5-4 TROLLING IN STAFFORDSHIRE. 



others smirking in their courtly dresses. Here the 

 ladies of the mansion took their exercise on wet 

 days, and visitors might amuse themselves with 

 battledore and shuttlecock. The windows of the 

 gallery were to the west, and looked down upon 

 the noble terrace, and commanded a view of the 

 park and the country beyond it 



Such was Cleveland Hall, and from its great 

 extent, and the vast accommodation it afforded, 

 some idea might be formed of the wealth and hos- 

 pitality of former times. Every thing was in pro- 

 portion. The court-yard, the stables, the brew- 

 house, the laundry and cellars, all gave proofs of 

 splendour and good cheer. In the cellar particu- 

 larly, mighty barrels of ale might be seen, reaching 

 nearly from the floor to the ceiling, and it required 

 a days brewing to fill one of them. The contents 

 of these butts were well-known and their merits 

 fully appreciated in the neighbourhood, as no one 

 came to the hall without some of it being set before 

 him, and I am obliged to add that few went away 

 sober after having partaken of it. This potent 

 liquor had been brewed time immemorial by John 

 Porter, a sort of game-keeper, and factotum in the 

 family. He was much respected by his mistress, 

 and was looked upon accordingly as a person of 

 some consequence. I have seldom seen so fine a 

 specimen of an English yeoman. He was nearly 

 eighty years of age, but firm and erect in his per- 



