The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1903-03-27

|
place in the nations annals, might
have vanished amid surroundings
which benumb the energies and stit1e
the ambitions of those situated in a
more genial cline. Not only was Puri-
tan unrest abroad in England at this
time, but Catholic unrest as we'll.
And this was manifested in the expe-
dtions which set forth for the shores
Of the Chesapeake.
wARDOUR CASTLE.
"At the death of his father in 1882,
and at the time of the granting of the
charter of Maryland,' the lecturer
stated, "Cecilius Calvert, the lord pro-
prictary, was young man of 2G, hav-
ing been born in 1906 He was at this
period living a. Wardour Castle, the
ancestral home of the Arundells. He
had married Lady Anne Arundel in
1929, she being the daughter of Lord
Thomas Arundel, surnamed the Val
liant, who was made count of the Holy
Roman Empire, by Emperor Rudolf
II, for gallan.ry at the Turkish siege
of Grau.
"The Arundells came into England
at the Conquest, Roger de Arundel, a
Norman, being the founder of the fam
lily. AS the family crest is founded
upon a swallow, the French word for
which is hirondele, it is probably from
this source that the derivation and
pronunciation of the name arise. The
name is invariably pronounced Ar-un-
dell, with the accent upon the first
syllable, and Calvert is always pro-
nounced in England with the broad a.
"Wardour is situated in Wiltshire,
between Salisbury and the old Druidic
field of Stonehenge. The present cas-
tie was built in 1776, after the return
of the Arundells TO the splendor which
had been theirs before the destruction
of Old Wardour, in 1643. Among the
most interesting relics of the old cas-
tie still preserved is the state couch,
on which have rested Kings Charles
II and James II, showing the loyalty
of the Arundells to the house of Stuart.
"The portrait of Lady Anne Arun-
dell, by Van Dyke, in the quaint dress
and couture Of the period, is also pre-
served, and hangs very fittingly in the
castle, almost opposite the tall Gothic
window overlooking the ivy-colored
ruins of her girlhood's home, Old
Wardour. On the way to the old cas-
tie one passes Hook House, the dowry
house she brought to Lord Baltimore
upon their marriage.
"Old Wardour is still a very majes-
tic ruin, and carries one back to the
fatal days of the civil war, and its gal
liant defense by Lady Blanche, the
sisterin-law Of Lady Baltimore. For
five days Of desperate siege in May,
1913, she held tue castle with 25 re-
tainers against Parliamentary army
of 300, and finally surrendered with
honor. The victors violated the con-
ditions, and her young son, returning
after the death of his father from OK
ford, sprang a mine and destroyed this
splendid old feudal stronghold.
"Four massive towers still flank the
old castle quadrangle, from which
winds rarely beautiful staircase to
the grand banqneting hall above, where
Lord and Lady Baltimore probably
attended many a gay cavalier rout.
Upon the crumbling ruins grows today
Virginia crceper, which the present
Lord Arundel states came from Mary
land three centuries ago, and also near
by massive old iron tree, as it is
called, Of many trunks, smooth and
white -barked, which is also said to
have come from the Maryland planta-
tion over the sea"
Miss Mory quoted from the "Calvert
Papers" letters from Lord Baltimore,
showing his eager desire for such
"rarities" and "tokens' from his plan
tation as 'lyons, hawkes. and red
birdes,' as we'll as "Indian mats to
flower room'-the latter probably
intended for the banqucting hall of Old
Wardour, which now stands roohess,
untapestried and exposed to the rude
ministry of wind and weather.
MIGHT HAVE BEEN CALLED CREsCENTIA
Lord Baltimore,' continued Miss
Mory, chad intended to- call his colony
CrcsceEtia, as a sign, probably, of
good omen and prosperous increase.
Baltimoreans might today he dating
their postal communications from Bal.
timorc, Crescentia,' had not Charles |,
remembering that Virginia was named
in honor Of the great Tudor Queen,