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- Caernarvon Castle, Battlements
The illustration shows the allure or rampart-walk of the Eagle Tower. The rear wall, if it ever existed, has been removed. The cut shows the merlon, with its contained loop, the plain flat-sided embrasure, and the figures placed upon the ridge of the coping, one of which gives name to the tower. The small, shoulder-headed doorway opening from the tower upon the rampart is also seen. - Christ's Hospital
- Berkeley Castle, Keep
Berkeley Castle, Keep Entering the outer gate, the visitor finds himself upon a triangular platform, of which the outer gate-house is the apex, and the inner gate-house and part of the keep the base; on the left a modern wall, which replaces the curtain, crests the scarp of the ditch, and forms the north side of the platform 66 yards long. On the right a low parapet, 54 yards long, forms the south side, and caps a revetment wall of about 10 feet in height, at the foot of which the ancient scarp has been laid out in good taste in a terrace garden. This triangular platform is scarcely an outer ward: it is rather a barbican covering the main entrance and the keep. Its area is 7,750 square yards. There is no trace of a second ditch in advance of this side of the keep and the inner gate, but it is very probable that there was one, though, if so, it must have been filled up when the courts were added to the keep, as otherwise it would have completely occupied them. - The Tower of London
Of all the prisoners who suffered death at the termination of their captivity in the Tower, there is none whose fate was so cruel as that of Lady Jane Grey. Her story belongs to English history. Recall, when next you visit the Tower, the short and tragic life of this young Queen of a nine days' reign. - Early British Pottery
- The George Hotel, Ruislip
Round about “Riselip,” as its inhabitants call it, they grow hay, cabbages, potatoes, and other useful, if humble, vegetables; and, by dint of great patience and industry, manage to get them up to the London market. It is only at rare intervals that the villagers ever see a railway engine, for Ruislip is far remote from railways, and so the place and people keep their local character.Two or three remarkably quaint inns face the central space round which the old and new cottages are grouped, and the very large church stands modestly behind, its battlemented tower peering over the tumbled roofs and gable-ends with a fine effect, an effect that would be still finer were it not that the miserably poor “restoration” work of the plastered angles, done by that dreadful person, Sir Gilbert Scott, is only too apparent. - Brass to Sir John D’Abernon
For the happily increasing class of tourists who are interested in archæology, let it be noted here that the chancel of this church contains the earliest monumental brass in the kingdom, the mail-clad effigy of Sir John D’Abernon, dated 1277. Many of his race, before and after his time, lie here. The life-sized engraved figure of this Sir John, besides being the earliest, is also one of the most beautiful. Clad from head to foot in a complete suit of chain mail,his hands clasped in prayer, heraldic shield on one arm, his pennoned lance under the other, and his great two-handed sword hanging from a broad belt outside the surcoat, this is a majestic figure. His feet rest on a writhing lion, playfully represented by the engraver of the brass as biting the lance-shaft. - The Bridge of Hope
“The Bridge of Hope,” a Well-known East End Night Refuge. - A Norman Ship
(From the Bayeux Tapestry.) - Caerphilly Castle, Ground plan
Caerphilly Castle, Ground plan A Inner Ward. B Middle Ward. C Kitchen Tower and Water Gate. D Outer Ward. E Great Gatehouse and Pier. F North Postern. G South Postern. H Sluice. I Outer Water Gate. - Formal arrangements in London parks
The formality of the true geometrical garden is charming to many to whom this style is offensive; and there is not the slightest reason why the most beautiful combinations of fine-leaved and fine-flowered plants should not be made in any kind of geometrical garden. - Augustine Preaching before Ethelbert
In the year 596 Augustine with forty other priests landed in Kent. The name of the king of that part was Ethelbert, whose wife Bertha was a Christian. Ethelbert allowed Augustine to preach before him in the open air ; and very soon he saw how wrong it was to worship idols, and was baptized in the Christian faith. The Britons soon followed the good example shown them by Ethelbert, and gave up their false gods, and became Christians. - Cardiff Castle, Glamorgan
THE castle of Cardiff, though not unknown to border fame, has been the theatre of no great historical event, nor does it present any very striking peculiarities of position, scenery, or structure. Its claim to more than local interest rests upon the character and fortunes of the great barons whose inheritance and occasional residence it was from the 11th to the 15th century, from the reign of Rufus to that of Henry VI. Probably a Roman castrum, and certainly a hold of the local British princes, it was won, in 1090, by the sword of Robert Fitzhamon, lord of the Honour of Gloucester, and by him constituted the “caput” of his newly acquired seignory of Morgan and Glamorgan. - Acanthus latifolius (lusitanicus).
Ornamental foliaged herbaceous Section; retaining its leaves till very late in the year. The leaves of this are bold and noble in outline, and the plant has a tendency, rare in some hardy things with otherwise fine qualities, to retain them till the end of the season without losing a particle of their freshness and polished verdure. In fact, the only thing we have to decide about this subject is, what is the best place for it? Now, it is one of those things that will not disgrace any position, and will prove equally at home in the centre of the mixed border, projected in the grass a little from the edge of a choice shrubbery, or in the flower-garden; nobody need fear its displaying anything like the seediness which such things as the Heracleums show at the end of summer. - Caerphilly Castle
For the purpose of the description of the castle itself, the whole may be considered as composed of five parts, each of which will be further subdivided. These parts are:— I.—The Grand Front. II.—The Horn-work. III.—The Redoubt. IV.—The Middle Ward. V.—The Inner Ward. - Old London Bridge
Houses were erected in course of time along the Bridge on either side like a street, but with intervals; and along the roadway in the middle were chain posts to protect the passengers. As the Bridge was only 40 feet wide the houses must have been small. But they were built out at the back overhanging the river, and the roadway itself was not intended for carts or wheeled vehicles. Remember that everything was brought to the City on pack horse or pack ass. The table of Tolls sanctioned by King Edward I. makes no mention of cart or waggon at all. Men on horseback and loaded horses can get along with a very narrow road. Perhaps we may allow twelve feet for the road which gives for the houses on either side a depth of 14 feet each. - Mile End Almshouses
Homes and schools for the boys and girls, hospitals for the adult, there remain the aged. Dotted about all over London there are about a hundred and fifty almshouses; of these about half are situated in and about East London. Not that the people of East London have been more philanthropic in their endowments than those of the west, but, before there was any city of East London, almshouses were planted here on account of the salubrity and freshness of the air and the cheapness of the ground. Some of these have been moved farther afield, their original sites being built over. The People’s Palace, for instance, is built upon the site of the Bancroft almshouses, founded in 1728 for the maintenance and education of one hundred poor. Their original house has gone, but the charity is still maintained. - Chepe in the Fifteenth Century
The streets and lanes of London within the walls were very nearly the same as they are at present, except for the great thoroughfares constructed within the last thirty years. That is to say, when one entered at Lud Gate and passed through Paul's Churchyard, he found himself in the broad street, the market place of the City, known as Chepe. - Shady and sheltered Dell
Shady and sheltered Dell, with Tree Ferns and other Stove Plants placed out for the summer. - Beaumaris Castle, Entrance
Its inner ward is a quadrangle about 50 yards square, contained within four curtain-walls about 16 feet thick and 40 to 50 feet high. At the angles are four drum-towers, three-quarters engaged, of the height of the curtains. On the east and west sides are intermediate towers, half-round, with prolonged sides, of which that to the east, as at Kidwelly, contains the chapel. In the centre of the north and south sides are the gatehouses, of large size and something higher than the other towers. In each a quadrangular part projects into the court, capped at the two angles by round turrets containing staircases. Outside, half-round towers with prolonged sides flank the entrance. - Beaumaris Castle, Ground Plan
BEAUMARIS Castle is built upon a marshy flat, close to the sea-shore, and but little above the level of the sea, from which its ditch was supplied. It is an example of a purely concentric fortress, in which the engineer was left free to design his works without being governed, as in most other cases, by the irregularities of the ground. - The Lepers Begging
Leprosy is supposed to have had its origin in Egypt: the laws laid down in the Book of Leviticus for the separation of lepers are stringent and precise: it was believed, partly, no doubt, on account of these statutes in the Book of the Jewish Law, that the disease was brought into Western Europe by the Crusaders; but this was erroneous, because it was in this country before the Crusaders. Thus the Palace of St. James stands upon the site of a lazar house founded before the Conquest for fourteen leprous maidens. - Part of the Roman Wall at Leicester
- City Gates
Let us examine into the history and the course of the Wall of London, if only for the very remarkable facts that the boundary of the City was determined for fifteen hundred years by the erection of this Wall; that for some purposes the course of the Wall still affects the government of London; and that it was only pulled down bit by bit in the course of the last century. You will see by reference to the map what was the course of the Wall. It began, starting from the east where the White Tower now stands. Part of the foundation of the Tower consists of a bastion of the Roman wall. It followed a line nearly north as far as Aldgate. Then it turned in a N.W. direction just north of Camomile Street and Bevis Marks to Bishopsgate. Thence it ran nearly due W., north of the street called London Wall, turning S. at Monkwell Street. At Aldersgate it turned W. until it reached Newgate, where it turned nearly S. again and so to the river, a little east of the present Blackfriars Bridge. It ran, lastly, along the river bank to join its eastern extremity. The river wall had openings or gates at Dowgate and Bishopsgate,{39} and probably at Queen Hithe. The length of the Wall, without counting the river side, was 2 miles and 608 feet. This formidable Wall was originally about 12 feet thick made of rubble and mortar, the latter very hard, and faced with stone. You may know Roman work by the courses of tiles or bricks. They are arranged in double layers about 2 feet apart. The so-called bricks are not in the least like our bricks, being 6 inches long, 12 inches wide and 1½ inch thick. The Wall was 20 feet high, with towers and bastions at intervals about 50 feet high. At first there was no moat or ditch, and it will be understood that in order to protect the City from an attack of barbarians—Picts or Scots—it was enough to close the gates and to man the towers. The invaders had no ladders. - London before the Spire of St. Paul's was burned; showing the Bridge, Tower, Shipping, &c
- Ancient Britons
The country we live in is a large island, called BRITAIN. It is divided into two parts : the northern part is now named SCOTLAND, and the southern part, ENGLAND. At first there were no houses, gardens, or fields, such as we see now; but most of the island was covered with great forests and marshes. The people who lived in it were called BRITONS, and were wild, ignorant savages. In summer they went about naked ; and in winter they clothed them-selves with the skins of the wild beasts which they killed in hunting. Their hair was allowed to grow very long, and they stained their bodies of a blue colour, to frighten their enemies. They ate acorns and other wild fruits, and lived in caves, or in huts made of branches of trees covered over with mud. These were generally built together in little villages in the midst of forests. Their time was chiefly spent in hunting in the woods, or in fishing. For the latter, they used small boats called coracles, made of wicker-work covered with skins. They were often at war with each other, and fought with a rude kind of spear and arrows, of which the heads were made of sharp pieces of stone. The Britons were divided into many tribes. Each tribe had a chief, who led them in battle, and ruled over them in time of peace. - Plan of Alnwick Castle
THE castle of Alnwick stands upon a moderate eminence on the south bank of, and about 150 yards distant from, the river Alne, which was thus its immediate defence against the Scot. It is about five miles from, and about 200 feet above, the sea-level. Towards the east and south the castle is cut off from the town of Alnwick by a deep combe, once the bed of the Bow Burn. This has been trimmed and scarped by art, and its upper part towards the town has been almost obliterated by modern upfilling. 1. Donjon. 2. Inner Ward. 3. Outer Ward. 4. Terrace. 5. Stable Courts. 6. Kitchen. 7. Estate Offices. 8. Ravine. 9. Ditch. 10. Tower. 11. Inner Gate. 12. Middle Gate. 13. Barbican. 14. Hall. 15. Withdrawing-room. 16. Music-room. 17. Ante-room. 18. Library. Prudhoe Tower. 19. Chapel. 20. State Bedroom. 21. Entrance. 22. Spur Gallery. 23. West Garret. 24. Abbot’s Tower. 25. Falconer’s Tower. 26. Postern Tower. 27. Constable’s Tower. 28. Ravine Tower. 29. Hotspur’s Chair. 30. East Garret. 31. Warder’s Tower. 32. Auditor’s Tower. 33. Clock Tower. 34. Avener’s Tower. 35. Garden. - Royal Arms of England from Richard I. to Edward III
(From the wall arcade, south aisle of nave, Westminster Abbey.) - The Trumpeter
THE TRUMPETER.” (SIR JOHN GILBERT, R.A.) (Drawn in pen and ink, from his picture in the Royal Academy, 1883.) [Size of drawing, 5½ by 4¾ in. Photo-zinc process.] - Remains of the Wall
The City was thus protected by a great wall pierced by a few gates, with bastions and towers. At the East End after the Norman Conquest rose the Great White Tower still standing. At the West End was a tower called Montfichet's Tower. - Costers and Cockneys
“Ere y’are, Lidies’ Tormentors. ‘Two’ n penny!” - Costers and Cockneys
One Easter Monday. ’Arriet (watching the funeral of ’Liza).—“Nice sort of a Bank ’Oliday for ’er, poor dear.” - The New Model Dwellings
- An Ale-stake
The bibulium, that is to say, the ale-house or tavern, displayed its sign for all men to see: the ivy-garland, or wreath of vine-leaves, in honour of Bacchus, wreathed around a hoop at the end of a projecting pole. This bold advertisment of good drink to be had within long outlasted Roman times, and indeed still survives in differing forms, in the signs of existing inns. It became the “ale-stake” of Anglo-Saxon and middle English times. The traveller recognised the ale-stake at a great distance, by reason of its long pole—the “stake” whence those old beer-houses derived their name—projecting from the house-front, with its mass of furze, or garland of flowers, or ivy-wreath, dangling at the end. But the ale-houses that sold good drink little needed such signs, a circumstance that early led to the old proverb, “Good wine needs no bush.” - Elynor Rummyng
A hundred and fifty years later than Piers Plowman we get another picture of an English ale-house, by no less celebrated a poet. This famous house, the “Running Horse,” still stands at Leatherhead, in Surrey, beside the long, many-arched bridge that there crosses the river Mole at one of its most picturesque reaches. It was kept in the time of Henry the Seventh by that very objectionable landlady, Elynor Rummyng, whose peculiarities are the subject of a laureate’s verse. Elynor Rummyng, and John Skelton, the poet-laureate who hymned her person, her beer, and her customers, both flourished in the beginning of the sixteenth century. Skelton, whose genius was wholly satiric, no doubt, in his Tunning (that is to say, the brewing) of Elynor Rummyng, emphasised all her bad points, for it is hardly credible that even the rustics of the Middle Ages would have rushed so enthusiastically for her ale if it had been brewed in the way he describes. - Costers and Cockneys
“Wot’s th’ row up the Court, Bill?” “Bob Smith was kissing my missus, and ’is old woman caught ’im. - Milton’s Cottage, Chalfont St. Giles
Chalfont St. Giles lies down in the valley of the Misbourne, across the high road which runs left and right, and past the Pheasant Inn. It is a place made famous by Milton’s residence here, when he fled London and the Great Plague. The cottage—the “pretty cot,” as he aptly calls it, taken for him by Thomas Ellwood, the Quaker—is still standing, and is the last house on the left-hand side of the long village street. The poet could only have known it to be a “pretty cot” by repute, for he was blind. - Costers and Cockneys
’Arriet.—“Ow! I s’y, look at ’is bloomin’ ’At.” - The New Whitechapel Art Gallery
(The building to the right is a free library.) Some of the people, but not many, go off westward and wander about the halls of the British Museum. I do not know why they go there, because ancient Egypt is to them no more than modern Mexico, and the Etruscan vases are no more interesting than the “Souvenir of Margate,” which costs a penny. But they do go; they roam from room to room with listless indifference, seeing nothing. In the same spirit of curiosity, baffled yet satisfied, they go to the South Kensington Museum and gaze upon its treasures of art; or they go to the National Portrait Gallery, finding in Queen Anne Boleyn a striking likeness to their own Maria, but otherwise not profiting in any discoverable manner by the contents of the gallery. And some of them go to the National Gallery, where there are pictures which tell stories. - The Old Lychgate, Penshurst
- Gourds
The Gourd tribe is capable, if properly used, of adding much remarkable beauty and character to the garden; yet, as a rule, it is seldom used. There is no natural order more wonderful in the variety and singular shapes of its fruit than that to which the melon, cucumber, and vegetable marrow belong. From the writhing Snake-cucumber, which hangs down four or five feet long from its stem, to the round enormous giant pumpkin or gourd, the grotesque variation, both in colour and shape and size, is marvellous. - The “Dick Whittington,” Cloth Fair
The City of London’s oldest licensed inn is, by its own claiming, the “Dick Whittington,” in Cloth Fair, Smithfield, but it only claims to have been licensed in the fifteenth century, when it might reasonably—without much fear of contradiction—have made it a century earlier. This is an unusual modesty, fully deserving mention. It is only an “inn” by courtesy, for, however interesting and picturesque the grimy, tottering old lath-and-plaster house may be to the stranger, imagination does not picture any one staying either in the house or in Cloth Fair itself while other houses and other neighbourhoods remain to choose from; and, indeed, the “Dick Whittington”[Pg 6] does not pretend to be anything else than a public-house. The quaint little figure at the angle, in the gloom of the overhanging upper storey, is one of the queer, unconventional imaginings of our remote forefathers, and will repay examination. - Carlisle Castle
The city of Carlisle appears first early in the ninth century, in the history of Nennius, as Cair-Luadiit, or Luilid, or the Castra Luguballia, one of the “octo et viginti civitates ... cum innumeris castellis ex lapidibus et lateribus fabricatis,” enumerated by that respectable authority. The fame of Carlisle, however, is due neither to this early mention, nor to the subsequent gift of the place by King Ecgfrid to St. Cuthbert, but rather to its name as a centre of the early cycle of Arthurian romance, well supported by its subsequent celebration in Border tales and ballads. Indeed, whether in fable or in fact, Carlisle enjoys no mean reputation. It played a part in the British, Roman, Saxon, and Danish occupations of the island, and, after having been held as a frontier fortress, by the Scots against the English, became, in its turn, the great stronghold of northern England against the Scots, and the scourge of the wild tribes of the debatable land. - Archery Dresses
(About 1832). - Hertfordshire Society of Archers
Women were not slow to appreciate the gracefulness of archery, and it soon became a fashionable amusement, the Lady Salisbury of the time being one of its most ardent supporters. Most of the societies adopted a distinctive dress, in which white and green predominated. The Royal British Bowmen adorned their Lady Patroness with a white feather in her hat, the other lady members being compelled to wear black ones, while their dresses were green with pink vandykes round the edge of skirt. The Harley Bush Bowmen were so fond of the distinctive colour, that they even had green boots, and it is pleasant to know that it was provided by the rules these should be "easy fitting!" - Seven Stars
The famous “Seven Stars”, in Withy Grove, proudly bearing on its front the statement that it has been licensed over 560 years, and is the oldest licensed house in Great Britain. - Sign of the 'Running Horse'
Why the crowd resorted thus to tipple the horrible compound does not appear: one would rather drink the usual glucose and dilute sulphuric acid of modern times. The pictorial sign of the old house still proudly declares— “When Skelton wore the laurel crown My ale put all the alewives down.” To do that, you would think, it must needs have been both good and cheap. Certainly, if the portrait-sign of Elynor be anything like her, customers did not resort to the “Running Horse” to bask in her smiles, for she is represented as a very plain, not to say ugly, old lady with a predatory nose plentifully studded with warts. - Plan of Barnard Castle
BARNARD, or Bernard’s, Castle, so called from its founder, Bernard de Baliol, stands in a commanding position on the left bank of the Tees, here the boundary between Durham and Yorkshire. It is a large castle, and was long a very important one, both from its position on the frontier of the bishopric, and from the power of the great barons who built and maintained it. A. Inner Ward. B. Middle Ward. C. Town Ward. D. Outer Ward. E. North Gate. F. Brackenbury’s Tower. G. Round Tower. - The Kitchen of a Country Inn, 1797
The Kitchen of a Country Inn, 1797: showing the Turnspit Dog. (From the engraving after Rowlandson) - The Keep of Barnard Castle
The outer ditch of the place, also the town ditch, commenced in a deep ravine close north of the keep, and was carried along the north front, skirting what are called “the Flats”; thence along the east front, between the wall and the town, and thence round the south end, and so beneath a part of the west front, until it is lost in the steep ground near the bridge, having been altogether nearly 700 yards in length. - Carlina acaulis
A hardy perennial, rather interesting from its foliage, which has some resemblance to the leaves of a miniature Acanthus, and is disposed in a broad, handsome, regular rosette very close to the ground. Its single yellowish flower, 3 ins. or more across, is borne on a very short, erect stalk in the centre of the rosette. Although too dwarf for association with plants of more imposing stature, it is well worthy of a place on a bank or slope, or on the margins of low beds or `groups`, where its pleasing aspect and very distinct habit will be seen to best advantage. - Blechnum brasiliense
Dwarf tender Tree Fern: in sheltered shady dells during the summer months. - Canna
The most important and generally useful of tender plants for our climate.[England] Many kinds are hardy if protected in winter. - Hannah Snell
Who took upon herself the Name of James Gray; and, being deserted by her Husband, put on Mens Apparel, and travelled to Coventry in quest of him, where she enlisted in Col. Guise’s Regiment of Foot, and marched with that Regiment to Carlisle, in the Time of the Rebellion in Scotland; shewing what happened to her in that City, and her Desertion from that Regiment. - “Ye Olde Rover’s Return,” Manchester
The tottering, crazy-looking tavern called “Ye Olde Rover’s Return,” on Shude Hill, claiming to be the “oldest beer-house in the city,” and additionally said once to have been an old farmhouse “where the Cow was kept that supplied Milk to The Men who built the ‘Seven Stars" - The Roadside Inn
- Ailantus and Cannas
Suggesting the effects to be obtained from young and vigorous specimens of hardy fine-leaved trees. - Where the Poor Live
The presence of aliens and their competition also lowers the already sufficiently low rate of wages. Houses, therefore, in these localities—once tenanted by a single family—are let off at exorbitant rates to as many as can be crammed into them. Lucky, indeed, is the married labourer who can anywhere secure a single room for{281} 4s. to 6s. a week. And such a room! No means of preparing a real meal, the family fare generally consisting of tea, “two-eyed steaks” (herrings), and a “couple of doorsteps” (two slices of bread) per head. - Went over bank and hedge
- The Last Days of the 'Swan with Two Necks'
The “Swan with Two Necks,” whence many coaches set out, until the end of such things, was often known by waggish people as the “Wonderful Bird,” and obtained its name from a perversion of the “Swan with Two Nicks”: swans that swam the upper Thames and were the property of the Vintners’ Company being marked on their bills with two nicks, for identification. Lad Lane is now “Gresham Street,” but, apart from its mere name, is a lane still; but the old buildings of the “Swan with Two Necks” were pulled down in 1856.