The rest were for the most part
but wooden ancestors displaying curled wigs, legs which lacked
drawing, and high-heeled shoes. A few old cabinets remained, and a
glorious suite of chairs of Queen Anne's time--these, however,
were perishing, like the rest--from want of proper care and
firing.
"The kitchens, a vast range of stone-flagged apartments, spoke of
mighty hospitality in bygone times, containing fire-places fit to
roast oxen at whole, huge spits and countless hooks, the last
exhibiting but one dependent--the skin of the rabbit shot for
lunch. The atmosphere was, if possible, a trifle more penetrating
than that of the Great Hall, and the walls were discoloured with
damp.
"Upstairs, besides the bedrooms, was a little chapel with some
remains of Gothic carving, and a few interesting pictures of the
fifteenth century; a cunningly contrived priest-hole, and a long
gallery lined with dusty books, whither my lord used to repair on
rainy days. Many of the windows were darkened by creepers, and
over one was a flap of half-detached plaster work which hung like
a shroud. But, oh, the stained glass! The eighteenth-century
renovators had at least respected these, and quarterings and coats
of arms from the fifteenth century downwards were to be seen by
scores.
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