EPISODE 506: COMPLETE LIST OF LOST COUNTRY HOUSES IN BRITAIN — 1,984

EPISODE 506     LIST OF LOST COUNTRY HOUSES IN BRITAIN. (This gets personal)


alan skeoch
Jan. 6 , 2022


Aramstone House, King’s Caple, Herefordshire (Demolished)

Aramstone House, King's Caple, Herefordshire (Demolished)

SO FAR 1,984  COUNTRY ESTATE GRAND HOUSES HAVE BEEN DEMOLISHED

So far 1,984 Country Estates like Eywood have been lost.  Many by demolition…others by fire…others by inability
to maintain due to costs….others by deaths in wars…others by extensive damage…etc. etc. Result has been
loss of 1,984 very unique large homes some of which were like Casa Loma and others interesting but
less ostentatious.  A loss all the same.  In Canada such losses have also occurred with little if any protest.

In Britain the demolitions have been recorded with pictures and comments under the heading below”

“COMPLETE LIST OF LOST COUNTRY HOUSES IN BRITAIN.”

Yes, all 1,984 lost country estates are listed.  I have picked a few below just for interests sake…one
especially for friend Judy Caldecott under heading ‘Caldecott House’. Her dad, Stapes, was our 
principal at Parkdale C.I. for several years.  He was a fighter for kids and would have fought for
Caldecott House if it had any family connection at all.


While the number of country estates lost is huge, there are more than 3,000 still in existence although some are
doomed.  The list reads as if the sword of Damocles hangs over them all except those protected
by the National Trust.

Caldecott House
Abingdon, Berkshire

Caldecott House was, for many years, the home of the Hyde family. When its last owner, Major-Genral Bailie, died in 1918, the place became an hotel. Requisitioned during the last war, it was, finally, a Barnardo’s Children’s Home until its demolition, in 1972, to make way for the present housing estate.

 








SALTMARSHE CASTLE


LOCATION   BROMYARD
COUNTY   HEREFORDSHIRE
YEAR DEMOLISHED   1955
REASON   UNKNOWN



Saltmarshe Castle



ST LEONARD’S HILL


LOCATION   CLEWER NR WINDSOR
COUNTY   BERKSHIRE
YEAR DEMOLISHED   1924, 1970
REASON   ABANDONED, BECOMING DERELICT BEFORE DEMOLITION

<< BACK TO MAIN PAGE 

St Leonard's Hill - photograph from 'Beautiful Britain - the Scenery and Splendours of the United Kingdom' 
ST LEONARD’S HILL – PHOTOGRAPH FROM ‘BEAUTIFUL BRITAIN – THE SCENERY AND SPLENDOURS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM’ (PUBLISHED 1894) 

St Leonard's Hill - print from London Illustrated News 
ST LEONARD’S HILL – PRINT FROM LONDON ILLUSTRATED NEWS

UNDER THREAT…ANNESLEY HALL BELOW


Annesley Hall, neglected and forlorn in 2003. The three storey, six bay hall has 13th century aisled hall origins but its current appearance is largely the result of large scale late 17th century extension and remodelling in 1838 (photo: Andrew Nicholson, 2003).

ANNESLEY HALL…a country house under threat o demolition.  It was here that Lord
Byrons praises MARY CHAWORTH. (1785 – 1832)


Aramstone House, King’s Caple, Herefordshire (Demolished)

Aramstone House, King's Caple, Herefordshire (Demolished)



“TRY TO STAY FOR THE NIGHT IN THE BIG HOUSE DOWN THE ROAD!

Marjorie and I had a real life experience with country houses decades ago when we were
searching for English ’tithe barns’.  Places where peasant medievsal farmers paid their tithes
in kind because they never handled cash in coin form. Or very rarely did so.  They paid their
10”% tithes in the form af bushels of grain or domestic animals.   Church and state officials
had to have buildings in which to store and eventually sell or distribute these agricultural products.
So huge tithe barns were built.   And many of these ancient medieval buildings have survived
and are tucked away in obscure villages., landed estates or alongside churches in Britain.
Finding them was a challenge which made our trip worthwhile.


The Great Barn


“Alan, that was one of our greatest trips when we searched for those tithe barns.?
“Gave purpose to the trip didn’t it?”
“Remember Bromyard?
“Night driving east from Leominster…dark…we had no place to stay…
But by chance we found a  Counry House…old aristocratic estate…long lane.
Just east of Bromyard, Herefordshire.
“A man in the Bromyard pub suggested we try the big house outside own….sometimes
they take in tourists…not often but sometimes.”

So we drove down that long dark twisty lane arriving at a very large
Country Estate home.  There was some kind of party going on in the
main room…seemed to be celebrating something.  

“Sure, we can put you up.  Big room upstairs.  Make yourself at home.
Wine, beer and scotch in the room, help yourself.  

 We will send up
coffee in the morning on the dumb waiter.”

“Dumb waiter?”  What did he mean by that?   Turned out to be a miniature hand
cranked elevator for food directly from the estate kitchen somewhere below. We made
ourselves at home.  Made gin and tonic from the loaded bar. Great long cast
iron bathtub with heated towel rack.  Pure luxury. The former aristocratic owners
knew those finer touches of relaxation.

A while later there was a knock on our door and an invitation to come down
and join them in the drawing room where around a half doze ’30 somethings’ had been 
lamenting end of fox hunting with hounds and horses..  

“The estate is owned by an American company to entertain executives visiting England.
Very irregular…so rooms are unused most of the time.

Marjorie and I were just entertainment for the group  All of them bemoaning
the decline off fox hunting.  Upper class.  Seems former owners of he estate
were kept on to maintain estate for American corporation.  Quite a come down.

We had a great time and in the morning a little bell rang and coffee came up
on the dumb waiter while we were invited downstairs for a complete English breakfast  with Kippers included.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MOST OF THE COUNTRY HOUSES IN IRELAND?

Sad situation in Ireland.  Between 1919 and 1923 most of the 4,000 country houses
in Ireland were set ablaze.  Today there are only 100 or so remaining.   The
Irish I met when working there in 1960 referred to those bitter days of the
early 1920’s as the ’Time of the Troubles’ which meant little to me at the time.
In those years thousands of grand estate homes many of which were like
Eywood were set on fire by members of the IRA…Irish Republican Army.

I remembered doing our 1960 geophysical survey work through a big estate
east of Bunmahon.  Seemed the owner was not pleased with our trespassing. He had a good case.
The reasons I remembered was the heavy rain and spongy swamp area where
John Fleming and the staking crew worked in the darkness and pouring rain cutting our survey lines
using a compass and flashlight.  Fleming did it and kept lines straight. Amazing work.
But first we had to overcome the estate owners protests.  Do not remember how 
we got access.  Do remember the thick rhododendron underbrush and then
the needle like Gorse.  Who would want to trespass?

So I sent a note to Professor Aidan Coffey who is quite an authority on what is
now called the Copper Trail of western Waterford.

DATELINE:  JANUARY 4, 2022

   Hello Alan.
   I saw your message this morning before I left for Waterford. When I took my mother for the usual drive this afternoon, I deliberately went by Gardenmorris estate and I took a photo of it for you to show you how it looks. I read about your exploration work there on your website writings – so I know it’s the same one. In 1960, it was owned by the Poer-O’Shee family. The estate is about 500 acres.

   In answer to your question: Gardenmorris certainly was burnt down in 1923 along with very many other fine houses in County Waterford with all their contents including paintings (generally, the occupants were ordered to leave the house before it was doused in fuel and torched). There were some houses that escaped, notably Curraghmore House, the home of Lord Waterford – de la Poer Beresford. Gardenmorris (previously three-storey: see old museum photo attached) was subsequently rebuilt as a two storey house, and has been pink in colour as far back as I can remember. Maybe the fact that it was rebuilt made some people that you met think that it wasn’t burnt. Many of the big houses were rebuilt, I guess on the strength of their insurance at the time. Others were not and only their ruins remain. 

   During the Irish civil war when the anti-treaty IRA were burning big houses they appeared to be indiscriminate. Their purpose was apparently to undermine the new 26-county Irish state including houses of those perceived to have influence. It apparently did not matter whether a big house was owned by Catholic or Protestant. Gardenmorris was owned by the Catholic Poer-O’Shee family who in 1874 had built the neo-gothic Catholic church for the local village of Kill. In the mid 1700s, the family had also built the tiny remote Roman Catholic church in Faugheen valley (where you also prospected in 1960). The latter is possibly the earliest catholic church in the county that is still in use, though only once a year in mid-August. The Poer-O’Shee family were generally respected in the area down through the generations. They sold Gardenmorris estate in the 1970s to a local family. As you see in the photo, they have maintained the house well. 
Best regards
   Aidan




This is the estate home I remember…did not know it had been torched and rebuilt
 
There were 4,000 country estate homes in Ireland, many much like Eywood.  But only 100
survived the IRA burnings of the Time of the Troubles (1919 -1923).  Owners were informed
on the night of an attack on  country home.  “Get all the living persons out of this house,
we are going to burn it.”  Nothing much was ever saved.  Great paintings went up in smoke
along with furniture and possessions.   Some were rebuilt.  Others remained as burned
out shells like the one below.

Lost Ireland | BISH - British &amp; Irish Stately Homes


JUST SO WE DO NOT END WITH A SOUR NOTE…HERE IS KITCHENER HOUSE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND
(where Morgan Skeoch is now living)
Kitchener House | UOE Accommodation
KITCHENER HOUSE, EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND…NOW A STUDENT RESIDENCE

SOMEWHERE  in this grand old house lives our granddaughter Morgan who is a Veterinary Medicine
student at the University of Edinburgh.    Morgan’s house, like many other grand Country Houses has been
redesigned as student housing.  There is one big difference from the past to the present.  In the past
Kitchener House had a cook and servants.  Today the kitchen is still there but students have to prepare their
own meals and woe betide the person who does not wash his or her dishes afterward.  That happened once.
As a result the kitchen was closed down until whoever left the mess cleaned up the kitchen.  I think Morgan
did some of the clean up even though she was not responsible for the dirty dishes.


Kitchener House | UOE Accommodation

Kitchener House | UOE Accommodation



Student Review: 5 /5
By biochemislife On 15th May 19

I loved my time in Kitchener. Super affordable, spacious rooms and so close to Kings Buildings. Great for socialising too, with the events organised by the RAs. The cleaning staff were lovely, always up for a chat and in a couple of weeks they knew all of us. The wifi crashed a couple of times, but they solved it within a couple of days. Highly recommend.

alan skeoch
JAN. 7, 2022

EPISODE 505 WHY WAS EYWOOD DEMOLISHED IN 1954? (HISTORY OF EYWOOD FROM 18TH CENTURY TO 21ST CENTURY)

EPISODE  505   WHY WAS EYWOOD DEMOLISHED IN 1954? (AND history of Eywood’s owners)


alan skeoch
Jan. 5, 2022


This is (was) Cyril Griffiths to whom I owe so much.  He was once the tenant farmer of Oatcroft which was sold from under him even
though he had tenant farmers rights.  Or so I believe.  My grandparents enduring contact via mail with the Griffiths family
was the sole reason I was able to make contact and delve deep into the history of Eywood.  Cyril moved to Lower Wooton
Farm when Eywood was sold  If time permits I will do an episode on Lower Wooten Farm. Below is a roadsign post should readers want
more information or pictures of Titley and surrounding villages.  They are stunning places




The history of Eywood is not a happy history like that of the fictional Downton Abbey.  But there were
good times.   I think my grandfather took this picture with his pinhole camera between 1900 and 1908.
The Chauffeur looks very young and very determined   One of my readers can probably identify the car
and year of manufacture.  Similar vehicles appeared in the Downton Abbey series.


note: It is unclear why the demolition of Eywood was incomplete.  When I visited the site for the first time these walls were standing and
in the middle of the floor area there was a hole that I  was told gave access to the wine cellar.  Big enough to crawl through.  No wine that
I could see.

“Why was Eywood demolished?”
Several readers have asked that question.  The answer is complicated. Perhaps best understood
by considering the history of Eywood.  Many country estates had several owners particularly so as
the 20th century progressed and taxes increased putting an enormous burden on the old guard of
places like Eywood.  i.e. the aristocracy of Britain.  But to just say taxes is too simple.   So here is
the history of the place.

1)  Edward Harley (1664-1735) acquired the Eywood estate at the end if 17th century and build a house about 1705.  His younger brother Robert Harley was Speaker of the House of Commons and
Chancellor of the Exchequer in reign of Queen Anne.  Robert Harley appointed Edward Harley as Auditor of the Imprest, a lucrative appointment providing enough money to build the original Eywood
manor house.   Later in the 18th century the house was altered.  (see work of Robert Kingsley)

2)  1735 Edward Harley succeeded by his son Edward Harley (1699-1735) becoming the 3rd Earl of Oxford in 1741.  Inherrited the principal estates of Brampton Brian (ancient seat of the Harleys) while Eywood
was the secondary estate of the Harleys.

3) Either the second or third Earl of Oxford both named Edward Harley, landscaped Eywood.   In 1756 Bishop Pococke wrote ‘Lord Oxford has a large house and a fine lawn, with a beautiful piece of water
and great woods on the hill over it”.  This comment was used often in later descriptions

4) Edward Harley (1726 – 1790, 4th Earl of Oxford,in 1775 brought CAPABILITY BROWN to Eywood.  His landscaping suggestions are unknown but by 1795 three pools were established of which two remain.
Woodland features were also established….grand parkland trees some of which may still stand.

5) Edward Harley (1773 – 1848) , the 5th Earl of Oxford married Jane Scott in 1794. Her father was a Christian mininster from Hampshire.
She became the Countess of Oxford.  She is noteworthy due to her scandalous relationship with Lord Byron in October 1812.  Scandalous behaviour
with other men led to her gossiped title as mother of the “Harleian Miscellany” of 8 children with different fathers.

6) Robert Smirke was hired from 1805 to 1807 to enlarge and modernize Eywood Court.  He added three storey wings on each side of the original
square block mansion. The new wings were set back somewhat from he original house allowing the older house to dominate.  A new entrance was
made in the North East wing.  Inside Smirke created a new dining room with column on one end, a new dining room, A new ‘pleasure park’
was laid out around the house.

7) 1848, both Eywood and Brampton Bryan were inherited by Alfred Harley (1809 – 1853), 6th and last Earl of Oxford.

8) 1877, Brampton Bryan estate passed to his widow 

9) Eywood passed to his elder daughter, Lady Langdale who died in 1872

10) Dispute over the estate of Eywood…. finally went to her sister, Lady Charlotte Bacon,
the widow of General Anthony Bacon who was described as ’the finest
cavalry officer in the army’ while also being imprisoned for two years for debt.
He also attempted to found a colony in south Australia.  He led a varied life, must
have been away from Eywood for long periods as he worked for Don Pedro, King
of Portugal and Emperor of Brazil.

IN 1877 Lady Charlotte Bacon was living in Australia with her children but
came home to live at Eywood and died in 1880.

10)  1880 Eywood sold to Arthur Walsh (1827 – 1920) , 2nd Baron Ormathwaite

11) 1892  Eywood sold to Charles James Paul Gwyer (1854 – 1940) and his
wife Mary (1862 – 1950)

Eywood was not in good condition by then as it had been empty for long periods
while the Bacon family were in Australia.  Charles Gwyer remodelled the house by
removing the third floors on the wings, removing the giant ‘order’ and 
‘russtification’ (whatever the means)  , a large new porch with ‘eclectic’detailing  was built on the east side…the
only part of the building to survive today (*I am unsure just what is being described here
as all that remains today is the stone columned entranceway.

12) 1954 Eywood was sold again, by this time in poor condition.  Bought by
Mr. Vowells of Birminghsm who sod off the firms and demolished the house
after trying to sell it as a private school or convalescent home.

What condition?  One comment says Eywood Court was in  poor condition
in the Australian owner’s time (Bacon family)  but comment in the Gwyer owners time says
good condition.

War played a big role in the demise of Eywood  both World War I and World War dashed any
hope of Eywood surviving the wrecking Ball.  Two very personal reasons. The Gwyers were military people.

On August 27, 1918 Lieutenant Cyril Gwyer was killed in World War I.  He was only 27 years old and would have been
the master of Eywood.  He is buried at Mory Abbey Military cemetery  beneath the inscription THEY SHALL BE MINE SAITH THE LORD OF HOSTS

But he had a son Geoffrey Gwyer who seemed destined to take control of Eywood.  And would have done so were it not for World War II. Captain G.C.F. Gwyer died in Tunisia and
is buried there beneath the inscription IN LOVING MEMORY OF/ GEOFFREY CHARLES FRANCIS GWYER/ CAPTAIN GRENADIER GUARDS/ SON OF THE ABOVE/ KILLED IN ACTION 19TH MARCH 1943, SERVING WITH/ THE EIGHTH ARMY IN TUNISIA. AGED 27 YEARS/ “DUTY WAS THE STAR THAT LED HIM

His mother Mary died in 1950.  Her time at  Eywood must have been very sad.   Both husband and son dead.  Many of the country estates lost sons in the two world wars which one reason so many of the
country estates in Britain were lost.  There were many other reasons however.   Somewhere there must be a record of those sad years between her death in 1950 and the sale of Eywood in 1954..


  1. Picture of Eywood Court circa1900…taken with Edward Freeman’s pin hole camera.   The high walled stables appear in the background.
WHAT SURVIVED?
 -A few ’stumps’ of brick walls
-The porch
-The stables
-other farm buildings
-the dovecote
-the gardens
-the gardeners cottage
-the bothy (a wreck)
-the landscaping 
-the lake
-some ancient parkland trees
-the two large farms and their buildings
-the gatekeepers house
-St. Peter’s church, Titley village 
-the exotic fruit trees 
Detailed gravestone in St. Peter’s cemetery documenting the years when the Harley’s owned Eywood.

Document included in the 1954 auction booklet for Eywood.  Rather odd that Lord Byron’s
sexual exploits with Countess Oxford would be part of the sales pitch.

The village of Titley and the Eywood estate are in centre of these villages







Interior of the dovecote at Eywood.  One source of meat in the early 19th century was young pigeons whose nesting
was encouraged on large estates.  The Eywood dovecote is intact but no pigeons.


This picture was taken by Edward Freeman about 1905.   The apprentice gardeners lived in this ‘bothy’ which was built into
the north wall of Eywood gardens.  Not much of a place to live although the cattle seem to like it.


Eywood Gardens where Edward Freeman worked as Head Gardener of Eywood circa 1900 (Picture taken 1960 or 1965)





Sr. Peter’s Church, Titley Village.  



Gatekeepers house Eywood


Eywood Park with ancient trees planted after the year that
Capability Brown visited Eywood and may have made suggestions.


Much of Eywood remains forested


WHILE MEMORY SERVES

CORRECTED VERSION EPISODE 501 SEX AT EYWOOD IN 1812…Lord Byron had 54″ pants (waist), why did he attract women?

NOTE:  PROBLEMS WITH THIS EPISODE…CORRECTED BELOW I HOPE

EPISODE 501   SEX AT EYWOOD IN 1812…Lord Byron had 54” pants (waist) , why did he attract women?


alan skeoch
Jan, 3m  2022


EPISODE 501 SEX AT EYWOOD IN 1812…Lord Byron had 54″ pants (waist), why did he attract women?

EPISODE 501   SEX AT EYWOOD IN 1812…Lord Byron had 54” pants (waist) , why did he attract women?


alan skeoch
Jan, 3m  2022

Jane elizabeth countess-of-oxford1797 john hoppner.jpg




The HARLEY family were first owners of Eywood and their family descendent are buried in the graveyard of St. Peter’s Anglican church
in the small village of Titley by the front gatekeeper’s cottage entrance to Eywood court


alan skeoch
Jan. 2,2022

Jane elizabeth countess-of-oxford1797 john hoppner.jpg
jane (scott) Harley…countess of Oxford…scandalous behaviour was widely known and recorded.


File:The Countess of Oxford and her daughter, Lady Jane Elizabeth Harley, by follower of John Hoppner.jpgupload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b7/The_Countess_of_Oxford_and_her_daughter%2C_Lady_Jane_Elizabeth_Harley%2C_by_follower_of_John_Hoppner.jpg/1024px-The_Countess_of_Oxford_and_her_daug… 2x” data-file-width=”1707″ data-file-height=”2000″ class=””>




Jane Harley, Countess of Oxford and Countess Mortimer
Jane elizabeth countess-of-oxford1797 john hoppner.jpg

Painting of Jane Elizabeth Scott by John Hoppner (1797)
Born

Jane Elizabeth Scott


1774

Died 1824 (aged 49–50)
Spouse(s) Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer
Partner(s) Francis Burdett 
George Gordon Byron
Children Edward Harley, Lord Harley 
Alfred Harley, 6th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer 
Jane Bickersteth, Lady Langdale 
Lady Charlotte Bacon 
Lady Anne Harley 
Lady Frances Vernon Harcourt
Parent(s) Reverend James Scott, M.A.

JANE ELIZABETH SCOTT…COUNTESS OXFORD OF EYWOOD COURT  (1774 – 1824)


Paintngs of Jane Scott, Countess Oxford confirm she was a very attractive woman

Jane Elizabeth Scott must have been a very sexy woman.  Very desirable.  The fact she was married to the 5th Lord
Oxford, (Edward Harley), the owner of Eywood Court did not impede her desire to spread herself around so to speak.  I must
try to keep this episode under control lest readers think I am leaning towards sensationalism.  Lord Oxford must have
known her indiscretions but there are no documents indicating his feelings.  None that I have found yet that is.

Where should I start?   Should it be Lord Byron?  He is certainly the most famous.  A world renowned
poet whose ability with words remains on school curricula around the world.  But not
such an admirable chap.  Amoral.  An exploiter of women, particularly married women.  Willing
women  Certainly the countess of Eywood Court was very willing to hvave a month long affair with 
Lord Byron right under her husband’s nose.

So I will start this episode with Jane Elizabeth Scott, the wife of Edward Harley, Lord Oxford.  Jane was a
very pretty woman when her portrait was painted in 1797.  And she must have remained attractive 15 years
later when she was bedded for by Lord Byron.
 Apparently Jane Scott, a Christian ministers’ daughter made no
effort to disguise her infidelity.  Lord Byron stayed at Eywood for October, 1812.  His letters written while at Eywood are available
but rather boring…even petty to read.  Like gossip that has been laundered.

There were much bigger events in the fall of 1812.
 Napoleon was fleeing Moscow and thousands died in the flight.  Lady Oxford and Lord Byron
were in bed early it seems.  Who would care?

Was Jane smitten with Lord Byron?  Seems so.  But she was notoriously unfaithful..  So much so that
her six children were known far and wide as “Harlien Miscellany”  Eight children by many fathers. One woman, many men.  




GEORGE GORDON,,,,LORD BYRON

Why was Lord Byron so attractive to women?  I have no good answer.   Apparently some archivist
saved his pants which had a 54 inch waist.  Hardly the shape of an Olympic athlete.
What was this man real like?  Almost all the images of him are false…’pretty’ distortions
of what he really looked like.  

Lord Byron - Wikipedia
Nearly all the paintings of George Gordon (Lord Byron) show him to be a strikingly handsome
msn.  Even pretty if that term can be applied to a man.  The kind of man young women would
find desirable.  The trouble is that all these pretty paintings seem to be fakes.  Lord Byron
was not such a handsome man.  His pants had a waist and of 54 inches..  He was fat to
the point of obesity. Plain..



Lord Byron was 24 when he lived at Eywood in 1812, the Countess 
of Oxford was 40 years old.  She was a married woman and her husband
Lord Oxford (Robert Harley) has left no record of his feelings.  Infidelity
happened.  The film series titled Downton Abbey touches on that..but
the touch is very gentle.  More pronounced is homosexuality but the activities
are kept among the downstairs servants.  The record of Byron and Countess Oxford
were widely known in 1812 and made Eywood Court quite famous even up to
the 20th century…i.e.1954 when Eywood was sold the story of Byron
is told in the auction booklet.

LORD BYRON … BEYOND THE SCANDALS HE MADE AN INDELIBLE MARK ON GREAT LITERATURE

Byron is considered one of the world’s great poets … also a political reformer who advocated extending
the vote,

He was a very complicated man which may have been one reason women were attracted to him.  The
idea of marriage to one person for life was never part of his lifestyle except for a  brief marriage 
   He was a classic philanderer.  When he was bedding Jane Scott, Countess of Oxord in 1812 he had
just broken up with another married woman and would go on to many sexual relationships with others.
Not just women.  Byron was bisexual.  He said women kiss better than men otherwise no difference.

Byron had many quirks in his character.  For instance he was born with a club foot which he tried to keep
hidden from his many conquests.  To do so he never slept in the same bed as his lovers.  Apparently.  A bit
hard to believe.  But there is so much that is hard to believe bout Lord Byron.  

He was so disliked. so controversial that his body was refused by when offered to Westminster Abbey as one of England’s great poets.
Finally in 1969, a slab was mounted in the Abbey acknowledging Lord Byron.  Chuchleaders did not
want Byron glorified by such a marker.   Why?

FACTS ABOUT LORD BYRON…BIZARRE AND GIFTED MAN

1) He suffered from both gonnorhea and Syphilis  by the time he was 21.
2) He was overweight…14 stone…and tried weird diets
to lose weight…drinking vinegar, chewing pine gum, eating only mashed potatoes…His pants had a 44 inch waist and he wore a corset.
(see Guardian feature on Byron)
3) As mentioned, He was bisexual and did not disguise such. “Women kiss better.”
4) Had one child by his half-sister.
5) He was wildly popular which one writer describes s “Byronmania”
6) He kept his own zoo…loved animals.  
“While he was studying at Cambridge, he was told all pet dogs were banned (wanting his bulldog Smut living in his dorm). Byron was so annoyed he bought a tame bear instead. He’d walk the bear around the grounds on a chain like a dog and got great pleasure from the terrified reactions.”Percy Shelley describes this arrangement: ‘Lord B’s establishment consists…of ten horses, eight enormous dogs, three monkeys, five cats, an eagle, a crow, and a falcon…just met on the grand staircase five peacocks, two guinea hens and an Egyptian Crane.’”
7) Byron had a peculiar fascination for skulls and other macabre items.  Newstead Abbey, seat of the Byron family,
was a favourite site for his ’spooky’ activities. For instance he kept a coffin in the dining room as an
indoor target for his shooting gallery.  The skulls of monks buried st the abbey were adapted
as drinking bowls and flower pots.  When Shelley died, Byron asked if he could have his skull. The Shelley family refused.
8) Byron loved playing war game with toy boats on the little lake at the family estate — fascination with military
— left England to join Greek army  in 1824 and never returned
9) One rainy day in 1816 on Lake Geneva Dyron suggested to his friends they sit down
and write ghost stories.   Shelley wrote about a creature called Frankenstein and Byron’s doctor , Wiliam Polidoris wrote about Vampires. Both
Frankenstein and vampires have  become the ultimate markers for ghost and terror stories today.
10) He marketed himself.  Pretty images…handsome.  Images closer to the truth were rejected.  He prettied himself up in other words
11) He treated women badly…got them pregnant…no sense of loyalty to one or the other.


An introduction to the poetry of Lord Byron | George Gordon Byron | The  Guardian367 Lord Byron Poet Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty ImagesLord Byron - Poems, Quotes & Books - Biography7 Strange Facts About Lord Byron
Here are four  paintings of Byron.  Only the painting on he far right is close to what the real Byron looked like.

STOP! STOP!  SOME WILL FIND BYRON DISGUSTING…MANY DID IN HIS OWN TIME
HE FELT IT BEST TO FLEE ENGLAND LEST HIS BISEXUALTY WOULD LEAD TO CONVICTION
AND PERHAPS EXECUTION.  SO THIS IS A GOOD TIME TO CONSIDER HIS POETRY AND EVEN
THE HARSHEST CRITICS FOUND THE POEMS CAPTIVATING.  TAKE ‘DARKNESS’ AS AN
EXAMPLE.  IN 1816 THE WORLD DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS HAPPENING.  “THE YEAR WITH NO SUMMER’
SEEMED LIKE THE END OF THE WORLD WAS ABOUT TO OCCUR.  BYRON CAPTURED THAT FEELING
IN THE POEM ‘DARKNESS’


 DARKNESS

Year: 1816

“The eruption of Indonesian volcano Mount Tambora in 1815 is considered one of the greatest natural disasters ever to befall mankind. The following year, in which this poem was written, saw darkness and record-cold temperatures across Europe; and is known as “the year without a summer”. Byron’s poem, inspired by the then inexplicable darkness caused due to this eruption, uses the hellish biblical language of the apocalypse to convey to his readers the real possibility of the occurrence of the events described in the holy text. Previously read as an apocalyptic story of the last man on earth, Darkness is now regarded by many critics to be anti-biblical despite its many references to the Bible. It remains one of Byron’s most analysed poems.”


Darkness. By Lord Byron - YouTube



SOLUTION: Poetry Foundation Darkness by Lord Byron Notes - Studypool

Darkness, by Lord Byron


Paintings done in the summer of 1816 expressed the global fear that the world was coming to an end.

ROMANTIC POETRY

One of Byron’s most famous romantic poem is titled
SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY , LIKE THE NIGHT and 
expresses his admiration of a young woman who did
not become one of his conquests. 

Lord Byron Poems &gt; My poetic side

THE END

POST SCRIPT

ADA LOVELACE — BYRON’S ONE LEGITIMATE DAUGHTER LEFT A LEGACY THAT AFFECTS US ALL — THE COMPUTER

 Byron had only 1 legitimate daughter Linda Lovelace, 
 Ada Lovelace remained interested in Byron  and was, upon her eventual death, buried next to him at her request. Ada worked with mathematician Charles Babbage on the Difference Engine, a calculator, and the Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer for which she wrote the world’s first algorithms. She showed amazing foresight concerning the abilities of computers to do more than deal with numbers. Ada was the world’s first computer programmer and the programming language ADA was named in her honour. She died at 36, the same age as her father. In her final years she was like her father in other ways, including romantic scandals, problems with alcohol and opium, and gambling debts. 



 CHILDE HAROLD’S PILGRIMAGE

Year: 1812 – 1818

This is a long narrative poem in four cantos with the first two published in 1812; the third in 1816, and the fourth in 1818. It is a loosely autobiographical account of Byron’s two year long tour of Europe from 1809 to 1811“Childe” is a title from medieval times, designating a young noble who is not yet knighted. The poem describes the travels and reflections of a world-weary young man and is renowned for depicting, with unprecedented frankness, the disparity between romantic ideals and the realities of the worldChilde Harold’s Pilgrimage is also noted for being the first work to depict the Byronic hero, one of the most potent and relevant character archetypes in western literature. Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is one of the most famous works of Lord Byron and it was on publication of its first two cantos that Byron first gained public attention and acclaim.

Excerpt:-

There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,

There is a rapture on the lonely shore,

There is society where none intrudes,

By the deep Sea, and music in its roar:

I love not Man the less, but Nature more,

From these our interviews, in which I steal

From all I may be, or have been before,

To mingle with the Universe, and feel

What I can ne’er express, yet cannot all conceal.


 SHE WALKS IN BEAUTY

Year: 1813

The most famous short poem of Lord Byron, She Walks in Beauty consists of three stanzas of six lines. The poem celebrates the external appearance as well as inner beauty of a woman by whom the poet is captivated. The speaker starts by admiring the harmony of the woman’s external appearance before he suggests that her perfect looks are a reflection of her inner goodness. It is said that Byron was inspired to write She Walks in Beauty after meeting his cousin by marriage, Mrs. Anne Beatrix Wilmot, who was in mourning and wearing a black dress. Byron was struck by her unusual beauty and wrote the poem the next morning.

Excerpt:-

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies;

And all that’s best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes:

Thus mellow’d to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.


#1 DON JUAN

Year: 1819 – 1824

Don Juan is a legendary fictional character known for being devoid of most moral or sexual restraints. His name is a common metaphor for a “womanizer”. Based on the legend of Don Juan, Byron’s poem reverses his traditional portrayal and instead shows him as not a womaniser but as someone easily seduced by women. The poem consists of 16 cantos with the 17th being unfinished at the time of Byron’s death in 1824. Byron is credited with inventing the expression ‘Truth is stranger than fiction’ in this poem. Don Juan is considered as the masterpiece of Lord Byron and ranks as one of the most important English long poems since John Milton’s renowned work Paradise Lost. It is a variation of the epic form and Byron himself called it an “Epic Satire”. Lord Byron is so highly regarded among scholars mostly due to the satiric realism of Don Juan.

Excerpt:-

Tis strange,-but true; for truth is always strange;

Stranger than fiction: if it could be told,

How much would novels gain by the exchange!

How differently the world would men behold!



  CLOSE  







Married To The Macabre

Byron had a fascination for the supernatural — so the reputedly haunted seat of the Byron family, Newstead Abbey, became a favourite venue for Byron’s entourage. His gothic flamboyance perpetuated this sense of the spooky. A coffin stood at one end of the dining room, which Byron had turned into an indoor shooting gallery. Skulls of the monks who had been at buried at the abbey and Byron’s own ancestors from the family crypt were used as flowerpots that lined the walls. He also had a drinking mug made from one of these monkish skulls and served drinks in others. Byron and his friends even wore long, dark, hooded robes as worn by medieval monks, for their soirees. When Percy Shelly was cremated, Byron asked if he could keep Shelley’s skull but he was refused because of his fetish for using them as goblets.

img.theculturetrip.com/768x/smart/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/b4.jpg 768w, img.theculturetrip.com/1440x/smart/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/b4.jpg 1440w” class=”” loading=”lazy” data-pin-nopin=”true” style=”box-sizing: border-box; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; height: 862.328125px; opacity: 1; object-fit: cover; transition: 3s; will-change: opacity;”>
Alfred Edward Chalon: Ada Lovelace. 1830 |©SirHenryNorris / WikiCommons

A Chip Off The Old Block

Ada Lovelace was Byron’s only legitimate child. Byron separated from her mother a month after Ada was born and left England forever four months later, eventually dying of disease in the Greek War of Independence when Ada was eight in 1824. Ada’s mother remained bitter towards Lord Byron and promoted Ada’s interest in mathematics and logic in an effort to prevent her from developing what she saw as the insanity seen in her father.

However, Ada remained interested in Byron despite this (although he never had a relationship with her) and was, upon her eventual death, buried next to him at her request. Ada worked with mathematician Charles Babbage on the Difference Engine, a calculator, and the Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer for which she wrote the world’s first algorithms. She showed amazing foresight concerning the abilities of computers to do more than deal with numbers. Ada was the world’s first computer programmer and the programming language ADA was named in her honour. She died at 36, the same age as her father. In her final years she was like her father in other ways, including romantic scandals, problems with alcohol and opium, and gambling debts.

img.theculturetrip.com/768x/smart/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/b5.jpg 768w, img.theculturetrip.com/1440x/smart/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/b5.jpg 1440w” class=”” loading=”lazy” data-pin-nopin=”true” style=”box-sizing: border-box; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; height: 896.5px; opacity: 1; object-fit: cover; transition: 3s; will-change: opacity;”>
Anonymous Artist: Byron in Greek Costume. C.1830 |©Amadscientist / WikiCommons

War Games

Byron savoured being a faux military General. He constructed two small stone forts on the edge of his lake and launched a fleet of toy ships, which he spent entire days directing while hidden in his fort. He even got his servant to sit still in a small boat in the lake and ‘command the ships’, involving pushing them around and making cannon and whistle noises with his mouth.

A Student of Armenian

Escaping from Britain with a cloud of infamy hanging over him led Byron firstly to Venice, where his singular preoccupation was to learn Armenian. Venice was and is the home of the Mekhitarist Congregation, a collection of Armenian monks who had settled there. He was impressed by the monks ethos and the rich language. Today, Byron’s brief interaction with the Armenian community of Venice is celebrated with a preserved room where he worked, with items he used. He was the first Westerner in the modern era to take an interest in Armenian culture.

img.theculturetrip.com/768x/smart/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/b6.jpg 768w, img.theculturetrip.com/1440x/smart/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/b6.jpg 1440w” class=”” loading=”lazy” data-pin-nopin=”true” style=”box-sizing: border-box; position: absolute; top: 0px; width: 600px; height: 420.9375px; opacity: 1; object-fit: cover; transition: 3s; will-change: opacity;”>
Joseph Denis Odevaere: Lord Byron on his Death-bed. C.1826 |©Zen3500 / WikiCommons

An Archetype For Count Dracula

During his summer with the Shelleys at Lake Geneva in 1816, Byron suggested the group spend a rainy afternoon writing ghost stories. Mary Shelly wrote what became Frankenstein and Byron’s doctor William Polidori wrote ‘The Vampyre’, the story that inspired future interpretations from Dracula to Twilight. This vampire story was read all over Europe and based on a literary idea by Byron himself (the story was first published under Byron’s name originally explaining the great interest). The type of vampire in the story was wholly new. Previously the vampires in European folklore were peasants and villager spectres, dirty with talon-like fingernails as seen in Werner Herzog’s Nosferatu.

By contrast, Polidori’s vampire is rich, aristocratic and weighed down by ennui — much like Byron himself. The vampire is called Lord Ruthren, a name that can be linked back to Byron, as one of his former lovers Lady Caroline Lamb created a villain called Lord Ruthren Glenarvon, incidentally written as revenge against Byron. Lord Ruthren has cold grey eyes, it is impossible to know what he is thinking and he mixes with the cream of high society. He is liked, but is a secret predator eager to lead the virtuous astray with his charms — traits which are familiarly Byronic.

EPISODE 499 JACKSON SKEOCH CATCHES SHARK WITH BARE HANDS, NORTH CAROLINA JANUARY 1, 2022



Begin forwarded message:


From: marjorie skeoch <marjorieskeoch@gmail.com>
Subject: Fly fishing and returning 40 lb sharks in N C .
Date: January 1, 2022 at 12:12:26 PM EST
To: Alan Skeoch <alan.skeoch1@gmail.com>


EPISODE 499   JACKSON SKEOCH CATCHES SHARK WITH BARE HANDS, NORTH CAROLINA, JAN. 1,2022

alan skeoch
Jan. 1, 2022

Andrew AND Julie Skeoch decided to try a holiday in North Carolina at Christmas 2021.  With family and two friends…small

party of six.  They expected the region to be safe, I.E. Pandemic free,  as holiday makers in Dec. 2021 were not likely to be plentiful.
They were correct.  Lonely place where once people hustled and bustled.  

It seems the shark population knew that as well.   Seems the shark population thought the same thing…no people, safe place.
Today, Jan. 1, 2023, Jackson Skeoch wrestled a 40 lb. shark to shore
with his bare Hands.  Then did the right thing…
catch and release.

Which means the shark is still there waiting for visitors.

alan









Sent from my iPhone


EPISODE 498 EYWOOD…EDWARD FREEMAN DESIGNED PICTURE FRAMES AS IF FORMAL GARDENS


EPISODE 498    EYWOOD …EDWARD FREEMAN DESIGNED PICTURE FRAME AS IF  FORMAL GARDENS

(Note: Head gardeners designed formal gardens on paper, then in soil.  In 1915 Edward Freeman
designed his picture frames the same way…a pattern then flowers were carved in wood rather than soil.
I knew there was a link..took me 60 years to see it. This episode took a lot of time))