Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-02-15

to Hucknall Torkard, hunting Byron's
grave. and was met by one OF the inhab-
itants with the rejoinder, byron? All
niyer 'eerd on i'm. Yer means Ben Caunt."
Ben Caunt was a noted pugiIist- Anybody
In N~ottinghamshlre can tell you where his
grave is in st. Mary's churchyard. A look
of kindling intelligence and sympathy
came into the Diapers face as he handed me
NV change, while he told me that very many
came to drop a tear on poor old Ben's grave.
But as the draper had only been in Huck-
nail Torkard for the matter of IL months,
he could not tell me about st'other unr'
At the Dreary Churchyard.
After this 1 made my way in silence to
the churchyard. A high iron fence sur
rounded it. The gate was locked, and the
grave-bordered walk leading to the church
entrance seemed suggestive of disuse of the
place either for the solace of the living or
care of the dead. Dreading further in
quiries of the villagers, 1 walked around the
dark and drear old spot, hoping to find some
way OF entrance alone. This was u~navail-
ing. Returning to the gate. L saw across the
open space below the square a crowd of
bedraegled women and children watching
my movements attentlvely.
One with a babe at her breast and three
little ones pulling at her ragged skirts, held
aloft some huge, jangling keys. Then the
crowd laughed at the signaling aud my
shamefaced nod of acquiescence, and part of
its hungry members advanced to the gate.
They were scrawney savage creatures all,
with bare feet, breasts, heads and with a
troop OF woltish Young tagging after. l
bought them all off save the one with the
keys on condition that the gate should be
locked after us; and by the time my guide
and the brood had effected this, every one
of her former companions had disappeared
with shrill-voiced raillery into various
dram shops of the square below.
An Incredible BeittIement.
That one could make such pilgrimage in
England to the shrine of anyone of her
mighty dead, and find it within such pitiably
mean and abject surroundings, is a degrad-
ing reproach on the whole English-speakiDg
race. Only the ghouls who have ceaselesslv
besmirched Byron's name and fame could
come here and not cry out with pain and
outraged GRIEF at the endless taunt and
shame of this incredible belittlement.
The sodden woman, dawdling her keys
beside ME and staring vacuously at the
meager light above the chaucel, was fitting
type of the insensate foreetfuluess and OBJ
livion to which these poor relics Of one pos
sessIng sublime genius have been doomed.
L aSNCu Z AdiiCiiuSiy IL d SiCdt Hduy
visitors did not come to st. Mary's. She
"'ad not 'eerd it." fit were so. But were
there not in, say, a years time 1000 or
5000? She laughed outright, and informed
me that not enough came to provide any
decent family with ga pint a day." This
was a new view of it. Byron's grave, not
worth. for income, a pint of beer a dayl
Well, were there ], 900? She shook her head
contemptuouslv. Did 800 come each year?
Were there $50?
"Niver fluffy (ifty). mon, on'y wen tn
restoration do be-"
One Memorial Tablet.
This restoration" occurred in 1883. 1t is
a sounding, significant word. The little old
church was then a ruin with the exception
of the tower. Apparently not 81, 600 was
expended. The walls are up again. The
roof is whole. A commonplace east window
is standing above the altar. A tiny chancel
was added, and little boxes of transepts
were put in. At the right of the chancel,
above the choir, is this memorial tablet; -,
In the Vault beneath
where many of his ancestors and his mother are
buried
Lie the remains of
George Gordon Noel Byron,
Lord Byron. of Rochdale,
In the county of Lancaster.
The Author of Child Harold's Pilgrimage.
He was born in London on thu
22d of January, l7S8.
He died at Missolongbi, in Western Greece,
%. on the
10th of April, 1924.
Engaged in the glorious attempt to restore that
country to her ancient freedom and renown.