ins of the monastery, now generally incorporated into houses.
Gloucester has been a bishop's see since the reign of Henry VIII., and
one of its bishops was the zealous Reformer who was martyred in sight of
his own cathedral--John Hooper: his statue stands in St. Mary's Square,
where Queen Mary had him burned as a heretic. Gloucester also has its
Spa, a chalybeate spring recently discovered in the south-eastern
suburbs, but the town is chiefly known to fame abroad by its salmon and
lampreys. The lamprey is caught in the Severn and potted for export,
having been considered a dainty by the epicures of remote as well as
modern times. It was in great request in the time of King John, when we
are told "the men of Gloucester gave forty marks to that king to have
his good will, because they regarded him not as they ought in the matter
of their lampreys." This was the favorite dish of Henry I. (Beauclerc),
and over-indulgence in lampreys finally killed him. It was the custom
until 1836 for the corporation of Gloucester to send every Christmas to
the sovereign "a lamprey pie with a raised crust."

[Illustration: MONKS' LAVATORY, GLOUCESTER CATHEDRAL.]

TEWKESBURY.

Let us ascend the valley of the Severn, and in the centre of its broad
plain, at the confluence of the Avon, find another great religious house
in the smaller but equally noted town of Tewkesbury. All around are rich
meadows, and here, away from the hills, was the ideal site for a
monastery according to the ancient notion, where the languor of the
gentle air prevented the blood flowing with too quick pulse. The Avon,
spanned by an old arched bridge, washes one side of the town; the
massive abbey-tower rises above a fringe of foliage and orchards, while
on the one hand the horizon is bounded by the steep Cotswolds, and on
the other by the broken masses of the Malverns. Close to the town, on
its western verge, flows the Severn, crossed by a fine modern iron
bridge. Tewkesbury is known to fame by its mustard, its abbey, and its
battle. The renown of the Tewkesbury mustard goes back for at least
three centuries: as "thick as Tewkesbury mustard" was a proverb of
Falstaff's. That old-time historian Fuller says of it, "The best in
England (to take no larger compass) is made at Tewkesbury. It is very
wholesome for the clearing of the head, moderately taken." But,
unfortunately, the reputation of Tewkesbury for this commodity has
declined in modern times.

[Illustration: