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Moat of the Round Tower, with Henry the Third's Tower
W. A. Delamotte
1843
Wood-engraving
18.9 cm high by 7.2 cm wide, vignetted
Forty-sixth wood-engraving for W. Harrison Ainsworth's Windsor Castle. An Historical Romance, in the May 1843 (tenth) number of Ainsworth's Magazine; Book III, Chapter I,"Comprising the First Two Epochs of Windsor Castle," bottom, p. 141.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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A few years later another illustrious prisoner was brought to Windsor — namely, Prince James, the son of King Robert the Third, and afterwards James the First of Scotland. This prince remained a captive for upwards of eighteen years; not being released till 1424, in the second of Henry the Sixth, by the Duke of Bedford, then regent. James's captivity, and his love for Jane of Beaufort, daughter of the Duke of Somerset, and granddaughter to John of Gaunt, to whom he was united, have breathed a charm over the Round Tower, where he was confined; and his memory, like that of the chivalrous and poetical Surrey, whom he resembled in character and accomplishments, will be ever associated with it.
In the "King's Quair," the royal poet has left an exquisite picture of a garden nook, contrived within the dry moat of the dungeon: —
'Now was there made, fast by the tower's wall, A garden faire, and inthe corners set An arbour green with wandis long and small Railéd about,and so with leaves beset Was all the place, and hawthorn hedges knet, That lyf was none, walking there forbye, That might within scarce any wight espy.
"So thick the branches and the leave's green Beshaded allthe alleys that there were. And midst of every harbour might be seen The sharpe, green, sweet juniper, Growing so fair with branches hereand there, That as it seeméd to a lyf without The boughs did spread thearbour all about." [Chapter II. "Comprising the Third Great Epoch in the History of theCastle; and showing how the Most Noble Order of the Garter was instituted," pp. 148-149]
According to J. Don Vann (1985), in the serial publication, what is now Book Three appeared after book the Fourth and immediately before Book the Fifth. In other words, the reader of the magazine serial would have encountered Delamotte's image of Henry the Third's Tower after the scene in which Henry's groom relegates Wolsey to this rather modest accommodation.
Although the wood-engraving appears well into the novel, in the non-fiction antiquarian section on the history of Windsor Castle, Delamotte in all likelihood made the sketch upon which it is based in the summer of 1842. Thus, it is not technically an "illustration" since it is unlikely that Delamotte had read what would turn out to be the accompanying text when he visited the castle.
Ainsworth, William Harrison. Windsor Castle. An Historical Romance. Illustrated by George Cruikshank and Tony Johannot. With designs on wood by W. Alfred Delamotte. London: Routledge, 1880. Based on the Henry Colburn edition of 1844.
Patten, Robert L. Chapter 30, "The 'Hoc' Goes Down." George Cruikshank's Life, Times, and Art, vol. 2: 1835-1878. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers U. P., 1991; London: The Lutterworth Press, 1996. Pp. 153-186.
Vann, J. Don. "Windsor Castle in Ainsworth's Magazine, June 1842-June 1843." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. P. 23.
Worth, George J. William Harrison Ainsworth. New York: Twayne, 1972.
Last modified 27 December 2017