“ The London trained bands, under Skippon, received their baptism of blood in Newbury marsh and meadows, where they were drawn up, with the cavalry on the flanks. Rupert was seconded that day by some of the boldest and fiercest cavalrymen in the Royal armies; and he poured them again and again, a raging flood of foaming horse and men, upon the Parliamentarians. Pressing up to the very edge of flashing pike-points, with desperate stroke and thrust, and discharge of pistols, the gallant cavaliers strove to reach the sturdy Londoners ”

“ It is the first dog to be set on; his owner cries, "Set on!" and the dog loosed tears down the lane, through hoops held at regular intervals, right at the face of the bull, who has heard his yelp, and is waiting for him. The dog goes for the bull's nose; the animal keeps him off by always presenting a horn to his advance. We notice he does not prod at the dog, but tries to sweep the horn along the ground under the dog's belly. The dog, quite conscious of the meaning of these tactics, is never for a moment still, but dancing to and fro, tries to get through the bull's guard. ”

“ And as one gazes, one feels the same pride in its beauty as stirred the hearts of Henry III. and Edward III., one understands the desire of the world-satiated Henry VIII. to rest in peace by the side of his best loved queen under those cool gray stones, and one feels a deep thankfulness that the storm-tossed Charles is at rest for evermore in that calm, sanctified, world-remote spot. ”

“ George the Fourth's Gateway to the gilt statue which he erected to "the best of fathers," the beauty of the landscape thrills one with the satisfaction of perfection. The spirit of romance seems to pervade each fairy glade and hill, and visions of days long past arise before us, when lord and ladye fair on fiery steeds rode through the enchanted spot, and paused in their pursuit of the bounding deer, moved by the genius of the place, to whisper words of love. ”

“ Their merchants' guild, over its ale-feast, regulated trade, distributed the sums due from the different burgesses, looked to the repair of the gate and wall, and acted in fact pretty much the same part as a Town Council of to-day. Not only were all these rights secured by custom from the first, but they were constantly widening as time went on. Whenever we get a glimpse of the inner history of an English town, we find the same peaceful revolution in progress, services disappearing through disuse or omission, while privileges and immunities were being purchased in hard cash. ”

“ Indeed, its proud distinctive title may be traced to a period more remote than that of the building of the Castle by the Plantagenet Kings; Alfred the Great was born in Berkshire, and there were royal palaces in Saxon times at Farringdon and Old Windsor. Here the Confessor King oft resided. Here the Conqueror hunted the tall stags whom he loved "as though [Pg 2] he were their father." Hence from Saxon times to the present day Berkshire has deserved its royal title, and has been pre-eminently the county which kings delight to honour.
The history of Berkshire is indeed the history of England. ”

“ These boys are now standing up, wildly clapping their hands and hurrahing, while the dog on the roof still writhes and cries out in its agony. One of those boys will live to be a farmer in Wokingham, and be well known for his love of animals. More than seventy years after the event he will often tell of this, his only visit to the bull-baiting, and express his wonder by what strange contagion he could have caught the spirit of that cruel crowd, and witnessed, with delirious delight, animal torture, which on any other [Pg 253] day of his life would have brought tears to his eyes. ”

“ The alderman takes his seat with his friends in the large window of the old "Red Lion Inn," and gives the signal that the sport is to begin. Shouts are heard and a commotion is evident in a corner of the crowd. Here he comes, the first bull, led by a dozen strong men, a rope round his horns and a chain fifteen feet long, into the middle of the market place, where the end of the chain is fastened to a strong staple in a post level with the ground. Away go his keepers. In a moment the bull has cleared a ring for the coming contest. ”

“ The last scenes of the battle had taken place under the gathering glooms of the September night, and Skippon having succeeded in joining Essex's cavalry, nothing more could be effected [Pg 201] until the morrow. The exhausted armies reluctantly parted, and silence settled over the field that had, during the long day, re-echoed the furious and dreadful sounds of war. Under the peaceful heavens lay 6,000 dead and wounded men, to be carted into the town by the humane burghers, when there was a great outcry for surgeons, always, alas, far too few in number to meet the requirements of war. ”

“ People begin to clamour for the second bull. But they are not destined to part with the first without a little more excitement. Some young men growing bold by familiarity with the scene, take an opportunity of tossing the loose chain over the animal's back. This makes him start forward with great impetuosity, and in doing so he tears the staple out of the post to which the chain is fastened. "The Bull is loose!" ”

“ In the reign of Henry VIII., when many changes stirred the heart of England, we find Wolsey building his memorial chapel at Windsor, of which he was so soon deprived; we see the King hunting in the Forest of Windsor, and being strangely troubled in mind and conscience with regard to the lawfulness of his first marriage with Catharine of Arragon, when he had seen and loved the fairer Ann. Later we see the unhappy divorced Queen taking refuge within our borders at Easthampstead, mourning over the fickleness of men. ”

“ Rupert could force the fighting with no greater skill and daring than he had already exercised, and with no greater prospect of penetrating the ranks of Skippon's pikemen. Essex drew off, unmolested, about noon, but Rupert fell upon his rear near Aldermaston, and inflicted some loss upon his troops. His march upon London was not, however, interrupted, and he entered the city in triumph, having fought a battle that was in all ways honourable to his army, whether nominally a victory or defeat. If the King claimed the honour of the field, it was indeed a barren honour. ”

“ Berkshire has played an important part in the annals of our country, and been the scene of many stirring events in English history. For eight hundred years it has enjoyed the proud distinction of being the Royal County; Windsor Castle, the ancient home of the kings and queens of England, is within its borders, and it has shared the fortunes and misfortunes of the Royal House. ”

“ And there the sport enjoys an endowment and so flourishes wonderfully, outdoing in the fame of its bull-baiting all other towns and parishes in the county of Berks. The endowment arose in this way. One, George Staverton, a lover of the sport, having himself, it is said, been gored by a bull, charged his estate with £6 a year to provide a bull for baiting. Whether he meant it as a revenge on the whole bull race for his injuries, or, as the expression of a good-natured wish, that others should enjoy the sport from which he had himself received so much pleasure, we are left to guess. ”

“ But the commoner and more generally approved sport was that which transferred the duty of being done to death for the amusement of mankind, from man himself to the dumb helpless creatures that have been committed to man's care, and set apart for his lawful use. Bull-baiting, bear-baiting, cock-fighting, rat-killing, dog-fighting, and such like, were for several centuries his favourite amusements. [8] Queen Elizabeth was an enthusiastic patroness of baiting. ”

“ An Abbot of Reading was a member of the House of Lords. He had a revenue with his abbey, amounting to well nigh £20,000 per annum at the present day; one of the most charming country residences conceivable at Pangbourne, Bere Place, which still retains some few relics of its abbot owners; and, in the abbey itself; an abode whose magnificence, even amidst those grand ruins, we very feebly realise. The abbey precincts were at least thirty acres, in the midst of which the great church arose in size and grandeur not far short of that of Canterbury Cathedral itself. ”

“ The lord of the town, whether he were king, abbot, or baron, was commonly thriftless or poor, and the capture of a noble, or the campaign of a sovereign, or the building of some new minster by a prior, brought about an appeal to the thrifty burghers, who were ready to fill again their master's treasury, at the price of a strip of parchment, which gave them freedom of trade, of justice, and of government. ”

“ While their convenient situation, abutting north and south of the old high road, which ran from Reading past Wokingham to Windsor, and so to London, brought these secluded villages into touch, not only with the chief town of the county, but also with the busier life of the Metropolis. And thus, even two hundred years ago, they were an attractive place of residence for many old families that have long since died out and passed away. ”

“ Prisoners were never spared, unless it was to extort a heavy ransom; and the countryside was everywhere given up to fire and sword. It is not surprising that Alfred, although already distinguished for his military valour, had not sought the crown. Kingship in those times was no sinecure.
Dark, however, as were the clouds when Alfred came to the throne, still gloomier days were in store. The Norsemen, already masters of all Northumbria, had also practically reduced the kingdom of Mercia; and they were now especially directing their attention to Wessex, the country of the West Saxons. ”

“ In studying the history of our progress and civilization, we find no subject more interesting than the nature and constitution of certain associations which have played no small part in the making of England—the ancient guilds. At one time they exercised almost universal sway, and in small country villages, as well as in the towns and cities, there were few who did not belong to some guild. We find in them the origin of many of the privileges and institutions which we now enjoy ”

“ In front of this, as some say, the last abbot and his two accomplice monks died the awfully cruel traitor's death, having been convicted of sending supplies to the northern rebels in their so-called Pilgrimage of Grace. It has much pleasanter modern memories, being lent by the good town to the Berkshire Archæological Society, and being the scene in its fine old chamber of many interesting archæological gatherings. But I have strayed a long way from 1164. The second Henry's reign was no doubt its golden period; more memories cluster about the abbey in the twelfth century than at any other time. ”

“ There was living in the Lambourn valley, less than forty years ago, a man who was considered the champion of the county side, and his shins were knotted and bent and twisted in the most remarkable manner, as the result of his numerous encounters.
Heavy of gait, stolid of mien, and of indomitable courage, the true Berkshire man is a [Pg 243] staunch friend, and a very poor enemy, for he harbours no resentment. Imperturbable to the last degree, he is rarely surprised into an exclamation of surprise, excitement, or satisfaction. ”

“ Then several marches through the county were made, and the royal forces, after going to Bath and Oxford, came again to Donnington, and thence went by Lambourne to Wantage and Farringdon, and finally to Oxford.
The whole of Berkshire was in a deplorable condition; the necessities of war were so great; the supplies needed for the victualling of such large armies were so heavy, that scarcely "a sheep, hen, hog, oats, hay, wheat, or any other thing for man to eat" were left. Soldiers on both sides foraged for supplies, and seized with ruthless hand everything they could find. ”

“ Such historical associations cling to every stone or crumb of earth, such romantic stories are whispered to one at every turn, such echoes of old-world times are re-called at every foot-fall, that no one could weary of visiting again and again this wondrous spot, to dream of bygone faces, fashions, and manners. ”

“ There are few sadder stories than that of Hugh Farringdon, 31st mitred abbot of the great Abbey of Reading. One of the foremost ecclesiastics in the kingdom at the time of his terrible death, even in Henry VIII.'s reign of terror, few men fell so far, so suddenly, and so fatally. ”

“ In East Anglia, and in the portions of Essex and Mercia thus ceded, the Danes settled and established themselves, not as enemies, but as vassals to Alfred. They appear to have become tired of their life of barbarism. Guthrun also embraced Christianity, and the treaty which he made with the English he maintained with integrity. In Northumbria, whilst the English had been induced to accept the Danish Guthred as their sovereign, Guthred, in turn, acknowledged the suzerainty of Alfred as his superior lord. ”

“ Samuel Pepys visited Windsor in 1666, and was conducted to "where the late king is buried, and King Henry and my Lady Seymour. This being done to the King's house, and to observe the neatness and contrivance of the house and gates. It is the most romantique castle that is in the world. But Lord! the prospect that is in the balcone that is in the Queen's lodgings, and the terrace and walk, are [Pg 36] strange things to consider, being the best in the world, sure; and so, giving a great deal of money to this and that man and woman, we to our tavern and there dined." ”

“ Know ye that we will, and command for ourself and our heirs, that all the burgesses of Reading who belong to the guild Merchant in Reading may be for ever free from all shires and hundred courts, and from all pleas, complaints, tolls, passages, ways, carriage ways, and that they may buy and sell wheresoever they will throughout all England, without paying toll, and no one may disturb them under forfeiture of 10 marks. ”