Ashbury College - Ashburian Yearbook (Ottawa, Ontario Canada)

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THE ASHBURIAN [25] A Glimpse of Conway (Cont ' d) Richard III started from the castle on the journey to London which ended with his imprisonment there. It was here also that the erratic Archbishop Wil- liams was born and later served for both the Roundheads and the Royalists. In 1646 it was the scene of General Myttons ' s seizure of the Irish defenders and the consequent action of throwing them into the river bound together in pairs, back to back. So much for its history. When the castle was built, the entrance was by way of a drawbridge over a deep moat, but today a small path takes its place although the remains of the drawbridge are still there. The walls are twelve to fifteen feet thick, and their present condition is marvellous when one considers the number of years of hard weather they have withstood. As we enter we find ourselves in one of the two courts into which the castle is divided. This court is bounded by what was once the beautiful apartments of the King and Queen, but they are now in a sad state of decay and our imagination is left to fill in the details as best we may. On one side of this same court are the remains of the huge banqueting hall. One hundred and thirty feet long, thirty feet wide and thirty-two feet high, it requires no mental effort to picture the lavish feasts that were once spread before the guests. In time past it was supported by nine arches of which only two re- main and these in their antiquity seem to resist the arm of Time with a boldness that does credit to the architect, Henry de Elreton. As we pass to the second court we see the ruins of a little chapel and the sub- terranean rooms in which huge supplies of food were kept. In the second court are the King ' s and Queen ' s towers, and here we are more fortunate for the building is in a much better state of preservation and we are able to gain some interesting if scanty knowledge of the type of architecture employed. Adjoining these towers are the ' priests rooms ' , as they were called, and passing these we come to a little terrace which affords an entrancing view of the town and the surrounding country. Carried away from the present we cannot help but think of the kings and queens who must have paraded without and within the castle ' s walls. Perhaps we stand on the post of some armoured sentry who scanned the countryside round about for some sign of an approaching army. Pictures of great balls, lavish feasts and entertainments flit before us, and as we are recalled to the present and see below the steady stream of automobiles we cannot help but think of the poet ' s cry ; No, Time, thou shalt not boast that I do change : Thy pyramids built up with newer might To me are nothing new, nothing strange ; They are but dressings of a former sight.

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[24] THE ASHBURIAN The School

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[26] THE ASHBURIAN i Courtesy Cunard -White Star Line R.M.S. Queen Mary