“But now th’ unsightly brier grows, Where once, in gilded bower, The Queen of Beauty trained the rose-- Herself a fairer flower. And damp the hearth, and cold the bed, Where he who wore the crown, With anxious heart, and aching head, In slumber laid him down! But brief the slumber, long the night-- For <g>Naseby’s</g> fatal day, And sorrow’s still increasing weight, Had scared his sleep away!”
There is a tradition, that the Bowling-green was King Charles’s favourite walk during his visit. It commands a varied and extensive prospect; the vegetation is vigorous; and the grassy carpet, though not in courtly trim, is still uninjured by plough or spade; and to sentimental tourists it seems the very spot--aided by the adjoining ruins--where, in the mirror of fancy, pictures of the olden day, the hues of domestic life as it passed in the fifteenth century, may be seen faithfully reflected.
“There is a spirit brooding o’er these walls, That tells the records of a bygone day; When, midst the splendour of thy courtly halls, A pageant shone, whose gorgeous array, Like Pleasure’s golden dream, has passed away; Where Beauty’s smiles, and winning graces, lent The witching radiance of their love-lit ray; And from the scene a mingled strain was sent Of music, laughter, festive song, and merriment.”--_Raglan._
The game of bowls was unknown to the ancients, and bowling-greens are said to have originated in England; where, in the course of time, every castle, and most houses of the nobility, had each a bowling-green attached to them. The “greens” were in some places narrow strips turfed over; but if covered with gravel, they were called “Bares.” Bowling-alleys were so called from being roofed over for play when the weather was unfavourable; and these appear to have been the usual appendages to taverns, and other places of public resort, particularly in towns. In an old inventory we have--“To Sparke of Bury, Roper, for vi. li. etc., of herryng line for the <g>Bowling-alley</g>, iij_s._ iv_d._” At the same place [Hengrave Hall] a bowling-alley occupied the space between the north side of the moat, having the convenience of an open corridor communicating with the Hall. Flat bowls were best for a close alley; “round biassed bowls” for open ground, of advantage; bowls, round as a ball, for green swarths which were plain and level; and of the latter description is the Bowling-green of <g>Raglan</g>, now under notice.