the Castle Gates, containing by estimation 2 acres, which is of small value, for that the Castle and other building are situate upon the same. The said Castle is now in great decay, as well in the stone work as timber work thereof. The said Castle is covered with lead, and worth by estimacion. There is also at Cockermouthe a parke called Cocker parke, fenced about in some places with a stone wall, and some places with a hedge and a dich, and in other some places with the River of Darwent; the said parke in compass by estimacon 3 miles, and containeth by estimacon of statute measure 340 acres, whereof there is of plain or pasture ground 200 acres, and of wood ground 140 acres, and the woods thereof are numbered by est. as followeth : There is in the wood ground, within the compass of the parke aforesaid, a great number of small oak trees worth now psently one with another 6d. the trees as followeth Horse Close Wood 1340; Middleton Spring 5220; St. Anthonie's Wood 5080; Richardson Spring 8140; High Side 1599; Frith 1141; Far Spring 83; How Fitts 103; Little Spring 28. There is also about the said Castle certain Domain Lands as followeth : The Garden and Orchard adjoining to the Castle Green 3/4 The Dear Orchard adjoining to the said gard. contg 2 acres 10/0 The land between the Horse Close and the waters of 26/8 The Horse Close lying betwixt the said land and the park Sum total of the said domains 40/0 50/0 £6 10 0 We have no special interest in the mysterious circumstances which attended the death of this Earl, who died from the effects of a pistol shot in the Tower, where he was imprisoned for his supposed plots in favour of Mary Stuart. Henry, the ninth earl, was one of the most remarkable characters of a remarkable age. I do not mean that in all respects he was great. He was a curious combination of heroism, of learning, of shrewdness, of simplicity even to simpleness, and numerous apparently contradictory qualities. He fitted out at his own expense several vessels, and personally assisted at the destruction of the Spanish Armada. He was the friend, the patron, and the fellow-worker of Herriott, the correspondent of Kepler. He was lauded by Bacon, and sneered at and cozened by Cecil, Suffolk, and Northampton. He told the former that he had much ado to love his daughters because they were their mother's children, and yet, when apprehended and taken off to the Tower for his long imprisonment of sixteen years, he was found romping affectionately with them in the gardens of Sion House. His marriage, at any rate during the period of his prosperity, was an unhappy one. His wife was Dorothy Devereux, widow of Sir Thomas Perrot, and sister to Robert, Earl of Essex, the cousin and favourite of Queen Elizabeth. The Devereux temper of that generation was warm, perhaps it came with the Bolleyn blood, and Percy was hasty. I am afraid the union, according to our Cumberland phrase, was "fire and tow." They were married, if not so late as 1595, very little previously; but in March, 1596, Anthony Bacon, brother to the future Lord Chancellor, writes the following anonymous letter to Lady Northumberland : Most honoured Lady, If I could digest any injury offered you, I would rather conceal that which I write than trouble you with other's folly, protesting I am as free from malice as zealous to keep you from being abused. So it is, that your lord hath gotten him a chamber at Court, where one of his old acquaintance is lodged. What his meaning is I know not, but you may perceive he bears small respect to you, that will give occasion, if any will be so simple as to think he can neglect you for a ruined creature. Therefore, madam, support cheerfully yourself with your wonted wisdom, and let them not unworthy disquiet your mind. Proportion your affection according to their deserts, and consider that we are not bound by virtue to love them that will unloose themselves by vice, etc., etc. * From other sources we know that the earl flaunted this affair in the eyes of the whole Court. I am induced to notice what otherwise I should not have drawn attention to, because I think it may afford an explanation of what has puzzled me greatly. In an old house on the Castle side of and near to the river Cocker, belonging to E. J. Wilson, Esq., may be seen a curious plaster ceiling, remarkable, if only for its age, but still more so for its ornamentation. The space is divided into quatrefoils, skilfully separated from each other by fourcornered figures. In the centre quatrefoil is the Tudor rose; * "Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from the original Papers of Anthony Bacon." By Thomas Birch, D.D. Vol. II., p. 455. opposite to this, and surmounting the arms over the chimneypiece presently to be described, is the crescent of the Percys on a wreath, as a crest; whilst in a corresponding position on the opposite side is the flower-de-luce, referring to the Lucys. Various devices are either in the quatrefoils or in the intervening and connecting square figures; in one of the latter are the letters A.M., united by a true lover's knot, and in the correspond. ing square the date, 1598. Over the chimney-piece are the arms of the Earl surrounded by the Garter, of which honourable order he was elected a Knight, 23rd April, 1593, succeeding to the stall vacated by the death of the well-known Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, his wife's step-father. The arms are: quarterly, the blue lion of the Percys, and the three silver lucies of the Lucys, surmounted by an earl's coronet, and on a wreath, as described above, carried into the ceiling, the crescent. The initials H.N., one letter given on each side of the arms, of course indicate Henry Northumberland; there are the usual supporters, dexter, a lion rampant; sinister, a lion rampant guardant, ducally crowned. Below the whole is the ancient motto and slogan of the line, "Esperance en Dieu." Was this the bower of another Fair Rosamond? It is pleasant to know that his wife was his frequent companion during his imprisonment, the termination of which she was not permitted to see, for she died August 3rd, 1619, and although petitioning without cessation for his liberty, he was not released until May 18th, 1621, having been lodged there since November, 1605. He died November 5th, 1632. PART II. A DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF COCKERMOUTH CASTLE. By the REV. CANON KNOWLES and WM. JACKSON, F.S.A. We have given some time and attention to the ruined castles of Egremont and Cockermouth, purposing to lay before this Society the results of our examination. Whatever be the value of them, we feel bound in the first place to acknowledge the kindness and |