Carisbrooke is the central attraction for visitors, just as, by position, it is well-nigh the centre of the island. Even from childish days the picture of the patient donkey walking in a wheel to draw up water from the well, or the touching tale of the little Princess Elizabeth, who pined to death in the castle, has been familiar to everyone. The donkey who now holds the office is probably just as great an interest to the thousands of tourists—one Whit-Monday has been known to bring ten thousand—as the historical associations with which the castle is so richly endowed. The well is 150 feet deep, but that the work is not unduly hard is evidenced by the longevity of the donkeys, one of which lived to the age of thirty-two and another to twenty-one years. There are two at present, who relieve each other, both comparatively young and much petted.

Carisbrooke is bound up with the history of the island. Its origin goes back into the dim mists of antiquity, and the earliest record is of a British fort which stood on the site. This was eventually succeeded by a Roman camp. The Romans called the island Vecta, or Vectis, and held it from A.D. 43 to A.D. 530, when Cedric the Saxon seized it. The Saxons used Carisbrooke as a strong place and fortified it, but when William the Conqueror established himself in England he bestowed it upon William Fitz-Osborne. One little incident which stands out in William's reign is that of the seizure of his half-brother Odo at Carisbrooke, where he had taken refuge. King William himself crossed over on this occasion and dragged out the rebel with a strong hand. (See plan of Carisbrooke, p. 62).

In the time of King Stephen, "Baldwin de Redvers made an insurrection against Stephen at Exeter, was there besieged and starved out, and then fled to the Wight, an island situate between Normandy and England, but nearer to England than to Normandy. He there occupied his castle, which was most grand built of stone and strengthened by very great fortifications. It was considered impregnable, and being well stored with provisions and plenty of water, Baldwin determined to defy the King, but by the providence of God intervening the well was dried up suddenly. Baldwin on this was so discouraged that he fled to the King to ask forgiveness and to be allowed to retain his own property; but he did not get his request granted. He then repaired to the Court of Anjou, which received him with much honour" (Gesta Stephani).

With the treaty which provided for the succession of Henry came the re-establishment of Baldwin at Carisbrooke, whereupon he at once sank a much deeper and better well, the one which is now in existence, probably with an eye to future contingencies! The family of de Redvers, which continued long in possession, was Norman, and the description of the island as lying "between Normandy and England" is not really so absurd as it sounds in view of the fact that it was an appanage of Normandy, and when Normandy was lost to England it continued to be so, until Edward I. bought it from its "lord," Isabella de Fortibus, the last of the line of de Redvers, who is said to have had "a man's courage and lion's heart." She sold it to him as she lay dying, childless and a widow. The sum was one which in these days would be equal to £60,000. Since then it has been an integral part of England. It is true that the Duke of Warwick was called King of the Island by Henry VI., but the empty title died with its only possessor. Among the Wardens and Governors have been many whose names stand out in history: Humphry, Duke of Gloucester, Richard, Duke of York (killed at Agincourt), Piers Gaveston the Favourite, Edmund, Duke of Somerset, Anthony Woodville, who was Lord Scales in right of his wife, and became Earl Rivers when his father and elder brother were beheaded. The same fate befell him when he was only forty-one, because he had dared to espouse the cause of his nephew, Edward V., against the Duke of Gloucester.

Cromwell, the "Hammer of the Monks," was another Governor, but did not long enjoy his position; he was made Constable of Carisbrooke Castle in 1538, and it was only two years later that his downfall came. One of his last letters written to the King from the tower where he was imprisoned ends, "Your Highness's most heavy and most miserable prisoner and poor slave." Among the names of our own times there is that of Prince Henry of Battenberg, whose wife succeeded him in the honorary position at his death.

YACHTING AT COWES. Pages 41-45.
Where the Royal Yacht Squadron have their headquarters, and where the famous "Cowes Week" takes place in August.

At the time of the Spanish Armada the castle was most strongly fortified. The works were placed in charge of an Italian called Giambelli. He it was who devised the bastioned enceinte around the castle. The shape is an irregular pentagon, faced with stone and defended by a ditch. The men of the island contributed £400 to the money given by the Government, and voluntary labour was freely offered. That the work was not unnecessary was shown by the appearance of the Spanish Fleet at the back of the island. It had been looked for for many a year; as early as 1583 the island had been provided with a train of artillery, every parish giving a piece of brass ordnance, and each part of the coast had been put in charge of a "centoneer," who had watchers under him. Beacons were to be lighted to give the alarm, and the names of these show the districts: Brook, Mottistone, Swanston, Kingston, Nunwell, Yaverland, Bembridge, Stenbury, and Wolverton. At this time Sir George Carey, Lord Hunsdon, cousin to the Queen, was the Governor of the island.

When, therefore, the fleet did come, hundreds of the island folk gathered on the high cliffs to watch with nervous excitement for developments. The great galleons, lying heavily on the water, looked formidable enough, but they could not move easily, while the smaller English craft could be towed about by their long-boats. Lord Howard of Effingham himself came up, and Captain Hawkins actually took a galleon, while Sir Martin Frobisher was so sorely set upon by several at once that other ships—the White Bear and Elizabeth Jones—had to go to his assistance. The English would probably have won, but that the powder fell short, having been blazed merrily away; and the Spanish ships, being in the same plight, at length sailed off.

Among the entries in the register of Carisbrooke church, written in faint, discoloured ink, is the record: "1588. The very year that the great and huge fleete of the Spanyard came to the ile of Wight was at Maudlinestide, in the yeere of our Lord God, 1588, the which God defended us, our Queene and Realm this day and for evermore, and send us truthe and quietnes within ourselves, anno 1588."

At the beginning of the Civil War it was held by Colonel Brett, and with him in the castle was the Countess of Portland, wife of the Governor of the island, and her five children. Gallantly was the castle held till there were but three days' provisions left, and the besieging hordes, fighting for the Parliament, were around the walls. Then it seemed that surrender must be made, but the Countess herself appeared on the walls with dauntless courage, and, telling the roaring mob that unless they granted honourable terms, including the lives and freedom of the garrison, she would herself put the match to the first cannon and fight till the walls crumbled, so impressed them that her conditions were granted.

Sad indeed is the story of the ill-fated King Charles I., who came to Carisbrooke of his own free will after his escape from Hampton Court in November, 1647. This was not his first visit to the island; that had taken place very many years before, when, as a small boy of nine, he had been brought by his father to hunt in the great forest of Parkhurst. When he arrived as a fugitive, he was courteously received, and at first treated as a guest, but bit by bit all his attributes of royalty were stripped from him, and he realized the bitterness of imprisonment without honour. As he grew more sensible of the hopelessness of his future, he ceased to care for his appearance, and lived very quietly, eating little and reading much, such books as Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, and Bishop Andrewes' Sermons. While he was at Carisbrooke he was said to have written the Eikon Basilike, the authorship of which is now generally attributed, however, to Bishop Gauden. The King certainly did write at least one poem at the castle, one verse of which runs:

Once in the month of March, 1648, and again in the May following, he made attempts at escape abortively. The first time he found the window through which he tried to pass too narrow for his head, and the second time, though the obstructing bars had been sawn through, it was of no avail, for the plot had been revealed, and guards were waiting below. The small window which was the scene of both attempts is one of the principal details of interest for visitors.

Towards the end of the same year the King had a long conference with the representatives of the Parliament at Newport, but the issue had been predetermined, and the commission might have borne as its motto the celebrated words of the tyrant to his victim: "You will be tried and convicted." Eventually the King was seized and carried over to the mainland, there, on the last day of January, 1649, to meet his death at Whitehall.

In the following August there arrived at Carisbrooke two pathetic little figures, the Princess Elizabeth, then fifteen years old, and her brother Henry, Duke of Gloucester, aged ten. The Princess was described as "a lady of excellent parts, great observation, and an early understanding." Already she was delicate in health, and deformed in figure, owing to the complaint of "rickets"; no doubt the shock of her father's terrible death had preyed upon her mind, and she was in a state to succumb rapidly to any malady. The opportunity soon came: she caught a chill at a game of bowls, which acted quickly on her enfeebled constitution, and less than a month after her arrival she was found lying dead with her face resting on an open Bible, a gift from that beloved father she had so soon followed. Thus, sculptured by Baron Marochetti, the tender attitude in which death found her remains fixed in marble in Newport Church, where she was buried. Her little brother Henry was kept two years longer at Carisbrooke before being sent abroad to join the elder members of the family. He died of smallpox at the age of twenty. The children seem both to have been well treated during their imprisonment—a fact which is to the credit of the Parliamentarians. Among other prisoners the castle has held are two especially well known, Sir William Davenant and Sir Harry Vane.

One of the most impressive features of the castle is the great Norman keep, one of the oldest existing parts, which stands on an eminence, and is a prominent feature for miles around. It is reached by a flight of seventy-one steps. In interest and architectural grandeur it is rivalled by the gate-tower, chiefly the work of Earl Rivers, though he was beheaded before the building was completed. Like all historic places, the castle belongs to all ages, and is the result of slow growth, here a bit and there a bit, with added wings and walls, with rebuilding and accretions. It offers pictures from almost every standpoint, and the crumbling bits of masonry, seen in a setting of trees or brushwood, carry continual delight to the observant eye. Carisbrooke well deserves the homage it receives.

The tiny priory of Carisbrooke formed a cell to a more important monastery. The monks were French Benedictines, with which Order the island has always been popular. Its ancient connection with France, combined with its own peacefulness, seems to have drawn them irresistibly. Of these settlements, those at Quarr, near Ryde, and Appuldurcombe are the most famous. Quarr was founded by the same Baldwin de Redvers who built the well at Carisbrooke, and so richly endowed was the abbey that the abbot became a personage of great consequence and dignity. By licence of Edward III. a sea-wall was built, enclosing an area of 40 acres; the wall was designed to prevent the unwelcome visits of sea-pirates, who at one time were a scourge. Many distinguished persons were buried in the abbey, including a daughter of Edward IV. At present Quarr is a farm, and among the farm-buildings many parts of the ancient abbey walls may easily be traced; it is said, indeed, that the barn was the monks' refectory.

Appuldurcombe (curiously pronounced with a strong accent on the last syllable) was a Benedictine abbey of importance also. After the dissolution of the religious houses it fell into the possession of the Worsleys by marriage with an heiress. The name of this family is indelibly written in the annals of the island, because for three centuries its leading men took part in all public movements; many of them also were Members of Parliament in the happy days before the Reform Bill, when the island sent six members to represent its opinions, instead of one as at present! Several of the Worsleys succeeded one another in the office of Governor of the island. The first owner of Appuldurcombe was James Worsley, who married its heiress in 1510. His son entertained King Henry VIII. and Cromwell at Appuldurcombe, and two years later, when Cromwell was beheaded, the office of Constable of the island, which he had held, was bestowed upon Worsley. The great mansion belonging to the family was built in 1710. It stands in a fine park, where there is on the crest of the hill a gigantic obelisk, put up in 1774 to the memory of Sir Robert Worsley by his descendant Sir Richard. This is still conspicuous, though it was shattered by lightning, and the huge blocks hurled hither and thither. It is chiefly notable as marking a spot from which one of the finest views in the island may be seen—a view embracing Freshwater on one side and Culver on the other.

THE UNDERCLIFF. Page 53.
Is a beautiful portion of the coast stretching from Ventnor to St. Catherine's Point.

The Sir Richard to whom the obelisk is due was really the most distinguished of his family. James Worsley, his grandfather, had collected materials for a history of the island, which Sir Richard edited and compiled. It is still the principal authority. He was a Privy Councillor and a widely-travelled man, while the objects of art he collected on his travels formed a costly museum. He died in 1805, childless, and the property passed to the Earl of Yarborough in right of his wife.

Carisbrooke is only a mile or so from the chief town of the island, Newport, though it must be added that Ryde claims the distinction of being the largest town. Newport has been said to "stand at that spot marked by Nature for the capital of the island, at the confluence of the two streams into which the estuary of the Medina is divided." In its first charter the town is called "the new borough of Mede."

The wide estuary of the River Medina comes up to the town, and enables considerable trade to be water-borne. Further down are large cement works, and small vessels bearing timber, malt, wheat, and coal come right up to the junction of the streams which feed the estuary, one of which, the Lugley, comes down from Carisbrooke.

The church is modern, but has a high tower, and stands well. There is very little of interest in it, the chief monument being the beautiful marble one to Princess Elizabeth already alluded to, which was made at the expense of Queen Victoria. That and a fine old pulpit put up in 1658, and carved richly with allegorical figures representing all the virtues, besides the graces and arts, are really all there is to see.

Newport does not lay itself out much for visitors, holding itself with dignity as the capital—a place for a resident rather than the floating population which so enriches the coast towns in the season. The Jacobean Grammar School, wherein the historic Conference, culminating in the Treaty of Newport, took place between the King and the Parliament, is by far the most interesting object in the town. The discussion on the Treaty of Newport was not the final act before King Charles's death, but it was an important turning-point. Rumours of violence were abroad toward the close of the Conference, and the King's guards were doubled in order to prevent his possible escape. They were "not only set before the house and at every window, but even within doors also; nay, sentinels at the King's very chamber-door, so that the King was almost suffocated with the smoke of the burning match in their gun-locks." The King's followers were alarmed, and urged him to escape. Colonel Cooke had the password which would take him forth; horses were ready at hand; a vessel was waiting Cooke's orders at Cowes; and the only question was, would the King avail himself of these means? His answer was: "They have promised me, and I have promised them; I will not break first."

The next morning the King was aroused by a great knocking at the door, and when he asked what it was, he was told that some officers had come from the Parliamentarians to remove him to Hurst Castle. A jolting, heavy-wheeled coach was brought to the door, and in it he was carried off en route for Hurst Castle.

Perhaps the most exciting episode in the history of the town was when the French landed on the island in 1377 and burnt it completely, while those of the population who were not slaughtered ran away. So complete was the destruction that it is said no one returned to live there for two years.

The Medina is the principal river of the island, and its name has been connected with the root of "middle" or "mid," and is supposed to be related to the names Medway and Maidstone. The only two other rivers are both, oddly enough, named Yar, and besides them there are numerous streams.

Parkhurst, now chiefly associated with the closely-guarded prison, was at one time a forest for hunting of over 3,000 acres. It was so from the Conqueror's time, being mentioned in Domesday Book under "Watching Wood," which is rated lightly because part of the land formerly belonging to it has been taken into the King's park. A curious little record which has been preserved tells us that in the reign of Edward III. one John Maltravers should in the season for buck-hunting attend the King at Carisbrooke for one day, at his own charge both for himself and horse, and afterwards to remain so long as the King wanted him, but at the King's expense.