SOMERSBY CHURCH AND CROSS.
CONTENTS
| [CHAPTER I] | |
|---|---|
| PAGE | |
| The planning of our tour—Ready for the road—The start—Oneof Dick Turpin’s haunts—Barnet—A curious innsign—In the coaching days—Travellers, new and old—Aforgotten Spa—An ancient map | [1] |
| [CHAPTER II] | |
| Memorial of a great battle—An ancient fire-cresset—Freefeasting!—Country quiet—Travellers’ Tales—Hatfield—AnElizabethan architect—An author’s tomb—Day-dreaming—Mysteriousroadside monuments—Great North Roadversus Great Northern Railway—Stevenage—Chats bythe way—Field life—Nature as a painter—Changedtimes | [21] |
| [CHAPTER III] | |
| A gipsy encampment—A puzzling matter—Farming andfarmers, past and present—An ancient market-town—Apicturesque bit of old-world architecture—Gleaners—Time’schanges—A house in two counties—A waysideinn—The commercial value of the picturesque | [41] |
| [CHAPTER IV] | |
| Biggleswade—“Instituted” or “intruded”!—A poetical will—Theriver Ivel—A day to be remembered—The artof seeing—Misquotations—The striving after beauty—Storiesin stone—An ancient muniment chest—An angler’shaunt—The town bridge—The pronunciation of names—St.Neots | [58] |
| [CHAPTER V] | |
| The charm of small towns—The Ouse—A pleasant land—BuckdenPalace—A joke in stone—The birthplace ofSamuel Pepys—Buried treasure—Huntingdon—An old-timeinterior—A famous coaching inn—St. Ives—Achurch steeple blown down!—A quaint and ancient bridge—Ariverside ramble—Cowper’s country—Two narrowescapes | [73] |
| [CHAPTER VI] | |
| Cromwell’s birthplace—Records of the past—Early photographs—Abreezy day—Home-brewed ale—Americans onEnglish scenery—Alconbury Hill—The plains of Cambridgeshire—Thesilence of Nature—Stilton—A decayedcoaching town—A medieval hostelry—A big sign-board—Old-worldtraditions—Miles from anywhere | [97] |
| [CHAPTER VII] | |
| Norman Cross—A Norman-French inscription—A re-headedstatue—The friendliness of the road—The art of beingdelightful—The turnpike roads in their glory—Bits forthe curious—A story of the stocks—“Wansford in England”—Romanceand reality—The glamour of art—“Thefinest street between London and Edinburgh”—Ancient“Callises”—A historic inn—Windows that have tales totell | [118] |
| [CHAPTER VIII] | |
| A picturesque ruin—Round about Stamford—Browne’s “Callis”—Achat with an antiquary—A quaint interior—“Bull-running”—Arelic of a destroyed college—An old Carmelitegateway—A freak of Nature—Where Charles I.last slept as a free man—A storied ceiling—A gleaner’sbell—St. Leonard’s Priory—Tennyson’s county—In timeof vexation—A flood—Hiding-holes—Lost!—Memorialsof the past | [139] |
| [CHAPTER IX] | |
| A land of dykes—Fenland rivers—Crowland Abbey—A uniquetriangular bridge—Antiquaries differ—A mysterious statue—Amedieval rhyme—A wayside inscription—Thescenery of the Fens—Light-hearted travellers—Cowbit—Adesolate spot—An adventure on the road—A Dutch-liketown | [161] |
| [CHAPTER X] | |
| Spalding—“Ye Olde White Horse Inne”—An ancient halland quaint garden—Epitaph-hunting—A signboard joke—Acrossthe Fens—A strange world—Storm and sunshine—Anawkward predicament—Bourn—Birthplace ofHereward the Wake—A medieval railway station!—Tombstoneverses | [186] |
| [CHAPTER XI] | |
| A pleasant road—Memories—Shortening of names—Health-drinking—AMiller and his mill—A rail-less town—Changedtimes and changed ways—An Elizabethan churchclock—A curious coincidence—Old superstitions—Satirein carving—“The Monks of Old” | [204] |
| [CHAPTER XII] | |
| A civil tramp—Country hospitality—Sleaford—A Lincolnshiresaying—A sixteenth-century vicarage—Struck by lightning—“TheQueen of Villages”—A sculptured anachronism—Swineshead—Astrange legend—Local proverbs—Chatwith a “commercial”—A mission of destruction—Thecurfew—Lost our way—Out of the beaten track—A grotesquefigure and mysterious legend—Puzzling inscriptions—Theend of a long day | [226] |
| [CHAPTER XIII] | |
| The Fenland capital—Mother and daughter towns—“Bostonstump”—One church built over another—The companyat our inn—A desultory ramble—An ancient prison—ThePilgrim Fathers—The banks of the Witham—HusseyTower—An English Arcadia—Kyme Castle—Benington—Acountry of many churches—Wrangle—In search of aghost—A remote village—Gargoyles—The grotesque inart | [248] |
| [CHAPTER XIV] | |
| Wind-blown trees—Marshlands—September weather—Wainfleet—Anancient school—The scent of the sea—Therehabilitation of the old-fashioned ghost—A Lincolnshiremystery—A vain search—Too much alike—Delightfullyindefinite—Halton Holgate—In quest of a haunted house | [268] |
| [CHAPTER XV] | |
| In a haunted house—A strange story—A ghost described!—Anoffer declined—Market-day in a market-town—A picturesquecrowd—Tombs of ancient warriors—An oldtradition—Popular errors—A chat by the way—Themodern Puritan—A forgotten battle-ground—At the signof the “Bull” | [288] |
| [CHAPTER XVI] | |
| Six hilly miles—A vision for a pilgrim—The scenery of theWolds—Poets’ dreams versus realities—Tennyson’s brook—Somersby—Anout-of-the-world spot—Tennyson-land—Ahistoric home—A unique relic of the past—An ancientmoated grange—Traditions | [309] |
| [CHAPTER XVII] | |
| A decayed fane—Birds in church—An old manorial hall—Curiouscreations of the carver’s brain—The grotesque inexcelsis—The old formal garden—Sketching from memory—Thebeauty of the Wolds—Lovely Lincolnshire!—Adviceheeded!—A great character—A headless horseman—Extremesmeet—“All’s well that ends well” | [329] |
| [CHAPTER XVIII] | |
| A friend in a strange land—Horse sold in a church—A sportof the past—Racing the moon!—Facts for the curious—TheChampions of England—Scrivelsby Court—Brushmagic—Coronation cups—A unique privilege—A blunderinginscription—A headless body—Nine miles of beauty—Wragby—AtLincoln—Guides and guide-books—Anawkward predicament | [352] |
| [CHAPTER XIX] | |
| “A precious piece of architecture”—Guest at an inn—Apleasant city—Unexpected kindness—A medieval lavatory—Anhonest lawyer!—The cost of obliging a stranger—Branston—Alost cyclist—In search of a husband!—DunstonPillar—An architectural puzzle—A Lincolnshirespa—Exploring—An ancient chrismatory | [372] |
| [CHAPTER XX] | |
| A long discourse—The origin of a coat-of-arms—An Englishserf—A witch-stone—Lincolnshire folk-lore—A collar forlunatics—St. Mary’s thistle—A notable robbery—Anarchitectural gem—Coningsby—Tattershall church andcastle—Lowland and upland—“Beckingham-behind-the-Times”—OldLincolnshire folk | [395] |
| [CHAPTER XXI] | |
| A cross-country road—A famous hill—Another medieval inn—“TheDrunken Sermon”—Bottesford—Staunton Hall—Oldfamily deeds—A chained library—Woolsthorpemanor-house—A great inventor!—Melton Mowbray—Oakham—Aquaint old manorial custom—RockinghamCastle—Kirby | [415] |
| [CHAPTER XXII] | |
| A well-preserved relic—An old English home—Authoritiesdiffer—Rooms on the top of a Church tower—A medieval-lookingtown—A Saxon tower—Bedford—Bunyan’s birthplace—Luton—Theend of the journey | [436] |
| [Appendix] | [443] |
| [Index] | [445] |