"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

Otago Witness, Issue 2580, 26 August 1903, Page 63

"ALIEN'S" LETTER FROM ENGLAND.

"We decided to part -witli cur coacb. for the present, and loiter. There was so much at Canford worth seeing. The Tillage church at the manor gates enticed among other things. Such an old, old church, surrounded by an old churchyard, the whole encompassed by the Manor Park. The inscriptions on some of the stones were effaced by time, -which had given a sear attraction to the quaint little edifice — a miniature of hundreds of churches in England, with its tombs and monuments and old -brasses. A handsome 'brass eagle formed the reading desk, and the carving was of another age. From the cool niustiness of the interior we passed out into the warm sunshine again, and, .pausing at the lodge gates; asked leave of the lodgekeeper to enter the .private grounds. Shewasathin «ld body, in an ancient cap and black calico gown, -with a little black shawl pinned •over her shoulders. A peep of the interior of the lodge disclosed a scrupulously clean mom- • and, warm as was the day, a fire burning in the stove. But ths old woman " looked pinched and delicate, and was doubtless one of the retainers of the estate. . jCanford Manor is a fine and stately pile ; part of it, including the tower, of great age, and part comparatively new. It stands on the bank of the Stour, its terraces and lawns running down to the water's edge, the whole surrounded "by the magnificent park. The great entrance under a carved archway of stone looks like the entrance to a cathedral ; near by, in fact adjoining the Bouse, is the private chapel, and the family vaults, and within a stone's throw of the lodge gates a quaint old mill belonging to the estate stands amid water and trees and .rushes, the splashing of its wheel filling the air with the musical cool sound of running water. Back through the lodge gates -we strolled, through the -famous avenue oi quite -fcwo miles, towards Wimborne, lunching by the iray under a wonderful oak whose gnarled branches spread over a broad area of mossgreen grass. The avenue itsalf is a wonderful .glade of limes, down irhicli one looks as through a forest aisle, the deep green shadow dappled with sunlight. On -either side the land of tha estate runs broken by forest and river, and diverging from the path «re stood on a rustic swing bridge and looked back up stream at the mill. The river just here reminded me — although oa a milch smaller scale— of one of the backwaters of the Upper Thames. The water "was transparent, and trout flashed among the ,-watei'weeds, and water lilies, miniature islands of . feather^-he.aded rushes 'broke the even flow., of. .the. current into swirls and eddies, where the water-fowl disported themselves happily, diving for fish. At every few steps all down the avenue, new vistas of beauty were revealed. Here a hay field, there a meadow of clover ; now a bank of hemlock, white with bloom, running into a waste of red sorrel met by a forest of white and red rhododendrons. At last -"ire emerged into the small old town of Wimborne, ivhere the Romans used to winter, and near by which the Danes and Saxons fought in the long ago. The Saxons called it "Viburnia," Richard of Cirencester "termed it "Venta" ; but its later name of Wimborne is taken from two Saxon names, / and means "head of a stream." The town has about 7000 inhabitants, is a centre of agriculture, and has become a favourite residential spot for retired officers and folk of means. But perhaps the characteristic picturesqueness of the ancient town is «nhanced by the villa residences. The old streets are narrow, some of the odd little shops — probably mansions of an early date — bulged out on the cobbled pavement. In one such shop the room in -which we had tea was over 200 years old. Such' tea ! such bread and butter — the butter smelling of buttercups!) • Queen Elizabeth endowed the Grammar School which stands where it originally etood, close to the minster, on the spot wnere St. Margaret Outhburga, Queen Elizabeth's ancestress, sister of Ina, King of Wessex, founded a convent about the year 719. The invaders landed at Warebam, .about 12 miles distant, and destroyed the convent in the reign ol Ethelred the Unready. Wimborne Minster -was the burial place of King Ethelred. who was killed by the Danes fighting in the neighbourhood, about 871. A brass in the choir marks the spot where he lies, but said by some to bz a forgery. \ We were met at the minster door by the verger, a genial and intelligent old man ■with a bright, fresh-coloured face, and humorous eyes which he has a fashion of half closing as he smilingly nods his head and gives you Ins confidence in a confidential manner. Not personal confidence — minster confidence ; for ne appeared inseperable from its associations, priding in its age and history, and especially in its chained library, of irhicli he carried the keys. "See the chained library?" He nodded several times knowingly. "So ycra shall ; so you shall !" He shook the keys. "Thousands come to see it — thousands — would you believe it? — you would? I've been showing people around the minster for 42 years. Isn't it nice? — isn't it well preserved? There's lots to see : I don't mind talking. Tired? Lor. no ! I'm up at 6 to ring the bell, and then, you know, I plays the Grammar School boys a bit of artune from the tower. It gives 'em a bit of «. bright waking up. Lor! I know 'em, the grammar boys. Stand here: there it ia, you see, the Grammar School endowed by Queen Elizabeth. She often came here -^Queen Elizabeth — she had a regard for the minster • because of St. Cuthberta, her grandmother — or was it great-grandmother? —who lived and is buried here. There's St. Cuthberta's window over there. Isn't it nice? isn't it well preserved? Every

i Friday evening there's a service to her i memory to this day. Would you believe it? — you would? Now. you come this way. This is the choir vestry : see the | gowns? I'll show you mme — velvet and silk, you see. Oh, yes, I beadle. There it | is, and here's my silver stick. I sit in my stall in the choir — isn't it nice? — and twice during service I go my round through the church — with goloshes over my shoes, so not to make a noise — and if I saw you in the congregation asleep I should give you a little tap with my stick, so — would you believe it? Keep up the old customs? Lor, yes ! to this day. Plenty to do ? I like it. I'm sexton, toe — isn't it nice? I'm here, in and cmt, from 6 in the morning till 8 afc night, when I ring the curfew bell. Ah ! I do. I've rung that curfew bell night after night for many years, and never a light put out! Bless you, not a light. Now, you come with me." He led the way up stone stairs in the tower, worn with the ascent and descent of many feet, and unlockmg the famous ibrary, turned to enjoy our admiration. The'books were arranged on deep shelves, each one fastened with an iron chain, which, before the removal of the original reading desk and 1 chair, permitted the volumes to rest on the desk some sft or 4ft from the shelves. The verger knew all about his books, and gave some interesting information. It was in the year 1637, or about that, that the Rev. William Stone, at one time the | Principal of New Inn College, Oxford (then vicar of Wimborne), _ conceived the idea of improving the minds of his parishioners and instituted the chained library. The books are now as rare and valuable as they were then, being now, as then, the original and only copies. Several of the Bibles were exquisitely written on vellum — the handiwork of the monks. One of tilie old "Breeches" Bibles was tliere, the word "breeches" occurring where in the Garden of Eden story we use the word aprons. The old "Treacle" Bible is in a minster not far from Canterbuiy. "There is no more treacle (balm) in Gilead." To the question, "Isn't it well preserved?" there could be but one answer. Tliere was a queer mouldy smell in the old room, and one felt, as Is inseparable from these ancient relics of generations past, that Art is long and Time is fleeting. One realises, too, how far we have progressed, -and wonders what one of the old students oi a chained book would say if he could return now. verger, tvho evidently believed a man's knowledge reached its apogee with the tomb, and d:d not believe in intellectual evolution, replied that, "Lor' ! they'd be frightened and go back to their graves! Sixpenny editions of famous works, and the electric light on after ringing of Curfew'! Why, it 'ud terrify 'em. They're best at Test. I've been sexton many a year, and I never (heard one of 'em murmur against it. I knew you'd like the library. Isn't it nice? So thoroughly old. You would not 'believe it, perhaps, but I've had people here from Australia and New Zealand. You would?" The structure of the minster is cruciform, and consists of choir and transepts, the lantern tower, nave, and library, with a crypt below. There are eight 'bells, and here, too, is the wonderful astronomical clock made by a monk in the thirteenth century — ftiil in perfect working order. Tho huge face shows the earth in the centre, and revolving round it is the j i-un, moon, and stars, telling how many \ hours to sunvise or sunset ; how old the moon is, etc., showing its exact position <Lt the time. There are two other similar clocks in existence made by the monk Petre Lightfoot. one of which 'is at Bath. Among the curiosities of the tombs is one of Anthony Ettricke, wlio for tome political treachery — I forget the story — vowed that he would not be buried* in I English soil, and before his death not only selected his grave, the minster wall, but had his coffin made and dated (the date was subsequently altered), and left £1 a year for ever to keep it in repair. Some of the stained glass -windows were beautiful, but as the sunbeams were flooding the western nave with shortening beams . we took onr leave of our friend the verger, and presently over the peaceful town the curfew sounded from the tower with its evening benediction.

(Specially Written for the Witness Ladies' Page.) WDI BORNE. n.