WHERE IZAAK WALTON DIED 165 



in-law of Izaak Walton ; and where Dr Hawkins lived, 

 there during the last seven years of his long life Izaak 

 Walton lived with him (whenever he was in residence 

 at the Cathedral) ; there the old fisherman made his 

 will ; and there he died. Which, I say, was the house in 

 which Izaak Walton lived and died ? That he died in 

 the Close of Winchester was, of course, known. That 

 he died in the residence of Dr Hawkins was also known. 

 But which was Dr Hawkins' residence ? 



To these and similar questions I could find no answer. 

 No man knew. Not even the faintest tradition re- 

 mained. All knowledge on the subject had passed 

 away as a tale that is told. But I did not abandon my 

 inquiries. The Chapter-books in the Cathedral library 

 were diligently searched, but in vain. Other old books 

 and documents yielded no better results. The houses 

 themselves I carefully examined, hoping to find some 

 trace or indication of their former occupants. In a few 

 instances a coat-of-arms, emblazoned in glass, or carved 

 in oak, told its own tale ; and now and again some initials 

 cut in stone or wood revealed a probable occupier. 

 But very little could I discover. Indeed I had almost 

 ceased to expect that it would ever be possible to 

 associate particular residences with the prebendaries 

 who had occupied them. 



However, a short time ago, the unexpected hap- 

 pened. One afternoon the librarian of the Cathedral 

 brought over to my residence a tall, parchment-bound 

 ledger-book, which he had found among a lot of 

 " rubbish " stowed away in an old oak settle in the 

 south transept of the Cathedral. It had the words 

 " Wainscott Book " written in faded ink on the cover, 

 and it contained many entries in a difficult seventeenth- 



