Protestant succession"; though why the virtues of the husband should be set forth in Latin and those of his wife in English I do not quite see.
On the wall of the tower we also noted the following inscription cut in a stone slab, the exact import of which was not very clear to us; possibly it related to some rebuilding:—
Wi[=ll] Savnderson Gē
and Th[=om] Staplo Y[=eo]
Overseers of this New
Work & patentyes of his
Maiesties Letters
Patent Granted for
the same May xii—1621.
The lettering of this was delightfully full of character, and pleasing to look upon simply for the forms of the letters—a something quite apart from the mechanical precision with which the present-day engravers render their works, possibly because they cannot do otherwise; it does not require much thought to be simply precise!
Just beyond Tempsford our road came close to the side of the quiet-flowing Ouse, and there, where for a space the road and river ran together, stood an inviting and picturesque inn, whose sign was that of "The Anchor." An ideal angler's haunt it seemed to us as we passed by, with an old punt and boats close inshore, and shady trees overhanging the gleaming stream. There was a look of homely repose about the spot quite incommunicable in words, a beauty about the fresh greens and silvery grays of the wind-stirred foliage to be felt, not described.
