characteristics the same house it was when the fugitive Stuart sought and found shelter and safety within its walls. Mr. Hughes says, "The only circumstance in which Boscobel House seems to vary from its original state, is in the substitution of a coat of cement for the ancient chequer-work of black timber and plaster, observable in many mansions of old date in Cheshire and elsewhere; and in the addition of two plain Gothic chimney-pieces of black marble in the parlour and best bed-room, on which are represented, in a low relief, the night-march to Naseby, and the King's situation on the Royal Oak. The panelled oak wainscoting, the Dutch tiles in the fire-places, and the low but roomy dimensions of the apartments, are in equally good taste and character. In one of the garrets is shown another Priest's hiding-place, which is a mere low, flat hole, covered by the floor, and in nowise connected with any anecdote." It is this den which was shown to Mr. Walter White as the hidingplace; and on which he remarks, after narrating what else was shown him, " And in the garret, the little den under the oaken floor is said to have been Charles's hiding-place. The civil dame who shows the house, told us that she went into the den once a week to dust it out; and we took turns in squeezing ourselves into it, and came to the conclusion that if Charles Stuart had ever passed a night therein, with the lid closed, and a stack of cheese above, as tradition tells, a certain merry Monarch would never have figured in English history. You might as well hope to survive a night in a kilderkin." We think the worthy

pedestrian must have been shown the wrong hole. But of this anon. "The demesne, with its adjacent woods, stands on the sheltered side of a wild sandy common, a mile to the south of the small inn of Ivetsy Bank, on the road from Lichfield to Shrewsbury. The house itself presents the appearance of an old-fashioned lodge, as in the days of yore." It has a pleasant prospect, and is well sheltered. We were all charmed with the appearance which greeted us as we entered the gateway.

Immediately after the decisive battle of Worcester, September 3rd, 1651, Charles succeeded in finding refuge in Boscobel House, then rented from the Giffards by William Penderel. He first reached the White Ladies, a house built upon the site of an old convent bearing that name, and near to Boscobel. It is still so called, and at the time of our visit was a farm-house occupied by Mr. Wilson. The pursuit of the royal fugitive was so keen, that he had to spend an entire day, the 4th of September, in Spring Coppice, a wood on the Boscobel demesne. Here wrapt in a blanket he spent a wet, cold, and most comfortless day, cheered only by the fidelity of Richard Penderel. "During the whole morning, the rain, which only fell partially elsewhere, poured down incessantly in Spring Coppice; a circumstance singular enough, and one which diverted the attention of the pursuers from the King's hiding-place." This fact, if fact it be, was looked upon by the ardent Royalists as a miracle. At night-fall he was removed to Hobbal Grange, the house of Richard Penderel,

where he changed his clothes, and proceeded on his hazardous flight. At midnight he reached Madeley, and found a safe asylum in the house of Mr. Wolfe, in which he remained that night and the whole of the next day. About five o'clock on the morning of the 6th, he and his guide arrived at Boscobel. It was now that in company with Carlis the world-wide famous oak-tree adventure occurred. "After a hasty refreshment the King and Carlis concealed themselves in a large and bushy pollard oak, about a furlong or less on the south-east side of Boscobel House, and commanding rather a more open view than the trees which surrounded it. Here they remained during the day, the King enjoying intervals of dozing on a cushion which the Penderels had provided, his head resting on Carlis's lap." Thus was spent the 6th of September; and one more story was given for traditional veneration, and for romance to adorn and surround with song and story.

But we are keeping our visitors outside the house too long; so let us enter. The room which some call the parlour, but which the inmate called the music-room, is a good large room, and looks into a pleasant garden, is admirably kept, and in the finest exhibition order. Over the mantel-piece is a portrait of Charles, which seems a good likeness, but gives you no favourable impression of the man. Upon the black marble of the chimney-piece are carved three incidents in the escape of Charles; the centre one being a copy of the well-known print now in the Bodleian Library, in which the fugitive, dressed in

a pair of ordinary grey-cloth breeches, a leathern doublet, and a green jerkin, which I took in the house of White Ladys,” and accompanied by the five Penderels, and Yates their brother-in-law, is making his night march to Moseley Hall. There is nothing else of interest in the room. You now ascend three or four steps into a small room, called the "King's Study," in which is a portrait of Oliver Cromwell, but as much like the gnarly face of the mighty Puritan, as our public-house signs are to the features of the heroes they vainly seek to perpetuate. From this room you go up stairs and enter the Priests' hole, in which the King concealed himself. It is a small room about five feet long, in which is a trapdoor leading to some stairs in the chimney-stack, whence any one might escape into the ground. We opened the trap-door and leaped into the hole, but the passage is now built up. There is, however, still an arbour in the garden in which Charles used to read during his brief stay at Boscobel. This arbour is on the top of a raised mound, and directly opposite to the chimney-stack; so that he could immediately gain, or escape from, his hiding-place, as circumstances might require. This is the room which tradition says was under the cheese room; and that when the house was searched by the Roundheads, the cheeses were thrown about the floor to dry, one or two being placed over the trap which concealed the King's hiding-place. Unfortunately for this bit of lore, the house was not searched during the King's stay; but as was replied, when we urged this fact, it

might have been, and that is enough for a tradition. There is another priests' hole in the upper room, the one we should think referred to by Mr. White; but we could learn nothing concerning its purpose, or the reason for its existence. As Mr. Hughes says, it "is a mere low, flat hole, covered by the floor, and is nowise connected with any anecdote."

The house is in excellent condition; the rooms large, airy, and well kept. Two maiden ladies, named Evans, are its present proprietors; and, as a rule, spend about a fortnight a year in this beautiful retreat. We were quite satisfied with our survey of the inside of the house, and now left it for the grounds. Along the front and the side of the house the pavement bears an inscription in Latin made with white pebbles, informing you that Charles was once concealed there, and enjoyed the faithful attendance of the "quinque fratrum de stirpe Penderel." We sat a short time in the summer-house, and thence proceeded to the "Royal Oak,"-not an inn of that name, of which there are so many, but the oak whose ample foliage afforded concealment to the luckless Monarch and his friend Carlis. We say, the "oak which afforded concealment ;" but that expression is not quite correct; the tree

"Wherein the younger Charles abode

Till all the paths were dim,

And far below the Roundhead rode,
And humm'd a surly hymn,"

having long been cut up into relics for the over loyal visitors to the scene of their idol's refuge.

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