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 FROM THE 
 
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 COLLECTED BY 
 
 BENNO LOEWY 
 
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 BEQUEATHED TO CORNELL UNIVERSITY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 DA 625.R57 
 
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 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
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 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028082893 
 
EDITION DE LUXE. 
 
 Only Two hundred and fifty Copies of this 
 Edition de luxe, with the Plates on China 
 Paper, have been printed ( Two hundred and 
 twenty -five for sale, and Twenty -five for 
 presentation). 
 
 This is No. ^.?.3 
 
RAMBLES ROUND 
 ETON AND HARROW 
 
:M 
 
 MAM:^' 
 
 1 'ft 
 
 
 
 COOKHATW CHURCH. 
 
RAMBLES ROUND 
 ETON AND HARROW 
 
 BY 
 
 ALFRED RJMMER 
 
 AUTHOR OF 'our OLD C^NTRY TOWNS,' ETC. 
 
 WITH FIFTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 HonOon 
 
 CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY 
 1882 
 
 All rights reserved. 
 
 Lo 
 
 ( fl'KAkV 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTJER I. 
 
 Windsor — Slough — Boveney Lock — Bumham Beeches — Jacob Tonson — 
 The Vicar of Bray — Swan hopping — Pisciculture of Thames — Methods 
 of improving the Fish Supply Pages 1-25 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Romney Island — Lepidoptera of Eton and Neighbourhood — Wycombe — 
 Wycombe Abbey — Wycombe Church — Beaconsfield— The "Hell-fire 
 Club' — Lord Wharton — Duke of Wharton . . . 26-50 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 
 Burke and Waller — Butler's Court — Milton — The River Colne — Hughenden 
 — Hughenden Church — Church Restoration — Benjamin Disraeli — 
 Chalfont St. Peter's 51-73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Thames Scenery — Boulter's Lock — Formosa Island — Taplow Court — 
 Barne Elms, and the Triple Duel — Cliveden — Nathaniel Home — 
 Geology of the Thames 74-94 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Cookham — Bisham — Cookham Church — Medmenham — Sir Thomas Hoby 
 — Hurley Place, and the invitation to William of Orange — Henley — 
 Thames and Isis — Day, the author of Sandford and Merton — Great 
 Marlow . Pages 95-115 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Langley Park— Fish Ponds at Black Park— Flora of the District— Stoke 
 Pogis— Grey's Elegy— Manor House of Stoke — Old Windsor— 
 Ankerwyke — Magna Charta Island — Runnymede — Staines and 
 Egham 116-141 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Henry VI.— John Lyon, Founder of Harrow, a Yeoman— Harrow Church 
 —Harrow Library— Ivy House, Chapel, and School— Greenford 
 Road — Perivale — Manor House of Uxenden — Bentley — Bushy — 
 Roman Antiquities 142-167 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Bushey— Canons— Pope's Satires on Canons— Harrow Weald— Oxhey and 
 its Proprietors— The River Colne, and Natural History along its Waters 
 and Banks— London Orphan Asylum— Watford Church and its 
 Monuments ... 168-189 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Watford — Market Gardens about Watford^Parks and their Uses — 
 Cashiobiiry — Verses by Lord Arthur Capel written in the Tower — 
 Water-mill at Cashiobury — Rickmansworth — Sir John Fotherly and 
 his tragic end — Stone Crosses — Moor Park, and its Owners 
 
 Pages 190-213 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Grove Park — Lord Clarendon's Picture - Gallery — King's Langley — King's 
 Evil — Abbot's Langley — Brakespear, the only Englishman who was 
 ever Pope of Rome — His Character and Career — Splendid View from 
 Abbot's Langley .... ... 214-238 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Bentley Priory — Stahmore Park — Queen Adelaide — Lord Abercom — 
 Sir Walter Scott and Marmion — Beautiful Scenery — Chandos Arms — 
 Edgeware — Edgeware Church — Monken Hadley — Wrotham Park — 
 Admiral Byng— Beech Hill House 239-261 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 Country delights round London — Road from Rickmansworth to Uxbridge 
 — Harefield— Harefield Church— Sergeant Newdegate— Uxbridge— 
 Uxbridge Church — Recollections of the Stuart Period — Finale 262-286 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 CooKHAM Church 
 
 Old Street in Windsor 
 
 
 
 
 Frontispiece. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 5 
 
 From Windsor Bridge 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Slough 
 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 Burnham Beeches 
 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 Bray Church 
 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 Lane in High Wycombe 
 
 
 
 
 • 35 
 
 Wycombe Abbey . 
 
 
 
 
 36 
 
 Market-Place, High Wycombe . 
 
 
 
 ■ 38 
 
 Beaconsfield Village Green . 
 
 
 
 43 
 
 Ancient Chimney, Loudwater . 
 
 
 
 • 52 
 
 Hughenden Manor . 
 
 
 
 . 63 
 
 East End of Hughenden Church 
 
 
 
 . 66 
 
 Formosa Island and Reach 
 
 
 
 • 78 
 
 Cliveden 
 
 
 
 ■ 85 
 
 Walk at Cliveden . 
 
 
 
 
 . 87 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Formosa Island 89 
 
 BiSHAM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 99 
 
 Medmenham Abbey 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 109 
 
 Great Marlowe. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 • 113 
 
 Stoke Pogis, Bucks . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 120 
 
 Old Windsor Church 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 128 
 
 Bells of Ouseley 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 129 
 
 Thames at Runnymede 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 133 
 
 Harrow Church 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 145 
 
 Lichgate, Harrow 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 MS 
 
 Library at Harrow . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 151 
 
 Chancel of Harrow Church 
 
 
 
 
 
 151 
 
 Ivy House, Chapel and School, Harrow 
 
 
 
 IS3 
 
 Ancient House in Greenford Road 
 
 
 
 iSS 
 
 Bushey Village 
 
 
 
 167 
 
 Fields near Oxhey 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 177 
 
 OxHEY Chapel . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 178 
 
 The Colne . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 180 
 
 Watford Church 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 184 
 
 Watford 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 191 
 
 Watford Church 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 194 
 
 Mill at Cashiobury 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 Moor Park 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 205 
 
 Moor Park 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 207 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Grove Park 215 
 
 King's Langley Church 227 
 
 Chancel Screen of Edmund Langley, Duke of York 229 
 
 Abbot's Langley 235 
 
 Lane near Stanmore 243 
 
 Chandos Arms, Edgeware 245 
 
 Edgeware Church 247 
 
 Ancient Beacon, Monken Hadley . , . .252 
 
 Uxbridge 271 
 
 The Swan Inn 275 
 
 HiLLiNGDON Church 279 
 
 Swakeley House . 282 
 
RAMBLES ROUND ETON 
 AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Windsor — Slough — Boveny Lock — Burnham Beeches — Jacob Tonson — 
 The Vicar of Bray — Swan hopping — Pisciculture of Thames — Methods 
 of improving the Fish Supply. 
 
 There are some men who look back upon their school- 
 days with no particular amount of pleasure ; and some, 
 indeed, like Cowper, who only regard them as a dreadful 
 dream — for at Dr. Pitman's no effort seems to have 
 been made to shield him from the torments of his 
 persecutors. Great have been the improvements in the 
 management of schools since Voltaire sarcastically said 
 that he would have supposed the pupils of an ordinary 
 academy were juvenile convicts. Not half-a-centuiy 
 ago any attempt to make learning pleasant met with 
 general dissent, and it would have been urged that the 
 real use of schools — the enforcing unpleasant duties 
 
2 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 as discipline — was forgotten, and hardly a satirist — of 
 whom there was always a plentiful army — took up the 
 cudgels for persecuted scholars. Within the limit of 
 time mentioned, the writer can remember a pedagogue 
 who was equal to either Squeers or Creakle in cruelty, 
 though, unlike either of them, he had taken a high 
 degree at one of the colleges in Turle Street ; but his 
 infirmity, for such it proved ultimately to be, was a 
 great recommendation to the parents and guardians of 
 the day. His academy was only open to the wealthy, 
 or those who held some acknowledged position ; yet 
 at every quarter-day he had more applications from 
 guardians and parents than he could possibly attend to. 
 It is, however, not too much to say that his school 
 would not now be tolerated. Eton has improved in 
 its discipline since the days when the pupil used to 
 look forward to his final release, and now, indeed, we 
 never meet an Etonian or Harrow man who cannot 
 look back to his school-days as the pleasantest period 
 of his life. At a public school, as the saying is, every 
 youth finds his proper level. Railways have done 
 much in the same direction now, and this discipline is 
 less needed ; but before these increased and multiplied 
 through the land, it was quite common for some youth 
 to come from the country, the idol of his mother, and 
 
SCHOOL DA YS. 
 
 flattered from early childhood by a gamekeeper or a 
 groom. George III. is said to have related with great 
 gusto a tale of a Scotch schoolmaster who accompanied 
 him to the door of the schoolroom with his hat on, 
 and when outside the door he said to the uncovered 
 monarch, — ^who, by the way, was then only Prince of 
 Wales, — " You will not think me wanting in courtesy, I 
 hope, but the fact is this — that if the boys thought 
 there was any one else as important as myself, I should 
 never get any obedience again.' — Well, many youths 
 go to the great public schools even yet, and only learn 
 their relative position when they get there ; nor, indeed, 
 as a rule, do they take their newly acquired knowledge 
 unkindly. They meet other youths there who can 
 shoot or play cricket better than they can, and are 
 quite as important in every way. But in another 
 and far more important sense this rule holds good. 
 Light is brought to bear upon masters themselves, and 
 the tyrants that were to be met with in private schools 
 a generation or more ago (and of my own knowledge I 
 could enumerate one or more) would not be able to keep 
 their places for a single term at such schools as Eton 
 or Harrow, whatever their attainments or their industry 
 might be. And as this part of the subject naturally 
 can only extend to an introduction, I may mention 
 
4 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 one example of the two methods of instilling learning ; 
 and the example I would choose was a youth of 
 perhaps thirteen or fourteen years. He was not want- 
 ing in any advantages ; but a plain, perhaps almost 
 stupid appearance, made him the butt of the irresponsible 
 master, who caused his life to be so much a burden to 
 him that he became almost lethargic. Owing to illness, 
 a Cambridge fellow — a perfect gentleman — took the 
 place of the invalid master, and I remember his saying 
 to the delinquent : " Come, my man, don't be beaten 
 by an ode in Horace ; bring your book up here." A 
 perfect change came over him, and at Oxford he 
 became a first-class scholar. The shrievalty of his 
 county; albeit a small one, two years after leaving 
 college, showed the estimation he was held in ; but he 
 used to declare that the four years' tyranny at a private 
 school had saddened his life — which, indeed, was a 
 short one. 
 
 What a contrast both Eton and Harrow present ! 
 Nobody can walk from Slough to Eton without being 
 struck with the genial, happy appearance of the youths 
 he will meet ; and sometimes we have regretted that a 
 want of personal acquaintance with them has been a 
 bar to asking them to have a boat, and pull to Staines 
 for lunch. 
 
FROM WINDSOR BRIDGE. 
 
WINDSOR. 
 
 It is, of course, not necessary to say anything about 
 Windsor. It has been so often and well described, that 
 
 OLD STREET IN WINDSOR. 
 
 we seem to know it when we see it even for the first 
 time. Windsor is not exceeded either in dignity or 
 interest by any residence in the world, and it stands in 
 
6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 quiet, rich English scenery, which is quite in keeping 
 with its now peaceful associations. Peaceful, however, 
 they have not always been, for here William I. 
 established himself, and bid defiance to the chiefs of 
 the conquered country. The enormous pile of buildings 
 which covers the hill has been the result of successive 
 additions during seven hundred years, and it of course 
 bears hardly any resemblance to the Windsor where 
 the Conqueror received the submission of the Saxon 
 chiefs, and entertained the Norman barons. The 
 doings of Henry I., David King of Scotland, and 
 John, at Windsor, are familiar to every one from their 
 early history books. And St. George's Hall, which 
 was built at the most excellent period of Gothic 
 architecture for the Knights of the Garter as a 
 banqueting -hall, is quite as famihar, from a hundred 
 illustrations, to every one in England, as St. Paul's or 
 Westminsteir. 
 
 But, as our interest is now more with the precincts 
 of Eton, we may suppose ourselves leaving it for a 
 walk through Slough, Maidenhead, Bray, and Clewer, 
 and back again through Windsor to Eton, along the 
 right bank of the Thames. 
 
 Slough is pronounced in the same way as " plough," 
 and affords one of the many examples of the flexibility 
 
SLOUGH. 
 
 of " ugh " in the 
 
 I EngUsh language ; 
 
 indeed, how puzzled 
 
 a foreigner 
 
 must often be 
 with our pro- 
 nunciation may 
 be gathered from an inci- 
 dent which, at one time, 
 rather puzzled the writer. He was residing in a 
 colony, and at the time referred to some merchan- 
 
 SLOUGH 
 
8 RAMBLES RO UND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 dise was exported from England for himself and 
 a friend, who was an excellent scholar, and could 
 write or speak French and Latin almost as easily 
 as English ; but he had never been in England. 
 He told me one day that the " Thay-mees '' had 
 arrived with our expected parcels. He adopted 
 a classic sort of pronunciation, that unhappily is 
 only beginning to be expunged from the Universities, 
 if even that, and it was long before I could realise 
 the importance of his information. " The Terns, 
 you mean, I suppose," I said to him ; and though 
 in the ordinary way of life he must have written the 
 word " Thames " hundreds of times as far as it is 
 connected with London or Eton, it never occurred to 
 him to connect the river with the name of the ship. 
 It would be interesting to learn how the river that 
 flows through Windsor is pronounced in the various 
 capitals of Europe. A Frenchman who said he was 
 going to " Paree," so far as this can be supposed to hit 
 the French pronunciation, might well pass without 
 question ; but if an Englishman used such an affecta- 
 tion, he would be generally thought to be en route to 
 a Welsh friend. 
 
 Slough is a well-known thoroughfare on the old 
 Bath road, and is a manor of Upton. When Lysons 
 
DR. HERSCHEL. 
 
 wrote his Magna Britannia it was the residence of the 
 great Dr. Herschel, and its name is always connected 
 with the 40-feet telescope that led to discoveries which 
 have immortalised his name. First he lived at Datchet, 
 and then at Slough, and, as Arago says, " Le nom de 
 ce village ne p^rira plus : les sciences le transmettront 
 religieusement ^ la postdrit^ la plus recul^e." The 
 large telescope, it is said, was not the one which led to 
 some of his principal discoveries, as it was too slow in 
 its operations ; but it had its own important work to 
 fulfil. Arago well says that the name of Slough village 
 will never perish, for even the name of Herschel's sister, 
 Caroline, would be enough to preserve it. " She wrote 
 down all his observations, which he dictated from his 
 stage, whilst engaged in sweeping the heavens with his 
 20-feet or other telescopes ; she attended him in all 
 his night watches, which were generally continued up 
 to the approach of daylight ; she noted the clocks, 
 reduced and arranged his journals, prepared the zone 
 catalogues for his sweeps, and executed the whole of 
 the laborious numerical calculations which were required 
 for the reduction of his observations ; " and sometimes, 
 when Herschel had for a time suspended his observa- 
 tions, she would search the heavens herself with a 
 5 -feet reflector which her brother had constructed for 
 
10 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 her, and she thus made some valuable discoveries. 
 When the great astronomer died, this venerable lady 
 retired to her native city of Hanover, and expired in 
 the ninety-eighth year of her age, profoundly respected 
 by men of science from all parts of the world, and 
 justly honoured by crowned heads, who, indeed, 
 honoured themselves when they contributed their own 
 acknowledgments to the great value of her services to 
 science — services which were continued almost to the 
 end of an unusually protracted life. Slough is in the 
 middle of a very beautiful country, and it is perhaps 
 known as the nearest station to Stoke Pogis Church,, 
 where Gray wrote the Elegy that neither time nor 
 repetition can mar or rob of its inherent beauty. But 
 this will come in for a separate notice. Some im- 
 provement, it is satisfactory to see, is taking place in 
 the hotel accommodation at Slough, which, till lately, 
 was not all that could be desired. 
 
 Boveney Lock lies in our route, and it is a quiet, 
 picturesque old place. Many heavy "golden bream" 
 have been caught here, and sometimes the troller lights 
 upon a heavy Thames trout. The church is a small 
 old-fashioned building, with heavy beams across, and 
 the traveller is shown an unusually massive key. In 
 the year 1737 an Act of Parliament was passed to 
 
BURNHAM. 
 
 make the small ancient church a separate cure, but it 
 was inoperative, as sufficient funds could not be pro- 
 cured for its endowment. We must leave the route 
 now to turn off towards Burnham, which, however, lies 
 within an easy distance of Eton, and can always be 
 reached with a slight lift from the rail, if time is an 
 object in making the excursion from the college. 
 
 Burnham lies about three miles to the north-east of 
 Maidenhead, and a mile to the north of the London 
 road, which used to pass through here to Oxford and 
 Bath. Burnham was at one time a place of considera- 
 tion, and had a fair, and market, and an abbey. The 
 first abbess was Margery Eston, and the last, Margaret 
 Gibson. At the dissolution of monasteries the revenues 
 amounted to ;^S i : 2 : 45-, a sum which would go as far 
 in the necessaries of life in those days, and in those 
 parts, as about £TiO would now with us. In those 
 parts, I especially say, for the difference in living in 
 different parts of England was ludicrously dissimilar — 
 even more so than it is at present, when, for example, 
 a groom in some country parts of England is satisfied 
 with 1 6s. a week, but the same functionary would very 
 easily command 25 s. in other parts. Abbess Margaret 
 Gibson signed her name to a document acknowledging 
 the King's supremacy some two years before the dis- 
 
12 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 solution, and was rewarded with a pension of £\i,. 
 Burnham is especially known by its beech -trees, and 
 Burnham beeches have for long been favourite subjects 
 with artists at all academies in England. The engraving 
 opposite almost suggests a banyan tree, from its intense 
 foliage and shade. I borrow an excellent description 
 of the Burnham beeches from a well-known writer, for 
 it is less familiar than some of his published works. 
 " Within five-and-twenty miles of St. Paul's, the Great 
 Western Railway will place us in an hour (having an 
 additional walk of two miles) in the heart of one of the 
 most secluded districts in England. We know nothing 
 of forest scenery equal to Burnham, which is approached 
 from the station at Maidenhead. The beeches may be 
 reached by several roads, each very beautiful in its 
 seclusion. We ascend a hill, and find a common with 
 a few scattered houses. ■ Gradually the common begins 
 to grow less open. We see large masses of wood in 
 clumps, and now and then a gigantic tree by the road. 
 The trunks of these scattered trees are of enormous size. 
 They are for the most part pollards ; but, not having 
 been lopped for many years, they have thrown out 
 mighty arms, which give us a notion of some deformed 
 son of Anak, noble as well as fearful in his grotesque 
 proportions. As we advance, the wood thickens ; and 
 
JACOB TONS ON. 13 
 
 as the road leads us into a deep dell, we are at length 
 completely obscured in a leafy wilderness. This dell 
 is a most romantic spot : it extends for some quarter 
 of a mile between overhanging banks covered with the 
 graceful forms of the ash and the birch, while the 
 contorted beeches show their fantastic roots and un- 
 wieldy trunks upon the edge of the glen in singular 
 contrast. If we walk up this valley, we may emerge 
 into the plain of beeches, from which the place derives 
 its name. It is not easy to make scenes such as 
 these interesting by description ; the great charm may 
 be readily conceived when it is known that its charac- 
 teristic is an entire absence of human care." 
 
 If we traverse the banks of the Thames, in place 
 of making an excursion to Burnham, we shall come 
 across a mansion that has many quaint and interesting 
 associations. Down Place has often been altered and 
 enlarged, but it was the residence of the celebrated 
 Jacob Tonson, who published Dryden's works, and who 
 used to keep a sort of open house for men of letters. 
 The old part still remains, and faces the river ; and 
 though the situation is beautiful, the house itself has 
 no more attractions than Strawberry Hill. Here the 
 famous Kit-Cat Club was formed, which consisted of 
 men of standing and wealth, whose real object was tp 
 
14 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 support the house of Hanover, and to strengthen the 
 hands of the Bentincks, the Cavendishes, the Russells, 
 and Grenvilles, and others whose energy did so much 
 to set the House of Hanover firmly on the throne. In 
 those days publishers occupied a more arduous position 
 than they do now, when wealth and business capacity 
 are, of necessity, among the first requirements ; for 
 literary men are readily procurable as readers or editors 
 who can relieve them of much of their old duties, and 
 allow them to devote more time to the mercantile part 
 of their calling. There is an amusing anecdote of 
 Tonson, which Lord Bolingbroke "relates. He was 
 once paying a visit to Dryden, and some one called 
 whose step and voice the poet well knew ; he turned 
 suddenly to Lord Bolingbroke, and begged him not to 
 leave until the publisher had gone, for, said he, " I know 
 it's Tonson ;'' and he added that if he left before him, 
 he would be alone with the great publisher, and as he 
 was a little behindhand with some proof, he would be 
 fearfully scolded. Dunton published the Life and 
 Errors of Tonson, and he speaks about him as a man 
 who has been " characterised as a sort of wild Defoe, a 
 coarser mind cast in somewhat a like mould." He 
 figures in the Dunciad, though not with the same 
 sarcastic satire that has immortalised Curll in the same 
 
CA VE, FOUNDER OF ' GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE.' 1$ 
 
 publication. Guy, the founder of the hospital, may almost 
 be said to have belonged to the same set. His pub- 
 lishing house was close to Barnett's Banking Company's 
 place. But the most generally esteemed publisher was 
 Cave, whose memoirs Johnson wrote, and who was for 
 some time in a half-conscious state, owing to lethargic 
 illness ; but he woke up before his death just to see 
 and to recognise the lexicographer, " fondly to press 
 the hand that now writes this little narrative," as his 
 biographer says. Cave was brought up at Rugby, 
 under the tutorship of Holyock, and he gave early 
 promise of literary- excellence. He was afterwards 
 placed in the office of a timber- merchant, where he 
 again gave great satisfaction ; but finally he was 
 apprenticed to Collins, a deputy-alderman of London, 
 and a printer and publisher of high standing. This 
 change was much to his taste, and he has the credit of 
 founding monthly magazines, to secure the fleeting 
 contributions that had but an ephemeral life in pamph- 
 lets and broad-sheets. He had saved enough money 
 in 1 7 3 1 to found the Gentleman's Magazine, of which 
 there was so great a want at the time that its success 
 became pronounced soon after, and, indeed, it flourishes 
 with unabated vigour. He was, as Pope has said of 
 Gay, " uncorrupted even among the great," and when 
 
1 6 RAMBLES RO UND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 clerk of the Frank Office he refused to let an epistle of 
 the old Duchess of Marlborough be forwarded free of 
 expense to its destination on the strength of a frank 
 from W. Plummer, M.P. For this he was summoned 
 to the bar of the House ; but he had in every sense 
 the better of the argument. 
 
 Maidenhead, or, as it used to be called, Maidenhythe, 
 is soon reached, and it is a neat, clean, comfortable 
 country town, without many claims to being considered 
 picturesque. The bridge is exceedingly beautiful, but 
 the town itself is new, and perhaps hardly dates earlier 
 than the bridge, which was built quite at the end of 
 the last century. 
 
 Maidenhead is the nearest station to the celebrated 
 village of Bray, which has gained immortality through 
 its accommodating vicar, who gracefully surrendered 
 his creed to each succeeding monarch. The song 
 which has rendered him famous is an anachronism, for 
 the real vicar lived during the reigns of Henry VHI., 
 Edward VI., Mary, and Elizabeth, while the popular 
 vicar is supposed to have published his creed during 
 the reign of George I., and it is pretty certain that it is 
 a production of one of the members of the Kit-Cat 
 Club. Satirists and historians have shown again and 
 again the laxity and the servility of the parochial 
 
CHAPLAINS. i; 
 
 clergy ; and a chaplain — who in those days was almost 
 as indispensable to a moderately important household 
 as a steward — hardly ranked above a head gamekeeper, 
 nor was he permitted, except under certain conditions 
 (which in the case of the head of the Wynn family are 
 humorous in the extreme, and happen to be before me), 
 to dine with his " patron." If the chaplain was of a 
 congenial turn, and sufficiently instructed to amuse his 
 employer, he would have the family living, or some 
 other family -living, when a vacancy occurred, and then 
 of course he was the humble servant to the house. I 
 had some little difficulty in getting a reliable copy of 
 the song, but believe that the following is nearly 
 correct : — 
 
 " In good King Charles's golden days, 
 
 When loyalty no harm meant, 
 A zealous High Churchman was I, 
 
 And so I got preferment. 
 To teach my flock I never missed. 
 
 Kings were by God appointed, 
 And damn'd are those that do resist 
 
 Or touch the Lord's anointed. 
 
 " For this is law I will maintain 
 Until my dying day, sir. 
 Whatever King in England reign 
 I'll be the Vicar of Bray, sir. 
 C 
 
RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 " When royal James obtained the crown 
 
 And Popery came in fashion, 
 The penal laws I hooted down 
 
 And read the Declaration. 
 The Church of Rome I found would fit 
 
 Full well my constitution, 
 And had become a Jesuit 
 
 But for the Revolution. 
 
 " When William was our King declar'd, 
 
 To ease a nation's grievance, 
 With this new wind about I steer'd, 
 
 And swore to him allegiance. 
 Old principles I did revoke, 
 
 Set conscience at a distance ; 
 Passive obedience was a joke, 
 
 A jest was non-resistance. 
 
 " When gracious Anne became our Queen, 
 
 The Church of England's glory. 
 Another face of things was seen. 
 
 And I became a Tory. 
 Occasional Conformists base 
 
 I damn'd their moderation, 
 And thought the Church in danger was 
 
 By such prevarication. 
 
 " When George in pudding-time came o'er 
 
 And moderate men looked big, sir, 
 I turned a cat-in-a-pan once more. 
 
 And so I became a Whig, sir. 
 And thus preferment I procured 
 
 From our new faith's defender. 
 And almost every day abjured 
 
 The Pope and the Pretender. 
 
VICAR OF BRA Y. 19 
 
 " The illustrious House of Hanover 
 
 And Protestant succession, 
 To these I do allegiance swear 
 
 While they can keep possession. 
 For in my faith and loyalty 
 
 I never more will falter, 
 And George my lawful King shall be 
 
 Until the times shall alter." 
 
 The real Vicar of Bray is a hero among Fuller's 
 Worthies, and he seems to have had a decided liking 
 for a quiet life. His name is put down as Symon 
 Symonds ; but after carefully looking at an old record 
 where it appears, I hardly think that this is correct. 
 Fuller, speaking of him, says : " The vivacious vicar 
 thereof living under Henry VHL, King Edward VI., 
 Queen Maty, and Queen Elizabeth, was first a Papist, 
 then a Protestant, then a Papist, and then a Protestant 
 again. He had seen- some martyrs burnt (two miles 
 off) at Windsor, and found this fire too hot for his 
 tender temper. This vicar being taxed by one for 
 being a turncoat and an inconstant changeling, said 
 ' Not so. I always kept my principle, which is this — 
 To live and die the vicar of Bray.' " It must not be 
 supposed that the present beautiful vicarage is the one 
 to which the sturdy vicar so resolutely clung ; for it 
 is comparatively a new residence, and has recently 
 
20 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 been altered. The house shown at the entrance of the 
 churchyard is said to be the genuine residence. Of 
 this I could not form an opinion, but all the inhabitants 
 agreed in saying that it was the traditional vicarage. 
 The church of Bray has not been very much over- 
 restored. The restorations took place a little more 
 than a quarter of a century ago, when ancient buildings 
 were held in much more reverence than they are now. 
 There are some quaint monuments and inscriptions in 
 it, and among others is one of William Goddard, the 
 founder of Jesus Hospital, and his wife. 
 
 " If what I was thou seekest to knowe 
 These lines my character shall showe 
 Those benefitts that God me lent 
 With thanks I tooke and freely spent 
 I scorned what playnesse could not gett 
 And next to treasure hated debt 
 I loved not those that stirred up strife 
 True to my friend and too my wife 
 The latter here by me I have 
 We had one bed and have one grave 
 My honesty was such that I 
 When death came feared not to die." 
 
 The part of the Thames we are considering is almost 
 a paradise for swans. We meet them at every bend, 
 and many are the quiet nooks for nesting. We learn 
 from the Penny Cyclopcedia that, according to an 
 

5 WAN- HOPPING. 
 
 old law, no subject could hold property in swans that 
 were allowed to be at large in a public river or creek, 
 unless he held his right from the Crown, and then, for 
 a fee, the Crown grants a swan mark, or notches in the 
 bill, to identify the birds ; and on the first Monday in 
 August, every year, the swan-markers of the Crown, 
 and some of the London companies, go up the river 
 and practise their cruel calling. The markers are 
 called swan -uppers, which has been corrupted into 
 " swan-hoppers," and all unmarked swans belong to the 
 Crown ; so that if a bird has been missed, it becomes 
 royal property. This accounts for the immense num- 
 ber belonging to the Queen. By a curious old Act of 
 Parliament the following penalty is enforced against 
 any one who steals a lawfully marked swan in an open 
 and common river. The swan is to be held by his 
 beak until the tail just touches the ground, and as 
 much wheat is to be poured over the swan as will 
 cover him up to the top of his bill. This is not al- 
 together unlike the way in which muskets were sold to 
 Indians in the palmy days of the Hudson Bay Com- 
 pany. A Birmingham musket, worth about £i : iSs. 
 was placed with its butt on the ground, and as many 
 sable skins, worth about £2 or £2 each, were piled 
 up as reached to its muzzle. It is hardly to be 
 
22 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 wondered at that in those days the factors, and even 
 clerks, grew rich ; yet that Company paid 5° to 60 
 per cent besides. On the swan-upping day — which 
 simply means taking up a young swan to mark it — 
 some of the Companies go up the river in barges, and 
 make merry with great good fare while the birds are 
 subject to torture ; for they actually bleed at the 
 incisions. If a short Act were passed that a liveryman 
 — only one — should each year have his finger-nail 
 marked just as the swan's bill is, the barbarous custom 
 would pretty soon disappear. Opinions, indeed, may 
 differ as to the improvement, in a picturesque sense, 
 that swans are to the river. Their " pose " on the 
 water is not so graceful as that of the sheldrake or 
 pintail duck ; and the straight long neck rather re- 
 minds one of a giraffe : indeed, we never hear words 
 of admiration for this part of the singular creature. 
 For our own taste, a swan has rather a cockney ap- 
 pearance in water; and while water-lilies are the 
 delight of every one, as indeed are willow-bushes, or 
 alders, or anything that is indigenous or natural, swans 
 painfully remind us of an artificial state of things. A 
 swan was the admiration of the vapid artists who used 
 to draw handsome but not intelligent youths playing 
 on a guitar or a flute, in a boat, to the apparent interest 
 
SWANS. 23 
 
 of some young damsel : the class of pictures, in fact, 
 that was in vogue a generation since. Rather than 
 another day's swan-hopping, let the birds have their 
 own sweet will, and resume their ancient habits. The 
 strength of the swan is enormous. The blow of his 
 pinion being able to break a leg is an old story ; but 
 Stanley relates a circumstance that eclipses this, and 
 the writer was once a witness to an almost similar scene, 
 where swans were carefully kept on a lake into which 
 a little brook emptied itself. A swan had lost some 
 young ones, it is supposed, on a former occasion, 
 through the depredations of a fox, and would seem to 
 have mistrusted the family of foxes generally ; and 
 when surrounded by her infant progeny, she saw one 
 swimming across to where her nest was, she knew very 
 well that on the land her own long neck and the 
 crafty fence of the enemy would place her at a great 
 disadvantage : so she decided on a naval engagement, 
 where the advantages would be all her own ; and sailing 
 through the water to meet him, she struck him such 
 powerful blows with her wings that he succumbed at 
 once, and was drifted quite dead to the bank he had 
 left. A few swans are fattened every year at Windsor, 
 but opinions are divided regarding their merit as an 
 article of diet. For myself, I have found a wild one, 
 
24 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 when killed young, equal to a wild duck ; and there is 
 no reason why the fattened domestic ones should not 
 exceed their wild brethren as far as a fattened tame 
 duck does all wild ones, not excepting the Canvas-back 
 or the Blue-winged Teal. 
 
 In the reach of the Thames we are now considering, 
 immense numbers of trout have been liberated, but the 
 results have been far from encouraging, as they seem 
 to have fallen an early prey to pike, or perch, or chub. 
 The first on this list is called " vermin " in America, 
 and it should be hunted out of every fishing stream ; 
 for though, if in good season, and well stuffed and 
 baked, it is not a bad fish at all, it does not compensate 
 for the injury it inflicts on other fishes of more value. 
 A very sure way to improve the venture of releasing 
 trout in the Thames would be to let them be well 
 grown before they undertake their travels by water. 
 Plenty of admirers they will find in each of the animal 
 kingdoms, but very few friends indeed : and they will not 
 have been free long before they find that they are in the 
 midst of danger, necessity, and tribulation. Now, let any 
 one who may have been at Wolfsbrunn, near Heidelberg, 
 remember how trout are raised and reared from the 
 ova till they attain large dimensions, and he will see 
 how easily these excellent fish could be kept under the 
 
TROUT. 25 
 
 protection of the keeper until they were better able to 
 hold their own against the enemies that are under the 
 water, who, after all, are the most persistent and in- 
 sidious. A little longer time to mature would make 
 them able to look better after themselves ; and they 
 could not only by their velocity escape their foes, but 
 would themselves reduce the numbers of young fish 
 that when they grew would be their foes. A little 
 water-mill would send up an abundant supply of water 
 to the gravelly spawning -beds, and these might be 
 regulated with the utmost ease to let the fish leave one 
 after another until they have reached half a pound in 
 weight, and then they would rapidly thrive in an open 
 river, and be of more use economically and for exercise 
 than many times the number of coarser fish that they 
 would displace. Any sportsman would rather kill a 
 woodcock than a hare or even a pheasant, though either 
 of these might be thought of greater value in a larder ; 
 and so a trout caught with a fly, if he only weighed a 
 pound, would bring a more healthful glow into the frame 
 of a citizen than a basketful of bream or chub caught 
 while sitting in a chair in a broad punt. 
 
26 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Romney Island — Lepidoptera of Eton and neighbourhood — Wycombe — 
 Wycombe Abbey — Wycombe Church — Beaconsfield — The " Hell-fire 
 Club"— Lord Wharton— Duke of Wharton. 
 
 The view of the Thames opposite is from Windsor 
 Bridge, which is a continuation of High Street. It has 
 three arches, and joins the counties of Berkshire and 
 Buckingham. Maidenhead Bridge is seven miles above, 
 and Staines Bridge about eight below. There are many 
 beautiful bends in the river here, and it may be said to 
 have a character almost entirely its own. The Dee and 
 the Wye, two of our most charming streams, differ in 
 every respect, and the Severn has but few points of 
 resemblance. The peculiarity of the Thames here 
 seems to be that it never loses its rustic character, 
 although so many palatial residences fringe its banks. 
 The lilies and wild flowers, and the trees of matchless 
 beauty, the barges and old-fashioned ferries, and the 
 country inns and cottages, seem always to preserve that. 
 
THE THAMES. 27 
 
 I have just read some remarks by a celebrated 
 authority on art, in which he says that internal comfort 
 and sanitary regulations are incompatible with pictur- 
 esqueness, and that where otxe exists the other must be 
 sought in vain. Gainsborough, he said, or Constable, 
 found out the most dilapidated examples of cottages 
 that were quite innocent of the painter's or white- 
 washer's brush, and where the only colouring was what 
 nature gave them ; moss, ' lichens, and weather stains. 
 But it seems to me that though very often there are 
 picturesque combinations of colour, and even shape, 
 in these tumble-down abodes, squalor is by no means 
 necessary for an artistic brush. The animals that 
 Morland used to paint so truthfully are not such as we 
 can dwell on with pleasure, and the stables and styes 
 in which they are housed make us feel as if we could 
 pity them. The horses and dogs of Landseer are not 
 only, of course, more pleasant to look at, but they are 
 quite as picturesque. And so, along the Thames are 
 many cottages which are not only all that could be de- 
 sired for residences, but they are as artistic as the most 
 fervid admirer of rustic beauty could desire. 
 
 Ro'mney Island is visible from this bridge, and it 
 extends down the river for about three-quarters of a 
 mile,, until it reaches the Playing Fields of Eton. 
 
28 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Romney Lock is entered by a cutting on the right- 
 hand side of the island, and the Eton masters' bathing- 
 house is at the weir on the left. 
 
 If we continue our journey up the Thames to 
 Maidenhead, we shall be able to take the Great 
 Western train to High Wycombe, though, as there is 
 so much to be seen about Wycombe, it will be necessary 
 to make another trip. A place called Monkey Island 
 is soon reached, and from it is a ferry to Buck's bank. 
 Monkey Island is interesting from its associations, 
 rather than from any merit in the designs from which 
 it takes its name. On it was a fishing box of the 
 third Duke of Marlborough, and it was his ingenious 
 fancy to have it fitted up with canvas on which are 
 depicted monkeys doing the work of men. There are 
 great numbers of them fishing, shooting, and hunting ; 
 and the whole design was in keeping with the depraved 
 taste of the days when the most uncouth swineherds, 
 or their wives, were alluded to as shepherds or shep- 
 herdesses, with classic names from Horace or Ovid, 
 and all that was real or hearty had no sympathy from 
 the critics or savants. Yet some money must have 
 been spent over this fishing -box, for the lodge is built 
 of cut stone of the best quality and workmanship, and 
 of very excellent design. The present billiard room 
 
TAPLOW. 29 
 
 was formerly a banqueting hall, and has seen many 
 revels, characterised by more or less respectability. It 
 contains an enriched ceiling, which unhappily is now 
 falling into decay. 
 
 The stream round this island is clear and rapid, 
 and there is always excellent fishing for various kinds 
 of fish. Clermont is said to have been the name of 
 the artist of the monkeys. He was a Frenchman, and 
 there are very few that desire to deprive him of the 
 honour. A little more than half a mile will bring us 
 to Bray Lock, and above this is Bray Church, and the 
 George Hotel, which is on the water's edge. Taplow 
 is almost a suburb of Maidenhead, and delightfully 
 pleasant. The house called Taplow Court is a seat 
 of the Grenfell family. It contains many pictures of 
 great value, including a Titian, a Giulio Romano, and 
 several Turners. The old parish church was here, and 
 its site is still marked by a cross. The mansion was 
 rebuilt about thirty years since, from the designs of 
 Mr. Burne. The lanes about here abound with choice 
 specimens of butterflies, and many a collection has 
 been made by students at Eton, which they prize in their 
 after-life, and which has been the means of calling 
 their attention to natural history in the first instance. 
 Unhappily, the white cabbage butterfly is among the 
 
30 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 most common, and its ravages in old gardens among 
 cauliflowers and savoys are but too well known. The 
 butterflies of our lanes cannot of course compare in 
 brilliancy with the gorgeous Lepidoptera of foreign 
 countries, any more than bur wrens or robins can 
 compare with the dazzling hues of tropical humming- 
 birds ; but we have some of great beauty and richness 
 of colour, that, when neatly arranged, form a charming 
 collection. In the lanes between Eton and Taplow we 
 find the Brimstone butterfly, the Polyommatus or blue 
 butterfly, the tortoise-shells {Vanessa polycklorus), and 
 the beautiful peacock and red-admiral. The former is 
 marked exactly like the eye of a peacock's feather — 
 which used to be so prized by salmon-fishermen, and 
 it may be seen in early spring and late autumn ; but 
 the latter is in perfection in September. The painted- 
 lady is also to be met with here, though it is not 
 common in other parts of England. The colours are 
 rather less vivid, but richer and softer in combination. 
 The Burnham woods are quite a paradise for butterflies 
 of the rarer kinds ; and if you approach one that has 
 settled, y6u will see it expand and close its wings, 
 possibly on the same principle that induces a peacock 
 to open its tail For every colour on the beautiful 
 wings of a butterfly is quite visible to it. The wonder- 
 
LEPIDOPTERA. 3« 
 
 ful eyes contain compound lenses of many thousands 
 in number, and these are capable of refracting a ray of 
 light proceeding from any object. To enumerate the 
 many varieties of Lepidoptera that can be found 
 between Eton and Maidenhead would not only be 
 foreign to the present scheme, but impossible in our 
 limits, as nearly every known kind is met with, not 
 excluding the Camberwell- beauty (Vanessa antiopd), 
 that is regarded as almost as great a prize by collectors 
 as a Chelsea cup is by " China-maniacs." Its appearance 
 is rather uncertain, and in some years no specimen can 
 be procured ; but the willows that fringe the Thames 
 about here are the most likely parts of England to 
 find it, if it is out at all. Nor are the lanes about 
 here less . prolific in moths than they are in butterflies. 
 There is the gorgeous emperor moth [Saturnia carpinQ 
 which much resembles the peacock butterfly in its 
 markings, but by many it would be considered to have 
 a richer appearance. Then there is the goat moth, 
 which, though not so common with us as it is in some 
 countries, is quite common enough. Its caterpillars are 
 shocking lovers of wood, and if it were as numerous with 
 us as the white cabbage butterfly, our noble branching 
 park trees would be terribly thinned down ; and while 
 on this subject, the writer must be pardoned for giving 
 
32 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 an example of the damage that two plain -looking 
 butterfly-moths can do to a garden. 
 
 He lived for some time in Canada, and attached to 
 the house where he lived was a very fine orchard, 
 probably forty years old. It covered some two acres, 
 and the proprietor had stocked it with the choicest 
 trees. Fameuse, St. Lawrence Beauties, Rusticoats, 
 and peach-flavoured apples, were all there, and so great 
 was the yield that the surplus sold for a large sum of 
 money. But there had always in former days been 
 care taken to rid the trees of caterpillars. The one 
 which blights an orchard is deposited in the ova state 
 in rings half an inch long, that completely envelop 
 some small spray, generally difficult to approach. 
 These rings are pictures of neatness, and are covered 
 over with an impenetrable varnish, which no storms 
 can wash off — and no arctic cold can hurt the embryo 
 caterpillars. There are about three hundred, or rather 
 more, in each ring, and the sun that melts the ice and 
 snow of the winter, and develops the early buds of 
 May, develops also these tyrants ; as soon as they are 
 hatched, they swarm up every branch that shows a bud, 
 and travel over an orchard in an incredibly short time. 
 The land that before them was a garden of Eden is 
 behind them a desolate wilderness. For one year the 
 
CATERPILLARS. 33 
 
 place was vacant, and a third of the orchard was 
 destroyed. However, to continue the digression, 
 ■Parliament was applied to, and readily granted a 
 " Small Birds' Protection Act," and in early spring the 
 grackles and other birds that used to be shot down by 
 French Canadian youths reappeared, and slaughtered 
 the destroyers by millions. 
 
 If further apology is necessary for this digression, it 
 must be found in the circumstance that the readers of 
 this work live in all parts of England, and so many 
 of them are interested in the preservation of both fruit 
 and shade trees ; and the use birds are of to this 
 desirable end cannot be too well known, 
 
 When I saw the ravages that were committed by 
 the caterpillars, I had been reading in an English 
 natural history how some colonial governor had im- 
 ported starlings to a West India Island to thin some 
 plague of vermin that were making havoc with the 
 crops. And then we looked for the grackles and 
 robins, — a bird about the size of a thrush, and 
 belonging to the thrush tribe. These perched on the 
 small branches and gorged themselves with the small 
 caterpillars. This I mentioned to one of the ministers, 
 either the Minister of Agriculture or the Secretary of 
 State, I cannot remember which, but he reported the 
 
34 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 matter to his colleagues, and almost at once a request 
 was made that I should send the outline of a scheme 
 that could be drafted into a bill, which bill passed 
 through three readings and became law as soon as the 
 forms could be complied with that made it a statute ; 
 and I had the satisfaction of being required to explain 
 this before Mr. Auberon Herbert's Committee in the 
 English House of Commons. The English form is not 
 so good as the Canadian, because the list of protected 
 birds is given, in place of protecting all, and enume- 
 rating the exceptions only, such as wild pigeons, hawks, 
 and spari-ows ; so that there is a list of hundreds in 
 place of four or five species to remember. 
 
 The many moths and butterflies, as before said, it 
 would not be possible now to begin even to enumerate, 
 but the naturalist will find all he requires in Newman's 
 British Moths, and Mr. Stainton's work. The subject 
 is also pleasantly alluded to in Mr. J. E. Taylor's Half- 
 Hours in the Green Lanes. Moths, if nicely arranged 
 and not spoiled of their down, may be made to form 
 even a more pleasing case than butterflies, they are so 
 exceedingly soft and velvety. The best way to show 
 them is to line the case with black velvet, instead of 
 white paper, as is so often done ; the paler shades are 
 thus thrown out in fine contrast. There is no moth. 
 
LANE IN HIGH WVCOMBE. 
 
WYCOMBE. 35 
 
 however homely, which, if it is so exhibited, does not 
 look brilliant. 
 
 To resume the thread of our journey, however, we 
 may be supposed to have arrived at Maidenhead, and 
 to take the Great Western train to High Wycombe, 
 one of the principal towns in Buckinghamshire, and 
 one of the most pleasant. 
 
 Wycombe is sometimes called Chipping Wycombe. 
 Chipping is a common affix to market-towns ; we have, 
 for example. Chipping Camden, with its old market 
 canopy, and Chipping Norton, with its old church and 
 grammar-school ; Chipping Ongar, with the church partly 
 built of Roman bricks, as others in the neighbourhood 
 are, and Chipping Sodbury, with many more. It 
 indicates a market-town. Mr. Langley regrets that he 
 could not find a Roman tessellated pavement that was 
 discovered in. the grounds of Wycombe Abbey, and was 
 copied, he says, " by Mr. Rowell, a painter. It was 
 diversified with a great variety of work, in small squares 
 of several colours, and in the centre was the figure of a 
 wild beast. This is the whole I have been able to 
 collect on the subject." Roman coins have been found 
 in the neighbourhood : one of the Emperor Nerva ; 
 some of Antoninus Pius and of Marcus Aurelius were 
 found with the tessellated pavement. All this pave- 
 
36 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 WVCOMBH ABBEY. 
 
 ment has, however, been exposed again to view by Lord 
 Carington, to whom the soil belongs. 
 
WYCOMBE ABBEY. 37 
 
 Wycombe Abbey, his seat, was formerly called 
 Loakes manor-house, and in a compendious history of 
 Wycombe, which was published by Thomas Langley in 
 ^797) it is described as an "ancient irregular building 
 near the borough, built about the time of James I., but 
 considerably enlarged by Lord Shelburne soon after 
 he purchased it. The rooms, though appropriate to 
 domestic convenience, have little decoration, and few 
 pictures worthy of notice." Still, even in this condition 
 it had its history and its associations, and it might with 
 a very little adaptation have been made to fit itself to 
 the necessities of the present day. One feels regret 
 indeed to think that Wyatt has substituted a raw 
 modern quasi-Gothic building ; but the park is simply 
 grand, and the trees in it are of very great beauty 
 indeed. 
 
 The view given opposite is just below the town, and 
 the river Wick adds greatly to the beauty of the scene. 
 Near the church is Wycombe market, which was built 
 at the expense of Lord Shelburne in 1757 ; it super- 
 seded a very interesting black and white building, not 
 unlike some of those we see in Shropshire and Hereford 
 — which we can hardly help regretting, as such a 
 building in such a place would have been marvellously 
 picturesque, and it would, with the least care, have been 
 
38 
 
 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 quite as substantial as the one that has been built in 
 its place. Still, the new building is not deficient in 
 picturesqueness, and we might perhaps let the descrip- 
 tion of it which Langley gives in his History of 
 Buckinghamshire pass without challenge — " It is a 
 
 MARKET-PLACE, HIGH WYCOMBE. 
 
 pleasing brick building." When the sketch was made 
 for this series certain alterations were being carried on, 
 and it was considered better to represent these than to 
 show some finish that might not be accurate. The 
 town gains greatly by the river Wick, that runs through 
 it, and turns in its course many mills. Ruskin has often 
 
WYCOMBE. 39 
 
 pointed out not only the superior thrift and economy of 
 water mills, but also their greater beauty, and to this 
 must be added the purer atmosphere that surrounds 
 them ; for if the same power that drives the mills on the 
 Wick and its neighbour the Rye were obtained by 
 means of steam, the leaves of many a tree and many a 
 flower would be blighted. Wycombe does not seem to 
 have had much political importance until the ill-starred 
 reign of Charles, when it sided with the popular cause, 
 and was besieged by Prince Rupert, and Scott, who was 
 one of the judges to try Rupert's master, was among 
 its defenders. There are some singular epitaphs in the 
 chancel of the church : one to John Bigg is a tribute of 
 his wife. " Devoted by Anne Bigg to the lasting 
 memory of her dear husband John Bigg, doctor of 
 physick. He was a constant and true member of the 
 Church of England, a prudent and loyal subject, very 
 temperate, perfectly chaste ; a maker of peace both in 
 his private capacity and in his public offices for the 
 borough and county, of a charitable and even temper, 
 never uttering a word like an oath or a curse, very 
 ingenious, eminent and successful in his profession, a 
 most affectionate husband, a tender father, whose 
 example through all the stages of life is most worthy 
 of imitation. He died 1 5th June 1 701, aged S 8 years. 
 
40 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 survived by one son and two daughters, Anne and 
 Catherine." On the north side of the chancel is a very 
 large monument to the memory of Henry Petty, Earl 
 of Sherborne, erected by his executors, and consisting 
 of the following singular devices, which are duly 
 recorded by the faithful chronicler Langley. " A man 
 lying on a cist of black marble, with Religion holding 
 an open book before him. On the right hand are two 
 female figures, Virtue and Learning, directing a child ; 
 on the left a Roman warrior and Charity. The canopy 
 is supported by two large pillars of gray marble ; on 
 the top is an urn, on either side Prudence and Justice." 
 Not a very hopeful design, certainly, for a monument, 
 but very characteristic of the period when, as at West- 
 minster, the figures of statesmen and divines and 
 authors are executing a grim dance of death, assisted 
 by heathen deities, though the tableau is not for a 
 moment comparable with Holbein's " Dance of Death." 
 Rickman differs from Langley in the date he gives to 
 the tower by seven years. He says " the tower (date 
 1529), the piers and arches, the clerestory and timber 
 roof, are Perpendicular, the battlements and pinnacles 
 of the tower are modern stucco-work erected by Lord 
 Shelburne 1755. Most of the exterior walls, the south 
 porch, and several windows are good Early Decorated." 
 
EPITAPHS, WYCOMBE. 41 
 
 There are portions of the rood-loft, and some very good 
 wood screen work, dated 1 468, remaining. The arches to 
 the transept are earlier than those of the nave, and the 
 details of the earlier windows and doors are very good. 
 Part of the walling is flint and chalk, in small squares, 
 similar to the style we find in Norfolk and some parts 
 of Kent. But before taking leave of this church we 
 should notice another epitaph, which is very character- 
 istic of the period when it was composed. It is to one 
 Robert Kemp, and is on a brass plate in the chancel, 
 date 1621 : 
 
 " Wife, children, wealth, this world and life forsaken, 
 In silent dust I sleep, when once awaken — 
 My Saviour's might a glorious change will give ; 
 So losing all, I gain, and dying, hve. 
 My fame I trust the world with, for 'tis true. 
 Posterity gives every man his due.'' 
 
 Wycombe formerly returned two members to Parlia- 
 ment, but now.it only sends one, who is generally a 
 connection of the owner of Wycombe Abbey. In the 
 latter part of the seventeenth century John Archdale 
 was returned as one of the members, but his election 
 was set aside because he refused, being a Quaker, to 
 take the necessary oaths. But a much more notable 
 man was Waller, the poet, who represented Amersham 
 at the age of seventeen, and who afterwards sat for 
 
42 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 High Wycombe. He was born in 1605, and died 
 1687. He received his education at Eton, and its 
 natural successor in those days, King's College, Cam- 
 bridge. Waller married a daughter of Edward Banks, 
 Esq., a very opulent London citizen, and this he 
 managed to do against great odds, for a rival was in 
 the field before him, who was supported by royal 
 favour. He was an ardent Royalist, though he could 
 change his opinions almost as gracefully as the Vicar 
 of Bray — and quite as easily. But after Charles had 
 surrendered, Waller attempted to enter into a conspiracy 
 to place the Tower of London and part of the City at 
 his disposal. Through the clemency of Cromwell — a 
 clemency which he was always anxious to exercise 
 when it could be done with due regard to public 
 safety — he was only condemned in costs of ;^ 10,000 
 to the State, and one year's imprisonment. After this 
 he retired to France, and stayed for some time in 
 Paris, but he obtained leave from Cromwell to revisit 
 England, and in retirement wrote some charming odes ; 
 " Go, lovely Rose," is probably one of the best known. 
 So insinuating was he, that he actually gained the 
 friendship and favour of Cromwell after his return. 
 He took up his abode at an old-fashioned seat at 
 Beaconsfield, near Wycombe, and a monument is 
 
BEACONSFIELD. 
 
 43 
 
 erected to him at Beaconsfield Church, where he 
 was buried. Notwithstanding his beautiful poems, 
 Clarendon rates him at a low ebb, even though he 
 succeeded in gaining the favour of the Protector, and 
 
 BEACONSFIELD VILLAGE GREEN. 
 
 says that his principal forte was dexterous and servile 
 flattery of the ruling powers. 
 
 Within an easy hour's walk from this old town is 
 situated West Wycombe. Every one will remember 
 West Wycombe, from its long caverns, which were 
 excavated by Lord le Despenser — with some ulterior 
 views, the country people imagine, but really to get 
 
44 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 out chalk. West Wycombe House is the seat of the 
 Dashwood family ; Lord le Despenser was Francis 
 Dashwood, who founded the club that was a disgrace 
 to the last century. He was a man of notoriously bad 
 life, and probably had acquired an undue influence 
 over his younger fellows. This club seems to have 
 been composed of young men of weak intellect, who 
 habited themselves as Franciscan friars, and affected 
 some mystery in their pursuits. Langley says, " Some 
 few years since the house was tenanted by a society of 
 young men of wit and fashion, under the title of monks 
 of St. Francis, whose habit they assumed. During the 
 season of their conventual residence, they are supposed 
 not to have adhered very rigidly to the rules of life 
 that St. Francis enjoined. Some anecdotes related in 
 a publication of that day are said to refer to this 
 society ; but from the little information I have collected, 
 there seems to be no strong foundation for this opinion. 
 The woman who was their only female domestic is still 
 living, and, after many inquiries, I believe all their 
 transactions may as well be buried in oblivion." Re- 
 spectability, all this crew seemed to turn their backs 
 upon, and if there was any man of moderate intelligence 
 from the founder to Bubb Doddington, it may have been 
 Wilkes, of whom Green, in his History of E7igland, has 
 
HELL-FIRE CLUB. 45 
 
 well said : " When mobs were roarinsf themselves hoarse 
 over ' Wilkes and Liberty,' Pitt denounced Wilkes as a 
 worthless profligate." The club should have recruited 
 its ranks from foreign countries. There was no Texas 
 in those days, of which an ingenious American has 
 given as a derivation of the name : — - 
 
 " When every other land rejecks us 
 This is the only place that teks us.'' 
 
 Or the more refined and bitter sarcasm of Henry IV. 
 on his deathbed, which he gave as advice to his son, 
 might serve as a clue : — 
 
 " To the English court assemble now 
 From every region, apes of idleness : 
 Now neighbour confines, purge you of your scum ; 
 Have you a ruffian that will swear ? drink ? dance ? 
 Revel the night ? rob ? murder ? and commit 
 The oldest sins the newest kind of ways ? " etc. 
 
 No, the members of what they were pleased to term 
 themselves, the "Hell -fire Club," were distinguished 
 more for weakness than anything else, and it is not 
 recorded that they were in any instance defendants in 
 a magistrate's court. They were very far indeed from 
 heroes. Wilkes, who caused much trouble in his life 
 (though right was on his side in his struggle with 
 Parliament), had perhaps as much wit as any of the 
 
46 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 crew, and was not a credit to Parliament, or to the age 
 he Hved in. 
 
 The associations of West Wycombe, however, are 
 not very encouraging. Lord Wharton, it is true, Hved 
 there, and he had some fair claims upon the gratitude 
 of his posterity. It is alleged by Bishop Percy, that 
 he was the author oi Lilliburlero, a song that had great 
 success in its day and generation, and is said to have 
 had a greater power than even the orations of Cicero 
 and Demosthenes in theirs ; and it was indeed a very 
 bold step, with the example of Montrose before them, 
 and the infamous cruelties of Judge Jeffreys fresh in 
 the recollections of every one, for men to plan another 
 attempt to free the kingdom from the misrule of the 
 Stuarts; for James II. was still in power, and his wicked 
 judge was in the height of his favour at court. Lord 
 Wharton was a guiding spirit in the Revolution of 1688; 
 and at Hurley Place, in the near neighbourhood, are 
 the vaults where the documents were signed inviting 
 William III. to come to England. This part of Eng- 
 land, indeed, is not very full of pleasing recollections 
 for the Stuarts. At Maidenhead, in the Greyhound 
 Inn, Charles I. took leave of his family. 
 
 Wharton the elder was a worthy man, but his son's 
 name is a byeword. He was the father of the Duke 
 
LORD WHARTON. 47 
 
 of Wharton. There are three Whartons who have been 
 conspicuous characters in history. The first and second 
 were respectable men, but the third, who was raised to 
 the rank of a duke, was such as we. have seen. In the 
 reign of Charles I., Philip Lord -Wharton married Jane, 
 the heiress to the vast estates of the Goodwins and 
 Spencers, and he resided at Winchenden till the death of 
 his wife, when he went to another seat of the family at 
 Woburn. Lord Wharton was a supporter of the people 
 in their struggle against the exactions of the Stuarts, 
 and was indeed one of the Commissioners sent by 
 Parliament to Scotland ; but at the Restoration he was 
 permitted to retire upon his estate and live as a 
 country gentleman. At Woburn William III. visited 
 him, for the misrule of James brought him again into 
 activity, and his excellent son composed the first draft 
 of the invitation to the Prince of Orange. In the year 
 1695 he died, and left his great possessions to his son 
 Thomas ; he seems also to have embraced the cause of 
 freedom, and was made privy councillor by William. 
 He greatly assisted Lord Somers in establishing the 
 Union between England and Scotland, which was finally 
 assented to in 1707. The vividness with which these 
 subjects bring before us momentous events in history 
 is among the charms of English travel, and it is im- 
 
48 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 possible to refrain from quoting the words which Somers 
 puts into the mouth of Queen Anne in giving her 
 assent to the Act : — " I desire and expect from my 
 subjects of both nations that from henceforth they act 
 with all possible respect and kindness to one another, 
 that it may appear to all the world they have hearts 
 disposed to become one people ;" and as Dr. Green 
 truly says, " time has more than answered these hopes. 
 To Scotland the Union opened up new avenues of 
 wealth, which the energy of the people turned to won- 
 derful account. The farms of Lothian have become 
 models of agricultural skill. A fishing village on the 
 Clyde has grown into Glasgow." The third of the 
 Whartons was the unworthy representative of these 
 men. His talents were great, and he was rewarded 
 with a seat in the House of Peers, though a minor. 
 His energetic support of the ministry procured him a 
 dukedom ; but his evil life, his vanity, and his utter 
 lack of principle, have been well described by Pope : — 
 " Wharton, the scorn and wonder of our days, 
 Whose ruling passion was the lust of praise, 
 Born with whate'er could win it from the wise. 
 Women and fools must like him or he dies. 
 Tho' wondering senates hung on all he spoke, 
 The club must hail him master of the joke. 
 Shall parts so various aim at nothing n€w ; 
 He'll shine a TuUy and a Wilmot too.'' 
 
BURIED SUMS OF MONEY. 49 
 
 . . . with each gift of nature and of art, 
 And wanting nothing but an honest heart ; 
 
 A fool, with more of wit than half mankind. 
 Too rash for thought, for action too refined, 
 A tyrant to the wife his heart approves, 
 A rebel to the very king he loves.'' 
 
 Earl Wharton, the father of the last mentioned, is said 
 to have spent ;^ 100,000 over Woburn, in altering the 
 house and grounds, and the gardens were among the 
 most celebrated in England ; they occupied the side of 
 the hill, which was afterwards converted into pasture. 
 This great building was taken down in 1750, and the 
 materials were sold for ;^8oo ! 
 
 In the wilderness near the house, Langley says that, 
 during the great Rebellion, Lord Wharton concealed 
 ;^6o,ooo in a plantation called West Wood, and he 
 could not remember where he had put it, the only 
 other persons privy to the transaction being either 
 dead or in exile ; but two acres were cleared, and the 
 whole of the treasure found. £^0 was discovered in 
 gold angels last century, but we have no means of 
 knowing the truth of the other story ; still, we have 
 the ingenuous confession of Mr. Pepys in his own 
 experiences ; and as for burying large sums, there is, 
 indeed, a tradition, which appears in some Chester 
 
so RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 local histories, of a large sum having been abstracted 
 from the cellars of the house where these lines are 
 written, and buried in a garden near the city walls in 
 George II.'s time. It did not approach in magnitude 
 that which legend says lay concealed at Woburn — 
 indeed it was not more than a quarter the amount ; 
 but it was used by the enterprising captors for their 
 own purposes, and even partially invested. The singular 
 part of the story is that, from what I have heard re- 
 cently, it does not seem to be legendary. 
 
 The part of England we have been considering, 
 and the country that lies in the immediate vicinity, 
 is among the most charming in the whole kingdom, 
 for we are near Cliveden, Marlow, and Medmenham. 
 
BEACONSFIELD. 51 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Burke and Waller— Butler's Court— Milton— The River Colne— Hughenden 
 — Hughenden Church— Church Restoration— Benjamin Disraeli— 
 Chalfont St. Peter's. 
 
 If, instead of going by the train as far as High 
 Wycombe, 'we stop at Loudwater, we shall not be far 
 from Beaconsfield. A walk o£ four miles will land us 
 in this ancient country town, and the walk is one of 
 beauty and interest ; it is undulated and well wooded, 
 and many are the panoramic views we may get, 
 especially if we ascend the high land on our left-hand 
 side. About a mile before we reach Beaconsfield we 
 pass between two well-known residences, the abodes of 
 Burke and Waller. Butler's Court lies about a mile 
 and a half on the north of the road, and it was here 
 that Burke spent the latter part of his days; Hall 
 Barn was the seat of Waller. In speaking of this 
 place Britton says: "Hall Barn, the once celebrated 
 
52 
 
 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 seat of Waller, by whom it was built, is about one mile 
 south of Beaconsfield, and before the improvements of 
 
 ANCIENT CHIMNEY, LOUDWATER. 
 
 modern times it was considered a magnificent abode. 
 It is now the property of Mr. Edmund Waller, a de- 
 
CHIMNEY. 53 
 
 scendant of the poet, whose family have long been 
 inhabitants of the neighbourhood." The road from 
 Loudwater to Beaconsfield is so lonely that, if we 
 except a few residents who live at the county town, 
 we may hardly meet half a dozen people in the 
 four miles. The chimney which is shown on the op- 
 posite page is a very excellent example of an ancient 
 external chimney, and it is absurd to suppose that 
 these are relics of barbarism. On the contrary, there 
 is much more to be said in their favour than at first 
 might appear, and they do their work much more 
 effectually than some of the contrivances of modern 
 times. It is commonly urged that all the heat is lost, 
 and that it would be retained if the fireplace were in 
 an inner wall ; but against this may be said, that the 
 outside of the house is itself warmed in the course of 
 a day, and the thick stone walls retain the heat for a 
 long time. The concrete floor of a Roman chamber, it 
 is believed, would retain the heat for twenty-four hours 
 after the fires of the hypocaust were out. The date of 
 this massive chimney is not very certain, but it is 
 characteristic of the time of Richard II. or Henry IV., 
 and it seems to have belonged to a much more exten- 
 sive building than that to which it is now attached. 
 The road, though undulating, gradually rises towards 
 
54 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Beaconsfield, and the conspicuous position of the hill 
 made it an excellent place for a beacon-fire. Lord 
 Crokesays: "Before the reign of Edward III. beacons 
 were but stacks of wood set up on high places, which 
 were fired when the coming of the enemy was descried ; 
 but in his reign pitch boxes, as they now be, were 
 instead of these stacks set up, and this is properly a 
 beacon," There is one at Hadley Church yet remain- 
 ing, and this was lighted by a man who stayed all night, 
 in the tower in troublesome times — and that would 
 include nearly all times until the House of Hanover 
 came to the throne. His life can hardly have been a 
 bed of roses, for the invaders usually made direct for 
 the beacon-fire. 
 
 Beaconsfield is the last home of Edmund Burke, 
 and in the church is his tomb. It is in the south aisle, 
 
 and is very plain : — 
 
 " Near this place 
 
 Lies interred 
 
 All that was mortal of the 
 
 Right Honourable Edmund Burke, 
 
 who died on the 9th of July 1 797, 
 
 aged 68 years. 
 
 In the same grave are deposited 
 
 The remains of 
 
 His only son, Richard Burke, Esq., 
 
 Representative in Parliament 
 
 For the borough of Walton, 
 
BURKE. 55 
 
 Who died on the 2d of August 1794, 
 
 aged 35; 
 Of his brother, Richard Burke, Esq., 
 
 Barrister at Law 
 and Recorder of the City of Bristol, 
 Who died on the 4th of February 1794." 
 
 Burke is sometimes spoken of in history as an 
 almost impecunious adventurer ; but he casually stated 
 himself once in debate that a brother he much loved, 
 and whom he much missed, had left him ;f 2 0,000, 
 part of which he said was spent, and the remainder 
 would be spent in furthering the principles he had 
 adopted as his guide through life. But he was greatly 
 assisted in his purchase of " Gregories," afterwards 
 called " Butler's Court," through the friendship of the 
 Marquis of Rockingham and Lord Verney, "whose 
 munificence," Britton says, " enabled him to make the 
 purchase, through which he was furnished with an 
 elegant retreat, and enabled to pursue his studies 
 unembarrassed by want." Burke paid ;£"2 0,000 for 
 this property, and afterwards he had a pension of 
 ;^I200 a year granted to him, which was further sup- 
 plemented by ;£'2Soo a year, chargeable on the 4^ per 
 cents, which of course placed him in circumstances of 
 comparative affluence. After his retirement from the 
 more active arena of politics, he was attacked in the 
 
S6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 House of Lords by the Duke of Bedford and Lord 
 Lauderdale, but he was warmly defended by Lord 
 Granville. This led to his celebrated " letter to a noble 
 Lord," which is almost unrivalled for keen and polished 
 sarcasm in literature. 
 
 Britton, in describing Butler's Court, says that 
 " Gregories'' (as it was formerly called), "the seat of the 
 widow of the late Edmund Burke, Esq., and now the 
 residence of his widow, is about one mile north-west of 
 Beaconsfield. The front of the house is very similar to 
 the Queen's palace at St. James's Park. The centre is 
 connected with the two wings by colonnades, each 
 supported by eight Corinthian columns." Often has 
 the character of Burke, as we have said, been the 
 subject of discussion and difference. He was con- 
 tinually called a " political adventurer " in his day and 
 generation, and after his death it was customary among 
 his old opponents to regard the resting-place at 
 Beaconsfield as the tomb of a charlatan. But that he 
 never was. He began life as a Tory of the most pro- 
 nounced convictions, and he honestly ended it in those 
 convictions. Buckle gives him a high place, and even 
 Dr. Green, who can hardly have possessed many sym- 
 pathies in common with him, says of his oratory that 
 it had " passionate ardour, poetic fancy, and amazing 
 
BURKE. 57 
 
 prodigality of resources." He speaks also of the way 
 in which " irony, pathos, invective, tenderness, the most 
 brilliant word-pictures, the coolest argument, followed 
 each other. It was an eloquence indeed of a wholly 
 new order in English experience. Walpole's clearness 
 of statement, Chatham's appeals to emotion, were 
 exchanged for the impassioned expression of a distinct 
 philosophy of politics." In Burke's reverence for the 
 accumulated wisdom of ages, he said that the " equili- 
 brium of the constitution has something so delicate 
 about it, that the least displacement may destroy it :" 
 a perfectly consistent sentiment, which was thus echoed 
 by an excellent bishop who lived long after Burke : 
 " Touch a sentence, ay, or almost a comma of the 
 Prayer Book, and the whole fabric of our National 
 Church may come toppling down over us." The part, 
 however, that this great and gifted orator took in 
 involving the country in French wars is but too well 
 known, and the line he adopted was in all respects con- 
 sistent with his life and his ordinary way of thought. 
 Nothing can be added to the lines of Goldsmith, who 
 falls in no respect behind in acknowledging his exalted 
 genius and his singleness of aim. Goldsmith says that 
 his 
 
5 8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Genius was such, 
 We scarcely can blame him or praise him too much, 
 Who, bom for the universe, narrowed his mind, 
 And to party gave up what was meant for mankind. 
 Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat 
 To persuade Tommy Townsend to lend him a vote ; 
 Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining. 
 And thought of convincing when they thought of dining ; 
 Tho' equal to all things — for all things unfit. 
 Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit. 
 For a patriot too cool, for a drudge disobedient. 
 And too fond of the right to pursue the expedient. 
 
 Burke's monument, which is a small marble mural 
 arc, was erected not long after his death, and placed 
 in the south aisle of the church. This church is very 
 well worthy of a visit, and before being modernised 
 was extremely interesting and picturesque. It is built 
 of flint and square stones, and consists of a nave, a 
 chancel, and side aisles, with a tower at the west end ; 
 and some bequests to the poor of Beaconsfield are 
 quaintly told by an inscription inside. 
 
 If we continue our journey from Beaconsfield to 
 the north-east, and still keep within the ten -mile 
 radius of Eton, we shall reach Chalfont St. Giles. 
 The road lies through Wilton Park, the seat of the Du 
 Prds, who have for some time been prominent as a 
 political family in the county. The house was built 
 from the designs of Mr. Jupp, who was surveyor to the 
 
MILTON. 59 
 
 East India Company, by Governor Du Pr6, and it 
 stands in a park of two hundred and fifty acres, in 
 which there are many noble elm, beech, and oak trees. 
 Chalfont St. Giles, which is some half- hour's walk 
 through a pleasant country, is quite classic ground to an 
 Englishman. Here Milton fled from the Great Plague, 
 and here he finished his Paradise Lost. This was in 
 1665, and an anecdote is well worth recording, especially 
 as its accuracy is very generally accepted. He had shown 
 his great poem on Paradise Lost to a Quaker friend, 
 Mr. Eldwood, and the latter, who was his companion 
 in retirement from the plague, said, " Thou hast said 
 very much upon Paradise Lost, but there is another 
 thing on which thou hast said nothing, and that is on 
 Paradise Found." Milton was silent for some time, 
 and then turned the conversation to another channel. 
 His friend had forgotten the circumstance until Milton, 
 in the fulness of time, produced the work which he 
 always said was his best, and placed Paradise Regained 
 in the hands of his friend. 
 
 We are not very far, when at Eton, from Horton, 
 whither Milton's family retired from London. They 
 were in circumstances of affluence, and at Horton he 
 composed his L Allegro and // Penseroso, and here also 
 he composed his Lycidas and Comus. We can quite 
 
6o RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 understand the pure feeling of fresh air that will at all 
 times characterise his L Allegro and // Penseroso. It 
 was here also that he composed the Arcades, which 
 was afterwards acted at Harefield House, the seat of 
 the Dowager Countess of Derby. The actors were her 
 own children, and it is generally understood that the 
 lines which follow were applied to Harefield House : — 
 
 " Towers and battlements it sees 
 Bosom'd high in tufted trees, 
 Where perhaps some beauty lies 
 The cynosure of neighbouring eyes." 
 
 Indeed, though Milton's college life was at Cambridge, 
 his after days were spent in the neighbourhood of 
 Eton. The romantic tale of his personal beauty, and 
 its influence on some ladies who were passing in a 
 travelling carriage, is well known. He was supposed 
 to be sleeping at the foot of a tree far beyond the 
 limits of Cambridge University, when some ladies 
 passed by, and the youngest of them, struck by his 
 charms, is said to have alighted and slipped into his 
 hand a verse in Italian from Guarini : " Ye eyes, ye 
 human stars, ye authors of my liveliest pangs, if thus 
 when shut ye wound me, what must have been the 
 consequence had ye been open?" Of course some 
 fellow-students were the authors of the episode, for he 
 
MILTON. 6 1 
 
 was awakened directly after by some of his college 
 companions, and the fiction of the travelling carriage . 
 fully related. 
 
 Tradition says that this was the cause of his visit 
 to Italy ; that some romantic vision had passed over 
 him, and he sought the lady who had been enamoured 
 by his shut eyes. Milton professed himself to be a 
 follower of Spenser, but, as Dr. Green has said, he was 
 free from the many affectations of Spenser's followers 
 in verse, and even free from euphuism, the blight of the 
 lesser minds of the Elizabethan age. The gloomy 
 emblems of Quarles and the fantastic conceits and even 
 puns of the good George Herbert (which, by the way, 
 could not mar the beauty of his verse) were almost the 
 best productions of our literature since Shakespeare's 
 mighty spirit had gone, and these are rather amusing 
 than edifying. 
 
 By Horton, where Milton lived, runs the beautiful 
 river Colne ; and as it will be necessary to return to 
 this part of the county, and speak of Staines, and 
 Egham, and Old Windsor, a few words on this river, 
 which is the delight of Etonians, may not be out of 
 place. It rises near St Albans, and runs through rural 
 scenes of great beauty in its course of some forty miles ; 
 sometimes it has a canal-like appearance, and in one or 
 
62 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 two instances there is actually a towing-path along its 
 banks, and sometimes it runs sparkling over pebbles 
 and round stones, under elms and beeches. There is 
 one curious feature about it : it continually divides into 
 two or three branches that reunite at a lower part of 
 the stream, and yet these have almost equal volumes of 
 water ; so much so, that it is not always easy to say on 
 which we should confer the honour of being called the 
 Colne and which is an erratic limb. The Colne abounds 
 with fish, and especially with trout of the finest descrip- 
 tion. Often have I seen at Watford, where the river 
 runs through Cashiobury Park, half a dozen trout at 
 one time sheltering under a bridge, and they cannot 
 have averaged less than a pound and a half each. This 
 is the same stream that runs through Loudwater on its 
 way to the Thames ; not, of course, the Loudwater we 
 have been considering, but the one above Rickmans- 
 worth. There is another place of the same name in 
 this district, and I must admit that it has not been my 
 good fortune to meet with any satisfactory explanation 
 of the title. If it were applied to some parts of the 
 Welsh or the Lake rivers, there would be no trouble in 
 adapting it ; but in the instances under consideration 
 the streams are quiet, or at the most do no more than 
 ripple. On the Colne are several private fisheries, and 
 
HUGHENDEN. 
 
 63 
 
 these are well 
 preserved. One 
 is limited to 
 twelve mem- / 
 bers,with /" 
 
64 RAMBLES RO UND E TON A ND HARRO W. 
 
 a five - guinea subscription ; though, indeed, this 
 proves only a small part of the actual outlay that 
 is required. > Denham lies within the district we 
 have been considering, and is about half-way between 
 Uxbridge and Chalfont St. Peter's. Sir Humphry 
 Davy, in his Salmonia, well describes this beautiful 
 part of the Colne. The may -fly is said to appear 
 here at the orthodox times, and to be succeeded 
 by the green and gray drake, but it has not been my 
 lot to see any. It would be interesting to inquire how 
 it is that these flies are becoming such rare visitants to 
 places where they once could be calculated on ; and 
 when may-flies do appear along the Dee-side, they are 
 a month later than they are in other parts. Trout here 
 are not considered fit for the basket unless two pounds 
 in weight. The Colne joins the Thames just above 
 Staines, and below Ankerwyke Priory. 
 
 Hughenden in times gone by has filled a very 
 interesting place in history. We learn from the great 
 historian, Matthew Paris, and from abundant other 
 sources, the laxity of the monastic orders at the end of 
 the thirteenth century ; exactions were made in all 
 directions, and the Papal power was only used for the 
 purposes of grasping worldly ambition. The life of the 
 monastic orders was very gross, and in some cases it 
 
SIMON DE MONTFORT. 65 
 
 was one scene of profligacy ; yet such was their power, 
 and such was the grip they could exercise over dying 
 men, that what with exactions in life and plunder after 
 death, the wealth of the religious houses is believed to 
 have been equal to half the resources of the whole 
 kingdom. Shameless appointments were made in the 
 country by Rome, and the bosses and enrichments of 
 many a parish church show the evil report in which 
 the recluses dwelt, as indeed some disclosures in the 
 "blue books'' of the period, which are so faithfully 
 preserved in the pages of Dugdale, would but too surely 
 confirm. Discontent was everywhere, and Simon de 
 Montfort espoused the popular cause. He had become 
 the Earl of Leicester, and was a very able man indeed. 
 He was a fourth son, and owed his rise to his own skill 
 and policy, and also to his patriotism. 
 
 His great energy in his struggle as the leader of the 
 Barons against the Crown is historical, and his mag- 
 nanimity in the struggle will always place him at the 
 head of the baronage with whom he was connected, 
 while his final overthrow at Evesham was a heavy blow 
 to liberty. He warmly sided with the new order of 
 friars and monks that were beginning to attack the 
 abuses of the higher clergy, and when he was dead 
 they lost a powerful friend indeed. After the battle of 
 
66 
 
 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Evesham his followers and the remnant of his friends 
 fled to Hughenden, and there are some freestone orna- 
 ments in the churchyard which are said to commemorate 
 
 them. Hughenden 
 was the seat of Lord 
 Beaconsfield, and 
 visible all the way 
 from Wycombe. It 
 is finely situated, 
 and has an imposing 
 appearance as we 
 approach it ; but it 
 is not nearly so 
 large as appearances 
 would lead us to 
 suppose. There is 
 a charming clear 
 stream running 
 through the park 
 near the entrance 
 gate, and from there 
 it flows to Wycombe. It is exactly such a stream 
 as trout would delight in, but I could not see any, 
 though I went up it a short way to inspect. This 
 river might with great advantage be made a great trout 
 
 EAST END OF HUGHENDKN CHURCH. 
 
CHURCH RESTORA TION. 67 
 
 farm, even where it passes through the grounds, for at 
 a moderate estimate two tons of trout could be raised 
 annually by artificial propagation, and the pools would 
 be a great advantage to the landscape. Of course the 
 same remark applies to many other streams, which 
 could increase the food supply of England as inde- 
 finitely as the ponds at Stormontfield or the beautiful 
 Wolfsbrunn near Heidelberg have increased, and are 
 yet increasing, the natural capacity of these waters. 
 Soon after passing the bridge we arrive at Hughenden 
 parish church, which, like many others in England, is 
 situated in the grounds of the house. The interior at 
 the east end is shown on the previous page, but the 
 whole fabric has been destroyed by the ruthless hand 
 of the moderniser, and it is not easy for any one but an 
 antiquary to discover at once that it is in reality an 
 ancient church scraped down to appear like a modern 
 one, according to the prevailing tastes of the day. A 
 somewhat amusing instance of how this taste is growing 
 in the clerical mind was afforded to the writer last year 
 — amusing, that is to say, if we could only forget the 
 desolation that is being caused in our old art-treasures 
 and our ancient relics. A very fine country church in 
 one of the midland counties, that had often delighted a 
 traveller as he approached the village where it was 
 
68 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 situated, was presented to a youthful rector, with a 
 rectory-house and an income, according to the Clergy 
 List, of £^o6 per annum^ — in which, however, glebe 
 land to the extent of thirty-five acres was not included, 
 by some " oversight," as I was informed. The first 
 thing he did was to invest himself with sufficient 
 authority to restore the church, and when I saw it it was 
 neatly scraped and then "tooled over," even to the 
 muUions ; and as far as the interior was concerned, it 
 bore no resemblance to the ancient fabric I remembered 
 of yore. He came towards me from the rectory, and 
 entered at once into conversation. At first I hoped he 
 was about to ask for a subscription, as that would have 
 given me an opportunity to unburden my mind ; for 
 my sketch-book and moist-colour box were at once 
 relegated to the recesses of a travelling bag when the 
 havoc was discovered. On the contrary, he entered 
 into gen'eral conversation, and was much pleased to 
 hear that I had known the church fifteen years before, 
 and even more. The following was our dialogue : — 
 Q. " How do you like the church as restored ?" 
 A. " It seemed to me very substantial when I last 
 saw it. Do you consider that you have added to its 
 stability?" 
 
 Q. " It looks more substantial and new, and more 
 
CHURCH RESTORATION. 69 
 
 decorous ; and you must admit that its stability is not 
 
 impaired ?" 
 
 A. " On the contrary, I fear that you have removed 
 
 an outside crust and exposed a porous surface in which 
 
 water will lodge : if my advice is of any value, coat 
 
 it over with some silicate." 
 
 Then I was unhappily able to point out several 
 
 places that showed signs of disintegration, owing to the 
 
 hardened surface being removed to perhaps the one- 
 sixteenth of an inch in order to show a new face on 
 
 the stone ; and in answer to his questions I told him 
 what little I knew about silicate washes, their makers, 
 and their merits and demerits. "We spend money 
 over our dwellings," the rector said, " to make them 
 look nice and straight, and should we not be equally 
 liberal towards the temple ?" Of course there was no 
 arguing : we looked at things from so totally different 
 a point. At last I suggested the desirability of cutting 
 down a yew tree and three or four very noble elms, 
 and planting standard roses and laburnums in their 
 places ; and to this he replied cheerfully that he hoped 
 before a year was over he would be able to effect so 
 desirable a change, but he added, " You have no idea 
 of the opposition I meet with among the parishioners." 
 And yet this gentleman is only a fair example of the 
 
7o RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 church-restoring pastor of modern days. Lichens and 
 
 the many tints of time on a church wall are to him, as 
 
 one of these gentlemen happily expressed it, like grease 
 
 stains and mildew on a coat, and surely, he added, you 
 
 cannot admire those. The singular part of the matter 
 
 is that the clergy stand all alone in their dislike to the 
 
 livery of age on a church. The planting new shrubs 
 
 in place of ancient shade trees is of course quite a piece 
 
 of consistency, though this is only beginning to attract 
 
 the attention of restorers. Still, in such congenial 
 
 ground it is much to be feared that the idea will 
 
 soon become popular, and ancient yews and elms 
 
 and beeches will have no better fate than ancient 
 
 churches, and be replaced by bright flowering annuals.^ 
 
 Hughenden Manor was at one time the residence of 
 
 the Dowager Countess of Conyngham, and it came 
 
 afterwards into the possession of her relative, Mr. Norris. 
 
 He had one daughter only, and at her decease the 
 
 property was sold. It is a small estate, but the country 
 
 round it is charming. When it was in the market it 
 
 was purchased by Mrs. Benjamin Disraeli, the widow 
 
 ' Since Nvriting the above I have ascertained that several restoring clergy 
 entertain such an idea, and they say that if the huge shade trees that 
 "cumber up" a churchyard are cut away they can supplant them with 
 shrubs and flowers that can be made "emblematical" — whatever that may 
 mean. When will the laity rise in defence of their cherished monuments ? 
 
ARCHERY, ETC. 1i 
 
 of Mr. W. Lewis, Mr. Disraeli's fellow - member for 
 Maidstone. At Hughenden were found quite a number 
 of Roman coins in the year 1795 ; these had been 
 struck in the reigns of Adrian, Trajan, and Marcus 
 Aurelius. These coins were enclosed in a very ancient 
 earthen vessel, which was concealed by about eighteen 
 inches of soil on a place called Picket Common. Among 
 the records of Temple-Wycombe near here is a curious 
 presentment (of 3d Henry VII.), in which an inhabitant 
 is taxed with keeping a " scolding woman " on his 
 premises ; and in the twenty-sixth year of his grand- 
 daughter's reign there is a more singular presentment 
 which calls the inhabitants to account for not keeping 
 a proper quantity of bows and arrows. Of course gun- 
 powder was in use then, but the unwieldy arquebuses 
 were almost as dangerous to friends as foes ; and when 
 we remember that they had to be fired with fusees, we 
 can scarcely wonder at the preference given to the 
 ancient weapon, which was well understood and handy. 
 Our road from Loudwater took us along the Chalfont 
 St. Peter's and Chalfont St. Giles' roads. If we turn off 
 towards Uxbridge we shall pass through the woods of 
 Bulstrode, which formerly belonged to a family of that 
 name, but was afterwards transferred by succession to 
 the celebrated Bulstrode Whitelock, a son of Sir James 
 
72 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Whitelock, who was well and honourably known among 
 the lawyers of the seventeenth century. He married 
 the heiress of the Bulstrodes, and on his death the 
 property reverted to Bulstrode Whitelock, who has 
 given us an account of the ever-memorable scene that 
 occurred when Charles I., with a dignified contempt for 
 legal forms, ordered the arrest of five members who 
 were obnoxious to him — Pym, of course, being among 
 the foremost ; and it is on record that Charles went to 
 Parliament after telling his wife that he would soon 
 put everything right. Here he took the chair from the 
 Speaker and summoned the five recalcitrant members, 
 but was surprised to find that as he had entered the 
 House they had left, and a dead silence was all the 
 answer he received when he asked the five hundred 
 members where they were. He had brought a host of 
 several hundred cavaliers with him, and these had 
 engaged a mob to assist them, and, as he never dreamt 
 that he should not find them and commit them to 
 durance, his rage was great. Whitelock was a member 
 of Parliament, and present on this occasion, and he 
 says : " It was believed that if the king had found them 
 there, and called on his guards to have seized them, the 
 members of the House would have endeavoured the 
 defence of them, which might have proved a very sad 
 
BULSTRODE. 73 
 
 and unhappy business ; " and commenting on this, Dr. 
 Green says that it is hardly probable that some five 
 hundred gentlemen of the best blood in England would 
 have looked calmly on while Whitehall bravoes coolly 
 took five respected members away from them. 
 
 All this part of the country abounds with beautiful 
 scenes, though in that respect it must only take rank 
 after the enchanting scenery that lies between Maiden- 
 head and Marlow, and which will form a subject for 
 the next chapter. 
 
74 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Thames scenery — Boulter's Lock— Formosa Island — Taplow Court — Barne 
 Elms, and the Triple Duel — Cliveden — Nathaniel Home — Geology of 
 the Thames. 
 
 Often has the writer been asked which he should call 
 the most beautiful part of England, and which the 
 finest old town remaining. The question is always a 
 pleasant one, and generally leads to acquiring some 
 valuable information from the questioner. York, 
 Lincoln, and Canterbury stand pre-eminent among 
 the old towns, though many others, such as Salisbury, 
 Shrewsbury, or Worcester, are hardly inferior in interest 
 and beauty. But for picturesque charms there are many 
 localities in England that put in a claim for pre-eminence, 
 and there is not a single country in which it would be 
 difficult to find many scenes of beauty. These all differ 
 more or less in character, and appeal to different sym- 
 pathies in different people ; but the reach of Thames 
 
THAMES SCENERY. 75 
 
 between Maidenhead and Great Marlow has delights of 
 its own that appeal to every one who loves scenery, and 
 the hanging woods of Cliveden are the most beautiful 
 objects of this beautiful river. At Boulter's Lock the 
 Thames assumes a more imposing appearance than in 
 any other part, and the overhanging heights of Taplow 
 and Cliveden might almost suggest the high lands of 
 Loch Lomond or Loch Katrine. But in every direc- 
 tion art has come to the aid of nature, and greatly 
 increased the quiet placid beauty of the landscape. 
 Parks and halls abound here in every direction. 
 Hedsor, the beautiful seat of Lord Boston, is just 
 above Cliveden, and Dropmore is a little beyond, in 
 Buckinghamshire. In the parks and grounds about 
 here are plants from all the quarters of the globe, 
 which have either been acclimatised, or else have 
 been made comfortable in glass houses. There is one 
 great advantage that Eton has in this part of the 
 Thames, beyond any other public school perhaps in 
 England. The train may be taken to so many places 
 — Taplow, Maidenhead, Cookham, or Woburn — and 
 from each of these there are many different roads back 
 to the College ; while, if the time is short, a station on 
 the road may always be found from which to return, 
 by making a slight ddtour. The river-side road runs 
 
76 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 from Eton to the Orkney Arms at the end of Maiden- 
 head Bridge ; so called from the celebrated Countess 
 of Orkney, the owner of Taplow and the friend of 
 William III. When the other side of the river is 
 reached it takes the right bank, and proceeds with 
 little interruption to Great Marlow. No part of the 
 river is so well known to tourists and excursionists, 
 and indeed to anglers. A list of fishermen and their 
 stations is given in Dickens's admirable Dictionary of 
 the Thames. It is, of course, always best to secure the 
 services of one of these men, and do exactly as he says : 
 a " likely " place may be a blank, as he well knows. 
 
 The part of the Thames we are now traversing is a 
 perfect paradise for fish of all the kinds that frequent 
 the river. Formerly salmon were quite common, and 
 the book just named says : " From observations taken 
 at Boulter's Lock and Pool, above the bridge at 
 Maidenhead — until comparatively recent years the 
 first lock and weir on the Thames — by the Rev. 
 George Venables, from 1794 to 1821, a period of 
 28 years, there were 483 salmon only taken, of an 
 aggregate weight of 7346 lbs., or about an individual 
 average of 1 2 lbs. taken in the nets." Of course the 
 causes of the disappearance of salmon are many, and 
 not at all difficult to reach. Steamboats and increased 
 
THAMES FISHES. 77 
 
 traffic are much against their migrations. But with ponds 
 similar to those at Stormontfield (and these would soon 
 be forthcoming if proper returns could be calculated on 
 for the outlay) a fair head of salmon might yet again 
 be found along the waters of the upper Thames. 
 They would easily dart through any obstacles these 
 would offer, but the probability is that we are not 
 sensible enough of the real cause of their disappear- 
 ance. The old open ditches in London are a by-word 
 and a wonderment to modern notions of cleanliness, 
 and these and the cesspools were a continual source 
 of pestilence. Drainage has carried the refuse these 
 contained away into the Thames, and no salmon could 
 possibly face such a barrier as this. We are, however, 
 yet on the way to greater improvements, and it is not 
 at all improbable that the time may be near when the 
 sewage will be all turned to useful account, and the 
 river left free. Then the salmon may easily be lured 
 back, and the delights of the upper Thames increased 
 by the presence of these noble fish. 
 
 In the reach of waters we are now wandering over 
 are some of the best roach swims in the river. There 
 are about four fishermen at Maidenhead, and at least 
 a dozen at Marlow, who can take an angler out, and 
 show him where the fish are. Angling for roach has 
 
78 
 
 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 become quite a science. It requires less exertion than is 
 needed for the capture of trout or salmon, but quite as 
 fine a hand. The books that have been written upon 
 
 ANn \NU KF ALF 
 
 roach -fishing are so complete, and the practical direc- 
 tions of a Thames fisherman are so easily obtained, 
 that any words on the subject here would be very 
 uncalled for ; but a few suggestions may be permitted. 
 
THAMES FISHES. 79 
 
 The roach is an excellent fish for breakfast or for 
 
 dinner. When the " take '' is brought home, let the 
 
 fish be wiped, — handling them as little as possible, — 
 
 sprinkled with fine table salt, and laid in a row or 
 
 rows on a cold larder slab. They will be firm and full 
 
 of flavour the following day. The salt should be taken 
 
 off and the fish washed but very little. They should 
 
 be scaled and wiped clean, and fried to a golden brown 
 
 colour in melted lard, and then served with Ravigotte, 
 
 or Italian, or piquante sauce. An ingenious Etonian 
 
 following these lines might compound some new sauce 
 
 that exactly suited the requirements of the day, and 
 
 raise these fish — which literally swarm, not only in the 
 
 Thames, but in other rivers, such as the Severn and 
 
 Dee — to the rank of a mullet. The flesh itself is 
 
 hardly inferior to this good but overrated fish, if it is 
 
 at all, at the latter end of summer, and then indeed 
 
 he might say with Ovid, in the Epilogue to his 
 
 Metamorphoses : — 
 
 Jamque opus exegi, quod nee Jovis ira nee ignes, 
 Nee poterit ferrum, nee edax abolere vetustas. 
 
 Pike, of course, are found in this reach of the river, but 
 they are not so common as to damage the fisheries 
 very much. Their culinary merits are well known. 
 
8o RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 and have often been descanted on, though, for myself, 
 I would willingly see them out of all rivers, because of 
 the damage they do to other fish. Bala Lake, for 
 example, which used to abound with trout, was stocked 
 perhaps nearly a century since with pike by the genial 
 baronet who was the owner of the principal part of the 
 lands that enclose the sheet of water, and the result is 
 exactly what might have been foreseen. Some few 
 trout yet remain, and these are indeed, if report speaks 
 truly, worth catching, but they are very coy. Efforts 
 have been made to introduce the incomparable Black 
 Bass into the Thames, and there is no stream in the 
 world that is more suited to their habits and growth. 
 If these fish are properly naturalised from the Canadian 
 rivers — and nothing, as it seems, could be more easily 
 accomplished now that steamers run daily between the 
 continents, and are supplied with conveniences for 
 carrying everything alive or dead — then indeed a fish 
 will appear that would reduce the commoner kinds, 
 and be a perfect treasure not only to an angler, but 
 to a dinner -table. Many readers of Belgravia will 
 remember the sport these fish gave them at St. Anne's 
 or the " Thousand Islands " on the St. Lawrence, and 
 welcome their appearance in the Thames. 
 
 From Marlow to Taplow is perhaps also the best 
 
FLORA OF THAMES. 
 
 reach of the river for collecting botanical specimens. 
 In the guide to the Thames already mentioned is an 
 excellent list on page 28, but it will be enough to say 
 that in most of the still bays and creeks the white and 
 yellow water-lily are to be found ; also along the 
 water- side are patches of purple loosestrife, and its 
 continual neighbour, the yellow loosestrife. Like the 
 water-lilies, though these have the same surnames, they 
 are very different indeed in kind. Then there is the 
 water parsnip, which is common along the banks, and 
 is said to be very useful in cases of scurvy after a long 
 sea voyage. The water dropwort and the beautiful 
 flowering rush grow along the waterside in the most 
 shallow parts, and rise for some four feet, above the 
 Thames. The crown of flowers both purple and white 
 is very beautiful. There is also the fringed buckbean, 
 the beautiful " meadow-sweet," and the meadow rue 
 and the snowflake, which has much the appearance of a 
 snowdrop ; and, in a word, nearly every wild flower that 
 enliven the banks and the quiet waters of an English 
 stream, may be found in this delightful district. 
 
 Taplow is the first place of interest in this reach of 
 the Thames, and Taplow Court is a charming residence, 
 abounding with old associations. There are some 
 curious brasses in the church, a modern building ; the 
 
 G 
 
82 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 site of the old church is, however, still marked by a 
 mound and a yew tree. The living of Taplow is a 
 wealthy one, and it formerly appertained to the rich 
 Abbey of Merton, a religious establishment that had 
 estates in six counties. Then it came into the posses- 
 sion of the Crown, and now the gift of Taplow Rectory 
 is vested in the See of Oxford. Taplow Court belonged 
 to the Hampson family for some generations. Thomas 
 Hampson was created a baronet in 1642, and in 1700 
 the heirs of Sir Dennis Hampson sold it to the Earl of 
 Orkney, who occupies a somewhat remarkable place in 
 the history of the House of Orange. The family of 
 Hampson yet remain, and are at present represented 
 by the ninth baronet, who lives in the neighbourhood. 
 The Countess of Orkney was married by George 
 Hamilton, a very able soldier, who had fought in 
 Ireland and Flanders, and who was much esteemed 
 by Marlborough. Of his wife it will be sufficient to 
 copy two extracts from Macaulay. " Elizabeth Villiers, 
 when a girl, inspired William with a passion that 
 caused much unhappiness at the Hague. Her influence 
 over him she owed not to her personal chai-ms, for it 
 tasked all the art of Kneller to make her look even 
 tolerable on canvas ; not to those talents which pecu- 
 liarly belonged to her sex, for she did not excel in any 
 
TAPLOW COURT. 83 
 
 playful talk, and her letters are remarkably deficient 
 in feminine ease and grace ; but to powers of mind 
 that qualified her to partake the cares and guide the 
 counsels of statesmen." And at a later period of the 
 history he says, "William was well pleased with the 
 marriage, bestowed on the wife a portion of the old 
 Crown property in Ireland, and created the husband a 
 peer of Scotland by the title of the Earl of Orkney." 
 This was exactly the grievance that cropped up when 
 the celebrated commission was appointed to investigate 
 the land tax ; and as the majority of them were not 
 well disposed towards William, they rejoiced greatly at 
 the prospect of exposing this business, and they even 
 said that the rentals of the property so conveyed 
 amounted to twenty -four thousand a year, whereas 
 Macaulay avers they never exceeded four thousand a 
 year. Taplow Court afterwards went by marriage to 
 the Marquis of Thomond, and now is the residence of 
 Mr. Grenfell, M.P. Cliveden at one time belonged to 
 an old Buckinghamshire family of Manfield, and it was 
 purchased by the notorious Duke of Buckingham, who 
 was the philosopher and friend, and, so far as it was 
 required, the guide to Charles II. He was the worthy 
 son of " Steenie," as James I. was fond of Scotticising 
 the Christian name of his father. He was born at 
 
84 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Wallingford House, Westminster, and during the civil 
 wars he entered her services in behalf of the Crown. 
 His vast estates were in consequence sequestrated, but 
 he gained the favour of the Parliamentary party by 
 marrying the daughter of Lord Fairfax, and for the 
 time changing his politics. 
 
 At Barne Elms the celebrated triple duel was fought 
 that has been so often described. " Triple," it is not 
 necessary to add, is not the same as " triangular," which 
 is an institution pertaining especially to that part of 
 the American continent that lies to the west of the 
 Mississippi, and is a duel that can only be decided by 
 arms of precision. But in this case, as Pepys tells us, 
 the Duke of Buckingham, Holmes, and " one Jenkins," 
 fought Lord Shrewsbury, Sir John Talbot, and "one 
 Bernard Howard," all about my Lady Shrewsbury. 
 And this interesting lady, it is said by the same chron- 
 icler, held the Duke of Buckingham's horse while the 
 duel lasted. Disguised as a page, she had the satis- 
 faction of seeing her rightful husband run through the 
 body by the Duke, and then retired with the Duke to 
 Cliveden. The Duchess of Buckingham, who was an 
 excellent lady, seems to have objected to the arrange- 
 ment, and said, in the words of Pepys, that " it was not 
 for her and the other to live together in a house." He 
 
'"TiinmwTTw 
 
DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM. 85 
 
 answered, "Why, madam, I did think so, and have 
 
 ordered your coach to be ready to carry you to your 
 
 father's;" and to this Pepys naturally adds, "which was 
 
 a devilish speech, but they say true ; and my Lady 
 
 Shrewsbury is there still." The Duke's character has 
 
 been well sketched by Dryden in his Absalom and 
 
 Achitophel as Zimri ; and he paid the minor poets of the 
 
 day to write a satire upon Dryden in consequence, in 
 
 which he himself assisted. It is scarce now, but it 
 
 does not seem to have annihilated the great poet. No 
 
 doubt his lines left some stinging subjects for reflection 
 
 in the mind of the Duke. 
 
 " A man so various, that he seemed to be 
 Not one but all the world's epitome. 
 Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong, 
 Was everything by starts, and nothing long ; 
 But in the course of one revolving moon 
 Was chemist, fiddler, statesman, and buffoon. 
 Then all for women, painting, rhyming, drinking, 
 Besides ten thousand freaks that died in thinking. 
 Blest madman, who could every hour employ 
 With something new to wish or to enjoy. 
 Railing and praising were his usual themes, 
 And both to show his judgment in extremes. 
 So over-violent or so over-civil. 
 That every man to him was God or devil." 
 
 Cliveden was purchased by the Earl of Orkney 
 after the death of the wretched duke, and through 
 
86 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 various owners has become invested in the present 
 proprietor, the Duke of Westminster. Villiers ran 
 through all his property before the mansion which is 
 engraved in Vitruvius Britannicus was completed, and 
 would have died almost in want at Helmsley, in York- 
 shire, but for the charity of Lord Arran, who had some 
 compassionate remembrance of his former splendour. 
 His vast wealth was dissipated in extravagance and 
 licentiousness. Pope gives a terrible account of his 
 latter days, which were spent in a miserable country 
 inn, with mud walls and wretched conveniences. 
 
 " Behold what blessings wealth to life can lend. 
 And see what comforts it affords our end. 
 On once a flock bed, but repaired with straw, 
 With tape-tied curtains never meant to draw, 
 The George and Garter danghng from that bed. 
 Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red. 
 Great Villiers hes — alas ! how changed from him. 
 That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim. 
 Gallant and gay in Cliefden's proud alcove. 
 The bower of wanton Shrewsbury and Love ; 
 Or just as gay at council in a ring 
 Of mimicked statesmen and their merry king. 
 No wit to flatter left of all his store. 
 Or fool to laugh at, which he valued more. 
 There victor of his health, his fortune, friends. 
 And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends." 
 
 Twice has Cliveden been burned down, and the 
 
CLIVEDEN. 
 
 87 
 
 present structure is from the designs of the late 
 Sir Charles Barry, the architect of the Houses of 
 Parliament; but the Italian style was more to his taste, 
 and more suited to his special genius, than Gothic. 
 The house spreads out in a vast broad fagade of nine 
 
 WALK AT CLIVEDEN. 
 
 noble bays, -rising from a terrace of great beauty, and it 
 has wings on each side. In magnitude it may be said 
 hardly to equal the palace of Eaton, the Duke of West- 
 minster's principal seat, which is perhaps the most 
 costly private dwelling in the world ; but it certainly 
 has a more imposing appearance, and gives us the 
 impression of greater size. The style is peculiarly 
 
88 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Barry's, and resembles an Italian palace in the best 
 style of Roman architecture. 
 
 The beautiful estate of Dropmore was laid out by 
 Lord Grenville in 1801. There was a hill which inter- 
 fered with the view of Windsor, and this, at a great cost, 
 was levelled. It was Grenville's father who alienated 
 the American colonists, and so eventually caused them 
 to gain their independence. They were loyalty itself 
 until the proprietor of Dropmore took alarm at the 
 magnitude of the national debt, and discovered that, 
 when it had amounted to a hundred and forty 
 millions, there was no salvation for England except by 
 taxing the colonies, even though they were not repre- 
 sented in Parliament. The grounds of Dropmore are 
 extremely beautiful, and not inferior to those of Clive- 
 den or Hedsor. We may enjoy one of the most 
 delightful walks in England by taking the train from 
 Eton to Slough, and going through Stoke, leaving 
 Stoke Pogis on the right. From here the pedestrian 
 will iind two roads that will take him to Dropmore, but 
 the most beautiful is through Burnham. There are 
 several pathways through fields that cut off angles, and 
 these abound on each side with wild flowers of interest 
 and beauty. But the roads are rather devious, though 
 very saving of distance, and it is always well, if pos- 
 
FORMOSA ISLAND. 
 
 89 
 
 sible, to find a companion who knows them. When 
 we arrive at Dropmore, if we turn to the left hand we 
 shall be on the Cookham road, and reach the station 
 through the woody lanes of Cliveden. The road lies 
 past the beautiful Formosa Island, which has been 
 
 FORMOSA ISLAND. 
 
 right well named, and is laid out in grounds of won- 
 derful charms. On it is a house built by the late Sir 
 George Young, and there are many pleasant places for 
 landing. The circumference of the island is about one 
 mile, and the surface covers between forty and fifty acres. 
 Above this island is another of great beauty, laid out 
 
90 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 in walks, and planted with very choice flowers and 
 shrubs. There are many pleasant seats and resting- 
 places on it, and from both islands there are magnifi- 
 cent views of the woods of Cliveden and Hedsor. The 
 latter is the seat of Lord Boston, who was raised to the 
 peerage the year after the accession of George III., at 
 the time when, as Walpole said, " We are forced to 
 ask every morning what victory there is, for fear of 
 missing one." Or, as Green more truly says, " England 
 had never played so great a part in the history of 
 mankind." The woods of Hedsor, as. also those of 
 Cliveden, are quite a paradise for nightingales. They 
 sing often during the day. Sometimes in May one 
 will enliven the scene all day long from some shady 
 bower where it is sheltered from the sun's rays. No- 
 thing is more delightful than to glide quietly past 
 through the calm waters on a warm day in May, and 
 hear two of these birds answering each other. The 
 cooing of the turtle-doves is a constant accompaniment, 
 and these are continually flitting out of the woods and 
 flying across the river to other plantations. In the 
 autumn they perch on the shocks of corn, and are often 
 singularly tame. 
 
 Dwarfs used to be held in as much importance and 
 account in England as they would seem to be now by our 
 
CURIOUS TENURE OF PROPERTY. 91 
 
 Transatlantic cousins, and there is preserved in the Hall 
 at Hedsor a portrait of Conrad Ernest Copperman, a 
 celebrated member of the fraternity of dwarfs, who was 
 page to Dowager Princess of Wales, and died at the 
 age of thirty-five. His height was only three feet five 
 inches, though he was properly formed. In this 
 parish there is a small property called Lambert Farm, 
 that affords a curious instance of the way in which 
 lands were sometimes held, and it illustrates the dif- 
 ferent relative values of marketable things in the 
 present day. This property was held on what must 
 have been considered, at the time the bargain was 
 made, something like an equivalent for its value ; the 
 holder was simply required to bring in the first dish to 
 his lord's table on St. Stephen's Day. The reason for 
 this day is not very apparent ; but as it is the day after 
 Christmas Day, it may be this was the best apparent 
 method of keeping alive the orgies, which might be 
 beginning to wane. He was also required to present 
 the chief lord with two hens and one cock, a gallon of 
 ale, and two manchettes of bread, and in return he was 
 presented with a sparrowhawk and two spaniels, which he 
 was required to keep at his own cost and charges for the 
 use of the lord of the manor. This service has long 
 been dispensed with, and a composition paid in its place. 
 
92 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 In the churchyard are laid the remains of Nathaniel 
 Home, who will be known to Etonians as the author 
 of a Roman History in four volumes, which is now, for 
 practical purposes, of course, out of date. The volumes 
 of this work appeared at long intervals ; the first having 
 been issued in 1733, and the subsequent volumes in 
 1 745 and 1764 (the year of his death) ; a posthumous 
 one was published in i JJ i. This gentleman had rather 
 an eventful life. He lost a private fortune in the 
 South Sea Scheme, and then he betook himself to 
 literature. He edited the Memoirs of the Duchess of 
 Marlborough, which was called an account of the 
 Duchess of Marlborough from her first coming to Court 
 to 1 7 10, and for this he received the liberal sum of 
 ;^SOOo ; but he subsequently had a difference with her in 
 consequence of an attempt to convert her to the Roman 
 Catholic Church, of which he was a fervent member. 
 He was the author also of other learned works ; and a 
 monument to his memory, bearing an inscription in 
 very good Latin, has been erected by Lord Boston. 
 Home, however, will live principally by his Roman 
 History, which embraces a period from the earliest 
 records to the settlement of the empire under Octavian. 
 
 Geologically the Thames has been divided into 
 three districts, the upper, the middle, and the lower. 
 
WINDINGS OF THAMES. 93 
 
 All the district we shall have to consider in the present 
 series is in the middle one. The upper part is oolitic, 
 so called from the form of the particles of which it is 
 composed (pos an egg, and lithos a stone), for they 
 are supposed to resemble the ova of fishes, and in 
 some formations the particles are coarse and the like- 
 ness is very apparent. This is the formation in which 
 are found the wondrous animals and reptiles that 
 beautify the approaches to the Crystal Palace. The 
 oolite districts are usually pleasant and fertile, but a 
 tenacious soft dust settles along the roads, and is fatal 
 to broadcloth. The central district, which we are now 
 considering, might be said to commence at Wallingford, 
 and to continue as far as Richmond, and this consists 
 of chalk formations. Whenever, as Dickens in his 
 Dictionary of the Thames has said, the river cuts 
 through the great escarpment, it is common to find one 
 bank much higher than the other ; and the way that 
 the course of a stream can alter through the nature of 
 the banks may be easily studied if ever we have 
 occasion to go to the brooks in Wales, say at Bala 
 or Cerrig-y-druidion. At the latter place is a stream 
 that runs into the Dee, which much resembles the 
 Thames in its course. It was only a brook that had cut 
 its way through mountain turf, but it was the boundary. 
 
94 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 in part of its course, between some moorland farms 
 that belonged to the farmers who tilled or pastured it. 
 An ingenious but very candid Welsh guide, who in- 
 structed me as to the best spots for trout, pointed out 
 at different places a bank of gravel, which he said had 
 been thrown in some years before, to induce the river 
 to deflect its course, and crumble the opposite bank, 
 and so add to the area of the enterprising proprietor ; a 
 game at which, as some half-dozen gravel beds would 
 appear to indicate, each of the farmers could play. 
 This is only alluded to to illustrate the conformation 
 of the banks of the Thames. But the geology of the 
 river is intensely interesting, and it has been so 
 thoroughly simplified by the cuttings of the stream 
 that it will be better dwelt upon with greater oppor- 
 tunity. " On the right," as Dickens says, " there are 
 five river slopes or cliffs, notably on the right bank 
 from Wargrave to Henley and opposite Great Marlow, 
 and on the left bank from Hedsor to Taplow, including 
 the grand sweep of Cliveden. Wherever, in a word, 
 the river deflects, it will be surely found that a harder 
 bank has met the stream, and caused its change of 
 course." But this subject, with the exceedingly inter- 
 esting fossils that can be collected with a geological 
 hammer, and a little patience and hard work, will be 
 the subject of a chapter at some future time. 
 
COOKHAM. 95 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Cookham— Bisham — Cookham Church — Medmenham — Sir Thomas Hoby 
 — Hurley Place, and the invitation to William of Orange — Henley — 
 Thames and Isis — Day, the author of Sandford and Merton — Great 
 Marlow. 
 
 Cookham is on the Berkshire side of the river, and is 
 a charming village, nestling on the banks of the 
 Thames. The church is an ancient building, and has 
 a square Norman tower, and chancel, nave, and aisles. 
 It also contains some very interesting old stained glass, 
 and a monument to the lamented artist, Frederick 
 Walker. But Cookham Church is rich in other monu- 
 ments, and is a happy hunting-ground for collectors of 
 brass-rubbings. In the north aisle is a brass with three 
 full-length figures and an inscription, "Pray for the 
 souls of William, Andrew, and John Monkeden, and 
 Margaret — which William deceased in 1506." A 
 brass plate near the chancel commemorates Sir Edward 
 Stockton, a vicar of this parish, who is styled, " Pyl- 
 
96 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 grym of Jerusalem, and canon professed of our Lady 
 at Gisboro in Yorkshire." There is also a brass with 
 a full-length figure of John Babham, dated 1458, and 
 an alabaster monument to another of the Babham 
 family and his wife, with a quaint inscription. Then 
 there is a brass almost concealed by the organ ; and, 
 indeed, few country churches are richer in memorials 
 of the past. It contains, also, a very interesting monu- 
 ment to Robert Peck, an official of Henry VI. 
 
 The living is a valuable one, and is in the gift of 
 J. Rogers, Esq. ; a relative of his is the present incum- 
 bent. In all this part of the Thames, there are great 
 beds of reeds and rushes, which are resting-places for 
 pike, and where the coot and the water-hen delight to 
 dwell. In the winter a flock of ducks may often be 
 seen, and some of the rarer kinds of geese have been 
 shot in the locality. One peculiarity in these strangers 
 is their apparent indifference to man ; and we may be 
 sure that when this occurs the water-fowl are strangers, 
 and come from a long distance. They have certainly 
 presaged coming frosts, and as surely predict a hard 
 winter. Occasionally the writer has been surprised to 
 see a flock of wild fowl on the water, evidently settled 
 down after a long flight ; and though he could hardly 
 say with Cowper's hermit, " Their tameness was shock- 
 
COOKHAM. 97 
 
 ing to me," he certainly was surprised at their indiffer- 
 ence. But a change was not long in coming. A boat 
 or two creeping along till within shot of the flock, and 
 a double discharge had to be repeated hardly more 
 than twice before the strangers discovered that they 
 were not in hospitable quarters. 
 
 Formerly Cookham was a market town, and in 
 Domesday Survey the market tolls were valued at the 
 respectable sum of twenty shillings per annum, which, 
 of course, is very different from such an amount at the 
 present day ; though, indeed, the principal manor con- 
 tributed but little to the tollage, for it belonged to the 
 crown, and all the tenants were free from tolls in every 
 market in England, and they were also exempted from 
 service on juries. Within this manor, as Lysons 
 informs us, were some suit -holders, or those who held 
 lands by suit ; and a singular law prevailed that, on 
 the death of the holder, the heriot paid to the lord of 
 the manor was the best horse and saddle that belonged 
 to the deceased gentleman ; and if he did not possess 
 a horse, then the lord of the manor claimed the best of 
 the household goods, and half a year's quit-rent. The 
 name of the suit-tenants, one seems to think, must have 
 been derived from the French suivre, to follow, and 
 
 they were only a phase of the feudal system. The 
 
 H 
 
98 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 same word is intelligible when applied to a suite of 
 rooms, but it only occurred to me recently that the 
 technical expression, "sweet curves," which runs its 
 changes through engineering and architecture — so 
 much so, that we even hear of " sweetening " an abrupt 
 curve — is another change on the same exotic word. 
 Nearly all such tenures as those just named have now 
 been commuted. 
 
 Cookham is a great rendezvous for boating and 
 pleasure parties generally, and it is pretty certain that 
 the head of any river crew will be tempted by the 
 church tower, which is distinguishable for some dis- 
 tance, to bring his boat to the bank and rest at the 
 " Ferry Inn ;" though, if that is full, which is most 
 probable, he may still find quarters at the " Bell and 
 Dragon," or the " King's Head." It is certainly a very 
 delightful village, or small country town, if about 900 
 inhabitants can be considered to constitute one. There 
 are several roads from Cookham to Bisham : we can 
 either follow the course of the Thames — which, though 
 a delightful walk, is probably the longest, though an 
 ordinary pedestrian will accomplish the journey in 
 something like an hour and a half — or we may take 
 the way through Cookham Dean. There is another 
 road through Pinkney, which is very pleasant ; but 
 
BISHAM. 
 
 99 
 
 between the two last-named is the most direct of all, 
 
 and a comparatively short walk will land the traveller 
 at Bisham, which is situated about half-way between 
 
loo RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Oxford and London. Bisham Abbey, the seat of the 
 Vansittart family, is a place of amazing beauty. It 
 formerly was of considerable importance, and had large 
 revenues. Medmenham Abbey was given to the abbot 
 and convents of Bisham, and at the dissolution it was 
 granted to Thomas Moore. All the country round 
 here is full of historical associations. In the abbey 
 were buried many men of renown ; among them the 
 Earl of Salisbury, who was for some time a prisoner in 
 Paris. It is needless to add that it was of his wife 
 that was told the celebrated story of the garter, which 
 led to the foundation of the Order of the Garter. At 
 Bisham also were interred the remains of Neville, the 
 great king-maker, whose character has been powerfully 
 sketched by Green : " Out of the wreck of a baronage, 
 a family that had always stood high amongst its fellows 
 towered into unrivalled greatness. Lord Warwick was 
 by descent Earl of Salisbury, a son of the great noble 
 house whose support had been mainly instrumental in 
 raising the House of York to the throne." He had 
 doubled his wealth and influence by a marriage with 
 the heir of the Beauchamps, and his services to the 
 cause of the House of York had been enormously 
 rewarded by confiscations of the estates of the Lancas- 
 trians. " He- was Governor of Calais, Lieutenant of 
 
LORD WARWICK. 
 
 Ireland, and Warden of the Western Marches. This 
 personal power was backed by the power of the House 
 of Neville, of which he was the head. Lords Falcon- 
 burg, Abergavenny, and Latimer were his uncles. His 
 brother. Lord Montague, had received as his share in 
 the spoil the earldom of Northumberland, the estates of 
 the Percies, and the command of the Northern Border. 
 His younger brother had been raised to the see of York, 
 and the office of Lord Chancellor ; " and, as Green 
 remarks, " At first sight the figure of Warwick strikes 
 us as the very type of a feudal baron ;" and perhaps 
 Shakespeare's speech of Edward, after the battle of 
 Towton, is not far from expressing the feeling with 
 which he was at first regarded by the new king : — 
 
 " Even as thou wilt, sweet Warwick, let it be ; 
 For on thy shoulder do I build my seat, 
 And never will I undertake the thing 
 Wherein thy counsel and consent is wanting." 
 
 It is computed that at one time on his vast estates 
 one-eighth of the whole inhabitants of England resided ! 
 Bisham Abbey was given by Henry VIII. to Anne of 
 Cleves, whose features even Holbein could not make 
 attractive ; and here Queen Elizabeth was in captivity 
 for three years ; not, indeed, during her stepmother's 
 residence, for Anne of Cleves exchanged the place for 
 
102 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 a seat of Sir Philip Hoby's, in Kent, and these Hobys 
 seem to have been very worshipful men indeed. There 
 are monuments to them in the church, and one singular 
 one contains the knightly effigies of two brothers, one 
 of whom, Sir Philip, seems to have been the same who 
 made the exchange with Anne of Cleves. They have 
 peaked beards, and are in full armour ; and on the 
 tomb is a somewhat lengthy epitaph, recording their 
 many virtues. 
 
 When Sir T. Hoby was at court shortly after the 
 accession of Elizabeth, she made the happy speech to 
 him : " If I had a prisoner I wished to see most care- 
 fully guarded, I should entrust him to your charge. 
 If I had a prisoner I wished to see most tenderly 
 treated, I should entrust him to your care!' There is 
 a very pretty legend of Bisham Abbey, which it is 
 quite probable may be founded on truth ; and, indeed, 
 every circumstance and accessory would point in that 
 direction. One of the Montacutes was .on his way to 
 the Holy Land at the time of the Second Crusades, and 
 he went to visit a relative who was the Abbot of 
 Bisham. At this wealthy monastery he was, of course, 
 entertained in becoming splendour, with his retainers 
 and his high-born squire. The Montacute had a 
 daughter at Marlow — Great Marlow, as a published 
 
MARLO W ABBE Y. 103 
 
 account says, but in reality this must have been " Little 
 Marlow," where, in turning to the pages of Dugdale, I 
 find there was a nunnery kept in a very select style 
 indeed — quite a Clapham boarding-school of the most 
 exclusive kind ; only five or six nuns were ever 
 admitted, and there would seem to have been about 
 twice as many servants as recluses. At the dissolution 
 the surveyor reports that the buildings were in perfect 
 order, and among other luxuries the nuns had "eight acres 
 of woods." Willis, who wrote in the eighteenth century, 
 speaks of the hall, sixty feet long, and the chapel, which 
 then stood, but which have since been ruthlessly de- 
 molished. The nun was naturally invited to spend the 
 few days with her father before he left for Palestine, 
 and the romance of the situation was, we must admit, 
 with our present light, a cruel strain upon the vows of 
 the young squire and the recluse. A country-house, 
 as evety one knows, is a dangerous place for a 
 bachelor, even if the sirens he meets there had no 
 charms for him in Belgravia ; but for a recluse to 
 meet a young warrior on his way to the holy wars, of 
 all others — why, the result wants no comment. So 
 Montacute's squire most naturally eloped with his 
 daughter ; but their bliss was brief, for a hue and 
 cry was raised, and the retainers of the abbey wer'e 
 
104 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 told off in searching parties. The happy pilgrims 
 were overtaken at Great Marlow, and the nun was 
 forwarded to the convent, while the squire was taken 
 under guard to Bisham. Even here, however, his 
 good -fortune did not forsake him, for he was confined 
 in the tower of Bisham Abbey till Montacute left to 
 join the enemies of Sultan Saladin, and in the night 
 he tried to escape and find his enslaver, but he fell on 
 the ground and broke his leg, and Montacute had to 
 leave without his squire. He was taken into the 
 abbey and tenderly treated, and beat, as one may say, 
 his sword into a ploughshare. Indeed, after becoming 
 a monk, he was noted for his sanctity, and could always 
 think that the author of his accident lay in a nunnery 
 near at hand. 
 
 From Bisham a short walk will take us to Hurley, 
 on the road to Medmenham ; it is a short one, but 
 very beautiful, and the delightful village of Hurley 
 breaks upon us quite suddenly ; indeed, though near 
 the Thames, it is so secluded that it is not noticed in 
 passing along the river. Ladyplace, Hurley, was the 
 seat of the Lovelaces, and occupied the site of a 
 Benedictine monastery. It has figured often in history, 
 but never so conspicuously as in 1688, when the 
 adherents of the House of Orange met in the vaults 
 
HURLE Y PL A CE. 105 
 
 to invite the third William to free the kingdom from 
 the Stuart tyranny. Macaulay gives a graphic account 
 of the tone and tenor of these secret meetings. 
 
 James II. was the most desperately lawless even of 
 the Stuarts, and is perhaps one of the worst kings of 
 whom any record is preserved in history. His rule 
 had long become intolerable to England ; but though 
 every nineteen out of twenty would have been glad to 
 raise a hand against him, the scenes of terrible dramas 
 were still fresh in men's recollections. Forty years 
 had hardly elapsed since Charles had expiated his 
 crimes on the scaffold, and it was only three years 
 since the " Bloody Assize," and the infamous judge 
 who presided was in high favour ; so that William had 
 his enterprise surrounded with danger and care. If, 
 as he argued, an army, through fear of James, should 
 oppose him, and he were successful against it, he would 
 make a thousand enemies where he had none. But the 
 birth of a prince, which was, unjustly enough, doubted 
 at the time, exasperated men's minds, and William 
 said to his trusty friend Van Dykvelt, " Aut nunc aut 
 nunquam." He well knew his time had come, but he 
 wished to avoid even the appearance of such an ill- 
 starred adventure as Monmouth's. Russell, who took 
 the invitation to the Hague, easily discovered how the 
 
io6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 subject presented itself to his mind, and at Hurley 
 Place the meetings were held that drew in adherents, 
 and sealed the fate of the Stuart dynasty. There is 
 hardly a vestige left of the old mansion ; Mr. Fairholt 
 visited it in 1837, just before it was destroyed, and he 
 has left some very interesting records and sketches. 
 The piers from which the groined arches sprang were 
 square, and the groinings were very solid. A strong 
 circular, trap admitted those who were in the secret, 
 and through this Sidney, Devonshire, Halifax, Shrews- 
 bury, Danby, and a few more, were in the habit of letting 
 themselves down. A broken wall shows the locality, 
 but the house and vaults have nearly disappeared. 
 Henley-on-Thames is one of the most delightful towns 
 in England ; it is a little out of the ten miles radius 
 that was proposed for this series of Rambles, but it is 
 easily reached by rail, as there are some twelve trains 
 a day each way through Slough and Twyford. Henley 
 is situated in a charming valley, almost encircled by 
 high wooded hills, and in all directions are delightful 
 country houses. It can be reached with such ease in 
 half- an -hour from Windsor Station that one has no 
 difficulty in calling it a surrounding of Eton. The 
 bridge of five arches is really a fine structure, and was 
 built in 1787, when they really could build good 
 
SANDFORD AND MERTON. 107 
 
 bridges — though a cynic might say, very little else 
 good. Here are the celebrated key -stones of the 
 Thames and Isis, that were carved by the Hon. Mrs. 
 Damer. They are not without merit, but I cordially 
 agree with the remark in Dickens's Dictionary of the 
 Thames, that the excessive praise bestowed upon them 
 " would not have been expressed, had it not been for 
 the extravagant eulogium of Horace Walpole, the 
 artist's cousin." At the end of the bridge is the Red 
 Lion Inn, where the amiable Shenstone, who was 
 perhaps a sort of diluted Cowper, wrote his lines, 
 " Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round," etc., — perhaps 
 his happiest effort. On the road either to or from 
 Henley we can visit Wargrave, where the author of 
 Sandford and Merton is buried ; in the church is the 
 inscription : 
 
 " In memory of Thomas Day, Esq., who died September 28, 
 aged 41 years, after having promoted by the energy of his 
 writings, and encouraged by the uniformity of his example, the 
 unremitting exercise of every pubUc virtue. 
 
 " Beyond the reach of time or fortune's power, 
 ■ Remain, cold stone, remain and mark the hour 
 When all the noblest gifts which Heaven e'er gave 
 Were centred in a dark untimely grave. 
 Oh ! taught on Reason's boldest wings to rise. 
 And catch each glimmering of the opening skies ; 
 
io8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Oh, gentle bosom ! oh, unsullied mind ! 
 Oh, friend to truth, to virtue, to mankind ! 
 Thy dear remains we trust to this sad shrine. 
 Secure to feel no second loss like thine.'' 
 
 Mr. Day himself wrote these lines for another occasion, 
 but they were considered so appropriate that his 
 mother, who erected the monument, had them placed 
 on it. 
 
 Wargrave is quite a delight for artists, and perhaps 
 there are few exhibitions of any note in England that 
 do not contain some record of its beauties. The old 
 church forms a charming object from the Thames. 
 The door is Norman, but there is no other remain of 
 the ancient building. It is surrounded by spreading, 
 venerable trees, and the village in which it is situated 
 is long and very pretty. Shiplake is opposite, on the 
 Oxford side of the Thames. There is a chalk hill 
 overhanging the lock, and from this there is a grand 
 view of the river. In the church is some stained glass 
 that was originally fixed at the Abbey of St. Bertin, 
 at St, Omer ; a place which English travellers who go 
 to France through Calais will remember well on account 
 of the floating islands, covered with trees and excellent 
 pasture, which are rowed about by the proprietors to 
 take on or land their cattle. Grainger, the author of 
 
MEDMENHAM ABBEY. 
 
 'H^tmifU 
 
 
MEDMENHAM ABBEY. 109 
 
 the Biographical Dictionary of England, was vicar of 
 this place, and died while officiating at the altar. 
 The pleasant river Loddon joins the Thames at War- 
 grave. 
 
 And now the radius begins to get quite out of our 
 distance, and we must return to the Buckinghamshire 
 side of the river. Here the railway serves us in good 
 stead, for we can take the rail from Windsor to Henley, 
 and walk along the road to Great Marlow — a road 
 of eight miles in length, and abounding in beauty. We 
 pass by the delightful grounds of Fawley Court, the 
 seat of the family of Mackenzie, who were partners 
 with Brassey, the railway contractor, and at the end of 
 the fourth mile we reach Medmenham, of which men- 
 tion has already been made. The " Abbey" is rather of 
 the Rosherville type, and it sadly disappoints an artist 
 who expects to find Cistercian ruins ; hardly a trace of 
 the old building is left; and again I must borrow 
 a description from the Dictionary of the Thames : 
 " Medmenham Abbey, as it stands at present, is but a 
 bogus affair, and there is little if any of the ancient 
 abbey to be found among the tea-gardeny ruins ; but 
 it stands in so beautiful a situation, and commands 
 such lovely views, that its cockney appearance will be 
 readily forgiven." Originally this abbey was an off- 
 
no RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 shoot of Woburn, and in 1204 the Cistercian monks 
 selected its beautiful site for their new buildings ; but it 
 never seems to have been very prosperous in its finan- 
 cial condition. At the dissolution its revenues were 
 only ^20:6:2, which would in those times have been 
 about ;^300 of our money. Still, as the report says 
 there were only two monks, and they both wanted to 
 get away to some other house, the outgoings could not 
 have been very considerable. The distance to Marlow 
 from Medmenham is put down as three miles, which is 
 correct ; but it must be remembered that this is not to 
 Marlow Station, which is about eight minutes' walk 
 farther off. Below Marlow the river Wick runs into 
 the Thames, and it is the stream already spoken of as 
 flowing through Hughenden and High Wycombe, and 
 past Londwater. This river is singularly rustic and 
 beautiful in its course, and abounds with good trout. 
 It turns a large number of paper mills, and as there 
 is nothing deleterious to trout in the manufacture of 
 this useful article, the dams and sluices that are re- 
 quired are singularly adapted for their increase. Leave 
 to fish is required from the proprietors of the mills, but 
 it is hardly likely to be refused. In one of the mill 
 pools as many as forty trout, averaging from f lb. to 
 I lb., have been killed in an afternoon. The Thames 
 
MARLO W. 
 
 Angling Association preserves the river from Temple 
 Mills, near Henley Place, to the Shrubbery, and the 
 Association seems resolved to spare neither pains nor 
 money to improve the sport. A reward of ten shillings 
 is given for every otter caught — but these can hardly 
 now be very numerous ; — rewards are offered for in- 
 formation as to poaching ; and, beyond all, there are 
 great numbers of trout turned out annually into the 
 waters of the very enterprising Society. Marlow was 
 at one time the property of the same Earl of Warwick 
 
 the king-maker — who was killed at Barnet Field, 
 
 and is interred at Bisham Abbey. Formerly it must 
 have been a town of great beauty and interest. Even 
 in Lysons' time it was Salisbury or Chester, if one 
 may so say, on a small scale ; but the many quaint 
 houses of his time have given way to somewhat staring 
 modern improvements, and the Marlow of old is no 
 more. Still it is one of the most charming resorts on 
 the Thames, and no stucco or brick can rob the place 
 of its inherent beauties. The church is modern and 
 stucco, though, as it happens, the outline of the spire 
 is rather conspicuous at a distance from the river, and 
 at a quarter of a mile it might quite easily pass for an 
 antique of the later and more debased perpendicular 
 kind. The ancient church, had it been allowed to 
 
112 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 stand, would have added very greatly to the interest of 
 the place, and indeed it was rich in monuments and 
 brasses. Some relative of the Vicar of Bray would 
 seem at one time to have been the incumbent ; for we 
 read in the year 1 647 of payment to the bell-ringers 
 when Charles passed through the town, and in 1650, 
 the year after his execution, of one shilling being given 
 by the church for " defacing the king's arms." But 
 indeed it seems to have been a happy gift here for 
 those in office to accommodate themselves gracefully 
 to circumstances, and not to permit some slight differ- 
 ence of opinion to stand between them and the favour 
 of the ruling powers. Formerly Marlow belonged to 
 the Paget family, represented now by the Marquis of 
 Anglesea, who is a descendant of the Waterloo general. 
 It was granted by Philip and Mary, with whom Lord 
 Paget of Beaudesart was in high favour, and who 
 managed so well as to retain the confidence of four 
 successive Sovereigns. Indeed, if we may judge by the 
 following memorandum found in his diary, the method 
 these gentlemen employed was better than that which 
 the poet put into the mouth of the Vicar of Bray : — 
 
 " Flye the courte, 
 Speke little, 
 Care less, 
 Devise nothing. 
 
GREAT MAKLOWE. 
 
MARLOW. 113 
 
 Never erneste, 
 In answer colde, 
 Lerne to spare, 
 Spend with measure, 
 Care for home, 
 Live better, 
 And dye well." 
 
 Certainly, if anyone could be found to act up to all 
 this, supposing that we restored the words to their 
 pristine meaning, we might add with Wolsey, if he 
 failed, " Then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, thou fall'st a 
 blessed martyr.'' Formerly Marlow could boast of a 
 picturesque wooden bridge, but unfortunately this was 
 destroyed in 1835, and a well-proportioned suspension 
 bridge, 225 feet in span, has deducted from the beauty 
 of the landscape. Like the Dee at Chester, or the 
 Severn at Shrewsbury, the Thames flows through allu- 
 vial pasture lands on one side, and high lands on the 
 other, where the woods creep down quite to the water's 
 edge. The same conformation is found in other rivers 
 — the Rhine, the St. Lawrence, and, indeed, in 
 streams in all parts of the world. At Marlow the two 
 principal streets meet each other in the form of the 
 letter T, and at the intersection is the market-place. 
 Marlow ale has a local celebrity, though to a stranger, 
 who may not be exactly accustomed to the flavour, it 
 
114 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 possesses a herby taste ; still, much depends upon 
 habit, and to many, as the " Shepherd " told the elder 
 Weller, all taps are vanity. This would seem to be 
 peculiarly the case with those who are unaccustomed 
 to malt ; for it is recorded of an Indian Nabob, who 
 was spending a summer in London, that he could never 
 be brought even to comprehend the differences between 
 the various brewers, and the comparative merits of 
 Combe, Whitbread, Barclay, or even Guinness. Indeed 
 he came to the conclusion that Londoners had the 
 command of the best water in the world, though for 
 some reason they neglected their blessings, and drank 
 a foul black compound, not unlike what he would 
 imagine printer's ink if diluted would be ; and he said 
 that, to his amazement, they did not seem to drink it 
 to keep off any disease, but simply because the aston- 
 ishing compound was grateful. This reminds me of a 
 celebrated saying connected with Marlow, which some- 
 what perplexed me a few years ago. I was walking 
 along the Chester and Ellesmere Canal, in one of the 
 most beautiful parts of that beautiful reach of water, 
 when a barge boat coming along disturbed some juve- 
 nile anglers who had hooked a large fish and were 
 engaged in landing it. An altercation would appear 
 to have arisen, and the usual inquiries as to " who stole 
 
" THE P UPP Y PIE." 1 1 5 
 
 the barn-door?" and "who ate the puppy pie?" fell as 
 harmless shafts on the bargee, whose acquaintance with 
 Thames life had not begun. The tale is that an 
 innkeeper near the bridge had many raids made upon 
 his larder, and the chicken pies and rabbit pies dis- 
 appeared in spite of locks and bolts, the culprits being 
 the boatmen on the barges. A happy thought, how- 
 ever, struck the landlord, and he had some puppies 
 made into a pie and seasoned, and in the morning 
 they had disappeared. There is one contingent objec- 
 tion to this mode of freeing one's self from depredators : 
 if the threatened invasion of labour from China should 
 ever take place, the device, so far from having any 
 terrors, might prove an element of weakness. 
 
 The streets in Marlow are West Street and High 
 Street, which leads down to the river. In West Street 
 is the House where Shelley lived, and where Lord 
 Byron was his guest ; it was here he wrote the Revolt 
 of Islam. 
 
1 1 6 RAMBLES RO UND E TON AND HARRO W. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Langley Park— Fish Ponds at Black Park— Flora of the District— Stoke 
 Pogis — Gray's Elegy — Manor House of Stoke — Old Windsor — Anker- 
 wyke — Magna Charta Island — Runnymede — Staines and Egham. 
 
 If we again take our way to Slough, and, in place of 
 turning to the west to enjoy the scenery of the Thames, 
 continue our journey in a northerly direction, we shall 
 find as much to interest us as before. Langley Park, 
 Stoke Place, and Stoke Park succeed each other at 
 short intervals, and some of the lanes here are in parts 
 almost obscured by dense overhanging trees that meet 
 in the middle of the road. There is a fine pool of 
 water in Black Park, a quarter of a mile in length, 
 which is surrounded by woods ; and at Fulmer, a little 
 farther on, there is a succession of fish-ponds fed by a 
 little stream that runs through Fenton woods and joins 
 the Colne near Uxbridge. All these parts are full of 
 interest for a collector of natural-history specimens ; in 
 
EDIBLE FROG. 117 
 
 the still parts of the pools are microscopic objects not 
 
 commonly met with in other districts, and the pools 
 
 themselves abound with pond fish. Here we may meet 
 
 with the Edible Frog {Rana esculentd), though it is 
 
 not very abundant. It is easily distinguished from the 
 
 common frog by its prominent eyes, its triangular head, 
 
 and its greater bulk. The body is also covered with a 
 
 warty coat, and it is not so yellow in colour as the 
 
 common frog. The hind legs are, of course, the parts 
 
 which are eaten, and when nicely fried in bread-crumbs 
 
 they are very excellent and delicate. In the woods 
 
 here we find both the green snake and the viper. 
 
 The smooth snake, though not so common, is also 
 
 occasionally met with. It has been mistaken by 
 
 country people for the adder, but the resemblance is 
 
 outward only, for it is perfectly harmless. The Lepi- 
 
 doptera are in great abundance and variety here, and 
 
 indeed it is doubtful if there is a single species of 
 
 which an example cannot at one time or another be 
 
 obtained in these parts. But perhaps the greatest 
 
 charm is in the wild -flowers along the hedgerows. 
 
 Foxgloves raise their stately heads in vast numbers, 
 
 and many bushes are covered over with the beautiful 
 
 flowers of the honeysuckle. The yellow toad -flax, 
 
 with its yellow flower and orange lining, the bitter- 
 
ii8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 sweet, the old-man's-beard, and wild violets, and cow- 
 slips, with hosts of others, line the roadsides all along 
 the way from Slough to Stoke Pogis. In the planta- 
 tions bordering on the road we find many examples 
 of the Early Orchis {Orchis mascula) ; and I am 
 inbebted to Mr. J. E. Taylor's delightful book on 
 Green Lanes for the following ; " The tubers of this 
 species, like the base of the cuckoo-pint, contain such a 
 degree of starchy or farinaceous matter that it was 
 formerly much sought after, boiled in water, and sold 
 at the corners of streets in London and elsewhere under 
 the name of saloop." These tubers have been said to 
 contain more nutritious matter according to their bulk 
 than any other vegetable production, and writers have 
 gone so far as to assert "that one ounce a day was 
 sufficient to sustain a man." 
 
 In some parts of the hedge we meet with the 
 beautiful delicate little Bluebell, or Harebell, as it is 
 sometimes called ; but Campanula rotundifolia hardly 
 expresses its characteristics when the flower is out, for 
 the rotund leaves have all disappeared, and are only 
 noticeable when the plant is springing above the ground. 
 Many are the old tales of soft chimes rung by fairies 
 on the campanulas, and indeed the fairies seem to have 
 been often connected with the wild flowers of our 
 
WILD FLOWERS. 119 
 
 meadows and hedges. The fungous growths we often 
 hear called " fairy rings " are an apt example, and 
 sometimes these may be seen in great perfection and 
 beauty in the fields here ; so that Shakespeare was 
 only giving expression to an everyday belief when he 
 said in A Midsummer Nights Dream — 
 
 " And I serve the fairy Queen 
 To dew her orbs upon the green. 
 The cowslips tall her pensioners be, 
 In their gold coats spots you see ; 
 Those be rubies, fairy favours ; 
 In those freckles live their savours." 
 
 The foxglove, which we see in such beauty in our 
 rambles in Buckinghamshire, is only a perversion of 
 ''folks' glove " or fairies' glove. But the flowers that 
 are to be found and that flourish here embrace nearly 
 all that our island can boast of; indeed, it has been 
 the writer's pleasure to see a beautiful and quite 
 extensive greenhouse entirely furnished with plants 
 that could be gathered in the irregular quadrangle 
 which lies between Eton, Burnham, Fulmer, and West 
 Drayton. The projector was an enthusiastic Etonian, 
 who would never allow a foreign plant in this apart- 
 ment ; and he always contended — truly enough, as it 
 seemed — that it had more charms than any other 
 
I20 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 exotic greenhouse he might have on his land. At 
 Stoke Pogis we are only a short distance, if we go 
 through Farnham Royal, or the charming but devious 
 roads through East Burnham, from Dropmore Lodge 
 and its neighbouring mansions of Hedsor and Cliveden. 
 " Devious roads " I can say without fear of contradic- 
 tion, for there is no part of England in which any 
 wayfarer can be so easily lost as the district between 
 Stoke Pogis and the Thames — from, let us say, Hedsor 
 to Taplow. The roads are numerous, but quite erratic 
 and misleading ; and as laid down on the Ordnance 
 Map they almost remind one of a very ancient apricot- 
 net that has been patched again and again, and bears 
 but few traces of its former regularity. 
 
 Gray's Elegy is one of the three poems with 
 which it is hardly too much to say that every one is 
 familiar who is able to read the English language. 
 No iteration can wear off their native beauty, but they 
 remain in their freshness and in their pathos for all 
 time. Perhaps the Elegy is more frequently quoted 
 than Goldsmith's Deserted Village or The Burial of 
 Sir John Moore, even if it cannot be said to excel 
 either of the others in its merits. 
 
 Strangely enough, Goldsmith never appreciated it, 
 or if he did, it was with a very niggard praise. A 
 
STOKE POGESj BUCKS. 
 
GOLDSMITH AND GRA F'5 ELEG Y. 121 
 
 writer in the Edinburgh Review more than a quarter of 
 a century ago, when the Review was at its best, says : 
 " Gray can at once appreciate Goldsmith, Goldsmith 
 cannot appreciate Gray. In spite of Mr. Forster, we 
 must think that Goldsmith's praise to a Lyrist unsur- 
 passed and an Elegiast unequalled in modern literature 
 was as niggard and cold as it could well be ; while his 
 indirect sneers at Gray imply unequivocal disdain, and 
 he actually thinks that Parnell's Night-Piece upon Death 
 (which we fear Death has long since kindly accepted) 
 ' might be made to surpass all the churchyard scenes 
 that have since appeared.' " He clubs Gray with Hurd 
 and Mason, and if we believe Mr. Cradock (and there 
 is no reason why we should not), he actually proposes 
 to amend his matchless Elegy by leaving out an 
 idle word in every line, as thus — 
 
 " The curfew tolls the knell of day, 
 The lowing herd winds o'er the lea, 
 The ploughman homeward plods his way." 
 
 It seems almost incredible that such a genius as Gold- 
 smith should have had so little appreciation ; but if we 
 look at his equally celebrated Deserted Village, we 
 shall see that he relies entirely for descriptive phrases 
 on things we can see, and such a beautiful expression 
 as " glimmering landscape " would find no place in his 
 
122 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 work. If Goldsmith was resolved to make a telegraphic 
 announcement, so as to save the words in the message, 
 he might have shortened the verse into — 
 
 " Curfew tolls. 
 
 Lowing Herd winds o'er lea, 
 
 Weary Ploughman homeward plods,'' 
 
 and in this, every circumstance is portrayed ; but here 
 I must again quote the Edinburgh of now nearly forty 
 years : " Goldsmith's systematic aversion to epithets is 
 indeed a sign of defect in the imaginative faculty. 
 For the epithet is often (and in no poet more than 
 Gray) precisely that word in a verse which addresses 
 itself most to the imagination of the reader, and tests 
 most severely that of the author. Shakespeare has a 
 line made up of epithets — ' The gaudy, babbling, and 
 remorseless day.' Our amender would have thought 
 he rid it of impertinent superfluities by reducing the 
 line to 'the day'"! 
 
 I searched the churchyard for inscriptions that 
 might have inspired Gray's poem, but found very few. 
 There was one which Gray must often have seen, be- 
 ginning with — 
 
 " If brief to speak thy praise, let it suffice, 
 Thou wert a wife most modest, loving, wise." 
 
STOKE POGIS MANOR-HOUSE. 123 
 
 But this is much obliterated, though it only dates back 
 to 1745. Perhaps the "uncouth rhyme" may have 
 struck Gray's eye. 
 
 The history of the ancient manor-house is extremely 
 interesting. It was visible from the church, and was 
 near the present Italian building that was designed by 
 Wyatt for Mr. Penn. Wyatt was the architect for the 
 Pantheon, and succeeded Sir W. Chambers as Surveyor- 
 General to the Board of Works. He was, I believe, 
 the only architect that ever arrived at the presidential 
 chair of the Royal Academy. The ancient manor- 
 house was the subject of Gray's Long Story. "The 
 dim windows that excluded the light were filled with 
 the arms of the family of the Hastings and its alliances, 
 those of Sir Edward Coke, and many of his contem- 
 poraries in the law." We learn from Lysons that Coke 
 entertained Queen Elizabeth here very sumptuously, 
 and even made her presents of jewels that were valued 
 at more than ;^iooo. Coke had held the manor as a 
 tenant of the Crown, but in the year 1621 the fee- 
 simple was conveyed to him. He seems to have fallen 
 out of favour, however, and was committed to the 
 Tower by James, and remained there till August 1622, 
 when he was ordered to confine himself to his house 
 at Stoke Pogis, and not visit the English Court again 
 
1 24 RAMBLES RO UND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 without express license from the king. Coke's daughter 
 married Sir John Villiers, the elder brother of the Duke 
 of Buckingham, whose family has been already spoken 
 of in these pages ; and one of the last acts of his public 
 life was to denounce with all his energy the Duke of 
 Buckingham, as the author of the misfortunes that, in 
 the close of his life, began to overshadow the land. It 
 almost recalls his unjust and malignant language when, 
 in 1603, he conducted the proceedings against Sir 
 Walter Raleigh, which James, in his craven fear and 
 weakness, had instituted at the desire of the Spanish 
 ambassador. But in one case the invectives were well 
 deserved ; in the other, they were directed against the 
 greatest of Englishmen. 
 
 It should be remembered, when we search over the 
 churchyard to find any of the quaint inscriptions we 
 might expect from the Elegy, that the warm humid 
 atmosphere which so much prevails here has hidden 
 scores of inscriptions with moss and lichen, which in 
 Gray's time were recently cut. The "frail memorial 
 still erected high" clearly refers to the wooden boards 
 raised on two uprights that are so common in the 
 south of England, but are hardly ever seen north of 
 the Trent. The beech alluded to, that " wreathes its 
 old fantastic roots so high," is easily distinguishable ; 
 
GRAY'S ELEGY. 125 
 
 and the " stream that bubbles by " is the brook which 
 runs from Brockhurst Wood, and joins the Thames by 
 several mouths between Beveney and Datchet. Ac- 
 cording to Mr. S. C. Hall's Book of the Thames, Upton, 
 which is almost a part of Slough, is the churchyard 
 that Gray had in mind when he wrote his Elegy. 
 " It was one of his early haunts ; the gloomy character 
 of the church and neighbourhood in twilight must have 
 been well suited to the thoughts of the poet." In spite 
 of this, however, I feel certain that the graveyard of 
 Stoke Pogis, where indeed Gray himself and his mother 
 are buried, is the one he was alluding to in his poem, 
 A plain tablet can be seen on the wall opposite the 
 tomb, on which is inscribed a record that the great poet 
 was buried "in the same tomb upon which he has so feel- 
 ingly recorded his grief at the loss of a beloved parent." 
 What gives especial prominence to the Elegy here 
 is, that Gray was himself an Etonian, and studied 
 under his maternal uncle. Dr. Antrobus, at college. 
 He was a student of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and 
 devoted himself assiduously to the study and transla- 
 tion of the Greek classics. We are reminded of the 
 celebrated letter of Queen Elizabeth to Sir Christopher 
 Hatton, by Stoke Pogis manor. It was invested in his 
 daughter-in-law, the widow of Sir William Hatton, who 
 
125 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 married Sir E. Coke, and it does not seem that she 
 was happy with the great man, for they lived separately 
 for some time ; and on hearing of the death of Coke, 
 she went at once to claim it with her brother, Lord 
 Wimbledon ; but at Colnebrook she met the physician, 
 who assured her that the renowned lawyer had im- 
 proved in health, and she went back to London much 
 disappointed. 
 
 There is more than one version of Sir Christopher 
 Hatton's obtaining possession of the Bishop of Ely's 
 house in Holborn. It is even said that in the first 
 instance he only wished to build a town house in the 
 garden, but the Bishop objected, and then he thought 
 that Ely Place itself would suit him better, and hence 
 the well-known letter of the Queen to the Bishop. But 
 probably there was really a gentle hint to his lordship 
 that the Lord Keeper wanted the house for his town 
 residence on lease, and that was sufficient to induce the 
 prelate to offer it. Queen Elizabeth then having herself 
 taken a fancy to it, occupied it in place of the Lord 
 Keeper ; but a new Bishop of Ely, who considered the 
 see and all its belongings sacred, entered an objection 
 to the arrangement, and received the reply which makes 
 anything in the Complete Letter-writer read very weak 
 indeed : — 
 
OLD WINDSOR. 127 
 
 " Proud Prelate — You know what you was before I made you 
 what you are now ; if you do not immediately comply with my 
 request, by G — d I will unfrock you. Elizabeth." 
 
 The road from Stoke Pogis to the Thames lies 
 through Datchet, a name that brings a host of pleasant 
 recollections to the reader of Shakespeare, and indeed 
 many a tree is standing here that blossomed in Shake- 
 speare's time. I have no difficulty in fixing the site 
 that was in the dramatist's mind when he wrote — 
 " John and Robert, be ready here by the brewhouse ; 
 and when I suddenly call you, come forth, and without 
 any pause or staggering take this basket on your 
 shoulders ; that done, trudge with it in all haste, and 
 carry it among the whitsters in Datchet mead, and 
 there empty it in the muddy ditch, close by the 
 Thames' side." The description and the situation 
 would seem to fit with certainty a ditch — now much 
 reduced since Falstaff's time — which joined the Thames 
 at a spot about seven minutes' walk from Datchet 
 Station. 
 
 Old Windsor is charmingly situated on the banks of 
 the Thames, and the church shown on the following 
 page has been altered, as so many more have been, out 
 of its antique features. The yard contains many old 
 monuments, and among others Mrs. Robinson's, the 
 
128 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 poetess, and the brilliant if not judicious " Perdita.' 
 
BELLS OF OUSELEV. 
 
ANKERWYKE. 129 
 
 The park that comes on to the Thames here, Beaumont 
 Lodge, is now a CathoHc college, called " St. Stanislaus,'' 
 and is conducted by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, 
 but it formerly was the residence of Warren Hastings. 
 The " Bells of Ouseley " is the name of the picturesque 
 inn on the side of the river, and in it a traveller may 
 be well accommodated. Its ale has some celebrity, but 
 in giving a verdict on such a subject it must be ad- 
 mitted at once that a " casual " like the author must 
 plead incapacity, as local tastes differ, and especially so 
 when predilections come into play. The gravelly 
 shelving shore and the shady trees all combine to 
 make this place very delightful, and the fishing is 
 almost the best in this part of the Thames. 
 
 Ankerwyke, on the other side of the river, once 
 contained a nunnery, and at the dissolution the revenues 
 were returned at the respectable sum of ;^i 32 : o : 2, all 
 of which was granted to Lord Windsor ; there are now 
 no remains of the conventual buildings. In the reign 
 of Edward III. a humble petition came from the 
 " poore nuns of Ankerwyke " to the King, saying that 
 during the presidency of the previous abbess, Alice, 
 Hugh Despenser had deprived them of thirty -nine 
 acres of land at Datchet, and kept it for his own uses, 
 and they prayed for its restitution, and damages to the 
 
 K 
 
130 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 extent of £^100. They seem to have obtained a 
 hearing, as the reply was, " Declare in whose hands the 
 land is." The site of the nunnery is occupied by a 
 modern mansion, which has changed hands several 
 times. And though every trace of the monastic 
 building has vanished, some noble old trees remain 
 that formerly were in the grounds. 
 
 Magna Charta Island is a little higher up the river, 
 and though it has the credit of being the place where 
 the Great Charter was signed, there are those who 
 would rob it of its ancient honours, and who profess to 
 find evidence that would point out the opposite shore 
 of Runnymede as the place where John — being, it is 
 said, like the rest of his race, unable to write — affixed 
 his mark. 
 
 The Magna Charta is of course not the first docu- 
 ment that endeavoured to secure the liberties of the 
 people against the Crown. There was the Charter of 
 Henry I., that imposed some limitation upon the 
 despotism which had been established by William I. 
 and the Red King, and this formed the basis of the 
 still broader Magna Charta. This Magna Charta was 
 the result of the errors and immorality of John — not 
 of his weakness, as we so often read, for, as Dr. Green 
 freely admits, he was possessed of remarkable quickness 
 
BO VINES. 131 
 
 and penetration, and even with courage at times, when 
 this was required. He had recaptured Angiers, the 
 home of his race, and made a crafty submission to the 
 Pope, hoping to secure his power to misgovern at 
 home. But the battle of Bovines, in the north of 
 France, quite changed the aspect of affairs, and a 
 precipitate retreat to England saved him. Stephen 
 Langton, who had been appointed by the Pope to the 
 throne of Canterbury, proved a welcome prelate for the 
 people, and boldly withstood the frightful tyranny of 
 John, whose cruelties are only excelled by those at a 
 later time of the Spanish Inquisition. Langton even 
 condemned his submission to the Pope, and insisted 
 upon his conforming to the charters of the Confessor 
 and Henry I., which he produced in St. Paul's, even 
 while the King was himself triumphing in France ; and 
 if John had returned in triumph to the kingdom, he 
 would doubtless have made short work of Langton and 
 the barons and the Charter ; but the combined army 
 of Flemish, English, and Germans were completely 
 routed at Bovines. And though the English stood 
 their ground the longest, they were routed by the 
 Beauvais troops. These were led by the Bishop of 
 Beauvais in person, and it is doing him scanty justice 
 to say that his skill in weapons of carnal warfare was 
 
132 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 equal to his knowledge of the breastplate and the helmet 
 with which he had so often told his congregations they 
 must resist the rulers of darkness. He rode furiously 
 at the head of the troops, and himself struck the leader, 
 the Earl of Salisbury, to the ground. If John had only 
 believed the prophetic words that Shakespeare puts in 
 the French king's mouth before the field of Anglers — 
 
 " Look to thyself, thou art in jeopardy " — 
 
 the progress of English freedom might have been 
 delayed for a century or more. But on his return 
 from France he found that the clergy and laity of all 
 ranks were up in arms against him. Still, their for- 
 bearance was very great, and they did not depose him ; 
 they knew of his crimes and his merciless cruelties but 
 too well, and only wished to curb his license and 
 " leave him to himself — how to live better." So far, 
 indeed, as the loose canons that entitled a monarch to 
 rule in those days were concerned, the people had law, 
 and certainly power, on their side, if they had given 
 him a successor ; but the long-suffering multitude, who 
 in this instance were well represented by the barons, 
 only required him to sign the document which is the 
 foundation of English liberty. Some may say that it 
 only obtained its full sway after the battle of Evesham, 
 
RUNNYMEDE. 
 
 133 
 
 and indeed we all know how often its humanity has 
 been hidden under a cloud ; but it was destined at last 
 
 M''"*. 
 
 to prevail, and the quiet meadows and woods at Runny- 
 n,ede were the scene of the compact by which nobody 
 
134 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 could be imprisoned, or deprived of his goods, or 
 harassed, unless it was in accordance with the laws of 
 the land as expounded in open court without fear or 
 favour. And we only gather from this suggestive 
 clause what the condition of Englishmen must have 
 been before the Great Charter was signed. One is 
 almost surprised at the homeliness and quiet beauty of 
 the rustic meadows, the shady stream, and the groves 
 that saw such memorable deeds done. 
 
 " What sea — what shore is this ? 
 The gulf, the rock of Salamis !" 
 
 any pilgrim to the shrine might say with Byron — but 
 in how different a sense ! Byron tried to incite the 
 Greeks to rise by pointing to their ancient glories, and 
 wanted them to make a stand once more against their 
 Turkish tyrants, but in Runnymede we only see a 
 peaceful victory of right that has " broadened down 
 from precedent to precedent." Magna Charta Island 
 and Ankerwyke and the surroundings are happily 
 described in guide-books, and, though so central, they 
 have never been cocknified as we might have expected, 
 situated as they are in parts of such beauty. 
 
 There were, of course, many copies of the Charter, 
 and one in Lincoln, sent by the celebrated " Hugh," 
 
MAGNA CHARTA ISLAND. 13S 
 
 Bishop of Lincoln, is still extant in the cathedral arch- 
 ives, but it is not so old as the one in the British 
 Museum. Then there is another at Salisbury ; and 
 though it is not prized quite so highly as the celebrated 
 Gregorian Liturgy, with its Anglo-Saxon version, or 
 perhaps even as the well-known Geoffrey of Mon- 
 mouth, which lies on the same shelves, it is yet held 
 in high esteem. The Charter in the British Museum 
 is beautifully written in monkish Latin, and though it 
 has suffered from fire, and the seals are blurred in con- 
 sequence, it is very legible. On the island is a small 
 cottage, built by the Harcourt family, who also at one 
 time inhabited the dwelling at Ankerwyke before 
 alluded to, and in this cottage is the stone upon 
 which the Charter was confirmed ; on this stone is an 
 inscription : " Be it remembered, that on this island, in 
 June 1315, King John of England signed the Magna 
 Charta, and in the year 1834 this building was erected 
 in commemoration of that great event by George Simon 
 Harcourt, Esq., lord of the manor, and high sheriff of 
 the county." 
 
 Just below here the Colne joins the Thames, and 
 many are the delightful scenes on its banks. 
 
 Instead of "keeping by the river side, we may return 
 from Old Windsor to Staines and Egham by Cooper's 
 
136 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Hill, and this is a walk of great beauty ; one of the 
 prospects, called par excellence the prospect, is com- 
 monly regarded as among the finest scenes in England. 
 Several counties are rolled out like an Ordnance survey 
 at our feet, and Windsor Castle rises like a mountain 
 from the plain. Perhaps we never get a juster idea of 
 its magnitude than we do from here, when we can take 
 in at one glance its immensity, and yet remember that 
 it is nearly four miles distant. Cooper's Hill is best 
 known from having given the name to the celebrated 
 East Indian Engineering College ; and it would almost 
 seem as if the extraordinary advantages this establish- 
 ment offers were imperfectly known, — otherwise, surely, 
 it would be better supported. The army or the church 
 afford no such openings as Cooper's Hill College, and 
 yet the total cost of a student, from his entrance till he 
 is placed on an appointment, is hardly more than two 
 years of Oxford terms would amount to. The salaries 
 commence at the respectable sum of .^300 a year, and 
 rise up to ;^3000 for engineers of the first class. It 
 was intended to open the college only to those who 
 could pass a preliminary examination in the elements 
 of engineering and science, which was to be com- 
 petitive ; but this would not answer at all, and the doors 
 were soon thrown open to all who were capable at a 
 
COOPER'S HILL. 137 
 
 future time of being serviceable ; and when we consider 
 the enormous sums that are being paid for developing 
 State railways, public works, civil buildings, and irriga- 
 tion, through the length and breadth of this vast 
 country, we shall have no difficulty in comprehending 
 the number of openings there are for engineers. The 
 professors are skilled men practically, and, as at Wool- 
 wich, they have had more than a theoretical knowledge 
 of their department. Commenting on this, an amusing 
 anecdote is told in the Builder of 4th February 1 87 1, on 
 " high official authority." When the nation was, so to 
 say, in mourning at the loss of the Captain, and 
 people were puzzling themselves as to the cause, a civil 
 engineer who had a high reputation wrote to the 
 Admiralty department that much had been said about 
 the " centre of gravity " of the Captain, but in point 
 of fact, being a hollow body, it could not have any 
 centre of gravity at all (!) Doubtless, if the gentleman 
 had only continued his luminous comments on physical 
 science, he would have insisted that hollow bodies had 
 no specific gravity. Indeed, that is of necessity the 
 corollary to his startling problem. 
 
 The bridge between Staines and Egham is a light 
 handsome three-arch one, and, according to the Book of 
 the Thames before quoted, the middle arch is seventy- 
 
138 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 four feet in span. This also reminds the writer of 
 another stone bridge across the Dee which he sees 
 daily, and which has a span of two hundred feet. The 
 only excuse for alluding to it in connection with the 
 arch of Staines Bridge must be that it is often asked if 
 it is, as claimed for it, the widest span in the world. 
 It is not only the widest stone span in the world, but 
 the widest that is ever likely to be made, as now iron 
 is so much more serviceable in bridging great openings. 
 Staines is not an interesting town, and the church is a 
 modern brick building, though the tower is said to be 
 by Inigo Jones. Near the church is a venerable 
 mansion of the early Elizabethan style, though popular 
 tradition dates it back to a much earlier period. The 
 three-arched bridge that connects Staines with Egham 
 was built in 1832, and this latter is also a town of little 
 interest. It is twenty -one miles from the Waterloo 
 Bridge Station on the South -Western Railway, and 
 some of the trains run the distance very quickly. The 
 church also, like Staines, is without architectural 
 interest, but there is a curious brass under the south 
 gallery, with four kneeling figures, and the inscription, 
 " Antonye Bond, gent., once cittezen and writer of the 
 Court Letter of London, 1576. 
 
CHERTSEY. 139 
 
 " Christ is to me as lyef on earthe, and death to me is gayne, 
 Because I wish through Him, saluation to obtayne. 
 So bryttle is the state of man, so soon it doth decaye. 
 So all the glory of this worlde must pas and vade away." 
 
 There is also a tablet to Rev. T. Beighton, who died at 
 an advanced age, and is honoured with having an 
 epitaph by Garrick, which Dr. Johnson has called the 
 finest in the English language. There is also a painted 
 bust of Thomas Foster, a Justice in the Stuart period 
 of English history ; and there is near this a curious 
 one to Richard Kellefet, who seems to have stood high 
 in favour with Elizabeth, and is described as a "most 
 faithful servant to hir majestie, chief groome in her 
 removing Garderobe of beddes, and yeoman also of her 
 standing garderobe of Richmount." There are other 
 monuments of interest, and one is almost surprised at 
 finding so much mural literature of value in a church 
 of so uninviting an exterior. Below Egham and 
 Staines is Chertsey, which fully reaches the limit of our 
 rambles round Eton. Formerly there was an abbey at 
 Chertsey, where Henry VI. was for a time interred 
 after his murder by Richard III, who plunged his 
 dagger again into the expiring king with — 
 
 " If any spark of life be yet remaining, 
 Down, down to hell, and say I sent thee thither.'' 
 
HO RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 There are yet some remains of the walls. Cowley once 
 lived at Chertsey, and the room where he died is still 
 to be seen. He lived at one time at Barne Elms, but 
 found Chertsey more congenial to his health. His 
 devotion to the cause of the Stuarts was great, and he 
 spent much of his time in dangerous missions between 
 England and Charles II. in his banishment to the Con- 
 tinent ; and, indeed, in 1656 he was arrested for his 
 treasonable journeys, and had to give ;^iooo bail for 
 his better behaviour. It was he that had much to do 
 with the abortive insurrection of 1655, when Lord 
 Derby lost his life at Bolton in Lancashire, and within 
 a few minutes' walk of the room where this is written 
 is the ancient timbered house, beautifully carved over, 
 where Lord Derby spent his last night on earth. 
 Cowley is a fairly good writer, and his lines, that so 
 strongly reflect on the evils of civil war, and end with 
 the words — 
 
 " In all the pangs we felt before. 
 We groaned, we sighed, we wept — we never blushed before," 
 
 are frequently quoted. 
 
 Nothing has been said about Windsor, partly because 
 the subject has been so often and so well treated before, 
 and partly because anything like even an approach to a 
 proper notice of it would have taken the greater part 
 
WINDSOR CASTLE. 141 
 
 of this volume. But in one word, Windsor Castle is the 
 most magnificent palace in Europe, and it is more 
 connected with the history of the country that contains 
 it than any other royal residence with which we are 
 acquainted. Indeed, with this chapter our Eton 
 rambles must close, and in the next Harrow rambles 
 will commence ; but as a ten-mile radius of one inter- 
 sects the other, many very delightful scenes will be 
 common to each. Easthampstead, Chobham Place, 
 Botley, and Addlestone, with many other resorts of 
 interest, lie to the south of the Great Western Railway, 
 but they still come within the ten-mile radius. 
 
142 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER A^II. 
 
 Henry VI. — John Lyon, Founder of Harrow, a Yeoman — Harrow Church 
 — Harrow Library — Ivy House — Chapel and School — Greenford Road 
 ■ — Perivale — Manor-House of Uxenden— Bentley — Bushey— Roman 
 Antiquities. 
 
 Harrow, like Eton, stands in the middle of a charming 
 country, and, like its fellow, it is always remembered with 
 delight by those whose good fortune it may have been 
 to have spent their earlier years within its precincts. 
 The delightful reaches of the Thames, as they wind 
 through scenes of surpassing beauty, may not be quite 
 so accessible, though even these are not remote, and 
 Runnymede and Marlow are within reach of a holiday's 
 ramble. Harrow also cannot quite lay claim to the same 
 antiquity as Eton. More than a century had elapsed 
 since the gentle scholar who was so sadly out of his 
 place as the Lord of Windsor had founded the latter, 
 before the wealthy yeoman who founded Harrow con- 
 veyed his lands to the good foundation. 
 
HENRY VI. 143 
 
 There is no monarch of whom fewer details arel 
 handed down to us than Henry VI., yet it has always 
 seemed to me that if we knew more of him none would 
 be more likely to command our sympathies. Altogether 
 out of place and time among the turbulent, insolent 
 landholders who figured so terribly in the Wars of the 
 Roses, we have perhaps a juster estimate of him from 
 the pages of Shakespeare than from any other source. 
 He died, indeed, only some hundred years before 
 Shakespeare was born. It is impossible not to feel 
 strongly towards the man who left the horrible field 
 of Towton, where two large armies, and those English 
 ones, were slaughtered, that he might avoid the sight 
 of carnage. Margaret, his queen, and Clifford too, had 
 chid him from the battle, " swearing both they prospered 
 best when he was thence ;" but he sat upon a molehill, 
 and thinks but too surely that " It were a happy life to 
 live no better than a homely swain." He " carves out 
 dials quaintly point by point " in his imagination, and 
 tells over again and again how he would spend his 
 days, his weeks, and his years — 
 
 " So minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years, 
 Passed over to the end they were created, 
 Would bring white hairs into a quiet grave. 
 Ah, what a Hfe were this ! how sweet ! how lovely ! " 
 
144 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Often has it seemed in writing the articles on Eton 
 that the quiet meadows and the shady banks of the 
 Thames are just the scenes the unhappy king delighted 
 in, and such as he would desire to devote to an academic 
 life of leisure. 
 
 John Lyon, the founder of Harrow, was a very 
 different man, and much more of the typical English- 
 man. A wealthy yeoman of the most exact business 
 habits, he drew up a set of statutes that are principally 
 in force now. This was in the year 1590, or two 
 years before his death. He mentions his intention of 
 founding the school, and gave the fullest instructions 
 for the endowment and disposal of his property, and 
 he indicated the very site for the house of the master 
 and usher ; but we shall have to refer to him again. 
 
 The church at Harrow, like others of its fellows, has 
 been modernised, but we can see an excellent etching 
 of it in Lysons' Environs of London ; and in its old 
 state — though, indeed, it bears the marks of the icono- 
 clast — it must have been a much more interesting 
 building. It was firm and sound, even though it bore 
 the records of the Civil Wars — records, however, which 
 were patched substantially, and which never failed in 
 their measure to illustrate the history of the times. 
 The chancel roof, according to Lysons' etching, seems 
 
HARROW CHURCH. 
 
 145 
 
 to have been on 
 a level with the 
 ^ nave, and there 
 are no battle- 
 ments. The 
 nave windows 
 are, however, 
 quite the same. 
 Many are the 
 curious records 
 that Lysons 
 gives of the 
 monuments and 
 the inscriptions 
 
 both inside and outside 
 the church. But the 
 most interesting of these 
 is the tomb of John 
 Lyon, who founded the 
 L 
 
 LICHGATE, HARROW. 
 
146 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 school. " Here lieth buried the bodye of John Lyon 
 late of Preston in this parish, yeoman, dec<i the 1 1 th 
 day of Oct., in the yeare of our Lord 1592, who hath 
 founded a free grammar school in the parish, to have 
 continuance for ever, and for maintenance thereof, and 
 for the releyffe of the poore scholars in the universityes, 
 repairinge of highwayes, and other good and charitable 
 uses, hath made conveyance of lands of good value to 
 a corporation granted for that purpose. Prayeis be to 
 the Author of all goodness, who make us myndful to 
 follow his good example." John Lyon is always 
 alluded to as a yeoman, though he had a very fine 
 landed estate ; and one would have thought that old 
 documents, which are very precise, would have spoken 
 of him as gentleman, or esquire. If we try to trace 
 the meaning of the word yeoman, we shall find obscurity 
 in every direction. The origin is uncertain, and even 
 the pronunciation is various ; yumman and yemman 
 both have their authorities, though the long yoman is 
 commonly received in England as correct. Accord- 
 ing to Worcester, a yeoman is " a freeholder under 
 the rank of a gentleman ; a commoner, a man of small 
 estate in land ; a farmer ; an upper servant in a noble- 
 man's family," etc. Pulleyn says that the title of 
 yeoman " was formerly one of more dignity than now 
 
YEOMEN. 147 
 
 belongs to it. It signified originally a yewman, so 
 called from bearing the bow in battle," But this view 
 would hardly seem to be confirmed by anything in 
 Shakespeare. When Henry V. was before Harfleur, 
 he encouraged his men according to their degree. To 
 the leaders he said : 
 
 " On, on, you noblest English, 
 Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof ! 
 Fathers that, like so many Alexanders, 
 Have in these parts from morn till even fought, 
 And sheathed their swords for lack of argument." 
 
 This, of course, alludes to the men of high family, with 
 whom it was the courtly belief, even as lately as Shake- 
 speare's time, that the most conspicuous valour rested. 
 But if we read a few lines further on, we shall see that 
 he seems to hold yeomen much more cheaply. They 
 might be men-at-arms, he appears to think, but very 
 far indeed from valiant knights. 
 
 " And you, good yeomen, 
 Whose limbs were made in England, show us here 
 The mettle of your pasture. Let us swear 
 That you are worth your breeding ; which I doubt not ; 
 For there is none of you so mean and base, 
 That hath not noble lustre in your eyes." 
 
 This would seem to imply that valour might exist even 
 in a man whose estate was slender. Mr. Lyon, how- 
 
148 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 ever, certainly must have belonged to the yeomanry- 
 class who are alluded to in the well - known old 
 distich : 
 
 " A knight of Calles, 
 A gentleman of Wales, 
 And a laird of the North Countree, 
 A yeoman of Kent, with his yearly rent, 
 Would buy them up all three." 
 
 Then, again, in King Lear we iind the fool saying 
 to the king, " Prythee, nuncle, tell me, is a madman a 
 gentleman or a yeoman?" And when Lear says "A 
 king, a king," the fool replies, " No, he's a yeoman that 
 has a gentleman for his son, for he's a mad yeoman 
 that sees his son a gentleman before him." The 
 allusion, of course, is to his giving his kingdom to his 
 daughters and being himself destitute. But there is 
 much obscurity about the word, and it would seem to 
 denote many degrees of condition according to the 
 whim of the user. I should have little hesitation in 
 supposing that the French " gamin " is a parallel word, 
 though the class to whom it is applied in France 
 differ very widely indeed from the worshipful founder 
 of Harrow. 
 
 Whatever Mr. Lyon's precise status may have been, 
 however, his directions as to the disposal of his pro- 
 
ARCHER Y AT HARRO W. 149 
 
 perty are very precise. ;^io per annum, equal to 
 about ;£^ioo now in those parts, were to be paid 
 " for thirty good and learned sermons preached in the 
 church of Harrow ; the schoolmaster or vicar, if 
 thought a mete man by the governors, to have the pre- 
 ference." ;^20 was to be given among the poor house- 
 holders of the parish on Good Friday, at the rate of 
 6s. 8d. each. Then certain rents and profits were to 
 be expended in the repair of roads from Edgeware and 
 Harrow to London, and between Preston and Dead- 
 man's Hill. When Lysons wrote his work, now nearly 
 a century ago, the rent of Lyon's estates amounted to 
 £66<^, but now they are, of course, vastly increased. 
 This extraordinary man went so far in his directions 
 as to state with great precision the hours of attendance 
 at school, the number of forms, and the books and 
 exercises for each, the vacations and play-days, and 
 even the nature of the scholars' amusements, and these 
 are confined to driving a top, tossing a hand ball, 
 running, and shooting. It was customary until the 
 latter part of the eighteenth century for the scholars of 
 Harrow to have on each 4th of August an exhibition 
 of their skill in archery, and a silver arrow was shot 
 for. The founder was very particular in his directions 
 about this, and required all parents and guardians to 
 
ISO RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 furnish the pupils they sent with proper materials for 
 archery, and those to be of the best kind procurable. 
 We can scarcely form an idea of the enthusiasm that 
 prevailed on the subject of archery at that time. It 
 was cricket and rifle-shooting, as it were, combined. 
 We learn that in 1594 there were in Finsbury Field a 
 hundred and sixty -four archers' targets set up on 
 pillars crowned with some fanciful device ; and the 
 Finsbury archers soon became famous all over the 
 land. But the most humorous archery meets were at 
 Mile End and Windsor, under the presidency of 
 " Prince Arthur " and the " Duke of Shoreditch." The 
 latter title was conferred by Henry VIII. on a youth 
 named Barlow, after an archery match at Windsor. 
 He was the last to shoot, and Henry told him that if 
 he could only beat the archers who had gone before he 
 would make him "duke over all archers." His shot 
 was successful, and the king asked him where he lived, 
 and, learning that he came from Shoreditch, he at once 
 named him " Duke of Shoreditch." 
 
 The library at Harrow, which is shown here, was 
 built in 1863 as a memorial to the late head-master, 
 the Rev. Dr. Vaughan. The building is opposite to 
 the gates of the school, and between the church and 
 the head - master's house, and is most convenient. 
 
HARROW LIBRARY. 
 
 iSi 
 
 The library itself is an extremely shapely and well- 
 proportioned room, 
 and the situation 
 IS very beautiful 
 Indeed, there was 
 a fine chance for 
 very 
 effective exterior, 
 but unhappily the 
 
 colouied mate- 
 rials of which 
 It is built have 
 marred this, 
 and an un- 
 pleasing effect '^ 
 is the result. There could hardly have been a finer 
 opening for an artistic effect, and the proportions 
 
 CHANCEL OF CHURCH. 
 
152 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 are not bad, but the chequered background of distant 
 fields and trees and hills has been left out of the reck- 
 oning. The result is that there is nothing for the eye 
 to rest on, and the beauty of the landscape is lost, or 
 at any rate sadly marred. All this comes of design- 
 ing in an office, and not on the spot. The task was 
 very clear ; all the landscape and effect was found, 
 and a flat front to the road, built of light, warm- 
 coloured stone, would have given the necessary repose. 
 In this, carefully designed windows, like those at 
 Temple Balsal or old St. Chad's, Shrewsbury, or, 
 indeed, a hundred more, might have been inserted ; and 
 then landscape and buildings would have assumed their 
 proper proportions, and each would have been a delight. 
 The group called Ivy Cottage is a very pleasant 
 one, and the buildings combine happily together ; on 
 the left is the chapel, built of flint and dressed with 
 ashlar, and on the right is a part of the new schools, 
 while the picturesque spire rises up in the background. 
 There are many pleasant nooks and artistic incisive 
 scenes like this in Harrow ; and the hotel, which tradi- 
 tion says was once a considerable mansion, is exceed- 
 ingly homely and pleasant ; some more modern ones 
 have appeared, but the King's Head still holds its 
 own against new-comers. 
 
HARROW CHURCH. 
 
 153 
 
 The church at Harrow is often called the " visible 
 church," and the name has almost passed into a 
 
 IVY HOUSE, CHAPEL AND SCHOOL, HARROW. 
 
 synonym. The origin is this. Some learned doctors 
 were disputing at Windsor about the necessity or 
 otherwise of a visible church, and when Charles was 
 
1 54 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 appealed to upon some point in the argument, he 
 pointed to Harrow Church, which is singularly con- 
 spicuous from Windsor Castle grounds, and said that 
 at any rate there was one there. It is out of bounds 
 to attempt to enumerate the great men who, like Peel 
 and Byron, were brought up at Harrow, but we must 
 all remember the beautiful lines which Byron wrote 
 when he revisited his early associations : 
 
 " Again I behold where for hours I have pondered. 
 As reclining at eve on yon tombstone I lay, 
 Or round the steep brow of the churchyard I wandered. 
 To catch the last glimpse of the sun's setting ray." 
 
 The view to which Byron alludes commands a charming 
 panorama of the rich lands of the Thames, and shows 
 in parts this river lost in plantations and fields, but 
 again emerging and pursuing a circuitous course- like a 
 silver thread on a green velvet mantle, and on the east 
 is London, with St. Paul's dome conspicuously outlined, 
 on any clear morning. The towers of Windsor and 
 the undulating Surrey hills complete the panorama on 
 the south. 
 
 But we must leave Harrow now for the surroundings, 
 in which it has been the writer's lot to spend many 
 happy days, and we may take for a first ramble the 
 Greenford road. A house on the Greenford highway 
 
ANCIENT HOUSE. 
 
 155 
 
 is here shown. It is a small country-house by 
 the roadside, and introduced here on account of its 
 
 ANCIENT HOUSE IN GREENFORD ROAD. 
 
 chimney, which is very bold and fine, and would seem 
 to be of considerable antiquity. A few words on 
 
iS6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 chimneys may not seem quite out of place here. It is 
 an error to suppose that chimneys were not used so far 
 back as the Conquest, as some old histories of England 
 seem to allege, for we have a few remains of them left, 
 especially one at Winwall House, Norfolk, one of the 
 oldest houses in England, and well engraved in Britton's 
 Antiquities ; and there is one of equal antiquity at 
 Conisborough Castle, in Yorkshire. Both of these 
 are copied in modern buildings, and the one on the 
 Greenford road might make a good model for a rubble 
 building. The well-known example of a raised stone 
 hearth in the middle of a hall at Penshurst, Kent, is 
 constantly cited ; and indeed it is only a type, though 
 a very excellent one, of many similar fireplaces. The 
 hall was spacious, and a fire could almost as easily be 
 lit in it as in a field. Those who have ever camped 
 out in Canada will know how well a log fire warms the 
 surrounding parts; and if, when it has become a 
 smouldering mass, the tent openings have been arranged 
 opposite to it, a large amount of warmth is distributed 
 among the October or November occupants. One 
 thing is a little singular, and at once it suggests an 
 important consideration. When chimneys increased 
 and multiplied, the number of fires greatly increased too, 
 so that it would appear that a fire open in the middle 
 
FIREPLACES AND CHIMNEYS. 157 
 
 of a room had fewer dangers than one in a chimney that 
 might be connected with bearing-timbers. If an apology 
 is necessary for these digressions, it must be in this, that 
 these articles will be read by many who have built or who 
 will build houses for themselves, and the digression on 
 chimneys has been the result of conversations with a 
 friend during a summer's ramble. But one thing is 
 certain — there must be something very wrong some- 
 where, and it may but too surely be that modern 
 improvements have their share of the damage to 
 answer for. It is a curious circumstance that since 
 the national loss which the burning of Warwick Castle 
 entailed, there have been no fewer than four great 
 historical mansions destroyed by fire, and even at the 
 early part of the present century these were as strong 
 and as lasting as they were when John Lyon laid the 
 foundation of Harrow. But a '' restoring architect " 
 had drawn the proprietors into his toils, and hence the 
 loss to the country. I think all these four mansions 
 are subjects of Nash's Mansions of the Olden Time, a 
 book that stands quite by itself, just as Prout's 
 pictures do. 
 
 The lanes are very pleasant here, and many are the 
 sketches that an amateur artist would make. The 
 small streamlets we shall see on our road are feeders 
 
iS8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 of the Yeddi'ng brook, which at times is nearly dry, but 
 contains many fine fish after a flood. 
 
 Greenford is said to owe its name to a ford over 
 the river Brent, which runs through the parish. It is 
 situated about a mile to the north of the Uxbridge 
 road, and contains some two thousand acres of land. 
 The parish church is a very unpretending building, and 
 consists of nave and chancel, and at the west end is a 
 low wooden spire. Mr. Brittain, as we learn from the 
 pages of Lysons, was a great benefactor to the church 
 during the period of his rectorship, and collected old 
 stained glass for the windows, and did many other things 
 for the security of the small fabric. He also preserved 
 a valuable brass of a priest, which was in excellent 
 order, and inlaid it on a marble tablet. The road to 
 Greenford from Harrow is very pleasant, if we go 
 through Roxeth and Northolt, and many are the fine 
 shady trees and country-lane scenes we shall find to 
 delight us. Yedding Green is a little off the road, but 
 as it lies within an hour's walk of Harrow, it is very well 
 worth a visit, and is a good example of an old English 
 hamlet. 
 
 The rectory and advowson of Greenford, which 
 formerly belonged to Westminster Abbey, was granted 
 by Henry VHI. to Sir Thomas Wroth, and was finally 
 
GREENFORD. 159 
 
 purchased by King's College, Cambridge, who still own 
 it. It is of great value, and even in the reign of 
 Charles I. it was computed at "£\6o per annum." In 
 the Clergy List it is put down at £6 1 4, though this is 
 below its actual worth. The population is also recorded 
 as being 573. Near Greenford is Hanwell, which also 
 contains a church — a valuable living. The Brent, 
 which joins the Thames at Brentford, and gives the 
 name to that place, passes through Hanwell, and 
 empties itself into the Grand Junction Canal, Angling- 
 books sometimes allude to this river as being an 
 excellent place for sport, but in summer it is often 
 nearly dry, except at Finchley and Hendon and Kings- 
 bury, where there are some deep holes that contain 
 good fish. There is another way to Greenford, though 
 a little longer, through "West End," and over the 
 Paddington Canal. 
 
 Perivale, or Little Greenford, as it has sometimes 
 been called, is a curious instance of the way in which 
 the English tongue has altered in its pronunciation. 
 Norden says' that it doubtless is a corruption of Pure 
 Vale, in allusion to the healthiness of its climate and 
 the fertility of its soil ; but the ever-accurate Lysons 
 finds that in all old records it is called Parva to dis- 
 tinguish it from the other Greenford, and Perivale is a 
 
i6o RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 gradual corruption. We learn much of the early con- 
 dition of England from the description of this place in 
 the Doomsday Survey. " Ernulphus held three hides 
 in Greenford of Geoffrey de Mandeville ; the land was 
 one carucate and a half, on which one plough was 
 employed. Two villeins held half a hide, and there 
 were two cotters and a slave ; pannage for forty hogs. 
 The land was worth twenty shillings, but produced 
 only ten when granted to Geoffrey de Mandeville. In 
 the Confessor's time it was worth forty shillings. This 
 land had been held by two sokemen ; one of them was 
 a canon of St. Paul's, who had two hides, and might 
 alien them at his pleasure. The other was Ausgar, a 
 servant of a master of the horse, who could not make 
 any grant without his master's leave." A sokeman, 
 also called a socman, is one who holds his lands by 
 soccage, and this is a term of very wide signification, 
 but in general it may be said to refer to some condition 
 higher than vassalage. In Doomsday Book, which 
 contains an accurate account of these lands, a perfect 
 picture is given of England after the Conquest, and, 
 indeed, probably no other country possesses so com- 
 plete an account of the condition of society eight 
 centuries ago. The boundaries are so well defined 
 that they are final evidence even now in court. The 
 
EALING AND HANGERS HILL. i6i 
 
 four northern counties are not included in the Survey. 
 The value of the estates was to be triply estimated ; 
 once as it was in the Confessor's time, and again as it 
 stood when it was granted by the king to any of his 
 followers, and finally, as it was when the laborious 
 Survey was taken ; and the record forcibly shows how 
 invasion and spoliation ruin a country. It was found 
 that twenty years after the Conquest the rental of 
 England had been reduced by one-fourth, and, startling 
 as this may seem, it is even less remarkable than the 
 value of lands and produce in those unsettled times. 
 The figures given as the rental of Greenford Parva are 
 sufficient testimony on this head. Near Perivale is 
 Ealing, which lies on the Uxbridge road, just six 
 miles from London. Indeed, the western part of the 
 metropolis almost extends as far as this suburb. To 
 the south of the Great Western Railway is Ealing 
 Common. It stands high, and when the breeze is from 
 the west the Londoner may enjoy as pure fresh air as 
 anywhere in the kingdom. The line from Paddington 
 passes through Kensal Green Cemetery, where so 
 many notables lie buried. On the other side of the 
 Great Western Railway is Hangers Hill, where there is 
 a tower that commands magnificent views of the 
 
 surrounding country. Not far from the station is the 
 
 M 
 
i62 RAMBLES RO UND- ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 viaduct which spans the Brent, and is called the 
 " Wharncliffe Viaduct," in compliment to Lord Wharn- 
 cliffe, who was the chairman of the House of Lords' 
 Committee on the Incorporation Act. The total length 
 of this fine structure is 900 feet, but it is not so impos- 
 ing as the one over the Dee, which exceeds 1500 feet 
 in length. The country about Hanwell is very pleasant, 
 but some parts of the road back to Harrow are a little 
 dreary, especially near the railway works that have 
 been built. Of the celebrated Asylum at Hanwell it is 
 not necessary to say much here, but even this abode 
 has pleasant features that contrast strongly with the 
 cruel treatment that lunatics met with in old times. 
 The Asylum is situated in the middle of large grounds 
 and flower gardens, which are principally kept in order 
 by the inmates, with, it need not be said, the best 
 possible results. 
 
 The manor-house of Uxenden, in Harrow, was 
 formerly in the possession of the Travers family, from 
 whom it passed to Sir Nicholas Brembre, and from 
 them to the Bellamys, and from them to the Pages of 
 Wembly. Of the latter family, Lysons, writing in 
 1795, makes the curious footnote that they are almost 
 the only family of Middlesex who have held landed 
 property without exchange for two centuries and a 
 
BABINGTON PLOT. 163 
 
 half ; nor, indeed, would the cause be far to seek, if we 
 remember the ever-changing character of the metropolis. 
 There still is a farm here where a very tragic incident 
 is recorded to have occurred in the reign of Elizabeth. 
 Every one knows more or less of the Babington plot to 
 assassinate Queen Elizabeth, and place Mary Queen of 
 Scots on the English throne. There can be no doubt 
 that Mary was an accomplice, though some of her 
 apologists try to throw doubt on this, but the evidences 
 of her crime now stand out in the glare of day. She 
 had implored Elizabeth to let her go and " prepare her 
 soul to die ;" and when this was refused, she is said to 
 have helped in various ways the shocking designs of 
 Babington. 
 
 At Rheims there was an English Seminary dis- 
 tinguished for its intolerance and bigotry, and the 
 celebrated bull which Pius V. issued against Queen 
 Elizabeth found great favour there. It is even said in 
 an old history which I found in America at an auction 
 during the civil war (the book came from some southern 
 residence) that the bull inciting the assassination of 
 Elizabeth came directly, it was supposed, from the 
 Holy Ghost. Ballard, a priest of Rheims, suggested 
 the assassination of Elizabeth to Babington, a Derby- 
 shire gentleman, who communicated the plot to some 
 
i64 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Others, among whom was Chidioc Tichbourn, whose 
 descendant was lost in the celebrated " Bella," and 
 caused the memorable lawsuit. Babington, when the 
 miserable- scheme failed, stained his face with walnut 
 dye, and wandered about from place to place till he 
 found shelter in the farmhouse near Harrow, and was 
 executed with his associates under circumstances of 
 great cruelty. Even his shelterer met with death in 
 consequence of his harbouring him. It is only an 
 hour's walk to leave Harrow by the old Swan Inn, 
 turn to the left over the London and North- Western 
 Railway bridge, and then, skirting Wembly Park, we 
 arrive at once at this memorable place, and a walk 
 past Woodcote and Kenton brings us back again. 
 There are, however, several stile roads known to the 
 initiated that would somewhat shorten the distance. 
 If when we are at Kenton we turn to the right, we 
 shall pass Kingsbury Green, and come to " the Hyde," 
 on the St. Alban's road, some six miles from London ; 
 a walk of three miles to the south will take us to Kil- 
 burn Station, whence a train in a few minutes will bring 
 us back to Harrow. In this route we shall cross the 
 Brent River, and pass by the " Harp " that has figured 
 in the pages of Dickens. 
 
 Formerly there was a priory called Benethly or 
 
BENTLE y PRIOR V. 1 65 
 
 Bentley situated at the extremity of Harrow parish, but 
 very little is known of it. The buildings were about 
 four miles from the school. Singularly enough, Dug- 
 dale says nothing about it in his Monasticon, and the 
 best account of it is to be found in Lysons's Middlesex. 
 It was founded by the Austin Friars, and in the absence 
 of Dugdale's accurate assistance we can only conjecture, 
 but that pretty safely, that it was handed over to the 
 monks of St. Gregory at Canterbury, who were in 
 fact more like almoners than monks, and were infirm 
 old people, and presided over by regular canons of the 
 order of St. Augustine — the first house of regular 
 canons in the kingdom, as is very generally supposed, 
 for in the archives we find that Cranmer the archbishop 
 gave the priory lands to the king in exchange for 
 others nearer home. Through many hands it passed 
 to the Coghill family, and it was finally purchased by 
 the Marquis of Abercorn in 1788, who proceeded at 
 once to rebuild it on a magnificent scale ; Lysons gives 
 some very interesting accounts of the art treasures 
 within its capacious walls, — among them the bust of 
 Marcus Aurelius, the calm, philosophical emperor, 
 whose lineaments represent, in their clear, majestic 
 outlines, a very high type of an English statesman ; 
 and of course there is no want of Gaihsboroughs, 
 
)66 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Reynolds, and Knellers. The house is charmingly 
 situated on an eminence, in the middle of about 300 
 acres of pleasure-grounds, and the views from it are 
 delightful. In the latter part of last century Bentley 
 Priory was in the occupation of a Mr. Duberly, and 
 in digging the foundations for a wall, a great number 
 of Roman coins were discovered. 
 
 Mr. Lysons, in his Middlesex, says: — "Perhaps 
 some of my readers may recollect having seen, in 
 several periodical publications, a calculation of the 
 middle chapter, verse, etc., of the Bible, with an account 
 of the number of times that some of the most common 
 words occur, with many other particulars, the whole 
 having been said to be the labour of three years. 
 When they are told that it was the amusement of a 
 blind man's leisure hours, they will be more apt to 
 admire the wonderful powers of his memory than to 
 blame him for mis-spending his time. These, however, 
 are not the only calculations in which he has been 
 employed. In the month of June 1790 he published 
 an account of the solar eclipses for 1791 and 1793." 
 He must indeed have been a very remarkable man, 
 but I learnt from Mr. Lysons's son, the late canon of 
 Gloucester, and a brother of the soldier whose name is 
 so often before us, that this blind scholar was not free 
 
BUSHEY VILLAGE. 
 
BUS HEY. 167 
 
 from some taint of suspicion. He used to calculate 
 nativities and coming events, and was looked upon by 
 the public as a very remarkable astrologer. 
 
 The village of Bushey is another example of an 
 old, comfortable little country town ; and, rightly con- 
 sidered, we are very much indebted to railways for 
 these remaining as they are. Had coaches still been 
 the means of conveyance, not only the lust for modern- 
 ising — which has almost destroyed the old churches 
 of the land — would have been at work, but beyond 
 this, the rapid transit of goods and passengers has 
 made it more convenient to convert the great towns 
 into central d^pdts, and these form a much cheaper 
 medium for the distribution of merchandise. Had the 
 old means of conveyance still been in existence, with 
 advancing requirements and an increasing population, 
 it is more than probable that old-fashioned country 
 towns would of necessity have been enlarged, and 
 almost rebuilt. The quaint country inn, with its 
 swinging sign, must have given way to a modern brick 
 or stucco hotel ; and the country store, with its low 
 rooms and gabled roofs, must of necessity have yielded 
 to a warehouse of more or less pretensions, in order to 
 store the necessary supplies for the surrounding habita- 
 tions. 
 
i68 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Bushey — Canons — Pope's Satires on Canons — Harrow Weald — Oxhey and 
 its Proprietors — The River Colne, and Natural History along its waters 
 and banks — London Orphan Asylum — Watford Church and its Monu- 
 ments. 
 
 If we leave Harrow Station and continue our journey 
 past Harrow Weald, we shall have Belmont on the 
 right, and skirt the delightful grounds of Bentley 
 Priory, before alluded to ; and we shall arrive, after 
 a walk of about three miles, on the London high road 
 again, with its low long country inns, and wooden 
 drinking-troughs on tressels, where at any time during 
 a summer's day picturesque groups of cattle or waggon 
 horses may be seen resting from their dusty travel and 
 slaking their thirst in the water, which is supplied by 
 a pump at one end of the little reservoir. And now 
 we are at one extremity of Bushey, which was engraved 
 in the last chapter. 
 
 Bushey was called Bissei in Doomsday Book, and 
 
BUSHEY. 169 
 
 it was granted to Geoffrey de Magnaville by the 
 Conqueror. It seems to have had many possessors 
 in succession, and to have occasionally reverted to 
 the Crown. At one time it was held by Edmond 
 de Woodstock, Earl of Kent, who was beheaded in 
 the reign of Edward III. through the influence of 
 Queen Isabella and Mortimer. A terrible fate, how- 
 ever, met him in return, for he was arrested by 
 Edward III. in person at Nottingham Castle, as he 
 was in the council chamber ; the entrance to this, in 
 the wonderful rock, is still pointed out. But John 
 Britton in one of his works gives a shocking list of 
 the ill-starred owners of Bushey Manor, and a few of 
 their immediate connections. The Duke of Exeter 
 and Richard II., sons of the lady of the manor, were 
 both put to death in Henry IV. 's reign, and Thomas 
 de Holland, lord of the manor, was murdered the 
 same year. Neville, Earl of Salisbury, whose wife 
 was lady of Bushey Manor, was beheaded at Wake- 
 field ; and so Britton runs through the melancholy 
 list, until he closes with Margaret Plantagenet, of 
 whose innocence there has for ages been no doubt. 
 
 The church stands very picturesquely by the road- 
 side, and is only not illustrated here from lack of 
 space. There is a noble elm before it, and a pond, 
 
I/O RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROV/. 
 
 and the combination of the group is very striking. 
 This church is built of flint and rubble work — a style 
 of masonry that seems to be almost perpetual, and it 
 is in excellent preservation. In the floor of the chancel 
 is a marble slab inscribed to " The Right Honourable 
 Lady Mary Howard, wife of Gilbert, Lord Barnard, 
 and daughter of Morgan Randyll, Esq. ;" and in the 
 churchyard is a monument to Mrs. Elizabeth Fuller, 
 of Watford Place, who founded the free school at 
 Watford town, and who, as we learn, was thrice 
 married, and outlived her third husband. The pointed 
 arch that opens from the tower into the nave of the 
 church is very well proportioned. It may be remarked 
 that if, instead of pursuing our journey, we turn to 
 the right, we shall have a charming walk past Caldicot 
 Hill and the reservoir, and as far as Elstree, from 
 which another turn towards the south will bring us 
 to Stanmore and Edgeware, and from there to the 
 Roman road which leads us to London. 
 
 All this district is believed to abound in Roman 
 antiquities, even to the present day. There can be 
 little doubt that Brockley Hill is the site of the ancient 
 Sulpnica. Britton hesitates to pronounce on this with 
 certainty, but now it is generally accepted as true. 
 Beautiful remains have been found of various Roman 
 
MIDDLESEX FOREST. 1 7 1 
 
 periods, and some bronzes of exquisite grace that were 
 
 discovered at the end of the last century are carefully 
 
 preserved yet. From Brockley to Pennywell the 
 
 principal part of the city seems to have lain, and the 
 
 relics that from time to time have appeared gave rise 
 
 to the distich : — 
 
 " No heart can see nor tongue can tell 
 What lies from Brockley to Pennywell." 
 
 How soon after the exotic civilisation of the Romans 
 the country relapsed into its former condition may be 
 learned from the pages of Matthew Paris, in his Life of 
 the Twelfth Abbot of St. Albans, wherein he describes 
 the woods between London and St. Albans as almost 
 impenetrable, and so infested by robbers and beasts of 
 prey — which, of course, can only mean wolves — that 
 the pilgrims who travelled along the Roman road 
 were exposed to considerable danger. This dreary 
 tract was called the " Forest of Middlesex " in after 
 years. In the twelfth century Fitz Stephen says that 
 " beyond the suburbs of the city, which afford cornfields, 
 pastures, and delightful meadows, an immense forest 
 extends itself, beautified with woods and groves, and 
 full of the lairs and coverts of beasts and game — stags, 
 bucks, boars, and wild bulls." In all this forest the 
 citizens had the right of free warren, but in the year 
 
172 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 I2i8 it was disforested. Perhaps, if we could see 
 some parts of Hampstea,d Heath as it was at the 
 beginning of the last century, we should have a slight 
 idea of " Middlesex Forest." All about here the land 
 rises and falls, and it may have afforded much cover 
 for the larger game. But we learn from Doomsday 
 Book that there were clearings and farmsteads in these 
 thickets, and some few' oases in the wilderness, which 
 was given to the Earl of Moreton, the half-brother of 
 the Conqueror. Near here, in a villa called. " The 
 Grove," Aaron Capadoce, a Jew, died in 1782, at the 
 very advanced age of 105. Stanmore Parva adjoins 
 this parish, and it is often called "Whitchurch." In 
 this parish was the celebrated palace of Canons, once 
 the residence of the Duke of Chandos. " It was," 
 says Britton, " the wonder of the existing age for its 
 splendour, and was in an equal degree the wonder of 
 the age succeeding, on account of its abrupt declension 
 and premature ruin." Three architects were employed 
 — Gibbs, James, and Sheppard. Traditions yet linger 
 about the magnificence of the pile, but one item that 
 is preserved suffices to indicate what it must have been. 
 The steps of the principal staircase were, we are as- 
 sured by the ever-accurate Britton, in one solid block 
 of marble, and each twenty-two feet in length. The 
 
CANONS. 173 
 
 palace was built for posterity, as the walls were twelve 
 feet in thickness below and nine above. The magni- 
 ficence of the Duke's establishment was in keeping 
 with the house, and he even affected the style of a 
 sovereign prince ; imitated a quondam royal custom of 
 dining in public, with flourishes of music to announce 
 the change of dishes, and when he went to chapel 
 was attended by a military guard. The total cost is 
 said to have exceeded a quarter of a million sterling ; 
 and when we consider that building of all kinds has 
 nearly doubled in the last twenty or twenty-five years, 
 we can form some idea of the magnificence of the pile. 
 Even decorations are more costly than when Canons 
 was built. Pope wrote a satire upon it, which caused 
 the Duke much pain. It appears in his Moral Essays, 
 
 Epistle iv. : — 
 
 " At Timon's villa let us pass a day. 
 Where all cry out, ' What sums are thrown away ! ' 
 So proud,' so grand ; of that stupendous air, 
 Soft and agreeable come never there. 
 Greatness with Timon dwells in such a draught 
 As brings all Brobdingnag before your thought. 
 To compass this his building is a town, 
 His pond an ocean, his parterre a down. 
 Who but must laugh the master when he sees, 
 A puny insect shivering at a breeze ! 
 Lo, what huge heaps of littleness around ! 
 The whole a laboured quarry above ground." 
 
174 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 The allusion to his parterre being like a down 
 
 doubtless arose from the circumstance that there was 
 
 no wall or fence to intercept the view, but all was 
 
 divided by a light iron railing. The chapel walls and 
 
 ceiling were decorated with saints by Verrio and 
 
 Laguerre, and hence Pope says again : — 
 
 " And now the chapel's silver bell you hear, 
 That summons you to all the pride of prayer ; 
 Light quirks of music, broken and uneven. 
 Make the soul dance upon a jig to heaven. 
 On painted ceilings you devoutly stare, 
 Where sprawl the saints of Verrio or Laguerre ; 
 Or gilded clouds in fair expansion lie, 
 And bring all Paradise before your eye. 
 To rest, the cushion and soft Dean invite. 
 Who never mentions hell to ears polite.'' 
 
 Pope regretted that he ever wrote this, and even 
 
 went so far as to say that he never intended it for 
 
 Canons : 
 
 " Who to the Dean and silver bell can swear. 
 And sees at Canons what was never there." 
 
 But nobody credited him. The Duke of Chandos was 
 a most amiable and charitable man, and Pope saw his 
 mistake, but all he could say or do was of no avail 
 with the public. It was commonly supposed that 
 Pope received a thousand pounds from the Duke as a 
 tribute to his literary worth, though this is not certain. 
 
CANONS. 175 
 
 At any rate Pope wrote an exculpatory letter, which 
 the Duke answered very magnanimously, though he 
 said that to have ridiculed his buildings might have 
 been indifferent in another man ; but from Pope, after 
 the mutual kindly feelings that had existed between 
 them, it was less excusable. The successor to the Duke 
 made several attempts to sell the place, but, not suc- 
 ceeding, he took it down and sold the materials at 
 auction in 1747. The great staircase was purchased 
 by Lord Chesterfield for his house at Mayfair, and Mr. 
 Hallet, a cabinetmaker, purchased the site, and built a 
 very excellent villa where the old mansion stood. 
 One entrance to this is from Edgeware, and another, 
 about a mile distant, is from Stanmore. Edgeware is 
 a long, straggling, dull village, eight miles from London, 
 on the Edgeware road, which commences at the west 
 end of Oxford Street, and leads past Maida Vale, St. 
 John's Wood, and Hendon. The ancient way of 
 spelling it was Eggeswere, and this continued to be the 
 received method until the reign of Henry VIIL, when 
 the present orthography was substituted. Near Edge- 
 ware is a small piece of land called Piper's Green, 
 which derived its name from a curious custom men- 
 tioned by Blackstone. The lord of the manor had to 
 provide either a piper or some other kind of musician 
 
176 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 to amuse his tenants when engaged on his service. 
 The inhabitants were apparently kept well up to the 
 mark in old times. Thus we read that in 1551 two 
 men were fined for playing cards and tables ; and a 
 few years later a man was fined for selling his ale at a 
 price the court considered too high, though to modern 
 ears three half-pints for a penny does not seem to in- 
 dicate any grave offence. In old times a hundred 
 acres of land at Edgeware were held on the service of 
 supplying a pair of gilt spurs, and fifty acres were 
 rented for a pound of cummin. 
 
 A little to the west of these parts is Harrow Weald, 
 and it retains its name still from its woody character, 
 weald in Saxon signifying wood. Wald, of course, is 
 the present German word for the same. The land all 
 about here is undulating, and at the northern extremity 
 of the weald is a spot of ground so much higher than 
 the other parts that it was at one time a landmark for 
 mariners who approached England from the German 
 Ocean ; and until very recently there were ancient 
 gnarled trees to be seen, that formed part of the great 
 Middlesex Forest. There is also an ancient earthwork 
 here, called Grimes's Dike, of which little is known, but 
 it is of great antiquity. Here there is also a very 
 comfortable and picturesque farmhouse, with three 
 
ox HEY. 
 
 177 
 
 gables and mullioned windows ; quite a model of an 
 old English homestead, with barns, and a Dutch oven. 
 If we continue our journey to the northward, we shall 
 arrive at Watford Heath, and at the end of this a 
 narrow stile leads us into a considerable district to 
 
 -^«a^»-sp'_ 
 
 FIELDS NEAR OXHKY. 
 
 which the name of Oxhey seems to apply. There is 
 Oxhey Lane, Oxhey Place, Oxhey Lodge, and Oxhey 
 Hall. All this district is singularly wild -looking for 
 any locality so near the metropolis, and the new fir 
 plantations almost seem to suggest the idea of a place 
 
 that was being for the first time enclosed. I was sur- 
 
 N 
 
,78 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 prised even to see a covey of partridges ; but whether 
 that was their home, or if they had sought it as a 
 
 OXHEV CHAPEL^ 
 
 refuge from the Purdys and Westley-Richardses, whose 
 "merits" they did not hold in as much estimation as 
 the patentees of such weapons would seem to do, I 
 cannot say. This district may be said to commence 
 
ox HEY CHURCH. 179 
 
 at Burnt Oak, just outside the earthwork alluded to, 
 and to extend for two miles into Hertfordshire ; and at 
 the extreme end is Oxhey Hall, which was formerly the 
 property of the Right Hon. W. H. Smith, a gentleman 
 to whom any one within a hundred miles of Charing 
 Cross is indebted for the luxury of a London paper at 
 breakfast time. But besides the literary contributor 
 who has done so much to make the early part of the 
 day enjoyable, Oxhey can boast of another benefactor 
 to the breakfast -table who may fairly divide the 
 honours with Mr. Smith. Oxhey Hall was purchased 
 by Mr. Blackwell, of the great firm of Crosse and 
 Blackwell ; and though he only occasionally resides 
 there, it is still his property. 
 
 The main line of the London and North -Western 
 Railway goes through Oxhey, and it is crossed by 
 several bridges. There are both cuttings and embank- 
 ments to adapt it to the irregular surface, and shortly 
 after leaving this part to go northwards is the celebrated 
 Watford Tunnel, which extends for more than a mile 
 in length. Oxhey is drained by several small brooks, 
 which are formed in the hollows and flow into the 
 Colne. 
 
 The church is a rather curious building embedded 
 in ivy, and it has no very particular architectural char- 
 
1 80 RAMBLES RO UND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 acter. Services are not held regularly there, nor is it 
 necessary that they should be. The living is vested in 
 
 THE COLNE. 
 
 the Right Hon. T. H. Sotheron-Escourt. It stands in 
 the park of Oxhey Hall before alluded to, and it has 
 been sometimes admired for its picturesqueness. Its 
 
THE RIVER COLNE. 
 
 situation is certainly very beautiful, and the trees 
 round it are very majestic. It is said that some of 
 the splendid tree studies that figure in J. D. Harding's 
 book, which is now so rare, were from examples at 
 Oxhey, and it almost seemed to me as if one or two 
 could be identified ; but he left no references behind 
 him by which to recognise the locality, and other places 
 besides Oxhey lay claim to some, at any rate, of the 
 matchless crayon drawings. 
 
 In the road shown at Oxhey that goes down a steep 
 hill, we see our old friend the river Colne again, and 
 very beautiful and interesting it is here. In June and 
 July there are banks where we can find the sand- 
 martens in great numbers feeding, and often have I 
 been interested in noticing their curious movements. 
 If we are still for a little, and keep at a short distance 
 away, we shall see them in little black knots, apparently 
 feeding on minute insects ; and all at once a group will 
 rise with a scream and fly to another bank, or else 
 skim the water and pick up the ephemerae that have in 
 an ill-starred moment touched the glassy surface and 
 run their little race. Sometimes, as if by a sudden 
 impulse, two or three will rise together from different 
 parts of the gathering, and fly away as if for the 
 pleasure of motion, and then return to the same spot, 
 
i82 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 occupying almost their old places. Sometimes, again, 
 the whole of the denizens will leave without notice, and 
 be succeeded by other birds of the same kind ; and 
 from the energy with which they commence proceed- 
 ings, one would think the bed had never been reaped 
 or gathered at all. The now comparatively rare bird, 
 the kingfisher, is occasionally seen here, and I saw two 
 of them almost flash over the waters of the Colne. 
 Perhaps there are only two English birds that have 
 equally bright plumage. 
 
 I do not know if there is a heronry in the neigh- 
 bourhood, but herons are not at all uncommon on the 
 Colne waters, and I noticed a curious habit with them. 
 Sometimes they will poise their long heavy beaks in 
 the air for a considerable time, as if to escape for a 
 little from the leverage ; but still their eyes are all there, 
 for they will suddenly seize a fish as if by lightning. 
 I had some further notes on this subject, but I find 
 them anticipated in a charming book on Wild Life in 
 a Southern County. Although the night seems the 
 heron's principal feeding-time, he frequently fishes in 
 the day. Generally his long neck enables him to see 
 danger, but not always. Several times I have come 
 right on a heron, when the banks of the brook were 
 high and the bushes thick, before he has seen me, so 
 
HERONS AND WATER-BIRDS. 183 
 
 as to be for the moment within five yards. His 
 clumsy terror is quite ludicrous : try how he will, he 
 cannot fly fast at starting ; he requires fifty yards to 
 get properly under weigh. What a contrast to the 
 swift snipe, that darts off at thirty miles an hour from 
 under your feet ! The long hanging legs, the out- 
 stretched neck, the wide wings and body, seem to 
 offer a mark which no one could possibly miss ; yet 
 with an ordinary gun and snipe shot I have seen a 
 heron get away safely like this more than once. You 
 can hear the shot rattle against him, and he utters a 
 strange, harsh, screeching " quaack," and works his 
 wings in mortal fright ; but presently he gets half-way 
 up to the clouds, and sails away in calm security. 
 
 At Watford is the noble institution known as the 
 London Orphan Asylum. It was instituted in the 
 year 181 3, for orphan boys and girls of respectable 
 parentage, who were left in the world unprovided for. 
 At the age of fifteen they leave their foster-home, and 
 are provided with situations. Some go out as clerks 
 in offices or warehouses, or in retail shops, and the 
 girls are generally sought after for pupil -teachers in 
 schools, or as governesses in private families. Children 
 are admitted between the ages of seven and eleven, 
 and are elected. The total expenditure of the institu- 
 
i84 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 tion is ^15,000 annually, and it is pleasant to be able 
 
 > 
 
 to say that the chapel, which is an excellent one, is the 
 gift of an old pupil : it was built at an expense of 
 ^5000. Near this place also is the Commercial 
 Travellers' School, a very well-designed block of build- 
 ings, and liberally supported by the class for whom 
 it was designed — a class that I have met with now 
 for many years in wanderings that have extended 
 over every English county, and a class from whom 
 I never received anything else than kindness and 
 civility, and to whom I am indebted for much and 
 valuable information. Watford, which formerly be- 
 longed to the Abbey of St. Albans, came into posses- 
 sion of Lord Chancellor Egerton, Baron Ellesmere, in 
 whose family it remained for some generations. The 
 celebrated Duke of Bridgewater was a representative 
 during the last century, and to his lot it fell to engage 
 the services of Brindley, the water engineer, to con- 
 struct the Bridgewater Canal — Brindley, who has had 
 no equal, perhaps hardly a second, recorded in history. 
 In 1760, when money had to be raised for the canal, 
 Watford was sold to the family of the Earl of Essex, 
 and with them it has remained till now. Watford 
 Church is a fine roomy building, that does not seem 
 to have suffered very severely from the hands of the 
 
WATFORD CHURCH. 185 
 
 restorer. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and has 
 the usual aisles, nave, chancel, and tower ; but its great 
 glory is the chantry chapel of the Morison family of 
 Cashiobury, now pertaining to the Essex family. In 
 beauty and dignity it almost may be said to rank with 
 the celebrated Beauchamp Chapel at Warwick. There 
 are two very noble monuments by Nicholas Stone, and 
 one even in Queen Elizabeth's time cost the enormous 
 sum of ;£^26o, which would represent three or four 
 thousand pounds of our money. The upper and 
 central parts of this splendid tomb consist of a pedi- 
 ment and canopy, resting on Corinthian columns, and 
 underneath is Sir Charles Morison finely sculptured in 
 white marble. He is represented in armour, with one 
 elbow on a cushion and the other on his sword. His 
 beard is of the Vandyck fashion, and the whole figure 
 is most characteristic of the Elizabethan period. At 
 each end, under a canopy of flowing drapery, is a 
 kneeling figure : one represents a son and the other a 
 daughter of Sir Charles. There is a long Latin inscrip- 
 tion, which is characteristic of the period, and which 
 enlarges, as was the custom, upon the many virtues of 
 the deceased. This tomb was erected by Sir Charles 
 Morison, his son, who in his turn has another and even 
 more beautiful and costly monument. It is similar in 
 
i88 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Lord Capel, of Hadham. The Capels were for long 
 seated at Stoke Nayland, in Suffolk, on Capel Manor ; 
 but in 1503 Sir William Capel had acquired consider- 
 able wealth in trade, and became Lord Mayor of 
 London. His wealth was sufficient to attract the 
 cupidity of Henry VH. and his servile tools, Empson 
 and Dudley, and he was mulcted in the sum of ;^2000 
 by the process of ready reckoning for which that 
 monarch was celebrated. The system of " Benevo- 
 lences " was reintroduced in this reign, and " a dilemma 
 of his favourite minister, which received the name of 
 Morton's fork, extracted gifts for the exchequer from 
 men who lived handsomely on the ground that their 
 wealth was manifest, and from those who lived plainly 
 on the score that their parsimony had made them 
 wealthy." When Capel refused to pay another sum of 
 ;^2000, he was imprisoned in the Tower until the death 
 of Henry VH. His son accompanied Henry VHL to 
 France, and appears to have been very skilful in deeds 
 of arms. Cashiobury Park, of which some notice will 
 appear later on, has always been in the hands of the 
 family till the present day. There is one singular 
 epitaph on a tablet of white marble on the south wall 
 of the nave, which was written by Dr. Johnson. 
 
WATFORD. 
 
 In the Vault below are deposited the Remains of 
 
 Jane Bell, Wife of John Bell, Esq., 
 
 Who, in the fifty-third year of her Age, 
 
 Surrounded him with many worldly Blessings, 
 
 Heard, with Fortitude and Composure truly great. 
 
 The horrible Malady which had for some time begun to afflict her. 
 
 Pronounced Incurable ; 
 
 And for more than three years 
 
 Endured with patience, and concealed with Decency, 
 
 The daily tortures of gradual death ; 
 
 Continued to divide the Hours not allotted to Devotion 
 
 Between the Cares of her Family and the Converse of her Friends ; 
 
 Rewarded the Attendance of Duty, 
 
 And acknowledged the Offices of Affection ; 
 
 And while she endeavoured to alleviate, by Cheerfulness, 
 
 Her Husband's Sufferings and Sorrows, 
 
 Encreased them by her Gratitude for his Care 
 
 And her Solicitude for his Quiet. 
 
 To the Memory of these Virtues, 
 
 More highly honoured as more familiarly known. 
 
 This Monument is erected by 
 
 John Bell. 
 
 Watford is now a favourite resort for London men 
 of business who are not tied very rigidly to hours, and 
 who can, in their half- hour's ride, read the morning's 
 news. It lies literally embedded in ancestral parks, 
 through which a public road is always allowed, and it 
 is one of the most charming districts within easy reach 
 of the Metropolis. Much taste is displayed in many 
 of the residences, and some of them are surrounded 
 with grounds of considerable beauty. 
 
igo RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Watford — Market Gardens about Watford — Parks and their uses — 
 Cashiobury — Verses by Lord Arthur Capel, written in the Tower — 
 Water-mill at Cashiobury— Rickmansworth — Sir John Fotherly and 
 his tragic end — Stone Crosses — Moor Park and its owners. 
 
 Watford, according to Mr. House of Culham College, 
 derives its name partly from Watling Street and partly 
 from a ford over the Colne, and it carries on a rather 
 large trade ; the local requirements also are very con- 
 siderable, as the easy access to London has made it a 
 favourite resort of the wealthier classes whose avoca- 
 tions lie in the metropolis. There are some iron 
 foundries in it, and one or two picturesque paper-mills. 
 Silk also is manufactured at some mills here ; and it has 
 often occurred to me that cottagers might greatly 
 increase their resources by keeping silkworms. They 
 are easily attended to, and produce a certain crop. 
 
 The French have long been alive to the value of 
 silkworm culture, and the industry which so characterises 
 
WATFORD. 
 
 191 
 
 the peasantry of that country, and enables them to 
 send eggs and poultry to England, also enables them 
 to supply us with silk ; and so the mills on the Colne 
 might be the means of greatly increasing the income 
 
 of the rustic population. The mulberry, on which the 
 silkworms feed, is a hardy plant, which, though it grows 
 in the tropics, will also resist the cold of the Hebrides ; 
 and though silkworms will readily devour lettuce- 
 leaves, mulberry is their very best food, and that, too, 
 which produces the best silk. This is not the place 
 to enter upon the culture of these little creatures, but, 
 
192 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 in a word, it is work for which women and children 
 are peculiarly adapted, and cocoons might easily be 
 raised along the rooms of a farmhouse, where they 
 would be out of the way, and bring in a handsome 
 return. 
 
 But the most interesting industry in this part of 
 Hertfordshire is the fruit-cultivation. The apple and 
 cherry orchards have no superiors in England, and the 
 loose soil is admirably adapted for the production of 
 early vegetables ; indeed, some of those that we see in 
 gardens round Watford are the finest that are sent to 
 Covent Garden. The straw -platting has declined 
 here, and has removed to Rickmansworth and other 
 centres. We notice but few sheep and oxen, but the 
 reason is that the grass land is principally used for 
 raising hay, and not for pasturage. Very little land is 
 allowed to lie waste, and the facility with which the 
 best market in England can be reached has always 
 made agriculture a profitable occupation. Malting is 
 carried on to a considerable extent, and the country 
 ale is said to be very excellent — a verdict which, if the 
 judgment of the writer were worth recording on such 
 a subject, he would readily confirm. In no part of 
 England does wall- fruit attain greater perfection than in 
 the southern part of this county, and in a favourable 
 
PARK LANDS. i93 
 
 year the magnum bonum plums and apricots and 
 nectarines are a perfect show along the garden walls. 
 The grapes and fig gardens, however, that flourished 
 during the palmy days of St. Albans Abbey, have 
 given way to other and perhaps more indigenous fruit. 
 
 The very largest parsley in England is grown in 
 some of the gardens of Watford, though, when the 
 plants are taken to other soil, they begin to deteriorate 
 in size and strength. It is perhaps to be regretted 
 that grapes have ceased to be cultivated, as the soil is 
 so admirably adapted for them, and resembles the 
 beds of Rudesheim, and other good vineyards. 
 
 From Watford begins a succession of parks and 
 great country seats, and the lanes are hardly equalled 
 for rich sylvan beauty in any part of England. If we 
 take a parallelogram from Hatfield to Rickmansworth, 
 six miles broad — which would be, in other words, a 
 rectangle of fourteen miles by six — we should include 
 no fewer than five noble seats, whose joint grounds 
 would cover eight square miles ; and when we re- 
 member that a sufferance road lies through the middle 
 of four of these, we can understand the sylvan delights 
 we may expect. Nor can I ever understand the feelings 
 that prompt people to call these wasted lands. Plough 
 up Stonehenge, and the hundreds of thousands of acres 
 
 O 
 
194 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 of waste lands, and rich marshes and commons, before 
 doing so, and even then it is doubtful if these parks 
 are not as productive as any agricultural land. New 
 varieties of fruit, and new varieties of every kind of 
 - ^ ,,- ^^ - -^^ vegetable, are hus- 
 
 banded and perfected ; 
 wealth and care and 
 seclusion are all at 
 command for them ; 
 and the results, when 
 they are useful, soon 
 find their way into 
 the public service ; so 
 that, with improved 
 seeds and roots, a 
 cottager's plot may 
 yield nearly as much 
 produce again as it 
 did half a century 
 ago. And when we 
 come to the item of live stock, the benefit is still 
 greater. In the days of our ancestors, the kine of 
 England were lean and ill-favoured ; we should not 
 see the like " in all the land for badness : " but now all 
 is changed, and the cattle of even small farmers " are 
 
 WATFORD CHURCH. 
 
PARKS. 195 
 
 well-favoured and fat-fleshed." The sheep also of our 
 ancestors were hardly better than the mountain flocks 
 of the remotest parts of the island, but now they have 
 been transformed just as completely in their quality as 
 the cattle have ; and as for poultry, their improvement 
 in size and in productiveness is quite as conspicuous. Of 
 course the changes spoken of are for the most part per- 
 fected in what is called the Hall Farm, but it is absurd 
 to suppose the parks themselves are unproductive. 
 The herds of clean, shapely cattle that we see in them, 
 sheltering from the summer sun under spreading elms 
 or beeches, find their way to Leadenhall, and indeed 
 to the principal markets of England, according to the 
 county they are situated in. The same of the sheep. 
 And even the deer are not useless cumberers of the 
 ground; they too, in their measure, add to the food of 
 the country. As for the other uses of such parks as we 
 are considering — especially if the public have a road 
 through them, which is the rule, and certainly not the 
 exception — the advantages are great indeed. Gilpin, 
 in his Forest Scenery, says: "It is no exaggerated 
 praise to call a tree the grandest and most beautiful of 
 all the productions of the earth. In the former of 
 these epithets nothing contends with it, for we consider 
 rocks and mountains as part of the earth itself ; and 
 
196 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 though among inferior plants, shrubs, and flowers there 
 is great beauty, yet, when we consider that these minuter 
 productions are chiefly beautiful as individuals, and are 
 not adapted to form the arrangements of composition 
 in landscape, nor to receive the effect of light and 
 shade, they must give place in point of beauty — of 
 picturesque beauty, at least, which we are here con- 
 sidering — to the form, foliage, and ramification of a 
 tree." All this is just, and well told ; and we may go 
 even further, and say that the private parks within 
 reach of Harrow and London have cheered and 
 helped many a sojourner in the metropolis, when he 
 has sought their delights at the end of a summer's day, 
 and allowed his faculties to revive and expand for 
 another struggle in the battle of life. In speaking of 
 fine parks it is not, however, to be understood that 
 these are all or nearly all of the country residences in 
 the vicinity. Round Aldenham especially are many 
 mansions and parks, and there are many neatly-kept 
 grounds that are seen from the road all the way from 
 Watford Station to Hemel Hempstead. Cashiobury 
 Park, which commences at Watford, is, like the others 
 in the neighbourhood, splendidly wooded ; the hall 
 stands on the site of a more ancient one that was 
 demolished in the first part of the present century. 
 
CASHIOBURY. i97 
 
 There is, I believe, no drawing of the old one pre- 
 served. The present building is the work of Wyatt, 
 and it is very characteristic of the man. Had he 
 lived when Gothic principles were better understood, 
 he would not have put up so dreary a pile ; but his 
 best efforts were in classic architecture. The house is 
 built round a quadrangle court, and exposes a front of 
 ten windows wide to the broad lands of the park. 
 The front is feeble and unpleasant, but the arrange- 
 ments internally are on a noble scale. At one side of 
 the house is an elm tree of great beauty, and on the 
 other, a little in front, is a cedar of Lebanon of grand 
 proportions. There are many well-known pictures in 
 the gallery, which have become familiar to all the 
 world through engravings ; and is it not delightful to 
 think that ancestral homes are so often the luxurious 
 resting-places of pictures that are secure from danger, 
 and speak yet from their canvas ? But as far as the 
 exterior of Cashiobury is concerned, there is little that 
 would accord with our present notions of Tudor archi- 
 tecture. The adaptation of sash-windows to Gothic 
 heads is not, and cannot be, successful. Sash-windows 
 are themselves not only the most clumsy of all modern 
 contrivances, and the most signally inconvenient, but 
 they must mar the symmetry of a Tudor window. 
 
198 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 which is intended only for shapely, handy casements. 
 Wyatt showed an early aptitude for art, and Lord 
 Bagot was at the cost of sending him to Italy to study. 
 The Pantheon in Oxford Street seems to have been 
 the crowning-piece of his fame and fortune, and on the 
 death of Sir William Chambers he was appointed Sur- 
 veyor to the Board of Works. 
 
 Lord Arthur Capel, the only son and heir of Sir 
 Henry Capel, had an eventful career. He was noted 
 for his hospitality and his many charities, and was 
 chosen to represent Hertford in Parliament. At the 
 breaking out of the Civil War, he supported the 
 Parliament, and voted for the execution of Strafford ; 
 but he seems to have turned round, and raised a troop 
 for the King. He fought with great valour, but finally 
 had to capitulate, and retired to his estate at Hadham, 
 and in Hadham Church is his monument. Unhappily 
 for himself, he ventured to try his success again, and 
 was compelled to surrender to Fairfax. Sir Charles 
 Lucas and Sir George Lisle were shot, and the Lord 
 of Cashiobury committed to the Tower. It is said 
 that some angry speeches between him and Ireton 
 sealed his fate. But however true this may be, he was 
 brought to trial, and condemned for heading another 
 outbreak of Royalists. He was sentenced to be hung. 
 
LORD CAP EL. 199 
 
 drawn, and quartered ; but this shocking sentence was 
 commuted to beheading, and he met his end with the 
 same valour that he had shown through his eventful 
 life. Some verses that he wrote in the Tower found 
 their way into the Gentleman's Magazine of 1757, and 
 they are deservedly admired : — 
 
 " That which the world miscalls a jail 
 A private closet is to me. 
 Whilst a good conscience is my bail, 
 i^nd innocence my liberty. 
 Locks, bars, and solitude together met 
 Make me no prisoner, but an anchoret. 
 
 " Where sin for want of food must starve. 
 Where tempting objects are not seen, 
 And these strong walls do only serve 
 To keep rogues out and keep me in — 
 Mahce is now grown charitable sure, 
 I'm not committed, but I'm kept secure. 
 
 " I'm in this cabinet locked up, 
 Like some high-prized margarite. 
 Or like some great mogul or pope 
 I'm cloistered up from public sight, 
 Retir'dness is a part of majesty, 
 And thus, proud Sultan, I'm as great as thee. 
 
 " These manacles upon mine arm 
 I as my mistress' favours wear, 
 And for to keep my ankles warm 
 I have some iron shackes there. 
 These walls are but my garrison, this cell 
 Which men call jail, doth prove my citadel. 
 
200 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 " Although I cannot see my King, 
 Neither in person or in coin, 
 Yet contemplation is a thing 
 That renders what I have not, mine : 
 My King from me no adamant can part, 
 Whom I do wear engraven in my heart. 
 
 " Have you not heard the nightingale 
 A prisoner close kept in a cage, 
 How she doth chant her wonted tale 
 In that her narrow hermitage ? 
 Even that her melody doth plainly prove 
 Her boughs are trees, her cage a pleasant grove.'' 
 
 After his death, it was discovered that he had left a 
 request in his papers that his heart should be buried 
 near the King's, and it was finally deposited at his 
 estate at Hadham. The history of his son Arthur is 
 even more dramatic. The estates of Cashiobury were 
 sequestrated, but after the restoration of Charles II. 
 they were again returned to him. He filled many 
 high offices with ability and with credit, and was one 
 of those concerned in what is commonly called the 
 "Rye House Plot;" and though he had opportunities 
 of escape offered, he preferred to remain in prison and 
 share the fortunes of his friend Lord Russell, fearing 
 that his flight might injure his cause. He was found 
 dead in prison, and some attempt was made to show 
 that he fell by his own hand, but this was not credited 
 at the time. 
 
MILL AT CASHIOBURY. 
 
CASHIOBURY MILL. 
 
 The water-mill at Cashiobury, which forms the sub- 
 ject of the opposite plate, is very beautiful. It would 
 seem, indeed, to have fallen into disuse, and to be re- 
 tained simply for its picturesqueness : and it would be 
 well if similar consideration were shown to other objects, 
 where not actually in the way, that they might con- 
 tinue to delight the passer-by. A valuable collection 
 of drawings or lithographs might easily be made of 
 water-mills in different parts of England and Wales: I can 
 recall several, perhaps nearly a dozen, that I remember 
 to have seen during midsummer holidays, when, as a 
 boy, it was my delight to take a knapsack, and wander 
 without any direct aim — except, perhaps, to reach a 
 trout stream — wherever fate or fancy led the way ; 
 and though that is many years ago, I can hardly join 
 in the reminiscences of those who say that once the 
 sun shone more brightly, and the larks and thrushes 
 were more musical. Watford Mill is of considerable 
 antiquity, and resembles the beautiful one in Gresford 
 Vale, near Llangollen. The latter is more ancient, 
 and is one of the few black-and-white ones that are 
 left in the country. The road through Cashiobury 
 Park is quite free, and the mill is reached easily from 
 the Watford Lodge by keeping to the left after a few 
 minutes' walk from the Lodge gates. If we take the 
 
202 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 canal bank through Cashiobury, and proceed in a 
 
 northerly direction, we shall arrive at another mill on a 
 
 much larger scale. It is also very picturesque and 
 
 pleasant, and much of its charm in summer weather is 
 
 owing to the volume of clear water that we see flowing 
 
 past, and which never seems to fail : — 
 
 " Though deep, yet clear ; though gentle, yet not dull ; 
 Strong, without rage; without o'erflowing, full." 
 
 The road which we shall arrive at is the delightful lane 
 which separates Cashiobury from Grove Park, the seat 
 of the Earl of Clarendon ; and if at the end of a ten 
 or twelve minutes' walk we take the lane on the left, 
 we shall arrive at five lane ends, of which the most 
 southerly takes us past Chandler's Cross and Red 
 Heath, and through Croxley Green to the old-fashioned 
 town of Rickmansworth, which is very well worth a 
 visit as a specimen of a small market centre. It is on 
 low marshy lands that lie near the confluence of the 
 Gade and the Colne, and these rivers have between 
 them five channels as they pass the town, but reunite 
 outside. There are many curious and interesting 
 associations with Rickmansworth, which formerly be- 
 longed to the Abbey of St. Albans, and is noticed in 
 Dugdale as part of the vast possessions of that estab- 
 lishment. We read of what seems a small privilege in 
 
RICKMANSWORTH. 203 
 
 these days — a weekly market, which, though any 
 village may now enjoy it, on its own responsibility, 
 and without let or hindrance, seems, by a singular 
 anomaly, to be hedged about with pains and penalties 
 when the metropolis of Great Britain — the largest 
 market, without any exception, in the world — is con- 
 cerned ; though, indeed, it would almost seem that 
 Londoners should claim the iirst relief. The manor of 
 Rickmansworth belonged to Ridley, Bishop of London, 
 who went to the stake with Latimer ; and by a singular 
 freak of fortune it was afterwards conferred upon 
 Bonner, who, whatever attempts may have been made 
 to whitewash him, was at least a bitter persecutor, 
 though it would be unjust to say that he was as dead 
 to every feeling of human kindness as was Gardiner. 
 The old records of Rickmansworth abound with 
 curious interest, for on the death of Bonner it reverted 
 to the Crown, and it was sold, or perhaps mortgaged, 
 to Sir John Fotherly, whose son was the high sheriff of 
 the county in the reign of Charles .11. His end was a 
 tragic one indeed, for he happened to visit Jamaica with 
 his only daughter, and they were both engulfed in the 
 terrible earthquake which, in the reign of William III., 
 spread disaster over nearly all the island ; and then 
 the manor, which had lapsed, became the property of 
 
204 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Mr. Fotherly Whitfield, the nephew of this gentleman. 
 The church is a plain and roomy building, and consists 
 of the usual appliances to an ecclesiastical edifice : 
 nave, aisles, chancel, and a handsome embattled tower 
 of hewn flints at the west end. This style of building 
 in flint is always local, and it would seem to be quite 
 indestructible ; walls stand as firmly and are as "plumb" 
 as they were the day they were built. The interior of 
 Rickmansworth Church is also very interesting from 
 the number of monumental stones it contains. On 
 one is, " Here lyes in hope of a joyful! resurrection, ye 
 Body of ye Rt. Honourable Henry Gary, Baron of 
 Lepington, Earl of Monmouth (sone of Robert, Earl of 
 Monmouth, and Elizabeth Trevanian, his wife, wh. 
 Robert was ye loth sone of Henry, Baron of Huns- 
 don). He died ye 17th day of June, An°- Dn^- 1661, 
 aged 65 years. He was married 41 years to the Lady 
 May Cranfield, eldest daughter of Lionell, Earle of 
 Middlesex, and had by her 10 children, two sonnes 
 and eight daughters, viz.; Lionell the eldest (never 
 married), was slayn Anno Dn'- 1664 at Marston Moor 
 fight in his Ma^^^^- service, and Henry who died of 
 y= small pox, An°- Dn'- 1649, and lyes interred at the 
 Savoye. He left no issue but one sonne, since deceased, 
 also y^ last heir male of this Earle's familie." . . . This 
 
MOOR PARK. 
 
 205 
 
 is only half of the inscription, and it is given here 
 merely as a most characteristic specimen of the monu- 
 mental records of the period, which in many cases 
 would seem almost to have been expected to answer 
 for reference where 
 records in church 
 folios were so loosely 
 made and loosely 
 kept. 
 
 Close to Rick- 
 mansworth lies the 
 entrance to Moor 
 Park, which was also 
 anciently a parcel of 
 the over- spreading 
 Abbey of St. Albans ; 
 and we cannot suffi- 
 ciently regret the 
 destruction of a 
 monument that lay, 
 indeed, a little out of our radius, but was worthy, it 
 is said, of the wealthiest abbey in England, and that 
 is, the Eleanor Cross, that stood a few miles to the 
 north of Watford, and near the vast Abbey Church of 
 St. Peter's. It is by no means improbable that portions 
 
 MOOR PARK. 
 
2o6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 of this are buried, and now exist, and that at some 
 future time they may be discovered in an unlikely or 
 likely place, and joined together again. It was my 
 lot to be employed in writing an account of the stone 
 crosses of England some few years ago, and especially 
 did the Eleanor ones claim attention for their unrivalled 
 beauty ; though three only remain, it seemed a certainty 
 that the nine others are not all destroyed ; and since 
 writing these accounts, no less than three carved crosses 
 have been unearthed in different parts of England, and 
 sketches sent to me. None of them, of course, were 
 Eleanor ones, but it is very probable that if we could 
 know what lies only a few feet under the ground, the 
 excursionists from Harrow would find another cross 
 besides Waltham within their easy reach, and that 
 possibly a finer one. Some of the tenants of the 
 Abbot of St. Albans, who held the manor by service, 
 seem to have been rather of the Land-League fraternity, 
 and entered unreasonable objections : thus one Fleete 
 refused either to pay quit rents or to perform the 
 covenanted services ; though, indeed, one was only to 
 find a nag -horse to carry the Abbot, or any of his 
 successors, to Tynemouth whenever they should visit 
 that cell ; and if we consider the time this would have 
 occupied, and the great inconvenience in those days, 
 we cannot think the exaction very extortionate. 
 
MOOR PARK. 
 
 207 
 
 Ralph de Boteler, the Lord of Sudfeley, who is the 
 
 MOOR PARK. 
 
 zl:'_ 
 
 hero of a somewhat romantic ballad, was the next 
 owner, and among subsequent possessors was George 
 
2o8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Neville, Archbishop of York, a brother of the great 
 Earl of Warwick, who, according to Godwin, built a 
 house here, long since demolished. Edward IV. was 
 often entertained here, and a curious tale is told by 
 Godwin as occurring shortly before the defeat and death 
 of his brother : — 
 
 " The archbishop was hunting with the king at 
 Windsor, when he made relation to him of some 
 extraordinary kind of game wherewith he was wont 
 to solace himself at a house which he had built, and 
 furnished sumptuously, called the Moor, in Hertford- 
 shire. The king seeming desirous to be a partaker 
 of this sport, appointed a day when he would come 
 hither and hunt, and make merry with him. There- 
 upon the archbishop, taking his leave, got him home, 
 and thinking to entertain the king in the best manner 
 possible for him, he sent for much plate that he had 
 hid during the wars, and also borrowed much of his 
 friends. The deer which the king hunted with being 
 thus brought into the toils, the day before his appointed 
 time he sent for the archbishop, commanding him, all 
 excuses set apart, to repair presently to him at Windsor. 
 As soon as he came, he was arrested of treason ; all 
 his money, plate, and moveables to the value of 
 ;^2 0,000 seized upon for the king, and he himself a 
 
MOOR PARK. 209 
 
 long space after was kept prisoner at Calais and 
 Guisnes : during which time, the king took upon him- 
 self all the profits and temporalities of the bishopric. 
 Among other things then taken from him, he had a 
 mitre of inestimable value, by reason of many rich 
 stones wherewith it was adorned ; that the king broke, 
 and made thereof a crown for himself." Henry, in his 
 History of Great Britain, vol. ix. p. 203, records that 
 as Edward was dining one day with the archbishop, he 
 was privately informed that he was that day to be put 
 to death, on which he immediately rose, and departed 
 to Windsor. 
 
 The history of Moor Park is extremely interesting, 
 and, indeed, it is connected with many events in history. 
 Formerly it belonged to the Duke of Monmouth, 
 having been purchased by him from the Earl of Ossory. 
 He was, it is curious to note, one of three scions of 
 the House of Stuart, who, within a period of ninety- 
 eight years, met with death by the hand of the public 
 executioner. Without going through the lists of each 
 proprietor, it is interesting to know that at one time 
 Moor Park was purchased by Lord Anson, after his 
 return from the Ladrones, of which islands he has left 
 so charming an account. He would have little difficulty 
 in purchasing the estate after the prize-money that 
 
2IO RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 he took from the Spanish treasure-ship which he inter- 
 cepted, when thirty -two waggons, well escorted, were 
 required to bring the spoil from Spithead to London. 
 Moor Park belonged also to Sir Lawrence Dundas at 
 one time, and again to Mr. Robert Williams, the eminent 
 London banker, and now is owned by Lord Ebury, 
 whose name has been so often before the public as a 
 philanthropist, and who is an uncle of the present Duke 
 of Westminster. 
 
 Formerly there was a hill before the house, but this 
 was levelled by one of the proprietors of the mansion 
 who had acquired an immense fortune through a judi- 
 cious sale of shares in the South Sea Scheme. Pope, in 
 his Moral Essays, alludes to this circumstance : 
 
 " Or cut wide views through mountains to the plain, 
 You'd wish your hill a sheltered seat again. " 
 
 " This,'' Pope observed in a note, " was done in Hert- 
 fordshire by a wealthy citizen, by which means, merely 
 to overlook a dead plain, he let in the north wind upon 
 his house and parterre, which were before adorned and 
 defended by beautiful woods." Upon this note Britton 
 observes with great justness, " Satirists are generally 
 more severe than just, and Pope is not an exception ; 
 his dead plain conveys an idea of sterility and loneli- 
 ness, which the prospect itself belies. It opens rather 
 
MOOR PARK. 
 
 upon a fertile vale animated by the meanderings of 
 
 the Gade and Colne rivers, and rendered beautiful by 
 
 a luxuriance of verdure, intermingled with noble seats, 
 
 villages, and farmhouses, together with the towns of 
 
 Rickmansworth and Watford." Mr. Styles, the fortunate 
 
 seller -out of South Sea stock, it was who built the 
 
 present mansion, and he employed for the purpose the 
 
 then celebrated architect, Giacomo Leonl, a Venetian 
 
 architect, who was formerly in the service of the Elector 
 
 Palatine of Germany, He settled in England, and 
 
 wrote a very excellent edition of Palladio in 1 742, and 
 
 was employed by Mr. Styles for the building of Moor 
 
 Park. The house, as the Duke of Monmouth left it, 
 
 was a brick building, though of no inconsiderable 
 
 dimensions. Sir James Thornhill painted the saloon, 
 
 and acted as surveyor for the building. His paintings 
 
 are a good example of the pseudo- classic taste of the 
 
 period. In the hall are paintings to represent the 
 
 story of lo and Argus as told by Ovid in the first 
 
 book of the Metamorphoses, even to the last scene 
 
 where Mercury appears to cut off the head of Argus : — 
 
 " Without delay his crooked falchion drew, 
 And at one fatal stroke the keeper slew, 
 And all his hundred eyes with all their light 
 Are closed at once in one perpetual night : 
 These Juno takes, that they no more may fail, 
 And spreads them in her peacock's- gaudy tail." 
 
212 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Some doubt is expressed as to the actual artist, but it 
 is much in Thornhill's style. The cost of the building 
 was iTi 50,000, and the carriage of stone from London 
 amounted to the enormous sum of ;^ 14,000. But 
 other, and almost equally extravagant, sums were 
 afterwards spent upon this place by Lord Anson and 
 Sir Lawrence Dundas. Mr. Rous, an East Indian 
 director, had possession for a short time, but his means 
 were not equal to the strain of keeping up such a 
 great estate, and he pulled down the wings to sell the 
 building materials ! He had hoped to be a member 
 of the Board of Control under Mr. Fox's celebrated 
 Indian Bill, but he was doomed to disappointment. 
 In the west wing which he pulled down lay the bodies 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Styles. They were buried in the 
 magnificent chapel, and now they lie under a grass 
 plot at the west end of the house. One of the wings 
 pulled down contained the chapel, and the other the 
 offices, and they were united with the main building 
 by a fine Tuscan colonnade. The central part of this 
 mansion was, however, untouched, and it forms one of 
 the finest seats in Hertfordshire. The saloon, the 
 library, and the ball-room or long drawing-room are 
 all on a grand scale, and the author of the Beauties of 
 Englatid and Wales very simply says of the ceiling of 
 
MONMOUTH OAKS. 213 
 
 the latter : " It was one of the finest works of Sir 
 James Thornhill, but was copied from one of Guido's 
 at the Respigliari palace. Sir James was paid ;^3SOO 
 for executing it, but not until he had established its 
 value by the testimony of some of the most celebrated 
 artists in a court of justice." The park is extremely 
 beautiful, and if a nightingale is to be heard anywhere 
 it is there. It is said that the oak trees have begun 
 to fade and decay from the top, and this would give 
 credence to the generally received belief that the 
 Duchess of Monmouth, after her husband's execution, 
 caused the tops of all the oaks in the park to be cut 
 off. Lord Anson destroyed the pleasure-ground so 
 much praised by Sir William Temple, and laid out the 
 present one, and his planting of foreign trees and shrubs 
 greatly enriches the beauty of the park. The kitchen 
 garden also was not neglected, and here the far-famed 
 " Moor Park apricot" was perfected. Brown, commonly 
 known as " Capability Brown," was the surveyor em- 
 ployed by Lord Anson to effect the improvements, and 
 it is probable that they will rank among his best 
 works. 
 
214 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Grove Park — Lord Clarendon's Picture Gallery — King's Langley — King's 
 Evil — Abbot's Langley — Brakespear, the only Englishman -viho was 
 ever Pope of Rome : His Character and Career — Splendid View from 
 Abbot's Langley. 
 
 A PLEASANT, shady lane divides Cashiobury from 
 Grove Park, which is situated about seven miles in a 
 direct line from Harrow, on the Heme! Hempstead 
 ■road, so that the many broad acres that are covered by 
 the grounds of the two residences are almost contiguous. 
 The lodge is at the corner of the lane, and no exception 
 is taken to any one walking through to enjoy one of 
 the most beautiful scenes that all the parks in this 
 charming district can offer. The road slopes down to 
 a bridge over the Colne, which runs through the grounds, 
 and herds of deer are either resting under the shade of 
 beeches and elms, or gazing with surprised eyes at the 
 passer-by. Perhaps the road that is spoken of is un- 
 surpassed in beauty by any in either Cashiobury or 
 
GROVE PARK FARM. 
 
 215 
 
 Moor Park. The grounds of Grove Park are some 
 three miles in circumference, and they enclose, among 
 other objects of interest, a very successful farm, which 
 was laid out and conducted with great sagacity by the 
 great-uncle of the present proprietor when he enjoyed 
 
 GROVE PARK. 
 
 the estates and dignities. "The quantity of land 
 which his lordship has now in cultivation includes 
 about 600 acres, and, as the prevailing soil is a sharp 
 gravel, the skill and industry necessary to render it 
 productive must be of a superior description. On this 
 farm about 100 acres are every year laid in artificial 
 
2 1 6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARRO W. 
 
 grasses, which remain for feeding and cutting for three 
 years, in which time, from live stock — particularly 
 sheep — being kept upon them, they are so well dressed 
 that on breaking them up at the expiration of that 
 period three good crops of corn are taken from them 
 in succession, without any other dressing, providing the 
 seasons are favourable. The rotation is generally oats, 
 wheat, and barley ; but this is sometimes varied by 
 the introduction of peas. By pursuing this system, 
 the other parts of the land can be dressed more 
 highly, and a greater number of sheep is admitted to 
 be kept, », 
 
 " In the management of the sheep stock his lord- 
 ship generally purchases the best Ryeland ewes that 
 can be procured, about Michaelmas, or sometimes 
 sooner: to these a large -sized Leicester is added, and 
 sometimes another, but always a well -shaped animal. 
 The ewes commonly cost from twenty-five to twenty- 
 seven shillings a head, the lamb sells for at least the 
 prime cost of the ewe, and the ewe fattens at the same 
 time, and both are sold within the year for not less 
 than thirty shillings. 
 
 "His lordship's stock of deer is generally from 350 
 to 400, and of these a few brace are annually fattened 
 for sale. 
 
GROVE PICTURE GALLERY. 217 
 
 " Considerable attention is also given to poultry ; 
 and geese, turkeys, guinea-fowls, ducks, etc., are bred 
 here in abundance. A complete carpenter's yard 
 forms part of the farming establishment, and the whole 
 is conducted with the greatest liberality and judgment." 
 
 This is the account of a contemporary, and was 
 written in the very early part of the present century, 
 but it is a faithful comment upon what has been 
 already said of the utility of private parks ; and 
 indeed the management of the farm as here described 
 is a just picture of a well-conducted one, even with 
 our present knowledge. But the glory of " The Grove " 
 is its picture gallery, which was in part brought away 
 from Cornbury, the ancient seat of the Earls of Clar- 
 endon, and now the residence of Lord Churchill, who 
 is some descendant of the great Marlborough, and 
 whose family was raised to the peerage in 1815. On 
 the walls of the Grove we see through suites of rooms 
 men who have left their names and their mark in 
 English history, and their lineaments are almost as vivid 
 as they were when they were iirst portrayed. Vandyck, 
 Lely, Carl Janssen, are all well represented here, and 
 indeed this magnificent collection of portraits is almost 
 as interesting to a picture-collector as to a historian. 
 Of course the most interesting of all the portraits is 
 
2i8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 that of the Lord Chancellor, from whom the present 
 family derive their title, and who, as Granger says, 
 " was of too subtle a nature for the age of Charles the 
 Second. Could he have been content to enslave 
 millions, he might have been more a monarch than 
 that unprincely king ; but he did not only look upon 
 himself as the guardian of the laws and liberties of his 
 country, but had a pride in his nature that was above 
 vice, and chose rather to be a victim himself than to 
 sacrifice his integrity. He had only one part to act, 
 and that was of an honest man ; and he was a much 
 greater, perhaps a happier, man, alone and in exile, 
 than Charles II. upon his throne." The portrait is a 
 very noble one, and full of dignity. There are also 
 other chancellors in the collection, such as Lord Cot- 
 tington, who held the seals under Charles I., and 
 Chancellor Wareham, who was Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury and Lord Chancellor at the same time — almost 
 corresponding in kind with the prince-bishops of the 
 Continent, — but the mixture of trusts was quite usual 
 in the Middle Ages. It might be puzzling to the 
 reader of Shakespeare to understand all at once the 
 dialogue between Falstaff and the Lord Chief Justice 
 which occurs in the second part of Henry IV. Fal- 
 staff's ready wit is far too much for the Chief Justice, 
 
CHANCELLOR'S OFFICE. 219 
 
 even though the latter was as able a man as Gascoigne ; 
 but when he says, " Will your lordship lend me a 
 thousand pounds to furnish me forth ? " it would seem 
 a most unreasonable request. A thousand pounds 
 would equal at least fifteen times such a sum now, 
 and, even if the security were all that Lombard Street 
 could desire, a Chief Justice is not a money-lender. 
 This was not, however, the plea for declining at all. 
 " Not a penny, not a penny ; you are too impatient to 
 bear crosses. Fare you well." He could, however, 
 quite easily have complied with Falstaff's request, as 
 he had by virtue of his office the control of the 
 resources of the Treasury. 
 
 The origin of the Chancellor's office forms also a 
 natural subject for reflection as we look over the grand 
 collection of portraits at the Grove, but it seems to be 
 lost in puzzles. The Conqueror brought his chaplain 
 with him into England and made him the head of a 
 college of notaries, who seem also to have been the 
 king's chaplains, and in his capacity of arch-chaplain 
 the Chancellor became the keeper of the royal con- 
 science and of the chapels royal ; in his character of 
 grand notary h^ became the keeper of the Great Seal, 
 which was raised to the plural number, either out of 
 compliment to the phraseology of France, or because 
 
220 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 William made it a double seal, with his equestrian 
 figure on one side and his robed figure on the other. 
 
 Chancellor is a word of wide signification, and 
 formerly denoted merely an usher or secretary to the 
 imperial court, and, as we see, the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury was frequently the Chancellor. Wareham's 
 portrait (who held the double office) is preserved in the 
 collection. Finally, the Chancellorship was a law 
 office, though Lord Clarendon declared when he be- 
 came a politician he was obliged to relinquish law, and 
 here again we are confronted with a pronounced dif- 
 ference between the selection of English judges and 
 French. An English judge is an old advocate ; a 
 French judge has for long been chosen early in life, 
 and learns his duties in a different way. " The legal 
 magistracy of France," as has well been remarked, " with 
 its virtuous chancellors and courageous presidents, was 
 one of the chief glories of the ancient monarchy. 
 Their names are a line of light along French history ; 
 and while no system can keep up a race of L'Hopitals 
 and D'Aguesseaus, it is more than mere good fortune 
 to have produced them once." 
 
 There is a fine portrait of Lord Keeper Coventry 
 here. He was Lord Keeper of the Great Seal during 
 the reign of Charles I., after having filled the offices of 
 
VANDYCK. 
 
 Recorder of London and Solicitor - General. This 
 painting is by Cornelius Janssen. There are several very 
 fine ones of others by the same artist in this collection, 
 especially one of Sir George Villiers, the father of the 
 celebrated Duke of Buckingham, and the evil genius of 
 the house of Stuart, or perhaps we should say one of them. 
 This is a very fine painting, though the face is not a 
 pleasant one. It has been considered Janssen's master- 
 piece, and the peculiarities of his style are very apparent 
 in it. He generally painted on panels, and used 
 ultramarine in his black colours as well as in his 
 carnations, which is supposed to be one cause of their 
 continuous lustre. He was commonly regarded almost 
 as a rival of Vandyck, but he wanted the ease and grace 
 of that consummate master. In delicacy of finish, how- 
 ever, and perhaps almost in brilliancy of colour, he is 
 Vandyck's superior. The growing fame of Vandyck, 
 however, rather placed Janssen in the background : 
 commissions of great value that would have been 
 Janssen's found their way to Vandyck's studio, and at 
 the breaking out of the civil war he returned to 
 Amsterdam. There is another of his paintings here, 
 of the " Queen of Bohemia." She was the Princess 
 Elizabeth, and married Frederick V, the Elector Pala- 
 tine. There is an exceedingly interesting portrait of 
 
222 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 the learned and virtuous Lord Falkland. Historians 
 of both sides agree that his life was blameless even for 
 those days. All his sympathies were with the popular 
 cause, but he believed his duty lay in following the 
 fortunes of the king, even though he mistrusted him. 
 Often at the end of his musings he would call out 
 " Peace, peace," and lament over the calamities of the 
 country he loved so well. He was the leader of some 
 very learned men who strove to reform the Church, to 
 separate secular from ecclesiastical offices, and relieve 
 bishops from their attendance in the House of Peers. 
 When he buckled on his sword for the battle of 
 Newbury he felt sure it was for the last time, and he 
 fell at the end of the day "ingeminating 'Peace, 
 peace,' " at the early age of thirty-four. There is also 
 a portrait by Vandyck of another nobleman who lost 
 his life in the Civil Wars, though in a different manner. 
 James Stanley, Earl of Derby, with his wife and son, 
 fill a large space over the sideboard in the dining- 
 room. The Countess is in white satin, wonderfully 
 painted, and the Earl is in black ; the child is in a dull 
 red dress. Within a furlong of where these lines are 
 written is the house where Lord Derby passed his last 
 night on earth before the melancholy procession set 
 out for Bolton. Anything like an account of this 
 
THE GROVE COLLECTION. 223 
 
 invaluable collection is of course impossible, and all 
 that can be even attempted is to notice very shortly a 
 few that made the strongest impression during a short 
 visit. There is a large picture of Monmouth, who 
 indeed looks no better than any other of the worthless 
 race from which he sprang, and the description of it is, 
 "Monmouth consulting his astrologer." But Brayley 
 and Britton give it a different complexion. " In the 
 library is a full-length picture of the Duke of Mon- 
 mouth, in armour, accompanied by a man who appears 
 like a foreign seaman, pointing to the Netherlands on 
 a globe." There are some beautiful female faces, such 
 as Charlotte, the daughter of the second Clarendon ; 
 she is simple and almost rustic -looking, with fine, 
 pleasant eyes, and another of the same name dressed 
 as Mary Queen of Scots. Sarah Jennings, also the 
 first Duchess of Marlborough, is hardly the imperious- 
 looking person one would expect, who held such 
 influence over Marlborough, and made Queen Anne 
 do anything she desired. The cold, cynical Marl- 
 borough says that he looked at the cliffs with his 
 " perspective glass," in hopes that he might catch a 
 sight of her once more, as he set out on one of his 
 campaigns. But as for her impetuousness, she caused 
 the grand pile of Woodstock, which had no equal as a 
 
224 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 royal residence in England, to be swept away, con- 
 sidering that it was not fit company for Blenheim. 
 Still, as seen in the gallery at the Grove, she is simple 
 and pretty ; and so far from being the violent, malig- 
 nant person we know her to have been, we should 
 almost think she was an unsophisticated country 
 rector's daughter. James II. is finely painted in 
 armour, with his dark gloomy face, and indeed his 
 picture is an excellent comment upon the vivid de- 
 scriptions that Macaulay has given us of his evil life. 
 But, singularly enough, there is a beautiful painting of 
 the family of Charles I., and in this he appears as the 
 Duke of York, a vivacious, laughing boy, with a 
 pleasant and almost a luminous expression. Then 
 there is a fine portrait of EUesmere sitting with his hat 
 on in court, as was the custom in old times. He was 
 also Chancellor of Oxford, and there is a portrait of 
 him in the Bodleian Library. Like Clarendon, he was 
 an upright judge, and indeed one of his sayings used 
 to be, " Frost and fraud end in foul." He was once 
 required to sign a document which would have 
 wronged a subject, but pleased a Stuart king. " And 
 would you have me put my hand to this >." he said, 
 and received an affirmative reply. " Nay, then,'' he 
 said, " I will do more : I will put both hands to it," 
 
THE GROVE COLLECTION. 225 
 
 and then he tore it in two. He died at York House, 
 and was buried at the country church of Doddleston, a 
 few miles from Chester. Among the other portraits 
 is one of Luther and the reformers. Luther is 
 probably an excellent likeness, and indeed closely 
 resembles the one at Wartburg. There is also 
 another portrait of an English reformer, John Bunyan, 
 which is a good painting. He is represented here as 
 younger and more sprightly than we commonly see 
 him. There is also a portrait of Cromwell, with a 
 baton in his hand, that closely resembles one of the 
 likenesses of the Protector in the British Museum. 
 But one of the most interesting portraits is that of the 
 late Lord Clarendon, the diplomatist and statesman. 
 He held the seals of the Foreign Office under the Earl 
 of Aberdeen, Lord Palmerston, Earl Russell, and Mr. 
 Gladstone, during their tenures of office ; and in the 
 hall is a marble bust of him which corresponds 
 wonderfully with the portrait. There is more re- 
 finement in the face than in any of the old portraits, 
 and at the same time there is as much latent power 
 and firmness. But, as before said, a volume might be 
 written on this collection without once trenching on 
 old ground.^ 
 
 * There is a description of these portraits by Lady Theresa Lewis, 
 which will be found in her Friends and Contemporaries of Lord Clarendon. 
 
226 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 If we leave the lodge gate again at Grove Park we 
 shall find ourselves opposite Russell Farm, as it is 
 called, though it is in reality a very fine residence, 
 now occupied by a great China manufacturer. And 
 here it may be well to point out that those who go by 
 the present issue of Ordnance maps may be often 
 misled, and it must rejoice pedestrians to think that a 
 new issue may be expected in the fulness of time. 
 Between Watford and Russell Farm is another farm 
 bearing the name of " Nascot," and laid out apparently 
 in a park. This is now occupied by the residences of 
 professional men or merchants from London, and of 
 course the houses are restricted to a certain size. 
 Some are in well-kept grounds and have hothouses 
 and vineries, and the usual accessories of wealth, and a 
 walk along the lanes through them is always pleasant. 
 Flower-beds and velvety lawns greet the eye, and 
 remind us that there is as much beauty in cultivated 
 nature as in the wildernesses and solitary places. The 
 last house that has been built along the Hemel Hemp- 
 stead road stands in somewhat broader grounds than 
 the others, and these have been well laid out. Some 
 fine oaks that grew in them have been left untouched 
 and untrimmed, and these give it a snug, residential 
 appearance. It was customary not long ago to 
 
KINGS LANGLEY CHURCH. 
 
KING'S LANGLEY. 227 
 
 " clear " the land where a house was to be built, and 
 replant trees according to the owner's fancy in horti- 
 culture — an absurdly wrong practice, to say nothing of 
 the circumstance that he could never live to see his 
 trees more than shrubs. I have often seen a house 
 built by a brother of a prominent member of the 
 present Government. The house is a very admirable 
 one as far as accommodation and convenience are 
 concerned, but unhappily the indigenous trees were 
 cut down some thirty years ago, to make room for 
 newer and more fashionable growths, and the death of 
 the proprietor has been in the way of his ever realising 
 his expectations. The entrance to Grove Park is near 
 the seventeenth milestone from London, and the 
 pleasant village of King's Langley lies between the 
 nineteenth and twentieth. The church is of various 
 dates, but it is principally of the sixteenth century, 
 though there are parts of much greater antiquity ; and 
 from drawings left of it before it was modernised, it 
 would seem to have been a place of great interest and 
 beauty. Still this has not been entirely swept away, 
 for the demolition of its old features has been only 
 partial. 
 
 The monuments of King's Langley are very inter- 
 esting, and the group shown overleaf is extremely 
 
228 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 picturesque. The tomb in the foreground has often 
 been called the tomb of Sir Piers Gaveston, the 
 worthless favourite of Edward II.; but the architecture 
 and the costumes point to a more recent period, and it 
 is more probably the tomb of Sir John Verney of 
 Pendley, who was Sheriff of Herts and Essex in the 
 fourteenth of Henry VII. The costumes, it is true, 
 would indicate a somewhat earlier period, but we often 
 see now old gentlemen in fashions of the last gene- 
 ration, and a slight discrepancy in costume might be 
 further accounted for by the circumstance that the 
 effigies we see in ancient tombs were often chiselled 
 during the lifetime of the deceased. According to 
 Stowe, however, it would seem that Sir Piers Gaveston 
 was first buried at the Preaching Friars at Oxford, and 
 afterwards re-interred in King's Langley Church. The 
 screen divides the monumental effigies from the small 
 chapel where Edmund Langley, the son of Edward 
 III., was buried. According to a fine mellow copper- 
 plate now before me, published in 1812, the tomb of 
 Edmund Langley stood within the altar rails, and a 
 wall, where the screen here shown stands, blocked up 
 the north-east end of the church. Britton says : 
 " The tomb was originally differently situated, as 
 appears from the sides being surrounded with shields 
 
EDMUND. 
 
 229 
 
 of arms ; though from its present position those only 
 on the west and south can now be seen. The arms on 
 the west side are those of Westminster, England, and 
 
 CHANCEL SCREEN OF EDMUND LANGLEY, DUKE OF YORK. 
 
 Mercia ; the shields on the south display the arms of 
 Edmund, etc., and all the shields are in the centres of 
 ornamented square compartments." Since Britton 
 wrote, the tomb has been removed into a chapel, of 
 
230 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 which only the first bay of the screen is shown : 
 perhaps, however, the original situation was not far 
 distant from that shown on the old copper-plate ; and 
 if the rank and dignity of Langley are remembered, it 
 is not at all improbable that he lay within the altar 
 rails, provoking the envy of the rhyming cynic on 
 chancel tombs — 
 
 " The further in the more they pay. 
 Here I he as warm as they." 
 
 King's Langley was formerly not only a magnificent 
 royal residence, but a place where parliaments were 
 held. There are yet foundations in existence showing 
 where the royal palace stood, but the dressed stone 
 has long since been carted away, — as we may easily 
 perceive if we notice the walls and farm-buildings in 
 the neighbourhood. Edmund Langley, whose tomb is 
 in this quiet country church, it is hardly necessary to 
 say, is the direct ancester of our present Queen. 
 
 Formerly there was a priory of Dominicans here, 
 founded by the son of an English baron supposed to 
 be Roger Lucy, but commonly called Robert Helle, 
 and his cognomen may be left for explanation to the 
 eminent antiquary, Gough, who says : " A Vallensibus 
 ita cognominatus eo quod eosdem Wallicos regi 
 Angliae rebelles, tanquam inferni undique devastavit." 
 
LANGLEY. 231 
 
 — (Gough, p. 349, vol. i.) The buildings at the latter 
 part of the reign of Edward I. must have been on a 
 very fine scale. Indeed, through the munificence of 
 the Edwards it became the most splendid of all the 
 Dominican houses in England. The first four of the 
 Edwards seem to have vied with each other in their 
 munificent bequests, and indeed it is so near a royal 
 residence that we can understand the advantages 
 " Preaching " friars enjoyed. Tanner calls this a 
 house of Friars preachers founded by Hella, and 
 " enlarged by Edward I., Edward II., Edward III., 
 and Edward IV.," so that at the dissolution it was 
 among the wealthiest of the Dominican houses. 
 Speed estimated its revenues at .£'150:14:8, but 
 Dugdale places them rather below that sum. I should, 
 however, have no difficulty in believing that Speed's 
 estimate was well within the mark. It of course 
 followed the fate of similar establishments at the 
 dissolution of monasteries, and the lands belonging to 
 it were divided among favourites. 
 
 Queen Mary indeed restored the establishment as a 
 nunnery, with a prioress and nuns, but it was dissolved 
 in the first year of Elizabeth's reign. 
 
 A strange superstition once prevailed in England 
 — "touching for king's evil," as it was called — and 
 
232 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 this till recently was commemorated on a printed 
 proclamation in King's Langley Church. The king's 
 evil, as it was termed, is (it is needless to say) a form 
 of scrofula, and just such as might have been expected 
 from the habits of the day. It appears now to arise 
 from improper food, or insufficient clothing, or neglect, 
 or improper treatment during dentition. It is not 
 necessarily hereditary, though it often is so, and some 
 authorities in speaking of it have said that it died out 
 and reappeared. Still, all we know of it is that it is 
 the result of such insanitary habits as prevailed of old : 
 but that did not suit the advocates for royal preroga- 
 tive, and it was commonly held that the cure, and only 
 cure, was touch from the king's hand. In King's 
 Langley Church a proclamation was printed, and 
 remained until recent times, in which it is said that 
 James II. would officiate upon the unfortunate between 
 All Hallows and Christmas, and Lady Day and 
 Midsummer. The origin of the ceremony I could 
 never learn. It is doubtless connected with some 
 ecclesiastical rite, though whether pagan or early 
 Christian is uncertain. A proviso appeared in the 
 proclamation that no person who had been once 
 touched should enter another appearance, and this 
 would seem to be in admirable keeping with the 
 
ABBOT'S LANGLEY. 233 
 
 ceremony itself, as he would be, officially speaking, 
 perfectly well, notwithstanding any crude and ortho- 
 dox belief to the contrary he might entertain. Under 
 this proclamation was another, with so respectable a 
 name as the Archbishop of Canterbury's (Sancroft's) 
 attached, and he says that the feast of St. Matthias is 
 not to be held on the 2Sth of February, as "common 
 almanacs have wildly and erroneously iixed it," but on 
 the 24th for ever, leap year or not. He seems to 
 have been taken to task by Wallis, the famous mathe- 
 matician and astronomer of Oxford ; but I see upon 
 reference to almanacs, both leap year and otherwise, 
 that the feast is still kept on the 24th, without, as far 
 as we know, any disturbance sidereal or terrestrial. 
 
 A short walk from King's Langley leads to Abbot's 
 Langley, and it is so called from its having at one 
 time belonged to the abbey of St. Albans. At the 
 dissolution it came into possession of the Crown, and 
 remained so till the latter part of the reign of James 
 I., when that monarch granted it to Francis Combe, of 
 Hemel Plempstead, who bequeathed it to Trinity Col- 
 lege, Oxford, and Sidney College, Cambridge. The 
 village of Abbot's Langley is exceedingly pleasant — 
 long, straggling, and very picturesque. The church is 
 quite a model of a " rustic beauty," and, before the 
 
234 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 black-oak pews with all their quaintness were swept 
 away, the interior must have been as attractive as the 
 exterior. 
 
 The only Englishman that ever held pontifical 
 sway was born at Abbot's Langley. An English 
 cardinal recently stood high, indeed, among Italian 
 sporting men, who wished to back their opinions at the 
 last election, but he was distanced sadly in the voting. 
 Nicholas de Brakespear was certainly not the man we 
 should have expected to fill so high an ofifice. There 
 is a place called after his name in the parish of St. 
 Michael's, near the seat of Lord Verulam. According 
 to all accounts the English Pope was a rather stupid 
 boy, and the recluses of St. Albans refused him a 
 monk's gown, because he was not sufficiently a scholar 
 to satisfy the requirements of the order. By way of 
 giving his talents a further chance of development he 
 went to the abbey of St. Rufus in Provence, and 
 became a canon, and afterwards Abbot of that pictur- 
 esque pile. Here, however, his fatal aptitude for 
 misgovernment reappeared, and the monks appealed 
 to the Pope, and Nicholas Brakespear appeared before 
 the pontifical court to answer, and so ingratiated 
 himself at Rome that he was made Bishop of Alba, 
 and sent on a rather hopeless expedition to convert 
 
NICHOLAS BRAKESPEAR. 
 
 235 
 
 the Teutonic races. When the Pope died in 11 54 
 Brakespear was elected to the pontifical chair, and he 
 
 ABBOT S LANGLEV. 
 
 assumed the title of Adrian the Fourth. Dressed 
 with a little brief authority, he did indeed play fan- 
 
236 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 tastic tricks. He refused to invest the Emperor 
 Frederick with the imperial diadem till he had pro- 
 strated himself before him and held the stirrup of his 
 palfrey while he mounted it. He held the chair for 
 five years, and was buried at St. Peter's Church, near 
 his predecessor Eugenius. It was commonly reported 
 that a fly had choked him, but a more readily received 
 belief was that some philtre cunningly administered 
 was the cause of a vacancy in the Holy See. Such is 
 a brief sketch of the only Englishman that ever 
 wielded the thunders of the Vatican, and it is just 
 possible that, after their experience of the specimen we 
 sent them, the cardinals did not think England a 
 happy recruiting-ground for popes. 
 
 There is a beautiful example of a country house at 
 Abbot's Langley, which is beautifully wooded, and stands 
 very near the church. The trees round are fine, even for 
 this part of England. The cedars of Lebanon grow 
 almost as if they were on the mountain from which they 
 take their name, and there are some wonderful horse- 
 chestnuts. One is especially grand ; its spreading boughs 
 reach the ground, and there they take root almost like 
 a banana tree, and spring up again into fine branching 
 stems. There is a beech tree like this in the Marquis 
 of Lothian's grounds at Dalkeith, but here the circle 
 
FINE VIEW. 237 
 
 of beech trees that surround the parent stem have 
 acted like parasites, and would seem to have emaciated 
 the original branches that reached the ground ; these 
 are quite thin in the middle, for want of nourishment : 
 their extravagant offspring have drained them. But at 
 Abbot's Langley the original branches of the horse chest- 
 nut have not acted so undutiful a part, and they are 
 strong and powerful. There is a footpath from Abbot's 
 Langley to Brickett's Wood on the St. Albans road 
 that is very beautiful, and indeed the view when we first 
 emerge from the village is simply one grand panorama. 
 It would perhaps be too much to suppose that there 
 are many Londoners who have not seen it ; but if there 
 are, they may at any time, for a small cost, and within 
 three-quarters of an hour's ride, see one of the grandest 
 views in England. Epping Woods stretch out like a 
 long black line in the horizon, and the vast landscape 
 is dotted over with village church towers and country 
 seats. London is visible on the right, and to the left 
 we may see the long roof of St. Albans Abbey, which is 
 about six miles distant. Speaking from recollection, 
 which is of course often misleading, I should say that 
 the celebrated view from Heidelberg is not superior in 
 beauty to this, though there is another view, which lies 
 in Middlesex, and is even somewhat nearer to London, 
 
238 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 that equals it in interest, and one which the several 
 Londoners I have asked say they have never had an 
 opportunity of seeing, and this is the magnificent pro- 
 spect from Harefield. 
 
BENTLE Y PRIOR Y. 239 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 Eentley Priory — Stanmore Park — Queen Adelaide — Lord Abercom — Sir 
 Walter Scott and Marmion — Beautiful Scenery — Chandos Arms — 
 Edge ware — Edge ware Church — Monken Hadley — Wrotham Park — 
 Admiral Byng— Beech Hill House. 
 
 It will be necessary once more to retrace some of our 
 steps and to suppose ourselves at Pinner Station, in 
 order to recommence the delightful walk that lies 
 between Bentley Priory and Stanmore Park. Strangely 
 enough, one of the places is offered for sale, and the 
 other is to be let, since alluding to them on a former 
 occasion ; and indeed it was rather surprising to see so 
 many houses, that offered every apparent attraction, 
 with boards before them intimating that they were at 
 the disposal of any passer-by they might suit. The 
 very week that I had seen these empty houses I found 
 in an illustrated paper, the organ of architects, a very 
 interesting account of Bentley, which must almost have 
 rivalled Holland House in the literary associations 
 
240 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 that hang around it. Rogers, Southey, and Words- 
 worth were among its guests, and they all knew the 
 haunts of the park well ; and here sometimes Lord 
 Sidmouth, the sententious Addington, used to meet 
 Canning, of whose terrible satires he was so often the 
 victim. And later on Bentley was a favourite rendez- 
 vous of the Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel. 
 Scott revised Marmion in a summer-house in the 
 grounds, and Rogers wrote some of the Pleasures of 
 Memory here — inspired, it has been suggested, by the 
 shady avenues and the tranquil scenery of the park. 
 Bentley was purchased nearly a century ago by Lord 
 Abercorn, and it is interesting as having been the re- 
 sidence of the Dowager Queen Adelaide. It was rented 
 from Lord Abercorn for her for three years, but she 
 only lived to enjoy half the lease. Many old people 
 yet living in the neighbourhood speak of her kind- 
 nesses, and her genial love for every one about her. 
 Strathmore and Harrow Weald knew her well ; and 
 the last time that she appeared in public was when 
 she laid the foundation stone of Stanmore new church, 
 which stands at the corner of the boundary lane that 
 ends the easterly direction of Stanmore and Bentley 
 Parks. For nearly three years after Lord Abercorn 
 had decided to live in Ireland, Bentley Priory re- 
 
BENTLE y PRIOR Y. 241 
 
 mained without a tenant, until Sir John Kelk, the 
 eminent contractor, purchased it, and now again it 
 seems to be at the disposal of the public. There are 
 six lodges on the roads by which Bentley is surrounded, 
 and some of them are very neat and tasteful. In no 
 part of England do laurels and rhododendrons and 
 yews grow to greater perfection. Often the house 
 is lost to sight until we approach near its entrance, 
 and by whichever road a visitor comes he must per- 
 force arrive at the mansion by the northern entrance. 
 -The principal rooms from the hall are the billiard-room, 
 picture-gallery, and great drawing-room, and library. 
 But on the same floor are two rooms — the morning- 
 room, and gentlemen's -room. These were usually 
 occupied by the Queen Dowager as a sitting-room 
 and bedroom, and in one of these she died. She 
 chose these rooms on account of their having a warm 
 southern aspect. They are undoubtedly very pleasant, 
 and from the morning -room a door opens into a 
 magnificent Italian garden and conservatory, 126 feet 
 in length. In a summer-house on the lake Scott and 
 Rogers spent many delightful days, and here much 
 of Marmion was written. The stables of Bentley are 
 models of perfectioti ; there is accommodation for fifty 
 horses. The fernery, the lime-tree avenue (which is 
 
242 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 only inferior to the magnificent one at " The Quarries '' 
 in Shrewsbury), the orangery, the cedars of Lebanon, and 
 the yews, are among the finest of their kind in Middlesex. 
 Bentley Priory seems never to have remained for long 
 in one family. After the dissolution of monasteries it 
 would appear that Henry VIII. granted the lands to 
 Messrs. Needham and Sacheverel ; but they did not 
 remain in their hands for long ; they sold them to 
 one Elizabeth Colt, and in the reign of Queen Anne 
 this estate passed to two owners of the name of Cog- 
 hill ; and, though that was only in the first part of the 
 eighteenth century, it passed through three hands — 
 Mr. Bennet, Mr. Waller, and Mr. Duberly — before it 
 was purchased in 1788 by the Marquis of Abercorn. 
 Sir John Kelk made few additions to the mansion, 
 only adding the projecting Italian front to the south. 
 
 It is said that Lord Abercorn induced Scott while 
 he was here to write the lines on Fox : 
 
 " For talents mourn untimely lost 
 When best employed, and wanted most." 
 
 Lockhart, in his Life of Scott, says that these lines 
 came from the pen of the very conservative peer. Lord 
 Abercorn. 
 
 From Stanmore Church, which lies at the extremity 
 of Bentley and Stanmore Parks, a walk of rather less 
 
STANMORE LANES. 
 
 243 
 
 than a mile will take us to the Edgeware Road, a few- 
 paces beyond the ninth milestone from London ; and 
 if we turn to the right, we shall skirt the old boundary 
 wall of Canons and arrive at Edgeware. This is on 
 
 LANE NEAR STANMORE. 
 
 " the old Roman road of Watling Street, which traverses 
 the kingdom, and appears in its proper name in a small 
 street in London, and often after as it passes through 
 country towns. But the journey from Pinner Station 
 to Edgeware Road is very beautiful and full of sylvan 
 delights. One of the shady lanes is here shown ; the 
 
244 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 trees meet over the pathway just as we crest the hill ; 
 and beyond the woods of Canons Park are seen. It 
 is a charming picture, and one that would have inspired 
 Gainsborough or Constable. It seems to require no 
 composition ; that is all done, and nothing more than 
 a careful copy is needed to make the scene a picture. 
 A short walk leads us to the London road ; and if we 
 turn to the north, we can arrive at St. Albans through 
 Elstree and Aldenham ; whilst, if we turn to the south, 
 we shall arrive at the quiet, straggling village of Edge- 
 ware, with its quaint old houses and its ancient church. 
 A station now connects it with the Midland and Great 
 Northern Railways, and makes it easy of access ; but for 
 all this it lies in a comparatively lonely district ; and 
 even in Middlesex is a stretch of country from Titten- 
 hanger to Chipping Barnet, some two miles in width, 
 covering eight square miles, that is not intersected by 
 a railway ; and we meet with broad-wheeled waggons, 
 and yokels in smocks with strangely and elaborately 
 embroidered fronts, that are more really primitive than 
 anything we see in Cheshire or Staffordshire. On the 
 road to Edgeware we skirt Canons Park, of which 
 mention has already been made. Of course the name 
 of Chandos Arms is readily derived from the family 
 who built and resided at Canons. The gables and 
 
CHANDOS ARMS. 
 
 245 
 
 chimneys are picturesquely grouped ; and, though few 
 calls are now made on its resources, it is said that 
 at one time a good dinner and a bottle of excellent 
 
 CHANDOS ARMS, EDGEWARE. 
 
 red wine were at the disposal of the traveller. Part 
 of Edgeware is called Little Stanmore, and beyond 
 this is Brockley Hill, which is not far from the borders 
 
246 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 of Herts. This was formerly the property of Mr. 
 Sharpe, secretary to the first Duke of Chandos. A 
 handsome drawing-room, which still remains free from 
 alteration, was fitted up by Mr. Sharpe for the reception 
 of the Duke and some other officers of state who held 
 occasional meetings at this place. Fastened to the 
 panels are the following large pictures, several of 
 which are said to have formed part of King Charles's 
 splendid collection : — A whole-length portrait of King 
 James I.; a whole-length portrait of a lady who is 
 supposed to be Maty, Queen of Scots, but which is 
 unlike such portraits of that princess as are believed 
 to have the best claims to authenticity ; Gondomar, 
 the Spanish Ambassador in the reign of James I.; a 
 picture representing two boys, in the style of Murillo, 
 and said to be the work of that artist ; and portraits 
 of the family of Sharpe, comprising those of Mr. Sharpe, 
 his lady, and thirteen sons and daughters. 
 
 This account is taken from an interesting and 
 valuable writing called The Beauties of England and 
 Wales, though some deductions must be made from 
 a history more than half a century old. 
 
 But to return to Edgeware, which, though of great 
 antiquity, is not mentioned in the survey of Domesday. 
 The principal manor belonged to the Countess of 
 
EDGE WARE. 
 
 247 
 
 Salisbury, who was the wife of Longespee, and she 
 
 EDGEWARE CHURCH. 
 
 granted it to her son "Nicholas and his espoused 
 wife " upon the singular condition that the occupant 
 
248 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 should provide one sparrow-hawk each year. But 
 singular conditions seem to have been the rule here. 
 A hundred acres were held under the Manor of Edge- 
 ware in 1328 for a pair of gilt spurs, and fifty acres 
 by an annual rent of a pound of cummin. 
 
 Edgeware Church is not of any great interest ; it 
 is situated on the north side of the village, at the foot 
 of a steep lane. The tower is ancient ; but the present 
 church was built in 1764, at the expense of the family of 
 Lee, who were patrons of the church in consequence of 
 their possessing the Manor of Edgewarebury. Among 
 the curates occurs the name of Francis Coventry, who 
 was presented to the living by his relation, the Earl of 
 Coventry. He would seem to have passed a creditable 
 career at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and he pub- 
 lished a romance called Pompey the Little and a poem 
 called Penshurst. The church consists of chancel and 
 nave, but it does not contain any monument of interest. 
 
 After passing Edgeware Church there is a rather 
 secluded lane that leads northwards in the direction of 
 the Midland Railway tunnel, which tunnel was cut at 
 an enormous cost through Deacon's Hill and Woodcock 
 Hill. This lane is well worth traversing on account of its 
 very primitive character, but it leads to nowhere in par- 
 ticular. Edgewarebury is at the end, and when we have 
 
HARMONIOUS BLACKSMITH. 249 
 
 arrived there we may turn to the left and regain Edge- 
 ware by an equally lonely route. Near Edgeware is Whit- 
 church, previously alluded to as the chapel to Canons, 
 and here the "Harmonious Blacksmith" lies buried, and 
 a monument in the churchyard marks the resting-place 
 of this immortalised man. Inside the Church is the organ 
 that Handel built when he was chapel-master at Canons. 
 
 There are two ways by which we can approach 
 Chipping Barnet and Monken Hadley : one is through 
 Highwood and past Barnet Gate, when the road turns 
 to the right over the top of a high ridge, and enters the 
 county town by Minorca ; and the other road is past 
 Totteridge Park and by Totteridge Green, from whence 
 a road to the left leads straight on to Chipping Barnet, 
 which lies between Monken Hadley and East Barnet. 
 
 Hadley, Lyson says, is so called from its elevated 
 situation, Heud leagh, signifying in Saxon, a high place. 
 Formerly this parish was a hamlet of Edmonton. The 
 church is dedicated to St. Mary, and consists of a 
 chancel, nave, two aisles, and two transepts. The 
 aisles are separated from the nave by depressed arches 
 and clustered columns. At the west end is a square 
 tower of flint with stone quoins ; on the front is the 
 date (1494). The fours somewhat resemble the nine, 
 which is quite common in inscriptions of that date. 
 
2SO RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 Hadley has been called Monken Hadley from the 
 hermitage that used to be here. It was attached to 
 Walden Abbey, in Essex, and situated in the parish of 
 Edmonton. This abbey is very fully described in 
 Dugdale: Its situation is at the junction of the Cam 
 and Bourne, and the recollection of it is still preserved in 
 Saffron Walden. The name ofthe abbey remains, and 
 of the Saifron, but both have gone. The most complete 
 account, however, of this abbey is found in the great 
 storehouse of national records, the Harleian MS. in the 
 Briti-sh Museum, which was compiled in 1387, and is 
 written on 260 sheets of vellum, exclusive of com- 
 pendious and exhaustive tables of contents, and it is 
 to this that we must turn for information regarding 
 the hermitage. Norris Brewer, in his topographical 
 work on Middlesex, says : " The approach to Hadley is 
 through an irregular avenue of trees, and the village is 
 thus progressively displayed to considerable advantage. 
 At the most favourable point in the approach, an 
 ancient domestic structure in the foreground and the 
 venerable church, half obscured by foliage, at the 
 termination of the avenue, together with various 
 intermingled rural buildings, combined to produce an 
 instance of the picturesque, attractive from the repose 
 which prevails, and replete with interesting character." 
 
MONKEN HADLEY. 251 
 
 There would seem to be no mention of Hadley in the 
 record termed Domesday ; but it was granted at the 
 dissolution to Lord Audley, who afterwards surrendered 
 it to the King, and then it was granted by Queen Mary 
 to Sir Thomas Pope. On the tower is also a device 
 of a rose and wing, which Lysons, in his Environs of 
 London, says are probably " the cognizance of either the 
 abbey or one of the abbots of Walden." Mr, Brewer 
 thinks it may probably be the recognisance of one of 
 the abbots ; and, as it certainly is not that of the 
 abbey, this is probably true ; for it was customary, I 
 have often noticed, in different counties in England, 
 for any buildings connected with a collegiate or mon- 
 astic establishment to bear the name of the head of 
 the establishment for the time being, just as in later 
 years the names of churchwardens are duly recorded 
 over any alteration or decorations of the Georgian 
 period. 
 
 The church of Monken Hadley is a rectory. It 
 is in the gift of Mr. Cass, who is also the rector, and he 
 has collected some interesting memoranda regarding the 
 venerable structure. Speaking of the singular iron 
 cradle that projects from the tower turret, he says: 
 " The cresset that forms so distinguishing and well- 
 known a feature of the church may probably stand in 
 
252 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 the position of successor to some more ancient landmark, 
 which in a former age crowned the more elevated 
 table-land on which the church stands. We know, at 
 
 ANCIENT BEACON, MONKEN HADLEY- 
 
 all events, that in the reign of Elizabeth, and subse- 
 quently, this locality bore the designation of Beacon's 
 Hill. During the great gale of January i, 1779, it 
 
BEACONS. 253 
 
 was blown down, and on Monday the same month a 
 vestry meeting was convened to consider about the 
 repairs of the roof of the church, but there is no express 
 mention of the beacon. The last occasion of its illumina- 
 tion was the night that followed the Prince of Wales's 
 marriage, March 10, 1863." This gale is spoken of 
 in the Gentleman! s Magazine for January, iTjg; and 
 it is recorded that a dreadful hurricane swept over the 
 greater part of the island, and that the damage was so 
 great that the Magazine would not be able to contain 
 an account of the damage done even though it were 
 filled up with no other subject. Of course the same 
 beacon would be replaced, and any repairs easily made 
 to the malleable iron of which it is constructed. 
 Beaconsfield is another place where such warnings 
 were placed ; and as it cannot be more than twenty- 
 five miles from one station to another, about five in 
 the interval would be all that was required from 
 defenders who had so many means of communication. 
 Beacons of course dated from very early times indeed ; 
 but their services were also in great requisition during 
 the Wars of the Roses, and even at a later period when 
 Parliamentarians or Royalists were required to meet 
 some sudden emergency. 
 
 Among the records of Hadley are some curious 
 
254 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 ones respecting the church property and appliances, 
 which appear in the Public Records "Augmentation 
 Office"- — church goods — in the sixth year of King 
 Edward VI., and on the third of August. This seems 
 a little confusing at first, for Edward only reigned six 
 years, as all our school-books tell us, and died in 
 July ; but as Henry VIII. died in January, we should 
 deduct a year. The items contain — 
 
 A gilt crosse weying .... xxx ownces. 
 
 Item, one gilt challys weying . . xiii ownces. 
 It'm iiij belles whereof the great bell in 
 
 foote wydnes in the mouth, from the 
 
 owtsyde of the skeartes . . . iij ft- iiij inches 
 Item, the next bell unto the sayd great 
 
 bell broken, in wydnes as is aforesaid ii foote xi ins. 
 
 And in depth . . . . ij foote ins. 
 
 Item, one saunce bell, in wydnes . i foote iij ins. 
 
 "The saunce bell or sance bell is a corruption of sancte 
 bell (sancte bell is pronounced as one syllable), called 
 often the saints' bell. It was rung just before the 
 elevation of the host, and also sometimes at the words 
 Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus, Deus Sabaoth, whence 
 probably its name. Sometimes it was a hand bell, but 
 generally was hung in the sancte bell cote, of which 
 very many remain in Norfolk, with a rope hanging 
 through the chancel arch. Occasionally the sancte bell 
 
SACKING BELLS. 255 
 
 was in a turret on the tower, as at Trumpington, near 
 Cambridge, where there is an arched recess in the 
 basement of the tower, from which the bell was rung. 
 Sometimes, again, the bell was hung outside the spire ; 
 the little bell still rung in some places before the sermon 
 is no doubt a relic of the sancte bell." Another item 
 in this interesting list, of which only a part is given, is 
 " one lytle sackering bell." This, according to Pugin, 
 was a small bell in the shape of an inverted cup, com- 
 monly made of silver, to ring at mass, or before the 
 sacrament when carried in procession, but the name 
 must also have been given to the bell which rang to 
 early matins. " I'll startle you worse than the scaring 
 bell," Surrey angrily says to Wolsey, when he had the 
 list of accusations in full to read to him, in one of the 
 most dramatic episodes in the language. One slight 
 addition to this digression may be excused, which is 
 copied from a rare book in Chester Cathedral library. 
 " At the celebration of the mass, as the priest said the 
 sanctus, the custom was to toll three strokes on a bell, 
 which was hung in the bell cote between the chancel 
 and the nave, that the rope might fall at a short distance 
 from the spot where knelt the youth or person who 
 served at mass. From the first part of its use the bell 
 got the name of the " saints' sanctys " or " sanctus " bell. 
 
2S6 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 and many notices of it are to be found in old accounts." 
 " It is very likely there were two bells — one for the 
 sanctus, and one for the devotion ; sometimes they were 
 made of silver, and were called the sacring bell. On 
 hearing the sacring bells first tinkle, those in the 
 church who were not already on their knees knelt down, 
 and with upraised hands worshipped their Maker in the 
 holy housel lifted on high before them." 
 
 The grounds of Wrotham Park extend to Monken 
 Hadley, and greatly beautify this pleasant country. 
 The park is triangular in shape, and it is about three 
 miles in circuit. The north side extends from Dancer's 
 Hill to Ganwich Corner, and roads from each join at 
 Hadley ; about an hour's walk of great beauty will be 
 sufficient to complete the circuit. Wrotham House was 
 built by Admiral Byng, in 1754, from designs by Ware, 
 whose style somewhat resembled Vanbrugh's" and 
 Adams's, though by many he is thought to be superior 
 to either of these. Wrotham was the birthplace of' the 
 Admiral Byng who was sacrificed by the advisers of 
 George H. in order to excuse or to hide their own short- 
 comings; but history has since done a gallant and excel-' 
 lent gentleman abundant justice. He was the fourth son 
 of Admiral Byng, who was a contemporary of Marl- 
 borough and one of the ablest officers in the navy. He was 
 
ADMIRAL BYNG. 257 
 
 raised to the peerage under the title of Viscount Tor- 
 rington, and had eleven sons and four daughters. An 
 evil star seems to have been over the family at the time. 
 Admiral Byng's younger brother, when he went to see 
 him under close arrest, was so shocked at the lampoons 
 that were gathered all over the country, that he was 
 seized with convulsions and died suddenly before he 
 saw him ; and the year before the execution of Admiral 
 Byng his brother's son had met with a more terrible 
 death at the Black Hole of Calcutta. The tale is simply 
 thus : The Duke of Newcastle, one of the most incom- 
 petent and unprincipled of ministers, had succeeded his 
 brother in the head office of State. Pitt was for a time 
 excluded from the Cabinet, and then everything was 
 chaos : even the cool, cynical Chesterfield cried in 
 despair, " We are no longer a nation." It was during 
 the absence of Pitt from the Cabinet that the French 
 fitted out an expedition to capture Minorca, which was 
 regarded before the days of steam as the key of the 
 Mediterranean. In vain the Government were advised 
 of the intentions of France ; they stupidly adhered to 
 the belief that the expedition was to invade England, 
 and only awoke to the truth at the last moment. Then 
 Byng was sent out in command of a fleet perhaps quite 
 large enough, but only half equipped and hardly half 
 
2s8 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 manned ; an indecisive action took place near the island ; 
 and the French account is that night put a stop to it, 
 and in the morning the English fleet had disappeared. 
 Without waiting for official despatches Byng was super- 
 seded, and sent home under close arrest, for cowardice. 
 Newcastle at once determined to sacrifice him in order 
 to turn away popular indignation from himself, the real 
 author of the many misfortunes of England — a task 
 for which his genius peculiarly fitted him. " I never 
 dealt better since I was a man — all would not do ; a 
 plague of all cowards, say I." Walpole bitterly said 
 that if Newcastle neglected Minorca, he knew how to 
 transfer the blame to other shoulders. The court-martial 
 was a foregone conclusion, and a discredit to all con- 
 nected with it. We are puzzled at this distance of 
 time to account for such eccentricities and illogical 
 conclusions as the members arrived at. A dark shadow 
 is cast even over Anson's good name by it, and would 
 indeed have been over Newcastle's ; but he would have 
 required, like Falstaff, to " know where to try a com- 
 modity of good names," before such a misfortune was 
 possible. Admiral Byng's father, in addition to Wrotham, 
 possessed a seat in Bedfordshire, and there the ad- 
 miral was buried. In the church at Southill is an 
 inscription : 
 
ADMIRAL BYNG. 259 
 
 To the perpetual disgrace 
 of public justice 
 
 The Hon. John Byng, 
 
 Admiral of the Blue, 
 
 Fell a martyr to political persecution, 
 
 March 14, 1757, at a time 
 
 When bravery and loyalty were insufficient 
 
 Securities for the life and honour of a naval officer. 
 
 If, as some have thought, this is rather a bitter legend to 
 appear in a place where the wicked ought to cease from 
 troubhng, we must remember that a sense of injustice 
 is the strongest provocation that can influence human 
 nature. 
 
 On the other side of Monken Hadley are two very 
 noble residences. Beech Hill House is situated on one 
 of those fine rises of land that lend such charms to this 
 part of Middlesex, and the grounds are diversified with 
 noble plantations. The road that leads from Southgate 
 through Potter's Bar to Hatfield divides this from Trent 
 Park, a very fine seat. It was built by the eminent 
 physician Sir Richard Jebb, who obtained a large grant 
 of land from the Crown, when Epping Forest was 
 broken up. The Park palings enclose nearly five 
 hundred acres, and the enclosure was well stocked with 
 deer soon after the mansion was built. The surface of 
 Trent Park is bolder and more diversified than is usual 
 
26o RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 in other parts of the country ; and it contains some 
 remains of Epping Forest, which was a remnant of the 
 primaeval woods that, until comparatively recent times, 
 covered so much of Middlesex. 
 
 Near Monken Hadley is Chipping Barnet ; indeed, 
 it may be said to form almost a part of it. Here the 
 terrible battle of Barnet was fought that proved fatal to 
 the house of Lancaster, and in which the great Warwick 
 lost his life. Warwick at one time almost owned 
 counties, and it is said that he had no fewer than thirty 
 thousand people on his various estates. Stow, the 
 ancient chronicler, describes him as coming to London 
 with six hundred retainers, each wearing his livery and 
 badge, the bear and ragged staff; but he was destined 
 to fall at Barnet, and sadly reflected as he fell — 
 
 And who durst smile when Warwick bent his brow ? 
 So now my glory, smeared in dust and blood. 
 My parks — my walks — my manors — all I had 
 Even now forsake me ; and of all my lands 
 Is nothing left me but my body's length. 
 
 Dugdale said that the battle was fought near Friern 
 Barnet ; but, according to Mr. Norris Brewer, it took 
 place some way off, and nearer St. Alban's Abbey. 
 There is an illustrated MS. at Ghent, where many of 
 the Lancastrians fled after the fray, which shows St. 
 
BA TTLE OF BA RNE T. 261 
 
 Alban's Abbey very clearly, as overlooking the field of 
 slaughter ; but this was probably the work of some 
 monk in whose eyes the wealthiest abbey in England 
 was the most important part of the scene. Then, also, 
 it must be remembered that on a bright day at the end 
 of April the abbey would show quite clearly — it is 
 hardly eight miles distant. In Gladsmere Heath, 
 " according to the tenor of modern conjecture, the battle 
 was fought. This was until lately a large and dreary 
 plain, well suited to the business of multifarious 
 slaughter ;" but singularly enough, there are no fea- 
 tures that can be recognised to confirm this belief A 
 column was erected at the Gladsmere, in 1740, by 
 Sir James Stanbrook, and on this he says that the 
 battle was fought there : " Here was fought the battle 
 between Edward IV. and the Earl of Warwick, April 
 14, 147 1, in which the earl was defeated and slain.'' 
 It does not seem, however, that the spade and plough 
 have uncovered the relics we always expect to find on 
 the site of a great battle. 
 
262 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Country delights round London — Road from Rickmansworth to U-xbridge 
 — Harefield — Harefield Church — Sergeant Newdegate — Uxbridge — 
 Uxbridge Church— Recollections of the Stuart Period — Finale. 
 
 Should it ever be my good fortune to get the ear of 
 Mr. Cook or Mr. Gaze, I shall urge upon them to 
 advertise as a great attraction, and I fear I must add 
 novelty, a few trips into Middlesex. A most attractive 
 programme might be issued, wherein the expedition 
 would compare favourably with others into foreign 
 lands : no sea- voyage — English spoken everywhere, 
 which is perhaps more than could be said of some 
 counties — and so the translator, who is often a great 
 deal fagged, I fancy, at the end of the day, could be 
 dispensed with. In his place a local antiquary could 
 with great advantage be installed, who would expatiate 
 upon church monuments, and upon old farms, and halls 
 
COUNTRY DELIGHTS ROUND LONDON. 263 
 
 that had seen more stirring times, and figured, however 
 humbly, in the country's history. 
 
 One difficulty at the outset might present itself, 
 but that, under the skilful management of either of 
 the contractors that have been named, would soon 
 disappear. The Continental hotels are so accustomed 
 to visitors from all parts of the world, especially Eng- 
 land, that the commissariat is in perfect working order; 
 but in even the most charming parts of Middlesex 
 an excursionist is so rare a sight, that the long-for- 
 gotten arts of the landlord of the inn (a word one 
 much prefers to " hotel ") would be sorely taxed by 
 the apparition of visitors. Still, I am sure the hosts 
 would not be found wanting, nor would they prove 
 unworthy of their ancestors. 
 
 I was surprised to find how many Londoners there 
 were to whom scenery is not a matter of indifference, 
 who never saw the beautiful lanes that lead from 
 Kingsbury past Wembly Park, and through Preston on 
 to Kenton, and through Kingsbury Green to the Welsh 
 Harp ; of course, many have taken their walks in this 
 direction, but there are many who are quite ignorant 
 of the delights of this charming country. Yet Kings- 
 bury cannot be more than six miles from Paddington, 
 and if a very short ride is taken on the rails, it 
 
264 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 may be approached within a mile or two from several 
 parts of London. There is a church here which was 
 originally built of Roman bricks : Dr. Stukely thinks 
 it has been built from the ruins of Verulum, but Mr. 
 Gale thinks the Roman bricks which he measured, 
 and which we should call tiles, were from Villa Regia, 
 from which residence it is said Kingsbury took its 
 name. This locality may offer some interest to 
 Harrovians from the circumstance that John Lyon, 
 the sturdy yeoman who founded Harrow, had property 
 here, and made the following provision in his "statutes" 
 and in his will. The governors are to "see and 
 provide that tenn loads of wood, that is to say, six 
 good loads of lath bavines, and four good loads of 
 tall wood, shall yearly be brought into ye school- 
 house from his lands at Kingsbury, to and for ye 
 common use of ye scholars of ye said school." Dr. 
 Goldsmith lodged here, and here he wrote his work 
 on natural history, the great poet being actuated, it is 
 supposed, by a belief that he knew something of the 
 subject. An amusing anecdote appears in Boswell's 
 Life of Johnson, from which it would seem that the 
 celebrated chronicler called on Goldsrtiith, and finding 
 that he was out, he went up to his room, " having a 
 curiosity," as Mr. Boswell simply said, "to see his 
 
BE A UTIES OF CO UNTR V RO UND LONDON. 265 
 
 apartment ; we went in, and found curious scraps of 
 descriptions of animals scrawled on the walls with a 
 black-lead pencil." 
 
 Perhaps the north - eastern part of the county is 
 almost more untravelled, and if we simply take the 
 district that lies between South Mims and Waltham 
 Cross (which is only just over the Middlesex frontier), 
 Ponders End, and Chipping Barnet, we shall find old 
 churches, lanes, and landscapes that we could hardly 
 believe were near the metropolis. If, however, we turn 
 to the west side of Middlesex, we shall meet with even 
 more interesting scenes. Rickmansworth, it is true, 
 is just beyond the boundary of the county, but a very 
 short walk will bring us into Middlesex again, and 
 then there is a walk of great beauty to Uxbridge 
 through Harefield, which extends over seven mile- 
 stones, and is literally full of interest, and abounds with 
 historical associations. The grand prospect that meets 
 us after passing Harefield will be noticed, but I was 
 struck with the absence of pedestrians, and even of 
 vehicles. Now, though these lines are written in 
 Cheshire, and within a moderate reach of Shropshire, 
 Flint, and Denbigh, — counties that suggest every variety 
 of beauty, — I am bound to admit that there is nothing 
 near Chester to equal the view from Harefield. Of 
 
266 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 course these remarks are sadly cramped from the fact 
 that they only pertain to one county, and that — all but 
 one — the smallest in England. This is a subject on 
 which one could almost grow discursive ; but if nearly 
 every form of rural delight can be found in a county 
 that contains only 282 square miles, or which is equal 
 to about the eighth part of Norfolk, and if we remember 
 that out of this the vast metropolis and its vast suburbs 
 are to be carved, — forming in all, perhaps, the largest 
 city in the world, — it will be seen what untravelled 
 delights there must be in every other county in 
 England. Year by year, of course, the denizens of 
 London extend themselves in all directions into the 
 country, and take up parks and fields ; but for all that, 
 the rural districts of Middlesex are still fresh and fair ; 
 and, indeed, we may in one sense owe much to rail- 
 roads for being able to enjoy rusticity so near home ; 
 they sweep past them, and convey their freight to more 
 distant settlements in Kent or Essex or Hertfordshire. 
 The road from Rickmansworth to Uxbridge is 
 about nine miles in length, and is full of sylvan beauty. 
 There are not a few quaint -gabled farmhouses and 
 broad-spreading beeches before we reach Harefield, but 
 it is only after passing Harefield that the beauty of the 
 road begins. Harefield itself is a perfect model of an 
 
HAREFIELD. 267 
 
 old English village of large size. The parish occupies 
 the north-west angle of Middlesex county. At the 
 Norman survey the Manor was called Herefelle, which 
 in Saxon is the Harefield. There were some singular 
 entries in the survey ; such as two mills valued at 
 fifteen shillings, and four fish-ponds producing a thousand 
 eels. On Harefield Moor there are still some ponds 
 called the fishery ponds, and it is not impossible that 
 the name may have remained with them till now. A 
 glance at the old estimated returns will show how the 
 parish fell off in value, as did others, after the Conquest. 
 In Edward the Confessor's time it was estimated at 
 ;^I4, but in William's reign £?, was all the return it 
 gave. It may be curious to remark, as an instance of 
 how lands sometimes changed hands, that at one time 
 Harefield belonged to the family of Newdegate, and 
 remained in their possession from the reign of Edward 
 III. till Elizabeth, when it was exchanged for Arbury 
 in Warwickshire, and this is now the seat of the genial 
 member for North Warwickshire. Harefield passed 
 through several hands, including those of Sir Thomas 
 Egerton, the keeper of the Great Seal, and Lord Chandos, 
 until it again reverted to the family of Newdegate 
 through Sir Richard Newdegate, who purchased it back 
 again ; and Lysons, in his Middlesex Parishes, mentions 
 
268 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 this as the only instance in all Middlesex in which he 
 has been able to trace back possession to so remote a 
 date. The Newdegate who repurchased it was a 
 grandson of the one that sold it. Near Harefield 
 Park were the works of George Spedding, built in 1803, 
 and here the copper bolts were made for the Royal 
 Navy during the French wars. The village of Hare- 
 field is scattered round a very large green, and consists 
 of pleasant cottages, village houses, and shops. In the 
 middle of this green formerly stood a May-pole, which 
 indeed was there till comparatively lately ; and there is 
 the typical pond, where cattle may be seen at mid- 
 summer, deep in the water, cooling themselves from the 
 sun, and lazily lashing off the green flies as they settle 
 on their sides. Shortly after passing Harefield we 
 come to some picturesque ancient almshouses built by 
 Alice, Countess of Derby. They were to accommodate 
 six poor widows, who received £i, each, and £1 each 
 for repairs. Before we arrive at the almshouses a mag- 
 nificent prospect opens up and continues for nearly an 
 hour's walk. Middlesex, Hertford, and Buckingham 
 are rolled out like a map at our feet, and on the left- 
 hand side, in the park of Harefield Place, is an ancient 
 church, with a low embattled tower, such as is peculiar 
 to this part of the country. The church is of the 
 
HAREFIELD CHURCH. 269 
 
 fourteenth century, and literally nestles in great elm- 
 trees, which we look down upon from above. The 
 road continues very beautiful till we arrive at the sign- 
 post which points to the roads which lead to Denham, 
 Langley Marsh, Slough, and Windsor, and then the 
 view is shut out by high thorn hedges that are none 
 the less picturesque from the fact of their generally 
 being in want of pruning. In places these seem almost 
 to be choked with the beautiful yet parasitic bind- 
 weed, whose winding roots cling to those of the thorns, 
 and with wild roses and blackberries, and the lane here 
 is planted on each side with elms and poplars. Hare- 
 field Church consists of a chancel, nave, and two aisles, 
 with a south chapel called the Brackenbury Chapel, 
 which contains ancient monuments of the Newdegate 
 family. On the east wall is a monument with a long 
 Latin inscription to Sir Richard Newdegate, Bart., who 
 died in 1678. A singular event in his life may be 
 noticed here. Cromwell had removed nearly all the 
 judges on the bench, in consequence of their attach- 
 ment to the royal cause ; and casting about for proper 
 successors, he very naturally selected Newdegate, who 
 was then a sergeant at law, and paid him the high 
 compliment of offering him a judgeship. It is said 
 that Newdegate, perhaps coquettishly, declined, for it 
 
270 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 must be remembered that in those days a counsel's 
 fees were less, and not, as is often now the case, much 
 more than a judge's pay ; and Cromwell replied : 
 " Well, if you gentlemen of the red robes will not 
 execute the laws, my red coats shall," and the "nolo 
 episcopari " was gracefully sunk by Sergeant Newdegate. 
 He seems, however, to have lost his high office by 
 deciding in the case of Col. Halsey and other cavaliers 
 of York that, though it was treason to levy war against 
 a king, he could not find that the law affected those 
 who levied war against a Lord Protector ; and we may 
 depend upon it, that when this sophistry was com- 
 municated to Cromwell, he very soon was practising at 
 the bar again. The church is full of monuments to 
 the Newdegate family, and they are for the most part 
 of very considerable beauty. One to Lady Newdegate 
 is by Grinling Gibbons. The one to Alice, Countess 
 Dowager of Derby, who died in 1637, occupies the 
 south-east corner of the chancel. She was married 
 first to Ferdinando, Earl of Derby, who is said to have 
 been poisoned in 1594, and afterwards to Lord Keeper 
 Ellesmere. This monument is very costly and gorgeous ; 
 but quite a work might be written on the monuments 
 of this interesting church, and the historical associations 
 connected with them. From Harefield, if we look 
 

 UXBRIDGE. 
 
UX BRIDGE. 271 
 
 towards Harrow, we shall see some extensive forest 
 lands at Clayton, Bayhurst, and Ruislip, which is 
 remarkable for the number of ways in which it is spelt ; 
 some have written it Rouslip in records, some Ruslip, 
 and one enterprising scribe has gone so far as to spell 
 it Rushellype. 
 
 We are now in decidedly the quietest part of 
 Middlesex, and no part of Nottingham or Northampton 
 could give us a more complete picture of rural seclusion. 
 If you cross along a footpath, it is quite common to 
 startle a hare or raise a covey of partridges ; and a 
 velveteen -coated keeper is not at all out of keeping 
 with everything, as he passes by with his dog and a 
 gun under his arm, and, having thoroughly satisfied 
 himself that you have no nets or gins in your coat 
 pocket, touches his hat as a sort of apology for the 
 keenness of his scrutiny. The roads, which are very 
 good from Rickmansworth to Uxbridge, become broader 
 as we reach the town, and they are more elaborately 
 finished with foot-walks and curb-stones and macadam. 
 One thing which strikes a stranger as he enters the 
 country town is the size and importance of the houses, 
 which extend for a considerable distance along the 
 principal street, and are like the residences of wealthy 
 London ' merchants. It is not apparent why they are 
 
272 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 here, for they must have been built long before the 
 time of railways, and when nobody in business in 
 London would think of coming so far to live. In 
 remarking on these houses in 1 8 1 6, Mr. Brewer partly 
 accounts for them by saying, " This town derives 
 considerable advantages of trade from its weekly market, 
 and from the numerous family seats in the neighbourhood. 
 In addition to these favourable circumstances, the 
 situation of Uxbridge on the road to Oxford and 
 Gloucester and Milford- haven is productive of much 
 benefit to the inhabitants, while it imparts a constant 
 air of bustle and vivacity to the main thoroughfare." If 
 to these sources of income we add the mills that have 
 for so long been at the extremity of the town, we may 
 in part account for some of the large old dwellings. 
 In Speed's catalogue of religious houses, he mentions 
 a monastery here, dedicated to St. Mary ; but Dugdale 
 gives no account of it, and Lysons says he has been 
 unable to discover any other mention of it. Leland 
 saw Uxbridge in the time of Henry VIII., and his 
 description conveys a perfect picture of the old class of 
 country town, of which we may yet see so many traces 
 left in Chester, Shrewsbury, and Warwick, with the 
 great timbered gables and heavy breast-beams quaintly 
 carved, and speaking so loudly of a picturesque outside 
 
UXBRIDGE MILLS. 273 
 
 and comfortable rooms inside. " In it is but one long 
 street, but that for timber well builded. There is a 
 celebrated market here once a week, and a great fayre 
 on the feast-day of St. Michael. There be two wooden 
 bridges at the west end of the towrie, and under the 
 more west goeth the great arm of Colne river. The 
 lesser arm goeth under the other bridge, and each of 
 them serveth to turn a greate mille." What would a 
 lover of the picturesque give to see Uxbridge as it 
 was when Leyland saw it .' The black and white mill 
 houses, the undershot wheels, and the wooden bridge 
 like some of those almost too picturesque ones we meet 
 with in the remoter parts of Germany, make one feel 
 almost a pang to think that such things have passed 
 away. A few of the old houses are still left, but they 
 are rapidly disappearing. 
 
 The quaint market-place is built of brick, and was 
 constructed in 1789. The staircase shown outside 
 leads to schoolrooms, and was originally intended also 
 for grain d^p6ts. Everything seems to be out of 
 right angles at this part of Uxbridge, and the chancel 
 of the church comes quaintly in. Both Brewer and 
 Lyson speak of Uxbridge Church as a commonplace 
 building, in the "pointed style," as Brewer says, and 
 " destitute of the imposing beauty which that mode of 
 
274 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 building is capable of producing." I confess, however, 
 that I saw it before I had read the remarks of either 
 author, and was struck with the venerable appearance 
 and the quiet unobtrusive way in which it was adapted to 
 the irregularities of the site. Inside Uxbridge Church 
 are some very old monuments ; one on the north side 
 of the chancel is to the memory of Dame Leonora 
 Bennet, who died in 1638. She is represented in a 
 recumbent posture ; and in front of the table part of 
 the monument is a circular piece of sculpture with an 
 iron grating, intended to describe the aperture of a 
 charnel-house. 
 
 The date of Uxbridge Church seems to be the 
 middle of the fifteenth century, and this would almost 
 correspond with the record that in 1447 Robert Oliver 
 and other inhabitants founded a guild in the chapel of 
 St. Margaret at Uxbridge 
 
 At the extreme end of Uxbridge, to the north- 
 west,*is a very beautiful corn mill, which is on the site 
 of the one mentioned by Leland. But one of the most 
 commonly recorded events of Uxbridge is the meeting 
 of the Commissioners of Charles I. and the Parliament- 
 arian representatives, in which some compromise was 
 offered. 
 
 The Crown Inn still stands where this was attempted, 
 
SWAN INN, UXBRIDGE. 
 
 275 
 
 and the fine panelled oak room is in perfect repair, 
 though the inn is hardly more than a beer-house, with 
 
 
 
 [agd^Bi^^^lM 
 
 THE SWAN INN. 
 
 an abundance of empty space. Lysons gives in his 
 Parishes of Middlesex an excellent copper -plate etch- 
 ing of this inn ; it was, when he wrote, in a more 
 
276 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 perfect condition than it is at present. Of these 
 meetings we have an account in Clarendon, which is as 
 accurate and graphic as the rest of his narrative : — 
 " Uxbridge being within the enemy's quarters, the 
 King's commissioners were to have such accommodation 
 as the others saw fit to leave to them, who had been 
 very civil in the distribution, and left one entire side of 
 the town to the King's commissioners, one house only 
 excepted, which was given to the Earl of Pembroke." 
 Some few records that throw a little light upon the 
 mode of proceeding are very interesting, and are copied 
 verbatim from Lord Clarendon's exhaustive work. 
 " There was a good house at the end of the town, which 
 was provided for the treaty, where was a faire room in 
 the middle of the house, handsomely dressed up for 
 the commissioners to sit in ; a large square table being 
 placed in the middle with seats for the commissioners 
 — one side being sufficient for those of either party; 
 and a rail for others who should be thought necessary 
 to be present, which went round. There were many 
 other rooms on each side of the great room for the 
 commissioners on each side to retire to when they 
 thought fit to consult by themselves, and to return 
 again to the publick debate ; and there being good 
 stairs at either end of the house, they never went 
 
COMMISSIONERS IN CROMWELL'S TIME. 277 
 
 through each others quarters, nor met but in the great 
 room." This great room has not been altered or restored, 
 and if the traveller is fortunate in coming to terms 
 with the hostess, he will see the room where the 
 commissioners met to discuss a foregone conclusion. 
 " As soon as ' the King's commissioners came to the 
 town, all those of the Parliament came to visit and to 
 welcome them, and within an hour those of the King's 
 returned the visit with the usual civilities, each professing 
 a great desire and hope that the treaty would produce 
 a good peace. The first visits were all together and in 
 one room, the Scots being in the same room with the 
 English. Each party eat always together, there being 
 two great inns, which serve very well to that purpose. 
 The Duke of Richmond, being steward to his Majesty's 
 house, kept his table there for all the King's commis- 
 sioners, nor was there any restraint from giving or 
 receiving visits apart, as their acquaintance and 
 inclination disposed them ; in which those of the King's 
 party used their accustomed freedom as heretofore. But 
 on the other side there was great wariness and reserved- 
 ness ; and so great a jealousy of each other, that they 
 had no mind to give or receive visits to or from their 
 old friends, whom they loved better than their new. 
 Nor would any of them be seen alone with any of the 
 
278 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 King's commissioners, but had always one of their 
 companions with them, and sometimes one whom they 
 least trusted. It was observed by the town and the 
 people that flocked thither, that the King's commissioners 
 looked as if they were at home, and governed the 
 town ; and the others as if they were not in their own 
 quarters ; and the truth is, they had not the alacrity 
 and serenity of mind as men use to have who did not 
 believe themselves to be in default. 
 
 " The King's commissioners would willingly have 
 performed their devotions in the church. Nor was 
 there restraint upon them from doing so ; that is, by 
 inhibition from Parliament, otherwise than that by 
 the Parliament's ordinance (as they called it), the book 
 of Common Prayer was not permitted to be read, nor 
 the vestures, nor the ceremonies of the church to be 
 used, so that the days of devotion were observed in 
 the great room of the inn." 
 
 Close to Uxbridge is Hillingdon ; the grounds of 
 Hillingdon House adjoin the outskirts of the town, and 
 in some of the records are curious items. There were 
 two mills of fifty-one shillings value, and half a mill that 
 produced five shillings. There was also an arpent of 
 vineyard (the old French arpent is rather less than an 
 English acre), and one weir, which produced five shillings. 
 
HILLINGDON. 
 
 279 
 
 This latter was of course for the capture of eels, which 
 
 HILLINGDON CHURCH- 
 
 in those days formed a considerable item in charges on 
 all kinds of property. In this church there are many 
 
28o RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 monuments and some valuable brasses. The church- 
 yard is unusually full of gravestones and altar tombs in 
 consequence of its connection with Uxbridge. Among 
 the monuments in the churchyard is one to Johi Rich, 
 Esq., with the inscription — 
 
 Sacred to the memory of 
 
 John Rich, Esq. 
 
 Who died Nov. 26, 1761, aged 69 years. 
 In him were united the various virtues that could endear him 
 to his family, friends, and acquaintance. Distress never failed to 
 find relief in his bounty, unfortunate merit a refiige in his generosity. 
 
 Mr. Rich was the patentee of Covent Garden Theatre, 
 and is handed down to fame as the inventor of the 
 English harlequin, a character which he performed 
 under the assumed name of Lunn. 
 
 The rectory-house of Hillingdon was formerly used 
 as an inn or resting-place by the bishops of Worcester, 
 on their visits to London ; the reason being that, as 
 there was not any inn in the neighbourhood, this place 
 should be assigned to them for their use, as they were 
 often sent for by the King and the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury. On the north side of Hillingdon Church 
 is Cedar House, where the great cedar-tree, from which 
 it takes ks name, stands, and its dimensions would do 
 no discredit to its ancestry in Palestine. It is more 
 
RED LION, HILLINGDON. 281 
 
 than fifty feet in height, and its enormous diameter 
 from branch end to branch end is not very far from 
 one hundred feet. The girth of the trunk is sixteen 
 feet. 
 
 At Hillingdon the public-house called the Red Lion 
 stands, and it can boast of an old title, for King Charles 
 I. rested here when he escaped from Oxford to join 
 the Scots in 1646. Dr. Hudson thus speaks of the 
 circumstance in his examination before the Parlia- 
 mentary Committee : — " After we passed Uxbridge, at 
 one Mr. Tisdale's house, a tavern in Hillingdon, we 
 alighted and staid to refresh ourselves between ten and 
 eleven of the clock, and then staid two or three hours, 
 when the King was much perplexed what course to 
 resolve upon — London or Northward. About two of 
 the clock we took a guide towards Barnet." It is inter- 
 esting to learn from the court rolls of the manor of 
 Colham, on referring back, that the Red Lion does 
 appear to have been kept by John Tisdale. To the 
 north and west of Hillingdon are many seats of great 
 interest and beauty, and not a few have historical 
 associations connected with them. 
 
 From Hillingdon, if we take the road to Ruislip, we 
 shall pass Ickenham. In Domesday Book it is said 
 that three knights and one Englishman held the manor 
 
282 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 of Earl Roger, and there is a note in "that accurate 
 survey that " the whole of this land now lies in Coleham, 
 where it was not in King Edward's time." In Ickenham 
 parish is Swakeley House, which formerly belonged to a 
 family named Brocas ; and Norden, speaking of it in 
 1596, mentions it as "sometime a house of the Brock- 
 eyes, now of Sir Thomas Sherleye's." This manor in 
 1629 became the property of Sir Edmund Wright, 
 alderman of London, and the present mansion was built 
 by him in 1638. This date appears on some of the 
 leaden pipes, with E.W. over it. Sir Edmund became 
 Lord Mayor of London in 1641, but as his tendencies 
 were to the royal cause he was removed from his office 
 by Parliament, and then Swakeley became the property 
 of Sir William Harrington, a man of singular abilities, 
 and one who sat on the trial of King Charles. The 
 general appearance of this mansion is most pleasing 
 and venerable. It is built of the beautiful red bricks 
 which were wrought with such skill in the seventeenth 
 century, and show how well the builders of that period 
 understood their materials. The entrance, which is 
 shown in the porch, leads into a fine hall paved with 
 black and white stone, and there is a well carved-oak 
 screen in it, with a bust of Charles I., and a lion guardant 
 on each side. There are fine, well-proportioned rooms 
 
SWAKELEY. 283 
 
 and a grand staircase of black oak in this stately man- 
 sion. The grounds are perhaps rather flat, but they 
 are finely diversified with spreading timber. Formerly 
 there was a much more ancient residence here, and 
 remains of it have from time to time been discovered 
 on the premises. Swakeley has for generations been 
 the residence of the Clarke family, who nearly a century 
 and a half ago purchased the advowson on Ickenham 
 Church. 
 
 Of course, only a very few of the scenes that are so 
 well worth visiting, and that lie so near Harrow and 
 Eton, can be given in this series of papers, and a guide- 
 book is hardly attempted. Yet many an old Etonian 
 or Harrovian may be reminded of scenes and friend- 
 ships and early impressions that have left an indelible 
 mark on the memory. Thackeray, in one of his many 
 fine passages on the recollections of academic days, says 
 that, as we turn over some old letters or memoranda, a 
 strange sympathy is often aroused. " How strange the 
 epigrams look in those half-boyish hands, and what a 
 thrill the sight of the documents gives one after the lapse 
 of a few lustres ! How fate in that time has removed 
 some, estranged others, dealt awfully with all ! Many 
 a hand is cold that wrote those kindly memorials, and 
 that we pressed in the confident and generous grasp of 
 
284 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 youthful friendship. What passions our friendships 
 were in those old days, how artless, and void of doubt ! 
 How the arm that you were never tired of having linked 
 in yours under the fair college avenues or by the river 
 side, where it washes Magdalen gardens or Christ 
 Church meadows, or winds by Trinity and King's, was 
 withdrawn of necessity when you entered presently the 
 world, and each parted to push and struggle for himself 
 through the great mob on the way through life ! Are 
 we the same men now that wrote those inscriptions — 
 that read those poems, that delivered and heard those 
 essays and speeches, so simple, so pompous, so ludicrously 
 solemn ; parodied so artlessly from books ? . . . Here 
 is Jack moaning with despair and Byronic misanthropy, 
 whose career at the university was one of unmixed milk 
 punch. Here is Tom's daring essay in defence of 
 suicide and republicanism in general, d. propos of the 
 death of Roland and the Girondins, — Tom's, who wears 
 the starchest tie in all the diocese, and would rather go 
 to Smithfield than eat beefsteak on a Friday in Lent. 
 
 Here is Bob of the circuit who has made a fortune 
 
 in railway committees, and whose dinnefs are so good, 
 bellowing out with Tancred and Godfrey, 
 
 " On to the breach, ye soldiers of the Cross ! 
 
 Scale the red wall and swim the chocking foss. 
 
COLLEGIATE RECOLLECTIONS: 285 
 
 Ye dauntless archers, twang your crossbows well ! 
 
 On, bill and battle-axe and mangonel ! 
 Ply battering-ram, and hurling catapult ! 
 
 Jerusalem is ours — id Deus vult." 
 
 After which comes a mellifluous description of the 
 gardens of Sharon and the maids of Salem, and a 
 prophecy that roses shall deck the entire country of 
 Syria, and a speedy reign of peace be established ; and 
 there are essays and poems along with those grave paro- 
 dies, and boyish exercises (which are at once frank and 
 false, and so mirthful, and yet somehow so mournful) by 
 youthful hands that shall never write more. Fate has 
 interposed darkly, and the young voices are silent, and 
 the eager brains have ceased to work. 
 
 "This one had genius and a great descent, and seemed 
 to be destined for honours that are now of little worth 
 to him — that had virtue, learning, genius, every faculty 
 and endowment which might secure love, admiration, 
 and worldly fame. An obscure and solitary church- 
 yard contains the graves of many fond hopes, and the 
 pathetic stone which bids them farewell." Thackeray 
 in this oeautiful passage is only giving expression to his 
 own recollections of a friend : " I saw the sun shining 
 on it in the fall of last year ; and heard the sweet 
 village choir." But most of us can look back to our 
 
286 RAMBLES ROUND ETON AND HARROW. 
 
 academic days with less of sadness than the great fiction- 
 writer, and, after more than a quarter of a century of 
 absence from old collegiate scenes, can still find familiar 
 faces, and talk over bygone times ; a little bulk may 
 be added to the friend of our youth, but he is there still, 
 and bearing fruit according to his measure, or according 
 perhaps to the measure of fitness he possesses for the 
 lot into which the chances and changes of life have 
 thrown him. Some Continental academies can teach 
 us a lesson in this : they not only regard the fitness 
 of a youth for business, but even keep an eye to his 
 aptitude in sports; and a well-known Jesuit college, 
 that corresponds in a measure with Eton, especially 
 takes care that pupils shall remember kindly every 
 circumstance of their early years. Thorns there may 
 be, and bramble -bushes, in all collegiate assemblies, 
 though they are not the rule ; and when they crop out, 
 they hardly flourish among their fellows. They produce 
 neither figs nor grapes, and, by a singular but unerring 
 rule, they seem soon to be lost sight of. Most of our 
 fellow-pupils we are not only glad to meet after a lapse 
 of years, but when we compare notes we find that the 
 influences of our early days are present with us yet, and 
 the just and kindly professor or master has installed 
 himself for ever in our recollections. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Abbot's Langley, 233. 
 Adelaide, Queen, 240. 
 Aldenham, 244. 
 Amersham, 41. 
 Ankerwyke, 129. 
 Anson, Lord, 209. 
 Augmentation Office, 254. 
 
 B. 
 Bala Lake, 80. 
 Barne Elms, 84. 
 Beaumont I^dge, 129. 
 Beech Hill House, 259. 
 Bentley, 165, 239. 
 Bentley Priory, 239. 
 Bisliam Abbey, 98, 99, 100. 
 Boulter's Lock, 75. 
 Bray, 16. 
 
 Brickett's Wood, 237. 
 British Moths, 34. 
 Brockley HiU, 170. 
 Burke, 54. 
 
 Burnham, 12, 13, 30. 
 Butler's Court, 51, 56. 
 Bulstrode, Whitelock, 72. 
 Bushey, 167. 
 
 Cambridge, 60. 
 Canada, 32. 
 Canons, 172. 
 Capel, Lord A., 198. 
 Cashiobury, 188, 196, 201, 214. 
 Cave, 15. 
 
 Chalfont St. Giles, 58-71. 
 Chalfont St. Peter, 71. 
 Chancellor, Office of, 219. 
 Chandos, Duke of, 172. 
 Chelsea, 31. 
 Chermont, 29. 
 Chipping Bamet, 249. 
 Chipping Norton, 35. 
 Chipping Ongar, 35. 
 Chipping Wycombe, 35. 
 Cliveden, 50, 83, 75. 
 Colne, 62, 13s, 181. 
 Cookham, 75, 97.. 
 Cromwell, 44. 
 
 D. 
 Datchet, 125, 127. 
 Davy, Sir H., 64. 
 Dee and Wye, 26. 
 Denham, 64. 
 
288 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Disraeli, IVIrs. B., 70. 
 Dictionary of Tiiames, 93. 
 Dropmore, 88. 
 Drayton, 119. 
 Down Place, 13. 
 Dwarfs, 90. 
 
 Ealing, 161. 
 
 Earl of Orkney, 82. 
 
 Edgeware, 246. 
 
 Edgeware Church, 248. 
 
 Eton, 58. 
 
 Evesham, Battle of, 66. 
 
 Fenton Woods, 116. 
 Formosa, Island, 89. 
 Fulmer, 116, 119. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gainsborough, 27. 
 
 Gaveston, Tomb of, 228. 
 
 Geology of Thames, 92. 
 
 Goldsmith, 57, 121. 
 
 Great Marlow, 102. 
 
 Greenford Rectory, 158. 
 
 Gregories, 55. 
 
 Greyhound Inn, 46. 
 
 Gray's Elegy, 120. 
 
 Grove Park, 202, 214, 2i6, 217. 
 
 H. 
 Hadley, 54, 249. 
 Half-hours in green lanes, 34. 
 Hampstead Heath, 172. 
 Hanger's Hill, 161. 
 Harefield, 265-267. 
 Harefield Church, 248. 
 Harefield House, 60. 
 
 Harrow, 142. 
 Harrow Church, 153. 
 Harrow Library, 151. 
 Harrow Weald, 165, 176. 
 Hatfield, 259. 
 Hatton, Sir C., 126. 
 Hedsor, 75. 
 Heidelberg, 24. 
 Hell-fire Club, 45. 
 High Wycombe, 28, 35. 
 Hillingdon, 278. 
 Hillingdon, Red Lion, 281. 
 Hoby, Sir Thos., 102. 
 Horton, 61. 
 Hughenden, 63, 70. 
 Hurley Place, 104, 106. 
 
 ICKENHAM, 282. 
 
 Ivy Cottage, 152. 
 
 James XL, 105. 
 
 K. 
 Kensal Green, 161. 
 Kenton, 164. 
 Kingsbury, 263. 
 King's Langley, 227, 228. 
 Kit-Cat Club, 13. 
 
 L. 
 
 Landseer, 27. 
 
 Langley, 49, 116, 235. 
 
 Langley, Edmund, 228. 
 
 Langton, Stephen, 131. 
 
 Lepidoptera, 30. 
 
 Lilliburlero, 46. 
 
 Loddon River, 109. 
 
 Loud water, 51. 
 
 Lyon, John (founder of Harrow), 144. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 289 
 
 M. 
 
 Magna Charta Island, 130, 134. 
 
 Maidenhead, 16. 
 
 Maidenhead Bridge, 26. 
 
 Market Place, Wycombe, 38. 
 
 Marlborough, Duke of, 28. 
 
 Marlow, 73, 113. 
 
 Matthias, Feast of, 233. 
 
 Medmeahatn, 100, 109. 
 
 Medmenhara Abbey, 109. 
 
 Middlesex Scenery, 262. 
 
 Milton and the Great Plague, 59. 
 
 Milton's College Life, 60. 
 
 Monkey Island, 28. 
 
 Montfort, 65. 
 
 Moor Park, 205. 
 
 Morland, 27. 
 
 Morrisons and Capels, 185, 187. 
 
 N. 
 
 Nascot Farm, 226. 
 Newdegate, Sir Richard, 269. 
 
 O. 
 
 Orkney Arms, 76. 
 Ouseley, Bells of, 129. 
 Oxhey, 180, 181. 
 Oxhey Hall, 179. 
 
 Paradise Lost, 59. 
 Playing Fields, Eton, 27. 
 Pleasures of Memory, 240. 
 
 R. 
 
 Rhine, 113. 
 
 Rickmansworth, 203, 271. 
 Romney Island, 27. 
 
 Roman Chamber, 53. 
 Ruislip, 281. 
 Russell Farm, 226. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sandford and Merton, 107. 
 Shelburne, Lord, 37. 
 Shropshire and Hereford, 37. 
 Slough, 4, 10. 
 South Sea Scheme, 210. 
 Staines and Egham, 137. 
 Staines Bridge, 26. 
 Stoke Pogis, 10, 125. 
 Swan Upping, 22. 
 
 T. 
 
 Taplow and Maidenhead, 75. 
 Taplow, 29, 81. 
 Taplow Court, 83. 
 Taplow Rectory, 82. 
 Tonson, Jacob, 14. 
 
 U. 
 
 Uxbridge Church, 273. 
 Uxbridge Crown Inn, 272. 
 Uxenden Manor, 162. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walden Abbey, 250. 
 Waller, 41, 51. 
 Wargrave, 108. 
 Watford, 62, 190, 194. 
 Watford Church, 184. 
 Watford Heath, 177. 
 Watling Street, 243. 
 Wembley Park, 263. 
 West Wycombe, 46. 
 Wharton, Lord, 49. 
 
 U 
 
290 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Wick River, 37, 1 10. 
 William III., 47. 
 WiUces and Liberty, 45. 
 Windsor, 141. 
 Windsor, Old, 127. 
 Woburn, 47. 
 
 Wolfsbrunn, 24, 67. 
 Wrotham, 256. 
 Wycombe Abbey, 36, 41. 
 
 Y. 
 Yedding Brook, 158. 
 
 THE END.