Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

inscription are the ancient badges of honour belonging to the Stafford family, who descended by ten different marriages from the royal blood of England and France.-Invented and stained by Chambers.

Next to this is a small table monument, on which lie the figures of WILLIAM of WINDSOR, sixth son of Edward III., who died in his infancy; and of BLANCH of the TOWER, sister to William, who likewise died young, having obtained their surnames from the places of their nativity.

Against the wall is a monument of NICHOLAS MONCK, Provost of Eton, Bishop of Hereford, and brother of George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, &c. He died December 11, 1661, aged fifty. Woodman, sculptor.

On an altar tomb lies the effigy of Lady FRANCES, Duchess of Suffolk. She was the daughter of the famous Charles Brandon, by Mary, the French Queen, daughter to Henry VII., and became herself Duchess of Suffolk, by marrying Henry Grey, then Marquis of Dorset, but upon her father's decease, created Duke of Suffolk, and afterwards beheaded for being concerned in dethroning Queen Mary. She died in 1558-9.

Against the wall above is a monument to the memory of MARY, Countess of Stafford, and of HENRY, Earl of Stafford, her son, who died abroad in 1719, and was buried in this Chapel.

The next, representing a youth in Grecian armour sitting on a Greek altar, to the memory of FRANCIS HOLLES, by John, Earl of Clare, his afflicted father. This brave youth, after returning home from a campaign in Flanders, died August 12, 1622, aged eighteen. His epitaph is thus written :

"What so thou hast of nature or of arts,

Youth, beauty, strength, or what excelling parts,
Of mind and body, letters, arms, and worth,
His eighteen years beyond his years brought forth;
Then stand and read thyself within this glass,
How soon these perish, and thyself may pass :
Man's life is measured by the work, not days;
Not aged sloth, but active youth, hath praise."
-N. Stone, sculptor.

Next are two tablets, one to the memory of the Right Honourable the Lady KATHARINE KNOLLYS, chief Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth, and wife to Sir Francis Knollys, Knt., Treasurer of her Highness's household. She died January the 15th, 1568. This Lady Knollys and Lord Hunsdon, her brother, were the only children of William Carey, Esq., by Lady Mary, his wife, one of the daughters and heirs of Thomas Bulleyne, Earl of Wiltshire and Ormond, and sister to Anne Bulleyne, Queen of England, wife to Henry VIII., father and mother to Queen Elizabeth. What is farther remarkable, Lady Knollys' only daughter was mother of the favourite Earl of Essex.

The other to Lady JANE SEYMOUR, daughter of Edward, Duke of Somerset, who died March 19, 1560, aged nineteen. On an altar sits, in a sleeping posture, the figure of Lady

ELIZABETH RUSSEL, daughter of Lord John Russel, in alabaster. She pricked her finger with a needle, which is supposed to have caused a lock-jaw, and occasioned her death. On the plinth of the pedestal is-“ Dormit, non mortua est"-(She is not dead, but sleepeth).

Lord JOHN RUSSEL, second son of Francis, second Earl of Bedford, and his son FRANCIS, by Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Anthony Cook, Knt., and widow of Sir Thomas Hoby, Knt. He died in 1584. He is represented in a cumbent posture, habited in his coronation robes, with his-infant son at his feet. His lady was esteemed the Sappho of her age, being well versed in the learned languages, and an excellent poet; five of the epitaphs on this tomb are of her composition, of which three are in Latin, one in Greek, and the other in English, which is here transcribed as a specimen, the rest being to the same purport:Right noble twice, by virtue and by birth,

[ocr errors]

Of heaven lov'd and honour'd on the earth,
His country's hope, his kindred's chief delight,
My husband dear, more than this world's light,
Death hath me reft. But I from Death will take
His memory, to whom this tomb I make.

John was his name (ah, was !) wretch, must I say?
Lord Russel once, now my tear-thirsty clay."

Next is a very ancient monument, representing a Gothic chapel, and in it the figure of a Knight in armour, in a cumbent posture, with his feet resting on a lion's back. This was erected for Sir BERNARD BROCAS, of Baurepaire, in the county of Hants, Chamberlain to Ann, Queen of Richard II. But this Princess dying, and Richard falling under the displeasure of his people, who deposed him, Sir Bernard still adhered to his Royal master in his misfortunes, which cost him his life. He was publicly beheaded on Tower Hill, January, 1399, and here buried.

In front of this is a low altar tomb, on which has been, in plated brass, the figure of a Knight in armour, his head reclining upon his helmet, and one of his feet placed upon a leopard, the other on an eagle. By the Latin inscription this Knight was HUMPHREY BOURGCHIER, son and heir to John Bourgchier, Lord Berners, who espousing the cause of Edward IV. against the Earl of Warwick, was slain in the battle of Barnet Field, on Easter-day, 1471.

Next is the monument of Sir RICHARD PECKSALL, Knt., Master of the Buckhounds to Queen Elizabeth; first married to Alianer, the daughter of William Paulett, Marquis of Winchester, by whom he had four daughters; and afterwards to Alianer, daughter of John Cotgrave. On the bases of the pillars are Latin verses thus translated:

"Death can't disjoin whom Christ hath joined in love;
Life leads to death, and death to life above.

In heaven's a happier place; frail things despise,

Live well to gain in future life a prize."

The next is a most magnificent monument to the memory of EDWARD TALBOT, eighth Earl of Shrewsbury, and his lady, JANE, eldest daughter and co-heiress of Cuthbert, Baron Ogle, whose effigies in their robes lie on a black marble table, supported by a pedestal of alabaster. He died February 8, 1617, in the fifty-seventh year of his age.

In front of this is the gravestone to the memory of EDWARD, Lord Herbert, Baron of Cherbury, in England, and of CastleIreland, in Ireland, who died December 9, 1678, aged forty-six.

On the right is the ancient monument of WILLIAM DE VaLENCE, Earl of Pembroke, lying in a cumbent posture on a chest of wainscot, placed upon a tomb of freestone; the figure is wood, covered originally with copper gilt, as was the chest on which it lies. In the year 1296, he was slain at Bayonne treacherously. His body was afterwards brought to England, and honourably buried in this Chapel, and an indulgence of one hundred days granted to all devout people who should offer up prayers for his soul.

On the floor is a tomb to MARY, Countess of Stafford, wife to the unfortunate Viscount Stafford, beheaded in the reign of Charles II., on Tower Hill, Dec. 29, 1680. She was lineally descended from the Barons and Earls of Stafford, and was daughter and heiress to the noble house of Buckingham. She died Jan. 1693. The next is a tomb on which is a lady in a widow's dress, with a barb and veil, cut in brass, round which is an inscription in old French, importing that ALIANER DE BOHUN, daughter and heiress of Sir Humphrey de Bohun, Earl of Hertford, Essex, and Northampton, and wife to the mighty and noble Prince of Woodstock, Duke of Gloucester, Earl of Essex and Buckingham, son of Edward III., lies interred here. This lady, who was the greatest heiress in England, was deprived of her husband by the cruelty of his nephew, Richard II., who, jealous of his popularity, most treacherously betrayed him by a show of friendship; for coming to visit him at Plashy, a pleasant seat of his in Essex, and staying supper, in duty he thought to attend his Majesty to town; but at Stratford was suddenly surrounded by an ambush of armed men, who privately hurried him on board a ship, and carried him to Calais, where, by the King's order, he was stifled between feather beds in 1397. After this melancholy circumstance, his lady spent the rest of her days in the nunnery at Barking, and died October 3, 1399; from whence her remains were brought and here interred.

There is also an Archbishop buried here, as appears by a very antique figure in a mass habit, engraven on a brass plate, and placed on a flat stone in the pavement, over the remains of ROBERT DE WALDEBY, who, as appears by the inscription, was first an Augustine monk, and attended Edward the Black Prince into France, where, being young, he prosecuted his studies, and made a surprising progress in natural and moral philosophy, physic, the languages, and in the canon law; and, being like wise an elegant preacher and sound divine, was made Divinity

Professor in the University of Toulouse, where he continued till called by Richard II. to the Bishopric of Man; from whence he was removed to the Archbishopric of Dublin; but not liking that country, upon the first vacancy he was recalled, and advanced to the see of Chichester, and afterwards to the Archbishopric of York. Such is the history of this great man, who died May 29, 1397, as gathered from an inscription formerly very legible, but now almost obliterated.

At the foot of Waldeby is a blue marble slab, which covers the remains of Dr. HENRY FERNE, inlaid with five shields in brass, surrounded with an inscription. He was Chaplain Extraordinary to Charles I.; by Charles II. made Bishop of Chester, which he lived to enjoy about five weeks, dying March 16, 1661.

In this Chapel lies interred Abbot CROKESLEY, who died July 18, 1258.

On the right, on leaving this Chapel, is a fine bust of RICHARD TUFTON, third son of Sir John Tufton, Bart., and brother of Nicholas E. Thanet. He died October 4, 1631.

III.-Chapel of St. Nicholas.

[graphic]

fairly written, setting forth the descent and marriage of Lady JANE CLIFFORD, youngest daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and wife of Charles, Lord Clifford and Dungarvon, who died Nov. 23, 1679.

On a small tablet is this inscription, with the motto-" Espe"rance en Dieu. ISABELLA SUSANNAH, wife of Algernon Percy, "Earl of Beverley, died Jan. 24, 1812, aged sixty-one."

On a gravestone in front of this monument, engraved on brass, is the figure of Sir HUMPHREY STANLEY, knighted by Henry VII., for his gallant behaviour under his cousin, Lord Stanley, at the Battle of Bosworth Field. He died March 22, 1505.

Near this is the monument of ANN, Duchess of Somerset, wife of Edward, Duke of Somerset, brother of Henry VIII.'s third wife, Queen Jane Seymour, and uncle to Edward VI., and sometime Regent during his minority, but afterwards disgraced; accused of treasonable and felonious practices against the King and Council, tried by his Peers, acquitted of treason, but condemned of felony in levying_armed men contrary to law, for which crime he was sentenced to be hanged; but in respect to his quality, was beheaded on Tower Hill, Jan. 22, 1551. She died April 16, 1587, at Hanworth, aged ninety.

On the right, Sir GEORGE and Lady ELIZABETH FANE, who are represented kneeling on each side a desk. She was the daughter of Robert, Baron Spencer, of Wormleighton, and wife of Sir George Fane, of Buston, in Kent, remarkable, says her inscription, for her ancient descent, but more for her own virtues. She died in 1618, aged twenty-eight.

Beneath this is an ancient monument placed over NICHOLAS, Baron_Carew, and the Lady MARGARET, his wife, daughter of Lord John Dinham, and, it is thought, mother of Sir Nicholas Carew, beheaded in Henry VIII.'s time, for holding a correspondence with Cardinal de la Pole. He died December 6, 1470, she December 13, the same year.

In the front of this is a pyramid erected to the memory of NICHOLAS BAGENALL, a child of two months old, overlaid by his nurse, the 7th of March, 1688.

66

Next to this is one of the most magnificent monuments in the Abbey, erected by the great Lord Burleigh to the memory of MILDRED, his wife, and their daughter Lady ANN, Countess of Oxford. On this tomb is a Latin inscription, explaining the figures, and setting forth their respective virtues and accomplishments, particularly those of Lady Burleigh, who, says the inscription, was well versed in the sacred writers, and those "chiefly of the Greeks, as Basil the Great, Chrysostom, Gregory, Nazianzen, &c." She gave a scholarship to St. John's College, in Oxford, legacies to the poor of Romford, where she was born, and to those of Cheshunt, where she lived, and left money at both places to be distributed every year to poor tradesmen. She died, after being forty years married, April 4, 1589, aged sixty-three. Her daughter Ann married, at fifteen, Edward Vere, Earl of Oxford, and died June 5, 1588, seventeen years after, leaving three daughters.

[ocr errors]
« ZurückWeiter »