THE MIRROR
OF
LITERATURE, AMUSEMENT, AND INSTRUCTION.
| Vol. 20. No. 575. | SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1832 | [PRICE 2d. |
FRAMLINGHAM CASTLE.
Castle of Ancient Days! in times long gone
Thy lofty halls in regal splendour shone!
Thou stoodst a monument of strength sublime,
A Giant, laughing at the threats of Time!
Strange scenes have passed within thy walls! and strange
Has been thy fate through many a chance and change!
Thy Towers have heard the war-cry, and the shout
Of friends within, and answering foes without,
Have rung to sounds of revelry, while mirth
Held her carousal, when the sons of earth
Sported with joy, till even he could bring
No fresh delight upon his drooping wing!
JAMES BIRD.
(From a Correspondent.)
This Castle is said to have been founded by Redwald, or Redowald, oneof the most powerful kings of the East Angles, between A.D. 599 and624. It belonged to St. Edmund, one of the Saxon monarchs of EastAnglia, who, upon the invasion of the Danes, fled from Dunwich, orThetford, to this castle; from which being driven, and being overtakenat Hegilsdon, (now Hoxne, a distance of twelve miles fromFramlingham,) he was cruelly put to death, being bound to a tree andshot with arrows, A.D. 870. His body, after many years, was removed toa place called Bederics-gueord, now St. Edmund's Bury. The castleremained in the hands of the Danes fifty years, when they were broughtunder the obedience of the Saxons. William the Conqueror and his sonRufus retained the Castle in their own possession; but the third sonof William, Henry I., granted it, with the Manor of Framlingham, toRoger Bigod.—The castle continued in this family till Roger Bigod,the last of the race, and a man more turbulent than any of hispredecessors, was compelled to resign it to King Edward I.; Edward II.gave it to his half-brother, Thomas Plantagenet, surnamed DeBrotherton; from whom it descended to Thomas de Mowbray, twelfth BaronMowbray, created Duke of Norfolk 29th of September, 1397. From theMowbrays it descended to the Howards, Dukes of Norfolk, Sir RobertHoward having married Margaret, daughter of Thomas Mowbray, first Dukeof Norfolk. His son, John Howard, was created Earl Marshal and Duke ofNorfolk, 28th of June, 1483. He was slain at Bosworth Field, 1485; andhis son, Thomas, Earl of Surrey, being attainted, the castle fell intothe hands of King Henry VII., who granted it to John de Vere,thirteenth Earl of Oxford, from whom it again returned to the Howards.Thomas Howard, third Duke of Norfolk, being attainted, (38 Henry VIII.1546,) it was seized by the king, who dying the same year, hissuccessor, Edward VI., granted it to his sister, the Princess,afterwards Queen Mary. King James I. granted it to Thomas Howard,first Baron Howard de Walden, youngest son of[pg 306]Thomas, fourth Duke ofNorfolk, created Earl of Suffolk 21st of July, 1603; b