Some few have survived and become royal palaces or noblemen's
mansions. Such are Windsor, Warwick, Raby, Alnwick, and Arundel, but
the fate of most of them is very similar. The old fortress aimed at
being impregnable in the days of bows and arrows; but the progress of
guns and artillery somewhat changed the ideas with regard to their
security. In the struggle between Yorkists and Lancastrians many a
noble owner lost his castle and his head. Edward IV thinned down
castle-ownership, and many a fine fortress was left to die. When the
Spaniards threatened our shores those who possessed castles tried to
adapt them for the use of artillery, and when the Civil War began many
of them were strengthened and fortified and often made gallant
defences against their enemies, such as Donnington, Colchester,
Scarborough, and Pontefract. When the Civil War ended the last bugle
sounded the signal for their destruction. Orders were issued for their
destruction, lest they should ever again be thorns in the sides of the
Parliamentary army. Sometimes they were destroyed for revenge, or
because of their materials, which were sold for the benefit of the
Government or for the satisfaction of private greed. Lead was torn
from the roofs of chapels and banqueting-halls. The massive walls were
so strong that they resisted to the last and had to be demolished
with the aid of gunpowder. They became convenient quarries for stone
and furnished many a farm, cottage and manor-house with materials for
their construction. Henceforth the old castle became a ruin. In its
silent marshy moat reeds and rushes grow, and ivy covers its walls,
and trees have sprung up in the quiet and deserted courts. Picnic
parties encamp on the green sward, and excursionists amuse themselves
in strolling along the walls and wonder why they were built so thick,
and imagine that the castle was always a ruin erected for the
amusement of the cheap-tripper for jest and playground. Happily care
is usually bestowed upon the relics that remain, and diligent
antiquaries excavate and try to rear in imagination the stately
buildings. Some have been fortunate enough to become museums, and some
modernized and restored are private residences. The English castle
recalls some of the most eventful scenes in English history, and its
bones and skeleton should be treated with respect and veneration as an
important feature of vanishing England.

[Illustration: Knightly Bascinet (_temp._ Henry V) in