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  • The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine
  • Feb. 25, 1865
  • Page 4
  • ALGERNON, DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G., IN CONNECTION WITH ART.
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, Feb. 25, 1865: Page 4

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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Algernon, Duke Of Northumberland, K.G., In Connection With Art.

with the other Avorkers employed on the estate , to a banquet . When the number of men upon the works was at the highest point nearly eight hundred mustered on these occasions . The Duke also introduced Italian art at Sion House , and at his seat of Stanwick , in Yorkshire .

Where practicable , as in the carving at Alnwick Castle , he employed native workmen to work out the Italian designs ; but such work as mosaics , statuary , and friezes , Avas executed in Rome , and conveyed to its destination ready for fixing . He further evinced his Italian art sympathies bthe

y purchase of the Camucini gallery . For the pictures of Northumbrian incidents depicted upon the coved ceiling ofthe ante-chamber leading to the new state apartments , at Alnwick Castle , he employed a German artist , Herr Gotzenberg . Besides the architects mentioned as consulted

by the Duke when contemplating the enrichment of one of his seats , he employed Mr . Deason and Mr . Green to a large extent in the numerous Avorks constantly progressing at his cost , as well as maintained , among the officers of his estate , a resident clerk of works , whose buisiness Avas to keep all farm-buildings in repair . It will be fresh in the remembrance of our readers that the Duke

laid the foundations of five new churches , and Avas subsequently present at the consecration of them , only a short time ago , all of which , with their parsonages , Avere indebted to his means ; and the parish church of Alnwick has just "been restored also at his cost . He has improved the cottages on

his Northumbrian estates to an extent that may be estimated at the expenditure incurred , which is said to have been £ 100 , 000 . Many and many a village may be seen with a crescent painted on every door , indicating that it is ducal property . When the late Duke came into possession most of

these consisted of picturesque but ruinous cottages such as that in which Burns Avas born , composed of four low walls , a door , and a thatched roof spanning all . It is now difficult to point to one of these : they have been superseded by UBAV , substantial buildings , Avith as large an amount of the

picturesque element in them as those displaced , mostly built from designs by Mr . Deason ; the only drawback being- that they occupy the precise sites of the former cots with the same rears of soaked soil from piggeries . The partial restoration of Warkworth Castle is

another architectural work carried out by the late Duke . This , with the restoration of Warkworth Church , to the accomplishment of which he was a liberal subscriber , has been described in these

pages . In sanitary matters the late Duke lent his aid to ascertain whether it Avas possible to utilise the liquid sewage of Alnwick upon the grass lands around . The works constructed for this purpose were made at his cost and on his land ; but owing to some mismanagement the experiment has not proved so succesful as it should have done . His

Grace placed Alnwick Castle in the hands of Mr . R . Rawlinson for sanitary revision , thus adding his testimony to the importance of such precaution . The subdivision of sanitary science in Avhich the ills of overcrowding are combated had not , however , been brought under his notice .

There are two indications of the large number of people living upon the Duke's Northumbrian estate that may be quoted . On the day of the great annual fair in July , on the eve of which watch and ward are still kept against incui-sions of the Scots , it is the custom of all the tenants able

and willing to do so to ride into one of the courtyards of the castle and there be regaled , and thence to proceed to the market-cross in procession , headed by the Duke ' s piper , also on horseback , wrapped in a Northumbrian plaid , Avith the Percy badge ( a silver crescent ) on his arm and in

his cap , playing "Chevy chace" on his pipes as he rides , and there proclaim the fair . This cavalcade of hearty , broad-shouldered Northumbrian farmers rarely consists of less than seventy or eighty mounts . The other test is that of the Percy Volunteer Artillery Corps , Avhich musters more than 500 athletes .

Large hearted and liberal handed , the late Duke , while managing his vast income Avith discretion , loved to do things handsomely . He liked every kind of Avork executed in the best possible manner ; not stinting the cost of such excellence , but always requiring an estimate , and vras displeased

if it Avas exceeded . When his brother , the third Duke , died , about £ 600 were raised in subscriptions to erect a public monument to his memory . At this stage the proposal was placed in his hands to carry into effect . He commissioned Mr . Dyce to make a design for a stained glass Avindowto be

, placed in the east end of the church Avhich it Avas one of the last acts of his brother to build . He then sent the cartoon to Munich , where it was executed for a sum far exceeding the subscriptions , not tolerating the restrictions which penury enforces on art . Mr . Dyce received £ 500 for the

design ; and the glass , with its guards and carriage , cost £ 1 , 139 5 s . From his earliest days , when as a midshipman he handed his superior officer a cheque upon his father for £ 1 , 000 for a charitable purpose , to his latter days , Avhen he founded a Sailors' Home at Shields , and sent the

sick sailors in the Dreadnought some thousands of bottles of choice Avines , he exhibited the same seafaring generosity , the same quiescent grandeur of temperament . He Avas deeply interested in every contrivance for the saving of human life ; and , whether it was a request to assist an inventor

to bring out a plan by Avhich sash-Avindows could be easily turned upon a pivot , so that there was no danger incurred by standing on sills to clean them ; or to promote life-saving operations upon a larger scale by presiding over and helping the Lifeboat Institution , he ever lent his Avilling aid to every scheme .

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1865-02-25, Page 4” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 1 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_25021865/page/4/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
FREEMASONRY IN CHINA. Article 1
ALGERNON, DUKE OF NORTHUMBERLAND, K.G., IN CONNECTION WITH ART. Article 2
A FIRST REHEARSAL. Article 5
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 6
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 8
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 9
GRAND LODGE. Article 9
METROPOLITAN. Article 10
PEOVINCIAL. Article 11
ROYAL ARCH. Article 12
MARK MASONRY. Article 13
IRELAND. Article 13
INDIA. Article 13
LITERARY EXTRACTS. Article 14
Poetry. Article 16
THE WEEK. Article 17
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Algernon, Duke Of Northumberland, K.G., In Connection With Art.

with the other Avorkers employed on the estate , to a banquet . When the number of men upon the works was at the highest point nearly eight hundred mustered on these occasions . The Duke also introduced Italian art at Sion House , and at his seat of Stanwick , in Yorkshire .

Where practicable , as in the carving at Alnwick Castle , he employed native workmen to work out the Italian designs ; but such work as mosaics , statuary , and friezes , Avas executed in Rome , and conveyed to its destination ready for fixing . He further evinced his Italian art sympathies bthe

y purchase of the Camucini gallery . For the pictures of Northumbrian incidents depicted upon the coved ceiling ofthe ante-chamber leading to the new state apartments , at Alnwick Castle , he employed a German artist , Herr Gotzenberg . Besides the architects mentioned as consulted

by the Duke when contemplating the enrichment of one of his seats , he employed Mr . Deason and Mr . Green to a large extent in the numerous Avorks constantly progressing at his cost , as well as maintained , among the officers of his estate , a resident clerk of works , whose buisiness Avas to keep all farm-buildings in repair . It will be fresh in the remembrance of our readers that the Duke

laid the foundations of five new churches , and Avas subsequently present at the consecration of them , only a short time ago , all of which , with their parsonages , Avere indebted to his means ; and the parish church of Alnwick has just "been restored also at his cost . He has improved the cottages on

his Northumbrian estates to an extent that may be estimated at the expenditure incurred , which is said to have been £ 100 , 000 . Many and many a village may be seen with a crescent painted on every door , indicating that it is ducal property . When the late Duke came into possession most of

these consisted of picturesque but ruinous cottages such as that in which Burns Avas born , composed of four low walls , a door , and a thatched roof spanning all . It is now difficult to point to one of these : they have been superseded by UBAV , substantial buildings , Avith as large an amount of the

picturesque element in them as those displaced , mostly built from designs by Mr . Deason ; the only drawback being- that they occupy the precise sites of the former cots with the same rears of soaked soil from piggeries . The partial restoration of Warkworth Castle is

another architectural work carried out by the late Duke . This , with the restoration of Warkworth Church , to the accomplishment of which he was a liberal subscriber , has been described in these

pages . In sanitary matters the late Duke lent his aid to ascertain whether it Avas possible to utilise the liquid sewage of Alnwick upon the grass lands around . The works constructed for this purpose were made at his cost and on his land ; but owing to some mismanagement the experiment has not proved so succesful as it should have done . His

Grace placed Alnwick Castle in the hands of Mr . R . Rawlinson for sanitary revision , thus adding his testimony to the importance of such precaution . The subdivision of sanitary science in Avhich the ills of overcrowding are combated had not , however , been brought under his notice .

There are two indications of the large number of people living upon the Duke's Northumbrian estate that may be quoted . On the day of the great annual fair in July , on the eve of which watch and ward are still kept against incui-sions of the Scots , it is the custom of all the tenants able

and willing to do so to ride into one of the courtyards of the castle and there be regaled , and thence to proceed to the market-cross in procession , headed by the Duke ' s piper , also on horseback , wrapped in a Northumbrian plaid , Avith the Percy badge ( a silver crescent ) on his arm and in

his cap , playing "Chevy chace" on his pipes as he rides , and there proclaim the fair . This cavalcade of hearty , broad-shouldered Northumbrian farmers rarely consists of less than seventy or eighty mounts . The other test is that of the Percy Volunteer Artillery Corps , Avhich musters more than 500 athletes .

Large hearted and liberal handed , the late Duke , while managing his vast income Avith discretion , loved to do things handsomely . He liked every kind of Avork executed in the best possible manner ; not stinting the cost of such excellence , but always requiring an estimate , and vras displeased

if it Avas exceeded . When his brother , the third Duke , died , about £ 600 were raised in subscriptions to erect a public monument to his memory . At this stage the proposal was placed in his hands to carry into effect . He commissioned Mr . Dyce to make a design for a stained glass Avindowto be

, placed in the east end of the church Avhich it Avas one of the last acts of his brother to build . He then sent the cartoon to Munich , where it was executed for a sum far exceeding the subscriptions , not tolerating the restrictions which penury enforces on art . Mr . Dyce received £ 500 for the

design ; and the glass , with its guards and carriage , cost £ 1 , 139 5 s . From his earliest days , when as a midshipman he handed his superior officer a cheque upon his father for £ 1 , 000 for a charitable purpose , to his latter days , Avhen he founded a Sailors' Home at Shields , and sent the

sick sailors in the Dreadnought some thousands of bottles of choice Avines , he exhibited the same seafaring generosity , the same quiescent grandeur of temperament . He Avas deeply interested in every contrivance for the saving of human life ; and , whether it was a request to assist an inventor

to bring out a plan by Avhich sash-Avindows could be easily turned upon a pivot , so that there was no danger incurred by standing on sills to clean them ; or to promote life-saving operations upon a larger scale by presiding over and helping the Lifeboat Institution , he ever lent his Avilling aid to every scheme .

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