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been the change in this fertile valley since it was chosen for its 

 peculiar suitability to the austere Cistercians as a place * ' vastae 

 solitudinis et horroris." Indisposition to leave the spot till the 

 last available moment had sped, entailed the necessity of taking 

 the most direct route across the park to Helmsley. 



The party was one of unwonted size for the little village, but 

 admirable provision had been made for the comfort of all by the 

 worthy host and hostess of the " Crown." 



After dinner the business of the meeting consisted of the elec- 

 tion of one new member. There seemed little disposition for 

 further active exertion, and the company separated for their 

 various resting places at an early hour. 



After breakfast the following morning a few members walked 

 up the bed of the stream which runs through the town, in quest 

 of the rare limestone plants for which the locality is famous 

 amongst botanists. It was however too late in the season to en- 

 courage the hope of much result, and the chance was further 

 lessened by want of knowledge of the district, and of sufficient 

 time for proper exploration. The larger number preferred to 

 spend the interval before train time in visiting the Castle, which 

 stands half hidden amongst trees just within the park gates : — 

 once the fortress of the houses of De Ros, Manners, and Yilliers — 

 besieged by Fairfax after Marston Moor — dismantled by order of 

 Parliament — and by his marriage with Mary Fairfax eventually 

 recovered, with the rest of the estate, by the famous Duke of 

 Buckingham — now, a grim ruin ; the lofty fragment of the keep, 

 the half demolished walls on which the work of the besieger 

 rather than the hand of time has told, and the double moat, 

 alone remaining to tell of its strength and importance in middle 

 age history. 



The members met again at the railway station. On arriving at 

 Gilling, the Church with its fine old sculptured tombs, caused a 

 slight detour. Thence they wandered by the long, winding, 

 densely wooded avenue to the Castle, the ancient scat of the 

 Fairfax family, externally an uncomely block of building but 

 redeemed, as to the interior, from any charge of common-place, 

 by the noble Elizabethan dining hall. Returning through the 



