] in the parish of Milton, -five miles from the Abbey Church and two miles from Chesilborne, is -still desecrated. This little building, built principally of flint, -stone, and large blocks of rock chalk, is entire, and consists of -chancel and nave, divided by a handsome Transition-Norman arch, with -massive rounded columns. The east window and the two other chancel -windows are Norman, with some later work inserted. But the chapel of -Liscombe has been desecrated for a long time. The nave thereof is now -used as a bakehouse (there is a large open grate, oven, and chimney in -the centre), and the chancel is used as a log-house. A flight of stone -stairs has been erected in the chancel, which leads to the bedrooms -over the bakehouse and log-house. The bedrooms have been ceiled, and -the whole interior of the little church has been whitewashed, including -the handsome chancel arch; the roof of the building is of thatch. An -old stone sundial is preserved in the west wall. Warne, in his _Ancient -Dorset_, states that the chapel is credited with being “tenanted by -a supernatural visitor”; and this is still believed by the country -folk. The house adjoining this desecrated sanctuary is also ancient, -and built chiefly of flint and stone. It possesses several interesting -windows of various dates (including a _loup_ in the east wall), and -an old stone sundial on its south wall. The interior contains some -oak-work, portions of which may be pre-Reformation. This house is now -used as a labourer’s cottage; but there is a tradition that it was -formerly inhabited by the monks, who ministered (“_Divina celebrant_:”) -in the little church. And the building itself, from its position and -evident antiquity, lends colour to the tradition; but there are marks -that it became the manor farmhouse after the Dissolution. There is -also a tradition that the stream which now runs through the hamlet -of Liscombe was formerly larger than it is now, and that there were -fish-ponds close by, and that the monks at Liscombe supplied their -overlord, the Abbot of Milton, with fresh-water fish. - -Milton Abbey also possessed three other Norman _capellae_—in Woolland, -Whitcombe, and Holworth respectively; but Woolland is now a separate -ecclesiastical parish; Whitcombe is a donative held by the Rector -of Came (it was held for many years by William Barnes, the Dorset -poet); and Holworth, alone of the three, still remains a part of the -ecclesiastical parish of Milton. - -Holworth is sixteen miles from the Abbey Church, and now possesses a -modern chapel, on a hill near the “Burning Cliff,” known as the Chapel -of St. Catherine-by-the-Sea. It is said that in days gone by the monks -at Holworth supplied their Abbot, at Milton, with salt-water fish. -The hamlet of Holworth, overlooking Weymouth Bay and Portland Roads, -has been well described as resting in “a most lonely and most lovely -valley by the sea, an earthly paradise, which those who have discovered -cherish and dream about. It is far away from the haunts of men, and -remote from the cares of life; where the newspaper is two days’ old -before it invades the religious calm of a mind attuned by the most -exquisite scenery to rise to thoughts above this world; where one may -walk along the undulating downs that skirt the Channel, held in place -by parapets of cliff that break down straight into the sea; where one -may walk mile after mile on natural lawn and not meet a soul—just one’s -self, the birds, the glorious scenery, and God.”[36] - -The hamlet of Holworth is, indeed, worthy of being a portion of the -parish that is acknowledged to be one of the most beautiful places -in Dorset. The village of Milton lies enfolded between richly-wooded -hills, at the foot of a wonderfully picturesque descent. Sir Frederick -Treves, in his _Highways and Byways in Dorset_, says that “there is -nothing like to it in any part of England.” He calls it a “surprising” -village, “a toy town.” The first impression on seeing it “is one of -amazement, for the place is both extraordinary and unexpected.” Each -of the houses is of the same pattern, and each is separated from the -others by a chestnut tree. The builder of this unique village, as will -be seen, was Joseph, Lord Milton (afterwards Earl of Dorchester). The -old town of Milton lay near the south side of the Abbey Church; but -the ancient town was pulled down by Lord Milton about the year 1780, -as it was too close to his new mansion (in which he had incorporated -the magnificent fifteenth century monastic refectory), and proved an -annoyance to him. The death, in 1775, of his wife (“the most noble and -most excellent Lady Caroline, Lady Milton, daughter of Lyonel, Duke -of Dorset, the wisest and most lovely, the best and most virtuous of -women”), to whom he was passionately attached, and the suicide, in -the following year, of his eldest son (the husband of “the beautiful -Anne Seymour Damer”[37]), probably had a hardening influence on Lord -Milton’s character, and made him use his giant’s strength tyrannously -like a giant. At any rate, he swept away the old town, and the “new -town” was then built, further off, as a substitute. Some fragmentary -particulars of the old town of Milton have been gathered together,[38] -which perhaps are of sufficient interest to be reproduced here. - -The old town was one of the most ancient in Dorset. It grew up with the -Abbey, and was known as Middleton (of which Milton is a contraction), -because it was the middle town of the county. It contained shops of all -kinds, four inns, a pre-Reformation Grammar School, almshouses built in -1674, and a brewery, which helped to supply Weymouth, Poole, and other -large towns in Dorset. Milton Abbey ales were at one time among the -most famous in the county; they could also be obtained in London. The -tradesmen of old Milton were prosperous, but the “working classes” were -very poor. Their staple food was barley cake; and to keep down expenses -they saved every morsel of fat and made their own candles in pewter -moulds. Two, if not more, of the leading shopkeepers issued “tokens” in -the seventeenth century,[39] specimens of which exist; and among the -old parish papers are a number of apprenticeship indentures which bound -poor boys to various tradesmen in the place. The girls of the parish -were taught to spin. - -[Illustration: MILTON ABBEY, IN THE YEAR 1733. -_Showing the old Monastic house on the left, and the old town on the -right of the church._] - -The handsome fifteenth century market cross was one of the finest in -the kingdom, quite worthy of its position near the Abbey Church. It -had an ascent of no fewer than thirty steps. Its site is marked in the -present park by a very massive octagonal socket stone, which is said to -be a portion of the original cross. The parish registers state that, -in the days of the Commonwealth, banns of marriage were published “in -the markett.”[40] The weekly market was well attended, it being the -central market of the county, and was held around the market cross. -The annual fair was held on St. Sampson’s Eve and Day, July 27th and -28th, St. Sampson being the chief patron saint of the Abbey. This fair, -like the market, was granted by King Athelstan; but it was practically -discontinued when the old town was pulled down. - -The sports in old Milton were badger-baiting under the cedar trees -in the Abbey churchyard; cock-squailing, cock-fighting, and “fives,” -outside the west end of the church; bowls were played on the bowling -green, and ringing was very popular. The ringers only claimed “bread -and beare” for their services each year—on the Restoration Day of -Charles II. (May 29th), on Guy Fawkes’ Day (November 5th), and on -Christmas Day. They were also paid on special occasions, such as “for -ringing ye Bishope throu Towne”; but episcopal visits were rare. During -Lent the children went “shroving” and “Lent crocking.” On Shrove -Tuesday the children, carrying sticks, knocked at the doors of the -principal residents and repeated this doggerel verse: - - Please I’ve come a-shroving - For a piece of pancake, - Or a little ruckle cheese - Of your own making. - If you don’t give me some, - If you don’t give me none, - I’ll knock down your door - With a great marrow bone - And a-way I’ll run. - -The result of this threat was that the children were given hot -half-pence, apples, eggs, a piece of pancake, or a hunch of -ruckle-cheese. A ruckle-cheese was a small sour-milk home-made cheese, -weighing about one pound. It could be ruckled—_i.e._, rolled along -the ground. Hence its name. In the evening the “Lent-crocking” began. -Those people who had not given the children anything when they came -“a-shroving” were then punished by having pieces of crockery and pans -and other missiles thrown at their doors. In this way real damage -was often done, and the two parish constables do not seem to have -interfered. The practice of shroving is still continued in the present -village of Milton: it is one of the customs that have survived the -demolition of the old town. It obtains in other Dorset parishes, but is -gradually dying out. - -The Abbey churchyard was a very large one. Its area was about three -times the area of the Abbey Church. The sports which took place -therein have been already mentioned. It was also used as a public -flogging-place for offenders against the law. Lord Milton, when he -decided to pull down the old town, had all the headstones in the -churchyard removed, broken up, or buried. In converting the churchyard -into lawns, many bones of parishioners were turned up and irreverently -treated; and the superstitious tradition in the present village is -that, in consequence of this, Lord Milton died of a gruesome disease. -There was an ancient cross in the churchyard called the “Druid’s -Cross,” and also a preaching cross.[41] It is hardly necessary to add -that these perished with the churchyard. - -The old Grammar School, founded by Abbot Middleton in 1521, was also -pulled down. It was one of the chief public schools in the south-west -of England, and was known as “the Eton of the West.”[42] It had, as -a rule, between eighty to one hundred boys, mostly boarders, sons of -the leading county families. There were several boarding-houses for -the boys in Milton, and the existence of the school helped on the -prosperity of the town. Two of its most distinguished _alumni_ were -Thomas Masterman Hardy, Nelson’s favourite captain, who in after life -did not forget his old friends at Milton[43]; and Thomas Beach, a -native of Milton, the famous Dorset portrait painter, who from 1772 to -1800 “limned the features of everybody who was anybody.” - -It must be admitted, reluctantly, that the Grammar School boys were an -undoubted nuisance to Lord Milton. They lived within a stone’s throw of -his mansion, they broke into his privacy and seclusion, they scoured -his gardens and plantations in every direction, stole his fruit, and -disturbed his game. Records exist of the expulsion of some boys bearing -the most honoured of Dorset names for persistent stone-throwing down -chimneys, and for stealing cucumbers from the Abbey gardens, and -game-fowl eggs for the purpose of rearing birds to compete in fighting. -In the Abbey Church the Grammar School boys sat in a large gallery -which stretched from the rood-loft to the west wall. This gallery was -pulled down by Lord Milton’s orders as soon as he had removed the -school. The headmaster and assistant-masters of the school, being in -Holy Orders, frequently held the position of Vicar or Curate of the -Abbey Church. Among them was John Hutchins, the Dorset historian, who -was Curate of the Abbey and “usher” of the school.[44] - -It must not be thought that Lord Milton’s “fine quarter-deck -high-handedness” aroused no outcry. The parishioners regarded his -action as a cruel piece of tyranny, and they resisted it with stubborn -and obstinate opposition.[45] For over twenty years his lordship was -involved in considerable trouble and expense while gradually getting -all the houses into his possession, in order that he might raze them -to the ground. Mr. Harrison, a resident solicitor, refused to sell his -lease, although he was offered three times its value; so Lord Milton -let the water from the “Abbot’s Pond” (a small pond which then lay just -below the Abbey Church) creep around the premises. Mr. Harrison at once -entered an action against his lordship for flooding his house, and the -lawyer won the case. A few days afterwards Lord Milton went to London, -and on his way to Blandford he heard the Abbey bells ringing. This he -interpreted as a sign of parochial joy at his defeat and departure; -and nothing would satisfy him but the sale of the offending bells. -The bells were really ringing to commemorate Guy Fawkes’ Day: it was -November 5th. But the bells had to go: “the autocrat” had spoken. -And his friend, the Dean of Norwich, had said that “bell-ringing -caused much idleness and drinking.” There is a record that, when -the parishioners saw their bells carted away, they stood at their -house-doors weeping, even though two of the bells were saved for the -new Church of St. James. - -In pulling down the old town Lord Milton preserved the Abbey Church, -and employed James Wyatt to restore it. Much havoc was then wrought -in the interior, but at the same time the vast building underwent a -thorough repair, which it needed very badly. There is a tradition that -this restoration cost Lord Milton no less than £60,000; but this seems -a fabulous sum. - -With the materials from the demolished buildings of the old town -Lord Milton built the present village of Milton (he also built some -ecclesiastical-looking sham “ruins” in the park, which are still -standing);[46] and the stone and timber from the old Abbey tithe-barn -were used to construct a new church in the new village. The few -interesting things in this church, which is dedicated to St. James -the Great, were originally possessions of the Abbey—two bells of the -fourteenth and sixteenth centuries respectively, a thirteenth century -Purbeck marble octagonal font, an old pulpit, two pewter plates, two -oak coffin-stools, and three elaborately-bound volumes, in black -letter, of Fox’s _Acts and Monuments of the Christian Martyrs_ (1632), -which aforetime were chained in the Abbey to a desk covered with “red -shagg” and studded with 200 brass nails. - -But although St. James’ Church suffers loss by comparison with the -other more ancient churches in the parish, its churchyard is remarkable -in that it is higher than the church itself. The dead are buried not -below the level of the church, but above the level of its roof. This is -certainly unusual. - -Yet it may be regarded as a fitting _finale_ for the inhabitants of a -parish that has been described truly as “a curiosity, surprising, and -remarkable.” - -[Illustration: - THE SEAL OF THE TOWN OF - MILTON IN AMERICA. - _Incorporated 1662._] - - - - -WIMBORNE MINSTER - -BY THE REV. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. - - -Wimborne Minster, as it is called to distinguish it from the village -of Wimborne St. Giles and Monkton-up-Wimborne, is at the present day -a bright, clean, prosperous-looking little market town, showing few -remains of olden times save in its church. There is no doubt that its -name is connected with the little river or “bourne” on which it stands, -for the two villages mentioned above, bearing names of which Wimborne -forms a part, stand on the same stream, which, like some other Dorset -rivers—the Var or Frome, the Piddle or Trent—bears two names, the Wim -or the Allen. - -And yet it is an ancient place. Here, early in the eighth century, -Cudburh, or Cuthberga, sister of Ine, the famous King of the West -Saxons, whose laws were the foundation of the liberties of his -subjects, and show a spirit of tolerance hitherto unknown towards the -conquered Celts, founded a nunnery. Here, in 851, the then Earl of -Devon is said to have defeated the Danes; here Æthelred, the brother -and immediate predecessor of Ælfred on the West Saxon throne, having -died of a wound received in battle with the Danes, we know not where, -was buried in 871. Hither came the Danes again, plundering the town -and destroying the convent. Hither, too, after the death of Ælfred, in -901, came Æthelwold, the Ætheling (son of Ælfred’s brother, Æthelred, -who had been passed over as too young to rule when his father died) -rebelling against the new King, Ælfred’s son, Eadward the Unconquered, -and possessed himself of Wimborne. Eadward marched from the south -against him, and encamped within the rampart of Badbury Rings, a few -miles to the west of Wimborne; hence he sent a message to Æthelwold, -bidding him surrender. To this Æthelwold returned stout answer that -he would either live or die in Wimborne. But after the messenger had -gone back he took counsel with himself, and decided that as the first -alternative was impossible, and the second unpleasant, he would see if -a third course were not open to him—namely, to live elsewhere. So he -fled to Normandy, and thence to Northumberland, which was then under -Danish rule, and, throwing in his lot with the enemies of Wessex, he -collected a band of freebooters from beyond the sea, and received some -assistance from the East Anglian Danes. But all to no purpose, for the -“Unconquered” King overthrew him and his Danish allies in many fights, -and recovered all the booty they had carried off. - -But it is the church that is the centre of interest of Wimborne. -Ine, King of the West Saxons, had two sisters, perhaps more, but -only two are connected with Wimborne. Cuthberga was betrothed to the -Northumbrian King, Æcgfred, or Osric, as he is often called, but when -she met him she found his rough northern manners and his intemperate -habits little in harmony with her more refined disposition and mode of -life. Therefore, she persuaded him to allow her to devote herself to a -religious life, and retired to the nunnery at Barking; and afterwards, -at what exact date we do not know, but probably not later than 705, she -founded a nunnery at Wimborne, her sister being associated with her in -the work. Both of these royal ladies were buried within the precincts, -and in due time canonised as St. Cuthberga and St. Cwenberga; the -former was commemorated as a virgin on August 31st. A special service -appointed for the day may still be read in a Missal kept in the -Cathedral Library at Salisbury. - -[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER.] - -The convent of Wimborne can boast of another illustrious lady among -those who took the veil within its walls—St. Walburga, or Walpurgis. -Somewhere about the end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth -century, she was born in Sussex, and was educated at the newly-founded -nunnery at Wimborne, and became in due course a nun; here she stayed -for yet another twenty-seven years. Then, by the desire of her uncle, -St. Boniface, and her brother Wilibald, she set out with thirty other -nuns to found religious houses in Germany. She first settled at -Bischofsheim, in the diocese of Maintz, and in 754 became Abbess of the -Benedictine house at Heidenheim, which was situated within the diocese -of Eichstädt, in Bavaria, of which her brother, Wilibald, was Bishop. -Another brother, Winebald, was head of the Benedictine monastery in -the same place; and when he died, in 760, Walburga received the charge -of this house in addition to her own, and continued to rule both until -her death in 779. She was buried in a hollow rock at Eichstädt, from -which a bituminous oil, afterwards called Walpurgis’ oil, exuded. This -was supposed to possess miraculous powers of healing, so that her grave -was much visited by pilgrims, and a church was built over it. She is -commemorated at different times in different places, but chiefly on May -1st, a day originally celebrated with heathen ceremonies, emblematical -of the birth of Summer. Hence some of the heathen rites still lingered -on, just as certain of our Christmas customs are of heathen origin. The -readers of Göethe’s _Faust_ cannot help remembering the revels of the -witches on the Brocken on Walpurgis’ night. - -The nunnery at Wimborne perished in some plundering raid of the Danes -some time during the ninth century. Whether Ælfred did anything to -restore it we do not know, but a king of the name of Eadward, either -Ælfred’s son, the “Unconquered,” or the Confessor, founded a college -of secular priests at Wimborne. Again, we know not whether the church -of this college occupied the site of the old convent church or not. The -names of the deans from 1224 until the Dissolution, in 1547, have come -down to us. The only one of these whose name is known in history is the -last but one—Cardinal Pole, who held this position from 1517 till 1537, -being only seventeen years of age at the time of his appointment. When -the deanery was abolished, Wimborne Minster became a Royal Peculiar, -under the administration of three priest-vicars. The arrangement was -a somewhat unusual one; each of the three was responsible for the -services for one week, one of the other two acted as his curate in -the Minster, and the other took charge of the chapelry of Holt. The -next week they changed places; and so on continually. This curious -arrangement continued in force till 1876, when one vicar retired on -a pension, another removed to Holt, where a parsonage had been built -for him, and the third became sole vicar of the Minster and the parish -attached to it. - -The history of the church is best read in its stones; written records -are scanty. The central part, all in Norman style, the work of the -twelfth century, is the oldest; from this the building gradually -extended north, south, east, and west, as well as upwards, in the -course of the next three centuries; but the builders who enlarged did -not wantonly destroy the work of their predecessors. Probably the -chief cause of this was lack of funds; there was no shrine of saint, -nor tomb of martyr, nor wonder-waking relic to attract pilgrims, -whose alms, had they come, would have enriched the church, as many -another church was enriched, and had to pay the penalty of over-much -wealth in the form of demolition and reconstruction. Wimborne Minster -was simply enlarged; the outer walls, of course, had sometimes to be -pulled down. Thus in the thirteenth century the Norman east end, -which was probably apsidal, had to be demolished to afford space for -eastward extension, and the date of this extension is determined by -the character of the east window; the windows of the aisles proclaim -themselves to be of fourteenth century date; the western tower is a -century later. The church is one of the few that possess two towers, -set tandem fashion, one at the crossing, the other at the west end. -It is not a very satisfactory arrangement from an artistic point of -view, and has in the few instances in which it has been introduced been -unfortunate. Hereford had two towers thus placed, but the western one -fell; Wymondham, in Norfolk, has two still standing, but the east end -of the church is a ruin; Wimborne central tower was once surmounted by -a spire, but this fell. Exeter and Ottery have two towers, but these -are placed in a different manner, their bases forming the north and -south ends of the transept. - -The central tower at Wimborne is the older. It is supported on four -massive Norman piers; the east and west arches beneath it are wider -than the other two; to bring the capitals from which they spring all -into one horizontal plane and the crowns of the four arches all into -another horizontal plane, the builders made the wider arches segments -of a circle less than semi-circles, and the narrower ones segments -greater than semi-circles, giving them the shape of horse-shoes. Above -this lower stage are three others—the triforium stage, with a gallery -in the thickness of the wall; above this comes the clerestory, added -later; and above it another stage, still later, because here, in place -of the simple arches seen on the outside of the lower stages, we find -interesting arches forming lancet-headed openings; above this is a -heavy, ugly parapet and set of pinnacles, erected in 1608 after the -fall of the central spire. The western tower is higher than the central -one, contains the bells, and, just outside the easternmost window, on -the north side of the belfry stage, there stands the wooden figure of a -soldier, who strikes the quarter-hours on two bells, one on each side -of him, and is known as the “Quarter Jack.” - -Inside this western tower, on the face of the south wall, is a curious -clock made by Peter Lightfoot, a monk of Glastonbury, in the early part -of the fourteenth century. It tells not only the time of day, but the -day of the month and the age of the moon. The earth is represented by a -globe in the centre; the sun by a ball on a disc, which travels round -it in twenty-four hours, showing the time of day; the moon as a globe -on another disc, which revolves once in a lunar month. Half of this -globe is painted black, the other half is gilt, and the age of the moon -is indicated by the respective proportions of black and gilt shown, for -the ball itself rotates on its axis; when the moon is full the gilt -half is entirely visible; when new, the black half. The clock is still -in working order. A screen separates the lower stage of the tower from -the nave, and forms a baptistry, in which stands an octagonal font of -Norman character, large enough for baptising an infant by immersion. - -From the west end, the church presents a very imposing appearance. The -nearer pillars, it is true, are rather mean; they are of fourteenth -century date, and very plain. It has been, with some probability, -conjectured that they were brought from some other church which had -been pulled down just before the time when this church was extended -westward, possibly when the western tower was built. The pillars of -the original nave are cylindrical and massive, the arches of the -main arcading resting upon them are pointed; above is a plain wall; -the division between the original and the added work is shown by -the different character of the mouldings of the arches, and of the -string-course above them, and by the fact that to the east there are -the original Norman clerestory windows, while the walls to the west are -not broken by any openings whatever. - -The floor of the presbytery is raised considerably above that of -the choir, and this is itself higher than the floor of the nave, so -that the altar stands at a considerable elevation. One peculiarity is -noteworthy—there are no altar rails, but their place is taken by three -massive oaken benches, covered at all times with the “houseling linen,” -fair white cloths—the use of which goes back to very early times. The -benches which now stand across the presbytery floor, close to the -topmost of the flight of steps leading up to it, are the remains of ten -such benches, which were made in Puritan times for communicants to sit -on as they received the sacred elements. When the custom of kneeling -was revived, these benches were placed on the steps; and on “Sacrament -Sundays,” the clerk, after morning prayer, went to the lectern and -bade those who were prepared to receive the Holy Communion to draw -near, whereupon intending communicants left the nave and knelt at the -benches, or in the choir stalls, until the officiating clergy brought -them the sacramental bread and wine. In 1852, when sundry changes were -being made in the arrangements of the church, all these benches except -three were removed—the three which were in use as altar-rails. - -The beautiful triplet of windows, over the altar, end the long vista -seen from the west. Beneath the presbytery floor is a vaulted crypt. -This is not, as many crypts are, dark and gloomy, but well lit by -triangular windows, which from the outside are seen to be just above -the level of the churchyard. This crypt does not retain its original -altar, but its place is marked by a piscina on the southern side; two -arches open out into the choir aisles, through which those kneeling in -the aisles might look down on the priest officiating at the altar of -the crypt. - -There are several monuments worthy of notice, but by far the most -interesting is the Beaufort altar-tomb on the south side of the -presbytery. This was erected, to the memory of her father and mother, -by the Lady Margaret, foundress of Christ’s and St. John’s Colleges, -at Cambridge, well known for her many benefactions, and from the fact -that she was the mother of Henry VII. As the history of this family—the -Beauforts—is interesting, and its details little touched on by the -writers of English history, it may not be out of place, especially -as they were connected with Wimborne, to give an outline of it here. -Everyone knows that John of Gaunt was the third son of Edward III. -and the father of Henry IV., but many know only in a general way that -the House of Tudor traced through him their claim to the English -crown. John of Gaunt married Blanche, great-granddaughter of Edmund -Crouchback, second son of Henry III., who was created Earl of Lancaster -in 1257. Her father, on account of his valour in the French wars of -Edward III., had been made a Duke—a new title as far as England was -concerned, for the only English Duke that had been previously created -was the Duke of Cornwall, better known as the Black Prince. Through -Blanche, his wife, John of Gaunt succeeded to the estates of the Duke -of Lancaster, among them to the Castle of Beaufort, in Anjou. He was -himself in 1362 created Duke of Lancaster. Among Blanche’s maids of -honour was one Kate, daughter of Sir Payne Roet, and widow of Sir Owen -Swynford. When Blanche died, John married Constance of Castile, but -took unto himself Kate Swynford as his mistress; by her he became the -father of four children, all born at Beaufort Castle. As they were -illegitimate, they took the name of their birthplace as a surname. -The eldest of these was John de Beaufort, and the second, Henry, the -celebrated Cardinal Beaufort. When Constance died, these four children -were legitimatised by a Bull of Urban VI., then by Richard II., then by -Act of Parliament. The Duke then married Kate. On January 13th, 1396, -John de Beaufort was created Earl of Somerset. He died in 1410, leaving -four sons and two daughters; the eldest, Henry, did not long survive -his father, and his title and estates passed to his next brother, John. -He greatly distinguished himself in the French wars, and was made Duke -of Somerset, Earl of Kendale, Lieutenant of the Duchy of Aquitaine and -Captain-General of the whole realm of France and Normandy. In 1436 -the Duke of Bedford, the Regent, died, and as the King, Henry VI., -was still a minor, another regent had to be appointed. The Duke of -Lancaster thought he should have obtained this important post, but it -was conferred on the Duke of York, and Lancaster therefore retired from -active service, and in 1440 married Margaret, widow of Oliver St. John, -and daughter of John, Lord Beauchamp, of Bletsoe Manor, Bedfordshire. -This John, Duke of Somerset, and Margaret, his wife, are they whose -figures lie side by side in alabaster on their altar-tomb at Wimborne. -Their right hands are clasped together; angels guard their heads; his -feet rest on a dog, hers on an antelope; he is clad in complete armour, -the face and right hand alone bare; the left hand holds the right-hand -gauntlet, which he has taken off before taking the lady’s hand. On -the apex of the arch, above the tomb, hangs the helm which he, during -his life, used to wear in tournaments. Their only child was born in -1441—Margaret, of whom mention has been made. Her father died in 1444, -aged thirty-nine years, and the Duchy of Somerset became extinct in the -Beaufort family. His death took place at Kingston Lacy, an estate close -to Wimborne, belonging to the Beaufort family. His widow and daughter -went to live on the Bedfordshire property. In about four years time, -the widow married her third husband, Lord Welles. Young Margaret, when -only nine years of age, was sought by the Duke of Suffolk as a wife -for his son, John de la Pole, and by King Henry VI. as wife for his -half-brother, Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond, son of Catherine, the -Queen of Henry V., by her second husband, Sir Owen Tudor. Margaret was -a clever girl, well educated, knowing even then Latin and French; but -sorely distraught was she to know which of the two suitors to choose: -so she consulted an old gentlewoman, who advised her to commit the -matter to St. Nicholas. She took the advice, prayed to the saint, and -fell asleep, and about four o’clock next morning, whether sleeping or -waking she could not tell, saw one standing in her room, habited in -a bishop’s robes, who bade her accept Edmund Tudor as a husband. She -told her mother, and she was betrothed to the Earl of Richmond, and -they were married in 1455, when she was fourteen years of age and he -twenty-four. They lived at Pembroke Castle, which belonged to Jasper -Tudor, Earl of Pembroke. In 1456 her only son, Henry, afterwards Henry -VII., was born, and shortly after this her husband died. He was buried -at Caermarthen Abbey, and when the monastery was suppressed, his body -was removed to the Cathedral Church at St. David’s. His mother, anxious -to keep quite aloof from party strife (for the War of the Roses had -already broken out), lived on at Pembroke, educating her son. In 1459 -she married her second husband, Sir Humphrey Stafford; widowhood, for -one of exalted rank, not being a desirable condition in those times of -war and turmoil. It has been seen that her mother was thrice married, -and Margaret followed her example, for when Sir Humphrey died in 1481, -she, at the end of a year, being then about forty years of age, married -Thomas, Lord Stanley. After fifteen years she separated from him with -his consent, in order to devote herself to a religious life, and -retired to the convent at Woking, in Surrey. It must not be supposed -that she had a peaceful or happy life. Her thoughts were centred on -her only son, and many were the years of separation from this son that -his mother had to endure. The story of his wanderings, his dangers, -his detention in Brittany, are too long to be told here—suffice it to -say that Richard III. became so odious to the chief nobles that at -last it was arranged that Henry Tudor, Earl of Richmond, Margaret’s -son, should be recognised by the Lancastrian party as their leader, -and should claim the throne; and that in order to gain the adherence -of those members of the Yorkist party who were opposed to Richard, a -marriage should take place between Henry and Elizabeth, the daughter -of Edward IV. Both the mothers agreed to the union: but the first -attempt at invasion by Richmond was a failure, and Richard seemed free -from all danger; and with a view to win over his Yorkist opponents, -he made up his mind to marry Elizabeth himself, although she was his -own brother’s child. This step led to a fresh invasion—this time a -successful one—and the death of Richard on Bosworth field virtually -placed the crown on Henry’s head (1485). So at last the Lady Margaret’s -troubles were at an end, and she saw her son crowned and wedded, and -the red and white roses twined together. It remains only to speak of -her benefactions. Those at Cambridge are well known; and the writer of -this chapter, who once held at Christ’s College one of the scholarships -she founded, cherishes the memory of the royal and pious lady with all -due gratitude. But it is of her benefactions at Wimborne that mention -must now be made. About 1498 she built the beautiful monument to her -father and mother in the Minster; founded a chantry, where, for her own -soul, and for those of her son, her parents, and ancestors, Mass was -to be duly said. She founded and endowed the Grammar School, though, -as its endowments were greatly added to by Queen Elizabeth, its name -was afterwards changed from the Lady Margaret’s to that of Queen -Elizabeth’s Free Grammar School. - -The Lady Margaret just outlived her son; both died in the same year, -1509, but she rather later than he. - -Of the other monuments space forbids mention of any, save that of -Anthony Etricke, if it can be called a monument, for it is really the -sarcophagus that contains the body of this eccentric magistrate, who -lived at Holt, and was recorder of Poole. He desired, for some reason, -to be buried neither above the ground nor under it, neither within -the church nor outside of it; and in order to carry out this strange -wish, he got permission to cut a niche in the south wall, partly below -the level of the surface of the churchyard, and in it fixed a slate -sarcophagus. In this he ordered his coffin to be deposited when he -died; and he made all the preparations he could beforehand, even to the -painting of the date of his death on the side of the slate coffin. He -had a presentiment that he should die in 1691, but he lived till 1703, -so that the real date of his death had to be placed on the coffin. The -other date was not obliterated, but the new one was painted on the -other, and the two may be seen there to-day. The arms of his family are -painted on the lid, and, as he left twenty shillings per annum to keep -coffin and niche in good repair, the sarcophagus is bright and smart as -paint, gilding, and varnish can make it. - -[Illustration: THE CHAINED LIBRARY, WIMBORNE MINSTER.] - -The chained library, as it is called, is placed in a chamber above the -vestry, rebuilt when the church was restored. It was formed by the Rev. -William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, afterwards one of -the “three vicars” of the church. By his will he left some land to St. -Margaret’s Hospital, and his collection of books to the Minster. These -were brought from Oxford in 1686, and placed in what was then known -as the Treasury. They were chiefly the writings of the Fathers, with -certain other theological books, and were intended for the free use -of the people of Wimborne. In these days few would care to pore over -these dry and heavy tomes, or make use of the library, for it does not -contain any novels, standard or ephemeral; but there were days when it -was used for study. In 1725 a catalogue was made, and the number of the -books was then two hundred; when next catalogued, about one hundred -and fifty years later, the number had dropped to one hundred and -eighty-five, despite the fact that ten books not mentioned in the -former catalogue were on the shelves. There is but one MS., bearing -date 1343, “Regimen Animarum,” written on vellum, and containing some -illuminated initials. The majority of the books were printed between -1520 and 1710. The most interesting are: a Polyglot Bible (1657), a -Breeches’ Bible (1595), and Sir Walter Ralegh’s _History of the World_ -(1614). No less than one hundred and four pages of this _History_ have -had a hole burnt through them. Tradition says that Matthew Prior, the -poet, was reading this book by candle light, and fell asleep; when he -awoke he found that some snuff from his candle had fallen on the book -and done the mischief. He stuck small pieces of parchment over the -hole in every page, and inserted the missing letters or words with pen -and ink. But the interesting tradition has been controverted in modern -times. - -The books were originally chained to the shelves, one end of the chain -being fastened to the edge of the binding, the other to a ring which -would slide along a rod. Many of the books had got loose in the course -of years, and lay dusty and uncared for; but at the restoration, new -rods were fastened along the new shelves, and the old chains repaired -and put to their former use. - -In two oaken chests in this room many deeds relating to the Collegiate -Church (the earliest dating from the time of Henry III., the latest -from that of Henry VIII.) are preserved. Among them is the deed -founding the Chantry and Grammar School, drawn up by the executors of -the Lady Margaret’s will; and also the charter granted by Charles I. -to the Governors of the church, from which they derive the powers of -appointing clergy, choristers, clerk, vergers, etc., which powers they -use to-day. - -There is one other ancient ecclesiastical foundation in the -neighbourhood of Wimborne, about a quarter of a mile from the town -on the road to Blandford. It is now an almshouse, where three poor -married couples, three poor single men, and the same number of -unmarried women, are maintained; but its original purpose was to -relieve only such of the poor as were suffering from leprosy. It is -generally said to have been founded by John of Gaunt, and so to have -been another connection between that family and Wimborne. There is, it -may be said, an old kitchen at Canford which is still called “John of -Gaunt’s Kitchen”; whether he had anything to do with the building of -the kitchen or the endowment of the Lazar-house we do not know, but -it is certain that he did not found the latter, for, in the reign of -King John, Hugo of Lingiveria gave to it an acre of land, and in 1282 -the Bishop of Exeter gave an indulgence to any who would contribute -to its support. A deed of the date of Henry VIII. refers to a Bull of -Innocent IV., dated 1245, in which this hospital is mentioned. Various -gifts of land, vestments, plate, etc., were bestowed on the hospital, -to which a small chapel dedicated to St. Margaret and St. Anthony is -attached. A chantry was founded here by one John Redcoddes, in order -that a priest might daily say masses for his soul’s welfare. The -chapel, the architecture of which shows that it was originally built -in the thirteenth century, still stands, and is fitted up for service. -Hither once a week one of the clergy comes from the Minster to conduct -a service, which the almshouse people attend. - -Other than the buildings already mentioned, there is little mediæval -work to be seen in Wimborne. The old Free Grammar School buildings -have given place to modern ones erected in 1851, and the school is now -managed by a governing body appointed under a scheme drawn up by the -Charity Commissioners. So “the old order changeth, giving place to the -new”; but, seen from far or near, the two-towered Minster, with its -parti-coloured walls of deep red and drab stone, rises grand and old -amid its modern surroundings—a noble memorial of the mediæval builder’s -art. - - - - -FORD ABBEY - -BY SIDNEY HEATH - - -Various authorities agree with Camden in stating that Ford Abbey -(originally in Devon, but now included in the county of Dorset), -near Chard, was founded in the year 1140, for Cistercian monks, by -Adeliza, daughter of Baldwin de Brioniis, and a grand-niece of William -the Conqueror. The circumstances of its origin are interesting and -romantic. It appears that Adeliza’s brother, Richard of Okehampton, -had given, in 1133, certain lands at Brightley, within his barony, -to an Abbey of the Cistercian Order, and had secured twelve monks -to dwell therein from Gilbert, Abbot of Waverley, in Surrey. This -small community remained at Brightley for five years, when they, “by -reason of great want and barrenness, could abide there no longer,” -and commenced a return journey to their original home in Surrey. On -their way they passed through Thorncombe, the parish wherein Ford is -situated, where they encountered Adeliza, who, hearing with great -regret of the failure of her brother’s enterprise, exclaimed: “Behold -my manor where you now are, which is very fruitful and well wooded, -which I give you for ever in exchange for your barren lands at -Brightley, together with the mansion-house and other houses. Stay there -until a more convenient monastery may be built for you upon some other -part of the estate.” The site selected by the monks for the erection -of the Abbey was in a valley, on the left bank of the river Axe, at a -place called, according to Leland, “Hertbath” (_balneum cervorum_), -and which, from its nearness to a ford crossing the river at this -spot, subsequently became known as _Ford_. - -Such is the accepted origin of the splendid pile of buildings which -sprang up in this fertile and sequestered valley in 1148, and which -still, notwithstanding the pillage at its dissolution, and its many -structural alterations, commands our admiration and our attention; -although, if we except some small portion of what is known as “the -chapel,” at the eastern end of the south front, nothing now remains of -the original foundation erected by the pious Adeliza. - -The original purpose of this ancient part of the building, known as -“the chapel,” is somewhat obscure. It has been commonly regarded as -that portion of the religious house which its name indicates, and -as being the burial-place of its founder and other benefactors. Dr. -Oliver, however, in the supplement to his _Monasticon_, speaks of it -as the “Chapter House”—a likely suggestion. In his _Memoir of Thomas -Chard, D.D._, Dr. J. H. Pring writes: - - That except in the deed of surrender, and a short reference made to it - by Hearne, I have not been able to discover the slightest notice of - “the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Ford” in any of the numerous - accounts which have been given of the abbey; though when we read of - frequent interments, some on the north, others on the south side of - the choir—others, such as that of Robert Courtenay, who, we are told, - was buried on the 28th July, 1242, in the chancel, before the high - altar, under a stately monument exhibiting the figure of an armed - knight—there can be little doubt, I think, that these took place, not - in what is now known as the Chapel, but in the Abbey Church, which - stood at the east end of the abbey, about two hundred feet above the - chapel. - -[Illustration: FORD ABBEY.] - -This portion of the edifice, whose original uses are conjectural, -shows, both inside and out, considerable vestiges which appear to -suggest a Norman origin, and which we may assume were possibly -erected under the immediate auspices, if not under the personal -superintendence, of the Lady Adeliza. The exterior angles of the -eastern end exhibit the quoins so characteristic of the Norman style of -building, and the interior has many fine examples of Anglo-Norman -work, in the pillars, the groined stone roof, the arches at either end, -of a slightly pointed character, with the well-known zig-zag or chevron -moulding. The eastern window is of much later date, being Perpendicular -in style, and it is believed to have been inserted by Thomas Chard, the -last Abbot, as the upper panel of the left-hand side depicts a stag’s -head, whilst the companion panel, parallel to it, contains faint traces -of the oft-repeated monogram, T. C. - -The next feature in point of antiquity is what is now termed the -“Monks’ Walk,” a range of ivy-clad buildings running back for nearly -four hundred feet from the eastern end of the Abbey in a northerly -direction, and it is thought that a similar range ran parallel to it. -The remaining wing is on the eastern side, and consists of two storeys, -the lower of which possesses some beautiful Early English work, and -the upper one was probably the monks’ dormitory. In the centre is an -archway of fourteenth century date, and along the entire length of the -wing is a series of lancet windows, almost perfect on the western side, -but destroyed or built up on the eastern. Hearne thus notices this wing: - - But now, though one of the chief uses of the cloisters was for - walking, yet in Religious Houses they had sometime galleries for the - same end. We have an instance of it in Ford Abbey in Devonshire, - which is one of the most entire abbeys in England; in the east front - whereof, which is the oldest of the two fronts (though the south front - be the chiefest), there is a gallery called the Monks’ Walk, with - small cells on the right hand, and little narrow windows on the left. - -Great as is the antiquarian interest of these fragments of what we may -reasonably presume to have formed part of the original foundation, the -greater part of the existing fabric is the work of Abbot Chard, of whom -we shall have something to say later. The best view of the building is -obtained from the front, where nearly all that meets the eye affords a -striking instance of the consummate taste and devoted perseverance of -this remarkable man under circumstances that may well have discouraged -the boldest. The storm which culminated in the dissolution of the -monastic houses was gathering; but instead of being filled with dismay, -as were so many of his fellow-churchmen, Thomas Chard spared no effort -to beautify his beloved abbey, perhaps that the very glamour of her -loveliness might enchant the eyes of the spoilers and turn them from -their purpose of ruthless spoliation. To a great extent, his work was -preserved, for, although the abbey did suffer, and that grievously, -yet it escaped the wanton wreckage by which most of these foundations -throughout the land were devastated. - -[Illustration: Sidney Heath. 1907 -Details from Cloisters. Ford Abbey.] - -The first portion of Chard’s building to claim attention is the -cloister, late Perpendicular in style, with mullions and window tracery -which present an appearance at once good and bold, and show no signs -of the debasement and formality that are so characteristic of the late -buildings of this period. Above the windows a frieze of stonework -depicts on shields the arms of various benefactors to the Abbey—as -those of Courtenay quartering Rivers, Poulett, the Bishop of Exeter, -etc.; and on many shields appear either the monogram or the name of -Thomas Chard. - -An excellent account of the cloister—and, indeed, of the whole Abbey—is -contained in a very rare little volume, entitled, a _History of Ford -Abbey_, written anonymously many years ago, but acknowledged by -ecclesiologists to be the work of one who for a long period must have -resided there, and who thus, by daily associations with the fabric, -became more familiar with its minute architectural details than -could possibly be the case with anyone who had not enjoyed a similar -privilege. As this volume is rare, as well as interesting and accurate -in regard to its architectural information, no apology is needed for -quoting certain passages from it here. In reference to the cloister we -learn that: - - The cloister is divided by a suite of rooms and arcade from the - grand porch-tower, so conspicuous for its architectural beauty, and - which in days gone by was no doubt the original entrance. It is - richly ornamented with first-rate sculpture, some of it obviously - unfinished; the central boss in the vaulting uncut; and the blank - shield in the centre, below the basement window, encircled by the - garter, was doubtless intended for the royal arms. The uncut shield - on the sinister side, having the pelican and dolphin for supporters, - was for Courtenay. The two small shields cut are charged with a lion - rampant for De Redvers, and cheeky two bars for Baldwin de Brioniis. - Immediately over the arch of the door is a large scroll shield of a - more modern date, bearing the arms of Prideaux, impaling those of his - second wife, Ivery. On the upper part of this elegant specimen of Dr. - Chard’s taste, in the centre shield, are his initials, T.C., with the - crosier and _mitre_ (Dr. Chard was a Suffragan Bishop); and the two - smaller shields, with the T.C., crosier, and abbot’s cap, alternate - with the stag’s head cabossed—supposed to be the bearing of the then - Bishop of Exeter; and just below the battlement of the tower is the - following inscription:— - - AN̄’O D’N̄I MILLESIMO QUINGESIMO VIC^{MO} OCTA^O. A D’N̄O - FACTUM EST THOMA CHARD, ABB. - -Now, while there is no doubt that Chard united in his own person the -offices of Abbot and Suffragan Bishop, the above account is at fault in -attributing “the stag’s head cabossed” to the then Bishop of Exeter, -for it formed no part of the armorial bearings either of Bishop Oldham -or of his successor, Veysey. In a letter from Dr. Chard to Cardinal -Wolsey “the stag’s head cabossed” is used as the _seal_, and is -expressly referred to in the body of the letter as “_sigillum meum_,” -and we find the same device associated with his name or monogram in -various parts of the Abbey buildings; the most probable solution -being that it relates to the ancient cognizance of the Abbey, or the -site whereon it stands, which, as we have already seen, was Hertbath -(_balneum cervorum_). - -[Illustration: Panel from Cloisters. Ford Abbey.] - -Further confirmation of Dr. Chard’s double office of Bishop and Abbot -is found in a remarkable panel in the frieze (_see illustration_), -which appears to have been designed for the purpose of attesting this -fact, if not in actual words, yet in unmistakable and appropriate -symbolism. The small top corner shields of this panel contain the -letters T. C., and the lower ones an abbot’s and a bishop’s staff, -respectively; whilst on the hatchment-shaped panel in the centre -occurs the stag’s head and bishop’s staff, the name “Tho. Chard” on a -scroll entwined round an abbot’s staff; and above these, as a fitting -termination to the whole, appears the abbot’s cap, surmounted by the -bishop’s mitre. - -[Illustration: THE CHAPEL, FORD ABBEY.] - -The entrance porch contains a fine west window of the same character as -those of the adjoining great hall, which in their turn correspond with -those of the cloister, and above them is a frieze of grotesque animals. -To quote once more from the book already referred to: - - This part of the building has been shorn of its length, as, on minute - inspection, will appear. The royal arms are not in the centre, as they - no doubt originally were. They consist of a rose crowned, encircled - with a garter, and supported by a dragon and greyhound, the badges of - Henry VII.... Although the remaining portion of this wing has been - altered, it was built by Thomas Chard, the battlements corresponding - with the tower and chapel; and as a more decisive proof that it was - so, there is, at the western end of the building, but hid by ivy, the - portcullis cut in stone, another of the badges of Henry VII.; and to - the north, or back side, are the initials T. C., with the crosier and - cap. - -The ancient guest-chamber, so integral a part of these old foundations, -appears to have been at right angles to the great hall, as it was -noticed some years ago on the collapse of portions of the ceiling that -the ancient timber roof was still _in situ_. We shall have a little -to say later about the alteration and adaptation of the interior for -the purposes of a modern mansion, when, happily, much of Dr. Chard’s -work was not disturbed; but we have, unfortunately, no record of the -condition of the fabric prior to the restorations of the above prelate, -and his task seems to have been little less than the rebuilding of the -greater part of the edifice. The antiquary Leland, visiting the Abbey -during Dr. Chard’s alterations, writes: “_Cœnobium nunc sumptibus plane -non credendis abbas magnificentissime restaurat_.”[47] This beautiful -structure had scarcely had its delicate stonework mellowed by the soft -winds from the Devonshire moors, when the Dissolution, long impending, -burst in fury upon the larger religious houses, and on March 8th, 1539, -Thomas Chard was induced to sign the surrender of his beloved Abbey -of Ford, which was endeared to him by many sacred associations, and on -which he had lavished his own private fortune and the artistic genius -of a master mind. The following is a translation (according to Dr. -Pring) of the document of surrender, the wording of which, we may be -sure, accorded ill with the reluctant hands that attached the names and -seals:— - - To all the faithful in Christ, to whom this present writing shall - come: Thomas Chard, abbot of the monastery or abbey, and of the - Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of Ford, in the county of Devon, - of the Cistercian order, and the same place and convent, everlasting - salvation in the Lord. - - [Sidenote: - - Per me Thomā abbem - Willūs Rede, prior - John Cosen - Robte Yetminster. - Johēs Newman. - Johēs Bridgwat^{r}. - Thomas Stafford. - Johēs Ffawell. - W. Winsor. - Elizeus Oliscomb. - William Keynston. - William Dynyngton. - Richard Kingesbury. - ] - - Know ye that we, the aforesaid abbot and convent, by our unanimous - assent and consent, with our deliberate minds, right, knowledge, - and mere motion, from certain just and reasonable causes especially - moving our minds and consciences have freely, and of our own accord - given and granted, and by these presents do give, grant, and surrender - and confirm to our illustrious prince, Henry VIII., by the grace of - God, king of England, lord of Ireland, supreme head of the Church - of England in this land, all our said monastery or abbacy of Ford - aforesaid. And also all and singular manors, lordships, messuages, - etc. In testimony whereof, we, the aforesaid abbot and convent, have - caused our common seal to be affixed to these presents. Given at our - Chapter House of Ford aforesaid, on the 8th day of the month of March, - and in the thirtieth year of the reign of King Henry aforesaid. Before - me, William Petre, one of the clerks, etc., the day and year above - written. - - By me, Willm̄n Petre. - -No sooner had the document been signed than the work of pillage -commenced; but one is inclined to agree with the Devonshire historian -Prince, that, “by what lucky chance he knew not, Ford Abbey escaped -better than its fellows, and continueth for the greatest part standing -to this day.” At the same time, there is little doubt that much havoc -took place, although, perhaps, not to the extent recorded by Risdon, -who says it now merely “somewhat showeth of what magnificence once it -was.” - -It is just possible that Thomas Chard’s beautiful work softened the -hearts of the spoilers, and its very wealth of ornament caused it to be -retained as too valuable a prize to be utterly demolished; but, whether -standing entire or razed to the ground, it appears to have been an -encumbrance, for on October 28th, in the year of its surrender, it was -granted by the King, “with all and singular its manors, lordships, and -messuages, etc.,” to Richard Pollard, Esq. - -At the time of its dissolution the annual revenues of the Abbey were -computed at £374 10s. 6¼d. by Dugdale, and at £381 10s. 6d. by -Speed, and the net revenue was, no doubt, somewhere between these two -sums. - -Born probably at Tracy, near Awliscombe, Honiton, about the year 1470, -Thomas Chard was one of the most distinguished ecclesiastics of his -day, and evidently, as his works attest, an accomplished architect and -a most munificent man. The highly ornamental façade of the institution -over which he presided as last abbot is considered to be the finest -example of its kind in the West of England. On entering holy orders, -Chard appears to have held several livings in Somerset, Devon, and -Cornwall, and was elected Abbot of Ford about 1520. Previous to this, -in 1508, he was appointed Suffragan to Bishop Oldham by the title -“Episcopus Solubricencis,” in 1513 Warden of the College of Lady St. -Mary, at Ottery, and in 1515 Prior of the Benedictine or Cluniac Priory -of Montacute. It has been suggested that as Dr. Chard was Warden of -Ottery College about the time that the beautiful Dorset Chapel was -built (1513-18)—one of the most lovely pieces of Perpendicular building -we possess—the inspiration of this eminent architect may have done much -to influence the splendid design of this portion of the Church of Lady -St. Mary at Ottery. - -It was Bishop Chard who officiated for Bishop Veysey, of Exeter, at the -noble obsequies of Katherine Courtenay, daughter of Edward IV., and -widow of William Courtenay, Earl of Devon, buried at Tiverton in 1527. -It is thought that his choice for this office was determined by his -headship of the Monastery of Ford, of which foundation the Courtenays -had always been great patrons and benefactors. - -The burial place of Thomas Chard is unknown, but may possibly be in -the chapel of the Hospital of St. Margaret, near Honiton. Dr. Oliver, -who visited this chapel many years ago, writes: “The west door is -secured by a large sepulchral slab, to which was formerly affixed a -brass plate.” This has long since disappeared, but many writers agree -that there is little doubt that this slab covered the dust of the -Abbot-Bishop. - -[Illustration: Seal of Ford Abbey. -Full Size] - -The old abbey seal,[48] which had eluded the research of many -antiquaries, including the editors of Dugdale’s _Monasticon_, was -discovered by Mr. Davidson, of Sector, near Axminster. It is of oval -form, the usual shape for monastic seals, and is divided into three -compartments, in the uppermost of which is a bell suspended in a -steeple, and in the canopy beneath we see the Blessed Virgin with the -Divine Infant on her knee. On one side is the shield of Courtenay, -bearing—_or_, three torteaux, with a label of three points. On the -other side is the shield of Beaumont—barry of six, _vair_ and _gules_. -The lowest compartment occupies rather more than half the seal inside -the inscription, and shows an abbot standing, in his right hand a -pastoral staff, and holding in his left hand a book; and at his feet -are three monks kneeling, with their hands together in supplication. - -With this description of the seal the claims of Ford Abbey to figure in -this volume of “Memorials” are practically finished, yet it may be of -interest to continue a little further in the personal and architectural -history of this wonderful old house. As we have seen, Henry VIII. -granted the abbey and all its appurtenances to Richard Pollard, Esq., -who was subsequently knighted by Henry VIII., and from this gentleman -it passed to his son, Sir John Pollard, who sold it to his cousin, -Sir Amias Poulett, of Hinton St. George, and Curry Mallet, who had -held the office of head steward of the abbey under the _régime_ of Dr. -Chard (as had his father, Sir Hugh Poulett, before him), and who was -for a short time the custodian of Mary Queen of Scots. From Sir Amias -Poulett, the abbey and estates passed by purchase to William Rosewell, -Esq., Solicitor-General to Queen Elizabeth, and thence to his son, Sir -Henry Rosewell, who, in 1649, conveyed them to Sir Edmund Prideaux, -Bart., of Netherton, county Devon. He was educated at Cambridge, and -after being admitted a student of the Inner Temple was called to the -Bar, 23rd November, 1623. He was returned as Burgess for Lyme Regis and -took part against the King. He appears to have been a man of marked -abilities, as in 1643 we find him appointed one of the Commissioners of -the Great Seal, and three years later he was granted the privileges of -a King’s Counsel, the combined offices being worth some £7,000 a year. -It is somewhat singular that, while holding the first-named office he -was allowed to retain his seat in Parliament, and when he relinquished -the Great Seal, the House of Commons, as an acknowledgment of his -valuable services, ordered that he should practise within the Bar, -and have precedence next after the Solicitor-General, to which office -he himself was raised in 1647. Although attached to the Parliamentary -cause he took no part in the King’s trial, nor in the trials of the -Duke of Hamilton and others. Nevertheless, he shortly afterwards -accepted from the dominant party the office of Attorney-General, a -post which he retained for the remainder of his life. His remarkable -organising abilities were shown in 1649, when, as Master of the Post -Messengers and Carriers, a post he had acquired in 1644, he established -a weekly conveyance to every part of the kingdom, a great improvement -on the system he had found in vogue, and under which letters were sent -by special messengers, one of whose duties it was to supply relays of -horses at a given mileage. It is said that the emoluments accruing to -his private purse from this improved postal service were not less than -£15,000 a year. Sir Edmund was twice married, and by his first wife -Jane, daughter and sole heiress of Henry Collins, Esq., of Ottery St. -Mary, he had a daughter Mary. His second wife was Margaret, daughter -and co-heir of William Ivery, of Cotthay, Somerset, and by her he had -three daughters, and a son Edmund, who succeeded him at Ford Abbey. -It was Sir Edmund Prideaux who brought Inigo Jones to the Abbey to -carry out certain alterations, which he did by inserting square-headed -windows in the walls of the state rooms, and by adding these and other -classical affectations on to the old Gothic building he destroyed the -harmonious composition of the whole, and it is not, perhaps, a matter -of regret that this architect died in 1654, before his designs for -converting this fine old house into a sham “classical” building were -carried out, although the interior of the house was embellished with -magnificent decorations and the whole place made into a beautiful, -comfortable, and habitable mansion. - -Edmund Prideaux, the younger, had for his tutor John Tillotson, -who afterwards became Archbishop of Canterbury. Although he took -but little part in the grave political troubles of his day, he is -remembered in history as the entertainer of the ill-starred Duke of -Monmouth, who visited Ford in 1680, on his journey of pleasure to the -west country, where he was royally entertained by his host, whose -connection with his noble guest did not end here, as after the Rye -House affair he was suspected of favouring the Duke, and the house was -searched for arms. When the Duke subsequently landed at Lyme Regis in -1685, Mr. Prideaux, like a prudent man, remained quietly at home, but -was visited at night by a small party of rebels requiring horses, and -it is said that one of them while in the house drank to the health of -Monmouth, which indiscretion becoming known in London, a warrant was -issued for Mr. Prideaux’s arrest, and he was taken to the Tower on a -charge of high treason. Notwithstanding that nothing could be proved -against him, he was kept a close prisoner until he had paid the sum of -£15,000 to the infamous Jeffreys, when his pardon was signed on March -20th, 1685. On the accession of William III. he petitioned Parliament -for leave to bring in a Bill to charge the estates of Jeffreys with the -restitution of this money, but the Act failed to pass. - -The sole surviving daughter of Edmund Prideaux (and his wife, Amy -Fraunceis), in 1690, married her cousin, Francis Gwyn, Esq., of -Llansandr, co. Glamorgan, who thus inherited Ford Abbey, and was -succeeded in the estates by his fourth son, Francis Gwyn, who, dying -without issue in 1777, devised this house and all his other lands -to his kinsman, John Fraunceis, or Francis, of Combe-Florey, on -condition of his taking the name of Gwyn, and in this family the -Abbey remained until the decease of a John Francis Gwyn, in 1846, -when it was purchased by G. F. W. Miles, Esq., and afterwards by Miss -Evans. It is now the property of Mrs. Freeman Roper. The famous Jeremy -Bentham rented the abbey early in the nineteenth century and here he -entertained James Mill and other social and literary magnates. One of -the numerous Francis Gwyns was Queen Anne’s Secretary for War, and to -him Her Majesty presented the magnificent tapestries now hung in the -saloon. They are worked from original cartoons by Raphael, said to have -been designed at the request of Pope Leo. Charles I. is said to have -purchased the cartoons on the advice of Rubens, and to have removed -them from Brussels in 1630. They were first placed, it is thought, at -Whitehall, and William III. had them hung at Hampton Court Palace, -where they remained until 1865, when they were taken to their present -home, the Victoria and Albert Museum. These designs were the property -of His Majesty King Edward VII., who has, I think, recently bequeathed -them to the nation. - -It was in 1842 that, for the convenience of county business, the parish -of Thorncombe, containing Ford Abbey, was transferred to the county of -Dorset. - - - - -DORCHESTER[49] - -BY THE LORD BISHOP OF DURHAM, D.D. - - -If Bede is right, the Roman armies did not leave our shores till A.D. -452. Whether it was then, so near the end of the old Western Empire, -or a little earlier, it must have been a dark hour for Dorset, which -no doubt saw something of the embarkation; some considerable force, -in that strict order which to the last the legions maintained, would -no doubt march from Durnovaria to Clavinio (Weymouth) to take ship. -The light of history falls faint over Dorset and Dorchester for many -a year from that Roman exodus. But it is interesting to find that the -“Saxons,” to use the familiar term, took a century and a half to master -Dorset; our fathers must have made a stubborn fight against endless -raids. It is at least possible that the victory of Badon Hill—in -which, says the Arthurian legend, the Saxon hordes were ruinously -beaten by the “Britons,” led perhaps by a Rome-trained chief—was -won in Dorset; Badbury, near Wimborne, in the belief of Edwin Guest -of Cambridge, was Badon. But Wessex in due time absorbed Dorset and -Dorchester; and now our fields and woodlands were well sprinkled with -royal manors, while our town, beyond a doubt, still kept much of its -old dignity and culture; for the Saxons left the walled cities largely -alone, after disarming their inhabitants. Durnovaria, with its name -changed to Dorceastre, still stood fenced with its massive wall and -still contained many a stately house, tessellated and frescoed. Kings -of Wessex doubtless visited Dorset often, for the chase, and for -sustenance on their manors, and to keep state at Dorceastre. Alfred, -in all likelihood, was known by sight in the town. His grandson, -Athelstan, allowed it the right of coinage—a sure testimony to its -importance. - -It suffered sorely from the Danes a century later. Sweyn, in 1002, -taking awful revenge for the massacre wrought by Ethelred the -“Unredy”—that is to say, the “Counsel-less”—marched from Devon to Wilts -by Dorset, and left Dorchester a desolation. It is said that he tore -down the walls, but this, almost for certain, was not so; they were -too massive to be wrecked without long labour, which the rovers would -not care to spend; and there is large evidence for their existence -far into the seventeenth century. However, Danish fire and sword must -have left the town black and blood-stained within its ramparts. Half a -century later, under the Confessor, Dorchester counted 172 houses; the -number is recorded in _Domesday Book_ (1085-6) as large, in contrast to -the eighty-eight at the date of the survey. Very likely the building -of the Norman Castle (where now stands the Prison) had to do with the -shrinkage; the castle was sure to be a centre of spoliation. - -The restless John was in the town in 1201, and often later—hunting, no -doubt, and taking his “one night’s firm,” the statutable sustenance due -to the King and his men. Under Edward I., in 1295, we sent burgesses to -the first English Parliament. Our last burgess sat from 1874 till 1885. -Dorchester is now only the centre of an electoral division. - -In that same reign appears the first mention of our town churches: -Holy Trinity, St. Peter’s, and All Saints’. Not that the parishes are -no older than that date; indeed, the porch of St. Peter’s contains a -twelfth century fragment. - -[Illustration: HIGH STREET, DORCHESTER.] - -The reign of Edward III. experienced the terror of the Great Plague, -carried from China over Asia to Europe, where literally millions of -people perished. It burst into England, alas! from a ship which put -in at the Dorset shore, and no doubt our town owed to that awful -scourge the low state of industry recorded a little later. Things had -mended by the time of Henry VI., and from then, upon the whole, the -place has been prosperous. In the seventeenth century it was busy with -cloth-making and, as now, with the brewing of beer. In the old times of -farming it was a great centre of grain commerce. Stories are told of -Dorchester fair-days, when wheat-laden wagons stood ranged in long file -from Cornhill, along South Street, and far out upon the Weymouth road. - -The town had its troubles in “the great century.” In August, 1613, a -fierce fire swept it almost clean away. The old churches of Trinity and -All Saints vanished, with nearly every other building within the walls -(and some outside their circuit, in Fordington), save only St. Peter’s -and the houses near it—among which would be that now almost solitary -relic of picturesque Old Dorchester, “Jeffreys’ lodgings.” - -But the rebuilding must have been energetic, for in the Civil Wars we -find Dorchester populous and active enough to be a troublesome focus of -“malignity.” “A place more entirely disaffected to the King, England -had not,” says Clarendon. One probable cause of this attitude lay in -the commanding influence of John White, Rector of Holy Trinity from -1606 to 1648. White was an Oxonian, a man of culture and piety, and -evidently of strong personal influence. Preachers to-day may envy, if -they please, the pulpit privileges given him by the town. The borough -records show, for example, that in 1630 one Nycholls was brought -to justice for having “offered speeche concerning Mr. John White’s -preaching.” White helped to plan the colony of Massachusetts, but -he did not join the emigration. His power was felt at home, in the -Westminster Assembly, and in the politics of Dorchester. - -In 1642 the walls were solidly repaired, and outside works thrown -up at, among other points, Maumbury Ring. Watch was kept day and -night at the gates and on St. Peter’s Tower. But the spirit of the -town strangely failed when, on the approach of the enemy, one Master -Strode predicted that the walls would hold off the King’s men for -just half-an-hour. The Governor, Sir Walter Erle, hearing that Lord -Carnarvon was coming with two thousand men, and Prince Maurice’s -artillery besides, promptly left the place, and the citizens opened the -gates on a promise that they should be spared violence. Carnarvon would -have kept the promise with chivalrous fidelity, but Maurice let his men -loose, and Dorchester was so badly handled that Carnarvon threw up his -command and went to serve the King in person. A little later the town -behaved much more bravely, and baffled a small Irish force under Lord -Inchiquin till help from Weymouth completed the rout of the Royalists. -Later again Essex occupied the town in force; and then Sir Lewis Dives, -for the King, surprised it with brilliant success, but was badly beaten -on a second attempt. Yet later there was a skirmish at Dorchester, when -the royalist _Mercurius_ says that no less a captain than Cromwell -himself was put to flight by Lord Goring; but the account lacks full -confirmation. A story of that skirmish clings to a corner of lower -Fordington, a curve in the road near Grey’s Bridge, known as Tupp’s, or -Tubb’s, Corner; it is said that a Cromwellian hero of that name fled -thereby at a speed memorable for all time. - -A still darker experience than that of war awaited Dorchester not -long after. When Monmouth fought at Sedgemoor (1685) our Dorset -peasants were among the bravest of his rude but heroic army. And when -the abortive rising was over, the Bloody Assizes began, and Jeffreys -sat at Dorchester. His lodgings are still shown, the most striking -house-front in the town, with its black timbers and long, low windows; -and still, in the Town Hall, is kept the chair from which the terrible -Chief Justice, in a court hung with red, dealt out death with grim -smiles and ghastly jests. Nearly three hundred men, told that it was -their only hope, pleaded guilty, but for most of them the only result -was a few days’ respite. Seventy-four were executed at Dorchester, -with all the horrible circumstances of death for treason. For years -afterwards grim human relics of that evil time still clung to the -railings round St. Peter’s, greeting the entering worshippers. - -[Illustration: JUDGE JEFFREYS’ LODGINGS] - -This was not quite the last scene of horror at Dorchester, though -it was alone in its dreadful kind. As late as within the eighteenth -century an unhappy woman, convicted of the murder of her husband, was -hanged and then burned within Maumbury, amidst a vast gazing multitude. - -It is a relief to think that about the same time the town put on a -beauty of a sort unique, I think, in England. The walls had somehow -largely disappeared within the last half of the seventeenth century; -and now it was proposed to plant double rows of trees all along the -line of their foundations. By 1712 the planting was complete, and for -nearly two complete centuries Dorchester has been surrounded by the -noble range of avenues which we call The Walks, renewed from time to -time, and kept with increasing care. From close to Glide Path Hill -(“Glippath”) the visitor can walk under long successive aisles of -sycamores or chestnuts on a well-laid gravel road, now facing east, -now south, now west, now north, till he finds himself close to the -foot of High Street, within ten minutes of his point of departure. I -have seen the noble avenues at King’s Lynn, and those of the Backs at -Cambridge are only less dear to me than our Walks. But I do not think -that anything even there can quite equal these bowery ramparts of our -ancient town—certainly not when we put together the natural charm and -the historical interest. - -The Walks were still young about the year 1730, when a poet, in the -course of a tour from London to Exeter with a group of friends, rode -through Dorchester. It was Pope’s intimate, John Gay. The travellers -first saw the town, of course, from Stinsford Hill, over a foreground -which then, no doubt, was less full of trees. The reaches of the Frome -and the broad water-meadows pleased Gay, as well they might, and in his -delightful verse-journal we read his impression: - - Now the steep hill fair Dorchester o’erlooks, - Border’d by meads and wash’d by silver brooks. - -In 1762 we find recorded as noteworthy the paving and fencing of a -side-walk in the lower High Street; and in 1774 came the first public -lighting of the streets. A decade later Miss Burney (Mme. D’Arblay) -gives a lively picture of Dorchester as she saw it when travelling in -the suite of George III. to Weymouth: “The city had so antique an air, -I longed to investigate its old buildings. The houses have the most -ancient appearance of any that are inhabited that I have happened to -see; and inhabited they were indeed! There was an amazing quantity of -indigenous residers—old women and young children,” who, as she shrewdly -remarks, could not have come in from a distance, and so formed an index -of population. Yet the town could not have counted then more than 3,000 -inhabitants. It contains now just 10,500. - -We reach at last the nineteenth century. The town, like the county, -and like all rural England, was in grave alarm in 1830 at the time -of the “rick-burnings.” Mrs. Mary Frampton’s _Journal_ speaks much -of the scenes of riot and of wild alarms. I possess letters written -by my mother, then the young mistress of Fordington Vicarage,[50] in -which she speaks of the nightly watch and ward kept all around, and of -her husband’s active share in it, and the relief, under the terrible -strain, which was given by the friendly attitude of Fordington towards -him. Just later the Frampton _Journal_ describes the battle royal of -an election scene on Poundbury (Pummery, as I must be allowed still to -call it), when the greatest of all Dorset’s sons, the seventh Earl of -Shaftesbury, then Lord Ashley, stood for the county. - -That date brings me to times only a little previous to my own memory, -and well within the memory of my brothers and friends, and familiar of -course to my father, who from 1829 to 1880, as Vicar of Fordington, -laboured alike for the spiritual and social good of his parishioners. -I may be allowed to close my narrative with a small sheaf of -reminiscences from his and other memories. Then, after a brief glance -of the mind’s eye over my native town, my task of love is done. - -My father knew very old people who “remembered when rooms were first -carpeted at Dorchester.” One aged parishioner could recall the change -of style in the calendar in 1752; the children were taken to _a stile_ -in the Great Field as a memento. He and my mother saw, from Maumbury, -about 1832, the Princess Victoria with her mother, passing in their -carriage on the way to Weymouth. My brother, since 1880 Bishop in -Mid-China, recalls the bringing into the town, in carts, about 1834, of -loads of saplings sent to be planted along the London Road; and a noble -avenue they made, which now, alas! is no more than a relic of itself. - -I just remember the days of the stage coaches in Dorchester. I see -the old _Emerald_ still, and hear the bugle of the guard. In 1852 I -travelled by coach to Dorchester from Bath. And how vividly I can see -the excitement of the crowd on the arrival of the first South-Western -train, in 1847! An old woman still runs across my field of view, -crying out: “There, I did never zee a coach avore goo wi’out ’osses!” -I remember, two years later, Prince Albert’s arrival at the station, -where he took carriage for Weymouth, there to lay the first stone of -the Breakwater. Very vividly I recall the thousands of lamps festooned -along the Walks to illuminate an entertainment for old people after -the Crimean peace. Two years earlier, a few weeks before the Alma, -I remember the awful outburst of the cholera in Fordington; it was -brought from London in tainted clothing which was sent to the wash in a -Fordington cottage. My father “stood between the dead and the living” -at that dark time, and, with admirable assistance, was able, under God, -to bar the pestilence from entering the town. - -[Illustration: CORNHILL] - -But I must not ramble further into narrative. Dorchester, with its -integral neighbour, Fordington (incorporated into the borough in 1835), -is very dear to my heart, and it is not easy to put narrow limits upon -reminiscence. Yet scarcely a word has been said here about our chief -architectural features of the place. I have but named Trinity Church, -the third structure in succession to that which perished in 1613, as -All Saints’ Church is the second in like sequence—All Saints’, whose -fine spire, raised in 1852, gave a wholly new feature to the town. St. -Peter’s is the ecclesiastical crown of Dorchester—a noble Perpendicular -church, with a dignified tower, vocal with eight fine bells; in its -churchyard stands a bronze statue of our Dorset poet, William Barnes. -At the head of High Street, where the tree-vaulted Bridport road -runs out westward, stands the modern St. Mary’s, the church of West -Fordington; the pretty original church, Christ Church, now the chapel -of the Artillery Barracks, was built by my father’s efforts in 1847, -when the parish was divided from old Fordington. The County Hall -and Town Hall are leading features of the High Street. The present -Town Hall, in 1849, took the place of a building visible still to my -memory, under which opened an archway leading into North Square, and -which itself succeeded, in 1791, “The Cupola,” near the Town Pump. The -Museum, where my brother, Henry Moule, long superintended and developed -the excellent geological and antiquarian collections, is a handsome -modern feature of the middle High Street; it stands at a point where, -almost within the oldest living memory, projecting houses so narrowed -the roadway that the stage-coach could pass up and down only with great -caution. The County Hospital, founded in 1841, has grown into abundant -usefulness, and makes, with its beautiful little chapel, a dignified -feature of the place. In South Street the quaint front of the “Napper’s -Mite” almshouses, and the Grammar School, are conspicuous. - -[Illustration: “NAPPER’S MITE”] - -With Fordington Church, St. George’s, let me close. As I write[51] it -is about to be largely rebuilt, for Fordington has grown fast; and the -north aisle of 1833 is, indeed, very far from beautiful. But, whilst -I rejoice that space and form should be added to the church, my mind -must still and always see it as it was, with its simple chancel of -1750; its rude, partly Norman, north aisle; its pulpit of 1592, now -approached by a rood-stair re-opened in 1863; its remarkable eleventh -century _tympanum_ at the south door, which shows (probably) St. George -routing the Saracens at Antioch, in armour of the Bayeux type; and -its very noble fifteenth century tower, a model of proportion. Let us -climb that tower, by the stairs familiar to me all my days, and from it -bid farewell to Dorchester. Beautiful is the prospect, near and far. -Below us lies the spacious churchyard, a burial-place, in parts, ever -since the Roman period. Westward you see Dorchester, tower, spire, and -bowery Walks, with Poundbury beyond them. South-westward lies expanded -the vast field of Fordington, which till 1870 was unbroken by fence, -and was tilled by the farmers on a system of annual exchange, older, -probably, than the Christian era. Beyond it stretches the green, -massive rampart of Maiden Castle, and, more distant still, the aerial -dome of Blackdown, crowned by the monumental tower which commemorates -Nelson’s Hardy. North-westward we can almost see beautiful Wolfeton -House, cradle of the greatness of the Bedfords. Northward, we look down -on the roofs and lanes of dear old Fordington; and eastward lie the -long, fair levels of the Swingbridge meadows, where Frome is sluiced -into hundreds of channels, bright with living water. The bowery slopes -of Stinsford and Kingston flank the meadows; and then, eastward, the -broad valley leads the eye away to the vanishing yet abiding line of -the Purbecks, a cloud of tenderest blue. South-eastward, over the -village and its bartons, the woods of Came appear, and the sea-ridge -runs above them with its long line of Danish burial-mounds. Almost in -sight are Max Gate, the home of Mr. Hardy, our renowned novelist, and -the thatched roof of Came Rectory, once the home of our poet, William -Barnes—deep student, true pastor, clear and tender seer of nature and -of man. - - O fields and streams, another race - Already comes to take our place, - To claim their right in you, - Our homes to hold, our walks to rove— - But who shall love you with our love, - Shall know you as we knew? - - - - -WEYMOUTH - -BY SIDNEY HEATH - - -It has become customary in recent years for topographical and other -writers to depict Weymouth, if not exactly as a town of mushroom -growth, at least as one whose history and antiquity date no further -back than from the time when George III. found its salubrious air so -suited to his health. True, the aspect of the modern town has little -left of its pre-Georgian days to tempt the archæologist or allure the -casual literary worker; but a few hours spent among the old records -of the town would speedily remove this first impression of modernity, -and convince even the most sceptical antiquary that the old town of -Weymouth is one of the most ancient in the county of Dorset. The casual -visitor may, therefore, be forgiven his impression that Weymouth was -founded by George III.; for so nearly were the older buildings swept -away at the time of this royal invasion that even loyal Weymouth -citizens now find it difficult to realise how living a thing was the -ancient past of their town, since whatever was left untouched by the -Georgian builders has been well-nigh destroyed in more recent times to -make way for what is called modern convenience and improvement. - -The word Weymouth is derived directly from the Saxon “Waegemuth,” -_waeg_ meaning a wave, that is the sea; and _mutha_, an opening. The -Celtic name for the river Wey, allied to the Welsh word _gwy_, meaning -water, seems to have caused some confusion in the Saxon mind, and have -led them to regard the mouth of the estuary (the Backwater) as the -inlet of the sea rather than the outlet of a small stream. - -[Illustration: The Quay Weymouth] - -The earliest beginnings of the town are lost in obscurity; yet, even -if we are not prepared to accept the assertion of certain historians -that the Tyrian and Phœnician merchants traded here in their numerous -visits to these shores, we have evidence of a more than respectable -antiquity in some traces and memorials of the Roman occupation, in the -way of roads, coins, and pottery; while at Preston, an almost adjoining -village, remains of a Roman villa may still be seen, and considerable -Roman remains have been found at Radipole. - -There are very few records or official documents antecedent to the -reign of William I., and naturally many chasms occur in the continuity -of the recorded history of Weymouth. The earliest mention of the -place is in Saxon annals, which state that King Athelstan, A.D. 938, -granted to the Abbey of Middleton (Milton), in Dorset, in order that -masses might be said for his soul and the souls of his ancestors and -successors, Kings of England: - - All that water within the shore of Waymuth, and half the stream of - that Waymuth out at sea: twelve acres for the support of the wear and - its officer, three thaynes and a saltern by the wear, and sixty-seven - hides of land in its neighbourhood. - -The next mention of the place occurs in a Saxon charter of King -Ethelred II., wherein the King gives land to his minister, Atsere, -during his life, and licence to leave the inheritance of it as he -wills. The charter is signed by the King with the sign of the cross; -by Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Oswald, Archbishop of York; -and the Bishops Athelwold, Living, and Hirwold. The date of this -interesting document is either obliterated or was never inserted; but -in 980 Dunstan was Grand-Master of the fraternity of free and accepted -Masons in England, and both he and Oswald died about 988. - -We find no further record of Weymouth until 1042, when Edward the -Confessor caused a charge to be brought by Robert, Bishop of London, -accusing his mother, Queen Emma, of consenting to the death of her son -Alfred, of endeavouring to poison Edward, another of her sons, and of -maintaining an infamous connection with her kinsman, Alwin, Bishop of -Winton, to the King’s and her own dishonour. The Queen was ordered to -purge herself by “fiery ordeal,” which she did at Winchester Cathedral -in the presence of the King and his nobles; and, having passed -barefooted and blindfold over nine red-hot ploughshares without harm, -she was adjudged to have cleared herself of the accusations and to have -furnished her accusers with an example of what female chastity is able -to accomplish. The King publicly solicited his mother’s pardon; but -the Church of Winton was not so easily appeased at the charge brought -against its Bishop, and forced the repentant King to submit to severe -penance, and to give nine manors to Holy Mother Church, accordingly—“Ex -libello donatorium Wintoniæ Ecclesiæ, S. Edwardus rex, dedit Portelond, -Wikes, Hellwell, et Waimuth maneriis, cum ceteris aliis, ad Wintoniæ -ecclesiæ”; and this grant was confirmed by a bull of Pope Innocent II. - -In _Domesday_ there are several parcels of land separately surveyed -under the name of _wai_ and _waia_, with no additional name to -distinguish them, and they are held by different individuals. - -Henry I. granted by a charter (without date) to the Prior and Monks of -St. Swithun, Winton, the ports of “Waimuth and Melecumb, with all their -appurtenances, together with the manors of Wike and Portelond,” which -King Edward gave them, and that they might enjoy all the liberties, -wrecks, and all free customs, by sea and by land, as they had ever -enjoyed them. This charter was confirmed by Henry II. - -In the reign of Henry III. the manor appears to have been considered -as a dependency of Wyke, and again as appertaining to Portland, but -it is certain that in the early part of this reign it was granted to -Henry Blois, Bishop of Winchester, and his successors, as appears by -the entry on the Charter Rolls. The Bishops did not keep the manor -long, for it soon became the property of the opulent family of Clare, -from whom was descended Edward IV. It would be tedious to trace the -varying fortunes of the Clare family, who were for centuries among the -most powerful in the kingdom; and although much could be written of -the subsequent holders of the manor, the following brief records must -suffice for several decades:— - - * * * * * - -40 Edward III.—Lionel, Duke of Clarence, held the boroughs of Weymouth -and Wareham, the manors of Portland and Wyke, with many others. - -22 Richard II.—Roger Mortimer, Earl of March, held the borough of -Weymouth, the manors of Portland and Wyke, with many others. - -11 Henry V.—Anna, wife of Edward, Earl of March, held the borough of -Weymouth, etc. - - * * * * * - -By the marriage of Ann Mortimer, sister of the Earl of March, with -Richard de Conysburgh, Earl of Cambridge, the manor fell to the house -of York, for their son, Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, succeeded -them; and in 11 Henry VI., the King granted to Richard, Duke of -York, livery of Weymouth, and all the castles, manors, lands, etc., -which Ann, late wife of Edmund, _Comes Marchiæ_, held in dower of the -inheritance of the Duke. - -The town is mentioned by Leland (1538), Coker (1630 _circa_), and -Camden. The first-named writes: - - The Tounlet of Waymouth lyith strait agayn Milton (Melcombe) on the - other side of the haven, and at this place, the Trajectus is by a bote - and a rope, bent over the haven, so that yn the fery-bote they use no - ores. - -In another part of the Itinerary we read: - - Waiymouth Town rite agen Milton, on the other side of the Haven yt is - bigger than Miltoun ys now. The Est South Est point of the Haven of - Waymouth ys caulid St. Aldelm’s point, being a litl foreland. Ther ys - a Chapelle by on the Hille. The Paroch Chirch ys a mile of—a Kay for - shippes in the town—the Haven Mouth almost at hand. Half a mile and - more to the New Castelle—an open Barbecane to the Castelle. Weimouth - is counted 20 miles from Pole. - -Camden states that in the reign of Edward III., the King got together -a powerful army and fleet for the purpose of invading France, and the -town provided twenty ships and 264 mariners for the siege of Calais; -but these figures are disputed by Hackluit, who says there were but -fifteen ships and 263 mariners. In March, 1347, the bailiffs of -Weymouth seized all the goods, chattels, jewels, and armour of Geoffry, -Earl of Harcautly, who had joined the army of the French King. In 1377 -the town suffered considerably from the fleet of Charles V., when great -portions of the ports of Dartmouth, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Hastings, and -Weymouth were destroyed. - -The next event of importance was the landing here, on April 14th, 1471, -of Margaret of Anjou, the consort of Henry VI., on her return from -France with her son, Prince Edward. - -So the tide of history swept on, with periodical ravages from pirates -and enemies, until the appearance off the harbour of a large foreign -fleet of eighty sail, which had voyaged from Middleburg on January -10th, 1505, to escort Philip and Johanna to their Kingdom of -Castile; but a violent hurricane caused the ships to run to Weymouth -for shelter. The inhabitants, being unaware of the quality of their -visitors, and alarmed at so formidable an array of vessels, speedily -armed themselves, and sent word to Sir Thomas Trenchard, at Wolfeton, -who, with Sir John Carew, marched into the town at the head of some -hastily improvised troops. On the rank of the visitors becoming known, -Sir Thomas invited them to his house at Wolfeton until he could advise -the King, Henry VII., of the fortuitous circumstance. As soon as Henry -had notice of the arrival of these royal visitors, he despatched the -Earl of Arundel with a troop of 300 horse, carrying torches, to escort -them to London. - -There is much in the minor history of the town that one would fain -linger over, but we must confine ourselves to those larger and more -far-reaching historical events with which the old life of Weymouth was -so closely bound up. - -In 1544 the bailiffs of Weymouth received the following letter from the -King, Henry VIII.:— - - (By the King.) - - Henr. R. - - Trustie and well beloved, we greate you well. And whereas betweene us - and the Emperor upon provocation of manyfolde injuries committed by - the Frenche Kyng unto us both particularlie; And for his confederation - wyth the Turke, against ye whole commonwealthe of Christendome. It ys - agreede that eche of us aparte, in person, with his puissant Armie in - several parties this soommer, shall invade the Realme of Fraunce; and - beyng not yet furneyshed as to our honour appertayneth:— - - We have appoynted you to send us the nombre of xv hable fotemen, well - furneyshed for the warres as appertayneth, whereof iii to bee archers, - every oone furneyshed with a goode bowe in a cace, with xxiii goode - arrows in a cace, a goode sworde, and a dagger, and the rest to be - billmen, havyng besydes theyre bill, a goode sworde, and a dagger, to - be levyed of your owne servants and tenants. - - And that you put the saide nombre in such a redyness, furnished with - coats and hosen of such colours as is appointed for the battel of our - Armey. - - As they faile not within oone houres warnyng to march forward to such - place as shall be appoynted accordinglie:— - - Yeven under our Sygnete at our palace of Westmr., the v^{th} daie of - June, the xxxv yere of our reigne. - - Henr. R. - -Weymouth had been created a borough in the reign of Edward II., at the -time that his nephew, Gilbert of Clare, Earl of Gloucester, was lord -of the manor (one of whose sisters had married Piers Gaveston, and the -other sister was the wife of Hugh le Despencer); and although the town -is styled a “burg” in several documents relating to previous reigns, it -was not until the nineteenth year of the reign of Edward II. that it -returned a representative to Parliament. - -The borough of Weymouth and the adjoining one of Melcombe (which -together now make up modern Weymouth) had long viewed each other -with jealous eyes; and so many complaints being made through their -respective members, the Parliament prepared a charter, at the -suggestion of Cecil, it is said, which was approved by Queen Elizabeth -in the thirteenth year of her reign, which united these two discordant -elements into one borough. - -The merchants of the town, like all those of our southern ports, played -a zealous and active part in fitting out ships to fight the Armada; and -from a MS. in the Cottonian Library we learn that the following vessels -set out from Weymouth in 1588, with instructions to guard the coast and -seek out the Invincible Armada:— - - Name. Tonnage. Master. Men. - _The Gallion_ 100 Richard Miller 50 - _The Catherine_ 60 30 - _The Heath Hen_ 60 30 - _The Golden Lion_ 120 60 - _The Sutton_ 70 Hugh Preston 40 - _The Expedition_ 70 50 - -[Illustration: A Relic of the Armada.] - -Notwithstanding that their largest vessel was only of 120 tons, the -Weymouth contingent captured two of the galleons and brought them as -prizes into the harbour. The only other vessels sent by the county -on this occasion were two from Lyme Regis—_The Revenge_, of 60 tons, -and _The Jacob_, of 90 tons—and four from Poole. In the Guildhall -there is a memorial of the event in the shape of a massive iron-bound -chest (_see illustration_), believed to have been brought from one -of the captured galleons; and many other relics are scattered over -the county, as at Bingham’s Melcombe, where there is a magnificent -oval dining-table, of massive form and marvellous workmanship, with -the crest of a Spanish grandee in the centre, the whole mounted on a -sea-chest in lieu of legs. Many Spanish coins have been washed ashore -on the Chesil Bank, and it is possible that others of the ill-fated -ships sank in the vicinity of Portland, or that the dons threw their -money and valuables overboard rather than let them fall into the hands -of their captors. - -Little is recorded during the next fifty years, save the building of a -wooden bridge of seventeen arches to unite the two towns, in 1594; and -thirteen years later the town was visited by one of those great plagues -which periodically swept over mediæval England. - -The outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 found the county fairly evenly -divided in support of the rival parties, and Corfe Castle became the -headquarters of the Royalist, and Bingham’s Melcombe that of the -Parliamentary forces. In 1643 the Earl of Carnarvon seized and held -for the King, Weymouth, Melcombe, and Portland, and left them in -charge of Prince Maurice, whose troops are said to have pillaged and -ravaged the district. The following year the Earl of Essex defeated -the Royalist troops, and took the town for the Parliament, when he -was assisted by a fleet under the Lord High Admiral, the Earl of -Warwick. The towns proved a rich prize for the captors, as, in addition -to much ammunition, etc., no less than sixty ships fell into their -hands. The troubles of the inhabitants, however, were far from over, -as in 1645 Sir Lewis Dyves received orders from the King to make -an attempt to re-capture Weymouth, which, with the help of Sir W. -Hastings, the Governor of Portland, he succeeded in doing, and drove -the defenders across the harbour into Melcombe. On June 15th, 1644, the -town surrendered to the Parliamentary Commander, Sir William Balfour, -the final overthrow being largely due to the Earl of Warwick, who -appeared off the harbour with a large fleet, originally mobilised -for the relief of Lyme Regis. The spoils of war which fell into the -hands of the captors included 100 pieces of ordnance, 2,000 muskets, -150 cases of pistols, 200 barrels of powder, and 1,000 swords, in -addition to sixty ships of various tonnage lying in the harbour. The -losses sustained by the combined towns in the Civil War amounted to -£20,000, as a certificate from the Justices, in the Parliamentary Roll, -testifies. The town to-day shows no trace of the fierce bombardments it -underwent, but a house in Maiden Street has a “bogus” memento in the -shape of a cannon ball foolishly inserted in the masonry some decades -since. - -[Illustration: Sandsfoot Castle] - -In 1649 the inhabitants petitioned Parliament for a grant of £3,000, to -enable them to enlarge Melcombe Church, build a new bridge, and free -the harbour from rubbish. - -[Illustration: Doorway Sandsfoot Castle] - -The “Old Castle,” otherwise Sandsfoot Castle, situated about half a -mile from Weymouth proper, is to-day nothing but a mere shell of the -former stronghold. It was built by Henry VIII., about 1539, and was -part of his scheme for the fortification of various parts of the coast, -particularly Portsmouth, Portland, and Weymouth, against a possible -invasion on the part of Papal Europe on his throwing off the Roman yoke -in 1540. Leland calls it “a right goodlie and warlyke castel, havyng -one open barbicane.” The existing masonry shows its form to have been -a parallelogram, and from its commanding position it, no doubt, was a -fortress of considerable strength. It is difficult to identify, from -its crumbling remains, the various portions of the castle, but that -portion to the north, from its vaulted character, appears to have been -the Governor’s apartment; while fronting south was the gun platform, as -the embrasure shows. This platform would also flank its east and west -sides, which were also pierced for big guns, while almost level with -the ground was the barbican, with two tiers of loop-holes for small -arms. - -On a tombstone at Whitchurch Canonicorum is the following inscription:— - - Here lyeth Iohn Wadham of Catherstone, Esquyer, who deceased A.D. - 1584, who was dewring his life time Captayne of the Queene’s Ma^{ties} - castell called Sandesfote, besides Waymouth in the countye of Dorset. - -Among its other Governors were George Bamfield, 1631; Sir Anthony -Ashley Cooper, 1643; Colonel Ashburnham and Colonel William Sydenham, -1644; and Humphrey Weld, of Lulworth, 1685. It is a matter for regret -that this old building should have been so neglected, as each year sees -large masses of its masonry falling over the cliff. As a writer as long -ago as 1829 said: - - Its remains even now attract many an inquisitive enquiry as to why it - has been so neglected, as where the neighing of hostile steeds, and - the busy clang of arms once sounded to the battle’s din, the humble - grass now grows, its walls are the dormitories of the birds of the - air, and its rooms afford pasturage to the cattle; a change certainly - more gratifying to us as a nation; but still its bold towering - appearance, as seen ascending the hill, or viewing it from the hill, - reminds us of some bygone tale. - -In addition to the castle, the town was further protected by several -forts. Probably none of these were in the nature of permanent -fortifications, except the Blockhouse, which stood near the east end -of Blockhouse Lane. The New Fort, or Jetty Fort, was erected at the -entrance of the harbour, at the end of the old pier, and was dismantled -in 1661, although in Hutchins’ time three guns were placed in position -on the same site. Then there was Dock Fort, under the hill, west of -the Jetty Pier, St. Nicholas’ Chapel converted into a fort by the -Parliamentary troops, and a small fort called the Nothe Fort. - -Few events seem to have occurred during the Protectorate that need -recording beyond the great naval victory gained by Blake over Van -Tromp, off Portland; and, as some compensation for the damage done to -their property during the reign of his father, Charles II. granted the -town in 1660 an annuity of £100 a year for ten years from the Customs’ -dues. It was during this reign that tradesmen coined small money or -tokens for the convenience of those wishing to buy small quantities -of goods, as but little small money was coined by authority. In 1594 -the Mayor of Bristol was granted permission to coin a token, and the -benefit to the community proved so great that the custom spread to -other towns. Weymouth coined many of these tokens (_see illustration_), -which were made of copper, brass, or lead, and decorated as fancy -dictated. Every person and tradesman in the town was obliged to take -them, and they undoubtedly answered the purpose of providing the people -with small money. In 1672, however, Charles II. ordered to be coined -a sufficient number of half-pence and farthings for the exigencies -of the State, and these _numorum famuli_ were prohibited as being an -infringement of the King’s prerogative. - -[Illustration: - - The Town Token - - Thomas Hyde - - Bartholomew Beer - - James Stanley - - James Budd - - Some Weymouth - Tokens] - -The grant of armorial bearings to Weymouth and Melcombe Regis bears the -date of May 1st, 1592. The seals of the town were eight in number, a -description of which is recorded in Ellis’s _History of Weymouth_. - -When the ill-starred Duke of Monmouth landed at Lyme Regis in 1685, -no Weymouthians seem to have flocked to his standard. Upon the -failure of the rebellion the participants of the neighbourhood were -quickly disposed of by Judge Jeffreys, who opened his Bloody Assize -at Dorchester, and ordered them to be hanged at Greenhill, and their -bodies to be dismembered and exhibited throughout the county as a -warning to rebels. - -[Illustration: Arms of Weymouth] - -So we come down to the close of the seventeenth century with little to -record save devastating fires, plagues, and storms. A general period of -poverty and depression seems then to have overtaken the two towns. The -causes leading to this change, which had begun to show itself in the -reign of Elizabeth, were many and various, and may be briefly ascribed -to the concrete result of the vicious rule of the Stuarts, the removal -of the wool trade to Poole, the loss of the Newfoundland trade, and -the injury received during the Civil War. Ellis tells us that, at the -beginning of the eighteenth century, “scarcely any idea can be formed -of the general devastation and depression that everywhere prevailed. -Houses were of little value ... the population had dwindled to a mere -nothing ... old tenements fell down ... the inhabitants consisted -chiefly of smugglers and fishermen.” - -Before we turn to the brighter days which set in towards the middle -of the reign of George III., a short account must be given of the -larger memorials of the town—_e.g._, the old bridge, the priory, and -the parish church, although it must be confessed that of important -antiquities dating before the Georgian era the town has little to show -beyond a few remnants of Jacobean houses, part of one solitary pillar -of the chapel, and possibly a few old doorways; and in later and minor -memorials the town is little better off. There is, in the Guildhall, -the fine iron-bound chest before mentioned, and another, said to be -of similar origin, bequeathed by the late Sir Richard Howard. There is -also an ancient chair with a cardinal’s hat carved on the back, and -the old stocks and whipping-post; but for the most part nothing has -survived save the truly Georgian, such as round windows, picturesque -doorways, and part of the old Gloucester Lodge, now an hotel—an -altogether disappointing record in comparison with the long and varied -history of the place. - -[Illustration: Old House on North Quay. Weymouth] - -Of the old chapel,[52] the one remaining stone is preserved in the -wall of a school. The chapel was a chapel of ease to Wyke Regis, the -mother-church of Weymouth, and was dedicated to St. Nicholas. It stood -on the summit of a hill overlooking the old town of Weymouth, and its -site is commemorated in the name “Chapelhaye,” by which the district is -known. There are several documents extant relating to this chapel, and -among extracts from the _Liceirce_ is the following:— - - None shall fail at the setting forth of the procession of Corpus - Christi day, on pain of forfeiting one pound of wax, and each brother - shall pay six pennies to the procession, and pay yearly. - -This relates to the fraternity or guild in the Chapel of St. Nicholas, -which was founded by a patent granted in 20 Henry VIII. to Adam -Moleyns, Dean of Sarum, and certain parishioners of Wyke Regis, and -known as “The Fraternity or Guild of St. George in Weymouth.” - -[Illustration: Old Chair at Weymouth.] - -Before the building of a bridge across the harbour the means of direct -communication between the two towns was, so Leland says in 1530, by -means of a boat, drawn over by a rope affixed to two posts, erected on -either side of the harbour, a contrivance which was in use at Portland -Ferry as late as 1839. In 1594 this primitive method of crossing gave -way on the erection of the wooden bridge before referred to, erected -at the expense of several wealthy merchants of London, who appear to -have had trading interests here. This, in its turn, was so seriously -injured during the Civil Wars, that it fell to pieces, and was rebuilt -in 12 Anne by Thomas Hardy, Knt., William Harvey, James Littleton, -and Reginald Marriott, the towns’ Parliamentary representatives, and -it continued in use until 1741, when a bridge sixty yards long, with -a draw-bridge in the centre, took its place. The celebrated Bubb -Dodington, the first and only Lord Melcombe, contributed largely to its -cost. In 1770 another bridge was erected some seventy yards westward, -thus increasing the length of the harbour; but as the inhabitants were -forced to make a considerable detour to reach it, they petitioned -against the proposed alteration, but to no purpose. In 1820 it was -determined to erect the first bridge of stone,[53] which is still in -use, and only calls for mention here from the fact that on pulling down -some adjacent houses an urn filled with silver coins of Elizabeth, -James I., and Charles I. was found; and it is said that some of the -inhabitants had a fine haul of “treasure trove” on this occasion. More -interesting, perhaps, was the discovery of a gilt brass crucifix, -four inches long; and on the wall of one of the demolished houses was -painted the following verse:— - - God saue our Queene Elizabethe, - God send hir happie dayes; - God graunt her grace to - Persevir in his most holie wayes. - A. Dom. 1577. - -The old priory, or, as it was more commonly called, the “Friary,” stood -in Maiden Street. It was a house of the Dominican Friars, dedicated -in the name of St. Winifred, although Speed gives Dominic as the -dedicatory saint. Leland writes of it as “a fayre house of Freres in -the est part of the town.” The ancient chair now in the Guildhall -came from this priory, and it was said to possess miraculous powers of -healing the sick, and otherwise blessing the devout who were privileged -to sit upon it. The priory shared the fate of the other monastic -foundations at the Dissolution. - -Of churches which can be rightly considered as memorials, Weymouth -has no example, as the oldest is that of St. Mary, the parish church. -The foundation-stone was laid on October 4th, 1815; this church was -erected partly on the site of a former church. It is a large, simple, -and unpretentious building, of which some hard things have been said -and written, but it is at least well built and free from sham, although -of its architecture the less said the better. It is, however, somewhat -redeemed by an excellently designed cupola containing one bell. Inside, -an altar-piece by Sir James Thornhill, a native of the town, whose -daughter married his pupil Hogarth, claims attention; as also does the -following curious inscription, in which the artist, by contracting -the word “worthiest,” has conveyed the very opposite estimate of the -deceased’s character to that intended:— - - UNDERTH LIES YE BODY OF - CHRISR. BROOKS ESQ. OF JAMAICA - WHO DEPARD. THIS LIFE 4 SEPR. 1769 - AGED 38 YEARS, ONE OF YE WORST. OF MEN - FRIEND TO YE DISTRESD. - TRULY AFFECTD. & KIND HUSBAND - TENDER PART. & A SINCR. FRIEND. - -An old chalice belonging to the former church which stood on this site -was in the possession of Mr. Ellis. It was made of pewter, weighed -(without the lid, which was missing) 4½ lbs., and held four pints. -On the front was engraved: - - HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD, - ZACH. XIV., VER. 20. - JOHN STARR, - CHURCHWARDEN, - 1633. - -About the middle of the eighteenth century a gentleman of Bath, Ralph -Allen (the original of Fielding’s “Squire Allworthy”), having been -recommended sea-bathing for his health, found the shore of Melcombe so -suitable for his purpose that he spoke of it to the Duke of Gloucester. -His Royal Highness came, sampled the salt water, and built Gloucester -Lodge, to which house he shortly afterwards invited the King, George -III., who spent eleven weeks here, with his Queen and family, in the -summer of 1789. The result of this and subsequent visits was that His -Majesty purchased the house and converted it into a royal residence. A -great stimulus was thus given to the town, which entered upon a period -of prosperity; for here George III. held court, and heard the news of -some of Nelson’s and Wellington’s victories. Very gay, indeed, was -the life of those days, with music, feasting, and dancing, which took -place in what is now called “the Old Rooms” (formerly an inn), across -the harbour. It was at Gloucester Lodge that His Majesty received his -ministers, and from whence he and Queen Charlotte used to walk to the -little theatre in Augusta Place to witness the performances of Mrs. -Siddons and her contemporaries. Queen Charlotte’s second keeper of -robes was Fanny Burney (Madame D’Arblay), the chronicler of George -III., and the author of _Evelina_ and _Camilla_, for which last she -received 3,000 guineas, with which sum she built Camilla Cottage, at -Mickleham, near Dorking. - -At Weymouth, in 1785, was born Thomas Love Peacock, the author of _The -Monks of St. Mark_, and other works. He was Under-Secretary to Sir -Home Popham, and afterwards Chief Examiner and Clerk to the East India -Company, from which post he retired in 1856 with a pension of £1,333 -per annum. He was a friend of Shelley, whom he had met on a walking -tour in Wales in 1812. He died in 1866, aged eighty years. - -In the long list of eminent men who have represented the towns in -Parliament we find the names of Francis Bacon (Lord Verulam), Sir -Christopher Wren, and the celebrated political adventurer, Bubb -Dodington. - -One of the most interesting studies for the topographer lies in tracing -the origin of the names of the streets of a town; and the names of -the principal streets of Weymouth are distinctly traceable to their -origin. St. Nicholas’ Street derives its name from the patron-saint -of maritime towns; Francis Street comes probably from Franchise; Boot -Lane (formerly Buckler’s), from an inn called “The Boot”; Helen Lane, -from Queen Eleanor, who held the manor of Melcombe; Maiden Street, from -Queen Elizabeth, who united the boroughs; and St. Edmund’s Street, St. -Thomas’ Street, and St. Mary’s Street, possibly from chapels dedicated -in honour of these saints. - - -[Illustration: The Old Stocks, Weymouth.] - - - - -THE ISLE OF PORTLAND - -BY MRS. KING WARRY - - -To the stranger of antiquarian or geological tastes Portland must ever -be of interest; but the casual visitor—seeing it for the first time -in the glare of the noonday sun, amidst eddying clouds of stone-dust -tossed hither and thither by blustering winds, or when the over-charged -atmosphere settles like a misty cap on the Verne Heights—is apt, if -he have formed expectations, to be woefully disappointed. The fact is -that nowhere, perhaps, is the Spirit of Place more coy and difficult -of access than in modern Portland, having retreated before barracks, -fortifications, and prison, before traction-engines and signs of -commercial prosperity. But, properly wooed, it can still be won, and -once found, how well it repays the trouble of seeking! A mere cycle -run or drive through the island is emphatically _not_ the way to see -Portland Isle, especially the Portland of the past. The visitor needs -to walk, saunter, and lounge idly for at least a few days, and then, -if he have a well-stored mind and fail to experience the subtle, -indefinable sensation called “charm,” he must be strangely lacking in -that spiritual perception which alone makes man feel at one with the -universe and with God. - -The convict establishment and Government quarries have displaced much -which lent an interest to the island; the barracks and harbour works -have displaced still more—but fortunately we retain a few records -which, scanty though they be, reveal a something of the past. Gone -is the barrow of that king whose very name is lost; and this supposed -last resting-place of a mighty chieftain, swept through long centuries -by pure sea-laden breezes, is now desecrated by quarrying operations: -the barrow of Celtic Bran is but an empty name, though Mound Owl still -remains in part, a silent witness of Saxon prowess and possibly of the -fierceness of the contest maintained so long in Royal Dorset. - -Gone, also, is the sometime well-preserved earthwork on the Verne -Hill, formerly attributed to Roman or Dane, and now believed to have -been older than either. Only a slight vestige of the double fosse-way -remains; though an old man, but lately passed away, has told us that -in the days of his youth he could stand on that part of the West Cliff -known as Priory and distinctly trace it throughout its length as it -tended downwards towards the harbour, once the scene alike of peaceful -commercial intercourse or sanguinary combats. Looking across Portland -Mere from the hill-top, one can imagine it all—from the probable -peaceful Phœnician trader and Roman trireme to the Viking rovers and -much-dreaded “long ships,” even as can be pictured in some degree the -character of the opposite coast before the altered tidal action inside -Portland breakwater had caused beautiful Smallmouth Sands to vanish -and Sandsfoot Castle to stand perilously near the crumbling cliff-edge -in ruinous state; whilst the opposite Portland Castle still remains, -casting much of its original reflection in the Mere waters, a standing -witness to the uneasy conscience of Henry VIII. respecting French -designs. - -Page upon page of unwritten history lay open to the observant eye -as recently as some sixty years or so ago, all traces of which are -rapidly vanishing before modern requirements. Barrows, earthworks, -and so-called Druidical circles were then so strongly in evidence -(especially one well-preserved circle near where the prison Governor’s -house now stands) as to make one think that religious observances of -one kind or another must have been strongly marked during those early -days. Indeed, the Bill itself—cleaving the clear waters within sight -of the foam-tossed Race and equally dangerous Shambles, its point -accentuated by the curious outstanding Pulpit Rock—is often termed -“Beel” by the old islanders, and is by some supposed to derive its name -from Baal. - -The former bold outline of the West Cliff is in part lost, owing to -land-slides during the past century; and lost, likewise (owing to tidal -action), is the old pathway round the Weirs underneath, towards the -lighthouses, which formed a pleasant ramble seventy odd years ago. -But the view from the cliff-tops, both east and west, must be much -the same as in immediately-preceding centuries, and it is only those -who have watched the flickering lights and shadows and roseate glow -over-spreading the white coast-line in early day right away to St. -Ealdhelm’s, or faced the sunset on the West Cliff, who can appreciate -one of the chief charms of Portland, viz., the varying character of the -coast-line, both far and near—that coast which surely no Englishman can -survey without emotion, abounding as it does in memories of the deeds -which helped to make our England. - -The Bay itself is glorious to look down upon, with its pebbly ridge -dividing it from that other water more like lake than sea; whilst -straight away, cloud-cleaving in the haze, is Blackdown, capped by -Hardy’s Monument, over which hover greyish-purple shadows, changing -into those tones and half-tones which are so charming in Dorset -“distances.” - -The East Weirs, again, were an ideal place for a day’s ramble, with -their wild undergrowth, dog-roses and honeysuckle sending their -fragrance along the sea-laden breezes. Set off on one hand by the grey, -grim cliffs above, and the restless waters on the other, they merge -into a chaotic jumble of rocks and grass, terminating abruptly in a -ledge overlooking one of the gems of the isle—the beautiful little -cove of Church Hope. This cove is guarded above by weather-beaten Bow -and Arrow Castle, the old ruined church, and Pennsylvania Castle, the -latter lying at the head of a romantic grassy slope studded with trees, -and the whole forming a delightful rest for tired eyes in treeless, -stony Portland Isle. - -Bow and Arrow, or Rufus Castle, is worth more than a mere passing -allusion, but space forbids. Its alternative name may show the period -of its erection; it was probably built about the same time as the -ancient church which preceded the adjacent ruined building. Its -original strength is apparent at a glance, and its position on the -summit of a crag overlooking the channel is distinctly striking. Old -Portlanders believed the above-mentioned crag to have once been near -the centre of the island, and the Shambles to have been the site of -butchers’ shops. When we recall the great historic land-slides on the -north-east in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and remember -how the old people are stated to have spoken of them with bated breath, -in reference to the terror they had caused the then living inhabitants, -who had believed the whole island to be slipping away, the tradition -does not seem so wildly impossible. - -Recorded history is so silent respecting the early years of Portland, -that one fancies it must have inherited its full share of that -barbarism into which Britain relapsed after the departure of the -Romans, its very name having been lost; for that it was the “Vindilis,” -or “Vindilia,” of Roman times, is open to grave doubts, the latest -edition of the _Antonine Itinerary_ stating that place to have been -Belle Isle. It is much more generally accepted that Portland was -referred to in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ as the landing-place of the -men “who came in three long ships from Hæretha Land (Denmark), A.D. -787.” Terrible, indeed, must have been the depredations of these wild -northmen during this and subsequent periods, for floating traditions -to linger on till past the middle of the nineteenth century. It is well -within the writer’s memory that rebellious children were sometimes -threatened with being carried off by “the cruel wild men, who come over -the beach in the middle of the night and carry away naughty children”—a -threat which was varied by references to “Old Arripay” or “Boney.” The -“wild men” seemed too remote, and “Arripay” too nebulous to a child’s -mind to cause much fear; but “Boney” was a real terror to the little -conscience-stricken individual, so familiar with frequent allusions -to the threatened French invasion under Buonaparte as to consider him -still living, and to regard him with a mighty dread. - -There is a legend still extant that after the defeat of the Danes at -Charmouth they landed at Portland and carried off some maidens, whom -they imprisoned in the bottom of their ship. Owing to a fearful storm, -the Danes perished, whilst the ship containing the bound girls was -driven backwards during the night and cast ashore. When the light of -morning broke, to their great joy, they found themselves at the very -place from which they had been stolen. - -Duke Æthelhelm defeated the Danes here in 837; and in 1052 Earl Godwin -landed and plundered the island. - -Edward the Confessor granted the manor to the church at Winchester, -which grant must have been revoked by the Conqueror, as _Domesday Book_ -states: “The King holds the island which is called Porland.” Later on -we find the Prior and Convent of Winchester held Portland, which may -account for certain lands there still being called Priory. It must not -be forgotten that the manor in ancient times included the dependencies -of Wyke, Weymouth, and Helwell. Interesting references to grants of the -Manor may be seen at the British Museum. Amongst the more noteworthy -names in this connection may be cited those of Gilbert de Clare, -Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, Lionel Duke of Clarence, and Cecilia -Duchess of York. Later still we find Henry VIII. granting the Manor -and Isle to Catherine Howard, and then to Catherine Parr, Portland -having formed part of Jane Seymour’s possessions. In a closet over the -gun-room at Portland Castle is the following inscription:— - - God, save, Kinge, Henri, the viii, of, that, name, and, Prins, Edvard, - begottin, of, Quene, Jane, my, Ladi, Mari, that, goodli, Virgin, and, - the, Ladi, Elizabeth, so, towardli, with, the, Kinge’s, honorable, - counselers. - -Amongst the Lansdowne MSS. in the British Museum is one entitled -“Remembrance for Lord Burghly as to certain fixtures of Sir W. Raleigh -relating to Portland Castle, 1587”; and in 1625 the name of Gilbert -Rawleigh is cited as Governor of the Castle. - -We can fancy those stirring times in 1558, when Coker tells us that off -Portland, in full view of those on shore, was witnessed a great fight -with the Invincible Armada, two of whose treasure-ships were brought -into Portland Roads. For long years after, during a ground-swell, -dollars and “ducky-stones” were picked up on Portland Beach, and -were supposed to be a portion of that treasure which was to have -been used in subjugating England. _En passant_, it may be said that -the ducky-stone (a piece of solid silver about the size and somewhat -the shape of a small saucer) did not derive its name from the ducat, -but from the Portland game of “ducky,” which consisted in trying -to dislodge a stone poised lightly on the top of a larger stone—a -matter eliciting some of that skill in stone-slinging for which the -Portlanders (often termed the British Baleares) were once noted. - -Again, in 1653, the celebrated running fight between Van Tromp and -Blake took place off Portland, memories of which, together with the -landing of the Duke of Monmouth “down Lyme way” some thirty odd years -later, lingered in the talk of the old people down to our own times. -Their memories were also very keen respecting the days of “good” Queen -Anne (when certain Portlanders were “touched” for “the Evil”), of -“forty-five,” and of the chief battles of Marlborough, Wellington, -and Nelson—the victory of the Nile, with its attendant rejoicings, -assuming a greater importance than any other, as perhaps was befitting -in a coast people who could recognise the value of this French defeat; -but most of all were their hearts stirred by tales of the long list -of brave ships which had met their doom on the rocks, of hair-breadth -escapes and thrilling rescues, and great was the indignation expressed -if any allusion were made to the old mainland belief, that the island -inhabitants had ever been wreckers. - -The Portlanders, ever loyal at heart, probably sided wholly with the -King during the contests between Charles and his Parliament; but the -place changed hands several times during the struggle. Cromwell must -have felt assured of this loyalty, as he appears to have been in -vengeful mood towards the old Parsonage House, the “Island Ancient -Records” containing the following entry:— - - One Personage House in the Villidge of Wakem Demolished and burnt down - by the Usurper Oliver Cromwell and hant been rebuilded every since. - -The method of quarrying stone is too well known to need comment; but -one curious custom which prevailed among the quarrymen until quite -recent times may here be cited, known as “jumping the broomstick.” On -the marriage of one of their number, the quarrymen all adjourned to the -George Inn, where the bachelors were ranged on one side and the married -men on the other, a broomstick lying between. Chanting a doggerel -couplet, the married men had a tug-of-war with the single men, and, -pulling the newly-made bridegroom across the broomstick, he was made to -stand “drinks all round.” - -The more closely the descent of the Portland people is investigated, -the more probable appears the persistent island tradition that three -families successively settled in the island amongst the original -inhabitants, viz.: the Combens (valley men?), the Pearces from Ireland, -and the Whites, “who came from the sea, Dover way.” This corresponds -in the main with the Belgic inroads, the Irish incursions in the west -during the third and subsequent centuries, and with the Jutish, or -mixed Jutish and Frisian settlement at Portland, of which there is -considerable proof. Anyway, one strong Frisian characteristic tallied -well with the intense independence of the old Portlander, coupled with -the occasional phrase, “as free as the air,” and the proudly-repeated -assertion, “None over us but the Sovereign; she” (in the case of the -late Queen) “is Lady of the Manor.” - -The inbred distrust of strangers, called _kimberlins_ (pointing, -perhaps, to a comparatively pure-blooded community), coupled with his -insularity, gave a certain reserve to the old Portlander; but, once his -confidence won, none more communicative or hospitable than he. True -alike to his preferences and aversions, full of prejudices, but loyal, -brave and manly, proud of his word of honour, he was by no means to be -despised either as friend or foe. Quarrelsome he certainly was if his -sense of right were in any way disturbed; otherwise he was peaceful and -law-abiding, except as regards smuggling; and it was, perhaps, this -probable old Frisian love of freedom which made him consider that what -came by the sea was free to all, and to resent tax or toll thereon. Not -long since an underground passage was unearthed between two old houses, -one of which had secret recesses behind two sideboards. This may have -been a fair sample of many such houses in the old smuggling days. - -The Portlander was also proud of his old Saxon customs, of his Court -Leet and his Reeve (Anglo-Saxon, _gerefa_), of his “share and share -alike” system (_gavel-kind_) regarding division of property, and of -his pre-feudal method of conveyance of land, viz.: by church-gift, a -method still frequently adhered to. - -In a MS. account of Portland Isle (1696) Stowe has left an amusing -account of the way in which land was set apart for daughters during the -parents’ lifetime. The father, with some of the principal inhabitants, -would stand in the church porch after Evening Service, and declare -aloud his intention, naming his daughters in full, and specifying -the exact boundaries of each piece of land, after which all the -congregation would rise up and bless the daughters by name. - -[Illustration: _Portland Cottages_] - -An old-time Portland wedding was an amusing ceremony. The bride and -bridegroom always walked to church, followed by their friends in -couples. After the wedding-feast the whole party perambulated the -island, calling at their friends’ houses _en route_. The well-to-do -kept up festivities perhaps for two or three days. It was the proud -boast of an old lady of the last century that she had had more couples -follow her at her wedding in 1809 than had ever been known in the -island, and that her wedding had been kept up longer than any other. -She had been followed by nearly seventy couples, and the wedding -festivities had been celebrated for a week afterwards. - -An island funeral was a peculiarly mournful sight, the coffin being -carried by relays of bearers, followed by a long procession of -mourners, walking slowly two by two, clad in garments of the deepest -woe. If, however, the deceased were an infant or very young child, the -bearers would consist of young girls dressed completely in white. - -The fourteenth of May, when the cows were turned into the Common, -was kept as a gala day. Girls dressed in white, and club-walking, -and general rejoicing took place. There was also a very old custom -of keeping the household fires going from November to May, and not -permitting them to be lit again (except for necessary cooking) from May -till November. An old Portlander who died about 1830 was the last to -adhere rigidly to this rule. - -Superstition of all kinds was rife, and so akin were some of the old -beliefs to those of Devon and Cornwall as to betray a common origin. -Numerous and varied were the healing remedies employed by the old -people; whilst, coupled with many cooking recipes, which would be -regarded to-day with feelings akin to disgust, are some which can still -be appreciated, such as Royal Pudding, roast Portland lamb, and the -most approved method of cooking wheat-ears—all dishes beloved by King -George III., and prepared for him at the old “Portland Arms,” when His -Most Gracious Majesty visited the Island. - - - - -THE ISLE OF PURBECK - -BY A. D. MOULLIN - - -North of the irregular coast-line of Dorset, from Lulworth on the -west to Handfast Point and Old Harry Rocks on the east (a distance of -twelve miles), and extending inland for some five to eight miles, lies -a district of about a hundred square miles in area, known as the Isle -of Purbeck. It is an island only in the same sense as Thanet. It is -bounded on the north by Poole Harbour and the river Frome; on the west, -partly by Luckford Lake, a tributary of the Frome; and an imaginary -line running southward to the rugged coast-line forms its southern and -eastern boundary. - -It is strange to tell that this more or less undefined limitation has -had a marked effect on the character and customs of the people who -inhabit the Isle of Purbeck, as compared with the dwellers in the other -portions of the county. They, like the people of Portland, claim for -themselves a distinct individuality, due, possibly, in some measure -to the hereditary rights of quarrying which have done much to keep -families together, and minimised the introduction of a foreign element -into their midst. These quarrying rights have always been jealously -guarded, and the unwritten laws regulating this industry stringently -enforced. - -The centre of the island is dominated by Corfe Castle; and such -importance was centred in this old-world town and fortress that the -lord of the manor of Corfe was also Lord-Lieutenant of Purbeck. - -Originally the whole of this interesting district was a royal -deer-warren, and much of it was covered with forest. Here Norman and -Plantagenet kings enjoyed the chase; and summary justice was meted out -to those who infringed the Forest laws. - -In early times, one of the most important towns in the county was -Wareham; and although it is on the north bank of the river Frome, -one of the boundaries of Purbeck, still it is usually considered to -belong to the island. Of its great antiquity there is, fortunately, -ample record. King Alfred set up a mint in the town; and it was here -that, in 876, he attacked the Danes who had sailed up the Frome to -Wareham, where they soon took possession of the Castle and entrenched -themselves in a strong position behind the walls and earthworks, and -found it a convenient centre for ravaging the neighbourhood at their -leisure. Alfred had meanwhile defeated these Scandinavian pirates in -a sea-fight, which possibly was the first naval victory gained by the -English. Probably disheartened by this defeat, the Danes agreed to -terms of peace, promising to sail away quietly to their own country; -instead of which some of them rode off towards Exeter, hoping to be -joined by the rest of their men in the ships which lay off Wareham. -Their treachery was not destined to succeed, for a mighty storm arose, -and wrecked about a hundred of the Danish ships off Old Harry Rocks, -near Swanage. This loss temporarily broke the power of the northern foe. - -The Church of Lady St. Mary in Wareham was in 978 the temporary -resting-place of the body of Edward the Martyr, although the -pre-Conquest Church which occupied the same site has passed away. -It is interesting to think that for more than a thousand years -religious services have been conducted on this spot. Of the several -ecclesiastical buildings once possessed by this town there remain -only three: St. Mary’s, just mentioned, and two others now no longer -regularly used for service. - -The Purbeck Hills, which nearly bisect the Isle from east to west, -divide the heathland with its china clay and marshes on the north from -the stone measures known as the Purbeck beds on the south. The chalk -hills of the range attain in places to a height of nearly 700 feet, -and form an imposing barrier when viewed either from land or sea. The -Romans were not slow to discover the properties of the china clay, from -which they made pottery on an extensive scale, and tiles and tesserae -with which to adorn their houses. - -Of the many old manor-houses with which this district abounds, space -will only admit the mention of a few. Some three miles to the south of -Wareham is Creech, a very ancient manor, with the house rebuilt in the -seventeenth century. According to Hutchins, the manor is mentioned as -early as Edward the Confessor’s time, and in the _Domesday Book_ it is -said to belong to the Earl of Morton; afterwards, until the dissolution -of the monasteries, it was held by Bindon Abbey, after which it was -given to Sir John Horsey, and towards the end of the seventeenth -century it was purchased by an ancestor of the Bond family, its present -holders. Crossing the densely wooded slope of the Purbeck Hills, and -descending on the other side towards the sea, we find another ancient -manor-house, that of Great Tyneham, built about 1570. It is one of the -largest of the many old manor-houses of that period. - -East and West Lulworth, although, strictly speaking, outside the -confines of the Island, are so closely associated with it that a -passing comment may not be out of place. At West Lulworth is a Cove -almost encircled by the distorted and upheaved strata of the Purbeck -beds. These form a natural harbour, which, when once seen, is not -easily forgotten. There is a tradition, which forms the basis of one -of Mr. Hardy’s stories in _Life’s Little Ironies_, that the great -Napoleon was seen here in 1804 seeking a suitable landing-place for -the flat-bottomed barges in which he hoped to bring his legions across -the channel to invade England. If this story is true, how he must have -gazed with interest at the beacon-fires on each promontory and hill-top -ready to be lit to give warning of the impending peril. - -About half a mile to the east of the Cove, well above the action of -the sea, are extensive remains of a “Fossil Forest,” with many of the -tree-trunks in position. - -The village of East Lulworth, where once stood a monastery, is about -a mile inland from the sea. Near this is Lulworth Castle, the seat of -the Weld family, a conspicuous object looking like a fortress, with its -four massive corner towers, which give the grey stone structure a grim -appearance from the sea. It was built between 1588 and 1609, largely of -stone brought from the ruins of Bindon Abbey; and there is still to be -seen at the Castle an exquisitely carved oak door which is said to have -belonged to the Abbey. The Castle has had many royal visitors—James I., -Charles II., the Duke of Monmouth, George III., and Queen Charlotte -among the number. The unhappy Mrs. FitzHerbert, morganatic wife of -George IV., was first married to Mr. Weld, and lived here; her portrait -and diamond and pearl necklace are still kept at the Castle. - -From Tyneham towards St. Ealdhelm’s Head extend the shallows of -the dangerous Kimmeridge Ledge, with its interesting formation of -bituminous shale underlying the Portland Beds, a kind of coal which may -be easily burnt, and is, indeed, used for fuel by many of the cottagers -of the district, notwithstanding the unpleasant smell it emits when -burning, and the dense shower of soot that falls from the smoke. In the -early part of last century a fire broke out and smouldered for many -months, at Holworth, on a continuation of this outcrop further to the -west, and was known as the Burning Cliff. At times volumes of smoke -arose, the pungent smell of which was distinctly perceptible as far off -as Weymouth when the wind was blowing from the east. - -From the days of Sir William Clavel, in the reign of Charles I., the -minerals of Kimmeridge have from time to time been worked, and many and -various have been the schemes for exploiting this bituminous deposit, -and even at the present day samples are occasionally sent for with the -view to extracting mineral oil. But one must go back to a much more -remote period for the first evidence of early workings. The Romans, -during their occupation of this part of the coast, were not slow to -discover the value of this supply of fuel, which may possibly have been -worked long before their arrival. - -The expert Roman craftsmen found also that the shale was capable of -being turned and fashioned into various kinds of ornamental articles -resembling those made of jet; so they set up lathes on the spot to turn -out these articles, which, no doubt, met with a ready sale among the -fashionable dwellers in Durnovaria (Dorchester). That the existence of -these lathes was an actual fact is proved by the hundreds of discs or -cores which remain to this day, and are found in and with the Roman -pottery fashioned from the Wealdon clay of the district. These discs -are usually from 1¼ to 2½ inches in diameter, with central holes -to attach them to the lathe mandril, and were the discarded centres of -rings and other ornaments made from the shale. By local tradition these -discs have always been known as “Kimmeridge coal money,” and although -present-day antiquaries laugh at the idea of their ever having been -used as money, the writer ventures to suggest the possibility of the -correctness of such a theory. They are found in considerable numbers -securely hidden away a short distance below the surface of the ground, -usually between stones placed on edge and covered over by another flat -stone. The care with which they were secreted indicates that they -were considered of some value to the owner. May not the Celts have -collected and used them as tallies or tokens? These discs, bearing the -tool marks of the turner, would have been impossible to counterfeit by -the uncivilised races of that day, to whom the use of the lathe was -unknown. The value of local traditionary names is considerable, and the -foregoing appears to be a feasible suggestion as to the authenticity of -the name, “Kimmeridge coal money.” - -This part of the coast has a desolate and forbidding appearance, due to -its black, shaley formation. - -Looking eastward, St. Ealdhelm’s Head stands out in majestic grandeur, -rising out of the sea more than 350 feet in height, and crowned at -its seaward end by the Norman chapel dedicated to St. Ealdhelm, first -Bishop of Sherborne. - -About a mile and a half inland we come upon the little church of -Worth Matravers, in the centre of the village of that name; it is -probably the most ancient building in Purbeck of which anything now -remains. Here we find traces of Saxon work, with that of Norman -added; the chancel arch is a good example of the latter. It is now -generally considered possible that here was one of the two sacred -edifices built by St. Ealdhelm in Purbeck and mentioned in ancient -records. The divided buttress on the north wall, and the grave-stone of -Benjamin Jesty are objects of interest. On the latter is the following -inscription:— - - Sacred to the memory of Benjamin Jesty of Downshay, who departed - this life April 16th, 1816, aged 70. He was born at Yetminster in - this county, and was an upright honest man, particularly noted for - having been the first person (known) that introduced the cowpox by - inoculation, and who from his strength of mind made the experiment - from the cow on his wife and two sons in the year 1774. - -From Worth Church to Swanage there is a track or path known still as -Priestway, originally used by the priests of Worth passing backwards -and forwards between Swanage and Worth churches, the latter of which -is said to have been the mother-church. Sir Charles Robinson says that -Worth is the Saxon word for village, and that the second half of the -name was added because it was owned by Sir John Matravers, who had -charge of Edward II. during his imprisonment at Corfe Castle. - -[Illustration: “KIMMERIDGE COAL MONEY.”] - -From the elevated road along the cliffs may be seen a series of -terraces, known locally as Lynchets, cut out on the slopes of the hills -facing the sea; as to the use and origin of these escarpments there -have been many theories and much discussion. That they are artificial -and not natural there can be little doubt, and the labour expended in -their formation must have been enormous. From their position, facing -south-east, south, and south-west, one may fairly assume that their -object was for agricultural purposes. They are to be found in several -other parts of Dorset, as well as in other counties. - -Dr. Colley March[54] says the word lynchet is derived from the -Anglo-Saxon _hlinc_, meaning a ridge of land. He tells us that in the -reign of Henry VIII. an Act was passed compelling all farmers with -sixty acres of pasture or arable land to cultivate one rood, where the -soil was suitable, for growing flax or hemp for cordage for the needs -of the navy, and concludes as follows:— - - In fine the law that compelled farmers to cultivate flax, the - permission to do so in any place they were able to secure, the - importance of suitable soil, and the necessity of prompt and efficient - drainage, that could but be obtained on a sloping surface will account - for a good many of the numerous lynchets of Dorset. - -Fully to appreciate the rugged features of the cliffs between St. -Ealdhelm’s and Durlston Head, they should be viewed from the sea, -for the indentations and caverns of this iron-bound coast are indeed -wonderful. All along the sea-board quarrying was carried on for -centuries, and some of the caves are due to the hand of man. Many of -these caverns fulfilled a double duty, providing blocks of stone by -day and sheltering cargoes of smuggled goods by night. This part of -the coast enjoyed quite a notoriety for its contraband trading during -the early part of the last century, and the stories told of the daring -Purbeck smugglers would fill a volume. - -Mr. William Hardy, of Swanage, has published an interesting little book -called _Smuggling Days in Purbeck_, in which he tells of many curious -hiding-places for the illicit goods; one he mentions, which long -remained undiscovered, was under the roof of Langton Church, a most -unlikely place to attract suspicion. It became necessary at one time -to double the number of revenue men, or coastguards; and it must have -been a strange sight to see these men setting out for the night’s vigil -carrying a one-legged stool, so that in the event of their falling -asleep they might topple over and wake up. Smuggling became such a -profitable business that most of the inhabitants of the district were -more or less engaged in it. - -Although less exciting, and perhaps less profitable, the quarrying -industry was extensively carried on—as, indeed, it had been from very -early times. A walk over the hills from Swanage to Worth discloses -vast numbers of disused quarry shafts, and a few others still being -worked. These hills are literally honey-combed with old workings, which -occasionally fall in, leaving curious depressions on the surface. The -stone lies in thin beds of varying quality, some of the upper ones -being full of fossil remains. The higher stratum of Purbeck marble has -been extensively quarried, and in bygone ages provided the elegant -shafts which adorn the columns of many of our great monastic churches. -The outcrop of marble may be seen in the reef of rocks which extends -beyond Durlston Bay and forms Peveril Point. - -Whilst on the subject of quarries, it is most interesting to note the -conditions said to have been granted to Purbeck by an ancient charter. -No man is allowed to open or work at a quarry who is not the son of -parents who were themselves both children of marblers, as they were -called, and this rule was rigidly enforced. Once a year, on Shrove -Tuesday, all the marblers of the district repaired to Corfe Castle -to register their names in the books of the Company of Marblers, and -to pay an annual tribute of a pound of pepper and a football to the -lord of the manor of Ower, as acknowledgment of a certain ancient -right-of-way to that place for the purpose of shipping stone, this -being necessary before there were any facilities at Swanage for so -doing. A good description of this ancient custom is given in Sir -Charles Robinson’s _Picturesque Rambles in the Isle of Purbeck_. - -Looking down from the lofty hills upon the little town, a man who had -been absent for twenty or thirty years would hardly recognise in the -Swanage of to-day the village that he had left. Swanage, with its -up-to-date pier, its esplanade and sea-wall, its red-brick villas, -and the various requirements of the modern residents, resembles the -isolated little town of fifty years ago as little as the garden of a -London square resembles a primeval forest. The quaint old stone houses, -with porches supported by pillars, projecting over the foot-way, and -roofed with massive slabs of split stone, the narrow and winding -streets, have nearly all disappeared, but fortunately there are still -some few left to delight the eye of the artist. - -The twelfth century tower of the parish church, built originally as -a refuge, and as a means of defence from sea pirates, was standing -long before the rest of the church was built. The Town Hall, although -erected in recent times, is of some historic interest, the front having -been partly built of stones taken from the old Mercers’ Hall in London, -pulled down for street alterations; and this edifice itself is said to -have been mainly composed of material taken from one of Wren’s early -churches, destroyed in the great fire of London in 1666. So, after many -vicissitudes, these weather-worn stones have found a resting-place very -near to the source from whence they were originally taken. - -Immediately at the rear of the Town Hall is a curious little structure -of solid masonry, with an iron-studded oak door, resembling a powder -magazine. This formerly stood close to the south door of the parish -church within the graveyard, and was used as a lock-up. Over the door -is the following inscription:—“Erected for the prevention of vice and -immorality, by the friends of religion and good order. A.D. 1803.” A -small hole may be observed in the oak door, and it is said that through -this aperture the boon companions of the incarcerated man were in the -habit of inserting the stem of a long clay pipe, which they used as a -means of supplying him with strong drink, and the bowl of which they -also at times filled with tobacco, in order that he might find some -solace for his weary hours in smoking. - -About a mile and a half from Swanage, in the direction of Corfe Castle, -is the manor of Godlingstone, with its interesting old house. This -estate is said to have been part of the hide of land given by William -I. to Durandus the Carpenter, in exchange for certain repairs to be -executed at Corfe Castle. The round tower at the western extremity of -the house is believed to be of Saxon origin, and was probably built as -a place of refuge from the ruthless Danes, who so frequently harried -this part of the coast. Sir Charles Robinson mentions Godlingstone -as having belonged successively to the families of Talbot, Rempston, -Chaunterell, Carent, Pole, Wells, and Frampton. - -The manor-house at Whitecliff on the slope of Ballard Down is another -fine old building, and is sometimes credited with having been one of -King John’s hunting lodges; but no trace of so early a building now -remains, unless it be the massive garden walls, with the protecting -tower. - -Forming one of the horns of Swanage Bay is Peveril Point, with its -coastguard signalling station, from which extends, in a south-easterly -direction for a considerable distance, a ledge of rocks composed of -Purbeck marble. These rocks follow the general dip of the formation -observable for some distance along the coast—viz., from the south, -sloping down towards the north; but at the extremity of Peveril Point -one observes that the strata to the north of the ledge slope in exactly -the opposite direction. - -The beautiful and deeply indented bay of Swanage forms a harbour with -good anchorage, sheltered from all but easterly gales. The northern arm -of the bay, known as Ballard Head, is formed of lofty chalk cliffs, -rising nearly sheer from the sea. The convulsions of nature have -played some curious pranks in this locality, for side by side with the -natural horizontal stratification one may see the layers of chalk and -flints standing vertically. This has enabled geologists to estimate -the probable thickness of these chalk beds, which, according to some -authorities, was nearly a thousand feet. The human mind is staggered by -the contemplation of the ages necessary to accumulate this stupendous -deposit of microscopic foraminifera, of which the chalk is composed, -before it was upheaved from the bed of the sea. The upper greensand, -which is exposed at the western boundary of the chalk, contains many -interesting fossils. The cliffs of Ballard Head terminate at Handfast -Point with several chalk pinnacles and curiously formed caverns. Of the -former, “Old Harry and his Wife” are well known, but, unfortunately, -the upper half of “Old Harry’s Wife” was washed away some years ago, -leaving little more than the base remaining. - -The old-world village of Studland, at the foot of the northern slope -of Ballard Down, still retains much of its primitive and picturesque -beauty, and the old manor-house and the little Norman church dedicated -to St. Nicholas are of great interest. This church, like many others, -no doubt took the place of an earlier building, for there are still -traces of Saxon work to be seen in the north wall. - -A mile or so to the north-west of Studland, across the swampy -heathland, we come to a conical hill some eighty or ninety feet high, -surmounted by an irregularly shaped mass of sandstone, formed from the -neighbouring Bagshot beds, which, having been cemented together by some -ferruginous substance, has withstood the disintegrating action of the -elements better than its surroundings. It is known as the Agglestone -Rock. Sir Charles Robinson, in his _Rambles in the Isle of Purbeck_, -estimates the weight of this rock at four hundred tons, and gives the -probable derivation of the name from the Anglo-Saxon “hagge” (witch or -hag), or “heilig,” meaning holy, and “stan” (stone). - -This barren heathland, spreading over the Bagshot sands, extends for -many a mile, and stretches out to the deeply indented coast-line of -Poole Harbour, forming the northern limit of the Isle of Purbeck. The -wild beauty of this low-lying district can only be enjoyed by those who -are prepared to explore it on foot, for carriage-roads there are none, -and the cart-tracks are not always passable. - -The important deposit of china-clay found in this neighbourhood, which -is exported in considerable quantities to many parts of the kingdom, -and even to foreign countries, is chiefly shipped from the little quay -at Ower, which is on an arm of Poole Harbour. Hutchins says that Ower -was once the chief port in the Isle of Purbeck for the export of stone -and marble, and for the importation of timber from the New Forest; but -in 1710 Swanage seems to have superseded it. - -The little village of Arne, near to which is Russell Quay, where clay -and peat are shipped by small trading vessels, is merely a cluster of -a few cottages and a plain-looking thirteenth century church, which, -however, contains an object of interest in its stone altar with the -five consecration crosses. - -In the woods near Arne is one of the few heronries to be met with on -the south coast; and in the solitude of this remote spot the birds have -bred undisturbed probably for centuries. - -From Arne to Wareham, a distance of some four miles, there is a rough -road, by following which we complete our circuit of this interesting -district—the Isle of Purbeck. - - - - -CORFE CASTLE - -BY ALBERT BANKES - - -There is reason to believe that a castle existed at Corfe in the reign -of King Alfred, but in his time this structure, which afterwards became -so large as to vie with the noblest royal habitations in the kingdom, -consisted probably of only a single strong tower on the summit of the -hill constituting one of the defences of Wareham, which in Saxon times -was a very important town and port. - -In 875 Wareham Castle, then the strongest place in all Wessex, was -surprised and taken by a Danish general, and it was not until 877, two -years later, that King Alfred succeeded in driving his Danish foes -out of Wareham. To prevent the return of the enemy was the object of -building a fortress at Corfe (“Corfes-geat,” as it was then called), a -break or pass in the lofty range of the Purbeck hills. To quote from -Hutchins’ _History of Dorset_: - - Whatever may have been the size or construction of the castle in the - days of King Alfred, it was greatly extended and embellished in the - century next following under the direction of the magnificent King - Edgar. - -With Elfrida, the infamous Queen of King Edgar, commences what is -important in the history of this castle. King Edgar, who died in the -thirty-third year of his age, bequeathed this Castle of Corfe to her -as a dowry mansion, and in this princely residence, which her royal -husband had with so much cost and care prepared for her, she plotted -and accomplished the murder of his son. On the death of Edgar -(975) there was a contest between two parties in the state, the one -supporting the claim to the throne of Edward, son of the late King by -his first wife, the other seeking to place the crown on the head of -Ethelred, the son of Elfrida. Edward’s cause, which was supported by -Dunstan, succeeded; but he only reigned, as we shall presently see, -four years. - -[Illustration: CORFE CASTLE.] - -King Edgar was twice married. By his first wife he had issue, Edward, -who at a very early age became his successor, and who is known in -history as King Edward the Martyr. - -The second wife of Edgar was Elfrida, daughter of Ordgar, Earl of -Devonshire. It is related that the fame of her transcendent beauty -having reached the King’s ears, he sent one of his earls, named -Athelwold, to visit her father and ascertain privately whether her -charms were as great as they had been represented. Athelwold saw -her, and, immediately becoming enamoured, made a false report to his -sovereign, and won her for himself. Rumours, however, that he had been -deceived, soon reached the King, and he determined to ascertain the -truth with his own eyes. Alarmed at the impending danger, Athelwold -entreated his wife to adopt some means of disguising her charms; -but Elfrida had now an opportunity of gratifying her ambition. She -exerted all her powers to increase her natural beauty, and succeeded -in attracting the attention of the King. To get rid of Athelwold was -in those days the simplest of transactions, and King Edgar, having -caused Athelwold to be assassinated in a wood, Elfrida became his -Queen. So great was the King’s love for Elfrida that he is said to have -granted the whole county of Dorset for her dowry. But Elfrida had not -yet reached the height of her ambition. It was not sufficient for her -to have become a queen through assassination, for she scrupled not, -after her husband’s death, also by means of assassination, to make a -king of her own son. In the month of March (978) Edward the Martyr, -as he is now called, was hunting in a large wood near Wareham. Towards -evening he resolved to pay a visit to his brother, who resided at the -Castle with their royal mother. The attendants of the King had been -dispersed in the chase; he was alone, and Elfrida, having notice of -this favourable opportunity, came forth in a most affable and friendly -manner, inviting him to alight from his horse. This he declined to do, -and remained at the gate, expressing his desire to see his brother. -The Queen then called for wine, which he had scarce put to his lips -when one of her attendants, who had given the King the kiss of peace, -stabbed him in the back. Some of the ancient chroniclers affirm that -Elfrida herself gave him both the kiss and the mortal wound whilst he -was drinking. In any case, finding himself wounded, the King rode away; -but, fainting from loss of blood, he fell from his horse, and, his foot -being entangled in the stirrup, he was dragged a considerable distance, -until the horse stopped of its own accord at a bridge which crosses -the small river that flows at the foot of the hill on which the Castle -stands. A servant, sent by Elfrida to ascertain the result of her -treachery, found the murdered Prince dead, and terribly defaced by the -flints over which he had been dragged. The Queen, to conceal the fact, -ordered his body to be lodged in a house near where it was, and covered -with such mean clothes as were at hand. - -Of course, there are plenty of miraculous stories attached to this true -history, of which we in this twentieth century may believe as much -or as little as we like. It is said, for instance, that in the house -where King Edward’s body lay lived a woman who was born blind, but at -midnight she found her sight restored, and, to her great terror, her -house was full of light. In the morning, the Queen, being informed of -these circumstances, and fearing a discovery, ordered the body to be -thrown into a well. She then retired to a mansion called Bere, ten -miles distant. Her own son, Ethelred, on expressing his grief at his -mother’s inhuman act, received a severe beating from her with some -large wax tapers, they being the first weapons which the royal mother -could lay her hands on wherewith to chastise her son. - -In the year following, a second miracle is said to have taken place—a -pillar of fire descended from above and illuminated the place where the -body was hidden. Some devout people of Wareham brought it to the church -of St. Mary in that town, and buried it in a plain manner. - -As for the once beautiful but now guilty Elfrida, it is related that -she became extremely penitent, and, abdicating her regal state, retired -to the Abbey of Wherwell, in Hampshire, which she had founded, and -there, having clothed her body in hair-cloth, for many years slept at -night on the ground without a pillow, and mortified her flesh with -every kind of penance. - -We meet with few incidents of an important character connected with -Corfe Castle during the first six reigns after the Norman Conquest. - -During the eventful reign of the tyrannical John (1199-1216) Corfe -Castle became again a royal residence. The King deposited within -its walls his treasure and regalia, using the Castle also for the -confinement of State prisoners, the objects of his jealousy and -revenge. In the year 1202 King John took prisoners at the Castle of -Mirabel in Poitou, in France, the youthful Prince Arthur, Duke of -Brittany, his nephew, together with his sister, the Princess Eleanor. -It must be remembered that this Prince Arthur, being the only son -of John’s elder brother, Geoffrey, was the real heir to the throne -after the death of Richard Cœur de Lion. Prince Arthur is supposed to -have been murdered at Rouen by order of King John; but the Princess -(sometimes called the “Damsel of Bretagne,” and sometimes from her -personal attractions, the “Beauty of Brittany”), having inherited her -brother’s legal right to the throne, was brought to England and kept -a close prisoner for the rest of her life. For some time she was a -prisoner in Corfe Castle, where she remained at the decease of her -uncle, King John. Two other princesses shared the captivity of the -beautiful and high-spirited Eleanor during her residence at Corfe, -and were her companions there. These were Margery and Isabel, the two -daughters of William, King of Scotland. Some curious and interesting -details have come down to us respecting articles supplied for the use -of the royal ladies whilst they remained at Corfe Castle, which show -that they enjoyed many indulgences. For instance, on June 29th, 1213, -the Mayor and Reeves of Winchester were commanded to supply to the -Queen, the King’s niece, and the two daughters of the King of Scotland -who were at Corfe Castle, such robes and caps and all other things -necessary for the vestment as should be demanded (the cost to be repaid -out of the King’s Exchequer). There is another interesting entry on -July 6th, 1213: The Mayor of Winchester was commanded to send in haste -to the King, for the use of his niece, Eleanor, and the two daughters -of the King of Scotland, robes of dark green, namely, tunics and -super-tunics, with capes of cambric and fur of Minever and twenty-three -yards of good linen cloth; also, for the King’s niece, one good cap -of dark brown, furred with Minever, and one hood for rainy weather, -for the use of the same; besides robes of bright green, for the use -of their three waiting-maids; also tunics and super-tunics and cloaks -with capes of Minever or rabbit-skins and furs of lamb-skins, and thin -shoes, for the use of the daughters of the King of Scotland, the King’s -niece, and her three waiting-maids; also, for the use of the King’s -niece, one saddle, with gilded reins; and the Mayor is to come himself -with all the above articles to Corfe, there to receive the money for -the cost of the same. A little later on, another cap for rainy weather, -a riding saddle, shoes, and sixty yards of linen cloth, are ordered to -be supplied from Winchester. - -The prices paid give us an insight into the value of money at that -period:— - - £ s. d. - A silken couch 1 10 1 - 2 coverlets of fine linen 2 2 1 - 6½ yards of scarlet for coverlets 1 3 0 - 1 fur of lamb-skin 0 4 0 - -Ten shillings a day were allowed to the Sheriff for the Princesses’ -maintenance. - -To return to Prince Arthur and his wicked uncle. King John captured at -the same time as Prince Arthur many barons and more than two hundred -knights of Poitou and Guienne, who were in arms with Prince Arthur. -These were all loaded with irons and sent to different prisons in -Normandy and England. Many of these poor prisoners perished in their -prisons, and no fewer than twenty-two of the noblest and bravest of -them were starved to death in Corfe Castle. - -From the reign of King John to that of Queen Elizabeth allusion is -frequently made in history to Corfe Castle. - -It was in 1587, in the days of Queen Elizabeth, that Corfe Castle -ceased to be a royal residence, she having sold it to Sir Christopher -Hatton for £4,761 18s. 7½d. Sir Christopher repaired and decorated -the Castle at vast expense. - -During the “Invincible Armada” scare, Corfe Castle once more became a -fortress. Cannons were for the first time mounted on its walls, and -Queen Elizabeth for encouragement gave a charter to the inhabitants of -the Castle and borough, which conferred upon them all the same rights -and privileges as those enjoyed by the inhabitants of the Cinque Ports, -including the right of returning two members to Parliament. The Spanish -fleet did, in fact, pass within a short distance of the Dorset coast; -but, as the so-called Invincible Armada came utterly to grief, it gave -no further trouble. - -As Sir Christopher Hatton died a bachelor, Corfe Castle passed to his -nephew Sir William Hatton, who, dying without children, left the Castle -to his widow, the Lady Elizabeth Hatton, who married Lord Chief Justice -Coke. - -On the death of Sir Edward Coke, his widow and daughter found -themselves at liberty to dispose of a mansion whose gloomy grandeur and -position, remote from the busier scenes of life, did not well accord -with their tastes and habits; so that on Sir John Bankes making an -offer for the purchase of the Castle, the ladies were doubtless only -too glad to conclude the bargain. - -Sir John Bankes was descended from a good Cumberland family living in -Keswick, where he was born in 1589. At the age of fifteen he went to -Oxford University, and in due course became a barrister in Gray’s Inn. -His extraordinary diligence in his profession recommended him early to -his sovereign, Charles I., and in 1640 he was made Chief Justice of the -Common Pleas. His wife, the brave Lady Bankes, was a daughter of the -very ancient family of the Hawtreys, of Rislip, in Middlesex. - -To enter the Castle an ancient stone bridge, consisting of four -semi-circular arches, must be traversed. There is probably no bridge of -greater antiquity in the West of England. - -The first ward forms an irregular triangle, containing eight towers, -at unequal distances, of amazing strength and durability. The gateway -leading to the second ward has provision for a portcullis of vast size -similar to that which is found in the grand staircase. Just within -the gateway, on the right hand, was a flight of steps which led up to -the Great or King’s Tower on the exterior summit of a very high hill. -Tradition says, and apparently with truth, that just at the entrance of -this second ward, under the archway, Edward the Martyr received his -death-blow from the hand of the assassin. The dungeon, an octagonal -tower, is said to have been the place of imprisonment for criminals -and captives of inferior rank. Near this tower a stone is visible, -projecting from the wall, with a deep notch cut into it, which is said -to have been the place of execution. The third and principal ward is -situate on the highest part of the hill, and on the west part, on the -very top of the hill, stood the Great, or King’s Tower, 72 ft. by 60 -ft., and about 80 ft. high, with a wall 12 ft. thick. This seems to -have been the State prison, as the windows that remain are such a -height above the floors that they must have been thus arranged in order -to prevent the prisoners escaping. The fourth ward is the least of all -the wards; in it was a small garden at the east end, near which was the -Sally Port, where the enemy entered when the Castle was surprised; and -near it is a well, now stopped up, into which (tradition says) Lady -Bankes threw a considerable quantity of money and plate. - -King Charles I. was a victim to circumstances. The Civil War was the -result of the reaction of the popular mind in favour of liberty from -its slavish submission to the tyranny of the Tudor Kings. It was -hastened by King Charles’ folly in enforcing subsidies to pay off -his father’s debts and to carry on his Continental wars, without the -consent of the people; also by his resolution to rule the kingdom -without a parliament. - -King Charles came to the throne in 1625, but it was not until 1642 -that the unhappy differences between the King and the two Houses of -Parliament grew so great that nothing but the sword could decide the -controversy. Poor Sir John Bankes found himself in a very unfortunate -position. He was upon the summer circuit, and when presiding at the -assizes at Salisbury he had, in his charge to the Grand Jury, denounced -the Earl of Essex, Lord Manchester, and others, as guilty of high -treason for continuing in arms against the King. Another serious -subject of offence consisted in the fact of his having subscribed -liberally to the necessities of the King—an acknowledgment of which, -in King Charles’ own hand-writing, is still preserved at Kingston -Lacy. These and various other causes were quite sufficient to induce a -furious assault upon Corfe Castle. - -Prior to this, Lady Bankes, who is described as being a prudent lady, -resolved with her children and family to retire to Corfe Castle, -to shelter themselves from the storm which she saw was coming. She -remained undisturbed all the winter and a great part of the spring, -until May, 1643, when the rebels, under the command of Sir Walter Erle -and Sir Thomas Trenchard, of Wolfeton House, and others, had gained -possession of Dorchester, Lyme Regis, Melcombe, Weymouth, Wareham, and -Poole. Portland Castle being treacherously delivered to the rebels, -only Corfe Castle remained in obedience to the King. But the rebels, -wanting to add this castle to their other garrisons, and preferring to -try and gain it by treachery, resolved to lay hold of an opportunity -that they knew was just about to offer. To quote the language of the -old chronicler: - - It seems that by an ancient usage the Mayor and the Barons (as his - Town Councillors were called) of Corfe Castle, accompanied by the - gentry of the Island of Purbeck, had permission from the Lord of the - Castle on May Day to course a stag, which every year was performed - with much solemnity and great concourse of people. - -On May Day, 1642, some troops of horse from Dorchester and other places -came into the island under pretence of hunting the stag; but really -their intention was suddenly to surprise the gentlemen whilst hunting -and to take Corfe Castle. But the news of their coming reached the -Castle before them. The hunters dispersed, and Lady Bankes ordered the -great gates of the Castle to be closed against all comers. The troopers -accordingly found themselves cheated of their prey, whereupon the -common soldiers used threatening language; but the officers, who knew -better how to conceal their resolution, utterly disavowed any such -thought, denying that they had any orders to attack the Castle. Lady -Bankes was not deceived by the officers’ civil speeches; and, to quote -once more from the old chronicler: - - She very wisely, and like herself, hence took occasion to call in a - guard to assist her, not knowing how soon she might have occasion to - make use of them, it being now more than probable that the rebels had - a design upon the Castle. - -No one, of course, knows to what straits the poor lady and her few -faithful attendants were put; but provisions must have been at a -low ebb or Lady Bankes would never have delivered up the four small -cannons, the biggest carrying not above a 3-lb. shot. The result of -this compromise was that, having delivered up the four cannons, the -rebels agreed to permit her to enjoy the Castle in peace and quietness. -Having gained the four cannons, the rebels retired, and, growing weary -of watching the Castle gates, they grew negligent as to what was -brought in, nor did they take care, as before, to intercept supplies -which might enable the Castle people to hold out against a siege. Lady -Bankes, making use of this carelessness, furnished the Castle with -provisions of every description. A supply, too, of ammunition was -brought in; and, hearing that the King’s forces, under Prince Maurice -and the Marquis of Hertford, were advancing towards Blandford, Lady -Bankes sent a private messenger begging that some officers might be -sent to take charge of the Castle: whereupon Captain Laurence, son of -Sir Edward Laurence, a gentleman of the Isle of Purbeck, was sent. -There was likewise in the Castle one Captain Bond, an old soldier, -“whom,” says the chronicler, “I should deprive of his due honour not to -mention him as having shared in the honour of this resistance.” - -On June 23rd, 1643, commenced a six weeks’ strict siege of Corfe -Castle, between 200 and 300 horse and foot, with two cannons; the -rebels faced the Castle, and from the hills surrounding played on the -fortress. At the same time they set on fire four houses in the town -of Corfe, and then summoned the Castle to surrender; but, receiving -a refusal, for that time they left it—but only for a time, as Sir -Walter Erle, accompanied by Captain Sydenham, Captain Henry Jervis, and -Captain Skuts, of Poole, with a body of between five and six hundred -men, came and took possession of the town of Corfe, taking advantage -of a misty morning, so as to find no resistance from the Castle. With -a small cannon, a culverin, and their muskets, they played on the -fortress. To bind the soldiers by tie of conscience, they administered -an oath to them, mutually binding themselves to most unchristian -resolutions—that if they found the defendants obstinate, they would not -yield; that they would maintain the siege to victory and deny quarter -unto all, killing without mercy men, women, and children. And to bring -on their own soldiers they deceived them with falsehoods, saying that -the Castle stood on a level, with good advantages of approach; also, -that there were only forty men within the fortress, of whom twenty -were ready to turn traitors. They also did their best to corrupt the -defenders of the Castle to betray it into their hands; but when all -these arts took no effect, the rebel commanders fell to stratagems and -engines. One of these machines they called a “sow,” and the other a -“boar”; they were made with boards lined with wool to deaden the shot. -The “sow” was a class of engine used as a protection for soldiers -attacking a fortress; it was constructed of strong timber, bound -together by hoop-iron, and roofed with hides and sheepskins to render -it proof against such musket-shot or other missiles as were then in -use. In front there were doors and windows, which were kept closed till -the walls were reached; but behind it was open for the admission or -retreat of the besiegers. Mounted on wheels, it was moved forward by -the occupants by means of levers. - -The rebels used Corfe Church as their principal battery and -headquarters, and they seem to have desecrated the interior of the -sacred building in every possible way. Of the surplices they made -shirts for the soldiers; the organ pipes were torn down to serve as -cases for their powder and shot; and, not being furnished with musket -bullets, they cut off the lead of the church, and, rolling it up, they -shot it without ever casting it in a mould. - -Sir Walter Erle and the other rebel commanders were earnest to press -forward the soldiers; but as prodigal as they were of the blood of -their men, they were sparing enough of their own. It was a general -observation, says the chronicler, sarcastically, that valiant Sir -Walter never willingly exposed himself to any hazard; and to the -eternal honour of this knight’s valour, be it recorded that, for fear -of musket-shot, he was seen to creep on all-fours on the side of Corfe -Castle hill to keep himself from danger. - -This base cowardice of the assailants added courage and resolution to -the defenders; therefore, not compelled by want, but rather to brave -the rebels, they sallied out of the Castle, and brought eight cows and -a bull into the fortress without a single man being even wounded. - -The rebels, having spent much time and ammunition, and some men, were -now as far from taking the Castle as on the first day they began. At -last the Earl of Warwick sent them 150 sailors, with several cart-loads -of ammunition and scaling ladders, to take the Castle by assault. -Rewards were offered to those who first should scale the walls: twenty -pounds to the first, and smaller sums to those who should follow; but -all this could not avail with these poor wretches, who were brought -hither like sheep to the slaughter. Some of the rebel party had -actually exchanged certain death by the rope for that of a chance death -by bullets, as some of them were actually condemned criminals let out -of prison. - -On finding that money rewards and persuasion could not prevail with -such abject, low-spirited men, the rebel commanders resolved to give -their men strong drink, knowing that drunkenness makes some men fight -like lions, who when sober are as cowardly as hares. The only man who -was not the worse for drink, says the chronicler, with biting sarcasm, -was the commander of the party, Sir Walter Erle, who kept himself sober -lest he should become valiant against his will. - -Being now possessed with a borrowed courage, the rebels divided -their forces into two parties, whereof one assaulted the middle -ward, defended by valiant Captain Laurence and the greater part of -the soldiers; while the other assaulted the upper ward, which Lady -Bankes—“to her eternal honour be it spoken,” says the chronicler—with -her daughter, women-servants, and five soldiers, undertook to defend -against the rebels. And what she undertook she bravely performed, for -by heaving over stones and hot embers, they repelled the rebels and -kept them from climbing the ladders. Thus repulsed, and having lost -one hundred men, Sir Walter Erle, on hearing that the King’s forces -were advancing, ran away, leaving Sydenham as commander-in-chief, -who, afraid to appear, kept sanctuary in Corfe Church till nightfall, -meaning to sup and run away by starlight; but, supper being ready -and set on the table, an alarm was given that the King’s forces were -coming. This news took away Sydenham’s appetite; so, leaving artillery, -ammunition, and last, but not least, his good supper, the rebels all -ran away to take boat for Poole, leaving on the shore about one hundred -horses, which proved a valuable prize next day to the soldiers of the -Castle. - -Thus, after six weeks’ strict siege, Corfe Castle, the desire of the -enemy, by the loyalty and brave resolution of Lady Bankes, the valour -of Captain Laurence and some eighty soldiers, was delivered from the -bloody intentions of these merciless rebels on August 4th, 1643. - -Few portions of the kingdom were now undisturbed, and civil war shook -the domestic happiness of both the highest and the lowest of the land. - -Poor Sir John Bankes, on his return home from circuit, found his wife -ready to welcome him within the battered walls of his castle. His -wife had become a heroine during his long absence from home, and his -children had endless stories to relate of their invincible prowess -in the days of danger. He found his castle safe and his property -preserved; but Corfe Church had been desecrated and unroofed, the shops -in the little town had been plundered, and all that would burn of the -stone-built cottages around had been destroyed by conflagration. - -There was much, however, at the moment to render this a joyful meeting -at Corfe Castle, for it seemed as if the sun of the King’s fortune was -about to ascend again. But in 1644 the tide of royal success, which -had flowed so steadily through the western counties in the preceding -year, was now ebbing fast in the county of Dorset. On June 16th, 1644, -Weymouth surrendered to the Earl of Essex, and three days afterwards -Dorchester followed suit. On August 10th, 1644, Colonel Sydenham and -Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper arrived with their troops before the town of -Wareham, and began to storm the outworks, whereupon the town agreed to -surrender. - -Corfe Castle was now almost the only place of strength between Exeter -and London which still held out for the royal cause, and the constant -valour of Lady Bankes, who defended it, is to be estimated not so much -by her active enterprise and resistance in the hours of excitement and -attack as by her long endurance through tedious weeks and months of -anxiety, encompassed as she was by threats and dangers on every side. -She had now a second winter to look forward to. All the neighbouring -towns had become hostile, and the only encouragement and aid she could -expect (her husband being absent, and her sons quite young) was that of -a garrison to consist of soldiers brought from a distance, under the -command of officers who were little, if at all, known to her. - -Early in the winter the misfortune which she had least reason to -anticipate befell her, for on December 28th, 1644, her husband, the -Chief Justice, died at Oxford. On October 28th, 1645, more effective -operations were taken against Corfe Castle. Colonel Bingham, Governor -of Poole, had two regiments placed at his disposal for this purpose, -and on December 16th further reinforcements were sent by General -Fairfax. - -During the whole course of the Civil War no expedition more gallant had -occurred than that of January 29th by a young officer named Cromwell: -whether this young Cromwell was related to the Protector is uncertain. -Hearing of the distressed condition of a widowed lady shut up with her -daughters in a closely-besieged castle, Cromwell was resolved to make -an effort for their relief. Accompanied by a troop numbering 120 men, -who shared the gallantry of their commander, he set out, probably from -Oxford, and, marching with a degree of rapidity which anticipated all -intelligence of his design, he passed through the quarters of Colonel -Cooke undiscovered, and came to Wareham. - -Colonel Butler, the Governor of Wareham, aware that no troops were -expected, took the alarm, barricaded his lodgings, firing from thence -upon his assailant; but the royalist troop had no time to bestow -on this attack. They therefore set fire to a house in the vicinity -which stood near the powder magazine, and the Governor, thoroughly -frightened, consented to yield himself a prisoner. He was carried, -together with others, mounted behind some of the triumphant troopers, -to the foot of Corfe Castle. - -Here a large rebel force was drawn up to oppose their further progress; -but the brave bearing of this little troop, together with the shouts of -welcome from the besieged on the walls, induced the besiegers to give -way. The gallant band, having accomplished their purpose, tendered -their services to the lady, and presented also for her acceptance the -prisoners they had so bravely captured. - -The object of this chivalrous action was probably an offer of escape to -the ladies from the Castle, which, however, was not accepted. And on -their return Colonel Cromwell, with some of his troopers, were taken -prisoners. - -The course of events now shifted rapidly, and though Lady Bankes was -still as intrepid as at first, it was not so with all who were around -her; for the captive Governor of Wareham, Colonel Butler, prevailed -on Colonel Laurence (hitherto so trustworthy) not only to connive at, -but to accompany him in his flight. And there was within the walls -another traitor, Lieutenant-Colonel Pitman, whose conduct was still -more base, his treachery far more fatal in its consequences. This -officer in the Castle garrison, being weary of the King’s service, let -the enemy know that if he might have a protection he would deliver -Corfe Castle to the Parliament. This treacherous offer was accepted, -and a protection order was sent to him from London. On this, Pitman -proposed to Colonel Anketil, the Governor of the Castle, to fetch one -hundred men out of Somerset to add to the Corfe Castle garrison. This -proposal being approved, he formed a design with the rebel, Colonel -Bingham, who commanded the siege, that under this pretence he should -convey more than one hundred men into the Castle, and as soon as they -were entered the besiegers should make an attack. On this a hundred men -were drawn out of Weymouth garrison and marched to Lulworth Castle, -where they were joined by some thirty or forty more soldiers. Pitman -led them in the night to the port agreed upon for their entrance, where -Colonel Anketil was ready to receive them. Some of these men already -knew every part of the interior of the Castle; but when fifty of these -new soldiers had entered, Colonel Anketil, seeing more in the rear, -ordered the Sally Port to be closed, saying that there were as many as -he could dispose of. The crafty Pitman expostulated on his causing him -to bring these men so far and then to expose them to the cold and to -the enemy. - -Those of the fresh soldiers who entered took possession of the King’s -and Queen’s towers and the two platforms, awaiting the time when -the besiegers would make an assault, it being then two hours after -midnight. The besieged, as soon as the fraud was discovered, fired and -threw down great stones upon these intruders, who, however, maintained -their posts. There were, in fact, only six men of the garrison in -the upper part of the Castle, for that was considered impregnable. -The remainder of the defending force was placed in the lower ward, -which had hitherto been the post of danger. The besieging forces, as -soon as they saw their friends on the towers and platforms, began to -advance; and it was then clear to the inmates of the Castle that they -had been most villainously betrayed. A parley was demanded, and an -agreement made that all lives should be spared, and those who belonged -to the town of Corfe should return quietly to their houses; and the -circumstance of a Parliamentary officer being there with others of -that party, prisoners in the Castle, induced the besiegers to offer -conditions, which were accepted. But the truce was broken almost at -once, for two of the besiegers, anxious for spoil, came over the wall -by means of a ladder, whereupon some of the Castle garrison fired on -them, and the risk of a free fight and general slaughter throughout the -Castle now began. - -Colonel Bingham was a descendant of a family long known and highly -respected in the county of Dorset, and naturally could not but admire -the courage of the lady who was his foe, and he at once set about -preserving the lives of the 140 persons then within the Castle. - -This last siege is said, in Sprigg’s _Table of Battles and Sieges_, -to have lasted forty-eight days, during which eleven men were slain -and five cannons taken. The exact date of the fall of Corfe Castle -is uncertain, but it was probably in the last week of the month of -February, 1646. Thus, after a resistance of nearly three years’ -duration, brave Lady Bankes was dispossessed of the fortress, which she -continued to defend so long as a chance remained for the preservation -of the Crown. - -On March 5th, 1646, a vote passed the House of Commons to demolish -Corfe Castle. The decree was ruthlessly carried into effect, and far -more was, unfortunately, done than was sufficient to render the Castle -utterly untenable for the future. Most of the towers were undermined, -whilst others had the soil removed from the foundation preparatory to -a similar process. Some were blown up with gunpowder, whilst others, -perhaps, sank down by their own weight into the mines without the aid -of gunpowder. - -The work of plunder throughout the Castle was soon accomplished; and -there are not a few of the fair mansions in Dorset which have been -constructed in large measure of the stone and timber carried away -from Corfe Castle. The rebels not only plundered the Castle, dividing -amongst them its sumptuous furniture (some of which was traced by Sir -Ralph Bankes, after the Restoration, to the houses of county gentlemen, -and some to dealers in London), but even timber and stone were found to -have been appropriated by some gentlemen of the county who supported -the cause of Parliament. Most of the lead was sold to a plumber of -Poole. - -The halls, galleries, and other chambers throughout the building were -nobly decorated with rich tapestry and carpeting and furniture, most of -which had probably remained since the splendid days of Sir Christopher -Hatton. And as to furniture and tapestry which existed in the Castle, -it is not a mere matter of conjecture, as several of the things taken -away are still extant. A _Perticular_ (_sic_) of the goods viewed at -Colonel Bingham’s house gives a long list of beautiful tapestry, silk -quilts, and carpets, _e.g._— - - One piece of fine Tapestry to hang behind my Lady’s bed. - A rich ebony Cabinet with gilded Fixtures &c. - -It is but fair to add that though Colonel Bingham carried off this -furniture from Corfe Castle to his own private residence, he was by Act -of Parliament of 1644 not only ordered to confiscate property, but was -threatened with confiscation of his own if he failed or refused to act -as sequestrator. - -Lady Bankes’ death, as recorded on a monument of white marble at -Rislip, took place on April 11th, 1661. So little was her death -expected, that her eldest son was married on the morning of the day on -which she died. - -The following letters, in their quaint spelling, as to the missing -furniture from Corfe Castle, are characteristic: - - For my noble friend Sir Ralph Bankes at Chettle. - - From John Bingham Esq^{r}. Bingham’s Melcombe. - - Nobel sir, - - My being in phisicke made me not to send an answer to your servant’s - letter last Sunday. I beseech you let it plead my excuse. - - Sir, I have a large bed, a single velvet red chair and a suite of fine - damask; had not the horse plague swept away my horses I would have - sent these to you. I beg that you’ll please to command one of your - servants to come to Blandford next Friday morning by 10 o’clock there - these things shall be ready for him at the Crowne Hotel. - - That yet a continual gale of happinefs may ever blow on you here below - the stars and that you may yet enjoy heaven hereafter is the real wish - of - - Sir - Your very hearty servant - John Byngham. - - Sir I humbly entreat the tender of my humbel service to my Ladey - Bankes. - -One other letter, having the same address, appears to have been written -within a few days of the date of the former letter:— - - Nobel Sir, - - I have sent to Blandford to be delivered your servant one large bed, - 2 blankets; the bed for 12 years since was opened by a wench at my - then house at Byngham’s Melcombe when I was in the Isle of Guernsey - and feathers stolne out and divers other such tricks done by her in my - being out of the land. - - I take the boldness to hint this trick to you likewise I have sent - to Blandford a full sute (that is as many as ever I had) of old fine - damask table cupboard cloths and napkins in particular two long table - cloths a large cupboard cloth, 2 towels long, a red velvet chaire. - - Sir, had I more as I promised yourself I would have sent it. - - Sir, the Linnen was but once used by me, but whited once in 2 years. - - Your humble servant - John Byngham. - -One large bed, minus the feathers, and one red velvet chair, appear to -constitute the amount of furniture recovered by Sir Ralph Bankes from -the hands of the sequestrators; and Sir Ralph ought to have considered -himself very fortunate inasmuch as these sequestrators had not made -away with the estates themselves. - -Sir Ralph Bankes did not live to witness another revolution, or to see -the final expulsion of the royal race in whose cause his family had -suffered so severely: he completed the mansion at Kingston Lacy, and -died when his son was under age. - - * * * * * - -The original MS. of the old Corfe Castle legend of the Christmas Pie -is still said to be in existence in the Muniment Room at Kingston Lacy -amongst the other Corfe Castle documents. - -Lady Bankes’ grandmother, Mrs. Hawtrey, was happy in the birth of many -daughters, who were well instructed in all the maidenly duties of that -good and pious time. Of the use of the needle, and the Greek and Latin -tongues, none could surpass them; and as to playing on the virginals -and clavycorde, it was wonderful to listen to them. But Mistress -Hawtrey did most insist on every young maiden knowing the cookcraft -(for so did she style it) of the kitchen. - - Beauty fadeth like a flower. - Music can little delight the husband - When he becometh hard of hearing, - -she would say; and then solemnly add: - - The best cook doth always secure the best husband. - -Now, to preserve the early lessons so taught to her daughters, from the -day when they could first rest their little chins upon the dresser, she -did have them fully instructed in this art of cooking. And then did -she require of them all a promise, strictly to be observed, that on -every Christmas Day in every year these her daughters should themselves -prepare and set forth upon her table a number of mince-pies equalling -exactly in the sum of them the number of years since the day of her so -happy marriage; and so it was that when she had been married fifty-nine -years complete there did appear upon her table fifty-nine mince-pies. -But in the following year her daughters conspired how, for the yet -greater satisfaction and surprised pleasure of this their beloved -parent, they did, with great labour and curiosity of art, continue -one great and noble pie a born baby might rest therein; and this they -filled with those many and rare refections suitable to the great work -they had in hand: to complete the whole did they upraise on the crown -of the crust the letters L X—two letters large and noble—clearly -denoting thereby the three-score returns of that fertile marriage-day -from whence themselves were so happily sprung. The knowledge of this -rare structure is withheld from the good old dame until the hall is -decked with Christmas garnishings. The pie is placed upon the table, -and the old lady entereth and is seated, but the beholding of this pie -hath an effect on this good old lady far differing from that which then -her beloved offspring intended. Alas! she cannot touch a morsel. A -novelty so strange she cannot realise, nor can she digest the ancient -promise broken. Mayhap she did apprehend whether an ape should leap -forth, or a dwarf, or a Denmark owl, for such conceits had been known -at the banquets of persons of high condition. Be this as it may, the -old lady is carried to her chamber in a swoon; her daughters like -demented beings hurry to and fro—nothing is left unendeavoured on their -parts. The medicine chest is unclosed. Scores of healthful medicaments -are brought forth. They give to her of them all: yet did the good old -lady die, and was laid straight and quiet in her coffin, before the -mince-pie had sufficient time to cool. - - - - -POOLE - -BY W. K. GILL - - -Some, even of those who know a little of Poole, may wonder at the -idea that a town so modern to all appearance should have anything of -antiquity about it. To the motorist, bound westward from Bournemouth, -Poole is a place with an irritating railway crossing at one end, and -an equally provoking bridge at the other. And even to a visitor it -will appear but as a commonplace business town—a town of tramcars and -electric lights, with a big gasworks on the most approved principles, -with wharves piled with timber and quays black with coal, where -the colliers come in and out through a fleet of red-sailed barges -and big white timber-ships; a town whose very Church and Guildhall -are modern, and to whose past only a neglected and mutilated stone -building on the Quay bears the slightest witness. But could we open -the jealously-guarded charter-chest, and unroll one ancient document -after another; could we summon the shadowy file of noble and royal -benefactors, from the famous Crusader, the Gordon of his age, who -granted the first charter, to that Queen of famous memory, who gave us -the last—then, indeed, we should have a pageant fit to compare with -that of any town in Dorset. But Poole’s true pageant would be on the -water, where, too, the harbour would give her an antiquity not her own. -Roman bireme and Saxon keel, Danish longship and Norman galley, quaint -craft of Plantagenet and Tudor, strong-stemmed Newfoundlander, and -raking privateer of the great French War—the shipping that has sailed -in that harbour would bring us down from the Roman period to the long -black destroyers of our own day which sometimes lie in main channel -from Stakes to Saltern’s Pier. The memories of Poole are not in her -ruins, but in her records; for the swift keel leaves no mark, and there -is no more trace of the destroyers that lay there last year than of -Knut’s long ships that lay there nine hundred years ago. - -[Illustration: THE TOWN CELLARS, POOLE.] - -But let us stroll slowly through the town from the railway station, -not by the High Street, but by way of the Guildhall and the Church of -St. James the Apostle, down to the Quay, noting, as we go, the signs -and vestiges of past days. A few paces from the station is the old -town boundary, denoted by a boundstone let into the wall, and this is -all that remains to mark the position of the embattled gate erected -by charter from Henry VI., and destroyed by order of Charles II.—the -embattled gate recorded by Leland that turned back Prince Maurice in -the great Civil War. It is amusing to note how Clarendon “veils his -wrath in scornful word” as he tells how “in Dorsetshire the enemy -had only two little fisher towns, Poole and Lyme.” Here was the main -entrance from the north through the fortified gate that gave the name -of Towngate Street. (The southern entrance was by ferry, and this way -came Leland, the great Tudor antiquary.) There was a sharp fight at -this point during the Civil War, mementos of which in the shape of -three small cannon-balls were dug up last year, and are now in the -local Museum. The story may be summarised thus: Poole as a seaport -was of great importance, and the King’s party were most anxious -to get hold of it. Attempts were made to corrupt a dashing young -partisan leader, Captain Francis Sydenham, of Wynford Eagle (brother -of the famous doctor, also a soldier then), who was constantly out on -raiding expeditions. Sydenham pretended to yield, but arranged with -the Governor, Captain John Bingham, of Bingham’s Melcombe, to have a -little surprise for the cavaliers. Accordingly, when Lord Crawford with -horse and foot came by night to the outworks that guarded the causeway -over the fosse, he was admitted within the half-moon, but found the -gates fast, while the cannon and musketry opened on him from the wall. -The darkness favoured him, however, and he escaped, but with some loss -of men, and more of horses. The small cannon-balls above mentioned -were in all probability some of those fired at the Royalists from the -wall. This wall, as has been said, was razed by order of Charles II., a -retaliation, possibly, for the part Poole had played in the destruction -of Corfe Castle. The fosse long remained, and, having been deepened -in fear of Prince Charlie as late as 1745, some portion was traceable -within the memory of living persons. - -A few years after, the King had an opportunity of seeing how his order -had been carried out—for, the Court being at Salisbury, to avoid -the Plague in 1665, he and some of the courtiers went touring about -East Dorset, and one day was spent at Poole. So on September 15th a -brilliant company rode into the town by the old causeway. There was the -King himself, harsh-featured indeed, but easy and gracious in bearing; -Lauderdale, with his coarse features and lolling tongue; Ashley, with -his hollow cheeks and keen eyes; Arlington, another of the afterwards -infamous Cabal; and, among the rest, but the centre of all attraction, -the handsome, boyish face of Monmouth. Ashley was well known in Poole, -and many a grim Puritan soldier must have muttered Scriptural curses on -his old commander, who had turned courtier for the nonce, but who could -not foresee the day when the flags in the port should be half-mast for -him, and when his body should be brought from his place of exile in -Holland, and the hearse should pass along the very road he had just -ridden so gallantly to the old church of Wimborne St. Giles. Still -less could young Monmouth foresee the day when, twenty years later, -turning and doubling like a hunted hare, he should cross that road in -his desperate and vain effort to reach the shelter of the great Forest. -And little did his father think that Antony Etricke, “learned in the -laws of England,” whom he appointed Recorder of Poole, should be the -man before whom his favourite son would be brought for identification. -Down the street rode the gay cavalcade—plumed hats, curled wigs, -velvets and laces, gallant horses and all—over the open ground that -extended halfway down the town, till they came to the house of Peter -Hiley, which then stood about opposite where now is the National and -Provincial Bank. The house has long since gone, but there they were -entertained by Peter Hall, the Mayor; and afterwards the King went on -the water to Brownsea, “and took an exact view of the said island, -castle, bay, and this harbour, to his great contentment.” For many a -day this visit was remembered, and the cause of the hapless Monmouth -was popular in Poole, so that before his final attempt to reach the -Forest he had entertained the idea of escaping to Poole, and there -taking ship for Holland. A ghastly little note from the Deputy-Mayor of -Poole, instructing the tything-men of Higher Lytchett to take delivery -of certain heads and quarters of rebels executed in Poole, and to set -them up at the cross-roads, is still in existence, and testifies to the -executions of the Bloody Assize. - -Further down the street comes a cluster of houses that belong to a -widely different period, both in the history of the town and of the -country. The almshouses, dated 1812, with Nile and Trafalgar Rows on -one side, and Wellington Row, 1814, a little way below on the other, -recall the great French War, when the open ground at this end of -Poole, still called The Parade, though now built over, was the place -of exercise for the troops constantly quartered here. In 1796, the -33rd, then Colonel Wellesley’s, regiment was here, and the Colonel’s -quarters were over the water at the old manor-house at Hamworthy. -But the almshouses, built by a famous Newfoundland merchant, George -Garland, bring back quite a different set of memories. Curiously -enough, the well-known trade with Newfoundland was at its zenith -during the later years of the great war. The English fleet had swept -the foreign flag off the seas, and the trade had fallen to the Union -Jack. But the trade dated from the time of Queen Elizabeth, and lasted -till the middle of the Victorian age. At first the little ships went -out year by year, in the season, and returned with their cargoes of -oil and fish and skins, without making any stay on the island—little -ships of forty to fifty tons, but manned by daring seamen, who faced -the Atlantic storms and the Turkish pirates, as well as French or -Spanish enemies, year in, year out, with no record save now and then -an incidental mention, as when the Mayor of Poole complains to the -Privy Council in 1625 of the danger that the fishing fleets ran from -the Turkish pirates, Sallee rovers, and the like. In after years -settlements were made, and the Poole merchants had their establishments -on the island, from which they supplied the fishermen; but the truck -system was the only one in vogue, and the oils and fish and seal-pelts -were paid for in goods only, the value of which was fixed by the -merchant, who thus got his cargoes at his own price, and, buying his -supplies wholesale in England, made, naturally, very large profits. - -For many years Poole and Newfoundland were intimately connected, -but the trade gradually fell off as other countries entered into -competition, and the carelessness, bred by monopoly, made the Poole -merchants far too independent and unenterprising. - -Not far down the street lived a merchant of another sort. Sir Peter -Thompson, born in Poole, but for the greater part of his life residing -in London, where he carried on a large trade with Hamburg, built for -his retirement the fine old Georgian house long used as a hospital. -The carved doorway, with its crest and motto, “_Nil conscire sibi_” -(not, by-the-bye, the one usually assigned to Sir Peter, which is -“_Nulla retrorsum_”); the arms and crest displayed above the doorway, -and the height and proportion of the street front, give an air of -dignity to the building strangely in contrast with the neat little -villas recently put up opposite. The house dates from the time -of Prince Charlie, who, indirectly, was the cause of Sir Peter’s -knighthood. As High Sheriff of Surrey, the fine old Whig presented -a loyal address to George II. when the throne was in danger after -Prestonpans, and received the honour of knighthood as a mark of the -King’s appreciation. It was in the next year, the year of Culloden, -that Sir Peter began the house in which he meant to spend the close -of an honourable life in the company of early friends, and in the -collection of rare manuscripts and objects of interest, scientific and -antiquarian, for he was both an F.R.S. and an F.A.S.; he also aided -Hutchins in his monumental _History of Dorset_. Respected for his -talents and loved for his kindness, he lived there for some years in -dignified ease, and died in 1770. - -As yet it will be observed that we have had comparatively modern -memories of Poole; but as we go nearer to the Quay, which is the most -important element in Poole past and present, we come to older and -older buildings, or rather parts of buildings, for it is a feature in -the town that the constant, active life of the place has renewed, and -so covered up, the old buildings, unlike places whose vigour has long -ebbed away and left them with their antiquities unaltered to sleep away -the remainder of their allotted time, - - And keep the flame from wasting by repose. - -And so we pass the modern Guildhall—the old Guildhall was very -suitably placed in Fish Street, on the other side of the town, with -the gaol, in which John Wesley’s grandfather was imprisoned, under -it—and down the market till we pause before the oldest almshouses, -where the authorities have put up an inscription which tells all -that is certainly known of the buildings, viz., that they were first -erected about the time of Henry IV., were the property of one of the -mediæval religious guilds, the Guild of St. George, and were seized -by the Crown in the time of Edward VI., and afterwards sold to the -Corporation. The lower portion and the old wall at the back—in fact, -the stonework—may be as old as the days of Joan of Arc, but there has, -of course, been a great deal of alteration and rebuilding. Speaking of -Joan of Arc, it may be mentioned that John, Duke of Bedford, Regent -of France, under whose rule she was burned, was Lord of Canford and -of Poole, and a few years ago his seal was dug up in cleaning out a -ditch on the Hamworthy-Lytchett road. St. James’ Church is, of course, -new, though built on the site of the old church, a print of which, -with its “handsome tower, covered with a cupola of tin, quite round, -in the fashion of a cup,” is given in Sydenham’s _History of Poole_, -a work of special merit, written by a competent antiquary, and full -of information. Some of the old monumental inscriptions are preserved -in the church, notably one to Captain Peter Joliffe. This worthy -representative of the old Poole seamen distinguished himself in a -sea-fight off Purbeck as follows:—Cruising with only two men in a small -vessel, the “Sea Adventurer,” he saw a French privateer make prey of -a Weymouth fishing-boat. Though the Frenchman was vastly superior in -strength, he boldly attacked him, drove him off, recovered the prize, -and then, following up his first success, manœuvred so skilfully as -to drive him ashore near Lulworth, where the vessel was broken to -pieces and the crew made prisoners. King William III., hearing of this -brave deed, sent Captain Peter a gold medal and chain, with a special -inscription. This was not his only exploit, and in later years George -I. made him military commander of the town. His great-grandson, the -Rev. Peter Joliffe, of Sterte, is still remembered as the pattern of a -good rector. - -Old Poole, as we have noted, clustered round St. James’ Church and -the old Guildhall, and, as the remains testify, was mainly of stone, -with the stone-flag roofs, that remind one of their Purbeck home. -Very near to the church, in the yard of the St. Clement’s Inn, is a -small battlemented gateway, supposed to have been a water-gate, a view -which has been lately confirmed by the traces of seaweed revealed -in digging. This is very probably the piece of wall of which Leland -speaks as having been built by Richard III., who “promised large -things to the town of Poole.” Hence, when “Richmond was on the seas,” -and his storm-driven ship appeared off Sandbanks, an attempt was made -to inveigle him on shore; but a warier man than Henry Tudor did not -breathe, and, to the disappointment of the authorities, “he weighed -up his anchor, halsed up his sails, and having a prosperous and -streeinable wind, and a fresh gale sent even by God to deliver him from -that peril, arrived safe in Normandy.” - - Older than the piece of wall, older than the - almshouses, and older, indeed, than anything else in - Poole, is that much-battered, much-altered building - now known as the Town Cellars. The Great Cellar, or - King’s Hall, or Woolhouse, to give it the various - names it was once known by, was in all probability, - as the names import, a place in which goods were - stored. It was always manor property, rented by the - Corporation in later years, but more likely originally - a place used by the lords of the manor of Canford to - store the dues levied in kind, to which they were - entitled by the charter of Longespée. On the inner - side stood a small prison called the Salisbury, also - belonging to the manor, and by this were the stocks, - still remembered by old people. Modern conjecture, - catching at the ecclesiastical appearance of the - pointed doorways and cusped windows, and ignoring - the fact that such features were common to sacred and - secular buildings alike, has imagined a monastery - here, but the utter absence of evidence, the absolute - silence of all records, the fact, too, that Leland, - who visited Poole, and mentions all of importance from - the antiquary’s point of view, has nothing to say of - any such institution, and, finally, the authority of - Abbot Gasquet, whose note on the subject may be given - in full—“Poole, ‘A Friary,’ _No friary: the grant 3 - Edward VI. seems to have been of gild property_”—seem - to be conclusive against the theory. The place has - been cut right through by the street from St. James’ - Church to the Quay, and is so shown on the revised - Ordnance Map, while the original block is entire in - a plan of Poole dated 1768. It must have been very - narrow in proportion to its width, and parts of the - work are very roughly executed. Possibly this is the - “fair town house of stone on the Kay” of which Leland - speaks, unmutilated in his day. Old and battered - as it is, no inhabitant of the town should view it - without reverence, for it is part of the long past. - Built about the end of Edward the Third’s reign, it - must have played its part in stirring times. Poole, - during the Hundred Years’ War, was a place of much - importance, and shared in the ups and downs of that - long war—now helping to take Calais, and again - destroyed in the great raid of John de Vienne, who - paid with fire and sword in the declining years of - Edward the score run up at Cressy and Calais and - Poitiers. The old building was the centre of a fierce - struggle about five hundred years ago. At that time - the port of Poole was a thorn in the side of Frenchman - and Spaniard, and its leader, Henry Paye, was the - dread of the Channel and of the shores of the Bay of - Biscay. The Drake of his age, half admiral and half - pirate, he was commander of the King’s ships one - year and raiding the Spanish coast the next. It is a - Spanish chronicle that lifts the veil for a moment and - shows us the Poole of the Plantagenets clustering - round the Church of St. James and along the Quay, - its inhabitants ready at a moment’s notice for war; - archers and men-at-arms mustering to the warcry; the - very doors so constructed that they could be used as - “pavaisses,” or large shields, against the murderous - cross-bow bolts—everything betokening a population - living in a state of war, and revealing a lively - picture of the coast towns when there was no regular - fleet, and self-help was the order of the day. We owe - this glimpse to the Spanish _Cronica del Conde D. Pero - Niño_, the substance of which, as far as it affects - Poole, is given by Southey in his _Naval History of - England_. The attack on Poole was a revenge raid in - consequence of Henry Paye’s doings on the Spanish - coast. Early in the morning the joint Spanish and - French fleet entered the harbour, and the Spaniards - landed. Taken by surprise, with their leader away, the - men of Poole proved their mettle. A large building - (which we, without hesitation, identify with the Town - Cellars), full of arms and sea-stores, was fiercely - defended, and when this had been carried by assault - and set on fire, the fighting was continued in the - streets. So terrible was the hail of shafts that the - Spaniards recoiled, and only the landing of fresh men - enabled them at last to drive back the English. Henry - Paye’s brother led the townsmen with great gallantry, - but was killed on the spot, and then, apparently, his - men drew off. The Spaniards and their French allies, - who at first held aloof, but came bravely to help when - the first repulse took place, then returned to their - ships with a few prisoners; and the curtain again - falls. - -And so we leave the old town while yet the smoke broods sullenly over -the Town Cellars, and the warcry of Spain yet echoes among the narrow -stone streets of the East Quay. - - - - -BRIDPORT - -BY THE REV. R. GROSVENOR BARTELOT, M.A. - - -In the days when vikings, pirates, and roving sea-dogs ruled the waves -it was a decided advantage for the shipping merchant to reside in a -port which lay a mile or so up a river-mouth rather than on the coast -itself. Fourteenth century Weymouth folk knew this to their cost. -Dwellers they were in a growing hamlet on the sea-coast, with no church -of their own, so they had to walk over the hill to Mass at Wyke Regis. -Whilst thus employed in pious worship, down swooped the French ships on -their defenceless abodes, and when they returned to their Sunday dinner -their homesteads were a smouldering ash-heap. After that, they decided -to build a chapel of their own on high ground, whence the eye of the -watchman could sweep the horizon in search of strange craft. - -Such a sudden surprise as this could never have occurred at Bridport. -Following Wareham’s good example, the builders of this ancient town had -an eye to communication by land and sea. They hugged the Roman Road, -and at the same time they lay snug up a river-mouth. The Brit, which -rises in the upland slopes of Axnoller Hill, amidst some of the finest -Wessex scenery, after a short course through Beaminster Town, past the -beautiful Tudor mansion of Parnham and the villages of Netherbury and -Melplash, unites with the Symene and the Asker streams at Bridport -Town, and thence flows into West Bay, a mile further on, at Bridport -Harbour. - -Whether in Roman times this place had any importance cannot now -be definitely determined. If, however, the name of the station, -_Londinis_, on the Icen Way from Dorchester to Exeter, be but a -Latinised form of _Lyndaen_—_i.e._, “Broad Pool”—then there is reason -to believe that Bridport High Street, which runs along the edge of -Bradpole parish, is on the old Roman Road. That Bradpole was only a -hamlet of Bridport is shown by the fact that not until the year 1527 -had the former parish any right to bury its parishioners anywhere -except in the churchyard of the latter place. The evidence of the name -of the town certainly favours Roman occupation; “port” in this case is -not derived from a personal source; this is the “door, or gate, of the -Brit.” - -We have more clear evidence of its growing importance in the Saxon -period. The name of its western suburb, “Allington,” is always in -mediæval days written “Athelington,” “the town of the nobles.” Hence -the fashion in modern London of the aristocracy flocking to the “West -End,” is, after all, only an imitation of an example set by Bridport -long years ago. In Edward the Confessor’s reign one hundred and twenty -houses stood in this Dorset town, which, in comparison with the other -towns of the county, came next to Dorchester and Wareham. Bridport, -too, had a mint of its own, and its mint-master paid well for the -privilege of coining. - -The Norman Conquest does not appear to have been an unmixed blessing -in these parts. In _Domesday Survey_ the town is shown to have gone -back considerably. Twenty houses are stated to be desolate, and the -people impoverished. All these bad times, however, had passed away -before the reign of King John, when Bridport was already famous for -its manufacture of rope, sailcloth, and nets, and these have been its -staple industries down to modern days. As early as the year 1211 the -Sheriff of Dorset paid the goodly sum of £48 9s. 7d. for 1,000 yards -“of cloth by the warp to make sails of ships, and for 3,000 weights of -hempen thread according _to Bridport weight_ for making ships’ cables, -and 39 shillings for the expenses of Robert the Fisher whilst he stayed -at Bridport to procure his nets.” Let us hope “Bridport weight” was, as -it is now, specially good for the price. - -Residents in the town in these days are almost tired of the threadbare -witticism about the “Bridport dagger,” but, for the sake of the -uninitiated, it must be repeated here. When anyone wished to speak -tenderly of some person who died at the hangman’s hand, he described -him as being “stabbed with a Bridport dagger.” John Leland, the -itinerant chronicler of the days of Henry VIII., came here and heard -the joke, but it never penetrated his prosaic skull, so he gravely -recorded in his note-book: “At Bridporth be made good daggers.” Suffice -it to say that Newgate was duly supplied in those days (as the old -Morality play, _Hycke Scorner_, tells us) with: - - Ones a yere some taw halters of Burporte. - -Whilst an Act of Parliament of 1528 says that “time out of mind they -had used to make within the town for the most part all the great -cables, ropes, hawsers, and all other tackling for the Royal Navy.” -This industry has left its mark upon the architecture of the place. -The streets are broad, to allow every house its “rope walk.” Some fine -examples of mediæval domestic architecture are extant, notably the one -now used as the Conservative Club on the east side of South Street, -evidently a merchant’s house of Tudor days. - -Few country towns were so rich in ecclesiastical foundations as was -Bridport in the Middle Ages. It possessed the present Parish Church of -St. Mary, which then had seven altars and numerous chantries; after -much restoration (during which the tomb of a great-grandson of Edward -I. perished), it is even now a noble example of the piety of prosperous -merchants. There were, besides, the churches of St. Andrew, where now -the Town Hall stands, and St. Swithun, in Allington. Other religious -foundations included the Priory, now the rope factory; the double -chantry chapel of St. Michael, where now is extant only the lane of -that name; the Hospital of St. John, at the East Bridge; the Mawdelyn -Leper House, in Allington; and the Chapel of St. James, in Wyke’s Court -Lane. One can well imagine that clerical interests might sometimes -clash amidst such a galaxy of places for worship. In fact, in the reign -of Henry VIII. Sir John Strangwayes, Steward of the Borough, lodged -a complaint with the Chancellor of the Diocese “against the disorder -of certain chantry priests residing at Bridport.” This was evidently -a harbinger of the coming dissolution of monastic foundations, which -confined the worship of the town to two churches under one rector. - -By far the greatest interest of old Bridport is centred in its -immensely valuable Borough Records. These include a vast collection of -old deeds of Plantagenet times more or less connected with the history -of the whole county, whilst the copies of sixty-five mediæval wills, -ranging from 1268 to 1460, are of unique interest and importance, -dating, as so many of them do, before 1383, when the Records of the -Prerogative Wills of Canterbury commence. In addition to these, a very -complete series of borough charters is preserved amongst these records. -Bridport was a self-governing town, with the privileges of a Royal -Borough, long before 1252, when its first charter was granted by King -Henry III. This was probably soon lost, for the same King, on May 5th, -1270, affixed his seal to another, which recites its predecessor thus: - - The King, having inspected the rolls of his Chancery, finds that at - the time when Peter de Chacepoler was keeper of his wardrobe, the men - of Bridport paid thirty marks, and in return received a charter, etc. - -From that time onward each Sovereign seems to have extorted a nice -little donation for renewing the charter, each document growing in -size and verbosity compared with the one which it supplanted, right -down to the reign of James II. - -Amongst the books possessed by the Corporation, the most ancient -carries us back to old Bridport from a legal point of vision. It is -the law-book of Richard Laurence, M.P., who lived from about 1300 to -1361. In it he has recorded copies of all the Acts of Parliament which -would be likely to come in useful to him in his legal profession. -Beginning from Magna Charta itself, he could turn to this volume, and -at a glance see what punishments were enacted against coin-clippers, -false measurers, brewers of too mild ale, or even against bigamists. -Many are the entries referring to nautical affairs, showing how often -he must have been consulted by busy Dorset mariners. How many a six -and eightpence this worthy lawyer of six centuries ago made out of -this book! On one page he records a matter less prosaic—his daughter’s -birthday. There were no parish registers then, so he writes: - - Laurentia, the second daughter of Richard and Petronel Laurencz, was - born on the vigil of Saint Petronilla, being Whitsun Eve, in the 12th - year of King Edward III. (1338). - -He who so often made other people’s wills at last made his own on July -26th, 1361, which is duly preserved amongst the muniments. - -Another volume—the old dome-book of the borough—contains amidst solemn -minutes of meetings of the Corporation back in the days of the Edwards, -many quaint little quibbles. The writer evidently jotted down on a -fly-leaf the following as being a very good witticism which, in the -relaxation following a heavy session, some worthy Bridport alderman of -old told to beguile away the weariness of his fellow civic fathers: -“I will cause you to make a cross, and, without any interference, you -will be unable to leave the house without breaking that cross.” This -is how it was to be done: “Clasp a post fixed in the house, and make -a cross with your extended arms, and then how can you go out without -breaking that cross.” Here is another, after the “blind beggar’s -brother” pattern: “A pear tree bore all the fruit that a pear tree -ought to bear, and yet it did not bear pears. What is the answer?” -“Well, it only bore one pear.” Somewhat childish, certainly, but such -little “catches” as these delighted the mediæval conversationalist; -and do they not show that human nature has ever been the same? An -interesting sidelight is thrown upon the clock trade of those days by -a document dated 1425, whereby Sir John Stalbrygge, priest, was paid -three shillings and fourpence for “keeping the clock on St. Andrew’s -Church.” Matters horological in the Middle Ages were almost entirely in -the hands of the church. The clergy and monks were the clock-makers and -menders; witness the Glastonbury Clock in Wells Cathedral, the Wimborne -Clock, and others. Was not Pope Sylvester himself, when a priest, the -inventor of an improved timepiece? Hence it appears that for nearly six -centuries the townsmen have turned their eyes towards that same spot -where still the town clock chimes out the fleeting hours. - -A word about the Bridport Harbour and its vicissitudes. In early days -there were numerous contentions between the citizens and the monks of -Caen, who owned the manor of Burton; at other times they were disputing -with the Abbot of Cerne or the Prior of Frampton, who apparently -wished to debar them from salving their own ships when wrecked outside -the harbour. Vessels were small enough to be beached in those days; -when ships were increased in size, the Haven was built, in the year -1385, but it proved not such a success as was anticipated. Apparently -during most of the next century every county in the south of England -was canvassed for subscriptions towards Bridport Harbour; all sorts -of expedients were devised to raise money. In 1446 was drawn up a -portentous document, still extant, known as an indulgence, granting -pardons to all those who should contribute to this object. It was -signed by one archbishop, two cardinals, and twelve bishops. Armed with -this deed, John Greve, Proctor for the town, started round collecting. -He writes a pitiful letter on May Day, 1448, from Dartford, in Kent, -detailing how his sub-collector, John Banbury, “sumtime bellman of -Lodres,” had decamped with six weeks’ collections, besides stealing his -“new chimere of grey black russet, and a crucifix with a beryl stone -set therein.” Nor could he find the rogue, for he says, “He took his -leave on St. George’s Day, and so bid me farewell, and I have ridden -and gone far to seek him—more than forty miles about—and I cannot hear -of him.” - -A few interesting survivals of old Bridport have come down to modern -times in the shape of place-names. “Bucky Doo” passage, between the -Town Hall and the “Greyhound,” is suggestive of the rustic rabbit or -the rural roebuck; but it is simply the old name, “Bocardo,” originally -a syllogism in logic, which was here, as at Oxford, applied to the -prison because, just as a Bocardo syllogism always ended in a final -negative, so did a compulsory visit to the Bocardo lock-up generally -mean a closer acquaintance with the disciplinary use of “the Bridport -dagger,” and a final negative to the drama of life. Stake Lane has -been altered to Barrack Street in modern times. Gyrtoppe’s House, in -Allington, carries us back to the year 1360, when Sir Nicholas Gyrtoppe -was Chantry Priest of St. Michael’s, Bridport. It may be mentioned that -a pretty but utterly groundless story of the origin of this name has -been told, viz., that King Charles II., when a fugitive from Worcester -fight, had to “girth up” Miss Juliana Coningsby’s saddle trappings at -this spot in 1652: hence the term “girth up.” - -Much could be written of the Civil War days concerning this place. How -the Roundheads voted £10 (November 29th, 1642) to fortify (!) the town. -How the Corporation met, and voted as follows:— - - 1642, 14th December.—It is agreed that the inhabitants that have - muskets shall watch at night in turn; that a watch house shall be - erected at each bridge; that eight of the Commoners shall watch at - night and eight by day, two at each of the three bridges, one in Stake - Lane, and one in Weak’s Lane. - -On June 10th, 1643, Lieutenant Lee garrisoned the place for the -Parliament; on March 16th following, Captain Pyne, with a party from -Lyme, captured the town and took 140 horse. Waller was here six months -later (September 24th) raising the posse with 2,000 horse and 1,500 -dragoons. Suffice it to say that Bridport preferred to keep as clear as -possible from civil turmoil. - -As for the romantic story of the escape of Charles II. after the battle -of Worcester, and how he was nearly captured here, the reader is -referred to Chapter I. for the full account. - -The Duke of Monmouth’s rebellion brings us to the end of our interest -in Old Bridport. It was on Sunday morning, June 13th, 1685, that the -whole place was thrown into a ferment by a surprise attack on the town -delivered by three hundred of Monmouth’s rebels from Lyme Regis. Lord -Grey commanded them, and after a night march and on arrival at dawn -having at the first volley routed the Dorset militia of 1,200 foot -with 100 horse, they started making prisoners of the officers who were -lodging at the “Bull” hotel. In this latter work, two Dorset men of -good family fell victims—Edward Coker and Wadham Strangwayes—being -slain by the rebels, who, after the first flush of victory, disregarded -ordinary precautions, and when the King’s troops rallied they had -to beat an ignominious retreat to Lyme. Judge Jeffreys finished -the work by ordering twelve of the condemned rebels to be executed -at Bridport. To any student of that period of history the unique -collection of autographs, broadsides, songs, and portraits, including -the pre-Sedgemoor letter from Lord Dumblane to his father, the Duke -of Leeds—all which are contained in the library of Mr. Broadley, of -Bridport—are absolutely indispensable. - - - - -SHAFTESBURY - -BY THE REV. THOMAS PERKINS, M.A. - - - Shaston, the ancient British Palladour, was, and is, in itself the - city of a dream. Vague imaginings of its castle, its three mints, its - magnificent apsidal abbey, the chief glory of South Wessex, its twelve - churches, its shrines, chantries, hospitals, its gabled free-stone - mansions—all now ruthlessly swept away—throw the visitor, even against - his will, into a pensive melancholy, which the stimulating atmosphere - and limitless landscape around him can scarcely dispel. The spot - was the burial-place of a king and a queen, of abbots and abbesses, - saints and bishops, knights and squires. The bones of King Edward “the - Martyr,” carefully removed thither for holy preservation, brought - Shaston a renown which made it the resort of pilgrims from every part - of Europe, and enabled it to maintain a reputation extending far - beyond English shores. To this fair creation of the great Middle-Ages - the Dissolution was, as historians tell us, the death-knell. With - the destruction of the enormous abbey the whole place collapsed in a - general ruin; the martyr’s bones met with the fate of the sacred pile - that held them, and not a stone is now left to tell where they lie. - -So does Thomas Hardy describe the ancient town of Shaftesbury.[55] -Truly, it is a town that appears to have seen its best days. Its -market-place is almost deserted, save on market-days, and when -some travelling wild beast show visits the town. On fair days the -round-abouts with galloping horses do a lively business, and their -steam-driven organs emit energetic music that may be heard far and -wide; and when a good circus pitches its tent on Castle Hill, -vehicles of every description stream in by hundreds from all the -surrounding villages, for there is nothing that the country folk -love better than a circus. But at other times Shaftesbury would be -considered by a stranger passing through it, fresh from city life, -as a quiet if not sleepy town. It has little to boast of save its -splendid site, its pure health-giving breezes, and the magnificent -views of the surrounding hills and downs and valleys that may be -obtained from several points of vantage. Of its four remaining -churches one only is of mediæval date; the three others are all -quite modern, entirely destitute of architectural interest, and with -little beauty to recommend them. All the others which once stood -here have disappeared, leaving nothing to remind us of their former -existence save, in some few cases, the name of a street or lane. Of -the glorious Abbey, probably the wealthiest nunnery that ever existed -in the kingdom, nothing but the walls that once enclosed the precincts -on the south-east, and the foundations of the church, long entirely -hidden from sight by surface soil, now happily opened out by recent -excavations, remain. - -[Illustration: SHAFTESBURY.] - -Left high and dry upon its hill-top it can watch the trailing steam -of the locomotives in the deep valley to the north as they hurry by, -taking no heed of the once royal burgh, the chief mint of Dorset in the -days of the West Saxon Kings, the burial-place of murdered Eadward, and -of Eadmund’s wife, Ealdgyth or Elgefu, the site of the nunnery founded -by Ælfred, and ruled at first by his “midmost daughter” Æthelgede or -Æthelgeofu. And yet this town has a real history that can be traced -back for more than 1,000 years, and a legendary one that carries us -back well-nigh to the days of King Solomon, for we read in a British -Brut or chronicle: “After Lleon came Rhun of the Stout Spear, his son, -and he built the Castle of Mount Paladr, which is now called Caer -Sefton, and there while he was building this stronghold there was -an Eryr that gave some prophecies about this island.” In Powell’s -_History of Cambria_ it is said: - - ... Concerning the word of Eryr at the building of Caer Septon on Mt. - Paladour in the year after the creation of the world 3048 some think - that an eagle did then speak and prophesie; others are of opinion - that it was a Brytaine named Aquila (Eryr in British) that prophesied - of these things and of the recoverie of the whole ile again by the - Brytaines.[56] - -The Brut quoted was evidently written after Dorset was occupied by the -Saxons, because it says that the town was called Septon (a form of -Shafton), and implies that it was not so called when Rhun built it. It -is pretty certain that Caer Paladr was the Celtic name, and that the -Saxon name Sceaftesbyrig is a translation of it, the modern form of -which is Shaftesbury. If it was called after the name of the King who -built it, it was after part of his surname Baladr or Paladr (spear), -Bras (stout). Others think the spear or shaft was suggested by the long -straight hill on the point of which the town was built. At a later -date the name was contracted into Shaston, but this has become nearly -obsolete, save in municipal and other formal documents, where the -various parishes are called Shaston St. Peter’s, Shaston St. James’, -etc. The name also appears on the milestones, and the inhabitants of -the town are called Shastonians. No doubt the Romans captured this -Celtic hill-stronghold, and as proof of this, the finding of some Roman -coins has been alleged; but no written record of this period has come -down to us. The real history begins in Saxon times. Ælfred came to the -West Saxon throne in 871, and in 888 he founded a Benedictine Nunnery -at Shaftesbury, setting over it his “medemesta-dehter” as first Abbess. -This we learn from Asser, Ælfred’s friend, who tells us that he built -the Abbey near the eastern gate of the town. This shows that by this -time Shaftesbury was a walled town. An inscription on a stone in the -Abbey Chapterhouse, so William of Malmesbury tells us, recorded the -fact that the town was built by Ælfred in 880, by which he probably -means rebuilt after its partial or complete destruction by the Danes. - -Shaftesbury was counted as one of the four royal boroughs of Dorset -(Wareham, Dorchester, and Bridport being the other three), and at the -time of the Norman Conquest it was the largest of the four. Æthelstan -granted the town the right of coining, and several scores of pennies -struck here in his reign were found in excavating a mediæval house -near the Forum in 1884-5. In the reign of Eadward the Confessor three -coiners lived in the town, each paying 13s. 4d. annually to the Crown, -and a fine of £1 on the introduction of a new coinage. The names, Gold -Hill and Coppice (that is, Copper) Street Lane, still speak of the old -mints of Shaftesbury. - -On March 18th, 978, as everyone knows, King Eadward was treacherously -slain at the house of, and by the order of, his stepmother. The body -of the murdered King was dragged some distance by his horse, and when -found was buried without any kingly honour at Wareham. On February -20th, 980, Ælfere, Eadward’s ealdorman, removed the body with all due -state from Wareham to Shaftesbury, and here it was buried, somewhere in -the Abbey Church. Doubtless the reason why Shaftesbury was chosen as -the place of his burial was because he was of Ælfred’s kin, and this -religious house had been founded by Ælfred. - -Miracles soon began to be worked at his tomb. He appeared, so it was -said, to a lame woman who lived at some distant spot, and bade her go -to his grave at Shaftesbury, promising that if she went she should be -healed of her infirmity. She obeyed his injunction, and received the -due reward for her faith. The grave in which the King was laid did not, -however, please him as a permanent resting-place. First he indicated -his dissatisfaction by raising the tomb bodily, and then when this -did not lead to an immediate translation of his relics, he appeared in -visions and intimated his desire to have a fresh grave. This was about -twenty-one years after his burial in the Abbey. The grave was opened, -and, as was usual in such cases, a sweet fragrance from it pervaded the -church. His body was then laid in the new tomb in a chapel specially -dedicated to him. Possibly this chapel stood over the crypt on the -north side of the north choir aisle. The day of his death, March 18th, -and the days of the two translations of his relics, February 20th and -June 20th, were kept in honour of the King, who, for what reason we -cannot tell, was regarded as a saint and martyr. His fame spread far -and wide, and brought many pilgrims and no small gain to the Abbey. At -one time the town was in danger of losing its old name, Shaftesbury, -and being called Eadwardstowe, but in course of time the new name -died out and the old name was revived. Pilgrims were numerous, and -possibly sometimes passed the whole night in the church. In order to -make a thorough cleansing of the floor after their visits more easy, a -slight slope towards the west was given to the choir pavement, so that -it might be well swilled. A similar arrangement may be seen in other -churches. - -At Shaftesbury, too, was Eadmund Ironside’s wife buried; and on -November 12th, 1035, Knut the Dane died at Shaftesbury, but was not -buried in the Abbey, his body being carried to the royal city of -Winchester and laid to rest within the Cathedral Church there. Up to -the time of the Conquest the Abbesses bore English names; after that -time the names of their successors show that Shaftesbury Abbey formed -no exception to the rule that all the most valuable church preferments -were bestowed on those of Norman and French birth. Through every change -of dynasty the Abbey of Shaftesbury continued to flourish, growing -continually richer, and adding field to field, until it was said that -if the Abbot of Somerset Glaston could marry the Abbess of Dorset -Shaston they would together own more land than the King himself. The -Abbess held a barony, and ranked with the mitred Abbots, who had the -privilege of sitting in Parliament, and it was said that her rank -rendered her subject to be summoned by the King, but that she was -excused from serving on account of her sex. At last the time came for -the Abbey to be dissolved. More prudent than Whiting, the last Abbot of -Glastonbury—who refused to surrender and was hanged on St. Michael’s -Hill, overlooking his wide domains—Elizabeth Zouche, the last Abbess -of Shaftesbury, gave up to Henry VIII., on March 23rd, 1539, the Abbey -with all its property, valued at £1,329 per annum, and received in lieu -thereof the handsome pension of £133 a year for her own use. At this -time there were fifty-four nuns within its walls, each of whom received -a pension varying from £7 down to £3 6s. 8d.; the total amount given in -pensions was £431. - -From the day of the Dissolution the glory of Shaftesbury began to pass -away. In an incredibly short space of time the Abbey was demolished, -and when Leland visited the place a few years later the church had -entirely disappeared. There was much litigation between the town and -those to whom the Abbey lands had been granted—the Earl of Southampton -and Sir Thomas Arundel—and this dispute continued for fifty years, -greatly impoverishing the town. - -Shaftesbury received its first municipal charter in the second year -of James I.; a second charter was granted in 1666 by Charles II. From -that time Shaftesbury led an uneventful life, broken at times by -the excitement of contested elections, which were fought with great -bitterness, and the consumption of much beer and the giving of much -gold. The town was originally represented by two members; the two first -of these sat in the Parliament of the twenty-fifth year of Edward -I. At the time of the Reform Bill of 1832 it lost one member, and -in 1885 it ceased to be a Parliamentary Borough, and was merged in -the Northern Division of Dorset. At the election of 1880 a singular -incident took place, which will show how high party feeling ran in the -ancient borough. The candidate who had represented the constituency in -the previous Parliament was defeated, and after the declaration of the -poll, about nine o’clock in the evening, his disappointed partizans -indulged in such violent and riotous conduct that the successful -candidate and his friends could not leave the room in the Town Hall -where the votes had been counted. Stones were thrown at the windows, -some of the police were injured, but the besieged barricaded the doors -of the building, closed the shutters, and waited with patience, while -the angry mob outside, for the space of four or five hours, yelled -like wild beasts disappointed of their prey. At last, finding that -they could not effect an entrance and make a fresh vacancy in the -constituency by killing the new member, the crowd began to drop off one -by one, and by two o’clock in the morning the siege was practically -raised, and the imprisoned member and his friends were able to get out -and reach their hotel unmolested. Some of the rioters were tried, but -evidence sufficiently clear to identify the men who had wounded the -police was not to be obtained, and the accused were acquitted. This was -the last time Shaftesbury was called on to elect a member; and as the -town stands quite on the borders of the new district of North Dorset, -the poll is not now declared from the Town Hall window at Shaftesbury, -but at Sturminster Newton, a town more centrally situated. - -At one time there were twelve churches or chapels in Shaftesbury—St. -Peter’s, St. Martin’s, St. Andrew’s, Holy Trinity, St. Lawrence’s, St. -Michael’s, St. James’, All Saints’, St. John the Baptist’s, St. Mary’s, -St. Edward’s, and last, but not least, the Abbey Church of St. Mary -and St. Edward. Beyond the borough boundary was the Church of St. -Rumbold,[57] now generally spoken of as Cann Church. Why Shaftesbury, -which was never a large town, should have needed so many churches has -always been a mystery. The late William Barnes suggested a theory which -may partially account for it. He says that some of these churches may -have been old British ones, and that the Saxon Christians could not, -or would not, enter into communion with the British Christians, but -built churches of their own. This is probably true, although it still -fails to account for the number of churches which, on this supposition, -the Saxons must have built. It must be remembered, as explained in the -Introduction, that Dorset remained much longer free from the dominion -of the West Saxon Kings than Hampshire, and that when it was finally -conquered by the West Saxons, these men had already become Christians, -so that the conquest was not one of expulsion or extermination. The -Celtic inhabitants were allowed to remain in the old homes, though -in an inferior position. The laws of Ine, 688, clearly show this. In -Exeter there is a church dedicated to St. Petroc, who was a Cornish, -and therefore Celtic, saint. Mr. Barnes thinks that the Shaftesbury -churches dedicated to St. Michael, St. Martin, St. Lawrence, and the -smaller one dedicated to St. Mary, may have been Celtic. St. Martin -was a Gaulish saint, St. Lawrence may have been a dedication due to -the early missionaries, while the two hills in Cornwall and Brittany -dedicated to St. Michael show that he was a saint held in honour by the -Celts. The British Church differed in certain points of observance from -the Church founded by the missionaries from Rome under St. Augustine, -notably as to the date of keeping Easter. Bæda says that when he was -Abbot of Malmesbury he wrote, by order of the Synod of his own Church, -a book against the errors of the British Church, and that by it he -persuaded many of the Celts, who were subjects of the West Saxon King, -to adopt the Roman date for the celebration of the Resurrection. But -even if we assume that there were four Celtic churches, why should -no less than eight fresh ones have been built by the West Saxons? No -explanation has been offered. Possibly, however, some of the churches -may have been only small chapels or chantries. - -[Illustration: GOLD HILL, SHAFTESBURY.] - -Soon after the dissolution of the Abbey, as has been said previously, -all the walls above the surface were pulled down, except the one that -skirts the steep lane known as Gold Hill. This wall stands, strongly -buttressed by gigantic masses of masonry on the outside (some of -them contemporaneous with the walls, others added afterwards), for -it has to bear up the earth of what was formerly the Abbey garden. -The foundations of the Abbey Church, either purposely or naturally, -in the course of time were covered with soil, and so remained until -1861, when some excavations took place and sundry relics were found, -among them a stone coffin containing a skeleton and an abbot’s staff -and ring. The foundations were then once more covered in, but recently -the Corporation obtained a twenty-one years’ lease of the ground -for the purpose of more thorough investigation. All the foundations -that remain will be uncovered, the ground laid out as an ornamental -garden and thrown open to the public. Considerable progress has been -made with this work; all except the extreme west end of the nave has -been excavated to the level of the floor, and some very interesting -discoveries have been made. Many fragments of delicately-carved -stonework, some of them bearing the original colour with which they -were decorated, were unearthed, and are preserved in the Town Hall. -The excavation began at the eastern end of the church, and proceeded -westward. It was found that the east end of the choir was apsidal, the -form usual in Norman times, but abandoned by English builders in -the thirteenth century, when many of the larger churches were extended -further to the east, though in France the apsidal termination is almost -universal. The form shows that the Abbey Church was rebuilt during the -Norman period of architecture, and that the choir was not afterwards -extended eastward, for in earlier days, as well as in the thirteenth -century and later, the rectangular east end was common. The north choir -aisle was apsidal internally and square-ended externally; the south -aisle was much wider than the north, and was evidently extended in the -fifteenth century. The foundations of the high altar are complete, -and on the north side of it is a grave formed of faced stone, which -probably contained the body of the founder of the Norman Church. The -crypt lies outside of the north aisle, and this has been completely -cleared out; its floor is sixteen feet below the level of the ground. -On this floor was found a twisted Byzantine column, which probably -supported a similar column in the chapel above the crypt. This is -the chapel which is believed to have been the shrine of King Eadward -the Martyr. A most curious discovery was made in the crypt—namely, a -number of dolicho-cephalous skulls. The question arises: How did they -get there? For the shape of these skulls indicates that their owners -were men of the Neolithic Age! In various graves sundry ornaments -and articles of dress have been found—a gold ring in which a stone -had once been set, a leaden bulla bearing the name of Pope Martin V. -(1417-1431), and a number of bronze pins, probably used to fasten -the garment in which the body was buried. The clay used for puddling -the bottom of the graves acted much in the manner of quicklime and -destroyed the bodies. Several pieces of the pavement, formed of -heraldic and other tiles, remain _in situ_. It is supposed by some -that the Abbey Church once possessed a central tower and a tall spire, -though it is doubtful if the _spire_ ever existed; if it did, the -church standing on its lofty isolated hill about 700 feet above the -sea-level must have been a conspicuous object from all the wide Vale -of Blackmore and its surrounding hills, as well as from the Vale of -Wardours to the north, along which the railway now runs. - -St. Peter’s Church is the oldest building in the town, but it is -late Perpendicular in style. It is noteworthy that it has not, and -apparently never had, a chancel properly called so; no doubt a ritual -chancel may have been formed by a wooden screen. A holy-water stoup is -to be seen on the left hand as one goes into the entrance porch at the -west side of the tower. The richly-carved pierced parapet of the north -aisle bears the Tudor rose and the portcullis, and so shows that this -part of the church was built early in the sixteenth century. - -Many of the houses in the town are old, but not of great antiquity. -Thatched cottages abound in the side lanes, and even the long main -street, which runs from east to west, has a picturesque irregularity -on the sky-line. The most interesting house is one in Bimport, marked -in a map dated 1615 as Mr. Groves’ house. It stands near the gasworks -and the chief entrance to Castle Hill. It is a good example of a town -house of the early sixteenth century, and contains some well-carved -mantelpieces of somewhat later date. This house has served various -purposes—at one time it was an inn, and some years ago narrowly escaped -destruction. It, however, did escape with only the removal of its -old stone-slabbed roof, in place of which one of red tiling has been -substituted. An additional interest has been given to this old building -by its introduction into _Jude the Obscure_ as the dwelling-place of -the schoolmaster Phillotson, from a window of which his wife Sue once -jumped into the street. Beyond this house is one known as St. John’s, -standing as it does on St. John’s Hill, more of which hereafter. -It was, in great measure, built of material bought at the sale of -Beckford’s strange and whimsical erection known as Fonthill Abbey, -of which the story is told in the _Memorials of Old Wiltshire_. In -the garden of St. John’s Cottage is a curious cross, in which are two -carved alabaster panels, covered with glass to preserve them from frost -and rain. - -Shaftesbury owes what distinction it possesses to its position, and -this is due to its geological formation. A long promontory[58] of -Upper Greensand runs from the east, and ends in a sharp point where -the steep escarpments facing the north-west and south meet. On the -triangle formed by these two the town is built. Looking out from the -end of this high ground we may see a conical, wooded hill known as -Duncliffe; this is an outlier of the same greensand formation; all the -rest of the greensand, which once occupied the space between, has been -gradually washed away, and the surface of the lower ground consists -of various members of the Jurassic series. Under the greensand lies a -bed of Gault, a blue-coloured clay impervious to water; and, as the -greensand rock is porous, the gault holds up the water that percolates -through the greensand, with the result that a thickness of about -twenty-five feet of the lowest bed of the greensand is full of water, -while the upper layers are dry. Hence, to get water to supply the town, -wells would have to be sunk to the depth of 150 feet. Some such wells -were, indeed, sunk in mediæval times, but were not satisfactory. It is -only in recent times that regular water-works, with pumping-engines, -reservoir, and mains, have been constructed, and Shaftesbury had to -depend for water until that time on a supply obtained from springs at -Enmore Green, a village situated under the hill and to the north of -the town. This gave rise to a quaint and curious custom. On the Sunday -next after the Festival of the Invention of the Cross, May 3rd (the -day was changed in 1663 to the Monday before Ascension Day), the Mayor -and burgesses of Shaftesbury went down to the springs at Enmore Green -with mirth and minstrelsy, and, chief of all, with a staff or bezant -adorned with feathers, pieces of gold, rings and jewels, and sundry -dues—to wit, a pair of gloves, a calf’s head, a gallon of ale, and two -penny loaves of fine wheaten bread: these were presented to the bailiff -of the manor of Gillingham, in which the village of Enmore Green was -situated. Moreover, the Mayor and burgesses, for one whole hour by -the clock, had to dance round the village green hand in hand. Should -the dues not be presented, or the dance fail, the penalty was that -the water should no longer be supplied to inhabitants of the borough -of Shaftesbury. The decoration of the bezant was a costly matter; -the original one, of gilded wood in the form of a palm-tree, was in -the possession of Lady Theodora Guest, and has been presented by her -ladyship to the Corporation of Shaftesbury. The water was brought up -in carts drawn by horses, and strong ones they must have been, for the -hill they had to climb is one of the steepest in the neighbourhood. The -fixed price for a bucketful of water was a farthing. From the scanty -supply of drinking-water it came to pass that a saying got abroad that -Shaftesbury was a town where “there was more beer than water”; to which -was added two lines describing other noteworthy characteristics of the -place—namely, that “here there was a churchyard above the steeple,” -and that the town contained “more rogues than honest people.” Once -during the writer’s fifteen years’ sojourn in the town some accident -happened to the pumping apparatus at the water-works, and for several -weeks the inhabitants were thrown back upon the old source of water -supply. Day after day water-carts might be seen slowly passing along -the streets, while servants or housewives came out from every doorway -with empty pails or buckets, though they were not called upon to pay -their farthings for the filling of them, as the expense was borne by -the owners of the water-works. - -In the old coaching days Shaftesbury was a livelier place than now, -since the London and Exeter coaches, with their splendid teams and -cheerful horns, passed through it daily, changing their horses at the -chief hostelry. When the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway (afterwards -absorbed by the London and South-Western) was planned it was intended -to bring the line, not indeed through the town, but within a half-mile -or so of it, with a station under the hill; but the bill was here, -as in many another place, opposed by the landowners, with the result -that the line was not allowed to come within about three miles -of Shaftesbury, and was carried through the neighbouring town of -Gillingham, which from that time began to increase, while Shaftesbury -decreased. Periodically there has been an agitation for a branch line -or a loop or a light railway running from Tisbury and passing near -Shaftesbury, and joining, somewhere in the neighbourhood of Wareham, -the line to Weymouth. But all the agitation has ended in nothing -practical. - -The beauty of its scenery and the clearness of its air have raised -a hope in the minds of some of its inhabitants that Shaftesbury may -become a summer health resort; but as long as the town is so difficult -of access these hopes do not seem likely to be fulfilled to any great -extent. - -There are scarcely any historical events connected with Shaftesbury -besides those already mentioned; but it is worthy of notice that once -for a short time two royal ladies were held prisoners at the Abbey. -Robert the Bruce, when on one occasion things were not going well with -him, entrusted his second wife, Elizabeth, and her step-daughter, -Marjory (the only child of his first wife, Isabella of Mar), to the -care of his younger brother, Nigel Bruce, who was holding the strong -Castle of Kildrummie, near the source of the Don, in Aberdeenshire. -The castle was besieged by the English, under the Earls of Lancaster -and Hereford, but when the magazine was treacherously burnt the -garrison had to surrender. Nigel Bruce was taken to Berwick, tried, -condemned, and executed. Elizabeth and Marjory were carried off across -the border, and, with a view of placing them far beyond all chance of -rescue, were ultimately handed over to the Abbess of Shaftesbury in -1313. King Edward II. allowed them twenty shillings a week for their -maintenance, a sum of much greater value in those days than now. After -the battle of Bannockburn (June, 1314), the Earl of Hereford, who had -been taken prisoner by Bruce, was given up in exchange for the Queen, -who during all her married life, with the exception of two years, had -been in the hands of the English, for she had been married in 1304, and -had been taken prisoner in 1306. - -It is needful, before finishing this chapter, to explain the old -saying about the churchyard being higher than the steeple. There was -once a church dedicated to St. John the Baptist that stood at the -south-west point of the hill on which Shaftesbury is built; this has -long ago passed away, but its graveyard still remains. Its parish -was amalgamated with that of St. James, whose church stands below -the hill, and for some time the old churchyard of St. John’s served -as the burial-ground for the united parishes. Hence arose the saying -quoted. Speaking of St. James leads us to notice the interesting fact -that part of this parish lies outside the municipal boundaries, and is -situated in the Liberty of Alcester,[59] so called because this land -belonged to a monastery at the town of Alcester, in Warwickshire, and -was free from the payment of local tithes. Some have supposed that -the word Alcester was the name of a Roman town, on the ruins of which -Shaftesbury was built; but this is not the case. - -In the early part of the eighteenth century a free school was founded -by one William Lush, merchant, of Shaftesbury, for the education of -a small number of boys and girls. A new scheme was drawn up about -thirty years ago by the Charity Commissioners: new buildings were -erected to the east of the town close to Cann Church, but within the -boundaries of the parish of Shaston St. Peter, and in 1879 Shaftesbury -Grammar School, as it is always called, was opened, the writer of this -chapter holding the office then, and for fifteen years afterwards, of -headmaster of the re-organised school, which, though never likely to be -a large one, has already done, and is still doing, useful work in its -own quiet and unobtrusive way. - -Despite the fact that strangers may call Shaftesbury a sleepy place, -and far behind the times in enterprise; despite the fact that it has -fallen from its former importance, and may by some be looked on as a -mere derelict—yet those who have known it and dwelt upon “The Rock” -cannot but keep a tender spot in their memories for this quaint Dorset -town. - -Beautiful it is under many atmospheric conditions. One who has risen, -and stood in the neighbourhood of the Grammar School, before the dawn -of a summer day, and has looked eastward at the long ridge of the -downs silhouetted against the sunlit sky, and then a little later has -turned to the south-west to look at the line of the houses that run -along the crest of the Rock, ending in the two towers of St. Peter’s -and Holy Trinity, flushed with the rose of morning, while the soft -blue shade holds the valleys below, has seen a sight of surpassing -loveliness. Sometimes the hollows are brimmed with thick, white mist, -from which the tops of the surrounding hills rise like islets from the -sea. Again, the view is splendid when, at noon on a wild, gusty day, -heavy masses of clouds are blown across the sky, and their shadows and -glints of sunshine chase each other over vale and down. But possibly -the most lovely view of all may be obtained by going to Castle Hill on -a summer evening when the sun is sinking behind the Somerset hills to -the north-west, for the sunsets are “mostly beautiful here,” as Mr. -Hardy makes Phillotson say, “owing to the rays crossing the mist of the -vale.”[60] But there are other aspects of nature that may sometimes -be observed in the hill town and around it—grand and wild when the -north-east blast roars over the hill-top, driving before it frozen -snow, sweeping up what has already fallen on the fields, and filling -the roads up to the level of the hedge-tops, cutting the town off -from all communication with the outer world, until gangs of labourers -succeed in cutting a narrow passage through the drifts, along which a -man may walk or ride on horseback, with the walls of snow rising far -above his head on the right-hand and on the left, and nothing to be -seen save the white gleam of the sunlight on the snow, the tender grey -of the shadows on it, and the bright blue of the sky above—if, indeed, -the snow has ceased to fall and the winds to blow, and the marvellous -calm of a winter frost beneath a cloudless sky has fallen on the earth. -Many may think that such aspects of nature could never be met with in -the sunny southern county of Dorset; but the writer speaks of what -he has seen on several occasions, when snow has been piled up to the -cottage eaves, when the morning letters have not reached the town till -after sunset, when even a wagon and its team have been buried for hours -in a snow-drift, and the horses rescued with difficulty. - - - - -PIDDLETOWN AND ATHELHAMPTON - -BY MISS WOOD HOMER - - -The parish of Piddletown, or Puddletown, is said by Hutchins to take -its name from the river Piddle, which flows to the north of the -village, though it is supposed to have been formerly called Pydeletown -after the Pydele family, at one time owners of much property in the -neighbourhood. - -It was once a large parish, and the capital of the hundred; but it -now numbers only about nine hundred inhabitants, having fallen from -fourteen hundred during the last forty years. About the year 1860 the -village contained as many as twenty boot-makers, twelve blacksmiths, -twenty carpenters and wheelwrights, five pairs of sawyers, two coopers, -and some cabinet-makers. Gloves and gaiters were tanned and made there, -as were many of the articles in common use. Beer was brewed in the -public-houses; and there were three malt-houses, about one of which we -read in Thomas Hardy’s _Far from the Madding Crowd_. Naturally, these -trades employed much labour, and a great decrease in the population -resulted when they were given up, after the introduction of the railway -at Dorchester, about the year 1848. Two business fairs were formerly -held in the village—one on Easter Tuesday, the other on October -29th—when cattle, materials, hats, etc., were sold. The October fair -still exists, but it has dwindled to a small pleasure fair only, though -pigs were sold as late as 1896. - -Piddletown possesses a very fine church, dedicated to St. Mary. It is -a large and ancient building, consisting of a nave and a north aisle -of the same length, covered with leaden roofs, and a small south -aisle, called the Athelhampton aisle, the burial-place of the Martyns -of Athelhampton. This aisle is under the control of the vestry of -Athelhampton Church. The chancel has a tiled roof; it was built in -1576. The embattled tower contains six bells. - -The chief features of this church are the monuments in the south aisle, -with some very fine brasses; the Norman font (some authorities on fonts -consider it to be of Saxon work); and the beautiful roof of carved -chestnut wood. This latter has been many times supported and restored, -and it will, indeed, be a loss to the antiquary when it is found -impossible any longer to keep it in repair. - -The monuments are all much defaced. One of them, of the fifteenth -century, consists of a knight and lady in alabaster on an altar-tomb, -probably Sir Richard Martyn and Joan his wife; this has traces of much -gilding and painting, but no inscription. To the west of this there -is the figure of a knight, probably placed there about 1400. West of -this again, an unknown “crusader” and lady lie on the floor under -an altar-tomb, with a canopy upon four pillars, which was erected -to the memory of Nicholas Martyn; under the canopy there is a fine -brass, representing Nicholas Martyn, his wife, three sons, and seven -daughters, dated 1595, and bearing an inscription. There is also -a smaller brass, on which is a monkey holding a mirror—the Martyn -crest—while above the whole are three sculptured martins or monkeys. -To the north of the aisle there is a figure of a knight in alabaster, -his feet resting on a chained monkey, the whole supported on an -altar-tomb of Purbeck marble. On the west wall there is a large tablet -to the memory of the Brunes, who owned Athelhampton in the seventeenth -century. - -[Illustration: PIDDLETOWN CHURCH.] - -On the east of the aisle there is a brass to the memory of Christopher -Martyn, with the following inscription:— - - Here lyethe the body of Xpofer Martyn Esquyer - Sone and heyre unto Syr Willym Martyn knyght - Pray for there Soules with harty desyre - That they bothe may be sure of Eternall lyght - Callyng to Remembraunce that every wyght - Most nedys dye, & therefor lett us pray - As other for us may do Another day. - - Qui quidem Xpoferus obiit XXII^{o} die mens’ M’cii an^{o} D’ni - millmo quingentesimo vicesimo quarto. - -Above this there is the kneeling figure of a man in armour, and a -partial representation of the Trinity. The figure is holding a scroll, -on which the following inscription is much abbreviated: “_Averte faciem -tuam a peccatis meis et omnes iniquitates meas dele_”; while before -and behind the effigies are the Martyn arms. And on the floor of the -church, north of the pulpit, there is a brass to the memory of Roger -Cheverell. - -A short staircase of thirteen steps opens out of the south aisle; this -formerly led to a rood loft. - -A musicians’ gallery of the seventeenth century runs across the west -of the church, and there are porches on the north and south. The south -door has a ring attached to the outside, which is popularly supposed -to have been a sanctuary ring, though probably this tradition has no -foundation. - -It is an interesting fact that the church clock, which was in the tower -till about 1865, was made by a village blacksmith, Lawrence Boyce by -name, about 1710. This clock had a three-cornered wooden face on the -north side of the tower, stone weights and one (hour) hand. It struck -the hours and quarters and chimed at 8, 12, and 4, except on Sundays, -when the chimes were silenced, so that they might not disturb the -worshippers. A clock made by the same man, for Bere Regis Church, is -now in the Dorchester Museum; but, unfortunately, the Piddletown -clock was not preserved, though it was in good going order when it was -removed to make room for the present one. - -In 1820, and probably for long before, it was the custom of the members -of the choir to write their own music; some was actually composed by -them, while some was borrowed from other villages, although the rivalry -which often existed between village choirs not infrequently prevented -the exchange of tunes. In two vellum-covered volumes, the property of -Mr. W. Gover, of Piddletown, dated 1823, the music and words of the -Psalms are most beautifully written. The books were given by a certain -Mrs. Price to the choir. The larger book belonged to J. Holland, a -clarionet player; the smaller to W. Besant. In the latter may be -found music headed, “John Besant’s Magnificat,” which was probably -composed by one of his ancestors. At this time the choir consisted of -two clarionets, two bass viols, a flute, and a bassoon; while before -this a “serpent” was used, and the music is written apparently for -all these instruments. The violin was prohibited by most clergymen as -being “Devil’s music,” on account of its being played in public-houses -and for dancing. The instruments were given up about 1845 on the -introduction of a barrel-organ. At this time the village also possessed -a band, which had been in existence for nearly two hundred years, and -of which the inhabitants were justly proud. - -Piddletown is perhaps better known as the “Weatherbury” of Thomas -Hardy’s _Far from the Madding Crowd_. On the south-west of the church -is the gargoyle (the head of some beast, with the legs of a child -projecting from its mouth), which destroyed Sergeant Troy’s work at -Fanny’s grave. The old malthouse mentioned in the same book stood in -what are now the gardens of Ilsington House, while Bathsheba’s house -stood on the site of Ilsington Lodge, although it is sketched from the -house at Waterson. The latter is a fine old building about two miles -from Piddletown, and was the residence of the Martyns before they went -to Athelhampton, and remained their property for long after. It was -much damaged by fire in 1863, but was carefully restored by the owner, -Lord Ilchester, to whose family it still belongs. It is interesting -to note that a certain Mr. Bainger, who lived at Ilsington Lodge, was -the moving spirit in causing the lowering of Yellowham Hill, between -Piddletown and Dorchester, about 1830. - -The Vicarage possesses a very fine staircase and an oak-beamed study, -while an old farmhouse, now used as a cottage, in “Style Lane,” -formerly contained a fine carved mantelpiece. In the churchyard is the -headstone of Peter Standley, King of the Gipsies, with the following -inscription:— - - In memory of Peter Standley, who died 23rd November, 1802, aged 70 - years. - - Farewell my dear & faithful wife - My sons & daughters too - Tho’ never in this mortal life - Again you must me view - Close in our Saviour’s footsteps tread - Of Love divine possessed - And when you’re numbered with the dead - Your souls will be at rest. - -He is said to have died of smallpox in Style Lane, and to have been -buried by night. Gipsies still visit the grave. - -The old coaching road from London to Dorchester runs to the west of -the village, and “Judge’s Bridge,” near Ilsington Lodge, is said to -have taken its name from being the meeting-place of the judge and the -“javelin men” on the occasion of the Dorchester Assizes. - -The Court Leet House, wherein was transacted all the local business, -and which was also used as a school, formerly stood in the “Square”; -the stocks, the old village pound, and pump were near. The house -now occupied by Mr. W. Gover was the residence of the Boswells, who -owned land in the parish, and introduced the system of irrigating the -meadows. - -Athelhampton Hall is a fine old building east of Piddletown. There is a -tradition that it took its name from some of the Saxon Kings, and was -originally called Athelhamstan; but Hutchins thinks it more probable -that it derived its name from Æthelhelm, one of the Saxon Earls in -Dorset, who was killed in an engagement with the Danes A.D. 837. - -The first owners of Athelhampton of whom there is any record were the -de Loundres and Pideles. From them it came by marriage to the Martyns, -who held it till 1595. At the death of Nicholas Martyn it was divided -between his four daughters, who married respectively Henry Brune, Henry -Tichborne, Thomas White, and Anthony Floyer. Gradually the shares of -the Whites and Tichbornes came into the hands of the Brunes, and were -sold by them in 1665 to Sir Robert Long. It then came by marriage to -the Hon. William Wellesley Pole (afterwards Earl of Mornington), whose -son sold it in 1848 to Mr. George James Wood, from whom it came to -his nephew, Mr. G. Wood Homer. It is now the property of Mr. A. C. de -Lafontaine, who purchased it in 1890. The Floyer share of the house -remained in their possession till an exchange was effected by Mr. Wood, -when the whole came into his hands. - -The house itself consists of two sides of a quadrangle facing south -and west, and was in a very bad state when bought by Mr. Wood, having, -it is said, been used as a farmhouse, and the fine old oak-roofed -stone-floored hall as a cattle-shed. Mr. Wood entirely renovated the -oak roof, taking great trouble to preserve the original style. He -re-floored the large drawing-room, and made various other extensive -repairs. He removed the gatehouse, which darkened the house, and partly -re-erected it in the form of a summer-house. This has, however, been -again removed by the present owner, who has made many alterations. -The house is built of Ham Hill stone. The east wing is said to be the -oldest part of the present building, and was probably erected by Sir -William Martyn, who died in 1503; while the north wing is thought to -have been built by Nicholas Martyn later in the sixteenth century. - -[Illustration: ATHELHAMPTON HALL.] - -A small chapel stood on the lawn when Mr. Wood bought the property, but -as this and Burlestone Church were both out of repair, he pulled them -down and built the present church, to a great extent at his own cost. -The chancel of old Burlestone Church is still standing in its overgrown -churchyard, the tombs having all fallen into decay. No churchyard -belonged to the Athelhampton Chapel, Piddletown having always been the -burying-place of the owners. - -In a field about a quarter of a mile from Athelhampton, on the land -of Mr. G. Wood Homer, are the grass-grown mounds—the remains of the -hamlet of Bardolfeston, the seat of Drogo de Bardolf, from whom it -came hereditarily to the Martyns. It consisted of a manor, hamlet, -and church; the latter stood at a little distance from the cottages -and manor on what is now known as Church Knap or Knoll. The field in -which the hamlet stood is now known as “Dunditch,” and there is a local -couplet which runs: - - Dunditch was a thriving town - When London was a vuzzy down. - -It is probable that Bardolfeston extended irregularly to Piddletown, -as it is known that cottages and a mill existed between the two, and -Bardolfeston was part of the Piddle Hundred, being sometimes called -Piddle Bardolf. - - - - -WOLFETON HOUSE - -BY ALBERT BANKES - - -The present Wolfeton House, in the parish of Charminster, in the county -of Dorset, is known to have been built by John, father of Sir Thomas -Trenchard, during the reign of Henry VII.; but as the property was -acquired by the Trenchard family (through marriage) from the Jurdains, -and previously the Jurdains had obtained the house and land (also -through marriage) from the Mohun family, it is quite clear that a house -of some description must have existed on the same site as that of the -present residence. - -Some archæologists consider that the gatehouse is decidedly of the -Norman period; so, should that be the case, probably the house -inhabited by the Jurdains, before them by the Mohuns, was built soon -after Norman Conquest. - -A date is still to be seen on the north side of the north tower, but -whether that refers to the actual building of the towers, or only to -some portion that had been rebuilt or restored, is not known. - -[Illustration: WOLFETON HOUSE.] - -In a note attached to the pedigree of Trenchard it is stated that the -first Sir Thomas Trenchard rebuilt the house at Wolfeton as it now -stands, except some addition made by Sir George Trenchard; and there -seems no reason to doubt this statement, for a study of the existing -house shows very clearly two distinct dates of building. There are -evidences, also, that Sir Thomas Trenchard’s rebuilding incorporated -many portions of a still older edifice. - -Mr. Hamilton Rogers, in his _Sepulchral Effigies of Devon_, says: - - Their last heiress, Christian, daughter and heir of John de Mohun by - Joan his wife, daughter of John Jurdain, of Wolveton, Charminster, - married Henry Trenchard (_obit_ 1477), of Hordull, Hants, and - subsequently of Wolveton. - -His descendant, Sir Thomas Trenchard (_ob._ 1505), rebuilt this fine -old mansion, and carved on escutcheons over the gateway; and first -among the noble series of genealogical shields in the hall windows were -the arms of Trenchard. Traces of the great Devonshire family of the -Mohuns are not infrequently found in Dorset. - -The elevation of the south front of Wolfeton House remains very much as -originally erected, and is of two distinct styles of architecture—the -portion of the building to the east being in the Tudor-Gothic, probably -of the time of Henry VII., and the west portion in the Elizabethan, -or, more probably, Jacobean style. The latter portion is a picturesque -example of this pseudo-classical style of architecture and nothing -more. The older part of the building, however, possesses features which -are worthy of notice, as the rich labels over the windows are composed -of hollow mouldings filled with rolls of sculptured fruit and foliage, -and terminating in quaint corbels carved with great spirit. - -Hutchins says: - - The ancient seat of the Trenchards here is a noble building, and at - the time when it was built perhaps the best in the country; it is a - large fabric, its principal fronts to the east and south. On the north - it is sheltered by a grove of trees. - - One enters on the east into what formerly was a small court, and - on both sides of the gate is a round tower. In this front are many - windows, almost all of them different from each other, as if the - architect had studied irregularity. This seems to have been the humour - of that age, for Dugdale remarks that: - - At Tixall, co. Stafford, the seat of the Lord Aston, there is a - fine piece of masonry, built in the reign of Henry VIII.: though - the windows are numerous, scarce two of them are alike, and there - is the same variety of fretwork of the chimneys; so that the beauty - of the structure in that age did not, as in the present, consist in - uniformity, but in the greatest variety the artist could give. - - On the north side of Wolfeton House there was a small cloister leading - to what was the chapel, in which some of the family were married - (within memory), but it has since been pulled down. To the west of the - chapel there was a little court. - -From Powel’s _Topographical Collections in Devon and Dorset_ (A.D. -1820) we learn that a great deal of the back of the house had been -destroyed, and the whole of the fine glass (with the exception of five -or six shields) was taken down, amounting to 100 lbs., and sent to Mr. -Trenchard’s other house at Lytchett; but it was so badly packed that -when the case was opened almost the whole of the glass was pounded or -broken to pieces, so that very little was preserved. - -The only remaining portion of the eastern front is the old gateway, the -most distinctive feature of the house. The entrance gate is flanked by -large circular towers capped by conical stone roofs. That on the south -side is somewhat larger than its fellow, as well as standing a little -further eastwards. The arch of the entrance gateway has continuous -mouldings east and west, with a label over. The eastern label contains -a shield bearing the following arms:—Quarterly, 1 and 4, Trenchard; 2, -Mohun; 3, Jurdain; and an inescutcheon, Quarterly 1 and 4, 3 lozenges; -2..., 3.... The western label terminates in figures holding shields on -which are two T’s combined with T. E. united by a tasselled cord. Above -the apex of the arch similar initials appear interlaced, and over all -T. T. combined. - -Over the door within the gateway are three escutcheons on stone: (1) -An angel holding a T [transcriber; fractur script], and at the points -T. E. (2) The arms of Trenchard. A little to the south of the gateway -is a building, on which is this inscription: “_Hoc opus constructum -fuit An’ Dni._—MCCCCCXXVIII.” The tower, together with the series -of rooms connecting the gatehouse westwards to the main house, are -comparatively modern, as also is the entrance porch. These buildings -form the present north front of the house, and over the porch are -sculptured the arms of Weston. - -The chapel mentioned by Hutchins as having formerly stood on the -north side of the house has long since vanished, but traces of its -foundations were discovered during some excavations made about fifty -years ago. - -Turning to the inside of the house, we find much to interest both the -antiquary and the architect. - -Before the hall was destroyed and replaced by the present dining-room, -over the large chimney-piece there were carved representations of -fourteen Kings of England, which, says Hutchins, “are said to resemble -the figures in the first edition of Rastell’s _History of England_, -ending with Charles I.” Aubrey, in his _Miscellanies_, states that on -November 3rd, 1640 (the day on which the Long Parliament began to sit), -the sceptre fell from the figure of Charles I. while the family and -a large company were at dinner—an ill omen, the full import of which -could not have been realised at the time. Opposite to these sculptured -monarchs were the figures of an abbot, a soldier, and some esquires. On -the screen were the arms and quarterings of the Trenchard family. - -From the hall a large stone staircase led to the dining-room, a noble -apartment, adorned, says Hutchins, “with a noble bay window, in which -stood an octagon marble table on four wooden lions.” - -The interior of the western portion of the house—_i.e._, of the part -built by Sir George Trenchard, is composed of two storeys, of which -the lower seems originally to have constituted a single apartment. -Both storeys were very richly decorated; the flat ceiling of the first -storey is covered with an arabesque of plaster, embracing foliage and -various devices, finishing with large central pendants. - -The upper floor had a lofty vaulted ceiling, corresponding with the -high pitch of the roof of a similar character. Unfortunately, this -ceiling has been utterly destroyed—a dreadful piece of vandalism, as -the tracery of the pendants and ceiling must have equalled, or even -surpassed, that of the lower rooms. This upper apartment now forms a -series of bedrooms, in the centre of which is the original sculptured -stone chimney-piece, having under the cornice a large panel, whereon is -depicted a figure reclining on a couch surrounded by dancers. - -The magnificent carved oak doorway and chimney-piece in the east -drawing-room were sent to Sir Thomas Trenchard by Philip and Joanna at -the same time that they presented him with their portraits and a china -bowl. The following description of the chimney-pieces in the east and -west drawing-rooms is given by the county historian:— - - Chimney-piece No. 1, in the east drawing-room, the height of the room, - consists of an arrangement of entablatures one within the other, the - upper and outer cornice being supported by lofty Corinthian pillars - with rich capitals; immediately beneath this are two large sunken - panels, respectively containing figures of Hope and Justice, separated - by male caryatides, which by their different costumes are intended - perhaps to typify a citizen, knight, and esquire. - - Within the innermost cornice, and immediately surrounding the - fireplace, is a series of panels of great interest, displaying - rural and hunting scenes, trades, satyrs, heads, etc., quaintly but - faithfully carved. - - Chimney-piece No. 2, in the west drawing-room, is similar in its - general character; the principal subject amongst its decorations - represents the contest of the goddesses in the garden of the - Hesperides. - -One of the most beautiful examples of carving is an inner door-case in -the east drawing-room, the arch over which has a richly moulded soffit, -and carved heads in the spandrils; over the door, rich Corinthian -pillars, flanked by sculptured figures of a king in armour and a queen, -support a cornice surmounting a large sunken panel. - -In the front of the cornice is a shield bearing the following -arms: _Quarterly_—1 and 4, _Trenchard_; 2, _Mohun_; 3, Semée of -cross-crosslets, a lion rampant, _Jurdain_. - -[Illustration: THE EAST DRAWING-ROOM, WOLFETON HOUSE.] - -There is, of course, much else to interest the antiquary in the way of -old furniture and objects of art, and any visitor will be “charmed with -the admirable manner in which the art of the modern furniture has been -adapted to the character of the old house, lending its aid to heighten -rather than to detract from the beauty of the antique carvings and of -the interior.” - -A curious legend in connection with the dining-room is that of the -ghost of Lady Trenchard having made its appearance immediately _before_ -her death. Anyone, of course, can believe as much or as little as he -likes about the ghost part of the story, but of the fact of the lady’s -suicide there is no doubt. During the ownership of Sir Thomas Trenchard -one of the Judges of Assize came to Wolfeton House to dine; but no -sooner had the company sat down than his lordship, greatly to the -surprise of everyone, ordered his carriage and abruptly left the house. -On their way back to Dorchester he told his marshal that he had seen -standing behind Lady Trenchard’s chair a figure of her ladyship with -her throat cut and her head under her arm. Before the carriage reached -the town a messenger overtook it on horseback with the news that Lady -Trenchard had just committed suicide. - -As to the dining-room as it now stands, it may be mentioned that -Wolfeton, like many other old houses of the same period, suffered -greatly at the hands of those who in the last century were wont to pull -down one-half of their houses to repair the other half. This appears -to have happened to Wolfeton House, as, judging from an old engraving -of the house, the dining-hall must have been quite twice, or more than -twice, the size of the present room. - -Of the historical anecdotes connected with Wolfeton House, the visit of -the King and Queen of Castile is, perhaps, of the greatest interest. - -In the early part of the sixteenth century, Philip, Archduke of -Austria and King of Castile, set forth with a great armada, with -the intention of surprising the King of Aragon, but he had scarcely -left the coast of Flanders when, encountering a violent storm, he -was compelled to put into Weymouth in distress. King Philip and his -Queen were invited to Wolfeton House by Sir Thomas Trenchard, then -High Sheriff, and were hospitably entertained. And with this visit -the origin of the Duke of Bedford’s family is curiously mixed up; -for on the arrival of the King and Queen, Sir Thomas Trenchard, -being unacquainted with the Spanish language, found a difficulty in -conversing with his guests. In his dilemma he had recourse to his -cousin, John Russell, of Kingston Russell, who, being a good linguist, -became a favourite with the King, and was recommended by him to Henry -VII., who appointed him to an office in the royal household. In the -succeeding reign Russell was also popular, and the confiscation of -Church property during this period rendered it possible for Henry VIII. -to bestow upon him extensive lands. And thus was founded the great -Bedford family. - -In acknowledgment of his hospitality Sir Thomas Trenchard was presented -by the King and Queen of Castile with some very valuable china vases, -together with their portraits, all of which are now at Bloxworth House, -near Wareham. They also presented to him the carved chimney-piece and -doorway still standing in the drawing-room at Wolfeton House, as before -described. - -Engraved copies of the oil-paintings of the King and Queen of Castile -hang on the left-hand side of the staircase, alongside of which is a -Spanish engraving of the poor Queen Joan, when sorrow at the death -of her husband had sent her mad. On their way to the Royal Mausoleum -the funeral _cortège_ had to pass a night at a nunnery. In the middle -of the night the poor mad Queen suddenly asked where they were. “In -a nunnery,” was the reply. “I will not have my husband surrounded by -all these women,” exclaimed the Queen; so the _cortège_ immediately -removed, and spent the remainder of the night, until daylight, in the -open country. - -In the ancient gatehouse of Wolfeton the winding staircase of forty-one -oaken steps appears to be quite unique: there are nine stone steps at -the base, twenty-four of oak to the first floor level, and seventeen -leading to the garret above. For years (some think one hundred) this -staircase must have been a complete ruin, as is easily seen by the -decayed state of those steps opposite to the two windows, the wind and -the rain having beaten in on them for many years. - -In addition to the King and Queen of Castile, other royal visitors have -from time to time honoured Wolfeton House with their presence, and -during the residence of George III. at Weymouth the King and Queen paid -it frequent visits. On one occasion, when George III. admired a marble -table that used to stand in the drawing-room, the Trenchard of that day -immediately presented it to His Majesty, and the table is now in the -royal dairy at Frogmore, Windsor. - -No account of Wolfeton House would be complete without some allusion to -the story of the Roman Catholic priest. In the time of Queen Elizabeth, -when it was the object of the then Government to stamp out in every way -the Papal influence in England, the Weld family had a Roman Catholic -priest concealed at their house at Chideock, in Dorset. Sir Thomas -Trenchard, who then resided at Wolfeton House, and was a personal -friend of Mr. Weld, of Chideock, happened to be High Sheriff of the -county of Dorset for that year, and received orders to go over and -search for the priest therein concealed. On account of his friendship -with Mr. Weld, Sir Thomas, on reaching Chideock, made a most cursory -search, and left with the intention of reporting to the authorities -that he could find no signs of the priest; but, unfortunately, as he -was leaving, the villagers, whose sympathies were Roman, not aware of -his benign intentions, began hooting and calling the High Sheriff and -his constables a pack of blind owls for not being able to find the -concealed priest. “If that’s what you want,” exclaimed Sir Thomas, -losing his temper, “I’ll soon show you I am not so blind as you think!” -and, surrounding the mansion with his constables, a real search was -made, and the poor priest was soon discovered and brought over to -Wolfeton House as a prisoner. The priest, a highly-educated French -gentleman, made himself so agreeable that Sir Thomas Trenchard did all -in his power, by writing to the authorities, to save his life; but the -Government of that day was so desirous of making an example, that all -entreaties were in vain—the poor priest was executed, and, it is said, -was also drawn and quartered in the High Street of Dorchester. - - - - -THE LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS OF DORSET - -BY MISS M. JOURDAIN - - -“Dorset has continued Dorset alone from time immemorial,” and its -special character has been more carefully preserved and fixed than that -of any other English county in the work of two Dorset poets, William -Barnes and Thomas Hardy, one of whom has succeeded, like Mistral in -France, in making its native language a literary medium known beyond -its spoken limits. - -Dorset’s earlier poets,[61] however, have not been “local”; and it -is characteristic of Matthew Prior that, in the account drawn up by -himself for Jacobs’ _Lives of the Poets_, he describes his father as a -“citizen of London,” and that though the first entry against his name -on his admission as pensioner at St. John’s College, Cambridge, is -_Dorcestr_, it has been altered by a later hand into _Middlesexiensis_. -In spite of conflicting entries, it is now generally admitted that -Prior, _perennis et fragrans_—the motto upon the modern brass to his -memory in Wimborne Minster[62]—was born at or near Wimborne, in East -Dorset, the son of George Prior, who is said to have been a joiner. - -“With regard to the family of Prior, the tradition of Wimborne says -that his father was a carpenter, and one house he lived in is pointed -out: it is close to the present Post Office, and is called the house -in which the poet was born. The other was pulled down, but its site is -known.”[63] - -Local tradition makes Prior a pupil at the free Grammar School; and of -the unusually large library of chained books in the old church, one was -said to be a standing testimony to his carelessness—a chained folio -copy of Ralegh’s _History of the World_, in which a hole is said to -have been burned by the boy when dozing over the book by the light of a -smuggled taper. Unfortunately for the floating tradition, it has been -stated that this particular defacement is the work, not of a candle, -but of a red-hot poker. Still more unfortunately, it has been proved -that the _History_, with other books, was placed in the library[64] at -a much later date than Prior’s boyhood.[65] - -Almost a century later a poetic “Court” was held at Eastbury, in North -Dorset, by George Bubb Dodington, Lord Melcombe, who is not interesting -as a poet[66] himself, but as the cause of poetry in others, the last -of the patrons, a curious, gorgeous, tawdry figure, fit to be seen -through the coloured glass of Macaulay’s ridicule. He was the easy -mark for dedications and compliments from many of the best-known -writers of the day—poets utterly discrowned, and those on whose brows -the laurel grows very thin and brittle; Edward Young, Thomson, and -Fielding mention him; while his Great House at Eastbury is celebrated -by Thomson, Young, and Christopher Pitt,[67] who writes, somewhat -oddly, of this “new Eden in the Wild.” The pleasures of this “Eden” -appear, from an epistle of Pitt, to have been smoking and drinking, -with conversational intervals. Dr. Young (of the _Night Thoughts_) sits -with “his Dodington,” - - Charm’d with his flowing Burgundy and wit, - By turns relieving with the circling draught - Each pause of chat and interval of thought; - Or, through the well-glazed tube, from business freed, - Draw the rich spirit of the Indian weed. - -Thomson’s “Eastbury”— - - Seat serene and plain - Where simple Nature reigns, - -is as bad, in its way, as Pitt’s “Eden”—serenity, plainness, and simple -nature being the most unlikely characteristics of Dodington,[68] whose -heavy figure was arrayed in gorgeous brocades; and whose equally -magnificent State bed was “garded and re-garded” with gold and silver -embroideries showing by the remains of pocket-holes, button-holes and -loops that they came from old coats and breeches. This great house, -after Dodington’s death, was taken down all but one wing and sold -piecemeal by Earl Temple, his heir. - -Henry Fielding, one of the Eastbury circle—he dedicated to Dodington an -epistle on “True Greatness”—was brought up as a boy in the manor-house -at East Stower,[69] where he was taught by the Reverend Mr. Oliver, -curate of the neighbouring village of Motcombe, said to have been -the original of Trulliber, a portrait drawn “in resentment of some -punishment inflicted on him,” according to Hutchins.[70] Fielding was -fortunate in another portrait, for it is generally admitted that the -prototype of Parson Abraham Adams was William Young, Incumbent of -West Stower, who had many of Adams’ eccentricities. As an instance of -Young’s absence of mind, it is said that when chaplain to a regiment -in Flanders he “wandered in a reverie into the enemy’s camp, and was -only aroused from his error by his arrest. The commanding officer, -perceiving the good man’s simplicity, allowed him to return to his -friends.” - -At East Stower, too, Fielding lived for a time with his first wife. - -William Crowe, though like Fielding only a short time resident in -Dorset, is admitted on the strength of his topographical poem, -_Lewesdon Hill_, of which Rogers thought so much that when travelling -in Italy he made two authors his constant study for versification, -Milton and Crowe.[71] Crowe’s _Lewesdon Hill_ is a perfect example -of an eighteenth century didactic and descriptive poem, with all the -heaviness due to the requirements of an age which, like Horace Walpole, -called for “edification” in its art. As in Goldsmith’s _Traveller_ the -person who speaks the verses sits pensively on an Alpine height, so -Crowe in his poem is supposed to be walking on the top of the hill on -a May morning—a hill, it has been suggested, that Fuller[72] may have -climbed before him, and where the wide prospect, “standing where Moses -stood when the Lord showed him all the land,” may have prompted the -title of his book, _A Pisgah Sight of Palestine_, which he wrote when -at Broadwindsor. Upon this hill, where - - The lonely thorn - Bends from the rude south-east with top cut sheer, - -Crowe surveys the outspread map of the county—Shipton Hill, Burton -Cliff, Eggardon Hill, the rich Marshwood Vale—in winter - - Cold, vapourish, miry, wet, - -to the “rampire” of Pillesdon, even the “nameless rivulet” (the -minutest trickle of a stream at the foot of Lewesdon Hill), which, he -rejoices, - - Yet flows along - Untainted with the commerce of the world. - -William Lisle Bowles, author of faint and forgotten verses, is -remembered by Coleridge’s early admiration for his sonnets. His father, -the Rev. W. Bowles (rector of Uphill), planted and improved Barton Hill -House, in Dorset, which the poet sold. On leaving it the poet wrote -verses full of regret for - - These woods, that whispering wave - My father rear’d and _nurst_. - -An author unknown outside his county is John Fitzgerald Pennie (buried -July 17th, 1848). He was born at East Lulworth, March 25th, 1782, and -is known as a dramatic writer. He published _Scenes in Palestine, -or Dramatic Sketches from the Bible_, 1825; _Ethelwolf_, a tragedy, -1821, etc. He followed in his early years the profession of an actor, -but after a chequered and unsuccessful career, settled in his native -village and devoted himself to literary pursuits. He published his -autobiography in 1827, _The Tale of a Modern Genius, or the Miseries of -Parnassus_. In 1810 he married Cordelia Elizabeth, daughter of Jerome -Whitfield, a London attorney. He and his wife died within a few days of -each other, and were buried in the same grave. - -Wordsworth’s connection with Dorset is of short duration, but is of -interest as occurring at a critical period in his career. On his -receiving Raisley Calvert’s legacy, he was able to live with his sister -Dorothy at a farmhouse at Racedown,[73] which he was allowed to occupy -rent free on condition that the owner might spend a few weeks there -from time to time. It was in the autumn of 1795 that he settled there. -His house is set upon the north-west slope of the “rampire” Pillesdon, -in a hollow among hills cultivated to their summits, or patched with -gorse and broom, which open here and there to allow glimpses of the -sea. The Dorset peasants in Wordsworth’s time were wretchedly poor, -their shapeless cottages “not at all beyond what might be expected in -savage life,” as Dorothy Wordsworth wrote. Very little trace of the -peculiar quality of the place is to be found in Wordsworth’s poems, but -it was here he wrote the first of his poems of country life, modelled -with an experience so personal as to keep every sentence vividly -accurate. - -It was here that he watched[74] the “unquiet widowhood” of Margaret, -drawing out the hemp which she had wound round her waist like a belt, -and spinning, as she walked backwards before her cottage door. Here, no -doubt, he saw her ruined cottage—there are many crumbling shells and -ruined cottages in the district to-day—with the red stains and tufts of -wool in the corner-stone of the porch where the sheep were permitted to -come and “couch unheeded.” The garden, run wild, too, is to be met with -to-day: - - Its matted weeds - Marked with the steps of those, whom, as they passed, - The gooseberry trees that shot in long, lank slips, - Or currants, hanging from their leafless stems - In scanty strings, had tempted to o’erleap - The broken wall. I looked around, and there, - Where two tall hedge-rows of thick alder-boughs - Joined in a cold damp nook, espied a well, - Shrouded with willow-flowers and plumy fern. - -Here, too, was Goody Blake’s cabin:— - - On a hill’s northern side... - Where from sea-blasts the hawthorns lean - And hoary dews are slow to melt. - -“The muffled clamour of the outside world only reached the secluded -farmhouse at Racedown after long delay”—in other words, letters -were delivered there but once a week; and on one occasion at least -Wordsworth asks to have a book franked, otherwise he will “not be able -to release it from the post-office.” A part of this time was given to -gardening, and, no doubt from motives of economy, almost all the meals -consisted of vegetables. “I have been lately living,” he writes, “upon -air and the essence of carrots, cabbages, turnips, and other esculent -vegetables, not excluding parsley.”[75] At another time he sets forth -to warm himself, like Goody Blake, by gathering sticks strewn upon -the road by the gale; and his habit was to take a two hours’ stroll -every morning, and now and then a long expedition on foot. He and his -sister, as the Cumberland peasants said, were “a deal upo’ the road,” -and many times they must have walked more than forty miles in the day. -There is a story still current in the neighbourhood that Wordsworth -once borrowed a horse to ride into Lyme Regis, and returned on foot, -having _forgotten_ the horse! With all its hardships and frugalities, -Dorothy Wordsworth loved Racedown. It was “the place dearest to (her) -recollections upon the whole surface of the island,” and she speaks -warmly of the scenery on Pillesdon, Lewesdon, and the view of the sea -from Lambert’s Castle—which is said by some to be _the_ view of the -county. - -Landor’s thought, that “when a language grows up all into stalk, and -its flowers begin to lose somewhat of their character, we must go forth -into the open fields, through the dingles, or among the mountains, for -fresh seed,” would have been endorsed by both Wordsworth and Barnes -alike, but with very different ideas as to what was considered fresh -seed. Barnes’ innovation was an innovation of the letter rather than -the spirit, the literary use of the local dialect which he heard in -his boyhood, and which, he said, was spoken in the greatest purity in -villages and hamlets of the secluded Vale of Blackmore, a valley so -secluded that its life was practically the life of the seventeenth -and eighteenth centuries until the nineteenth was far advanced. He -attributes his poems’ freedom from “slang and vice” to this seclusion; -but it is as much due to his personal[76] preference of light to -darkness. His rustics are, as a rule, happy people. - -[Illustration: WILLIAM BARNES.] - -At Rushay, William Barnes spent his early days, and he was educated at -the day school at Sturminster Newton. Somewhere along the road from -Bagber to Sturminster was a haunted house, about the exact locality -of which he gave no information beyond that a “dark, gloomy lane led -to it.” He once pointed out the lane to grand-children as the place -their “great-grandfather was riding down, when all at once he saw the -ghost in the form of a fleece of wool, which rolled along mysteriously -by itself till it got under the legs of his horse, and the horse went -lame from that hour, and for ever after.” Barnes was of pure Dorset[77] -stock. His long life was lived almost entirely in Dorset; and when at -Mere, in Wiltshire, a stone’s throw from his own county, he “always -yearned for Dorset and Dorchester.” Latterly he lived near Dorchester, -where, until 1882, “few figures were more familiar to the eye in the -county town of Dorset on a market day than an aged clergyman, quaintly -attired in caped cloak, knee-breeches and buckled shoes, with a leather -satchel slung over his shoulders and a stout staff in his hand. He -seemed usually to prefer the middle of the street to the pavement, and -to be thinking of matters which had nothing to do with the scene before -him. He plodded along with a broad, firm tread, notwithstanding the -slight stoop occasioned by years. Every Saturday morning he might have -been seen thus trudging up the narrow South Street, his shoes coated -with mud according to the state of the roads between his rural home and -Dorchester, and a little grey dog at his heels, till he reached the -four crossways in the centre of the town. Halting there, opposite the -public clock, he would pull his old-fashioned watch from its deep fob -and set it with great precision to London time.” - -An unusual union of scholar and poet, his little Dutch pictures are -free from the dull undertone of the conventional manner that Burns -occasionally fell into. Indeed, he has more affinity with the Provençal -poet and lexicographer, Mistral, than with Burns or Béranger, with -whom he is usually compared. He is perhaps mistaken in his belief that -the Dorset dialect is “altogether as fit a vehicle of rustic feeling -and thought as the Doric as found in the Idyllics of Theocritus.” But, -after making this exception about the “fitness” of his Doric, there -remains in his clear, untroubled poems of still life, in his unaffected -eclogues, no small affinity with Theocritus. There is a charm in his -limitations; he belongs not to England, but to Dorset; not to Dorset, -but to the Vale of Blackmore, where the slow, green river, his “cloty” -Stour, with its deep pools whence leaps the may-fly undisturbed by -anglers, is the stream dearest to his memory. - -Barnes was Mr. Hardy’s near neighbour and personal friend—Mr. Hardy’s -house is less than a mile from the Rectory of Winterborne Came—and both -have been interpreters of the life—especially of the vanished life—and -character of their pastoral county. In every other respect they are as -different as is “Egdon” Heath from Blackmore Vale. - -It is difficult to say in what form of topography Mr. Hardy is at his -best within his “kingdom”—his patient and precise creation of a town -such as “Casterbridge” (Dorchester), the architectural individuality of -his great houses, or his knowledge of “those sequestered spots outside -the gates of the world,” and of woodlands and wildernesses. He has the -knowledge with which he credits Angel Clare of “the seasons in their -moods, morning and evening, night and noon, in their temperaments; -winds in their several dispositions; trees, waters, and clouds, shades -and silence, _ignes fatui_; constellations and the voices of inanimate -things.” In most cases, the birthplace of a novelist has no particular -significance in relation to his work. Very often a writer’s county is -like Matthew Prior’s, exchanged for Middlesex. But in the case of Mr. -Hardy it is different. The fact that he was born in a “mere germ of a -village” near Dorchester, and within sound of a heath; that his life -has been spent, for the most part, in Dorset; that he now lives on the -outskirts of Dorchester, and that he comes of a Dorset stock—tracing -his descent, however, from John le Hardy (son of Clement, Governor of -Jersey in 1488), who settled in the West of England before the end of -the fourteenth century—are significant points in his biography.[78] By -the circumstances of birth and lifelong residence the background of his -novels, _Wessex_, has become mainly limited to Dorset (South Wessex), -and especially to the neighbourhood of Dorchester. - -The interest of Mr. Hardy’s backgrounds is twofold. There is their -purely artistic interest as intensifying action and character; there is -also their topographical interest. Mr. Hardy’s imaginary kingdom was -so unlike the photographer’s “studio backgrounds” of other novelists -that long before sketch-maps of Wessex were prepared and published in -the uniform edition of his works the identity of many of his scenes -afforded no manner of doubt to Dorset readers. The precision with -which he describes a building or a neighbourhood, notes position, -distance, proportion, has been a clue and a perpetual interest to those -who follow the intricacies of Wessex geography, in spite of Mr. Hardy’s -half-discouragement of those who sought to localise the horizons and -landscapes of his “merely realistic dream country.” - -His “illuminative surnames” have been spoken of by some writers. His -place-names are no less illuminative, and his quaint or sonorous -substitutes might be transferred to the map of Dorset with little loss. -In some cases an older name is revived, such as Shaston, Middleton -Abbey, and Kingsbere. Sometimes he has made a slight modification of -the real name, or received a suggestion from it, as in Sherton Abbas, -Emminster, Port Bredy, Chaseborough, Casterbridge. Other names are -downright inventions, often a _précis_ of the natural features of the -town, such as Aldbrickham for Reading; or made with a fine ear for -local probability.[79] - -[Illustration: MR. THOMAS HARDY.] - -The county town of Dorset, with its core of old houses, and too many -that are new, is the centre of the Hardy district, as it is the “pole, -focus, or nerve-knot,” of the surrounding country. Its memories of -Rome are preserved in Mr. Hardy’s name for it, “Casterbridge”; and -its outward appearance in the days when Dorchester had no suburbs, -and was “compact as a box of dominoes” behind its stockade of limes -and chestnuts. A description of the old-fashioned place, in the mouth -of one of Mr. Hardy’s characters, always quoted in the guide-books to -Dorchester, is that “it is huddled all together, and it is shut in by a -square wall of trees like a plot of garden-ground by a box edging”; and -the unusual way the country came up to the town and met in one line -is best described in his words:— - - The farmer’s boy could sit under his barley mow and pitch a stone into - the office window of the town clerk; reapers at work among the sheaves - nodded to acquaintances standing on the pavement corner; the red-robed - judge, when he condemned a sheep-stealer, pronounced sentence to the - tune of Baa, that floated in at the window from the remainder of the - flock browsing hard by; and at executions the waiting crowd stood in - a meadow immediately before the drop, out of which the cows had been - temporarily driven to give the spectators room. - -It has been said that the Dorchester in the Wessex novels had no -suburbs; the North Street ended abruptly in a mill by the river; the -South Street came to an end in a cornfield—but these bounds have been -leaped over in several places, and to-day the east, or Fordington side -of the town (Mr. Hardy’s Durnover) alone remains unchanged; and here -the flat water-meadows stretch up to the garden-hedges and the actual -walls of the houses. In spite of changes without the escarpments, the -curfew still sounds at the stroke of eight from St. Peter’s with its -“peremptory clang,” the signal for shop-shutting throughout the town. -The brick bridge over the Frome, and the stone bridge over a branch of -the same stream in the meads, have their well-defined peculiarities -in Dorchester as in “Casterbridge.” The neighbourhood of “Mixen” -Lane (Mill Lane), the “mildewed leaf” in the sturdy and flourishing -Casterbridge plant, is recognisable at the east end of the town, near -the town bridges. - -Lucetta’s house, “High Place Hall,” at the corner of Durngate Street, -has a modern shop-front inserted; while the most significant feature -of her house is to be found at Colyton House, where, in the centre -of the wall flanking the garden, is an archway, now bricked up, -surmounted by a battered mask in which the open-mouthed, comic leer can -hardly be discerned to-day. Without the town, on the Weymouth Road, -is the immense Roman “Ring”—“Maumbury Ring, melancholy, lonely, yet -accessible from every part of the town”—which was to Dorchester what -the ruined Colosseum is to modern Rome. - -“Some old people said that at certain moments in the summer time, in -broad daylight, persons sitting with a book, or dozing in the arena, -had, on lifting their eyes, beheld the slopes lined with a gazing -legion of Hadrian’s soldiery as if watching the gladiatorial combat, -and had heard the roar of their excited voices; that the scene would -remain but a moment, like a lightning flash, and then disappear.” The -ancient square earthwork where Henchard planned his entertainment is -Poundbury Camp, where the annual sheep-fair is held—“Square Pommerie” -of the poems. - -Dorchester is interesting from the fact that it is the only full-length -portrait of a town drawn in the Wessex novels, and is the almost -unshifting scene of one, the _Mayor of Casterbridge_, where the -dramatic unity of place is preserved. In other novels the characters -are wanderers and the scenes shifted; or the towns and villages are -sketched in half-lengths or in small thumbnail sketches. Of these, -certainly the most important historically is Shaftesbury, the Shaston -of the novels, which seems to be set upon “a dominant cape or a -far-venturing headland.” It is a town of shrunken importance, “familiar -with forgotten years,” the ancient British Palladour, “which was, and -is, in itself, the city of a dream.” - -The houses now composing Shaftesbury are held high up above the Vale -of Blackmore by the height, or cliff, upon which it is built; and -Barnes, no less than Mr. Hardy, was alive to the vision of the old city -on watch, straining her eyes to Blackmore’s “blue-hilled plain,” or -shining “so bright” to those down miles below in the Vale. - -Another ancient, shrunken town is Wareham, which reminds one to a -certain extent of Dorchester, for it is square, ramparted, and defended -by water on one side; but these are the only points of resemblance. The -little diminished town “where only the presence of the river and the -shallow barges on its bosom suggest the ocean,” goes by the name of -“Anglebury”[80] in the Wessex novels, for it was a noted town in the -Saxon age, when it was a place of strength. Sherborne, the “Sherton -Abbas” of the novels, takes its fictitious name, like many other Wessex -towns, from its most prominent feature, the Abbey. Cerne Abbas—called -“Abbot’s Cernel” in the novels, one of its old names being Cernel—is a -village “still loitering in a mediæval atmosphere”; while Bere Regis, -which appears in the novels under the older form, “Kingsbere,” is -another of the diminished places that Mr. Hardy delights to honour, a -“blinking little one-eyed place” of thatched cottages, the measure of -whose earlier magnificence is the fine church of St. John the Baptist -that holds the dust of the Turbervilles. “Kingsbere-sub-Greenhill,” to -give it its full Wessex title, owes the last limb of that compound name -to Woodbury Hill (Greenhill)—a green hill partly covered with trees -that overlooks Bere. Its ancient fair, now much decayed, is described -rather as it was than as it is, as the “Nijni-Novgorod of South -Wessex.” The fair is, however, still held in September, beginning on -the eighteenth of the month. “Marlott,” really Marnhull, also connected -with _Tess of the D’Urbervilles_, lies embedded in Blackmore Vale, -“where the fields are never brown and the springs never dry,” between -Sturminster and Shaftesbury. - -Some six miles distant from Mr. Hardy’s home is the village of -Piddletown, known by the name of Weatherbury in _Far from the Madding -Crowd_. The church described there remains, but, as the novelist -expressly warns us, “Warren’s Malthouse” disappeared years ago, with -some of the village’s characteristic peculiarities. - -Stinsford, a parish of which the Bockhamptons are hamlets, the original -of “Mellstock,” is so carefully described by Mr. Hardy that each -cottage might well be a literary landmark, while Sutton Poyntz, the -“Overcombe” of _The Trumpet-Major_, like Piddletown, has lost one of -Mr. Hardy’s landmarks, for the mill is demolished, but the colossal -figure of George III. upon the chalk downs, which in the novel was -being cut, is still to be seen. - -Mr. Hardy’s special quality of precision that comes of knowledge is -nowhere more closely shown than in his pictures of great houses, or, -indeed, of buildings of any kind. They are all drawn from the real, -from their cellars and foundations to their leads and chimney-pots. -The only liberty he takes with the originals is to remove them, in -one or two cases, to another position. For instance, Lower Waterstone -Farm, the original of Bathsheba Everdene’s house in _Far from the -Madding Crowd_—“a hoary building of the Jacobean stage of classic -Renaissance”—is nearly two miles from “Weatherbury” (Piddletown). -Again, Poxwell Hall, the “Oxwell Hall” of _The Trumpet-Major_, is -really three miles from “Overcombe” (Sutton Poyntz), and, therefore, -not the close neighbour of the Lovedays it is made to be. The original -of “Welland House” is Charborough; but the “Tower,” as Mr. Hardy -writes, “had two or three originals—Horton, Charborough, etc.” - -Wool Manor-house, or “Well Bridge,” as Mr. Hardy, reverting to the -older name, calls it, once a possession of the Turbervilles, is set on -the bank of the rush-grown Frome, near the great Elizabethan bridge -that gives the place half its name. The paintings of two women are -actually, as in the novel, on the walls of the staircase, but they -are now rapidly fading away, and can only with difficulty be made out -to-day by the light of a candle. - -“Enkworth Court” (Encombe), deep in the Glen of Encombe, approached by -a long road gradually dropping into the cup-like crater by the only -expedient of winding round it, is a “house in which Pugin would have -torn his hair.” “Great Hintock House,” however, another house in a -hole, has no original, though it has somewhat hastily been identified -with Turnworth House, near Blandford. The situation is similar, but -Turnworth House is largely a modern building, while the “Great Hintock -House” of _The Woodlanders_ had a front which was an “ordinary manorial -presentation of Elizabethan windows, mullioned and hooded, worked in -rich snuff-coloured free-stone from local quarries.” - -The sea-coast towns of Dorset, southern outposts of Wessex, make -an occasional appearance in the novels and tales. The original of -“Knollsea” is Swanage, which would scarcely now be described as the -sea-side village “lying snug within its two headlands as between a -finger and thumb.” With Bridport (“Port Bredy”) and its neighbour, -West Bay, Mr. Hardy takes one of his rare liberties in altering -the configuration of the country; for one story opens with the -statement that “the shepherd on the east hill could shout out lambing -intelligence to the shepherd on the west hill,” over the intervening -chimneys. The cleft, however, in which the town is sunk is not so -exiguous. - -Georgian Weymouth is peculiarly the scene of _The Trumpet-Major_; while -Portland, “the Isle of Slingers”— - - The Isle of the Race - Many-caverned, bald, wrinkled of face, - -—is especially the district of _The Well Beloved_. It is a “wild, -herbless, weather-worn promontory,” sour and treeless, with its -beak-like point stretching out like the head of a bird into the English -Channel. On the east side is an unexpected wooded dell, narrow and full -of shade, on the summit of which rises Pennsylvania Castle—“Sylvania -Castle” of the novel—a modern castellated house, built in 1800 for John -Penn, Governor of the Island, who planted the trees around it. - -Perhaps Mr. Hardy’s most inalienable possession is not the town but -the wild, the “obscure, obsolete, superseded country,” a “tract in -pain,” which, with one form but many names, stretches from Poole in -the east to almost within sight of Dorchester on the west, from near -Bere Regis in the north to Winfrith in the south, where it joins the -heathland of the Isle of Purbeck. Though “Egdon” Heath is broken up -into many tracts, into Morden and Bere, and Wool and Duddle and other -heaths, it has an essential unity, and the attempts at cultivation have -met with desperate and, as it were, voluntary resistance, so that the -breaks into green strips of cornfield slip the memory on a back-look -at that lonely land. It is a place inviolate and “unaltered as the -stars,” a sweep of moorland, a tract of land covered with heather and -bracken and furze, practically unbroken, where, “with the exception -of an aged highway, and a still more aged barrow, themselves almost -crystallized to natural products by long continuance, even the trifling -irregularities were not caused by pick-axe, plough, or spade, but -remained as the very finger-touches of the last geological change.” In -appearance its colours are by distance blended into the purple brown -called, in _The Return of the Native_, “swart”—its “antique brown -dress.” The swart, abrupt slopes appear to be “now rising into natural -hillocks masquerading solemnly as sepulchral tumuli, now dipping into -hollows, where the rain-water collects in marshy pools and keeps green -the croziers and fully-opened fronds of the bracken much longer than -the parched growths at the crests of these rises, and again spreading -out into little scrubby plains.”[81] - -Its quality is “prodigious, and so as to frighten one to be in it all -alone at night,” as Pepys said of another solitary place—the great -earthwork of Old Sarum. In Mr. Hardy’s words, “the face of the heath -by its mere complexion adds half an hour to evening: it can, in like -manner, retard the dawn, sadden noon, anticipate the frowning of storms -scarcely generated, and intensify the opacity of a moonless midnight -to a cause of shaking and dread.” It is an agent among agents, and -what Wordsworth finds that nature becomes seen by man’s intellect, -“an ebbing and a flowing mind.” Its lonely face, and the face of all -solitary heath-lands, are interpreted for ever in _The Return of the -Native_. - -[Illustration: CAME RECTORY. -_The home of William Barnes._] - - - - -SOME DORSET SUPERSTITIONS - -BY HERMANN LEA - - -In employing the term superstition, it is in the sense defined by Franz -v. Schonthan:— - - Zwar nicht wissen—aber glauben - Heisst ganz richtig—Aberglauben. - -(Not to know, but to believe; what else is it, strictly speaking, but -superstition?) - -It is natural, no doubt, that superstition should decrease in the same -ratio as education and enlightenment advance, but its total extinction -need not be anticipated for a long time to come. True, its death-knell -was sounded by the first invented printing press, a contrivance -which, nevertheless, tends to some extent to foster its growth, -since “believers” read in history facts that give support to their -own beliefs. And although this survival may not exactly please the -practically minded, to the antiquary or the psychologist its extinction -would be certainly regretable. - -It must not be rashly concluded that superstition goes hand in hand -with foolishness or absence of commonsense, nor must it be looked on -as a symbol of weak-mindedness. Did not Augustus Cæsar hold strong -views regarding putting the left shoe on the right foot, maintaining -that such procedure betokened some dire calamity? And again, did he -not deem the skin of a sea-calf to be a certain preservative against -lightning? Yet he was not generally regarded as a particularly foolish -or weak-minded man. - -Of the various forms of superstition current at the present time, none -hold such sway as the credence in witchcraft. The date of its origin is -lost in the dim past, but we may safely surmise that it arose early in -the mind of man. Moses denounced witches in no measured terms. “Thou -shalt not suffer a witch to live,” he said, and this decree survived -until a comparatively recent date. In mediæval times the law of Moses -certainly held good; it mattered nothing what position in the social -standard the accused held. In the year 1537 Lady Janet Douglas was -burned in Edinburgh on the charge of being a witch. John Knox was once -accused of being a wizard because “nothing but sorcery,” so it was -said, “could account for Lord Ochiltree’s daughter”—“ane damosil of -nobil blude”—falling in love with him—“ane old, decrepid creature of -most base degree of ony that could be found in the countrey.” Although -the days are past when witches were publicly tormented or executed, -even at the present time such a reputation is not without danger to the -supposed witch. To effect a cure from the spell cast, it used to be -considered almost essential that her blood be drawn, and within quite -recent years I have known of cases where reputed witches have been shot -at with “silver bullets,” or struck at with hay-forks or other sharp -instruments. - -Having its birth in so remote a past, it is, perhaps, not to be -wondered at that witchcraft has persisted so long, that its demise is -so protracted. Until a few years ago, when the law stepped in to punish -those who made a livelihood by “conjuring”—_i.e._, pointing out witches -and producing spells to confound them—witchcraft formed an everyday -topic of conversation, and little secrecy was deemed necessary; -but now, though as staunchly believed in as ever, the subject is -alluded to in bated breath, and it is no easy matter to discover the -whereabouts of a “conjurer” or “witch-doctor.” - -In the more remote corners of the county may still be heard fragments -of the old Dorset speech, and in these same out-of-the-way spots one -may chance on the strangest of superstitions and customs. Witchcraft -holds a place in the minds of the illiterate, the semi-educated, and -even the better educated, from which no amount of argument can expel -it. Thomas Hardy and William Barnes have both used the theme as a -groundwork for prose and poem. It may be interesting to note here that -Conjurer Trendle, in the former’s story entitled “The Withered Arm,” -was no fictitious personage, but had a veritable existence. He is still -well remembered (under his real name, of course) by some of the older -people who dwelt near, and the house in which he lived, in the central -portion of “Egdon Heath,” may still be traced in a heap of decayed -walls and rotten timbers. - -The reason for this strong and enduring belief is not difficult to -find; thought-transference, mental telepathy, hypnotism, are all -scientifically admitted; that our ancestors observed the effects of -these “sciences,” attributing the causes to some easily explainable or -at least plausible reasons, is more than probable. - -When attempting to trace to their origin some of the stories current, -one cannot help feeling that in many cases the so-called witch stood -more in need of pity than condemnation, for it required only very -scanty evidence for her to be thus branded. Gilfillan speaks of a -witch as “a borderer between earth and hell”—a view which was probably -shared by the majority of people. Goldsmith, on the contrary, was for -giving the accused the benefit of the doubt. “If we enquire,” he says -in sarcastic strain, “what are the common marks and symptoms by which -witches are discovered to be such, we shall see how reasonably and -mercifully those poor creatures were burned and hanged who unhappily -fell under that name.” - -If I were required to define a witch of the present day I should -state it as being the second-hand evidence of numbers of people who -have been “overlooked,” or bewitched, and who have given me detailed -descriptions. A witch, then, is an individual, male or female—usually -the latter—who by reason of certain gifts or powers is able to exert -an influence over another. She generally includes in her dress some -red token—perhaps a red hat, red shawl, or red cloak. She is able to -transform herself into the likeness of almost any animal, chiefly that -of a cat or hare, and is also able to become invisible; when assuming -the guise of an animal, she in no way hides her identity from those -who are conversant with the ways of witches, a witch-hare or witch-cat -differing in many particulars, both in appearance and gait, from the -ordinary hare or cat. It has been said that two animals only she cannot -simulate—lambs and donkeys; the usual Scriptural reasons being adduced. -Her power is nearly always inherited, and I have heard it argued that a -certain woman of my acquaintance, who was perfectly inoffensive, must -necessarily be a witch because her mother was one. This power may be -used either for good or ill, and may be directed against an animal or -a human being. I have been informed, in strict confidence, of certain -signs by which a witch may be recognised, and to test the accuracy of -my informant, I have many times asked people whom I knew but slightly -whether so-and-so was not a person credited with superhuman powers, -and, nine times out of ten, have been answered in the affirmative. -Hence it would seem that these tokens are well known and generally -admitted. - -The immediate effect on a person who has been “overlooked,” -“ill-wished,” or “hagrod” (Dorset for “hag-ridden”), as it is variously -called, consists as a rule of some sort of indisposition. This -gradually increases to severe sickness, and finally death supervenes. -The disease is usually of an extremely subtle nature, defying accurate -diagnosis, and is often termed by the medical man mental or hysterical. -Sometimes the stricken individual will merely pine away gradually, -refuse food, complain of nothing definite, yet preserve an entire -reticence as to any supposable cause. On the other hand, it does -happen occasionally that the effect of the “overlooking” is extremely -sudden—perhaps a fatal accident from an apparently natural cause. -Again, the ill-wishing may take the form of a comparatively harmless -nuisance—the butter may fail to “come” in the churning, the fowls may -suddenly cease laying, the cows may refuse to “give down” their milk, -or the pig, intended for an early fattening, may object to partake of -the most savoury mixture prepared with consummate care. Perhaps the -horses will refuse to pull fairly at their loads, or may stop entirely -when encountering a small hill. - -A “conjurer” or “white witch” is an individual who, possessed of -certain gifts (to some considerable extent hereditary), is able to -point out to those who consult him (or her—for either sex may have the -qualifications) the person who is causing the mischief. One necessary -attribute is that he be a “seventh of a seventh,” _i.e._, a seventh -child of a parent who, in his turn, was a seventh child. It does not -follow that this peculiarity in itself is sufficient to produce a -conjurer, but without it he cannot be one. One point, however, is -shared by such-born people, and that is, entire immunity from the -effects of ill-wishing, and a capability of identifying any other -person gifted with the powers of ill-wishing others. - -There are, or rather were, conjurers _and_ conjurers. Some took a -delight in frustrating the efforts of a witch, whether paid for -their services or not; whilst others used their knowledge merely as -a means of livelihood, and drained their patients of every copper -or possession of value. I knew of a family that, having consulted a -person of this latter class, parted with all their savings, then -with their convertible possessions, and, lastly, with their stock of -winter provender (garden produce, potatoes, and the like), until left -in a perfectly destitute condition, dependent on the parish for actual -necessaries. A conjurer, having listened to the complaint brought -him, will, as a rule, ask his client to what extent he would wish the -punishment to fail. Very often he would surprise his visitor by saying -at the start that he knew the reason why they came to consult him, -and would actually cite the case as it stood. If desired, he would -inform his questioner who their ill-wisher was, generally by showing -them the face of their enemy reflected in a crystal, or on the surface -of a bucket of water. Then would follow the prescription—and it was -here that he as a rule gave way to a love of effect, and suggested -material cures for a psychic malady. I am inclined to think that this -materialistic display was the chief reason for his being held up -to ridicule by the unbeliever or sceptic; had he contented himself -with less rude emblematical display he would have at least had more -sympathy from the general public. Some of the conditions laid down as -being essential to the withdrawal of the spell were, to say the least, -unnecessarily disgusting. Many I know of, which, although interesting -enough to the searcher, would certainly not bear putting into bald -print. Most were ingenious, and possessed colourable excuse for their -suggestion. I will give a few examples to illustrate this. A simple -remedy was suggested to a dairyman who complained of sickness in his -pig-yard. He was advised to place a birch-broom (“Bezom,” in Dorset) -across the doorway of the dairyhouse, it being said that any innocent -person could step over it, a witch never. This was tried, with the -result that in the morning a great outcry was heard, and a neighbour -was discovered standing outside the door protesting that “something -hurt her,” and she felt unable to cross the threshold. In a very -similar case where this was tried and failed to produce any result, -a further visit to the conjurer suggested sleeping with a prayer-book -under the pillow and fixing a horseshoe on the door—a shoe that had -of itself fallen from the left hind foot of a horse—and in both these -cases the nuisance was put a stop to almost immediately. - -In a case where the horses were dying from some obscure complaint, the -victim was told to cut out the heart of the next animal that died and -boil it in water containing sage, peppermint, and onions; when cold, it -was to be stuck full of new pins on the one side, and on the other with -“maiden” thorns—_i.e._, thorns of the present year’s growth—picked by a -maiden—woman or girl—and inserted by her. This done, it was to be hung -up on a nail in the chimney of a neighbour—the one accused of being the -witch. Another charm of a simple character was for the bewitched person -to take a dish of water and carry it over three bridges at midnight. -Yet another was to take a bottle, place in it some sprigs of hyssop, -fill it up with a certain liquid, insert some new pins in the cork, and -bury it in a manure heap. In the majority of instances that have come -under my notice, the charm has been emblematical of bodily ill to the -witch; either pins or something similar capable of drawing blood, or -else some perishable material such as the horse’s heart, which would -naturally decay slowly, or a waxen effigy which, placed near a fire, -would gradually melt; and I have been given to understand that the -slower the melting, the more protracted would be the witch’s suffering -and death. - -I believe it very rarely happens that the same person is “overlooked” -more than once; at any rate, all those who have spoken to me on -the subject have told me that since they suffered in this way they -have taken most elaborate precautions to avoid a repetition of the -occurrence. I know one man who utterly refuses to meet or pass a woman -who is a stranger to him should she be wearing anything of a red -colour; in fact, he would go a mile or more out of his way to avoid -her, or enter a field and hide until she had passed on her way. Another -man of my acquaintance, one who confided to me several distinguishing -marks by which a witch might be recognised, advised me never to go near -a cat or hare if they exhibited any of these signs. A woman, well-to-do -in her walk in life, has warned me solemnly never to pick yellow -ragwort, lest I should thereby render myself liable to be bewitched. -The seriousness with which these and many others have tendered advice -is sufficient proof—to me—of the genuineness of their beliefs. - -Let me now briefly cite a few particulars of cases that have either -come under my own observation, or have been related to me by people in -whose veracity I have the strongest confidence. A question which may be -asked is, do I myself believe that these things happened and are still -happening? It is not easy to find an answer. Because I cannot explain -any certain occurrence it in no way proves that it is false; moreover, -I have personally met with experiences of a strange, subtle character -which, although I may not be able to explain satisfactorily to others, -are irrefutable as far as I myself am concerned. Probably many, if not -most, of my readers have likewise had “experiences,” but the scientific -scepticism of the age prevents one from recording them only to be -sneered at by the unbelieving. - -One of the strangest cases that has ever come to my notice was that -of a young baker. It appeared that in some way or other he had given -offence to a reputed witch who lived in the same village, and who -openly vowed she would “pay him out.” Nothing untoward happened, -however, until after his marriage a few months later, when, going into -the stable one morning to feed his horse, he found the animal covered -with sweat; it was trembling, and refused all food. The next morning -the same thing occurred; so thinking to frustrate some practical joker, -he bought a strong, expensive lock for the door, and prided himself on -the fact that he had now outwitted the culprit. But the next morning -the horse had disappeared, and only after considerable search was it -at length discovered shut up in the pound. The stable was locked, and -there was no evidence to show that the lock had been tampered with. -The only information he gained was from a neighbour, who stated that -he heard a horse galloping down the road about midnight, and that, -looking out of his window, he had seen—not a horse, but a hare. For -some weeks afterwards all went on quietly; then his wife was taken ill. -The doctor who attended her could make nothing of her case, and at -length, taking the advice of a friend, he went to consult a conjurer. -As he arrived at the conjurer’s door, the latter came out, and, without -any preamble, asked him how his wife was. Now the men lived twenty -miles apart, yet the conjurer was conversant with every particular -of the case, including details which the baker declared he had never -mentioned to a soul. To him the conjurer handed a charm, telling him -to preserve entire secrecy on the matter, and to place it with his -own hands under his wife’s pillow. The result was an almost immediate -improvement in the wife’s condition; but in a day or two information -reached him of the illness of the supposed witch. As his wife improved, -so the other woman became worse. Then, one evening when she had so -far recovered as to come downstairs, a neighbour ran into his house -declaring that he had just come from the direction of widow G.’s, -that her house was entirely luminous, the walls semi-transparent, and -the whole neighbourhood reeked strongly of sulphur. Nor was this all, -for as he breathlessly told his tale, another man entered, confirming -what the first had said, and adding that a sound similar to that made -by a hare in a trap proceeded from the widow’s cottage. Joined by -others, including the village policeman, they hastened to the spot. As -they neared it, the baker, too, smelled the same odour, and saw the -luminous effect. Arrived at the gate they stood spellbound, for on the -doorstep was a figure. To me he described it as a “_thing_, coal-black, -with fire darting from its eyes and mouth; cloven hoofs, and a forked -tail”—in short, a fair description of a popular conception of the -devil! For some minutes they all stood still, too much frightened -to advance or retreat. Then, suddenly, an eerie cry rang out, and -the whole house was plunged in darkness. When at last they pulled -themselves together and entered in a body, they met coming down the -stairs from the bedroom a woman who had acted as nurse to the stricken -widow. She stated that she had been sitting by the bedside when she was -suddenly overcome by a strong sulphurous smell, which had rendered her -unconscious. Coming to herself at last, she glanced at the bed, to find -it empty. Together they all ascended the stairs; the fumes still hung -about, but the bed had no occupant; they searched the house through and -through, but could find no trace of the owner. - -I may mention here that it is by no means an uncommon belief that a -witch has sold herself to the devil, and that “he” will very often come -to fetch his “disciple” at the moment of her death. - -The case of Charles —— was not without interest, seeing that the -narrator was a man of considerable experience and intelligence, an -engineer between thirty and forty, in a good situation. As a boy he -had lived in a “haunted” house, in which strange and unaccountable -noises were continually heard, sufficiently loud to awaken the whole -household. He shared a small room with a younger brother, and more -than once they were awakened in the night by the sound of a sheep -bleating close to them, apparently by the bedside. On one occasion he -and his brother, accompanied by their dog, started from home before -daybreak to drive a flock of sheep to a farm some ten miles away. It -was winter, the days were short; and having duly delivered the sheep, -they started on their return walk as dusk began to gather. Their way -led past a large pond, and as they neared this spot they both stopped -suddenly, hearing the loud bleat of a sheep close to them. Peering -ahead, they soon perceived the form of a sheep just in front of them. -The dog bounded forward, but returned immediately with his tail -between his legs, and howling dolefully he ran behind his master as -if for protection. The dog was no coward naturally, and the lads were -accordingly somewhat alarmed. They stood still, debating what to do, -while the sheep drew gradually nearer, uttering “ba-a” after “ba-a,” -until it stopped within a few feet, when they distinctly saw that the -animal had no head. Petrified, they stood a moment, clutching hold of -one another, till the elder, recovering his presence of mind, raised -his stick to strike the animal; but his arm was powerless—he could -only raise the stick a few inches. Meanwhile, the animal advanced, and -rubbed its neck against their legs. Suddenly it turned, and dashing to -the edge of the pond, sprang in and disappeared from view. The lads -remained gazing after it, spellbound, and then took to their heels and -ran home. - -I am inclined to the belief that originally the term “hagrod” was -chiefly applied to the case of horses that had become mysteriously -affected. An old carter once told me that he had the charge of some -horses at a certain farm, and unconsciously chanced to give offence to -a reputed witch who lived near by. Her revenge took the form of petty -annoyances. It was no uncommon thing for him to enter his stables in -the morning to find his horses bathed in sweat, and panting as though -they had been ridden far and fast—this, too, when the door was found -locked as he had left it on the previous night. On such occasions the -horses were fit for no work that day, and he had considerable trouble -to get work out of them. Sometimes he would find them with their tails -and manes tightly plaited up with straw. Such occurrences used to be -comparatively common. One day I chanced to mention to his master what -the man had told me; his master smiled, and said what he thought might -be an explanation, but in no way denied the man’s story. Then he told -me a case that had come under his own observation. In the stable was -a valuable young horse, and one morning it was found with one hind -leg perfectly stiff, so stiff that it could not put it to the ground. -Three men tried their utmost to bend it, but without avail. At last -they led the animal out of the stable, limping on three legs, and when -outside it gradually got back the use of the limb. This happened many -times, and at length the carter declared it was “hagrod,” that an old -woman living near by had “overlooked it,” that every time she passed -the stable—a thing which she did occasionally to get butter from the -dairy—the horse was invariably stricken. Out of curiosity the farmer -took note of what the carter said, and, to his astonishment, he found -that the man was right—that is to say, in so far as that the horse’s -stiffness coincided with the time of this woman’s approach. She left -the neighbourhood a short time afterwards, and from that date there was -no recurrence of the horse’s strange attacks. - -In a case with the details of which I am very familiar, and the truth -of which I can vouch for, the ill-wish found vent firstly on animals, -the property of the “overlooked.” What actually led up to the matter -I never quite knew, possibly the narrator had offended her neighbour; -anyhow, the facts are indisputable. The first effects showed themselves -in the pigs refusing all food, and then dying one after the other, -in what looked like some form of fit. A veterinary surgeon who was -called in declared his inability to give a name to the disease, and -a subsequent post-mortem examination threw no light on the matter. -Then, one by one, all the fowls sickened and died; and, lastly, the -woman’s daughter became seriously ill, but of what disease the doctor -was unable to say. It was at this juncture that her mother, who had -hitherto scoffed at the notion, took it into her head that the girl was -bewitched, with the result that she paid a visit to a “wise-woman” -(with whom I was also well acquainted), and sought her advice. The -“conjuress” listened to her story, told her the name of the person who -was ill-wishing her, and gave her a charm, with instructions to sew it, -unknown to her daughter, inside her corsets, in such a position that -she should not suspect its presence. These directions were faithfully -carried out, with the result that in a short time her daughter regained -her normal health. Meanwhile, a neighbour (the supposed ill-wisher) -sickened, growing worse as the girl improved, and finally left the -neighbourhood; her subsequent history was never known. The charm, -which, by the way, the mother was directed to burn directly her -daughter was out of danger, was preserved for some time. It consisted -of a small lump of wax, roughly modelled into the form of a woman, the -face bearing a distinct likeness to the accused witch! - -I will conclude with one more instance, which, although free from -complications, is interesting as having happened quite recently. The -supposed witch lived within a few hundred yards of the house that I -was then inhabiting; the bewitched was a man who was for some years my -gardener. The road from his cottage to the nearest village led past -the house occupied by the witch, and, from some quite inexplicable -cause, he was never able to pass her house in the ordinary way. When he -attempted to do so he fell down; his only alternatives being either to -turn round and walk backwards, or else to crawl by on hands and knees. -Naturally, all the neighbours were aware of the fact, but they had -grown so familiar with it that they ceased to comment on it. About two -years ago the woman died, and afterwards, the spell presumably expiring -with her, the old man was able to pursue his way in normal fashion. In -front of the witch’s house stood a fine apple tree, and one day during -the autumn following her death, the old man asked me, with a twinkle -in his eye, whether I had noticed what a fine crop of apples this tree -bore. “I’ve a-knowed thic tree,” he said, “ever since he wer’ planted; -but he haven’t never had n’ar a opple on to en avore. Now, sir, can’ee -tell I how ’tis he do bear s’well t’year?” Knowing what was expected of -me, I said: “Let me see, John, is it not about a year ago since Mrs. -X—, who lived there, died?” His retort, though scarcely a reply to my -query, was nevertheless suggestive of the fact that I had answered his -former question to me. He deliberately winked, then said, “Ther, sir, -now you’ve a-said it,” and strode off to attend to his work. - - - - -INDEX - - - Abbey, Bindon, 189, 190 - - —— Cerne, 8, 9, 96 - - —— Church of Sherborne, 79 - - —— Foundations of Shaftesbury, 248 - - Abbotsbury Abbey, 102, 104 - - —— taken, 10 - - Adeliza, daughter of Baldwin de Brioniis, 131 - - Agger-Dun, Round Barrows at, 22, 25 - - Agglestone Rock, 198 - - Agricola, 29 - - Albert, Prince, 152 - - Alfred, 119, 146, 200, 241, 242 - - —— Boyhood of King, 76 - - —— Victories of, 7 - - Allington, 233 - - All Saints’, Dorchester, 147, 153 - - Almshouse, Sherborne, 81 - - Amphitheatre at Dorchester, 42 - - Anketil, Colonel, 215 - - Anne, “Good” Queen, 183 - - Archer, Abbot Walter, 95 - - Armada, Fight off Portland, 182 - - —— Scare, 205 - - —— Vessels sent from Weymouth against the, 163 - - Arne, Village of, 198 - - Aryans, Invading, 3 - - Asser, 242 - - Athelhampton, 257 - - —— Hall, 262 - - Athelstan, 94, 98, 102-104, 111, 146, 158, 243 - - Athelwold, Assassination of, 201 - - - Bacon, Francis (Lord Verulam), 176 - - Badbury, 5, 18, 34, 35, 36, 145 - - —— Roman occupation of, 31 - - Ballard Head, 197 - - Band, Piddletown Church, 260 - - - Bankes, Sir John and Lady, 206-209, 212, 213, 215, 217, 218 - - Bardolfeston, 263 - - Bankes, Sir Ralph, 217-219 - - Barnes, William, Dorset Poet, 18, 153, 156, 247, 273, 280, 294 - - Barrows, Long, 19, 20 - - —— Round, 3-19, 20, 21 - - Beach, Thomas, 113 - - Beaminster, 232 - - Beaufort Family, 124 - - Bedford Family, 270 - - —— John, Duke of, 228 - - Bentham, Jeremy, 143 - - Bere Regis, 9, 287, 290 - - —— Long Barrow near, 20 - - —— Round Barrow at, 22 - - —— Church, Timber Roof, 60 - - Bindon Abbey, 189, 190 - - Bindun Camp, 30 - - Bingham, Colonel, Governor of Poole, 214-216, 218, 223 - - Bingham’s Melcombe, Headquarters of Parliamentary Forces at, 165 - - —— —— Relics of the Armada at, 164 - - Blackmore Vale, 2, 250, 282, 286 - - Blandford, 209 - - —— Round Barrows near, 22 - - Bloody Assize, 15 - - Bloxworth Church, Hour-glass in, 56 - - —— House, 270 - - Bond, Captain, 209 - - Borough Dome-book of Bridport, 236 - - —— Records of Bridport, 234 - - Bow and Arrow (or Rufus) Castle, 180 - - - Bowles, William Lisle, 277 - - Bradley, John, last Abbot of Milton, 96 - - Bradpole, 233 - - Branwalader, St., 102 - - “Bretagne, Damsel of,” 203 - - Bridport, 13, 15, 232, 243, 289 - - “Bridport Dagger,” 234 - - British Camps, 30 - - British Villages, Remains of, 20 - - Broadley, A. M., 113 - - —— Library of, 239 - - Broadwinsor, 14 - - Bronze Age, 19, 26 - - —— Cremation in the, 22 - - —— Pottery, 24 - - Brownsea, 225 - - Buckman, Professor, 39 - - Bulbarrow, Round Barrows at, 22 - - Burlestone Church, Chancel of, 263 - - Burney, Miss Fanny (Mme. d’Arblay), 150 - - Butler, Colonel, Governor of Wareham, 214, 215 - - - Caen, Roger of, Bishop of Sarum and Abbot of Sherborne, 79 - - Came, 155, 281 - - —— Church, Recumbent Figures in, 59 - - —— Down, 24 - - Canford, 9 - - Cast-lead Font, St. Mary’s, Wareham, 55 - - Castle, Bow and Arrow (or Rufus), 180 - - —— Corfe, 10, 193, 195 - - —— Sherborne Old, 10, 90, 92 - - —— Royal visitors at Lulworth, 190 - - —— Pennsylvania, 180 - - Catherine of Alexandria, Chapels dedicated to St., 61, 103, 104, 108 - - Celtic Earthworks, 4 - - Celts, Civilisation of, 4 - - Centwine, 6 - - Cenwealh, first Christian King of West Saxons, 5 - - Cerne Abbas, 287 - - —— Round Barrows at, 22 - - —— Abbey, 8, 9, 96 - - —— Abbot of, 237 - - Characteristics of Shaftesbury, 252 - - Charborough, 288 - - - Chard, Abbot, 133, 134, 139 - - Charles I., 92, 207, 267 - - —— II., 169, 224, 239, 245; - at Lulworth Castle, 190; - Defeat of, 11; - Flight of, 12 - - Charlotte, Queen, at Lulworth Castle, 190 - - Charminster, 264 - - —— Canopied Tombs at, 59 - - Chesil Beach, 2, 4, 165 - - Chesilborne, 107 - - Chideock, 271 - - —— Chapel, Knight in plate armour in, 59 - - China-clay, Important deposit of, 198 - - Christ Church, Dorchester, 153 - - Christmas Pie Legend, Corfe Castle, 219 - - Churches of Bridport, 234 - - —— of Shaftesbury, 246 - - Church, Piddletown, 258 - - —— St. Ealdhelm’s, 79 - - —— St. James’, Milton, 115 - - —— Spires— - Iwerne Minster, 46 - Trent, 46, 54 - Winterborne Steepleton, 46, 53 - - —— Towers— - Beaminster, 53 - Bradford Abbas, 53 - Cerne, 53 - Charminster, 53 - Dorchester, St. Peter’s, 53 - Fordington St. George, 53 - Marnhull, 53 - Milton Abbey, 53 - Piddletrenthide, 53 - Steepleton, 53 - Trent, 54 - - Civil War, 10, 165, 207 - - Civil War Days at Bridport, 238 - - Civil War, Sharp fight in Poole during, 223 - - —— —— Sherborne Castle besieged during, 92 - - Clandon Barrow, 24 - - Clavinio (or Jordan Hill), 35, 40 - - “Clubmen,” 10 - - Cnut, 8, 244 - - Coal Money, Kimmeridge, 191 - - Coke, Lord Chief Justice, 206 - - Company of Marblers, 195 - - Conig’s Castle, 30 - - Conjurer or Witch-Doctor, 294 - - Cooper, Sir Anthony Ashley, 213 - - Corfe, 9 - - —— Castle, 165, 187, 193, 195, 200-21, 224; - Ruins of, 50 - - —— Church, 211-213 - - Corton Chapel, Stone Altar at, 56 - - Court Leet House, Piddletown, 261 - - Cranborne, 9 - - —— Long Barrow near, 20 - - Credence in Witchcraft, 293 - - Creech, Ancient Manor of, 189 - - Cromwell, 92 - - —— at Portland, 183 - - —— Letter from, 11 - - —— Colonel, 214, 215 - - Cross-legged Effigies in— - Bridport, 57 - Dorchester, St. Peter’s, 58, 59 - Frampton, 58 - Horton, 57 - Mappowder, 58 - Piddletown, 57 - Stock Gaylard, 57 - Trent, 57, 58 - Wareham, 57 - Wimborne Minster, 57 - —— St. Giles, 57 - - Crowe, William, 276 - - Culliford Tree, 24 - - Cunnington, Edward, 40 - - Curious Inscription, St. Mary’s, Melcombe Regis, 174 - - Cuthberga, Sister of Ine, 117, 118 - - Cwenberga, St., 118 - - Cynewearde (Kynewardus), 94 - - - Damer, Anne Seymour, 110 - - “Damsel of Bretagne,” 203 - - Danes, Destruction of Shaftesbury by, 243 - - Danes in Wessex, 6, 7 - - Decorated Architecture— - Dorchester, St. Peter’s, 51 - Gussage, St. Michael’s, 51 - Milton Abbey Church, 51 - Tarrant Rushton, 51 - Wimborne Minster, 51 - Wooton Glanville, 51 - - Denzil, Lord Holles, Monument in St. Peter’s, Dorchester, of, 59 - - Destruction of Shaftesbury by Danes, 243 - - Deverel Barrow, 24 - - Dialect of Dorset, 17 - - - Digby, John, first Earl of Bristol, 78 - - Dissolution of Monasteries, 10, 44, 245 - - Dodington, Bubb, first Lord Melcombe, 173, 176, 275 - - _Domesday Survey_, 233 - - Dorchester, 9, 34, 145-56, 170, 208, 213, 233, 243, 281, 283, 284, 290 - - —— Amphitheatre at, 42 - - —— Beaker at, 23 - - —— Discovery of MSS. in Auction Room at, 15 - - —— Execution of Catholic Priest at, 272 - - —— Persons presented at, 16 - - —— Round Barrows near, 22 - - —— Walls demolished, 8 - - Dorset County Museum, 154 - - —— —— —— Specimens in, 23-25 39, 40, 43 - - —— Superstitions, 292 - - Duke of Monmouth’s Rebellion, 14 - - Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury, 94, 159 - - Durlston Bay, 194; - Head, 193 - - Durnovaria, Station at, 35, 36 - - Durotriges, 4-6, 29, 31, 37 - - Durweston Church, Carving in, 60 - - - Eadward, Murder of, 7 - - —— the Unconquered, 118 - - Ealdgyth, or Elgefu, 241 - - Ealdhelm, St., Abbot of Malmesbury, 7; - first Bishop of Western Wessex, 75-87 - - Ealdhelm’s Head, St., 192, 193 - - _Ealdhelm, Life of St._, Wildman’s, 5 - - Ealhstan, Bishop, 77 - - Earl of Richmond, 9 - - Early English Architecture— - Corfe Mullen, 51 - Cranborne, 51 - Knighton, 51 - Portesham, 51 - Wimborne Minster, 51 - Worth, 51 - - Eastbury, 275 - - East Lulworth, 278 - - East Stower, 276 - - Ecgberht, King, 77 - - Edgar, King, 94, 200, 201 - - Edward I., 245 - - Edward II., 254 - - —— III., 9 - - —— IV. at Tewkesbury, 9 - - —— VI., 87 - - —— the Confessor, 146, 159, 181, 233, 243 - - —— the Martyr, 201, 202, 207, 240, 249 - - Egdon Heath, 2, 290, 294 - - Eggardun, 30, 34 - - Elfrida, or Ælfthryth, Queen, 7, 200-202 - - Elizabeth, Queen, 91, 170, 205, 271 - - Emma, Queen, 159 - - Encombe, Glen of, 288 - - Erle, Sir Walter, 208, 210-212 - - Æthelbald, King, 76, 77 - - Æthelberht, King, 76, 77 - - Æthelgede, or Æthelgeofu, 241 - - Æthelhelm, Duke, 181 - - Æthelred I., 117 - - —— II., 7, 158 - - Æthelwold, the Ætheling, 117, 118 - - Æthelwulf, King, 77 - - Etricke of Holt, Anthony, 15, 225 - - —— Anthony, Sarcophagus of, 127 - - Evans, Miss, 143 - - - Farnham, Stone over Altar in, 59 - - Fielding, Henry, 275, 276 - - FitzHerbert, Mrs., at Lulworth Castle, 190 - - Flowers, or Florus, Bury Camp, 30 - - Font, Cast-lead, at St. Mary’s, Wareham, 55 - - Fonts, Saxon, at Toller Fratrum, 48; - Martinstown, 48 - - Ford Abbey, 131 - - —— —— Chapel, 132 - - —— —— Seal, 140 - - —— —— Tapestries of, 144 - - —— —— The Cloister, 134 - - —— —— The Dissolution of, 139 - - —— —— The Guest Chamber, 137 - - —— —— “The Monks’ Walk,” 133 - - —— —— The Surrender of, 138 - - Fordington, 151 - - —— Church, St. George’s, 154 - - —— Field, 25 - - Frampton, Stone Pulpit at, 56 - - Fraunceis, John, 143 - - Fuller, Thomas, 277 - - Funeral, Portland Island, 186 - - - Garrison at Wareham, 9 - - Gasquet, Abbot, 230 - - Gaunt, John of, 124 - - Gay, John, 150 - - Geology of Dorset, 1 - - George III., 157, 170, 271, 288 - - —— —— at Lulworth Castle, 190 - - Gillingham, 9, 281, 284 - - —— Manor of, 252, 253 - - Gipsies, Headstone of Peter Standley, King of the, 261 - - Glen of Encombe, 288 - - Godwin, Earl, 181 - - Godlingstone, Manor of, 196 - - Goidelic Celts, 3, 19 - - Grammar School, Milton, 113 - - —— —— Shaftesbury, 255 - - Gravestone of Benjamin Jesty, 192 - - Great Tyneham, Ancient Manor House at, 189 - - Guest, Lady Theodora, 252 - - Gussage Down, 36 - - —— Long Barrow near, 20 - - Gwyn, Francis, 143 - - —— John Francis, 143 - - - Hambledon, Celtic Camp of, 10 - - —— Roman Occupation of, 31 - - Hambro, Baron, 97, 100 - - —— Everard, 106 - - Hamworthy, Old Manor House at, 226 - - Handfast Point, 197 - - Handley Down, 34 - - Harbour, Bridport, 237 - - Hardy, Thomas, 2, 17, 18, 47, 70, 109, 114, 156, 190, 240, 256, 257, - 260, 273, 282, 294 - - —— Thomas Masterman, 113 - - —— Wm., 194 - - Harold, Death of, 8 - - Harper, Hugo Daniel, 78 - - Hatton, Sir Christopher, 205, 217 - - Hawtrey, Mrs., 219 - - Henry III., 9, 235 - - —— V., 9 - - —— VI., 9, 92 - - —— VII., 144 - - —— VIII., 85, 96, 166, 178, 234, 245 - - Henry VIII., Inscription at Portland Castle to, 182 - - —— —— Letter from, 162 - - Herman, last Bishop of Sherborne, 7 - - Higher Bockhampton, birthplace of Thos. Hardy, 283 - - Hilton Church, Mediæval Panel Paintings in, 57 - - Hinton Parva, Carving in, 60 - - Hod Hill, 31 - - Holt, 120 - - Holworth, Burning Cliff at, 108, 190 - - —— Chapel to St. Catherine of Alexandria at, 104, 108 - - Homer, G. Wood, 262, 263 - - Horsey, Sir John, 85 - - Horton, Finding Monmouth at, 15 - - Hour-glass in Bloxworth Church, 56 - - Howard, Catherine, 182 - - Hundred Years’ War, 230 - - Hutchins, John, the Dorset historian, 114, 227, 257, 262, 265, 267, - 274, 276 - - Hut Circles, 20 - - - Iberians, 3 - - Ibernium, Station at, 36 - - Ilchester, Lord, 261 - - Ilsington House, 261 - - Imprisonment of Margery and Isabel, daughters of William, King of - Scotland, 204 - - Ine, King of West Saxons, 7, 117, 118 - - - Jacobean Screen at West Stafford, 57 - - James I., 245, 273 - - —— at Lulworth Castle, 190 - - Jeffreys, Judge, 16, 148, 170, 239 - - Jesty, Gravestone of Benjamin, 192 - - John, King, 92, 146, 203, 233 - - —— Houses in Dorset of King, 9 - - Jones, Inigo, 142 - - Joliffe, Monumental Inscription to Captain Peter, 228 - - Jordan Hill (Clavinio), 35, 40 - - Jurdain Family, 264 - - - Kimmeridge Clay, 2 - - —— Coal Money, 191 - - —— Ledge, 190 - - —— Shale, 43 - - —— Shell Objects, 25 - - King of the Gipsies, Headstone of Peter Standley, 261 - - Kingston Down, Discovery on, 36 - - —— Lacy, 208, 219 - - —— Russell, Long Barrow near, 20 - - —— —— Round Barrows, 22 - - Knut the Dane, 8, 244 - - - Lady Margaret, Son of, 9 - - de Lafontaine, A. C., 262 - - Langton Church, 194 - - Laurence, Captain, 209, 212, 215 - - —— M.P., Law-book of Richard, 236 - - Legend of the Christmas Pie, Corfe Castle, 219 - - Leland, Record of _Bridport Dagger_, by, 234 - - —— Visit to Poole of, 230 - - _Life of St. Ealdhelm_, Wildman’s, 5 - - Limbrey, Stephen, 12 - - Liscombe Chapel, 107 - - Lulworth, 30, 187 - - —— Castle, 190, 215 - - —— Cove, 2, 189 - - —— Royal Visitors at, 190 - - —— Village of East, 190 - - Lyme Regis, 1, 10, 12, 14, 15, 30, 35, 143, 164, 166, 208, 239 - - —— Duke of Monmouth’s landing at, 169, 182 - - Lynchets, Series of Terraces known as, 193 - - Lytchett, 266 - - - Macaulay, 275 - - Mai-dun (Maiden Castle), 30, 32, 34, 155 - - Malmesbury, William of, 91 - - Manor House at Trent, 11 - - Marblers, Company of, 195 - - March, Dr. Colley, 193 - - Margaret, Lady, foundress of Christ’s and St. John’s Colleges, 123, - 124 - - —— Wife of Henry VI., 9 - - Marnhull, 287 - - —— Church, Monument in, 59 - - Martinstown, 23, 25 - - Martyn Family, 258 - - Maud, Wars of Stephen and, 8 - - Maumbury Ring, 148, 285 - - Maurice, Prince, 10 - - Mayo’s Barrow, 24 - - Melbury Sampford, 12 - - —— —— Effigy of William Brounyng, 59 - - Melcombe Regis, 208 - - —— —— Priory, 173 - - Melplash, 232 - - Memorial Brasses, Description of— - Beaminster, Bere Regis, Bryanston, Bridport, 64 - Caundle Purse, Compton Valence, Chesilborne, Corfe Mullen, - Crichel Moor, Crichel Long, Cranborne, Dorchester St. Peter, - Evershot, Fleet Old Church, 65 - Holme Priory, Knowle, Litton Cheney, Lytchett Matravers, Langton, - Melbury Sampford, 66 - Milton Abbey, Milborne St. Andrew, Moreton, Owermoigne, - Piddlehinton, Piddletown, Pimperne, Puncknowle, 67 - Rampisham, Shaftesbury St. Peter, Shapwick, Sturminster Marshall, - Swanage, _als._ Swanwich, 68 - Swyre, Tincleton, Tarrant Crawford, Thorncombe, Upwey, - West Stafford, Wimborne Minster, 69 - Woolland, Yetminster, 70 - Bere Regis, 70 - Caundle Purse, 70 - Edward the Martyr, King, 68 - Evershot, 71 - Fleet, 71 - Joan de St. Omar, 63 - Litton Cheney, retroscript brass, 63 - Milton Abbey, Sir John Tregonwell, 67, 71 - Moreton, unusual inscription, 72 - Oke Brass at Shapwick, 63 - Piddletown, 72 - St. Peter’s Church, Dorchester, 63 - Strangwayes, Sir Gyles, 66 - Stratton, 63 - Thorncombe, 73 - Wimborne Minster, King Ethelred effigy, 69, 73 - Wraxall, 74 - Yetminster, 74 - - Middleton, Abbot William de, 96, 98, 101, 102 - - Miles, G.F. W., 143 - - Milton Abbey, 44, 57, 94, 158 - - —— Grammar School, 113 - - —— Market Cross, 111 - - —— Old Town of, 109, 110 - - —— Town of, in America, 116 - - —— John, 100 - - —— Lord, 100, 109, 112-115 - - Mohun Family, 264 - - Monasteries, Dissolution of the, 10 - - Monastic Barns— - Liscombe, 45 - Tarrant Crawford, 45 - - Monastic Ruins at— - Abbotsbury, 44 - Bindon, 44 - Cerne, 44 - Shaftesbury, 44 - - Money, Kimmeridge Coal, 191 - - Monkton-up-Wimborne, 117 - - Monmouth, Duke of, 143, 148, 224, 225 - - —— —— at Lulworth Castle, 190 - - —— —— Landing at Lyme Regis of, 169 - - —— —— Rebellion, 239 - - Monmouth’s Close, field near Horton called, 15 - - —— Declaration, 14 - - Monumental Effigies, 57-60 - - Monuments in Piddletown Church, 258 - - Mons Badonicus, 5 - - Morton, Cardinal, 60 - - Motcombe, Village of, 276 - - Moule, Henry, 26, 37, 63 - - - Napoleon’s Invasion, 17 - - Neolithic Age, 3, 19 - - Netherbury, 232 - - —— Mutilated Figure in, 59 - - Newland, Borough of, 75 - - Newfoundland, Intimate connection between Poole and, 226 - - Norman Architecture at— - Abbotsbury, 50 - Bere Regis, 51 - Corfe Castle, 50 - Studland, 49 - Worth Matravers, 49 - - Norman Conquest, 233 - - - Oaken Pulpits at— - Abbotsbury, 56 - Beaminster, 56 - Charminster, 56 - Iwerne Minster, 56 - Netherbury, 56 - - “Old Harry and his wife,” 187, 197 - - Owermoigne Church, 109 - - Owners of Athelhampton, First, 262 - - - Palæolithic Man, Traces of, 3 - - Parnham, 232 - - Parr, Catherine, 182 - - Paulinus Suetonius, 29, 30 - - Paye, Henry, 230 - - Peacock, Thomas Love, 175 - - Pennie, John Fitzgerald, 278 - - Pennsylvania Castle, 180, 289 - - Perpendicular Architecture, 52 - - Peveril Point, 194, 197 - - Philip and Joanna, King and Queen of Castile, 268, 269 - - Piddle, or Trent, river with two names, 117 - - Piddletown, 257, 287 - - —— Church, 55 - - Pimperne, Long Barrow near, 20 - - Pitman, Treachery of Lieut.-Col., 215, 216 - - Pitt, Christopher, 275 - - Pitt-Rivers, General, 21, 22, 26, 29 - - Place-names of Bridport, 238 - - Pole, Cardinal, 120 - - Pollard, Richard, 139, 141 - - Poole, 12, 14, 15, 35, 110, 164, 170, 208, 222-231, 290 - - —— Harbour, 2, 4, 7, 29, 50, 187 - - —— Quay, 222 - - Pope, Alfred, 113 - - Portesham Church, Window in, 56 - - Portland, 4, 30, 160, 165, 168, 177 - - —— Island, Funeral, description of, 186 - - —— “The Isle of Slingers,” 289 - - —— Beds, 2 - - —— Bill, 179 - - —— Castle, 178 - - —— Roads, 109 - - —— Superstitions, 186 - - —— Wedding, Description of, 185 - - Pottery, 20, 21, 23, 26 - - —— Bronze Age, 24 - - —— Sepulchral, 22 - - Poulett, Sir Amias, 141 - - Poundbury Camp, 31, 32, 286 - - Poxwell Hall, 288 - - Preston, Remains of Roman Villa at, 158 - - —— Roman Arch at, 40 - - Prideaux, Edmund, 141, 142 - - Prior, Matthew, the poet, 129, 273 - - Priory, Melcombe Regis, 173 - - Purbeck, Isle of, 187-199, 208, 290 - - —— Beds, 2 - - Punfield Beds, 2 - - Pylsdun, 30 - - - Racedown, Wordsworth at, 278 - - Radipole, Roman Remains at, 158 - - Ralegh, Sir Walter, 78, 91, 273 - - Rebellion, Duke of Monmouth’s, 14 - - Recorder of Poole, Anthony Etricke, of Holt, 15 - - Relics of the Armada at Weymouth, 164 - - Richmond, Earl of, 9 - - Ridgeway, Round Barrows on the, 21, 25, 30 - - Robert the Bruce, 253 - - Robinson, Sir Charles, 193, 195, 196, 198 - - Rock, Agglestone, 198 - - Rocks, Old Harry, 187 - - Roman Camps, 30 - - Romans established, 4, 29, 242 - - Roman Occupation, 28-43 - - —— Road, 5, 34 - - —— Villas, Sites of, 37 - - Roper, Mrs. Freeman, 143 - - Roses, Wars of the, 9 - - Rosewall, William, 141 - - —— Sir Henry, 141 - - Rupert, Prince, 92 - - - St. Mary’s Church, Melcombe Regis, 174 - - St. Nicholas’ Chapel, Weymouth, 172 - - St. Peter’s, Dorchester, 146, 153 - - Sampson of Dol, St., 102, 111 - - Sandford Orcas Church, Curious Monument in, 58 - - Sandsfoot Castle, 166, 178 - - Saxon Architecture— - Ealdhelm, Chapels of St., 48-50 - Corfe Castle, 48 - Martinstown, 48 - Tarrant Rushton, 48, 49 - Toller Fratrum, 48 - Wareham, 47, 48 - Worth Matravers, 48 - - Saxon Fonts at— - Martinstown, 48 - Toller Fratrum, 48 - - Saxon Invaders, 5 - - Scott, Sir Gilbert, 96 - - Screen at West Stafford, Jacobean, 57 - - Sepulchral Pottery, 22 - - Seymour, Jane, 182 - - Shaftesbury, 2, 10, 11, 240, 286 - - Sherborne, 7, 287 - - Sherborne Abbey, 44, 79, 94, 102 - - —— Abbots of— - Barnstaple, John, last Abbot, 85 - Bradford, William, 77, 81, 83 - Brunyng, John, 81 - Mere, 77 - Ramsam, Peter, 77, 81 - Roger of Caen, 79 - - Sherborne Almshouse, 81, 92 - - Sherborne, Bishops of— - Alfwold, St., 77 - Asser, the Biographer, 77 - Ealdhelm, St., first Bishop of Western Wessex, 75, 87 - Ealhstan, Bishop, 77 - Heahmund, St., 77 - Werstan, 77 - Wulfsy, St., 77 - - —— Castle, 40, 90, 92 - - —— Parish Church, All Hallows, 79, 81, 82, 84, 85 - - —— School, 86, 87 - - Smuggling at Purbeck Isle, 194 - - Solomon, King, 241 - - Somerset, Protector, 78 - - Southey’s _Naval History of England_, 231 - - Stalbridge, 85 - - —— Church, Monument in, 59 - - Standley, Headstone of Peter, 261 - - Steepleton Down, 25 - - Stephen and Maud, Wars of, 8 - - Stinsford, 155, 287 - - de Stokes, Abbot William, 99 - - Stone Altar at Corton Chapel, 56 - - Stone Circles, 20 - - Stone Pulpit at Frampton, 56 - - Stone, Rev. William, 128 - - Stour Valley, 3 - - Stower, East and West, 276 - - Strangways, Sir John, 12 - - Stratton, 35 - - Studland, Old-world Village of, 197 - - Sturminster Newton, 246, 281, 283 - - Superstitions, Dorset, 292 - - —— Portland, 186 - - Sutton Poyntz, 288 - - Swanage Bay, 2, 7, 29, 30, 289 - - —— —— Round Barrows at, 22 - - —— Description of, 195 - - —— Path known as Priestway to, 192, 193 - - Swegen, or Sweyn, King, 8, 76, 146 - - Sydenham, Captain, 210, 212, 213, 223 - - Sydenham’s _History of Poole_, 228 - - de Sydelinge, Abbot Walter, 99 - - Sydling, Round Barrows at, 22 - - - Tarrant Rushton Church, Restoration of, 57 - - Tesselated Floors— - Creech, 38 - Dorchester, 38, 39, 42 - Fifehead Neville, 38, 41, 42 - Frampton, 38, 40 - Halstock, 38 - Hemsworth, 38 - Lenthay Green, 38, 40 - Maiden Castle, 38, 40 - Preston, 38, 39 - Rampisham, 38 - Thornford, 38 - - —— Pavements, Description of, 38 - - Teutonic Invaders, 5 - - Thompson, Sir Peter, 226 - - Thorncombe, 131, 144 - - Thornhill, Sir James, 174 - - Timber Roof, Bere Regis, 60 - - Tokens, Weymouth Tradesmen’s, 169 - - Town Cellars at Poole, 229 - - Tradesmen’s Tokens, Weymouth, 169 - - Tregonwell, Sir John, 96, 100 - - Trenchard Family, 264, 265, 267, 269 - - —— Sir Thomas, 208, 271 - - Trent Manor House, 11, 14 - - Treves, Sir Frederick, 109 - - Trinity Church, Dorchester, 147 - - Turberville, George, 273 - - Turnworth House, 289 - - - Vale of Blackmore, 2, 250, 282, 286 - - Var, or Frome, river bearing two names, 117 - - Vespasian, 29, 30 - - Via Principalis, 34 - - Village of East Lulworth, 190 - - Vindogladia, Station at, 35, 36 - - - Walburga, or Walpurgis, St., 119 - - Walpole, Horace, 277 - - Wareham, 7-10, 188, 202, 203, 208, 213, 214, 232, 233, 243, 286, 287 - - —— Castle, 200 - - —— Cast-lead Font at St. Mary’s, 55 - - —— Lady St. Mary’s Church, 188 - - Warne, Charles, 20, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30-32, 35, 36, 108 - - Wars of the Roses, 9 - - —— of Stephen and Maud, 8 - - Waterson, 260, 288 - - Warwick, King-maker, 9 - - Wedding, Description of old-time Portland, 185 - - Weld Family, 271 - - Wesley, Bartholomew, 13 - - West Bay, 232, 289 - - West Chelborough, Curious Monument at, 58 - - —— Stafford, Jacobean Screen at, 57 - - —— Stower, 276 - - Weymouth, 2, 12, 30, 110, 157, 208, 213, 215, 232, 270, 271, 289 - - —— Bay, 2, 109 - - —— Margaret, wife of Henry VI., at, 9 - - Whitchurch Canonicorum, Tombstone at, 168 - - Whitcombe, 108, 281 - - White, Rev. John, 147 - - Whitecliff, Manor House of, 196 - - Wildman, W. B., 5 - - William III., 92 - - Wim, or Allen, river with two names, 117 - - Wimborne, 7, 274 - - —— Minster, 36, 44, 94, 117, 120 - - —— —— Effigy in, 57 - - —— Round Barrows near, 22 - - —— St. Giles, 117 - - Winfrith, 290 - - Winterborne Whitchurch, 273 - - Witchcraft, Credence in, 293 - - Witch-doctor, Conjurer or, 294 - - Wolfeton House, 155, 264 - - Wolsey, Cardinal, 81 - - Woodbury, Roman Occupation of, 31 - - —— Hill, 287 - - Woodyates, 5, 34 - - Woolland, 108 - - Wool Manor House, 288 - - Wor Barrow, 21 - - Worth “Club walking day,” 51 - - Worth Matravers Church, 192, 193 - - Wordsworth at Racedown, 278, 291 - - Wren, Sir Christopher, 176 - - Wyke Regis, 160, 181, 232 - - Wyndham, Colonel Francis, 11 - - - Young, Edward, 275 - - - Zouche, Elizabeth, last Abbess of Shaftesbury, 245 - - -Bemrose & Sons Limited, Derby and London - - - - -Selected from the Catalogue of BEMROSE & SONS Ltd. - - -_Memorials of the Counties of England._ - -_Beautifully Illustrated. 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The edition is limited to 400 - copies. - - “We have now a complete account of the subject in this very handsome - volume, which Manx patriotism, assisted by the appreciation of the - public in general, will, we hope, make a success.”—_Spectator._ - - -DERBYSHIRE CHARTERS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES AND MUNIMENT ROOMS. - - Compiled, with Preface and Indexes, for Sir Henry Howe Bemrose, Kt., - by ISAAC HERBERT JEAYES, Assistant Keeper in the Department of MSS., - British Museum. Royal 8vo, cloth, gilt top. Price =42/-= net. - - “The book must always prove of high value to investigators in its own - recondite field of research, and would form a suitable addition to any - historical library.”—_Scotsman._ - - -SOME DORSET MANOR HOUSES, WITH THEIR LITERARY AND HISTORICAL -ASSOCIATIONS. - - By SIDNEY HEATH, with a fore-word by R. Bosworth Smith, of Bingham’s - Melcombe. Illustrated with forty drawings by the Author, in addition - to numerous rubbings of Sepulchral Brasses by W. de C. Prideaux, - reproduced by permission of the Dorset Natural History and Antiquarian - Field Club. Dedicated by kind permission to the most Hon. the Marquis - of Salisbury. Royal 4to, cloth, bevelled edges. Price =30/-= net. - - “Dorset is rich in old-world manor houses; and in this large, - attractive volume twenty are dealt with in pleasant, descriptive and - antiquarian chapters, fully illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings by - Mr. Heath and rubbings from brasses by W. de C. Prideaux.”—_Times._ - - -THE CHURCH PLATE OF THE DIOCESE OF BANGOR. - - By E. ALFRED JONES. With Illustrations of about one hundred pieces - of Old Plate, including a pre-Reformation Silver Chalice, hitherto - unknown; a Mazer Bowl, a fine Elizabethan Domestic Cup and Cover, a - Tazza of the same period, several Elizabethan Chalices, and other - important Plate from James I. to Queen Anne. Demy 4to, buckram. Price - =21/-= net. - - “This handsome volume is the most interesting book on Church Plate - hitherto issued.”—_Athenæum._ - - -THE OLD CHURCH PLATE OF THE ISLE OF MAN. - - By E. ALFRED JONES. With many illustrations, including a - pre-Reformation Silver Chalice and Paten, an Elizabethan Beaker, and - other important pieces of Old Silver Plate and Pewter. Crown 4to, - buckram. Price =10/6= net. - - “A beautifully illustrated descriptive account of the many specimens - of Ecclesiastical Plate to be found in the Island.”—_Manchester - Courier._ - - -GARDEN CITIES IN THEORY AND PRACTICE. - - By A. R. SENNETT, A.M.I.C.E., &c. Large Crown 8vo. Two vols., - attractively bound in cloth, with 400 Plates, Plans, and - Illustrations. Price =21/-= net. - - “... What Mr. Sennett has to say here deserves, and will no doubt - command, the careful consideration of those who govern the future - fortunes of the Garden City.”—_Bookseller._ - - -DERBY: ITS RISE AND PROGRESS. - - By A. W. DAVISON, illustrated with 12 plates and two maps. Crown 8vo, - cloth. Price =5/-=. - - “A volume with which Derby and its people should be well - satisfied.”—_Scotsman._ - - -THE CORPORATION PLATE AND INSIGNIA OF OFFICE OF THE CITIES AND TOWNS OF -ENGLAND AND WALES. - - By the late LLEWELLYNN JEWITT, F.S.A. Edited and completed with large - additions by W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE, M.A. Fully illustrated, 2 vols., - Crown 4to, buckram, =84/-= net. Large paper, 2 vols., Royal 4to, 105/- - net. - - “It is difficult to praise too highly the careful research - and accurate information throughout these two handsome - quartos.”—_Athenæum._ - - -THE RELIQUARY: AN ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE FOR ANTIQUARIES, ARTISTS, AND -COLLECTORS. - - A Quarterly Journal and Review devoted to the study of primitive - industries, mediæval handicrafts, the evolution of ornament, religious - symbolism, survival of the past in the present, and ancient art - generally. Edited by the Rev. J. CHARLES COX, LL.D., F.S.A. New - Series. Vols. 1 to 13. Super Royal 8vo, buckram, price =12/-= each - net. Special terms for sets. - - “Of permanent interest to all who take an interest in the many and - wide branches of which it furnishes not only information and research, - but also illumination in pictorial form.”—_Scotsman._ - - -LONDON: BEMROSE & SONS LTD., 4 SNOW HILL, E.C.; AND DERBY. - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] One of these was the Rev. Mr. Bravel, Rector of Compton Abbas. - -[2] _Proceedings of the Dorset Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field Club_, -vol. v., p. 99. - -[3] _The Dynasts_, part i., p. 179. - -[4] _Excavations in Cranborne Chase_, by Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, -F.R.S., vol. ii., p. 62. - -[5] _Excavations in Cranborne Chase_, by Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, -vol. iv., pp. 62-100. - -[6] _Excavations in Cranborne Chase_, by Lieut.-General Pitt-Rivers, -vol. iv., p. 144. - -[7] _Jour. of the Anthropolog. Inst._, vol. xxxii., p. 373. - -[8] _Guide to Antiquities of Bronze Age in Brit. Mus._, by C. H. Read, -F.S.A., p. 45. - -[9] _Proceedings Dorset Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field Club_, vol. -xxvi., p. 18. - -[10] _British Barrows_, by Greenwell and Rolleston, p. 81. - -[11] _Celtic Tumuli of Dorset_, by Charles Warne, F.S.A., p. 37. - -[12] _Ibid._, p. 18. - -[13] _Proceedings of Dorset Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field Club_, -vol. xxvi., p. 15. - -[14] _Ibid._, p. 10. - -[15] Pronounced U-ern or You-ern. - -[16] “The Levelled Churchyard,” in _Poems of the Past and Present_. - -[17] The heads of religious houses, being landowners, suffered -financially, as other landowners did, from the great increase in wages -that farm labourers were able to demand, because so many labourers -having died, the supply fell far short of the demand. - -[18] Showing the horned head dress and gown, the whole almost identical -in outline and size with the Alyanora Pollard effigy, 1430, at Bishop’s -Nympton, Devon. - -[19] Extract from the Stratton Churchwardens’ Account, 1753, April -26th—“Two brasses not wey’d at 7d. p. pound sopos’d to wey 12 pound -they wey’d but 9 lbs. 0.5.3.” There are no brasses at Stratton now. - -[20] According to tradition, a Knight of Malta. - -[21] This James Russell was the father of John Russell of Berwick, -K.G., created Baron Russell of Cheneys, 1538-9, and Earl of Bedford, -1550. - -[22] A coffin chalice and paten have, within recent years, been -discovered at Milton Abbey and Abbotsbury. - -[23] One of these Norman fragments was sent in 1904, as a relic, to the -parish church of Milton, near Boston, Massachusetts. The American town -of Milton, incorporated in 1662, was named after Milton, in Dorset, and -the crest on its corporate seal is a reproduction of the west front of -Milton Abbey (see illustration at the end of this chapter). - -[24] It is curious that the first Abbot and the last Abbot of Milton -should have become bishops, while none of the intervening abbots were -raised to the episcopate. It is true that in 1261 William de Taunton, -Abbot of Milton, was elected to the bishopric of Winchester, but he -desisted from his right. A Milton monk, however, in 1292, filled the -See of Salisbury (Nicholas Longspée); and Thomas Jan, a native of -Milton, became Bishop of Norwich in 1499. - -[25] In the thirteenth century seal of the Abbey “the Church of -Midelton” is also represented with three spires. - -[26] See Dorset Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field Club’s _Proceedings_, -vol. xxvi., 201 ff. - -[27] This inscription is discussed in the Dorset Nat. Hist. and -Antiquarian Field Club’s _Proceedings_, vol. xxv., 191 ff. It announces -an indulgence to those passers-by who pray for the soul of the deceased -abbot (possibly William de Stokes, who died in 1256). - -[28] A full description of these brasses appeared in _The Antiquary_ -for March, 1904. - -[29] A full account of this incident and of the bequest appears in -Heath and Prideaux’s _Some Dorset Manor Houses_, pp. 199, 200. - -[30] In connection with the glass in the windows of Milton Abbey, it -may be of interest to add the tradition that John Milton “planned” his -_Il Penseroso_ at Milton, and that the following lines in the poem are -supposed to have been suggested to him by the Abbey Church: - - But let my due feet never fail - To walk the studious cloister’s pale, - And love the high embowèd roof - With antic pillars massy proof, - And storied windows richly dight - Casting a dim religious light; - There let the pealing organ blow, - To the full voicèd quire below, - In service high and anthems clear - As may with sweetness, through mine ear, - Dissolve me into ecstasies, - And bring all heav’n before mine eyes. - - -[31] A full description of this glass (_temp._ Henry VII.) appeared in -_The Antiquary_ for May, 1907. - -[32] A full description of these burial relics appeared in _The -Antiquary_ for July, 1905. - -[33] It is possible that Athelstan found a Celtic sanctuary at Milton -dedicated to these two Celtic bishops, and retained the dedications -for his new minster in order to conciliate the vanquished race. Such a -graceful act would be quite in keeping with the King’s imperial maxim: -“_Gloriosus regem facere quam regem esse_.” - -[34] This thirteenth century inscription is discussed in the Dorset -Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field Club’s _Proceedings_, vol. xxv., 187 -ff. One wonders if this indulgence was granted by Robert Kilwarby, -Archbishop of Canterbury, on the occasion of his visit to Milton Abbey -in 1277. The indulgence was offered, presumably, to those who would -contribute to the fabric fund of the chapel. - -[35] A full account of Liscombe appeared in the Dorset Nat. Hist. and -Antiquarian Field Club’s _Proceedings_, vol. xxvi., 1 ff. - -[36] The loneliness of Holworth has also been remarked upon by Thomas -Hardy in his smuggling story, “The Distracted Preacher” (_Wessex -Tales_). Such a lonely spot, with its under-cliff sheltered by “White -Nose”—the great white promontory jutting like an enormous Wellington -nose into the sea—naturally attracted smugglers, who, as tradition -says, hid their goods in the tower of the neighbouring parish church -of Owermoigne. In this church there is an interesting inscription -recording the will of “Adam Jones of Holworth, in the parish of -Abbotsmilton” (_sic_), 1653. - -[37] See Mary Craven’s _Famous Beauties of Two Reigns_, pp. 141-151. - -[38] See _Old Milton_, and Dorset Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field -Club’s _Proceedings_, vol. xxv., 1 ff. - -[39] Zanchy Harvyn, grocer, of “Abby Milton,” was the second tradesman -in Dorset to issue a “token” (1651). - -[40] See _Milton Abbey Marriage Registers_, in Phillimore’s “Dorset” -series. But during the years 1657-8 the banns of some of the more -zealous church-people were published in the church. - -[41] See Alfred Pope’s _The Old Stone Crosses of Dorset_, pp. 69-71. - -[42] See _Milton Abbey and its School_, chap. ii. - -[43] See Broadley and Bartelot’s _The Three Dorset Captains at -Trafalgar_, p. 124. - -[44] During Hutchins’ residence at Milton, the Lord of the Manor (Mr. -Jacob Bancks, M.P.) employed him to make some antiquarian researches -concerning Sir John Tregonwell; and while making these researches -Hutchins conceived the idea of writing a book on the antiquities of -Dorset. He began to collect materials, and at Milton laid the plan -of his monumental history. His wife, Ann Stephens, is described in -the Melcombe Bingham marriage registers as belonging to the parish of -Milton. - -[45] This fight between squire and people recalls Thomas Hardy’s -allusion, in _The Woodlanders_, to “Middleton Abbey” as being a place -where one might gain strength, “particularly strength of mind.” - -[46] A full account of these “ruins” appeared in the Dorset Nat. Hist. -and Antiquarian Field Club’s _Proceedings_, vol. xxvi., 195 ff. - -[47] “The Abbot at incredible expense is now restoring the monastery -most gloriously.” - -[48] Engraved in Oliver’s _Monasticon Diocesis Exoniensis_. - -[49] The writer has used, among other books, the _Guides_ of Savage and -Young, Mrs. Frampton’s _Journal_, and his brother Mr. H. J. Moule’s -_Old Dorset_ and _Dorchester Antiquities_. - -[50] One part of that house is the oldest piece of inhabited building -in the borough. - -[51] Spring, 1907. - -[52] On the site of this chapel Mr. Ellis dug up some beautiful pieces -of fourteenth-century Gothic work. - -[53] This bridge was finished in 1824, at a cost of £20,000. - -[54] “The Problem of Lynchets,” Dorset Nat. Hist. and Antiquarian Field -Club’s _Proceedings_, vol. xxiv. - -[55] _Jude the Obscure_, p. 249. - -[56] This prophecy is thought to have been fulfilled when the son of -Edmund Tudor, a Welshman, ascended the throne as Henry VII. - -[57] This dedication is curious. St. Rumbold was the son of a -Northumbrian King, and of a daughter of Penda, King of Mercia, born -at Sutton, in Northamptonshire; he died when three days old, but not -before he had repeated the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles’ Creed in -Latin. This fact gained canonization for him. - -[58] This has given the colloquial name of “the Rock” to Shaftesbury. -Those who live in the town are spoken of as coming from the Rock; those -who dwell in the villages below it are spoken of as “Side off” the Rock. - -[59] The Abbey of Alcester was founded in 1140 by Ralf Boteler, and a -document exists by which one William le Boteler, of Wem, grants to the -Abbey 100 shillings per annum, derived from land in the parish of St. -James, Shaftesbury, to pay for masses for his own soul and that of the -King (7th year of Henry IV.). This is only a confirmation of a previous -gift. - -[60] _Jude the Obscure_, p. 313. - -[61] Of the poet “George Turberville, gentleman,” not much is known. -He was born at Winterborne Whitchurch, probably before 1530, and died -after 1594. Besides a book on falconry and numerous translations, he -wrote a good many occasional poems, though none of great length. - -Sir Walter Ralegh, a Devonshire man, was connected with Sherborne, for -it was here that he and his wife, Elizabeth Throgmorton, settled, and -in January, 1591-2, had obtained a ninety-nine years’ lease of the -castle and park. Here he busied himself with building and “repairing -the castle, erecting a magnificent mansion close at hand, and laying -out the grounds with the greatest refinement and taste.” The castle now -occupied by the Digby family is in part the lodge built by Sir Walter, -and over the central doorway appear his arms, and the date, 1594. -Before his conviction he settled his estate on his son, but by a flaw -in the deed James I. took it from him, and granted it to his favourite, -Carr, Earl of Somerset. It is said that Lady Ralegh asked the King on -her knees to spare her son’s heritage, but that the King’s only answer -was, “I maun hae the lond; I maun hae it for Carr.” On Sir Walter’s -journey to the Tower, he passed in full view of Sherborne, and said, -motioning with his hands towards the woodlands and the castle, “All -this was once mine, but has passed away.” - -[62] About 1727 one Prior, of Godmanston, a labouring man, declared to -a company, in the presence of Mr. Hutchins, that he was Mr. Prior’s -cousin, and remembered going to Wimborne to visit him, and afterwards -heard that he became a great man.—Hutchins’ _Dorset_. - -[63] _Longman’s Magazine_, October, 1884. - -[64] The collection of books to which the _History of the World_ -belongs was given to the town in 1686, many years after Prior had left -Wimborne. See the _Contemporary Review_, May, 1890. - -[65] It is probable that Prior’s parents were Nonconformists. We are -told that before a dissenting chapel was built in the town the people -met for worship in a barn in the neighbouring hamlet of Cowgrove. To -this Prior seems to allude in his epistle to Fleetwood Shepherd: - - At pure Barn of loud Non-con - Where with my granam I have gone. - - -[66] He wrote occasional verse, and when Young addressed his third -satire to Dodington, he received verses from Dodington in return. - -[67] Christopher Pitt (d. 1748) was rector of Pimperne, not far from -Eastbury. He translated the _Æneid_. - -[68] At Eastbury he slept on a bed encanopied with peacocks’ feathers, -“in the style of Mrs. Montague.”—Cumberland’s _Memoirs_. - -[69] This was pulled down in 1835, and rebuilt. - -[70] Hutchins writes that “the house where Oliver lived seemed to -accord with Fielding’s description,” and an old woman who remembered -Oliver said “that he dearly loved a bit of good victuals and a drop of -drink.”—_History of Dorset._ - -[71] William Crowe (1745-1829). In 1782, on the presentation of New -College, he was admitted to the rectory of Stoke Abbot, in Dorset, -which he exchanged for Alton Barnes, in Wiltshire, in 1787. Lewesdon -Hill lies near his Dorset benefice. The first edition of _Lewesdon -Hill_ was published anonymously in 1788. - -[72] Thomas Fuller was presented to the rectory of Broadwindsor by his -uncle, Bishop Davenant. He was ousted at the Rebellion; but he returned -to it at the Restoration, and held the living until his death in 1661. - -[73] At Racedown, Wordsworth finished _Guilt and Sorrow_, composed -the tragedy called _The Borderers_, and some personal satires which -he never published. Lastly, he wrote _The Ruined Cottage_, now -incorporated in the first book of _The Excursion_. - -[74] In Wordsworth’s own account, “Towards the close of the first book -stand the lines that were first written, beginning, ‘Nine tedious -years,’ and ending, ‘Last human tenant of these ruined walls.’ These -were composed in 1795 at Racedown; and for several passages describing -the employment and demeanour of Margaret during her affliction, I -am indebted to observations made in Dorsetshire, and afterwards at -Alfoxden, in Somersetshire.” - -[75] From an unpublished letter to Wrangham, _The Athenæum_, 8th -December, 1894, quoted in _The Early Life of Wordsworth_ (1770-1798), -by Emile Legouis. - -[76] It was noteworthy how he would eschew all the evil in newspapers; -no theft or murder could ever be read to him.—_Life of William Barnes_, -Leader Scott. - -[77] William Barnes (1801-1886) was born at Rushay, in the hamlet -of Bagber. He was the grandson of John Barnes, yeoman farmer, of -Gillingham, and the son of John Barnes, tenant farmer, in the Vale -of Blackmore. (A direct ancestor, John Barnes, was head-borough of -Gillingham in 1604.) In 1835 he settled at Dorchester, and kept a -school. In 1847 he was ordained, and lived at Whitcombe, Dorset. In -1862 he became Rector of Came, where he died. - -[78] Thomas Hardy was born at Higher Bockhampton, near Dorchester, on -June 2nd, 1840. In his seventeenth year he was articled to a Mr. Hicks, -an ecclesiastical architect of Dorchester, to whom the restoration -of many of the old South Dorset churches was entrusted. In 1862 he -went to London, and became an assistant to Sir Arthur Blomfield, R.A. -In 1874 he married Miss Emma Lavinia Gifford, niece of Dr. Gifford, -Archdeacon of London, and formerly headmaster of King Edward’s School, -Birmingham. Before taking up their residence at Dorchester, Mr. and -Mrs. Hardy lived at Riverside, Sturminster Newton—the “Stourcastle” of -the novels—and then at Wimborne, and finally settled at “Max Gate,” -Dorchester, in 1885. - -[79] It is noteworthy that sometimes the name of a village or town -appears in the name of some character living in it, as, for instance, -Jude Fawley lives in “Marygreen,” which we may identify with the -village of Fawley, in Hants.; and the name of the schoolmaster of -“Leddenton” (really the Dorset town of Gillingham) is Gillingham. - -[80] Wareham is called Southerton in the earlier editions of _The -Return of the Native_. - -[81] C. G. 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