41 



if the mouth of hell had been open wide, and all the devils had been conjured up, 

 that the poor siOy men stood so amazed, as if they had been half dead, and yet they 

 saw nothing, — at last as the plot was laid, up comes a man staring, and running 

 and crying out before be came at them, ' Look to yourselves, my masters, for the 

 lions are got loose': whereupon the searchers gave such a loose, that they tumbled 

 80 over one another down the stairs, that it was thought one half of them had 

 broken their necks, never looking behind them till they were sure they had got 

 out of sight of the castle." 



In a store-room under the South Eastern Tower are now exhibited relics of 

 former days. Amongst them are strong leaden pipes, which tradition ascribes as 

 having formed portion of Lord Herbert's " fire waterworks." Large earthenware 

 pipes and lead pipes have often been ploughed up in the Leaguer field — or field 

 where the besiegers placed their batteries — formidable enough to be sure when we 

 read from a letter dated Usk, August 15th, 164fi. "That which is our main work 

 is 60 yards from theirs, and that is the most. We have planted 4 mortar pieces, 

 each carrying grenade shells 12 inches diameter, and 2 mortar pieces at another 



place, carrying shells about the like compass Our Engineer, Captain 



Hooper will (with God's blessing) come within 10 yards in a few days, 



and then I believe we shall make galleries, mines, and many batteries." The 

 earthenware and lead pipes before referred to must have conducted a supply of 

 water lo the Castle grounds from the well at the Warrage Farm, in a field 

 adjoining the old turniDike road to Monmouth, a distance of two miles from 

 Raglan. Although this connection has long ago been destroyed, the water in the 

 well in the First Court appears not only to be of excellent quality, but also 

 inexhaustible. 



It is very tempting to recapitulate what we saw as we followed our guide 

 through the apartments including cellars, dungeons, stables, courts, halls, chapel, 

 royal and oflBcial apartments ; still more tempting is it to stray into the interesting 

 associations connected with this Castle, and to dwell in admiration of the loyal 

 old soldier who, in his 83rd year, rather than surrender his castle " made choice 

 (if it soe pleased God) to dye nobly than to live with infamy " — but we must 

 refrain from so long a historical subject. Suffice it to say that after many a sum- 

 mons the Castle was finally surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax on August 19th, 

 1646— the garrison consisting of nearly 50O officers aud men, 20 pieces of ordnance, 

 not above 3 barrels of powder — " but they had a mill witli which they could make 

 a barrel a day." The horses were few and in miserable condition, for having long 

 been starving for want of hay, and eaten their own halters, they were tied with 

 chains. Shortly after its capture, the Keep or Citadel was undermined and 

 partly demolished : the Committee of Sequestration sold the lead from the roof for 

 £6,000 : partly sold the timber of the surrounding park, the remainder being 

 conveyed to Monmouth, whence it was shipped to Bristol to assist in re-building 

 the houses upon the Bridge there— which houses had been burnt — and inflicted a 

 loss on the family of Somerset which has been by some writers computed at a 

 million pounds sterling. 



The days of romance are over at Kaglan. 



