The castles and abbeys of England; Vol. 2 of 2 / from the national records, early chronicles, and other standard authors

FROM THE NATIONAL RECORDS, EARLY CHRONICLES, AND OTHER STANDARD AUTHORS. BY WILLIAM BEATTIE, M.D., GRAD. OF EDIN.; MEMB. OF THE ROYAL COLL. OF PHYS., LONDON; OF THE HIST. INSTIT. OF FRANCE; AUTHOR OF “SWITZERLAND,” “SCOTLAND,” “THE WALDENSES,” “RESIDENCE IN GERMANY,” ETC. ETC. ———————————— ILLUSTRATED BY UPWARDS OF TWO HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS. ——————————— SECOND SERIES.

Around us spread the hills and dales, Where Geoffrey spun his magic tales, And called them history: the land Whence Arthur sprung, and all his band Of gallant knights.—Bloomfield.
In another district, sculptures, pavements, altars, statues, coins, and inscriptions, bear testimony to Roman sway:—such is the Silurian settlement of Caerleon, with its classic vicinity.
On another hand, where the ivy has clasped its hallowed walls, as if to prop their decay, the traveller halts at some monastic rain; and, amid the crumbling fragments of its lofty arches, its richly-carved windows, shafts, and capitals, dwells with a deep and melancholy interest on the page of its eventful history. In such places the voice of Tradition is never mute: the vacant niche, the dismantled tower, the desecrated altar, the deserted choir—all discourse eloquent and impressive music; and in places where the sacred harp was once strung, its chords seem still touched by invisible hands:—such are the Abbeys of Tinterne and Llanthony.
It is among these remains and monuments of the past—the early homes of saints and heroes of the olden day—that we propose to conduct the reader. In the tour projected, we avail ourselves of such materials as personal investigation, with that of distinguished predecessors, poets, and historians, has furnished from times of remote antiquity, down to the present day.
Be thine object health or pleasure, Historic sites or classic treasure; The Roman camp, the Norman grave, Or war-tower crumbling o’er the wave; Or fertile vale, or vocal woods, Or hills, and flocks, and crystal floods;