the right lies THORNHILL (Rev. H. Boucher), deriving its name from its founder, Sir James Thornhill, the artist. THORNHILL SPIRE, on the hill beyond, commemorates his patron George I., and was erected in 1727. The artist was descended from Ralph de Thornhill (temp. Henry III.); and when he became prosperous, bought back his ancestral acres, and "erected a grand house."

One mile further, and we cross the Divelish, a tributary of the Stour, and wind through a delightful landscape to (24 miles)

STURMINSTER NEWTON (population, 1916. Inns: The Crown and the Swan), on the projected Dorset Central Railway, a market-town of great antiquity, built on a gentle slope which declines to the rushy Stour. In the market-place remain the octagonal steps which formerly supported the market-cross. Beyond the river (spanned by a good stone bridge) rises PIDDLEWOOD, a richly wooded upland abounding in game; and at the foot of the bridge a pleasant orchard, covering a mound, and encircled by a dry fosse, marks the site of an ancient CASTLE, whose history remains untold.

At BANBURY, 1 mile south, there is a British camp, which may be worth a visit, and keeping 7 miles further south, the tourist may visit the beautiful CHURCH erected at WOOLLAND (population, 107) in 1857, from the designs of Mr. G. G. Scott. It consists of a nave, chancel, porch, south aisle, and octagonal buttressed turret, supporting a tall and elegant spire. The inte

rior is richly fitted up.

The road now pierces the downs through a long and narrow gap, —the heights on either side being crowned with ancient entrenchments, and passes through SHILLING OKEFORD (population, 773), or Child Okeford, 3 miles, where stand the ruins of a cross, a tall Maypole, which is garlanded yearly on the 9th of June, and an ancient church. Through the shades of deep woods we then descend to the Stour, and crossing at DURWESTON (population, 406),—the church is of no particular interest,-proceed through a pleasant country to Blandford, one of the principal stations on the new Dorset Central Railway, 5 miles from Shilling Okeford, and 13 miles from HENSTRIDGE ASH.

MAIN ROUTE RESUMED HENTSRIDGE ASH TO

SHAFTESBURY.

The road from Hentsridge Ash to Shaftesbury is one which every young English artist should assuredly travel. Every foot of it is picturesque and romantic. Hill, dale, river, plain, alternate in rapid but delightful succession. Clumps of noble trees adorn the wayside; bright rivulets trail their lines of silver across the rich green meads. Lofty downs stretch far away their beautifully undulating crests; their sides dappled with changing shadow and sunshine. Every river sings a song; a poem throbs in every leafy copse.

At about half a mile from the Virginia Inn we cross Bow BROOK, and pass from Somersetshire into Dorsetshire. The next stream which salutes us with its music is the river Cale, rising near Wincanton, and flowing into the Stour. We now enter the vale of Blackmwore-as the men of Dorset call it—a famously fertile pasturage, about 4 miles in breadth, bounded east and west by ranges of sheltering downs, and dotted with noble oaks of a venerable antiquity. This is the "White Hart Forest" of feudal times, receiving its name from a goodly white hart "roused" among its bosky glades by Henry III., and spared from the hunter's knife on account of its exceeding beauty. It was afterwards slain, however, by one Thomas de la Lynde. Whereupon the enraged sovereign condemned the whole shire (because it had not opposed the daring "poacher ") in a perpetual amerciament, known as "White Hart Silver," which was levied as late as the days of Thomas Fuller :-" Myself," says the quaint divine, “hath paid a share for the sauce who never tasted the meat"(Worthies of England). The forest formerly extended as far as Sherborne. An astonishing number of pigs is now bred upon Blackmoor for the London markets.

Having ascended STOWER (Stour) HILL, on whose summit clusters the picturesque village of WEST STOWER (population, 221), with a gray, old, weatherbeaten CHURCH; we next enter upon that part of the road known as the SHERBORNE CAUSEWAY, having on our right the fir-clad hill of DONCLIFF-crested, of course, with an ancient camp, within whose area rises a clear,

cold spring. The view from the summit is delightful, but the ascent is not easy.

At 8 miles from Hentsridge Ash, and 3 miles from Doncliff, we reach the ancient CAER PALLADWR, or town on the hill-peak, -the modern SHASTON, as it is locally pronounced, or

SHAFTESBURY.

[Population, 9404. Inns: Grosvenor Arms and Abbey Arms.

101 m. from London; 17 m. from Salisbury; 94 m. from Blandford; 184 m. from Yeovil ; from Wincanton.

Conveyances daily to Yeovil, Blandford, and Salisbury.

BANKERS-National Provincial Bank, and Wilts and Dorset Banking Company. The nearest Railway Station is at GILLINGHAM, 4 m. north-west.] Goodness knows how ancient is the pretty town of Shaftesbury! It has stood up yonder on the brink of a narrow ridge of chalk ever since Celts and Romans contended for the mastery of England, and was even in existence, according to Holinshed, in the days of King Lud,—that is, about 1000 years B.C. A more modest statement ascribes its foundation to Cassibelaunus ; and it was certainly a Celtic, and perhaps afterwards a Roman settlement. A nunnery was founded here in 880 by King Alfred, whither the body of St. Edward the martyr was removed from Wareham (June 20, 980) with extraordinary pomp and splendour, and under the care of St. Dunstan, and Alfere the caldorman. His shrine became a popular one with English devotees, who loaded it with riches, until it was eclipsed by the superior attractions of St. Thomas's, Canterbury.

Of the twelve churches which, besides chantries and chapels, Shaftesbury possessed at the epoch of the Conquest, only four remain-HOLY TRINITY, ST. PETER, ST. JAMES, and ST. PAUL. The livings of HOLY TRINITY and ST. PETER are now united, in the patronage of the Earl of Shaftesbury. ST. PETER'S is an ancient and beautiful church, of handsome proportions, with a richly decorated font, and a good east window. The other churches possess little to interest the tourist.

Of the once-famous and wealthy abbey, a fragment of gray mossy wall alone remains. Its spoliation at the Dissolution was, indeed, complete; and of its size or plan it is now impossible to form an estimate. The lands passed into the hands of the Ashley Coopers, ancestors of the present Earl of Shaftesbury.

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[HINTS FOR RAMBLES.-1. A pleasant stroll may be taken from Shaftesbury to GILLINGHAM (population, 1837), 4 miles north-west, on the Yeovil and Salisbury Railway,—an ancient Saxon settlement, and now a busy little market town, which begins to acknowledge the beneficial influence of the locomotive. The vicarage of Gillingham is the most valuable in the county,-£1313 per annum,-and is associated with the cures of East Stower, West Stower, Enmore Green, and Motcombe. The Church is large, but uninteresting. The traveller may then make his way by SLAUGHTER GATE, 1 mile, to PENZELWOOD, or Pen Selwood, 5 miles, on the borders of Somersetshire, where the Danes under King Knut were defeated by Edmund Ironsides in 1016. The carnage was so terrible that, it is said, the blood rolled down from the battle-field as far as Slaughter Gate. He will next proceed through the hilly villages of the two BOURTONS into the Wincanton road, 2 miles turn to the left, and re-enter Gillingham, 2 miles; from whence he may diverge to EAST STOWER, 24 miles, and return by DONCLIFF HILL, 1 mile (on the right), to Shaftesbury, 3 miles-21 to 22 miles. 2. MOTCOMBE (population, 1535),—quære, mót, Saxon, a council, and combe, a valley ?-with its sheltered village and quaint church, and MOTCOMBE HOUSE, one of the numerous seats of the Marquis of Westminster, deserve a visit. 3. To ASHMORE (population, 237), 5 miles south-east, and ASHMORE LODGE, with its quiet leafy vale-an abrupt cone springing from its very bosom, surmounted by the picturesque ruins of the ancient manor-house-is a romantic excursion. From Ashmore we cross westward, and thence climb the hills to COMPTON ABBAS (population, 465), a sister-village to MELBURY ABBAS (population, 444), 1 mile north-east, and as motley a collection of thatched cottages as one can see even in Dorsetshire,-descend into the Shaftesbury road, and regain Shaftesbury, after a day's excursion of 14 or 15 miles.]

The deficiency of water at Shaftesbury, and the necessity of bringing it by water-carts from some wells at Motcombe (in the parish of Gillingham), gave rise to a quaint old custom which has not long fallen into desuetude, and which was annually observed by ancient agreement, dated 1662, between the lord of the manor of Gillingham and the mayor and burgesses of Shaftesbury. "The mayor is obliged, on the Monday before Holy Thursday, to dress up a prize besom, or byzant as they call it, somewhat like a May-garland in form, with gold and peacock's feathers, and carry it to Enmore Green, half a mile below the town, in Motcombe, as an acknowledgment for the water; together with a raw calf's head, a pair of gloves, a gallon of beer or ale, and two penny loaves of white wheaten bread, which the steward receives and carries away to his own use. The ceremony

being over, the 'byzant' is restored to the mayor, and brought back by one of his officers with great solemnity. This 'byzant' is generally so richly adorned with plate and jewels, borrowed from the neighbouring gentry, as to be worth not less than £1500."

King Knut died at Shaftesbury in 1035. His body was removed to Winchester Cathedral for interment.

BRANCH ROUTE-SHAFTESBURY TO BLANDFORD,

9 Miles.

The traveller from King Lud's town of "Shaston" to the old Roman colony of BLANDFORD FORUM has his choice of two routes; the more direct runs along a ridge of chalk hills, and after passing MELBURY ABBAS, 24 miles, absolutely keeps clear of village and hamlet, and almost of the habitations of men, until it approaches Blandford. The uncultivated tract of Cranborne Chace spreads beneath the hills, and rolls away into the blue distance; the scene is solitary and savage, and the road is now but little frequented.

The new road keeps the low ground between the double range of chalk hills, and is not without its picturesque effects and delightful prospects. Leaving MELBURY HILL on our left, we strike southward to FONTMILL MAGNA (population, 832), 4 miles, with its church, manor-house, inn, and usual villageadjuncts; SUTTON WALDRON (population, 257), 1 mile, deriving its affix from the old family which once possessed the manor,- —a small village with a small rustic CHURCH, chiefly Early English; IWERNE MINSTER (population, 703), 1 mile, where the Bowers have a good old family house, and the dean and canons of Windsor hold the presentation of the vicarage; and SHROUGHTON (population, 680), about which there is nothing to be said that the tourist will care to remember. On the right, shining against a background of green trees, stands RANSOM HOUSE (Sir E. B. Baker, Bart.), and on the left rises the abrupt elevation of HAMBLEDON HILL,-its summit bristling with a Danish camp, with double vallum and fosse, protected by formidable outworks.

As we conquer another mile of road we catch sight, on our left, of STAPLETON (Sir J. H. D'Oyley, Bart.),-sheltered from the east winds by Pimperne Down,—and on our right, of the gaunt steep known as HOD (or Head) HILL, which is separated from Hambledon by a narrow but formidable defile, and crowned by a Roman camp as well as some British works. The tourist will not fail to have noticed that the whole range of the chalk from Blandford to Pen Selwood is occupied by a series of entrenchments, formidable in the old days as military positions from their