for every trace of the “storied pane” has disappeared, the want of this species of decoration is in some measure compensated for by the remarkable series of armorial shields with which the upper end of the hall is adorned. At this end the roof is coved and divided into square panels, each panel containing the arms of one of the Norman Earls of Chester, the barons of their court, or of some Cheshire family with whom the Leghs could claim kindred. There are eight rows of panels in all. The upper ones contain the heraldic insignia of the seven Norman Earls of Chester in their successive order; immediately beneath are the arms of the eight Norman baronies—Halton, Montalt, Nantwich, Malpas, Shipbrooke, Dunham, Kinderton, and Stockport; and below these again, and separated by an elaborately carved oak cornice, the coats of the chief Cheshire families, including those with which the Leghs are allied—fifty-four in all. In the centre is placed an achievement of arms—quarterly (1) Corona impaling Venables (for Legh, of Adlington), (2) Honford, (3) Arderne, and (4) Belgrave; over all an escutcheon of pretence bearing the coat of Legh of Wincham, with a crescent for difference. Beneath is the motto Da gloriam Deo, and, to give effect to his work, the artist, with scant regard for the laws of heraldry, has added a couple of unicorns as supporters; honourable accessories which it was not in the power of Garter King or even the Earl Marshal himself to bestow. On the knots of the framework of the panels is an inscription in single letters carved in relief—
Thomas Legh & Catarina Savage uxor eius
Ao Doi Mo CCCCC Vto R.R.H. vij., xx.
The walls on the west and north sides are adorned with paintings of scenes from the “Æneid”—the one on the west end, which occupies the entire width, representing Hector taking leave of Andromache, and those on the north Venus presenting Æneas with armour, and Andromache offering presents to Ascanius. The wall spaces on each side of the organ at the west end are similarly decorated, one representing St. Cecilia and the other a figure playing upon the harp.
Nash, in his “Ancient Mansions,” has given a characteristic view of this glorious old banquetting room, and it requires little stretch of the imagination to picture it as it must have appeared in its pristine state in the days of bluff King Hal and the maiden Queen—of Thomas Legh who built it, and his son, the valorous Sir Urian, when banners gay with many a proud device floated overhead; when the huge fire blazed cheerfully upon the halpas, and the long windows shed a profusion of light and dyed the pavement with the reflected hues of the heraldic cognisances with which they were dight; when the walls were draped with richest arras, and the screen, wrought with all the nicety of art, was hung with arms and armour—halberds, bills, and partisans, and the spreading antlers of deer captured in many a memorable chase; to re-people it with the departed forms of sturdy warriors and sober matrons, of gallant youths and lovely maidens; to see again the figures and faces of those who have long ago returned to dust, and listen in imagination to the lusty laugh and the jocund song of the nameless men who, at the trumpet call of “boot and saddle,” were ready to mount and ride away wherever their lord might lead,
Alike for feast or fight prepared,
Battle and banquet both they shared,
Giving the rein to fancy, we may see the stately owner with his dependents seated at the well-spread table, and hear the thrice-told tale, while
flagons pass along the board,
Filled to the brim with foaming ale;
And goblets flash with ruby wine,