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225 pages

English

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pubOne.info present you this new edition. In the twentieth year of the reign of the right high and puissant King Henry the Eighth, namely, in 1529, on the 21st of April, and on one of the loveliest evenings that ever fell on the loveliest district in England, a fair youth, having somewhat the appearance of a page, was leaning over the terrace wall on the north side of Windsor Castle, and gazing at the magnificent scene before him. On his right stretched the broad green expanse forming the Home Park, studded with noble trees, chiefly consisting of ancient oaks, of which England had already learnt to be proud, thorns as old or older than the oaks, wide-spreading beeches, tall elms, and hollies. The disposition of these trees was picturesque and beautiful in the extreme. Here, at the end of a sweeping vista, and in the midst of an open space covered with the greenest sward, stood a mighty broad-armed oak, beneath whose ample boughs, though as yet almost destitute of foliage, while the sod beneath them could scarcely boast a head of fern, couched a herd of deer

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Publié par	Pub One Info
Date de parution	06 novembre 2010
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9782819943839
Langue	English

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WINDSOR CASTLE
By William H. Ainsworth
"About, about!
Search Windsor Castle, elves, within and out. "
SHAKESPEARE, Merry Wives of Windsor
"There is an old tale goes, that Herne thehunter,
Sometime a keeper here in Windsor forest,
Doth all the winter time, at still midnight,
Walk round about an oak, with great ragg'dhorns;
And there he blasts the tree, and takes thecattle,
And makes milch-kine yield blood, and shakes achain
In a most hideous and dreadful manner:
You have heard of such a spirit; and well youknow,
The superstitious idle-headed eld
Receiv'd, and did deliver to our age,
This tale of Herne the hunter for a truth. "—ibid
WINDSOR CASTLE
BOOK I. ANNE BOLEYN
I.
Of the Earl of Surrey's solitary Ramble in the HomePark— Of
the Vision beheld by him in the Haunted Dell— And ofhis
Meeting with Morgan Fenwolf, the Keeper, beneathHerne's
Oak.
In the twentieth year of the reign of the right highand puissant King Henry the Eighth, namely, in 1529, on the 21st ofApril, and on one of the loveliest evenings that ever fell on theloveliest district in England, a fair youth, having somewhat theappearance of a page, was leaning over the terrace wall on thenorth side of Windsor Castle, and gazing at the magnificent scenebefore him. On his right stretched the broad green expanse formingthe Home Park, studded with noble trees, chiefly consisting ofancient oaks, of which England had already learnt to be proud,thorns as old or older than the oaks, wide-spreading beeches, tallelms, and hollies. The disposition of these trees was picturesqueand beautiful in the extreme. Here, at the end of a sweeping vista,and in the midst of an open space covered with the greenest sward,stood a mighty broad-armed oak, beneath whose ample boughs, thoughas yet almost destitute of foliage, while the sod beneath themcould scarcely boast a head of fern, couched a herd of deer. Therelay a thicket of thorns skirting a sand-bank, burrowed by rabbits,on this hand grew a dense and Druid-like grove, into whoseintricacies the slanting sunbeams pierced; on that extended a longglade, formed by a natural avenue of oaks, across which, atintervals, deer were passing. Nor were human figures wanting togive life and interest to the scene. Adown the glade came twokeepers of the forest, having each a couple of buckhounds with themin leash, whose baying sounded cheerily amid the woods. Nearer thecastle, and bending their way towards it, marched a party offalconers with their well-trained birds, whose skill they had beenapproving upon their fists, their jesses ringing as they movedalong, while nearer still, and almost at the foot of the terracewall, was a minstrel playing on a rebec, to which a keeper, in adress of Lincoln green, with a bow over his shoulder, a quiver ofarrows at his back, and a comely damsel under his arm, waslistening.
On the left, a view altogether different incharacter, though scarcely less beautiful, was offered to the gaze.It was formed by the town of Windsor, then not a third of itspresent size, but incomparably more picturesque in appearance,consisting almost entirely of a long straggling row of houses,chequered black and white, with tall gables, and projecting storeysskirting the west and south sides of the castle, by the silverwindings of the river, traceable for miles, and reflecting theglowing hues of the sky, by the venerable College of Eton,embowered in a grove of trees, and by a vast tract of well-woodedand well-cultivated country beyond it, interspersed with villages,churches, old halls, monasteries, and abbeys.
Taking out his tablets, the youth, after somereflection, traced a few lines upon them, and then, quitting theparapet, proceeded slowly, and with a musing air, towards the northwest angle of the terrace. He could not be more than fifteen,perhaps not so much, but he was tall and well-grown, with slightthough remarkably well-proportioned limbs; and it might have beensafely predicted that, when arrived at years of maturity, he wouldpossess great personal vigour. His countenance was full of thoughtand intelligence, and he had a broad lofty brow, shaded by aprofusion of light brown ringlets, a long, straight, andfinely-formed nose, a full, sensitive, and well-chiselled mouth,and a pointed chin. His eyes were large, dark, and somewhatmelancholy in expression, and his complexion possessed that richclear brown tint constantly met with in Italy or Spain, though butseldom seen in a native of our own colder clime. His dress wasrich, but sombre, consisting of a doublet of black satin, workedwith threads of Venetian gold; hose of the same material, andsimilarly embroidered; a shirt curiously wrought with black silk,and fastened at the collar with black enamelled clasps; a cloak ofblack velvet, passmented with gold, and lined with crimson satin; aflat black velvet cap, set with pearls and goldsmith's work, andadorned with a short white plume; and black velvet buskins. Hisarms were rapier and dagger, both having gilt and graven handles,and sheaths of black velvet.
As he moved along, the sound of voices chantingvespers arose from Saint George's Chapel; and while he paused tolisten to the solemn strains, a door, in that part of the castleused as the king's privy lodgings, opened, and a person advancedtowards him. The new-comer had broad, brown, martial-lookingfeatures, darkened still more by a thick coal-black beard, clippedshort in the fashion of the time, and a pair of enormousmoustachios. He was accoutred in a habergeon, which gleamed frombeneath the folds of a russet-coloured mantle, and wore a steel capin lieu of a bonnet on his head, while a long sword dangled frombeneath his cloak. When within a few paces of the youth, whose backwas towards him, and who did not hear his approach, he announcedhimself by a loud cough, that proved the excellence of his lungs,and made the old walls ring again, startling the jackdaws roostingin the battlements.
“What! composing a vesper hymn, my lord of Surrey? ”he cried with a laugh, as the other hastily thrust the tablets,which he had hitherto held in his hand, into his bosom. “You willrival Master Skelton, the poet laureate, and your friend Sir ThomasWyat, too, ere long. But will it please your lord-ship to quit fora moment the society of the celestial Nine, and descend to earth,while I inform you that, acting as your representative, I havegiven all needful directions for his majesty's reception to-morrow?”
“You have not failed, I trust, to give orders to thegroom of the chambers for the lodging of my fair cousin, MistressAnne Boleyn, Captain Bouchier? ” inquired the Earl of Surrey, witha significant smile.
“Assuredly not, my lord! ” replied the other,smiling in his turn. “She will be lodged as royally as if she wereQueen of England. Indeed, the queen's own apartments are assignedher. ”
“It is well, ” rejoined Surrey. “And you have alsoprovided for the reception of the Pope's legate, CardinalCampeggio? ”
Bouchier bowed.
“And for Cardinal Wolsey? ” pursued the other.
The captain bowed again.
“To save your lordship the necessity of asking anyfurther questions, ” he said, “I may state briefly that I have doneall as if you had done it yourself. ”
“Be a little more particular, captain, I pray you, ”said Surrey.
“Willingly, my lord, ” replied Bouchier. “In yourlord ship's name, then, as vice-chamberlain, in which character Ipresented myself, I summoned together the dean and canons of theCollege of St. George, the usher of the black rod, the governor ofthe alms-knights, and the whole of the officers of the household,and acquainted them, in a set speech-which, I flatter myself, wasquite equal to any that your lordship, with all your poeticaltalents, could have delivered— that the king's highness, being atHampton Court with the two cardinals, Wolsey and Campeggio,debating the matter of divorce from his queen, Catherine ofArragon, proposes to hold the grand feast of the most noble orderof the Garter at this his castle of Windsor, on Saint George's Day—that is to say, the day after to-morrow— and that it is thereforehis majesty's sovereign pleasure that the Chapel of St. George, inthe said castle, be set forth and adorned with its richestfurniture; that the high altar be hung with arras representing thepatron saint of the order on horseback, and garnished with thecostliest images and ornaments in gold and silver; that the pulpitbe covered with crimson damask, inwrought with flowers-de-luces ofgold, portcullises, and roses; that the royal stall be canopiedwith a rich cloth of state, with a haut-pas beneath it of a foothigh; that the stalls of the knights companions be decked withcloth of tissue, with their scutcheons set at the back; and thatall be ready at the hour of tierce-hora tertia vespertina, asappointed by his majesty's own statute— at which time the eve ofthe feast shall be held to commence. ”
“Take breath, captain, ” laughed the earl.
“I have no need, ” replied Bouchier. “Furthermore, Idelivered your lordship's warrant from the lord chamberlain to theusher of the black rod, to make ready and furnish Saint George'sHall, both for the supper to-morrow and the grand feast on thefollowing day; and I enjoined the dean and canons of the college,the alms-knights, and all the other officers of the order, to be inreadiness for the occasion. And now, having fulfilled my devoir, orrather your lordship's, I am content to resign my post asvice-chamberlain, to resume my ordinary one, that of your simplegentleman, and to attend you back to Hampton Court whenever itshall please you to set forth. ”
“And that will not be for an hour, at the least, ”replied the earl; “for I intend to take a solitary ramble in theHome Park. ”
“What I to seek inspiration for a song— or tomeditate upon the charms of the fair Geraldine, eh, my lord? ”rejoined Bouchier. “But I will not question you too shrewdly. Onlylet me caution you against going near Herne's Oak. It is said thatthe demon