Haddon: the Manor, the Hall, its Lords and Traditions. By
G. le Blanc-Smith. (Elliot Stock. 10s. 6d. net.)—" Hadune," as it Is written in the Domesday, was part of the manor of Bakewell, and was granted by the Conqueror to William Peverel. From the Peverels it passed to the Avenels, and from them to the families of Vernon and Basset. The Bassets were bought out in the fifteenth century by the Vernons. In 1565 Sir George Vernon died, leaving two daughters, the younger of whom, Dorothy, was married to John Manners, second son of the first Earl of Rutland. Our author, we see, will have nothing of the romance which is commonly associated with the marriage. Dorothy Manners died in 1584, her husband in 1611. Their grandson succeeded to the property of the Rutland family in 1641, and thus became possessor of Belvoir as well as Haddon. The latter continued to be the chief family residence up to the year 1779, when its belongings were transferred to Belvoir, and among them the family papers. Their fate is certainly one of the strangest things on record. In 1885—the date should be noted—Mr. Maxwell Lyte, visiting Belvoir Castle on behalf of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, had a key given him labelled
"Key of old writings over stable." "The floor," so runs the account, "was so covered with documents, piled to a height of three or four feet, that at first there was scarcely standing room. Over everything was a thick layer of broken plaster and dirt." And what were these papers ? "In the first half-hour I found a holograph letter of Lord Burghley, a military petition addressed to the Marquis of Granby in the reign of George III., and a letter from Charles James Fox." Why complain of the vandalism of English sightseers (see pp. when cultured nobles are so careless of their own glories ? We need hardly say that Mr. le Blanc-Smith's volume, with its glimpses into the life and manners of the past, is deeply interesting. We must not forget to mention its excellent illustrations.
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