. More famous homes of Great Britain and their stories . er son of Sir John Bellingham,Alan appears to have been rich ; furthermore, being Treasurerof Berwick, Deputy-Warden of the Marshes, and having, in thereign of Henry VII., received a grant from the King for the fourthpart of the barony of Kendal, he must have been a man of someimportance. But it is to his great-grandson, Sir James Belling-ham, that we owe a lasting debt of gratitude, for to his consum-mate taste and lavish expenditure the restoration of this house isentirely due. With the exception of one wing which was addedlater, all t
. More famous homes of Great Britain and their stories . er son of Sir John Bellingham,Alan appears to have been rich ; furthermore, being Treasurerof Berwick, Deputy-Warden of the Marshes, and having, in thereign of Henry VII., received a grant from the King for the fourthpart of the barony of Kendal, he must have been a man of someimportance. But it is to his great-grandson, Sir James Belling-ham, that we owe a lasting debt of gratitude, for to his consum-mate taste and lavish expenditure the restoration of this house isentirely due. With the exception of one wing which was addedlater, all that you have seen, besides every other room and cornerof it, are part of his scheme ; so can you wonder that the twodates we noticed of 1586 and 15QS approximately mark the be-ginning and completion of his labours ? The Bellinghams lived here for two hundred years. Theiroccupation marks an era of peace and civilisation for Levens,when a state of chronic hostility was gladly abandoned for themore congenial excitements attending recreation and sport. Let. THE DINING-ROOM, LEVENS HALL FORMERLY CALLED THE GILDED PARLOUR I2g 130 Xevcns 1ball us imagine them in pursuit of the deer through Levens Park, andchasing the otter on the river banks ; and in this, no doubt, theresults were less futile than at the present day, for Alan Belling-ham alludes in his diary to excellent sport both by land andwater at Levens. The existence also of a set of bowls stampedwith the Bellingham crest, gives sufficient evidence that the oldbowling-green here must date back quite three hundred years. 1should also tell you of an ancient custom still existing at Levens,which probably originated with the Bellinghams. From a high-class goblet called a constable, unsuspecting strangers aresometimes cajoled into drinking a unique and bitter compound ofthe genus of ale ; but ere one drop may touch their lips theymust stand on one leg and loudly pledge the toast, Luck toLevens whilst the Kent flows. Alas ! what the
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