HADDON HALL, 



DERBYSHIRE. . . 



THE SEAT OF THE . 



DUKE OF RUTLAND, tt.G. 



THE name and fame of HaJJon Hall have lifted that 

 historic house to such a height of dignity and con- 

 M-qmiKi- among the glorious mansions of ancient 

 England, that it IN the chief exemplar and 



the speaking voice, as it were, of the dwelling-places 

 of our long dead sires. What memories of old-time glories, 

 ambitions, and occupations, of pasNj.ms long stilled, and yet <>! 

 emotions that are ours, are evoked a- we walk in the golden 

 shade of the sycamores and limes, or linger on the terrace 

 und-.-r the low-hanging boughs of the yews, with that wondrous 

 range of buildings before us and those glorious wind >ws, out of 

 which looked lovingly into their garden the men and women 

 of long ago! There is no rival to historic Haddon. Some 

 places may be more magnificent, but the transcendental delight 

 of the home of the Verrvms lies in its happy union of history 

 and poetry with rare beauty of architecture and the external 

 charms of an old garden, and a beautiful neighbouring land. 

 Where else can we receive such impressions of ancient 

 greatness touched with the witchery of bygone romance ? 



It matters not whether you approach Haddon Hall from 

 the direction of the famous anglers' res->n of tli l'i >..!< at 

 Kowslt-y, or from the ancient town of Hakewell on the other 

 hand, the prospect iN equally charming. That wonderful dale 

 of the Wye. winch is so full of varied attracti"iiN. IN here 

 \eNted in .1 -yhan garment, and as we ap; Much, upon the 

 sloping platform of limestone, we see, rising .mud the trees, 

 that marvellous pile of gre> battlements and towerN. In tin- 

 bottom of the valley are cornfields and meadows, with 

 many trees by the famous trout and grayling stream, 

 whkh winds its sinuous way amid tall grasNes, and reflects 

 in its placid reaches the umbrageous thicket- that clothe tin- 

 steeps 



Haddon Hall, like its garden, owes much of its charm and 

 picturesqueness to tiie slope upon which it stand-. Hr|..re 

 you enter you have been charmed by the rustic Ivauty of the 

 cottage, and by the qu.untness of the peacock and other form- 

 curiously clipped in yew. It may be well, before we spe.ik of 

 the historic and legendary interests of Haddon Hall, hnetly ' 



DOROTHY VERNON'S STAIRCASE. 



