21st November 1824

Paid a second visit to the old castle in Ashton Lawn with my companion Billings to examine it—we strum* it & found it 20 yards long fronting the south & 18 fronting eastward we imagind about 12 foot of the walls still standing tho the rubbish has entirely coverd them except in some places were about a foot of the wall may be seen it is coverd within & without with blackthorn & privit & spurge laurel so that it is difficult to get about to view it I broke some of the cement off. that holds the stones together & it appears harder then the stones itself brought some home in my pocket for my friend Artis there is some rabbits hants* it & the earth they root out of their burrows is full of this cement & perishd stone—part of the moat is still open

* Connected with 'straum,' 'strime,' 'strome'—to 'stride', but obviously used here by Clare to mean 'measure', with approximately foot- or yard-long steps.

* As with 'shoy,' 'shy*, Clare spelt 'haunts* as he pronounced it.

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