Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829.: with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince.Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von
History
Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829.: with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince.
Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von
Great Britain -- Description and travel; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
I rode from Rotherham to Wentworth House, the seat of Lord Fitzwilliam,
another truly regal domain, for extent, richness, and splendour; but
(like many English parks) melancholy and monotonous; the immense tracts
of grass, with a few scattered trees, and the tame sheep-like deer
grazing upon them, in time become intolerable. Certainly, it is a most
tasteless custom to have these green deserts extend on one side up to
the very houses; it makes them look like enchanted palaces, inhabited by
deer instead of men. It is easier to give oneself up to this notion
since there is seldom a human being to be seen outside the house, which
is usually shut up, so that you are often obliged to ring at the door
for a quarter of an hour before you can get admittance, or the Lady
'Chátelaine' appears to play the cicerone, and receive her fee.
Wentworth House is adorned with many valuable statues and pictures.
Amongst others, a beautiful picture by Vandyk, representing the builder
of the castle, Lord Strafford, just as sentence of death has been
announced to him: he is holding the fatal scroll in his hand, and
dictating to his secretary his last will. Another picture represents his
son, a beautiful boy of sixteen, in a most becoming mourning
dress,--black, with rich lace, fawn-coloured boots, a tight enamelled
collar, a short cloak, a rich sword, and a scarf 'en bandoulière.'
The picture of a race-horse as large as life, painted on gray linen, and
placed in a niche without a frame, really deceived me; I thought it
alive. This horse won so much, that the former lord built a quadrangle
of magnificent stables, the most complete I have seen in this country,
with the money. In these stables, which contain also a riding-school,
stand sixty beautiful and picked horses.
An excellent portrait of the vain and ambitious Cardinal Wolsey, and one
of the fickle Duke of Buckingham, are very interesting. The housekeeper,
pointing to the portrait of Harvey, said: "This is the man who invented
the circulation of the blood." One would like to make that man's
acquaintance.
In the flower-gardens I found some beautiful parts; amongst others, an
enclosure made of wire-fence, running along the gay parterres, peopled
with foreign birds, a clear brook flowing through it, and planted with
evergreens, on which the feathered inhabitants could sport at pleasure.
Several black swans, which have already reared four young ones, were
swimming on a small pond near it. They seem to be completely accustomed
to this climate. I was struck by a common beech on the banks of the
water, which, by early polling, had completely changed its character. It
was very low, but its branches stretched out on all sides, so as to
cover an immense space, and form a regularly leafy tent of unequalled
beauty. A fir, polled in the same manner, had attained a beauty far
greater than that of its natural growth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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