CASTLE.] OUTWORKS-STATE APARTMENTS. 233 have come there to have built their nests; but one thing there is," said he, in conclusion, “that I mislike in the story, namely, that after they had taken the thorns from the King's head, they should afterwards wear them in their own ha bands."* This was what no one present could explain to the Marquess's Batisfaction. And Lord Glamorgan's negotiations in Ireland proved a failure to remove any "thorns from the royal crown."-So much for a prophecy which shows the superstition and credulity of the times-a credulity which tainted even those who were charged with the highest offices of the state. Yet such "The superstitious, idle-headed eld Received, and did deliver to our age." In those days, no fortress surrendered, no castle fell, no band of heroes was discomfited, but in fulfilment of some irresistible "prophecy."-But here we must close the subject with a few words on the Outworks of Raglan.-On this head little remains to be added. The details, given in the first volume of this work, respecting castles of the middle ages, preclude the necessity of our doing more than simply referring the reader to those passages in the description of Rochester and Arundel, which equally apply to Raglan. With respect to the outworks of the latter, a very brief notice may here suffice. By a practical eye the line of fortification may still be traced; and what remains of the original defences thrown up during the siege, shows very clearly that the military engineers employed were men whose skill and science did credit to the age. The vestiges of this lamentable war are mostly observable on the west side of the castle, where a strong bastion, projecting from the exterior wall of the fortification, forms a striking feature of the outworks, and a no less striking contrast with the luxuriant vegetation which now crowns, and almost conceals, these monuments of a barbarous and unnatural war. The point to which we allude, is that represented in the engraving, and entitled the "Avenue," where the state apartments, unlatticed, roofless, and dilapidated, look down upon the green belt of trees and underwood that surround them with a melancholy aspect-but a melancholy that imparts feelings of thankfulness to the lovers of peace; for it tells very plainly that the devastating storm has long subsided, and that the sunshine of national prosperity and contentment has again visited the scene. The engines of war have disappeared; the ramparts, raised by men for the destruction of their fellowmen, are now razed to the ground. Nature-striving to throw her green mantle of oblivion over a scene from which she was so rudely banished by the violence of war-smiles at her own bloodless triumph, and peoples the over arching groves with feathered tribes that sing no songs but those of peace and joy We now proceed to a brief notice of the environs:*—— Raglan Church has little to interest the archæological inquirer beyond its antiquity-and its claim to this distinction is fully vindicated by its appearance. It consists of a nave, side aisles, a chancel, and a square embattled tower, which, with a few trees throwing their shadows over the burialground, forms a pleasing landmark in the distance. We had the pleasure of uniting in the Morning Service before leaving the village, and were much gratified by the religious demeanour which pervaded the congregation, and edified by the simple but impressive discourse with which the service was terminated. * The woodcut represents the old baronial Kitchen with its appendages, as described page 154. CASTLE.] ENVIRONS RAGLAN CHURCH-VAULT-TROY HOUSE. 235 Every feature seems stamped with the seal of antiquity; at first sight nothing seems to have been renewed, or removed in the sacred edifice, for at least two centuries. The great-great-grandfathers of the present race may have occupied the same pews, knelt at the same altar, and been addressed from the same pulpit; for the materials of which these are composed seem as if framed to survive kingdoms and empires. Over the Raglan Vault in the chancel, already noticed, some rusty trophies of chivalry are suspended; and beneath repose several of the ancient lords by whom they were worn, or wielded. To the state of the monument itself, we have already alluded;* and judging from that of its prostrate or dislocated compartments, the sculpture must have been among the best specimens of its day, and employed on materials worthy to transmit the family names to posterity; for it is of rare and variegated marble and appears to have been, according to monkish-but in contempt of all classical-taste, elaborately gilded. It has been regretted by visitors, that a tomb, in which are deposited the remains of a nobleman-to whom the credit of a renowned invention unquestionably belongs-should not be restored, or at least repaired. By others, who regard it merely as an example of the Arts at that early period, it is only a broken link in the chain of sepulchral associations, which the skill and pencil of the artist can readily supply. There might, indeed, be an appearance of inconsistency—a want of harmony-in restoring the old family sepulchre, while the Castle itself is left to destruction. In certain conditions and situations, a fragment is more interesting than the original monument; and such, perhaps, is the only interest which that in question ought to excite. But with regard to the noble dust, we need only say— "Adieu, and take thy praise with thee to heaven; Thy ignominy sleep with thee in the grave, But not remembered in thy epitaph." The family residence, more immediately connected with that of Raglan, and to which, in the course of this article, special attention was directed in our notice of the royal visit to the Marquess of Worcester, is— Troy House. This name-which the King was so much pleased to use as a classical synonyme, in his acknowledgment of the fruits which it had furnished for the royal table while at Raglan-is so called from its situation on the river Trothy. The village of Mitchell Troy, about a mile and a half from Monmouth, contains a church dedicated to St. Michael; but the chief object to which the tourist's eye is directed is the baronial mansion above-named. The house, which was already in high repute at the time of the King's visit to See note, page 133. Raglan, was built by Inigo Jones, who, in the suite of Christian IV. of Denmark, came back to England in 1606. In consequence of the patronage of James the First-and more particularly of his Queen-he was induced to settle in the metropolis; and hence originated the sacred, regal, and aristocratic edifices which bear his name. He was consequently appointed one of the commissioners for repairing St. Paul's Cathedral; but this was not commenced until the spring of 1623. In the following reign he was much employed in preparing Masques for the entertainment of the court, and in building the Banquetinghouse at Whitehall; but while thus engaged, he fell under the displeasure of Ben Jonson, who ridiculed him on the stage, and made him the subject of his epigrammatic muse. Jones realized a handsome fortune; but being a Roman Catholic, and a partisan of royalty, he suffered severely in the Civil War. At length, worn out with sorrow and physical sufferings, he died in July, 1652, leaving behind him many monuments of his genius, of which the subject under notice was not the least considerable.* The fame of Troy House, however, depends less on the fact of its being the work of Inigo Jones, than upon the celebrity of its gardens—the fruits of which are still said to vie with those of tropical growth. The excellence of these fruits, as already noticed, caused the King to remark, "That the Sovereign of the Planets had now changed the poles; and that Wales, the outcast of England's fine gardens, had fairer and riper fruits than England's valleys had in all her beds." Sir Charles Somerset, sixth son of the fourth Earl of Worcester, married Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of Sir William Powel of Troy and Llanpylt, and added the influence of a considerable estate to that of the house of Worcester. It was from his gardens that the dessert for the royal table at Raglan was supplied. In the picture gallery of Troy House is a large and beautiful portrait of the first Marquess of Worcester, by Sir Peter Lely. He is represented in an open field, seated before a tent, with the Marchioness and an infant daughter by her side, and wears a fancy dress, with a scarf over his right shoulder-the ribbon and badge of the Garter. The other portraits are those of the Ducal house of Beaufort, since its creation in 1682. The situation of this hereditary mansion is too low to produce a striking feature in the landscape; but it commands very agreeable views of the town of Monmouth and its environs-with the rivers Monnow and Wye, whose waters unite and form one channel a short distance below Troy House. As an author, he is known by a work relating to that curious monument of former ages, Stonehenge, which he pronounced to be a Roman temple, dedicated to Cœlus; an opinion, however, which antiquaries have decried as erroneous and absurd.—Biog. † See account of the King's visit to Raglan, p. 163. CASTLE.] ENVIRONS--GROSMONT-MONMOUTH. 237 Grosmont, from which the lords of Raglan take the rank of Viscount, is entitled to a brief notice in this place. In old writings it is spelt Grysmond, and contains a population of about eight hundred. The parish church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is in the patronage of the Prince of Wales. In the churchyard, in the east wall of the chancel, is a monumental slab, said to cover the remains of Kent, or Gwent, a Franciscan monk, whose wonderful achievements in the early part of the fourteenth century* afford materials for many local traditions. According to one of these, the inhabitants are indebted to this good neighbourly monk for the bridge over the Monnow, on the road to Kentchurch in Herefordshire. It is called John of Kent's Bridge, and is said to have been built in one night. The Castle of Grosmont is a picturesque ruin. † It stands on a height commanding the view of a beautiful valley watered by the river Monnow, and bounded by Craig Savenny and the Garway Hill. The remains of this ancient castle occupy the summit of this hill, or rather eminence; its ivied walls, partly impending over the precipitous banks of the river, and towering at intervals through a grove of wide-spreading oaks, render the view extremely picturesque. “By Grysmond's ruins, scarred with years, On yonder roofless turret standing, How rich-how beautiful appears The scene beneath my eye expanding! The oak's green banner clothes the steep, There herds and harvests bless the Giver; And there, in many a crystal sweep, Descends the Monnow's classic river! And here-if e'er romance be found To love the vale or haunt the mountain Here is her home, with ivy bound, And here her grot, and crystal fountain. By sorrow worn, or passion driven— Here is a refuge from his woes, And here sweet intercourse with Heaven!" &c. Monmouth. Of this ancient town and its Castle, the limits prescribed to the present work will not permit us to indulge in any minute description. But before entering upon the Abbey of Llanthony-the next subject for illustration-the birthplace of Henry the Fifth is entitled to a general notice. The bridge over the Monnow, with its ancient gate-house at the west end, is, perhaps, the most striking feature of the place. Two other bridges, one over the He died in 1348. The lordship of Grosmont was absorbed in the acquisitions of the house of Lancaster, and a court baron is held for the district, called "the Hundred of the Three Castles"-Grosmont, Skenfreth, and White Castle, or Castle Gwyn. |
