London to John O' Croat's. 321 



passed the ruins of another of these grand structures 

 of that religious age, called Byland Abbey, where 

 Robert Bruce came within an ace of capturing King 

 Edward on his retreat from Scotland, after the battle 

 of Bannockburn. 



One of the objects of this excursion was to visit the 

 establishment of Lord Faversham, near Helmsley, who 

 is one of the most scientific and successful stock-raisers, 

 of the Shorthorn blood, in England, and to whom I had 

 a note of introduction. But he, too, was not at home, 

 which I much regretted, as I was desirous of seeing one 

 of the peers of the realm who enter into this culture 

 of animal life with so much personal interest and 

 assiduity. His manager, however, was very affable 

 and attentive, ready and pleased to give any informa- 

 tion desired upon different points. He showed us a 

 splendid set of animals. Indeed, I had never seen a 

 herd to equal it. There were several bulls of different 

 ages with a perfection of form truly admirable. 

 Some of them had already drawn first prizes at 

 different shows. Several noble specimens of this 

 celebrated herd have been sold to stock-raisers in 

 America, Australia and in continental countries. The 

 most perfect of all the well-made animals on the estab- 

 lishment, according to my untrained perceptions of 

 symmetry, was a milk-white row, called " The Lady 



