^»> • saga _^ :■-■ £-***' 5^1 BI*^ 182^ £3i£3fts>s ^££s>2— ,^^oi -r>i»^ % »>•-'>' > > ? i ->> 3> 3H WXJ* m>2 '* LIBRARY IMS * I UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. f\ Sift MM\. W\k-I f/1 m m r sM: \ i Ai ,»ii 1 'AA'. >ti ■ AlA I ai/"\v /v fM: AiL'a \i Alii 'Aa; /,^/M^i #3 A*i •A) ■M : A'0mi i\A .'--■ Iff A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST: INCLUDING THE ABBEYS OF Jlmstuh, 3Rnffnrit nntt BJrihrrk; CLUMBER, ANNESLEY, THORESBY, AND HARD WICK HALLS; BOLSOVER CASTLE ; MANSFIELD, AND OTHER INTERESTING PLACES IN THE LOCALITY. V By J. CARTER. WITH A Crftual <£**as on fbt %ilt antr €imt* of Robin SJootr, tQQl NEW EDITION, ENLARGED. % MFQt f° LONDON: LONGMAN, GREEN, LONGMAN, AND ROBERTS; MANSFIELD : T. W. CLARKE. FEINTED BI T. W. CLARKE, MANSFIELD. INTEODUCTION. The Author cannot allow a new edition of his "Visit to Sherwood" to he published without expressing his gratifi- cation at the manner in which his efforts to guide the visitor through the mazes of dear Old Sherwood have been appreciated by his indulgen,t friends. The present edition has undergone a careful revision, and additional matter has been added, which, he trusts, will render his little work still more useful than the former edition. A sad and painful change has taken place at Newstead since this edition went to press. Colonel Wildman, — the friend and school-fellow of Byron, — the gallant soldier, — the upright magistrate, — the perfect gentleman, — is no more. He was a type of Nature's true nobility, and at his death, — which took place on the 20th of September, 1859, — Society lost one of her best ornaments, and Masonry IV INTRODUCTION. one of her most distinguished and generous ^brethren, the Colonel having held the office of P. G. M. for thirty-five years* His remains were interred in the cemetery at Mansfield. The thanks of both Author and Publisher are due, and most gladly given to Mr. Murray, for his kind permission to use the valuable Critical Notes of Dr. Waagen.* March, 1860. ~hich Mr. Gait sent to one of the magazines as original, came forcibly to my mind, and as ihey are not, I believe, in any edition of Byron's works, I cannot end better that by writing them out for your perusal too. "In the dome of my Sires as the clear moonbeam falls Through silence and shade o'er its desolate walls ; It shines from afar like the glories of old, It gilds, but it warms not — 'tis dazzling but cold. Let the sunbeam be bright for the younger of days ; 'Tis the light that should shine on a race that decays, When the stars are on high, and the dews on the ground, And the long shadow lingers the ruin around. And the step that o'er echoes the grey floor of stone, Falls sullenly now, for 'tis only my own ; And sunk are the voices that sounded in mirth, And empty the goblets, and dreary the hearth. ~32 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. And vain was each effort to raise and re-call The brightness of old to illumine our hall ; And vain was the hope to avert our decline, And the fate of my fathers has faded to mine. And their' s was the wealth and the fulness of fame, And mine to inherit too haughty a name ; And their's were the times and the triumphs of yore, And mine to regret, but renew them no more. And ruin is fixed on my tower and my wall, Too hoary to fade, and too massive to fall ; It tells not of Time's or the tempest's decay, But the wreck of the line that has held it in sway." ANNESLEY. After a picturesque walk through a country, every footstep of which is more or less associated with the name of Byron, I entered the wild and park-like domain of Annesley, which, with its numerous ridings, was founded by Patricius Viscount Chaworth, of Armagh, which is contiguous to the Newstead estates, and about two miles distant from the abbey. In the distance, the eye rests upon the interesting range of hills so famous by the poet's — " Hills of Annesley, bleak and barren, "Where my thoughtless childhood strayed ; How the northern tempests warring, Howl above the tufted shade. Now no more the hours beguiling, Former favorite haunts I see ; Now no more my Mary smiling, Makes ye seem a heaven to me." One, the most conspicuous of these wood-crowned heights, is more particularly interesting, from its being the scene of his parting with Miss Chaworth (previous to her marriage with a rival) ; a farewell, as he then thought, for ever, to her -" who was his life, The ocean to the river of his thoughts, "Which terminated all." In the " Dream," the place and most heart-stirring incident are thus vividly remembered : — A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 33 " I saw two beings in the hnes of youth Standing upon a hill, a gentle hill, Green and of mild declivity, the last As 'twere the cape of a long ridge of such, Save that there was no sea to lave its base, But a most living landscape, and the wave Of woods and cornfields, and the abodes of men Scatter'd at intervals, and wreathing smoke Arising from such rustic roofs ; — the hill Was crown' d with a peculiar diadem Of trees in circular array, so fix'd, Not by the sport of nature, but of man : These two, a maiden and a youth, were there, Gazing — the one on all that was beneath, Fair as herself — but the boy gazed on her ; And both were young — yet not alike in youth. As the sweet moon on the horizon's verge, The maid was on the eve of womanhood ; The boy had fewer summers, but his heart Had far outgrown his years, and to his eye There was but one beloved face on earth, And that was shining on him." THE HALL is a mansion of great antiquity, and of a most patchwork style of architecture. So early as the Norman Conquest it is men- tioned as of the fee of Ralph Fitz Herbert ; and it was after- wards possessed by the Annesleys for many generations, from whom it descended, by marriage to the Chaworths of Wiverton, whose last representative by name, the ladye-love of Lord Byron, married John Musters, Esq., August, 1805. Close to the hall stands a venerable little church, approached from it by a shrubbery, and almost connected with it by a venerable ivy-mantled terrace. A number of broad-spreading trees shelter the sacred edifice, and shed a solemn quietude over the silent tombs. The interior of the hall is rambling and irregular, like its outward appearance ; but the whole is invested by Byron with charms that no modern mansion can boast. In the " Dream" I have before quoted from, he says : " There was an ancient mansion, and before Its walls there was a steed caparison'd : Within an antique oratory stood 34 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. The boy of whom I speak ; * * * * * * he passed From out the massy gate of that old hall, And mounting on his steed, he went his way, And ne'er repass'd that hoary threshold more." From this time, until the recent restorations and improve- ments effected by the present proprietor, John Chaworth Musters, Esq., the "antique oratory" had been a perfect and disgraceful ruin ; and chilling desolation reigned through the old hall of the Chaworths, in consequence of the death of Mr. Musters. Every choice memento of "the bright morning star of Annesley," and her long line of ancestors, every article of furniture, antique china, paintings, &c, were " scattered to the four winds" by that most relentless of all dispersers, the auctioneer's hammer. The hall has been so thoroughly restored, and the grounds and the entire estate have been so re-arranged and improved as to make it one of the most attractive seats in the neighbour- hood. LINBY, which bears evidence from the monastic ruins still to be found of having some centuries ago been a place of religious im- portance, probably connected either with the priory of New- stead, or the one at Lenton, near Nottingham. A may-pole still adorns this "village green ;" and at the north and south ends of the village stand two venerable crosses. The one at the north end, from its exquisite workmanship and fair pro- portions, may be considered as fine a specimen of the village cross as can be met with in almost any part of England. The neat little church, dedicated to St. Michael (and which con- tains some ancient monuments of the Chaworth family) adds much to the appearance of this rural spot, of which Washing- ton Irving says, " the moss-grown cottages, the lowly mansions of grey stone, the gothic crosses at each end of the village, and the tall may-pole in the centre, transport us in imagination to former centuries." Pursuing my walk a mile further, I arrived at A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 35 HUCKNALL CHURCH, which has for ages been the last resting-place of the Byron family, and where repose the ashes of the poet, marked only by a neat marble slab, bearing the following inscription : — " In the vault beneath where many of his ancestors and his mother are buried, lie the remains of George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron, of Rochdale, in the County of Lancaster, the author of ' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage.' He was born in London, on the 22nd of January, 1788 ; He died at Missolonghi, in Western Greeee, on the 19th of April, 1824, engaged in the glorious attempt to restore that country to her ancient freedom and renown. His sister, the Honorable Augusta Mary Leigh, placed this Tablet to his memory. This last home of the poet is much frequented ; and the Album kept for visitors bears evidence of the heartfelt emotions of many a pilgrim to his tomb. How appropriate, for instance, are the following lines, composed by William Howitt, imme- diately after the interment : — " Rest in thy tomb, young heir of glory, rest ! Rest in thy rustic tomb, which thou shalt make A spot of light upon thy country's breast, Known, honoured, haunted ever for thy sake. Thither romantic pilgrims shall betake Themselves from distant lands. — When we are still In centuries of sleep, thy fame shall wake, And thy great memory with deep feelings fill These scenes which thou hast trod, and hallow every hill." On the 27th of November, 1852, the daughter of the noble bard departed this life. At her express wish, her remains were deposited along side those of her beloved sire, who had so frequently poured forth his fond affection for her in language such as Byron alone could give utterance to. 36 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. " My daughter, with thy name this song began ; My daughter, with thy name this much shall end ! I see thee not, I hear thee not ; but none Can be so wrapt in thee. — Thou art the friend To whom the shadows of far years extend. My voice shall with thy future visions blend, And reach into thy heart when mine is cold — A token and a tune even from thy father's mould." As is generally known, this accomplished lady married Lord King, afterwards created Earl of Lovelace, a connection by which, singular enough, the lineage of John Locke became blended with that of Byron. The funeral took place on Friday, December 3rd, 1852. The coffin was covered with rich puce silk velvet, the handles and other ornaments being of frosted silver. On the upper panel were two raised shields, on one of which was emblazoned the family crest, and on the other was engraved the following inscription : — " The Right Honourable Augusta Ada, Wife of William, Earl of Lovelace, and only daughter of George Gordon Noel Lord Byron, born 10th December, 1815, died 27th November, 1852." During the temporary opening of the vault for this melan- choly and, perhaps, last addition to its silent occupants, vast numbers of visitors were permitted to take a glance of a spot which will be celebrated, long as our language shall endure, as containing the ashes of one of the greatest poets " That ever graced the tide of time." And where, as Edward Hind beautifully says, " Within their death- appointed goal, The sire and daughter silent lie, While seasons over seasons roll, And men are born and nations die, Beneath the all-embracing sky , Thus lowly sink the tomb of fame, "While through revolving centuries fly, The echoes of his deathless name." Turning now homewards, I found I had crowded too much into my day's purpose, for still on the way objects of interest A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 37 rise before the traveller rapidly as if by command of a ma- gician's wand. Of these Robin Hood's hills, near Kirkby, deserve, from their picturesque appearance, a passing notice. Kirkby Hardwick, too, ought not to be forgotten, formerly a monastery connected with Newstead abbey, or, peihaps, the neighbouring priory of Felley. This ancient mansion was bestowed upon George, Earl of Shrewsbury, by King Henry the eighth, and is noticed by Leland, who calls it Hardwick- upon-Line. It is now the residence of Edmund Hodgkinson, Esq., to whose liberality and taste the venerable mansion is indebted for many recent improvements. Here Cardinal Wolsey, the once powerful favourite of a tyrant monarch, passed a night, wearied and heart-broken, immediately before his death at Leicester. A little nearer Mansfield, and a pleasing view of Sutton Hall and Works is obtained, and the beautiful sheet of water, about seventy acres, called the King's Mill Reservoir, which was made by the late Duke of Portland some twenty years ago, as an auxiliary to that extensive system of irrigation, which for years occupied his Grace's attention, and of which I shall give you further particulars shortly. The waters of this reservoir cover the once romantic dingle where stood the antique water mill and cottage, which are said to have been the scene of the humourous rencontre between King John and the redoubtable Sir John Cockle, the Miller of Mansfield, and which was dramatized by Dodsley with so much success. Near this spot a vase of coins was found, in 1848, by the workmen employed in making the railway. END OF LETTER IV. 38 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. LETTEE V. HARDWICK HALL. " What ! is not this my place of strength," she said ; " My spacious mansion, built for me, Whereof the strong foundation-stones were laid Since my first memory." It is hardly to be expected that one neighbourhood can offer other scenes so interesting as those associated with Byron's " strange eventful history ;" scenes that ever acquire a grow- ing charm as the lapse of years softens the errors of the man, and confirms the genius of the poet. It is time indeed that his enemies were content to say, "after life's fitful fever, he sleeps well," and no more with narrow criticism try to bare the abysmal deeps of his great personality. Leaving, then, abbey and poet, with all their recollections, accompany me to hall and park and castle, " Ancient homes of lord and lady, Built for pleasure and for state." And first upon the list is the noble building with the title of which I have headed this letter. Hardwick Hall is little more than six miles to the north- west of Mansfield, and one of the seats of that princely noble, the Duke of Devonshire. It is a substantial stone building, in pure Elizabethan style, and stands upon elevated table land, near the eastern borders of the county, from whence there is a fine view of the long chain of romantic hills bordering upon the Peak of Derbyshire. The park, with its herds of deer, numerous fish ponds, stately oaks, and richly-wooded scenery, presents many attractive features. A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 39 The present hall was built by the celebrated Countess of Shrewsbury, and was finished in the year 1587. It is of an oblong form, studded with antique windows, and having six square towers of commanding proportions, rising at intervals, sternly, but with great majesty, above the rest of the building, which is ornamented with neatly-carved open-work battlements, adorned here and there with the noble lady's initials, "E. S.," surmounted by a coronet. The principal front is about 390 feet in extent. A spacious quadrangular court — now con- verted into a formal flower garden — surrounds this entrance, and gives an excellent effect to the approach. The walled yard or paddock near, with its really magnificent range of stables, will excite the admiration of visitors ; for they give a most exalted idea of the state of hospitality which could require offices so extensive. Gay and busy and exciting scenes must they have been which these court yards were wont to witness in the profuse and hospitable times of the extra- ordinary woman by whose liberality they were erected. A short distance from the entrance stand the noble ruins of what is termed the "old hall/ 5 only upheld from yielding to the first winter's blast by most gigantic and luxuriant ivy, which clings with the vigour and affection of oft renewed youth to the smitten remnants of her dismantled turrets, and where — " Few ages since, and wild echoes awoke In thy sweeping dome and panelling oak ; Thy seats were filled with a princely band, Rulers of men and lords of the land ; Loudly they raved and gaily they laugh' d, O'er the golden chalice and sparkling draught, And the glittering board and gem studded plume, Proclaim'd thee a monarch's revelling room." I find no satisfactory account of the time when this venera- ble mansion was built, but certain it is, that it was a place of great beauty and importance during the reign of Henry the eighth ; and it was here that John Hardwicke died, in the 1 9th year of that burly monarch's reign. In 1203, King John transferred the Hardwick estate to Andrew Beauchamp, and it passed in 1258 to William de Steynesby, who held it by the annual surrender of three pounds of cinnamon and one of pepper ! John de Steynesby, 40 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. grandson of the above, died possessed of it in 1330. Soon afterwards the family of de Hardwicke were established here, and possessed the estate for six generations. One majestic room is now all that remains (except the outer and lower walls) of that once beautiful residence, the old hall. It measures sixty feet six inches, by thirty feet six inches, and is twenty-four feet six inches high, and has long been considered a model of most elegant proportions ; indeed, to use the words of an old writer, "the old house has one room in it of such exact proportions, and such convenient lights, that it was thought fit for a pattern of measure and con- trivance to the most noble at Blenheim/' This room, which is called the " Giant's Chamber," from two colossal figures standing there, still bears evidence of having been finished in a superb style. In the north-east end was a large library, containing a pair of globes, then very valuable. This part of the brave old mansion was pulled down when the grand stables at Chatsworth were built. The noble stable court, — perhaps few its equal,— the ex- tensive park, that portion of the present park which lies to the west and south of the house, with its fish-ponds, paddocks, &c, all evince that the father of the Countess, John Hard- wicke, Esq., enjoyed a plentiful estate, and its convenient accompaniments . Dr. White Kennet, in speaking of this residence says, " the old hall is where the Countess was born. Before part of it was demolished, it was a large house, and contained, perhaps, thirty rooms capable to be made lodging rooms, besides lower rooms for business." " It was built at three different times ; the middle part is the oldest, the west or south-west end the second built, the north-east end the third building." As the name of the Countess of Shrewsbury is so intimately connected with the history of this district, it may not, perhaps, be out of place to give a brief memoir of her life, so here it is. Elizabeth, the celebrated Countess of Shrewsbury, was, as previously stated, the daughter of John Hardwicke, Esq., and of Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas Leake, Esq., of Has- land, in the county of Derby. She was born in the year 1521 ; and when scarcely fourteen years of age, she married Robert Barley, Esq., of Barley, in the county of Derby, a A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 41 young gentleman of large estates, all of which he settled absolutely upon his young wife, and therefore by his death, which happened shortly afterwards, without issue, she came into possession of a valuable addition to her ancestral pro- perty. After remaining a widow about twelve years, she married Sir William Cavendish, by whom she had issue as follows, viz. : — Henry Cavendish, Esq., who settled at Tutbury, Stafford- shire. William Cavendish the first Earl of Devonshire. Charles Cavendish, settled at Welbeck Abbey, and the father of William Baron Ogle, and Duke of Newcastle. Frances, who married Sir Henry Pierrepont, of Holme Pierrepont, near Nottingham, from whom descended the Dukes of Kingston and Earl Man vers. Elizabeth, who espoused Charles Stuart, Earl of Lenox, youngest brother to King James the first's father. Queen Elizabeth was so exasperated at this marriage,* that in the extremity of her wrath and indignation she committed both the Countess of Shrewsbury and the Dowager Lady Lenox to the tower ! Through the interest of the Earl of Shrews- bury the Countess was liberated after a few months ; and shortly after the young Lady Lenox, her daughter, whilst yet in all her bridal bloom, died in the arms of her mother. Mary, who married Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury. After the death of Sir William Cavendish, her ladyship again continued in widowhood for some time, but at length married Sir William St. Loo, captain of the guard to Queen Elizabeth, and who had a large estate in Gloucestershire, which, in the articles of marriage, were settled on her ladyship and heirs, in default of issue by Sir William ; and accordingly, having no child by him, she lived to enjoy his whole estate, to the exclusion, not only of his brothers, who were heirs male, but also of his own daughters by a former wife ! During this her third widowhood, the charms of her wit and beauty captivated the then greatest subject of the realm, George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, whom she brought to *The issue of this marriage was the beautiful and accomplished Lady Arabella Stuart, who was educated at Hardwick, under the care of the Countess, her grandmother, and whose affecting and melancholy history is second only to that of her kinswoman, Mary Queen of Scots. 42 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. terms of the greatest honour and advantage to herself, as well as to her children ; for he not only yielded to a considerable jointure, but also to a union of families, by taking her youngest daughter, Mary, to be the wife of Gilbert, his second son, and afterwards heir ; and also giving the Lady Grace, his youngest daughter, to Henry, her eldest son. On November 18th, 1590, she was a fourth time left, and until her death continued a widow. There were changes of condition in the life of this lady that, perhaps, never fell to the lot of any other woman. To be four times a wife — to rise by every husband into greater wealth and higher honours — to have a numerous issue by one husband only— to have all those children live, and all, by her advice, be creditably disposed of by marriage in her lifetime — and after all to live seventeen years a widow, in absolute power and plenty ;* and in addition to all this, to have been, as it were, the founder of several of the most noble houses which now adorn the peerage, as well as the grandmother of a princess of the blood royal, are certainly circumstances which seem to par- take more of the character of fiction than that of sober reality. She had also the honour to be keeper to Mary, Queen of Scots, for many years ; and it seems probable she frequently brought her royal charge to Hardwick during that period. She died, full of years, honours, and worldly comforts, on the 13th of February, 1607, and was buried in the south aisle of All Saints' church, in Derby, (where she had founded a hospital for twelve poor persons), under a costly tomb which she took care to erect in her own lifetime. The Countess is seen, arrayed in the habit of her time, with her head reclining on a cushion, and her hands placed in the attitude of prayer. Underneath is an inscription in Latin, of which the following is a translation : — " To the memory of Elizabeth, the daughter of John Hardwicke, of Hard- wicke, in the county of Derby, Esq., and at length co-heiress to her brother John. She was married first to Robert Barley, of Barley, in the said county of Derby, Esq. ; afterwards to William Cavendish, of Chatsworth, Knt., Treasurer of the Chamber to the Kings Henry 8th and Edward 6th, and Queen Mary, to whom he was also a Privy Councillor. She then became *Her income for some years before her death, amounted to £60,000 per annum, a sum equal to at least £200,000 of the present day ! A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 43 the wife of Sir William St. Loo, Captain of the Guard to Queen Elizabeth. Her last husband was the most noble George, Earl of Shrewsbury. " By Sir William Cavendish alone she had issue. This was three sons : viz., Henry Cavendish, of Tutbury, in the county of Stafford, Esq., who took to wife Grace, the daughter of the said 'George, Earl of Shrewsbury, but died without legitimate issue ; William, created Baron Cavendish, of Hardwicke, and Earl of Devonshire, by his late Majesty King James ; and Charles Cavendish, of Welbeck, Knt., father of the most honourable William Cavendish, on account of his great merit created Knight of the Bath, Baron Ogle, by right of his mother, and Viscount Mansfield, Earl, Marquis, and Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Earl Ogle, of Ogle. " She had also an equal number cjf daughters : viz., Frances, married to Sir Henry Pierrepont ; Elizabeth, to Charles Stuart, Earl of Lenox ; and Mary, to Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury. "This very celebrated Elizabeth, Countess of Shrewsbury, built the houses of Chatsworth, Hardwicke, and Oldcotes, highly distinguished by their magnificence ; and finished her transitory life on the thirteenth day of February, in the year 1607, and about the 87th year of her age ; and expecting a glorious resurrection, lies interred underneath." Most of this lady's biographers agree that she was of noble and commanding appearance — beautiful, accomplished, dis- creet, and talented, although, perhaps, towards the latter part of her life, rather inclined to be arrogant and despotic, hence her union with the Earl of Shrewsbury, (who, by the bye, was not all perfection himself), proved anything but a happy one. To her credit, however, be it said, that in their disputes, which ended in a separation, both Queen Elizabeth and Over- ton, Bishop of Lichfield, very warmly took the lady's part. After a careful examination of the character of this extraor- dinary woman, I am driven to the conclusion that she was more " sinned against than sinning ;" and there are certainly no events connected with her life which could, in my opinion, justify any writer in speaking of her with such severity as does one of her own sex,* who says, " His," the Earl of Shrewsbury's, "proud and cruel wife, whose temper could not be restrained by any power either on earth or in heaven, soon became jealous of the lovely and fascinating prisoner and led her husband, a noble of exemplary gravity, and a grandsire, a terrible life !" In addition to her other extraordinary propensities, the Countess was undoubtedly afflicted with what in modern times is not inaptly termed a u building mania," and she had the *Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England, vol. 7. 44 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST- honour of building three of the most splendid seats that were, perhaps, ever raised by one person in the same county, viz., Hardwick Hall, of which I am now speaking, Oldcotes, near Chesterfield, now in ruins, and that prince of mansions, and gem of the Peak, Chatsworth. To assist in the erection, or rather re-building of this latter noble edifice, she caused a great quantity of the materials to be removed from the old hall of Hardwick, which circumstance may partly account for the extremely ruinous state of that ancient building. To account for this lady's rage for building, there is a tradition — recorded by Walpole — that she was told by a fortune-teller that her death should not happen while she con- tinued building ; and accordingly she expended immense sums of money in so doing ; and singular enough, she died in a hard frost, when the workmen could not proceed with building operations ! Thus much for the history of Hardwick' s noble founder, for the leading facts of which I am indebted to a copious memoir of the Cavendish family, written by the learned Dr. Kennet, once chaplain in the family, and afterwards Bishop of Peterborough. Probably the greatest interest which attaches to Hardwick in the present day, arises from the fact of its having been one of the " houses of detention" of Mary, Queen of Scots ; nor is it surprising that this circumstance should be its great charm and attraction, or that she should be, as it were, the tutelary genius of the place, ; for since her sad career upon earth closed, Chatsworth has been burned and re-built ; Tut- bury and Sheffield castles, Wingfield Manor, Fortheringay — in short, every place almost, w r hich Mary inhabited during her captivity, all lie in ruins, as if struck with a doleful curse, but Hardwick still retains its grandeur ; in addition to which, the bed and furniture which she used, the cushions of her oratory, and the tapestry she wrought in her sad confinement, are still preserved ; and still may we look from the same lone window from which she gazed, with many a sigh and tear, over the far distant hills. The poet Gray visited Hardwick, and in one of his letters to Dr. Wharton thus touchingly alludes to this subject : — " Of all the places I have seen since my return from you Hardwick pleases me most, One would think that Mary, A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 45 Queen of Scots, had but just walked down into the park with her guard for half-an-hour. Her gallery, her room of audience, her antechamber with the very canopies, chair of state, foot- stool, lit de repos, oratory, carpets, hangings just as she left them ! a little tattered indeed, but the more venerable !" Horace Walpole too, visited Hardwick, but he, strange to say, declares that he "was never less charmed in his life." "The house," says he, "is not Gothkv but of that betweenity that intervened when Gothic declined and Palladian was creep- ing in — rather this is totally naked of either. It has vast chambers, aye, vast — such as the nobility of that time delighted in, and did not know how to furnish. There is a fine bank of old oaks in the park over a lake, nothing else pleased me /" In this spirit he thus describes the state room or presence chamber : — "The great apartment is exactly what it was when the Queen of Scots was kept there. Her council chamber, (the council chamber of a poor woman who had only two secre- taries, a gentleman usher f an apothecary, a confessor, and three maids !) is so outrageously spacious that you would take it for King David's, who thought, contrary to all modern experience, that in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom. At the upper end is the state chair, with a long table covered with sumptuous cloth, embroidered and em- bossed with gold — at least what was gold ; so are all the tables. Round the top of the chamber runs a monstrous frieze, ten or twelve feet deep, representing a stag hunt, in miserable plastered relief." How very different is the description of the same room given — not by one whose time and thoughts had been occupied by periods of history, " big with events," but by the talented anthoress of the " Characteristics of Women." Her elegant pen thus truthfully "hits off" the aforesaid room : — "In the council chamber (described by Walpole) rich tapestry, representing the story of Ulysses, runs round the room to the height of fifteen or sixteen feet, and above it the stag hunt in ugly relief. On one side of this room there is a spacious recess, at least eighteen or twenty feet square ; and across this, from side to side, to divide it from the body of the room, was suspended a magnificent piece of tapestry, (real Gobelin's), of the time of Louis Quatorze, still fresh and 46 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. even vivid in tint, which, from its weight, hung in immense wavy folds ; above it we could just discern the canopy of a lofty state bed, with nodding ostrich plumes, which had been placed there out of the way. The effect of the whole, as I have seen it, when the red western light streamed through the enormous windows, was in its shadowy beauty and depth of colour that of a c realized Rembrandt/ if, indeed, Rembrandt ever painted anything at once so elegant, so fanciful, so gor- geous, and so gloomy." At the risk of being tedious, I cannot resist the pleasure of quoting you a few more short extracts from the same pen. Speaking of the portrait of Lady Arabella Stuart, she says — " One of the first pictures which caught my attention when I entered the gallery was a small head of Arabella Stuart when an infant. The painting is poor enough ; it is a little round rosy face in a child's cap, and she holds an embroidered doll in her hands. Who could look on this picture and not glance forward through succeeding years and see the pretty playful infant transformed into the impassioned woman, writing to her husband — c In sickness and in despair, where- soever thou art, or howsoever I be, it sufficeth me always that thou art mine !' Arabella Stuart was not clever, but not Heloise, nor Corinne, nor Madlle. De' 1' Espinasse ever penned such a dear little morsel of touching eloquence, — so full of all a woman's tenderness !" Of Mary Queen of Scots' portrait when young, Mrs. Jame- son says, " This portrait of poor Mary is a full length, in mourning habit, with a white cap (of her own peculiar fashion) and a veil of white gauze. This, I believe, is the celebrated picture so often copied and engraved . It is dated 1578, the thirty-sixth of her age, and the tenth of her cap- tivity. The figure is elegant and the face pensive and sweet, and was painted by Richard Stevens, of whom there is some account in Walpole's ' Anecdotes of Painters.' " Who that has visited the picture gallery of Hardwick can read the following lines from the same writer, without being struck with their truthfulness ? " How often have I walked up and down this noble gallery lost in c commiserating reveries' on the vicissitudes of departed grandeur ! — on the nothingness of all that life could give ! — on the fate of youthful beauties, who lived to be broken-hearted, A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 47 grow old, and die ! — on heroes who once walked the earth in the blaze of their fame, now gone to dust, and in endless darkness ! — on bright faces, petries de lis et de roses, since time-wrinkled ! — on noble forms, since mangled in the battle- field ! — on high-born heads that fell beneath the axe of the executioner! — O ye starred and ribboned! ye jewelled and embroidered ! ye wise, rich, great, noble, brave, and beautiful, of all your loves and smiles, your graces and excellencies, your deeds and honours — does, then, a ' painted board circum- scribe all V " Leaving the romantic foreground and interesting ruins of the ancient building, " Where now the spider is weaving his woof, Making his loom of the sculptured roof ; Where weeds have gathered and moss hath grown, On the topmost ridge and lowest stone." I will proceed to give you as accurate a description as I possibly can of the interior attractions of the present hall. Passing through a narrow gateway, you approach the west front along a wide flagged pavement, and are admitted into the Entrance or Great Hall, which is of great magnitude, and fitted up with oak wainscoting and tapestry, in admirable keeping with the rest of the internal furnishing and decora- tions, which, as a whole, is said to be the most faithful illus- tration of the domestic habits of the days of Elizabeth that any building in England affords. This apartment contains a bust of Mary Queen of Scots, by Westmacott. On a pedestal, bearing an armorial escutcheon, is the following brief inscription : — Maria Regina Scotorum Nata 1542, A suis in exilium acta, 1568, Ab hospita neci data, 1587. Along the west end of the hall runs the Minstrel gallery, supported by four pillars, and forming a sort of vestibule to the entrance. Leaving the hall, we ascend by the north staircase into The Chapel, hung with tapestry, representing some of the 48 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. leading incidents connected w.ii the life of Saint Paul, in- cluding his conversion and shipwreck. The chairs and cushions, &c, contain some rich and costly specimens of antique needlework, and as such are interesting and deserving of attention. The Dining Hall is fitted up with small panels of dark oak wainscoting, Over the chimney-piece is the following motto : " The conclusion of all thinges, is to feare God and keepe his commaund- mentes." Underneath are the initials E. S., surmounted by a coronet and the date, 1597. There are several portraits in this room, including the first Duke of Devonshire ; Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire ; Horatio, first Lord Walpole ; the Right Honorable Henry Pelham, and the Earl of Southampton, Lord Treasurer to Charles the second. A door on the north side of this room opens into The Cut Velvet Bed Room, which was formerly hung with ancient silk drapery, richly embossed with emblematical figures, in gold and silver lace and thread ; but is now hung with tapestry, in good preservation, pourtraying Flemish subjects. Over the doors are specimens of the old needlework, decently restored. The arms of Cavendish, Shrewsbury, and Hardwick are emblazoned over the chimney-piece. Returning through the dining room, and proceeding along the gallery before alluded to, and from which there is a com- manding view of the entrance hall, you enter The Drawing Boom, which is also wainscoted in beautiful dark oak panels for a considerable height, above which is some fine tapestry, representing the story of Esther and King Ahasuerus. In this room are several portraits, including Sir William Cavendish, taken in his 42nd year, and considered fine, Charles James Fox, and Countess Spencer, mother of Geor- giana, Duchess of Devonshire. Over the chimney-piece are the Hardwick arms, surmounted by a coronet, and supported by two stags, underneath is the following distitch : — A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 49 " Sanguine, cornu, corde, oculo, pede, cervus et aure. Nobilis at claro ; pondere nobilior." By the south door of this room you enter The Duke's Bed Boom, which is hung with splendid tapestry, representing Abraham and the angels, Isaac and Rebecca, and other scriptural subjects. A Dressing Boom adjoins, looking south, in which are some interesting specimens of the Countess of Shrewsbury's needle- work. Returning through the drawing room, you reach the Grand Staircase, the walls of which contain some splendid specimens of tapestry, on which may readily be traced the story of Hero and Leander. There is a curious ancient chest near the drawing room door, supposed to have belonged to George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury. On arriving at the top of the staircase, a fine old door (surmounted by the Hardwick arms) presents itself, and which enters into the State Boom or Presence Chamber, a noble room, sixty-five feet long, thirty-three feet wide, and twenty-six feet high. The walls to the height of fifteen feet are adorned with rich tapestry, representing the chief events of the Odyssey. Above the tapestry, there is a basso relievo representation of a stag hunt, and the court of Diana. The arms of England are over the fire-place. The furniture in this room is extremely rich, and chiefly of the time of James the second, together with some curious old chairs and stools recently restored. At the north end of the room is a canopy of embroidered black velvet, with chair and foot-stool to match, the inside being ornamented by the Hardwick arms, quartered with the Bruces' of Elgin. In front of the canopy stands a long table of Queen Elizabeth's time, beautifully inlaid. In a spacious recess stands the state bed, with rich crimson velvet canopy, and noble ostrich plumes. The curtains are of crimson velvet and elaborately covered with gold and silver tissue, and there are also carved chairs and stools covered with 50 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. the same material, to match. The whole is in a good state of preservation. We next come to the Library, the walls and doorways of which are hung with tapestry. From the windows of this room a splendid prospect may be obtained. The library contains a considerable number of curious and valuable works, and the walls are graced with several paintings, including the celebrated Countess of Shrewsbury herself. A fine portrait of the fourth Duchess of Devonshire on horse- back. (The horse was painted by Van Bloom an, the land- scape by Horizonte, and the portrait by Kent, in 1747.) The first Duke of Devonshire when a youth, and Jeffery Hudson, the celebrated dwarf, (painted by Vandyck) . From this to the Green Room, the walls of which are now hung with beau- tiful silk tapestry. The library and green room were originally the same height as the presence chamber. You next enter the interesting room known as Mary Queen of Scots 9 Room, which is somewhat small, situate in one of the square towers. The principal object of attention in this room is the Queen's bed, which, being hung with black velvet, has rather a gloomy, but not unpleasing, appearance. The hangings are richly embroidered with flowers in coloured silk, by the hands of the royal prisoner and her attendants. Over the door are the royal arms of Scotland, with the initials " M. R.," and round the whole is the inscription : — " Marie Stewart, par le grace de Dieu, Royne de Scosse, Douariere de France." Crest — a lion. Motto — " In my Defens." The Blue Room, amongst other attractions, contains a representation of the marriage of Tobias, placed over the mantel-piece. The next and perhaps most attractive room is The Picture Gallery, which extends the whole length of the eastern front, measuring 166 feet in length, forty-one feet in width, (including the window recesses), and twenty-six feet high. A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 51 Some very ancient tapestry (removed from trie old halls at Chatsworth and Hardwick) may be seen in this noble apart- ment, part of it bearing date so long since as 1478. The windows in this gallery, although no larger than the others on the same story, are of most enormous proportions, and are altogether computed to contain 27,000 panes of glass. Hence no doubt the origin of the saying — "Hardwick Hall, More glass than wall." There are two splendid chimney-pieces here, composed of black marble and alabaster, one surmounted by a piece of sculpture, representing " Pity ;" the other a companion-piece, representing " Justice." They are supposed to be the work of either Stephens, a Flemish sculptor, or Valerio Vicentino, an Italian artist. The immense number of paintings hanging in this room consist chiefly of family portraits, a catalogue of which would far exceed my limits. The following will, however, be proba- bly found the most interesting, viz. : — Queen Elizabeth ; the Countess of Shrewsbury ; the beau- tiful Arabella Stuart; Henry the seventh and Henry the eight ; (cartoon, by Holbein) ; Mary Queen of Scots when young ; William, first Duke of Devonshire ; the same on horseback ; Lord William Russell ; Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire; third Earl of Burlington; Robert Boyle, * the philosopher ; Thomas Hobbes ; seventh Earl of Derby ; Lord Treasurer Burleigh. Hardwick was for many years the abode of the semi-infidel philosopher, Hobbes, usually known as " Hobbes of Malmes- bury," author of " The Leviathan," "DeCive," "De Corpore Politico," &c. ; who having in early life been tutor in the Cavendish family, found here an asylum in his declining years ; and here, also, after being more or less domesticated with the family for nearly seventy years, this eccentric man, who, with all his philosophy, would never allow himself to be left in the dark, died, or as he himself termed it, " crept out of the world," at the advanced age of ninety-one years. *He died of grief for the loss of his sister, Lady Kanelagh, the celebrated object of Milton's tender regard, at all events, of his enthusiastic admiration. 52 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST- There is a curious portrait of Hobbes in the picture gallery. It is striking from the evident truthfulness of the expression, uniting as it does the last lingering gleam of thought with the withered and almost ghastly decrepitude of extreme age. It was taken only a short time before his death, and has been engraved by Hollar. Hobbes once said to a notorious "bookworm," " If I had read as many volumes as you have ? I should be as ignorant as you are !" He was buried at the little church of AULT - HUCKNALL, close by, an edifice which is supposed to have been one of the ancient stone churches built by the Saxons, and in which there is even now much to interest the antiquarian, The leading style of the structure is Saxon, of which there are many parts still remaining. The peculiar position of the tower is indicative of this. One of the Saxon windows re- mains at the west end of the north aisle, and the original west doorway, though now blocked up, still remains, and a most interesting and curious example of very early sculpture it is, having a square head, with sculptured tympanum, surmounted by a semi-circular arch. The lower sculpture is probably a representation of St. George slaying the Dragon ; but it is difficult to guess even at the meaning of the panel within the arch. The picina, in the south wall of the church, is of elegant design, and has some well-executed first-pointed detail. Near to it, and under the arch in the south chancel wall, lies an ancient altar slab, marked with the usual crosses. Under the east window of the chantry chapel, stands a monument to one of the Cavendishes, dated 1626. The small statues ranged along the top in front are marble, and remark- ably well sculptured. The window over this tomb contains small portions of its ancient painted glass, and appears from the kneeling figures to have been a memorial window. The living of Ault-Hucknall formerly belonged to the priory of Newstead. Leaving, however, this venerable church, the stately park, and the grand old hall, with all its associations, I passed A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 53 through a richly-wooded and well-cultivated country to the lofty and frowning turrets of BOLSOVER CASTLE, distant, perhaps, three miles from Hardwick, another ancient seat of the princely Cavendishes, now the property of the Duke of Portland, and occupied by the Rev. J. Hamilton Gray and his talented lady, the authoress of the " History of Etruria," " History of Rome," History of the Roman Em- perors," and "A Tour to the Sepulchres of Etruria," who have in their elegant apartments arranged the magnificent series of Etruscan and other antiquities which they have collected, as also a large display of ancient carved furniture. The town of Bolsover, which is about eight miles from Mansfield, is a quiet ancient-looking place, and was at one time of sufficient importance to rank as a market town. It is spoken of as such so early as 1225. The market was held on Friday; but was discontinued about the middle of the seventeenth century. The manor is copyhold, of a similar tenure to that of Mansfield, His Grace the Duke of Portland being the present lord. King John in the second year of his reign caused the park of Bolsover to be enclosed, under the direction of Hugh Bardolph, of Stoke, whose account, amounting to <£30, was deemed so excessive that it was referred to Galfred Lutterell and William Fitzwakellin to oversee and audit. The " Bolsover buckles," which were held in so much repute by our grandfathers, were formerly made here in great quantities. Their celebrity arose from a peculiar process of case-hardening, which not only enabled the manufacturer to impart a most brilliant polish, but also rendered them of so exceedingly good temper, that it was said a loaded cart might pass over a Bolsover buckle without injuring its shape. The church is a plain Norman structure, with a tower and low spire, and is dedicated to St. Mary, the present value of the living being about ^£130 per annum. Amongst the monuments in the Cavendish chapel is one to Sir Charles and Lady Cavendish, very highly decorated. In the church are other monuments of the Cavendish family, and one 54 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. of the Duke of Newcastle, consisting of four pillars supporting a massive pediment ornamented with figures and various devices. It is composed of different coloured marbles, and is one of the most magnificent in the provinces. The late Duke of Port- land, father of Lord George Bentinck, is also buried here. On approaching the town from the Glapwell road, the most glorious scenery lay extended before me, as all at once I found myself on the very ridge of a range of hills which fell some- what precipitately from where I stood and formed with a cor- responding range rising in the distance a long sweeping valley, of the greatest extent, variety, and beauty. To the extreme left the noble woods and lofty turrets of the hall I had just visited rose in grandeur. The village of Heath, with Sutton Hall, the seat of one of the Arkwrights, formed a pleasing front ; and with the vast iron districts of Staveley and Reni- shaw on the right, completed a magnificent panorama ; the noble hills of the Peak and the Yorkshire moors extending themselves as a misty-shaded back ground along the distant horizon. The varied and glowing tints of a rich autumnal foliage, although somewhat sad precursors of approaching winter, added greatly to the beauty of the charming landscape. On nearer acquaintance, the town bears evident traces of having been at some period of its history strongly fortified. I found the castle all I ha,d been led to expect. " A mighty maze, but not without a plan." There is no doubt that William de Peverell (to whom the manor was granted by his father, William the Conqueror) built a castle at Bolsover ; and there is still a road called the " Peverell Road," leading in the direction of South Wingfield, where he possessed a manor house. The ancient castle formed one of the strongholds of the disaffected barons during part of the troublesome reign of King John ; but it was at length (1215) reduced by Ferrars, Earl of Derby, who was after- wards appointed its governor. In 1552, Edward the sixth granted a lease of the manor to Sir John Byron, and two years afterwards granted the same in fee to the Talbots, by whom it was leased, in 1608, to Sir Charles Cavendish for 1000 years, at a rent of ^10 per annum ; and in 1613 he bought the manor, the purchase deed being enrolled in chancery on the 20th of August of that year. A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 55 At that time the castle was in ruins, but there was even then too much mettle in the Cavendish blood to allow it to continue so, consequently the same year Sir Charles commenced the erection of the present mansion, under the superintendance of Huntingdon Smith son, who was sent to Italy by the munifi- cent owner expressly to collect materials for his designs. This celebrated architect died at Bolsover in 1648, and was buried in the chancel of the church. A great portion of the buildings then erected are now in ruins ; but there is nothing particularly picturesque in their appearance, which partakes more of the effect produced by having been dismantled by careful workmen than of succumb- ing to the ravages of time, the massive grey walls being still as firm and free from decay as can well be imagined. Some idea may be formed of the style and magnitude of this splendid range of buildings from the fact that one gallery now standing measures 220 feet in length, by twenty-eight feet in width. The dining room was seventy-eight feet by thirty-three feet, and a lodging room thirty-six feet by thirty- three feet ; the out-buildings are in proportion, the whole range measuring 276 feet from the east corner of the house. It was in these noble rooms that William, the right loyal and princely Earl of Newcastle (1634) entertained King Charles I. and his court on a scale of magnificence seldom, if ever, equalled in the annals of baronial liberality ; in fact, according to the Duchess of Newcastle's memoirs of her husband, the first cost him no less a sum than ^64,000, the second 5615,000, and the third, a slight affair, ,£1,500. On this occasion Ben Jonson wrote several masques, and was em- ployed as a sort of master of the ceremonies to prepare the speeches and scenes ; and Welbeck Abbey was set apart for their majesties' lodgings. The first entertainment was described by Lord Clarendon as " such an excess of feasting as had scarce ever been known in England before, and would be still thought very prodigious if the same noble person had not within a year or so after- wards, made the king and queen a more stupendous enter- tainment, which, God be thanked, though possibly it might too much whet the appetite of others to excess, no man after those days imitated/ 5 Having alluded to the munificence of the first Earl of New- 56 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. castle, it may be interesting to mention the extent of his resources, and the generous sacrifices he made in support of his royal master's cause. From the memoirs of the duchess, it appears that in the year 1649, when the king found it necessary to raise an army to subdue the disaffected Scotch, the Earl of Newcastle, find- ing his majesty's exchequer exhausted, generously lent his majesty ^£ 10,000, and raised a troop of horse, consisting of one hundred and twenty gentlemen, (which was afterwards called the %c Prince of Wales' Troop"), all well equipped, and each attended by his own servant, without charge to the king. His lordship also fortified and garrisoned the town of New- castle, Bolsover castle, and other places at his own expense, and gained many advantages over the parliamentary forces. By a survey made of his estates in 1641, he possessed a rent roll of ^€22,393 9s. 3d., a prodigious [income for those days. After the murder of the king, these splendid estates were placed by the parliament under a sequestration, the earl him- self having fled to Antwerp, where he chiefly resided until his return to England at the restoration. The duchess computes her husband's losses consequent upon those unhappy and disgraceful struggles at no less than j694 1,303, for which she thus accounts : — The loss of his estates during the civil war and "I /? 4 qo nno his banishment, amounted with interest to. . . . J Estates actually lost, producing an annual income \ j^ao^ 990 of ^5,229, she estimate at., J * 4 «*'>^ u Sold for payment of his debts 5656,000 Value of his woods which were cut down ^645,000 Grand total ^941,303 What a melancholy picture does this statement present of the troubles and adversities which then so heavily oppressed our land ; and how fervent ought our aspirations to be for deliverance "from all sedition, privy conspiracy and rebellion." Although Bolsover castle was strongly fortified, and well provided for by the Earl of Newcastle, it could not withstand the overpowering influence, openly and covertly, of the vic- torious Puritans, and it surrendered upon honorable terms to Major General Crawford, in 1644. From the account of its capture it appears to have been well manned, strongly fortified A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 57 with great guns, " one whereof carried eighteen pound bullets." aud was well stored with ammunition and provisions. One hundred and twenty muskets, two mortars, nine barrels of powder, besides pikes, halberts, drakes, matches, &c, fell into the hands of the victors, who bestowed great pains in demolish- ing this splendid edifice, in order as well to enrich themselves as to show their spleen against the noble and loyal owner. After the restoration some feeble attempts were made by the Earl, by this time created the Duke, of Newcastle, to repair the injuries the fabric had sustained; but with a shattered fortune and advancing years, a total restoiation was not attempted. Enough was accomplished, however, to enable various branches of the family to reside there ; but as this took place during a time in which is little worthy of record, it is sufficient to mention that this and several other estates, including Mansfield and Welbeck, descended from that noble branch of the Cavendishes through those of Holies and Harley to the present owner and lord of the manor, His Grace the Duke of Portland. As before stated, the only part of the castle now occupied is the residence of the Rev. J. H. Gray, and is not shown to casual visitors when the family is at home. With the ex- ception of what is termed the " star chamber," there is little, perhaps, beyond the glorious prospects from the windows to interest the visitor. The gardens belonging to the castle are pretty, though small, and are graced with a classically designed fountain of elaborate work, ornamented with the busts in alabaster of eight of the Roman emperors, and a statue of Venus in the act of getting out of a bath with wet drapery in her hand ; but the water which once played around the lovely goddess has long ceased to dance and sparkle at her feet. The riding house, so celebrated in the Duke of Newcastle's magnificent work, " General System of Horsemanship," in two royal folio volumes, is still in excellent preservation, and is worth a journey to see. And here I must conclude my account of Hardwick and Bolsover, once places of almost regal splendour, and now so interesting that no lover of either his country's history, or of the picturesque in scenery, ought, if "within a day's march," to neglect visiting. 58 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. To vary the ramble, I returned to Mansfield by way of the village of SCARCLIFFE. At the commencement of the reign of Henry the third, the manor of Scarcliffe belonged to the baronial family of Freche- ville, but it was afterwards seized by the king because the castle and town of Northampton were in a hostile manner detained from him by Anker Frecheville, Simon de Montford, Hugh de Spenser, and others. Some time after the town of Scarcliffe was presented by Robert Lexington to the prior and canons of Newstead. The advowson of the church was given to Derley Abbey, by Hubert, the son of Ralph. The Duke of Devonshire is now the patron. The living is a vicarage, and the church is dedicated to "All Saints." It consists of a chancel and nave, with north aisle only, a south porch, and west tower. The prevailing style is late Norman as seen in the arcade on the north side of the nave and in the inner doorway of the porch, which, by the bye, is a fair specimen of Norman work. In the chancel is a remarkably large and solid oak chest of undoubtedly great antiquity. To all lovers of the romantic (and who are not ?) by far the most interesting feature about Scarcliffe church is the monu- mental effigy in the chancel of the Lady Constantia and her child. A more complete and beautiful monument is scarcely to be found. From the style of the decorations it probably dates back as far as the reign of King Henry the third. On a long scroll held by the child's hand, is the following elegant inscription in Leonine verse, engraved in Lombardic capitals : — •' Hie sub humo strata, Mulier jacet tumulata Constans et grata, Constancia jure vocata Cu genetrice data Proles requiescit humata. Quamquam peccata, Capita ejus sint cumulata, Crimine purgata, Cum prole Johanne beata Vivat prefata, Sanctorum sede loeata. — Amen." A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 59 Nothing is now known of the family of this lady,* but the following interesting legend (worthy of a romance) is still carefully cherished in the locality : — Wandering near the then densely thick woods of Scarcliffe this lady lost her way on a dark and dreary winter's night, but the sound of the curfew enabled her to find her way, wearied and exhausted, to the village, where she was immediately taken with the pains of labour and died. Nobody knew who she was or where she came from, but her ornaments and jewels proved her to be a lady of high degree. After her burial her trinkets were sold and the proceeds invested in the purchase of as much land as would pay from its annual rent the expense of ringing the curfew bell for about an hour each night during the dark and dreary winter nights. This custom is still religiously observed. I next came to the charming little valley of Pleasley Forge, where I found two extensive mills of Messrs. W. Hollins & Co., furnishing employment for 400 or 500 hands. On the north- east side of the lower mill are precipitous rocks or ravines of limestone, affording romantic views. There are a daily school, mechanics' reading room and library, principally for the use of those employed at the mills, promoted and liberally sup- ported by William Hollins, Esq. Leaving this valley, with its busy mills and lakes, its stately swans and richly wooded declivities, I passed the spot cele- brated as being the site of two Roman villas of considerable pretensions, which were discovered by Major Rooke, in 1786, and of which he sent an interesting account to the Antiquarian Society, (vide Archaeologia, vol. 8, p. 363), but nothing is now to be seen save the ruins of a wall which the major in his antiquarian zeal caused to be erected over the spot, in order to protect the remains from that total annihilation which notwithstanding has long since been their fate. Passing on, I soon reached the village of MANSFIELD WOODHOUSE. an ancient and respectable little place, a mile and a half from *It is most probable that this lady was one of the baronial family of Frecheville, which possessed the manor of Scarcliffe for several generations. 60 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. Mansfield, and once the seat of the Digby family, eminent for their loyalty and zeal in the service of the first Charles. The church in this village is of great antiquity. It is dedicated to St. Edmund, and in a forest book, written on parchment in 1520, it is recorded that the "town of Mansfield Woodhouse was burned in the year of our Lord mccciiii, and the Kirk stepull with the belles of the same ; for the stepull was afore of tymbre worke." It was re-built with stone, of which there are several quarries in the parish, consisting chiefly of that durable kind called magnesian limestone. On appoaching the church, I found to my delight that the spirit of restoration had been abroad in her purest form : the whole body of the church had been thoroughly repaired in 1853, in a most admirable manner. This little village boasts a most excellent rural library, in connection with which lectures are delivered during the winter seasons at the new and commodious national school rooms. The Tower records show that in the reign of Henry the sixth, Sir Robert Plumbton held one bovate in this parish, by the service of winding a horn to frighten the wolves away from the town, which at that time was (like Mansfield) sur- rounded by a densely wooded forest. Th° ^rge tract of land belonging to this and to Mansfield parisl <.s been enclosed, so that now the heath-covered hills of old onerwood are clad with verdure, and the waving cornfields usurp the place of the graceful ferns (filices), or the still more pleasing golden- crested ulex Europoeus, furze, gorse, or whin, which ever you please to call it. Thus it has remained for the utilitarians of the nineteenth century to demolish the last remnant of "merrie Sherwood," the most ancient, most extensive, and decidedly most interest- ing of all the royal forests. END OF LETTER V. A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 6 1 LETTER VI. SHERWOOD FOREST, CLIPSTONE. Anxious to see the ruins of King John's palace, and that splendid vestige of ancient Sherwood called Birkland, I set out at day -break in the direction of what is generally called the Flood Dyke, and by its side, on a private road of the Duke of Port- land's, leading from near Mansfield for several miles through his grace's estates. It proved both a lovely and an interesting walk, inasmuch as it displayed a system of irrigation which, although the work of one individual, may safely take its stand as one of the most important and comprehensive ever recorded in the annals of agricultural improvement. A man of ordinary mind and means might have shrunk from such an undertaking with dismay ; but the indomitable perseverace of this noble projector enabled him to overcome every obstacle, and to reap the reward of a long and honourable life passed in im- proving his estates, and in developing the productive resources of the district. The waters of the river Man, after turning the thousands of spindles which whirl an \ dance over its stream, are diverted from their natural channel by means of an artificial canal to a much higher level parallel to, but at some distance from, the bed of the river, by which means the land lying between the two streams, that is, between the natural river and the artificial one, can be with the assistance of the shuttles, carriers, &c, readily irrigated at pleasure. These are the apparently perfectly simple and successful means adopted, and it is when considered how comprehen- sively they are carried out, and that the land was formerly rough, boggy, and valueless, that the scheme and its effects 62 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. can be thoroughly appreciated ; and no lover of agriculture can look upon the now verdant meadows and luxuriant pas- tures which meet his gaze in long and pleasing succession, without the very highest admiration and even wonder. His late Grace the Duke of Portland first commenced this system of improvement about forty-six years ago, and there is^ I believe, a staff of men, locally called the " Dukes Navi- gators/' more or less employed ever since ; so that at the pre- sent time the flood meadows represent an amount of capital invested for improvement literally astonishing. Thinking the particulars of these works might interest you, I obtained them from an authentic source by the courtesy of a friend, and now send them, merely premising that, inde- pendently of the formation of the King's Mill dam, (named in a previous letter), these beautiful works have cost upwards of one hundred pounds per acre ! These, then, were His Grace the Duke of Portland's water meadows, in the county of Nottingham, on the 25th October, 1849. A. R. P. In Clipstone and Clipstone Park, called Clipstone L,a 9 water meadows .... J In Mansfield Woodhouse, called Mansfield Wood- 1 *» , 9fi house water meadows J In Mansfield and Sutton, called High Oakham 1 ^ . water Meadows J At Lindhurst, called Lindhurst water meadow .... 48 2 3 In Gleadthorpe (Warsop parish), called Glead-1 -^ A thorpe water meadow J In Carburton, called Carburton water meadow . . 56 27 In Welbeck and Norton, called the Kennel water 1 qq a r>r> Meadows J M U ZZ Making a grand total of 586 34 To this statement may be added a large extent at Cuckney, and a further one at Milnthorpe, in Norton township. In the words of the Rev. J. Curtis, " the value of this project is very perceptible ; during its whole length a peren- nial fertility is maintained, and luxuriant crops of grass and clover flourish over a district where comparative sterility once \ A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 63 reigned in absolute and apparently interminable power. If it has not already, it will in time amply repay the immense out- lay incurred in its formation. 55 Proceeding for several miles through these verdant meadows by the lower road, which is on the edge of a charming little trout stream, I then passed through a wood of stately young oaks, called Cavendish Wood, and shortly found myself close to the stack yard and buildings of the Lodge, in Clipstone Park, built on the site of a former mansion, part of the re- mains of which are incorporated with the present edifice, and used as the farm house, which, with its spacious and convenient appendages, its ingenious excellent and numerous implements, is altogether an object of high and pleasing gratification. Dean Swift has observed that he is the best patriot who causes two ears of wheat to grow where one grew before. The noble proprietor of this domain has done more : he has dispensed upon a district of rigid barrenness the grateful aspect of verdure and abundance. Nobility well deserves its honours, its privileges, its influence, and its authority, when its revenues are thus expended in " scattering blessings over a smiling land. 55 Leaving this interesting farm yard, with its healthy, well- clad labourers, majestic horses, implements in endless variety, first-rate stock, its unequalled stack yard, its host of one-horse carts and Dutch barns, I entered the little rural and happy- looking village of CLIPSTONE. I say happy-looking, and when I tell you that the labourers 5 cottages have all the neatness and beauty of country villas, with their trellised porches, climbing honeysuckles and blush- ing roses, in addition to gardens, homesteads, and cottage cows, you will think that I use the term advisedly. This village, although now a comparatively obscure hamlet, was evidently at one time a place of much importance, some writers even asserting that during the Saxon heptarchy a palace was built and occupied by one of the Kings of Northumber- land. Be this as it may, it is certain that it was a royal manor, and possessed a royal residence, very soon after the 64 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. Norman Conquest, and that it was a frequent and favourite residence of King John. It was also here that the lion- hearted Richard received the congratulations of the King of Scotland on his return from the Crusades. These incidents are enough to clothe the place with more than ordinary in- terest. I therefore eagerly sought out all that remains of the palace ruins, and found in an arable field, surrounded by a contented flock of forest sheep, a pile of thick and rugged walls, perforated with what were once no doubt richly-traced gothic windows. This remnant still frowns upon the storm and defies its power, and may, if permitted, endure for ages to come, for I found on examination that the walls are composed of small pieces of the imperishable magnesian limestone, and a concrete as hard and durable as that by which the massive foundations of the discovered Roman remains are generally cemented. Although this place has been by some writers designated a mere " hunting box," there can be no doubt it was from its magnitude more deserving the name of a palace ; for in addition to the incidents connected with its history already stated, I find that not only are several of the royal grants to Nottingham and elsewhere dated from it, but also that in 1290 King Edward the first held a parliament or royal council here ; and immense cellars and extensive foundations near the present ruins existed but a few years ago. According to Thoroton the first palace here was destroyed by fire, but re- built in 1220, in the reign of Henry the third. On a bold bleak eminence some distance from the " palace" ruins stands another structure, which, although of modern date, is not the least attractive feature of this district. This is a beautiful gothic lodge recently erected, and called by the villagers the " duke's archway," a name, by the bye, hardly calculated to attract the notice its beauty will well repay. As it lay, however, in the most direct route for Birkland, I made a virtue of necessity and paid the archway a visit, little ex- pecting to find a building rich in decoration, perfect in its various styles of architecture, (for it is scarcely pure gothic), admirably appropriate to its situation and purpose, and dis- playing that taste and refinement in details for which its eminent architects (Scott and MofFatt) are so justly celebrated. The first stone was laid in June, 1842, and the building A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. 65 was completed in 1844, under the able superintendence of Mr. Lindley, whose eminence and taste as a builder I have before had occasion to mention, It is built of the beautiful limestone found at Mansfield Woodhouse, the surface of which being highly dressed, its countless magnesian particles glitter in the sun as if sprinkled with diamond dust. CLIPSTONE LODGE. ^*** 5 S* fc ^>^2 In the centre, as will be seen from the drawing, is a noble carriage way, and on either side are comfortable dwellings, while the principal room, which is over the archway, is dedicated by its noble founder to the cause of education, for the benefit of the villagers of Clipstone. The prospects from this room are most beautiful, including Birkland, with its thousand aged oaks, the venerable church of Edwinstowe, and a wide expanse of splendid forest scenery. Placed in the very centre of the locality identified with their 66 A VISIT TO SHERWOOD FOREST. exploits, the late duke happily adopted this tasteful work to commemorate the heroes of the famous " Garland," for " 3rn ifns ouv gparioug fele 5 tinnfe fytvt fe not one 3Sut £e of Mo&rn ?|ootr Satjj Seartf, an* %itt\t Jo|m ; ?lntt to tje entf of time, t|>e tale* #all ne'er 6e tfone <©f Jrcarlet,