1869.] TRAVELLING NOTES. 141 



the original remains, is a qnestion not easily decided. About sucli places 

 there is always to be found a class of persons saturated with legendary 

 lore, who are exceedingly desirous to impregnate the minds of strangers 

 with the marvellous. I remember some years ago having asked one 

 of these archaeological professors as to the age of a certain building. 

 To my utter amazement he replied, " Why, as old as the time of 

 Sennacherib." '-' Come," said I to myself, "this is rather too dense;" and 

 with one breath inquired who was Sennacherib. " Oh ! " said my infor- 

 mant, " one of the kings of England." The castle is surrounded by a 

 moat, now dry, and spanned by an arch where the ancient drawbridge 

 stood. PortcuUises are mostly numbered with things of the past ; two 

 were once used here as a necessity, and one is still preserved as an 

 object of antiquity. 



Immediately on entering the gateway that leads to the inner court, 

 a massive irregular castellated building strikes the stranger Avith awe, 

 and subjects the mind to feehngs of intense veneration. Look to the 

 right, and there you see Caesar's Tower, said to be coeval with the 

 Norman Conquest : it has battled against the tempest for eight hundred 

 years, and still continues unscathed. Turn to the left and you observe 

 two unfinished towers begun by Richard III. There is also Guy's 

 Tower, 128 feet high, 30 feet in diameter at the base, and the waUs 10 

 feet thick. After all, the interior of the castle is the real centre of attrac- 

 tion, rich in rare antiquities. The paintings, too, are of a first-class 

 character, and to show that such is true I have only to name some of the 

 artists. There are works by Rembrandt, Vandyck, Rubens, Guido, Mur- 

 illo, and many more of equal merit. Only let me notice the portrait of 

 one among this large collection, that of Ignatius Loyola, the founder of 

 the order of the Jesuits, whose life I have made a subject of study; and 

 never did liistory and phrenology agree so closely in describing the 

 real character of a man. But I must make a break here, or the editor 

 wiU tell us that such matter is more fitted for the pages of the ' Art 

 Journal ' than the * Gardener.' 



In the porter's lodge are exhibited the relics of Guy Earl of "War- 

 wick, who, we are told, was nine feet high ! If true, his height must 

 have nearly equalled Goliath of Gath, who measured 6 cubits and a 

 span. 



The town of Warmck is said to be older than the castle, having 

 been founded, it is believed, about the beginning of the sixth century. 

 If so, it must have been often rebuilt, as no part has an aged appear- 

 ance. The only public buildings of note are the churches, rich in 

 architectural beauty ; but all are surpassed by St Mary's, a magnificent 

 structure founded previous to the Norman Conquest. 



The shades of evening had now closed upon me, so I parted with 



