136

ANTIQUITY OF BAKEWELL.

from celebrating mass, that another fit Chaplain be admitted, at the pleasure of the Vicar of Bakewell: the Chaplain not to be three days away without licence from the Lord of Hassop for the time being, if the lord reside there, otherwise without the leave of the Vicar."

Bakewell is a very ancient town, and yet but few traces now remain to indicate its former consequence. According to Gibson, Turner, and others, it was particularly distinguished in the time of the Saxons, by Edward the Elder, who is said to have hemmed it round with fortifications, and made it one of his strong places of defence. A fortified town at this early period does not necessarily imply what we now understand by the term; and Bakewell, I apprehend, was at that time only one of the many military positions which were established by Edward and his heroic sister, for the defence of the Mercian Frontier from Chester to Northumbria. Leaving this town, and taking the road to Chatsworth, there is a lofty eminence on the right, called Castle Hill, which derives its name from a building that once occupied this elevated station, and which was erected by Edward the Elder so early as the year 924. This structure is represented to have been originally of great extent, and very formidable, as a defensive position; but time, the destroyer of all things, has crumbled it into dust, the plough has passed over the place where it stood, and, with the exception of a few yards of the foundation walls, which are now nearly covered with turf and verdure, and the evident marks of a trench that once environed a part of the building, nothing now remains on Castle Hill to indicate its former consequence; yet the names by which the fields on its summit are still known can hardly fail to excite recollections and associations that are intimately connected with the existence of a Castle on this lofty eminence. One of the pastures is called Castle Field, and others are known by the name of Warden Field, Court Yard, and Garland's Close.

Toilsome as it may be to reach the top of this eminence, yet the diversified prospect it commands, and the rich assemblage of mountain, hill, and dale, that are included within its wide horizon, will amply compensate for all the labour and fatigue with which it may be accompanied. The serpentine direction of the Wye, as it winds through the meadows below, is a singular and beautiful feature in the picture. This hill, on the side next Bakewell, rises precipitously from the valley, and the Duke of Rutland, to whom it belongs, has planted its

rugged and steep acclivity with larch, fir, beech, sycamore, and a great variety of trees, that appear to flourish on this rocky soil; and near the summit, he has carried along the whole range of the hill an extensive terrace, which opens a series of fine views of the surrounding country, and forms a most delightful summer evening's walk.

Among the records that have been kept at Derby of the important and interesting events which have taken place there, is a memorandum that, " in this year, 1608, the Witches of Bakewell were hanged." At this period of our eventful history, to be poor, old, and ugly, must have been regarded as a dreadful crime, punishable with the severest inflictions of the law. This silly and cruel spirit has happily subsided, and age and infirmity, even if accompanied with poverty, may now sink quietly into the grave, unterrified by the stake or the gallows.

Travelling a few years ago in this part of Derbyshire, in company with a stranger whom I had casually met with at an inn, we observed on the road before us a man clothed in an English great-coat, with a white turban on his head: his gait and appearance, even at a distance, bespoke him the native of another country. My companion, as soon as he observed him, requested permission to stop the carriage. The stranger approached, and on being asked in his own language if he was a native of Hindostan, a mingled sensation of pleasure and surprise illumined his countenance: he lifted up his hands, and with a rapturous ejaculation, he exclaimed, "the language of my mother!" and in a tone of voice so exquisitely touching, so full of feeling, and so true to nature, that it came upon the heart with a force and effect that even apathy itself could not have resisted. He was wild with joy, and danced and sung, and talked, and laughed, and cried alternately. He had not heard a single being utter the "language of his mother" since he left his native country, and, incapable of speaking any other, he had had no verbal communication with any human being for many months, nor had a friendly voice, during the whole of that period, greeted his ear or touched upon his heart and the volubility with which he now gave utterance to the variety of feeling that agitated his frame, seemed as if he had treasured up the ideas and the speeches of days gone by, to be poured out on this occasion. On being interrogated, he stated, that he had left his native country in a vessel bound for Hull when he arrived there he was no longer useful, and

138

MISERY OF LOSING CASTE.

was therefore discarded: that he was at this time in search of another, to convey him once more to his home. What a train of recollections and interesting associations did that word home revive! poor, hapless stranger, no home remained for him! In this search, when he quitted a town or a village, he took any road that presented itself, and travelled he knew not, and apparently he cared not, where. His distressed and desolate situation afflicted him bitterly, and as the tears flowed down his face, he earnestly wished that he could die-for in this world he said nobody loved him, nor had he any body to love here he was unknown he had nothing to eat money to purchase food withal; he must therefore die." And he added, "if he returned to his home, his father, his mother, his sister, and his brother, would never see him, never speak to him again, for he had eaten and had drank with Christians, and had lost his Caste." Such, and so dreadful, were the privations consequent on his departure from the established rites and religious customs and dogmas of his fathers.

-

no

-no

It is hardly possible to conceive a human being in a more forlorn condition: he was now in a country where the only language he knew was not known where no communication of thought — no interchange of sentiment could possibly take place, unless by one of those fortuitous occurrences which had this day brought us together. He was an outcast from the place of his birth, where, if he returned, he would be only as an alien no hand would be extended to receive him eye would gladden him with a smile-no voice of affection greet him, where even his mother, influenced by the barbarous superstitions of the country, would forget the common sympathies of nature, and instead of rejoicing at the return of her long-lost son, would either survey him with the cold indifference of a stranger, or turn away with horror at his approach.

After affording him a temporary relief, my companion directed him on his way to Ashbourne, from whence he was not far distant, giving him, on a card, the name of a gentleman there, who had for many years resided at Calcutta, and who, as he informed him, would take an interest in restoring him to his native country. We bade him adieu, and proceeded on our journey; but having shortly afterwards to ascend a rising ground, he once more overtook the carriage, anxious to renew a conversation which had proved so interesting to his feelings, for he knew not when he might again hear the "language of

PARTING WITH THE HINDOO.

139

his mother." He now told my companion, with a touching expression of countenance, and a vehement earnestness of supplication, that he could not leave him, and that he would attend him to his home, who replied, that was impossible, as he was then more than two hundred miles from it. The poor Hindoo, however, estimated distance as nothing, and he cheerfully declared he could run after the carriage all the way.

We regretted to leave this Child of Nature so situated, but there was no alternative: he was again recommended to attend to the direction previously given him by my companion, and to act as before instructed, which he was assured would be to him an effectual relief: he, however, continued to follow us, but the rapid motion of our post-chaise soon left him far behind.

The language used in this interview being unknown to me necessarily lessened its interest: the gesture and action, however, with which it was accompanied, were sufficiently intelligible to excite a more than ordinary degree of sympathy; but it was not until we had far outstripped this poor pedestrian on the road, that I was made acquainted with the whole of his story. Seated in the inn at Derby, where we passed the night, my companion, at my request, detailed as circumstantially and as correctly as he could all that had passed between the stranger and himself-carefully preserving, and literally translating, the expressions he had used. Regret that we had left this poor Hindoo so far behind, was now unavailing, and I endeavoured to console myself with the consideration, that during his presence I was but very imperfectly acquainted with the particular circumstances that had occasioned his distress. I have since endeavoured to ascertain the result of his application to the gentleman at Ashbourne, but without success.

SECTION IX.

Haddon Valley. - Haddon Hall. The Vernon Family. Chapel at Haddon. -Roman Altar. - Ancient Tapestry.— Gallery at Haddon. - Reflections on Haddon.-Lime Trees. Farewell to the River Wye.

FOLLOWING the course of the Wye, we entered near Bakewell, the sweet Vale of Haddon. An old baronial edifice, now the distinguishing ornament of this part of Derbyshire, and in earlier times the seat of feudal splendour and festive hospitality, gives both name and dignity to this delightful valley. FULLER, in his History of the WORTHIES of ENGLAND, observes, with his usual quaintness, that "the north part of Derbyshire called the Peak is poor above and rich beneath the ground: yet," he adds, " are there some exceptions therein; witness the fair pastures nigh Haddon, belonging to the Duke of Rutland, so incredibly battling of cattle that one proffered to surround it with shillings to purchase it, which because to be set sideways, not edgeways, were refused." Page 229.

On a rocky knoll near the river Wye, about two miles south of Bakewell, stands HADDON HALL. The magnitude of this venerable pile of buildings its castellated form and its embattled turrets rising above the trees that adorn and encompass it, have a magnificent effect, especially when seen from the vale between Haddon and Rowsley, where the best and the most imposing view of this fine old mansion is obtained. From this situation its richest and most ample front is displayed, its towers rise more majestically, and its groves assume a considerable portion of grandeur. When the sketch which accompanies this description was made, the WYE, swollen by heavy rains, had overflowed its banks, and its windings round the base of the woody eminence on which Haddon stands, presented the appearance of a formidable river, which happily harmonized with the surrounding objects, and completed the composition of one of the sweetest pictures