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PUBLICATION OF FOURTH VOLUME—VISIT TO SIZERGH—TO WINDERMERE—TO CORBY CASTLE—INVOLUNTARY TRIP TO LONDON.

Access to the State Paper Office was of immense consequence to the authors of the ‘Lives of the Queens of England’; for unless the long-withheld permission had been obtained, it would have been impossible for the lives of Anne Boleyn or Catherine Howard to have been written with the truthfulness required in historical biography. With this aid the sisters were enabled to perform their difficult tasks with considerable success.

The appearance of the fourth volume of the ‘Lives of the Queens of England’ produced an immense sensation among the reading public, and greatly added to the reputation of the authors. The volume was opened by Elizabeth with the biography of the virtuous and injured first wife of Henry VIII., followed by those of her unfortunate successors. This serial volume was the most popular one that had then appeared; nor was its popularity confined to the metropolis. In Norfolk especially it was in great demand. Blickling Hall, where Anne Boleyn was supposed to have been born, afforded a local interest to those readers who were natives of that county, and excited general enthusiasm. Not the least CATHERINE HOWARD interesting portion of the book was the touching record of the hapless girl-queen, the frail fifth wife of Henry. Perhaps nothing was ever penned more deeply pathetic than the tragical history of her over whose early dawn of womanhood no careful mother’s eye had watched.

Pathos indeed was Agnes Strickland’s forte. What she felt herself she unconsciously excited in her readers. No part, indeed, of her literary labours was so difficult for her to write as the brief and sullied career of Catherine Howard. So dense a cloud surrounded her early life, so utterly unknown were the causes that led to her degradation and ruin, that only a woman’s pitying hand could have attracted sympathy towards an erring sister so overwhelmed with obloquy and shame—her childhood and the evil influences that surrounded her orphan dawn of life returning once more to blast her reputation, and hurl her from the throne to the scaffold. Her despair, repentance, and truly Christian end have been both femininely and ably portrayed by her biographer, who has executed her delicate task with equal tact and modesty.^[1] It would have been impossible for the sisters to have written these important lives without access to the State Papers so graciously accorded to them by a noble author in the person of Lord Normanby. The close application Agnes had given to her portion of the fourth volume had injured her health, for she was not constitutionally strong like Elizabeth. Her visit to a kind friend, the widow of General Skinner, and her lively daughter, completely restored her to convalescence. Before commencing the life of Catherine Parr, the sixth wife VISIT TO SIZERGH. of Henry VIII. and our first Protestant queen, it was absolutely necessary for her biographer, Agnes Strickland, to procure from an undoubted source the particulars of her childhood and early maiden life. As this queen had been brought up at Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland, she and her sister Elizabeth accepted the courteous invitation of Mr Standish to examine the Strickland documents respecting Catherine Parr’s connection with the family, and other interesting particulars.

On their way to Sizergh they were to rest at Middle Hill, the seat of the learned baronet Sir Thomas Phillips, in order to examine his very curious and extensive library, from which they procured valuable information for their important work. Agnes Strickland in the following letter gives an amusing account of their journey:—

“We took train to Slough—a place well deserving of its name—and after leaving it we safely reached the great train, and were whirled above the tops of the trees till we got to Steventon, where we changed into another and arrived at Oxford. At five o’clock we reached an antique stone wayside house, where an old woman was on the look-out for us, to take care of us till a postchaise would arrive to take us to the Hall, as an accident had happened to Sir Thomas’s carriage the day before. Our vehicle soon drove up, and we were rattled up and down such precipitous hills that Elizabeth would fain have got down and walked. I was not at all alarmed, but admired the beautiful hills clothed with verdure. Middle Hill is a fine old place on elevated ground, with higher hills rising above it. We were met by our learned host and his three pretty daughters, and had just time to dress for dinner. Every attention was paid us for comfort, and we were provided with desks and stationery of every kind. We study, dear mamma, MIDDLE HILL. from breakfast to luncheon-time; after which we walk or write our letters. In the evening we work, or hear music, or look at fine illuminated manuscripts; and we sometimes have a quadrille, our host being our only beau, till the arrival of Mr Philip Howard, who has been of great use to us in transcribing some of the treasures to be found in Sir Thomas’s noble library.”

Agnes Strickland and her sister, after a pleasant visit, took leave of their host and his daughters, and put themselves en route for Sizergh Castle, Westmoreland. Their journey was not accomplished without peril, as her letter to her mother will show:—

“Dear Mamma,—We quitted Middle Hill for Sizergh, where we are now located, but we had a rough time of it, having been detained at Warrington by an accident to the train that started before us, and we were warned back, our engine howling all the way to the station, where we waited two hours without refreshment; and very dark and dismal the evening was. A Cheshire lad, however, went to some house and brought us two slices of bread and butter, which we ate very gladly. Then the train proceeded, but the shouts of ‘Back, back,’ caused us again to return to Minshul, a dismal swampy place. Five times we endeavoured to proceed, and still were warned back. There we remained four long hours, till the people sent for a train from Stafford, and we came on to the place where the stoppage had occurred. We then had to walk in the dark dismal night, with a deep stream on one side and rugged ground on the other. I was in mortal terror, and besought the guard to allow me to take hold of the tail of his coat, upon which he kindly offered me his arm, to which I clung till I was put safely into the carriage. We got to Warrington at one in the morning, and had to knock up the hotel people for beds after SIZERGH CASTLE. walking half a mile. A gentleman from the station and a porter attended us, and at last we had tea and went to bed. I had taken a bad cold and sore throat, and did not sleep. We got to Lancaster the next day. We embarked in a sort of gondola on the canal, and the day being fine, had a heavenly voyage to Sedgwick, with the woods and hills of the native Merth before us, and were landed at our place of destination within a mile of Sizergh. Descending a flight of stone steps, we reached a small public-house, where we left our luggage, a stout Westmoreland peasant carrying our sac de nuit. On our way we heard the rushing of the waterfalls of the river Kent, though unseen, and walked down a bowery lane, with the woods and grey towers of our forefathers rising before us, sometimes stopping to gather harebells and large purple pansies on our way, and at last stood before the venerable pile and heard the musical old clock strike seven. The steward, Mr Ellison, a fine handsome yeoman, came out to greet us, and presently his amiable wife, who gave us a delicious cup of tea and hospitable reception. We went early to bed in two stately chambers, but my cold was very troublesome.

“Yesterday Mrs Crewdson paid us a visit, the central part of the castle during the minority of Walter Strickland, young owner of Sizergh, being let to her husband, a Quaker banker, and a person of some consideration here. This lady kindly invited us to see the pictures and state apartments, and to drink tea with her. The portraits are splendid, and so are the carvings and tapestry. We spent a delightful evening.

“We have not viewed the whole of the castle, for it is a vast place. As yet we have only seen the dining-room, drawing-room, queen’s chamber, inlaid chamber, chapel, and central tower.

“We are now looking over the old papers, and are in SIZERGH CASTLE. very comfortable quarters, Mr Standish^[2] having directed every attention to be paid us by the steward and his family, he being unable to come to Sizergh himself. So we are as much domesticated here as if we had been born on this lordly domain—a real ancient castle, with embattled walls twelve feet in thickness, Gothic towers and windows. The chambers, which are tapestried, are panelled with carved oak, and so are the ceilings. The beautiful ancient furniture is of black oak, curiously carved. In fact, Sizergh is a perfect realisation of all we have heard or read of an old baronial castle. We are to see some fine views to-day. I am to ride a quiet pony.

“Mrs Ellison is a very nice person, and her step-daughter Agnes a very charming girl. Mrs Ellison seems anxious to do everything she can to please us. There is a nice youth here, the son of Sir Edward Vavasour and nephew to Lord Stourton, who is learning farming of Mr Ellison. He is very good-tempered and obliging, and we are treated here like two queens. Eliza unites with me, dear mamma, in love to you, Sarah, and Jane.—Ever lovingly yours,

“Agnes Strickland.

“Sizergh Castle, Sept. 3.”

It must be owned that Agnes and her sister had not arrived at the old ancestral castle without some perilous adventures by the way, but they obtained from the family papers what they required for the life of Catherine Parr, who was for some years an inmate of this fine old place—old even in the Tudor age. They saw her beautiful needlework and the apartment she had inhabited, still called from that circumstance the Queen’s Chamber. THE STRICKLANDS OF SIZERGH.

The sister biographers found their researches in the muniment-chest of Sizergh very interesting. This ancient Norman family came in with the Conqueror, and derived their name from the lands assigned them by him in Lancashire—the Norman particle de being for some centuries prefixed to it.^[3]

Formerly the Stricklands of Sizergh made some figure in history. To a Sir Thomas Strickland, while an esquire, was assigned the honour of bearing the banner of St George before the king at the battle of Agincourt. He lent money to his brave but impoverished sovereign, for which he was never paid. Henry V. had however, given him, by way of security, some broken silver vessels, which after his decease Thomas Strickland sold. He was called in question for the sale of this plate, and was compelled to petition Parliament on account of the matter—stating his services at Agincourt, Harfleur, and Rouen, and the necessity he was under, from want of money, to dispose of the pledge. The gallant esquire was fully exonerated from the charge brought against him, by Act of Parliament. Either this Sir Thomas Strickland or his son fought for Richmond at Bosworth, for the family were strict Lancastrians. In later times the Stricklands of Sizergh were loyal Cavaliers, but being Catholics, adhered SIZERGH CASTLE. to James I., whom they followed into exile. Among the papers some curious ones are in existence, throwing light upon the manners and customs of the times, and having a bearing upon the method resorted to by the exiles of St Germains for obtaining their needful supplies from England.

The valuable documents at Sizergh Castle, extending over several centuries, ought to be collected. Leave was kindly granted to Agnes and Elizabeth Strickland to copy what they required for the biographies they had in hand. Though the Stricklands were attached, and remained attached, to the old faith, there is no trace of bigotry in these family letters, in which it would have been displayed had it existed.

Of course the castle is haunted, and a very tragical history is told of Dame Margaret Hamerston, who destroyed herself a few days before her intended marriage to the heir of the family—the ghost of the frail lady being supposed to be seen in the apartment she occupied.

The Priest’s Hall, where the Catholic chaplain was occasionally concealed from the search of men who had more zeal than Christianity, is still to be seen. Oubliettes are said to exist beneath the castle—dungeons where the unfortunate prisoners were left to die; but these are probably walled up, as they are not shown.

The arms are as ancient as any in the kingdom: Sable engrailed, three escallops argent; the crest a full-topped holly-bush standing on a roll, with five points sable and argent. Motto—Sans mal. Supporters—a bull for Neville, and a stag for Ward. The only difference in the armorial bearings of Thomas Strickland, Esq., the father of Elizabeth and Agnes, being the addition of an ermine bordure to the engrailed sable one of Sizergh, the absence of the supporters, and the LETTER TO MISS JANE STRICKLAND. gathering up of the holly in a bunch, filleted sable and argent, and standing on a roll of the same.

Agnes writes next to her sister Jane from Sizergh, giving her an account of her tour to Windermere:—

“My dear Jane,—I owe you a letter, and much thanks for your kindness in using your pen for me. We shall bring the fourth volume of the Queens home with us, though at present we cannot fix the day for our return. How delighted you would be with the solemn grandeur of Sizergh Castle, with all its magnificent carved oak furniture and panelling! It is, to be sure, rather cold and damp; but then the weather has been very wet, for we have not had one day without rain.

“On Thursday we went to Windermere—Agnes Ellison driving her mother and Eliza in an open carriage, myself on a white pony leading the way, attended by young Vavasour, who led the steeds down the steep hills—a caution not in vain, for our road on the mountain was as steep as if we were driving down Dunwich cliffs.

“The weather was fine, but bitterly cold, though we were wrapped up as in the depth of winter. But, oh, the wild and magnificent scenery, with rocks piled on hills round and above us! We dined at Bowness, and rowed on the lake to Philipson’s Island; but a storm came on, and wetted poor Vavasour to the skin with the rough breakers. We also got a great deal of the spray.

“We crossed to the station, a good look-out place on the Lancashire side, from whence we had a fine view of the county beneath our feet. We should like to take lodgings at Rydal or Ambleside; but that must depend upon our finances.

“Mrs Howard of Corby Castle has sent us a noble salmon, weighing 23 lb. She thought it would be pleasant for us to give it to Mrs Ellison. Was not this kind?

“Lady Frances Hotham^[4] and her eldest son, Henry, have both written to me to invite us to stay with them if we return through London; but that will be, I fear, quite impossible.

“Good Agnes Ellison is making a drawing for me of the castle for my album.

“Yesterday we went to see a romantic place called Castle-head, from whence we saw Morecambe Bay and the sands. We drank tea at a lone farm under Whitbarrow rock—a perilous road. We had to go on the verge of a precipice. Eliza and Mrs Ellison preferred walking; but Agnes Ellison and I chose to remain in the carriage, as our cavalier Vavasour was in attendance. We came home by a different road—through a peat-moss, the moon gilding the distant hills. We shall certainly leave Sizergh next week. A family of the name of Wakefield, tenants of Walter Strickland’s, called upon us. They hire the powder-mills, and are wealthy and intelligent people. We returned their visit; but as there is some coolness between them and Mr Standish, we could not accept their hospitable invitations. They live in a beautiful house.

“Love to dear mamma and Sarah.—Affectionately yours,

Agnes Strickland.”

While residing at Sizergh Castle the sisters visited the Hon. Colonel and Mrs Greville Howard,—very delightful people, fine specimens of the old English aristocracy, and renowned for works of piety and Christian charity. Levens, which had formerly belonged to the Stricklands of Sizergh, was a noble old place, with LEVINS AND CORBY CASTLE. fine gardens, the yews cut into curious shapes that would have rivalled those of the younger Pliny’s gardener had these remained in existence. But Ellison, the steward, was rather jealous of the admiration my sisters expressed for the place. He insisted that the Stricklands of Sizergh still maintained over it very stringent feudal rights; that they could at their pleasure at dead of night drive through the park and the Hall in their coach-and-six, to the great inconvenience of the inhabitants thereof; and he seemed annoyed that the progress of civilisation had made the Stricklands forego these inconvenient privileges. The lands of Levens had been given to the Stricklands for their services against France.

The portraits of the exiled royal family of Stuart were at Sizergh, the gifts of those whom the former Stricklands had served with such devotion: the queen of sorrows, Mary Beatrice, who had lost her beauty but not her majesty of mien; her children, bright in early youth, untouched by the care that marked their mother; and last, but infinitely more beautiful than queen or princess, that Lady Strickland who had followed the fortunes of her royal mistress, whose portrait, by Sir Godfrey Kneller, adorned the walls of the ancestral home. There, too, were the portraits of the two Cavaliers, father and son, who had fought for Charles I. with that deep devotion and loyalty which had marked the Catholic families during the Civil War. They did not lose their estates, probably through the influence of their kinsmen of the Wold, who stood high in Cromwell’s favour.

From Sizergh, Agnes and Elizabeth proceeded to Corby Castle, the hospitable seat of Henry Howard, Esq., with whom and his accomplished family they were on terms of warm friendship. His eldest son had been very useful to them in searching out documents CORBY CASTLE. and making extracts—very valuable services to historians and biographers, for which they were sincerely grateful.

The magnificent gift of the Howard Memorial, which had formerly been recommended to their notice by the Duke of Norfolk, and which was the work of their learned host, was a very valuable addition to their library.

The examination of the Corby papers afforded the authors much valuable information, while the beautiful scenery round the castle gave them attractive walks and drives, and agreeable relaxation from severe morning studies. Lady Petre formed the charm of the home circle at Corby. She was highly accomplished, sweet-tempered, and very fascinating, and, with her amiable and hospitable mother, studied to make her guests comfortable. Her vocal and musical talents were in requisition in the evening, and she was always ready to oblige her friends, to whom she was justly dear.

In her letter to her beloved sister Sarah, Agnes Strickland thus describes Corby: “Corby Castle is indeed a splendid place; there is nothing in Suffolk to compare to it.^[5] Lord and Lady Petre are staying here, and Miss Petre. Her ladyship is very charming, and sings like an angel. We met here yesterday the Dean of Carlisle and his lady—very nice people, who seem much attached to young Mr Howard, whom they call Philip with affectionate familiarity. The air of Sizergh did not agree with me, but I felt quite well at Corby, which I left with regret. At our departure Mr Philip SUNDERLAND. presented us each with an elegant pair of travelling gloves, with deep velvet cuffs, which was very kind on his part. As we were to sleep at Hexham, on our way to Sunderland, he had engaged us to breakfast the following morning with two friendly monks. This arrangement, from a member of an old Catholic family, involved in its acceptance no violation of etiquette on our part. Our monks treated us royally, and after breakfast preached us a sermon on the vanity of beauty, bidding us to think of ourselves not as we were then, but of what we should be ten years hence.”

Their audience did not take the monkish warning in ill part, for it implied a compliment, and was better fitted in reality to excite vanity than to repress it.

“No tongue can describe the dirt and blackness of Newcastle,” writes Agnes. “All the way to Sunderland is hideous. Sir Cuthbert Sharpe’s house, however, is situated in a pleasant part of this town, and everything is nice and pretty.”

It may be remembered that the Asiatic cholera first made its appearance in the heart of this town after a fearful storm that drove a Russian ship under the mighty arch of the noble suspension-bridge. Such an arrival had never happened before, and death was on board that tempest-driven vessel, and the infection of the cholera came in with it. To the terror-stricken inhabitants it seemed like fate. Then Sir Cuthbert Sharpe, with some friends of his, bravely met and faced the danger, provided hospitals and nurses for the sick, and, with God’s help, the plague was stayed. He and his noble-minded companions gave the sick their personal attendance, and received no injury, to the astonishment of the selfish and timid.

“Why drew Marseilles’ good Bishop purer breath,

When nature sickened and each gale was death?”

And as it was then in France, so it was here. No harm STORM AT SEA. befell the gallant naval officer or his family. God prospered his work of charity, and kept the cholera from his door.

As Lady Sharpe was unavoidably absent, being in attendance on a sick relation, Sir Cuthbert had engaged an amiable lady to do the honours of his house till her return. This distinguished naval officer was a great antiquary, and his visitors found his conversation both agreeable and instructive.

“We go to Durham to bring back Lady Sharpe to Sunderland,” writes Agnes; “and after we have dined, and explored with Sir Cuthbert the antiquities of the place, we return with our host and hostess for a few days, after which you may expect us in Suffolk. We think of coming home by a steamer, as our quickest and least expensive way of travelling.”

In these expectations the sisters were unfortunately deceived; for though their naval host had seen them safely embarked on board the steamer, with a fair wind, and every prospect of a safe and speedy voyage, they were scarcely out of the harbour before the wind changed and threatened them with a very rough passage.

For the first time in their lives Agnes and Elizabeth found themselves at sea in a storm, and discovered too, by the anxious looks of the seamen, that they were in some danger. Agnes asked the skipper if there was any chance of their reaching the coast of Suffolk that day. He assured her that their only chance of safety was the possibility of making the port of London, of which he seemed doubtful.

She returned to the cabin with a heavy heart; but, as there was no help for it, determined to make the best of a bad matter; and being very fond of children, and feeling an involuntary interest in their mother, she made herself very agreeable to some little girls, whose naïve inquiries after the health of two kittens amused STEAMER DRIVEN TO LONDON. her more than the “categories” did the poor stewardess, who had no time to bestow upon their pets.

The captain was right—there was no possibility of the steamer reaching the Suffolk coast; but early on Sunday morning she made the port of London, to his great joy, and the mortification of his lady passengers, at an hour when it would be troublesome to find accommodation till the following day.

While Agnes and Elizabeth Strickland were considering what they had best do in this emergency, the lady to whose children they had been kind during the stormy passage, proposed taking them to her house till the following morning, regretting that having been some time from home, things might not be in such order as she could have wished. They thankfully accepted her hospitable invitation, which proceeded from a benevolent disposition, since she was unacquainted with the names of her guests or their literary reputation. Few persons would have done so much for complete strangers.

The following evening the weary travellers reached Reydon, where they had been anxiously expected, great fears for their safety having been felt for them by their mother and sisters, whose vicinity to the sea had made them aware of the danger to which the storm had exposed them.

[1]

Some years before Agnes Strickland wrote the biography of this unhappy queen she had composed a tragedy upon her eventful life—which is still in MS. Alexandre Dumas has made Catherine Howard the subject of a drama. This piece, however, possesses less merit than the tragedies of this popular French writer.

[2]	Uncle to Walter Strickland, Esq., and member for Wigan. He was the elder brother of Mr Strickland, but with the name of Standish took Standish Hall, the wealthier appanage of the two.

[3]

The loss of the ancient prefix has led a modern herald into the mistake of supposing this family to be of Saxon origin, from the patronymic not being Norman-French; but like the Cliffords, whose blood they shared, the Stricklands took their name from the lands assigned to them by William the Conqueror. Sizergh Castle was acquired in later times by the marriage of the heiress of the D’Eyncourts to a Strickland. The general ancestor of the Strickland family was Sir Adam de Styrkland, who came over with William the Conqueror, and married the daughter of Sir Roger de Furness—the name gradually changing into its present form. The ancient mode of spelling was de Strykelonde. Why Mr Burke should have ascribed to this ancient Norman family a Saxon origin is a singular mistake requiring rectification.

[4]	Sister to the Earl of Stradbroke, and widow of Admiral Sir Henry Hotham.

[5]

In this opinion Agnes differs from Sir Walter Scott, who laments the alteration which he considered had deprived the castle of its ancient character. But the want of comfort is often severely felt by the inhabitants of these fine old buildings, which are frequently cold, damp, dark, and draughty; and in the attempt to render them convenient as residences, their venerable appearance is of necessity violated.