98 Country Rambles. 



and all beacons, and lofty summits, and forests appear, 

 and the shepherd is delighted in his mind."* So that, 

 adding all together, the value of the grand old stronghold 

 has in no wise died out, but only taken another shape. 

 Instead of inspiring awe and terror, it supplies the heart 

 with noble enjoyments, and with new and animating 

 incentives to seek the rewards that attend love of the 

 pure and beautiful. 



When at Beeston, on descending from the castle, we 

 visit, as a matter of course, Peckforton, a mile beyond, 

 the residence of Lord Tollemache. 



This splendid edifice restores, in the finest possible 

 manner, the irregular Norman style of architecture pre- 

 valent in the reign of Edward I. Occupying a space of 

 not less than nine thousand square yards, and not more 

 remarkable for the superb proportions than for the perfect 

 finish of every part, in Cheshire it has no equal. Peck- 

 forton has peculiar interest also in the circumstance of 

 the walls being entirely devoid of paint and paper, thus 

 presenting a contrast to the dressed surfaces favoured in 



* Iliad, Book viii. , at the end, thus gloriously rendered by the 

 most spirited and poetical, if somewhat rugged, of his translators, 

 Chapman, A.D. 1596: 



And spent all night in the open field, fires round about them shined, 

 As when about the silver moon, when air is free from wind, 

 And stars shine clear, to whose sweet beams, high prospects, and 



the^ brows 



Of all steep hills and pinnacles, thrust themselves up for shows, 

 And even the lowly valleys joy, to glitter in their sight, 

 When the unmeasured firmament bursts to disclose her light, 

 And all the signs in heaven are seen that glad the shepherd's heart. 



