Daily Kennebec journal., 1898-01-13
KorrINGnAm's HISTORIC PLACLs.
The Ca. tie Museum and Its Interesting HIS
tory.
CAN Rights Reserved.)

is the finest show place in the toWn'
Like all the old English Stronsnoids IL
is built upon a naturally StIonS po'!-
ton on the top of hill, two sldes OF
which are $50 feet high ana nearly
perpendicular. The other sides Slope
down towards the town and are fa1rl}
steep. The old castle which GATED
from the eighth century was destroyed
NV fire during one of the reform riots IN
1881. and the backened walls OF the
ancient edfice were left for nearly haii
a century. In 1878 the building was
let To the corporation OF NottlhShd'h
at a merely nominal rent for the phF-
pose of a museum and art gallery. lac
ruins were completely restored, ana
at the end of the year the ne" pulid
ing was opened by the Prince ana
Princess of Wales.
The arched gateway by which one
enters the precincts of the castle u
worthy of our close inspection. IL >
old, very old having formed part OF III"
original castle, and around II mas peeH
fought many a fierce battle. Many
king or prince mas passed To ana lfo
from The castle through it, and through
these same gateways two kings have
passed to wage civil war with their
subiects--wars in which both lost their
lives. Richard III. marched from
here to BosWorth field. where ne fell,
and in IG43 Charles l.. after raising his
standard in the castle grounds, set II
up outside on Standard hill. All tins
and more. has passed round this an
cient arch. and if the stones could only
speak what exciting tales Of war and
strife they might tell us
In front of the castle one notices
curious opening IN the ground like the
entrance TO cellar. This is the
entrance 10 Il subterranean passage
known as "Murtimer's Hole. and il
once played an important part in the
history of England in this wise.
Edward H. had been deposcd ana
murdered: the government of the king
dom was carried on by Isabel. the
widowed queen in the name Of her
Young son. who was then only a hey
OF H. Isabers favoritc was Roger.
Earl Of Mortimer. who was largely re-
sponsible for the kings murder Both
he and the queen We're cordially mated
by all the people. but Roger felt him-
self secure. protected as he was, 10y
the queen. and neither Of them were
prepared for an out hurst Of spirit from
the young king. AT this time Edward
was Is and he resolved 10 rule his king
dom for himself Mortimer and Isabe!
were at Nottingham and the governor
of the castle admitted Edward and
party Of his friends through the under
ground passage Mortimer was sur
prised. and in spite Of Isabels en-
treaties was taken prisoner TO London.
The king was now his own master. 50
he called a Parliament and Mortimer
was condemned by the peers without
a hearing and hanged at TNburn. lsa-
bel was imprisoned al Castle Rising for
the rest OF her life. The underground
passage by which Mortimer entered
the castle has ever since been known
as .tMortimer's Hole" 1t winds about
the cliff in a curious manner with here
and there an embrasure where Crom-
Wells cannon poured forth shot and
shell on the heads of the devoted
cavaliers. and it finally leads down To
the road whence in olden times PROV
sions We're brought into the CaStl,.
The ola dungeons Of the castle, too.
are interesting if one remembers the
numbers nf illustrious people who have
been imprisoned there In 1892 Richarf
H. shut up in these dungeons "the
lord mayor. sherifls and aldermen Of
the city of London because some
Londoners had beaten an Italian who
had offered an object ionable loan to IN
king 1t is said that David, King OF
Scotland. who was taken prisoner by
Edward Ill. was confined here for ten
years; but there is no proof to con-
firm the story and we look in vain for
the carving of the Passion said to have
been carved by the royal captive or
his prison wall. If it was 50 it has
been quite oblterated by the hand Of
time.
From the front Of the castle is 4
magnificent view over the surrounding
country Far away in the distance the
silvery Trent can be dimly seen. and
above it the trees OF Clifton grove,
where the young. Inflated poet of Not
tingham loved to wander and drea m
his sweet fances This young man
was named kirkeWhite. His life was
very sad and he died a the early age
of y practically unknown and quite
unapprcciated After his death his
towns people discovered his worth
but. alas, too late. They could not
call him back however much they
might wish it.
To the west of Nottingham one can
see Violation han and park, the seat
of Lord Middleton and still farther
away the turrets and towers of the
''lorlly castle" of BelVoir, the seat of
the Duke of Rutland
While at Nottingham one should not
neglect to pay a visit to the cemetery
which is said to be one of the most
i'm England 1t is quite un-
like the usual cemetery. with it's rugged |
forest scenery and it abounds in caves
once the hiding places of Robin Hood |
and his "merrie men" There are the |
ruins of an old Druid temple which is
said to be one of the four quadrangula:'
temples which the Druids erected in |
Britain The others We're at Banjor. |
Stonehenge and Glastonbury. and as
these have all been destroyed the onc
at Nottingham is the last remaining
specimen.
An account of Nottingham would be |
quite incomplete without some mention |