It may however be a late insertion, and the work and rebus of Bishop John de Ross (flourishing circa 1330). This Rose brings us to that which perhaps should rather have come at the commencement of my lecture than at the end, how this castle gained the name of Rose. To day, I think we may well be inclined to give the preference over other derivations, to that from the early British word Roos, a damp valley; but those who know it under better weather may try to persuade themselves that it was so called, as old writers put it, from the sweetness of its situation. Having thus traced the growth of Rose Castle from its original to its present developement, let us turn our attention to Dalston Hall.

DALSTON HALL.

We find here a "hall house," consisting of a pele tower with a ring of office buildings stretching to the east, and with further additions of later date on the west; the whole forming that charming group known as Dalston Hall, which, from the commanding position of its site, is seen for many miles round, and with its mellow tinted walls, and graceful composition, ever lends a charm to the landscape.

Little Dalston was a dependant manor within the Barony of Dalston, which barony was presented by Randolph de Meschines, Earl of Cumberland, to Robert de Vallibus, brother to Hubert de Vallibus of Gilsland. Robert de Vallibus took the name of Dalston, and enjoyed the barony until Stephen ceded Cumberland to David, King of Scotland. In his prosperity he gave the manor of Little Dalston to a younger brother, who, like the vicar of Bray, managed to retain it through all its changes of baronial lords, and in his family it remained until 1761, when it was sold by the then owner, Sir George Dalston, on whose death the male line became extinct. The Dalstons were a family of great position in the counties of Cumberland

and Westmorland. One Henry Dalston gave his property of Brownelson to the priory at Carlisle, and a Thomas Dalston had large possessions in Westmorland, granted him by Henry VIII. The family numbered among its members, Sir John, sheriff in the 10th of King James I.; Sir George, sheriff and knight of the shire in the reign of Charles I.; and Sir William, created a baronet in the reign of Charles II.; the Dalstons were connected by marriage with most of the local gentry.

In examining the pele tower before us, which is the larger tower, rather in the rear of the front range of buildings, we may notice under the battlements, shields bearing armorial insignia, and in the cornice or weathering, an inscription, now somewhat mutilated, but which is described in the local histories as "John Dalston Elizabeth wiphe made ys building." The letters are all reversed, which adds to the difficulties of deciphering the inscription. The arms are those of the Dalstons, three daw's heads erased, and those of the Kirkbrides, a cross engrailed. We find that in the reign of Henry IV., John Dalston married Elizabeth, heiress of the Kirkbrides, so it is pretty clear that he built, or rebuilt, this pele, and that her wealth probably enabled him to do so. This gives us as the date of its erection, the early part of the fifteenth century, a conjecture verified by the architectural details.

At first, this tower stood alone; it measures 31 ft. from east to west, by 25 ft. 6 in. from north to south, precisely the same size as the pele tower at Linstock, once the residence of the bishops of Carlisle. The first floor consists of the usual vaulted chamber; originally the cellar or store house, but in more recent times converted into a chapel, of which traces remain in commandments, painted on the walls, and in the decorations of the ceiling. The entrance has been in the west front, and is not, as in the Strickland tower at Rose, and at Linstock, on the level of the upper floor, but at the ground level, entrance to the principal room over being gained by a circular staircase, contained

in a small turret at the south-west corner, which continues up the full height of the tower, and gives access to the roof, being carried to a higher level, where it is cleverly terminated with battlements. The entrance to this staircase is guarded by an inner iron door, similar to that in the fortified tower of Burgh Church, and is worthy of notice.

The first floor contained one room, 23 ft. by 18 ft., with a fireplace in the west wall, a two-light window to the north, and a three-light window to the south; in the northeast corner was a recess, probably an oratory. This room in its early days would be the house place or living room; it has originally had a ceiling of wrought oak, the principal beams and intermediate rafters having been elaborately moulded; but it has afterwards been done up to form the solar, or drawing room to the hall, and has been panelled in oak, which still remains, and ceiled with a most beautiful plaster ceiling, thought so good in its own day that they did not scruple to cover the older oak ceiling with it. The oak panelling is of the usual description of this date, and differs from modern work in two or three particulars. The panels are much thinner, being only three-eighths of an inch thick, the mouldings are more delicate, and worked solid on the styles, and securely pinned together: though not so varied as at Sockbridge Hall, the fashion is so simple that I think it commends itself for modern use; any of the mouldings can easily be wrought with a plane, and it has the advantage over earlier work that it does not require stops made by hand. A small piece of the cornice still exists in the east side. On it remain traces of colour, red in the hollows with a small ornament on it. The mouldings of the panellings vary on the south side, in the recess of the window, and the panels throughout vary in size, to suit the width of the walls. We may note from the hinges still remaining that the fireplace was provided with shutters to enclose it. This room was lighted by a very graceful three-light window, and on the outside we may note how carefully the