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JForeign travel reveals the glories of other lands than our own^ — the achievetnents and merits of other peoples.
History casts its shadow far into the land of song,
— [Longfellow.
OL^C^^-^-^s^^^l.^^^^ Ci^f^tx^ ^/y^yy'^^^^^'^^^
ilNG IHB SCOKe-IIISH:
A TOUR IN SEVEN COUNTRIES,
IN IRELAND, WALES, ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, FEANCE, SWITZERLAND, AND ITALY;
With History of Dinsmoor Family.
A Companion Volume to "Eambles in Europe," etc.
LEONAKD ALLISON MORRISON, A. M.,
OF WINDHAM, N. H.,
Author of " History of the Morison or Morrison Family," " History of Windham in New Hampshire," and "Ramhles in Europe; with Historical Facts Relating to Scotch- American Families, Gathered in "Scotland and in the North of Ireland." •
BOSTON, MASS.:
PUBLISHED BY DAMRELL & UPHAM,
283 Washington Stbeet.
1891.
PRI>TED AT THE MAIL OFFICE, LOWELL, MASS.
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INTEODUCTIO:^.
In quick succession year follows year. Some travel, others write, while still others read of long journeyings. This work is largely a narrative of personal experience. It is written because I love to write ; to preserve historical mutter which would otherwise have been lost. It was to speak of that people of Scotch blood, the Scotch-Irish, whom I so much admire, who
Dwelt among the world's advancing host, Who herald forth a wider, freer day;
it was written to recount my observations while among them, — to give valuable facts in relation to them and their history.
It was also my desire to speak of travel in the romantic land of Scotland, to the wind-swept shores of Pentland Firth ; of scenes in England, in fair Normandy, among the mountains and glaciers of Switzerland, and beneath the sunny skies, over rare lakes, and in famous cities of the classic land of Italy.
The historical and closing chapter has been a develop- ment, a gi'owth, — evolved, from a few historical facts which I alone possessed, into its present dimensions, whereby all rules laid down by eminent authorities have been, without compunction, ruthlessly violated, in order that history might be preserved, placed in permanent form, and made accessible to many readers. The widely scattered copies of this work, many in private ownership, others to be found among noted collections of books, in State Historical Libraries, and other piablic libraries and
6 INTBODUCTION.
institutions, will, it is believed, render secure against loss by fire or otherwise the information it contains. It was remembered, and acted upon, what it would have been well for the world if, in the past, possessors of valuable manuscripts had not forgotten that no information is secure until it is printed and its numerous copies dis- persed as the winds scatter the autumnal forest leaves ; for then, though some may be destroyed, others are avail- able to the interested investigator.
It has been a delight to review the scenes of foreign wanderings, where was experienced so much of kindness, pleasure, and delight/ More fully conscious thnn any of the limitations of this work, it is given to the public with ■ the hope that others may from its perusal derive some profit and satisfaction.
Windham, N. H., May l, 1891.
(P. O., Canobie Lake, N. H.)
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFATORY. — Pages 1-15.
Dedication. Introduction. Table of Contents.
CHAPTER I. — Pages 15-25.
THE DEPARTURE.
The ship, and fellow-passengers, 15. Days of brightness, and religious services in mid-ocean, 16. At Queenstown, 17. In Dublin, 18. A visit to the battle-field of the Boyne Water, 18. The monument, 19. A Sabbath in Londonderry, 20. Eelics of the Siege of 1688-89, 21. Early homes of the New Hampshire Scotch-Irish, 21-25. Familiar names, 24.
CHAPTER n. — Pages 25-36.
AGHADOWEY AND SCOTCH SETTLEMENTS.
Aghadowey. ^he Presbyterian Church and its pastors and history, 25-28. Kev. Thomas Boyd, and Rev. James Mc- Gregor, 25. Rev. John Elder, Rev. Samuel Hamilton, Rev. Samuel Fullerton, Rev. Dr. John Brown, Rev. Alexander Wallace, Rev. J. B. Huston, 26. Kev. Gilbert A. Kennedy, and ministers and people of familiar Scotcli names, 27. Rev. W. D. Wallace, of Ramelton, 28. The associations of Ag- hadowey, with the daughter settlement of Londonderry, N. H., 28. No records, 28. Account of the emigration to London- derry, N. H., found in a paper in Ireland, 30-33. The linen trade, 33. The Allisons, Andersons, Morrisons, Cochrans, and Steeles, 35.
8 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER III.— Pages 36-50.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH — WHO "WERE THEY?
They were people of Scotch blood dwelling on Irish soil, 36. No mixture of the Scotch with native Irish, 37. Statements of Macaulay, 38. Their Saxon origin, 39. Scotch were Scotch still, 40. The Lowland Scotch dialect, 41. Eloquent language of Eev. J. S. Macintosh, D. D., 42-45. The Scotch in Ulster were a picked class, 45. The Ulsterman did not mingle with the Celt, 46. Characteristics of the race, 47. Love for the Fatherland, 49.
CHAPTER IV.— Pages 50-55.
MEETING DESCENDANTS OF THE SCOTCH SETTLERS.
Abraham Sinclair, and Thomas Sinclair, 50. James Andrews at Glenwherry, 51. Great Orange demonstration, July 12, 52. Beautiful homes in Belfast, Ireland, Eev. Kobert Andrew Phenix, M. A., 53. William E. Armstrong and son, 53. At the Four Courts Eecord Office in Dublin, 54. Leaving Dublin for Hollyhead, Wales, 54.
CHAPTER V. — Pages 55-64.
IN WALES.
Hollyhead, 55. Home of Gladstone, 56. Chester, Liverpool, and Buxton, 56. Journey to Wales, 67. At St. Clear's, and the suspicious character, 58. Sermon in the Welsh tongue, 59. St. Clear's and Laugharue, 60. Euins of Llan- stephen Castle, 61. Kidwelli Castle, Swansea, Neath, and Cardiff, 62. The Severn Tunnel, and arrival at Bath, England, 63.
CHAPTER VI. — Pages 64-81.
IN ENGLAND.
The Eoman Baths, in Bath, 64. Meeting Hon. Arthur Liver- more, 64. Beauties of Windsor Castle, 65. Henry F. Waters,
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9
65. No lists of American Colonists, G6. Debate in the Rouse of Commons on the Royal Grants Bill, 67. British orators, 67. The royal marriage, 68. The Queen, 69. List- ening to Canon Farrar and Newman Hall, 69. Madame Tussaud & Sons' Historical Gallery, 70. Wax figures of famous Americans, 70. Leaving London, at Chiselhurst, the home of Napoleon III, 70. At Seven Oaks, Ightham, and Benjamin Harrison, 71. The Druidical Stones, and Crom- well's Skull, 72. Inspecting an ancient English home at Yaldham, 73. Sir Mark W. Collet, 73. Ightham Moat, 73. Penshurst, 74-75. At Battle Abbey, 75-76. Battle of Hast- ings, 77. Hastings and St. Leonard's, 78. Eye, 78. Canter- bury Cathedral, 79.
CHAPTER VII. — Pages 81-94.
GOIJfG TO THE FAK NORTH-LAND.
Rochester, and Rochester Castle, 81-82. Chatham, 82. An historical hostelry — The Mitre, what Dickens says of it, 83. London and Chelmsford, 8-t. Old King Cole, and Castle of Colchester, urns and ashes of the Roman dead, 86. Ipswich and Bury St. Edmunds, 86. Parishes of Rattlesden, Hitcham, Buxhall, 87. Norwich, and its Castle, 88. Cambridge, 88. Huntington, and Ramsay, 89. Queer names of hotels, 89. Nottingham and its Castle, 89-90. At Leeds, Episcopal Church at Adcl, 91. In an English liome, 92. Rowley, Dur- ham, and its Castle, Berwick-on-Tweed, 93.
CHAPTER VIII. — Pages 94-108.
IN MY FATHERLAND.
At Dunbar, Scotland. Along the shore of the North Sea, 94. Robert Bruce Armstrong, 94. Countrj^ seat of the Earl of Buchau, 95. St. Giles's Church, and the Forth Bridge, 95. Going northward, 96. A treeless country, and arrival at Thurso, 97. A visit to Ulbster Castle, 98. Old family por- traits, and members of the Sinclair family, 99. At Watten, Rev. Mr. Gunu, 100. Hector McKay, the ride to Wick,
10 TABLE OF COWTEIfTS.
remains of Pictish houses, 101. In Wick, near John O'Groat's, Girnigoe and Sinclair Castle, and Castle of Keiss, 102. Old Man of Wick, a stronghold of the family of Cheynes, and the Oliphants, 103. George Miller Sutherland, "Lead, kindly light," 104. Leaving the dear North-land, 105. The shooting season, 105. The full blooming heather, 106. The Pass of Killiecrankie, 106. Kev. J. D. Fulton, 106. The South Down Hills, at Newhaven, and departure to Dieppe, Xormandy, 107.
CHAPTER IX. — Pages 108-124.
IN NOEMANDT.
Its historic associations, 108-109. Dieppe, 109. Rouen, its cathedral and attractions, 110-111. Dives, and Hotel William the Conqueror, 112. European market days, 115. At Caen, 116. Eight vanished centuries, 117. Death of the Con- queror, 118. William's tomb, 119. Burial places of illustri- ous men, 119-120. In Bayeux, the Bayeux Tapestry, 121-122. At Rye, 123.
CHAPTER X. — Pages 124-135.
A MOONLIGHT RIDE.
By post to Bayeux, 121. In St. Lo, 125. The Cotentin, from which came many of the followers of William, 126. In Eal- aise, the birthplace of the Conqueror, 127. Castle of Fal- aise, 127. Robert the Devil, 128. The Tanner's Daughter, 129. Statues of noted ones, 129. A great privilege, 130. In Dreux, The Mortuary Chapel of the Bourbon Family, 131. At Vernon and Mantes, 133. Farewell to Normandy, 134.
CHAPTER XI. — Pages 135-141.
DAYS IN PARIS.
The Exposition of 1889, 135. The Republic may live, 136. The Eiffel Tower, 137. View of Paris, 139. From Paris to Geneva, 140.
TABLE OF COIf^TENTS. 11
CHAPTER XII. — Pages 141-148.
CHAMOUNI.
The ride to Chamouui, Ul. Mont Blanc, U2. A visit to tlie Moutiiuvert, the Merde Glace, and the Mauvals Pas, 142-145. A niagnillcent ride from Chamouui to Martigny, 145. Inter- laken, 146. In the St. Gothard Tunnel, 146. Arrival at Como, Italy, 147.
CHAPTER XIIL— Pages 148-160.
SUNNY ITALY AND THE ITALIAN LAKES.
Visit to Lakes Como aud Lugano, 148-149. Milan, its Cathe- dral aud sights, 150. The journey to Venice, 151. In Venice, 151. Strange sights, 152. The church of St. Mark, and Pal- ace of the Doges, 153. Language of the imagination, 154. Arrival in Florence, 165. Soldiers of Garibaldi, 156. Art Galleries, 157. Famous churches, 158. Farewell to Florence, 159.
CHAPTER XIV. — Pages 160-172.
EOME, NAPLES, AND POMPEII.
In Eome. Col. C. II. Sheppard, 160. Progressive Italians, 161. The Forum, 161. Trajan's Column, the Colosseum, the Tri- umphal Arch of Constantine, aud the Appiau Way, 162. St. Peter's Church, 162. The Holy Staircase, and the image of Virgin, 163. ' The Baths of Caracalla, 164. Galleries of art in the Vatican, with Museums, 164. Across the Cam- pagna, 164. Visit to the catacombs of St. Callistus, 165. Modern Eome, 166. Monastery of Monte Cassino, 167. In Naples, and in Pompeii, 167-168. Curious sights, 169. The houses aud streets of Pompeii, 170. Blount Vesuvius, 171.
CHAPTER XV. — Pages 172-179.
HOMEWARD BOUND.
Naples, and the loveliness of its Bay, 173. liev. E. M. McKee- ver, the Mediterranean Sea, at Pisa, 174. Genoa, and Turin,
12 TABLE OF CONTENTS.
175. The Mont Cenis Tuunel, 175. All-night ride to Paris,
176. From Paris to London, 176. Adieu to England, 177. The vessel aground, 178. Arrival in a pleasant port. The wanderer had come " to his own again," 178.
CHAPTER XVI. — Pages 1-46.
HISTORICAL.
The earliest history and genealogy, covering nearly three hun- dred years, from about 1600 to 1891, of the Dinsmoor-Dins- more family, of Scotland, Ireland, and America, with that of many of their descendants ; and additional facts relating to the sixteen first settlers and their families of Londonderry, New Hampshire, who emigrated to America in 1719 ; with statis- tics concerning the McKean and Bell families ; and a poem, " The Heroes of the Siege of Londonderry, Ireland, 1688-89.' (See index for this chapter.)
A TKIBUTE FEOM THE NEW TO THE OLD.
From Canobie Lake, New Hampshire, to Caunobie in Scotland.
CANOBIE LAKE.
BY LEONARD ALLISON MORRISON.
It is a beautiful sheet of water, situated partly in Windham, partly in Salem, and wholly within the limits of the original Scotch settlement of Londonderry, N. H., which was founded in 1719. The name Canobie is taken from Cannobie in Scotland, near the English border, and once the home of famous border clans. Through that place of historic interest and rare beauty flow the murmuring waters of the River Esk.
From the old Fatherland Las come down thy fair name, So sweet in its sound and so ricli in its fame ; The Wizard of Scotia, in song from afar, Preserved it forever in " Young Lochinvar."
"When sweet peace rests on thee, O Canobie Lalce, The blue of the skies thy clear waters take ; While winds soft as zephyr, or faint summer air, Blow over tliy bosom in ecstacy rare.
Thy billows, breeze-swept when they turn to the sky, Are glistening with brightness of Art's rarest dye ; The beauties of cloudlet, of sky, and of tree, Fair gem set in hillsides, are mirrored in thee.
Oh, gorgeous and beautiful Canobie Lake! In splendor of sunshine, thy waves softly break ; In storm they may foam, and in rage toss on high. To thy bosom they fall, and there peacefully lie.
14 GANOBIE LAKE.
How green are thy borders, sweet Canobie Lake, Whose sleepy waves rise, sway sparkling, and break In shimmering sunshine they lash the rough shore, In shimmering sun, dying, they rave no more.
In splendor of sunset at close of the day. In glory of storm 'neath the wild tempest's sway. In brightness or darkness, thy restless waves form A glory in sunsliine, a glory in storm.
CHAPTER I.
THE DEPARTURE.
Leaden skies; a still, stifled, murky atmos- phere, undisturbed by any breeze — such was the afternoon of a day in the latter part of June, 1889, when, with nearly five hundred and fifty saloon passengers, I stood on the deck of the gallant, proud steamer City of New York at the Inraan Pier in New York Harbor, bound for Liverpool.
The hurried greetings and partings were over ' and the vast throngs promenaded the decks, each, as he passed, looking at the groups of his fellow-passengers to see if perchance a familiar face was there ; or, with that curiosity with which one almost involuntarily scrutinizes the faces of his- fellows, seeking by the sharp intui- tive look to read the character and life-history as shown in the seamed forehead, the glancing eye, the intelligent words, or otherwise, of those about him.
Some were of the world of letters, not un- known to fame, whose written words have brought cheer and spiritual healing to the troubled hearts of many thousands of readers
16 IN IIID-OCEAN.
in all parts of the English-speaking world, — some whose faces were a benediction, and which one looked upon only with elevation of soul and purifying of the spirit. Not all were of this exalted and elevating type, but many belonged to " the great unwashed " multitude.
Acquaintances were quickly made. Days of unclouded brightness succeeded the depressing one of departure ; the ocean was as quiet as an inland sea, and how beautiful was the Sabbath ! Services in the cabin, largely attended, were conducted by Rev. Mr. Green, of Buffalo, N. Y. In the evening, an open-air service was held * on the deck in the stern of the ship. We were in mid-ocean; a canvas covering was over us, shutting from our sight the twinkling lights in God's great heaven of blue. There were the never-ceasing sounds of the splashing waters, the foamy billows created and stirred by the ship as it plowed along, and the frothy, fleecy, glittering sea, with its phosphorescent glow in the wake of the vessel, looking as though some mighty hand had strewn the waters with purest diamonds. These were the attendant surroundings ; the voices of prayer, of song, and of praise mingled with the sigh- ing winds and the moans of the seething sea. It was grand, romantic, beautiful!
AT QVEENSTOWN. Vj
Seven days of rest, quiet, and recreation, which passed quickly, brought us into the familiar Harbor of Queenstown, where many of the passengers alighted, for a hurried look at the city, at Blarney Castle, the Lakes of Killarney, and a hasty tour of the Emerald Isle, and I was among them. We landed on the 4th of July ; and as the tugboat bore us away, the fifteen hundred people on the ship, lining its every deck and great numbers of them waving American flags, bade us adieu.
It was my purpose to pass hurriedly over this familiar ground, so as to reach the Scotch settlements in the North of Ireland. About Queenstown, everything gave evidence of abundant crops and increased prosperity. The crop of hay was enormous, and vast and nu- merous stacks -ornamented the fields and gave evidence of a land of plenty. A jaunting-car was procureti, and with three pleasant compan- ions, fellow travellers and passengers, we were quickly whirled through the outlying district, visiting places of note and some of the habi- tations of the common people. A native Irishman, witty, and partially intoxicated, was the driver, who said it was well to " have as good a time as we can, and die when we must ! "
18 BEAUTIES OF THE BIVEB LEE.
The River Lee will rival in its surroundings the beauties of the Hudson or the Rhine. Neither are more beautiful than was this that summer day, toward evening, as we went up to Cork over its silvery surface. The green- ness and density of the foliage of the trees in all the surrounding country and on the river's sides, the palatial and attractive homes on the sloping hills among shadowing and surrounding trees, were a perpetual delight. Only a night and day were spent in Cork and its surround- ings.
At Dublin I tarried at one of the finest hotels, — kept by an Englishman, the bills of fare were printed in French, and the waiters were Germans. Thus oftentimes has the native Celtic-Irishman become a nonentity in his native land, and those of foreign birth and blood push to the foreground.
On leaving Dublin, my journey took me to Drogheda, and thence by jaunting-car I reached the battle-field of the Boyne Water. A high granite monument on a huge ledge of rock marks the place where the celebrated battle was fought, July 1, 1690, between the forces of William, Prince of Orange, and those of James II. The obelisk marks the spot where King William commenced the attack and where
BATTLE OF THE BOYNE. 19
Scliomberg fell. It is 150 feet in height, and bears this inscription : —
Sacred to the glorious memory of
King William the Third,
who, on the 1st of July, 1690, jjassed the
river near this place to attack
James the Second at the head of a Popish array,
advantageously posted on the south of it,
and did on that day, by a single battle,
secure to us and to our posterity,
our liberty, laws, and religion.
In consequence of this action James
the Second left this kingdom
and fled to France.
This meml of our deliverance was erected in the 9th year of the reign of King George the Second, the first stone being laid by Lionel Sackville, Duke of Dorset, Lord Lieutenant of the Kingdom of L-eland. 1736,
"With the sweet enchantment of the past, The 15reast of age is fervid to the last.
— Goethe.
This was a place of intense interest to me, and intimately connected historically with the " Siege of Derry," which my ancestors endured just previous to this battle, and also with other famous scenes and exploits in which many of the first Scotch residents of Londonderry, N. H., or their relatives, had participated. Bathing
20 AT LONDONDEBBY, IBELAWD.
my hands in the "sacred tide" of the Boyne Water, I returned to Drogheda, an uninterest- ing town of about fifteen thousand people. My journey was continued through a locality of much beauty, abounding with historic asso- ciations of great interest to Scotch-Americans, whose ancestors for a generation or so found a halting-place and a home in the Emerald Isle.
The Sabbath was spent in Londonderrj^, and services were attended in its noted CathedraL The city was familiar to me, and has once before been described.* The day was simply perfect. An hour or two were spent upon the walls of the city, and it was a singular and thrilling coinci- dence for me to remember, as I gazed upon the streets, the Cathedral, the walls, the Kiver Foyle, and the hills beyond, that at that very July day and hour, just two hundred years be- 'fore, my ancestors and relatives, with their friends and kindred, were within the city in the direst extremity, enduring the horrors of starvation ; that they walked those streets,, looked forth with famished eyes upon the same Cathedral, the same walls, the same river and surrounding hills, and were waiting with un- speakable longing for succor to come, which came at last !
* See " Kambles in Europe," etc., pp. 53-73.
RELICS OF THE SIEGE. 21
Many relics of " the Siege " were seen the following day in an " Old Curiosity Shop," which for variety and the heterogeneous char- acter of its contents would rival any ever described by the great English novelist. After inspecting various libraries and interview- ing local antiquarians, as my purpose was to obtain historical data, I left Londonderry, to visit places in the counties of Londonderry and Antrim, which had been the homes of early settlers of New Hampshire of Scotch blood. Among them was Coleraine, which was the place of departure, and is said to have been the home of Nathaniel Holmes and family, ancestors of many of the Holmeses of New Hampshire. Among his descendants is Hon. Nathaniel Holmes, of Cambridge, Mass., a distinguished jurist, once a Judge of the Supreme Court of Missouri, and later he filled the Royal Professorship of Law in Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.
It was the favorable report of a young man named Holmes, son of a Presbyterian minister of this locality, which had a strong influence Avith Rev. James McGregor, and a portion of his congregation, at Aghadowey; Rev. Mr. Boyd, and a portion of his congregation, at Macasky, three miles from Coleraine ; and Rev^
22 IN BALLYMONET.
Mr. Cornwell, and a part of his people, in deter- mining on a removal to America.* Numerous families emigrated from Coleraine and vicinity to the new settlement in New Hampshire.
Leaving that place, a short ride by rail brought me to Ballymoney, County of Antrim, a thriving market town of some three thousand inhabitants. Its streets are narrow and not agreeable, and its general appearance is not particularly attractive. Yet from this little town have gone forth men and women, of Scotch blood and descent, whose influence in the new settlements of the United States has been of the most beneficial character, and whose descendants have filled the highest posi- tions of honor and trust in their several States, and have served in the House of Representa- tives and Senate of the United States at Washington.
Among those emigrants was John McKeen, son of Justice James McKeen. He was born in Ballymoney, County of Antrim, Ireland, April 13, 1714 ; emigrated with his father to Londonderry, N. H., in 1719 ; was an elder in the church and a member of the Legislature.
* " History of Londonderry, N. H.," pp. 35, 36. In connection witli this, see pp. 52, 63, 72, 73, 75-80, of " Eambles in Europe, witli Historical Facts Eelating to Scotcli-American Families," by Leonard Allison Morrison. Published in 1887, by Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston, Mass.
ITIS PROMINENT EMIGRANT FAMILIES. 23
He married his cousin, Mary McKeen, and was the father of Judge Levi McKeen, of Fishkill Landing, Dutchess County, N. Y., and of Rev. Joseph McKeen, D. D., the first President of Bowdoin College, Maine. The collateral branches of this family are widely scattered, some living in Pennsylvania, where persons of the name have been very prominent in the history of the State and in the Congress of the United States.
In this parish was probably born John Bell, the ancestor of the family of that name in New Hampshire, which has produced eminent men. He married Elizabeth, sister of Col. Andrew Todd, and they were children of James and Rachel (Nelson) Todd, of Scotland, but who had settled in or near Ballymoney, Ireland, with others of their Scotch country- men and countrywomen. In this family of Bells, three have been Governors of New Hampshire, three have been members of the United States Senate, one a member of the national House of Representatives, and two have been members of the highest judicial tri- bunal of the State.
The Dinsmoors of New Hampshire are descended from John Dinsmoor, the son of a Scotchman who lived in Ballymoney. (See concluding Historical Chapter.)
24 THE MOORLAND TOWN.
As I wandered through the narrow streets of the little moorland town of Ballymoney, I saw the familiar Scotch names of John Cochrane, Andrew^Todd, and Thomas Wallace, — the same surnames and Christian names as those in the early settlement of Londonderry, N. H. There were Gregory Morrison, W. J. McGaw, Pinker- ton, Patterson, and Jamieson. The Scotch family of Macdonald in former days held large tracts of land there, and do so at the present time. These Scotch names are very familiar ones in many Scotch settlements in America.
Leaving this town, by mail-car, I was con- veyed to Aghadowey. The fine road was lined by walls or scraggly hawthorn hedges. The country is gently swelling or undulating, pro- ductive and well cultivated. Many of the fields are surrounded by trees, which make the landscape very attractive. The cottages of the people in the country districts were of stone, and unpretentious. I met Rev. J. B. Huston, the pastor of the Presbyterian Church, but he was not particularly familiar with local history. He was an agreeable gentleman, and a few months later, in February, 1890, he passed away from earth and the people whom he had served so faithfully.
CHAPTER II.
AGHADOWEY AND SCOTCH SETTLE:\fENTS.
This Presbyterian Church has an interesting history. It is one of the largest in the Presby- tery of which it is a member, and has the largest country congregation in the whole Assembly, with a seating accommodation for one thousand worshippers. Connected with it are two fine schoolhouses, and a handsome and commodious manse. The church is attended by a large and influential congregation. Its organization is ancient, being founded the third in the Presbytery after the settlement of that part of Ireland by the Scotch. The first minister was Rev. Thomas Boyd, who was deposed in 1661 for Non-conformity, and was ordered to- be tried by the House of Lords in 1662. He, however, served his people longer ; was in Aghadowey in 1671-72, and during the "Siege of Derry,'' in 1688-89, stated from the pulpit that the people ought to go to Derry. He went himself ; was through the siege, re- turned after its close, and died while in charge of this church in 1699. Rev. James McGregor was ordained June 25, 1701, was the faithful
26 MINISTEBS OF AGHADOWET.
pastor until 1718, when he resigned, and he and many of his people emigrated to America. In April, 1719, they settled in Londonderry, N. H., where he lived until his death.
His successor, Rev. John Elder, was ordained May 7, 1723, and died Sept. 24, 1779, in the fifty-sixth year of his ministry and the eighty- seventh year of his age. Rev. Samuel Hamilton, the fourth minister, was ordained in 1773, and died July 18, 1788. His successor was Samuel Fullerton, ordained December, 1790, and died Jan. 1, 1813. His son, Dr. George Fullerton, went to Brisbane, Australia ; rose to the high- est eminence, and was a member of the upper House of Parliament there. The sixth minis- ter was Rev. Dr. John Brown, ordained in 1813, and in 1839 received the degree of D. D. from the University of Edinburgh, — a man of marked and distinguished powers, was a minis- ter for sixty years, retired in 1872, an(J died March 27, 1873. Rev. Alexander Wallace was his successor, ordained May 6, 1873, and was " cut down before the fight had well begun, like a flower nipped by early frosts." He died July 14, 1874. He was succeeded by my amiable acquaintance. Rev. J. B. Huston, who was installed Dec. 22, 1874, and died, as before stated, in February, 1890. Eight ministers had
FAMILIAR SCOTCH NAMES. 27
served that church for 231 years, an average of a fraction over twenty-nine years each, which speaks volumes for the fixedness of purpose and steadfastness of those sturdy parishioners of Scotch blood and Presbyterian faith.
The ninth minister installed over that church was Rev. Gilbert Alexander Kennedy, and the exercises took place on Nov. 18, 1890. He was from Garland ; and his ancestor five generations removed, Rev. Thomas Ken- ned}^, was ejected from the church at Garland on the Restoration of the Stuarts, being a min- ister for sixty-eight years. To show the dis- tinctively Scotch character of the community after a residence in the Emerald Isle for some two and a half centuries, note the names of clergymen who officiated at the installation exercises and others who were present: Rev. Jonathan Simpson, Rev. R. Wallace, Rev. D. Aiken, Rey. James Smyth, Rev. W. M. McCay, Rev. R. Montgomery, Rev. W. D. Wallace. Among others present : Dr. Morrison, Dr. Goch- ran, Dr. Taylor, William Ranken, R. Ranken, M. Macaulay, D. Anderson, James Gameron, Robert Anderson, Hugh Stewart, Robert Mc- Allister, W. M. Mclntyre, W. Morrison, William McNeill, Alexander Perry, John Kerr, Robert Wilson and other of distinctively Scotch names.
28 INTIMATE ASSOGIATIOHS.
As showing the very high state of moral- ity in the Presbyterian denomination, Rev. W. D. Wallace, of Ramelton, said " that the members of the Presbyterian Church did not lend themselves to vices, expensive or other- wise. Statistics of public institutions over the country would bear out that statement. Take, for instance, Letterkenny Asylum. There are in it 325 Roman Catholics, 36 Episcopa- lians, and 30 Presbyterians. It was high testimony to their church that so few of their members found their way into jails, poor- houses, and other institutions."
This place is intimately associated, and its history eternally linked, with that of its daugh- ter, the famous Scotch settlement of London- derry, N. H. Thither went numbers of its people, bearing the same family names as those mentioned. It is the old home of many of the sixteen first settlers of Londonderry, N. H., and of their families. It is the place from which emigrated Rev. James McGregor, and members of his parish, to Londonderry, N. H., in 1719.
No family records exist, either in Aghadowey or Dublin, relating to the place earlier than 1805, but there are documents which tell some- thing of the history of this town or parish.
TRENCH HILL. 29
The Episcopal Church stands on or near a gentle swell of land, called " Trench Hill," and about it, following the ancient custora, is the cemeter}'', with many familiar names on the memorial tablets. In 1641 a battle was fought at Trench Hill between the Irish troops and the forces at Aghadowey House. Colonel Blair, who commanded the latter forces, caused trenches to be made (hence the name), in which were concealed some musketeers, who remained quiet until the near approach of the Irish, when a volley from them drove back their antagonists. It is said that no battles were fought there in the war of William, Prince of Orange (1688-89); but we do know that the inhabitants of that place and the surrounding country were gathered together by the in- human order of Gen. Conrad de Rosen, were forced beneath the walls of Londonderry, exposed to ^ the missiles of both armies, and finally were admitted into the city, among them being some of the early settlers of Lon- donderry, N. H.
A recent writer says : " It is probable that the greater part of the Protestant population of Aghadowey took refuge in Derry, among whom was the Rev. Thomas Boyd, first min- ister of the Presbyterian congregation of
30 THE SEPTEMBEB MOBNING IN 1718.
Aghadowey, and who returned to his duties after that memorable siege had been raised."
In relation to the emigration, a generation later, to the New World, he says : —
" On a certain September morning, in the year 1718, a cavalcade, in which were women and children, whose dress and bearing bespoke the farming class, might have been seen leaving Aghadowey by the Derry road. In the caval- cade were a number of the old-fashioned wheel- cars, with their lov/, solid wheels and broad bottoms, upon which were piled provisions, wearing apparel, and household effects. Accom- panying the procession, and acting as guide, philosopher, and friend, was a clergyman in the prime of life, and dressed in the simple garb of the Presbyterian ministers of that period. The clergyman w^as accompanied by his son, a boy of eight summers, whose name is now accorded an honored place in the national biography of the Great Republic of the West. As the cav- alcade wends its way along the road, the people are ever and anon casting regretful looks at the waving fields of golden corn, the green valleys, and the wooded hills, now assuming an autumnal brown, of their native parish.
" The cavalcade is a band of emigrants, of about one hundred families, on their Avay to
EMIGRATION TO NEW HAMPSHIRE. 31
Deny, there to embark for the Western World. The clergyman is Rev. James McGregor, second minister of the Presbyterian congregation of Aghadowey, to which all the families belonged, and who accompanied them to America. The reasons which induced these people to leave their native land and undertake a voyage across the Atlantic, which in those days was tedious and full of hardships, and to face the uncertain prospects of new settlers, were partly religious and partly agrarian. Being Presby- terians, they were subjected to the unjust and iusulting provisions of the Test Act, under which it was penal for a person of their per- suasion to teach a school or to hold the humblest office in the State. Then again, at the time of the Revolution, when a consider- able part of the country lay waste, and when the whole framework of society was shattered, land had been let on lease at very low rents to Presbyterian tenants. About 1717-1718 these leases began to fall in, and the rents were usually doubled and frequently tripled. Hence farmers became discouraged, and a num- ber of them belonging to Aghadowey formed the design of emigrating to America, where they would be able to reap the fruits of their
32 THEY DISJEMBABKED IN 1718.
own industry. They landed at Boston on the 14th of October, 1718.
There were raen with hoary hair
Amid that pilgrim band ; Why had they come to wither there,
Away from their childhood's land?
There was woman's fearless eye.
Lit by her deep love's truth ; There was manhood's brow serenely high.
And the fiery heart of youth.
On landing at Boston, they proceeded to the State of New Hampshke, where they founded a town, which they called London- derry, in patriotic recollection of the county they had left. Here, too, they organized the first Presbyterian Church in New England, of which Mr. McGregor assumed the pastoral charge, without ordination. Mr. McGregor died in 1729, and, it may be interesting to add, was succeeded by the Rev. Matthew Clark, minister of Kilrea Presbyterian congregation from 1697 to 1729, when, though about seventy years of age, he emigrated to America."
In relation to the business interests there is the following, making mention of some family names familiar in the Scotch-American settle- ments: "About the beginning of the eigh- teenth century the Irish linen trade began to
THE LINEN TBABE. 33
attract attention, not, however, as is popularly supposed, on account of the fostering care it had received from the English Parliament. 'King William' had indeed, when proposing, in 1699, the destruction of the woollen manu- facture of Ireland, promised to encourage the linen industry as compensation. But the promise was not kept, and no encouragement was given to the Irish linen trade till 1705, when, at the urgent petition of the Irish Parliament, the Irish were allowed to export their white and brown linens, but those only, to the British Colonies. In 1743, when the country had sunk to a position of appalling wretchedness, the English Parliament granted bounties for the encouragement of the linen manufacture. An impetus was thus given to the linen trade, and bleach-greens sprang up all over Ulster, Aghadowey leading the way in this part of the province. The parish is inter- sected by three streams, whose waters are unsurpassed for purity, softness, and abun- dance, and these appear to have attracted the attention of some enterprising men engaged in the linen trade.
"Of these, the first to settle here with a view to the introduction of that trade was Mr. John Orr, who, in 1744, established a bleach-green
34 BUSII^USS INTERESTS.
in the townland of Ballybrittan for the bleach- ing of 7-8 and 4-4 linens. This was the first bleach-green known anywhere in this part of the country. Mr. Orr's example was followed by Mr. John Blair, who, in the same year, established another bleach-green in the town- land of Ballydevitt. To these two gentle- men, therefore, belong the honor of the intro- duction of the linen trade into x\ghadowey, an industry which has largely contributed in the past to the prosperity of the parish, and by which it has obtained its celebrity. Messrs. Blair and Orr having succeeded in establishing a lucrative trade, bleach-greens sprang up all over the parish, until, at one period, it con- tained no less than thirteen, ten of which were in full operation. These were situated in the townlands of Mullaghmore, Gortin, Ruskey, Keeley, Collins, Moneycarrie, Rushbrook, and White Hill, and the two already mentioned in Ballybrittan and Ballydevitt. Of all this ^long array' one only is in operation at present, that established in Ballydevitt in 1744. This venerable bleach-green, still a scene of indus- trial activity, is the sole representative of an industry which extended over the whole parish, and with the introduction of which the halcyon days for Aghadowey commenced.
OLD FAMILIES STILL THEME. 35
"Previously to 1828 no wheat was grown in the parish, but its introduction by the late Mr. James Hemphill was followed by complete success."
In this place are still the Allisons, Ander- sons, Morrisons, Cochrans, Steeles, and many others, being familiar family names, some of whose relatives upon this side of the heaving ocean have attained high positions of trust, honor, and emolument.
!l.j.o'-3.1.3J^
CHAPTER III.
THE SCOTCH-IRISH — WHO WERE THEY?
Many centuries had passed in the building of the Scottish as in the building of the Eng- lish nation ; in each, different peoples helped to make the completed nation, and in blood they were substantially the same. The blending of these races in Scotland, and the sharp stamp- ing of religious and political ideas, had developed and made the Scotch race a distinc- tive and sharply defined people ; in their intel- lectual, mental, and moral characteristics differ- ent from all others a century before and as we find them at the time of their settlement in the Emerald Isle. Thus they have still remained since their settlement in Ireland. They were Scotch in all their characteristics, though dwelling upon Irish soil. This fact has given rise to the supposition by some and the assertion by others — to whom the wish was father to the statement — that in the veins of the Scotch-Irish flowed commingled the blood of the stalwart Scotch and the blood of the Celtic-Irish. Never was mistake greater.
NO MIXING OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH. 37
Hon. Charles H. Bell, Ex-Governor of New Hampshire, in his eloquent address at the cel- ebration of the 150th anniversary of the settle- ment of the Londonderry (N. H.) Colony, in 1869, said of the term "Scotch-Irish": "It is not inappropriate, as descriptive of their origin and prior abode, though it has given rise to not a little misapprehension. It has been supposed by some writers that the name denotes a mixed nationality of Scotch and Irish descent ; and in order to adapt the facts to their theory, they have fancied that they could detect in the Londonderry settlers the traits derived from each ancestry. But history fails to bear out the ingenious hypothesis ; for it is certain that there was no mixture of blood in the little band who cast their fortunes here ; they were of Scottish lineage, pure and simple."
The Scotch-Irish were people of Scottish lineage who dwelt upon Irish soil.
The locality about Coleraine, Aghadowey, and Crockendolge is inhabited by people almost wholly of Scotch origin. They are the "Scotch- Irish," i. e. Scotch people living upon or born upon Irish soil, but not mixed with the native people. Their ancestors, some of them, came to Ireland nearly two hundred and fifty years ago. They came in a body, they kept in a body,
38 STATEMENTS OF MACAULAT.
and they remain in a body, or class by them- selves, largely to-day. The Scotch are called clannish, and were clannish ; and the Scotch who settled in Ireland, and their descendants, were clannish. They stuck together, and kept aloof from the native Celtic-Irish. They were sundered by the sharp dividing lines of reli- gious faith and by keen differences of race.
Macaulay says : " They sprang from differ- ent stocks. They spoke different languages. They had different national characters, as strongly opposed as any two national characters in Europe. They were in widely different stages of civilization. Between two such populations there could be little sympathy, and centuries of calamities and wrongs had generated a strong antipathy. The relation in which the minority stood to the majority resembled the relation in which the followers of William the Conqueror stood to the Saxon churls, or the relation in which the followers of Cortez stood to the Indians of Mexico. The appellation of Irish was then given exclu- sively to the Celts, and to those families which, though not of Celtic origin, had in the course of ages degenerated into Celtic manners. These people, probably about a million in number, had, with few exceptions, adhered ta
TiiEiM saxo:n- obigin. 39
the Church of Rome. Among them resided about two hundred thouscand colonists, proud of their Saxon blood and of their Protestant faith." *
And again, in speaking of the early Scotch and English settlers, he says : '•' One half of the settlers belonged to the Established Church and the other half were Dissenters. But in Ireland Scot and Southron were strongly bound together by their common Saxon origin ; Churchman and Presbyterian were strongly bound together by their common Protestantism. All the colonists had a common language and a common pecuniary interest. They were sur- rounded by common enemies, and could be safe only by means of common precautions and exertions." *
In speaking of the differences between the races, he says : " Much, however, must still have been left to the healing influence of time. The native'race would still have had to learn from the colonists industry and forethought, the arts of civilized life, and the language of England. There could not be equality between men who lived in houses and men who lived in sties ; between men who were fed on bread and men who were fed on potatoes ; between
* Macaulay's History of England.
40 THEY SPOKE THE ENGLISH TONGUE.
men who spoke the noble tongue of great philosophers and poets, and men who, with perverted pride, boasted that they could not writhe their mouths into chattering such a jargon as that in which the 'Advancement of Learning' and the ^Paradise Lost' were written." *
And again, speaking of Scotland, from which the Scotch of Ireland came, he says : " The population of Scotland, with the exception of the Celtic tribes, which were thinly scattered over the Hebrides and over the mountainous shires, was of the same blood with the popula- tion of England, and spoke a tongue which did not differ from the purest English more than the dialects of Somersetshire and Lancaster- shire differ from each other." *
Such being the relative condition of the two classes as eloquently described by the great English historian, it is the height of absurdity to claim that the blood of the distinct races was commingled except in isolated cases. They did not commingle. The Scotch, planted upon Irish soil, were Scotch still, and the Irish were Irish still. The Scotch took their language with them, and the dialect of the Lowlands fell upon the startled air and disturbed the mists arising
* Macaulay's History of England.
THE LOWLAND-SCOTCH DIALECT. 41
from the peat-fields of the Emerald Isle. Their dialect lived in Ireland, was transplanted to American shores, and in all the New Hampshire settlements was understood and spoken for more than a hundred years after their settle- ment upon American soil. Letters were written in it ; and many poems by Robert Dinsmoor, " The Rustic Bard," in a printed volume, are written in the Lowland-Scotch dialect.
Though it has now almost entirely disap- peared, being supplanted by the purer English tongue, yet I have heard the rich brogue in the Scotch settlement in New Hampshire, and in the older Scotch settlement in Ireland, and. know numerous families in New Hampshire, of Scotch blood, who since their coming to these shores one hundred and seventy-three years ago have not intermarried save with people of the same race, and they are of as pure Scotch blood and descent as can be found in the Fatherland. The sterling traits of character of the Scotch in Ireland, their frugality, tenacity of purpose, in- domitable mil, must ever be an honor to their character. Their glorious achievements upon American soil will ever add lustre to their name, and the mighty men produced of this race in all parts of the American Union vri\\ give enduring fame to that Scotch race, pure and unmixed,
42 THE HONOR 2 0 THE SCOTCH ALONE.
which, through great tribulation, passed in mighty phalanxes from Scotland to Ireland, there recruited its strength, and then swept across the stormy Atlantic into the American wilderness, subdued forests, founded mighty states, and has been foremost in the onward march of civilization. They are proud to stand alone. Scotch in blood, li^dng or born upon Ireland's soil, the honor is theirs, and theirs alone, and none can deprive them of their glo- rious fame !
Rev. John S. Macintosh, D. D., in an elo- quent historical address at the Scotch-Irish Con- gress, at Columbia, Tenn.,* in 1889, says of the Scotch and the Scotch-Irish : —
"Peculiar and royal race ; yes, that indeed is our race ! I shrink not from magnifying my house and blood with a deep thanksgi^dng to that Almighty God who himself made us to dif- fer, and sent His great messenger to fit us for our earth-task, — task as peculiar and royal as is the race itself. I shame me not because of the Lowland thistle and the Ulster gorse, of the Covenanter's banner or the Ulsterman's pike.
* Lovers of the Scotch race, whether living in Scotland, Ireland, or America, will find much of interest on " The Scotch-Irish in America," in the published Proceedings of the Scotch-Irish Congress at Columbia, Tenn., published in 1889, by Robert Clark & Co., Cincinnati, O. ; and also in the published Histories of the towns of Londonderry, Windham, An- trim, Bedford, Peterborough, Gilmanton, and Acworth, N. H.
TIJEin DISTINCTIVE MARKS. 43
If we be not the very peculiar people, we Scotch-Irish are a most peculiar peoj^le, who have ever left our own broad, distinct mark wherever we have come, and have it in us still to do the same, even our critics being judges. To-day we stand out sharply distinguished in a score of points from English, Dutch, German, and Swede. We have our distinctive marks, and, like ourselves, they are strong and stub- born. Years change them not, seas wash them not out, varying hopes alter them not, clash and contact with new forms of life and fresh forces "of society blur them not. Every one knows the almost laughably dogged persistency of the family likeness in us Scotch-Irish all the world over. Go where you may, know it once, then you know it — aye, feel it — forever. The typal face, the typal modes of thought, the typal habits of work, tough faiths, unyielding grit, granitic hardness, close-mouthed self-repression, clear, firm speech when the truth is to be told, God-fearing honesty, loyalty to friendship, de- fiant of death, conscience and knee-bending only to God — these are our marks. And they meet and greet you on the hills of Tennessee and Georgia ; you may trace them down the valleys of Virginia and Pennsylvania ; cross the prairies of the West and the savannahs of the South,
44 THEIR SOUL FEATVBES.
you may plow the seas to refind them in the western bays of Sligo, and beneath the beethng rocks of Donegal ; thence you may follow them to the maiden walls of Derry, and among the winding banks of the silvery Bann ; onward you may trace them to the rolling hills of Down, and the busy shores of Antrim; and sailing over the narrow lough, you will face them in our forefathers' collier homes and gray keeps of Galloway and Dumfries, of the Ayrshire hills and the Grampian slopes.
" These racial marks are birth-marks, and birth-marks are indelible. And well for us and the world is it that they are indelible. They are great soul-features, these marks. They are principles. The principles are the same every- where ; and these principles are of four classes, religious, moral, intellectual, and political."
The Rev. John S. Macintosh says again, in his eloquent, and almost classical, address on " The Making of the Ulsterman," at the Second Con- gress of " The Scotch-Irish in America," held in Pittsburg, Penn., in May and June, 1890: —
"In this study I have drawn very largely upon the labors of two friends of former years, — Dr. William D. Killen of the Assem- bly's College, one of the most learned and accurate of historians, and the Rev. George
THE SCOTCH OF ULSTER. 46«
Hill, once Librarian of Queen's College, Belfast, Ireland, than whom never was there more ardent student of old annals and reliable anti- quarians ; but more largely still have I drawn on my o^vll personal watch and study of this Ulster-folk in their homes, their markets, and their churches. From Derry to Down I have lived with them. Every toAvn, village, and hamlet from the Causeway to Carlingford is familiar to me. Knowing the Lowlander and the Scotch-Irish of this land, I have studied the Ulsterman, and his story of rights and wrongs, and that eagerly, for years. I speak that which I have seen, and testify what I have heard from their own lips, read from old family books, church records, and many a tombstone in Kirkyards."
The Scotch settlers in Ulster were a picked class, as he proves from official and state papers. In a letter of. Sir Arthur Chichester, Deputy for Ireland, he says : " The Scottishmen came with better port (i. e. manifest character), they are better accompanied and attended, than even the English settlers. Just as to these western shores came the stronger souls, the more daring and select, so to Ulster from the best parts of Lower Scotland came the picked men to be Britain's favored colonists."
46 A PICKED CLASS.
Speaking of the race conflicts between the Scotch and native Irish, he says : " But these proud and haughty strangers, with their high heads and new ways, were held as aliens and harried from the beginning by ' the wild Irish.' The scorn of the Scot was met by the curse of the Celt."
And again : " It has been said that the Ulster settlers mingled and married with the Irish Celt. The Ulsterman did not mingle with the Celt." Great care was taken by the gov- ernment that the Ulster Colonists should be so settled that the}^ " may not mix nor inter- marry " ^\iih the native Celts.
Dr. Macintosh says again : " The Ulster set- tlers mingled freely with the EngUsh Puritans and with the refugee Huguenots ; but so far as my search of state papers, old manuscripts, ex- amination of old parish registers, and years of personal talk mth, and study of, Ulster-folk, the Scots did not mingle to any appreciable ex- tent with the natives. . . . With all its dark sides, as well as light, the fact remains that Ulsterman and Celt were ahens and foes. . It is useless for Prendergast, Gilbert, and others to deny the massacres of 1641. Reid, and Hickson, and Froude, the e^ddence sworn to before the Long Parhament, and the
" WE 'BE NO EEBIISH, BUT SCOATCH." 47
memories of the people, prove the dark facts. . . . In both Lowlander and Ulsterman is the same strong racial pride, the same hauteur and self-assertion, the same self-reliance, the same close mouth, and the same firm mil, — 'The stiff heart for the steek brae.' They are both of the very Scotch, Scotch. To this very hour, in the remoter and more unchanged parts of Antrim and Do^\ai, the country-folk mil tell you : ' We 're no Eerisli, but Scoatch.' All their folk-lore, all their tales, their traditions, their songs, their poetry, their heroes and hero- ines, and their home-speech, is of the oldest Lowland types and times."
In continuation of this subject, I will say, that in the Scotch settlements of New Hamp- shire, after a residence of one hundred and seventy-three years, there are families of as pure Scotch lineage as can be found in the Scotch settlements of Ireland or in the interior of the Scottish Lowlands. In no instance since their coming to America have they intermar- ried with any save those of Scottish blood.
They retain in a marked degree the mental characteristics of the race ; there are the same lofty adherence to principle, the same pride of race, the same tenacity of purpose, the same manifestations of unbending- and inflexible
48 PURE SCOTCH LINEAGE.
will-power and devotion to duty, as were shown by their forefathers at the " Siege of Derry " , or by their Covenanting ancestors who, among the moors, the glens, and the cold mountains of Scotland, amid sufferings numberless, upheld loftily the banner of the Cross, while some sealed their deathless devotion to the faith of their souls by sacrificing the bright red blood of their hearts.
In my veins flows, equally commingled, the blood of the Scot and the Puritan ; but I speak what I do know, and declare, mth all the force and emphasis which language is capable of expressing, that after many years of careful historical and genealogical research, relating to Scotch- American famihes; after tracing them from America to the Emerald Isle, thence across the narrow belt of sea to the Father- land, Scotland ; that only in exceptional cases has there been an intermixture by marriage of the Scot with the Irish Celt.
I am somewhat familiar with the Scotch settlements in Ulster, have met and talked and am acquainted mth many of her people of Scotch descent, and they declare with partic- ular emphasis that the mixture of Scot and Irish Celt has been of the slightest kind.
LOVE FOB FATHERLAND. 49
The love of Scotchmen, and the descendants of Scotchmen, in Ulster and elsewhere for the Fatherland and its history is phenomenal, and in America has existed for generations. It is as sweet, as strong, and enduring as that of Burns for the object of his affections as ex- pressed in the following lines, and which all of our race can apply to Scotland : —
An' I will love thee still, my dear. Till a' the seas gang dry.
Till a' the seas gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
I will love thee still, my dear, While the sands of life shall run.
CHAPTER IV.
MEETING DESCENDANTS OF THE SCOTCH SETTLERS.
Leaving Aghadowey, a locality whose history and all that pertains to it has such an interest and charm to the descendants of people who from those familiar grounds, nearly two cen- turies since, passed to the New World, I went to Crockendolge, and at night was a guest at the hospitable home of a clansman in Money- Dig, Garvagh. During one of those days of examination and journeying I rode twenty-five miles by jaunting-car.
The following morning mine host carried me to Ballymoney, where by rail my journey was continued to Ballemena. Among the descen- dants of Scotch emigrants to Ireland whom it was my pleasure to meet was Abraham Sinclair, an intelliorent and successful merchant of that city, and, later on, Thomas Sinclair, J. P., a wealthy and prominent citizen of Belfast. One of the first members of that family who emi- grated to America, two centuries and a half ago, bore the same Christian name. One of the early settlers of Exeter and Hampton, N. H., in 1660 or there about, was John Sinclair, the
NATUIiE'S LAVISH GIFTS TO IBELAND. 51
ancestor of many of that name in the State. Thus the ancient family names of the Old World are continually duplicated in the New.
From Larne, by narrow-gauge railway, the next place visited was Glenwherry, and the family of Mr. James Andrews, stopping at Ballynashee station. He is of Scotch descent, his family having been in Ireland for more than two centuries, — a large land-owner, living very comfortably in his nice stone house, embowered with large and overshadowing trees, while back of it rose a high, long,' sweeping stretch of pro- tecting hills. It was a novelty and a delight in that foreign land to meet these hospitable peo- ple in their attractive homes. As one looked forth on hill, valley, Avater, and the various attractions in \dew, it seemed as though Nature had been sufficiently lavish in her gifts to Ire- land.
It was my fortune to be in Belfast on the Twelfth of July, the 199th anniversary of the ^'Battle of the Boyne," ever a great day in the North of Ireland, where celebrations always take place. On this particular day the Orange- men were out in force. Many different socie- ties, with their flags, and its members dressed in their regalia, were seen among the marching thousands.
52 " WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE!"
There was an immense procession, which paraded the streets of Belfast with waving plumes and flaunting banners. Many were the mottoes on their gorgeous flags, such as "No Surrender," "Remember the Boyne Water," and others eulogistic of William, Prince of Orange. The Scotch bagpipes were playing, which, united with the bugle's blast and the fearfully beaten drums, made discordant music. The greatest force, vindictiveness and spite, were manifested in many things which I ob- served. They marched out of the city to Chrome, seven miles away, and in the afternoon marched back again, — men, women, boys, and girls, old and young. Fully 150,000 people were estimated to have been at that j)lace. Both classes of people, Protestants and Catholics, the descendants of the Scotch and English as well as the native Irishmen, are unreasonable, and manifest but little of that charity toward each other "which suffereth long." As I looked over the vast throng, and thought of the other class equally vindictive, one could not but say, " What fools these mortals be ! " It is safe to assert that not one in ten in those marching thousands were Home Rulers, and had any of the Celtic Irish used insulting language to these men, who were celebrating the victory of the
DATS IN BELFAST. 53
'' Boyue Water," there would have been as lively a scrimmage as is now going on in South- ern Ireland between Parnell and Davitt and their followers of the split-in-twain Home Kule party, and as many broken heads. Many of the homes and estates in Belfast are vast, elegant, and elaborate. Among them was one which I visited. Most charming grounds and shrubbery surrounded the beautiful residence, with its rich, varied, and costly furnishings.
During a delightfid stay in Belfast, I was for a time a guest at the home of Rev. Robert Andrew Phenix, M. A., at Kilwaughter Rectory, near Larne. The Rectory stands in a park off the highway, surrounded by a wall, and filled with beautiful shrubbery. But nothing was more beautiful than the kindness of the greet- ing of the rector and his attractive wife, and the warmth of their generous hospitality. All are pleasant- remembrances. I also visited Bangor, a few miles away, and an old historic church, and its castle's grounds. W. E. Arm- strong and his son, solicitors, gave me much attention, and thus aided me in my special work. Thus were spent happy days in Belfast.
Going to Dublin, I called on Lieutenant Heally of the Royal Navy, Marine Department, and at the office of the Assistant Chief of the
64 EABLT EMIGBATION LISTS.
Emigration Department, and sent to various other places for special historical information, which apparently does not exist. Early emi- gration lists are difhcult to find, and the most of them are utterly lost. At the Four Courts I called upon Judge Porter, the Right Honor- able Master of Rolls, and was enabled to con- sult, without trouble, many old records, parish and otherwise, which are there deposited.
After considerable labor in this line, my work in Ireland was completed, and one afternoon I took passage on a vessel which steamed out of Dublin Harbor just as the evening shadows were deepening, and the afterglow from the sun which had set lighted with an almost divine halo the summits of distant high elevations. The har- bor is attractive to the eye, and the view of the mountains in the Counties of Dublin and Wick- low was fine indeed. When we landed at Hollyhead the clear lights of steamers and sail- ing vessels flitted and danced brightly in the blick night over the restless waters of the bay.
CHAPTER V.
IN WALES.
HoLLYHEAD is of considerable importance, on account of its convenience as a place from which vessels can easily reach the Irish coast, and the town is filled with an active and thriv- ing population. Vast sums have been spent upon public works, and a fine harbor has been constructed. A lighthouse with brilliant lights, two hundred and twelve feet above the water, is situated three miles away, on an isolated rock, called the South Stack. The promontory of the Head is a precipitous rock, into which channels have been worn by the beating waters, and where inniunerable fowls congregate and nest. This place is connected with Chester and Liver- pool by rdil, by which rapid transit is made ■with those places.
Lea\dng Hollyhead, I passed through a coun- try of picturesque scenery, where many fine watering-places nestled on the shores of the ocean, with shadowing hills in the background. After passing railroad-girdled hills and old ruins, in plain view at Hawarden was situated, among stately trees which his destroying axe
56 HOME OF GLADSTONE.
had not felled, the home of the great English and world-renowned statesman, William Ewart Gladstone.
I soon reached Chester, and then Liverpool, where I stayed only long enough to receive my mail, and despatch letters to the United States. I pressed on to Buxton, a fashionable inland watering-place, in the northwest part of the County of Derby, in the hilly moorland called the High Peak. The district is renowned for its picturesque and beautiful scenery, its health- giving atmosphere, its mineral waters and baths, and is a favorite resort of invalids and tourists. Here at Diamond Hill are found the famous quartz crystals, widely known as the Buxton diamonds. Near the Diamond Hill is a long natural cavern, extending into the hill almost half a mile, and known as Poole's Hole. The entrance is narrow, but soon enlarges, and the ceiling becomes more lofty. A narrow stream flows through high chambers, with im- posing arches, and with stalactites suspended from the top, and crystalline masses have accu- mulated on the floor, caused by the dropping of the water filled with calcareous matter. A guide accompanied me through the entire length, which was lighted by gas. The place is remark- able for its strangeness and beauty.
AT BUXTON. 57
The Buxton Gcardens and Pavilion are said to be unsurpassed in Great Britain, for the beauty of waterfalls, lawns, and walks, and the many kinds of entertainment and amusement proAdded for their patrons.
After concluding my stay at Buxton, I went, via Liverpool, almost direct to the southwest- ern part of Wales. I saw the huge excavations for the great canal which is to connect Man- chester with Liverpool, and which will make a sea port of this populous inland city. My route took me through nearly the whole length of Wales, passing into the centre in a south- westerly direction. The rain fell heavily, but it was a journey of great enjoyment, as the route lay through romantic and charming scenery, where the mountains in their beauty and green- ness were all about us. Only a short stay was made at the quaint old city of Shrewsbury, on the River Severn, with its crooked, narrow streets and tile-roofed houses.
Passing through the important and finely sit- uated to^vn of Carmarthen, I reached, late one afternoon, the small struggling place called St. Clear's, and registered at the Railway Hotel. It is a place of a good deal of history, some ancient, some modern. A celebrated family of counterfeiters of paper money lived there about
58 A SUSPICIOUS CHABACTEE.
1815-16, and while mingling in the best society carried on their nefarious business. At last came exposure, arrest, trial, conviction, and one of the family, Mr. Baines, was executed. The cottage in which the family lived, called " The Victoria," is still standing and attracts atten- tion. The chamber where he carried on the business, with the aperture in the walls where his implements and counterfeit money were secreted, are still to be seen. Wishing to see the village and this place, I took an evening stroll, and made inquiries of several parties for the house where the "counterfeiters" lived; but the ignorant denizens of the village knew nothing of the history of their own neighbor- hood, and looked at me distrustfully. Return- ing to my hotel without finding the object of my search, I was going to my room, when in rushed a large portly man, red in the face, out of breath, and evidently quite excited. He looked at me sharply as I saluted him and passed to my apartment. He was the "inspector" (chief of police), and in the morning I was told by the hotel manager, with some mirth, that my in- quiries had aroused the suspicions of the vil- lagers, who notified the "inspector" that there was "a suspicious looking character" about, and he had come to the hotel to see me, and to warn the manager to look out for me !
SEBJiON IN THE WELSH TONGUE. 59
The following day was the Sabbath. I at- tended the Methodist Episcopal Church. The minister preached in the Welsh tongue, in which all the services were conducted. The stewards (deacons) sat in front of the pulpit, on seats higher than those of the congregation. The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was ad- ministered. The minister first partook of the sacred emblems, then the stewards, then he passed them to the congregation. All this time he was rapidly speaking, and then the con- gregation broke forth into jubiUmt song ; and what clear, sweet, strong voices they had, and how well they sang!
For the singers' voices were tender, And sweet as with love untold.
The mourning caps of the women were ex- ceedingly peculiar, and in riding they wore the Welsh tall hat, — about a foot in height, — peaked at the top, which gave rise to these lines : —
Let other maids their heads enfold In tresses dark or coils of gold ; Cambrian maids, believe me that Your crowning beauty is your hat.
The people talk among themselves mostl}^ in their native tongue, but the larger part of them can speak English as well. The day was
60 ST. CLEAR'S AND LAUGHABLE.
vastly enjoyed. The strange country, the stranger methods of dress, ways of living, looks of the people, and the incidents of the day, united to make it one long to be remembered.
St. Clear's is an ancient town, dating back to about the time of William the Conqueror. A famous castle was once there, and a great cir- cular mound, just off of the main street in one of its villages, marks the site of it. The old church was built before A. D. 1200, but was "restored" in recent years.
Taking a "trap" on Monday, I was carried to the town of Laugharne, which was a point occupied by the Romans when they possessed Great Britain. Our way lay over a country of gently rising hills, between which and in plain view the River Taff flowed sluggishly along through undulating meadows. On the hills and in the fields were large herds of a very popular breed of Welsh cattle, hardy, tough, black in color, with large horns, and known as the " Cas- tle Martin" stock. At a half-way point between St. Clear's and Laugharne, from an elevation was a commanding view of the country for miles about us. In the distance were gently rising hills, cut up by hedges into numerous fields, interspersed with trees, while far away Car- marthen saluted our vision. The village of
THE EUINED CASTLE. 61
Laugharne was reached by a steep descent, and lies among hills on the calm waters of a north- ward projecting arm of Carmarthen Bay. A castle, magnificent in its ruins, on the shore of the bay, is the chief object of attraction. It belongs to a wealthy family, and visitors are admitted certain days in the week. Being ad- mitted, I found the courtyard filled with gar- dens of flowers, and green sward lined the sides of gravelled walks. There are trees of various kinds. Over the high battlements and ruined arches of windows there are clinging the green tendrils of the ivy. Thus the beauty of ex- uberant life covers up the blackness of desola- tion, ruin, and death.
Leaving this pleasing locality, I journeyed to Carmarthen Junction, and then went in a southeasterly direction, on the bank of the sparkling River Towey, to Ferry Side. On the opposite shore, standing in bold relief on a high headland, overlooking river and country around, are the extensive ruins of Llanstephen Castle,
Where round the mouldering towers green ivy creeps, Alid low-browed rocks hang nodding o'er the deeps.
The castle is supposed to have been built in 1138, was a very strong fortress, and often endured the vicissitudes of war. The Welsh
62 SWANSEA AND GABDIFF.
word "llan" meant originally a narrowing, a dike, a recess ; and, later, a circle, or sacred enclosure, used for a place of worship.
The country in South Wales abounds with ruined castles, the mementos of a turbulent, warlike past. At Kidwelli is a famous old castle, with its gateway fronting the sea, erected by William de Londres in 1094. Two of its towers are in a state of perfect preservation. That and the village are situated among great shadowing trees, and are very pleasing to the traveller.
Passing along the shores of river and bay, the bustling, thriving city of Swansea was reached. The air was black with the smoke of its great smelting furnaces, arising from a multitude of chimneys, for this is the seat of the copper trade of Great Britain. Besides having great business interests with all parts, its harbor is excellent, and it has become a popular sea resort.
After a short stay in Swansea, and again at Neath, I reached Cardiff, and registered at the Royal Hotel. It is one of the most important cities in South Wales, containing more than one hundred thousand inhabitants, and abounds in interesting things of the past and present. Its castle speaks of a distant past. It was
THE SEVJSEN TUNNEL. 63
erected in the eleventh century, and there was confined for thirty years Robert Curtrose, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. It has been restored in late years, and the magnifi- cence and beauty of its grounds are hardly surpassed. It is occasionally occupied by the Marquis of Bute. Its ship canal and the docks of Cardiff are of vast extent, and tell us of an enterprising and active present, where the ac- tivities of men are more turned to the conquests of peace than to the horrors of war.
Leaving Cardiff, I went to Newport by way of Llandaff. On the way to Bristol, I passed throuo;h one of the most renowned tunnels of the world, the Severn, under the River Severn. It was opened in December, 1886; is four and one-third miles in length, from forty to one hundred feet beneath the river's bed, twenty- six feet high, twenty-six feet wide, and two railway tracks go through it. Passing through Bristol, a large city with many roofs of tile, and a population of more than two hundred thousand, I reached the beautiful city of Bath England.
CHAPTER VI.
m ENGLAND.
I REGISTERED at the Great Pump Room Ho- tel, immediately over, or at the side, of the great Roman Baths of seventeen hundred years ago, which are of large extent. The baths of the city are wonderful. The latter lies in the vale of the Avon River, is built substantially of light gray sandstone, and rises from the vale beneath up the sloping hillsides to a height of some six hundred feet. There is a great deal to admire in its beauty and situation. It has been frequented by the most renowned of statesmen, poets, and authors ; by many have its praises been sung. Christopher Anstey makes one of his characters say : —
Of all the gay places the world can afford, By gentle and simple for pastime adored; Fine balls and fine concerts, fine buildings and springs, Fine walks and fine views, and a thousand fine things ; Not to mention the sweet situation and air, — What place, my dear mother, with Bath can compare.
There I had the pleasure of meeting Hon. Arthur Livermore and wife, friends whose ac- quaintance I made when he was United States
BEAUTY OF WINDSOB CASTLE. 65
€onsul at Londonderry, Ireland. Mj journey led me to Swindon, to Reading, with its activ- ity; to Maidenhead, Slough, and to "Windsor, with its glorious castle, the home of royalty. A description of its massiveness, the beauty of its various chapels, and all which goes to make up Windsor, would fill volumes. It was my privilege to see much, and to feel a great de- light in comprehending its greatness and splen- dor. The interior of the Albert Memorial Chapel is one of the most beautiful chapels, or works of art, which it has ever been my privi- lege to see in Great Britain.
I found myself on familiar ground upon arriving in London, and immediately secured hotel accommodations in my old quarters, in the vicinity of Exeter Hall. At Somerset House I met Henry F. Waters, whose gleanings in England on historical matters are so valuable. He represents the New England Historic and Genealogical Society. Some time was spent at Somerset House in historical search, and at the Records Office in Fetter Lane. The fol- lowing statement may be of service to other searchers for historical knowledge which they hope to find on the other side of the sea.
Till Cromwell's time, shipping masters were hy law required to procure a license to sail be-
66 .NO LISTS OF AMEBIC AN COLONISTS
yond seas ; after that period they procured no license, and few, if any, shipping lists of emi- grants are preserved after that date. To that regulation we are indebted for the pres- ervation of the lists of the emigrants of the Mayflower and numerous other ships, preserved by Hotten and others in their valuable works. To find early records of emigrants from Great Britain to the United States and America, I called upon the Assistant Secretary of the Marine Department, Board of Trade, at White Hall, and at the Register-General's Office of Seamen and Shipping, near the Tower of Lon- don, and none could be found save those al- residy in print. It is altogether probable that most of the lists of emigrants to America are forever lost. I have made very careful in- quiries and search at the main shipping ports and public offices in the three kingdoms, and have found no additional records of emigrants. The names of emigrating ancestors of many Americans, the time they left their native land, and the towns from which they came, will re- main forever hidden. Some, however, may yet be revealed in the years to come through the painstaking care and thorough research of local historians.
Previous to the marriage of the daughter of
DEBATES IN HOUSE OF COMMONS. 07
the Prince of Wales to the Highland nobleman, the Queen had requested of Parliament an ad- ditional appropriation for the support of the Prince of Wales and his family. It raised a storm of opposition. Many besides the Radi- cals thought that royalty was a senseless and expensive luxury, and that the ones who reaped the benefit from it were members of the royal family themselves. They thought that, considering the magnificent amounts now received by the Prince from the nation, he and his family should use common sense in their expenditures the same as other people, and were tired of having royalty forever cry- ing " More ! more ! " The Royal Grants Bill came up in Parliament, the debates lasted long and were of great interest, and one evening I went to the House of Commons to listen to the speeches.
Through the courtesy of Hon. Herbert Glad- stone, I secured a ticket and a seat in the Strangers' Gallery. Gladstone made a power- ful speech in favor of the bill before my en- trance, but it was my privilege to listen to Hon. W. H. Smith, also Mr. Morely, who is an eloquent and fluent speaker, and several others, staying there, as I did, until midnight. Some plain truths were uttered by members in rela-
68 THE ROYAL MABBIAGE.
tion to royalty, which, had they been spoken two centuries ago, would have cost the persons who said them their heads! "The world does move."
Two days after this memorable debate — sunshine, shadow, rain — multitudes thronged the streets of London. Through the Strand, to Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square, through Pall Mall and Piccadilly, the surging crowds went to Buckingham Palace to see what could be seen of the royal marriage, and I went with them. Thousands of people were in the vicinity and filled every available foot of ground. After the ceremony, "Her Most Gracious Majesty the Queen," sur- rounded by the royal family, appeared upon the balcony of the Palace, and was given a splendid ovation, which she acknowledged with great courtesy by repeatedly bowing to the vast assembly. She is a short, fat old lady, with a homely, heavy countenance ; still she im- presses one quite favorably. Were it not for her high position, she would probably receive no more attention, nor be entitled to any more, than a million other good women in Great Britain. No one claims for her superior intel- lectual gifts. But if there must be a Queen, England is fortunate in having her as a ruler.
HEE MAJESTY THE QUEEN. 69
for her reign has been a pure and upright one, and she has frowned down many things which cast a well merited reproach upon the charac- ters and reigns of her predecessors. The Prince of Wales is a good looking "man of the world," and the others — well, they were merely men and women.
The Princess and her husband were driven out of the Palace grounds in one of the royal coaches, past the spot where I stood, and a good view was obtained of them. They made a nice couple, and she looked as beautiful as a fine hot-house flower. Long life and happi- ness to them ! One sunny Sabbath I went and heard Canon Farrar, one of the broadest and finest preachers in England. As would be ex- pected, the sermon was excellent, the service beautiful. In the afternoon I listened to Canon Duckworth in Westminster Abbey, and in the evening to Rev. Newman Hall. It was a" rare privilege to listen to these noted men, and it was greatly enjoyed. A stroll in the bright sunshine in the afternoon on the bank of the Thames, and through the lovely gardens of the Victoria Embankment, filled as they were with brightly blooming flowers, of many varie- ties and colors, was one of marked pleasure.
I saw Madame Tussaud & Sons' renowned
70 THE HISTOBICAL GALLEBT.
Historical Gallery, which well repays a visit. They have, among the multitude of wax figures, busts of a few noted Americans, among them "Washington, Lincoln, Johnson, Grant, Garfield, and others, and there is not a respectable rep- resentation of any one that has been named. They are mere caricatures ; and an American, looking at them, would siniJe or be indignant as the mood took him. Having a reader's ticket, some days were spent in the British Museum in historical research. At my hotel a pleasure was afforded by meeting one of my fellow-passengers on the City of New York, and our wanderings in town were enjoyable. My name happened to appear in the London edition of the New York Herald, and as London merchants are desirous of looking at American money, circulars from them, soliciting my pat- ronage, flowed in upon me as waters flow to the sea.
The time came for me to leave the great, home-like city of London, which I love so well. Taking the train at Charing Cross station, I went to Chiselhurst. It is most charmingly situated, and woods everywhere abound. But a short distance from the station is the former home of Napoleon IH and the Empress Eugenie after the disastrous war with Germany. There
THE EMPEROR AT CHISELHURST. 71
he died in 1873, and there his remains, with those of his son, killed in "Zulu Land " in 1879, remained in a chapel for several years, and afterward were remoA^ed to Farnsborough Hill, the present home of Eugenie, who erected for them a costly mausoleum. Chiselhurst is full of charming homes, and is itself one of the sweet- est, fairest places in the County of Kent, which is one of the fairest counties in Merrie England.
In the afternoon of a summer's day I reached Seven Oaks, a prettily situated town of about seven thousand people. Taking a "fly," I was driven to Ightham (formerly Eightham), five miles distant, through a country of hill, dale, and attractive homes, which were pleasing to the eye and full of interest. It lies in the hundred of Wrotham, and derives its name from eight hams, or boroughs, which lie within it or on its. border. Two old British encamp- ments exist in this place. One of them can hardly be surpassed in Great Britain. From a geological and archaeological point of view, Ightham and vicinity is one of the most inter- esting localities in Great Britain, for there have been found some of the rarest specimens of ancient stone implements and in the most ex- traordinary situations.
Benjamin Harrison of Ightham, a self-taught
72 ANCIENT STONE IMPLEMENTS.
man, has contributed the newest and most re- markable chapter in the history of flint instru- ments. He has himself found more than four hundred in seven vears, and some of them in gravel beds at a height of six hundred feet ; proving, as some geologists claim, that in a remote period the rivers ran from two hundred and fifty to six hundred feet higher than at the present. The vast antiquity of man has been demonstrated by these discoveries and similar ones. It was my privilege to make the acquaintance of Mr. Harrison, to spend an even- ing with him in his comfortable home ; and it is a source of satisfaction to him to know that his valuable work has been recognized by the lead- ing scientists of Great Britain.
Within three miles of Ightham is a great curiosity, a circle of Druidical stones; and less than two miles away, Mr. Horace Wilkinson has in his possession the skull of Oliver Crom- well, which he delights to show to interested visitors. The village of Ightham is one of the rarest, quaintest places in all England, and lies beneath an overhanging hill. The inn, erected in 1515, is after the ancient English fashion^ — very old, very odd, very comfortable. My stay at "The George and Dragon," where the sloping sides of my bedchamber rose nearly
AN ANCIENT ENGLISH HOME. 73
to the ridge-pole, was greatly enjoyed. Every moment was one of delight.
At Yaldham it was my privilege to go through and inspect one of the old homes of one of England's famous families. The ancient hall, which for centuries had known the pres- ence of illustrious hosts and noted guests, was ornamented upon its walls by stag's horns, guns, and pictures, beside many rare and curious things. A fine neighboring estate, very an- cient, abounding with noted events, was con- nected with lives of illustrious persons. It was occupied by Sir Mark W. Collet, whom it was my good fortune to meet. For miles around the over-sweeping gaze takes in the beauty of hamlet, vale, and hill, while the archiepiscopal palace at Otford, a favorite residence of Henry the Eighth, is in sight, and also Knockholt, Ightham, and Seal. The grounds were elegant and elaborately laid out, and a forest of heavy-foliaged beeches raised their lofty heads high in the air and shut out the sun, while the undulating green fields are nowhere greener or brighter.
Returning to Ightham, I was taken to " Ight- ham Moat," some three miles distant. In all England there can hardly be exhibited a better moated manor-house. Its domestic chapel is of
74 IGRTHAM MOAT.
Henry the Eighth's time, and is justly consid- ered very fine. The manor-house is of stone, very ancient, and surrounded by a moat some twenty or more feet in width, with water eight or nine feet in depth, which is brought by several streams from a higher elevation. All portions of the place were inspected. It was occupied by General Palmer, an American, and an officer in our Civil War. On the day of my visit it was sold to a son of Sir James Ferguson for about three-fourths of a million of dollars.
A pleasant ride of a few miles brought me to Penshurst, a castle of magnificence, occupied by a grandson of King William the Fourth. The ancient hall, which was " of large extent, re- mained largely as in days long gone. Its height is from the ground to the roof. Its walls were hung with the antlers of deer. There were, besides guns of various styles, swords and spears, and other implements and trophies of ancient warfare. In the centre of this old banqueting hall was the place for the open fire, from which in centuries past the smoke ascended to find its way through the roof with- out the aid of chimneys. The apartments of the castle were of large extent, and abounded with multitudes of relics of a past, rich with mighty history, and many memorials of Queen
PENSHUEST. 75
Elizabeth. The pictures upon the walls, made by noted masters in art, of the great and illus- trious personages, formed one of the chief at- tractions of the place. At this spot were born Sir Philip Sidney and Algernon Sidney.
Leaving this enchanting locality, I took the train, going immediately to Battle, in the County of Sussex. A 'bus took me up the street into the town for half a mile, past the "Battle Abbey," so famous, to the George Hotel, where I registered. It was late at night. I was on one of the most historic spots in English history, one which I had longed to behold for many years. Wandering into the street, I went down by the Abbey, and in the chilly night its massive stone walls and towers frowned gloomily upon me. It seemed cold and cheerless there, as if the angry souls of those who^had gone up to the judgment seat of God from midst of battle fray, more than eight hundred years before, had reappeared and were haunting those gloomy corridors. Impatient for the day, I sought my room; and in that condition which counterfeits death, but from which one emerges like a new being, refreshed and jubilant, the hours of night quietly passed away.
76 AT BATTLE ABBEY.
With the dawning of the morning came a drizzling rain. My first thoughts were of the Battle Abbey. The Duke of Cleveland is the proprietor, who is represented as an elegant gentleman. The public are admitted only on certain days in the week, and this was one of the prohibited days. It was told me that no one would be admitted, but I "got there just the same," not in a company, but having a guide all to myself, who explained each spot. From the level ground of the elevated terrace, with its carpet of the greenest and closely cropped grass, we looked forth to the Telham Hills, and the extending country on either side, where marched the Norman forces, and where they first saw the troops of King Harold. The latter were posted on the elevation upon which we stood, known as the Heights of Senlac. How beautiful is the country there ! Back of the Telham Hills, beyond the spot where the Norman invaders first appeared to view, on a clear day can be seen the swelling sea, whose heaving waters bore the restless, invading, and conquering William from the peaceful slopes of Normandy to the shores of Britain, whose kingdom and crown he sought a,nd won.
BATTLE OF HASTINGS. 77
The battle was fought and King Harold was slain ; his brothers lay dead beside him and his fallen comrades. His standard, with its figure of a warrior and sparkling with gold and pre- cious stones, had been taken, and in its place, in the autumn twilight of that battle day of Oct. 14, 10G6, fluttered the consecrated Paj^al ban- ner of William the Norman. The spot is still pointed out, and I stood upon it. There among the dead on the night of the battle, on a table of stone, was spread the celebrating feast of the Conqueror, and there he slept. There the High Altar stood, while above it arose the Battle Abbey, by command of William, which should keep green the memory of the Normans who triumphed; and where, too, was kept the fa- mous list — not wholly authentic, perhaps — of the Knights of Normandy who accompanied William tp Britain, known as the " Battle Abbey Boll." I went over all the grounds, past the old cloisters and the ruins of the dor- mitory, through the vaulted, arching ways or chambers. A garden, beautifully kept, occu- pies a portion of the historic ground, while the " Cedars of Lebanon " sway in the breezes near where the High Altar stood.
This has been called one of the " fifteen decisive battles of the world." The Conqueror
78 THE BEAD CONQUEBOB.
died, and was entombed in the grand church of St. Stephen's, in Caen, in his native Normandy. Twice has it been rifled and destroyed. A few weeks later I stood in that church and upon the slab under which lies all that remains of the great warrior, a thigh-bone, while the van- quished, knightly Harold rests in an unknown grave under the turf at Waltham, England. One could not but reflect upon the mutations of time and of human greatness and splendor, which vanish so quickly.
Hastings (and St. Leonard's, practically one town of fifty thousand people) is eight miles distant, finely situated on a hillside fronting the water and is a famous summer resort. Its at- tractiveness can hardly be surpassed. Its sea front is three miles in length, which is utilized for a beautiful walk by its many visitors. Its old ruined castle is on a high hill, and is one of the attractions of the city.
Continuing my journey from Hastings, I reached Rye, a decayed shipping port, situated on a hill overlooking a sea which has retired greatly, nearly ruining the harbor. Its name is taken from Rye, Normandy, ^and is itself perpetuated in a town of the same name in New Hampshire, and not unlike it in bordering on the sea. It is a queer old place, which well
CANTERBUBY CATHEDBAL. 79
repays a visit. In the ancient church, as in most churches, were numerous tablets in memory of the beloved dead, with tributes of affection carved upon them. Among them was this, which I copied on account of its beauty of sentiment and expression : " Her immortal soul is gone to that bright land of everlasting light and never-ending love, where the weary rest in Christ."
On a Saturday afternoon I registered at the " Fleur de Lis," in Canterbury, County of Kent, the ecclesiastical metropolis of England, which has been the seat of an archbishop since the sixth century. It is a city of some twenty- two thousand people, and is not to be com- pared in many respects with great numbers of English towns. The stately and famous Cathedral, which it would take pages to describe, is the centre of attraction to all vis- itors. It is massive, stately, elegant in design and embellishment. There I twice attended services, which, I am compelled to say, were of a most prosy, uninteresting character.
The narrow streets of Canterbury are not pleasant, although there are points of interest in the city. But to me the place was a dis- appointment, and I was not unwilling to leave it and go to the cheerier Rochester, on the
80 Olf THE MEDWAY BIVEB.
banks of the clear waters of the Medway River. The route lay through one of the greatest hop-growing sections of England. There were acres upon acres on each side of our way, and they looked very beautiful that sunny afternoon. In the evening I reached that cheerful city on the Medway.
CHAPTER VII.
GOING TO THE FAK NORTHLAND.
Rochester is a very ancient place, and has been successively inhabited by the Britons, Romans, Saxons, and the Normans. It "was made a bishop's see in the seventh century. Its castle stands upon a high eminence, and is the finest that I saw in Great Britain, save Edinburgh. It was built in 1126-1139, by Will- iam Corbeil, Archbishop of Canterbury. The keep rises one hundred and four feet from the ground, is reached by stairs, and is of Norman architecture. It was toward evening when I visited it. From a flagstaff at that height in a stiff breeze gayly floated the lordly flag of Great Britain. Thick green ivy orna- mented the ruinous walls, obscuring much of their brokenness. The entrance to the castle is through a perfect arch in a ruinous wall of massive thickness, and tall trees, with their dense and glorious foliage, combined to make the ruin and its surroundings one of the grandest in the four kingdoms. In its front, on the banks of the river and beneath overhanging trees, was a lovely walk, which was frequented
82 BOCHESTER CASTLE.
by many admirers. I ascended to the top of the castle and feasted my eyes on the beauties of the glorious landscape. The Medway River was before and beneath me, flowing broad and full through undulating lands which rise gently to the surrounding elevations. Over its bosom all kinds of craft were plying, while from the shore a pier penetrated to the deep waters. For miles about the country was spread like a map beneath me, — fields, river, trees, towns, and cities, — while at the castle's base were walks and gardens laid out with artistic precis- ion, radiant in brilliancy and sweet with the aroma of flowers.
Chatham, combined with Rochester, makes really one city. It has some seven thousand people, is a very important naval arsenal and military station, and is situated on the Med- way River. My comfortable quarters were in an historic hostelry, — The Mitre, — in Chat- ham. It is a roomy, old-fashioned, quaint, and cosy English inn, such as we read about as exist- ing scores of years ago. The roof is flat, the rooms are low studded, with solid oaken beams in view. There are wide corridors and stair- cases, bedrooms with ancient fireplaces, cup- boards and panelling. It was the headquar- ters of Lord Nelson for weeks in 1793, and
THE MITRE. 83
later of the Duke of Clarence, afterward King William IV, and of Dickens and Wilkie Collins and many other noted personages. In the prime of his powers, Dickens thus writes : " The silent High Street of Rochester is lull of gables, with old beams and timbers carved with strange faces. It is oddly garnished wnth a queer old clock that projects over the pave- ment out of a grave red-brick building, as if Time carried on business^ there and hung out his sign. Sooth to say, he did an active stroke of work in Rochester in the days of the Romans and the Saxons and the Normans, and down to the times of King John, when the ragged castle, I will not undertake to say how many hundred years old then, was abandoned to the centuries of weather which had so defaced the dark aper- tures in its walls that the ruin looks as if the rooks and the daws had picked its eyes out." In speaking of "The Mitre" in 1858, he said: "There was an inn in the Cathedral (?) town where I went to school that had pleasanter recollections about it than any of these. . . . It had an ecclesiastical sign. . . . The Mitre and a bar, that seemed to be the next thing to a bishopric, it was so snug. I loved the landlord's youngest daughter to distraction — but let that pass. It was in that inn that I
84 THE MITBE.
was cried over by my rosy little .sister because I had acquired a black eye in a fight, and though she had been, that holly-tree night, for many a long year where all tears are dried, the Mitre softened me yet."
Beautiful and extensive grounds are in the rear of the hotel, which add a wondrous charm to the place. This famous hostelry is much as it was when frequented by the great English novelist. Its grounds remain as they were, a surprise and a delight to the stranger. " None of the old rooms were ever pulled down ; no old tree was ever rooted up ; nothing with which there was any association of bygone times was ever removed or changed."
Home again in London ! How homelike it seemed ; how restful after my wanderings. It always seems to give a greeting of warmth and cheer to the weary traveller. My mail met m,e here, with letters and papers from the New World. Leaving the city I loved so well, my wanderings led to Chelmsford, in the County of Essex, thirty miles northeast of London, and containing ten thousand people. It is the county town, and uninteresting and unattrac- tive. From this section of Old England came a great many of the first settlers of JVew Eng- land, about two and a half centuries ago^ carry-
OLD KING COLE. 85
ing the names of their old homes with which to christen their abodes in the New World. Near by was Billerica, then Brentwood, Epping, Wal- tham, and Braintree, in the County of Essex, while in the next County of Suffolk were Ips- wich, Haverhill, Sudbury, Orford, and other towns whose names are familiar as household words to every intelligent New-Englander.
In Colchester, County of Essex, I registered at "The Three Cups," an old hostelry, very com- fortable and attractive. The city is fifty-two miles from the great heart-centre of England, contains about twenty-nine thousand people, and has many remains to interest the antiqua- rian tourist, — indeed, few places furnish a finer field for investigation.
Old King Cole, A jolly old soul, ^ A jolly old soul was he,
was, whether myth or real, by legends or by actual deeds or facts, inseparably connected with Colchester. To this day is still pointed out " King Coel's Kitchen," not many score of years ago a certain pump was known as "Iving Coel's Pump," and the renowned castle was called " King Coel's Hall."
The castle is of imposing dimensions, its walls of great thickness, and, like the walls of Roch-
86 EIGHT HTJNDEED YEABS OF STOEM.
ester Castle, were made with a cement of suck hardness and durability that dynamite is said to be used in their demolition. Within this strong fortress is a museum, with many urns containing the bones and ashes of Roman dead. Some of these urns were enclosed in tall jars, from which the tops could be removed. One church in the place is built largely of Roman tiles, which are more durable than stone. Eight hundred years of heat and cold, of howling wind and beating storm, have made no impres- sion upon them, while they protrude sharply beyond the worn-away stone by which they are surrounded. The remains of the Roman wall& are the finest specimens of the kind left by the Romans in England. After visiting St. John's Abbey Gate, St. Botolph's Priory Church, and other noted places, my journey was resumed to Ipswich, in Suffolk County. Here and at Bury St. Edmunds many of the probate records of the county are kept, which I consulted.
Ipswich is an attractive place to the stranger^ with tile-roofed houses, has fifty-one thousand people, is situated on the River Orwell, and from it sailed Massachusetts emigrants two hun- dred and fifty and more years since. Cardinal Wolsey was born there. Going to Stowe Market, I visited the parish of Rattlesden^
A NEW PHASE OF LIFE. 87
stopping at "The Five Bells," a little house with tile roof. It could not be called a hotel, but a public, and was the only place of entertain- ment in that straggling little village. In the evening, the village schoolmaster, a soldier who had been at Sebastopol and India, and other dignitaries of the village, congregated in the small sitting-room, seating themselves on 'the wooden benches around the table, where they smoked, told stories, discussed politics, and drank their whiskey or cups of ale, after the manner of Tam O'Shanter and his cronies. It was a new phase of life to me, and afforded me amusement. The day following, when call- ing upon the rector of the Episcopal Church in one of the parishes visited, two kinds of wine with other things were brought forward for my entertainment.
I visited the parishes of Hitcham, Buxhall, and then went to Norwich, County of Norfolk, putting up at the "Maid's Head." It is the capital of the county, has ninety thousand peo- ple, narrow, winding streets, many manufac- tories, an old castle on a high elevation, and a magnificent cathedral. The latter is over four hundred feet in length, very wide, very high, was begun in 1096, and ranks among the finest buildings of its kind in England. From the
88 BEAUTIFUL CAMBRIDGE.
top of the castle the city was spread out before me, and was red with the roofs of tile ; while far beyond were green tracts with trees, and fields of waving grain ripening in the autumn sun. My stay at Bury St. Edmunds was short, though it is a pleasing place.
On arriving at Cambridge, I registered at the "Bull" Hotel. It is situated on the River Cam, has thirty-five thousand people, and, to my mind, is one of the most beautiful cities in England. More lovely than Oxford, the lawns and grounds near the colleges are hard to rival in beauty. The trees are hoary with age, and beneath their grateful shade have rambled many of England's illustrious sons. Upon the river were numbers of sporting boats, many of them dexterously handled by ladies. Of the famous University it is needless to speak, for its history is known throughout the world by the lives and record of its sons.
My ste23S were now turned to the far North- land, to the storm-beaten shores of the Pentland Firth, that narrow ocean's arm which divides the County of Caithness, the most northern point of the mainland of Scotland, from the Orkney Islands. On the route many noted places in England, and Scotland, my fatherland, were to be seen and visited. On leaving Cambridge,
BIRTHPLACE OF OLIVER CROMWELL. 89
that place so lovely, and of which so many pleasant remembrances linger with me, my journey led me to Huntington, the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell ; then to Ramsay, a small, funny old town, with one principal street, with a few small shops and many hostelries, odd in looks and apjDcarance, mtli odder names. There were " The Seven Stars," " The Boat and An- chor," " The Spotted Dog," and others of simi- lar designations. Thatched roofs abounded in the village, which was far from attractive. Upland was three miles from this place. On the way north we had a fine view of Peter- borough, as we passed through it, and of its celebrated cathedral, one of the most important churches of Norman architecture in England.
On my arrival at the ancient city of Notting- ham, I became the guest of " The George Hotel." 'I had passed some fine agricultural districts, with great fields, good crops, and the great reapers harvesting the golden grain. Nottingham is a city of two hundred and thirty thousand inhabitants, and is most pleasantly situ- ated on the side of a steep elevation. The hill itself is of sandstone, rapidly worked, and ex- cavations in it are easily and quickly made. In this place the poet, Henry Kirk White, was born in 1785. It is very attractive, and well repays
90 NOTTINGHAM CASTLE.
any one for a visit. The Market Place, covering^ several acres, is a perfect hive for trafficking in all kinds of merchandise. The Castle is the great point of interest, situated, as it is, on a high and precipitous rock, one hundred and fifty feet above and overlooking the River Lene. It is an edifice of vastness, and from the roof I had a magnificent view of rivers flowing through undulating and fertile mead- ows of the country beyond, and the fine build- ings, and all others, of the great, busy city itself. I examined the many rare curiosities in the rooms of the elegant museum kept in the castle. In 1330 King Edward III surprised and took this fortress by a secret passage now known as " Mortimer's Hole." From the terrace, as the day was clear and sunny, there spread out before me the valley of the River Trent, fair and lovely. The entrance to " Mortimer's Hole" is through a wicket gate in the terrace wall. The guide led the way down through a winding, circuitous, and constantly descending pathway, cut in the soft sandstone of which the hill is formed, to the very base of the cliff. As we descended, rooms were discern- ible at the sides, cut in the rock. At this castle, in 1642, Charles I unfurled his standard, to which the people of the surrounding country
IN LEEDS. 91
did not flock with that enthusiasm and alacrity which the perjured and recreant King had expected.
The time spent in Nottingham was of un- alloyed enjoyment. Leaving there, a swift train, in about two hours' time, bore me ninety miles distant, through a luxuriant country, thriving villages, and bustling cities, to the solid, substantial, wealthy, and smoky city of Leeds, in the County of York. An English friend, whose acquaintance had been made years before, met me at the station and took me to his hospitable and lovely home at Adel, one of the suburbs of the city, where I spent the Sabbath. I attended divine services in the small Episcopal Church in Adel, built some eight hundred years ago. Near it is the little rustic churchyard, where the denizens of that locality h^ave for long years laid their dead away, — a quiet spot, sanctified by many tears and sacred to many loving hearts. ' There, too, were evidences of ancient sepulture, for there were old Roman cofhns of stone upon the sur- face of the ground, and in the locality are many remains of the Roman regim^. This visit was a season of delight, for it gave me an intro- duction to an English home, where the attrac- tive members of his family were as kind, as
92 AN ENGLISH HOME.
free, and as cordial as himself. " Mine host '^ was a loyal Englishman, of fine powers of mind, progressive, or rather a radical in his political views and modes of thought, a great admirer of America and American institutions, of which he had made a careful study, and was not frugal in his admiration of some of our distinguished Americans. He was one of the committee of the city of Leeds to receive the Shah of Persia, a few weeks before my advent. That Eastern potentate was not free and easy in his manner of receiving people. AVhen one of the most in- fluential and worthy citizens, was presented to him, the Shah stood as stiff and impassive as a pillar of stone, did not comprehend the character and quality of the indi\T.dual, and moved away I At Adel, the country, like multitudes of places in that land, is beautiful. From the grounds of " mine host," a short distance away, was a wooded hill, surmounted by an elegant residence of stone, with a tower of the same, which cropped out fancifully from among the heavy foliage of trees, and which gave an added charm to the attractions of the land- scape. American relatives were met in York, where my stay was only for a few hours, as Glasgow was my next objective point. A few miles southeast of York is Beverly and Sutton - and eight northwest of Hull, on the River
OOIIfG NOBTHWARD. 95
Hiimber, is the hamlet of Rowley, which is five miles from Broiigh station, on the North- eastern Railway. In that parish is the ivy-cov- ered, weather-beaten church in which preached Rev. Ezekiel Rogers. In 1638 he, and twenty families from that parish, "for opinion's sake" emigrated to America (among them my ances- tor, Leonard Harriman), and founded the town of Rowley, Massachusetts. They brought the name of their old home across the sea, and gave it to their new home in the American wilderness. Their descendants are numerous in New England and the Great West to-day.
Going almost directly North, through the County of York, then through the County of Durham and the city of the same name, I beheld its cathedral and castle, the latter erected in the year 1072. Afterward I passed through Newcastle- on -Tyne, so dark and smoky, while the great barges filled with coal covered the surface of the river. I went through the whole length of the County of Northiunberland in its northeasterly section, going over a noted bridge, and entered Berwick- on-Tweed, in the once "debatable " country. It was for centuries the subject of war between England and Scotland, is now a city of about fifteen thousand souls, and is one of the most northern points of England.
CHAPTER VIII.
IN 31 r FATHERL.O'D.
Passing through the County of Berwick in Scotland, and a portion of the County of Haddington, I arrived at Dunbar. Before reaching it we passed the old battle-field of Dunbar, where Cromwell defeated the Scots in 1650. The route from Berwick had been through a romantic country, and the latter portion of the journey had been along the shore of the North Sea, where its waters, with the beetling cliffs, which they lashed in their fury, were plainlj^ in view.
Passing through Edinburgh, I went directly to Glasgow, stopping at the St. Enoch's Hotel. My time was spent largely in public offices, libraries, and in meeting persons of antiquarian tastes. The place was famiUar, and no time Avas used in sightseeing. A pleasant evening was enjoyed mth friends there in an attractive home. In Edinburgh, it was a great pleasure to meet former acquaintances, and to accept their hospitality in their family retreats. There I had the pleasure of a call from Robert Bruce Arm- strong, of Dublin, Ireland, the author of "The
THE TEN-MILE BIDE. 95
History of Liddesdale," etc., a very valuable historical work of the " Debatable Land," on the border of England, wherein is given much history of different clans and border warfare. On a sunny Saturday afternoon a friend took me in his "trap" ten miles into the country. The Pentland Hills and Arthur's Seat were in full view, and loomed up finely against the sky. The road was smooth and solid, the surroundings of Edinburgh excellent, and the country seat of the Earl of Buchan, to which we went, was retired and beautiful. It lies in Almondel, in the County of Linlithgow. I visited Roslin, which was familiar. I attended services in St. Giles's Church, where the singing was excellent, but where the pulpit perform- ances of the clergyman were supremely ridicu- lous, and the tones of his voice, the swaying to and fro -of his body, were most "strange, un- natural." A little Scotch lassie said she loved to attend evening services at St. Giles's because "it was cheerier there than at other places ; they had lots of singing and music." One afternoon I had the pleasure of accidentally meeting Prof. C. C. Rounds, principal of the Normal School at Plymouth, New Hampshire.
One of the greatest triumphs of engineering skill is at Edinburgh, in the Forth Bridge. The
96 THE FOBTH BBIDGE.
total space spanned is more than a mile and a half, including the approaches to the bridge ► The towers rise three hundred and sixty feet above high-water mark. It is a wonderful work^ and from the shore is a most striking sight. A boat bore us over the waters beneath and around it, and the huge superstructure reared its gigantic form far in the air above us. The coach ride back to Edinburgh was anything but pleasant, for it was made in a drenching rain.
Leaving this gem of Scotland, I went North ; passed through to Sterling, one of the most interesting places in all the country to the lover of history, and which has been described by me in a former work. A person once asked a Scotchman, one of its citizens, the distance from Sterling to the sea, to follow the tortuous and beautiful windings of the River Forth.
" It is a good bit of a distance to go as the crow flies,"" was the answer.
" Well ! To go as the Forth runs, what is the distance ?"
"Ay! It is about seven times as far as it would be by the way the crow flies ! "
My way north led me through Perth, Duukeld, Kingussie, Granton, Nairn, and then to the gem of the Highlands, Inverness, where I was a
A TBEELESS COUNTET. 97
guest at the Station Hotel, a very comfortable and cheery place. In this city old friends were met, where my greeting was most cordial and kind.
The rest of my journey northward led me through the Counties of Ross, Sutherland, and Caithness, to me an unexplored locality, one of diversified and romantic scenery. The rain fell in torrents during the journey, yet it was one of great enjoyment. The heather was in full bloom, and covered the hillsides with a beauti- ful purple. For long distances the mountains were bare except as covered by this mantle of beauty. Vast tracts of territory were passed over where not a tree existed. At night, the train whirled into the station in Thurso, when I was immediately driven to the Royal Hotel, where the entertainment was royal. Such juicy mutton chops as they furnished I have never seen equalled. They were liberal in size and of exquisite flavor. The mutton was of fine breeds, fattened upon the sweet grasses and the fresh heather of the mountains, which had imparted to it a rich, wild, peculiar flavor which cannot be surpassed by any mutton in the world.
That was my farthest point north. Every- thing seemed strange in that far North-land.
98 AT ULBSTEB CASTLE.
Rain never fell faster nor beat against habita- tion heavier than it did in Thurso. The wind blew furiously, and never was its touch more penetrating or chillier. The city is a small one of several thousand people, and it is the birth- place of Gen. Arthur St. Clair, the not over successful commander of American troops in the war of the American Revolution.
From this port steamers constantly ply to Stromness, in the Orkney Islands. The fine old castle of Ulbster, recently modernized, and said to have been built about 1660, by George Sinclair, the sixth Earl of Caithness, is situated amid grounds well laid out, and approached through groves planted by human hands. The castle is situated near the mouth of the river. An early writer says : " In stormy weather, the sea spray has sometimes j)assed over the roof. Fish have been caught from the drawing-room window, and vessels have been wrecked so close under the turrets that the cries of the drowning sailors could be heard." It, with the vast estate of sixty thousand acres, belongs to Sir J. L. Tollmache Sinclair, a de- scendant of one of the Norman knights who came to Britain in 1066 with William the Con- queror. He, and his fathers before him, for generations, were members of Parliament.
OLD FAMILY TOBTBAITS. 99
This is the country seat of the family. There General Grant was royally entertained during his visit at Thurso. It was my pleasure to meet the family, except Sir Tollmache, wlio was in London. Among those whom I met were his son, Maj. Clarence G. Sinclair, and Archdeacon Rev. William Macdonald Sinclair, Chaplain to the Queen, and Vicar of St. Stephen's Church, Westminster, London, Eng- land.
At lunch I saw several ladies, of collateral branches of the family. The greatest courtesy and kindness were shown me. These old and historic castles are of amazing interest to people of America, where such things do not exist, but who have known of them in story and song. All parts of the castle were shown me by Rev. Mr. Sinclair. From the walls of one or more large rooms hung the portraits of members of the family since 1650. From those gilded frames many noted men, long since dead, looked forth upon us. In other apartments were trophies of the chase, as evidenced in the antlers of deer, while in close proximity old armor, guns, and weapons of defence were everywhere apparent. We went to the top of the castle and a wondrous view was given us ! In the distance, over the turbulent waters, we saw the mountains in Orkney.
100 MOUNTAINS IN OBKNEY.
Far rocks on rocks, in mist and storm arrayed, Stretched far to sea their giant colonnade,
while nearer to us the precipitous sides of a rocky coast terminated to our vision in the bold, high promontories of Holborn, three miles distant, and Dunnet Head, whose elevated crests of three hundred feet in wind and storm are beaten by the ocean's spray.
Leaving this remarkably interesting castle, and the kind and courteous ladies and gentlemen whom I met there, I went from Thurso to Watten, where I met the Rev. Mr. Gunn, an intelligent gentleman, and one thoroughly con- versant with the ancient and present history of the Gunn family. It is a curious fact that at the present day, in Scotland, the lines of the ancient races are yet discernible, and that, in some localities, the descendants of the old Norse and Danish inhabitants can be determined by their names, their physical build, and mental characteristics. From his home, as there was no conveyance, I went afoot for several miles. The road was hard, level, and lined mth hedges ; the fields were great stretches of treeless land, covered with flocks and herds, with occasionally a small house or shooting lodge.
My pedestrian tour was in the afternoon. The sky became overspread with rapidly shifting
A CHILLING BIDE. 101
clouds, a wind, cold and chilling, beat against me, impeding my progress, and when my desti- nation at Newton-Watten was reached, the rain was rapidly falling. Mine host, Mr. Hector McKay, was a young farmer, who rented two hundred acres of land of the Duke of Portland, at a yearly cost of two hundred and thirty pounds. He keeps sheep, horses, and cattle, and by persevering industry and economy suc- ceeds, with the help of his young, intelligent, and attractive wife, in making a comfortable li^^[ng. Tenant farmers in Scotland are differ- ently situated from the independent farmers in New England, who usually own the broad acres which they cultivate.
The day after my arrival I was driven across country to Wick. The ride was enjoyable, al- though the weather was "beastly" cold and rainy, and the travelling "nasty," as our British cousins would express it. On the route were plainly discernible remains of what are called Pictish houses, or cairns. In shape and form they are not unlike the mounds of the mound- builders, which I have frequently seen in Mis- souri. They are circular mounds, oftentimes from ten to twenty feet high and many yards across, while within are generally found imple- ments and bones and ashes.
102 11^ WIGK-AI^B OLD BUIIfS.
It was market day in Wick, one in whicb a traveller can see much of the people of a country. The natives were there from all the country around, from John O'Groat's and other localities, riding in large two-wheeled carts, in which all manner of articles — fruits, pigs, rab- bits, and every conceivable thing — are brought to market. They were an humble lot, but seemed happy and contented, as they trafficked, bought and sold, told stories, and exchanged jokes with each other. The inns, where they congregated^ had large rooms, with long, backless benches, on which sat the men, while they drank quan- tities of liquor brought to them by the pretty bar-maids, who should have been engaged in a more reputable business. Wick is situated on the River Wick, close to the sea, and in ancient times was much frequented by the Northmen. Its name is of Scandinavian origin, signifying an opening or bay. The section about the place abounds in most interesting things. Girnigoe and Sinclair Castle, now old ruins, I visited. They were the strongholds of the Earl of Caithness long ago, and border on the sea. They ceased to be inhabited about two hundred years since. On the opposite side of the bay, but in distinct view, were the ruins of the Castle of Keiss. Going to Noss Head^
THE CASTLE OF AVLDWICK. 103
and ascending to the top of the light-house there, the eye wanders over a wide stretch of swelling sea and country, and the mountains in Orkney.
On my return to Wick, I visited the Naval Battery; then the "Old Man of Wick," which is the remains of the Castle of Auldwick. It stands, an unshapely ruin situated on a tongue of land, near the sea. It is roofless, open from top to bottom, and consists of an old tower rising three stories in height. It is very ancient, was a stronghold of the family of Cheynes, a race of influential chieftains in the county. Later, it was inhabited by the Oli- phants, another powerful family. Farther down on the coast is a natural bridge, which I visited. It is a slab of rock extending from the mainland across a chasm, three hundred feet above the sea, to an isolated column of rock standing by itself and rising that height above the water. It is about twenty feet across it. Through this rift the waters rush with awful fury during tempestuous storms. In the whole rocky coast tremendous rifts and channels hun- dreds of feet in depth have been cut by the sea. The rock is of a comparatively soft nature, and easily worked off by the abrasion of the waters. Stacks of rock, isolated and alone, separated
104 STORMY FIRTH OF PENTLAND.
from the mainland, and hundreds of feet in height, line the coast, and are perpetual monu- ments of old Ocean's power. Through the narrow channel of the stormy Firth of Pent- land rush with mighty power the surging waters of the Atlantic into the North Sea, and the projecting headlands of Caithness and Ork- ney on either side are smitten, rent, and torn by the rolling ocean.
George Miller Sutherland, F. S. A., a solicitor, made my stay in Wick particularly agreeable, and I was his guest at his hospitable home, where, with his amiable wife, some happy and profitable hours were spent. He is a sample of many Scotchmen of the far North, who are pow- erful men physically, and have brains to match their stalwart physical proportions. Many are the literary and other curiosities which he possesses. He showed me an autograph letter of the late Cardinal Newman, dated Aug. 21, 1887, in which he said that, while at sea, June 16, 1833, he wrote the hymn, which all the world calls beautiful, " Lead, kindly light."
The time came for me to leave the enjoy- ments and attractions of this north latitude, where so much had been seen, so many met whom it was a delight to know, the memory of whose attentions will always linger with me,
LEAVING THE DEAB NOBTH-LAND. 105
and to start on my southward journey through Scotland and England to the sunny slopes of Normandy, France, where there was a warmer clime and sunnier skies, but where there could not be warmer or truer hearts.
It was the shooting season. Grouse, hare, and other game were abundant. Sportsmen with guns and hounds were everywhere, and at every station in the North one would see trophies of the field and chase. I passed through miles upon miles of territory entirely given up to grouse and game and sheep, with seldom a human habitation. Occasionally one would see the tumble-down walls of the cotters, or Crofters, who, years ago, were by the wholesale cleared off of these vast tracts to make way for game, or more particularly at that time for sheep. Cffithness, as a whole, is treeless, and one's eye will sweep over tracts bounded only by the horizon, where hardly a tree will greet the vision. I have passed in the autumn from the depths of Canada through Vermont and New Hampshire, where the great stretches of moun- tain, hill, valley, and plain, covered with hard- wood growths, were ablaze with autumnal glory; where the leaves of every tree pre- sented all varieties of color and were tinted with every form of beauty, and the eyes
106 THEIR GLORIOUS EOBES.
feasted on a scene of rapturous loveliness be- yond the skill of writer to portray in words or painter to place upon enduring canvas. In Caithness was another and diiferent scene of beauty, — not the golden-tinted leaves on mil- lions of forest trees, "but the purple loveliness of vast tracts of moor-land, where plain, valley^ hillside, and mountain slope were in the glory of a purple robe, more beautiful than any wove by weaver's loom for monarch's apparel. It was the purple of the full-blooming heather^ and it is worth a journey across the restless Atlantic to behold.
I journeyed rapidly southward through In- verness, Forres, Grauton, Blair Athol, which is noted for its fine mountain scenery, and where is Blair Castle, imposing, historic, and pictu- resque, situated among lofty trees. Then we passed through the famous Pass of Killiecrankie, where occurred the battle in 1689 between the^ troops of William III and his enemies ; Perthy Dunblane, Sterling, and Edinburgh, where the Sabbath was passed delightfully, and where I met the brilliant and erratic American clergy- man, Rev. J. D. Fulton, D. D.
Leaving this '- Queen City of Scotland," I went direct to London, via Melrose, Hawick, Carlisle, and Leeds, arriving there at nine in
THE SOUTH DOWN HILLS. 107
the evening; — putting up at my old home, Whitfield's Hotel, 7 Beaufort Buildings, just ojffi of the Strand and near Exeter Hall. There my American mail awaited me. There 1 met a fellow-voyager of my trip across the Atlantic, whom I had not seen since landing at Queens- town. Spending some time at the British Museum and public offices, one afternoon I left the Victoria Station for Newhaven and France. The ride was delightful, through a country pleasing to the eye, and abounding in fertility and beauty. The South Down Hills, backed up against a clear sky in the afternoon of that summer day, were very beautiful. They are free from walls, brush, hedges, and all disagreeable things. At Newhaven at 11 o'clock p. M., I took the steamer for Dieppe, France. The boat was small, disagreeable, and at 2.30 a. m. of the following morning we were aroused by the sharp words, ''Tickets, please," of an officer. At 4 a. m. I was regis- tered at Hotel de Paris, in Dieppe, that quaint old place on the sea.
CHAPTER IX.
IN NOKMAXDY.
It had long been my desire to visit that country and province forever renowned from its associations with the birth, the life, and the career of William the Conqueror. Normandy^ from the actions of her mightiest son, and her long association with England as one of its con- stituent political parts, has become, and will ever continue, a favorite resort of the scholar and historian who wishes to obtain the clearest comprehension of the conquest of England and the seizure of its crown by those brilliant Norman adventurers who circled around their chief William, by visiting their homes in France, and the points at which they gathered preparatory to their raid upon the domains and properties of another people. In Normandy hardly a town can be visited, or a walk taken upon its soil, but what the thought vividly enters the mind of the intimate connection which the fertile land bears to early English history; and a brief sojourn in the province seems to bring to life again the Conqueror, dead for eight hundred years, and to make him
DIEPPE. 109
seem like a vivid, living presence in the land of his birth, death, and burial. Eollo, the cele- brated Danish chief, invaded the country in 876, and in 912 took complete possession of it, receiving it from King Charles the Simple on condition that he become a Christian and acknowledge fealty to the King. Rouen be- came his capital. Over this province he and his successors ruled from that date to 1066, when the most brilliant of his descendants embarked upon the hazardous but successful expedition for the conquest of England. Many of these towns I was to visit, and stand upon places famous for a thousand 3^ears.
I was now in Dieppe, an ancient town of twenty-three thousand people, fronting the sea, with a beautiful harbor. It is situated in a valley formed by ranges of chalk cliffs, but the newer sections of the city rise up the slanting hillside to elevated ground. On a precipitous cliff is the picturesque castle, erected in 1435, and which commands a view of the sea. There are numerous old churches, surrounded by the thickly congregated, shabby houses of the ancient part of the city. Among them is the Church of St. Jacques. A handsome prome- nade of great length fronts the water. Then there is the beautiful structure of brick and
110 BOTJEN.
glass, known as the Casino, while in its front are a great number of dressing rooms for the bathers, for Dieppe is one of the most fash- ionable watering places, and to me one of the most attractive, so far as the sea, the Casino, and other features are concerned.
From this place I went directly south to Rouen, the ancient capital of Normandy in the days of its pride and glory. The journey was most agreeable, by winding rivers, and through meadows fertile, filled with grazing herds, and by steep hills, covered with woods in abundance. There I was a guest at a comfortable hotel, whose name has been forgotten. On the 14th of May, 841, the Normans, having sailed up the Seine, landed at Rouen, burned the Abbey, and nearly destroyed it. When Rollo espoused Christianity, it was completely restored. The city has now a population rising one hundred thousand, and is very rich in architecture and mementos of a former illustrious epoch. There are many old, narrow, dirty streets, filled with small shops. The houses are high, and in many the timbers at the sides are visi- ble, and through the narrow space between the projecting fronts of the buildings one could catch sight of the blue sky above.
The Cathedral, justly celebrated, is the delight
THE CATHEDBAL IN BOUEN. Ill
of all visitors, and dates from 1270. It takes high rank among Gothic edifices. In its exte- rior it will not compare with the stateliness and grandeur of the cathedrals of Cologne and Stras- burg, but its interior is full of beauty, history, and relics of a notable past. There is the tomb of Rollo, "the first duke and founder and father of Normandy, of which he was at first the ter- ror and scourge, but afterward the restorer." He died in 927. There also is the tomb of Richard Cceur-de-Lion, although he was buried at Fontevrault. His heart, properly enclosed, is now in the museum of antiquities. A long time can profitably be spent in this ancient edifice, viewing its massiveness, its relics, and musing upon the glories of a vanished past, of which it is an evidence and a reminder. The Church of St. Ouen I visited. It is not so ancient as the Cathedral, but surpasses it in beauty. The quays and the museum of antiquities are of great interest. Taken all in all, Rouen is a most romantic city, where one can spend days in delightfully searching for its wonders and roaming among its antiqui- ties. The place is one of prominence at the present as well as it was in the past. It is finely situated on the banks of the Seine, and is an important locality for the manufacture of cotton.
112 "GUILLAUME LE CONQUEEAHT."
From Rouen I went to Dives, one mile east of Cabourg, and which is situated at the mouth of the River Dives, only a mile and a quar- ter from the seashore. It has less than a thousand people. Late in the evening I was driven to the hostelry "Guillaume le Con- quferant" (William the Conqueror). Through a covered way we entered the open court to the hotel. It is a most unique and famous place, and a thoroughly enjoyable one. It is an old, antique, and curious building, the rarest of the rare. I visited one of the rooms which Madame de S^vigne occupied, and where she wrote many of her letters. There are an- cient furniture and uncommon mementoes of the past in some of the apartments.
A recent writer says : " The name of Will- iam the Conqueror is well known to English history, but he is not a national hero. At the quaint Norman village of Dives, however, there is a hostelry of which he is still patron. The signboard swinging over the archway bears the name ^Hostelry of William the Conqueror.* * There,' says a recent visitor, "^is the Con- queror's head, as large as life, and a grim-look- ing fellow he seems as he looks down at us. It was from Dives that the Conqueror started with his fleet, for there was a good harbor in
AT DIVES. 113
those days, it seems, cat Dives, long since gone. The sea has retired with proper reverence from the place where one William, not yet the Con- queror, rode at anchor. And Professor Free- man, they say, has visited the place and put his seal upon it, so that one may stay there in peace and quiet without fear of historical doubts and questionings, which is a great com- fort to the traveller.' "
At the dinner table rare dishes were offered me, and my appetite was appeased by some extraordinary French soup, apparently made of bitter weeds and other equally obnoxious " compounds." The guests were French peo- ple, and their vivacity is something amazing to cool Anglo-Saxon eyes, they are so excitable and demonstrative. Opposite me at the table sat a young lady of surpassing beauty. She did not possess the style of beauty of the " American girl," but of a different order. Her hair was black as " the plumage of a raven's wing," while over her lustrous black eyes were heavy lashes and eyebrows dark and circling, which contrasted charmingly with her olive-tinted complexion. To watch my fellow-guests, who were so excitable, so viva- cious, and so demonstrative, was very amusing. During the evening, in that open court, they
114 ITS HISTOBW ASSOCIATIONS.
surrounded the different tables, smoking, laugh- ing, and chatting, until at length the laughter and chatter ceased, they dispersed to their apartments, and stillness reigned. From the chamber windows I looked forth at the twink- ling lights in the small town. In the skies above were the same glowing stars which always greeted my observing eyes in a New-England home. They are old and dear friends which from infanc}'' I had watched. The Great Dipper was in view, while the North Star was there, with its steady glow, and might then, as in nights long gone, be leading human way- farers to destination, to safety, to home.
This town is forever associated with the name and fame of the Conqueror. Here it was that he collected his ships and his army, and from a hill above the village he is said to have re- viewed his troops, and a monument marks the place. From this harbor he first set sail, after days of impatient waiting, on his memorable conquest of England, the 12th of September, 1066, and from the Harbor of St. Yalery on the 27th of the same month. Going through the small village, I entered the church, built several centuries ago, and saw, directly over the door on the wall, the inscribed names of the knights who followed William upon the
EUROPEAN MARKET DAYS. 115
expedition. In every European country that I visited, it was an interesting sight and ex- perience to go into the market place, on a market day, and see the queer customs, queer people, and queer streets. To Dives in the early morning people from the country about, men, women, and children, flocked with two- wheeled carts, drawn by large gray or white horses, many of which were very fine ones. The women wore clean, white caps, and gayly chatted as they sold all kinds of fruits, vege- tables, fowls, and other merchandise. Many of the faces of the people are expressionless, round, and very brown. Hard cider is the universal drink. It is met everywhere, among the lowliest and in their hotels. Cabourg, with its long, wide sandy beach, its avenues of pop- lars, and its huge Casino, is a popular sea-bath- ing resort, and looked charmingly as I saw it, in the stillness and clearness of a delightful sum- mer evening.
From Dives, I went to Caen, a city of nearly forty-five thousand people. It is situated on the River Orne, and some nine miles from the sea. It is not an attractive place. Many of its streets are narrow, with old houses, and black walls hoary w^ith age, which disfigure the prospect. Tile roofs abound in many parts,
116 AT CAEN'.
and the people in those localities are no more attractive than their surroundings. But there are also fine and pleasant streets, wide, and clean as anything one would expect to find in Normandy, and quaint old houses which attract, amuse, and instruct the sight-seer. Taking a guide and conveyance, I visited the most noted places. Something like a mile from the station, and situated upon a high eminence, are the remains of the Castle begun by William the Conqueror, and made to keep in check his mutinous vassals, and to make the River Orne free for navigation. It has been changed many times, and is now used as bar- racks for the soldiers. At the entrance they stood on guard, and we were not permitted to pass. In the most important section of Caen is the celebrated Church of St. Pierre, its com- mencement dating from the thirteenth century. Its tower, two hundred and fifty-five feet in height, is graceful as art could make it, while eight turrets, small and elegant, surround its base. The interior, in its general appearance, is similar to many other churches of note. It is astounding to an American when he con- siders the age of churches in Europe, the vast- ness of them, their elegance, and the great expense incurred in their erection and fur- nishings.
EIGHT VANISHED CENTURIES. 117
In the eastern part of Caen is the Church of Sainte Trinity, founded by Matilda, the wife of William, June 15, 1066, or eight hundred and thirty-four years ago. That is a long time in the history of a city, a people, or a nation. Caen was a favorite dwelling-place of William the Conqueror, and there he rested in his long, last sleep, after his turbulent life had closed- It is singular that the barbarous act of a mighty King should establish a custom in a kingdom which should endure for ages. In his old age William converted Hampshire, England, into a hunting park. He desired that the park should be near his palace, and so he took, without any compunctions of conscience, a tract of country from Salisbury to the seacoast, a distance of thirty miles. More than one hundred villages, hamlets, and manors were ruthlessly swept away that within the forests game might thrive for royal sport. This was the beginning, it is asserted, of those cruel forest and game laws of Great Britain which were enjoyed so much by the nobility, and denounced and endured by a long-suffering people.
In the year 1086 he again received at Win- chester, England, the oaths of allegiance of his English subjects; then crossed the English Channel into Normandy, and the following year
118 DEATH OF THE CONQUEROB.
engaged in war with the French King. He laid waste the country in his pathway, cap- tured the City of Nantes, not far distant from Paris, and burned it to the ground. In spurring his horse over its district of ashes, his charger's foot entered the flaming embers, he reared, and William received injuries which, after six weeks of su:ffering, caused his death. A writer says i "For six weeks the King of England lingered on the border of that realm where the smoke of burning towns is never seen. . . . On the morning of the 9th of September, 1087, the great King was aroused from his stupor by the sound of bells, and then, after a stormy and victorious career," he died.
The Church of St. Etienne is the place of his sepulture. It was built by the Conqueror in 1077, and is called the finest specimen ex- tant of pure Norman architecture. Its length is three hundred and seventy-seven feet, ninety- eight feet in width, and is eighty feet from the floor to the roof. Two spires surmount it, three hundred feet in height. The interior of the church surprises one by its simplicity. Passing over nearly its entire length, I was shown a marble slab, at my feet, whitish- veined, and surrounded by a border of red- veined marble. This was the spot under
WILLIAM'S TOMB. 119
which was all that remained of William the Conqueror. Twice has the tomb been dese- crated,— in 1542, and again in 1793, — during which his remains were scattered among the ruins. A thigh-bone was alone discovered, and deposited here, which is all that remains of the great Norman knight. A pathetic commen- tary on the vanity of human greatness !
To this church the Conqueror bequeathed a cup made of precious stones, his sceptre, his crown, and his own body. As I stood by the tomb of this man, one of the most renowned of warriors and rulers, I could not but contrast his resting-place with that of some other illus- trious ones which I had seen. How unlike that of lesser rulers of England, interred in Westminster Abbey, in that grandest mauso- leum for historic associations on earth ; of Wel- lington, at St. Paul's ; of Grant, overlooking the shimmering Hudson ; of Washington, high above the lordly Potomac and among the trees at Mount Vernon; of Charlemagne, after his sleep of eleven hundred years, in the church in Aix la Chapelle, Germany; of Louis Philippe, in his gorgeous resting-place, in Dreux; of Marshal Ney, with no stone above him, who rests beneath the green waving grasses in the Cemetery of Pere la Chaise, in Paris; and of
120 OTHER MAUSOLEUMS.
the latter's great commander, Napoleon, whose remains rest in Paris, on the bank of the Seine, "among the French people" whom he *' loved so well," in one of the most magnifi^ cent mausoleums on earth, — I could compare it only with the Great Protector. A thigh-bone of "the Conqueror" in the Church at St. Etienne, and the skull of "the Protector" kept as a curiosity near the village in Ightham, County Kent, England, are all that remain of two mighty rulers !
Other places of interest were examined, but I must not linger at Caen. Aside from its his- toric associations, one can leave it without par- ticular regret. The ride to Bayeux, through a charming country, was altogether pleasant, where I arrived late in the afternoon, but before the gathering of the evening shadows. In the country the white or gray Norman horses everywhere abounded. They are heavy-limbed, able-bodied, strong, but lack the animal life, nerve, and spirits of the elegant cab-horses of London. The herds of cattle were abundant, they were excellent stock, speckled and brin- dled in color, but they did not have in view any of the famous blooded varieties common in Great Britain and the United States. A mag- nificent avenue shaded by the Lombardy pop-
m BAYEUX. 121
lars was that through which I passed from the station to my place of destination. I stopped at the Hotel de Luxembourg, a very comfort- able place. A garden in the rear of the house was beneath my chamber windows, laid out with walks and beds of flowers, with trees and summer houses. The outstretched and fruit laden branches of pear, peach, and other trees were fastened to the high wall, where their luscious fruit basked and ripened in the steady glow of the autumn sun. The stillness of the night was broken by the sweet chime of bells announcing the passing hours. On the Sabbath I attended religious services in the magnificent Roman Catholic Cathedral. It is a strikingly beautiful edifice, the central tower being three hundred and twelve feet high, while the two flanking spires are each two hundred and fifty- two feet in height. The walls of the interior are covered with numerous frescoes of more or less merit.
One of the most valuable, most historic, and ancient relics of a notable past is most care- fully preserved in this city, and is known the world over as the Bayeux Tapestry. It is attributed to the deft fingers of Queen Matilda, wife of the Conqueror. It is two hundred and twenty-seven feet long, twenty inches wide, of not elegant cloth, which has become brown with
122 THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY.
its great age of eight hundred years. Various kinds of colored thread were used in delineat- ing the historic incidents of England's conquest in 1066. Fifty-eight groups are portrayed. The English are represented as wearing mus- taches and the Normans destitute of that ap- pendage. Scene after scene, group after group, are sketched with the needle, which one can follow with marvellous interest: Edward the Confessor despatching Harold to William, an- nouncing that he should one day be King of England ; Edward's funeral ; Harold is made King; William prepares ships to make an in- vasion of England — scene follows scene, until the Battle of Hastings and the triumph of Will- iam. All this is preserved in a glass case.
Bayeux has about nine thousand inhabi- tants, and is a sleepy old town, but is a delight- ful place in which to stop awhile and wander about its streets, viewing the quaintest of ancient houses. Their framework was on their exterior with finishing in the inside, and they have roofs of tile. They are ancient, they are dilapidated, they are unclean (like so much else in Normandy), but a certain fascination clings to them in spite of these, and one cannot but gaze upon them with a lively interest. One bright, clear day I was driven over to Bye, going through St. Vigor, St. Sulpice, and
AT RYE. 123
Magny. In thq eleventh century, a castle of a Norman knight stood on almost the identical spot in Eye occupied at present by the Catholic Church. There it was that Duke William was succored when hard pressed by his pursuing enemies, for this knight and relative despatched several valiant sons to afford him protection and to bear him honorable company to his own castle at Falaise. This town of Rye has had its name perpetuated in the English city of the same patronymic across the Channel, and in its American namesake of Rye, N. H., and all are near the tempestuous sea. The houses are of light, soft stone, with thatch, or tiles, or slate for roofs. Services were in progress as I entered the little church, but were soon con- cluded. Climbing the steep hill which over- looks church and village, a lovely Norman scene was before and around me. The country was like a sea opened out before me. In the dis- tance the towers of Bayeux's lofty Cathedral were plainly to be seen. The country was open, and there were large fields turned over by the plow or covered with stacks of hay or shocks of ripened grain, while in others the herds were quietly grazing. The village, embowered among trees, was beneath me, and all was peace as the afternoon hours and light faded away into the twilight and the evening.
CHAPTER X.
A MOONLIGHT RIDE.
In the meadow and the mountains Calmly shine the summer's stars,
But across the glistening lowlands Slant the moonlight's silver bars.
In the bright moonlight, I went back by post to Bayeux. The highway was lined with hedges, or light stone walls, and to many of the latter fruit trees of different kinds were fastened and where the fruit was rapidly ripen- ing. Our conveyance was old and antiquated, the horse was strong, the road excellently smooth and hard, the driver jolly, and the pas- sengers were a miscellaneous assortment of ten persons, men, women, and children, while the intervening spaces between them were filled with baskets and hand luggage of numerous kinds. A soldier crawled to the top of the coach, the driver sat upon the dasher, three of us occupied the front seat, while the two in- terior seats, which faced each other, were filled with other passengers. All were in the best of humor, joke and laughter abounded, and the novel journey was only two quickly com- pleted. With delight I recall that night ride under the glowing skies of Normandy.
AT ST. LO. 125
On leaving Bayeux, I went west to Neuilly, and from there south to Lison Junction and to St. Lo, and registered at Hotel Cheval Blanc. The town is a very ancient one, was fortified by Charlemagne, and has several times passed from the possession of one King to that of his opponent. It has a population of about eleven thousand, and lies romantically on a sloping hill- side on the right and overlooking the Vire River. The Cathedral formerly, now the Church of Notre Dame, commenced in 1202, is one of the attractions of the city, is situated on the top of a hill one hundred and eight feet above the river, and is very fine. At the hotels, each guest is required to give his name, occupation, residence, destination, etc., which is called for by the police. The morning succeeding my arrival, I was awakened by the rumbling of teams, the bleating of sheep, the shouts of peo- ple, and other similar discordant sounds. It was market day, and in the early morning people were thronging into the city, bringing all kinds of animals to market; women in black, with white caps, were driving hogs, calves, and cows through the streets. The nature of these animals appeared to be very much the same as in the United States, and it was laughably amusing to see one woman trying to speed the progress of a reluctant cow by giving a most
126 THE GOTENTIN.
vigorous twist to that appendage of the animal which nature had kindly provided to protect itself froni annoying flies. On leaving St. Lo, I passed through an agricultural district. The farmers live in stone houses, many of them having roofs of thatch. They are unattractive, untidy, gloomy, and repulsive. There is about them nothing to cheer or elevate their occu- pants. From this part of Normandy came many of the followers of William the Con- queror, "and some of the most illustrious names among the English aristocracy are derived from those humble villages in the Cotentin."
We reached Coutances, a town of about nine thousand people, six miles from the sea, and situated on a high eminence, between the streams Soule and Bulsard. The Cathedral, situated on the highest eminence, from a dis- tance looms up grandly against the horizon. The journey was continued to FoUigny, Vire, and Flers. The latter is an interesting j^lace of fourteen thousand people. At many of the stations and in travelling one meets lots of Romish priests, with shaven faces, long black gowns, with bands about the waist, and wear- ing broad-brimmed hats. They often have the Bible or a Prayer-book in their hands, and are very devotional and sanctimonious in their ap- pearance, and vigorous physically.
BIRTHPLACE OF THE COJSIQUEBOE. 127
I arrived at Falaise late in the evening, and stopped at the Hotel " Grande Cerf." Woe be to that traveller who expects to find neatness in the hotels of Normandy, for often will he be most wofully disappointed. Many of them are models of untidiness and some are positively disgusting and rejDulsive, and are what our English cousins would call "very nasty." As a whole they are not to be compared with the tidy, neat hostelries which one everywhere finds in Great Britain. Falaise is a city of some nine thousand people. It is situated on the right bank of the Ante, a branch of the Eiver Dive, and is an untidy, ill-kept, and dis- agreeable place ; and, barring its rare historical associations, has little to please the eye, gratify the taste, or awaken the enthusiasm of the trav- eller. I visited its noted churches and looked over the greater part of the city. But what gives the place its rare interest is its connection with the life and times of William the Con- queror, and with that of his ancestors. This was the place of his birth. In the early morn- ing my steps turned up the steep street toward the picturesque ruins of the Norman Castle of Falaise. It was a fortress of remarkable strength, on a jutting clilf, facing the rocky height of Mont Mirat, and overlooking a little
128 EGBERT THE DEVIL.
stream which flowed through the valley at its base. It dates back to the tenth century. This edifice shows that the Normans were master builders, and knew how to erect massive and elegant edifices. " The castle is surrounded by walls from seventy to one hundred and ninety feet above the base of the cliffs, is garnished with twelve towers no higher than the top of the parapet, and is one thousand nine hundred and seventy feet in circuit." At the entrance the " concierge," who was an old woman, un- locked the gate, and conducted me through a fine walk of trees to a portion of the castle. From the walls at the side we looked down the steep decline on to the roofs of houses in the valley beneath. Then we reached a circular tower, called Talbot's Tower, one hundred and thirty feet high, which rises from the valley below and is a massive and fine work. Farther along we were shown the place in the wall from which " Robert the Magnificent," often called, and very appropriately, "Robert the Devil," father of William the Conqueror, first cast his eyes upon the fair Arlette, the mother of Will- iam, and daughter of the Tanner of Falaise, as she was washing in the stream at the base of the castle. The abode of her father is still pointed out. Centuries have come and gone,
THE TANNER'S DAUGHTER. 129
and still the women and girls of Normandy wash in the waters from that little stream which flows at the base of the cliffs. The small chamber, where William is said to have been born, is shown to \dsitors. From the castle's walls the view of the city, the country adjacent, and the murmuring river, is excellent.
Not far from the Church of the Trinity is a bronze equestrian statue of William the Con- queror as he appeared at the Battle of Hastings. He is encased in mail, and is mounted on a heavy Norman horse, which is in the act of plunging ahead with its fore-feet upreared. It is a statue which attracts and holds one's earnest attention. It was erected in 1851, at an ex- pense of some $12,500, which was raised by public subscription. There are also statues of Rollo, who died in 917, "Robert the Devil," and others. The castle and its surroundings are wonderfully interesting mementos of a mighty and fascinating past.
A tour through Normandy stirs one's soul like as a tour in Scotland awakens lively emo- tions in the hearts of those who delight in her history and joy in visiting her famous scenes. To me it was a season of rapturous delight, filled with novel experiences, as I jour- neyed among a light-hearted and joyous people,
130 A GEE AT PEiriLEGE.
speaking in an unfamiliar tongue. It gave me, as nothing but a personal visit could, an oppor- tunity to study the life and history of one of the most remarkable men the world has ever known, to become familiar with the places forever identified and associated with his name, and with those of his gallant, stalwart, and adventurous knights by whom he was sur- rounded, and who aided him in hazardous enter- prises, and thus shared in his unfading renown. I had been on the Battle-field of Hastings, where, in 1066, his greatest victory was won, and which changed English history ; had stood in Westminster Abbey, which witnessed his coronation in 1066 ; had been at Dives, from whose harbor he had started upon his hazardous conquest of England ; had been in Rye, where he was saved in his headlong flight from vin- dictive and pursuing enemies, by the tact and valor of a faithful vassal and his gallant sons ; had seen Caen, the city in which he loved to dwell in his old age ; had stood in the church beneath which he was buried, and over the spot where all that exists of him now remains ; had beheld the city of his nativity, the cas- tle which was his home, the room in which tra- dition says he was born, where he was nurtured, and from which he went forth on his marvellous
IN DBEUX. 131
career of conquest, which changed the civiliza- tion of Europe and the destinies of the world. He was indeed a wonderful man, and his his- tory is unparalleled in the annals of mankind ! From Falaise I went to Argentan, Surdon, Nonancourt; then to Dreux, situated on the River Blaise, and which has a population of about nine thousand people. A stream flows through the town, and in many places along the shore, under a covering of sheds, were many women washing clothes in the running water. This custom has been applauded by some writers as very nice and beautiful. My opinion is directly the opposite. The water is contaminated, and the clothes when finished are anything but nice and clean. A \^le odor clings to them, and in my hotel in Falaise the bed linen was positively repellant. The streets of Dreux are narrow, but there I found a most excellent hotel, a rare thing in Northern France. The place is an interesting one, for it rises to the crest of a high hill, and its situation is rare and commanding. It has numerous churches of note and good public buildings. But the rarest of all, and which would repay the trav- eller for a long journey, is the Chapelle Roy ale, the Mortuary Chapel of members of the Royal Familv of Bourbon. Its erection commenced
132 THE CHAPELLE OF THE BOVBBONS.
in 1816, by the mother of Louis Phihppe, late King of France, and was extended and com- pleted by the latter. The rotunda of the chapel is eighty feet in height, and a large dome forty- three feet in diameter crowns it. Standing as it does on a high hill, it is a noble landmark for miles about. Different portions of the building are so arranged as to make a Greek cross. The interior is gorgeous and rivals in magnificence the tomb of Na-poleon. Precious marble and stained or beautifully painted glass — which was finished by the most celebrated artists — are seen at every point. In the two crypts below are thirty-nine tombs, mostly occupied. Louis Philippe died in 1850, and his wife in 1866. They were entombed at Weybridge, England, and in 1876, a few years after the fall of the empire of the rival family of Napoleon III, they were conveyed to Dreux, and are now resting there. There is, in one block of the purest Avhite marble, a life-sized statue, the standing King and the kneeling Queen, while back of them is the Genius of ImmortaUty. There are other figures of great beauty and costliness. A park, Avith grounds laid out in elegance, surrounds this famous Chapel, to which the public are always admitted.
From Dreux I went to Ivry, Pacy, Vernon j
AT VEBNON AND MANTES. |133
to the small town of St. Clair, where my visit was not prolonged. My stay at Vernon of a few hours was long enough to see the place. It is forty-nine miles distant from Paris and situated on the River Seine, in a fine, fertile, and attractive country. It was here that Eng- lish prisoners were detained in the Napoleonic wars. The church, built centuries ago, is an interesting edifice, and, like most or all Catholic churches, is kept open continually for devotees. My journey was continued to Mantes, a city of about seven thousand people. This was the city burned to the ground by William the Con- queror, and it was while urging his charger into the hot flaming ashes that his horse plunged, and he received injuries of which he died.
Leaving Mantes, a ride of thirty-six miles brought me to the beautiful city of Paris, where I was soon in familiar quarters. Taking a retrospective view, the country through which I travelled in Normandy and Northern France was not so luxuriant, so fertile, so well cultivated, or so thickly populated as in Eng- land. The fields are greater in extent, while tall Lombardy poplars stand like guardian sentinels betw^een the lands of adjacent owners. They are very prevalent, lining each side of
134 FAREWELL TO NOB M ANDY.
many highways and the streets of many vil- lages. Large numbers are in perfect form and health, adding beauty to the landscape, while others lift high in air their scraggly branches, and are living at a "poor djdng rate."
The people were kind, free, and easy in man- ners, and took life as it came, without much trouble or worriment. In business and finan- cial matters, the memories of some were short and at fault. They were liable to error, and, by a singular moral obliquity, their financial errors were invariably in their own favor. The universal beverage was hard cider, which was everywhere. The people and the country do not seem to be so much alive as in England, and one sees little of that go-aheadativeness, push, and enterprise which are everywhere apparent in England and in the United States. But it is a delightful country to visit. The traveller finds so much of historical interest, so much of amusement and pleasure in country and people, that he is richly compensated for tli^ slight annoyances and discomforts always incident to travel in a strange land and among a strange people. Of my tour in Normandy and Northern France I entertain nothing but a lively sense of its privilege, of much profit, enjoyment, and pleasant recollections.
CHAPTER XI.
DAYS IN PARIS.
It was now my desire to see more of the briUiant capital of France than I had beheld, and more than space will permit me to record; to insj^ect the great E^cposition, and then ex- plore romantic sections of Alpine scenery and "vdsit the sunny land of Italy. The throngs of visitors from all lands filled the hotels to overflowing, but I secured admirable quarters at a Mrs. Schofield's, 28 Avenue d'lena, near the Exposition grounds. My days in Paris were spent in sight-seeing, but it is not my purpose to give anything except a slight reference to the great Exposition of 1889. Since the fall of the Second Empire in 1870, France has been nominally a republic. The Exposition had for its great objects the glorification of republican ideas and the celebration of the doAvnfall of monarchy, and to honor the great revolution of 1789. A century, with the numerous revolu- tions, wars, and marvellous stirrings-up which the French people have undergone during that time, have made France and the French people of to-day vastly different from the
136 THE BEPUBLia MAY LIVE.
France and the French of 1789. The nation stands now in the front rank of civilization, her people enjoy a fair degree of liberty, and by means of public education — so thoroughly and carefully diffused by the fostering hand of the republic — the intelligence of the people is rapidly being increased, their minds broadened, and the foundations of free institutions are be- ing carefully and, we hope, permanently laid.
If the republic can successfully withstand the machinations of its internal foes for another score of years, until the children which it has nurtured in freedom of thought, whom it has educated in its schools, shall have attained ma- turity, then that freedom of thought and that education will bear abundant fruits in the de- sire and unbending purpose that no monarchy or empire shall be resurrected and that the republic shall live. The monarchies of Europe have no sympathy with the present French government, and desire its overthrow. The United States and the American people cannot withhold their sympathy, and must extend a fraternal hand and utter a strong and ardent wish that the republic may live.
The governments of Europe, having no sym- pathy with the objects of the Exposition, de- clined officially to take part in the celebration,
THE EIFFEL TO WEB. 137
SO the exhibit was the result of individual enterprise. The United States was officially represented, and Congress voted an appropria- tion for the object. Paris being easy of access, the fruits of the genius of all nations were collected together, and an especially fine one of France itself. The exhibit of the United States was not large nor full, nor what one would ex- pect to see. Exhibitors do not send the jDroducts of hand and brain across the sea, except when they think it may be a benefit to them finan- cially. This fact will account for the meagre show from the United States !
To me, one of the most pleasing exhibits of all was the history of inhabited dwellings of mankind from the earliest date to the present. There were models, one after another, of every kind and variety, from the early cave-dwellings, being holes or caverns in hills, to the beautiful pavilion used as a reception room by the Presi- dent of France.
The great attraction of all, however, was the wonderful Eiffel Tower, the highest edifice on earth. Thousands were congregated about it at every hour during the day. It is a marvel of symmetry, strength, and beauty. The weight of iron used in its construction is enormous. The foundations enclose two acres of land.
138 THE GEE AT HEIGHT.
There are three platforms, to which people are carried by lifts, although there are spiral stair- cases, by which one can ascend and descend a portion of the way. Hundreds of people can be accommodated upon the first, where there is an excellent restaurant. The second platform is three hundred and seventy-six feet from the base, and the third is eight hundred and sixty- three feet from the ground. From the top a large electric light, like a great ball of fire, could be seen from all parts of Paris. This was so arranged that it could be reflected, or shoot its light from one point to another, when its stream of fire seemed like the tail of some monstrous comet.
Wishing to get a view of Paris, I one morn- ing reported at the base of the tower al eight o'clock. At nine I was fortunate enough to be surged along with the crowd to the ticket ofiice, where a ticket was procured for the summit. Always light-headed at any distance from terra firma, my shrinking, sensitive, cowardly body revolted and shrank from the idea of beino; carried to so great a height. My impression- able, enthusiastic, and rapturous soul knew that exquisite enjoyment was there, and there was a conflict in my dual being. The spiritual part triumphed; it did not think it right that it
VIEW OF PARIS. 139
should be deprived of the great joy in store for itj on account of the cringing tabernacle which it for a time inhabited. So I got into the car, and up, up, up we went into high air, to the first, second, and third platforms. I was now eight hundred and sixty-three feet in air. After a short time the sensitiveness and fear subsided. The view was magnificent beyond description. Paris was spread out beneath me like a map. Its various places of interest, its noted build- ings, could be seen at a glance. Men, car- riages, and the surging thousands looked small as they hurried like ants over the ground be- neath. The River Seine was like a belt of silver as it wound through the city ; the country around was grandly picturesque. Several hours were spent there, and postals were written and mailed from that great elevation to different parts of the world. The grounds in the even- ing, lighted by more than ten thousand electric lights, were worth a journey across the Atlantic to behold. Their bright beams fell on flow- ing fountains, gorgeous buildings, and beds of blooming flowers.
Time was passing. Days were spent joyously and profitably at the Exposition and in the sunniest capital in Europe. I was impatient to be away. Meeting some very pleasant Ameri-
140 FBOM PARIS TO GEN-EVA.
cans, we united our fortunes and started to- gether one fine day, via Fontainebleau, Dijon, and Macon, for Geneva, Chamouni, and Italy. Pleasant companions, a clear atmosphere, and the fertile country through which much of the way was passed, made the day glide rapidly and delightfully away. In the evening, when the moon with its brightness cast a fascinating halo of light over surrounding mountains and the placid waters of Lake Leman, we arrived in the City of Geneva.
CHAPTER XII.
CHAMOUNI.
I REGISTERED at the Hotel d'Angleterre, "vvhicli is a most excellent house, and commands a lovely vieAv of Mont Blanc. A long day's ride made the table d'hote particularly refresh- ing. The following day was spent on the Lake of Geneva and in a visit to Lausanne, which were both familiar to me. On the clear bright morning of a cloudless day, all of our party and many others, mounted on a diligence drawn by six horses, started on a forty-mile drive for Chamouni. All were in high spirits as we were whirled up and out of Geneva. We rose to a higher elevation than the lake and city ; great stretches of country were around us, bounded by the mountains. Wooden crosses at the meeting of roads gave evidence of the religious character of the people.
We journeyed toward the Alps. The scen- ery was grand and impressive. We were in a land of mountains. The River Arve flowed beneath us, and before us were the towering peaks of the Alps, with immense glaciers be- tween them, of dazzling brightness in the clear
142 MONT BLANC.
atmosphere of that sunny day. We passed over a road, a triumph of engineering skill, and with keen delight, at four p. m., we were whirled rapidly into the vale and village of Chamouni, where
The Alps stretch to the midmost ocean's strand — . Their bases gardens, and their summits snows.
The vale is a half-mile in breadth and thirteen miles in length, bounded by great elevations. Mont Blanc, massive and overwhelming, was before us. We were at its feet watching its snow-capped summit. A telescope in the garden of the hotel revealed its deeper gorges. The afternoon faded away into evening and the evening into night. Mont Blanc caught the last beams of the setting sun, and the mellow brightness of the full moon fell upon it, while a blazing star was just over it. Many tourists thronged the village and the hotels. The bazars were filled with all manner of souvenirs of the place and locality.
Procuring an alpen-stock on the succeeding day, and mounted on mules, a gentleman, a lady, and myself started together for the Montanvert, the Mer de Glace, and the Mauvais Pas. Our guide led the way, and we sauntered out of the village. Up a zigzag, winding path through forests we went until we reached a chalet half-
THE MER DE GLACE. 143
way up the mountain. At the end of three hours and a half we reached the Montanvert. A good hotel was there, where we rested. Our mules were given in charge of boys, to be taken down and meet us at another point in our jour- ney. We were six thousand three hundred feet above sea level, and the great glacier of Mer de Glace was beneath us, glistening with bright- ness. Clambering down the steep descent, we were soon upon the jagged, billowy sea of ice, a mile in width, ten miles in length, and of vast and unknown depths. Looking about us, we saw many mountain peaks more than thirteen thousand feet in height. Our alpen-stocks, with their iron brads stuck into the slanting ice, prevented us from slipping. We crossed in half an hour. On the way we came to immense crevasses, down which our guide rolled great stones which we heard tumbling in vast depths beneath us. We ascended from the glacier a steep bank, and reached the Mauvais Pas. The passage is called safe. To me it seems danger- ous in the extreme. It is a pathway on a steep, yawning precipice of a solid mountain of rock, much of the way. Roughly hewn steps are cut in the side of the mountain, and a rail of iron upon the upper side is placed so that j^eople can hold on with their hands. A too giddy head, a
144 THE MAUVAIS PAS.
misstep, with the hand unclasped from the rail, and one would plunge down, down, down thou- sands of feet into the abyss beneath. When we passed over it, the sun beat down upon us with almost overpowering heat, and the perspiration dropped from our faces.
At length the danger was passed and we reached the chateau, where we were regaled on tea and sour bread. Farther on we met our mules, mounted, and continued the descent. Our path was a narrow one, many places not over four feet wide, apparently cut into the side of the mountain. The mule I rode was good looking, and that was his chief recom- mendation. He feared nothing; he was per- verse, and seemed to have an itching desire to go over the precipice and take me with him. While rounding the sharpest curves, and in the narrowest, most dangerous, and steepest places, he would continually strike his hind foot forward on to his front shoulder to brush off flies, thus doubling himself up in the form of a letter A, and endangering my life. Downward, still downward, we went, and at length reached the valley, when a few miles' ride brought us back to the village, having been gone some nine hours. We had had glimpses of the whole extent of the Mer de Glace, and from the mountain
CHAMOUNI TO MABTIQNT. 145
ieights, while ascending and descending, there were views unsurpassed in beauty of the Valley -of Chamouni, with its villages, fields, running .river, and mountains upon the farther side.
The hours had been of exquisite enjoyment, in spite of dangers. The day succeeding we went from Chamouni to Martigny, over the Tete Noire. It is a distance of twenty-three miles, and we, of course, went by carriage The weather was perfection itself, and all those mountain solitudes were ablaze with glory. 'The road passed along the edge of vast preci- pices. There were awful depths beneath us and awful heights above, both embraced by the glancing eyes at once. Never have I rode through such marvellous scenery. My words tjan give but a faint idea of its grandeur and sublimity. From the height the Valley of the Hhone, like a beautiful picture, lay before us. As we descended from the mountain into Mar- tigny, the road doubled upon itself, snake-like, thirty-seven times. At this place our stay was only for the night. We could now reach the outside world by railroad. Early in the day following our arrival we took train for Inter- laken, via Lausanne, Fribourg, and Berne, pass- ing over the Lakes of Thun and Brienz. At the Hotel des Alpes, where I was a guest, I had
146 IN' THE ST. GOTBABD TUNNEL.
the pleasure of meeting, till then, unseen rela- tives from the United States. Here I parted from my very agreeable travelling friends, with whom I had journeyed all the way from Parisj. and who were now to make a tour of Germany^ I met some of them, later, on the City of New York, on my return voyage.
From Interlaken I went direct to Lucerney over its beautiful lake and through the famous^^ St. Gothard Tunnel, to Como, Italy. How shall words describe this marvellous engineer^ ing feat ! The great tunnel is nine and one- fourth miles in length, nearly two miles longer than the Mont Cenis, which I passed through later on. The boring took seven and a half years' labor of nearly three thousand men.- It is securely lined with solid masonry, m double-tracked, and the train is twenty min- utes in going through. It is lighted up at intervals of each eleven hundred yards. Many are the subterranean curves which the road makes in passing through these mountains^ It pierces them, and by a circular descent emerges again far beneath Thus it passed over chasms, fierce running streams, clinging to the sides of the mountain, until we emerged into sunny Italy.
At Chiasso, a frontier town, our luggage was-
OK THE WAY TO ITALY. 147
examined by the customs officials, and at five in the afternoon we reached Como, which was near the latter place. The distance was one hundred and forty-four miles from Lucerne, and the time occupied was about nine hours. I registered at the Hotel Volta. The place has some twenty-six thousand people, is old and unattractive. For the town I cared little ; but it is the most convenient starting-place for a tour of Lakes Como, Lugano, and Maggiore, all of which I wished to see, to make a mental comparison of their charms with those of some other famous, as well as less noted, lakes in Europe and the United States.
CHAPTER XIII.
SUNNY ITALY AND THE ITALIAN LAKES..
Lake Como is considered the finest in Italj^. I took a steamer to inspect its beauties, starts ing in the morning. The hills towering high above it are covered with verdure to their tops, though the rough, ragged, jagged edges of steep cliffs frequently are visible through the green foliage. Little villages and some beau- tiful villas line the shores or hug the steep hillsides. There are many ancient, dilapidated- structures, with roofs of tile, broken in, making an unsightly blot on the landscape. The farther we advanced, the more attractive became the scenery, but its general effect was disappoint- ing. To me it was not nearly so interesting as- Lake Lugano. At Menaggio, by narrow-gauge- railway, I passed up the mountain and went through fine scenery to Porlezza, and took steamer from there across Lake Lugano.
This voyage was one of great pleasure.- Green mountains were around us, and often, near the very top of their precipitous sides,, were cleared fields, and homes of the humble occupants. Little villages of stone houses, and
CHAPELS IN TEE MOUNTAINS. 149
small chapels with white spires, surmounted by the cross, gleamed in the summer sun, as they clung to the steep mountain sides. The people through all this section appear to be very religious, judging from external indications. Deep narrow seams cut the sides of the moun- tains to the water, marking the course of flooding torrents. In places, the sterile, rocky mountain sides are terraced, as on the Rhine, and used as vineyards.
Going to Luino, I took rail for Milan. Our route lay along the pebbly shore of Lake Mag- giore, of which there were some excellent views. Villages nestled among the quiet hills, and a band of golden clouds overshadowed the tops of the high surrounding mountains in the west. I went via Laveno, Varese, Malnate, and Saronno, arriving at Milan at 9 p. m., and was a guest at the Hotel Pozzo.
The city has some three hundred thousand inhabitants, is finely situated, and is nicely kept. The streets are clean and attractive, and the place is full of enterprise and life. Its shops are excellent. The Arcade Victor Emmanuel is roofed with glass, with long rows of shops be- neath, and open spaces. The gallery is nine hundred and sixty feet in length, its height is ninety-four feet, and its width is forty-eight feet.
150 MILAN.
The whole is admirably decorated and frescoed. Hundreds of people can gather beneath this roof, and wander there for hours. It is the finest place of its kind in Europe. Some time was spent in the famous Picture Gallery, where were seen works of noted artists. A volume could be written of what there is to be found in this one city. Much was seen by me, but its Cathedral was its crowning attraction. Its in- terior is rich with all that art and treasure can give it. I went to its roof, and was amazed with the wealth of beauty and art before me. Ninety-eight turrets of purest white marble adorn it. Going to its tower, I stood three hundred and sixty feet above the pavement of Milan, where my searching eyes took in a scene fair, grand, and exhilarating. Beneath and around me was a forest of sky-pointing spires of white marble, beautiful and glistening in the sun. Milan was at my feet, and far away could be seen different peaks of the snow-clad Alps. This building was commenced in 1386, is adorned with more than two thousand mar- ble statues, and cost an incredible amount.
Leaving Milan, I went through an interest- ing country to the City of Venice. We passed through Brescia, Lonato ; along the shore of Lake Garda, of which we had an excellent
THE CITY IN THE SEA. 151
view; through Yerona, Vicenza, and Padova. The evening shadows enveloped the landscape as we neared the city. Passing over an im- mense bridge, two and one-half miles in length, which connects the place with the mainland, we "entered into the city." A dream of my life was now realized. I was fortunate to see Venice first at night. As we passed over the bridge, the lights of the city broke in upon the darkness. On going out of the station, the surrounding waters were bright with the dan- cing lights of multitudes of gondolas which were gliding over them. Their black prows, each bearing a light, were at the pier, and scores of gondoliers, like hackmen at railway stations, were impatient to carry passengers to their hotels. Giving my luggage in charge, I entered a gondola and was taken on the Grand Canal to the Grand Hotel, opposite to S. Maria della Salute. The novelty of everything about me was exciting. The steps of the hotel descended into the water. After table d'hote, a band of musicians came in gondolas and, without alighting, by the side of the hotel dis- coursed the sweetest music, and were then rowed away. For a long time I sat on the veranda of the hotel and watched the scene about me. Strange, black shapes, the quaint
152 STBANGE SIGHTS IJ!^ VENICE.
craft of this place, glided about me in every direction, over the water and through the main street of the place, which was of water. The music from different bands of musicians floated sweetly on the air. All these unnatural and unusual scenes have a wonderful effect upon a traveller.
Venice is in a shallow part of the Adriatic Sea ; is some seven miles in circumference ; is built on three large islands, and one hundred and fourteen smaller ones. There are one hundred and fifty dividing canals, and three hundred and seventy-eight bridges connecting the sandy islands. It has a population of about one hundred and thirty thousand, and is one of the chief seaports on the Adriatic Sea. "In 828 a Venetian fleet brought the body of St. Mark to Venice (from Alexandria, Egypt), and thenceforth the Venetians revered him as their tutelary saint, using his emblem, the lion, as their cognizance, and his name as synony- mous with the republic, while their supreme official functionary was styled ^Procurator of St. Mark.' " The great Square of St. Mark is one of the chief points of interest, and thither the guide led me on a tour of inspection. It is about six hundred feet long by two hundred and seventy in width, finely. paved, surrounded
THE CHUECH OF 8T. MABK. 155
by the Church of St. Mark, the Doges' Palace, and other buildings of magnificence and world- wide fame, — a place of brightness, gayety, and gladness. Once in the early morning I saw the doves of St. Mark. They were there by hundreds, and were being fed by tourists like myself. They flocked about us, lit upon our arms, and fed from our hands. It was one of the prettiest sights in all Venice. They are protected by the city, and for six hundred years, ever since the thirteenth century, have been the pets of the people, when swift-winged car- rier pigeons carried the glad tidings of victory to the City in the Sea. I inspected the Palace of the Doges, with its splendors ; the Church of St. Mark, with its domes, and rich with mosaics,, colored marble, and historic associations.
I stood in Venice on the Bridge of Sighs, A palace and a prison on each hand.
These lines have been quoted by writers ever since Byron wrote them. The bridge is a disa- greeable affair above the water, one by which accused persons and culprits passed to hideous dungeons and to fearful death.
Gay gondoliers rowed me in their gondolas over the Grand Canal, and into many of the narrow, dirty, smaller ones. From the top of the Campanile, three hundred and twenty feet
164 LANGUAGE OF THE IMAGINATION.
high, I had a wonderful view of the Adriatic Sea, of the country around, and of Venice, with its palaces and numerous domes. Its famous churches and galleries were visited. It seemed wondrous strange to move about the paved streets of a city, and never see a horse, a car- riage, or anything of the kind in it. There is no other city like it in the wide, world. Beggars are abundant. One fine-looking youth impor- tuned us, when he was driven away by the gondolier. Never have I seen such offended pride as was exhibited in his bearing when he was refused and departed. He bore himself with the grace and dignity of a prince !
Much has been written of the glory and beauty of this city "rising out of the crystal sea." I have read.
There is a glorious City in the Sea. The sea is in the broad, the narrow streets, Ebbing and flowing ; and the salt sea-weed Clings to the marble of her palaces.
That is the language of imagination and poesy. It is one side of the picture. There is another side. The truth is, that the waters of this *' crystal sea," out of which the city rises, are dirty, nasty, and slimy, and the disgusting ^roma arising from many of her narrow canals and quays will rival in offensiveness the docks
FLOEENCE. 165
of Liverpool, London, or New York. "The marble of her palaces," where it is lapped by the slimy waters of the Grand Canal, the main thoroughfare of the city, are green with foul exudations from the contaminated waters. But let this pass. Every traveller will find much to enjoy in a visit to this peculiar city, and pleasant memories of it will abide with him.
Leaving the hotel early one morning, I was rowed on the Grand Canal to the railroad sta- tion, bade farewell to the "sea gem," and went direct to Rovigo, which has two leaning towers; then to Ferrara, once famous, but now in its decline ; then to Bologna. At the latter place the longer stay was made. It is a city of one hundred and twenty-nine thousand people, in a fertile country at the foot of the Apen- nine Mountains, and now famous for its sau- sages! Rising to the heights, we passed the Apennines, through many tunnels, and descend- ing rapidly, we soon reached the Valley of Arno and the City of Florence.
Li Venice, and in the journey to this city, my company had been American tourists, like myself, and were most pleasant and intelligent. The railway trains are fearfully slow, and accom- modations for travellers will not compare with those of the United States. It was evening when we reached the city, and we were imme-
156 SOLDIEBS OF OABIBALDL
diately driven to the Hotel Victoria. It was kept by an intelligent Italian, an old soldier and admirer of Garibaldi. He had fought and suffered in helping to win the freedom which Italy now enjoys. He was by choice a republi- oan, but the reign of King Humbert is so mild, -and he is so liberal in his politics and views, that my republican friend was satisfied with the present condition of things. He was a Catho- lic, but rejoiced in the freedom of Italy from priestly fetters, and was sternly opposed to any restoration of temporal power to the Roman Ponti:ff . Said he : "I am a Catholic ; but I be- lieve in the political freedom of Italy. This is ^ bad time for Mr. Pope ! Let him attend to religious affairs ; we will attend to the political affairs." These views were spoken with great earnestness, and the same sentiments were expressed by many with whom I conversed. Soldiers of Garibaldi I met frequently, and more earnest and devoted men to the cause of religious and political freedom, not only for Italians, but for all men, I never met. The King is very popular. His reign is mild ; and while the people are taxed highly for necessary internal improvements and for the army, there seems to be little complaint. Italy is making great progress, and the fetters under which a long-suffering people have groaned so
ABT GALLERIES. 157
long are broken. If the standing army of Italy could be greatly reduced, there appears to be no limit to the strides she would make in internal development and prosperity.
Florence was the capital of Italy from 1865 to 1870, is a city of nearly one hundred and forty thousand people, and is one of the finest cities in Italy. Its magnificent churches, gal- leries of art, and art treasures, of value un- speakable, can nowhere be excelled in a place of its size. Books could be written inade- quately describing what this one city contains. It lies in the valley of the Arno River, which runs through the place, and, as seen by me, its waters were low and sluggish, as is the Missouri when swollen by floods. The country around is highly cultivated. Hills, with villas upon them, churches, and costly edifices everywhere in view, give a wondrous charm to the landscape.
Only a few of the most noted places that I visited will be mentioned. The Galleria degli Uffizi, with its sculptures and paintings, is ex- ceedingly rich in works which emanated from the hand and brain of the greatest artists of the ■world. As well might one attempt to portray the glories of each individual, autumnal-tinted, forest leaf as to delineate the numberless paintings, statues, and costly gems which are there exhibited.
158 FAMOUS CBUBCHES.
It is not for me to sing the songs That rush with a thrill to the heart ;
It is not for me, with pen or brush. To glorify Nature and Art.
The Cathedral was commenced six centuries ago, and finished nearly two hundred years later. It is massive, being five hundred and fifty feet long, three hundred and forty feet wide, and having a dome three hundred feet high, and all beautifully finished. The walls of the interior are lined with monuments, statues, and paintings.
The historic Campanile, a tower two hundred and ninety-two feet high, was completed five hundred years ago. Its interior is richly dec- orated with colored marble and with statues. A staircase leads to the top, from which one obtains an excellent sight of the city and sur- roundings. The Church S. Lorenzo, with the new sacristy, and the Chapel of the Princes (the burial places of the Grand Dukes of the Medici family), comprise together as interesting a place as exists in Florence. The church was built in 1425, and is the custodian of ten thousand manuscripts of great value. The new sacristy, built by Michael Angelo, contains some of his choicest works. The Chapel of the Princes, in its elegance and beauty, surpasses the power of description. It is in form octagon, sur-
FAREWELL TO FLOBENGE. 159
mounted by a dome gorgeously decorated. The walls sparkle with precious stones of rarest kinds and with costliest marble. Gorgeous frescoing, gems, diamonds, and emeralds meet the eye everywhere. It is said that more than twenty-five million dollars have been expended upon this chapel alone.
The Church of Santa Croce is another mar- vel of beauty, costliness, and durability. It was commenced in 1294, and completed in 1442. There I saw the tomb of Michael Angelo, who died in 1564 ; near by is that of Galileo ; a monument to Dante, who is buried at Ravenna, and tombs of other illustrious men. In the church are stained glass windows, statues, and paintings of great notoriety and merit. So one might speak of many other celebrated places, — academies of art, palaces, and museums of art. Taking a hack, I was driven to most portions of the city, visiting the home of Dante, on a narrow street, and the grave of Americus Vespucius. From a hill we got a beautiful view of Florence, the running waters of the Arno, and the high elevations beyond, with trees, flowers, terraces, and villas. My ex- periences in that fair Italian city were most delightful, and I left it with pleasant memories and with regret.
CHAPTER XIY.
ROME, NAPLES, AJH) POMPEII.
"All roads lead to Rome." So my steps turned toward the Imperial City. It draws one as the magnet attracts the steel, as the sun the dew, as the sweetest melodies draw listen- ing ears. The two cities are one hundred and ninety-six miles apart, and in about eight hours after leaving Florence my feet were busily treading the streets of the "Eternal City." The Hotel de Paris was my Roman home. There I had the pleasure of meeting an Eng- lish gentleman and his wife, most agreeable people, who were my companions in tours about Rome, and also in Naples. It was Lieut.- Col. C. H. Sheppard, of Her Majesty's Army in Poona, India, with which he had been con- nected for twenty-seven years. At one time he had lived in Rome for several months, was familiar with the city, and his knowledge and companionship were of much benefit and pleas- ure to me.
I shall not attempt a description of a place which has exercised such a stupendous influence in the affairs of the world, and shall only allude
PROQIiESSIVE ITALIANS. 161
Ibriefly to a few of the places I saw during my «tay, and which are seen and often described by numerous visitors. Mine host was a brainy, large-sized Italian, a soldier of Garibaldi, wounded in the wars for Italy's unity, and an enthusiastic defender of the new order of things. He, like many other progressive Cath- olics, did not for a moment hesitate to express his positive convictions, among which were that the "Prisoner of the Vatican" should let politics alone, and attend to purely spiritual affairs. It surprised me to find Catholics who would express such broad and progressive sentiments, and my observation was, that the nearer one gets to the home of the head of the Roman Catholic Church, the less superstitious is their reverence for him, although his religious subjects spoke of him with respect. In all portions of Italy, and especially in Rome, one meets quan- tities of priests and monks, and ecclesiastics of various orders, some wearing sandals upon their feet, and girded about and clothed in a most peculiar manner. They are seen upon every railway train and in every town of any size. It is enough to keep any nation poor to support such a horde of ?io?i-producers, and fortunate is Italy in being largely freed from them.
One of the first places visited was the Forum,
162 THE FOBUM.
where many noted events in Roman history took place. The ancient pavement is some forty feet below the surrounding streets. For centuries it was covered entirely. Now only ruins mark the once celebrated spot. There are standing columns, pillars of a temple, and other broken relics of an illustrious past^ Trajan's Column stands in the Forum of Trajan. It is of marble, and most remarkable for the vast number of figures upon it — emblems and mementos of successful war. It has been im- itated in the Column Vendome in Paris.
The Colosseum was completed in A. D. 80- It is world-renowned, and one of the most im- posing of structures, though in ruins. It stands a stupendous relic of a mighty nation and of an enterprising era. The tiers of seats are still to be seen, while in the basement of the struc- ture one can yet discern the dens and places where the wild beasts were kept. About one third of the original structure is now standing. Of course I visited the Triumphal Arch of Con- stantine and Titus ; was driven over the Appian Way, built by Appius Claudius about 312 B. C.^ a main highway to and from the city; and spent considerable time in St. Peter's Churchy the most imposing and largest religious edifice on the planet. The cross upon the dome is four
ST. PETER'S CnURGH. 163
hundred and thirty-five feet from the ground. The interior is wonderfully impressive and rich in columns and everything else of beauty, apparently. It is so massive, is adorned so profusely, that long studying is required in order to appreciate its scope and magnificence. Near the Church of St. John Lateran is the Holy Staircase, consisting of twenty-eight mar- ble steps, said to be the same ascended by the Saviour on his way to Pilate's judgment hall. The tradition is that they were brought from -Jerusalem. They are covered with boards, and persons who ascend are required to do so upon their bended knees. Holes are left through the boards through which the superstitious worship- pers kiss the sacred stone. I saw a woman mounting these steps, one at a time, and mut- tering a prayer and crossing herself at every step. She looked to me as though a thorough application of soap and water would do her more good, bodily and spiritually, than the exer- cises in which she was engaged ! In another place was the image of the Virgin, which the simple people claim has the gift of healing. Many were before it, bowing, worshipping, and kissing its toes and feet. All classes were repre- sented before it, from refined and cultivated looking ladies to the brigand-looking man, whom
164 BATES OF CABACALLA.
one would dread to meet alone in the dark. A refined lady, elegantly dressed and evidently belonging to the upper class of society, wiped the feet very carefully, and then kissed the big- toe of one of them, as did her little babe.
One of the greatest and most remarkable ruins in Rome are the Baths of Caracalla, and furnish an idea of the splendor and luxury of Rome in ancient days. They were begun in the year 212, and in them one thousand six hundred bathers could be accommodated at the same time. The baths covered a large area^ were of wondrous beauty and richness, and the great ruin impresses these facts upon every one. I also visited numerous halls and galleries of art in the Vatican, with libraries and mu- seums of antiquities. The choicest works of art of Michael Angelo and Raphael are there exhibited. Among artists they are considered the crowning works of art in the world. I saw the last great work painted by Raphael, " The Transfiguration." Years could be profitably spent in the study of these galleries and their treasures beyond value. Always have I had a great desire to visit the Catacombs. We were driven across the Campagna, whose pestilential air was disgusting and dangerous to breathe^ By the side of a torpid stream which flows^
CATACOMBS OF ST. CALLISTUS. 1G5
through it, there are vegetable growths of tropical greenness and rankness.
The Catacombs of St. Callistus, which I vis- ited, are in the environs of Rome. A small brick tenement marked the place of entrance. At a neighboring house a guide was secured, who with a lighted candle led the way down the steps to the caverns below, and we all bore candles in our hauj3s. The steps are cut in the soft, porous stone, which is easily worked, and descend from twenty-eight to fifty feet beneath the surface of the ground. It is claimed that in continuous length these Catacombs would extend five hundred and forty-five miles. The passages lead in various directions, and at the sides one sees the coffin-sized apertures cut in the rock, in some of which, lying at full length, are the bones of the early occupants. We were led from passage to passage, through these dark, chill chambers of death, where our lights seemed out of place, making objects look weird and wild in those chambers of silence and gloom. Sepulchres, chapels, and shrines were shown and explained to us by the loquacious monk. For a long time we wandered in the gloomy, strange home of the dead, till at length we gladly emerged into the light of day and glorious sunshine.
166 MODERN BOME.
The Rome of the present is vastly different from the Rome of antiquity. It has an air of thrift about it, and vast improvements are be- ing carried forward. The slow, torpid River Tiber, which flows through it, is being dredged, thereby deepening its channel; old buildings demolished upon its banks, great stone walls erected by its shores, and the dirt and sedi- ment from the stream lifted and placed there as on the Clyde at Glasgow, and beautiful em- bankments will eventually be made, as on the Thames at London and on the Charles at Boston. These changes and improvements are everywhere apparent. The new portions of the place are built solidly, substantially, and in some places elegantly.
What has been written is only an imperfect sketch of what I beheld, or what any one can see in a short time in this historic city. It is a most delightful place for the artist, antiquarian, or scholar.
Time lingered not; and leaving Rome, I started for Naples, one hundred and sixty-two miles distant, and passed through localities pro- ductive, and abounding with orchards of olive trees. In some parts, there were surrounding mountains, with towns picturesquely clinging to their sides. At Cassino, ninety-two miles
MONASTERY OF MONTE CASSINO. 167
from Rome, I had a fine sight of the castle-like monastery of Monte Cassino, a massive structure covering a large area and situated on a lofty hill west of the town. St. Benedict founded it, in 529, on the site of an ancient temple of Apollo. It presents a most attractive and striking appearance, and has been called a " na- tional monument." Its inmates "are the in- telligent keepers of one of the most precious libraries in the world, and they educate about eighty pupils in theology." The most precious manuscripts and documents are kept by this institution. It is famous for its hospitality, and no payment is asked of those who seek its board and shelter, although travellers usually leave a reasonable amount for accommodation. At Sparanisi, Mount Vesuvius, with smoking top, first burst upon my eager vision. We passed through the very ancient town of Capua, once the winter quarters of Hannibal. The whole journey is one of remarkable interest; every place is historic.
In the afternoon of the day of my departure from Rome, I was in Naples, looking with ad- miring eyes on its attractions and matchless bay. For years it had been a strong desire with me to visit the scenes of ancient Pompeii, the long-buried city of nearly eighteen hundred
168 iJV POMPEII.
years, great portions of which have been re- cently excavated, and thrown open again to the light of day and to the tread of human feet. Its history and fate are marvellously romantic and astonishing. It was a city of at least twenty thousand souls, situated thirteen miles south of Naples, which, after some visitations from vol- canic eruptions, was finally completely over- whelmed and destroyed by showers of ashes and red-hot lava from the eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, on the 24th of August, A. D. 79. At least two thousand people are supposed ta have perished. The site of Pompeii was en- tirely unknown for a long period, and was dis- covered in 1748 by a peasant. Its fame, inter- est, and great attractions to all the world are largely owing to its destruction and centuries of burial. The ashes and lava of Vesuvius, while making it immortal, have preserved for all time the manner of life of its ancient in- habitants. It stands upon a sharp eminence, from which one gets a beautiful view of the restless sea, with islands in it which enhances its beauty.
It was a cloudless day when I left Naples for the buried and resurrected city. Procuring a guide, we went by the street Porta Marina, "which is a paved and vaulted passage of con-