We have been somewhat minute in the preceding description, but we hope
not more so than the exhaustless curiosity of the public on such
subjects appears to warrant. Indeed, these interesting details are only
a tithe portion of what we might have abridged. The warlike habits of
our ancestors are always attractive topics for inquirers into the
history of mankind, and their study is not

Dull and crabbed as some fools suppose,

but a treasury or depository of useful knowledge, by enabling the
inquirer to draw many valuable inferences from the comparative states of
men in the several ages he seeks to illustrate. The enthusiasm of such
pursuits is, likewise, an everlasting source of delight; for who can
visit such shrines as Netley, St. Albans, or Melrose, without feeling
that he is on holy ground; and although we are equally active in our
notice of the architectural triumphs of our own times, we must not
entirely leave the proud labours of by-gone ages to be clasped in the
ponderous folio, or to moulder and lie neglected on the upper shelves of
our libraries.

We have to acknowledge the loan of the original of the engraving, from a
lineal descendant of D'OILEY[4], the founder or repairer of the Castle
at Oxford--a name not altogether unknown to our readers.

[1] The sum of 144_l_. 5_s_. was expended in the rebuilding.

[2] By an odd mode of expression in the MS., it should seem as
if this tower itself, or at least some building adjoining it,
was formerly made use of as a _royal residence_, for the words
are, _from hence went a fair embattled wall, guarded for the