He formed the great hall
so as to be under the great central tower of the old abbey, and the
dining-room he formed out of a portion of the nave, while the
drawing-room was at the end of a long gallery upstairs; so that
altogether it formed a unique structure. In 1581, however, it was sold
to Sir Francis Drake, and the mansion contained some relics of his,
amongst which were two drums; there were also a chair and a table made
out of one of his old ships, the _Pelican_, and a fine portrait of Sir
Francis by Jansen, dated 1594. The gardens were very beautiful, as the
trees in this sheltered position grew almost without let or hindrance;
there were some of the finest tulip trees there that we had ever seen.
We were informed that when Sir Francis Drake began to make some
alteration in his new possessions, the stones that were built up in the
daytime were removed during the night or taken down in some mysterious
manner. So one moonlight night he put on a white sheet, and climbed a
tree overlooking the building, with the object of frightening any one
who might come to pull down the stones. When the great clock which
formerly belonged to the old abbey struck the hour of twelve, he saw the
earth open below, and about twenty little black devils came out and
started to pull down the wall.
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