Part 9

And we rejoice to know that the noble line of the Percies was not destined finally to fail with a failure of a direct heir male; it also is a subject for rejoicing that over the towers of Alnwick there still should wave a banner, charged with the same quarterings that in the olden time were so well known to the breezes of Northumberland. As it has been well said, Alnwick Castle has ever been esteemed as the old head-quarters of border chivalry; and, in truth, it is a subject for national pride to feel it has that same aspect still. No one assuredly can “look upon this very ‘gudlye howsse,’ as King Harry’s commissioners called it, or upon its grassy courts fringed with ‘faire towres,’ its stately keep with its ‘marveylouse fare vaulte’ ‘and tryme ladgings,’” as they are described about the middle of the sixteenth century, in the survey made by Clarkson for the seventh earl, “without feeling that he had seen the martial, social, and most knightly centre of mediæval life in Northumberland.” And so also, in like manner, no one now can visit Alnwick Castle, and not feel deeply impressed with the conviction that the England, of which the past history possesses monumental records and still living witnesses such as this, is a land rich as well in the most precious elements of present strength as in the most glorious of memories; and so, when her true sons look forward to the future of England, they may do so in the spirit of the fine old motto of the Percies—ESPERANCE.

* * * * *

The annals of the truly noble family of the Percies, as we have seen, down to the death of Josceline, the eleventh earl, in 1670, extend over five centuries, during three hundred and sixty-one years of which period, almost without interruption, the family was intimately connected with Alnwick. By the limitation of the patent of 1557, the youthful daughter of Earl Josceline was incapable of inheriting her father’s honours, and thus, at last, the Percies’ earldom again became extinct, when no inconsiderable part of their immense possessions lapsed to the crown: the great northern earldom, however, was not permitted in this manner to pass away without more than one fruitless effort on the part of collateral descendants to establish a claim to the succession.

Notwithstanding the alienation of some of the estates consequent upon the extinction of the Earldom of Northumberland, Elizabeth Percy, the daughter of the last earl, was the most wealthy heiress in the realm; and, accordingly, it was considered to be a matter of the greatest importance that a suitable alliance should be arranged for her with the least possible delay. When but little more than a child, in 1679, she was married to Henry Cavendish, Earl of Ogle, and heir to the Duke of Newcastle, who died in the following year. Before another year had expired, the youthful widow was again married to Thomas Thynn of Longleat; but once more the heiress became a widow very shortly after her marriage. Her second husband was murdered early in 1682, as he was passing in his coach along Pall Mall. While she was still not more than fifteen years of age, within three months after the tragedy in Pall Mall, Elizabeth Percy became the wife of Charles Seymour, sixth Duke of Somerset, by whom only she had issue: she died in 1722, leaving, besides three daughters, one only surviving son, Algernon, who in 1748 succeeded his father as seventh Duke of Somerset. In 1749 this duke was created Baron of Warkworth and Earl of Northumberland, with remainder of those dignities to the heirs male of his daughter, his only surviving child, by her marriage with Sir Hugh Smithson. The duke died in 1750, when the Seymour dignities reverted to the male descendants of the Protector Somerset by his first marriage. Thus, once more, an only daughter, now bearing the paternal name of Seymour, was the heiress and representative of the Percy lords of Alnwick: and thus, by reason of his alliance with this lady, Sir Hugh Smithson became _jure uxoris_, by special Act of Parliament, Earl of Northumberland; and he himself, his countess, and their descendants, were empowered and authorised to take and use the surname of Percy alone, and to bear and quarter all the armorial insignia of that noble house.

The fortunate husband of this last heiress of the Percies, on the death of his grandfather, Sir Hugh Smithson, in the year 1729, succeeded to the baronetcy, which had been conferred by Charles II. in 1663 on that grandfather’s grandfather, also a Hugh Smithson. A remarkably handsome man, with a refined taste, and in many other respects well qualified for the distinguished destiny which awaited him, Sir Hugh Smithson is said to have been in no slight degree indebted for his eventual splendid matrimonial success to a previous failure. He had attracted the attention of Lady Percy, who, on hearing that some other lady had rejected the suit of Sir Hugh Smithson, expressed her surprise that any lady should have refused to accept such a man. The words of the fair and noble heiress reached the ears of the disconsolate baronet, and they promptly wrought a marvellous change in his views and aspirations. Upon the hint so given Sir Hugh spoke, and—his words were not in vain. In nearly all the “Peerages,” borrowed one from another, it is stated that this Sir Hugh Smithson early in life went to London, where he established himself in business as an apothecary. Although no slur would thus have been cast on the illustrious race, it is simply untrue. The following statement, extracted from a “Baronetage” published in 1727, may be accepted in proof:—

“The present Sir Hugh Smithson married a sister of the late Lord Langdale, and had two sons, who lived to man’s estate. Hugh, the eldest, died unmarried before his father; Langdale Smithson, the second son, married Miss Revely, by whom he left only one son, Hugh—now a minor, and a most hopeful young gentleman—so that there now remain only two heirs to the title and estate—this young gentleman, Sir Hugh’s grandson, and Hugh Smithson, of Tottenham, Esq., cousin of Sir Hugh.”

The “young gentleman” in question succeeded his grandfather as Sir Hugh Smithson, of Stanwick. There was no trace in any documents or papers of his ever having been in any position but that of the acknowledged heir to a considerable estate and to a baronetage, granted to his ancestor for his loyalty and sacrifices in the royal cause during the civil wars of Charles I.[21] He married Lady Percy on the 16th of July, 1740, when he became Earl of Northumberland with all the territorial greatness attendant on that earldom.

In 1766 the earl was created Duke of Northumberland and Earl Percy, with succession to his heirs male; and, finally, in 1784, the barony of Lovaine was added to the duke’s accumulated dignities, with remainder to the younger of his two sons. The duchess died in 1776, but the duke survived till 1786: they had one daughter, who died unmarried, and two sons, Hugh and Algernon, of whom the elder succeeded his father as second Duke of Northumberland, a distinguished general officer in the first American War. The second duke married, first, a daughter of the then Earl of Bute; and, secondly, Frances Julia, third daughter of Peter Burrell, Esquire, a Commissioner of the Excise, by whom he had a numerous family: the duke died in 1817, and was succeeded by Hugh, his eldest son, who thus became the third Duke of Northumberland, the princely representative of George IV. at the coronation of Charles X. of France. This third duke died, without issue, in 1847, having married Lady Charlotte Florentia Clive, youngest daughter of Earl Powis: and thus the dukedom passed to the third duke’s brother, the younger son of the second duke, who at the time of his brother’s death bore the title of Baron Prudhoe—an independent peerage to which he himself had been elevated in 1816, in consideration of his services as an officer in the navy.

Algernon Percy, fourth Duke of Northumberland, was born in 1792; in 1842 he married the Lady Eleanor Grosvenor, daughter of the Marquis of Westminster; in 1847 he succeeded to the honours and possessions of his family; he was created a K.G. in 1852, when he also held the office of First Lord of the Admiralty; and on February 12th, 1865, he died at Alnwick Castle, and, as his brother and predecessor had died, without any issue. Like the great soldier, with whose memory the dukedom of Wellington must ever be directly associated, Sir Algernon Percy will long be remembered with affectionate and grateful admiration as THE Duke of Northumberland. A true English sailor, a princely English Nobleman, an elegant scholar and an accomplished gentleman, large of heart too and open of hand, with his commanding presence Duke Algernon looked every inch a Percy; and, in very deed, in his person were centred the brightest of the brilliant qualities of his forefathers, in happy combination with those admirable endowments that were peculiarly his own.

The two sons of the first duke (as we have seen) bore the same names as the two sons of his successor the second duke—Hugh and Algernon Percy. The two brothers, the sons of the first duke, married two sisters, daughters of Mr. Burrell.[22] With Duke Algernon the line of Hugh, the elder of the sons of the first duke, became extinct; and, consequently, the succession to the dukedom passed to the descendants of that other Algernon who was the younger son of the first duke. This Algernon, who on the death of his father became Baron Lovaine, in 1798 was created Earl of Beverley: he died in 1830. George Percy, his son, then succeeded as Earl of Beverley; and subsequently, in 1865, at that time being in the 87th year of his age, this venerable nobleman became the fifth Duke of Northumberland. He died August 21, 1867; and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son (by his marriage with Louisa, daughter of the Hon. A. Stuart Wortley). The present peer, Algernon George Percy, sixth Duke and eighteenth Earl of Northumberland, Earl Percy, Earl of Beverley, Baron Warkworth, Baron Lovaine of Alnwick, and a baronet, was born May 2nd, 1810, and was educated at Eton. He entered the army in 1827, and retired in 1836. In 1858 he was a Lord of the Admiralty, in 1859 Vice-President of the Board of Trade, and from 1831 to 1865 sat in Parliament, first for Beeralston and afterwards for North Northumberland. He is Colonel of the Northumberland Militia, Hon. Colonel of the Percy Northumberland Volunteer Artillery, and President of the National Lifeboat Institution. In 1845 his grace married Louisa, daughter of the late Henry Drummond, Esq., M.P., of Abury Park, Surrey, by whom he has issue living two sons, viz., Henry George Percy, Earl of Percy, married, in 1868, to Lady Edith Campbell, eldest daughter of the Duke of Argyll, by whom he has issue; and Lord Algernon Malcolm Arthur Percy. His grace is patron of twenty-two livings, nineteen of which are in Northumberland and one each in Yorkshire, Dorsetshire, and Surrey.

The arms of the Duke of Northumberland are: Quarterly, 1st and 4th Lovaine and Lucy quarterly (viz., 1st and 4th, _or_, a lion rampant, _azure_, for Lovaine, 2nd and 3rd, _gules_, three luces or pikes, hauriant, for Lucy), 2nd and 3rd, _azure_, five lozenges conjoined in fesse, _or_, for Percy. Crest: On a chapeau, _gules_, turned up, _ermine_, a lion statant, tail extended, _azure_. Supporters: Dexter, a lion, _azure_; sinister, a lion, guardant, _or_, gorged with a collar compony, _argent_ and _azure_.

His grace’s other seats are, Keilder, Prudhoe, and Warkworth castles, in Northumberland; Sion House, Middlesex; Stanwick Park, Yorkshire; Albury Park; and Northumberland House, Charing Cross.

Thus having brought down our sketch of the lords of Alnwick, from the early days in English history that immediately followed the Norman Conquest to the times now present, we return to their noble castle on the banks of the Aln.

Within a few years of the Conquest, the Normans erected in various parts of England important edifices, both military and ecclesiastical, in truly astonishing numbers: and of these, in addition to the cathedrals and the greater churches, there still exist many noble castellated relics, some of them in a proximate degree retaining the leading features of their original arrangement, form, and appearance. At the same time, even in the case of the most perfect of the existing castles, many changes of grave importance have been introduced as century has succeeded to century; so that now, whenever any one early castle is examined with a view to trace out and to determine both what it was at the first, and in what order and with what motives certain palpable alterations and innovations have followed one another, it always is highly satisfactory to feel that an unquestionable general uniformity of plan and arrangement in all the early castles enables each one of them that is still in being, in some degree at any rate, to illustrate and explain every other. As a matter of course, whenever the architectural features in any old castle are original, the great art of the architect is able, unaided and beyond all controversy, to tell its own historical tale: but, genuine original architectural features are not always available to give their conclusive evidence; and, but too frequently, without some external aid, it is not possible to follow the career of the two terrible adversaries of early edifices (and particularly those of the noblest rank), demolition and restoration—demolition, either wilful or the result of accident and chance; and restoration, which always is wilful, though happily not always equally destructive.

As it now stands, in every quality of high merit ALNWICK CASTLE certainly yields to no other restored edifice of a similar rank. Of the castle of to-day it may truthfully be affirmed that, with a close approach to an exact fidelity, in its prevailing external arrangements and its general features it represents the grand old fortress of times long passed away. Time had dealt somewhat hardly with the Percy stronghold, and injudicious attempts to make good the ravages of the destroyer had aggravated the evil, when the recent great work of restoration was taken in hand. Then every vestige of the old structure was diligently and carefully examined, and every available early document was critically studied; the remains also of other castles then were investigated, and all that they could suggest was applied by the restorers of Alnwick to the furtherance of their great project. Hence the plan of Alnwick, as we now have it, while it can scarcely claim to be absolutely identical with the original plan, may be accepted as not greatly differing from it in any essential particulars. Whether Yvo de Vesci, the undoubted founder of the castle, was enabled fully to carry out his own original plans, we are not able at the present time accurately to determine; but, still it may be assumed that the plans of De Vesci, to whatever degree they may have been realised by himself, both in extent and in general configuration closely resembled those which were worked out by the Percies, when they had become lords Alnwick, as these, in their turn, were afterwards followed as their guides by the recent restorers who were employed by Duke Algernon.

The great epochs in the architectural history of Alnwick Castle may be thus distinguished.

I. DE VESCI, about A.D. 1150: the original founding of the castle, and its erection as an Anglo-Norman stronghold.

II. FIRST PERCY, from 1309 to 1315: the second founding and great reparation of the castle, with either the complete rebuilding or the original erection of many of its most important parts. At this period were erected the Barbican, the Gate-House, the Western Garret; the Abbot’s, Falconer’s, Armourer’s, Constable’s, and Auditor’s Towers; also the Postern and the Ravine Towers, the Gateway between the first and second baly, with the adjoining curtain-walls both east and west, a great portion of the east side of the Keep, the Well, and the grand Baronial Hall.

III. SECOND PERCY, from 1315 to 1352; the completion of portions of the works of the preceding period, and the erection of the two flanking towers (No. 8 in plan) in advance of the Norman entrance to the Keep: these towers are represented in our engraving.

IV. THIRD PERCY, ending in 1455: various important reparations and additions, most of the latter having been removed by the first duke in the next period.

V. FIRST DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, from 1750 to 1786: general reparation, after a long period of neglect and ruin, including a material transformation of the greater part of the castle. The Keep was almost entirely demolished, and rebuilt after the manner that was called (and, in one sense of that term, really was) “Gothic” in the eighteenth century in England; and the towers and curtain of the circumvallation suffered in like manner.

VI. FOURTH DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, from 1854 to 1865: complete restoration of the entire castle. The important works erected by Duke Algernon along the lines of the circumvallation, and to the south and the south-west of these lines, have already been described; in addition to these, the duke rebuilt the range of apartments extending from the Keep southwards to the Edwardian Gateway from the first to the second baly; and he built the noble Prudhoe Tower, with the chapel adjoining it, the Ante-Room, the Guard Chamber, the present Dining-Hall, and the completion of the Keep.

The governing idea of this restoration was _really to restore_, in all their leading and most characteristic features, the mediæval arrangements and aspect of Alnwick Castle so far as its exterior was concerned; while, at the same time, the whole of the interior of the restored edifice was to be planned, fitted, and adorned, in the most sumptuous style, after the manner of a cinquecento Roman palace, and with all the luxurious splendour and the various skilful contrivances required and suggested by the taste and the usages of the present day. The only important deviation from the former part of the duke’s plan, was the removal of the Edwardian Towers, and the adjoining curtain-wall between the Abbot’s Tower and the Postern Tower, in order to open the view from the windows of the new Prudhoe Tower towards the north: but the Italian portion of the scheme was accomplished in its integrity. The whole of the architectural restoration and rebuilding was carried out with the most perfect success, under the direction of Mr. Salvin, an architect eminently distinguished for his practical knowledge of the Early Gothic of England in its military aspect, as also for both the conscientious fidelity of his restorations and the judicious consistency of his original designs. We can easily understand with what satisfaction Mr. Salvin must have removed the Strawberry Hill pseudo-Gothic of the first duke, as well as the far higher gratification which must have attended the progressive realisation of his own truly admirable compositions.

The project for causing the thoroughly English mediæval military-Gothic casket of Mr. Salvin to enclose contents that should be in every respect the very reverse of what is either English or mediæval or military or Gothic, was discussed and finally adopted at a congress held in the castle under the presidency of Algernon, Duke of Northumberland, and attended by the English professors of classic architecture, Cockerell and Donaldson; the Roman antiquary, the Commendatore Canina; and the Italian architect, Signor Montiroli. It is to be regretted that such masters of Gothic Art as Scott, Waterhouse, Street, and Burges had not also been present, who might have saved the Border Castle of the Percies from the magnificent anomaly of being externally English and internally Roman. The execution of the whole of the interior can be described only in terms of the highest commendation; and it is especially satisfactory to know that the profusion of carved work in an Italian style which was required for the various purposes of decoration, and which has been pronounced to be “a marvel of delicacy and finish,” was produced under the direction of Signor Bulletti of Florence, by a staff of English and Scottish carvers, who worked for several years in a studio established for that particular purpose in the castle. There also was a second studio, in which the more important of the decorations in plaster were modelled and cast. It is scarcely necessary to add that in all the minor details of furnishing, the grand original plan has been fully and faithfully carried into effect. While we cordially recognise as well the enlarged views and the princely munificence of the duke himself, as the skill, the taste, and the ability of every individual who took part in his great work of restoration, it is impossible not to regret that so glorious an opportunity for vindicating the versatile and comprehensive powers of true Gothic art should have been permitted to pass away. There can be no question as to the capacity of the same great style to have rendered the interior of Alnwick Castle a type of splendid, and yet agreeable, magnificence, which on the exterior has displayed its structural resources in a manner at once so noble and so consistent. But, as this was not to be, we rejoice in knowing that what has been done within the Percy walls has been done so well; and our gratification is the more sincere and the more hearty, because at every point the Percy walls themselves, true to their grand traditions, wear such an aspect as Hotspur might have recognised with an approving smile, and the old Earls of Northumberland would have been proud to accept as becoming their northern home.[23]