ice, the
Wardenship of the Stannaries, the Rangership of Gillingham Forest, and
the Lieutenancy of Portland Castle. He besought that he might not be
reduced to utter beggary, and he did his best to retain the Duchy of
Cornwall and his estates at Sherborne. The former, as he might have
supposed, could not be left in the charge of a prisoner. It was given to
a friend, to the Earl of Pembroke, and Raleigh showed a dangerous
obstinacy in refusing to give up the Seal of the Duchy direct to the
Earl; he was presently induced to resign it into Cecil's hands, and then
nothing but Sherborne remained. His debts were 3,000_l._ His rich
collections of plate and tapestry had been confiscated or stolen. If the
King permitted Sherborne also to be taken, it would be impossible to
meet the exorbitant charges of the Lieutenant, and under these
circumstances it is only too probable that Raleigh might have been
obliged to crouch in the traditional dungeon ten feet by eight feet. The
retention of Sherborne, then, meant comfort and the status of a
gentleman. It is therefore of the highest interest to us to see what had
become of Sherborne.

We have seen that up to the date of the trial Cecil held at bay the
Scottish jackals who went prowling round the rich Dorsetshire manor; and
when the trial was over, Cecil, as Lady Raleigh said, 'hath been our
only comfort in our lamentable misfortune.' As soon as Raleigh was
condemned, commissioners hastened down to Sherborne and began to prepare
the division of the prize. They sold the cattle, and began to root up
the copses. They made considerable progress in dismantling the house
itself. Raleigh appealed to the Lords of the Council, and Cecil sent
down two trustees, who, in February 1604, put a sudden stop to all this
havoc, and sent the commissioners about their business. Of the latter,
one was the infamous Meeres, Raleigh's former bailiff, and this fact was
particularly galling to Raleigh. On July 30 in the same year, Sherborne
Castle and the surrounding manors were conveyed to Sir Alexander Brett
and others in trust for Lady Raleigh and her son Walter, Sir Walter
nominally forfeiting the life interest in the estates which he had
reserved to himself in the conveyance of 1602. On the moneys collected
by these trustees Lady Raleigh supported herself and her husband also.
She was not turned out of the castle at first. Twice at least in 1605 we
find her there, on the second occasion causing all the armo