New-York tribune., 1880-01-11
THEDRAGON OF DRAGSBURY,
WITH pARTICULA OF A MOST INDUSTRIOUS
TOAD

u
,ariicnlar-is the railway station to a small
,oDvn or a big village, call it which you please,
somewhere either in mid-Surrey. or IN mid
Kent; nora am prepared to make aflidaVl' that IL
Is not in mid-SusseX. But Tor one CIR
rnmstance =, Ito which shall presently allude)
the traveller passing Dragsbury by ral might
imagine that the entire village was comprised
in Mrs. Sippet's beer-shop, the Travellers
Jov, and two or three brick boxes, one with
a nig-stv IN the rear, presumably labOrers cot
tases; and might consequently attach to
Dragsbury itself the very smallest Topographic
cal importance. But there happens l" pe'
within fifty yards of Mrs. Sippets beer-shop'
and on the very brink of the railway, an obr
iect which at once attracts the attentlOn or
even the most apathetic traveller. In the
midst of a field in which cattle are graziuG you
see rising before you, stark. gaunt and gray the
cbancel wall of some old abbey church, with one
cumbling buttress left, and the wall itself
pierced by long since unglazed WINDOW ol
six lights e..
of the past is, l should say, peiPeh-
dicular Gothic. There is nothing else, neither
stock nor stone left of that which, II You be
archeologcally inclined, you will rememner
was, once upon time, the famous behedic-
tine Abbey OF Dragsbury, so frequently men
Toned IN Dugdale's MOnasticOE Angcanum,
aud in FOsbroke's British Monachism. lhs
historic convent, with the broad acres, wind
mills and chalk pits belonging to 1T, was con-
fscated at the Reformation by Henry the
VIII. That factious monarch turned all the
monks out of doors with the kindly assurance
that they would receive small pensions TO the
end of their lives. These pensions, OF course,
were never paid, and the expelled frlars were
left to shift for themselves as best they could.
However proportion of their number perl
odically disappeared. as Sidney Smiths an,
cestors did, "abOut the time OF the Asslzes,'
SO that the country was not bur
dened for any length of years with
the cost of their maintenance:
Careful King Jamie presented it for a con-
sideration,' to Sir Archibald McGufog OF
North Britain, and assistant dog-whlp bearer
cannie mon y sold the property at handsome
nToft to Lord Newchiel, who had just bought
a peerage from the Royal fountain of honor
(the Newchiels had been Turkey merchants),
and who wished to found an ancestral line
with an historic home.
Everybody has heard of the chivalric
loyalty to the Crown displayed by one
member at least of the baronial family
during the Civil Wars. The noble holder OF
the title felt. indeed, impelled at an early
period of the struggle to retire 70 the Cont
nent, taking with him the family plate
and jewels, and as much ready money
threats and blows, extract from devoted
tenantry; but the heroic defence made
against the Parliamentary forces by bis noble
lady, left with five small children, a number
of tall foOtmen with unpaid wages, and an
insufficient supply of ammunition and provis-
ions in Dragsbury Abbey, must be familiar to
all readers of Clarendon. The valiant Lady
Newchiel had to capitulate at last; and the
commander of the besieglng force, much NOR
tilted at the discovery that the abbey con-
tanned nothing worthy of being plundered, pro-
ceeded to blow it up bodily. Nothing was
left standing but the chancel-wall of the abbey
chapel which had been converted INTO bar
But y Dragon an T. Iwoad dldn gaw III t
blow up,' remarked 10 me the Oldest lnhabitant,
when on Summer afternoon we were dlscOurs-
ing on the bygo1e history OF Dragsbury Abbey
over a tankard Of mild ale, on the bench
outside Mrs. Sippets beershop, the travellers
[ pricked up my ears when the Oldest In
habitant spoke of the blowing up OF Drags-
4 dragon and a toad ? I observed eagerly ;
'how came such things to be thereP
"A dragon an a twoad. A most monstratious
twoad,' repeated the ancient man. bidder
niyir 'eer o. t. big Dragon o DragsbuTyT
1T wur t stoofed hides O t dragon an t
twoad as hoong up, a. doosty, loik,' to Z
raafters O. t ould chapel that Z Roondheads
blowed up. Hoonders O. years ould wur that
dragon an that twoad r. RooDdhead cap'n
had 'em tak'n down afOre he bi0wed up chapel.
They's hanging to timber roof o Dragsbury
Church neaw. Vow can see 'em by glng sexton
'fIl go this mnutep exclaimed.
WAN wur yOOng,' resumed the Oldest In
habitant (he had previously parenthet1cally,
and with slight touch Of pathos III his tone.
remarked that u aale wur oot'),-'wan wur
yoong, ould fo'uk yowsed to caall t village
Dragon Dragsbury. That wur before t rail-
road and noosepegpers and such-lk' fandan,
COOS and stOoof. Many a time aa'ye heerd
my gran'dad tell tales abo0t ould dragon
and u monstratiOus twoad and chap as
cOtched 'un. Sexton can tell yer lot more
tales, I'll go bail, if VOW gP 'un sixpence.
Wall, dOan't mind if | du teak anlther pot,
squire It's uncommon comfortable aale.'
hof Ua anauOb
Comfortable ale was brought, and listened
to all that the Oldest lnhabltant had to say con
cernlng the Dragon Of Dragsbury and the
'monstratious Twoad.' And then l strOlled
upon the dragon and the toad suspended from
the roof OF Dragsbury old church. At least /
saw two objects hanging from the ratters OF
the omen tmber-rOOf, which objects the sex
ton-a most Notwithstanding man, for he
was bald, and wore spectacles-,-solelnniy as
sured me were the dragon and the toad which
in olden times had made Dragsbury renowned.
yea. twice over. And then / returned to
town; and very late in the night season,
over cigar and the juice OF many
lemons, / began to turn over ine leaves
of Schiller's KdmW nat dem Drdc9en, WIN
the wonderful etchlngs of Moritz Retsch thereto;
aud shaped the ancient legend oi the Dragon
OF Dragsbury into this
Another chine OF beef gone Brother Law
renee p
And such beef! Another tat pOrkcr, too,
taken unto itself wings during the night. Three
sucking-pigs two geese. and side OF bacon
clean gone
Anything else, Brother LawrenceT
All me! Father Abbot, much, much more has
vanished. Item, half lamb item, two capOns
Of grease item, a peacock and tW peahens,
which were To have been roasted for your
lordship's breakfast this very morning item,
warden pie of venison item, two kllderkins
OF red herrings, frkin Of butter, eight dozen
n af,r,l IL. Dor .ss1
bag OF meal, a barrel of strong beer of the
October brewing. nine neats' tongues, a keg