The ruin that descended1 upon Hartley Row in common with other coaching towns and villages, nearly sixty years ago, has long since been lived down, and the long street, although quiet, has much the same cheerful appearance as it must have worn in the heyday2 of its prosperity. It is a very wide street, fit for the evolutions of many coaches. Pleasant strips of grass now occupy, more or less continuously, one side, and at the western end forks the road to Odiham, through a pretty common with the unusual feature of being planted with oak trees. These oak glades3 do not look particularly old; but, as it happens, we can ascertain4 their exact age and{109} at the same time note how slow-growing is the oak tree by a reference to Cobbett’s Rural Rides, where, in 1821, he notes their being planted: ‘I perceive that they are planting oaks on the “wastes,” as the Agriculturasses call them, about Hartley Row; which is very good, because the herbage, after the first year, is rather increased than diminished by the operation; while, in time, the oaks arrive at a timber state, and add to the beauty and the real wealth, of the country, and to the real and solid wealth of the descendants of the planter who, in every such case, merits unequivocal praise, because he plants for his children’s children. The planter here is Lady Mildmay, who is, it seems, Lady of the Manors5 about here.’
This planting was accomplished7 in days before any one so much as dreamt of the time to come, when the navies of the world should be built like tin kettles. Oaks were then planted with a view to being eventually worked up into the ‘wooden walls of Old England,’ among other uses, and the squires8 who laid out money on the work were animated9 by the glow of self-satisfaction that warms the breasts of those who can combine patriotism10 with the provision of a safe deferred11 investment. Unhappily, the ‘wooden walls’ have long since become a dim memory before these trees have attained12 their proper timber stage, and now stand, to those who read these facts, as monuments to blighted13 hopes. But they render this common extremely beautiful, and give it a character all its own. All this is quite apart from the legal aspect of the case; whether, that is to say,{110} the lord of a manor6 has any right to make plantations14 of common lands for his own or his descendants’ benefit. Cobbett, it will be perceived, calls these lands ‘wastes,’ following the term conferred upon them by the ‘Agriculturasses’—whoever they may have been. If technically15 ‘wastes of the manors,’ then the landowner’s right to do as he will is incontestable; but, with the contentious16 character of Cobbett before one, is it not remarkable17 that he should praise this planting and not question the right to call the land ‘wastes,’ instead of common? But perhaps Cobbett the tree-planter was contending with Cobbett the agitator18, and the tree-planter got the best of it.
Hook, which succeeds Hartley Row, is a hamlet of the smallest size, but that fact does not prevent its possessing two old coaching inns, the ‘White Hart’ and the ‘Old White Hart,’ both very large and very near to one another. The Exeter Road certainly did not lack entertainment for man and beast in those days, with fine hostelries every few miles, either in the towns and villages, or else set down, solitary19, amid the downs, like Winterslow Hut.
Nately Scures, whose second name is supposed to derive20 from the Anglo-Saxon scora, a shaw, or coppice (whence we get such place-names as Shawford, near Winchester; Shaugh Prior on Dartmoor; Shaw, in Berkshire, and many of the ‘scors’ forming the first syllables21 of place-names all over the country), is a place even smaller than Hook, with a tiny church, one of the many ‘smallest’ churches; standing22 in a meadow, to which access is had through rick-yards.{111}
Image unavailable: THE ‘WHITE HART,’ HOOK.
THE ‘WHITE HART,’ HOOK.
{112}
{113}
OLD BASING
It is worth while halting a moment to gain a sight of the little church, which is late Norman, and one of the few dedicated23 to that Norman bishop24, Saint Swithun.
Returning to the highway, and coming to the place known to the old coachmen as Mapledurwell Hatch, where that fine old coaching inn, the ‘King’s Head,’ still stands, a road goes off to Old Basing, on the right, while the highway continues in a straight line, rising toward the town of Basingstoke.
The hasty traveller who knows nothing of the delights that await explorers in the byeways, misses a great deal here by keeping strictly25 to the highroad. If, instead of continuing direct to Basingstoke, this turning to the right hand is taken, it brings one in half a mile to the pretty village of Old Basing, celebrated26 for one of the most stubborn and protracted27 defences recorded in history. It was here that the equally crafty28 and courteous29 Sir William Paulet, first Marquis of Winchester, and Lord Treasurer30 during the reigns31 of Henry the Eighth, Edward the Sixth, Mary, and Elizabeth, built an immense palace on the site of Basing Castle. There can be little doubt that this magnificent person, who possessed32 no principles, and so kept place and power through the troublous times that these reigns comprised, must have had his hands in the Royal coffers to some purpose, or else have used his position for the sale of preferments. ‘No oak, but an osier,’ as his contemporaries said, he bowed before the tempests of religious persecution33 and the whirlwinds of conspiracies34 which passed him harmlessly by and{114} left him still peculating35. He had become a hoary-headed sinner by the time Elizabeth reigned36, or there is no knowing but that he might have become a Prince Consort37; for when he entertained Her Majesty38 here in 1560: ‘By my troth,’ said she, ‘if my Lord Treasurer were but a young man, I could find it in my heart to have him for a husband before any man in England.’ But she had said this kind of thing of many another.
BASING HOUSE
The successors of this gorgeous nobleman—not being Lords Treasurers—could not afford to keep up so immense a palace, and so demolished39 a part of it, and found the remainder ample. To this place, fitting alike by its situation at a strategic point on the Western Road, and by the splendidly defensible nature of its site, crowded the King’s Hampshire adherents40 who were not engaged at Winchester and Southampton at the outbreak of the war between Charles and his Parliament. John, fifth Marquis of Winchester, then ruled. ‘Aimez Loyaulté,’ he wrote with his diamond ring on every window of his great mansion42, and, provisioning his cellars, awaited events. As ‘Loyalty’ the house speedily became known to the flying bands of the King’s men who, pursued through the country by the Roundheads, made for its shelter as birds do for trees in a storm. The rebels might hold Basingstoke for a time, and lay siege to Basing House, but troops from Royalist Oxford43 would come and take the town and reprovision this stronghold. It was a mixed company in this palace-fortress. My lord, loyalist, soldier, amateur of the arts; reposing44 after the warlike{115} fatigues45 of the day in a bed whose gorgeous trappings made it worth £1300; witty46 and brave cavaliers; a company of Roman Catholic priests; men-at-arms, drinking, dicing47, and fighting by turns and with equal zest48; and such representatives of the arts as Inigo Jones, the architect, and Hollar, the engraver49. Gay and careless though they were, they fought well, and slew50 and were slain51 to the number of two thousand during this long siege. Sometimes this varied52 garrison53 was hard pressed for food, when relief would come in whimsical fashion, as when Colonel Gage41 and his thousand horsemen appeared with sword in one hand and holding on to a bag of provisions with the other; a fitting contrast with the typical Puritan, a Psalm-book in his left hand and a pike in his right. Basing House, indeed, in the words of Carlyle, ‘long infested54 the Parliament in these quarters, and was an especial eye-sorrow to the trade of London with the Western parts. It stood siege after siege for four years, ruining poor Colonel This and then poor Colonel That, till the jubilant Royalists had given it the name of Basting55 House.’
But the end was at hand after Fairfax had reduced the garrisons56 in the West and the Parliamentary troops could be spared from other places. Cromwell himself was charged with the business of taking ‘Loyalty.’ It was in September that he came to Basingstoke with horse and foot, and established a post of observation on the summit of Winklebury, a hill crowned with prehistoric57 earthworks that overlooks Worting and the Exeter Road, two miles on the other side of the town.{116}
Little over a fortnight later Cromwell wrote that ‘Thank God he was able to give a good account of Basing.’ The house was taken by storm on the 14th October, ‘while the garrison was card-playing,’ as the persistent58 Hampshire legend would have us believe. ‘Clubs are trumps59, as when Basing House was taken,’ is still an expression often heard at Hampshire card-parties, and some colour is lent to this story by the poor defence with which the furious onrush of Cromwell’s troops was met. The attacking force lost few men, but a hundred of the defenders60 were killed, and three hundred more taken prisoners. Then the place caught fire and was utterly61 burnt, many perishing miserably62 in the great brick vaults63 of the house, where they were when the fire reached them. Fuller, that quaint64 seventeenth-century historian, who had been staying here, had, fortunately, left before the arrival of Cromwell’s expedition. The continual fighting and the booming of the guns had distracted his attention from his work! There were others not so fortunate. Thomas Johnson, a peaceful botanist65, was killed, and one Robinson, an actor and unarmed, was slaughtered66 by Harrison, the fanatic67. ‘Cursed is he that doeth the Lord’s work negligently,’ exclaimed the Puritan, as he cut him down. Other soldiers slew the daughter of Dr. Griffith who was charging them with being violent to her father.
Fanaticism68 and cupidity69 were fully70 satisfied on this occasion, save that there were those who grumbled71 because the lives of the Marquis of Winchester and his lieutenant72 were spared. The sack of Basing House yielded £200,000 worth of plunder73, in objects{117}
THE RUINS OF BASING HOUSE
Image unavailable: THE RUINS OF BASING HOUSE.
THE RUINS OF BASING HOUSE.
{118}
{119}
of art, gold and silver plate, coin, and provisions; and all partook of it, from Cromwell to the rank and file. ‘One soldier had a hundred and twenty pieces of gold for his share, others plate, others jewels.’ No wonder they had, with this dazzling prospect74 before them, rushed to the assault ‘like a fire-flood.’
They made a rare business of this pillage75, taking away the valuables, and selling the provisions to the country folks, who ‘loaded many carts.’ The bricks and building materials were given away, probably because they could not wait for the long business of selling them. ‘Whoever will come for brick or stone shall freely have the same for his pains,’ ran the proclamation, and, considering this, it is quite remarkable that even the existing scanty76 ruins of Basing House are left.
The area comprised within the defences measures fourteen and a half acres, now a tumbled and tangled77 stretch of ground, a mass of grassy78 mounds79 and hollows, overgrown in places with thickets80. These ruins are entered from the road by an old brick gateway81, still bearing the ‘three swords in pile’ on a shield, the arms of the Paulets, with ivy82 overhanging and tall trees behind. A tall curtain wall of brick, with a quaintly83 peaked-roofed tower at either end, now looks down upon the Basingstoke Canal, which many strangers think is the moat, but though a picturesque84 addition to the scene, it cannot claim any such historic associations, for it was only constructed close upon a hundred years ago.
Near by is Old Basing church, with square tower built of red brick, similar to that seen in the ruins{120} of the House. It is said to be of foreign make. Bullets have up to recent years been extracted from the south door of the church, the original oak door in use two hundred and sixty years ago; and the flint and stone south walls and buttresses85 bear vivid witness, in their patching of brick, to the ruin that befell this part of the building in those troubled times. Strange to say, a beautiful group of the Virgin86 and Child still occupies a tabernacle over the west window, uninjured, although it can scarce have escaped the notice of the fanatical soldiery. Within the church are memorials of the loyal Paulets, Marquises of Winchester, and for a period Dukes of Bolton. Their glory has departed with their great House, and although a smaller residence was built in the meadows, close at hand, that has vanished too.
THE ‘GREY LADY’
When Basing House was laid in ruins the Marquis of Winchester retired87 to his hunting lodge88 of Hawk89 Wood, to the south of Basingstoke, and, enlarging it, made the place his residence. His son, created Duke of Bolton, employed Inigo Jones to build a new house on the site of the lodge, and this is the present Hackwood Park. The existing house stands in the midst of dense90 and tangled woodlands, and although imposing91, is a somewhat gloomy pile, with a ghost story. That bitter lawyer, Richard Bethell, of whom it was said that he ‘dismissed Hell, with costs, and took away from orthodox members of the Church of England their last hope of everlasting92 damnation,’ when he became Lord Chancellor93 and was created Baron94 Westbury, purchased Hackwood Park, and it was to one of his friends that the ‘Grey Lady’ of{121} the mansion presented herself. Lord Westbury and a party of his friends had arrived from town soon after the purchase, and at a late hour they retired to rest, saying good-night to one another in the corridor. One of the guests woke up in the middle of the night and found his room strangely illuminated95, with the indistinct outlines of a human figure visible in the midst of the uncanny glow. Thinking this some practical joke, and feeling very drowsy96, he turned round and fell off to sleep again, to wake at a later hour and see the figure of a woman in a long, old-fashioned dress. With more courage than most people would probably have shown under the circumstances, he, instead of putting his head under the bed-clothes, jumped out, whereupon the lady modestly retired. Instead of going to bed again, he sat down and wrote an account of the occurrence; but when at breakfast Lord Westbury and his other friends kept continually asking him how he had slept, his suspicions as to a practical joke having been played upon him were renewed. He accordingly parried all these queries97 and said he had slept excellently, until Lord Westbury said, ‘Now, look here, we saw that lady dressed in grey follow you into your room last night, you know!’ Explanations followed, but the story of the ‘Grey Lady’ remains98 mysterious to this day.
点击收听单词发音
1 descended | |
a.为...后裔的,出身于...的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 heyday | |
n.全盛时期,青春期 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 glades | |
n.林中空地( glade的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 ascertain | |
vt.发现,确定,查明,弄清 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 manors | |
n.庄园(manor的复数形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 manor | |
n.庄园,领地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 accomplished | |
adj.有才艺的;有造诣的;达到了的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 squires | |
n.地主,乡绅( squire的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 animated | |
adj.生气勃勃的,活跃的,愉快的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 patriotism | |
n.爱国精神,爱国心,爱国主义 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 deferred | |
adj.延期的,缓召的v.拖延,延缓,推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 );服从某人的意愿,遵从 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 attained | |
(通常经过努力)实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 ); 达到; 获得; 达到(某年龄、水平、状况) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 blighted | |
adj.枯萎的,摧毁的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
14 plantations | |
n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
15 technically | |
adv.专门地,技术上地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
16 contentious | |
adj.好辩的,善争吵的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
17 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
18 agitator | |
n.鼓动者;搅拌器 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
19 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
20 derive | |
v.取得;导出;引申;来自;源自;出自 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
21 syllables | |
n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
22 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
23 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
24 bishop | |
n.主教,(国际象棋)象 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
25 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
26 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
27 protracted | |
adj.拖延的;延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
28 crafty | |
adj.狡猾的,诡诈的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
29 courteous | |
adj.彬彬有礼的,客气的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
30 treasurer | |
n.司库,财务主管 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
31 reigns | |
n.君主的统治( reign的名词复数 );君主统治时期;任期;当政期 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
32 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
33 persecution | |
n. 迫害,烦扰 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
34 conspiracies | |
n.阴谋,密谋( conspiracy的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
35 peculating | |
v.盗用,挪用(钱财)( peculate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
36 reigned | |
vi.当政,统治(reign的过去式形式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
37 consort | |
v.相伴;结交 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
38 majesty | |
n.雄伟,壮丽,庄严,威严;最高权威,王权 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
39 demolished | |
v.摧毁( demolish的过去式和过去分词 );推翻;拆毁(尤指大建筑物);吃光 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
40 adherents | |
n.支持者,拥护者( adherent的名词复数 );党羽;徒子徒孙 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
41 gage | |
n.标准尺寸,规格;量规,量表 [=gauge] | |
参考例句: |
|
|
42 mansion | |
n.大厦,大楼;宅第 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
43 Oxford | |
n.牛津(英国城市) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
44 reposing | |
v.将(手臂等)靠在某人(某物)上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
45 fatigues | |
n.疲劳( fatigue的名词复数 );杂役;厌倦;(士兵穿的)工作服 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
46 witty | |
adj.机智的,风趣的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
47 dicing | |
n.掷骰子,(皮革上的)菱形装饰v.将…切成小方块,切成丁( dice的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
48 zest | |
n.乐趣;滋味,风味;兴趣 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
49 engraver | |
n.雕刻师,雕工 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
50 slew | |
v.(使)旋转;n.大量,许多 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
51 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
52 varied | |
adj.多样的,多变化的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
53 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
54 infested | |
adj.为患的,大批滋生的(常与with搭配)v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 );遍布于 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
55 basting | |
n.疏缝;疏缝的针脚;疏缝用线;涂油v.打( baste的现在分词 );粗缝;痛斥;(烤肉等时)往上抹[浇]油 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
56 garrisons | |
守备部队,卫戍部队( garrison的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
57 prehistoric | |
adj.(有记载的)历史以前的,史前的,古老的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
58 persistent | |
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
59 trumps | |
abbr.trumpets 喇叭;小号;喇叭形状的东西;喇叭筒v.(牌戏)出王牌赢(一牌或一墩)( trump的过去式 );吹号公告,吹号庆祝;吹喇叭;捏造 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
60 defenders | |
n.防御者( defender的名词复数 );守卫者;保护者;辩护者 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
61 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
62 miserably | |
adv.痛苦地;悲惨地;糟糕地;极度地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
63 vaults | |
n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 );地下室;撑物跳高;墓穴 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
64 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
65 botanist | |
n.植物学家 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
66 slaughtered | |
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
67 fanatic | |
n.狂热者,入迷者;adj.狂热入迷的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
68 fanaticism | |
n.狂热,盲信 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
69 cupidity | |
n.贪心,贪财 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
70 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
71 grumbled | |
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
72 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
73 plunder | |
vt.劫掠财物,掠夺;n.劫掠物,赃物;劫掠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
74 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
75 pillage | |
v.抢劫;掠夺;n.抢劫,掠夺;掠夺物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
76 scanty | |
adj.缺乏的,仅有的,节省的,狭小的,不够的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
77 tangled | |
adj. 纠缠的,紊乱的 动词tangle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
78 grassy | |
adj.盖满草的;长满草的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
79 mounds | |
土堆,土丘( mound的名词复数 ); 一大堆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
80 thickets | |
n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 );丛状物 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
81 gateway | |
n.大门口,出入口,途径,方法 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
82 ivy | |
n.常青藤,常春藤 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
83 quaintly | |
adv.古怪离奇地 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
84 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
85 buttresses | |
n.扶壁,扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑,加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
86 virgin | |
n.处女,未婚女子;adj.未经使用的;未经开发的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
87 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
88 lodge | |
v.临时住宿,寄宿,寄存,容纳;n.传达室,小旅馆 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
89 hawk | |
n.鹰,骗子;鹰派成员 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
90 dense | |
a.密集的,稠密的,浓密的;密度大的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
91 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
92 everlasting | |
adj.永恒的,持久的,无止境的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
93 chancellor | |
n.(英)大臣;法官;(德、奥)总理;大学校长 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
94 baron | |
n.男爵;(商业界等)巨头,大王 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
95 illuminated | |
adj.被照明的;受启迪的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
96 drowsy | |
adj.昏昏欲睡的,令人发困的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
97 queries | |
n.问题( query的名词复数 );疑问;询问;问号v.质疑,对…表示疑问( query的第三人称单数 );询问 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
98 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
欢迎访问英文小说网 |