Hoxne Hall, in the county of Suffolk,

the Royal Hanoverian Guelphic Order, Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, M.P., &c., of Hoxne Hall, Brome Hall, and Oakley Park, in the county of Suffolk.

Sir Edward Kerrison is the representative of a wealthy family, settled in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk. His grandfather, Roger Kerrison, Esq., of Broke, in Norfolk, married Mary, the| daughter of John Osborne, Esq., of Kirsted, in the same county. He died in 1762, leaving several children; amongst whom,

Matthias Kerrison, the father of Sir Ed-| ward, may be regarded as the founder of an opulent family. Chiefly, we believe, by mercantile pursuits, and extensive undertakings in canals, he accumulated property to the amount of little less than a million sterling, much of which he inIvested in the fine estates of Lord Maynard and the Marquess Cornwallis. This gentleman, designated of Bungay, and of No. 80.-Vol. XIV.

There is some curious historic and traditional interest attached to this family seat of Sir Edward Kerrison. In the year 870, a great and fatal battle was fought between Edmund

Danish forces, by which his country was ravaged. Blomefield, in his History of Norfolk, supposes that the tumuli, which appear near Rushforth, Euston, Barnham, and Thetford, mark the spot where this battle, which lasted an entire day, was fought. Edmund is said to have fled, in the night, to Framlingham Castle, in Suffolk. Thither the Danes pursued him, besieged the castle, and took it. Edmund escaped, and fled into a wood, near Hoxne, then called Heglisdon, or Eglesdene the Hill of Eagles. Towards this retreat he also was pursued; and a messenger was sent to him with an offer of his life, on condition that he should divide with the Danes his treasures and his kingdom. This he refused. Incensed by his rejection, the Danish chiefs, Inguar and Hubba, "marched directly to Hoxne, where Edmund surrendered to their Still superior force, without further contest. refusing to comply with the conqueror's terms, he was bound with close fetters, and severely scourged. He was then lashed to a tree, and his naked flesh lacerated with whips, or, according to Lydgate, beaten with short bats. The cruel chiefs next wantonly fixed him as "a mark to exercise the skill of their archers, and his

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married, on the 5th of May, 1772, Mary, the daughter of John Barnes, Esq., of

body was covered with arrows, like a porcupine with quills. Inguar, still finding his mind invincible, ordered his head to be struck off. And thus he died, Kyng, Martyr, and Virgyne,' on the 20th Nov., A.D. 870, in the 15th year of his reign, and the 29th of his age." It is added that, on the death of this unfortunate prince, the Danes, in insult to his remains, cast his severed head and body into the thickest part of the woods of Eglesdene. "On the departure of the enemy, the East Anglians, prompted by affection for their late sovereign, assembled in considerable numbers, to pay his corpse the last solemn duties. After a sorrowful search, the body was discovered, conveyed to Hoxne, and there interred; but the head could not be found. Dividing themselves, therefore, into small parties, the mourners searched every quarter of the wood. Terrified by its thickness and obscurity, some of them cried out to their companions, Where are you?' A voice answered, Here, here, here!' Hastening to the place where the sound proceeded, they found the long-sought head in a thicket of thorns, guarded by a wolf-'An unkouth thyng,' says Lydgate, and strange ageyn nature.' The people, almost overpowered with joy, took the holy head, which its guardian quietly surrendered to them, and carried it to the body. The friendly wolf joined in the procession; and, after seeing the precious treasure, which he had with so much care protected, deposited with the body, whence it had been severed, with doleful mourning, and without shewing any fierceness, he returned into the woods. This was about forty days after the martyrdom of the Saint.

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"The remains of King Edmund appear to have been buried in the earth, in an obscure wooden chapel, at Hoxne, where, it is said, some traditionary vestiges of his history are still to be found. There they were suffered to lie, neglected, for thirty-three years, till the dormant attention of the people was aroused, by certain miracles, reported to have been performed by the deceased king and martyr. Then, 6 more suitable depository for the honoured corpse, 'a large church was constructed with wood in the town of Betrichesworth' (now Bury St. Edmunds); and Abbo says, when they expected from the length of time to find the body putrid, to their astonishment it appeared safe, and as in health; with the head united to it, only the mark of a red thread appearing round the neck.' About the year 903, the remains of Edmund were removed from hence to Bedericksworth, or Bury. The circumstance of the sacred body having been found, perfect and uncorrupted,

Barsham, in the same county. Surviving his lady (who died on the 15th of March,

with the head reunited to it, was long a favourite miracle with the monastic writers. A female devotee, named Oswyna, stood forward as a witness of the incorruption; averring that she had long secluded herself, and lived near the town; and that for several preceding years, she had annually cut the hair, and paired the nails, of the saint, preserving the sacred relics with religious care. 'A certain nobleman named Leofstanus, presuming to doubt concerning the incorruption of the martyr's body, arrogantly ordered the tomb to be opened, that he might have occular demonstration of this remarkable fact; his request was complied with, and he saw the body of the saint uncorrupted; but, being immediately seized by a demon, he miserably expired.' This story, no doubt, repressed that curiosity which might otherwise have explored, too minutely, the clerical arcana. ecclesiastic, however, was permitted, without incurring this awful fate, to have the satisfaction of seeing for himself and for others also; the veracity of Bishop Theodore is adduced as a most unequivocal testimony to authenticate the fact. Having performed a devotional fast for three days, he opened the coffin and found the body perfect; washed it, arrayed it in new vestments, and again replaced it in its narrow dwelling.'"

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To return to Hoxne.-There is a further tradition, that Edmund, in his flight to Eglesdene, was discovered by the brilliant appearance of his golden spurs, beneath the arch of an old bridge, by a newly-married couple, returning home by moonlight, who betrayed him to the Danes. In the midst of his sufferings, he poured forth a dreadful curse upon every couple who should afterwards pass over that bridge, in their way to, or from, the altar of Hymen; and his last words have been most religiously attended to; for, so intense is the traditional remembrance of the curse, that, to the present day, rather than pass the bridge for there is still a bridge at the spot

the newly-married couples, amongst the lower order, will proceed to their home by a more winding and tedious journey. From some verses on the subject, by a Suffolk poet, we transcribe the following:

"The day's declining ray was past,
And evening's mist the sky o'ercast,—
Uncertain of the trackless space,
The vanquished monarch urged his pace,
Till EGLESDENE'S high rising fane
At distance cheered the gloomy plain;
With weeds o'ergrown, an ancient pile
Of mossy bricks, and Runic style,

"FUDGE!" exclaimed Admiral Roby, || perhaps in imitation of Mr. Burchell's customary response―

"Fudge!" and as he repeated his favourite monosyllable, he took a much larger pinch of snuff than was his wont, no small quantity of which fell upon a pretty embroidered ottoman that supported his foot.

“Hush!" said Lady Eleanor Granby; "Leontine, that was surely your uncle's carriage, we expect his visit; Cecilia, pull down the blinds, my love, you know he cannot endure much light. My dear Admiral, may I trouble you just to place your poor foot upon this ottoman; here, Miranda, put that one in the corner, so that the light may fall upon it; the fact is, Sir," addressing the Admiral, "that my dear late husband's brother, Lord Cratanoix, presented me with that trifle as a gage d'amitie, on my last birth-day;|| pretty, wasn't it?"

Fudge!" growled forth the Admiral, 66 gage de fiddlestick! fitter for him to have given jackets and trowsers, frocks and petticoats, to your boys and girls."

My dear friend you are really so very,|| so very powerful in your observations, you forget, in your zeal for your old comrade's family, that though the Earl has done nothing exactly yet, we have large ' expectations.""

Fudge!" interrupted the old gentleman, impatiently, and before another word could be pronounced, the Earl of Cratanoix entered the small but elegant drawing-room of Lady Eleanor Granby. There was the usual bustle, the usual placing of chairs, and rolling of chaise longues and sofas; the almost servile attentions which are too often paid to "expectations," in their various grades of comparison; the tender-lipped, but emptyhearted inquiries, and the indifference with which the worshipped accepts the homage of the worshipper. The Earl was nothing more or less, than a little stiff, cranky, pertinacious old bachelor thing that nature had created, it might be in sport, it might be in spite, to shew the

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nation (without, it is to be supposed, any reference to the reform bill) what sorry creatures lords could sometimes be; he sat in the great arm-chair, which his trulybeautiful, and modest-looking niece, Miranda, had placed for him-the very personification of selfishness and ill-temper. He had not honoured his brother's widow, an amiable but weak-minded woman, with a visit for many months, and the almost miraculous change which takes place, when girls are blooming into womanhood, struck him forcibly; that is, as forcibly as any thing unconnected with his own personal enjoyment could do. He arranged the cushions, so as to support his frame in the most agreeable manner, wiped his glass with his exquisite handkerchief, and directed it, first at one, then at the other, of his lovely relatives; after a long scrutiny, raising it slowly to Lady Eleanor's face, he said, “Have they gone to the drawing-room yet?"

"Not yet," was their mother's reply.

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They ought to go," persisted the pompous Earl; "the dignity of our house demands it, and it ought not to be delayed."

"They shall, when-when," and Lady Eleanor's pale cheek coloured slightly as she continued-" when I am able to attire them as becomes their birth and rank.”

"It certainly is necessary that they should go properly," replied the brother, but he made no offer at the time to enable

them to do so. The Admiral, who had retired, on the noble's entrance, to a little recess in the back drawing-room, which, in conformity with the customs of modern days, communicated with the front by large folding doors, uttered a sound which might be denominated a juvenile fudge; it was, however, sufficiently loud to make the Peer turn round inquiringly.

"A ship-mate and valued friend of my late husband's; one of whom you have often heard him speak-Admiral Roby.” -The Admiral abandoned his seat, somewhat reluctantly, and salutations were exchanged according to the most approved forms.