LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1873. CONTENTS.-No. 53. THE CASTLES, HALLS, AND MANOR HOUSES OF ENGLAND:-Audley End, Essex, 109. NOTES:-Churches in Kent, 112-Merlin and his Cave FACTS AND JOTTINGS:-Discovery of a Tomb, 118-Fine Arts: Fresco ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS, 120. THE large and magnificent structure known as Audley End, the seat of Lord Braybrooke, stands in a finely-wooded park adjoining the quaint but picturesque village bearing that name, about a mile west from Saffron Walden, and between forty and fifty miles from London, by the Great Eastern Railway. The present mansion consists of only a small part of the original building, owing to the curtailments that have at various times been effected in it. When the house was first built, it was considered one of the most splendid and capacious mansions in the country; and at that time large, rather than comfortable or handsome houses, and magnitude, in preference to beauty or elegance, were in fashion. It was with some such sentiments as these, perhaps, that Thomas Howard, first Earl of Suffolk, who came into possession of the estate towards the end of the sixteenth century, "determined," as Walpole observes, "to have an immense pile of building," and vast sums were expended in the erection and embellishment of the structure. With this end in view, the earl is said to have sold an estate of 10,000l. a year, besides which he was largely assisted by his uncle, the Earl of Northampton. Five hundred pounds, it is said, were paid for a model of the building, which was procured from Italy; and we are told that in the construction of Audley End, the earl expended no less than 190,000l. Lord Braybrooke, in his "History of Audley End," in speaking of the original builder, says that, "according to Horace Walpole, Bernard Jansen was the architect employed; but after hazarding this assertion, he contrives to establish a stronger claim in behalf of John Thorpe, who built many of the houses of the nobility about that period, and whose partiality for what Walpole terms barbarous ornaments and balustrades, he specially notices; adding that some of his vast bow-windows advanced outwards in a sharp angle, and thus actually describing a portion of the principal court of Audley End long since demolished." The noble author of the work referred to, adds that "the house has always been supposed to have been commenced in 1603, and to have occupied thirteen years before it was entirely finished; and the date of 1616 still remains upon one of the gateways." It is said that when the house was completed, King James was invited to see it. Having surveyed the but structure with great astonishment, the earl asked his majesty how he liked it. "Very well," replied James; troth, man," he continued, sarcastically, "it is too much for a King, but it may do for a Lord High Treasurer!" Thomas Lord Howard, it should be remarked, was much honoured by James I., and was advanced by him to the Earldom of Suffolk, and made Lord Chamberlain, and at the time above referred to was Lord High Treasurer of England. In "Evelyn's Diary we get some notion of the regal thus records his visit :-" From Cambridge, on August 31, magnificence of the house soon after its completion. Evelyn 1654, we went to Audley End, and spent some time in seeing Lord Treasurer. It is a mixt fabric, 'twixt ancient and that goodly palace, built by Howard, Earl of Suffolk, once and it is one of the stateliest palaces of the kingdom. It modern, and observable for its being completely finished; consists of two courts; the first very large, winged with cloisters. The front hath a double entrance; the hall is faire, but somewhat too small for so august a pile; the kitchen is very large, as are the cellars, arched with stone very neate, and well disposed. These offices are joyned by a wing out of the way very handsomely. The gallery is the most cheerful, and, I think, one of the best in England, a faire dining-roome, and the rest of the lodgings answerable, with a pretty chapel. The gardens are not in order, though well enclosed; it has also a bowling-alley, and a nobly walled, wooded, and watered park. The river glides before the Palace, to which is an avenue of lime-trees; but all this is much diminished by its being placed in an obscure bottom. For the rest, it is a perfectly uniform structure, and shows without like a diadem, by the decoration of the cupolas and other ornaments on the pavilions. Instead of railings and balusters, there is a bordure of capital letters, as lately, also, in Suffolke House."* Audley End at this time, we are told, consisted, besides the offices, of various ranges of buildings, which surrounded two spacious quadrangular courts. That to the westward was the largest, and was approached through a grand entrance gateway, flanked by four round towers, whence the road up to the mansion was over a bridge across the lake, through a double avenue of limes. On the north and south sides of the principal quadrangle was a range of open cloisters formed by columns of alabaster, over which the apartments were erected; while on the eastern side, a noble flight of steps led up to the entrance-porches, conducting to the great hall, which formed the centre of the building. Passing through the hall, the inner court was entered; this was surrounded by an arcade, over which were the principal apartments, and beyond this was the chapel, of which not a vestige is left. Of the inner court, only three sides are now standing, and these constitute the present mansion. was In its perfect state the entire pile is stated to have appeared like a large college, with numerous turrets, cupolas, and pinnacles. "The rooms were very large, inconvenient, and many of them unpleasant; and to keep the whole in good repair required an immense fortune." In 1666, the mansion was disposed of to Charles II. for the sum of 50,000/.. of which, however, only a portion was paid, 20,000l. being left on mortgage. In 1670, the court was regularly established there; and the queen very frequently resided in the house. According to Lord Braybrooke, "Lord Suffolk and his successor, the fourth earl, seem to have resided at Chesterfield Park after the sale of Audley End, which was committed to the charge of one of the family, who held the office of housekeeper and keeper of the wardrobe, with a salary; and this arrangement continued until 1701, when the house and park were reconveyed to Henry, fifth Earl of Suffolk, upon condition of his relinquishing all claim to the 20,000l. which had remained on mortgage from the year 1668; nor is it clear that any interest had been ever paid upon it." In 1721, a great part of the building was pulled down, and the materials sold. The marble pillars of the chapel were * Now Northumberland House, in the Strand, the town residence make an approach to the Thames Embankment. of the Duke of Northumberland, about to be demolished in order to purchased by Lord Onslow; and King William bought some pieces of tapestry, which he afterwards removed to Windsor Castle, for a sum of 4500l. Three sides of the western quadrangle, which formed the grand entrance to the house, were destroyed, says Mr. Walpole, "by the advice of that injudicious architect, Sir John Vanburgh, who designed the uncouth screen at the south end of the hall." Lord Effingham, who succeeded to the Earldom of Suffolk in 1742-3, disposed of the house and park, in 1747, to Elizabeth, Countess of Portsmouth, for 10,000/., "which sum included the timber, five hundred head of deer, a water-mill, and the right of presentation to the Mastership of Magdalen College, Cambridge." There was at this time, it seems, some idea of pulling the house entirely down, and disposing of the materials, or of converting the buildings into a silk manufactory, for which the spacious premises and mill, near at hand, appeared well adapted. Had the building remained many more years in the condition it was then, the probability is that the "pulling down" would not have been required, for it is stated that "the house was rapidly going to decay; the windows were without glass in many places, the furniture taken away, the cupola, in the centre, in danger of falling from every high wind, and the eastern wing, with its noble gallery, so unsafe, that Lady Portsmouth levelled it to the ground in 1749.' This gallery was 226 feet in length, 32 feet in width, and 24 feet in height; the walls were of wainscot, profusely ornamented with carved work; upon the chimney. piece the "Labours of Hercules" were represented, carved in oak; and the stuccoed ceiling displayed the "Loves of the Gods." At feet in length, twenty-seven feet wide, and twenty-nine feet The present entrance to the mansion from the road lead-striking and singular effect. The fittings of the wall are of ing to Saffron Walden is almost opposite the entrance to the village of Audley End, and comprises a gateway of noble proportions, having a large central arch, with a smaller one on either side. In the spandrils of the centre arch appears the date 1616, over which is a panel bearing this inscription : : JOAN. B. H. DE WALD. REST. ET. ORN. M.DCC.LXXXVI. house. wood-work, painted in white and gold, and carved up twelve feet from the ground; the cornice and frieze being supported by pilasters placed at equal distances, the spaces between which are allotted to portraits, in whole length, of the different persons connected with the history of Audley End, let into arches serving as frames, and the spandrils of which are filled with rich foliage. Upon the wall above the cornice, which has a bold projection, are quatre-feuilles, worked The whole is surmounted by the crest of Lord Howard in stucco, probably added after the room was finished, and de Walden, namely, a lion standing on a cap of main- not in character with the ceiling. The frieze is deep, and tenance. A semicircular carriage drive leads up to the decorated with lions' heads and a variety of other patterns, The western, or grand entrance front of the carved in wood. The pilasters are also surmounted by building is ornamented with uniform projecting porches, ascend by three steps, commands a fine view of the grounds, grotesque heads. The large western bow, to which we each having seventeen marble columns at the angles. Some of these are white, with black bases and capitals; the the river Cam, and the ancient stables beyond; they are of others are of dark veined marble, with white bases and red brick, and are exceedingly picturesque, embowered as capitals. The balustrade of these and of the house is they are in antique trees. The chimneypiece is completely perforated, and variously ornamented; and the summit is in keeping with the rest of the apartment, and though not adorned with eight turrets, crowned with cupolas and in the beauty of the carved work and the brilliancy of the dissimilar to those already described, greatly surpasses them several clustered chimneys. All the windows are large, and square headed, with numerous stone mullions, and gilding. In the centre are emblazoned the arms of Thomas, Earl of Suffolk, impaling Knivett and his quarterings, and many of them project from the rooms. Attached to the west front are two leaden waterspouts, which were pro-heads on each side, as well as the arms and crests of Lord encircled by the garter. The female figures and ancient bably placed there when the house was in the possession Howard de Walden and his two wives, were painted by of the Crown, being thus inscribed: “I. R. 1686" (for James Rex), and "W. M. 1689" (for William and Mary). is the following inscription :— Rebecca." On one of the panels on the west side there The doors of the principal entrance are extremely massive, and are elaborately carved. In the upper portion of the front door are a series of figures emblematic of the Arts of Peace; whilst in the corresponding part of the door, at the back of the house, is a figure typifying War, in a chariot drawn by wolves. This latter doorway originally led into the inner court, but now forms the communication with the arcade facing the garden. From the many stone coffins that have at different times been discovered there, it is believed that the garden was the site of the ancient monastery. The various apartments were furnished and decorated in a costly and elegant style by the late Lord Howard. The great hall, which lies to the right of the vestibule on entering, still preserves part of its ancient character; it is ninety | "HENRY VIII. A.D. 1539, GRANTED THE MONASTERY Amongst the portraits in the saloon, those which will perhaps be viewed with the greatest interest are those of Lord Chancellor Audley (after Holbein), and of his daughter and heiress, Margaret, the second wife of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk (after Lucas de Heere). These portraits, together with many others that adorn the walls, were copied from the originals by Zeeman. The suite of rooms in connection with the saloon are fine, and contain some good ceilings and fireplaces. In the anteroom are some curious old portraits, amongst which is a half-length of Lord Chancellor Audley, presumed to be by Holbein; Algernon Percy, Earl of Northumberland (fulllength), resting on an anchor, by Van Dyck; a small head of Thomas, Duke of Norfolk, supposed to be by Mytens; and also a portrait of Sir Benjamin Rudger, by the same master. In the dining-room is a valuable full-length portrait of George II., by Pine, the only original likeness of this monarch. The state bedroom is fitted up in a very sumptuous and elegant style, with blue silk bed furniture, ornamented with gold lace, &c. The library, though not large, contains a collection of choice standard books. In the little library are portraits of the late Lord Howard and his two wives, by West. Over the cloisters is a long gallery full of pictures of the Cornwallis family, together with a fine collection of stuffed birds. The chapel was built by the late Lord Howard, and occupies the north-west corner of the house. It comprises a nave, side aisles, and transepts, and is fitted up with clustered columns, pointed arches, and fan-groined tracery. The windows are filled with painted glass. In one of the rooms a very interesting relic is preserved. It is a narrow-backed chair, with wide encircling arms, and formerly belonged to one of our greatest poets. A brass plate inserted in the back sets forth its history in these words:-"This chair, once the property of Alexander Pope, was given as a keepsake to the nurse who attended him in his illness; from her descendants it was obtained by the Rev. Thomas Ashley, curate of the parish of Binfield, and kindly presented by him to Lord Braybrooke, in 1844, nearly a century after the poet's decease." In the centre of the back of the chair is an oval medallion, carved with a figure of Venus, holding in her right hand a dart, and in her left hand a burning heart. Whether the magnificent seat of Audley End is regarded in relation to its present splendour or to the haunting associations of its earlier possessors, it holds a foremost rank amongst the baronial halls of England. History tells us that the manor of Walden was originally granted to Geoffrey de Mandeville, Earl of Essex, a celebrated follower of William the Conqueror, and that after many mutations it again reverted to the Crown, where it remained till the dissolution of religious houses. At that period Henry VIII. granted it, together with the recently dissolved Abbey of Walden, and the greatest part of the advowsons and estates belonging to that foundation, to Sir Thomas Audley, who had succeeded the illustrious Sir Thomas More as Keeper of the Great Seal, and who was himself the principal instrument in the king's hands in bringing about the "dissolution." From that time the whole estate, of which the clever and crafty Chancellor had become the possessor, was called Audley End. In alluding to Audley's conduct as Speaker of the Long Parliament, which effected the dissolution of all the religious houses whose revenues did not annually exceed 2007., and his subsequent elevation to the Lord Chancellorship, Lord Braybrooke, in his volume already quoted from, tells us that, "In the exercise of his new functions Audley proved as subservient to the wishes of his royal master as he had shown himself upon all former occasions; and having, while speaker, gratified the king, as well as the people, by passing six bills to restrain the power of the clergy, and greatly forwarded the measure of dissolving the lesser religious establishments, he now undertook the arduous task of obtaining the surrender of the more wealthy foundations; and in this enterprise his endeavours were shortly crowned with complete success; and before the expiration of two years the king found himself in possession of all the remaining monastic establishments, producing, with those already dissolved, an annual income, according to Hume, of 142,914/." Besides the broad lands of Walden which were granted to Sir Thomas Audley, he is said to have revelled in the church spoliation he had ensured his master, having grants of the abbey lands of Colchester, Tiltey, Aldgate, and other places; and he was also created Baron Audley of Walden, and installed a Knight of the Garter. Lord Audley died in 1544, and was buried in the church of Saffron Walden. He left at his decease two daughters, of whom the eldest (Margaret), through the death of her sister two years afterwards, became sole heiress. This lady was twice married, first, at the early age of fourteen, to Lord Henry Dudley, younger brother to the husband of Lady Jane Grey. Lord Henry was subsequently arraigned for high treason and cast for death; but was pardoned by Queen Mary, and had his property restored to him. In 1557 he was killed at the battle of St. Quintin, and his widow in the same year became the second wife of Thomas Howard, fourth Duke of Norfolk. She, however, died herself, at the early age of twenty-three. The subsequent ill-judged project entertained by the Duke of Norfolk of forming a matrimonial alliance with Mary Queen of Scots, as every reader of English history knows, cost him his life; he was beheaded for high treason on Tower Hill, in June, 1572. The issue of his marriage with Margaret Audley were two sons, of whom the elder, Lord Thomas Howard, was restored in blood by Act of Parliament, in 1583. In early life he had embraced the military service, but after abandoning it he passed most of his time at court, where he sought every opportunity of ingratiating himself with the Queen, and, we are told, so far succeeded, that Elizabeth, in consideration of his noble birth," and in reward for the services which he had rendered to his country, summoned him to Parliament as Baron Howard de Walden. The success that had attended the court life of Lord Howard, during the reign of Elizabeth, seems to have continued during that of her successor, James I. He held many high and lucrative offices, which afforded him more ample means of displaying his magnificence than were enjoyed by his ancestors, and from the lavishness of his outlay in building the mansion of Audley End, he seems to have eclipsed them all in his extravagance. By King James, Lord Howard was advanced to the Earldom of Suffolk, and made Lord Chamberlain, and afterwards Lord High Treasurer of England. almost as rapid as his rise had been; he was charged with Four years later his fall became embezzling the public moneys, deprived of his staff of office, and committed for a short period to the Tower, together with his countess. To her rapacious and covetous mind the ground afforded for this painful accusation has been principally ascribed. He died 1626, leaving a large family. He was succeeded in the title and estates by his eldest son Suffolk, sold the mansion of Audley End to Charles II., Theophilus, whose son and successor, James, third Earl of about the year 1668. ownership of Audley End in our description of the buildFrom this period we have endeavoured to trace the ing, down to the time when Lady Portsmouth was in possession of it. On the death of this lady, without issue, the barony of Howard de Walden, which had fallen into abeyance, was terminated in favour of the son of her sister acquired at the same time the inheritance of his aunt and Ann (wife of William Whitwell, Esq.), and this gentleman his mother. As this Lord Howard had no children, "in consideration that his mother was sprung, through her maternal grandmother. from the ancient and historic stock of Neville," he successfully used his influence to procure for *To this nobleman's vigilance the discovery of the Gunpowder Plot has been mainly attributed.-Vide" Burke's Peerage," himself another barony, that of Braybrooke, with a re- probably the remains of another door. The east end of the mainder to his relative, Richard Neville, whose father, north aisle has a saint's niche, with a trefoiled head, and a Richard Aldworth, Esq., maternally descended from the piscina below; a statue of St. Mary Magdalene, the patron house of Neville, had assumed its name. On the deathsaint, was probably in the niche formerly. The west end of of Lord Howard, in 1797, the above Richard Neville suc- the nave has a most beautiful Norman door; three pretty ceeded to his kinsman's title, as second Lord Braybrooke, windows of the same style are over it, and two smaller ones and to the park and seat of Audley End. He married higher up. At the west end of the north aisle was a tower, Catherine, daughter of the Right Hon. George Grennow destroyed except the lower walls; the remaining tower ville, herself maternally descended from Theophilus, second is lit by round-headed windows, and has a pointed roof with Earl of Suffolk, whom we have already alluded to as one of ornamental tiles; it contains three good bells; until lately the former owners of this seat. By this lady he had issue it only had one, which was nearly useless from bad usage; Richard, third Lord Braybrooke, father of the present noble it bore this inscription :— owner, and who was the author of the very elegantly. written volume above mentioned, to which we are indebted for many of the quotations in this notice of the grand and venerable mansion of Audley End. Notes. CHURCHES IN KENT. W. D. Ora pro Nobis. Sancte Paule-Sancte Tobannet. In the north wall is a recessed tomb, with a hood. A solid stone coffin, containing the skeleton of a young woman, was taken from it some years ago; she probably built this aisle. Portions of tombstones, once inlaid with brass, and other slabs, have been found in the church. Only one entire slab remains, which has a few words in uncial letters cut on it. A handsome stone coffin-lid, with a pretty cross cut on it, has also been found. The priory buildings were all on the south side of the church; the re and a part of the south side, with a chestnut ceiling; and what Mr. Willement thought was a portion of the great hall, with its large door, and the private apartments of the prioress, these covered the whole of the west front. Four of the six gables remain on this side, and opposite the southern part of them is a pointed archway in the remaining precinct wall. In the portion of the south cloister is a large trefoil-headed lavatory (a part of its leaden pipe was found some years ago); this lavatory is 7 ft. 3 in. across, and 8 ft. 9 in. high; a space of walling 5 ft. wide divides it from a Norman doorway 4 ft. 6 in. across, and 6 ft. 9 in. high, which led into the refectory. The refectory stood until the year 1781; it had a gallery in it, and an old organ. Nothing more is known of it beyond the fact that it had a high oaken roof, and the floor was paved with tiles. A porch to the house has been built partly of some ancient carved wood, originally on the front of a sixteenth-century house in Court-street, Faversham. It has been supposed that the Priory church was erected before the monastic buildings, from the fact that the latter covered up the clerestory windows, and some of those in the tower; but great alterations were made temp. Edward I., and that would account for covering up these windows. I have no doubt the church and priory were built in 1153. The founder was, no doubt, Fulk de Newnham; although Mr. Willement said there was no proof of this, yet, curiously enough, he prints in the appendix of his history a MS. which was in the Surrenden Library, and copied out of the "Leeger of Devinton," which appears to be a list of benefactors. In this occurs the entry, "Fulcho de Newingham: fundator noster." DAVINGTON CHURCH AND PRIORY.-Originally, Daving-maining portion consists of the west side of the cloister, ton church consisted of a nave, with north and south aisles, two western towers, a chancel, and at the east end of the present building a distinct church, but under one roof; a parapet wall, nine feet high, forming the division between them. In the east wall of the church are three long lancets and a trefoil opening over them, all modern. Prior to 1845, an ugly three light wooden-framed window was in this wall; the upper portion of walling was built on the ancient parapet. This curious wall was of Early English date, and had two pointed doorways in it. A similar doorway in the east wall of the north aisle still remains, and is used as an entrance into a modern vestry. Two Norman pillars and portions of the arches remained on the exterior of the parapet wall, showing that the church had extended farther to the eastward, but to what extent is uncertain. The present church has been called the nuns' church, and the destroyed portion that of the parishioners, by good archeologists; and the case of the Priory church of Marrick, in Yorkshire, is cited as supporting that theory, because it was erected about the same time and belonged to the same order, namely, the Benedictines. With this I disagree entirely. The main entrance to Davington church was from a public road, now disused, which ran close to the west end of the building, and it seems in the highest degree improbable that the parishioners would enter that way, and after walking the entire length of the present church, gain admittance to the parish church by either of the three small doors, for no other way was possible; while, on the other hand, at Marrick the entrance was not by small doors, but by a large doorway of the same size as the western entrance which connected the two churches. As well as this, a north door exists, so that one need not necessarily go through the nuns' choir at all. From the seclusion of the destroyed church at Davington, I think it was more likely the nuns'. not the parishioners'. Four Norman arches, resting on plain square pillars, connect the nave and north aisle; the five aisle windows are lancets; the clerestory windows on both sides, four in number, are semicircular and quite plain; three in the south wall are stopped up. The south aisle is only half the length of the other; there are only two arches on this side, one under the tower, the other is filled by the organ. Mr. Willement, in his " History of Davington," gives his opinion that these arches extended farther eastwards, and says that traces of them exist on the wall; but if arches were ever there the wall was not at the time, and consequently could not possibly bear any such traces; nor is it at all likely there were other arches, from the fact that a Norman door is in existence at the point where the arches terminate Another history, published in 1852, at Faversham, I believe | by the same author, contains a remark that these traces were PRESTON CHURCH AND CHAPEL.-Preston church con. sisted of a nave and chancel, with a tower on the south side. This was an Early English building; a south aisle, in the Early Decorated style, was added, and during the last few years a north aisle has been built. The south aisle was formerly a private chantry; it is now connected with the nave by three arches, resting on cylindrical pillars, with a moulded abacus; this work is modern. Until the year 1853, the chapel was blocked up by the old outer wall of the church, which was allowed to remain when the chapel was constructed, except where it had been knocked away, and one wide arch made in the wall. The position of the altar in this aisle is marked by a piscina in the south wall. A corbel remains in the east wall, which most likely sup ported a statue; it is of Decorated date, and is very well carved, the design being apparently intended for seaweed. A recessed tomb, with a hood, which was in the north wall of the nave, at the east end, has been moved to a cor ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF MERLIN.-Merlin lived in the reign of Vortigern, and by his means was begot the famous King Arthur, a just and brave prince; but whose great qualities were eclipsed by his uxoriousness for his "Queen Guiniver," so called, as Geoffrey of Monmouth informs us, from her inordinate love of guineas. In responding position in the north aisle. The western door from Bath to London, and the great stones that lie scattered of the nave, and a three-light window over it, are Per-about the place have given occasion to some to believe pendicular; the jambs and arch of an Early Decorated his great skill in magic; as likewise Stenage on Salisbury window, much larger than the present one, may be traced Plaine, which ignorant people say he brought out of inside the wall. Just within the western door, on the old Ireland. Some will have it he is buried in Cornwall, wall, are some traces of ancient wall-painting, what re- others in Wales. As for his being exceedingly in Love with mains are some panelling in double lines and conventional the Lady of the Lake (and to brag of his cunning), showing birds, all coloured red. The basement of the tower is her one among other devises of his, a Tombe he had made used as a vestry; outside the door on the east side is a sufficient to hold him and his Wife, and without a Charm piscina. A square-headed door remains inside, which com- which being pronounced in order as he shew'd her, the municated with the rood loft. In the east wall, close to this Tombe would close and never again be opened, she flatly door, is a small stone aperture, which once was open to the hating him, and growing on a sudden very gamesome, churchyard. The windows in the sides of the chancel are shew'd him some extraordinary kindness, and in the end for lancets, with round pilasters; one Decorated window is on want of better pastime, wou'd needs perswade him to prove the south side at the west end. The great east window is new, it wou'd hold them both, he suspecting nothing less than and spoils the chancel. In the north wall are a piscina and her malicious purpose, went simply in, and strait she shut sedilia, with a diapered back, once coloured. This is very him in with the cover, and bound it so fast with the beautiful work, but a bungler has tried to copy some of the Charms, that it will never more be loosed. These are old work in the sedilia, to replace missing portions, and taken from a fiction in K. Arthur's Book." failed miserably. There are two recessed tombs with hoods in the north wall, and on the floor brasses to William Mareys, d. 1459, and Valentine Baret, d. 1440, both in armour of the period; the former had a shield on it, with the arms of Mareys, and the latter one with Baret in pale with Atte-Lese. Two other brasses were once in this chancel, viz., Emmola Lee, d. 1440; and Richard Boorne, d. 1473. During the last few years this church has been greatly altered; besides the addition of a north aisle, already mentioned, a south porch has been built up against what was a stopped-up Decorated door. The tower, which once had a spire, was a low structure; it has been built higher, and a pretty broach spire added. A very curious thing, which is, I believe, universally condemned by ecclesiologists, has been done to the chancel. The plaster on the interior has been taken off and the flint exposed; the effect of this, looking from the west end of the church, is good; but on the whole I consider it a mistake. In pulling down the old north wall of the nave, the remains of some curious ancient windows were found. They were about a foot wide, and were covered by two large tiles forming a triangular head; some apparently Saxon moulding and also some hatched moulding. These and other fragments are preserved in the vestry. At the time of these alterations the lower part of two stone statues were found, both well carved; one of St. Katherine standing on wheels is exquisitely worked. The chapel was attached to the east part of the vicarage, and was, I presume, Perpendicular. In the top of the east window were two shields, with the arms of Archbishop Arundel and the family of Drelonde. There were also the figures of St. Anthony and his pig, and St. Katherine., Under the latter was one of the vicars of Preston, in a purple cope, kneeling; from his mouth was a lable, with these words addressed to the patron saint of the church-Dirgo Katharina peccantibus esto benigna. Underneath the vicar was, Dus Johns Sturrey Vicarius de Preston. There are three bells in the tower; two, dated 1725, have the names of the maker and churchwardens on them, and the other, dated 1575, has LOVE GOD on it. On the north side of the chancel is an elaborate seventeenth-century monument to the Boyle family. G. B. MERLIN AND HIS CAVE.-The following account of Merlin and his cave is taken from Sir John Harrington's Orlando Furioso": "I know many think it a mere fable that which is written of Merlin's birth, life, and chiefly of his death, I believe not that he was gotten by an Incubus, yet the possibility of it might be proved by discourse. But concerning his life, that there was such a man, a great counsellor to K. Arthur I hold it certain; that he had a castle in Wilts called Merlinsbury (now Marlborow), is very likely, the old ruins whereof are yet seen in our highway Chaucer, in his "Wife of Bath," gives a remarkable instance of this queen's predominant love of power. order to satisfy this passion, she made use of our Merlin, whose arts and enchantments well seconded her influence over her husband, and paved the way to his future confinement. The first service by which he recommended himself to her Majesty was by his fountain, that changed love into hatred, and hatred into love, so celebrated in the great poet Ariosto. He gave her a large provision of these waters, which she took care to make the king drink of upon proper occasions: so that in a little while he was observed to hate all those he had loved, and love all those he had hated. The consequence of which was, that he had not one friend left: those whom he loved now hating him still for his having hated them once, so that he became the helpless slave of his wife and minister. "We have no authentick account of the birth and family of Merlin, only that being born a Welshman it is supposed he was a gentleman; but of his great skill in magic history he gives us many examples, and that he had inferior sprites at his command appears from Spenser." "From which it is plain, that his art was of the black malignant kind, and employed only in wicked purposes; and that the sprites made use of by him were only of the inferior sort, but none of them geniuses to execute good designs. He was likewise a great dealer in brass, and proposed making a wall of brass for the peace and security of the nation; but though such immense sums were raised upon the people under this pretence, yet it was always doing and never done." I have taken both these accounts from the Gentleman's Magazine, for 1735. S. THE SOUTH SEA COMPANY-In the years 1734-35 the great South Sea Bubble burst, and thousands of persons were ruined. Public feeling ran very high, and the Ministers of the Crown-the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, among the number-were denounced as participators in, and even instigators of, the fraud practised on the public. So powerful was the feeling at the time, that an Act of Parliament was passed, in which one of the parties implicated, a certain J- A- (full name not given), was denounced as one guilty of the most dangerous and infamous corruptions ;" and in respect to that gentleman the following advertisement was inserted in the Gentleman's Magazine, for August, 1735: 66 "WHEREAS, by an Act of the Seventh Year of his late Majesty King George the First, Chapter the 28th, entituled |
