From Gretna Green to Land's End : a literary journey in England . hedgateway. Pleached fruit trees, climbing roses,and purple clematis do their best to consolethe scene for its lost pieties. On the home-ward route, by way of yellow wheat fields,waving woods, and running water, we hada wonderful view of the Welsh mountainsbathed in the opalescent hues of sunset, adivine lustre through which rang sweetly thevespers of the thrush, and could hardly per-suade ourselves that it was from those glori-fied heights the wave of war used to rushdown to break in blood upon the Marches. Yet even the little
From Gretna Green to Land's End : a literary journey in England . hedgateway. Pleached fruit trees, climbing roses,and purple clematis do their best to consolethe scene for its lost pieties. On the home-ward route, by way of yellow wheat fields,waving woods, and running water, we hada wonderful view of the Welsh mountainsbathed in the opalescent hues of sunset, adivine lustre through which rang sweetly thevespers of the thrush, and could hardly per-suade ourselves that it was from those glori-fied heights the wave of war used to rushdown to break in blood upon the Marches. Yet even the little round county of Here-fordshire, with its soft green levels, its appleorchards and cider-presses, its hop gardens,and those broad fields where graze its famoussheep and cattle, has tragic tales to tell. Wig-more Castle, indeed, is over the Herefordline. A few miles to the northwest are theruins of Brampton-Bryan Castle, which testi-fies to the latest war-anguish of these westernshires, the struggle to the death betweenCharles I and Parliament. Here Lady Har- 262. COUNTIES OF THE SEVERN VALLEY ley was besieged for over a montli by herroyalist neighbour, Colonel Lingen, who —ill-done for a cavalier — came up against her,in the absence of her husband and son, witha force of six hundred men. Cheerv, aallant,resourceful while the need lasted. Lady Ilar-ley gave way when the baffled enemy hadwithdrawn, and wrote her son that if the castlemust undergo another siege, she was sure thatGod would spare her the seeing it. And hav-ing so written, she died the following day. Inthe spring the royalists returned with cannonand battered down the walls, burning andplundering. At the end of the long strife,Parliament awarded Sir Robert Harley, assome partial recompense for his sorrows andlosses, the Lingen lands, but Edward Harley,the son of that brave, tender-hearted mother,called at once on Lady Lingen and presentedher with the title-deeds. It may be doubtedif all the Herefordshire annals re
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidfromgretnagreent00bate
