D

In the beginning of King John's reign, Henry de Clinton, grandson to the founder, released to the king all his rights to the castle, with the woods, &c. and it remained in possession of the crown till granted by Henry the third to the earl of Leicester.

Heury the third, in 1242, new built the outer wall, on the south side, towards the pool: he likewise ornamented the chapel, and made a royal seat in it for himself and his queen; and about two years afterwards, he granted it to Simon Montford, earl of Leicester, to whom he had given his sister in marriage.

The woods about it at this time were so thick, that they became a shelter to thieves and outlaws, to the great annoyance of travellers, for whose safety six acres in breadth were ordered to be cut down, on the road from Coventry to Warwick.

Montford, though he had received many marks of favour from Henry, was excited by his ambition to form a scheme for subverting the government of the kingdom; in the attempt to accomplish which, after one or two severe contests with the king's party, he finally lost possession of the castle, which, by these means, coming again to the crown, the king, in 1267, granted it, with various privileges, to Edmund, his younger son, whom two years after he created earl of Lancaster.

In 1279, there was a great resort of noble persons to this castle, consisting of one hundred knights, and as 'many ladies, who formed a round table.* Many noblemen came here on the occasion from foreign parts, and spent a week with the knights and ladies, in feasting, martial tournaments, dancing, and other amusements.

The castle continued uninterruptedly in possession of Edmund's successors till the reign of Edward the second, when another rebellion proved as fatal to the owner, as the former one had done to his predecessor, Lord Leicester.

In 1327, Henry, (brother to the late carl,) was, by Edward the third, restored to the earldoms of Lancaster and Leicester, this castle, and all his brother's A custom of great autiquity, to prevent disputes about precedency. No. 40.

T

estates. This son, who was afterwards, in the same reign, created duke of Lancaster, dying, without male issue, and leaving only two daughters, John of Gaunt, fourth son to king Edward the third, married one of them, and obtained this castle for her dower; and the king afterwards gave him the dukedom of Lancaster. He greatly enlarged the castle, particularly by adding the tower with three stories of arches, at the north end of the hall, which still bears his name; and he very much encreased the strength of it, by adding turrets to the outer walls.

He died in 1399, and leaving issue, Henry (surnamed Bolingbroke,) and who was afterwards Henry the fourth, this castle came a third time into the hands of the crown, and continued so through several successive reigns.

Henry the seventh united it to the dukedom of Cornwall; and his son, Henry the eighth, was at considerable expence in repairing and ornamenting it. It descended after his death regularly to his son Edward the sixth, queen Mary, and her sister Elizabeth, who, in 1563, granted it, with all the royalties belonging to it, to Robert Dudley, third son to the duke of Northumberland, whom she soon afterwards created earl of Leicester. It was under this haughty favourite that Kenilworth reached the summit of its grandeur. In 1571, he erected that large pile of building on the south side of the inner court, which bears his name, and the great gate house on the north; this he made the principal entrance, and changed the front of the castle, which before was towards the lake. He likewise built a tower at each end of the tilt yard, from whence the ladies had an opportunity of seeing the noble diversion of tilting and barriers: and greatly enlarged the lakes, the chase, and the parks, which now extended over near twenty miles of country. He is said to have expended 60,000l. (an immense sum in those days) in these magnificent improvements.

"Here, in July, 1575, (having completed all things for her reception,) lord Leicester entertained queen Elizabeth, for the space of seventeen days, with excessive cost, and a variety of delightful shews, as may be seen at large in a special discourse thereof then

printed and entitled The Princely Pleasures of Kenilworth Castle*. At her first entrance, there was a floating island, upon the pool, bright blazing with torches; on which, clad in silks, were the lady of the lake, and two nymphs waiting on her, who made a speech to the queen in metre, of the antiquity and owners of the castle, which was closed with cornets and loud music. Within the base court there was a very goodly bridge set up, of twenty feet wide and seventy feet long, over which the queen did pass. On each side thereof were posts erected, with presents upon them unto her, by the gods, viz. A cage of wild fowls, by Sylvanus; sundry rare fruits, by Pomona; of corn, by Ceres; of wine, by Bacchus; of sea fish, by Neptune; of all the habiliments of war, by Mars; and of musical instruments, by Apollo. And for the several days of her stay, various rare sports and shews were then exercised, viz. in the chase, a savage man with satyrs; bear baitings; fire works; Italian tumblers; a country bridal, with running at the quintin, and morris dancing. And that there might be nothing wanting, that those parts could afford, hither came the Coventry men, and acted the ancient play, long since used in that city, called Hock's Tuesday, setting forth the destruction of the Danes in king Ethelred's time; with which the queen was so well pleased, that she gave them a brace of bucks, and five marks in money, to bear the charges of a feast.

Besides all this, he had upon the pool a Triton, riding upon a mermaid, eighteen feet long; as also an Arion, on a dolphin, with rare music. And to honour this entertainment the more, there was then knighted here, Sir Thomas Cecil, son and heir to the lord treasurer; Sir Henry Cobham, brother to Lord Cobham; Sir Francis Stanhope, and Sir Thomas Tresham,

"The cost and expences of this entertainment may beguessed at by the quantity of beer then drank, which amounted to 329 hogsheads of the ordinary sort, as I have been credibly informed.

(6 Shortly after which, viz. the year next ensuing, Lord Leicester obtained by grant of the said queen,

Written by Gascoign, an attendant on the court, and a poet. It is printed in the last cdition of his poems.

on the Wednesday, and a fair

a weekly market here upon yearly upon Midsummer day."

Lord Leicester left this castle and estate by his will to his brother Ambrose earl of Warwick, for his life, and after his death, to Sir Robert Dudley, whom he did not then think proper to stile his lawful son.

The earl of Warwick dying about a year afterwards, Sir Robert came into possession of the castle and estates, and determined to prove his legitimacy, and assert his claim to his father's titles.

Prince Henry, (eldest son to James the first,) being desirous of obtaining this castle, he made overtures to Sir Robert Dudley for that purpose, and offered hi fourteen thousand five hundred pounds for his right in it; a sum greatly inadequate to its value, but which Sir Robert, who was then abroad under peculiar circumstances, accepted, and the conveyances were accordingly executed.

The Prince Henry dying soon after, Prince Charles took possession of it, as heir to his brother, and obtained a grant out of the Exchequer for four thousand pounds to Sir Robert Dudley's wife, in lieu of her jointure, (Sir Robert never having received the purchase money for the estate from Prince Henry.) He kept it till he came to the crown; but in the first year of his reign, he granted it to Sir Robert Carey, earl of Monmouth, lord Carey, his eldest son, and Thomas Carey, esq. It continued in their hands during the reign of king Charles; but, after his death, Oliver Cromwell gave the whole manor to several of his officers, who stripped and partly demolished the castle, drained the lake, cut down the woods, and destroyed the parks and chase. They divided the land into farms, which they continued to hold till the Restoration again altered the face of things. King Charles the second renewed the lease granted by his father to the earl of Monmouth's daughter; but it being again almost expired, he granted the reversion of the whole manor to Laurence Lord Hyde, (second son to lord chancellor Clarendon,) whom he created baron of Kenilworth castle, and earl of Rochester. His lordship died in 1711, and was succeeded in his title and estates by Henry, his only son, who, in 1723, by the death of Ed

male issue, his grand daughter, lady Charlotte Capel, (by William Capel, earl of Essex, and the lady Jane Hyde, his wife, became, (her mother being before dead,) the representative of the Hyde family: and, pursuant to the will of the said le name and arms of Henry, earl of Claren

don and Rochester, she took

Hyde. Her ladyship, in 1752, was married to the honourable Thomas Villiers, second son to the earl of Jersey: who was, by king George the second, in 1756, created lord Hyde of Hindon, in the county of Wilts, and had the further honour of the earldom of Clarendon conferred on him by his late majesty George the third, in 1776. His lordship died the 15th December, 1786, leaving this castle, and his estates in Warwickshire, to his eldest son, the present earl of Clarendon. S. H.

FOR THE POCKET MAGAZINE.

ROBBERS IN FRANCE.

FROM THE GERMAN.

AT length, my dear friend, I have reached my first winter station, and what, in fact, is saying not a little, without being robbed. Every one was filled with fear and terror at Avignon, as a band of robbers have made their appearance in the neighbourhood, for the last four weeks. They had not only plundered, at different times, the courier, but had attempted an attack upon the diligence. Bills were printed by them, in which a tax of two Carolines was required from every passenger, on the pain of death. The subject was of importance to the whole company; nothing else was spoken of all the evening.

First, the numerous tales of robbers of the years 1799 and 1800, were brought upon the carpet. At that period it had gotten to such a pitch, that scarcely a week passed without some robberies being committed. To no purpose were the diligences accompanied by