Pic-Nic Of The Architect Lodge, No. 1375.

bright and sunny , and the air seemed laden with all the freshness of spring . The Strid possesses a peculiar savage grandeur , and at once impresses the beholder with a sense of its mighty power ; it . looks tempting to the adventurous and foolhardy , and in fact gained its name from a feat often exercised by people of more agility than prudence who strode from brink to brink regardless of the destruction which awaited them .

At the time of our visit , the long drought of an exceptionally dry season had robbed it of somewhat of its savagery , but the wiiter has seen the river under the conditions above stated . The party having been photographed by Bros . Dunbar Hurray P . M . and Alfred Pickford J . W ., we returned on foot to the Abbey , wbeu Bro . J . E . E . Birkett entertained us with a carefully prepared description of the

ruins-, pointing out every object of interest when possible . As this description , which differs entirely from that of the guide books , may be of use to visitors to this lovely spot , wo give the following synopsis of it . Bro . Birkett said : Ladies and gentlemen , as we are commemorating the majority of the Architect Lodge by visiting thia charming neighbourhood , I trust you will excuse me if I trespass

upon the limited time at our disposal by touching npon some of the principal objects of interest in our excursion , my excuse for so < 1 < : n % being to increase your interest in what remains of these bent i Idil and romantic buildings . I will endeavour to be brief , and as f- > r as possible avoid most of the information usually obtained in the ordinary guide books . I will also try and sketch the priory as it

appeared in those by-gone days when it was at the height of its prosperity and grandeur . We know little about the monks at Bolton , good or bad . They were of the Augustine order , the priory being originally founded in tbe adjoining bleak and rugged land of Embsay in 1120 , but after a residence of about 33 years they made a pleasant change , and

commenced these stately pnory buildings , whioh were nearly 100 years in progress , and so settled in these cosy and charming quarters , formerly occupied by the Saxon cure . The waters of the Wharfe hurry past the graceful ruin now , as they did past the priory in its splendour five or six hundred years ago . Here for more than 300 years it stood in security and peace , ancl it was only at last that

the violence of man did what the elements were powerless to accomplish : the storm of a mighty controversy beat upon the place , which fell , leaving it a monument of interest and romance . Here dwelt in the olden time something like 200 persons ; the prior had his own house , and even his own chapel distinct from the conventional structure , and that he was a sportsman we must assume

from the fact of his keeping a pack of hounds . The merry old rogues ( tho monks ) knew how to onjoy and take care of themselves , for wo gather that in one year they purchased 1 , 800 gallons of wine , consumed 8 , 000 bottles of the Earns good stuff , slaughtered 100 cattle , 140 sheep , 69 pi ^ e , besides supplying themselves with venison and poultry , disposing of 113 atones of butter ,

147 atones of cheese , and inundating the place with " ye goode olde English ale . " But in justice to them we must remember their great hospitality to strangers , for they were very fond of merry making , and must have their ears tickled to the tune of £ 60 per annum for " minstrnlle ** , " also keeping a jester to whom they paid a largo salary , as also a brewer nnd baker . We can imagine the sizo of the

priory oven by the fact that about 100 years ago , a farmer having lost a flock of 60 sheep , discovered that they had during a heavy snowstorm taken refuge in the oven . The attention of the monks was divided between 43 estates , and the building and repairing of all necessary houses , roads , bridges , & c , connected therewitb . And although their income reached tbe respectable sum of

£ 10 , 000 per annum of our present money , yet they were always in debt . The substantial tower wbich forms the last addition to the priory buildings commenced in 1520 by the last prior Bichard Moone , is said to represent only one third of the height it was originally intended to be built . We enter the nave through a very handsome

early English doorway ( 1220 ) . It is an interesting fact in connection with this nave , that probably without interval , divine service has been performed in it since its foundation . It was restored in 1864 , the walls being covered by whitewash and plaster , with which so many other anoient churches were in like manner defaced . The lancet windows in the south wall are of earlier date than the lower

ones on the opposite side , and are filled with Munich glass said to have cost £ 3 , 000 , and represent the life of our Lord from the annunciation to the resurrection . Tbe oil painting wbich yon observe is a copy of an altar piece at Magdalen College , Oxford , by Buckler , but the name of the artist of the original painting is uncertain . Originally the nave had no north aislo , but the canons

craving for this adornment , the present one was commenced , the windows being beautiful examples of decorated work inserted at a later date , and retaining some fragments of original 13 th century glass . The small window over the west door is supposed to be made of fragments of old glass , and was presented by the late- John Gregory Gottingham , Esq ., at a recent date . It is said to have

cost £ 60 . At the east end is a vault supposed to be beneath the organ , and , according to tradition , the Claphams are here buried standing on their feet , while many years ago the last of this stout old race was said to have been seen , still keeping guard , all tbe rest having shuddered down to dust . The following lines suggest the custom just mentioned : —

" Pass , pass who will yon chantry door , And through the chink in fractured floor Look down and see a griesley sight , A vault where bodies are buried upright .

There face by face , and hand by hand , The Claphams and Mauleverers stand ; And in his place , among son and sire , Is John de Clapham , that fierce esquire , A valieut man , and a man of dread ,

In the ruthless wars of the white and red , Who dragged Earl Pembroke from Banbury ohurob , And smote off his bead ou the stones of the porch . " On tbo outside of the noith transept walls you will notice several kinds of Masonic marks , wbich with others that I will point ont in Prior Moono ' s tower , bear a remarkable resemblance to similar marks at

the Taj at Agra , and I am told on the beet authority that they are supposed to have been brought over to England during the Crusades . The north transept , whero we aro now standing , was formerly divided from the side aisle by a wooden screen reaching as bigh as tho capitals of the columns , and communicating with the choir through the semi-circular arched opening .

Try and imagine that you are under the ancient central tower , and suppose the time to be when the abbey was at the height of its prosperity . We aro looking through the ornamental screen dividing off the choir-, service is being held , and we dream of the vision as it then appeared . On each side of the choir are eighteen black monks of St . Augustine , sitting in their niches and stalls . Further east ,

? ear the altar , are four sedilia of exquisite carved stone trefoil work , also with their officiating priests . The light is stealing through the magnificent windows of stone tracery , throwing through its charming stained glass a thousand coloured lights on the pavement below ; the lights blaze on the high altar , and the strains of the organ above blend the voice of saored song through the Ions

drawn aisles , at once delighting and captivating tbe senses . Service now being over , let ns enter the choir . It at once betrays its Norman origin , by having no aisles ; the windows have been inserted at a later date , and tbeir exquisite tracery has all but disappeared . The stalls were formerly enriched with trefoil panels , enclosed in triangles , the work being covered with armorial shield **

adorned with the rose , and richly carved . During the year 1828 , upon the removal of a quantity of rubbish , a flag of grey marble was exposed , and at a lower depth a perfect skeleton was discovered , the skull of which was entirely covered with light hair , whioh came off altogether in the form of a wig , tho teeth being firm and sound . Beyond this spot is the mural tomb of Lady

Margaret Neville , 1320 . We now pass under the aroh in the south wall of the choir . Johnson , in 1670 , states that under this aroh he saw the effigy of Lady Romille , and that this opening was then decorated with elegant tracery , having a triangular canopy above . We have reached the chantry ohapel wbich forms the last resting

place of the lords of Skipton , traces only of the vault remaining , tbe arch having probably fallen in many years since . There waa formerly another chapel between this and the south transept , but the appropriation of it has been forgotten . Let us now hastily glance at the octagonal chapter honse , 30 feet in diameter , in which , apparently , there wrre 35 stalls , similar in

character to those of the choir , traces only of the foundations being now in existence . To the south we find foundations , probably of the priors' Lodge , to the south-east the priors' ohapel , while to the east was supposed to exist tbe priory mill . We will now pass under the archway into the quadrangle . On three sides of this quadrangle , the cloisters were formerly situated , and built with pointed arches on

cylindrical columns . Here wo enter the dining ball , where our good old friends the monks , would , had we visited them in their day , have provided us with an abundant repast . The lofty range of buildings formerly built against the western tower , was appropriated to the cellarer on the lower storey , the dormitory being above above for tbe accommodation of the guests .

On the east was a wide passage , leading to a much larger court situated behind , and about tbe site of the present reotory was arranged the kitchen to the west , certain offices to the south , and a long chamber , probably the gue ? ts' hall to the east . We will return to the west towor and entrance . Here poor Prior Moone had built this west front , when tho commission struck him , and

stopped the work past all hope of completion . It is affirmed that Moone led the life of a hermit , some say in a quaint old house of timber near the abbey , and some in the celebrated old oven where his victuals were brought to him as he sat there in his desolation , waiting for that day which could never dawn for him . Tbe tower shows the statue of a pilgrim , indicating the hospitality

of the priory to all weary and distressed brethren . Upon tbe buttresses are seen carved hounds , probably indicating the name of the founders , which in French meant " my dogs" ( Meschines ) . The exquisite tracery nnder the great window reads as follows : — " In the yer of our Lord M . D . C . X . X . R . " , be-gaun thys foundaotion , on whose sowl God have marce . Amen . "

Our party reached Skipton shortly after 6 p . m ., and we were not long before we sat down to a very substantial dinner at the Devon . shire Arms Hotel , after which a short time was devoted to social enjoyment . After the usual Loyal aud Masonic toasts had been disposed of , Bro . J . G . Bromley P . M , proposed prosperity to the Architect Lodge , coupling with the toast tbe name of Bro . Cyril H .

Beaver W . Jf . Bro . Bromley said he stood that evening in the position of Senior Past Master of the Lodge , and he looked upon that fact with no small degree of pride . It was an honour to be so considered , for tbe Architect Lodge was one of the principal Lodges in the Province of West Lancashire . He reverted to the majority year , and also to the hold which the W . M . had obtained upon the members

of the Lodge , adding that they were proud to acknowledge such men as Bro . Beever . The W . M . responded , saying that he bad been more or leas miserable since the previous Thursday , when it was intimated to him that he would be expected to make several speeches . He thanked Brother Bromley for the naive and hearty manner in whioh he had

proposed his health , and for tbe kind words of confidence to which he had given expression , although , like tho majority of other Masons , he could only claim to have done his duty . He also thanked Brother Birkett for the interesting particulars which he had furnished in connection with the abbey , and Bro . Arthur A . Moss P . M . for unwearying efforts which had rendered thepic-nicBO signal a uuccess