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The Abbess of Shaftesbury; Or, the Days of John of Gaunt [by Mrs. G. May?].
The Abbess of Shaftesbury Or the Days of John of Gaunt - by Mrs. G. May? Author:George May General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1846 Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million book... more »s for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER III. LYDDINGTON CHURCH. On the following morning the inmates of the vicarage attended matins in the church of Ludyngton, after which De Henreth pointed out to his pilgrim-guest the architecture and monuments for which it was remarkable. The nave was chiefly to be noted for itscarved oaken roof, of a rich and singular design; but the north aisle, -- which formed the whole of the original church, -- contained at the east end a handsome lancet window, coeval with the foundation of the building, about a century before; and likewise a west window of still greater beauty, being in that fine style of architecture then lately perfected in England, and in later times distinguished by the title of " decorated English." " That window," said the vicar, " was the gift of a rich and pious lady; and you may see her stone coffin beneath the canopy on the right of the original altar. It is, you know, the place usually assigned to the founder of the church; but as in this case the founder was an abbess of Shaston, and consequently interred at the abbey, the honourable site was appropriated to the grave of this lady, because she not only enriched the church with a window, but likewise bequeathed money towards the erection of the nave and tower." Ursula de Clare regarded the tomb with glistening eyes, and eagerly read the inscription, which stated that the deceased was an English lady of the family of Latymer, and the widowof a Bohemian noble, the Count of Czaslau; that she had taken the veil in Shaston Abbey, and having retired to Ludyiigton, had died there in 1383. " Then you were acquainted with this la...« less