Immense labour was often bestowed upon
the mouldings of beams in these fifteenth-century houses. There was a
very fine moulded beam in a farm-house in my own parish, but a recent
restoration has, alas! covered it. We give some illustrations of the
cornice mouldings of the Church House, Goudhurst, Kent, and of a fine
Gothic door-head.
[Illustration: Cupboard Hinge, Crowhurst Place, Surrey]
It is impossible for us to traverse many shires in our search for old
houses. But a word must be said for the priceless contents of many of
our historic mansions and manors. These often vanish and are lost for
ever. I have alluded to the thirst of American millionaires for these
valuables, which causes so many of our treasures to cross the Atlantic
and find their home in the palaces of Boston and Washington and
elsewhere. Perhaps if our valuables must leave their old
resting-places and go out of the country, we should prefer them to go
to America than to any other land. Our American cousins are our
kindred; they know how to appreciate the treasures of the land that,
in spite of many changes, is to them their mother-country. No nation
in the world prizes a high lineage and a family tree more than the
Americans, and it is my privilege to receive many inquiries from
across the Atlantic for missing links in the family pedigree, and the
joy that a successful search yields compensates for all one's trouble.
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