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JO 


Part  II..  Vol.  IX. 


1u 


TRANSACTlOiNS 


I'! 


OF   THE 


♦ 


CUMBERLAND  Amy  WESTMORLAND 
ANT1QUARIM/&  ARCHilOLOGlCAL 

lOCIETY. 


Ho     y      FOUNDED     1866. 


/ 


EDITED    BY    THE    WORSHIPFUL    CHANCELLOR    FERGUSON. 
M.A..    LL.M.,    F.S.A. 


PRINTED  FOR  THE  MEMBERS  ONLY. 


PRINTED  BY  T.  WILSON,  HIGHGATE,  KENDAL. 


LIST  OF  OFFICERS  FOR  THE  YEAR  1887-8. 


Patrons  : 
The  Right  Hon.  the  Loud  Muncaster,  M.P.,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Cumbirland. 
The  Right  Hon.  the  Lord  Hothfield,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Westmorland. 
The  Right  Rev.  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Carlisle. 

President  &=  Editor  : 
The  Worshipful  Chancellor  Ferguson,  m.a.,  ll.m.,  f.s.a. 


Vice-Presidents 


JAM£S  Atkinson,  Esq. 

E.  B.  W.  Balme,  Esq. 

The  Earl  of  Bective,  M.P. 

W.  Browne,  Esq. 

James  Cropper,  Esq. 

The  Dean  of  Carlisle. 

H.  F.  Curwen,  Esq. 

RoBT.  Ferguson,  Esq.  F.S.A. 


George  Howard,  Esq. 
VV.  Jackson,  Esq.,  F.S..A. 
G.  J.  Johnson,  Esq. 
Hon.  W.  Lowther,  M.P. 
H.  P.  Senhouse,  Esq. 
M.  W.  Taylor,  Esq."m.IJ., 
Hon.  Percy  S.  Wyndham. 


F.S.A. 


Elected  Members  of  Council: 


W.  B.  Arnison,  Esq.,  Penrith. 

Rev.  R.  Bower,  Carlisle. 

Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  E.S.A.,  Aspatria 

Isaac  Cartmell,  Esq.,  Carlisle. 

J.F.CROSTHWAiTE,Esq.,F.S.A.,Keswick 


C.J.  Ferguson,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Carlisle. 
T.  F.  I'Anson,  Esq.,M.l).,Wiiiteliaven. 
Rev.  Thomas  Lees,  F.S.A.,  Wreay. 
Rev.  Hy.  Whitehead,  Newton  Reijiny. 
Robert  J.  Whitwell,  Esq.,  Kendal. 


Vacant. 


(Two  places  vacant). 

A  uditors : 

I         Frank  Wilson,  Esq.,  Kendal 


Treasurer  : 
W.  H.  Wakefield,  Esq.,  Sedgwick. 


Secretary : 
Mr.  T.  WILSON,  Aynam  Lodge,   Kendal. 


TRANSACTIONS 

oi-   THI-. 

CUMBERLAND  AND   WESTMOKLANJ) 

ANTIQUARIAN  &  ARCHtEOLOGICAL 

SOCIETY. 


VOLUME  IX. 


EDITOR 
THE  WORSHIPFUL  CHANCELLOR  FERGUSON.  M. A.,  LL.M.,  FSA. 

President  of  the  Society. 


i8S». 
PRINTED  BY  T.  WILSON,  HIGHGATE,  KENDAL, 


The  Council  of  the  Ci'mbeki-ani)  ani>  Westmorland  ANiiyuAKiAN 
AND  Akch.^jolggicai.  Socn/fv.  ami  the  Editor  of  their  Transactions, 
desire  that  it  should  be  understood  that  they  are  not  responsible  for 
any  statements  or  opinions  expressed  in  their  Transactions :  the 
Authors  of  the  several  papers  bcin;:;  alone  responsible  for  the  same. 


LIST  OF  OFFICERvS  FOR  THE  YEAR   1887-8. 


Patrons  : 

The  Right  Hon.  rnii  Lukd  Mun  caster,  M.F.,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Cumberland. 
Fhk.  Right  Hon.  the  F^oro  Hothkiki.d,  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Westmorland. 
Ihk  Right  Rev.  the  Lord  Bishop  ok  C.\ri.isi.k. 

President  &=  Editor  : 
I'he  WoRsHii'i  II.  Ch.\ncei.lok  Ferguson,  m..v.,  ll.m.,  k.s.a. 


•  JAM.iS  /^IKINSUN,    l.MJ. 

K.  B.  \V.  Bai.me,  Esq. 

Ihe  Eari-  ok  Bective,  M.r. 

W.  Browne,  F-lsq. 

James  Cropper,  Esq. 

The  Dean  oe  Carlisle. 

H.  V.  CiRWEN,  Esq. 

Kobt.  Ferguson,  I"!s(|.  E.S.A. 


''ice-Presidents  : 

George  Howard,  Esq. 

W.  Jackson,  Esq.,  F.S.A. 

G.  J.  Johnson,  Esq. 

Hon.  W.  Lowther,  NLP. 

H.  P.  Senhouse,  Esq. 

M.  W.  iAYLOR,  Eso.  M.U.,  F.S.A. 

Hon.  Percy  S.  Wyndham. 


Elected  Members  of  Council : 


VV.  B.  Arnison,  F^sq.,  Penrith. 

Rev.  R.  Bower,  Carlisle. 

Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.,  Aspatria 

Isaac  Cartmell,  Esq.,  Carlisle. 

J.  F.Crosthwaite, Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Keswick 


C.  }.  Ferguson,  Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Carlisle. 
T.  F.  PAnson,  Esq. ,M.1)., Whitehaven. 
Rev.  Tho.mas  Lees,  F.S.A.,  Wreay. 
Rev.  Hy.  Whitehead,  Newton  Reigny. 
Robert  J.  Whitwell,  Esq.,  Kendal. 


(Two  places  vacant). 


A  uditors . 


Vacant. 


I         Frank  Wilson,  Esq.,  Kendal 


Treasurer : 
W.  H.  Wakefield,  Esq.,  Sedgwick. 


Secretary : 
Mr.    1.   WILSON,  Aynam  Lodge,    Kendal. 


MEETINGS  HELD  BY  THE  SOCIETY 

1886-7. 
For  reading  Papers  and  making  Excursions. 

I.     Pilgrimage  along  the  Roman    Wall,    -   |j|]"y  3Jd,^'i886. 


2.     Kendal :    Collin   Field,  Kendal    Castle 

&c,,        - Sep.  bth,   1886. 

Shap,    Bampton,   Hawes  Water,   and 

Mardale, Sep.  9th,  1886. 


3.     Kirkby   Stephen,  Smardale    Hall,  Ra- 

venstonedale,  and  Wharton  Hall,     July  7th,   1887. 

1  hough  Church  and  Castle,  Maiden 
Castle,  and  Re-Cross  on  Stain- 
more.    July  8th,  1887. 


4.  Ulverston  :  Swarthmoor  Hall,  Birkrigg, 
Aldingham  Church,  Gleaston  Cas- 
tle, and  Urswick  Church,       -         -     Sep.  13th,  1887. 

Marsh  Grange,  Kirkby  Ireleth,  Foxiield, 

Coniston,  and  Lowick,  -         -         -     Sep.  14th,  1887. 


CONTENTS. 


I.  Caldbeck  I'arish   Registers.     Hy  Ellen  K.  Goodwin.  i 

II.  A  Notice  of  the  late  Mr.  John  Hill,  of  Bankfoot,  and 
his  Westmorland  MSS.  By  the  Rev.  Richard 
Beverley  Machell.M.A., Canon  of  York, and  Rector 
of  Roos  in  Holderness.         -  -         -         -         14 

III.  Sculptured  Stone  at  Iscll  Church,  Cumberland,  bear- 

ing the  "  Svastika,"  "  Triskele"  and  other  Sym- 
bols.    BytheRcv.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.  -         -         ^9 

IV.  Sebergham  Parish  Registers.     By  M.  E.  Kuper.       -         32 

V.  New  Notes  on  the  Ancestry  of  Oeorge  Washington. 

By  J.C.  C.  Smith. 97 

VI.  Extracts  from  the  Vestry  Book  of  All  Saints,  Cocker- 
mouth.  By  the  Rev.  W.  F.  Gillbanks,  Rector  ot 
Orton,  Cumberland.     ------       iqi 

VII.  The  so  called  "Tumuli"'  near  Dalston  Hall,  Cumber- 
land.    By  the  Editor.  -         _         -         .         .         .       uy 

VIII.  Coped  or  Hogbacked  Tombstone  at  St.  Michael's 
Church,  Bongate,01d  Appleby.  By  the  Rev.  W. 
S.  Calverley,  F.S.A. uS 

IX.  On  some  obscure  Inscriptions  in  Cumberland.     By 

R.  S.  Ferguson,  F.S.A.         -         -         -         -         -        121 
Excursions'and  Proceedings.      -         -         .         -         -       124 

X.  Excavations  on  the  line  of  the  Roman  Wall.     Report 

of  the  Committee  appointed  April  20,  1886.  -       162 

XI.  Kendal  Castle.     By  R.  S.  Ferguson,  F.S.A.      -  -       178 

XII.  On  a  Ring  recently  found  at  Lanercost.     By  the  Rev. 

H.  J.  Rulkeley. 1^6 

Xlll.ColIin 


VI. 


CONTENTS. 


XIII.  Collin  Field.      By    G.  F.  Braithwaitc.         -         -         -   i88 

XIV.  On  an  Inscribed  Cross  at  Lanercost.     liy  E.  C.  Clark, 

LL.D.,  F.S.A.,  Regius  Professor  of  Civil  Law  in 
the  University  of  Cambridge.       -        _        .         -  ly^ 
XV.  Additional    remarks   on    a    Ring   recently    found   at 

Lanercost,  (ante  p.  i86).     By  the  Editor.     -         -   197 
XVI.  Some  Prehistoric  remains  in  North  Lonsdale.     By  H. 

Swainson  Cooper.         .-.-..  200 
XVII.  Calder  Abbey.     Part  II.  U134  to  1536).     By  the  Rev. 

A.  G.  Loftie,  B.A.         -  -         -        -         -  20b 

XX'III.  Church  Bells  in  Cumberland  Ward,  No.  II.-"     By  the 

Rev.  H.  Whitehead.    .-----  240 
XIX.  Churchwardens  .Accounts,  Kendal.     By  George  Rush- 

lorth.  -         -         - 269 

XX.   Roman  Inscriptions   recently  discovered  at  Cliburn 

and  Birdoswald.     By  W.  Thompson  Watkin       -  284 

XXI.  Recent  Roman  Discoveries. 294 

-XXII.  The  Threlkelds  of  Threlkeld,  Yanwath,  and  Crosby 

Ravensworth.     By  W.  Jackson.  F.S.A.        -         -  298 

XXIII.  The  Dudleys  of  Yanwath.     By  W.  Jackson,  F.S.A.  -  318 

XXIV.  Some  Account  of  Sir  John  Lowther,  Baronet,  from 

Original  Sources.     By  W.  Jackson,  F.S.A.  -  ^^^ 

X.XV.   Notes  on  the   Parish   Registers  of  Crosby-on-Eden. 

By  T.  Hesketh  Hodgson.     ....         -  ^^g 
.\XVI.  'AXbktijvuvmv  Ay(ov.    By  the  Worshipful  Chancellor 

Ferguson.  F.S.A.,  (ic.  President  of  the  Society.  -  36b 
XXVII.   Notes    upon    some    of  the  older  Word  Forms  to    be 
found   in   comparing   the   language   of    Lakeland 
with  the  language  of  Iceland.     By  the  Rev.  T. 

Ellwood,  B.A. 383 

Excursions  and  Proceedings        .         -         -         .         .  ^93 
XXVIII.  Two  Moated  Mounds,  Liddell  and  Aldingham.      By 
the    Worshipful    Chancellor    Ferguson,    F.S.A.. 
President  of  the  Society.      -----  404 
XXIX.    Pigeon   Houses  in  Cumberland.     By  the  Worshipful 

Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A.        ■         -         -         -  41.^ 
XXX.   Notes  on  Cup  and   Ring-marked    Stones    found   near 

Maryport.     By  J.  B.  Bailey.         _         .         .         .  ^j^ 

.\XXII.  Coniston 


*  The  Title  of  Part  I.  has  been  accidentally  omitted  from  the  table  of  "Contents  " 
pri-fixcd  to  vol.  viii. 


(ONTEXTK.  VII. 

XXXII.''  Coniston  Ilall.     ]'>y  H.  SwainsDu  Cowper.        -  -  4j0 

XXXIII.  Something  about  The   Keycross  on  Stainmore.     By 

the  Rev.  Thomas  Lees,  M..\.,  F.S.A.  -         -  .}4« 

XXXIV.  Cross  Fragment  at  St.  Michael's  Church,  Workington. 

Bv  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.        -         -  458 

XXXV.  Notes  on  some  Coped  pre-Norman  Tombstones  at 
Aspatria,  Lowther,  Cross  Canonby,  and  Plumb- 
land.     By  the  Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.       -  461 

XXXVI.   Red  Sandstone  Cross  Shaft  at  Cross-Canonby.     By 

the  Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley.  F.S.A.        -         .         -  472 

XXXVII.   Church    Hells    in    Leath    Ward.      By    the    Rev.    H. 

Whitehead.         ....-.-  _^■J^ 

XXXVIII.   Some   Prehistoric    Remains  in  North  Lonsdale.      By 

H.  Swain  son  Cowper.  ------  ^yy 


*Owin£r  ti'  an  accidental  inismiinbciini,-.  thtro  is  no  Article  beariner  the  number 
XXX!, 


RECENT    ROMAN    DISCOVERIES.  297 

in  most  cases  the  very  foundations  of  the  walls  had  been 
carried  away :  at  last  Ur.  Bruce  and  I  advised  his  lordship 
that  the  place  had  been  so  robbed  and  plundered  of  its 
stonework,  dressed  and  undressed,  probably  for  the  building 
of  the  neit^hbouring  market  town  of  Ravenglass,  that  it 
was  no  use  to  continue  further  excavating.  Much  broken 
Roman  pottery,  and  bits  of  Andernach  ware  were  found, 
but  only  one  coin,  that  we  know  of,  a  much  corroded  and 
detrited  legionary  one. 

During  the  excavations  at  Walls  Castle  in  i8Si*  an 
inscribed  stone  was  found,  unluckily  no  responsible  person 
was  present  :  the  labourer  who  found  it,  set  off  to  carry 
the  stone  to  his  lodgings,  but  the  w^ay  was  long,  the 
evening  hot,  and  he  sat  down  to  rest,  and  meanwhile  he 
examined  the  stone  :  seeing  the  letters  to  be  English  in 
shape,  he  forthwith  concluded  the  stone  was  valueless,  and 
chucked  it  into  the  sea.  Diligent  search  was  afterwards 
made  for  its  recovery,  but  in  vain. 

N.B. — The  Society  is  endebted  for  the  woodcuts  which 
illustrate  this  paper  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  of 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  That  of  the  Cliburn  stone  ex- 
ecuted before  Mr.  Watkin's  examination  of  the  photograph, 
is,  in  the  last  line  especially,  somewhat  incorrect. 

*  Ante  vol.  vi.,  p.  216. 


(29S) 


Art.  XXII. — The   Threlkelds   of  Thrdkcld,    Yanivath,   and 
Crosby  Ravensworth.     By  W.  Jackson,  F.S.A. 

Coinuiunicated  at  Kirkby  Stephen,  July  jth,  1887. 

THE  manor  of  Threlkeld  is  situated  at  the  foot  of 
Blencathra,  as  that  mountain  was  called  in  what  we 
may  term,  through  our  entire  ignorance  of  previous  settlers, 
the  language  of  the  aboriginal  inhabitants  of  the  district. 
Our  own  forefathers  have  given  it  what  sounds  to  our  ears 
the  more  homely  name  of  Saddleback. 

How  sequestered  Threlkeld  was,  and  how  secure  from 
the  prying  eyes  of  strangers  to  the  district,  we  may 
conclude  from  the  fact  of  its  having  been  chosen,  even  so 
late  as  the  fifteenth  century,  as  a  safe  retreat  for  the  young 
sons  of  the,  so  called,  "  Butcher  "  Clifford  ;  the  eldest  of 
whom  became  known  as  the  "Shepherd  Lord."  The 
manor  gave  its  name  to  the  family  of  its  Lords,  and  as  it 
is  the  only  place  so  called,  we  are  warranted  in  the  con- 
clusion, that  wherever  we  find  an  individual  of  that  name 
he  sprang  from  that  ancient  house. 

How  the  Lords  of  Threlkeld  became  also  Lords  cf 
Yanwath,  or  a  portion  of  it,  or  landowners  in  Crosby 
Ravensworth,  we  are  yet  ignorant  ;  but  Threlkeld  was  a 
mesne  manor  of  the  Barony  of  Greystoke ;  and  Yanwath 
was  held  by  the  Greystokes  under  the  Cliffords,  Lords  of 
the  Barony  of  Westmorland  ;  and,  in  the  long  chain  of 
feudal  dependency,  the  Threlkelds  held  that  manor,  or  a 
portion  of  it,  under  the  Greystokes,  as  they  did  their  lands 
at  Crosby  Ravensworth,  and  as  they  continued  to  do  under 
the  Dacres,  one  of  whom  had  married  the  heiress  of  the 
Greystokes.  At  Crosby  Ravensworth  they  appear  to  have 
been  closely  associated  with  the  family  of  Hastings.    The 

Threlkeld 


39iAmr££  of  tlj£  Sljrflklis  of  tijrclhrii).  OTuntbtrlanii,  of  IJanlnatlj  %'t  (llrosbii  llaUmstoortlj.  flltstmrrlanii,  xl-  of  tljc  flirclkdiis  of  (gstljorpt,  ^orhsljiri:  &  |3m5l)£r,  Durham. 


la«J  J..  lojM,  .480, 


«..u..c::. 


'■—  ^ 

btfoteD<«.S.is 

u=W,tl.A«  H.IK 

AS"«.'""p""S;"=°i' 

■-^-^ 

X'sii 

'"^IVH-'t" 

r 

"""■ 

--■--js: 

t^S^ 

"S 

TIIRELKELDS   OI"   WESTMORLAND.  299 

Thrclkeld  arms  seem  to  point  to  a  connection  with  that 
ancient  family  ;  for,  whereas  the  arms  of  Hastings  are, 
sable,  a  maunch  argent,  the  Threlkelds  bore  argent,  a 
maunch  gules;  and  it  is  worthy  of  note  that  William  de 
Threlkeld,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  bore  a  maunch,  in 
chief  six  annulets,  as  is  evidenced  on  two  of  his  seals  here- 
after to  be  quoted  ;  the  annulets  no  doubt  referring  to  the 
original  dependency  on  the  Viponts,  first  holders  of  the 
Barony  of  Westmorland,  from  whom  the  Cliffords  acquired. 
Genealogy  is  a  science  in  which  it  is  impossible  to 
secure,  even  at  the  best,  a  perfectly  satisfactory  result,  and 
as  the  heart  alone  knoweth  its  own  bitterness,  so  the 
labourer  in  that  field  the  most  deeply  feels  his  own  failures. 
In  this  special  instance,  after  more  than  usual  investiga- 
tion I  have  to  lament  that  I  have  attained  even  less  than 
an  usual  modicum  of  success.  True,  I  have  been  able  to 
add  a  good  many  facts,  as  Mr.  Gradgrind  would  say,  to  the 
scanty  notices  given  in  Nicolson  and  Burn's  history,  and 
elsewhere  in  print,  but  I  have  been  unable  to  rivet  the 
links  of  the  chain  further  back  than  the  middle  of  the 
fourteenth  century;  other  workers  may,  I  hope,  by  future 
labours  be  enabled  to  weld  their  o^vn  discoveries  and  my 
fragments  into  a  substantial  addition  to  the  pedigree  sheet 
which  I  have  compiled.  I  have  determined  to  arrange  all 
the  notices  of  the  Yanwath  stem  that  I  have  succeeded  in 
gathering  in  chronological  order,  and,  where  necessary,  to 
translate  the  original  records  rather  than  to  place  them  as 
footnotes. 

Henry  de  Threlkeld         is  said  to  have  been  Sheriff  of  Westmoreland. 
20  Edw'i  I  (1292).  He  probabl)'  was  under  Sheriff  at  this  time, 

when  the  office  of  hereditary  Sheriff  was 
jointly  held  by  Isabella  de  Clifford  and  Idonea 
de  Leybourn  as  coheiresses  of  their  father 
Robert  de  Veteripont. 

Nicolson    and    Burn's    Hist^'   of    Wesf^ 
and  Cumbfl  \'o].  i.,  pp.  273  and  610. 

Henry 


300         THRELKELDS  OF  WESTMORLAND. 

Henry  Threlkeld  had   a  grant    of   Free  Warren    at  Yanwath, 

32  Edvvd  I  (1304).  Crosby  Ravensworth,  Tebay  &  Rounthwaite. 

N.  &  B.  Vol.  i.,  pp.  492  &  498. 

Willilm  Thurkild  Abbas  de  Sancto  Albano  Inq.  ad  quod  dam- 

33  Edwd  I  (1304-5).         num  de  tenementis  adquisitis  de  Roesia  quas 

fuit  uxor  Willielmi  Thurkild. 

Calendarium  Genealogicum  p.  128. 

Emma  Threlkeld  was  wife  of  Robert  de  Newbiggin.     They  had 

10  Edwd  II  (1316-7).  a  daughter  and  heiress  Emma,  who  married 
Robert  de  Crackantliorpe. 

N.  &  B.  Vol.  i.,  p.  366. 

Henry  Threlkeld  had  a  repetition  of  the  Grant  of  Free  Warren 

13  Edwd  II  (1319-20).     at  Yanwath,  Crosby  Ravensworth,  Tebay  & 

Rounthwaite. 

N.  &  B.  Vol.  i.,  p.  498. 

Henry  Threlkeld  had  a  Grant  of  Free  Warren  at  Threlkeld, 

14  Edw'  II  (1320-1).       Cumb^,  &  Yavennith,  Crossby,  &c.,  West'\ 

Charter  Rolls,  14  Edw.  II,  Part  i,  No.  6. 

Robert  de  Threlkeld         Confirmation  by  John,   Bishop  of  Carlisle,  of 
8  Edwd  III  (1335).  Letters  Patent  of  Edw^  HI.,  granting  licence 

March  29.  to  Robert  de  Threlkeld  to  alienate  in  mort- 

main a  yearly  rent  of  74/7  in  Appleby  held  of 
the  King  by  yearl}'  service  of  2/10,  which 
service  is  called  Danegeld.to  a  chaplain  who 
shall  celebrate  for  his  soul  in  the  Church  of 
St.  Lawrence  at  Appleby.  The  Bishop  also 
recites  the  charter  of  foundation  of  the 
Chantry,  dated  Saturday  before  the  Feast  of 
St.  Gregory  (March  12th)  1335.  The  Con- 
firmation is  dated  at  Rose. 

His.  Man.  Com"  loth  Report,  Appendix 
Part  iv.,  Bagot  Papers,  p.  323. 

Robert  de  Threlkeld.  The  above  is  quoted  but  as  being  confirmed 
by  Bishop  Ross  4th  Edw^  III  (?)  and  the 
value  as  being  64/7  (?)  with  the  addition  "  As 
appears  by  Inquisition  taken  by  John  de 
Lowther  Escheator  General  in  the  Northern 
Parts.     Town  Chest  Appleby." 

N.  cS:  15.  Vol.  i.,  p.  32H. 
William 


TIIRELKELDS    OF    WRRTMORLAND.  3OI 

William  de  ThrelkcM  of  Westmoreland,  Had  Licence  to  impark  his 
10  Edw'i  III  (1336-7).      Woods  at  Crosby  Ravenswath. 

Patent  Rolls. 

John  de  Threlkeld  Commission  to  John   de  Levyngton,  S.P.P. 

12  Edvvd  III  (1338-9).  an  Augustinian  Friar  to  receive  the  vow  of 
March  24.  chastity    of    Christian,    widow    of    John    de 

Threlkeld. 

Reg.  John  de  Kirkby,  epis.  Carlisle,  208a. 

Testamenta  Eboracensia  Vol.  iv.,  p.  338. 

Sir  Henry  Threlkeld  A  dispute  arose  between  Sir  Henry  Threl- 
(134:).  keld,  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Threlkeld,  and  his 

lay  tenants  of  the  one  part,  and  the  Provost 
and  Canons  of  the  Collegiate  Church  of 
Greystoke  of  the  other  part,  respecting  the 
nomination  of  a  Curate  to  the  Chapel  at 
Threlkeld. 

N.  &  B.  Vol.  ii,  page  374. 

William  de  Threlkeld  sold  certain  burgages  in  the  town  of  Appleby 
15  Edw-^  III  (1341-2).  to  Sir  Robert  de  Clifford  Lord  of  Westm<i 
anno  15  Edw^  III.  and  sealed  with  a  manch 
charged  with  6  annulets  about  which  was 
wrt  S.  Willi,  de  Thirlkeld  not  Threlkeld  as 
we  write  it  now. 

Machell  MSS.  Vol.  vi.,  p.  721. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Sheriff  of  Cumberland  to  give  an  account  of 
30  Edw"^  III  (1356-7).      £-\o  with  which  he  had  to  repair  the  gates  of 
Carlisle. 

Communicated  by   Edw.   Bellasis,   Esq., 
Lancaster  Herald. 

Robert  de  Threlkeld  Bishop  Welton  made  a  confirmation  of  a 
1359.  grant  by  the  said  William  Lord  of  Greystoke 

to  one  master  and  six  chaplains,  Robert  de 
Threlkeld  being  one  of  the  latter. 

Jefferson's  Leath  Ward,  p.  351.. 

Robert  de  Threlkeld  appointed  to  the  Vicarage  of  Crosby  Ravens- 
136 1.  worth  CO.  Westmerland  by  Abbot  &  Convent 

of  Whitby.     He  died  1362. 

N.  &  B.  Vol.  i.,  p.  496. 
William 


302  THRELKELDS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Grant  from  the  King  to  William  de  There- 
35  Edvv-d  III  (1361-2).      kilde    in    fee    of  the   manor  of  Dighton,  co. 
York. 

Patent  Rolls,  35  Edw'i  III. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Grants    to    Henr}'    de    Threlkeld    and   John 

37  Edw''  III  (1363).  Wadesly   (former   his  son)  all  his  lands    in 
10  March.                          Yanonwith  which  his  sister  Isabel  de  Thurj'n- 

ham  held  for  her  life.  Inter  testes,  Sir  Hugh 
de  Lowther  the  son.  Perfect  seal,  I  think  a 
maunch  with  a  chief. 

Lowther  Papers. 

William  de  Threlkeld      John  de    Crofton   for  William    de  Threlkeld 

38  EdwJ  III  (1364-5).      and    Catherine    his    wife.     Ullesby    Manor, 

Cumbd. 

Chancery  Series,  Inq.  ad  quod  damnum 
2nd  numbers.  No.  38. 

Robert  de  Threlkeld         William    son    of   Robert    de    Threlkeld    was 
(1366).  instituted  on  a   presentation  by  King  Edw^ 

III.,  in  right  of  his  ward  Ralph  Lord  Grey- 
stock,  to  the  Rectory  of  Dufton,  Westmerland. 
N.  &  B.  Vol.  i.,  p.  358. 

William  de  Threlkeld      paid  a  relief  for  the  moiety  of  Eanwath  which 
40  Edw<^  III  (1366-7).      he  held  of  the  Barony  of  Graystock. 

N.  di  B.  \'ol.  i.,  p.  412. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Release    by    W'"    de    Threlkeld    Knt    to    the 
42  Edw'  III  (1368-9).      Abbot  and  Convent  of  Byland  of  all  his  right 
in  certain  lands  in  Bretherdale. 

His.  Man.  Com".  loth  Report,  Appendix, 
Part  iv.     Bagot  Papers,  p.  323. 

William  dc  Threlkeld  IMiles,  Executor  with  Henry  de  Threlkeld  and 
40-1  Edwd  III  (1368).  John  de  Dent  to  Will  of  Henry  de  Threlkeld. 
Prov.  June  13,  London.  Names  his  wife  Idonea.  Bequeathes  20  marks 
Prov.  June  22,  Rose.  to  poor  of  Helton  and  Yanewith.  Will  in 
Norman  French. 

Communicated     by     E.    Bcllasis,     Esq., 
Lancaster  Herald. 

William 


TIIRELKELDS    OF    WESTMORLAND.  3G3 

William  dc  Threlkcld  Inq.  taken  at  Penrith  co.  Cumb<i  Monday 
46  Edw'J  III  (?)  (1372).  next  after  Feast  of  St.  Valentine,  (Monday 
Feb.  following  Feb,  14),  after  the  death  of  V/illiam 

de  Threlkeld  Chivaler  dec'l  Seized  jointly  with 
Katherine  his  wife  &  William  their  son  of  2 
parts  of  a  moiety  of  the  manor  Uliesby  of 
the  grant  of  John  de  Crosseton  (Crofton  ?). 
Seized  also  in  his  demesne  as  of  fee  of  the 
manor  of  Threlkeld  with  the  appurtenances. 
He  died  Thursday  next  after  the  Feast  of  St. 
Luke  the  Evangelist  last  past,  (Thursday 
following  18  Oct.  1371),  and  William  son  of 
John  son  of  the  said  William  de  Threlkeld  is 
his  next  heir  and  is  aged  24  and  more. 

Inq.  P.M.  Chancery  Series,  46  Edw''  III. 
No.  65. 

Henry  de  Threlkeld  Fine  levied  in  the  Octave  of  Saint  Michael 

49  Edw'i  III  (1376).  between    Henry   de   Threlkeld    complainant 

Oct.  6.  and  Thomas  Taillor  and  Margaret  his  wife 

deforciants  of  3  messuages  6  acres  of  meadow 
i^  acre  of  wood  &  the  3rd  part  of  i  messuage 
with  the  appurtenances  in  Great  Stykeland 
consideration  100  marks. 

Cumbd  &  Westm<i  Feet  of  Fines. 
Ordinary  Series.    Westm'^  No.  48. 

William  de  Threlkcld      Release  by  William  de  Threlkeld  Knight  son 

2  Rich.  II  (1379).  and  heir  of  John  de  Threlkeld  to  the  Abbot 
April  18.  and  Convent  of   Byland  of   all    his  right  in 

certain  lands  in  Bretherdale  usurped  by  his 
grandfather  William  de  Threlkeld  within  the 
bounds  assigned  by  Henry  late  King  of 
England  &c. 

His.  Man.  Com"  Tenth  Report,  Appendix, 
Part  iv.,  p.  323.     Bagot  Papers. 

Henry  de  Threlkeld         Fine  levied  in  three  weeks  from  St.  Michaels 

3  Rich.  II  (1379).  day  between  Robert  Matthewson  of  Morland 
Oct.  20.  Chaplain,  William  de  Thorneburgh,  Hugh  de 

Salkeld  and  Thomas  Lighclop,  complainants, 
and  Henry  de  Threlkeld  and  Johan  his  wife 
deforciants  of  2  messuages  100  acres  of  land 

16 


304  THRELKIiLDS    OF    WESTMORLAND. 

16  acres  of  meadow  and  S  acres  of  wood, 
with  the  appurtenances  in  Great  Stirkeland 
consideration  100  marks. 

Cumb'^  &  Westmfl  Feet  of  Fines. 

Ordinary  series,  Westm^  No.  2. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Ricardusde  Redman  son  and  heir  of  Matthew 
1390.  de  Redman  confirms  a  Charter  of  the  said 

Matthew,  William  de  Threlkeld  a  witness. 

Duchetiana  by  Sir  G.  Duckett,  p.  213. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Knight  of  the  Shire  for  Cumberland. 

13  Rich.  II  (1389-90).  N.  &.  B.  Lists  of  Knights  of  the  Shire. 

William  de  Threlkeld      Inq.   taken   at   Penreth   co.  Cumb^   Tuesday 
of  Ullesb}'.  next  before  Feast  of  the  Annunciation  of  the 

2  Hen^  IV  (1401).  Blessed  Mary  (25th   March,  1401),  after  the 

death  of  William  Threlkeld  of  UUesby.  Died 
seized  to  him  and  his  heirs  male  of  2  parts 
of  a  moiety  of  the  Manor  of  Ullesby  with  the 
appurtenances  of  the  gift  &  grant  of  John 
Croston  (Crofton  ?).  If  he  died  s.p.m.  the 
said  two  parts  to  go  to  the  right  heirs  of 
William  de  Threlkeld  Knt,  his  father.  He 
died  Nov.  3  last,  without  heirs  male  and 
William  de  Threlkeld  of  Crosby,  Chivaler,  is 
his  cousin  &  next  heir,  viz.,  son  of  John  son 
of  the  said  William  the  father  and  is  aged 
40  and  more. 

Inq.    P.M.   Chancery   Series,   Hen.    IV. 
No.  i5. 

William  de  Threlkeld      of  Crosby  Knt.  cousin  and  heir  of  William 

5  Hen.  IV  (1403-4).  Threlkeld   Knt.  father  of  William  Threlkeld 

of  Ulvesbye  son  of  John  son  of  William  paid 

his  relief  for  two  parts  of  the  moiety  of  the 

manor  of  Ulvesbye. 

N.  &  V>.  Vol.  i.,  p.  498. 

William  de  Threlkeld       Inq.  taken  at  Appilby  co.  WesfJ  Monday  next 

TO  lien.  IV  (1409).  after  the    Feast  of  the    Assumption    of  the 

Blessed  Mary  (15  Aug.  1409),  after  the  death 

of   William    Threlkeld,   Chivaler,    deceased. 

Seized 


TllKELKLLDS    Ol'    WESTMOKLAND.  J05 

Seized  in  fee  of  the  Manor  of  Crosby  ravenes- 
wath  with  the  appurtenances  in  co.  West- 
moreland, seized  also  jointly  enfeoffed  with 
Margaret  late  his  wife  deceased  to  them  the 
heirs  of  their  bodies  of  the  3rd  part  of  the 
Manor  of  Yanwith  with  the  appurtenances 
in  said  County.  Said  William  and  Margaret 
had  issue  two  daughters  viz.,  Margaret  wife 
of  John  de  Lancaster,  chivaler,  and  Elizabeth 
wife  of  William  Lancaster  of  Yanwith,  which 
John  de  Lancaster  and  Margaret  his  wife  and 
William  de  Lancaster  and  Elizabeth  his  wife 
immediately  after  the  death  of  the  said 
William  Threlkeld  chivaler  entered  upon  the 
said  third  part  of  the  manor  of  Yanwyth  &c., 
and  are  aged  24  and  more.  William  Threl- 
keld died  on  Feast  of  the  Conception  of  the 
blessed  Mary  10  Hen.  IV.,  (8  Dec''  1408), 
and  Henry  Threlkeld  is  his  son  and  next  heir 
and  is  aged  13  and  more. 

Inq.  P.M.  Chancery  Series,  10  Hen.  IV., 

No.  14. 

Henry  Threlkeld  Inq.  taken  at  Penreth  co.  Cumb'^  to  prove  the 

7  Hen.  V  (1420).  age    of   Henry   Threlkeld    son    and    heir   of 

Oct.  28.  William    Threlkeld  chivaler  dec^.     He  was 

born  at  Threlkeld  in  the  said  C°  on  the  Feast 
of  St,  Michael  and  was  baptized  in  the  church 
there  on  the  same  day.  He  was  aged  21  on 
the  Feast  of  St.  Michael  last.  William 
Threlkeld  aged  60  one  of  the  witnesses. 

Inq.  P.M.  Chancery  Series,  7  Hen.  V., 
No.  84. 

Henry  Threlkeld  This  Indenture  made  at  Crosby  Ravenswath 

7  Hen.  V  (1420).  in  the  County  of  Westm'^  and  on  Martenmas 

Nov'  II.  day  in  November  in  the  seventh  year  of  the 

reign  of  King  Henry  the  Fifth  after  the 
Conquest  of  England  Witnesseth  that  I  John 
Milthorp  subestraetor  of  Will"'  de  Beaulieux 
estraetor  of  our  said  Lord  the  King  in  the 
Counties  of  Cumb^^  &  West*^'  by  virtue  of  a 
Writ  of  the  King  directed  to  the  same 
estraetor  (the  fealty  of  Henry  Threlkeld  son 

and 


306         THRELKELUS  OF  WESTMORLAND. 

and  heir  of  William  Threlkcld  Kniijht 
deceased  contained  in  the  said  enclosed  Writ 
being  first  taken)  have  made  full  seisin  to  the 
same  Henry  Threlkeld  on  the  day  of  the 
execution  of  these  presents  of  all  the  lands 
and  tenements  with  their  appurtenances  of 
which  the  aforesaid  William  son  of  the  same 
Henry  Threlkeld  was  seized  in  his  lordship 
as  of  Fee  in  the  Counties  aforesaid  on  the 
day  on  which  he  died  and  which  by  the  death 
of  the  same  William  Threlkeld  and  by  reason 
of  the  minority  of  the  aforesaid  Henry  Threl- 
keld were  taken  into  the  hands  of  the  Lord 
Henry  lately  King  of  England  father  of  our 
Lord  Henry  the  King  who  now  is  the  rights 
of  each  being  preserved  as  the  tenour  of  the 
said  Writ  of  the  King  in  the  matter  demands 
and  requires.  In  testimony  whereof  I  the 
aforesaid  John  Milthorpp  subestraetor  have 
affixed  my  seal  to  the  one  part  of  the 
Indenture  remaining  in  the  hand  of  the  above- 
said  estraetor  the  aforesaid  Henry  Threlkeld 
has  affixed  his  own  seal  given  at  the  place 
day  and  year  aforesaid. 

Communicated  by  Edw^  Bellasis,  Esq., 

Lancaster  Herald. 

Henry  de  Thirkeld  Fine  levied  in  three  weeks  from  St.  Michael's 

4  Hen.  VI  (1425).  day   between    William     de    Stapulton    jun' 

Oct.  zo.  Thomas  de  Burham  and  John  Hankyn  elk, 

complainants  and  Henry  de  Thirkeld  chivaler 
and  Margaret  his  wife  deforciants  of  20 
messuages  200  acres  of  land  80  acres  of 
meadow  10  acres  of  wood  and  20/-  rent  with 
the  appurtenances  in  Ullesby  consideration 
300  marks. 

Cumb''  &.  Westm'i  Feet  of  Fines,  Cumb^. 

Sir  Henry  Threlkeld        bought  from  Sir  John  de  Lancaster  of  How- 
6  Hen.  VI  (1427-8).  gill's    four    daughters    and    coheiresses     in 

consideration  /"20  each  the  Lancaster  moiety 
of  Yanwath. 

N.  &,  li.  Vol.  i.,  p.  413. 
Sir 


THRRLKELDS  OP  WESTMORLAND,         307 

Sir  Henrj'  Thrclkeld        Indented  Articles  in  Knj^lish  made  at  Amote- 
23  Hen.  VI  (14441.  brige    in    Cumlaerland    between    Sir    Henry 

May  18.  Threlkeld  and  Sir  Thomas    Strickland  con- 

cerning the  Government  of  Lancelot  son  to 
Sir  Henry  and  for  reconciling  him  to  his 
father. 

Communicated  by  Edw'   l-$ellasis,  l-^sq., 
Lancaster  Herald. 

Henry  Threlkeld,  Knt.     I-'ine    levied    in    the    Octave   of  St.    Martin 
25  Hen.  VI  (1446).  (Nov.    18)    between    Roger   Crofte    Vicar   of 

Nov.  18.  Crosseby  ravenswath  co.  West''  complainant 

and  Henry  Threlkeld  Knt.  and  Alice  his  wife 
deforciants  of  a  mediety  of  the  Manor  of 
Yanwyth  with  the  appurtenances  in  co. 
Westm.  Also  of  4  messuages  160  acres  of 
land  60  acres  of  meadow  200  acres  of  pasture 
and  10  acres  of  wood  with  the  appurtenances 
in  Threlkeld  co.  Cumberland. 

Feet  of  Fines  Divers  Counties. 

Lancelot  Threlkeld  It  was  found  that  Ralph  Baron  of  Graystock 

31  Hen.  VI  (1452-3).        held  of  the  Lord  Thomas  de  Clifford  sundry 

Manors  and  amongst  them  Yanwith  and  that 

Lancelot  Threlkeld  held  Yanwith  of  the  said 

Ralph. 

N.  &  B.  Vol.  i.,  p.  356. 

Lancelot  Threlkeld  Release  from  John  de  Threlkeld  to  his  brother 

34  Hen.  \T  (1455).  Lancelot  of  all  his  right  in  a  moiety  of  the 

Manor  of  Yanwith  except  so  much  land  as 

shall  be  worth  20/-  yearly.     Dated   Friday 

next  after  St.  Katherines,  34  Hen.  VI. 

Lowther  Papers. 

Robert  Threlkeld  Inq.  concerning  the  foundation  of  a  Chantry 

7  Kdw'i  IV  ( 1467-8).         at  Appleby  co.  West''. 

Inq.  P.M.  &c.,  Chancery  Series,  No.  54. 

Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld    Inq.    taken    at    Keterying   co.   Northampton 
9  Edw'^  IV  (1470).  after  the  death  of  Sir  Henry  Bromflete  Knt, 

June  28,  Lord  Vessy  (date  of  death  illegible).  Margaret 

wife 


308         THRELKELDS  OF  WESTMORLAND. 

wife  of  Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld  Knt.  is  his 
daughter  and  next  heir  and  is  aged  26  and 
more. 

Chancery  Inq.  P.M.  8  (?)  Edw'i  IV.,  No. 

37- 

Lancelot  Thirkyld  Plaintiff  and  John  Flemyng  defendant.     Out- 

7  Hen.  VII  (1491-2).         1  awry  on  a  recognizance  for  debt.     Plaintift 

took  the  issues  and  profits  of  certain  lands 

that  were    late  of  Sir  Richard    Huddelston 

which  he  received  in  right  of  his  wife. 

Duchy  of  Lancaster  Pleadings.  Vol.  ii., 
T  5- 

Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld    Knt.  Sheriff  of  Cumberland. 

7&  8  Hen.  VII  (1492-3).  MS.  List  of  Sherifts.     Pub.  Rec^  Office. 

Inq.  (record  in  bad  condition)  taken  after  the 
10  Hen.  VII  (1494).  death  of  Sir  John  Hudylston  Knt.  dec^. 
Oct.  28.  Richard     Hudylston     son     of  Sir     Richard 

Hudylston  Knt.  son  of  the  said  Sir  John 
Hudylston  is  his  cousin  and  next  heir  and 
was  aged  17  on  the  Feast  of  St.  Katherine 
the  Virgin  last  past  (25  Nov). 

Chancery  Inq.  P.M.  Cumb''.  10  Hen.  VII. 
No.  4. 

On  a  marble  slab  fixed  in  the  south  wall  of 
July  26.     (1499).  the  chancel  of  Penrith  church,  charged  with 

the  arms  of  Moresby,  a  cross,  in  the  first 
quarter  a  cinque  foil,  is  the  following  inscrip- 
tion :  Hie  jacet  Christophorus  Moresby  Miles, 
qui  obiit  26  die  Mensis  Julii  A.D.  MCCCCL- 
XXXXIX  Jesu  Mc^-. 

Jefferson's  Leath  Ward,  p.  51. 

Inq.  taken  at  Durham  Monday  16  Dec''  6th 
Dec.  16.     (I499)-  Bishop   Fox    (1499)    after   the   death    of  Sir 

Christopher  Moresby,  Knt.  He  died  25  July 
last  and  Ann  Pickering  is  his  daughter  and 
next  heir  and  is  aged  30  and  more. 

Durham  Inq.  P.M.  Portf.  169,  No.  46. 

Sir 


THRELKELDS    OP    \VEST\fORLANr).  309 

Sir  Lancelot  Thyikyil     One  of  the   Knights  of  the   l^ath  created  at 
17  Hen.  VII  (15011.         the  marriage  of  Arthur  Prince  of  Wales. 
Nov.  17.  I^eatson's  Political  Index,  Part  2,  p.  105. 

Sir  Lancelot  Thyrkeld  Inq.  taken  at  Caldbecke  co.  Cumb''  g  June 
14  &  17  Hen.  VII.  17  Hen.  7  (1502)  after  the  death  of  Margaret 

(149S1  &  (1502I.  Hudelston  widow  deceased.  Seised  of  manors 

of  Blennerhasset  and  Upmanby  in  said  c°  and 
lands  in  Penreth  and  Caldegate  next  Carlisle 
in  said  c".  She  died  17  Oct.  14  Hen.  VII 
(149S)  and  Richard  Hudelston  is  her  son  and 
next  heir  and  is  aged  21  and  more.  Sir 
Lancelot  Thyrkeld  Knt,  occupied  and  received 
the  issues  and  profits  of  the  said  Manors  &c., 
from  the  said  17  Oct.  14  Hen.  VII  to  the 
Feast  of  St.  Martin  m  hyeme  (11  Nov.)  17 
Hen.  VII  (1502)  and  the  said  Richard 
Hudelston  occupied  and  received  the  issues 
of  the  same  from  the  said  Feast  of  St.  Martin 
to  the  date  of  this  Inq. 

Inq.  P.M.  Chancery  Series,  19  Hen.  VII. 
No.  86. 

Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld  Escorted  Margaret  to  Scotland  to  be  married 
18  Hen.  VII  (1503).         to  James  IV.  of  Scotland. 

Sir  Lancelot  Trikkeld  Special  Pardon  and  release  to  Sir  Lancelot 
21  Hen.  VII  (1506).  Trikkeld  Knt.  of  Yanwith  c"  Westm.  late 
May  5.  Sheriff  of  Cumberland   of  all  matters    con- 

nected with  his  said  office  and  of  all  entries 
on  the  manors  of  Blenerhasset  and  Upmanby 
c"  Cumb  and  on  all  lands  &c.  in  those  places 
and  in  Carlisle  &  Penrith  in  same  c°  Amot- 
brige  c"  Westm.  &  Egilthorp  Barnyngham 
Bows  Bolron  (?)  &  Lartyngton  c°  York  lately 
the  inheritance  of  Margaret  wife  of  the  said 
Lancelot  deceased  and  in  the  King's  hands 
by  the  minority  of  Richard  Huddilston  her 
son  Sc  heir. 

Patent  Rolls,  21  Hen.  VII.  Part  3,  mem, 
22. 

Sir 


310  THRELKELDS  OF  WESTMORLAND. 

Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld   Partition  Deed  of  the  Estates  of  the  late  Sir 
3  Hen.  VIII  (1512).  Lancelot  Threlkeld  between  Thomas  Dudley 

and  Grace  his  wjf  one  of  the  doughters  and 
Heyrs  of  Lancelote  Threlkeld  Knyght  of  the 
one  Part  and  James  Pykeryng  and  Wynefride 
his  wyf  Another  of  the  doughters  of  the 
second  part  and  Willm  Pykeryng  and  Wyne- 
fride his  wyf  another  of  the  doughters  of  the 
third  part. 

Lowther  Papers. 

Inq.  taken  at  Kingston  on  Hull  after  the 
10  Hen.  VIII  (151.S).  death  of  Sir  Brian  Stapleton  of  Wighall  Knt, 
Oct.  28.  dec*!.     Wife  Joan  (iiec  Threlkeld)  mentioned- 

He  died  18  Sept.  last  &  Christopher  Stapilton 
is  his  son  and  next  heir  and  is  aged  33  and 
more. 

Chancery  Inq.  P.M.  10  Hen.  VIII.  No. 
50. 

Little  is  known  of  the  personal  or  domestic  history  of 
the  family,  and  that  little  commences  with  the  first  Sir 
Lancelot.  He  seems  to  have  been,  at  one  time,  at  vari- 
ance with  his  father,  but  the  cause  of  this  does  not  appear. 
He  married  Margaret,  the  only  child  and  heiress  of  Henry 
Bromflete,  Lord  Vescy,  and  widow  of  John,  Lord  Clifford, 
who  fell  at  Ferry  Bridge,  in  1461,  at  the  early  age  of 
twenty-six,  and  from  the  terms  of  Inq.  P.M.,  held  on  Lord 
Vescy  in  1470,  Margaret,  then  the  wife  of  Sir  Lancelot 
Threlkeld,  must  have  been  very  young,  although  the 
mother  of  two  children,  at  the  death  of  her  first  husband. 
If  she  brought  an  accession  of  fortune  and  of  consequence 
to  her  second  lord  it  was  not  unaccompanied  by  care,  for 
her  sons  had  to  be  secreted  from  the  vengeance  of  the 
Yorkist  faction.  Lord  Clifford  having  incurred  their  special 
hatred  by  slaying  the  young  Earl  of  Rutland,  whom 
they  always  described  as  a  child  compared  with  his  adver- 
sary, whereas  there  was,  after  all,  no  great  disparity  of 
age  between  the  two. 

That 


THKliLKELDS    01'    WESTMORLAND.  3H 

That  Sir  Lancelot  strove  not  unsuccessfully  to  preserve 
the  lives  of  his  stepsons,  the  not  unworthy  words  of 
Wordsworth  bear  record— 

"  Give  Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld  praise, 
Hear  it  good  man  old  in  days, 
Thou  tree  of  covert  and  of  rest 
For  this  young  bird  that  was  distrest ; 
Among  thy  branches  safe  he  lay, 
And  he  was  free  to  sport  and  play 
When  falcons  were  abroad  for  prey." 

It  is  a  curious  fact,  which  one  cannot  help  associating; 
with  Sir  Lancelot  and  the  concealment  of  the  young 
Cliffords,  that  there  is  a  secret  chamber  or  nook  at  Yan- 
wath  Hall,  only  discovered  within  the  last  few  years. 
Sir  Lancelot  had  three  sons ;  Lancelot  his  successor, 
James  or  John,  of  whom  nothing  seems  to  be  known, 
and  Christopher,  of  whom  more  hereafter.  He  had  also 
four  daughters ;  Margaret,  who  married  Sir  Christopher 
Moresby ;  Johan,  who  became  the  wife  of  Sir  Brian 
Stapleton ;  Anne,  who  married  Sir  Hugh  Lowther  ;  and 
Elizabeth.  Sir  Lancelot  probably  died  before  1492.  He 
was  buried  in  Crosby  Ravensworth  church,  where  the 
Arms  of  Threlkeld,  impaling  the  cross  of  the  Vescys  and 
the  bend  fleury  of  the  Bromfletes  in  a  manner  not  strictly  in 
accordance  with  the  rules  of  heraldry,  may  be  seen  on  the 
massive  tomb,  in  the  vault  beneath  which,  Sept.  20,  1745, 
was  also  laid  Robert  Lowther,  the  eccentric  and  tyrannical 
father  of  the  sole  Earl  of  Lonsdale  of  the  first  creation, 
who,  in  both  characteristics  far  exceeded  the  paternal 
example. 

His  wife  no  doubt  survived  him,  for  she  died  at  her 
ancestral  estate  in  Londesborough,  April  14,  1493. 

The  eldest  son  of  Sir  Lancelot,  and  the  second  of  that 
name,  married  firstly,  Elyn  Radclyffe,  as  I  find  briefly 
stated  in  a  pedigree  attached  to  my  papers  on  the  Lowther 

House, 


312  THKELKliLDS    OF    WEiSTMORLAND. 

House,  in  Penrith.  Writing  at  Naples,  without  being 
able  to  refer  to  my  authority,  I  cannot  give  my  proofs, 
but  I  am  sure  the  statement  is  correct.  I  think  she 
would  be  the  mother  of  his  children.  His  second  mar- 
riage was,  like  his  father's,  calculated  to  bring  eclat  and  a 
good  dowry  to  his  house,  for  Margaret  was  the  illegitimate 
daughter  of  Richard  Neville,  the  great  Earl  of  Warwick, 
and  widow  of  Richard  Hudleston,  K.B.,  eldest  son  of 
Sir  John  Hudleston,  of  iNIillom,  whom  he  predeceased. 
By  Sir  Richard  she  had  a  son  and  two  daughters.  Sir 
Lancelot  was  created  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  at  the  mar- 
riage of  Arthur,  Prince  of  Wales,  in  1501  ;  he  was  also 
one  of  the  escort  of  the  Princess  Margaret  when  she 
w^ent  to  Scotland  to  marry  King  James  the  IV.  of  that 
kingdom.  I  am  unable  to  state  when  he  or  his  second 
wife  died,  or  where  they  were  buried  ;  but  he  was  dead 
before  1513,  the  date  of  the  partition  deed  of  his  estate 
amongst  his  three  daughters.  Elizabeth,  who  had 
married  James  Pickering",  took  Crosby  Ravensworth  ; 
Winifred,  who  married  William  Pickering,  the  brother  of 
James,  (both  younger  sons  of  Anne,  the  heiress  of  Sir 
Christopher  Moresby  by  their  aunt  Margaret  Threlkeld, 
which  Anne  had  married  Sir  James  Pickering  of  Killing- 
ton  and  Winderwath,)  took  Threlkeld  ;  and  Grace,  the 
eldest  daughter,  whom  Dugdale  and  some  other  genealo- 
gists erroneously  call  Sarah,  brought  her  husband,  Thomas 
Dudley,  the  beautiful  domain  of  Yanwath,  the  descent 
of  which  I  propose  to  follow  till  it  became  merged  in  the 
wide-sprea  ling  possessions  of  the  Lowther  family. 

I  forbear  attempting  to  connect  any  special  members  of 
the  family  of  Threlkeld  with  the  various  dates  at  which 
Yanwath  Hall  was  built,  added  to,  or  altered.  The  able 
paper  by  Dr.  Taylor  in  the  hrst  Vol.  of  our  Transactions, 
gives  the  periods  approximately  from  the  Architectural 
features  ;  but  I  must  protest  against  the  statements  made 
in  Parker's  Domestic  Architecture,  Vol.  II,  p.  216,  where  it 

is 


TllKliLKliLDS    OF    WliSTMORLAN J;.  3I3 

is  asserted  that  "  the  original  structure  is  believed  to  have 
been  built  by  John  de  Sutton  who  married  Margaret,  heiress 
of  the  De  Somerie  family,  in  1322."  Now  the  Suttons 
or  Dudleys,  for  the  younger  branches  chose  to  take  the 
title  as  a  surname,  had  no  connection  with  Westmerland 
or  Cumberland  until  Edmund  Sutton,  eldest  son  of  John, 
4th  Baron  Dudley,  married  to  his  second  wife,  Maud 
daughter  of  Thomas,  8th  Baron  Clifford  (and  sister  of 
John,  gth  Lord,  first  husband  of  the  Bromflete  heiress), 
and  it  was  the  marriage  of  Thomas,  son  of  this  Edmund 
and  Maud,  with  Grace  Threlkeld  that  brought  about  the 
Yanwath  connection  soon  after  1500. 

I  have  no  wish  to  disparage  a  very  valuable  work,  but 
probably  this  utterly  baseless  assertion  was  foisted  upon 
the  unsuspecting  Parker  by  the  same  individual  who  led 
him  to  insert  a  statement  in  Vol.  II.  p.  225,  that  "in 
the  first  year  of  Edward  II,  Licences  were  granted  to 
Willelmus  de  Dacre  and  Richardus  le  Brun  to  crenellate 
their  houses,  both  described  as  situated  at  Dunmalloch, 
in  the  Marches  of  Cumberland,  (Dunmalloch  in  Mar- 
chibus).  There  seems  good  reason  to  believe  that  these 
two  houses  are  Dacre  Castle  and  Brougham  Hall,  which 
are  within  a  few  miles  of  each  other,  and  both  near  to  a 
hill  called  Dunmaloch."  There  is  no  reason  to  believe 
any  such  erroneous  assertion.  There  were  three  licences 
to  crenellate  granted  in  the  first  year  of  Edward  II. 
One  was  to  Robert  de  Tylliol  for  mansum  suum  at 
Scaleby  ;  another  to  Willelmus  de  Dacre  for  mansum 
suum  near  Dunmalloght,  which  refers  clearly  to  Dacre 
Castle ;  and  the  other  to  Richardus  le  Brun  for  mansum 
suum  at  Drombogh  which  is  undoubtedly  Drumbrugh, 
and  has  no  reference  whatever  to  Brougham  Hall  which, 
it  is  well  known,  has  every  claim  to  beauty  of  site  and 
architecture,  but  none  to  antiquity.  I  do  not  know  at 
what  degree  of  fortification  a  licence  to  crenellate  became 
necessary  ;  certainly  Pele  Towers  in  the  Border  districts 

were 


jI4  THRELKELDS  Ol'  WESTMORLAND. 

were  exempt;  but  Yanwath  had  a  fortitied  area,  and  was 
situated  at  a  most  important  ford,  and  yet  it  is  not 
amongst  those  enumerated  in  Parker's  List. 

With  regard  to  Threlkeld  Hall,  there  are  doubts  about 
its  actual  site,  the  very  stones  having  been  taken  away. 

The  Hall  of  Crosby  Ravensworth  still  stands,  though 
many  of  its  original  features  have  vanished  ;  enough, 
however,  I  think,  yet  remain  to  enable  a  well-qualified 
member  of  our  Society  to  give  us  an  interesting  article  on 
a  dwelling  in  which  Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld  took  great" 
delight ;  for,  in  the  oft-repeated  quotation,  he  was  wont  to 
say  he  had  "  three  noble  houses  ;  one  for  pleasure,  Crosby 
in  Westmorland,  where  he  had  a  park  full  of  deer ;  one 
for  profit  and  warmth,  wherein  to  reside  in  winter,  namely, 
Yanwith,  nigh  Penrith  ;  and  the  third,  Threlkeld,  well 
stocked  with  tenants  to  go  to  the  wars." 

Over  the  main  entrance  of  Crosby  Ravensworth  Hall 
are  eight  Coats  of  Arms  : 

I  St.      A  Lion  rampant,  for  Pickering. 

2nd.     3  Chaplets,  for  Lascells  of  Eskrigg. 

3rd.     A  Cross,  with  a  Cinquefoil  in  the  ist  quarter,  for  Moresby. 

4th.     Party  per  fess  6  Martlets,  counterchanged,  for  Fenwick. 

5th.     A  Lion  rampant,  debruised  with  a  bend,  for  Tilliol. 

6th.     A  Cross,  probably  for  Vesci  (?) 

7th.     A  Lion  rampant,  for  (?) 

8th.     A  Maunch,  for  Threlkeld. 

Crest  a  Paw  (?)  displayed. 

Supporters,  dexter  a  Lion,  sinister  a  Unicorn. 


The  singular  way  in  which  Crosby  Ravensworth  passed 
from  Sir  John  Lowther,  father  to  the  ist  Bart.,  who  had 
purchased  it  from  the  last  of  the  Pickerings,  and  ulti- 
mately reverted  to  the  house  of  Lowther,  is  worthy  of 
notice.  Sir  John  gave  it  as  a  marriage  portion  to  his 
daughter  Frances,  the  wife  of  John  Dodsworth ;  after 
several  transfers,  it  was  bought   by   Robert  Lowther,  a 

scion 


THRF.LKELDS   OI-    WESTMORLAND.  315 

scion  of  the  house,  whose  son  became,  on  failure  of  the 
stem,  the  head  of  the  family,  and  ever  since  it  has  formed 
a  portion  of  their  accumulated  estates. 

THE     TIIRELKELDS     OP     ESTIIORPE,     YORKSHIRE,     AND 
PENSHER,    DURHAM. 

Of  James  Threlkeld  (or  John,  as  he  is  called  in  the 
Rawlinson  Manuscript  Pedigree  in  the  Bodleian  Library), 
the  second  son  of  the  first  Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld  and 
his  wife  the  Vescy  heiress,  I  find  no  record  beyond  the 
doubtful  name. 

Christopher,  the  third  son,  married  Johan,  heiress  of 
John  Carliell,  and  acquired  with  her  estates  in  both  York- 
shire and  Durham,  and  their  male  line  was  continued,  as 
is  indicated  in  the  pedigree,  to  the  third  generation,  but 
I  find  nothing  to  characterize  these  descendants  indi- 
vidually. The  outline  of  life  sketched  by  Barrj-  Cornwall 
might  have  been  the  moan  of  this  offshoot  — 

"  We  are  born,  we  laugh,  we  weep, 

We  love,  we  droop,  we  die  ; 

Ah!  wherefore  do  we  laugh  or  weep  ? 

Wh}'  do  we  live  or  die  ? 

Who  knows  that  secret  deep  ? 

Alas  !  not  I." 

Christopher  Thirlkeld  Inq.  at  Bishop  Auckland  after  the  death  of 
4th  Bp.  Sherwood,  John  Carlile.     Johan  aged  21  wife  of  Chris- 

1486-7),  Jan.  10.  topher    Thirlkeld    is  his   daughter  and   next 

heir. 

Durham  Inq.  P.M. 

Christopher  Thyrkeld  Inq.  taken  at  the  Castle  of  York  after  the 
31  Hen.  VIII  (1539).  death  of  Christopher  Thyrkeld  Esq.  deed. 
Sept.  22.  Seized  of  property  in  Estrop  &c.     Son  Chris- 

topher married  or  to  marry  Josia  daughter  of 
Sir  William  Constable  of  Hatfield  Knt.  Wife 
Joan  dead.  He  died  6  Dec''  last  and  Chris- 
topher Thyrkeld  is  his  son  and  next  heir  and 
is  aged  42. 

Inq.  P.M..  No.  50,31  Hen.  VIII. 
Christopher 


3i6 


THRELKELDS  OF  WESTMORLAND. 


Christopher  Threlkeld 
3  &  4  Phil.  &  Mary. 
((1556).     Sept.  29. 


Inq.  taken  at  Holden  ?  co.  York,  after  the 
death  of  Christopher  Threlkeld  gent.  deed. 
Manor  of  Esthorpe  in  said  county  &c.,  &c. 
&c.  A  capital  messuage  &c.,  in  Touthorpe 
next  Lonesburgh  in  said  co.  now  in  the 
tenure  of  Josia  Threlkeld  widow.  Died  20 
Sept.  2  &  3  Ph,  &  M.  (1555),  and  Marmaduke 
Threlkeld  Esq.  is  his  son  and  next  heir  and 
is  and  was  at  the  death  of  his  said  father 
aged  24  and  more. 

Inq.  P.M.,  3  &  4  Ph.  &  M.,  Part  ii.,  No. 
43- 


Marmaduck  Thirkell 
June  4,  1566. 


Marmaduke  Thirkeld 
vSept.  19,  (1581). 


Will  of  Margaret  Hilton  of  Northe  Riddick 
Wedow,  dated  June  4,  1566.  "  I  will  yt  mj- 
sone  Marmaduck  Thirkell  &his  wife  Elizabeth 
&c.  shall  have  the  goverme't  of  my  said 
sonnes  &  daughters.  Item  I  give  to  Eliza- 
beth Thirkell  &  Joyes  Thirkell  to  eather  of 
them  one  silver  spone.  Michall  Constable 
and  Marmaduk  Thirkell  my  sonnes  in  law 
and  my  nephew  Anthony  Thomlinson 
supvisors." 

Surtees  Soc^'  ;  Durham  Wills.  \'ol.  i.,  p. 

265. 

Will  of  Robert  Hylton  of  Butterweyk  dated 
Sept.  19,  1581.  Proved  Oct.  27,  1581.  "  My 
sister  Elizabeth  Thirkelt  (wife  of  Marmaduke 
Thirkeld  of  Esthorpe  co.  York  and  Pensher 
CO.  Durham.)" 

Surtees  Soc^' ;  Durham  Wills.  Vol.  ii.,  p. 

39- 


Marmaduke  Threlkeld    Inq.  taken  at  Pocklington  co.  York  after  the 
35  Eliz.  (1593).  death  of   Marmaduke  Threlkeld  E.sq.  deed. 

Oct.  29.  Seized    of  the  Manor  of  Easthorpe    &c..  &c. 

By  Indenture  dated  20  June,  11  liliz.  (1569), 
(between  the  said  Marmaduke  Thirkeld  of 
Easthroppe  lisq.,  of  the  one  part  and  Anthony 
Langdaill  of  Santon  of  the  other  part)  it  was 
agreed  that  Richard  Langdaill  son  and  heir 
of  the    said    Anthony    and    Joyce    Thirlkeld 

daughter 


Trnci'LKF.i^ns  op  \vI':stmorlani). 


-i^l 


clau,i;htcr  of  llic  said  Marmaduke  should 
marry  together.  The  marriage  took  place 
and  they  had  issue  William  Langdaill  and 
are  both  dead.  Marmaduke  Thirkeld  died 
[0  March  last  and  William  Langdale  son  of 
the  said  Richard  by  the  said  Joyce  is  his 
next  heir  and  is  aged  i6. 

Inq.  P.M.,  //>  I':iiz.  Part  i.,  No.  104. 


(31-^) 


Art.  XXIII. — Tlie  Dudleys  of  Ynnwnth.     B}' W.  Jackson, 
F.S.A. 

Couununicntcd  at  Kirkhy  Stephen,  July  7,  1887. 

THE  family  of  Sutton  was  ancient,  and  when  John  de 
Sutton  married  Margaret,  sister  of  Roger  de  vSomerie, 
Lord  of  Dudley,  he  acquired  the  Barony,  which  if  not 
always  known  by  that  name  became  hereafter  recognized 
as  such. 

John,  4th  I>aron  Dudley  had  two  sons,  Edmund  and 
John.  The  latter  assumed  the  Baronial  title  as  a  surname 
and  was  the  patriarch  of  three  generations  who  exercised 
great  influence  not  only  upon  the  fortunes  of  their  own 
house  but  upon  our  national  history.  It  is,  however,  with 
his  elder  brother  and  his  descendants  that  we  are  now 
concerned.  Edmund  Sutton  married  twice,  and  his  son 
by  his  first  wife,  Edward,  succeeded  his  grandfather  as 
5th  Baron  Dudley  and  carried  on  the  line.  Edmund 
married  secondly,  Matilda,  daughter  of  Thomas,  8th  Baron 
Clifford.  This  union  led  to  a  still  closer  connection  with 
the  north  country,  for  Thomas,  their  eldest  son,  who,  like 
his  uncle,  assumed  the  name  of  Dudley  in  lieu  of  Sutton, 
became  the  husband  of  Grace,  one  of  the  three  coheiresses 
of  Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld,  of  Yanwath,  and  of  him  here- 
after. Alice,  sister  of  Thomas,  married  Sir  John  Ratcliffe, 
of  Derwentwater,  and  I  append  her  Will  because  it  contains 
matter  of  local  interest  irrespective  of  its  bearing  on  the 
Sutton  pedigree.  It  presents,  as  is  natural  from  its  date, 
a  curious  mi.xture  of  the  old  faith  and  the  new;  for,  whilst 
the  testatrix  acknowledges  the  royal  supremacy  in  church 
matters,  she  invokes  "  Our  Ladye  Seyntc  Mary  the  Virgyn 
and  all  holye  company  of  heavc-n,"  and  bequeaths  ''  Seaven 
score  "  pounds  of  moiuy  towards   "  fyndinge  a  preest  for 

to 


^  JPcMgrtt  of  tiji'  ]Elnmiln  of  X>uiiltn  of  "Yantoatli.  slioluing  aha  Dnmt  of  tbttr  matt  important  C(olliittials. 


1 r 


DUDLhVS    01'     VANWATII.  3I<J 

to  prayc  for  m\'  husbaiidc  Sir  John  Ralcliffc's  soulc 
Knif^nt  dccfascrl  my  soule  and  all  Christian  soulcs." 
Dorothy,  her  sister,  became  the  wife  of  Sir  John  Musgrave 
of  Musgrave  Hall,  or  Fairbank,  Penrith  ;  and  of  Richard 
Wrastley,  variously  written  Warstley,  Wortley  and 
Wrottesley,  by  both  (jf  whom  she  had  issue.  Jane,  another 
sister,  married  William  Middleton,  of  Stokeld.  There  were 
other  children  of  the  second  marriage  of  Edmund  Sutton, 
of  whom  no  further  notice  seems  necessary  beyond  that 
given  in  the  pedigree. 

Reverting  to  Thomas,  whose  marriage  with  Grace  Threl- 
keld  must  have  taken  place  before  December  8th,  1512, 
because  that  is  the  date  of  the  Partition  Deed''  by  which 
Yanwath  fell  to  his  wife's  share  of  her  father's  estate,  I  am 
not  able  to  furnish  any  information  regarding  him  additional 
to  a  fact  which  has  been  previously  stated,  that  he  was  one 
of  the  arbitrators  in  a  case  between  Guy  and  Hugh  Machell, 
May  20th,  28th  Hen.  VHI,  (1537).!  He  had  six  children, 
three  sons  and  three  daughters.  Richard  was  the  eldest, 
and  leaving  him  for  the  present  we  pass  on  to  John  the  next 
of  the  three  sons,  and  of  him  we  know  more  than  of  any 
other  members  of  the  family.  He  was,  it  appears,  in  the 
service  of  his  powerful  relative,  Robert,  Earl  of  Leicester, 
and  in  the  capacity  of  his  steward  probably  acquired  the 
great  wealth  which  he  undoubtedly  possessed.  He  married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  John  Gardiner  of  Grove  Place, 
Chalfont  St.  Giles,  Bucks,  and  by  her  had  an  only  child, 
x\nne,born  February  12th,  and  baptized  24th,  at  Newington, 
and  who  married  Sir  Francis  Popham.  His  Will,  which  is 
appended,  bears  date  March  20th,  1578.  He  died  December 
29th,  1580,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Stoke  Newing- 
ton, January  13th,  under  a  magnificent  monument,  which  is 
described,  and  the  inscription  given, in  Robinson's"  History 


*  Lowthcr  Papers. 

f  "  Machell  of  Crackenthoi pc."     Traiib.  Arch.  Socy.  Cumb.  and  West.  vol.  viii., 
p.  426. 

of 


320  DUDLEYS    OF    YANWATII. 

of  Stoke  Newington,"'  where  also  may  be  found  a  minutely 
detailed  account  of  the  expenditure  consequent  upon  his 
death,  to  which  I  refer  those  interested  ;  but  I  may  be 
permitted  to  state  here  that  the  funeral  expenses  amounted 
to  /"432  10  I.,  an  enormous  sum  in  those  days,  £"54  ot 
which  was  spent  on  the  "Funeral  baked  meats"  and 
drinks  alone.  Three  hundred  yards  of  mourning  cloth 
were  distributed  among  105  people  who  are  all  enumerated. 
Mr.  Thomas  Dudley  had  four  yards,  as  also  had  Mr. 
Anthony  Blencoe,  the  nephew  of  the  deceased,  and  the 
famous  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  his  cousin.  "  Robert  the  foote- 
man  "'  and  "  Nedd  the  foule  "  had  five  yards  between  them. 
Contrast  all  this  display  and  outlay  with  the  emphatic 
direction  of  the  Will,  "  I  will  that  my  burial  shal  be  done 
willfout  any  glorious  vaine  pornpe  or  shewe  to  the  worlde 
or  anye  greate  chardge  to  be  bestowed  in  or  aboutc  my 
funeralle,"  and  we  may  reasonabl}'  conjecture  whether  the 
dispute  that  certainly  did  arise  previous  to  the  proving  of 
the  will  between  the  widow  and  the  brothers  of  the 
deceased,  arose  out  of  what  we  may  fairly  deem  a  violation 
of  the  expressed  wish  of  the  testator.  About  two  years 
after  John  Dudley's  death,  his  widow,  Elizabeth,  married 
Thomas  Sutton,  who,  judging  from  the  name,  might  be  a 
relative  of  her  first  husband,  but  I  hnd  no  proof  of  such  a 
conjecture.  She  survived  till  1602,  and  on  June  17th  was 
interred  under  John  Dudle3''s  monument.  From  the  terms 
of  the  Will  of  the  latter  it  is  plain  that  this  marriage  added 
largely  to  Thomas  Sutton's  means,  and  therefore  he  was 
the  better  enabled  to  found  the  institution  of  the  Charter 
House,  and  yet  the  governing  body  of  that  wealthy  school 
declined  to  contribute  to  the  restoration  of  the  monument 
to  John  Dudley  and  his  wife  when  repairs  became,  in  1806, 
imperatively  necessary.  Their  ill  judged  parsimony  was, 
however,  redeemed  by  a  few  of  the  old  scholars. 

The  next  brother  I'homas,  whose  Will  dated  September 
1 6th,  1593,  and  proved  October  30th,  I   also  give  in  the 

appendix, 


DUDLEYS  OF  YANWATH.  ^21 

appendix,  is  likewise  stated  to  have  been  in  the  service  of 
the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and  this  is  rendered  probable  by  his 
having  property  in  Warwickshire.  From  the  terms  of  his 
Will  it  would  seem  doubtful  whether  his  nephew  Anthony 
Blencow,  who  subsequently  rose  to  be  Provost  of,  and  was 
benefactor  to.  Oriel  College,  Oxford,  would  benefit  much 
by  the  Will  being  altogether  in  his  favour. 

Of  the  three  daughters  of  Thomas  and  Grace  Dudley, 
Elizabeth  married  John  Allen,  of  Thaxted.  Lucy  was 
twice  married,  her  first  husband  being  Albany  Fether- 
stonhaugh  (shortened  to  Fetherston)  ;  the  names  of  their 
children  and  the  probable  order  of  their  births  are  given  in 
the  father's  Will,  dated  November  5th  1573,  and  therefore 
I  have  appended  tnem  in  the  pedigree,  and  added  Albonie, 
a  grandson,  from  the  Lowther  Register  :  Lucy  married 
secondly,  Gerard,  brother  of  Sir  Richard  Lowther,  and 
Gerard's  house  in  Penrith  has  been  described  in  our 
Transactions  by  Dr.  Taylor,  F.S.A.,  and  myself.  She 
was  buried  at  Penrith,  December  30th,  1596.  Winifred, 
the  third  daughter,  married  Anthony  Blenco  or  Blencow, 
of  Blencow,  and  by  him  had,  at  least,  three  children,  of 
whom  Anthony,  the  beneficiary  under  Thomas  Dudley's 
Will,  was  the  second. 

Returning  to  Richard,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas,  he 
married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Edmund  Sandford,  of  Ask- 
ham,  and  by  her  had  two  sons  and  four  daughters,  Edmund 
and  Robert,  Elizabeth,  Ann,  Jane,  and  Grace;  beyond  the 
names  of  these  daughters  I  know  nothing. 

That  Robert  the  second  son  was  married,  and  had  a  son 
of  the  same  name,  we  learn  from  a  Deed  of  Entail''  of  the 
Yanwath  estate,  executed  by  Richard  in  favour,  first,  of 
his  son  and  heir  Edmund  ;  next,  on  failure  of  male  heirs, 
of  Thomas,  second  son  of  Edmund  ;  then  in  like  manner 
of  John,  third  son,  with   the  same  stipulations  ;   then  of 

*  Lowther  Papers. 

Henry, 


322  DUDLEYS  OF  YANWATH. 

Henry,  fourth  son  of  Edmund  ;  then  of  Thomas,  brother  of 
Richard  ;  then  of  Robert,  son  and  heir  of  Robert  brother 
of  Edmund.  There  are  two  curious  points  to  notice  in 
this  sequence ;  the  lirst  is  the  omission  of  Edmund's 
eldest  son  Richard,  which,  however,  is  sufficiently 
accounted  for  by  his  having  become  a  Roman  Catholic 
priest ;  the  other  is  the  placing  of  the  brother  Thomas  in 
the  reversion  before  Robert  the  grandson.  Richard  is 
mentioned*  as  having  been  present  at  the  Quarter  Sessions 
at  Appleby,  subsequent  to  cjth  Eliz.  (1567),  and  the  only 
other  notice  I  am  able  to  add  referring  to  him  is  that  an 
Inq.  P.M.,  was  held  at  Temple  Sowerby,  May  4th,  1593, 
when  it  was  found  that  he  died  at  Yanwath,  January  1st 
preceding,  and  that  Edmund,  who  was  then  aged  fifty  years 
and  more,  was  his  son  and  heir.t 

Edmund  Dudley  married  Catherine,  one  of  the  three 
coheiresses  of  Cuthbert  Hutton,  of  Hutton  John  ;  his  first 
cousin,  Thomas  Sandford,  married  Anne  another  sister,  and 
Mary  becam.e  the  wife  of  Andrew  Hudleston,  who  being  a 
younger  son  of  the  Millom  House,  took  the  ancient  dwelling 
of  Hutton  John.  I  have  enumerated  the  four  sons  of 
Edmund  :  John,  the  second  son,  was  a  lawyer  and  married 
Frances,  the  base  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  Christopher 
Pickering,  and  she  was  subsequently  the  wife  of  Cyprian 
Hilton,  of  Burton  ;  through  her  that  family  obtained  the 
Ormside  estate.  Dorothy,  the  eldest  daughter,  married,  in 
1599,  Bernard  Kirkbride  of  Ellerton  ;  the  second  daughter, 
Elizabeth,  was  born  in  1564;  Winifred,  the  third,  was 
born  in  1565  ;  and  it  is  stated  that  there  were  three  other 
daughters  of  whose  names  I  am  ignorant.  These  dates 
have  been  kindly  supplied  to  me  by  Maxwell  Lyte,  Esq., 
from  the  Rydal  manuscripts  which  seem  to  suggest  that 
there  was  another  child,  Barras  ?  born  in  1561.     There 


*  Nicolson  and  Burn't;  Ilisty  of  Wcbtd.  and  Cumbd.,  vol.  i.,  p.  5S5. 
•\  Lowthcr  Fapcib. 


was 


DUDLEYS  OF  YANWATH.  323 

was  an  ancient  family  of  the  name  of  Barwise,  wliich 
springing  from  Westmorland  became  seated  in  Cumberland, 
and  the  name  is  yet  locally  pronounced  Barras,  but  I  know 
of  no  connection  between  the  families.  In  1596  there  was 
a  Settlement  and  Covenant  of  marriage*  between  Edmund 
Dudley  and  M.  Middleton  on  behalf  of  Thomas,  eldest  son 
of  the  former,  and  a  daughter  of  the  latter,  and  the  parties 
were  married  at  Askham,  January  30th  of  that  year.  As 
a  special  Liveryt  was  granted  to  Thomas  Dudley  in  the 
year  1614,  that  was  probably  on  the  occasion  of  the  death 
of  his  father  Edmund, 

Thomas  by  his  wife  Middleton,  had,  at  least,  four 

children  ;  Edmund,  born  November  5th,  1597,  who  died 
young;  Mary,  born  December  7th,  1600,  who  married 
Israel  Fielding;  Catherine,  born  May  7th,  1605;  and 
Christopher,  born  December  17th,  1607,  who  succeeded 
his  father. 

He  married  firstly,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Richard  Snow- 
don,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  secondly,  Agnes,  daughter  of 
Daniel  Fleming  of  Skirwith,  who  on  failure  of  the  direct 
line  succeeded  to  the  ancient  family  estate  of  Rydal. 
Agnes  bore  a  daughter,  Mary,  who  died  young,  and  Chris- 
topher, the  last  of  his  line,  sold  Yanwath  to  Sir  John 
Lowther  of  Lowther,  February  12th,  1654,^  and  on  Sep- 
tember loth,  1656,  Sir  John  granted  him  a  lease  for  life  of 
the  same.§  I  cannot  find  the  date  of  his  death  but  his 
wife,  Agnes,  survived  him,  and  made  her  Will  April  19th, 
which  was  proved  at  Carlisle,  October  loth,  1671  ;  a  cop}' 
of  it  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix.  It  does  not  supply 
much  information  with  regard  to  the  Dudleys,  but  it  does 
as  to  her  own  family,  the  Flemings,  and  is  additionally 
interesting  and  important  on  account  of  her  benefaction 
to  Barton  Parish. 

*  Lowther  Papers, 
t  Lowther  Papers. 
X  Lowther  Papers. 
§  Lowther  Papers, 

She 


324  DUDLEYS  OF  YANWATH. 

She  wrote  a  poetic  epitaph,  not  without  merit,  on  her 
brother,  John  Fleming,  who  was  buried  in  Kirkland  church, 
and  in  it  she  gives  evidence  of  at  least  some  knowledge  of 
Latin.  Perhaps  the  rhyming  epitaphs  on  her  father  and 
mother  in  the  same  church  are  specimens  of  her  early 
muse. 

I  am  indebted  for  much  information  embodied  in  this 
and  the  preceding  paper  to  the  Right  Honourable  the  Earl 
of  Lonsdale,  who  kindly  permitted  me  to  inspect  the 
Yanwath  documents  at  Lowther  Castle  ;  to  Maxwell  Lyte 
Esq.,  F.S.A.,  Deputy  Keeper  of  the  Public  Records,  to 
Edward  Bellasis,  Esq.,  Lancaster  Herald  ;  to  J.  Challenor 
Smith,  Esq.,  of  Somerset  House  ;  to  the  Rev.  Canon 
Weston,  vicar  of  Crosby  Ravensworth,  and  the  Rev. 
Thomas  Hodson,  vicar  of  Barton  ;  and  I  must  add,  that 
v/ith  all  thiskind  assistance  I  could  not,  residing  as  I 
as  I  have  been  in  Italy,  have  written  these  brief  and 
insufficient  papers  but  for  the  constant  help  afforded  me 
in  verifying  references,  &c.,  by  the  Worshipful  Chancellor 
Ferguson,  F.S.A.,  and  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lees,  F.S.A., 
vicar  of  Wreay. 


APPENDIX. 

Will  of  Alice  Ratclyffe,  1554. 

In  the  name  of  God  Amen.  The  laste  daye  of  the  monetho  of  Marche  in  the 
yere  of  our  Lorde  god  a  Thousande  fyve  hundrcthe  fiftie  and  fowre  And  in  tlie 
fyrste  yere  of  the  Reige  of  our  soueraigne  Lady  Mary  by  the  grace  of  god  of 
Englande  ffraunce  and  Ireland  Ouene  defender  of  the  faithe  and  in  earthe  of  the 
Churche  of  Englande  and  also  of  Irelande  the  supreme  head.  I  dame  Alice 
Ratclyffe  of  the  Citie  of  Newe  Sar^  (Salisbury)  in  the  Countie  of  VViltes  Widowe 
beinge  hole  of  bodie  and  of  good  and  parfytte  remembrance  thankes  be  given  to 
Almightie  god  doo  ordeyne  and  make  this  my  testament  conteyninge  my  last  will 
in  maner  and  forme  followinge  fTirst  I  bequeathe  my  soule  to  Almightie  god  to  our 
Ladye  seynte  Mary  the  Virgyn  and  to  all  holye  Company  of  heaven,  And  my 
bodye  to  be  buried  in  the  Cathedrall  Church  of  Sar;  in  a  Chapell  ther  of  seynt 
Laurence  as  nighe  to  my  brother  Mr.  Richarde  Dudley  his  Tombe  as  may  be. 
Also  I  will  that  euery  Mr.  Residensarie  dwellinge  within  the  close  of  the  said 
Cathedrall  churche  that  will  cf)me  to  my  buryall  shall  have  iijs.   iiijd.     And  every 

preest 


DUDLEYvS    OI-    VANWATH.  325 

precst  dwollintj  witliin  the  close  aforesaide,  and  every  preest  of  seynt  Thomas  tli 
appostcll  in  Sar;  that  wilbe  at  my  buryall  shall  have  xxd.  Also  I  will  that  there 
shalbe  g-even  in  the  daye  of  my  buryall  in  halfe  peny  breade  to  the  poore  people 
the  some  of  fyvc  poundes.  Also  I  will  that  xiii  poore  men  shall  haue  every  of 
theym  a  blacke  yowne  at  my  buryall.  Also  I  will  that  in  the  daye  of  my  monethes 
mynde  there  shalbe  given  in  sherts  and  smocks  of  Canvas  to  poore  people  the 
some  of  Tenne  poundes.  Also  I  will  that  there  shalbe  given  at  my  Twelve 
monthes  mynde  in  lyke  manr  to  the  poore  people  in  the  Northe  wtin  mylordeship 
in  sherts  &  smocks  of  Canvas  the  some  of  tenne  pounds.  Also  I  five  and 
bequeathe  to  my  brother  Mr.  Doctor  George  Dudley  one  standinge  Cuppc  of 
siluer  gilte  with  a  cover.  Also  I  giue  and  bequeathe  to  my  Nephue  Richard 
Dudley  one  goblet  of  siluer  and  gilte  withoutea  cover.  Also  I  give  and  bccjueathc 
to  my  Neice  Elizabethe  Dudley  fyve  pounds  in  money.  Also  I  give  and  bequeathe 
to  my  Nevewe  Mr.  John  Rateclif  one  goblet  of  siluer  and  gilt  with  a  cover.  And 
to  my  Neice  his  wief  a  frocke  of  blacke  damaske.  Also  I  giue  and  bequeathe  to 
euery  of  my  Tennts  dwellinge  in  the  Northe  halfe  one  yeres  Rent.  Also  I  will 
that  where  as  my  Nevewe  Mr.  Henry  VVrastley  owethe  me  apon  a  Siluer  Pott  and 
two  Siluer  Cuppes  with  two  covers  the  some  of  xviijlb.  That  he  shall  haue  the 
saide  Pott  and  Cuppes  ageyne  to  hym  wthoute  any  thinge  payinge  for  the  same. 
And  I  giue  and  bequeathe  to  my  Neece  his  wief  five  marks  in  money.  And  I  giue 
and  bequeathe  to  fowre  sonnes  and  twoe  doughters  of  the  said  Mr.  Henry 
Warstley  to  every  of  theym  xls.  Also  where  Robert  Wilson  of  Crukinge  Kendall 
in  the  Countie  of  VVestmland  Clothier  dothe  owe  unto  me  Seaven  score  poundes 
of  lawfull  money  of  Englande  as  by  apayre  of  Indentures  of  defesannce  vpon  a 
Statute  marchannt  betwene  me  the  saide  Alice  Ratcliffe  and  the  said  Robert 
Wilson  made  bearinge  date  the  daye  and  yere  above  in  this  present  testament 
mencioned  more  playnly  it  dothe  and  may  appere.  I  will  that  after  my  decease 
all  the  saide  Seaven  score  pounds  of  money  shalbe  paid  and  bestowed  yerely  by 
the  said  Robert  Wilson  his  heires  Executours  admistrators  and  assignes  or  by  one 
of  them  in  fyndinge  a  preest  for  to  praye  for  my  husbande  Sr  John  RatclifFe's 
soule  Knight  deceased  my  soule  and  all  Christien  soules  vpon  the  Sondaies  and 
holy  dales  wtin  the  parishe  chuixhe  of  Crostwayte.  And  vpon  the  workyng  dales 
wtin  the  Chapell  of  Keswyke.  And  I  will  that  SrChrofer  Alenson  that  is  now  my 
Chaplayne  shalbe  the  stipendarie  preste  for  the  same  so  longe  as  the  said  -Sevean 
score  poundes  of  money  will  paye  his  stipende  yerely  after  five  pounds  by  the  yere 
(if  he  do  lyve  as  longe).  And  if  it  fortune  the  said  Sr  Chrofer  Alanson  to  dye 
before  the  said  .Seven  score  pounds  be  all  paide  after  the  saide  stipende  of  five 
poundes  by  the  year  Then  I  will  that  myne  Executrix  and  thexecutours  or  assignes 
of  my  said  Executrix  shall  appoynte  one  other  honest  prest  to  be  a  Chapllyne  for 
the  same  vntill  the  hole  some  of  the  said  Seaven  score  pounds  be  all  paide  after 
the  said  Rate  of  fyve  poundes  by  the  yere.  .41so  where  Richarde  ffeelde  brewer 
of  Sah  oweth  me  vpon  a  bill  the  some  of  fyve  marks  when  he  payeth  the  said  money 
Then  I  will  he  shall  have  xls.  Also  1  give  and  bequeathe  to  Chrofer  Harryson 
Tailor  fyve  marks  which  he  oweth  me.  Also  I  gyve  hym  one  fether  bedd  one 
bolster  one  paire  of  sheets  one  paire  of  blanketts  one  pott  and  one  panne.  Also 
I  will  and  bequeathe  to  the  Pishe  churche  works  of  Crostwhat  xls.  .-Mso  to  the 
mayntennce  of  the  Chapell  of  Seynt  John  within  the  same  parishe  xls.  Also  to 
the  mayntennce  of  the  Chapell  of  Withbone  xls.  Also  I  giue  and  bequeathe  to 
the  works  of  the  Cathedrall  churche  of  Sar;  xxs.  Also  to  the  churche  works  of 
.Saynt  Thomas  thappostle  in  Sar:  xxs.     To  the  church  works  of  Seynte  Edmunde 


326  DUDLEYS    OF    VANWATH, 

XNS.  To  tlie  churclie  works  of  seynte  Martcyn  x\s.  Also  to  the  mayntcnnce  of 
tlie  Trinitio  house  in  Sar;  xls.  Also  1  g^iue  and  bequeathe  to  the  poore  people  of 
the  beaden  rowe  in  San  xxs.  Also  I  e;iue  &.  beciueathe  to  my  Chapleyne  Sir  Chrofer 
Alanson  Twcntie  pounds  in  money  with  a  Chales  and  a  vestment.  Also  1  giue  and 
bequeathe  to  my  servante  Gefferey  Waythe  Ten  pounds  in  money.  Also  to  my 
servante  Marg-aret  Byrkehodd  tenne  pounds  in  money  a  gowne  of  blacke  clothe 
and  a  Kyrtcll  of  worstede.  Also  I  giue  and  bequeathe  to  Joane  Matson  of 
Linesbury  xxs.  Also  wheare  my  nevewe  John  Ratclyfle  dothe  owe  unto  me  fourtie 
pounds.  I  will  that  the  said  John  shall  paye  vnto  the  mayntennce  of  the  said 
Chappell  of  Saynte  John  C.s.  To  the  mayntennce  of  the  said  Chappell  of  With- 
bone  C.s.  And  vnto  the  poore  people  of  the  same  Lordshipe  C.s.  And  the 
residue  of  the  said  some  of  fourtie  poundes  I  do  frely  remytt  and  forgive  vnto  the 
said  John  Ratclyffe  my  Nevewe.  And  where  also  Nicholas  Story  owith  me  vpon 
a  ("hales  and  a  payrc  of  beads  xlvis.  viiid.  When  he  payeth  the  same  money 
Then  he  shall  haue  of  myne  Executrix  xxs.  Also  I  give  and  bequeathe  to 
Richard  Poorey  vicar  with  in  the  close  of  Sari  a  white  siluer  goblet.  The  residue 
of  all  my  goodes  not  given  ne  bequethed  my  ffuneralls  debts  and  legacies  par- 
formyd  and  paidc  I  give  and  bequeathe  to  my  Cosyn  Dorothe  Irton  whom  I  make 
my  sole  Executrix  to  vse  and  dispose  the  same  frely  as  her  owne  goodes  for  her 
welthe  and  proffytt  And  I  do  make  and  ordeyne  to  be  my  Supervisours  of  this 
my  last  will  and  Testament  my  goode  Lorde  Hishopp  of  Sarx  that  nowe  ys  my 
Nevewe  Mr.  Henry  Wrastley  gentilma  and  Mr.  Thomas  Chaffyn  thelder  and  I  do 
give  and  bequeathe  to  euery  of  my  said  supvisours  Tenne  poundes  in  money. 
Witnes  to  this  my  Last  will  and  testament  John  Hooper  gentilman  Robert  Ryer 
an^l  Richard  Holte  with  other  moo. 

Alice  Ratclyfe. 

V  me  Johem   Hooper  vt  testis,  by  me  Robt  F.yer.     Per  me  Rirardum   Holte. 
Proved  at  London  on  the  5th  of  July  1554  by  Christopher  Robynson  procurator; 
I'.xecutr;  in  hmoi  Testamento  noiat. 


Will  of  John  DiuUry. 

in  the  name  of  (iod  amen  the  father  the  son  and  of  the  holy  ghost.  The  Nxvtli 
daie  of  Marche  in  the  year  of  oure  lord  god  a  thowsande  fyve  hundreth  threscore 
and  eightene.  And  in  the  twentithe  yeare  of  the  reigne  of  oure  most  gracious 
sovcrcigne  ladye  Elizabethe  by  the  grace  of  God  (jucene  of  England  ffraunce 
and  Irclande  defender  of  the  faithe  &c.  I  John  Dudley  of  Stoke  Newingtonne 
in  the  countie  of  Middx.  esquier,  beinge  in  good  healthe  and  perfectc  remem- 
brance (thanckes  be  unto  allmightie  god)  Doe  make  and  declare  this  my  lastc  will 
and  testamente  in  writinge  as  well  concerninge  the  dispocitionne  of  all  my 
Landes,  tenements,  &  hcreditanite  whatsoeuer,  As  also  of  all  my  gooddes, 
cattels,  leases,  and  debtes,  in  forme  foUowingc  (that  is  to  say).  Hut  first  &  prin- 
cipaly  I  render  my  lief  and  sowle  into  the  handes  of  allmighte  god,  trustinge  in 
his  mercie  promised  and  shewed  in  thee  deathe  of  Jhesus  Christe  oure  lorde  and 
saviour.  And  by  him  to  be  made  an  inheritor  of  the  kingedomc  of  hcauen.  My 
hodye  I  will  to  be  buried  in  the  churche  or  chaunccll  of  Newingtonne  aforesaide 
in  surhe  place  and  in  suchc  order  as  to  the  disrretionne  of  my  wclbeloved  wiefe 

shalbe 


DUDLEYS    Ol'    VANWATIl.  327 

bhalbc  thoughtc  mcete  and  conveniente    (Yl  hereafter  durinjjc  iny  naturall  lief 
I  shall  not  otherwise  appointe  the  same)  wch  I  will  shalbe  donne  withoute  any 
glorious  vaine   pompe  or  shewe  to  the  worlde,  or  anye  greate  chardgc  to  be  be- 
stowed in  or  aboute  my  funeralle,  (otherwise  then  decent,  meete  and  comelye,  at 
the  discretionnes  of  my  said  wief  and  Supervisors  of  this  my  laste  Will  and  testa- 
mente.     Also   I   will  and  devize  all  my  landes,   tenements,   and  hereditaments, 
withe  theire  apprtenunces  in   the  countie  of  Kente,  and  in  the  Cittie  of  Canter- 
burie  to  be  sould  by  suche  persone  or  persones  to  whome  I  have  before  this  tynic 
conveyed  and  assured  the  same,  onelie  to  the  intente  to  paie  my  debtes,  and 
satisfie  the  small  legacies  hereafter  appoincted  by  this   my   last  will   and  testa- 
mente.     And  I  will  and  devise  all  and  eveiye  somme  and  sommes  of  money  that 
shall  arise  by  reasonne  of  the  sale  of  the  premises  or  anye  parte  or  percell  of  the 
same  to  be  paide  and  delyvered  to   the  executors  or  executor  of  this  my  lastc 
will  and  testamente,   towards  the   paymente  of  my  debts  and  satisfying  of  my 
said  legacies.  All  wch  legacies  I  will  and  require  shalbe  taken  oute  of  the  sale  of 
the  premises  and  not  of  any  other  landes,  goods,  or  catells  wch   I  shall  have  at 
the  tyme  of  my  deceasse.     And  all  the  residewe  of  my  landes,  tenements  and 
hereditaments   whatsoever   within    the    Realme   of  englande,   I  will   and   devise 
to  Elizabeth  my  welbeloved  wief  for  terme  of  her  lief.     And  I  will  and  bequeathe 
to  the  righte  hounorable  and    my  singuler  good   lorde   and    Maister  Therle  of 
Leicester  one  hundrethe  poundes  of  lawfuU  englishe  monneye,  the  wch  I  will  to 
be  converted  &  chaunged  into  somme  conveniente  pece  of  plate,  whervppon   I 
will   my   Armes  to  be  engraven,  and  placed  by  the  good  discrecon   of  my  said 
wieffe,  and  so  to  be  delyvered  vnto  the  said  Erie  in  remembraunce  of  me,  and  in 
discharge  and  cleringe  of  my  conscience  before  uUmightie  god,  for  all  thinges  that 
hathe   or   mighte   either   by   negligence   or   forgetfulnes   escape  in    anye  of  my 
Accompts  or  reconinges  touchinge  or  concerninge  m\'  carefull  and  willinge  service 
bestowed  vppon  his  good  Lordshippe,   and  about  his  busj-nes  and  affayres  (if 
anye  suche  thinge  hathe  happened  to    be)    whereof  I    am    ignoraunte.     Also  I 
geve  and  bequeathe  to  the  Countes  of  Warwick   my  singuler  good   Ladye  the 
whole  sute  of  hangings  in   my  litell  Galorie  nere  the  greate  chamber  doore,  be- 
sechinge  her  to  stande  good  ladye  to  my  poore  wief  and  childe,  and  to  ayde  & 
assiste  theme  in  tyme  of  theire  neede  (if  any  occasionne  shall  serve).    Also  I  geve 
and   bequeathe  to  Sir  William  Cordell  Knighte  Mr.  of  the  Relies  my  especiall 
good   frende  a  standinge  salte  withe  a  cover  guilte  withe  a  button  of  christall  or 
some  othr  peece  of  plate,  of  that  valewe  or  more,    at  my  wyves  discrecionne. 
And  I  geve  to  Thomas  Bromeley  esquier  solicitor  generall  to  her  maiestie  a  peece 
of  plate   worthe   tenne   poundes.      And   I  geve  and  bequeathe   to   my    brother 
Thomas  Dudleye  for  thee  brotherlie  love  which  I  beare  vnto  him  fyve  hundreth 
marckes  of  lawfull  englishe  monneye.     To  my  brother  Richarde  Dudley  vppon 
the  like  considerationne   a  geldinge   my   seconde  beste  garmente  and  a  Cuppc 
of  silver  all   guilte   withe   a    cover   to   it   called  a  Mawdelings  Cuppe  wch  was 
gevenne  to  me  by  Thearle   of   Cumberlande.     Also    I    geve   and   bequeathe  to 
Anthonye    Blenkow    fortie    poundes.      To    my    Xephewe  and    godsonne   John 
ffetherstone   twentie  poundes.     To   John    Huttonne    twentie  poundes.    To  Jane 
ffetherstonne  fortie  poundes,  To  John  ffishborne  tenne  poundes,  And  to  Maro-aret 
Meabecke  my  servant  in  recopence  of  her  Paines  bestowed  vppon  my  daughter 
sixe   poundes  thirtene  shillinges  fower  pence.     Also    I    geve  and   bequeathe  to 
Gilbert   Simpsonne   my   servaunt    fyve   poundes.     To    Richard   ffishborne  three 
poundes  sixe  shillings  eighte  pence.     And   to  cverie  other  of  my  servaunts  as 

well 


328  DUDLEYS    OF    YANWATH. 

well  menne  as  womcnne  that  shall  serve  me  at  the  tyme  of  my  deceasse  (other 
then  suche  to  whome  I  haue  appointed  speciall  legacies)  one  whole  yeares 
wages  to  be  paide  vnto  theme  by  my  executors  within  thre  mounethes  after  my 
deceasse.  And  I  will  and  bequeathe  to  Edmunde  Duddeleye  all  my  lease  and 
terme  of  yeares  wch  I  nowe  haue  in  Perithe  Milles  vppon  condicionne  that  he 
the  saide  Edmunde  shall  paie  yearlie  duringe  the  saide  tearme  of  yeares  vn- 
expired  to  George  Blenkewe  my  servaunte  fyve  poundes  half  yearlie,  and  also  shall 
within  twoe  mounethes  after  my  deceasse  vpponne  reasonable  requeste  to  be  made 
by  the  saide  George  become  bounde  with  sufficiente  suretie  to  the  said  George 
for  the  trewe  paymente  of  the  saide  somme  of  fyve  poundes  to  be  paide  as 
aforesaide.  All  wch  if  he  the  said  Edmunde  shall  refuse  to  doe  and  performe 
Then  1  will  and  bequeathe  the  same  lease  and  tearme  of  years  to  my  saide  wief 
withe  and  vppon  the  like  condicionne  (exceptinge  sureties).  And  I  geve  also  to 
the  saide  George  twentie  poundes  in  readye  mouneye.  Also  I  geve  and  be- 
(jueathe  to  Mr.  Smithe  Customer  of  London  in  remembraunce  of  the  greate  love 
and  longe  frendshippe  that  hathe  bene  betweene  vs,  my  beste  garmente,  and  one 
pece  of  plate  withe  a  couer  guilte  with  mother  of  pearle.  Also  I  will  and  devize 
towardes  the  mainteynannce  of  the  schole  at  Heygate  in  the  Countie  of  Midd- 
whereof  I  am  an  Assistaunte  or  governor  one  Annuitie  or  Yearlie  rente  of  ft)rtic 
shillings  foreeuer  to  be  issuinge  or  goinge  oute  of  a  tenemente  withe  thappurtenann- 
ces  in  Newingtonne  Streete  nowe  in  the  occupacionne  of  Willm  Skynner  shooe. 
maker,  to  be  paide  half  yearlie  withe  full  power  and  good  and  lawfull  authoritic 
to  the  Gounors  and  Assistants  of  the  said  schole  and  euerie  of  them  theire  suc- 
cessors and  assignes  from  tyme  to  tyine  forever  to  distreyne  for  the  same  Annuitie 
or  Yearlie  Rent  of  forlie  shillinges,  and  the  arrerages  of  the  same  yf  it  shall 
fortune  the  same  to  be  vnpaide  at  the  tyme  appoincted.  Also  I  geve  to  the  poore 
people  of  the  prishe  of  Newingtonne  to  be  bestowed  at  my  wyvcs  discrecion 
three  Pounds  sixe  shillings  eighte  pence.  Also  I  geve  and  bequeath  towardes  the 
repairinge  of  the  highe  waye  in  Islington  lane  tenne  poundes  to  be  bestowed  by 
the  appoinctmente  of  my  good  frende  and  neighboure  Maister  Ricthorne  &  John 
Ifisheborne  bayley  of  Newingtonne  if  theie  or  either  of  theme  shalbethen  lyvinge, 
and  shall  dwell  in  Newingtonne  or  Islingtonnc.  Also  I  geve  to  my  old  ffriende 
I'.dmunde  Downinge  the  writer  hereof  twentie  poundes  requiringe  him  for  ye  olde 
good  frendshippe  that  hath  bene  betweene  vs  to  be  aidinge  comfortinge  and 
assistinge  to  my  good  wief  and  daughter  in  all  tyme  of  neede,  as  theire  cawse 
shall  require,  and  as  one  good  frecnde  shonlde  and  oughte  to  doe  for  another,  and 
in  suche  sorte  as  I  my  self  woulde  doe  for  him  and  his  if  he  weare  absente  or 
deade.  All  the  resedue  of  my  gooddes,  chattells,  plate,  Jewells,  howsholdstufVe 
readye  mouneye,  stocke  and  store  whatsoever  herein  or  by  theise  presents  not 
gevennc  bequeathed  or  appointed  I  will  and  bequeathe  to  Elizabethc  my  wcl- 
bcloved  wieffe,  and  Anne  my  onelcye  daughter  e(]uallie  to  be  devided  betweene 
thimc-.  And  I  make  and  ordcync  by  theise  presents  my  saide  wife  and  daughter 
executors  of  this  my  laste  will  and  testamentc.  And  also  doe  by  theise  presents 
make  and  ordeyne  the  right  honourable  my  singuler  good  Lorde  and  Maister 
Therle  of  Leicester,  and  my  speciall  good  freende  .Sr.  William  Cordell  Knighte 
Mr.  of  the  Rolls  supervizors  of  this  my  laste  will  and  testamente  besecchinge 
theme  to  take  vppon  them  the  care  and  charge  of  the  care  and  charge  of  the 
same,  as  my  speciall  truste  is  in  theme,  and  speciallic  my  good  I.orde  and  Mr. 
thcrlc  of  Leicester,  and  the  rather  for  and  in  considerationnc  of  the  longe  trewe 
and   faithfull  service  wch  I   haue  donne  to  him  and  his  ffather,  besechinge  him 

also 


DUDLEY    OF    YANWATH.  329 

also  to  bo  .t;ood  to  my  saido  wicf  and  childc  as  my  trustc  is  in  him.  In  witncs 
hereof  1  hauc  cawsud  theisc  pi'sents  to  be  vvrittenne,  and  to  evcric  shecte  haue 
subscribed  my  name,  and  lastlie  sette  my  seale  the  dale  and  yere  above  writtenne. 

John  DuuuELiivii. 


Subscribed  and  scaled  as  the  deede 
of  the  saide  John  Diiddcleye  in  ye 
[jrsence  of 

Edmunde  Downinge. 

Proved  at   London  27th  of   April   15.S1   by   Christopher   Smithe    (notary)  and 
Elizabeth  Duddeley  widow. 

Scntenca  pro  valore  testament!  Johis  Dudley  defunct. 

Dispute  between  Elizabeth  Dudley  relict  &  Executrix  of  John   Dudley  on  the 
one  part  &  Thomas  Dudleye  of  the  City  of  London  Esq.  &  Edmunde  Dudleye 

son  of  Richarde  Dudleye  on  the  other  part 

The  Sentence  was  read  on  Thursday  27th  April  15S1. 


Will  of  Thomas  Dudley. 

In  the  name  of  God  amen  Whereas  it  is  every  Christian  man's  dutye  to  remember 
and  to  provide  for  deathe  whiche  is  the  end  of  all  mortalitye  I  Thomas  Dudley  of 
London  Esquyer  being  sicke  in  bodye  but  of  good  and  perfecte  remembraunce 
thancks  be  to  god  doe  declare  my  Last  will  and  testament  in  manner  and  forme 
hereafter  following  And  ffirst  I  commend  my  Sowle  into  the  handes  of  Almighty 
god  Beseeching  his  heavenly  goodnes  for  the  Love  of  his  onely  sonne  our  Savyour 
Jesus  Christ  And  for  the  meritts  of  his  deathe  and  passion  to  receiue  the  same  into 
his  holye  protection  And  my  Bodye  I  committ  to  be  buryed  in  the  earthe  from 
whence  it  came  in  such  place  and  in  such  manner  as  shall  seeme  most  fitt  by  the 
discreacon  of  my  Executor  hereafter  named.  And  towching  those  worldly  goods 
wherof  it  hathe  pleased  god  in  mercye  to  make  me  a  Steward  not  in  any  greate 
abundannce  but  farre  above  my  deserving  I  giue  and  bequeathe  as  followeth  ffirst 
I  giue  and  devise  vnto  my  wclbeloued  nephewe  Anthonye  Blincowe  Doctor  of  La  we 
to  him  and  to  his  heires  for  ever  all  my  Lande  whiche  I  have  either  in  Warwick- 
shire or  in  any  other  place  within  the  Realme  of  England.  Provided  allwayes  and 
my  Will  is  that  my  saide  nephewe  according  to  the  trust  whiche  1  repose  in  him 
above  all  men  Livmg  shall  sell  the  saide  Lande  and  all  and  every  parcell  thereof 
to  the  best  value  that  he  conveniently  can  and  shall  discharge  my  debts  so  farre 
as  the  money  received  for  the  same  Lande  will  extende.  And  w-hereas  my  debts 
are  greate,  and  my  principall  care  and  desyre  is  to  haue  the  same  discharged  in 
as  good  sorte  as  maye  be  I  giue  vnto  my  saide  nephewe  all  my  goods  Leases  and 
Chattells  whatsoever  and  doe  nominate  and  ordayne  him  my  saide  nephewe  my 
onely  Executor  of  this  my  Last  will  and  testament  nothing  doubting  but  as  I  haue 
ever  loved  and  estemed  him  my  saide  nephewe  above  all  other  mj'  kinsmen  or 

frendes 


330  DUDLEYS  OF  YANWATH. 

frendes  so  he  wilbe  carefull  to  see  iny  debts  paide  so  fat  re  as  my  goods  shalbe 
sufficient  to  answere  the  same.  In  wittnesse  whereof  I  haue  to  theis  presents  sett 
my  hande  and  seale  the  sixtenthe  of  September  1593. 

Sealed  and  delivered  in 
the  presence  of  vs 

Hippocrates  Dotthen.  T.  Duulev, 

Ph.  Lappe. 

William  Smithes  marke. 

Xpopher  Strundall. 

Proved  at  London  on  the  30th  of  Oct.  1593. 
"Juramento  mri  Thome  Redman  notarii  public!  procuris  Anthonii  Blincowe." 


Will  of  Agnes  Died  ley,  1671. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.     The  nineteenth  Day  of  Aprill  in  the  yeare  of  our 
Lord  God  One  Thousand  six  hundred  seaventy  and  one  I  Agnes  Dudley  of  Yean- 
wath    in   the   County   of  Westmorland   Widdow   doe   make   my  Last  Will  and 
Testament  as  followeth  And  First  I  most  humbly  comend  my  soul  into  the  hands 
of  Allmighty   God   hopeing   through   ye   meritts   of  our    Lord  Jesus   Christ  my 
Redeemer  to  receive  pardon  of  my  Sins  and  Acceptance  with  him  through  his 
beloved  and  my  body  to  be  buried  in  Barton  Church  And  as  for  my  Temporal 
Estate  I  give  and  bequeath  it  in  manner  following  Considering  with  myselfe  how 
much  I  am  obliged  to  Allmighty  God  for  his  infinite  mercyes  towards  me  and  not 
knowing  better  how  to  show  my  thankfulness  for  the  same  then  by  contributeing  a 
Widdowes  mite  towards  the  better  maintenance  of  his  service  and  reliefe  of  ye 
poore  I  doe  give   and  bequeath   to   my  Loving  and  well  beloved  Nephew  Daniell 
Fleming  of  Rydall  In  the  County  of  Westmerland  Esq  And  to  my  Cousen  Thomas 
Braythwt  of  Ambleside  in  the  County  aforesd  Esqr  and  to  my  Nephew  Henry 
Brougham  of  Scales  in  the  County  of  CumberLand  gent  and  unto  John  Harrison 
Vicar  of  the  parish  of  Barton  in  ye  County  of  Westmoreland  Gierke  and  to  the 
Heires  and  possessors  of   Rydall  Hall  Ambleside   Hall  and  Henry  Brougham's 
house  of  Scales  and  to  the  Vicar  of  Barton  for  the  time  being  the  sume  of  Two 
Hundred  Pounds  of  Lawfull  English  money  in  trust  to  be  Layed  out  and  bestowed 
upon  a  purchase  of  Lands  of  inheritance  to  be  purchased  in  their  names  in  Trust 
and  the  profitts  thereof  to  goe  one  halfe  to  ye  said  John  Harrison  Vicar  of  Barton 
for  ye  time  being  and  his  Successors  for  ever.     And  the  other  Moyety  or  halt 
thereof  to  the  use  and  reliefe  of  the  Aged  Poore  and  Decrepit  impotent  psons  of 
the  parish  of  Barton  to  be  payed  and  distributed  unto  them  upon  ye  ninth  Day  of 
September  next  ensueing  after  my  decease  by  equall  proportions,  yearly  and  for 
ever  at  the  discretion  of  the  Owners  and  possessors  of  Rydal  Hall  Ambleside  Hall 
And  ye  house  of  Scales  aforesd  And  the  Vicar  or  Curate  of  ye  parish  of  Barton 
for  ye  time  Being  And  the  said  Gift  of  Two  Hundred  Pounds  with  the  use  of  it  to 
the    Endes  aforesaid  to  be  upon  the  first  payment  thereof  to   yc  use  aforesaid 
Registered  in  ye  Register  booke  of  the  said  church  of  Barton  ye  better  to  prevent 
all  mistakes  and  misconversion.     And  my  mind  and  Will  is  that  untill  the  said 

Lands 


DUDLEYS    OF    YANWATH.  331 

Lands  be  soe  purchased  for  ye  uses  aforesd  ye  yearly  Interest  of  ye  said  moneys 
shall  be  yearly  payed  as  abovesd  viz  :  the  one  halfe  to  the  Vicar  of  Harton  for  ye 
time  being'  for  ye  bettering-  of  his  maintenance  and  the  other  halfe  to  the  Aged 
poor  and  Decrepit  Impotent  psons  of  ye  parish  of  Barton  Abovesd  Alsoe  I  give 
and  bequeath  unto  my  Sister  Dorothy  Hudlestone  Twenty  poundes  And  to  Agnes 
Huddleston  her  daughter  Fifty  Poundes,  and  to  Dudley  Senhouse  son  of  Mr.  John 
Senhouse  of  Netherhall  Twenty  Pounds.  Alsoe  I  give  unto  my  Nephew  John 
Brougham  One  Hundred  Poundes.  Alsoe  I  give  unto  my  nephew  Major  William 
Flemming  my  Godson  Twenty  Poundes  And  to  my  Cousin  William  Fleming  of 
Rydall  one  great  booke  which  was  my  fathers  And  to  my  Neece  Mrs.  Barbary 
Fleming  five  poundes  And  to  my  Sister  Mrs.  Alice  P'leming  five  poundes  and  to 
her  Sister  Katherine  to  buy  each  of  them  a  King  Alsoe  I  give  to  my  Cousin  And 
Goddaughter  Mrs.  Alice  Fleming  five  pounds  and  to  her  Sister  Katherine  five 
pounds ;  And  to  Mary  Wybergh  Daughter  to  my  neece  Agnes  Wybergh  Twenty 
Poundes  And  to  Dudley  Brougham  son  to  my  Nephew  Christopher  Twenty 

Poundes  And  to  my  Cousin  Bernard  Kirkbride  Esq.,  five  poundes;  And  to  my 
Cousin  Jane  his  wife  forty  shillings  to  buy  each  of  them  a  Ring.  And  to  my  Cousen 
Mrs.  Mary  Braythwt  of  Burneside  five  poundes  And  to  my  Cousin  Mr.  Edmund 
Sandford  three  poundes  and  to  Margarett  his  Sister  Twenty  Shillings  :  All  ye  rest 
of  my  Goods  and  Chattelis  Debts  Rents  and  Personall  Estate  I  give  to  my  Loving 
and  Well  beloved  Daniel  F"leming  Esq  and  Roger  Fleming  of  Conyston  Gent  whom 
I  doe  Constitute  and  makemyjoynt  Executorsof  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testament ; 
Whom  I  doe  request  and  desire  to  make  a  publiqi  and  Free  Sale  of  such  Saleable 
goods  as  shall  after  my  decease  Come  into  their  Handes  And  Lastly  I  doe  con- 
stitute and  appoint  Mr.  John  Ambrose  of  Lowick  parson  of  Grassemoor  and  John 
Harrison  Vicar  of  Barton  Gierke  as  Supervisors  of  this  my  last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment And  for  theire  care  and  paines  herein  doe  give  unto  either  of  them  five 
poundes  a  piece  In  Witnesse  whereof  I  have  hereunto  sett  my  hand  &  Scale  ye 
day  and  yeare  first  above  written. 

Agnes  Dudley. 
.Sealed  signed  published  and 
delivered  in  ye  presence  of 

William  Walker  mrke  M  jurat. 

Robert  Ion  mrke  jurat. 

John  Soulby  mrke  O- 

John  Harrison  clerke  jurat. 
(Seal  on  red  wax :  on  a  shield,  a  lion  rampant ;   a  knight's  helmet  over  same  but 
crest  broken.     Apparently  in  John  Harrison's  writing). 

Apud  Penreth  decimo  die  mensis  Octobris  Anno  Dom  1671  Probatum  fult  huid 
testamt  &c  &c  Danieli  Fleming  arm  &  Rogero  Fleming  gent. 


Memorandum  respecting  Mrs.  Agnes  Dudley  s  bequest  from  Barton 
Parish  Church  Documents. 

Noat  &  observe.  The  sum  of  3^200  was  given  to  the  within  named  four  Trustees 
their  heirs  &  successers  In  trust  to  be  laid  out  &  bestowed  upon  it  purchase  of 
Lands  of  Inheritance  to  be  purchased  in  their  names  in   trust  And  the   profits 

thereof 


332  DUDLEYS    OF    YANWATH. 

thereof  one  half  to  the  Viccar  &  the  other  half  to  the  poore  of  the  parish  on  the 
9th  day  of  September  yearly  And  untill  the  said  Lands  be  so  purchased  for  the 
uses  afforsaid  the  yearly^intrest  to  be''paid  &  applyed  to  the  Viccar  &  poore. 
Now  seing  that  such  A  purchase  of  Lands  was  never  made  It  remains  in  the 
hands  of  the  heirs  &  successers  to  pay  intrest  for  the  said  ;^200  for  the  said  uses 
and  as  no  other  persons  or  parties  are  "deputed  to  Receive  the  said  money  & 
purchase  lands  therewith  And  as  it  hath  continued  in  their  hands  about  So  years 
and  they  have  paid  the  yearly  intrest  for  it  they  ought  in  Discharge  of  their 
Trust  to  pay  the  full  statute'intrest  for  the  said  ;^2oo  or  else  make  such  A  pur- 
chase as  may  answer  the  true  intent  &  designe  of  the  Testator  &c.  But  for  some 
years  last  past  the 'steward  Mr.T<nott]of  Ridall  Hall  Refuseth  to  pay  the  full 
intrest  &  Did  order  their  farmerj  )ohn  Rigg  of^jKntmoore  hall  to  pay  but  i.')  A 
year  for  intrest. 

A  copy  of  the  Receipt  signed  &  sent  for  the  year  1751  September  the  gth  1751. 
Then  Received  of  John  Rigg  of  Kentmeer  Hall  The  summ  of  nine  pounds  in  full 
by  the  order  of  the  heirs  of  Mr.  Daniell  fleeming  deceased  By  vertue  of  the  last 
Will  &  Testament  of  Mrs.  Agnes  Dudley  of  Yanwath  Hall  deceased  one  half  or 
moiety  due  to  the  Viccar  of  Barton  and  the  other  half  due  to  the  poore  of  Barton 
parrish  we  say  Received  by  Jacob  Thomson,  Thomas  Wilkinson,  Thomas 
Denison. 

On  the  26th  of  Novembr  1752  Sr  William'.[fleming  of  Ridall  Told  Thomas 
Wilkinson  of  Tirrill  That]  the^above  [money  is  charged  or  chargable  upon  Kent- 
meer Hall  P>state  And  that  the  farmer Rigs'  is  obliged  to  pay  the 

Intrest  to  Barton  &c. 


( J33 ) 


Art.  XXIV. — -Smne  Account  of  Sir  John  Loivthcr,  Baronet, 
of  Whitehaven,  from  Original  Sources.  By  W.  Jackson, 
F.S.A. 

Read  at  Uherston,  September  ijth,  li^Hy. 

SIR  John  Lowther,  only  survivinii;  son  of  Sir  Cliristopher 
IvOwther,  of  Whitehaven,  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Saint 
Bees,  succeeded  to  the  estates  and  baronetcy  in  his 
infancy,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  intestate,  in  April  1644. 
He  was  baptized  at  St.  Bees,  Nov.  20,  1642,  but  it  would 
almost  appear  from  subsequent  dates  that  circumstances 
may  have  delayed  his  baptism,  unusual  though  it  was  at 
this  period,  and  that  he  may  have  been  a  year  or  two  old 
at  this  time.  He  had  an  only  sister  named  Frances  after 
their  mother,  who  was  Frances,  coheiress  of  the  Lancas- 
ters  of  Sockbridge  and  Hartsopp  Halls,  Westmoreland, 
and  who  married  to  her  second  husband  John  Lamplugh, 
of  Lamplugh  Hall.  Of  the  infancy  and  early  childhood 
of  Sir  John  I  know  nothing.  The  earliest  notice  I  have 
found  of  him  is  an  entry  in  the  "  Administration  Act  Book 
of  the  Province  of  Canterbury "  at  Somerset  House, 
Vol.  ii.,  Fo.  71. 

1653/4  March  Sir  Christopher  Lowther  the  fourteenth  day  a  Com- 
mission issued  forth  unto  Henry  Mill  the  Guardian  lawfully  assigned 
of  John  Lowther  &  Francis  Lowther  ye  n^all  &  lawful!  children  of 
S''  Christopher  Lowther  late  of  Whitehaven  in  y"  County  of  Cumber- 
land Barr'  deceased  To  administer  y**  Goods  Chells  &  debts  of  y*^  s'' 
dec'i  during  y*"  Minoritie  &  to  the  use  of  y"^  s'^  John  Lowther  and 
Francis  Lowther  Minors  for  that  Dame  Elianor  Lowther  his  mother 
hath  renounced  y^  s'^  Adxon.     Inventary  Exted  31  March. 

The  manner  in  which  Dame  Elianor  Lowther,  {nee 
Fleming),  is  mentioned  might  easily  mislead  ;  she  was  the 
mother  of  Sir  Christopher  and  grandmother  of  Sir  John  ; 
his  mother  mav  have  forfeited  her  natural  and  legal  claim 

to 


334  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

to  the  guardianship  and  administration  b}-  marrying  a 
second  time  soon  after  her  husband's  death,  and  so  Dame 
Elianor  may  have  obtained  the  grant.  She  died  Nov.  i6, 
1659,  having  survived  her  husband  22  years,  and  must 
therefore  have  attained  a  great  age,  and  probably  at  this 
time  her  health  and  capacity  may  have  been  failing  ;  and 
as  at  the  period  of  renunciation  there  were  still  several 
years  of  the  minority  to  run,  and  the  estate  being  one  of 
peculiar  importance,  it  might  well  have  been  thought 
desirable  that  a  more  vigorous  intellect  should  take  the 
charge.     I  have  no  idea  who  Henry  Mill  was. 

From  this  period  till  1657  there  is  another  blank,  but  in 
that  year  we  find  him,  though  very  young,  on  the  eve  of 
taking  that  position  to  which  his  rank  and  wealth  entitled 
him,  for  an  entry  occurs  in  the  Entrance  Book  of  Balliol 
College,  Oxford,  under  date 

Sept.  26,  1657.  Dns  Johan  :  Lowther  Baronettus  De  Lowther  in 
Comit.  Westmorlando  admissus  est  vSocio-Commensalis. 

There  is  a  peculiarity  in  this  entry  which  I  shall  have 
occasion  to  refer  to  hereafter  and  explain. 

There  is  preserved  at  Whitehaven  Castle,  an  old  manu- 
script book  giving  an  account  of  Sir  John  Lowther's 
expenditure  for  a  certain  period,  the  items  of  which  well 
illustrate  the  prices  of  the  time.  The  book  is  about 
eighteen  inches  long  by  six  broad  ;  the  debit  entries  occupy 
fourteen  pages,  and  the  credit  are  on,  but  do  not  fill,  two. 
Some  of  the  latter  entries  have  I  think,  from  the  way  in 
which  they  are  worded,  been  made  by  Sir  John  himself, 
but  none  of  the  debit  ones,  which,  I  believe,  have  been 
partly,  if  not  wholly,  entered  by  his  tutor,  Mr.  John  Good. 
Dress  and  expenses  of  living  and,  especially,  of  travelling, 
constitute  the  majority  of  the  latter  entries  ;  but  books, 
and  those  of  solid  character,  were  more  frequently  pur- 
chased than  I  have  indicated  by  my  extracts.  I  notice 
none  of  anything  like  loose  literature,  but  the  era  for  that 

pestilent 


SIK    JOHN     LOWTIIliK,    IJAKONHT.  335 

pestilent  form  of  writinj^  only  commenced  with  the 
"  glorious  restoration."  The  book  begins  with  the  entry, 
"  Sir  John  Lowther's  account  since  Michaelmas  1657  at 
which  time  he  came  to  Oxon  "  ;  then  follow  the  entries  of 
various  items  of  expenditure  from  Michaelmas  to  Christmas 
including  his  outfit,  amounting  to  £"57  08  05.  Next  I 
abstract  the  sum  of  his  expenses  from  Christmas  1657  to 
Lady  Day  1658,  £^2  06  00,  wherein  is  comprised  a  special 
entry 

For  a  dinner  for  Dr.  Langbaine,  Mr.  Barlow,  Mr.  Lamplugh  and  ye 
Mr.  &  Fellows  of  Baliol  College  £4  og  08. 

This  entry  is  very  noteworthy  in  every  respect.  For  a 
youth  of  16  to  have  entertained  such  a  company  of  dons 
would  be  sufficiently  remarkable,  but  Gerald  Langbaine, 
the  then  Provost  of  Queen's,  who  may  be  said  to  have  left 
his  mark  on  the  literature  of  the  time,  was  born  at  Barton 
Kirk,  in  the  same  parish  in  which  Sockbridge  Hall,  Sir 
John's  manorial  residence,  was  situated.  He  died  within 
two  months  of  this  festive  meeting,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Barlow,  another  guest,  born  at  Orton  in  Westmerland, 
and  therefore  also  well  known  to  the  Lowther  family.  He 
was  promoted  at  a  later  period  to  the  Bishoprick  of  Lin- 
coln, and  was  called  by  his  enemies  "  Bishop  of  Bugden," 
because  they  accused  him  of  shutting  himself  up  in  his 
palace  there  and  neglecting  his  episcopal  duties.  Thomas 
Lamplugh  was  a  younger  brother  of  Richard  Lamplugh, 
of  Ribton  Hall,  who  had  married  Sir  John's  sister  Frances. 
He  was  Bishop  of  Exeter  at  the  time  William  of  Orange 
landed  at  Torbay,  and  as  Macaulay  says  "then  set  off  in 
terror  for  London,"  when  James  promptly  rewarded  him 
for  his  loyalty  by  the  gift  of  the  long  vacant  Archbishoprick 
of  York.  Returning  from  this  digression  I  abstract  a 
summary  of  expenses  from  Lady  Day  to  Midsummer  1658, 
£31  12  09  (including  a  dinner  at  Mr.  Barlow's  o  06  6)  ; 
expenses  from  Midsummer  to  Michaelmas  1658,  £34  00  4; 

expenses 


336  SIR    JOHN    LOWTHEK,    BARONET. 

expenses  from  Michaelmas  to  November  20,  1658,  ^^31 
16  02.  On  November  22,  Sir  John  left  Oxford,  I  think, 
finally  as  a  student,  and  went  to  London,  only  remaining 
there  until  early  in  December  when  he  set  out  for  Swil- 
lington  in  Yorkshire,  the  seat  of  his  uncle  Mr.  Wm. 
Lowther  ;  who,  together  with  a  Mr.  Busfield  (probably  a 
brother-in-law  of  the  latter,  as  he  had  married  Jane 
daughter  of  William  Busfield,  of  Leeds,  Merchant),  accom- 
panied him  via  Harwood,  Skipton,  and  Meybourne,  the 
seat  of  his  cousin,  Richard  Lowther,  to  Lowther  ;  reaching 
there  probably  for  Christmas,  for  the  first  entry  afterwards 
is  dated  January  7th.  On  the  17th  of  that  month  he 
started 

On  his  tirst  journey  to  Cumberland, 

after  an  entry  of  what  he  gave  to  the  servants  at  Lovvther 
for  vales,  as  such  donations  were  called,  and  were  then 
looked  upon  even  more  as  a  right  and  were  infinitely  more 
exorbitant  than  they  are  in  our  own  day.  Sir  John 
travelled,  I  presume,  on  horseback,  the  usual  mode  in 
those  days,  via  Keswick  to  Whitehaven,  whence  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Lamplugh  where  his  mother,  then  the  wife  of 
John  Lamplugh,  lived.  We  next  find  him  again  at  Mey- 
burne,  where  he  "  paid  to  servants  4/."  On  February  7th 
he  was  at  Hartsop,  of  which  manor  he  was  Lord,  and  on 
the  nth  at  Sockbridge  Hall,  also,  as  above  stated,  his  own 
property.  On  March  19th,  having  again  returned  to  White- 
haven, there  occurs  an  entry  "  to  ye  Clarke  at  St.  Bees  for 
drink  Gd."  March  21st  he  was  at  Lamplugh,  whence  that 
day  he  went  to  Cockermouth  and  on  the  following  to 
Ripton,  the  seat  of  Richard  Lamplugh,  his  brother-in-law  ; 
"  to  ye  servants  at  Ripton  4/."'  From  thence  he  went  to 
"  Pereth,"  and  on  the  29th,  "  to  the  servants  at  Lowther 
15/6."  Ever  on  the  move,  he  was  at  Brcugh  on  the  joth, 
and  thence,  by  Katrick,  Kerthington,  Wetherby,  Tadcaster, 
Yorke,  and  Leeds,  came  again  to  Swillington  where  he 

remained 


SIR   JOHN    LOWTIIER,    BARONET.  337 

remained  till  April  21st,  when  on  leaving  he  gave  "to  the 
servants  at  Swillington  11/."  Once  more  on  the  27th  he 
was  at  Whitehaven,  where  his  stay  was  brief,  and  after 
being  at  Lamplugh  and  Lowther,  on  May  6th,  the  entry 
"to  the  servants  at  Meybourne  3/,"  and  on  the  following 
day  "  for  a  grey  horse  bought  there  ^^og  00  00,"  shows 
another  visit  to  his  cousin  Richard.  On  the  12th  his  bill 
at  Sherburn  was  6/,  on  the  14th  that  at  Pontefract  7/6, 
and  on  the  17th,  "  To  ye  servants  at  Swillington  8/."  He 
left  there,  in  the  hands  of  Will  Jackson  to  pay  for  a  mare, 
"  a  Balance  of  £"8."  He  was  at  Doncaster  the  same  day, 
and  there  occurs  an  entry  then  "for  a  girth  and  an  Almanack 
there  1/2."  Proceeding  by  way  of  Bawtry,  Newark, 
Grantam,  Wansford,  Huntington,  Cambridge,  and  Wal- 
tham,  on  "  May  21st  this  day  returned  to  London." 
During  all  this  time,  and  through  all  this  wandering,  every 
expense  of  the  most  minute  nature  is  carefully  entered 
and  summed  up  nearly  monthly  though  not  always  strictly 
to  the  month.  The  expenses  seem  to  have  been  paid  by 
Sir  John's  servant,  Sam  Henning,  on  whose  account  an 
entry  frequently  occurs  ;  "  for  Sam's  weekly  board  wages 
6/."  To  resume  somewhat  in  point  of  time  but  to  change 
the  character  of  the  extracts, 

June  14  Tobacco  &c  and  for  a  letter  to  Mr.  Lamplugh  1/3.  17th 
Epicurus's  Morals  30'^  Road's  Anatomy  2/.  31st  for  Castellio 
Armesius,  Verstegan  00  09  08. 

About  the  end  of  July  Sir  John  went  into  Norfolk,  no  doubt 
to  visit  the  Hares,  relatives  of  his  future  wife. 

Oct.  12,  to  Mr.  Torriano  Italian  Master  /"oi  00  00.  To  Mr.  Bettie 
Dancing  Master  £01  00  00.  Nov.  2,  For  Daniel  &  Trussel  with 
Bacon's  Henry  VII.,  11/.  28th  For  Grotius  de  Studiis  3/.  December 
ye  5th  Cookes  tnstitut4th  part  7/.  26th  Cooks  bill  for  Christmas  Day 
6/. 

Rather  a  curious  conjunction  of  cooks.     On  the  27th,  Sir 

John 


33^  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

John  was  at  Hatfield,  at  Grantham  on  the  30th,  and  at 
Swillington  January  5th,  where  he  remained  till  the  19th, 
then  giving 

To  the  servants  at  Swillington  £01  00  00. 

quite  an  extraordinary  donation.  Omitting  much  we 
come 

March  30,  1660,  To  the  men  servants  at  Akeron  Bank  9/. 

Acorn  Bank  in  Westmerland  was  the  seat  of  John  Dalston, 
Esq.,  a  distant  relative.  Thence  he  went,  by  way  of 
Kendal  and  Amblestead,  to  Ireby  in  April  and  returned  by 
Amblestead. 

April  29th,  The  Catalogue  of  the  Compounders  1/6. 

This  was   a   list  of  individuals,  and  fines   levied,  which 
would  come  very  closely  home  to  him  ;  for  his  uncle  Sir 
John  of  Lowther  was  down  for  a  fine  of  ^^1,500,  his  uncle 
William  of  Swillington   had  paid  ;£"200,  and  his  relation 
Richard  Lowther  of  Ingleton,  who  had  bravely  defended 
Pomfret  Castle,  suffered    more  than  either.     Sir   John's 
minority  during  the  troubled  period  had  saved  him  from 
such    inflictions  in    the    King's   cause.     The   next    book 
mentioned  is  "  Sanderson's  King  Charles,  15/."     "  May 
20,  Catalogue  of  the  King's  Judges,  2/2."     Note  the  fact 
that  the  restoration  was  imminent,  and  Sir  John's  mind, 
like  that  of  every  one  else,  was  engaged  on  the  execution 
of  Charles  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Royal  Family.     Feb. 
6th  Sir  John  was  at  Lowther,  i6th  at  Whitehaven,  21st 
at  Lamplugh,  then  at    Ripton  and  Workington,  and   in 
March  at  Kendal  and  Ireby.     The  last  entry  on  the  debit 
side  is 

1661,   April    II.     To    my    Lady    Lowther    to    be    sent    for    London 
/"loo  00  00. 

The  entries  on  the  credit  side,  if  not  numerous,  are  more 
important  in  amount ;  and  as  specimens  I  select  the 
following : 

1657. 


SIR  JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET.  339 

1659,  Jany  19.     Received  from  my  Aunt  Lovvthcr  at  Swillington  ;f20. 

Could  this  be  a  present  in  view  of  his  approaching 
marriage  ?  This  was  evidently  his  last  visit  to  Swillington 
before  that  event,  which  may  account  for  the  extraordinary 
vail  given  to  the  servants  when  he  left. 

Received  in  Westmorland  &  Cumbr.  as  p.  page  ;f27o  12  4.     Re- 

ceived a  Legacie  left  my  wife  by  her  grandmother  ^Tio.  Received 
of  Sir  Ralph  Hare  in  part  of  my  wife's  portion  /"300.  Borrowed 
formerly  of  my  mother  £2^^.  1659,  8ber.  Received  of  father  Lamplugh 
formerly  lent  him  £\o. 

There  are  various  receipts  from  his  cousin  North  Leigh, 
and  a  further  payment  on  account  of  his  wife's  portion, 
apparently  credited  in  Sir  John's  mother's  handwriting. 
The  credit  entries,  like  the  debit  ones,  finish  about  April, 
1661. 

I  have  thought  it  well  to  continue  my  extracts  from 
the  manuscript  till  its  termination,  but  I  believe  it  makes 
no  distinct  relation  of  an  event  that  occurred  during  the 
period  which  it  covers,  that  is  the  marriage  of  Sir  John, 
though  it  mentions  his  wife  at  a  later  date.  That  cere- 
mony took  place  at  Lowther,  as  the  Parish  Register 
informs  us  b^^  the  following  entry, 

1659,  March  6,  Sir  John  Lowther  of  Whitehaven  and  Mrs.  Janne 
Leigh  of  Lowther  married. 

This  union  is  a  curious  instance  of  how  such  affairs  are 
brought  about.  Sir  John's  uncle,  Sir  John  of  Lowther, 
married  to  his  second  wife,  subsequent  to  1646,  Elizabeth, 
daughter  and  co-heiress  of  Sir  John  Hare,  of  Stowe 
Bardolphe,  Norfolk,  and  Widow  of  Wooley  Leigh,  of 
Surrey,  who  died  c.  1642,  leaving  two  children,  Thomas 
and  Jane.  The  latter,  at  any  rate,  naturally  lived  at 
Lowther,  where  Sir  John  and  his  sister,  as  wards  of  their 
grandmother,  probably  resided,  and  even  after  her  death 
continued  to  reside  with  their  uncle,  and  as  a  result  an 
attachment  was  formed  which  led  to  this  early  marriage. 

In 


340  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

In  1660,  Sir  John  petitioned  for  a  confirmation  of  a 
grant  for  a  market  and  fair  for  Whitehaven,  in  the  pros- 
perity of  which  town  he  had  already  begun  to  interest 
himself  keenly.  The  grant  had  probably  been  made 
during  the  Protectorate,  and  Sir  John  may  have  doubted 
its  legality.  I  subjoin  the 'petition,  to  which  I  have  failed 
to  find  any  reply,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  required 
confirmation  was  obtained.  It  is  a  curious  fact,  which 
almost  proves  the  previous  existence  of  both,  that  no  day 
for  either  is  suggested  in  the  petition. 

State    Papers,    Domestics,    i65o   Aug.    22  Chas.   II,   Vol.  xi  N"  22. 
(Petition  of  Sir  John  Lowther  junior  of  Wiiitehaven.) 

To  the  Kings  most  Excellent  Maj"'' 
The  Humble  Petition  of  S''  John  Lowther  younge''  of  Whitehaven  in 

the  County  of  Cumberland  Bart. 
Humbly  Sheweth, 

That  your  Petition''*  father  (a  Collonel  in  his  late 
Ma""^'  service,  &  a  sufferer  for  his  sake)  haveing  together  with  his 
Grandfather,  at  their  owne  charges  erected  a  Peare  at  the  Towne  of 
Whitehaven  aforesaid,  off  which  yo''  Petition''  is  owner,  &  bestowed 
soe  much  charge  thereupon  as  made  the  same  a  very  convenient 
Harbour  for  Shippinge,  to  the  increase  of  Trade,  j'o''  Ma*^'^^  Customes 
&  the  great  benefitt  of  the  Countrey. 

That  Navigation  &  the  Town  thereby  increasinge,  victualls  became 
scarce  ;  the  Inhabitants  therefore  in  yo''  Petition"  minoritie,  pro- 
cured a  Pattant  for  the  makeinge  it  a  Market  towne,  to  the  great 
accomodation  of  themselves  the  Countrey  &  the  shippinge. 
Your  Petitioner  therefore  humbly  prayeth  that  your  Ma*'*^  wil  be 
pleased  to  give  order  for  granting  of  a  Patent,  for  setleinge  the  said 
Towne  to  be  a  Markett  &  a  Ffaire  to  be  kept  there  in  such  way  as 
hath  been  formerly  used  or  shalbe  most  convenient,  and  your  Pe- 
titioner shall  ever  pray,  &c. 

At  the  Court  at  Whitehall  the  21'''  of  August  1660  His  Ma'J'  is 
graciously  pleased  to  referre  this  Petition  unto  the  Examination  & 
consideration  of  Mr.  Attorney  &  Mr.  Solicitor  Generall  who  are 
desired  to  certify  his  Ma'>'  what  they  conceave  fitt  to  be  don 
therein. 
Edw.  Nicholas. 

Sir  John  must  have  resided  a  good  deal  in  London,  for 
in  the  Register  of  St.  Martin's  in  the  Fields  occur  the 

following  entries  ; 

19G4. 


SIR   JOHN    LOWTHRR,    HARONET.  341 

1664.     Dec''  25  ('atherine,  daughter  of  Sir  John   Lowder   knt.    and 
Dame  Jane  (born  25  November.)  bapt. 

1667.     June   13"'  Jane   daughter   of  vSr  John    Lowther  and    Dame 
Jane  bapt.  born  12"'. 

And  in  the  Register  of  vSt.  Giles  in  the  Fields  we  find — 

1673.     Aug'''  5I''  James   son  of  Sir  John    Lowther    Knt.  and  Dame 
Jane,  baptized. 

I  have  not  as  yet  found  any  record  of  the  birth  or 
baptism  of  his  eldest  son,  Christopher,  nor  of  another 
daughter,  Elizabeth.  It  may  be  well  to  add  here  that  the 
son,  then  Sir  Christopher,  died  Oct.  2nd,  1731,  and  was 
buried  on  the  7th,  at  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn  ;  and  I  learn 
from  Mr.  Foster's  Pedigree  that  Jane  died  unmarried 
Feby.  27th,  1730. 

In  1665,  Sir  John  was  chosen  one  of  the  Governors  of 
the  Free  Grammar  School  of  St  Bees,  founded  by  Arch- 
bishop Grindal,  his  father  Sir  Christopher  having  been 
elected  a  member  of  that  body  in  1630,  the  first  com- 
mencement of  a  long  connexion  of  the  family  with 
that  important  local  institution. 

In  the  same  year  he  alienated  to  the  Gale  family  the 
Old  Hall  in  the  Market  Place,  Whitehaven,  wherein,  I 
think,  he  was  born  ;  and  a  later  erected  mansion,  in  which 
I  think  he  resided,  was  sold  to  the  Addison  family  about 
this  period. 

About  this  time  commences  a  series  of  petitions,  war- 
rants, grants,  &c.,  preserved  at  the  Record  Office,  which, 
although  voluminous  and  numerous,  are  incomplete,  and 
fail  to  give  a  connected  account  of  all  that  took  place 
with  reference  to  the  circumstances.  I  have  stated 
briefly  in  my  paper  on  "  Whitehaven  and  its  Old  Church," 
how  the  Lowther  family  came  into  possession  of  the 
Manor  of  St.  Bees,  and  that  disputes  as  to  the  title  con- 
tinued between  them  and  the  W3^bergh  family  for  many 
years ;  but  in  this  year  another  trouble  arose  from  a  claim 

to 


342  SIR   JOHN   LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

to  the  foreshore  there  being  advanced  by  the  Earl  of 
Carlingford,  Sir  Edward  Green,  and  WiUiam  Dyke,  Esq. 
The  former  was  a  member  of  a  family  which,  like  many 
others,  had  given  several  lives  and  all  their  property  in 
the  service  of  Charles  ist,  and  Theobald  Taafe,  Viscount 
Taafe,  created  Earl  of  Carlingford  in  1662,  needed  some- 
thing to  maintain  his  dignity.  He  obtained  from  the  easy 
monarch  Charles  II,  some  grants  of  a  very  far-fetched 
sort,  and  seems  to  have  discovered  that  something  might 
be  made  out  of  a  grant  in  a  locality  with  which,  so  far  as 
I  can  discover,  he  had  no  connexion  whatever.  I  subjoin 
the  principal  documents  relating  to  this  matter.  I  think 
it  probable  that  ultimately  the  claim  was  bought  off,  and 
that  subsequently  the  possession  of  Sir  John  remained 
undisturbed. 

State  Papers,  Domestic  ;  Charles  II.  1665,  Vol  119,  N"  45. 
(Petition  of  S""  J.  Lowther  about  the  soil  at  Whitehaven.) 
To  the  Kings  most  excellent  Ma*'*' 

The  Humble  Petition  of  S""  John  Lowther,  Barr' 
Sheweth  That   at   Whitehaven    in    Cumberland   the    Soyle 

betwixt  the  high  and  low  Water  Marks  has  ever  beene  reputed  par- 
cell  of  that  Mannor;  That  upon  the  supposition  it  was,  your 
Petitioners  Ancestors  did  erect  a  Peere  upon  the  said  Soile,  which 
occasioned  some  buildings,  upon  or  neare  the  same;  That  of  late 
by  vertue  of  an  Inquisition  for  lands  derelict  by  the  sea  etc  the  same 
are  now  claimed  as  belonging  to  your  Ma''*^ 

That  your  Ma*'""  upon  the  said  Inquisition    did  order  a  warrant  to 
passe  for  the  making  to  certaine  persons  a  Lease  of  the  premisses 
together  with  several  other  particulars  therein  granted 
That  upon  notice  thereof  your  Pef  did  petition  your  Ma''''  that  the 
said   Peers,   Buildings   and  Soile  might  be  excepted  out  of  the  said 
Graunt,  which  your  Ma''"  for   the  encouragement  of   industry    and 
publick  workes  hath  beene  graciously  pleased  to  doe 
Your  Pef  therefore  humbly  prayes  your  Ma''<^  that  for  quieting  him 
and  his  posterities  from  the  like  trouble  hereafter  and  for  the  further 
strengthening  and  securing  his  Title  thereto,  your  Ma""^  would  bee 
graciously  pleased  to  make  a  Graunt  thereof  to  your  Pef" 
And  your  Pet'  as  in  duty  shall  pray  &c. 


Att  ye  Court  at  Whitehall  Apr.  27,  1665, 
His  Ma''*  graciously  remembering  ye  cor 


lering  ye  constant  loyalty  &  sufferings  of 

ye 


SIR  JOHN    LOVVTIIER,    DARONliT.  343 

ye  Pet'"  late  Father  &  family  and  enclined  to  gratify  him  in  this 
suit,  is  pleased  to  recommend  it  to  ye  Rt.  honble  ye  Lord  High 
Treasurer  of  England  &  ye  Lord  Ashley  Chancellor  of  the  Ex- 
chequer to  consider  of  it  and  to  report  their  opinions  to  his  Ma"" 
what  may  be  fitly  done  in  it  for  ye  good  of  his  Ma^'"^"  service  and  the 
gratifying  ye  petitioner.  And  then  his  Ma''®  will  declare  his  further 
pleasure. 

Arlington. 

May  it  please  your  Ma.^^ 

We  have  heard  this  case  of  Sir  John  Lowther  (who  hath 
deserved  well  of  the  Crowne  both  in  his  person  and  family)  as  it  was 
involved  in  those  Commissions  which  the  Lord  Carlingford  of  the  one 
part  &  Col.  Grey  of  the  other  executed  And  upon  the  whole  matter 
both  in  relacon  to  the  Petitioners  Interest  And  another  of  S''  (blank) 
Gryms  we  thought  fit  to  propose  to  your  Ma'^  that  both  these  persons 
Estates  be  exempted  from  further  Inquisition  And  humbly  leave  it 
to  your  Ma"^'*  grace  and  goodness  to  give  the  petitioner  such  si  grant 
and  confirmation  of  his  present  Estate  as  may  quiet  the  same. 
13  June  1665.  J.  Southampton. 

Ashley. 

State  Papers  Domestic,  Charles  II.  1665,  May?  Vol.  122,  No  106. 
(Petition  of  Si"  J.  Lowther  concerning  his  salt  houses  etc  in  White- 
haven) 

To  the  Kings  most  Excell'  Matie 
The  Humble  Petition  of  S""  John  Lowther  Barr' 

Sheweth,  That  by  the  unjust  straining  of  Evidence,  and  the 

cuning  practice  of  some  Comission'^'^  for  enquiring  after  direlect 
Lands  &c,  an  Inquisition  was  returned,  whereby  certain  of  yor 
Pef^  houses,  Salt  houses,  &  Staythes  at  Whitehaven  in  Cumberland 
were  returned  to  bee  within  the  high  water  marke. 
That  at  the  returne  thereof,  upon  yo'"  pet^'  humble  request  of  a 
Graunt  of  the  premisses  for  the  corroboration  of  his  auncient  Title, 
your  Mat'c  ^yas  graciously  pleased  for  diverse  considerations,  to 
referre  your  Pet"^^  suite  to  the  Lord  high  Treasurer  of  England,  and 
the  Lord  Ashley  Chancellor  of  your  Ma'i^'s  Exchequer,  to  consider 
thereof  and  to  report  to  yo''  Ma'''"  what  their  Lordships  should  thinke 
might  bee  fitly  done,  for  the  gratifying  the  Pef  in  his  suite,  &  the 
quieting  from  future  molestations.  That  notwithstanding  such 
gracious  Reference,  no  report  is  yet  made,  whereby  others  became 
encouraged  and  are  now  Petitioning  your  Ma''<=  for  a  Graunt  of  the 
premisses. 

Your 


344  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

Your  Petitioner  therefore  iiumblj'  prayes  that  no  such  Graunt  may 
passe  till  a  Report  bee  made  upon  your  Ma''^'*  Referrence 
And  your  Pet"^  (as  in  duty)  will  ever  pray  etc. 

Domestic  Entry  Book  22,  Page  177.  ■ 
(Grant  to  Sir  John  Lowther) 
Our  Will  &  Pleasure  is  that  ye  fortlV'''^''  &c  to  passe  our  Grt.  Seale 
cont  Our  Grt  unto  our  Trusty  &  Well  beloved  S^'  John  Lowther 
Bart  of  all  those  severall  messuages  Houses  or  tenemts  w"'  all  their 
appurtenances  in  the  Parish  of  St.  Bees  in  our  County  of  Cumber- 
land, now  or  late  in  the  severall  tenures  or  occupacons  of  Thomas 
Jackson,  W™  Rogers,  Thomas  Towerson,  W'"  Woodall,  Rob.  Lashley, 
Thomas  Britton  of  Hare  Cragg,  Oliver  Wright,  Rob.  Branling, 
Tho.  Gibson,  Tho.  Wilkinson,  W"'  Crosthwaite,  W™  Whiteside, 
Tho.  Britton  of  the  hall,  Rob'  Hodgson,  Rowland  Jackson,  Jo. 
Lindath  &  Christopher  Whitfield  of  Whitehaven  or  theire  severall 
Assignee  or  Assignes,  &  the  Salt  houses  &  Staithes  wf'  ye  ground 
&  Soyle  whereon  the  same  are  situate.  And  also  of  the  Peere  or  Key 
there  neare  unto  adjoyneing  and  all  our  lands.  Tenements  &  heredit- 
aments lying  or  being  between  the  Highg  water  or  low  water 
Marke,  adjoynmg  or  belonging  to  the  Mannor  or  Lordship  of  St. 
Bees  in  the  County  aforesaid,  And  all  our  Estate  &  Interest  therein 
and  the  Revercons  &  Remainders  thereof  w"'  the  Rents  thereunto 
Incident,  To  Hold  to  the  same  S>'  John  Lowther,  and  his  heires  for 
ever,  in  free  and  comon  soccage  and  you  are  to  insert  in  the  s<l 
Bill  all  nonobstantes  &  Clauses  requisite  in  this  behalfe.  And  For  soe 
doeing  this  shall  be  your  Warrant 
Given  &c  the  19th  day  of  Junne  1665. 

By  his  Maj''<=^  Comand 
To  Our  Attorney  Grail  Arlington. 

A  more    formal  grant  under  the  Privy   Seal  was  issued, 
dated  Oxford,  Nov.  10,  17  Charles  II,  but  as  it  is  in  Latin 
much  abbreviated,  abounds  in  legal  technicalities,  and  is, 
after  all,  exactly  to  the  same  purport   as  the   foregoing 
document,  it  seem  unnecessary  to  print  it  here. 
State  Papers,  Domestic,  Vol.  212,  1667,  No.  11. 
(Lord  Carlingford  &:c). 
Upon    his    Ma'''  referrence    March  ye    13th,  1666,  signified    by  Mr. 
Secretary  Morrice  upon  the  Peticon  of  Theobalde  Earle  of  Carling- 
ford, S^  Edward  Green,  Bart.,  and  William  Dyke,  Esq.,  praying  his 
Matii:  to  make  good  his  Intendmt  to  them  to  Resume  the  grant  to 
Sir  John  Lowther  or  so  much  as  relates  to  Whitehaven  etc.,  unlesse 

he 


SIR  JOHN  LOWTHER,   BARONET.  345 

he  will  give  to  the  value  thereof  to  the  pef*  and  to  referr  it  to  ye 
Lord  Ashley  to  heare  all  parties  &  settle  the  differences,  or  report 
with  his  opinion  &c.,  is  Reported  as  followeth  vizt. 

May  it  Please  yo"^  Mat'e 

In  obedience  to  your  Ma^'cs  referrence  of  ye  13th  of  March 
1G66  upon  the  peticon  of  the  Earle  of  Carlingford  &  others  I  have 
heard  the  case  between  them,  and  S''  John  Lowther,  Bart.,  And  doe 
find  that  your  Ma*'*^  by  Warrt  under  ye  Royalle  Signe  Manuall  dated 
the  13th  of  June  1664  did  grant  to  the  Pefs  all  such  lands  derelicted 
and  quitted  by  the  sea  in  ye  County  of  Cumberland  as  should  be 
found  to  belong  unto  your  Ma'"-'  in  right  of  your  Crowne  particularly 
menconing  the  towne  of  Whitehaven  in  the  same  Warrt  upon  which 
the  pef'^  did  (att  their  very  greate  trouble  &  Expence)  among  other 
things  find  an  Inquisicon  of  divers  and  sundry  houses  lands  staythes 
&  salt  pans  at  Whitehaven  aforesaid  of  the  yearely  value  upon 
Improvemt  of  about  400  as  is  affirmed.  And  probably  they  would 
have  been  so  worth  to  the  Pef^  if  they  had  come  into  their  hands 
upon  your  Ma'ies  title  which  would  have  avoyded  severall  Estates 
granted  by  S""  John  Lowther  and  his  ffather  to  which  S""  John  is  now 
in  Justice  obliged,  and  which  makes  the  things  of  ffar  lesse  value  to 
him.  To  these  houses,  lands  etc.,  S''  John  Lowther  made  Claymej 
But  distrusting  the  validity  of  his  title  peticoned  your  Mat""  for  a 
grant  thereof,  which  your  Ma^ie  in  consideracon  of  the  great  desert  of 
himselfe  &  ffamilly  was  pleased  to  make  and  confirme  unto  him 
under  your  greate  Seale  which  hath  frustrated  your  Matins  intended 
grace  and  favour  in  that  behalfe  to  ye  said  Earle  and  the  rest  after 
all  their  paines  &  Expences,  All  which  I  humbly  submitt  to  your 
Maties  Royall  wisedome  &  Pleasure. 
I  Aug.  1667.  Ashley. 

This  is  a  true  Copy 

Jo.  Lynns. 

On  Oct.  I,  1675,  Sir  John  bought  from  Sir  George 
Fletcher,  of  Hutton,  the  mansion  of  the  Flatt  at  White- 
haven ;  at  a  later  date  it  was  remodelled  by  Sir  William 
Chambers  and  called  the  Castle ;  and  ever  since  the 
purchase  it  has  been  the  local  residence  of  the  owners  of 
the  Whitehaven  estate. 

A  portrait  was  painted  of  Sir  John  by  Sir  Peter  Lely, 
probably  shortly  before  1680,  for  in  that  year  that  well- 
known  artist  died.     I  am  informed  that  it  is  at  Lowther 

Castle, 


346  SIR  JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

Castle,  and  in  that  case  it  must  have  been  taken  for 
his  cousin  of  the  same  name,  for  the  pictures  belong- 
ing to  Sir  John  of  Whitehaven,  and  those  collected 
by  his  son,  Sir  James,  all  went  by  bequest  of  the  latter 
to  his  distant  relative,  Sir  William  Lowther,  of  Holker, 
and  those  which  escaped  the  disastrous  fire  some  years 
ago  may  still  be  found  there.  A  mezzotint  engraving 
has  been  made  from  this  painting  by  Alexander  Browne, 
and  as  it  has  been  its  fate  to  be  always  ascribed  to  the 
wrong  Sir  John,  I  venture  to  extract  the  descriptions  from 
both  Grainger's  "Biographical  History  of  England,"  Vol. 
i.,  p.  167,  and  John  Chaloner  Smith's  "  Mezzotinto  Por- 
traits," Part  i.,  p.  115,  in  order  that  I  may  confute  their 
errors,  and  subsequently  prove  that  the  portrait  is  that  of 
Sir  John  Lowther  of  Whitehaven. 
Grainger  describing  it,  says, 

Sir  John  Lowther,  Bart.,  Lely. — Sir  John  was  a  gentleman  of  a 
very  ancient  and  flourishing  family  long  seated  in  Westmerland. 
He  was  father  of  Sir  John  Lowther  who  in  1695  was  created  Viscount 
Lonsdale  and  was  afterwards  Lord  Privy  Seal  to  William  IIL  This 
family  has  been  greatl)'  enriched,  by  the  Colliery  at  Whitehaven 
which  has  proved  an  inexhaustible  fund  of  wealth.  The  present  vSir 
James  Lowther  does  not  only  carry  on  a  very  lucrative  trade  to 
London  but  he  also  employs  a  considerable  number  of  vessels  to 
supply  the  city  of  Dublin  with  coals.  Ob.  1675  aet  70.  He  was 
created  Baronet  1642. 

John  Chaloner  Smith  correctly  describes  the  engraving 
in  the  first  place,  and  in  his  subsequent  ascription  recog- 
nizes that  his  predecessor  has  fallen  into  error,  but  he  is 
as  far  as  ever  from  ascertaining  the  true  subject ;  he  says  : 

Sir  John  Lowther,  Lely.  Three  quarters  length,  sitting  at  base  of 
fluted  pillar  to  left,  directed  to  right,  facing  and  looking  to  front,  wig, 
lace  cravat,  scarf  across  right  arm,  hand  pointing,  paper  in  left  hand, 
sea  view  and  harbour  in  distance  to  right. 

Then  follow  some  minute  artistic  details  which  it  is 
unnecessary  to  quote ;  he  adds  : 

Grainier 


SIR  JOHN   LOVVTHEK,    BARONET.  347 

Grainger  calls  this  Sir  John  Lowther  who  died  1675  aged  70,  but  as 
this  print  does  not  represent  an  old  man,  it  is  probably  that  of  his 
grandson,  born  1655,  who  succeeded  on  his  death  as  second  Baronet 
to  the  great  estates  in  Westmerland  and  Cumberland,  including  the 
Whitehaven  Collieries,  and  M.P.  for  the  former  county  from  that 
time  to  his  being  created  Viscount  Lonsdale.  Married  Catherine 
daughter  of  Sir  Frederick  Thynne,  and  died  Gth  July,  1700. 


And  now  for  the  facts  and  the  identification.  I  entirely 
accept  the  correctness  of  the  description  of  Mr.  Chaloner 
Smith  so  far  as  it  goes,  but  I  must  disprove  both  his  and 
Grainger's  ascription.  Sir  John  Lowther,  of  Lowther, 
created  a  Baronet  in  1640,  died  in  1675  ;  his  son  John 
predeceased  him,  and  the  son  of  the  hitter,  also  called 
John,  born  in  1655,  succeeded  his  grandfather,  was  created 
Viscount  Lonsdale,  and  died  in  1700.  Not  one  of  these 
owned  the  Whitehaven  estates,  which  had  passed  to 
Christopher,  (younger  brother  of  the  first  named  Sir  John), 
who  had  been  created  a  Bayonet  in  1642,  then  to  his  son. 
Sir  John  of  Whitehaven,  and  next  to  his  son.  Sir  James, 
who  died  in  1755  ;  covering  a  period  from  1637  to  the  latter 
date,  during  which  time  the  Whitehaven  family  and  estates 
were  distinct  from  those  of  Lowther. 

But  the  portrait  is  that  of  a  man  of  middle  age,  and 
that  Sir  John  of  Whitehaven  was  about  1680,  for  he  was, 
as  I  have  said,  baptized  in  1642  ;  in  the  picture  also  is 
represented  a  harbour,  a  sea  view,  and,  I  may  add,  in  the 
distance  over  the  sea  a  mountain  ;  now  Sir  John  planned 
the  town  and  harbour  of  Whitehaven,  (he  holds  a  plan  in 
his  hand),  and  looking  across  the  Solway  from  there  the 
mountain  of  Criffell  in  Scotland,  shaped  as  given  in  the 
mezzotint,  is  a  conspicuous  feature.  I  hope  I  may  be 
excused  this  elaborate  statement,  and,  I  believe  and  I  hope, 
convincing  proof  that  the  portrait  must  represent  Sir 
John  of  Whitehaven,  and  cannot  be  that  of  any  of  the 
other  Sir  Johns  livingabout  the  same  time. 

Macaulay 


348  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,  BARONET. 

Macaulay  gives  an  elaborate  sketch  of  a  Sir  John 
Lowther,  made  up  from  the  two  Sir  Johns  who  both  took 
part  in  the  Revolution,  meaning  to  describe  that  one  who 
was  subsequently  Viscount  Lonsdale,  and  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  understood  that  there  was  another  Baronet 
of  that  name ;  but  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  there 
should  have  been  great  confusion,  for  from  1655  to  1675 
there  were  no  less  than  four  contemporary  John  Lowthers, 
the  two  Sir  Johns  surviving  from  that  date  living,  the  one 
to  1700,  the  other  to  1705. 

The  extract  from  the  Balliol  College  Entry  Book,  which 
I  have  given,  would  again  to  one  unacquainted  with  the 
Lowther  pedigree  offer  another  stumbling  block;  the  "  Sir 
John  of  Lowther  "  was  Sir  John  of  Lowther  by  residence 
but  not  by  title  ;  the  Sir  John,  Baronet  of  Lowther,  was 
at  that  time  an  elderly  man. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  miserable  reign  of  James  IL, 
when  parties  which  had  been  bitterly  hostile  to  each  other 
for  generations  were  uniting  to  resist  the  arbitrary  acts  of 
a  fatuous  tyrant,  Sir  John  took  an  active  part  in  endea- 
vouring to  heal  a  family  quarrel  which  had  occurred 
between  his  namesake  of  Lowther  and  Sir  Daniel  Fleming, 
whose  aunt  was  the  grandmother  of  Sir  John  of  White- 
haven, and  the  great  grandmother  of  Sir  John  of  Lowther. 
In  this  he  was  a  successful  peacemaker,  and  the  result 
was  that  the  three  were  agreed  with  the  great  majority  of 
magistrates  and  deputy  lieutenants  in  returning  replies  to 
the  three  questions  put  to  them  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant  by 
command  of  the  King ;  which  answers  were  apparently 
composed  by  Sir  John  Lowther  of  Lowther,  adopted 
throughout  the  kingdom,  and  are  declared  by  Macaulay  to 
have  been  drawn  up  "  with  admirable  skill."  They  are 
given  in  Lord  Lonsdale's  "  Memoirs  of  the  Reign  of 
James  IL,"  and  in  Nicolson  and  Burn's  "  History  of 
Westmerland,"  with  some  merely  verbal  differences.  Sir 
John  of  Lowther  had  as  early  as  1685  expressed  himself 

in 


SIR   JOHN    LOWTIIER,    BARONET.  349 

in  parliament  in  very  forcible  language  against  the  abuse 
of  "  obliging  boroughs  to  accept  charters  which  vested  the 
power  of  election  in  some  particular  people  named  for 
that  purpose." 

But  if  the  Sir  John  of  Lowther  distinguished  himself  in 
the  struggle  for  freedom  by  his  speech  and  by  his  pen,  his 
cousin  of  Whitehaven  put  his  life  and  estates  in  peculiar 
jeopardy  by  a  daring  act,  which  has  been  scarcely  suffi- 
ciently dwelt  upon,  and  certainly  imperfectly  understood. 
In  the  Hudleston  pedigree,  as  given  in  Jefferson's  "  Leath 
Ward,"  it  is  stated  that  Andrew  Hudleston,  of  Hutton 
John,  great-nephew  of  the  priest  who  absolved  Charles  II. 
in  his  last  moments,  "  in  concert  with  Sir  John  Lowther 
marched  their  tenants  to  the  coast  during  the  night,  in 
October  1688,  to  seize  a  vessel  laden  with  arms  and  am- 
munition for  the  garrison  of  Carlisle,  then  lying  in  the 
harbour  of  Workington."  It  being  assumed,  as  is  evi- 
dently suggested,  that  the  march  was  from  Hutton  John, 
this  would  be  a  march  very  wonderful  and  very  inexplicable 
to  any  one  who  knows  the  country,  and  very  puzzling  to 
all  who  are  aware  that  the  Hudleston  tenants  could  not  be 
very  numerous.  The  fact  is,  that  Andrew  Hudleston  was 
certainly  very  shortly  after,  and  most  probably  at  that 
time.  Collector  of  Customs  at  Whitehaven,  and  in  that 
capacity  would  be  acquainted  with  the  movements  and 
lading  of  every  vessel  on  the  coast,  Workington  being 
what  was  called  a  creek  of  Whitehaven.  Now  Sir  John 
Lowther  of  Whitehaven  was  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  St. 
Bees  in  which  Whitehaven  was  situated ;  he  was  the 
person  to  whom  every  one  in  the  neighbourhood  looked 
up  ;  he  was  the  patron  of  Mr.  Hudleston,  for  his  family 
from  their  first  connection  with  the  port  and  for  two 
centuries  after,  as  is  matter  of  notoriety,  virtually  appointed 
all  the  officers  of  the  crown.  Without  therefore  at  all 
desiring  to  detract  from  Mr.  Hudleston's  merit,  it  is 
evident  that  Sir  John  would  be  the  leading  man  on  the 

occasion, 


350  SIR    JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

occasion,  and  his  Whitehaven  tenants  and  retainers,  who 
could  be  very  numerous,  with  Mr.  Hudleston  in  his  official 
capacity,  might  well  march  eight  miles  to  Workington 
during  the  night  and  with  ample  authority  seize  upon  the 
vessel ;  and  it  may  be  noted  that  one  reason  why  a  ship 
with  such  a  lading  would  prefer  to  discharge  her  cargo  in 
Workington  harbour  would  be  the  fact  that  Mr.  Henry 
Curwen,  then  Lord  of  the  Manor  of  Workington,  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  and  was  so  much  attached  to  the  person 
and  cause  of  James  that  he  followed  him  to  France  and 
resided  many  years  in  that  country.  This  deed  was  pro- 
bably the  first  overt  act  of  rebellion  against  James,  and 
had  William  of  Orange  failed  to  land,  or  been  unsuccessful 
afterwards,  the  heads  and  quarters  of  Lowther  and  Hud- 
leston would  have  been  long  visible  over  the  gates  of 
Carlisle.  The  more  this  act  with  all  its  possible  conse- 
quences is  considered,  the  higher  will  be  our  estimate  of 
the  courage  and  resolution  manifested  by  Sir  John  at  this 
important  juncture. 

After  the  Revolution,  on  the  8th  March,  1688,  Sir  John 
was  appointed  one  of  the  six  commissioners  of  Admiralty, 
and  in  this  capacity  he  had  an  interesting  correspondence 
with  Samuel  Pepys,  who,  as  his  biographer  says : 

Had  been  too  much  personally  connected  with  the  king  (who  had 
been  so  long  at  the  Admiralty,)  to  retain  his  situation  upon  the  ac- 
cession of  William  and  Mary,  and  he  retired  into  private  life 
accordingly  but  without  being  followed  thither  either  by  persecution 
or  ill-will. 

A  statement  abundantly  corroborated  by  the  ensuing 
correspondence  : 

Correspondence  relating  to  Sir  John  Lowther  extracted  from  Pepys' 
MSS.  in  Rawlinson  Collection  at  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford.  A  170, 
66,  71,  ii'j,  124,  126. 

A170,  71- 

Channel  Row  the  9th  March  iC8-^ 

Sr 


SIR    JOHN    LOWTHEK,    BARONET.  351 

Sr 

His  Ma'y  haveing  by  his  Letters  Patent  bearing  date  ye 
eightli  instant,  constituted  and  appointed  us  to  bee  his  Comss.  for 
Executeing  the  office  of  Lord  High  Admirall  of  England,  Wee  doe 
hereby  desire,  that  see  soon  as  possible  you  will  deliver,  or  cause  to 
be  deliver'd  to  M''  Phineas  Bowles  (whome  wee  have  appointed 
Secretary  for  the  Affaires  of  that  Office)  all  Bookes,  Papers,  Ac- 
counts, Registers,  Preecedents,  or  any  other  thing  whatsoever 
relateing  to  ye  Affaires  of  the  Admiralty  and  the  Execution  of  that 
Office  which  has  at  any  time  been  delivered  to,  and  received  by  you, 
or  any  other  person  by  your  appointment,  for  and  concerning  this 
office  as  well  in  the  times  of  your  own  being  Secretary  formerly,  as 
of  others  preceding  and  succeeding  in  ye  Affaires  of  the  Admiralty 
and  Navy,  and  alsoe  since  your  last  being  impowered  in  the  Admin- 
istracon  thereof. 

Wee  desire  3'ou  allsoe  that  every  Appurtenance  and  Thing  what- 
soever, that  hath  been  fitted  and  provided  at  the  publick  charge,  for 
the  more  regular  keeping  and  preserving  the  said  Bookes,  Papers, 
&c.,  and  performeing  the  Office  relating  thereto,  may  bee  delivered 
to  our  said  Secretary  M''  Bowles  and  every  other  matter  and  thing 
relateing  to  ye  King's  Service  (wch  in  yor  discretion  you  know 
ought  to  be  intrusted  to  our  Secretary)  tho'  not  here  particularly  re- 
cited ;  and  his  receipts  and  Certificates  thereof,  in  the  same  manner 
as  you  have  discharged  others  in  the  like  case  shall  sufficiently  dis- 
charge you  from  all  things  which  at  this  our  instance  for  his  Ma''' 
Service,  are  hereby  desired  you  thus  to  putt  into  ye  charge  and 
custody  of  the  said  M''  Bowles  ;  and  soe  wee  bid  3'ou  heartily  fare- 
well. Sr 

yo'  affectionate  Friends 
Ar.  Herbert 

Carberry  J.  Lowther 

M.  Warton  Tho.  Lee 

Jn  Whicherly 


Mr  Pepys, 


Endorsed- 


Letter  addressed 
To  Samuel  Pepys  Esq. 
These 

Channell  Row  March  9,  ^-^^ 
The  Comiss''  (new  Comission 
of  ye   Adm'J'ty  to    M"^  Pepys 
desireing  him  delivering 
over  all  ye  Books,   Papers 


And 


352  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

And  Moveables  of  his  Office 
(belongeing  to  the  King)  to 
their  Secretary  M"^  Bowles. 

Letter  in  the  handwriting  of  Sir  John  Lowther,  A.  170,  66. 
Sr 

The  Com''*  finding  their  Affaires  w'''  not  bear  ye  want  of  a 
House,  for  so  long  time  as  you  required  to  remove,  have  agreed  for  a 
House  elsewhere,  w''''  I  intended  to  have  acquainted  you  psonally  this 
morning  but  yt  I  was  prvented  by  other  Business. 

I  am 

Sr 

}''■  most  humble 
Serv' 
Ap.  1 2th.  J  Lowther. 

89. 
Addressed —  For  Samuel  Pepys  Esq'' 

at  his  House  in 
York  buildings 
Endorsed — 

April  12,  1689 
Sir  Jno.  Lowther  to  Mr.  Pepys 
Signifying  Com''  of  ye 
Adm''y  their  haveing 
agreed  upon  a  house  for  the 
holding  their  Office  at. 

Copy  of  Letter  from  vSam'  Pepys  to  Sir  John  Lowther,  A.  170,   126. 

Yorke  buildings.  May  9th,  1689. 
Sr 

I  have  not  beene  in  a  Condition  since  yo''  late  favour  to  mee 
in  yo''  Kindnesse  to  my  Brother,  to  wayte  upon  you  w"'  my  thankes 
on  that  behalfe,  nor  indeed  yet  am,  but  shall  doe  it  at  my  very  first 
going  abroad.  In  ye  meane  time  I  take  ye  liberty  of  doeing  it  by 
him  who  allsoe  prays  leave  to  doe  ye  same  for  himselfe  &  repeteing 
to  you  my  most  earnest  desires  of  ye  countennance  of  yo'"  advice  & 
support  to  him  in  ye  calamitous  state  whereinto  without  it  he  &  his 
family  must  inevitably  fall  after  soe  long  a  service  to  the  Crowne  I 
doe  with  greatest  respect  kisse  yo""  hands  &  rest 

y''  most  faythef"  obed"*  Serv' 
S.  Pepys. 
Endorsed — 

May  9,  1689  Coppy 

of  Mr.  Pepys  Letter  to 

vS''  Jno  Lowther 

in  favour  of  Mr.  St.  Michel. 

Copy 


SIR    JOHN    LOWTIIER,    BARONET.  353 

Copy  Letter  from  Sam'  Pepys  to  Sir  John  Lowther,  A.  170,  124. 

Wednesd.  Evening 

Nov.  13,  1689. 
S'' 

Knowing  very  well  to  what  importunitys  you  are  expos'd  on 
every  hand  &  have  in  particular  sustain'd  from  mine  on  behalf  of  my 
Brother  St.  Michel,  it  is  quite  ag'"  my  intention  to  give  you  any  new 
interruption.  But  ye  Case  of  ye  Masf  Joyner  of  Chatham  (my  poore 
kinsman  Charles  Pepys)  does  in  pure  Justice  &  Charity  touch  me  so 
near,  that  being  but  just  now  inform'd  of  ye  Endeavours  on  foot  to 
supplant  him  in  his  Employment  &  not  knowing  but  it  may  be  upon 
ye  brink  of  being  Executed,  I  cannot  but  interpose  my  present 
Prayer  to  you  (for  fear  of  wanting  an  opportunity  of  doing  it  more 
orderly)  that  as  farr  as  you  reasonably  may,  you  will  require  other 
crimes  to  be  alledged  &  prov'd  ag"'  him  (&  such  I  never  yet  heard  of) 
besides  that  of  his  name  &  Relation  to 

y'  most  faithf  humb  Serv' 
S.  Pepys. 
To  S''  J  no  Lowther. 
Endorsed — 

Nov.  13,  1689 
Mr.  Pepys  to  S'  Jno 
Lowther  w''^  relation 
to  Charles  Pepys  Ma'' 
Joyner  at  Chatham. 

Copy  of  a  letter  from  Sam'  Pepys  to  Sir  John  Lowther,  A  170,  iiQ- 

Feby  20,  i6|9- 

s-- 

My  Brother  S'  Michel  has  given  me  occasion  of  troubling 
you  with  this  upon  a  fourth  Enquiry  of  yours  touching  ye  House  I 
am  now  in,  Concerning  which  give  me  leave  (as  heretofore)  to  observe 
to  you,  that  besides  ye  Considerations  ariseing  from  my  having 
accomodated  it  in  every  circumstance  to  my  particular  Occasions  & 
method  of  Living  (not  easily  to  be  had  againe  elsewhere)  I  have  this 
further  Disswasive  from  quitting  it  that  my  Charges  in  doing  this  & 
in  ye  finish  &  furnishing  it  for  Ornamt  as  well  as  for  use,  have  been 
such  &  must  in  some  degree  be  againe  (wheresoever  I  goe)  that  I 
cannot  conveniently  beare,  nor  know  how  to  expect  being  borne  for 
me  by  them  that  succeed  me  in  it.  This  S""  is  ye  truth  of  ye 
Measures  I  goe  by  in  this  Matf  &  what  I  doe  most  willingly  make 
you  judge  of.  But  it  is  not  impossible,  but  I  may  at  yc  same  time 
propose  to  you  what  may  answer  y'"  occasion  every  whit  as  well  w'"^ 

lesse 


354  ^"^ir^   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

lesse  charge  &  much  soon''  than  it  were  possible  to  be  done  were  I  to 
remove;  namely  by  telling  you  y'  I  have  lately  heard  Mr.  Hewer  say 
something  of  his  being  likely  to  have  that  House  of  his  at  his  disposal 
at  Lady  day  next  in  this  very  streete  wherein  Mr.  Mountague  now 
lives  &  wherein  I  before  held  ye  Office  of  ye  Adm'>'  several  years  w'''' 
knowne  satisfaction  in  every  sort  of  Accomodation  requisite  thereto. 
If  you  judge  it  may  be  soe  to  you  &  shall  comand  me  I  will  prevent 
Mr.  Hewers  making  any  oth''  disposal  of  it  till  you  have  refused  it. 
To  ye  oth''  Question  my  Broth''  askes  me  from  you  I  doe  not  remem- 
ber anything  of  that  matt'"  about  40"' advanced  to  ye  Seamen  rais'd  in 
Scotland  betwn  1664  &  1667  but  doe  believe  that  what  (if  anything) 
what  done  of  that  kind  was  negotiated  wholly  between  ye  state  here 
&  ye  then  Adm'  of  vScotld  ye  D.  of  Richmond  This  sayd  pray  let  me 
once  for  all  tell  you  that  I  doe  industriously  abstaine  from  troubling 
3'ou  wf'  my  visites  out  of  grave  respect  6c  tendernesse  to  you  und'' 
ye  circumstances  of  Business  you  now  \ye.  Further,  if  I  thought  you 
did  in  ye  least  incline  to  make  other  construction  of  it  none  should 
oftner,  for  none  could  w'''  more  pleasure  or  w'''  a  greater  sense  of 
of  his  obligations  waite  on  you  than 

y  most  faithfl  &  humb  St 

s.  r. 

Endorsed —  Feby  20  i6A» 

Mr  Pepys  to  S''  J.  Low 
-ther  upon  his  fresh 
enquirys  after  his  hous 
for  ye  use  of  ve  Adm"^. 

Sir  John  was  reappointed  Jany  20th,  1689;  Jany  2jrd, 
i6go ;  Nov.  i6th,  1690;  March  loth,  1691  ;  April  15th, 
1692  ;  March  2nd,  1693  ;  after  which  one  James  Kendal 
takes  his  place. 

From  the  time  when  he  came  into  authority  until  his 
death,  Sir  John  devoted  himself  to  the  development  of  the 
town  of  Whitehaven  and  the  welfare  of  its  inhabitants,  as 
I  have  attempted  to  shew  more  at  large  (and  am  therefore 
precluded  from  repeating  here),  in  my  paper  on  "  White- 
haven and  its  Streets,"  published  in  these  Transactions, 
and  in  another  on  "Whitehaven  and  its  Old  Church;" 
and  if  towards  the  end  of  his  life  dissensions  arose  in  the 
town  they  apparently  were  due  more  to  the  acts  of  others 

than 


SIR   JOHN    LOWTHEK,    BARONET.  355 

than  his  own,  for  he  was,  I  believe,  gentle,  just,  and  far 
seeing.  His  son,  James,  possessed  the  latter  qualification 
in  a  business  sense,  but  he  was  arbitrary  towards  those  with 
whom  he  was  connected,  and  penurious  in  private  h'fe.  I 
do  not  know  when  or  where  Sir  John's  wife  died  but  she 
predeceased  him.  He  had  his  full  share  of  domestic 
trouble,  for  his  eldest  son,  Christopher,  whom  he  vainly 
attempted  to  turn  from  his  evil  career,  (as  is  shown  in  the 
"  Gilpin  Memoirs,"  published  by  this  Society,)  was  ulti- 
mately disinherited  by  deeds,  dated  Feb,  12th  and  13th, 
1700. 

Sir  John's  Will,  which  I  append,  is  worthy  of  special 
attention,  even  of  admiration.  It  was  made  by,  and  no 
doubt  carefully  discussed  with,  his  friend  and  local  adviser, 
William  Gilpin,  of  Scaleby  Castle,  who  is  one  of  the 
witnesses,  as  is  also  John  Spedding,  the  first  of  a  family 
whose  sons  continued  to  serve  the  Lowthers  during  great 
part  of  the  eighteenth  century. 


Will  of  Sir   'Jolui  Luh'llu'y  of  Wliitehavcn. 

In  the  name  of  God,  Amen.  1  Sr  John  Lowther  of  Whitehaven  in  the  County  of 
Cumberland  Baronett  Do  make  this  my  last  Will  and  testament  in  manner  and 
forme  following  First  I  commit  my  Soul  to  Almighty  God  And  my  body  to  be 
decently  interred  with  as  little  ceremony  and  expence  as  may  be  nigh  my  Father 
in  the  parish  Church  of  St.  Bees  unless  an  Isle  or  seperate  place  of  Sepulture 
appropriated  for  me  and  my  family  be  made  at  the  New  Chappie  of  Whitehaven 
before  my  decease  .\nd  my  Will  is  that  my  neighbours  of  Whitehaven  only  do 
accompany  the  corps  without  giving  my  relations  or  the  gentlemen  of  the  County 
any  trouble  upon  this  account  And  as  concerning  my  estate  my  Will  is  that  it  be 
disposed  of  in  this  manner  vizt  I  give  the  summe  of  twenty  pounds  to  the  Over- 
seers of  the  poore  of  St.  Bees  Quarter  to  be  by  them  distributed  amongst  the 
poore  of  the  Town  of  St.  Bees  To  the  Overseers  of  the  poore  of  Preston  Quarter 
the  summe  of  twenty  pounds  to  be  distributed  to  the  poore  of  the  Town  of 
Whitehaven  not  imployed  in  or  about  my  Collieries  and  to  the  workmen  labourers 
and  leaders  imployed  in  my  Collieries  I  give  the  sum  of  twenty  pounds  to  be 
distributed  by  the  Stewards  of  my  Collyeries  And  I  Will  that  no  other  dole  or 
distribucon  shall  be  made  to  any  poore  of  the  said  Townships  nor  of  any  other 
parish  or  place  whatsoever  And  whereas  I  have  in  and  by  the  settlement  of  my 

rcall 


356 


SIR   JOHN    LOWTHEK,    BARONET. 


reall  estate  by  me  heretofore  made  by  severall  Indentures  of  Lease  and  Release 
bearing  the  respective  dates  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  days  of  February  In  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  Thousand  seven  hundred  limitted  an  estate  in  the  premises 
thereby  settled  to  the  use  of  or  in  trust  for  my  son  James  Lowther  for  the  term  of 
his  natural  life  with  a  remainder  to  the  trustees  therein  named  for  the  life  of  the 
said  James  Lowther  In  trust  to  preserve  the  contingent  uses  therein  limited  and 
further  remainders  to  the  use  of  or  in  trust  for  all  and  every  the  son  and  sons  of 
the  body  of  the  said  James  Lowther  and  the  respective  heirs  males  of  the  respective 
bodyes  of  such  son  and  sons  to  be  begotten  respectively  successively  one  after 
another  as  they  shall  be  in  seniority  of  age  as  in  and  by  the  said  settlement 
relacon  being  there  unto  had  it  doth  more  fully  and  particularly  appeare  Now  in 
regard  that  a  considerable  part  of  my  said  estate  consists  in  Collieries  and  that  the 
improvements  as  well  of  the  said  estate  as  the  Town  of  Whitehaven  and  country 
adjacent  in  Trade  and  manufacture  will  after  my  decease  depend  upon  the 
prudent  and  careful  management  of  the  said  James  Lowther  (in  case  he  do 
survive  me)  and  for  that  many  unforeseen  occasions  may  fall  out  which  may  make 
it  necessary  to  the  ends  aforesaid  that  the  said  James  Lowther  should  have 
greater  powers  then  consist  with  a  bare  estate  for  life  And  for  as  much  as  I  do 
expect  from  and  am  entirely  satisfied  that  he  will  by  all  prudent  wayes  and 
means  apply  himself  to  compleat  those  designes  which  I  have  laid  and  thus  far 
carryed  on  for  the  growth  and  improvement  of  the  said  Town  and  Country  and 
for  advancing  the  said  estate  which  cannot  turne  to  account  by  any  other  course 
and  hoping  that  the  reasonable  prospects  he  may  have  of  affecting  the  same  will 
animate  his  endeavours  and  for  that  it  doth  not  seem  reasonable  to  lay  him  in 
whose  conduct  I  have  a  perfect  confidence  under  greater  restraints  than  those  yet 
unborne  of  whose  dispositions  wee  can  have  no  foresight  I  do  therefore  according 
to  the  power  to  me  reserved  in  and  by  the  said  settlement  and  all  and  every  other 
powers  and  authorities  whatsoever  which  I  may  have  in  that  behalfe  by  this  my 
last  Will  and  testament  in  writing  by  me  sealed  and  subscribed  in  the  presence  of 
three  or  more  credible  witness  revoke  annull  and  make  void  all  and  every  the  said 
severall  and  respective  estates  so  limited  in  and  by  the  said  Settlement  to  the  use 
of  or  in  trust  for  the  said  James  Lowther  for  his  life  and  to  the  trustees  for 
preserving  the  contingent  uses  and  to  and  for  all  and  every  the  severall  son  and 
sons  of  the  body  of  the  said  James  Lowther  to  be  begotten  and  the  severall  heirs 
males  of  the  bodies  of  such  son  and  sons  to  be  begotten  respectively  And  I  do 
hereby  limit  substitute  and  declare  that  all  and  singuler  the  premises  in  the  said 
Settlement  menconed  whereof  the  uses  and  trusts  are  hereby  revoked  shall  in  lieu 
and  stedd  thereof  be  to  the  use  of  or  In  trust  for  the  said  James  Lowther  and  the 
heirs  males  of  his  body  lawfully  to  be  begotten  Any  thing  in  the  said  Settlement 
to  the  contrary  hereof  notwithstanding.  And  my  Will  further  is  and  I  do  hereby 
devise  All  and  singular  the  messuages  lands  tenements  collieries  and  hereditaments 
what  soever  and  wheresoever  the  same  lye  or  be  with  their  and  every  of  their 
appurtenances  which  I  have  at  any  time  or  times  since  the  making  of  the  said 
Settlement  purchased  or  taken  in  mortgage  (in  case  mortgages  be  not  redeemed) 
to  the  said  James  Lowther  and  the  heirs  male  of  his  body  lawfully  to  be  begotten 
with  remainders  over  to  and  for  such  respective  person  and  persons  and  for  such 
and  the  like  limittacon  of  estates  uses  and  trusts  and  in  such  course  and  order  of 
succession  and  with  such  and  the  like  provisoes  and  powers  and  in  such  manner 
and  forme  as  are  limitted  settled  and  provided  as  to  the  rest  of  my  freehold  estate 
in  and  by  the  said  Settlement  And  whereas  I  have  in  and  by  the  said  Settlement 

made 


SIK    JOHN    LO\VTIIJa<,    IJAKONET.  357 

made  such  a  provision  for  my  eldest  son  by  a  weekly  allowance  as  is  most  suitable 
to  his  unfortunate  by  past  and  hopeless  future  management  (which  is  all  that  1  do 
think  fit  to  allow  him)  I  do  hereby  fully  and  absolutely  ratify  and  confirm  all  and 
every  other  the  Estates  powers  and  clauses  in  the  said  Settlement  contained  not 
hereby  revoked  or  altered  or  other  wise  inconsistent  with  this  my  last  Will  and 
testament  Item  I  give  to  my  daughter  Jane  Lowther  (besides  the  provison  of 
Two  hundred  pounds  per  annum  made  her  in  the  said  Settlement)  the  summe  of 
two  hundred  pounds  to  buy  mourning  I  give  her  also  the  furniture  of  her  lodgings 
at  London  and  what  else  she  is  possessed  of  Item  I  give  to  Mrs.  Dorothy  Trevisa 
for  her  long  and  faithfull  Service  ten  pounds  per  annum  during  her  life  and 
mourning  Item  I  give  to  my  servant  Lancelott  Lowther  (if  he  be  with  me  at  the 
time  of  my  decease)  one  tenth  part  of  the  yearly  produce  of  the  one  hundred 
pounds  which  I  paid  into  the  Hxchequer  in  his  name  upon  the  Act  for  Survivorships 
to  be  paid  him  during  his  life  as  it  becomes  due  Item  I  give  to  the  rest  of  my 
doinestick  Servants  which  shall  be  with  me  at  the  time  of  my  decease  in  manner 
following  vizt  To  my  housekeeper  gardiner  and  chief  groome  and  to  such  of  my 
Servants  as  came  from  London  one  years  wages  each  of  them  And  I  desire  my 
executor  herein  after  named  to  assist  them  by  recommendacon  or  preferment  as 
he  has  opportunity  perticulerly  such  of  them  as  have  been  longest  with  me  To 
Jno.  Spedding  and  Wm.  Cuppage  each  of  them  1  give  two  years  wages  and  for 
that  they  are  fully  apprized  of  all  the  perticulers  of  my  estate  especially  my 
Collieries  I  recomend  them  both  in  a  perticuler  manner  to  my  said  son  James 
Lowther  to  be  imployed  by  him  in  comptrouling  the  Stewards  Accounts  or  other- 
wise as  he  shall  think  fitt  to  the  rest  of  my  domesticks  I  give  halfe  a  years  wages 
each  and  for  as  much  as  it  may  be  necessary  that  mourning  be  given  to  some  of 
my  domesticks  and  not  all  I  give  it  to  all  to  whom  I  have  given  one  years  wages 
or  more  but  to  the  inferior  Servants  who  hare  only  half  a  year's  wages  given 
them  I  give  no  mourning  The  residue  of  my  goods  chatties  rights  credits  and 
personall  estate  whatsoever  (my  debts  legacies  and  funerall  and  other  necessary 
expenses  being  paid)  I  give  unto  my  said  son  James  Lowther  whom  I  do  make 
sole  Executor  of  this  my  last  Will  and  testament  Lastly  I  do  hereby  revoke  all 
former  and  other  wills  and  testaments  and  Codicills  by  me  at  any  time  heretofore 
made  In  witness  whereof  I  have  hereunto  sett  my  hand  and  seal  the  eighth  day 
of  October    In    the   year  of   Our   Lord   One   thousand  seven  hundred  and  five 

John  Lowther. 
Sealed  and  declared  by  the  said  Testator  to  be  his  last  Will  and  testament  and 
every  sheet  hereof  (being  three  in  number)  by  him  signed  in  the  presence  of  us 
who  at  his  request  and  in  his  presence  have  hereunto  subscribed  our  names  as 
Witnessess. 

W.  Gilpin. 

Tho.  Benn. 

Sam.  Harrison. 

John  Spedding. 
1  Sr  John  Lowther  of  Whitehaven  in  the  County  of  Cumberland  Baronet  Do 
(by  this  my  Codicill  to  be  annexed  unto  my  last  Will  and  Testament  and  which  ! 
Will  shall  be  taken  as  part  of  the  same)  give  and  devise  all  that  messuage  lands 
and  tenement  in  Corkikle  in  the  said  County  of  Cumberland  which  I  lately 
purchased  of  Peter  Gibson  and  Barbara  Gibson  unto  my  son  James  Lowther  and 
the  heirs  iTiale  of  his  body  to  be  begotten  And   for  default  of  such  issue  to  such 

respective 


35^  SIR   JOHN    LOWTHER,    BARONET. 

respective  person  and  persons  and  for  such  and  the  hke  Hmittacon  of  Estates  uses 
and  trusts  and  in  such  course  and  order  of  succession  and  with  such  and  the  like 
provisoes  and  powers  and  in  such  manner  and  forme  as  the  rest  of  my  freehold 
estate  is  limitted  and  settled  in  and  by  the  Settlement  of  my  real!  estate  referred 
unto  in  my  last  Will  and  testament  And  I  do  hereby  ratify  and  confirm  my  said 
last  Will  and  Testament  and  everything-  therein  contained  In  Witness  whereof  1 
have  hereunto  sett  my  hand  and  seal  this  twenty-sixth  day  of  December  Anno  Dm. 
One  thousand  seven  hundred  and  five, 

The  sign  X  tif  Sr  John  lA.vxther  he  being-  ill  of  the  Gout. 
Signed  sealed  and  declared  by  the  said  Sr  John  Lowther  as  a  Codicill  to  be 
annexed  to  be  his  last  Will  and  Testament  in  the  presence  of 

W.  Gilpin. 

J.  Spedding. 

Sam.  Harribon. 
Probatum  &c.,  cuni  CodiciUo  ike,  apud  London  &c.,  22  April,  170G,  |uramento 
Jacob!  Louther. 

Very  shortly  after  the  execution  of  the  Codicil  to  his 
Will  Sir  John  died.  As  is  stated  in  the  Will,  he  had 
intended  building  a  mortuary  Chapel  for  himself  and  his 
family  at  the  East  end  of  St.  Nicholas'  Church,  White- 
haven, but  delays  had  arisen,  and  this  intention  was  never 
carried  out  ;  and  if  his  son  James  ever  erected  a  monu- 
ment to  his  memory  in  the  Church  of  St.  Bees,  which  I 
doubt,  there  is  no  trace  of  it  ;  and  the  sole  and  final 
record  of  him  is  to  be  found  in  the  Parish  Register  there, 
in  the  simple  entry  : 

'/olj      17  January.     Sir  John  Lowther,  Baronet,  inteiied. 

I  have  to  acknowledge  my  obligation  to  the  late  Earl 
of  Lonsdale  for  permission  to  inspect,  and  take  extracts 
from,  the  Note  Book  relating  to  Sir  John  Lowther, 

I  have  also  to  thank  Lady  Louisa  Egerton,  Henry 
Eletcher  Rigge,  Esq.,  and  Dr.  I'anson,  for  information 
enabling  me  to  ascertain  the  whereabouts  of  Sir  John's 
Portrait ;  and  the  Revd.  Dr.  Magrath,  Provost  of  Queen's, 
and  Mr.  J.  L,  Strachan  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford,  for 
the  extract  from  the  Entrance  Book  of  that  College 
relating  to  Sir  John. 


(359) 


Art.  XXV. — Notes  on  tJie  Parish  Registers   of  Crosby-on- 
Eden.     By  T.  Hesketh  Hodgson. 

Cominunicak.i  at  Kir  by  Stephen,  July  y,  18(87. 

IN  the  note  of  his  visit  to  Crosby  on  6th  Oct.  i/Oj, 
P)ishop  Nicolson  observes  that  "  the  Register  book 
(if  it  may  be  called  so)  is  most  scandalous,  bein^^  loose,  in 
paper,  and  of  no  age."  This  seems  to  have  stimulated  the 
parishioners  to  an  attempt  to  amend  matters,  for  in  the 
oldest  book  now  existing  the  following  memorandum 
appears  at  the  head  of  the  second  page  (first  of  entries)  : 

This  Rigister  Booke  was  bought  at  Carlisle  ye  second  day  of  May  in 
j'e  yeare  of  our  Lord  God  1704  at  ye  cost  of  ye  p.ish  of  Crosby.  By 
Chrofer  Wannop,  Roger  Linton,  John  Teasdaile  and  John  Dalton 
Allyson  Johnes  Clk  Churchwardens  ye  price  was  Six  shillings  and 
Threepence 

by  me  Henry  Pearson. 

Henry  Pearson  as  appears  from  Bishop  Nicolson's  notes 
was  then  schoolmaster. 

The  book  is  a  folio  of  foolscap  size,  of  leaves  of  parch- 
ment, bound  in  vellum,  much  the  worse  for  damp  and 
neglect.  The  ink  is  often  much  faded,  which  with  the 
stained  and  greasy  state  of  many  of  the  leaves  makes  the 
entries  often  difficult  to  decypher.  Nearly  three  pages 
have  been  transcribed  by  Pearson,  who  writes  a  somewhat 
formal  though  sufficiently  legible  court  hand  with  frequent 
abbreviations,  from  an  older  book  which  is  not  now  exis- 
ting. He  appears  to  have  taken  his  own  birth  as  the 
period  from  which  to  begin  his  transcription,  the  first 
entry  being: 

Sept.  ye  24th         Henricus  Pearson  fillius  Jacobi  baptizatus  erat  vice- 
1649.  simo  quarto  die  mensis  Septembris  Anno  Dom.  1649 

Scriptu  manu  mea. 

The 


360  CROSBY-ON-EDEN    REGISTERS. 

The  next  entry  is  : 

June  3'e  26  Rowlandus    fillius    Rowlandi  Nicholson  baptizatus 

1650.  erat  vicesimo  sexto  die  Mensis  Junii  Anno  Dom. 

1650. 

The  Nicholsons  were  a  family  of  yeomen  of  some  conse- 
quence in  the  parish.  Entries  relating  to  them  are  of 
frequent  occurrence.  Rowland  is  a  common  name  with 
them,  in  fact  it  appears  to  have  been  a  popular  name  in 
the  parish.  They  were  considerable  landholders,  and  their 
descendants  still  hold  the  small  estates  of  Holm  End  and 
Batt  House.  It  is  a  tradition  that  they  were  descended 
from  or  related  to  Bishop  Nicolson,  and  that  Crosb}',  or 
rather  Linstock  being  an  episcopal  manor  they  got  bene- 
ficial leases  of  Church  land  from  him.  But  the  above 
entry  shews  that  they  were  established  in  the  parish  at 
least  50  years  before  Bishop  Nicolson's  episcopate.  The 
Nicholsons  of  Holm  End  were  till  quite  recently  lessees  of 
the  tithes,  and  they  still  retain  possession  of  the  site  of  the 
old  tithe  barn  in  Crosby  Holm,  on  which  they  have  built 
a  cottage. 

These  entries  are  a  fair  specimen  of  those  in  this  book, 
which  are  for  the  most  part  strictly  confined  to  the 
business  of  the  register.  The  transcript  made  by  Pear- 
son goes  on,  with  an  occasional  lapse  into  English,  to  1704, 
when  original  entries  begin.  These  appear  to  have  been 
made  b}-  Pearson  for  the  most  part,  if  not  altogether,  and 
he  continued  to  make  them  till  1723,  his  last  entry  being 
as  under : 

Nov.  ye  29th         Rogerius  fillius  Johannis  Bell  baptizatus  crat  vice- 
day,  simo  nono  die  Novembris  at  Wetherhill  and  grand- 
child   to    me     Henry    Pearson    Anno     Dom.    1723. 
Scripta  per  me. 

Henricii  Pearson. 

His  hand  has  become  very  feeble  and  shaky,  very  diffierent 
from  the  firm  neat  hand  in  which  the  transcript  is  made. 

On 


LKOSL;V-0\-lil>l:;N    KL-GlSTliKS.  361 

On  the  same  page  as  and  above  the  entry  given  above  is 
the  following,  in  Pearson's  writing  : 

Cumb.  ix.c.  At  the  Gencrall  (^)Luuter  Sessions  holden  at  Carlisle 

th  24th  day  of  July  in  ye  thirteenth  year  of  ye  reign 
of  our  Sovereign  Lady  Anne  Queen  of  Great  Britain 
&  Anno  Dom.  17 14.  Before  John  Aglionby,  William 
Osborn  (?)John  Briscoe  and  others  of  Her  Maj' 
Justices  of  the  Peace  Sec. 
Whereas  the  Churchwardens  and  Overseers  of  \e  I'ooi'  toi'  }  e  p' "  ut 
Crosby  ypon  Eden  made  their  complaint  to  the  Worshipful  John 
Aglionby  and  Richard  Goodman  lisq'""  two  of  Her  Maj*'"'  Justices  of 
the  Peace  for  this  county  whereof  one  of  ye  corum  {sic)  That  Ales  Pick- 
son  wife  of  Thomas  Pickson  came  lately  to  live  in  the  said  p''*'  of  Crosby 
not  having  gained  a  legall  settlement  there  according  to  the  Laws  in 
that  case  made  and  provided  nor  produced  a  certificate  to  them 
owning  her  to  be  settled  elsewhere  And  that  the  said  Mrs.  Pickson  is 
likely  to  become  chargeable  to  ye  said  p'^''  of  Crosby  whereupon 
examination  thereof  they  the  said  Justices  did  adjudge  the  same  to  be 
true  and  the  last  place  of  her  settlement  was  in  Brampton  p'*''  in  this 
Count}'  They  ye  said  Justices  by  Warrant  under  their  hands  and 
seals  dated  the  third  day  of  April  Anno  Dom.  1714  did  require  the 
said  Churchwardens  of  the  p'"''  of  Crosby  to  convey  the  said  Ales 
Pickson  from  Crosby  to  the  said  p'=''  of  Brampton  thereby  also 
requiring  the  Churchwardens  and  Overseers  of  ye  p'"''  of  Brampton  to 
receive  her  as  an  inhabitant  there  by  virtue  of  which  order  the  said 
Churchwardens  and  Overseers  of  Crosby  did  convey  the  said  Ales 
Pickson  to  ye  Churchwardens  of  Brampton  aforesaid  and  the  said 
Churchwardens  of  Brampton  thinking  themselves  grievously  oppressed 
by  the  said  order  appealed  to  this  Quarter  Sessions  from  the  said 
order  whereupon  reading  the  said  order  and  upon  hearing  Counsel  on 
the  side  of  the  Churchwardens  of  Crosby  and  noo  defence  being 
made  by  the  Churchwardens  of  Brampton  notwithstanding  due  notice 
given  to  them  This  Court  doth  adjudge  the  order  soo  made  by  the 
said  Justices  to  be  confirmed  and  it  is  hereby  confirmed.  Dated  the 
day  and  year  abovesaid. 

Hugo  Simpson. 
Ch.  Dacre. 

It  would  seem  that  the  parishioners  of  Crosby  desired  to 
place  on  record  their  triumph  over  their  neighbours  of 
Brampton. 

Towards 


362  CKOSBV-ON-EDEN   REGISTERS. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  book  occurs  another  entry  of 
some  interest,  also  in  Pearson's  handwriting.  The  page 
is  filled  up  with  entries  in  the  writing  of  the  Rev.  H. 
Shaw,  who  became  vicar  in  1758,  as  appears  from  a  some- 
what curious  entry  which  will  be  quoted  presently.  The 
entry  mentioned  above  is  as  follows  : 

The  Comon  of  Pasture  for  ye  Barrony  and  Manor  of  Linstock  was 
concluded  and  agreed  upon  and  cast  into  Townships  and  afterwards 
divided  into  Tenants  Shares  each  alike  apportionably.  By  Mr. 
Richard  Aglesfield  of  ye  citty  of  Carlisle  in  ye  yeare  of  our  Lord  God 
1690  &  1691  And  every  one  got  his  share  where  his  lott  fell.  And 
written  by  me 

Henry  Pearson. 

It  would  appear  that  the  tenants  were  able  to  agree 
among  themselves  on  a  division  without  an  Inclosure  Act. 
At  any  rate  it  is  believed  that  no  award  e.xists. 

Pearson's  entries  are  made  without  any  attempt  at 
classification  ;  baptisms,  marriages,  and  burials,  being 
entered  as  they  occur.  There  appears  no  entry  of  his 
burial,  but  his  writing  appears  to  cease  in  1723,  and  the 
entries  are  continued  in  a  large  straggling  hand  of  some- 
what the  same  character,  still  in  the  order  of  their  occur- 
rence. Probably  it  is  the  writing  of  the  then  vicar,  Mr. 
Fenton,  as  it  ceases  just  before  the  appointment  of  Mr. 
Gibson,  who  has  entered  his  appointment  thus  : 

Gulielmus  Gibson  V'icarius  de  Crosby  super  Eden  Vicesimo  Septimo 
die  Quintilis  1730. 

Mr.  Gibson  separates  the  entries,  but  he  rarely  or  never 
made  them  himself;  they  are  in  a  variety  of  hands, 
mostly  very  bad.  They  are  usually  signed  by  Mr.  Gibson 
at  the  end  of  each  year.  He,  however,  seems  always  to 
have  himself  noted  the  date  of  the  r>ishop"s  or  Chan- 
cellor's Visitations — which,  it  may  be  remarked,  are  very 
carefully  noted  all  tlirough  the  books. 

Mr. 


CROSr.V-ON-IiDKN-Rl'GISTMRS.  56/, 

Mr.  Gibson  was  succeeded  in  1758  b}'  the  Kev.  H. 
Shaw,  who  made  the  following  rather  curious  entry  on 
the  first  (a  blank)  paj^e  of  the  register. 

Dr.  Richard  Osbaldeston  late  Hishop  of  Carlisle  and  now  Bishop 
of  London  s^ave  y''  vicarage  of  Crosby  on  Eden  to  Hen.  Shaw  It.  of 
Folkton  near  Scarbrough  in  Yorkshire  on  New  Years  Day  175CS. 
The  said  Hen.  Shaw  came  to  reside  at  y'-  vicarage  on  May  y'-  lo*'' 
following  and  could  have  no  dilapidations  for  want  of  effects  issuing 
from  the  late  Vicar  the  Rev.  Mr.  William  Gibson. 

Mr.  Shaw  appears  to  have  been  a  careful  and  accurate 
man  ;  his  entries  are  made  in  a  neat  somewhat  formal 
hand.  They  are  classified,  but  he  has  not  shewn  much 
judgment  in  the  space  assigned  to  each  class,  as  a  foot 
note  "Cont"'  3  pages  on  "'  or  "  turn  4  pages  back  "  and 
such  like  frequently  occurs.  He  sometimes  enters  the 
trade  or  business  of  a  person  buried.  Weavers  are  rather 
common  ;  two  are  described  as  "  dealers  in  black  cattle." 
Here  is  one — 

BURIALS. 
1770.     Joseph  Jackson  of  Walby  a  dealer  in  black  cattle  commonly 
called  a  jobber  aged  27.     7'''  Sept. 

It  is  noticeable  that  no  entry  occurs  in  these  Registers 
of  any  one  of  rank  superior  to  yeoman.  The  only  appear- 
ance of  any  thing  like  a  title  is  the  following — 

32rd  Oct.  1727.      John  Dalton  of  Walby  Laird  Sepult. 

The  Daltons  appear  to  have  been  yeomen  of  much  the 
same  standing  as  the  Nicholsons  with  whom  they  fre- 
quently intermarried.  The  name  is  now  extinct  in  the 
parish.  Indeed,  with  the  exception  of  the  Nicholsons, 
none  of  the  old  land- holding  families  are  now  represented, 
unless  it  be  Wright  and  Bell,  but  the  connection  of  the 
present  yeomen  of  those  names  with  the  older  families  of 
the  names  cannot  be  traced  from  the  registers. 

The 


364  CROSP.Y-ON-EDRN   REGISTERS. 

The  principal  land-holding  families  of  the  17th  and 
i8th  centuries  were,  besides  the  Nicholsons  and  Daltons 
noticed  above,  James,  Palmer,  and  Phillips  :  all  have  now 
disappeared.  The  name  of  Phillips  is  still  in  the  parish, 
though  not  as  a  landowner,  but  they  were  landowners  till 
very  recently.  James  and  Palmer  have  totally  disappeared. 

Many  names  of  the  tenant  farmer  and  labourer  class 
are  still  numerously  represented  :  e.g.  Wannop,  Haugh, 
Noble,  Little,  Baty,  and  Johnstone.  The  name  of 
Hetherington,  blacksmith,  frequently  occurs;  fine  of  that 
name,  probably  a  descendant,  was  in  business  as  a  black- 
smith on  Crosby  Moor  within  the  last  three  years  :  he  is 
still  living,  and  has  a  family,  though  none,  I  believe,  con- 
tinue the  trade. 

Illegitimate  births  are  creditably  few,  and  many  of  those 
entered  are  out-parishioners,  often  from  Carlisle. 

There  are  few  entries  which  are  worth}-  of  notice:  some 
which  appear  rather  curious  are  here  given. 

1722.  James  Blacklock  of  Dalby  Buried  y*^  2qt'i  day  of  July  Anno 
Dom.  1722  who  was  drowned  at  Liddail. 

BURIALS. 
i76H.     James   McKeith   a  t ravel  1  in,;;;    bov  seemed  to  be   11    years    of 
age  July  24''' 

Was  the  poor  little  lad  wandering  about  the  country 
friendless?      It  is  a  pathetic  entry. 

1774.  James  Harrow  of  Hij^h  Crosby,  a  servant  in  husbandry 
born  in  North  Britain  and  who  was  at  the  parish  charge 
during  a  long  sickness  aged  22.  Feb.  2V'' 

Notices  of  paupers  or  at  the  parish  charge  are  rather 
frequent.  Many  of  those  so  distinguished  are  from 
Carlisle. 

1774.  James  Dalton  of  Brunstock  Batchelor  often  called  for  distinc- 
tion's sake  Silver  or  Siller  Jimmy  aged  82.     July  ti. 

This  is  the  only  instance  of  a  nickname  given. 

Here 


CROSI!V-ON-F.DIv.\    1<  !■  (WSTRKS.  .',65 

Here  are  two  baptisms  of  out-parishioners  from  Scot- 
land. It  does  not  seem  clear  why  they  should  have  been 
baptized  at  Crosby* 

1792.  vSept.  5.  Kcnith  the  son  of  Lieutenant  Aulay  Macaulay  oi" 
of  Dyke  End  in  Scotland  and  Rachel  his  wife  (late 
Room) 

lyyy.  Jan.  22.  William  illef^itimate  son  of  Jane  Richardson  of 
(iretna  in  Scotland. 

One  more  quotation  will  finish  our  extracts. 

1790.  Mav  q'''  Joseph  Gibson  aged  about  8  years  a  poor  boy  kept 
for  and  on  account  of  charity  at  Scaleby  Castle 
whose  parents  are  dead,     (baptizedl. 

The  entries  in  the  book  described  above  end  with  1779. 
In  1780  a  new  series  was  begun  in  two  books  one  of  which 
contains  baptisms  and  burials,  the  other,  marriages. 
The  first  is  a  folio  of  foolscap  size,  consisting  of  parchment 
leaves  bound  in  calf — the  only  entries  of  any  interest  are 
the  few  quoted  above.  The  second  is  a  quarto  of  rough 
hand-made  paper,  bound  in  rough  calf:  it  contains  the 
marriages  and  the  publication  of  banns,  which  is  ahvays 
carefully  registered  :  when  a  marriage  is  by  licence  it  is  so 
stated.  This  book  also  contains  the  entries  of  the  visit- 
ations. These  continue  the  register  till  1812.  when  the 
statutory  form  still  in  use  was  adopted. 


*  Several  instances   occur  in  the    register   of  Kirkandrews-upon-Esk.      These 
Transactions  vol.  iii  pp.  2S2.     The  parents  were  probably  Episcopalians. 

Editor. 


(.66    ) 


Art.  XXVI. — WXeKrpvovMv  \\yu)v.  B}'  the  Worshipful 
Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A..  &c.,  President  of  the 
Society. 

Read  at  Ulvcrsfnnc,  July  13,  18S7. 


^FHERE  may  be  among  the  members  of  this  Society 
*  eminent  ecclesiologists.  and  architectural  antiquaries, 
who  will  consider  a  paper  on  "  cock-fighting  "  as  beneath 
the  dignity  of  a  learned  society.  I  do  not  :  I  have  pre- 
cedent to  go  upon  :  I  plead  the  example  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  London,  in  the  third  volume  of  whose 
Archcvoloij^ia,  is  a  paper  entitled  : 

A\eKTf)v6v(t)v  Aycov.  A  Memoir  on  Cock-fighting;  wherein  the 
Antiquity  of  it,  as  a  Pastime,  is  examined  and  stated  ;  some  Errors 
of  the  Moderns  concerning  it  are  corrected,  and  the  Retention  of  it 
amongst  Christians  is  absolutely  condemned  and  proscribed. 

This  paper  was  read  before  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  on 
March  12,  and  19,  1773,  and  it  was  written  by  that  first 
rate  all-round  antiquary,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pegge,  a  scholar  to 
whom  no  branch  of  archaeology  was  unfamiliar.  The 
Archcsologia  contains  papers  by  him  on  every  possible 
subject — coins,  glass  windows,  Roman  altars,  cock-fighting, 
bull-running,  horse-shoeing,  charters,  prehistoric  imple- 
ments, &c.,  he  overflows  into  the  Gentleman's  Magazine, 
and  he  edited  the  Forme  of  Cnry,  a  Roll  of  ancient  Enf^lish 

cookery, 


•From  a  wood  hlork  by  Thos.  Bewick,  in  possession  of  the  Hon.  Secretary. 


COCK-MC.HTINC.  367 

cuukcyy ,  compiled  about  A.D.  1390,  by  the  Master  Cook>>  of 
King  Richard II .  His  paper  on  cock-fighting  is  the  basis'of 
that  on  the  same  subject  in  the  older  editions  of  the 
Encyclopedia  Hritannica,  under  title  "  Cockpit.''' 

Much  as  I  admire  the  Rev.  Mr.  Pegge,  I  am  not  now 
going  to  follow  him  into  cock-hghting  am(Mig  the  Lydians, 
the  Dardanians,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans,  the  Chinese,  the 
Persians,  the  Malayans,  and  the  "  still  more  savage 
Americans  "  :  I  propose  to  confine  myself  to  this  country, 
and  mainly  to  my  own  county  of  Cumberland.  I  do  not 
intend  to  dilate  upon  the  rules  of  the  game  :  these  you 
will  find  in  the  racing  calendars  of  the  last  century,  headed 
RULES  for  MATCHING  and  FIGHTING  of  COCKS  in  London, 
which  have  been  in  Practice  ever  since  the  Reign  of  King  Charles  II. 

With  them  is  given  a 

Copy  of  an  Article  for  a  COCK  MATCH. 

The  earliest  separate  treatise  on  Cock-fighting  that  I 
know  of  was  published  in  1674,  and  is  entitled  "  The 
Complete  Gamester  containing  mstructions  how  to  play  at 
Billiards,  Trucks,  Bowls,  Chess,  c!rf.  To  which  is  added 
The  Artes  and  Mysteries  of  Riding,  Racing,  Archery,  and 
Cock-fighting.  Printed  by  A.M.,  for  R.  Cutler,  and  to  be 
sold  by  Henry  Bromeat  the  Gun,  at  the  west  end  of  St. 
Paul's." 

But  Gervaise  Markham's  "  Country  Contentments," 
of  which  the  nth  edition  was  published  in  1675  contains 
a  chapter  on  Fighting-Cocks,  for  which  see  appendix  to 
this  paper, 

I  have  a  copy  of  '•  Hoyle's  Games,"  the  loth  edition 
published  in  1750,  which  says  nothing  about  cocks  or 
cock  fighting.*  But  "  Hoyle"s  Games  Improved,"  pub- 
lished 1814,  contains  ap  "  Essay  on  Game  Cocks  "  with 
the  "  rules  observed  at  the  royal  cockpit,  Westminster." 

*  The  Book  is  marked  on  the  back  "  Hoyle's  Games,"  and  contains  Whist,  the 
loth  edition,  1750:  Piquet  and  Chess,  the  jnd  edition,  1746:  Quadrille, '2nd 
edition,  1746  :  Backgammon,  the  ist  edition,  1745  :  all  paged  separately.  Hoyie 
may  therefore  have  printed  a  tract  on  cock  lightin;;-  at  that  date,  but   I   fancy  not. 

Till 


368  COCK-FIGHTING. 

Till  within  a  tew  years  previous  to  1824  there  was  a 
Cockpit  Royal  in  St.  James'  Park  : 

but  as  the  ground  belonged  to  ('hrisf^  Hospital,  that  body  would 
not  renew  the  lease  to  a  building  devoted  to  cruelty:  A  more  com- 
modious Cockpit  has  since  been  built  in  Tufton  street,  Westminster; 
where,  also,  dog-fights  take  place,  and  badgers  and  bears  are  bated  .  '  ■ 

Drurj'  Lane  theatre,  by  the  way,  commenced  life  in  the 
i6th  century  as  a  cockpit.' 

Hogarth's  celebrated  picture  of  the  Cockpit  at  New- 
market about  the  middle  of  last  century,  gives  an  idea 
of  the  motle\'  company  to  be  seen  at  one  of  these  places, 
including  peers  (there  is  one  in  a  garter  ribbon  and 
stars,  and  the  blind  Lord  Albemarle  Bertie  is  the  central 
figure  of  the  picture,)  pickpockets,  butchers,  jockies,  rat- 
catchers, gentlemen,  and  gamblers  of  every  description. 
A  picture  of  the  Royal  Cockpit,  in  Tufton  Street,  West- 
minster, to  which  we  have  alluded,  is  given  in  that 
wonderful  record  of  manners  and  customs  "'  Life  in  Lon- 
don,]:" and  shews  Tom,  Jerry,  and  Logic  backing  a 
feeder  called  Tommy  the  Sweep.  Another  picture  in 
this  work  show's  the  dog-pit  in  the  same  building,  and 
"  Tom  and  Jerr}-  sporting  their  blunt  on  the  phenomenon 
monkey,  Jacco  Macacco,"  in  his  great  fight  witli  the  2olb. 
dog.  These  two  pictures  b}-  Cruikshanks,  and  that  of 
Hogarth,  give  one  a  better  idea  of  what  cockpits  and 
dogpits  were  really  like,  and  of  the  compan}-  that  resorted 
there,  than  pages  of  writing  would  do.  In  both  Hogarth 
and  Cruikshanks'  pictures  of  a  cockpit,  the  birds  fight  on 
a  raised  circular  platform  in  the  centre  of  the  building  : 
on  this  are  the  feeders,  or  setters  i-v^  part  of  the  spectators 


*  Leigh's  New  Pict'-ire  of  London  1S24-5. 

+  Mr.  Fairman  Ordis>h  in  the  Antiquary  for  Marcli,  1SS7. 

+  Life  in  London,  or,  flie  Dai/  and  Niifhl  Scenes  of  ycrri/  llaietliorn.  Ksij.,  and 
liis  elriinnt  jrie)iil  Corinllnnn  Imn.     I5y  Pierce  F.gan.     London,  iSj2. 

§  In  tlie  last  century  the  same  person  fed  the  cockij,  and  set  them  in  contest; 
afterwards  the  professions  of  "  feeders  "  and  ''  setters  "  became  distinct ;  women 
were  sometimes  "  feeders." 

crowd 


COCK-FIGHTING.  369 

crowd  round  this  platlorni,  others  are  accommodated 
in  a  gallery.  In  Hogarth's  picture  the  shadow  of  a  man 
suspended  from  the  ceiling  in  a  basket,  shows  the  penalty 
imposed  on  those  who  did  not  pay  their  debts  of  honour, 
— their  bets  on  a  cockfight. 

Whatever  may  have  been  Mr.  Fegge's  opinions  as  to 
the  heathenishness  and  barbarity  of  cock-fighting,  those 
opinions  were  far  from  being  shared  by  his  brother  chris- 
tians in  this  country.  A  boy's  amusement  in  ancient 
Rome,  it  was  in  many  instances  in  this  country  the  sanc- 
tioned Shrove  Tuesday  sport  of  pubhc  schools,  the  master 
receiving  on  the  occasion  a  small  tax  from  the  boys  under 
the  name  oi cock-penny ."^  William  FitzStephen,  who  wrote 
the  life  of  Archbishop  Becket  some  time  in  the  reign  of 
Henry  II.,  describes  cocking  as  a  sport  of  school  boys  on 
Shrove  Tuesday. 

Prasterea  quotannis  die  quie  dicitur  Caynilevayia  [Shrove  Tuesday | 
(ut  a  puerorum  Lundonia;  ludis  incipiamus,  omnes  enim  pueri 
fuimus)  scholarum  singuli  pueri  suos  apportant  magistro  suo  gallos 
gallinaceos  pugnaces,  et  totum  illud  antemeridianum  datur  ludo 
puerorum  vacantium  spectare  in  scholis  suorum  pugnas  gallorum.  j 

"From  this  time  at  least'"  writes  an  eminent  county 
historian  :t 

this  diversion  however  cruel  and  absurd,  was  continued  in  many  of 
the  schools  in  this  kingdom  ;  in  that  of  Wimborne  in  particular,  where 
it  annually  took  place  till  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  when 
it  was  very  properly  abandoned.  The  theatre  (the  cock  pit)  it  seems 
was  the  school,  and  the  master  the  comptroller  and  director  of  the 
sport.  The  master  presided,  having  the  names  of  the  boys  inserted 
in  paper  billets  and  huddled  together  in  his  hat.  The  names  of  any 
two  boys  being  first  drawn  and  announced,  their  respective  cocks 
were  brought  into  the  pit  and  fought  until  one  of  them  was  dead  : 
a  second  couple  was  then  drawn,  then  a  third,  and  then  a  fourth,  till 


*  Chamber's  Book  of  Days,  vol.  i.,  p.  23S. 

t  Cited  by  Mr.  Pegge,  Arcliaiologia,  vol.  iii.,  p.  147. 

X  John  Hutchins  in  his  History  and  Anti(j>iitics  of  Dorset,  p.  197. 

such 


370  COCK-FIGHTING. 

such  time  as  une  halt  of  the  original  cocks  lay  dead ;  when  the 
remaining  ones,  were,  in  the  same  manner  as  before,  brought  to  a 
second  contest,  till  one  only  of  the  whole  was  left  alive,  the  owner 
of  which  was  distinguished  by  the  glorious  name  of  victor,  with 
many  other  privileges  annexed  to  it,  and  never  to  be  subjected  him- 
self, during  the  whole  time  of  Lent,  to  the  disgrace  of  flagellation  ; 
but,  what  was  still  more,  when  any  other  boy  was  on  the  point  of 
undergoing  that  punishment,  he  was  at  liberty,  if  he  pleased,  to 
exempt  him  from  it  by  only  clapping  his  hat  on  the  culprit's  poster- 
iors, and  thereby  saving  him  from  the  lash. 

The  same  custom  prevailed  at  a  place  so  far  distant 
from  Wimbourne  as  Wreay  in  Cumberland,  where  the 
prize  was  a  silver  bell,  of  which  an  enj^raving  is  given 
with  this  paper,  taken  from  a  drawing  in  a  portfolio  in 
the  library  of  my  friend  Mr.  Arlosh,  at  Wood  Side, 
Wreay;  the  bell  itself  disappeared, — lost  or  stolen, — about 
the  year  1882.  The  following  account  of  this  bell  comes 
from  Carlisle's  Endowed  Grammar  School.-'- 

A  singular  donation  was  mad«  by  a  Mr.  GRAHAM  of  a  Silver  Bell, 
weighing  two  ounces,  upon  which  is  engraven  "  Wrey  Chappie  1655  ", 
to  be  fought  for  annually  on  Shrove  Tuesday  by  Cocks.  About 
three  weeks  previous  to  that  c'ay,  the  boys  fixed  upon  Two  of  their 
Schoolfellows  for  CAPTAINS,  whose  parents  were  able  and  wilhng 
to  bear  the  expence  of  the  approaching  contest,  and  the  Master  on 
his  entering  the  School  was  saluted  by  the  boys  throwing  up  their 
hats,  and  the  acclamation  of  "  Dux,  Dux.''  After  an  early  Dinner 
on  Shrove  Tuesday,  the  two  Captains,  attended  by  their  Friends  and 
Schoolfellows,  who  were  distmguished  by  blue  and  red  Ribbons, 
marched  in  procession  from  their  respective  homes  to  the  Village 
Green,  when  each  produced  Three  Cocks,  and  the  Bell  was  appen- 
ded to  the  hat  of  the  Victor, — in  which  manner  it  was  handed  down 
from  one  successful  Captain  to  another.  About  thirty  years  since, f 
this  barbarous  custon  was  susperseded  by  a  HUNT, — a  Maj'or  being 
elected,  and  the  Bell  graces  his  rod  of  office. 


*  Vol.  i,  p.  205. 

t  Carlisle's  "  Endoiced  Grammar  Sclunds"  was  published  in  iSiS;  and  thirty 
years  from  that  j^ives  nearly  1790,  which  was  the  year  of  the  election  of  the 
Hrst  Mayor  of  Wreay. 

The 


COCK-FIGHTING, 


-371 


The  first  person  elected  Mayor  of  Wreay  was  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  *  a  staunch  frequenter  of  the  cockpit  at 
Westminster,  and  the  custom  is  still  kept  up,  but  Car- 
lisle publicans  rather  than  dukes  now  grace  the  civic 
chair  of  Wreay.  The  bell  was  pear-shaped  and  the  des- 
cription in  the  portfolio,  where  is  the  drawing,  states  it 
to  have  been  of  coarse  workmanship,  and  to  have  weighed 


about  an  ounce  and  a  half,  t  All  efforts  to  trace  this  in- 
teresting relic  have  failed.  Spite  of  what  Mr.  Carlisle 
says,  the  public  cock  fighting  at  Wreay  was  not  sup- 
pressed until  1836  ;   I  fancy  it  goes  on  now  on  the  sly. 

The  date  of  Mr.  Graham's  donation,  1655,  is  curious, 
for  cock-fighting  was  prohibited  by  Cromwell  in  one  of 
his  acts,  March  31st,  1654.  Graham  was  a  cavalier,  and 
probably  the  laws  were  a  long  time  in  arriving  in  Cumber- 
land during  the  Commonwealth. 

A  similar  custom  prevailed  also  at  Bromfield  in  another 
part  of  Cumberland.  As  the  account  of  it  in  Hutchinson's 
Cumberland,  is  written  by  no  less  a  person  than  the  Rev. 


*  See  Lonsdale's  Cumberland  TVorthies,  vol.  iii,  p.  60.   London  :  Geo.  Routledge. 
f  It  should  be  compared  with  the  Carlisle  horse  and  nage  hells,  engraved  the  in 
Archaeological  Journal,  vol.  xxxvi..  p.  ^S-;. 

[onathan 


J< 


372  COCK-FIGHTING. 

Jonathan  Boucher,  a  native  of  the  parish,  once  tutor  to 
Washington's  children,  and  afterwards  vicar  of  Epsom  ;  it 
ma}'  well  be  transcribed  : 

Till  within  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years  (Mr.  Boucher  is  writing 
about  1794,)  it  had  been  a  custom,  time  out  of  mind,  for  the  scholars 
of  the  free  school  of  Bromfield,  about  the  beginning  of  Lent,  or,  in 
the  more  expressive  phraseology  of  the  country,  at  Fastings  Even,  to  bar 
out  the  Master ;  i.e.  to  depose  and  exclude  him  from  his  school,  and 
keep  him  out  for  three  days.  During  the  period  of  this  expulsion, 
the  doors  of  the  citadel,  the  school,  were  strongly  barricaded  within  ; 
and  the  boys,  who  defended  it  like  a  besieged  city,  were  armed,  in  gen- 
eral, with  bore-tree,  or  elder,  pop  guns.  The  master,  meanwhile,  made 
various  efforts,  both  by  force  and  strategem,  to  regain  his  lost  author- 
ity ;  if  he  succeeded,  heavy  tasks  were  imposed,  and  the  business  of 
the  school  was  resumed,  and  submitted  to  ;  but  it  more  commonly 
happened  that  he  was  repulsed  and  defeated.  After  three  day's  siege, 
terms  of  capitulation  were  proposed  by  the  master,  and  accepted  by 
the  boys.  These  terms  were  summed  up  in  an  old  formula  of 
Latin  Leonine  Verses  :  ■■'■  stipulating  what  hours  and  times  should, 
for  the  year  ensuing,  be  alloted  to  study,  and  what  to  relaxation  and 
play.  Securities  were  provided  by  each  side,  for  the  due  performance 
of  these  stipulations;  and  the  paper  was  then  solemnly  signed  by 
master  and  scholars.  The  whole  was  concluded  by  a  festivity  ;  and 
a  treat  of  cakes  and  ale,  furnished  by  the  scholars.  One  of  the 
articles  always  stipulated  for,  and  granted,  was  the  privilege  of  im- 
mediately celebrating  certain  games  of  long  standing;  viz.,  a  football 
match,  and  a  cock-fight.  Captains,  as  they  were  called,  were  then 
chosen  to  manage  and  preside  over  these  games  ;  one  from  that  part 
of  the  parish,  which  lay  to  the  westward  of  the  school;  the  other  from 
the  east.  Cocks,  and  foot-ball  players,  were  sought  for  with  great 
diligence.  The  party,  whose  cocks  won  the  most  battles,  was 
victorious  in  the  cockpit ;  and  the  prize  was  a  small  silver  bell, 
suspended  to  the  button  of  the  victor's  hat,  and  worn  for  three 
successive  Sundays.  It  never  was  the  fortune  of  the 

writer  of  this  account  to  bear  the  bell,  but  he  well  remembers  when 
he  gazed  at  it  with  hardly  less  admiration  than  in  other  times  others 
contemplated  crowns  and  sceptres. f 


*  It  is  a  pity  Mr.  Boucher  did  not  preserve  these ;  one  wishes  they  could  be 
recovered. 

f  Hutchinson's  History  of  Cumhprlanrl,  vol.  ii,  323,  323. 

Nnthinjs: 


COCK-FIGHTING.  373 

Nothing  is  now  known  of  the  Bromfield  silver  bell  ; 
it  probably  resembled  either  the  cocking  bell  at  Wreay,  or 
the  "  horse  and  nage  bells  at  Carlisle."  ■■  Other  instances 
probably  existed  in  Cumberland,  but  the  practice  was 
universal,  as  the  following  extract  from  the  statutes  of 
Hartlebury  School  in  Worcestershire,  dated  in  the  7th 
year  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  proves  : 

Also  that  the  said  Schoohiiaster  shall  and  may  have  use  and  take 
the  profits  of  all  such  cockfights  and  potations,  as  are  commonly  used 
in  Schools,  f 

The  custom  of  cock-fighting  at  schools  was  practised 
also  in  Scotland  on  Shrove  Tuesday,  or  Fasten's  E'en,  as 
the}'  called  it.  Such  cock-fights  took  place  regularh-  in 
many  parts  of  Scotland  till  the  middle  of  the  iSth  century, 
the  master  presiding  at  the  battle,  and  enjoying  the  per- 
(|uisite  of  all  the  runaway  cocks,  which  were  technically 
called  f tig ies.  Nay,  so  late  as  1790,  the  minister  of  Apple- 
cross,  in  Ross-shire,  in  the  account  of  his  parish,  returns 
the  schoolmaster's  income  as  composed  of  two  hundred 
merks,  with  is.  6d.,  and  2S.  6d.,  per  quarter,  and  the  cock- 
ftght  dues,  which  are  equal  to  one  quarter's  payment  for 
each  scholar.]; 

But  cock-fighting  had  patrons  of  higher  rank  than 
dominies  and  their  pupils.  It  was  called  the  royal  diversion  :^ 
the  cockpit  at  Westminster  was  erected  by  Henry  VIII., 
and  James  I.,  was  passionately  fond  of  the  sport. ||  Foreign 
monarchs  on  their  visits  to  this  country  were  taken  to  see 
cock-fights,  and  the  following  address  was  presented  to 
King  Christian  VII.,  of  Denmark,  on  his  entering  the 
cockpit  at  Newmarket,  October  1768. 


*  Archceo'.ogical  yournal,  vol.  xxxvi.,  p.  383. 
■{•Carlisle's  Endowed  Grammar  Sc/iodIs,  vol.  ii,  p.  759. 
+  Chamber's  Book  of  Days,  vol.  i.,  p.  23S. 
§  Mr,  Pegsfe  in  Archcpolo^ia,  vol.  iii.,  p.  14s. 
Ij  Ibid. 

Great  Sir. 


374  COCK-FIGHTING. 

Great  Sir, 

In  1728  your  Royal  Grandfather'^  honoured  this  Cockpit 
with  his  presence,  and  seemed  highly  pleased  with  the  courage  of 
the  British  cocks.  May  your  Majesty's  Reign  be  long  and  happy  ; 
and,  when  the  infirmities  of  Nature  shall  pale  the  relish  of  enjoy- 
ment, may  you  without  pain  retire  to  the  mansions  of  eternal  bliss 
(like  him)  replete  with  age  and  glory!  f 

D3'er  in  his  History  of  Modern  Europe^  says  of  this 
monarch  : 

Christian  VII.  married  an  English  princess,  Carolina  Matilda,  a 
sister  of  George  III,  who,  in  January,  176S,  bare  him  a  son  and  heir. 
In  this  year  the  young  king,  who  had  been  badly  educated,  and 
whose  mental  weakness  approached  fatuity,  was  sent  on  a  tour  to 
England  and  France  with  a  suite  of  sixty  persons,  while  his  young 
consort  remained  at  home. 

The  tragic  story  of  Christian  VII.,  and  Caroh'na  Matilda 
is  well-known  :  such  a  kinj^  in  a  cockpit  was  the  right  man 
in  the  right  place. 

If  cock-fighting  had  royal  patrons  at  Newmarket,  and 
Westminster,  in  Cumberland  it  might,  according  to  tradi- 
tion, claim  to  be  called  an  episcopal  diversion:  at  Rose 
Castle,  the  palace  of  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  a  small  amphi- 
theatre is  traditionally  pointed  out  as  the  cockpit,  but  the 
better  opinion  seems  to  be  that  it  is  an  old  fish  pond.  But 
undoubted  cockpits  occupied  even  more  unseemly  places 
than  the  episcopal /j/^asa/z/icf.s :  they  were  frequently  close  to 
the  churcli,  if  not  actually  in  the  church  yard,  and  the  cooks 
were  fought  on  Sundays — notably  at  Bromfield,  and  Burgh- 
on-Sands,  and  the  writer's  father  used  to  tell  how,  as  a  boy, 
he  had  heard  in  church  at  Burgh-on-Sands  the  preacher's 
voice  drowned  by  the  vociferations  of  the  "gentlemen  of 
the  sod  ",  as  the  cockers  are  called,  crying  the  odds  :  to 
do  them  justice  they  generally  waited  to  begin,  until  the 


*  Christian  VI.,  then  Crown  Prince  of  Denmark. 

t  Extract  from  "  Knilish  Ifrrkli/  Post,"  Ortnhor  17,  \yCyS. 

J  Vol.  ill.,  p.  401. 

preacher 


COCKFIGIITING.  375 

preacher  was  finished,  but  if  he  was  on  any  occasion  extra 
long  winded,  their  patience  fell  short,  and  they  commenced. 
The    following    extract  is    from   "  Walker's   History  of 
Penrith,"  2nd  edition,  p.  80: 

The  cockpit  was  on  the  south  of  the  church-yard,  near  the  old 
Catholic  Chapel.  It  was  properly  fitted  up,  and  every  way  con- 
venient for  the  purpose.  On  one  occasion,  when  the  clergyman  was 
reading  the  burial  service,  his  voice  was  totally  drowned  by  loud 
cheers  from  the  pit,  in  token  of  the  victory  of  a  favourite  cock. 

This  was  not  peculiar  to  the  north  of  England,  as  an 
extract  from  the  Guardian  of  Oct.  i,  1884,  shows  : 

The  Rev.  T.  Webb  writes  to  "  Notes  and  Queries  "  that  he  has 
received  the  following  from  the  Rev.  C.  L.  Eagles,  the  incumbent  of 
the  little  church  of  Crasswall,  in  Herefordshire,  which  has  just  been 
restored  : — "  On  the  north  side  of  the  church  is  an  old  cockpit. 
An  old  man,  who  died  in  1869,  aged  96,  told  me  he  had  been  at  many 
a  cockfight  there.  '  People  did  come  from  all  parts,  and  after  sarvice 
did  fight  the  cocks.  Ah,  people  did  come  to  church  in  them  days  '  ! 
There  were  stands  of  gingerbread  at  the  time  of  fighting,  and  people 
came  from  Clifford,  Dorstone,  and  Hay,  and  even  Talgarth — a  little 
town  ten  miles  or  more  distant.  The  pit  remains  as  a  memento  of 
the  past. 

It  is  possible  that  the  "  gentlemen  of  the  sod  "  who 
fought  their  mains  on  Sunday  in  a  church-yard  cockpit 
may  have  had  some  qualms  of  conscience  to  gulp  down  : 
if  any  such  existed  at  Alston  in  Cumberland,  the  old 
maxim  of  the  end  justifying  the  means  would  be  used  for 
their  alleviation,  for  there  was 

an  endowed  grammar  school,  rebuilt  in  1828,  among  the  holiday 
sports  of  which  in  the  olden  time  was  that  of  a  main  of  fighting  cocks 
for  a  prayer  book  at  Easter.  Some  of  the  books  thus  won  are  yet  in 
possession  of  some  of  the  surviving  scholars. =■= 

The  governors  of  Greenwich  Hospital,  on  one  of  their 
periodical  visits  to  Alston,  collected  all  such  books  they 
could  find,  and  carried  them  away,  to  be  preserved  as 
curiosities. 

*  Sopwith's  Account  of  the  iXJiniiig  Distyicls  of  Alston    Moor,   If'eardale,  and 
Teasitale.     Alnwick,  18^3,  p.  27. 

The 


376  COCKFIGHTING. 

The  citizens  of  Carlisle  were  by  no  means  behind  in 
their  devotion  to  the  sport,  as  the  following  extracts  from 
the  minutes  of  the  Town  Council  prove  : 

March  8th,  i58i.  Ordered  yt  3li  be  given  in  cockplates.  Marcli 
loth,  16S3.  Ordered  that  81i  worth  of  plates  to  be  fought  for  by 
cocks  be  bought  whereof  4li  to  be  given  by  ye  city  to  be  fought  for  on 
ye  last  week  in  April. '•= 

These  cock  plates  were  probably  challenge  plates,  and 
replaced  older  ones,  which  had  probably  disappeared,  as 
man}^  other  things  did  in  Carlisle,  in  or  after  the  great 
siege  of  1644-5.  These  plates,  like  the  predecessors  I 
conjecture  for  them,  have  long  ago  gone  the  way  of  all 
things,  and  history  records  little  or  nothing  of  the  cock- 
fights that  in  the  17th  and  ibth  centuries  were  waged  in 
the  Border  City.  In  the  i8th  century  cockfighting  had 
become  everywhere  an  established  concomitant  of  horse- 
racing,  and  the  annual  Racing  Calendars  give  a  list  of 
the  principal  cock-matches  fought  in  the  year  preceding 
their  publication  :  Cheney's  Historical  List  of  Horse  Races 
run  in  1747,  gives  twenty-three  mains  as  foui^ht  in  that 
year,  and  a  list  of  sixteen  to  come.  It  also  gives,  in 
addition  to  the  rules  of  the  time  of  Charles  II.,  a  very 
complete  code  of  ig  rules,  of  which  the  i8th  is 

Item  that  none  shall  strike,  or  draw  weapon  to  strike  any  man  upon 
pain  of  every  time  so  offending  to  forfeit  Forty  Shillings.} 

The  list  of  matches  diminishes  from  this  time,  and  we 
give  the  list  for  1768  ;  after  which  it  increases  again. 

COCK  MATCHES 

fought  in  the  year  1768. 

CHESHIRE. 

At  Chester  at  the  time  of  the   Races  a  main  of  Cocks  were  fought 

between  Mr.  Ogden  &  Mr.  Wynne,  consisting  of  twenty-one   battles, 

eighteen  won  by  the  Former,  &  three  by  the  latter. 

*  Ferguson  and  Nanson's  Municipnl  Records  of  Carlisle,  pp.  316,  31S. 

"t  The  sfentlemcn  in  Cumberland  who  subscribed  to  Cheney,  in  1747,  and  may 
therefore,  be  considered  the  local  sportsmen  of  the  day,  were  Viscount  Lcmsdale, 
Francis  Warwick,  Fsq.,  Henry  Fletcher,  I'lsq.,  John  llolme,  Fsq..  Mr.  Giaham. 
There  were  no  subscribers  in  Westmorland. 

SUFFOLK. 


COCK-FIGHTING,  377 

SUFFOLK. 
At  Beccles  on  the  31st  of  Way  &  following  day,  the  lirst  three  mains 
of  Cocks  were  fought  between  Suffolk  Sc  Norfolk,  for  ten  guineas  a 
Battle  and  one  hundred  guineas  the  odd,  and  was  v/on  by  the  former. 

LANCASHIRE. 

At  Preston,  during  the  Races,  a  Main  of  Cocks  was  fought  between 

Mr.  Dickinson  and  Lord  Strange,  which  consisted  of  forty  Battles, 

twenty  seven  of  which  were  won  by  the  Former,  and  thirteen  by   his 

Lordship. 

At  Lancaster  on  the  27th  of  June  &  following  Days,  between   Mr. 

Wilson  &  Mr.  Whittington  &  won  by  the  former,  a  Main  of  Cocks 

were  fought. 

YORKSHIRL. 
At  York,  during  the  Races,  a  Main  of  Cocks  were  fought  between 
Mr.  Hardwick  (S:  Mr.  Lord  for  ten  Guineas  a  Battle,  and  two  hun- 
dred Guineas  the   Main,  which  was  won  by  the  former  by  several 
Battles.- 

The  list  next  year  is  longer,  and  then  is  this  notice  : 

f 

Barnet  Races  1770. 

Will  begin  the  14th  of  August  next.  Cocking  at  the  Green  Man,  as 
usual. t 

The  list  next  year  is  longer  again  and  the  names  of  the 
"feeders"  are  given  in  man}^  instances,  showing  the 
interest  in  the  sport  was  growing.]; 

In  1783,  I  find  this  entry  : 

CARLISLE. 

During  the  Races  a  main  of  Cocks  was  fought  between  the  Earl  of 
Surrey  6c  A.  R.  Bowes,  Esq.,  for  10  gs.  a  Battle,  &  100  gs.  the  Main, 
which  was  won  by  the  latter. vj 

Charles  Howard  Earl  of  Surrey  was  M.P.,  for  Carlisle 
from  1780,  to  his  accession  to  the  Upper  House,  as  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  in  Novemher  1786. ||      So  slovenly  was  this  duke's 

*  Heler's  Historical  List  of  Horse  Matches  in  the  year  17GS,  vol.  iS. 
t  The  Sprirting  Calendar,  Tuting  &  Fawconar,  vcl.  i. 
X  Ibid,  vol.  ii. 

§  Weatherby's  Racing;  Calendar,  vol.  x. 

II  Ferguson's  M.P.  of  Ctiml'd.  and  U'cstd.  p.  ;,80.       'I'liis  was  the   Dukt-.   who 
has  already  been  mentioned  as  the  first  Mayor  of  Wieay. 

dress 


^y8  COCK-FIGHTING. 

dress  that  on  one  occasion  he  was  taken  at  the  royal  cock 
pit  for  a  butcher,  and  his  bets  refused. 

It  is  said  that  he  and  Sir  James  Lowther,  in  1785, 
erected  the  cock  pit,  which  up  to  1876  stood  in  a  court 
on  the  west  side  of  Lowther  Street,  Carlisle.  At  that 
time  these  two  eminent  personages  were  quarrelling  over 
Carlisle  elections  as  bitterly  as  they  could,  and  their 
combining  to  do  anything  is,  to  my  mind,  ver}'  odd*  :  prob- 
ably they  each  gave  a  handsome  subscription,  by  way  of 
influencing  the  cock-fighting  interest  at  some  election.  Mr. 
Fisher,  of  Bank  Street,  Carlisle,  possesses  a  picture  of  it 
in  oils  painted  by  H.  St.  Clair,  in  1873,  and  an  interesting 
model  to  scale,  by  Bellamy.  It  was  octagonal,  40  ft.  in 
diameter,  the  walls  12  ft.  high,  and  it  was  45  feet  in  height 
to  top  of  the  octagonal  roof.  In  1829,  it  was  occupied  by 
Messrs.  Burgess  and  Hayton,  as  a  brass  and  iron  foundry, 
and  afterwards  was  well-known  as  Band's  Smithy.! 

I  have  mentioned  the  "  black  reads  "  of  Dalston,  and 
the  greys  of  Caldbeck,  as  famous  Cumberland  breeds  of 
fighting  cocks :  I  now  exhibit  a  portrait  of  the  famous 
"  black  read  cock  "  Achilles  trimmed  and  spurred  for 
fighting.  The  Romans,  Mr.  Pegge  is  of  opinion,  did  not 
trim  their  cocks,  but  fought  them  as  nature  made  them  : 
they  are  so  depicted  on  the  gems  engraved  to  illustrate  his 
paper  in  the  Arcluvologia.  I  also  exhibit  some  of  the  spurs 
used  in  cock-fighting,  one  of  which  is  of  silver  :  at  most 
cockpits  the  cocks  were  required  to  fight  "  in  fair  silver 
spurs."  This  spur  is  a  simple  polished  spike  or  goad  of 
silver,  slightly  curved  :  it  has  a  ring,  which  fits  on  the 
stump  of  the  natural  spur  :  and  is  provided  with  a  leather, 


*  The  Duke  had  a  white  horse  which  defeated  one  belongringf  to  Sir  James 
I.owther,  in  a  match  at  Carlisle  or  Penrith.  He  employed  Thomas  Carlylc  an 
orfian  builder  and  carver  at  Carlisle,  to  make  him  a  wooden  statue,  life  size,  of  the 
white  horse.  This  he  placed  on  the  top  of  a  lofty  harn  so  as  to  be  conspicuously 
visible  to  Sir  James  at  Lowther  I  hill.  It  is  now  down,  but  the  platform  on  the 
barn  still  remains. 

t  Triiiisiiclinns  Ciiinh.  iiiiil  If'csl.  Aniiij.  mid  Ai'cliiu.  vol.  vi.,  p.  430,  vol.  viii.,  p, 
52S. 

which 


COCK-FIGHTING. 


?>19 


which  is  lashed  round  the  bird's  iej^.  y\nother  spur 
is  similar,  but  of  steel.  In  each  case  the  spike  is  about 
one  and  a  half  inches  long,  and  these  I  believe  to  be 
"fair  spurs."  The  other  two  spurs  I  exhibit  are  sold  now 
as  "  cock  spurs,"  and  are  miniature  scimitars,  or  curved 
blades,  three  inches  in  length  ;  I  doubt  if  these  clumsy 
weapons  would  have  been  tolerated  in  a  respectable  (if  such 
a  word  can  be  allowed),  in  a  respectable  cockpit. 

There  was  great  art  in  putting  the  spurs  properly  on  a 
bird  :  a  game  cock's  object  in  fighting  is  to  seize  his  foe 
by  the  hackle,  hold  him  down  and  spur  him  on  the  head  : 
to  do  this  he  must  kick,  or  spur  close  past  his  own  head  ; 
and  hence,  if  the  spur  is  not  set  at  the  proper  angle,  is 
^pt  to  dig  it  into  his  own  head.  Much  has  been  said 
al)out  the  additional  cruelty  of  fighting  cocks  in  artificial 
spurs,  but  with  injustice  ;  a  fair  silver  spur,  such  as 
exhibited,  inflicts  clean  wounds  that  heal  easily,  and  a 
game  cock,  in  training,  after  receiving  several  such  in  his 
neck,  will  be  all  right  and  well  in  three  or  four  days, 
whereas  the  natural  spur  inflicts  bruised  wounds,  that,  like 
those  made  by  horn  of  hart,  are  slow  to  heal  :  the  silver 
spur  too  kills  at  once,  if  it  enters  the  brain,  while  the 
natural  bruises  and  inflicts  a  lingering  death.  The  game 
cock's  habit  of  seizing  his  adversary  by  the  hackle  is  the 
reason  why  it  was  always  stipulated  that  cocks  were  to 
fight  "  with  a  fair  hackle,"  that  is  it  must  not  be  so 
trimmed  away  as  to  afford  no  hold. 

Here  is  the  announcement  of  a  cock-fight  from  the 
Newcastle  Chronicle,  of  December  i,  1770. 


To  be  Fought  for,  at  Mr.  Mordue's  New  Pit 
in  the  Flesh  Market,  on  Monday,  the  31st  of 
December,  FIFTY  POUNDS,  by  Cocl<s  and 
Stags,  31b.  140Z. 

On  Tuesday  the  ist  of  January,  ONE  HUN- 
DRED POUNDS,  by  Cocks  and  Stags,  41b.  zoz. 
On  Wednesday,  the  2nd,  by  Cocks  Stags  and  Blenkards,  41b  2  oz. 

To 


380  COCK-FIGHTING. 

To  weigh  the  Saturday  before,  between  Ten  and  Twelve  o'clock, 
and  fight  with  fair  Silver  Spurs.  The  Stags  for  the  Monday  to  be 
allowed  one  ounce  ;  Tuesday,  the  Stags  to  be  allowed  one  ounce  and 
a  half;  and  on  Wednesday  the  Stags  will  be  allowed  one  ounce,  and 
Blenkards  one  ounce  and  a  half. 

N.B. — Whereas  there  have  been  manj'  complaints  made  by  the 
(lentlemen  of  the  Sod  in  regard  to  their  Cocks  fighting  with  Candle 
Light,  to  prevent  which  for  the  future  Mr.  Mordue  is  determined  to 
have  a  pair  of  Cocks  upon  the  sod  precisely  at  Ten  o'clock  each  Day.^'- 

"Stags''  are  young   cocks,    and    "  I)lenkards "    are  one. 
eyed  ones,  veterans. 

Cock-fighting,  bull-bating,  and  badger-drawing  were 
made  misdemeaners  in  1835,  by  the  5  &  6  Will.  IV,  c. 
59,  an  Act  which  was  repealed  in  1849,  and  fresh  enact- 
ments made  by  the  12  6c  13  Vic,  c.  92,  amended  by  the 
17  &  18  Vic,  c  60,  but  the  sport  was  hard  to  kill.  A 
friend  tells  me  that  he  saw  a  main  fought  at  the  Raffles, 
near  Carlisle,  in  1842,  the  setters  being  Dick+  and  Davey. 
Another  was  fought  at  the  Dandie  Dinmont,  in  1846, 
without  much  pretence  of  concealment,  a  coach  and  four 
taking  the  sportsmen  out  from  Carlisle  :  another  Dick,  Dick 
the  Daisy,  was  one  of  the  setters  on  that  occasion.  Within 
the  last  ten  years,  a  gentleman  in  Carlisle,  now  dead, 
kept  his  cocks  in  a  sodded  attic  in  his  house,  and  fought 
them  within  the  city  ;  while  in  Newcastle,  a  well-known 
knight,  alderman,  and  magistrate,  who  died  in  1871,  had 
a  cockpit  at  the  back  of  his  house,  where  frequent  fights 
took  place,  and  one  of  My  Lord    the    Queen's  Justices, 

Baron ,  was  a  frequent  spectator.     Cock-fighting, 

however,  goes  on  to    this    da}-   to  a   great  e.xtent  in  the 
northern  counties,  but  I  must  not  say  where. 

The  following  letter,  written  in  April  of  this  year,  may 
serve  to  bring  this  paper  to  a  close  : 

*We  are  indebted  for  this  to  the  first  number  of  Tltc  Monlhli/  Chronicle  of 
North -Couiifrj/  Lure  and  Legend  ;  Newcastlc-on-Tyne. 

i'  When  this  IJ)ic]<  died,  a  few  years  as^-'o,  his  admirers  subscribed  and  put  up  a 
monument  to  him  in  ( "ailisle  cemetery,  on  which  were  graven  tiie  tools  of  his  art, 
a  pair  of  cock  spurs.  I  regret  tliis  interesting  tonih  Ims  been  defaci-d,  and  the 
sj)urs  chiselled  off. 

April 


COCK-FIGHTING.  381 

April  2,  1887. 

Dear 

I  am  in  receipt  of  yours,  not  being  a  cock  fighter,  only 

being  led  into  by  knowing  Dick so  well  and  finding  him  money 

and  being  fond  of  sport,  on  two  occasions  I  made  a  Main  for  him  for 
/"loo  a-side,  shew  21  Cocks  in,  for  also  ^5  per  battle,  the  weights 
41b  40Z  up  to  51b  4o;i  two  days  fighting  :  out  of  the  21  Cocks  17 
caught,  we  fought  9  battles  one  day  and  eight  the  other.  The  first 
Main  was  a  draw,  the  second  we  won  by  three,  the  Cocks  were 
weighed  on  the  Pit  ready  for  work,  they  fought  in  Silver. 

Now  these  Cocks  were  taken  from  their  walks  say  to  day,  Friday 
and  fought  about  Monday  or  Tuesday  week — say  the  Cock  was  5lbs_ 
weight  or  a  little  under  at  the  time  he  was  taken  up,  he  would  fight 
41b.  40Z.  or  so.  On  the  first  part  of  their  training  was  cut  a  little  ot 
their  wings  and  tail,  then  Senna  tea  to  drink  until  say  Tuesday 
cut  their  spurs  short  and  spar  them  every  day  with  small  boxing 
gloves  tied  on  their  heels — On  Tuesday  they  get  their  medicine — the 
very  best  Turkey  rhubarb  and  magnesia  about  the  thickness  of  your 
first  finger,  in  fact  more  than  would  quickly  operate  on  you  or  me. 
next  day  senna  tea  again  and  sparring.  They  get  very  much  reduced 
by  Friday,  all  the  fat  out  of  them — after  that  they  give  them  new 
milk  and  bread  made  of  eggs  loaf  sugar  &c.,  in  fact  every  thing  that 
is  good,  the  very  best  malt  barlej'  and  so  on — you  would  be  astonished 
how  they  thrive  each  day  after.  For  the  Old  Cockpit  they  used  to 
feed  at  different  public  houses,  one  was  in  Pack  Horse  Lane  another 
in  the  Castle  Lane  in  fact  in  all  the  Lanes  in  English  Street  [Car- 
lisle]. They  fought  single  battles  for  5  or  10  £  and  what  they  call 
4  mains    that   is  4  cocks — of  course  the  winner  had  to  get  2  battles. 

Yours  truly, 

To 

We  have  reserved  to  the  last,  proof  that  in  Cumberland 
the  old  connection  between  education  and  cockfighting  is 
not  yet  wholly  severed  :  the  seal  of  the  Dalston  School 
Board  displays  a  fighting  cock,  a  Dalston  "  black  red,' 
but  they  have  omitted  the  ringing  motto 

"  WHILE  I  LIVE   I'll  crow  !  " 


*  "Instructions  on  Cocking"  will  be  found  in  the  Sporting  Magazine  of  Sep- 
tember, 1S26,  they  contain  directions  for  feeding. 

APPENDIX. 


382  COCK-FIGHTING. 

APPENDIX. 

Mr.  Hartshorne  kindly  furnishes  me  with  the  full  title  of  the 
Markham's  book  mentioned  on  page  367. 

Country  Contentments 
or,  the 
Husbandmans 
Recreations 
Containing 
the  vvholesoine  Kxperience,  in  which 
any  out;-ht  to  Recreate  himself,  after  the  toyl 
of  more  Serious  lousiness. 
As  namely, 
Hunting-,  Hawkinar,  Coursini;'  with 
drey-Houndi,  and  the  Laws  of  Leash,  Shooting  in 
the  Long-Bow  or  Cross-Bow,  Bowling-,  Tcn- 
ni.s,  Baloon ;  The  whole  Art  of  Angling  ; 
And  the  use  of  the  Fighting  Cock. 
By  G.  Markham.  ' 
The  eleventh  Edition. 
Newly  (Corrected,  Enlarg- 
ed, and  adorned  with  ma- 
ny Excellent  Additions,  as  may  appear  by  this  mark.BS^ 

London. 

Printed  for  George  .Sawbridge,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Bible  on 

Ludgate  Hill,  1(175. 

The  book  is  dedicated  to  Sir  Theodore  Newton,  Knight,  by  Gervaise 
Markham.  Chap.  XIX  treats  of  the  choyce.  Ordering,  Breeding,  and 
D3'eting,  of  the  Fighting-Cock  for  Battel. 

.Since  there  is  no  pleasure  more  Noble,  Delightsome,  or  void  of  conzenage  and 
deceit,  then  this  pleasure  of  Cocking  is ;  and  since  many  of  the  best  Wisdomes  of 
our  Nation  have  been  pleased  to  participate  with  the  delights  therein,  I  think  it 
not  amiss,  as  well  for  the  instruction  of  those  which  are  unexperienced,  as  fortifying 
of  them  which  have  sound  knowledge  therein,  to  declare  in  a  few  Lines  the 
I'.lection,  Breeding,  and  Secrets  of  dyeting  the  Fighting-Cock,  which  having  been 
hitherto  concealed  and  unwritten  of,  is  (for  our  pleasure  sake)  as  worthy  of  a 
general  knowledge  as  any  delight  whatsoever. 


(3^3) 


Art.  XXVII. — Notes  iipuii  somt  of  the  uldcr  Word  Forms 
to  be  found  in  comparing  the  language  of  Lakeland  with 
the  language  of  Iceland.  By  Rev.  T.  Ellwood,  B.A., 
Rector  of  Torver. 

Read  at  Coniston  Hall,  Scf^t.  14,  1887. 

IN  the  year  1869,  and  for  one  or  two  years  following, 
Ur.  Kitchin,  now  Dean  of  Winchester,  took  up  his 
residence  at  Brantwood,  the  present  ahode  of  Professor 
Luskin,  and  while  there,  he  had  in  hand,  as  delegate  of 
the  Clarendon  Press,  Oxford,  the  proofs  of  Cleasby  and 
Vigfusson's  Icelandic  Dictionary,  which  was  then  passing 
through  the  press.  Knowing  that  I  was  a  Cumbrian,  he 
kindly  asked  me  to  look  at  those  proofs  and  see  whether  I 
could  suggest  any  affinities  to  our  Cumberland,  Westmor- 
land, and  Furness  dialect.  I  was  able  to  point  out  a 
number  of  words  which  were  identical,  or  nearly  so  in 
Icelandic  and  the  dialect  of  Cumberland  and  this  portion 
of  Lakeland,  but  as  a  considerable  portion  of  the  book 
had  passed  through  the  press  it  was  too  late  for  many  of 
the  words  I  had  noted  to  appear  in  the  work.  In  looking 
over  the  proofs,  however,  and  reading  the  exhaustive  intro- 
duction to  the  joint  labours  of  Cleasby  and  Vigfusson, 
those  long  and  self-sacrihcing  labours  in  which  Cleasby 
spent  and  finished  his  life,  light  seemed  to  be  thrown  upon 
our  northern  language  and  customs,  wdiich  placed  them  in 
a  very  different  point  of  view  from  anything  I  had  thought 
of  before.  The  language  of  the  Northmen  had,  at  the 
time  of  the  Settlement,  been  carried  to  Iceland,  and  there, 
isolated  and  remote  from  the  contact  of  other  languages, 
it  had  in  a  great  measure  preserved  its  primitive  grammar 
and  vocabulary,  so  that  the  Icelandic  classics  of  a  thou- 
sand years  ago  could  with  little  difficulty  be  read  by  the 
Icelandic  peasant  of  the  present  day.  It  occupied,  more- 
over, 


384  LAKELAND  AND  ICELAND. 

over,  much  the  same  relationship  to  the  Danish  and  other 
Norse  tongues,  as  the  Latin  does  to  the  Romance 
languages  of  Europe,  and  hence  its  vocabulary  was  the 
best  means  of  acquiring  a  radical  knowledge  of  them. 

It  occurred  to  me  that  the  task  of  collecting  such  words 
of  the  dialect  in  Cumberland,  Westmorland,  and  Fur- 
ness  as  seemed  to  have  identity  or  affinity  in  form  and 
usage  with  the  Icelandic  would  be  the  best  means  of 
tracing  out  the  origin  of  this  dialect,  and  hence,  in  some, 
measure,  the  origin  of  those  by  whom  this  dialect  was 
spoken,  and  as  we  have  here  words  and  usages  almost  as 
primitive  as  they  have  in  Iceland,  we  could,  I  thought, 
trace  the  language  a  great  way  towards  its  original  or 
parent  stock.  It  occurred  to  me  also  that  as  many  of  the 
old  customs  and  superstitions  in  Lakeland  are  fast  dying 
out,  just  as  the  old  Norse  words  that  represent  them  have 
become  or  are  rapidly  becoming  obsolete,  it  must  be  now 
or  never  with  me  in  making  the  undertaking,  if  I  wish 
permanently  to  note  down  the  customs  and  vocables  of  the 
people  amongst  whom  the  whole  of  my  life  has  been  spent. 
I  have  worked  at  intervals  at  collecting  these  words  for  17 
or  18  years,  and  though  I  have  doubtless  in  many  cases 
done  over  again  what  others  have  done  much  better  before 
me,  yet  I  imagine  in  other  instances  I  have  unearthed 
and  identihed  words  and  customs  of  the  Northmen,  yet 
to  be  found  amongst  our  dalesmen,  of  which  not  any  note 
had  been  taken  before.  In  pursuing  this  work  I  have 
inquired  incessantly  amongst  the  dalesmen,  and  wandered 
into  most  of  the  nooks  and  corners  of  Cumberland  and 
Lakeland.  I  have  had  the  friendly  advice  and  encourage- 
ment of  the  A.  J.  Ellis,  Esq.,  of  Professor  Skeat,  and 
above  all,  of  the  Dean  of  Winchester,  whose  kind  advice 
and  encouragement,  as  it  first  started  me,  so  it  has  in  the 
end  brought  me  to  the  final  issue  of  my  work. 

Is   seems,  in   many  instances,  to  l)e   the  idea  formed   by 
the   philologists   win;    have   treated    upon    our   dialect,  as 

derived 


LAKELAND  AND  ICELAND.  385 

derived  from  the  Northmen,  that  as  they  were  plunderers, 
that  all  habits  and  names  of  plunderinf]^  must,  in  a  great 
measure,  be  referred  to  them,     A  careful  study,  however, 
of  the  Norse  words  in  those  dialects  has  led  me  to  a  very 
different  conclusion.     The  remarkable   thing  about  those 
words  is  that  they  evince  the  peaceful  disposition  of  those 
who  first  settled  here  and  left  their  language.     The  great 
bulk  of  the  words  are  field  names  and  farm  names,  the 
terms  applied  to  husbandry  operations,  and  names  applied 
tcxsheep  and  cattle,  or  used  in  their  care  and  management, 
words  applied  in  butter  making,  cheese  making,  knitting, 
and   all   domestic  duties  and  concerns  of  every    day  life. 
Another  consideration  that  adds  interest  to  this  study,  is 
that  the  words  correspond  in  the  two  languages,  not  oftly 
in  their  original   idea  and   meaning,  but  in   most  of  the 
secondary  and  consequent  meanings  that  are  derived  from 
them,  and   show   that  we  have  in  Lakeland   retained  not 
only  many  of  the  original  vocables,  but  also  the  habits, 
the    customs,    the    superstitions,   and    the    modes    of  life 
which  are  common  to  nations  of  the  Northern  stock.     I 
have  said  I  commenced  my  work  with  Cleasby.     Cleasby, 
however,  is  a  large  and  expensive  work,  costing,  I  believe, 
something  not  far  from   ^^4,  got  up  in  the  style,  and  pro- 
ceeding  mutatis   mutandis   upon   the   plan  of  Liddel   and 
Scott.     The  delegates  of  the  Clarendon  Press,  however, 
most  kindly  presented  me  at  the  outset  with  a  handsomely 
bound   copy  of  the  work ;  and   I    have  carefully   worked 
through  this  once,  and  in  many  portions,  twice,  compar- 
ing it  with  our  dialect — page  for  page,  and  word  for  word. 
For  comparing  Icelandic  with  our  local  place  names  and 
surnames,  the  Landnama,  or  Landnama  Bok,  is  indispen- 
sible.     The  Landnama   Bok  is  a  history  of  the  discover}' 
and  settlement  of  Iceland,   originally  written   by   Frodi, 
who   lived  between  1067  and  1148.     The  Landnama  Bok 
is  also  a  sort  of  Doomsday  Book  of  Iceland,  and  contains 
a  roll  of  the  names  of  all  the  original  settlers  in  Iceland, 

together 


386  LAKELAND  AND  ICELAND. 

together  with  the  names  of  tlie  farms  which  they  occupied, 
making  in  all  about   5,000    names.      I    have    found   also 
remarkable  affinities   between   our  Northern  dialects  and 
the  words  in  the  Moeso-Ciothic  Bible  of  Ulphilas.     Ulph- 
ilas  was  a  bishop  of  the  Moeso-Goths,  who  lived  between 
A.D.    311    and    381.       His    version,    which   is    also    very 
valuable  as  a  critical  evidence  of  the  New  Testament,  was 
made   about   370.     All   that   now  remains  of  it  are   frag- 
ments  of  the   four  Gospels  and  the  Epistles  of   St.  Paul, 
Some  of  the   older  words  in  our  Northern  dialect  seem  to 
be   identical    both    in  sound  and  meaning  with  the  words 
found    in    the    existing   fragments   of    Ulphilas.       I    have 
carefully    collated    what    remains    of    Ulphilas    with     the 
words   to   be  found   in  our  dialect,  and   I  think  I  shall  be 
able   to  prove,  before  I  conclude  this  paper,  that  we   have 
words   in   every-day   use    here  in -High   Furness   identical 
both  in  form  and  meaning  with  the  words  used  by  Ulphilas 
in  his  translation  1,500  years  ago.     And  this  is  more   re- 
markable,  as    Ulphilas  had  in  some  measure  to  leduce   a 
spoken    language   to   a  written   one,   and   hail    himself   to 
frame  the  characters  by  which  he  represented  the  words. 
With  all  these  helps,  however,  I  have  always  ha,d  an  idea 
that  the  best  method  of  comparing  the  language  of  Lake- 
land with  the  language  of  Iceland  was  to  get  a  Lakelander 
and   an   Icelander  vis-a-vis,  and  in  this   way  to   let   them 
collate  the  older  meanings  and  usages  of  words  in    Lake- 
land and   Iceland,   and   to  note  all  the  points  of  affinity 
they  may   be   found  to  possess.     This,  I  imagine,  I  have 
been  enabled  to  do,  for,  during  a  few  weeks'  residence   at 
Cambridge   in  the   present  summer,  I  made  the  acquaint- 
ance of  one  of  the  University  librarians,  Eric  Magnussen. 
I   made  his  acquaintance  first  in  my  search  for  the  Land- 
nama    Bok   in    the   University  library,    and    found    that, 
though  he  was  now  a  graduate  and  University  librarian  in 
an   English   University,  he  was   a  native  Icelander,  and 
had  been  born   and   spent  most  of  his  life  upon  a  lonely 

farm 


LAKELAND  AND  ICELAND.  387 

farm  in  that  remote  and  isolated  land.  He  entered 
most  cordially  and  ardently  into  the  work  of  comparinj:^  our 
respective  dialects — lent  me  the  Landnama  liok,  which  I 
still  have — went  carefully  throujj^h  the  500  or  600  Norse 
words  which  I  had  collected  from  the  dialect  of  the  Lake 
country,  and  wrote  notes,  in  some  instances  long^  notes, 
upon  more  than  100  of  them,  showins^  how  in  many 
instances  in  Iceland  and  Lakeland  the  very  same  words 
in  ilie  very  same  meaning-  are  still  used  by  the  shep- 
herd and  the  farmer.  It  is  to  words  of  this  class  I  shall 
confine  my  attention  in  the  few  names  I  have  chosen  to 
illustrate  what  I  have  said. 

The  word  used  to  name  mountains  or  unenclosed  moun- 
tain land  is  in  both  countries  essentially  the  same,  for,  I 
take  it,  there  is  no  difference  between  the  Fjall  of  Iceland, 
and  the  Fell  of  Lakeland  ;  as  we  have  a  corresponding 
name  for  the  hills,  so  also  have  we  one  for  the  valleys,  for 
Dale,  or  rather  Deeal,  of  Lakeland  is  exactly  like  Dalr  of 
Iceland  in  its  general  and  applied  meanings.  Here,  as 
there,  the  people  who  live  amongst  the  mountains  are 
called  dalesmen.  Here  we  have  Crossdale,  Broaddale, 
Deepdale,  and  Langdale — there  they  have  Thver  dalr  or 
Crossdale,  Breid  dalr,  Djupr  dalr,  Langidalr  in  the  very 
same  meaning:  and  their  term  dala  drog  corresponds 
exactly  in  meaning  with  our  own  term  deed  head.  Many 
of  the  names  of  the  peaks  of  mountains  are  almost  the 
same  in  sound  and  meaning  in  both  countries,  as  knah , 
Icelandic  knappcr,  a  button-shaped  peak.  Knot,  Icelandic 
kmit,  is  of  frequent  occurrence  in  Lakeland,  Iceland,  and 
Norway,  and  is  applied  to  mountains,  as  Hardknot  in  Esk- 
dale,  Harteknot  or  the  hard  knot  in  Norway,  and  this  idea 
in  both  cases  is  taken  from  the  close  resemblance  the  form 
of  some  mountains  bears  to  the  round  of  the  knuckles.  Of 
the  mountain  peaks  signified  in  Iceland  by  knah  and  knot, 
Mr.  Magnussen  made  me  drawings,  which  I  here  produce, 
and  you  will  see  that  they  convey  the  same  ideas  as  the 
names  do  here. 

With 


3SS  LAKELAND    AND    ICELAND. 

With  regard  to  the  names  used  for  mountain  paths 
in  the  Lake  country  the  word  Rake  was  appHed  generally 
to  the  narrow  paths  along  which  sheep  are  driven  to  the 
fell.  It  is  also  used  in  the  same  acceptation  in  York- 
shire. It  comes  from  Icelandic  reka,  past,  rak,  to  drive. 
Ulphilas  has  wriknn  as  the  same  word  to  drive,  English 
wreak.  Outrake  corresponds  in  sound  and  meaning  with 
Norse  ut  reka,  to  drive  out  (Icelandic  Bible  Joshua  iii., 
10,  lit  reka  Cananita,  drive  out  the  Canaanites),  and  this. 
outrake  in  the  Lake  District  was  a  path  by  which  sheep 
were  driven  out  to  the  fell.  There  is  one  so  named  on 
Black  Combe,  one  at  Torver,  one  at  Coniston,  and  there 
seems  to  have  been  one  or  more  in  most  of  the  valleys  in 
Lakeland,  which  were  spoken  of  as  The  Rake.  There  are 
also  several  farms  called  The  Outrakd  in  this  district,  and  I 
have  observed  that  these  farms  mostly  stand  at  the 
entrance  to  a  rake  or  fell  drive.  The  Norse  verb  vrcka  or 
wreka  also  means  to  drive  or  drift,  as  the  tide  does,  and  we 
have  this  name,  I  think,  in  the  proper  name  of  Wreak's 
End,  near  Broughton-in-Furness,  as  a  point  in  the  stream 
which  marks  the  end  of  the  tide  flow  or  drift  in  that 
direction.  On  Yorkshire  moors  sheep  are  said  to  rake  out 
when  they  go  or  are  driven  out  in  single  file.  Ulleraker, 
wool  rakes  or  sheep  rakes,  was  formerly  a  realm  of  Sweden, 
in  the  present  province  of  Westmanland.  "Rake,''  often 
used  here  as  the  name  of  a  sheep  dog,  is,  I  think,  from 
Norse  Reka,  to  drive  ;  or,  as  Mr.  Magnussen  suggests,  is 
Iceland  Reki,  a  driver. 

Speaking  about  the  Icelandic  field  or  farm  names  there 
is  probably  no  word  that  has  left  its  mark  more  evidently 
in  the  towns  and  villages  of  Cumberland  than  the  word 
tun  toun  or  ion.  Upon  both  the  Cumbrian  and  the  Scottish 
side  of  the  Border  tun  is  applied  to  a  single  farm-house, 
with  its  out-buildings,  &c.  Originally  this  word  meant  a 
field  surrounded  by  a  hedge,  and  in  this  sense  \V3'cliffe 
translates  Matt,  xxii.,  5 — But  thci  dispisden,  and  wcnten 

forth 


LAKiiLANiJ    AND    ICliLAND.  jSfj 

forth — oon  into  his  town  (Held),  another  to  his  marchandise. 
In  the  Waverley  of  vSir  \V.  Scott,  loun  or  tun  is  apphed  to 
a  sinp^le  farm  upon  the  Border.  "  He  hes  dune  neathinj; 
but  dance  up  an'  down  the  toun."'  This  appHcation  might 
be  indefinately  extended  upon  the  Border,  where  every  farm 
is  called  a  toim  or  tiln,  and  the  Whamtun,  Uppertoun, 
Bartiestoun,  are  either  single  farm-houses  or  hamlets  with 
three  oV  four  houses.  Lowthertoun,  Longtoun,  are  larger 
villages,  but  still  from  the  same  derivation,  and  so  on  with 
the  other  tons  of  the  country.  Tun  corresponds  with  the 
Icelandic  tiln,  properly  a  hedge ;  then  a  hedged  or  fenced 
plot,  within  which  a  house  is  built  ;  then  the  farmstead, 
with  its  buildings — the  homestead.  In  Norse  deeds  each 
single  farm  is  called  tiln,  and  the  Icelandic  phrase,  ttln  fra 
tilni,  means  from  house  to  house.  The  ancient  Scandina- 
vians, like  the  other  old  Teutonic  peoples,  had  no  towns. 
Tacitus  says  :  "  Nullas  Germanorum  populis  urbes  habitari, 
satis  notum  est ;  ne  pati  quidem  junctas  sedes.  Colunt 
discreti  ac  diversi,  ut  fons,  ut  campus,  ut  nemus  placuit." 
And  with  regard  to  Iceland  those  words  of  Tacitus,  "  Colunt 
discreti  ac  diversi,"  still  apply,  for  excepting  the  capital, 
which  is  but  a  village,  all  the  other  so-called  tilns  are  single 
farms. 

Another  word  which  we  hear  very  commonly  used  as  the 
name  of  farms  in  Furness  and  some  adjoining  portions  of 
Westmorland  is  Gvund;  or  more  modern,  ground.  The 
word  is  grundas  in  Ulphilas,  and  in  the  Landnama  it  is 
applied  as  a  farm  name  in  Iceland.  Cleasby  says  that 
grund  vollr  is  the  ground  marked  out  for  a  building.  From 
this  root  doubtless  we  have  ground,  always  pronounced 
grinid,  applied  to  so  many  farms  in  Furness — Atkinson 
Grund,  Brockbank  Grund,  Sawrey  Grund,  &c.  An  inquiry 
which  a  friend  of  mine,  Mr.  Swainson  Cowper,  lately  made 
to  find  out  the  farms  called  grund  or  ground  in  Furness,  or 
near  it,  produced  a  total  of  47. 

Dealing  with  the  subject  of  farming,  and  reading  my 
paper  here  at  Coniston  Hall,  which  forms,  as  I  may  say, 

one 


3gO  LAKELAND  AND  ICELAND. 

one  of  the  great  sheep  centres  of  High  Furness,  I  may 
refer  to  some  of  the  many  words  that  we  get  from  Iceland 
to  apply  to  sheep.  Twinter,  as  sheep  of  two  years  old,  and 
trintcr,  a  sheep  of  three  years  old,  are  applied  almost 
exactly  in  the  same  way  in  Iceland.  Twinter,  really  means 
two  winters,  and  this  custom  of  reckoning  age  by  winters 
is  found  in  the  Bible  of  Ulphilas,  where  the  girl  of  12  years 
old  is  said  to  be  twalih  wintrus — twelve  winters.  Here  we 
have  giniiiier  lajiib  for  the  {emd.\e\a.mh.  In  Icelandic  lamb 
gymber  is  used  in  exactl}-  the  same  meaning  ;  while  the 
Danish  term  is  nearer  siiW—giiiinier  lam. 

As  is  well  known,  every  farmer  in  Lakeland  has  his 
peculiar  mark,  which  he  puts  upon  his  sheep.  This  is 
well  known  and  published  in  a  book,  which  I  have  here 
with  me  ;  in  it  figures  of  the  sheep  are  engraved  and 
marked  with  the  distinctive  marks  of  each  farm.  I  have 
procured  since  a  Shepherds'  Guide,  that  I  might  bring  it 
here  to  show  you.  This  red  distinctive  mark  is  called 
the  smit.*  Lambs  are  so  smtttcd  when  first  put  on  the 
fell,  and  sheep  at  clipping  time.  Each  farmer  has  his 
own  distinctive  smit  or  brand,  which  are  carefully  noted 
in  this  Shepherds'  Guide.  This  very  word  "smit,"  is 
found  in  the  Bible  of  Ulphitas,  in  the  sense  of  smear 
or  anoint,  and  comes  from  the  verb  smeitan,  and  it  is 
found  in  Iceland  as  smyrja,  to  smear.  You  will  observe, 
in  looking  at  those  sheep  as  figured  in  the  Shepherds' 
Guide,  that  besides  the  "  smit  "  there  is  another  distinctive 
mark,t  viz.,  a    small  piece    cut    out    of  the  sheep's    ear, 


*  The  Smit  given  upon  the  left  hand  lig-ure  in  the  enqraving  is  the  Coniston 
Hall  Smit,  and  is  described  in  "the  Shepherds  Guide""  as  "The  Chine  Smit 
down  the  back'." 

•(■The  ear-mark  given  in  the  right  hand  figure  in  the  engraving  is  technically 
called  the  "forked  "  ear-mark,  it  is  the  ear-inark  or  lug-mark  "rather  than  the 
Smit  which  is  usually  put  forth  as  the  Ici^^al  mark  and  swo'rn  to  in  proof  of  owner- 
ship. In  the  Shepherd's  Guide  now  before  me,  I  (ind  nearly  600  different  ways 
in  which  the  sheep's  ear  is  bored,  slitted,  indented  or  partly  cut  off  to  distin<ruish 
the  various  ownerships  in  Cumberland,  Westmorland,  and  Furness,  and  no  two 
marks  appear  to  be  exactly  alike.  Boring  the  car  is  spoken  of  as  a  mark  of 
ownership  in  Exodus  .\xi,  0. 

differing 


LAKELAND    AND    ICELAND. 


39  r 


differing  for  different  farms.  This  is  generally  called  tlic 
lug  mark,  and,  as  in  Cumberland,  we  often  call  the  ear  the 
lug,  as  being  that  by  whicli  an  animal  may  be  handled  or 
lugged,  I  used  to   tliink  that  lug-mark  was    ecjuivalent    to 


FROM  THE  SHEPHERD'S  GLHDE. 

ear-mark.  Now,  however,  I  hardly  think  this  is  the  case. 
In  Iceland  they  have  lug-mark  for  this  distinctive  mark  of 
the  sheep  belonging  to  the  various  farms.  The  word 
appears  there,  however,  as  logg-mark  ;  log  is  law,  and  hence 
this  logg-mark  is  explained,  as  the  lawful  or  legal  mark  by 
which  the  sheep  of  one  farm  can  be  distinguished  from 
those  of  another.  With  such  an  obvious  explanation  I 
cannot  but  think  that  our  term  lug-mark  must  have  come 
from  the  same  root,  and  have  been  logg-mark  at  first. 

One  word  more  and  I  have  done.  I  have  said  that 
some  of  our  old  words,  together  with  the  things  they 
represented,  are  rapidly  dying  out.  I  will  give  you  an  in- 
stance. Perhaps  in  some  parts  of  Cumberland  there  is  not 
one  person  who  knows  what  a  brandrith*  is,  and  yet  at 
one  time  in   Lakeland  the  brandrith  was  one  of  the  best 


*  I  have  instanced  the  word  Brandrith,  and  1  may  remark  generally,  that  the 
affinities  between  the  Norse  and  the  Language  of  Lakeland  are  very  obvious  and 
marked  in  the  words  which  have  relation  to  fuel  and  fire. 


known 


3Q2  LAKELAND  AND  ICELAND. 

known  and  most  used  of  all  domestic  utensils.  It  was  in 
the  time  of  old  hearth  fires,  the  grate,  and  corresponds 
exactly  m  name  and  meaning  with  Icelandic  Brandieid — 
a  grate.  It  was  an  iron  tripod  held  together  with  rims  of 
iron,  and  employed  in  supporting  the  girdle  plate  which 
was  used  above  the  hearth  fire  for  baking  oat  bread. 
You  shall  not  remain  long  in  ignorance  of  what  it  was  for. 
I  have  brought  one,  and  here  it  is.  The  word  has  a 
local  significance,  as  I  find  the  term  to  describe  the 
point  where  the  boundaries  of  three  parishes  met  was  a 
brandrith.  A  mountain  near  the  Great  Gable,  which 
reminds  one  of  a  tripod,  is  called  The  Brandrith  ;  and 
finally,  the  three  shire  stones  upon  the  top  of  Wrynose, 
near  the  source  of  the  Duddon,  are  called  the  Three-legged 
Brandrith,  because  a  person  might  there  at  the  same  time 
place  each  of  his  feet  in  a  separate  county,  viz.,  West- 
morland and  Cumberland,  and  his  hands  in  a  third, 
Lancashire.  At  that  point  the  Brandrith  represents  the 
union  of  Cumberland,  Westmorland,  and  Furness,  the 
districts  wherein  the  dialect  is  spoken  which  I  have 
named  as  the  language  of  Lakeland.  Your  Society  unites 
them  in  that  it  carries  on  its  labours  in  every  one  of  them. 
With  such  a  word,  then,  and  wishing  you  every  welcome 
to  this  portion  of  your  district,  I  may  well  bring  my  paper 
to  a  close. 


(393) 


EXCURSIONS  AND   PROCEEDINGS. 


July  7TH  and  Si  11,   1887. 

riUIM  nineteenth  annual  meeting  of  ihc  Cumberland  and  Westmor- 
-L      land  Antiquarian  and  ArchiEological  Society  was  held  on  Thurs- 
day and  Friday,  the  7th  and  8th  of  Jul3^  1887,  the  quaint  old  town 
of  Kirkby  vStephen  being  selected  as  head  quarters.     The  members 
and  their  friends,  to  the  number  of  between  fifty  and   sixty,  left  the 
King's  Arms  Hotel,  Kirkby  Stephen,  at  one  o'clock  on  the  first  daj', 
and  drove  in  waggonettes    to    Smardale  Hall    and   Kavenstonedale, 
returning  to  the  King's  Arms  by  Wharton  Hall.     The  weather  was 
beautifully  fine,  and  though  the  roads  were  dusty  and  in  places  some- 
what rough,  the  journey  through  the  beautiful  district  of  Kavenstone- 
dale, within  sight  of  Mallerstang  Fell,  Wild  Boar  Fell,  and  Green  Bell, 
proved  most  enjoyable.     Among  those  present  were  the  President  ; 
Major  and  Mrs.  Arnison,  Penrith  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Swainson,  Kendal ; 
Miss  Gibson    and   Miss   M.  Gibson,  Whelprigg  ;  the  Rev.  J.   Brun- 
skill,  Threlkeld;  Canon  Weston;  the   Rev.  C.   H.   Parez  ;  the  Rev. 
W.  Lowthian,  Soulby  :  the   Rev.  J.  Wharton,   Stainmore  ;   Mr.   and 
Miss    Horrocks,    Eden    Brows;    Miss    Kuper,    Miss    Julia    Curwen, 
Roewath  ;   Mr.  H.  Swainson  Cowper ;   Mr.  W.   1).  Crewdson  ;   Miss 
Preston  and  Miss  Stackhouse,  Settle  ;  Mr.  Nevin,  Mirfield  ;  the  Rev. 
J.    Greenwood,    Uldale ;    Mr.    E.    T.   Tyson,    Maryport  ;    Mr.  J.  H. 
Nicholson  ;  The  Rev.  W.  Lyde,  Brough  ;  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Fielden, 
Kirkby  Stephen;  Mr.  Waller,  F.S.A. ;   Mr.  T.  Wilson,  (secretary); 
Mr.  J.  W.  Braithwaite ;  Mr.  and   Mrs.  C.J.  Spence,  North  vShields  ; 
the    Rev.   H.   Whitehead,    Newton    Reigny ;   Mr.    George    Peile  and 
Miss   Peile,   Shotley  Bridge  ;  the    Rev.    W.    B.  Grenside,   Melling ; 
Dr.  Beardsley,  son,  and  friend  ;  Miss  Nicholson  and  friend,  Penrith  ; 
Mr.  G.  F.    Braithwaite,    Kendal  ;  Mr.  Thos.   Lester,  Firbank,  Pen- 
rith ;  Mr.  W.  Wiper,   and    Mr.  J.  Wiper,  Kendal;  Mr.   R.  Nelson, 
Kendal;    Mr.   and   Miss    I'letcher,    Stoneleigh ;     Mr.    G.     B.  Elliot, 
Penrith  ;   Mrs.  and   Miss  Tomlinson,  Englethwaite  ;   Mr.  J.  Simpson 
Yates,  Penrith;   Mr.  J.  O.  Atkinson   and  Mr.  C.  Pollitt,  Kendal  :  and 
Rev.'^R.  Duncan,  St.  James,  Whitehaven. 

Smardale  Hall,  about  three  miles  distant  from  Kirkby  Stephen, 
was  reached  about  two  o'clock.  A  sketch  plan  of  thio  building  is  in 
the   3rd  volume  of  the  Machel  Collections,  which  shows  it  to  have 

then 


394  EXCURSIONS    AND    PROCEEDINGS. 

then  occupied  three  sides  of  a  quadrangle,  the  fourth  being  closed 
by  a  wall  and  gate.  It  was  much  altered  by  Sir  George  Dalston 
M.P.,  who,  in  1761.  sold  his  estates  at  Dalston,  near  Carlisle,  and 
settled  at  Smardale.  The  President  and  the  Rev.  J.  Wharton  offered 
some  observations  upon  the  building,  explaining  what  little  is  known 
of  antiquarian  interest  in  regard  to  it. 

Rejoining  the  carriages,  the  party  proceeded  to  Ravenstonedalc 
which  was  reached  about  half-past  three  o'clock,  and  where  they 
were  joined  by  Mr.  Anthony  Metcalfe  Gibson,  Mr.  Atkinson  Met- 
calfe-Gibson, and  Mr.  Fothergill,  On  alighting  they  entered  the 
churchyard  and  spent  a  short  time  in  examining  the  tombstones,  one 
or  two  with  a  turn  for  photography,  improving  the  opportunity  by 
taking  a  few  "shots"  at  the  old  church  of  St.  Oswald,  which  was 
built  in  1747,  and,  as  was  remarked,  evidently  succeeded  an  earlier 
building.  Its  square  tower  is  the  most  interesting  feature  of  the  out- 
side of  the  building  ;  the  walls  are  extremely  thick,  being  4^^  feet 
between  it  and  the  nave.  The  interior  of  the  church  is  fitted  up 
with  pews  of  oak,  which  is  believed  to  have  come  from  Lowther 
Park.  The  pews  run  parallel  with  the  north  and  south  walls,  with 
an  open  space  up  the  middle  to  the  chancel  ;  so  that,  when  seated, 
one  half  of  the  congregation  faces  the  other.  The  pulpit  is  a  magni- 
ficent and  lofty  specimen  of  the  ancient  "  three  decker,"  but  the 
top  "  deck,"  though  offering  a  splendid  opportunity  for  a  "  pulpit 
thumper"  to  try  his  skill  in  rousing  a  country  congregation,  is  now 
discarded. 

Standing  near  the  lower  "deck''  the  PKiisiuiiiNT  gave  to  the 
assembled  company  a  number  of  interesting  particulars  about  the 
church  and  parish  of  Ravenstoncdalc. 

it  miglit  bu  .shocking-  to  say  it,  but  lie  did  liopc  that  Kavcnstuiiedalc  Chuicli  would 
not  be  "  restored  ;  "  he  admired  the  old  tiiree-decker  and  the  old  fashioned  pews. 
The  church  was  characteristic  of  its  time;  and  the  people  who  built  it  must  have 
been  very  public  spirited,  for  it  was  very  lar^e  for  the  size  of  the  parish.  Outside 
there  was  a  cross,  from  which,  after  the  service,  the  clerk  used  to  cry  all  the  sales 
and  meetings  to  take  place  during  the  week;  and  he  was  informed  that  when  the 
custom  was  discontinued  the  attendance  at  the  church  diminished.  (Laughter). 
The  sanctus  bell  used  to  be  rung  at  one  time  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Nicene 
Cieed  to  call  the  dissenters  into  the  church,  the  dissenters  not  objecting  to  come 
in  a  friendly  way  and  hear  the  sermon.  (Laughter).  'l"hat  was  a  curious  little 
circumstance  as  showing  how  the  people  got  on  together  in  those  old  days.  The 
chancellor  of  the  diocese,  when  he  had  juiisdiction  over  wills,  had  no  power  in 
regard  to  wills  at  Kavenstonedale;  and  the  place,  owing  perhaps  to  its  secluded 
position,  kept  up  for  a  long  time  its  old  manorial  customs,  and  manorial  grand 
juries,  but  they  were  now  obliterated,  as  in  more  populous  places,  by  county  courts 
and  other  modern  inventions.     It  appeared  that  a  right  of  sanctuary  in  the  church 

existed, 


EXCURvSIONS    AND    PROCEIvDINGS.  395 

existed,  and  inuidciors  takinj^'  rcfujje  in  the  huildin;;-  and  rinj^ring-  the  bell  claimed 
that  ri^ht.  He  did  not  see  why  the  people  of  Ravcnstonedale  were  proud  of 
having-  such  a  privilege.  There  was  a  tradition  that  a  man  claimed  it  once,  and 
that  he  spent  the  rest  his  life  in  the  place,  and  two  generations  of  his  descen- 
dants remained  after  him.  (Laughter).  Some  of  the  memorial  slabs,  &c.,  were 
interesting.^  There  was  a  brass  plate  on  which  Carlisle  people  especially  would 
look  with  interest;  it  was  to  the  Rev,  Robert  Mounsey.  Mr.  Mounsey's  son 
settled  in  Carlisle,  and  there  had  been  four  or  five  generations  of  the  family 
settled  there  since.  Several  of  the  monuments  were  to  the  Fothergills,  a  great 
clan  in  Ravenstonedale,  some  of  whom  became  men  of  distinction  at  Oxford  and 
Cambridge.  They  were  always  benefactors  to  their  native  place,  and  the  hand- 
some church  plate  was  the  gift  <jf  members  of  t'le  family. 

The  churcli  plate  was  examined  and  the  inscriptions  and  dates 
were  explained  by  the  Rev.  H.  Whitehead. — The  present  parish 
clerk,  who  has  been  thirty  years  in  the  office,  gave  an  account  of  the 
carrying  away,  on  one  occasion,  of  the  iron  safe  containing  the 
registers.  He  was  constable  of  the  parish  at  the  time.  The  thieves 
expected  that  the  plate  was  in  the  safe,  but  at  that  time  it  was  kept 
at  the  vicar's.  He  now  kept  it,  and  always  had  a  loaded  revolver 
beside  him  ;  and  (he  added  significantly)  should  any  thieves  attempt 
to  surprise  him  they  would  get  the  contents  of  the  weapon.  (Laugh- 
ter.) 

Various  other  details  were  given,  the  so  called  British  graves  were 
visited,  Mr.  Metcalfe-Gibson's  collection  of  paintings,  china,  and  old 
books  inspected,  and  after  tea  the  return  journey  was  made  to 
Kirkby  vStephen  via  Wharton  Hall,  which  was  visited.  After  dinner, 
at  the  King's  Arms  hotel,  the  annual  business  of  the  Society  was 
held,  and  the  following  resolutions  were  passed  : 

On  the  motion  of  the  Rev.  Canon  Weston,  seconded  by  the 
Rev.  J.  Brunskill,  it  was  unanimously  resolved.  That  the  present 
officers  of  the  Society  be  re-elected,  with  the  addition  of  the  Rev. 
Henry  Whitehead,  of  Newton  Reignv,  in  place  of  the  late  Mr.  J.  A. 
Cory. 

On  the  motion  of  the  President,  seconded  by  Major  Arnison,  it 
was  unanimously  resolved  that  the  life-subscription  be  increased 
from  ;^5  5s.  to  ;^io  los.  per  annum,  and  tiiat  such  increase  take 
effect  immediately. 

It  was  further  resolved,  that  a  sum  not  exceeding  fifteen  pounds 
be  placed  at  the  President's  disposal,  towards  defraying  the  expense 
of  copying  the  episcopal  registers  of  Carlisle. 

The  Committee  appointed  at  the  last  meeting  to  explore  the  track 
of  the  Roman  Road  across  Burgh  Marsh  mentioned  that  they  had  not 
completed  their  task,  and  deferred  sending  in  their  report. 

The 


396 


EXCURSIONS    AND    PROCEEDINGS. 


The   following   new   members  were  elected,  v\z: — Mr.  T.   Lester, 
Firbank,   Penrith;   Rev.  J.   Mitchell,  Corney   House,  Penrith;   Rev. 

E.  W.  Chapman,  the  Vicarage,  Penrith;  Rev.  J.  W.  Marsh,  Penrith; 
Mr.  Joseph  Simpson  Yeates,  Devonshire  street,  Penrith  ;   Mr.  John 

F.  Curwen,  Horncop  Hall,  Kendal  ;  Mr.  Christopher  Mounsey 
\\^ilson,  jun..  Hampton;  Rev.  H.  A.  Fielden.  the  \'icarage,  Kirkby 
Stephen;   Rev.  R.  Duncan,  Whitehaven. 

The  following  papers  were  laid  before  the  Society,  viz  :  — 
The  Threlkelds  of  Threlkeld,  Yanwath.   and    Crosby    Ravensworth. 

By  W.  Jackson.  F.S.A. 
The  Dudleys  of  Yanwath.     By  W.  Jackson,  F.S.A. 
The  Registers  of  Crosby  near  Carlisle.     T.  Hesketh  Hodgson. 
The  Fight  at  Clifton  in  1745.     The  President. 
Re-Cross.     The  Rev.  T.  Lees,  I'.S.A. 
Extracts    from   thu   parisli    chest   of  Holme   Cultram.      Rev.    W.    I'. 

(iilbanks. 
Stone  with  Dacre  Arms  at  Lorton.     C.  J.  Ferguson,  F.S.A. 
Pigeon  houses  in  Cumberland.      The  President. 

On  the  second  day  Kirkby  vStephen  Church  was  visited,  and  was 
much  admired  by  the  members.  Brough  Church  was  then  reached 
by  carriages,  and  here  the  following  notes,  by  Mr.  C.  J.  Ferguson, 
were  read  by  the  President  : 

[{ROUGH  CHURCH. 

The  fine  church  of  Brough  presents  many  points  of  interest,  and  one  of  the  most 
striking  is  the  interior,  with  its  sloping  floor,  which  to  a  certain  extent  follows  the 
slope  of  the  g-round  outside,  giving  an  appearance  of  great  dignity  to  the  edifice. 
A  slight  examination  of  the  building  shows  that  the  south  wall  is  nearly  four  feet 
thick,  whereas  the  other  walls  do  not  exceed  three  feet.  We  find  that  the  south 
doorway  is  an  early  Norman  doorway,  with  elaborate  carved  arch  stones,  and, 
further  south,  traces  of  early  masonry  may  be  seen.  We  know,  therefore,  that  an 
early  Norman  stone  church  stood  here;  the  church  is  therefore  the  oldest  building 
the  parish  possesses  (for  I  believe  the  keep  of  the  castle  is  late  Norman),  and  more 
fortunate  than  the  castle  shows  no  signs  of  decay.  I'oliowing  the  course  of  many 
ancient  churches,  the  church  of  St.  Michael  grew  by  slow  degrees  from  a 
Norman  church  to  the  building  as  we  see  it  now.  In  Norman  times  it  probably 
consisted  only  of  a  nave  and  chancel,  of  which  nave  the  south  wall  of  the  present 
church  formed  a  part.  I  think  the  first  alteration  that  took  place  was  the  lengthen- 
ing of  the  church  eastward,  and  then  the  addition  of  a  small  north  aisle,  all  in 
late  Norman  or  early  transitional  times.  And  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  tower 
was  built  at  the  west  end,  and  a  hay  added  between  it  and  the  church  to  connect 
the  two  together.  It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  ancient  churches  were  seldom  or 
never  taken  down,  but  underwent  a  constant  process  of  restoration  and  improve- 
ment and  addition,  and  all  additions  were  if  possible,  so  contrived  that  the  church 
could  be  made  use  of  during  the  execution.  In  or  about  the  middle  of  the  14th 
century  great  benefactions  had  eviiiently  fallen  into  the  church,  and  great  works 

were 


EXC[IRRTONS    ANH    PROCP, EDIXGS.  397 

were  taken  in  liaiid.  I  suspect  that  the  Iniildinij  was  re-roofed,  and  new  windows 
inserted  in  the  south  wall  of  the  nave,  except  that  on  the  west  side  of  the  doorway  ; 
later  on  the  small  north  aisle,  if  one  existed,  was  taken  down,  ur  rather  before 
it  was  takev  down  a  much  lonjjer  and  wider  aisle  was  built  outside  it  as  far  as  the 
leng-th  of  the  nave,  to  which  it  opened  by  two  or  three  arches.  At  the  east  end 
of  the  aisle  the  local  historians  say  that  a  chantry  founded  by  the  Musgraves 
existed.  They  seem  at  this  time  to  have  taken  down  the  chancel  arch,  and  to 
have  extended  the  arcade  so  as  to  form  this  chantry  into  a  chancel  aisle.  It 
seems  probable,  from  the  two  tiers  of  winduwsat  the  east  end  of  the  south  wall  of 
the  nave,  that  they  erected  a  screen  and  loft  in  place  of  the  chancel  arch.  At 
the  commencement  of  the  17th  century  they  seem  to  have  taken  the  east  end  in 
hand,  to  have  rebuilt  the  chapel  at  the  east  end  of  the  north  aisle,  and  to  have 
almost  entirely  rebuilt  the  chancel.  We  can  trace  their  additions  still  further, 
for  in  the  screen  to  the  tower  we  find  the  remains  of  the  parson's  pew  erected 
in  16S2.  In  the  altar  rails  we  reach  the  iSth  century.  'I'he  chutch,  as  we  now 
see  it,  is  the  growth  of  six  centuries  ;  it  has  gradually  grown  with  the  parish,  and 
now  fonns  an  authentic  part  of  its  history. 

The  castle  and  vicarage  grounds  were  visited,  whence  the  party 
proceeded  by  the  once  crowded  coach  road  to  Maiden  Castle  and 
Re-Cross.  At  the  hitter  pkice  the  fameous  cross  has,  at  the  joint 
expense  of  the  Yorkshire  Archgeological  and  Topographical  Associa- 
tion, and  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian  and  Arch- 
aeological Societ}',  been  set  up  firmly  on  its  base,  and  protected  by 
a  strong  iron  railing.  The  two  Societies  are  indebted  to  the  Rev.  J. 
Wharton,  vicar  of  South  Stainmore,  for  kindly  superintending  the 
work:  he  had  also,  on  the  occasion  of  the  Society's  visit,  had  the 
limits  of  the  camp  marked  out  by  flags.  A  paper  bv  the  Rev. 
T.  Lees  on  Re-Cross  was  read,  in  his  absence,  b\-  Mr.  Whitehead, 
after  which' the  meeting  broke  up. 


Sept.   13th  and  14TH. 

The  second  meeting  of  the  year  was  held  at  Ulverston,  on  Tuesday 
and  Wednesday,  Sept.  13th  and  14th. 

At  half-past  one  o'clock  on  Tuesday  afternoon  the  partv  drove  from 
the  County  Hotel.  The  arrangements  were  carried  out  bv  a  local 
sub-committee,  consisting  of  Messrs.  James  Hodgson,  James  Atkin- 
son, J.  Coward,  II.  G.  Tosh,  and  the  Rev.  Canon  Bardsley,  all  of 
whom  were  present  with  the  exception  of  the  last-named  gentleman, 
who  was  unavoidably  absent.  The  President  of  the  Society,  Mr. 
Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A.,  was  also  unable  to  attend  the  first 
day's  meeting.  The  rest  of  the  company  included  the  Rev.  L.  R. 
Ayre,  Messrs.  John   Atkinson,  J.    Rawlinson,  E.   Walker.   Mrs.  Tosh 

and 


398  EXCURSIONS    AND    PROCEEDINGS, 

and  Miss  Webster,  Ulverston  ;  Mr.  H.  St\'ainson  Cowper,  Yevvfield 
Castle;  Mr.  Isaac  Cartmell  and  Miss  Cartmell,  Carlisle  ;  Mr.  F.  B. 
Garnett,  C.B.,  and  Mrs.  Garnett,  London;  the  Rev.  H.  Whitehead, 
Ne>vton  Reigny  ;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Simpson,  Komanway  ;  Mr.  C.  and 
Miss  Vaughan,  Millom  ;  Mr.  W.  L.  Fletcher  and  Miss  Fletcher, 
Stoneleigh,  Workington;  the  Kev.  J.  Greenwood,  Uldale;  Mr. 
\V.  G.  Collinguood,  Coniston  ;  Mr.  J.  R.  Ford,  Leeds;  Mr.  G. 
F.  Braithwaite,  Hawes  Mead,  Kendal  ;  Mr.  J.  Spencer  Price  ;  Mr. 
James  Harrison  and  party,  Newby  Bridge;  the  Rev.  J.  Mitchell, 
Penrith;  Miss  Preston  and  Miss  Stackhouse.  Settle;  the  Rev.  W. 
S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.,  Aspatria  ;  Mr.  J.  H.  Nicholson,  Manchester;. 
Mr.  T.  Wilson,  Aynam  Lodge,  Kendal,  the  hon.  sec.  of  the  society  ; 
Mr.  W.  Holmes,  Barrow,  &c. 

A  halt  was  first  made  at  Swarthmoor  hall,  where  the   Rev.   L.   R. 
Ayre  read  a  very  interesting  and  carefully  prepared  paper, 

SWARTHMOOR  HALL. 
Swarthmoor  Hall  stands  upon  the  edge  of  an  extensive  tract  of  land  known  as 
Swarthmoor.  Writers  on  Furness  history  have  asserted  one  after  another  that 
this  moor  derived  its  name  from  Martin  Swartz,  the  Hemisli  general,  wlio  in  14S7 
was  the  leader  of  about  2,000  German  troops,  enrolled  at  the  expense  of  Marg-aret, 
the  Duchess  Dowager  of  Burgundy,  to  support  the  cause  of  Lambert  Simnel,  the 
pretender  to  the  English  throne.  This  German  contingent  sailed  from  the  Low 
Countries  to  Ireland,  and  from  thence,  in  conjunction  with  the  Irish  troops,  set 
sail  for  the  English  coast.  They  landed  at  the  pile  of  Fouldrey,  and  thence 
marched  forward,  S,ooo  strong,  and  encamped  for  a  time  upon  this  moor.  The 
statement,  however,  that  the  moor  was  called  after  this  Flemish  commander 
appears  to  be  erroneous,  and  the  similarity  of  names  to  be  only  a  coincidence. 
In  Domesday  Book  the  place  is  called  Warte,  and  is  mentioned  as  forming  part 
of  the  manor  of  Hotigini  which  in  F^dward  the  Confessor's  reign  belonged  to  Earl 
Tosti.  It  is  much  more  probable  that  the  name  is  derived  from  the  Teutonic  word 
Schvarl,  and  that  it  means  simply  "Black  Moor."  Swarthmoor  Hall  was  pro- 
bably built  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  is  a  plain  specimen  of  an 
Elizabethan  country  house.  It  is  interesting  as  such.  But  the  interest  it  arouses 
is  o-reatly  increased  when  we  remember  that  it  was  the  house  of  Thos.  Fell,  known 
commonly  as  Chancellor  or  judge  Fell,  and  that  it  is  inseparably  bound  up  with 
the  history  of  George  Fox,  the  founder  of  the  Society  ot  Friends.  The  father  of 
Thomas  F'ell  was  an  attorney  at  law,  named  George  Fell.  He  was  descended 
from  an  old  Furness  family,  and  had  his  paternal  estate  at  Hawkswell,  on  the 
borders  of  the  township  cf  Osmothcrly.  Thomas  was  born  in  1598,  and  was 
brought  up  to  the  study  of  the  law.  lie  was  admitted  a  student  of  Gray's  Inn 
in  1623,  was  called  to  the  bar  in  if'i;,!,  called  "ancient"  in  1(148,  and  to  the 
bench  in  ifijO-i.  -Siding,  as  he  did,  with  the  Parliament  on  the  outbreak  of  the 
Civil  War,  and  being  evidently  a  man  of  marked  ability,  he  was  promoted  by  the 
party  in  power  to  several  important  offices.  In  1641  he  was  placed  upon  the 
commission  of  the  peace  for  Lancashire.  In  1642  he  was  appointed,  along  with 
twenty  other  gentlemen  a   Parliamentary  scfiuestrator  for  the  forfeited  estates  of 

Royalists 


EXCURSIONS    AND    PROCEEDINGS. 

Royalists  in  Lancashire.  In  164O  he  was  elected  M.P.,  fur  Lancaster,  anc 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  Judges  of  Assize  for  the  Chester  and  North  Wales 
circuit,  Vic^Chancellor  of  the  County  Palatine  of  Lancaster,  and  Chancellor  of 
the  Duchy  Court  at  WcbtministtT.  Writin^C  many  years  after  his  death,  his  wife 
describes  him  as  having  been  "  much  esteemed  in  his  country,  and  valued  and 
honoured  in  his  day  by  all  sorts  of  people  for  bis  justice,  wisdom,  moderation,  and 
mercy."  He  died  on  October  Sth,  165S,  at  the  age  of  59,  and  was  buried  by 
torchlight  on  the  following  Sunday  night  under  the  family  pew  in  Ulverston 
Church.  He  left  eight  children— a  son  named  George  (who  was  educated  at 
Hawkshead  Grammar  School,  brought  up  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  and 
admitted  student  of  Gray's  Inn  in  1652-3,  but  not  called  to  the  bar  by  that  Society, 
if  at  all),  and  seven  daughters.  The  property  which  Judge  Fell  possessed  at  the 
time  of  his  death  was  very  extensive.  It  comprised  the  ancestral  estate  of  Hawks- 
well,  the  lordship  of  the  manor  of  Ulverston,  and  various  lands  and  tenements  of 
which  the  greater  part  had  belonged  to  Conishead  Priory  and  h'urncss  Abbey,  and 
having  come  into  the  market  after  the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses,  had  been 
purchased  probably  by  his  father  or  grandfather,  and  been  added  to  by  himself. 
Marsh  Grange,  the  birth-place  of  his  wife,  he  bought  of  the  Askew  family  long 
subsecjuently  to  his  marriage-  Swarthmoor  Hall  appears  to  have  been  built  in 
order  that  there  might  be  a  suitable  residence  for  the  proprietor  of  the  newly 
formed  Swarthmoor  estate.  But  how  Thomas  Fell  became  possessed  of  it; 
whether  by  his  own  purchase  or  by  inheritance  from  his  father,  is  not  certainly 
known,  nor  are  there  any  documents  accessible  to  make  it  clear  how  he  obtained 
the  lordship  of  the  manor  of  Ulverston.  It  seems,  however,  certain  that  it  was 
only  over  one  moiety  of  the  manor  that  his  jurisdiction  extended,  for  the  manor 
of  Ulverston  had  from  early  times  been  divided  into  two  moieties.  Of  these  one 
moiety  was  possessed  by  the  Abbot  of  Furness  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution,  and 
was  then  surrendered  to  the  Crown,  and  the  other  had  belonged  to  Henry  Duke 
of  Suffolk,  who  was  attainted  of  high  treason,  and  executed  in  1552,  in  consequence 
^  which  it  was  forfeited  to  the  Crown.  The  Crown  retained  both  moieties  until 
1609;  in  that  year  one  moiety-  was  sold  (as  West  states)  to  Salter  and  Williams, 
and  it  was  probably  purchased  from  them  by  Thos.  F'ell's  father,  or  by  Ihos.  Fell 
himself.  1  he  other  moiety  was  sold  in  1612  to  Whitenior  and  Vernon  ;  and  this 
appears  to  have  been  purchased  by  one  of  the  Kirkbys  of  Kirkby  Hall,  in  which 
family  it  remained  for  many  years.  Judge  Fell's  moiety  of  the  manor  was 
inherited  by  his  son  George,  and  was  purchased  with  the  rest  of  the  Swarthmoor 
estate  by  the  Judge's  son-in-law,  Daniel  Abraham,  in  1691  ;  and  therefore  we  find 
Daniel  Abraham  and  Roger  Kirkby,  described  as  joint  lords  of  the  manor  in  a 
document  referred  to  by  Canon  Bardsley  in  his  "  Chronicles  of  Ulverston,"  p.  6S. 
In  171S  the  trustees,  of  Kirkby  are  said  (West's  Antiquities,  page  45),  to  have 
conveyed  the  second  moiety  to  Mr.  Abraham  on  trust,  thus  giving  him  the  sole 
lordship,  the  whole  of  which  was  sold  in  1736  by  John  Abraham  (Daniel  Abraham's 
son)  to  the  Duke  of  Montague.  The  lady  whom  Thos.  Fell  mariied  was  Margaret 
.Askew,  of  Marsh  Grange.  Her  marriage  took  place  in  1632,  when  she  was  in 
the   iSth  year  of    her    age.      Thos.    Fell  and   his  wife   found   their  pleasure  at 

Swarthmoor  Hall  in   practising  hospitality  on  an  extensive  scale 

Margaret  Fell,  m  her  own  narrative,  says  that  when  "lecturing  ministers,"  as 
they  were  called,  visited  the  district  they  were  frequently  entertained  at  this 
house,  when  they  would  have  prayers  and  religious  exercises  in  the  family. 
"In  this,"    she  says,  "    1   hoped    1    tlid  wi-ll,   but    often  feared    I    was  short   of 

the 


400  EXCURSIONS   AND    PROCEEDINGS. 

the  right  way.  After  this  manner  1  was  seeking  and  enquiring  about  20 
years."  It  was  20  years  after  her  marriage,  in  the  winter  of  1C52,  that 
George  Fox  paid  his  first  visit  to  Ulverston,  and  great  indeed  was  the  sensation 
which  he  made  in  the  place.  The  Judge  was  absent  at  that  time  on  circuit, 
but  according  to  usual  custom  the  strange  visitor  was  hospitably  received  at 
Swarthmoor  Hall  by  Mrs.  Fell.  'I  cannot  stay  to  relate  at  length  the  events 
which  followed — how  Fox  went  the  next  day,  being  a  fast  day,  to  Ulverston 
Chuich,  and  delivered  an  addre<;s  to  the  people,  which  made  so  powerful  an  im- 
pression on  the  mind  of  Mrs.  Fell  that  she  soon  became  one  of  his  most  devoted 
adherents;  the  violent  treatment  which  he  met  with  from  the  populace,  how  Judge 
Fell,  as  he  was  returning  home  was  informed  by  some  friends  of  what  had 
occurred;  and  how,  though  he  was  greatly  incensed  against  the  man  who  had  (as 
he  supposed)  so  strangely  bewitched  iiis  wife  and  family,  he  afterwards  became 
his  friend  and  protector,  and  permitted  him  to  hold  weekly  meetings  in  the  dining 
hill  at  Swarthmoor— though  these  and  many  others  are  circumstances  of  great 
interest  and  closely  associated  with  Swarthmoor  Hall.  .After  Judge  Fell's  death 
his  widow  endured  much  cruel  persecution  in  consequence  of  her  stedfast  attach. 
men;  to  the  principles  of  the  society  which  Fox  had  founded,  but  the  weekly  and 
other  meetings  of  the  society  continued  to  be  held  in  her  house  until  the  year  16SS, 
when  the  present  meeting-house  was  built  near  to  it.  After  remaining  a  widow 
eleven  years  she  was  married  at  Bristol  to  Geo.  Fox.  She  survived  him  several 
years,  and,  dying  in  1702  at  Swarthmoor  Hall,  she  was  buried  at  the  Friend's 
Burial  Ground  at  Sunbrick,  on  Birkrigg  Common,  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  con- 
course of  spectators.  On  Judge  Fell's  death  the  Hawkswell  estate,  with  other 
lands  and  tenements,  came  to  his  only  son  George.  To  his  widow  he  left,  by  his 
will,  Swarthmoor  Hall  and  "50  acres  of  ground  lying  most  conveniently  unto  the 
said  house"  for  so  long  as  she  remained  unmarried.  On  her  marriage  with 
George  Fox  it  passed  to  her  son,  and  on  his  death,  which  took  place  in  October, 
iCiyo,  it  passed  with  other  property,  under  the  provisions  of  his  will,  to  his  only  son 
Charles.  Charles,  who  was  but  an  infant  when  his  father  died,  sold  the  whole  Sf 
his  estate  to  Daniel  Abraham,  who  had  married  Rachael,  the  Judge's  youngest 
daughter.  The  deed  of  conveyance,  which  is  dated  July  S,  1691,  states  the 
purchase  money  to  have  been  ^4,500,  and  describes  the  estate  as  lying  more  or 
less  in  Ulverston,  Swarthmoor,  Dragley  Beck,  Hawkswell,  Blawith,  Lowick, 
Pennington,  Urswick,  Dalton,  Colton,  Hawkshead,  Nibthwaite,  and  a  manor  or 
township  the  name  of  which  is  illegible.  It  was  not  long,  however,  before  this 
extensive  property  began  to  suffer  material  diminution.  In  1697  Daniel  Abraham 
sold  the  ancestral  estate  of  Hawkswell,  and  in  the  years  which  followed,  owing  to 
the  distraints  and  fines  which  he  incurred  in  defence  of  the  rights  of  conscience, 
and  the  e.xpensive  litigation  in  which  he  was  engaged  in  resisting  what  he  deemed 
unjust  claims,  his  losses  were  considerable.  He  died  in  1731,  and  left  his  estate 
to  his  son  John  Abraham.  In  his  time  the  causes  already  mentioned,  together 
with  the  expenses  of  a  large  family,  some  unsuccessful  mining  operations  and 
other  unfavourable  circumstances  so  encumbered  the  estate  as  to  necessitate  its 
sale.  It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  he  sold  the  lordship  of  the  manor  of 
Ulverston  in  1736.  Outlying  portions  of  the  estate  were  from  time  to  time 
disposed  of,  until  in  1759  Swarthmoor  Hall  itself,  and  also  the  land  belonging  it, 
was  in  the  market.  In  the  absence  of  any  single  purchaser  of  suilkient  means, 
it  was  sold  to  three  parties,  by  whom  it  was  parcelled  out  in  lots,  and  a  large 
'portion  of  it  resold  to  great  advantage.     The  Hall  and  a  portion  of  the  land  were 

purchased 


EXCURSION'S   AND    PROCEEDINGS.  4OI 

purchased  by  Win.  Linclow,  I'Isq.,  a  mercliant  of  Lancaster.  He  left  it  to  liis 
hister  Eleanor,  the  wife  of  Mr.  James  Jackson  of  IJlverston  for  life,  with  an 
entail  upon  her  daughter  Ann,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Win.  Dickinson  surgeon  of 
Workington,  and  her  eldest  son,  from  wiioni  it  has  descended  to  its  present 
possessors.  Swarthmoor  Hall  is  now  a  farmhouse,  and  all  its  surroundings  are  in 
keeping  with  the  purposes  to  which  it  is  devoted.  I  hough  much  dilapidated,  and 
though  it  has  been  altered  to  suit  the  retjuirements  of  successive  occupants,  it  still 
presents  in  its  essential  features  much  the  same  aspect  as  it  did  two  centuries 
ago. 

The  Friend's  Meeting  House  vvas  next  visited,  over  the  entrance 
door  of  which  is  the  inscription,"  Ex  dono,  G  F.,  1688,"  showing  that 
the  building  vvas  the  gift  of  (ieorge  Fox,  by  whom  it  vvas  built  on 
land  purchased  from  the  daughter  of  Judge  F'ell. — The  Rev.  L.  K. 
Ayre  read  a  brief  statement  respecting  the  building,  directing  special 
attention  to  two  posts  of  ebony  which  once  belonged  to  Fox's  bed- 
stead, and  now  serve  as  jambs  in  a  doorway  leading  to  the  gallery  , 
to  F'ox's  sea-chest,  and  to  Fox's  black  letter  Bible,  a  folio  volume 
printed  in  1541,  but  unfortunately  not  quite  perfect. 

The  party  were  then  driven  to  Birkrigg  Common,  which  lies  at 
an  elevation  of  from  joo  to  400  feet  above  the  sea,  and  commands 
a  most  extensive  prospect  on  all  sides — over  Morecambe  Bay  to 
Lancaster  in  one  direction,  and  as  far  as  the  Isle  of  Man  in  another, 
while  to  the  north  and  north-west  the  mountainous  district  of  West- 
morland and  Cumberland  bounds  the  scene.  The  Rev.  L.  R.  Ayre 
pointed  out  a  small  enclosure  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  common 
near  Sunbrick,  which  was  formerly  used  by  the  Quakers  as  a  burial 
ground.  An  inscription  cut  in  the  rock  mentions  the  number  of 
persons  interred  there,  and  states  that  amongst  them  vvas  Margaret 
F'ox,  the  widow  of  George  F"ox.  At  a  distance  of  a  few  hundred 
yards  from  this  spot  there  stands,  as  there  has  stood  for  ages,  a 
circle  of  weather-beaten  stones,  commonly  called  the  "  Druid's 
Temple."  There  are  in  fact  two  concentric  circles — the  inner  one 
being  about  24  feet  in  diameter,  consisting  of  iz  stones,  some  of 
them  three  feet  in  height,  while  the  outer  one  is  evidently  not  com- 
plete, some  of  the  stones  probably  having  been  taken  away.  An 
engravmg  is  given  of  these  circles  in  the  31st  volume  oi  Arclurvlogin, 
plate  xviii.  Mr.  Ayre  stated  that  on  other  parts  of  Birkrigg, 
especially  near  Urswick,  and  in  other  parts  of  the  mountainous 
district  of  Furness,  similar  circles  and  other  pre-historic  remains 
exist.     See  Archccologia  vol.  31,  Article  xxxiv. 

A  visit  was  next  paid  to  the  Parish  Church  of  Aldingham,  dedi- 
cated to  St.  Cuthbert.  The  foundation  of  the  present  building  is 
assigned    to  the  first  Michael  le   F'leming,  who  received   extensive 

grants 


402  EXCURSIONS    AND    PROCEEDINGS. 

grants  trom  the  Conqueror;  and  the  first  mention  of  it  is  made 
about  the  year  1180,  in  a  deed  of  Furness  Abbey.  The  architecture 
generally  exhibits  transitions  from  the  Norman  through  the  early 
English  and  prependicular  styles  to  recent  times.  The  church  is 
built  of  the  district  limestone,  the  dressings  being  partly  of  red 
permian  sandstone  and  parti}'  of  millstone  grit.  On  arriving  at  the 
church  the  company  were  met  by  the  rector,  the  Rev.  Canon  Hay- 
man,  who  briefly  described  the  most  striking  features  of  the  structure. 
Dr.  Hayman  pointed  to  the  massive  Norman,  cylindrical,  and 
octagonal  columns  as  the  most  ancient  feature  of  the  church.  These 
were  even  older  than  those  at  Furness  Abbey,  but  there  might  be- 
some  older  than  them  at  Carlisle.  They  dated  back  further  than 
Henry  I.,  and  possibly  might  extend  as  far  back  as  William  the  Red. 
He  pointed  particularly  to  the  sepulchral  stone  bearing  the  inscrip- 
tion, "  Hie  Jacit  Goditha  de  Scales,"  referring,  no  doubt,  to  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  early  le  Flemings,  and  dating  probably  from 
the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  whole  of  the  northern 
aisle  was  new,  and  was  erected  within  the  memory  of  some  of  the 
present  inhabitants.  The  reverend  canon  drew  attention  to  the 
low,  flat  ceilings,  and  also  to  the  fact  that  the  chancel  arch  and  the 
other  arches  were  not  in  a  straight  line,  but  ran  zigzag  fashion.  He 
also  described  a  monumental  brass  on  the  floor  referring  to  a  former 
vicar,  Thomas  Shawe,  who  died  in  1667,  and  referred  to  a  local 
writer's  notes  respecting  some  monumental  slabs  under  the  chancel 
wall. 

Aldingham  Moat  was  next  visited,  where  some  notes  by  the  Presi- 
dent were  read  :  these  will  be  printed  in  this  volume.  At  Gleaston 
Castle  Dr.  Hayman  read  an  account  of  it  by  himself,  which  is  printed 
in  the  Antiquary,  vol.  v.,  p.  102,  under  the  title  of  "Muchland: 
or  Gleaston  Castle." 

The  company  next  made  an  inspection  of  the  peculiarly  interest- 
ing church  of  Urswick,  which  was  briefly  described  by  the  vicar, 
the  Rev.  R.  B.  Billinge.  He  stated  that  the  advowson  of  the  church 
was  exchanged  by  Sir  Michael  le  Fleming  with  the  Abbot  of  Furness 
in  1 137,  and  that  that  exchange  was  confirmed  by  his  son  under  a 
deed  dated  1220.  The  next  presentation  to  Urswick  Michael  le 
Fleming  reserved  for  his  son  Daniel,  a  former  vicar  of  Urswick, 
afterwards  rector  of  Aldingham. 

The  company  arrived  back  at  Ulverston  about  eight  o'clock,  and 
partook  of  dinner  at  the  County  Hotel.  Mr.  Isaac  Cartmell  presided, 
and  after  the  health  of  the  Queen  had  been  drunk,  the  members 
adjourned  to  the  drawing-room,  where  a  meeting  for  the  transac- 
tion of  the  society's  business  was  held  under  the  presidency  of  the 
Rev.  L.  R.  Ayre,  and  the  following  papers  read: 

Sir 


V  EXCURSIONS   AND    FROCEI- DINGS.  403 

Sir  John  Lovvther,  of  Whitehaven.     \V.  Jaci<son,  F.S.A. 

AXsKTpvovwv  'Ayan'.     The   President. 

Some  Prehistoric  Remains.      H.  Swainson  Cowper. 

Cup-marked  Stone,  Maryport.     J.  B.  Bailey. 

Calder  Abbey,  Part  III.     Rev.  A.  G.  Loftie. 

Saxon  (Hop-back)  Tombstone  at  Lowther.     Rev.  W.  S.  Calverlev, 
F.S.A. 

On  Wednesday  the  President  joined  the  party.  A  start  was  made 
from  the  County  Hotel  at  9  a.m.,  the  carriages  proceeding  by  Marsh 
Grange,  Kirkby  Ireleth  Church  and  Hall,  to  Foxfield.  Thence  the 
company  went  by  rail  to  Coniston,  a  saloon  carriage  being  set  apart 
for  their  accommodation  ;  and,  lunch  having  been  partaken  of  at  the 
Crown  Hotel,  a  visit  was  then  paid  to  Coniston  Old  Hall,  when  a 
paper  on  the  Hall  was  read  by  Mr.  Swainson  Cowper,  and  another 
by  Mr.  Ellwood  of  Torver,  "  On  the  resemblance  between  some  of 
the  older  customs  m  Lakeland  and  Iceland,"  after  which  the  party 
was  conveyed  by  the  gondola  to  Lake  Bank,  where  the  carriages 
were  in  waiting  to  make  the  return  journey.  On  the  waj-  home  a 
stoppage  was  made  for  an  inspection  of  Lowick  Hall. 

The  following  new  members  were  elected  during  the  meeting  : 
Mr.  T.  Stordy,  English  Street,  Carlisle  ;  Major  General  Brougham. 
Bishop's  Yard,  Penrith;  John  Marshall,  Esq.,  The  Island,  Keswick; 
Miss  Julia  Curwen,  Roewath,  Dalston  ;  Mr.  Arthur  Hogarth, 
Kendal  ;  Mr.  W.  Holme,  161,  Chatsworth  Terrace,  Abbey  Road, 
Barrow;  Mr.  Percy  L.  Addison  C.E.,  Cleator;  Mr.  Joseph  Shaw 
Witham,  National  School,  Ulverston  ;  Mr.  W.  G.  Collingwood, 
M.A.,  Gill  Head,  Windermere  ;  Mr.  John  Atkinson,  Croftlands, 
Ulverston  ;  Mr.  Edward  Walker,  Oubas,  Ulverston  ;  Rev.  L.  R. 
Ayre,  Holy  Trinity  Vicarage,  Ulverston  ;  Mr.  Joseph  Rawlinson, 
Cavendish  Street,  Ulverston;  Rev.  W,  G.  C.  Hodgson,  Distington 
Rectory,  Whitehaven  ;  Mr.  Edward  Garthwaite  Parish,  Pall  Mall 
Club,  London;  Mr.  Hume  Kitchin,  Ulverston;  Mr.  John  Bell, 
Heathwaite,  Coniston  ;  Mr.  John  Spencer  Price,  F.R.G.S.,  41, 
Gloucester  Place,  Hyde  Park,  London  ;  Miss  Fletcher,  Stoneleigh, 
Workington;  Mr.  Wilfrid  Howard  Crewdson,  Abbott  Hall,  Kendal; 
Mr.  George  H.  Nelson,  Kent  Terrace,  Kendal ;  Mr.  William  Ec- 
royd,  Lomeshaye,  Burnley. 


(404) 


Art.  XXVIII. — Two  Moated  Mounds,  Liddell  and  Alding- 

ham.     By  The  Worshipful  Chancellor  Ferguson, 

F.S.A.     President  of  the  Society. 
Communicated  at  those  places,  July  23,   1885,  and  Sept.  13, 

1887. 
"IT7ITH  the  English  invasion  of  this  country,  arose  the 
necessity  for  a  new  style  of  fortification  suitable  to 
the  social  conditions  of  the  new  comers.  The  British 
encampments,  intended  for  the  residence  of  a  tribe  having 
all  things  in  common,  were,  both  in  position  and  arrange- 
ments, utterly  unsuited  to  the  new  inhabitants  :  so  were 
the  fortified  barracks,  or  camps  of  the  Romans.  The 
English  did  not  settle  down  as  tribes,  nor  as  great  gar- 
risons, they  settled  as  families  dispersed  up  and  down  the 
country:  they  required  something  suitable  for  the  centre 
and  defence  of  a  private  estate,  for  the  accommodation  of 
the  lord  and  his  household,  for  the  protection  of  the  tenants 
generally  should  they  be  attacked,  and  for  the  safe  housing, 
in  the  time  of  war,  of  their  flocks  and  herds. 

This  is  what  the  English  did.  First  they  cast  up  a 
truncated  cone  of  earth,  standing  at  its  natural  slope  from 
12  to  even  50  or  60  feet  in  height.  This,  the  "  mound," 
"  motte,"  or  "  burh  " — the  "  mota  "  of  our  records, — was 
formed  from  the  contents  of  a  broad  and  deep  circum- 
scribing ditch,  which  indeed  was  the  parent  of  the  mound. 
Connected  with  the  mound  is  a  base  court,  sometimes 
circular,  sometimes  oval,  sometimes  horse-shoe  shaped, 
occasionally  square,  having  also  a  ditch  and  bank  round  it. 
This  is  not  mere  conjecture:  we  have  history  for  it;  in 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  some  fifty  of  these  burhs  are 
mentioned,  and  the  dates  of  their  erection  svith  the  names 
of  their  respective  founders  are  given.  Of  these  some 
score  yet  exist  and  can  be  identified. 

We 


LIDDELL   AND    ALDINGHAM.  405 

We  can  thus  safely  attribute  these  pecuhar  earthworks 
to  the  gth  and  loth  centuries,  and  possibly  to  the  8th,  that 
is  to  the  northern  settlers  j^enerally,  as  distinguished  h'om 
the  Britons  and  Romans.  These  "  burhs"  are  found  all 
over  England,  in  the  lowlands  of  Scotland,  and  on  the 
marches  of  Wales.  They  may  be  defined  as  a  moated 
mound  with  a  table  top,  and  a  base  court,  also  moated, 
either  appended  to  one  side  or  within  wliich  the  mound 
stands.     Mounds  similar  to  these  are  found  in  Normandy. 

On  the  top  of  one  of  these  mounds  there  would  be  in 
the  time  of  the  original  English  settler,  a  wooden  house 
built  of  half  trunks  of  trees,  set  upright  between  two 
waling  pieces  at  the  top  and  bottom  :  there  would  be  a 
palisade  round  the  top  of  the  mound,  one  round  the 
bottom  and,  probably,  another  round  the  outer  edge  of  the 
ditch.  The  base  court  would  be  also  surrounded  by  a 
palisade,  and  there  would  be  bridges  of  planks  across  the 
ditches:  the  base  court  would  be  occupied  by  huts  of 
timber  or  of  dab  and  wattle  for  the  servants  and  retainers, 
and  the  bridge  over  the  ditch  of  the  moat  would  be  drawn 
up  at  night,  and  the  lord  and  his  family  thus  secure 
against  their  own  retainers,  just  as  a  Boer  at  the  present 
time  bolts  out  his  slaves,  for  fear  they  should  cut  his  throat 
in  the  night. 

After  the  Norman  conquest,  most  of  these  moated 
mounds  were  converted  into  castles  of  stone,  as  Windsor, 
Oxford,  Lincoln,  Tamworth,  &c.,  and  locally  Appleby.- 
Many  remain  :  locally  one  at  Irthington  in  Cumberland, 
one  at  Kirkby  Lonsdale  in  Westmorland,  and  another  at 
Black  Burton  in  Lancashire,  all  which  this  Society  has 
visited. 

These  moat  hills  must  not  be  confounded  with  a  class 
of  mounds  belonging  to  the  same  people,  but  used  for  civil 
purposes:  they   are   not   uncommon   and   are  called    also 

*  Appleby  Castle :  its  rarthworks  and  keep,  by  the  President.    These  Transactions, 
volume  viii.,  p.  ,''182 

motehills 


406  LIDDELL   AND    ALDINGHAM. 

motehills  and  toothills,  but  they  are  very  seldom  moated 
and  are  not  accompanied  by  base  courts  and  enclosures. 
I  may  add  (to  obviate  an  objection)  that  Ducan^e  defines 
"  Mota,"  as  "  Collis  seu  tumulus  cui  inajdificatum  est 
castellum."  Windsor  Castle  in  mediaeval  Latin  is  "  Mota 
deWindsore."  These  moated  mounds  generall}- were  the 
caput  of  a  manor,  or  baron3%  as  at  Irthington  in  Cumber- 
land, and  Black  Burton  in  Lancashire  ;  they  may  also 
have  been  talking  places,  as  the  tenants  of  a  manor  would 
naturally  resort  to  the  caput  of  the  manor  for  that 
purpose.* 

LIDDELL  MOAT. 

We  give  with  this  paper  a  plan  of  this  moated  hill, 
reproduced  from  General  Roy's  Military  Antiquities  of  the 
Romans  in  Britain.  It  is  there  titled  "  A  plan  and  section 
of  Liddell  moat,  a  Roman  Camp  near  the  junction  of  the 
Liddell  with  the  Esk."t  No  description  of  it  is  given  in 
the  text,  beyond  a  suggestion,  which  the  general  hesitates 
to  adopt,  that  it  is  the  Roman  "  Castra  Exploratorum."t 

It  is  thus  described  by  Mr,  Skene  : 

Proceeding;  (from  the  junction  of  the  Liddell  and  the  Esk,)§  half  a 
mile  up  the  south  bank  of  the  Liddel  we  came  to  what  is  called  the 
Roman  Camp,  and  which,  I  found,  was  known  by  no  other  name  in  the 
country,  though  it  is  called  in  the  '  Statistical  Account  '  the  Moat  of 
Liddel.  It  is  situated  on  the  top  of  a  high  bank  overhanging  the  river. 
On  the  north  side,  the  rock  goes  shear  down  to  the  river.  The  highest 
point  is  about  i6o  feet  above  the  river.  On  the  other  side  it  is 
defended  by  prodigious  earthern  ramparts,  which  rise  from  the  field 
to  a  height  of  nearly  30  feet.  The  space  enclosed  by  the  great 
rampart  measured  about  38  yards  from  east  to  west,  by  about  55 
yards  from  north  to  south.     There  is  a  smaller  inner  citadel  measuring 


*  'I'lie  above  is  a  very  brief  rcsiniir  of  a  portion  of  tlie  second  chapter  of 
Mfdiievdl  Mtlitayii  Atchileclure  in  Eiiglinul,  by  G.  T.  Clark,  l'".S.A.  London: 
Wyman  &  Sons,  18S4.  It  should  be  studied  by  all  who  wish  to  understand  this 
interesting  class  of  earthworks. 

t  Plate  xxiii. 

+  Pages  1  iS,  IK). 

§  On  the  borders  of  Cumberland,  near  the  station  at  Riddinus  jiinrtion,  on  the 
North  British  Railway. 


\  ( 


r 


LIDDELL   AND    ALUINGIIAM.  407 

13  yards  by  y,  and  also  a  well  in  the  enclosure,  and  on  the  west 
side  there  is  a  second  great  rampart.  I  am  sorry  that  I  am  not  a 
draughtsman,  and  cannot  lay  before  you  a  plan  or  sketch  of  this 
magnificent  fort.  It  is  obviously  a  native  strength  and  would  well 
repay  a  visit.  The  view  from  it  is  magnificent.  Standing  on  the 
highest  point  and  looking  north,  the  river  Liddel  and  the  railway 
wind  at  the  base  of  the  rock  under  your  feet.  Looking  north-east, 
the  beautifully  wooded  vale  of  the  lisk  opens  out  before  you,  up 
which  the  eye  carries  you  as  far  as  Langholm,  and  the  bare  and 
pastoral  valley  of  Liddesdale  extends  to  the  north-west.  In  the 
horizon,  the  top  of  liirrenswork  hill,  notable  for  its  Roman  camps,  is 
most  prominent.  On  the  west  the  Solway  Firth  stretches  before  you  ; 
and  looking  due  south,  the  eye  rests  upon  the  Arthuret  knowes,  and 
beyond  them  the  chain  of  Cumberland  hills  bounds  the  horizon. '•' 

These  magnificent  earthworks  consist  of  a  horse-shoe 
shaped  ditch,  whose  heel  rests  on  the  precipitous  bank, 
some  150  feet  above  the  river  Liddell :  the  earth  from 
this  ditch  has  been  thrown  inwards,  so  as  to  form  an  inner 
rampart  of  nearly  30  feet  in  height  on  the  east  side  of 
which  is  the  mound  :  the  heel  of  the  horse-shoe  is  closed 
by  a  smaller  rampart;  from  its  toe  another  ditch  sweeps 
round  to  the  west,  and  runs  out  on  the  precipice  ;  the 
earth  from  this  ditch  has  been  utihsed  for  the  formation  of 
a  large  inner  rampart  and  a  smaller  outer  one.  The 
foundations  of  a  rectangular  building  exist  in  the  inner 
ward.  These  earthworks  have  nothing  Roman  about 
them,  nor  are  they  British  :  they  much  remind  the  spectator 
of  those  at  Appleby  Castle, t  and  may  be  safely  assigned 
to  the  same  period,  that  is  to  some  time  between  the  eighth 
or  ninth  century,  and  the  Norman  conquest  of  the  district 
by  the  Red  King  ;  in  these  earthworks  we  have  the  forti- 
fied dwelling  of  the  great  thane  or  franklin,  whom  William 
Rufus  found  in  possession,  and  who  had  to  make  way  for 
some  Norman  baron,  probably  Turgis  Brundis,  first  lord  of 


*  Site  of  the  lialllc  of  Jrddcrijd,  \V.  F.  Skene,  F.S.A,,  Proceeding's  Society  of 
Antiquaries  of  Scotland,  vol.  vi.,  pp.  91,  97. 
t  These  Transactions,  vol.  viii.,  p.  3SJ. 

the 


408  LIDDELL   AND    ALDINGHAM. 

the  baron}^  of  Lyddale.*  But  the  Norman  lords  of 
Lyddale  never  translated  the  earthworks  of  Liddell  Moat 
into  the  stone  walls  of  a  Liddell  Castle  :  the  early  barons 
had  little  money  I  the  barony  was  but  of  small  value,  and 
it  at  an  early  period  fell  to  the  Crown,  who  needed  no 
residential  castle,  while,  for  military  purposes,  the  castles 
of  Carlisle  and  Bewcastle  sufficed.  Ultimately  it,  or  some 
place  hard  by,  became  the  residence  of  a  branch  of  the 
Greymes,  and  the  foundations  in  the  inner  ward  probably 
mark  their  dwelling  place.  In  the  year  1553  "  Fergus 
Greyme  of  the  Mote  of  Lydysdale  in  the  Countie  of 
Cumberland  gentleman  "  had  a  grant  of  arms  from  Wil- 
liam Harvey,  Norroy  King  of  Arms,  as  a  reward  for  his 
crue  and  faithful  services  done  in  the  reigns  of  King  Henry 
VIII  and  Edward  VI. 

The  site  is  admirably  suited  for  its  purpose  :  towards 
Scotland  and  the  north,  it  is  defended  by  the  precipices  of 
the  Liddell,  which  bounds  the  barony;  towards  the  other 
sides  are  long  easy  slopes,  up  which  cattle  could  easily  be 
driven,  entering  the  shelter  of  the  greac  earth  ramparts, 
and  their  palisading  by  an  opening  left  towards  the  south. 

Mr.  Skene  continues  his  account : 

On  the  east  side  of  the  fort  the  ground  slopes  down  hill  till  it  comes 
to  the  level  of  the  river  at  a  place  called  Riddings,  not  quite  half  a 
mile  off.  Between  the  fort  and  Carwhinelow  is  a  field  extending  to 
the  ridge  along  Carwhinelow,  which  is  about  half  a  mile.  The  old 
farmer  of  the  Upper  Moat,  who  accompanied  us,  informed  me  that 
the  tradition  of  the  country  was  that  a  great  battle  was  fought  here 
between  the  Romans,  and  the  Picts  who  held  the  camp,  in  which  the 
Romans  were  victorious:  that  the  camp  was  defended  by  300  men, 
who  surrendered  it,  and  were  all  put  to  the  sword  and  buried  in  the 
orchard  of  the  Upper  Moat,  at  a  place  which  he  showed  me. 

This  probably  points  to  some  great  fight  between  the 
Romano-Britons,  and  the  English  thane  or  franklin  of 
Liddell,  and  his  retainers  and  tenants. 


*  The  Pipe  Rolls  of  Cumbciiaiul,  edited  by  llodijson,  1S47,  p.  l\i. 

ALDINGHAM 


^l^etcli    of  Af^ciEj^jWoi^Ys  \Jpati  t^e  Site  of 
ALDiNGHArvi       Hall. 


Scale     of    Yards. 

riiTfT  I  I  I  I  I  I  I  rTTi" 


10  bo 


P'rom  VVcbl'h  Kurncbs. 


100  150 


200 


LIDDELL    AND    ALDINGHAM.  40fJ 

ALDINGHAM   MOAT. 

This  is  tile  second  visit  tliat  tliis  Society  has  paid  to  this 
interesting  place  :  we  were  here  ten  years  ago,  and  we  had 
an  animated  discussion  as  to  what  this  mound  was,  and 
who  erected  it  ;  turning  lately  to  the  discussion,  ■•  I  felt 
rather  inclined  to  blush  for  the  nonsence  we  certainly 
talked,  to  which  I  myself  contributed  a  good  deal.  How- 
ever, in  the  ten  years  that  have  elapsed  since  our  last  visit, 
I,  for  one,  have  learnt  much.  I  have  seen  many  mounds 
similar  to  this:  I  have  sat  at  the  feet  of  G.  T.  Clark,  and 
I  have  made  a  study  of  his  great  work  on  ''  Mediaeval 
Military  Architecture.'" 

On  the  occasion  of  our  last  visit  to  Aldingham  Moat, 
accounts  of  it  were  read  by  one  of  our  members,  taken 
from  West's  Antiquities  of  r\n'ness,  and  from  Dr.  Barber's 
Prehistoric  Remains  of  Furness  and  Cartmel  ;  these  are 
printed  in  the  third  volume  of  our  Transactions,  and  may 
be  referred  to  with  advantage.  We  reproduce  West's 
accurate  description  of  the  remains  : 

At  a  little  distance  trom  the  present  farm-house,  anciently  called 
Aldingham  Moat,  is  a  small  square  plot  surrounded  by  a  ditch,  upon 
which  Aldingham,  the  residence  of  the  Flemings  family,  is  supposed 
to  have  stood.  It  lies  at  the  foot  of  a  gentle  slope,  which,  rising  to 
the  south-east,  terminates  in  a  precipice  formed  by  the  waste  of  the 
sea.  On  the  crest  of  the  precipice,  are  the  remains  of  an  artificial 
mount  of  a  considerable  height,  having  apparently  been  somewhat 
oval  at  its  base,  and  surrounded  by  a  deep  trench,  between  which 
and  the  insulated  square  plot,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  is  a  long  straight 
ditch,  erroneously  called  a  fish  pond.  The  intention  and  antiquity  of 
these  works  are  uncertain.  No  traces  of  foundations  are  perceptible 
upon  the  isolated  square;  but  at  some  little  distance  from  the  south- 
east corner,  the  foundations  of  some  kind  of  buildings  were  not  long 
ago  demolished. 

The  conical  hill  is  about  jO  feet  in  height  from  the  hill 
on  which  it  stands,  and  about   96  from  the  sea  level :  the 

*  These  Transactions,  volume  ill.,  p.  xxix. 

ditch 


410  LIUDELL   AND    ALDINGHAM. 

ditch  round  it  is  about  20  feet  broad.     The  plateau  within 
the  square  inclosure  has  been  heightened  with  the  earth 
from  the  ditch  round  it. 
Dr.  Barber  says : 

That  the  great  mount  just  mentioned  is  nothing  more  than  a  barrow 
or  burial  mound  there  cannot  be  the  least  doubt,  because  by  the 
directions  of  the  late  Colonel  Braddyll  of  Conishead  Priory,  a  small 
shaft  was  sunk  down  the  centre  of  the  hill  from  the  top,  and  portions 
of  human  bones  were  brought  to  light  after  which  they  were  replaced 
and  the  opening  filled  up. 

We  are  so  fortunate  as  to  have  here  to-day  an  account 
of  these  excavations  in  a  letter  from  the  Rev.  T.  Tolming 
of  Egton,  Ulverston,  addressed  to  our  member  Mr.  Tosh. 
He  says : 

More  than  forty  year  have  elapsed  since  Mr.  Gwillym  and  I  opened 
the  mound  with  very  interesting  results.  Unfortunately  we  could  not 
proceed  with  our  work  at  the  time,  and  the  farmer  refused  to  have 
our  cutting  remain  open  till  we  could  conveniently  resume  it.  We 
wrought  hard  for  one  day  and  discovered  enough  to  confirm  the 
opinion  we  held  that  it  was  the  ruin  of  a  very  ancient  sacrificial  altar  ; 
it  had  been  well  constructed,  and  its  condition  manifested  signs  of 
hasty  and  violent  disruption,  for  instance  a  pipe  made  of  very  quaint 
tiles  which  crossed  it,  still  contained  the  materials  which  must  have 
been  passing  at  the  time,  and  which  being  hermetically  closed  had 
become  consolidated  into  a  dark  black  substance  which  filled  the  tube. 
vSome  of  the  fragments  of  the  pipe  we  sent  to  one  of  the  great  Societies. 
I  think  to  the  Archaeological  Society.  We  had  a  reply  saying  they 
were  very  interesting  but  the  S.  could  not  explain  the  motive  for  their 
peculiar  construction,  which  was  that  the  interior  of  the  tube  was 
rifled.  We  also  found  bones  that  had  been  burnt,  also  a  boar's  tusk. 
And  Col.  Braddyll  who  gave  us  a  call  picked  up  the  only  piece  of 
metal  we  found  ;  he  called  it  a  bit  of  scale  armour  but  I  doubt  it.  On 
the  sea  face  we  cut  into  two  steps  at  the  base  of  the  mound,  possibly 
they  might  have  gone  round  the  whole  mound  but  the  day  closed  with 
us  and  we  never  resumed  our  work. 

This  is  unsatisfactory  :  I  confess  I  do  not  understand 
the  sacrihcial  altar  theory  :  nor  is  there  any  proof  that  the 

mound 


^ 

J 

^ 

^ 


^ 

li 

^ 


W[ 


1  '.  ;  Xk 


LIDDELL   AND    ALDINGHAM.  4II 

mound  is  sepulchral  in  its  origin  ;  in  fact  it  has  not  been 
cut  through  to  the  original  surface  of  the  ground,  where 
the  original  interment  would  be  :  any  interment  near  the 
top  would  be  a  subsequent  insertion  :  the  sepulchral  theory 
and  the  sacrificial  altar  theory  may  be  well  dismissed. 

I  think  that  this  is  the  "  mound  "  "  motte,"  or  "  burh," 
(the  "  Mota  "  of  our  records)  of  the  family  of  the  Aldingas 
— the  fortified  hame  of  the  Aldingas,  as  the  name  Alding- 
ham  tells.*  It  was  probably  also  their  talking  place.  I 
imagine  it  was  also  the  caput  of  the  manor  of  Muchlands 
or  Aldingham,t2whose  lords  at  first  resided  on  the  top  of 
the  moat  itself.  I  would  further  imagine  that  for  shelter 
they  removed  their  wooden  house  from  that  breezy  location 
to  the  square  camp,  which  tradition  says  was  their  early 
residence.  When  the}'  grew  wealthy  enough  to  wish  for 
a  castle  of  stone,  they  sought  another  site. 

One  word  more  as  to  the  ditch  called  the  fish  pond  :  this 
has  probably  been  part  of  the  ditch  of  the  base  court, 
which  I  fancy  has  been  washed  away  by  the  sea,  together 
with  part  of  the  moat  itself. 


*  The  Saxon  in  England  by  Kemble,  vol.  i.,  p.  456. 

t  Muchlands  or  Gleaston  Castle  by  Dr.  Hayman,  see  the  Antiquary,  vol.  v.,  p. 


(412) 


Art.    XXIX. — Pigeon   Houses  in   Cumberland.       By    The 

Worshipful  Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A. 
Read  at  Kirkhy  Stcplicn,  July  jtli,  1887. 

IN  the  Autum  of  1S86,  shortly  after  the  Chester  Meeting 
of  the  Royal  Archasolof^ical  Institute,  one  of  the 
Council,  Mr.  H.  Hutchin^^s,  was  staying  at  Hutton-in-the 
Forest  in  Cumberland,  the  seat  of  Sir  Henry  Vane,  Bart. 
In  the  course  of  his  ramblings  about  the  precincts,  he 
came  upon  an  almost  forgotten  dovecot  or  "  culverhouse  " 
as  such  are  called  in  the  south,  which  proved  on  examina- 
tion to  still  retain  the  greater  part  of  the  wooden  potence 
or  revolving  ladder  by  which  the  attendant  got  at  the 
nest  holes  in  the  walls.  To  this  interesting  building  Mr. 
Hutchings  directed  my  attention  and  suggested  that  I 
should  bring  the  general  subject  of  pigeonhouses  under 
the  notice  of  the  Institute. 

The  following  extract  from  M.  Viollet-le-Duc's  Diction- 
naire  de  L' architecture  lays  down  the  law  and  practice  of 
the  middle  ages  as  to  pigeonhouses  so  well  that  I  cannot 
do  better  than  cite  it.  It  will  be  found  under  the  title 
Colnnibier  : 

Pendant  le  moyen  age,  la  construction  cFun  colombier  etait  un  pri\i- 
lege  reserve  a  la  feodalite.  Le  paysan  ne  pouvait  avoir  son  four;  il 
fallait  qu'il  apportat  son  pain  au  four  banal  du  cliateau  ou  de  Tabbaye, 
et  qu'il  payat  une  redevance  pour  le  cuire.  II  ne  lui  etait  pas  permis 
non  plus  d'avoir  un  pigeonnier  a  lui  appartenant.  II  en  etait  des 
pigeons  comme  des  troupeaux  de  betes  a  cornes  et  a  laine,  ils  appart- 
enaient  au  seigneur  qui  seul  en  pouvait  tirer  un  produit.  Les  troupes 
de  pigeons  ctant  un  rapport,  ceux  qui  avaient  le  privilege  de  les 
entretenir  cherchaient  tous  les  moyens  propres  a  en  rendre  I'exploita- 
tion  productive.  Tous  les  chateaux  possedaient  un  ou  plusieurs 
pigeonniers  ;  les  manoirs,  deineures  des  chevaliers,  petits  chateaux 
sans  tours  ni  donjons,  pouvaient  encore  posseder  un  pigeonnier.     II 

Reprinted,  with  additions,  from  tlio  Arcli'iolni^iciil  youniiil,  vol.  xliv.  p.  105. 

ne'st 


PIGEON    HOUSES.  413 

n'est  pas  besoin  de  dire  que  les  abbes,  qui  etaient  tous  seigneurs 
I'codaux,  et  qui  possedaient  les  etablissements  agricoles  les  mieux 
exploit^s  pendant  le  moyen  age,  avaient  des  pigeonnieres  dans  les 
cours  des  abbayes,  dans  les  fermes  qui  en  dependaient,  les  prieures 
ct  les  obediences.  Les  proprietaries  de  trente-six  arpents  avaient  le 
droit  de  joindre  a  leurs  habitations,  non  un  columbier  construit  en 
inaconnerie,  mais  un  pigeonnier  en  bois  de  seize  pieds  de  hauteur  et 
pouvant  contenir  seulement  de  soixante  a  cent  vingt  boulins.  On 
entend  pnv  boulins  (du  grec  B(oAoc)  ^^^  trous  pratiques  dans  les  colum- 
biers  et  destines  a  la  ponte  des  ceufs  de  pigeons. 

The  swarms  of  hun<;ry  birds  which  issued  from  the 
colonibicrs  of  the  great  French  nobles  and  precipitated 
themselves  on  the  crops  of  the  helpless  peasants  were  one 
of  the  causes  that  promoted  the  French  Revolution. 

Similar  rights  once  existed  in  England  ;  it  was  formerly 
held  that  only  the  lord  of  the  manor  or  the  parson  might 
erect  a  pigeonhouse,  but  those  rights  have  long  ago  become 
obsolete,  and  the  pigeonhouses  themselves  have  dis- 
appeared. We  have  now-a-days  very  little  idea  of  the 
numbers  of  dovecots,  pigeonhouses,  or  culverhouses  that 
once  existed  in  England,  or  of  the  number  of  birds  that 
were  reared  in  them  ;  the  following  passage,  extracted 
from  that  fine  standard  w^ork,  Daniels  on  Rural  Sports,  may 
therefore  be  usefully  cited  here.     The  author  says  :  — 

Corn  is  much  destroyed  by  Pigeons,  and  the  greatest  number  of  them 
kept  in  England  is  about  Retford  in  Nottinghamshire.  Hartbil  in  the 
Lci^acy  of  ltus!)andry  calculates  that  there  were  in  his  time  26,000 
pigeonhouses  in  England,  and  allowing  500  pair  to  each  devecot,  and 
four  bushels  yearly  to  be  consumed  b}-  each  pair,  it  makes  the  whole 
ol"  the  corn  lost  to  be  no  less  than  thirteen  millions  of  bushels 
annually. 

The  reason  why  in  the  middle  ages  such  large  numbers 
of  these  destructive  birds  were  kept  is  not  far  to  seek. 
Fiesh  meat  could  only  be  procured  during  the  summer; 
turnips,  mangel  wurzells,  and  other  green  crops  were  un- 
known ;  hence  oxen  and  sheep  could  not  be  fattened 
during  the  winter  ;  indeed  they  could  be  barel}'  kept  alive ; 

large 


414  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

large  numbers  of  them  were  therefore  slaughtered  and 
salted  down  at  the  beginning  of  winter,  so  much  so  that 
the  old  German  name  for  November  was  Slagtmonat,  or 
slaughtermonth,  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  name  was  Blod- 
monatli  or  bloodmonth.  The  characteristic  occupations  of 
the  various  months  of  the  year  are  sculptured  on  the  late 
fourteenth  century  capitals  in  the  choir  of  the  cathedral  at 
Carlisle,  and  December  is  represented  by  a  man  with  a 
pole  axe,  slaying  an  ox.*  Lord  Macaulay  points  out  that 
it  appears  from  the  Northumberland  Household  Book  that 

In  the  reign  of  Heniy  the  Seventh,  fresh  meat  was  never  eaten 
even  by  the  gentlemen  attendent  on  a  great  earl,  except  during  the 
short  interval  between  Midsummer  and  Michaelmas.-)- 

Those,  who  were  too  poor  to  afford  salt  meat,  subsisted 
upon  rye  bread  and  salt  fish,  and  one  of  their  wdnter 
occupations  was  to  tend  their  stores  of  it.  Thus  Tusser 
in  his  "  Decembers  husbandrie"  advises 

Both  saltfish  and  lingfish  (if  any  ye  haue) 

through  shifting  and  drieng  from  rotting  go  saue 

Lest  winter  with  moistnes  doo  make  it  relent, 
and  put  it  in  hazard  before  it  be  spent.] 

Such  being  the  prevalent  diet  from  Michaelmas  to  Mid- 
summer, it  was  no  wonder  that  many  leper  houses  testify 
to  this  day  of  the  ravages  of  leprosy  in  England  ;  any- 
thing that  could  vary  or  palliate  such  diet  was  eagerly 
cultivated  ;  h.ence  we  have  the  fishponds  and  stews,  in 
which  carp  and  tench  were  assiduously  fattened  for  the 
table,  and  hence  the  vakle  attached  to  warrens  of  conies, 
while    "  the    large   round   dove  cot  arose  in  the  immediate 


*  See  a  paper  On  I  he  sculptured  Capitals  in  the  Choir  of  the  Cathedral  at  Car- 
lisle.    I'y  James  Fowler,  I-'.S.A.    TranRactions  this  Societj',  vol.  iv.,  pp.  2S0,  2go. 

t  Ili.sturi/  of  Engl  a  nil  vol.  i.,  p.  32O. 

■+  lusscr's  /'Vrc  hntidred  pninls  i,/ Ctii>d  Ihisl-andrie.  I'.iiqlish  Dialect  Society's 
Mdition,  1.S7S,  p.  ()\. 

neighbourhood 


PIGEON    HOUSES.  415 

neighbourhood  of  the  abodes  of  the  j^reat  and  wealthy,  of 
the  castle,  the  convent  and  the  manor  house.  "" 

Their  frequency  is  attested  by  the  occurence  in  Hsts  of 
field  names  of  dovecot,  pi<^eonhouse  and  culverhouse  fields, 
where  now  are  no  such  buildings  ;  and  by  the  occurence 
in  old  forms  of  general  words  for  use  in  conveyances  of 
land  of  the  term  "  dovecots."  Instances  of  every  class 
could  easily  be  selected  either  at  home  or  abroad^  for  they 
were  as  common,  or  more  so,  in  France  and  Italy  as  in 
England  and  Scotland.  Every  traveller  in  Egypt  will 
recollect  the  swarms  of  pigeons  in  the  villages  there,  and 
the  bonny  little  brown  hawks  that  prey  on  them.  To 
take  a  few  instances  nearer  home  ;  in  the  case  of  a  castle, 
liable  to  be  beseiged,  a  detached  dovecot  would  be  useless, 
except  in  time  of  peace  ;  accordingly  we  frequently  find 
provision  made  on  a  small  scale  in  the  castle  itself;  thus, 
at  Rochester,  there  are  in  the  inner  face  of  the  north  wall, 
above  the  gutter,  two  rows  of  pigeon  holes,  probably 
original,  and  even  now  accommodating  a  few  birds.! 
Pigeon  holes  also  exist  in  the  keep  of  Brough  Castle  in 
Westmorland,  and  at  Conisborough  Castle. |  A  survey 
taken  of  Kendal  Castle  in  1572  describes  a  "  dovecot  in 
good  repair"  as  being  "  in  the  south  side  "  thereof,  and  I 
have  indicated  elsewhere  the  position  of  this  in  the  exist- 
ing ruins  of  Kendal  Castle.^ 

The  priory  of  Lewes  possessed  a  dovecot  of  cruciform 
shape,  much  like  a  church.  It  is  engraved  in  Ardicvologia 
vol.  31,  p.  431,  and  is  thus  described  in  a  communication 
to  the  Society  of  Antiquarians,  dated  Dec,  1845. — 


*  Sussex  Aichie()lns;ical  Cnlls.,  vol,  xi.  p.  i.  Until  the  railways  put  an  end  to 
them,  the  large  posting^  houses  on  the  north  road  kept  numbers  of  pigeons  in  their 
stable  yards  ;  they  afforded  a  ready  viand  for  the  sudden  traveller.  The  hostler 
and  people  in  these  yards  were  quite  up  to  the  use  of  "  saltcats  "  and  other  lures 
for  enticing-  away  their  neighbour's  pigeons,  as  the  writer  can  testify. 

+  Clark's  Alediasval  Aichitrcturr,  vol..  ii.,  p,  417. 

X  Il'id.  vol.  i.,  pp.  292,  445,  446.     yournal   British  Arcluvoiogical  Association, 

vol.   XXX,  p.  21. 

§  Kendal  Castle  by  R.  S.  Ferguson,  F.S..A. 

Fifty 


4l6  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

Fifty  years  since,  there  remained  ....  together  with  a  dove- 
cote or  pigeon  house  built  in  the  form  of  a  cross,  the  cells  or  recesses 
of  which  were  ingeniously  constructed  of  hewn  chalk.  The  pigeon 
holes  were  formed  in  a  similar  manner  to  those  described  in  the  notice 
of  the  dovecote  of  Garway,  given  in  the  present  volume  of  the 
Archceclugia;  they  were  in  number  between  three  and  four  thousand, 
and  were  arranged  in  parallel  rows,  extending  over  the  interior  face 
of  each  building.  The  entrances  for  the  pigeons  were  four  in  num- 
ber, one  under  the  roof  at  each  extremit}'  of  the  cross,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  representation  here  given.  The  building  measured  in 
length,  from  east  to  west  ninety  feet;  from  north  to  south  the  same; 
the  height  of  the  walls  to  the  roof  was  thirty  feet.  This  structure 
was  pulled  down  within  my  memor\'  for  the  sake  of  the  materials.  ' 

% 
In   the   Sussex  Arcluc.   Coll.  vol.   xi.,  p.  5,  the   number   of 
cells  in  this  dovecot  is  given  at  2,500. 

The  dovecot  at  Garway,  just  mentioned,  belonged  to 
the  preceptory  of  the  Templers  at  Ciarvvay,  in  the  county 
of  Hereford,  and,  according  to  the  inscription  on  it,  was 
built  in  the  }ear  1326,  by  "  brother  Richard."  It  is  circu- 
lur  in  shape,  and  contains  666  cells,  or  nests,  or  honlins 
for  the  birds;  it  is  17  feet  3  inches  in  diameter  in  the 
clear  of  walls,  and  16  feet  in  height  to  the  spring  of  the 
arch.t 

The  bonlins  are  described  as  having  apertures  varying 
from  6J  to  7  inches  in  the  entrance,  and  about  17  inches 
in  depth,  being  countersunk  in  the  walls,  one  course  of 
holes  inclining  to  the  right  and  another  alternately  to  the 
left. 

There  was  a  large  pigeon  house  at  13readsall  Priory, 
near  Derby,  octagonal  in  shape,  which  is  iigured  in  Blore's 
Breadsall.  There  was  a  round  one  at  Hurley  Priory, 
Berks  ;  another  at  Monkbretton  in  \\)rkshire  ;  a  square 
one  at  Penman  Priory  in  Anglesey,  with  a  stone  pillar  in 
the  middle,  from  which  ilat  stonees  projected,  and  wound 


*  Archceologia  vol,  xxxi,  pp.  431,  43.*,  in   a  cjmmunication   by  (j.  S.  Mantcll, 
F.R.S. 
\  Archaeologia,  vul.  xxxi,  pp.  lyo,  nj4. 

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I'lGliON    HOUSES.  417 

up  as  a  ladder,  thus  f^iving  an  attendant  aeeess  to  the  cells. 
Almost  every  religious  house  must  have  had  one,  and  we 
need  not  multiply  instances.  Churches  were  also  utilised 
for  the  keeping  of  pigeons  :  it  is  not  unfrequent  to  find 
the  lower  stage  of  church  towers,  immediately  below  the 
bells,  to  have  been  originally  built  for  a  columbarium, 
as  at  Collingham  in  Wiltshire.  In  Bishop  Nicolson's 
Account  of  Ids  Diocese  of  Carlisle'  we  find  pigeons  breeding 
in  the  very  churches  of  Warwick  and  Skelton  in  Cum- 
berland, and  Morland  in  Westmorland,  and  no  doubt  the 
incumbents  of  these  livings  profited  thereby.  At  Aspatria 
in  Cumberland  the  vicar  has  a  regular  built  pigeon  house, 
capable  of  holding  a  large  number  of  nests. 

We  will  just  mention  a  couple  of  foreign  examples 
because  they  arc  figured  in  English  publications.  The 
Sprini(  Gardens  Sketch  Book,  vol.  \'I,  plate  54,  contains 
a  very  beautiful  example  of  a  pigeon  house,  combined 
with  a  well,  at  Veules,  in  France,  of  the  date  1776.  In  the 
ninth  volume  of  the  Archaeological  journal  are  sketches 
and  details  of  brickwork  by  Mr.  Petit,  of  a  pigeon  house  at 
Boos  near  Rouen  ;  of  it  M.  Viollet-le-l)uc  writes  as 
follows  : — 

II  existe  encore  pres  Rouen — a  Saint  Jacques,  un  ties  beau  colombier 
bati  en  briques  de  diverses  couleurs,  et  qui  appartient  au  commence- 
ment du  XVI  siecle.  Trois  lucarnes  en  bois  s'ouvrent  dans  le  comble. 
Ses  disposition"  rappelent  le  colombier  de  Nesle.  Cependant  I'etage 
superieur  est  porte  en  encorbellement  sur  le  soubassement,  ce  qui 
donne  a  cette  construction  une  certain  grace. 

Mr.  Hartshorne  haS  been  kind  enough  to  send  me,  from 
his  father's  collection,  a  picture  of  the  "  Manoir  D'Ango 
a  V^arengeville  pres  Dieppe,"  a  charming  old  house  of  the 
famous  French  merchant  and  friend  of  Francis  I  ;  it 
gives  so  good  an  instance  of  a  manorial  pigeon  house 
standing  among  the  other  buildings  of  the  manor  that  it 
is  reproduced  with  this  paper. 

*  Misccllani/  Accoiiiils  of  the  Diocese  of  Carlisle,  1703  and  1704,  by  W.  Nicolson, 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  published  by  this  Society,  1S77. 

Let 


4l8  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

Let  us  turn  now  to  Cambridge  :  in  that  magniticent 
work,  The  Architectural  History  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge, by  Willis  and  Clark*  it  is  stated  that  a  pigeon 
house  [columbarium]  is  first  mentioned  in  1414-5,  when  a 
regular  heading  "  expenses  of  the  dovehouse  "  makes  its 
appearance  in  the  accounts  of  King's  Hall  :  the  expenses 
of  construction  are  not  recorded,  but  the  purchase  of  four 
dozen  pigeons  in  this  year  indicates  its  stocking. 

Item  pro  remuneracione  portatoram  columbarum  ad  columbare  iiij 
dussen  iiij^ob.     It  pro  una  salcath  v^  ob. 

The  salt-cat  was  a  lure  for  keeping  one's  own  pigeons 
at  home,  and  enticing  one's  neighbours  ;  it  will  be  dealt 
with  presently. 

Messrs.  Willis  and  Clark  givet  the  following  account  of 
the  pigeon  houses  at  Cambridge. 

It  may  be  gathered  from  the  collegiate  histories  that  a  pigeon  house 
once  existed  at  every  college  except  Clare  Hall,  Magdalene,  and 
Sidney  Sussex;  and  it  is  possible  that  there  may  have  been  one  at 
these  colleges  also,  for  the  early  accounts  of  the  two  first  mentioned 
have  not  been  preserved,  and  those  of  the  last  have  not  been 
examined  in  detail.  In  the  15th  and  i6th  centuries  a  pigeon  house 
vvas  evidently  regarded  as  a  necessity  to  be  built  soon  after  the 
foundation  of  the  college.  At  King's  Hall  the  pigeon  house  was 
built  in  1414-5  ;  at  King's  College  in  1449;  and  at  Queen's  College 
in  1505-6.  At  Peterhouse  the  date  of  the  erection  has  not  been 
discovered,  but  the  building  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  early 
account  rolls ;  at  Pembroke  College  it  is  shewn  standing  in  the 
orchard  in  Lyne's  map,  dated  1574  ;  it  was  built  at  Gonvile 
Hall  in  1536,  as  recorded  by  Dr.  Caius  ;  at  Corpus  Christi,  in  1547, 
by  Matthew  Parker,  a  work  thought  worthy  of  special  commenda- 
tion by  his  panegyrist  Josselin  ;  at  Jesus'  College  in  1574,  and  at  St. 
John's  College  in  1632,  but  the  work  then  done  was  evidently  only  a 
rebuilding  of  an  older  structure.  Some  of  these  pigeon  houses  must 
have  been  of  considerable  size ;  that  at  St.  John's  College  cost 
;£"iog  17s.  2}J.,  and   those   at  Queen's  College  and  at  Jesus'  College 


*  Vol.  ii,  p.  441. 

t  Vol,  iii,  p.  592-  ,      , 

had 


PIGEON  HOUSES.  4ig 

had  windows,  for  at  the  former  in  1537-S,  '  Thirteen  feet  of  glass  for 
the  windows  of  the  pigeon  house'  are  paid  for;  and  at  the  latter  in 
1575-6,  we  find  '  for  glassing  ye  doue  howsse  conteynninge  xliiij  feet 
of  glasse  xxij^'  In  the  course  of  the  17th  century  the  practice  of 
keeping  pigeons  fell  gradually  into  disuse.  At  Jesus'  College  the 
pigeon  house  was  let  on  lease  in  1633,  '^"d  at  Peterhouse  in  1675. 
By  the  end  of  the  century  nearly  all  had  been  pulled  down,  for 
Loggan's  accurate  views  shew  a  pigeon  house  at  three  colleges  only, 
viz.,  at  Trinity  Hall,  at  Queen's  College  and  at  Christ's  College  ;  and 
in  the  latter  the  building  is  in  the  Master's  garden  and  therefore  not 
the  public  property  of  the  college.  At  Trinity  Hall,  however,  the 
pigeon  house  was  still  in  use  in  1730. 

We  must  not  omit  to  mention  that  Corpus  College, 
Cambridge,  built  their  pigeon  house  in  1547,  and  defrayed 
the  cost  by  sale  of  certain  pieces  of  church  plate,  which 
had  gone  out  of  fashion.*"  Tiie  Cambridge  houses  appear 
to  have  all  been  quadrangular  ones. 

I  have  no  information  as  to  pigeon  houses  at  Oxford  ; 
but  the  Rev.  the  Provost  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  tells 
me  that  at  one  or  more  of  the  farms  belonging  to  that 
college  are  large  pigeon  houses  of  the  quadrangular  kind. 

Many  examples  of  manorial  pigeon  houses  still  exist, 
though  generally  converted  into  something  else,  cattle 
sheds,  pig  st}'es,  potatoe  houses,  stores  of  all  kinds,  black- 
smiths shops  and  even  schools  and  cottages.  When  the 
Royal  Archseological  Institute  visited  Bedford  in  1881,  we 
saw  at  Willington  a  most  interesting  and  picturesque 
pigeon  house,  quadrangular  in  shape,  whose  details  our 
guide,  the  late  Mr.  Parker,  C.B.,  said  would  be  well  worth 
careful  reproduction. t  At  Ashby  St.  Legers  in  Northamp- 
tonshire, Mr.  H.  P.  Senhouse  has  two  quadrangular  pigeon 
houses,  one  of  which  has  2,292  cells,  and  the  other  1,560, 

or  3,852  in   all;  an  enormous    number   for   one    manor, 
> 

*  Willis  and  Clark,  vol.  i.,  p.  2C1. 

•j-  The  stone  details  of  this  pigeon  house  have  the  appearance  of  having  formed 
part  of  an  earlier  structure,  and  to  the  re-use  of  these  stones  may  be  partly 
attributed  the  very  quaint  and  unusual  form  which  the  gable  presents  .... 
Probably  Gostwick  pulled  down  the  old  manor  iiouse  and  re-used  the  materials. 
A)-ch(vol()!;lcal  Journal,  vol.  38,  p.  453. 

there 


420  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

there  are  yet  a  few  birds  in  these  houses,  but  the  rats  and 
jackdaws  have  also  got  possession  and  steal  the  eggs.  At 
Manorbeer  Castle  near  Tenby,  there  is  a  circular  one  in 
the  enceinte  of  the  castle.  We  reproduce  a  sketch  of  this 
from  the  pencil  of  Mr.  Hartshorne. 

There  is  a  good  square  brick  pigeon  house  at  Delaford 
Park,  Tver.  xMr.  W.  Oldham  Chambers,  F.L.S.,  the  pre- 
sent occupier  kindly  sends  the  following  note  : — 

This  Culver  House  is  alluded  to  in  the  writings  of  the  property  as 
"  the  Falconry."  It  is  built  in  red  brickwork,  with  diagonal  patterns 
in  black  headers  on  the  outside  facings.  The  House  is  17  feet  square, 
and  17  feet  6  inches  high  ;  the  walls  are  2  feet  3  inches  thick.  There 
are  indications  of  the  walls  being  originally  higher  than  at  the 
present  period.  There  were  572  holes  contained  in  thirteen  rows  on 
each  side,  but  the  three  lower  rows  are  now  blocked  up.  The  lowest 
started  15  inches  from  the  ground,  this  level  has  probably  been  made 
up.  The  original  door  was  on  the  south  side  ;  this  has  been  blocked 
up  and  a  new  one  cut  in  on  the  north  side.  The  House  remained 
open  for  a  considerable  period,  the  present  roof  bemga  comparatively 
modern  structure. 

At  Trimmers  near  Paxhill,  the  seat  of  the  Wyatts  in 
Sussex,  is  a  square  one  with  700  cells.  At  Berwick  in  the 
same  county  is  a  square  one,  of  which,  by  the  kindness 
of  the  vSussex  Archaeological  Society,  we  give  a  view  ;  this 
was  let  in  1622  for  £5  per  annum,  and  was  tithed,  as  no 
doubt  were  others.  There  is,  or  was,  a  quaint  wooden 
one  at  Burton  Mill,  near  Petworth  ;  and  a  fine  one  of  brick 
with  a  conical  top  at  Rochford  Hall,  Essex.  At  Daglinton, 
Gloucestershire,  is  a  circular  one  of  stone  ;  the  ancient 
pivoted  central  post  with  perches  for  the  birds  and 
ascending  ladders  for  the  attendant  remains,  or  did  until 
lately.  The  list  might  be  easily  extended  ;  there  are 
several  in  our  own  county  of  Cumberland,  viz.  at  Hutton- 
i'-th'-Forest,  Rose  Castle,  Highhead  Castle,  Corby  Castle, 
Barrock  Park,  Hutton-John,  Penrith,  Edenhall,  Great 
IMencowe,  Crookdake  Hall,  Wreay  Hall,  Aspatria  Vicarage, 
Bunker's    Hill,    Plumbland  Vicarage,    etc..   while   others 

i'ormerly 


PIGEON  HOUSE  AT  BERWICK,  SUSSEX. 


PIGEON  HOUSES.  421 

formerly  existed  at  Tallentire,  Nethcrhall,  Nawnrth  Castle, 
Crofton  Hall,  and  IJowness  and  I^ootle  Rectories. 

Pigeon  houses  in  plan  may  be  divided  into  two  kinds, 
quadrangular  and  circular,  for  the  cruciform  one  at  Lewes 
may  be  taken  as  an  eccentricity ;  and  the  sexagonal, 
octagonal,  &c.,  as  approximations  to  the  circular  shape. 
In  the  quadrangular  the  attendant  gets  at  the  nests  by 
climbing  along  the  ledges  in  front  of  them,  and  holding 
on  with  his  hands;  to  this  there  were  exceptions,  and  we 
have  already  mentioned  one  at  Penmon  Priory  in  Anglesey, 
where  the  flat  projecting  stones  wound,  ladder-wise,  round 
a  stone  pillar  in  the  centre.  We  shall  presently  mention 
another  at  Corby  C'astle.  But  the  circular  ones  were 
provided  with  a  revolving  machine,  called  a  poiencc,  by 
which  all  the  nests  could  be  conveniently  got  at  in  turn. 
This  is  admirably  described  and  beautifully  illustrated  by 
M.  Viollet-le-Duc  in  the  article  to  which  I  have  already 
referred  :  the  whole  article  is  most  interesting,  and  worth 
transcripcion,  but  it  refers  to  circular  coloinbieys  on  a 
larger  scale  than  any  I  know  of  in  this  country  :  ones 
that  have  a  lower  story  for  cattle  or  sheep.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  understand  without  the  illustrations,  which 
again  apply  to  a  more  complicated  potence  than  any  I 
have  seen  in  England.  I  must  therefore  be  as  clear  as  I 
can  without  pictures.  The  potence  consist  of  a  stout  up- 
right post,  un  arbre  vertical  muni  de  deux  pivots  en  fcr  a 
chacunc  de  ses  extremitcs ;  one  of  these  pivots  works  in  a 
socket  in  the  centre  of  the  floor  of  the  pigeon  house, 
and  the  other  in  a  socket  in  the  centre  of  the  rafters  of 
the  roof.  This  upright  post  carries  two  or  three  arms  at 
right  angles  to  it  [potences,  hence  the  name  potence]  which 
carry  at  their  extremities  a  ladder  :  the  arms  are  not  in 
the  same  plane  with  one  another,  but  so  arranged  as  to 
give  the  ladder  a  convenient  slope.  A  person  on  the 
ladder  can  ascend  to  an}'  required  tier  of  nests  he  may 
wish,  and  can  make  the  potence  revolve  under  him  so  that 

he 


422  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

he  can  reach  any  nest  he  pleases.  Convenient  as  the 
potence  is,  or  was,  when  a  pigeon  house  was  put  to  its 
original  purpose,  it  is  highly  in  the  way,  when  other  uses 
are  found  for  the  building:  hence  it  is  generally  destroyed, 
or  else  mutilated.  In  the  larger  French  colouibiers  the 
potence  carried  two  ladders,  one  on  either  side,  the  support- 
ing arms  running  right  through  from  side  to  side  of  the 
house.  This  is  the  case  in  the  instance  of  the  pigeon 
house  at  Corby  Castle. 

The  pigeonhouse,  dovecot,  or  culverhouse  (though  I 
doubt  if  that  name  was  ever  used  in  Cumberland)  at 
Hutton-i'-th'-Forest  is  situated  in  a  plantation  near  to  Sir 
Henry  Vane's  beautiful  mansion  of  Hutton-i'-th'-Forest. 
The  site  is  near  to  where  the  old  farm  buildings  once  stood, 
and  would  be  bare  of  trees,  when  the  pigeon  house  was 
occupied  by  its  proper  inhabitants,  who  will  not  resort  to 
a  pigeon  house  in  a  wood.  It  is  octagonal,  of  dressed 
stone ;  the  sides  of  the  octagon  being,  in  the  interior 
of  the  building,  about  5  feet  4  inches.  It  has  twelve  rows 
of  nests  ;  the  lowest  row  is  four  feet  from  the  floor,  and  has 
a  ledge  of  flag  6  inches  broad  projecting  in  front  of  it, 
thus  interposing  an  effectual  bar  to  any  climbing  or  jump- 
ing rat  that  may  have  intruded  ;  all  the  other  rows  have 
similar  ledges  of  half  the  breadth.  The  nesting  cells  or 
houlins,  are  9  inches  in  height,  L  shaped,  the  short  limb 
or  entrance  being  5  inches  broad  by  g  inches  long,  and 
the  long  limb  10  inches  long,  with  the  same  breadth  of  Ave 
inches.  There  are  about  40  nests  in  each  row,  or  in  all, 
taking  off  for  the  door,  about  450,  The  roof  is  octagonal, 
on  which  is  an  octagonal  turret,  or  'plover,  as  it  is  tech- 
nically called,  with  holes  for  the  pigeons  to  pass  in  and 
out.  The  existence  of  this  pigeon  house  had  been 
almost  forgotten,  when  Mr.  Hutchings  came  across  it  in 
his  fumigatory  strolls  ;  it  was  lumbered  up  with  an  in- 
serted second  floor,  and  had  been  used  as  a  kennel,  so 
that   its   odours   were   certainly  not    those    of  Araby    the 

blest. 


PIGEON   HOUSE  AT   HUTTON-ITH-FOREST, 


I'IGEON   IIOUSK   AT    WRKAY   HAIL. 


■     PIGEON    HOUSES.  423 

blest.  Mr.  Hutchings,  however,  was  not  to  be  denied  ; 
armed  with  a  cigar,  he  explored  the  interior,  and  was 
rewarded  by  finding  that  the  upright  of  the  potence  and 
the  upper  arm  were  in  existence,  and  perfect.  Sir  Henry 
and  Lady  Vane's  interest  was  aroused  ;  the  place  was 
cleared  out,  and  the  second  floor  knocked  out  ;  in  a  neigh- 
bouring shed  the  ladder  of  the  potence  was  found,  and 
reinstated  in  position ;  and  the  "  pigeon  house"  now  forms 
one  of  the  sights  of  one  of  the  most  charming  places  in 
Cumberland.  The  ashlar  work  of  the  pigeon  house  is 
identical  with  the  ashlar  work  of  that  part  of  the  mansion 
house,  which  was  built  by  Sir  George  Fletcher,  M.P.  for 
Cumberland,  with  one  or  two  intermissions,  from  1661 
to  1697  ;  his  architect  was  Inigo  Jones.  The  Society  is 
endebted  to  Lady  Vane  for  the  sketch  of  the  Hutton-i'-th'- 
Forest  pigeon  house  given  with  this  paper. 

At  Barrock,  also  in  the  Forest,  is  another  pigeon  house, 
also  octagonal,  measuring  on  the  exterior  along  one  side 
of  the  octagon  9  feet  4  inches  ;  on  the  inside  7  feet 
4  inches  ;  it  has  a  potatoe  house  below  it.  It  seems  to 
be  an  inferior  imitation  of  the  one  at  Hutton-i'-th'-Forest, 
fatter  and  squatter  ;  it  was  so  lumbered  up  with  flower- 
pots, a  modern  second  floor,  the  ruins  of  a  church  organ, 
and  a  family  of  owls,  that  much  investigation  into  the 
interior  was  impossible,  but  it  seemed  everyway  a  poor 
copy  of  the  last.  It  was  probably  built  by  the  Grahams, 
who,  shortly  after  1768,  purchased  Barrock  from  the 
Duke  of  Portland,  and  converted  it  from  a  farm  house 
into  a  gentlemen's  residence.  This  pigeon  house  has  had 
a  potence,  which  has  totally  disappeared,  but  I  found  the 
upper  pivot  hole. 

The  pigeon  house  at  Wreay  Hall,  a  place  about  Ave 
miles  south  of  Carlisle,  much  resembles  that  of  Hutton- 
i'-th'-Forest  ;  it  is  octagonal,  of  dressed  ashlar  work,  and 
has  fourteen  rows  of  nesting  cells,  or  boidins,  or  about  530 
in   all  ;  the    lowest  row  is  only  two  feet  from  the  ground. 

Great 


424  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

Great  part  of  the  potcncc  is  remaining,  and  it  has  on  its 
central  axis  a  sort  of  shelve,  or  ledge,  the  use  of  which  I 
do  not  quite  see,  but  it  resembles  the  top  of  a  music  stand. 
The  date  of  this  pigeon  house  is  probably  the  same  as 
that  at  Hutton-i'-th'-Forest,  to  which  its  details  are 
similar,  except  the  shelf  on  the  potcncc  ;  this  pigeon  house 
is  now  filled  with  farm  implements  and  lumber.  The 
farm,  on  which  it  stands,  has  long  been  the  property  of  a 
branch  of  the  Fletcher  family,  who  ^vere  formerly  at  Hut- 
ton-i'-th'-Forest, and  from  whom  Sir  Henry  Vane  -is 
descended.  The  sketch,  given  herewith,  of  this  pigeon 
house  is  by  Mr,  C.  J.  Ferguson,  F.S.A. 

An  octagonal  pigeon  house  of  similar  type  exists  at 
Highhead  Castle  :  it  is  roofless,  and  every  fragment  of 
woodwork  has  disappeared,  with  the  exception  of  a  decay- 
ing door  lintel.  It  is  of  rubble,  with  dressed  quoins,  and 
an  overhanging  cornice,  much  of  which  has  now  fallen. 
The  sides  of  the  octagon  measure  7ft.  4in.  on  the  outside 
of  the  building,  and  5ft.  6in.  on  the  inside  :  there  are 
520  nesting  cells  or  boulins,  in  eleven  rows,  and  the  lowest 
row  is  3  feet  from  the  ground,  with  a  very  massive  fiag 
projecting  six  inches  in  front ;  the  boulins  are  of  brick, 
and  of  the  usual  L  shape.  The  date  of  this  pigeon  house 
seems  to  be  early  in  the  last  century. 

There  is  a  circular  pigeon  house  at  Bunkers  Hill,  Car- 
lisle, concerning  which  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Barnes,  of 
Bunker's  Hill,  writes  me  as  follows  : 


lOth  April,  icSSy. 
Dear  Sir, 

I  obser\e  in  the  Carlisle  papers,  that  3-011  inquire  for 
the  places  in  Cumb^  where  large  pigeon  houses  exist,  &  write  to 
inform  you  that  there  is  one  at  Bunkers  Hill ;  it  is  built  of  cobbles, 
&  is  round  like  a  tower,  &  can  be  seen  at  a  great  distance  ;  I  can  see 
it  at  Rockliff  from  the  Railway  ;  it  has  a  number  of  holes,  tier  upon 
tier,  &  will  hold  live  or  six  hundred  nests  ;  the  frame  or  loft  was 
removed  about   jo  years  ago,  having  gone  to  decay,  tv:  not  replaced  ; 

the 


PIGEON    HOUSES.  425 

the  lower  pail  is  used  lor  cattle  and  horses.  I  do  not  know  when  it 
was  built,  or  by  whom.  I  have  known  it  upwards  oi'  40  years,  but 
never  knew  any  pif^eons  in  it.  The  field  in  which  it  stands  has 
always  been  known  as  the  Pigeon  Cote  iicld. 

This  house  is  of  large  ch'mensions,  16  feet  in  internal 
diameter,  and  of  considerable  height  :  the  lowest  row  of 
boulins  is  7ft.  2in.  from  the  ground,  and  there  are  14  rows 
ol  them,  each  containing  about  40  honlins  made  of  brick 
in  the  usual  L  shape.      It  has  a  plover  on  the  roof. 

Coming  to  quadrangular  pigeon  houses,  there  is  one  at 
Rose  Castle,  which  is  described  in  a  survey  taken  in  the 
time  of  the  Commonwealth  as  : 

The  do\e-cot,  built  \vith  hewn  stone.-' 

This  of  course  is  fatal  to  the  tradition  which  makes  the 
munificent  Bishop  Smith  (1684-1702),  the  original  builder, 
but  the  date  1700  on  the  door  shows  that  he  must  have 
repaired,  or  rebuilt  it.  The  pigeon  house  at  Rose  is 
square,  18  feet  9  inches  external  measurement,  and  is  12 
feet  in  height  to  a  cornice  four  oi'  five  inches  thick,  which 
runs  continuously  round  the  building:  the  two  ends  are 
gabled  above  the  cornice.  There  are  i  ;  rows  of  boulins 
on  each  side,  15  in  a  row,  ot  the  usual  L  shape,  with  pro- 
jecting ledges  in  front,  or  in  all.  allowing  for  the  door,  about 
800.  The  lowest  row  of  nests  is  9  inches  from  the  ground, 
which  is  much  wt)rn  away  by  cattle,  as  this  pigeon  house 
now  does  duty  as  a  cattle  shed.  An  attempt  was  recently 
made  to  keep  pigeons  here,  but  boys  and  rats  frustrated  it. 
The  pigeon  house  at  Plumbland  stands  upon  Parsonby 
Green,  near  the  church,  and  belongs  to  the  vicar  :  it  is 
most  substantially  built  of  large  hewn  stones,  and  stands 
10  feet  in  height  from  the  ground  externally  to  the  lower 
side  of  the  eaves,  the  upper  part  has  been  at  some  time  or 
other  rebuilt.      It  is  nearh-  a  square,  17  ft.  6  in.  by  16  ft. 

*  Hutchinson's  CiimbL-rland,  vol.  ii.,  p.  43O. 

6in. 


426  PIGliON    HOUSES. 

6  in.  and  the  original  square  headed  door  remains  in  the 
south  side,  but  is  built  up  ;  it  measures  4  ft.  j  in.  in  height 
by  I  ft.  ()h  inches  wide  :  the  sill  and  lintel    are  each  of  a 
single  stone,  and  a  broad  chamfer  runs  round   the  jambs, 
sill,  and  hntel.     The  building  has  now  been  turned  into  a 
gig-house,    and    an  enormous    doorway  cut    through  the 
north  side,  which  has  been  totally  rebuilt  for  that  purpose. 
The    roof  is   modern   and  flimsy.      The   interior   is   very 
singular  :    the    boiiUns  are  built  of  blocks  of  hewn  stone 
about  14  inches  square,  and  6  thick  :  a  row  of  these  is  laid 
down  with  intervals  of  6  inches  between  the  stones  :    on 
this   row  another  is  placed,  the  stones  of  the  upper  row 
bridging   the    spaces    between    those    of   the  lower ;    the 
whole  of  the  sides  have    been  thus  built  up  :  the  cells    so 
formed  are  about  6  inches  square  by  14  deep,  they  are  not 
L  shaped  in  plan,  like  those  heretofore  described,  but  are 
simple  recesses.     The  lowest  row  of  nests  is  almost  on  the 
ground  :  the  east  and  west  sides  have  20  rows  of  8  each, 
and  the  building  has  contained  about  600.     There  are  no 
ledges  in    front    of  the   rows  of  bonlins,  as  in  the  houses 
already  described,  except  that  on  the  east  and  west  sides 
a  ledge,  projecting  three  inches,  is  placed  4  ft.  6  in.  from 
the   ground.     One    would   imagine    that   this    method    of 
constructing  the  nest  holes  was  very  costly  ;  the  labour  of 
hewing  some  700  of  these  stone  blocks  must  have  been 
considerable.     We  are   inclined   to   consider   this    pigeon 
house  to  be  early  i6th  century. 

This  pigeon  house  differs  from  the  local  ones  previously 
described  in  the  bonlins  being  simple  recesses,  and  in  the 
absence  of  ledges  in  front  of  them  ;  thus  agreeing  with 
the  large  circular  one  at  West  Camel  Vicarage,  in  Dorset- 
shire.    These  differences  occur  in  the  two  next  examples. 

There  is  a  quadrangular   pigeon   house  at    Crookdake 

Hall,  the  property  of  Mrs.  Dykes,  about  which  I  have  the 

following  letter  in  answer  to  enquiries  made  by  me  in  the 

local  papers  : 

Dear  Sir, 


PIGEON    HOUSES.  ^ZJ 

Dear  Sir, 

There  is  a  pi^^eon  house,  such  as  you  inquire  about  in  the 
Journal,  at  Crookdake  Hall  in  the  parish  of  Hromfield, — property 
belon<(ing  to  the  Dykes  family  :  it  is  a  square  building  with  holes 
round  the  four  sides,  about  live  or  six  hundred  in  number  :  above  the 
door  is  the  inscription  — 

S'-  I  15.     A  P>.     7686. 

Sir  John  Hallantyne  &  Anne  Ballantyne.  During  the  present  century 
it  has  been  used  as  a  school  house  &  a  fire  place  has  been  placed  in 
it  ;  George  Moore  is  said  to  have  gone  here  to  school.  There  is  no 
revolving  ladder,  the  old  man  who  showed  me  the  place,  saying, 
they  simply  climbed  up  the  holes:  it  is  at  present  used  for  pigeons, 
but  the  people  only  keep  a  very  few. 

Yours  faithfully, 

M.  Sidney  Donald. 


This  pi<;eon  house  is  of  rubble  work,  with  dressed 
quoins,  and  is  nearly  square,  i8ft.  by  i8ft.  6in,,  the  shorter 
being  the  north  and  south  :  the  door  is  in  the  north  side  : 
on  the  outside,  about  lift,  above  the  door  sill,  a  broad 
ledge  of  thin  flag  runs  all  round  the  building,  affording  a 
place  for  the  birds  to  parade  on  and  sun  their  plumage,  a 
feature  not  existing  in  the  examples  previously  cited  ;  the 
building  rises  some  five  feet  higher,  and  the  access  for 
the  birds  was  by  two  oval  apertures,  one  in  the  north,  the 
other  in  the  east  side,  and  midway  between  this  ledge  and 
the  eaves  :  the  east  and  west  ends  are  gabled,  and  each 
surmounted  by  a  ball  of  stone  :  a  sort  of  urn-like  orna- 
ment stands  at  each  angle  of  the  building :  the  roof,  of 
red  tiles,  is  new,  the  building  having  recently  been  roof- 
less. The  interior  contained  som.e  700  boiUins,  each  15 
inches  deep,  and  about  10  inches  high,  by  g  broad  :  they 
are  simple  recesses,  not  L  shaped,  and  the  rows  have  no 
ledges  in  front  of  them  :  they  are  formed  of  thick  flags, 
and  the  boulins  in  one  row  are  vertically  over  those  in 
the  row  below  ;   they  start  from   the  ground.      Evidence  of 

the 


428  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

the  use  of  the  building:::  as  a  school  is  afforded  by  the  in- 
serted modern  window  in  the  south  side,  and  by  a  hre- 
place  and  chimney  on  the  east  side. 

Mrs.  Dykes,  who  also  wrote  to  tell  me  of  the  existence 
of  this  pii^eon  house,  says  : 

A  tradition  in  the  family  says  it  was  put  up  by  Sir  John  Ballantyne, 
of  Corhaus,  when  he  married  the  heiress  of  Crool<dake,  Anne  Mus- 
grave.  and  came  to  live  there. 

This  is  not  quite  correct  :  Sir  John  Ballantine  married 
Anne  daughter  and  heiress  of  Sir  William  Musgrave,  of 
Crookdake  and  Ireby,  in  1663,*  while  the  date  on  the 
pigeon  house  is  1686. 

The  following  passage  from  Smile's  Life  of  George 
Moore,  p.  32,  proves  that  Moore's  schoolmaster  was  well 
suited   to  his  school  house. 

'J"o  return  to  George  Moore's  early  education.  Alter  leaving 
Blackbird  Wilson's  school  at  Bolton  gate,  for  which  his  father  paid 
six  shillings  and  sixpence  a  quarter,  he  was  sent  to  Pedler  Thommy's 
school  at  Crookdyke  near  Leegate.  Thommy  had  been  a  pedler,  as 
his  name  indicated.  Though  he  had  broken  down  as  a  pedler,  he 
was  thought  good  enough  to  be  a  schoolmaster.  He  was  not  a  good 
teacher,  though  he  was  much  less  cruel  and  drunken  than  the 
Blackbird. 

The  stop  on  the  door  lintel  between  S"'  I.  B.  and  A.  B. 
is  a  small  heart  :  the  same  stop  occurs  on  a  similar  in- 
scription on  an  oak  board  in  a  pew  in  Bromfield  Church, 
but  with  the  date  1664,  the  year  after  the  marriage. 

The  vicar  of  Aspatria  has  a  quadrangular  pigeon  house 
at  the  back  of  the  new  vicarage  ;  it  is  of  rubble,  rough-cast 
and  measures  12  ft.  by  11  ft.  6  in.  A  ledge,  similar  to 
that  of  Crookdake,  runs  round  the  exterior  at  about  6  feet 
from  the  ground.  The  door  on  the  east  side,  has  been 
enlarged  to  admit  cattle.     The   honlins   in   tlie  inside  are 


'  Whclan's  CumborL-ind,  pp.  292. 

much 


I'IGI'ON    HOUSES.  429 

mucii  flilapidatcd  :  thc\-  are  formed  of  lla,'j;s  and  rou;j;h 
blocks  of  stone,  and  are  vertically  ovei-  one  another  :  the\- 
are  not  L  shaped,  and  arc  about  S  in.  square  and  a  foot 
deep;  they  commence  from  the  ground  and  have  no  pro- 
jecting^ led.t;es  in  front.  The  roof  is  orij^inal,  and  resembles 
that  on  the  Berwick  pigeon  house  (see  the  illustraticjn) 
but  without  the  little  dormer  shown  there. 

The  following  letter  was  also  received  in  answer  to  en- 
quiries in  the  local  papers  : 

Hlencowe,  I'enrith,  Aug.  22/1S7. 

Dear  Sir, 

Having  read  with  great  interest  and  pleasure  your  paper 
on  *'  Local  Dovecotes,"  may  I  take  the  liberty  of  informing  you  of 
the  existence  of  a  very  fine  one  at  Great  Blencoue  Farm,  in  the 
village  of  Great  Blencowe,  the  property  of  H.  Kiley,  Esq.,  of  Ennim. 

Often  in  my  younger  days  have  I  played  in  this  place  tho'  its 
interest  did  not  then  strike  me  ;  but  when  I  saw  your  paper,  I  thought 
that  its  existence  should  no  longer  remain  a  local  secret. 

With  this  determination  I  set  off  this  evening  (Monday)  on  an  ex- 
ploring expedition,  the  results  of  which  follow. 

The  building — a  stone  one — stands  at  the  west  corner  of  the  farm- 
yard, IS  about  18  feet  high,  that  is  to  the  eaves,  and  is  ornamented 
above  by  a  roof,  in  the  form  of  a  four-sided  prism.  The  S.E.  wall 
is  pierced  by  4  apertures,  the  highest  (opening  into  the  dove  cote 
proper)  being  semicircular  in  form,  and  serving  the  purpose  of  advent 
and  event  for  the  birds,  the  three  lower  apertures  are  on  the  same 
level,  the  two  outer  being  ovoid  in  form,  the  middle  being  a  door,  and 
of  course,  of  the  usual  shape;  the  two  outer  both  admitted  light, 
and  poultry — for  it  seems  probable  that  this  building,  which  is  two- 
storied,  was  designed  for  ground  and  winged  game,  viz.:  poultry  and 
pigeons,  the  poultry  naturally  occupying  the  lower  of  the  two  stories. 
Above  the  door  are  the  letters  W.T.  with  the  date  1789  sunk  in  the 
stone,  or,  in  other  words,  cut  out — evidently  the  initials  of  William 
Troutbeck,  a  former  inhabitant  of  this  farm,  for  I  know  it  to  have 
been  the  residence  of  Mr.  Ewan  TroutbecU.  The  prismatic  roof  is 
surmounted  by  a  spherical  stone,  which  bears  an  iron  spike.  So 
much  for  external  characters. 

Internal  Characters. — Firstly,  it  is  divided  into  two  by  a  horizontal 
partition,  which  serves  the  purpose  of  floor  for  the  dove  cote,  and 
roof  for  the  poultry  (?)  house.  This  partition  has  been  recently  put 
in,   tho'    it   takes  the    place   of   an   older  and   more  dilapidated    one, 

and 


430  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

and  in  making  it,  I  notice  that  the  joiner  has,  intentionally  or  not, 
omitted  to  leave  a  hole  of  communication  between  the  dove  cote  and 
the  poultry  house.  There,  however,  remains  a  door  of  entrance  in 
the  N.  wall,  which  doubtless  has,  at  one  time,  been  furnished  with  a 
staircase,  unless  they  used  some  ladder  as  means  of  access. 

The  intcvioy  of  the  Dure  cote. — The  walls  are  occupied  by  recesses, 
small,  but  large  enough  for  their  purpose,  viz.,  that  of  holding  nests. 
They,  the  walls,  are  about  ten  feet  high,  and  the  same  broad  ;  hence 
the  interior  may  be  said  to  be  lo  by  lo  feet. 

The  walls  are  intact  on  the  W.  and  S.  sides,  but  the  N.  side  is 
pierced  by  a  doorway  in  the  N.E.  corner.  The  \^'.  wall  is  pierced 
by  the  window-like  opening  before  described  as  semicircular  in  shape. 
This  has  been  carefully  plastered  all  round.  The  recesses  for  nests 
are  arranged  in  rows,  and  have  been  formed  by  placing  bricks  one 
above  the  other  in  a  vertical  row,  only  broken  in  continuity  by  the 
interposition  of  slabs  of  sandstone  which  divide  that  necessarily 
long  grove  which  would  intervene  between  the  vertical  rows  of  bricks, 
into  numerous  recesses.  The  number  of  these  recesses  differ  on  the 
four  walls.  In  the  W.  wall,  which  is  intact,  there  are  the  greatest 
number,  viz.,  88,  made  up  of  ii  horizontal  parallel  rows  of  eight 
each.  In  the  S.  wall,  also  intact,  there  are  66  recesses,  ii  rows  of 
six  each.  In  the  E.  wall  (pierced  by  opening)  6z.  In  the  N.  wall 
(pierced  by  doorway)  52. 

I  ma\'  say  that  the  new  flooring  has  been  made  at  a  higher  level 
than  the  old,  half  concealing  the  lowest:  row  of  recesses.  The  new 
roof  and  floor  were  put  on  in  1884. 

Tlie  Poultry  house,  on  the  lov/er  of  the  two  stories.  This  is  semi- 
circular in  the  interior,  and  in  its  walls  there  are  several  recesses, 
of  the  shape  of  half  a  cone,  arranged  in  two  rows,  that  is,  a  cone  of 
vertical  section  ;  one  row  is  placed  about  three  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  is  of  a  size  to  accommodate  an  ordinary  number  of  barn-door 
poultry,  e.g.  a  hen  ;  the  lower  of  the  two  I'ows  of  recesses  is  on  a 
larger  scale,  and,  from  the  size  of  the  recesses,  would  suggest  geese, 
turkeys,  and  the  like.  At  present  the  occupant  of  this  is  a  calf; 
the  dove  cote  being  unoccupied. 

This  then  concludes  my  description,  and  I  hope  I  have  made  it 
implicit,  and  that  it  may  be  of  service  to  you, 

I  am, 

Yours  faitiifully, 

IU)WAKI)    IvWVCETT. 

P.S. 

I   enclose   sketch    of  exterior.      I  must  apologise  for  its  roughness. 

E.  I'. 

We 


I'KiiiON  HOUSES.  431 

Wc  reproduce  one  of  Mr.  Faweett's  sketche's  of  this 
pigeon  house. 

The  pif^eon  house  at  Corby  Castle  stands  on  a  slopinj^ 
eminence  to  the  right  front  of  tlie  castle,  and  is  disguised 
as  a  Doric  temple,  having  a  classical  porch  of  four 
columns  in  front  of  it.  It  is  nearly  square,  21  feet  by 
22  feet  without  the  porch  in  front.  A  projecting  ledge 
runs  round  three  sides  of  the  building,  about  10  feet 
from  the  ground,  but,  as  its  upper  edge  is  chamfered 
away,  pigeons  cannot  sun  themselves  on  it  ;  it  appears  a 
mere  useless  survival.  The  building  rises  some  12  feet 
above  this  ledge,  being  slightly  set  in.  The  entrance  is 
by  a  door  opposite  to  the  end  at  which  is  the  porch. 
Above  this  door,  and  above  the  projecting  ledge,  is  a 
window-like  recess,  in  which  are  small  holes  for  the 
birds  to  enter  ;  there  are  others  in  the  gable  of  this  end 
of  the  building.  The  bonlins  are  counter  sunk,  or  L 
shaped,  and  have  a  three  inch  ledge  in  front  of  each  row. 
There  are  fourteen  rows  of  them,  each  containing  four- 
teen boulins,  or  allowing  for  the  door,  about  750  in  all  : 
the  lowest  row  is  two  feet  from  the  ground.  But  the 
feature  of  the  Corby  Castle  pigeon  house  is  the  potoicc, 
which  is  a  double  one,  in  perfect  working  order.  The 
arbrc  vcvticalc  is  a  substantial  beam,  about  20  feet  in 
length,  and  carries  three  cross  arms,  each  about  17  feet 
long  ;  these  support  at  their  extremities  two  ladders,  and 
the  middle  one  also  carries  an  horizontal  platform,  about 
six  feet  square.  This  pigeon  house  must  date  from  1813, 
when  Corby  Castle  was  recased  in  stone,  and  converted  into 
a  building  of  the  Grecian  Doric  order,  but  this  pigeon 
house  must  have  succeeded  an  older,  and  probably  a 
circular,  or  octagonal  house,  with  a  double  potcnce,  a 
feature  which  has  been  continued  in  the  new  Doric  temple. 

A  square  pigeon  house  exists  at  Hutton  John,  of  which 
Mr.  Hudleston  has  kindly  furnished  an  account  and 
sketches.     It  is  about  18  feet  square,  and  same  height  to 

spring 


432  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

spring  of  the  roof,  which  was  formerly  a  foursided  pyra- 
mid with  a  glover  (so  it  seems  from  an  old  sketch)  on  the 
top  ;  it  is  now  a  two  fall,  with  entrance  holes  for  the 
birds  in  the  gable  ends.  It  has  been  converted  into  a 
blacksmith's  shop.  We  have  no  information  as  to  the 
interior, 

A  square  one  formerly  existed  in  Penrith,  but  was 
destroyed  this  year  to  make  way  for  a  new  road.  So 
utterly  had  its  use  been  forgotten,  that  when  it  was  cut 
through,  and  the  interior  exposed,  the  neighbours  took 
the  hoiilins  to  be  wine  binns. 

A  pigeon  house  exists  at  Eden  Hall,  as  to  which  we 
have  no  information. 

From  the  following  entry  in  Lord  William  Howard's 
Household  Books,* 

A  salt  cat  for  the  dove  cote  xiiijd. 

We  learn  that  a  dt)ve  cote  once  existed  at  Naworth 
Castle,  but  it  has  now  disappeared,  tlu)ugh  its  site  is 
known. 

Sir  Musgrave  Brisco  tells  me  that  there  was  once  one 
at  Crofton  Hall,  but,  as  it  became  useless,  and,  standing 
in  front  of  the  house,  was  considered  an  eye-sore,  it  was 
pulled  dt)wn.  Our  member,  Mr.  Browne,  writes  me  as 
follows  : 

J'allantirc  Hall,  Cockermouth, 

July  5th,  1887. 
I  see  that  you  have  a  paper  on  Pigeon  houses.  A  field  close 
lo  this  house  has  for  ages  had  the  name  of  Dove  Cote  Close.  As  a 
child  I  remember  playing  amongst  the  stones,  of  which  the  Dove 
cote  originally  consisted.  The  small  mound  upon  which  it  Mood 
may  yet  be  seen,  and  I  can  still  identify  some  of  its  stones.  It  stood 
on  a  very  commanding  height,  and  tradition  said,  was  a  choice  land- 
mark for  ships  at  sea. 

Yours  very  truly, 

William  Bkowne. 

*Surlecs  Socicti/,  vol.  68,  pp.  135. 

The 


A. 


-Jl> 


A.    OLD   VIEW  OF   HUTTON  JOHN,   SHOWING   THE   PIGEON 

HOUSE. 


B.     PIGEON    HOUSE  AT  HUTTON  JOHN   IN   PRESENT  STATE. 


PKlliON    HOUSES.  433 

The  name  of  Dovecote,  applied  to  a  piece  of  ground 
near  Bootle  Rectory,  records  tiiat  one  once  stood  there, 
and  probably  bel()n<;ed  to  the  rector;  and  the  rector  of 
Bo\vness-on-Sol\vay  tells  me  that  his  predecessors  had 
one  in  a  held  opposite  to  the  church. 

More  must  e.xist  in  Cumberland,  and  many  more  have 
existed,  which  have  not  come  to  my  knowledge,  though 
the  local  papers  kindly  drew  attention  to  the  subject.  I 
have  made  no  inquiry  into  them  in  Westmorland.  A 
study  of  field  names  cannot  fail  to  indicate  a  site  of 
many  a  forgotten  pigeon  house;  near  Dalston,  Miss 
Kuper  informs  me,  a  held  called  Duchet  U""^  doubt  a  cor- 
ruption of  Dovecote)  formerly  had  one  in  it. 

The  domestic  economy  of  these  pigeonhouses  is  curious  ; 
they  require  a  deal  of  attention ;  the  attendant  only 
visited  them  early  in  the  morning,  otherwise  the  birds 
would  never  settle  for  the  night  ;  cleanliness  was  requisite, 
and  the  interior  required  to  be  scraped  and  wdiitewashed 
twice  a  year,  in  November  and  February  ;  Messrs.  Willis 
and  Clark  cite  an  entry  in  the  accounts  of  Peterhouse, 
Cambridge,  shewing  that  in  1546-7  four  gallons  of  wort 
were  brought  to  wash  the  nests  with,  probably  to  kill  the 
fleas.  Birds  of  prey  had  to  be  guarded  against,  and  the 
same  gentlemen  cite,  from  the  accounts  of  Queen's  College 
in  1513-4,  the  following  order  for  the  purchase  of  bird- 
lime— 

Item  X"  die  novembris  dedi  ad  jussuin  Mr.  Waham  tunc  vices  vice 
presidentis  gerentis  Johanni  p-enys  ad  emendum  visum  quo  capeiet 
aves  deuorantes  columbas  collegii  ij''. 

Lures  of  various  kinds  were  much  used  to  attract  the 
birds;  the  salt  cat  has  already  been  mentioned,  and  to 
Messrs.  Willis  and  Clark  we  are  indebted  for  the  follow- 
ing reference  to  John  Moore's  Colmnharinui,  or  the  Pigeon 
House,  first  published  in  1735,  and  reprinted  by  W.  B. 
Tegetmeier,  8vo.  London,  187CJ. 

IJeiiiir 


434  PIGEON    HOUSES. 

Being  thus  entered  on  the  head  of  diet,  it  necessarily  leads  us  to 
consider  a  certain  useful  composition  called  by  the  fanciers  a  Salt 
Cat,  so  named,  I  suppose,  from  a  certain  fabulous  oral  tradition  of 
baking  a  cat  .  .  with  cummin  seed,  and  some  other  ingredients 
as  a  decoy  for  your  neighbour's  pigeons  ;  this,  though  handed  down 
by  some  authors  as  the  only  method  for  this  purpose,  is  generally 
laughed  at  by  the  gentlemen  of  the  fancy,  and  never  practised. 

The  right  Salt  Cat  therefore  is,  or  ought  to  be  thus  made  :  take 
gravel  or  drift  sand,  loom  such  as  the  brick  makers  use  ;  and  the 
rubbish  of  an  old  wall,  or,  for  want  of  this,  a  less  quantity  of  lime, 
let  there  be  a  gallon  of  each  ;  add  to  this  a  pound  of  Cummin  seed, 
a  handful  of  bay  salt,  or  saltpetre,  and  beat  them  all  up  together  into 
a  kind  of  mortar  ....     and  your  pigeons  will  take  a  great 

delight  in  it     ...     . 

The  Cummin  seed,  which  has  a  strong  smell  in  which  pigeons 
delight,  will  keep  your  own  pigeons  at  home,  and  alure  others  that 
are  straying  abroad,  and  at  a  loss  to  fix  upon  a  habitation. 

It  is  open  to  conjecture  that  the  cat  in  saltcat  is  nothing 
else  but  "  cates  "  or  "  acates,"  but  I  am  inclined  to  think 
that  a  bojtd  fide  pussy  sometimes  entered  into  the  compo- 
sition, for  at  Jesus'  College,  m  1651-2,  occurs  the  following 
entry 

For  a  roasted  dog  and  comin  seed  00  :  02  :  00. 

The  Spurtsinan's  Dictionary,  published  in  1778,  gives  two 
receipts  for  a  lure  for  pigeons,  the  chief  ingredient  in  each 
being  a  boiled  goat's  head. 


(435) 


Art.  XXX. — Notes  on  (-ii^p  and  Riui^-uiarkcd  Stones  found 

near  Maryport.     By  J.  B.  Bailey. 
Read  at  Ulverston,  Sep.  i^th,  1887. 

IN  the  year  1880,  Mr.  Joseph  Robinson,  amongst  other 
matters,  endeavoured  to  determine  the  exact  position 
of  the  two  roads  that  were  supposed  to  leave  the  northern 
gateway  of  the  Maryport  camp  ;  vi;?.  :  the  one  running 
coastwise  to  the  Beckfoot  camp  ;  the  other  to  old  Car- 
Hsle.  The  former  had  been  proved  to  exist  at  Beckfoot, 
but  its  presence  nearer  Maryport  was  not  at  all  certain. 
The  latter  appears  to  have  been  in  quite  as  unsatisfactor}' 
a  condition.  A  diligent  use  of  the  spade,  however,  re- 
vealed the  fact  that  a  magnificent  road,  some  21  ft.  wide, 
ran  across  the  four  fields  nearest  to  the  camp,  but  here 
explorations  were  suspended.  Early,  however,  in  April 
of  the  present  year,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Thomas  Carey, 
I  was  led  to  examine  a  field  in  which  we  thought  it  likely 
that  we  should  find  traces  of  the  road  to  Old  Carlisle. 
Nor  were  our  suppositions  groundless.  The  field  to  which 
I  allude,  is  the  one  on  the  east  side  of  the  Bank  End 
Road  near  the  sm.all  plantation.  Near  the  bottom  of  this 
field,  some  15  yards  from  the  N.E.  corner,  we  came  upon 
undoubted  traces  of  the  road.  Although  similar  to  those 
found  nearer  the  camp,  they  are  but  fragmentar}',  so 
that  we  could  not  with  any  degree  of  certainty,  deter- 
mine the  width  of  the  road.  Still  a  point  was  determined 
from  which  it  would  be  easy  to  follow  out  the  exploration 
in  the  direction  of  the  camp  so  soon  as  the  crop  is  oft"  the 
ground.  FolloNving  out  the  clue  obtained,  but  away  from 
the  camp,  I,  a  few  days  later,  crossed  the  turnpike,  and 
entering  the  field,  through  which  is  a  "runner,"  I  came 

into 


436  CUP   AND    RING    MARKED    STONES. 

into  the  occupation  road  leading  direct  to  Crosby.  Certain 
evidences  clearly  seemed  to  point  this  out  as  being  almost, 
if  not  entirely,  on  the  foundation  of  the  old  Roman  road  : 
in  fact  numerous  indications  over  and  over  again  presented 
themselves,  which,  if  they  could  be  followed  up,  would 
doubtless  prove  the  truth  of  my  suppositions.  But  this 
road  is  interesting  in  another  way,  for,  near  it,  in  the 
field  to  which  I  have  alluded  above,  were  discovered  two 
very  remarkable  stones,  which  I  am  about  to  describe. 

Whilst  walking  along  the  Bank  End  Lane,  early  in  March 
of  the  present  year,  I  was  struck  with  the  immense  heap 
of  stones  that  had  been  brought  out  of  this  ;  field  and 
deposited  in  the  lane.  Naturally,  I  examined  the  heap 
narrowly,  and  was  rewarded  by  finding  the  stone  to 
which  I  shall  first  allude.  It  evidently  is  a  stone. of  the 
district,  and  is  somewhat  of  an  irregular  pentagonal 
shape.  Its  greatest  length  is  i8  inches,  the  breadth  being 
i6  inches  at  one  end,  and  12  inches  at  the  other.  In 
thickness  it  varies  from  3  inches  to  7  inches.  On  one 
face  it  bears  a  cup  and  ring  marking,  the  other  face 
being  scored  by  the  plough,  thus  showing  that  the  sculp- 
tured face  has  been  placed  downwards.  I  madetseveral 
enquiries  as  to  the  exact  place  where  the  stone  had  been 
taken  out,  &c.  All  that  I  could  gather  was  that  it  had 
been  dug  out  some  30  to  40  yards  down  the  field,  and 
at  about  an  equal  distance  to  the  south  of  the  line  of  the 
Roman  road  which  runs  through  the  field.  So  far  as  I 
could  learn,  neither  bones  nor  charcoal  were  found  ;  but 
this  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  as  it  was  not  likelyithat 
they  would  be  observed  even  though  they  were  there, 
the  great,  and,  I  should  say,  the  sole  object  being  the 
removal  of  such  stones  as  interfered  with  the  action  of 
the  plough.  Probably  a  careful  examination  of  the 
place,  so  soon  as  convenient,  might  reveal  the  presence 
of  such  remains, 

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CUP-MARKED   STONES,   MARYPORT. 


CUP    AND    KING    MAKKIvD    STDXRS.  437 

On  the  face  of  the  stone  is  a  central  cup-shaped  coni- 
cal cavity,  suiTounded  by  a  series  of  three  rin^s.  The 
cup  itself  is  2  inches  broad  and  {{  inch  deep.  The  rings 
are  not  exactly  circular,  but  slightly  elliptical.  The 
outer  ring  is  10  inches  in  its  greatest,  and  9  inches  in  its 
least  diameter  ;  the  others  being  7  by  6^  inches,  and  4  by 
3^  inches  respectively.  The  depth  of  the  markings  is 
about  a  quarter  inch.  The  whole  of  the  work  seems  to 
have  been  done  by  some  pointed  instrument,  though  this 
fact  is  not  so  clear  as  it  is  in  the  stone  I  am  now  about 
to  describe. 

Some  four  years  ago  Mr.  Robinson  and  myself  had 
reason  to  go  into  the  above-named  field.  In  the  hedge 
we  found  a  very  curiously  marked  stone,  which  we  learnt 
had  been  taken  out  of  the  ground  some  distance  down  the 
field.  Subsequently  this  stone  was  lost,  but  I  am  glad  to 
say  that  it  has  turned  up,  and,  together  with  the  stone 
already  described,  is  now  in  safe  keeping  in  the  portico 
at  Netherhall.  It  appears  to  be  a  much  ruder  speci- 
men than  the  other, — -the  rings  are  not  so  deeply  cut, 
but  they  more  perfectly  show  the  character  of  the  in- 
strument with  which  they  have  been  cut.  Moreover, 
it  is  only  a  fragment  of  a  larger  piece,  hence  there  is  not 
a  perfect  set  of  any  of  the  series  of  rings.  Roughly  it 
is  of  an  irregular  pentagonal  form,  the  sides  being  18, 
13,  9,  II,  and  14  inches  respectively.  Across  the  middle 
of  the  fragment  stretch  two  large  semi-elliptical  sets  of 
rings.  The  larger  of  these  consists  of  two  rings,  some 
f  of  an  inch  apart  ;  the  longer  (semi)  axis  being  13  inches, 
and  the  shorter  axis  10  inches.  There  has  been  no  cup 
mark  at  all,  unless,  indeed,  it  is  on  the  part  broken  off; 
but  this  does  not  seem  ver}'  likely.  A  large  portion  of 
both  rings  is  only  rendered  visible  by  a  succession  of 
small  dots,  the  greatest  part  of  the  surface  of  this  part  of 
the  stone  having  apparently  weathered  off.  Almost 
touching  this  set — indeed  at  a  distance  of  only  half  an 

inch 


438  CUP   AND    RING    MARKEl>    STONES. 

inch — is  a  more  elaborate  set  consisting  of  four  rings,  the 
shorter  axes  being  g|,  8,  6|,  and  5  inches  respectively ; 
the  longer  being  yh,  6J,  ^i,  and  4^  inches  respectively. 
This,  at  first  sight,  seems  paradoxical,  but  its  truth  ap- 
pears when  it  is  stated  that  a  portion  only  of  the  '*set  " 
is  visible,  the  larger  portion  having  been  broken  off,  hence 
showing  only  a  part  of  the  longer  axis.  Here  again  we 
have  no  appearance  of  a  cup. 

Filling  up  the  space  on  one  side  of  the  stone  are  por- 
tions of  two  other  series  of  markings,  each  having  two 
rings.  These  are  not  only  united  to  each  other,  but  also 
to  the  two  larger  sets.  That  there  are  two  sets  is  quite 
clear  and  distinct,  but  they  are  so  small  that  measure- 
ments would  be  practically  useless. 

From  the  appearances  presented  by  the  stone,  it  is 
quite  clear  that  the  sculptured  side  has  been  left  upper- 
most. 


Ml?- hi  . 


(439) 


Art.  XXXII. — Coniston  Hall.    By  H.  Swainson  Cowper, 

Read  at  that  place,  Sept.  14,  1887. 

CONISTON  Hall  is  the  ancient  manor  house  of  the 
manor  of  Coniston,  in  Lancashire,  which  name  is 
probably  Kunygston,  or  Kingston.  There  is  also  a  Conis- 
ton in  Craven,  which  Dr.  Whitaker,  in  his  history  of 
Craven,  derives  m  the  same  manner. 

This  Coniston  in  Lancashire  is  divided  into  two  parts  ; 
Church  Coniston,  sometimes  called  Conniston  Fleming; 
and  Monk  Coniston  in  the  manor  of  Hawkshead,  which 
formerly  belonged  to  Furness  Abbey.  This  manor  was 
originally  in  the  hands  of  Roger  Fitz-Reinfrid,  as  it  ap- 
pears by  the  original  grant  at  Rydal,  (cited  by  West  in 
his  Antiquities  of  Furness) ,  that  Roger  FitzReinfrid,  father 
to  William  de  Lancaster,  8th  Baron  of  Kendal,  gave  the 
manor  of  Coniston  to  Gilbert  FitzBernulf,  (otherwise  de 
Urswick. 

From  the  hands  of  the  Urswicks,  where  it  only  remained 
two  generations,  it  passed  to  the  Flemings  :  Baines  tells 
us  : 

the  Manor  of  Coniston  passed  by  the  marriage  of  Elizabeth  daughter 
and  heiress  of  Adam  de  Urswick  in  the  reign  of  Hen.  III.,  to  Ric.  le 
Fleming,  and  Coniston  Hall  became  the  family  seat  for  seven  genera- 
tions :  in  10  Ed.  HI.,  the  Abbot  of  Furness  had  a  grant  of  free 
warren  in  several  places,  amongst  which  was  Kunygston.  About 
10  Hen.  IV.,  Thomas  le  Fleming  married  Isabell,  one  of  the  four 
daughters  and  coheiress  of  Sir  John  de  Lancaster,  by  whom  he 
acquired  the  manor  of  Rydal  in  Westmorland,  and  for  seven  genera- 
ti  ons  more  Rydal  and  Coniston  vied  with  each  other  to  fix  the  family 
in  Westmorland  and  Lancashire.  Daniel  Fleming,  knighted  May  15, 
1681,  gave  preference  to  the  former  and  died  at  Rydal  Hall,  March 
15,1701. 

This  Sir  Daniel  was  an  antiquary.  His  father  William 
was  the  last  who   resided  at  Coniston  ;   he  was  born  at 

Coniston 


440  CONISTON    HALL. 

Coniston  1610,  and  died  at  the  same  place  1653.  He 
married  Alice,  eldest  daughter  of  Roger  Kirkby  of  Kirkby 
Ireleth.  Since  its  abandonment  by  Sir  Daniel,  the  house 
has  been,  like  so  many  of  the  old  manor  houses,  chiefly 
used  as  a  farm. 

The  hall,  although  West  writing  in  1777,  says  : 

Coniston  Hall  appears  upon  the  bank  of  the  lake.  .  .  and  though 
now  abandoned  a-nd  in  ruins,  it  has  the  air  of  grandeur  and  magnifi- 
cence, 

cannot  be  considered  a  ruin  now  ;  clusters  of  ivy  hang 
upon  its  grey  walls,  mosses  grow  upon  its  massive 
chimneys  and  roof,  and  from  man}^  points,  but  perhaps 
especially  from  the  lake,  it  presents  a  most  romantic 
appearance. 

The  hall,  the  most  interesting  and  probably  the  most 
ancient  part,  remains  intact,  although  its  features  are 
partially  or  entirely  destroyed.  It  is  approached  from 
the  north  by  a  modern  raised  path  or  causeway  and  entered 
through  ordinary  barn  doors. 

The  present  large  barn  has  I  think  included  the  banquet- 
ing hall,  the  chamber  or  withdrawing  room,  and  above 
the  last,  the  solar  or  lord's  bed-room. 

The  banqueting  hall,  which  lies  on  the  right  of  the 
entrance,  has  been  separated  from  the  chamber  on  the  left, 
by  a  partition  which  has  now  disappeared.  Its  length 
from  this  partition  to  the  screen  is  26  ft.  and  its  breadth 
23  ft.  The  dais  is  still  extant.  At  the  west  end  are  the 
remains  of  the  screen  in  a  ruinous  condition,  through 
which  there  have  been  two  doors.  A  window  at  the  south 
end  of  this,  lights  both  the  inner  and  outer  sides  of  the 
screen,*  and  it  seems  probable  that  the  minstrels'  gallery, 
if  ever  there  v.'as  one. 

Above  this  screen,  may  be  noticed  a  window  overlooking 

*  Externally  the  wall  of  the  west  wing  is  bevelled   away    in   a    very  curious 
manner,  in  order  to  hrin^;'  the  li.n'nt  to  it. 

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CONISTON    HALL.  44I 

the  hall  from  an  upper  chamber  in  the  west  wing,  an 
arrangement  sometimes  met  with  in  ancient  houses.  Mr. 
H.  B.  Wheatley,  F.S.A.,  writes  as  follows  in  the  Anti- 
quary :— 

vSometimes  there  were  small  lattice  windows  in  the  wall  between  the 
hall  and  some  of  the  upper  rooms,  and  at  the  ancient  manor  house  of 
Great  Chalfield  in  Wiltshire  stone  masks  of  a  king  and  a  bishop  are 
inserted  in  the  walls,  through  the  eyes  and  mouth  of  which,  a  view 
of  the  hall  can  be  obtained.  Archbishop  Parker  on  the  occasion  of 
entertaining  Queen  Elizabeth  at  a  banquet  at  Lambeth,  writes:  If 
her  Highness  will  give  me  leave  I  will  kepe  my  bigger  hall  that  day 
for  the  nobles,  and  the  rest  of  her  traine  ;  and  if  it  please  her  majesty 
she  may  come  in  through  my  gallery,  and  see  the  disposition  of  the 
hall  at  a  window  opening  thereunto. 

Besides  tiiis  window  there  have  been  three  others,  one 
at  each  end  of  the  dais,  (the  one  at  the  north  end  being 
the  present  doorway),  and  another  in  the  north  wdll 
between  the  last  mentioned  and  the  screen,  and  facing 
the  fireplace.  The  hreplace  is  of  red  sandstone  and 
is  now  blocked  up,  as  is  also  the  window  opposite. 

This  room,  the  chief  one  in  the  house,  is  not,  as  was  most 
commonly  the  case,  upon  the  ground  floor,  in  which  parti- 
cular it  resembles  somewhat  Burneside  Hall,  which  has  a 
room  nine  or  ten  feet  high  beneath  the  hall,  (which  is  of 
about  the  same  dimensions  as  this)  :  this  arrangement 
the  late  Canon  Weston  thinks,  may  be  a  modification  of  the 
original  plan,  in  which  the  hall  was  upon  the  ground  floor.* 
Such  also  may  have  been  the  plan  here.  The  rooms 
beneath  the  hall  and  adjoining  chamber  contain  fireplaces, 
and  therefore  were  probably  used  as  some  sort  of  living 
rooms :  it  is  however  possible  the  present  arrangement 
may  have  been  original  and  adopted  because  of  the  low- 
ness  of  the  site  and  its  proximity  to  the  lake.  The  fine 
old  beams  in  the  roof  of  this  apartment  are  worthy  of 
notice. 


*  These  Transactions,  vol.  vi  ,  p.  94. 

The 


442  CONISTON    HALL. 

The  east  end  of  this  barn  has  been  occupied  by  three 
rooms  one  above  another ;  the  upper  two  separated  from 
the  hall  by  a  partition,  the  lower  of  these  was  probably 
the  withdrawing  room,  and  the  upper,  the  solar  or  lord's 
bedroom.  There  seems  to  be  some  want  of  distinction 
among  antiquaries,  as  to  which  room  was  the  solar  or  chief 
bedroom,  and  which  was  the  chamber  or  withdrawing  room, 
some  authors  placing  the  former  immediately  behind  the 
dais,  others  on  the  next  lloor,  and  in  some  cases  in  the 
roof  above  the  hall.  Perhaps  really  no  rule  can  belaid 
down  :  it  was,  I  believe,  quite  common  even  as  late  as  the 
il-th  and  15th  centuries  to  have  beds  in  the  sitting  apart- 
ments. This  lower  room  may  therefore,  not  improbably, 
have  been  the  withdrawing  room  and  yet  contained  the  lord's 
bed,  while  the  room  abnve  was  appropriated  to  the  other 
members  of  the  family.  It  is  21  ft.  6  in.  by  23  ft.  and  con- 
tains a  large  fireplace  at  the  east  end,  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion as  the  one  in  the  hall,  and  windows  at  either  side,  all 
of  which  are  blocked.  The  solar  has  been  above  this 
apartment  in  the  roof,  and  the  ends  of  the  joists  can  be  seen 
resting  upon  the  walls  ;  it  has  been  lighted  by  one  small 
window  from  the  east,  and  the  beams  differ  from  those  in 
the  hall,  being  higher  and  without  the  king-post. 

These  two  rooms  have  been  approached  by  a  spiral 
staircase,  contrived  in  the  thickness  of  the  wall  at  the 
north-east  corner,  and  not  therefore  as  was  usual,  in  direct 
communication  with  the  hall,  but  with  the  room  beneath 
in  which  was  the  lowest  entrance.  This  staircase  has 
been  lighted  by  windows,  and  the  steps  are  composed,  not 
of  stone,  but  of  solid  blocks  of  oak. 

The  original  arrangement  of  the  entrance  to  the  hall  is 
rather  difficult  to  ascertain,  but  it  certainly  was  not  by  the 
present  causeway  leading  from  the  end  of  the  dais.  It 
must  be  looked  for  at  the  end  of  the  screens'  lobby  :  this 
position  is  now  occupied  by  a  small  lean-to  building  of  two 
stories  projecting  in   tlie   angle  of  the  hall   and   the  west 

wing 


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CONISTON    HALL.  443 

wing.  This  buildiiit;-,  aitliousjjh  of  considerably  antiquity 
is,  possibly,  not  part  of  the  ori<;inal  plan.  Indeed  it  may 
be  questioned  whether  this  house  had  in  the  first  instance 
cither  east  or  west  wing.  The  first  mode  of  access  may 
have  been  by  an  external  staircase  of  wood  or  stone, 
(perhaps  protected  by  a  pent  house),  to  a  door  at  the  north 
end  of  the  screens,  as  at  Markenfield  Hall,  Yorkshire,  or 
Belsay  Castle,  Northumberland.  There  is  however, 
nothing  to  prove  this,  as  the  whole  building  seems  15th 
century,  and  such  a  theory  would,  perhaps,  necessitate  the 
existence  of  an  earlier  hall  in  the  same  position.* 

Looking  now  at  the  ground  plan  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
west  wing  is  divided  from  the  rest  of  the  building  by  a 
thick  wall  running  the  whole  length  of  it  ;  in  the  first  floor 
plan  this  does  not  appear,  it  is  in  fact  only  the  height  of 
the  ground  floor  rooms,  and  the  passage  behind  the  screens 
rests  upon  it.  In  the  lean-to  building,  the  room  on  the 
ground  floor  is  small  on  account  of  this  thick  wall  ;  the 
upper  has  been  bigger  by  the  thickness  of  the  wall,  but  is 
now  cut  down  to  about  the  size  of  the  lower  room  by  a 
modern  partition. 

The  lower  room  has  been  a  sort  of  porter's  porch  with 
an  entrance  door  at  F  :  inside  to  the  right  is  a  semicircular 
recess  in  the  wall,  which  Mr.  Ferguson  suggests  may  have 
contained  a  seat ;  opposite  is  a  door  leading"  to  the  offices. 
From  here  to  the  room  above,  there  must  have  been  a 
staircase,  which  has  now  entirely  disappeared,  and  from 
this  room  the  passage  behind  the  screens  was  entered. 

This  upper  room  has  finely  moulded  joists  and  has 
been,  I  think,  what  was  called  the  oriel  or  oriole,  forming 
a  waiting  room  outside  the  hall,  and  being  perhaps  used 
as  a  chapel,  as  well  as  for  domestic  purposes.  Parker,  in 
his  "  Domestic  Architecture  14th  Century,"  remarks  that 

*  It  is  possible  however,  that  the  hall  is  an  earlier,  perhaps  13th  or  14  century 
building,  re-edified  in  the  15th  century.  It  is  unlikely  that  the  solar  would  have 
been  placed  in  the  roof,  if  the  west  wing,  as  it  now  stands,  was  built  at  the  same 
time. 

Dr. 


444  CONISTON    HALL. 

Dr.  Copleston  inclined  to  the  opinion  that  the  word  oriel 
or  oriole  signified  the  porch  or  entrance  with  a  chapel 
over  it,*  a  description  which  exactly  tallies  with  the 
arrangement  here. 

Entering  then  the  screens  from  the  oriel,  on  the  left  are 
two  doors  into  the  hall;  on  the  right,  about  the  centre,  the 
staircase  descends  to  the  kitchen  and  buttery. t 

The  rooms  in  the  first  floor  in  the  west  wing  are  bed- 
rooms, an  d  are  divided  by  ancient  pegged  wooden  partitions. 
In  the  southernmost  room,  which  is  now  used  as  a  court 
room,  may  be  seen  two  curious  seats  fastened  in  the  wall 
in  cosy  proximity  to  the  fireplace.  Beneath  this  is  the 
kitchen,  which  still  retains  its  fine  wide  open  fireplace. 

The  exterior  architecture  of  this,  the  west  wing,  is 
Elizabethan,  and  shows  the  restorations  of  William 
Fleming,  who  died  about  1598,  and  is  described  by  West 
as  a  "  gentleman  of  great  pomp  and  expense  "  :  the  mullions 
throughout  this,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  the  building  are  of 
oak. 

Foundations  of  buildings  have  been  found  in  the  field 
just  north  of  this  wing. 

Of  the  east  wing,  which  has  been  destroyed,  except  a 
small  portion  fronting  to  the  north,  I  can  learn  nothing  ; 
it  has  been  an  alnftost  square  building  with  walls  of 
considerable  thickness,  but  as  it  has  never  extended  to  the 
rear  of  the  house  it  has  not  been  of  great  extent ;  what 
remains  shows  a  sandstone  fireplace  of  the  same  character 
as  those  in  the  hall  and  chamber.  In  its  east  wall,  part  of 
which  remains,  there  is  a  garderobe  closet.  During 
repairs  at  the  hall  two  small  chambers  have  been  found  in 
the  walls,  which  may  have  been  "  priests'  hiding  holes  "  or 

*  Printed  in  Skelton's  Oxonia  Antiqua.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  104.  Liberata  Rolls,  30  Hen. 
III.,  at  Oxford  to  "make  alsD  a  door  and  windows  beyond  tbe  porch  of  our  ball 
tliere  :"  at  Ludgcrshall  "to  make  an  Oriol  Ix'fore  the  door  of  the  Kind's  chamiu'r 
there  and  also  one  covered  alley  from  the  door  of  the  aforesaid  chamber  to  the 
door  of  the  hall."'  31st  at  Brill  "an  Oriol  with  a  stair  before  the  door  of  the 
Queen's  chamber."  Parker's  i)om.  Arch.  14th  century. 
~t  i.e.,  Butlery  "  liuttries  without  butlers  guarded  :  I'iilc  Drunken  Barnaby." 

^  perhaps 


CONISTON    HALL.  445 

perhaps  onl}'  closets.  One  was  in  the  f^rcat  chimney  stack 
at  the  west  end  of  the  buildint;,  and  the  other  in  the  west 
corner  of  the  south  wall  of  the  same  wing,  in  the  large 
bedroom  I  have  mentioned  as  containing  the  curious  seats. 

A  very  noticeable  feature  in  the  building  are  the  huge 
round  chimne}'s,  som.etimes  called  Flemish  chimneys, 
which  are  good  examples  of  an  ancient  form  of  architecture 
extremely  common  in  this  part  of  Lancashire,  and  speci- 
mens of  which,  may  be  seen  at  Kirkby,  Hawkshead,  and 
Carke  halls,  as  well  as  formerly  at  Graythwaite  Low  hall, 
and  many  of  the  ancient  statesmen's  dwellings  in  ihe 
district. 

The  house  is  built  of  the  hard  silurian  rock  of  the  district, 
and  is  thinly  rough-cast.  Throughout  the  building  there 
remains  no  wrought  stonework,  except  the  fireplaces,  all 
the  mullions  being  of  wood.  There  are  no  signs  of 
a  pele  tower,  nor  do  I  think  it  has  ever  had  one,  thus 
resembling  more  a  southern  manor  house  than  a  border 
hall.  Few  indeed  of  the  Furness  houses  possessed  this 
feature. 

Baines  tells  us  that  some  years  ago  the  hall  was  adorned 
with  carvings  in  wood,  bearing  the  initials  of  William 
Fleming,  who  died  about  40  Eliz.,  and  by  whom  it  was 
probably  erected  or  repaired. 

Within  the  park  in  which  the  hall  stands,  and  which 
still  contains  some  fine  old  oaks,  and  close  by  on  the 
manor  farm,  are  the  remains  of  two  ancient  bloomaries, 
both  overgrown  by  full-sized  trees,  an  ample  proof  of  their 
antiquity.  The  Rev.  T.  Ellwood,  vicar  of  Torver,  who 
gave  a  description  of  these  in  his  paper  on  the  "  Bloomaries 
of  High  Furness "  read  before  this  Society  in  1884, 
remarks  :* 

Situated  as  two  of  these  bloomaries  are,  one  witiiin  the  ancient  deer 
park  of  the  Le  Flemings,  and  the  other  upon  the  Manor  Farm,  both 
quite    close  to  Coniston    Hall,  they  would   not,   I  think  have  been 


*  These  Transactions,  vol.  viii.,  p.  85. 

worked 


446  CONISTON    HALL. 

worked  in  the  time  of  the  Le  Flemings,  without  some  note  of  the 
fact  being  found  in  the  archives  of  the  Manor.  Failing  this,  the  most 
natural  conclusion  seems  to  be  that  they  are  Roman  or  very  early 
English. 

Last  year  I  was  lent  a  small  MS.  written  in  a  last 
century  hand  entitled  "  Some  remarks  ab't  Coningston 
Boundary." 

The  Boundary  of  Coniston  1631. 
First  from  Yowdell  beck  falling  into  Thurston  water,  from  tlience 
ascending  to  height  of  Drycove  over  against  Greenburne  from  thence" 
to  height  between  Leverswater  and  Greenburne ;  and  so  by  the  head 
of  Greenburne  and  so  descending  by  the  tarn  of  Gaitswater  aforesaid 
to  a  little  river  in  Torver  and  so  descending  by  the  saide  river  to  the 
Land  of  Torver,  and  so  by  the  said  river  between  Brackenbarrow  and 
little  Ayrey  descending  into  Thurston  water,  and  so  by  Thurston 
water  to  Yowdell  beck  falling  into  Thurston  water  aforesaid. 

Amongst  other  notes  on  the  same  subject  was  the 
following  : 

Sept.  3,  16S8. 
Memorandum  That  Sir  Dan'  Fleming  Knight  lord  of  the  said  manor 
of  Coningston  within  written  did  ye  day  and  year  above  said  ride  this 
boundary  from  Coningston  alias  Thurston  water  unto  the  height  of 
Drycoves  over  ag'st  Greenburnes  as  within  mentioned  he  being 
accompanied  with  all  those  whose  names  are  here  under  written  and 
with  many  other  persons,  and  it  being  not  easily  possible  for  horse- 
men from  ye  height  of  Drycoves  aforesaid  by  ye  lile  wall  to  ye  height 
between  Laverswater  and  Greenburne  and  so  to  ye  head  of  Green- 
burne according  to  ye  boundary  aforesaid  the  said  lord  appointed 
Adam  F'leming  bailiff  of  the  said  manor  with  other  persons  whose 
names  are  here  writ  under  his  and  who  were  footmen  to  walk  ye 
same  and  then  to  proceed  no  further  in  this  boundary  by  reason  of  ye 
illnei:s  of  ye  day. 

Adam  Fleming's  bailiff's  mark.    X 

D  Fleming 

R  Fleming 

H   F'leming 

"  The  illness  of  the  day,"  shows  that  Coniston  200 
3'ears  ago,  sometimes  experienced  what  is  now  proverbial 

as 


CONISTON    HALL.  447 

as  Lake  District  weather.  It  would  also  seem  by  "  Adam 
Fleming's  bailiff's  mark  X  "  that  the  bailiff  of  the  manor 
was  unable  even  to  sign  his  name. 

This  Sir  Daniel  Fleming  was  the  antiquary,  who  aban- 
doned Coniston  for  Rydal,  and  who  would  then  be  55 
years  of  age. 

In  June  this  year,  1887,  this  ancient  custom  of  boundary 
riding  was  revived  after  a  lapse  of  over  30  years,  and 
numbers  of  people  assembled  to  witness  the  ceremony. 
A  little  boy  10  years  old,  vvalked  from  Little  Langdale,  and, 
accompanied  by  his  twin  sister,  carried  a  large  flag  bearing 
the  Le  Fleming  arms,  nearly  the  whole  way  round,  about 
16  miles,  which  considering  the  heat  of  the  weather,  and 
the  extreme  roughness  of  the  walk,  speaks  well  for  the 
hardihood  of  the  youngsters  in  these  parts. 


(448) 


Art.  XXXIII. — SouietJii)!^'  about  The  Reycross  on  Stainmore. 

By  the  Rev.  Thomas  Lees,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 
Read  at  Reycross,  jfuly  8tJi,  1887. 

ON  a  ridge  of  the  Pennine  Range,  at  an  elevation  of 
1468  feet  above  the  sea  level,  a  short  distance  on  the 
Yorkshire  side  of  the  present  boundar}-  line  between  that 
county  and  Westmorland,  within  an  ancient  camp  of 
singular  shape  on  the  Roman  road  from  Bowes  to  Brough, 
one  of  the  roughest  and  most  exposed  situations  in  Eng- 
land, stand  the  remains  of  what  has  long  been  known  as 
Reycross.  Whatever  its  former  design  and  appearance 
may  have  been  we  see  nothing  now  but  a  roughly  squared 
pillar,  like  a  milestone  of  modern  days,  set  in  a  square 
base,  with  no  trace  of  carving  or  inscription  on  stem  or 
socket.  Mr.  Hylton  Longstaffe  in  his  "  Richmondshire," 
published  in  1852,  says  that  near  the  cross  "  is  a  weather 
worn  slab,  about  four  feet  long,  having  traces  of  a  human 
figure,  apparently  once  inlaid  with  some  precious  metal. 
A  conical  aperture  in  the  top  perhaps  contained  a  metal 
cross."     Of  these  no  vestige  now  remains. 

Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  Matthew  of  Westminster,  and 
Randal  Higden,  credit  Reycross  with  a  very  early  origin. 
They  state  that  during  the  latter  part  of  the  first  century 
(A.D.75),  in  the  time  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian,  Roderic, 
King  of  the  Picts,  coming  from  Scythia  (by  which  name 
these  writers  must  have  meant  Scandinavia)  with  a  great 
fleet,  and  arriving  in  the  north  of  Britain  called  Albania, 
began  to  ravage  the  country.  The  native  King  Marius, 
after  slaying  Roderic  in  battle,  set  up  this  stone  as  a 
memorial  of  his  victory,  with  the  inscription  marii 
vicTORi/i-: ;  and  the  country  around  was  from  that  day 
called  Westmorland.     William  of  Malmesbury  tells  us  that 

in 


REYCKOSS    ON    STAINMORE.  449 

in  his  time  there  was  a  stone  in  the  city  of  LugubaUia  or 
Carlisle  inscribed  Marii  \"ictorije,  and,  as  he  had  never 
heard  of  a  British  kinj;  so  named,  conjectures  that  the 
stone  might  have  been  brought  hither  by  stray  Cimbri 
when  driven  by  Marius  from  Italy! 

With  Camden,  Archbishop  Ussher  thinks  this  inscription 
was  probably  marti  victori.  Gruter  gives  examples  of 
such  inscriptions  in  his  "  Inscriptiones  Antiquse  "  ;  and 
according  to  Gough,  in  his  edition  of  Camden's  Britannia 
(iii.,  245),  an  altar  with  this  inscription  : 

MARTI    VICTORI 
COH.    III.    NERVIORVM 
PREFECT.    I.    CANINIVS 

was  in  the  south-west  end  of  the  well-house,  at  the  west 
end  of  the  station  at  Little  Chesters.  As  Ritson  (Annals, 
vol.  i.,  p.  78),  says,  this  "  though  now  lost,  may  be  fairly 
inferred  to  have  been  the  identical  altar  mentioned  by 
William  of  Malmesbury." 

Abp.  Ussher  in  his  "  Antiquities  "  quotes  an  old  writer 
who  asserts  the  inscription  on  the  stone  alluded  to  by 
Geoffrey  to  have  been 

Here  the  king  Westmer 
Slow  the  king  Rothynger. 

If  there  were  any  truth  in  this  statement  we  should  have 
not  merely  a  myth  but  a  miracle — an  inscription  written 
in  the  English  language  four  centuries  before  there  were 
any  English  in  Britain,  and  nearly  14  centuries  before  the 
English  themselves  wrote  or  spoke  in  that  fashion. 
In  the  Anglo  Saxon  Chronicle  we  find  : 

A.U.  584.  This  year  Ceawlin  and  Cutha  fought  against  the  Britons 
at  the  place  which  is  called  Fethan-lea,  and  there  was  Cutha  slain  ; 
and  Ceawlin  took  many  towns,  and  spoils  innumerable,  and  wrathful 
he  then  returned  to  his  own, 

Fordun 


450  REYCROSS   ON    STAINMORE. 

Fordun  in  his  Scotochronicon  (lib.  iii.  cc  28-29),  always 
anxious  for  the  ancient  military  valour  of  his  nation,  con- 
trives to  mix  up  Aidan,  King  of  Scots,  in  all  the  chief 
events  of  this  early  time.  He  makes  Aidan  appear  as  the 
ally  of  Maelgvvn,  King  of  Gvvynedd,  at  this  battle  of 
Fethan-leag,  and  of  Cadwallon  at  the  battle  of  Wodens- 
burgh,  when  Ceawlin  was  defeated.  Dr.  Guest,  late 
master  of  Gonville  and  Caius  College,  Cambridge,  in  his 
paper  on  the  "  English  Conquest  of  the  Severn  Valley," 
(Origines  Celticse,  vol.  ii.,  p.  285),  goes  on  to  say  : 

Unfortunately  for  the  zealous  Scotchman,  Maelgwn  died  nearl}'  forty 
years  before  the  battle  of  Fethan-leag,  and  Cadwallon  flourished  in 
the  seventh  instead  of  the  sixth  century.  According  to  Fordun  the 
battle  of  Fethan-leag  n'as  fought  at  Stancuiore  in  Westmorland.  The 
motive  which  led  him  to  fix  on  this  locality  is  an  obvious  one.  On 
Stanemore  is  the  '  Rie  Cross '  which  certain  Scotch  writers  maintain 
to  be  the  ancient  and  proper  limes  between  Scotland  and  England. 
It  was  accordingly  selected  as  a  suitable  place  for  a  meeting  between 
a  Scottish  king  and  the  invading  Southron. 

In  a  foot  note  the  learned  doctor  goes  on  to  say  : 

Ussher,  whose  great  demerit  is  the  deference  he  occasionally  shows 
to  our  historical  romancers,  after  describing  the  incidents  of  the 
battle  of  Feathan-leag  as  he  found  them  in  the  Chronicles  and 
Huntingdon,  quotes  Fordun  as  his  authority  for  fixing  the  locality  at 
Stanemore.  Ant.  c.  14.  Chalmers,  whose  great  object  is  to  bring 
his  Scotsmen  as  far  south  as  possible,  tells  us  that  '  coming  to  the  aid 
of  the  Cumbrian  Britons,  Aidan  defeated  the  Saxons  at  Fethan-lea, 
at  Stanemore,  in  584,'  and  he  gives  as  his  authority,  not  his  country- 
man Fordun,  but  Saxon  Chron.,  p.  22.,  Ussher's  Princ.  pp.  870,  1147, 
which  quotes  the  English  Chronicles. 

Dr.  Guest  then  goes  on  to  prove  that  the  battle  w^as  fought 
at  Faddiley,  in  Cheshire,  and  defends  this  conclusion 
against  Mr.  Wright  and  all  others. 

P>ut  had  Dr.  Cjuest  referred  himself  to  the  Scotochroni- 
con he  would  have  found  that  Fordun  makes  no  assertion 

whatever 


KEYCR0S8    ON    STAIN  MOKE.  451 

whatever  as  to  the  locality  cither  of  the  battle  of  F'ethan- 
leag  or  Wodensbury.  After  describing  the  latter  he  goes 
on  to  relate  how  S.  Coluinba  in  lona  at  the  very  time  of 
the  engagement  suddenly  called  his  minister  and  ordered 
him  to  ring  the  bell.  At  the  sound  the  brethren  hurried 
to  the  church.     Then  Columba  said  to  them, 

Now  let  us  earnestly  pray  for  King  Aydanus  and  his  people  ;  for  this 
very  hour  they  are  going  into  battle. 

After  a  short  interval  he  walked  out  of  the  church,  and 
looking  up  to  heaven  he  said, 

Now  the  barbarians  are  being  put  to  flight  ;  and  to  Aydanus,  unhappy 
though  he  otherwise  be,  yet  God  doth  grant  him  victory. 

Then  without  any  reference  to  the  battles  Fordun 
continues  : 

Now,  contemporaneously  with  S.  Columba  there  flourished  the  most 
blessed  Kentigern,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  a  man  of  wondrous  sanctity, 

and  a  worker  of  many  miracles The  utmost  boundary  of 

his  bishopric  southwards  was,  at  that  time,  as  it  ought  by  right  to  be 
now,  at  the  royal  cross  below  Stanemorc. 

Here  you  see  Fordun  is  not  referring  to  any  battle 
whatever,  but  to  the  ancient  boundaries  of  the  see  of 
Glasgow,  which  in  the  sixth  century  were  coincident  with 
those  of  the  kingdom  of  Strathclyde,  and  which  had  been 
encroached  upon  by  the  foundation  of  the  bishopric  of 
Carlisle.  Whence  then  arose  the  false  assertion  that 
Fordun  located  the  battle  of  Fethan-leag  at  Stanemore  ? 
This  question  I  think  I  have  solved.  Turning  to  Abp. 
Ussher's  "  Britannicarum  Ecclesiarum  Antiquitates," 
(edition  mdclxxxvii.  p.  296),  wc  tind  the  author,  after 
quoting  the  Chroniclers'  account  of  the  battle  of  FeaJianlea, 
goes  on  to  say  : 

Ad  annum  dlxxxiv.  cum  Saxonicis  Annalibus,  Ethelwerdus  et  Floren- 
tius  posterius  hoc  proelium  referunt;  quod  juxta  Moram  lapidcum  {id 

est 


452  KEYCROSS    ON    STAINMOKE. 

est  Stanemore  in  Wcstmorlandas  et  Kichmondiensis  Coiiiitatus  con- 
finiis)  Scotiis  Albiensibus  Aidano  et  Britonibus  Malgone  imperante 
commissum  fuisse  confinnat  Johannes  Fordonus  in  vScotichronico. 

Here  then  we  have  the  "  origo  mali."  Abp.  Ussher 
hastily  misreads  a  passage  in  the  Scotochronicon  (we  must 
remember  in  excuse  that  he  was  writing  history  from  an 
ecclesiastical  rather  than  from  a  civil  or  military  point  of 
view)  and  is  copied  and  quoted  by  Chalmers  ;  and  both 
draw  down  on  themselves  the  wrath  of  the  Master  of 
Caius,  who  did  not  himself  take  the  trouble  to  see  whether 
poor  John  Fordun  had  really  made  any  such  assertion. 
Had  he  done  so  he  might  have  saved  himself  the  labour 
of  confuting  what  Fordun  had  never  said. 

But  though  neither  the  victory  of  King  Marius  nor  the 
battles  of  Fethan-leag  and  Wodensburgh,  may  have  been 
fought  here,  yet  I  think,  with  the  late  Father  Haigh  in 
his  Anglo-Saxon  Sagas  (ch.  6),  that  there  is  a  solid 
foundation  for  the  ancient  tradition  of  the  people  here- 
abouts as  to  a  great  conflict  on  this  spot.  When  the  C. 
and  W.  A.  and  A.  S.  visited  this  place  on  August  18,  1880, 
I  spoke  on  this  subject  and  shall  now  repeat  what  I  tken 
said  : 

Autiientic  history  tells  ua  nothing  about  this  encounter,  which  seems 
to  have  taken  place  during  the  interval  of  time  between  the  Roman 
abdication  and  the  English  conquest  of  this  district,  about  which  we 
have  very  slight  record.  So  far  as  my  knowledge  extends  the  only 
account  of  this  battle  of  Stainmoor  is  found  in  the  story  of  '  Piorn 
Childe  and  Maiden  Rimnild,"  printed  by  Ritson,  in  the  third  volume 
of  his  '  Metrical  Romances,'  from  the  Auchinleck  MSS.  in  the  library 
of  the  Faculty  of  Advocates,  Edinburgh.  Though  the  poem  is  of  the 
14th  century,  yet  we  may  conclude  that  it  embodies  a  much  older 
story,  for  Celtic  names  are  given  to  the  Britons  and  Irish,  and  Eng. 
lish  names  to  the  Angles.  I  may  also  be  allowed  to  observe,  by  the 
v/ay,  that  as  this  ridge  of  vStainmoor  was  the  water-shed  between  the 
eastern  and  western  seas,  so,  at  this  time,  it  was  the  great  boundary 
between  the  Christian  liritons  on  the  west,  and  the  heathen  Angles 
on  the  east.     The  story  is  brielly  this  : — About  the  middle  of  the  5th 

century 


KEYCKUSb    ON    STAINMORB.  433 

century  an  Angle  prince  named  Hatheolf,  had  established  himself  in 
North  Yorkshire.  Afier  repelling,  at  Alerton  Moor,  a  Danish 
incursion,  Hatheolf  held  a  feast  at  Pickering;  and  there,  on  Whit- 
Sunday,  news  was  brought  to  him  that  three  kings,  Ferwell,  Winwald, 
and  Malkan,  had  landed  from  Ireland  and  ravaged  Westmorland. 
The  names  Ferwell  and  Malkan,  you  will  observe,  are  Celtic.  Win- 
wald was  apparently  an  Angle  in  league  with  the  Irish.  Ilathcoli 
immediately  marched  to  meet  the  invaders,  and  a  great  battle  took 
place  on  Stainmoor,  in  which  Ferwell  and  Winwald  perished  with  six 
thousand  men  of  both  armies  ;  and  Hatheolf,  after  slaying  five 
thousand  men  with  his  own  hand,  was  beaten  down  with  stones  by 
the  Irish,  and  stabbed  by  King  Malkan.  Malkan  himself  returned  to 
Ireland  svith  but  thirteen  of  his  men  surviving,  and  was  afterwards 
slain  at  the  battle  of  Yolkil  by  Horn  the  son  of  Hatheolf.  Besides 
the  local  tradition  it  is  possible  that  we  have  another  piece  of 
evidence  as  to  the  Irish  invasion,  in  the  name  of  Melkinthorpe,  a 
township  in  Lowther  parish,  about  ^-h  miles  south-east  of  Penrith. 
The  Irish  king  may  have  made  Melkinthorpe  his  halting-place  on  his 
way  to  and  from  Stainmoor,  and  the  memorial  of  the  event  have  been 
thus  embodied  in  the  place-name. 

Through  these  obscure  mists  which,  Hke  the  thick  fogs 
which  so  often  enshroud  the  place  itself,  veil  the  history 
of  this  spot,  we  seem  at  length  to  discern  what  may  be  a 
gleam  of  light.  Raphael  Holinshed,  one  of  the  very 
latest  of  our  English  chroniclers,  whose  great  work 
appeared  first  in  1577,  accounts  for  the  existence  of  Rey- 
cross  in  this  way.  He  says  that  William  the  Conqueror 
and  Malcolm  Ring  of  Scots  met  near  here  in  arms  and 
entered  on  a  treat}*  of  peace,  the  conditions  of  which 
were  : 

That  Malcolme  should  enjoy  that  part  of  Northumberland  which  lies 
between  Tweed,  Cumberland,  and  Stainmore,  and  doo  homage  to  the 
King  of  England  for  the  same.  In  the  midst  of  Stainmore  there 
shall  be  a  cross  set  up,  with  the  Kinge  of  England's  image  on  the  one 
side,  and  the  Kinge  of  Scotland's  on  the  other,  to  signify  that  one  is 
to  march  to  England,  and  the  other  to  Scotland.  This  was  called 
the  Roi-cross  ;  that  is  the  Cross  of  the  Kings. 

Now  this  story  is  not  found,  as  far  as  1  know,  in  any 
old  English  Chronicle,  but   in  that  of  Hector  Boece,  who 

published 


454  KEYCROSS    ON    STAINMORE. 

published  his  "  Scotorum  Historise  "  about  half-a-century 
before  HoHngshed's  Chronicle.  The  early  English  Chroni- 
cles with  one  voice  declare  that  this  meeting  took  place 
within  Scotland,  which  then  meant  the  country  north  of 
the  Forth.  Florence  of  Worcester,  Ingulf,  Gaimar  (who 
calls  the  place  Alberni),  the  trustworthy  Simeon  of 
Durham,  the  Melrose  Chronicler,  and  Peter  Langtoft,  all 
state  that  William  the  Conqueror  and  Malcolm  met  at 
"  Abernethy,"  in  the  county  and  7  miles  S.E.  of  Perth — 
a  most  likely  place,  as  it  had  been  formerly  the  capital  of 
the  Picts ;  and  to  this  day  is  most  interesting  on  account 
of  its  famous  round  tower  and  other  extensive  remains. 
Wyntown,  the  Scottish  Chronicler,  writing  a  century 
before  Boece,  declares  distinctly  : 

A  thowsand  twa  and  seventy  yhere 
Wyllame  Bastard  wyth  hys  powere 
In  Scotland  come,  and  wastyd  sj'ne, 
And  rade  al  throwcht  till  Abbyrnethyne. 

We  have  therefore,  I  fear,  to  abandon  this  long-credited 
story  of  the  meeting  between  the  Conqueror  and  Malcolm 
at  this  place.  The  feeling  which  prompted  Boece  to  place 
the  interview  here  was  probably  the  same  which  induced 
a  later  Scottish  historian  to  move  the  district  of  Lothian 
to  the  neighbourhood  of  Leeds  ! 

It  is  by  no  means  impossible  that  two  kings  did  in  by- 
gone days  meet  on  Stainmoor;  but  who  they  were,  and 
when  they  met,  we  have  no  available  evidence  now  to 
show. 

The  earliest  authentic  record,  I  believe,  we  have  of  the 
Reycross  is  in  the  Chronicle  of  Lanercost  under  the  year 
1258,  when  John  de  Cheham,  an  Englishman,  who  had 
succeeded  William  de  Bondyngton  as  Bichop  of  Glasgow, 

obtcndebat  jus  antiquum  in  partes  Westmorlandiie  in  pracjudicium 
Karliolensis  ecclesiie,  dicens  usque  ad  Rer  Cros  in  Staynmor  ad 
ditecesem  suam  pertinere, 

and 


REYCROSS    ON    STAINMORE.  455 

and  started  on  a  journe}^  to  Rome  to  prefer  his  claim  to 
the  Pope,  but  died  on  the  way. 

Camden  adopts  Holinshed  and  Boece's  story,  and  also 
connects  the  Cross  with  the  Brandreth  Stone  near  Tebay, 
considering  both  as  mere-stones  marking  the  boundary 
between  England  and  Scotland.  Describing  the  West- 
morland course  of  tl'>e  Lunc,  he  or  Bishop  Gibson,  his 
editor,  says  : 

It  runs  down  a  field  call'd  Gallaber,  where  stands  a  red  stone  (Brand- 
reth Stone,  margin),  about  an  ell  high,  with  two  crosses  cut  deep  on 
one  side.  The  tradition  among  the  inhabitants  is  that  formerly  it 
was  the  Mere-stone  between  the  English  and  Scots.  How  true  it 
may  be  I  dare  not  affirm,  but  shall  only  observe  that  it  is  about  the 
same  distance  from  Scotland  that  Rerecross  upon  Stanemore  is,  and 
to  what  end  that  was  erected  hath  been  already  observed.  (Gibson's 
Camden,  Vol.  ii.,  p.  987). 

The  remains  of  another  ancient  cross  called  Hollow  Mill 
Cross,  stand  just  within  the  Yorkshire  boundary  on  the 
road  from  Kirkby  Stephen  by  Nateby  to  Birkdale.  This 
may  well  be  connected  with  Reycross  and  the  Brandreth 
stone  as  a  mere-stone. 

The  natives  of  Stainmore  have  a  tradition  that  once 
upon  a  time  a  very  stately  royal  funeral,  that  of  a  queen, 
rested  at  Reycross.  This,  I  believe,  to  be  a  reminiscence 
of  the  funeral  of  Edward  L  He  died  at  Burgh-by-Sands, 
July  7th,  1307;  and  his  body  was  removed  from  thence  to 
Carlisle,  where  it  was  prepared  for  transfer  to  Westminster. 
Then,  the  Lanercost  Chronicle  tells  us  that  after  receiving 
the  homage  of  the  English  leaders  there  assembled,  the 
new  king,  with  Antony  Beck,  Bishop  of  Durham,  who  had 
just  been  created  by  the  Pope  Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  the 
English  chieftains  and  a  great  crowd  of  seculars  and 
legulars,  accompanied  the  royal  corpse  some  way  on  its 
journey  southwards,  large  alms  in  money  and  wax  being 
bestowed  on  the  churches  by  which  the  procession  passed, 

and 


456  REYCROSS    ON    STAINMORE. 

and  especially  where  it  rested  at  night.  That  it  must 
have  travelled  over  Stainmore  we  know  from  a  letter,  first 
published  by  Sir  Harris  Nicolas  in  his  Chronology  of 
History,  written  by  one  of  his  retainers  to  Hugh,  Baron 
Neville,  which  informs  us  that  the  cortege  was  at  Rich- 
mond, on  the  Saturday  next  before  "  la  goule  Daust  "  (i.e., 
August  ist).  I  think  we  may  safely  conclude  that  in  the 
popular  mind  a  confusion  has  arisen  between  the  funeral 
of  the  king  and  that  of  his  loved  first  consort  Queen 
Eleanor. 

General  Roy,  in  his  magnificent  work  on  Military 
Antiquities,  gives  a  plan  of  the  camp  and  marks  distinctly 
the  position  of  the  Cross,  and  writes  : 

Reycross  stands  within  the  camp,  by  the  edge  of  the  road,  and  seems 
to  have  been  a  Roman  milestone,  having  a  fine  square  tumulus 
fronting  it,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  way  ; 

and  on  pages  109  and  no  the  General  repeats  the  idea, 
and  gives  other  instances.  Dr.  Guest,  one  of  England's 
most  learned  antiquaries,  in  his  Origines  Celticae  (Vol.  ii., 
p.  107),  adopts  the  same  notion,  and  also  gives  an 
interesting  list  of  other  examples.  With  such  authorities 
to  support  us  we  may,  I  think,  come  to  this  conclusion 
that  the  Cross  was  originally  a  milestone  on  the  great 
Roman  road  to  the  North  ;  and  that  after  the  Romans 
quitted  the  country  it  served  (in  consequence  of  its  position 
on  the  natural  boundary)  in  after  times  as  the  military  and 
political  boundary  between  the  two  kingdoms,  as  the 
Solway  Firth  does  now. 

When  we  stand  to-day  on  this  storm-bleached  height, 
contemplating  this  venerable  fragment  of  the  Sign  of  our 
Redemption,  with  nothing  to  disturb  us  but  the  whistle  of 
the  wind,  the  shrill  shriek  of  the  curlew,  and  the  timid 
bleat  of  the  mountain  sheep,  our  minds  naturally  revert 
to  the  very  different  scenes  this  place  has  witnessed — the 
march  of  Roman  legions,  the  bitter  internecine  contests 

of 


KliYCKUSS    ON    STAINMORL.  457 

of  bavage  tribal  wars,  the  proud  mail-clad  array  olmcdiccval 
armies  waging  wars  of  mutual  reprisal  ;  and  when  coming 
down  to  later  times  we  think  of  the  midnight  forays  of  the 
moss-troopers,  and  the  time  of  which  Sir  Walter  Scott 
sings  when 

.     .     the  best  of  our  nobles  his  bonnet  will  vail, 
Who  at  Rere  Cross  on  Stanmore  meets  Allen-a-dale. 

how  grateful  we  must  feel  that  now  our  fatherland  is  but 
one  nation. 

The  land  that  freemen  till, 


A  land  of  settled  government, 
A  land  of  just  and  old  renown, 
Where  Freedom  slowly  broadens  down 

From  precedent  to  precedent. 


APPENDIX. 

Speed  in  his  "  Historie  of  Great  Britaine,"  A.D.  162J,  p.  442  tells 
the  same  story  as  Camden,  Holinshed,  and  Boece.  As  the  members 
of  our  Societj'  may  like  to  see  his  account,  I  here  give  it  in  full. 

"  But  Malcolme  wisely  considering  the  event  of  v;arre,  and  that  ye 
occasion  thereof  was  not  for  owne  subjects,  but  for  a  sort  of  forraine 
fugitives,  beganne  to  thinkc,  that  the  wrongs  therein  done  to  another 
hee  could  hardly  brooke  himself  and  sent  therefore  to 
Gemeticensis.       ^Viliiam  proffers  of  peace  ;  whereunto   lastly  the  Eng- 
lish King  inclined,  and  hostages  delivered  upon  further 
Conferences,  what  time  (as  I  take  iti  upon   Stane-more.  not  far  from 
an  homely  hostilrie  called  the  Spittle,  a  Stone  Crosse  (on  the  one  side 
of  whose   shaft   stood  the  picture,    and  armes  of  the 
Hector  Boetius    ^^-^^^^   ^^  England,  and  on   the  other   the  Image  and 

armes  of  the  King  and  Kingdome  of  Scotland,  upon  that  occasion 
called  the  Roi-crosse)  was  erected  to  shew  the  Limits 
that  lb  Kings  ^^  either  Kingdome  ;  some  mines  of  which  meere- 
marke  are  yet  appearing :  for  King  William  granting 
Cumberland  unto  Malcolme  to  hold  the  same  from  him,  conditionallv 
that  the  Scots  should  not  attempt  anything  prejudiciall  to  the  Crowne 
of  England  (for  which  King  Malcolme  did  him  homage,  saith  Hector 
Boetius  the  Scottish  writer)  and  the  English  being  reconciled  to  his 
fauour,  after  he  had  built  the  Castle  of  Durham,  returned  cleared 
from  all  Northern  troubles." 


45^ 


Art.  XXXIV. — Cross  Fragment  at  St.  Michael's  Church, 
Workington.  By  Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.,  Vicar 
of  Aspatria. 

Read  at  Kirkhy  Stephen,  July  yth,  1887. 

ON  January  24th  of  this  year  Mr.  W.  L.  Fletcher  of 
Stoneleigh,  Workington,  went  down  to  the  parish 
church  of  St.  Michael  to  examine  the  walls  and  debris 
after  the  havoc  made  by  the  fire  which  had  destroyed  all 
the  church,  save  the  tower.  On  the  north  side  of  the 
arched  eastern  entrance,  leading  from  the  nave  into  the 
tower,  and  three  and  a  half  feet  above  the  ground,  Mr. 
Fletcher  discovered  a  sculptured  stone  which  he  rightly 
judged  to  be  a  portion  of  an  old  cross  shaft.  On  February 
8th,  in  company  with  Mr.  Fletcher,  I  visited  the  relic ;  we 
removed  the  plaster  from  the  face  of  the  stone  and  took  a 
rubbing  and  a  photograph  of  the  precious  treasure.* 

The  presence  of  this  cross  fragment,  used  as  building 
material  in  the  old  tower,  connects  St.  Michael's  church  of 
the  present  day  with  that  early  British  church  which 
spread  Christianity  amongst  the  mixed  peoples  who  in- 
habited this  district  in  the  seventh  century,  and  which 
succeeded  even  earlier  missionary  labour  than  even  that 
of  the  age  of  Holy  Cuthbert  himself. 

The  type  of  cross  is  not  the  very  earliest,  but  suggests 
its  erection  between  the  seventh  and  the  end  of  the  ninth 
centuries,  and  before  the  Norsemen  or  Danes  had  greatly 
devastated  these  coasts  or  firmly  planted  themselves  here. 
It  is  very  probable  that  other  fragments  of  crosses  are  hid 


*  My  drawing'  is  from  this  photonraph  Uindly  taken  for  the  purpose  by  my 
friend  Mr.  I'letchcr,  for  whose  invaluable  assistance  1  am  truly  grateful,  and  to 
whom  this  Society  is  greatly  indebted,  as  my  other  drawings  in  this  volume  could 
hardly  have  been  produced  without  his  industrious  co-operation. 

within 


CROSS    FRAGMENT    AT    WORKINGTON.  459 

within  the  masonry  of  the  old  tower,  or  in  the  walls  of  the 
church  itself.  If  such  should  be  uncovered  during  the 
rebuilding  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  careful  examinations  and 
reproductions  will  be  made  in  order  that  anything  of 
historic  value  may  be  saved  from  destruction,  as  there  is 
reason  to  believe  that  a  large  number  of  early  crosses 
were  broken  up  and  used  as  building  material  for  the 
several  churches  which  have  stood  on  the  same  site. 

The  fragment  is  17  in.  long  by  9  in.  broad  at  the 
broadest  part,  rudely  worked  with  a  broad  chisel  into 
triple  bands  forming  most  graceful  curves  and  reminding 
one  very  forcibly  of  delicate  basket  work  ;  a  single  band 
appears  in  two  places  to  hold   back  the  triple  withes. 

The  part  of  the  tower  in  which  this  carved  sandstone 
block  is  built  is,  I  believe,  of  late  Norman  date,  and  the 
stone  itself  had  become  damaged  by  long  (centuries)  ex- 
posure before  it  was  built  into  the  tower  wall  and  hence- 
forward sheltered  from  the  weather.  A  crumbling  away, 
the  work  of  ages,  may  be  noticed  beneath  the  lime  when 
removed. 

I  should  assign  this  cross  to  the  period  of  the  Cuthbert 
pilgrimage,  and  take  it  as  a  witness  to  the  presence  of  the 
later  Lindisfarne  brethren  who  would  be  welcome  at 
Brigham,  Bridekirk,  Plumbland,  Aspatria,  Dearham, 
Crosscanonby,  &c.,  where  the  old  Christian  inhabitants 
remained  who  had  traditions  then  of  more  than  two  hun- 
dred years  concerning  Bishop  Kentigern,  and  still  older 
traditions  of  St.  Ninian  and  St.  Patrick,  for  each  of  these 
places  had  at  that  date  been  an  old  mission  centre  and 
at  each  there  still  remain  fragments  of  the  very  earliest 
type  of  white  sandstone  cross. 

In  the  year  883  the  bearers  of  the  body  of  St.  Cuthbert 
arrived  at  Chester-le-street,  and  St.  Cuthbert's  body  rested 
there  113  years.  At  the  last  restoration  of  the  chancel  of 
the  church  at  Chester-le-street  a  portion  of  a  sculptured 
cross,  bearing  work  of  a  similar  character  with  this  now 

found 


460  CROSS    FRAGMENT   AT   WORKINGTON. 

found  at  Workington,  was  taken  out  of  the  wall.  The 
Chester-le-street  cross,  like  the  one  erected  at  Derwent 
mouth,  having  been  used  by  the  masons  of  a  later  age 
as  merely  building  stone. 

I  find  that  Professor  Stephens  assigns  this  Chester-le- 
street  cross  to  the  eighth  century. 


TLUMB.  LAN  D, 


Cios^oR.-rH      feTc:. 


C«OSF=0KTM^TC: 


461 


Art.  XXXV. — Notes  on  some  Coped  pre-Norumn  Tombstones 
at  Aspatria,  Lowtlier,  Cross  Canonby,  and  Plwnbland.  P>y 
the  Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.,  Vicar  of  Aspatria. 

Read  at  Ulvcrston,  Sept.  13,  1887. 

WE  know  that  various  races  in  different  parts  of  the 
world  have  constructed  their  graves  on  the  model 
of  their  houses, the  idea  underlying  this  kind  of  burial 
being  that  the  dead  live  in  these  places  in  exactly  the 
same  way  as  the  living  live  in  their  own  houses,  hence 
chamber  tombs  found  in  barrows  or  tumuli  not  only  all 
over  Europe,  but  very  largely  in  the  East.  When,  how- 
ever, cremation  was  practised,  a  full-sized  house  was 
unnecessarily  large,  and  models  in  pottery*  were  sometimes 
used. 

Several  hut-urns  found  in  Germany  are  described  by  Dr. 
Birch  in  his  work  on  antient  pottery,  as  being  distinctly 
Teutonic,  and  occuring  in  sepulchres  of  the  period  when 
bronze  weapons  were  used,  and  before  the  predominance 
of  Roman  Art.  Similar  hut-urns  were  discovered  in  Italy 
in  1817,  in  an  ancient  cemetery  in  the  Commune  of  Marino 
(Province  of  Rome).  Some  of  these  urns  are  models  of 
circular  huts,  with  square  openings  in  the  sides  as  doors 
through  which  the  ashes  of  the  dead  were  introduced,  and 
having  imitations  of  thatched  roofs.  Some  shew  the 
beams  which  support  the  roof  and  the  joists,  one  has  six 
columns  on  each  side  adhering  to  the  walls,  and  small 
windows  projecting  out  of  the  thatched  roof.  The  roof  of 
one  is  ornamented  with  devices  of  a  modified  key  pattern. 
Some  large  urns  of  thick  pottery  found  with  these  hut- 
urns  are  beautified  with  the  same  pattern,  as  well  as  with 
a  series  of  svastikas  enclosed  in  panels. 


*  Hut-l'rns,  Arcliaeoloiria.  vol.  xlii..  p.  oq.     Sir  )ohn  Liibbork,  Hart. 

In 


462  NOTES   ON    COPED    PRE-NORMAN   TOMBSTONES. 

In  the  York  Museum  are  several  Roman  tombs  roofed 
with  tiles.*  One  is  "  formed  of  roof-tiles  [tegulce]  and 
ridge-tiles  {imbrices),  which  bear  the  impress  of  the  vic- 
torious sixth  Legion, t  LEG.  VL  VL" 

The  tiles  of  another  tomb  are  "  stamped  LEG.  IX. 
HISP.,  so  that  it  is  probable  that  the  tomb  covered  a 
soldier  of  the  ninth,  or  Spanish  Legion."  This  tomb  is 
set  up  in  the  exact  form  of  a  tiled  house-roof,  with  the 
curved  ridge-tiles  placed  upon  the  angle  formed  b}'  the  two 
side  roof-tiles.     It  is  No.  71  in  the  handbook. 

Coped  Tombs,  commonly  called  Saxon  Hog-backs,  follow 
the  idea  of  the  grave  being  the  Home  of  the  Dead.  I  here 
give  four  valuable  specimens  ;  their  existence  has  hitherto 
been  known  only  to  a  few,  and  they  have  never  before 
been  figured.  I  desire  to  thank  Mr.  W.  L.  Fletcher,  of 
Stoneleigh,  Workington,  for  the  very  great  help  he  has 
afforded  me,  in  obtaining,  at  much  cost  and  trouble  to  him- 
self, most  excellent  photographs  without  which  I  should 
not  have  been  able  to  reproduce  the  work  and  thought  of 
the  long  forgotten  past  in  a  manner  at  all  worthy  of  the 
great  beauty  and  elegance  of  the  sculptures  themselves. 
No.  I,  is  a  very  massive  red  sandstone  "  hog-back  "  at 
Cross  Cannonby,  near  Maryport.  The  curve  of  the  tomb 
roof  springs  from  an  enlargement  at  either  end  of  the 
stone.  The  whole  surface  of  this  roof  is  covered  with  the 
same  pattern  as  that  on  the  lower  part  of  the  crosses  at 
Gosforth  and  Dearham,  and  which  represents  the  inter- 
twining of  the  branches  of  the  world  tree  Yggdrasil  of 
Scandinavian  thought.  The  home  of  the  dead,  where 
Helia  holds  sway,  is  deep  down  in  the  earth  beneath  a 
root  of  Yggdrasil.    Above  ground  and  beneath  the  rainbow- 


*  Handbook  to  York  Museum,  p.  6,  Gi. 

I  desire  to  thank  Mr.  H.  M.  Platnauer,  of  the  York  Museum,  for  his  great 
kindness  in  sending  me  sketches  of  all  the  Roman  Tiled  Tombs  in  the  Museum 
with  measurements. 

•f  Engraved  in  Llewellyn  Jewitt's  Grave  Mounds. 

We 


OTES    ON    COPED     PKE-NORMAN    TOMBSTONES.  463 

arch  the  Tree  of  Life  tills  every  space,  and  beyond  is  the 
bright  home  of  the  Blessed.  There  are  Midgard  and 
Asgard,  the  world  home,  where  life's  battles  are  fought, 
life's  deeds  done,  and  the  home  of  the  Holy  ones.  The 
uncarved  surface  on  the  lower  portion  of  the  stone  would 
be  nearly  hidden  by  vegetation,  only  the  roof  over  the  dead 
— as  in  the  case  of  a  Rom.an  tiled  tomb  cover — would 
remain  above  ground,  and  at  either  end  a  sculptured  cross 
such  as  the  one  now  standing  in  Dearham  churchyard, 
carved  with  the  identical  device.  The  gables  in  this  case 
are  quite  plain  as  though  the  intention  had  been  to  com- 
plete the  monument  by  erecting  crosses  at  the  head  and 
the  feet.  The  faith  of  the  dead  man  was  Christian.  The 
ornament  is  one  continous  symbolism  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  Holy  Trinity,  see  figs.  v.  vi.  vii.  The  prevalent 
thought  of  the  community  appealed  to  is  Northern  or 
Scandinavian. 

The  arch  of  heaven  descends  at  the  horizon  into  Hel's 
dark  home, — the  jaws  of  death — the  grave.  It  was  down 
the  rainbow  that  Odin  rode  when  he  sought  knowledge 
concerning  the  fate  of  Baldr :  thither  has  the  dead  man 
been  borne  by  those  messengers  who  do  the  bidding  of 
Helia  ;  but  for  the  Christian  there  is  deliverance  from  "  the 
cords  of  Hel  "  for  the  roots  of  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  the 
presence  of  the  Trinity  of  God,  penetrate  even  into  the 
Nethermost  world — Nifl-hel — as  well  as  reaching  upwards 
to  the  Gods'  seat — paradise.  When  che  crosses  stood  at 
head  and  foot,  this  was  an  imposing  and  instructive  Chris- 
tian monument  speaking  plainly  to  all  who  looked  upon  it. 
At  Heysham,  Lancashire,  the  curved  surface  of  the  "hog- 
back" descends  at  each  end  into  the  huge  jaws  of  a 
widely  gaping  monster,  whose  great  eyes  and  "  slaughter 
craving  throat  "  and  head  form  the  enlargement  of  the 
ends  of  the  stone.  The  body  and  legs  of  the  beast  are 
quite  insignificant.  It  is  iht  jaws  of  Hel,  Hell-muth  which 
is  portrayed. 

It 


464  NOTES    OiN    COPED    PKE-NOKMAN    TOMDbTONES. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  Rev.  T.  Lees,  F.S.A.,  will 
make  public  the  results  of  his  work  upon  the  scenes 
portrayed  on  the  face  of  this  Heysham  stone,  as  his 
learned  research  and  knowledge  of  mediaival  thought  will 
be  sure  to  throw  new  light  upon  a  neglected  subject  of 
very  deep  interest  and  educational  as  well  as  historic 
value. 

The  Cross  Canonby  Yggdrasil  "  hog-back  "  is  six  feet 
long  and  two  feet  high,  and  has  escaped  destruction 
possibly  by  reason  of  its  massiveness.  It  formerly  stood 
on  the  top  of  the  churchyard  wall  near  the  old  entrance. 
It  was  in  this  position  when  I  first  discovered  its  character 
in  1874.  It  now  lies  at  the  east  end  of  the  south  aisle. 
Over  the  south  door  of  the  church  another  massive  stone 
of  similar  character  does  duty  as  a  lintel.  The  Norman 
builders  have  thus  utilized  the  memorial  stone  of  their 
predecessors,  as  at  Bongate,  Appleby.* 

No.  II  and  III,  are  the  two  parts  of  one  red  sandstone 
shrine-shaped  tomb,  now  lying  under  the  ancient  yew  tree 
in  Plumbland  churchyard.  It  has  been  broken  in  two,  one 
part  (III)  was  cut  by  an  early  English  mason  into  a  very 
beautiful  impost  or  springer  for  an  arch,  with  honey  suckle 
moulded  ornament  beneath.  The  sides  were  roughly 
scabbled  to  make  a  firm  and  good  bed,  and  the  carved 
block  built  face  downwards  into  the  wall,  and  the  new  arch 
sprung  from  this  impost.  Hundreds  of  years  afterwards 
this  new  part  of  the  church  was  pulled  down  and  the  tell- 
tale sculpture  once  more  exposed  to  view. 

Place  the  circular  end — the  early  English  impost — III, 
next  the  broken  end  of  II,  and  it  will  seem  that  both  sides 
of  the  original  have  been  carved  in  a  similar  manner,  and 
that  both  ends  or  gables  were  ornamented  with  a  similar 
design.  IV  is  the  end  view  of  III,  and  shews  the  gable 
which  was  opposite  io  the  one  seen  in  II  before  the  stone 
was  broken. 

*  Aiilc,  p.  I  iS. 


NOTES    ON    COPED    PRE-NORMAN    ToMIiSTONES.  465 

We  have  here  enough  of  the  original  work  to  give  us  a 
clear  idea  of  the  intention.  The  whole  is  a  solid  minia- 
ture stone  house  with  carved  sides  or  upright  wall,  a  tiled 
roof,  and  ornamented  gable  ends.  I  saw  Roman  tiles,  the 
exact  shape  of  the  two  rows  distinctly  seen  on  both  sides 
of  this  roof,  taken  out  of  the  excavations  at  the  Roman 
baths  in  the  city  of  Bath  this  year.  The  ridge  has  been 
knocked  off  by  the  early  English  wallers  to  suit  their  work. 
It  was  not  hog-backed  or  curved  but  a  straight  ridge. 

The  reader  must  remember  that  II  and  III,  give  views 
of  the  two  sides  of  the  stone.  The  back  of  II  has  been 
scabbled  away  until  there  is  scarcely  any  of  the  original 
work  left,  but  the  other  half  of  the  stone  has  been  scabbled 
on  the  opposite  side,  and  thus  we  can  see  what  was  origin- 
ally carved  on  botli  sides.  I  thank  the  mediaeval  mason 
for  sparing  to  us,  though  unwittingly,  the  whole  design, 
as  well  as  for  his  own  very  perfect  and  beautiful  work. 

The  side  walls  of  this  grave-house  were  both  covered 
with  serpent  forms  plaitted  or  intertwined.  In  III  the 
head,  mouth  and  eye  of  the  creature  are  seen.  The  body 
is  divided  lengthwise,  into  one  central  broad  band  and  two 
outer  narrow  bands  by  lines  apparently  drilled  or  picked 
out  or  worked  with  a  pointed  tool. 

Here  is  the  Vala's  description  taken  from  the  Voluspa 
Strophe  42,  of  the  habitation  of  Helia,  the  goddess  of 
death,  born  of  Loki  and  Angrboda,  she  who  dwells 
"  beneath  the  gratings  of  the  dead." 

She  saw  a  hall  standing, 

far  from  the  sun, 

in  na-strond  ;'" 

its  doors  are  nortliivard  turned, 

venom-drops  fall 

in  through  its  apertures  : 

entwined  is  that  hall 

with  serpent's  backs. 


*  The  strand  or  shore  of  corpses. 

But 


466  NOTES    ON    COPED    PRE-NORMAN    TOMBSTONES. 

But  the  dead  man  here  has  hope  of  deliverance  by  the 
power  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  and  his  shrine-like  tomb  has 
its  j^able  ends  signed  with  the  Holy  symbol,  the  Triquetra. 
There  was  no  cross  set  up  at  the  head  or  foot  here.  The 
stone  was  intended  to  be  complete  in  itself,  and  the  sign 
of  the  Holy  Trinity  takes  the  place  of  the  cross.  This 
symbol  is  here  formed  of  a  single  broad  flat  band,  with 
lines  marking  a  triple  composition,  and  having  the  lower 
ends  in  one  case  (IV)  prolonged  and  ornamented  in  a 
peculiar  manner.  This  form  of  knot  reminds  one  of  the 
knots  by  which  in  one  of  the  illustrations  to  Caedmon's 
MSS.  Satan  is  bound  hands  and  feet  over  the  flames  of 
hell.     I  have  given  a  tracing  of  this  knot,  fig.  vii. 

No.  Vni  and  IX,  are  the  two  sides  of  an  elaborately 
carved  white  sandstone  ridged  and  roofed  house  shaped 
tomb  of  very  remarkable  character  at  Aspatria.  It  was 
brought  to  light  from  amongst  the  building  material  of  the 
old  church  which  was  pulled  down  when  the  present 
church  was  built  on  its  site.  The  fragment  measures 
forty-six  inches  in  length,  twenty-seven  inches  in  height, 
and  eight  inches  in  thickness. 

At  the  top  is  a  tall,  thin,  highly  decorated  ridge  three 
inches  thick,  having  two  zig-zag  flat  bands  worked  upon 
it,  standing  up  about  three  inches  from  the  roof  below. 
Then  comes,  on  a  curved  and  bulged  surface,  an  ornamented 
roof  with  recessed  work,  looking  like  two  rows  of  delicately 
moulded  tiles  richly  adorned  with  a  simple  Triquetra  on 
each  tile,  only  that  the  tiles  could  never  be  made  to  sit  on 
such  a  rounded  surface,  and,  moreover,  between  the  two 
rows  of  this  recessed  work  is  a  rounded  band  or  <iyme, 
with  a  narrow  flat  riband  twined  gracefully  round  it, 
plainly  intended  to  bind  down  and  hold  the  thatched  roof, 
with  its  decorations,  in  its  place.  Along  the  eaves  is  a 
broad  band  worked  with  a  kind  of  key  pattern. 

At  the  upper  sinister  corner   of  VIII,  and  the  dexter 
corner  of  IX,  under  the  ridge  and  upon  the  upper  row  of 

devices, 


NOTES    ON    COPED    PRE-NOKMAN    TOMBSTONES.         4G7 

devices,  there  is  a  raised  portion  and  traces  of  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  stone.  I  have  sometimes  thought  the  figure 
of  a  stag  could  be  seen. 

The  upright  sides  of  this  house  are  covered  with  inter- 
lacing flat  bands  on  one  side  (VIII),  and  the  walls  are 
strengthened  with  pilasters  highly  ornamented — there  has 
been  a  central  broad  pilaster  and  a  narrower  one  at  each 
end — one  end  has  been  broken  away — the  whole  of  this 
side  has  been  covered  with  work  done  with  a  narrow  or 
pointed  tool.  I  have  not  been  able  to  complete  the  whole 
design  on  account  of  weather  and  want  of  time  to  examine 
it  in  different  lights.  The  other  side  (IX)  has  suffered  by 
the  stone  having  split  off.  Sufficient  of  the  surface  remains 
to  shew  that  it  was  covered  with  knot  work  of  double 
strands.  The  broad  band  at  the  eaves  has  disappeared, 
but  sufficient  of  the  roof  and  tall  ridge  remains  to  shew 
that  both  sides  of  the  roof  were  of  like  design  though  the 
walls  differed  in  their  ornamentation.  I  give  a  figure  of 
the  Triquetra  as  it  appears  on  this  stone  and  on  the  Gos- 
forth  cross  (Fig.  VI.)  though  the  two  works  are  of  a  quite 
different  character. 

Nos.  X  and  XI  are  the  two  sides  of  a  coped  tomb 
found  by  me  at  Lowther,  Oct.  ist,  1886.  Red  sand- 
stone— length  2  ft.  6  in.  ;  height  i  ft.  6  in.  ;  thickness 
I  ft.  Coping  of  tiles,  partly  broken  away.  The  walls 
are  decorated  with  human  figures.  A  long  serpent  form 
coils  and  stretches  along  the  lower  portion  as  though 
a  survival  of  pagan  belief.  Sacred  symbols  (key  pattern 
— or  interlocking  S  shaped  pattern)  appear,  notably  on 
either  side  of  what  seems  to  be  the  central  figure  of  a 
group  (XI).  In  the  dexter  corner  of  each  drawing  will 
be  seen  a  figure  with  folded  hands  as  in  prayer.  The 
figure  to  the  right  in  the  upper  drawing  (X)  reclines  on  his 
right  elbow  and  appears  to  hold  a  ring.  The  designer  has 
been  content  to  give  one  arm  and  one  long  curled  lock 
to  each  of  the  three  figures  accompanying  the  one  who 

prays. 


468      NOTES    ON    COPED    PKE-NOKMAN    TOMBSTONES. 

prays.  Each  hand  is  pressed  to  the  breast.  In  the  lower 
drawing,  the  central  figure,  between  the  sacred  signs,  has 
full  flowing  locks  curling  over  the  shoulder  ;  each  figure 
has  hotli  arms  and  hands,  which  the  artist  has  made  out  of 
all  proportion  in  order  to  accommodate  his  space  and 
drawing.  I  think  there  may  have  been  a  fifth  figure.  Is 
it  the  descent  of  our  Lord  into  Hell  ? 

The  chief  figure  in  XI.  has  an  Eastern  look.  The 
limbs  of  the  figures  are  very  rudely  and  falsely  drawn,  b"ut 
the  faces  have  been  good  and  true.  The  stone  is  so  worn 
by  time  and  exposure  that  much  which  might  have  ex- 
plained the  intention  is  lost.  I  hope  that  Mr.  Lees  who 
was  present  at  the  finding  of  this  fragment  and  assisted 
me  to  take  rubbings  of  the  figures  will  be  able  to  identify 
the  scene  portrayed. 

We  pass  in  this  glance  at  four  so  called  Saxon  hogbacks 
through  many  phases  of  religious  thought  and  we  are 
brought  into  contact  with  the  manners  and  habits  of  life 
of  many  races.  In  imitating  the  home  of  the  living  as  a 
memorial  of  the  dead  it  was  but  natural  that  the  Church 
House  should  be  taken  as  the  model,  and  it  may  be  that 
the  mud  and  wattle-woven  shrine,  done  in  stone,  with  its 
carefully  constructed  roof  and  graceful  ridge,  all  richly 
decorated  and  covered  with  the  sacred  sign  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  is  nothing  less  than  a  survival  and  may  indeed 
carry  us  back  to  a  time  before  there  was  any  stone  church 
on  these  shores.  He  for  whom  such  a  tomb  was  not  too 
costly  must  indeed  have  been  noble  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  reared  this  monument.  In  Aspatria  Churchyard  are 
several  fragments  of  crosses  unknown  to  the  general  anti- 
quary or  the  books,  and  one  of  them,  a  white  stone  cross, 
certainly  dates  back  beyond  anything  on  this  side  of  St. 
Kentigern  or  possibly  and  more  probably  St.  Ninian. 

There  is  no  trace  of  pagandom  in  this  wonderful  piece 
of  work. 

APPENDLX 


NOTES    ON    COPED    PKE-NORMAN    TOMBSTONES.        469 


APPENDIX  I. 

At  Plumbland  there  is  a  coped  stone  of  much  later  date  date  than 
the  one  given  here  (to  be  figured  at  some  future  time)  placed  upon 
the  churchyard  wall  near  the  gate  leading  into  the  Rectory  garden. 
Built  into  the  tower  wall  on  the  inside  I  have  found  a  fragment  of 
white  sandstone  spiral  sculpture  belonging,  as  I  think,  to  the  earlier 
missionary  labours. 

At  Aspatria  there  are  many  other  remains  of  the  greatest  interest, 
which  should  be  engraved  and  made  known,  for  the  value  of  the 
story  they  have  to  tell  about  the  early  days  of  Christianity  on  the  two 
shores  ol  the  Solway. 

At  Lowther  there  are  two  "  Hogbacks"  {in  situ)  six  feet  and  five  long 
— probably  not  sculptured — cope  about  eight  inches  deep — no  ridge 
tiles  or  enlarged  ends,  otherwise  of  the  Cross  Canonby  type.  A 
similar  "  Hogback  "  lies  in  Bridekirk  church  yard.  On  the  south  side 
of  Lowther  church,  in  a  solid  cross  socket  of  two  steps  above  ground 
(split)  stands  the  shaft  of  a  cross  cut  into  a  sun  dial  stem — sides 
chamfered. 

A  similar  cross  shaft  stands  in  the  churchyard  of  Hutton  in  the 
Forest,  Penrith.  I  found  a  carved  portion  of  it  walled  into  the  North 
side  of  the  church,  on  the  outside. 

The  thin  side  stones  of  the  "  Giant's  grave  "  at  Penrith  have  some- 
thing of  the  character,  though  not  the  ornamentation,  of  the  Aspatria 
stone  Vni.  and  IX.  I  have  lately  been  able  to  make  out  the  carving 
upon  the  cross  at  the  head  of  the  Giant's  grave,  and  I  find  that  no 
less  a  personage  than  the  Evil  One,  Loki  himself,  is  figured  upon  it 
— bound  as  usual.  This  sculpture  of  the  man  fiend  of  Northern 
thought  has  most  likely  given  rise  to  the  tradition  concerning  the 
"  Giant's  grave." 

The  Rev.  C.  H.  Parez,  H.  M.  Inspector  of  Schools,  has  sent  to 
me  a  very  good  photograph  of  the  Cross  at  Rockliff,  Carlisle,  which 
appears  to  be  of  such  a  character  and  to  have  such  ornamentation  as 
would  accompany  the  Aspatria  tombstone. 

I'gladly  take  this  opportunity  of  conveying  my  thanks  to  the  clergy 
of  the  parishes  here  named  for  their  kind  assistance  in  facilitating 
my  efforts  to  make  known  the  fragments  in  their  custody. 


APPENDIX 


470        NOTES   ON    COPED    PRE-NORMAN    TOMBSTONES. 
APPENDIX  II. 

HOGBACK    STONE    AT  LOWTHER,  BY  THE  REV.    THOMAS  LEES,  M.A.,  F.S.A. 

In  his  exposition  of  the  Gosforth  Cross  Mr.  Calverley  has  shown 
how  the  designer  of  that  venerable  monument  had  embodied  thereon 
ideas  drawn  from  Scandinavian  mjthology  and  the  Apocryphal  Gos- 
pels. When  on  its  discovery  I  watched  Mr.  Calverley  graduallj'  work 
off  the  rubbing  of  the  Lowther  Stone,  it  struck  me  forcibly  that  its 
design  was  derived  from  one  of  the  same  sources — the  Gospel  of 
Nicodemus.  From  the  first  I  had  accepted  the  suggestion  that  these 
monumental  hogback  stones,  shaped  like  houses,  or  the  mead-hall  of 
Valhala,  with  roofs  tegulated  after  the  Roman  fashion,  were  intended 
to  represent  the  Hell,  Hades,  unseen  and  enclosed  place.  Limbo, 
where  the  souls  of  the  departed  await  their  final  judgement,  and  the 
discovery  of  this  stone  seems  to  me  to  confirm  its  correctness.  I  take 
the  various  human  figures  to  represent  the  Fathers  of  Old  Testament 
History,  warded  by  Satan  and  Hades,  awaiting  in  Limbo  the  coming 
of  the  deliverer.  The  snakes  lying  in  front  of  the  figures  I  think 
represent  Satan  and  Hades  keeping  watch  on  their  charge. 

The  second  part  of  the  Gospel  of  Nicodemus,  (of  which  part  there 
are  three  various  forms,  one  in  Greek,  and  two  in  Latin),  contains  an 
account  of  our  Lord's  descent  to  the  unseen  world  to  preach  to  the 
spirits  in  prison.  It  represents  Karinus  and  Leucius,  two  of  those 
who  had  risen  with  Our  Lord,  going  into  Jerusalem  and  bearing 
testimony  before  Annas  and  Caiaphas  of  what  they  had  seen  in 
Hades,  They  declare  how  to  the  Fathers  of  the  Old  Testament, 
Adam,Seth,  Abraham,  David,  Enoch,  and  Elijah,  and  the  Prophets, 
John  Baptist  first  appears  and  discloses  to  them  how  he  had  baptized 
the  Lord,  and  still  as  His  forerunner,  has  descended  to  Hades  to 
announce  "that  the  rising  Son  of  God  is  close  at  hand  to  visit  us, 
coming  from  on  high  to  us  sitting  in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of 
death."  While  the  Patriarchs  are  exulting  at  the  news,  Satan  ordei's 
Hades  (who  is  here  personified)  to  prepare  to  take  charge  of  Jesus  as 
of  other  departed  souls  ;  but  Hades,  reminding  him  how  they  had  not 
been  able  to  retain  Lazarus  and  others  whom  the  Lord  had  raised  by 
His  word,  declares  that  he  believes  that  He  who  could  do  these  things 
is  God,  and  that  if  Satan  brings  Him  down  "  all  who  are  here  shut 
up  in  the  cruelty  of  prison  and  bound  by  their  sins  in  chains  that 
cannot  be  loosened.  He  will  let  loose  and  will  bring  to  the  light  of  His 
Divinity  for  ever."  The  Penitent  thief,  bearing  his  cross,  appears  as 
the  immediate  precursor  of  the  Lord  who  enters  amid  the  crashing 
of  the  bars  and  bolts  of  hell  and  the  jubilant  greetings  of  the  spirits, 
and  commits  Satan  to  the  custody  and  guardianship  of  Hades. 

Such 


NOTES    ON    COPED    PRE-NORMAN    TOMBSTONES.        47I 

Such  is  a  very  short  and  imperfect  summary  of  the  second  part  of 
the  Gospel  of  Nicodemus  ;  but  I  trust  I  have  given  enough  to  show 
that  there  is  some  ground  for  the  opinion  that  this  stone  represents 
the  Patriarchs  in  Limbo. 

I  would  say,  in  conclusion,  that  the  fact  of  the  Gosforth  Cross  and 
Lowther  stone  drawing  their  illustrations  from  the  Apocryphal  New 
Testament  does  not  militate  against  the  great  antiquity  of  these 
monuments.  We  know  that  at  the  end  of  the  Fourth  Century  S. 
Ninian,  who  had  been  educated  in  Italy,  returned  to  spread  Chris- 
tianity among  his  countrymen  on  the  Solway  shore,  and  that  in  the 
Sixth  Century  the  Christianitj'  of  this  region  had  had  time  to  de- 
generate into  Pelagian  Heresy — so  I  think  we  may  conclude  that  the 
household  stories  of  Christian  dwellers  on  the  Mediterranean  shores 
may  well  have  penetrated  by  that  time  to  this  remote  corner  of  the 
Islands  of  the  West. 


(472) 


Art.  XXXVI. — Red  Sandstone  Cross  Shaft  at  Cross-Can- 
nonhy.  By  Rev.  W.  S.  Calverley,  F.S.A.,  Vicar  of 
Aspatria. 

Read  at  Ulverston,  Sept.  13,  1887. 

rpHIS  fragment  of  the  shaft  of  a  red  sandstone  cross  was 
-^  taken  from  the  walls  of  Cross-Cannonby  Church 
during  the  restoration  in  1880.  It  is  21  inches  higlr,  12 
inches  broad  at  the  bottom,  and  10  inches  broad  at  the 


top,  6  inches  thick  at  the  bottom  and  about  5  inches  thick 
at  the'top.  The  engravings  are  by  Prof.  Magnus  Peter- 
sen of  Copenhagen,  from  my  drawings  and  photographs 
kindly  taken  for  me  by  Mr.  W.  L.  Fletcher,  Stoneleigh, 
Workington. 

The 


CROSS  SHAFT  AT  CKOSS-CANONBY. 


47: 


The  face  of  the  stone  has  sculptured,  in  rehef,  in  a 
recessed  panel,  bordered  on  each  side  by  a  raised  plain 
fillet  and  a  moulding  which  leads  our  minds  to  the  many 
Rom.an  altars  found  in  this  neighbourhood — a  series  of 
vigorously  drawn  animal  figures,  each  having  only  three 
legs,  and  apparently  spinning  round  and  grasping  their 
bodies  in  their  jaws.  The  action  of  the  creatures  is  won- 
derfully full  of  life,  especially  as  it  is  seen  in  the  fore  leg 
and  paw  pressed  against  the  edge  of  the  panel  as  the 
beast  throws  its  body  and  hind  legs  high  over  in  the  air 
and  seii:es  it  with  powerful  jaws.  Here  are  Fenrirs  pro- 
geny* sporting  themselves. 

The  obverse  has — enclosed  in  a  similar  recessed  panel 
— a  flat  fret  or  plaitwork  pattern  in  low  rehef,  figured 
Vol.  V.  p.  152.     One  edge  of  this  fragment  has — sculptured 


in  the  same  fashion — a  representation  of  one  of  the  off- 
spring of  the  Evil  One,  the  treacherous  deceiver,  the  old 
serpent,  Loki.     His  head  is  that  of  a  ravenous  wolf,  and  a 


*  I<>ast  Sat  the  crone, 
in  Jarnvidir, 
and  there  reared  up 
Fenrir's  progeny : 
of  all  shall  be 
one  especially 
the  moon's  devourer, 
in  a  troll's  semblance. 
He  is  sated  with  the  last  breath  of  dying'  men.  &c.     \'oIuspa  Stropl 


wolf's 


474  CROSS  SHAFT  AT  CROSS-CANONBY. 

wolfs  tail  *  is  flourished  by  him,  but  the  continuous  body 
forms  itself  into  a  coiling  knotted  worm  with  another  tail, 
that  of  a  snake  ;  and  still  continuing  this  body  further 
takes  human  shape  and  divides  below  the  loins  into  the 
legs  of  a  man  bound  at  the  ankles  with  a  ring,  shewing 
the  binding  of  the  incarnations  of  evil  by  the  faith  of  the 
cross  of  Christ. 

I  at  first  took  this  figure  to  be  intended  for  the  Mana- 
garm  of  the  Edda  (Voluspa,  Strophe  32),  but  I  find  that 
the  head  of  the  monster  is  downwards,  at  the  lower  and 
thicker  part  of  the  stone,  and  probably  near  the  bottom  of 
the  cross,  so  that  he  is  not  here  attacking  the  "  God's 
seat,"  or  the  heavenly  bodies,  or  the  holy  signs — as  the 
cross  or  the  Triquetra — but  he  is  the  Hell-wolf  Fenris. 
Professor  Dr.  George  Stephens  says  that  this  is  the  first 
time  we  see  a  local  tradition  that  Fenrer,  though  a  kind 
of  wolf-snake,  still  had  a  man's  legs  and  feet,  for — his 
his  father  was  Loke  !  The  fetter  with  which  his  nether 
limbs  are  bound  is  Gleipnir.  This  fetter  with  two  inter- 
lacing  bands  ornaments  the  opposite  edge.    Vol.  v.  p.  152. 

The  stone  has  been  properly  squared  and  worked  with 
a  broad  chisel,  and  looks  like  such  work  as  would  be  done 
by  men  imbued  with  the  Northern  thought  but  having  the 
art  of  their  Roman  predecessors. 


*  The  wolt  on  the  Dearham  Font  carries  such  a  tail. 


(475 


Art.    XXXWll. —Church    Bells    in    Lcalh    Ward,     No.  i. 

By  the  Rev.  H.  Whitehead. 
Communicated  at  Ulverston,  September  i^th,  1887. 
^11  HE  bells  of  the  parishes  which  formerly  constituted 
-L      Eskdale   and   Cumberland   wards   have  already  been 
described   {ante,  vi,  417 — 443;  vii,  221 — 236;  viii,  135 — 
165,  and  505—531  ;  1^1  240—268). 

In  Leath  ward,  which  still  retains  its  ancient  boundaries, 
there  are  34  churches  and  chapels,  with  69  bells,  of  which 
as  many  as  14  are  of  pre-Reformation  date. 

ADDINGHAM. 

The  terrier  of  1749,  signed  by  "John  Christopherson, 
Vicar  ",  has  this  item  : 

Two  bells  with  their  Frames 
their  weight  not  known. 

Mr.  Christopherson  is  well  spoken  of  by  Bishop  Nicolson 
{Visitation,  p.  122),  who  had  himself,  whilst  archdeacon 
of  Carlisle,  been  vicar  of  Addingham  from  1692  to  1702. 
The  bishop,  by  the  way,  whilst  often  noticing  the  bells  of 
other  parishes,  never  mentions  those  of  either  of  the 
parishes,  viz,,  Great  Salkeld,  Torpenhow,  and  Adding- 
ham,  where  he  had  himself  been  vicar,  doubtless  because 
his  memoranda  were  for  his  own  use,  and  he  did  not 
anticipate  their  future  antiquarian  interest.  Thus,  in  his 
notes  on  Addingham,  which  he  visited  on  Feb.  25,  1704, 
he  says  : 

Having  been  remov'd  from  this  Vicarage  to  the  Episcopal  Cure,  I 
needed  not  to  look  into  ye  Church  ;  being  thoroughly  acquainted  with 
its  condition  in  every  particular  {ib.  p.  121). 

Mr.  Christopherson  was  vicar  of  Addingham  from  1702  to 
1758,  and  also  of  Kirkland  from   1717  to  1720,  where  in 

1720 


476 


CHURCH    BELLvS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 


1/20  he  was  succeeded  by  Edward  Birkett,  who  also 
succeeded  him  at  Addingham  in  1758,  retaining  Kirkland  as 
well  until  his  death  in  1768.* 

Addingham  church,  like  most  Cumberland  countr}' 
churches,  has  a  double  cot  on  its  west  gable  ;  which  now 
now  contains  only  one  bell,  18^  inches  diameter,  inscribed 

I    ROBINSON    PENRITH    I787. 

About  250  years  ago  there  was  a  foundr}'  at  Penrith,  held 
by  Thos.  Stafford,  who  cast  bells  for  Great  Salkeld  {ante 
IV,  239),  Penrith  (Bp.  N"s  Visitation,  p.  153),  and  Cartmel 
{Annales  Cacrnwelenses,  p.  6i)  ;  since  which  time  we  have 
no  trace  of  a  Penrith  bell  foundry  except  that  which  is 
supplied  by  this  inscription,  and  by  an  entry  in  the  chapel- 
wardens"  accounts  at  Garrigill  {infra,  p.  481). 

A  bell  which  formerl\'  hung  in  the  other  opening  of  the 
cot  fell  down  about  eight  3'ears  ago,  and  still  lies  broken 
in  the  churchyard.  It  is  17^  inches  in  diameter,t  and  has 
round  its  shoulder  the  following  inscription  : 

DRO  -^  c"^  4-  ECCLESIA^ 

ARON  +  PEEVER 

1729. 

The  cross  is  here  engraved  full  size.  The  name  of  the 
founder,  Aron  Peever,  occurs  on  a  bell,  dated  1724,  origin- 


ally cast  for  Kirklinton,  but  now  in  the  tower  of  Blackford 
church  ;  which  bell  has  a  double  semicolon,  instead  of  a 
cross,   as  intervening   stop   {ante,   VII,  226).      We  shall 


*The  many  instances  in  former  times  of  a  Cumberland  benefice  held  for  fifty 
years  and  more  by  the  same  clerg'yman,  and  the  once  prevalent  system  of  pliira- 
ties,  would  form  an  interestinj;  subject  for  a  paper  in  these  Transactions. 

•fThe  diameter   b^inij  known,    reference  to  the  following;'  lis!   of  the  averaf>e 

rneet 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LJvATH    WARD. 


477 


meet  with  Mr.   Peever  again  in  this  ward  at  Kirkoswald, 
which  was  probably  the  place  of  his  foundry. 
There  is  here  the  usage  of  the  after-burial  bell. 

AIN  STABLE. 
St.  Michael's  church,  Ainstable,  was  visited  by  Hishop 
Nicolson  in  1702,  who  says  fp.  no)  : 

They  have  two  pretty  good  Bells. 
The  terrier  of  1/49  has  this  entry  : 

Two  bells  with  their  frames  each  thought 
to  weigh  about  two  hundred  weight. 

There  are  still  two  bells  here,  viz  : 


Note 

Uiameter. 

Treble            C 
Tenor            A 

16  inches 
16  inches 

They  hang  in  a  tower,  and  are  rung  by  levers.     Each  of 


weights  and  sizes  of  bells  cast  at  the  three  principal  foundries  will  g-ive  the  ap- 
proximate weig-ht  of  any  bell : — 


Mears. 

Taylor 

w 

arncr. 

Inches. 

cwt.  qrs.  lbs. 

cwt.  qrs. 

lbs. 

cwt. 

qrs.  lbs. 

12 

0       112 

0       I 

20 

n 

1      16 

13 

0       1     22 

0       2 

6 

0 

2       0 

14 

0       2     10 

0       2 

20 

0 

2     12 

15 

0       2     20 

r>      3 

16 

0 

3       S 

ir. 

0       3     16 

I       0 

0 

n      12 

'7 

I       0      0 

I        I 

0 

' 

1        4 

iS 

I        I       7 

I       2 

0 

2        0 

19 

I       2       0 

I       3 

0 

2       14 

20 

I       3       0 

2       0 

0 

3       0 

21 

200 

2       1 

0 

0      0 

22 

220 

2       2 

0 

2 

2         0 

23 

2       3       0 

2       3 

0 

1        2 

3       0 

-4 

3       0       0 

3       0 

0 

3 

0      4 

-5 

320 

T,          2 

0 

3 

2       0 

26 

400 

4       0 

0 

'       4 

0       0 

27 

4       I       0 

4       2 

0 

i       4 

I      14 

2S 

420 

5       0 

0 

4 

3       0 

20 

500 

5       2 

0 

5 

I       0 

30 

5       I       0 

f>       0 

0 

5 

,1       i> 

them 


47'*^  CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 

them  has  no  mark  or  inscription  but  the  date 

1668. 

They  are  therefore  the  bells  which  were  seen  by  Bishop 
Nicolson  and  described  in  the  terrier  of  1749,  though  their 
weight,  according  to  diameter,  should  be  only  half  the 
weight  ascribed  to  them  in  the  terrier. 

The  late  vicar  of  Ainstable,  the  Rev.  J.  F.  Morton,  now 
vicar  of  Summers  Town,  Tooting,  to  whom  I  am  indebted 
for  the  particulars  of  these  bells,  writes  : 

If  the  notes  are  not  an  exact  tliird  they  are  very  nearly  so.  When 
therefore  the  man  whom  I  sent  to  measure  them  told  me  the  diame- 
ters were  the  same  I  could  not  believe  him  till  I  went  up  mj'self  and 
verified  it.  Moreover  the  perpendicular  height  of  both  is  the  same, 
and  is  (like  the  diametersi  16  inches. 

The  difference  of  a  tone  and  a  half  between  these  two 
bells,  both  measuring  alike,  is  certainly  curious.  One  of 
them  has  perhaps  been  heavil}-  tuned.  Either  the  sound- 
bow  has  been  scored  inside  with  a  chisel,  or  the  edge  has 
been  chipped  off.  In  the  latter  case  the  true  diameter 
would  be  more  than  16  inches.  The  scoring  of  the  sound- 
bow  inside  makes  the  tone  of  a  bell  flatter ;  the  chipping 
off  of  the  edge  or  lip  makes  it  sharper. 

There  are  here  the  usages''-  of  death  knell  without  "  tel- 
lers ",  after-burial  bell,  and  early  Sunday  morning  bell, 
formerly  at  9  o'clock,  but  now  at  8. 

Ecton,  in  his  "Thesaurus",  following  Browne  Willis, 
who  got  most  of  his  information  about  Cumberland 
churches  from  Dr.  Todd,  says  that  the  church  is  dedica- 
ted to  St.  Andrew.  Unfortunately  Dr.  Todd's  MS.  history 
of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  is  now  missing.  The  local 
historians,  following  Bacon's  "Liber  Regis  ",  all  assign 
the  dedication  to  St.  Michael. 


*The  usages  noticed  in  these  papers  are  only  such  as  are  peculiar.  The  death 
knell,  however,  and  after-burial  bell,  seldom  heard  nearer  the  border,  are  not 
exceptional  in  Loath  ward, 

ALSTON. 


CilUKCll    liliLLS    IN    LEATil    WAKU.  479 

ALSTON. 

{By  the  Rev.  W.  Nail,  Curate  of  Alston). 

The  Alston  church  bells  are  three  in  number,  one  in 
the  parish  church  at  Alston,  one  in  the  chapel  at  Garrigill, 
and  one  in  the  district  church  at  Nenthead. 

The  history  of  the  bell  in  the  parish  church  takes  us 
back  to  the  year  1714,  and  to  the  mansion  of  the  earls  of 
Derwentwater,  at  Dilston.  Those  earls  were  lords  of  the 
manor  of  Alston,  and  owners  of  a  considerable  property  in 
that  parish.  When  James,  the  third  earl,  succeeded  to 
the  estates  of  his  ancestors,  he  made  some  addition  to 
Dilston  Hall.  Among  the  fittings  of  the  new  portion  of 
the  hall  was  a  bell,  which  bore  the  date  1714.  In  the 
year  1715  he  took  up  arms  against  George  I,  the  reigning 
sovereign,  and  on  the  24th  February,  1716,  he  suffered  the 
penalty  of  death  for  his  rebellion.  The  Derwentwater 
estates  were  declared  forfeited,  and  in  1749  they  were 
settled  upon  Greenwich  Hospital,  to  which  the  Alston 
portion  of  them  still  belongs.  Dilston  Hall  forthwith  fell 
into  a  state  of  ruin,  and  in  1768  it  was  dismantled  by 
the  orders  of  Smeaton,  the  engineer  who  designed  the 
Eddystone  lighthouse,  and  who  was  a  member  of  the  com- 
mission appointed  to  manage  the  Greenwich  Hospital 
estates.  Gibson,  in  his  "  Memorials  of  Dilston  Hall  " 
says  (p.  261)  : — 

The  clock  and  bell  were  given  to  the  church  of  St  Augustine  at  Aid- 
stone.  The  former  bore  the  date  of  1714,  and  therefore  had  not  long 
been  in  possession  of  the  earl.  The  board  minute  of  the  commis- 
sioners, for  the  donation  of  the  bell  and  clock  to  Aldstone  church,  is 
dated  28  August,  1767.     The  church  was  rebuilt  about  1769. 

The  bell  now  in  use  at  Alston  church  is  inscribed  : 

1714  RECAST  1S45 

The  first  of  these  dates  coincides  with  that  given  b}' 
Gibson.     Smeaton,  the  commissioner  b}'  whose  authority 

Dilston 


4^0  CHURCH    DELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 

Dilston  Hall  was  dismantled,  was  the  architect  for  the 
church,  which  was  built  in  1769-1770.  He  was  also  the 
chief  mining  engineer  in  Alston.  The  Nent  Force  Level, 
a  work  which  cost  upwards  of  ;£'go,ooo,  was  designed  by 
him.  It  seems  probable,  then,  that  he  induced  the  Board 
to  give  the  Dilston  Hall  bell  to  the  new  church  at  Alston. 
Nothing  is  heard  of  the  bell  between  the  years  1770  and 
1844.  The  20th  of  June  in  the  latter  year  was  the  wed- 
ding day  of  William  Ewart,  surgeon,  of  Wigton,  Cumber- 
land, and  Hannah  Bainbridge,  daughter  of  Robert  Bain- 
bridge,  solicitor,  of  the  Loaning  House,  Alston.  There 
were  great  rejoicings.  The  church  bell  was  not  only  rung 
vigorously,  but  was  struck  with  a  hammer,  or  hammers, 
until  it  was  cracked.  In  1845  it  was  sent  by  Mr.  Jacob 
Wilson,  of  Alston  House,  to  Newcastle,  where  it  was  re- 
cast by  the  late  Mr.  Robert  Watson,  of  the  High  Bridges 
Works.  It  is  23  inches  in  diameter  at  mouth,  and  weighs 
17  stone.  It  is  rung  at  8-30  on  Sunday  mornings,  and 
tolled  for  deaths,  age  indicated  by  the  number  of  tolls, 
sex  by  knells  quickl}-  repeated  after  the  tolls,  nine  for  a 
man,  six  for  a  woman,  and  three  for  a  child.  The  church 
was  again  rebuilt  in  1870,  but  the  tower  was  not  completed 
until  18S6. 

The  Garrigill  chapel  bell  is  16  inches  in  diameter,  and 
bears  the  date  1764.  It  is  hung  in  a  cot  on  the  west 
gable,  and  used  for  the  same  purposes  as  the  Alston 
bell.  Garrigill  is  situated  in  the  highest  part  of  Upper 
Tynedale,  where  the  dale  is  narrow  and  deep.  Under 
favourable  atmospherical  conditions  the  sound  of  the  chapel 
bell  is  borne  on  the  breeze  to  a  considerable  distance, 
having  been  frequently  heard  by  the  shepherds  on  Tyne- 
head  Fell.  Whellan,  in  his  account  of  Garrigill  chapel, 
says  (p.  516) : 

The  bell  is  said  to  have  been  formerly  the  dinner  bell  at  Dilstun  Hall 
'n  the  time  of  the  Earl  o{'  Dcrwentwater. 

Clearly 


CHURCH    UELLy    IN    LEATH    WAKU.  481 

Clearly  a  mistake,  as  is  shewn  by  what  has  been  already 
said  concerning  Alston  parish  church  bell.  Moreover  the 
Garrigill  chapel-wardens'  accounts  record  that  their  bell 
was  brought  from  Penrith*  in  1764. 

Nenthead  district  church  was  built  in  1745.  Its  bell 
has  not  been  examined. 

ARMATHWAITE. 

The  chapel  of  Armathwaite,  situated  in  the  parish  of 
Hesket-in-the-Forest,  and  said  to  be  dedicated  to  Christ 
and  St.  Mary,  was  thus  described  by  Bishop  Nicolson, 
who  visited  it  on  August  30th,  1703  : — 

A  neat  Fabric,  built  and  endowed  by  old  Mr.  Richard  Skeltun  soon 
after  the  Restoration  of  K.  Charles  the  Second.  There  is  a  good  Bell  ; 
and  Giles  Symsoii,  the  present  Clerk,  keeps  the  Communion  Plate  in 
Safety  (Bp.  N's  Visitation,  p.  94). 

One  of  the  vessels  kept  by  Giles  Symson,  the  communion 
cup,  w^hich  still  remains,  must  have  been  in  existence  half 
a  century  before  the  Restoration,  as  it  bears  the  London 
date  letter  for  i6og-io.  Its  shape,  however,  and  the 
initials  C  S  scratched  on  its  side,  shew  that  it  was  "  no 
doubt  a  secular  vessel  originally,  the  breaker  or  ale  cup  of 
Catherine  Skelton  of  Armathwaite  Hall "  {Church  Plate  in 
Carlisle  Diocese,  p.  36).  It  may  therefore  have  been  given 
by  her  grandson,  Richard,  when  he  built  the  chapel  "soon 
after  the  Restoration  ",  or  when  he  endowed  it  with  ;£'ioo 
by  his  will  dated  1668.  Not  that  there  was  no  chapel  here 
before  the  Restoration.  Burn  and  Nicolson  (II,  342) 
say:— 

One  Christopher  Rickerby,  who  was  curate  at  this  chapel  soon  after 
the  said  endowment,  in  a  kind  of  poem  intitled  "  An  elegy  upon  the 
death  of  that  virtuous  old  gentleman  Richard  Skelton  esquire  late  of 
the  castle  of  Armathwaite  in  the  county  of  Cumberland,"  says  : 

He  did  rebuild  a  chapel  which  will  be 

A  monument  of  his  fidelity. 


*  Probably  cast  by  J.  Robinson  of  Penrith  (anlf,  p.  476). 


482  CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 

I  heard  this  worthy  person  often  say 
He  walk'd  into  his  chapel  on  a  day, 
And  beasts  were  lying  in't  (ere  he  begun) 
To  shade  them  from  the  scorching  of  the  sun. 
This  prick'd  his  tender  heart,  that  when,  Oh  !  when 
He  saw  the  temple  of  the  Lord  a  den, 
Then  he  in  haste  considered  where  to  find 
Workmen  to  build  according  to  his  mind. 
His  purse  cried  plenty,  when  he  thought  upon 
The  building  up  again  of  Mount  Sion; 
&c. 

If,  as  may  be  inferred  from  the  "  &c.",  Burn  and  Nicol- 
son  have  not  quoted  the  whole  of  this  "  kind  of  poem  ", 
posterity  has  suffered  no  great  loss,  and  will  say  with 
Jefferson  : 

We  think  Mr.  Rickerby's  readers  must  have  "  cried  plenty  "  before 
they  arrived  any  further  (Leath  Ward,  p.  224). 

But  those  of  his  lines  which  have  come  down  to  us  are 
valuable,  if  not  for  their  poetic  merit,  at  all  events  as 
affording  conclusive  evidence  that  there  was  a  chapel  at 
Armathwaite  before  Mr.  Skelton's  time,  and  that  "  he  only 
rebuilt  it  "  (B,  &  N.,  II,  342).  Mr.  Richard  Skelton  was 
himself  a  poet,  and  of  a  more  ambitious  order  than  Mr. 
Rickerby ;  for  he  essayed  Latin  elegiacs,  considerately 
appending  an  English  translation  for  the  benefit  of  un- 
learned readers.  Among  Chancellor  Ferguson's  multi- 
farious MSS  "  collectanea  "  is  a  memorandum  that  at 
Armathwaite  Castle,  on  a  carved  wooden  chimney  piece, 
with  the  arms  of  Skelton  impaling  Burdett,  are  the  fol- 
lowing lines  : — 

GERMINAT    INTER    AGROS    DVLCES    LACTVCA    PER    HORTOS 
GERMINAT    IN    CCELIS    LETTISA   TECTA   VELIS. 

This  lettice  grows  amongst  the  fields 
This  lettice  buds  within  the  garden 
This  Lettis  rests  within  the  heavens 

The 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD.  483 

; 

The  Lord  of  Life  Jehovah  servcing. 
Skelton 
Richard         Lettis 
1640. 

Mr.  Skelton's  wife,  Lettice  Burdett,  probably  died  in  1640. 
In  that  year,  according  to  Jefferson,  he  "  built  a  mansion 
on  his  father's  estate  at  Southwaite "  [Lcath  Ward,  p. 
224) ;  which  may  be  identified  with  the  oldest  part  of  the 
house  at  Barrock,  the  "  centre  "  of  which  house  is  said 
by  Whellan  (p.  560)  to  have  been  "  erected  by  one  Skel- 
ton ".  But  why  was  the  elegy  on  his  wife's  death  not  put 
up  in  his  own  house  ?  Perhaps  it  was  placed  in  the  an- 
cestral home  of  the  Skeltons  in  anticipation  of  the  time 
when  he  would  have  to  take  up  his  abode  there  ;  or,  as 
Mr.  Ferguson  suggests,  it  may  at  first  have  been  put  up 
at  Barrock,  and  was  transferred  to  Armathwaite  Castle  on 
the  death  of  Rd.  Skelton's  father  in  1652.  At  what  time 
Armathwaite  Castle  came  into  the  possession  of  the  an- 
cient Cumberland  family  of  the  Skeltons  is  not  known.  A 
later  Richard,  grandson  of  the  aforesaid  Richard,  sold  it 
in  171 2  to  William  Sanderson  ;  after  the  death  of  whose 
brother  Robert  it  was  held  by  three  generations  of  Mil- 
bournes,  sold  in  1846  to  Lord  Lonsdale,  and  rented  by 
Mr.  Thomlinson,  the  donor  of  the  present  chapel  bell,  on 
which  is  inscribed 

J    TAYLOR   &   CO    FOUNDERS    LONDON. 

DEO    ET    ECCLESIiE 

FRATRIS    DILECTI    MEMORIA 

ME    EREXIT    lOHANNES   THOMLINSON 

A  D    1873 

CHRISTI    NOMEN    LATE    RESONO, 

This  bell,  which  hangs  in   a  cot  on  the  west  gable,  is  21 
inches  in  diameter. 

The  old  chapel  bell,    12  inches  in  diameter,  is  stowed 

awa}' 


484 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LRATH    WARD. 


away  behind  the  organ.     Its  weight,  about  481bs,  identifies 
it  with  the  bell  described  in  the  terrier  of  1749  as 
one  bell  about  fifty  pounds  weight. 

It  is  blank  ;  but  seems,  from  its  shape,  to  be  old  enough, 
not  only  to  have  been  the  "  good  bell "  seen  by  Bp.  Nicol- 
san  in  1703,  but  also  to  have  belonged  to  the  chapel  before 
it  was  rebuilt  by  Richard  Skelton. 

The  death  knell  is  tolled  at  Armathwaite  for  about  ten 
minutes  ;  less  time  for  a  child. 

CASTLE  SOWERBY. 
Edward     VI's     Inventory     mentions    as    belonging    to 
"  Castil  Sowerbye  "  in  1552 

ij  prche  belles  ij  litill  belles. 

One  of  the  "  ij  prche  belles  "  still  remains;  the  other, 
we  shall  find,  must  have  disappeared  at  least  fourteen 
years  before  the  end  of  the  i6th  century. 

Mr.  C.  J.  Ferguson,  F.S.A.,  in  a  MS.  report  on  the 
architectural  history  of  the  church,  which  is  dedicated  to 
St.  Kentigern,  says: 

We  find  that  at  the  latter  end  of  that  century  (the  i6th)  an  aisle 
and  porch  were  added  on  the  south  side.  .  .  .  They  seem  also 
at  this  time  to  have  re-roofed  the  nave,  and  to  have  built  a  more 
substantial  belfry  for  two  bells.  .  .  .  Sometime  in  the  i8th 
century  the  church  was  again  restored.  .  .  .  The  belfry  seems 
to  have  either  fallen  into  disrepair  or  to  have  been  destroyed  ;  for  the 
upper  part  of  it  was  then  rebuilt,  or  rather  an  insignificant  little 
erection  was  placed  on  the  ancient  stump  of  the  belfry. 

This  erection,  which  is  a  double  cot  on  the  west  gable, 
contains  two  bells,  viz  : 


Note 

"1 

DiAMRTICK 

Treble 
Tenor 

20   inches 
20.'  inches 

Thev 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD.  485 

They  are  rung  by  levers,  the  ropes  descending  inside  the 
church  to  the  iloor  of  the  nave. 

The  treble  bears  the  following  letters  and  date  : 

WD     W  F     C  S     AD     15S6     R  O 

The  letters  WD,  WF,  and  CS,  are  probably  the  initials 
of  the  churchwardens  for  the  year  1586;  whose  names 
cannot  be  recovered,  as  the  parish  register  only  begins  at 
1621.  The  number  of  the  wardens  is  still  three.  The 
letters  AD  are   here  engraved  full  size  : — 


All  the  other  letters,  except  the  D  in  WD,  which  is  similar 
to  that  in  AD,  are  Roman.  The  figure  6  in  the  date  is 
reversed.  The  letters  RO  are  doubtless  the  initials  of  the 
founder,  who  may  have  been  one  of  the  Oldfields  of  York. 
These  initials,  no  matter  for  whom  they  may  stand,  oc- 
curring on  a  dated  bell,  are  interesting  in  connection  with 
a  famous  inscription  on  the  Keswick  town  clock  bell,  an 
an  account  of  which  will  be  given  in  the  next  volume  of 
these  Transactions. 

The  tenor  has  round  its  shoulder,  in  Lombardic  letters, 

+   IHESVS    •;    M   +   MVN    ;    GOW. 

The  cross  (flory),  the  intervening  stop  (three  roundlets), 
and  the  character  of  the  lettering,*  seem  identical  with  the 

*  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  give  illustrations  of  the  cross,  stop,  and  lettering-,  a  gable 
bell  being- awkwardly  situated  for  taking  casts.  The  letters  AD  on  the  treble, 
which  are  not  floriated,  have  been  engraved  from  a  rubbing.  But  a  rubbing  of 
floriated  letters,  like  these  on  the  tenor,  does  not  suffice  to  engrave  from.  For 
some  future  paper  1  may  get  the  desired  illustrations  from  the  Scaleby  tenor, 
which  hangs  in  a  tower. 

cross, 


486  CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 

cross,  stop,  and  lettering  on  the  Scaleby  tenor ;  the  date 
of  which  is  probably  not  later  than  the  14th  century  {ante 
VII,  232).  The  intrusion  of  the  letter  H  into  our 
Lord's  name,  common  in  ancient  inscriptions,  is  of  course 
due  to  mediaeval  scribes  mistaking  the  capital  eta  in 
IHSOYS  for  Roman  H.  The  solitary  letter  M  probably 
stands  for  "  Maria."  The  superfluous  W,  at  the  end  of  St. 
Kentigern's  alternative  name,  as  here  spelt,  MVNGOW, 
has  its  two  middle  strokes  bisecting  each  other.  This 
name,  originally  Munghu,  signifying  "  dear  friend",  is 
said  to  have  been  given  to  Kentigern  by  his  guardian  and 
instructor  St.  Servanus.  For  interesting  remarks  on 
Kentigern  dedications,  of  which  there  are  eight  in  Cum- 
berland, and  none  elsewhere  in  England,  see  papers  by  the 
Rev.  T.  Lees  and  Canon  Venables  {ante  VI,  3^,8-338  ;  VII, 
124-8). 

CROGLIN. 
Bishop  Nicolson,  who  on  Feb.  25,  1704,  seems  to  have 
visited  Lazonby,  Kirkoswald,  Crogiin,  Renwick,  Melmer- 
by,    Addingham,    and    Great    Salkeld,   says  of   Crogiin, 
{Visitation,  p,  iig)  : 

They  have  a  pair  of  good  little  Bells  ; 
which  are  rung  on  ye  outside. 

The  terrier  of  1749  mentions 

two  small  bells 

There  are  still  two  bells  here,  in  a  double  cot  on  the  west 
gable,  but  rung  from  the  inside.     They  are 

Treble,  diameter  15^  inches. 
Tenor,  diameter   17  inches. 

The  treble  has  only  a  date  ;  1772.     The  tenor  has 

H  NOBLE  RECTOR 

lOHN    HODGSON    cV'    I'HILIP    HALL 

CHURCHWARDENS 

1772. 

Mr. 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD.  487 

Mr.  Noble  was  rector  of  Croglin  from  1724  to  1780. 
Hodgson  and  Hall  were  the  churchwardens  for  the  year 
ending  at  Easter,  1771.  If  they  gave  the  order  for  the 
bells,  the  founder  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  dilatory. 

Usages  :   Death  knell  without  "  tellers,"  and  after-burial 
bell. 

CULGAITH. 

The  chapel  here,  dedicated   to   All  Saints,   was  rebuilt 
in  1758. 

The  terrier  of  1749  contains  this  item  : 

One  Bel  computed  to  weigh 
about  one  Hundred  and  a  halt'. 

This  bell  is  only  inscribed  with  the  date  1670.  Its 
diameter,  of  which  I  find  that  I  have  no  memorandum, 
should  be,  if  the  weight  given  in  the  terrier  is  at  all  near 
the  mark,  about  18  inches. 

Usages  :  Death  knell  without  "  tellers,''  and  after-burial 
bell. 

DACRE. 

Bishop    Nicolson,   when  at   Dacre   on    Feb.    28,    1703 
{Visitation,  p  128),  found 

three  pretty  good  bells  in  a  strong  Tower. 

The  tower,  "  strong"  as  it  may  then  have  seemed,  had 
to  be  rebuilt  in  1S17  (Whellan,  p.  528).  The  "three 
pretty  good  bells''  still  remain,  perhaps  none  the  worse 
for  nearly  two  centuries  more  of  active  service.  They 
are  thus  described  in  the  terrier  of  1749  : — 

Item  three  Bels  with  their  frames  ye  least  thought  to  weigh  about 
eighteen  stone  the  second  about  twenty-five  stone  and  the  largest 
about  thirty  four  stone. 

Looking  to  the  diameters,  however,  we  form  a  very  differ- 
ent estimate  of  the  weights,  which  according  to  the  rule 
given  in  Taylor's  Bell  Catalogue  must  be  nearly  as  in  the 
following  table  : — 

The 


4^8 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 


Note. 

Diameter 

cwt.  qr. 

Treble 
No.  2 
Tenor 

E 
D 
C 

26  inches 
29  inches 
31  inches 

4  0 

5  0 

6  2 

The  bishop  seems  only  to  have  heard  these  bells.  Had 
he  seen  them  he  would  have  found  much  to  say  about 
them.  He  relates  that  he  saw  the  arms  of  the  Dacre 
family  "  frequent  in  the  windows  here  and  in  the  Body  of 
Church,  both  single  and  quartered  with  those  of  Clifford 
or  Vipont,  especially  in  the  little  Windows  over  the  Middle 
Isle,  where  there  are  so  many  Legends  under  the  several 
Coats  "  ;  which,  however,  were  "  so  high  and  at  so  great  a 
distance  from  the  eye  "  that  he  "could  not  read  the  Re- 
mains of  'em  "  ;  but  having  been  "  told  that  they  were  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Mawson,  the  late  Curate",  he  was 
"  encouraged  to  hope  for  a  Transcript  of  them  from  his 
Widow  ".  His  time  would  have  been  spent  to  better  pur- 
pose in  the  belfry  ;  where,  whilst  acting  as  his  own 
transcriber,  he  would  have  been  highly  interested  in  specu- 
lating on  the  meaning  of  the  "  legend  ''  on  the  treble  and 
endeavouring  to  identify  the  "  coats  "  on  the  tenor. 

The  treble  has  a  badly  arranged  inscription,  in  Roman 
capitals,  which  when  reduced  to  order  is  found  to  consist 
of  the  following  elegiacs,  preceded  by  founder's  marks  and 
initials,  and  followed  by  donor's  initials  with  date  : — 


NON    FORMAM    SPECTES    DNO    SED    SVPPLICE    FLECTAS 
CLAMITO   TE    TbMPLV   QVOD    VENERE    DEV 

TER    MALE    DISSONVI    TV    QVOTIDIE    CECIDISTI 
SVM    PRECE    TV    FIAS   CORRIGE    SANA    VIAS 
H  F       1606 


The 


CUUK'CII     1  ULLS    IN    LI'ATIl    WAKD. 


489 


The 


490  CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 

The  founder's  first  mark,  as   shewn  in    figure   I   of    the 
accompanying    illustrations,-    is    a    bell,    separating    his 
initials ;    which,  from    a    paper   on    "  Yorkshire    Parish 
Registers"  by  Dr.  CoWins  (Antiqnaiy   VIII,  248),  may  be 
recognised  as  those  of  "William  Oldfeild,  bellfounder,  of 
York".     His  second  mark  is  a  Greek  cross  within  a  circle 
(fig.  2).     The  initials  H  F  are  probably  those  of  the  donor  ; 
but  as  yet  we  have  come  upon  no  trace  of  anyone  connected 
with  Dacre  in  1606  to  whom  they  may  be  assigned.     Was 
he,  one  would  like  to  know,  or  was  the  founder,  or  neither 
of  them,  the   author  of  the  elegiacs   on  the   bell  ?     And 
what   did  the  author,  whoever  he  was,  mean   by  them  ? 
The    bell,    no  doubt,   is  to  be  regarded   as  the   speaker. 
But  whom  does  she  address,  and  to  what  purpose  ?     She 
seems  to  lead  off  with  a  warning,  perhaps  to  the  nation  at 
large,  against  formalism  in  religion  ;  but,  as  she  proceeds, 
she  becomes  enigmatical,  at  all  events  to  us  who  are  un- 
acquainted with  the    circumstances  which  called  for  her 
rebukes.     We  may  think  we  see   our  way  clearly  through 
the  first  two  lines,   and  the  fourth  is  not  unintelligible  on 
hypothesis  of  the  word  sana  having  been  dislocated  from 
its  rightful  conjunction  with  fias  to  suit  the  exigencies  of 
the  metre.     But  the  meaning  of  the  third  line  is  a  mystery 
which  the   following  translation  makes  no  attempt  to  un- 
ravel :-  - 

Low  to  the  Lord,  form  disregarding,  bend  : 
Thee  to  the  church  to  worship  God  I  call. 
Ill  sounds  the  thrice  told  tale  of  daily  fall : 

I  prav  thou  may'st  have  sense  thy  ways  to  mend. 

It  is  evident  that  among  the  "  ways  "'  that  in  1606  stood  in 
need  of  amendment  was  our  author's  way  of  dealing  with 
the  Latin   language.      l)Ut  the  I^atin   of  this    inscription, 


*  For   the   casts  from  whicli  these  illustratinns    have  been    sketched   I  .im  in- 
rlH)ted  to  Mr.  W .  C.  I'ark-er,  of  Carlisle. 

bad 


CHURCH    BliLLb    IN    LEATH    WARD.  49I 

bad  as  it  ori;<^inally  was,  seems  to  have  j^ot  worse  by  repeti- 
tion. A  writer  in  the  "Bell  News"  (vol.  i,  p.  4061, 
quoting  from  "Gent's  History  of  Yorkshire  ",  published 
in  1733,  mentions  a  bell,  dated  1620,  at  Bolton  Percy,  in 
the  East  Riding,  inscribed — 

NON    rORMAN    SPECTAS    DOMINI    SED    SVPPLICE    ILECTAS    &C. 

We  might  infer  from  the  "  &c  "  that  other  lines  follow, 
which  are  omitted  by  Gent.*  I3ut  in  Green's  "  Churches 
of  Yorkshire  ",  published  in  1843,  the  "  &c  "  is  omitted 
from  this  inscription  {Bell  News,  II.  460). 

The  tenor  has  a  black  lettert  inscription,  preceded  by  a 
cross,  and  followed  by  a  shield,  with  a  Lombardic  initial  to 
each  of  the  first  three  words,  and  two  lions  passant  placed 
one  over  the  other  between  the  second  and  third  : 

+  ^^anctiJ  ^artlioloma'  O  ^va  pro  uoliiis   Q] 

The  cross  (hg.  4)  is  the  same  as  is  found  on  two  bells  at 
Great  Musgrave,  Westmorland  ;  the  lettering  on  which 
bells,  except  for  the  absence  of  Lombardic  initials,  is  also 
identical  in  character  with  that  of  this  Dacre  inscription 
(fig.  3).  The  same  cross,  engraved  as  figure  64  in  North's 
"  Lincolnshire  Bells  "  (p.  78),  occurs  in  Lincolnshire  at 
Bonby,  Horkstow,  and  Rothwell ;  but  no  founder's  name 
in  connection  with  it  is  mentioned  by  Mr.  North.  The 
two  lions  passant  (fig.  6)  are  to  sinister  ;  doubtless  an 
error  in  making  the  stamp.  Two  lions  passant  to  dexter, 
placed  as  here  one  over  the  other,  occur  on  a  monumental 


*The  Rev.  Tlieodoie  Owen,  vicar  of  Rhodes,  Mancliester,  informs  mc  that  the 
tenor  of  ArnchfFe,  Yorkshire,  dated  i6ift,  is  inscribed  with  a  single  line,  thus: 
CLAMITO  TE  TEMPLVM  yvoD  MENERERE  DEVM.  The  word  "  ^ienere^e  "  is  of 
course  a  mistake  for  *'  V'enerere."  The  founder's  stamp  is  a  cross,  the  upper  arm 
of  which  separates  the  initials  \V  o,  and  from  each  of  the  horizontal  arms  hangs  a 
bell;  the  whole  surmounted  by  the  legend  soli  deo  gloria. 

t  Ordinary  black  letter  type,  as  used  for  the  inscription  in  the  text,  does  not 
accurately  represent  the  type  on  the  bell  ;  nor  do  black  letter  capitals  accurately 
represent  the  Lombardic  initials;  for  which  ^cc  illustration  (figs). 

brass 


49-  CHURCH  DELL  IN  LEATH  WARD. 

brass  in  Crosthwaite  (Keswick)  church,  the  legend  on 
which  runs  thus  : 

Of  your  charitie  pray  for  the  soule  of  Sir  John  Ratclif  Knyght  and 
for  the  state  of  Dame  Alice  his  wyfe  which  Sir  John  dyed  ye  ii 
day  of  February  A  D  1527  on  whose  soule  Jesu  have  mercy. 

Dame  Alice,  who  survived  her  husband  until  1554,  was  a 
daughter  of  Sir  Edmund  Sutton  de  Dudley,  lord  of  Dud- 
ley in  Warwickshire,  whose  arms  were  two  lions  passant. 
Her  brother,  Thomas  Dudley,  by  his  marriage  with  one 
of  the  co-heiresses  of  Sir  Lancelot  Threlkeld,  became 
possessed  of  Yanwath  Hall,  which  is  about  3  miles  from 
Dacre  church.  The  shield  (fig.  5),  on  which  is  the 
Adoration  of  the  Magi,  may  be  one  of  the  iell-founder's 
stam.ps,  and,  if  so,  should  lead  to  his  identification.  There 
is  an  inscription  round  the  border,  which  is  illegible  in  the 
cast  from  which  our  illustration  was  sketched,  but  might 
perhaps  be  deciphered  on  the  bell  itself,  which  however  is 
so  hung  as  to  make  it  difficult  to  examine  the  shield.  As 
to  the  probable  age  of  the  bell  we  can  as  yet  only  say  that, 
whilst  its  invocation  of  a  saint  points  to  pre-Reformation 
times,  its  lettering  suggests  a  date  not  earlier  than  the 
beginning  of  the  15th  century.  Mr.  Stahlschmidt  speaks 
of  1420  as  the  year 

which,  in  conference  with  Mr.  North,  we  decided  was  approximately 
the  time  when  black-letter  finally  superseded  Lombardic  for  inscrip- 
tions, the  previous  twenty  years  or  so  being  the  period  when  the  two 
styles  overlapped,  or  existed  side  by  side  (Surrey  Cliunli  Bells,  p.  x). 

Pending  further  evidence  both  as  to  donor  and  founder, 
which  by  help  of  the  stamps  ought  sooner  or  later  to  be 
forthcoming,  the  date  of  this  bell  must  for  the  present  re- 
main uncertain.  It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that  the 
period  within  which  its  date  must  be  sought  does  not 
preclude  the  possibility  of  its  having  been  presented  by 
Lad}'  Katcliffe,  unless  the  occurrence  of  Lombardic  initials 
in  a  black-letter  inscription  is  to  be  regarded  as  indicative 
of  the  transition  period  ending  with  the  }ear  1420. 

The 


CHURCH    BELLS    IN'    LliATH    WARD. 


493 


The    middle  (second)  bell    has   round    its   shoulder    in 
stately  floriated  Lombardic  letters 

+  CAMPPANA  ;  BEATE  i   MARIE. 


The 


494  CHURCH    BELLS    IN    LEATH    WARD. 

The  initial  cross  (lig,  lo),  intervening  stop  (tig.  8),  and 
lettering  (figs.  7  and  g),  would  not  of  themselves  enable  us 
to  identify  the  founder.  l)ut  this  bell  has  fortunatel}'  a 
second  inscription,  immediately  under  the  first,  in  smaller 
Lombardic  letters,  viz  : 

+   lOHANNES    :    DEKVRKAM    •    MEFECIT. 

The  initial  cross  (fig.  11),  intervening  stop  (fig.  13),  and 
lettering  (figs.  12  and  14),  differ  not  only  in  size  but  also 
in  character  from  those  in  the  first  inscription>  as  is  shewn 
by  the  illustrations.  The  cross  and  lettering,  however, 
are  identical  with  the  cross  and  lettering  on  one  of  the 
Cumrew  bells  (ante,  VI,  424),  as  well  as  on  the  treble  at 
Threlkeld  in  this  (Leath)  ward.  The  identity  of  the 
lettering  extends  to  the  reversing  of  the  letter  n  in  all 
three  of  these  inscriptions.  But  at  Cumrew  and  Threl- 
keld the  intervening  stop  is  a  fleur-de-lis.  In  a  long  list 
of  entries,  headed  "  Expensae  Facta  per  Magistrum  Cam- 
panis ",  extracted  from  the  "Fabric  Rolls  of  York 
Minster"  for  the  year  1371,  and  printed  by  the  Surtees 
bociety  in  Vol.  XXXV  (pp.  9,  10)  of  their  publications, 
occur  the  two  following  items  : — 

Ivt  in   mxijlb  de  ere  et  stagno 

emptis  de  Johanne  de 

Kirkham  dando  pro  C  26s.  (Sd.     ig     9     8 
Et  in  permutacionc  facta  cum 

Johanne  de  Kirkham  pro  alia 

magna  campana  pro  le  clok 

et  habuit  in  emendacione  cum 

campana  ecclesia,'  20     o     o 

Mr,  Stahlschrnidt,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this  in- 
formation, and  who  has  kindly  sent  me  a  transcript  of  the 
whole  of  the  abovemcnlioned  list  of  entries,  writes  : 

I  take  it  that  the  first  ot  the  two  items  relating  to  John  de  Kirkham 
proves  that  he  was  a  citizen  of  York.  The  quantity  of  metal  bought 
of  him  shews  clearly,  I  think,  that  he  was  at  home. 

It 


CHURCH    lUvLLS    IN    LEATH    WARD.  495 

It  is  at  least  certain,  then,  that  iohaxnes  de  kvrkam 
cast  this  Dacre  bell  in  the  latter  part  of  the  14th  cen- 
tury, and  high!}'  probable  that  his  foundry  was  at  York. 
The  Cumrew  and  Threlkeld  bells,  if  of  somewhat  later 
date,  as  is  not  unlikely  from  the  substitution  of  a  fleur-de- 
lis  for  the  roundlets  as  intervening  stop,  and  if  not  cast 
by  John  de  Kirkham,  may  be  the  work  of  a  successor  at 
the  same  foundry. 

The  Uacre  treble,  as  we  have  already  seen,  is  a  York 
bell.  Perhaps  the  tenor,  and  other  ancient  Cumberland 
bells,  also  came  from  York  or  were  cast  by  peripatetic 
York  founders.  But,  as  Dr.  Raven  said,  "  everything 
has  yet  to  be  done  for  northern  campanology"  (an^^  viii, 
507)  ;  and  valuable  aid  towards  the  doing  of  it  will  be 
contributed  by  any  York  antiquary  who  will  produce,  with 
illustrations  of  crosses  and  stamps,  a  complete  account  of 
the  bell  founders  of  his  city. 

We  might  have  expected  to  find  one  of  the  two  pre- 
Reformation  bells  at  Dacre  bearing  the  name  of  the  patron 
saint  of  the  church,  St.  Andrew,  as  is  found  at  the  churches 
of  St.  Andrew  at  Aikton  {ante,  VIII,  506),  Greystoke,  and 
Crosby  Garratt  (Westmorland).  There  may,  however, 
have  once  been  a  bell  at  Dacre  dedicated  to  St.  Andrew, 
which  has  perhaps  given  place  to  the  present  treble.  Un- 
fortunately Dacre  is  one  of  the  parishes  the  names  of 
which  have  been  torn  off  from  the  Cumberland  portion  of 
li^dward  VI's  Inventory,  so  that  we  cannot  know  for  cer- 
tain how  many  bells  were  here  in  1552  :  and,  what  is  still 
more  provoking,  though  we  can  probably  identify  the 
list  of  Dacre  church  goods  in  the  mutilated  inventory,  the 
rent,  whilst  leaving  the  words  "  gret  belles''  intact,  has 
torn  off  their  number.  The  reader  will  better  understand 
this  by  referring  to  the  paper  on  "  Church  Goods  in  Cum- 
berland in  1552  '■  {ante,  VIII,  201). 

It  is  worth  \\hile,  by  the  way,  to  notice  how  small,  witii 
few  exceptions,  the  church  bells  of  Cumberland  must  have 

been 


496  CHURCH    BELLS    IX    LEATH    WARD. 

been  in  1552,  as  indeed  they  still  are  ;  for,  as  in  only  eight 
Cumberland  churches  did  Edward  VI's  commissioners 
find  what  they  reported  as  "  gret  "  bells,  it  follows  that 
in  the  103  other  churches  which  they  visited  in  the  county 
they  did  not  find  a  single  bell  as  large  as  John  de  Kirk- 
ham's  Dacre  bell,  the  weight  of  which  is  only  about  5 
cwt. 

At  Sproatley  church,  Yorkshire,  formerly  St.  Swithin's, 
now  All  Saints,  there  are  two  bells,  the  legends  on  which 
are  thus  given  in  the  Yorkshire  Archaiological  Journal 
(11,85): 

1  +    CAMPANA    BEATI    SUUITHUNI 

2  +    CAMPANA    BEATE    MARIE 

I    K. 

It  is  stated,  moreover,  that  the  letter  n  is  reversed 
throughout.  No  information  is  given  as  to  character  of 
cross  or  lettering.  Nor  is  it  expressly  stated  whether  or 
no  there  is  any  intervening  stop.  But,  looking  to  the 
initials  i  K,  the  legends,  and  the  reversal  of  N  throughout, 
I  think  that  these  bells  must  have  been  cast  by  John  de 
Kirkham,  using  his  smaller  Lombardic  type  ;  and,  if  so, 
it  is  the  more  probable  that  he  originally  cast  a  treble  for 
Dacre,  on  which,  as  on  the  treble  at  Sproatly,  may  have 
been  the  name  of  the  pi^tron  saint  of  the  church,  but 
which  has  succumbed  to  one  of  the  numerous  ills  to 
which  bell-metal  is  heir. 

It  only  remains  to  account  for  the  presence  in  Dacre 
tower  of  a  bell  of  Sc.  Bartholomew,  to  whom  not  a  single 
church  in  Cumberland  or  Westmorland  is  dedicated.  The 
reason  may  be  the  same  as  at  Greystoke  for  a  bell  of  St. 
Katherine,  to  whom  a  chantry  in  Greystoke  church  was 
dedicated.  So  at  Dacre  there  may  have  been  a  chantry 
of  St.  Bartholomew.  lUit  of  the  history  of  Dacre  church, 
concerning  which  "  the  tradition  goes  that  it  was  erected 
by  the  Dacres  instead  of  a  very  mean  one  about  half  a  mile 
distant''    (B.   Sc    N.  II,  3S2),   little  or  nothing  is  known. 

Art.  XXXVIII. 


(497) 


Art.  XXXVIII. — Some  Prehistoric  Remains  in  North  Lons- 
dale* By  H.  Swain  SON  Cowper. 
Read  at  Ulverstone,  September  13,  1887. 
TN  September  last  year,  at  the  Meeting  of  this  Society  at 
-^  Kendal,  I  had  the  honour  to  lay  before  it  the  result  of 
some  excavations  in  a  prehistoric  cairn  on  Hawkshead 
Hall  Parks.  Since  then  I  have  made  some  further  re- 
searches in  the  same  mound,  and  have  also  examined  three 
others  near  Torver,  one  only  of  which  proved  at  all 
fruitful ;  two,  if  not  all  three,  had  been  imperfectly  examined 
about  30  years  ago. 

The  first  cairn,  situate  at  Hawkshead,  and  partly  ex- 
amined by  myself  in  1883,  had  revealed,  as  described  in 
my  paper  of  last  year,  an  interment  of  burnt  bones,  and  a 
flint  knife,  placed  in  a  rude  square  2  ft.  gin.  by  i  ft.  gin. 
dug  in  the  natural  soil,  and  situated  N.E.  of  the  centre  of 
the  cairn  ;  a  noticeable  feature  being  that  these  explora- 
tions had  shown  that  there  was  no  central  interment  :  as 
there  was  still  a  considerable  portion  of  the  cairn  un- 
examined I  thought  that  there  might  be  an  interment 
left. 

On  April  25th  and  26th  of  this  year,  I  accordingly  had 
the  whole  of  the  remainder  of  this  cairn  turned  completely 
over,  the  result  being  that  no  other  interments  were 
discovered,  but  the  following  facts  of  interest  were 
noticed  :  17  ft.  W.N.W.  of  the  centre  a  thickish  deposit 
of  charcoal  mixed  with  earth  and  covered  by  a  stone  : 
deposits  of  ashes,  burnt  earth  and  charcoal,  were  observed 
at  the  following  places  :  12  ft.  E.S.E.  of  centre  ;  13  ft. 
S.W.  of  centre  ;  14  ft.  E.N.E.  of  centre,  in  this  case 
accompanied  by  puddled  earth. t 

*  Lancashire  Ord.  Surv.  6  in.  Sheet  5,  N.W.,  ante  p.  200. 
f  See  British  Banows,  Gieenwell  and  Rolleston,  p.  246. 

Burnt 


49>^  REMAINS  IN  NORTH  LONSDALE. 

Burnt  earth  and  charcoal  were  found  to  exist  in  the 
natural  soil  in  many  parts  of  the  N.W.  side,  but  notably, 
15  ft.  N.W.  of  centre  a  deposit  of  soil  and  ashes,  and  13  ft. 
N.N.W.  of  centre  a  similar  deposit  mixed  with  charcoal. 
On  the  N.E.  side  many  of  the  stones  showed  signs  of 
having  been  subjected  to  the  action  of  fire,  while  the  S.W. 
side  was  found  to  be  more  soil}^  and  less  stony,  than  any 
other  part  of  the  cairn. 

This  completed  the  examination  of  this  cairn,  every 
piece  of  earth  in  it  having  been  turned  over  down  to  the 
natural  soil,  showing  that  it  contained  but  one  inter- 
ment, that  not  at  the  centre  but  E.N.E.  of  it,  and  consisting 
of  a  burnt  body,  placed  in  a  hole  2  ft.  g  in.  by  i  ft.  9  in., 
accompanied  by  a  flint  knife,  and  covered  by  a  large 
stone.* 

BLEABERRY  HAWS,  TORVER. 

The  district  in  which  the  following  discoveries  were 
made  is  a  high  tract  of  fell  land  lying  W.  of  Coniston  Lake, 
and  is  very  prolific  in  ancient  remains.  The  place  is 
mentioned  by  the  late  Mr.  Clifton  Ward,  in  his  paper 
entitled  "  Archaeological  remains  in  the  Lake  district,"  I 
printed  in  the  3rd  Vol.  of  the  Transactions  of  this  Society, 
in  which  he  gives  a  very  full  list  of  remains  of  various 
ages  in  Cumberland,  Westmorland,  and  parts  of  Furness. 
His  reference  to  this  particular  place  is  as  follows  : 
Sheet  4,  Lancashire  vS.W.  A  mile  W.  of  Torver  there  crosses 
Bleaberry  Haws,  an  ancient  entrenchment  evidently  belonging  to  the 
period  of  the  cairns  and  stone  circles  which  are  grouped  closely 
around  it  (see  fig.  22), |  and  which  speak  for  themselves. 


*  In  my  former  paper  on  prehistoric  remains  in  this  district  ante  p.  202,  of 
these  Transactions,  1  stated  that  this  cairn  contained  a  circle  of  stones;  this 
opinion  was  I  am  afraid,  rashly  formed,  as  this  further  examination,  showed  that 
there  was  no  regfular  circle,  althoutjh  many  large  stones  were  placed  near  the 
circumference  in  morcj^than  one  place. 

+  Notes  on  Archaeological  remains  in  the  Lake  district,  by  j.  Clifton  Ward. 
l'".G.S.,  of  Her  Majesty's  (Geological  Survey,  ante  Vol.  iii.,  p.  241. 

X  Fig.  Z2  is  a  map  of  these  remains,  plate  s  of  his  papei-. 

The 


ANCIKNT  REMAINS  NICAK  ISLI'ABl'.KKV  HAWS,    TORVl':!';. 


KEMAINS  IN   NORTH   LONSDALE.  499 

The  main  feature  in  this  purticular  butch  is,  as  intimated 
in  Mr.  Clifton  Ward's  notice,  tiie  entrenchment  which 
extends  for  nearly  a  mile  (6  in.  Ord.  Surv).*  It  commences 
amongst  a  group  of  cairns  at  a  place  called  Green  Rigg 
Bank,  about  half  a  mile  due  W.  of  Brocklebank  Ground 
in  Torver,  and  runs  in  a  northerly  direction  over  an 
eminence  marked  on  the  Ord.  6  in.  maps  as  Banks,  and 
down  a  steep  hill  into  a  valley  which  separates  Banks 
from  Bleaberry  Haws.  Here,  close  to  the  bottom,  it 
separates  into  two  branches,  one  running  N.N.E.  and  the 
other  N.N.W.,  the  latter  being  a  continuation  in  the  line  of 
its  direction  before  the  division. 

This  branch  is  lost  after  about  lOo  yards.  The  other 
branch  going  N.N.E.  turns  however  before  it  crosses  the 
stream  and  pursuing,  roughly  speaking,  a  N.N.  W.  direction, 
crosses  it,  ascends  Bleaberry  Haws,  passes  the  summit, 
and  just  after  the  descent  is  commenced  it  takes  a  sudden 
turn  to  the  left  at  a  right  angle,  and  after  about  150  yards 
comes  to  an  end.     (See  A. A. A.  on  Map  given  herewith). 

Just  S.W.  of  the  dyke  where  the  stream  is  crossed  by  it 
is  a  cairn  36  ft.  in  diameter,  [C  on  Map,  and  plate  I.,  (2)], 
which  I  examined  and  will  describe  presently.  Less  than 
100  yards  N.N.W.  of  this  is  another,  18  ft.  in  diameter. 
About  200  yards  W.S.W.  of  these  there  are  several  small 
cairns  the  diameter  of  the  greatest  of  which  is  about  15  ft. 
(D  on  Map),  and  about  the  same  distance  again,  in  the 
same  direction  are  more  small  cairns,  (I  on  map\ 

On  the  summit  of  Bleaberry  Haws,  a  little  due  S.  of  the 
place  where  the  dyke  turns  off  at  a  right  angle,  stands 
a  cairn  (E  on  Map),  about  29  ft.  in  diameter,  which  I 
examined  but  which  I  found  to  have  been  explored  in 
former  times.  - 

A  short  distance  S.W.  of  this  is  a  small  circle  of  seven 
stones,  [F  on  Map,  and  plate  I.,  (3)] ,  not  a  true  circle  its 

*  As  far  as  it  has  been  traced.  It  is  quite  possible  that  a  careful  survey  would 
shew  a  greater  extent.  I  find  this  class  of  remains  arc  very  imperfectly  marked 
in  the  Ord.  Surv. 

len":th 


500         REMAINS  IN  NORTH  LONSDALE. 

length  being  17  ft.  and  its  width  13  ft.  (its  length  lying 
N.E.  and  S.W).  This  circle  was  dug  into  in  my  absence, 
and  a  rough  pavement  of  cobble  stones  was  found  at  a 
depth  of  from  2  to  3  ft.  resting  upon  the  natural  rock. 

About  roo  yards  N.E.  of  the  angle  of  the  dyke  is  a 
cairn  (G  on  Map),  about  26  ft.  in  diameter,  and  about  the 
same  distance  E.N.E.  of  this  is  a  circular  enclosure  of 
earth  and  stones  [H  on  Map,  and  plate  I.,  (4)],  54  ft.  in 
diameter,*  and  a  little  further  to  the  N.,  but  hardly  to  the 
classed  with  this  particular  group,  are  more  cairns.  There 
are  besides  these  a  considerable  quantity  of  small  mounds 
of  stones  lying  about  the  rough  ground  S.  of  this  dyke, 
which  seem  to  me  artificial  and  are  doubtlessly  burial 
mounds. 

CAIRNS    NEAR    TORVER.f 

Among  these  remains  I  have  examined  three  cairns,  one 
of  which  had  contained  three  interments,  while  the  other 
two  were  absolutely  unprolific,  owing  in  at  least  one  case 
to  having  been  examined  before  ;  the  first  and  prolific  one 
[C  on  Map,  and  plate  I.,  (2)] ,  lying  as  I  have  said  S.W.  of 
the  dyke  where  it  crosses  the  stream,  was  36  ft.  in  diameter, 
and  about  2  ft.  high.  I  examined  the  whole  of  this  cairn, 
except  a  small  portion  on  the  N.W.  side  :  at  the  centre  a 
great  many  stones  had  been  removed,  down  in  fact  to  the 
natural  surface,  thus  forming  a  large  bowl-shaped  cavity. 
This  excavation  I  am  told  was  made  by  a  gentleman  about 
35  years  ago,  and  there  is  no  doubt  he  found  here  a  central 
interment.];  This  hole  extended  beneath  where  the  inter- 
ment had  been  found,  and  was  filled  in  with  gravel  and 
sand  of  uncertain  depth.     No  stones  were  found  in  this 


*  A  similar  enclosure  but  bicfj^er,  caps  a  hill  about  two-thirds  of  a  mile  due  K. 
of  this,  unnoticed  either  by  Ord,  Surv.  or  Mr.  Clifton  Ward,  and  there  are 
other  enclosures  of  a  similar  character  a  little  further  N.  at  tlie  foot  of  Coniston 
Old  Man. 

t  Lanes  ft  in.  Ord  Surv.,  Sheet  4,  S.W. 

J  What  he  did  find  I  have  been  unable  to  ascertain.  J'hc  usual  account  of 
"  old  bones  "  is  all  I  have  got. 

part 


REMAINS  IN  NORTH  LONSDALE.  50I 

part  of  the  cairn,  which  were  likely  to  have  formed  a  cist,  so 
this  interment  was  probably,  but  not  certainly,  without  one  ; 
a  quantity  of  burnt  bones  found  scattered  loose,  chiefly  on 
the  S.  side  of  the  cairn,  were  probably  the  disturbed 
remains  of  this  interment  which  consequently  must  have 
been  by  cremation,  [I.,  (2)  A],*  12  ft.  E.S.E.  of  the 
centre,  [I.,  (2)  D],  was  a  hole  excavated  in  the  natural  soil 
measuring  i  ft.  3  in.  in  diameter,  and  i  ft.  2  in.  in  depth, 
and  filled  with  charcoal.  10  ft.  N.E.  of  the  centre  in  a 
hole  I  ft.  4  in.  in  diameter,  [I.,  (2)  C] ,  and  of  the  same 
depth,  and  nearly  round,  dug  in  the  natural  soil  and 
covered  by  a  large  cobble,  was  a  considerable  deposit  of 
burnt  bones,  accompanied  by  the  remains  of  an  earthen- 
ware vessel,  very  much  decayed  and  very  fragmentary  : 
near  the  bottom  of  the  hole  and  amongst  the  bones 
was  a  rudely  formed  flint  instrument,  one  edge  of  which 
was  serrated,  probably  for  sawing  purposes.  This  in- 
strument has  been  exposed  to  the  action  of  fire  but  not 
apparently  to  the  same  extent  as  the  bones.  The  vessel 
is  of  course  red  earthenware,  and  has  been  ornamented 
with  circular  dots  or  impressions  placed  in  perpendicular 
rows :  the  pieces  are  too  fragmentary  to  ascertain  whether 
it  has  been  a  food  vessel,  drinking  vessel,  or  cinerary  urn, 
but  from  its  size  it  has  probably  been  one  of  the  former.t 
8  ft.  S.W.  of  the  centre  [I.,  (2)  B] ,  placed  on  the  natural 
soil,  was  a  cist  formed  of  four  stones  set  on  edge  and 
covered  by  a  large  flag,  its  length  lying  N,W.  and  S.E. 
The  interior  measurement  of  this  cist  was  2  ft.  5  in.  by  i  ft. 
4  in.  and  its  depth  i  ft.  The  greatest  length  of  the  cover 
stone  was  3  ft.  9  in.  and  greatest  breadth  2  ft.  g  in.  and 
thickness  5  in.  On  removing  this  cover  stone  we  found  a 
deposit  of  burnt  bones  very  decayed  and  unaccompanied 
by  urn  or  implement    of   any   description.      Just    N.    of 

*  Sheet  L,  plan  2,  No.  of  interment  A. 

t  In  filling  in,  a  curious  cylindrical  bone  object  was  found,  it  is  about  |  in.  long, 
perforated  lengthways  and  through  one  side  near  the  end,  and  although  burnt  is 
very  hard.     It  may  have  been  a  whistle. 

centre 


502  REMAINS  IN  NORTH  LONSDALE. 

centre  of,  and  outside  of  the  N.E.  side  of  this  cist,  were 
discovered  some  fragments  of  pottery,  very  decayed  and 
apparently  without  design, 

N.W.  of  the  centre,  [I.,  (2),  E] ,  lying  loose  in  the 
cairn,  was  found  a  flint  flake,  quite  whitened  but  apparently 
not  burnt.  Throughout  the  mound  many  burnt  stones  were 
observed,  but  especially  on  the  N.W.  side. 

The  second  cairn,  less  than  100  yards  N.N.W.  of  the 
last,  (B  on  Map),  18  ft.  in  diameter,  and  about  i  ft.  in 
depth,  was  of  a  different  composition,  being  formed  of 
larger  stones :  although  it  was  turned  completely  over,  no 
interment  or  remains  of  any  sort  were  found,  but  about 
the  centre,  a  rather  peculiar  deposit  of  dark  coloured  earth 
was  observed.  I  have  not  yet  been  able  to  ascertain 
whether  this  cairn  had  been  examined  before  or  not. 

The  other  cairn  I  examined  (E  on  Map),  and  which  was 
equally  unprolific  with  the  last,  having  been  rifled  about 
35  years  ago,  is  situate  on  the  summit  of  Bleaberry  Haws, 
and  placed  on  a  natural  hillock :  it  is  29  ft.  in  diameter. 
Stones  showing  the  action  of  fire  were  found  all  the  way 
through,  as  well  as  small  quantities  of  charcoal. 

This  cairn  probably  had  but  one  interment,  and  that  at 
the  centre,  which  part  showed  most  sign  of  disturbance, 
having  like  the  first,  a  deep  excavation  at  that  part.  This 
interment  was  probably,  but  not  certainly,  by  inhumation 
as  all  signs  of  bone  seem  to  have  been  removed  by  former 
excavators,  which  would  be  easier  in  the  case  of  an  inter- 
ment by  inhumation,  than  one  by  cremation.  No  signs  of 
a  cist  were  observed. 

I  have  also  to  record  the  following  incidental  discoveries 
of  remains  to  the  stone  age. 

1.  Celt  and  quern  from  Selside,  Westmorland. 

2.  Celt  from  Castle  Hill,  Pennington. 

3.  Flint  flake  and  scraper  from  Dendron. 

I. 


REMAINS  IN   NORTH   LONSDALE.  5O3 

1.  The  celt  and  quern  first  named,  I  had  the  iionour 
of  describing  last  year,  in  a  paper  to  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries in  London.  They  were  found  about  two  fields 
apart,  at  Whitwell  Folds,  a  farm  at  Selside,  about  four 
miles  N.E.  of  Kendal.  The  celt  was  discovered  about 
6  ft.  deep  in  draining  a  peat  moss,  which  had  formerly 
been  a  tarn,  is  7^  in.  long,  3^  in.  broad  at  the  cutting 
edge,  and  2  in.  broad  at  the  butt,  and  is  composed  of  what 
seems  to  be  a  very  hard  volcanic  stone.  The  edge  of  the 
blade  is  oblique  :  the  sides  are  carefully  ground  off,  and  il 
carefully  examined  seemed  to  be  formed  into  almost  three 
facets  :  the  butt  end  is  left  rough,  perhaps  to  enable  some 
gumm)^  substance  with  which  it  was  hafted  to  adhere  more 
firmly.  The  whole  surface  is  carefully  polished,  and  the 
minute  siricB  which  cover  it  are  both  lateral  and  longitu- 
dinal.    It  was  found  about  1847. 

The  quern,  which  is  of  the  beehive-shape,  was  found 
about  1857,  close  by  on  the  same  farm  and  at  about  the 
same  depth.  Its  height  is  lof  in.,  breadth  across  base  i  ft., 
and  across  top  of  hole  4:^  in.  A  nearly  identical  specimen 
has  been  found  at  Wray,  near  Ambleside. 

2.  The  celt  from  Castle  Hill,  Pennington,  is  rather 
peculiar  in  form.  It  was  found  in  the  spring  of  18S6,  in  a 
ploughed  field,  and  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Jolin 
Bigland,  Esq.,  of  Bigland  Hall.  Its  peculiarity  consists 
in  its  being  only  the  butt  end  of  a  long  celt,  of  a  common 
northern  county  type,  broken  off  short,  perhaps  by  accident, 
and  then  roughly  chipped  to  a  new  edge.  The  edge  thus 
formed,  has  never  been  polished  like  the  rest  of  the  weapon. 
Its  present  length  is  nearly  ^\  in.  and  its  greatest  breadth 
I J  in.  and  its  thichness  about  i  in.  and  it  is  composed  of 
green  stone.  It  has  originally  been  polished  all  over,  but 
not  in  such  a  workmanlike  fashion  as  the  Selside  specimen, 
as  the  surface  is  left  in  facets  or  ridges  :  the  sides  are 
flattened. 

The 


504  REMAINS  IN  NORTH  LONSDALE. 

The  place  where  this  object  was  found,  Castle  Hill, 
Pennington,  is  occupied  by  some  ancient  earthworks,  the 
antiquity  of  which  seem  to  be  a  matter  of  some  dispute. 
Both  Baines,  in  his  "  Lancashire,"  and  Whitaker,  in  his 
"  Richmondshire  "  mention  a  square  enclosure  which  they 
consider  to  be  the  remains  of  the  ancient  castle  of  the 
Penningtons.  Dr.  Barber,  however,  in  his  "  Prehistoric 
Remains,"  writes  as  follows  of  it  :  "  it  consists  of  a  large 
circular  enclosure  with  an  entrance  towards  the  S.E.,  the 
circle  being  defended  on  the  S.  and  E.  by  a  vallum  of  earth 
and  a  deep  ditch,  and  on  the  N.  and  W.  by  precipices,  at 
the  base  of  which  runs  a  streamlet  draining  the  moor 
above.  But  as  there  are  no  indications  of  foundations  of 
buildings,  it  is  more  likely  to  have  been  a  British  fortress." 

There  is  also  close  by  in  a  field  named  Ellabarrow,  a 
tumulus  called  Conynger  Wood,  and  the  same  author 
relates  that  while  building  the  residence  Conynger  Hurst, 
a  circular  tomb  was  discovered,  together  with  ancient 
bones  and  a  sword,  and  that  when  the  railway  was  being 
constructed,  several  querns,  stone  balls,  and  axes,  were 
found  12  ft.  below  the  surface. 

3.  The  two  flints  I  found  on  April  ist  this  year,  be- 
tween Dendron  and  Newton  :  one  has  nothing  remarkable 
about  it,  being  an  ordinary  spell  or  flake  ;  the  other  is  a 
fairly  worked  scraper  of  black  flint. 


5^5 


LLST  OF  MEMBERS 

Ol-'    THIi 

Cumberland  and    Westmorland   Antiquarian  and 
AkcH/Eological  Society. 


HONORARY  MEMBERS. 

liruce,   Rev.  J.  Collingwood,  LL.D.,  F.S.A.,  Nevvcastlc-on- 

Tyne. 
Cireenwell,  Rev.  William,  M.A.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  Durham. 
Stephens,  Professor  George,  F.S.A.,  Copenhagen. 
Evans,  J.,  Esq.,  D.C.L.,  LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  Nash  Mills, 

Hemel  Hempstead. 
Freeman,   Edward    A.,    Esq.,    D.C.L.,   LL.D.,  Somerleaze, 

Wells. 


ORDINARY  MEMBERS. 
Addison,  John,  Castle  Hill,  Maryport 
Arnison,  Major  W.  B.,  Beaumont,  Penrith 
Bective,  Earl  of,  Underley  Hall,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 
Bain,  Sir  James,  3.  Park  Terrace,  Glasgow 
Balme,  E.  B.  W.,  Loughrigg,  Ambleside 
Braithwaite,  Charles  Lloyd,  Ghyll  Close,  Kendal 
Braithwaite,  Charles  Lloyd,  jun.,  Kendal 
Burn,  Richard,  Orton  Hall,  Shap 
Browne,  William,  Tallentire  Hall,  Cockermouth 
Crosthwaite,  J.  F.,  F.S.A.,  The  Bank,  Keswick 
Cooper,  Ven.  Archdeacon,  The  Vicarage,  Kendal 
Cropper,  James,  Ellergreen,  Kendal 
Clayton,  John,  F.S.A.,  The  Chesters,  Northumberland 
Cartmell,  L,  The  Town  Hall,  Carlisle 
Ferguson,  The    Worshipful    Chancellor.   F.S.A..   (Lon.  and 

Scot.)  Lowther  Street,  Carlisle 
Ferguson,   Robert,  M.P.,  F.S.A.,  (Lon.  and   Scot.)    Morton. 

Carlisle 
Ferguson,  Charles  J.,  F.S.A.,  50,  English  Street,  Carlisle 
Gandy,  J.  G.,  Heaves,  Kendal 
Hornby,  E.  G.  S.,  Dalton  Hall,  Burton. 

Hudleston 


)06  LIST    OF    MEMBERS. 

20     Hudleston,  W.,  Hutton  John,  Penrith 

Johnson,  G.  J.,  Castlesteads,  Brampton 

Jackson,  William,  F.S.A.,  21,  Roe  Lane,  Southport 

Lees,  Rev.  Thomas,  F.S.A.,  Wreaj',  Carlisle 

Nelson,  Thomas,  Friar's  Carse,  Dumfries 
25     Pearson,  F.  I'enwick,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Sherwen,  Rev.  Canon,  Dean,  Cockermouth 

Taylor,    M.  W.,  F.S.A.,  (Lon.  and  Scot),  200,    Earl's  Court 
Road,  South  Kensington 

Wyndham,  Hon.  Percy  S.,  Clouds,  Salisbury 

Ware,  Rev.  Canon,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 
30     Wakefield,  W.  H.,  Sedgwick  House,  Kendal 

Wakefield,  William,  Birklands,  Kendal 

Wheatley,  J.  A..  Portland  vSquare,  Carlisle 

I1S70. 
Carlyle,  Dr.,  Carlisle 
Crone,  J.,  Sandwath,  Penrith 
35     Mason,  Thomas,  Kirkby  Stephen 

1872. 

Pxlnson,  Dr.  Whitehaven 

Carlisle,  the   Right   Rev.   the   Lord   Bishop  of.  Rose  Castle. 

Carlisle 
Knowles,  Rev.  Canon,  The  Priory,  Saint  Bees 

40     Harvey,  Rev.  George,  P'.S.A.,  Vicar's  Close,  Lincoln 
Brunskill,  Rev.  J.,  Threlkeld,  Keswick 

1874. 

Allison,  R.  A.,  ALP.,  Scaleby  Hall,  Carlisle 
Bower,  Rev.  R.,  St.  Cuthbert's  Vicarage,  Carlisle 
Chapelhow,  Rev.  James,  Kirkbampton,  Carlisle 

45     Crowder,  W.  L  R.,  Stanwix,  Carlisle 

Dalzell,  Thomas  H.,  Clilton  Hall.  Workington 

Dobinson,  H.,  Stanwix,  Carlisle 

Harrison,  D.  R.,  Stanwix,  Carlisle 

Hoskins,  Rev.  Canon,  Higham,  Cockermouth 

50     Lowthcr,  Hon.  W.,  M.P.,  Lowther  Lodge,  Kensington  (iorc, 
London 
Maclaren,  R.,  iM.D,,  Portland  Square,  Carlisle 
Muncaster,  Lord,  M.P.,  Muncasler  Hall,  Ravenglass 
Nanson,  William,  vSingapore 

Nicholson, 


LIST    OF    MEMl'.l'KS.  507 

55     Nicholson,  J.  Holme,  Car)ll  Drive,  Fallowiield,  Manchester 
Steele,  James,  Wetheral,  Carlisle 
Steele,  William,  Chatsworth  Square,  Carlisle 
Thomlinson,  John,  Inglethvvaite  Hall,  Carlisle 
Whiteliead,  Rev.  Henry,  Newton  Keigny.  Penrith 

60     yVtkinson,  Rev.  G.  W.,  Culgaith  \'icarage,  Penrith 
Barnes,  H.,  M.l).,  Portland  Square,  Carlisle 
Hellasis,  Edward,  Lancaster  Herald,  Coll.  of  Arms.  London; 
Cooper,  Rev.  Canon,  Grange-over-Sands 
Cartmell,  Rev.  J.  W.,  Christ's  College,  Cambridge 

65     Cartmell,  Studholme,  81,  Castle  Street,  Carlisle 
Cartmell,  Joseph,  C.E.,  Maryport 
Clark,  G.  T.,  F.S.A.,  Dowlais  House,  Dowlais 
Fell,  John,  Dane  Ghyll,  Furness  Abbey 
Howard,  George,  i,   Palace  Green,  Kensington 

70     Hudson,  James,  Penrith 

Loftie,  Rev.  A.  G.,  Calder  Bridge.  Carntorth 
Peile,  Alfred,  Hindley,  Workington 
Prescott,  Yen.  Archdeacon,  The  Abbey,  Carlisle 
Robinson,  George  Hunter,  (iateacre,  Liverpool 

75     Strickland,  Rev.  W.  E.,  St.  Paul's  Vicarage,  Carlisle 
Senhouse,  Humphrey,  Hames  Hall,  Cockermouth 
Watson,  Rev.  S.  W^.,  Bootle,  Carntorth 
Webster,  John,  Barony  House,  St.  Bees 
Whitehead,  John,  Klmbank,  Appleby 

Bell,  Rev.  John,  JMatterdale,  Penrith 

80     Dickson,  Arthur  Benson,  Abbots  Reading,  Ulverstone 
Fisher,  John,  Bank  Street,  Carlisle 
Hetherington,  J.  Crosby.  Burlington  Place,  Carlisle 
Harrison,  William,  C.E.,  79,  Sussex  Road,  Southport 
Maclnnes,  Miles,  M.P.,  Rickerby,  Carlisle 

85     Simpson,  Joseph,  Romanway,  Penrith 

Smith,  Charles,  F.G.S.,  Crosslands,   Barrow-in-luirness 
Vaughan,  Cedric,  C.E.,  Leyfield  House,  Millom 
Wilson,  Frank,  Castle  Lodge,  Kendal 
Wilson.  John  F.,  Southfield  \'illa.  Middlesborough 

1877. 
go     Beardsley,  Amos.  F.L.S.,  F.G.S.,  Grange-over-Sands 
Blanc,  Hippolyte  J..  78,  George  Street,  Edinburgh 

Calverle\- 


50S  LIST    OF    MEMBERS. 

Calverley,  Rev.  W.  S.,  F.S.A.,  Aspatria,  Carlisle 

Douglas,  T.  S.,  Allonby  House,  Workington 

Fletcher,  William,  Brigham  Hill,  Cockermouth 
95     Greenwood,  R.  H.,  Banktield,   Kendal 

Helder,  A.,  Whitehaven 

Massicks,  Thomas  Barlow,  The  Oaks,  Millom 

Martin,  Rear-Admiral  Thomas  M.  Hutchinson,  Bitterne 

Russell,  Robert,  F.G.S.,  Saint  Bees 
loo     Sewell,  Colonel,  Brandling  Ghyll,  Cockermouth 

Troutbeck,  Rev.  Dr.,  Deans  Yard,  Westminster 

Varty,  Major,  Stagstones,  Penrith 

Woods,  Sir  Albert,  Garter  King  at  Arms,  College  of  Arms, 
London 

1878. 

Allen,  Rev.  John,  The  Vicarage,  Hawkshead 
105     Ainsworth,  J.  S.,  Harecroit,  Holmrook,  Carnforth 

Brown,  George,  Troutbeck,  Windermere 

Bell,  John,  jun.,  Appleby 

Burnyeat,  William,  jun.,  Corkickle,  Whitehaven 

Carey,  Thomas,  John  Street,  Maryport 
no     Glutton,  William  J.,  Cockermouth  Castle,  Cockermouth 

Curwen,  Rev,  Alfred  F.,  Harrington 

Curwen,  H.  F.,  Workington  Hall,  Workington 

Harrison,  Rev.  James,  Barbon  Vicarage,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Hargreaves,  J.  E.,  Beezon  House,  Kendal 
115     Hannah,  Joseph,  Castle  View,  Carlisle 

Heelis,  William  Hopes,  Hawkshead 

Harris,  Jonathan  James,  Lindenside,  Cockermouth 

Parker,  Charles  A.,  M.D.,  Haverigg  House,  Gosforth 

Ransome,  Rev.  Canon,  Kirkoswald 
120      Robinson,  R.  A.,  South  Lodge,  Cockermouth 

Tyson,  E.  T.,  Maryport 

Wilson,  Robert,  Broughton  (irange,  Cockermouth 

Waugh,  E.  L.,  Cockermouth 

1879. 

Argles,   Thomas  .Vtkinson,  Ivversley,  Milnthorpe 
125     Ainsworth,  David,  The  Flosh,  Cleator,  Carnforth 
Blair,  Robert,  F.S.A.,  South  Shields 
Bracken,  T.  H.,  Hilham  Hall,  South  Milford 
Calvert,  Rev.  Thomas,  15,  .Mbany  Villas,  Hove,  Brighton 
Chalker,  The  Rl\  .  Canon,  The  Abbey,  Carlisle 

Deakin 


LIST    Ol-    MIsMHERS.  ^L)(J 

ijo      Deakin,  Joseph,  Ivllcrhow,  (iran.^c-ovcr-Sands 

Grenside,  I^cv.  \V.  Hrcnl,  Mcllinj^  Vicaraf^u,  Lancaster 

Hodgson,  Dr.  John,  Aspatria 

Harry,  J.  H..  High  Law  House,  Abbey  Town 

Hills,  William  Henry,  The  Knoll,  Ambleside 

I  35     Jenkinson,  Henry  L,  Keswick 

Martindale,  Joseph  Anthony,  Staveley,  Kendal 
Machell,  Thomas,  Joint  Stock  l^ank,  Whitehaven 
Nanson,  John,  Fisher  Street,  Carlisle 
Pollitt,  Charles,  Kendal 

140     Peile,  George,  Shotley  Bridge,  Durham 

Robinson,  David  Bird,  The  Thorns,  Penrith 

Steele,  Major-General  James  Anthony,  9,  Eastbourne  Terrace 

Hyde  Park,  London 
Tosh,  E.  G.,  Flan  How,  Ulverston 

Wiper,  William.  8,   Luc\-  Street,   Higher   P>r<)ughton,   Man- 
chester 

143     Bone,  Rev.  John,  West  Newton,  .\spatria 
Burrow,  Rev.  J.  J.,  Ireby,  Carlisle 
Bailey,  J.  B.,  28,  Eaglesfield  Street,  Maryport 
Bardsley,  Rev.  C.  W.,  St.  Mary's,  Ulverstone 
Carrick,  Thomas,  Appleby 

150     Dawson,  B.  D.,  99,  High  Street,  Maryport 
Dacres,  Thomas.  Dearham,  Carlisle 
Hepworth,  J.,  18,  Chatsworth  Square,  Carlisle 
Hine,  Wilfrid.  Camp  Hill,  Maryport 
Hine,  Alfred,  Camp  Hill,  Maryport 

155     Moss,  A.  B.,  English  Street,  Carlisle 

Maddison,  Rev.  A.  R.,  F.S.A.,  Vicar's  Court,  Lincoln 
Mawson,  John  vSanderson,  The  Larches,  Keswick 
Paisley,  William,  Workington 
Rushforth,  George,  Kirkland,  Kendal 

160     Thornley.  Rev.  John  James,  St.  John's  Vicarage,  Workington 


1 88 1. 

Atkinson,  J.  Ottley,  Stramongate,  Kendal 

Addison,  J.  J.,  Kendal 

Bulkeley,  Rev.  H.  L,  Lanercost  Priory,  Carlisle 

Birkbeck,  William  Lloyd,  2,  Stone   Buildings,  Lincoln's  Inn 

I'ields,  London 
Borradaile.  .\rthur  V.,  A.^LLC.^:.,  Saltburn-by-the-Sea 

Beardslev. 


5IO 


LIST    01     MEMBERS. 


Beardsley,  Richard  Henry,  Grange-ovfrr-Sands 

Banks,  T.  Lewis.  23,  Finsbury  Circus.  London 

Calderwood,  Dr.,  Egremont 

Davidson,  Peter,  Mary  port 
170     Dover,  W.  Kinsey,  F.G.S.,  Keswick 

Doherty,  William  James,  C.E.,  Dublin 

Falcon,  Michael,  Stainburn,  Workington 

Goodchild,  J.  G..  (Milburn,  Penrith),  and  28,  Jermvn  Street. 
S.W. 

Greenwood,  Rev.  J.,  Uldale,  Mealsgate,  Carlisle 
175     Harrison,  James,  Newby  Bridge  House.  Ulvcrstonc 

Hellan,  John  S.,  Whitehaven 

Howson,  Thomas,  Whitehaven 

Hayton,  Joseph,  Cockermouth 

Hetherington,  J.  Newby,  F.R.Ci.S.,  62,  Harlc\  Street,  London 
180     Iredale,  Thomas,  Workington 

Jameson,  John,  C.K.,  Maryport 

Moor,  Henry,  Ullcoats,  Egremont 

Postlethwaite,  John,  Fair  View,  Eskett,  Whitehaven 

Richardson,  J.  i\L,  Bank  Street,  Carlisle 
185     Seymour,  J.  S.,  Bank  Street.  Carlisle 

Smith,  John.  Egremont 

Thompson,  Rev.  W.,  Guldrej'  Lodge,  SedbergJT 

Valentine,  Charles,  Bankfield,  Workington 

Wiper,  Joseph,  Stricklandgate,  Kendal 
igo     Wotherspoon,  Dr.,  Mansion  House.  Brampton 

Wilkinson,  Rev,  W.  H.,  Hensingham.  Whitehaven 


Argies,  Mrs.,  Eversley,  Miinthorpe 

Arnison,  Mrs.,  Beaumont,  Penrith 

Balme,  Mrs.,  Loughrigg,  Ambleside 
195     Braithwaite,  Mrs.,  Hawes  Mead.  Kendal 

Braithwaite,  Mrs.  C.  LI.  junr.,  Kendal 

Weston,  Mrs.,  Ashbank,  Penrith 

Bland,  Miss,  2,  Chausee  de  la  MucUl.   i'aris 

Colville,  Mrs.,  Sale 
200     Ferguson,  Mrs.  C.  J.,  Ravenside.  Carlisle 

Gillings,  Mrs.,  St.  Nicholas  Vicarage,  Whitehaven 

Fletcher,  Mrs.,  Wollescote  Hall.  Stourbridge 

Gibson. 


rJvST    OF    MKMliHKS.  5II 

Gibhori,  Miss  j\l.,  Wliclprigg,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Hiil,  Miss,  Asby  Lodge,  Carlton  Road,  I'utnc\-  Hill.  Lonchni 
205     Hodgetts,  Mrs.,  Abbotts  Court,  Saint  Hees 

Jackson,  Mrs.,  Roe  Lane,  Southport 

Lees,  Miss,  Wreay  Vicarage,  Carlisle 

Gillbanks,  Mrs.,  Lowther,  Penrith 

Parker.  Mrs.  T.  H..  Warwick  Hall,  Carlisle 
210      Preston,  Miss,  Undercliffe,  Settle 

Tomlinson,  Miss  E.,  The  Biggins,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Taylor,  Mrs.,  202.  Earls  Court  Road,  South  Kensington 

Wakefield,  Mrs.,  Sedgwick,  Kendal 

Wilson,  Mrs.  L  W.,  Thorney  Hills.  Kendal 
213      Wilson,  Miss,  Corkickle.  Whitehaven 

Varty,  Mrs..  Stagstones,  Penrith 

1S7.S. 
Fletcher,  Mrs.  W'illiam.  IJrigham,  Cockermouth 
Miller,  Miss  Sarah,  Undermount,  Rydal,  Ambleside 
Piatt,  Miss.  Burrow  Cottage.  Kirkby   Lonsdale 
22('     Sewell,  Mrs..  Brandling  Glnll.  Cockermouth 

Brougham,  Lady.  Brougham  Hall,  Penrith 
Drysdale,  Mrs.  D.  W..  S,  Croxteth  Road.  Liverpool 
Nicholson,  Miss,  Carlton  House,  Clifton.  Penrith 
Thomlinson.  Mrs.,  Liglethwaite  Hall,  Carlisle- 
225     Thomlinson,  Miss,  Ingiethwaite  Hall,  Carlisle 

Boyds,  Miss  Julia,  Moor  House,  Leemside  Station,  Durham 
Danvers.  i\Irs.,  Gate  House,  Dent,  Yorkshire 
Harvey,  Miss,  Wordsworth  Street,  Penrith 
Kuper,  Miss.  The  Laurels.   Thames  Ditton 

iSSi. 
2;f,>)     Collin.  Mrs.,  Croxteth  House.  Lower  Harrowgate 
Harrison,  Mrs.,  Newby  Bridge.  Ulverstone 
Williams.  Mrs.,  Meathop  Hall,  Grange-over-Sands 
Thompson,  Miss,  Croft  House,  Askham.  Penrith 
Wilson,  Mrs.  T..  Aynam  Lodge,  Kendal 

1882.- 
Barnett,  Rev.  B..  Preston  Patrick,  Milnthorpe 
235     Constable.  W.,  Holm  Head,  Carlisle 
Danson,  J.  T.,  E.S.A.,  Grasmere 


*  Ladies  elected  after  this  date,  pay  an  annual  Subscription  of  10I6  per  umitun. 
a  separate  list  is  not  therefore  kept. 

DowniniT. 


512  LIST    OF    MEMBKKS. 

Downing,  Wm.,  Springfield  House,  Acocks  (iret-n,  Birming- 
ham 

Ewbank,  Rev.  J.,  Cockermouth 

Garnett,  Wm.,  Crown  Hotel,  Bowncss 
:?4o     Harrison,  John,  Church  Street,  Barrow 

Hothfield,  Lord,  Appleby  Castle 

Lazonby,  J..  Wigton 

Lonsdale,  Rev.  H.,  Thornthwaite 

McArthur,  Rev.  J.,  St.  Mary's  Vicarage,  Westminster 
245     McArthur,  Mrs.,  St.  Mary's  Vicarage,  Westminster 

Newbold,  Rev.  W.  T.,  Saint  Bees 

Porter,  W.  H.,  Heads  Nook,  Carlisle 

Parkin,  John  S.,  11,  New  Square,  Lincoln's  Inn,  London 

Paley,  E.,  Lancaster 
250     Robson,  Arnold,  The  Esplanade,  Sunderland 

Rea,  Miss  Alice,  Eskdale,  Holm  Rook,  Carnforth 

Richmond,  Rev.  Canon,  The  Abbey,  Carlisle 

Rumnc}-,  Oswald  George,  Watermiliock,  Penrith 

Senhouse,  Miss,  Galeholme,  Gosforth 
255     Smith,  Charles  William,  Fisherbeck  House,  Ambleside 

Ware,  Mrs.,  The  Vicarage,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Waterton,  Rev.  G.  W^,  St.  Marj^'s  Catholic  Vicarage,  Car- 
lisle. 

Wilson,  John  Jowitt,  7,  Thorney  Hills,  Kendal 

Wood,  Joseph  Huddlestone,  Hayborough  House,  Maryport 
260     Walker,  Robert,  Windermere 

Weston,  J.  W..  Enyeat,  Milnthorpe 

1883. 

Carrick,  Rev.  J.  L.,  Spring  Hill,  Southampton 

Collin,  P.  de,  Brooklands,  Maryport 

Conder,  Edward,  jun..  Terry  ]?ank.  Old  Town,  Kirkby  Lons- 
dale 
265     Deakin,  George,  Blawith,  Grange-over-Sands 

Dixon,  T.  Parker,  9,  Gray's  Inn  Square,  London 

Dykes,  Mrs.,  The  Red  House,  Keswick 

Harris,  Alfred,  Lunefield,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Hodgson,  Isaac,  Brampton 
270      Hodgson,  T.  Hesketh  Newby  Grange,  Carlisle 

Irving,  Vv'.  J.,  Buckabank  House,  Dalston 

Jackson,  Rev.  W.,  The  Gaol,  Maidstone 

Lonsdale,  Horace  B.,  Moorhouse,  Carlisle 

Micklethwaite,  J.   T.,  T'.S.A.,  15,  Dean's  Yard.  Westminster 
275     Liverpool  Free  Public  Library 

Newbold, 


LIST    OF    MEMBERS.  5I3 

Newbold,  Thomas  Robinson,  3,  Shakespeare  Street,  Barrow 
Peile,  John,  Christ's  College,  Cambridge 
Kavvnsley,  Rev.  H.  D.,  Crosthvvaite,  Keswick 
Stamper,  Mrs.,  Mountain  View,  CaldbecU,  Carlisle 
280     Welsh,  Rev.  J,  F.,  Saint  Bees 

White,  Rev.  J.,  Dacre  Vicarage,  Penrith 
Wilson,  Rev.  James,  2,  Alfred  Street,  Carlisle 
Whitwell,  Robert  Jowitt,  69,  Highgate,  Kendal 
Wright,   Bryce   M.,   54,  (iuildford    Street,    Russell    Square, 
London 

1884. 

285     Adair,  Joseph,  Egremont 

Atkinson,  James,  The  Rookery,  Ulverston 

Avery,  Robert  B.,  11,  Fern  Avenue,  Newcastle-on-Tyne 

Bagot,  Josceline,  Levens  Hall,  Milnthorpe 

Baker,  Rev.  John,  Nether  Wastdale 
290     Bowman,  Rev.  E.  L.,  Vicarage,  Alston 

Coward,  John,  Fountain  Street,  Ulverston 

Dickenson,  Joseph,  jun..  The  Raise,  Alston 

Douglas,  Mrs.,  Lairthwaite,  Keswick 

Ford,  John  Walker,  Chase  Park,  Enfield 
295     Ford,  John  Rawlinson,  Headingley,  Leeds 

Henderson,  Rev.  Dr.,  Dean  of  Carlisle 

Hodgkin,  Thomas,  B.A.,  D.C.L.,  Benwell,  Newcastle 

Horrocks,  T. ,  Eden  Brow,  Carlisle 

Irwin,  T.  A.,  Lynehow,  Carlisle 
300     James,  Rev.  O.,  Clarghyll  Hall,  Alston 

Leitch,  Mrs.,  Derwent  Bank,  Keswick 

Lindow,  Jonas,  Ehen  Hall,  Cleator 

Lindow,  Miss,  Ehen  Hall,  Cleator 

Miller,  W.  P.,  Merlewood,  Grange-over-Sands 
305     Pitt- Rivers,  Major-Gen.  F.R.S.,  F.S.A.,  Rushmore,  Salisbury 

Pughe,  Rev.  K.  M.,  Irton 

Riley,  Hamlet,  Ennim,  Penrith 

Robinson,  Mrs,,  Green  Lane,  Carlisle 

Robinson,  Miss,  Green  Lane,  Carlisle 
310     Spence,  Charles,  North  Shields 

Taylor,  Rev.  W.  L.,  Soulby  Vicarage,  Kirkby  Stephen 

Watson,  John,  Kendal  Green,  Kendal 

Wood,  Miss,  St.  George's  Crescent,  Stanwix,  Carlisle 

Whitehead,  Alderman,  Highfield  House,  Catford  Bridge 

1S85. 


514  LIST    OF    MEMBERS. 

1885. 
3-15     Banks,  Edwin  H.,  Highmoor  House,  Wigton 

Creighton,  Miss,  Warwick  Square,  Carlisle 
Ecroyd,  Edmund,  Low  House,  Carlisle 

Ellenborough,  Col.  the    Hon.    Lord,  6,  Buckingham    Gate, 
London 

Elliot,  G.  B.,  Wordsworth  Street,  Penrith 
320     Farrer,  Miss,  Fisher  Street,  Carlisle 

Gilbanks,  Rev.  W.  F.,  Great  Orton,  Carlisle 

Gillings,  Rev.  C.  B.,  St.  Nicholas,  Whitehaven 

Hoare,  Rev.  J.  N.,  F.R.Hist.S.,  St.  John's  Vicarage,  Keswick 

Heelis,  Rev.  J.,  Kirkby  Thore  Rectory,  Penrith 
325     Hodgson,  James,  Britain  Place,  Ulverston 

Hibbert,  Percy,  Plumtree  Hall,  Milnthorpe 

Holme,  Rev.  E.,  The  Vicarage,  Orton 

Jackson,  Edwin,  Hawthorns,  Keswick 

Lowthian,  Rev.  W.,  The  Villa,  Soulby,  Kirkby  Stephen 
330     Machell,  Rev.  Canon,  Roos  Rectory,  Hull 

Norman,  Rev.  J.  B.,  Whitchurch  Rectory,  Edgware 

Ostle,  Rev.  L  S.,  Crosthwaite,  Keswick 

Pearson,  A.  G.  B.,  Kirkby  Lonsdale 

Pennington,  William  James,  Windermere 
335     Penrith  Free  Library 

Roper,  W.  O.,  Edenbreck,  Lancaster 

Robinson,  John,  Elterwater  Hall,  Ambleside 

Sanderson,  Dr.,  Penrith 

The  Barrow-m-Furness  Free  Library 
340     The  Kendal  Literary  and  Scientific  Society 

Wagner,  Henry,    F.S.A.,   13,  Halfmoon    Street,  Piccadilly, 
London 

Watson,  George,  Penrith 

Wilson,  William,  Keswick  Hotel,  Keswick 

Wainwright,  Rev.  W.  J.,  Aspatria 
1886. 
345     Benn,  T.  G.,  Newton  Regny,  Penrith 

Cole,  Rev.  G.  W.,  Beetham  Vicarage,  Milnthorpe 

Cowper,  H.  Swainson,  Yewtield  Castle,  Outgate,  Ambleside 

Crewdson,  F.  W.,  Greenside,  Kendal 

Crevvdson,  William  D.,  Helme  Lodge,  Kendal  * 

350     Dixon,  T.,  Rheda,  Whitehaven 

Fletcher,  W.  L.,  Stoneleigh,  Workington 

Foljambe,  Cecil  G.  S.,  M.P.,  Cockglode,  Ollerton,  Newark 

Hogg 


LIST    OF    MI'MBERS.  5I5 

Hogg,  J.  Henry,  Stricklandgate,  Kendal 

Mathews,  Rev.  Canon,  Appleby 
255     Parez,  Rev.  C.  H.,  Stanwix,  Carlisle 

Richmond,  Rev.  H.  A.,  Sherburn  Vicarage,  Durham 

Robinson,  John,  C.E.,  East  Barry  House,  Cardiff 

Rymer,  Thomas,  Calder  Abbey,  Carnforth 

Swainson,  Joseph,  Bankfield,  Kendal 
360     Wilson,  Christopher  M.,  Hampton,  Shap 

1887. 

Addison,  Percy  L.,  C.E.,  Cleator 

Atkinson,  John,  Croftlands,  Ulverstone 

Ayre,  Rev.  L.  R.,  Holy  Trinity  Vicarage,  Ulverstone 

Bell,  John,  Heathwaite,  Coniston 
365     Cartmell,  James  Austin,  London 

Chapman,  Rev.  E.  W.,  The  Vicarage,  Penrith 

CoUingwood,  W.  G.,  M.A.,  Gill  Head,  Windermere 

Crewdson,  Wilfrid  Howard,  Abbot  Hall,  Kendal 

Curwen,  Miss  Julia,  Roewath,  Dalston 
370     Curwen,  John  F.,  Horncop  Hall,  Kendal 

Duncan,  Rev.  R.,  Whitehaven 

Ecroyd,  William,  Lomeshaye.  Buinley 

Farish,  Edward  Garthwaite,  Pall  Mall  Club,  London 

Fielden,  Rev.  H.  A.,  The  Vicarage,  Kirkby  Stephen 
375     Fletcher,  Miss,  Stoneleigh,  Workington 

Garnett,  Fred.  B.,C.B.,  4,  Argyll  Road,  Camden  Hill,  London 

Hodgson,  Rev.  W.  G.  C,  Distington  Rectory,  Whitehaven 

Hoggarth,  Arthur,  Kirkland  House,  Kendal 

Holmes,  W.,  161,  Chatsworth  Terrace,  Abbey  Road,  Barrow 
380     Kitchen,  Hume,  Ulverston 

Lester,  T.,  Firbank,  Penrith 

Marsh,  Rev.  J.  W.,  Penrith 

Marshall,  John,  The  Island,  Keswick 

Mitchell,  Rev.  J.,  Conej'  House,  Penrith 
385     Nelson,  George  H.,  Kent  Terrace,  Kendal 

Price,  John  Spencer,  F.R.G.S.,  41,  Gloucester  Place,  Hyde 
Park,  London 

Rawiinson,  Joseph,  Cavendish  Street,  Ulverston 

Stordy,  T.,  English  Street,  Carlisle 

The  Boston  Public  Library,  Boston,  Mass.  U.S.A. 
390     The  Library  Company,  Philadelphia,   U.S.A. 

Walker,  Edward,  Oubas,  Ulverston 

Whiteside 


5l6  LIST    OF    MEMBERS. 

Whiteside,  Rev.  Joseph,  The  Vicarage,  Shap 
Wilson,  Christopher  Mounsey,  jun.,  Bampton,  Shap 
Witham,  Joseph  Shaw,  National  School,  Ulverston 
395     Yeates,  Joseph  Simpson,  7,  Devonshire  Street,  Penrith 


LIBRARIES    TO    WHICH    COPIES     OF    THE    TRANSACTIONS    ARE- 
SUPPLIED. 

The  Society  of  Antiquaries,  Burlington   House,  London 

The  Society  of  Antiquaries,  Scotland 

Royal  Society  of  Northern  Antiquaries,  Copenhagen 

The   Royal  Arch^ological   Institute    of   Great    Britain   and 

Ireland,  Oxford  Mansions,  Oxford  Street,  London 
The  British  Archasological  Association,  32,  Sackville  Street, 

Piccadilly,  London 
The  Dean  and  Chapter  Library,  Carlisle 
The  British  Museum 
The  Bodleian  Library,  Oxford 
The  University  Library,  Cambridge 
Trinity  College,  Dublin 
The  Advocate's  Library,  Edinburgh 


SOCIETIES    WHICH     EXCHANGE    TRANSACTIONS. 

The  Oxford  Archasological  Society 

The  Lincoln  Architectural  Society  (Rev.  G.  T.  Harvey,  Lincoln) 
The  Kent  Archseological  Society  (The  Rev.  Canon  Scott  Robinson) 
The  Shropshire  Archasological  Society,  (Rev.  W.  A.  Leighton, 

Shrewsbury). 
The  Society  of  Antiquaries,  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  (Robert  Blair,  Esq) 


Pkintkd  by   T.  Wilson,   Kknual. 


CONTENTS  OF  PART  IL,  VOL.  IX. 


Threlkelds  of  Threlkeld,  YanwaLh,  and  Crosby  Ravens- 
worth  .......  298 

The  Dudleys  of  Yanwatli.             ....  318 

Some  Account  of  Sir  Jolin  Lowther,  Baronet,  of  White- 
haven .  .  .  .  .  .333 

Notes  on  the  Parish  Registers  Crosby  on-Eden                .  359 

'AXiKTpVUVMV     AyWl'                 .                                           ...  366 

Notes  upon  some  of  the  older  Word  Forms  to  be  found 
in  comparing  the  language  of  Lakeland  with  the 

language  of  Iceland   .....  383 

Excursions  and  Proceedings         ....  393 

Two  Moated  Mounds,  Liddell  and  Aldingham   .             .  404 

Pigeon  Houses  in  Cumberland     .  .  .  .412 

Notes  on   Cup  and    Ring-marked    Stones   found   near 

Maryport         .  .  .  .  .  -435 

Coniston  Hall        ......  439 

Something  about  the  Reycross  on  Stainmore      .              .  448 

Cross  Fragment  at  St.  Michael's  Church,  Workington  .  458 

Notes   on    Some    Coped   pre-Norman    Tombstones    at 

Aspatria,  Lowther,  Cross  Canonby,  and  Plumbland  461 

Red  Sandstone  Cross  Shaft  at  Cross  Canonby    .              .  472 

Church  Bells  in  Leath  W^ard         ....  475 

Some  Prehistoric  Remains  in  North  Lonsdale    .             .  497 


5pubItrattons  of  the  Cumbrrlantr  anb  TiMrstmorlanb 
Antiquarian  antJ  ^ulyaoioQicai  ^ocuhj, 

EXTRA  SERIES. 

VOL.  I.— BISHOP  NICOLSON'S  VISITATION  AND  SURVEY 
OF  THE  DIOCESE  OF  CARLISLE  IN   1703-4.     Edited  b> 
Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A.    Messrs.  C.  Thurnam  &  Sons,  English 
Street,  Carlisle.     Price  12/6. 
TT'OL.  II. -MEMOIRS  OF  THE  GILPIN  FAMILY  OF  SCALEBY 

*  CASTLE,  by  the  late  Rev.  William  Gilpin,  Vicar  of  Boldre,  with 
the  Autobiography  of  the  Author.  Edited  with  Notes  and  Pedigree 
by  W.  Jackson,  F.S.A.  Messrs.  C.  Thurnam  &  Sons,  English  Street, 
Carlisle.     Price  10/6. 

VOL.  III.— THE  OLD  CHURCH   PLATE  IN  THE  DIOCESE 
OF  CARLISLE.     Edited   by  Chancellor    Ferguson,  F.S.A. 
Messrs.  Thurnam  &  Sons,  English  Street,  Carlisle.     Price  15/6. 
T70L.  IV.— SOME  MUNICIPAL  RPXORDS  OF  THE  CITY  OF 

*  CARLISLE.  Edited  by  Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A. ;  and 
W.  Nanson,  B.A.,  F.S.A.  Messrs.  C.  Thurnam  &  Sons,  English 
Street,  Carlisle.     Price  15/-. 

YOL.  v.— (In  Preparation):  THE  PRE-REFORMATION  EPIS- 
COPAL REGISTERS  OF  CARLISLE. 


N 
N 


LOCAL  TRACT  SERIES. 

O.    I.    FLEMING'S   DESCRIPTION    OF    WESTMORLAND. 
Edited  by  Sir  George  Duckett,  F.S.A.  Price    i/-. 

O.    2.     DENTON'S   ACCOUNT   OF  CUMBERLAND.     Edited 
by  Chancellor  Ferguson,  F.S.A.    Price  3/6. 


rilHE  following  Volumes  of  the  Society's  Transactions  are  now  in 
■^  print,  and  can  be  had  from  the  Secretary  at  the  prices  appended, 
viz. : — 

Vol.  L  consisting  of  Three  parts  ;^i     i     o 

Vol.  II.  (out  of  print)  

Vol.  III.,  Parts  I.  and  II.  o  10     6  each. 

Vol.  IV.,  Parts  I.  and  II n  10     6  each. 

Vol.  v.,  (out  of  print)      

Vol.  VI.,  Parts  I.  and  II.  o  10     6  each. 

Vol.  VII.,  complete  in  One  part  o  10     6 

Vol.  VIII.,  Parts  I.  and  II o  10     6   each. 

Vol.  IX.,  Parts  I.  and  II o  lo     6 

Index  to  the  first  Seven   Volumes  to  bind  up  tenth   Volume   VII, 
gratis  to  Members. 

WANTED  to  Purchase. — Copies  of  Transactions,  Parts  I  &  II,  Vol. 
II.,  and    Part  I,  Vol.   V.      Apply,    stating   price    and    par- 
ticulars, to  the  Hon.  Sec,  Kendal.