“Where the rude buttress totters to its fall, And ivy mantles o’er the crumbling wall; Where e’en the skilful eye can scarcely trace The once high altar’s lowly resting-place-- Let patriotic fancy muse awhile Amid the ruins of this ancient pile-- Six weary centuries have passed away; Palace and abbey moulder in decay-- Cold Death enshrouds the learnèd and the brave-- Langton--Fitzwalter--slumber in the grave. But still we read in deathless records how The high-soul’d priest confirmed the Barons’ vow And Freedom, unforgetful, still recites This second birthplace of our Native Rights.” J. W. DONALDSON and J. MUSKETT. On the roll of illustrious visitors to the abbey are the names of Edward the Confessor, who always dismounted and approached the gates on foot; Richard I.; Henry I.; Henry II.; King John; Henry III.; Edward II.; Edward III.; and Richard II. The visit of Henry VI., with his Queen, took place during the rule of Abbot Curteys, at which time the poet Lidgate was a member of the fraternity. The foul murder of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, by the Duke of Suffolk (described by Shakespeare in _Henry VI._) is supposed to have taken place in St Saviour’s Hospital, which formed part of the abbey buildings. The writer, who had the pleasure of viewing the pageant presented at Bury St Edmunds in 1907, on a site near St Edmund’s chapel, was impressed by the historical fitness of the environment as the procession of black-robed monks filed slowly by, chanting an old Gregorian mode as they walked. Less realistic, if more diverting, was the spectacle of tonsured figures darting in and out of 20th century hostelries, and of Argyll cars filled with Roman and Elizabethan ladies and driven possibly by an Edwardian knight. These pageants, despite their incongruities, have much to commend them, reminding the English people, as they cannot fail to do, of the sources of their greatness, and illustrating to them so graphically the customs of the so frequently regretted “good old times.” WALTHAM (_Augustine Canons_) 1017-35, Village and church founded by Tovi--1060, Rebuilt and endowed by Earl Harold--1117, Regular Canons appointed in place of secular Canons by Henry II.--1216-70, A favourite residence of Henry III.--1444, Campanile of the church struck by lightning--1539-40, Surrendered to Henry VIII. by Abbot Robert Fuller. Annual revenue, £170, 4s. 9d--The site granted to Sir Anthony Denny, eventually passing to the family of Sir William Wake, Bart., D.C.L.--1847-63, Church restored--1875, North aisle added.