Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1867-07-17
Old England.


People" This volume contains the author Is
rccollections of English travel, and is pub
lished with the motive, the writer con-
fesscs, Of making England more familiar TO
American readers, and, if possible, to awaken
greater desire in American tourists to de-
vote more time to England, and less to the
continent. 1t is rapid sketch of the Eng
lish portion of the island from Tweedmouth
to Lands End, touching upon nearly every
county, and making the entire circuit of the
land Some space is devoted TO the archi-
lecture of England, the writer having been
particularly attracted by the cathedrals, and
having lovingly and admiringly fingered in
their estc shadows, and studied taeir
grand and venerable history. The work il
written in an easy and vivacious style, which
makes it very readable and it introduces
one to a more intimate acquaintance with
English, manners, scenery, business anu
art, than is done by any similar work recent
ly issued from the press
We copy below an interesting chapter des-
cribing, as it now appears, the
HOME OF THE PILGRIMS
Twelve mile. to the south of Doncaster, on
the great Northern line of railway, and Just
mt the junction of Yorkshire, Nottingham
shire, and Lincolnshire, in the county of
Nottingham. but bordering upon the fenny
districts of Lincolnshire, " hose monotonous
scenery reminds one of Holland, lies the vii
lage Of Scrooby. Surely it is of more inter
est to Us than all the Pictish forts and Roman
walls that the - Laird of Monkbar ever
dreamed of. was dropped out of the rail
carriage, which hardly stopped, upon wide
plain ut miniature station-house, with
some suspicious of church and small village
across the flat ru-hv fields in the distance
This was indeed the humble village (thou gh
now beginning to be better known) which
had been searching for: and which nobody
Of whom inquired in Doncaster. or on the
line OF the railway. seemed TO know any
thing about. or even that such place exist
ed. | made its discovery by the help of
good map. The station-ma.ter said that he
came t. Scrooby in 1851, and then it num-
bered three hundred inhabitants and since
that time there had been but twelve deaths
My search for the manor-hous- whore
Brewster and Bradford Established the first
church Of the Pilgrims, was, for time, en-
tircly fruitleSs. | inquired Of genuine
iAF'i-' WI MIX III bilt iclus Dub MS
round red face showed no glimmer of light
on matter 50 far removed from beans and
barley. next encountered good Wesleyan
minister. trudging his morning circuit of
pastoral visitation. but could gain nothing
from him. though chatty, communicative
man. At the venerable stone church of
>crOohv, very rude and plain in architecture
but by no means devoid of picturesqueness,
was equally unsuccessful The verger of
the church. who is generally the learned
man of the village, was absent: and his
daughter knew nothing outside the church
and churchyard.
| strollcd along the grassy country road
that ran through the place till met white
haired old countryman, who proved to be the
most intelligent soul III the neighborhood
He put his cane to his chin, shut and opened
hi- eyes. ana at last told me in broad York
shire that he thought the place | wa. look
lnS for must be what they called 4" the
hi~hup-s house where Squire Dickinson
lived. Set at last upon the right track,
walked across two swampy meadows that
bordered the Idle River, er,-pertinently named
till came 10 a solitary farmhouse with a
red tiled roof. Some five or six slender pop
lar trees stood at the back Of it, and ditch
of water ut one end. where there had
been evidently an ancient moat-'' a moated
grange. Ii was a desolate spot, and was
rendered more - Just then by the coming up
OF thunderstorm. whose ''avant courier,
the wind. made the slender popars and osiers
bend aud twist. Squire John Dickinson,
the present nhabtant of the house, which
Is owned bv Richard M0nckton Mines, the
poet. gave me 4 hearty farmers welcome.
/ think he said there had been one other
American there before Mt any rate he had
an inkling that he was squatted on soil of
: ,me peculiar interest 10 Americans. He
me to his wife and daughters,
healthy and rosv-cheeked English women,
and made me sit down to hospitable lunch
con. He entertained me with discourse
upon the great amount of hard work to be
done in farming among these bogs, and wish
ed he had never undertaken it, but had gone
to America or Australia. The house he said
was rckcty enough. but he contrived TO
make it Do. 1t was, he thought, principally
made of what was once part of the stable
of the Manor House. The palace itself has
now entirely disappeared - but, said my
host. - dig anywhere around here and YOU
will find the ruins of the old palace"
Dickinson said that he himself was reared in
Austcriiold, few miles off in Yorkshire :;
and that branch of the Bradford family
still lived there After luncheon | was
shown Cardinal Wolseys mulberry tree, or
W
some claborately carved woodwork and or
namental beams. covered with dirt and cob
webs, were pointed out, which undoubtedly
belonged to the arch-epscopal palace.
This was all that remained of the house
nyhere Elder Brewster once lived. and gath
cred his humble friends about him, in a sim
pie form of worship. Bradford, in his d" Life
of Brewster" save - They ordinarily met
at his house on the Lords day, which was a
manor of the Bishops. and with great love
he entertained them when they came, max
ing provision for them to his great charge,
and continued to do whilst they could
stav in England And Leland. in 154l
saws - In the meane townlet OF Scrooby |
marked two things, the parish church not
big but very well builded, the second was a
great manor place, standing with a moat and
longing to the Archbishop of York builded
in two courts. whereof the first is very am
pie and all builded of timber saving the
front of the house. that is of brick, 10 the
which dscendit'n per gradus idpideos. Thi:
manor was. assigned to the Archbishop o
York in the - Doomsday Book Cardinal
Wolscv. when he held that office. passed
some time at this palace. While he lived
there, Henry VIII slept night in the house
1t came into Archbishop Sandys' hands II
I 1916 He gave it by lease to his son. Sam.
uel Sandys- under whom Brewster held tht
manor. Brewster. as is now well known
was the Post-Superntendent of Scrooby, ar
important position in those days, lying a!
the village did, and does now, upon the
4 great northern line of travel from London e
/ Yorkshire, Northumberland, and Scotland
4 Cambridge scholar, and clerk Of Secre
tarv Dawson, Brewster had seen much o
courts and mingled in public scenes. While
enra pe1 upOn an impOrtant embassy to HOl
land. he had undoubtedly often met anC
conycrsed with that remarkable and fnr
sighted man. William the Silent. Bradford
! n man Of Good family In the nei0hhorins