ONE of the most majestic in character, commanding in situation, picturesque in surroundings, and striking in its arrangements, of all the “Stately Homes of England,” is Belvoir Castle, the grand old seat of his Grace the Duke of Rutland. Stately among the stateliest, and standing on an eminence in the midst of an undulating country, the one object on which the eye rests from whichever side it is approached, the castle commands uninterrupted views ranging over three separate counties, and embracing within its ken such a variety of plain and water, wood and valley, hill and meadow, as no other “Home” can boast. Situated nearly at the junction of the three counties of Leicester, Nottingham, and Lincoln, the panoramic view obtained from the castle combines the characteristics of each, and its extent ranges over an area of fifty or sixty miles in diameter—being on one side bounded by Lincoln Minster (which is, in a clear atmosphere, distinctly visible) and the hills beyond, although thirty miles off “as the crow flies.” Its immediate neighbourhood, the lovely and fertile “vale of Belvoir,” the theme of poet and prose-writer, and the delight of the painter and lover of nature, lies immediately below, while beyond are miles of lovely country, gloriously diversified with wood and water, and studded at intervals with hamlets, villages, and homesteads, which add greatly to the beauty of the scene.

A marked and peculiar character of Belvoir, and one of its greatest charms, is that it stands in the midst of this open country, not within the confines of its own park. There is no enclosed park; and park palings, lodges, bolts, bars, and locks are unknown. The Duke, in this noble mansion, rests in the midst of his immense estates, and draws no cordon around him. The roads, right up to the very castle, are open and free to all, and restriction is unknown. For miles in extent, and from every side, the public may wander on foot, or ride or drive, through the estate and up to the very doors, unmolested, and untrammelled by fear of porters, or deterred by appliances of state or ceremony. The stronghold of the De Todenis, the Albinis, the Especs, the De Ros’, and the Manners’, thus nestles securely in the very heart of the country, as does its noble owner—the descendant and representative of this long line of illustrious men—in the hearts of his tenantry, his friends, and all who have the privilege of knowing him.

The history of Belvoir Castle dates back to very early times, and is invested with more than ordinary interest. Leaving the question as to its site having originally been a Celtic stronghold taken possession of and formed into a station, or something of the kind, by the Romans, to be discussed elsewhere, it is sufficient for our present purpose to say that at the Norman Conquest, Belvoir, with some fourscore manors, was given by William the Conqueror to his faithful standard-bearer, Robert de Todeni, who here built a castle and founded a monastery. This monastery, situated at the foot of the castle hill, and on whose site many interesting remains have in late years been exhumed, was established in 1077, and was endowed with large estates; its founder, Robert Belvidir or De Todeni, agreeing to give to it for ever a tenth part of all the lands he might acquire by the help of God or the grant of the King. This priory was established for four monks of the Benedictine Order (and afterwards became a cell of the Abbey of St. Albans), who were to pray for the souls of the King, of the Earl of Cornwall, of Robert de Todeni, and Adelais, his wife, and of their parents and children. Robert de Todeni died in 1088, and, with his wife, who predeceased him, was buried in the priory at Belvoir which he had founded. He was succeeded by his son William, who took the surname of De Albini Brito, by whom the grants to the priory were confirmed and increased, and he obtained for the monks a grant of a fair for eight days in the year on the feast of St. John the Baptist. He married Maud de St. Liz, widow of Robert de Tonebrigg, daughter of Simon, Earl of Northampton and Huntingdon, and, dying in 1155, he, too, was buried at Belvoir, and was succeeded by his son, William de Albini, or Meschines (also buried here), who in turn was succeeded by his son, the third William de Albini, whose name, in connection with King John and Magna Charta, is matter of history. During his imprisonment at Corfe Castle by his unforgiving king, Belvoir Castle was, at the summons of the sovereign, surrendered into his hands. Under Henry III., Albini, being reinstated in favour, had a chief command at the battle of Lincoln, and took part in most of the stirring events of the period. Besides adding to the endowments of Belvoir Priory, he founded the Hospital of Our Lady at Newstead, for the health of the souls of himself and his two wives, and there his body was buried in 1236, while his heart was placed under the wall opposite the high altar at Belvoir. He married Agatha Trusbut, for the privilege of marrying whom he gave the King 600 marks (about £6,000 of our money). He was succeeded by his son, the fourth William de Albini, or, as he was called, William de Belvoir, who left no male issue, but, by his wife Albreda Biset, had an only child, a daughter Isabel, who married Robert de Ros, Lord of Hamlake, fifth in regular descent from Peter de Ros, who, by marriage with Adeline, daughter of Walter Espec, became the inheritor of two princely fortunes. Thus by the marriage of Isabel de Albini with Robert de Ros the estates of Espec, Ros, and Albini became united.

This Robert de Ros, after his accession to the Belvoir estates, obtained a grant of free warren and a weekly market there from Henry III. Later on, as one of the insurgent barons, he was imprisoned and fined. In 1267 he raised a new embattled and fortified wall at Belvoir Castle. He died in 1285; his body being buried at Kirkham, his bowels before the high altar at Belvoir, and his heart at Croxton Abbey. At the suppression of the monasteries part of the monument which had been placed over his heart at Croxton was removed to Bottesford Church, where it still remains in the chancel wall. His widow, Isabel, died in 1301, and was buried at Newstead. He was succeeded by his son, William de Ros, who became an unsuccessful competitor for the crown of Scotland, founding his claim on his descent from his great-grandmother Isabel, daughter to William the Lion, King of Scotland. By his marriage with Matilda de Vaux he added to the family estates and ecclesiastical patronage; and on his death, in 1317, was succeeded by his son, William de Ros, who was created Lord Ros of Werke; became Baron Ros of Hamlake, Werke, Belvoir, and Trusbut; was summoned to Parliament, second Edward II. to sixteenth Edward III.; was made Lord High Admiral, and one of the Commissioners to treat for peace with Robert Bruce. He died in 1342, and was succeeded by his son, William de Ros, who, after a busy military life, fighting against the Scots, at the siege of Calais, and against the Saracens, died on his way to the Holy Land, and was buried abroad. He married Margaret, daughter of Ralph, Lord Nevill, who survived him, and afterwards married Sir Henry de Percy.

Dying without issue he was succeeded by his brother, Thomas de Ros; who, having married, in 1359, Beatrice, daughter of the Earl of Strafford and widow of the Earl of Desmond, was in turn followed by his son, John de Ros, who dying without issue, was succeeded by his brother, Sir William de Ros. Sir William was, with Walter, Bishop of Durham, and the Earl of Northumberland, sent by King Henry IV. to arrange a treaty of peace with Scotland. He was a favourite with the King, who gave him many important offices; made him a K.G.; and granted him the town of Chingford, in Essex. By his wife, Margaret, of the family of the Earl of Arundel, Sir William had issue five sons and four daughters. He died at Belvoir Castle in 1414, and was buried in the choir of that priory, his monument being now at Bottesford. The next in succession was John de Ros, son of the last named, who came to the title and estates when only seventeen years of age. He was killed along with the Duke of Clarence and others in 1421; and, dying without issue, had for successor his brother, Sir Thomas de Ros, who married Eleanor, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, by whom he had issue three sons, of whom his successor, Thomas, Lord Ros, was the eldest, and who, at his father’s death in 1431, was only four years of age.

This nobleman, Thomas, Baron Ros of Hamlake, Trusbut, and Belvoir, was by the King put into full possession of his father’s estates when only eighteen years of age. He married Philippa, eldest daughter of John de Tiptoft, by whom he had issue one son and four daughters. For his fidelity to the House of Lancaster in the Wars of the Roses, he was, with his adherents, attainted in Parliament in 1461, and is said by Rapin to have been beheaded. His estates were confiscated, and given to various adherents of the House of York; Lord Hastings receiving Belvoir and its members. By him Belvoir Castle was utterly despoiled, he carrying away the lead from the roofs to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, to use in his own castle there, and rendering the place no better than a ruin.

The next in succession, Edmund, Lord Ros, was by Henry VII. (who had united the rival houses) restored to his father’s state and dignity; the attainder was removed; and the Belvoir and other estates returned to him. He died in 1508, at his house of Elsinges, at Enfield (in the church at which, place is a noble monument erected to his memory), without issue, and his estates were divided between his sisters and co-heiresses—viz. Eleanor, married to Sir Robert Manners, Knight; and Isabel, married to Sir Thomas Lovel. Belvoir, with Hamlake in Yorkshire, and Orston in Nottinghamshire, being the portion of the elder sister, Eleanor, thus passed into the hands of the family of Manners, in whom it has remained in unbroken succession to the present hour. The manor of Elsinges, which had passed to Sir Thomas Lovel, as part of his wife’s portion, was bequeathed by him to the Earl of Rutland.

This Sir Robert Manners, who, as we have said, acquired Belvoir through his marriage with one of the co-heiresses of the last Lord de Ros, was descended from a long line of Manners’ of Northumberland. The earliest of these of whom there is direct evidence was Sir Robert Manners, lord of the manor of Ethale, in Northumberland, from whom descended another Sir Robert, who married Philippa, daughter of Sir Bartholomew de Mont Bouchier, by whom he had issue a son, also named Robert, who married Hawise, daughter of Robert, Baron de Muschamp, in the reign of Henry I. Their great-grandson, another Sir Robert Manners, married Agnes, daughter of Sir David Coupland. Their son, Sir Robert, had issue by his wife, Joan de Heton, four sons, three of whom dying without issue, the second son, William Manners, inherited the estates. He married Ellen, or Janetta, daughter of David Bagster, of Derby, by whom he had a son, Sir Robert Manners.

This Sir Robert was returned, in the seventeenth year of Edward III., as one of the principal persons in the county of Northumberland, and was entitled to bear arms by descent. In the first year of Edward’s reign, being governor of Norham Castle, he distinguished himself by his successful defence of that stronghold against the Scots, who, “despising King Edward’s youth, on the very night of that day on which King Edward was crowned, intended to take Norham Castle by surprise; and so well managed their design that about sixteen of them had already mounted the walls. But the captain, Sir Robert Manners, being warned of the matter beforehand by one of his garrison, who was a Scotsman, had so well prepared to receive them, that of those who had mounted he took five or six, and put the rest to the sword, their companions below, upon this disappointment, retiring.” In the next year he was constituted one of the “conservators of the truce made with the Scots for all hostilities to cease.” Soon afterwards he was made sheriff of the county of Selkirk, and appointed to keep and defend the forts of Selkirk and Ettrick, &c. In the fourteenth of the same reign he represented Northumberland in Parliament, and again subdued Scotch incursions. Soon afterwards he obtained a license from the King “to strengthen and embattle his dwelling-house at Ethale, in Northumberland, with a wall made of stone and lime, and to hold the same to himself and his heirs for ever.” The next year he was constituted one of the commissioners to treat with David Bruce and his adherents for a peace, and subsequently was made Lord of the Marches. At the battle of Neville’s Cross in 1346, under Queen Philippa, in which the Scottish king was taken prisoner, Sir Robert displayed great valour, and was intrusted to keep charge of the prisoners, and deliver them to the Constable at the Tower of London. He died in 1355, leaving his son and heir, John de Manners (by his wife, Aliva, or Alice, daughter of Henry Strather), only one year and three weeks old.

This John Manners received the honour of knighthood, and married Alice, widow of William de Whitchester; and, dying in 1402, was succeeded by his son, Sir John Manners, who was sheriff of Northumberland, and, with his son John, was accused of the murder of William Heron and Robert Atkinson, or Akyman. They were prosecuted by Sir Robert de Umphreville, and Isabel, widow of William Heron, and were ordered to “cause 500 masses to be sung for the health of the soul of the same William Heron within one year then next ensuing, and pay unto Sir Robert de Umphreville, and Isabel, to the use of the said Isabel and her children by Heron, 200 marks.” He was succeeded by his son Robert, who married Joan, daughter of Sir Robert Ogle, and had issue by her, with others, a son, Robert, by whom he was succeeded. This was the Sir Robert Manners who married Eleanor, daughter of Thomas, Lord Ros, as already shown. Sir Robert Manners had issue by his wife, Eleanor Ros, three daughters, who each married into the family of Fairfax, and two sons. The elder of these sons was Sir George Manners, who, on the death of his mother, became Lord Ros or Roos, and was also lineal heir to the baronies of Vaux, Trusbut, and Belvoir.

MARRYING Anne, only daughter and heiress of Sir Thomas St. Leger, by his wife Anne, daughter of Richard, Duke of York, and sister to King Edward IV., and widow of John Holland, Duke of Exeter, this lady brought royal blood into the family. By her Sir George had a numerous family, the eldest of whom, Thomas, succeeded him.

This Sir Thomas Manners, on the death of his father, became thirteenth Lord Ros, of Hamlake, and Baron Trusbut, Riveaulx, and Belvoir. He was with Henry VIII. and his queen at the celebrated interview between that monarch and the King of France at Guisnes, and in the same reign was made Warden of the East Marches, and had many other honours granted him. In the seventeenth year of the same monarch he was created Earl of Rutland—“a title which none but royal family had ever borne, and by reason of his descent from the sister of King Edward IV. had an augmentation to his ancient arms.” The old arms were—or two bars azure, and a chief gules; which chief was augmented thus quarterly azure and gules, in the first and fourth two fleurs-de-lis and in the second and third a lion passant guardant, all or. He was also installed a Knight of the Garter. A few years later this nobleman was present at the second interview between Henry VIII. and Francis I.; he was also present at the marriage of his sovereign with the ill-fated Anne Boleyn; and, later on, attended Anne of Cleves to England, and was made her chamberlain. He was made Chief Justice in Eyre of all the King’s lands north of the Trent, and obtained grants of the manors of Muston, Waltham, Croxton, Upwell, Bilsdale, Helmsley, Outwell, Elm, Emneth, Branston, &c., and lands belonging to several dissolved monasteries. He rebuilt Belvoir Castle, and removed many of the monuments from the dissolved priories of Croxton and Belvoir to Bottesford, where he himself was buried in 1543. His lordship—who took part in most of the events of this stirring reign, and held numerous important offices—married twice: first, Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Lovel; and second, Eleanor, daughter of Sir William Paston, by the latter of whom only he had issue. To the eldest and second of that issue we now refer.

The eldest son, Henry Manners, succeeded his father, in 1543, as second Earl of Rutland. He continued the rebuilding of Belvoir Castle, and was made Constable of Nottingham Castle, Chief Justice in Eyre of Sherwood Forest, &c. He was married twice: first, to Margaret, daughter of the fourth Earl of Westmoreland, by whom he had issue; and second, to Bridget, daughter of Lord Hussey, by whom he had no children. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Edward Manners, as third Earl of Rutland, who, dying without male issue, was succeeded by his brother, John Manners (the second son of the second earl), as fourth Earl of Rutland. This nobleman married Elizabeth, daughter of Francis Charlton, of Apsley, by whom he had issue, with others, three sons—Roger Manners, Sir Francis Manners, and Sir George Manners—who successively became fifth, sixth, and seventh Earls of Rutland. All these dying without surviving male issue, the title passed to the descendants of the second son of the first Earl, as we shall now show.

Sir John Manners, second son of the first Earl of Rutland, and great-grandson of the sister of King Edward IV., became, before he was knighted, attached to Dorothy Vernon, the youngest daughter and co-heiress of Sir George Vernon of Haddon Hall, known as “the King of the Peak,” and so effectually wooed and won her, that he at length carried her off on horseback into his own county of Leicester, and there married her. By this marriage Haddon Hall, and the Derbyshire property of the “King of the Peak,” passed into the family of Manners. Sir John Manners had issue by his wife, Dorothy Vernon, three sons—Sir George, who succeeded him; John, who died at the age of fourteen; and Sir Roger, of Whitwell; and one daughter, Grace, who married Sir Francis Fortescue, of Salden. Sir George Manners, their son, married Grace, daughter of Sir Henry Pierrepoint, and sister to the Earl of Kingston, by whom he had issue, with others, John Manners, his eldest son, who not only succeeded him, but also succeeded his cousin George, seventh Earl of Rutland, in his title and estates, and thus became eighth Earl of Rutland. He married Frances, daughter of Edward, Lord Montague of Boughton, by whom he had issue four sons and seven daughters. He was sheriff of Derbyshire in the ninth and eleventh years of Charles I., and also represented that county in Parliament. His lordship was attached to the Parliamentary interest during the civil wars, and was one of the twenty-two peers who remained at Westminster when the King summoned both Houses to attend him at Oxford. As a consequence, his castle of Belvoir was seized by the Royalists, and was held by them and Sir Gervase Lucas, and here the King frequently resided. It was finally surrendered to the Parliamentarians in January, 1645-6. In 1649 the castle was demolished, by consent of the Earl, who soon afterwards set about rebuilding it, which he completed in 1668. During this time the Earl lived principally at Haddon Hall, where he died in 1679, and was succeeded by his third and only surviving son, John Manners, as ninth Earl of Rutland.

This nobleman was born in 1638, and, in 1679 was created a peer in his own right by the title of Baron Manners of Haddon; and in September of the same year, his father dying, he became Earl of Rutland. When twenty years of age he had married the Lady Anne Pierrepoint, daughter of the Marquis of Dorchester, from whom he was afterwards divorced; and he married, secondly, Lady Diana Bruce, widow of Sir Seymour Shirley, and daughter of the Earl of Aylesbury, who died in child-bed. His lordship married, thirdly, Catherine, daughter of Baptist Noel, Viscount Camden, by whom only he had surviving issue. In 1703 the Earl was raised to the highest dignity in the realm, by the titles of Marquis of Granby and Duke of Rutland. He died in January, 1710-11, aged seventy-three, and was succeeded by his only surviving son, John Manners.

John, second Duke of Rutland, when scarcely seventeen years of age, was married to Katherine, second daughter of Lord William Russell, who was beheaded in 1683. He then bore the title of Lord Roos; and the wedding festivities seem, judging from some curious letters still extant concerning them, to have been of the most lavishly extravagant character. This lady, who was sister to the Duchess of Devonshire and to the Duke of Bedford, gave birth to five sons and four daughters, and died in child-bed in 1711. The Duke married, secondly, Lucy, daughter of Lord Sherard, and sister of the Earl of Harborough, by whom also he had issue six sons and two daughters. His grace died in 1721, and was succeeded, as third Duke of Rutland, by his eldest son, John Manners. This nobleman, who was born in 1696, married, in 1717, Bridget, only daughter and heiress of Robert Sutton, Lord Lexington (an alliance that gave him a large accession of estates), by whom he had issue thirteen children, nearly all of whom died young. He it was who built the hunting-seat at Croxton, and made many improvements at Belvoir Castle. He was the last of the family who made Haddon Hall a residence. The estates of Lord Lexington having been settled upon the younger branch of the family, the second and surviving sons, successively, took, by Act of Parliament, the additional surname of Sutton, and thus founded the family of Manners-Sutton.

The Duke, who was familiarly known as “Old John of the Hill,” dying in 1779, was succeeded by his grandson, Charles Manners, son of the celebrated Marquis of Granby, Commander-in-chief of the British forces in Germany, and Master of the Ordnance, who died during his father’s lifetime. Charles, fourth Duke of Rutland, married Mary Isabella, daughter of Charles Noel, Duke of Beaufort, by whom he had issue four sons—viz. Lord John Henry (who succeeded him), Lord Charles Henry Somerset, Lord Robert William, and Lord William Robert Albini; and two daughters—viz. the Lady Elizabeth Isabella, married to Richard Norman, Esq., and Lady Catherine Mary, married to Lord Forester. His Grace died while holding office as Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, and was succeeded by his eldest son—

John Henry Manners, as fifth Duke of Rutland, who married Elizabeth, daughter of the Earl of Carlisle, and by her had issue six sons and five daughters. The sons were—Lord George Henry Manners, to whom King George III. stood sponsor in person, but who died in infancy; Lord George John Frederick Manners, to whom the Prince Regent and H.R.H. the Duke of York stood sponsors in person, but who also died in infancy; Lord Charles Cecil John Manners (the present Duke of Rutland); Lord Adolphus Edward Manners, who died in infancy: Lord John James Robert Manners, M.P., the present eminent statesman and man of letters; and Lord George John Manners, M.P., who married in 1855 the Lady Adeliza Matilda Howard, daughter of the thirteenth Duke of Norfolk, and died in 1875. The five daughters were—the Lady Caroline Isabella Manners, who died in infancy; the Lady Elizabeth Frederica Manners, now the widow of Andrew Robert Drummond, Esq.; the Lady Emmeline Charlotte Elizabeth Manners (deceased), married to the Hon. Charles Stuart Wortley; the Lady Katherine Isabella Manners (deceased), married to Earl Jermyn; and the Lady Adeliza Gertrude Elizabeth Manners, married to the Rev. Frederick John Norman, Rector of Bottesford.

The present noble head of the House of Manners is, as we have just stated, his Grace Charles Cecil John Manners, the sixth Duke of Rutland, Marquis of Granby, fourteenth Earl of Rutland, Baron Manners of Haddon, Baron Ros of Hamlake, Baron Trusbut, Riveaulx, and Belvoir, K.G., &c., the “King of Belvoir,” as he may not inaptly be called, for his is a regal residence, and he reigns in the hearts of the people around him. He is, therefore, the direct descendant and representative in unbroken succession of the grand old standard-bearer of William the Conqueror, Robert de Todeni, and of the families of De Albini, Espec, De Ros, and Manners; and by equally direct descent he has royal blood coursing through his veins. His grace was born in 1815, and was educated at Eton and at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he took his M.A. degree in 1835; was M.P. for Stamford from 1837 to 1852, and from that time to his accession to the titles in 1867, for North Leicestershire; and he was a Lord of the Bed-chamber to the late Prince Consort. His grace is not married, the heir to his titles, estates, and revenues being his brother, Lord John Manners, who is a worthy representative of the long and illustrious line from which he has sprung. The Duke is patron of twenty-four livings, of which one is in Rutland, fifteen in Leicestershire, two in Lincolnshire, two in Cambridgeshire, two in Nottinghamshire, and two in Derbyshire. His seats are—Belvoir Castle, in Leicestershire; Haddon Hall and Longshawe Lodge, in Derbyshire; and Cheveley Park, in Cambridgeshire.

Lord John Manners was born in 1818, and in 1851 married Louisa Catherine, daughter of Colonel Marlay, by whom he had issue one son (the present Henry John Brinsley Manners), and another who died in infancy. This lady, dying in 1854, was buried at Rowsley, where a magnificent monument—one of the happiest efforts of W. Calder Marshall—has been erected to her memory. His lordship married secondly, in 1862, Janetta, eldest daughter of Thomas Hughan, Esq., by whom he has issue several children. Lord John Manners has held many important offices. He was sworn a Privy Councillor, and appointed First Commissioner of Works and Buildings, which office he held many years, and in 1874 was appointed Postmaster-General.

The arms of the Duke of Rutland are—or, two bars, azure; augmented by a chief, quarterly, first and fourth azure, two fleurs-de-lis, or (France), second and third gules, a lion passant guardant, or (England). Crest, on a chapeau, gules, turned up, ermine, a peacock in pride, proper. Supporters, two unicorns, argent, horns, manes, tufts, and hoofs, or. Motto, “Pour y parvenir.” The ancient arms of Manners, before the augmentation, were, or, two bars, azure, and a chief, gules.

Belvoir Castle, as it now stands, is an erection of the present century, built upon Norman foundations. As we have already stated, the first castle was built by Robert de Todeni, standard-bearer to William the Conqueror, and considerably extended by his successors. In 1461, or thereabouts, it was despoiled (on the attainder of its noble owner) by the Lord Hastings, to whom it had been granted by the King. “The timber of the roof, being” by him “despoiled of the lead with which it was covered, rotted away; and the soil between the walls at the last grew full of elders, in which state the castle remained till it was partially rebuilt by the first Earl of Rutland, and completed by the second.” On the dissolution of the monasteries, many of the monuments of the Albini and Ros families were, by order of the first Earl, and later, by his successor, removed from Belvoir Priory to Bottesford Church, and others were also brought to the same place from Croxton Abbey. He commenced the rebuilding of the castle, which was completed by his son in 1555, “making it a nobler structure than it was before.”

In 1619 the singular trial of an old woman, named Joan Flower, of Belvoir, and her two daughters, Margaret and Philippa, for sorcery, and causing the deaths of the two sons of the Earl of Rutland, took place, and resulted in the execution of the two younger “witches,” the old “monstrous malicious woman,” or “devil incarnate,” as she was styled, having died as she was being taken to gaol; and the destruction of her cat, “Rutterkin.” The two sons, whose deaths were laid to the charge of these miserable victims of superstition, were Henry, Lord Ros, and Francis Manners, his brother, sons of Francis, sixth Earl of Rutland, by his second wife, Cecilia, daughter of Sir John Tufton, and widow of Sir Henry Hungerford. That Joan Flower, aided by her profligate daughters, did cause the deaths of the two children, and attempt the lives of the Earl and Countess, probably by poison, seems most probable, and they were justly punished. The following account of this singular transaction, printed in 1619, describes—

On the stately monument of the Earl at Bottesford the death of these two sons is thus alluded to:—“In 1608 he married the Lady Cecelia Hungerf’rd, daughter to the Hon’ble Knight, Sir John Tufton, by whom he had two sonnes, both which dyed in their infancy, by wicked practice and sorcerye.”

In the civil wars Belvoir Castle was taken by the Royalist party in 1642, and placed under command of Colonel Lucas. In 1645 the King himself was there. In the same year Prince Rupert and Prince Maurice were at Belvoir. Soon afterwards it was besieged by the Parliamentarians; the outworks and stables, which had been fortified, were taken by storm; the entire village of Belvoir was demolished; and on the 3rd of February, 1646, the castle, with its appurtenances, was, in pursuance of terms of capitulation, surrendered to the Parliament, who immediately appointed Captain Markham as its governor. Shortly afterwards the castle was disgarrisoned and restored to its owner, the Earl of Rutland. In 1649 the Council of State reported “their resolution for demolishing the castle; which the Earl of Rutland was content with,” and it was accordingly demolished, the Earl receiving a miserable pittance by way of compensation, and taking up his residence at Haddon Hall. About 1662 the Earl appears to have commenced the rebuilding of the castle, which was completed in 1668. In 1801 the then Duke of Rutland, father of the present duke, who had, during his minority, conceived the idea of rebuilding and extending the castle, began to carry out his design by pulling down the south and west fronts next to the court-yard, and continued rebuilding under Wyatt till 1816, by which time the south-west and south-east parts were completed, and the Grand Staircase and Picture Gallery in the north-west front were nearly finished. In that year a fire broke out in the castle, by which the north-east and north-west fronts were entirely destroyed. By that fire a large number of valuable paintings, estimated at nearly eleven thousand pounds in value, were totally destroyed. Among these were no less than nineteen by Sir Joshua Reynolds (including the “Nativity” and a number of family portraits); and many by Rubens, Vandyke, Carlo Maratti, Lely, Domenichino, Rembrandt, Velasquez, Titian, Poussin, West, and others. Fortunately, although five children of the Duke and Duchess (who themselves were at Cheveley), and all the household were sleeping in the castle, no loss of life occurred. In March, 1817, the Duke commenced rebuilding the castle, the architect being the Rev. Sir John Thoroton, of Bottesford, to whose good taste and that of the Duke and his amiable duchess, are due the fine proportions and the majestic character of the building as it now stands.

Belvoir has often been visited by royalty. James I. and Charles I. both stayed there, and in 1813, the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV., and the Duke of York, spent several days there. In 1839 the Dowager Queen Adelaide remained there for nearly a week, and in 1843 our present beloved Queen Victoria, with the Prince Consort, the Queen Dowager, the Duke of Wellington, and others, visited the Duke, and remained his guests for four days. In 1866 their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales visited Belvoir, and the Prince again remained there in 1873. Other members of the royal family have also been received within its walls.

The principal apartments of the castle are, by kind permission of the Duke, shown to visitors, and the surrounding grounds are literally, as we have before said, open to all, “without let or hindrance.”

Passing up the steep ascent from near the cosy inn (on, or closely adjoining to, the site of the old priory), the visitor, if on foot, wends his way along the path among magnificent forest trees, and up a flight of stone steps to the basement story of the castle, where, in the solid masonry from which the superstructure rises, are the workshops of the artisan retainers of the family; and from hence by a rising pathway to the bastion, mounted with cannon, which gives an air of baronial importance to the place. If the visitor ride or drive, the ascent is somewhat more circuitous, but the carriage-way leads to the same point—the Grand Entrance to the Castle.

The Grand Entrance, which is shown to the spectator’s left in our general views from the north-west, opens from an advanced groined porch, into which carriages drive from one side, and out at the other, massive doors enclosing them while visitors alight. Over the doors are armorial bearings of the family and its alliances. From the porch the entrance doorway opens into the groined entrance passage, or corridor, decorated with stands of arms, banners (among which is the one borne by the present Duke of Rutland at the funeral of the Duke of Wellington), and military trophies, which leads to the Guard-room, or Great Hall of the mansion. This noble room, which has a groined ceiling, and a mosaic floor of black and white marble and Nottinghamshire freestone, bears in recesses and arcades on its walls groups of arms and armour, trophies of war, and other appropriate decorations; and in two glazed recesses a number of relics of the great Marquis of Granby, and of his brilliant military achievements, and his well-earned decorations. Besides many other objects of peculiar interest in this room are two tables made from remarkable deposits, of eleven years’ formation, in the wooden water-pipes of the Blithe Mine in Derbyshire; a model of the old castle; standards, arms, and armour from the field of Waterloo; a Chinese junk; and some good armour.

Opposite the entrance are the Grand Staircase and the Guard-room Gallery. In the windows of the latter are finely executed stained-glass figures (by Wyatt) of Robert de Todeni, William de Albini, Walter Espec, and Robert de Ros, with their armorial insignia. From the landing at the head of the Guard-room Staircase, which contains full-length portraits of Queen Anne and George Prince of Denmark, access is gained to the Grand Staircase leading to the principal apartments; the walls of the staircase itself being hung with full-length paintings of the first eight Earls of Rutland, with their armorial bearings within the archways. The ceiling is richly groined.

The Regent’s Gallery, so called from the Prince Regent (George IV.), for whose use it was fitted up on his visit to Belvoir in 1813, is one of the main features of the castle. It is a noble apartment, 128 feet long by 18 feet wide, with a central bow, formed by the central tower, of 36 feet wide. At one end is Nollekens’ fine bust of George IV., and at the other the equally fine bust of the late estimable duke, while other parts of the room are adorned with corresponding sculptures of the late Duchess of Rutland, the Marquis of Granby, Lord Robert Manners, Pitt, Cromwell, William III., George II., Earl of Mansfield, Duke of Somerset, Earl of Chatham, Admiral Keppel, and others. One striking feature of this gallery is the Gobelins tapestry (eight pieces) which adorns the walls. It is in perfect preservation, and represents scenes in the story of Don Quixote from designs by Coypel, and appear to have been made in 1770. The walls are also adorned by many family portraits and other paintings by Reynolds, Hoppner, Kneller, Smirke, Lely, Bishop, Zucchero, Stothard, and others. The appointments of this splendid room are arranged with perfect taste, and it is filled with objects of interest and beauty; one object that often attracts attention being a carved chair, bearing an inscription showing that it was made, as is also one belonging to the Queen, from the wood of the tree at La Haye Sainte, against which the Duke of Wellington took up his station at the battle of Waterloo. The opposite end of the Regent’s Gallery to that at which the visitor enters from the Grand Staircase is one gigantic mirror filling the whole space, and thus, in appearance, giving it a double length. From this end one doorway leads to the private gallery of the chapel, and another opens into the library.

The Library is entirely of oak, the ceiling divided into compartments, with carved bosses at the intersections, and armorial bearings decorating other parts. Over the fire-place Grant’s fine portrait of the late duke, “presented to his grace as a token of affection and esteem by his tenantry, 27th February, 1856,” is placed, and forms a pleasant feature in the room. The collection of books is, as is natural to expect, of the most choice and costly kind, many of the literary treasures being priceless gems of past ages. Among these are several curious and valuable MS. rarities and sketches by the old masters.

The Picture Gallery, a noble apartment of admirable proportions, has a coved ceiling, rising from a cornice richly ornamented in gold and white, with figures and foliage in bold relief. The collection of pictures in this gallery, some two hundred in number, is remarkably fine and choice, and contains many notable examples of the best and most reputed masters—Murillo, Rubens, Teniers, Gerard Douw, Rembrandt, Claude, Gaspar Poussin, Parmigiano, Carlo Dolce, Berghem, Carracci, Guido, Vandyke, Holbein, Bassano, Paul Veronese, Bronzino, Van der Heyden, Netscher, Van der Velde, Reynolds, Jansen, Ruysdael, Correggio, Albert DÜrer, Dekker, Schalken, Spagnoletto, Caravaggio, Wouvermans, Cuyp, and a host of others.

The Duchess’s Boudoir, a lovely room, commanding an almost enchanting view of the grounds and distant country, was the favourite apartment of the late duchess, and remains as left by her. Like the other private rooms, passages, and corridors, it contains many genuine pictures of note as well as family portraits.

The Grand Corridor, or Ball-room, which, seen from the landing of the staircase, is shown in the engraving on the preceding page, is one of the most striking features of the interior of the castle. It is of Gothic design, the whole being of stone, and copied from various parts of Lincoln Cathedral. It is lit by nine windows in length, with stained-glass armorial decorations, and has an elegant groined ceiling, with carved bosses at the intersections; and the walls are arcaded, and contain full-length life-size and other portraits of the present noble duke (two) by Grant; the late Lady John Manners, by Buckner; Lord Robert Manners, by Reynolds; and several others.

The Queen’s Sitting-room, or Green Assembling-room, in the Staunton Tower, besides being an elegant apartment, commands a magnificent view of the charming grounds and the distant country, including Croxton with the Duke’s Deer Park, Woolsthorpe, Harlaxton, the Kennels, and the Lake. Adjoining this are the Chinese Rooms—a suite of bed and dressing rooms, so called from the style of their furniture and papering—which were occupied by our beloved Queen in 1843.

The Grand Dining-room has a richly panelled ceiling of white and gold, and contains a side-table of white marble, carved by Wyatt, so as to look like a table “covered with a white linen table napkin; the folds being so accurately represented in the marble as to require a close inspection to convince the observer of the solidity of the material.” It weighs between two and three tons. In this room are magnificent examples, life-size full-length portraits, by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and others by Sir Godfrey Kneller.

The Elizabeth Saloon, so called after the late duchess (Elizabeth, second daughter of Frederick Howard, Earl of Carlisle, and wife of John Henry, fifth Duke of Rutland), by whose taste and judgment it was arranged and decorated. The walls are hung with satin drapery, and the ceiling, which was painted by Wyatt, is filled with mythological subjects and family and other portraits. The furniture and appliances are sumptuous and elegant, and altogether this saloon is the most gorgeous in the castle. Among its Art treasures are a full-length marble statue of the late duchess by Wyatt; two full-length life-size portraits of the late duke and duchess by Sanders; several rare enamels and pictures; a number of choice watercolour drawings; an extensive series of cabinet portraits, &c.; and many cabinets, caskets, and other choice objects.

Other apartments are the King’s Rooms, so called because used by the Prince Regent while at Belvoir; the Hunters’ Dining-room; the Wellington Rooms, so named because occupied by the Duke of Wellington; the Family Dining-room, &c., but these require no word of comment.

The Chapel, with panelled stone walls and elegant groined ceiling, has a canopied reredos, containing one of Murillo’s grandest and choicest works—the “Holy Family,” whose value is estimated at four thousand guineas.

The Wine Cellar in the Staunton Tower, with its vaulted ceiling and carved boss with crowned monogram of the Blessed Virgin, is one of the oldest parts of the castle. The Ale Cellar is said to contain thirty-one thousand gallons of liquor! The largest tun, which holds about thirteen hundred gallons of ale, is called after the founder of the castle, “Robert de Todeni,” while the next three largest are named respectively the “Marquis of Granby,” “Lord John,” and “Lord George.” The Housekeeper’s Rooms, with their fine assemblage of old Chelsea, Derby, SÈvres, and other china services; the Steward’s Room; the Plate Pantry, with the grand and invaluable services of plate; the kitchens and other offices, perhaps the most perfect of any in their arrangements and appliances, are all deserving more notice than the mere mention we can give them.

The Muniment-room, under the able guardianship of Mr. Green, is, in our eyes, one of the most important and interesting features of the castle, and one in which we would fain “live and move and have our being” for the rest of our lives. It is a perfect mine of historical wealth, and as a storehouse of genealogical and antiquarian lore is unsurpassed by any other mansion. It literally overflows with deeds and MSS. of one kind or other, and all in the most admirable order and condition. The deeds in this room are above four thousand in number, the greater part of which date back to the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth centuries.

Among the treasures are the cartularies and registers of Belvoir Priory and Croxton Abbey; rent-rolls of Croxton; household books of various early periods; a vast amount of original letters; personal accounts and bills relating to Haddon Hall; inventories of Riveaulx Abbey, Belvoir, Croxton, St. Dunstans-in-the-West, Haddon, &c.; plea-rolls, charters, and grants and confirmations of lands, pedigrees, agreements, &c.

One of the great glories of Belvoir, however, is its grounds and surroundings; but to these, which to do them justice would require a special article to themselves, we can only devote a few brief lines.

The whole place is a labyrinth of beauty, each separate spot that we come to exceeding in exquisite loveliness those we have passed, and each turn bringing to view fresh glimpses of charming scenery which show how well Nature has been studied, and how thoroughly Art, with the pure and accomplished taste of the late duchess, has been wedded to her. The Duchess’s Garden, below the slope on the west of the castle, is formed in an exquisite glade, surrounded on all sides by grand old trees and luxuriant shrubs; the beds terraced one above the other, or gently sloped and planted in amphitheatre form, with masses of colour which give a richness and peculiarity to the scene. The Duke’s Walk—an avenued path extending in its devious way for about three miles in length—passes above this garden, and is broken by glimpses of all the varied scenery on the way, and rendered pleasant by rustic summer-houses, seats, and other resting-places. Near to the Duchess’s Garden, in this walk, a tablet, admirably carved by the late Mr. Bath, of Haddon, bears a sonnet from the pen of the fifth duke in memory of the duchess. It runs as follows:—

“One cultivated spot behold, which spreads

Its flowery bosom to the noontide beam—

Where num’rous rosebuds rear their blushing heads,

And poppies rich, and fragrant violets teem.

Far from the busy world’s unceasing sound—

Here has Eliza fixed her favourite seat,

Chaste emblem of the scene around—

Pure as the flower that smiles beneath her feet.”

Of the character of the Duchess’s Garden a writer in the Journal of Horticulture (to which we are indebted for the two beautiful engravings on pages 8 and 24), thus speaks:—“This is a beautiful glade of considerable extent, surrounded on all sides by trees of grand dimensions, which on our visit were in their early beauty, developing those varied tints of green which, if not quite so glowing as the autumnal ones, are at any rate fresher, and, moreover, are associated with the thoughts of the lengthening and brightening days of summer, and not with the shortening and darkening days of winter. In this glade the natural rocks have been accommodated to the requirements of Alpine gardening, while the upper portion has been arranged in beds.” “The bedding pansies, the oxlips (of which the Belvoir strain is remarkably fine), were in flower. The beautiful Gentiana verna, accommodated with nice little ledges on which its brilliant blue shone out brilliantly, the bright yellow Doronicum Austriacum, and other fine plants were there. And then how beautiful were the blue forget-me-nots! how luxuriantly fine the Saxifraga crassifolia! Then, again, we had the brilliant blue of Lithospermum prostratum as it trailed over the rockery, and that of its larger congener, L. Gastoni. Of a softer but no less beautiful shade of blue was Myosotis dissitiflora, though now nearly past, as it is the earliest of the tribe. Then how fine was Veratrum nigrum, beautiful for its foliage!” “Then there were bright masses of Dianthus neglectus and alpinus, with their dense tufts of lovely pink flowers; and turn which way you will, gems of rarity or beauty met the eye.” “One likes to linger on these slopes; and as one stands on the upper portion of it, and looks down on the carpet of lovely green backed by the feathery and elegant foliage of the birch, it is indeed hard to be obliged to tear one’s self away from it.”

The Statue Garden, one of the most striking “bits” in the grounds, is so called from a number of statues by Cibber which adorn it. This garden, when viewed from the terrace, entirely screened from observation from the castle, is one of marvellous and old-world beauty; the majestic and venerable silver firs—remarkable for their gigantic growth and their hoary age—the grounds, half garden, half wood (a strange combination of natural wildness with artificial planting), adding much to the effect of the scene.

The Dairy, the Kennels, the Stables with the covered Exercise-ground, and the Farm, as well as the magnificent Lake of ninety acres in extent, are all objects of special interest, but to them we can only thus allude.

The Mausoleum is situated on the summit of an eminence on the opposite side of the valley from the castle, on a spot immediately facing the windows of the Duchess’s boudoir, chosen by herself as a fit place wherein she might rest. Her grace died in 1825, and was buried at Bottesford Church. In 1826 the mausoleum was commenced, and completed in 1828, when her body, and those of nine other members of the family, were removed to it and deposited in the vault. Since then others have been removed there, and the “good duke” also there rests, as does the lamented Lord George Manners (brother of the present duke), who died in November, 1874. The mausoleum is approached by an avenue of grand old yews, which give a solemnity to the place which is eminently in keeping with its character. The building is in the Norman style, and consists of what may perhaps be called a chapel, with apse and a projecting porch, and vaults beneath. Within the apse, lit with a flood of golden light from above, is one of the most exquisitely beautiful pieces of sculpture it has been our good fortune to see. On it the Duchess is represented as rising from the admirably sculptured tomb with expanded arms, and her face elevated towards the clouds, in which are seen four cherubs—the children who preceded her to the grave—one of whom is holding over her a crown of glory. It is by Wyatt, and is considered to be his masterpiece.

The Kitchen and Fruit Gardens are about eight acres in extent within the walls, and more than that outside. They are arranged in the most effective, convenient, and admirable manner, and managed with that care and judgment which are the distinguishing characteristics of the head gardener’s skill. His charming cottage forms one of our vignettes; it is overgrown with clematis and other climbing plants, which grow with natural luxuriance over its porch and hedgerows. Nature, indeed, in the grounds and gardens of Belvoir, is the first, the main, and the ultimate study; and thus at all points, and in every direction, natural instead of artificial beauties present themselves to the eye, and give the greatest charm of all to whatever the visitor sees. Wild flowers are especially cultivated and bedded out in all their native simplicity, while numbers of Alpine and other plants are also acclimatised, and mingle their beauties with those of our own country. Belvoir is indeed well named, not only for its “beautiful prospect” from the building itself, but its hundreds of beautiful prospects within its own boundaries.

Well might a gifted authoress thus write on leaving so lovely a place as Belvoir Castle and its surroundings:—

“Farewell, fair castle, on thy lordly hill
Firm be thy seat, and proud thy station still:
Soft rise the breezes from the vale below—
Bright be the clouds that wander o’er thy brow:
O’er the fair lands that form thy broad domain,
Short be the winter—long the summer reign.
Pilgrim of pleasure to thy stately towers,
Fain would I leave among thy friendly bowers
Some votive offering—and, ere on my way
With many a backward glance I turn to stray,
Bid virtue, strength, and honour crown thy walls;
Joy, love, and peace abide within thy halls;
While grateful mirth and noble courtesy,
As now, for ever, hold their seat in thee;
And still upon thy lordly turrets rest
The grateful blessing of each parting guest.”

The neighbourhood of Belvoir Castle is one of great beauty, and it is rich in objects of interest both to the botanist, the naturalist, and the geologist; while to the lover of Nature it presents charms of unusual attraction. In the hills and vales surrounding the castle, nearly the whole series of lower oolitic rocks may be traced, from the white limestone down to the black liassic shales. Capping the hills to the south, which are of greater elevation than the castle, is the inferior oolite, or rather a variety of it called “Lincolnshire limestone,” a hard, light rock, very rich in fossil remains. On these hills the growth of trees is stunted, but the ground is covered with a profusion of lovely flowers. Underlying the oolite is the upper lias clay, rich in fossils and shells. Belvoir Castle itself stands on the extremity of a long northern spur of these hills, upon the middle lias, or marlstone, which caps all the neighbouring heights, and gives their soil a remarkably red tinge. It is very rich in iron, both in veins and in lump ore. The vale of Belvoir, below the castle, towards the north, lies mostly upon the lower lias, which is celebrated for its richness in fossil remains, some of the ammonites here found being of gigantic size. The vale is, however, best known to geologists on account of its sauria, which are both numerous and well preserved. In the old river-ways and hollows of the vale, in the drift, are also found traces of the mammoth, gigantic antlers, and other remains of extinct races of animals, which through untold ages have been hidden from sight.

Our views of Belvoir, we may add, are engraved from photographs, taken specially for the purpose, by Mr. R. Keene, and by Mr. George Green.

Bottesford Church, a fine structure of the Perpendicular period, with a lofty crocketed spire, is mainly interesting as being the resting-place for several of the old monuments of the successive owners of Belvoir, removed hither from the priories of Belvoir and Croxton, and as the burial-place of several generations of the family of Manners. The earliest of the monuments is one which has been variously ascribed to Robert de Todeni and the third William de Albini: if to either, it most probably commemorates the latter of these. Other early monuments are to members of the De Ros family. Among these are William de Ros, 1414; Margaret, his wife; and John, Lord Ros. Among the monuments of the Manners family are those of Thomas, first Earl of Rutland, and his countess, 1543; Henry, Earl of Rutland, and Margaret, his countess, 1563; Edward, third Earl of Rutland, 1587; John, fourth Earl of Rutland, 1588; Roger, fifth Earl of Rutland, 1612; Francis, sixth Earl of Rutland (and his “two sonnes, both which dyed in their infancy, by wicked practice and sorcerye”), 1632; George, seventh Earl of Rutland, 1641; John, eighth Earl of Rutland, and his countess, 1670; and others.