CORFE CASTLE. 243 



lecture as it is for being the presumed 

 birth-place of one whose name figures pro- 

 minently in the biography of the last Prince 

 of Wales.* 



But the object that chiefly attracts the 

 stranger in these parts, to which I paid 

 more than one visit, is the romantic 

 and extensive ruins of Corfe Castle, so 

 celebrated in diiferent epochs of our his- 

 tory. Built on a knoll between two 

 stupendous hills, it formed a strong for- 

 tress before the invention of gunpowder, 

 commanding the passage from the coast 

 to the interior, and, from the great extent 

 of the ruins, must have been able to 

 contain a numerous garrison, and to 

 afford refuge to the inhabitants of 

 the neighbouring towns and villages, 

 when flying from the ravages of the 

 piratical Danes. 



It was some time the residence of our 

 Saxon kings, and the scene of many a 



* Mrs. Fitzherbert. 



2 



