You may imagine that we felt unusually interested at this place, from the fact that here the Marquis of Worcester invented the steam engine.
The castle was devastated by the parliamentary troops under Fairfax, having surrendered in 1646. The defence was gallant, but unavailing.
The warder of the castle is a very gentlemanly man. He took us into his apartments in one of the towers, and we found that he was a very respectable amateur in painting. Some of his oil paintings were very creditable. An infant girl, of great beauty, his daughter, answered to the name of Blanche Castle May, and was the first-born child under that roof since its desolation.
Here, as well as at Tintern Abbey, I obtained ivy roots for Mr. Hall, and hope to see them flourishing on the walls of his beautiful stone house in Rhode Island.
We retired slowly from this romantic ruin, and at the hotel found an excellent dinner. One dish was fit for a king—sewen, young salmon, or a species of salmon, for there is much dispute among naturalists as to the identity of these fish. Any how, they are fine beyond any fish. They were about two and a quarter pounds each, and are so delicate that they do not well bear transportation.
We returned to Chepstow that evening, having a fine ride through a new piece of scenery, and were quite ready for a sound night's rest. In the morning we looked at the castle in Chepstow, which is remarkably fine, and is of extreme antiquity; some of the arches of the castle chapel indicating clearly a Saxon origin. One of the priestly legends is that this chapel was built by Longinus, a Jew, and father of the soldier who pierced the side of Christ. This was the belief of the ancient population of this charming region.
All around this town Roman coins are frequently turned up; and I obtained from a gentleman a very well-preserved Cæsar silver coin, dug up a day or two before.
This castle was for more than twenty years the prison home of Henry Marten, one of the regicides. He is buried in the parish church, and in the north transept is the following acrostical epitaph which he composed for his monument:—