The Bourbon news., 1902-01-17
Incarceration.
HOWTH CASTLE A WONDER.
tains "a Remarkably Fine
Estate.

There is no more inveterate bach
elor in all the United Kingdom than
Lord Howth, the rugged Irish peer
of 20 odd who is the last of his line
And there are few more interesting
family seats than Howth's castle
which has been the home of my lords
ancestors for over 500 years. 1t has
never received the pubic attention il
! deserves. The castde, which is about
II miles from Dublin, is an impressive
structure, built high on the side of a
! bleak hill in the center of Lord Howth's
5000 acres. The rising ground upon
which it stands is bare looking enough
in every season but>spring, when it be-
! comes one mass of brilliant blooms,
whole acres being covered with rho
| dOdendrons and aZaleas. Symmetrical
hedges of beechwood, which, thanks to
centuries of careful cultivation, are
now over 30 feet high, surround the
castle grounds, while one of the elm
! trees on the estate has over 300 years
! 10 its credit, says a London exchange.
The barons of Howth won their dis
tinguished position in Ireland by some
! hard fighting. The first of them al,
! Sir ArmOricus Tristram, the builder of
! the historical castle, landed a HOwth
in 1117, fought and defeated the native
sOldiery and then threw in his lot
! with the famous champion, Sir John de
! COurcy, and helped him to subdue the
! sturdy folk Of Ulster. The present
Lord Howth takes special pride in
| showing visitors to the castle his fight
ing ancestors sword, which still hangs
| in the stronghold he built himself
! Lord Howth lays claim to a tinge of
royal blood as well, for the fifteenth
baron married a daughter of the duke
! OF Somerset, who was relative of King
| Edward III. His successor was an
other fighting man. When in Henry
Wis time there was a determined re-
bellion in Ireland, he placed his sword
at the disposal Of the king, and for his
deeds at the appropriately named bat
| tie of Knocktough was made lord chan
! cellor of Ireland.
Round the cd castle clusters many
a strange legend of olden times, with
! OlG u NlllNH q I VI lOAlS Gus NO4li OOHNl NON
there is associated. The tale runs that
an Irish chieftainess, on returning
from a visit paid to Queen Elizabet
| stopped at the Howth castle for food
and drink, but found all the gates shut
and barred, if being the dinner hour.
Angry at being disappointed, and hap
pening to see the baron's little heir tod
] II = L - l.
own castle in Mayo. Moreover, she re-
fused TO lease the child until his father
had bound not only himself but his
heirs never again TO close the castle
gates at dinner time. Centuries have
passed since the covenant was made,
but every baron has observed it faith
fully.
The present owner Of the castle, al
though only the fourth earl, is the
thirtieth baron of Howth. A man of
wealth, with a town house in Jermyn
street, besides his Irish home, many a
matchmaking mamma has cOunseIed
that her daughters cap be set for him,
but all in vain. In his time he was de-
termined liberal and for years repre-
sented Galway in the house of com
mOnH but now is out of harness and
prefers to spend his winters at Borne
mouth, quiet seaside resort, to legis-
lating at Westminster.
The Plague In the Middle Ages.
1t is consoling, now we are hearing
so much about epidemics and infec-
ton, to compare the precautions taken
against smallpox with the more un-
pleasant ones enforced in the middle
ages. For, although the great plague
of 1865 is the one we know most about.
not a generation passed in the 800
years preceding it which was not
marked by a pestilence that carried
off about one-fifth of the population
of London alone. AS long as the poor
only were attacked nothing was done:
then victims were counted among the
rich, and vigorous measures were
forthwith, taken. All infected houses
were closed, and any inhabitant forced
to go out of doors carried a white rod
to warn people off. From every pump
in the city 1g buckets of water were
drawn, three times week, and poured
down the street. Good Queen Bess
went one better, of course, and set I'D
gallows for the hanging of any cit
izen who had concealed a case of
plague. No doubt. if she still lived.
she would hang the conscientious OBJ
jector instsad.-LUndon Chronicle.