New-York tribune., 1904-09-25
A C0TSW0LD HOLIDAY.
With Gim pses of Beauty and Stored
SpIendor Among the High Hills.
observation-disclosures. September IA.

a, vh~n the heldpaths are followed through
So vide valleys, and the woodland frs rustic
,.b the breath of early autumn. but the HILL
,.6s pastures with reddish glow lighting up
:. noonday among the blue mists OF distant
ocbes Of horizon, are silent sheepfolds, and
-, struggling village with its stonefaced
stages concealed behind high hedgerows,
sa.r,s empty and deserted. Yet II is an ancient
--,el,sh shire where history has been made In
he dreamy, storied past, and the stones in the
.h,,rcb towers and In the gabled manor houses
nrv ont for recognition OF their oldtime glory.
:. this beautiful old Cotswold village the ground
q hailowed by hoary tradition. Winchcombe
was certainly Mercian city. il not the capital
At western kingdom and the quaint church.
x..h its ernbattled tower. was built by Norman
sbbot centuries after an early British abbey was
endowed for Benedictine monks and pilgrimages
.rere made 10 the shrine of a golden legend.
When the stately gateway on the precipitous
hill is entered there are "reminiscences or
many reigns The first Lord Sudeiey was one
OF the warriors Of Henry V; another lord OF the
manor attended Lady Jane Grey to the scaf-
fold and received her prayer book as her final
gift; Queen Katherine PaTr ended her days at
sudeIey Castle after her fourth marriage. and
Sir William Waller captured the stronghold
after a feeble defence by the supporters OF King
Charles.
through Winchcombe on her way to the castle.
WITH tr1,rnnets sounding and cannon laundering
from the medieval walls. The village, with its
Taoobear cottage fronts. may have fallen asleep.
hut the church tower built by an abbot has
looked down upon imperial revels. and the cas-
de itself has been rescued from ruin and tbs
quadrangle restored TO its Elizabethan state.
These Cotswold villages cannot live and thrive
IKE Stratford. great memories. Rich as they
are in traditions, when every country parish is
mentioned n Domesday Book. they are poor in
rss0urces. with dwindling hocks. shrinking cropo
and lost industries. The farming population has
bsh forced back upon the land and narrowed
and straitened IN means. Great imperialists
have been nurtured among these windswept
hills Eastward from Winchcombe. a, little way
beyond Stow on the Void, is the vicarage where
Warren Hastings was born and not far removed
IS Daylesford House. where he passed in serenity
his closing years, unaffected by alternating cur
rents OF glory and obloQuy; and westward, in
the Severn valley. Lord Ellenborough, one OF the
great viceroys Of India. was buried in a tiny
Norman church. The Cotswold folk. with the
inspiration OF these names ought to be able ito
think imperialy," which Mr.. Chamberlain con-
tends Is the bounden duty Of the modern Eng
lshman, and possibly they have done so TO their
cost long before there a fiscal question.
CheitenhaTn haG a learned EcnOOilnaSter IN the
Elzabethan period who read the records of
American discovery and cOrresponded with Sir
Humphrey Gilbert on the subject OF tobacco
planting. Receiving packages OF seed from Vir-
ginia, he taught small farmers how to raise to-
bacco around Cheltenham and Winchcombe, and
by Cromwells time there was a prosperous in
dustry with plantations OF considerable size in
the uplands and protected valleys OF the Cots
wolds The Colonial planters and merchants
appealed 10 Parliament 10 prohibit and destroy
this new branch of agriculture In the mother
country and il was done, but not until there had
been a spirited revolt against drastic measure
enacted In the interest of Colonial producers.
The struggling Cotswold industry was sacrificed
for the benefit Of Virginia and the Carolinas,
and the planters. VINO were varying their crops
and seeking to profit by scientific discovery,
were compelled TO revert 10 barley and mutton.
II is doubtful IL the most progressive spirits
among them were allowed the consolation of
believing that they were good imperiaIists in
making sacrifice for the welfare OF an empire.
BurfoFd is another Cotswold village which is
linked with the Elizabethan era. It's ivy clad
priory is in the centre OF a neglected garden
fringed with alders and willows Of the Wind
rush. and, while it is an empty ruin, the walls
are stiIl standing from buttress 10 gable. and
there are TAX ceilings and delicate stone cary
lng. The beauty Of famous manor house is
heightened by the wiidness OF the surroundings,
especially in these September days, when the
Aeeees are tlnged with russet and glints OF gold
and the vines are red. with auturnnal splendors.
one of Queen Elizabeth's judges built the man
sion, and Lord Falkland's literary friends. Ben
sonson and Cowley. were often entertained
thefs King Charles was received in state at
he prory whenever he visited Burford. and
s-lsE his death Speaker Lenthal was the squire
WIN me craft and diplomacy required for hunt
AE Win CromWellians and running with royal
sis The gables are now mellow with age and
ns stacco ornaments have crumbed, and tn.
banquet hall. the smoking rooms, the chanel
ana tne lawns are silent. except when the rook.
are rehearsing low comedy in the thicket and
As brook beyond is playing soft accompani-
N'eHI The historic memories may be less i'm
piesslVe than those Of the restored Sudeley Cas-
ue out IN its desolation and neglect the priory
s enc OF the most beautiful. ruins in the Cots
~olos. and St has sympathetic setting OF Will
esrness and trout stream. Around it in the hol-
~" OF the hills Is somnolent village. where was
once hourishing town. with races and tourna-
Nenus' markets and manufactures Monarchs
zee entered II in triumph from Elizabeth 70
~-ai4eS a ana the Georges, and now not even a
p'seecoach trundles over the roads and the
HsllWay is far sfleld at Cirencester or Hartford.
me willows are as fresh as ever on the hor
1eiS OF the brooks. and the oaks and elms as
-eh IA Foliage in the woodlands but the life has
sue out OF villages ana towns which were CEN
@ " wealth and population when the Cots
churches were built Poor, neglected.
10y BuTford has as large and as beautiful a
$3.50 church as can be found in the kingdom.
49, MASSIVE tower and shaDeIy spire. fan-trac-
&c esoeiicate as artists of the Tudor period could
80 ana carving in oak roof and stone porch
: ~e1oeptlonaI boldness and grace. The church