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the pretty country churchyard where Gray the poet, the author of 
the “Elegy,” already referred to, is buried. We pass into the 
hallowed spot by an old carved door. Nearest the gateway is a 
piece of ground which has evidently been added to the churchyard 
at a recent date; but lying around the ivy-mantled walls of the 
venerable church are the graves where—as the poet tells us— 
‘* Rach in his narrow cell for ever laid, 
The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep,”’ 
with the poet himself now sleeping among them. The poet was laid 
to rest in his mother’s grave, just under the east window of the church, 
where the tombstone is easily found. ‘The inscription was eagerly 
scanned by the visitors, many of whom quoted from memory a verse 
or two of the beautiful ‘‘ Elegy,”’—the opening lines of which are 
familiar to every schoolboy— 
‘* The curfew tolls the knell of parting day, 
The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea, 
The ploughman homeward plods his weary way, 
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.” 
A peep was also had into the ancient-looking little Gothic church, 
with its ivy-mantled tower, high gabled porch, and picturesquely 
arranged interior, the most striking features of which were a heavy 
open-timbered roof, panelled in oak, and a curious spiral oaken 
front to the little gallery. On one of the walls is a monument 
to Admiral Sir William Penn, the father of the famous founder 
of Pennsylvania, who was connected with the parish of Stoke. 
There are some fine old yews and “rugged elms” in the 
churchyard ; and young thorns have been planted along the sides 
of the main walk. In the park, just outside the churchyard, is 
a substantial-looking monument to the poet, in the form of a solid 
cenotaph, about 12 feet high. 
Time was flying, and we hurry off again, driving past the thriving 
county town of Slough, notable as the place where Sir William 
Herschell erected his famous telescope, and made many of his 
discoveries. Eton was soon passed through, and Windsor was 
reached in good time to get tea, and to start by the special train, at 
7 p.m., for Southampton. 
Leaving Windsor, the railway route is along the valley of the 
Thames, with Runnymede on the opposite side of the river, and nearer 
at hand, about halfway between Windsor and Staines, is Magna 
Charta Island. Lying between the Island and the line of railway 
