[62] According to Hasted, the name is derived from Pen, an old British word signifying the top of anything; and hyrst, a wood.
[63] It has been the fortune of the “Arcadia” to be too highly valued in one age, and far too much underrated in another. Immediately after its publication it was received with unbounded applause:—“From it was taken the language of compliment and love, it gave a tinge of similitude to the colloquial and courtly dialect of the time, and from thence its influence was communicated to the lucubrations of the Poet, the Historian, and the Divine.” The Book is a mixture of what has been termed the heroic and the pastoral Romance, interspersed with interludes and episodes, and details the various and marvellous adventures of two friends, Musidorus and Pyrocles. It was not intended to be published to the world; but was written merely to pleasure the Countess of Pembroke—“a principal ornament to the family of the Sidneis.”
[64] The touching incident to which, perhaps, more than to any other circumstance, Sir Philip is indebted for his heroic fame, is thus related by his friend and biographer, Fulke Greville, Lord Broke:—“In his sad progress, passing along by the rest of the army, where his uncle, the General, was, and being thirsty with excess of bleeding, he called for drink, which was presently brought him; but, as he was putting the bottle to his mouth, he saw a poor soldier carried along, who had been wounded at the same time, ghastly casting up his eyes at the bottle. Which Sir Philip perceiving, took it from his head before he drank, and delivered it to the poor man, with these words, ‘Thy necessity is yet greater than mine.’” He lived in great pain for many days after he was wounded, and died on the 17th of October, 1586. The close of his life affords a beautiful lesson. “Calmly and steadily he awaited the approach of death. His prayers were long and fervent—his bearing was indeed that of a Christian hero. He had a noble funeral. Kings clad themselves in garments of grief—a whole people grieved for the loss of the most accomplished scholar, the most graceful courtier, the best soldier, and the worthiest man of the country and the age. He was buried in state, in the old Cathedral of St. Paul’s, on the 16th of February. Both Universities composed verses to his memory; and so general was the mourning for him, that, “for many months after his death, it was accounted indecent for any gentleman of quality to appear at Court, or in the City, in any light or gaudy apparel.”
[65] The Norrises had long been a family of note in Lancashire, and held lands in Blackrod, Sutton, &c. The family of Bradshaw, of Bradshaw, was of Saxon origin, and seated there before the conquest; after that event, Sir John Bradshaw was repossessed of his estates by the Conqueror, which went to his posterity for twenty-two descents, whereof eleven were lineally knighted, as appears by ancient charter, and other authentic evidences. A full account of the marriages may be seen in Wotton’s Baronetage (Edition 1769, vol. vi., fol. 14), down to Sir William Bradshaw, second son of Sir John Bradshaw, the tenth generation from Sir John Bradshaw; which Sir William married Mabel daughter of Hugh Norreys, or Norris, by which he got for her dowry, as sole heir of her father, the manors of Sutton, Raynhill, Whiston, Haghe, Blackerode, and West Leigh. Haghe and Blackrode were held as a twelfth part of a knight’s fee. There is a well-attested story of Mab and Mab’s Cross. She was obliged to walk bare-foot and bare-legged once a week from Haigh to near Wigan, to expiate the sin of marrying again in her husband’s absence, when she thought he had been slain. This Mab was Mabil Norreys, of Blackrode. A portion of the Cross is still to be seen at the extremity of the town of Wigan, on the left hand side of the road, leading from Wigan to Haigh Hall, now the residence of Earl Balcarras.
The Norrises of Speke and Rycot were all martial men. They held their estate of Speke by military tenure, which they imposed upon their tenantry. The Norrises acquired great honours in foreign service, in which they were so much engaged as to be unfrequent attendants at court. A part of the debateable lands at Bromfield, in Wales, was granted to this family. Sir John Norris was a most accomplished General about 1577, equally valiant and skilful in a charge as a retreat. On one memorable occasion, he effected a retreat with a handful of Englishmen, which gained him more honour than a victory could have conferred. He was sent to Ireland, as a commander, in the reign of Elizabeth; but not being properly supported by the Government, or owing perhaps to the animosity of party spirit, he did not succeed in his mission, and died anno 1597.
[66] The question whether the wainscoting at Speke did or not originally come from Scotland, appears to have given rise to some discussion; and is unquestionably a matter of deep interest to antiquarians. Not long ago, Robert Whatton, Esq., F.S.A., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, took some pains to investigate its history, in order to assist the Scottish Society of Antiquaries, who had organised a committee with a view to ascertain whether there was or was not any proof to sustain the tradition.
It appears Mr. Whatton could meet with no intelligence prior to 1767. “Seacome,” in his History of the House of Stanley, page 46, refers to it; also “Enfield,” in his History of Liverpool, 4to, 1774, page 115. These accounts have been copied by Gough, in his edition of Camden, and every subsequent writer.
The very splendid and highly-finished specimen of the carved oak wainscot, common to the counties of Lancaster and Chester, is erected against the north wall of the room, and is divided perpendicularly from the ceiling, two-thirds of its extent downwards, into eight compartments, these compartments being again subdivided horizontally into five rows of panels; a space corresponding with the width of two of the compartments, on the right hand, with the exception of the uppermost panels, is occupied by the door-case, which projects into the room. That part of the wainscot which is usually allotted to the frieze or cornice, is here formed into a projecting head, extending through the whole length of the works in a line with the ceiling of the room, to which it is attached and secured by nine supporters, correspondent with the columns below.
The columns which divide the wainscot into compartments rise from square ornamental pedestals; the shafts are fluted in two divisions, having capitals with volutes and rows of foliage, and supporting scrolls with massive square heads, increasing in diameter upwards, and reaching to the bottom of the first row of panels.
The columns of the door-case are similar to those on the wainscot, except that the shafts are ornamented in zigzag instead of fluting; in the centre, over this door, is a shield with the arms of Norris, quartering Harrington, and Molyneux, and others we cannot decipher.