" THE ROODEE" RUINS. 97 



Hark ! horns and kettle-drums ! It is the band of the Yeo- 

 mamy ; we shall see them directly There ! Five squad- 

 rons of mounted men trotting over a broad green meadow below 

 us. Well mounted they seem to be, and well seated too. Fox 

 hunting makes good cavalry. Doubtless many of those fellows 

 have been after the hounds. 



Possibly. But never one of them charged a buffalo herd, I'll 

 be bound. 



This green plain a sort of public lawn in front of the town 

 is about twice as large as Boston Common, and is called " The 

 Roodee." It is free from trees, nothing but a handsome meadow, 

 and the Chester race-course runs round it. On this course, by 

 the way, the greatest number of horses ever engaged in a single 

 match have been run. In 1848, the entries were one hundred 

 and fifty-six, of which one hundred and six accepted. 



Right below us, on the meadow, there is pitched a marquee. 

 It belongs to a cricket club. I only want you to notice the beau- 

 tiful green sward of their playing ground. It is shaven so clean 

 and close. You see men sweeping it with hair-brooms. 



In this garden, on the other side of the wall, there was once a 

 nunnery. A subterranean passage exists, by which, if you could 

 keep a candle burning, you might pass from it under the city back 

 to the cathedral. 



.... Are you tired of ruins ? Here is one more that may 

 rouse your Puritan blood : a heavy tower built into the wall, 

 connected with a larger one at some distance outside. How old 

 they look ! No paintings and no descriptions had ever conveyed 

 to me the effect of age upon the stone itself of these very old 

 structures. How stern ! how venerable ! how silent yet telling 

 what long stories ! We will not ask for the oldest of them, but 

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