Shrewsbury

“ There is no doubt that the most satisfactory way of seeing Shropshire is to spend a few nights in Shrewsbury, and make it the basis of operations; for Shrewsbury lies exactly in the centre of the county, and is the meeting-point of a particularly large number of good roads. The old town itself, too, does not deserve to be hurried through. The longer one stays in it the more one feels the charm of its gentle old age. ”

“ The council then sought audience with the dying Queen. She was sinking fast, but she retained enough consciousness to give the white wand into the hands of Shrewsbury, and bade him, with the sweet voice which was her greatest charm, to “use it for the good of my people”. Then indeed the Jacobites knew that all was over, for Shrewsbury was a firm adherent of the House of Hanover. Bolingbroke and Ormonde withdrew in confusion, and the “best cause in the world,” as Atterbury said, “was lost for want of spirit”. ”

“ The clean macadam in Shrewsbury made it possible to drive our car without chains, though it rained incessantly, but soPg 62 steep and winding are some of the streets that the greatest caution was necessary.
Shrewsbury is described by an English writer as a "sweet-aired, genuine, dignified and proud old market town, the resort of squires, parsons and farmers, and mainly inhabited by those who minister to their wants. It never dreams of itself as a show-place." ”

“ William did not deny this, but intimated that such secret dealings with noted Jacobites raised suspicions which Shrewsbury could remove only by accepting the seals. "That," he said, "will put me quite at ease. I know that you are a man of honour, and that, if you undertake to serve me, you will serve me faithfully." So pressed, Shrewsbury complied, to the great joy of his whole party; and was immediately rewarded for his compliance with a dukedom and a garter. ”

“ That my Lady Shrewsbury should stoop to such a liaison astonished even those who knew how widely she cast her net, and how indiscriminating her passion was in its quest for novelty. That such a man should boast of his conquest over the beautiful Countess was inevitable. He published it in every low tavern in London, gloating in his cups over "his lady's most secret charms, concerning which more than half the Court knew quite as much as he knew himself." ”

“ By the influence of Sir William Pulteney Thomas obtained a place in the customs. He died in London on 9 Jan. 1815. In 1779 he published, in quarto, with several plates, his ‘History and Antiquities of Shrewsbury from its Foundation to the present time, with an Appendix, containing several particulars relative to Castles, Monasteries, &c., in Shropshire.’ The book was, to a large extent, the work of a Mr. Bowen of Halston, Shropshire. It remained the standard history of Shrewsbury till Owen and Blakeway issued their ‘History’ in 1825, with acknowledgments to their predecessor. ”

“ In the career and character of Shrewsbury much that may at first sight seem paradoxical admits of easy explanation. Of a magnanimous disposition and a generous temper, he on more than one important occasion in his career, which also happened to be a decisive moment in the political affairs of the nation, acted on the impulses within him, thereby contributing very directly to great and beneficial results. ”

“ This is an extensive piece of land, belonging to the ancient burgesses of Shrewsbury, thirty of whom in rotation annually receive four shillings and sixpence from its produce, in lieu of a “turn for their kine.” On this place the festival of Shrewsbury Show (described page 109) is held, and it commands a prospect which stretches to a considerable distance over a beautiful and well-cultivated country, diversified with mountains possessing form and interest. ”

“ It would be hard to see one's self forced some day to give back Shrewsbury, Wexford, which is a fine city, and the magnificent earldom of Waterford, to a little girl! What was to be done? You searched for a way to set aside this young girl, and to destroy her. An honest man would have had her killed or poisoned. You, my lord, have done better—you have dishonored her. ”

“ A GENERAL SURVEY. THE TOWN OF SHREWSBURY.
[Pg 1]
outhern Shropshire whose nooks and corners we are about to explore is a pleasant, fertile country, where breezy heather-clad hills alternate with cornfields, orchards and pastures, and rich umbrageous woodlands. Goodly rivers such as the Severn and the Teme, besides brooks, rivulets and trout-streams, enrich the meadows in the sunny vales, or wake the silence of the lonely hills where the curlew and the lapwing make their homes. ”

“ As for Lady Shrewsbury, she was not only compelled to separate from her lover and provide a surety of ten thousand pounds to that effect, but obliged to leave the country. There were thousands of honest people who would, no doubt, have liked to see her burnt or hanged, as would probably have been her fate had she been a woman of the people. But Lady Shrewsbury was a peeress and the widow of a Talbot, and criminal rank in those days was banished not executed. She had not committed the aristocratic crime of high treason, for which alone rank could suffer death. ”

“ Our route to Shrewsbury was over one of the [Pg 101] Roman Watling streets, straight as an arrow’s flight much of the way and often bordered by giant trees. Never did the English countryside appear more charming in all our wanderings through it. There was a continual succession of green fields, vast parks, clear streams and wooded hills, with an occasional retired village—for on our return we avoided Wolverhampton with its rough streets and trams—to lend variety to the rural beauty through which we passed until we again skirted the Severn and re-entered the town. ”

“ In the winter of 1549–50 Shrewsbury was again president of the council of the north, and he retained that position to the end of the reign. He was not, however, a partisan of Northumberland. No doubt, like Arundel and other nobles inclined to favour the old religion, he sympathised with Somerset's endeavours to modify Northumberland's harsh measures against Roman catholics. In April 1551 there ‘was talk that my Lady Mary would go westward to therle of Shrewsbury’ (Acts P. C. ed. Dasent, iii. 264) ”

“ There is nothing to indicate its exact date, but it must be of considerable antiquity, as the Earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII., slept here on his road to Bosworth field.
Shrewsbury is full of exceedingly interesting{45} remains, and in no town in England are they more scrupulously taken care of. It is almost a matter of regret that the scope of the present work forbids a more detailed account of the Shakespearean recollections of Shrewsbury battlefield, and the church which was erected in memory of the day. ”

“ The chief amongst them was Anthony Babington, of Dethick, in Derbyshire. He had been a page at Sheffield when the Queen of Scots was first in charge of Lord Shrewsbury, and, like many other men, young and old, who came under the fascination of her influence, he was passionately devoted to her, with all the strength of devotion that a beautiful woman in distress—still more, a beautiful queen—must inevitably arouse. ”

“ He left England: but one cruel recollection pursued him over the Alps and the Apennines. On a memorable day, indeed, big with the fate of his country, he again, after many inactive and inglorious years, stood forth the Shrewsbury of 1688. Scarcely any thing in history is more melancholy than that late and solitary gleam, lighting up the close of a life which had dawned so splendidly, and which had so early become hopelessly troubled and gloomy.
On the day on which the Lords passed the Bill of Attainder the third time, they adjourned over the Christmas holidays. ”

“ Never before had her constancy been of so long a duration; nor had he ever been so submissive and respectful a lover.
This continued until Lord Shrewsbury, who never before had shown the least uneasiness at his lady’s misconduct, thought proper to resent this: it was public enough, indeed, but less dishonourable to her than any of her former intrigues. Poor Lord Shrewsbury, too polite a man to make any reproaches to his wife, was resolved to have redress for his injured honour: he accordingly challenged the Duke of Buckingham ”

“ The road from Oswestry to Shrewsbury is through an interesting country, abounding with many pleasing relics of antiquity. It was along this road that the mighty, and as would now seem the prudent Glendower, marched with his levies to assist Hotspur at the battle of Shrewsbury, and an oak at Shelton is still preserved where his march terminated,{38} and which he ascended to witness the engagement. Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire, is generally visited by tourists to Wales, either at the commencement or the end of the journey. ”

“ Several of the principal travellers began to travel the Shrewsbury route, and not only saved some miles and avoided the Conway ferry, but had the additional advantage of superior accommodation. Lawrence had a powerful ally in the press, and the Shrewsbury Chronicle is early found recording successes. Thus, February 3rd, 1781, the Editor “is happy to inform the publick that the travelling through this town daily increases,” and from that time proceeded to record the names of important personages who passed through, in preference to Chester. ”

“ It is incomprehensible how in the face of such a clear statement as this, that the new castle occupied the site of fifty-one houses, anyone should be found gravely to maintain that the motte at Shrewsbury was an English work; for if the motte stood there before, what was the clearance of houses made for? The only answer could be to enlarge the bailey. But this is exactly what the Norman would not wish to do; he would want only a small area for the small force at his disposal for defence. Shrewsbury was certainly a borough (that is, a fortified town) in Anglo-Saxon times ”

“ The countess of Shrewsbury, now at open variance with her husband, had employed every art to infuse into the queen suspicions of a too great intimacy subsisting between the earl and his prisoner; and Elizabeth, either from a jealousy which the long fidelity of Shrewsbury to his arduous trust was unable to counteract, or, as was believed, at the instigation of some who meant further mischief to Mary, ordered about this time her removal to the custody of sir Amias Paulet and sir Drugo Drury. ”

“ A man hardened in depravity would have been perfectly contented with an acquittal so complete, announced in language so gracious. But Shrewsbury was quite unnerved by a tenderness which he was conscious that he had not merited. He shrank from the thought of meeting the master whom he had wronged, and by whom he had been forgiven, and of sustaining the gaze of the peers, among whom his birth and his abilities had gained for him a station of which he felt that he was unworthy. The campaign in the Netherlands was over. The session of Parliament was approaching. ”

“ On a summer’s evening, when all is calm and serene, the sail is truly delightful.
THE SUBURBS OF SHREWSBURY
comprise five separate districts, viz. Coton Hill, Castle Foregate, Frankwell, Abbey Foregate, and Coleham, containing a population equal to that within the walls.
In noticing these, it is purposed to commence where our walk terminated without the walls, viz. the Castle Gates, from whence the Castle Foregate and Coton Hill diverge. ”

“ The Earl of Shrewsbury, and with him other Norman nobles, had collected an army, which was occupied in laying waste the surrounding country. The earl with his troops set out from Shrewsbury, plundering and burning towns and villages, and putting many of the inhabitants to the sword. The progress of this marauding force was stopped on its arrival before Worcester. The citizens, excited by a deep hatred of their Norman oppressors, closed the gates, and, conveying their wives and children into the castle, prepared for a desperate resistance. ”

“ For the next seven years Shrewsbury lived abroad, chiefly at Rome, whence in 1701 he wrote a celebrated letter to Lord Somers expressing his abhorrence of public life and declaring that if he had a son he “would sooner bind him to a cobbler than a courtier, and a hangman than a statesman.” On the accession of Queen Anne the Whig leaders made an ineffectual attempt to persuade Shrewsbury to return to office. ”

“ The Queen practically declared him a useless gaoler: “I have found no reliance on my Lord Shrewsbury in the hour of my need, for all the fine speeches he made me formerly, yet I can in no wise depend on his promise.” Therefore she added two guards—the Earl of Huntingdon and Viscount Hereford.
More household complications, more goings and comings, more trouble for Earl and Countess! Afflicted with chronic gout and irritated in every direction, Shrewsbury decided to make for Tutbury again. ”

“ At Sheffield, apart from occasional visits to the baths at Buxton, to Chatsworth, or to the old hall at Hardwick, she remained under Shrewsbury's guardianship for the next fourteen years. During the winter 1571-2 the earl was in London, the queen during his absence being left in charge of Sir Ralph Sadler [q. v.] He had been created a privy councillor in 1571, and he was appointed high steward for the trial of the Duke of Norfolk, whose sentence to death he pronounced 'with weeping eyes' on 16 Jan. 1572; Shrewsbury succeeded the duke as earl marshal. ”

“ Here and there were newer buildings of modern style, which made a worthy connecting link between the old dispensation and the new; for there were buildings as modern as are anywhere built, and some as ancient as are to be found anywhere, almost equalling those so justly adored at Chester. Shrewsbury is the shire town of Shropshire, and has a population of 23,406. It has the remains of an ancient castle, and some of the old walls of the city are yet standing. The River Severn, a sluggish and muddy stream, some three hundred feet wide, divides the town. ”