Keut.

THE vicinity of the French coast, which appears in the accompanying view, has rendered Dover, in all ages, so important, that it has gained the title of the key and barrier of the whole kingdom. The commanding situation on which the castle is placed, and the proximity of the opposite shores, must have induced the earliest inhabitants of England to have had a fortress here long before the date of any accounts that have reached our own times. From the various and numerous antique remains in this place, there can be no doubt but the Romans were fully concious of the value and strength of the position, and the ruins of their camp yet remain so well indicated, as to shew that the figure of it, very nearly approached the oval. It is said that Arviragus, the son of Kymbeline, and who had formerly defeated the Romans under Claudius, fortified himself in Dover Castle, when preparing to resist the forces of Julius Cæsar; and William the Conqueror, when about to release Harold from Rouen, made him promise on oath, to give up to him the Castle of Dover, and the well within it, on the death of King Edward, being well aware of the importance of the place for the furtherance of his future views.

One of the most ancient parts of this fortress is an octagonal building called the Pharos, the interior of which is a square. In the turning of the various arches used in this building, the Roman tile is employed, with alternations of stone, cut into the shape of a wedge, and near the edifice stands a church in a perfectly ruinous condition, supposed to have been built in the second century; which is sufficiently probable, if it be true that Joseph of Arimathea planted the gospel in

F

Great Britain during the life time of the above-mentioned Arviragus. Dover Castle has received so many additions, and undergone so many changes in the successive reigns of our sovereigns, but more particularly during the last war, that to describe it in its present state would be quite foreign to my intention, as I have not proposed, in this work, to enter into an account of batteries, casemates, subterranean chambers, galleries, magazines, and all the modern paraphernalia of war, that abound in this extensive fortification, which now covers thirty-five acres of ground, affording accommodation, in the excavated works alone, for upwards of two thousand men. The castle may be said to consist of two courts, an upper and a lower, defended by deep trenches; the curtain of the wall of the lower court is strengthened by towers of almost every possible shape, according to the varying tastes of the different ages in which they were constructed: eight or nine of these towers are supposed to be of Norman architecture, but the most ancient is one on the eastern side, said to have been built by Earl Goodwin, constable of this castle in the reign of Edward the Confessor. The keep is a lofty quadrangular tower, standing in the centre of the upper court, and now converted into a magazine for gunpowder. This tower was built by Henry II. The view which we have given is taken from the road leading from the castle into the Deal road, and commands one of the noblest prospects that can be found from our shores. The line of French coast from Calais towards Boulogne-bounds the narrow channel that separates the two kingdoms from each other, and which is constantly enlivened by the vessels of all nations, as well as the continual passing and repassing of packets to the opposite shores. In the right of the annexed view appears a distant view of the town and port of Dover, a place almost unequalled for the exportation and importation of travellers from every part of the continent and our own islands.

Esle of Man.

ON a small island called Zore, or Sodor, which lies within gunshot on the west side of the Isle of Man, stands the fortress of Peel Castle, more remarkable for the antiquity of its internal remains than its outer works, which enclose the whole of the island, an area of about two acres. The Isle of Man, to which Zore belongs, anciently constituted an independant sovereignty, governed by a succession of kings of Norwegian race, till the death of Magnus, in 1265, when Alexander III. King of Scotland, took possession of the Isle of Man, at the same time that he recovered the Hebrides, and governed it by his thanes, who so much oppressed the inhabitants, that a general massacre of the Scots was contemplated. This, however, was laid aside at the request of their bishop, who proposed, as a more humane expedient, that a pitched battle should be fought between thirty of their own warriors, and an equal number of the Scots; the Scots accepted the challenge, and were victorious, having five of their number left, whilst the whole of the Manx Men were killed, although the Scotch thane was pressed to death in the crowd that attended the battle. After this the natives submitted quietly to the yoke of their conquerors, and continued under the Scottish dominion, till Sir William Montacute, afterwards Earl of Salisbury, succeeded, in the reign of Edward III. by whom he was much assisted, in taking it from the Scots, and was crowned sovereign of the isle, which he claimed in right of his wife, a great grand-daughter of Godred Crovan. This was in the year 1344. Sir William Montacute wanting money, was obliged shortly afterwards to mortgage the island to Beck, Bishop of Durham, and after the

bishop's death, sold it to William le Scrope, chamberlain to Richard II. In the year 1393, during the reign of Henry IV. Man was bestowed on the Earl of Northumberland.

The earl was, by an act of attainder, afterwards deprived of all his possessions, but recovered them again, except this island, which was given by Henry to Sir John Stanley, one of whose descendants was created earl of Derby, by Henry VII. It remained in this family, with a short interruption, during the interregnum, when it was given to Lord Fairfax by the Parliament, till the year 1735, when it came into the possession of the second duke of Athol by marriage, and default of male issue in the Stanley line. In the year 1765, the British Government purchased the island of the duke's successor, for £.70,000, for the purpose of suppressing the smugglers, who had made this island their grand depôt, and done great injury to the revenue. The following description of the Castle and Cathedral of Peel is borrowed from the Antiquities of Captain Grose. "Peel Castle stands on a small rocky island, about one hundred yards north of the town. The channel which divides it from the main island, at high water, is very deep, but when the tide is out is scarcely mid-leg deep, being only separated by a little rivulet which flows from Kirk Jarmyn Mountains. The entrance into this island is on the south side, where a flight of stone steps, now nearly demolished, though strongly cramped with iron, come over the rocks to the water's edge, and turning to the left, others lead through a gateway, on the side of a square tower, to the castle. Adjoining to this tower is a strong vaulted guard-room. The walls enclose an irregular polygon, containing about two acres. They are flanked with towers, and are remarkably rough, being built with a coarse grey stone, but coigned and faced in many parts, with a red grit found in the neighbourhood. It is highly probable that this island has been fortified in some manner ever since the churches were built; but the present works are said, by Bishop Wilson, to have been constructed by Thomas Earl of Derby, who first encompassed it with a wall, probably about the year 1500.

CATHEDRAL IN THE ISLE OF MAN.

HERE are the remains of two churches, one dedicated to St. Patrick, the era of its erection unknown; the other called St. Germain's, or the Cathedral, constructed about the year 1245. It is built in the form of a cross, with a coarse grey stone; but the angles, window-cases, and arches are coigned, and formed with a stone found in the neighbourhood, almost as red as brick. This mixture of colours has a pleasing effect, and gives a richness and variety to the building. The Cathedral is now extremely ruinous, much of it is unroofed, and the remainder of it so considerably out of repair, that it would not be over safe for a congregation to assemble in it. The eastern part of it was the episcopal cemetery; and the inhabitants still bury within and about its walls. Beneath the easternmost part is the ecclesiastical prison; the descent into this vault is by eighteen steps; and the roof is vaulted by thirteen ribs, forming pointed arches, and supported by as many semi-hexagonal pillars, only twenty-one inches above ground. The bottom of this place is extremely rough; and in the north-west corner is a well or spring, which must have added greatly to the natural dampness of the place, to which there is no other air or light but what is admitted through a small window at the east end. About the middle of the area, a little to the northward of the churches, is a square pyramidical mount of earth, terminating obtusely. Each of its sides faces one of the cardinal points of the compass, and measures about 70 yards. Time and weather have rounded off its angles; but, on a careful observation, it will be found to have been originally of the figure here described. Tumuli of this kind are not uncommon in the island."