as

plate of its interior. At the lower or eastern end was the minstrel's gallery, composed of massive beams and planks, and finished with a bulky hand-rail, that has been well described putting to shame even "the principal timbers of many a modern house." Beneath this gallery was an entrance into some chambers. At the opposite end was the canopy, which for ages had overshadowed the high table; at which, in the days that have so recently been brought to our recollection, royalty under adverse circumstances must have sat down with many an embittered thought. This coved canopy much resembles those in the halls of the college of Manchester, and of the Carthusians (now the Charter House) in the metropolis. On the north side of the hall was the entrance porch, and on the same side a spacious fireplace and ingle, within which many a cheerful blaze has enlivened the entertainments of an ancient and hospitable race. Further

on, towards the gallery, was a flight of stairs, which communicated with it, and led from thence to the sleeping apartments. On the south side was a handsome pointed arched window, the tracery of which had apparently been constructed at the time of the transition from the Decorated to the Perpendicular style.

Eastward of what has been already described was the hall-kitchen, large and lofty, even to the roof, the place of vast preparations, which indicated that here was hospitality without grudging;" and as in still older times, that even the wayfarers were

courteously received, and at their departure were laden with such things as were necessary." This train of thought is amply encouraged, when it is on record that in front of the great beam, which formed its spacious chimney-breast, are said to have been inscribed in rudely carved letters, these memorable words ;

"There ne'er was a Pudsey, that encreased his estate."

It is delightful, in all ages, to contemplate the well-doing of those who are actuated by the benevolent precept of inspiration, "It is more blessed to give, than to receive."

This description, imperfect as it is, may convey some idea of what Bolton

Hall was, when in the year 1804 it was sold, with the manor and estates belonging to it, to the late John Bolton, esquire, of Liverpool.

The mansion not having been inhabited by the family for several years, it probably required some repairs. Mr. Bolton conceived the plan of making considerable alterations. Designs were drawn for him by Gandy, and they were carried into effect by Webster of Kendal. The work was commenced in the year 1806, and in a year or two more his intentions appear to have been completed. The southern exterior of the mansion has been totally changed; and in its general aspect and details, it has been designed to represent the architecture of the fifteenth century. Under all the circumstances, the effect is perhaps as good as could be expected at the time. The revival of the English styles, at first under the auspices of Horace Walpole, and many years after as encouraged and promoted by King George the Third, continued for a length of time to languish, and to exhibit little more than awkward imitations. The principles of these styles were then very imperfectly known, and the most praiseworthy efforts too frequently ended in disappointment. In the interior, the hall has lost some of its fine old features; but happily others of them either partially or entirely remain. The roof presents the same appearance as before, with the exception of a portion of it having been pierced and glazed, for the admission of light. The window in the south side was taken away, in consequence of the building on its outside having been extended; and hence arose the necessity of obtaining light from above. The wide old chimney has been reduced to a very moderate size; and a similar one has been constructed on the opposite side of the hall, more towards the west. The stairs have been entirely removed ; but the greatest alteration remains yet to be told. The very thought of it reminds one of the projected removal of the organ screen several years after at York, which it was said could never be accomplished with safety. The material to be removed at Bolton hall was not indeed stone; but it was oaktimber, which even if separated into

its component parts, each of these very parts would be found to be of no mean size or weight. The project was successfully effected; and it was no less than causing the massive gallery at the one end, and the certainly ponderous canopy at the other, to change places. It is well that these venerable relics of the best and hospitable days of this old seat of mirth and hearty welcome have been carefully preserved, and that no accident (as the change was thought desirable) rendered the attempt abortive. They are understood to be perfectly secure; and no alteration having been attempted, they each present the same appearance, as when originally constructed. The floor is now of one uniform level, and unlike the fashion it was of in times of chivalry, for the dais and the high table are gone. These, with the other substantial tables and benches for the inferior guests and retainers, (like those still religiously preserved in the Abbat's hall at Westminster,) had all disappeared before the rise of the present generation. A set of rooms was taken down, where the present entrance to the hall was made; the new windows that are squareheaded have been finished without the tablet dripstones; and the mansion is entered by a projecting porch, having a double flight of steps ascending to it.

It is a prevailing fashion of our days, for the possessors of old mansions, that have been more or less mutilated, according to the tasteless habits of the last century, to restore them as nearly as possible to their original state; and for others to erect new edifices in exact conformity with them. It may therefore be well to observe in this place, that in the restoration of banqueting halls especially, as well as in the construction of new ones similar to them, how desirable it is to keep them free from all inappropriate appendages. Furniture and decorations, however good in themselves, should be placed in apartments, with whose design and use they can form an harmonious whole and if the proprietors of baronial or knightly halls wish to consider them, after the usual manner of these times, as merely entrances to the apartments that are commonly occupied, they cannot be

better adapted to the purpose than by studiously retaining all the peculiar features which, even under the most altered circumstances, confessedly belong to them.

The memorable event already alluded to, which was recorded in your last Magazine, stamps the manor house of Bolton with a lustre and an interest of which it can never be divested, so long as any portions of its genuine framework shall be held together, or the pages of its history be rescued from oblivion.

One cause of King Henry's taking refuge at Bolton hall, after the battle of Hexham, was doubtless the marriage of Sir Ralph Pudsey with Margaret Tunstal, whose father was Esquire of the Body to the unfortunate monarch, and attended him on this occasion. His name was Sir Thomas Tunstal; and his own residence, Thurland Castle, was then in danger, and by no means so retired as Bolton hall.

Through weakness of mind, King Henry VI. has been considered by Hume and Smollett, in their respective historical accounts of him, as scarcely capable of feeling affliction. He had virtues that would have adorned a private station; and perhaps for his piety and eminent christian graces, he was mercifully spared the bitterness of grief, which to persons of a more acute temperament, when not chastened by the high principles which to him were the source of comfort, become too frequently an insupportable burthen.

About half a mile from the manor house, are the village, church, and rectory house of Bolton.

The manor of Bolton is known, by the records in the College of Arms, to have been in the possession of Oughtred de Bolton, during the reign of King Henry the First. We have no certain accounts of his ancestors ; but whether or not the tradition is to be relied upon, that one of them built a residence on the estate in the time of King William the Second, it is highly probable that they were of ancient Saxon descent, and may have been settled on the same lands long before the Conquest. After six generations from Oughtred, the manor passed from John de Bolton, at his death, (who had lived in the reign of King Edward

the Second,) to John Pudsey, son of Katharine, his aunt on the father's side, and Simon Pudsey, her husband. The Pudsey family held the manor and estates for about fourteen generations. Ample testimony has been given to the loyalty of Sir Ralph Pudsey. His tomb, in the family chapel in Bolton Church, is covered with the effigies of himself, the three ladies to whom he was successively married, and his twenty-five sons and daughters. Thomas Pudsey, another head of the house, who lived when the battle was fought at Flodden field, was a distinguished character, and the friend of Lord Surrey, the commander

on

that memorable occasion. The family was, doubtless, of Norman descent. In the words of Doctor Whitaker, "Within the compass of a moderate estate, the Pudseys enjoyed every distinction, feudal or ecclesiastic, which their age and country could bestow, the manor, free-warren, park, advowson, and family-chantry. Here they sheltered their persecuted sovereign;" and when their race was drawing to a close, distinguished by a course of loyalty and hospitable virtues, "the last amiable possessors enjoyed to extreme old age the blessings of retirement and religion."

Much in the same manner as the property had passed from the ancient family of Bolton to the Pudseys, so was it again conveyed to the Dawsons, on the death of Ambrose Pudsey, esquire, in the year 1714. This gentleman was succeeded in the manor of Bolton by Christopher Dawson, esquire, his nephew; whose father, William Dawson, esquire, of Langcliff Hall, in the parish of Giggleswick, had on the 7th of August, 1705, married Jane

Pudsey, the only one of a family of eight, who left a child. This lady had two sons, and her husband was major of the militia, and a magistrate for the West-Riding of the county of York.

Major Dawson was endowed with good natural abilities; which, being aided by studious application, his acquirements in classical literature and mathematics were considerable. He was the personal friend of Sir Isaac Newton, who often visited him at Langcliff hall; and he is said to have been one of the first persons in the north of England who understood the Principia.' His son Christopher lived to the age of eighty years, and died at Bolton hall, a bachelor, in 1786. His brother Ambrose, who succeeded him, attained to a still more advanced age. He married Mary, the daughter of Richard Aston, esquire, of Wadley. She was sister to Sir Willoughby Aston, baronet, and to Sir Richard Aston, knight, one of the justices of the court of King's Bench. Ambrose Dawson obtained the degree of Doctor of Medicine, and became eventually the oldest member of the Royal College of Physicians, in London. He resided several years in Grosvenor Street; where he practised in a very unostentatious way, and was a most charitable man. Upon his leaving London, about 1776, to reside at Langcliff hall, and when presents of plate were not quite so frequent as they are now, he received from the parish of Saint George, Hanover Square, a magnificent teaurn, in the fashion of the time, with an inscription that may be regarded as a volume in a few words :

of February, 1752. His early years were spent abroad, till in the year 1777, he was induced to settle in Liverpool, where he was but partially engaged in mercantile pursuits. On the demise of his father, he succeeded to the Bolton Hall estates, as well as to those of Langcliff Hall and Great Stainforth, the property of the Dawsons, which are also in Craven.

It is gratifying to arrive at the point