by Sir John Gell, of Hopton, who breached the walls with cannon placed on the neighbouring heights-Col. Dalby, the governor, fell in the conflict. It was afterwards the scene of some slight skirmishes between the contending parties, but was ordered to be finally dismantled by the Parliament in 1646. From that time it was allowed gradually to go to decay, without any attempts being made to reinstate it to its former grandeurand unfortunately its dilapidations have been much accelerated by a species of Vandalism, strongly to be reprobated, by a gentleman into whose possession it came after a suit in Chancery, who pulled down some of its more beautiful parts, to build a modern and far from elegant mansion at the foot of the hill. But we must bid adieu to Southwingfield, and proceed to notice another equally important house, still in perfection, and retaining all its ancient grandeur and beauty,

HARDWICK HALL,

Only a few miles distant, through Stretton and Tibshelf; but as the author has never had the pleasure of personally inspecting it, he begs to be allowed to quote the account, verbatim, from an excellent work recently published, and then dismiss it with a brief

note.

*

"This celebrated Hall is one of the possessions of his grace the Duke of Devonshire; and, in the 16th century, it was part of the dower of Elizabeth, sister and heiress of John Hardwick, of Hardwick, Esq., on her espousals with Sir William Cavendish. That lady, as we have elsewhere observed, afterwards became Countess of Shrewsbury, and, by her extraordinary abilities, greatly enlarged and adorned the estates, and laid the foundation of much of the wealth and honours of the illustrious Cavendish family. This mansion was rebuilt under her superintendence, and has been noticed by Walpole in his Anecdotes of Painting," as a remarkable specimen of the noble edifices of the Elizabethean era,' com

* Fisher's Picturesque Illustrations of Great Britain and Ireland.

bining the beauties and faults of a style, in which magnitude was often mistaken for grandeur, and costly workmanship for taste. There was also a desire in its designers for the whimsical and the elaborate, which frequently displayed itself in all intended to be ornamental; and of this we have an instance in the towers of this edifice, which, as their summits emerge above the widespreading oaks of the fine park in which the mansion stands, appear to be covered with the lightly-shivered fragments of battlements; but upon attentive observation, these seeming flaws are discovered to be neatly carved open-work, in which the letters E. S., under a coronet, frequently repeated, signify Elizabeth Countess of Shrewsbury.

"The building is situated on elevated ground, about eleven miles from Chesterfield, and was reared nearly on the site of the more ancient mansion, the stone employed in its erection being supplied by the quarries of the hill on which it was founded. The prospect around is extensive and interesting; and the Hall, amid its park of the finest forest trees, rises with much dignity, with a lofty tower at each corner, and another of spacious and commanding aspect in front. At Hardwick Hall a considerable portion of the captivity of the unhappy Queen of Scots was passed; and the appartments in which she dwelt are still deeply marked with that intense interest which her beauty, her misfortunes, and her death have impressed upon her memory.

"The celebrated novelist, Mrs. Radcliffe, in her Tour to the Lakes,' in speaking of Hardwick, observes,' The second floor is that which gives its chief interest to the edifice, as nearly all the apartments were allotted to Mary (some of them for state purposes); and the furniture is known, by other proofs than its appearance, to remain as she left it. . . . A short A short passage leads from the state apartment to her own chamber, a small room overlooked from the passage by a window, which enabled her attendants to know that she was contriving no means of escape through the others into the court. The bed and chairs of this room are of black

velvet, embroidered by herself; the toilet, of gold tissue all more decayed than worn, and probably used only towards the conclusion of her imprisonment here, when she was removed from some better apartment, in which the ancient bed, now in the state-room, had been placed.' These closing sentences speak more to the sensibility of the reader than to the eye, and make us perceive the watchfulness, the rigid jealousy, and the relentless subjection under which the princess mourned, even to the fatal conclusion of her imprisonment here.'

"The paintings at Hardwick are chiefly portraits; and these are valuable, not so much on occount of their execution, as for the historical recollections that attach to the persons they represent. Among them is a fine figure of the Countess herself, in a close black dress, a double ruff, and a long chain of five rows of pearls, reaching below her waist, sleeves down to her wrists, turned up with small pointed white cuffs, a fan in her left hand, and brown hair. There is also another portrait, which portrays her of a more advanced age; and in this, also, she is represented in black, with pearls.”

Many of the rooms are on a most magnificent scale. The State Room, hung with tapestry, above which are figures rudely executed in plaster, is nearly 65 feet long, 33 wide, and 26 high. At one end is a canopy of state, and at the other is a bed, the splendid hangings of which are very ancient, and said to be the work of Mary Queen of Scots. The Gallery, an immense apartment, extending the whole length of the eastern side, is 170 feet long and 26 wide, with spacious bays, large enough for a good sized room. The walls are everywhere hung with pictures, chiefly portraits, among which are those of Queen Elizabeth, Lady Jane Grey, Sir Thomas More, Mary Queen of Scots, Bishop Gardiner, Cardinal Pole, Sir William Cavendish-first Earl of Devonshire, and Colonel Charles Cavendish. Near by are the remains of the Old Hall.

EXCURSION TO THE ROUTER-ROCKS AND ROBIN HOOD'S STRIDE, BY DARLEY DALE AND HADDON, RETURNING BY WINSTER, GRANGE MILL AND CROMFORD.

This is probably one of the most interesting drives in Derbyshire, including within its ample range objects of the greatest interest, sublimity, and beauty; presented in rich succession throughout the intire rout without repetition,-But having given the tract as far as Haddon in our excursion to Chatsworth, to which we would beg to refer the reader, we will pass it over here with a remark or two. On passing up the Dell, beyond Matlock, the eminence called "Oker" appeared more than usually beautiful and striking, with the two trees on the summit from this point forming but one object as already noticed.* There is a still nearer way by Darley Bridge, turning off at the toll bar, then taking up through Wensley and Winster (which is hilly) on passing through which the road to the right leads at once to the Rocks, not more than a mile distant from Winster. About a hundred yards beyond the bridge, near to Haddon, we took the left hand road, proceeding in this direction, about half a mile, the road divides-that to the right leading to Alport, Youlgreave and Middleton.+ Our course lay still to the left, when we crossed the Lathkil, along a narrow dale, skirting Stanton Manor, profusely wooded and watered by a small streamlet called Hartle Brook.— We passed the lodge gates of John Thornhill, Esq., whose mansion and pleasure grounds are on the sloping side of the moor above. A short two miles brought us to the narrowest point, where a road takes up to the left to Router and Birchover, by a few cottages on the left, and a mill in the ravine on the right-this is EagleStone, which is about equi-distant from Router Rocks

* See page 72.

Here the road crosses the ravine by a kind of Bridge or Culvertthe name of Stanton occurs, written on a stone on the top of the wall.

At Alport, only a mile from hence, the greater part of the Tufa is now obtained, to send to all parts of the kingdom to form rock work, &c. (see

on the one side, and Robin Hood's Stride or Graned Tor on the other. The former being a striking group of rocks at the extreme west end of Stanton Moor; and the latter on Hartle Moor, both being elevated ridges of the Millstone Grit, only divided by the narrow break or ravine, and forming together one vast angular mass, terminating in a point westward, enclosed on all sides but one by the Limestone measures.-These ridges are bold, and broken up into detached masses of jagged rocks, presenting the most remarkable appearances,

page 11 and the note) and above Middleton is Arbor-Low, an elevated Moor, on the top of which there is a Druidical Circle, surrounded by a ditch and a bank or vallum; near this is a Barrow, and within 200 yards of it, to the south, the celebrated Barytes is found. The Circle is one of the most interesting monuments of antiquity in Derbyshire, and most probably was one of the provincial places of meeting of the ancient Bards. They held their "Gorseddau," or Meetings, in the open air, and (to use one of their mottos) in the face of the sun, and in the eye of the light. All their places of assemblage were, like this, set apart by forming a circle of stones around the Maen Gorsedd; (the Centre Stone called the Stone of assembly), and at their Meetings, the Bardic traditions were recited, and the most interesting topics discussed. The Bards always stood bare-headed and bare-footed, in their unicoloured robe, at the Gorsedd, and within the Cylch Cyngrar, or Circle of Federation. The ceremony used on the opening of a meeting, was the sheathing of a sword, on the Maen Gorsedd, at which all the Bards assisted; and this was accompanied by a brief discourse, of which the following is a specimen-"The truth against the world: Under the protection of the Bards of the isle of Britain, are all who repair to this place, where there is not a naked weapon against them; and all who seek the privilege appertaining to Science and Bardism, let them demand it from Iolo Morganwg, W. Mechain, Hywel Eryri, and D. Ddu Eryri, and they all being graduated Bards, according to the privilege of the Bards of the Isle of Britain. The Truth against The World."* business of their meetings was closed by taking up, but not unsheathing the sword, accompanied with a few words, when all covered their heads and feet. A person called the Dadgeiniad, or reciter, always attended, whose business was to recite the traditions and poems, make proclamations, announce candidates, and open and close the Gorsedd.

The

This point although not so elevated as some eminences in the neighbourhood yet the prospect is commanding, especially to the eastward, and well suited for the purposes intended to impress the mind with the vastness of creation and the power of an unseen Deity, and who does not feel a sensation approaching to veneration, when he treads the ground rendered so interesting, by having been the theatre, in ancient time, on which the Briton first displayed those powers of eloquence and that love of country which has distinguished his posterity in much later days?

* Davies's History of Derbyshire, note page 585.