By W. W. Ravenhill, Esq. 45 



continued to receive the rents from her large and valuable estates, 

 situated there or iu the neighbourhood^ and Mr. "William Harrison, 

 her steward, who had held office in the family for about fifty years, 

 was amongst the chief if not the most important resident in the town. 



The incidents of this melancholy story centre on him. 



It was A.D. 1600, the year of the Restoration of His most sacred 

 Majesty, King Charles II. 



What a day was that 29th of May in the metropolis. Twenty 

 thousand horse and foot escorted the King, shouting for joy, passing 

 over flower-strewn highways. The houses were hung with tapestry, 

 and the windows and balconies were crowded with cheerful faces. 

 The Church bells ringing, fountains running with wine, the Lord 

 Mayor and all the Corporation and Civic Companies in full costume. 

 Lords and ladies in rich apparel with gay equipages ; whilst multi- 

 tudes of country folk thronged the streets. Then there were trum- 

 peters, bands of music, mummers and showmen. O joyous day — 

 except for the Puritans. It took seven hours, from 2, till 9, p.m., 

 for the processions to pass through the city. This joy extended 

 throughout the country, and many disbanded soldiers, strollers and 

 gipsies wandered hither and thither telling the tidings. 



In Gloucestershire such was the credibility and intelligence of the 

 period that these wonders were almost eclipsed by the report of au 

 appearance of frogs, a vast army of them walking in array, per- 

 forming feats, and disappearing. An account of this will be found 

 at the end of my paper. 



The county was not quit of the frogs ere their attention was 

 directed to the news of a dreadful murder at Ebrington. 



On the 16th of August, 1660, Mr. Harrison left his house at 

 Campden and went through Ebrington to Charringworth, the hamlet 

 already noticed. He was then about seventy years of age, 

 but was physically and mentally strong. We can picture him 

 as he strode through the fields, where the harvest was going on. 

 Dressed in the picturesque costume of the period — bands, ruffle, broad 

 brimmed hat, long hair, with comb — thinking, as the reapers and 

 gleaners moved before him, of the good chance there was of his 

 receiving the rent due to " My Lady " when they had been paid their 



