“Behold! what blessings wealth to life can lend,
And see what comforts it affords our end!
In the worst inn’s worst room, with mat half-hung,
The floors of plaster, and the walls of dung,
On once a flock bed, but repaired with straw,
With tape-tied curtains, never meant to draw,
The George and Garter dangling from that bed,
Where tawdry yellow strove with dirty red,
Great Villiers lies—alas! how changed from him,
That life of pleasure, and that soul of whim,
Gallant and gay in Cliefden’s proud alcove,
Tho bower of wanton Shrewsbury and love;
Or just as gay at council in a ring
Of mimick’d statesmen and their merry king.
No wit to flatter, left off all his store;
No fool to laugh at, which he valued more;
There victor of his health, of fortune, friends,
And fame, this lord of useless thousands ends.”
Soon after the Duke’s death all his property, being deeply mortgaged, was sold, but did not realise enough to pay his debts; and dying without issue, “his titles, which had been undeservedly conferred on his father, and only disgraced by himself, became extinct.”
Cliefden was purchased by Lord George Hamilton (fifth son of the Duke of Hamilton), who was created Baron Dechemont of Linlithgow, Viscount Kirkwall of Orkney, and Earl of Orkney, in 1696. His lordship completed the mansion, and did much towards beautifying the grounds. Dying without male issue in 1737, his eldest daughter, Anne, became Countess of Orkney, and succeeded to the Cliefden estate. She, however, did not reside here, but let it to H.R.H. Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of King George III., who for many years made it his summer residence. Here, at Cliefden, on the 1st of August, 1740, was first performed Thomson and Mallet’s masque of Alfred, in which occurs the ever-famous and patriotic “ode in honour of Great Britain,” “Rule Britannia”—
“When Britain first, at Heav’n’s command,
Arose from out the azure main”—
the music of which was composed by Dr. Arne. It was, therefore, within the walls of Cliefden that “Rule Britannia” was first heard, and this gives it a literary interest of no small note. The masque in which it formed so prominent a feature was prepared and given at Cliefden, to commemorate the accession to the throne, in 1714, of King George I. (grandfather of Frederick, Prince of Wales), and in honour of the third birthday of his daughter, the young Princess Augusta. It was repeated the following night, and soon became the most popular of all compositions.
In 1795 the mansion (it is traditionally said through the carelessness of a maid-servant reading a novel in bed) was totally destroyed by fire, the wings, at some distance from the main building, being alone saved; while nearly all the sumptuous furniture, pictures, and tapestry were devoured by the flames. The estate was afterwards purchased by Sir George Warrender, by whom the mansion, which had been left in ruins since the fire, was rebuilt in 1830. After his death the estate was sold by Sir George’s executors to his Grace the Duke of Sutherland, and on the 15th of November, 1849 (the day of thanksgiving for the cessation of the cholera), only a few months after its purchase, it was again burned down.
In the following year, 1850, the Duke of Sutherland set about rebuilding the mansion on a scale of princely magnificence, and having engaged the services of Barry as architect, the present pile soon rose from the ruins of the former buildings. The “centre portion, which is a revival of the design for old Somerset House, now extends to the wings, which, together with the terrace, are made to harmonize with the new building.” The house and grounds, like Trentham, owe much of their beauty and loveliness to the good taste of the Duke and Duchess, the latter of whom, when a dowager, made it one of her favourite residences. The interior of this “Stately Home” needs no particular description. The rooms are, of course, one and all sumptuously furnished with all the appliances of wealth and taste, and are lavish in their attractions. It is truly a “home of beauty and of taste.”
Cliefden passed from the Duke of Sutherland to his daughter, the Lady Constance Leveson-Gower, married to the present Duke of Westminster, whose property this splendid domain is.
