The Inner Court, from the Keep.

It has been copied a hundred times, and its form and character are known to every reader. It stands on a pedestal formed for its reception, on which is this inscription:—

HOC PRISTINÆ ARTIS
ROMANÆ Q. MAGNIFICENTIÆ MONUMENTUM
RUDERIBUS VILLÆ TIBURTINÆ
HADRIANO AUG. IN DELICIIS HABITÆ EFFOSSUM
RESTITUTI CURAVIT
EQUES GULIELMUS HAMILTON
A GEORGIO III., MAG. BRIT. REX
AD SICIL REGEM FERDINANDUM IV. LEGATUS
ET IN PATRIAM TRANSMISSUM
PATRIO BONARUM ARTIUM GENIO DICAVIT
AN. AC. N. CIC. DCCLXXIV.

From the conservatory, after crossing the lawn, the banks of the river are gained, and after passing the Pavilion, the visitor reaches a spot from which the immense height of the castle on its rocky base is best seen. Returning to the Hill Tower, the magnificent cedars of Lebanon and chestnuts will strike the eye; but the visitor will pass on to the top of the mount on which, in Saxon times, the stronghold of Ethelfleda was erected, and he will then find much for his mind to dwell upon.

Guy’s and the Clock Tower, from the Keep.

In the Porter’s Lodge are preserved a number of relics, said to have belonged to the “Renowned Guy”—but, as they represent so many periods, they must have appertained to “Many Guys.” The articles shown are “Guy’s Porridge-pot;” “Guy’s Sword,” for taking care of which William Hoggeson, Yeoman of the Buttery, had a salary of 2d. a day, temp. H. VIII.; parts of his armour, of which the “bascinet is of the time of Edward III.; and a breastplate partly of the fifteenth century, and partly of the time of James I.; the sword of the reign of Henry VIII.; the staff, an ancient tilting lance;” the horse armour of the fifteenth century; the “flesh fork;” and other articles, among which are his fair “Felicia’s slippers,” which are a pair of footed stirrup-irons of the fifteenth century. The “rib of the dun cow,” and a joint of the spine of the same, as well as the tusk and blade bone of a wild boar, are also shown, and are still looked upon with wonder, as belonging to veritable animals slain by Guy. There are also other “curiosities” shown in this lodge, and visitors eagerly inspect them, often as greater attractions than matters more worthy. Into the wild old legend connected with Guy, Earl of Warwick, it is not necessary here to enter at length. It was a popular legend in the Middle Ages, and his encounter with the Danish champion, Colbrand, as well as his victory over the dun cow, was a favourite subject of the wandering minstrel. Dugdale has given the narrative of his battle with Colbrand, which he seems inclined to believe to be true in the main features, although “the monks may have sounded out his praises hyperbolically.” According to him, “in year three of King Athelstan, A.D. 826, the Danes having invaded England, cruelly wasted the countrys where they marcht, so that there was scarce a town or castle that they had not burnt or destroyed almost as far as Winchester,” where the king resided, and to whom they sent a message, requiring him to resign his crown to their generals, holding his power at their hands, and paying them yearly tribute for the privilege of ruling; or that the whole dispute for the kingdom be determined in a single combat, by two champions for both sides. The king having chosen the latter alternative, enjoins a fast for three days, and, in great anguish of heart that Guy the famous warrior is absent on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, prays Heaven for assistance. An angel appears to the king as he is on his bed, and directs him to arise early on the morrow, and take two bishops with him to the north gate of the city, and stay there “till the hour of prime,” until the poor people and pilgrims arrive, among whom he must choose a champion, and the choice must fall upon him who goes barefooted, with a wreath of white roses on his head. The king goes and meets the pilgrim, accosts him, and asks his championship, which he hesitates to give, excusing himself on the ground of his weakness with much travel, and exhorts him to seek fitter help. To this the king bitterly answers, “I had but one valiant knight, which was Earl of Warwick, called Guy, and he had a courageous servant, named Sir Heraud de Ardene; would to God I had him here, for then should this duel be soon undertaken, and the war finished; and as he spake these words, the tears fell from his eyes.”