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[Illustration: THE GREAT YARMOUTH TOLHOUSE.]




                                 _The
                         Antiquarian Magazine
                           & Bibliographer._

                               EDITED BY

                         EDWARD WALFORD, M.A.,

           _Formerly Scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, and
                  late Editor of “The Gentleman’s
                            Magazine,” &c._

                      “Time doth consecrate,
        And what is grey with age becomes religion.”
                                 SCHILLER.

                              VOLUME VI.

                         JULY-DECEMBER, 1884.

                                London:
                 DAVID BOGUE, 27, KING WILLIAM STREET,
                          CHARING CROSS, W.C.

                          The Gresham Press.

                            UNWIN BROTHERS,
                               PRINTERS,
                         LONDON AND CHILWORTH.




List of Illustrations.


                                                           _Page_

THE GREAT YARMOUTH TOLHOUSE                                    2

ARCHITECTURAL DETAILS FROM SOUTHWELL MINSTER                  49

GLOVES OF SHAKESPEARE, IN THE POSSESSION OF MISS BENSON      102

SEAL OF THE BOROUGH OF SEAFORD                               154

TESSELLATED PAVEMENT DISCOVERED AT THE ROMAN VILLA NEAR
BRADING                                                      206

THE OLD PALACE, RICHMOND                                     258




_The Antiquarian Magazine & Bibliographer._




The Great Yarmouth Tolhouse.


GREAT YARMOUTH possesses a building of considerable antiquarian
interest. This is known by the somewhat unsuggestive name of the
Tolhouse. Its relation to the collection of tolls is referred to in many
old documents; but since this was but one of many uses to which it was
devoted, and far from a primary one, it is highly probable that, like
the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, its name is derived from its use in a greater
degree as the common prison of the town.

The building is spoken of by the old local historian, Manship, in 1619,
who states that it was used in his time as the Borough Gaol, and had
been so used from the time of the granting of the Charter by King John
to the Burgesses. There are also records, which are referred to in
Palmer’s “Perlustrations of Great Yarmouth,” of the very early use of
the building as a gaol by the burgesses. A gaol for prisoners was also
granted by Henry III. in 1261.

Apart from this, the building has been used for almost every municipal
purpose, though it has never been actually a town-hall, for Great
Yarmouth, like many other corporations, possessed a town-hall over or
beside the entrance to the churchyard. Here various courts were held.
The bailiffs were accustomed to receive their tolls or dues in the great
chamber on the first floor. It was called the Host House, from a
peculiar local custom. The accounts for the herrings, the staple article
of commerce of the town in old days as now, that were caught by foreign
fishermen, and sold by their “hosts,” or salesmen of the town to whom
they were consigned, had to be settled in the great chamber, and their
“heightening money” paid. It was used also as their apartment of state
by the local authorities; and there are many records of the quarrels
over the questions of precedence with the deputies of the Cinque Ports
when they paid official visits here.

It is for these most varying uses that the Tolhouse of Great Yarmouth is
unique among our municipal antiquities, for England has not its
counterpart elsewhere. Its history affords evidence of a most
interesting nature of the growth and development of the authority of the
town, no different it may be from what has taken place in other
corporations, but illustrated here by the actual building.

The structure also is the original erection in all its essential
features. Its walls are of early thirteenth century date, thus
indicating its existence prior to 1261. It has a picturesque external
staircase of open woodwork, giving access from the street to the level
of the first floor, where the “Great Chamber” is situated, access being
gained through a doorway of Early English moulded work; while the lobby
of approach is lighted by a two-light open arcade, of somewhat later
date. A very quaint figure of Justice, with sword and scales, stands on
a projecting buttress; and the high-pitched roof, and the general
features of the design, are both of considerable artistic interest.
Internally, the Great Chamber has lost its open roof, which was replaced
by a flat ceiling, probably in 1622, when it was “fitted up for
assemblies.” The windows, too, are square-headed, with wood frames and
mullions; but there are several features of the original work of great
beauty, while others peep temptingly from the plastering and whitewash
of more recent days.

Below the Hall is the “pit,” or common hold, wherein prisoners were
thrust indiscriminately, and chained to a horizontal beam, which has
long since disappeared. In this portion of the building the doors are
iron-bound, and very solidly framed.

The recent history of the building deserves more than passing reference.
On the completion of the handsome new town-hall the few recent uses even
of the Tolhouse were no longer needed, and the demolition of the
building was decided upon. The local antiquaries, however, being fully
alive to the great interest of the building in relation to its forming a
part, so to speak, of the history of the town, strove to prevent this
loss occurring. Their persevering efforts have been eminently
successful. Not only has the Town Council reconsidered the proposal,
but it has finally handed the building over to trustees, to be devoted
to some useful purpose. Thus has an example been set to other lovers of
our ancient buildings elsewhere.

The trustees have undertaken to repair the building, and they are now
seeking to raise a fund for defraying the cost of this much-needed work.
The building is in a sadly dilapidated state. It has been surveyed by
Mr. E. P. Loftus Brock, F.S.A., architect, of London, and in his hands,
and in those of a local firm of architects, it may be reasonably
concluded that none but really necessary works will be carried out. The
intention is, indeed, to repair the building only, and to retain all its
ancient features.

The rough-cast, covering and hiding the ancient walling, will be taken
off, the great hall will have its flat ceiling removed, and some
approach made to the open appearance it formerly possessed; the walls
will be strengthened where needed, the roofs made watertight, and
general works of cleansing and repair done. No attempt whatever will be
made to alter the structural appearance.

The trustees have undertaken their duties on public grounds, in the
belief that, in these days when the removal of an ancient building is so
greatly deplored, funds will not be wanting to uphold it for all time.

Subscriptions will be gladly received by C. S. Ade, Esq., Treasurer of
the Fund (Messrs. Gurney & Co., Great Yarmouth); or by F. Danby-Palmer,
Esq., Honorary Secretary, also at Great Yarmouth.




Misericordes in Ludlow Church.


THE following details of sundry carvings on the misericordes still
remaining in the choir of the collegiate church of St. Lawrence at
Ludlow, in Shropshire, may interest such of our readers as are students
of church architecture:--

NORTH SIDE. (_Read from West to East._)

1. _A_ (left) and _B_ (right), a rose. _C_ (centre), four roses.

2. _A_ and _B_, a padlock (or stirrup?). _C_, an eagle with two cords
entwined behind.

3. _A_ and _B_, floriated ornament. _C_, an angel holding a trumpet.

4. _A_ and _B_, floriated ornament. _C_, king’s head, whiskers and beard
flowing.

5. _A_ and _B_, an animal holding a band in its mouth. _C_, a stag
kneeling, a band behind it.

6. _A_, two figures opposite each other; the left one has pointed shoes,
the right one has his right arm raised as if to strike the other figure,
and an animal is arising from under him. _B_, a floriated ornament. _C_,
a mitred bishop in a pulpit preaching to birds; the bishop has a
donkey’s face.

7. _A_ and _B_, three feathers. _C_, the same, larger.

8. _A_ and _B_, mitres on many-pointed stars. _C_, mitred bishop’s head,
labels flying.

9. _A_ and _B_, a face, from whose mouth two oak sprigs, right and left,
issue. _C_, a stag, with a crowned collar round its neck attached to a
chain, sitting on its haunches biting a band or flat snake.

10. _A_, a pot with two handles, on a fire. _B_, floriated ornament.
_C_, two figures fighting; a third figure on the right is trying to hold
one of the other figures; the left figure is sitting on the ground, as
if knocked down; his head is broken off.

11. _A_ and _B_, a fish with its tail in its mouth. _C_, a mermaid
holding a circular mirror in its right hand, looking at it; the left
hand four fingers broken off.

12. _A_, devil seated, holding a scroll. _B_, figure of a woman coming
out of a pair of gaping jaws, the hinder parts of a man disappearing
head foremost into the jaws; there are seven teeth in the upper jaw and
three in the lower jaw. _C_, a man, whose head is broken off, carrying a
naked female slung over his shoulders, one leg on either side of his
head; her head and body hang down behind; she has a head-dress, a
necklace from which is a pendant, and a ribbed jug or scroll in her left
hand, her right hand is open, showing the palm; opposite the man, on the
right, is a figure evidently meant to personate the Devil; he has wings,
and is playing the bagpipes.

13. _A_ and _B_, a winged beast. _C_, the same, with head-piece and five
bands round its waist, terminating in the wings; there are eight balls
or buttons on, and between these bands in front of the figure.

14. _A_ and _B_, figure of a man, probably dancing; he holds a round
thing like a cymbal in the right hand, the other is holding a branch;
one knee is on the ground; it has pointed boots; part of the head and
left foot below the knee of _A_ is broken off. _C_, a woman’s head with
head-dress, scowling, showing open ugly mouth and four teeth; the body
of the dress is low, cut square; some thinner article of dress is
beneath, concealing bare skin.

SOUTH SIDE. (_West to East._)

1. _A_, ring, formed by two circles entwined. _B_ is gone. _C_, rose on
a ----?

2. _A_ and _B_, a head in a cloth or shroud. _C_, a man seated in cap
and gown, holding a band.

3. _A_ and _B_, a four-legged table, a barrel, end upwards, in centre,
showing the bung in the middle; on one side is a jug or flagon, on the
other a cup or chalice with a cover. _C_, two figures, men, kneeling;
both heads are gone; a barrel on a bracket-shelf appears to be supported
on one knee of each; one knee of each is on the ground.

4. _A_ and _B_, floriated ornament. _C_, a woman drawing liquor from a
barrel into a jug which she is holding; on the left of the barrel
another barrel, on the right a jug on a shelf below; the figure has a
mallet attached to a girdle round his waist.

5. _A_ and _B_, a cock’s head. _C_, animal with wings, on its haunches.

6. _A_ and _B_, pretty floriated ornament. _C_, remains of the trunk of
an animal surrounded with the remnants of birds, broken off.

7. _A_ a pack-horse; three of its legs are gone. _B_, a bag with a rose
on centre, from which are suspended two smaller roses; below bag is a
cushion, tasselled. _C_, two pairs of wrestlers wrestling; on left a
figure is looking on.

8. _A_, pot with three feet and two handles, through which is a loose
cord, on some burning fagots. _B_, trunks of two animals slung on a
pole. _C_, a woman seated in a chair, holding hands and feet to fire
which is in front of her.

9. _A_ and _B_, floriated ornament. _C_, a swan standing.

10. _A_ and _B_, a sparrow. _C_, an owl.

11. _A_ and _B_, a woman’s head with head-dress. _C_, the same, with
additional loose piece of material on top of her head, hanging over her
shoulders.

12. _A_ and _B_, floriated ornament. _C_, a man with a pack on his back,
strapped on over his shoulders; he is pulling up his right boot with his
hands; the boots are pointed.

13. _A_,_B_ and _C_, floriated ornament.

14. _A_, a figure with pointed shoes, seated on a four-legged stool;
both arms are gone. _B_, a wrist and hand from a cloud, on which, under
the wrist, is a hammer, holding a pestle and mortar; beneath the hammer
is a thigh bone, a skull, a skull, and a thigh bone; beneath these is a
perpendicular altar tomb, with a spade and shovel crossed; the shovel is
standing on the ground in front of the tomb, and has a T handle, the
spade having a circular one. _C_, a figure with a row of beads on top of
coat from shoulder to shoulder, and wears a belt; on the left is a
barrel on a shelf; under this is a pair of pattens hung on wall, and
below these a pair of bellows, also hung on the wall; a hammer lies by
his right foot on the left; all on the left-hand side are gone.

R. C. HOPE, F.S.A.




Characters of the Wars of the Roses.

BY THE REV. H. H. MOORE, M.A.

_PART II._

(_Continued from Vol. V. p. 282._)


THE characters of Warwick and of Edward IV. were so similar up to a
certain point, and beyond that so opposite, their fortunes were so
closely intertwined up to a certain time and afterwards were so fatally
antagonistic, that they must be considered together awhile. The virtues
of the one shine the brighter, and the defects of the other loom the
darker by contrast; and the juxtaposition of the two figures in history
makes the contrast all the more striking. In Warwick we see the nobler
and more antique form of chivalry; in Edward we see chivalry modernised
and debased by the additions of a voluptuousness more vicious than
refined, and of a selfishness Italian in its intensity, and
Machiavellian in its policy. Equally brave and distinguished for
personal prowess in the field, Warwick joined to the courage the
magnanimity of the lion, while Edward showed the cruelty as well as the
fierceness of the tiger. But Edward greatly excelled Warwick, as well as
all the other captains of his day, in generalship. His boldness, which
cared for no odds however great, which shunned no danger however
desperate, would have seemed mere foolhardiness, had not his
marvellously quick perception, sagacious judgment, and tremendous
energy, made prudence foolish and boldness prudent. His confidence in
his own powers, which made them ten times more formidable, was fully
justified by the results of nine pitched battles, in which victory never
left his standard. But as soon as the opposition was overcome which had
roused his energies into so fierce an activity, he abandoned himself to
luxurious habits and indulgence in amorous and convivial pleasures. They
who had seen him awhile ago delighting like a war-horse in the sound of
the battle, would never expect such “a martial man to become soft
fancy’s slave.” Yet so it was; terrible as Cæsar in war, in peace he was
another Antony, and would risk the loss of an empire for a woman’s
smile. His generous affection for Elizabeth Woodville would be a bright
spot in his character, had he not sullied it by his numerous amours and
gross licentiousness. While Edward thus stained his character as much by
his wantonness in peace as by his cruelty in war, Warwick, who despised
such pleasures, won from both equally honourable laurels. The young
King’s Court was no genial place for his severe manliness; and the
disgraceful match-making and place-hunting by which the Queen’s
relatives and friends were acquiring power, not only disgusted, but also
alarmed him for the power of his family and of the old nobility. Edward
and Warwick were equally proud, but Warwick’s was the pride of conscious
worth, Edward’s the pride of an arbitrary will. More kingly than the
King himself, Warwick overshadowed the throne with his greatness. To him
Edward knew that he owed his crown, but he felt that he was strong
enough to keep it without his help. His gratitude was swallowed up in
the humiliation of his dependence, for he felt that he was not a king
when Warwick was by. Accordingly, all his efforts were directed to abase
that power which made him feel like a subject in his own realms.
Warwick’s fall would, he knew, be the death-blow to his order; and, once
determined on this policy, not even fear of Warwick moved this wonderful
man, whose hand never hesitated to execute what his heart dared to
design. He saw that the age was with him, while Warwick and the men of
whom he was the type were behind the age. He knew also the advantage
which his own character and talents gave him over Warwick. The latter
was honest, unsuspecting, incapable of intrigue as he was indisposed to
it; and though he joined to these soldier’s qualities a soldier’s
sagacity also, yet he was no match for Edward, and fell an easy victim
to his perfidious heart and scheming brain. And when outraged honour and
insulted pride made him desert the Yorkist cause, which he had served
and supported for years, and range himself with those whom he had most
injured and who most hated him, he fell as easy a victim to the same
man’s charmed sword. And Edward did prove himself strong enough to reign
alone. No man was better fitted for his age and his circumstances; and
this is shown by his popularity, vigorous even during Warwick’s life and
while growing under his shade. Victor everywhere and at all times,
Edward had won the heart of the nation even before he gained the throne.
The painful tragedy of his father’s death, his own youth, beauty,
princely bearing and accomplishments, excited the sympathy and
admiration of the people on his earliest appearance on the stage on
which he was to play so great a part. His successful fortunes in war,
and Warwick’s support, had commended young Edward to a people who had
nothing to lose in losing Henry VI., and who hoped at least to gain
peace and security under the protection of an arm which promised to be
as strong to hold as it had been to acquire. Their minds, sickened by
the gloom and horrors of war, were refreshed by the sight of their young
King throwing himself with all the ardour of his nature into the light
amusements and pleasures of peace; the citizens were charmed by his
affability, their wives and daughters by his gaiety and gallantry. A new
nobility, the mushroom growth of an hour, sprang up to sun itself in his
smiles, to help him in the pursuit of pleasure, to increase the
attractions of peace and of a Court. The commercial towns, and
especially London, were pleased with a monarch who enriched them by his
magnificent and sumptuous expenditure, and who gave a more liberal
encouragement to commerce than they had known before. But two classes
stood aloof and sullen: the old nobility, who felt that they were losing
both their place and power in the Court and in the State; and those of
the people who felt that, whether York or Lancaster were uppermost, they
equally lost their rights, and failed to better their condition. The
battlefields of Barnet and Tewkesbury rendered this dangerous element
harmless for the future, and Edward, now able to breathe more freely
than he had done heretofore, gave himself up without restraint to the
impulses of his passions. His life henceforth became one voluptuous
revel. The people were more ready to turn with him and his courtiers to
pleasure than to criticise and condemn their vices; and so, in peace as
in war, Edward’s sail was filled by the favouring breath of popularity.
His love for his children and care for their education, his
courteousness, his wisdom in weakening the power of the nobility, his
encouragement of commerce, and his statesmanship, enlightened for those
days, are all good points in Edward’s favour, and should be valued at
their proper worth; but the possession of the ordinary virtues, and the
performance of the ordinary duties of a prince and a parent, cannot
fully redeem and make up for his extraordinary vice, perfidiousness,
selfishness, and cruelty; and in the opinion of an age that is not
dazzled by his fortune and ability, Edward’s hard, worldly, fleshly
nature cannot be deemed worthy of admiration.

Richard III. and Henry VII. are but little concerned in the actual
conduct of the civil war; not at all in its origin, but chiefly in
furthering its effects, or reaping its fruits; but few words therefore
need be spent on them here, as it is their policy rather than their
personal characters that is of chief interest. The same terribly
precocious development of an unscrupulous will and of a heart steeled
against mercy, marks the character of Richard III. as that we have seen
in Edward IV. The school of civil war in which he had been trained
taught him to despise the barriers which could be removed by the
shedding of blood, and none ever showed greater aptness in improving on
the lessons he had learned. He equalled Louis XI. in dissimulation, in
cunning, in statesmanship; he equalled his brother Edward in
fearlessness and inflexible purpose; he surpassed him in learning and
mental culture. In the estimation of some minds the special pleading of
Horace Walpole and others may have succeeded in clearing Richard’s name
of the crimes imputed to him, but the majority in this age, as in
Richard’s own, who do not demand positive proofs of everything, but
judge by the laws of probability, cannot help feeling (rightly or not) a
moral certainty of his guilt.

The character of Henry VII. was admirably adapted to heal the sores and
bind the wounds caused by the long civil war. Sufficiently bold, if
necessity demanded it, he was yet disinclined to war; cold and cautious
in temperament, he was little tolerant of any disturbing element of
passion, and greatly averse to violent and extreme measures which might
derange the stability and order of his government. Eminently practical
in his views of men and of affairs--in this ushering in the modern order
of rulers and of statesmen--he preferred the reality to the show of
power, peace to war, order to misrule, wealth to poverty, domestic
security to foreign aggrandisement.

The unfortunate Richard, Duke of York, hesitating when he should have
been bold, and bold when he should have hesitated, with a heart that
could not keep pace with his ambition, without the wisdom to justify his
pretensions by the Right which is derived from Might, not sufficiently
scrupulous to resist temptation, and too scrupulous to win the prize
that tempted, ensuring his son’s success by his own failure; the
amiable, generous, unsuspecting Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester; the wily,
avaricious, scheming Suffolk; the bold, grasping, passionate Cardinal
Beaufort; the accomplished courtier, boon companion, and skilful
general, Montacute (brother to Warwick); George, Duke of Clarence,
unstable as water, changeable as the wind, uniting a weak head to a bad
heart; Earl Rivers, accomplished, brave, learned, and a patron of
learning, the type of the modern nobleman; the high-spirited,
unfortunate son of Margaret; Lord Hastings, the gay gallant, the daring
knight, the sage in the council, the scholar in the study; all these
and many more helped to swell the list of the horrid deeds, or served to
supply the victims of those bloodstained times.




The Legend of King Arthur in Somerset.

By MRS. C. G. BOGER.

(_Continued from Vol. V. p. 228._)

_PART II.--AT CAMELOT._

                                      “Arthur’s antient seat
    Which made the Britons’ name through all the world so great,
    Like Camelot what place was ever yet renown’d,
    Where, as at Caerleon oft, he kept the Table round?
    Most famous for the sports at Pentecost so long,
    From whence all knightly deeds and brave achievements sprung.”
            DRAYTON’S _Polyolbion_, Song III.


ARTHUR had arrived at man’s estate, and his people would fain that he
should take a wife, so that, if, like his uncle, Aurelius Ambrosius, he
were taken from them, he might, unlike him, leave an heir of his own
blood. Among the petty kings of the West was Leodogran, King of
Cameliard, a county represented at this day by Camelot or Cadbury-fort,
and a cluster of other places in the east of Somerset, whose names are
derived from the same root: North and South Cadbury, Queen’s Camel, West
Camel, and Castle Cary. Leodogran’s kingdom had been beset by the
invaders, and overrun with wild beasts: Arthur had come to his help and
rescued his dominions. So it came to pass that when his people spake to
him of marriage, Guinivere, the fair daughter of Leodogran, came to his
mind, and he asked her of her father. The King of Cameliard was well
pleased, and with his daughter’s hand he promised him his greatest
treasure, the Table round, and made him his heir.

But Guinivere, in her pride of youth and beauty, had little noted her
father’s deliverer, and scarce glanced at the young knight, who paid her
none of the homage she thought her due, and who was ever engrossed in
earnest consultations with her father on the state of the kingdom, on
knights and wars, on castles and sieges; and so it came to pass that
when Launcelot, Arthur’s best and most trusted knight, was sent by him
to fetch her home, she, never doubting but that the King would have come
himself, thought Launcelot was Arthur, and when she saw him her heart
leapt to his. But when she came to see her pure and stainless lord, he
seemed cold and passionless beside Launcelot; and he, who had no
thought of guile and loved when he trusted, and trusted when he loved,
gave them unconsciously opportunities of meeting, and Guinivere’s heart
passed more and more from Arthur, and attached itself more and more
passionately to Launcelot. For Arthur was taken up with affairs of
state, and with his beautiful dream of the Knights of the Round Table.
In this order none was higher than other; and here, in his Palace of
Camelot, built by Merlin’s magic power in a single night, he would
assemble a hundred and fifty knights of noble birth, pure and stainless
like himself, and the Knights bound themselves by solemn oaths to keep
the rules of the order. They were as follows:--

1. That every knight should be well armed and furnished to undertake any
enterprise wherein he was employed by sea or by land, on horseback, or
on foot.

2. That he should be ever prest (ready) to assail all tyrants or
oppressors of the people.

3. That he should protect widows and maids, restore children to their
just rights, repossess such persons as without just cause were exiled,
and with all his force maintain the Christian faith.

4. That he should be a champion for the public weal, and as a lion
repulse the enemies of his country.

5. That he should advance the reputation of honour and suppress all
vice, relieve the afflicted by adverse fortune, give aid to Holy Church,
and protect pilgrims.

6. That he should bury soldiers that wanted sepulture, deliver
prisoners, ransom captives, and cure men hurt in the services of their
country.

7. That he should in all honourable actions adventure his person, yet
with respect to justice and truth, and in all enterprises proceed
sincerely, never failing to use the utmost force of body and labour of
mind.

8. That after the attaining of an enterprise he should cause it to be
recorded, to the end the fame of the fact might ever live to the eternal
honour and renown of the noble order.

9. That if any complaint were made at the court of this mighty king, of
perjury and oppression, then some knight of the order whom the King
should appoint ought to revenge the same.

10. That if any knight of foreign nation did come into the Court, with
desire to challenge or make any show of prowess (were he single or
accompanied) those knights ought to be ready in arms to make answer.

11. That if any lady, gentleman, or widow, or maid, or other oppressed
person did present a petition declaring that they were or had been in
this or other nations injured or offered dishonour, that they should be
graciously heard, and without delay one or more knights should be sent
to take revenge.

12. That every knight should be willing to inform young princes, lords,
and gentlemen, in the orders and exercises of arms, thereby not only to
avoid idleness, but also to increase the honour of knighthood and
chivalry. Such were the rules which, combined with the disturbed state
of the country, caused that--

    “Every morning brought a noble chance,
     And every chance brought out a noble knight.”

It may, as I have before stated, have been probably the taking of
Winchester by the Saxon Cerdic in 515 which caused Arthur to concentrate
his forces in the Western Peninsula. Cameliard was now his, in right of
his wife. He determined therefore to fortify his kingdom, and at the
three extreme points to place strong castles, which he strengthened by
every available means. These points were Caerleon on Usk, which guarded
the Sabrina or estuary of the Severn, and St. Michael’s Mount at the
extreme south-west; but the post of danger and therefore of honour was
held by Camelot. He pitched with an experienced eye upon this great
Belgic fortress, situated in one of the most fertile and picturesque
parts of South Somerset, as the place where the great stand must be
made. The shape of the mound is irregular, neither quite round nor
square; part of it was hewed from the solid rock, its circumference is
about a mile. Four deep ditches in concentric rings with as many
ramparts of earth and stones form the primary defences: these are
further strengthened by a series of zig-zag terraces on inclined planes,
so constructed that the besieged, though he retreated from his
assailants, could still make a desperate resistance. On the top of this
fortified mount is a moated mount or Prætorium, enclosing a space of at
least twenty acres; and here Merlin raised the enchanted Palace of
Camelot. The spot must have been well-nigh impregnable in days when
artillery was unknown.

Here, then, was Arthur’s great rallying point; hither the persecuted
fled for protection, the wronged for redress, the patriotic to assist in
the defence of their county. Every possibility of defence and adornment
was lavished here; and here were held, specially at Whitsuntide,
chapters of the order of the Knights of the Round Table. Here, in
intervals of peace, were held the mimic games of warfare, and from
here, after a time of repose, they issued forth again and again against
the heathen hordes. Within the Greater Triangle was a smaller and more
sacred one; its three points