KITCHENER RELICS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXIII, Issue 11539, 16 January 1932, Page 12

KITCHENER RELICS

ROMANTIC DEVON INN. HERO'S NEPHEW LICENSEE. THE “OXENHAM ARMS,” lu the -sleep, old-fashioned mam street of South Zeal, a little iDcvon village under the brow of Cawsami Beacon, a well-known Dartmoor beautv spot, is one of tin most interesting buildings in England. It i> 800 years old. and was once a monastery. Many of the villagers vow that they still aie the gbostly figure of an abbess wandering along by tbe '/rev walls o’ nights, though what she has to do with a monastery remains a secret. 10-dav it continues to look ju't like a monastcry, but tho sign * Illy Oxenham Arms,” gives the show away. It has been converted into a delightful country inn. The Oxenham Arms is now in the possession of Maior Pot a’Beckett, nephew of the late lord Kitchener. After soldiering in the Royal Artillery all over the world, and, incidentally, collecting en route all sorts of interesting relics, he decided to settle down and keep a combined countrv inn and museum. Every year it is visited bv thousands ol tourists froni all over the world, as vou may easily see by his visiters’ hook. * Major a’Beckett has filled the inn with a remarkable collection of curios, antiques and objects of ■ The building, which is constructed of granite undoubtedly quarried in the neighborhood, is . full, of interesting historical and literary associations. After ending its career as- a monastery It became the family mansion of the Hurgoynes and Oxenhanis (in the Tudor period). It was here that, when snowed * up" on liis way from Plymouth to Exeter, Charles Dickens wrote part of his ‘‘Pickwick Papers,”- which, by the way, he continued at the Turk's Head, Exeter, where he found his famous fat boy. The most beautiful room in the place is' the dining room, with its old rafters and huge fireplace surmounted by a tump of granite that is said to weigh two tons and ahalf. It contains, among other rarities, paintings by Gainsborough and Turner. . On a wall ill one room hangs a plate—-believed—to be the only one in existence—from the officer’s mess in Nelson s' ship 1 ictorv, and underneath it are some of the glass rolling'phfs which sailors--of that period .used to fill with rum and take home to their wives and sweot'hearts; until Queen Anne -decided that they could work better with wooden .ones. Opposite is a valuable collection of Dresden china and lustre work of various kinds, while on a table, in between i.s Kitchener's kettle, the helmet he wore in Gallipoli, and the flag that hung in his tent. REMINDERS OF KITCHENER. Of course, the house is full oi relics of Kitchener. The kettle is a curie. In Thibet a man’s rank was judged by the size of bis kettle, so Kitchener characteristically brought homo the largest he could find 1 Near by hangs part of Queen 'Victoria’s thirteenth birthday frock and framed letters from Kitchener — several of those, mostly .signed ‘‘Herbert”—Mark Hambourg, Thomas Hardy, Eden Pliillpotts. Cumin Doyle i.tlio last lie wrote) and 'others.

After examining a woi'kbox w li:c li was once the property of Princess Eugenio, aiul a couch which is con neclecl in some wav with Napoleon and Josephine, one -wanders, into a bedroom the walls of which are covered with matchbox lids. There are over 1.1,000 of them, all differ out. from all over the world. This is one of the major’s many hobbies. Significance also attaches to a head of an old-fashioned golf driver which lay, together With other valuables, in a glass ease. “That was mine,” said Major a’Beckett, “until my uncle got hold of it. One day in Cairo he said to me, '\V© must have some exercise. We will go and play golf.’ ‘But you can’t plijv,’7l objected. ‘Never mind •that,’ sa-idy inune|e. ‘I have often intended - id’ fplte'Up golf., You shall teaeji mcv. "• •; ‘-‘So«>yeuand >1- tried to teach Kitchener toj play golf." On the .first tee ivith fiis. first shot,- he drove my . drfvei-y ‘ the ' remaitis .of wliielr yc>u see before ,yqu. JHii dmmeditfteiy grew yeiy, tiimry. : -'' ; ''‘iUdi* eiilpijS' v? game,'’ this,’••.'ho;"saida dqjjjs'fv.are , iidt? - Ivnfeujrl'y, 5. ■ tetjohjj eijouglL.’'-'/gC -;'y- ..V. -r. inf itold • him. t h [it was y all very bx|t' )ie;';lia<3 imt' ■ even .shitl- he was 'so'riy, and wlmt v was he going to do about my friy°i;it;>o' ' drivery Eventually he apologised .and ;said he would giye ine another. ; I- heard nothing more-'- about it until,. r three ye a r ,shi t e r,w ith outa n y warning and with, jm. nccompanvipg. ' messa|;ds, received Sa. 'complete .andexphiipiyi 9 set, gpif ciitbs.” ' h' rif Z. ,y )