HUTTON JOHN 245 



tower, in which the cattle were kept, and those 

 captured from some neighbour driven, after a 

 successful raid. 



As can easily be imagined, flowers "those deli- 

 cate darlings of Nature's brood " are almost out of 

 place around such a style of dwelling, and their 

 very presence nowadays at Hutton John denotes 

 that those exciting times are past and that these are 

 the " piping days of peace." The owners of these 

 Pele towers were slow to give up their houses of 

 defence, and it was not till Tudor days that the 

 richer owners of the larger towers began to enlarge 

 their dwellings, building low, rambling, two-storied 

 wings on to each side of the tower, in many cases 

 almost obliterating its mediaeval character, so com- 

 pletely was it disguised. 



Hutton John is most beautifully situated, with 

 glorious views ; and through a meadow quite close 

 to the house runs a stream the Dacre beck a 

 "petulant, prattling beck," quite in harmony with its 

 severe surroundings. The Pele tower at Hutton 

 John is of very early date, rectangular, castellated, 

 and made of rubble, the walls in many places being 

 quite eight feet thick. A wing was built on to the 

 north side of the tower by " Andrew and Dorothie 

 his wife, A.D. 1662," so the inscription runs, the 

 same wall bearing the arms of the Hudlestons and 

 Flemings impaled. This wing has a very fine 

 appearance and is built in the Italian style, which 



