By the Rev. Canon J. E. Jackson, F.S.A. 41 



Castle. I had occasion to mention before, that during the Wars of 

 the Roses, the Hungerfords of that place being on the losing side, 

 forfeited their estates. When King Edward IV. came to the throne 

 he granted Farley Castle to his brother George, Duke of Clarence, 

 of Malmesey butt celebrity. The Duke of Clarence had an only 

 daughter, Margaret Plantagenet, created Countess of Salisbury. 

 She lived to old age, and became the last representative of the White 

 Rose or Yorkist party. When Henry VIII was king, he was led 

 to suspect that the White Rose party was hatching a conspiracy to 

 renew a contest for the Succession to the throne. A charge, which 

 she declared to be totally unfounded, was got up against her, and 

 she was sentenced to be beheaded for treason. Being ordered to lie 

 down and lay her head upon the block, the proud old lady declared 

 that she was no traitor, and would never submit to prostrate herself 

 as one ; and that if the executioner wanted her head, he might fetch 

 it oflF as he could. It is stated in the history that the man laid hold 

 of her grey hairs and pursued her round the scaflPold, till, by dint of 

 chopping and mangling, he succeeded in despatching her. 



But we come now to a real heroine in actual warfare, Blanche 

 Somerset, Lady Arundell, the gallant defender of Wardour Castle 

 against the Parliament army in 1 643. Wardour is in South Wilts, 

 near Fonthill. The old Castle is still to be seen in its battered state, 

 and being surrounded by fine cedar trees is a very picturesque object 

 well worth visiting. Wardour House^ where the present Arundell 

 family live, is a modern building about a mile from it. 



Blanche Somerset was a daughter of the Earl of Worcester, an 

 ancestor of the Duke of Beaufort. She married Thomas, second 

 Lord Arundell of Wardour. In 1643, Lord Arundell had left his 

 castle in order to attend King Charles I. at Oxford. During his 

 absence a body of thirteen hundred men, under command of two 

 Parliamentary officers. Sir Edward Hungerford and Colonel Strode, 

 came up to the castle with orders to seize it for the Parliament. 

 The garrison consisted only of Blanche, Lady Arundell, and her 

 children, another lady, some maid -servants, and twenty-five men. 

 The enemy, thirteen hundred men and artillery, summoned her to 

 surrender. It is for you, ladies, to imagine yourselves in that very 



