Tixall Poetry/Preface

Preface.

 

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I. In the year 1809, I published, with the assistance of Mr Walter Scott, a work, in two volumes quarto, entitled "The State Papers and Letters of Sir Ralph Sadler, Knight Banneret;" to which I prefixed an advertisement, informing the reader, that the original manuscripts, from a copy of which those volumes were printed, had been preserved at Tixall, in Staffordshire, the seat of Thomas Clifford, Esq. my eldest brother. That work has put the public in possession of many very curious, and interesting State Papers; and has rescued from partial obscurity, and restored to its just celebrity, the name of a man, who was one of the wisest, and bravest, one of the most active, and most able, among the many eminent characters in the reigns of Henry VIII. and of Queen Elizabeth.^[1] At the conclusion of a "Memoir of the Life of Sir Ralph Sadler," prefixed to the work, there is an extract from Lloyd's "Worthies;" in which that writer asserts, that Sir Ralph Sadler "bequeathed three things to such as may have the honour to succeed him:

 

1. All letters that concerned him, since of years, filed.

2. All occurrences, since he was capable of observation, registred.

3. All expences since he lived, of himself, booked."

 

Of the first of these bequests, the public now enjoys the benefit, by means of the above-mentioned publication; but the two others have unfortunately perished. How these manuscripts of Sir Ralph Sadler were dispersed, and lost, amid the revolution of property, and the succession of families, which have taken place among his descendants, during the two last centuries, it would be now useless to enquire, and impossible to discover. The loss of both, but particularly of the second, is certainly much to be regretted.

Sir Ralph Sadler died at the age of 80, in 1587.

 

II. Sir Walter Aston, of Tixall, near Stafford, married, about the year 1607, Gertrude Sadler, the grand-daughter, and finally the heiress of Sir Ralph Sadler.^[2] In the year 1627, he was raised to the dignity of the peerage, by the title of Lord Aston, Baron of Forfar, in Scotland, and died in 1639. His widow, Lady Aston, had an only brother, Ralph Sadler, Esq. of Standon Lordship, near Ware, in Hertfordshire; an estate, which was granted to Sir Ralph Sadler, by King Henry VIII. and on which he erected a stately mansion. Ralph Sadler, Esq. his grandson, married a daughter of the famous Sir Edward Coke, but dying without issue in 1660, Walter, second Lord Aston, succeeded, in right of his mother, to the inheritance of the Sadler property.^[3]

From this period, it appears, that the Aston family were in the habit of residing alternately, at Standon, and Tixall. James, fifth Lord Aston, my grandfather, died at Tixall, in the year 1750, leaving only two daughters, among whom his property was equally divided. On this occasion, it was thought advisable, to sell the estate, and house of Standon Lordship; but the pictures, books, papers, and other valuable effects, were transferred to Tixall, where Sir Ralph Sadler's State Papers, and Letters, were carefully preserved, till they were at length transcribed by the Reverend John Kirk, of Lichfield, and finally given to the public, in the year 1809, as above stated.

 

III. Soon after the publication of Sir Ralph Sadler's State Papers, I happened to make a visit at Tixall. For some time before, I had been strongly impressed with an idea, that some valuable manuscripts were still concealed at that place; and, in particular, as I knew that Sir Walter Aston had been twice ambsssador in Spain during the reigns of James I. and his son, Charles I. and that a volume of his manuscripts, relating to his second embassy, was actually in the library, I naturally hoped at least, that his other State Papers might still be in existence, and that by a diligent search in the library, and other repositories at Tixall, they might still be found.

Actuated by these considerations, animated by these hopes, I determined to make every enquiry which might lead to the discovery of any hidden manuscripts, and to leave no place unsearched, in which there was the smallest probability of such treasures being concealed. My enquiries, and searches, were crowned with complete success. Besides an additional packet of letters, which had belonged to Sir Ralph Sadler, and which contain some further particulars, respecting the confinement of the Queen of Scotland, in Tutbury Castle, I discovered, 1. All the poems which I now offer to the public, under the title of Tixall Poetry; 2. A large quantity of letters, and other papers, relating to the Aston family; 3. A complete collection of the state papers, and letters, of Sir Walter Aston, during his two embassies in Spain.

Of the manner in which these manuscripts were discovered, and of the state in which they were found, I shall now give a particular relation.

On my arrival at Tixall, I began my search by enquiring after an old oaken box, covered with variegated gilt leather, and ornamented with brass nails, which, according to the tradition of the family, had belonged to Sir Ralph Sadler. It is certain, that Sir Ralph Sadler's State Papers had been preserved in that box, both at Standon Lordship, and Tixall, but they had been removed out of it, many years ago; partly, perhaps, for the purpose of depositing them in a still safer place, and probably, also with the intention of showing them to such visitors at Tixall, as might feel a curiosity to examine such ancient manuscripts.^[4] The box, however, at that time, was not very closely examined, or many papers were purposely left in it, as the reader will be informed hereafter. I had often heard my eldest sister, Mrs Wolseley, relate, that my father, (who, when he was first married, lived in the old house, now a ruin,) determined, on some occasion or other, to make a great bonfire in the court; and to throw into it a large quantity of old boxes, lumber, and rubbish, which had been accumulating in the ancient mansion, perhaps for more than two centuries. Among the rest, this venerable diplomatic chest, which had contained the laborious negociations, and important treaties of so many ambassadors, and such various countries, was also destined to the flames; but that my mother, and all the female part of the family, strongly interceded for it; struck, perhaps, with the exterior beauty of its gilded leather, and hobnails; and still more, because my mother declared, that she had heard her father, Lord Aston, say, that that very box had belonged to Sir Ralph Sadler; and that therefore, it would be a kind of sacrilege, to destroy a venerable relic of such an illustrious ancestor. The ladies prevailed, and the box was saved.^[5]

On enquiring for it, I was soon informed by the old housekeeper, who has been in the family near fifty years, that it was deposited in the lumber-room; but that, only a short time since, as she happened to be passing by it, she lifted up the lid, and perceived that the bottom of it was strewed over with dirt, and dust, and with little bits of paper, which appeared to have been nibbled into pieces by the mice; and she added, that she was pretty sure I should find nothing in it worth looking after. This information was sufficiently discouraging. I, however, desired the box to be brought to my apartment, and on opening it, I perceived, that most probably, it was originally constructed for the express purpose of preserving papers; for the entire cavity of the inside was filled up with two rows of deep drawers, three in each row, which could only be opened, by drawing them perpendicularly upwards. One of the drawers had been taken out, and never replaced; and, as the lid did not shut close, the mice had got into the place of that drawer, and had nibbled away some papers, which had probably been left there, and also the margins, and part of the writing, of some of the manuscripts, which protruded a little from the other drawers. The inside of the box was so contrived, that, if all the drawers had been in, this could never have happened. After having given a few moments to grief, and lamentation, for the loss of the manuscripts, which I thus saw irretrievably destroyed, I began, with no little agitation, to pull out the other drawers, and was delighted to find, that none of them were entirely empty. At last I came to one quite full, which, with the others, contained an additional parcel of Sir Ralph Sadler's Papers, and all the "State Papers and Letters of Sir Walter Aston," carefully tied up in small bundles; and, in short, in the same state exactly, in which, some years before, I had received the manuscripts of Sir Ralph Sadler. My satisfaction was now complete, and I hardly thought of searching, or enquiring any further. However, having communicated my discoveries to the old housekeeper, she informed me, that, if I considered the papers I had found to be of any value, and was fond of such things, she had a large trunk, and some boxes, quite full of old papers. The reader will readily believe, that I lost no time in desiring them to be brought to me; and, in fact, in about an hour afterwards, I beheld two men arrive, bending under the weight of an immense travelling trunk, and a third behind, with two small wooden boxes. These I examined first, and found them to contain chiefly, some books of travelling, and household expences, of my grandmother Lady Clifford, while she was in France, and at Paris, about the year 1740.^[6] Along with these, were some French almanacks, passports, play-bills, army lists, and other papers and letters, both printed and manuscript; some of which, though interesting enough as family papers, were possessed of no further value. These, therefore, I soon dispatched; but when I came to open the great trunk,

 

Visions of glory, spare my aching sight!^[7]

 

I there beheld, what might have thrown a real, genuine antiquary, into extasies, and raptures. For my own part, I confess, I was at first, appalled, and daunted. It was a bumper, brimful, and overflowing; while the enormous mass appeared to consist of papers, of every sort, and size: the surface of which was most respectably defended, by a deep, and venerable layer of literary dust. Summoning up resolution,

 

——————I bent
Each corporal agent to this terrible feat;^[8]

 

and, drawing a chair to the side of the trunk, I sat down, with a full determination of thoroughly exploring its contents; and resolved, not to let a single scrap of paper pass without examination, and without satisfying myself, as to the nature of the manuscript in contained. The papers which I first met with, were generally bills, and receipts, bonds, leases, and parchment deeds; then, perhaps, a single letter, then the back of a letter, or other morsel of paper, with verses scrawled on it; mixed with these, single printed sheets, proclamations, pamphlets, and small volumes; till at last I came to whole packets of letters, and entire volumes of manuscript poetry; but the whole tumbled, and thrown together, and mixed with so much dirt and dust, as if the trunk had been destined to be the repository of all the rubbish, sweepings, and clearings of the library, the study, the steward's room, and every cabinet, and writing desk in the house.

Thus pursuing my way "through strait, rough, dense, or rare;"^[9] whenever I met with a bill, a bond, or the like, I threw it on one side, the printed papers and books on another; while I carefully collected the manuscript poems, and letters, and every thing which appeared to be of a literary nature, or to have any relation to the Aston family, into a heap by themselves. When I had got completely through the contents of the trunk, I returned into it, all that I considered as useless, at least for my purpose. I carried the books, and printed papers, to the library, and put by the rest for further examination. The reader will judge of the vast mass of papers I bad to wade through, and of the extent of my labour, and perseverance, when I inform him, that I was almost continually occupied for about ten days, from breakfast to dinner, and frequently an hour or more before breakfast, and another in the evening, before I beheld the bottom of the trunk. Such is the history of my search after manuscripts at Tixall, and such was the success with which that search Was attended.

IV. The whole of the manuscripts thus discovered, naturally fell into three classes: 1. The State Papers of Sir Walter Aston; 2. The Poetry; 3. the Letters, and other papers, which seemed to have any relation to the private history of the Aston family. My attention was first, and principally attracted, to the poems, and letters. They were altogether an unexpected discovery; they were likely to be more interesting in themselves, and were more suited to the bent of my genius, and to the train of my favourite studies, than a diplomatic correspondence, or a collection of state papers. On examining the poetry, I found, as it was natural to expect, that it was of very unequal merit; but I still thought, on a more attentive perusal, that there were many pieces worthy of preservation. My first business, therefore, was to select these, and then to transcribe them. After this operation, I had the pleasure to find that I still had a sufficient number of poems to form a volume; and it then became my study to arrange these in a suitable order. After many trials, and alterations, I at last determined on the order in which they appear in this volume. My reasons for this arrangement I shall now endeavour to explain to the reader.

When I came to select, and arrange the poems which I had thus discovered, I found that they might be conveniently classed in four divisions:—1. A small thin quarto, stitched, but without a cover, on the outermost leaf of which is written, "Her. Aston, 1658;" 2. A still smaller quarto, which has no cover, but opens with a little poem with this title, "Mrs Thimelby on the Death of her only Child 3. A small, but thick folio, covered with yellowish parchment, much discoloured; on the outside of which is written, "William Turner his booke, 1662 and on the inside of the under part of the cover, over which the last leaf had been pasted, "Catherin Gage's book;" 4. A large quantity of loose scraps of paper, sheets, half-sheets, backs of letters, and the like, scribbled over with verses.

Having classed the poetry into the four divisions, just enumerated, I determined, after some consideration, that, that also should be the order of their appearance in print. The first quarto has a name, and date upon it; and I have every reason to believe, that the poems, of which it is composed, were written full as early, and perhaps earlier, than any others in the whole collection. Though the name "Her. Aston" is on the back of it, yet, as I have no proof that any one of the poems contained in it was composed by that person, but, on the contrary, have positive evidence, that some of them were the production of another, I have therefore thought fit to entitle the First Division, "Poems collected by the Honourable Herbert Aston, 1658.^[10]

The two first poems in the second quarto, are declared, in their titles, to be the production of "Mrs Thimelby while the titles of some of the others, together with the general resemblance of sentiment, and style, throughout the whole, seem to point her out as the author of them all. I have therefore ventured to entitle the Second Division, "Poems by the Honourable Mrs Henry Thimelby."

With respect to the Third Division, I feel it necessary to offer some explanation to the reader. I candidly confess, that, with the exception of the first, and perhaps three, or four more pieces, I do not believe there is one poem in the whole Third Division, but what has been in print before. Of this fact, however, I was not aware, till the whole plan of the publication had been arranged, and a considerable portion of the Third Division had been printed.

When I first began to peruse these manuscript poems, and to transcribe them, I took the precaution to consult some learned friends about them, who are well acquainted with ancient English poetry; and I also carefully examined the principal collections of poetry in our language. I looked over the early volumes of the edition of the "British Poets," by my friend Dr Anderson;^[11] I searched the poetical miscellanies of Dryden, Pope, Dodsley, and others; I examined the collections of Percy, Headley, Ellis, and Ritson; and finding but two or three, out of my manuscript, among them, I fairly concluded at first, that they were original poems, composed, like those in the First, and Second Divisions, by some of the Aston family, or their friends. On further investigation, I have discovered Several of them, in the numerous little volumes of poetry, which were published during the latter part of the 17th century;^[12] though they are mostly without any author's name, and the poems they contain, are frequently said to be written, "By a Person of Quality." As I knew that the family at Tixall, and their friends, were persons of quality, and that they were also writers of poetry, I saw no reason to suppose but that they might have been the authors of some of these poems. Such therefore I retained, but in the Notes, I have taken care to point out the volumes where they are to be found. I also discovered, that a few of these poems are extracted from some of our dramatic authors, from Beaumont, and Fletcher, Lee, Dryden, and others. I was induced to retain these, partly from a consideration of the following passage, with which Headley has concluded the preface to his "Select Beauties of Ancient English Poetry." "Had I given way to the temptation of enriching my work with specimens from older dramatic authors, I must infallibly have enlarged my plan for their admission. They afford a field for selection, sufficiently wide of themselves, to form a complete work. I have therefore, with the exception of two or three instances, totally avoided them." Such a selection, as is here alluded to, has, I believe, never been attempted, and I therefore felt no reluctance to publish such pieces from dramatic authors, as I found in my folio manuscript. I considered, moreover, that the whole of these poems must, to the generality of readers, be perfectly new; and that besides, it would be a matter of some curiosity, to preserve entire a poetical miscellany, formed by a lady of rank, and fashion, in the 17th century.^[13] "Catherine Gage's Booke" is written at the end of the manuscript, and the first poem in it, is inscribed to her. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas Gage, Bart, of Firle, in Sussex, and the second wife of the third Lord Aston. I have therefore entitled this Third Division, "Poems collected by the Right Honourable Lady Aston."^[14]

The poems in the Fourth, and Last Division, consist of such pieces, as I found totally unconnected with each other, and written on backs of letters, or other scraps of paper. These, for want of a better designation, I have entitled "Miscellaneous Poems."^[15] I have prefixed to them, a "Pindaric Ode," by Dryden; two small poems, by Sir Richard Fanshawe; one, by Sidney Godolphin; and one by Waller: all of which I found in the old trunk, and which, I believe, are now published for the first time. Of these "Miscellaneous Poems," it is evident, that many were written by individuals of the Aston family, and their friends; while others have been collected from a variety of volumes. Wherever I have been able to discover them, I have pointed it out in the Notes.

With regard to the internal arrangement of the poems, in each Division, I have endeavoured to dispose them in such a manner, as that too many of the same sort, and cast, should not occur together; but that the reader should be led, by a pleasing interchange of subject, and style,

 

———happily to steer
From grave to gay, from lively to severe.^[16]

 

Having thus related in what manner these poems were discovered, and explained the order which I have thought proper to adopt, in the arrangement of them, I should now proceed, to lay before the reader, some information concerning their respective authors. But before I enter on this topic, I think it necessary to declare the motives, which have induced me to give to this work the title of "Tixall Poetry." In the first place, All the poems in this collection were preserved and discovered at Tixall. 2dly, There is great reason to believe, that some of them were written there, and it is certain, that many of them were composed by persons, either born there, or closely connected with it. Sdly, Many of the poems I can ascribe to no author whatever; while of those, whom I have ascertained, none is so predominant, as to be entitled to give his name to the whole collection. Lastly, In addition to these reasons, I have the authority of Drayton, one of the most eminent poets of his time, for asserting, that Tixall has often been the favourite resort, and retreat of the muses.^[17] What more appropriate title, therefore, or rather, what other title, could I have chosen for this collection of poems, than that of Tixall Poetry?

V. In proceeding to give an account of the authors, and collectors of the Tixall Poetry, I must begin, by requesting the reader, to recal to his recollection the name of Sir Walter Aston.

Sir Walter Aston, afterwards Lord Aston, Baron of Forfar, in Scotland, was descended from a long line of ancestors, of the same name, who had flourished at Tixall, and in the immediate neighbourhood, for several centuries. Camden calls them, a family of great consideration: "Near the confluence of the Sow and Trent," says he, "stands Ticks-Hall, the seat of the family of Aston, of great eminence in these parts, for its antiquity, and alliances."^[18] And Fuller, in his "Worthies," has also noticed them, in the following remarkable expressions: "I have not met with a more noble family, measuring on the level of flat, and unadvantaged antiquity. They have ever borne a good respect to the church, and to learned men."^[19]

Sir Walter Aston, eldest son and heir of Sir Edward Aston, Kt. by Anne Lucy, only daughter of Sir Thomas Lucy, Kt. of Charlecote, in the county of Warwick, was born at Tixall, about the year 1580.^[20] Being a minor at the time of his father's death, in 1597, he was given in wardship, by Queen Elizabeth, to the famous Sir Edward Coke, afterwards Lord Chief Justice of the court of King's Bench. Soon after he came of age, he was made a Knight of the Bath, at the coronation of King James I. He was created a Baronet in 1611, with the first who were promoted to that dignity; and in 1619, was sent joint-ambassador with Sir John Digby, Earl-of Bristol, into Spain, to manage the nice and difficult proposal of a marriage, between Charles, Prince of Wales, and the Infanta, daughter of Philip III. in which, says his grandson, "he proceeded with great prudence and warynesse, and with a sincere zeale to have served his prince, yet was a true and fast friend to the then Duke of Buckingham."^[21] He returned to England, just after the death of King James, and was created by letters patent, dated 28th Nov. 1627, Baron Aston, of Forfar, in the kingdom of Scotland, with all the privileges belonging to a peer of that realm. In 1635, he was again sent sole ambassador into Spain, where he continued about three years. He returned to England in 1638, and dying the year following, was buried in St Mary's church, at Stafford.

"Hee was seised at the time of his going into Spaine, of divers manors and lordships, lying in the countyes of Stafford, Warwick, Derby, and Leicestre, to ye no lesse value than of L. 10,000 per an. the greatest part of which he lost and dispended in that service."^[22]

Lord Aston married Gertrude Sadler, only daughter of Sir Thomas Sadler of Standon Lordship, near Ware, in Hertfordshire, and granddaughter of Sir Ralph Sadler, Knight Banneret.^[23] By this lady, he had five sons, and five daughters. Those who survived him, were, 1. Walter, second Lord Aston, who married, in 1629, Lady Mary Weston, daughter of Richard, Earl of Portland, Lord High Treasurer of England. 2. Herbert, who married Catherine, sister of Sir John Thimelby, of Irnham, Knt. in the county of Lincoln. 3. Frances, married Sir William Persall, Kt. of Canwell, near Lichfield. 4. Gertrude, married Henry Thimelby, Esq. third brother of Sir John Thimelby, above mentioned. 5. Constantia, married Walter Fowler, Esq. of St Thomas Priory, near Stafford.^[24]

Sir Walter Aston, and these his children; Lady Aston, second wife of his grandson, the third lord; and Edward Thimelby, second brother of Sir John Thimelby, of Irnham—these persons were the authors, and collectors of the poetry, now published in this volume.

We will now proceed to a more particular consideration of some of the individuals here enumerated.

 

(1.) All the biographers of Drayton, (who was one of the most eminent poets in the golden reign of Queen Elizabeth, and in that of her successor,) take notice of the liberal patronage which he enjoyed, from Sir Walter Aston of Tixall, in Staffordshire. This, Drayton himself very gratefully acknowledges, in the prefaces, and dedications, to many of his works. As these, from their voluminousness, and antiquity, are but little in the hands of the generality of modern readers, I have thought it an act of justice, to the memory of Sir Walter Aston, and to the honour of his descendants, to collect together these testimonies of Drayton, which the reader will find in the Appendix. From an attentive perusal of them, together with the lines in the title-page of this work, as well as from the long and cordial intimacy which subsisted between the poet and his patron, I am induced to think, that Drayton composed several of his poems at Tixall. Sir Walter Aston appears to have imbibed, at an early age, a decided taste for literature and poetry; for we find, that Drayton dedicated to him, his "Epistle of the Black Prince," in his collection of "Heroical Epistles," in 1598; most of which appear to have been published separately, some years before.^[25] At this time, Sir Walter Aston was about eighteen years old. In another dedication of his collected poems, published about the year 1619, he calls them "the workes of that maiden reigne, in the spring of our acquaintance, as it pleased you then to patronize, as I singly set them forth." It is observable, equally to the credit of the patron, and the poet, that in these dedications, there is no appearance of servile, or abject adulation, but that Drayton addresses Sir Walter Aston throughout, as an affectionate friend, as the companion of his studies, and an enlightened judge of his productions; which, by their immortality, would confer equal honour on his patron and himself. I have no ground, however, to assert, that Sir Walter Aston was the author of any of the pieces in this volume; but that he sometimes employed himself in poetical attempts, at least in his latter years, is evident, from a letter written in 1636, by Mrs Fowler, his youngest daughter, to her brother Herbert Aston, then at Madrid, with his father. In this letter she says, "I have receaved another from you some five dayes agoe, which you writ to my sister and mee together, and in it sent us most admirable verses of my lord's translateing, which are justly admired by all here."^[26] Though I cannot, therefore, point out with certainty, any poetical production by Sir Walter Aston, yet, when we consider his early, and constant patronage of Drayton, who, in return, has helped to immortalize the name of Tixall, and, when we reflect, that he most probably gave to his family that poetic impulse, to which we are indebted for the poems in this collection: we must, in justice, and gratitude, assign him a high place of honour and distinction, at the head of the authors, and collectors, of the Tixall Poetry.

 

Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori.^[27]

 

(2.) I find no reason to suppose, that Sir Walter Aston's son and heir, the second Lord Aston, had any particular turn for literature, and poetry. I have found a letter of consolation from him, to his brother Herbert, on the death of his wife, in 1658, which is tender, and affectionate; and also, three very interesting letters to his wife, Lady Aston, dated from Lichfield; of which he was governor, when it was besieged by the parliamentary forces, in 1646. These letters prove him to have been a man of high honour, magnanimity, and courage.

 

(3.) I now proceed therefore to Herbert Aston, Sir Walter's third son. Herbert Aston was horn at Chelsea, in the year 1614.^[28] In 1635, he accompanied his father, on his second embassy to Madrid; before which time, he appears to have formed a strong attachment for Catherine Thimelby, sister of Sir John Thimelby, of Irnham, whom he afterwards married. During his absence from England, his youngest sister, Constantia, or Constance Aston, (Mrs Fowler,) who was tenderly attached to him, did all in her power to promote this union. Herbert Aston seems to have felt, very early, the inspirations of the muse. Perhaps, the passion of love, as has happened to many other poets, first warmed his breast to poetic raptures; and he might say with Propertius,

 

Non hoc Calliope, non hoc mihi cantat Apollo,
Ingenium nobis ipsa puella facit.^[29]

 

I shall now produce some extracts from his sister's letters, in confirmation of these remarks. In a letter, dated 1636, she says, "I have not receaved yet those three copyes of verses you promised me for sending your box to Mr Henry Thimelby, therfore I beseech you not to forget them, for I have a longe time much longed for them. And indeed I could almost find in my hart to quarrel with you, and to conclude my letter with it; for I have written to you I know not how often, and beged of you most pittyfully that you would send mee some verses of your owne makeing, and yet you never would, when you know I love them more then can bee expressed. And in one of your letters, rather then you would send any of them to poore me, you writte word you had none, when I am sure you cannot chuse but thinke I know that is impossieble. And therfore pray see how hardly you deale with mee, when I have sent you all the verses that I could gett perpetuly, never omieting the sending of any that I could get that were good ones. Therfore I desire you will make an end of the quarrell, with sending mee some as sune as you can; for I assure you they can not come to one that will more esteme them then your ever most afectionat sister to serve you, Constance F."

"I receaved with this your last letter, which is dated the 1st of November, another letter which you had writt afore your being sicke; and in it you sent me a copy of your verses made to Mr Win—. They are much comended by all, as they deserve; and you have ganed the English ladyes harts extremely by them, to see you so constant a favorete of ther mirrits. For my part, I must confesse I am taken with nothinge but the prayses you give your Seraphina.^[30] I love her above my life, and vallew her infinitly; yet you conceale her from my thoughts, and tell me in your letter that I must understand she is but an imaginarie one, pigmalion like carved to your fancy. Oh pardon me if I complayne this is not kindly dun of you to make me such a stranger to your hart.

"For God sake lett me know when you thinke you shall come. Send me some verses, for I want some good ones to put in my booke."

In addition to these proofs of Herbert Aston's poetical efforts, I have found the following note, on a half sheet of letter-paper, in his hand-writing.

"My Mrs^[31] havinge nothinge els to doe this winter, hath made a slight collection of all my workes. Wherfore you must make an inquiry into all your papers, and if you find any of mine that beginn not as this note, you must send them her by the first opertunity, that is, by Cannal^[32] to us.

 

Oh the constant state of lovers.
Clorinda shall for ever rest.
Say would you know.
Receave this watch.
Hothams have lost ther heads.
Fairfax that erst.
Wher love commands.
A brimmer to you poets.
Your skillfull woodman.
No ill aspect of planitts.
Ime not ashamed.
Lett him that wants a cordiall.
Had I not once felt love.
Rise, glorious sunne.
Experience a great mistriss.
How strangely hards my fortune.
My great hart has undone mee.
The lover and the poett's store.

Thy postures, Aritine.
There it was, my deare, you sett.
Make mee thy fancye.
Farwell my hope and fortune.
My hart lookes up.
Love, preethee helpe my hart.
I suffer and conseale.
Is this a mocke.
S^r as I had the honour.
Rivers are mett.
You that grimfaced death.
I laugh at those.
Forbeare, you grand Platonick hater.
He take my oath.
Tell me not, deare, I can not love.
All sorrowes dry.
Your antient augur.
'Tis not superstitious to pay.
Lett him that writt.

 

"All of the Third of May we have but the first yeare.

"These I remember you have: To my Lady Duches of the Blossome Colour. To my Lady Brett on her Marriage. On my Lady St Allbon's Death. If Love be a Pilgrimage, &c. On the Barr betwene. Læta, the above, and the Reliquary."

All these poems of Herbert Aston's seem to have perished; as well as those, which his sister Constance Fowler was so desirous to obtain.

 

(4.) Catherine Thimelby, wife of Herbert Aston, was a collector, and writer of verses. Some pieces, of hers, in this volume, I have pointed out in the Notes.

 

(5.) I now come to the daughters of Sir Walter Aston. Of Lady Persall's genius for poetry I have found no traces; but that her husband was an occasional versifier appears from the following extract of a letter by Edward Thimelby:—"I came into England with a slight leave, and leave it with as slight a farewell. Me thinkes I am now sorry that I saw you, and as glad not to have seene my deare sister Aston.^[33] For love of God let her not know I was in England. If I have tyme to coppy it, I shal send you here enclosed a rare ballad of her husband's, if not I shall send it by the next, and in the interim stay your stomacke with this other of my brother Parsall,^[34] from whose sonne's lodgens in Gray's-inne I am newly come from a treat, where he invited his father, mother, sister, Lord Aston, his sonnes, Lady Southcot and her husband, who are in earnest a happy couple, and he an excellent humor. Irnham and Corby's health went as rownd as the ballads."

Sir William Persall was of an ancient family, seated at Canwell, near Lichfield: but I am afraid that he fell into extravagance of one kind or other, and was obliged, some time before his death, to dispose of his estate.^[35] Of his children and descendants I have found no memorial.

 

(6.) Gertrude Aston, fourth daughter of Sir Walter, who married Henry Thimelby, appears to have employed herself occasionally in writing verses, not with a view of being thought a poetess, but merely from a strong desire to pour forth her feelings on such subjects as excited her sensibility. With this disposition, therefore, and living among persons of cultivated minds, and with a taste for poetry, she endeavoured to relieve her own emotions, and to interest her companions, by poetical effusions on the death, or marriage, of relations and friends, on their parting or meeting, and similar domestic topics. Her husband, for whom she had a most tender affection, died young, and left her a widow, with an only child, which soon followed its father to the grave. They appear to have lived at Corby, near Irnham, in Lincolnshire. On this melancholy event, she sought the consolations of religion in a convent of English nuns, at Louvain, in Flanders, of which her husband's sister, Winefrid Thimelby, was abbess. Of this lady I found no less than sixty or seventy very beautiful letters, addressed to Herbert Aston; from which, the following affecting passages relate to Mrs Henry Thimelby. "For our dearest sister, though her eyes' deluge be not yet wholly ceaced, yet who can repine att so happy a flood which has raysed her to the contemplation of heaven, whersuch pearlls as her tears contribute with other jewells to the ritches of that ocean of delight."—"But enouf of this sad subject, I must have place to communicate my ioyes. Our dear sister hath now changed murning into whight attire. Oh! had you seene the solemnity, I am confident yr hart wod not have contained all the ioy, but shed som att your eyes, no less than Hevin can dim the splendour of this glorious day. All things wear so compleatly acted, that my brother Ned and I wear not a little goodly."

Mrs Heury Thimelby died a nun, in the convent at Louvain.

 

(7.) Constantia Aston, the youngest daughter of Sir Walter Aston, was married to Walter Fowler, Esq. of St Thomas' Priory, near Stafford. That she had a great love for good poetry, is evident from the passages in her letters to her brother Herbert, already quoted: but that she wrote poems herself, I have no evidence to adduce. The reader will find a beautiful little poem addressed to her before her marriage, in the fourth division.^[36]

(9.) Of Catherine Gage, Lady Aston, wife of the third Lord Aston, I have given some information above.^[37]

 

(10.) Of Edward Thimelby, the last in this poetical fraternity, (but though last certainly not least,) all the information I have been able to obtain, is contained in the following short extract from Dodd's "Church History "Edward Thimelby, of an ancient and worthy family at Irnham, in Lincolnshire. Being sent abroad for education, he entered into an ecclesiastical state, and lived a considerable time in Rome, in the family of an eminent cardinal. He was afterwards made provost of the collegiate church of Saint Gery, in Cambray, where he died about 1690. He was a person of remarkable piety. Some verses of his composition may be seen in the beginning of Cressy's Church History."^[38]

From his poems in this collection, and from a few of his letters, which have been preserved, he appears to have been, in his youth at least, of a very lively and sprightly disposition, and to have possessed a considerable share of wit and humour. That he was a classical scholar, a critic, a man of taste, and extensive information, his poems, though few, afford abundant proofs. I found several short poems on a large sheet of paper, among which were the following, not inserted in this collection: "To Mr Edward Thimelby, on the cutting of a grove of bay trees." "To Mr Ed. Thimelby, on a holiday." "To Mr Edward Thimelby, dissuading him from translating Dr Donne into Italian."

 

VII. From this slight history of the authors, and collectors of the Tixall Poetry, the reader will perceive, that they were individuals of five distinct families, inhabiting a line of country in the very centre of England, and none at a very great distance from the others. The Priory of St Thomas, is three miles from Tixall, which is five from Bellamore; and from that to Canwell is fifteen, which places are all in Staffordshire. From Canwell to Irnham, in Lincolnshire, is about five and thirty miles. They were all Roman catholics; and, what is remarkable, they are all, in the male line at least, become extinct.^[39] Their very names and dwellings have perished!

 

VIII. With respect to the share which the different individuals just enumerated had in the composition of the original, and hitherto unpublished, poems in this volume, I have already given some information above.^[40] To this, I may now add, that the principal authors may be reduced to three; Herbert Aston, his sister Gertrude, wife of Henry Thimelby, and his brother Edward Thimelby. The other authors of particular pieces I have pointed out in the notes.

Among the poets, their contemporaries, besides Drayton, they appear to have been intimate with Crashaw, Fanshaw, and Caryl; and I have reason to think that they were known to Sandys, Waller, and Davenant. Of their connexion with Cowley I have found no trace; but as he was the friend of Crashaw, and much engaged in the service of the royal family, during the civil war, and the usurpation of Cromwell, as were also the Astons, it is very likely that they were acquainted.

With the wits, and poets, at the court of the second Charles, it is not probable they would form a connexion. Ihe second Lord Aston, though an earnest suitor to his majesty, yet obtained no reward for his own services, or those of his family. Mrs Henry Thimelby was become a nun. Lady Persall, and Mrs Herbert Aston were dead. Edward Thimelby, in an elegy on the latter, says,

 

I've strowed, and stuck devoutly, on some herses,
But here I burn, and bury all my verses.

 

and he probably adhered to this resolution. He was, moreover, now fixed in his ecclesiastical state; and would look back, perhaps, on his poetical effusions, as juvenile amusements, in which it was no longer creditable to be engaged. Herbert Aston, and his beloved sister Constantia Fowler, were sufficiently engaged with the cares of a family.

 

IX.——In perusing these poems, or in forming a judgment of their merit, the candid reader will bear in mind, that they were not the compositions of professed poets and authors, of men of letters, and scholars, but that they were the occasional effusions of ladies and gentlemen, writing verses to occupy their leisure, and for their mutual entertainment: that they were never intended for publication, and probably never received the last corrections of their authors. For these poems, therefore, of the Astons and Thimelbyes, I am not unwilling to adopt the character which Pope has given of the poetry of Crashaw:—

"I take this poet to have writ like a gentleman, that is, at leisure hours, and more to keep out of idleness than to establish a reputation: so that nothing regular or just can be expected of him. All that regards design, form, fable, (which is the soul of poetry,) all that concerns exactness, or consent of parts, (which is the body,) will probably be wanting: only pretty conceptions, fine metaphors, glittering expressions, and something of a neat cast of verse (which are properly the dress, gems, or loose ornaments of poetry,) may be found in these verses. This is, indeed, the case of most other poetical writers of miscellanies: nor can it be well otherwise, since no man can be a true poet who writes for diversion only. These authors should be considered as versifiers and witty men, rather than as poets: and under this head will fall the thoughts, the expression, and the numbers. These are only the pleasing part of poetry, which may be judged of at a view, and comprehended all at once: and (to express myself like a painter) their colouring entertains the sight, but the lines and life of the picture are not to be inspected too narrowly."^[41]

To those readers who are unacquainted with the history and progress of English poetry, and who are not conversant with the writings of our earlier poets; whose poetical reading has perhaps never extended beyond the age of Pope, or Dryden, and who, therefore, may be sometimes offended by an occasional negligence of diction, or ruggedness of verse—to such readers I would submit the following judicious observations of Headly:—"The older poets disdained stooping to the character of syllable-mongers: as their conceptions were vigorous, they trusted to the simple provision of nature for their equipment; and though often introduced into the world ragged, they were always healthy. To cull words, vary pauses, adjust accents, diversify cadence, and by, as it were, balancing the line, make the first part of it betray the second, was an employment reserved for the leisure and coolness of after-times, whose poetical establishment was about to consist of a suite of traditional imagery, hereditary similies, readiness of rhyme, and volubility of syllables."

Yet, notwithstanding some occasional coarseness, and carelessness of language, and some harshness and roughness of versification, I shall venture to assert, that in justness, and solidity of thought, in propriety and delicacy of sentiment, in ease, and energy of expression, and in the selection, and exactness of rhymes, these authors will not be found inferior to any of the minor poets who flourished in England, from the period of the accession of King Charles I. down to the Restoration: and, with respect to musical flow of verse, and harmony of numbers, I could point out several passages, particularly in the first division, which need not fear a comparison with the boasted "sweetness" of Waller, and the "strength" of Denham; though they were probably written before any compositions of those authors had been published.

 

X. It remains, that I should take some notice of the orthography which appears in these poems. Like some other editors of ancient poetry, I might at once have adopted the modern spelling; but this, I was afraid, might take away something from the original air of the poetry, and from its native appearance of genuineness, and authenticity. Many of the poems were undoubtedly written before our orthography was at all settled. These, therefore, are a subject of grammatical curiosity. To the eyes of many readers, this antiquated dress may be an additional charm; and to an editor, circumstanced as I am, in publishing pieces which have never been in print before, it was perhaps a duty to transcribe them exactly as I found them. Though I am very sensible, therefore, that many of these deviations from modern spelling, are to be attributed solely to the ignorance, or carelessness of the writer, yet, when they did not obscure the sense, nor greatly deform the words, I have generally copied them with scrupulous fidelity: and, in particular, where I had reason to think that the manuscript was in the hand of a lady, I felt too much respect for the fair sex, even to attempt to correct their errors.

 

XI. The notes, which I have added to these poems, are explanatory, illustrative, and critical: and I have endeavoured to make them such as I should wish to find, were I reading such poems without them. When my memory or reading supplied me with parallel passages from other authors, I have freely inserted them.

"It is always gratifying, says Johnson, to trace a sentiment."^[42] And indeed, this is a species of illustration, with which every scholar, and I believe, almost every reader, is generally delighted.

In the notes, I have found an opportunity to insert two short poems of my own composition; not only for the reasons there assigned, but from an anxious desire to prove that the Heliconian maids still love to linger among the hills, the streams, and the groves of Tixall.

 

XII. Of the merit of this collection in general, and of the judgement which I have shown in publishing it to the world, it is not for me to deliver an opinion. I shall, however, declare, that having always felt an enthusiastic predilection for poetry, and having now consumed many years in a constant perusal of our English poets, I feel, that were I divested of all partiality for the authors, or collectors of these poems, and for the place where they were preserved and discovered, I could still take up this volume with as much pleasure, and return to it with as eager delight, as to any poetical miscellany in our language. And, with respect to those readers, who occasionally look into a collection of poems, for the purpose of amusing their leisure, or of recreating their fancy, I shall add, that unless my partial judgment greatly misleads me, I believe they will find as many fragrant flowers, and well-flavoured fruits, in these borders, as in any other garden of the muses, in which they have hitherto delighted.

At the same time, I am very far from flattering myself, that this work will be considered, as any valuable addition to our stock of ancient poetry, or that it will ever become extensively popular. I consider it, myself, rather as an object of curiosity. The poems of which it consists, were accidentally discovered; they were snatched from the very jaws of destruction; in a few years more, they would perhaps have sunk, with their authors, into the dark abyss of overwhelming oblivion: they would most probably have perished. Under these circumstances, it was to me a sort of religious feeling, a sacred duty, to attempt to give them a "habitation and a name." To some persons this volume will always be interesting, in some libraries it will always preserve a place, to some families it will always be precious. My ambition is fully satisfied.

 

XIII. As this work is entitled "Tixall Poetry," and as the frontispiece is a representation of a part of the ruins of the ancient mansion of the Aston family, I shall conclude this preface with a short description of those ruins, and with a poem upon them, which I composed some years ago, and which, I hope, will not be found unworthy of a place among its companions in the Tixall Poetry.

 

The first story only of one side of the ancient mansion, but without a roof, is still standing, and was formerly almost hid by the most luxuriant growth of ivy which I ever saw. This of late years has been judiciously thinned, and lopped away, in order to shew the windows, with the form and architecture of the building. The south front terminated in a bow-window, richly decorated on the outside with roses, lozenges, and other Gothic ornaments. This bow-window, together with the east and west windows, and some part of the lofty, massy chimney-piece, are still in existence. The internal decoration of the great drawing-room was very singular; the lower part of the walls being wainscotted, while the upper part exhibited the naked stone, tastefully adorned with sculptured pannels, with the heraldic shields of the founders, and the initial letters of their names, all of stone, and rising in bas-relief from the sides of the room. Here, in particular, are the arms of Sir Edward Aston, impaling those of Bolles, with the motto, Laus Deo; and opposite, are the Aston arms impaling Sadler, which must have been added more than fifty years after the former. The east window is a kind of oriel, and the ceiling is elegantly ornamented with various emblematic devices, and the heraldic coats of four of the principal families, to whom the Astons were allied; viz. Montfort, Freville, Byron, and Walsh. In the centre, is a buffalo's head, on a wreath, which was the ancient family crest; and in other interstices, are represented barrels, or tons; which, from the circumstance of their being placed in the east window, were probably meant as an allusion to the derivation of the family name: Aston, or Eston, from East-town. All these embellishments are beautifully executed.

The walls of two smaller rooms are likewise still standing; but they have now no roof but the thick branches of the ivy, and no floor but its fallen leaves. The space between the ruins and the modern house, is covered with a soft mossy turf, which in my childhood was strewed over with fragments of the ancient building. Nothing can be more delightful, than to contemplate, in the different seasons of the year, or at different times of the day, the mingled effects of light and shade among these dilapidated, ivied walls. But, above all, on a clear, moonlight night, when all around is still, and when the recollections, and emotions, which such a scene is calculated to excite, are awakened, and exalted by the solemn, congenial serenity of the nocturnal heavens, it is then that fancy and feeling will exert their influence, and take full possession of the mind and heart.

Such emotions, such recollections, I have endeavoured to express in the following Poem.

---

1. Of the power, and influence, which Sir Ralph Sadler possessed in the government, during the short reign of Edward VI. no greater proof need be sought, than what is contained in the following passage from Heylin's "History of the Reformation." Having stated, (p. 43, fo. edit.) that Sir Ralph Sadler was appointed Treasurer General for the war; and having given an account of the battle, and defeat of the Scotch, at Musselburgh, where Sir Ralph so greatly distinguished himself, he says, p. 47, "And now it is high time to attend the parliament, which took beginning on the 4th of November, and was prorogued on the 24th of December following: In which the cards were so well packed by Sir Ralph Sadler, that there was no need of any more shuffling till the end of the game. This very parliament, without any sensible alteration of the members of it, being continued by prorogation from session to session, until at last it ended in the death of the king." Sir Ralph even appears to have enjoyed the confidence of the bloody and bigotted Mary. See his "State Papers," vol. i. p. 368.
2. I think it very probable, that Sir Ralph Sadler was acquainted with Sir Walter Aston's grandfather, Sir Walter, who died in 1589. They were both at the siege of Leith, near Edinburgh, in 1560: And Sir W. Aston was high sheriff of Staffordshire, about the time when Sir Ralph Sadler had charge of the Queen of Scotland, in Tutbury Castle; an employment, which would naturally bring him acquainted with the high sheriff, and the principal gentry of the county. There is, at Tixall, a portrait of Sir W. Aston, in black armour, in one corner of which are the Aston arms, and under them, this inscription:

   "Waiterus Aston, apud Leith in Scotia miles, in re militari Elizabethæ serenissimæ Reginæ Angliæ, A° regni sui secundo A° 1560." And in another place, "Effigies, A dni 1584, ætatis suæ 55."

3. See Chauncy's History of Hertfordshire.
4. My respectable friend, Samuel Pipe Wolferstan, Esq. of Stadfold, near Tamworth, informed me, that making a visit one morning at Tixall, I suppose between 30 and 40 years ago, my mother showed him some of these papers, and spoke of them as very curious manuscripts.
5. Here let me pause a moment, to pay the tribute of affectionate sorrow, to the memory of my dear departed sister, whose untimely death has taken place since I began this work. Often has she listened to my account of its progress, and often has she looked forward to the pleasure of reading it when finished. But, alas! she has sunk prematurely into the grave! Nor will she be gratified by its perusal, nor I by the approbation whichher affection, and fondness, would have bestowed upon it!
6. My father being a posthumous child, was always during his youth, under the immediate care of his mother, and lived with her at Paris while finishing his education. About the year 1750, he was an officer, in the French service, in the regiment, called "Les Mousquetaires du Roi."
7. Gray.
8. Macbeth.
9. Milton.
10. I now think, that the last figure in the MS. is not an 8, but a 3; and that the date should be 1653.
11. Chalmers's edition, in 21 volumes, was not then published.
12. Of these there are no less than 60 or 70 in the library at Tixall.
13. The growing, or rather, the confirmed taste for poetical antiquities, in this country, might alone be considered as a sufficient reason for the republication of these poems.
14. She died, and was buried at Standon, in 1720.
15. It has since occurred to me, that an appropriate title would be "Reliques," but it was too late for this edition.
16. Pope.
17. See title-page, and Appendix.
18. Gough's Camden, vol. ii. p. 496.
19. Art. Staffordshire.
20. There is a little book in the library at Tixall, entitled "The Poems of Ben Jonson, junior, being a Miscelanie of Seriousness, Wit, Mirth, and Mysterie, &c. Composed by W. S. Gent. 1672."

    On the back of the title-page is the following dedication.

     

    "To the Right Honourable Walter, Lord Aston.

     

    Aston, a stone cut from the marble quar,
    Framed to out-live the flames of civil war;
    With all the bounties of the heavens befriended.
    Nineteen brave knights, two princely lords, descended
    From this great stem, laden with honour's spoil,
    That now o'erspreads Great Britain's fruitful isle.
    Tixal, the fountain whence these heroes flow,
    Where hospitality and bounty grow.
    Here I my noble ancestors of old,
    Tracing the steps of charity, behold,
    By love's fair hand to mine own cradle led,
    Aston and Lucy joined in one bed."

     

    On the opposite page is as follows:

    "To all the ancient Families of the Lucyes, and to all their Honourable Extractions.

     

    Luci Quasi Luxi.

     

    Lucy, bright morning-star, pure light divine,
    Drawn from the Roman, and the Norman line!
    In every revolution still the same,
    Their countrey's honour and transcendent flame.
    From this dear spring I am a little stream,
    From this Apollo a derived beam.
    In gratitude unto that root, and ground,
    That noble being, I my being found,
    Lamp of their countrey, to their endless praise
    I dedicate these soft and humble layes."

     

    I must not omit, that it was the threat of a prosecution for deer-stealing in his park, at Charlecote, by Sir Thomas Lucy, father of Lady Aston, which compelled Shakespeare to go to London, and to attach himself to the theatre.

21. Ex autogr. Dom. Gualt. Bar. de Aston, nepotis, penes me.
22. Ex autogr. præd. If we estimate together the depreciation of money, the increased value of land, and the customs of life, such an income then, would, at the present time, certainly be equal to L. 50,000 a-year.
23. Sir Thomas Sadler entertained king James I. at Standon, when on his way to London, in 1603, with great splendour and magnificence, for two successive nights. (See Sir R. Sadler's "State Papers," Appendix, vol. ii. p. 603.)
24. Tixall Evidences. Wood's "Douglas's Peerage," art. Aston of Forfar. Chauncy's "Hist, of Hertfordshire."
25. See Ritson's Bibliographia Poetica.
26. These translations were probably from the Spanish, but, unfortunately, they have not been preserved.
27. Hor. Lib. iv. Od. viii.
28. Lysons. I suspect he was called Herbert, after William Herbert, third Earl of Pembroke, with whom Sir Walter Aston appears to have been very intimate.
29. Lib. ii. Eleg. i.
30. This was the poetical name of his mistress, Catherine Thimelby. I have an admirable poem by him, on her death, entitled, "Aspirations sent after Seraphina in Heaven by her distressed Supplyant." I have inserted it in its proper place, among the "Tixall Letters," after an "Account of her Death," also composed by Herbert Aston.

    These "Letters" I expect shortly to publish as an appendage to this work.

31. "My Mrs" was, I imagine, a familiar appellation for his wife.
32. "Cannal" is Canwell, near Lichfield, then the seat of Sir William Persall, brother-in-law to Herbert Aston. This "Note" was probably addressed to one of the Thimelbyes, at Irnham; between which place, and Herbert Aston's residence, Canwell was situated.

    After his marriage, Herbert Aston appears to have settled at Colton, a village about six miles from Tixall; near which he built a house on an estate left him by his father, and called it Bellamore. He died there about the year 1689, having survived his wife above thirty years. She died in 1658. They were buried at Colton; but there is no monument, or inscription, to their memory. The reader will find some further particulars, concerning Herbert Aston, and his poems, in the Notes.

33. Catherine Thimelby, Mrs Herbert Aston.
34. Sir Wm Persall had been first married to a sister of Edward Thimelby's. Lady Southcot was daughter of the second Lord Aston.
35. See Shaw's Hist, of Staff, vol. i.
36. See page 256.
37. See page XVIII.
38. These verses I have perused; but as it is a long effusion, and would not add to his reputation, I have left them where they are.
39. It may gratify the curious reader to be informed what are the families which have succeeded them. (1.) To Fowler of St Thomas, has succeeded Earl Talbot of Ingestrie, who, in that place, has also succeeded to the ancient family of Chetwynd. The Priory of St Thomas is demolished, and a farm house occupies the scite of it. (2.) To Aston of Tixall, has succeeded Thomas Clifford, Esq. who is great grandson of Walter, fourth Lord Aston, great grandson of Sir Walter Aston, the friend of Drayton. (3.) To Aston of Bellamore, has succeeded Edward Blount, Esq., who stands in the same degree of relationship to Sir Walter Aston; through his mother, the late Honourable Lady Blount, eldest daughter of James, fifth Lord Aston. (4.) To Persall of Canwell has succeeded Sir Robert Lawley, Bart. The old house no longer exists. (5.) To Thimelby of Irnham has succeeded the Right Honourable Lady Clifford. The old house at Irnham is still standing, and is a venerable structure. I had entertained great hopes that some valuable ma» nuscripts of the Thimelbyes, together with the poems, and letters, of Herbert Aston, might have been preserved at Irnham; but the Honourable Hugh Clifford, and the Honourable Everard Arundel, who both did me the favour to search the house for that purpose, could discover nothing of the kind.
40. See p. XIII.
41. Letter to Cromwell.
42. Life of Waller.