hundred yards in extent, enclosing the town on all sides except towards the south, where it has the defence of the Wye. There were six gates, and fifteen embattled watch-towers. The castle, concerning the date of which antiquarians are not agreed, stood on the south and east sides of the city, with the Wye on the south and the cathedral on the west. Leland describes the keep as having been “high and very strong, having in the outer wall ten semicircular towers, and one great tower within.” He adds, that “it hath been one of the largest, fayrest, and strongest castels in England.” In the time of the civil wars, Hereford was the scene of some strife, but since then nothing has occurred—not even the introduction of manufactures—to disturb its repose.
With the exception of the cathedral, a grand view of which is to be had from the Castle Green Promenade—a fine public walk on a small scale—there is nothing to detain the traveller. Some fragments of the city walls, however, and of an old priory, may be visited by the antiquary; together with an old house, a “brotherless hermit,” the last of a race demolished for the purpose of widening the street where the town hall stands—or rather sits—resting uneasily on some thin columns. The house, adorned with grotesque faces, bears its date, 1621.
The traveller may also go, if he will, to Pipe Lane, formerly called Pipe Well Street, leading from the bridge to the cathedral, to see the house where Nell Gwynn was not born, and the bedchamber where she did not sleep. These curiosities will be shown for a trifle, and they must now suffice: the dwelling which really had the distinction of giving birth to Mistress Eleanor having been pulled down more than twenty years ago.
After the removal of this celebrated lady to London, she made her first appearance in Drury Lane Theatre, in the character of a fruit-girl, not on the stage, but in the lobby. Mr. Hart, the manager, however, was induced to notice her by her natural humour and vivacity, and he produced her upon the boards about the year 1667. Here she became a favorite of Dryden, who wrote some of his prologues and epilogues expressly for her. “The immediate cause of her becoming the object of the king’s affection is thus represented. At the duke’s theatre, under Killegrew’s patent, the celebrated Nokes appeared in a hat larger than that usually assigned to Pistol, which diverted the audience so much as to help off a bad play. Dryden, in return, caused a hat to be made of the circumference of a large coach wheel, and made Mrs. Gwynn speak an epilogue under the umbrella of it, with the brim stretched out in its utmost horizontal extension, not unlike a mushroom of that size. No sooner did she appear in this strange dress, than the house was in convulsions of laughter. Amongst the rest, the king gave the fullest marks of approbation, by going behind the scenes after the play, and taking her home in his own coach to sup with him.” [41] Her son, born in 1670, was afterwards created duke of St. Albans; and her grandson became a prelate of the church, and the denizen of the episcopal palace nearly adjoining the humble house in Pipe Lane, where his maternal ancestor was born. Mrs. Gwynne was one of the few royal favorites who have not abused their power, otherwise than in spending money which should have been under the control of the nation. She was munificent in her charities, and may be considered, if not the founder of Chelsea Hospital, the cause of its having been founded. “Her stature was short, her hair inclined to red; her eyes were small and lively, and she possessed what the French term embonpoint. Her feet were of the most diminutive size, and as such were the subject of frequent mirth to the merry monarch.”
The staple commodity of Hereford is cider; but the reputation of the county for this production dates backward only to the reign of Charles I., when, according to Evelyn, it became “in a manner one entire orchard.” The apples are merely a variety of the crab, as the pears are descended from the common wild pear. The plantations are found in every aspect, and on every soil; but in general the west winds, so much praised by the Roman poets, and after them by Philips the bard of cider, are unwholesome to the plant, from the circumstance of their blowing over the Welsh mountains, which are capped with snow even in the spring. The best colours for cider fruits are red and yellow, the juice of the green being harsh and poor. The pulp should be yellow, but this part of the apple is not so important as the rind and kernel, in which the strength and flavour of the liquid reside; and for this reason the smaller the apple is the better. From twenty-four to thirty gallons are required to fill the provincial hogshead of one hundred and ten gallons.
The cider-mill used even at this moment is a rude and imperfect contrivance, consisting of a circular stone, about twelve hundred weight, set on its edge in a shallow circular trough, and drawn round by a horse. The apples are gradually introduced into the trough, and a quantity may be thus mashed equal to a hogshead of cider in the day. The expressed juice is put into casks, not quite filled, and in the open air; and as soon as the vinous fermentation takes place, it is racked. When two years old it may be bottled, after which it will become rich and sparkling, and so remain for twenty or thirty years. Perry is made with pears pretty nearly in the same way.
The salmon is still the principal fish taken in the Wye, though far less plentiful than formerly. It was at one time a common clause in the indentures of apprentices that they should not be compelled to live on salmon more than two days in the week. Wolves were formerly so numerous in this district, that in 1234 a proclamation was issued commanding them to be destroyed, and calling upon “all the king’s liege people to assist therein.” A wolf would now be an extraordinary spectacle indeed on the sunny slopes, or prowling among the apple orchards of Hereford! But the Wye has seen changes more remarkable than this.
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