Leaves of a life, being the reminiscences of Montagu Williams ..

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Contents

CHAPTEE I.

My birthplace — A legal family — My father's one idea — "We move from Somersetshire to Berkshire — Our quaint old house in the Cloisters at "Windsor — Neighbours and friends — Visit of Lord George Loftus — "Why he came amongst us —His habits and customs — -Running up to London — How his lordship was "done" — Eton — Some popular "Tugs" — The last Eton " Montem " — The scene in the grounds- — Levying " Salt " — Her Majesty's contribution — "Why the institution perished . . . .

CHAPTEE II.

Chapter I

My birthplace — A legal family — My father's one idea — "We move from Somersetshire to Berkshire — Our quaint old house in the Cloisters at "Windsor — Neighbours and friends — Visit of Lord George Loftus — "Why he came amongst us — His habits and customs — Eunning up to London — How his lordship was "done" — Eton — Some popular " Tugs "—The last Eton "Montem " — The scene in the grounds — Levying " Salt " — Her Majesty's contribution — "Why the institution perished.

When a person is about to give evidence in a Court of Justice, he is sworn to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Now this is precisely what I am not going to do. The truth and nothing but the truth ? Yes. The whole truth ? No. My purpose is to run over certain pages in the history of a somewhat varied and eventful life, to describe things that I have seen, and to tell anecdotes of men of note with whom I have, from time to time, been associated. It will be my earnest endeavour, while so doing, to write nothing that can wound the

VOL. i. B

MY FAMILY.

susceptibilities of the living, and to tell naught of those that have passed away, save the good things that should live after them.

I was born at Freshford, in Somersetshire, on the 30th September, 1835, the locus in quo a small cottage outside the gates of Stoke, the country residence of my great - uncle and godfather, Stephen Williams. He was a barrister in considerable practice on the Western Circuit. His only children were two daughters : Ellen, a very beautiful girl, who was burnt to death while dressing for one of the Bath balls ; and Nanno, who married Colonel, afterwards General, Maitland, and was the mother of the present Earl of Lauderdale.

My family has been steeped in law for generations. My great-grandfather was a Chancery barrister ; my grandfather was senior partner in the firm of Williams, Vaux, Fennell, and Williams, of Bedford Row ; and my father, John Jeffries Williams, commonly known as " Little Williams," was on the Oxford Circuit.

My mother, whose maiden name was Jessie Browne, was the daughter of Robert Browne, Esq., who in early youth went out to the West Indies, and settled at Jamaica as a sugar-planter. My father had three children : an elder brother named Mahon, a younger sister named Clara, and myself.

My father, who was an excellent classic, had one idea in his mind that outweighed all others, namely,

WINDSOR AND ODE, NEIGHBODES THERE. 3

to give his two sons the very best education in his power. To further this end, when my brother had reached the age of twelve, my father determined to settle in the neighbourhood of Eton, and, whilst practising his profession as a local barrister, to personally supervise the teaching and training of his boys. In due course we migrated from Somersetshire to Berkshire, and occupied a house in the Cloisters at Windsor, having as neighbours the Rev. W. Knyvett on the one side, and the Dean of the Chapel Royal on the other. It was a quaint and ancient house, celebrated for the old painted - glass window in the drawing-room. On this window was the head of a very beautiful woman, popularly supposed to be Margaret of Anjou.

My brother was at once sent to Eton, and became the pupil of the Rev. W. Lawrence Elliott ; while I, under the personal supervision of my male parent, was doomed to worry my juvenile life out over the well-inked pages of the Eton Latin Grammar.

My father's principal friends in those days were Dr. George (afterwards Sir George) Elvey, the organist of St. George's; the Rev. T. Gore, one of the Minor Canons; Tom Batchelor, the lame Chapel Clerk of Windsor, and Registrar of Eton College; and Tom Chambre, the well-known associate of the Western Circuit, The principal people in the neighbourhood on the Windsor side, were Captain Bulkeley of Clewer, •whose sister-in-law, the handsome Miss Fanny

b 2

4 ARRIVAL OF LORD GEORGE LOFTUS.

Langford, was the belle of the county; Major and Mrs. Mountjoy-Martin ; and Horace Pitt, afterwards Lord Rivers. In the Buckinghamshire district were the Vyses, Vansittarts, Fitzmaurices, Coneys, and Wards.

We had been living in the Cloisters some two or three years, when my father informed us that he expected a visitor, who, he added, would probably remain with us for a considerable period. This was Lord George Loftus, one of the younger sons of the Marquis of Ely, with whom my father had been acquainted for some few years. In due time Lord George arrived. His visit, as I afterwards learnt, was due to rather peculiar circumstances.

Those were the days of imprisonment for debt, and if a man, who owed money, was unable to come to a satisfactory arrangement with his creditors, he probably found himself in the Fleet, the Queen's Bench Prison, or one of the other buildings set apart for the detention of insolvent debtors. There were certain privileges, however, granted to these unfortunate persons. For example, it was a rule that nobody should be arrested on the Sabbath day, i.e. between the hours of 12 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday. Again, any person residing within the precincts of a Royal residence, such as Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace, was, so long as he remained within those precincts, secure from the hands of the bailiff, or sheriff's officer. Now, Lord George owed a considerable, sum of money, which

HIS LORDSHIPS CHARACTER AND HABITS. 5

he was unable to pay, and, as he preferred his partial liberty in Berkshire to durance vile in London, he quartered himself temporarily with us in the Cloisters at Windsor. He was a good-looking fellow of about thirty, with very pleasant manners, and I am bound to say that he was exceedingly kind to us children. He had a remarkably fine set of teeth, which he was very fond of showing, and he was perpetually repeating, with a knowing shake of the head, "You can't do Lord George ! " Now, if ever there was a man who had been bested by all the bill-discounting Jews and post-obit mongers in England, done to death by every conceivable sharp in racing, gambling, etc., it was our self-satisfied but deluded visitor.

Lord George seemed tolerably happy in his seclusion. He used to roam about the Castle Green and Back Hill, and occasionally drop in upon the officer on guard at the Castle Gate. He would smoke any number of the best and most expensive Lopez cigars, either with one or two of the Military Knights, or some chance friend from London, who came down to see how he was getting on. It was his custom to relieve the monotony of his existence by running up to town on Sundays. He would catch the early morning train from Slough (there was no line to Windsor in those days), and return by the last one from Paddington, which just arrived in time to enable him to hurry into the Castle Yard before the fatal stroke of twelve. My father had, over and over

6 ARRESTED AT THE RAILWAY STATION.

again, endeavoured to dissuade him from running this risk, but, with the usual shake of the head and observation, he obstinately refused to follow the proffered advice.

A year had nearly elapsed since Lord George's advent, when, one Sunday morning, he left in the very highest spirits to pay his customary visit to town. He was to dine with a Mrs. Theobald, then a very celebrated rider with the Queen's hounds, and to meet at her house . a few of his intimate friends and racing acquaintances.

Sunday passed in the usual quiet way at Windsor ; the last train arrived — but no Lord George. Early next ( morning a special messenger came clown from town, with the news that his lordship had been arrested, and was in the hands of the myrmidons of the law. It appeared that after a very good dinner, with plenty of champagne and lively conversation, his lordship, looking at the clock on the drawing-room mantelpiece, observed that it was time for him to order a cab and drive to the station. With a hurried good-bye he left, but on arriving at Paddington, judge his surprise to find the train gone, the lights out, and the station shut ! As he was trying to realise his position, two men stepped out from the shadowy darkness of the station, and one of them, placing a hand upon his shoulder, exclaimed :

" Too late, my lord ! The train has been gone some five-and-twenty minutes. Your lordship is done this time."

ETON FOUNDATION. 7

The fair equestrienne and a racing man named Tom Coyle had been acting in collusion with Lord George's principal creditor — the clock had been put back one hour — and the victim passed that night at Slowman's sponging-house in Cursitor Street, Chancery Lane.

My brother pursued his studies in a very satisfactory way at Eton. After passing his examination, he was elected one of the sixty King's Scholars, or, as they were commonly called, Tugs, a name arising from the fact that they were fed upon no meat but mutton, which was not always of the tenderest description.

It is nearly four centuries and a half since the College of the Blessed Mary of Eton was founded by King Henry VI. Its endowment was mainly derived from the alien priories suppressed by Henry IV., and its original foundation consisted of a Provost, ten priests, four lay clerks, twenty-five poor scholars, and five beadsmen. By successive benefactions and the rise in the value of property, its revenues gradually increased from £652, in 1508, to upwards of £20,000, at which they now stand. Many years ago the number of scholars rose to sixty, and at that point it has remained. They are supposed to be the children of poor gentlemen, but of late years they have included in their ranks the sons of noblemen and of eminent statesmen. At the time of which I am writing, not the least popular of the sixty "King's" was my brother, familiarly

8 THE LAST ETON MONTEM.

known among his fellows as "Shiny Williams." Boudier, Bumpstead, Gwynne, Mackerness, Joynes, the Polehamptons, and the Brownings, were among his co-Tugs; while conspicuous among the Oppidans were De Bathe (now Sir Henry), the best-looking fellow I think I ever saw ; Charlie and Fred Coleridge, Bailey, Chitty (Mr. Justice), McNiven, Astley, Whymper, and many others who have since done something to inscribe their names in the Book of Fame.

It was during my chrysalis state — while I was reading up for the purpose of treading in my brother's footsteps, and being admitted as a scholar upon the foundation — that I was present at the last Eton Montem, an experience I shall never forget. Montem took place once every three years. It was originally founded, I believe, for the benefit of that Colleger who in his year attained the highest place in the school, but who, by reason of no vacancy occurring before the time of his superannuation, had not the luck to be sent up to King's College, Cambridge. All the money that was taken, under the short and peculiar name of "salt," passed into his pockets on the day that he left, and was supposed to go a long way towards paying his expenses either at Oxford or Cambridge. The amount collected was sometimes as large as £1,000, and even as £1,200.

The boys — or rather, those whose fathers could afford the outlay — were arrayed for the day in all sorts

HER MAJESTY S DONATION. 9

of fancy costumes, some of a beautiful and costlydescription. You might see the Courts of Charles I. and Louis Quatorze assembled in the Playing Fields, while Captain Maeheath, Sir Brian de Bois Gilbert, and Sir Walter Ealeigh might be encountered wandering by the banks of the Thames, in Lower Shooting Field. The boys of the Fifth and Sixth forms were dressed as follows : the Oppidans in red coats with brass buttons (on which were stamped the Eton arms), white waistcoats, and white trousers ; the Collegers in what looked like blue naval uniforms. The Lower boys were dressed in Eton jackets with the Eton button, white trousers, and white waistcoats, and in their hands they carried thin white wands.

There was a certain number of Sixth Form, or Upper Division, boys who wore fancy dresses, and acted as salt-bearers. They carried large silken bags, into which they put the money collected from visitors and passers-by. The donors received in return for their contributions a little piece of blue paper, on which was inscribed the motto for the Montem of that particular year. The motto for the last Montem was pro more et monte ; that for the last but one, mos pro lege.

Royalty itself was not free from the tax. Two " salt-bearers " were stationed on Windsor Bridge, and when the Queen drove down the hill — and she never missed a Montem — the elder of the two stepped forward, stopped the carriage, and, taking off his hat, with the words, "Salt, your Majesty, Salt," placed

10 WHY THE INSTITUTION PERISHED.

under contribution the highest and noblest lady in the land.

In the afternoon there was a regular fete in the Playing Fields. The enormous tent captured from Tippoo Sahib, which had been lent from the Castle, was erected as a refreshment booth. At noon all the boys formed themselves into a procession, and marched from the College Yard to Salt Hill, the mound from which the festival took its name. Here Montem was buried with all due pomp and solemnity.

Montem was an expensive custom to keep up. In the first place, the masters, dames, and Fellows had to eutertain the numerous visitors whom the occasion brought together ; in the next place, the parents of the boys were put to a considerable expense in the matter of fancy costumes. Murmurs arose from both quarters, and thus it came about that, like many another fine old institution, Montem breathed its last. Sic transit gloria mitndi.

Chapter II

More about Eton — School persecutions — Cricket and football matches, and what followed — I am elected a King's Scholar — The masters — Concerning Bursar Bethell — How we rang old Plumptree's bell — "Sock" shops — Spankie's love for the aristocracy — Heroism of a fag — "Cellar" and "Combie" — The "long glass" — ■ Persons we patronised — My tutor — The nicknames he gave us — His method of punishment — Threepence or half a sheep — Impudence of young Seale-Hayne — The praposter — Story of Dr. Keate — My only flogging — My tutor's version of the affair — The portrait at the Garrick Club.

Shortly after the events recorded, in the last chapter, my father moved from Windsor Castle to Willow Brook. Willow Brook consisted of three houses on the Slough road, about five minutes' walk from Eton College, and just beyond Fifteen Arch Bridge. Our next-door neighbour, and my father's intimate friend, was Mr. Tarver, the French master at the School. He had three sons : Charles (who was for some time tutor to the Prince of Wales), Harry, and Frank (who succeeded to his father's position).

Long Chamber was in existence in those days,

12 SCHOOL TORTURES.

though it was doomed to be soon pulled down and replaced by the new buildings. The sixty Tugs inhabited Long Chamber, as well as Carter's Chamber, which was underneath it, opposite the Lower School door.

The Eton of those days was very different from the Eton of to-day. I think if a boy had been seen carrying an umbrella or wearing an overcoat then, the umbrella would have quickly found its way to the bottom of Barns' Pool, and the overcoat would soon have worn the aspect of anything but a complete garment. If a lad entered College as a Lower boy, save and except fagging, he escaped most trouble ; but if he entered as a Fifth Form boy, he was, during the first half-year, called a Jew and subjected to all sorts of persecutions, being forbidden, among other things, the privilege of sitting at Upper fireplace. The judge and administrator of punishments was called the "High Priest," and at that time the office was filled by one Ben Simmonds (whose real name was Harry), now a staid and respectable banker at Eeading, living at a charming place near Caversham, on the banks of the Thames.

One of the torments to which the Jews had to submit was suggestive of the fate of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. An enormous paper fire was lighted in the centre of Long Chamber, and the Jews had to jump into it, and dance about, for the amusement of the Sixth Form and Lower boys. Another ordeal

NOCTURNAL FESTIVITIES. 13

may be mentioned. The neophyte was tied up in his gown, carried to some remote spot — behog liberally punished in transitu — and there deposited, being left to extricate himself as best he could. These games were carried on after "lock up," for the Collegers had the range of the School Yard, the Cloisters, the Upper School staircase, and, usually, the Upper School.

How long the tortures lasted depended entirely upon how they were taken. Before he faced the fiery furnace, any one who knew what he was about took care to put on two or three coats and one or two pairs of thick trousers ; and as a preliminary to the other ordeal, the wary one put into his pocket a small knife, wherewith to cut open his gown and regain his freedom.

Great nights followed the days on which were played the cricket and football matches between Collegers and Oppidans. No battles were fought with more pluck, energy, anxiety, and determination than those matches, and, if the Tugs were victorious, something like an orgie, I am afraid, prevailed at night in Long Chamber. All the jugs and basins were called into requisition, and the Lower boys were set to work preparing those vessels for the brewing of " gin-twirley," an innocent kind of gin-punch. Eecourse was also had to a barrel of strong ale which had been secretly imported, and which was called "A Governor."

Lights were supposed to be extinguished before ten o'clock, and at that hour Dr. Hawtrey, then the

14 THE BUTLER AND HIS SIGNAL.

"Head," visited Long Chamber to see that all was quiet. On the occasions to which I have alluded — when the festivities were, as a matter of fact, kept up till nearly midnight — special precautionary measures had to be taken in view of the Head Master's visit. This is what took place. Hawtrey's butler, Finmore (who doesn't remember good old Finney?), accompanied his master on his evening round, and, as they crossed the Quadrangle, on their way to Long Chamber, it was his custom to wave the lantern he carried in his hand. This was a prearranged signal, for which a youngster was on the watch. He was stationed at the head of the staircase, whence, through an iron grating, he looked out upon the Quadrangle. The instant he saw the moving light, he gave the word, and no rabbits ever scampered to their burrows at the approach of a terrier more quickly than the boys — after extinguishing the lights, and without removing their clothes — now bolted to their beds. When Dr. Hawtrey entered Long Chamber, all were snoring and apparently asleep. He went away satisfied, little dreaming that five minutes later the candles would be brightly burning, and a merry festival in progress.

One of our amusements on these occasions was to sing "The Fine Old Eton Colleger," "Johnny Coke," " The Mermaid," and other College songs.

The time that I had so longed for at length arrived. I went into College trials, passed, and was elected a

FAMOUS ETONIANS. 15

King's Scholar. I have always said, and I repeat it now, that these were the happiest days of my life. If I had twenty sons, and a sufficiently elastic purse, I should send them all to dear old Eton. What other school can show so remarkable a roll of statesmen ? It ranges from Bolingbroke to Gladstone, and includes all the most eminent of the Ministers who have swayed the destinies of this great country from the time of Anne to the Victorian era. Harley, St. John, and Walpole went to Eton, and it was the school of the elder Pitt, the Duke of Wellington, the late Lord Derby, the novelist Fielding, Hallam, Milman, Shelley, and Gray.

When I went into College, Dr. Hodgson was the Provost, and among the Fellows were Wilder, Grover (whose wife was called "Jack"), Plumptree, John George Dupuis, and Tom Carter. Among the masters were Edward Coleridge, Cookesley, Pickering, Harry Dupuis, Goodford, Abraham, Durnford, Balston, Young/ Birch, and Johnson. In the Lower School were Okes, Elliott, Luxmore, and John Hawtrey. Bethell was the Bursar. He was a very sententious person, with a loud, sonorous voice, and it was upon him that a celebrated Sixth Form wrote the two following Greek iambics :

Their author subsequently translated them into English verse, as follows :

Didactic, dry, declamatory, dull — Big Bursar Bethell bellows like a bull.

16 VENDORS OF DAINTIES.

All the Fellows lived in the Cloisters, and one of the amusements of the Lower boys was, after " lock up," to be perpetually ringing old Plumptree's bell and running away. One day, chancing to find a large bag of soot in the Cloisters, we carried it to Plumptree's door, deposited it just outside, rang the bell, and then hid round the corner. It so happened that the old fellow had been lying in wait for us, and, to our great delight, he at once burst open the door, seized the bag of soot, and, thinking that at last he had grasped his prey, cried out, " Ha ! ha ! my little Colleger, I've caught you now."

The principal " Sock " shops, as boys call them — where cake, fruit, ices, and such things are sold — were Barnes', near Barns' Pool, and Webber and Knox's, in the High Street. On the path running down the Long Walk, just outside the School Yard, were to be found Bryan's barrow, and the baskets of Spankie, Jobey Joel, and Tulip Trotman, all crowded with such delicacies as delight the youthful palate. Spankie was a character, and he had a strong regard for the aristocracy. Whenever he met a young nobleman, he would take off his hat and bow most obsequiously. He was delighted to give him credit (" tick " we called it), and would remark how, years before, he had enjoyed the proud privilege of doing the same for his lordship's father. The late Duke of Newcastle (then Lord Lincoln), his brother (Lord Edward Clinton), Lord Dungarvan (now Earl of Cork), and Lord Campbell were conspicuous among Spankie's customers. Jobey

SMUGGLING IN THE BEER. 17

Joel — whose principal wares in summer were strawberries and cherries — and Tulip Trotman ministered to the wants of the humbler members of the community. Bryan's barrow was simply a marvel. It contained, in remote corners and hidden drawers, every conceivable luxury — strawberries and cream, lemon and cherry ices, ginger-beer, lemonade, and a compound, sacred to a few, which looked and tasted uncommonly like cherry-brandy.

In those days the " Christopher Inn " was not up town, but stood on the site, and was approached through the same old gateway, as the house where the Messrs. Tarver subsequently taught French. The punishment if you were caught passing through that gateway was a swishing, but this fact did not deter the boys from smuggling into the College many a bottle of Bass and Guinness. On one occasion a fag named Fursden was ordered by a popular Sixth Form to go and fetch half-adozen bottles of beer, secreting them in his gown pockets ; but he was caught in the act by Judy Durnford, and the next morning he was told that, unless he confessed who sent him on the errand, he would have to go before the Head Master for execution. Nevertheless, like a young Spartan, he maintained a dogged silence, and, when it came to the point, took his punishment like a man. That night he was asked to supper at Sixth Form table.

After two o'clock on Saturdays two feasts were held at the " Christopher," that of the Oppidans being called "Cellar," and that of the Collegers, "Combie." The

VOL. I.

18 THE LONG GLASS.

feasts consisted of cold collations, with beer, shandygaff, etc., and they lasted about half an hour. Before you were permitted to be a party to these festivals, you had to go through the somewhat difficult task of drinking the contents of the celebrated long glass. The probationer was allowed to select whatever beverage he liked, and, if he failed to empty the glass, he was ordered to retire and come up again for trial on a future occasion.

Between Barnes' and Webber's stood the shop of Dick Merrick, the watchmaker. What old Etonian does not remember Dick % He sold clocks, watches, studs, links, pins, rings, etc. ; and his principal customers were George Wombwell, " Swell " Jarvis, Billy Peareth, Peyton, Lord Loughborough, Mr. Erskine (Earl of Eosslyn) — a pupil of my tutor's — and many others who were destined to figure in the fashionable world of the future. A little way from Barns' Pool Bridge was "The Tap," kept by Jack Knight. Here, and at Billy Goodman's, Bob Tolliday's, and the Brocas, you might constantly see the familiar forms of Doglardy,. Piggy Powell, Long Hill, Tot Wansel, Sparrow-Cannon,. Nibbs, and others — persons of considerable importance in our eyes. They taught us punting, swimming, and sports of all kinds; supplied us with dogs and rats, blew our footballs, sold us hockey-sticks, and performed other useful offices.

My tutor was the Rev. William Gifford Cookesley. Who that knew Eton in those days will ever forget

MY TUTOE. 10

him? Eccentric and kind-hearted, he was the very last man in the world who should have had the moulding of young minds. After Donaldson — subsequently head master at Bury St. Edmund's, and author of the new " Cratilus "—he was, as his editions of " Catullus," the " Poetse G-rseci," and " Pindar " show, one of the ablest scholars of his day.

Cookesley called all his pupils by nicknames. Bathurst (now Sir Frederick), who was much more at home in the Upper Shooting Fields, playing cricket, than sitting at the desk composing Greek iambics, he christened Ba.0w; Sothern, a boy remarkable for the prominence of his nasal organ, " Publius Ovidius Naso;" Haywood Minor, the " Sweep " ; Whitingstall, who was somewhat of a dunce, the " Professor" ; Frank Burnand, who, in some school amateur theatricals, played the King in Bonibastes Furioso, " Your Majesty " ; while T, for some reason or other which I will not stop to inquire into, was nicknamed the " Miserable Sinner."

My tutor had a great dislike to putting his pupils "in the bill," i.e. sending them up to the head master to be swished. He preferred correcting them himself, and for this purpose kept in his desk two small thick pieces of gutta-percha, which had been captured from the Captain of his house, and which he called "the Doctor." "With these correctives he took summary vengeance upon offenders; and it was clear that he derived a pleasure from so doing.

According to the statute of King Henry VI., on

c 2

20 IMPUDENT YOUNG BRAMWELL.

one day in the year every Colleger was entitled to receive threepence or half a sheep, threepence having been the value of half a sheep at the time the statute was passed. On the appointed day, while the Tugs were at dinner, Bursar Bethell would come into the hall and give each boy a threepenny piece, but never offering him the alternative of half a sheep. On one occasion a small and impertinent young Tug, named Bramwell, when offered the coin, turned round to the Bursar and said :

" No, thank you, sir ; I want my half sheep."

Bethell flew into an awful rage, and exclaimed :

" I'll mention this matter to Dr. Hawtrey, and have you flogged."

After three o'clock school the wretched Bramwell was accordingly sent for, handed over to the two holders-down, and duly punished. My tutor, strolling along the Long Walk, outside the School Yard, late that afternoon, chanced to come across young Bramwell, of whose escapade he had heard.

" Master Bramwell," said he, " you're a great criminal. I hear you asked Mr. Bethell for your half sheep, and for that offence have suffered condign punishment. Come and breakfast with me on Sunday. Now, boy, tell me, what would you like for breakfast ? "