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Gentleman's Magazine 1831 part 2 p.400
[east]ward, we see the vast range of Cross Fell, a line of
lofty hills extending for many miles, while behind,
Saddleback appears raised above the other hills.
The pillar consists of an octagonal shaft, each of the faces
being twelve or fifteen inches in breadth. On this is raised
a cube, over which is a kind of capital.
The shaft is plain; but on the face of the cube which is
toward the road, are two shields of arms, which appear to
have been recently repainted. The one presents Clifford
impaling Vesci, Gules, 6 annulets Or, the marriage which
gave the Cliffords their great northern possessions. The
other is Clifford impaling Russell, the achievement of the
father or the mother of the lady by whom the pillar was
erected; but plainly intended for the lady, since there is
no crest, while the red griffin of the Cliffords is given
over the other shield.
There is also on this face the date 1654.
The three other faces of the cube serve as the plates of
sun-dials; but in that on the side from the road is inserted
a brass-plate containing the well-known inscription, of
which the following is an exact copy:
THIS PILLAR WAS ERECTED ANNO 1650 / BY YE RT HONOLE ANNE
COUNTESS DOWAGER OF / PEMBROKE, &C. DAUGHTER AND COHEIR
OF YE RT / HONOBLE GEORGE EARL OF CUMBERLAND, &C. FOR A
/ MEMORIAL OF HER LAST PARTING IN THIS PLACE / WITH HER GOOD
& PIOUS MOTHER YE RT HONOBLE / MARGARET COUNTESS DOWAGER
OF CUMBERLAND, / YE 2D OF APRIL, 1616. IN MEMORY WHEREOF /
SHE ALSO LEFT AN ANNUITY OF FOUR POUNDS / TO BE DISTRIBUTED
TO THE POOR WITHIN THIS / PARRICH OF BROUGHAM EVERY 2D DAY
OF APRILL / FOR EVER, UPON THE STONE TABLE HERE HARD BY. /
LAUS DEO.
The inscription appears to be an addition to the original
design, and not to have been put up until after the death of
the Countess of Pembroke. It is awkwardly placed in the face
of the sun-dial, and it is so much raised above the eye of
the spectator, that it is read with difficulty.
The stone-table no longer exists, but a stone still fixed
firmly in the ground very near the pillar, seems to mark the
place where it stood; and a flat stone lying in the ditch
under the hedge at a short distance, is what appears to have
been the table slab. One cannot but regret that a monument
of a very interesting character should not be kept up, and
that since soome cost has been recently bestowed upon it,
the table on which the benefaction of the Countess ought to
be dispensed, has not been restored.
Brougham Castle is a ruin, but it is the ruin of a
magnificent edifice. The room which is the most entire, was
evidently the chapel, a room of good proportions, on the
south side of the castle, and having apartment beneath it.
Brougham-hall, the seat of the Chancellor, is about a mile
from the castle, in a beautiful situation; commanding
extensive views of this fine country. The house itself has
an air of ancestral pretension; the decorations of the old
ceilings being the arms and quarterings or impalements of
the Broughams. Great improvements are now in progress; and
in making them, regard has been shown to the preservation of
the Roman inscriptions which have been found here. They are
inserted in one of the walls, and in a situation where they
are protected from the weather.
The taste for inscriptions prevails in this district. I
observed several (some of a recent date) at the little
village of Gamont Bridge (sic). But there is one which
invites attention, not more by the words themselves, than by
the careful manner in which the letters have been cut:
OMNE SOLUM FORTI / PATRIA EST. H. P. 1671.
I could learn nothing of the person who placed this over his
door. Perhaps some of your Correspondents may be able to say
by whom the words were inscribed.
ANAMNESTES.
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