i8 BIOGRAPHY [CHAP. in. 



points of view and fine timber, and there were lovely views 

 beyond its precincts. " Offa's Dyke " ran through a corner 

 of the estate, and the discovery of some Roman pottery in 

 its neighbourhood had given my cousins much occupation 

 in sticking broken fragments together and re-building them 

 into vases (plate XL). Our most beautiful walk, rather too 

 long for the morning strolls, was to the " double view," a 

 projecting promontory above the Wye where the river 

 curves and from whence a lovely view is visible both up 

 and down the stream. From the morning walk we always 

 brought back something from hedge or field for my aunt to 

 draw as she lay on her sofa with her drawing table across it. 

 She was then in failing health, but still able to draw, and she 

 used to make studies of flowers in pencil on grey paper, 

 touching in the high light with Chinese white. Each draw- 

 ing when finished was shut up in a large book, and there 

 kept until some gathering of the family took place, when the 

 drawings were produced and a lottery ensued, each person 

 choosing a drawing in turn according to the number on the 

 ticket they had drawn. I have a book of these beautiful 

 drawings (plate vi.) which I greatly prize. In her youthful 

 days she had painted in oils, and there were some fine copies 

 of Dutch flower pictures in the drawing-room made by her. 

 In later life the care of her large family left scant time for 

 Art, but she cherished it in her daughters, and it was again 

 a resource in her advanced age. The great sculptor Flax- 

 man was a friend of her father and had encouraged her 

 youthful efforts in Art. She had amazing industry and had 

 copied many of his designs on wood as furniture decorations. 

 Georgiana and Eleanor usually had some painting or other 

 industry on hand, or copying to do for their father. In the 

 afternoon we often took a drive and were taken to see 

 Tintern or the Wynd Cliff or some other point of interest. 

 After dinner we sat in the library, a fine room with a splendid 

 collection of books shut up in wire bookcases. Each 

 member of the family had a key to the imprisoned books, 

 but a visitor felt that to get one extracted for personal use 

 was rather a ceremony. The beautiful illustrated books 

 were brought out for the evening's entertainment and then 

 safely housed again. On Sundays we walked or drove to 

 Tidenham Church, a " little grey church on a windy hill " 

 (plate VIL). We took a walk in the afternoon, and in the 

 evening Mr. Ormerod read a sermon in the library to us and 

 the servants. Such was the routine of life that autumn at 

 Sedbury. At the time of our visit, the Gloucester Musical 



