Leland (who says, erroneously it would seem, that Sheriff-Hutton Castle “was buildid by Rafe Nevill of Raby the fyrst Erl of Westmerland of the Nevilles,”) gives the following description of it. “There is a Base Court with Houses of Office afore the Entering of the Castelle. The Castelle self in the Front is not dichid, but it stondith _in loco utcunque edito_. I markid yn the fore Front of the first Area of the Castelle self 3. great and high Toures, of the which the Gate House was the Midle. In the secunde Area ther be a 5. or 6. Toures, and the stately Staire up to the Haul is very Magnificent, and so is the Haul it self, and al the residew of the House: in so much that I saw no House in the North so like a Princely Logginges. I lernid ther that the Stone that the Castel was buildid with was fetchid from a Quarre at Terington a 2. Miles of. There is a Park by the Castel. This Castel was wel maintainid, by reason that the late Duke of Northfolk lay ther x. Yers, and sins the Duk of Richemond. From Shirhuten to York vij. Miles, and in the Forest of Galtres, wherof 4. Miles or more was low Medowes and Morisch Ground ful of Carres, the Residew by better Ground but not very high.” _Itin._ i. 67. ed. 1770. “Report asserts, that during the civil wars in the time of Charles the First, it [the Castle] was dismantled, and the greater part of its walls taken down, by order of the Parliament. But this is certainly not the fact, as will be seen by reference to the ‘Royal Survey’ made in 1624 ... From this Survey it will appear evident, that the Castle was dismantled and almost in total ruin in the time of James I.,—how long it had been so, previous to the Survey alluded to, is now difficult to say. From the present appearance of the ruins, it is plain that the Castle was purposely demolished and taken down by workmen, (probably under an order from the Crown, in whatever reign it might happen,) and not destroyed by violence of war. However, since this devastation by human hands, the yet more powerful and corroding hand of Time has still further contributed to its destruction.... The Castle stands upon a rising bank or eminence in front of the village, and its ruins may be seen on every side at a great distance.” _Some Account_, &c. (already cited), pp. 5, 6. The vast forest of Galtres formerly extended nearly all round Sheriff-Hutton. When Skelton wrote the present poem, Sheriff-Hutton Castle was in possession of the Duke of Norfolk, to whom it had been granted by the crown for life: see note on v. 769. Page 361. v. 1. _Arectyng_] i. e. Raising. Page 361. v. 6. _plenarly_] i. e. fully—at full. v. 9. _somer flower_] i. e. summer-flower. v. 10. _halfe_] i. e. side, part. Page 362. v. 15. _dumpe_] “I Dumpe I fall in a _dumpe_ or musyng vpon thynges.” Palsgrave’s _Lesclar. de la Lang. Fr._, 1530. fol. ccxxii. (Table of Verbes).