the following lines were written in 1833, for "The Visitor" - the first periodical published at the Wells. They were written by the late Mr. Thomas Fry. At that time the claimants were Messrs. Stone and Pegg.

STONY STANZAS
Occasioned by the sight of a Ruin.

Oh, Stone House! now, ex parte, House of Stone,
Oh, White House, now, alas! no longer white;
Thy yearly furbishings for ever flown,
Thy once fair front presents a rueful sight.
Only one Peg to prop thy tottering walls,
Only one Stone to decorate thy halls.
Art thou in Chancery? and has the law
On thy fair visage laid its ruthless paw,
Hoping to gorge thee in its monstrous maw?
Or is there in thy deeds, as in thy face - a flaw?
Oh, Peg and Stone, and Stone and Peg!
Most earnestly your neighbours beg,
You'd coalesce your skill;
That when young spring renews the plain,
The White Stone House may shine again:
And grace fair Ephraim's hill.

The old Stone House, now nearly in ruins, owing, we believe, to some misunderstanding between the claimants to it, was a most substantially built mansion. The side and front walls of the drawing and dining rooms are solid stone, panelled and moulded; and there was also some ancient tapestry here. There are no records of the date when it was built, nor of the builder. It was long used for a lodging-house, and for several seasons it was occupied by Sir Philip Francis, so well known in the literary world.