BELVOIR CASTLE.
In Nichol's History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, vol. ii., part i., containing the Framland Hundred, p. 45 of the folio ed. 1795, occurs the following quotation, in reference to the rebuilding of Belvoir castle by Henry, second Earl of Rutland, in 1555:—
"That part of the more ancient building, which was left by both unaltered, is included in the following concise description by an ingenious writer, who visited it in 1722:—
'Ædes in culmine montis sitæ, scilicet,
αιπεια κολωνεν
'Εν πεδιω απανευθε περιδρομος ενθα και ενθα'
aditu difficilis circa montem; cujus latera omnia horti 50 acrarum circumeunt, nisi versus Aquilonem, quò ascenditur ad ostium ædium ubi etiam antiqua jauna arcuato lapide. Versus Occidentem 8 fenestræ et 3 in sacello; et ulterior pars vetusta. Versus Aquilonem 10 fenestræ. Facies Australis et Turris de Staunton, in qui archiva familiæ reponuntur, extructa ante annos circa 400. Pars restat kernellata," &c. &c. &c.
The description goes on for a few more lines; but it matters not to continue them. I should be much obliged by any of your readers giving an account of who this "ingenious writer" was, and on what authority he founded the foregoing observations, as it is a subject of much interest to me and others at the present time.
ALYTHES.
Jan. 28. 1850.