who selected the site. It indeed brought us near to the spirit and
customs of feudal times as we wandered about in the gloom of the
deserted apartments. How comfortless the house must have been--from our
standard--even in its best days, with its rough stone floors and rude
furnishings! No fireplace appeared in the banqueting hall, which must
have been warmed by an open fire, perhaps in the center, as in the hall
of Penshurst Place. How little these ancient landmarks were appreciated
until recently is shown by the fact that for many years Stokesay Manor
was used as a blacksmith-shop and a stable for a neighboring farmer. The
present noble proprietor, however, keeps the place in excellent repair
and always open to visitors. In one of the rooms of the tower, is
exhibited a collection of ancient documents relating to the founding of
Stokesay and to its early history.

After visiting hundreds of historic places during our summer's
pilgrimage, the memory of Ludlow, with its quaint, unsullied, old-world
air, its magnificent church, whose melodious chime of bells lingers with
us yet, its great ruined castle, redolent with romance, and its
surrounding country of unmatched interest and beauty, is still the
pleasantest of all. I know that the town has been little visited by
Americans, and that in Baedeker, that Holy Writ of tourists, it is
accorded a scant paragraph in small type. Nevertheless, our deliberately
formed opinion is still that if we could re-visit only one of the
English towns it would be Ludlow. Mr. A.G. Bradley, in his delightful
book, "In the March and Borderland of Wales," which everyone
contemplating a tour of Welsh border towns should read, gives an
appreciation of Ludlow which I am glad to reiterate when he styles it
"the most beautiful and distinguished country town in England." He says:
"There are towns of its size perhaps as quaint and boasting as many
ancient buildings, but they do not crown an eminence amid really