AAGAARD 37 



double moat, lie the ruins of the old castle of the 

 Gyldenstjernes, which was burnt in the peasants' war 

 early in the fifteenth century, when its owner of that 

 day had to leave it, says history, " with only his stick 

 in his hand." Part of the oak posts of the drawbridge 

 still stand in the garden of the house, as do the 

 foundation walls of the keep, consisting of great 

 boulders. The castle itself, however, was built of 

 large, red bricks, of which some still lie about, although 

 doubtless many were used in the construction of the 

 present manor-house that was erected after the burn- 

 ing of the castle. 



This house is a quaint place built on three sides 

 of a square and having long passages and low, old- 

 fashioned rooms adorned with ancient furniture and 

 brass sconces on the walls. It is now owned by the 

 two Misses Roulund, whose father bought the Gaard 

 in 1847. Then the estate comprised some 1300 acres, 

 but now it has been reduced to half that area. 



About 300 yards to the south-east of the house 

 stands an ancient range of farm buildings containing 

 many enormous oak beams that evidently had been 

 used before. Perhaps these came from the outbuild- 

 ings of the old castle, or perhaps from some wrecked 

 ship. The barn is huge, and contained all the harvest 

 of the year. To the east of this barn the view is very 

 striking in its own way. Here lies a flat plain called 

 Lyrefald, where two battles were fought in the fifteenth 

 century. After the first of these battles, in which the 

 peasants were victorious, the castle was burnt, but in 

 the second the aristocratic party had its revenge and 

 defeated them. 



Standing like sentinels upon this plain appear 

 tumuli containing the remains of the owners of the 



