New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-31
BYRON AND NEWSSTAND"
LITERARY sHRINEs OF NOTTINGHAM

A
Nottingham. September III.
The shire Of Nottingham is not very large, not
more than fifty miles long by thirty broad, but
1t is second to none. in the attributes or us
tinctive character and it contains some Of the
grandest estates and most precious historic
relics in England From the esplanade Of the
Castle Muse I'm. upon the top Of the caverned
rock which is the highest point in the city, you
may look toward stately Wollaston in the west:
ucknall-Torkard, containing the grave OF
Lord Byrol and beautiful Newsead Abbey, in
the north: Southwell, with its quaint abbey anu
lovely chapter house.-the finest in Europe
further aield, in the northeast; the Vale or
Belvor in the east; and those verdant plans
southwark, through which, in sun and shadow
flows the broad and splendid Trent Upon every
side the scene is enchanting with rural charW
and impressive with stored antiquity Here
Alfred the Great warred with the Danes Here
the Norman William laid upon the people MS
strong hand Of conquest and tyranny. Here
Robin Hood and his merry followers ''fieeted the
time" i'm the golden age Here Roger Mortimer
and his wicked consOrt Isabella, "she-wolf of
France" were seized by King Edward Ill
suddenly operant upon them through those sub
terranean caves and aisles which the visitor OF
to-day may still traverse. And here, when the
Wars OF the Roses were surgng around the
ancient citadel Of Nottingham. full often came
that expeditions, intrepid Richard who was the
most brilliant dangerous, fateful figure in all
the royal annals of England Not far away.
and easily to be reached by a brief journey
to either Worksop or Mansfield. is the romantic
region Of Sherwood Forest.-some part Of
which is still preserved.-and through that fra
grant and verdurous tract scattered. at prodi-
4
Welbec. Clumber. RuNord. Hardwick. and
Thoresby. conspicuous among the stateliest OF
English homes lovely with scenery haunted
with legend, ii ,rious with art. and quite incom-
parable to the dignity of majestic repose
Every place has a history, but the Inhabitants
a rule. seldom never consider it. No matter
which city of England you visit you will find
almost always. the same state Of things You
will find that the people who live in it today
chiefly anxious to how they shall live in
it tomorrow. They are but little concerned rs
to its antiquities. and. habitually. they care not
for its past. Nottingham Is the city in which
Charles the First reared his standard. when at
length he determined to wage war against the
Parliament of England, and surely if any spot
ought to be marked 1t is the spot which that
ominoIs ceremony took place. Nothing
memorates 1t: nothing designates il. The exact
place Is believed to be in the grounds of a hospi-
tai close to the castle. Henry Kirke White
next to Chatterton the most remarkable boy
poet that ever lived and died in Engand,-was
born in Nottingham: but the only commemora-
ton OF him in the town is a coarse portrait,
upon the exterior of his birthplace house in
Exchange Alley. Cheapside which is now a
eer-shop Whites father was a butcher and a
portion Of the house in which the poet was born
Ii butchers shop now. even as it was then.
White was born March 81. 1875, and ne died
October 10. 1906. in his 21st year. and was
buried at Cambridge. where his death occurred.
The house, a little low. two-story cottage stands
ct the end Of a narrow lane. leading from
Cheapside to the spacious Market Place Of
Northumberland to be the largest market place
in England. The room that was the poets.-he
called 1t "study."-s a sort of closet. just over
the door Of the beer-shop lit by a tiny window,
and I'm all ways suited for a doll Many a sad
hour the poor lad passed in that ROOM They
used him an errand-boy. to deliver butch
ers meat, and then get him at stocking loom,
and then made him lawyers clerk and at
last contrved to send him to Cambridge Uni
versity. where he killed himself with hard study.
dying OF a consu npton. before he had begun to
live. prompted the vender Of beer in his BIRTH
place. this morning, to talk about the house and
the poet who was born in it. and was favored
with the opinion that the small room in which
the boy dwet proved very favorable to his poet
ical composition, because. being small and con-
tanning scarcely anything. it could not distract
his attention from his thoughts That sapient
opinion delivered in a little taproom con-
tanning benches, tables, and n cosey fireplace
and being truly an ideal nook for such con-
vivial souls as like to do their tipping in rustic