The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-04-04 00:00:00

THE TICHBORNE DOLE.

The Standard wives the following interesting description
of the distribution of the " Tiehborne Dole"

During the course of the great Tichborne trial it will
be remembered that an allusion was made, in the evi-
dence of Bogle, to the " Dole Picture," an oil painting
which hangs in the dining-room of Tichborne House,
representing the distribution of the dole, and which
aR painted in the year 1670. The custom, which is
an annual one, was instituted in the early part of the
twelfth century, during the reign of Henry 11., by
Mabel, the wife Sir Rogerus de Tiohborne, Knight.
This lady acquired a reputation for piety and charity,
and was also belieN ed by tha peasantry to have wrought
miracles. She is described in the family records as
having been "so charitable to the poor, that not con
tent to exercise that virtue all her lifetime, she insti-
tuted the Tichborne Dole ' as a perpetual memorial
of her goodness, and entailed it to her posterity." This
bequest was duly observed on Wednesday in last week,
at Tichborne House, being upwards of seven centuries
since its inauguration.
Tichborne House, now so celebrated throughout the
world, is one of those charming English homesteads
which are found scattered over the land, the general
beauties of which have formed a frequent theme for
poetical description. For any one who possesses rural
taste a more attractive spot than Tichborne House and
its surroundings could not well be imagined. The
house itself is snugly esconced in the bosom of the vale
-of Tichborne, from which on all sides arise gently un-
dulating slopes. It is approached from the high road
through a well-wooded park, in which the clear waters
of the River Itchen quietly ripple. In the immediate
front of the house, which makes no pretensions to
architectural effect, being simply a flat facade re-
lieved by a portico supported by stone pillars, is a
fine sheet of water, an artifical enlargement of the
lichen, on which several white swans gracefully
float, besides numerous wild ducks. The stream
is thence conveyed under a lawn which flanks
the western wing of the house into the old moat, which
is now used as a trout preserve, whence it again com-
municates with the Itchen, a noted trout stream, which
affords during the season many hours' pleasant sport to
fly-fishers. From the western wing of the house can be
seen the old parish church of Tichborne, with its
towers crowning the crest of the hill, the intervenipg
space being dotted over with farms and cottages whiai
I comprise the village of Tichborne. The house and
grounds have become of such interest to curiosity-
mongers during the course of the recent proceedings
that its present occupants, Captain and the Hon. Mrs.
Wickham (Lady Allred Tichborne) have found it im-
perative, in order to escape continued dunning, to no
all applications to view the interior. Expectants
may, therefore, take the hint, and save themselves, on
this point at least, what would otherwise be a profitless
journey. . .

But to return to the "dole," which is distributed to
all applicants residing in the parishes of Tichborne and
Cberiton, in the pmportion of one gallon of best
wheaten flour to each adult and a half a gallon to each 1
child. As early as nine o'clock men, women and
children were to be seen making their way across the
perk from various points, carrying with them bags
and baskets in which to convey home the bounty to be
bestowed on them. It had been intended that the
distribution this year should be made on the lawn in
front of the house, but the infant baronet, Sir Henry
Alfred Joseph Doughty 'Pichborne, a fine little fellow
in his eighth year, was unfortunately unable to be
Present, LW he is just recovering from an attack of
the meaeles. The programme was therefore al-
tered, and the lady members of the family
were not present at the ceremony, which triok
place at the rear of the house. The applicants, as be-
fore stated, were made up of persons of both
sexes and of various ages, among whom were some
widely different types of rustic humanity. In one
corner was a group of decayed agricultural labourers,
attired in old smock frocks, gaiters, and slouched billy.
cocks, men who had evidently seen hard work in their
time. Some of these were bent forward from the effects
of age and physical debility, but others, although bald-
headed and nearly toothless, yet maintained an upright
gait. The women—as is usual in such cases—were
largely in the majority, and there were few of them
who had passed middle age, being chiefly the wives and
slaughtere of healthy labourers who were away at work,
but whose share of the dole was handed over to them
on application. The women, as a rule, looked comely
and well-fed—some brought infants in perambulators,
who chuckled and crowed as though tn.,' understood
the whole affair, and were expressing their delight
thereat. Then there were the young unmarried women
—and among these there were not only some buxom dam-
eels. hut a few who had more than an average share of
h,siod looks, and who were evidently well aware of the
fact from the coquettish way in which they sported
, hate adorned with neat feathers, strs ugly smacking
' rif metropolitan style. All being in readiness, this-first
S' , ,as taken by a couple of stalwart miller's men,
who emptied several of the sacks of flour into an
' immense tub. Then the resident priest of the quiet
little domestic chapel which forms part of the mansion,
the Rev. 'Phormus Quinn, offered tip a short prayer,
and, after invoking the blessing of Heaven on the gift,
xprinkle,l the flour with holy water from a chalice
borne by an acolyte. Captain 'Wickham was present
and Mr. F. Bowker, jun., who does not look one whit
the worse for his labours throughout the recent trial.
These superintended the distribution. It was no no-
mmen thing for on. person to carry away flume and