The Avon, which winds through the park, makes a bend just at thefoot of a gently-sloping bank, which sweeps down from the rear ofthe house. Large herds of deer were feeding or reposing upon itsborders; and swans were sailing majestically upon its bosom. As Icontemplated the venerable old mansion, I called to mind Falstaff'sencomium on Justice Shallow's abode, and the affected indifference andreal vanity of the latter:
"Falstaff. You have a goodly dwelling and a rich.
Shallow. Barren, barren, barren; beggars all, beggars all, SirJohn:- marry, good air."Whatever may have been the joviality of the old mansion in thedays of Shakspeare, it had now an air of stillness and solitude. Thegreat iron gateway that opened into the court-yard was locked; therewas no show of servants bustling about the place; the deer gazedquietly at me as I passed, being no longer harried by themoss-troopers of Stratford. The only sign of domestic life that Imet with was a white cat, stealing with wary look and stealthy pacetowards the stables, as if on some nefarious expedition. I must notomit to mention the carcass of a scoundrel crow which I sawsuspended against the barn wall, as it shows that the Lucys stillinherit that lordly abhorrence of poachers, and maintain that rigorousexercise of territorial power which was so strenuously manifested inthe case of the bard.
After prowling about for some time, I at length found my way to alateral portal, which was the every-day entrance to the mansion. I wascourteously received by a worthy old housekeeper, who, with thecivility and communicativeness of her order, showed me the interior ofthe house. The greater part has undergone alterations, and beenadapted to modern tastes and modes of living: there is a fine oldoaken staircase; and the great hall, that noble feature in anancient manor-house, still retains much of the appearance it must havehad in the days of Shakspeare. The ceiling is arched and lofty; and atone end is a gallery in which stands an organ. The weapons andtrophies of the chase, which formerly adorned the hall of a countrygentleman, have made way for family portraits. There is a widehospitable fireplace, calculated for an ample old-fashioned wood fire,formerly the rallying-place of winter festivity. On the oppositeside of the hall is the huge Gothic bow window, with stone shafts,which looks out upon the court-yard. Here are emblazoned in stainedglass the armorial bearings of the Lucy family for many generations,some being dated in 1558. I was delighted to observe in thequarterings the three white luces, by which the character of SirThomas was first identified with that of Justice Shallow. They arementioned in the first scene of the Merry Wives of Windsor, wherethe Justice is in a rage with Falstaff for having "beaten his men,killed his deer, and broken into his lodge." The poet had no doubt theoffences of himself and his comrades in mind at the time, and we maysuppose the family pride and vindictive threats of the puissantShallow to be a caricature of the pompous indignation of Sir Thomas.
"Shallow. Sir Hugh, persuade me not; I will make a Star-Chambermatter of it; if he were twenty Sir John Falstaffs, he shall not abuseRobert Shallow, Esq.
Slender. In the county of Gloster, justice of peace, and coram.
Shallow. Ay, cousin Slender, and custalorum.
Slender. Ay, and ratalorum too, and a gentleman born, masterparson; who writes himself Armigero in any bill, warrant, quittance,or obligation, Armigero.
Shallow. Ay, that I do; and have done any time these threehundred years.
Slender. All his successors gone before him have done't, andall his ancestors that come after him may; they may give the dozenwhite luces in their coat.*****Shallow. The council shall hear it; it is a riot.
Evans. It is not meet the council hear of a riot; there is nofear of Got in a riot; the council, hear you, shall desire to hear thefear of Got, and not to hear a riot; take your vizaments in that.
Shallow. Ha! o' my life, if I were young again, the swordshould end it!"Near the window thus emblazoned hung a portrait by Sir Peter Lely,of one of the Lucy family, a great beauty of the time of Charles theSecond: the old housekeeper shook her head as she pointed to thepicture, and informed me that this lady had been sadly addicted tocards, and had gambled away a great portion of the family estate,among which was that part of the park where Shakspeare and hiscomrades had killed the deer. The lands thus lost had not beenentirely regained by the family even at the present day. It is butjustice to this recreant dame to confess that she had a surpassinglyfine hand and arm.