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VOL. LXXXVII. RICF
A Visit to
It was a misty, dripping midsummer day. The
rain fell softly on the drenched earth, as if for
very weariness. The little station at Naworth
was deserted. But just as we turned to leave an
old man appeared. He proved to be the station
master. "No, he was not sure the new Hurrel
would' allow visitors
through the new castle, ' >
the howld Hurrel alius
man who kept it rai-c<l
the finest strawberries ^
in hall TIengland."
information,
none too assuring, we sot '*
forth. It was a short I
tramp. At the portal of I
the famous eastle home
of the TTowards we pans- pff-*"
od. It seemed an unwarranted
intrusion. Why
should curious visitors
from America be allowed WA
the freedom of these his
torie halls" But they do I
allow it. Even Royalty allows
it. Imagine stepping Castle Naworth,
up to the front door of a
wealthy American's home and saying, "I would
like to go through your house."
Before us was the ancient home of as distinguished
a family as will be found in the
United Kingdom. In fact, several of their ancestors
had actually sat upon the English throne,
hack in the Plantagenet and Tudor days. And
the castle looked the seat of a true and ancient
aristocracy. The very stones in the walls seemed
to suggest age and exclusion. And why should
they not? .Many o'- them were brought from the
old Roman wall, wherein they were placed before
the days of Christ by the hands of the
Roman legionaries.
Com mandi ugly situated on a hill-top, surrounded
by its parks and woodlands, through
which the little river Irthing murmurs its quiet
way to the sea, Naworth has from time immemorial
been a place for aggression and defence.
? j ? ?
.me gruunus ana guruens are tended witn care.
The tower that forms the gateway to the outer
court is a mouldering ruin half covered with ivy
and embowered with the overhanging trees. A
more picturesque gateway, no man, be he lord
or commoner, could claim.
In that far-away time when history sinks into
the twilight of tradition this castle was held by
.. ^v/Ticuui iiiumjy, uu i?iuunoii, wno came over
with the Conqueror. The male line failing, the
title estates fell to a young maiden of seventeen,
as beautiful as she was noble and rich. Margaret
was placed in the care of the Earl of Warwick
by the kihg, whose ward she was, and was be
-I MO NO. NEW ORLEANS, ATLANTA
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trothed to R s<*ion of nnnthpr rir>Vi nnd r?owArfiil
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famih' of Yorkshire, one Robert de Clifford, a
child of seven. But Margaret loved a strong
and brave young knight, Ranulf de Dacre, who
was no doubt as fierce as his name implies. So
Ranulf stole Margaret, and the king forgave
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the lead roof, the Tower of llelted Will, and the
1
"The River Irthing, peacefully slumbering be
tween the rocks, held the lofty trees and hazy
clouds like a mirror, in its bosom."
H^^PNP/PEEBY7EPM/&
?AL PRESBYTER/AN jf
mEEN' PEESBYTEfffAtf
JULY 9. 1913. NO. 27 y f
stle Rev. W. H. T. Squires
them as all good kings should. So they settled
on Margaret's vast estates at Naworth. But to
hold one's own in the borderland in those wild
days was no easy matter, with the fierce marauding
Scots just a few miles away to the north.
Naworth had the Armstrongs and the Douglasses
_ at the very gates.
When two centuries
had passed the last of his
line, one Thomas de
^ _ Dacre, was holding this
stronchnld Hie
c " "J
Elizabeth,
Creystone, had in her
youtli been betrothed to
a young Clifford of York||j
El shire. Uut Sir Thomas
y^ ^Ka^i Mr took a leal' out of the family
history and eloped
with Elizabeth, even as
one ui forbears had
eloped with Margaret. So
09 twice over were the Clift'ya.'gn
. t~ |EM fords of Yorkshire cheat
the
^ blood. Sir Thomas was
Tunnel entrance. a fierce fighter somewhat
akin to a well known General
Sherman in more recent history on our side
, of the water, for he boasted that where there
had been 400 Scotch plows and men to run theni
not one now remained. Sir Thomas died fighting
for his king, Henry VII [ at Flodden Field,
where he led the cavalry against the Scots.
As he left no son, the estates passed to
u-lj -i -a *
jus eiuesi uaugnier, Elizabeth, wife of Sir
William Howard. He too was as fierce as
his famous father-in-law, for the poor country
folk were wont to exclaim, "There is mercy with
God, but none with Sir William." lie was an ardent
Catholic. Ills cousin, Queen Elizabeth, had
no tolerance for the Papists. In his old age the
blood on Sir William's hands began to get on
his conscience. In the lofty tower he built a
little chapel and cunningly contrived a way for
Ihe priests to enter through the thick masonry
oi the walls. Ilere he prayed more and more
continuously with advancing age. Sir Walter
Seott in "The Lay of the Last Minstrel" has
east the glamor of romance over this "Belted
Sir William," the first of the Naworth Howards,
whose representative today is the Earl of Carlisle.
On reaching the front portal of the castle,
whom snoulrt it be our good fortune to meet face
to face but the Earl himself? He was directing
the gardener about some work evidently of mutual
interest and perhaps some importance. We
asked whether visitors would be admitted to the
castle: The Earl smiled and replied, "You are
from America." We pled guilty to the accusa