New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-09-11
C0TSW0LD HOLIDAY.
r:tb Memories of Shakespeare,
TcnngsoR and Pope.
.rirancester. Augast 81.


,iu country south and west OF Strsttord
-, :, ais native Warn icksllire; and il is prob
- ,bet in his youth ne WIS more familiar
.hs ,-srdaur wolds o. Gloacestersnire than
- any other portion Of England. II his
-. --se q WOOL stapier and glove merchant
- s~ farmer. the boy must have heard
osou+ ne wool fairs At Tewkesbury,
.--,4s,ea.s pno Clrsncesrer' ard possibly ne
en- crossed the s.;sep walks or the hilisiaes
a. Severn valley ard the sources o. the
-tsro.s There is local color in Hotspurs de-
-. IF ..ne7t-e Sever.1's sedgy bank in
- ~ ana also in No-thumberland's ac-
.,,,, NJ The Cotsvolds IN Richard It; These
high uild bills and rough, uneven ways anu
lille Tfrgtice Shallow was convenient 1ioeces-
..-eFire mask for sir Thomas Lucy. falstaH
.lir Al Tes1esbury mustard and snake
- -.osatea references 10 the sports. fairs
md occupations OF the hiiisrnen indicate HiS'
- ,,7ovledre of this breezy region. 1t may
easily be believed that Shakespeare accoihps-
- his father through stow-on-the-Wold and
uo,,r.on-on-the-water 70 Northleach, where
,,ooI Staplers had founded prosperous indus
- ana we're already handing down 10 future
s-stious their names and virtues in memorial
L..ss an The walls OF a stately church; and
-. he continued his journey 70 the wool fairs
- ~. ,usint town Of Cirencester. and that the
,,rh, NJ early impressions was in his eyes when
- MT .'Our town Of Chester il Glostershire
in BoIngbroke's mouth
Shakespeare is not the only ghost OF the ipra-
- corner that makes the rounds of these fuf-
o,-es hills At Cheltenham, the refuge Of An
,-Trsisns and pensioned officials Of the Civil
Service. Tennyson lived and took long walks
,ovard the hills while he was writing In Ne
,norisrn" and winning his spurs for what was
then the supreme literary honor of the laureate
shin The house which his mother took wnen
she shifted her residence from Kent 10 the West
f,our,rv stiu stands in St Janes's Square. OPP
nosite the Great Western Railway station: ana
The tourist hating in front Of a modern Gothic
church TO wait for an electric tram which VIII
carry him 10 the Midland Railway and old
TeEkespury stares vacantly at the Birthstone
front of the villa, with portico and balcony,
where the poet woCed the muses. in a thorough
IL unromantic environment There were then
open gardens around the widows Cheltenhasn
home. and there was sense Of retiremen: from
the hustle % town life; but everything vsns
changed H-hen the first railway station was
built opposite the house. and il is faded
and dismal villa in a crowded quarter OF the
toTn through which the noisy electric cars are
constantly passing. Tennyson was not unwiIl-
ing 20 forget beautiful Farringford. in the
Isle Of wight tnlS W6VE1ue haunt or me muses.
IN Gloucestershire; ana. while he never himself
MADE any acknowledgements TO the scenery Of
tire western hin country Mr.. Henry Branch and
other local writer's have found traces ~ the
green ana gold Cotswolds in In Menoriam.'
Certainly rennyson and Sydney Doben often
emerged from the portico Of the shabby little
house and started for long walks together
amDng the hills. where they could find calm
and deep peace on this high void"
In CirencesteF there is another literary ghost
astig on its daily rounds in sylvan shade. This
Pope who was often here as the guest OF
Lord Bathurst, in Oakley Park and assisted him
in laying out Of the most beautiful pleas
IRE grounds in England. Together they planned
the ten ieaty drivsways which were to rival
the vistas OF Chantilly. ana Dean Swift, when
he was also guest in the hospitabe hall de-
seribed the estate with unstinted enthusiasm
as one Of the most picturesque in the realm.
Pope's favorite resort is one Of the principal
attractions Of this splendid park It is about
a mile from the broad market square and the
stately parish church, and beyond II are the
Ceer parks. the kennels and the game pre-
serves When Pope was not measuring of his
precise pentametre verse he was planting FRS
opening rosdways on paper ana hunting on the
downs; and II there be attractive power In the
fulhlmeHt Of dreams his spirit must still haunt
these leafy glades and woodland fox lairs one
mag rice eleven or fifteen miles through this
noble domain. and Lord Bathurst's hounds OF
Cirencesrer and Cricklade and the Duke Of
Beauforts pack have range Of nearly thirty
- miles for their winter meets Cirencester is the
chief hunting centre o. the CotswoIds. where
the sporting traditions Of the Elizabethan De
rod are h0nored. II foxes are not taken every
tine the hounds are started in the hunting
7 season. is because there are so many OF then,
~ Fopes happy hunting ground that they cross
one anothers tracks and bafhe their pursuers
mar Is the local explanation Of the light NOR
AMY among foxes when there are such elab-
crate preparations for their destruction; and IL
Is as peculiar as The provincial pronunciation
q The staid old Roman town: "Ciceter' for
"Cirencester~
poets have loved the Cotswolds in the past
painters have made il In the present one ~
"aet iaFoute haunts Fairford is one Of the
enuanoes 10 this beautiful hill country from
NAiofd when one Is in search Of Old World
FHlages ana woodland trout streams far from
'Hs hsaaing crowd" and n John Keble once
'uo"ea pensively aloEg the banks OF the Coin
''A SOU atiuned 10 beautiful hymns artists
nave also been attracted by the loveliness Of
'He seenefs- William Morris artist as well as
bI AVeo not far away az Kelrnscott and
=" sargent has spent mis- holidays IN arduous
HA al Fairford. with its parish church
''i'sa with painted windows; and Mr.. Abbey
-Ast ms summer home there. playing cricket
village eleven MS own grounds, and
cary and late in a grandiose barn
ps-H1ii'ss can be hoisted high among
'e1s and models sTrayed from a COS
- t'''A as complete and well ordered as the
ooes ana scene lofts OF the best managed
Theatre y
ae followed across ,he Cotswoldr - C-hs,,s--
-' ara MANY % The best IsrSncan. o..n.a-.