Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-04

Than be perkcd in clustering gref
KING HENRY vIII.-s
American capital is stirring not only the
present but also the ancient nobility of
England. Rich men from the western
shore of the Atlantic are purchasing estates
that were once the domains Of royalty, and
causing the countryside to rake up many
tradition of their early glory. Within the
last fortnight the descendant of a wealthy
New York Family bought what is reputed to
be the birthplace of a queen, and about
which. even as the ivy Of it's moated walls.
clings the story Of the hapless Anne Boleyn.
And so when William Waldorf Aston pur-
chased Hever Castle. near Seven Oaks.
Kent. for f37, GOO. some days ago. the good
country folk started to tell again the ro-
nance of the woman because of whom 1t Is
chiefly famous. Though three places claim
to be her birthplace the people Of Kent con-
tend that Anne Boleyn was born at Hever
in 1907. the favorite abode of her father.
Sir Thomas Boieyn. Here. they say. she
spent not only the first seven years of a
happy childhood. but also later period of
exile from the court of Henry VIII. because
she had dared love a younger and hand
somer man than her monarch. Here. too,
Queen Elizabeth is said to have visited
years afterward to behold the home of her
mother and do honor to her memory.
Conflict of Traditions.
Despite the conflict of various traditions
as to the place of her birth. it is known
that the future wife Of Henry VIII lived at
Hever Castle before she was sent to France
to the court Of Louis XII. when she was
a seven-year-old girl. 1t was venerable
and imposing structure which was built
in the reign of Edward III by a Norman
baron. William de Hever. and embattled as
today with moat, portcullis. draWbrtdge
Nd ND trxu 90 tnv tha foe of n
feudal fortress. The banquet hail. which in
recent years has been used as kitchen,
was huge. for it had been built for baro-
NAL festivities. before the father and
mother Of Anne made it their home, with a
less free purse for such extravagances. The
windows Of the long winding galleries bore
the shields of many generations.
It was a quiet place for the child All It's
heraldic bearings were of a former gran
deur. Sir Thomas Boleyn. her father, and
the grandson Of Sir Godfrey Boleyn, who
purchased the castle, had only the returns
of the farm. together with a cash income of
$50 a year. when he first made 1t his home.
The little girl found the court Of France
therefore, in striking contrast to. her Eng
lish home. She had gone thither in the
retinue Of Mary, the sister Of the King of
England, who became the wife of the aged
Louis XII. Here her father thought his
little daughter would obtain culture and
education which would fit her to be a lady
Of the court. The father reckoned well, but
fatally.
Return From France.
When Anne Boleyn came back to Hever
In exile some years later, the joy Of her
early life had forever departed. She was
already within the power of the fckle
hearted English sovereign, and was des-
tined never to escape from him until at last
she went to the scaffold in the Tower of
London, at the age of twenty-nine. After
spending eight years in France, she had ex
changed the gay life Of the French capital
for the court of Henry where her beauty,
as one Of the queens maids of honor, soon
surrounded her with group of admirers.
The king smiled at her, but she did not
realize then what his smiles meant Before
long she had fallen in love with the gallant
and dashing Sir Henry Percy, a Hotspur,
son of the Earl Of Northumberland.
1t appears that Sir Percy used to come to
court with Cardinal Wolsey, the chief coun-
cillor Of the king at that time, and while
his master was closeted with the monarch
the young page found the opportunity to
meet the dark-eyed, dark-haired Anne. The
girl excelled In music. she could sing and
dance, and her lively manner completely
conquered the heart Of the Hotspur.
Suddenly the girl was banished from
court and sent to the secluded walls of
Hever. The king told her father that she
could not marry Sir Percy, as he had
chosen another husband for ner. Even the
Earl Of Northumberland was summoned to
court, and told he must terminate his sons
behest. the father soundly trounced his son,
so far as words could secure such a chas-
tisement, and to clinch things the young
man was compelled to marry another.
Gossips Of Kent.
The old gossips of Kent still tell stories
of the exile of the beautiful Anne Boleyn,
and how she was wont to wander up and
down the windy gallery Of Hever Castle
moaning for her lover. On stormy nights
even now they say one can hear the sorrow
full voice Of a young woman singing in
doleful minor key some old love song of
Normandy. Hedge-lined paths are still
pointed out where it Is said she went in
her lonely walks, and trees where she knelt
and wept. Critics of Anne Boleyn. the
queen, would be compelled to admire Anne
Boleyn. the maiden. If all the stories about
her disappointed love are true.
There was little at Hever to overcome the
young girls distraction. The dark meats
with their stagnant waters, the foreboding
shadows which lurked around the round
towers, all tended to increase her melan-
choly. In the long gallery, the stained
glass windows, with their heraldic devices,
four-coated shield in her mothers right, of
Howard, Brotherton. Warren and Nav
bray; and the seven quarters of the pater-
nal Hoo, st. Omer, MalmainS, Wickenham,
st. Leger, Wallop and Ormond.
The father is said to have misunderstood
the motive of the king In sending his
daughter nome from court until one night,
when, according to popular legend, the
seneschal Of the house announced that
the king was without. the moat. Hastily
sending his daughter to her room, with
the command to ''get to bed in trice"
Sir Thomas ordered the drawbridge low
cred and the portcullis raised. To the
wonderment of It's owner the castle did
not resound with the bugles of a caval-
cade. The king had come almost alone
The royal visitor indeed seemed i'll at ease,
and. after due refreshments, he made some
transparency feeble pretext for seeing the
daughter Anne.
Your majesty was the reply 'the girl
is ill and cannot be disturbed. She is now
asleep in her ROOM
Returns to Henry's Court.
When the news came that her lover had
married another Anne Is said to have
thrown off her sorrow, SO far it was
visible. and attempted to enliven the
gloomy halls of Hever with French songs
and dances which she had learned at the
court at Paris Later when the word
came from the king that she should re-
turn to court, she is said to have express
ed great delight, and on her return to have
Joined in the gayety Of the palace with an
abandon that was new to her. Her sub
seauent career, the Vaccinations of the
king. his advances and his repeated apol-
ogieS, the divorce Of Queen Catharine the