Returning to the north walk, we pass thence, under a richly ornamented arch, into another apartment on the right hand, now and for three centuries past occupied as the GRAMMAR SCHOOL of the Cathedral. Few portions of the conventual buildings are so little known to visitors as the one we are now entering,—few will so amply repay their inspection as will this, the ancient REFECTORY of this once famous Monastery. Time was, And a gay time it was then, O! when this noble apartment, the _Frater House_ of the Abbey, re-echoed with the sounds of feast and revelry,—when the monks of St. Werburgh, and their privileged friends, discussed, in joyous mood, the good things of this life, dished up to them from the kitchens and buttery of the Abbey. Fancy how the tables groaned with the savoury venison and other titbits from the granges of the abbot,—with the products of their favourite kaleyards and fisheries,—and their wines and liquors brought from beyond sea,—and say, if you think these degenerate times can show aught to equal those palmy days! After all, though Many have told of the monks of old, What a saintly race they were; Yet ’tis most true that a merrier crew Could scarce be found elsewhere. For they sang and laughed, And the rich wine quaffed, And lived on the daintiest fare. And the Abbot meek, with his form so sleek, Was the heartiest of them all, And would take his place, with a smiling face, When the REFECTORY bell would call; And they sang and laughed, And the rich wine quaffed, Till they shook the olden hall!