" The farewell letters
between him and his wife were full of tenderness and love, and what he
had done was doubtless under the inspiration of strong religious
convictions. It was said that it was his insurrection that led to the
division of the country into military districts, which have continued
ever since. The lace cap he wore on the scaffold, blood-stained and
showing the marks of the axe, was still preserved, as well as his sword,
and the beautiful letters that passed between him and his wife, and the
Colonel's portrait was still to be seen at the mansion.
About a mile before reaching Shaftesbury we left Wiltshire and entered
the county of Dorset, of which Shaftesbury was said to be the most
interesting town from an antiquarian point of view. Here the downs
terminate abruptly, leaving the town standing 700 feet above the sea
level on the extreme point, with precipices on three sides. Across the
far-famed Blackmoor Vale we could quite easily see Stourton Tower,
standing on the top of Kingsettle Hill, although it was twelve miles
distant. The tower marked the spot where, in 879, King Alfred raised his
standard against the Danes, and was built in 1766, the inscription on it
reading:
Alfred the Great A.
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