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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

TMIE ffilJISTFOlRY

BELY01II CASTL,

THE REV? HRVIH ELL3

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HSHED BY ROBJEIST TYAS, PATE I»©S TEH HOW,
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GMANTIfAM: S.JBLITIII^JB. JHHEBT STREET.
JJDCCCX1I.

THE

HISTORY

BELVOIR CASTLE,
FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY :
ACCOMPANIED BY
A DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT CASTLE,
AND CRITICAL NOTICES OF
THE PAINTINGS, TAPESTRY, STATUARY, &C,
WITH WHICH IT IS ENRICHED;
BY THE REV. IRVIN ELLER,
OF QUEEN'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE.

LONDON:
R. TYAS, PATERNOSTER ROW ; AND R. GROOMBRIDGE,
PANYER ALLEY.
GRANTHAM : S. RIDGE, HIGH-STREET.
MDCCCXLI.

GRANTHAM: PRINTED BY S. RIDGE.

HIS GRACE
THE DUKE OF RUTLAND, K. G.,
&c. &c. &c,
THIS ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE
THE HISTORY OF HIS GRACE'S NOBLE ANCESTORS,
AND TO DESCRIBE
THE VALUABLE WORKS OF ART IN BELVOIR CASTLE,
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED
BY HIS GRACE'S
OBEDIENT, HUMBLE SERVANT,

IRVIN ELLER.

CONTENTS.

FIRST PERIOD, A. D. 1066—1247.
Belvoir Castle — Site — Margidunum of Antoninus — Robert de
Todeni, Standard-bearer to the Conqueror, founder of Belvoir
Castle and Priory — Endowment of the latter — William de
Albini Brito, his son, becomes a brother and monk of, and
benefactor to, the Priory — What the incorporation of a layman
into an ecclesiastical body implied — William de Albini II.,
benefactor to the Belvoir Priory — William de Albini III —
King John — Magna Charta, 1215 — Battle of Lincoln — New
stead Priory, near Stamford — William de Albini IV. dies
without male issue - - - - 1 — 13
SECOND PERIOD, A. D. 1247—1508.
Sir Walter Espec — His character — Founds the monasteries of
Kirkham, Rievaulx and Wardon — Dies without male issue — Pe
ter de Ros — Robert de Ros — Everard de Ros — Robert
de Ros, called Fursan — Founder of Helmsley and Werke
Castles — Becomes a Templar — His monument in the Temple
Church — William de Ros — Robert de Ros and Isabel
Albini — He is one of the insurgent barons, temp. Henry III
— Battle of Lewes — Inscription to his memory in Bottesford
Church (p 365) — William de Ros claims the crown of Scotland
— "William De Ros II., lord high admiral — His widow at the
Jubilee in Rome, 1350 — John de Ros, le bos compagnon —
His affray with Hugh Despenser in the Cathedral at Lincoln —
Built Stoke Albany Church — William de Ros III — Battle of
Cressy — Of Neville's Cross — Thomas de Ros — Buried in old
St. Paul's Cathedral — John de Ros — Coronation of Richard
II — Revival by the nobility of the custom of pilgrimages to the

VI. contents.
Holy Land — William de Ros, knight of the garter, 1411 —
Favourite of Henry IV— Controversy with Sir Robert Tyrwhit
— Will of his widow the lady Margaret de Ros — John de Ros
— Slain near Beaufort Castle — His monument in Bottesford
Church (p 366 — 7) — Thomas de Ros — His son attainted 1461
— Lord Hastings, opposition to, in taking possession of Belvoir
Castle — Edmund Lord Ros — Dies without issue — Eleanor his
sister and co-heir marries Sir Robert de Manners 14 — 32
THIRD PERIOD, A. D. 1508—1840.
Camden's definition of the name de Manneriis — Sir Robert
de Manners, 1324 — Norham Castle, Thomas de Grey, and
Marmion — Sir John de Manners — His son accused of murder
— Sir Robert de Manners, conservator of the truce with the
Scots, temp. Hen. VI — His son deputy admiral to the Duke of
Gloucester — Geobge Manners, Lord Ros marries the niece
of Edw. IV — Perkin Warbeck — Thomas, Lord Ros created
knight of the garter and Earl of Rutland, 1526 — Henry VIII —
Measures for his divorce — Pope Clement VII — His character —
Dissolution of monasteries — Grants of property to the Earl of
Rutland — Rebuilding of Belvoir Castle commenced — Henry,
second Earl of Rutland completes Belvoir Castle — Captain
general of forces under Philip and Mary — Knight of the gar
ter, 1559 — Relative position of Elizabeth and Mary of Scotland
— Edward, third Earl, approved servant of Elizabeth — His will
— The lady Isabel his widow — John, fourth Earl, his will —
Epitaph to his daughter, Bridget — Roger, fifth Earl, and Es
sex, imprisoned by Elizabeth — In favour with James, who visits
Belvoir Castle, on his way from Scotland — Francis, sixth Earl
— Charles, Prince of Wales, Duke of Buckingham, and Infanta
of Spain — Two of this Earl's sons supposed to die of wicked
practice and scorcery — Examination, trial, and execution, of the
witches — George, seventh Earl, visited by Charles I. — John
Manners, of Haddon; eighth Earl — Great rebellion — Belvoir
Castle besieged, taken, and dismantled, by the parliamentary
party — Rebuilt 1668 — John, ninth Earl and first Duke, — His
character — John, second Duke — Lady Rachael Russell — John,
third Duke, favourite of George II— The last of the family who
made Haddon an occasional residence — Great Marquis of Gran
by — Charles, fourth Duke, dies lord lieutenant of Ireland —
John Henry, fifth and present Duke — Visit of Prince Regent

contents. vu.
to Belvoir Castle, 1813, 14 — Destruction of the Castle by fire,
1816 — List of the pictures burnt — Interesting memorial of that
event — Death of the Duchess, 1825 — Her character — Death of
the Duchess Dowager, 1831 — Of Lord Robert Manners — Visit
of the Queen Dowager to Belvoir Castle, 1839 — Speeches and
character of the present Duke — Tabular statement of genera
tions, succession, &c.  33 — 167
Notes  169—187
DESCRIPTION OF THE CASTLE.
Exterior. Styles of Architecture. Interior. Guard Room
and Gallery — Architecture, armour, and painted glass 189—197
Regent's Gallery. Works of art, tapestry, paintings, and
sculpture — Names and lives of Artists — Coypel, Nollekens,
Wyatt, Ceracchi, Reynolds, Luca Penni, West, Kauffman,
Hoppner, Kneller, Breughel, Le Nain, Gainsborough, Marlow,
Lely, Mortimer — Wellington chair - 198 — 213
Picture Gallery. Chairs from the Borghese Palace — Pictures,
names, and lives of Artists — Reynolds, Teniers, Bronzino,
Gerard Douw, Claude, Gaspar Poussin, Crespi, Van der Hey-
den, Parmegiano, Carlo Dolce, Dekker, Schalken, Berghem,
Netscher, Caracci, Guido Reni, Murillo, Van de Velde,
Jansen, Manfredi, Rubens, Wynants, Ruysdael, Van Dyck,
Poelenburg, Mireveldt, Holbein, Hals, Nefs, Bassano, Paolo
Veronese, Correggio, Ostade, Durer, Van Uden, Ribera, Rem
brandt, Albano, Caravaggio, Mola, Weeninx, Van der WerrF,
Bourdon, Monamy, Jan Stein, Wouvermann, Baroccio, Cuyp,
Giordano, Andrea del Sarto, Heusch, Van Tol, Van der Neer,
Pynaker, Borgognone, Schidone, Walker, Elzheimer 213—270
Chapel. Architectural character — Altar Piece, by Murillo, 27 1
Awaiting Room. Portraits, &c, by Lely, Vosterman, Tillemans,
Marlow — Model of the former Castle - - - 274
Library. Architectural character — MSS., books, and original
drawings by the great masters - - - 277
Boudoir of the late Duchess. Beautiful views from the
oriel and a side window — Paintings by Wright, Ferneley, Van
der Meulen, Ferg, Mortimer, Sachtleven, and Van der Hyde 283

vm. contents.
Private Passage. Series of portraits, supposed to be by Jere
miah Van der Eyden - - 288
Grand Corridor. Architectural character - - 289
Green Room. Poussin's Sacraments - 290
Chinese Rooms. Character of the decorations - 298
Elizabeth Saloon. Gorgeous style of the decorations — Statue
of the late Duchess — Painted ceiling, cabinets, portraits of the
Duke and Duchess by Sanders — Casket — Mniatures in enamel,
oil, and water colours, by Liotard, Cooper, Zincke, Petitot,
Cosway, Hoskins, Oliver, &c. - - 300 — 313
Grand Dining Room. Character of the decorations — Magnifi
cent marble side table - - 314
Hunters' Dining Room. Pictures by Reynolds, Peters, Mar
low, Van de Velde, Stothard, &c. - - - 315
King's Rooms. Aspect, &c. ----- 318
Housekeeper's Apartments. Hunting Service — Passage with
portaits -------- 320
Wellington Apartments, &c. - - . 321
Staunton Tower. A portion of the Castle of considerable tra
ditional antiquity — An attempt to ascertain the date of its
erection  322
Private Apartments. Pictures by Stubbs, Cladenberg, &c. 325
Steward's Room. Solidity of the architecture of this portion
of the Castle  327
Plate Pantry, Kitchen, Ale Cellars, and Lamp Rooms
328—334
The Demesne. Critical remarks on the former style of garden
decorations — Evelyn, Bacon, Milton, Addison, Pope — Artist
gardeners, Bridgeman, Kent, Wright, Brown, Sir W. Cham
bers, Price, Repton — Character of the Belvoir scenery — Duke's
walk, flower gardens, statues, wilderness, the dairy, garden
gate, &c. — Stables, Inn, site of Priory - 335 — 349
Mausoleum. Site and architectural character — Sculptured re
presentation of the Duchess - 349
Bottesford Church. Architectural description, monuments,
&c. -  355
Flora of the Vale of Belvoir - - - 391

HISTOEY
OF
BELVOIR CASTLE

FIRST PERIOD, A.D. 1066—1247.
Robert de Todeni. Arms, Gules, an eagle displayed within a bordure, argent.
Albini   Or, two chevrons within a bordure, gules.
Belvoir .. ..  Azure, a Catharine wheel, or.
 "Wondrous Belvoir to thy spacious vale,
Sweet Castle, and thy farthest prospects, hail ! —
Where Margidunum, seat of heroes old,
Once stood." Peck, 1727.
" Belvoir ! neighbour to the sky,
That with light doth deck its brows —
Belvoir ! art's masterpiece, and nature's pride."
Harleian Miscellany, 1 679.
The noble position of Belvoir Castle would lead the
observer to expect, that its site must always have been an
object of great interest to the successive dynasties of people,
who in their turn were lords of the country. Considerable
research has not indeed brought to light any proofs, that
the ancient British availed themselves of its importance,
either for a civil, or a military purpose. That it was, how
ever, a warlike station from the earliest period, can be little
doubted. Its obvious advantages as a commanding post of
observation, could not have been overlooked by the most
uncivilised people ; especially when consisting, as the ancient
British did, of numerous tribes, to whom war formed a sort
of daily pastime.

HISTORY OF

By some writers, the hill on which the Castle stands, is
asserted to be the Margidunum of Antoninus : an opinion to
which, Camden, from the signification of the name, and its
distance from Vernometum, a Roman station in Leicester
shire, and from the town of Pont, or Ponton, strongly in
clines. That very competent authority conjectures, that
Margidunum, or Marle-dunum, means a hill of marie : which
if not found at Belvoir in any remarkable abundance, so as
to justify the appellation, it is, he naively observes, " haply,
because no man seeketh for it." He adds another derivation,
which may approve itself to the reader's judgment with more
facility than the former. He suggests, that by the term
Marga, the Britons implied plaster, which is digged up, as
he was informed, hard by ; and, which was much in request
with the Romans, for white pargetting, and in making of
images, as Pliny in his Natural History testifies. (Britannia,
p. 536, Edit. 1637.)
The fact, that one of the most distinguished nobles of the
invading army of the Conqueror, selected this as an appro
priate spot for the erection of a stronghold against the unta
med disaffection of the Saxons, proves, that its site was soon
appreciated even by a stranger. In thus assurning that the
hill of Belvoir, is, for the most part, a natural elevation ; it is
not without some distrust in his own judgment, when the
author finds himself in opposition to names of veiy high
authority ; by whom, it is considered for the most part, artifi
cial. It certainly does now possess some features peculiar to
itself, when compared with other elevations in its immediate
neighbourhood. But this relative difference is not so great
as to prove, that more was done to give it its present appear
ance, than possibly might be effected by the labour which
was commonly bestowed to render any fortified elevation as
inaccessible to an enemy as possible. And, perhaps, no spot
in the kingdom required, at the time of the Conquest, more

BELVOIR CASTLE.

elaborate means of defence than Belvoir. Situated as it is on
the junction of two counties, in one of which, (Lincolnshire)
the Saxon population was more numerous, as the record in
Domesday Book proves, than in any other county in the
kingdom, except Norfolk ; and in the immediate neighbour
hood of other counties with a proportionate population, all
strongly inimical to the new possessors ; surrounded too by a
country, which, from its woods and marshes, and other fea
tures of imperfect cultivation, afforded secure lurking places
for the discontented Saxons, and rendered their dislodge-
ment, by strangers to the locality, next to impossible : under
these circumstances, the fortress of Belvoir was essentially
necessary for the protection of the conquerors, as from its
commanding situation, it secured them from the disastrous
effects of a sudden surprise.
It may, indeed, be fairly assumed, that the Conqueror
himself, the wisdom of whose military policy cannot be
doubted, would judge so highly of the importance of this
situation, as to intrust its guardianship to that one of his
followers only, who, in his judicious appreciation of past ser
vices, had satisfied him, that he possessed in the necessary
degree, the requisite qualifications. The noble Norman,
who, as his Standard-bearer, marshalled him on to the
conquest of so fair and valuable a territory as England, had
approved himself as the person most capable, perhaps, among
his distinguished compeers, of the high trust now to be im
posed upon him. This estimate of the relative position in
which the Conqueror, and his valiant Standard-bearer, stood
to each other, is not merely an ingenious speculation. The
circumstance, that Robert de Todeni, in the survey taken at
his death, was found to be possessed of four-score manors,
is ample evidence of his own distinguished merit, and of his
sovereign's munificent regard. A representation of the
Castle built on this occasion, has been preserved in a seal
b 2

4 HISTORY OF
attached to an original charter of confirmation of property
granted to the Belvoir Priory, by Robert de Todeni, and
his descendants to the fourth degree. It there appears a
substantial embattled elevation of three tiers, the two upper
of which have on the face a succession of Norman arches,
and buttresses in pilaster fashion. Two rude representa
tions of men's heads facing each other, are at opposite
corners of the battlements ; behind one of which rises a staff,
with a flag, something in the shape of a knight's pennon.
The whole is surrounded by a massive embattled outer wall
The seal upon which is this representation was that of
William de Albini IV.
Robert de Todeni, having built his castle, and by his
valour and wisdom secured an interval of peace and security,
now turned his thoughts with the pious, if mistaken foresight
of the age, to a future state ; benevolently providing at the
same time the means of religious instruction for his nume
rous dependents at Belvoir. At the foot of the Castle, he
founded (1077) a Priory for four Black Monks ; which, by
subsequent stipulation with Paul, Abbot of St. Albans, be
came a cell of that distinguished monastery; and endowed it
with ample revenues for the support of the monks ; who were
to pray for the souls of Count Robert de Mortaigne, Earl of
Cornwall, half brother to the Conqueror; of Robert de
Todeni, the founder, and Adelais his wife ; and for the soul
of the king; as well as for the souls of their parents and
children. Secular cares intervened to prevent his personal superin
tendence to the completion of the good work he had begun.
By the advice of Lanfranc,* the then Archbishop of Canter
bury and his intimate friend, he assigned the privileges of a
patron to the Abbot and fraternity of St. Albans, upon con
dition, that they should complete his design. It was condi-
* Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, from 1070 to 1093.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 5
tioned also, that the bodies of himself and wife should be
buried at St. Albans, if they died in England; or in the
Church of St Mary's Priory at Belvoir ; but this not without
the consent of the Abbot of St. Albans. Robert de Todeni
having thus given the patronage of the Church of St. Mary
to the monastery of St. Albans during his life, promised that
he would further endow it with a tenth of all the lands, he
might acquire by the help of God, or the grant of the king.
The particulars of the endowment in a more detailed form,
may be worth notice, as tending to illustrate the habits and
pious munificence of our forefathers. Robert de Todeni gave
for the present, one villa (Horninghold in Leicestershire) with
all its appurtenances, for as free, and undisturbed possession,
as he had holden under the king. He gave also four carucates
of land, (each carucate containing about six score acres of
ploughed land) with the meadows to them pertaining, near the
Castle; and twenty acres of land near the church, for construct
ing oflices and other buildings necessary for the monks and
their vassals, on the same unfettered conditions of possession.
He granted also the tenths of all his vineyards, and a site for
a mill on the nearest stream ; the tenths of all his villas ; the
first fruits of all that was titheable ; reserving a third for the
presbyter of each village. Of the villas, thus subjected to
voluntary imposts for the support of religion, we find the fol
lowing mentioned : — Stoke Wyvill, Wybarston, supposed to
have been a village in Lincolnshire, near Belvoir, Sapperton,
Wyvill, and Woolsthorp. This de-appropriation of property,
did not in all cases consist of the same amount. In some
villas, he gave tenths ; land for a certain number of oxen ;
carucates of land ; gardens ; and the service of a vassal in
each. In others, only a part of these were granted. The
whole amount, however, given to the Priory of Belvoir, by
him and his successors, produced, at the time of the dissolu
tion of monasteries, a considerable revenue, worth probably

HISTORY OF

according to the present value of money, between six and
eight thousand pounds yearly; a portion of which was
granted by Henry VIII, with a propriety and grace not com
mon in that period, to a descendant of Robert de Todeni, in
the person of Thomas Earl of Rutland. On the death of
his wife Adelais, Robert de Todeni gave an additional por
tion of his landed property in Sapperton, (one carucate) to
the church of St. Mary, for the benefit of her souL Robert
de Todeni, after rather more than twenty years of useful and
honourable service in his adopted country, died in 1088,
surviving his attached sovereign only one year; and was
buried on the north side of the Chapter House of the Priory
at Belvoir. Tradition, which, in this instance, would seem
to possess a strong semblance of truth, has determined the
diminutive and mutilated figure in mail armour, of speckled
marble, now affixed to the north wall of the chancel of
Bottesford Church, to be the sculptured memorial of the
Conqueror's Standard-bearer. His remains continued un
disturbed till Dec. 6, 1726, when a ridged stone coffin was
dug up by some labourers upon the site of the old chapel,
with an inscription in French and in Longobardic characters
of lead, on the top stone ; noticed at the time by Dr. Stuke-
ley, who records "that his bones He in the same trough under
neath." The following is the inscription-"Robert de Todnei
le Fundeur."
By his wife Adelais, he had four sons, William, Berenger,
Geoffrey, Robert, (and according to another authority,
William, who preserved his father's surname) and a daughter
Agnes, who was married to Hubert de Rye, a man of con
siderable importance in Lincolnshire.
To him succeeded in his honours and estates William
surnamed De Albini Brito ; — Albini, in consequence, it is
supposed, of his marriage into a family of the Albini in
Bretagne : — and Brito, to distinguish him from William de

BELVOIR CASTLE. 7
Albini of another family, and the king's butler. William de
Albini Brito confirmed, in the fullest extent, the grants made
by his father to St Mary's Priory, and himself added con
siderably to their amount. He also, as his father and mother
had been, was admitted, at his own request, into the fraternity
of St. Albans. For it is stated, that he became a brother
and a monk of that monastery. This, as various monastic
documents shew, was no uncommon proceeding ; not only
with founders of religious houses, and other considerable
benefactors ; but with religious laymen generally possessed
of property, whether married or not. Neither celibacy,
renunciation of secular pursuits, nor the assumption of
the clerical office in any form, were necessarily required of
monks till the time of Pope Clement V, in 1311. And long
after this period (1499) there is evidence, that the Priory at
Belvoir was exempt from Papal jurisdiction. The privileges
.and immunities secured to persons thus becoming members
of a religious fraternity, were, the commemorative and in
tercessory prayers of the religious body, into which they had
become incorporated; prayers for their prosperity during
life, and for the perfect salvation of their souls after death ;
through which last intercessions, a primary, or subsequent
deliverance from purgatorial fires, was, as then believed,
effected. Though, if the incorporated members, had, by
their munificence, or from other causes, become entitled
to the high privilege of being buried in the habit of an
ecclesiastic, that circumstance alone, was believed to procure
a direct passport to heaven, without suffering in the inter
mediate state of purgatory.
Among other acts of kindness shewn to the members of
St. Mary's Priory, William de Albini Brito obtained for them
from Henry I, a grant of an annual fair, on the anniversary
of St. John the Baptist, to continue for eight days. The
importance of this benefit can only be appreciated by con-

H HISTORY OF
sidering the great difficulties of communication between dis
tant towns at that period ; and the necessity there was, to
obtain from other places, the necessaries, luxuries, and orna
ments of fife, which could not be locally produced.
William de Albini Brito has obtained honourable mention
in history, for his great bravery at Tenerchebray in Nor
mandy, with his sovereign Henry I, against Robert Curthose,
his brother. His single valour appears to have been decisive
of the battle. He was accomplished too in civil matters to a
degree, which is not often found in a military man of a more
educated state of society. He was learned in the laws, and
a justice itinerant with Richard Basset in the reign of
Stephen. But adhering to the empress Maud, daughter of
his former sovereign and friend Henry I, his Castle at
Belvoir, appears to have been placed under the paramount
jurisdiction of Ranulf de Gernons, Earl of Chester.*
William de Albini Brito married Maud de St Liz, widow
of Robert, son to Richard de Tonebrigg ancestor to the whole
family of Fitzwalter, and daughter of Simon, the first Earl
of Northampton and Huntingdon! of that name ; a bene
factor to the Priory of St. Mary, at Belvoir. He died in
1155, and was buried near his father, on the north side of
the Priory Chapter House ; leaving, according to one autho
rity, two sons, William and Ralph ; but according to another,
five sons.
His eldest son and successor, William de Albini H, called
also Meschines and Brito, was a considerable benefactor to
the Priory at Belvoir, and to the Abbey de Exaquio, in Nor
mandy. He married two wives Adeliza and Cecilia: and
dying in 1168, was buried in the old Church of the Priory,
before the rood, near his first wife Adeliza. Cecilia, his se
cond wife, was buried nearer the wall of the same side of the
* Lord of the extensive Manor of Barrow upon Soar, co. Leicester.
f St. Liz or Seuliz. Arms — Argent, on a chief azure, 2 saltires humette' or.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 9
Church. He left three sons ; William, then in ward to the
king; Roger, who had joined with his father in a liberal
benefaction to the Abbey in Normandy ; and Robert, who
was also a considerable benefactor to the monastery of Beau-
lieu, in Bedfordshire.
He was succeeded by his son, William de Albini III; who
accompanied Richard I, at the head of his army, into Nor
mandy, 1195. He was in the following year made Sheriff
of the counties of Warwick and Leicester; and Sheriff of
Rutland for the three next years succeeding ; being re-ap
pointed Sheriff of Warwick and Leicester for the last half of
the second year. It was in this same year, that he gave to
the king 600 marks (equivalent perhaps in value to £6000
of modern money) to have Agatha Trusbut for his wife ; who,
it may be supposed from this circumstance, was, with her in
heritance, under ward to the king.
In the succeeding reign, (that of John) he took a promi
nent part, and was deeply interested in the fluctuations of
that disastrous period of our history. In 1211, he was one
of the sureties for the preservation of the peace concluded
between John and the French king. He was also one of
the twenty-five barons, who swore to the observance of
Magna Charta, and Charta Foresta, sealed by the king at
Runnymede, in 1216: and with his compeers as solemnly
promised, that he would compel the king to the performance
of this memorable covenant, in the event, as was not un
wisely expected, of John's attempting to recede. The part
which this infatuated king afterwards adopted, is familiar to
every one. The sentence of excommunication against his
barons, which John had obtained from the Pope, had no
other effect, than to convince them of his perfidy, and to ex
cite them to an energetic combination against his authority:
in which, William de Albini appears to have been the trusted
leader ; and to have experienced for his prominent share in

10 HISTORY OF
the opposition to John, the full measure of his vengeance.
Being appointed by the insurgent barons, governor of Ro
chester Castle, with a promise on their part, that they would
use the most strenuous efforts to relieve him, if the Castle
were besieged ; he entered upon his charge : and though the
garrison were slenderly furnished with arms, ammunition, and
provisions; and ill-affected to the cause they had engaged
to support ; he defended the Castle with the most obstinate
valour, when besieged by the king and his army. It was
not until the outworks of the Castle were demolished, and
one half the keep, to which they then retreated, was destroy
ed ; and they were reduced to horse-flesh and water for food,
that he would consent to yield. During the siege, he acted
with a magnanimity — it might more properly be characteri
zed as a higher feeling — which prior provocations, and pre
sent opportunity, would scarcely lead us to expect One day,
when John with some of his chief commanders, was survey
ing the strength of the Castle, an excellent bowman among
the besieged, observed him, and entreated of William de
Albini, that he might kill him with his arrow, which he had
already notched. Albini's answer was, "No". The bow
man replying, "He would not spare us, if he had the like
advantage." — "God's will be done", said the noble Norman,
"who will dispose, and not he".
The Castle was surrendered on the Feast of St Andrew :
and John highly enraged at the length of the siege, the loss
of so many men, and the vast charge incurred ; commanded
that all the noblemen engaged in its defence, should be
hanged without mercy. From this savage course, he was
scarcely restrained by the remonstrances of one of his com
manders, a noble foreigner, who boldly warned the kino- of
the ultimate consequences to himself, in the deadly retalia
tion on his party by the barons, and the probable desertion
of every one from his standard.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 11
William de Albini was at last, with others, committed to
the custody of Peter de Mauley, in Corfe Castle. During
his confinement there, the king on the morning after Christ
mas, marched from Nottingham to Langar; and sent from
thence, on the following day, a solemn message to Belvoir
Castle, requiring its speedy surrender into his hands : and
threatening, that if those who held it, insisted upon any
conditions, its lord should eat no more. Upon which, Nicho
las de Albini, one of William's sons, and an ecclesiastic, ta
king with him a knight, (Hugh Charnels) carried the keys
of the Castle to the king, upon condition, that his father
should be mercifully dealt with ; and they with their horses
and arms remain in peace. These conditions being granted,
the custody of the Castle was committed to two of the king's
followers, an oath of fidelity being exacted from all others in
it While William was prisoner at Corfe, the king seized
on his manor of Uffington, and gave it to William Earl of
Warren, for the better defence of his Castle, at Stamford.
Before he was set at liberty, a fine of 6000 marks was im
posed by the king ; and his wife Agatha Trusbut enjoined
to raise it from his lands, by sale, mortgage, or any other
available means.
Henry III, though his predecessor and parent had thus
crippled the power of William de Albini, and received his
submission, trusted him not ; but compelled him to yield up
his wife as a hostage ; and afterwards his son Nicholas the
priest, in her stead. He did not long, however, remain an
object of royal distrust ; but was nominated to a chief com
mand in the battle of Lincoln, (1217) when Louis, the dau
phin, and the English barons, his abettors, were overthrown;
and shared in the property confiscated on this occasion;
having had granted to him, the Castle of Muleton, in the
county of Lincoln, and all the lands and fees of Thomas de
Muleton (one of the English barons of the French party)

12 HISTORY OF
which the king had seized, committed to his custody, as an
escheat. The other remarkable events of his fife, are, his grant of
a manse, that had been his chapel, to the monks at Belvoir,
with one sheaf of every kind of grain, arising out of all the
lands belonging to his lordships of Belvoir, Woolsthorpe,
Bottesford, Oskington, (Ouston in Nottinghamshire,) and
Stoke : and his founding and amply endowing the hospital of
our Lady, called Newstead, at Wassebridge, between Stam
ford and Uffington ; for the health of his soul, and the souls
of Agatha his second, and Margery his first wife. He lived
to a good old age, and died at Uffington, May 6, 1236. He
was buried in his hospital at Newstead, and his heart under
the wall opposite to the high altar at Belvoir, with this in
scription, which was afterwards removed to the Church at
Bottesford, where it now no longer remains.
"Hie jacet cor Dni Willielmi Albiniaci, cujus corpus sepel-
itur apud novum locum juxta Stanfordiam."
Agatha, his second wife, was also buried at Newstead. By
Margery, his first wife, daughter of Odinel de Umfranville, a
great baron in Northumberland, who brought with her a
considerable property into the family, he had issue; William;
Sir Odinel, taken prisoner with him at Rochester, and carried
to Corfe, who was buried at Belvoir; Robert; and Nicholas,
who was presented to the Rectory of Bottesford, and died
April 26, 1222.
Of William the eldest son and hen, called in his father's
life-time, William de Belvoir, William de Albini junior, and
afterwards William de Albini IV, little of material import is
recorded. For the good of his soul, the souls of his father
and mother, his two wives, Albreda and Isabel, and all his
predecessors and successors ; he confirmed what his father
had granted to the hospital at Newstead. He died about
the year 1247, and was buried before the high altar in the

belvoir castle. 13
Priory of Belvoir, and his heart at Croxton. His monument,
which with others, was removed at the dissolution of the Pri
ory, to Bottesford Church, is now totally lost. In him ended
the issue male. By his wife Albreda Biset,* he had a daugh
ter named Isabel, whom he left a minor, and in ward to
Henry III. This opulent heiress of the house of Albini,
married Robert de Ros, baron of Hamlake, the representa
tive of a family of great consequence, which took their name
from the lordship of Ross, in Holderness. Robert was the
fifth in regular descent from Peter de Ros, who, by marriage
with Adeline, daughter of Sir Walter Espec, became the in
heritor of two princely fortunes.
* Biset. Arms — Vert, 6 bezants, 3, 2, 1.

14 HISTORY OF

SECOND PERIOD, A.D. 1247—1508.

Espec. ..Arms; Gules, 3 Catharine wheels, or.
De Roos  Gules, 3 water bougets, argent.
Leland has quoted from a history of the Battle of the
Standard (1138) by Alured, Abbot of Rievaulx, a graphic
description of the personal as well as mental endowments of
Sir Walter Espec, baron of Helmsley. The Abbot speaks of
him, as " an old man and full of days, of quick wit, prudent
in counsel, courteous in peace, wise in war, constant in his
friendship, and of unswerving loyalty to his sovereign.* He
had black hair, long beard, a free and open countenance,
large and piercing eyes, a voice like a trumpet, with an elo
quent and majestic address. He was, moreover, noble in
blood ; but nobler still in christian piety. For since he had
no children for his heirs, though many importunate kinsmen,
he made Christ, the hen- of his best and fairest possessions."
Sir Walter Espec married early in life, Adelina, daughter of
Hugh Beauchamp, baron of Bedford, by whom he had a son,
Walter, like his father in the qualifications both of body and
mind. He is spoken of as a comely youth, whose chief de
light was in riding swift horses. It happened one day, that
having urged his horse to a speed beyond his strength, his
* " Fidem semper regibus servans."

BELVOIR CASTLE. 15
horse stumbled, his rider fell, and broke his neck, near a
small stone cross in the neighbourhood of Frithby.* The
father, overwhelmed with grief at his loss, determined, though
he had ever been a man of action, and had acquired his whole
property by deeds of arms, to dedicate a large portion of his
wealth to the founding of three monasteries ; which design
he accomplished in the following order : — the monastery of
Kirkham, on Wednesday the eighth of the kalends of March,
1122, the 22 Henry I, and the fifth year of the prelacy of
Thurston, Archbishop of York; to which William Garton,
the uncle and adviser of Sir Walter Espec, was appointed
the first Prior:* — the monastery of Rievaulx in 1132: —
and the monastery of Wardon, in Bedfordshire, in 1136.
Sir Walter Espec lived thirty years after the foundation
of the monastery of Kirkham ; the last two of which were
spent as a monk, in the Abbey of Rievaulx. As the object
of the present work is merely to point out, as it were, the
footsteps of history ; the author is reluctantly compelled to
abstain from further notice of the rather copious information,
which has been preserved, of the endowment and other inte
resting particulars of these three monasteries. In 1782, the
beautiful gate of the Priory of Kirkham still remained, with
statues, and the arms of the founder, de Ros, England, Vaux,
and others. The Church of Rievaulx is now almost perfect,
except the tower and roof. Dr. Dibdin, in his Northern Tour,
(1838) with an ecstacy of description, an imitation of which
it would be unwise to attempt, compares the ruins of
Rievaulx with those of Tintern, Fountain, Melrose, and
Jumieges in Normandy, and gives the preference to Rie
vaulx, as immeasurably superior for effect. Considerable
remains of Wardon Abbey appeared in 1777, fitted up as a
farm-house. (See Notes.)
* Frithby, near the Priory at Kirkham.
* William, the first Prior, survived his appointment only one year, three months,
and two days. (Dugdale.)

16 HISTORY OF
Sir Walter de Espec died in 1153, and was buried at
Rievaulx. Notwithstanding his munificent benefactions to
the three monasteries, which he had founded, he left an
ample portion of his property to his three sisters; — Hawisia,
married to William Bussy;* Albreda, to Nicholas de Trailly ;
and Adelina, to Peter de Ros ; and on her, he bestowed the
patronage of his monasteries of Kirkham and Rievaulx.
Peter de Ros was a considerable benefactor to the Abbey
of St. Mary, at York. He also confirmed to the Priory of
Kirkham, the gift which had been made by bis father, of the
advowson of Cold Overton, for the support of hospitality.
He died in 1157, and was buried in the Abbey of Rievaulx.
By Adelina his wife, he had Robert de Ros, who appears
to have paid a considerable sum of money to Henry H, for
permission to take possession of bis mother's inheritance.
He married Sibylla de Valoines,f or according to Leland,
Worlonge ; who surviving her husband, became the wife of
Ralph de Albini. Robert de Ros gave bis manor of Ribstane
to the Knights Templar, where, a preceptory of that order
was founded ; and becoming, it is supposed, a member of that
fraternity, he was buried at the preceptory ; though there is
no record of either circumstance.
Everard de Ros, his son and successor, a minor at his
father's death, married Rose, daughter of William, baron
TrusbutjJ of Wartre, in Holderness ; who, after the death of
her three brothers, became with her two sisters, co-heir to her
father's estate ; and, also, to that of her mother, Albreda de
Harcurt, one of the daughters and co-heirs of Pain Peverell,§
Standard-bearer in the Holy Land, to Robert Curthose, the
Conqueror's eldest son. Her two sisters dying without issue,
the posterity of Albreda became barons of Trusbut. Everard
de R§s was a benefactor to the Priory of Bridlington ; to the
* Bussy. Arms — Argent, 3 bars sable.
t Valoines. Arms — Gules, fretty, ermine.
J Trusbut. Arms — 3 bolts.
§ Peverell. Arms— Azure, 3 garbs, and a chief, or.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 17
monastery of Newminster, in Northumberland; and to the
Priory of Rievaulx. He died before 1186, leaving, by his
widow, two sons, the eldest of whom was only thirteen, viz,
Robert de Ros, called Fursan, who, from some cause, fell
under the displeasure of Richard I, in 1197 : and was com
mitted to close confinement. He was probably involved in
some of the many intrigues of John, against his brother and
sovereign. Richard, it is known, with a fraternal affection,
which no ill conduct could abate, invariably forgave the head
of the discontent excited against him, while he severely
punished the subordinate abettors. He recovered his liberty
upon payment of a heavy fine; and was so far in favour with
John, when become king, (though he afterwards appeared in
arms against him) that, he recovered the whole of the barony
of his grandfather, Walter de Espec ; and was employed as
one of the commissioners to conduct William the Lion, king
of Scotland, into this kingdom ; whose daughter Isabel, after
her father's death, in 1214, he married. He was founder of
Helmsley Castle, which he soon after gave to his son William,
with the patronage of the monasteries of Kirkham, Rievaulx,
and Wardon. He was also the founder of Werke Castle, in
Northumberland, which he presented to his son Robert, with
a barony in Scotland. He confirmed the grant made by his
father, of the manor of Ribstane, to the Templars, and was, in
other respects, an especial benefactor to those soldier priests.
He became a member of their body, and dying in 1227, was
buried in the Temple Church, in London. Gough, in his
Sepulchral Monuments, (vol. I, part 1, pp. 41-2) has described,
as one of the most interesting monuments in the Temple
Church, "the figure of a young knight in mail, and a flowing
mantle, with a kind of cowl ; his hair neatly curled at the
sides; his crown appears shaven. His hands are elevated
in a praying position ; and on his left arm is a short pointed
shield charged with three water bougets. He has at his left
c

18 HISTORY OF
side, a long sword, and the armour of his legs, which are
crossed, has a ridge or seam up the front, continued over
the knee and forming a kind of garter below the knee ; at
his feet a lion. The arms bespeak this knight to be one of
the family of Ros or Roos; and Weever has confirmed this
application, by the following fragment of an inscription,
insculped upon one of these cross-legged monuments; as he
found it among the collections of one studious in antiquities,
in Sir Robert Cotton's Library :
^t'c tciituesrit— at.— ^p — sttontram iustta=
Uv Qtntxalin oririttts mHitit T&tmpU in ^uglta
& jfvatma & Etalta.
This, from the pedigree of the Lords Ros, he proved to
have belonged to one Robert, a Templar, who died about the
year 1245."
Werke Castle was in the possession of the Greys, in the
time of Camden. Grose, in his Antiquities, has given a
representation of the ruins of Helmsley Castle, the keep of
which was in tolerable preservation, till of late ; but what
the violence of civil war failed to effect, modern barbarism
is endeavouring to accomplish. Some of the walls have
been blown up with gunpowder, and the materials used to
repair the roads. Helmsley, in the time of Edward JV,
appears to have escheated to the king, after the execution
of his brother, the Duke of Clarence, whose it was to have
been on the death of Margaret de Ros. It became, many
years afterwards, the property of George Villiers, Duke of
Buckingham, by his marriage with the daughter of Francis,
Earl of Rutland. It was sold in 1690, to Sir Charles
Duncombe, and is now the property of Lord Feversham.
William de Ros, the eldest son and heir of Robert, was
of full age at his father's death ; and, on payment of the cus
tomary fine to the king, was permitted to take possession of

BELVOIR CASTLE. 19
his paternal inheritance. He seems to have inherited the
common lot of some of his predecessors, in falling under the
displeasure of the king ; and was compelled to pay a fine
for the "remission of the royal indignation." He was
engaged, also, in a dispute with Hugh, Prior of Kirkham,
in which the ecclesiastic appears to have been defending the
rights of his monastery, as secured by the charter of foun
dation. The dispute was compromised by an arrangement
satisfactory to both parties. He married Lucia, daughter to
Reginald Fitzpiers, by whom he had three sons, Robert,
Alexander, and Peter : and dying in 1258, was buried in the
Church of Kirkham Priory, before the high altar.
Robert de Ros, his eldest son, married Isabel, the rich
heiress of William Albini IV ; and obtained from Henry III,
July 3, 1257, a grant of free warren, in the lordship of Bel
voir, by which the boundary was determined. In 1258, he
was actively employed in Scotland, in delivering Alexander
III. out of the hands of his rebellious subjects,; arid .at
Chester, in resisting the hostile invasions of Llewelhfi7Prnace
of Wales. In the same year, he and his lady Isabel^ had. a
controversy with the Prior and Convent of Belvoir, relative
to the right of presentation to the Church of Reclmile, .which
was amicably compromised by their rehnquishing the pa
tronage to the convent, for a certain compensation. In
1261, he obtained from the king, the grant of a weekly
market, to be held at Belvoir, on Tuesday ; and of an annual
fair on the feast of St. John the Baptist, to continue three
days. In 1264, he was one of the insurgent barons, who
defeated Henry III, at the battle of Lewes, and took him
and the prince prisoner, whom they confined in Hungerford
Castle. In 1265, he was summoned to the parliament,
which was called by the barons in the king's name. For
these offences, an execution was directed against his lands :
but, being admitted to a composition, he, in 1267, raised a
c 2

20 HISTORY OF
new embattled wall at Belvoir. By his lady Isabel, Lord
Robert de Ros had four sons, William, Robert, Nicholas,
and John. He died in 1285, and was buried at Kirkham,
under a marble tomb, on the south side of the choir ; his
bowels, before the high altar at Belvoir ; and his heart, at
Croxton Abbey. At the suppression of religious houses, part
of the freestone monument, which lay over his heart, at
Croxton, was removed to Bottesford, and let into the north-
wall of the chancel there, where it still remains. A copy
of the inscription on this monument, is given in the account
of Bottesford Church. Isabel, bis wife, died in 1301, and
was buried at Newstead.
William de Ros, the eldest son, succeeded to the family
honours and estates, on the death of his mother. In 1292,
he had been an unsuccessful competitor for the crown of
Scotland : founding his claim on his descent from his great
grandmother, Isabel, daughter to William the Lion, king of
Scotland. He married Matilda, one of the two daughters
and co-heiresses of John de Vaux,* a lineal descendant of
Robert de Vaux, who came over with the Conqueror. By
this marriage, the patronage of Penteney and Blakeney
Priories, in Norfolk, and of Frestun, in Lincolnshire, came
into the family of De Ros. He was a benefactor to the
Priories of Belvoir and Blakeney. He died in 1317, and
was buried under a marble tomb, on the north side of the
monastery of Kirkham. By his wife, Matilda de Vaux, who
survived him, he had three sons, William, his successor, John,
and Thomas ; and three daughters, Anne, married to Pagan,
Lord Tiptoft, Margaret, and Matilda. The Lady Matilda
Ros was buried at Penteney Priory.
William de Ros II. completed in 1321 the religious
foundation which his father had begun, at Blakeney. He
was created Lord Ross, of Werke— took the title of Baron
* De Vaux. Arms— Ckecty, argent and gules.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 21
Ross «f Hamlake, Werke, Belvoir, and Trusbut; — and had
summons to parliament, from 11 Edward II, to 16 Edward
III. He was also appointed Lord High Admiral ; and was
one of the commissioners with the Archbishop of York, and
others, to treat of peace betwixt the king and Robert de
Bruce, who had assumed the title of king of Scotland. He
married Margery de Badlesmere ;* by whom he had, William,
Thomas, John, Margaret, and Matilda; and dying in 1342,
was buried at Kirkham, under a stone mausoleum, near the
great altar. His widow survived hejr husband many years;
and was one of the very few persons from England, present
at the Jubilee, ajt Rome, in 1350 ; the king having discoun'-
tenanced the attendance of his subjects at this ceremony, on
account of the large sumsjrf money usually taken out of the
kingdom on such occasions.
Nichols, quoting from Dugdale!s Baronage, and the Rolls
of Parliament, gives an account of John, the brother of the
last mentioned William de Ros ; upon whose monument, in
the chancel of Stoke Albany Church, (in existence before
1790,) there was an inscription of the following tenor.
"ftit ja«t JfoJ)anttes$U>sg, It £ok Mimpagnou ."
The account is too long for transcription in this sketch.
He appears to have been a high-spirited, gallant man, of a
convivial turn.
During the sitting of the parliament in the Cathedral
Church at Lincoln, on the Sunday before Lent, previous to
the year 1319, the king, and his nobles being present, John
de Ros had an affray with Hugh Despenser ; which, begin
ning with insulting words and mutual reproaches, proceeded
to blows with the fist, (usque ad sanguinis effusionem,) and
tp drawn swords, in the church. Both parties were com
mitted to the custody of the king's marshal, till they had
* Badlesmere. Arms — Argent, a fess between 2 bars, gemelles, gules,

22 HISTORY OF
given security for keeping the peace. The process was
cancelled by the king in 1319. The cause of the dispute was,
the arrest of one of the knights of Despenser, at the instiga
tion of John de Ros. John de Ros was of the party of
Queen Elizabeth, and others, whom Edward II, by the
persuasion of the Spensers, had banished. On the deposition
and barbarous murder of the second Edward, John de Ros
was in great favour with the young king, his son, to whom
he had recommended himself by his convivial qualities ; and
to the queen mother, by his daring gallantry, as a partisan
against the powerful and unworthy favourites of her husband.
He was made steward of the young king's household, and
appointed one of the twelve guardians, by whom, it was
resolved, the king, in his minority, should be governed.
In 1336, he was constituted admiral of the sea, from the
Thames northward, under his brother William, as Lord
High Admiral. He is supposed to have built the tower, if
not the whole of Stoke Albany Church, on the south side of
which are the arms of De Ros. He died in 1337, in embar
rassed circumstances; and his brother obtained two hundred
marks from the king, towards his burial.
William de Ros III. was at the raising of the siege of
Arguillon, in 1346, and was knighted near La Hogue, being
then only nineteen years old. In the same year, he was one
of the lords, who led the second division in the celebrated
battle of Cressy. He afterwards commanded (see Notes)
the fourth division of the English army against the Scots,
near Neville's Cross, when David Bruce, with many of the
Scottish nobles, were taken prisoners, on the seventeenth of
October, in the same year. In 1348, he was with Edward,
the Black Prince, at the siege of Calais, when it was taken
by the English, He was summoned to parliament in 24 &
25 Edward III. In 1352, he accompanied Henry, Duke of
Lancaster, to fight against the Saracens ; but died the same

belvoir castle. 23
year, before the feast of St. Michael, in the twenty-sixth
year of his age, on his journey to the Holy Land, and was
buried abroad. He married Margaret, daughter of Ralph,
Lord Neville,* but died without issue. His widow after
wards married Sir Henry de Percy, and died in 1372. This
limited statement, amounting to scarcely more than a few
facts and dates, is, yet, sufficient to prove William de Ros,
one of the most distinguished characters of his age.
Thomas de Ros, of Hamlake, brother and next heir to
William, married, in 1359, Beatrice, the widow of Maurice
Fitz-Maurice, Earl :©f Desmond, and daughter to Ralph, Earl
of Stafford ;f by whom he had issue, John, William, Thomas,
Elizabeth, and Margaret In 1364, he accompanied the
king of Cyprus to the Holy Land ; and was in the French
wars, from 1369 to 1371. He was summoned to parliament,
from 35 Edward III, to 7 Richard II, inclusive. He died
at Uffington, June 8, 1383 ; and was 'buried at Rievaulx
Abbey. His widow became the wife of Sir Richard Burley,
knight of the garter, and one of the privy councillors to the
Duke of Lancaster ; of whose army he was field marshall, in
Galicia; where he died in 1386, of a sickness, which carried
off many others. His body was buried with much pomp,
in old St Paul's Cathedral, where a splendid monument, of
the perpendicular style of English architecture, was erected
to his memory ; a drawing of which has been preserved by
Diagdale, of which, Gough and Nichols have given a copy.
There is no evidence, that tlie Lady Beatrice, now agahi
a widow, married a third time ; though she seems to have
survived her husband many years. For in 1409, she obtain
ed the royal permission to found a chantry, for one priest,
within St. Paul's Church, to pray for the souls of Sir Richard
Burley, knight; his father, and mother; and, also, Sir Richard
* Neville. Arms — Gules, a saltier, argent.
f Stafford. Arms — Or, a chevron, gules.

24 HISTORY OF
de Pembruges, Sir Thomas de Ros, his parents, and all the
faithful departed; and, finally, for the good estate of herself
during life, and her soul afterwards. Twelve marks were
allotted for the maintenance of the priest, charged on certain
messuages and shops, in London. — An inscription in the
church of Owersby, in Lincolnshire, proves, that Thomas de
Ros, the third son, was knighted, and was lord of the manor
of Owersby, as well as patron of the church ; and that he
died in 1452. There was also a Ros, of Gedney, as appears
from the fragment of an inscription, on a marble tomb, in
the chancel of Gedney Church. This person was interested
as a proprietor or patron, or both, in the parish of Tidd St
Mary, on the Norfolk edge of the county of Lincoln. Nichols
records an inscription, painted with the arms, in the windows
of the church, of this latter place, to the effect, that Richard
de Ros had presented one of the windows. There are similar
traces of the De Ros family, according to the same authority,
in Scotton and Ropsley Churches.
John de Ros, of Hamlake, eldest son and heir of Thomas,
who died in 1383, took a prominent part in the splendid
pageantry at the coronation of the ill-advised, and ill-fated
Richard II, then only in the tenth year of his age. We can
hardly suppose a youth of so immature an age, competent
to direct the magnificent and improvident display on this
occasion. Amidst other devices for the royal amusement,
was a passage of arms during dinner ; for which, John de
Ros, scarcely less youthful than the sovereign, was created
a knight, before dinner. This selection proves, that though
young, he had already distinguished himself, in the graceful
accomplishments of chivalry; a warlike science, if it may be
so called, of essential benefit to society, as being, in the
absence of all other means, of a civilising tendency. The
crusades, though of a more decidedly religious character,
were really, an exemplification of chivalry on a splendid

BELVOIR CASTLE. 25
scale. But these, as well as knightly adventures, in the
time of John de Ros, had, with all their contemplated be
nefits, been long abandoned. A less striking, but to the
individual, more interesting, developement of love for the
scene of so many divine wonders, had succeeded ; that of a
painful, self-denying, perilous pilgrimage. To satisfy these
longings of fervent piety ; which, if they savoured too much
of ill-regulated enthusiasm, were, surely, something better
in their spirit, than the cold, calculating, utilitarian selfish
ness of modern times, Thomas de Ros embarked on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem ; but died (whether on his way
there, or on his return, is not so clear,) at Paphos, in the
Isle of Cyprus, in 1394; and was buried at Rievaulx Abbey,
in the course of the same year. He married Mary Percy,*
sister of the Earl of Northumberland, and widow, says
Nichols, of — Orby, of Lincolnshire. Bishop Percy makes
her the daughter of Henry, Lord Percy, by his second wife,
Joan, daughter of John Orby, who was a baron in the time
of Edward III. She died the year after her husband, being
rather more than forty years of age.
John de Ros was succeeded by his next brother, Sir
Wtlliam de Ros, knight, then aged twenty-four. He was
employed by the king, in the same year, with Walter, Bishop
of Durham, Henry, Earl of Northumberland, and others,
in negociating a treaty of peace with Scotland. He seems
to have been an especial favourite with Henry IV, who
made him of his council, and employed him in various civil
affairs of great importance; giving him in 1411, for his
residence, for the lodging of his servants and horse, (on
account of the convenience of having him near the court,)
the town of Chingford, in Essex, which had descended to
him by the marriage of his grandfather with Margaret
Badlesmere : and honouring him, in the same year, with the
* Percy. Arms — Azure, 5 fusils in fess, or.

26 HISTORY OF
order of the garter. Sir William de Ros was engaged in a
controversy with Sir Robert Tyrwhit, knight, one of the
justices of the king's bench, respecting the restraint imposed
by the latter, upon the tenants of his manor of Melton
Roos, in Lincolnshire, from their customary privilege of
pasture and turf-cutting, at Wragby. This dispute was ad
judicated by the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas
Arundel, a relative by marriage of the Lord Ros, and
Richard, Lord Grey, his son in law, lord chamberlain of the
king's household; Sir Robert being enjoined to submit and
confess his offence. His confession is so far apposite to our
subject, as it proves the moderation of Sir William de Ros;
who, when, on account of his birth, state, and power, he
might have come with an overwhelming force, to protect the
rights of his tenants, from the intruders, preferred coming
" easy wise", with no other attendance, than was suitable to
his degree. He married Margaret, the daughter of Sir
John Arundel ;* or, according to some authorities, of John
Fitz-alan,f Earl of Arundel ; and had issue, John, Thomas,
Robert, William, and Richard ; Beatrice, Alice, Margaret,
and Elizabeth. By his will, dated Feb. 22, 1412, he desired
that if he should die in, or near, London, his body should
be buried in the Cathedral of Canterbury ; if within the
diocese of Lincoln, in the Priory of Belvoir ; if in the diocese
of York, in the Priory of Rievaulx. He bequeathed £400
for the finding ten honest chaplains to pray for his soul, and
the souls of his family, his friends, and benefactors ; but,
especially, for the soul of his brother Thomas, for eight
years, within his chapel of Belvoir Castle. He died there,
Sept. 1, 1414, and was buried in the middle of the Priory
choir ; whence, his monument was afterwards removed to
Bottesford Church, where it still remains, against the south
* Arundel. Arins — Gules, 6 garbs, or.
t Fitz-alan. Arms — Gules, a lion, rampant, or.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 27
wall, at the east end of the chancel. His widow, the lady
Margaret, survived him fifteen years ; dying July 3, 1439.
An extract from her will is interesting, as illustrating the
nature, in those days, of the payment, which we now call
mortuary: "I bequeath, according to custom, my best
beast." This was generally the most valuable horse, in the
possession of persons of rank ; led caparisoned, and bearing
the military weapons of the deceased, before the corpse, at
the funeral ; and, afterwards, delivered up as a mortuary.
The exchange for a money payment took place in the reign
of Henry VIII, in consequence of its being found oppressive
to the yeomanry, and poorer inhabitants of a parish, to be obli
ged to yield up for a mortuary, a valuable portion of their pro
perty. The lady Margaret bequeathed, also, one cup of gilt
silver, for the use of the high altar in the Priory ; and £40 for
the purchase of lead, to repair the dormitory and refectory.
The conditions of this legacy were, that two monks should
be provided, to pray, daily, for a period of five years, for her
own soul, the souls of her benefactors, and all the faithful
departed ; one priest in each of the chapels of St. Nicholas
and St. Sythe, attached to the Priory. There was a further
legacy to be applied in ornamenting the chapel of St Mary ;
on condition, that in their daily service, for five years, the
Prior and the fraternity should use a collect, beginning,
" Lord, of thy goodness, have mercy upon the soul of thine
handmaid and servant :" and for longer than five years, if,
from a motive of love, they were inclined to continue it.
Of the altar tomb to her memory, which, at the suppression
of the Priory, was removed to Bottesford chancel ; only the
top slab of freestone remains, with her figure in the dress
of the period : it is now placed on the floor, at the west
corner of the south aisle.
John de Ros succeeded, in 1414, to the title and posses
sions of his father, being then seventeen years of age. In

28 HISTORY OF
1421, six years after the glorious battle of Agincourt, he,
and his brother William, were slain, with the Duke of Cla
rence, governor of Normandy for his brother Henry V, the
Duke of Exeter, and several other Englishmen of distin
guished rank, at a place within four miles of Beaufort Castle.
This unfortunate event was occasioned, chiefly, through the
treacherous suggestion of a person in the army of the Duke
of Clarence, to leave his archers behind ; and to the valour
of the Scotch mercenary auxiliaries, in the service of the
Dauphin, under the Earl of Buchan, who slew the Duke of
Clarence, with his own hand. His monument was removed,
with others, from the Priory, to Bottesford Church; and was
placed against the wall of the chancel, on the north side of
the altar. He married Margaret, daughter and heir of Philip
Despenser,* a grand-daughter of Mortimer, Earl of March :
or, according to some, daughter and heir to Philip Went
worth. On the death of her husband, John de Ros, she
married Sir Roger Wentworth, knight ; by whom she had
one son; and died April 20, 1479,
John Lord Ros having died without issue, Thomas, his
next brother, succeeded ; and for his valour in the disastrous
wars in France, by which, during the minority of Henry VI,
the English dominion was wholly subverted, received the
distinction of knighthood. He had summons to parliament,
7 Henry VI. He married Eleanor, daughter of Richard de
Beauchamp,f Earl of Warwick; and by her he had issue,
three sons; Thomas, his successor, bom September 9, 1427;
Richard, born March 8, 1428-9 ; and Edmund, who was an
idiot. In a charter, dated April 23, 1430, 8 Henry VI,
after enumerating the benefactions to the Priory of Belvoir,
by the Todenis, Albinis, and the members of his own family;
Thomas, Lord Ros, confirmed these grants. He died Aug,
Despenser. Arms— Quarterly, argent and gules, 2 and 3 quarters fretry or;
over all, a bend sable.
f Beauchamp. Arms— Gules, a fess between 6 cross-croslets or.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 29
18, 1431 ; leaving his son and successor not quite four years
old. During the minority of Thomas, Lord Ros, his great
uncle, Sir Robert Ros, knight, was deputed by the king,
in 1443, to perform the office of chamberlain to Arch
bishop Stafford, on the day of his installation, at Canter
bury ; an office, which of right belonged to the Lord Ros,
from his tenure of the manor of Hethfield, in Kent. The
fee for this service, was the furniture of the room, and
the basin and towel. The manor, and the tenure on
which it was held, came to the Ros family, from the mar
riage of an ancestor with Margaret Badlesmere. Thomas
Lord Ros was, when only eighteen years of age, put by the
king, into full possession of his father's estates. He was
styled Baron Ros, of Hamlake, Trusbut, and Belvoir ; and
summoned to parliament, from 27 to 38 Henry VI. He
married Philippa, eldest daughter of John de Tiptoft,* aunt
to Edward, Earl of Worcester, and co-heir of one-third part
of his lands ; by whom he had issue, Edmund, born 1446 ;
Eleanor, 1449; Isabel, 1451 ; Joan, 1454; and Margaret,
July 1, 1459. Having been faithful to Henry VI, amidst
all the fluctuations of that ill-fated monarch's reign; he
was rewarded with certain commercial privileges, consisting,
chiefly, in an entire remission of the customary duties on
exported wool. In 1456, he had permission to go on a pil
grimage beyond sea : and in 1460, the king settled on him,
as in part, a recompense for the great expenses and losses
incurred in his service, an annuity of £ 40, arising out of
certain manors, forfeited by the Earl of Salisbury. In the
same year, being with the king at York, when the melancholy
news arrived, of the overthrow of the Lancastrian party, at
Towton field, he accompanied his sovereign to Berwick. For
his fidelity to the house of Lancaster, he was, with all his
* Tiptoft. Arms — Argent, a saltier engrailed gules.

30 HISTORY OF
adherents, attainted iri parliament, Nov. 4, 1461. Rapin
says, he was beheaded; and Dugdale, that he died at New
castle, in the same year. His widow was re-married to
Edward Grimston.
The house of York being now finally triumphant over the
Lancastrian party, Edward IV. rewarded his adherents, with
the confiscated property of his opponents. Of the former,
Sir Robert Constable, of Flamburgh, received the manor of
Harsan, in Yorkshire ; William Hungerford, the manor and
advowson of Braunston, in Northamptonshire ; Heniy Bou-
chier, Earl of Essex, the manor and advowson of Chingford,
in Essex. But the fairest portion of the magnificent posses
sions of Thomas, Lord Ros, was granted to William, Lord
Hastings, commonly called the bastard. This person was
permitted to hold of the king, and his heirs, by homage only,
the honour, castle, and lordship of Belvoir, with the park,
and all its members; consisting of Woolsthorp, Barkston,
Plungar, Redmile, Harby, Bottesford, Normanton, and
Easthorpe ; with the advowsons of their several churches,
and the rent called Castleguard, throughout England, at that
time an appurtenance of this Castle.
The possession of the Castle, was not, however, rendered,
without a struggle on the part of an attached friend of the
Lord Ros. When Lord Hastings came for the purpose of
surveying his new possession, and contemplated residence,
at Belvoir, Mr. Harrington, described by Leland, " as a man
of power thereabouts, and a friend to the Lord Ros," sud
denly attacked, and drove away the intruder. Exasperated
at this unexpected opposition, Lord Hastings afterwards
came with a strong force, and with a bitterness of rage
scarcely intelligible, so injured the noble mansion, which
had now become his own, that the Castle fell to ruin. The
timber of the roof being despoiled of the lead, with which it
was covered, rotted away ; and the soil between the walls,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 31
at the last, grew full of elders : in which state the Castle
remained, till it was partially rebuilt by the first Earl of
Rutland, and completed by the second. The Lord Has
tings carried the lead, he had thus obtained, to Ashby-de-la-
Zouch, where, in the phrase of Leland, " he much builded."
The spirit of spoliation seems to have extended to Stoke
Albany, a goodly manor place of the Ros family ; and part
of the materials thus acquired, were also carried to Ashby-
de-la-Zouch. Edmund, Lord Ros, in consequence of his father's attain
der, and his own fidelity to the house of Lancaster, was,
when very young, obliged to go beyond the seas. Under
Henry VEI, who united the contending houses of York and
Lancaster, the attainder was reversed ; and Edmund, Lord
Ros, was, for the most part, re-instated in his ancestral pro
perty : the portion at Belvoir having been in the possession
of the Hastings family, for more than twenty years. In the
petition to parliament, presented by Lord Ros, November,
1483, his claims are stated with great moderation ; and his
sufferings for his loyalty to Henry VI, do not lead him to
any severe reflections upon the party, through which they
had happened, though his own party was now triumphant.
The prayer of the petition was granted, with certain
reserves of property, to different members of bis family,
which had been made in past time; and a resumption
of which, might have been attended with some degree of
injustice. About nine years afterwards, Sir Thomas Lovel,
who had married Isabel, sister to Edmund, Lord Ros,
presented a petition to parliament, representing his noble
relative, as " not of sufficient discretion to guide himself
and his livelihood ; nor able to serve his sovereign after
his duty : " and praying " that he might have the gui
dance and governance of the said Edmund," and of all his
property. An act of parliament was accordingly passed,

32 HISTORY OF
giving full powers' to Sir Thomas Lovel over the person and
property of Lord Ros, and entire possession of the latter at
his death ; upon trust for the other relatives of Lord Ros,
reserving only a rent of seven hundred marks to the king,
and the right, title, and interest of those who have, or
ought to have, possession or occupation of certain portions
of the property.
Edmund, Lord Ros resided after this period at the manor
house of Elsinges, at Enfield, which he possessed by inhe
ritance from his mother ; and was probably kept under some
degree of restraint. He died, Oct. 13, 1508, and was buried
in the church of that parish, on the north side of the altar ;
where his monument is an arch, erected over the tomb of
Lady Joyce Tiptoft, his maternal grandmother : and charged
with the arms of Ros quartering Badlesmere ; also, on the
right hand, quarterly, 1, Ros, 2, Holland, 3, Tiptoft, 4, Bed-
lesmere ; and, on the left, Lovel quartering Muswell impa
ling the above four quarters. A representation of this
monument is given in Nichols' Leicestershire, copied from
Gough's Sepulchral Monuments. Edmund, Lord Ros,
leaving no issue, his sisters were his heirs ; and Elsinges
became the property of his brother-in-law, Sir Thomas
Lovel ; who, at his death, in 1524, bequeathed it to his
cousin, Thomas, Lord Ros, created Earl of Rutland, in
1526. Eleanor, the eldest sister, and co-heir of Edmund,
Lord Ros, married Sir Robert de Manners, of Ethale, in
the county of Northumberland.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 33

THIRD PERIOD. A.D. 1508—1840.

Manners. Arms, Ancient; or, two bars azure, a chief, gules.
Manners. With augmentation ; or, two bars, azure, a chief quarterly of the
last, and gules ; on the first and fourth, two fleurs de lis, or ;
on the second and third, a lion of England.
Camden, in that interesting medley, intituled " Remains
concerning Britain" gives a list of surnames, whose derivation
he fixes, from certain peculiarities of the bearer of each sur
name, either territorial or personal. Manners he derives
from Manneriis. Thus the first person on record of that
name, soon after the conquest, is called Sir Robert de
Mannerhs, or, Sir Robert of the manors, knight ; and, more
particularly, lord of the manor, and castle of Ethale, (now
Etal,) in Northumberland; situated on a river, which near its
source is called the Breamish, but at Etal, the Till; within,
also, a few miles of the Scottish border. In the absence of
any other authority for the name, we may suppose it to be
a territorial designation, implying extensive manorial rights,*
and as even in the time of the Conqueror, the warm tempe
rament of our Scottish neighbours occasioned the sovereign of
England considerable disquiet ; more especially in counte-
* Peck, in the dedication of his Academia Tertia Anglicana to John Duke
of Rutland, (1727) adopts this derivation.
D

34 history of
nancing and supporting the Saxon competitor for the throne5,
if the feeble Edgar Etheling may be so called; large grants
of property were given to such of the Conqueror's followers,
as he judged would be able, by their valour and wisdom, to
check the incursive allies of the discontented Saxons. The
castle of Ethale appears to have been one of several, erected
near the border, for this purpose. The selection of Sir Robert
de Manneriis for such a dangerous post, with a competent
grant of lands to support the military array, necessary to
maintain his position, is a high tribute to bis character.
Where the traces of history are almost obliterated by the
march of ages, conjecture is, often, all that is available, for
such historical notices as the present But, if the judgment
of the writer is under some control, a considerable ap
proximation to truth is often obtained, from evidence of
an imperfect nature. The evidence for what has been
just advanced, though circumstantial, is tolerably conclusive.
Brevity will not allow of more than one allusion to the kind
of proof employed. Seventh in descent from Sir Robert de
Manneriis, was Sir Robert de Manners, who lived in the
time of Henry III; an interval, which, reckoning each
generation to consist of the ordinary average of years, deter
mines the first period with sufficient accuracy.
About a century afterwards, (1324) another Sir Robert de
Manners, knight, is mentioned in public documents, among
the principal persons in the county of Northumberland;
certified to bear arms, by descent, from their ancestors. This
person is stated by Burke, in his Peerage, to have been go
vernor of Norham Castle, on the boundary line of Scotland
and England, in the first year of Edward III ; and to have
signalised himself in its defence. But in this representation,
there must be some mistake. The editors of the Scala
Chronica, adopting the text of that work for their autho
rity, distinctly assert, in the introduction, that the important

BELVOIR CASTLE. 35
post of constable of Norham Castle, was, from 1319 to
1331, assigned to Thomas de Grey: though from his near
neighbourhood, it is extremely probable, that Sir Robert de
Manners was, either authoritatively, or as a volunteer, in
duced to co-operate in the defence of Norham Castle. It
was a post of that danger, that the chivalry of the period,
resorted to it ; as affording the most favourable opportunity
for the display of gallantry. Thus, William Marmion, the
knight of Lincolnshire, (a contemporary of Sir Robert de
Manners,) to whom his mistress gave a helmet of gold,
desiring him to make it known, wherever glory was most
difficult to be won, went to Norham, as " the most perilous
and adventurous place in this country." A considerable
portion of the keep of this celebrated castle is still remaining.
Sir Robert de Manners represented in parliament the county
of Northumberland, in 14 Edward III. In the next year,
he obtained the royal permission, to strengthen and embattle
bis castle of Ethale, with a wall made of stone and lime ;
and was commissioned, with others, to treat with David
Bruce, and his adherents, for peace. He married Joan,
daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Strother, knight, of New
ton Glendall, and dying in 1355, was succeeded by his
son, SrR John Manners, knight, of whom nothing remarkable
is recorded. He married Alice, widow of William de Win
chester, and died in 1402. He was succeeded by his son,
SrR John Manners, knight, appointed sheriff of Nor
thumberland, in 1413. He, and his second son, were
accused in the reign of Henry VI, of having occasioned the
death of William Heron and Robert Atkinson ; and, on
September 28, 1430, an award was made, adjudging him,
and his son, to procure to be sung, five hundred masses, for
the health of the soul of the said William Heron, within one
year then next ensuing; and to pay two hundred marks
D 2

36 HISTORY OF
for the use of the widow and children of Robert Heron.
Whether this unfortunate event is really imputable to Sir
John and his son, is not so obvious. But, in the distracted
state of the kingdom at that time, occasioned by maladmi
nistration, financial distress, and ecclesiastical persecutions
for religious opinions, dissentient in the slightest degree from
the received faith and practice of the period, private feuds
as well as public broils added much, as might be expected,
to the great miseries of the country. Sir John Manners
married Anne, daughter of Sir John Middleton,* knight;
and dying in 1438, was succeeded by bis eldest son, Sm
Robert Manners, who, during some part of the reign of
Henry VI, was one of the conservators of the truce made
with the Scots. He married Joan, daughter of Sir Robert
Ogle.t His son
Robert Manners was, as his father and grandfather had
been, sheriff of Northumberland, in 1445, and 1465 ; in
which last year, he was knighted. In 1466, he was made
deputy to Richard, Duke of Gloucester, then admiral of
England, Ireland, and Aquitain : a post, which did not, at
that period, suppose, or require, any knowledge of naval
matters : the king's admiral being not necessarily the actual
commander of the fleet ; but, rather, a great officer of state,
who presided generally over maritime affairs. By his mar
riage with Eleanor, sister and co-heir of Edmund, Lord Ros,
Sir Robert Manners acquired the property of Belvoir Castle,
with that of Hamlake, in Yorkshire ; and the lordship of
Orston, in Nottinghamshire. He died about 1485 ; leaving
issue, George, Edward, Elizabeth, Dorothy, and Cecilia.
George, the eldest son, succeeded Iris father in his honours
and estate ; and in 1487, in right of his mother, assumed
the title of Lord Ros. He married Anne, sole daughter
* Middleton. Arms — Argent, fretty sable, a canton, gules.
t Ogle. Arms — Argent, a fess between 3 crescents, gules.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 87
and heir of Sir Thomas Sellenger, (St. Leger*) knight, by
Anne his wife, daughter to Richard, Duke of York, eldest
sister to king Edward IV, and widow of Henry Holland,
Duke of Exeter. By her, he had issue, six sons ; Thomas,
Oliver, Anthony, Richard, John, and  ; and six daugh
ters; Elizabeth, Catharine, Eleanor, Cecilia, Margaret, and
Anne. Iri 1495, Perkin Warbeck, pretender to the throne, as
being the young Duke of York, brother to Edward V, had
taken refuge in Scotland ; the young king of which, was so
satisfied with the justice of his pretensions, that he received
him with honour, and gave him a near kinswoman for his
wife. The Scotch king assisted him, also, with an army, to
invade England ; which was the occasion of a war between
the two countries. Towards the conclusion of that war,
George, Lord Ros, was in the expedition sent into Scotland,
when Ayton, between Berwick and Dunbar, was taken; and
for his conduct and bravery, was knighted by the Earl of
Surrey, general of the army. In 1498, the king (Henry VII.)
having called together the three estates of the kingdom, for
their assent to the peace made with France, Nov. 3, 1492;
Sir George Manners, Lord Ros, with Thomas Lumley, were
the two, specially deputed by the lords and commons of
the diocese of Durham, to meet the king on that arduous
affair ; and they gave their assent thereto. He was equally
in favour with Henry VIII, on account of his loyalty, care,
and industry; who commissioned him in May, 1513, with
Thomas, Marquis of Dorset, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, and
others, to review the forces that were going with the king,
on an expedition to France, under the command of the
Marquis of Dorset. Lord Ros, before the end of the same
year, was with the king, first at the siege of Theronenne, and,
afterwards, at that of Tournay ; where he fell sick, and died
* St. Leger. Arms — Azure, fretty, argent, on a chief or, a crescent, gules,

38 HISTORY OF
on the 27th of October. He left by his will, dated the day
before his death, benefactions to the Abbeys of Rievaulx and
Kirkham ; and to the Priory of Wartre ; and various gifts to
his executors and servants. He was buried with his lady, in
a chantry chapel, founded by his father-in-law, Sir Thomas
St. Leger, in the north aisle of the royal chapel of St George,
in Windsor Castle ; where a handsome monument perpetu
ates his memory. This monument was once gilt, but as
Nichols says, from the late repairs of the chapel, it appears,
as if whited over ; the gilding being all clean rubbed off, and
all the beautiful blazonry of the lady's robes is done away.
George, Lord Ros, was succeeded by his eldest son,
Thomas, who, in 1523, being the Lord Roos, was warden
of the East Marches, towards Scotland; and two years
afterwards, was, by the king, put into full possession of all
the manors, castles, and lands, which had descended to him
from the Lady Eleanor, his grandmother, sister and co-heir
to Edmund, Lord Ros ; as, also, from Isabel, the other
sister and co-heir, wife of Sir Thomas Lovel. On April
23, 1526, at a chapter of the garter, held at Greenwich, he
was elected knight of that most noble order. After his
election, it was discovered, that he had not been a knight
bachelor, which the statutes of the order require, previous
to being elected a knight companion. Henry, on the same
day, re-assembled the chapter ; the necessary previous for
mality was gone through, and a new election took place.
During the same year, he was created by letters patent,
bearing date June 18, Earl of Rutland; a title which had
before belonged to Edmund, younger brother to Edward IV,
and had never been conferred upon any, but of the blood
royal; at the same time, an augmentation to his ancient
arms was granted, in allusion to his descent from the sister
of king Edward IV, whose daughter his father married : —
a chief quarterly 1 and 4 azure, two fleur de lis ; or :

BELVOHt CASTLE. 39
2 and 3 gules, a lion of England. Seven days after his
creation, he was installed one of the knights companions of
the most noble order of the garter.
The dilatory and insincere policy of the Pope of this
period, who, after signing a decretal declaring the first mar
riage of Henry VIII. void, and granting to him a dispensation
to marry again ; continued, for three years, to protract the
discussion on the subject of the divorce, with the view of
eventually preventing its taking place ; induced the peers
of England, in 1531, then sitting in parliament, to subscribe
a declaration to Clement VII, expressing their belief, that
unless the Pope complied with the wishes of Henry, and his
nobles, the papal supremacy in England would be much
endangered. Though a great deal of pompous machinery
was employed, in obtaining the opinions of all the learned
bodies in Europe, on the question of the divorce ; it is a
matter of history, that the king's personal feelings embraced
no wider extent, than an all but avowed aversion to Catha
rine, combined with a lustful affection for another woman.
But the real question with a large majority of his subjects,
was, as to the extent and limitation of the papal power ;
which long impatiently submitted to, most men were now
desirous of shaking off altogether : and a favourable oppor
tunity offered through the imbecile, and selfish policy of the
reigning Pope. A further motive may be allowed its weight;
which was, a desire on the part of both king and people, to
have a male instead of a female heir to the throne : a wish,
which Providence seems to have granted in anger, as a
punishment for the unjustifiable measures, which led to the
divorce. Edward VI, whose designs for a purer religion
than popery, promised so much success, was cut off in the
blossom of our hopes; and the wholesome fruit expected,
was effectually retarded from coming to maturity, by the
accession of Mary, whose legal rights this divorce was in-

40 HISTORY OF
tended to prejudice. This digression from our biographical
notices of the noble family of Belvoir, if digression it may
be called, was necessary to account for the motives which
actuated the Earl of Rutland and other peers, in subscribing
the declaration above-mentioned, to the Pope. It is little to
be doubted, that he and they viewed the matter in a national
point of view. It was not their fault, if the only accessible
means to their object, was debased by the sovereign's impa
tient and unlawful desires.
The Earl of Rutland, as he had been a principal instru
ment in the measure, which led to the abolition of the papal
supremacy, was, also, actively employed in resisting the
mischievous effects of ulterior measures. He, with the
Earls of Shrewsbury and Huntingdon, were commissioned in
1536, to suppress the insurrection in Lincolnshire, under Dr.
Mackerell, Abbot of Berlinges, occasioned by the dissolution
of the lesser monasteries, and certain injunctions in matters
of religion. On the event of a similar rebellion in York-?
shire, called " the pilgrimage of grace," he offered his ser-i
vices, and was successful in its suppression. In 1538, he
obtained the site of the Abbey of Rievaulx in exchange for
other lands. In 1539, he was appointed_by the king, lord
chamberlain to queen Anne of Cleves; and sent from
Greenwich, to attend her before her marriage. In 1540,
he was constituted chief justice in eyre, of all the king's
forests beyond Trent. In 1541, he obtained a grant of the
manors of Muston, Waltham, and Croxton, with part of the
possessions of the dissolved Priory of Ossulveston ; all in
the county of Leicester : as, also, of the manors of Upwell,
Outwell, Elm, and Emneth, in the counties of Norfolk and
Cambridge ; part of the possessions of the monastery of
Nuneaton, county of Warwick; and, also, the manor of
Branston, county of Northampton ; part of the possessions
of the Abbey of Lilleshall, county of Salop. To these were

BELVOIR CASTLE. 41
soon after added, the manors of Bilsdale and Helmesley,
part of the possessions of the monastery of Kirkham, county
of York; with divers lands in Brandesdale, in the same
county, belonging to the Abbey of Rievaulx. In 1542, being
appointed warden of the Marches, he accompanied the
Duke of Norfolk, then general of an army, consisting of
twenty thousand men, in his invasion of Scotland ; where,
in eight days, they burnt twenty towns and villages ; and
being much in the king's favour, he, on his return, obtained
in that year (jointly with Robert Tyrwhit) a grant of the
Priory of Belvoir; and, also, of Egle, in Lincolnshire,
which had been a commandery of the knights Templars ; to
whom it was granted by king Stephen ; and from whom it
had passed to the hospitallers. He obtained, at the same
time, a. large share of the lands and lordships of divers other
dissolved monasteries, in the counties of Leicester, Norfolk,
Suffolk, Northumberland, and York. The reader will ob
serve, that a great part of this property, had been given for
ecclesiastical purposes by the ancestors of the Earl of
Rutland. If, therefore, its alienation from the intention of
the donors, was justifiable on any grounds ; its reversion to
their descendant, possesses a grace and a propriety, not often
observable in other grants of this period.
Two interesting occurrances of a domestic, rather than a
public nature, are recorded in the life of this distinguished
nobleman. Through his exertions, principally, Belvoir
Castle was rebuilt; which had been so wantonly laid in
ruins by Lord Hastings. After the dissolution of religious
houses, many ancient monuments of the Albini and Ros
family, were, by the command of this Earl of Rutland, re
moved from the Priory of Belvoir, to Bottesford, where some
of them yet remain. Others, also, were carried thither, by
the same order, from Croxton Abbey. He died, Sept. 20,
1543, and was buried in the middle of the chancel, going up

42 HISTORY OF
to the altar at Bottesford. ( See description of this monu
ment in the account of Bottesford Church.) His will is
dated Aug 16, 1543 ; and contains an enumeration of his
ample possessions; with an exhibition of the wise and
affectionate motives, by which he was actuated in the dis
posal. His widow, Eleanor, who died in 1551, was buried
in St. Leonard's, Shoreditch ; where an inscription preserves
the remembrance of several persons of this noble family.
By his first wife, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Lovel,
the Earl of Rutland had no issue ; but, by bis second,
Eleanor, daughter of Sir William Paston,* of Paston, in the
county of Norfolk, knight, he had five sons, and six
daughters : Henry, the eldest son and successor to the title ;
John, the next son, from whom the present duke is lineally
descended ; Roger Manners, of Uffington, county of Lin
coln, who obtained in 1576, a grant of so much of the lands
of Pateshall, formerly belonging to the monastery of St
James, near Northampton, as had not before been given to
Robert Dighton and Robert Tyrwhit This person gave
four scholarships to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge,
and was a great benefactor to the chapel. He gave by his
will, to the poor of Stamford, £20 for ever, the interest of
which, to be given in coals. He was buried in the Church
of Uffington, where a monument of marble commemorates
himself, and his brother, Oliver Manners. Thomas, the
fourth son of the Earl of Rutland, was knighted for his
bravery in Ireland and Scotland. He married Theodosia,
daughter of Sir Thomas Newton, knight. One of his
daughters became the wife of William Vavasour, of Hasle-
wood, county of York, whose son, Sir Thomas Vavasour,
was the first baronet of that family. Sir Thomas Manners
died June, 1591, aged fifty. Oliver, fifth son of Thomas,
Earl of Rutland, died young, in 1563 ; and was buried at
* Paston. Arms — Argent, 6 fleurs de lis, 3. 2. 1 azure, a chief indented, or.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 43
Uffington, with his brother Thomas, as stated above. The
six daughters were Gertrude married to George Talbot,
Earl of Shrewsbury ; Anne, to Sri Henry Neville, Earl of
Westmoreland ; Frances, to Henry Neville, Lord Aber
gavenny ; Catharine, to Sir Henry Capel, of Raynes, in
the county of Essex, knight, and ancestor by her to the
present Earl of Essex. She died March 9, 1572. Elizabeth,
the fifth daughter, married Sir John Savage, of Rock
Savage, knight : from whom the Earl Rivers, who died in
1721, unmarried, when the title became extinct, was de
scended. Isabella, the sixth daughter, died young.
Henry, the eldest son, succeeding his father in 1543,
became the second Earl of Rutland. In 1547, (1 Edward
VI.) he, with three thousand men, took and sacked Hadding
ton, in Scotland. This must have been a contemporary
exploit with the important battle of Pinkey, near Mussel-
boro,' fought by the Duke of Somerset, the king's uncle;
which was so decisive of the relative strength of the two
countries, that the Scotch nation attempted no similar ex
ploit, till the days of Oliver Cromwell, and the battle of
Dunbar. Archbishop Cranmer directed a public thanksgiving
for this victory, which, in a letter to the Bishop of London,
he describes as a "victory, almost above the expectation of
man; and such as hath not been heard of, these many
years." The Earl of Rutland, as a reward for his exertions
on this occasion, was, in the following year, made constable
of the Castle of Nottingham, chief justice in eyre of Sher
wood Forest, and warden of the east and middle marches
towards Scotland.
In 1555, he completed the noble design, which had been
far advanced by his father, of rebuilding the family mansion,
at Belvoir; and as Nichols, following Leland, says "making it
a nobler structure then it was beforei," He also carried into
effect, so far as the ruinous condition of the suppressed reli-

44 HISTORY OF
gious houses rendered it possible, the design, which his father
had commenced, of preserving the monumental remains of
his ancestors, by transferring them chiefly to Bottesford.
One of these, a monumental stone from Croxton Abbey,
was, according to a writer who visited Belvoir in 1722, pre
served in the library there. This stone commemorates Sir
Richard Manners, brother and executor to Thomas, first
Earl of Rutland. This Sir Richard Manners obtained in
1547, a grant of several manors and lands in the counties of
Leicester, Salop, Stafford, and Worcester. He was twice
married ; and had an only son named John. According to
the inscription, he died the 16th day of January or February,
1550, and was buried near the high altar, at Christ Church,
London. This was the priory church of the Holy Trinity
near Aldgate, called St. Catharine's Christ Church, or Cree
Church. During the short, but disastrous reign of Philip and Mary,
Henry, Earl of Rutland was appointed captain general of all
the forces designed to be transported into France; and had
the chief command of the fleet. This reign of only five
years, will he remembered, not only on account of the ex
tensive and bitter persecution conducted under the name
of religion ; but for the utter prostration of the power and
influence, which, previous to the accession of Mary, this
country had maintained in all its foreign relations. The
Pope of this period was a monster of bad faith, and of enor
mous inconsistencies. At one time, directing and urging
upon Mary, the burning of reformers : at another, in close
alliance with the Mahometan ruler; and threatening to
fulminate a sentence of excommunication against those obe
dient, and self-sacrificing children of Rome, Philip and Mary.
It was impossible, that the Earl of Rutland, or any other
person of distinguished command, could effectually serve
their country, under the paralysing influence of popish

BELVOIR CASTLE. 45
councils. Calais, the only remaining territory of France,
in the possession of the English, was soon lost ; and there
with the only avenue to the re-establishment, if that were
desirable, of the English dominion in France.
It may be inferred, that the Earl of Rutland did not
obtain the favourable position he occupied, in the estimation
of Philip and Mary, to a conformity of religious profession ;
or, indeed, to any participation in the Romish political
intrigues of the period; which were principally directed
against the life of Elizabeth. For, in the year of the acces
sion of that high-minded sovereign, the Earl of Rutland
was elected knight of the garter, April 24, 1559 ; and,
according to the inscription in the sixteenth stall of St.
George's chapel, at Windsor, installed on the third of the
following June. He was, in the same year, appointed lord
lieutenant of the counties of Nottingham and Rutland;
and president of her majesty's council in the north ; a post,
requiring at that period, no ordinary degree of discretion
and wisdom. The unfortunate and misguided Mary, queen
of Scots, had, even thus early, assumed in her escocheons,
and state parade, a right and title to be actual queen of Eng
land ; to the throne of which, she was heiress, if Elizabeth
died without issue. She not only quartered the arms of
England with those of Scotland ; but she and her husband,
the dauphin of France, called themselves by the titles of
king and queen of England ; and were encouraged and sup
ported in their pretensions, by the king of France. A
political pretension of this nature, was rendered more dange
rous, by the religious partisanship, which was necessarily
intermixed. Mary and her husband contemplated, and
laboured for, the subversion of the Reformation in England
and Scotland ; and, unfortunately, the intemperate denun
ciations, and harsh measures of the Scottish reformers,
considerably weakened the influence, which the Reformation

46 HISTORY OF
might otherwise have possessed, in the hearts of the people.
Five thousand French troops were despatched to the sea-
coast of that country, apparently for Scotland ; and violent
counsels were suggested and resolved upon, at .raris, to
suppress the Reformation, and its adherents, in Scotland.
The selection, therefore, of Henry, Earl of Rutland, for
the office of president of her majesty's council, for that
portion of the kingdom in the immediate neighbourhood of
Scotland, is an honourable testimony to his abilities, and the
soundness of his religious views.
His first wife was Margaret, daughter to Ralph Neville,
Earl of Westmoreland. He had by her two sons, Edward
and John ; and two daughters ; Elizabeth who married Sir
William Courteney, of Powderham, in the county of De
von ; and Eleanor, who married John, Earl of Bath.
He afterwards married Bridget, daughter of John, Lord
Hussey,* of Sleaford, in the county of Lincoln, and widow
of Sir Charles Morrison, of Cashiobury, in the county of
Hertford, knight ; but by her, who survived him, had no
issue. By his last will, dated July 5, 1560, he bequeathed
" his body to be buried in the Church of Bottesford, if he
should die within the realm ; and appointed that a tomb,
suitable to his estate, should be made there." (See de
scription of monuments in Bottesford Church.) Among
other bequests, he gave " to John, his second son, his manor
and rectory of Helmesley, formerly belonging to the monas
tery of Kirkham ; as also his manor of Ross, in Holderness,
and a fee-farm of £40 a year, issuing out of the city of
York, during his Ufe. To Edward, Lord Roos, his son and
heir, all his armour, munition, and weapons ; and ordered
all his goods, chattels, jewels, plate, and household-stuff,
which could be left unsold, to be divided betwixt bis wife
* Hussey. Arms — Quarterly I and 4, or a cross vert; 2 and 3, barry of 6,
ermine and gules.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 47
and the said Edward, his son, when he should arrive at the
age of twenty-one years. He also gave £200 to be distri
buted among his household servants, as his wife should
judge convenient." He died Sept. 17, 1563.
His first wife, Margaret, was buried in Shoreditch Church,
whither, Strype tells us, her corpse was carried, Oct. 21,
1559, from the house which had been the nunnery of
Haliwell, and came into the possession of the Manners
family, by the marriage of the father of the first Earl of
Rutland with Anne Sellenger, (see page 37) ; with thirty
• clerks and priests singing ; about three-score poor men and
women in black gowns ; mourners to the number of an
hundred ; two heralds of arms, garter, and York ; then came
the corpse ; before a great banner of arms ; and about her,
four goodly banner rolls of divers arms. Mr. Bacon
preached. After was dispersed a great dole of money, being
2d apiece for each. And so all departed to the place to
dinner. About the vallance was written (in black letter)
" Sic transit gloria mundi."
The Countess Bridget was afterwards married to Francis
Russell, Earl of Bedford, her third husband, whom she sur
vived many years ; dying, January 12, 1600, aged seventy-
five, and was buried at Watford, Herts ; where, in the mid
dle of the south chapel, is a monument, with an inscription
to her memory.
Earl Henry was succeeded, in 1563, by his eldest son,
Edward, third Earl of Rutland. The intrigues of the
court of Rome against the authority and life of Elizabeth,
had, from the peculiarity of the queen of Scotland's position,
as a Romanist, and successor to the throne of England, fail
ing the- marriage and issue of Elizabeth, been concentred in
the person of Mary. Mary, a weak, vain, and bigoted
woman, was the too willing instrument of Rome. Her
religion and claim to the succession secured a large and

48 HISTORY OF
influential party of English Romanists. Her beauty and
fascinating manners allured others to her side, who, but for
these accomplishments, might have continued indifferent, at
the most, to her pretensions. While the misfortunes and
ill-usage she had experienced among her own subjects, at
tracted the chivalrous sympathy of many others. Her early
usurpation of the ensigns of English royalty, while it mani
fested her own wishes and intentions, could not but disquiet
Elizabeth, whom it placed in the position of an usurper.
A disquieting suspicion thus generated, must have been
considerably augmented by the discovery, through the vigi
lance of the English government, that every plot against the
authority and life of Elizabeth ; whether originating in the
courts of Rome, France, or Spain ; whether conducted by
her own disaffected Romanist subjects ; whether secretly
urged on by Jesuit missionaries in the disguise of soldiers,
mechanics, or even puritan ministers, the most violent class
of preachers against popery ; every plot whatever might be
its source, or the manner of its intended execution, was
found to contain the name of Mary queen of Scots, as the
willing co-adjutor ; and the person who proposed to secure
to herself, the greatest amount of benefit, from the success
of Romish machinations. Unless, therefore, Elizabeth had
courted martyrdom; and was prepared to sacrifice at the
same time, the sacred interests of the Reformation ; not only
in this country, but in the whole of Europe ; retaliative
measures were a duty she owed to religion, her country,
and herself. And of those measures, coercion was the only
one that promised success ; as every other, through the bad
faith of her opponents, had failed. The final act, I can
neither explain, nor defend. Of the sympathising members of
Mary's communion, in this countiy, were the powerful Earls
of Northumberland and Westmoreland, who contemplated
in the first instance, the deliverance of Mary from prison,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 49
and her marriage with the Duke of Norfolk. Elizabeth,
having some vague information of the plot, summoned the
suspected participators to her presence. All obeyed the
summons, except the Earls of Northumberland and West
moreland ; who, hurried on by their fears or want of
discretion, broke out into open revolt, in 1569. To suppress
this revolt, Edward, Earl of Rutland, though then only
twenty years of age, and in ward to the queen, was sent as
lieutenant to the Earl of Sussex, commander in chief of the
forces of the kingdom ; and as a colonel of foot, and one of
the council of war. The insurgent army soon broke up from
the inherent weakness of their counsels.
In 1582, the Earl of Rutland was made lord lieutenant of
the county of Lincoln; and, in 1585, was installed knight
of the garter. His plate of arms was still remaining in 1792,
in the twenty-third stall, in St. George's chapel, Windsor.
In 1586, the Earl of Rutland, and others, were appointed
commissioners to discuss with the Scottish ambassadors,
whom they met at Berwick, on the 19th of June, the terms
of a treaty of peace between England and Scotland. By
this treaty, which was finally agreed upon, July the 5th, or,
according to some authorities, the 8th, the two kingdoms
bound themselves in a league^ offensive and defensive, against
all foreign powers, who should invade the territories, or at
tempt to disturb the reformed religious establishment of
either. Camden has recorded an additional proof of the high
sense entertained by Elizabeth, of the abilities and integrity
of the Earl of Rutland. That accomplished historian states3
that the queen designed to make him lord chancellor, on
the death of chancellor Bromley ; but that he died six days
after him ; " being a profound lawyer, and a man accom
plished with all polite learning."
His will, dated Nov. 20, 1583, is an interesting memorial of
E

50 HISTORY OF
his unaffected piety and sound discretion. After declaring
that the certainty of death, and the uncertainty of the time
or place of death, are evidently intended by God, to urge
us to direct the course of our life, by his grace and mercy
in such sort, as we might always be found ready, and pre
pared to die, when it shall be his pleasure to call us out of
this life ; he proceeds to express his conviction, that on this
account, it is not the least duty of a christian man, to set
in order his worldly affairs, while he is in best health, for the
preventing of such troubles, unkindness, and controversies,
as do commonly grow, when no such order is taken. He
then solemnly recommends his soul to God, and bequeaths
his body to be buried in the Church, at Bottesford, with his
ancestors ; and directs £100, at least, to be laid out on his
tomb; "the funeral to be in such decent order, as to the es
tate and calling, it hath pleased God to call me to, appertain ;
with liberality, especially to the poor." And considering
that the barony of Ros, for want of heirs male of his body,
was to descend to his heir general ; for that one of his ances
tors, whose heir he was, did marry the heir of the Lord Ros>
and thereby enjoyed that title and dignity, as descended on
the part of the mother ; as also continued the same until
their creation to this earldom of Rutland: — supposing there
fore, the style and dignity of the said barony, not to be
utterly extinguished, but to remain suspended ; because the
earldom of Rutland, was entailed to the heir male of Thomas,
his grandfather; and that the said barony was descendable
to the heirs general ; he settled his estate so, as that both
honours might properly be supported. By a codicil, dated
April 14, 1587, being "sick of body, but yet of good and
perfect remembrance," he recognised and confirmed his
former will; and died the same day, at his house near
Puddle Wharf, London, being only then thirty-eight years.
of age. The will was proved Dec. 1, 1587.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 5l
By Isabel, daughter to Sir Thomas Holcroft,* of Vale^
Royal, in the county of Chester, knight, he left issue one
daughter, and sole heiress, named Elizabeth ; who, in right
of her father, became baroness Ros ; and, at the age of
thirteen, married William Cecil, f eldest son to Sir Thomas
Cecil, knight, who Was the eldest son of Lord Bur
leigh, afterwards Earl of Exeter. This lady died at the
house of her grandfather, Sir Thomas Holcroft, in Tower
Street, London, April 12, 1591 ; and was buried in the
chapel of St. Nicholas, in Westminster Abbey; where a
monument was erected for her on the west side of the
chapel. This monument together with bishop Sprat's, was
removed, to make room for that of EKzabeth, duchess of
Northumberland, who died Dec. 5, 1776. But the figure
of the lady Ros, with the armorial bearings, has been pre-1
served, by being placed over an adjoining tomb. She is
represented in a recumbent posture, leaning on the left arm,
and veiled. She left an only son, William, not quite a year
old, who at his mother's funeral, was proclaimed, after the
service in the church, by the title of Lord Ros, of Hamlake,
Trusbut, and Belvoir ; and, afterwards, in the reign of king
James, claimed those baronies in right of his mother, in
opposition to Francis, Earl of Rutland. The king deter
mined, that he should be the Lord Ros, of Holderness, and
have the ancient seat of the Lords Ros in parliament ; but
that the title of Lord Ros, of Hamlake, Trusbut, and Belvoir,
should still remain to the Earl of Rutland. The Lord Ros,
of Holderness, was sent ambassador to the emperor Matthias,
in Spain, whence he returned the next year; and in 1618,
having travelled into Italy, he died without issue, at Naples,
not without suspicion of being poisoned. On his death, the
* Holcroft Arms — Argent a cross and bordure engrailed, sable.
f Cecil. Arms — Barry of 10, argent and azure; over all, six escutcheons
3, 2, 1 sable, each charged with a lion rampant of the first*
E 2

52 HISTORY OF
title of Lord Ros reverted, indisputably, to the Rutland
family. A letter of the lady Isabel, widow of Edward, Earl of
Rutland, to the lord keeper Puckeringe, has been preserved,
relating to some appointments, which she wished to be made
in a commission of sewers, which he was about to grant, "for
the redressing of such losses and harms, which the dwellers
upon Trent sustained, by weirs thereon builded." She states,
that, as her majesty's tenant of mills and fishings in Trent,
she receives more loss thereby than any one in Nottingham
shire ; and mentions that certain of her neighbours in that
county, were prepared, as she had heard, to object to the
Earl of Shrewsbury, (a connexion by marriage of the Rut
land family,) being appointed one of the commission of
sewers, whom she wished to be appointed. She prays her,
that her son-in-law, Mr. William Cecil, grandson to the
lord treasurer Burleigh, may be one of the commissioners'.
The letter, which is dated Nov. 18, 1592, is not otherwise
interesting, than as indicating the writer to be an active,
high-spirited woman, determined to take the best means in
her power, to preserve her property uninjured. Nichols has
preserved a fac-simile of her signature on this occasion : it
is written in a firm, masculine hand.
John, the brother to the last Earl, became Earl of Rudand
in 1587 ; and in the same year, was appointed constable of
the Castle of Nottingham, and lord lieutenant of that county.
He had served in the Irish wars, as a colonel of foot. He
married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Charlton,* of Apley,
in the county of Salop, Esq. ; and had by her five sons and
four daughters. By his last will, made Feb. 23, 1587-8,
when "sick of bod)r, but of good and perfect remembrance,"
he ordered his body to be buried, in the Church of Bottes
ford ; and "the order and charges of his funeral, disposing to
* Charlton. Arms — Or, a lion rampant gules.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 53
the poor, and ordering of his tomb, he leaves to the discretion
of his executors, and the supervisors of his will." The ex
ecutors were his wife, the Countess of Rutland ; Roger,
Lord Ros, his son ; his uncle George Manners, Esq. ; and
Roger Manners, one of the esquires for the queen's majesty's
body; his loving father-in-law, one of her majesty's justices
of the court of common pleas ; his loving cousin, Sir George
Chaworth, knight; and the supervisors, (to each of whom,
he gives a piece of plate worth £20,) were the lord high
treasurer Burleigh, and the Earl of Leicester, lord steward
of her majesty's household. To his younger sons, Francis,
George, and Oliver, he gave certain specific manors and
lands, in Yorkshire ; and to his daughters, £1000 each.
He died the 24th February, the day after the execution
of his will, which was proved May 1, 1588. By Elizabeth
his wife, who was buried at Bottesford, March 24, 1594, he
had five sons ; Edward, who died young ; Roger, Francis,
and Sir George, successively Earls of Rutland; and Sir
Oliver. His daughters were Bridget, married to Robert
Tyrrwhit, of Kettleby, county of Lincoln, esquire, son and
heir to Sir Robert Tyrrwhit, knight ; Frances, to William,
Lord Willoughby, ofParham; Elizabeth, to Edmund Scroop,
Earl of Sunderland, but died without issue ; and Mary, who
died unmarried, in April, 1588.
Nichols describes a monument and records an inscription to
the memory of Bridget, by her husband, Robert Tyrrwhit, in
the chancel of Bigby, (Beakeby, Nichols) county of Lincoln,
which is a pleasing memorial of his affectionate remembrance
of her virtues. An epitaph in Latin verse, on the same
monument, which Nichols calls, " a comely epitaph," might
not so well please modern taste. The construction and
sentiments are, however, intelligible enough, when we con
sider that classical literature was, at that period, (1604)
comparatively a newly discovered mine ; the ore from which

54 HISTORY OF
was most enthusiastically applied to every purpose; and,
often to the neglect of the fine gold of the sacred writings.
The beauty of the person commemorated in this epitaph, is
equalled to that of Venus. The fate that took her from this
world, is stated to be more cruel than savage tigers. She
is said to have entered the gloomy palace of the inexorable
Proserpine, before she had well seemed to live, or completed
her fifth lustrum; and the husband is represented as mourn
ing her loss with the deepest sorrow, and reproaching the
Gods. It would not be just to doubt the sincerity of the
survivor, or to criticise, too severely, the taste which dictated
such an epitaph. It is, no doubt, a faithful representation
of an affectionate husband's feelings, though through a me-.
dium partaking of the fantastic taste of the period, in which
an elaborate and gorgeous display of words, (euphuism)
pervaded the ordinary intercourse of life, with the higher
classes ; and a cumbrous pedantry was the character of
scholars. Edward, the eldest son of John, the fourth Earl of Rut
land, dying an infant,
Roger, the next brother succeeded their father at his
death, Feb. 24, 1587-8, and became the fifth Earl, being
then only eleven years of age. He was educated at the
University of Cambridge, where he took the degree of M. A.
In 1595, he visited France, Italy, Switzerland, and the low
countries, where he continued three years ; and, afterwards,
"he went, voluntary, the island voyage."* (See description
pf his monument in Bottesford Church.) In 1598, he was
colonel of foot in the Irish wars ; in which year, (July 10)
he was incorporated M. A., in the University of Oxford, and
is styled by Wood, (Fasti Oxonienses,) an eminent traveller,
and a good soldier. In 1600, he was appointed constable
* Island voyage. — This expression is used to desiguate the naval expedition,
under the command of the Earl of Essex; part of whose object itwas, to inter
cept the Spanish Merchantmen from the West Indies.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 55
of Nottingliara Castle, and chief justice in eyre of Sherwood
Forest On the 7 th of June, in the same year, he was a
principal attendant at the marriage of the Lord Herbert and
Mrs. Ann Russell ; which was celebrated in great state at
Blackfriars, the queen being present.
The different position in which Roger, Earl of Rutland,
stood in Elizabeth's estimation, during the last two years of
her reign, requires some notice. He appears to have been,
from an early period, on terms of familiar intercourse with
the accomplished but impetuous and ill-fated Earl of Essex.
Tins latter nobleman had been brought up, by the highly
moral and religious Lord Burleigh, as the guardian appoin
ted by his father; whose son, William Cecil, had married
EKzabeth, sole child and heiress of Edward, third Earl of
Rutland. Essex, the ward, and Roger, the connexion by
marriage of Burleigh, would thus have opportunites under
tlie roof of their common friend, of forming an acquaintance,
which, congeniality of pursuits, and probably of disposition,
for both appear to have been ingenuous, high spirited young
men, soon matured into a warm friendship.* When the
Earl of Rutland set out on his travels in 1595, Essex, though
then, as the successor to the Earl of Leicester, his father-in-
law, in Elizabeth's favour, occupied in all the duties of a
courtier in high trust with that severely exacting queen,
found time to write a letter to his friend on travel, which
displays a j.udicious and highly cultivated taste ; and makes
us regret that the infirmities of a noble disposition, had not
been either better regulated by the individual, or more mer
cifully visited by the sovereign. In 1597, the two friends
met; the one (Essex) as joint commander with Howard and
Raleigh of an expedition intended to destroy the Spanish
armament, whieh had been prepared for an attempt on
Ireland, the other, (the Earl of Rutland) as an animated
* The Earl of Essex was senior to the Earl of Rutland by nine years.

56 HISTORY OF
volunteer, accompanied by the Earl of Southampton, the
Lords Grey, Cromwell, and Rich ; many knights and other
persons of note: all, as Camden says "with feathers waving,
and glittering in their gay clothes." It was on the termina
tion of this expedition, that a dissatisfied ambition began to
actuate the Earl of Essex, which at that time, Elizabeth
condescended to soothe. In 1598, he was involved in a
personal dispute with his sovereign, in which, Elizabeth so
far forgot her own dignity, on a marked manifestation of
his scorn and defiance in her presence, that she struck him
resentfully on the ear: and Essex with an unmanly arro
gance, put his hand upon his sword to a sovereign and a
woman. He was again pardoned ; and sent the same year,
with an unusual force of 20,000 men to Ireland. In this
expedition, he, and his friend the Earl of Rutland, displayed
much personal bravery ; and Essex, as the commander of
the expedition, knighted the latter. ' But on receiving a
letter of admonition and rebuke from the queen, at having
effected so little, in comparison with the means provided ;
Essex, and his noble friends, rashly left their post of duty, to
remonstrate personally with the queen, and to denounce
those, whom they thought their political enemies. The
queen contented herself with placing Essex, in a sort of
honourable confinement, in the friendly custody, that is, of
the lord keeper, Sir Richard Berkeley. The versatile and
impetuous mind of Essex, after passing through the various
phases of a revengeful, a religious, and a treasonable spirit,
at last burst through all restraint He attempted to excite
an insurrection in London ; which, failing, he was besieged,
taken, and beheaded. The Earl of Rutland, who had been
his approving counsellor in this unwise attempt, surrendered
himself to the queen's mercy. On the trial of the Earls
of Essex and Southampton, for high treason, the Earl of
Rutland was examined; and the result was so far unfavour-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 57
able, that he was committed to the tower, and confined there,
during the remainder of Elizabeth's reign.
The noble mind of Elizabeth, had, in the last few years of
her life, become less able to sustain the combined pressure of
constitutional infirmity, and the cares of a long and anxious
reign. The prejudice, which she reasonably entertained
against the queen of Scots, surviving the death of that un
fortunate and misguided person, extended to all in any way
connected with her, by the ties of kindred or partisanship.
And though James, the son of Mary, presented, neither in
his religious profession, nor in his political character, any
tangible grounds of offence; yet, Elizabeth regarded him
with so much suspicion and jealousy, that, it was not till the
hour of her death, and when she could no longer make her
wishes known, except by signs, that she signified her desire,
that James should succeed to the English throne. Many,
however, of the most influential nobles of the land, had long
been in friendly correspondence with James, and anxiously,
though cautiously, laboured to secure his succession. Among
these were the ill-fated Earl of Essex, and even the privy
council of the period, with Sir Robert Cecil, son of the great
Burleigh, and secretary of state, at their head. Elizabeth
was, to a certain extent, conscious of these private efforts
among her own servants. But, though she could not openly
deny their propriety, nor the justice of James' claims ; she
suffered both to become the cause of jealous and anxious
disquietude. It was a feeling of this kind, that darkened
her views of the character and conduct of Essex and his
friends, brought him to the block, and them to indefinite
imprisonment. On the other hand, James could not but regard with
kindness, those influential friends, who had laboured and
suffered in his cause. And when the death of Elizabeth
secured to him a quiet and undisputed succession, which in

58 HISTORY OF
her life-time seemed more than doubtful; he naturally dis
tinguished with marks of his favour, those persons, who had
been influential in accomplishing the desired event. In his
progress from Edinburgh to London, which was in great
measure a triumphant one; he rode from Newark to Belvoir,
April 22, 1603; "hunting," as a contemporary writer in
forms us, "all the way, as he rode; saving, that in the way,
he made four knights. By the right noble Earl of Rutland,
his highness was not only royally, and most plenteously re
ceived ; but with such exceeding joy of the good Earl and
his honourable lady, that he took therein exceeding pleasure,
And he approved his contentment in the morning ; for be
fore he went to break his fast, he made forty-six knights ;
(among these were Sir George and Sir Oliver Manners, two
brothers of the Earl of Rutland) and having refreshed himself
at breakfast, took kind leave of the Earl of Rutland, his
Countess, and the rest, and set forward towards Burleigh."
Among other entertainments prepared for the royal guest at
Belvoir, was an exhibition of Ben Jons.on's Masque of " The
Metamorphosed Gypsies."
In the same year, the Earl of Rutland was made lord
lieutenant of Lincolnshire ; was sent ambassador from king
James into Denmark, to the christening of the king's eldest
son, and to invest his Danish majesty with the ensigns of
the garter. He was made knight of the bath, at the coro
nation of James : and, in the same year, steward of the
manor and soke of Grantham. He married Elizabeth, only
daughter and heir to the illustrious Sir Philip Sidney.* He
died in the prime of life (in his thirty-sixth year) June 26,
1612, and was buried at Bottesford. His Countess survived
him little more than two months. (See description of their
nionumcnt in Bottesford Church.) Dying without issue,
Fhancis, his brother, became his heir, and the sixth Earl.
* Sidney. Arms — Argent, a phcon azure.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 59
In 1598, when but eighteen years of age, he began his tra
vels "in France, Lorraine, and divers states of Italy, (see his
monument in Bottesford Church) where he was honourably
received by the princes themselves, and nobly entertained
in their courts. And in his return through Germany, he
had the like honour done him by Ferdinand, Archduke of
Austria, the emperor Matthias, and all the other German
princes." On the fourth of January, 1603-4, he was made
knight of the bath, at the creation of Charles, Duke of York,
second son to king James I. In 1604, he married Frances,
widow of Sir William Bevill, of Cornwall, and one of the
daughters and co-heirs of Sir Henry Knyvitt,* of Charlton, in
the county of Wilts, knight. In 1608, he married, secondly,
Cecilia, daughter to Sir John Tufton,f of Hothfield Place,
in the county of Kent, knight and baronet; sister to Nicholas,
Earl of Thanet, and widow of Sir Henry Hungerford, knight.
In 1612, on his accession to the Earldom, he was made
lord lieutenant of Lincolnshire ; soon after, justice in eyre
of all the king's forests and chaces north of Trent, and lord
lieutenant of the counties of Rutland, Northampton, and
Nottingham; in 1616, knight of the garter; and in the
same year, he was one of the lords, who attended the king
to Scotland, In 1618, a writ of enquiry was issued for this
noble Earl to shew cause why Iris Castle of Belvoir, should
not be seized into the king's hands, on account of some
alienation. May not this process have arisen out of the
inquisition taken at the death of the Lord Ross, of Holder
ness, in this year, when the title of Lord Ros, indisputably
reverted to the Rutland family ?
There is an entry dated March 22, 1623, in Archbishop
Laud's Diary, (then bishop of St. Davids,) referring to the
Earl of Rutland, which is worth notice. "Dismal dag !
* Knyvitt. Arms — Argent, a bend sable within a bordure of the second
engrailed.
f Tufton. Arms— Sable an eagle displayed, ermine, within a bordure argent.

60 HISTORY OF
The accident of my Lord of Rutland giving not content, to
the form consented to in the parliament house ; being the
only one dissenting."
In the same year, he was made admiral of the fleet for
conveying Charles, Prince of Wales, (afterwards Charles I.)
out of Spain. This was one of the many flighty schemes by
which, thus early, the Duke of Buckingham, the favourite
of both James and Charles, disgusted the people of England,
Contrary to the wishes of James, and in opposition to the
advice of more judicious counsellors, Prince Charles was
persuaded, by the Duke, to undertake a voyage to fetch
home the Infanta of Spain : between whom and Charles a
treaty of marriage had been long pending ; but to which,
this ill-advised visit, wholly put an end. It was, probably,
soon after this period, that the Duke of Buckingham pressed
with unlawful solicitations, Catharine, daughter of Francis,
Earl of Rutland, by his first wife. Wilson, (Memoirs of
Illustrious Persons, 1711,) thus relates the affair; "The
Duke having tempted her, and carried her to his lodgings,
in Whitehall, kept her there some time, and then returned
her to her father. Upon which, the stout old* Earl sent him
this threatening message : ' That he had too much of a
gentleman to suffer such indignity ; and if he did not marry
his daughter to repair her honour, no greatness should pro
tect him from his justice.' Buckingham, who, perhaps,
made it his design to get her father's goodwill this wav, she
being the greatest match in the kingdom, had no reason to
mislike the union ; and, therefore, he quickly salved up the
wound, before it grew into a quarrel." The same author
adds, concerning this young lady, that "she was bred a
papist by her mother ; but, that after her marriage, she was
converted (as was pretended) by Dr. White and grew a
* " Old " is hardly appropriate. The Earl of Rutland was only fifty-two
when he died in 1632.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 61
zealous protestant; but, that Hke the morning dew, it
quickly vanished ; for the good old Countess of Bucking
ham, never left working by her secret instruments, the
Jesuits, till she had placed her on her first foundation." It
does not appear from any other authority, that the Duchess
of Buckingham declared herself a Roman catholic, while
her first husband rived ; but, having married a second time,
to Randolph Macdonald, Earl, afterwards Marquis of
Antrim, she, afterwards, publicly professed that religion.
These anecdotes are introduced upon competent authority ;
and the character of the Duke of Buckingham renders it
more than probable, that some such transactions might have
taken place ; though not to the extent, nor in the manner,
assumed by Wilson.
In 1625, Francis, Earl of Rutland, was one of the sup
porters to king Charles, as chief mourner at the funeral of
his father, James I. ; and in 1629, we find him attending at
Windsor, in honour of the installation of the Earl of
Northampton, with five of his principal domestics, Wake-
ley, Hamerton, Roe, Longfield, and Monsieur Nandeletto.
He died at Bishop's Stortford, Dec. 17, 1632; and was
buried at Bottesford. (See monuments iri ditto.)
By his first lady, he had only one child, Catharine, who
married George Villiers,* first Duke of Buckingham of that
name ; and after his assassination by Felton, Randolph,
Earl, afterwards Marquis of Antrim, in Ireland. By her
first marriage she had George, second Duke of Buckingham,
who took the title of Ros, of Hamlake ; but dying without
issue, in 1687, that title again reverted to the Rutland
family. By the second marriage, the Earl of Rutland had two
sons, Henry and Francis ; who both died in their infancy ;
* Villiers. Arms — Ancient, sable, a fess between three cinque foils, argent.
Modern. Argent, on a cross, gules, five escallops, or.

62 HISTORY OF
from the effects, as was supposed at the time, of " wicked
practice and sorcery." (See monument in Bottesford
Church.) The history of this transaction is so remarkable,
especially as a proof of the then prevalent belief in witch
craft, that the substance of a pamphlet published at the
time will be given.* It appears, that among the needy per
sons dwelling in the neighbourhood of Belvoir, in whose
condition the Earl and Countess kindly sympathized, were
Joan Flower, with her daughters, Margaret and Phillipa ;
whom, at first, the Countess employed as chairwomen; and
eventually took Margaret, as a permanent servant, " to look
to the poultry abroad, and the wash house within doors."
Some representations were made to the Countess to the
prejudice of this family, which described
" Joan Flower as a monstrous malicious woman, full of oaths,
curses, and imprecations irreligious ; and for any thing they saw
by her, a plain atheist. Besides, of late days, her very counte
nance was estranged, her eyes very fiery and hollow, her speech
fell and envious, her demeanour strange and exotic, and her con
versation sequestered ; so that the whole course of her life gave
great suspicion, that she was a notorious witch ; yea, some of her
neighbours dared to affirm, that she dealt with familiar spirits ;
and terrified them all with curses and threatening of revenge, if
there were never so little cause of displeasure and unkindness.
Concerning Margaret, the daughter, that she often resorted from
the castle to her mother, bringing such provision, as they thought
was unbefitting for a servant to purloin ; and coming at such
unseasonable hours, that they could not but conjecture some
mischief between them : and that their extraordinary riot and
expenses tended both to rob the lady, and to maintain certain
deboist and base company, which frequented this Joan Flower's
house the mother, and especially her youngest daughter. Con
cerning Philippa, that she was lewdly transported with the love
of one Thomas Simpson, who presumed to say, that she had
bewitched him; for he had no power to leave her; and was, as he
* "The wonderful discoverie of the witchcrafts of Margaret and Phillip Flower
&c. printed at London by G. Eld, for J. Barnes, &c. 1619." 4to.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 63
supposed, marvellously altered, both in mind and body, since her
acquainted company. These complaints began many years before
either their conviction or public apprehension. Notwithstanding,
such was the honour of this Earl and his lady ; such was the
cunning of this monstrous woman, in observation towards them ;
such was the subtlety of the devil, to bring his purposes to pass ;
such was the pleasure of God, to make trial of his servants ; and
such was the effect of a damnable woman's wit and malicious envy,
that all things were carried away in the smooth channel of liking
and good entertainment, on every side, until the Earl refused
to give that credence to her on some complaint preferred, which
he had been accustomed to give ; and the Countess discovering in
the daughter Margaret some indecencies of her life, and neglect
of her business, discharged her from lying any more in the Castle;
dismissing her with handsome presents, but commanding her to
go home. This inflamed the mother, with hatred and rancour
towards the Earl, and his family.
"When the devil perceived the inficious disposition of this
Wretch, and that she, and her daughters, might easily be made'
instruments to enlarge his kingdom ; and be, as it were, the
executioners of his vengeance, not caring whether it lighted upon
innocents, or no ; he came more near unto them, and in plain
terms, to come quickly to the purpose, offered them his service,
and that in such a manner, as they might easily command what
they pleased ; for he would attend you in such pretty forms of
dog, cat, or rat, that they should neither be terrified, nor any
body else suspicious of the matter. Upon this, they agree, and
(as it should seem) give away their sotels to the service of such
spirits, as he had promised them ; which filthy conditions were
ratified with abominable kisses, and an odious sacrifice of blood,
not leaving out certain charms and conjurations, with which the
devil deceived them, as though nothing could be done without
ceremony, and a solemnity of orderly ratification. By this time,
doth sathan triumph, and goeth away satisfied to have caught such
fish in the net of his illusions: by this time, are these women
devils incarnate, and grow proud again in their cunning and arti
ficial power, to do what mischief they listed. By this time, they
have learnt the manner of incantations, spells, and charms. By
this time, they kill what cattle they list ; and under the cover of
flattery and familiar entertainment, keep hidden the stinging ser-

64 HISTORY OF
pent of malice, and a venomous inclination to mischief. By this
time, is tlie Earl and his family threatened, and must feel the
burthen of a terrible tempest, which, by these women's devilish
devices, fell upon him ; he neither suspecting nor understanding
the same. By this time, both himself and his honourable Countess,
are many times subject to sickness and extraordinary convulsions;
which they, taking as gentle corrections from the hand of God,
submit with quietness to his mercy, and study nothing more than
to glorify their Creator in heaven, and bear his crosses on earth.
"At last, as malice increased in these damnable women, so his
family felt the smart of their revenge, and inficious disposition ;
for his eldest son, Henry, Lord Rosse, sickened very strangely,
and after awhile, died. His next, named Francis, Lord Rosse
accordingly, was severely tormented by them, and most barba
rously, and inhumanly tortured by a strange sickness. Not long
after, the Lady Catherine was set upon by their dangerous and
devilish practices ; and many times in great danger of Ufe, through
extreme maladies and unusual fits, nay, (as it should seem, and
they afterwards confessed) both the Earl and his Countess were
brought into their snares, as they imagined, and indeed determined
to keep them from having any more children. Oh unheard of
wickedness and mischievous damnation ! Notwithstanding all
this, did the noble Earl attend his majesty, both at Newmarket,
before Christmas ; and at Christmas, at Whitehall ; bearing the
loss of his children most nobly ; and little suspecting that they
had miscarried by witchcraft, or such hke inventions of the devil;
until it pleased God to discover the villanous practices of these
women, and to command the devil from executing any further
vengeance on innocents, but leave them to their shames, and the
hands of justice, that they might not only be confounded for their
villanous practices, but remain as a notorious example to all ages,
of his judgment and fury. Thus were they apprehended, about
Christmas, and carried to Lincoln gaol; after due examination
before sufficient justices of the peace, and discreet magistrates,
who wondered at their audacious wickedness. But Joan Flower,
the mother, before her conviction, (as they say,) called for bread
and butter, and wished it might never go through her, if she were
guilty of that whereupon she was examined ; so, mumbling it in
her mouth, never spake more words after ; but fell down and died,
as she was carried to Lincoln gaol, with a horrible excruciation of
soul and body, and was buried at Ancaster.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 65
" When the Earl heard of their apprehension, he hasted down
with his brother, Sir George, and sometimes examined them him
self, and sometimes sending them to others ; at last, left them to
the trial of law, before the judges of assize at Lincoln ; and so
they were convicted of murder, and executed accordingly, about
the eleventh of March ; to the terror of all the beholders, and
example of such dissolute and abominable creatures."
Henry, Lord Ros, who died by the "wicked practice and
sorcery" of these women, was buried at Bottesford, Sept. 26,
1613. His brother Francis survived till March 7, 1619.
On the first perusal of this extraordinary history, though
aware of the prevalent belief of the period, in witchcraft, I
was inclined to suppose, that, whatever might be the belief
of the common people in this particular instance, respecting
the "sorcery" employed, their superiors might have discerned
evident tokens of "wicked practice" only. That these wo
men were guilty of the murder of two noble children ; and
attempted the lives of the Earl and Countess, and their
daughter Catharine, can be little doubted: by the means
probably of some vegetable poison. The principal charge
against them, on their own confession, was, their having a
cat called Rutterkin ; the supposed diabolical agent of their
machinations. With regard to Joan Flower, the mother,
she appears to have been goaded by a revengeful spirit,
which assumed the peculiar medium of witchcraft, from no
inclination at first, on her part, to believe herself a witch.
This character was forced upon her, by the distaste of her
neighbours to her squalid personal appearance, ?'her eyes
fiery and hollow; to her strange and exotic demeanour;
her sequestered conversation ; to her oaths, curses, and im
precations irreligious:" characteristics, amply sufficient in
those days, to procure her the odious reputation of being a
witch. To "speak inwardly and to mutter," (Isaiah 8. 19)
has in all ages, been considered a mark of necromancy.
And doting, pauperised age, severed from the kindly offices

66 HISTORY OF
of life; and incapacitated from the active exertions and
enjoyments of earlier days, is apt to indulge, often uncon
sciously, in these fretful exhibitions of a failing intellect, and
a physical decline. And then, as Addison said, one hundred
years after this period, "when an old woman begins to
dote, and grows chargeable to a parish, she is turned into a
witch, and fills the country with extravagant fancies." The
daughters, Margaret and Phillipa Flower, were, evidently,
especially the former, abandoned and profligate women; who
scrupled not at the means, by which to satisfy their inordi
nate desires.
But our ancestors, two hundred years ago, appreciated
peculiar characters, by a less circuitous induction from par
ticulars. It is evident, that the Earl of Rutland, and his
family, believed, that the death of his children was occasioned
by witchcraft : for the monument in Bottesford Church, to
his own, and his children's memory, which expressly records
that they died in their infancy "by wicked practice and
sorcery;" was erected by his orders during his lifetime. Nor
is it surprising, that the person, whose feelings were most
interested, should thus believe ; when the same conviction
was entertained by the magistrates, who examined these
miserable women, and according to the pamphlet, by the
judges, who tried and condemned them.
It ought to have been stated before, that they were appre
hended five years after the supposed fact ; and after various
examinations before Francis, Lord Willoughby, of Eresby,
Sir George Manners, Sir William Pelham, Sir Henry Has
tings, and Samuel Fleming, D. D., Rector of Bottesford,
and others, his majesty's justices of the said parts of the
county ; they were committed to Lincoln gaol. Joan
Flower, the mother, died as above stated, at Ancaster, in
her way to Lincoln. The two daughters were tried before
Sir Henry Hobart, chief justice of the common pleas, and

BELVOIR CASTLE. , 6?
Sir Edward Bromley, one of the barons of the exchequer.
They confessed their guilt, and were executed at Lincoln,
March 11, 1618-19.*
Cecilia, Countess of Rutland, the widow of Earl Francis,
is mentioned in parliamentary documents during the re
bellion, as a " recusant ;" a great portion of her property
being sequestered to reward the " deserving servants" of the
parliament. She died in 1653 ; and was buried Sept 11,
in St Nicholas' chapel, Westminster Abbey, without any
monument either for herself or her son Francis. The au
thority for this fact is the register of the church.
George, the next brother, who had been knighted in
Ireland, in 1599, by Robert, Earl of Essex, lord lieutenant,
for his bravery against the rebels, became, in 1632, the
seventh Earl. In July, 1634, he was honoured with a visit
at Belvoir from king Charles, who, while there, knighted
Edward Hartopp, of Buckminster. George, Earl of Rutland,
married Francis, second daughter of Sir Edward Carey, f
of Aldenham, in the county of Hertford, knight ; sister to
Henry, Viscount Falkland, of the kingdom of Scotland, lord
deputy of Ireland ; and relict of Ralph Bashe, of Stanstead,
in the county of Herts, Esq. He died March 29, 1641,
without issue. We now return to
John Manners, Esq., second son of Thomas, the first Earl
of Rutland ; which John, marrying Dorothy, daughter and
co-heir of Sir George Vernon,| of Nether Haddon, in the
county of Derby, knight, (who, for his magnificence and
hospitality, was commonly called the king of the peak,)
became possessed of thirty lordships ; one of which was the
manor of Aylston, in the county of Leicester.
John Manners was knighted at Worksop, in Nottingham-
* See also Nichols, vol. II. 471
f Carey. Arms — Argent, on a bend sable 3 roses of the field barbed and
seeded proper
% Vernon. Arms — Argent, a fret sable.
F 2

68 history of
shire, April 20, 1603, when he waited on James I, on hfe
arrival from Scotland; and dying at Haddon, June 4, 1611,
was buried at Bakewell, near his lady, who died before him,
June 25, 1584. They had issue three sons and a daughter;
Sir George Manners, born in 1573 ; John, born in 1576,
and died in 1590; and Sir Roger Manners, third son, of
Whitwell, in the county of Derby, who was knighted at
Theobalds, Jan. 2, 1615; and dying unmarried at Haddoif,
in 1650, was buried at Whitwell. The daughter, was Grace1,
married to Sir Francis Fortescue, of Salden, county of Bucks,
knight of the bath.
Sir George Manners, the eldest son,- was knighted April
23, 1603, by Janies I. He married April 2, 1594, Grace,
eldest daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepoint,* county of Not
tingham, knight of the garter, and sister to Robert, Earl of
Kingston ; by whom he had issue, John, his son and heir'?
Henry, born May 14, 1600, died at Haddon, 1618; Roger,
born Dec. 30, 1609, died at London, 1627, and was buried in
the chapel at Lincoln's Inn ; Elizabeth, married April 14,
1616, to Robert Sutton, of Averham, county of Nottingham,
afterwards Lord Lexington; Eleanor, married Oct 3, 1622,
to Lewis Watson, Lord Rockingham, and died Oct 7, 1679;
Frances, to Nicholas Saunderson, Viscount Castleton, in
Ireland; Dorothy, born March 19, 1608, and married to
Sir Thomas Lake, of Stanmore, county of Middlesex, knight;
and Mary, born Jan. 1, 1612, married to Sir Sackville Crow,
of Llanhern, county of Caermarthen, baronet
Sir George Manners died at Aylston, April 23, 1623, and
was buried near his father in a chapel, in the north transept
of Bakewell.
John Manners, Esq., who succeeded to the family estates
on the death of his father in 1623, was born at Aylston, June
10, 1604; and married in 1628, Francis, daughter to Edward,
* Pierrepoint. Arms — A semee of cinque foils gules, a lion rampant sable.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 69
Lord Montague,* of Boughton, in the county of North
ampton; and by her had four sons, and four daughters.
(See monuments in Bottesford Church.) He was sheriff of
the county jof Derby, ha 9 and 11 of Charles I ; one of the
knights of that county, 15 Charles I; and on the death of
George, Earl of Rutland, in 1641, became the eighth Earl.
The period in which this Earl lived, is the most painfully
interesting of our national history. Judging of men and
things so long after the event, the calm inquirer is at first
surprised that those noble and influential persons who
supported the cause of the parliament against the king, the
fountain from whence they derived their honour, and the
sun, by whose reflected light alone, they could hope to shine
in their respective spheres, should haye placed themselves,
so to speak, in so peculiarly false a position. Of the personal
disposition of Charles I, and his sincere desire in the main,
for the welfare of his kingdom, no person of reason and
moderation would judge otherwise than favourably. The
worst that can be said of him is, that through the prejudices
of his royal education, he was blind to the progress of a spirit
of dissatisfied inquisition, into the real extent of kingly pre
rogatives. The science of kingcraft in its absolute form, which his
father James had been content to theorise upon, without the
courage to bring it into practical application ; Charles with
the energetic sincerity of his nature, desired to pursue to its
full efficiency. He aimed at testing by actual experience
the didactic lectures of his father on the subject; who, though
his views of kingly power were of that exaggerated character,
as to tend strongly to the ridiculous, was not merely willing,
upon the pressure of opposition, to concede his extreme
views of the royal prerogative ; but indolently to surrender
* Montagu. Arms — Argent 3 lozenges conjoined iu fcss, gules, within a
bordure sable.

70 HISTORY OF
rights and privileges, without which, a king is but a shadow
of a shade. Besides his blindness to the altered position in
which the sovereign of this country stood, relatively to his
subjects ; and the licence of opinion, which a former feeble
reign had encouraged; it was Charles' melancholy misfortune
to be surrounded by those, who seemed not only as blinded
as himself, but disposed for their own ambitious and interes
ted purposes, to recommend more harsh vindications of the
royal authority, than Charles' own kindliness of disposition
left to itself, would have suggested. Of these persons,
the accomplished, but mischievous and profligate Duke of
Buckingham was the most dangerously active adviser. He
perceived too well, that the royal favour directed almost
exclusively to himself, protected him not from the impatient
contempt of the ancient nobility ; who found themselves not
merely neglected, but oppressed in almost every way, to
satisfy the imperious ambition of the upstart favourite. The
first two parliaments of this reign were abruptly dissolved
at his suggestion; and "intimation afterwards given that
Charles would account it presumption, for any to prescribe
any time to his majesty for parliaments : which words were
generally interpreted, as if no more assemblies of that nature
were to be expected, and that all men were prohibited by
the penalty of censure, so much as to speak of a parliament
Money was thenceforward levied throughout the kingdom,
by merely the authority of the king ; and exacted with that
rigour, that several persons of prime quality, who doubted
the legality of the impost, or refused payment, were impri-r
soned under circumstances of great severity." Ship money,
knight's fees, fines imposed under the sanction of obsolete
forest laws, which pressed most hardly upon the wealthy
and noble, of whom the latter class had, hitherto been accus-;
tomed to consider it, one of the privileges of their rank to
be exempt from heavy imposts ; were insisted upon with an

BELVOIR CASTLE. 71
arbitrary rigour of execution, which wholly alienated those
of wavering loyalty ; and discouraged others, who with dif
ferent treatment, would more willingly have -shed their blood
in the service of their sovereign, than they afterwards did in
the cause of the parliament. These feelings were aggravated
by the consideration, that every constitutional protection
against oppression, was wholly taken away, by the king's
severe declaration against parliaments. The nobility were
impoverished by rapacious exactions, the fruits of which,
they had not even the satisfaction of seeing, according to
the alleged pretence of their necessity, devoted to the service
of the king. Of the immense sums thus illegally collected
a very inconsiderable portion ever found its way into the
exchequer. The reproach of oppressive exactions fell upon
the king; their profit came to other men. Thus of £200^000
collected in the various ways above mentioned, Clarendon
asserts, that scarcely £1,500 came to the king's use, or
account. Of the ancient nobility, whose loyalty was secure under
the easy tenure of protecting them in their accustomed
privileges and rights, was John, Earl of Rutland ; who,
though from the circumstances above stated, he became
unreservedly attached to the parliamentary party, was dis
tinguished throughout the whole of the convulsive struggles
of the period, by his moderation : being remarkably free
from those extravagances, by which the characters of some
of the wisest men of his time, were sadly blemished. We
find his name among the twenty-two peers, who remained at
Westminster, in January, 1642-3, when the king summoned
both houses peremptorily to attend him at Oxford. In conse
quence of this decisive step on the part of the Earl of Rutland,
the Castle of Belvoir and its neighbourhood, were involved for
a considerable time in all the calamities of war. Among the
earliest adherents to the royal cause, may be mentioned Sir

72 HISTORY OF
Gervase Lucas, Baptist Noel, Viscount Camden, the former
of whom raised a regiment of horse, in 1642 : the latter,
also, raised and maintained at his own expense, a troop of
horse, and a company of foot: and Mr. Mason, the rector
of Ashwell, who appeared personally in arms, as the captain
of an independent company : and who, in a parliamentary
newspaper, Oct. 14, 1645, was styled Captain Mason, the
commander in chief of the fen robbers. Walker, in his
" Sufferings of the Clergy," mentions, that he was afterwards
imprisoned, plundered, and otherwise barbarously used.
Two of these imprisonments were at Nottingham, for using
the common prayer in private families.
The standard of these gallant associates on this occasion
was blue and gold, with the motto, "Ut Rex, sit Rex;" and
by their united efforts the Castle of Belvoir, was early taken
possession of. This event is noticed in the intelligence from
Oxford, Jan. 31, 1642-3, as being of "special consequence
and importance for his majesty's service; as by reason of
the situation of the Castle on an hill of difficult access, and
being built upon the confines of Lincoln and Leicestershire,
with a very fair prospect also into that of Nottingham ; and
thus having a strong power and influence~on all those three
counties. (Mercurius Aulicus, p. 58.)
Again, in the Perfect Diurnal, Feb. 1642 — 3, the same
event is noticed : " The malignants of Nottingham, have
taken Belvoir Castle, being the Earl of Rutland's."
The Earl pf Rutland was soon after in the list of those
nominated and recommended by the house of commons to
the king, Feb. 12, 1642 — 3, as fit to be intrusted with the
militia of the kingdpm, wherein they desired the concurrence
of the peers.
In May 1643, Sir Lewis Watson, who had been taken
prisoner at Stoke Albany, by Colonel Hastings, was sent
into confinement at Belvoir Castle.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 73
In July of this same year, upon the news that Lord
Fairfax was defeated in the north, by the royalists, the par
liament resolved to send a committee of both houses into
Scotland, " to desire their brethren of that kingdom, pre
sently to advance with an army for their relief; which," as
Clarendon says, " was thought so desperate a cure, that the
lords naming the Earl of Rutland, and Lord Grey, of
Werke, for that embassy, the Earl, upon indisposition of
health, procured a release ; and the other, who had never
declined any preferment they would confer on him, so pe
remptorily refused to meddle in it, that he was committed to
the tower ; and in the end, they were compelled to depute
only two commoners to that service." (History of Rebel
lion, v. 2, p. 300.)
" About one thousand cavaliers from Newark and Bever Castle
hovered and roved in July, about Stamford and Wothrop House,
a great and strong seat in those parts ; but were bravely molested
and chased thence, by that brave and most worthily renowned com
mander, Colonel Cromwell ; and, at last, forced to take sanctuary
in a very strong and stately stone-built house, not far from Stam
ford, also, called Burleigh House ; situated in a large park, and
surrounded by a strong stone wall ; but God seasonably sending
Colonel Hubbard and Colonel Palsgrave to his assistance, both
with men and ordnance, the brave colonel, with his auxiliary
strength, immediately advanced to the said Burleigh House, sate
down before it, and having commodiously planted his ordnance,
shot at it two or three hours, (beginning about three of the clock
that morning,) but could do no good that way, the house being so
strongly built. Then the noble colonel sounded a parley to the
enemy, and offered them quarter, to have their lives and liberty
to depart without their weapons ; but the enemy utterly refused
the motion, resolutely answering, that they would neither give nor
take quarter. Hereupon, the valiant colonel gave present order
to storm and assault it with his musketeers ; whereupon, the fight
grew very hot, and was bravely performed on both sides for a
while, and with much difficulty and danger on ours, the enemy
being very active and confident ; and thus the assault continued

74 HISTORY OF
divers hours, till at last, the cavaliers' courage began to fail, ours
pressing on them, very fiercely and furiously, so that they sounded
a parley from within the house ; whereupon, the as virtuous as
valourous colonel commanding presently, that not one of his
soldiers should dare to shoot or kill any man during the parley, on
pain of death, notwithstanding their former cruel and bloody an
swer to his foresaid proffer of quarter to them ; in brief, they soon
concluded upon quarter for their lives; and so they took them all,
being two colonels, six or seven captains, three or four hundred
foot, and about one hundred and fifty or two hundred horse, with
all their arms and ammunition, together with the pillage of the
whole house. Admirable was the providence of God in this
victory, in that, in all this fight, which continued about nine or
ten hours, not above six or seven of our men were slain, (though
many were hurt,) in that so hot and fierce an encounter or assault.
Only, about two miles beyond Stamford, toward Grantham, some
four hundred club-men coming to the aid of th.e cavaliers, and
having killed some of our colonel's scouts, be sent three or four
troops of horse, to meet and encounter them; who at the first
onset, had almost slain one of the captains of one of our said
troops, so furiously they fell upon ours, at the first ; whereupon,
ours, being instantly much enraged, fell very fiercely upon them,
and had quickly slain about fifty of them, and forced the rest to
fly into a great wood, hard by them, for their lives," (Vicars, p. 7,)
The Lord Camden's troop of horse, three or four companies of
foot, and dragoons, with their colours, and all their ammunition,
were lost on this occasion.
On the 16th of October, the Earl of Rutland took the
solemn league and covenant
An express from Belvoir Castle, thus details an enterprise
undertaken Nov. 27.
" That the governor thereof, Colonel Gervase Lucas, (who
richly deserves to be governor of that place, which he gained for
iiis majesty) understanding, that the committee of Leicester, was
gone to Melton Mowbray, in that county, to assess the country,
and gather up the rents of all such, as are not as perfect rebels as
themselves ; sent intelligence to Sir Richard Byron, governor of
Newark, desiring him to assist him with some horse and dragoons,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 75
and he made no doubt to give him a very fair account of the ser
vice ; which Sir Richard very cheerfully assented to, (knowing
Colonel Lucas both vigilant and faithful,) and therefore furnished
him with as many horse aud dragoons, as made him a body of
three hundred in all. With these he marched away on Sunday
last, in the evening, Nov. 27, and was gotten to Melton Mowbray,
next morning, by break of day ; whither he no sooner came,
but presently he entered the town, and surprised the rebels, who
were more in number than himself; not a man escaping, but one
who was cornet to Sir Edward Hartopp, nor any killed, save one
lieutenant, who was stubborn, and refused to submit himself to
the conqueror. The business was done as handsomely, as any one
service since the beginning of the rebellion : for first, they took
all the commanders, viz. four captains of horse, four lieutenants,
three cornets, and four captains of dragoons, their lieutenants, and
cornets, besides one captain of foot, with all officers, and under-
officers belonging to horse and foot, and above three hundred
common soldiers ; all their colours, all their ammunition, and
baggage, almost four hundred very good arms, and above three
hundred horse. But above all, they took prisoners, the right
worshipful the committee, consisting of Mr. Staveley, Master
Haslerig, and captain Hacker, the last of which three had made a
vow, to pistol his own brother, because he was loyal and refused
to turn rebel ; but was himself now at his brother's mercy, who
had the fortune here to take him prisoner. All which they brought
safe to Belvoir Castle, to the great ease and benefit of the country,
which had been much oppressed by these new masters, that might
have taken warning of this valiant colonel, when he beat up their
quarters at Clauston, before their farewell to Melton Mowbray.
This seasonable dissolving the committee of Leicester, makes other
committees more active and vigilant." (Mercurius Aulicus, p. 690.)
The journals of parliament record letters from the Lord
Grey, of Groby, and Colonel Way te, Dec. 24, 1643, "con
cerning the giving of a rout and overthrow by Colonel
Wayte's forces, to the whole body of the Belvoir forces,"
which is thus related by Vicars, (p. 110):
"About the 24, came certain intelligence by letters from Lei
cester to London, that about one hundred and forty of the Newark

76 HISTORY OF
and Belvoir cormorants went into Rutlandshire, to plunder and
pillage the country, where they took many kine, sheep, and horses,
from the country people; which, being timely made known to
Colonel Wayte, who most valiantly kept and commanded Burleigh
House, upon the edge of that county, with a competent garrison
for the parliament, he issued out of the said house, with but about
sixty valiant, choice men, and marched toward them, to Strozby
Heath, whereabout he overtook them, and sent a trumpet to sound
them a challenge ; but they having more mind to be gone with
their prey than to stay and fight, went on therewith. Whereupon,
this valiant colonel, with his resolute comrades, fell courageously
on them, and so necessitated them either to fight or die; and at
the first encounter, (which was very hot for the time) Allen, his
captain-lieutenant, so bravely charged them, that he mortally
wounded Captain Plunket, (the vilest villain among all the cor
morants of Belvoir Castle, or Newark either ; and one mentioned
in the king's proclamation, in the beginning of this parliament,
for a notorious Irish rebel; but now it seemed, come over to fight
for the protestant religion ; and who was here made their chief
commander, in this robbing design) who immediately died of the
said wound. Colonel Lucas, also, was sorely cut over the face
with a sword ; and had not his horse beep better than himself,
he had been at that time taken prisoner. And, upon a second
charge, Colonel Wayte so bravely bestirred himself, with his
valiant associates, that though he had his horse shot under him,
and his lieutenant shot in the thigh ; yet, they carried it on so
resolutely, that his enemies betook themselves to their heels, and
ran away ; in the pursuit of whom, even to Belvoir Castle, they
slew divers of them, took about sixty of their horse, forty-six
prisoners, many arms, recovered the greatest part of the prey
from them, wounded many of those that fled ; and all this without
the loss of any one man of theirs, and but three woimded. About
the 26 day following, thirty-six of those prisoners were brought
into the town of Leicester, that they might be safelier there kept,
than at Burleigh House. After this victory, thus by God's mercy
obtained, the noble colonel so ordered the business with his
soldiers, that all the stolen cattle, recovered from the robbing
enemies, were restored to their proper owners again."
A letter, dated Jan. 9, 1643 — 4, gives an account of another
defeat of the Belvoir forces. And in March following,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 77
" The Earls of Rutland and Bolingbroke, of the peers, Mr.
St. John, (whom they still intitled the king's solicitor general,
though his majesty had revoked his patent, and conferred that
office upon Sir Thomas Gardner : who had served him faithfully,
and been put out of his recorder's place of London, for having
so done,) Sergeant Wild, (who being a sergeant at law, had, with
most confidence, averred the legal power of the parliament to
make a seat,) Mr. Brown, and Mr. Prideaux, two private practi
ses of the law, were nominated to have the keeping, ordering,
and disposing of it, and all such ; and the like power and au
thority, as any lord chancellor, or lord keeper, or commissioner
of the great seal, for the time being had, used, or ought to have !
The Earl of Rutland was so modest, as to think himself not suf
ficiently qualified for such a trust ; and therefore, excused himself
in point of conscience : whereupon, they nominated in his room,
the Earl of Kent, a man of far meaner parts, who readily accepted
the place." (Clarendon, vol. 2, p. 407.)
Bever Worton house is mentioned by Vicars, March 6,
1643 — 4; and about the 18th of that month
" Came creditable information to London, that a party of
Colonel Wayte's horse, from Burley House, in Rutlandshire, went
out suddenly towards Bever Castle, intelligence having been given
them, of a troop of horse, quartered a mile off from the Castle.
Whereupon, with the best preparation they could make, of saddle-
horses, and others for dragoons, (the most part of their garrison
troops being then out in the service at Newark siege, with Sir
John Meldrum,) they fell on them in their quarters, took divers
of them prisoners ; and then went nearer the Castle, took thence
twenty fat oxen, and at least two hundred fat sheep, and brought
them all away safely with them to Burley House." (p. 171.)
" In a letter from Colonel Gervase Lucas, governor of Belvoir
Castle, it is certified, that a London merchant, a captain in
Colonel Watts' his regiment, coming down with his troop, in
Lincolnshire, took up his quarters at Stamford ; whereof, Colonel
Lucas having intelligence, sent a party thither on Saturday last,
which did their work so handsomely, that they took almost all the
captain's troop, all his officers, but the lieutenant, with all their
arms ; besides two trunks, the one full of very fine clothes, and
the other full of new pistols; all of which are carried with this

78 HISTORY OF
merchant adventurer, into Belvoir Castle. The captain had two_
trumpeters, one to ride in the front of his troop, the other in the
rear, but now were tied together, and followed the captain to
Belvoir Castle." (Mercurius Aulicus, p. 801.)
Aug. 5, 1644, the parliament consented that Captain
Barker, a royalist, then a prisoner, should be delivered up
in exchange for Captain Hercules Hunckes, a prisoner in
Belvoir Castle ; and on the petition of Mrs. Frances Hunckes,
Aug. 29, an order was made Sept 30, for paying her part
of her husband's arrears. (Journals of the House of Com
mons.) In October, two troops of the king's horse were made
prisoners by Colonel Fleetwood, near Belvoir Castle.
(Whitelock, p. 102.) Vicars says,
" We were most certainly informed, by several letters out of
Lincolnshire, that his majesty had sent directions to all the com
manders of his garrisons at Newark, Belvoir Castle, and others
thereabout, with special command, speedily to join into a consi
derable body, and to march for the relief of Crowland, and then
to fall into the associated counties, which accordingly and instant
ly, they put in practice ; and for which purpose, they met
together in a great body, and came into the Vale of Belvoir, from
whence they intended to march speedily towards Crowland : but
loyal, active, and valiant Sir John Gell's and Sir Thomas Fairfax's
forces, being timely informed thereof, appointed also speedily to
meet together, and to fall upon the enemy in the said Vale of
Belvoir : which, accordingly, they performed with singular good
speed, and good success, and bravely surprised the greatest part
of them : took Major Pudsey and two colonels, about eight hun
dred horse, and four hundred prisoners : and by this means most
happily frustrated the certain relieving of Crowland, and especially
prevented that most desperate and dangerous design, (as it might
unquestionably have proved) of breaking in, like a furious over
flowing flood, into the associated counties.''
On an excursion to Oakham, in January 1644 — 5, twelve
troopers belonging to Burley House, and two sequestrators,
were brought prisoners to Belvoir Castle.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 79
»
In the Harleian MSS., No. 944, the officers in command
at Belvoir, at this period, are thus enumerated : Colonel
Gervase Lucas, governor of Belvoir Castle, gentleman of
the horse to the Earl of Rutland, sometime his horse-keeper.
Lieutenant Colonel Bale, second son to Sir John Bale, of
Carlton, Leicestershire. Major Pluckney. Captain Archer,
sold gloves over against the Cross, at Cheapside. Captain
Gregory, an attorney in the common pleas. Captain Yates,
gent, slain at Melton Mowbray. Captain Deane came from
the parliament Captain Overton was a parson. Captain
Hardy a major at Belvoir Castle.
Jan. 30, 1644—5,
" There are reports of many private jars among the king's
commanders. There is great difference amongst them : that at
Belvoir, the governor is turned out ; and Byron, governor of
Newark, is also turned out, and one Willis put in his stead."
On the 25 th of February, a considerable number of
royalists, who were wounded in an engagement near Melton
Mowbray, were sheltered in Belvoir Castle.
" A party of horse from Belvoir Castle came suddenly and
secretly to assault some of our Leicestershire forces, who were
making a garrison at Sir Erasmus de la Fountain's house, near
Melton, with a full intent and hope to have surprised them, but
were happily frustrated of their expectation : for the parliament's
forces having notice of the enemy's approach, they valiantly re
pulsed them ; took and slew about eight of them ; and, during
the time of the skirmish, some of our nimble soldiers, running
hastily to supply the want of powder, unawares, set one or two
barrels of powder on fire, which suddenly blew up one part of Sir
Erasmus' house, and did very little other hurt. But see the wise
and good providence of God, who turned this little hurt into a far
greater gain and benefit ; for by this means, at least three hun
dred pounds worth of plate, and many good arms, were discovered,
which had before been hid in the ground : and thus made good
prize to be employed for the parliament's service and benefit.
And, about the same time, we were also certainly informed, by

80 HISTORY OF
letters out of Leicestershire, that a party from Ashby-de-la-Zouch
came to Cole-Orton, intending to have surprised our men there,
and to have plundered the town ; but they missed their aim, and,
in the attempt, lost seventy or eighty of their horse." (Vicars,
p. 103.)
The following is the royalist account of the same transac
tion, given in a letter from Sir Marmaduke Langdale to
Prince Rupert ; in which, after mentioning a defeat of some
of the parliamentarian forces, near Northampton, he adds
On Monday, February 24, we continued our march to Har-
borough, without any opposition, or sight of enemy ; but here, we
were certainly advertised of a conjunction made that night, of all
the horse of Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Grantham, Stamford,
Burleigh, Kirby, and Rockingham ; associated under the conduct
of Colonel Rossiter, (and then in present motion,) drawn out, but
upon what design, severally reported : until the next day, being
Tuesday the 25th, marching from Harborough towards Melton
Mowbray, we were at full assured ; for approaching near the
town, we discovered some horse and dragooners in it ; and, upon
another pass of the same water, in a fair mead about half a mile
from the town, their main strength, (as we judged them,) being
near two thousand in all, were drawn up to oppose us (as Sir
Marmaduke Langdale did conceive) at the passage, being a place
of very great advantage ; for which purpose, he was instantly
putting himself into a posture, to endeavour to force the pass,
but their eagerness to fight, saved us that labour ; for by that
time, that we were well in order drawn up, and had gained the
brow of the hill, on the south-side of Melton, the enemy was
advanced through the town, to meet us, and in a gallant fury
gave us a bold charge, upon the very ground chosen by ourselves
to fight upon. The encounter continued hot and sharp a good
while, with several various appearances of success on both sides :
but at length, they were wholly routed, many of their commanders
slain, many hurt, and all the body scattered into their several
garrisons. The fatigue of our long march, and the night interve
ning, prevented our very far pursuit of them in a strange country ;
but we slew upon the place near a hundred ; and took almost so
many prisoners, and four colours of horse. The loss we sustained

BELVOIR CASTLE. 81
was small : only Sir John Gerlington, and Captain Gascoign, two
gallant gentlemen, both slain in the first charge ; and some few
wounded. One Captain Hacker held a garrison for the rebels, at
Sir Erasmus de la Fountain's house, in Kirby, within a mile of
the place we fought upon ; who, being with his horse and dra-
gooners totally routed in this battle, went back in despair to his
garrison, and burnt it, and then fled with such as would follow
him, being but two in all, in the night, to Leicester ; a common
parliament practice, to set a house on fire, and then to run away
by the fight of it. The pursuit of the enemy being done, and
the pillage of the field gathered by our men, wherein was good
store, both of horse-men's arms and muskets ; Sir Marmaduke
Langdale rallying all his troops again in order, continued his
march that night beyond Belvoir Castle ; and the next day being
Wednesday 26, we advanced four miles beyond Newark." (Mer-
curius Aulicus, p. 1402.)
March 19. The Belvoir horse and foot joining the Newark
forces in a gallant attack on Grantham, were repulsed with
considerable loss.
That the Earl of Rutland sympathised with the parlia
mentary party, in their attempts to obtain a redress of sup
posed civil grievances, but that he by no means contemplated,
or desired, any change in ecclesiastical matters ; though his
participation in the former, necessarily, however unwittingly
to himself, committed him to the extensive and bitter per
secutions of the church at this period, is evident from a
circumstance which took place about this time. Dr. Thomas
Moreton, Bishop of Durham, had been domestic chaplain
to John, fourth Earl of Rutland. And though the prevail
ing party had, by their general acts against the church,
effectually incapacitated him from performing any part of
his episcopal functions, he appears to have been willing;
when required, to perform the subordinate duties of his
clerical office ; and more especially for the members of a
family, in which he had been formerly domesticated. It
was on an occasion of this kind, that he and the Earl of
G

82 HISTORY OF
Rutland fell under the censure of the house of commons.
On the 8th of April, 1645, "The house of commons, being
acquainted that the Bishop of Durham had lately sprinkled
the child of the Earl of Rutland, signing her with the sign
of the cross, notwithstanding, that he was by some godly
ladies then present, desired to forbear it, being so much
contrary to the directory ; he was sent for forthwith ; as
also for refusing (though commanded by both houses) to
deliver the seals of the county palatine of Durham, and
other contempts ; and for these offences was committed to
the custody of the sergeant at arms." (Present Occurrences,
1645, 15th Week.) A committee at the same time was ap
pointed to collect the substance of what the bishop answered,
touching the christening of the Earl of Rutland's child by
the book of common prayer, to the end, that a conference
might be had with the lords, and what was fit to be done
herein ; as, likewise, with all such other persons, as should
shew any contempt to the ordinance and directory for wor
ship ; or should not obey, or observe the same, according to
the injunction thereof. (Journals of the House of Commons,
vol. 4, p. 109.) The result of the conference is not reported.
This interference with the religious belief of others, on
the part of those, who had long and loudly denounced
Charles, Strafford, and Archbishop Laud, for attempting to
secure, though in an infinitely less inquisitorial and tyran
nical manner, an uniformity of religious profession in this
kingdom ; combined with the mockery of a trial, and
judicial murder of Laud,* in the preceding January, must
have done much to weaken the attachment of the Earl of
Rutland to the ruling powers. And though it would certain
ly have been unsafe, and perhaps neither wise nor prudent,
for him to have avowed any decided alteration in his views
* The peers who voted for the execution of Laud, were, the Earls of Kent,
Pembroke, (to whom Laud had been a warm friend,) Salisbury, and Boling-
broke ; the Lords North and Crey of Wark.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 83
of public affairs ; for the simple^ reason, that such an avowal
would have inevitably sealed his destruction, without the
consolation of its having the smallest influence on the views
of the dominant party ; yet it is evident, that after this pe
riod, he retained no cordial sympathy for those, with whom
he had hitherto acted. The tenor of his previous history
would almost incline me to suppose, that his distaste to the
progress of events, was even of an earlier date : and that
after Strafford's death, he was rather the unresisting victim,
than the willing votary of popular feeling.
When the town of Leicester was taken by Prince Rupert,
May 31, a part of the spoil was carried to Belvoir Castle,
which had just before been garrisoned with one hundred
men, out of the fifteen hundred troops on the king's part,
in this county. (Harl. MSS., 911.)
July 12. The Earl of Rutland was appointed a commis
sioner, with Philip, Lord Wharton, and others, " to be sent
to the kingdom of Scotland, to treat and conclude divers
matters concerning the peace and safety of both kingdoms."
(Journals of the House of Commons, vol. 4, p. 106.)
" About the beginning of this month, we received letters of
certain intelligence from Burleigh House, in those parts ; that
a party of Newarkers, being joined with Belvoir forces, to the
number of about three hundred in all, were gathering taxes, or
contribution money, about Stamford, and the parts thereabout ;
whereof, valiant Captain Allen having notice, he, with Captain
Collins, drew forth all the horse belonging to the garrison, being,
in number, not above one hundred and thirty or one hundred and
forty, at the most, whereof some were dragoons, which came after;
who found the enemy near Carleby, retreating homeward with
their prisoners and plunder, among whom, they had taken an
Alderman of Stamford, Sir Robert Dallison being their commander
in chief, and they about two for one of ours, where a hot encounter
was begun between them ; for our men notwithstanding set upon
them with admirable resolution, and were, (as it must be con
fessed) at first gallantly received ; but I say, after a sharp and
G 2

84 HISTORY OF
short'dispute, it pleased God to do much for ours, and to make
courageous Captain Allen, a special instrument of a brave victory;
his brave soldiers taking more than ordinary courage, at his vali
ant and undaunted behaviour among them ; insomuch, that they
utterly routed the enemy, leaving dead and desperately wounded,
twelve or fourteen, on the place; and took prisoners Captain King,
and Captain Smith ; took fifty-one prisoners besides, and eighty
horse, whereof, Sir Robert Dallison's was one, but himself had
escaped : besides, they took Major Coney, Captain Styles, Lieu
tenants Nicholson, Thorp, and Nicholas Mahum, Cornet Metcalf,
Thomas Martin, Adrian Scroop, and some other reformadoes; and
rescued, and brought safely home again, above twenty honest
countrymen, whom they were carrying away prisoners : and thus,
I say, they all triumphantly returned home again, with not a man
of their own, killed, or mortally wounded; a rare mercy and
preservation indeed." (Vicars, p. 251.)
The king slept at Belvoir Castle on the night of August
5; and on the 21st, marched into Lincolnshire, where his
army is said to have committed many outrages. (Whitelock,
p. 153.)
On the 23rd, the king, with his troops, proceeded to
Stamford. As they passed along, some forces from Burleigh
and Leicester fell upon their rear, took eighty horse, four
colours, divers arms, and about twenty prisoners of the Lord
St. Paul's regiment (Whitelock, p. 153.)
On Sunday the 24th, the king reached Huntingdon, and
rested there the 25 th; on one of which days, during his
stay at an inn, he wrote the following couplet on a pane of
glass, which was afterwards taken out by Sir Lionel Walden,
and put into a window of his own house.
" Evils in time should be redressed,
" The shortest follies are the best"
Hail. MSS., No. 923.
Early in October, the following letters were intercepted
by Colonel Rossiter,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 85
" To Sir Gervase Lucas, the Governor of Belvoir Castle,
These present :
Dear Sir, I am commanded by the Lord Gerhard, to send
you this order from the king ; and, withal, to let you know, that
he (Gerhard) intends to be with you himself to morrow, (he saith)
in the morning. You have a great many troublesome guests ; and
amongst them, a most faithful servant, called, Robert Hatton."
" To Sir Gervase Lucas, Governor of Belvoir,
Charles R.
Tiusty and well-beloved, we greet you well. Whereas, we have,
for the present, thought fit to dispose our horse in this (Newark)
and all other garrisons in these parts, whereby they may be ready
for any service : our pleasure and command therefore to you is,
that you immediately provide in that your garrison, (Belvoir) fit
accommodation for General Gerhard's horse, being about three
hundred, besides your own ; and that you assist them in levying
and bringing in provisions, for the supply both of horse and men ;
out of the several townships allotted for their provisions, during
their stay with you. Herein, we expect you shall employ your
best care and diligence. And so we bid you farewell. From our
court at Newark, Oct. 6. 1645."
On the 15th of October, Colonel Rossiter wrote thus to
the high sheriff of Northamptonshire :
"At Walton, within two miles of Belvoir, I met With Prince
Rupert and Prince Maurice, with three or four hundred horse ;
and within a short time after engagement, their forlorn hope ran
away. We pursued them into the walls of Belvoir Castle. We
took in the pursuit, one major, three captains, sixty gentlemen,
and several other prisoners, many slain, about one hundred and
fifty horse taken ; and the two princes, Lord Molyneux, and the
Lord Hawley, and eight other great persons, escaped narrowly
with the rest. The king continues about Newark ; he hath sent
Sir Marmaduke Langdale into the north. Your faithful servant,
E. Rossitee."
Oct. 25. The Earl of Rutland represented to the house
of peers,

86 HISTORY OF
-"That he hath had his whole estate, in Lincoln, Leicester, Not
tingham, and Yorkshire, possessed by the enemy from the beginning
of these unhappy wars ; his houses spoiled, and not received any
of his rents ; whereby he is put to great streights for maintenance
of his family ; besides was left in much debt by the late Earl of
Rutland, which, since is so augmented, that the pressure is heavy
upon him. Now so it is, that the Lord Viscount Campden, hath
been a principal instrument in the ruin of the petitioner's castle,
lands, and woods, about Belvoir, ever since the first taking there
of, being a chief commander there ; and to the damage of the
petitioner above £ 20,000. Wherefore, he humbly prayeth their
lordships to take his condition into speedy consideration, and be
pleased to recommend it to the house of commons, for their con
currence in the grant of the Lord Viscount Campden's fine for
delinquency, or such considerable part thereof, as in your wisdoms
shall seem good, towards a present subsistence ; and that the
petitioner may obtain further support, for the future, as may
enable him, in his quality, to serve the parliament."
The lords, as desired, recommended this petition to the
house of commons, requesting, "that some speedy relief
and support may be granted, according to the petition of
the said Earl, whose sufferings have been very great" And
it was agreed by both houses, "that £1500 a year be allowed,
and paid to the Earl of Rutland for his present subsistence,
out of the Lord Viscount Campden's estate, until £5000 be
levied out of the said estate, to the use of the said Earl of
Rutland ; and it was referred to the committee of lords and
commons for sequestrations, to take care, that the order be
duly executed." (Journals of the House of Lords, vol. 7.
p. 659, 662.)
A disagreement having taken place between the king and
his two nephews, Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice, re
specting the defeat of Lord Digby, at Carlisle Sands, the
two princes with about two hundred horse, having obtained
passes from the king, quitted Newark, and proceeded first
to Wyverton a village in the neighbourhood, where they

BELVOIR CASTLE. 87
stayed some days, and afterward to Belvoir Castle ; whence
they sent one of their number to the parliament " to desire
leave and passes to go beyond the seas."
Clarendon thus notices this event, and the probable con
sequences. " Besides the exceeding trouble and vexation, that this action
of his nephews, towards whom he had always expressed such ten
derness and indulgence, gave the king, it had well nigh broke the
design he had for his present escape ; which was not possible to
be executed in that time : and Poyntz and Rossiter drew every
day nearer, believing, they had so encompassed him round, that
it was not possible for him to get out of their hands. They had
now besieged Shelford House, a garrison belonging to Newark ; and
kept strong guards between that and Belvoir, and stronger towards
Lichfield ; which was the way, they most suspected his majesty
would incline to take ; so that the truth is, nothing but provi
dence could conduct him out of that labyrinth; but the king gave
himself over. He had fixed now his resolution for Oxford, and
sent a trusty messenger thither, with directions, that the horse of
that garrison should be ready, upon a day he appointed, between
Banbury and Daventry. Then, upon Monday, the 3rd of Novem
ber, early in the morning, he sent a gentleman to Belvoir Castle,
to be informed of the true state of the rebels' quarters, and to
advertise Sir Gervase Lucas, the governor of that garrison, of his
majesty's design to march thither that night, with order that his
troops and guides should be ready at such an hour ; but with an
express charge, 'that he should not acquaint the princes, or any
of their company with it.' That gentleman being returned with
very particular information, the resolution was taken 'to march
that very night, but not published, till an hour after shutting the
ports.' Then an order was given, 'that all should be ready in the
market-place, at ten of the clock ;' and by that time, the horse
were all there, and were, in number, between four and five hun
dred, of the guards, and of other loose regiments ; they were all
there put in order ; and every man was placed in some troop ;
which done, about eleven of the clock, they began to march ; the
king himself in the head of his own troop, marched in the middle
of the whole body. By three of the clock in the morning, they
were at Belvoir, without the least interruption or alarm given,

88 HISTORY OF
There Sir Gervase Lucas and his troop, with good guides, were
ready ; and attended his majesty till the break of day ; by which
time, he was past those quarters he most apprehended ; but he
was still to march between their garrisons ; and, therefore, made
no delay, but marched all that day ; passing near Burley upon the
Hill, a garrison of the enemy, from whence some horse waited
upon the rear, and took and killed some men, who either negli
gently staid behind, or whose horses were tired. Towards the
evening, the king was so very weary, that he was even compelled
to rest, and sleep for the space of four hours, in a village, within
eight miles of Northampton. At ten of the clock that night, they
began to march again : and were, before day, the next morning,
past Daventry ; and before noon came to Banbury ; where the
Oxford horse were ready, and waited upon his majesty, and con
ducted him safe to Oxford that day ; so he finished the most
tedious and grievous march, that ever king was exercised in, having
been almost in perpetual motion, from the loss of the battle of
Naseby, to this hour, with such a variety of dismal accidents, as
must have broken the spirits of any man, who had not been truly
magnanimous." (History of Rebellion, vol. 2. p. 722.)
Vicars, in his record of this transaction, mentions, that
"After sleeping one night only at Belvoir, he was conducted
by his reverend adherent, Captain Mason, with a convoy of six
hundred horse to Banbury, in his way to Oxford :'' (p. 293.) and
Heath's Chronicle, that this " convoy returning home, was set
upon by General Poyntz, and routed the 6th day of November,
and so shifted away to their garrison ; while the victors sat down
before Belvoir Castle, where Sir Gervase Lucas, was governor for
the king, summoned it, and assaulted it, but both to the like pur
pose, till after a siege of four months, the house and castle was
delivered up to him upon honourable conditions." (p. 90.)
?' Major-general Poyntz and Colonel Rossiter, coming with twenty
horse to view the strength of Belvoir Castle ; the enemy having
notice of it, issued forth, being about sixty, and ten horse in
number : and falling upon our men, who were so much overpow
ered in number, they killed two, and wounded two more, and so
much endangered Major-general Poyntz, that they tore his coat
from him, and seized on his horse ; but God so protected him,
that he escaped unhurt ; and he is now safe in Belvoir town
waiting an opportunity." (Kingdom's Weekly Post, Nov. 18, 1645.)

BELVOIR CASTLE. 89
Shortly after this affair ( Nov. 20, ) the outworks and
stables, which had been fortified, were taken by storm ; and
by the consent of the Earl of Rutland, the whole village of
Belvoir was demolished ; an act of insane vengeance, which
it is scarcely possible to account for. The ancient church
of Woolsthorpe, which being on an eminence about half a
mile south of the village, commanded the Castle, had been
occupied by the batteries of the besiegers, was burnt down
at the same time by a party of the parliamentary soldiers,
who lodged there, and at their departure set fire to the straw
on which they lay. Mr. Peters, in 1792, painted a repre
sentation of the ruins.
The following letters were published by authority, in
London :
" Major-General Poyntz's letter to the honourable William Lent-
hall, of the honourable house of commons ; or a true relation of
the storming, and taking, of all the works and stables, of Belvoir
Castle : together with a letter from Adjutant General Sandys,
concerning the same fight, wherein the enemy had no quarter
granted them. Printed by Edward Husbands.
Ordered by the commons assembled in parliament, that these
letters be forthwith printed and published. Elsynge, Cler. Pari. D. Com."
' To the honourable William Lenthall, Esq., Speaker of the
house of commons.
Sir, Bottesford, Nov. 21, 1645.
The last night, I drew up those forces with me before Belvoir
Castle ; and sending in a summons, the governor returned me
this answer :
' Sir, I am no less distrustful of providence than you are ; and
return you answer, that I was not placed here by the king to sur
render to rebels ; and for the effusion of blood you mention, the
crime will be your own, not mine ; therefore, I will not give one
inch of ground, I am able to maintain with my sword, against all
your attempts made against this place, and your servant,
Gervase Lucas.'

90 HISTORY OF
' Whereupon, my men being in readiness, we stormed their
works, in four several places ; and after an hour's dispute, entered
and possessed ourselves of all their works and stables, so that, in
a short time, I hope to return you a good account of that place.
I cannot, as yet, hear any thing of the foot, ordered to meet me,
out of the eastern garrisons, so that my going against Newark, is
much retarded thereby ; and out of York, there is neither horse
nor foot as yet appears. I shall, according to the trust reposed
in me, use my best endeavours for the public ; and ever remain,
Sir, your faithful and humble servant,
Sednham Poyntz.'
' Sir, Bottesford, Nov.
I am extremely tired with the last night's storming ; and
being assured, that you will have a more particular relation from
others : but I shall say this much, the works were the strongest
I have seen in England, and gallantly defended ; and our men at
first discouraged so much, that the general, myself, and some
other officers, were fain to keep the men at the works with our
swords. We had one major, and two captains wounded ; and
two ensigns killed ; the number of soldiers lost, I yet know not.
They had no more quarter, than their bold answer to our sum
mons deserved. We have possessed ourselves of the spring that
supplies them with water, and doubt not but suddenly to reduce
it. I am in haste, and rest your servant, Richard Sandys.'
December 12, the Earls of Rutland and Lincoln, the
Lord Willoughby, pf Parham, Lord Mountague, Sir Arthur
Haselrigge, and seven other members of the house of com
mons, were commissioned to go to the Scottish army then
in England, (Scottish Army, see notes.)
" To advise, debate, and conclude, with our brethren of Scotland,
or such as shall be authorised by them thereunto, and by joint
advice with them, to put in execution all such matters and things,
concerning the well ordering, directing, and disposal of the forces
brought in, and employed by them, for our assistance, as shall be
found requisite and needful, from time to time, for the prosecution
of this cause, and the ends expressed in the covenant : with full
authority, to order, dispose, and direct the said army, according

BELVOIR CASTLE. 91
to the articles of the said treaty ; and to order and direct all the
English forces, that are, or shall be hereafter, employed to join
with, or be assisting to, the Scots' army." (Journals of the House
of Commons, vol. 4, p. 374.)
On the 23rd of December, the Earl of Rutland, with the
other commissioners appointed to reside in the Scots army
before Newark, set off on their journey for that purpose.
(Whitelock, p. 191.)
A few days after, we are told, " At Belvoir, they want
necessaries, water supposed the chiefest, wherewith the wet
weather may supply them." ( Mercurius Academicus, Jan.
8, 1645 — 6.) Jan. 15, 1645 — 6, by order of parliament,
the mortar-piece, shells, and equipage thereto belonging,
then at Reading, were sent to Belvoir to be made use of for
the reducing of that Castle : for which £350 was ordered
to be paid. This additional re-inforcement did not, how
ever, reach its destination ; for on the 19th of January,
Colonel Hastings, with the Ashby horse, surprised a con-*
voy of the parliament, going to Belvoir with the mortar-
piece and grenades. ( Journals of the House of Commons,
vol. 4, p. 408 : Whitelock, p. 192.) The Castle was, how
ever, so vigorously attacked, that all further resistance would
have been madness : and the preliminary steps to a surrender
will appear in the following genuine correspondence of the
commanders. " For the Governor of Belvoir Castle. These,
Sir, Grantham, 29th Jan., 1645—6,
We are sent down and authorised by the two houses of par
liament, to use our best endeavours for finishing this bloody,
intestine war, wherewith this kingdom hath been now for some
time afflicted. And in pursuance of that duty, we do hereby, in
their names, demand of you, that you surrender up into our hands,
the Castle of Belvoir, for their use. We do further let you know,
the pious care of parliament to prevent, (as far as possibly may
be) the effusion of christian blood, and the destruction of the

92 HISTORY OF
towns, and castles, and houses, in this kingdom : and, accordingly,
are willing to entertain a treaty with you. Whereunto, we shall
only add, that if you refuse, or neglect the mercy of the parlia
ment, at this time, while it may be had, and flatter yourself with
vain hopes, that you may obtain as good and honourable condi
tions hereafter, as at present, we do most unfeignedly assure you,
you will utterly deceive yourself. Besides, we think good to
advertise you, that it is not the part of a soldier, nor of a wise
man, to endeavour the holding of a place not tenable, when there
are not the least hopes of being relieved. Which act in you,
will, by all men, be interpreted, rather an affected obstinacy, than
a soldiery resolution. Consider, hkewise, seriously with yourself,
that the exposing so many christians, as are now under your
command, to manifest destruction, will, undoubtedly, be required
of you. We will expect your answer by eight of the clock to
morrow morning.
Rutland.W. Pierrepoint, Edw. Ayscoghe.
W. Armyne, Tho. Hatcher."
" For the right honourable the Committee of Lords and Commons,
at Grantham.
My lords and gentlemen,
I shall most cheerfully meet you in a pious care for the pre
venting the effusion of christian blood, and will assign gentlemen
to treat with such as you appoint ; desiring to know the persons,
time, and place of meeting : and rest your humble servant,
Gervase Lucas.
Belvoir Castle,
30 Jan., eight o'clock in the morn."
This important event was immediately communicated to
the parliament in the following terms :
" For the hon. William Lenthall, Speaker of the house of com
mons, at Westminster.
Sir, Grantham, 31 January, late at night.
We thought fit to summon Belvoir Castle in our names, for
sundry reasons, conducing to your service. A copy is herein
inclosed, and the governor's answer, together with the articles of
surrender, agreed on by those appointed to treat. The bearer

BELVOIR CASTLE. 93
hereof, Captain Henry Markham, can fully relate all particulars ;
who hath had his share in the hard duty. And truly, sir, we
must needs say, that Colonel Grey, and the soldiers under his
command, as likewise the several troops of horse, have all of them
performed their duty with much cheerfulness. And for their en
couragement, and the better furthering of your service, we have
promised them one week's pay, which was about £600, and hope
you will enable us to perform it. We find so much difficulty in
procuring the mortar-piece from Reading (and now the weather
is broken, the ways so impassable,) that your service may suffer
much before that come unto us. Wherefore we have sent for the
casting of two, at Nottingham. And if you please to order the
£ 350 to us, and add somewhat more to it, we shall be able to pay
for them, and provide shells and other necessaries. And, we hope
to have no need of a master of fireworks to be sent, having with
us, one very expert ; and others, who have done very great service
against Belvoir. We shall now apply our whole endeavours for
the reducing of Newark. Your humble servants,
W. Pierrepoint, Edw. Ayscoghe,
W. Arbiyne, Tho. Hatcher."
On the 3rd of February, Belvoir Castle with its appurte
nances was in pursuance of the capitulation, surrendered to
the commander of the parliamentarian forces ; who imme
diately appointed Captain Markham, governor of the castle ;
and rewarded the victorious soldiers with an extra week's
pay, amounting to £600. Vicars says that the defenders of
the castle were allowed " to march away to Lichfield, upon
more honourable terms indeed, than they deserved." (p. 361)
On the fourth the news arrived in London of the surrender
" of Belvoir Castle; and that Sir Gervase Lucas, the governor,
had left there one piece of ordnance, with store of arms and
provisions. The house of commons voted a gift of one
hundred marks to Captain Markham, who brought the
letters, for that and other services performed by him for the
parliament ; and by an order of both houses he was appoint
ed governor of Belvoir Castle.

94 HISTORY OF
The republican party were highly elated with this
important acquisition ; which was thus described :
" The strong hold of Belvoir, which deriveth denomination from
the situation of the place, which overlooketh all the country ; there
being threescore and six degrees, or steps of stone, to the ascent
of it, was enforced to stoop to the obedience of parliament, by
reason of the impetuous violence, and many shot, which were
made against it, out of the great mortar-piece ; (the enemy do
call them mortal pieces, and, indeed, so they have proved to many
of them, not only here, but at Basing, Winchester, and divers
other places.) The conditions of the surrender Were these: '1. It
is concluded and agreed upon, that the Castle of Belvoir, with all
the arms, ordnance, and ammunition, and goods therein, shall be
delivered into the hands of such, as the committee of lords and
commons shall appoint, to receive them, for the use of the parlia
ment ; upon Tuesday, being the 3rd of February, by two o'clock
in the afternoon, without any manner of embezzling the said
ammunition or goods. 2. That Sir Gervase Lucas, the governor,
and all the officers, gentlemen, and soldiers, in the said Castle,
shall have liberty to march away to Lichfield, with their horse and
arms, with colours flying, and drums beating, matches lighted,
musquets laden with bullets ; and to have a sufficient convoy, and
six days time, for the safe passage thither ; and that hostages
shall be given, by the said Gervase Lucas, for the return of the
said convoy. 3. That the governor, Sir Gervase Lucas, Sir John
Pate, baronet, and all other officers, gentlemen, and soldiers, who
are yet within the said Castle, shall have six day's liberty, for the
carrying away of all such goods, as are now within the said Castle ;
which properly, and clearly, appear to be their own ; and to have
carts and carriages provided for them, for the carrying away of
the same. 4. That all prisoners whatsoever within the Castle of
Belvoir, shall forthwith, upon the signing of these articles, be set
at liberty, and are hereby declared to be at liberty, o. That
the governor of Belvoir Castle shall send forth of the Castle,
on Tuesday morning, by nine o'clock, Francis Leak, Esq., Major
Bywater, Captain Coleby, and Captain Govelman, to be host
ages, for the performances of these articles, on his part; and
that, Mr. Prescott, Captain Ruddock, Captain Buckley, and
Lieutenant Hurd, shall be sent to Lichfield, to remain there, until
the articles shall be performed, in the behalf of the committee

BELVOIR CASTLE. 95
of lords and commons, at Grantham.' The store of provision,
which they had in the Castle, would have lasted a siege of three
months longer; and our great mortar-piece, having already played
off almost all her grenadoes against the Castle ; were the reasons,
Why this surrender was made on more honourable conditions, than
could otherwise be expected. This strong Castle of the enemy,
being now in the possession of the parliament, the mortar-piece is
to be removed to Newark, and more grenadoes are to be provided.
We understand, also, that there are two more mortar-pieces cast
by a bell-founder in Nottingham, which will be of great use, not
only for the taking of the town, but the ports of Newark. In the
mean time, mattocks, spades, and pick-axes are provided, and
whatsoever is necessary for a scalado : and it is verily believed,
that some attempt will be suddenly made upon the town." (City's
Weekly post, Feb. 10, 1645—6.)
The unfortunate divisions in the royal army at Newark,
since the secession of Prince Rupert and Maurice from
the cause of Charles, had occasioned the desertion of some
of the dissatisfied leaders among the royalists, and many of
the inferior officers. These persons attached themselves to
the fortunes of the new possessors of Belvoir Castle ; and
the parliament continued to hold strong garrisons at Not
tingham, Grantham, Shelford, and Southwell.
Nov. 28, 1646, it was voted by both houses, that the Earl
of Rutland should be chief justice in eyre of all his majesty's
forests and chaces beyond Trent.
March 1, 1646 — 7. The parliament directed Belvoir to
be dis-garrisoned, and the new works to be slighted ; and
£150 was paid to the troops in part of their arrears. (Jour
nals of the House of Commons, vol. 5, p. 101.)
May 30, 1648, the garrison at Belvoir was ordered to be
wholly removed. June 6, General Rossiter was ordered "to
take special care for the safety of the Castle ;" and on the
8th, the lords desired the commons would " send an order
to the general, whereby, he be desired to take off the garri
son; and that my lord of Rutland may have the disposition

96 HISTORY OF
of his own Castle, the same being his inheritance ;" where
upon the commons directed three of their number to attend
the Earl, to acquaint him with the urgent necessity of
keeping the garrison in Belvoir Castle for the present, for
the safety of the kingdom. The Earl of Rutland, so far as
can be now ascertained, appears to have lived chiefly, during
the whole of the civil commotions, at his town-house, near
Ivy-Bridge, in the Strand.
Sept. 15, 1648, commissioners of whom the Earl of Rut
land was one, arrived in the Isle of Wight, for the purpose
of entering into a treaty with Charles for an accommodation
between the king and the parliament. Clarendon rather
inconsistently says that the commissioners carried themselves
"magisterially;" yet, that the "lords desired in their own
nature and affections, no more than that their transgressions,
might never more be called to remembrance." Their most
peremptory argument, which the event shewed to be a just
one, "that if, he did not, or not do it quickly, the army
would proceed their own way ; and had enough declared,
that they would depose the king, change the government,
and settle a republic by their own rules and invention."
This treaty as it is known had no effect.
The impeachment, trial, and murder of Charles, by the
house of commons, and their creatures in the army, received
no sanction from the house of peers, who, after they had
rejected the motion of the commons for the first, discovered,
by a very significant sign, that their duty as an integral part
of the constitution, was at an end. They found the doors
of the house of lords "all locked, and fastened with padlocks."
After the murder of Charles, there appeared to the ruling
party, no further occasion for the garrison at Belvoir; and,
accordingly, on the first of May, 1649, the council of state
reported "their resolution for demolishing the Castle ; which
the Earl of Rutland was content with;" and on the 8th,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 97
of the same month, the council of state were directed "to
demolish the Castle, and to give satisfaction to the Earl of
Rutland for the same." The sum of £2000 was at first
proposed as a compensation; for which the words, "not
exceeding the sum of £1500" were afterwards substituted and
concluded upon, by the house of commons. Small as the
sum was, to be called a compensation, it was also ordered,
"that the arrears of the fee-farm rent of Belvoir and Croxton,
payable by the said Earl to the state, should be allowed in
part of the said sum ; and the remainder to be satisfied out
of the growing rent" (Journals of the House of Commons,
p. 199, 205, 228.) These economical, but selfish managers
of other men's property, suffered their governor of Belvoir
Castle, (CaptainMarkham) to incur a debtof £900 inkeeping
a table, and entertaining officers and others who continually
attended the siege at Newark ; and though an allowance for
this purpose had been promised by their own commissioners,
his representation was not attended to.
After the destruction of Belvoir Castle, the Earl of Rut
land, resided principally at Haddon, in Derbyshire, till the
restoration of monarchy and episcopacy ; when, he was fully
received into royal favour.
August 4, 1663, his signature with that of Clarendon and
Monk, appears in a letter sent from the court at Whitehall,
to the commissioners of the subsidies for Leicestershire. Feb.
14, 1666, he was appointed lord lieutenant of that county.
To record that he approved himself a firm friend to the
church and state, during the remainder of his life, is merely
to assert, that he, hke many other distinguished characters
of the period, had not been duly sensible of the value of
both, till taught by that stern monitor, experience. And
looking back, as he must often have done upon the short,
but melancholy period through which he had passed, the
inspired declaration must often have occurred to his mind;
H

HISTORY OF

' the beginning of strife is as when one letteth out water.'
He devoted himself after the restoration, principally, to the
pleasing duties of a country gentleman ; and in rebuilding
Belvoir Castle. Fuller, (Worthies, 1662, p. 126,) speaking
of the prognostic of rain according to an old local proverb,
says, "alas, though the cap may be there still, the head (or
the crown thereof) I am sure is not there, (I mean Beaver
Castle itself,) being lately demolished in the civil wars;
though I hear some part of it is rebuilding. I wish the
workmen good success ; though, I suspect, the second edition,
( to use a scholar's metaphor, ) will not be so full and fair as
the former." In the year 1668, it was completely finished
and adorned with gardens, plantations, &c. A Pindaric Ode
upon Belvoir Castle, written in 1679, records, that its re
building was owing to the wish and taste of the Countess of
Rutland. The Earl himself, it is said, would have preferred
Croxton, where his grandson afterwards built.
The Earl of Rutland died at Haddon, Sept 29, 1679, in
the seventy-fifth year of his age, and was buried at Bottes
ford, near his Countess; who died May 19, 1671. (See
monuments in Bottesford Church.) On this occasion, the
Church of Bottesford was ornamented by a standard with
the cross of England, and two penons with the crest, and
arms ; viz. 1, or, two bars az. a chief quarterly, az. and gules;
1 and 4, two fleurs de lis, or ; on 2 and 3, a Hon of England ;
Manners; 2, gules, three water-bougets, arg. Ros ; 3, or, two
chevrones within a bordure or, Albini Brito ; 4, arg. a fret
sable, Vernon oi Haddon, impaling 1 and 4, arg. three lozen
ges conjoined in fess, gules, within a bordure sable, Montagu ;
2 and 3, or, an eagle displayed vert, beaked and membered
gules, Monihermer. Crest on a chapeau, a peacock in his
pride proper, and on a small penon, the single coat of
Manners. Near the above was a similar standard, and two
penons for Frances, the deceased Countess; the arms on one,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 99
the same as in the first described penon; on the second,
Manners impaling Montagu.
George and Edward, the Earl's two eldest sons, and Roger,
the fourth son, all died infants. Of the daughters, Frances,
married to John, Earl of Exeter, died Dec. 2, 1669, and
was buried in the church of Stamford Baron ; where in the
Exeter vault, her leaden coffin remains with this inscription:
" The Lady Frances Manners,
daughter to John earle of Rutland,
late wife to John earle of Exeter,
departed the second day of December, 1669.
On a small leaden coffin near to the above, is this inscription,
to another lady of this family : " Reliquiae nobilis dnse
Franciscas Manners hie reconduntur in spe resurrectionis.
Obrit Feb. 7, 1659.
Grace, another daughter of John, Earl of Rutland was
married to Patricius, Viscount Chaworth, (see monument
at Bottesford Church) and, secondly, to Sir William Lang-
horn, of Charlton, in Kent, Bart : Dorothy, to Anthony,
Lord Ashley, son and heir to the Earl of Shaftsbury ; Eliza
beth, to James, Lord Annesley ; Margaret, to James, Earl
of Salisbury ; Anne, to Sir Scrope Howe, knight, afterwards
Lord Viscount Howe ; and Mary died in 1669, at the age
of twelve.
John, the third, and only surviving son, who became on
his father's death, the ninth Earl of Rutland, was born at
Boughton, in Northamptonshire, May 29, 1638.
In 1658, he married the Lady Anne, eldest daughter and co
heir of Henry Pierrepoint, Marquis of Dorchester, by whom
he had a daughter, the Lady Frances, who died an infant,
Feb. 7, 1659, and was buried in the church of St. Martin,
Stamford, as stated above. His marriage does not appear
to have been a happy one ; and the distaste with which he
regarded his wife, extended itself to her father, the Marquis
h 2

100 HISTORY OF
of Dorchester; a man of high character for loyalty and
literary acquirements. Anthony Wood says, that "he was
(in his youth) esteemed a learned man, as being well read
in the Fathers, Schoolmen, Casuists, and the civil and canon
law ; and afterwards applying himself to the study of medi
cine and anatomy, was admitted fellow of the College of
Physicians, at London, and became their pride and glory."
On the occasion of the differences between his daughter and
the Earl of Rutland, (then Lord Roos) he committed the
indiscretion of printing the letter which he addressed to
Lord Roos on the subject It appears, that the- Marquis of
Dorchester had challenged his son in law; as may be inferred
from the answer of Lord Roos, in the composition of which,
it is said, he was assisted by the celebrated author of Hudibras.
There is ample internal evidence of the truth of this latter
supposition. For in sarcastic allusion to the various pursuits
of the Marquis, Lord Roos writes :
 "It is not enough, that you are already, as many things, as
any of your own receipts ; that you are a doctor of the civil law,
and a barrister at the common ; a bencher of Gray's Inn, a pro
fessor of physic, and a fellow of the college ; a mathematician, a
Chaldean, a schoolman, and a piece of a grammarian, (as your last
work would shew, were it construed,) a philosopher, poet, trans
lator, antisocordist, solicitor, broker, and usurer ; besides a mar
quis, earl, viscount, and baron ; but you must, hke Dr. Suttle,
profess quarrelling too, and publish yourself an Hector  Sir,
truly there is no conscience in it, considering you have not only
a more sure and safe way of killing men, aheady, than they have,
but a plentiful estate beside ; so many trades, and yet have so
little conscience to eat the bread out of their mouths, they have
great reason to lay it to heart ; and I hope some of them will
demand reparation of you, and make you give them compounding
dinners too ; as well as you have done to the rest of your frater
nities. And now, be your own judge, whether any one man can
be bound, in honour, to fight with such an hydra, as you are —
a monster of many heads, like the multitude, or the devil, that
called himself legion. Such an encounter would be no duel, but

BELVOIR CASTLE. 101
war : which, I never heard that any one man ever made alone ;
and I must levy forces, ere I can meet you, &c. &e."
Under the title of John, Lord Roos, he was elected one
of the knights of the county of Leicester, in the parliament
which met May 8, 1661. After which, he travelled; and
on his return, had cause for living in separation from his
lady. In 1666, he obtained a sentence of divorce in the
spiritual court; but as this amounted only to a separation
from bed and board, he obtained an act of parliament, Feb.
8, 1666 — 7, "for the illegitimation of the children of the
Lady Anne Roos;" and by another act passed April 11,
1670, "for John Manners, called Lord Roos, to marry
again," the children of his former wife, were disabled from
inheriting any lands or honours from the said John, or from
John, Earl of Rutland, his father ; and the children by any
future marriage, were to inherit. Bishop Burnet in the
History of his own Times, records that the Duke of York
and his party, were as earnest in opposing this parliamentary
divorce as the king was in supporting it. The bishop's gos
siping comment on this circumstance is not worth quoting.
At the latter end of 1671, Lord Roos married the Lady
Diana Bruce,* daughter to Robert, Earl of Aylesbury, and
widow of Sir Seymour Shirley, of Staunton Harold, in the
county of Leicester, Bart; by whom he had one son, Robert,
born, July 15, 1672 ; who dying the same day, was buried
at Bottesford, as was also his mother, who died on the 24th
of the same month.
Jan. 8, 1673, he married for his third wife, Catharine,
daughter to Baptist Noelf Viscount Campden ; and by her
had two sons, and two daughters. Of the daughters, Lady
Catharine, bom May 19, 1675, was married to John, Lord
* Bruce. Arms — Or, a saltier and chief gules ; on a canton argent a lion
rampant azure.
f Noel. Arms-^Or fretty gules, a canton ermine.

102 HISTORY OF
Gower; and Dorothy, born Sept. 13, 1681, to Baptist Noel,
Earl of Gainsborough; and of the sons, the younger, Thomas
Baptist, born Feb. 12, 1678, died unmarried June 29, 1705;
and was buried at Bottesford, July 2.
Lord Roos was appointed July 7, 1677, lord lieutenant
of the county of Leicester, and continued a representative
for that county. But in 1678 — 9, he met with an unex
pected opposition; several persons making interest in the
county, for Sir John Hartopp; whom Lords Roos and
Sherard, in a letter to the gentlemen of the county, describe
as a person not resident in the county: and no friend to the
Church of England. April 30, 1679, he was summoned
by writ to the house of peers, by the title of Baron Manners,
county of Derby. On the death of his father, in September
following, he became Earl of Rutland; and from some letters
to Mr. Staveley,* it appears, he was zealously attentive to
the business of the county of Leicester ; and accepted the
office of steward of the queen's manor at Grantham.
The predilections of this noble Earl were entirely for the
pleasures and pursuits of a rural life. And being possessed
of a magnificent fortune, he could exercise to the fullest
extent, the old English hospitality, which he greatly affected.
It is recorded of him, that he had a more numerous family
and attendance, than perhaps any nobleman in the kingdom.
In buck-hunting season, himself and servants were always
clothed in green. For many years before his death he never
came to London. And on the marriage of his eldest son,
Aug. 17, 1693, to Catharine, daughter to the illustrious
Lord William Russell, an express stipulation was made by
his direction in the marriage settlement, that she should
forfeit some part of her jointure, if she ever lived in town
without his consent Though, after experience of her ex-
* Thomas Staveley, esq. barrister aud steward of the records at Leicester,
died, Jan. 2, 1683-4.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 103
emplary conduct, and the excellent judgment of his son, he
permitted them to live, wherever their own convenience or
inclination prompted.
March 29, 1703, Queen Anne was pleased, "in conside
ration of his great merits, and the services of his ancestors
to the nation, to advance him to the title of Marquis
of Granby, in the county of Nottingham, and Duke of
Rutland, entailing the same on him, and his heirs male,
for ever. It appears by a letter of the Lady Russell, to
King William, that, that monarch had intended to bestow
the honour of a dukedom on the Earl of Rutland.
" I rather choose to trouble your majesty with a letter, than be
wanting in my duty, in the most submissive manner imaginable,
to acknowledge the honour and favour, I am told, your majesty
designs for Lord Rutland, and his family, in which I am so much
interested. It is an act of great goodness, Sir, in you ; and the
generous manner you have been pleased to promise it in, makes
the honour, if possible, greater. As you will lay an eternal obli
gation upon that family, be pleased to allow me to answer for all
those, I am related to ; they will look on themselves equally
honoured with Lord Rutland, by your favour to his family, and I
am sure will express their acknowledgments to your majesty in
the most dutiful manner."
The Duke died at Belvoir Castle in his seventy-third
year, Jan. 10, 1710 — 11, and was buried at Bottesford.
His funeral sermon was preached Feb. 23, by his chaplain,
Mr. Felton, afterwards principal of St. Edmund's Hall,
Oxford, and chaplain to the two succeeding Dukes of
Rutland. The encomiastic terms which it was always
thought necessary to employ on such occasions — probably
from a not unnatural adoption of the ancient maxim, de
mortuis nil nisi bonum, — render compositions of this nature
not generally available for biographical purposes. There
are, however, in this sermon, some " notes " of the duke's
character, which may perhaps be received as free from the

104 HISTORY OF
spirit of laboured panegyric ; inasmuch, as they scarcely
admitted of exaggeration.
"To our gracious queen, he was a most loyal subject; he
honoured her while he lived, and prayed for her with his dying
breath. He was a true lover of his country, of our church, and
constitution ; and, as far as I ever had the honour of hearing him
express himself on these points, the prerogative of the crown, and
the liberty of the subject, were dear to him ; he esteemed the
crown the honour and safeguard of the nobility, and the liberties
of his country, the glory of our land ; and, therefore, he joined
heartily in the revolution. He honoured the late king as our
deliverer ; and thought it the happiest circumstance of that great
event, that in the persons of the late queen and him, the monarchy
was preserved, while our liberties were secured ; and that the
blessings of this reign, that the queen sits peaceably on the throne
of her ancestors, are owing to the establishment of the former.
He lived and died in communion with the Church of England ;
and as he was a noble patron to the clergy, in the free and honour
able donation of his preferments, so he always treated them with
a regard, that looked more hke a condescension in him, than a
debt to them ; especially, if we consider the usage and humour
of the present age. To all men he was courteous and affable ;
and as he was never wanting in the greatest civilities to the gentry
around him, they ever paid him the greatest honour and respect.
 To his children, and his children's children, he was a kind
and indulgent father  He had a large and noble revenue, and
he managed it as nobly ; hospitality and charity called for large
supplies, and they were never wanting  He loved the old
English ways and customs, and all was hearty and substantial at
his board  And though his expenses in the support of his state
and dignity, but more especially in his charity and hospitality,
were very great ; yet, God so blessed him, that his means increased,
as his family enlarged, and many fair additions were made to the
original estate, which was much burthened, when he entered on it.
 His last sickness he took patiently, and resigned himself to
God : he blessed his children, and departed this life in peace."
We learn from another source, that, in his earlier years,
his education had been much neglected ; and like a young
man of sense, he became both docile and an attached pupil

BELVOIR CASTLE. 105
to his master, the celebrated Mattaire ; who dedicated to
him his well-known set of the Latin Classics : of which a
copy upon large paper graces the Belvoir shelves. The
present duke is in possession of a great number of letters
written in latin to his noble pupil : who is reported to have
fagged with him in downright earnest. (Dibdin's Northern
Tour, p. 68, note.)
There is yet another anecdote recorded of him when he
was Earl, which is a pleasing testimony to his unaffected
good humour. A Mr. Sawbridge asked him to give him
the living of Croxton ; relying upon the slender recom
mendation of five hands only of the parishioners. The Earl
telling him, " there were but few voices in his favour ; "
Sawbridge answered, " there were as many as your lordship
had, when you put up for knight of parliament." Meeting
with this rebuff, and about to recede ; the noble Lord called
bim back, and smiling at his rustic freedom, said, "however
Mr. Sawbridge, I will give you the living, notwithstanding
your observation has some truth in it." This person re
signed the living of Croxton early in the year 1700, and on
his appointment to the living of Billesdon, was put into the
commission of the peace, by the same Earl, who was then
lord lieutenant of the county. (Nichols' Leic, v. 3, pt. 1,
p. 237, note.)
Her grace, Katharine, Duchess of Rutland, third wife of
John, first Duke of Rutland, died January 24, 1732, aged
seventy-five years ; and was also buried at Bottesford.
John, who succeeded his father, as the second Duke, in
1710 — 11, was born Sept 18, 1676; and baptised on the
25th of the same month. ( Knipton Register.) He married,
Aug. 17, 1693, Katharine, the second daughter to William,
Lord Russell,* who had been beheaded in 1683. On this
* Russell. Arms — Argent, a lion rampant, gules, on a chief sable, 3 escallops
of the first.

106 HISTORY OF
subject, some interesting particulars are preserved in the
letters of Lady Rachel Russell, who, writing confidentially
to Dr. Fitzwilliam, Sept. 19, 1692, says,
"I have had a strong inclination to have discoursed a business
of weight with you, no less than the marriage of my daughter ; if
Lady Gainsborough thought of it, you had a hint of it earlier than
almost any body from me. I do own, when it was first proposed,
I was, as it were, surprised ; but when I came seriously to consider,
and discourse with her friends, and, also, with such others, as I
could then get to talk with, and found reason to conclude that a
reverse of parliament was all the scruple, I need to have, I was
content to hear more of it, and not refuse the best match in
England, for an imaginary religious scruple. For, as on the one
hand, I am joyful to see my daughters bestowed on the two* best
fortunes in England ; so, on the other, if he had a kingdom with
his, I would not agree to put her, knowingly, in circumstances,
that I should doubt God's blessing would not go with. But, if
a divorce is just, as agreeing with the word of God, I take a
marriage after it, certainly to be so. And for the estate, we enjoy
them by man's law, and that man can alter, and so may alter
again ; which is a risk, I am willing to run, if there would be
enough left. The young people have just seen one another ; he is
a pretty youth, and as I am told, virtuously bred, and is free from
all ill. His tutor was with him ; he is a non-swearer, a divine, a
man of parts, they say, and a good liver. You see, though I may
not think the better of him, I do not think the worse. This is
the business sticks closest to my thoughts, and so I am apt to
enlarge to such friends as you."
This match was of consequence enough to attract the
notice of the queen, who, writing to Lady Russell, Oct 18,
says, " You are so taken up, I hear with your daughter's marriage,
that I will not make my letter any longer; but assure you, nobody
can more sincerely wish you all imaginable satisfaction in what
you are about, and all things else, than I do."
* Rachel, her other daughter, was married to William, second Duke of
Devonshire.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 107
The Countess of Rutland thus writes to the same person,
April 19, 1693.
" I hope your ladyship will do me the justice to believe, that the
account you last gave of Mr. Eure's being now on the despatching
part, and the hopes you give me to wait upon you, some time in
June, at Woborne, gave me great satisfaction ; and, that you will
add to that, the esteem which is due to yourself, and dear Mrs.
Russell from me ; and then you cannot but be assured, that no
thing can give me more content, than seeing your daughter mine
also ; for both before and after that desired happiness, there can
be no command, you can lay upon me, which will not be obeyed
with pleasure, and taken as the greatest favour can be bestowed
upon, madam, your ladyship's most obedient, faithful, humble ser
vant, K. Rutland."
Sir James Forbes, the friendly companion of the bride
and bridegroom, in their progress to Belvoir Castle, after
their marriage, thus good humouredly describes " the jour
ney and reception at Belvoir," to Lady Russell :
"I could not miss this opportunity, of giving your ladyship some
account of Lord Ross and Lady Ross's journey, and their reception
at Belvoir ; which looked more hke the progress of a king and
queen through their country, than that of a bride and bridegroom,
going home to their father's house. At their first entry into
Leicestershire, they were received by the high sheriff at the head
of all the gentlemen of the country, who all paid their respects,
and complimented the lady bride, at Harborough. She was at^
tended next day to this place by the same gentlemen, and by
thousands of other people, who came from all places of the country.
to see her ; and to wish them both joy, even with huzzas and
acclamations. As they drew nearer to Belvoir, our train increased,
with some coaches, and with fresh troops of aldermen and corpo
rations, besides a great many clergymen, who presented the bride
and bridegroom, (for so they are still called) with verses upon
their happy marriage. I cannot better represent their first arrival
at Belvoir, than by the Woborne song, that Lord Bedford liked so
well ; for at the gate, were four and twenty fiddlers all in a row ;
four and twenty trumpeters, with their tantara ra ra's ; four and

108 HISTORY OF
twenty ladies, and as many parsons ; and in great order, they went
in procession to the great apartment, where the usual ceremony
of saluting and wishing of joy, past ; but still not without some
thing represented in the song ; as very much tittle-tattle and
fiddle-faddle. After this, the time past away till supper, in visiting
all the apartments of the house, and in seeing the preparations for
the sack posset, which was the most extraordinary thing, I did
ever see, and much greater than it was represented to be. After
supper, which was exceeding magnificent, the whole company went
in procession to the great hall ; the bride and bridegroom first,
and all the rest in order, two and two ; there it was, the scene
opened, and the great cistern appeared, and the healths began ;
first in spoons, some time after in silver cups ; and though the
healths were many, and great variety of names given to them, it
was observed after one hour's hot service, the posset did not sink
above one inch, which made my Lady Rutland call in all the
family, and then, upon their knees, the bride and bridegroom's
healths, with prosperity and happiness, were drunk in tankards
brim-full of sack-posset. This lasted till twelve o'clock, &c.
Madam, your most humble and faithful servant, J. Forbes."
The illustrious lady, whose festive reception at the noble
Castle of her father-in-law, is recorded in the above inter
esting letter, seems to have inherited the virtues of both
parents. She had a numerous family : five sons, John,
William, Edward, Thomas, and Wriothesley ; and four
daughters, Katharine, Beatrice, Frances, and Elizabeth.
She died in childbed, Oct. 31, 1711; surviving her hus
band's accession to the dukedom, not quite one year ; and
was buried at Bottesford, Nov. 10. Mr. Burscough, then
the Duke's chaplain and fellow of Wadham college, Oxford,
(it does not appear that he had ever parochial preferment,)
and Bishop of Limerick in 1725, preached her funeral ser
mon ; from which, as it gives an unaffected description of
her character, apparently free from the elaborate system
of panegyric common to such compositions, I subjoin an
extract.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 109
" She lived always under an awful sense of her dependence on
Almighty God, which she testified by constant devotion to him,
both public and private. In her attendance at the public offices
of our church, I can speak from my own observation, that it has
been always serious and decent : not out of form ; but as far as
could be judged, out of a true and inward sense of her duty.
Nor ought this, I think, to be omitted, though in truth but a
slender commendation ; since it is so just and common a com
plaint, that so many attend the offices of the church, for mere
form's sake ; nor can they keep their form so long, as not to
betray themselves, but in these sacred places of worship, discover
a behaviour only proper for a theatre. Nor was the behaviour of
this great person free only, on the one side, from lightness and
indifference ; but, on the other, from vanity and ostentation. She
was blessed with a good judgment, and knew how to keep the
mean between profaneness and enthusiasm ; her behaviour, there
fore, was devout, but unaffected ; exemplary, but without art or
design : for it was to God alone, she desired to recommend herself,
and not to the world. As to her private devotions, the circum
stances of those are only known to the Great Being she addressed
them to : for the regularity of them, it was well known ; and for
the substance of them, it in some measure appears, from several
papers written with her own hand, and left behind as monuments
of her piety. These are full evidences of her private worship ;
though, had we none of them to appeal to, I could appeal to one
greater than all, I mean to the general integrity of her Ufe and
conversation ; for never did any one keep up so unblameable to
the constant practice of public duties, without as constant an
intercourse with God in private. Such was her carriage towards
her Creator ; and then, as to her general behaviour to the world ;
to her superiors, though few indeed were in that rank, her deport
ment was with deference and respect ; to her equals, free and
inoffensive ; and to her inferiors, many of you are witnesses, how
condescending and obliging it was; how free from any thing of
that pride and haughtiness which so often attends greatness, and
so ill becomes it. To her relations, in whatever degree they
stood, she was loving and affectionate ; to her, who first should
be mentioned, from whom, under God, she received her life, she
was ever dutiful and observant; always mindful of that often
neglected duty, filial piety, which in all stages of Ufe, children
owe their parents, and which she was persuaded they could never

110 HISTORY OF
outgrow. She knew that the debt which all children owe their
parents could be never repaid ; and she knew that her own was
much improved by the blessing of a most careful education, and
by the great advantage of the domestic example she had from her
infancy enjoyed ; so that she was persuaded, that she owed not
only her Ufe to her parent, but what was much dearer, her profi
ciency in virtue ; of all which she was highly sensible, and en
deavoured to demonstrate her sense of it in every instance of
filial reverence and obedience. To this filial reverence, she took
care to join the twin duty of conjugal affection ; nor was it easy
to determine in which relation she appeared best, whether as wife
or daughter : of the last, I have already spoken ; and of the first,
I need say no more, than that, after blessing her Lord with a nu
merous and hopeful issue, she gave this best evidence of her love
both to him and them, in the tenderest care and concern for their
common offspring ; to this she gave constant attendance in her
health ; and on her last bed of sickness, and in her last dying
words, having them all before her, she breathed out her soul in
those pious instructions, and recommended them to the care of
heaven, with that energy of affection, and that sedate and compo
sed seriousness of mind, as shewed it not to be any sudden or
unusual transport, but the fixed and habitual thoughts of her soul.
In this blessed temper of mind, and in the midst of these holy
pangs, as I may call them, for the eternal welfare of her children,
did this exceUent lady expire : so that in the Apostle's phrase,
she seemed in her last hours, travailing again with them ; and
sickened, indeed, in the natural birth of one, but died in labour
with the spiritual birth of all."
There is an anecdote in Lady Russell's letters illustrative
of her christian fortitude. After seeing the Duchess of
Rutland in her coffin, she went to her other daughter, the
Duchess of Devonshire, from whom it was necessary to
conceal her grief, she being at that time in childbed also.
She assumed, therefore, a cheerful air, and with astonishing
resolution answered the anxious inquiries of her daughter
with these words : " I have seen your sister out of bed to
day." In 1712, on a report that the Duke was about to marry

BELVOIR CASTLE. Ill
again, Lady Russell, who was then in her seventy-sixth
year,* thus writes to the Earl of Galway :
" I have been for some weeks often resolved, and as soon
unresolved, if I would, or would not engage upon a subject, I
cannot speak to, without some emotion ; but I cannot suffer your
being a stranger to any that very near concerns me : yet, before I
could dispose myself to do it, concluded the article not a secret
to you, such care having by one side been taken, as to let be a
visiting-day affair, whether or not the Duke of Rutland had not
fixed a second choice ? perhaps as proper to call it the first ; for
when marriages are so very early, it is accepting, rather than
choosing, on either side. But Lord R, to the end of my good
child's Ufe, has so weU approved of the choice, in all and every
respect ; and now that she is no more, has, with very deliberate
consideration, as soon as he composed his mind to think ; first
taken care to enquire, and be truly informed, what powers he had
to do for his children ; and then, by the strictest rules of justice
and impartial kindness, settled every younger child's portion, by
adding to what they had before. As it is to me the most sohd
instance of his respect and love, he can now give to her memory ;
and being, I beUeve it, done with an honest sincerity, and true
value of her, and all her virtues : I conceive it would be wrong
in me, to take offence at some circumstances, the censorious part
of the town will be sure to do, and refine upon, for the sake of
talk. I miss the hearing, by seeing few, and not answering ques
tions. The first notice I heard of his intention was by Mr.
Charlton, and I really believe that was as soon, as he had given
himself his own consent. He told me, he found him under great
unquietness, when he acquainted him with his thoughts, who said,
he was under aU the anxieties a man could feel, how to break it
to me : though it was then but a thought of his own, yet so much
he would not conceal from me. Mr. Charlton undertook to tell
me, and I did as soon resolve to let it pass as easy between him
and me, as I could, by bidding Mr. Charlton let him know, I
would begin to him. I did so ; which put us both in some dis
order, but I believe he took as I meant it, kindly. A decency in
time was aU I expected. The person is sister to the present Lord
Sherard ; the other sister had been a widow to a Lord Irwin, and
* Lady Russell died Sept. 29, 1723, in her eighty-seventh year.

112 HISTORY OF
some years ago, married a brother of the Duchess of Rutland, a
Mr. Noel,* who has been a companion to his nephew, ever since
our sorrowful time,"
The Duke's second marriage took place Jan. 1, 1712 — 13.
In 1714, he was made lord lieutenant of the county of Lei
cester, and installed knight of the garter, Nov. 19, 1714.f
He died Feb. 22, 1720 — 1, of the small-pox, in the forty-
fifth year of his age, and was buried at Bottesford, March 9.
Lucy, his relict, was buried in the same place, Nov. 7, 1751,
aged sixty-six.
By this lady, the duke had six sons ; Sherard,J George,
Robert, Henry and Charles, (twins) and James. Sherard,
died Jan. 13, 1741 — 2, aged twenty-eight years ; and was
buried at Bottesford: George, died Dec. 16, 1721, aged
seven, and was buried in Henry VII's chapel, in Westmins
ter Abbey: Henry, Nov. 5, 1745, aged twenty-six, and was
buried at Bottesford: Charles, who died Dec. 7, 1761, aged
forty-three, was also buried at Bottesford. The coffins of
Sherard, Henry, and Charles, still remain in the family
vault at Bottesford. (See monuments.) James, died Nov. 1,
1790, aged seventy-one. The last four died unmarried.
Robert was representative in parliament of Kingston upon
Hull, from 1747 till his death; governor of Hull, and a
general in the army. His family seat was at Bloxbam near
Sleaford, in Lincolnshire ; a property, which had been pur
chased by the Duchess. He married Jan. 1, 1756, Mary
daughter of  Digge, Esq. of London ; by whom, he
had three sons, Robert, John James, and George ; and two
daughters, Mary and Lucy. Robert, born Jan. 2, 1758,
* John Noel, brother to the Duchess of Rutland, married Elizabeth, eldest
sister to Bennet, Earl of Harborough, and widow of Edward Ingram, Viscount
Irwin, in Scotland.
f The date of installation in the I9th stall of St. George's Chapel, at
Windsor, was Dec. 9.
X Sherard. Arms — Argent, a chevron gules between 3 torteaux.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 113
became a general in the army, and died June 9, 1823;
John James, born Jan. 1762, died an infant; George, bom
Nov. 1763, died March 27, 1828 ; Mary, born Nov. 20,
1756, married Jan. 31, 1771, William Hamilton Nesbit,
Esq. of Dirleton, in N. B; Lucy, born July, 1760. '
Of the Duke's daughters by his second wife, Caroline, the
eldest, married Sept. 16, 1734, Sir Henry Harpur, Bart;
and, secondly, July 18, 1753, Sir Robert Burdett, Bart,
and died Nov. 10, 1769. Lucy, married Oct. 28, 1742,
William, Duke of Montrose, and died June 18, 1788.
Of the Duke's daughters by his first wife, Catharine, the
eldest, married, in 1726, the right hon. Henry Pelham, and
died in 1780. Rachel, the second daughter, died young,
1720 — 1. Frances, the third, married, 1732, Richard
Arundel, of Allerton, in the county of York, second son to
John, Lord Arundel. She died Nov. 29, 1769. Elizabeth,
the fourth, married John Monckton, Viscount Galway, and
died March 22, 1730, in her twenty-first year. Of the sons,
John, the eldest, succeeded to the title. Lord William
Manners, born Nov. 13, 1697, the second son, was elected
to represent in parliament the county of Leicester, in 1714,
and 1722 to 1733. This person, in 1763, bought the manor
of Buckminster of Lady Hartopp, and from him the present
proprietor, Lord Huntingtower, is a descendant. Lord
William Manners died by a fall from his horse, April 23,
1772, unmarried. Edward, Thomas, and Wriothesley, died
young. John, the eldest son, born Oct. 21, 1696, succeeded his
father as the third Duke. He married in 1717, Bridget,
only daughter and heiress to Robert Sutton,* Lord Lexing
ton ; on which occasion, an act of parliament was obtained
"for settling the estates of the most noble John, Duke
of Rutland, and John Manners, Esq., commonly called
* Sutton, Arms — Argent, a canton sable.
I

114 HISTORY OF
Marquis of Granby, son and heir apparent of the said Duke,
on the marriage of the said Marquis of Granby, with the
honourable Bridget Sutton, only child of the right honour
able Robert, Lord Lexington; and, also, for vesting the
estates of the said Robert, Lord Lexington, and Bridget
Sutton, therein mentioned, in trustees, to be sold, for raising
money for the marriage portion of the said Bridget Sutton.
By this marriage, four manors became the property of the
Rutland family, Averham, Kelham, RoJleston, and Syer-
ston, all in the county of Nottingham ; and two additional
seats ; Averham, built by Lord Lexington ; and Kelham^
erected by the Duchess herself, after a model of her father's.
By this lady, who died at the age of thirty-five, June 16,
1734, the Duke had seven sons, and six daughters, who all
died young, except John, Robert, and George.
The Duke was elected knight of the garter, Oct 10, 1722,
and installed Nov. 13. The brass plate in the stall in St
George's chapel, at Windsor, with the inscription and date
of this honourable event, is lost* In 1727, he was appointed
chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, one of his majesty's
privy council, and on the 11th of October ensuing, he carried
the sceptre with the cross at the coronation of George H.
In 1734, he was appointed captain of the band of gentlemen
pensioners, was also a lord of his majesty's bed chamber,
and a governor of the Charter House.
This Duke, who was much attached to the pleasures of
retirement, was the last of the Rutland fanrily, who made
Haddon an occasional residence. He built the hunting
seat at Croxton, and made some improvements at Belvoir,
about the year 1750, particularly the addition of the picture
room, with cellars underneath. He died May 29, 1779,.
and was buried at Bottesford. His remains have been since
removed to the mausoleum at Belvoir. (See description of
mausoleum.) * The inscription recorded the fact, of the Duke being then lord lieutenant of
the county of Leicester, and custos rotulorum.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 115
The estate of Lord Lexington having been settled on the
younger branch, an act of parliament was obtained, in 1735,
to enable the two younger sons of John, Duke of Rutland,
by Bridget, late Duchess of Rutland, and their respective
children, to take and use the surname of Sutton. In conse
quence of which, Robert, the second surviving son, born
Feb. 21, 1721 — 2, took the surname of Sutton, and settled
at Kelham, near Newark. In 1747, Lord Robert Manners
Sutton, was elected member for Nottinghamshire. He
attended the funeral of the Prince of Wales as one of the
lords of the Prince's bed chamber, April 13, 1751 : and
April 20, 1754, was appointed master of his majesty's harriers
and fox hounds ; an appointment, which, he soon afterwards
resigned. He continued a representative for Nottinghamshire till
his death, Nov. 19, 1762 ; when he was colonel of the
regiment of royal foresters. Dying unmarried, he was suc
ceeded by bis next brother, George, born March 8, 1722 — 3,
and baptized April 10, following; his majesty king George I,
and the Prince of Wales, afterwards George II, being his
godfathers. He represented the borough of Grantham in
parliament, for several sessions ; and after the death of his
brother Robert, assumed the surname of Sutton. He first
married in December, 1749, Diana, daughter of Thomas
Chaplin, Esq., of Blankney, in the county of Lincoln : and
by her, who died April 3, 1767, had seven sons; George
Manners Sutton, born Aug. 1, 1751, member in one parlia
ment for Newark, and twice for Grantham ; died unmarried
1804. 2. John Manners Sutton, bom July 12, 1752, died
Feb. 17, 1826 ; having married April, 1778, Anne Manners,
daughter of John, Marquis of Granby ; by whom, (who was
born in 1750, and died Dec. 10, 1822,) he had five sons
and one daughter. John Manners was a general in the
army, and member for Newark in room of his father. 3.
i 2

116 HISTORY OF
Robert Manners Sutton, born Jan. 5, 1754, a captain in the
royal navy ; blown up in the Ardent man of war. 4. Charles
Manners Sutton, bom Feb. 14, 1755; Dean of Peterborough,
1791; Bishop of Norwich, 1792; Archbishop of Canter
bury, 1805; died July 21, 1828; having married Mary,
daughter of Thomas Thoroton, Esq.; by whom he had
thirteen children, the present Lord Canterbury (born Jan.
29, 1780,) being the eldest son. 5. Thomas Manners
Sutton, born Feb. 24, 1756, a barrister, recorder of Newark,
deputy recorder of Grantham, for many years lord chancellor
of Ireland, Baron Manners of the peerage of the united
kingdom, and privy councillor: married Nov. 4, 1803, Anne,
daughter of the late Sir Joseph Copley, Bart ; who died
without issue, Aug. 5, 1814; and secondly, Oct 28, 1815,
the hon. Jane Butler, daughter of Lord Caher, and sister of
the Earl of Glengall, by whom he has one son. The sixth
son of Lord George Manners Sutton, William, died in his
infancy. The seventh, Francis, a captain in the army, died
at Tobago, 1781, unmarried. Of the daughters, Diana mar
ried April 21, 1778, Francis Dickins, Esq., of Northampton
shire. Henrietta died young. Louisa Bridget, born 1761,
died Feb. 5, 1800; having married June 15, 1790, Edward
Lockwood Percival, Esq., who died July 6, 1804. Charlotte,
born 1764, married June 16, 1789, Thomas Lockwood, Esq.;
she died Feb. 19, 1827. Lord George married, secondly,
Mary, daughter of Joshua Peart, Esq., and by her had one
daughter, Mary, born July 2, 1769, died Nov. 20, 1829;
having married July 2, 1799, the Rev. Richard Lockwood,
Prebendary of Peterborough, born 1762, died Nov. 1, 1830.
John, the Duke's eldest son, commonly called Marquis
of Granby, was bom Jan. 2, 1720 — 1. He was educated at
Eton, and at Trinity College, Cambridge ; and travelled
with Dr. Ewer, afterwards rector of Bottesford, and Bishop
of Llandaff.* Entering early into the army, he raised a
* Presented to Bottesford, Oct. 30, 1736 ; became Bishop of Llandaff, 1761 ;
Bishop of Bangor, 1768. He died Oct. 28, 1774.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 117
regiment for his majesty's service, in the rebellion of 1745.
He was afterwards colonel of the horse^guards (blues), a
command which he resigned in 1769 ; lieutenant-general in
1759 ; and sent in the same year, as second in command,
under Lord George Sackville, of the British troops co
operating with the king of Prussia. Being present at the
battle of Minden, he received the thanks of Prince Ferdi
nand of Brunswick, in the following terms : — " His serene
highness further orders it to be declared to lieutenant-
general the Marquis of Granby, that he is persuaded that
if he had had the good fortune to have had him at the head
of the cavalry of the right wing, his presence would have
greatly contributed to make the decision of that day more
complete and brilliant." It does not detract from the force
of the compliment to the Marquis, that it contains at the
same time, a severe censure upon his superior in command,
Lord Sackville, who, as is well known, was accused of re
luctance and dilatoriness in obeying orders to bring forward
the British cavalry, and was ultimately broken for his con
duct on this occasion. On Lord G. Sackville's resignation,
the Marquis was appointed to the chief command of the
British troops, which he retained during the rest of the
seven year's war ; and both they and he gained honour at
the battles of Warburg, 1760; of Kirchdenkern, 1761; and
at Grebenstein and Homburg, in 1762. After four year's
of warm service, he was rewarded with the post of master
of the ordnance, in May 1763; and in August 1766, was
promoted to be commander in chief. He resigned this office
in January 1770; and died, much regretted, on the 19th of
October following, without succeeding to the dukedom. He
appears to have been a good soldier; brave, active, generous,
careful of his men, and beloved by them. His popularity
is shewn by the frequent occurrence of his portrait, as a
sign for public-houses even of late years. He represented

118 HISTORY OF
in parliament, the county of Cambridge, and was a privy
councillor. He married Sept. 3, 1750, Lady Frances,
eldest daughter and co-heir of Charles Seymour,* Duke of
Somerset, by his second Duchess, the right hon. Charlotte
Finch. By this lady, who died Jan. 25, 1760 — 1, he had
three sons and three daughters; John, Charles, Robert,
Frances, Charlotte, and Catharine. John, Lord Roos, died
in 1760, in the ninth year of his age; Catharine, in 1756 ;
and Charlotte, in 1757 ; Robert, born Feb. 6, 1758, was a
lieutenant of the Victory in Admiral Keppel's engagement,
July 27, 1778 ; and soon after, had the rank of a duke's son
given him by his majesty. Sir George Rodney made him
a post captain, Jan. 17, 1780, the day after the defeat of the
Spanish fleet. He went to the West Indies in December
following, with Sir Samuel Hood, as captain of the Resolution
of seventy-four guns, under Sir Chaloner Ogle, commodore ;
in which ship, he distinguished himself in the action with
the French off the Chesapeak, Sept. 5, 1781 ; and also in
that off St. Kitt's, when he was one of the seconds to Com
modore Affleck, Jan. 23, 1782. In the memorable action
off Dominica, April 12th of the same year, he was wounded
in both legs, one of which was amputated below the knee ;
and had also an arm broken. He survived some days ; and
from the goodness of his constitution, great hopes were en
tertained of his recovery: but to the great loss of his country
and the service, he was carried off by a locked jaw, on the
23rd following. By his express desire, his remains, were,
the day after his death, committed to the deep, in lat.
31°. 30'; an hundred leagues from the island of Bermudas.
Falling in the bed of honour, he became one of the three
heroes, to whom their grateful country decreed, by its repre-
* Seymour. Arms — Quarterly, 1 and 4, or, on a pile gules, between 6 fleurs
do lis azure, 3 lions of England (being the coat of augmentation granted by
lien. VIII, on his marriage with Lady Jane Seymour) 2 and 3, gules, two wings
conjoined in lure, the tips downwards, or.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 119
sentatives, a monument, to be placed among its national
worthies in Westminster Abbey. His two corripeers in
honour are Captain Blair, who had been promoted to the
command of the Anson, a new ship of sixty-four guns, and
fell in the severe engagement of the 12th of April ; and
Captain Bayne, of the Alfred, a good mathematician, and
well versed in naval tactics. Captain Bayne was leaning on
the shoulder of one of his lieutenants, and desiring him to
observe the effect of a new carronade of his own invention,
when a twenty-four pounder divided his body in the middle,
and carried part of it to the other side of the deck. The
monument is by Nollekens. Crabbe has devoted some
beautiful and appropriate lines to the death of Lord Robert
Manners. (Works v. 1, p. 25—30. Murray, 1823.)
The following letter will shew the sentiments expressed
by Leopold Frederick Francis, Duke of Anhalt Dessau, the
friend of John, Marquis of Granby, towards this noble
family^ " My Lord,  In the course of a tour, which I lately made
through Germany, I visited the court of the Duke of Anhalt
Dessau; one of the best and most revered sovereigns in Germany.
As soon as his serene highness heard that my wife's name was
Manners, he redoubled his kind attentions to us both, and enquir
ed, with great eagerness, respecting the present state of the house
of Rutland. He mentioned, that when he was in England, about
fifty-four years ago, he received the greatest civilities from the
celebrated Marquis of Granby; and, also, from his father, the
Duke of Rutland ; who, (as his highness observed) was caUed 'the
old man of the hill' The> Marquis, however, was his particular
friend, and used to lend him his horses, whenever he visited at
Belvoir. — These, and many other circumstances, were detailed by
the Duke, with expressions of sincere gratitude, and of the interest
he has ever since taken in the [prosperity of the Rutland family.
I told him, that if ever he returned to England, he would find,
that courteous hospitaUty is hereditary in the representatives of his
old friend ; and that he might admire in more than one Duchess

120 HISTORY OF
of Rutland, the characteristic beauty of our English ladies— His
highness replied, that an old man of seventy-six, has but little
chance of ever revisiting Great Britain, however much he might
wish it. But he requested, that I would present unto your grace,
and to the Duchess, his sincere good wishes for your health and
welfare, and that of the young Marquis ; in which good wishes,
Mrs. S. and I., may, perhaps, be permitted to unite. I have taken
the liberty of bringing over a striking likeness of his highness,
which I hope your grace will do me the honour to accept.* If you
should think it worthy of occupying a place at Belvoir, I should
recommend, that the inscription upon the frame should be in gilt
letters, 'Leopold Frederick Francis, Duke of Anhalt Dessau, born
1740'; and below, 'the friend of John, Marquis of Granby,' Such
a distinction, (whieh I should not fail to communicate) would
particularly gratify the Duke ; who is, in every point of view,
entitled to consideration and respect. — I have the honour to be,
my lord, your grace's very obedient humble servant,
Ham Common, near Richmond, George Sinclair.
30 Dec. 1816."
Lady Frances Manners, the eldest daughter of the Mar
quis of Granby, born March 24, 1753, was married July 9,
1772, to George, Earl of Tyrconnel, by whom she had a
son, still-born April 21, 1773. Being divorced by act of
parliament in 1777, she re-married Oct 28, of the same year,
to the hon. Philip Leslie, second son of Alexander, Lord
Newark, by whom she had one son.
Charles, Lord Roos, on the decease of his father, became
Marquis of Granby, afterwards member for the University
of Cambridge ; and on the death of his grandfather, which
was on the 29th of May, 1779, the fourth Duke. He raised
a regiment of foot for the service of Iris country, when at
war with America and France ; was steward of the household;
recorder of Grantham, Cambridge, and Scarborough; vice-
president of the Middlesex, London, and Lock hospitals,
and Welsh charities ; lord lieutenant, and custos rotulorum
* This likeness of the Duke of Anhalt Nassau is hung in the Regent's Gallery,
the above letter being pasted on the back.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 121
of the county of Leicester ; colonel of the Leicestershire
militia ; knight of the garter ; and one of his majesty's most
honourable privy council. In February, 1784, he was
appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland ; and by virtue of his
office, was grand master of the most illustrious order of St.
Patrick. He died, lord lieutenant, at Dublin, Oct. 24, 1787,
in the thirty-fourth year of his age ; and was buried at Bot
tesford, with his ancestors, the 25th of November following.
He married Dec. 26, 1775, the Lady Mary Isabella Somer
set, born Aug. 1, 1756, daughter to Charles Noel, fourth
duke of Beaufort ;* and by her had issue, four sons and two
daughters; John Henry; Charles Somerset, born Oct. 24,
1780; Robert William, born Dec. 14, 1781; William Robert
Albini, bom June 1, 1783 ; Elizabeth Isabella, born Sept.
28, 1776; Katharine Mary, born April 29, 1779.
The following is an extract from the London Chronicle,
Oct. 24, 1787. " duke of Rutland's death."
" On sunday night, two messengers arrived in town with
despatches from Mr. Hamilton, for Mr. Pitt and Lord Sydney,
containing the melancholy intelligence of the death of his ex-
ceUency, the Duke of Rutland, lord lieutenant of Ireland ; the
particulars of which are as follow :
His exceUency, a day or two after his return to his residence
in Phoenix Park, from his late tour through Ireland, complained
of being feverish ; and upon his physicians being consulted, their
opinion was, that owing to the violent Uving, his grace was obliged
to submit to, during an excursion of three months, together with
hard riding, his blood was extremely heated. Let it too be added,
that his grace travelled, frequently, seventy miles a day, on horse
back, during his absence.
" On the 10th instant, eight days after the period of the tour
afore-mentioned, his excellency's malady increased, so as to confine
him to his chamber. The best skill was instantly called in, amongst
whom, Dr. Quin, Mr. Neale the surgeon, and others of the faculty,
* Beaufort. Arms — Quarterly, France and England within a bordure
compony, argent and azure.

122 history of
are to be noticed. His disorder growing more violent, the Doctors
Warren and Knox were sent to, and the latter gentleman was
actually on his way to Holyhead, when the intelUgence arrived.
" SkiU, however, could have been of Uttle avaiL His exceUency
died last Wednesday, a Uttle past nine in the evening. His body
was opened early the next morning, when his Uver appeared so
much decayed and wasted, as to render his recovery impossible.
" During the Duke's illness, among other friends who scarcely
ever left his grace's chamber or the ante-room, Mr. Finch, and
Mr. Hamilton, his secretary, are to be mentioned.
" His grace of Rutland met his death with the most philosophic
composure ; he was sensible of his approaching end for many
hours preceding his dissolution ; he expressed a wish to see the
Duchess, but added to Dr. Quin, ' In point of time, it will be im
possible, I must therefore be content to die, with her image before
my mind's eye.'
" A circumstance attending the above calamity, which is to be
highly regretted, is, that her grace, the Duchess of Rutland, set
out on Sunday morning, at twelve o'clock, from the Duchess of
Beaufort's, on her way to Holyhead, and proposed travelUng
night and day; and what adds to the mortification is, that although
three couriers were on the road, with the unpleasant intelUgence
afore-mentioned, they all missed her grace, owing to her taking
the Huntingdon road. A messenger was, however, despatched
last night, by the Duchess of Beaufort, to bring her back.
" His excellency was appointed lord Ueutenant of Ireland, on
the 11th of February, 1784, and is the first viceroy to that king
dom, who ever died while holding the office. In point of state
splendour, real power, and dignity, the lord lieutenant of Ireland,
comes nearer to the grandeur and majesty of a king, than any
viceroy in the universe. His grace's popularity in Ireland will
occasion a general concern throughout that kingdom.
" The Duke has been embalmed, and will Ue in state for a
certain time ; after which, he will be brought to England, and be
solemnly interred at Bottesford with his ancestry."
His remains were afterwards removed to the mausoleum at
Belvoir. His grace's eldest daughter, Lady Elizabeth Isabella, born
Sept. 28, 1776, married Aug. 21, 1798, Richard Norman,

/ BELVOIR CASTLE. 123
Esq. Lady Katharine Mary, born April 22, 1779, married
Lord Forester, of Willey Park, county of Salop, June 16,
1800 ; and died May 1, 1829. Besides John Henry, (the
present Duke,) Charles the fourth Duke, had two sons,
Major-general Lord Charles Somerset, C. B. born Oct. 24,
1780; and Major-general Lord Robert William, C. B. and
M. P. bom Dec. 14, 1781.
John Henry, the present Duke, was born Jan. 4, 1778,
and was under ten years of age, on the death of his father.
He married April 22, 1799, Lady Elizabeth Howard,* fifth
daughter of Frederick, fifth Earl of Carlisle. In 1813, Dec.
28, the Prince Regent left town with the intention of visiting
the Duke at Belvoir Castle. His royal highness slept the
first night at Hatfield, the seat of the Marquis of Salisbury.
On the following day,
"He proceeded on his journey, and reached Apthorpe, the seat
of the Earl of Westmoreland, where he spent the day. At eight,
the Prince sat down to a sumptuous entertainment, at which were
present, the Duke of Rutland, Marquis of Exeter, Earls of Lonsdale,
Cardigan, Winchilsea, and Carysfort, Sir S. and Mr. Fludyer, &c.
Dec. 30. His royal highness passed through Stamford at four
in the afternoon, and was met at Bridge Casterton, by the Earl
of Lonsdale's carriage. His royal highness dined at Cottesmore
with a large party. The Prince continued at Cottesmore till Sun
day Jan. 2, rode out every day, and was in excellent health and
spirits. His royal highness received during his stay, an address
from the corporation of Stamford, on the prosperous state of affairs,
presented to him by a deputation from the body corporate.
"1814, Jan. 2. His royal highness left Cottesmore, and arrived
at Belvoir Castle the same day. The Duke of Rutland's tenants
and yeomen of the county, went out four miles to meet the Prince,
and formed a procession in advance to the Castle. The number
of persons assembled between Denton and Belvoir, was immense.
* Howard. Arms — Gules, on a bend between 6 cross crosslets fitchee argent,
an escocheon or, charged with a demi-lion rampant, pierced through the mouth
with an arrow, within a double tressure, flory, counterflory of the first with a
mullet for a difference.

124 history of
It consisted of horse and foot, with females of interesting appear
ance, conducted by brothers, mothers, and family connexions,
wearing their best rustic attire, while others of higher rank in
society appeared in more fashionable garb. They came with the
design of drawing the Prince's carriage up the hiU to the Castle,
as a testimony of loyalty and respect. It was difficult to prevent
the completion of their wishes, which was, however, denied, under
the impression that accidents might have happened, injurious to
the good folks themselves. The Prince was received by his grace
of Rutland, amidst a royal salute from cannon on the battlements
of the Castle. A shout of joy made by the spectators, increased
the sound of the ordnance ; at the same time, the royal standard
was proudly displayed on the Staunton Tower. The Duke of
Rutland, received the Prince Regent at the door of the Castle ;
but the key of Staunton Tower made of gold, and of exquisite
workmanship, was dehvered to the illustrious guest in the drawingT
room, soon after his arrival, by the Rev, Dr. Staunton, by etiquette
of the following order : — The chief strong hold of the Castle is an
out-work defence, caUed Staunton Tower ; the command of which
is held by a family of that name, in the manor of Staunton, by
tenure of castle guard, by which, they were anciently required to
appear with soldiers for the defence of this strong post, in case of
danger ; or if required, to be called upon by the lord of the Castle.
It has been the custom, when any of the royal family honoured
Belvoir Castle with their presence, for the chief of the Staunton
family personaUy to appear, and present the key of the strong hold
to such distinguished personage. This ceremony was performed
by the Rev. Doctor, by virtue of his tenure, with an appropriate
speech, to which the Prince Regent returned a most gracious reply.
" Jan. 4. The day of festivity on occasion of the baptism of
the infant Marquis, was also the birth-day of the Duke, and was
ushered in, and marked accordingly. His royal highness rode
again round the domains, and the Duke of York took the diversion
of shooting. The infant was baptized at six o'clock in the evening,
by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the great gallery, in the
presence of the whole of the nobiUty and gentry at the Castle, by
the name of George John Frederick ; the sponsors were the Prince
Regent, and the Duke of York ; and the duchess dowager of
Rutland, proxy for the queen. The noble party soon after sat
down to dinner. The health of the infant heir to the house of
Rutland, was drank at the proposal of the Prince. The Duke of

BELVOIR CASTLE. 125
Rutland returned thanks to the distinguished visitor with great
feeling ; and his royal highness in reply, assured the noble Lord,
that he should never forget the respectful manner, in which he
had been received at Belvoir Castle. The noble host then gave
the health of the Prince, which was received with enthusiasm, and
succeeded- by a dignified reply. Mr. Douglas, the Duke's butler,
entertained the tenantry with an oval cistern of punch, containing
fifty gallons.
"Jan. 5. A deputation from the corporation of Leicester,
consisting of William Walker, Esq. mayor, the recorder, (Mr.
Sergeant Vaughan,) the four magistrates, the town-clerk, and the
chamberlains attended by the mace-bearer, and other servants of
the corporation, waited on the Prince Regent with an address.
The deputation was ushered into his grace's splendid and mag
nificent Ubrary. The apartment selected to receive the address
in, was the long gaUery,* which had been recently fitted up for the
reception of his royal highness, in a state- of elegance, splendour,
and magnificence, perhaps not to be surpassed in Europe. His
grace the Duke of Rutland, did the corporation the honour of
acting as master of the ceremonies, and introduced the deputation
to his royal highness. The band of the Leicestershire militia,
arranged on the staircase, and at the entrance of the gaUery, played
" God save the king," as the deputation passed. The address was
dehvered by the mayor into the hands of the recorder, by whom
it was spoken to his royal highness, with a dignified respect and
attention, and in a tone of manly feeUng, most suitable to the oc
casion, and evidently producing an impression on the countenance
of his royal highness most marked and gratifying. The Prince
Regent immediately read his answer with a degree of spirit, and
with a grace and affability peculiarly characteristic of his royal
highness, which fascinated aU those in whose presence it was
dehvered. His royal highness then conferred the honour of knight
hood on the mayor, (now Sir William Walker,) who kissed his
royal highness' hand.
" His royal highness also received an address of congratulation,
on the auspicious state of public affairs, from the corporation of
Grantham ; and both deputations afterwards partook of a hand
some dinner provided by the Duke.
" Jan. 7. His royal highness, the Prince Regent, accompanied
* Now called the Regent's Gallery.

126 history of
by the Duke of York, left Belvoir at two o'clock, for Burley,
the seat of the Earl of Winchilsea, a few miles distant. The
distinguished personages took leave of the noble Rutland family,
evidently affected by the manner, in which they had been treated,
expressing, at the same time, their high regard for the welfare of
the family. Previously to leaving the Castle, the Prince Regent
named one of the towers, the ' Regent's Tower,' in remembrance
of his visit ; and was pleased to signify his pleasure, that a bust
of himself should be placed in the centre. . . . The Duke of Rutland
had the misfortune to lose the young hope of his noble house; the
child dying, June 15, 1814." (Nichols' Leicest. v. 1, p. 2, p.
128—130.) We now approach a period of time marked by an event,
which, calamitous as it undoubtedly was, might, but for an
over-ruling Providence, have proved still more awfully over
whelming in its consequences. Soon after his grace, the
present Duke, had attained his majority, he proceeded to
realise the splendid design, for which ample preparations
had been making during his minority, of rebuilding Belvoir
Castle. The work continued in progress from 1801 to 1816,
when the S. W. and S. E. fronts were completed; and the
grand staircase, and a picture gallery, in the N. W. front,
were nearly finished. On Saturday morning, Oct, 26, 1816,
between two and three o'clock, a fire commenced, the ori
gin of which is to this day unexplained, though the most
searching investigation was employed. His Grace and the
Duchess were at Cheveley Park; but five of the children
with a proportionate number of domestics were in the Castle.
Through the active exertions of Sir John Thoroton, as I
understand, the children were immediately placed in safety :
and the most strenuous efforts used to stem the progress of
the flames. The whole of the N. E. and N. W. fronts were
consumed: and it would appear, that the bricking up of
the door leading into the Regent's gallery, from the grand
staircase, alone prevented the extension of the destructive

BELVOIR CASTLE. 127
element to that side of the Castle. The grand staircase
being formed of stone, in which there was a large proportion
of lime, crumbled with the heat into powder. The loss
occasioned by this fearful event, was, in some instances,
irreparable. A Castle may be rebuilt, but valuable works
of art can never be replaced. The following list of pictures
consumed in the fire, with the valuation of an eminent per
son, officially employed on the occasion, will illustrate in
some measure, the irremediable destruction in the latter
respect

Mr. Rising's value of Pictures burnt at the fire at Belvoir
Castle, Oct 26, 1816.
I. — Sir Joshua Reynolds' Pictures :
Original Cost. Value insured at
SUBJECT. £. s. £.
TheNativity  1200 0 1400
The Infant Jupiter, in London, at Mr.
Rising's, when insurance was made  105 0 not insured
An Old Man Reading a BaUad  3110 100
The CalUng of Samuel  105 0 100
A Venetian Boy  50 0 100
The Duchess of Rutland  210 0 200
The Duke of Rutland  210 0 200
Lords Charles, Robert, and William Man
ners, with a Spaniel Dog  210 0 100
Lord Granby, Lady EUzabeth, and Lady
Catharine Manners  210 0 100
Lord Chatham  210 0 100
The Marquis of Granby, Hussar and Horse 210 0 300
LadyGranby  105 0 100
Head of Lord Granby  31 10 not insured
The Duchess of Beaufort  210 0 200
Marquis of Lothian  31 10 50
Lord Mansfield  52 10 100

128 HISTORY OF
General Oglethorpe  52 10 50
Sir Joshua's own Portrait  31 10 100
Kitty Fisher  52 10 100
£3318 10 3400
Deduct Infant Jupiter  £105 0 
 Head of Lord Granby... 31 10
 136 10
Insured at  £3400 £3182 0
Original cost  3182 
£ 218

The picture of the Nativity mentioned first in the above
hst, was painted as the central piece for the stained glass
window in New College, Oxford ; the value of which has
been estimated at three thousand guineas.

II. — A catalogue of all the pictures burnt at Belvoir Cas
tle, inclusive of those mentioned in the above list, with Mr.
Rising's valuation : THE SALOON. Mr. Rising's Value
Value, Insured
SUBJECT. MASTERS. Guineas. at£.
The Nativity,  Sir J. Reynolds,  3000 1400
Holy Family,  Cignani,  60
Earl of Pembroke,  Mytens,  60
Lord Chaworth,  VanDyck,  200 150
Portrait of a Lady and Gentle
man in conversation, (whole
length, with a view of Ant
werp in the back ground, . . . Frank Hals,  1 00
Half length of a Female,  ditto,  30
Whole length (kit-kat size) of
a Boy with a Stick in his
Hand,  15
The Assumption of the Virgin, Carlo Maratti  200

BELVOIR CASTLE. 129
Whole length of Don Guzman, Mytens,  40
Apotheosis of Psyche,  . ... Rubens,  100
Wliole length of a Bishop of
Ghent, after Van Dyck, ... Sir P. Lely  150 100
Charles, fourth Duke of Rut
land, (whole length)  Sir J. Reynolds  200 200
Mary Isabella, Duchess of Rut
land,  ditto,  200 200
Infant Jupiter,  ditto,  500
Jupiter and Danae, .after Cor-
reggio,  16
_ ,. „ „ , , /French master,)
Sending a Bov to school,  \ , r 16
° J I unknown,  J
Cattle, (smaU size)  Romeyne,  20
A Holy Fanrily after Raffaele,  15
Girl with a Lamp,  unknown,  5
Landscape,  Bolognese,  10
Ruins  Marco Ricci,  15
Landscape,  Vanderhyde,  35
Landscape & Windmill, (moon
light)  Van der Neer,  35 50
Two models of Voltaire, when
in health, and when dying,  30
Landscape and Battle,  Romeyne,  30 50
Landscape, (small size)  Breughel,  20
Landscape, Tobit and the An
gel,  Domenichino,  30
St. Mark's-place, Venice,  5
Old Portrait of a man, in the
style of Holbein,  5
An old Portrait of a man,  5
Death of Hero and Leander,  10 30
Virgin and Child, after Cor-
reggio,  10
Boy and an Ass,  Jardin,  35
Cupids Dancing,  Rothenhammer,  35 50
Half-length, Venus Attiring,... Carlo Maratti,  30
Small oval Landscape,  3
Virgin Appearing to St.Francis, Cignani,  35
Noah Returning Thanks,  Filippo Lauri,  30
Shepherd's Head,  Denner,  60
K

130 HISTORY OF
Interior of a Church,  P. de Nefs, . .
Interior — Candlelight,  ditto, 
Friars Asleep, 
Descent from the Cross, (small) Rembrandt,
Boys Bathing,  Rysbrach, . ,

REGENT'S DRESSING ROOM.

Sir Joshua Reynolds, by  Himself, 
Kitty Fisher,  Sir J. Reynolds,.
The Bard,  ditto, 
Samuel,  ,  ditto, 
Charles, fourth Duke of Rut
land, in crayons,  Hamilton, 
Mary Isabella, Duchess of Rut
land, in water colours,  Plymer, 
Marquis of Lothian,  Sir J. Reynolds, .
Portraits of Lords Charles,
Robert, and WilUam Man
ners, with a Spaniel Dog, . . . ditto, 
Portraits of Lord Granby, Lady
EUzabeth and Lady Catha
rine Manners,  ditto, 
A Venetian Boy,  ditto, 
Head of Lord Granby,  ditto, 
Lady Granby,  ditto, 
General Oglethorpe,  ditto, 
Pope Innocent X.,  Velasquez,  ,
Bacchus Sleeping,  Lanfranco, 
Saint John,  Peters, 
Sir Isaac Newton 
Lord Mansfield  Sir J. Reynolds .

40

30

50

30

35

100

100

35

30

100

100

150

100

100

100

150

100

30

50

200

200

200

200

100

100

30

100

100

100

60

50

150

50

50

25

14

50
100
REGENT'S BED ROOM.
Two large Pictures of the two
separate Actions fought by
Lord Rodney in the West
Indies : — Lord Robt. Man
ners' Ship, the Resolution,
having attacked two French
men of war, when (in the
latter engagement) he lost
hisUfe,  Serres,  200
i50

100

35

50

10

50

100

5

2

2

5
5
20
BELVOIR CASTLE. 131
Lord Robert Manners  Dance, 
Nymphs breaking Cupid's Bow, Angelica Kauffman,
An Insulated Palace 
Country Girl  Peters, 
Landscape, 
Shipping,  Elhott, 
Ditto,  ditto, 
Ditto,  Serres, 
Ditto,  ditto, 
Lord G. H. Cavendish  Battoni, 
MUSIC ROOM.
Madame de la VaUiere, from a
painting by Le Brun,  Peters,  10
Marquis of Granby, Hussar,
and Horse,  Sir J. Reynolds,  200 300
Brecknock, the Irishman,  5
Duchess of Beaufort,  Sir J. Reynolds,  200 200
Lord Chatham,  ditto,  200 100
Lord Granby, (whole length)... Hamilton,  50 50
Cleopatra dissolving the Pearl, Carlo Maratti,  35
A large Picture of Charles I.
on Horseback, after Van
Dyck,  Old Stone,  150 100
Lord Robert Sutton,  Ramsay,  20
Six smaU Portraits of the Noel
Family, 
The Portraits of Pope, Wy-
cherley, and Gay,  15
Chesnut Horse, Asparagus, . . . Garrard,  5
John Notzel, the Marquis of
Granby's Hussar,  Brown,  20
The great Lord Chatham,  Hoare,  100 100
OLD BREAKFAST ROOM.
Dogs and Ducks,  60
Dogs and Bitterns,  60
Three-quarter Landscape,  D'Etiva,  40
Virgin, Child, and St. John, ... Van Dyck,  25
Ditto,  ditto,  10
it 2
132 HISTORY OF
Samson and Delilah,  Lucca Jardona,  30
Female Portrait,  Titian,  30 100
The Monster, (in London at
Mr. Rising's, when the best
pictures were insured at the
Castle,)  Salvator Rosa,  1000
The Maid of Orleans,  Rubens,  60 150
A Sheep's Head,  Berghem,  15 30
Gamester,  M. A. Caravaggio ... 1 50 50
OLD DRAWING ROOM.
The Preparation of the Passover, Poussin,  350 350
DUKE'S OLD DRESSING ROOM.
William de Albini and his Three
Daughters,  West,  150
Lord Arundel and his Son, copy
by Dobson from Van Dyck, Dobson,  30
Head of an Engraver,  80 50
Friar,  Zrucchero,  50 30
Lord Robert Manners,  Dance,  100 100
Cottage and Figures,  Van der Velde  40 20

Guins. 10748 £5580

An interesting memorial of his grace's feelings on the
occasion of the fire, is embodied in a document placed in
one of the foundation stones of the centre tower in the north
east front, and is here presented to the reader.
" Belvoir Castle, 10th March, 1817.
On Good Friday, A. D. 1801, we commenced pulUng down the
south-west front of Belvoir Castle, next to the court yard. The
work of rebuilding continued progressive till the year 1816, when
the south-west and south-east fronts were completed ; and the
grand staircase and a picture gallery, in the north-west front,
were nearly finished.
On Saturday morning, October 26, 1816, between two and
three o'clock, the Castle was visited by a most awful, destructive,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 133
and alarming fire ; which, for a considerable time, appeared to
defy the persevering efforts of my numerous friends of all ranks
and classes, who gave their prompt and zealous assistance on the
occasion. By the blessing of Providence, their manly exertions
were at length crowned with success ; and the south-west and
south-east fronts were preserved perfect and entire. The princi
pal part of the plate, and more than one-half of the collection of
pictures were saved ; and a mercy of still greater value and im
portance was bestowed on the Duchess and me, (then absent at
Cheveley Park,) in the preservation of our five dear children, and
of the whole family in the Castle. So true is it, that even in his
just chastisements, an Almighty God is merciful, and that his
severest dispensations possess sources of comfort to the mind of a
christian ! It is with a due sense of the divine goodness, and
with a proper gratitude for the mercy of God, that I recommence
on this day, the rebuilding of the north-west and north-east fronts
of Belvoir Castle, (which were totally destroyed by the fire,)
having committed the superintendence of the building to the Rev.
Sir John Thoroton, knight, assisted by Mr. Thomas Turner, as
clerk of the works ; — fully confiding in their ability to temper
splendour with prudence, and comfort with economy, but more
particularly conscious that

' Except the Lord build the house
Their labour is but lost that build it,'

RUTLAND.

This was put in a glass bottle, and placed in one of the founda
tion stones of the centre tower in the north-east front."
The following is also a duplicate connected with the in
teresting event of laying the foundation stone of the centre
tower, in the north-east front.
"Belvoir Castle, 10th March, 1817.
The money contained in this glass was deposited by the follow
ing persons :
John Henry, Duke op Rutland.
Elizabeth, Duchess of Rutland.
Charles Cecil John, Marquis of Granby.
Lady Elizabeth Manners.

134 HISTORY OF
Lady Emmeline Manners.
Lady Katharine Manners.
Lady Adeliza Manners.
Mary Isabella, Duchess Dowager of Rutland.
Lord Charles Somerset Manners.
Lord Robert Manners.
Lady Elizabeth Norman.
Lady Katharine Weld Forester.
Richard Norman, Esquire.
Cecil Weld Forester, Esquire.
The Rev. Sir John Thoroton, Knigut.
Sarah Gooding, Governess.
Part of the Duke of Rutland's establishment : James Eaton,
land steward ; Thomas Turner, clerk of the works ; John Fletcher,
clerk in the land steward's office ; Matthew Pound, woodman ;
Thomas Lack, gardener; William Watts, her grace's farm bailiff;
John Elson, his grace's farm bailiff; John Walter, domestic up
holsterer ; Ann KeeUng, housekeeper ; Sarah Allan, her grace's
waiting woman ; Margaret Griffiths, nurse to the young ladies ;
Sarah Gittoes, Lord Granby 's nurse ; Mary Harley, Lady Eliza
beth's maid ; John Halse, valet to the Duke ; James Akerman,
groom ; Nathaniel Jones, cook ; Edward Moore, foreman of the
masons. Amount of coin deposited £1. 12s. in half-crowns, shillings,
and sixpences : viz. two half-crowns, twenty-five shillings, and
four sixpences, all in new coin."
A far more overwhelming loss was experienced by his
grace, in the death of One, who was the pride and ornament
of his renovated Castle, and of whom there are preserved
in almost every room, some affecting memorials of her
beauty, talents, and accomplishments, and of his grace's
devoted attachment. The following document, which was
printed and extensively circulated among his grace's tenants,
expresses in appropriate language, the character of the late
Duchess of Rutland:
" Her grace was the second daughter of Frederick, Earl of
CarUsle ; she was born Nov. 13, 1780, and married to John Henry,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 135
fifth Duke of Rutland, April 22, 1799, and died Nov. 29, 1825.
The immediate cause of her grace's death, was an obstruction
in the bowels, which resisted all the remedies employed for its
removal. For a few weeks previous to her death, she had occa
sionally complained of a slight pain ; but it was her general habit
to treat with indifference, any indisposition with which she was
herself affected ; and no individual about her had the most remote
idea that she was seriously unwell, tiU her malady had made con
siderable progress.
" On Friday, three days before her death, she was gay and
cheerful in the midst of her family, and busily engaged in her
usual occupation. She rode on horseback over her extensive farm
and plantations, and viewed some fat stock intended for exhibition
at Smithfield. On her return from riding, she walked to her dairy
and garden, and dined as usual with her family on that day, and
on Saturday. On retiring to her children's apartment on Saturday
evening, she for the first time complained of being seriously ill.
Expresses were sent immediately for physicians from Grantham,
Leicester, and Nottingham, and also to London, for Sir Henry
Halford ; but alas 1 in vain. When Sir Henry arrived, the suffer
ings of the Duchess, which had been acute during thirty hours,
had subsided into a complete prostration of strength, which ebbed
away in a very rapid and remarkable manner.
" The Duchess of Rutland has left seven affectionate children,
three sons and four daughters, to the care of an afflicted father,
whose cruel fate it is to deplore the loss of a companion, who after
more than twenty-six years cf wedded happiness, and of increasing
admiration on his part, has been snatched from him, while yet in
the prime of Ufe, in the meridian of beaut}', and in the possession
of a mind, whose comprehensive faculties were daily more and
more developing themselves.
" In this distinguished lady were united the attractive softness
of the most perfect grace and beauty, with a vigour of understand
ing, and a clearness of intellect, seldom equaUed in either sex.
Her taste was pure and refined; she excelled in every elegant
female accomplishment ; and by her own spontaneous efforts, in
the midst of gaiety and pleasure, had stored her mind with much
soUd knowledge. Her piety was fervent, simple, and unaffected ;
her mind was early imbued with a deep sense of religion, which
was confirmed by reflection, even in the joyous days of youthful
happiness. In her, this feeling was not (as is often the case) the

136 HISTORY OF
offspring of misfortune or suffering, but it enabled her to bear the
heavy afflictions, by which her early wedded Ufe was chequered,
with a resignation and patient fortitude, rarely to be found in a
youthful female mind ; and derived only from an unbounded con
fidence in the wisdom and mercy of an aU-seeing Providence.
" She lost four children, three sons and one daughter ; the
latter was particularly dear to her, as her first-born child, and the
former were successively objects of her pride and hope, as heirs
of an illustrious house. The effect of several dangerous iUnesses
destroyed the comforts and active enjoyments of some years of
her life, though they did not at all affect her patience and magna
nimity. " She was the idol of that domestic circle, which was the joy
and pride of her heart. Unostentatious, but persevering in her
efforts to improve the whole country around her, she graduaUy
and imperceptibly accomplished her weU-formed plans, by a judi
cious application of the ample means, which, the indulgence of
the kindest and most affectionate husband, placed at her disposal.
"By her good management his estates were improved, and the
surrounding villages embellished ; and while her general views
were enlarged and magnificent, she did not disdain to interest
herself in the most minute details, that could improve the habits,
or increase the comforts of the poorest cottager. Her grace was
a successful practical farmer, upon a large scale, and her exertions
were rewarded by several prizes and medals from the societies,
for the encouragement of planting and agriculture. She was
particularly accurate in the economy of her farm, and made it not
only an object of amusement to herself, but of beneficial example
to others. To those who remember this country twenty years
ago, it may be said of this distinguished lady, ' Si monumeiitum
quasris, circumspice.' While occupied in pursuits hke these, and
in personally superintending the education of her children, her
active and capacious mind embraced a wider range. Belvoir
Castle will long remain a splendid monument of her taste in
architecture ; and there exist many of her designs and plans, in
progress, and in speculation, which would do credit to a profes
sional artist. About eight years ago, she had completed in detail,
very beautiful designs for an entrance to Hyde Park corner, and
for the embellishment of the parks. Her taste and talent sugges
ted and directed the designs for the proposed quay, on the north
bank of the river Thames; and she entered with ardour and

BELVOIR CASTLE. 137
enthusiasm into various plans for the improvement of London and
Westminster. The elevation of York-house, now in progress,
was the production of her grace's taste ; and the plans, even to
the most minute particulars, were formed under her immediate
direction. But above all, she had devoted much time, and taken
great pains in the formation of a plan for a royal palace, suited to
a sovereign of the British empire, and which, it was proposed to
place in a situation, uniting aU the advantages of health, conve
nience, and magnificence. These are subjects sufficient to occupy
the life of a professional man ; but it is the remarkable feature in
the character of this extraordinary woman, that while she was
engaged in these various, and often laborious occupations, she
would have appeared to a common observer, to be absorbed in
the enjoyment of the gay and brilUant pleasures of that distin
guished circle, of which she was herself the brightest ornament.
" England may boast of women of dazzhng beauty — of women
possessing great taste for the arts — and of many a fond mother,
occupied in superintending the education of her children. But
quaUties so various, never met together in any individual, till
they were united in the person of the lovely, and ever to be
lamented Duchess of Rutland.
" Her benevolence was unostentatious ; her heart warm and
affectionate ; her manner somewhat diffident to strangers ; but to
those, who had the pleasure to enjoy her intimacy, they were
perfectly fascinating.
"A disconsolate family will for ever deplore her untimely death ;
a wide circle of friends wiU be deprived of its brightest ornament,
and the country at large will have reason to regret the loss of that
public spirit, and of those varied talents, which were beginning
to attract general attention."
The funeral of her grace the Duchess of Rutland.
The following extracted from the Journals of the period,
gives an accurate description of this mournfully interesting
ceremony, and of the extensive sympathy, which was mani
fested by persons of all classes, on the occasion,
" The interment of the remains of this much-regretted lady
took place on Friday last, in the Cemetery, at Bottesford Church,
which for centuries has been the burying place of that illustrious

138 HISTORY OF
family of which her grace was so bright an ornament. At an
early hour crowds of foot and horse-men began to coUect in the
vicinity, of the Castle, along the line of road on which the proces
sion was to pass, and at the viUage of Bottesford : almost every
individual of the numerous assemblage was either attired in black,
or exhibited some attempt at mourning : one feeling seemed
universal — a desire to seize this last opportunity of testifying the
reverential affection in which the deceased was so generally held.
In viewing the proud towers of Belvoir, which the Duchess had
been so instrumental in creating — in taking a retrospective glance
at the splendid hospitalities that had cheered its walls, in which
even princes were participators — and in reflecting that she who so
long presided over this scene of earthly grandeur had quitted it
for ever, and was about to be consigned to ' the house appointed
for all living,' — the contemplative mind was furnished with an
instance of the frailty of human dependencies beyond measure
impressive !
The Duke of Rutland left the Castle at nine o'clock for the
Rev. C. R. Thoroton's, at Bottesford, there to await the coming of
the funeral cortege. The nobility and gentry who had intended
sending carriages, found on enquiry, that, as it was strictly consi
dered a private funeral, the attendances of their equipages would
be dispensed with.
As the Castle clock struck eleven, a signal was given from one
of the towers, and the procession set out in the following order :
The superintendent of the Duke's woods, plantations, and pleasure grounds,
and the bailiff of her grace's extensive farm,
At the head of one hundred and thirty-six of the Duke's principal tenants of
the neighbourhood, two abreast, on horseback, dressed in black, with silk
hatbands and gloves.
The undertaker, on horseback.
Two mutes, on horseback, carrying staves covered with black.
Six attendants on horseback.
Two mutes carrying staves.
Plume of feathers, with the escutcheon of the deceased, borne by a person on
foot.
Her grace's favourite white mare, caparisoned in black, led between the two
grooms who usually attended her grace when she rode out.
Her grace's coronet, on a scarlet cushion, borne by the house-steward, on a
black state horse properly decorated.
THE HEARSE,
Drawn by six black horses, driven by her grace's coachman and postillion, with
the family arms richly emblazoned, and four pages on each side on foot,
bearing staves tipped with silver.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 139
Three mourning coaches and six, and four mourning coaches and four, pro
perly decorated with feathers and escutcheons, and two attending pages
in mourning on foot to each coach.
The first coach contained the Earl of Carlisle, his two brothers, the hon. Wm.
and Henry Howard, and Andrew Drummond, Esq.
Second coach, Lord Chas. S. Manners, Lord Robt. Manners, William Sloane
Stanley, Esq., Rd. Norman, Esq., and W. F. French, Esq.
Third coach, physician, apothecary, solicitors, and steward.
Fourth coach, six upper men servants.
Fifth coach, six other men servants.
Sixth coach, live upper women servants.
Seventh coach, five other women servants, and nurse.
The Duke's second coachman, and two grooms as out-riders, attendant upon
the late Duchess' own carriage (empty), drawn by six black horses ;
with coachman, postillion, and two footmen.
Ten other servants of the establishment, in deep mourning, on horseback.
Numerous clergymen and gentlemen of the neighbourhood, including the
Rev. Dr. Etough, Minister of Croxton Kerrial, aud Major Hall,
of Shelton Hall.
The cavalcade moved at a slow rate from the Castle, and pre
sented a display of funeral pomp of the most imposing description.
The bells from the neighbouring churches tolled their notes of
wild solemnity, and the profound melancholy of the occasion was
not a little heightened by the deep gloom and lowering aspect of
the day. In consequence of the indifferent state of the direct
road, the circuitous route by Redmile and Elton was adopted.
The procession occupied in its progress three hours and a half,
arriving at Bottesford at half-past two o'clock.
The tenants on horseback then arranged themselves on each
side of the road leading to the rectory, and the hearse and mourn
ing-coaches drew in upon the lawn in front of the rectory-house,
to which, the Duke, accompanied by the Rev. Charles Roos
Thoroton, rector of Bottesford, and domestic chaplain to Ms
grace, had, a short time before the procession left the Castle, gone
privately in his grace's chariot. A pause took place, to give time
for the horsemen to dismount, and for a walking procession to be
marshaUed. Within the church, the pulpit and reading-desk had been hung
with black cloth in Roman draperies, with the family arms embla
zoned on a white satin ground. His grace's pew and the rector's,
were ornamented in a similar manner.
From the house of Mr. Thoroton to the church porch, a passage
was formed by the tenantry, who from being closely linked to
gether kept off all pressure from the many thousands who were

140 HISTORY OF
congregated together. Up this avenue the funeral train, after a
delay of half an hour, proceeded.
Beadsmen, in black cloaks and staves.
The Rev. C. R. Thoroton, in his robes.
The curate of Bottesford, the Rev. G. Lawton.
Person bearing the coronet and cushion.
Physician and apothecary.
THE COFFIN,
Carried by eight bearers, and protected by five mutes or attendants with
truncheons and staves on each side.
The pall-bearers were, the Hon. Henry Howard, Andrew Drummond, Esq.,
Lord Chas. S. Manners, Lord Robert Manners, W. S. Stanley, Esq.,
and Richard Norman, Esq.
THE DUKE, as chief mourner,
Supported by the Earl of Carlisle and the Hon. Wm. Howard.
Mr. Pound, tutor to the Marquis of Granby.
 Halse, Esq., R. Eaton, Esq., medical attendants, solicitors, Mr. Turner,
&c. &c.
Servants, &c, of the establishment.
The coffin, on which was a brass plate with the arms and supporters
engraved, had the following inscription :
"Elizabeth, Duchess of Rutland,
" Second daughter of Frederick, Earl of Carlisle, K. G.
" Bom 13th November, 1780,
" Died 29th November, 1825,"
The coffin was placed in the centre of the aisle, on an elevated
platform : it was covered with the richest crimson velvet, and
highly decorated with gilt ornaments : the coronet was laid at the
head. The service commenced with an anthem, sung by the
choir, assisted by several professional gentlemen. The Rev. C. R.
Thoroton read the beautiful ritual for the dead, but his agitation
frequently rendered parts of it inaudible. Previously to removing
the coffin into the vault, Pope's sublime composition ' Vital
Sparlt,' was given with fine effect. — The minister descended from
the reading desk, and concluded the service within the tomb. It
was distressing to witness the deep grief of the mourners, and the
spectators were affected in no ordinary degree. — The Duke evi
dently made an effort to repress his feelings, and for some time
joined in the responses, but ere half the ceremony was ended he
closed the book, and gave way to uncontrolled emotion. — It was
not without difficulty the females were conveyed out of the vault,
after taking a last view of the coffin : their sorrow indeed seemed
that of the heart, and excited the greatest sympathy.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 14 1
Those who had formed a part in the procession returned to the
rectory, and the tenants again mounted guard until the various
noble and distinguished personages had departed."
The Duchess Dowager of Rutland died 1st Sept., 1831.
Though her grace had reached a period of life longer than
is usually allotted to man, no symptoms of approaching dis
solution manifested themselves until a few days previous.
During the latter end of August, she was seized with a
paralytic stroke, which terminated fatally in the presence of
his grace the Duke of Rutland, Lord Charles and Lord
Robert Manners, at her house in Sackville-street, London.
Her remains were removed on the following Wednesday,
Sept. 7th, for interment in the mausoleum, at Relvoir. The
cavalcade consisted of twelve horsemen in black cloaks ; a
plateau of feathers ; her grace's coronet borne by a page on
horseback ; a hearse and six containing the coffin, which
was lined with white satin, and covered with crimson velvet.
The armorial bearings of the Rutland and Somerset families,
were superbly emblazoned on the plate, which had also the
following inscription : — " Mary Isabella, Duchess Dowager
of Rutland, daughter of Charles, fourth Duke of Reaufort,
and relict of Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland, K. G., died
Sept 1st, 1831, aged 75." Two mourning coaches and six,
her grace's private carriage, followed by the equipages of the
Duke of Rutland, the Speaker of the House of Commons,
the Earl and Countess of Chesterfield, Dowager Countess
of Clare, Lady Elizabeth Talbot, Lord Forester, Earl Jer-
myn, Hon. Robert Smith, M. P., Hon. Colonel Anson,
Hon. General Phipps, and other relatives and connexions
of the noble deceased. On Saturday, the remains of her
grace reached their destination at Relvoir Castle.
" The tenantry of the Duke to the number of one hundred and
forty-two, preceded by the steward on horseback, met the proces
sion at Harlaxton inn, whence it proceeded to the Castle. The

142 HISTORY OF
splendid guard -chamber of this princely mansion was partially
hung with black cloth, and adorned with escutcheons of the family
arms beautifully emblazoned : the crimson velvet coffin was placed
on a bier covered with black cloth, with a rich black velvet paU,
escutcheons, and plumes of feathers ; the coronet being placed on
a pedestal at the head of the corpse. In this state it remained
until Monday morning, when the funeral took place, at ten o'clock,
as privately as the exalted rank of the noble deceased would admit
of. The procession was as foUows :
Eighteen of the Duke of Rutland's establishment, in black cloaks,
two and two.
Two mutes on horseback.
Coronet, borne as in London.
Two pages. — Two mutes.
The Rev. C. R. Thoroton, and the Rev. W. Selwyn, in their gowns.
THE HEARSE, attended by pages.
Mourning coach.
Her grace's coach and four.
The Duke of Rutland's coach and four.
The rear was brought up by a number of his grace's servants in black liveries.
The mourners were
The Duke of Rutland and Lord Charles Manners.
Lord Robert Manners and the Marquis ot Granby.
Lord Forester and R. Norman, Esq.
Rev. C. Norman and G. Norman, Esq.
James Norman, Esq. and T. H. Mortimer, Esq.,
Two of her grace's female attendants.
Her grace's butler and his grace's house steward.
In the above order the funeral reached the mausoleum, where
the obsequies where performed by the Duke's chaplain.''
The Duchess Dowager had been for many years, one of
the most beautiful and graceful women of the high circle in
which she moved. She had claims, however, upon our
respect of a far more valuable, and durable, if less brilliant
kind. Her memory is still cherished in the neighbourhood
of Relvoir Castle, for an affability of manner to her inferiors,
and real kindness of disposition to all, which are not always
co-existent with attractions, which render their possessor the
admired idol of a courtly circle.
The affectionate terms upon which the Duke of Rutland

BELVOIR CASTLE. 143
has always lived with his brothers, rendered another breach
in the family circle sufficiently painful, though naturally less
so, than in the loss of the Duchess. Lord Robert Manners,
the youngest brother, had for a considerable time been sub
ject to inconvenience, often of a distressing character, from
obstructed digestion. On the morning of Saturday, Nov.
14, 1835, alarming symptoms had taken place ; and after
enduring with great fortitude intense sufferings, during the
whole of the day and succeeding night, he died on Sunday
about four o'clock in the afternoon, universally regretted by
those, who had the honour of his acquaintance, for his un
affected and amiable deportment.
During the last week of November, 1839, Belvoir Castle
was the scene of magnificent hospitality, in honour of the
Queen Dowager. Her progress from Gopsal, the seat of Earl
Howe, through Leicester, Melton Mowbray, and Waltham,
was attended with every circumstance of loyal rejoicing.
Rut in the words of an eye-witness.
" One of the most interesting displays of popular feeling was
yet in reserve. Upwards of seven hundred horsemen, consisting
of the gentry and yeomanry of the neighbourhood, were assembled
in Croxton Park, awaiting the arrival of her majesty. At the
gate-entrance of the park, were assembled the park-keepers of his
grace the Duke of Rutland, in their dress Uveries, ready to receive
her majesty, on her arrival at the park. The whole of the gentle
men of the Belvoir Hunt, in scarlet, headed by Lord Forester,
the master of the Belvoir hounds, having been hunting in the
neighbourhood, joined the group, and, with the whipper-in, formed
a pecuUar and striking feature in the crowd. They conducted her
majesty across the park, foUowed by the numerous carriages of
the neighbouring gentry, and flanked by the splendid cavalcade
of horsemen, of which a troop of the Leicestershire* yeomanry
formed a part, who had previously formed in lines, so that her
majesty might pass between them. The cortege proceeded along
* A troop of the Leiceitershire yeomanry headed by Sir G. Palmer, Bart.,
and E. B. Hartopp, Esq., escorted her majesty from Melton to Belvoir.

144 HISTORY OF
the private road, which crosses Blackberry Hill, and proceeded
over the Knipton reservoir to the Castle. On the royal visitor
reaching the grand entrance, the band of the Duke of Rutland,
who were in attendance in the guard-room, immediately struck
up "God save the queen." All the attendants in the Castle,
were stationed at the entrance, to receive queen Adelaide, and
her suite ; and at the foot of the principal staircase, her majesty
was received by his grace the Duke of Rutland, and Lady Adeliza
Manners, accompanied by the family and household then in the
Castle, amongst whom were noticed Lord and Lady Jermyn,
Mr. Andrew, and Lady Elizabeth Drummond, Lord Forester, Mr.
and Lady Elizabeth Norman, Lord C. Manners, Lord and Lady
Barrington, the hon. Stuart Wortley, the Rev. C. R. Thoroton,
the Duke's chaplain, &c. His grace conducted his royal guest,
followed by the noblemen and gentlemen of her majesty's suite, to
the grand saloon.
" When her majesty alighted, a royal salute of twenty-one guns
was fired from the bastion, of the Castle, and the royal standard
floated from the Regent's Tower. The day was unusually favour
able for the time of the year, and the autumnal tints, which still
lingered on the noble woods around the Castle, enhanced the
effect of a spectacle, which reaUzed the imaginings of old romance.
" The royal dinner table on Monday, was decked with a mag
nificent service of silver plate ; covers were laid for thirty ; and
the dinner party consisted of her majesty the Queen Dowager,
his grace the Duke of Rutland, the Marquis of Exeter, the Earl
Howe and Lady Georgiana Curzon, the Earl and Comitess of
Denbigh, Lady Mary Fielding, Sir Horace Seymour, and Lady
Clinton, the hon. Miss Mitchell, Miss Hudson, Lord Adolphus
Fitzclarence, Lord Burghersh, the Rev. R. C. Wood, (her majesty's
chaplain) Lord and Lady Jermyn, Mr. A. and Lady Elizabeth
Drummond, Lord Forester, Mr. and Lady EUzabeth Norman,
Lord C. Manners, Lord and Lady Barrington, the hon. Stuart
and Lady Emmeline Wortley, the Rev. C. R. Thoroton, Sir George
Palmer, E. B. Hartopp, Esq., and Mr. Staunton.
" During the dinner, the band played a military piece : ' The
Roast Beef of Old England,' a tune which is the usual accompani
ment of a dinner party at the Castle, and a favourite quick step,
of which her majesty is said to be very fond. There was, also,
suitable rural music, the whole of which was under the direction
of Mr. Nicholson, the master of tlie Duke's band.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 145
" The detachment of yeomanry, who accompanied her majesty
from Melton to Belvoir, were entertained for the night at the
Belvoir inn, at the expense of his grace, in a style of liberality,
Which corresponded with all the arrangements at the Castle. It
was intended, that this detachment should have remained in
attendance on the queen until Friday, and provision was made by
his grace, for their entertainment : but her majesty having ex
pressed her wish to leave Belvoir privately, the detachment left on
Tuesday afternoon.
"On Tuesday morning, her majesty attended prayers in the
chapel of the Castle, at half-past nine o'clock — a duty in the per
formance of which, her majesty is very regular — and at which,
she expressed her royal pleasure that the household should be
present. Between ten and eleven o'clock in the morning, the
various guests in the Castle assembled to breakfast The queen
then proceeded to hear the band play, and listened with much
pleased attention to a favourite air, from Lord Burghersh's popular
opera of Fedra, which her majesty particularly requested, should
be played twice over. The band was stationed in the guard-roonij
and the selection consisted principally of pieces from Lucia di
Lammermoor. In the course of the day her majesty, attended by
his grace, the Earl Howe, the Earl of Denbigh, and a numerous
suite, rode over the grounds adjacent to the Castle.
"On Wednesday morning, after the usual attendance at prayers,
her majesty accompanied by a numerous suite, proceeded to wit
ness the enlivening sport of the chase. The hounds under the
care of Mr. Goosey, the huntsman, met on the Castle slope, and a
most numerous field assembled to do honour to the royal presence.
There were at least four hundred horsemen in the field, many of
whom came from a considerable distance to be present at the
meeting. The queen who is distinguished as a horsewoman, was
mounted on a splendid chesnut horse. Several ladies, visitors
at the Castle, proceeded in carriages to view the sport. Lady
Georgiana Curzon, the hon. Miss MitcheU and Lady Mary Fielding,
accompanied the queen on horseback. A fox was speedily found
on the Knipton side of the Castle, and took nearly an entire circle
round it ; he gave them a most excellent run for some time, and
ultimately saved his Ufe, by running into a covert, where they
got on a second fox, no doubt to the great deUght of the old one.
Nearly the whole of the run was seen from the Castle, and a most
gratifying sight it was to those visitors on the terrace, who were
L

146 HISTORY OF
not disposed to encounter the 'dangers by flood and field.' The
country was very heavy, and considering the state it was in, the
pace at times was good. It was seen from the Castle towers that
a gentleman on a grey horse led, nearly the whole distance, who,
it was afterwards heard, was Lord Macdonald.
"The dinner party on Wednesday was the same as on Tuesday,
with the exception of Lord Alford, who arrived on a visit to the
Castle in the morning. The dinner was served on a magnificent
service of frosted silver, called the marine service, from the cha
racter of its devices ; it being ornamented with every variety of
fish, figures of most of the marine deities, and other monsters of
the deep.
" On Thursday, her majesty visited the splendid gothic residence,
now in progress, of Gregory Gregory, Esq. The dinner party
consisted of the same distinguished persons as on the previous day,
with the addition of his royal highness the Duke of Cambridge,
and Prince George of Cambridge.
" Each day the visitors assembled for dinner in the regent's
gallery, and proceeded thence through the picture gallery to the
dining room. Her majesty was led to table by his grace, the
Duke of Rutland, who was dressed in full uniform as lord Ueu-
tenant of the county, and most of the other gentlemen were attired
in scarlet coats. The dessert on Tuesday was served on a splendid
service of china in purple and gold, of which his grace is particu
larly fond. It was presented to him by the late lamented duchess,
shortly before her death, and was intended as a birth-day gift.
Her grace did not Uve to see it used. The dinner was usuaUy
served at a quarter past seven o'clock, and the Castle doors were
closed regularly every night at eleven o'clock : early hours and
extreme regularity being the order of the day at Belvoir Castle.
Prayers were duly read in the chapel at half-past nine o'clock
every morning during her majesty's stay, and the Duke's band
played a military air at a quarter past ten o'clock, marching round
the Castle.
" On Wednesday after the hunt, and when her majesty had
partaken of luncheon, she visited the entire estabUshment of the
Castle, inspecting the cellars, which were Ughted up for the
occasion ; the kitchens, offices, &c. Her majesty expressed in
terms of great eulogy, her admiration at the exceUence of all the
arrangements, and the perfect order, that prevailed throughout
the Castle." ( Leicester Journal.)

BELVOIR CASTLE. 147
Her majesty left Belvoir Castle on Friday morning ; and
on this occasion, refreshments were provided for upwards of
five hundred persons. It was her majesty's wish, that her
journey should be entirely private, and unattended with any
parade whatever. During her stay at Relvoir, one or two
municipal bodies, and many other persons, were desirous of
testifying their respect for her majesty by the presentation
of addresses ; which, with the sound judgment for which
she is characterised, she declined ; though pleased with the
compliment intended her. On Friday, her majesty staid for
the night at Newnham Paddock, the seat of Lord Denbigh,
near Lutterworth. On Saturday, a special train was placed
at her majesty's disposal by the railway company, by which,
she proceeded, at one o'clock, to London.
In concluding this series of biographical sketches of the
noble family of Belvoir Castle, from the time of the con
quest, I would observe, that my object has been, not merely
to give a few facts and dates, connected with each individual's
history, but as far as my very brief limits would permit, to
shew the spirit of the times in which he lived, and the in
fluence of that spirit on the individual.
In every instance, I have endeavoured to give an honest
opinion on the facts and circumstances, which have come
under my observation. I am conscious of no bias or preju
dice beyond the very natural one of preferring true religion
to fanaticism, and good government to anarchy. Neither
do I much fear the imputation, that the subject itself has
naturally prejudiced me in favour of individuals. It requires
no great stretch of moral courage, or particular acumen to
give a just and independent opinion of the dead. The case
is altered, when we come to speak of the illustrious living.
The author unconsciously to himself, may write under the
influence of interested prepossessions. Or, if he should
possess the rare control over his judgment, as to set down
l 2

148 HISTORY OF
nothing, which plain unvarnished truth does not supply, if
will still be difficult to convince others of his freedom from
partial motives. In this somewhat embarrassing position,
it will be perhaps most judicious, when recording impressions
of the character of his grace, the present Duke of Rutland,
to support them as much as possible, by authentic memorials,
which, fortunately, are extant, of his conduct, as a patriot,
a churchman, and as the possessor of vast landed property.
The ambitious despot of France, who consented to the
peace of Amiens in 1802, merely, that the exhausted coun
try, over which he ruled, might have breathing time for
further exertions, not only did not consider the terms of
that treaty, preventive of a further, accession of power and
territory on the continent ; but could not rest satisfied with
conquering all the rest of the world, while England remained
great, glorious, and free. Buonaparte soon gave demon
strations of his intention to subject England, to the same
wasting devastation of conquest, which he had found a facile
matter in other countries. He did not know the strength
of the tie that attached Englishmen, not only to their native
soil, but to one another. He did not know that the cottage
of the peasant was as dear to him in this happy country, as
the castle of the noble : and that both were prepared to
unite, and exert themselves in their respective degrees for
their defence. Among the interesting demonstrations of
this united patriotism, none is more impressive, than the
one, of which the following document is a memorial.
September 1, 1803.
At the earnest desire of near a thousand brave volunteers, who
appeared on the Duke of Rutland's summons to meet him on
Statherne Hill, near Belvoir Castle, on Thursday, the 25th ult. a
gentleman then present, has the great pleasure of communicating
to them, and to the county at large, the animating and heart-
cheering speech which his grace was pleased to make on that
occasion. — It is needless to make any comment upon it — it

BELVOIR CASTLE. 149
¦speaks fully and forcibly the language of the heart from whence
it sprung— r-great, noble, and patriotic ; — and it was received as
¦it ought to have been, with gratitude and attachment to the house
¦of Belvoir, and a determined resolution to share with the Duke in
aU dangers, and at the risk of Ufe and property, to support our
present happy constitution in church and state.
" Friends, neighbours, and feUow countrymen,
" You are here assembled upon an occasion the most solemn,
^he most awful, and -the most important that ever yet occurred,
or that probably ever can occur again to animate, and to interest
the feelings of Englishmen. — We have been goaded and driven
into the present war, by the malignant and ambitious spirit of
that savage barbarian (for to call him a Man were to degrade
humanity) whose usurping hand now grasps the sceptre of France.
His character is stained by crimes of such enormity, that at the
bare recital of them, the generous mind of an Englishman would
recoil with horror. Pampered with the blood of thousands of his
feUow creatures, having trampled upon the liberties of almost
every nation in Europe, he has now directed his impious machi
nations towards the conquest of this free and flourishing island. —
The better to accomplish this favourite object, he has inflamed
the passions of his brutal soldiery, by the promise of rewards
unknown amongst civUized nations — the unlimited pillage of the
country, and the indiscriminate massacre of its inhabitants ! It
is not possible to find language sufficiently descriptive of the
scenes of atrocity and oppression which have uniformly attended
his conquests in other countries — the poor equally with the rich
have been the objects of his rapacious cruelty. They have been
plundered and murdered, their wives and their daughters have
been violated, their old men and their infants have been butchered,
without distinction or mercy. And yet this is the man who has
dared to imagine the conquests of free-born Britons ;~—this is the
man who has pictured to himself the possibility of contaminating
these realms of genuine liberty, by the banners of his tyrannic
despotism; — this, lastly, is the man who has threatened to extirpate
us from the nations of the world, by a mighty and overwhelming
invasion ! And weU indeed may he entertain against us the most
deadly hatred ! While the crooked and mistaken policy of some
nations has induced them to purchase temporary security by
abject submission to his domineering authority, while the weakness
of other nations has exposed them an unresisting prey to his inor-

150 HISTORY OF
dinate ambition, England alone has had the spirit, as she possesses
the power, successfully to resist him : England alone, amidst the
wreck of nations, has maintained her dignity unobscured, her
power undiminished, her resources unimpaired ! Already does he
smart under the recollection of former defeats, — Again shaU he
experience the superior and irresistible energy of united Britons!
"My friends, I wish not needlessly to alarm you, or to interrupt
you without a cause in the prosecution of your peaceable pursuits;
but the moment is now arrived when every exertion that the mind
can devise, or that the arm can execute, must be made to preserve
our native land. In comparison with the present, all former con
tests appear but as school-boy fights. The alternative now before
us is, either to establish for ourselves and for our posterity the
undisturbed enjoyment of happiness and of hberty, or to drag out
a miserable and enslaved existence, dependent upon the will of
the most arbitrary and iron-hearted tyrant that ever disgraced
the human species. Under our all-glorious constitution, we have
been born freemen — we have lived freemen — it remains with
ourselves to determine whether we shall continue freemen. The
sovereign upon his throne, the peasant in his cottage, the palace
of the prince, and the dwelling of the poor man, are alike marked
for indiscriminate plunder. Let then all ranks and classes of
persons, actuated by the same impulse, unite in one determined
band ! Let the British lion be thoroughly roused, and where is
the intruder who shall with impunity insult him in his den.
" Believe not, my friends, that I preach a doctrine to you, of
which I will not be the first to set an example : the British blood
that flows within my veins, the British heart that throbs within
my breast, glow in perfect unison with the sentiments of my mind.
There is not one single drop of blood within me, that I will not
most cheerfully and willingly shed in the defence and preservation
of those rights and liberties, which, by the blessing of our inesti
mable constitution, belong alike to the highest nobleman in the
land, and to the meanest peasant, — are yours as well as mine ! —
His majesty has been graciously pleased to place me at the head
of a thousand brave Leicestershire men : impeUed by an imphcit
confidence in their intrepidity and loyalty, I do most solemnly
pledge myself to you, that when the hour of danger arrives, you
shall find me most anxious to prove my professions by my actions.
" Attached as I am, by the strongest ties, to the county of
Leicester at large ; admiring, as I most cordiaUy do, the senti-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 151
ments of enthusiastic patriotism which animate every description
of persons therein, I may nevertheless be permitted, without
incurring the charge of partiality and prejudice, to avow my
superior attachment to that particular part of it in which I live,
Constantly resident amongst you, I have had ample opportunity
of studying your dispositions ; and have received the sincerest
satisfaction in witnessing your steadiness, your patience, and your
good conduct, during times of the most trying and unexampled
difficulties. I know you to be men, both loyal, good, and true ;
and I speak from my heart when I assert, that there is no object
so grateful to me as the advancement of your prosperity and
welfare, and that it is the height of my ambition to live and to
die possessed of your attachment and esteem. Actuated by a
knowledge of your patriotic sentiments at this crisis of danger
and alarm, I have thought it my indispensable duty to give effect
to those sentiments by calling you together, and proposing the
formation of a volunteer corps of infantry. Having stated thus
much to you, I wiU detain you no longer than to observe, that I
place the most decided reliance upon your loyalty and zeal. I feel
confident, that there is not a man amongst you who does not burn
with eagerness and anxiety to add his individual co-operation and
assistance, in preserving this most dear country from the threat
ened attack of a merciless enemy. I beseech you all to recoUect,
that should that enemy, deterred by the impregnable union of a
great and powerful nation, abandon his boasted design of invasion,
you will then have the satisfaction to think, that each and every
one of you, by your firmness and determination in raUying round
the standard of loyalty, have been instrumental in averting the
general calamity. If, on the contrary, our enemy should persevere
in his hostile attempt, we shall go forth to battle under this
consolatory reflection, — that should we fall in the struggle, we
shaU perish in a cause worthy to be contended for by English
men — in a cause, for which the blood of our forefathers has often
been cheerfully and profusely shed — in a cause, which has for its
sacred object the support of a mild and beneficent sovereign upon
his throne — the maintenance of a constitution which has been
matured and perfected by the wisdom and experience of successive
ages — and the preservation of those rights and privileges which
are the exclusive and peculiar property of Englishmen. Should
we succeed (and Who is there so pusiUanimous as to doubt it?) we
shaU confirm and estabUsh to ourselves, and to our latest posterity,

152 HISTORY OF
for ever and for ever, an unmolested and undisturbed existence
in that state, in which alone existence can be either acceptable
or desirable to free-born Britons — existence as a nation, united,
happy, free, and independent ; the terror and the dread of our
enemies, the admiration and the glory of the good and the wise."
In the trying period of 1828 — 9, when the hero of
Waterloo himself gave way, and on a principle of expedi
ency and conciliation, admitted our Roman cathohc fellow
subjects to equal rights and privileges with ourselves : —
(would that they had since used them more wisely and
well ! ) — when some of the wisest and best and greatest
men of the country disheartened and confounded, yielded
to what they thought, they had no longer strength to resist,
his Grace of Rutland, severe as was the struggle in his
bosom between public principle and private regard, re
mained faithful to the sacred interests of the Anglican
church. To say, that during the progress of the contest,
some slight irresolution was displayed, is merely to say,
that he experienced an agitation of feeling, which every in
genuous mind under the circumstances must have felt. The
Duke of Wellington was his personal friend, whom in pri
vate society he delighted to honour ; and whose judgment
he reverenced in public affairs. With most of those, also,
who now supported the views of the Duke of Wellington,
he had been in the constant habit of acting in all poUtical
matters. But his speeches on the occasion will better ex
plain his feelings during the progress of this memorable
discussion, than any observation of mine. I would only
previously remark, that on the final carrying of the bill for
Roman catholic emancipation, he was one of only four of
his own rank, who gave "non content" to the measure, and
that by proxy. The following are extracted from Hansard's
Debates : House of Lords, Tuesday, February 10, 1829.
" The Duke of Rutland said, he wished to avail himself of that

BELVOIR CASTLE. 153
the earliest opportunity of presenting a petition, signed by no
fewer than 17,935 individuals, freeholders and other inhabitants
of the county of Leicester. The prayer of the petition was
against any further concessions to the catholics — against any
concessions which tended to invest that body with increased poU
tical power. The petition which he then held in his hand, was, in
every point of view, entitled to the respect and consideration of
the house. It was, as he had already stated, most numerously
signed — signed by a body of men whom, from personal knowledge,
and from information on which he placed implicit reliance, he
could describe as possessing a degree of respectability which
entitled their sentiments to a favourable reception from their
lordships. It was perfectly true, and he had not the slightest
hesitation in making the admission, that, at the time those indi
viduals put their names to the petition in question, not one of
them was aware of the change which had taken place in the senti
ments of his majesty's government ; but, in his opinion, that was
a circumstance of very shght importance indeed — nay, he felt
bound to express his clear conviction, that their knowledge of that
circumstance would not have had the smallest influence upon the
minds of the petitioners. With this brief observation he would
leave that part of the subject, and hoped for their lordships' indul
gence in addressing to them a few observations upon the question
which the petition embraced. Ever since he came into public
life he had been sincerely convinced that no alteration ought to be
made in those laws which excluded catholics from political power.
No man could be more deeply sensible than he was of the over
whelming importance of the question speedily to be submitted to
the consideration of their lordships ; and nothing should prevent
him from declaring his opinion when the contemplated measure
came regularly before the house. Great as was his admiration of
the noble duke at the head of his majesty's government — full and
general as was the confidence which he reposed in the energy and
wisdom of that minister — decided as was his concurrence in the
general principles of his government — reposing in him as much
confidence as any man could place in another — he gave him ample
credit for his conviction of the imperious necessity which had led
him to advise his majesty to make the recommendation contained
in the royal speech, however much that recommendation might be
at variance with the principles and sentiments for which that noble
duke had formerly been distinguished, and whose advocacy of

154 HISTORY OF
which had so often cheered and animated every lover of our pro
testant constitution. Anxious as he was to support, in every
other point, the existing administration, he trusted that his defec
tion from them on that great constitutional question — if upon the
introduction of the measure he should deem opposition necessary —
would not be taken by his noble friend as a general withdrawal of
adherence, and would not be esteemed by the country as a depar
ture from political principles and connections. However anxious
he might be to express his intentions thus early, and however
devoted his attachment to the principles of the constitution, he
thought the most expedient course would be to wait until the
measure was regularly before them, ere he came to any resolution
as lo the course which it would be proper for him to pursue. He
even considered it due to his noble friend to wait until that period
should arrive. For himself he could not conceive any circum
stance calculated to give him greater pain than the necessity of
expressing a difference on any point from the principles which
governed the present administration. That pain, he need scarcely
assure their lordships, he would most unwillingly endure, and he
would most studiously avoid every occasion of expressing such a
difference, unless when that necessity was balanced against the
greater pain of departing from that consistency of principle which
it had been his earnest endeavour to observe uninterruptedly, and
which, in the particular case of protestant principles, he had ever
enthusiasticaUy maintained. He had but one observation more to
make, which might be considered in the light of a repetition :
namely, that when the measure was brought forward, and the
grounds upon which ministers meant to support it were explained
to the house, if it happened that he should be unable to give it his
support, he begged once and for all, to disclaim any intention of
not generally supporting the administration of the noble duke, in
which he placed as strong and as ample a confidence as he had
ever placed in any administration since he had the honour of a
seat in their lordships' house.'' House of Lords, Tuesday, April 7.
" The Duke of Rutland rose and said : — My lords, the reasons
which induced me to vote for the second reading of the bill, will
also induce me to send it to the committee ; not that I feel satis
fied with the securities it contains, for the reverse is the fact. I
am only anxious that it should take its chance of receiving such

BELVOIR CASTLE. 155
alterations in the committee, as will enable me not to withhold my
support to the third reading. I am aware that an ex post facto
explanation of so unimportant a vote as mine cannot be very
amusing or interesting to your lordships ; but, perhaps, you will
be inchned to extend your indulgence to me when I mention,
that in the course of the late protracted discussion, I did attempt
to give this explanation. Indeed, I consider that I made the
house my debtor to some amount, because it did so happen, that
the moment at which I offered myself to your lordships, was a
moment at which, by declining to persevere in thrusting myself
on your notice, I enabled your lordships at once to listen to the
able declaration made by the most reverend primate who com
menced the discussion on the second day, and to the able, argu
mentative, and instructive speech, addressed to you by the right
reverend prelate who followed immediately afterwards. If I err
in the view I take of this momentous question, I can assure your
lordships, with great sincerity, that it will not be for want of a
calm, dispassionate, and I may say, painful, consideration of the
subject. So far as my intellectual powers would allow me, I have
afforded to this question the deepest and most attentive considera
tion, in all its branches. Would that I were now rising in my
place to teU you, that I had arrived at a conclusion " hcto et
Ubenti animo ! " On this occasion, that gratification must be
denied to me ; and to those, who, like myself, having been con
stantly opposed to the concession of further political power to
our Roman catholic brethren, now find ourselves unable to adopt
any line of conduct that is not marked by pain, embarrassment,
and difficulty. If I support the bill, I support a measure, the
beneficial effects of which are at best but speculative and theoreti
cal. If I oppose it, I run the risk of plunging the country into
the greatest evils — not the least of which would be, the possible
derangement of that administration, to which, in its general line
of policy, as regarding both our external and internal relations, I
consider the country largely and deeply indebted.
Much has been said on both sides of the question. Many able
speeches have been dehvered, and many arguments have been
urged ; but, to my mind, the subject resolves itself into a small
compass. I ask myself these two short questions ; — first, whether
there has been proved a necessity, a dominant, imperious, irresisti
ble necessity, for some change in our constitutional policy towards
the Roman catholics ? Granting that that necessity is proved, I

156 HISTORY OF
ask, secondly, is the plan now proposed that which, under all cir
cumstances, is the wisest, the safest, and therefore the best 1 I
hold that these are the points which we have to consider, and no
others. With regard to the first question, I say that, looking to
the state of feverish excitement in which the country has so long
been kept — assuming that the Catholic Association was not
assailable by the common law of the land — ^assuming, again, that
the disfranchisement of the forty-shilling freeholders could not be
accomplished without the other concomitant measure, ( both ob
jects, in my mind, of the highest importance ; ) I am ready to
admit that the necessity has been proved. We have heard eulr>
gies on the Catholic Association, but I cannot go one step in
company with those who are its eulogists. On the contrary, I
shaU always think that its conduct is deserving of the bitterest
vituperation. Of its power over the feelings of the people, there
can be no doubt ; but I shall always think that power most dan
gerous to the best interests of the state, which enables its posses
sors — ' Et mulcere fluctus, et tollere vento * —
Some (strange as it may seem) have praised their moderation ;
but I have no faith in it ; and it seems to me only analogous to
the conduct of the equestrian dandy of Rotten-row, described by
the parliamentary humorist —
' While his off-heel, insidiously aside,
Provokes the caper that it seems to chide.'
Then, my lords, with regard to my second question, namely,
whether the plan of change in our policy is the best that can be
devised ; I regret that I am obliged to express myself dissatisfied
with the securities attached, to the bill. — I apply my observation
more particularly to an extension of the great offices proposed to
be excepted from catholic occupancy, and more especially to the
office of the first minister of the crown. It seems to me that the
exclusion ought as much to apply to the situation of prime minis
ter, as to that of keeper of the great seal ; and I would, therefore,
wish, that he should be not merely virtually, but positively ex
cluded. I am not one of those who think that the same moment,
which passes this bill into a law, will ring the funeral knell of the
established religion in every part of the United Kingdom. I am
not one of those who suppose that the same moment at which this
measure is enrolled among the statutes of the land, the boasted

BELVOIR CASTLE. 157
and unrivalled constitution of this country will receive a mortal
and irrecoverable stab ; I shall not be ready to exclaim, when the
first Roman cathoUc takes his seat as a member of the legislature —
' Venit summa dies, et ineluctabile tempus Dardanite.'
My lords, I have no such gloomy misgivings in my mind : my
anticipations are of a far pleasanter and more agreeable nature.
It is not only my fervent and anxious prayer that there may be,
but it is also my confident hope and belief that there are, many
years and centuries ( if the world so long endure ) of brilliant
prosperity and unclouded glory for our dear" country. These
anticipations, however, do not in any way alter my opinion on
the subject of securities. K I render an important accommodation
in money, to my friend ; securities are given and taken without
the slightest hesitation, — and why so ? Not because I feel dis
trust of my friend — not because I suspect that he is a rogue, and
intends to cheat me out of principal and interest ; — but, because
the tenure of life is uncertain, because either I or my friend may
die, and because the securities are given, not only with reference
to ourselves, but to those who may come after us, and be placed
in a different situation with relation to either of us. If, in the
same way, we had but a simple life-interest in the constitution,
we could take greater liberties with it than we now feel authorized
in doing ; for we are to legislate, not for ourselves only, but for
our latest posterity.
I most earnestly hope that, so soon as this measure passes into
a law, all the asperity and bitterness of feeling which have cha
racterized its rise and progress, will at once cease (or, rather, not
at once, for that is scarcely to be expected, but that it will gra
dually subside.) The sentiments of the people, which have been
ruffled and agitated, wiU then sink into their usual quiet channels,
and harmony be restored among aU parties. I would say to the
protestants, '• H you are determined to give, give with a spirit of
amity and conciliation ; which will double the value of the boon
you bestow." On the other hand, I would say to the Roman
cathoUcs, " receive with deep and heartfelt gratitude that which is
conceded ; shew that your religion, which has been so frequently
assailed as a religion of bigotry and intolerance, is in fact, a
rehgion in which the kindly fruits of christian charity, of meek
ness, and of forbearance, can thrive and flourish. Shew, that, as
there is one overruling Providence which guards and protects us

158 HISTORY OF
all— whether protestants or catholics — as there is one sun which
sheds his genial and vivifying rays over all the creatures of God, —
so you can be sensible of the inestimable value of one constitution,
shielding and sheltering all who live under its protecting influence.
Shew that you are not only sensible of the value of such a consti
tution, but that you understand its character, its nature, its land
marks, its beauties ; — that you are not only determined to inflict
no injury upon it yourselves, but that you will join with us in
defending and protecting it from the machinations and evil designs
of all who may attempt to injure it.'' Then, indeed, my noble
friend at the head of the administration would have the gratifica
tion of thinking that he has proposed a measure calculated to
insure the general prosperity and unfading glory of the empire.
Then may he lay his head with comfort upon his pillow, and
receive the reward of that sacrifice of his personal comfort, of his
mental ease (I hope not of his corporeal health) to which he must
have been subjected during his recommendation and production
of this most important measure. We must aU be aware of what
he has undergone during the time in which he has been labouring
to carry into effect the recommendation of the crown, I am
deeply sensible of the kindness your lordships have done me, in
listening so long ; but I thought it necessary to show why my late
vote was not inconsistent with the line of conduct I had hitherto
pursued, if this bill should not come out of the committee in an
altered shape, such as to make me not to withdraw my support
from this bill in its future stages."
House of Lords, Wednesdaj', AprU 8.
" The Duke of Rutland observed, that if the clause proposed
by the noble baron on the cross bench had not been of such a
sweeping and general nature, he should, after what he had stated
yesterday, have felt it his duty to support it ; but he could not
support a clause which enumerated in its exclusion all the great
offices of state. He confessed he should be glad if a clause could
be so framed as to exclude Roman cathohcs from the office of first
minister of the crown. He thought the noble duke at the head
of the government entitled to much praise for the steadiness and
moderation with which he had persevered in supporting a measure
which he conceived calculated to advance the interests both of
this and the sister country. He must, however, repeat, that he
should like to see a clause so framed as to exclude Roman catho
lics from the office of first lord of the treasury. But even if this

BELVOIR CASTLE. 159
were not done, it would not induce him to withold his support
from the bill. He was most anxious to act fairly with respect to
it ; and he was the more induced to do so from a recollection of
the grave and solemn manner in which the inquiry was recom
mended to them in his majesty's most gracious speech at the
opening of the session. Their lordships might perhaps recollect
that he had, in the early part of the session, expressed his deter
mination to withhold his assent from any measure of this descrip
tion, until he became acquainted with its details. Upon that
occasion he felt convinced, that the principle point of the measure
would be the admission of Roman catholics to seats in parliament ;
for he was aware that the Roman catholics would not rest satisfied
with any thing short of such a privilege. He did not wish to
impute improper motives to any class of persons ; on the contrary,
he felt convinced that the catholics, in seeking to obtain seats in
parliament, were actuated by the purest and most honourable
motives. With respect to the restriction proposed, he believed
that, even if adopted, it would be merely a virtual one ; as he
thought no high-minded catholic would accept the office of pre
mier, without the patronage usually attached to it ; so that this,
of itself, would operate as an exclusion.
One of the first fruits of this unfortunate measure, was
the accession to power of those, who consistently enough,
had supported reform of every kind all their lives, and
especially municipal reform. The Duke of Rutland was
locally, as well as generally interested in the latter sweeping
measure. Previous to its passing, he had been for many
years Recorder of Grantham, and with what pleasure to
himself, his answer to an address of the corporation, on
the severance of the connexion will shew.
" To John Brooks, Esq., Alderman, and other members of the
Corporation of Grantham.
Sir, and Gentlemen,
I address myself with pleasure to you, in reply to the letter
with which I was honoured a few days since, signed by yourself
and other members of the Corporation of Grantham, and expres
sive of regret and farewell, upon the severance of our connexion,
by the provisions of the municipal reform act.

160 HISTORY OF
I have certainly always felt, that no person holding a similar
office with myself, could be more proud of the distinction than
I have ever been. I am aware that my humble services, when
ever, in my capacity as recorder of your ancient and honourable
body, they could be of service, have been exerted to the utmost,
under the double influence of duty and inclination. And I also
know, how much real pleasure I have ever derived from the
belief that I possessed your regard, both as a body, and as indi
viduals : but I was not vain enough to suppose that I had entitled
myself to so affectionate an address, as that with which you have
now honoured me, and my heart is proportionably imbued with
feelings of gratification and pride.
I experience deep pain at the interruption of my official
intercourse with a body, to which I have ever borne a strong
attachment, and with which my family has had an honourable
connexion during three centuries. I little expected to see the
day, when the dissolution of the ancient corporations of the coun
try would be legalized by an act of the British legislature. I had
too strong a reliance upon the reverence with which chartered
rights and vested privileges were regarded; and I had been
accustomed to consider the corporations of the kingdom, as a
most important link in the chain of our national pohty.
I was, however, aware, that with the lapse of time, some defects
might have crept into the municipal system ; but I beUeve I am
correct when I assert, that the corporate bodies would have
cheerfully subjected their charters to such modifications, as would
have effected a proper adaptation of them to the altered state of
society, and of the general circumstances of the country. This
would have been to adopt safe and constitutional reform, instead
of sweeping innovation. I sincerely hope, and I know that you
will participate with me in the hope, that the new system may
work well for the public weal. On this point I confess that my
fears outrun my hopes,
But I am digressing into political discussion, when my intention
was simply and solely to acknowledge in terms of heartfelt grati
tude, your most kind address of valediction. During upwards of
thirty-five years, I have held the office of recorder of your ancient
body. Resident during that whole period in your immediate
neighbourhood, my personal acquaintance and intercourse with
you, have enabled me to appreciate duly the value of that distinc
tion. Your public character ceases from this moment, but your

BELVOIR CASTLE. ' 161
individuaUty wUl I hope long continue ; and co-existent with it,
I can truly assure you will be my proud remembrance of our long
connexion, my readiness on all occasions to prove my regard
towards you, and my anxiety to promote the general interests of
a town, in the government of which, as a corporate body, you
have never failed to evince loyalty to the crown, attachment to
the constitution, and an administration of your official functions,
at once dihgent, faithful, and exemplary.
I have the honour to be,
Sir, and Gentlemen,
Your most faithful and obliged friend and Servant,
RUTLAND.
Belvoir Castle, 28 December, 1835.
There is one other public occasion, the notice of which
will complete this sketch of the Duke's character, and shew
him to be identified in heart and feeling with that class
upon whose welfare the permanent prosperity of this country
must always depend. At a meeting of the Waltham Agri
cultural Association, October, 1839, the Duke expressed
himself as follows :
" Now, then, let me also express the great delight that I expe
rience at seeing myself surrounded on this occasion by a company
so highly respectable, so numerous, and so influential, — drawn, as
I hope, from every class of the community, and all equally anxious
to further the objects for which we are here assembled, viz. the
promotion of the agriculture and husbandry of the country, and
the encouragement of aU honest and industrious labourers. That
this is an object of a most important character, no one can for a
moment doubt who considers what is the end and purpose of
agriculture. For, what is that purpose but to make the earth
produce and support, in the largest possible way, and in the
greatest possible perfection, those vegetables and animals which
are ahke necessary for the subsistence, and useful for the accom
modation, of mankind. It foUows, then, that the agriculturist
and the husbandman, the farmer and the grazier, should be
men of skill and knowledge ; and for this reason, — because their
pursuit cannot be successfully accomphshed unless they possess a
M

162 HISTORY OF
thorough knowledge of the most important objects of nature — of
the relation which those objects bear to each other, — I mean the
relations which subsist between the soil, and the plants, and
the seasons. I am prepared to go a step further, and contend
that, on the success and improvement of agriculture, the per
manent prosperity of a nation may depend. By the improve
ment of agriculture, the moral benefit of mankind is effected.
For, what is the tendency of improved agriculture but to in
crease our own species, and what further tendency has it but
to enlarge the intellectual faculties, by giving opportunities of
studying and perfecting the arts and sciences, of which I con
tend agriculture is a most important part. Thus, you wiU per
ceive, that the strength of a nation must be increased by the
degree of skill with which agriculture is carried forward. I say
undoubtedly her independence wiU be secured by growing within
her own confines that food necessary for the subsistence of its
inhabitants. Have I not, then, proved the importance of such
associations as this, the prosperity of which I have proposed ?
Let me not be supposed, in urging the cause of agriculture,
to have any, the slightest intention to decry or injure that of
the manufactures of this country ; for these form the two great
arms of strength of the country. United they must be, and for
ever indivisible ; and those who attempt to divide them must
have objects of which they ought to be ashamed. For myself,
I am quite sure if I had any such intention as that which I
have deprecated, I should be faithless to the welfare of the great
county in which we are here at this moment assembled, and in
which the two great interests of agriculture and manufactures
are almost equally divided, and closely blended together. It
has ever been my impression that there ought never to be a
division between those two interests, and that whatever operates
beneficially or otherwise upon the one interest, cannot fail to have
a similar effect on the other. I consider the relation between
agriculture and manufactures precisely that of a parent and his
child. We all know that agriculture is the most ancient interest
we have heard of. If we look into the sacred volume of the
scriptures, and in the second page of that book, it appears that
our first parent was ejected from the garden of Eden, — to do
what ? To till the ground. And I might observe, that it has
ever appeared to me as one of the most remarkable illustrations
of that which ought ever to be the creed of every christian, —

BELVOIR CASTLE. 163
that the very chastisement and punishment of an all-Wise and
merciful Creator are always blended with munificence. For what
did the punishment in this case go to ? Why it was intended to
be a blessing, and to be the very subsistence of mankind. The
best evidence that in this county there is a most complete union
of sentiment between the agriculturist and the manufacturer, is
the circumstances which transpired during the late session of
parliament at the time that important subject — the corn laws —
was under discussion. I was charged with the presentation to
the house of lords of two most important petitions ; — the one
from the district of the Waltham Agricultural Association,
signed by more than three thousand persons — more than eleven
hundred of them being agricultural labourers : — and the other
from the important manufacturing town of Leicester, signed
by four thousand respectable persons — twelve hundred of them
manufacturing operatives ; — both praying for a continuance of
the present corn laws. And what was the important fact
mentioned in the petition from tlie manufacturing operatives of
Leicester ? It was this. Whilst the proportion of goods manu
factured for the foreign market occupied them one year with
another about eight weeks ; they had to trust entirely, during
the remaining forty-four weeks of the year, upon the home
markets for their support and livelihood. I ask you then,
whether it is possible to conceive a fact more strongly proving
the intimate union which subsists between agriculture and manu
factures ? I have briefly aUuded to the corn laws. Now it
chances that, on looking over some old papers a short time ago,
I laid my hands on a very extraordinary letter, and which contains
such solid argument on that subject that, if the company will
aUow me, I will read it to them. It is from a nobleman in the
country to a friend in London, and runs as follows : —
" Sir, — I doubt not but by this time you are very deep in the
faculty of law-making. I desire much, that if any laws be past,
we may have the heads of the heads of them ; the titles of the
chiefest. " I had some conference with Sir R. BuUer concerning a bill
that no corn should be imported until it came to some extraordi
nary price. Of this having some consideration, there seem to
me many reasons very strong for the converting of this bill into
a statute. " A first is, because the importation of corn is an exportation
M 2

164 HISTORY OF
of money ; and that, even in case of necessity, is a hurt to the
common wealth, though then tolerable for the avoiding of a
greater hurt ; but in unnecessary cases altogether inexcusable
" Secondly,, if importation be unUmitedly allowed,- the cheap
ness of corn will take away the benefit of husbandry ; and the
benefit being taken away, husbandry itself (which is usuaUy
undertaken for benefit) will decay. And if husbandry decay,
there are likely to grow two main inconveniencies : the one, that
the poor must starve for the want of work, the effect whereof hath
too much appeared inthe conversion of tillage into sheep-pasture;
a second, that in short time, this kingdom, to be set to a rent,
will be less worth per annum many thousand pounds. For I
think within this twenty years husbandry hath in many places
doubled the yearly value of land, which, if tillage decay, is likely
to return to- the ancient meanness.
"And whereas there is a seeming objection that importation
makes cheapness,- and cheapness seems to favour the poor ; I affirm
that this importation will especially hurt the poor, and for their
sakes- especially it is to be forbidden ; for if corn be cheap, and
the poor man have no money, what avails it to him that corn is
cheap, when he can not buy it ? If money be carried out of the
country, and the poor man be not set on work by reason of the
decay of tillage, I wonder how he shall buy this cheap* corn with
out money ? I think it were better that corn were for seven
shillings a bushel, and yet by reason of tillage the poor man
should earn eighteen pence or two shillings a week, than corn
being at five shiUings, he should earn twelve pence, or perchance
nothing. For without question, half of the work at least wiU be
abated. Besides there are two inconveniences at this time which
accompany cheapness, and make it unprofitable to the poorest
sort of men. The one is, the wickedness of bakers, of whom I
hear it reported, that at this time they make their bread after ten
shilUngs the bushel ; a second, of the town merchants, who buy
ship loads of corn, and sell it so much under the ordinary price
as may serve to undo the husbandman, and yet so near the
price, that the poor hath far less benefit by it than the common
wealth, yea themselves, have harm.
"Thus I have expressed to you the considerations which entered
into my thoughts upon this business, which, if you think them
worth the mentioning, I pray you to communicate to Sir R. BuUer,
which I do not to add to better judgments, but rather to submit

BELVOIR CASTLE. 165
fhem to their approbation. And I wish that this letter may be
prevented by a statute before it come to your hands.
" And so wishing you the direction of the highest, and that
the hand of the Almighty may be with you all, unto the making of
laws wholesome and restorative for this poor and sinful land, I
take leave, ever resting,
" Yours most assuredly to be commanded,
April 30.* F. Rous." (De Roos.)
" To my loving and much esteemed cousin,
Richard Carey, Esq. London."

In concluding the history of Belvoir Castle, it will pro
bably be found useful, as a concise arrangement for reference,
to subjoin a tabular statement of the number of generations,
succession, &c, of its noble possessors since the conquest
Generations. When deceased. By whom succeeded.
Robert de Todeni,  1088,  his son,
1 Wm. de Albini, Brito,  1155,  his son,
2 Wm. de Albini Meschines, ... 1168,  his son,
3 WiUiam de Albini III  1236, ....,,..., his son,
4 Wilham de Albini IV.  1247, whose daughter married
5 Robert de Ros,  1285, ,  his son,
6 WilUam de Ros,  1317,  his son,
7 WilUam de Ros II,  1342,  his son,
8 William de Ros III,  1352,  hisbrother,
Thomas de Ros,  1383,  his son,
9 JohndeRos,  1394,  hisbrother,
Sir William de Ros,  14.14,  his son,
10 John Lord Ros,  1421,  hisbrother,
Thomas Lord Ros,  1431,  his son,
11 Thomas Lord Ros, ..,  1461, .......... his son,
Edmund Lord Ros,  1508, whose sister married
12 Sir Robert Manners, Knt. ...   his son,
13 Geo. Manners, Lord Ros,  1513,  his son,
14 Thomas Manners, Earl of)
Rutland,  } 1543'  hlsson'
Henry, second Earl,  1563,  his son,
Edward, third Earl,  1587,  his brother,
* This letter is supposed to be three or four centuries old.

166 HISTORY OF
John, fourth Earl,  1588,  his son,
Roger, fifth Earl,  1612,  hisbrother,
Francis, sixth Earl,  1632,  hisbrother,
George, seventh Earl,  1641,  his second cousin,
17 John, eighth Earl, Haddon) ,„K„ ,.
familyf  } 1679>  hlS S°D'
18 John, ninth Earl and first) _,,,, ,.
Duke,  I 17H>  hlSS°n'
19 John, second Duke,  1721,  his son,
20 John, third Duke,  1779,  his grandson,
22 Charles, fourth Duke,  1787,  his son,
John Henry, fifth Duke, 
It will be observed from the above table, that the older
branch of the Manners fanrily runs out in George the
seventh Earl, so that the Haddon family are the regular
descent ; and were, before they succeeded to the title and
estate, the fifteenth and sixteenth generations. John, Mar
quis of Granby, son of John, third Duke, died before his
father, and was the twenty-first generation. It appears,
also, from the table, that in a period of seven hundred years,
are twenty-two generations, which, upon an average, gives
thirty-two years nearly, from father to son.
The present Duke has had eleven children by his late
Duchess, seven of whom survive.
The eldest, Lady Caroline Isabella, was born 25th May,
1800; died Dec, 1804. 2, Lady Elizabeth Frederica, born
10th Dec, 1802; married 7th March, 1822, Andrew Robert
Drummond, Esq., a member of the Strathallan family. 3,
Lady Emmeline Charlotte Elizabeth, born 2nd May, 1806;
married 17th Feb., 1831, the Hon. Charles Stuart Wortley,
second son of Lord Wharncliffe. 4, George John Henry,
Marquis of Granby, born 26th June ; died 4th August, 1807.
5, Lady Katherine Isabella, born 4th Feb., 1809 ; married
1st Dec, 1830, Frederick William, Earl Jermyn, eldest son
of the Marquis of Bristol. 6, Lady Adeliza Gertrude

BELVOIR CASTLE. 167
Elizabeth, born 29 th Dec, 1810. 7, George John Frede
rick, Marquis of Granby, born 20th August, 1813 ; died
15th June, 1814. 8, Charles Cecil John, Marquis of
Granby, born 16th May, 1815, M. P. for Stamford. 9.
Lord Adolphus Edward, born 10th Nov., 1817; died 6th
Feb., 1818. 10, Lord John James Robert, born 13th
Dec, 1818. 11, Lord George John, born 22nd June,
1820.

NOTES.

FIRST PERIOD.

ROBERT DE TODENI to WILLIAM DE ALBINI IV.

Belvoir. — In some of the most ancient charters of the priory,
it is thus spelt. But the "various readings" in similar documents,
in Leland, Camden, &c, are more numerous than it might be
thought possible, a word of such simple meaning is susceptible of:
Bevar, Bever, Belvar, Belver, Belveer, Belvere, Belveir, Beauver,
Beuver, Beauvoir, Beauvoire, BeUevoir, Belvidere, Belvedier, Bel-
lovide, Bellovidere, Bellovero, Belloviso. The last monk of the
priory caUs himself in a declaration dated Nov. 20, 1538, Richard
Bevyr. However spelt, the same signification is expressed by
Leland, in his " pulchrum visu"; and by Camden when he derives
it " a bello prospectu"; Anglice, — a beautiful prospect. Peck in
his MSS. dated 1727, (quoted by Nichols,) justifies the appeUa-
tion, by giving a list of the places in Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,
and Nottinghamshire, which may be seen from Belvoir : — in
Leicestershire, twenty-three places ; of which, Breedon on the
HiU, is the most distant, or about twenty-six miles as the crow
flies : — in Lincolnshire, fifty-seven places ; of which, Burton near
Lincoln, is the most distant ; viz. twenty- six mUes in a straight
direction ; the cathedral at Lincoln is, as it may be supposed, a
conspicuous object from Belvoir : — in Nottinghamshire, ninety-
three places ; of which, Mansfield and North Clifton, are the
most distant, the former about twenty-eight miles. "But the

170 NOTES.
grand prospect of all," says Nichols, " is that which the Duke of
Rutland sees from hence, viz. twenty-two manors of his own pa
ternal inheritance ; Belvoir, Croxton, Bescaby, Saltby, Sproxton,
Waltham, Eaton, Braunston, Knipton, Harby, Howes, Plungar,
Barkston, Redmile, Bottesford, Normanton, Easthorpe, Long
Clawson, Harston, Scalford, and Muston, in the county of Lei
cester ; Woolsthorpe and Eagle, in the county of Lincoln ; and
Granby and Sutton, in the county of Nottingham. The Duke
has also in this neighbourhood, the patronage of almost as many
churches, and a landed property of more than £20,000 a year."
Belvoir, the Margidunum of Antoninus. Nichols does not
aUow this. Dr. Stukeley (Itin. vol. 1, p. 106) supposes that
Margidunum is in the immediate neighbourhood of Over and
Nether Broughton, and WiUoughby. This also Nichols disputes.
Valeant quantum. I have not the presumption to attempt a
decision of the controversy, in other terms than those stated in
the text.
There is another vexata quasstio among the learned, respecting
the county in which the Castle is situated. Burton and the
authors of Magna Britannia expressly declare for Lincolnshire.
Wright, in his Antiquities of Rutland, fixes the locaUty in Leices
tershire. The mode of proof of the latter author is approved of
by Nichols ; viz. " that the assessments both for the land and
window-tax, are at present regularly levied in the county of
Leicester ; and brought in to the commissioners who act for the
hundred of Framland." Camden, in his map and description of
Lincolnshire, (Britannia) places it in that county. His words
are these : " In the west part of Kesteven, and the very confines
pf this shire and Leicestershire, standeth Belvoir or Beauvoir
Castle, so called of the fair prospect." Sidney Hall, (British
Atlas, 1833,) draws the boundary line of the two counties, through
the park at Belvoir, in such a manner, that the Castle is left in
the county of Leicester : and he mentions it in his text among
the noblemen's seats in that county. I prefer, in the text of this
work, adopting an expression which leaves each person to decide
for himself: — "situated on the junction of two counties"; or as
Leland three hundred years ago expressed it ; " Bever Castle of
surety standith in -! T . , ,. >- in the vale of Belver."
J l Lincolnshire, J
The hill of Belvoir, for the most part, a natural elevation.
Leland's assertion, that, " the Castle of BeUevoire is on the very

NOTES. 171
knape of a high hill, steep up each way, partly by nature, partly
by working of men's hands, as it may be evidently perceived,"
seems to have been followed without much consideration by Cam
den, and other writers on the subject. The only artificial portions
of the hill, as they appeared to Camden, were the terraces and
two hundred steps, by which it was ascended ; and these were,
certainly, of a date, some centuries posterior to the conquest.
Seat of William de Albini IV. On the reverse, a shield in
the shape of a heart, sable, two chevronels, argent ; surrounded
by the motto (a cross) " Signum sigillum salutis." (Peck's Stam
ford, plate, hb. 8, p. 27.)
Todeni. The orthography of this name is almost as various as
that of Belvoir. On his coffin, discovered in 1726, it was written
Todnei. The other forms of writing it, are Todeni, Todenei,
Toteneia, Toteneius, Toterneius, Tothenei. He is caUed in the
deed of agreement between himself, and the Abbot of St. Albans,
Robert de Belvedier. Paul, Abbot of St. Albans, who built the
Abbey Church, 1080, was a friend of Robert de Todeni. It was
•therefore natural to have recourse to him, for the further estab
lishment and completion of his pious design, and to place the
cell under the government of a perpetual rector.
Carucate. of land. A popular illustration of history being all
that is attempted in this work, obsolete technical terms are for
the most part omitted. But it may be useful to the reader to
subjoin an explanation of the terms, constantly occuring in works,
professing to give an account of ancient ecclesiastical endowments,
and other property, and more especially in the domesday inqui
sition. A Carucate, says Bishop Kennet, is a ploughland, or as much
arable ground, as in one year, could be tilled with one plough ;
computed sometimes at sixty, eighty, one hundred and twelve,
eight or nine score acres, different according to time or place.
(Paroc. Antiq. Gloss.) The hide was the measure of land, in the
Confessor's reign, the carucate, that to which it was reduced by
the Conqueror's new standard. A bovate is the same as an
oxgang ; that is, as much land, as an ox can plow in one season.
Eight of these commonly went to the hide or carucate; some
contained twelve, sixteen, eighteen, or twenty acres, more or less,
in different counties. A virgate, four of which made a hide, was
likewise unequal, according to the difference of place and custom.
They reckoned in some parts forty ; in others, thirty, twenty, and

172 NOTES.
but fifteen acres. The acre was not equal, for the same reason,
that the virgate and bovate were unequal. An acre was forty
perehes in length, and four in breadth : or, if but twenty perches
in length, then eight in breadth: sixteen, eighteen, twenty, or
more feet went to the perch. Arpenna, or arpent, plur. arpenz,
a measure of land introduced from Normandy, an acre or furlong
of ground, is often applied to vineyards ; two of which makes a
jugerum. Leuca, leva, or leuva, a mile consisting of twelve
quarenteins or fortylongs, (furlongs.) Perlica or Perticata a
perch of twenty feet, forty of which made a furlong.
A vassal, more correctly villane from villa, a country farm, (as
rustici coloni, &c.) where these men of low and servile condition,
had some small portion of cottages and services aUotted to them,
for which they were depending on the lord, and bound to certain
works, and other corporal services. They were of two sorts ;
first, villanes in gross, who as to their persons, their issue, and
their stock, were a sort of absolute slaves, the sole property of
their lord, moveable and aUenable at pleasure. This slavish con
dition was abolished on the feast of St. Michael, 1103. Secondly,
villanes regardant, or appendant to a manor, who were ascribed
as members of such a fee ; and as a pertinence of it, descended to
the heir, or passed along to every new lord. For their service,
they held some smaU portion of house and land in villanage. The
villanes, over and above their operations, or customary labours,
paid an annual rent in money. The servi or bondmen, among
the ancient Germans, or Saxons, were of the kind caUed prcediales,
who, without any determined tenure of land, were at the arbitrary
pleasure of their lord, appointed to servile works, and received
their wages and maintenance at his discretion. Ancillce, or bond
women, appear to have been under circumstances nearly similar
with the servi. The hves and Umbs of the latter, and the chastity
of the former, were under the protection of the laws. The coliberti,
were a middle rank, between servi and liberi, doing the work of
the first, but holding by the tenure of the last. They were tenants
in socage, and manumitted vulanes, but not absolutely free. The
bordarii were distinct from the servi and villani ; and seem to
be those of a less servile condition ; who had a bord or cottage
with a small parcel of land aUotted to them, on condition, they
should supply the lord with poultry and eggs, and other small
provisions for his board, or entertainment. Tenants in demesne,
were such as lived in dominio regis, vel aliorum, under the power

NOTES. ^ 173
of the king, or other lords. And such tenants received justice
from their lords, and were judged by them in most cases.
Villa in Domesday Book signifies a manor, lordship, or single
hamlet, two, or more of which, were usually united to form a
villata, though in some few cases, a villa was sufficiently large to
stand single, when it was said to answer pro villa Integra ; and
when two were joined together, each was called dimidia villata.
The socmanni were those inferior landholders, who had land in
the soe, or franchise of a great baron ; privileged villanes, who
though their tenures be absolutely copyhold, yet have an interest
equal to a freehold, Francigena, a general name, signifying aliens
in contradistinction to Englishmen, was given by the EngUsh to
all strangers, known, or unknown, unless they could prove them
selves Enghsh. Sac signifies a liberty or power granted to the
king, to try and judge causes, and of receiving the forfeitures
arising from them, within such and such limits, dominions, or
jurisdictions. Soe is the place or territory,, or precinct, wherein
Sac or Uberty of court was also exercised ; the circuit of the
place or franchise ; or the Uberty, privilege, or franchise itself.
(Brady.) Mansio comprehends more than a house. In Domesday it is
said Roger de Bush had in Nottingham three mansions, in which
were seated eleven houses. I have retained in the text, the Latin
term villa ; as the territorial property implied in the term, was
not always, though generaUy, co-extensive with what is implied in
the modern term village.
Tenths of vineyards. The produce of the vine must have
been much more abundant in this country, formerly, than now, to
be worth enumerating as part of an ecclesiastical endowment.
In a description of the ordinary food of the Anglo-Saxons, figs
and grapes are mentioned ; and wine as an essential at the tables
of the rich. That the seasons were not milder is evident from a
record of the weather kept by various authors from 763 to 1048.
Of 824, it is stated, "a dreadful and long winter. Not only
animals, but many of the human species perished by the intense-
ness of the cold." The winters of 875, 913, 1039, and 1047, are
stated to have been very severe. The summers varied in a similar
manner as at present : sometimes " excessive and continued rains,
harvest spoilt," &c. ; sometimes " a summer of extreme heat."
(Sharon Turner's Anglo-Saxons, v. 2, p. 549 — 551.) Either,
therefore, our forefathers were more skilful in the cultivation of

174 NOTES.
the vine in the open ground ; or they were satisfied with fruit in
a less advanced state of ripeness than is now expected.
William de Albini Brito. The surname Brito is by some sup
posed to have been given to him, to denote that he was the first
of the family British born.
Robert de Todeni, a younger brother of the above, gave to the
Priory, at Belvoir, " thirty sticks of eels, to be paid yearly, on
St. Matthias' day, out of his mills at Aburne," for the good of his
soul and the souls of his family. This was by no means an unim
portant gift at the time ; eels being so much an available produce,
that they were commonly the form in which the rent of a piece of
water was paid. Thus, previous to the conquest, a piece of water
was leased at a rent of two thousand eels. (Sharon Turner's
Anglo Saxons, v. 2, p. 577.)
The lordship of Aslackby was the marriage portion of Agnes
de Rye. She ratified the grants which her father had made to
the Priory, at Belvoir, of one oxgang of land, in Aslackby, and
two parts of the tithes of the demesne there, in corn, calves,
lambs, wool, cheese, pigs, bees, and apples, and of whatsoever
else was titheable.
Priory at Belvoir exempt from papal jurisdiction. This fact
is noticed in a letter, from the Prior to Sir Thomas Lovel, and
his consort, Isabella (de Roos) announcing their admission into
the fraternity. The expression is ; " domus, sive prioratus B.
Maria? de Bel vero, et ejusdem loci conventus, sedi apostolicse
nullo modo, subditi et subjecti," The Prior of this period was
Robert de Esseby. ( Nichols' Leicest. vol. 2, pt. 1, append.
21—2.) Ranulf de Gernons, or Gernoniis, Earl of Chester, great nephew
of Hugh Lupus, nephew of the Conqueror, founded a strong and
stately castle on the steep and craggy HU of Mount-sorrel, and
overhanging the river. This castle, "in 1217, when after a long
siege the inhabitants of the town had won it, was rased down to
the very ground, as being the devil's nest, and a den of thieves,
robbers, and rebels ; and is, at this day, nothing but a rude heap
of rubbish." (Camden, Brit. p. 521.) Ranulf de Gernons was a
very important person in the reign of king Stephen, with almost
as much influence as the Earl of Warwick in after times, (see
Peck's Hist, of Stamford, lib. 4.)
Simon de St. Liz, (Senliz) was living in 1100, first Henry I.
He gave to the Priory, at Belvoir, four bovates of land with all

NOTES. 175
their appurtenances (fields, meadows, marshes, woods, fens, and
aU fisheries, to the same land belonging, is the established mean
ing of the phrase, "cum omnibus pertinentiis suis") in Waltham,
in the county of Leicester.
William de Albini II, had also a daughter, AUce, who married
Asceline de Waterville, a considerable benefactor to the Priory
of St. Michael, at Stamford, which had been founded in 1156, by
William Waterville, (query his brother) then Abbot of Burg,
(Peterborough.) This lady in her widowhood styled herself Dom-
ina de Maxta, i. e lady of the manor of Maxey, in the county of
Northampton ; as appears from a grant by her to the nunnery of
St. Michael, Stamford, of a virgate of land. (Peck's Stamford,
lib. 8, p. 25 — 26, where see her seal.)
Agatha Trusbut. "The Lord Trusbut gave in his arms three
bolts." (Leland Itin. v. 7, p. 20.) The third Albini appears to
have been a mighty hunter, and a great game preserver. In 1201,
he had hcense to enclose a park in the Estokes caUed the Lund,
though within the precincts of Rockingham forest, to hunt the
fox and the hare there. In a grant of a portion of the thorns and
trees in Belvoir Warren, to the monks at Belvoir, an express
reservation is made of hares, pheasants, and partridges ; — " salvis
mihi et ha?redibus meis, leporibus, fesantis, et perdicibus." In
1 203, king John gave him the manor of Qrston, in Nottingham
shire, and one hundred shillings of socage land in Wilberston and
Stoke. Magna Charta. John was an infatuated monarch, but the barons
were not altogether blameless. Their object in procuring Magna
Charta appears to have been, not only to limit the power of the sove
reign, but to render themselves independent of all superior control.
After the signature of this memorable document, which was to
have been a charter of peace and security to all classes, many of
the barons were active in plundering the country, some fortifying
their castles, some building new ones, and others seizing and
abusing the king's officers, who went about on the business of the
exchequer. So that the country was suffering from the greater
curse of many petty tyrants, instead of one great despot. William
de Albini, though he proved a brave and strenuous coadjutor with
the other barons against the king, when once engaged ; was
prevailed upon with some difficulty, to join their party. They
sent to him several times before he came ; a chiding letter at last
secured him.

176 notes.
The noble foreigner who diverted the king from his savage
intention to hang the insurgent barons concerned in the defence
of Rochester Castle, was Savaric de Maloleone, a noble Poictevin.
Hugo de Charnel was a famous knight, and had the keeping
of Belvoir Castle under William de Albini III. He held land
of the Albinis in Muston, and wore the colours of their arms
counterchanged ; gules, a fess ermine, between two chevrons, or.
Norman Charnell seems to have been the last male of the Muston
branch, who lived in the time of Henry VI. (Nichols' Leicest.
vol. 2, pt. 1.)
1217. About this time coats of arms became hereditary, and
descendible, which were before ex placito. Also menial attend
ants, or feodaries to any noble person assumed to themselves for
their arms, the device of the coat of their lord. (Ibid.)
Newstead, (novum locum,) a priory of canons regular of the
order of St. Austin, was founded about 1227 — 30. It was
situated at Wasse-bridge, (Guash or Wasch — Leland) about a
mile from Stamford. There are now no remains of either church
or priory, save, that some traces of the foundations and buildings
may be just discerned above ground. Near the site is yet a mill,
called after the name of the priory. (Peck's Stamford, Ub. 8.)
Provision was made also in this priory, for the boarding and
lodging of seven poor weak and infirm persons, who are of sound
faith and honest life. And the founder directs that if by chance,
by the devotion or bounty of the faithful, the means of the
forenamed hospital be increased, let the works of piety there
be augmented and the number of the poor and beds increased.
Hence, probably, the double appellation of a priory and a hospital.

notes. 177

SECOND AND THIRD PERIODS.

ESPEC, DE ROOS, and MANNERS.

Kirkham, Rievaulx, and Wardon. The adviser of Sir Walter
Espec in the religious disposition of his property, was William,
Rector of Garton, his paternal uncle. The form in which he
gave his advice was peculiar to primitive times. He recommend
ed his nephew "to make Christ his heir ;" an amplification of the
precept, Matt. 22, 21 ; and an example of the form of obeying it.
St. Austin says ; " Our forefathers abounded in all things, because
they gave tithes to God, and tribute to Caesar, but now, because
our devotion to God is dead, fiscal impositions are increased upon
us. We were unwiUing to assign God his part in the tithes, and
now the whole is taken from us. The exchequer takes what
Christ does not receive." Thus it came to pass, that church
property was considered non humani, sed divini juris ; and was
held to be the property of heaven, in a special and peculiar
manner. Sir Walter Espec granted to the prior and canons of Kirkham,
the patronage of the church of that place, with one carucate of
land (one hundred to one hundred and twenty acres :) twenty-four
acres between the wood and the water ; the whole of the manor
in woods and plain, in land and water, in meadows and pastures,
in miUs and aU things altogether belonging to the same place.
The patronage of Helmsley Church ; one carucate ; three tofts
called the canon's, the presbyter's and Aldred's ; a run in the wood
at Helmsley for the swine belonging to the prior and canons, and
N

178

NOTES.

bred at other places, free of charge. They themselves might
demand of others, a rent for the same privilege. Their other
animals and flocks to have a right of pasture, every where with
those of the donor ; and wood as free for their necessities, as to
the owner. These privileges were also extended to their tenants.
The patronage of the church of Kirkby in Crandale, with one
carucate, &c. The patronage of Garton, with one carucate, and
a plain, called the Flatte of St. Michael. The patronage of
Carham, in Northumberland, on the river Tweed, and the whole
villa. The whole of the villa of Weston or Winstowe, with seven
carucates of land, and the whole of the right of pasture, after his
death, unless he granted it before. The whole of the viUa of
Whitewell, with nine carucates of land. In Sextendale, eight
carucates, &c. The tenths of rents from his farms, and of his
fruit trees, of his manors ; and particularly from the villa and
mill of Hewson ; the right of fishing in the Derwent, within the
boundaries of the same place. He gave also his houses at York,
to the same priory ; the tenths of his lordship of Lynton ; the
tenths of deer, swine, and goats, and of game, (ferarum silves-
trium et volatilium per riveras) which he or his posterity shall
take. From his property in Northumberland, one farm-house, in
Werch (Wark ;) the whole of the viUa of Tytelinton ; the pa
tronage of the churches of Newton in Glendale, and Hilderton ;
and all the tenths of his lordships ; particularly the tenths from
the rents of his estates, in Northumberland ; two parts of the
tenths of his lordship of Wyndrom, Boeltune, and of the miU of
Hoeltune ; and if he should think fit to grant to others any of his
landed property, the tenths are for ever reserved for the priory
of the Holy Trinity, at Kirkham. According to a second grant,
instead of the tenth of five carucates at Tilleston and four at
Grif, now in possession of the abbot and monks of Rievaulx,
he gives to the prior and canons of Kirkham, his inclosure at
Kirkham, his houses, and mill, and meadows, and all that he has
between the wood and the water ; the fishing at Kirkham and
Hewson. The whole of the land held of him in Newton in
Glendale and Carham by Ulfkill, clerk. There are some minor
privileges such as grinding their corn at the patron's mill, at
Kirkham, without toll. (Dugdale's Monasticon.) It may be re
marked on the above, that a carucate of land, i. e. land under
the plough, was always accompanied with a proportionate extent
of wood, moor, and pasture ; so that the land alone granted by

NOTES. 179
this munificent baron to tlie prior and canons of Kirkham, must
have amounted to five or six thousand acres. The actual yearly
rental from the territorial possessions of the priory amounted to
one thousand one hundred marks. (Dugdale.)
Rievaulx was the first monastery in England, of the Cistertian
order, founded by St. Bernard, of Clairvaux. The principal grant
of Sir Walter Espec, to this abbey were " nine carucates of land,
with aU their appurtenances in wood, plain, meadow, pasture,
water, and aU other places," in the valley of the Rie.
Wardon Abbey was founded for monks of the Cistertian order.
According to an instrument of confirmation of their rights and
privileges, granted by king Stephen, the first monks migrated
^ from Rievaulx Abbey.
"\ Hawisia married to William Bussy, a descendant of Roger de
Bus^yi who, in the time of the Conqueror, is supposed to have built
a cast!e at Sleaford. Another descendant in the time of Richard II,
is represented as possessing large property in Lincolnshire ; but
his principat\house, or manor place, according to Leland, was at
Hougham, though he occasionally resided at Haydor. This latter
person was beheaded^ a* Bristol.
Robert de Ros, called Fursan. In 1205, the sheriffs of Yorkshire,
Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland,
were directed by king John, to seize all the lands of the Lord
Ros: but they were not long withheld from him. In 1213, he
took upon him the habit of religion ; when his eastle of Werke,
with all his barony, were committed to the custody of Phixip de
Ulcote; but were again restored to him on his leaving the cloister.
From 1215 to the death of John, he was engaged in all the troubles
of the period, and his property was again confiscated, but restored
to him on the accession of Henry III. Robert de Ros, the second
son of the above, was appointed by the Scottish council, guardian
of the young king and queen of Scotland, who were married at
York, Dec. 26, 1251, the queen being then eleven years of age.
Robert de Ros incurred the displeasure of our king Henry III,
for laying the queen of Scotland, his daughter, under certain
disagreeable restraints ; one of which may be inferred from the
remedy. Certain noblemen in the service of Henry, " regem et
reginam simul in lecto posuerunt."
1285. The bowels of Robert de Ros buried at Belvoir, his
heart at Croxton. After the commencement of the thirteenth
n 2

180 NOTES.
century, the bodies of royal and noble persons were regularly
embalmed, or covered with cerecloths, and deposited in coffins
of stone, lead, or wood. It was a common practice, when the
body was embalmed, to take out the heart and bowels, and inter
them in a different church to that in which the body was buried ;
and a request that this might be done, was sometimes inserted in
the will of the deceased. From numerous instances it appears,
that this custom prevailed from the twelfth to the eighteenth
century. The heart of Richard I, was buried at Rouen, his bowels
at Chaluz, and his body at Fontevraud. In 1806, the heart of
Lord Edward Bruce, who was killed in a duel in 1613, and his
body buried at Bergen, in Holland, was found in the burying
ground adjoining the old abbey church of Culross, in Perthshire.
It was contained in a silver heart-shaped case, on the hd of whiei^. -
were engraved the name and arms. After drawings were taken '0f
it, it was carefully replaced in its former situation. (Blo&am's
Monumental Architecture, &e. p. 55, 64.) ,
1301. There stiU remain in the chancel of Orator,, church, a
slab and recumbent figure of a lady in red freestone, within an
ogee canopied recess with crocketted pinnacles,'; the arms of Ross
and Albini are on each side of the upper 'part of the slab : this
monument has been supposed to commemorate the Lady Isabel
de Ros-. (Nichols' Leicestershire, ^01. 2, p. 1, pt. 31.) Sir Robert
de Ros, the second son of the above, was the founder of the Ros
family in Hertfordshire. He was appointed in 1285, by the name
of Robfert of Belvoir, to be treasurer of king Edward's exchequer,
then held at Caernarvon. He was knighted in 1306.
1350. Jubilee at Rome. The design of Boniface, the eighth
Pope of that name, in the institution of the jubilee in 1300, was
money. The tendency of this festival was the utmost licentious
ness and corruption. Its pretence, remission of all sins to such
as visited the church of St. Peter, within the limits of the year
of jubilee.
Johannes Ross le bon compagnon — Stoke Albany church.
The indefatigable Nichols visited this church in 1792, with a
draughtsman, to delineate the monument of John de Ros, the
founder of the church. To his great astonishment, he was told
that it had been removed from the arch of the church two years
before, by the express direction of the resident clergyman, because
the figure looked black and unhandsome. The figure of the
warrior with the slab which formerly contained the inscriptions,

NOTES. 181
was first turned upside down in order to make a seat ; but this
appearing still worse than the figure, the whole was broken, and
the fragments buried under an adjoining brick pavement. The
manner in which Nichols notices this barbarism, is one of the few
specimens of energetic writing in his ponderous work.
1346. William de Ros III, led the fourth division in the
battle of Neville's Cross. The text of Nichols has been followed
in this assertion. Sharon Turner, (Hist, of Middle Ages, vol. 2,
p. 210) whose authority appears to be Froissart, states that three
of the divisions were under the command of prelates — Durham,
York, and Lincoln. A third account derived from Boece, Rid-
puth, and Surtees, makes Henry, Lord Percy, leader of the first
division ; Edward Baliol, of the fourth, supported by the Archbishop
of Canterbury, the Lord Roos, and the sheriff of Northumber
land. The second and third divisions were commanded by the
Lords Neville and Hastings. High authorities declare that queen
Philippa was present at the battle : others equaUy worthy of cre
dence, state positively, that she was at York. The history of this
battle being thus involved in so much uncertainty, William, Lord
Ros may, or may not, have had the honour assigned to him in
the text.
Norham Castle, Sir Robert de Manners, Thomas de Gray,
and William Marmion. The following quotation from Leland,
iUustrates and confirms the statement in the text. The orthogra
phy is modernised. "About this time there was a great feast
in Lincolnshire, to which came many gentlemen and ladies ; and
among them, one lady brought a helme for a man of war, with a
very rich crest of gold, to WilUam Marmion, knight, with a letter
of commandment of her lady, that he should go in the dangerous-
est place in England, and there to let the helme to be seen, and
known as famous. So he went to Norham, whither, within four
days of coming, came Philip Mowbray, guardian of Berwick,
having in his band one hundred and forty men of arms, the very
flower of men of the Scottish marches. Thomas Gray, captain of
Norham, seeing this, brought his garrison before the barriers of
the castle, behind whom, came William richly arrayed, as all
glittering in gold, and wearing the helme, his lady's present.
Then said Thomas Gray to Marmion, 'Sir knight, ye be come
hither to frame your helmet. Mount up on your horse, and ride
like a valiant man, to your even here at hand, and I forsake God,
if I rescue not thy body, dead or alive, or I myself will die for it/

182 NOTES.
Whereupon, he took his courser, and rode among the throng of
enemies ; the which laid sore stripes on him, and pulled him at
the last out of his saddle to the ground. Then Thomas Gray,
with all the whole garrison, let prick in among the Scots, and so
wounded them and their horses, that they were overthrown, and
Marmion sore beaten was horsed again, and with Gray pursued
the Scots in chase. There were taken fifty horses of price ; and
the women of Norham brought them to the footmen, to fohbw
the chase. Thomas Gray himself killed one Gryne, a Fleming,
an admiral, and great robber on the sea, and in high favour with
Robert Bruce, &c. (CoUectanea, vol. 2, p. 548 — 9.)
Ralph, Lord Neville, was the first secular person buried in the
cathedral, at Durham ; an honour granted on account of his
munificent benefactions to that church. The Neville monument
still remains, though in a ruinous state.
1383. Thomas de Ros died at Uffington. I am inchned to
think that this person was the founder of the present church, at
Uffington. The architectural character is certainly of the latter
end of the fourteenth century. There is in the chancel, a recum
bent figure of a de Ros, in the armour of the same period. The
arms and crest of the de Ros family, are in the right spandrel over
the grand entrance, at the west end of the church.
1436, Sir Robert Ogle, knight of Ogle Castle, situated on the
river Blithe, in Northumberland. In 1436, a severe battle was
fought at Pepperdean, just within the border of the county, not
far from Cornhill, between the Earl of Northumberland, (the son
of Hotspur,) or perhaps Sir Robert Ogle, and Douglas, Earl of
Angus, each with about four thousand men. The Enghsh were
defeated. This battle has furnished according to some, the origin
of the ballad of "Chevy Chase," rather than that of Otterburn.
Sir Robert Ogle was summoned to parliament, as first Baron
Ogle, from 26 July, 1461, to 7 Sep. 1469, in which latter year
his lordship died, and the barony passed in regular succession,
from father to son, to Cuthbert, the seventh baron, who died
without male issue.
1461 — 1483. William, Lord Hastings, had the Belvoir pro
perty granted to him, by reason of the near alliance in blood of his
wife Catharine, to the NeviUe family, into which the de Ros family
had intermarried. He was an especial favourite of, and warmly
patronised by, the wealthy nobility of the period. Comines, who
knew him well, speaks of him, as a person of " a singular wisdom

NOTES. 183
and virtue." He was at this time a pensioner of the French king.
Sir Thomas More, in his history of Richard III, says "that he
wps a good knight and a gentle ; of great authority with his
prince ; of living somewhat dissolute." His lady erected the
chapel of St. Stephen, (wherein her husband, herself, and some
of her posterity, were interred) in the north aisle of the choir,
under a north arch, in St. George's chapel, at Windsor.
Castle Guard, is a tenure by which certain lands are held, on
condition that the holders shaU be ready, with a certain number
of men, for the defence of the Castle, when required. This
service was sometimes commuted for, by a yearly payment.
Harrington John, descended by a younger branch from the
ancient barons of that name, lords of Haverington, in Cumber
land ; settled at this period, in the county of Rutland.
A family of the name of Pomery seems to have held the Castle
of Belvoir, under the Lord Hastings, (Leland, Itin. v. 6, p. 59.)
There were two brothers of this name at the time ; John, abbot
of Leicester, and Walter, mayor of the same place.
1499. Sir Thomas Lovel and his wife, the lady Isabel, were
admitted into the fraternity of the priory, at Belvoir.
July, 1634, King Charles visited Belvoir. It appears from a
curious letter preserved among the MSS. of Dr. Pegge, that the
king visited Belvoir again in 1636.
" Sir, Belvoir, Aug. 1, 1636.
His majesty taking notice of an opinion entertained in Stafford
shire, that the burning of fern doth bring down rain ; and being
desirous, that the country and himself, may enjoy fair weather, as
long as he remains in those parts ; his majesty hath commanded
me to write unto you, to cause aU burning of fern to be forborne,
till his Majesty be passed the country ; wherein, not doubting
but the consideration of their own interest, as well as of his
majesty's, will invite the country to a ready observance of this his
majesty's command, I rest your very loving friend,
Pembroke and Montgomery.
To my very loving friend the high
Sheriff of the county of Stafford."
On this letter Dr. Pegge remarks ; " Pembroke was then Lord
Chamberlain ; and one of the family of Pyott, was then high
sheriff of Staffordshire, whose descendant Charles Pyott, Esq. of
Canterbury, lent me this letter to copy, 1746. Supposing the
fact to be true, that the burning of brakes or fern will cause it to

184 NOTES.
rain, I apprehend, it may be accounted for thus. The air is a
fluid property, tending to an equilibrium ; in which case, wherever
there is any extraordinary local rarefaction, as in the present bu
siness there must be, a slow-moving cloud may be drawn or
determined that way ; and there, for the same reason, may pour
down its load."—The author was present at an incidental discus
sion, in the house of a distinguished individual at Leeds, which
he hoped, might have led to a striking illustration of this point.
It was asserted that the amount of rain, falling at Leeds, and in
the immediate neighbourhood, had considerably augmented with
the increase of furnaces for manufacturing purposes. During the
progress of this work, the author requested an inteUigent and
influential gentleman at Leeds, to give him his opinion on the
subject, supported by such data, as he could procure. The author
has to acknowledge, that considerable pains were taken to satisfy
his inquiries, though the result is different from what he had
been led to expect. The average annual amount of rain, regis
tered at the Philosophical HaU, at Leeds, from 1824 to 1831
inclusive, was 23.50 inches ; from 1832 to 1839, 23.19 inches.
This shews an average annual amount, not only considerably less
than that for the whole of England ; but less also than the amount
for similar hilly districts, to that in which Leeds is situated ;
the atmosphere of the former, not being subjected to the increased
temperature occuring in the latter, from its numerous furnaces.
It may therefore be supposed, that though rain faUs more fre
quently in a locality of this kind, than in others, the actual annual
amount is not greater, if so much.
Scottish Army in England, January 1643. The conduct of
the leading men in Scotland, previous to, and during the rebellion
in this country, to the final catastrophe in the execution of
Charles, will be a perpetual blot upon their memory. The
Bishops of the Scottish church at that period, appeared cordially
to sympathise with the wishes of Charles, that the liturgy of the
English church should be used in Scotland ; stipulating only, that
certain alterations might be made, which would secure its better
acceptance. To this, Charles readily consented : and Archbishop
Laud, to whom the matter was referred, reluctantly. Laud, who
lived but for the church, and died a martyr in her cause, conscien
tiously believing, that the Uturgy of the English church was as
free from imperfection, as any thing human could be, strenuously
laboured, that it should be received by the Scottish church with-

NOTES. 185
out alteration : reasonably urging, as an inducement, the perfect
uniformity which would then exist between the two branches of
the catholic church in this island. Being overruled, he left it to
the Scottish bishops to determine what alterations should be
made : cautioning them to do nothing which might be contrary
to the laws and customs of that country, with which, he professed
not to be acquainted. The alterations were made by them ; and
assurance given, that the liturgy thus formed, would be accepta
ble to the Scottish nation. Laud merely sanctioned what they
had done. Charles and he, being deceived by the assurances of
the Scottish bishops, took immediate steps for its adoption.
By the most culpable remissness on the part of the king's re
presentatives in that country, in the blame of which, the Scottish
bishops must bear a large part ; the most ordinary preparation
was neglected to secure its adoption ; nor was any information
given to the king, that it would be at all distasteful to the Scottish
nation. The result is well known : and the Scottish church, is, to
this day, a sufferer from the want of wisdom in her bishops of
that period. The plea for resistance was, the tyrannical coercion
of conscience, in imposing a form of belief, worship, and discipline,
not agreeable to the views of a vast majority of the Scottish nation,
Admitting the soundness of this plea, it might be reasonably ex
pected, that the objectors would have maintained its catholic
principle ; its applicability, that is, to all other christian countries,
as well as Scotland. But when the troubles of this country
began, and a small faction of separatists objected to the church,
that it oppressed the consciences of the minority, the Scottish
plea was no longer applicable by its supporters. The large
majority in England, forsooth, must yield to the factious scruples
of the small, but inveterate and persevering minority. For a short
time previous to the execution of Laud, scarcely any influential
persons in this kingdom, except Pryne, and a few of his friends,
desired, or would consent to, any alteration in the doctrine and
discipline of the church. A Scottish army, (with its usual
committee of preachers) was, however, continued in England, to
enforce the reverse of what had been maintained in Scotland ;
and the majority in this kingdom, was to be coerced to con
formity with the presbyterian discipline and doctrine. It added,
if possible, to the bitterness of the infliction, that the majority was
also compelled to contribute, for several years, to the maintenance
of this army. After this flagrant inconsistency, we need not be

186 NOTES.
surprised at any thing that followed. This same army, promised
Charles a refuge from his traitorous English subjects, and when
they had got him in their power, fixed the price of his betrayal,
and were thus the direct and wiUing means of his murder. For
they could not but contemplate the fatal result.
Partial good resulted, it is true, from this worse than Popish
tyranny. Men found to their sorrow, that they had exchanged,
the comparatively gentle constraint of episcopal discipline, for
such it was, notwithstanding individual acts of tyranny, for the
iron fetters of a presbyterian inquisition ; which punished with
ruinous fines, imprisonment, and death, a word, a look, or a
speculation, which could be tortured into disaffection with their
oppressors. The reign of terror could not be perpetuated beyond
the short despotism of CromweU ; who, with aU his faults, and
tyrant and usurper as he was, had some noble quaUtes about
him ; and the nation with a revulsion of feeling, commensurate
with their former sufferings, rushed to the church, as the truest
friend under Providence, to their souls, bodies, and estates.
But there was a revulsion of another kind, limited at first to a
few ; but which, afterwards, became as fatal to the doctrinal
soundness of the teachers and members of the church, as the
former might seem to be eminently conducive to its pohtical re-
establishment. It was impossible for inteUigent men, not to be
disgusted with the enormous crimes, which had been perpetrated
under the sacred name of religion. The sovereign himself (Charles
II,) could not but look with feehngs of aversion, upon the fanati
cism, to which his father had fallen a martyr; and he himself had
barely escaped a similar fate, from the same inauspicious motives
of action. The step in some minds averse, either through a faulty
education or indolence, to the trouble of distinguishing between
error and truth, is but a short one from disgust at the abuse of
serious things, to a rejection of their proper use. It was Charles'
misfortune, to suffer under the influence of both these obstacles
to a sound judgment. Hobbes, of Malmesbury, a name destined to
infamous repute, as the industrious opponent of rehgion, natural
as well as revealed, was the tutor of Charles, when Prince of
Wales. Lord Herbert, of Cherbury, had been, a few years before
the time of Hobbes, silently preparing the way for infidelity, by
forming deism into a system. After the Restoration, several
powerful writers began to inculcate tenets, which in a happier age
of the church, would have been noticed, only to be universally

NOTES. 187
condemned. But any tenets, however subversive of the truth,
which promised men liberty from the oppressive tyranny of the
sectaries, was welcomed by the unreflecting, — and they are always
a very large class in society, — without inquiry into their real
nature and tendency. Hobbes was foUowed by Blount, Toland,
and Lord Shaftsbury ; the latter, at one time, a favourite minister
of Charles ; Anthony Collins, to whom Locke was so enthusias -
ticaUy attached, that in his correspondence with him, he calls
him, "a man whom he values in the first rank." Then followed
Woolston, in his attempt " to allegorize away the miracles of
scripture, as Collins had done the prophecies : '' Tindal, Morgan,
Lord Bolingbroke, Chubb, and Hume, continued, though with
unequal ability and success, to wage their anti-christian war.
It was impossible for churchmen to breathe long in so tainted
an atmosphere, and not suffer in common, with all others, from its
effects. And the church is only now being partially purified
from its malign influence. We have, therefore, little reason to
look back with satisfaction, upon a period so disastrous to the
church and state ; though some good, as is ever the case, has
resulted from extensive evil.

No. !.

BASEMENT STORY,
BELVOIR CASTLE.

No. I.
BASEMENT STORY.

NO. 1. Porch.
2. Entrance Passage.
3. Guard Room.
4. Entrance to Guard Room Staircase.
5. Porter's Lodge.
7. Land Steward's Offices.
8, 16, 17. Servants' Rooms.
18, 23, 24. Ditto.
29, 30, 32. Ditto.
9, 22, 25. Passages,
28, 36. Ditto.
10. Servants' Hall.
11. Kitchen.
12. Larders.
13, 31. Other Kitchens,
14. Court Yard.
15. Pastry Room.
19. Store Room.
20, 21. Wine Cellars.
26. Steward's Room.
27. Ante Room and Store Room to Ditto.
33. Still Room.
34. Bakehouse for Housekeeper's Use.
35. Store Rooms.
37. Staircase into South-west Subterraneous Passage.

No. II.
SECOND STORY.
NO.
1. Guard Room.
2. Staircase to Guard Room Gallery.
3. Grand Staircase.
4. Guard Room Gallery.
5. Gentlemen's Bed Rooms.
6. Ante Chapel.
7. Chapel.
8, 12, 25. Staircases.
9, 20, 22. Passages.
10. Kitchen continued.
11. Ante Room.
13. His Grace's Bed and Dressing Rooms.
14. Study, Drawing, and Dining Rooms.
15. Ante Room to Ditto.
16. Awaiting Room.
17. The Staunton Tower Wine Cellar.
18, 19. WelUngton Apartments, and Gentlemen's Rooms.
21. Staircase to Grand Corridor, &c.
23, 24, 26, 27, 28. Housekeeper's Rooms.
No. III.
PRINCIPAL STORY.

MC
1.
2.
3.

Royal Apartments.
Picture Gallery.
Grand Staircase.

4. 5.
6.
7.
8.

Regent's GaUery,
Chapel.
Awaiting Room.
Library.
Ante Room and Passage.

9.

The late Duchess' Boudoir and Private Family Rooms.

10.
11.

Green or Assembling Room.
Chinese Rooms.

12.

EUzabeth Saloon.

13,

15. Grand Corridor.

14.

Staircase to Ditto.

16.
17.

Grand Dining Room.
Ante Room and Staircase.

18.

Fox hunters' Dining Room.

No. II.

SECOND STORY,

BELVOIR CASTLE.

No. ill.

PRINCIPAL STORY,
BELVOIR CASTLE.

DESCRIPTION

CASTLE.

Belvoir Castle, from the admirable natural advantages of
its situation; from the skill and taste which have been
displayed in adapting the architecture, both to its site, and
the importance of the historical recollections with which it is
associated ; has acquired a celebrity,, by no means confined
to England. Scarcely any foreigner of cultivated taste,
visiting this country for either business or pleasure, omits
the gratification of a pilgrimage to Belvoir. One of the
marked proofs of its fame in this country, is the variety of
forms, in which attempts have been made to preserve some
memorial of its magnificent grandeur. From pictorial re
presentations of the highest class, to the most unpretending
sketches of the amateur draftsman ; — in topographical works
of a permanent form, or in the more fleeting shape of annuals
and periodicals, — a continually recurring evidence of its ap
preciation may be discerned. The variety of points of view
from which it has been observed and admired, is almost
analogous in extent, to the diversified shades of opinion of
its numerous visiters. And, probably, in most instances, an
opinion has been formed from the first impression received,
on approaching the Castle, by the several avenues of com
munication with the surrounding counties. If the author may

190 HISTORY OF
be allowed to avail himself of a more attentive consideration
of its various aspects, than is usually bestowed by the casual
visiter, as the groundwork of a settled opinion on the subject,
he would prefer the view, which is obtained by the ordinary
road from Grantham; a near representation of which is
given in the plate, described as the north-east front. The
centre tower of Norman massiveness in the basement, first,
and principal stories ; slightly, but appropriately decreasing
in its solid proportions towards the turrets and battlements,
forms, in connexion with the Staunton and north towers,
and the projections of the porch and cloister-like entrance,
on the north-west side, a magnificent arrangement of castel
lated architecture.
By many persons, whom, in other respects, we might be
inclined to suppose most capable of forming an accurate
judgment, it has been asserted, that the four sides of the
Castle are intended to be specimens of the four styles of
architecture, which prevailed in this kingdom, to the end
of the reign of Henry VII. The most cursory examination
will shew, that such an arrangement does not exist And
what is perhaps of more importance to state, the author can
positively assert, that no such arrangement formed part of the
architectural design. It may, however, be readily ascertain
ed, how such a mistaken opinion has been formed. The most
prominent features of the north-east front are Norman: —
the plain circular headed windows of the basement story,
and the multiplied courses of zigzag moulding of those gems
of Norman architecture, — the windows of the Elizabeth
saloon, in the centre tower, may be especially instanced.
But even in this very tower, where such marked Norman
features are seen, uniformity has not been preserved : and
its absence has materially contributed to the striking beauty
of the structure. Whoever looks on those panelled buttresses,
decorated with armorial insignia, would scarcely desire, that

BELVOIR CASTLE. 191
their place had been supplied by the bald, unsightly pilasters
of Norman aera. A less obvious innovation on Norman
style, may be seen in the corbel table, on this, and the north
west, or grand entrance front. It may admit of question,
whether this series of elegantly elongated, moulded trefoils,
may not belong, if not to the early English style peculiarly,
at least to a very late period of transition from the Norman.
But there can be no question, that, it is infinitely pre
ferable for effect, to the series of segmental blocks, which
mark tbe battlements of the south-east and south-west
fronts ; and determine also at the same time, the portion
which the fire of 1816 left untouched, and the difference
in taste between the professed architect and the amateur ; —
between Wyatt and Sir John Thoroton. The north-east
and north-west fronts were built under the superintendence
of Sir John Thoroton after the fire ; the south-east and ¦
south-west fronts, by Wyatt, previous to the fire.
It was a happy, if not a designed co-incidence, that the
north-east front, in which are the magnificent Norman
windows above alluded to, looks upon the site of St. Mary's
Priory ; in whose consecrated ground were deposited the
remains of the founder, Robert de Todeni, and his suc
cessors, William de Albini I, II, and IV ; who lived in a
period, during which Norman architecture commenced in
this kingdom, and arrived at its highest perfection.
On walking round from this portion of the Castle, to the
north-west front, the principal feature is, the grand entrance
of decorated character. Previous to the fire no such en
trance existed ; but immediate ingress into the Castle was
afforded by a door, into what is now called the guard room.
It would be tame language to speak of the present entrance
as an improvement. Nothing can be in better taste than
the porch with its lofty doors, its pointed arches, its ogee
shaped canopies with finials ; and the cloister-like entrance.

192 HISTORY OF
Reserving, however, a detailed account of this portion of the
architecture, till we enter the Castle, we pass the bastion,
and proceed to the
South-west front. Here we are principally struck with
the boldness of the outline, and the massiveness of the
proportions, especially of the centre tower. Yet, with the
exception of the chapel, which is of purely perpendicular
character, the architectural details are plain, even to bald
ness. The chapel has some good features about it, especially
in the parapet above the arcade, in the basement story,
which formed no part of the original design by Wyatt, but
Was added by Sir John Thoroton, in imitation of a portion
of the parapet, in Lincoln Cathedral. The windows are of
elegant proportions, and harmonise well with the general
character and intention of the building. We might, perhaps,
have wished, that the embattled parapet of the two towers,
had been of a rather less gossamer character; and that more
substantiality had been imparted to the pinnacles. But,
upon the whole, the architecture of the chapel, forms an
exquisite break upon the general plainness of this part of
the Castle. It comes upon the view as unexpectedly, and
contrasts as effectually with the remainder of this front of
the Castle, as the little cultivated spots, which we meet with
in the surrounding scenery; when, after passing through
the dense foliage of gigantic trees, we suddenly arrive at an
open area, where the tasteful skill of the floriculturist has
been at work.
The terrace, upon which the south-east front of the
Castle abuts, being for the private use of the family, is not
ordinarily accessible to visiters. But the character of the
architecture may be observed from a lower terrace ; and
from its varied details, its towers at the angles, its turrets
and oriel windows, it is inferior in graphic effect to the
north-east front only. To this latter we will now return

BELVOIR CASTLE. 193
for the purpose of noting some family cognizances of genea
logical and historical interest
First, let us observe the appropriate inscription twice
repeated, in shields between the basement and principal
story of the centre tower : — Nisi Dominvs jedificaverit
DOMVM FRVSTRA LABORAVERVNT .EDIFICATORES EJVS. Com
mencing from the tower at the north angle, we notice
between the windows : — 1, three stags' heads caboshed ; 2,
Noel ; 3, a bend engrailed between three leopard's heads ;
4, Vernon of Haddon ; 5, Paston ; 6, Rutland impahng
Noel, motto of the garter and ducal coronet ; 7, Rutland im
paling Sherard ; 8, Ros, Badlesmere, Charlton, Lord Powis,
and Vernon of Haddon, in eight quarterings, on the north
buttress of the centre tower ; 9, Ros and Badlesmere quar
terly, on the south buttress, with coronet and motto of the
garter, over the windows of the Elizabeth saloon ; 10, Rut
land impaling Sutton, motto of the garter and coronet; 11,
Rutland impaling Howard ; 12, Rutland impaling Holland,
Earl of Kent; on the facade to the south of the centre tower;
13, Montague; 14, Espec; 15, Charlton, Lord Powis and
Vernon of Haddon, quarterly; 16, De Roos; 17, Albini; 18,
De Todeni ; and on the west side of the north tower, Man
ners, &c. impaling Paston.
The Bastion extending to the west commands the only
accessible approach to the Castle ; the eight cannon upon
which would sweep with a destructive fire, over an area of
three-fourths of a circle. They are of brass, and elegant
workmanship. The first is inscribed, — "La Meurtriere —
Ultima ratio regum — Pluribus nee impar" — a shield, azure,
3 fleurs de lis argent ; with the crown of France. On the
breech, "6. 1. 23. A Strasbourg, par J. Berenger, 1758."
The second with similar armorial bearings is inscribed, —
"La Tranquille; 6. 1. 2." The third; "La Radieuse;
6. 0. 26." The fourth,— "La Temeraire ; 6. 1. 18." A
o

194 HISTORY OP
smaller one is inscribed "Loddington Volunteer Cavalry," —
a crown with the initial P. Arms— quarterly ; I and 4,
sable a lion passant> between three scaling ladders ; 2, gules,
on a chief, argent, two mullets, sable ; 3, a fess, gules, be
tween three cross-crosslets fitchee. Motto, "iEquam servare
mentem." Morris, of Loddington Hall, in the county of
Leicester. Sixth inscribed " La Turbulente " of the same
size and cognizances as th&four first; — "6. 2. 13." Seventh,
"L'Americane 6. 2. 3." Eighth, "La Remarquable, 6. 1. 12."

INTERIOR.
On entering the Castle, we may remark in the first place,
that the porch, entrance passage, guard room, and gallery,
were all designed by Sir John Thoroton, from portions
of Lincoln Cathedral. Over each door of the porch, are
arms,~-Rntland impaling the quarterings of the Carlisle
family, viz. Howard, Brotherton, Warren, Mowbray, Dacre,
and Greystock, with motto of the garter and ducal coronet.
The entrance passage is lighted by eight windows, (four
on each side) between which, shafts rising from flowered
corbels, form the support of moulded ribs on the vaulted
roof. Ranged along each side of this passage are stands of
arms for about one hundred and twenty men, appropriately
commencing with a star-like arrangement of cavalry sabres,
whose points meet in a central boss, having on its face, a
correctly designed cast of the head of the Duke of Welling
ton. On each side of the extreme end of this passage are
banners, and two stands of pikes, one of which is intended
to mask an ingenious contrivance, for procuring an effectual
draught for the stove, which warms this passage. A little
side room on the left, appropriated to the use of such of his
Grace's tenants, as may be desirous of a personal communi-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 195
cation, forms part of the same design. This room from its
occasional use, has received a name of very literal import, —
" Speak-a-word room." It contains some very good engra
vings on stone, one of which represents Goosey among his
hounds. The gigantic elk's head with horns, resting on the finial
over the door of entrance from the porch, was dug out of a
bog in Ireland. Above the stands of arms on each side,
are ranged water-buckets for the fire-engine. The door
with unglazed window above, looking into the guard-room
and gallery, is a remarkably beautiful specimen of decorated
character.

THE GUARD ROOM
Is a magnificent combination of ancient style with modern
comfort The principal material of the floor (Nottingham
freestone) is relieved of its sameness of character, by two
squares at either end, of mosaic-work; or, rather, an inter
mixture of black and white marble, with freestone, in a fretty
form. On each side the door of entrance, the walls are
covered with blank arcades with trefoil heads, tooth mould
ing, and embattled cornice; above which, are four deep
windows, the sides and archivolts of which are decorated
with plain mouldings, and the deep centre hollow, with a
single string of the tooth ornament. The arrangements
of arms at each end mask stoves, the one to the right,
containing among its various implements of war, a cavalry
sword, worn by Lord Robert Manners, at the battle of
Waterloo. The character of this portion of the Castle is preserved
throughout, by banners, complete suits and detached pieces
of armour, arranged in niches, or against panels. The two
figures in gilded armour have a certain gorgeous effect, by
o 2

196 HISTORY OF
being placed in contrast, as it were, with the mellow, almost
gloomy light, from the stained glass in the gallery behind.
But they are, in no other respect, worthy of their distin
guished situation : being incongruous in detail, and of
unsubstantial material. There are in this very guard room,
pieces of armour, of steel inlaid with gold, which a skilful
cleaner might render more appropriate and striking embel
lishments. Want of space* alone prevents a detailed description of
many portions of the architecture of this grand room. The
visiter is, however, requested to give the observance of a few
seconds, to the vaulted roof, with its moulded ribs, bosses,
and shafts, with their elegantly flowered corbels. Let him
also look at the effect of the grand staircase, and the gallery
as seen through those flattened arches, especially the arch
of entrance to the staircase, with its panelled sides, multfoil
head, and continuous string of ball-flower moulding. The
tables on each side of this entrance are interesting, not only
on account of the great beauty of the material, but from the
history of their formation. The slabs consist of strips of
deposit taken from wooden pipes, used for conveying water
in Blithe Mine, Alport, Derbyshire ; and were formed in
eleven years. The frames and legs are of oak, dug up from
under some old houses in Sheffield.
The family cognizances in the Guard Room, are those of
Robert de Todeni, over the door into the porter's lodge;
and over another door at the same end, Albini impaling De
Lisle. Above the piers of the arches at this end, are, De
Roos impahng Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick ; and De Roos
with an escocheon of pretence for Isabella, the heiress of
the house of Albini. Above the piers at the opposite end,
are, De Roos impaling Stafford; and De Roos impaling
Neville ; over each of these last four shields, is a coronet.
Above the piers on each landing from the first flights of

BELVOIR CASTLE. 197
stairs, after leaving the Guard Room, are Rutland with St.
Leger, on an escocheon of pretence ; and Rutland with De
Roos on a similar escocheon. Previous to mounting the
grand staircase which communicates with the principal story,
we turn to the left in the guard room gallery, and in the
stained glass of four windows, executed by Wyatt, we ob
serve, first, the arms and scroll of "Robert de Todeni;" in
the second light of the same window, the arms and scroll
of "William D' Albini." In the second window, there
are representations of two knights in barons' coronets and
mail armour, with shields and scrolls, which determine
them as memorials of "Robert de Todnei le Fundeur," and
"D' Albini." The former holds a standard on which appears,
gules, two lions passant gardant, or ; to denote the office of
standard-bearer, which Robert de Todeni sustained under
the Conqueror. In the third window are representations
of knights with similar coronets and armour; whose armorial
bearings and scrolls commemorate " Walter Espec. — Fidem
semper regibus servans ;" behind whom is some drapery,
with the cognizance of Scotland, in allusion to his valour in
the battle of the Standard in 1138, when the Scotch expe
rienced a ruinous defeat, and lost half their army : and
"Robert de Roos'' on whose tabard of argent, is a cross
moline, gules. The fourth window contains the shields and
helmets, &c. of Robert de Todeni, and De Roos. Return
ing back to the west portion of the gallery, we remark
the richness of ornament in the arches and semi-arches,
or brackets, which support the landing on the principal
story; the tooth moulding in the former; blank shields, the
Beaufort cognizance and Tudor Rose, in the spandrils of the
latter. The Ottoman with its twelve back cushions at the
north-west end of the gallery is about three yards square,
and was worked in worsted, by the ladies of the neighbour
hood, It is decorated with compartments, in which, are
the peacock, the cap of dignity, ducal coronet, and flowers.

198 HISTORY OF
Ascending the grand staircase, we arrive on the gallery
of the principal story ; round which are niches, with crock-
eted canopies and finials. The arms above the niches are; —
1, Rutland impaling Paston ; 2, Rutland impaling Neville ;
3, Rutland impaling Holcroft ; 4, Rutland impaling Charl
ton, Lord Powis; 5, Rutland, with an escocheon of pretence
for Sidney; 6, Rutland, with a similar escocheon for Knevitt,
impahng Tufton ; 7, Rutland impaling Carey ; 8, Rutland
impaling, quarterly, Montagu and Monthermer. The above
are the armorial bearings of the first eight Earls of Rutland.
The gallery of this staircase communicates at the north-west
end, with the regent's gallery, and the king's rooms ; and,
at the other end, with the anteroom to the library, formerly
the billiard room, and the picture gallery. The usual and
perhaps the most convenient course of viewing the rooms
on the principal story, is, to proceed first by a door on the
left, into
THE REGENT'S GALLERY.
The fire of 1816 was stopped at this door, by bricking it
up, after having done some slight damage to the oak floor,
(some traces of which may be now observed on entering)
and consuming a single picture hung over the door. At
this end of the Regent's Gallery, our surprise is excited, that
the great disproportion of the breadth to the length;— 17
feet 8 inches, to 131 feet, and 18 feet 2 inches high, — should
not occasion the room to appear more decidedly what it
was designed to be, — a gallery, — than what it is often applied
to, — a magnificent, as well as comfortable, living room. It
is, however, soon observed, how its anticipated disproportion
has been obviated. The central tower of this side of the
Castle, with a diameter of 35 feet 9 inches, by the addition
of a bay to the gallery, gives an increased- breadth of 18

BELVOIR CASTLE. 199
feet ; with such a glow of light through its windows, and
such a prospect from them, as are rarely equalled. This
noble gallery was temporarily fitted up for the reception of
George IV, when Prince Regent ; — hence its name ; — and
still remains very much in the same state : it may indeed be
questioned, whether very elaborate decorations would im
prove its character. Though of such large dimensions, it
is a warm and comfortable room ; and is, moreover, capable,
by the occasional hanging of curtains across its breadth,
of being divided into three fairly proportioned rooms ; of
which, the centre with the bow is by far the most attractive.
But the great charm of the regent's gallery consists in the
variety of works of art assembled in it. A preference in
order of time, may be fairly given to the examination of
eight pieces of gobelin tapestry — two large, and six smaller,
on which are delineated with the brilliancy of colouring,
and the minute finish of the most accomplished pencil, the
adventures of "Dom Quichotte," from designs painted by
Coypel. They are inscribed at the bottom of each piece,
as follows :
1. Dom Quichotte trompe
par Sancho prend des
Paysannes pour sa
Dulcinee.
2. La fausse princesse de
Micomicon vient prier Dom
Quichotte de la remettre
Sur la throne.
3. Dom Quichotte prenant des
Marionettes pour des
Maurs croit en les combattants.
Andran 1770.

200 HISTORY OF
4. Dom Quichotte fait demander
par Sancho, a la princesse
la permission de la voir.
Cozette. G,
5. Poltronnerie de Sancho a la
Chasse.
6. La Doloride prie Dom
Quichotte de la venyer
' de 1' enchanteur. Andran 1770.
7. Le Repas de Sancho dans
L' ile de Baratria.
8. Dom Quichotte guery
de sa folie par la Sagesse.
In every one of these, the respective characters of the
knight and the squire, — the roguery, laziness, and sensuahty
of the latter, and the weak-headed frenzy of the former, —
are most admirably delineated. The squire is always cun
ningly alive to his own safety, interest, and comfort : while
the knight never for a moment suspects his knavery ; or
indeed views any thing in its true light, until awakened from
his fantastic dreams by "La Sagesse." In this piece, the
transition from active frenzy, always of a chivalrous and
self-denying nature, to a melancholy review of his eccentric
course, is described in a most masterly manner, and so true
to nature, that it is almost painful to look upon. The several
subjects are surrounded by devices of armour, flowers, fruit,
sheep, &c. It is an interesting feature in these tapestries,
that though a chance purchase of his Grace, the peacock in
his pride is beautifully delineated on the top of each piece.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 201
Anthony Cotpel was born at Paris in 1661. He received
instruction in the rudiments of his art from his father ; who, being
appointed director of the French academy at Rome, took his son
with him, that he might have an opportunity of improving himself
there, by studying after the best models. During his continuance
in that city, he designed after the antiques, and after the works of
Buonarotti, Raffaele, and the Carracci. After three years practice
at Rome, he went to Lombardy and Venice to study colours, and
returned to Paris, very weU qualified to appear as a professed
master, although at that time, not above eighteen years of age.
The Duke of Orleans appointed him his principal painter : and
he eventuaUy received so many proofs of esteem from the king,
the dauphin, and the princes of the blood, that he was seldom
disengaged from the service of one, or the other ; and as a public
testimony of his merit, he was appointed by the king, director of
all his paintings, with a large pension, and was also elected director
of the academy. He painted historical and allegorical subjects.
There is a great deal of spirit in his compositions, and generally
an agreeable expression ; the turn of his figures is frequently
elegant ; but he can rarely divest himself of the French taste.
His style is theatrical ; his heroes are those of Racine ; and his
costume resembles that of the opera. He died in 1722, aged
sixty-one. Anthony had a brother, Noel Nicholas, a painter and
pupil of his father, of nearly equal merit, who was born in 1692,
and died in 1737.
Gobelin Tapestry is so called from the name of two brothers,
who in the reign of Francis I, introduced from Venice into France,
the art of dyeing scarlet ; and established extensive work-shops,
for the purpose, upon the small river Bievres, in the Faubourg
St. Marcel of Paris, at Gentilly. Here the brook takes the name
Gobelins from the manufactory, In the year 1677, Colbert pur
chased the houses from the Gobelin family, in virtue of an
edict of Louis XIV, styled it the Hotel Royal des Gobelins, and
established on the ground a great manufactory of tapestry, similar
to that of Flanders. The celebrated painter Le Brun was appoint
ed director in chief of the weaving and dyeing patterns. Under
his administration were produced many magnificent pieces of
tapestry, which have ever since been the admiration of the world.
There is an academy within the Gobelins for the instruction of
youth in the various branches of the fine arts, in physical science,
and mechanics, subservient to the improvement of the manufacture.

202 HISTORY OF
Several attempts have been made to estabUsh a manufactory of
tapestry in this kingdom. It is mentioned in authentic documents
of the reign of Edw. Ill, and Henry VIII. Sir Francis Crane,
in the reign of James I., estabUshed a manufacture of tapestry at
Mortlake, in Surry; but, though patronised by the king, the
prince of Wales, and the Marquis of Buckingham, it was found to
be too expensive a .speculation, and therefore feU into decay.
In various parts of the gallery, and principally on marble
columns, there are some exquisitely chiselled busts by
Nollekens of the following persons: — WilUam Pitt, and
his father, Lord Chatham; Oliver Cromwell; the pre
sent Duke ; the late Duchess ; the Prince Regent ; Lord
Robert Manners ; the Marquis of Granby ; the first Earl
of Mansfield, with the motto "Uni sequus virtuti;" Charles,
the third Duke of Somei-set ; William DU ; and George II.
There is also a bust of the late Duchess, by Matthew Wyatt,
on a fluted column, the top of which is gracefully and
appropriately decorated with a wreath of flowers ; beneath
which there is the following inscription : — " Elizabetha
RUTLANDLE DuCHISSA OBIIT XXIX Nov. MDCCCXXV. This
was executed after her death, from the painting by Sanders,
in the Elizabeth saloon. A bust of Admiral Keppel, by
Jos. Ceracchi, faultless as it may be in the execution, does
not please in the conception. The features are of genuine
Dutch character, sufficiently alien from the classic drapery
pf the bust.
Joseph Nollekens, the son of Joseph Francis Nollekens, a
native of Antwerp, and a painter by profession, was born the 1 1th
of August, 1 737, in Dean Street, Soho, London ; and baptised at
the Roman catholic chapel, in Duke's street, Lincoln's Inn Fields.
After receiving a very imperfect education, he commenced, early,
the study of sculpture, attending the drawing school of Shipley,
in the Strand, and afterwards the studio of Scheemakers, in Vine
Street, Piccadilly. In 1760, he proceeded to Rome, with a scantily
filled purse, where he acquired considerable reputation and emo
lument by adding heads to busts, and bodies to heads, of antique

J Marcham. dd

fflES GIRACIE THE ©TOE OJF RUTLATO.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 203
fragments, staining them with tobacco water to give the whole an
appearance of age. After ten years of profitable study at Rome,
NoUekens returned to London, where the simplicity of his manners,
and great skiU in sculpturing busts, procured him from the rich
and great, ample employment and munificent remuneration. His
studio became a kind of fashionable lounge for individuals of the
highest rank. He had, also, a good deal of employment, in a
branch of the art stiU less favourable than bust making, for the
display of its higher powers ; namely, that of common place monu
ments for common place people. An exception, however, must
be made in favour of the monument to Mrs. Howard, of Corby
Castle, which is one of his best productions, pathetic in conception,
elegant and tasteful in execution ; as a work of art, very far superior
to that, by him, of Captains Lord Robert Manners, Bayne, and
Blair, in Westminster abbey, which, though a sumptuous, is but
a frigid, mechanical work. Notwithstanding his numerous com
missions, NoUekens found time to undertake several statues, and
pieces of poetic sculpture, among which were no fewer than five
Venuses, one of them since known by the name of the Rockingham
Venus. A rigid economist himself, he married a lady of still more
parsimonious habits ; and at his death on the 23rd of April, 1823, was
found to be possessed of upwards of £200,000, aU of which, with the
exception of a few trifling legacies, he bequeathed to his friends,
Francis Palmer, and Francis Douce, the well-known antiquary ; very
much to the disappointment of a swarm of greedy legacy-hunters.
The chief attraction about his busts, on which his fame wiU chiefly
rest, is ease and simplicity ; the chief defect is want of dignity
and sentiment.
Joseph Ceracchi was a young Italian sculptor of rising talents.
Sir J. Reynolds sat to him for the only bust in marble, which
was ever executed of that illustrious painter. Ceracchi was in
France during the Revolution, and having been implicated in the
plot to destroy Buonaparte, suffered under the guillotine.
At the end of the gallery, nearest to the entrance from the
grand staircase, there are a Venus Couchante, and a head
of a Nun, in statuary marble, by a young Italian artist, pur
chased by the Duke, when in Italy. From this point, it
will be as well to notice, in succession, the pictures with
which the gallery is adorned.

204 HISTORY OF
Portrait of Lady Tyrconnel in a sitting posture, dressed
in white satin, with feathers in her hair. Sir Joshua Rey
nolds. Intombing of Christ. Luca Penni. Purchased for £100.
The Virgin stands near a square tomb absorbed in grief,
while attendants are placing the dead Christ in the tomb.
In this latter figure, the general effect of colouring and po
sition is alloyed by an appearance of muscular life in the
right arm and hand. Large picture.
Luca Penni, a contemporary of Baffaele, arrived in England
in 1537. He is said not only to have designed for engravers, but
to have engraved himself. There is no certain date of his death,
or of his leaving this country.
Landscape, A copy of the large tree by Claude Lorraine.
So far as its elevation permits an opinion to be formed, it
appears to be a very successful copy. Painted by the late
Duchess of Rutland.
Christ disputing with the Doctors in the Temple. — West.
A small picture, in which there is an absence of dignity and
felicitous grouping of the figures. £40.
Benjamin West was born in the province of Philadelphia,
Oct. 10, 1738. His father was of English extraction, but had
emigrated to America, and married a person of the same reUgious
tenets, — those of the people called quakers. Being introduced by
Archbishop Drummond to George III, that monarch continued
his warm and steady patron as long as his faculties continued un
impaired ; employing him on historical subjects, and portraits of
the royal family, and procuring his nomination to the presidency
of the Royal Academy. West died 11th March, 1820, in the 82nd
year of his age ; and was buried beside Reynolds, Opie, and
Barry, in St. Paul's Cathedral. The pall was borne by noblemen,
ambassadors, and academicians. His productions are very nume
rous, and were warmly criticised during his life, by admirers and
opponents. The general impression now is, that they are for the
most part, " cold, formal, bloodless, and passionless."

BELVOIR CASTLE. 205
Samuel presented to Eli. — West This, the companion to
the above, though a subject of great simphcity of action, is
represented in a somewhat theatrical style. £40.
Sterne's Maria and Heloise ; two small oval pictures by
Angelica Kauffman.
The Wounded Stag ; by the same artist, is a large picture
of much more ambitious pretensions than the two former ;
pleasing in the conception, and warm in the colouring. But
we cannot fail to notice the usual absence of decided charac
ter and expression, which marks the works of this artist
On canvass, 4 feet 2 inches by 3 feet 3 inches.
Angelica Kaupfman was born at Coire, in Germany, in 1740;
and died at Rome, in 1807. After studying at Rome, she accom
panied Lady Wentworth, in 1765, to England : where she was
patronised by royalty, decorated with academic honours, and be
came sd much the fashion, that Boydell pubUshed upwards of sixty
plates, engraved by different artists, from subjects painted by this
lady. And what may seem a less equivocal testimony to her
merit, she was warmly eulogised by Fuseli ; who, if not a pleasing
painter, was a most learned and able critic. But it must be ad
mitted that her works, though generally possessing a certain
attraction, and often warmly coloured, have so much of sentimenta
lity and affectation in the conception, as to prevent her taking
a high place in the ranks of art.
Near the above, a small design, in ivory, of the Adoration
of the Shepherds, exquisitely carved ; and a medallion of
Leopold Frederick Francis, Duke of Anhalt Nassau, the
friend of John, Marquis of Granby, with the original letter
of Mr. Sinclair pasted at the back. (See page 119.)
Whole length portrait of the present Duke, when a young
man, in the uniform of the Leicester yeomanry. Hoppner.
John Hoppner was born in London, in 1769. Being patron
ised by the Prince of Wales, afterwards George IV ; his studio
was crowded with princes, peers, and fine ladies. And there is
on record a long Ust of portraits painted by him, of the most

206 HISTORY OF
distinguished persons of the age. His works are characterised by
Allan Cunningham as remarkable for simpUcity, and austere com
posure of style ; and often, for elegance of form, and poetic lofti
ness of sentiment. He died April 1810, in the fifty-first year of
his age.
Lord Robert Manners. Sir Joshua Reynolds. Ships in
the distance. £210.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, the son of a clergyman, and born at
Plympton, the 16th of July, 1723, was originally destined to the
practice of physic. An early indication of his talents for drawing,
induced his father, in 1741, to place him under the care of Mr.
Hudson ; who principaUy employed him in making careful copies of
the masterly drawings of Guercino. Jealousy of his pupil on the part
of Hudson, produced a separation. In May, 1 749, an opportunity
was afforded to Reynolds of proceeding on a voyage to the Medi
terranean, which terminated in his arriving at the object of his
ardent wishes — Rome ; where he studied with unceasing assiduity
the productions of the great masters, especially Raffaele and
Michael Angelo ; but profited, principally, by the works of
Leonardo da Vinci, Fra. Bartolomeo, Titian, and Velasquez. He
subsequently travelled to Bologna, Parma, Florence, and Venice ;
and after an absence of three years arrived in England, October,
1852. He soon established himself as a professional man in St.
Martin's lane, London. For some time, he had to contend with
the bad taste of the period, though he subsequently acquired a
brilliant reputation, and a daily increasing demand for his works,
especially his portraits. His celebrated picture of The Nativity,
a composition of thirteen figures, twelve feet by eighteen, painted
in 1780, as the central piece for the stained glass, at New College,
Oxford, was purchased by the Duke of Rutland for 1200 guineas ;
and was burnt in the fire of 1816. It is described, as having "the
fault of almost all Sir Joshua's historical works ; it was cold,
laboured, and uninspired." Nineteen pictures by Sir Joshua
were consumed in this'fire, a list of which, with their prices, has
been given, (see page 127.) Sir Joshua Reynolds died the 23rd of
February, 1792 ; and was interred in one of the crypts of St.
Paul's, amidst demonstrations of respect from the most iUustrious
men of the land. His single poetic figures are remarkable for
their unaffected ease, their elegant simplicity, and. the splendour of

BELVOIR CASTLE. 207
their colouring. Though mostly portraits, they have all the charm
of the most successful aerial creations. It is an alloy to the
value of his works, that their beauties are of a more than usually
perishable character, by reason of his unfortunate perseverance in
experiments on his colours.
The late Duke of York. Half length. Geddes. An ad
mirable likeness, indifferently painted.
Lady Isabella Manners, Duchess of Rutland, 1779. Full
length. Reynolds.
Under the above, in a carved oak frame, a Portrait of
Chaucer, 1400 ; 9£ inches broad, by 12 inches high. The
author of this work would hazard an opinion, that this was
painted by Occleve, one of the first of our poets ; and who,
it is known, was so attached to Chaucer, that he calls him
his master, and his father, and affectionately and repeatedly
laments him. What renders this opinion more probable, is,
that Vertue mentions an illuminated manuscript of Thomas
Occleve, in which there is a portrait of Chaucer, painted by
Occleve himself.
Portrait of the late Duchess, left in an unfinished state by
Hoppner. The accessaries of the garden landscape were
added by Matthew Wyatt, in something less than his usual
taste. She is represented as leaning against a column, in
her favorite flower garden, on which is the following in
scription. " One cultivated spot behold, which spreads
Its flowery blossom to the noon tide beam,
Where numerous rosebuds rear their blushing heads,
And poppies gay, and fragrant violets teem.
Far from the busy world's unceasing sound
Here has Eliza fixed her favourite seat,
Chaste emblem of the tranquil scene around,
Pure as the flower which smiles beneath her feet."'
Lucy, Duchess of Rutland, second wife of John, second
Duke of Rutland. Kneller.

208 HISTORY OF
Sir Godfrey Kneller was born of a noble family in 1648,
in the city of Lubeck, and received his first instruction in the art
of painting, in the school of Rembrandt. He afterwards became
a pupil of Ferdinand Bol. When he came to England, he was
patronised by the Duke of Monmouth, and by him introduced to
Charles II, whose portrait he painted several times. After the
death of Sir Peter Lely, he had incessant employment, and was
distinguished by many public marks of honour. KneUer had
much of the freedom of Van Dyck, but less nature. His outline
is bold, his attitudes are easy, and not without dignity : his
colouring is lively, the air of his heads generally graceful, and there
is a pleasing simplicity in his portraits, combined with a conside
rable degree of elegance. But there is also a monotony in the
countenances, and a want of spirit in his figures. Thus the beauties
of the court of WilUam III, painted by order of the queen, are
very inferior and tame, in comparison of Sir Peter Lely's beauties
of the court of Charles II. KneUer preferred portrait painting
for this reason: — " Painters of history," said he, "make the dead
live, and do not begin to live themselves, till they are dead. I
paint the living, and they make me live.'' Sir Godfrey died in
1726, at the age of 78 ; or, according to some authorities, in
1723. Landscape. Breughel, the figures by Rubens.
Jan Breughel, the son of Peter Breughel, a painter of some
reputation in comic subjects, was born at Brussels, in 1589. He
received the principles of art from his father, and learned to paint
in distemper under Koek, and oil painting from an artist named
Goekindt. For some time he confined himself to flower paintino- :
but travelling into Italy, he enlarged his style, and painted land
scapes, which he adorned with small figures executed with ex
quisite correctness and beauty. Many painters availed themselves
of his liberality, and induced him to enrich their pictures with his
beautiful little figures, or landscapes ; among them are Steenwick
Van Baelen, Rothenhammer, Momper, &c. Even Rubens made
use of his skill in more than one picture, in which Rubens painted
the figures, and Breughel the landscapes, flowers, animals, and
even insects. Growing rich by his industry, he cultivated a mag
nificence in his apparel, and was nicknamed velvet Breughel, from
the costly material of his dress. His touch is light and spirited,
his drawing correct, and his finish elaborate. His pictures are

BELVOIR CASTLE. 209
much admired ; although his landscapes are injured by an ex
aggerated blueness in the distances. He is supposed to have died
£bout 1642.
Man, Woman, and Boy. Le Nain. In front of a large
ruinous place, occupied by peasants, an old woman is sitting
listlessly, with her hands before her. On the right, a man
with a small peaked grey beard stands stiffly near a boy
sitting on the ground. There are in this picture great de
cision of forms, powerful colouring, and careful execution.
£40. There were two brothers of the name of Le Nain, Louis and
Antoine, who Uved at Laon in the first half of the seventeenth
century, and are advantageously distinguished from most of their
countrymen. They commonly painted together the same picture.
Head of Lord Chancellor Nottingham.
Landscape. Gainsborough. Cottages, with a man
bringing home wood. A sweetly natural, well-painted
scene of rural life.
Thomas Gainsborough was born in 1727, at Sudbury, in
Suffolk. When ten years of age, he had made some progress in
sketching any object that struck his fancy ; an old tree, a group
of cattle, a shepherd and his dog, &c. Before he was twelve, he
ventured on colouring ; and by that time, had painted several land
scapes. At fourteen, he was sent to London, to study under
Hayman, the companion of Hogarth, and Gravelot, the engra
ver. He soon after commenced as a portrait painter, supporting
himself, tiU at the age of nineteen, he married a young lady, who
had a fortune of £200. per annum. Having painted some portraits
of the royal family, which Were much admired, he soon acquired
extensive practice and proportionate emolument. But with pain
ters, his fame rests on his landscapes, and what might be called
fancy pieces, such as the celebrated " Cottage Door," now in the
collection of the Marquis of Westminster. The testimony of Sir
Joshua Reynolds to his merits, is concurred in, almost unani
mously. " If ever this nation should produce genius sufficient to
acquire to us the honourable distinction of an English school, the
p

210 HISTORY OF
name of Gainsborough will be transmitted to posterity, as one of
the very first of that rising name." And Walpole exclaims,
" What frankness of nature in Gainsborough's landscapes, which
entitle them to rank in the noblest coUections. !" Gainsborough
died of a cancer in the neck, in August, 1788, in the sixty-first
year of his age.
Landscape — Cart Horses and Sheep. Gainsborough. The
spirit of rural tranquillity is well expressed in this picture ;
though painted generally in a cold heavy tone, except the
water, which is exquisite.
Landscape, with Cattle. Gainsborough. A rich, warm-
coloured picture of rural scenery.
View of the Thames frozen, with London Bridge. — Marlow.
The heavy, solitary stillness of the icebound foreground, is
scarcely relieved by the extensive evidence of a dense popu
lation in the metropolis, which, with St Paul's, is seen in
the back ground. This is altogether a faithfully conceived,
and powerfully painted picture.
Head of the late Earl of Carlisle.
John, second Duke of Rutland. Full length.
Katherine, first wife of John, second Duke of Rutland.
John, third Duke of Rutland, 1725, in robes of the garter.
On this side of the Regent's Gallery, there are two casts
in metal ; — one of a bull baited by three dogs, the other of
a lion, who has prostrated one of three dogs, — exceedingly
spirited in the execution. Round the bow, there are heads
of the following persons ; — the Duchess of Buckingham ;
two of the Marquis of Granby, one of which was painted at
Constantinople, in 1740, by Liotard; the first Duke of Rut
land ; the fourth Duke. There is also a portrait, (knee-
piece) by Angelica Kauffman, of a lady sitting in a garden,
and filling a vase with flowers.
Portrait of Thomas Manners, Lord Roos, the first Earl
of Rutland. This is a noble whole-length portrait of a
noble looking person.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 211
Head of the late Duchess Dowager, ivhen a child. Smirke.
Countess of Northumberland. Sir Peter Lely. This lady
was daughter of Jocelyn, the last Earl of Northumberland,
and wife of Charles, the sixth Duke of Somerset, commonly
called the proud Duke of Somerset
Portrait of the Marquis of Granby. He is represented as
leaning against a monument, with an inscription. After
wards the first Duke of Rutland.
Portrait of the same person caressing a dog. Small
kneepiece. Portrait of the Marchioness of Granby, afterwards first
Duchess of Rutland. — Companion to the above.
King John signing Magna Charta. Mortimer. Among
the foremost of the barons, are, one with a shield, a fess
between two chevrons — De Lisle ; another with the cog
nizance of De Roos ; a third, with that of Beauchamp.
John appears sensual in his person, weak in the mouth, and
frenzied in the eyes. He has the legate on his left, with
the charta and seal : and appears to be addressing the assem
bled barons, to convince them of his sincerity. Canvas,
24i inches by 21. £50.
There are a nobleness and truth in the heads of the princi
pal figures of this picture, an ease and freedom of touch, an
originality of conception, and a warmth of colouring, which
justify the opinion that has been long formed, that this is
not only one of the best pictures of the master, but that it
possesses much more of the merit of originality, than the
historical compositions of any of his contemporaries.
Conversation Piece. Soldiers, fishermen, woman, &c.
Mortimer. The companion to the above. This picture on
panel, is slightly injured. The grouping and action are
exquisite. £35.
John Hamilton Mortimer was born of respectable parents,
at Eastbourne, in Sussex, in 1741. Having discovered a taste for
P 1

212 HISTORY OF
drawing, which he is supposed to have acquired from an uncle,
who was an itinerant portrait painter, he was, at about the age
of eighteen, placed under Hudson. The work which first brought
him into notice was a picture of Edward, the Confessor, seizing
the treasures of his mother ; which, in the opinion of Reynolds,
excelled the rival painting by Romney so decidedly, as to entitle
him to the premium of fifty guineas. Dissipation of the most
extravagant kind soon undermined a naturally strong constitu
tion ; and a change of habits, after marriage to an affectionate
and beautiful woman, arrived too late to arrest the progress of
decay. He died on the 4th of February, 1779, in the thirty-
eighth year of his age. His " King John signing Magna Charta,"
"The Battle of Agincourt," "The Origin of Health," "The
Tragic and Comic Muses," " Sextus consulting Erictho, from
Lucan," " The Incantation," " Vortigern and Rowena," and his
" Groups of Banditti," are spoken of as possessing high claims
to originaUty. But he is said to have been no colourist.
Portrait of the Marchioness of Granby. Sir Joshua Rey
nolds. Knee-piece, size of bfe. — This lady was the wife of
the celebrated Marquis of Granby.
Four small pieces exquisitely carved in ivory, originally
at Cheveley : viz. Lucretia, David with the head of Goliah,
Cupid asleep, and Cupid approaching a young man tied to
a tree, and pierced with arrows.
The Regent's Gallery was never, as above stated, com
pleted in its decorations ; and with the exception of some
richly designed cabinets, and three splendid chandehers of
cut glass, there is a great plainness in the furniture. There
is, however, in the bow, a comfortable, roomy arm-chair of
elm, sparingly carved, which possesses value of a kind that
more than compensates for its unpretending appearance.
The following inscription on a brass plate at the back of the
chair will supersede the necessity of further remark : —
" This chair is formed out of a tree, which in fame must be
considered as surpassing every tree of the forest, being that be
hind the farm of La Haye Sainte, and close to which the Duke

BELVOIR CASTLE. 213
of WeUington frequently took his station during the battle of
Waterloo. " This tree was purchased by George Children, Esq., who
kindly gave the Duke and Duchess of Rutland sufficient wood
from it to form this chair ; two other chairs only having been
made out of it, of which, one is in the possession of his Majesty,
and the other was reserved by the donor for himself."

PICTURE GALLERY.
On the decease of Charles, the fourth Duke of Rutland,
the noble collection of pictures in Belvoir Castle were en
trusted to the care of the Rev. Mr. Peters, rector of Knip-
ton, in the county of Leicester, himself an artist of some
pretensions, and associate of the Royal Academy. The
account which he gave to Nichols, for his History of Leices
tershire, will be received, it is hoped, as the most appropriate
introduction to the Picture Gallery.
" John, the third Duke of Rutland, and Charles, the late much
lamented owner of these works, were both of them patrons of the
arts, in the fullest extent of that word ; for they were not con
tented only to look at and admire the dawning of genius in the
infant mind, but sought out excellence wherever it could be found,
cherished it in its bud, protected it in its progress, and supported
it with their fortunes when ripened into that state of perfection,
which it could only attain to, by the liberal and steady patronage
of the good and great. John, the third Duke, delighted much in
the management of the pencil, and employed many of his leisure
hours in that most pleasing amusement. It is said of him, that
the Duke was a good gentleman painter, and glad to buy a good
small picture at an auction, and would carry it home himself,
saying, ' A man did not deserve a good picture, that would not
carry it home himself.' To the fostering hand, also, of the late
Duke, the arts are indebted for their flourishing state in this
country. By an early and warm attachment to men whose works
have formed that style of painting which has created an English
school, he did equal honour to himself, to his country, and to the
age wherein he Uved."

214 HISTORY OF
The Picture Gallery is lighted from above, by a series of
windows filled with ground glass. Its height (3 1 feet 5 inches)
is relieved of the disproportion which it might otherwise
have to its breadth (25 feet 8 inches), by a boldly coved
ceiling. Its length (61 feet 10 inches) possesses an imposing
effect on entering from the grand staircase, from the mag
nificent array, on all sides, of first-rate paintings, in the
highest state of preservation. The waUs are appropriately
covered with crimson cloth, to which the pictures are
attached by invisible fastenings. Above the pictures runs a
cornice of considerable breadth, decorated in a chaste style,
with designs in relief, from the antique. The gallery is
lighted at night by four candelabra fixed to marble columns.
There is nothing to distract the attention of the visiter from
the invaluable treasures in the gallery, except six chairs,
exquisitely carved, from the Borghese Palace, at Rome. If
he enter from the grand staircase, he will find it convenient,
and certainly most appropriate, to commence his observance
with a large picture, containing figures the size of life, of
The Marquis of Granby (present Duke) and his eldest sister
(Lady Elizabeth Norman), when children, with two favourite
dogs, Turk and Crab. Sir Joshua Reynolds. The Duke is
holding one of the dogs, and is apparently endeavouring to
prevent his sister from approaching, who looks out of the
picture with her full dark eyes, in affectionate content
They are in the usually beautiful style of Sir Joshua's tho
rough-bred, well-dressed children. £210.
The Marquis of Granby. Reynolds. The size of life.
The great Marquis is resting on the mouth of a camion,
bareheaded, and in the military uniform of the period. In
the distance there is a battle, with cavalry galloping to the
scene of action. The sky is partly obscured by the smoke
of artillery. The distances are finely managed, but there is
a slight stiffness in the principal figure.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 215
Quack Doctor. Teniers. On panel ; 7\ inches by 9. £50.
The good-humoured, half-roguish expression of the itinerant
mediciner, is well expressed in this picture, which is painted
with great freedom and spirit In some of the accessories,
there are marks of his usual delicacy of execution ; though
it may be objected, that the head of the principal figure is
not so highly finished.
David Teniers the younger, a Flemish painter, was born at
Antwerp, in 1610, and died in 1694. He received the rudiments
of his art from his father, and Adrian Brouwer ; and derived con
siderable improvement from Rubens. After struggling with many
difficulties, he, at length, found a patron in the Archduke Leo
pold ; and, ' subsequently, received especial marks of favour from
the King of Spain, Don John of Austria, and Christina, Queen
of Sweden. His treatment of the subjects in which he especially
delighted, has never been surpassed. Village festivals, and other
gatherings of the peasantry, have a truth and nature about them,
which could only have been obtained from a constant observance
of such scenes, and an almost intuitive appreciation of their
sahent points. Nothing can be more strongly marked, or more
natural, than his figures, whether in anger, or in good-humour ;
joyous, or grave. His skies, though not much varied, have great
clearness and briUiancy. There is a feathery lightness about
parts, combined with a depth in masses of his foUage, most true
to nature. He was a successful imitator of other great masters,
so as to render it almost impossible to distinguish the style which
he adopted, from that of the original master. The enormous
prices which, to this day, are given for the pictures by this master,
amply attest the admiration in which his works are held.
Head of a Friar. Bronzino. Admirably painted. The
countenance sallow ; whole expression that of scarcely vo
luntary mortification. The eyes denote much internal suf
fering both of mind and body ; while the firmly compressed
mouth indicates a resolution to bear misery, whether self-
inflicted or involuntary. The hair of the beard and head
exquisitely finished. £30. On canvas.

216 HISTORY OF
The companion to the foregoing portrait is an admirable
one of a much less intellectual person. £20.
Angelo Bronzino was born at Florence, in 15 11. He became
a pupil of Pontormo, but affected the style of Michael Angelo.
Bronzino lived when painting generaUy, but especially historical
painting, was on the decUne. His frescos in the Palazzo Vecchio,
and his limbo in the church of Santa Croce, are among the ad
mired pictures of Florence. But his reputation chiefly rests on
his portraits, which generally display marked expression, a mas
terly, decided rounding of the form, and admirable colouring.
He died in 1580.
Boy and Girl looking at Birds in a cage. Gerard Douw.
She has her arm on the shoulder of her companion, with
her eyes looking out of the picture, while his eyes are fixed
on the birds. Both appear to be loitering on some errand ;
the girl with a basket of fruit, and the boy with an earthen
ware bottle, with the handle broken off. There is in this
picture great finish, with astonishing lightness and freedom
of touch. The figures are uncommonly animated in their
expression. Circular-headed panel, 6J inches by 9. £350.
Gerard Douw was born at Leyden, in 1613, and died in
1680. For high finish in the most tender warm tone, with
striking effect of light and shade, Gerard Douw stands unrivalled
in the Flemish school of painting. Very smaU pictures by this
master have recently been sold for nearly £1500.
Flight into Egypt. Claude Lorraine. An exquisite gem
on copper, 12 inches by 9. Masses of foliage overshadow
a stream, by the side of which Joseph is preceding the
Virgin and Child on an ass. The deep blue sky, dap
pled with light fleecy clouds, seems well to accord with
the beautiful repose of the whole scene. Mountains in the
middle distance are seen through a slight haze. On the
right is a craggy elevation, partially covered with verdure.
£50.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 217
1 Claude Gellee, called Claude Lorraine, was born at Cha-
magne, in Lorraine, in 1600, of parents in very humble circum
stances. A relation, who was a travelling dealer, observing some
indications of a love for the fine arts, persuaded his brother, to
whose care he was left on the death of his parents, to allow the
lad to accompany him to Rome. After studying two years at
Naples, under Godfrey Waals, he returned to Rome, for the
benefit of the instructions of Agostino Tasso, under whom he
studied with unwearied diligence. Having acquired some repute,
he made the tour of Italy, and France, and part of Germany.
He appears to have suffered, during this tour, many vicissitudes
both of health and fortune. On his return to Rome, he was re
ceived with a general welcome, and a wide and increasing demand
for his pictures. It was his custom to spend great part of his
time, often whole days, from dawn till night, in watching the
changes of effect on earth and sky. He has left proofs of the
painstaking labour with which he studied the details of a picture,
in finished studies of leaves and bits of ground. By these means
he acquired such a mastery of hand and eye, as produced him
fame, wealth, and the rank of the first among landscape painters.
He used to make drawings of his pictures in a book, to prevent
their being pirated. He left six of these registers, which he
caUed his " Libri de Verita ;" one of which, containing two hun
dred drawings, is in the possession of the Duke of Devonshire.
Engravings from this collection were published by Boydell, in
1777. A copy of this work is in the Ubrary of Belvoir Castle.
Claude's colouring is rich and brUliant. His tints are varied as
in nature itself. His aerial perspective is perfect. His composi
tion is a singular union of freedom and symmetry. If an objec
tion may be hazarded to his style, it is, that there is something of
a sameness and mannerism. We occasionally wish that the perfect
grace of his landscapes possessed a trifling dash of roughness or
irregularity. He died in 1682.
Landscape. Gaspar Poussin. On canvas; 18^
inches by 13^. In middle distance, amidst a rocky
country partially covered with trees, a farm-house and
peasants. At a great distance, the tower of a church and
habitations are seen. There are a sublime grandeur in the
conception, and a boldness of execution in this small pic-

218 HISTORY OF
ture, which make the observer regret, that it has experi
enced the fate of many of the master's pictures, of being
dark and indistinct in parts, through the fact of the dark red
ground appearing through his colours. £50.
The proper name of Gaspar Poussin was Dughet. When he
went to Rome, he assumed the name by which he is now univer
sally known. This most celebrated of landscape painters, and
especial ornament of the French school, was born at Paris, in
1 600. He derived the principles of his art from his brother-in-
law, Nicolo Poussin, whom he frequently prevailed upon, when at
the height of his reputation, to insert the figures in his land
scapes. The conception of Gaspar Poussin was as remarkable
for elevated taste and fine feeling for the picturesque, as his exe
cution was rapid. He is said to have finished a large landscape,
and inserted the principal figures in a single day. His pictures
are held by collectors in this country, in equal estimation with
those of Claude ; and have been purchased at enormous prices.
He died in 1663.
Head. The square brow, expansive forehead, and rather
sanguine cheek, mark intellect, with its not unusual accom
paniment, irritability.
Boys' School. Guiseppe Crespi, called E Spagnuolo.
£15. Hung too high to admit of observation. It is a small
picture. Guiseppe Maria Crespi, an historical and portrait painter,
was born at Bologna, in 1665, and received his earliest instruc
tion in design from Angelo Toni, a very moderate artist ; but in
a short time he quitted that school, and successively studied under
Domenico Canuti, Carlo Cignani, and Giovanni Antonio Burrini.
He afterwards applied himself to study the works of Baroccio,
and subsequently the principles of colouring at Venice, from the
paintings of Titian, Tintoretto, and Paolo Veronese. His merits
procured him the patronage of the Grand-Duke Ferdinand, who
immediately engaged him in several noble compositions, which he
executed with success. In portrait he was particularly excellent ;
and to those subjects he gave elegant attitudes, with a strong and
graceful resemblance. His imagination was lively, and often

BELVOIR CASTLE. 219
whimsical. He was very famous for caricatures ; and often
amused himself with designing comic and burlesque fancies, which
he expressed with abundance of humour. Sometimes he etched
those designs with aquafortis, selecting his subjects from the
writings of the facetious and burlesque poets. He died in 1747,
aged eighty-two.
Landscape, with Buildings. Van der Heyden. On panel ;
18 inches by 13J. £50.
John Van der Heyden, a very eminent painter of the Dutch
school, was born at Gorcum, in 1637-40. He painted with in
comparable precision and minuteness of detaU, temples, palaces,
churches, cities, and country houses ; combining with this miniature-
Uke finishing, the most admirable keeping of the masses, the most
striking effects of light and shade, and a clear and powerful tone.
The value of his early works is enhanced by their being adorned
with figures by Adrian VanderVelde. He died in 1712, at
Amsterdam. Boors at Cards. " D. Teniers " marked at the right
bottom corner. On panel; 16 inches by 13. A group
in the foreground, and another at the fireside, engaged at
cards. The exquisite finish of this interior, the minute
and careful attention to the trifling accessories, viz. the
broken tub, on which one of the players sits ; the chalk
and scores on the table ; the pipe on the floor, from which a
small portion of lighted tobacco has escaped, with its almost
imperceptible spiral of smoke ; the half-filled glass, and
earthenware pan, render this a gem of no common interest.
Madonna and Bembino leaning on a globe. Parmegiano,
Spirited and expressive, and carefully painted in a warm
golden tone.
Francesco Mazzuoli (Parmegiano), a celebrated historical
painter of the Lombard school, was born at Paris, in 1504. After
some slight instruction under two relations, he went to Rome,
and studied the works of Correggio, Raffaele, and Michael An
gelo. He, eventually, acquired great force of colouring, and

220 HISTORY OF
delicacy of execution ; but did not always succeed in his at
tempts to combine the grandeur of Michael Angelo, in form
and motion, with the graceful flow and relief of Correggio. His
productions are of unequal merit. Some of his pictures have
realised, in modern times, no more than £25 ; while the altar-
piece, which he painted in 1527, at Rome, for the church of St.
Salvatore, in Lauro in Citta di CasteUo, was sold to Mr. Hart
Davis for £6000. This picture represents the Virgin Mary in
glory, with the Infant Christ ; below them, St. John the Baptist,
with his back turned towards the spectator, and pointing upwards.
It is 1 1 feet 6 inches high, by 4 feet 1 1 inches wide. The art of
etching on copper, by the application of aquafortis, is claimed by
Parmegiano as his invention ; though not without dispute ; as it
was certainly known in Germany, before Parmegiano could pos
sibly have practised it. He died in 1540, at the early age of
thirty-six. Virgin and Child. Carlo Dolce. The delicacy of execu
tion, and splendid colouring of this picture, are somewhat
alloyed by an affectation in the attitudes of the figures, and
by the stiffness and exaggerated size of the head of the
child. The blue and brick-red garments of the Virgin tend
to exhibit these defects with greater prominence. Large
picture on canvas. £150.
Carlo Dolce, born at Florence, May 25, 1616, was the son,
and nephew on the maternal side, of respectable painters. When
four years of age, he lost his father. At nine, he was placed by
his mother under Jacopo Vignali, celebrated for his powers of
teaching the art of painting. In four years, Carlo could paint ;
and, from his first attempts, determined to paint none but sacred
subjects ; and he almost Uterally observed this rule. His style is
pleasing, and full of gentle and tender expressions ; his drawing,
for the most part, but not always, correct ; his colouring varied,
soft, bright, and harmonious ; sometimes too pearly in its tint.
He elaborated all he did, with the most consummate patience and
delicacy. He appears to have been extremely good and amiable,
but singularly timid. His last illness was brought on by a re
mark, which Luca Giordano uttered in joke, that his slowness
would never allow him to amass 150,000 doUars, as the expedi-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 221
tious Giordano had done, but that he must starve. Upon this,
Carlo seems to have grown bewildered : he decried the works of
the other, whom he thought to be taking the bread out of his
mouth ; and refused food for some time. In the midst of his
troubles, his excellent and beloved wife died ; and death soon
released him from his grief, January 17, 1686. In all his insanity
he was never violent, but dejected and helpless, and as obedient
as a child to his spiritual adviser.
Landscape. Dekker. Two trees in front of a cottage, in
middle distance. Sky of a cold grey, ochery tone ; foliage,
greyish green. £15.
Old Woman, with bottle and glass. Teniers. On panel ;
6 inches by 4i.
Candlelight. Schalken. On canvas; 12 inches by 16.
A young man is selling a ring to a female, who is unwilling
to part with the price, till she has the ring in her posses
sion. The action very pleasing ; flesh of female of a rich
dark golden tone. £50.
Of Godfrey Schalken, who was born at Dort, in 1640, the
cynical Horace Walpole observes, that " he was a great master,
if tricks in an art, or the mob, could decide on merit ; a very
confined genius, when rendering a single effect of light was all
his excellence. His father, who was a schoolmaster, placed him
first with Van Hoogstraten, and afterwards with Gerard Douw,
from whom he caught a great delicacy in finishing ; but his chief
practice was to paint candlelights. He placed the object and a
candle in a dark room, and looking through a small hole, painted
by dayhght, what he saw in the dark chamber. Sometimes he
did portraits, and came with that view to England, but found the
business too much engrossed by KneUer, Closterman, and others.
Yet he once drew King William ; but as the piece was to be by
candleUght, he gave his Majesty the candle to hold, till the tallow
ran down upon his fingers. Robert, Earl of Sunderland, em
ployed him at Althorp. At Windsor is a well-known picture, in
the gallery. He came over to England twice ; the last time with
his family, and staid long, and got much money. He returned
to Holland, and was made painter to the King of Prussia, with a

222 history of
pension, which he enjoyed two or three years ; and died at Dort,
in 1706."
Landscape and Cattle. " Berghem ft. 1656" (or 8). On
canvas; 19 inches by 2 If. A peasant on a horse waits
with cattle in the water, out of which a female with bare
legs is just stepping, having a child on her back and a lamb
under her arm. A cool and refreshing scene, very attrac
tive by the force of the colouring, and the delicacy of the
execution. £100.
The family name of Nicholas Berghem was Van Haerlem.
He was born at Haerlem, in 1624, and became the pupil of his
father, a painter of still life, of no remarkable talent. He after
wards studied successively under Van Goyen, Mojaart, Jan Wils,
and Weeninx. During his early practice, he frequently painted
sea-ports and shipping ; but subsequently devoted himself, almost
exclusively, to landscape. His landscapes are usually enriched
with architectural ruins, and picturesque groups of figures and
cattle. His pictures possess great glow and depth of colouring,
delicacy of treatment, and great precision of touch. He painted
a picture at Dort, in competition with Jan Both ; the merits of
which were held in equal appreciation with those of the latter.
There are a prodigious number of his pictures in Holland, and
they are frequent in English collections. Berghem died in 1 683,
aged fifty-nine.
Landscape. Caspar Netscher. A small picture, appa
rently of great beauty; hung rather too high for obser
vation. Lady and her Maid. " Netscher F, 1665." The latter
is presenting fruit to her mistress, who is in a rich satin
dress, with a dark crimson mantle, lined with fur. There
is the most delicate finishing, combined with considerable
warmth of colouring, and a most graceful elegance of out
line, especially in the draperies. Small picture.
Caspar Netscher was born in 1619, at Heidelberg, from
which place his family removed to Arnheim, where he was adopted

BELVOIR CASTLE. 223
by Dr. TuUekens, a rich physician, who placed him first under
Koster, a painter of poultry and dead game, and afterwards under
Gherard Terburg, at Deventer. Caspar Netscher was one of the
best painters of the Dutch school, on a small scale. Though a
portrait painter from necessity, his most admired works are fancy
conversation pieces. His colouring is true to nature. He was a
perfect master of chiaroscuro ; his touch is extremely delicate ;
above aU, he is remarkable for his skiU in representing linen,
white satin, silks, and velvet, the draperies of which are cast in
large and elegant folds. All the accessories, the furniture, orna
ments, Turkey carpets, &c, are painted with inimitable truth and
minuteness ; but still they do not divert the attention from the
figures, with which they form a deUghtfully harmonious whole.
His latter pictures have, however, a certain cold elegance of
treatment about them, contrasting disadvantageously with the
warmth of tone of his earlier. Charles II., through the recom
mendation of Sir W. Temple, invited him to London. He soon
left this country, after having painted four or five portraits, and
died of the gravel and gout, in 1684.
Holy Family. Caracci. On copper; 8 inches by 5\.
£30. Lodovico, Agostino, and Annibale Caracci, were three of
the first painters of Italy ; kinsmen, fellow-students, and fellow-
labourers, natives of Bologna, and founders of the Bolognese
school. Lodovico was born in 1555, and placed at an early age
under Prospero Fontana, to study painting. He made such slow
progress, that his master dissuaded him from the pursuit. Having
travehed to Venice, where he became acquainted with Tintoretto,
and to Parma and Florence, for the sake of studying the great
masters, he returned to Bologna, with the determination of intro
ducing a new style of painting. He persuaded his younger
cousins to devote themselves to painting, that they might be qua-
Ufied to aid him in his purpose. Agostino was born in 1557,
and had been intended for one of the learned professions ; but his
inclination led him to seek employment with a goldsmith, to whose
business he attended for a time. He learned engraving from
Cornelius Cort, and had attained to considerable excellence,
when his cousin placed him first with Fontana, and afterwards
with Passerotti. Lodovico retained Annibale (born in 1560) with

224 HISTORY OF
himself. The first work of importance executed by the kinsmen,
was a series of compositions, representing the story of Jason, in
the Palazzo Favo. The severe criticisms and opposition which
this performance excited, induced the Caracci to strengthen their
party ; and the famous school was opened, which shortly attracted
most of the rising painters, who were studying with Denis Cal-
vart, Cesi, and Fontana. The fame of the Caracci was soon
firmly established by their works ; and the Cardinal Odoardo
Farnese invited Annibale to adorn his palace, at Rome, with
paintings. The works of the three kinsmen are principaUy in
Bologna and Rome. The Farnese GaUery is considered the
greatest work of Annibale. The Louvre contains the " St. John
the Baptist" by Lodovico, and the " Communion of St. Jerome"
by Agostino, which are respectively reckoned the best works in
oil. Annibale died in 1609, and was buried, according to his
own desire, by the side of Raffaele. Agostino died in 1602 :
Lodovico lived until 1619.
Head of St. Peter weeping. Guido. £150. The swollen
veins of the forehead, the upturned eyes overflowing with
tears, the convulsive clasp of the hands, and the whole ex
pression of the head, denote the agonising intensity of his
repentance, so briefly but emphatically described in Scrip
ture — " Peter went out and wept bitterly." A head of most
elevated conception, and noble treatment.
Guido Reni, born at Bologna, in 1574, studied painting, first
under Denis Calvart, and afterwards in the school of the Caracci.
On visiting Rome, he carefully examined every thing worthy of
the attention of an artist ; and was enraptured with the works of
Raffaele, and also much struck with the great effect of the style
of Caravaggio. His heads are considered by many, as equal to
those of Raffaele, in correctness of design and propriety of ex
pression. His standard of female beauty was founded on the
antique. He finished his pictures with great care ; his colouring
is extremely clear and pure, but sometimes, especially in his later
pictures, there is a greyish cast, which changed into a lurid
colour. An incurable propensity to gambling reduced him to
distressed circumstances ; so that his necessities compelling him
to work for immediate subsistence, without due regard to his

BELVOIR CASTLE. 225
reputation, many of his later performances are much inferior to
those which he painted in his happier days. Among his most
celebrated works were, an altar-piece in the church of St. Philip
Neri, at Fano, representing Christ deUvering the keys to St.
Peter ; a St. John, in the Archiepiscopal Gallerys at Milan ; the
Virgin and Child and St. John, in the Tanaro Palace, at Bologna ;
and the Penitence of St. Peter after denying Christ, with one of
the Apostles comforting him, in the Zampieri Palace, one of his
most exceUent works. He died in 1642, aged sixty-eight
Madonna, Child, and St. Ann& Murillo. Large picture,
on canvas. £700. St. Anne, in the act of adoration, sur
rounded by other figures with palm branches, is painted
with a more devotional expression in the head, than is com
mon with this master. The sallow countenance bespeaks
mortification and enthusiasm. The Madonna and Child are
painted in a warm golden tone. The whole group is lighted
by rays issuing from the clouds, about which are cherubs.
In the left distance, a street in perspective, in which is seen
a monk preaching.
Bartolomeo Esteban Murillo, the most eminent historical
and portrait painter of the school of Seville, was born at Pilas,
near Seville, in 1618. From the instructions of his uncle, Juan
de Castillo, an artist of some merit, whose favourite subjects
were fairs and markets, MuriUo derived considerable advantage.
After leaving him, he continued to improve in drawing, as well
as painting. For some time, he painted in the Florentine style,
Which then prevaded in Spain ; and several works of this, his
first period, are stiU preserved in SeviUe. In 1 643s he went to
Madrid, where he derived great advantage from the instructions
of his countryman, Velazquez ; who likewise obtained for him
permission to copy the masterpieces of Titian, Rubens, Van
Dyck, and Ribera (R Spagnoletto). Returning to SeviUe, in
1645, he excited general admiration by his paintings in the con
vent of St. Francis. They were in the style of Spagnoletto and
Velazquez, then unknown at Seville, and procured him many
commissions, especiaUy from the King of Spain for historical pic
tures. Some of these being sent as a present to the Pope, so

226 HISTORY OF
highly pleased the Italians, that they caUed him a second Paul
Veronese. But, though Murillo was thus eminent in the higher
departments of the art, his favourite subjects were beggar boys,
as large as life, engaged in various amusements, which he gene-
raUy designed after nature. He excelled, Ukewise, in portraits
and landscapes. His works are distinguished by their striking
character of truth, nature, and simplicity ; by the entire absence
of the servility of imitation ; and by the delicacy of his touch,
and the meUowness of his colouring, which, in fact, seem per
fect in every particular. There are numerous pictures by Murillo
in our English collections. Murillo raised the art of painting in
Spain, not only by his own works, but by founding an academy
at Seville, of which he was president from the year 1660 till his
death, on the 3d of April, 1685.
Man with bottle and glass. Teniers. Half-length ; 4
inches by 5\ . The quiet complacent touch of humour with
which the man is anticipating the genial contents of a half-
filled glass, is admirably delineated.
Head of the younger Teniers. D. Teniers. A circular
miniature. £5.
Sea-piece. Van de Velde. The initials " W. V. V."
marked on a buoy, or stump. On canvas ; 29 inches by 24.
A large Dutch man-of-war is lowering her fore top-sail ;
others are seen in the distance ; and two fishing-boats, sail
ing in opposite tacks. The water is agitated by a fresh
breeze. Willem Van de Velde, the younger, was born at Amster
dam, in 1633 ; and commenced the study of his art under his
father, till the latter went to England, and eventually became
" painter of sea-fights to Charles II. and James II." The son
was then placed with Simon de Vlieger, an admired ship-painter
of that time, but whose name is only preserved now, by being
united to that of his disciple. He soon afterwards was invited
by his father to England, and patronised by the king. His pe
culiar excellence has been thus satisfactorily discriminated : —
" We esteem in this painter, the transparency of his colouring,
which is warm and vigorous, and the truth of his perspective.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 227
His vessels are designed with accuracy and grace ; and his small
figures touched with spirit. He knew particularly well, how to
represent the agitation of the waves, and their breakings : his
skies are clear ; and his much-varied clouds are in perfect mo
tion. His storms are gloomy and horrid ; his fresh gales are most
pleasingly animated ; and his calms are in the greatest repose ;
his clouds seem frequently to vanish into that air, in which they
fleet." Add to this, that there is a perfect finishing of the
smaUest detaUs ; a fluidity and clearness in the water ; and we
can understand why he is such a prime favourite of the English.
The coUections of Sir Robert Peel, and the Bridgewater GaUery,
are two of the richest in the world in pictures by this master.
His pictures bore very high prices even in his life-time ; and a
thousand pounds were, within a few years, given for a " Calm "
from La Fontaine's collection. W. Van de Velde died in 1707.
Head. A miniature, %\ inches by 6. This is an exqui
site gem for finish of the flesh, and hair of beard and mous
taches. Possibly a head of Hans Holbein, by Kalker, a
pupil of Titian.
Head of a Lady. Cornelius Jansen. An oval miniature,
of great delicacy of execution, clearness, and brightness of
tone. The transparent softness of the flesh, and the feathery
lightness of the ruff, are remarkable.
Cornelius Jansen was born at Amsterdam, and came over to
England a short time before the year 1618, where he continued
upwards of thirty years. He was employed by King James I.,
and painted several fine portraits of that sovereign, and of his
children, as weU as of the principal nobility. His pictures are
easily distinguished, by their clearness, neatness, and smoothness.
His draperies are generally black ; a colour which he affected, to
add force to the face. Besides painting portraits the size of life,
he executed miniatures in oil, and often copied his own works in
that manner. At Harlaxton, near Grantham, are several heads
of the families of De Ligne and Lister. That which attracts
general admiration is one of Susanna Lister, painted in her wed
ding dress, as Lady Thornhurst, in 1626. She was considered
the most beautiful woman at court, when presented in marriage
to Sir Geoffrey Thornhurst, by James I. in person. The two
Q 2

228 HISTORY OF
full-length portraits of Lord and Lady Southampton, in the Bel
voir Gallery, which wiU be presently noticed, are noble specimens
of the art. His pictures, which are generally painted on panel,
stiU retain their original lustre ; in consequence, it is supposed,
of his having used ultra-marine in his black colours, as well as in
the carnations. Jansen's fame declined on the arrival of Van
Dyck ; and the civil war breaking out, he left England at the
importunity of his wife. His pass, dated Oct. 10, 1648, is re
corded in the Journals of the House of Commons' In that docu
ment he is described as " CorneUus Johnson, the picture-drawer."
He died at Amsterdam, in 1665.
Hagar and Ishmael. Bartolomeo Manfredi. A knee-
piece, of the size of Ufe. An angel accompanying Ishmael
precedes Hagar, in whose grief Abraham sympathises.
General action easy and natural. Flesh of a warm golden
tone, but the features rather large and hard. £60.
Bartolomeo Manfredi was born at Mantua, in 1574, and
was at first a disciple of Pomerancio ; but, being afterwards ex
cessively delighted with the style of Caravaggio, he became a
disciple of that master ; and by the practice of a few years, imi
tated his manner with such success, that some of the paintings of
Manfredi were taken for the work of Caravaggio. His most fre
quent subjects were corps de garde, soldiers, or peasants, gaming
with cards and dice, or fortune-tellers ; usuaUy in figures as large
as life, no lower than the middle, in imitation of Caravaggio.
He had a free, firm pencil ; his colouring had great force ; and
his extensive skiU in chiaroscuro enabled him to give his pictures
a striking effect by broad masses of hght and shadow ; though,
sometimes, his colouring appears too black in particular parts.
Manfredi shortened his days by a dissolute and irregular Ufe ;
and as he died young, his paintings are exceedingly scarce, and
rarely to be seen or purchased. The most capital picture of this
master is Hercules delivering Prometheus from the vulture.
Hercules and Antceus. Rubens. In the foreground of a
landscape with slight details, two palm-trees on the left, to
denote the scene of the struggle (Lybia), Hercules is striv
ing to raise the giant son of Terra and Neptune from his

BELVOIR CASTLE. 229
mother earth. The firmly planted foot, the curved back,
and muscular energy, displayed in the brownish flesh of the
former; the starting of the eyes from their sockets, the
stiffly stretched legs of the latter to the ground, indicate that
the struggle, though a severe one, will terminate in favour
of Hercules, whose arms are round the body of Antaeus,
in the act of squeezing him to death. About 24 inches
by 16. £100.
The father of Sir Peter Paul Rubens, one of the most cele
brated historical and landscape painters of the Flemish school,
was doctor of laws, and senator of Antwerp, which he quitted on
the troubles of that country, and retired with his family to Co
logne, where, on the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, the subject
of our present sketch was born, in 1577. After receiving an
excellent education, and having become a youth of considerable
personal attractions, the Countess of Lalain took him for her
page ; but, conscious of his own talents for. a more useful and
distinguished employment, he became a pupil of Verhaest, a land
scape painter, and Adam Van Oort ; afterwards of Otho Venius,
from which last he imbibed one of his least merits, a taste for
aUegory. At the age of twenty-three, Rubens set out for Italy,
and entered into the service of Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Man
tua, who, discovering that the mind of his painter was cultivated
with a variety of graceful literature, named him his envoy to
Spain. After his return to Mantua, the duke sent him to Rome,
to copy the works of the great masters. The reputation of Titian
and Paul Veronese drew Rubens to Venice : there he was in his
element, in the empire of colours. Some time after, he returned
to Antwerp, on account of his mother's illness, and there married
his first wife, Elizabeth Brandts. In Flanders, he executed many
great works, which the envy of his enemies affected to ascribe to
the scholars, whom he had formed, or been forced to take to assist
him ; as Jordaens, Van Uden, Snyder, and Wildens. His various
talents were so conspicuous, that he was chosen by the King of
Spain, to negotiate a peace with Charles I. ; who engaged him to
paint the ceiUng of the banqueting house, and knighted him at
WhitehaU, February 21, 1630. On his return to Flanders, he
still continued in the dissinular functions of statesman and

230 HISTORY OF
painter, by which he amassed vast wealth. He died in 1640, of
the gout, leaving by his second wife, Helena Forman, five chil
dren. Soon after his decease, his coUection of pictures, consist
ing of 113, painted by himself, twenty of which were copies from
Titian ; 48 by Italian masters ; 100 by Flemish and Dutch mas
ters ; and 6 by Van Dyck, &c, were disposed of, principally to
the King of Spain. The whole collection produced 280,000
florins, " argent de Brabant." Walpole, from whose Anecdotes
of Painting, by DaUaway, this account is principally abridged,
writes of Rubens con amore : — " His pictures were equally
adapted to please the ignorant and the connoisseurs. Familiar
subjects, familiar histories, treated with great lustre and fuUness of
colouring, a richness of nature, and propriety of draperies, re
commend themselves at first sight to the eyes of the vulgar.
The just boldness of his drawing, the wonderful chiaroscuro dif
fused throughout his pictures, and not loaded, like Rembrandt's,
to force out one peculiar spot of light ; the variety of his carna
tions ; the fidelity to the customs and manners of the times he
was representing, and attention to every part of his compositions,
without enforcing trifles too much, or too -much neglecting them ;
all this union of happy excellencies, endear the works of Rubens
to the best judges : he is perhaps the single artist, who attracts
the suffrages of every rank. One may justly caU him the popular
painter." Landscape. "Wynants" marked on the left side. On
panel; 22^ inches by 18. Figures by Wouvermann. Peasants
in conversation ; one with a grey horse and a dog in the
foreground. In middle distance, a female leading one child
and carrying another, on her way from a house embosomed
in trees. In the left foreground, an old tree, with scanty
signs of life, covered with an elegant creeper ; another
felled; the bark of both partiaUy peeled off; where re
maining, covered with beautifully delineated lichens ; a dog
drinking from water of exquisite transparency ; a harvest
field and reapers, to the right ; and slightly elevated downs,
with lovely sky, in the background ; are the main features
of this pleasing picture ; by the master who, in that serene,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 231
cool freshness of tone, which so admirably expresses the
character of northern scenery, stands unrivalled. £50.
Jan Wynants was born at Haerlem, in 1600, and had for his
principal pupil, Philip Wouvermann. The works of Wynants
are deservedly in great esteem, for the lightness and freedom of
his touch, for the clearness of his skies, and the transparency of
his colouring. His choice of nature in his situations is extremely
agreeable, having something peculiar in the breaking of his
grounds ; and the whole has a very pleasing appearance. The
figures in his landscapes were not painted by himself, but by
Ostade, Wouvermann, Lingelbach, Van Tulden, and others ;
which now give an additional value to the pictures by Wynants.
The works of this master are not common, as he misapplied a
great portion of his time, in parties of pleasure and dissipation ;
but they are eagerly purchased whenever they are offered to sale,
and bring large prices. Landscape was his great forte. He died
in 1670, aged seventy.
Landscape. Gaspar Poussin. Large picture, on canvas.
Buildings of extensive character in middle distance, backed
by a mountainous country, on each side of which are groups
of trees. Foreground rocky, covered in part with verdure.
Figures with a camel are proceeding to the buildings. This
picture is rather dark and indistinct.
Landscape. Ruysdael. On copper; 10 inches by 8.
Large tree in the centre, overshadowing a hovel ; the spire
of a church seen in the distance ; a peasant proceeding
home ; present a scene of quiet repose, very pleasing,
though not so exquisitely finished as usual with the master.
£30. Jacob Ruysdael, a much-admired painter of landscapes and
sea-pieces, of the Flemish school, was born at Haerlem, in 1636.
He derived, from an early period, considerable benefit from the
instructions of Nicholas Berghem. His pictures are generally
remarkable for their truth to nature, force and freshness in the
tone, and care in the execution, great correctness of drawing,
delicate gradations, and striking lights. In his figures, he was

232 HISTORY OF
frequently assisted by Ostade, Van de Velde, and Wouvermann ;
a circumstance which adds considerably to the value of his pic
tures. He is a great favourite with the English. Ruysdael died
in 1681.
Sea-piece, " Ruysdael" at the right bottom corner. On
panel ; 24 inches by 18. £100. In the middle distance is
a Dutch dogger, with foresail and mainsail set, in a fresh
breeze. In remoter distances, there are other boats, tacking
in different directions. The water is of a deep, liquid cha
racter in the hollow of the waves, which are tipped with a
feathery spray of exquisite lightness and truth. The pic
ture is painted in a leaden, greyish tint, such as is often
observed in sky and sea during a fresh breeze. A piece of
rock, covered with stakes and seaweeds, with its red and
green tints, admirably contrasts with the rest of the picture.
Clouds, almost imperceptibly tinged at the edges with the
sun, hang over a port in the left extreme distance.
Landscape. Ruysdael. On panel ; 10^ inches by 8. In
the front of a cottage to the right is a large tree, over
shadowing a beautiful mill-stream, in which are some
figures bathing, with flesh painted in a warm golden tone.
The figures I should be inchned to ascribe to Van de
Velde. £50.
Barbarossa. Van Dyck. Knee-piece; the size of life.
The hero of the fifteenth century is represented in armour,
with velvet cap and plume, his hand resting on a battle-axe.
On a table covered with crimson cloth, lies his helmet
The hair is of a reddish, fiery tinge ; the flesh of a deep
golden tone. The expression of the countenance, savage.
This is a capital picture by the master. £80.
Antonio Van Dyck, born at Antwerp, in 1598, was the only
son of a merchant, and of a mother who was celebrated for paint
ing flowers in miniature, and for her needleworks in silk. Van
Dyck was first placed with Van Balen, but, attracted by the fame

BELVOIR CASTLE. 233
of Rubens, commenced studying under that great master. He
afterwards visited in succession, Venice, Genoa, and Rome ; and
imbibed so deeply the tints of Titian, that he is allowed to ap
proach nearer to the carnations of that master, than Rubens.
After his return to Antwerp, he was induced by the report of
the liberal patronage of the arts by Charles I., to come to Eng
land ; where, after some disappointment and delay, he attained
the object of his wishes, in being employed by the king to paint
portraits of the queen and other members of the royal family,
and obtained the honour of knighthood in 1632, with the grant
of an annuity of £200 a-year, for life. While in this country,
he painted most of his best pictures ; which are to be found in
the coUections of the nobUity, at Windsor Castle, Hampton
Court, and Kensington Palace. At Windsor alone, there are
twenty-one of his first-rate works. Dr. Waagen, to whose criti
cisms the author of the present work acknowledges himself much
indebted, thus writes of Van Dyck : — " As a portrait painter, he
was, without doubt, the greatest master of his age. His designs
are almost always pleasing, and often striking ; the attitudes easy
and unaffected ; the whole effect admirable ; the drawing of the
heads and hands delicate. To all this are added a great clear
ness and warmth of colouring, freedom and yet softness in the
handUng ; so that his portraits are, in a high degree, attractive
and elegant. As he passed the last ten years of his life (from
1631 to 1641), with but Uttle interruption, in England ; and as
the EngUsh have also procured many masterpieces of his earlier
time, his talents, in all the various stages, can nowhere be so
well studied as in this country." Towards the end of his Ufe, the
king bestowed on him for a wife, the daughter of the unfortunate
Lord Gowry. Sir Antonio Van Dyck died in Blackfriars, the 9th
of December, 1641, and was buried on the 1 1th, in St Paul's, near
the tomb of John of Gaunt. He left by wiU (the punctual exe
cution of which was deferred by the troubles of the period, till
1663), considerable property to his widow and other relations.
Holy Family. Rubens. Joseph, represented as aged, is
looking with intense interest upon the Virgin, Elizabeth,
and three children. The action of the whole group is
beautifully easy and natural. The flesh of the child on the
floor, being more in the shade, is painted in a dark golden

234 HISTORY OF
tone ; the other two, with the Virgin, exhibit the inimitable
warmth of colouring of the master. The panel is rather
cracked. £20.
Portrait of Van Dyck, by himself. Half-length, on can
vas ; 30 inches by 22. In black, with sleeves slashed with
white satin. A noble forehead ; dark eyes and hair ; the
forefinger of the left hand slightly extended from the open
palm, as if in conversation.
St. Lawrence. Poelenburg. On panel ; 4£ inches by 6.
This is an exquisite gem of the master, finished with the
smoothness of ivory. The face of the saint is painted in a
rich golden tone. He wears a chesible, embroidered with
figures of saints and flowers ; beneath which is seen the
alb descending to the feet. He is standing on elevated
ground, with hills of varied character in the near and farthest
distance, holding in his left hand the symbol of his mar
tyrdom. Cornelius Poelenburg, the sweet painter of smaU land
scapes and figures, was born at Utrecht, in 1586, and educated
under Bloemart, whom he soon quitted to study Raffaele ; but,
eventuaUy, he formed a style for himself, remarkable for its var
nished smoothness and high finishing. In some of his pictures,
there is the most delicate touch, with extraordinary force and
depth of tone, especially those in which there are male figures.
King Charles invited him to London, but could not prevail upon
him to settle permanently in this country. He returned to
Utrecht, and died there in 1 660, at the age of seventy-four. The
works of Poelenburg are very scarce. His scholar, John de Lis,
of Breda, imitated his manner so exactly, that his pieces are often
taken for the hand of his master.
Head. Mireveldt Bald ; with ruff. £10.
Michael Jansen Mireveldt, born at Delft, in Holland, in
1568, was one of the ablest and most successful painters of the
Dutch school. He was a pupil of Abraham Blochland, and at
the beginning of his professional career, painted historical sub-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 235
jects ; but soon abandoned this department of his art, for the
more lucrative branch of portrait-painting ; in which he acquired
such extensive reputation, that he was invited by Charles I. to
visit his court ; but on the breaking out of the plague, declined
accepting so advantageous an offer. His portraits, of which he
is said to have painted five thousand, were esteemed for the
extraordinary accuracy of the Ukeness, for good taste, high finish,
and great freedom of pencil. He died at the age of seventy-
three, in 1641, in the town of Delft, which he had never quitted,
except occasionally to visit the Hague, to paint the portraits of
some of the princes of the house of Nassau, by whom he was
highly esteemed.
Henry VIII. Hans Holbein. A full-length portrait of this
monarch, and an undoubted original. Sensuality, tyranny,
stubbornness, and frenzy, are strongly marked in those
hard, broad features ; while the attitude is that of a man
born to command, and determined to exercise, without
scruple, his birthright. This is altogether a capital picture
by the master. £800.
The best authorities give the date and place of the birth of
the celebrated painter, Hans Holbein, in 1498, at Grunstadt,
formerly the residence of the Counts of Leiningen Westerburg.
Both his father, John, and his uncle, Sigismund Holbein, were
painters ; and from the former, John, he received his first in
structions in the art, whom he soon excelled. At the age of
fourteen, Hans drew the portraits of both, which were engraved,
and are spoken of as admirable performances. By means of an
introduction to Erasmus, at Basel, whose portrait he painted
several times, he procured the patronage of Sir Thomas More,
and went to England, in 1526. Three years afterwards, Sir
Thomas invited Henry VIII. to see the pictures which Holbein
had painted for him during that period. The king was so de
lighted with them, that he immediately took Holbein into his
service, and gave him ample employment, for which he recom
pensed him with royal munificence. The favour of the king, and
his own great merit, concurred to bring him into extensive repu
tation ; so that, notwithstanding his indefatigable diligence and
rapid execution, he was so fully engaged in painting portraits of

236 HISTORY OF
the nobihty and eminent public characters, that he had no leisure,
in England, for historical painting ; in which department of his
art he had given proofs of great skill, before he left Basel. It
appears, however, that he adorned the walls of a saloon in the
palace of Whitehall, with two great aUegorical compositions, re
presenting the triumphs of riches and poverty ; and that he like
wise executed large pictures of various pubUc transactions, such
as Henry VIII. giving a charter to the barber-surgeons, and
Edward VI. giving the charter for the foundation of BrideweU
Hospital. His portraits show a refined feeling for nature, and a
masterly delineation of the parts j great freedom, as well as deU-
cacy of touch, and splendid colouring. Though, from his long
residence in England, his original pictures must have been very
numerous, yet there can be no doubt, that as they represented
well-known characters, many copies of various degrees of merit
were made, even during his Ufe. He is considered by the Ger
mans to be their best painter next to Albert Durer, whom, how
ever, he excelled in portraits. He died in London, of the plague,
in 1554.
Henry VII., Empson, and Dudley. Unknown. Both from
the beauties and the defects of this picture, I should be
inchned to consider it an original, and painted probably by
Sigismund Holbein, the uncle of the illustrious Hans, who
was also a painter, and is mentioned in the registrar's office
at Wells, as having lived and died there, in the reign of
Henry VII. Sigismund Holbein is supposed to have painted
some ancient limnings in a cabinet, at Kensington. Two
miniatures of Henry VII., each in a black cap, and one of
them with a rose in his hand, are mentioned in a manuscript
in the Harleian collection.
Head. Frank Hals. On panel ; 5^ inches by 4^. Ani
mated and clever ; but the colouring, especially of the flesh,
very roughly laid on.
Francis Hals, a portrait painter, who has been considered
inferior to none of his time but Van Dyck, was born at Mechlin,
in 1584, and died in 1666. With the first merit of a portrait,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 237
that of strong resemblance, his pictures were executed with re
markable freedom and boldness : his colouring was extremely
good, and the effect very striking.
Interior of Antwerp Cathedral. " P. Nefs" marked at
the base of the pillar in the right corner. On panel, which
is slightly injured ; 34 inches by 22. This church is of the
flamboyant character, contemporaneous with the perpen
dicular, in England. The perspective, and every member
of the architecture, with all its rich ornaments, of this noble
building, are most admirably made out ; and the colouring
is splendidly bright and clear. The figures appear to be by
Velvet Breughel. £50.
Peter Nefs, called the " Old," born at Antwerp, in 1570,
was a disciple of the elder Henry Steenwyck, whose manner he
closely imitated. He painted views of churches and convents,
especiaUy interiors, preferring those in the Gothic style of archi
tecture. He possessed a profound knowledge of perspective, and
represented his subjects, with aU their various parts, with strict
truth, and yet without betraying the appearance of anxious labour.
Every object is marked with minute precision, and finished with
an exquisite touch, and a Ught pencil. His bright clear pictures,
in which he avoided the darkish-brown colouring of his master,
Steenwyck, are the most esteemed. Being an indifferent designer
of figures, he often induced F. Franks, Van Thulden, Velvet
Breughel, or Teniers, to paint the figures. Those of the two last
greatly enhance the value of the pictures of Nefs. He died in
1651, at the age of eighty-one.
Angels appearing to the Shepherds. Giacomo Bassano.
With great warmth of colouring there is united in this pic
ture, a homely style of figures. On canvas (?) ; about 4 feet
by 2i. £120.
Giacomo da Ponte Bassano was born at Bassano, in 1510.
He was instructed in the elementary principles of his art by his
father, and was afterwards sent to Venice, where he studied, but
without much advantage, on account of the jealousy of his

238 history of
master, under Bonifazio. He applied himself, however, to the
study of the works of Titian, Parmegiano, and Tintoretto, with
which Venice abounded ; and in all that relates to mechanical
practice, with extraordinary success. There are, at this period
of his career, evidences of grandeur of style and conception,
which are not to be found in his later works. Bassano's mind
was essentially vulgar : he may, without impropriety, be denomi
nated the Italian Rembrandt. The main characteristics of the
Dutch artist exist in the works of Bassano ; gross vulgarity of
character, absurd anachronisms in costume, glowing colour, con
centrated chiaroscuro, and not unfrequently a poetic feeling of
effect, especially in the management of the background, which is
singularly at variance with the homely style of the figures. Sir
Joshua Reynolds observes — " Bassano painted the boors of the
district of Bassano, and called them patriarchs and prophets."
His animals are touched with admirable truth and precision ; and
in spite of aU his defects, such are the spirit, clearness, and deci
sion of his touch, the depth and richness of his tones, and the
general picturesqueness of his effects, that his works not only
commanded the respect of contemporary artists, but have been
always valued by judges of painting, for quaUties so important in
the art. Bassano painted with extraordinary despatch. There is
a prodigious number of his pictures in the palaces of Rome and
Venice ; and they are frequently seen in EngUsh coUections. He
died in 1592.
Benvenuto Cellini. Angelo Bronzino. An admirably
painted head of the distinguished Florentine engraver,
chaser, and sculptor in metals.
Virgin, Child, and St. Catharine. Paolo Veronese. The
infant Baptist, introduced by an aged man, kisses the foot
of the Infant Saviour, sleeping on the lap of the Virgin.
St. Catharine, in a rich dress, gently touches the infant
Baptist, as if to prevent him disturbing the sleeping Christ
The heads of the old man and the Virgin are dignified and
noble. The jewellery and splendid dress of St Catharine,
rather disturb the religious conception of the whole ; but
the picture is, in all its parts, carefully executed, and there
are great depth and harmony of colouring. The legend of

BELVOIR CASTLE. 239
St Catharine is an apology for the splendour of the dress,
with which the master has invested her, though not for the
anachronism of its fashion. Knee-piece, on canvas ; figures
the size of life. £150.
Paolo Veronese, properly Paolo Cagliari, was born at Ve
rona, in 1530. His father, Gabriele Cagliari, was a sculptor, and
originally intended his son for his own profession ; but in conse
quence of the boy's determined preference for the sister art, he
was placed under his uncle, Antonio Badile, to be taught paint
ing. He improved rapidly, and very early in Ufe enjoyed an ex
tensive and profitable patronage. While yet young, he visited
Venice, where he was commissioned to execute some paintings in
the church and sacristy of St. Sebastian. The pictures excited
universal admiration, from the originality of the style, and the
vivacity of the design. Commissions for oil paintings poured in
upon him, and a portion of the walls of the ducal palace was
aUotted to him for embellishment. From this time, his fame and
wealth increased rapidly. He subsequently went to Rome ; and
in the course of his life, visited numerous towns of his native
country, in which he left behind him many lasting memorials.
He Uved a life of uninterrupted labour and success, and died at
Venice, in the year 1588, leaving great wealth to his two sons,
Gabriele and Carlo, who were also his pupils, but did not attain
their father's celebrity. Paolo Veronese ranks among the greatest
masters of the art, especially as a colourist. His colouring is less
true to nature than Titian's, and less glowing in the tints ; but
it is rich and brilliant, and abounds in variety and pleasing con
trasts. His style is florid and ornate, his invention easy and fer
tile, and his execution characterised by a masterly facility. His
principal works are at Venice, but his productions are to be met
with in most collections.
Landscape. Gaspar Poussin. Large picture, on canvas.
£100. This is a fine picture, in better preservation than
usual, and the parts are more clearly made out. Three
pilgrims on a road by a rocky ravine, into which a water
fall, feeding a stream at a distance, runs, are approaching a
church in the middle distance, backed by blue-tinted

240 history of
mountains, and surrounded by a magnificent country, varied
by rich, deep masses of foliage.
Holy Family. Correggio. On copper; 121 inches by 91.
The Baptist, with lamb and staff, is bringing flowers in the
folds of his raiment of camel's hair, to the Infant Christ j
who, supported by the Virgin near the bole of a large tree,
looks on St. John with affectionate welcome. Joseph is re
presented behind, as an old man with a staff, watching the
scene with gratified interest. £30.
Antonio Allegri Correggio, surnamed Correggio from the
place of his birth, was born in 1493-4. The early history of
this celebrated painter is involved in impenetrable obscurity.
All that is known of his family is, that they were respectably
descended, and in easy circumstances. It is probable that he
studied under the sons of Mantegna. His works give evidence
of a liberal education, since they display a perfect mastery of
classical subjects, and a considerable knowledge of architecture
and sculpture. He seems to have habitually resided at Correggio,
and to have formed there a style completely his own, remark
able for masterly chiaroscuro, exquisite colouring, and the most
graceful design. Correggio's pictures are not so numerous as
those of some painters ; but they are sufficiently spread over
Europe, for his style and fame to be universally recognised. The
cupola of the cathedral at Parma is painted with an " Assumption
of the Virgin," of which the numerous beauties, the masterly
foreshortening, the grace, the colour, and the design, so excited
Titian's admiration, that he is reported to have said, " If I were
not Titian, I would be Correggio." He died on the 5th of
March, 1534, and was buried at the church of St. Francis, at
Correggio. Sea-piece. Ruysdael. On panel; 24 inches by 18^.
£100. Shipping, with seaport in the distance, church, and
mills. The character of this picture is very similar to the
one described before by this master.
Peasants after Supper, sleeping. "A. Ostade" marked at
the left bottom corner. On panel; 11^ inches by 9. £20,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 241
This is a most interesting specimen of the minute finish in
the smallest accessories, of the Dutch school. The half-
devoured herring, the pipkin, the folds of the napkin on
the table, contend for a preference of observation, with the
happily delineated unconsciousness of the two sleepers, be
hind whom a young person is slily observing their profound
repose. Adrian Van Ostade was born at Lubec, in 16l0, and died
in 1685. He studied in the school of Francis Hals, whom he far
surpassed in careful execution, and minute finish ; and possessed,
also, quaUfications of a higher order in the art. Dr. Waagen
says of him^-" fr Teniers is the greatest master in the silver
tone and cold colours, Adrian Ostade is the greatest in the
golden tone and warm scale of colours." The subjects in which
Ostade principally delighted, were peasants smoking, drink
ing, &c. His works are very scarce, and fetch enormously high
prices. Adoration of the Wise Men. Bassano. £35. The head
of the Virgin is of ideal, pensive beauty. The group
is rather crowded, and the costume incongruous. On can
vas; 26 inches by 19.
Church and Buildings. Van der Heyden. On panel ;
23 inches by 18. Name and date, " 1632," marked towards
the left bottom comer. A church of the flamboyant cha
racter, with a portion of the street, stands near a canal with
boats and figures. The architectural details and the courses
of masonry are most accurately delineated, with a miniature
like finish. What little sky and foliage are introduced, are
painted in a clear and powerful tone. The figures are pro
bably by Adrian Van de Velde, and the boats by WilUam
Van de Velde ; — a union of three excellent masters, which
enhances, materially, the value of the picture. The paint"
ing is slightly injured in the gable and lower part of the
transept of the church. £100.

242 HISTORY OF
Head. Albrecht Durer. £50.
The Germans are justly proud of this celebrated painter and
engraver, who was born at Nuremberg, in 1471. His father was
a goldsmith, and gave him an excellent education, intending him
for his own calling. After some progress in the art of working
gold, he placed himself, in 1486, under the most able painter of
his native country, Michael Wohlgemuth. He soon acquired
considerable reputation in his native country, which he left in
1494, on a tour through Holland and Italy. In Bologna, he
became acquainted with Raffaele, who esteemed him highly, and
exchanged portraits with him. He returned home in 1507, with
the reputation of being the first painter of his country. His life
is said to have been embittered and shortened by the unhappy
temper of a jealous wife, whom, against his own inchnation, and
to please his father, he had married. He died in 1528, in the
fifty-eighth year of his age. Durer's paintings are admired for
the vivid and fertile imagination, the sublime conception, and the
wonderful union of boldness and correctness of design, which
they display. He was equally eminent in historical works and
portraits. He was also an excellent engraver on copper and wood.
His woodcuts are masterpieces of the art, and considered equal to
those of Hugo da Carpi.
Adoration of the Wise Men. MuriUo. A large picture,
on canvas ; figures the size of life. £700. The concep
tion, colouring, and costume of this picture, are superb.
The action takes place in a ruinous building, at the corner
of which, above the heads of the figures, are seen some
loose timbers, which in falling have arranged themselves in
the shape of a cross. The Virgin, with an exquisitely
simple expression of countenance, uncovers the Infant
Christ, to whom the wise men (one of whom is kneeling)
are making their respective offerings of myrrh, gold, and
frankincense. Two children of surpassing beauty, espe
cially the one looking out of the picture, stand behind as
train-bearers. In the background are soldiers with spears.
Much as I venerate the altar-piece by the same master, in

BELVOIR CASTLE. 243
the chapel, I should be inclined to prefer this, for its rich
composition and brilliant colouring, which are perfect.
Landscape. " Lucas Van Uden .... inventeur," marked
in the right corner. " The watery sunshine and dewy
verdure" of this landscape are so characteristic of Rubens,^
that it is not surprising it has been mistaken for a painting
by that master. By the aid of a strong glass, and a favour
able light, it will be seen that Lucas Van Uden was the
painter. The figures are probably by Teniers.
Lucas Van Uden was born in 1595, and died in 1660. He
was a pupil of Rubens, and so successfully imitated the style and
colouring of his master, in landscape, that his pictures were
ascribed to the latter, even during his Ufe-time. To the English
eye, there is something unnatural in the yellowish green tints of
the landscapes, painted by both master and scholar. But it must
be remembered that they painted in Flanders, where the sun,
permeating dense yellow clouds, will give precisely the tint to the
landscape, which to us seems exaggerated. Lucas Van Uden is
known to have taken nature for his model, and to have spent his
time in the fields, when he was not painting. The delicacy of his
execution in this department of art, has procured him a high repu
tation in the Low Countries.
Martyrdom of St. Andrew. II Spagnoletto. Knee-piece,
on canvas ; figures the size of life. This picture has been
entirely retouched, but so successfully, that the remarkable
colouring, force, and expression of the master, have been
perfectly retained. St. Andrew, affixed by cords to a cross,
is suffered to die by the torture of such a position, and by
starvation. The anatomy of the sufferer, the stretched
muscles and fallen abdomen, are fearfully descriptive of his
Angering torments. One of the bystanders gazes on the
painful scene in extreme horror. Women are seen in the
distance. £60.
Giuseppe Ribera, called " n Spagnoletto," was born at
Xativa, in 1589. After studying the great masters, he settled at
r 2

244 HISTORY OF
Naples ; where he formed a distinguished ornament of the school
of painters called Naturalisti, for which we have no equivalent
word in English. This school of painters seems to have imagined
that a true imitation consisted in appropriating to any, and every
subject, the first forms which came in their way ; instead of se
lecting such as thoroughly suited the conception of the particular
scene to be treated, and imitating those as closely as possible —
too closely it cannot be. Ribera Was dark and powerful in his
shadows, and shrank from the representation of no scene, however
horrible. The Descent from the Cross, in the church of S. Mar-
tino, at Naples, is considered one of the most masterly of his pro
ductions. He died in 1656.
Head of Rembrandt, by himself. Represented as resting
his chin on his extended palm, in pleasing meditation. On
canvas. £100.
Paul Van Ryn Rembrandt, the great master of the Flemish
school, was born at Leyden, in 1 606. He was called Van Ryn,
from having spent the earUer part of his lift* on the borders of
the Rhine. The mastery of light and shade, for which he is so
eminently distinguished, he acquired from the last of his three
masters, Jacob Pinas. Conscious of his power to attain sublimity
by light and shade alone, he seems often to have rejoiced in
showing hoW that one charm could make us heedless of coarse
ness of conception, and meanness of form. Hence his portraits,
though admirable for the Ukeness, are sometimes deficient in
grace and dignity. He generaUy painted in a bright, warm,
golden tone, and often finished his pictures with exquisite deU-
cacy. His historical subjects are remarkable for high and poetical
feeling, combined with striking effect, from the depth and bril-
Uancy of his colouring. He is supposed to have been in England
in 1661, and to have Uved sixteen or eighteen months at Huh,
where he drew several gentlemen and seafaring persons. There
are two fine whole-lengths at Yarmouth, which might have been
done at the same time. Rembrandt's principal pupils and imi
tators were Gerbrand Van der Eckhout, Ferdinand Bol, Nicholas
Maas, Salomon Koningh, and Gerard Douw. His needle on the
copper almost surpasses his pencil on the canvas. Rembrandt
died in 1674.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 245
Birth of Ericthonius. Rubens. On canvas ; 20 inches
by 16^. The daughters of Cecrops, Aglauros, Herse, and
Pandrosos, are assembled, in an alcove of classic fancy,
round the basket in which is contained the infant Erictho
nius. Aglauros, in a rich dress of white satin, and purple
under-garment, raises the lid of the basket, into which her
two sisters, with slight drapery, one reclining and the other
standing, gaze. Ericthonius is a beautiful infant in the
upper part of the body, with the tails of serpents instead
of legs. An old woman in the background looks on in
silent horror. This is a splendid picture for colouring and
conception. There is more of graceful feminine beauty in
the figures, than is usual with the females of Rubens. It
was purchased by his Grace, when on his tour through Bel
gium, from a private collection of pictures belonging to Mr.
Marnet, at Brussels.
Portrait of the Earl of Southampton. Cornelius Jansen.
Full-length. Towers in the right distance. On panel.
The companion to this portrait, that of the Countess of
Southampton, hangs at the same end of the Picture Gallery,
near the door into the Regent's Gallery. £20.
Diana stealing the bow of Cupid. Francesco Albano.
On canvas ; 37 inches by 28. Diana, surrounded by a
group of seven nymphs, is gently drawing the bow from the
arms of a sleeping Cupid. Three other attendant Cupids
are sleeping on the ground ; the wings of one of whom, a
nymph is cutting with a pair of shears. Another nymph
is taking the quiver from a second sleeper. With marks of
high finish, and warmth of colouring, this picture displays
something of the usual affectation of the master in the atti
tudes of his figures.
Francesco Albano was born at Bologna, March 17, 1578,
and was destined by his father, a respectable silk-merchant, to
follow his own profession ; but his uncle, who was a man of taste,

246 HISTORY OF
and a judge of the art, perceiving in the youth such indications
of genius for painting as to warrant the expectation of future
eminence, prevailed on his father to change his intentions ; and
he was accordingly placed under the tuition of Denis Calvart,
having for a brother scholar, Guido Reni, with whom he formed
a strict intimacy, and from whom, as the elder pupil, he received
effectual assistance. The two youths afterwards placed them
selves with Lodovico Caracci, and under that great master they
both made considerable proficiency. Albano afterwards went
with his companion to Rome, where he soon obtained a high re
putation and extensive employment, especially on mythological
subjects. He had, however, neither power of conception, nor
vigour of execution, adequate to the performance of large works.
All his latter works are small and elaborate, and they became
extremely fashionable in his day. His chddren are deficient in
those graces and expression, which, when free from restraint, they
continually exhibit. Albano's;Fgrace is entirely conventional ;
and the same artificial character pervades his landscape back
grounds, though occasionally, from the "association of classical
imagery, an agreeable effect is produced. With aU these defi
ciencies, the pictures of Albano have an originality by which they
are immediately recognised. There are at Burghley House, the
seat of the Marquis of Exeter, some tapestries from his designs.
His second wife, Doralice, a beautiful woman, and his children,
were the models from which he painted his most graceful compo
sitions. Albano died October 4, 1660.
Storks. " D. Teniers F." marked at the bottom of the
picture. On panel; 21 inches by 14. £100. Natural, and
highly finished.
St. Catharine receiving the Crown of Victory from the
Infant Christ. Rubens. Large picture, on canvas ; figures
the size of life. £1200. The Virgin sits in an alcove of
classic fancy, with the Infant Christ on her lap, who is
placing a crown of laurel leaves on the head of a richly
dressed female, (probably the second and surviving wife of
Rubens, Helena Forman,) with a palm branch, and attended
by two other females, also splendidly attired. Rather thea
trical in the conception, though the attitudes of the figures

BELVOIR CASTLE. 247
are graceful, and are painted with an inimitable warmth of
colouring. The face of one of the cherubs hovering in the
air, seems defective in the drawing.
Procession (Chiaroscuro). Van Dyck. A long pic
ture ; 4 feet 2\ inches, by 1 1^. This is a faint sketch,
made by the master for his intended design of adorning the
walls of the banqueting house with the history and proces
sion of the order of the garter; the execution of which
was first delayed by the civil war, and wholly put a stop to,
by the death of Van Dyck.
Peter denying Christ. Caravaggio. On panel ; 20 inches
by 13. £40. The time of the action is indicated by a
damsel near the door laying her hand on the arm of Peter,
as he stands by a pan of coals warming himself. Soldiers
are sitting and lounging at a table, playing with dice ; one
of whom seems to have turned round with watchful atten
tion to the address of the damsel. The dark and gloomy
shades, the force and expression in the figures of this pic
ture, give a kind of mysterious grandeur to the composition,
which well accords with the absorbing subject.
Michael Angelo Amerighi, called " Da Caravaggio," from
a town of that name in the Milanese, was born about the year
1569. According to some authorities, his father was a mason by
trade, and employed him to make paste for the fresco painters,
in Milan. According to others, he derived his first love of the
art from being employed by certain artists, as a colour-grinder.
In course of time, he managed to go to Venice, where he studied
the works of Giorgione with success ; and some of his pictures,
in the style of that period, are much esteemed. He afterwards
went to Rome, where he was employed by an artist called Arpino,
in painting flowers and fruit. He soon determined to paint no
more from artificial models, but to adhere simply to nature, such
as he found in the streets and alleys at Rome. He procured
persons of the lowest class to sit for their figures, upon which he
placed fancy heads for his saints, and heroes, and other great per
sonages. His work-room was lighted by only one window from

248 history of
above, and the walls were blackened, that the shades of objects
might give no reflections. It is this circumstance, which has
probably given rise to the observation, that he painted as if in a
cellar. His temper was violent, and involved him in serious con
sequences. He died at the age of forty, in 1609, from the effects
of wounds inflicted upon him in Sicily, by a party of armed men,
who had pursued him from Malta, to avenge the death, by Cara
vaggio, of a companion. The principal merit of his pictures con.
sists in the colouring, which is pure and vigorous ; the tints are
few, but true to nature. His conception was not very elevated ;
and there are evident marks in his paintings of the extravagance
of a self-taught conceit, aggravated by abandoned habits. His
principal works are a " St. Sebastian," in the capitol at Rome ; a
" Supper at Emmaus," in the Borghese Palace ; and the " En
tombment of Christ," now in the Louvre. Caravaggio was at the
head of the school called the NaturaUsti.
Adoration of the Shepherds. Francesco Mola. On can
vas; 3 feet 2^ inches, by 2 feet 4 inches. £100. An angel
with a face of great youthful beauty, is leaning over the
Infant Christ, in a gazing, suppliant posture. The latter,
on a manger, supported by the Virgin, has something too
grossly human to be pleasing. Joseph, in a contemplative
attifude, is behind the angel. The light is thrown upon the
Virgin and Child ; the rest of the picture is rather dark ;
but there seem to be great simphcity and force in the action
of the shepherds, and great excellence of colouring in the
principal figures.
Pietro Francesco Mola was born at Lugano, in the Milanese
territory, in 1621 ; and after receiving instructions from his father,
was placed, successively, under Guiseppino, Albano, and Guer-
cino. He attained to great excellence, both in design and colour
ing ; and though his chief merit lay in landscape, to which he
principally applied himself, he also painted history occasionally,
and with much abiUty. His talents obtained for him the patro
nage of princes and nobles, and among others, of Christina of
Sweden. His reputation caused him to be invited to France ;
and he was making preparations for proceeding thither at the time
of his death, which happened at Rome, in 1666.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 249
Wolf-Dog and Wolf. Weeninx. £300. The dog is
triumphing over his late antagonist, whom he has just
killed ; while a shepherd-boy, with his pipe, seems partici
pating in, and exciting, the animal's joy. Uncommonly
spirited in the conception, of splendid colouring, and faith
fulness to nature, in the boy, wolf, and dog, who are in the
midst of a landscape of marvellous finish, especially in the
foreground. Jan Weeninx, called " the Young,'7 a painter of landscapes,
animals, &c, was born at Amsterdam, in 1644, and became the
pupil of his father, Jan Baptiste. Though his father exerted all
his industry to improve him in every branch of his profession,
yet the most essential part of his skill was derived from his in
cessant study of nature. He painted as great a variety of sub
jects as his father, and with great success. The pictures of his
first time can scarcely be distinguished from those of Jan Baptiste
Weeninx. The younger Weeninx, however, avoided what was
most exceptionable in the works of his father, which was a predo
minant grey or brown colour. He also had a surprising power of
pencil, and finished with an equal degree of exceUence, what he
painted in a large or small size. His class of subjects, and
finished execution, are well represented by the picture in the
Belvoir GaUery. The Elector John WiUiam, Count Palatine of
the Rhine, invited Weeninx to his court ; allowed him a consider
able pension ; and employed him to adorn the galleries at Bons-
berg, which he accomplished with great applause ; having in one
gallery, represented the hunting of the stag, and in the other, the
chase of the wild boar. The figures, landscapes, and animals,
were all executed by his own pencil, and equally well finished,
Weeninx died in 1719, aged seventy-five,
St. Francis, praying. Carlo Dolce. On copper; 15
inches by 12. £20. Deep blue clouds, with a single break
of light falling near the head of the figure, and massy
foliage, form the beautifully conceived accessories to an
absorbed, mortified countenance, of exquisite expression,
colouring, and enamel-like finish.

250 history of
Sea-piece. "Van de Velde, 1671," marked on a stump.
A Dutch dogger with mainsail brailed up, is going before a
stiff breeze, under a small foresail. Another, in similar con
dition, more distant. A large three-masted vessel is tacking
in the opposite direction. On canvas ; 16 inches by 14.
£150. An old Woman giving Advice to a young one. Schalken.
On canvas; about 21 \ inches by 15. £25. The contrast
in the figures is beautifully maintained, in the transparent
freshness of flesh of the younger, and the reddish-brown
tone of the elder. The subject of communication, which
may be imagined, is so absorbing, that the younger female
has crushed with the lid of a casket, on a table before her,
a favourite bird, part of whose plumage may be discerned.
This is a picture of exquisite finish in all its accessories.
Adam and Eve expelled from Paradise. Van der Werff.
On panel ; 18| inches by 16^. £100. The figures are
lighted by a manifestation in the clouds of the vengeance
of Heaven. The flesh of Adam is painted in a warm
golden tone ; that of Eve, in a silvery, greyish, almost
death-like hue ; as if horror had driven the blood from the
surface. The attitudes and expression of countenance in
both manifest hasty terror. A deep mass of foliage and
flowers surround them, which, with the figures, are finished
with the smoothness of ivory.
Adrian Van der Werff, a portrait and historical painter, as
also of conversations, was born near Rotterdam, in 1659, and
received his first instruction from Picolet, a portrait painter ;
but he was afterwards the disciple of Eglon Van der Neer, with
whom he continued for four years, and made such considerable
progress, that before he quitted that master, he copied a picture
by Mieris so successfully, as to afford great surprise and pleasure
to all judges, who examined the neatness of his pencilling and
the truth of the imitation. He took pains to improve himself,
by designing after the best plaster casts from the antique, and

belvoir castle. 251
thus acquired a better taste in the human form, than he had
hitherto possessed. Before he was engaged in the service of the
Elector Palatine, he employed himself in painting portraits in
the manner, and also of the size of those of Netscher ; but he
was soon disgusted with that kind of painting, and applied him
self entirely to historical subjects, in a small size. The Elector,
having accidentally seen some of his performances in that style,
extended to him a most efficient patronage ; engrossing the greater
part of his works ; conferring on him the order of knighthood ;
ennobUng his descendants, and presenting to him and his wife
the most costly presents ; besides munificent remunerations for
his works, and a noble pension. The pictures of Van der Werff
are esteemed for their extraordinary deUcacy and elegance of exe
cution ; but to these qualities he has sacrificed animated expres
sion and dignity of attitude. His colouring is cold, and has more
of the appearance of ivory, than of animated flesh. The spirit
of his works seems to have evaporated in the intense labour he
bestowed to give them the utmost trrnsparency. His pictures
are, however, still purchased at high prices, and are rarely to be
met with. Van der Werff died in 1722.
Venus nursing Cupid. Parmegiano. Large picture ;
figures the size of Ufe ; on canvas. The principal figure is
powerfully painted in a glowing warmth of tone, and in an
attitude, which could scarcely be imagined capable of the
gracefulness imparted to it. The accessories of the land
scape are in perfect keeping with the principal design. It
is but right to mention, that there are considerable doubts,
whether this picture were really painted by Parmegiano,
But, surely, if a copy, it is a most admirable one.
Apollo and the Sibyl. Claude. On canvas ; 4 feet 41
inches, by 3 feet 3. This is described in Boydell's engrav
ings from the " Liber Veritatis :" — " No. 164. Landscape,
with magnificent buildings, and a view of the sea — Apollo
and the Cumaean Sibyl — painted for Monsign. de Bourle-
mont, 1665;" and at the date of that publication, it is
described as being " in the possession of Thos. W. Coke,
Esq., Holkham." Dr. Waagen, however, in his observa-

252 history of
tions on the pictures at Holkham, does not mention this
subject as being in the collection at that place, though he
notices other works by the master. It is probable, there
fore, that Boydell, who is not correct in every instance, has
made a mistake in this ; unless the picture has, since his
time, changed hands. £250,
Madonna and Child asleep. Sebastian Bourdon. Ma
donna uncovers, with one hand, a noble child of transparent
beauty ; while, with the forefinger of the other placed on
her mouth, she enjoins silence on the infant Baptist, also a
beautiful child, approaching with clasped hands and full-
eyed eagerness. The Infant Christ appears perfect in con
ception and colouring, and is by far the most beautiful of
its class in this coUection. There are, perhaps, a sharpness
and want of finish about the Virgin's face, which slightly
alloy the beauty of a picture of spirited conception and
glowing colouring. On canvas ; about 17 inches by 20.
£35. Sebastian Bourdon, the most eminent painter that the
French school has produced, was born at MontpeUier, in 1616.
He received instruction in the elements of his art from his father,
a painter on glass. After a youth of no great industry or steadi
ness, he passed into Italy, and became acquainted with Claude
Lorraine. During his stay of three years, he occupied himself
in practice, studying and imitating the works of Titian, Poussin,
Claude, Andrea Sacchi, Michael Angelo delle Battaglie, and
Bamboccio. So retentive was his memory, that he copied a pic
ture of Claude's from recollection ; a performance which asto
nished that great master, as much as any who saw it. On his
return to France, Bourdon received some instructions from Du
Guernier, a miniature painter of great repute, whose sister he
married. The civil wars in 1652 rendered his stay in France less
advisable ; he therefore went to Sweden, where Christina, then
queen, appointed him her principal painter. When Christina
vacated the throne, he returned to France, which had become
more quiet, and obtained abundance of employment. His two
most famous pictures painted at this period, are the " Dead

BELVOIR castle. 253
Christ," and the " Woman taken in Adultery." He died at
Paris, in 1671, aged fifty-five. Bourdon had a most fertile
genius, an ardent spirit, and a great facUity of execution. But
he did not finish highly, nor are his most finished pictures his
best. His landscapes, though possessing in parts some resem
blance to both Titian and Poussin, have a wildness and singu
larity peculiar to himself. His colouring is fresh, and his touch
light and sharp, His pictures are not numerous in this country.
Adoration of the Shepherds. Poelenburg. The initials
" C. P." are marked on the post of the manger. On cop
per; 14 inches by 17. In this small space, the artist has
grouped, with great distinctness and diversity of action,
upwards of fifty figures ; among whom may be remarked,
in addition to the principal in the foreground, one sitting
in fhe left corner, in the act of raising the leaf of a manu
script, (two or three of which have been folded down, as If
for reference,) and the head turned round, in the act of
speaking, it may be supposed — " This is He that should
come, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did
write." There are about thirty cherubs in the clouds, in
every conceivable attitude of admiring ecstasy. The light
falls upon the group in the foreground, from a narrow open
ing in the clouds. An admirable composition, executed with
great force, as well as delicacy of finish. £100.
Sea-piece. Monamy. A pleasing picture, in which the
glowing sky of a setting sun brings into clear relief, vessels
of various size and character, in a profound calm. £35.
Peter Monamy,. a very respectable painter of sea-pieces, was
born in the isle of Jersey, in the latter end of the seventeenth
century. He does not appear to have enjoyed the advantages of
early instruction in his art, except in the very humble department
of a sign and house-painter, on London Bridge. His genius ap
pears, however, to have so far overcome adverse circumstances, as
to derive conceptions of the subjects in which he most excelled,
from the shallow waves that roUed under his window. He died at
his house in Westminster, in 1749.

254 history of
Landscape. Claude. On canvas; 17^ inches by 13^.
£100. Farmer's Family; — Grace before Meat. "J. Stein"
marked over the fireplace. On canvas ; 2 feet 9 inches,
by 3 feet 3. £200. The mother of the family is teaching
a sweet little blue-eyed, light-haired, genuine Dutch child,
to say grace ; at whose stammering attempts, a child of a
larger growth is on the broad grin. The farmer sits un
covered, with his hands folded reverentially ; and an atten
dant pauses in her occupation of placing on the table the
materials for a plain, substantial dinner. In spirit, humour,
and invention ; delicate execution, great freshness, and
clearness of colouring, and masterly chiaroscuro, this picture
sustains the high reputation of this most distinguished master
of the Dutch school.
Jan Stein was born at Leyden, in 1636, and became succes
sively the pupil of Knupper, Brouwer, and Van Goyen. He
made himself so acceptable to the latter, by his wit and genius,
that Van Goyen thought he disposed of his daughter prudently,
when he gave her in marriage to Jan Stein. He was, however,
notwithstanding many opportunities of enriching himself, by
other occupations as well as by his profession, frequently reduced
to the lowest condition of poverty, by an idle, intemperate, and
dissipated course of life. In powers of conception and execu
tion, Jan Stein stands almost alone. To satirical touches, and
genuine comic unity, quaUties which he shared in common with
Teniers, and others of the same school, he added a breadth of
treatment, and as far as his subjects were capable, a more elevated
conception. He also exhibited great discrimination in the de
lineation of his characters : he represented a boor as a boor, and
a gentleman as a gentleman. In these respects, he strongly
reminds us of our inimitable Hogarth. Of his capital pictures,
a Mountebank, attended by a number of spectators ; a Wedding ;
and the Funeral of a Quaker, are the most admired. His works
did not bear an extraordinary price during his life, as he painted
only when he was necessitous, and sold his pictures to answer his
immediate demands. But after his death, they rose amazingly

belvoir castle. 255
in value, and are rarely to be purchased ; few paintings bearing
a higher price, as well on account of their excellence, as of their
scarcity. Jan Stein is a great favourite with the Duke of Welling
ton, who has at Apsley House some very capital pictures by this
master. He died in' 1689, aged fifty-three.
An Ox-Stall. " D. Teniers" marked at the right corner.
On canvas; about 22 inches by 19. An undistinguished
subject, in which, except in some minute finishing, the
master does not appear to advantage.
Farrier's Shop. Wouvermann. On panel; 16 inches by
14. The initials " P. W." marked at the left corner. £100.
The action of the " grey horse," in the centre foreground,
whom his rider with two smiths are endeavouring to hold,
while another is approaching with a heated shoe from an
underground portion of a ruinous castle, is admirable. The
contrasted gradations of action are beautifully conceived, in
the boy behind restraining a goat, which is endeavouring to
butt at a barking cur ; and in the quiet indifference with
which some fowls in the foreground are picking their scanty
meal. We cannot fail, also, to remark, that the grey horse
is at once the centre of unity, and the cause of the whole
action in the picture. Spirited invention is combined with
the most delicate execution and splendid colouring.
Philip Wouvermann, a painter of landscapes and cattle, was
the son of Paul, an historical painter, of very mean talents.
Philip was born at Haerlem, in 1620, and became a disciple of
Jan Wynants From the instructions and excellent example of
his master, the proficiency of Wouvermann was very remarkable.
To the knowledge of drawing and colouring, which he acquired
in the studio of Wynants, he added an assiduous and critical
attention to nature ; so as to render himself superior to his
master, in the choice of his scenes, in the excellence of his
figures, and in the truth of his imitations of nature. The sub
jects to which he seemed most partial, were huntings, hawkings,
encampments of armies, farriers' shops, and all kinds of scenes
that afforded him a natural and proper opportunity of introducing

256 history of
horses, which he painted to the greatest perfection. He gave to
his pictures an astonishing force, by broad masses of light and
shadow, and an uncommon degree of finish and transparency to
the whole. He Was not distinguished in proportion to his merit ;
for with all his assiduity, and he was extremely industrious, he
found it difficult to maintain himseU' and his family. But after
his death, the value of his pictures increased in an incredible
degree : they were not only universally coveted throughout every
part of Europe, but the Dauphin of France, and the Elector of
Bavaria, bought up every picture by this master that could be
procured, and at enormously high prices. He died in 1 688, aged
forty-eight. Soldiers and Gipsey Fortune-tellers. Caravaggio. On can
vas ; knee-piece ; figures the size of life. £300. A female
gipsey is examining, with an expression of mysterious so
lemnity, the exquisitely drawn palm of one of five soldiers,
sitting round a table. The colouring is pure and vigorous,
and the figures brought out into high relief by the dark and
gloomy shades. But there is a kind of hardness and vul
garity in the delineation.
The Virgin, Child, and Joseph. Baroccio. A smaU pic
ture, hung too high to admit of close observation.
Frederico Baroccio, one of the celebrated historical as well
as portrait painters of the Roman school, was born at Urbino, in
1528. He flourished at a period when the devout spirit, which
animated the early painters of the Romish church, had much
degenerated. And though his delineation of sacred subjects is
generally remarkably flowing and delicate, and his colouring in
a warm glowing tone, there is often something offensive in the
conception of his subject ; as in the celebrated Holy Family
called " La Madonna del Gatto," in the National Gallery ; in
which, John the Baptist is represented as a child teasing a cat,
by showing her a bullfinch, which he holds in his hand ; and the
Virgin, Christ, and Joseph, seem much amused by this cruel
sport. He was in great favour with Pope Pius IV, who em
ployed him, in conjunction with Federigo Zucchero, to decorate
his palace of the Belvidere. Sir Joshua Reynolds considered him,
in colouring, as one of the most successful imitators of Correggio.
He died at the place of his birth, in 1612.

belvoir castle. 257
Sliepherd and Shepherdess. Rubens. On canvas; the
size of life. £60. The female, one of the massive beauties
of the master, admirably contrasts, in the colouring of the
flesh, with the satyr-like, brown tone of the shepherd.
Landscape, with two Men in a Boat. Claude. An up
right picture, on canvas ; 14 \ inches by 18. This is an
attractive gem for simplicity of conception and depth of
colouring. Lady, Maid, and Page. " Netscher f." on the ledge of
the chair. On canvas, with circular head; 15^ inches
by 18. £40. A lady is singing from a sheet of music, ac
companied by her maid on the lute. A page has entered
with a tray and refreshment. A pleasing picture, richly
coloured, and elaborately finished.
Landscape, with large tree in the centre. Claude. On
canvas ; 14^ inches by 18. A shepherd is playing his pipe,
surrounded by cattle, some in repose, others feeding, and
goats leaping. This picture is numbered 155 in Boydell's
engravings from the " Liber Veritatis ;" and described —
" Landscape with Cattle ; painted for Mr. Wiald, 1661." —
£100. Landscape. Gaspar Poussin. On canvas ; about 24
inches by 19. In the centre middle distance, a rock, on
which appears a castle. In the foreground, another eleva
tion covered with foliage, crowned also with a castle. On
the left are peasants sitting amidst masses of foliage. This
painting has experienced the too common fate of pictures by
the master ; it has become dark and indistinct by cleaning.
Cattle, with Sea, and Shipping at a distance. " A. Cuyp "
marked at the left bottom corner.. On panel ; 19 inches by
15-J. £140. Three peasants, one female and two males,
are on a bank, below which lie cattle. There are great
depth, glow, and clearness in the colouring, especially in
the cattle, which, by the warm rays of an evening sun, are
brought out into very strong relief.

258 history of
Albert Cuyp, born at Dort, in 1606, was the son of Jacob
Gerutze Cuyp, an eminent landscape painter, of Dort, and a pupU
of Abraham Bloemart. Though his father's disciple, the manner
of Albert Cuyp is very different, and he embraced a greater
variety of subjects. The foUowing is the eloquent and able
criticism of Dr. Waagen on this master : — " The pictures of this
master, Uke those of so many of the great Dutch landscape paint
ers, are the most splendid proof, that the charm of a work of art
lies far more in a profound and pure feeUng of nature, in the
knowledge and masterly use of the means of representation,
which art supplies, than in the subject. For, otherwise, how
would it be possible, from such monotonous scenery as Holland
presents, where the extensive green levels are broken only by
single trees and ordinary houses, and intersected by canals, to
produce such attractive variety as their pictures offer ? 
In greatness of design, knowledge of aerial perspective, combined
with the greatest glow and warmth of the misty, or serene atmo
sphere, Cuyp stands unrivaUed, and takes the same place for
Dutch scenery, as Claude Lorraine for the Italian ; so that he
might justly be called the Dutch Claude. In the manner of the
impasto, the breadth, and freedom, and execution, he has, on the
other hand, much resemblance to Rembrandt." (Art and Artists
in England, vol. 1. p. 227, 228.) Though Cuyp is reckoned
among the cattle painters, all kinds of which he represented with
equal truth and felicity, he Ukewise painted landscapes properly
so called, and sea-pieces. He is a great favourite in England,
though so little known abroad, that a beautiful picture of his,
for which Sir Robert Peel paid 350 guineas, was bought at Hoorn,
in Holland, some years since, for one shilling English. Little is
known of the circumstances of his Ufe ; and even the year of his
death has not been recorded. His finest works are chiefly in the
National, Bridgewater, Grosvenor, and Dulwich GaUeries ; in the
coUections of Sir R. Peel, the Earl of Yarborough, the Duke of
Bedford, the Marquis of Bute, his late Majesty George TV., and
the late Sir Abraham Hume.
Flight into Egypt. Luca Giordano. Large picture, on
canvas. A cherub is leading the ass by the halter. There
are others in the sky, and following the ass. An angel with
his back turned to the spectator, who shows the setting of

belvoir castle. 259
the wing in the shoulder blade, directs the attention of
those behind to the Virgin and Child. The heavenly beauty
of the Virgin's head is slightly alloyed by a thickening of
the nose between the eyebrows. The profile of Joseph is
strongly marked, and highly intellectual.
Luca Giordano, caUed " Luca fa presto," was born at Naples,
in 1629, or 1632. He successively studied painting under Ribera
(Spagnoletto) at Naples, and Pietro da Cortona at Rome, whom
he assisted in many of his great works. From Rome he pro
ceeded to Lombardy, to study Correggio ; and then to Venice, to
acquire a knowledge of the composition and colouring of the great
Venetian artists. His great readiness of hand, and vivid recol
lection of the varied beauties of every eminent master, enabled
him to imitate them so closely, as to deceive even experienced
connoisseurs. He derived the name of " Fa Presto," not from
the rapidity of his execution, which was nevertheless astonishing,
but from the avarice of his father, who, at the beginning of Luca's
career, sold at a high price his designs after the works of the
great masters, and was continually urging him, at meals as weU
as at work, by saying, " Luca fa presto," which his companions
gave him as a nickname. After his return to Naples, he was
very much employed there, till, in 1679, he was invited by
Charles II. of Spain, to adorn the Escurial. His talents and
polished manners gained him the favour of the court at Madrid,
where he remained till the death of Charles II., when he returned
to his own country. His colouring was agreeable ; his designs
were spirited and ingenious ; and his drawing, when he allowed
himself time, correct ; but, from the rapidity with which he pro
ceeded, his works are often deficient in the last particular. His
best works are his frescos, in the Escurial at Madrid, at Flo
rence, and at Rome. Some of his finest pictures are at Dresden.
The grand altar-piece in the Church of the Ascension, at Naples,
representing the battle of the angels, and the fall of Lucifer, is
considered as one of his finest performances. There are no less
than twelve pictures by this master in the possession of the
Marquis of Exeter, at Burleigh. Of these, I should be inclined
to prefer " Jephthah's Vow," in the chapel, " the Death of Se
neca," and " Curtius leaping into the Gulph." " Jupiter and
Europa," " Venus and the Satyr," are not in my opinion pleasing
piotures. Giordano died in 1704-5.
s 2

260 history of
Landscape. " J. Wynants, A?. 1663," marked on the
end of a felled tree. On canvas ; 2 feet 9 inches, by 3 feet
3|. £100. There is a serene coolness about this picture,
which is perfectly refreshing. The exquisite finish of the
decayed and felled trees — the grain of the wood, denuded
of its bark — the lichens on what remains — though common
objects, arrest, by their faithful accuracy, the eye, ere it
passes to a spirited landscape, of attractive colouring and
harmonious gradations of light and shade ; in which are
seen a rider on a grey horse, accompanied by attendants on
foot, with hounds in pursuit of a hare. The figures, from
their harmonising so completely in tone with the land
scape, I should judge to be painted by his scholar^ Wou
vermann. Temptation of St. Anthony. " D. Teniers f." marked on
a fragment of a rock in the right foreground. On panel ;
221 inches by 15^. £100. In a scene of extreme desola
tion, the saint is sitting near a portion of rock, which serves
him for a table, with a book in his hand, and a skull before
him. Monsters of indescribable character appear to be
enjoying around him, a sort of witches' sabbath. An old
hag touches him on the shoulder, and points backward to a
cell in the rock, in which there are a rude cross and a fire.
At the entrance of this valley of desolation, stands a rough
post, forked at the top, to sustain a roof for a sancte-bell.
Behind this is a stye, out of which issues a pig, the
favourite animal of the saint A fountain in the right fore
ground, and a glimpse of cultivated country in the distance,
relieve the general horror of the scene. — St. Anthony, the
patriarch of monks, was born at Coma, near Heracleopolis,
in Egypt, in 251; and living the austere and abstemious
life of a recluse, he arrived at the age of 105 years, and is
said to have died January 17, 356. St. Anthony was par
ticularly solicitous about beasts ; and in commemoration of

belvoir castle. 261
the day of his death, the " Benediction of beasts " is annu
ally performed at Rome, in a little church dedicated to
him, near Santa Maria Maggiore. It lasts for some days ;
for not only every Roman, from the Pope to the peasant,
who has a horse, a mule, or an ass, sends his cattle, but all
the English go with their job-horses and favourite dogs ;
and, for the small offering of a couple of paoli, get them
sprinkled, sanctified, and placed under the protection of
this saint The temptations of St. Anthony were favourite
subjects with the early engravers. Teniers imbibed a love
for representations of devils, ghosts, and supernatural mon
sters, from having seen many by Hollenbreugel, his wife's
uncle. Peasants ploughing. " Berghem" marked at the left bot
tom corner. On panel; 21^ inches by 15J. £50. The scene
is in a bold country, and painted in a rich warm tone.
Virgin, Child, and St. John. Andrea del Sarto. On can
vas ; figures as large as life. £30. The head of the Virgin
is of a classic style of beauty : the children are of graceful,
natural symmetry, approaching to those of Raffaele ; of
whom, as well as of Leonardo da Vinci and Michael Angelo,
he was an imitator.
Andrea Venucchi, commonly called " Andrea del Sarto," a
celebrated historical and portrait painter, was born at Florence,
in 1488. He was originaUy a pupil of Pietro di Cosimo. Among
his earliest works, are the frescos in the court of the Scalzo ;
and among his best, those in that of the Annumziata, both at
Florence. From the faithful delineation of his forms, he was
surnamed " Andrea senza errore." His easel pictures are not
uncommon ; a very good and late one, is " the Sacrifice of
Isaac," at Dresden. There is a noble portrait by Andrea del
Sarto, at Windsor Castle ; a " Holy Family," of an inferior cha
racter, in the National Gallery ; and an extremely animated and
noble portrait of himself, at Panshanger, the seat of Earl Cowper.
His forms have great breadth and simplicity. In 1518, Andrea
visited France, but destroyed his own character by returning to

262 history of
Italy in fhe following year, and misapplying money which
Francis I. had given him to purchase statues, paintings, and
designs, in his native city. He - sunk into deserved poverty,
and died of the plague, in 1530. M. Antonio Franciabigio, and
Jacopo Carucci, called Pontormo, imitated Andrea del Sarto.
Dutch Proverbs. " David Teniers " marked near the
cow in the well. On canvas ; 6 feet 10 inches, by about
4 feet 4. £1600. In this picture there are about fifty
figures ; the nearest of which, throwing his money as bait
to the fish in the river, and said to be Teniers' son, is 14
inches high. The varied invention and broad humour dis
played in this painting, render it a general favourite. The
following is an attempt to give a key to some of the pro
verbs indicated by the several groups of figures.
' Tis an ill wind that blows nobody any good — represented
by a man sitting down in a high wind, near his neighbour's
house, which is on fire.
Between tivo stools you come to the ground ; and A man
invites another to the roast, and beats him with the spit.
To save his bacon. A man broils mutton ; his fat hog
brings him the tongs to stir the fire.
Those born to be hanged, will never be drowned. A man
faUs into the river ; his companion on the bank points to
the gallows.
Great cry and little wool. A man shaving his pig.
If you play with a cat, put on gloves.
Fools and their money are soon parted. A man throws
gold into the river to catch fish, one of which is swallowing
a smaller fish as its natural bait.
Fishing in troubled waters.
To meet with one's match. A man given to slippery tricks,
has got an eel by the tail.
More ways than one. A cow having faUen into a well,
her owner, instead of pulling her out, throws in rubbish
to raise her.

belvoir castle. 263
Wearing the old one out first ; and Throioing the heaviest
burthen on the weakest shoulders.
If you tell your secrets, mind to whom it is. A man con
fessing to the devil.
Holding a candle to the devil.
None so blind as those who won't see. A man covering his
eyes with his hands.
Grasping at a shadow, and losing the substance. Two dogs
quarrelhng about a bare bone ; a cat near them, attacking a
large cheese.
Labour in vain. Two old women attempting to wind
off flax from one spindle, in a contrary direction to each
other. Killing toith kindness; and Mind your own business. A
sow pulls the spigot out of the barrel, and lets the beer run,
while a woman is nursing her pig.
Reckoning of your chickens before they are hatched. A man
and woman at their hen's nest, whilst a man at the oven
steals their dinner.
Three plagues of life. A dripping roof, a smoky house,
and a scolding wife.
Harmony without, when there's none within. A musician,
whose wife allows him no peace within, takes his fiddle, and
mounts with a friend to the outside of the roof.
Carrying all the world before him. A man with a globe in
his hand ; every one ready to assist him.
Scratching through the world. Another struggling hard to
creep through a globe ; nobody helps him.
One that turns with every wind. A man at his mill.
The end of a thief. The gallows and the devil.
Gamblers. Bartolomeo Manfredi. Large picture, on can
vas. £60. Two men are playing cards ; near whom, a
female sitting, looks over the hand of one, while with her

264 history of
thumb and two fingers she communicates the result of her
observation to the other player. Rather dark, with not
much expression in the heads.
Man on horseback, Woman, and Sheep. Berghem. On
canvas ; 2 feet 7 inches, by about 3 feet 3. This is a
sweetly painted scene of rural repose. A female peasant is
sitting before a cottage in a wooded dell, surrounded by
cattle at rest. A peasant with bare legs, on a grey horse, is
addressing her.
Merry-making. On copper ; 10£ inches by 7\. A view
of the street of a country town, with mill, houses, and
canal. Numerous figures are seen dancing in the centre of
the street. There are in this picture decided marks of the
minute finish of the Dutch school — the courses of masonry,
the stones with which the street is paved, &c. For colour
ing, light, and shade, especially in the sky, the water, and
the landscape beyond, this is a pretty little gem.
Small Landscape. " J. D. Heusch, f." marked on the
left corner. On panel; 13 inches by 10. £40. The setting
sun is giving a rich golden tint to some wild scenery. On
a shelving precipice are two peasants driving some cattle.
The colouring is well laid in ; and the distances, which are
great, are perfect.
Jacob de Heusch, a painter of landscapes and animals, was
the nephew and pupil of William de Heusch, whom, however, he
far surpassed. Jacob went to Rome, and studied the style of
Salvator Rosa. The choice of his landscapes are picturesque ;
his animals and figures are touched with spirit ; and his colouring
has energy and truth. He died in 1701, aged forty-four.
Landscape. On copper; 10^ inches by 7. Peasants and
cattle in the foreground, are proceeding towards a bridge
over a stream, by the side of which are other figures fishing.
A ruined castle on a partiaUy wooded, rocky elevation,
overlooks the stream, and commands a view of a large city,

belvoir castle. 265
with a mountainous background. This is a sweetly coloured
picture, and finished with the smoothness of ivory.
Lady loith Cat and Parrot. Van Tol. A small picture ;
but hung too high for close observation.
Dominicus Van Tol was often a happy imitator of Gerard
Douw. Some of his pictures are remarkable for their characters,
impasto, and warmth of colouring.
Girls' School. Crespi. A small picture ; companion to
one by the same master, called the " Boys' School." The
grouping, colouring, and attitudes, appear to be excel
lent £15.
Moonlight. Van der Neer. On panel ; 19 inches by 13.
What inimitable effect is here produced with very common
place materials ! Boats on a canal, whose banks are planted
with a few trees ! But then this commonplace scenery is
lighted with a moon, whose silvery radiance softens the
vulgar features upon which it shines ; and they are even
rendered positively beautiful by dark masses of shadow.
The sky is of surpassing loveliness ; and the water, that
reflects as faithfully as a mirror, the boats upon its surface
and the trees upon its banks, is extraordinary for depth
and liquidity. This gem of first-rate exceUence deserves
to be the daily companion in the drawing-room, instead of
being left in the cold state and dignity of a picture gallery.
Arthur Van der Neer, born at Amsterdam in 1619, is well
known to artists and connoisseurs, both by the peculiarity of his
style, and by the handling and transparence of his landscapes.
His subjects are chiefly views of villages, with fishermen's huts,
on the low banks of rivers and canals. His pencilUng is remark
ably neat, his touch free and clear, and his imitation of nature
faithful. His reputation is founded on his moonlight scenes, in
which he has never been excelled, and perhaps never equalled.
The lustre of his skies about the moon, and the reflection of the

266 history of
beams on the water, whether calm or slightly rippled, are inimi
table. His genuine pictures are highly prized all over Europe.
In some instances they are rather too black, probably from the
effects of time. He died in 1683, aged sixty-four.
Landscape and Cattle. " A. Pynaker " marked at the
left bottom corner. On panel ; 17 inches by 13. In the
foreground of a rocky landscape, with churches in the dis
tance against a golden sky, a female peasant is driving home
cattle. This is a sweet composition, warmly coloured, and
carefully finished.
Adam Pynaker, a celebrated landscape painter, was born at
the village of Pynaker, between Schiedam and Delft, in 1621 ;
and always retained the name of the place of his nativity. He
went for improvement to Rome, where he studied for three years,
and chose the works of the great masters for his models. But
he also studied after nature, those beautiful scenes, ruins, views,
and buildings, which adorn that country. By a happy apphcation
of his time and talents, while he continued in Italy, he returned
to his own country an accomplished painter, and his works rose
into the highest esteem. He had a judicious method of distri
buting his lights and shadows ; and he managed them in his com
positions in such a manner, as to please and reUeve the eye by
their agreeable contrasts. His small pictures are far preferable
to those which he painted in a larger size ; and they are admitted
to a place in the cabinets of collectors, among the paintings of
the greatest masters. He was generally fond of a strong morning
Ught, which allowed him to give a more lively verdure to his
trees. His distances die away by proper breakings of the ground,
diversified with hills and valUes, extending the view as far as the
eye can be supposed to reach ; and his landscapes are usually en
riched with elegant ruins, or pieces of architecture, as likewise
with figures well designed, and well adapted to his subjects and
situations. He died in 1673, aged fifty-two.
Head of Raffaele. Parmegiano (?) A very sweetly painted
portrait of a very handsome person.
Head. Mireveldt An elderly man, with beard.
Crucifixion. Van Dyck. Painted on slate, with circular

BELVOIR CASTLE. 267
head; 11 inches by 19. £50. This is an extraordinary pic
ture, in which the darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour
is admirably represented by the natural colour of the slate.
Ponte Mola. Borgognone. On canvas; 19 inches by 15.
£20. In the foreground are figures on horseback, in ani
mated action ; Ponte Mola, in the middle distance ; and a
hilly country in the background. The invention is excel
lent, the execution free ; but the colours are coarsely laid
on. I should judge that this picture was painted in his
latter period, after he had been admitted into the order of
Jesuits at Rome.
Jacopo Cortesi Borgognone, called from the place of his
birth, Borgognone, was born in 1621, in the city of St. Hippo-
lite, in Burgundy (Ital. Borgogna). His father, Giovanni Cor
tesi, was a painter of sacred subjects, and very successful in his
way. Owing to an accidental temptation, Jacopo went into the
army for three years ; after which he returned to his art, and
studied at Bologna, where Guido, then at the height of his fame,
was residing. Guido happening to see a picture by Borgognone
in a window, inquired into his circumstances, and took him home
with him ; which, during the remaining six months that he stayed
in Bologna, afforded him a fine opportunity of improving his
colouring. Here he occasionally saw Albano, from whom, among
other things, he learned this maxim — " That a painter, before
setting to work upon any subject, shoidd recaU to mind some
thing which he had seen in reality ;" a saying, which Jacopo kept
constantly in view. Baldinucci, having invited him to his house
many years after, to see some of his own pictures, which he had
purchased, asked him in a burst of admiration, " how he had
given his battles so much truth, with expression so just, and
accidents so various ? " He replied, that all he had painted, he
had really seen. Borgognone subsequently realised a handsome
independence, and visited his native country for three years ; but
returned to Italy, and painted for a considerable time in Flo
rence, with great reputation. In 1655, he conceived himself
under a call to renounce the vanities of the world ; and accord
ingly went to Rome, and begged to be admitted into the order of
Jesus, and was received as a novice. During his noviciate, he

268 HISTORY OF
painted, at the suggestion of his feUow-monks, pictures of sacred
subjects, but could not abstain entirely from such as suited his
peculiar style. His religious profession did not make him idle,
and he worked as vigorously as ever. He died of apoplexy,
November 1 4, 1 676. As he painted with great facility and rapi
dity, his pictures are very numerous. His execution was in dashing
strokes, the colour laid on thick, and therefore better suited to a
distant than a close view.
Holy Family. " Bartolomeo Schidone " marked in the
centre of the foreground. On panel ; 10 inches by 14.
£100. This is a valuable little picture for colouring,
chiaroscuro, and the graceful beauty of the Virgin and chil
dren ; whose flesh is of a warm, dark golden, transparent
tone. Joseph is represented as very old.
Bartolomeo Schidone was born at Modena, in 1560 ; and
learned design and colouring in the school of the Caracci ; but
when he quitted that academy, he devoted himself entirely to
study the manner of Correggio, and imbibed so strongly the
graces and delicacies of that wonderful artist, that none ever
imitated his style and lovely ideas more happily than Schidone.
He was soon taken into the service of Ranuccio, Duke of Parma,
and had the distinction of being appointed his principal painter.
He finished for that prince several compositions of sacred sub
jects, and some taken from the Roman writers, extremely in the
taste of Correggio ; but his principal employment was, to paint
the portraits of his patron and aU his famUy ; which, with those
of the princes of the house of Modena, caused him to be num
bered among the best masters of Italy. Most of the works of
this master are in Modena and Placentia. The genius of Schi
done was noble and elevated ; his style of painting is exceedingly
elegant ; his touch light, delicate, and admirable ; and, though
he is not always critically correct in his outline, yet the air of
his heads is remarkably graceful, and all his pictures are finished
in an exquisite manner. His paintings, as well as his designs,
are exceedingly scarce and valuable ; and when they are to be
met with, are as frequently taken for the works of Correggio or
Parmegiano. Unhappily for himself, and every lover of the art,
he grew passionately fond of gaming, and indulged that appetite

BELVOIR CASTLE. 269
so far, as to consume abundance of his time unprofitably in that
amusement ; to which error the great scarcity of his works is
generally imputed. It is asserted, that having in one night lost a
very large sum of money, much more than his fortune could
bear, it affected him so violently as to occasion his death, in
1616. In the church of St. Francis, at Placentia, is preserved a
capital performance of Schidone, representing the Virgin attended
by several saints and angels-.
Walker, the Painter, by himself. £30. He is represented
as holding a drawing in his hand. This is an admirable
painting, by one of the best of our portrait painters. There
is a good engraving from it by Lombart, a French artist of
considerable talent, who appears to have been in England in
the time of Oliver Cromwell.
Robert Walker, a portrait painter, contemporary with Van
Dyck, is said to have derived considerable benefit from the study
of the works of that master. This, however, is much to be
doubted ; as it is nowhere positively said, that Walker studied in
the school of Van Dyck ; and his manner is evidently his own.
He was principal painter to OUver Cromwell, whose portrait he
painted several times. There are two capital portraits of this
person by Walker, at Burleigh, one of which is said to have
been presented to the Earl of Exeter, by Cromwell himself.
There is another of the celebrated usurper, by the same artist,
in Warwick Castle. Walker painted the portraits, also, of the
principal officers of the republican army. The most memorable
circumstance in the life of this master is, that one of his portraits
of Cromwell was accidentally sold for five hundred pounds, to the
Duke of Tuscany's resident in London ; but whether he paid
that immense price out of compUment to the pride and power of
Oliver, or to the merit of the performance, may easily be conjec
tured, when it is considered that the transaction happened while
the power of the usurper subsisted. Walker painted in one pic
ture, the portraits of Cromwell and Ms son Richard tying his
sash : an idea which is borrowed from Van Dyck, in his portrait
of Lord Goring. Walker died in 1658.
Landscape. Elzheimer. £15. This is a smaU picture,

270 HISTORY OF
representing, as the most conspicuous feature, a ruinous
church on a rocky, partially wooded elevation. A female
in the foreground is driving some goats. To highly
finished execution, and warm light, there are added ex
treme clearness and delicacy in the gradations, especially in
the intense blue sky, and the deep masses of foliage.
Adam Elzheimer, or Elsheimer, was born at Frankfort, in
1574, and, according to the most probable accounts, died in
1620 ; but the statements of writers on the subject differ ex
tremely. He became a pupil of Philip Uffenbach ; but as he, in
a very short time, proved a much better painter than his master,
he determined to complete his studies at Rome ; where he soon
formed an intimacy with Pinas, Lastman, Thomas of Landau,
and other eminent painters. Having carefully examined the
curiosities of Rome, and the works of the greatest artists, both
ancient and modern, he resolved to adopt a style of painting
peculiar to himself: this was the designing of landscapes with
historical figures on a small scale ; which he finished in so ex
quisite a manner, that he was not only far superior to all Ms
contemporaries, but is probably unrivaUed in his own line by
any artist of subsequent times. He designed entirely after
nature ; and a most retentive memory enabled him to recoUect
every thing that had struck him, and to make the most judicious
use of it in his compositions. It is scarcely possible to speak in
too high terms of the rare union of exceUencies in the works of
Elzheimer. He is equally admirable for the fine taste of his
design, the correct drawing of his figures, the lightness, spirit,
and deUcacy of his touch ; the beauty of his colouring ; the high
finishing of his works, so that the minutest parts wiU bear the
closest inspection ; and, above aU, his admirable management
and distribution of Ught and shade, and perfect knowledge of the
principles of chiaroscuro ; which was manifested in his pieces
representing scenes by torch or candlelight, moonlight, sunrise,
or sunset. Even during his life-time, his pictures bore a very
high price, which was considerably increased after his death.
It is lamentable to add, that he was unable to acquire affluence,
or even comfort, by the exercise of his talents. He had a large
family ; and though he received very high prices for his works,
he spent so much time and labour upon them, that he could not

BELVOIR CASTLE. 271
subsist by what he earned. He was at length cast into prison for
debt ; and, though very soon released, the disgrace even of that
short confinement preyed on his spirits, and he sank under his
misfortunes. The Italians, who highly honoured and esteemed
him, deeply regretted his untimely death ; and his friend, Thomas
of Landau, was so grieved at his loss, that he could no longer
bear Rome, but retired to his own country. Old Teniers and
Bamboccio were indebted for great part of their exceUence to
their study of the works of Elzheimer.
Portrait of Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland. Sir Joshua
Reynolds. He is represented in the robes of the garter.
A beautiful landscape in the distance, adds to the striking
effect of this painting.

THE CHAPEL.
Visitors are not generally taken into the body of the
Chapel ; but are permitted access to it, either by the folding
doors from the regent's gallery, — and from this point they
are enabled to have some conception of the altar-piece, by
Murillo ; — or to the gallery over the altar-piece, from the
private passage ; — and from this point, besides obtaining a
general notion of the architectural details of the chapel,
a splendid view is opened to the visitor, through the folding
doors opposite, to the very extremity of the regent's gallery,
or a distance of more than 160 feet. As my object, how
ever, is to give a more permanent impression of the cha
racter of the chapel, than can be obtained from either of
these points of view, we will descend to the guard-room
gallery, and by a door on the north-west side enter a long
passage, which conducts us to the antechapel, 19 feet
6 inches long, 18 feet broad, by about 12 feet high. This
is appropriated to the accommodation of the domestics in

272 history of
the Castle, and to instrumental performers and choristers,
when such are in attendance in the Castle on state occa
sions. The chaplain's suite of apartments communicates
with this room.
The Chapel is in a style so very much in accordance
with what I conceive every chapel in connexion with a
nobleman's residence ought to be, that, at the risk of being
thought tedious and technical, I shall proceed to describe it
in some detail. It is entered by folding doors in the screen-
work, which separates it from the antechapel ; and its ex
treme length from this point is 32 feet ; its extreme breadth
is 18 feet. Of the height we may have some conception,
when it is considered that it extends in one elevation,
through the first and principal stories, which, with the
addition of the vaulting, wiU be somewhere between 35
and 40 feet. The chapel is lighted by two very lofty win
dows of double lights, divided by transoms, and decorated
with the Tudor flower. The sides, above the pews, are
panelled in a double row, with trefoil heads and the Tudor
rose in a quatrefoil, mounted by a cornice, in the deep
hoUow of which are various flowers belonging to the same
style of architecture (perpendicular). Above the cornice,
and between each window, (as well as on the opposite wall,)
is a flowered corbel, from which rises a slender vaulting
shaft, with flowered capitals ; from which last, again, spring
the ribs of the vaulted roof, ornamented with flowered
bosses at every point of intersection. The gallery, which
is entered from the regent's, is over the three flattened
arches of the screen, in the spandrils of which is the rose
in a quatrefoil. Above the square-headed moulding, the
projecting portion of the gallery is supported by a series of
fan-tracery vaulting, springing from corbels, between which
are the portcullis and crown alternately. This gallery, as
well as the pews, (which last are of oak,) is panelled with

BELVOIR CASTLE. 273
cinquefoil-headed compartments, and embattled in the per
pendicular style.
The pulpit and desk, slightly elevated above the floor, and
opposite to each other, near the altar steps, are of oak, and
decorated in a similar manner with the pews. The front of
each consists of one large quatrefoil within a square panel,
in the centre of which is a large rose barbed with fleurs-de-
lis. Instead of being seeded, there is in the centre of the
flower a gilded shield, charged with the letters S ?§ Jj>.
A strip of black marble, about two yards wide, runs from
the entrance to the altar steps, which, and the altar floor,
are also of black marble. The altar table is an old one,
made somewhere about the end of the seventeenth century,
belonging, probably, to the former chapel. Its decorations
are of crimson velvet and gold-lace, similar to those in the
pulpit and desk. On each side, reared upon a pedestal
within a niche, is the Bible, in two volumes, bound in
crimson velvet, with metal clasps, corners, and centre-pieces.
The Manners arms, and an earl's coronet, are engraved
upon the two latter. Date — " Oxford, printed at the
Theatre, 1680." A most valuable communion service,
supposed by some, but I think without any probability, to
have been co-eval with the founder of the Castle, Robert
de Todeni, was lost in the fire of 1816.
The gallery over the altar is faced with tabernacle work,
consisting of five canopies ; three over the altar-piece, with
crocketted domes and pinnacles ; a canopy over each niche,
embattled, and with crocketted pinnacles, but without a
dome. Beyond these, are the first and second great com
mandments, crowned with 3E © Jj>.
I have reserved to the last a description of what will
be generally considered the most splendid embellishment
of the chapel,—" The Holy Family," by MuriUo, as the
altar-piece. It is 3 feet 6J inches broad, by about 5 feet
T

274 HISTORY OF
6 inches high ; within a broad gilded frame, panelled, and'
decorated with the Tudor flower. Nothing can exceed, if
equal, the sweetness of expression in the Virgin's counte
nance, who is stooping, with her arm around the infants
Christ and Baptist, as they are caressing each other ; the
Baptist with affection subdued by a reverential feeling, and
Christ with a sweet look of love and confidence upturned
to the Virgin. The Baptist carries a rude cross, on the top
of which is a scroll, lettered " Ecce Agnus Dei." A lamb
lies at his feet behind. The face of Joseph, standing
close to the group, is of a highly intellectual cast; the
flesh is of a golden brown colour ; and he is in the prime of
life. The flesh of the children and the Virgin is in a warm
golden tone. She has the most perfect head that can be
conceived. There are deep masses of foliage in the back
ground, and a church in a mountainous country, in the
extreme distance. This picture is insured for three thou
sand guineas.
Over the entrance from the regent's gaUery are the Rut
land arms, impaling Howard, encircled with the motto of
the garter, having supporters, ducal coronet, cap of dignity,
and crest
The regent's gallery communicates with an
AWAITING ROOM,
formerly used as a BiUiard-room. It is 30 feet 4 inches, by
21 feet 6, with circular corners, and lighted principaUy by
a lantern in the roof. On the side next the court there are
three lancet-shaped recesses, only one of which is pierced
for a window. In the two others are small cases for books.
In one of them we notice Dugdale, Evelyn, Dante, Bacon,
Boyle, Bolingbroke, Locke, Lucretius, Theocritus, Virgil,
and some of the most celebrated writers of the sixteenth

BELVOIR CASTLE. 275
and seventeenth centuries. The other case contains capital
editions of Warton's History of English Poetry, the works
of Thomson and Lyttelton, Baskerville's Addison, Leland's
History of Ireland, &c.
There are several portraits and other paintings in this
room. The portraits are half-lengths of the first Duke of
Rutland, Mrs. Bridget Noel, and Lord Anglesea, by Sir
Peter Lely ; Earl of Northampton, Earl and Countess of
Exeter; a person with a leading staff; and over the door
into the library, Marshal Due de Broglio, (full-length,) in
uniform, with star and blue ribbon. I am not able to say
by whom the five last were painted. There is another
portrait (knee-piece) of a person in state robes, and with
walking staff, of whose and the artist's name, I am also
ignorant King Charles II., by Vosterman (?)
John Vosterman, whose chief excellence consisted in land
scape painting, was born at Bommel, in 1643, and learned the
rudiments of his art from his father, who was a portrait painter ;
but obtained that exceUence to which he afterwards arrived, from
Herman Sachtleven, with whom he studied as a disciple. Nor
had he been very long in the school of that eminent artist, before
he equalled his instructor ; and indeed, shortly afterwards, proved
himself superior, not only to Sachtleven, but to aU his contem
poraries. Vosterman had, however, a great deal of vanity ; and
instead of pursuing his profession, by which he might have Uved
in honour and affluence, he wasted his time and fortune, by
assuming the appearance of a person of rank ; being attended,
whUe he resided in France, by a great number of domestics in
rich Uveries ; frequenting the houses and assemblies of the great,
and squandering his patrimony in many ostentatious foUies.
From necessities which thus arose, he was induced to turn his
attention to England, where he was warmly patronised by
Charles II. and the principal nobiUty ; but ineffectually, so far
as regards retrieving his affairs. Vosterman surpassed by many
degrees aU the landscape painters of his time, in neatness of
touch, and deUcacy of finish. He painted for King Charles two
t 2

276 HISTORY OF
views of Windsor, stiU in the gallery there ; a chimney-piece, at
WhitehaU ; and a view of Stirling Castle, the figures by Wyck.
He died in 1693, aged fifty.
Two miniatures, on copper.
Over the fireplace, is a view of Newmarket, with the
Duke of Rutland's stud, and portraits of several persons,
by Tillemans.
Peter Tillemans was born at Antwerp, in the latter end of
the seventeenth century. His father was a diamond-cutter. The
son soon distinguished himself as a painter, though he studied
under very indifferent masters. In 1708, he was brought to
England, with his brother-in-law, Casteels, by one Turner, a
dealer in pictures ; and employed by him in copying Borgognone
and other masters, in which he succeeded admirably, particularly
Teniers, of whom he preserved aU the freedom and spirit. He
generally painted landscapes with smaU figures, seaports, and
views. One of his best works is a view from Richmond-hiU, in
the possession of Mr. Cambridge, of Twickenham. When he
came to be known, he was patronised by several men of quaUty ;
and drew views of their seats, huntings, races, and horses, in
perfection. In this way he was much employed in the west and
north of England, and in Wales ; and drew many prospects for
the intended history of Nottinghamshire by Mr. Bridges. He
instructed the Lord Byron of his day, who did great credit to
his master, and painted a large picture of the abbey and lake at
Newstead, now in the possession of Captain Lord Byron. After
suffering many years under an asthma, for which he chiefly resided
at Richmond, he died at Norton, in Suffolk, December 5, 1734,
at about the fiftieth year of his age, and was buried in the church
of Stow Langtoft.
Above the view of Newmarket is a large landscape, said
to be by Sir Peter Lely and others.
In different parts of the room are hung four views by
Delany ; — a view of Dublin from the sea, Wicklow Hills in
the background ; a view of Dublin from the grounds above
Chapel Izod; and two others, described as views near
Dublin.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 276*
Sir Peter Lely, or Peter Van der Faes, was born in 1617,
at Soest, in Westphalia. He was placed, at what age does not
appear, under Peter Grebber, at Haerlem, an artist of considerable
merit, whose school was in high esteem. Lely continued two
years with him. By some authors, he is thought to have come to
England after the restoration. But Allan Cunningham, whose
spirited criticism, on the state of the fine arts during the reigns
of Charles I. and II., and during the intermediate period of the
usurpation, I avail myself of, relates an anecdote, which proves
that Lely must have been in England much earlier, (probably in
1641), and have acquired a considerable reputation in Cromwell's
time. When Cromwell sat to Lely, he said, " I desire you will
use all your skill to paint my picture truly like me, and not flatter
me at all; but remark all those roughnesses, pimples, warts,
and every thing as you see me ; otherwise, I never will pay one
farthing for it." Charles II. appointed him state painter ; and
when the softer customers of that monarch's palace sat to Lely,
they laid his talents under no such restrictions as CromweU did.
He seemed to consider himself as chief painter at the court of
Paphos. No one knew better than he how to paint
" The sleepy eye, that spoke the melting soul ;"
to imitate the fascinating undulations of female bosoms, or give
voluptuous glow and solid softness to youthful flesh and blood.
The beauties of Windsor, as they are called, kindled up old
Pepys, who says in his Memoirs, that he called at Mr. Lely's,
who was "a mighty proud man, and fuU of state," where he saw
the Duchess of Cleveland "sitting in a chair, dressed in white
satin;" also Lady Castlemain, "a most blessed picture, of which
he was resolved to have a copy." The lapse of a century and a
half, has purified the air round those gay and merry dames, and
we can look on Lady Castlemain and her companions as calmly
as on the Venus de Medicis. " The bugle eye ball, and the cheek
of cream" have lost their magic now.
Lely, however, did not wholly dedicate his pencil to the con
descending beauties of Charles' court ; he has preserved the
features of statesmen, who contrived to walk upright even in
those slippery times : nor did he neglect the men of genius, who
flourished in his day. He painted Clarendon, Cowley, Butler,

277* HISTORY OF
Selden, and Otway. He formed a gallery of the works of Van
Dyck and other eminent artists, which was sold at his death for
twenty six thousand pounds. He maintained the state of a
gentleman, and preserved the dignity due to art in his intercourse
with the court. Of the numerous works which he painted-^for
he was a diligent and laborious man — upwards of seventy are still
in the island, — portraits of ladies of rank or note, and of men of
birth or genius.
To the coming of Kneller some writers have attributed the
death of Lely. But he died suddenly ; and jealousy and mortifi
cation are more slow in their operations. The new artist was
indeed a man of talent, but there was nothing of that high order
about him, which could be supposed capable of sickening the soul,
or shortening the life of the other. Thus far Cunningham. The
merits of Lely may be thus summarily stated. He is especially
eminent for his talent in giving a pleasing representation of female
beauty. His pencil was light and delicate ; his colouring very
beautiful ; the tone warm, clear, and full ; and his execution often
spirited. The airs of his heads and figures are pleasing and grace
ful ; and the attitudes easy and unaffected. The hands of his figures
¦ are painted with remarkable care and delicacy. His draperies are
arranged, with an appearance of negligence, in broad folds. He
sometimes gave his pictures a landscape back ground in a style
peculiarly calculated to give relief to his figures. He occasionally
painted historical pictures, one of the best of which is a represen
tation of Susannah and the Elders, at Burleigh House. His
most celebrated performance is a series of portraits of the beauties
of the court of Charles II., preserved at Hampton Court : a list
of which may be acceptable in this place ; — Anne, Duchess of
York, daughter of the Earl of Clarendon, Lady Byron, Princess
Mary, Queen Catharine, Duchess of Richmond, Nell Gwynne,
Countess of Rochester, Countess of Northumberland, Lady
Denham, Countess of Sutherland, the Countess de Grammont,
Duchess of Cleveland, Countess of Ossory, Lady Wliitmore, and
Mrs. Middleton. Lely equally exceUed as a crayon painter; and
his portraits in that style are esteemed equal, and by some are
preferred to his paintings in oil. He died in England in 1680,
at the age of 63.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 277
There are also two pictures of superior pretensions, by
Marlow. One represents a very large galley (Pope's ?), filled
with men and oars, and having a standard, argent, two pas
toral staves in saltire, in chief a crown, or. The water is
dark, but transparent; and the buildings are thrown out
with very sharp edges. In the second, is seen a bridge of
seven arches, over a river running between houses. The
sky is splendidly bright and transparent. There is some
thing in the style and colouring of this artist, to remind us
of Le Nain. These pictures are called in a manuscript
catalogue, " A view near Naples," and " A view in Flo
rence ;" and were purchased for £30 each.
There is on a table in this room, a model of the former
Castle and its outworks, cut in wood, and according to scale,
by the Rev. Mr. Mounsey.

LIBRARY.
Passing through double doors, the inner of which are
folding, we enter the Library, — a room of proportions suffi
ciently large to admit of a favourable display of the cha
racter given to it in its gilded, panelled roof, and its deeply
recessed, elaborately moulded windows ; yet not so vast, as
to preclude the idea of genuine comfort, to even a solitary
student. It has been objected to this room, that it is very
gloomy, in consequence of its aspect into the court-yard,
which is overshadowed on the opposite side by the central
and flag towers, of greater elevation than other portions of
the Castle. I cannot appreciate this objection as at all
applicable to a room, the very design of which is, to con
centrate the attention within its walls, rather than permit a
diversion of the thoughts to external beauties. In my view,

278 HISTORY OF
a much more serious objection may be made to the room —
that it is, what no library ought to be, a thoroughfare from
the principal to the private apartments. It is in the very
essence of a place of study, that it be abstracted from the
ordinary communications of every-day life. And, that we
may dispose of all the real or supposed defects, before we
proceed to notice its architectural beauties and literary trea
sures, I must say, that not only the proportions, but the
architectural character of this room, demanded a different
roof. It certainly should have been vaulted and groined,
as weU as ribbed. Ribs, panels, bosses, quatrefoils, and
shields, all elaborately painted and gilded, which on a vault
add immensely to its richness, magnificence, and beauty,
become heavy accessories to a flat roof. But, take it for aU
in all, it is a very sweet room, as I think will appear from
the following more detailed description.
It is 47 feet long, 23 feet 9 inches wide, and 18 feet
high ; and is lighted from the court by four handsome
windows, the soffits and sides of which are covered with
cinquefoil-headed panels. These windows are also hooded
with mouldings springing from corbels, both most gor
geously decorated with carved and gilded flowers and
fruit The bosses at the intersection of the ribs of the
roof, are decorated alternately with flowers, { ?j S, ducal
coronet, and an eagle with wings displayed. In each
of the four corners of the roof, there is a square panel,
having a shield contained within a quatrefoil : 1. Man
ners, with augmentation, impahng Howard. 2. Manners,
&c, impaling Beaufort 3. Manners, &c, impaling So
merset (Marquis of Granby). 4. Manners, &c, with an
escocheon of pretence for Sutton. The first, second, and
fourth, are encircled with the motto of the garter, and are
mounted with a ducal coronet. In a multfoil over the fold
ing doors at each end, are the ducal coronet, cap of dignity,
crest and motto of the gaiter.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 279
In each of the two centre windows, there is a rich piece
of stained glass, of the size of an ordinary pane, the sub
ject of which has not, that I can discover, any connexion
with the history of the Castle ; and is, perhaps, valued
only on account of the spirited delineation and splendid
colouring.. Over the first figure there is a scroll, indi
cating the name of the person represented, and the date —
©om £te(n aangrtiogge, 1510. The figure is in armour,
with a bear-skin cap, wreath, sable and argent, and a plume
of feathers ; and is holding a heavy battle-axe. At his feet,
a shield, gules, three leaves pendant from a collar argent,
buckle and gem, or. Above the shield, a helmet and gorget
of mail ; crest, a Moor's head, with a turban, on which is
planted a cross between two horns.
At the feet of the other figure, a scroU, on which is in
scribed — ftSans fcatshalet or |»t] fcucfiSett JMcfSttr Ber 8tnt
fstrrx, 1561. He is in mail armour, cap and plumes ; and
at his feet a shield, gules, a cross issuing out of a star,
argent. The shelves for the books are, with the exception of the
breaks for the windows, doors, and fireplace, ranged in a
double series, against both sides and ends of the room.
They are of oak, and lettered and numbered on ivory
labels. The lower series consists of lock-up cases for such
literary treasures as require careful and infrequent handling,
such as MSS., original drawings by the great masters, illus
trated works, and valuable editions of standard writers. A
marble slab runs the whole extent of the top of these cases,
for busts, and other articles of vertu. The upper cases are
of a height sufficiently accessible, without a gallery ; which,
in a room of almost any dimensions, appears an unsightly
feature, and in this, would have been altogether imprac
ticable. The number of volumes, in this and the anteroom,

280 HISTORY OF
amounts to about 7000 ; and, with the exception of a few
modern works of imagination, there is scarcely a volume
that does not possess great intrinsic value, as well as the
fictitious value which certain bibUomaniacs attach to taU
folios, morocco and crimson velvet bindings, &c. A brief
notice of a few of these treasures, selected for descrip
tion almost at random, may be acceptable to some of my
readers. An illuminated MS. on veUum, of " Bocha's Falles of
Prynces, in Inglysch." The capital letters of this manu
script are beautifully illuminated. It is of the time of
Richard ILL, and was translated at his command, while
Duke of Gloucester.
Missale Romanum — MS. on vellum, embellished with
miniatures, the borders consisting of flowers and fruits, with
grotesque and arabesque ornaments, very highly finished.
12mo. Breviarium Romanum — MS. on vellum, with illumina
tions of grotesque borders and ornaments. The dresses
of the figures are evidently Saxon ; and it is presumed,
that it was executed in the reign of Henry II.; as many
of the sports and games of the English are represented at
the bottom of the page. Folio.
MS. on vellum, of Les Remedes de la bonne et ad
verse Fortune, by Petrarque. Besides illuminated capi
tals, and arms of Louis XII., to whom the work is dedicated
by the translator, each volume is ornamented with a beauti
fully executed emblematical frontispiece, and arabesque
borders finished in the highest manner. The frontispiece
in the second volume represents Fortune in the distance,
blindfolded, and holding a wheel : a group of figures in the
foreground ; — " Adversite," sitting on a stool, in rags, with
bare feet and legs, and her hand on her heart ; " Craintle,"
as a nun in black garments and hood ; " Raison," as a female
jn blue garments, with white veil.

belvoir castle. 281
There are also manuscripts of more modern date, either
relating to Belvoir Castle, or written by members of this
noble family. Of these the most remarkable are a " Pin-
darique Ode on Belvoir Castle," written in 1679. This
poem was first printed in the Harleian Miscellany, vol. iv.
p. 527; and afterwards by Nichols, in the appendix to the
second volume of his History of Leicestershire. It is
valuable chiefly on account of the description it gives of the
character of Belvoir Castle at the period in which it was
written, and of the works of art, which the Castle then
contained. A second series of Manuscripts is described as " Letters
from Gilbert, Earl of Shrewsbury, and various other letters
and papers, from 1591 to 1609 ;" " Letters from Elizabeth,
Lady Annesley, afterwards Countess of Anglesey, to her
mother, Frances, eighth Countess of Rutland ;" " Letters
and Papers (miscellaneous), from 1564 to 1661. Amongst
these papers is a very curious letter from the Earl of
Huntingdon, relative to the Gunpowder Plot, dated 7 Nov.
1605." The Library is rich in divinity, classics, and illustrated
works. I noticed on the shelves the following, which may
serve as a specimen of its general character : — Kennicott's
Biblia Hebraica, Oxon. 1780 ; a splendid folio copy of the
Septuagint, Frankfort, 1597; Walton's Polyglott, 4 vols.
folio, London, 1657 ; — several of the ancient Fathers, of
editions from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries,
published chiefly on the Continent ; — the principal works
of the Reformers and most eminent Divines of the Anglican
Church. Of illustrated works, I may mention Dugdale's
Monasticon, folio, large paper, London, 1817 — 1830;
Lodge's Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, 4 vols, folio,
large paper, London, 1821 — 1832; Claude's Liber Veritatis,
engraved from the originals in the possession of the Duke

282 HISTORY OF
of Devonshire, Boydell, 1777 ; Horsley's Britannia, folio,
large paper, 1732.
There is also in one of the lock-up cases, (No. 11,) a
very interesting collection of original drawings by the great
masters : — Claude Lorraine, Polidoro, Agostino and Anni
bale Caracci, Domenichino, Berghem, Correggio, Vanni,
Schidone, Titian, Rothenhamer, Apresso, Tintoretto, Par
megiano, Raffaele, Giorgi Vasari, Breughel, (a study of
birds,) Guido Reni, Swanvelt, Rembrandt, Pietro da Cor-
tona, Andrea del Sarto, Girolamo Mazzuolo, Elsheimer,
Rubens, Pordenone, Ludovico Caracci, Guercino, Poussin,
"Van Dyck f. 1622," Leonardo da Vinci, Julio Romano,
Pyrrho Ligoris, (study of heads,) Mola, Barocci, Sachtleven,
Ostade, Wouvermann, Paolo Veronese, Botticelli, Bassano,
(adoration of the shepherds,) &c.
Over the fireplace, there is a full-length portrait, the
size of life, of Suleima, successively Persian interpreter to
the late Lord Exmouth, and the present Queen ; painted
by Hayes. He is represented as a handsome man, in
Turkish costume, standing at a table, with books and manu
scripts open before him. Suleima was formerly an occa
sional visitor at Belvoir Castle ; and is described as a
man of a highly inteUectual character, with great suavity
of manners.
Going out of the library, through folding doors, opposite
to those by which we entered, we proceed into an ante
room, communicating with the chapel, the apartments of
the late Duchess, and a passage to the private apartments
of the family.
In this anteroom are the following portraits: — Lady
Chaworth (knee-piece) ; whole-length of " John, ninth
Earl, created Marquis of Granby and Duke of Rutland,
1703 ;" Bridget, wife of the third Duke of Rutland, and
heiress of Robert Sutton, Lord Lexington (in a sitting

BELVOIR CASTLE. 283
posture) ; Lucy, second wife of the second Duke of Rut
land. These portraits were all painted by Sir Peter Lely.
The figure in black is said to have been painted by Van
Dyck. Passing through the dressing-room, (21 feet by 10,) we
come to the
BOUDOIR OF THE LATE DUCHESS,
left precisely in its original state. To this sweet apartment,
it was the custom of the lamented Duchess to retreat,
whenever an intermission in the demands of her elevated
rank permitted her to indulge in pursuits congenial to her
highly cultivated mind. And a more appropriate retreat
can scarcely be imagined. The oriel window commands a
view of those splendid masses of foliage on Blackberry-hill,
in the formation of which, her own creative taste was so
eminently distinguished. And amidst this beautiful scene,
which she loved so well in life, it was her anxious desire to
rest in death. The two silver firs, whose tops may be dis
tinguished above the surrounding foliage, mark the spot
which she had chosen for her resting-place, and the site of
the mausoleum where her remains are interred.
From the other window, the landscape, though greatly
varied, is, if possible, still more beautiful. The eye, passing
over the foliage on the terraces immediately below the
Castle, is refreshed by a beautiful expanse of water ; imme
diately beyond which, is rising ground covered with plan
tations. The village of Woolsthorp, in the valley, a little
to the left, with the spire of its simple church, is sufficiently
distant to form a sweet feature in this scene of rural repose.
At a more remote distance, the magnificent mansion of Mr.
Gregory forms a terminal point for the eye to rest upon,
near the horizon of the landscape.

284 HISTORY OF
The internal character of this room is rather that of
simple elegance, than elaborate decoration. It is 22 feet
4 inches long, by 19 feet 6 inches wide ; the length being
increased by the depth of the bay, 6 feet 3 inches more.
The ceiling is coved, and decorated with gilded mouldings
and cornice. Beneath the latter there is a series of clas
sical designs, bronzed on a warm, salmon-coloured ground,
emblematic of the elegant taste, and accomphshments, and
useful pursuits, of the Duchess : — ApoUo and the Muses ;
Minerva, and female attendants with fruit and flowers;
Mercury, accompanied by females holding various emblems
of commerce. There are also, in single panels round the
room, many repetitions of Venus and Cupid.
There are a few first-rate gems of the pictorial art in this
room, intermixed with others, whose principal value is of a
domestic kind.
A view of Belvoir Castle. Wright. This view gives the
south-east and north-west sides, which includes the tower,
in which this room is situated.
The present Marquis of Granby. Ferneley. The mar
quis is represented as a child on a grey pony, attended by a
groom (Akerman) with dead hare and greyhounds.
Battle-piece. Van der Meulen. On panel ; about 7 inches
by 6. £10.
Anthony Francis Van der Meulen, born at Brussels, in
1634, was a disciple of Peter Sneyers, an eminent battle painter,
under whom he improved with extraordinary rapidity. While he
was pursuing his profession at Brussels, it happened, that some
of his works were taken to Paris, and shown to the minister,
Colbert, who was so pleased with them, that he invited him to
Paris, on very honourable and advantageous conditions. His
talents as a battle painter recommended him to Louis XIV.,
whom he always accompanied in his campaigns. He designed on

BELVOIR CASTLE. 285
the spot the most remarkable events, and the views of the cities
and fortresses which had been the scene of the most memorable
victories ; and from these sketches he composed the paintings,
which were to perpetuate the remembrance of the king's suc
cesses. Such opportunities enabled him to attain that perfection
in his art, of which his numerous works give such evidence.
They are distinguished by truth to nature, excellent colouring,
freedom of touch, and the happiest distribution of light and
shade. No painter exceUed him in designing the motions and
attitudes of horses ; and this induced his friend Le Brun, whose
niece he married, to give to him the execution of the horses in
his celebrated paintings of the battles of Alexander the Great.
Van der Meulen painted, also, landscapes and other subjects with
equal exceUence. His principal works are at Paris ; but many
of his easel pictures are preserved in England, France, and
Flanders. He was chosen member of the French Academy of
Painting, in 1673. He died in 1690, at the age of fifty-six years.
His most celebrated scholar was I. Van Huchtenburg, battle
painter to Prince Eugene.
Peasants dancing. Ferg. On copper; 16 inches by 13.
£40. Francis Paul Ferg, born at Vienna, in 1689, had different
masters ; Hans Graf, Orient, and, lastly, Alexander Thiele,
painter to the court of Saxony, who invited him to Dresden, to
insert smaU figures in his landscapes. Ferg went thence into
Lower Saxony, and painted for the Duke of Brunswick, and for
the gallery of Saltzdahl. He afterwards passed over to England,
where he married, became involved in his circumstances, and,
according to report, was found dead at the door of his lodgings,
apparently exhausted by cold, want, and misery. He formed a
manner of his own from various Flemish painters, though re
sembling Poelenberg most, in the enameUed softness and mellow
ness of his colouring : but his figures are greatly superior ; every
part of them is sufficiently finished, every action expressive. He
painted small landscapes, fairs, and rural meetings, with most
exquisite truth ; his horses and cattle are not inferior to Wou-
vermann's; and his buildings and distances seem to owe their
respective softness to the intervening air, not to the pencil. He

286 HISTORY OF
passed twenty years in England, but little known, and always
indigent ; unhappy in his home, and sometimes in prison : the
consequence of his sufferings was dissipation. He died in the
year 1738, leaving four children.
Landscape. Unknown. On panel ; 13 inches by 9.
Conversation-piece. Mortimer. On canvas ; 13^ inches
by 16J. £35. Soldiers, a woman, child, fish, &c.
Conversation-piece. Mortimer. Companion to the above.
A pilgrim in conversation with a man and woman, who
appear to be selling oysters.
Adoration of the Wise Men. Unknown. This is a small
picture, of octagon shape, exquisitely finished, and sweetly
coloured. In the midst of a lovely landscape are ruins of a
classical character, near which is seen the group of figures.
There are camels in the distance.
Landscape, with Sea and Shipping. Unknown. On panel ;
1 1 inches by 8.
Christ feeding the Multitudes. Ferg. On copper; 23
inches by 15. £50. In the middle distance, Jesus is seen
blessing the bread ; assembled round him, are numerous
figures, in various attitudes, on the ground. The con
ception, grouping, and colouring of this little gem, are
first-rate. The landscape and foliage are in perfect
keeping. Ernbretstein. Sachtleven. This is a sweetly painted
picture, representing the ancient fortress of Ernbretstein,
on a rocky elevation, at the foot of which runs the Rhine,
whose banks are enlivened with figures occupied in various
ways with their boats. £30. There is marked on the back
of the copper upon which this landscape is painted — " Ern
bretstein, 1660; Herman Sach Leven, Utrecht"
Herman Sachtleven was born at Rotterdam, in 1609, and
instructed in the art by John Van Goyen, a very celebrated

BELVOIR CASTLE. 287
painter of landscapes ; yet he did not confine himself to the
manner of that master, but also studied the style, taste, and touch
of other eminent artists. He determined, however, principally
to attend to nature, as being the best and most unerring director ;
and, for his improvement, made abundance of sketches, drawings,
and designs, which are accounted not the least valuable of his
works. But the views of nature in the Low Countries, where
he was born, were by no means suitable to the taste of Sacht
leven, as they could not furnish him with a competent variety,
there being no mountains or rocks in that tract, to diversify the
scene. He therefore went to study nature on the borders of the
Rhine. It is also affirmed by some writers, that he likewise
visited Italy, where he improved himself considerably. He took
pains to finish his pictures with extraordinary neatness ; and by
a light, free touch, as weU as by a skilful management of the
aerial perspective, he gave to his distant hills, grounds, and
trees, a very happy and pleasing effect. His skies and distances
are generaUy clear ; and aU his objects recede with perspective
truth. Although many of the scenes which he copied from nature
were not very striking, from that point of view where he stood
to design them, yet he had the skiU so greatly to improve, vary,
and enrich them, by figures and buildings, that he made them
agreeable subjects in his paintings, still preserving the appear
ance of the real place which he designed. The pictures of
Sachtleven, painted in his best manner, are not very common,
and are highly esteemed. They may be known without much
difficulty, by a neatness of touch in the figures and buildings ;
by an endeavour to express the vapour between the eye and the
objects that are remote, like Berghem and Wouvermann ; and
by a pleasing bluish tint in his distances. He died in 1685, aged
seventy-six. Landscape with Figures. " V. Hyde " marked at the left
corner. On panel; 11 inches by 9|. £35. A woman,
with an ass and panniers* is proceeding to some buildings.
Near a stream running between rocks, are men with nets
and baskets. This little gem is in excellent preservation ;
the colouring is cool and refreshing; and every part is
highly finished.

288 HISTORY OF

PRIVATE PASSAGE.
Over the door of entrance, there is a portrait of Katha
rine, first Duchess of Rutland. Over the door at the
opposite end, a Countess of Rutland, represented as a
shepherdess, with sheep and a crook, by Sir Peter Lely.
On the sides of the passage are portraits of Henry, the
second; Henry, the third; John, the fourth; Roger, the
fifth ; Francis, the sixth ; George, the seventh ; and John,
the eighth, Earls of Rutland.
This series of portraits, with that of the first Earl in the
regent's gaUery, were, without doubt, painted by the same
artist, and at the same period. The labels on each are evi
dently contemporaneous with the painting ; and the literal
character of aU these labels belongs to the latter end of the
seventeenth century. Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Paint
ing, mentions a John Van der Eyden, a portrait painter,
of Brussels, who copied and painted draperies for Sir Peter
Lely, till, marrying, he settled in Northamptonshire, where
he was much employed by the Earls of Rutland and the
Lord Sherard, at whose house he died in 1695, and was
buried at Stapleford. In the register of burials in that
parish, there is the following entry: — " 1695. Mr. Jere
miah Vanroyden was buried, Sept. 17." Walpole erro
neously calls him John, and the parish register, Vanroy
den ; but it is impossible to mistake the person intended
in both cases, or to have any doubt that Jeremiah Van der
Eyden painted the series of portraits of the eight Earls of
Rutland. There are in this passage some very good plaster casts
from the antique, of Homer, Demosthenes, and six others;

BELVOIR CASTLE. 289
one of which is a cast, I believe, from the bust of Admiral
Keppel, by Ceracchi.
We now pass into
THE GRAND CORRIDOR,
whose dimensions and architecture render it one of the
most imposing portions of the Castle. Its erection com
menced under the superintendence of Sir John Thoroton,
from models taken from various parts of Lincoln cathedral.
Sir John dying before its completion, his brother, the Rev.
Charles Roos Thoroton, succeeded him in the accomplish
ment of the original plans.
Its extreme length, including the area of the staircase,
and the galleries at each end, is upwards of 120 feet. Its
extreme breadth, including the breaks for the windows, is
nearly 24 feet. The central portion within the principal
piers is floored with oak, and occasionally used for a ball
room ; and when lighted up for this purpose, it must have
a magnificent effect But we must not pass through it
without a more detailed observation.
The central portion is lighted by nine windows with
multfoil heads, and double lights, divided by transoms.
At each end of this portion of the corridor are two pointed
arches, decorated with the ball flower, and supported by a
Central and two semi side-piers, of massive proportions,
with flowered capitals. The roof is a groined vault, inter
sected by ribs springing from vaulting shafts between the
windows, and on contrasting portions of the opposite side.
A flowered boss in the centre forms a pendant for a chan-
deKer. Above the central pier, at one end, a perforated
multfoil is filled with glass, in which are stained, the arms of
the Duke, as knight of the garter, accompanied by the
arms of Howard. In a blank multfoil, in a similar posi-
u

290 HISTORY OF
tion at the opposite end, the same arms are painted. The
staircase is lighted by three windows of similar character,
but with more elaborate ornaments; the sides and archi-
volts being deeply moulded, and decorated profusely with
the baU flower and tooth ornament ; as are also the double
arches of the interior.
Proceeding further, we come to the gallery which com
municates with the Elizabeth Saloon, the grand dining-
room, and the picture gallery. This portion of the corridor
is the richest specimen of all in English architecture ; so
abundant and varied in its details, that a mere description
would not do justice to its beauties.
We now retrace our steps to the opposite end of the
corridor, and enter

THE GREEN, OR ASSEMBLING ROOM,
an apartment in which the family and visitors at the Castle
assemble, previous to dinner. Its dimensions (27 feet long,
24 feet wide, and 17^ feet high) bring it within the class
of comfortable family drawing-rooms. A bay, from which
there is a magnificent prospect, extending over the lake
and the village of Woolsthorpe, to Harlaxton, and the
splendid mansion in the course of erection by Mr. Gre
gory, in one direction ; across the vale and the adjoining
country, to Lincoln, in another, increases the breadth of
the room 7J feet The ceiling, from which hangs a hand
some chandeher, is coved. The epithet green, apphed to
this room, is derived from the colour of the paper, and the
satin damask with which the furniture is covered. But the
great charm of the room are the seven paintings by Poussin.
I cannot call them " the Seven Sacraments ;" for the sacra
ment of Penance, from some unexplained cause, is missing,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 291
and its place supplied by a painting of the same size, by
the same master, of John baptizing Christ. What was the
fate of the missing picture of this incomparable series, I
cannot learn. It is an irreparable loss, for which not even
its splendid successor (a present from George IV. to his
Grace) can compensate. It does not appear to have
perished in the fire of 1816 ; for it is not included in the
valuation of pictures burnt, which was made by Mr. Rising
after that event. It. is indeed altogether improbable, that
one of a series of pictures, like this, should have been con
sumed, while the others escaped uninjured.
This series comprised the first original paintings of Pous-
sin's Seven Sacraments. The other series, now in the
Bridgewater Gallery, was painted by Poussin, at Rome, for
M. Chantelon ; afterwards purchased by the Regent, Philip
Duke of Orleans, for 120,000 livres ; and bought out of
his gallery by the Duke of Bridgewater, for £700 each, or
£4900. The Belvoir series was purchased for £3000.
The six that remain are superior in many respects to their
celebrated counterparts, especially Extreme Unction. We
wiU now proceed to notice them in the order of the sacra
ments, as believed to be such by the Romish Church.
" If any shall say, that the sacraments of the new law were not
aU instituted by our Lord Jesus Christ ; or that they are more
or fewer than seven, to wit, baptism, confirmation, the eucharist,
penance, extreme unction, orders, and matrimony ; or that any
of these seven is not truly and properly a sacrament ; let him
be accursed." (CouncU of Trent, Session VII., A. D. 1547,
Canon I.)
Baptism. — In the foreground of a pleasing landscape with
water, is a group of eighteen figures. Christ, with the
thumb and two fingers of the right hand, symbolizes the
Trinity ; while, with the left, he makes the sign of the cross
on the bald head of a half-dressed figure stooping before
u 2

292 HISTORY OF
him, between a man kneeling and a woman standing.
A female kneeling, is holding a naked child towards the
Saviour. Another is approaching with a child; behind
whom, a group of one old and two young women appear
interested spectators. There are other figures of men, in
various stages of unclothing themselves. A burley priest,
(Jewish,) with blue garment and checked turban, is looking
on with disapproving contempt; to whom an aged man
addresses himself. The picture is injured by cleaning, and
the canvas appears in various places.
Confirmation. — A bishop, in white robes, is laying his
hand on a sweetly actioned child. Near him are two
attendants ; one with the chrism, and the other with a
taper. The heads of the bishop and his attendant officials
are superb, especially the two first. On the left, a female
is gently urging a reluctant child to approach ; upon whom
another female with a child kneeling, is looking back. Two
men in the extreme left, one with turban, and the other
with tonsure, are in conversation. The background of the
picture represents the altar and altar-piece, (the latter a
painting, apparently, of the Virgin and Child,) lighted by
lamps and a window over the altar; but it is notwith
standing so dark, that the eye is rivetted upon the prin
cipal figures, which, by the darkness of the background, are
brought out into almost painfuUy prominent relief. The
figures themselves are hghted in a manner not easily ex
plained. This picture is in admirable preservation.
" If any shall say, that the confirmation of baptized persons is
an idle ceremony, and not rather a true and proper sacrament ;
or that formerly, it was nothing more than a mere catechising, in
which they who were newly grown up gave an account of their
faith before the church ; let him be accursed." (Council of Trent,
Confirmation, Canon I.) Compare with the 25th Article, and the
Homily on the Sacraments of the Anghcan Church.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 293
The Eucharist. — This is the darkest picture in the series,
and, unfortunately, in the darkest part of the room. The
Saviour is represented in the centre, opposite to the spec
tator, surrounded by his disciples. The fight proceeds from
two lamps pending from the roof, and from a candle on a
bench to the left front of the table, near a disciple of dark
hair and beard (Judas?), and from an open door. The
attitude of the beloved disciple is represented too literally
according to the vulgar interpretation of the text, and de
notes a half-sleepy want of interest The paschal lamb is
in the centre of the table. The heads of the whole group
are magnificent ; the position and action of the figures
distinct and natural, with the exception above alluded to.
But this picture proves that Poussin did not excel in the
treatment of night scenes : the shadows are very dark, and
the light of the lamps and taper hard and defined, as if not
extending its iUumination beyond the immediate vicinity.
This painting is in fine preservation.
Extreme Unction. — The light is with admirable effect
thrown upon the dying man, the officiating priest, and his
golden-haired, white-vested, kneeling attendant, with his
back to the spectator. Nothing can be more magnificently
done than the head, arms, and hands of the priest ; nor
more fearfuUy indicative of death, than the wasted, livid
body of the sick. The kneeling attendant holds a book
open at the order of the administration of this so-called
sacrament, with portions (in Latin) of the following invo
cation : — " By this unction of holy oil, + and his affectionate
mercy, may God forgive thee, whatsoever sins thou hast
committed by the sight, and by the other senses. Amen."
At the head of the bed are seen the head, neck, and
shoulders of an aged, agonized female ; whose expression
contrasts admirably with that of a female, probably a menial,
having a child in her arms, and looking on this painful

294 HISTORY OF
scene with perfect indifference. The attitude and general
expression of a young woman weeping at the foot of the
bed, are excellent There are a sameness and an un-
impressiveness of action, in an aged man and two young
females, on the opposite side of the bed; and the bright
blue and red colours of the garments do not harmonize
with the rest of the picture ; which is, however, in high
preservation. " If any shall say, that extreme unction is not truly and pro
perly a sacrament instituted by our Lord Christ, and declared by
the blessed apostle James ; but only a rite received from the
Fathers, or a human invention ; let him be accursed." (Council of
Trent, Extreme Unction, Canon I.)
Orders. — Christ delivering the keys of the kingdom of
heaven to Peter. The group of Christ and his disciples
occupies the whole of the foreground. Christ, with the
forefinger of his left hand, points to heaven; while, with
the other, he delivers the keys to Peter ; the eager expres
sion of whose countenance, the clutch (no other word better
expresses the action) of the left hand on one key, and the
earnest reaching forward of the right for the second, which
has not left the Saviour's hand, admirably mark the impe
tuosity of his natural disposition. Behind Christ, and on
the margin of a stream, a disciple is seen reading. To the
right are four more, of whom two are young. Next to them
is another kneeling, with his arms folded reverentially on
his breast. The fifth and last of another group has the face
in deep shadow, with a villanous expression of counte
nance : (" One of you is a devil.") The colours of the
garments, deep red and brown, prevail with unpleasing
effect. The background, mountainous, with groups of
trees, is rather dark, as if the ground had come through
with cleaning. The action of the Saviour, Peter, and an-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 295
other disciple kneeling, is magnificently conceived. The
other figures are some in theatrical, some in constrained
attitudes. " Since it is clear by the testimony of Scripture, apostolical
tradition, and the unanimous consent of the Fathers, that grace
is conferred by holy ordination, which is accomplished by words
and outward signs ; no one ought to doubt that ordination is truly
and properly one of the seven sacraments of holy church," &c.
(Council of Trent, Session XXIIL, A.D. 1563, chap. 3.)
Matrimony. — A dove is descending upon an aged bishop,
who bends over a couple kneeling before him, in the act of
joining their hands. The bridegroom holds a wand tipped
with white flowers, and expresses in his countenance a
joyous affection, subdued with heedful reverence ; whilst .
the bride, youthful, lovely, and retiring, shows a con
formity of sentiment and affection. The head of the bishop
is highly intellectual, impressive, and paternal. To the left,
a mother with her child, and another matron, are looking
on, as if viewing the present realisation in others, of an
event which is to them a matter of past experience. On
the right, a young man is addressing a female, with an ex
pression that denotes anticipation of a similar union. The
two figures behind the bride, of an aged female and an old
man, are strongly indicative of the interested relationship of
the parties. This is a capital picture — I had almost said,
the very best of the series — Baptism and Extreme Unction
following in successive order of preference. The grouping
is excellent ; colouring warm and glowing ; and the whole
painting in high preservation.
" If any shall say, that matrimony is not truly and properly
one of the seven sacraments of the Gospel, ordained by Christ
himself; but that it is a human invention in the Church, and does
not confer grace ; let him be accursed." (Council of Trent, Matri
mony, Canon I.)

296 HISTORY OF
John baptizing Christ. — The action of the two principal
figures, of a female kneeling beside, and another behind
Christ, is beautifully expressive. The water, showing the
shadows of portions of the figures, is exquisitely transpa
rent. The action of the other figures, though greatly
diversified, is rather theatrical. I must, however, except
from this disparagement of attitudes, an aged man in the
centre foreground, with one hand uplifted towards a dark
mass of clouds, — which appears suddenly to have covered a
portion of a serenely blue sky, — as if drawing attention to the
descending dove, and the voice from heaven — " This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
A few general remarks, which could not be introduced
in the notices of these pictures, may be acceptable. Not
withstanding the masterly drawing, the magnificent con
ceptions of his subject in each of these pictures ; the careful
execution ; the freshness, brightness, and clearness of the
colouring in every part (except in portions of the Eucharist,
and the background of Confirmation) ; there are sometimes a
coldness and uniformity in the heads, imputable to the prac
tice of this master in drawing them after antique models,
which considerably weaken the interest The harmony,
too, of the picture, is often broken by the glaring blue and
red draperies ; which, in the magnificent landscapes of
Baptism, Ordination, and John baptizing Christ, have cer
tainly an unpleasing effect. All this may be said, and yet
with perfect truth it can be added, that such a series of
paintings has, perhaps, never been equalled, certainly not
surpassed, by any master of any age. The Cartoons of
Raffaele, being painted in a peculiar style, for a particular
purpose, (as designs for tapestry,) cannot, with justice to
these extraordinary works, be compared with finished paint
ings. The six Sacraments, and John baptizing Christ, are
all of one size ; on canvas ; four feet, by about three feet
six inches.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 297
Nicolo Poussin, a celebrated French historical painter, was
horn at Andily, in Normandy, in 1594 ; and received his first
instructions in the art from Ferdinand Elle, a portrait painter ;
and subsequently, for a short period, he studied under L'Alle-
mant. But, eager to obtain better instruction than these artists
were able to give him, he went to Rome in 1622, and applied
himself most diligently to the study of works by the best masters
in painting, and of ancient sculpture. He copied several of the
works of Titian, which for a time improved his style of colour
ing ; and also attentively observed the excellencies of Raffaele
and Domenichino ; from whose works, assisted by his taste for
the antique, he imbibed that correct style of design, and that
truth of expression, which animate and adorn all his composi
tions. The first subjects he painted were bacchanalians, satyrs,
and nymphs, which he introduced in his landscapes, the subjects
being principaUy taken from Ovid ; and he enriched his designs
with elegant buildings, which he designed after those magnificent
edifices which are in Rome and its neighbourhood. But after
wards, his subjects were sometimes taken from sacred history,
and often from the Greek and Roman ; in which he always ob
served the costume strictly, with an equal degree of judgment
and learning. He now gave himself up to an enthusiastic admi
ration of Raffaele and the antique, altered his tone of colour
entirely, and lost all that warmth in his carnations, which appeared
in his first period, when studying the works of Titian. His in
vention was as happy as it was lively, and he designed with spirit
and correctness ; though he was not always successful in the dispo
sition of his figures, which too often were distributed in the same
line, from not having sufficiently studied chiaroscuro. His style
is based in some degree on a confusion of the capabilities of
sculpture and painting : statuesque forms, fine drawing, and the
composition of a bas-reUef clothed in unpleasing colour, though
not wholly satisfactory to the eye, still combine to produce con
siderable effect ; an effect, however, of a limited kind, analogous
to that resulting from the classical correctness of Racine's trage
dies. Besides the two original sets of the Seven Sacraments,
Poussin painted some other capital historical pictures ; of which
may be mentioned, " Herod's Cruelty ;" " The Last Supper," at
St. Germain's ; " The Annunciation," and " The Flight into
Egypt," at Naples ; and " Germanicus dying." Poussin confined
himself to easel pictures, for which he had a perpetual demand ;

298 HISTORY OF
and his method was to fix the price expected for each on the back
of the picture, which was readily paid. He died in 1665, aged
seventy-one. Returning into the grand corridor, a door on the right
conducts us into a suite of apartments, called the

CHINESE ROOMS,
each of which is lighted by two lofty windows, from which
there is a view of Woolsthorpe, and a portion of the same
landscape as was observed in the green room. The Sitting
Room, though of unusual shape, is a very agreeable apart
ment. Its length is 29 feet, and its breadth, to the extreme
verge of the circular side, is 22 feet On this side of the
room are folding doors, with japanned panels of genuine
Chinese workmanship ; foliage, flowers, peacocks, and other
birds, being bronzed on a black ground, in the slight rehef
peculiar to the Chinese. The character of the room is
preserved in the paper, in the covers of the chairs, couches,
&c, which are adorned with flowers worked in coloured
silks, on a bright yellow ground. A cabinet with marble
slab contains various articles of china. A table panelled
in the ledges is decorated with flowers painted on china.
A side table has a semicircular slab of alabaster, inlaid with
flowers and medallions. On this slab are Chinese figures,
in ivory, &c, of genuine Chinese workmanship ; and an
apparently original Chinese tea or coffee pot, with tap:
this latter is a great curiosity. There are two semicircular
paintings in water colours, of considerable merit, which
were probably used formerly as fans. The ceiling of this
room is coved, and encircled by a light cornice of leaves,
partly gilded, which has a very pleasing effect.
It was in this room that the portrait of the late Duchess,

BELVOIR CASTLE. 299
by Sanders, was painted ; though the artist has certainly,
in his background, (with a licence allowable, I suppose, in
his art,) given a larger and more vivid representation of the
exterior of the Elizabeth Saloon, than can be observed from
any point in this room.

THE BED-ROOM
of this suite of apartments is 20 feet 6 inches, by 17 feet;
and contains a wardrobe with folding doors, of similar
workmanship to those mentioned in the sitting room. A
great degree of appropriate elegance is given to this room
by the decorations of the walls. They are covered with
panels of silk, on which are painted in brilliant colours,
Chinese figures and landscapes. The framework of the
panels, or the alternate compartments, is formed of stripes
of fluted silk. The ceiling and cornice of the room are
similar to the last

THE DRESSING ROOM
is of the same size with the bed-room, with similar ceiling
and cornice, but not gilded ; and similar folding doors, of
Chinese character and workmanship. It contains a cano
pied couch, with pink silk furniture. Over the fire-place is
the private print by Cousins, from the painting by Sanders,
of the late Duchess. There are also two heads ; one of
" Mrs. Boughton," and the other of " Mrs. Dashwood ;" and
a pair of semicircular paintings in water colours, companions
to those noticed in the sitting room.
The gallery at the end of the grand corridor, which I

300 HISTORY OF
have already noticed as the most elaborate specimen of
English architecture in this part of the Castle, communi
cates on the right with the

ELIZABETH SALOON.
After the Castle had been rebuilt, it was the wish of the
late Duchess, that the internal decorations of this room
should be completed before those of the other principal
rooms. The style determined upon was the gorgeous
fashion of Louis Quatorze ; and it fortunately happened
that genuine specimens of this style could be obtained, by
purchase, from a chateau of Madame de Maintenon. The
arrangement and superintendence of the decorations were
intrusted to Matthew Wyatt ; who also painted the ceiling,
and sculptured the statue of the Duchess, which we observe
immediately on entering. It is a beautifuUy imagined and
well proportioned room ; the dimensions being 55 feet in
length, 30 feet 6 inches in breadth, and 20 feet 10 inches
in height.
The effect of the statue of the Duchess, on entering, is
startling, almost painfully so ; yet it would be difficult, if
not impossible, to determine upon a more appropriate posi
tion. She is represented in simple drapery, with sandals,
and placed before a magnificent pier glass in one of the
panels of the wliole height of the room. And we cannot
help considering this statue to be an appropriate memorial,
of a high order of excellence in conception and execution,
of the cultivated taste which imagined and planned so
many superb designs, and especiaUy this splendid and
magnificent saloon.
The ceiling is divided into one circular and three semi
circular compartments, the former occupying the space

BELVOTR CASTLE. 301
over the bay. In the compartment over the statue of the
Duchess, Jupiter is represented with the eagle and thunder
bolts, despatching Mercury on a mission. The head of
Jupiter is an admirable likeness of the late Duke of York.
Over the fire-place on the right hand, there is a group of
heathen celestials : — Jupiter and Juno, in a reclining pos
ture, with their mythological insignia (the eagle holding
the thunderbolts, and the peacock in his pride) ; Mercury
has his arm round Venus, who, with extended arms, is re
ceiving a flying Cupid ; behind her are two children, and
lo, as a white cow, in a recumbent posture. The final
catastrophe, consequent upon the jealousy of Juno, of the
amours of Jupiter with lo, is represented in the circular
compartment of the bay. Juno, in her chariot, attended
by two peacocks, one in his pride, is giving directions to
Iris, who is taking the eyes out of the head of Argus, —
slain by Mercury, at the command of Jupiter, while watch
ing lo, — and placing them in the peacock's tail. In the
semicircular compartment over the fire-place on the left "
hand, are Jupiter with eagle and thunderbolts, Cupid and
Venus. There is an appropriateness in these paintings,
which does not always belong to similar representations.
The family cognizance — the peacock in his pride — though
forming a subordinate part in the mythological subjects of
the principal compartments, is a sufficiently obvious feature
to perpetuate the not unnatural complacency of the family
in an heraldic bearing, which has always stood foremost in
the estimation of the votaries of chivalry. It was a com
mon circumstance for the adventurous knight, when on the
eve of the performance of deeds of high emprise, to make
his solemn vow before the peacock and the ladies. The
peacock was also held in high estimation in the feasts of
epicures. In ancient times, no great feast was complete,
even in this country, without this bird, which was presented

302 HISTORY OF
by the sewer well cooked, but in all its gorgeous plumage.
There is a beautiful monumental brass in the chancel of
St. Margaret's Church, Lynn, which commemorates a
burgess of that place, who, during his mayoralty, had the
honour of entertaining his sovereign. Round the verge of
the brass, memorials of the civic festivity of the period are
represented, in which the peacock holds a conspicuous
place. Some years ago, a zealous churchwarden was de
sirous of polishing this interesting relic ; and vitriol was
the means intended to be employed. Fortunately an intel
ligent gentleman of the town arrested the process of beauti
fying, by representing to the parties employed, that the
polish could only be obtained by the erasure of the subjects
engraved on the brass.
The intervals between the compartments of the ceiling
are embellished with portraits of the Duke and the late
Duchess, Sir Frederick Trench, Lord George and Lady
Adeliza Manners, Lady Catharine Jermyn, the Marquis of
Granby, and Lord John Manners, in medallions supported
by cherubs, and. encircled with flowers and fruit
This peculiar style of decoration was most strenuously
adopted in the reign of Charles IL, when Verrio, whom
Pope has condemned to an unenviable notoriety, by his
pungent satire —
" Where sprawl the saints of Verrio,"
was the principal painter. This person was employed by
Charles II. at Windsor ; by the Earl of Exeter, at Bur
leigh ; at Chatsworth, by the Earl of Devonshire ; and by
William UL at Hampton Court His most distinguished
successors in this style of decoration were Laguerre and Sir
James Thornhill. The taste for this species of painting has
since much declined.
The Elizabeth Saloon is skirted by a strip of black

BELVOIR CASTLE. 303
marble, on the top of which is a gilded moulding. The
small panels above the skirting are formed of entrochi
marble, within a gilded frame. Above these, a gilded
moulding runs round the room. The rest of the elevation
is covered with large panels, filled with blue satin damask
in gilded frames, alternating with smaller panels, formed
by elaborately carved and gilded mouldings on a French
white ground. In each of the latter is a bracket chandelier
of three lights. The cornice is a gorgeous display, but
something too heavy in its proportions. The two chimney-
pieces are of Italian marble, elaborately carved in the
Louis Quatorze style. The grates are magnificent struc
tures of appropriate decorations, of which the peacock in
his pride is a conspicuous portion. The cleaning and re-
gilding alone of these ornamental affairs, are represented
to have cost a sum, which I can scarcely venture to put
upon paper. The furniture is carved and gilded in the
same style, and covered with blue satin damask, em
broidered with crimson flowers. This magnificent room is
lighted in the evening by the bracket chandehers above-
mentioned, a central chandelier pending from the ceding,
and by four carved and gilded candelabra, on black marble
pedestals, and holding seven burners each. The brilliancy
of the display is considerably enhanced by the gigantic
pier-glass behind the statue of the duchess, and two others,
of rather smaUer proportions, one over each fire-place. I
scarcely know whether my description will be intelhgible to
the reader ; for, though my studies have been of that discur
sive kind as to have included some shght inquiry into most
branches of knowledge, it has so happened that the elegan
cies of the upholsterer's art have not formed one of the sub
jects of inquiry.
There are in this saloon four cabinets of black marble,
ebony and gilded carving, with shallow panels, decorated

304 HISTORY OF
with birds and fruit in Florentine mosaic. In the centre
compartment of one, a group is carved, of the Queen of
Sheba bringing gifts to Solomon. The contents of this
cabinet are various : — articles of china ; a view of Haddon,
engraved on black marble ; a trowel of silver-gilt, and pearl
handle, having engraved upon it the arms and supporters
of England, the coronet of a royal duke (the Duke of York),
with the motto and date—" Deo soli gloria. MDCCC . . ."
This trowel was used by the late Duchess in laying the
foundation stone of York House ; and by the late Duchess
Dowager, as proxy for the Duke of York, in laying the
foundation stone of the Mausoleum.
In the centre compartment of a second cabinet, the
Judgment of Solomon is represented. The interior is a
repository for articles of china ; a Turkish sword, with silver
scabbard and handle ; a scimitar, with silver scabbard, and
handle of wood. There is also a cup of silver gilt, pre
sented to the Duchess by some agricultural association,
for stock raised on her grace's Belvoir farm.
In the centre compartment of the third cabinet, is an
allegorical representation of Fortune as an old man, having
his eyes bandaged, and sitting amidst bags of gold; to
whom all the professions and trades appear to be offering
homage. In this cabinet are preserved a gold cup, and
that very interesting memorial of feudal times, the key of
the Staunton Tower. It is of gold, and of most elegant
workmanship. The wards are formed of the crosses of St.
George and St. Andrew, united on a pedestal. The cap
of dignity, crest, and ducal coronet, combine to form the
handle. There are also various gold boxes, jewellery,
medals, and miniatures.
The centre compartment of the fourth cabinet seems
intended to represent power, wealth, and tyranny. In the
interior, there is an exquisite carving in ivory, of Apollo

BELVOIR CASTLE. 305
and Daphne. He has just overtaken her, as she is being
transformed into a laurel; the fingers and the hair are
shooting into branches and leaves; and Cupid is endea
vouring to arrest the metamorphosis. There are also
in this cabinet an Indian god in silver, and two Indian
daggers. On two side tables are small busts of the Duke
of York and the Duke of Wellington.
Near the bay are the two whole-lengths by Sanders, of
the Duke in his coronation robes, and the Duchess with a
crayon in her hand, as if in the act of sketching. These
admirable portraits were originally intended to be hung in
frames, in the usual manner; and frames of the most costly
description were procured for this purpose, which now
hang untenanted, in the anteroom communicating with the
Duchess's apartments, the chapel, and the private passage.
It was, however, suggested to his Grace, that the portraits
would form most appropriate decorations to the Elizabeth
Saloon, if fixed in frames with pedestals, that would enable
them to be placed on the floor in any position that might be
found convenient. This happy suggestion was adopted.
Near the bay is a casket, with an inscription, which,
while it records its origin and history, renders it an object
of no common interest : — A RECORD OF
DIVERSIFIED TALENT,
OF VIRTUOUS INDUSTRY,
AND OF FACULTIES
ALWAYS ACTIVELY, NEVER USELESSLY EMPLOYED,
THIS CASKET
IS FORMED OF COMPARTMENTS DESIGNED AND PAINTED
Br
ELIZABETH, DUCHESS OF RUTLAND,
IN
THE LATTER DAYS OF HER INVALUABLE LIFE,
WHICH COMMENCED ON THE 15TH NOVEMBER, 1780,
AND ENDED ON THE 29TH NOVEMBER, 1825.
X

306 HISTORY OF
In one of the compartments are — A small miniature of
" Elizabeth, Duchess of Rutland, 1822 ;" also miniatures of
three daughters and two sons ; — a gold snuff-box, " Given
to me by the late King George IV. when Prince of Wales ;
Rutland ;" — a medallion of " Arthur, Duke of Wellington,
modelled by P. Rouw ;" — gold medal, " For the best method
of raising oaks, CI. 5. To her Grace, the Duchess of Rut
land, MDCCCVI. Soe. Ins. London, 1753 ;"— medaUions
of George IV. and the Marquis of Granby ; — a gold snuff
box, with the peacock in his pride, and earl's coronet,
engraved on the hd. In another compartment, there is a
magnificent set of chessmen, carved in ivory. The white
set represents a European assemblage of king and queen,
knights on horseback with spears, bishops in robes and
mitres, pawns with shields and swords. The red set re
presents a Chinese or Indian array. Instead of bishops
are bonzes, with whips of cowhide, pawns with match
locks, &c.
His Grace has in his possession a most valuable coUec-
tion of miniatures, in enamel and water colours, by Sir
Peter Lely, Peter Oliver, Liotard, Cooper, Reynolds,
Zincke, Cosway, Petitot, and others ; which were formerly
preserved in a case, and therefore not accessible, as they
weU deserved to be, to daily observation. They are now
arranged around the saloon, in small glazed panels, at a
convenient height from the floor; and a descriptive list,
authentic as far as it goes, is here presented to the reader.
In the first panel, to the right of the door of entrance
into the saloon — Venus rising out of the sea, in enamel;
Venus dressing, in enamel ; Laura Tarsi, a Grecian lady,
in water colours, by Liotard ; Edward VI. ; and Frances,
eighth Countess of Rutland.
John Stephen Liotard was born at Geneva, in 1702, and
was designed for a merchant. He went to study at Paris in

BELVOIR CASTLE. 307
1725; and in 1738, accompanied the Marquis de Pusieux to
Rome, who was going ambassador to Naples. At Rome, he was
taken notice of by the Earls of Sandwich and Besborough, then
Lord Duncannon, who engaged Liotard to go with them on a
voyage to Constantinople. He painted admirably weU in minia
ture, and finely in enamel, though he seldom practised it. But
he is best known by his works in crayons. His likenesses were
as exact as possible, and too Uke to please those who sat to him :
thus he had great business the first year, and very little the
second. Devoid of imagination, and one would think of me
mory, he could render nothing but what he saw before his eyes.
Freckles, marks of the smaU-pox, every thing found its place ;
not so much from fidelity, as because he could not conceive the
absence of any thing that appeared to him. Hogarth has intro
duced him in several instances, alluding to this want of genius.
Truth prevailed in all his works ; grace in very few, or none.
Nor was there any ease in his outline, but the stiffness of a bust
in all his portraits. The Earls of Sefton and Besborough have
some of his most capital works. At Constantinople he became
acquainted with Lord Edgecumbe and Sir Edward Fawkener,
then our ambassador, who persuaded him to come to England.
On his way, he passed some time at Paris. In his journey to the
Levant, he adopted the eastern habit, and wore it here, with a
long beard. It contributed much to the portraits of himself.
His general designation was " The Turk ;" and the curiosity of
the ladies, who beheved him to be a Turk, procured him many
sitters. After his return, he married a young wife, Maria
Fargues, daughter of a merchant at Amsterdam, and sacrificed
his beard to Hymen. He came again to England in 1772, and
brought a coUection of pictures by different masters, which he
sold by auction ; and some pieces of glass painted by himself,
with surprising effect of Ught and shade ; but a mere curiosity,
as it was necessary to darken the room before they could be seen
to advantage : he affixed too, as usual, extravagant prices to
them. He staid here about two years, as in his former journey.
He has etched some Turkish portraits ; one of the Empress
Queen, and the eldest archduchess, in Turkish habits, and the
heads of the Emperor and Emperess ; as well as his own portrait,
with a long beard. Notwithstanding his defects, he was really a
painter of uncommon merit.
x 2

308 HISTORY OF
In the second panel — Charles, Prince of Wales, " astatis
suae 14;" "Edward, Duke of Somerset, 1560;" Lord
William, and Lady Rachel Russell, in water colours, by
Cooper. Samuel Cooper, born in 1609, owed great part of his merit
to the works of Van Dyck ; and yet may be called an original
genius, as he was the first who gave the strength and freedom of
oil to miniature. Oliver's works are touched and retouched with
such careful fidelity, that you cannot help perceiving they are
nature in the abstract ; Cooper's are so bold, that they seem
perfect nature, only of a less standard. Magnify the former,
they are stiU diminutively conceived : if a glass could expand
Cooper's to the size of Van Dyck's, they would appear to have
been painted for that proportion. Cooper, with much merit, had
two defects. His skiU was confined to a mere head : his drawing,
even of the neck and shoulders, so incorrect and untoward, that
it seems to account for the number of his works unfinished.
Mention is made in Pepys's Diary, 1669, of the price he received
for his works : — " My wife sate to Cooper ; he is a most admi
rable workman, and good company  He hath £30 for his
work ; and the crystal and gold case comes to £8 3s. id. more."
Cooper lived long in France and HoUand ; and dying in London,
May 5, 1672, at the age of sixty- three, was buried in Pancras
Church, where a monument exists to his memory. So very emi
nent is Cooper's name as a miniature painter, that there is no
known coUection in the cabinets of several of the nobility, which
does not pride itself upon containing some of his undoubted
works. In the third panel — " Prince Eugene of Savoy," in water
colours ; " Duchess of Somerset," in enamel, by Zmcke ;
" Richard Wiseman, sergeant surgeon to Chas. H.," 1660,
in water colours, by Cooper ; John, Duke of Marlborough,
in water colours ; John, Marquis of Granby, in water
colours, by Liotard; Lord George Sutton, 1780; and an
other head of a civilian.
Christian Frederic Zincke was born at Dresden, about
1684, and came to England in 1706, where he studied under

BELVOIR CASTLE. 309
Boit, whom at length he not only surpassed, but rivalled Petitot.
For a great number of years, he had as much business as he
could execute ; and when at last he raised his price from twenty
to thirty guineas, it was occasioned by his desire of lessening
his fatigue ; for no man, so superior in his profession, was less
intoxicated with vanity. He was particularly patronised by
George II. and his Queen, Caroline ; and was appointed cabinet
painter to the Prince of Wales. He made a short visit to his
own country in 1737 ; and about 1746, his eyes failing, he retired
from business to South Lambeth, with a second wife, by whom he
had three or four children. After his quitting business, Madame
Pompadour prevailed upon him to copy in enamel a picture of the
King of France, which she sent over on purpose. Zincke died
in March, 1767.
In the fourth panel — Holy Family, in enamel ; Bridget,
Duchess of Rutland, in enamel, by Zincke ; Gabriella
d'Esterre, in water colours, by Petitot; Louis XIV., in
water colours, by Petitot ; Charles, Duke of Somerset,
when a young man, in enamel, by Petitot ; Duchesse dc
la Valhere, in water colours, by Petitot ; Lady and child,
of the Seymour family, 1500.
John Petitot (Peter Bordier), the " inventor of portraits in
enamel," was born at Geneva, in 1607 : his father, a sculptor
and architect, having passed part of his life in Italy, had retired
to that city. The son was designed for a jeweller ; and having
frequent occasion to make use of enamel, he attained such a tone
of colour, that Bordier, who afterwards became his brother-in-
law, conceived, that if Petitot would apply himself to portrait,
he might carry the art to great perfection. Though both wanted
several colours, which they knew not how to prepare for the fire,
their attempts had great success. Petitot executed the heads
and hands ; Bordier, the hair, draperies, and grounds. In this
intercourse of social labour, the two friends set out for Italy.
As painters, the treasures of art were open to them ; as enamel-
lers, they improved too, by frequenting the best chymists of that
country ; but it was in England, that they were so fortunate as
to learn the most choice secrets in the branch to which they had
devoted themselves. Sir Theodore Mayerne, first physician to

310 history of
Charles, and a great chymist, communicated to them the process
of the principal colours which ought to be employed in enamel,
and which surpassed the famous vitrifications of Limoges and
Venice, where the art of enameUing was anciently practised to
a great extent, but was solely applied to goldsmiths' work.
Mayerne introduced Petitot to the king, who knighted him,
and gave him an apartment at Whitehall. None of his EngUsh
portraits are known to be later than 1642. One of these is a
magnificent whole-length of Rachel de Rouvigny, Countess of
Southampton, in the collection of the Duke of Devonshire. An
other, in the same coUection, is a head of the Duke of Bucking
ham, dated 1 640 ; consequently, a copy painted after the duke's
death. After the execution of his royal patron, Petitot retreated
to France, and was introduced by Charles II. to Louis, who re
tained Petitot in his own service, gave him a pension, and lodged
him in the Louvre. In 1651, he married Margaret Cuper.
After the revocation of the edict of Nantes, Petitot, as a zealous
Protestant, requested permission to retire to Geneva. But Louis,
desirous of retaining the celebrated enameUer in his service, em
ployed, but without success, Bossuet to convert him. Petitot,
in 1685, escaped with his wife to Geneva ; and, though now
nearly fourscore, continued his darling profession. His high re
putation procured him the patronage of the King and Queen of
Poland, whose portraits he copied in enamel. He died in 1691,
at the age of fourscore and four, leaving seventeen chUdren,
one of whom, a daughter, was living in 1752. In the cata
logue of the royal collection at Paris, in 1824, are enumerated,
with a particular description, forty-three enameUed portraits by
Petitot. In the fifth panel — A sweet half-length of a boy, in
muslin drapery, with wings, and finger pointed to heaven.
In the sixth panel — A girl, similarly attired and winged.
In the seventh panel — Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester ;
Queen Elizabeth ; a Lady, " anno domini 1572, setatis suae
20 ;" a Gentleman, " setatis suae 24, A. D. 1612."
In the eighth panel — Knee-piece of the late Duchess,
inserting a rose in her belt, by Stewart ; Katharine, first
wife of John, second Duke of Rutland, in water colours ;

BELVOIR CASTLE. 311
John, the first Duke of Rutland, in water colours, by
J. H.; Head of Lord Robert Manners, captain of the Re
solution, from Dance, in water colours, by Cosway; the
late Dowager Duchess of Rutland, 1782, in water colours,
by Cosway.
Richard Cosway was born in the year 1740, at Tiverton, in
Devonshire. His father was master of the public school ; and
the family, originally Flemish, owned considerable property in
the neighbourhood. The connexion of the family with Flanders,
and a taste for works of art, which it seems some of the elder
Cosways possessed, had brought various pictures of the Flemish
school, among the rest, two from the hand of Rubens, to Tiver
ton ; and it is aUeged, that the sight of these awoke a love for
painting in the mind of Richard, which at first met with but
Uttle sympathy at his father's fireside. A judicious appreciation
of dawning talent, on the part of his uncle and a friend, was
eventually the means of his being placed, first under Hudson,
and then under Shipley, who kept a drawing school in the Strand.
He soon acquired great celebrity, and considerable profit from
miniature painting ; in which he had the art of communicating
beauty, which did not exist in the original, and yet preserving a
Ukeness. His affectation in dress, and an expensive establish
ment, procured him a notoriety, of which his brethren took ad
vantage, and gratified their spleen, while they filled their pockets",
by caricaturing him, as the " Maccaroni Miniature Painter."
His expensive absurdities did not, however, interfere with an
assiduous application of his talents ; and his rising reputation
procured him, in 1771, the honour of being elected a Royal
Academician, and the familiar notice of the Prince of Wales,
afterwards George IV. At this period, he married Maria Had-
field, a young lady of talent and beauty, whom he carefully
instructed in his own art ; and with such success, that she was
pointed out as the lady, who had painted some of the most
lovely miniatures in the Royal Academy exhibition. The united
accomplishments of Cosway and his wife procured them the
doubtful advantage of being on intimate terms with several per
sons of rank : in short, as Allan Cunningham (from whose account
this sketch is abridged) says, " all the lions of London came to
their house, to see and be seen." The ill -health of his wife

312 history of
induced him to take her to Flanders, and to Paris. After his
return to England, his sympathy with the French Revolution
lost him the friendship of the Prince of Wales. He died in
July, 1821, aged eighty-one years ; his latter years being passed
in pain, bodily and mental ; a paralytic stroke having deprived
him of the use of his right hand, and with it cut off one chief
source of pleasure, the power of drawing. His execution was
rapid ; he often finished miniatures at three sittings, of half an
hour each. His knowledge of the human figure was equal, or
superior to that of most of his contemporaries ; and he considered
it a beauty in his compositions, that they resembled more the
deep sober hue of ItaUan painting, than the gaudy glow of that
of England.
In the ninth panel — The present Duke (knee-piece);
Lady Grace Manners, in water colours, by Cooper ; John,
the eighth Earl of Rutland, 1656, by Cooper; John, Mar
quis of Granby, in enamel, by Liotard; Bridget, third
Duchess of Rutland, in enamel, by Zincke.
In the tenth panel — Adoration of the Shepherds, in oiL
upon stone ; the Judgment of Paris, in enamel ; Charles,
Duke of Somerset, in enamel, by Petitot ; another, dated
1656, by J. Hoskins; Head of a Lady, set in tortoise-
shell. Of John Hoskins, an eminent painter of portraits in minia
ture, very little is known. He was patronised by Charles I.,
whose portrait, as well as those of the Queen and most of the
court, he painted. Charles had nine of Hoskins's miniatures, his
best works, some of which were copies from Holbein and Van
Dyck. At Burleigh is a portrait by this master, of David Cecil,
son of John, fourth Earl of Exeter, by Frances, daughter of the
Earl of Rutland : it is dated 1644. The works of Hoskins have
generally the initials " I. H." In the heads painted by Hoskins,
there is a great character of nature and truth ; but the carna
tions want variety of tints, and appear too much of a brick colour.
He had the merit of forming two excellent scholars, Alexander
and Samuel Cooper, the latter of whom became much more
eminent. Hoskins was buried in the church of Covent-garden,
Feb. 22, 1664.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 313
In the eleventh panel, is a sweet miniature of two
Children. In the twelfth panel — A child ; a Countess of Rutland ;
the second Lord Granby of the present generation, as an
infant, born Aug. 20, 1813.
In the thirteenth panel — The present Duke, as a child,
from Reynolds ; Lord Robert Manners ; William Herbert,
Earl of Pembroke, by Ohver ; Mary Isabella, Duchess of
Rutland; Lady Frances Cecil, Countess of Cumberland,
by John Hoskins.
Peter Oliver, the son and disciple of Isaac, his father, a
successful painter of portraits in miniature, of the most distin
guished personages of his time, was born in 1601 ; and, though
so young at the time of his father's death, in 1617, he had so well
profited by his instruction and example, that he attained a degree
of perfection in miniature portrait painting, indisputably superior
to his father, or to any of his contemporaries, especiaUy as he
did not confine his subjects to a head only. He likewise painted
historical pictures, nineteen of which were in the collection of
Charles I. and James II. Seven of these are still preserved in
Queen Caroline's closet at Kensington. There is at Burleigh, the
seat of the Marquis of Exeter, an admirable copy of the Venus
and Adonis by Titian, in water colours, by Peter Oliver, dated
1631 ; and a valuable collection of portraits in miniature, by the
same artist, of the Digby family, purchased by Walpole, and be
queathed, with the other treasures of art at Strawberry-hill, to the
Earl of Waldegrave. Peter Oliver died in 1664, and was buried
with his father, in the Blackfriars.
In the fourteenth panel — The late Duchess Dowager,
when quite a young woman (knee-piece) ; three Children,
two in one miniature, and one singly, daughters of the late
Earl of Carlisle ; two Heads of Ladies.
In the fifteenth panel — A Lady (knee-piece); Henry
Percy, Earl of Northumberland, 1585, a copy by John
Hoskins; one male and two female Heads.
In the sixteenth panel — Cupid with a butterfly (Psyche).

314 history of
The door opposite the entrance to the Elizabeth Saloon
communicates with the

GRAND DINING ROOM,
a magnificent apartment, occupying the space (with the
exception of the short portion of the gaUery at this end of
the corridor) from the Elizabeth Saloon to the north-east
tower. It is 55 feet long, 31 feet wide, and 19 feet high.
If there is a fault in its proportions, it is, that there is
scarcely sufficient height; a deficiency that is the more
observable, from the circumstance of the ceiling being
formed of deep panels and ribs, the former being filled
with flowers of various character, in high relief. Notwith
standing its great length and breadth, comfort appears well
amalgamated with magnificence. Thirty persons are the
ordinary number seated at the table ; but there is evidently
sufficient space for an elongation of the tables, so as to
accommodate from ten to twenty more. It is lighted by
four spacious windows, with an aspect towards the stables
at the bottom of the hiU : which stables, by the way, will
in a few years' time be invisible from the Castle, his Grace
having ordered a plantation on the lowest terrace, as a
screen. At each end of the room there is a shaUow recess
with circular arch, bounded by broad pilasters of Derby
shire marble, and filled with plate glass, from the ceiling to
the slab of the sideboard placed in it. Three sinular re
cesses, with sideboards, are on that side of the room, which
faces the windows. On this side are also two fire-places,
with chimney-pieces of statuary marble, sculptured in an
appropriate manner, and in the first style of the art The
frieze is decorated with two thyrsi meeting in a hori
zontal direction on a bowl. The supporters on each side
are Egyptian Bacchi. Between the windows are deep

BELVOIR CASTLE. 315
niches, the soffits of the arches of which are formed of
large gilded shells. Lamps, with columns and pedestals,
are placed in these niches. In the front of the centre
niche, is a magnificent marble side-table for a punch-bowl,
covered in appearance with a table napkin, the folds of
which are so accurately represented in the marble, as to
require a close inspection to convince the observer of the
solidity of the material. The sides are decorated with
flowers and fruit, in Florentine mosaic. This is a splendid
specimen of the skiU of the artist, Matthew Wyatt. When
it was first placed in the dining room, some fears were
entertained, that its enormous weight (between two and
three tons) would render additional support to the floor
necessary ; which is consequently underpropped in this par
ticular part, and in such a manner, that the capability of
the floor to sustain the weight would be amply tested.
Experience has proved that no such additional security
was required.
Passing through a small anteroom, which is accessible to
the domestics of the Castle by a staircase contained in a
species of interior tower, we enter a room, which has re
ceived the denomination of the

HUNTERS' DINING ROOM,
from its appropriation to small parties of this class, who,
after their laborious amusement, are desirous of the comfort
without the state of a dinner party. Its dimensions are
20 feet by 17 ; and, with the exception of some first-rate
pictures, nothing in the shape of decoration has been
attempted. Over the fire-place is a whole-length portrait
of the present Duke, when a young man. The face is
very pleasing, and the action less studied than usual. The

316 HISTORY OF
sky and the background are rather dark and indistinct ; but
I would not be understood as giving any positive opinion,
as the picture hangs in an unfavourable light I believe
it was painted by Hoppner.
Near the above is a head of " Eliz- wife of Charles Noel,
4th Duke of Beaufort, baroness of Bottetourt," by Sir J.
Reynolds. At the bottom of the picture are the foUowing
lines : —
" Whatever adorned this dome, thy love bestowed ;
But, more than wealth or birth — thy precepts pure,
And more than precepts — thy Example, gave.

" Accept this tribute of thy daughter's love.
" M. J. Rutland."
" Written by Thos. Bowdler esq."
Head of the Duke of Beaufort, by Sir J. Reynolds.
Head of another Duchess of Beaufort, over the door.
Duchess of Somerset (knee-piece).
Head of a Man.
Girl and Jay. Peters. The subject was suggested by
Sir John Thoroton. It is a pleasing example of the artist's
style. There are much simphcity and nature in the expres
sion of the head, and in the attitude of the girl.
Sea-piece. Marlow. A large oval picture. £30. CaUed
in a manuscript catalogue, " Fresh breeze, off Flushin°\"
On an isolated portion of a rugged coast, is seen a fortifi
cation, and smaU vessels sailing in different distances. In
the middle foreground, a fisherman is leaning on his boat,
which lies high and dry on the shore. Behind him, to the
right, are a man, woman, and boy. There is much natural
ease in the figures ; the sea, agitated by a fresh breeze, has
a peculiarly liquid character ; and a wild sky harmonizes
with the whole.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 317
Large Sea-piece — Dutch Admiral's Flag. Van de Velde.
Besides the admiral's ship, another large ship is seen burn
ing. This picture, as well as most of the pictures in this
room, is hung in a bad light The room itself is, indeed,
Ul calculated for good pictures.
Death of Lord Robert Manners. Stothard. A small pic
ture. £30. The heads, grouping, action, and colouring,
are admirable. From some unaccountable cause, this pic
ture has suffered more than any other in the Castle. The
colouring is slightly faded, but cracked all over in the most
minute manner.
Of the " gifted Stothard," as Dr. Waagen caUs him, various
opinions have been formed. One writer laments, that the Raf-
faelesque purity of Stothard's early designs was afterwards ex
changed for the prettinesses of Watteau. Others do not admit
of this exclusive change of style. And, perhaps, a more just
appreciation of his talents cannot be found in any author, than
in Dr. Waagen's " Art and Artists in England :" — " Amongst
aU the EngUsh painters, none perhaps has so great a power of
invention as Stothard. His versatile talent has successfully made
essays in the domains of history, of fancy and poetry, of humour,
and lastly, even in domestic scenes in the taste of Watteau. To
this may be added, much feeling for graceful movements, and
cheerful, bright colouring." Mr. Rogers has pictures by this artist
in almost aU his varied styles. (Vol. II. pp. 133, 134.) The
grand staircase at Burleigh is painted by Stothard, with a degree
of boldness and strength, that clearly evince the hand of a supe
rior master.
Returning through the grand dining room into the gallery
of the grand corridor, a door at the end admits us into the
picture gaUery, at the opposite end to that by which we
entered from the grand staircase. Proceeding straight
across, we enter, by another door, the Sitting Room of a
suite of apartments called the

318 HISTORY OF

KING'S ROOMS,
from their being appropriated to the use of George IV.
when he visited Belvoir as Prince Regent. The prospect
from these rooms is by far the least pleasing of any that
may be observed from the Castle. The view is limited
by the north-east and north-west towers on each side ; and
nothing of landscape can be observed, except in a straight
forward direction over the Vale of Belvoir ; which, from its
flatness, and the absence of wood and water, is but a dreary
prospect. It is thought, that his Grace has some intention
of converting this suite of rooms into a library. WMle,
as a matter of taste, we might lament in this change, the
absence of ancient English architecture, which, with the
exception of the roof, is so strikingly appropriate in the
present library, a great advantage would be gained in the
situation. The grand staircase, the regent's and picture
galleries, and (if the alteration is carried into effect) the
library, seem to form an architectural grouping, most
apposite, as far as regards ready communication ; and yet
the library would be sufficiently isolated, as to possess an
abstractedness peculiarly appropriate to its designation.
But our present object is to describe this suite of apart
ments as they are now apphed, viz. as state apartments for
the accommodation of the most distinguished visitor.

THE SITTING ROOM
is 24 feet 6 inches, by 20 feet 9 inches ; lighted by two
windows, as are the two others. The chandeher is pendent
from the centre of the ceiling. The principal feature in
the furniture is a table of French manufacture, erroneously

BELVOIR CASTLE. 319
supposed to have been made for Buonaparte. It is elabo
rately inlaid with figures gilded and plated. The rest of
the furniture is of massive mahogany, covered with topaz-
coloured damask. There are some cabinets inlaid with
paintings on china by the late Duchess. The papering of
the room has a cheerful appearance, consisting of trees,
birds, flowers, and vases, on a green ground.

THE BED-ROOM
is of the same length, but scarcely so wide as the sitting
room. The bed is handsome, consisting of elaborately
carved mahogany pdlars, with furniture of damask, of the
same colour with that in the sitting room.
The Dressing Room, 21 feet by 17 feet 9 inches, con
tains a couch with satin damask canopy, en suite with that
formerly mentioned.

We have now, with the exception of the private apart
ments, taken a complete survey of the principal story, or
that portion of the Castle which is usuaUy shewn to visitors.
It is not the ordinary custom to allow access to the first
and basement stories, beyond the guard-room and gallery.
As, however, a description of the Castle would be incom
plete without some notice of these portions, which contain
much that is interesting ; and as, through the kindness of
his Grace, I had ample opportunities of observing their
most remarkable features, I shall put upon record the result
of my observations ; commencing in the northern angle,
which contains the Housekeeper's suite of apartments, ap
proached from the guard-room gallery, in one direction,

320 HISTORY OF
and from private apartments, by a passage, in another ; —
and a very important part of the Castle it is, since all the
arrangements for the princely hospitality maintained by his
Grace, during the winter season, originate in this angle of
the Castle. But my notices will necessarily be more brief
than they have hitherto been ; partly because the subject
itself does not admit of extended remarks, and partly be
cause I must confess my inability to describe in proper
terms matters of great domestic importance, but appreciable
only by those immediately interested in them.

THE HOUSEKEEPER'S APARTMENTS,
besides great appropriateness to the purpose for which they
are destined, have an air of considerable comfort about them.
Of the various dinner services under the charge and direc
tion of the housekeeper, some have been noticed in the
account of the visit of the Queen Dowager to Belvoir.
There is one service, which is estimated next in importance
and value to the one which was presented to his Grace by
the late Duchess, shortly before her death, and intended
as a birthday gift. It is called the Hunting Service. Each
piece contains a view of Belvoir Castle, from points of
view as varied as the number of pieces; or portraits of
distinguished individuals who are, or have been, members
of the Belvoir Hunt. I recognised the portraits of his
Grace and brothers, and of other gentlemen, whose names
I do not feel at liberty to mention, as some of them are
placed in ludicrous positions, consequent upon the casu
alties by flood and field. They are admirably painted, and
good likenesses, by Sir John Paul, by whom they were
presented to his Grace. I was amused at discovering not

BELVOIR CASTLE. 321
only the rigid care with which they are preserved, but the
especial favour, and that not of frequent occurrence, which
his Grace's visitors are taught to consider their permitted
use. It would appear, that when it is the pleasure of the
very respectable ruler of these domains, to give an unusual
gratification to the guests in the Castle, the hunting ser
vice is sent to the table, to the pleasing aid of their diges
tive powers, if harmless mirth be considered as available
to this purpose. But this service deserves the care devoted
to it, the several pieces being valuable as works of art ; and
though so seldom used, many of them have already suffered
considerable injury.
Moving straight forward from the housekeeper's apart
ments, we observe on the right the staircase to the grand
corridor; and on the left, a passage which communicates
with a suite of apartments, called the Duke of WeUington's,
being usually appropriated to the use of his grace, when on
a visit to the Castle. In this passage are portraits of the
foUowing distinguished characters, friends and companions
in arms, during the Seven Years' War : —
Marquis of Granby, over the door communicating with
the WeUington apartments.
Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick, 1759.
Prince de Lippe Buckbourg, 1759. Before him lies a
" Plan del Belaterundt der stat & citadel otmuster com
mand & direction 1750 ;" and at a distance is represented
the battering of a town.
The Hereditary Prince of Brunswick.

THE WELLINGTON APARTMENTS
occupy, with the ' passage, &c, the whole of this story of
the north-east tower, and are immediately under the Eliza-

322 HISTORY OF
beth Saloon. They are comfortable rooms, plainly but sub
stantially furnished, with mahogany accessories.
The space between the north-east and Staunton towers
is occupied by suites of apartments, which were respectively
appropriated to Lady Elizabeth Drummond, and the late
Duchess Dowager.
We now enter the most ancient portion of the Castle,
viz. the first story of
THE STAUNTON TOWER.
Thoroton, in his History of Nottinghamshire (p. 156),
says — " The Stauntons were ever esteemed to hold of the
lords of Belvoir by Castleguard ;* where Staunton Tower is
yet to be found, sufficiently guarded by the strength of its
own liquor, with which the bottom of it is usually reple
nished." What Thoroton has thus quaintly alluded to, is
still the fact The vault of this interesting part of the Castle
is now divided into bins, which are capable of containing
16,750 bottles. Mr. Douglas, the respectable guardian (to
adapt a phrase of Thoroton's) of this portion of Staunton
Tower, represents it as admirably suited to the purpose
to which it is apphed. The temperature is remarkably
equable ; seldom varying, all the year round, half a degree
from 56°.
There is a tradition in the family, that this cellar is part
of the original Castle, built by Robert de Todeni. Some
years ago, a description of it was sent to fhe celebrated
antiquary, Francis Douce, Esq. His answer, which is pre
served in the Castle, expresses a doubt of the extreme
antiquity ascribed to it ; the writer cautiously reserving any
positive opinion on a subject of which he knew nothing,
except by report. As this point, therefore, can scarcely
* For the nature of this tenure, see page 183.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 323
be said to be decided, the reader is presented with a de
scription from actual observation, and with the author's
own inference as to the antiquity.
The roof is a groined vault, intersected with eight plain
bevelled ribs, springing from the rock, or floor of the cellar.
At the point of intersection is a keystone, on which are
rudely sculptured a monogram of Longobardic character,
a coronet of fleurs-de-lis and leaves intermixed ; sur
rounded by a belt, consisting of a similar monogram and a
rose alternately.
The character of the architecture, and of the rudely
sculptured keystone, is, I believe, the foundation of the
tradition, that it is Norman work, and most probably by
Robert de Todeni. A few simple facts, derived from an
attentive consideration of the subject, will show that this
remote antiquity can by no means be sustained. Nothing
is more deceptive, as regards forming an opinion of the
date of its construction, than the architectural character of
a vault intended to support a heavy superstructure. The
simple principle of the semicircular arch, with groins and
ribs, has prevafled with little variation in this kingdom,
from the time of the Normans to the present day. The
difference between the undercroft of Canterbury cathedral,
built in the time of the Conqueror, or soon after, and the
crypt of St Paul's, founded six hundred years subse
quently, is so slight in the vaulted part, that it would
require a practised eye to detect it. The date of such
structures can often be determined only by some accidental
features, which were known to prevail at any particular
period; such as mouldings, and other ornamental addi
tions, which contribute to the decoration, but not to the
essential character of the vault. There is not in the vault
of Staunton Tower, a single vestige of the kind of decora
tion alluded to, except the keystone ; the ribs are perfectly
y 2

324 HISTORY OF
plain, and the same simplicity appears in other portions of
the vault. With regard to the keystone, the rudeness of its
sculpture is no criterion of its antiquity.
The sculpture of English architecture has not been
always progressive. If the Norman sculpture was rude,
that of the thirteenth century had attained a perfection of
design, and most frequently a gracefulness of execution,
which were not sustained in the examples of a later period.
The monogram or cypher on the keystone of the Staunton
vault, is certainly an M ; of a shape very much approach
ing that of the Longobardic or Saxon character, which
continued to be generally used in this country, tiU the
close of the fourteenth century ; and was then in a great
measure superseded by the old English, or Gothic letter.
But the former were retained as capitals, even to the time
of Henry VIII. ; though in some instances, as in illumi
nated manuscripts, legal deeds, and monumental inscrip
tions, highly ornamented. There are many examples of
this contemporaneous use of the Saxon and Gothic letters.
I will mention one or two, which were in existence a few
years ago. In the stained glass of the east window of
Loddington church, the architectural character of which
is of the latter end of the fourteenth, or the beginning of
the fifteenth century, there are several cyphers of Saxon
character, — one an M, very similar in shape to that on the
keystone of Staunton vault, — with others of Gothic cha
racter. There was an inscription carved on a piece of wood
found behind the wainscot of Stoughton Grange, in the
middle of the last century, with the date, 1491 ; in which
there is the same intermixture of Saxon capitals with
Gothic letters. The M; in this last instance, is also similar
in shape to the cypher on the keystone now under consi
deration. But the most crushing argument against the remote anti-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 325
quity assigned to this vault is, that coronets were not used
by the nobility till the reign of Henry III., or nearly a
hundred and thirty years after the death of Robert de To
deni ; and then, as the distinctive mark of an earl. Coro
nets were not assigned to barons, tiU after the restoration of
Charles II.
The way is now clear before us, to consider which of the
noble possessors of the Belvoir property after this period,
(1216,) was likely to have rebuilt this, the most important
portion of the Castle. It should be remembered, that it
was the general custom of the founder to place the initial
of his name, in some such conspicuous situation as this, —
the keystone of the Staunton vault To none could the
present cypher, and I may add, the coronet, apply, but to
a member of the Manners family ; and there is no record
that any material portion of the Castle was rebuilt till after
the War of the Roses. Soon after 1523, Thomas Man
ners, first Earl of Rutland, is known to have commenced
the rebuilding of the Castle, which had been so wantonly
laid in ruins by Lord Hastings. We have, then, an accumu
lation of probabilities derived from tolerably clear data,
that Thomas Manners, first Earl of Rutland, was the re-
builder of this portion of Staunton Tower, in the early part
of the sixteenth century.
The cellar is 21 feet square-.
The south-east side of this story of the Castle is occupied
by the passage and waiting room to the Family Dining
Room, the Duke's Drawing Room, intervening passage,
and private Study and Bed-room.

THE FAMILY DINING ROOM
is a very cheerful apartment, about 34 feet by 20 feet.
There are a few good pictures : —

326 HISTORY OF
The Last Supper. Albrecht Diirer. Over the marble
slab of the sideboard. This admirable picture was a pur
chase of his Grace the present Duke of Rutland ; and is
the last work of the celebrated master. Turner, the dis
tinguished artist of the present day, declared, that he
considered the view through the window, of our Saviour's
entrance into Jerusalem, worth the whole sum given for
the picture.
Landscape, with two Dogs, Turk and Crab. Stubbs.
These were favourite dogs of his Grace's father.
George Stubbs, a very eminent animal painter, and an asso
ciate of the Royal Academy, was born at Liverpool, in 1724.
At the age of thirty, he visited Rome for professional improve
ment ; and, on his return, settled in London, where he became
one of the first horse-painters of his day. An eminent critic says
of Stubbs — " That his skill in comparative anatomy never sug
gested to him the propriety of style in forms, if it were not
eminently proved by his 'Phaeton with the Horses of the Sun,'
would be evident from all his other figures, which, when human,
are seldom more than the attendants of some animal; whUst the
style of the animals themselves depended entirely on the individual
before him. His tiger, for grandeur, has never been equaUed; his
lions are, to those of Rubens, what jackals are to lions : but none
ever did greater justice to the peculiar structure of that artificial
animal, the race-courser, and to aU the mysteries of turf-tactics ;
though, unfortunately for the artist, they depend more on the
fac-similist's precision, than the painter's spirit." Stubbs, however,
was not only distinguished for correctness, but for a characteristic
spirit in most of his paintings ; and this is particularly remarkable
in the portraits which he draws of the celebrated racers of his time.
A Battle-piece. Unknown. Over the fire-place.
Landscape — Lion devouring Stag. Stubbs.
Beyond the next, or drawing room, is a passage, in
which are —
A Head of the Marquis of Granby.
Game. "A. Cladenberg" marked at the right bottom

BELVOIR CASTLE. 327
corner. This admirable painting was purchased by the
present Duke.
The passage in which are the above paintings, communi
cates with the Duke's private study, bed-room, and dressing
room ; the former affording ample evidence of his business
like habits ; the two latter, of the extreme simplicity of his
desires, as far as his own personal accommodation is con
cerned. There are two portraits in passages on this story, of
which, from the unfavourable light in which they are placed,
it is impossible to give an opinion : —
" Lord Thomas Manners, son of the first Duke of Rut
land;" and
General Sporcken.
The Billiard Room looks into the court-yard, at the
east angle.
The south-west portion of this story is occupied by the
chapel and antechapel, the chaplain's apartments, and bed
rooms for the accommodation of his Grace's brother, and
other distinguished visitors. The chapel has been described,
and in the remainder of this portion of the Castle, there is
nothing else that requires particular remark.
Descending to the basement story, the principal apart
ment is the
STEWARD'S ROOM,
under the Wellington Rooms, and shorter than the Eliza
beth Saloon, by the breadth of a passage only.
Every means has been employed to render this portion
of the Castle secure in its foundations. The vast height of
the north-east tower, and its peculiar locality, rendered
such careful precautions highly necessary. The basement
story, or steward's room, is built over an inverted cone.

328 HISTORY OF
To give the reader some notion of the substantial solidity
of the structure, I would observe, that the splay of the
windows is four feet on the inside, and nearly six feet on
the outside ; the waUs must, therefore, be at least nine feet
thick. It was in this direction, that the greatest strength
was required, from the proximity of this front of the tower
to the edge of the precipitous elevation on which the
Castle is built. The side walls, which are not exposed to a
similar locality, are about half the thickness. The steward's
room is calculated to dine a party of one hundred persons,
in great comfort ; a number which, during the Duke's brief
residence, it not unfrequently contains.
On the north-east side of the Castle are numerous fire
proof bed-rooms, for domestics. On the other sides are the
kitchens, with their various appendages, pantries, offices,
&c. A portion of the west angle is devoted to the Land
Steward's offices ; and of the north-west side, to the Porter's
Lodge, In a work like the present, the interest is necessarily of
a varied kind ; the different portions of which wiU, it is
hoped, meet with acceptance from aU parties, according to
their varied tastes. And though we are now about to ob
serve in some Uttle detail, the less dignified subjects of
kitchens, cellars, pantries, and such accessories of a princely
establishment, perhaps even my refined readers may be re
conciled to a description of such matters, when they are
informed, that Majesty itself was gratified with a survey of
the cellars, kitchens, and offices, which were lighted up for
the occasion; (see p. 156;) and that one of the most dis
tinguished members of Almack's, when ¦with difficulty she
had been persuaded to visit the Lamp-rooms, — a not very
attractive region by anticipation to a courtly lady, — was
beyond measure astonished and gratified at the excellence
of the arrangements, and their entire freedom from any
thing that coidd disgust or annoy.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 329
We will in the first place revert to the cellar in the
Staunton Tower. There is one other relic of antiquity in
this ceUar, of which no certain explanation can be given,
as nothing is known of its history. It is a silver cup, which
was found by Mr. Douglas chained to a stool. It is now
of perfectly plain workmanship, and apparently of consi
derable antiquity; capable of containing about a wine-
quart I am not convinced that it was originally so devoid
of character, but suppose that age and cleaning may have
erased its original enchasements. From the place in which
it was found, I should be inclined to consider it a sort of
standard-cup, the contents of which were inflicted, accord
ing to the serio-comic taste of by-gone days, upon each
individual present at a festive season ; of which we have an
example in the " blessed bear of Bradwardine," described
in Waverley. The Cellar Book is an interesting document, from the
decided proofs it affords, that hospitality, almost regal in
its extent,* is perfectly consistent with great order in the
arrangements, and an accurate knowledge of every article
of expenditure. It contains some admirable rules to be
observed by the usher of the hall ; the objects of which are
to secure good morals, respectful behaviour, and regularity,
among the servants of the Castle, and those of the visitors.
* Through the unsolicited courtesy of Mr. Douglas, I was furnished with a
document, which will give my readers some notion of the extent of the hos
pitality maintained dnring his Grace's residence at the Castle.
Consumption of Wine and Ale, Wax-lights, Sfc. from December, 1839, to
April, 1 840, or about eighteen weeks.
Wine, 200 dozen; Ale, 70 hogsheads ; Wax- lights, 2330; Sperm oil, 630
gallons. Dined at his Grace's table, 1997 persons ; in the steward's room, 2421 ; in
the servants' hall, nursery, and kitchen departments, including comers and
goers, 11,312 persons.
Of loaves of bread there were consumed 3333 ; of meat, 22,963 lbs. exclu
sive of game, which will be mentioned in the descriprion of the kitchen.

330 HISTORY OF
An accurate account is kept in this book, of the wine
and spirits consumed, and for whatever purpose ; which is
examined, and signed by his Grace, weekly. There is an
other cellar for dinner wines, which contains about 6000
bottles. We wiU now vary the subject, by examining the con
tents of the Plate Pantry. The most magnificent, as
well as most interesting portion of the immensely valuable
contents of this room, is
A silver gilt Christening Cup and Basin. The water for
the sacred office of baptism is poured into the cup till it is
full. It then flows out in tiny fountains, from numerous,
and almost imperceptible holes, perforated in every part
of the cup, into the basin. The former is embossed with
figures, animals, and arabesque work. The latter is inlaid
with oval and circular agates. The flow of the water from
the cup into the basin is so regulated, that it continues
tiU it is wanted for the sprinkling of the infant I have
called it an interesting portion of the plate, from its ex
treme singularity, without any reference to its appropri
ateness, or otherwise, to the solemn use to which it is
destined. I was exceedingly struck with the skill and beauty dis
played in the manufacture of the
Marine Service. It was the production of RundeU and
Bridge, sixty years ago; and has received its appellation
from the introduction, in every conceivable form, of fish,
though principally sheU-fish : and in almost every instance,
these peculiar ornamental devices are so placed, as to have
a practical use, either as handles or pedestals. The de
scription of a few of the pieces of this service will give the
reader some idea of its character. The marine centre
piece is a splendid elevation of frosted silver, with the
Rutland arms in the centre. The pedestals consist of sea-

BELVOIR CATTLE. 331
horses, which were added about twenty years ago. The
side-dishes are of an oblong, round, and pincushion shape,
each with four dolphins for supporters. The butter-boats
have marine monsters for handles, beautifully executed, and
stand on dishes bordered with small sheU-fish. The salts
are modelled, some in the shape of lobsters, others in that
of crabs.
There is a Candelabrum, or centre-piece, of great in
trinsic value, which is enhanced by the consideration, that
it is a testimony of respect to Lord Charles Manners, by
his constituents in Cambridgeshire, after twenty-eight years'
faithful representation of their interests in Parhament It
cost £1500, which was raised by subscriptions not exceed
ing £5 from each individual. There are four shields on
the pedestal, one of which is inscribed with a testimony of
respect on the part of the donors to Lord Charles, On the
hollow moulding of the base, are the names of aU the sub
scribers. The column represents the trunk of a tree covered
with rough bark and leaves ; round the bole of which are
figures in ancient costume, Britannia, &c.
Another famUy memorial commemorates the esteem in
which the Duke's father was held by the Irish people,
during his vice-royalty in that kingdom. It is a waiter of
solid gold, formed out of snuff-boxes presented to him by
different municipal bodies in Ireland ; I think, to the num
ber of about twenty. Though converted to a different use,
the origin of this valuable piece of plate is preserved by the
engraving on the surface, of the arms of the respective cor
porations, the duke's arms being in the centre.
Another massive piece of plate deserves notice, from the
name of the illustrious designer. It is a punch-bowl, of
silver, weighing 1907 ounces, manufactured by Child, an
eminent goldsmith, some two hundred years ago, after a
model designed by Benvenuto Cellini. The handles, which

332 H1OT0RY OF
I consider, as well as the arms, to be additions to the
original design, are formed of the Rutland crest The arms
are, Manners with augmentation, impaling Noel ; being the
insignia of John, the ninth Earl, and first Duke.
There are several large and small vases of silver, and
silver gilt, which, on festive occasions, contribute to the
splendour of the dining table ; being ranged down its sides,
alternately with lights. Their history is rather curious.
Though of so valuable a material, and by no means of
ungraceful design, they were accidentally found, several
years ago, thrown by as valueless, in a lumber garret
Being restored to the light, an ingenious domestic in the
plate department has himself frosted appropriate parts, and
pohshed others.
A large silver bottle, or flask, with a stopper attached by
a chain, is inscribed, " The legacy of Lord and Lady
Camden." A cup of silver, with various weU executed figures of
Burmese work, was presented to the Duke, by Lieut Cooke,
a son of his Derbyshire agent
There is a lamp of exquisite workmanship, in frosted
silver of filagree character, which I conceive was intended
for frankincense.
The last of these valuable treasures, for which I can find
space to describe, is
" Arthur, Duke of Wellington," on his Waterloo charger.
The figure and horse are of frosted silver, on a pohshed
pedestal. The head is a capital likeness, for which the
duke sat. This equestrian memorial of the man, whom his
Grace of Rutland especially has delighted to honour in
private society, is intended as a distinguished ornament of
the principal sideboard in the grand dining room.
In the Kitchen Department there is the same econo
mical regularity observed, as was noticed when describing

BELVOIR CASTLE. 333
the wine-cellar. The intelligent clerk of the kitchen
offered me information, again unsolicited on my part, which
affords further illustration of the magnificent hospitality
maintained in the Castle,* and yet the regular control exer
cised over the smaUest expenditure, In the book of this
important officer of the kitchen, is entered in minute detail,
every article of provision required, (except, of course,
household stores,) and the persons from whom they are
bought; these being, for the most part, the Duke's own
tenants. This account is examined and signed weekly by
his Grace.
The roof of the kitchen is vaulted and groined. The
fittings are in every instance the most convenient that could
be conceived for the several purposes to which they are
destined. Of the various larders with which the kitchen
communicates, two in the court-yard, one circular, and the
other angular, are worthy of short notice, from the effectual
manner in which they are ventilated, and protected, not
only from the ingress of insects, but even from the entry
and adhesion of damp. With regard to the ventilation, it is
effected by an underground communication to the north of
each building.
A descent into the Ale Cellars and Lamp-Rooms
wiU finish our survey in the lower regions of the Castle.
The first cellar contains 28 barrels, the largest of which
holds 1300 gaUons. A label is attached to this monster,
* The brief result of a very ample document, kindly given me, is here pre
sented to the reader. It is an account kept during the season mentioned of
his Grace's residence, in portions of the last winter and spring : —
The money value of the meat, poultry, eggs, and every kind of provision
except stores, consumed during this period, amounted to £1329 7s. ll^d.
The quantity of game killed by his Grace and friends, and consumed at
Belvoir Castle alone, was 2589 head; — supposed value, £193 13s. Id.
The total quantity of game killed during the season, over all his Grace's
manors, is thus stated : — 1733 hares ; 987 pheasants ; 2101 partridges ; 23
wild ducks; 1 08 woodcocks ; 135 snipes; 1947 rabbits; 77 6 grouse; 23 black
game ; and 6 teal.

334 HISTORY OF
with the date, " May 16, 1815 ;" being the day on which
the present Marquis of Granby was born, and the barrel
fined. It was tapped on his coming of age. It seems to
have attracted the particular notice of Dr. Dibdin, whose
buoyant description of this portion of the Castle, in his
" Northern Tour," is the more remarkable, as it was scarcely
to be expected from one usually supposed to be
" Intent on thoughts sublime."
Every barrel has a label attached to it, with a temporary
inscription upon it of the maltster's name, and the time
when the ale was brewed.
The second cellar, situated under the north terrace, holds
about 109 hogsheads, in vessels, each containing about 500
gallons. The third is of smaller dimensions, containing
about 84 hogsheads ; and from this last, there is a commu
nication with the smaU-beer ceUar.
These inferior regions of the Castle are remarkable for
the solidity of their construction ; but, though the greatest
possible pains were taken to exclude moisture, damp in
considerable quantities is constantly permeating the vaults.
The Lamp-Rooms are considered to be the most com
plete in their arrangements in the kingdom. The lamps
are fined over cisterns, which receive the unavoidable waste
of oil in the operation. The waste thus coUected is after
wards used in the offices, &c. In the season of his Grace's
residence, about sixteen or seventeen weeks, 400 burners
are required, and about 600 gallons of oil consumed. The
roofs are vaulted and groined, and every part fire-proof.

THE DEMESNE.

1 Women, for foundresses, two seats do own j
Of modern times the glory, one ;
Of ancient, th' other the crown ;
Belvoir and Babylon."*

Such was the lofty panegyric of the author of the Pindaric
Ode on Belvoir Castle, written in 1679; or rather more
than ten years after the rebuilding had been completed by
John, eighth Earl of Rutland. The visitor will have had
an opportunity of testing the good taste of the poet, and
at the same time of forming a comparison between the
present and former Castles, by an examination of the
model in the anteroom to the regent's gallery. My pre
sent object is to accompany him through " The Demesne."
I have in vain endeavoured to find a more appropriate
word to describe the marvellously beautiful territory which
surrounds the Castle. Park it is not, in its essential cha
racter; having neither the ordinary enclosure, nor usual
occupants, of a park. Besides the affectation of the ex
pression, " Ferme Ornee," it is far too limited to compre
hend the character of the Belvoir domain; which does
indeed include an ornamental farm, but a great deal be
sides, of a much more imposing nature. My readers must,
* See page 98.

336 HISTORY OF
then, be content with a descriptive term, which, if it fails
to convey a precise idea of the subject, is not without
authority for the application I have made of it.
The same enthusiastic writer, who has furnished us with
an expressive opinion of the former Castle, has also de
scribed, though in too many words for entire quotation,
the beauties of the gardens as they existed in his time ; and
indeed, with but few alterations, to the time of Nichols;
as may be seen in the two views which he has given of
the Castle, in the second volume of the " History of Lei
cestershire." " We circled round the wondrous hiU, tul we,
Like an enchanted vision, see
The hanging gardens, Nature's paradise ;
Where she doth lavish out her store,
As if, grown prodigally careless, she,
To furnish this, had left the whole world poor."
The author then, in a multitude of words, describes
the fountains and water-works. The foUowing is a se
lection : —
" Rehold — with pleasant fury streams break out,
And wander in meanders round about ;
Calling the soul home in a sweet surprise.
Amazed, we see the sportive streams
In thousand gayful postures move ;
Unbid, with active motion rise,
And, with a new ambition, court the skies ;
In various numbers gently rove,
Dance to the music of the spheres,
Wanton and play their short-Uved date,
Aspire at heaven, but faU in tears,
And imitate the general dance of Fate."
After a digression on the blessings and terrors of the
element of water, the poet gives a somewhat original view

BELVOIR CASTLE. 337
of the aspiring character of the finny race, by way of intro
ducing the fish-ponds : —
" I saw the liquid crystal stor'd
With numbers of the finny race,
That with ambitious eyes did gaze
Upon their kindred, shining in the skies ;
The sportful dolphin and the kingly whale,
The backward crab, and southern fish,
To whom learn'd ages did afford
A mansion in the starry plain."
From this spot, the poet surveys the other essential con
stituents of a first-rate garden of the day : —
" From hence our eyes, with pleasing joys beguil'd,
Do upon various objects rove,
Breeding dehght and love ;
Till a surprising wonder bid them stay :
Statues that did such charms display,
A mixture they appear'd of death and Ufe ;
As though these enemies had been at strife,
Which should the empire sway,
Which most its nature should to them bequeath."
It may appear to some of my readers, that if the object
had been to record the taste of former days in garden de
corations, I might have translated the inflated language of
the poet into common sense prose. But, however inverted
the taste of the poet may appear in an age of more simple
and correct judgment, it is no less a faithful counterpart of
contemporary taste in the matters he describes ; as I think
wiU appear, in the course of the foUowing observations.
Terraces connected by flights of steps, guarded by ba
lustrades, and adorned with statues; fountains and other
ingenious as well as enormously expensive applications of
water-work machinery; straight formal avenues in every
direction, terminated by Grecian temples, statues, obeUsks,

338 HISTORY OF
and grottos ; trees clipped and tortured into every variety
of shape, to force a resemblance to all things animate or
inanimate — men, birds, beasts, and in one instance, a wren's
nest capable of containing a man ; these were the general
features of garden scenery, which prevaUed with progressive
increase in their cumbrous and unnatural character, from
the time of Henry VIII., to the middle of the last century.
The very nomenclature of the art, as recorded in the
memoirs of Evelyn, would be sufficient to terrify an artist
gardener of modern times. An Eden of Evelyn's invention
for the amusement of royal leisure, comprehended " knots,
traylework, parterres, compartments, borders, banks, and
embossments; labyrinths, daedals, cabinets, cradles, close
walks, galleries, pavillions, porticoes, lanthorns, and other
relievos of topiary and horticular architecture ; fountaines,
jettes, cascades, pisceries, rocks, grottoes, cryptas ; mounts,
precipices, and ventiducts ; gazon theatres, artificial echoes,
automate and hydraulic music." The upper garden at
Kensington was long known by the name of the " Siege
of Troy ;'' from the circumstance of the shrubs and trees
having been taught to imitate the fines, angles, bastions,
scarps, and counterscarps of regular fortifications ; to please
WUliam III., whose ideas were aU miHtary. This very
garden was eulogised by Addison in the 477th No. of the
Spectator, though in a previous number he had pointed out
a better way : surely in the latter number, sacrificing cor
rect taste to courtly adulation.
Many ingenious theories have been propounded, to accomit
for this extraordinary counter movement against the simple
as well as beautiful examples offered by nature ; the most
plausible of which shall be noticed. Pride and a desire of
privacy having enclosed with walls the demesnes of royal
and noble persons ; pomp and solitude combined to call for
something that might enrich and enliven the insipid and

BELVOIR CASTLE. 339
unanimated partition. Walpole, to whose Essay on Mo
dern Gardening, I am chiefly indebted for the materials of
this section, mentions as not an uncommon instance, that
after the circumjacent country had been shut out, attempts
were made to recover it, by raising large mounds of earth
to peep over the walls of the garden. It should also be
remembered, that the gardener was a very subordinate per
son ; scarcely above the condition of a common labourer,
even in royal gardens. The architect of the castle, palace,
or mansion, was also the designer of the gardens, and viewed
every thing through an architectural medium : and it may
be observed, that tiU the discovery of, and our extensive
intercourse with, the new world, the indigenous plants and
trees of this country afforded so little variety, as scarcely to
call forth the exercise of gardening as a science. By this
latter observation it is not intended to defend the heavy,
formal style of gardening, which formerly prevailed ; but
to show that gardening, as an art, did not offer the induce
ments to its cultivation, which the desire of perpetuating
foreign plants in this country afterwards did. It thus hap
pened, that nature was subjected to the rule and compasses
of the architect.
The dawn of a better taste is discerned in the Essays on
Gardens by Lord Bacon ; who, though he wished to retain
shorn trees and hedges, proposed winter or evergreen gar
dens, and rude or neglected spots as specimens of wild
nature. " As for the making of knots or figures," says he,
" with divers coloured earths, they be but toys. I do not
hke images cut out in juniper, or other garden stuff, they
are for children." Milton, in his description of the garden
of Eden, paints a landscape wholly different from the
models of his time ; when he describes the crisped brooks
running with mazy error under pendant shades :
z 2

340 HISTORY OF
 " Visiting each plant, and fed
Flowers worthy of Paradise, which not nice art
In beds and curious knots, but Nature boon
Poured forth profuse, on hill, and dale, and plain ;
Both where the morning sun first warmly smote
The open field, and where the unpierced shade
Imbrowned the noon tide bowers. Thus was this place
A happy rural seat of various views."
But neither the philosopher nor the poet were successful
in reforming the national taste of their own generation:
though it is probable, that their hints towards the formation
of a better taste, were not lost upon another age. After
the restoration of Charles II., the principal change effected,
through, be it observed, the influence of French example,
was planting avenues in the royal parks, and radiations
diverging from a centre, in an open champagne : and this
plan had many to adopt it among the nobility, for it was the
subjection of a whole district of country to one grand man
sion. An extensive portion of Grimsthorpe Park, in Lin
colnshire, presents something of an arrangement of this
kind. The reigns of WiUiam and Anne were distinguished
by the peculiarities of what is called the Dutch taste in gar
dening. Large inclosures of wrought iron, with lofty gates
of richly ornamented patterns, which were placed at the
end of avenues leading to the mansion ; hydraulic works,
fountains, and waterfaUs, of some magnitude and enormous
cost, were the principal features of this style. The heavy
expense of the first formation of these latter, and the con
stant demand for supporting them in perfection ; combined
with a conviction of the puerile fancy by which waterworks
were contrived to wet the unwary, not to refresh the spec
tator, were among the causes of the almost universal decay
into which they have fallen. The waterworks at Chats-
worth, made by Monsieur Grille tt, in 1694, are the only
examples remaining in any state of perfection. No exem-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 341
pnfication of any material change of taste occurs, from this
period, till the reign of George II. ; when, under the pa
tronage of Queen Caroline, Bridgeman had an opportunity
of displaying a more chaste style than any of his predecessors.
He banished vegetable sculpture, and introduced wild scenes
and cultivated fields in Richmond Park ; but he still dipt
his aUeys, though he left to their natural growth the central
parts of the masses, through which they were pierced.
The boldest innovation, however, upon ancient style, was
effected after 1716, oh a small scale, by Pope, at Twicken
ham. This garden, of whose beautiful features nothing
now remains, is said to have furnished Kent, {a painter, an
architect, and, by Walpole considered, the father of modern
gardening,) with a model for those he laid out >at Carlton
House. The villas at Chiswick, Esher, and Claremont, are
cited as the best works of this artist
A new application of Kent's style, comprehending the
grounds destined to agriculture, by including them in the
whole scheme, and imperceptibly connecting them with the
more embelUshed portion, was first successfully practised
by Mr. Phillip Southcote, at Wobourne Farm, in Surrey.
Hence the origin of that description of pleasure ground,
which has since received the French designation of ferme
ornee. The most beautiful exemplification of this style
was the Leasowes of Shenstone.
Wright, on a limited scale, succeeded as the director of
public taste. But Launcelot Brown, who, from using the
word "capability" so invariably in his consultations, had
this term applied to him, as a ridiculous distinction from
others of the name, possessed the supreme control over the
art of modern gardening, during the course of nearly half a
century. His self complacency was so great, that on the
formation of an artificial river, in a valley at Blenheim, he
exultingly said, that "the Thames would never forgive

342 HISTORY OF
him." He is described as a consummate mannerist ; but
his reputation and wealth gave him almost exclusive pre
tensions. Clumps and belts were multiplied to a disgusting
monotony, and abounded in every part of the kingdom.
The ancient avenues disappeared, as if before the wand of
a magician ; every vestige of the formal or reformed taste,
was forcibly removed. Whatever approached to a right line
was held in abhorrence.
Considerable opposition was manifested in a controversial
form, to the influence of Brown on public opinion; in
which Mr., afterwards Sir William Chambers, distinguished
himself, as the advocate of the Chinese style of gardening ;
and Price as the powerful supporter of a style, the basis of
which is described in the title of his work — " Essays on the
Picturesque, as compared with the sublime and beautiful,
and on the use of studying pictures for the purpose of im
proving real landscape." Good taste has almost universally
banished the once prevalent Chinese style. Pagodas, and
Chinese bridges, and other garden decorations of a semi-
barbarous nation, were too ungenial to our soil, and alien
from aU our preconceived notions of the sublime and beau
tiful, to retain any very extended hold on public opinion.
On the other hand, the principle of Price, followed out in
the manner which the author intended, materially influent
ced the national taste. His real object was, not to induce
the noble and wealthy to create landscape gardening from
pictures, but by a reference to the taste of the most distin
guished landscape painters to shew, that nature ought to be
the model in both instances.
By slow degrees the soundness of this principle became
generally recognised : and was effectively adopted by a
gentleman of the name of Repton, who, from being an
amateur, began his career as professor of landscape garden
ing, in the latter part of the last century. In the early part

BELVOTR CASTLE. 343
of his professional life, Repton was an avowed defender
and follower of Brown ; but finding public opinion strongly
sympathising with the views of Price, he judiciously sa
crificed his prepossessions to the prevailing taste, and pow
erfully contributed by his beautiful designs, to the firm
establishment of the system of landscape gardening, which
may now be observed in every newly formed domain attach
ed to the mansion of a wealthy proprietor.
I am not acquainted with the name of the artist gardener,
who, during the present century, assisted in the forma
tion of the beautiful demesne of Belvoir Castle : and I feel
less solicitous about this fact, as it is known, that the Duchess
herself, imagined, planned, and superintended the execution
of the designs, which have now ripened into such luxuriant
beauty. It would be impossible to describe in words, the
magnificent series of landscapes which may be observed in
various parts of the demesne. I would even go so far as to
assert, that it would require a combination of the diversified
talents of the three greatest landscape painters the world
ever saw, to do justice to the subject. The grace of Claude,
the depth and simplicity of Poussin, and the wildness of
Salvator Rosa, combined in one individual, could alone
pourtray on canvas, a faithfid character of the Belvoir
scenery. My readers will then scarcely expect, that I
could efficiently describe it in order to their guidance. It
must be seen, to be properly appreciated ; and viewed not
with the hurried incurious eye of a hasty visitor ; but ad
vantage taken of a lengthened pause at every break where
a grotto, or a rustic seat shews, that the noble family has
aheady appreciated every striking point of the landscape.
This is more especially manifest in an avenue extending
in a winding direction towards the west, for nearly two
miles, caUed the Duke's Walk.
Below the slope to the west of the Castle, there is a gar-

344 HISTORY OF
den of some interest, effectually secluded from the view when
inrfhe Castle, and in every other point. This was a favorite
retreat of the Duchess with her young family. A few
memorials of the former ornamental style of gardening, are
here preserved with apposite taste. I would instance the
five statues in granulated stone, representing
Juno, with her peacock, and a bunch of grapes in her left
hand. Ceres, with ears of corn and a sheaf. On the pedestal
of this statue are arms, Rutland impaling, fretty, a canton
ermine. A Female Figure, with a monkey.
Pomona, with flowers and a flower pot.
Winter, in beard, trowsers, hood, and plaid mantle, cring
ing over a firepan.
This last statue exhibits admirable invention, character,
and execution.
A flight of steps with massive balustrade, — a remnant of
the former decorations of the garden, — conducts us to a kind
of wilderness, intersected by narrow footpaths, which lead
to various portions of the demesne, below the now green
terraces. Within a few hundred yards of the above-men
tioned garden, is another still more secluded, and the more
especial favorite of the Duchess. It is in this last, that we
observe the column which, with its inscription and a portion
of the surrounding garden, has been introduced into the
picture of the Duchess, by Hoppner, in the regent's gallery.
The charm of both these gardens consists, not so much in
their artificial embellishments, or the beauty and rarity of
the flowers, as in their situation. The visitor, passing
through narrow avenues of lofty trees, winding about on
the side of the hill, unexpectedly emerges upon a little
cleared spot, traversed by gravel walks, and glowing with
gay flowers. The walks on the side of this hill have some-

BELVOIR CASTLE. 345
thing of a labyrinthal character ; and without a guide, the
stranger must often retrace his steps in vain, to find an
avenue of communication with some longed for spot; a
break in the foliage every now and then disclosing the
magnificent Castle, rising with royal grandeur far above
bim. A path through the plantations conducts with devious
windings to an extensive area, in the centre of which stands
an attractive building, called the Dairy. There is a combi
nation of Norman massiveness in the details, with a lantern
(architectural) like lightness in the whole effect of this
building, which is particularly pleasing. Several paths and
drives in various portions of the demesne, seem to meet
here as a common centre. This building is indeed a beau
tiful object at various distances, and in various directions.
Viewed from the garden gate, which forms the vignette
embeUishment of this volume, it appears the terminal point
of a superb avenue ; and may be supposed to be the lodge
of the demesne. It possesses something of a similar charac
ter, when first seen on approaching the Castle from the
lake. From more open points it might be mistaken for the
mansion of a smaU ornamental farm. I do not think its real
destination would be imagined, if viewed from any position.
Whether this varied character of embellishment was intended
in the choice of a site, and in the architectural features of
the dairy, I am not able to say : but I think it must be
admitted, that the exclusion from the imagination of the
spectator, of its real and more humble use, is in perfect
keeping with the elevated conceptions impressed upon the
mind, by a contemplation of the universally magnificent
features of the Belvoir demesne.
A stranger at the dairy, looking down the avenue to the
lofty Gothic arch, with its crocketted domes, will naturally
be attracted in that direction. If he wishes to give his

346 HISTORY OF
imagination fuU scope, and is determined to admit nothing
which will lower its exalted impressions ; he wul proceed
no further than half way down the avenue, to a cleared
spot, where he wiU not only advantageously observe the dairy
in one direction, and the arch in the other ; but be charmed
with the gracefulness and variety of the foliage of which the
avenue is composed. Something of the enchantment of the
scene is dispelled, if he approaches the arch more closely. Its
proper beauty remains the same : and it is found that the
arch is winged by walls, to which a Gothic keeping has
been imparted. But then he also discovers, that its practical
use is the very simple one of being the means of commu
nication with the kitchen gardens : very exceUent things in
their way, but affording no scope for a poetical imagination.
But our stranger will be in some degree compensated for
his loss of much ideal beauty, if he wfll pass through the
iron gates of the arch, and immediately look through them
at the Castle towering above him. There is nothing ideal in
that view. I was myself so much struck with it, that it was
long before I could determine whether I should not select
it as the very best view of the Castle, for an iUustration
to this volume. The greater breadth, and the more varied
character of the architecture of the north-east aspect, alone
carried the point. There is in the regent's gallery a very
fair representation of the Castle as seen from the garden
gate, by a lady amateur.
We have, tempted by the devious character of the demesne
itself, wandered somewhat out of the regular course observed
in shewing strangers its various attractive features. But I
am supposing, that, with some of my readers, it may not
always be a question of time, when they visit Belvoir. The
passing traveller, if urged by pressing engagements, will do
wisely, to apply for guidance through the demesne. And,
indeed, a visitor for the first time had better follow the same

BELVOIR CASTLE. 347
course. But if he repeat his visit, and who would not if he
could, and leisure be at his command ; let him thread each
mazy path, untutored : committing himself, once in a while,
to an unfettered imagination.
Having arrived at the garden gate, it will be as well to
continue on the road till we approach the stables and offices.
These are the only exceptionable feature in the demesne.
The most inventive faculty of the most successful landscape
gardener could, by no combinations of his art, render them
otherwise than bald and unsightly. They are of earlier date
than the present Castle. We pass them, and soon arrive at
the Belvoir Inn, of whose internal accommodations the
visitor may have occasion to speak, as they deserve, most
favorably. Of its exterior, we may, perhaps, be permitted
to express an opinion, that something more worthy of its
immediate neighbourhood might be imagined. But we have
at present food for more solemn thought. In the dovecot
close near the Inn, is the site of the ancient Priory, where
rest the ashes of the mighty dead : — the founder, three of
the Albinis, and some of the De Roos family ; a Deincourt,
a Staunton, a De Vaux. Traces of the foundations may still
be discerned, on each side of the private rail-road.
A few observations compressed from Nichols, may, now
we are on the spot, perhaps be allowed, which could not be
so conveniently introduced in the early part of the work.
The village of Belvoir was so closely connected with the
Priory, and with the neighbouring township of Woolsthorp,
that it is now not very easy to state any separate history of
either. One fact seems ascertained, that the priory church
of Belvoir was the parochial also. Richard de Staunton,
rector ejusdem ecclesiae, lay near the chapter house wall.
The word ejusdem can refer to no other church than that,
in whose chapter house he lay. Gilbert Suttere and Mar
gery his wife lay at the south point of the high altar of the

348 HISTORY OF
parish church. If these two churches were not the same,
the parish church was at least a part of the priory church.
The repeated mention of the old church would imply, that,
the parochial church was made to serve the Priory ; and was
indeed the ecclesia Sanctce Maries juxta Castellum, which
Robert de Todeni had originally founded.
The place where the founders of religious houses were
most generally deposited, was the chapter house. In that
situation in Belvoir Priory the coffin of Robert de Todeni
was dug up, in 1726, and seen by Dr. Stukely: and twice
again in 1792 ; the last time, June 6, when in the presence
of Messrs. Gough, Peters, Mounsey, Pridden, Charles
Turner, and Nichols, the coffin was again opened, and
found to contain four sculls, and various leg, thigh, arm,
and collar bones, ribs, vertebrae, an os ischion, and others.
The founder's scuU in its recess or niche, was distinguishable
from the rest by the perfect state in which it remained,
wanting only the under jaw, and the teeth of the upper,
and it was thick and sound. The larger tibiae were like
wise his. At his right hand lies a stone coffin, of the same
form, dimensions, and substance, with his, but without
inscription, and when opened, no bones were found in it
The coffin of the founder is of brown stone, six feet and a
half by two feet and a half, tapering to sixteen inches, and
eight inches thick. The ridge down the middle does not
reach to the end by a foot The coffin on the right hand,
of similar materials, and ridged like the other but without
inscription, is that of WiUiam de Albini I., or Brito.
Many ancient leaden coffins were transferred from the
Priory, to Bottesford Church, and are still carefully preser
ved there. The whole body as if wrapt in roUers all toge
ther, (with hands and feet unseparated,) will give a good
idea of one of these coffins.
A laborious tracing of the foundations, combined with a

J Marchant, drl

IJOTTEffiJIOR ©]F TMJE MADSOUEUIM.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 349
knowledge from authentic records of the several parts of the
Priory in which the principal persons were buried, enabled
Nichols to form a plan of the building. According to his
design the Priory consisted of a tower, nave, side aisles, and
choir. On the north side were the cloisters ; in the centre
of which stood the chapter house. The presbytery was an
extension of the choir at the east end, with which it agreed
in breadth. On the south of the presbytery was St. Nich
olas' chapel. In the angle between the south aisle and the
choir was St Osyth's chapel. St. Mary's chapel was by
far the largest ; ranging with the east end of the presbytery,
and extending westward nearly the whole length of the
choir, where it joined the exterior wall of the cloister.
The chapel of St Nicholas was buflt by William Heron,
Prior from 1340 to 1361 : and St. Mary's chapel about the
same time, by the same person.
Leaving these scanty memorials of former days, we again
ascend the hill, in the direction of the Castle, and passing
the entrance to the duke's walk, we arrive at a small door,
recessed in a loose stone waU, on the left On passing
through this door, an entrance is obtained to a road which
leads to the
MAUSOLEUM.
On those melancholy occasions when death has snatched
away a member of the noble family of Belvoir, the door
and a portion of the wall are removed. So effectuaUy
secluded from observation is this last resting place of
mortality, that though there are several bye paths which
lead to its site, the uninformed stranger would, in all pro
bability, pass it repeatedly without being conscious of its
presence. On every side but the avenue by which it is ap
proached, the Mausoleum is fenced by high paling of closely

350 HISTORY OF
set boards ; which are themselves overtopped, in the inside,
by thickly spreading laurels. It is only by application to
the head porter at the Castle, that access can be obtained to
the Mausoleum. After opening a boarded gate, the porter
leaves the visitors at the entrance of the avenue, tiU he has
unclosed the gates of the Mausoleum. The sombre avenue,
with its aged yews and firs, is no inappropriate introduction
to the scene that follows. When the lamented Duchess
selected this as her resting place, it is probable, that it was
recommended to her judgment, by its seclusion, and the
character of the scenery. As soon as the exterior folding
doors are opened, a pair of magnificent brass gates present
themselves, and through them is seen the tomb and sculp
tured representation of the Duchess, as in the act of ascend
ing to the clouds above ! I have observed the effect of this
scene, under almost every variety of atmosphere ; I have
accompanied friends of almost every shade of temperament ;
memory has pondered again and again upon the subject ;
yet, neither from the resources of my own mind, or that of
others, can I obtain words which wiU at aU adequately
describe the impressions made by this scene. It creates a
depth of feeling of which the individual is sufficiently con
scious ; but it seems, at the same time, to paralyse the power
of expressing it. My readers, who have seen it, wiU under
stand what I mean : and those who have not, must be con
tent, till they have, with the following technical description.
It was the especial wish, I believe, of the architects,
and of some of his Grace's friends, that the Mauso
leum should be of marble, and of Grecian architecture.
Fortunately for the principles of good taste, obstacles, almost
insuperable in their nature, prevented the carrying out of
this design. It was eventually decided, that the Norman
style should be adopted, and from models actually in exis
tence in Normandy.

BELVOIR CASTLE. 351
If it be allowed to apply to a building dedicated to the
special purpose of burials only, the general terms of ecclesi
astical architecture, I would describe the Mausoleum as
consisting of a porch, the projection for which is continued
to the same elevation with the rest of the building ; a nave ;
a chancel ; and an angular apsis. The circular arch of the
porch is decorated with mouldings of zig zag character, and
roses of the field; and springs from piers with detached
columns, whose capitals are ornamented with boldly sculp
tured leaves. The elaborate iron work on the doors was
modelled from that on a door in an entrance of beautiful
Norman character, in the south side of Sempringham
church, in Lincolnshire. Over the arch is a corbel table,
consisting of grotesque heads alternately with a dotted
lozenge moulding. Above this is a parapet, with a nebule
corbel table. The roof of the porch is vaulted, and inter
sected with ribs springing from flowered corbels at the four
corners. The porch is separated from the nave by the superb
brass gates before aUuded to ; which are hung in a plain
round arch. On these gates are the cyphers E. R. inter
twined, and a ducal coronet.
The nave is a square, the side of which is 20f feet. The
floor, a mosaic of freestone and black marble, has, in the
centre, the ventilator of the vault beneath. At each angle
are four massive Norman columns with plain bases, and
having capitals foliated in a triple series ; from which spring
a corresponding number of ribs ornamented with zig zag
moulding ; and at the point of intersection, with a boss, on
which are sculptured the Rutland arms. The circular
headed windows of this portion of the Mausoleum, are also
decorated on the face with zig zag mouldings; the sides
and soffits being boldly splayed in the interior. The arch
of entrance to what has been denominated the chancel, is
a remarkably effective specimen of Norman work, in the

352 HISTORY OF
massiveness of its constituent parts, the richness of its deco
rations, and the general breadth of its appearance. The
floor is an area of mosaic, consisting of entrochi and black
marble ; in the centre of which, an oblong portion has been
marked out for the solemn purpose of interment, by a frame
of black marble. The length of the chancel is 11 feet 4
inches ; its breadth within the bases of the piers, 10 feet 6
inches. Within the apsis is the beautiful memorial of the departed
Duchess. A sort of low altar tomb, of statuary marble,
bevelled off at the sides so as to have something of the ap
pearance of a coffin, is decorated with niches, in which are
emblematical figures representing Faith, Hope, and Charity,
Resignation, or self government, Britannia, and Fortune
with a bandage. The Duchess is represented as rising from
the tomb, with expanded arms, and the face elevated to
wards the clouds, in which are seen four cherubs, — the
children who have preceded her to the grave, — one of whom
is holding over her a crown of glory. The group is Ughted
from above, and from the two sides, by windows of glass
stained with ruby, amethyst, topaz, and emerald colours.
This arrangement of the light is judiciously contrived so as
not to be obvious to the visitor, except upon close exami
nation. The sculptor employed on the occasion was Mat
thew Wyatt.
The foundation stone of the Mausoleum was laid by his
royal highness the Duke of York, March 1, 1826. The
plans for the elevation, finally adopted, after much conside
ration, were those sent in by Messrs. Wyatt It was con
secrated by the present Bishop of Lincoln, Nov. 28, 1828;
and a sermon was preached on the occasion, in Knipton
Church, by the chaplain to the bishop, the Rev. Mr., now
Dr. Graham, master of Christ's CoUege, Cambridge. The
bodies of the late Duchess, and of nine others of this noble

BELVOIR CASTLE. 353
family, were removed from the vault at Bottesford, to the
Mausoleum, in the following August. It was then closed
till the autumn of 1829; when the remains of John, the
third Duke, his children, and the celebrated Marquis of
Granby, were removed to it.

Note. It was erroneously stated, p. 304, that the Duchess
Dowager of Rutland acted as proxy for the Duke of York, in
laying the foundation stone.

A A

BOTTESFORD CHURCH.

A work professing to be a history of Belvoir Castle,
would be incomplete without some notice of the church, in
which so many of the iUustrious members of the Belvoir
famUy are interred. Bottesford Church, dedicated to St.
Mary, has, however, merit of its own, which well entitles it
to a somewhat more extended description than has yet been
given in any accessible work on topography. Nichols' Lei
cestershire, in which there is indeed an ample account of
both church and parish, is by far too expensive a work, to
be within the reach of any but the noble and wealthy ; and
its value has been constantly increasing. But even that
great work is defective in one respect ; though from no want
of searching enquiry and indefatigable industry on the part
of its author ; but from disadvantages proper to the period
of its publication. Church architecture, which has now
become a science almost perfect in its details, and capable
of an accuracy of dates truly surprising ; was but little un
derstood tiU within the last very few years. It is, therefore,
by no means a culpable deficiency in the History of Leices
tershire, that but little has been attempted in the way of
a a 2

356 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
ascertaining the date of erection of the several churches de
scribed ; and, that what has been attempted, should be, in
some instances obscure ; in others, erroneous. All that has
been recorded by Nichols, as to the date of the erection of
Bottesford Church, comprehends but a very small portion
of the present fabric ; and is, therefore, calculated to mislead.
The statement of Nichols, in which he partly follows a
writer who visited Bottesford in 1722, is, "It is said the
present chancel was anciently the nave of the parish church ;
which is extremely probable from appearances of ancient
alterations  The north part of the nave of the present
church is ascribed to one of the Rosses; the south, to
Henry MarshaU, bishop of Exeter, who died in 1206." After
an attentive survey, I could not discover in the nave a single
vestige of so early a date. Henry MareschaU Uved at the
period of transition from the Norman to the early English,
when the massive round arch of the former style, and the
acutely pointed arch of the latter, prevaded indiscriminately,
as the leading features of the ecclesiastical architecture of
the period. What portion of the present church may have
been the work of the good bishop, will be noticed in the
description of the chancel.
Bottesford Church consists of a tower, a beautiful and
lofty crocketted spire, a nave, a chancel, two aisles, south
porch, and north and south transepts. The tower stands
out boldly from the body of the church ; and is 87 feet high
from the base to the summit of the embattled parapet It
has double buttresses at the angles, which diminish in six
successive Stages, corresponding with the string courses of
the tower, tiU they disappear below the parapet This
latter is ornamented in the lower part with a moulding, in
the hollow of which are sculptured roses and heads ; and
at the angles, with four square pinnacles pannelled but not

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 357
crocketted. The breadth of the tower at the base is 26 feet
9 inches. An octagonal crocketted spire rises 123 feet higher.
If there be a defect in this beautiful portion of the church,
it is in the disproportionate elevation of the spire, compared
with the height of the tower. In the west side of the latter
is a doorway, bounded on each side by slender buttresses,
which terminate in the string course, immediately above
the apex of the arch ; thus 'forming a square head, in the
spandrils of which are shields, the left sculptured with the
emblems of the crucifixion, and the right, with the arms of
De Roos. Above the doorway is a window of four lights,
with muUions running through the head of the arch in per
pendicular fines, and divided by an embattled transom.
Between the fourth and fifth stages, there are in the four
sides of the tower, windows divided by a single muUion into
two Ughts, and traversed by a plain transom. Above these
are windows of a larger size, but of similar character. My
architectural readers will agree with me, that this portion
could not have been erected at an earlier period than the
latter end of the fourteenth century, and according to my
judgment, somewhat later.
In the tower is a noble peal of six bells, the tenor weigh
ing upwards of 27 cwt; on which are the foUowing in
scriptions :
1. "John Bryant fecit, 1810."
2. " Peace and good neighbourhood."
3. "Ccelorum Christe placeat tibi rex sonus iste, 1615."
4. " In multis annis resonat campana Johannis."
5. "Missi de ccelis habeo nomen Gabrielis, 1612."
6. " The Rev. J. Thoroton, Rector. T. Vincent and T.
Deny, Churchwardens. J. Bryant, Hertford, fecit,
1809."

358 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
The first beU has been recast twice ; and the inscription
was formerly, " Ex dono hons dni Johannis Roos, fili Com-
itis Rutlandiae, 1675." It was recast, with the same inscrip
tion, in 1791. The sixth beU has also been recast three
times. Previous to 1715, the inscription was, "Hsec fit
sanctorum campana in laude bonorum." Upon the defeat
of the rebels in 1715, the bells ringing here for the victory,
the clapper of the fifth bell flew out, and split the great
bell ; it was then recast with the inscription, " Laus domini
nostra mobihtate viget" It was again cracked by the break
ing of its own clapper, and recast by G. Hedderley in 1791,
with this inscription : —
" The fleeting hours I tell : I summons aU to pray ;
I toll the dead man's knell, and hail the festal day."
It would appear from its present inscription, that it has
been again recast. The inscriptions on the fourth and fifth
bells intimate, that the custom of dedicating beUs to some
particular saints, and naming them after their names, con
tinued so late as the seventeenth century.
The ritual for the baptising of beUs may be found in the Roman
Pontificale. Baronius records that Pope John XIII., in 968,
consecrated a very large new cast beU in the Lateran Church,
and gave it the name of John. This is the first instance we meet
with, of what has since been called, the baptising of bells. They
were regarded with much superstitious reverence by our forefa
thers. Each of them was represented to have its peculiar name
and virtues ; and many are said to have retained great affection
for the churches to which they belonged, and where they were
consecrated. When a bell was removed from its original and
favourite situation, it was sometimes supposed to take a nightly
trip to its old place of residence, unless exercised in the evening,
and secured with a chain or rope. The foUowing monkish rhymes
describe the objects, uses, and virtues of bells, according to the
belief of former times :

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 359
En ego campana, nunquam denuntio vana,
Laudo Deum verum, plebam voco, congrego cierum,
Defunctos plango, vivos voco, fulmina frango,
Vox mea, vox vita?, voco vos ad sacra venite.
Sanctos coUaudo, tonitrua fugo, funera claudo,
Funera plango, fulgura frango, sabbatha pango ;
Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, paco cruentos.
The superstitious belief that the ringing of beUs would dispel
storms, as weU as drive away the devil, is accounted for, in the
former instance, by the fact, that aerial percussion being extended
up to the clouds above, is weU known to produce such changes in
their structure, as eventuaUy lead to their dispersion.
In the tower of Bottesford Church are yet the remains of
chimes, which played every third hour. They were never
good, and have long fallen into disuse.
The length of the nave in the interior, exclusive of the
thickness of the piers of the arch of entrance into the chan
cel, is 74 feet 6 inches : its breadth, with the aisles included,
is 58 feet 2 inches : its height, 38 feet The roof is modern,
and dated 1740.
The piers with octagonal bases, shafts, and moulded cap
itals, support arches, above which rises a clere-story, with
eleven windows on each side, divided into three lights by
perpendicular muUions. The corbels of the roof consist of
angels supporting shields, and the Virgin holding what ap
pears to be a scrolL The corbels above the piers and between
the ends of the hood moulding, consist chiefly of grotesque
animals, sculptured with considerable spirit. Above the piers
which flank the south transept, there are represented 1, a
bishop, kneeling on a shield, two keys and a sword in saltire,
argent; on a chief azure, three mitres or; impaling, per
chevron, azure and] argent, a hawk with wings expanded in
chief, with the letter ttl in base : and, 2, a priest in descend
ing attitude. The arms on the right side of the shield,
are evidently those of the see of Exeter in base ; the chief

360 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
is that of the see of Llandaff; and were, with the bishop
kneeling, no doubt intended to commemorate Henry Mar-
eschall, who was bishop of Exeter from 1194 to 1206 ; and
was a great benefactor to his cathedral. If, as is supposed,
he built the south side of the nave of Bottesford Church,
it was certainly not the nave of the present church. The
clere-story windows are of perpendicular character, and I am
inchned to think, contemporaneous in their erection with
the transepts ; which were certainly not built tiU after the
commencement of the fourteenth century.
The south transept is 22 feet 10 inches, by 18 feet 4 in
ches. It is now filled with pews, and I could not discover
any remains of its original destination; but can scarcely
doubt that it was a chantry chapel of which  MareschaU
was chaplain, soon after its erection ; for in one of the clere
story windows, over the transept, there were painted in the
glass, which remained in 1792,
1. A bishop with a crosier crossed, and a book. Under
him, five small figures kneeling at a faldstool, two males
and three females. 2  3. A saint or pope with a
staff. 4. Argent, a beehive, sable.
Under aU, ©rate pvo aiahus . . . iftawsrijaU tajwHant
..... Jfoiiatttw ........ iWarescJhall ......
In an upper compartment is an angel holding a shield,
similar to those sculptured beneath the roof of the nave,
and to one which may be observed in the transept. The
oak roof of the latter is evidently original ; having corbels
of the Virgin as queen of heaven, and an angel with a
shield. The central boss of the roof is carved with a Tudor
rose, surrounded by a wreath of oak leaves aud fruit inter
mixed. The exterior of the south transept presents the foUowing
features. It is lighted by a south window of five lights and
perpendicular muUions, with a pointed arch ; on each side

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 361
of which is a niche with triple canopy ; that at the east
having at the base, a shield with the arms of De Roos.
The pitch of the roof is low, and the gable is terminated by
a cornice, in the square panels of which are quatrefoils filled
with Tudor roses, leaves, and acorns. At the angles of the
transept are double buttresses, surmounted by pannelled and
crocketted pinnacles.
The above architectural details, the ornamental portion
of which are known to be the undoubted characteristics of
the ecclesiastical style prevalent in the fifteenth century,
would seem to settle satisfactorily the date of erection of
the clere-story and the south transept. The arms of the see
of Exeter, even if, as I befieve, they commemorate Henry
MareschaU, were certainly sculptured long after 1206. The
earliest known use of the black letter character, such as is
represented on the shield, was not previous to the beginning
of the fourteenth century : and continued till the reign of
Henry VIH., when it feU into partial disuse.* If we could
ascertain that the chaplain  MareschaU was a descen
dant of the Bishop of Exeter, a very plausible account
might be given of the commemorative shield. But the date
of this portion of the church does not depend upon so simple
a matter, useful as it may be, as corroborative evidence, but, as
above shewn, upon the general character of the architecture.
Above the piers that flank the north transept, and be
tween the ends of the hood moulding, are 1. the arms of
De Roos with the cap of dignity ; and 2. the representation
of some king, in a descending attitude ; very much hke the
portraits of Henry VII. The architectural character and
dimensions of this transept, are similar to those of the south,
except that the arch of the window is four centred, and that
* An early instance of the adoption of the black letter, [appears on the tomb
in Staunton Church, Nottinghamshire, of Sir William de Staunton, who died
in 1326. There is a very interesting series of monumental remains in this
church, belonging to the same family.

362 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
the corbels of the roof both represent the Virgin as the
queen of heaven. There is little doubt that the north tran
sept was used as a chantry chapel.'
Coeval in erection with the transepts and clere-stories, is
the east end of the nave. The corbels of the hood moulding
of this arch represent angels, with the perpendicular em
battled moulding above them. The exterior of the east
end of the nave shews a pannelled parapet, similar to that
on the south transept, and is flanked with octagonal turrets,
with roofs approaching the domical character. The north
turret contains a spiral staircase, affording the means of
communication with the roofs of the chancel and nave :
and, formerly, with the roodloft On the gable of the nave
there are plain indications of the roof of the chancel having
been lowered twice from its original pitch.
The windows of the south aisle are of decorated character,
and the parapet, plain. The date of this portion of the
church is, probably, about 1350. The lateral windows of
the north aisle are of perpendicular character, with square
heads. These were possibly inserted soon after 1500; and
a window with pointed arch and perpendicular muUions at
the west end, a few years earlier.
The font is octagonal, standing on four heavy balusters,
contemporaneous in character with those which support the
tomb of the first Earl of Rutland ; and were probably his
work. The basin itself I should judge to be of the time of
Henry VII. The whole is raised on two steps, with two
smaller ones projecting from the west side. The compart
ments are ornamented with rude sculptures of a vine, an
angel among oak leaves and acorns, a rose, an angel among
apples and tulip-shaped flowers, an angel among apples as
before, a rose, an angel among apples with leaves. On the
foot of the shaft, at the angles, are grotesque heads like
ancient masks.

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 363
The chancel is 60 feet long, and 27 feet wide. There
are evident indications in the north wall of an aisle ; such
as shafts and capitals of columns, and pointed arches, the
spaces between which are now walled up. These, and a
small fragment of tooth moulding, would seem to indicate
a date somewhere in the early part of the thirteenth century,
when it was erected for the parish church. A piscina, of
similar date, may be observed in the south waU, near the
altar. The general architectural appearance of the chancel,
is that of the early part of the sixteenth century ; when it
underwent considerable alterations and repairs, under the
direction of the first Earl of Rutland, for the reception of
the coffins and other monumental remains of his ancestors ;
which he had coUected from Belvoir Priory, and other monas
tic foundations, where they had been originally placed. The
vault on the exterior of the north side of the chancel, was
probably built about the same period.
I have thus with some care ascertained, as far as was
practicable, the dates of the several portions of the church
as they now appear : but my readers may stiU desire a short
classification of these matters.
The piers of the nave were erected about 1350. I am
less confident on this point than on any other.
The tower, spire, clere-story, north and south transepts,
and east end of the nave, in the fifteenth century.
The aisles, in about 1350. The windows of the north
aisle are of later insertion.
Portions of the north and south waUs of the chancel,
about 1200, and probably by Henry MareschaU, bishop of
Exeter; the north window, about 1250: the east window,
at the latter end of the fifteenth, and the south windows,
at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The chancel
was somewhat altered in the repairs which were made at the
latter end of the last century.

364 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.

MONUMENTS.

The first of these in point of antiquity, is a small figure
of speckled marble, about 18 inches high, affixed to the
north wall of the chancel, a little below the altar tomb at
the extreme east This figure is represented in male ar
mour and mantle, with a heater shaped shield on the left
arm, and a sword on the same side. The hands are joined
devotionally, and the head rests on a cushion. The armour
and other peculiarities, especially the diminutive size, the
workmanship, and the materials, combine to prove this a
relic, the very earliest of its kind. Constant tradition has
determined this to be a monumental sculpture of Robert de
Todeni. I doubt whether this extreme antiquity can be
maintained. Effigies in armour first made their appearance
on tombs, towards the close of the twelfth century. There
is better reason for supposing it to be a commemorative em
blem of William de Albini III., who died in 1236 : his
body was buried at the hospital, which he had founded at
Newstead ; and his heart under the wall opposite the high
altar in Belvoir Priory. Gough, in his " Sepulchral Monu
ments," notices and describes this interesting relic, and
concludes ; — " It is not easy to account for several figures
of smaUer proportions than ordinary, which one meets with
in some churches."
The next ancient memorial of the noble family of Bel
voir, is a slab of freestone, about 3 feet long, and 18 inches
broad, let into the north wall of the chancel, immediately
to the west of the vault door, on which is the foUowing in
scription : —

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 365
i§w . met . tor . Stti . mofiti . tie . moos . tWP . corp?
Bepdti". aptOj . ftgrfefcant . tj . ooitt
(a) xiii . mtL . /unit . a.° But . m,0 ©e (b)
\xxx b° co Isasrtia . irna . "ne . moos
tw'.t8tt5.Hoiiti.D(r .moos, facet, ajmti .notolUoctt. tttsta
StatnforD.ohttt.ii'.attno.Kttt.itt.c e e ./°.
In the space marked (a) there is a shield, Ros impaling
Albini : in that marked (b) Ros quarterly witfl Badlesmere,
impaling blank : in that marked (c) Albini impaling Ros.
Recumbent on an altar tomb to the south side of the altar
is a figure in plate and mail armour, with basinet, round
which is an orle of laurel leaves and berries ; and on the
front of which is inscribed fl)C lta?arc. The basinet is
attached to a camail of mail over the hawberk, which
appears below the nebuled skirts of the cuirass. Round the
neck is a coUar of SS, from which depends a fragment of
the George and rose of the order of the garter. The head
of the figure rests on a tilting helmet, crested by a peacock
with the tail at rest, the head and part of the neck of the
bird being broken off. The arms, thighs, legs, knees, and
feet, are covered with jointed plate armour, ornamented at
the joints with lace work. Below the left knee appears the
garter. What remains of the sword on the left, is supported
by a jewelled belt, crossing the body diagonaUy. On the
hilt are the letters iffC. The hands which were closed de
votionally, and part of the arms, are broken off. The feet,
which are pointed at the toes and have rouelle spurs, rest
upon an animal couchant, with long tail : the head is bro
ken off. The front of the tomb is divided into five oblong
compartments, in each of which an angel with flowing hair,
and long drapery, holds an' oblong convex shield : at the
west end are two similar compartments and figures. The
coUar of SS, which was introduced by Henry IV, (1399

366 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
— 1413) being the initial letter of his favourite motto,
" Soverayne," proves, that the person of whom this tomb
is a memorial, could not have flourished earlier than that
reign. The general character of the armour is also of the
same period : and the insignia of the order of the garter
were conferred upon none of the Ros family, before William
de Ros, who was made a knight of that noble order by
Henry IV, in 1411. William de Ros died in 1414, and
was buried in the middle of the Priory choir, at Belvoir ;
whence this monument was removed to Bottesford Church,
by Thomas, first Earl of Rutland, at the suppression of
religious houses. The tomb and figure are both of alabaster
marble. The monumental remains of a lady, said by Nichols to be
Margaret, the widow of WiUiam de Ros, may be observed
on the floor, at the west end of the south aisle. The tomb is
gone ; what remains is the top slab, on which is the recum
bent figure, (both of freestone) of a lady in a coif and
wimple, with a veil hanging behind in folds upon the back
and shoulders : her head resting upon a cushion or pillow.
Her body dress is a gown with tight sleeves, fitting close
round the waist and breast, covering the neck to fhe chin,
where it spreads in the shape of a coUar. A mantle or tip
pet (?) hangs loosely off the shoulders and descends in folds
to the feet, which rest upon a dog. The arms of De Roos
were sculptured on the right side of the slab. In 1645, this
slab with the tomb of which it was a part, stood on the
north side of the chancel.
On the north side of the altar is an embattled tomb of
alabaster, on which rests the figure of a recumbent knight,
with basinet, round which is an orle of jewels ; and on the
front of which is a similar inscription to that on the south
side of the altar. His head rests upon the fragment of a
tilting helmet, upon which only the feet of the crest (a

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 367
peacock) remains. Round the neck, a collar of SS, con
necting which is a trefoil-shaped ornament : the whole figure
appears in plate armour, except a camail of mail ; the shoes
spiked ; straps only of spurs remaining ; feet resting on a
hon couchant, gazing at the figure ; joints of the armour
of his legs and arms, as also the helmet, connected together
with ornamental lacework. Angels in compartments hold
ing shields similar to those on the tomb, at the south side.
This monument commemorates John Lord Ross, who was
slain in France, with the Dukes of Clarence and Exeter.
(See pages 28-29.)
In the middle of the chancel floor, nearest to the altar rails,
is a beautiful altar tomb of alabaster, upon which are the
recumbent figures of the first Earl of Rutland and his
Countess. The Earl is habited in the robes of the garter :
his head, surrounded with a circlet of jewels, rests on the
tilting helmet, which has the mail within, and is crested by
a peacock in his pride, cap of dignity, &c. ; a weU executed
George and rose depend from his collar ; ring on the first
and third fingers of the left hand, and on the first and
fourth of the right ; garter round his knee. On his surcoat
there were painted, quarterly, Manners, Tiptoft, and Bad
lesmere ; (now defaced;) feet resting on a unicorn couchant,
from which the horn is broken off. The head of his Coun
tess in a close, plaited, jewelled cap, rests on two embroi
dered pfllows ; necklace of four folds of deUcate chain work,
from which is suspended a heart ; sleeves purfled, and ruf
fled ; mantle of scarlet, lined with ermine ; cordon with
tassels reaching nearly to the feet, at which is a griffin cou
chant : on the fore-finger of her right hand, a ring ; on the
third, two ; and one on first and fourth finger of left hand.
On her mantle were painted, or, a chevron between three
talbots' heads, gules : gules, a chevron between three bears'
heads, azure : and quarterly, gules and azure, on a chief

368 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
gules three hearts : these are all now defaced. Round a
double ledge of the tomb, is the following inscription:
"©ere Igetfi the ioBg of Stomas ^Banners, erle of
mutlana, lora of ?E?atnelafte, 2rrttslmt,anB13elt>£er,anBftttggijt
of fye most ijonoraMe orBer of the barter, tofio BeceaseB
the xxtf) Bage of September, at (tit of tfie clocfc at aftornoone,
anno Uni |WC©e©©Xljrjrjr ; ana tlje »oBs
of tfie laBg ©Manor, eountisse fits tog£ Baugfiter of sir
aimai'm paston, of Norfolfee, fcnjgfit, tofio Beceassea
tfte .... Bag of .... . anno ®ni 48©©©©©
..... tofiose soules JTfiu parBon. 8tote."
There is no appearance that the blanks for the day of the
month and year last mentioned, were ever fiUed up. On
the south side of the tomb, which is divided into six com
partments, stand five sons, with surcoats over their armour,
a sword on the left, and a dagger on the right side : hands
devotionally, or in grief; and one daughter in black mantle,
from beneath which, descends a long white train. On the
north side stand six daughters, in similar habits and atti
tudes. At the west end, the eldest son in armour, unco
vered, is kneeling at a faldstool ; on which is an open book.
Between three or four feet to the west of, and in a fine
with this monument, is another, on which is the figure of a
knight in plated armour, with a coUar and George hanging
down almost to his waistband ; garter round his knee ; head
resting on flowered-tilting helmet, crested by a peacock ;
peaked beard ; rings on right and left third and fore fingers ;
dagger at right side, sword at his left ; a book in his right
hand ; a unicorn at his feet. At his side lies his lady, her
head, with coronet, rechned on a scroll ; the hair at the back
of her head reticulated with jewels ; ruff round the neck ;
in robes lined with ermine, with purfled and puckered

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 369
sleeves ; her hands joined with a book. Over these on
an oblong table, with richly-carved baluster legs, is a hand
some double-faced elevation for escocheons. On the south
face, quarterly, 1 and 4, Manners with augmentation ; 2,
Roos, Espec, Todeni, Albini, 2 chevronels, and Badles
mere ; 3, Holland, Tiptoft, Vaux, and Powis : this shield
is encircled with the motto of the garter, and surmounted
by an earl's coronet, helmet, wreath, and peacock. On the
north face, quarterly, 1 and 4, Neville ; 2, Holland; 3, Fretty,
in a canton, a gaUey. Helmet wreathed .and crested with
bull's head. On the west end of the table, the eldest son
in complete armour of plate, the visor of his helmet up ;
kneeling at a faldstool, on which is a book open. By his
side, his sister EUzabeth in a rich dress open in front. At
the east end, another son, John, rector of Helmsley, in a
gown with long pendant sleeves, kneeling. The inscription
on the ledge of this tomb is as follows :
^earelietfi |§enrg JWaners, earle of mutlana, anB|®argarett
fits Brief, Baugfiter to maBulpfie,earle of ffiStestmerlanB tofiiefie
earle of mutlanB BieB fiefg lorBJpresiBet of fier IStafestie's
counsagle in tfie |lortfie, tfie seBententfie Base of September,
1563. We have now arrived at a series of monuments, in which
all traces of the simple elegance of English architecture
have quite disappeared ; and in its place, we have the gor
geous Italian work which prevailed during the latter end
of the reign of Elizabeth, and a portion of that of James.
A very evident departure from EngUsh style might be ob
served in the altar tomb of the first Earl of Rutland, on the
sides of which, the panels are divided by balusters instead
of buttresses. The tomb and table with its pyramidal ele
vation for shields, its scroll work, &c, of the second Earl, is
a still more decided specimen of Italian architecture. A
BB

370 Bottesford church.
description of the four that follow may be summarily stated
in the foUowing manner : they consist of altar tombs with
cumbent effigies, beneath circular arcades, the soffits of
which are richly paneUed, and surmounted by highly-
finished entablatures, which are supported at the angles by
columns of the Corinthian order : above these, in one in
stance — that of Francis, the sixth Earl, and his two wives —
another arcade and entablature of smaUer dimensions, sup
ported also by columns, arise. The whole is finished with
escocheons, &c, surrounded with scroll-work ; and on plain
tablets, at the back of the arched recesses, are the inscrip
tions. These stately memorials are composed of various
coloured marbles, fancifully decorated with painting, gilding,
and sculpture. In one instance, the figures repose beneath
a ponderous square and flat pedimental entablature ; and
short inscriptions are placed in the panels of the bases of
the columns.
Of this series the first in chronological order is an altar
tomb, against the waU of the south side of the chancel, on
which are the recumbent figures of Edward, the third Earl
of Rutland, bareheaded, on rolled-up mat, with peaked
beard; in ermine mantle, with long cordon and tassels; ruff;
plate armour; garter on left leg ; and a bull at his feet ; and
of his Countess in ermine mantle, head resting on embroi
dered cushions, hair turned back under a jeweUed scull cap,
in ruff ; mantle fastened by jewelled brooch ; sleeves em
broidered, wristband puckered close ; at her feet, a daughter
kneeling, in a ruff, and with simUar sleeves. Grand esco
cheon, containing the following quarterings, Rutland, Roos,
Espec, Trusbut, Beauchamp Earl of Warwick, Bellomonte,
Berkley, Lisle, Fitzgerald, HoUand, Earl of Kent, Tiptoft,
Charlton Lord Powis, Badlesmere, Vaux, Albini, and
Todeni. And in a lozenge, quarterly, 1 and 4, argent, a
cross and bordure engrailed sable, Holcroft ; 2, argent, a

bottesford church. 371
squirrel sejant, and cracking a nut; 3, argent, an eagle
sable, standing on a child in swadling clothes, gules.
The inscription is on two tablets at the back of the recess.
" the right honorable and noble lord edwarde erle
of rutlande, lord rosse of hamelac, trusbote, and
belvoyre, lteth here buried.
in the veare 1569 he was sent into the north parts
in the ttme of those civill troubles ;
there made lieutenante to thomas erle of sussex
( then lord generall of her ma'ues armie),
and also colonell of the footemen, and one of the
c0unsell in that service, he being then but 20 years
of age, and warde to her ma'1"*.
he travailed into fraunce 1570.
he was made livetenant of the county of lincolne 1582.
he was made knight of the garter 1584,
on the 5th day of july, 1586, as cheif commissioner for
her majestie he concluded with the scottishe
king's commissioners at barwicke upon tweede
a league of amitye betweene the two realmes.
on the 14th of april following, being good friday 1587,
he departed this life near puddle wharfe in london,
fro whence his corps was hither brought,
and buried the 15th day of may next followinge.
he left yssue by his honourable weef
isabel holcroft, daughter to sir thomas holcroft,
knight, one daughter, named elizabeth, then of the
age of eleven yeares, and almost four monythes,
which daughter was married in january 1588
to wtelia cicell, esquiek, eldest sonne
to sir thomas cicell, knight,
eldest sonne to the lord burghley,
then and now lord high treasoror of englande;
by whom she left yssue one sonne, named william,
and died at london in april 1591."
Against the wall on the north side of the chancel, and
beneath a flat canopy, or testoon supported by columns, is
an altar tomb, on which are the recumbent figures of John,
bb2

372 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
fourth Earl of Rutland, and his Countess. He is represen
ted with a coronet on his head, which lies on a rolled up
mat, with ruff and peaked beard, and in plate armour. His
feet rest on a buU's head erased, sable, ducally gorged,
armed and chained, or. By him, lies his lady, in a scarlet
mantle lined with ermine; ruff; jeweUed cap; and pinked
sleeves. Her mantle is fastened with a brooch or clasp.
Her feet rest on a lion's head couped, gules, on a wreath,
gules and sable : her head on embroidered pillows. Both
figures hold their hands closed devotionally. Between them,
at the head, kneels a lady in ruff and dressed hair : at
their feet, the eldest son bare headed, and in plate armour.
In front of the tomb are kneeling, two more daughters, and
three sons in plate armour, bareheaded and with ruffs. Be
tween the circular-headed tablets are arms, within a lozenge,
Charlton quartering Zouch. Above the entablature, in the
centre, an escocheon with quarterings, coronet, helmet, cap
of dignity, and crest : and similar escocheons and coronets
at each end.
The inscription is on two tablets within the recess.
"THE RIGHT HONORABLE AND NOBLE LORD JOHN EELE
OF RUTLANDE, LORD ROSSE OF HAMELAC, TRUSBOTE,
AND BELVOYRE, LIETH HERE BURIED. HE SUCCEEDED
HIS BROTHER EDWARD IN THE ERLEDOME
AND BARONNIES, AND THEREIN LIVED UNTO,
SATTERDAY THE 24 DAY OF FEBRUARY THEN NEXTE
FOLLOWINGE, IN THE SAME YEARE, 1587, ON WHICH
DAY HE DECEASED AT NOTTINGHAM, FRO WHENCE
HIS CORPS WAS HITHER BROUGHT AND BURIED
ON THE 2D DAY OF APRIL FOLLOWING, 1588,
HE WAS MADE LIEUTENANTS OF
NOTTINGHAM 1587. HE HAD YSSUE BY HIS
MOST HONORABLE AND VERTUOUS LADY ELI
ZABETH CHARLETON, DAUGHTER OF FRAUNCES
CHARLETON, ESQ. FIVE SONNES, TO WITTE,

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 373
EDWARD, WHO DIED AT THE AGE OF 
HOGER NOW ERLE OF RUTLAND, LORD ROSSE OF
HAMELAC, TRUSBOTE, AND BELVOYRE, FRAUNCES,
GEORGE, AND OLIVER ; AND 4 DAUGHTERS, BRIDGET,
ELIZABETH, MARY (DEADE IN HER INFANCY), AND
FRAUNCES BORNE AFTER HER FATHER'S DEATH."
On two pillars, supporting the canopy of the above :
THESE TWO TOM- BY THAT MOST
BES FOR EDWARD HONORABLE
AND JOHN ERLES AND VERTCOUS
OF RUTLAND, COCNTES ELI-
WERE FOUNDED ZABETH, WIFE
AND ERECTED TO ERLE JOHN.
IN OCTOBER1591,
On the north side also is placed the monument of Roger,
fifth Earl of Rutland, and his Countess. He is represen
ted with his head on a cushion in earl's coronet, ermine
mantle, and plate armour ; his feet resting on the peacock
in his pride. Her head rests on embroidered cushions, with
a cap something in the shape of a mitre; and her feet on a
porcupine with a wreath, argent and azure. She has a ruff
and ermine mantle. The principal alteration in the male
dress of this period, appears in the trunk hose, which may
be observed beneath the tassets, or plate armour covering
the thighs. The additional quarterings observable in the
escocheons which embellish this monument, are Sidney ;
sable, 2 bars argent, in chief three plates, Hungerford;
barry of six, argent and azure, in chief three torteaux,
Grey; or, 3 chevrons gules, a label of 5 points azure,
Clare ; azure, a chevron or, between 3 muUets argent ; or,
a lion rampant, double-tailed, vert Dudley; gules, 3 lions
rampant, or ; on a bend gules, three cross crosslets ; per
pale, gules and or, an escarbuncle ; &c.

374 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
" THE RIGHT HO'BLE AND NOBLE LO' ROGER EARLE OF
RUTLAND, LO' ROOS OF HAMLACK, TRUSBUTT, AND BELVOIR,
LIETH HERE BURIED. IN THE YEARE OF LORD GOD 1595, HE
BEGAN HIS FIRST TRAVAILES INTO DIVERS PARTS BEYOND
THE SEAS, AS FRANCE, ITALIE, SWISELAND, AND THE LOW
CUNTRIES, WHERE HE CONTINUED THREE YEARES ;
AFTER HE WENT VOLUNTARIE THE ELAND VOYAGE.
HE WAS COLLONEL OF THE FOOT IN THE IRISH WARRES.
IN ANNO 1598. HE WAS MADE LORD LIEUTENANT OF
LINCOLNSHIRE IN ANNO 1603, BEING THE FIRST YEARE OF
THE RAIGNE OF KING JAMES, IN WHICH SAID YEARE
HE WENT AMBASSADOR FROM HIS MAj'TLE INTO DENMARK
TO THE CHRISTENING OF THE KING'S FIRST SONNE,
AND WITH THE ORDER OF THE GARTER TO THE KING THERE.
HE MARRIED ELIZABETH, SOLE DAUGHTER TO
SIR PHILIP SYDNEY. HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE
AT CAMBRIDGE THE 26TH DAY OF JUNE, 1612,
FROM WHENCE HIS CORPS WAS CONVEYED TO BELVOIR CASTLE,
AND HERE INTERRED THE 22TH OF JULIE FOLLOWING.
HE DIED WITHOUT YSSUE,
AND LEFT TO SUCCEED HIM IN
HIS EARLDOM AND HONOURS
HIS HON'BLE BROTHER FRANCIS,
NOW EARLE OF RUTLAND,
LORD ROOS OF HAMLACK, TRUSBUTT, AND BELVOIR."
The last and most magnificent of this series of monu
ments is against the south waU of the chancel nearest the
east ; and commemorates Francis, the sixth Earl of Rutland,
his two wives, and the two children, who died by " wicked
practice and sorcery." (see pp. 61 — 66.) All, that a com
bination of various coloured marbles, painting, gilding, and
sculpture can effect, is here displayed. The Earl rests be
tween his two wives on a marble sarcophagus ; his head, on
which is a coronet, on embroidered piUows with tassels; and
his feet against a peacock in pride : he is represented with
whiskers, mustachios, and peaked beard ; in ermine mantle,
and with the insignia of the order of the garter ; satin trunk
hose, stockings, and roses in his shoes. His first wife, ap-

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 375
pearing as a young woman, has a coronet on her head; round
her neck a plated falling ruff; a close bodice or stomacher,
purfled sleeves, with smaU ruffles ; and mantle with cordon
and tassels. The other lady is dressed in a black robe and
ruff; the hair is turned back at the forehead, under a black
jeweUed scuU cap : a single row of rich beads round her
neck; open ruff; neck and breast bare ; low stomacher rich
ly ornamented with lace ; ruffles ; from her left shoulder
four rows of pearls encircling the arm, and one row round
the waist ; a demi-dragon at her feet ; below which are two
children kneeling, one before the other ; the right of one
crossed over the breast, the left holding a scuU ; the smaller
of the two has a scull in the right hand, and a flower in the
left. At the head of the principal figures is a female kneel
ing, with hands closed in prayer ; she has on her head a
ducal coronet, and is in ermine mantle : this last represents
Catherine, the earl's daughter by his first wife, who after
wards became Duchess of Buckingham. Above the entab
lature of the lower arcade are two black horses, and a
smaUer arcade of similar character. Escocheons are placed
on the top of each entablature, in which the principal quar-
terings not noticed, are those of Tufton and Knevitt
is THE RIGHT HON'BLE AND
NOBLE LORD FRANCIS EARLE
OF RUTLAND, LORD ROOS OF HAMLAK,
TRESBUT, AND BELVOIR, OF THE MOST NOBLE
ORDER OF THE GARTER, KNIGHT, LYETH HERE
INTERRED. AT 18 YEARES OF AGE HE
WENT TO TRAVAILE IN THE YEAR 1598,
IN FRANCE, LORAYNE, AND DIVERS STATES OF ITALY.
HE WAS HONORABLY RECEIVED BY THE PRINCES THEM
SELVES, AND NOBLY ENTERTAINED IN THEIR COURTS.
IN HIS RETURNE THROUGH GERMANY HE HAD LIKE
HONOUR DONE HIM BY FERDINAND ARCHDUKE OF AUSTRIA
AT HIS COURT IN GRATZ ; BY THE EMPEROR MATHIAS AND

376 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
HIS COURT IN VIENNA; BY COUNT SWARTZEMBOURG,
LIEUTENANT OF LAVARIN IN HUNGARY ; BY COUNT
ROSSEMBOURG AT PRAGUE IN BOHEME ; BY THE MARQUIS
OF BRANDENBOURG, THE DUKES OF SAXONY, AND OTHER
GERMAINE PRINCES IN THE COURT AT BERLIN. IN 1604 HE
WAS MADE KNIGHT OF THE BATH, AND MARRIED THE LADY
FRANCIS BEVILL, ONE OF THE DAUGHTERS AND COHETRS OF
THE HON'BLE KNIGHT SIR HENRY KNYVETT, BY WHOM HE HAD
ISSUE ONE ONLY DAUGHTER, THE MOST VIRTUOUS AND
THRICE NOBLE PRINCESSE KATHERINE, NOW DUTCHESS OF
bucking'. IN 1608 HE MARRIED THE LADY CECILIA
HUNGERF'RD, DAUGHTER TO THE HON'BLE KNIGHT
SIR JOHN TUFTON, BY WHOM HE HAD TWO SONNES,
BOTH WHICH DYED IN THEIR INFANCY BY WICKED
PRACTICE AND SORCERYE. IN 1612 HE WAS MADE LORD
LIEUTENANT OF LINCOLNSH'RE, AND AFTER JUSTICE IN EYRE
OF ALL THE KING'S FORRESTS AND CHASES IN THE NORTH OF
TRENT. IN 1616 HE WAS MADE KNIGHT OF THE MOST
NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER. IN THE YEAR 1616 HE
WAS ONE OF THE LORDS WHO ATTENDED KING JAMES BY
HIS MA'T'S SPECIALL APPOINTM'T, IN HIS JOURNEY INTO
SCOTLAND. IN 1623 HE WAS BY THE SAME KING JAMES

SHIPPES AND PYNACES, TO RETUBNE
PRINCE CHARLES, NOW OUR DREAD SOVERAIGNE LORD KING
OF ENGL'D, OUT OF SPAYNE, WHICH HE HAPPILY PERFORMED."
On the floor at the base of this monument, is another in
scription : — " Francis Earl of Rutland was buried Feb. 20,
1632." This, with the omission of the date of his death in
the principal inscription, confirms what was said in page
66, that the monument was erected in his life-time.
The next monumental remains, which come under our no
tice, are of a wholly different character from any of the pre
ceding ; and distinctly mark another era in the style of such
structures. They are, perhaps, among the earliest speci
mens of a total departure from the custom of altar-tombs,

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 377
on which were represented cumbent effigies, with heavy,
elaborately decorated canopies over them of Italian archi
tecture. Some improvement had been accomplished in the
figures, by imparting to them greater ease and freedom in
the attitudes and drapery. They were no longer always
recumbent, and instances are extant of male figures in ar
mour and uncovered, leaning on the right arm, and some
times with the left knee raised, and the left arm resting
upon it ; but they were very seldom, as in the two instances
now to be described, sculptured in a standing posture. The
unfortunate Charles, to whom the arts are so much indebted,
the Duke of Buckingham, and Lord Arundel, had, with
zeal and unbounded expense, collected valuable specimens
of ancient art ; the study of which contributed greatly to
the formation in this country, of a better taste in sculpture.
Through the encouragement of Charles, Le Sceur, a French
man, and FaneUi, a Florentine, were induced to exercise
their art in England ; and their works gave an impulse to
our native genius. The principal performance of Le Soeur,
was the equestrian figure of King Charles, at Charing-
Cross; and of FaneUi, the figures of Charles and his
Queen, in niches in the quadrangle of St. John's College,
Oxford, — the gift of Archbishop Laud, and buried for
security in the civil war.
The vandalism of the puritans in indiscriminately de
stroying sepulchral monuments, under the vague plea that
a few had a tendency to encourage superstition, rendered
the application of sculpture to sepulchral monuments, a
matter of infrequent occurrence. It was, at first, generaUy
apphed to domestic decoration. May it not also have been,
partly, a conviction of the insecurity of monumental sculp
ture of a devotional character, that occasioned a complete
alteration in the style of such structures. The devotional
attitudes of the effigies on former monuments, and the

378 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
christian altar-like shape of the tombs on which they re
posed, as well as the prayer for mercy usuaUy inscribed,
appear to have been the great stumbling blocks to the rigid
religionists of the usurpation.
The change to a heathen altar, for the pedestal to a
figure in Roman drapery, and in Roman heroic attitude,
which exhibited only the philosophy of indifference, as the
solemn memorial of death, was certainly not liable to the
charge of superstition ; and appears to have been quietly
tolerated, if not encouraged, by these stern but ignorant
and prejudiced judges. As works of art, it is true, the
superiority must be assigned to the later style : and what
may have been at first adopted from the mixed motive of
improved taste in sculpture from the study of classical
models, and a desire to perpetuate memorials unobjec
tionable to the iconoclasts of the seventeenth century ; has
been persevered in to the present day, with a successive
enlargement of detaUs, from the simple idea of Roman
drapery and attitude in single figures, to groups attended by
every combination of mythological and allegorical conceits ;
by which it has been attempted to pourtray the secular
importance of the individual commemorated. Whether such
aspiring memorials, in some of which the exhibition of
christian feeling is studiously excluded, be suitable em
blems of the christian's hope in death, I must be aUowed to
doubt. Surely the sacrifice is too great, when heathen
impressions are substituted for christian feeling ; even if
monumental sculpture could attain to a Phidias-Uke per
fection by the sacrifice. There is to me, something deeply
touching in the simple prayer inscribed on ancient tombs,
and the devotional attitude in which the figures are repre
sented ; a prayer and an attitude by which the tombs of
kings, as well as of subjects, are characterised ; implying
a humble acknowledgment of universal dependence on

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 379
divine mercy. And if it be true, that these records mani
fest an excess of christian feeling, — and superstition literaUy
means no more, — surely it is preferable to the entire absence
of such feeling, or heathenism.
These remarks may appear to be somewhat of a digressive
character, but they are not inconsistent with the general
design of this work ; which it will be remembered compre
hends something more than a mere detail of dates and facts.
The author intended on every suitable occasion, to shew
the spirit of the times successively noticed, by means of the
historical illustrations submitted to the view: and thus
avails himself as weU of sepulchral monuments, of castellated
architecture, and ornamental grounds, as of the more
striking events of history.
We now proceed to notice the monuments, which inci
dently gave occasion to these remarks. And it must be
observed, that they are more than usually favourable speci
mens of the style animadverted upon.
The first in commemoration of the seventh Earl, against
the south wall, consists of a Roman altar, or pedestal, in
the front of which is a slab for the inscription ; and upon
which stands a colossal figure of statuary marble in Roman
costume. There is considerable expression in the head ;
with great ease and freedom in the attitude, and in the
folds of the drapery. Above the head are the arms of the
family, and the coronet.
"Here lyeth the body of George Maners,
7th earle of Rutland of that name,
Lord Roos of Hamlake, Trusbut, and Belvoir,
which George succeeded
his brother Francis in that earledome,
and married Frances the daughter
of sir Edward Carey, of Aldenham,
in com. Hertford, knight, sister to Henry
viscount Falkland.

380 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
He departed this life at his house in
the Savoy in the suburbs of London,
xxix Martii, anno 1641 (17 Car. 1.), without issue,
and was buried in this place with his ancestors."
Another monument of similar character against the north
wall, is a memorial of the eighth Earl, and his Coun
tess. Both are represented in a standing posture, with
Roman drapery. She has her right hand on her breast,
bearing her robes in the left; her hair decorated with
jewels : a large urn stands between them. The altar on
which they stand has something of an anomalous charac
ter, shewing a divided pediment on which is a scuU. Over
the heads of the figures, two cherubs, one with a trumpet,
support a coronet over the arms,— Rutland impahng Mon
tagu. There are the usual achievements suspended on the walls
and from the roof of the chancel ; banners, pieces of ar
mour, escocheons &c. The door of entrance into the vault
is of cedar and of Gothic character. There are stiU several
coffins in the vault, containing the remains of members of
this noble family. Those of the four Dukes, of the great
Marquis of Granby, of the Dowager Duchess, and the late
Duchess, were removed, after the building and consecration,
to the Mausoleum. The coffins which remain have brass
plates commemorative of
"The Lady Rachel Manners, second daughter of the
most noble John, Duke of Rutland, deceased. Died,
March 6, 1720, aged 19 years."
" The right honourable the Lord Thomas Manners, third
son of the most noble John, Duke of Rutland. Died June
11, 1723, aged 20 years."
" The right honourable the Lord Sherard Manners, first
son of John, second Duke of Rutland, by his second wife,
Lucy, daughter of Bennet, Lord Sherard, of Stapleford, in

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 381
the county of Leicester, Baron of Leitrim, in Ireland.
Died Jan. 13, 174£, aged 28 years."
" The right honourable Lord Henry Manners, fifth son
of John, second Duke of Rutland, by Lucy, Duchess of
Rutland, his second wife. Died, Nov. 3, 1745, aged 26
years." — Rutland arms and supporters with an annulet for a
distinction ; helmet, chapeau, and peacock.
"Elizabeth Manners died Jan. 17, 1761, aged 12 years."
"The right honourable Lord Charles Manners died
Dec. 7, 1761, in the 43d year of his age."
The right honourable Lord William Manners, brother to
his grace, the Duke of Rutland, died May 23, 1 772, eetatis
suae, 75." — Rutland arms with a crescent for a distinction.
"John Manners, Esq, eldest son of the right honourable
Lord WiUiam Manners, second son of the Duke of Rut
land. Born 27 Sept 1730; died 23 Sept. 1792, aged
62." — Rutland arms impaling quarterly, 1 and 4 argent,
a fret sable, Vernon ; 2 and 3 azure, an imperial crown, or,
between three muUets argent, within a tressure flory and
counterflory or; Tollemache. Chapeau and crest
The foUowing, extracted by Nichols from the Bottesford
register, may be found useful as a necrological summary.
Thomas Manners, first Earl of Rutland, buried at Bottesford,
in 1543,
Henry, second Earl, in 1563.
Edward, third Earl, May 20, 1587.
John, fourth Earl, April 2, 1588.
Lady Mary Manners, daughter of John, the fourth Earl, April
18, 1588.
The honourable lady Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland, March
24, 1594.
" The right honourable Roger Manners, Earl of Rutland, de
parted this Ufe at Cambridge, the 26th day of June, 1612, whose
body was buried at Bottesford, the 20th day of this month, (July)
and his funeral solemnized the 22nd day." The reader will ob
serve, that two days elapsed between the interment of the body,

382 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
and the performance of the funeral rites. The cause of the delay,
I am unable to discover.
Sir Ohver Manners, buried Aug. 23, 1613.
Henry, Lord Ros, buried Sept. 26, 1613.
Francis, sixth Earl of Rutland, Feb. 20, 1632.
George, seventh Earl, April 26, 1641.
The honourable Henry Manners, Oct. 31, 1661.
Lady Mary, daughter of John, eighth Earl, April 7, 1669.
Lady Frances, Countess of Rutland, June 16, 1671.
Lady Diana Roos, wife of John, Lord Roos, daughter of the
Earl of Ailesbury, July 24, 1674.
John, eighth Earl, Oct. 24, 1679.
June 30, 1705, died unmarried, the Lord Thomas Baptist Man
ners, second son of the most noble John, Duke of Rutland, and
the lady Catharine, his third wife, daughter of Baptist Viscount
Camden, at Belvoir Castle, and was buried here the 2nd day of
July following.
Honourable Roger Manners, son of John, Marquis of Granby,
Dec. 1, 1709.
John, first Duke, Feb. 23, 1710.
Oct. 30, 1711, died the lady Catharine, wife of the most noble
John, the second Duke of Rutland, at Southampton-house in
London, and was interred here Nov. 10, then next ensuing.
Feb. 22, 1720-21, died the most noble John, the second Duke
of Rutland, at Southampton-house, London, in the 45th year of
his age, and was buried here, March 9, then next ensuing.
June 11, 1723, died the Lord Thomas Manners, third son of
the most noble John the second Duke of Rutland, by his virtuous
consort the Lady Catharine Russel, and was interred here the
22nd of the same month.
The said 22nd day of June, 1723, the body of the Lady Rachel
Manners, second daughter of the said Duke by the aforesaid Lady
Catharine, at first deposited March 10, 1720, in the vault of St.
James' Church, Westminster, was laid in the new vault here.
Jan. 24, 1729-30, the Lady Carolina, eldest daughter of the
most noble John, third Duke of Rutland, by his accomphshed
consort the Lady Bridget Sutton, died in London, and was in
terred here, Feb. 1, then next ensuing.
Lord William Manners, youngest son of John, third Duke,
March 18, 1730.
Catharine, Duchess Dowager of John, first Duke, Feb. 1, 1732.

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 383
Lady Frances Manners, youngest daughter of John, third Duke,
Feb. 14.J739.
Lady Leonora Manners, .daughter of John, third Duke, June
17, 1740.
Lord Sherard Manners, first son of John, second Duke, by
his second Duchess, Jan. 23, 1741.
Lord Henry Manners, fifth son of John, second Duke, by his
second Duchess, Nov. 13, 1745.
The most noble Lucy, Duchess of Rutland, second wife of the
second Duke, Nov. 7, 1751.
Lady Catharine Manners, daughter of John, Marquis of Gran
by, March 22, 1756.
The honourable Frances, Wife of John, Marquis of Granby,
Feb. 5, 1760.
Lady Charlotte Caroline, daughter of John, Marquis of Gran
by, Feb. 5, 1760.
John Lord Roos, eldest son of John Marquis of Granby, June
10, 1760.
Lord Charles Manners, son of John, second Duke of Rutland,
Dec. 15, 1761.
The most noble John, Marquis of Granby, eldest son of John,
third Duke of Rutland, Oct. 29, 1770.
Lord WiUiam Manners, second son of John, second Duke of
Rutland, June 10, 1772.
The most noble John, third Duke of Rutland, June 12, 1779,
in his 83d year.
The most noble Charles, fourth Duke, ( lord lieutenant of
Ireland,) Nov. 25, 1787, in his 34th year.
John Manners, Esq. &c, born Sept, 27, 1730 ; died Sept. 23,
1792, aged 62.

A few particulars of some of the RECTORS OF BOT
TESFORD, such of them, at least, as were of the Belvoir
family, or were distinguished by their acquirements, or
piety, may be acceptable to my readers.
The first on record is Ralph who was presented by William de
Albini III., and is mentioned in the Matriculus of Hugh de

384 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
Welles, Bishop of Lincoln, as having been instituted in 1220;
a vicar being instituted at the same time.
Nicholas de Albini, a son of the above mentioned patron, (see
p. 11) died rector, April 26, 1222.
Ralph de Albiniaco, March 2, 1223, by consent of the same
patron, in 1224, appointed Henry de Bokeby, chaplain, to be his
vicar. It appears that this Ralph had only attained an inferior
order in the ministry, — that of acolyte, — when he was instituted
rector, and was, therefore, incapable of administering the sacred
offices : and had permission from the patron, with the consent of
the bishop, to appoint a person in full orders for this purpose.
He himself was enjoined by the bishop to frequent the schools,
and qualify himself in point of learning, for admission to the
higher orders of the ministry. It was no uncommon thing for
minors, and persons of inferior orders, to be presented to a rec
tory, with the permission to appoint a vicar, who was paid by
the proventus alteragii.
Nicholas de Belvoir, in 1233, and Peter de Ros, subdeacon,
in 1273, are mentioned next, as rectors of Bottesford. This
latter person resigned Bottesford, when he was collated to the
precentorship of York, July 7, 1289, and died in 1312. His
successor, William de FilungeUx, was also a subdeacon only, at
his institution.
John de Codyngton, rector in 1349, endowed, in conjunction
with John Bauland, chaplain, a chantry, with a house and land
in Bottesford, for the maintenance of a priest, who should daily
perform divine service at the altar of St. Peter, in the parish, for
the welfare of the founders, Walter Payn, their parents, and
friends, while they lived, and for their souls after death, as
well as for the souls of all the faithful departed. The date of
the licence of endowment, which is preserved among the ar
chives in Belvoir Castle, is Jan. 12, 1359-60. The nomination
of a chaplain was assigned to Walter Payne and his heirs.
Henry de Codyngton, instituted in 1361, obtained Ucence
from Edward III., June 26, 1373, to settle a house and land on
the chantry priest of St. Mary and St. John the EvangeUst, a
chantry which had been founded in 1330, by WiUiam de Ros II.
This chantry was returned in the reign of Henry VIII, as worth
in net value, £4. 18s. Sd.; that of St. Peter, £5 .0*. 7d. Henry
de Codyngton died Sept. 4, 1 404, and was buried in the chancel
at Bottesford, where a sepulchral brass still remains in excel-

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 385
lent preservation, with the following inscription round the edge.
"(%enricus) Be ©oB»ngtoun,
qttonBam reetor istius ecclesie, et prebenBarius alt'ius pre*
fienBat' Be ©rtoun et ©ropfitH in
ecclesta eollegiata beate jittarie Be Sutfitoell,
qui obiit oetabo trie Septembris, anno (M°) ©©©© quarto.
cuius anime .ppirietur IBeus. amen."
He is insculptured standing under a triple canopy, with hands
closed devotionaUy, bareheaded, vested in the usual canonical
habits of a member of a collegiate foundation, viz. the alb, sur
plice, amice, and cope ; the facing of the latter is very richly
ornamented with embroidery, representing a series of niches filled
with saints ; — Saints Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, and John
the Evangelist, Catharine, George, James of Compostella, and a
bishop. His hands are elosed on a jewelled lozenge pending from
the neck, on which is a representation of God the Father, and
a crucifix. In a compartment of the centre canopy appears the
Virgin and Child. On each side of his head is a shield, on which
is a cross engrailed, between 12 cross croslets fitchee. At the
four corners of the brass are winged animals, a bird, and an
angel. John Freeman was rector of Bottesford, in 1420. A slab of
blue marble still remains, with a portion of the sculptured effigies
of this person represented in ecclesiastical vestments ; the facing
of the cope is decorated with embroidery of a kind of arabesque
work, alternating with circles in which are the initials of his
name E & JF; and on his breast tfiu. The inscription remains
perfect :
" JTofi'n Stetnan g*tu8 facet fiac fossa tumulatus;
Hector fiuf funBi, qui spreB' gauBia munBt.
iEsto sibi, Xpe, jnBer pius et miserere ;
fttafttis prectims ip'm fiine fine tuere ;
^ng'Iicis q ; efioris instet Be' omnibus fioris,
lion int' re.pbos maneat qui pabit egenos."
 Hutton, who died "parson of Bottesford" in 1558,
c c

386 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
left to the church, four score sheep, to be yearly let to four
honest poor men, by the parson or his curate : they and the
churchwardens being required to pay yearly for the same, 20
shillings, &c. ( For a fuller account of this charity, see Nichols
v. 2, p. 90.)
Robert Cressey, presented in 1560, is returned in the "Certifir
catorium Archidiaconatus Leic. " 1562, as, — "presbyter, non
conjugatus ; doctus; non residet ; non hospitalis; deget apud
Wilsford ; non licentiatus, nee praedicat ; duo beneficia habet."
Samuel Fleming, rector from 1581 to 1620, was a considerable
benefactor to the parish. He founded a hospital in the middle
of the town, not far from the cross, called the Women's hospital,
for four poor widows not paupers. Being once in danger of
drowning, in going to, or returning from the visitation at Lei
cester, he erected a stone bridge across the river, and left land in
Frisby to maintain it. He was successively, fellow of King's
College, Cambridge, rector of Cottenham and Bottesford, chaplain
to the Earl of Rutland, and through his interest was made a
prebendary of Southwell. He is said to have been an able
scholar and divine. His younger brother, Abraham Fleming,
rector of St. Pancras, died at Bottesford, while on a visit to his
relative, and was buried in the chancel, just below the steps
leading to the communion table, where an expressive epitaph still
remains. He appears to have been a good scholar, somewhat
credulous, and addicted to scribbling upon aU subjects.
" Epitaphium Abrahami Flemingi,
Rectoris Sci Pancratii, a se conffectum ; qui
obiit Bottefordia 18° die Septembris, an?
Dni 1607, setatis vero suae circiter 56.
Corpori, spiritu soluto
Quid aptius opaca fossa ?
Numinis supremi statuto
NervuU roduntur & ossa.
Fabrica terrena putrescit,
Anima divina virescit.
Tu vita, uniens, O Deus,
Sterna tu mihi meus."
The succession of incumbents was very rapid during the as
cendency of the parliamentary party ; tliere being no less than

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 387
five from 1647 to 1657. The incumbent at the time of the
survey of churches and incumbents by a parliamentary committee,
1650-1, seems to have been more fortunate than most of his
brethren : escaping with merely the stigma of being, " a plurali-
tan." In the large majority of instances, we find, — " weak and
negligent;" — "no preacher;" — "negligent and scandalous;"
— "negligent and suspected of popery;" — "corrupt in doc
trine ;" — "weak, negligent and worldly;" — "a bare reader
and no minister;" — "weak, pluralitan, non-resident altogether
negligent and scandalous ;" were the heavy imputations lavishly
bestowed upon the clergy of the day. When we consider the
meaning attached to such phrases by the judges themselves, who
were generally the lowest and most profligate characters of every
parish, encouraged by the visitors to petition against their clergy;
and the real character of most of those thus stigmatised; no very
heavy burthen will rest upon their memory. The celebrated
Pococke, indefatigable when a parish priest and the most learned
oriental scholar of that, or any other age; nearly the whole of whose
fife was devoted to biblical learning ; would have been deprived of
his living on the ground of " ignorance and insufficiency, " by
Cromwell's committee ; had not the disgrace of such a proceeding
been warmly represented by persons of influence with the pre-
vaUing party. Upwards of eight thousand, however, of the
clergy, were turned out of their livings, on one or other of the
charges mentioned above ; and compelled with their families, to
endure every kind of privation, often to the very verge of star
vation. A " scandalous minister " meant in the phraseology of
the times, chiefly one, who bowed at the name of Jesus ; and
obliged the communicants to come up to the rails, which enclosed
the communion table. An " ignorant and insufficient " minister
might imply, as we have seen, one mighty in the Scriptures, like
Pococke. Nicholas Esticiek, who died during the first year of his incum
bency, (1656) is mentioned in Fuller's Worthies of Leicestershire,
as a "pious arid judicious divine; always cheerful without the least
levity; aud grave without any moroseness." He distinguished
himself in a controversy with Biddle, the father of the English
Socinians. Thomas Wliite, rector of Bottesford, from 1679 to 1685,
was successively appointed chaplain to the princess Anne of
Denmark, vicar of Newark, and in 1683, archdeacon of Notting-
cc2

388 BOTTESFORD CHURCH.
ham. He resigned Bottesford on becoming bishop of Peter
borough. He left a considerable sum of money to the poor of
the latter place ; and was a great benefactor to Newark, to the
corporation of which he bequeathed his library. He was buried
without any memorial, in St. Gregory's church, which stood on
the site of the present clock- tower of St. Paul's cathedral, London.
Bernard Wilson was presented to the rectory of Bottesford
in 1735, but never took possession of it. He had been previously
appointed to prebends in Lincoln, Lichfield, and Worcester ; was
vicar of Newark, master of the hospital there, and alderman.
He was involved in a lawsuit, in consequence of the nonperfor
mance of a marriage contract ; and was in frequent disputes
with the town's-people. He died April 30, 1772, and was buried
at Newark.
John Ewer, instituted in 1735, was fellow of King's College,
Cambridge ; tutor to the great Marquis of Granby, with whom
he travelled. He resigned the rectory of Bottesford in 1752;
became bishop of Llandaff, 1761 ; and of Bangor, 1768. He
died 28 Oct. 1774.
John Thoroton, rector from 1782 to 1820, was knighted by
George IV, when Prince Regent. One half of the present Castle^-
and certainly the most beautiful portion in an architectural point
of view, was erected, chiefly from his designs, and under his
superintendence. A tablet to his memory is erected against the north waU of
the chancel, with the following inscription.
"In memory of the Rev. Sir John Thoroton Knt. M. A. rector
of Bottesford, and during twenty three years, the domestic chap
lain, the valued friend, and the faithful companion of the Duke
and Duchess of Rutland.
"No man was ever more eminently gifted with the mild vir
tues, which adorn human nature : and no man more entirely
possessed the attributes of an attached friend, a good subject,
and a sincere christian. Possessed of great natural taste he
devoted his leisure to the cultivation of it. Of his architectural
talent, the new buildings erected at Belvoir Castle, will be a
lasting monument : for he participated in every plan connected
with them, from their commencement in the year MDCCCI :
and during the latter years of his life, he had the chief direction
both in the design and execution of them.
" He died at Belvoir Castle, on the XVIII December, MDCCC-

BOTTESFORD CHURCH. 389
XX, in the LXII year of his age, and is buried in the chancel of
this church.
"Many will say of him, but none more sincerely than his sor
rowing friend, the Duke of Rutland,
Multis ille bonis flebilis occidit ;
Nulli flebihor, quam mihi."
The Rev. Charles Roos Thoroton is the present rector of Bot
tesford ; and domestic chaplain to the Duke of Rutland ; to whose
courtesy the author is indebted for information, on the designs
and progress of the erection of the Castle and Mausoleum.
The limits of the present work preclude a more exten
ded notice of Bottesford, than is now given. If the reader
wish for further information on the subject, a full account
of the benefactions, extent, population, &c, will be found
in the second volume of the History of Leicestershire.

THE FLORA

OF THE

VALE OF BELVOIR

AMENTACE.S.
Alnus gtutinosa, common alder ; cl. 21, ord. 3. March.
Betula alba, birch tree ; cl. 21, ord. 6. Not very common.
April, May.
Fagus castanea, sweet chesnut ; cL 21, ord. 6. In Croxton
Park. May.
Carpinus betulus, common hornbeam; cl. 21, ord. 6. In
hedges ; but handsomer when standing by itself, and allowed to
take its natural form. May.
Salix pentandra, sweet bay-leaved willow; cl. 22, ord. 1.
At Eastwell, along the brook,but probably planted there. June,
July. Apocine*.
Vinca minor, lesser periwinkle ; cl. 5, ord. 1. At Easton.
May.  major, greater periwinkle ; cl. 5, ord. 1. At Wools-
thorpe, on several walls in the street. May.
AROIDE.8E.
Acorus calamus, common sweet flag ; cl. 6, ord. 1. Not a
native of the Vale, but planted in the Devon, at Muston ; where,
as it increases, it will be esteemed indigenous. June.

392 THE FLORA OF THE
ASPARAGI.
Tamus communis, common black bryony ; cl. 22, ord. 5. In
tall hedges, shady thickets, groves, and woods ; common. June.
BORAGINE.2E.
Lithospermum officinale, common groundsell ; cl. 5, ord. 1.
At Muston, in the road from the church towards Grantham.
May. Symphytum officinale, common comfrey ; cl. 5, ord. 4. Mus
ton, by the Devon. The roots are glutinous and mucilaginous ;
and a decoction of them is used by dyers to extract the colouring
matter of gum lac. May, June. Cacti.
Ribes rubrum, common currant ; cl. 5, ord. 1. Among the
plantations about Belvoir : the fruit about half the common size,
pleasant, but very acid. May.
CaMPANULACE.^.
Campanula glomerata, clustered beU-flower ; cl. 5, ord. 1.
About Stathern hill-side ; more plentiful at Harston and Wools-
thorpe. July, August.
 hybrida, corn bell-flower; cl. 5, ord. 1. Sparingly
at Woolsthorpe. August. Caprifoeia.
Viburnum cantanea, mealy guelder rose ; cl. 5, ord. 3. Sta
thern. May. s, common guelder rose ; cl. 5, ord. 3. Bark-

ston wood. June.
Sambucus ebulus, dwarf elder ; cl. 5, ord. 3. Belvoir Castle
stables. July.
Viscum Album, white misseltoe ; cl. 22, ord. 3. On apple-
trees, but not very common. May.
Carvophylle^;.
Linum usitatissimum, common flax ; cl. 5, ord. 5. Among
corn, at Muston, Woolsthorpe, Eastwell, &c. July.
 catharticum, purging flax ; cl. 5, ord. 5. In meadows
&c. This plant is bitter, and powerfully, but as it seems, not
dangerously, cathartic. June — August.
Saponaria officinalis, common soap wort : cl. 10, ord. 2. In
the hedges of Harby, about the town. The whole plant is bitter.

vale of belvoir. 393
Bruised and agitated with water, it raises a lather like soap,
which washes greasy spots out of clothes. A decoction from the
leaves and roots is a powerful medicine used either internally or
externally. July — Sept.
Silene nutans, Nottingham catch-fly ; cl. 10, ord. 3. In and
about Nottingham, especially about the castle, this plant is found
in great abundance. It is now at Stathern from seed scattered
there. June, July.
Stellaria graminea, lesser stitch wort ; cl. 10, ord. 3. Three
varieties in the hedges or pastures. May.
Arenaria trinervis, plantain-leaved chickweed ; cl. 10, ord. 3.
On the hiUs among the plantations around Belvoir Castle. May,
June. A. rubra, and a variety ; purple sandwort ; cl. 10, ord. 3. In
ploughed fields. July, August.
Cerastium semidecandrum, Uttle mouse-ear chickweed ; cl. 10,
ord. 4. In old waUs and dry places about Stathern. March,
April. C. arvense, field chickweed ; cl. 10, ord. 4. At Woolsthorpe,
May — August.
C. aquaticum, water mouse-ear chickweed ; cl. 10, ord. 4. By
the Devon, and in hedges about Muston. July.
Spergula arvensis et pentandra, corn spurrey ; cl. 10, ord. 4.
Both in the lighter grounds in the Vale. Sir James Smith had
not seen a native specimen of the latter, which he considers but a
shght variety of the former, the difference being chiefly in the
seeds. June, July.
Moenchia erecta, upright moenchia ; cl. 5, ord. 3. Upon the
declivity of Belvoir hill, about the warren. An elegant little
plant misplaced in Sagina. May.
CiCHORACE-a:.
Tragopogon pratensis, yellow goat's-beard ; cl. 19, ord. 1 . In
pastures. June.
Lactuca virosa, strong-scented lettuce ; cl. 1 9, ord. 1 . Bark-
ston wood. August, Sept.
Picris echioides, bristly ox-tongue; cl. 19, ord. 1. Bottesford,
Muston. June, July. ClNEROCEPHAL^:.
Serratula tinctoria, common saw-wort ; cl. 19, ord. 1. Sta
thern and Harby pastures. This plant gives a yellow colour to

394 THE FLORA of the
Wool, for which purpose Linnaeus says, it is much used in Sweden.
July, August.
Cnicus heterophyllus, melancholy plume-thistle; cl. 19, ord. 1.
At Knipton, in the bogs. July, August.
C. eriophorus, woolly-headed plume-thistle. About Belvoir,
and all the way to Stathern, &c. August.
C. acaulis, dwarf plume-thistle ; at Croxton, in the way to
Skillington. July, August.
Cdrlina vulgaris, common Carline-thistle ; cl. 19, ord. 1.
About Belvoir hill, and the pastures below. This genus was
named after the Emperor Charlemagne, because according to re
port, one of its species, C. acaulis, was pointed out to him by an
angel, to cure his army of the plague. Its root is pungent bitter,
and tonic. June. Cisti.
Cistus helianihemum, common dwarf cistus; cl. 13, ord. 1. On
the banks about Croxton. July, August.
CORYMBIFERE^.
Bidens tripartita, three-lobed bur-marigold; cl. 19, ord. 1.
In the road from Belvoir Castle to Croxton. At Muston. Au
gust, Sept.
Tanacetum vulgare, common tansy ; cl. 19, ord. 2. Hills
above Barkston, Harby &c. July, August.
Gnaphalium dioicum, mountain cud- weed ; cl. 19, ord. 2. In
the road from Croxton to SkiUington, with a beautiful pale red
flower. June, July.
G. rectum, upright cud-weed. In a hedge near Waltham, one
mile from the town, on the left hand going to Grantham. August.
G. uliginosum, marsh cud-weed. Common in aU the Vale.
August. Erigeron acris, blue flea-bane ; cl. 19, ord. 2. Sparingly be
yond Langar, in the road to Nottingham. There is some degree
of acrimony in the whole plant, on which account, Haller says it
is given in Germany for disorders in the chest, as promoting
expectoration. July, August ; sometimes early in the spring.
Tussilago petasites, butterbur; cl. 19, ord. 2. Common every
where. Its reputed virtues, sudorific and antipestUential ; ex
ternally applied it is recommended for malignant sores, and ulcers.
April. T. hybrida, a casual variety of the former, in which the fertile,
or seed-bearing organs predominate. It is very scarce in other

vale of belvoir. 395
parts of the kingdom, but grows with the first along the banks of
the Devon ; and most plentifully at Knipton, and Muston.
Asted tripolium, sea-star-wort ; cl. 19, ord. 2. Brought from
the coast of Suffolk, and planted in the Vale of Belvoir, where
though the soil is very different, it flourishes much and flowers
about November. In its native soil, ( muddy sea-coast, and in
salt marshes ) from Aug. to Sept.
Inula Helenium, Elecampane; cl. 19, ord. 2. By the side of
the Devon. This plant is generally kept in rustic gardens, on
account of many traditional virtues. July, August.
I. pulicaria, lesser Elecampane. Scattered about Muston, from
seed brought from GiUingham, near Beccles, in Suffolk. Sept.
Achillea ptarmica, sneeze-wort yarrow; cl. 19, ord. 2. In and
about Goadby and EastweU. The whole plant has a pungent
flavour, provoking a flow of saUva. The sneezing caused by the
dry and powdered leaves is rather owing to their Uttle sharp,
marginal prickles. July, August. Cruciferje.
Lepidium latifolium, broad-leaved pepper- wort ; cl. 1 5, ord. 1 .
At Muston, brought from Aldborough, in Suffolk. A common
Greek plant, Lepidion of Disscorides, who attributes an acrid,
ulcerating quality to its leaves, and it still bears the name of
Lepidi, in Attica. July.
Thlaspi arvense, penny-cress; cl. 15, ord. 1. At Stathern;
seeds from SkiUington. Seeds acrid, with a strong garlic flavour,
which occasioned them to be used formerly as an ingredient in the
Mithridate confection, an elaborate hodge-podge, now laid aside.
The name of penny-cress alludes to the form and size of the seed-
vessels, resembling a silver penny. June, July.
Senebiera coronopus, common wart-cress; cl. 15, ord. 1. In
pathways and yards. The whole is nauseously acrid and fetid.
June — Sept.
Barbarea vulgaris, bitter winter-cress ; cl. 15, ord. 2. Mus
ton. The whole plant is nauseously bitter, and in some degree
mucUaginous. May — August.
Arabis thaliana, common waU-cress ; cl. 15, ord. 2. Sandy
banks. The whole plant has a warm pungent flavour, like the
rest of its class. April.
Nasturtium amphibium, amphibious yellow cress ; cl. 15, ord.
1. June — August.

396 the flora of the
N. officinale, Common water-cress. June, July.
N. terrestre, annual yeUow cress. June — Sept.
The above found chiefly at Langar.
Sinapis nigra, alba, et arvensis, black, or common white, and
wild mustard, or charlock; cl. 15, ord. 2. AU these in the corn
fields of the Vale. May— July.
Cucurbitace*.
Brionia dioica, red berried bryony ; cl. 21, ord. 4. In hedges,
not frequent. Root of a very acrid, and purgative quality. May
—Sept. CTPEROrDE^.
Car ex dioica, creeping separate-headed carex ; cl. 21, ord. 2.
May, June.
C. puUcaria, flea carex. Both in Knipton by the Devon.
June. C. paniculata, great panicled carex. In boggy places by the
Devon. June.
C. flava, yellow carex. Woolsthorpe. May, June.
C. pilulifera, round-headed carex. Woolsthorpe. April,
May. C. sylvatica, pendulous wood carex. In Stathern wood. Used
by the Laplanders, when cured and dressed, as a protection from
severe cold. May, June.
C. acuta, slender-spiked carex. May.
C. tenella, slender headed carex, and about twelve more species
are found in the Vale, principaUy about the Devon, at Knipton.
Dipsace-s:.
Valeriana officinalis, great wild valerian ; cl. 3, ord. 1. Un
der the hill at Goadby, Piper's hole, Devon side. A variety of
this plant is in much repute, as an anti-spasmodic. June.
Fieices.
Scolopendrium vulgare, common hart's-tongue ; cl. 24, ord. 1.
When bruised the whole plant has a nauseous scent ; to the taste
it is mucilagenous and acrid ; formerly used in medicine. July.
Asplenium trichomanes, common maidenhair spleenwort. Upon
Stathern and other churches. May. — Dec.
A. ruta-muraria, wall-rue spleenwort. Muston church, &c.
June — Oct.
Aspidium thelypteris, marsh shield-fern. About Croxton Park.
July.

VALE OF BELVOIR. 397
A. filix mas et filix fazmina, male and female shield-ferns. In
Belvoir plantations. The root of the former is a famous Swiss
remedy for intestinal worms, chiefly the tape worm, which in that
country is a different species from ours. The peculiar nauseous
flavour of the root may be detected in the quack medicine which
has been sold for the above purpose. There are many drugs more
safe, and better known in their operation. June, July.
A. aculeatum, common prickly shield-fern. About Granby.
July. Fungi.
Podisoma juniperi sabince, savine podisoma, on living branches
of savine. This fungus can scarcely be called indigenous to this
country, being found only on the savine, which is a foreign shrub.
It grows upon that in the greatest abundance, and appears prin
cipally in July and August.
Tremella albida, dirty-white tremella. On fallen trees, branch
es, &c. ; in the wood by the Devon's side ; at Woolsthorpe.
Winter and spring.
Exidia auricula Judce, Jews ears. On elder, in the warren,
between Belvoir and Stathern. Early autumn and winter.
Polyporus igniarius, hard amadou polyporus. On willow,
cherry, and plum trees, very common.
P. perennis, perennial cinnamon polyporus. On tlie ground in
woods. Autumn and winter.
P. squamosus, large scaly polyporus. Decayed trunks of trees,
stumps, &c, especially upon ash. Summer and early autumn.
very common.
P. versicolor, party coloured polyporus. Extremely common
on trunks of trees, posts, sticks, &c.
P. giganteus, giant polyporus. On stumps of felled trees,
hedge-banks, &c; rare. Oct. — Jan.
P. varius, variable polyporus. Trunks of trees and branches
lying on the ground. Common all the year.
P. ccesins, blue-stained polyporus. On trunks of fir-trees in
Stathern wood.
Fistulina hepatica, juicy fistulina. On oak, ash, walnut, beech,
and chesnut. Aug. — Oct.
Boletus strobilaceus, fir- cone boletus. August.
B. luteus, dingy yellow boletus. Fir plantations ; extremely
common. Phallus impudicus, common stink-horn. In many of the plan-

398 THE FLORA OF THE
tations about Belvoir, and at Denton. Summer and autumn.
Hydnum auriscalpum, hairy-stalked hydnum. On cones of
the Scotch fir, near the Castle, all the year.
Leotia lubrica, sUmy leotia. Several grow together among the
rotten leaves and the perishing plants in Sept. and Oct.
Nidularia campanulata, bell-shaped, bird's-nest peziza. On
the ploughed land at Harby.
Sphaeria punctata, dotted, cup-shaped sphaeria. On horse-
dung. S. concentrica, zoned sphaeria. On trunks of dead or decaying
trees, especially on ash. Common in spring or early summer.
S. de-usta, scorched sphaeria. These two last, in Stathern wood.
S. fragiformis, strawberry sphaeria. On the decayed sticks of
yews. (Crabbe.) On beech bark, seldom on that of other trees.
(Hooker.) S. mammeeformis, nipple-shaped sphaeria. On willows at
Stathern. Peziza scutellata, shield-like peziza. On rotten wood in moist
places, Eastwell.
P. gracilis, slender peziza. This species is not described by
Hooker. The stalk is an inch high, and very slender ; the cup
about the size of half a pea hollowed ; the colour brown, and the
surface smooth, both within and without. It grows in the plan
tation on the right hand, in going from Belvoir Castle to Black
berry hill. Sept.
Clavaria coralloides, coral clavaria.
C. pratensis, small coral clavaria. The first is common in
woods about Belvoir ; and the second, which is easily distingui
shed by its tufted fastigiate growth, in the pastures. Oct. Nov.
Lycoperdon giganteum, giant puff-ball. In meadows, not very
common, attaining a large size, often many feet in circumference,
and filled with a loathsome pulpy mass.
L. Gemmatum, studded puff-ball. In pastures ; common.
Reticularia maxima, large reticularia. Woods at Belvoir.
Lycogala epidendrum, scarlet lycogola. On rotten stumps,
pales, &c. Spring — autumn.
Gentians.
Menyanthes trifoliata, common buckbean ; cl. o, ord. 1. Of
doubtful natural order, but akin to gentianae. Between Stathern
town and the wood ; Knipton. June, July

VALE OF BELVOIR. 399
Gentiana amarella, autumnal gentian ; cl. 5, ord. 2. In the
pastures between Stathern and Plungar. August, Sept.
Gerania.
Oxalis acetosella, (akin to gerania) wood sorrel ; cl. 10, ord. 4.
Croxton Park. This herb is powerfully and most agreeably acid,
making a refreshing and wholesome conserve with fine sugar ; its
flavour resembling green tea. Few of our wild flowers are more
elegant. April, May.
Erodivm cicutarium, hemlock stork's-bill ; cl. 16, ord. 1. June
— September.
E. moschatum, musky stork's-bill. June, July. The two last
species are scarce in the Vale.
Geranium pratense, blue meadow crane's-bill. June, July.
G. molle, common dove's-foot crane's-bill ; two varieties.
April — August .
G. lucidum, shining crane's bill. This was brought from Mat
lock, and is scattered about Stathern. May — August.
G. dissectum, jagged-leaved crane's-bill. May, June.
G. robertianum, stinking crane's bill, and a variety, G. luci
dum saxatile, brought from Orford beach, in Suffolk.
Gr amines.
Nardus stricta, common mat-grass ; cl. 3, ord. 1. In Knipton
pastures, and about Belvoir. July.
Hepatice.
Jungermannia furcata, forked jungermannia ; cl. 24, ord. 3.
In the plantations next the warren, at Belvoir.
Marchantia polymorpha, polymorphous marchantia. Formerly
in an old limekiln below Belvoir Castle. July.
Hydrocharides.
Nuphar lutea, common yellow water-lily ; cl. 13, ord. 1. In
the Devon about Staunton. July.
Hyperica.
Hypericum humifusum, trailing St. John's-wort ; cl. 18, ord. 1,
Very sparingly about Woolsthorpe, by the river. July.
H. perforatum, common perforated St. John's-wort. This
plant bleeds at the slightest touch, and was formerly supposed to
have a vulnerary quality. It imparts a blood red colour to eyery

400 THE FLORA OF THE
composition, whether of a spirituous or oily nature into which it
enters. The essential oil, the seat of this colour, is aromatic, and
possibly tonic or stimulating, without much acrimony. July
August. H. hirsutum, hairy St. John's-wort. June, July.
H. quadrangulum, square St. John's-wort. The whole plant
when bruised has a light aromatic, lemon-like odour. July,
August. The three last upon the hiU above Harby, Stathern, &c.
Irides.
Iris fwtidissima, stinking Iris. Stathern. May.
JlJNCI.
Juncus bulbosus, bulbous rush ; cl. 6, ord. 1. Muston, Bottes
ford. Labiate.
Nepeta caturia, common cat-mint ; cl. 14, ord. 1. About
Muston, in the way to Bennington Grange. July.
Mentha hirsuta, hairy mint. There are several varieties of this
species in watery places. Some specimens gathered in 1 743, re
tained in 1820, the fine odour of frankincense-thyme. Aug.,
Sept, M. rubra, tall red mint. Stathern, &c. Sept.
M. arvensis, corn mint. In sandy corn fields frequent, es
pecially where water has stagnated. This herb has a strong
unpleasant odour, like cheese covered with blue mould. Haller
calls it detestable. June — Sept.
M. pulegium, penny royal ; scarce. It is a popular remedy
for many obstructions, as well as for debility of the internal
organs, being powerfully stimulant and tonic. Sept.
Betonica officinalis, wood betony. Belvoir and Woolsthorpe.'
Betony is generally made an ingredient in herb snuffs. The root
is said to be emetic and purgative. July, August.
Ballota alba, a variety of B. nigra, stinking horehound. Sta
thern, and sparingly in Woolsthorpe. July, August.
Leonurus cardiaca, common mother-wort. Not a native of
the Vale, but now about Stathern, from seed brought from Cove,
near Beccles, in Suffolk. Its specific name is derived from the
reputed tonic powers of this herb, when used in palpitations of the
heart, or in that disease of the stomach called heartburn. July,
August

VALE OF BELVOIR. 401
CUnopodium vulgare, common wild basil. On the hill above
Barkston wood. August.
Prunella vulgaris, common self-heal. Hill above Harby. This
herb is, in Germany, reckoned salutary for ulcerations of the throat
and mouth, caUed in the language of that country, die Breune,
whence, says Ray, came the name of Brunella ; softened by Lin
naeus into Prunella. July, August.
LeGUMINOS-SE.
Spartium scoparium, common broom ; cl. 17, ord. 3. About
Claxton, but very scarce. A decoction of the young tops of this
shrub, powerfully purgative and diuretic, is a rustic remedy for
dropsies, which regular practitioners have not altogether despised.
May, June.
Genista Anglica, needle green-weed. Sparingly about Goad
by. May, June.
Anthyllis vulneraria, common kidney vetch, or ladies' finger.
At Knipton, Muston, AUington, &c. This herb is supposed to
possess the property of staunching the blood of a wound. June
— August. Orobus tuberosum, common bitter vetch. In the pastures about
Claxton and Goadby. The roots have a sweetish taste, and afford
some luxuries and refreshments to the hardy, independent High
lander. May, June.
Lathyrus nissolia, crimson vetchling. Plentifully in a little
meadow at Muston, in the way to Bottesford ; very sparingly at
any other place. May.
Ervum tetraspermum, smooth tare. June, July.
E. hirsutum, hairy tare. June — August. Both common at
Muston, Bottesford, &c.
Ornithopus perpusillus, common bird's foot. On the dry hills
about Croxton. May.
Hedysarum onobrychis, common sainfoin. At Muston in a
meadow caUed sainfoin. We are indebted to the French for its
general introduction as fodder for cattle ; hence its present name.
Its former name was cockshead. June, July.
Astralagus glycyphyllos, sweet milk vetch, or wild liquorice.
At Piper's hole, sparingly. Useless for agricultural purposes.
June. TrifoKum officinale, common melilot. Out of use as a medi
cine. Its scent in drying is Uke new hay, but far stronger. June,
July.
DD

402 THE FLORA OF THE
T. repens, white trefoil or Dutch clover. In meadows, &c.
May— Sept.
T. pratense, common purple clover, and a variety with a white
flower. One of the most valuable artificial grasses, as they are
called, for fodder or hay, being according to the best authorities,
one of the most nutritious of its tribe. May — Sept.
T. arvense, hare's-foot trefoil. At Bottesford. A useless if
not troublesome weed. July, August.
T. striatum, soft knotted trefoil. At Bottesford. A weed
that indicates a dry barren pasture. June.
T. subterraneum, subterraneous trefoil. Now at Muston.
Brought from Bury, in Suffolk. Not valuable as an artificial
grass. May.
T. fragiferum, strawberry-headed trefoU. In wet pastures.
Cattle eat the herbage, but its produce is late and inconsiderable.
July, August.
T. proambens, hop trefoil.
T. minus, lesser trefoil. Both In dry graveUy pastures. June,
July. Lotus major, greater bird's-foot trefoil. In the boggy parts of
the river Devon, and about Harston. The agricultural quaUties
of this plant are but little, if at all known. July, August,
Medicago maculata, spotted medick. Now at Muston ; brought
from the banks of the Cam. This has been mentioned, but not
much recommended, as a fodder for cattle. May, June.
Lichenes.
Lecidea vernalis, vernal lecidea. On Croxton Park waU.
L. incana, soft mealy-crusted lecidea.
L. canescens, grey lecidea.
L. muscorum, moss lecidea. On mosses in the pastures of the
Vale ; comi .on.
Squamaria gelida, flesh-coloured squamaria. On walls of
Croxton Park.
Lecanora parella, crab's-eye lecanora. On walls from Belvoir
to Stathern. This is the pereUe of Auvergne, and other parts of
France, where it is extensively employed to produce a dye far
superior to that of the cudbear, — Lecanora turtarea.
Lichen excavatus and L. subimbricatus, are not named in
Hooker ; but are said to be found, the former on dry hiUs in
Harby pasture; and the latter on Stathern Church, and the waUs
in the church yard.

VALE OF BELVOIR. 403
Parmelia physodes, inflated parmelia. About Goadby Park,
sparingly. Collema nigrescens, bat's wing collema. In Stathern wood,
but not frequent.
Ramalinafastigiata, fastigiate ramalina ;
R. farinacea, narrow mealy ramalina. Both in plantations
about Belvoir.
There are in the Vale many varieties of the cup-lichen ; but
they have the brown fructifications only ; the scarlet kinds are
very scarce.
Usnea plicata, stringy usnea. In a plantation by the side of
the Devon ; at Woolsthorpe. Lysimachi^;.
Pinguicula vulgaris, common butterwort, Yorkshire sanicle ;
cL 2, ord. 1 . In low boggy ground about Knipton, by the side of
the Devon, but sparingly. The viscid exudation of the leaves is
reputed to be good for the sore dugs of cows ; whence the York
shire name. May, June.
Lysimachia nummularia, creeping loosestrife ; cl. 5, ord. 1.
By ditches and moist banks at Langar, Colston Bassett, &c.
June, July.
Anagallis tendla, bog pimpernel. By the Devon side at Knip
ton. It yields to none of our wild plants in elegance ; and being
scarcely known on the Continent, except in the south, it is a
welcome present to German, Swiss, and Swedish botanists. July,
August. MALVACE.&.
Malva moschata, musk mallow ; cl. 16, ord. 3. v Harby, Bel
voir, &c. The musky scent proceeds from the herbage, not from
the flowers. July, August. n
Musci.
Phascum. muticum, common dwarf earth-moss ; cl. 24. Moist
banks, EastweU and Stathern. Spring.
Polytrichum nanum, dwarf round-headed hair-moss. In the
road from Croxton by the Park wall. Dec.
Bryum palustre, marsh thread-moss. In a bog at Knipton.
June. Bartramia fontana, fountain apple-moss. Under Stathern
hill. July.

404 THE FLORA OF THE
Encalypta vulgaris, common extinguisher-moss. On waUs
near Belvoir Castle. March.
Funa.ria hygrometriea, hygrometric cord-moss. Below Belvoir.
May. Bryum serpillifolium, not named in Hooker. Several varieties
said to be found in the gardens and plantations about Belvoir
Castle. Dicranum bryoides, lesser pinnated-leaved fork-moss.
D. taxifolium, yew-leaved fork-moss.
D. adiantoides, adiantum-like fork-moss. The last three may
be found in winter, in the moist plantations, and hedge sides
.about Woolsthorpe,
Hypnum splendens, glittering feather-moss. On the hill be
tween Belvoir and Stathern. The whole plant is glossy, whence
its specific name. April.
H. dendroides, tree-like feather-moss. In Knipton Wood, by
the brook. Nov.
H. alopecurum, foxtail feather-moss. Very large in Belvoir
plantations. October. Naiades.
Hippuris vulgaris, common mare's-taU ; cl. 1, ord. 1. In the
Devon. May, June.
Callitriche verna, vernal water-starwort ; cl. 1, ord. 2. April,
May. Callitriche autumnalis, autumnal water-starwort. Both in
ditches about Langar. June — Oct.
Zannichella palustris, common horned-pondweed ; cl. 21, ord.
1. In pools about Stathern. July.
Chara vulgaris, common chara; cl. 1, ord. 1. Ponds at East-
well. The whole plant nauseously fetid, usuaUy incrusted with
earth, if any happens to be chemically dissolved in the water.
July. Lemna trisulca, ivy leaved duckweed ; cl. 2, ord. 1. Ponds at
Eastwell. June.
Onagri.
Epilobium tetragonum, square-stalked willow-herb ; cl. 8, ord.
1. Sides of springs about Knipton. July.
Circcea lutetiana, common enchanter's nightshade ; cl. 2, ord.
1 . In Stathern wood. Used formerly in incantations and phU-
£ers. June, July.

vale of belvoir. 405
Orchide^;.
Orchis pyramidalis, pyramidal orchis ; cl. 20, ord. 1. At
Woolsthorpe, by the Devon. July.
0. mascula, early purple orchis. In Stathern wood, Piper's
hole. The flowers are probably, what the Queen in Hamlet,
terms " Long-purples. " April, May.
0. morio, green-winged meadow orchis. Common in pastures.
May, June.
•0. ustulata, dwarf dark -winged orchis. Very scarce, but found
beyond Bingham, by the Trent side. June.
0. latifolia, marsh palmate orchis. May, June.
0. maculata, spotted palmate orchis. June, July. The two
last common in moist meadows.
0. conopsea, aromatic palmate orchis. Scarce, but found about
Goadby and Eastwell. June.
Listera ovata, common tway blade. In Belvoir plantations,
next Woolsthorpe. The name commemorates Dr. Martin Lister,
contemporary with Ray, best known as a conchologist and en
tomologist. June.
Epipactis latifolia, broad-leaved heUeborine. In a plantation
below Belvoir Castle. July, August.
Pediculares.
Veronica chamcedrys, germander speedwell ; cl. 2, ord. 1.
Knipton pastures, Muston gorse. Some take this for the Ger
man 'Forget me not'. It vies in beauty with the true one, Myoso-
tis palustris. May, June.
Polygala vulgaris, common milkwort ; d. 17, ord. 3. Three
varieties, blue, red, and- white, are common. Our polygala, like
some other European species of the same genus, is bitter, and
when given in infusion, promotes expectoration, and is good for
a catarrhous cough. June, July.
POLYGONEiE.
Polygonum amphibium, amphibious persicaria ; cl. 8, ord. 2.
In and near the watery places about Plungar and Barkston.
Water fowl are said by Curtis, to be fond of the seed. July,
August. P. hydropiper, biting persicaria. About Muston, in ponds.
Glandular dots are scattered more or less universally, over the
whole herbage, and in which its acrid quality resides. Sept.

406 THE FLORA of the
Ranuncdlace^;.
Anemone ranunculoides, yellow wood anemone ; cl. 13, ord.
3. At Piper's hole, Croxton Park. April.
Ranunculus fiammula, lesser spear-wort crowfoot. The whole
plant is highly acrid, blistering the skin. Dr. Withering recom
mends the distilled water as an instantaneous emetic in cases of
poison. He does not mention the dose. June, Sept.
R. lingua, great spear-wort crowfoot. July.
R. repens, creeping crowfoot. A double variety is sometimes
seen in gardens. June — August.
R. bulbosus, bulbous crowfoot ; butter cups. This species is
acrid, though commonly eaten with other herbage, by domestic
cattle. May.
R. acris, upright meadow crowfoot. June, July.
R. sceleratus, water crowfoot. The bruised herb is said to
raise a blister, leaving a sore which is not easily healed, and by
which strolling beggars sometimes excite compassion. June —
August. R. auricomus, wood crowfoot ; goldilocks. This species having
no acrimony, has been termed dulcis, or sweet wood crowfoot.
April, May.
R. parviflorus, smaU flowered crowfoot. May, June.
R. arvensis, corn crowfoot. Very acrid and dangerous to
cattle, though they are said to eat it greedily. It is asserted, that
three ounces of the juice has killed a dog in four minutes. Se
veral sheep were killed by feeding on this herb near Turin, which
first led to an investigation of the matter. Cholic with inflam
mation of the stomach were the symptoms, which were best
removed by pouring vinegar down the animal's throats. Hence,
like most vegetable poisons this crowfoot seems to act on the
nerves, and yet black spots were found in the sheep's stomachs.
June. R. hederacens, ivy crowfoot. May — August.
R. aquatilis, white floating crowfoot. The natural state of
this species is when it mantles the surface of still pools or ditches
with its lobed floating leaves, and abundance of white flowers,
yellow in the middle, &c. May, June.
R. ficaria, pilewort crowfoot. April. There is only another
British ranunculus, viz., R. Gramineas, which is found in dry
Alpine pastures in Wales. R. parviflorus is found on dry walls
at Muston. R. fiammula in the Devon.

vale of belvoir. 407
Rhamni.
Rhamnus catharticus, common buckthorn ; cl. 5, ord. 1. In
Muston grove, but not common. Berries globular, bluish black,
nauseous, violently purgative, with four cells, and as many seeds ;
by which last character they are easily known by druggists from
the fruit of the following, which is supposed to be less active.
The unripe berries dye yellow. Flowers in May. Fruit in Sept.
R. frangula, alder buckthorn. At Woolsthorpe, Knipton,
Stathern. Flowers in May. Fruit in July.
Rosacea.
Sanguisorba officinalis, great burnet ; cl. 4, ord. 1 . In se
veral meadows between Muston and Bottesford ; probably culti
vated at first for its supposed tonic properties, but now in no
great esteem. June, July.
Alchemilla vulgaris, common ladies' mantle. Stathern. June
— August
Prunus padus, bird cherry ; cl. 12, ord. 1. In Belvoir planta
tions. Birds of several kinds soon devour this fruit, which is
nauseous and probably dangerous to mankind. May.
Spircta filipendula, common dropwort ; cl. 12, ord. 2. About
Knipton, Waltham on the wolds, &c. Linnaeus says, " the dried
knobs of the roots beaten or ground into meal, afford no despi
cable substitute for bread." The whole plant nevertheless is
very astringent. July.
Rubus idans, raspberry ; cl. 12, ord. 3. About Belvoir in the
deepest part of the wilderness. May, June.
R. ccesius, dewberry. In great quantity about Colston Bassett.
June, July.
Rosa villosa, soft-leaved round-fruited rose. Stathern.
Fragaria vesca, wood strawberry. About Belvoir. Esteemed
by Linnaeus to be very salutary for gouty constitutions. But he
seems to have conceived this opinion chiefly from observing the
effect of strawberries in removing tartar from the teeth. May,
June. Potentilla fragariastrum, strawberry-leaved cinquefoil. In
Stathern wood. March, April.
P. reptans, common creeping cinquefoil. At Stathern in the
pastures below the hill. The bark of the root is astringent,
hence this plant has found a place in the Pharmacopoeia ; but it
is now out of use ; there being many more efficacious medicines
of the same kind. June — August.

408 THE flora of the
Poterium sanguisorba, common salad burnet ; cl. 21, ord. 6.
Hills about Woolsthorpe. The leaves taste and smell like cucum
ber, and give that flavour to salads, for which purpose this plant
is very generally cultivated. July.
RtTBIACE.aE.
Galium cruciatum, cross-wort bed-straw ; cl. 4, ord. 1. In
thickets and hedges, common. May.
Saxifrage.
Parnassia palustris, common grass of parnassus ; cl. 5, ord. 4.
In pastures and bogs by the Devon side. Sept., Oct.
Saxifraga tridactylites, rue-leaved saxifrage ; cl. 10, ord. 2.
On thatch, walls, and old buildings. April, May.
S. granulata, white meadow saxifrage. About Belvoir. May.
SCR0PHCLARI«.
Antirrhinum elatine, sharp pointed flueUin, or snapdragon ; cl.
14, ord. 2.
A. spurium, round leaved flueUin. Both may be found from
July to Sept., in cornfields between Muston and Bottesford.
Scrophularia nodosa, knotty-rooted figwort. In hedges about
Croxton. July.
S. aquatica, water figwort. Muston &c. July.
SOEANE«.
Verbascum nigrum, dark mullein ; cl. 5, ord. 1. July, August.
Datura stramonium, common thornapple. In several meadows
about Belvoir Castle, but most probably from seed which origina
ted in the garden. It is properly a native of America. Every
part of the plant is a strong narcotic poison, producing vertigo,
torpor, and death. It was once eaten by two soldiers in mistake
for the chenopodium album : one became furious, and ran about
like a madman; and the other died with the symptoms of genuine
tetanus. It is used, prepared as an ointment, to give ease in
external inflammation, and hoemmorroides ; as an extract in
convulsive affections and epilepsis ; and the dried root, and lower
part of the stalks smoked like tobacco, alleviate and ward off
spasmodic asthma. July.
Solanun dulcamara, woody nightshade, bitter sweet. Com
mon about watery places. The whole plant poisonous. Children
allured by the beautiful appearance of the berries, have often
experienced their fatal effects. June, July.

VALE OF BELVOIR. 409
THYMELACE.E.
Daphne laureola, spurge laurel ; cl. 8, ord. 1. Stathern wood,
Muston grove, and about Langar. Useful in rheumatic fevers,
and in worm cases ; but dangerous in unskilful hands. March.
Tiliace^:.
Tilia Europcea, common smooth lime-tree; cl. 13, ord. 1. About
Belvoir, &c. July. Typhje.
Typha augustifolia, lesser cat's-tail; cl. 21, ord. 2. In a pool
beyond Barrowby, in the road to Grantham. June, July.
Sparganium ramosum, branched bur-reed. In the Devon at
Bottesford and Staunton. The herbage serves for package, along
with similar grassy plants, and is softer and more pliant than
most of them ; not cutting the hands by any sharp edges, like
carices or fern. July, August. Umbellifeeje.
Sdnicula Europcea, wood sanicle ; cl. 5, ord. 2. At Croxton..
The herb is bitter, with an acrid, somewhat aromatic, pungency.
Its vulnerary qualities are no longer beUeved. May.
Sison anomum, hedge honewort. At Stathern, by the sides of
the southern inclosures. The dry seeds are pungent and aro
matic ; but in an early state, they have like the whole herb, a
peculiar nauseous scent, when bruised, resembling that of bugs.
Bunium fiexuosum, common earth-nut. Plentiful in most parts
of the Vale. Root eatable, internally white, aromatic, sweet, and
mucilaginous, with some acrimony; May, June.
(Enanthe phellandrium, fine-leaved water-dropwort. In the
Devon, about Bottesford and Staunton. Its specific name is de
rived from a Greek verb, signifying, to be treacherous, in aUusion
to the poisonous, nature of the plant. June, July.
Myrrhis odorata, sweet cicely. About Belvoir ; but it may be
suspected to have sprung from the gardens. The young seeds
have the flavour of anise, and are gratefuUy stomachic. May.
Pastinaca sativa, common wild parsnep. Plentiful at Stathern ;
the root six inches long, white, aromatic, mucilaginous, and sweet,
with a degree of acrimony, which it loses by cultivation, becoming
the eatable garden parsnep.. July.
Smyrnium olusatrum, common alexanders. In the Nottingham
shire part of the Vale about Bingham &c. Highly aromatic,.

410 the flora.
but too strong and bitter to be pleasant: resembling celery,
which seems to have taken its place at modern tables. May.
Pimpinella magna, greater burnet-saxifrage. In the southern
part of the Vale, below and about Piper's hole, Claxton, &c.
Root rather aromatic and pungent, not unpleasant. July, August.
A2gopodium podagraria, common gout- weed. In gardens at
Stathern. Root pungently aromatic, with some acrimony ; used
as a cataplasm in the gout. May, June.

S. RIDGE, PRINTER, GRANTHAM,