“Thys made Roger” are the words boldly carved over the gateway; telling us that the first Lord Clifford was the great builder of the castle. His grandson added largely to it; and a mighty place it must have been. Cliffords of Brougham and a dozen other strongholds dared with impunity what smaller men would have been ruined to attempt the tenth part of; and the messengers of Kings, sent with formidable sealed documents, have been set down to dine at Brougham Castle upon the wax and parchment of the commands they brought, and have made a hearty, but involuntary, meal upon those unappetising materials under the grim eyes of my lord, without wine to wash them down or condiment to flavour them withal. [Illustration: YANWATH HALL.] And now the scene is merely the subject for an artist; and a beautiful subject, too. The old ruins stand in an ideal situation, in an undulating grassy meadow, sloping towards the sparkling Eamont, framed in with trees, and with distant mountains closing in the scene. [Sidenote: _COUNTESS PILLAR_] Such is the present condition of the old Countess Ann’s pride; but something of her passion for commemoration remains, not so far away, in the monument known in all this countryside as the Countess Pillar; built by her in 1656. It is adorned with her arms and those of allied families, and bears this inscription: This Pillar was erected Anno 1656 by ye Rt. Hono^{ble} Anne Countess Dowager of Pembrook, daughter and sole heire of ye Rt. Hono^{ble} George, Earl of Cumberland, for a memorial of her last parting in this place with her good and pious mother, ye Rt. Hono^{ble} Margaret, Countes Dowager of Cumberland, ye 2^d of April, 1616, in memory whereof she also left an annuity of four pounds, to be distributed to ye poor within this parrish of Brougham euery 2^d day of April for euer vpon ye stone table here hard by. LAUS DEO. The Eamont, the Eden, and the Lowther were well guarded, as the fortified houses by the fords still prove. Yanwath Hall, an ancient home of the Threlkelds, is a fine example of a peel-tower added to and elaborated into a residence. It is one of the earliest and most interesting, having been built midway in the fourteenth century. The original tower, strong in its walls, six feet thick and embattled, stands fifty-five feet high and looks down into a courtyard, the barmkin, or inner bailey, where the ancient oaken, iron-banded, and studded doors and windows guarded by thick stanchions show how concerned the old owners were for their personal security in insecure times. [Illustration: ASKHAM HALL.] [Sidenote: _ASKHAM HALL_]