O, the vision of the cross at Haddon
Today I found an odd stone slab in the churchyard of All Saints' Church in Bakewell, Derbyshire. The church itself is one of the most intriguing country parishes I've come across; if only there were more time to explore. The "Bakewell Cross" is perplexing from an empirical point of view, depicting the Crucifixion on one side and the Norse gods Odin and Loki on the other (at least that's what one book said). It's tall, black and looks out of place amongst the other headstones.
The nearby Matlock library has a book recording the following legend about the cross. Henry VII's elder son and heir to the throne, Prince Arthur, used to spend long periods of time in the Peak District, visiting his friend Sir George Vernon at Haddon Hall -- gorgeous Mediaeval country home/castle nearby. One day Arthur was strolling along the River Wye (just as I was... a rather idyllic place), and decided to take an afternoon nap on the grassy knoll at the foot of the cross. In his reverie there appeared to him a 'tall thin female dressed in white; her features sunken and wan, her lips of an ashy hew, and her eyeballs protruding, bright and motionless'. The wraith stared silently at Arthur for a few minutes, then said
"Unhappy royal Prince, mourn not thy fate which is not thine! One earthly pageant awaits thee, yea, it is at hand; and then, ah! then thou wilt drop into the lap of thy mother -- ah, thy mother earth! Forth comes to Britain's shore thy lovely, smiling bride -- ah! bride and widow of a royal boy!"
He awoke frightened and puzzled, then made his way back to Haddon. Upon returning he encountered one of his ministers, come to bring the news that his bride-to-be, Catherine of Aragon, had arrived in England and he was expected to return immediately to London and be married. So Arthur left Derbyshire, was married at St. Paul's, then died soon after. His last words, purportedly, were "O, the vision of the cross at Haddon".
We all know what became of Catherine afterwards, her unhappy marriage to Arthur's lecherous brother, Henry VIII, etc.
The nearby Matlock library has a book recording the following legend about the cross. Henry VII's elder son and heir to the throne, Prince Arthur, used to spend long periods of time in the Peak District, visiting his friend Sir George Vernon at Haddon Hall -- gorgeous Mediaeval country home/castle nearby. One day Arthur was strolling along the River Wye (just as I was... a rather idyllic place), and decided to take an afternoon nap on the grassy knoll at the foot of the cross. In his reverie there appeared to him a 'tall thin female dressed in white; her features sunken and wan, her lips of an ashy hew, and her eyeballs protruding, bright and motionless'. The wraith stared silently at Arthur for a few minutes, then said
"Unhappy royal Prince, mourn not thy fate which is not thine! One earthly pageant awaits thee, yea, it is at hand; and then, ah! then thou wilt drop into the lap of thy mother -- ah, thy mother earth! Forth comes to Britain's shore thy lovely, smiling bride -- ah! bride and widow of a royal boy!"
He awoke frightened and puzzled, then made his way back to Haddon. Upon returning he encountered one of his ministers, come to bring the news that his bride-to-be, Catherine of Aragon, had arrived in England and he was expected to return immediately to London and be married. So Arthur left Derbyshire, was married at St. Paul's, then died soon after. His last words, purportedly, were "O, the vision of the cross at Haddon".
We all know what became of Catherine afterwards, her unhappy marriage to Arthur's lecherous brother, Henry VIII, etc.
posted by johnk at
3:10 AM
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