Skip to main content

Full text of "The Victoria history of the county of Cumberland. [Edited by James Wilson.]"

See other formats 


'-  ...    - 


FOUNDED  BY 


GOLDW1N   SMITH       I      1901 
HARRIET"  SMITH       L, ! 


A    HISTORY   OF 
CUMBERLAND 


Dfctorfa  Ibtetoi^  of  the 
Counties  of  Englanb 

EDITED    BY    WILLIAM    PAGE    F.S.A. 


A  HISTORY  OF 
CUMBERLAND 

VOLUME    II 


A  HISTORY  OF  CUMBERLAND 
EDITED  BY  JAMES  WILSON,   M.A. 


THE 

VICTORIA  HISTORY 

OF   THE    COUNTIES 
OF    ENGLAND 


CUMBERLAND 


LONDON 

ARCHIBALD   CONSTABLE 

AND    COMPANY    LIMITED 


This  History  is  issued  to  Subscribers  only 

By  Archibald  Constable  &  Company  Limited 

and  printed  by  Butler  fcf  Tanner  of 

Promt  and  London 


INSCRIBED 

TO   THE   MEMORY   OF 

HER     LATE     MAJESTY 

QJJEEN    VICTORIA 

WHO       GRACIOUSLY       GAVE 

THE      TITLE      TO      AND 

ACCEPTED     THE 

DEDICATION    OF 

THIS  HISTORY 


/ 


VI 


ISTOR1 


V   OF 


D 


\ 


\ 


THE 


VICTORIA  HISTORY 

OF   THE   COUNTY   OF 

CUMBERLAND 


EDITED    BY   JAMES    WILSON,    M.A. 


VOLUME  TWO 


JAMES    STREET 

HAYMARKET 
1905 


. 


D/\ 

£7(9 

Cai/6 
v.  a 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    TWO 

PAGE 

Dedication • v 

Contents .          .        ix 

List  of  Illustrations •  .        xi 

Editorial  Note •     xiii 

Table  of  Abbreviations •  .       xv 

Ecclesiastical  History   .         .       By  the  Rev.  JAMES  WILSON,  M.A.          .  i 

Religious  Houses      .         •        »     »      »         »  »  •> 

Introduction         ...  .  •  .127 

Priory  of  Carlisle •     J31 

„      „    Lanercost      .  ...  .  •     J52 

Abbey  of  Holmcultram .162 

„      „    Calder -174 

Priory  of  St.  Bees .178 

„       „    Wetheral       ....  .          .      184 

Nunnery  of  Armathwaite  ...  .  .  189 

„      „     Seton  or  Lekeley         .'....  ...  .192 

Four  Houses  of  Friars  ..........  .     194 

Hospital  of  St.  Nicholas,  Carlisle •     IO9 

„        „    St.  Sepulchre,  Carlisle .203 

,',        „    St.  Leonard,  Wigton .     204 

„        „    Lennh',  Bewcastle •     204 

„       House  of  Caldbeck .  .204 

House  of  St.  John,  Keswick .  204 

College  of  Greystoke .  .204 

„       „     Kirkoswald •  208 

Monumental  Effigies     .         .     By  the  Rev.  CANON  BOWER,  M.A.  .  .211 

Political  History  .         .         -By  the  RCV-  JAMES  WILSON,  M.A.,  and  R.  A.  ALLISON       .         .     221 
Industries. 

Introduction  .         .      By  the  Rev.  JAMES  WILSON,  M.A 331 

Coal  Mining          .          .      By  R.  W.  MOORE 348 

Hematite  Mining  .'     By  JOHN  MACKELLAR  MAIN  ....  .      385 

Eden  and  Esk  Fisheries        By  THOMAS  ROBINSON .     407 

Derwent  Fisheries  .     By  H.  P.  SEN  HOUSE,  M.A .     411 

Ravenglass  Fisheries         .     By  FREDERICK  REYNOLDS 415 

Solway  Fisheries   .          .       By  GEORGE  HOLMES 416 

Sport  Ancient  and  Modern. 

Introduction        .  By  G.  W.  HARTLEY        .         .         .  .         .      •  .         .419 

Fox  Hunting       .         .       By  the  Lady  MABEL  HOWARD 422 

Shooting      .         .  By  G.  W.  HARTLEY 428 

ix 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    TWO 

Sport  (continued) —  PAGE 

Horse  Racing        .  .  By  the  Rev.  JAMES  WILSON,  M.A 440 

Wildfowling          .  .  By  WILLIAM  NICOL                      446 

Foulmart  Hunting  .  By  the  Rev.  JAMES  WILSON,  M.A 452 

Sweetmart  Hunting  .           „            „             „             „                                                               .  455 
North  Country  Trail 

Hounds  and  Trails  .  By  FRANCIS  NICHOLSON,  F.Z.S. 457 

Otter  Hunting     .  .  By  WILLIAM  STEEL 461 

Angling        .         .  -By  FRASER  SANDEMAN        ........  464 

Coursing      .          .  .   By  W.  F.  LAMONBY 469 

Game  Cockfighting  .  By  FRANCIS  NICHOLSON,  F.Z.S. 475 

Wrestling     .  .     „                         „            „                                                                  .  482 

Football       .         .  .   By  C.  W.  ALCOCK,  assisted  by  R.  WESTRAY  and  R.  S.  WILSON         .  491 

Forestry     .         .         .  .   By  J.  NISBET,  D.Oec 497 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Carlisle.  By  WILLIAM  HYDE frontispiece 

Episcopal  Seals,  Plate  I full-page  plate  facing  14 

„  „  Plate  II  ..  .  .  „  „  „  30 

The  Meeting  of  Richard  II  and  Bishop  Merb  with  Henry  of  Lancaster  „  „  „  42 

Episcopal  Seals,  Plate  III  „  „  „  46 

Thomas  Smith,  Bishop  of  Carlisle  „  „  „  IO2 

Edmund  Law,  Bishop  of  Carlisle  ...  „  „  „  108 

Seals  of  Religious  Houses  and  Various  .  „  „  „  130 
Representation  of  the  defence  of  Carlisle  by  Sir  Andrew  de  Harcla 

against   the   Scots   in    1315   on  a   charter    of    Edward    II   to    the 

City  of  Carlisle  „  „  „  262 

Sir  John  Lowther,  bart „  „  „  296 

John  Christian  Curwen,  esq.         .          .                   ...                   .           ,,         „           „  312 

Longitudinal  section  from  Maryport  to  Whitehaven 


two  full-page  plates  facing  348 
Maryport  to  Bolton  Low  Houses 

Ancient  corves  or  baskets  used  at  Whitehaven  Colliery  .          .          .  full-page  plate  facing  352 

Town  and  Harbour  of  Whitehaven  (1738) „         „          „  362 


LIST    OF    MAPS 

Ecclesiastical  Map  of  Cumberland .  facing  126 

Map  of  Castles  and  Fortresses      ............       276 


XI 


EDITORIAL  NOTE 

No  claim  to  exhaustiveness  is  made  for  the  lists  of  abbots  and 
priors  of  the  religious  houses.  It  is  probable  that  as  the  contents 
of  private  muniments  and  the  public  records  become  more  accessible, 
new  names  will  be  added.  Since  the  article  on  the  religious  houses 
was  completed,  the  name  of  John,  abbot  of  Holmcultram,  in  1406, 
was  brought  to  light  by  the  publication  of  the  Calendar  of  Papal 
Letters  (vi.  77)  :  John,  prior  of  St.  Bees,  was  witness  to  a  deed,  dated 
1330,  at  Cockermouth  Castle,  and  Nicholas  de  Warthill  was  prior 
of  the  same  place  in  1387,  as  stated  in  a  charter  at  the  British 
Museum. 

During  the  time  of  the  preparation  of  this  volume  death  has 
removed  two  esteemed  colleagues — the  Rev.  H.  A.  Macpherson,  a 
zoologist  of  distinction,  and  Mr.  William  Steel,  a  keen  sportsman  as 
well  as  an  experienced  writer. 

The  Editors  wish  to  express  their  obligation  to  Mrs.  Henry  Ware 
for  the  loan  of  her  valuable  collection  of  casts  of  episcopal  seals  ; 
to  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Archaeological  Society  for  the 
use  of  blocks  ;  to  the  Mayor  and  Corporation  of  Carlisle  for  liberty 
to  photograph  the  initial  letter  of  one  of  their  royal  charters  ;  to 
the  Director  of  the  Public  Library,  Carlisle,  for  the  loan  of  engravings 
for  reproduction  ;  to  the  Bishop  and  Chapter  of  Carlisle,  the  Earl  of 
Lonsdale,  and  Lord  Leconfield,  for  access  to  their  muniments  ;  to  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Greenwell,  Mr.  W.  Farrer,  Sir  E.  T.  Bewley,  Dr.  George 
Neilson,  Mr.  William  Brown,  and  Dr.  Haswell,  for  advice  and 
assistance  readily  given. 


Xlll 


TABLE    OF    ABBREVIATIONS 


Abbrev.  Plac.  (Rec. 

Com.) 
Acts  of  P.C.      .     . 

Add 

Add.  Chart.      .     . 

Admir 

Agarde   .... 
Anct.  Corresp. . 
Anct.  D.  (P.R.O.) 

A  2420 

Antiq 

App 

Arch 

Arch.  Cant. 
Archd.  Rec.      .     . 

Archit 

Assize  R.  .  .  . 
Aud.  Off.  .  .  . 
Aug.  Off.  ... 
Ayloffe  .  .  .  . 


Bed 

Beds 

Berks      .     .     .     . 

Bdle 

B.M 

Bodl.  Lib.   .     .     . 

Boro 

Brev.  Reg.  . 

Brit 

Buck 

Bucks      .     .     .     . 

Cal 

Camb 

Cambr 

Cant 

Cap 

Carl 

Cart.  Antiq.  R.      . 
C.C.C.  Camb.  .     . 

Certiorari       Bdles. 

(Rolls  Chap.) 
Chan.  Enr.  Decree 

R. 

Chan.  Proc.       .      . 
Chant.  Cert. 


Chap.  Ho.  .      .      . 
Charity  Inq.     . 
Chart.  R.  20  Hen. 
III.pt.  i.  No.  10 
Chartul. 


Abbreviatio  Placitorum  (Re- 
cord Commission) 

Acts  of  Privy  Council 

Additional 

Additional  Charters 

Admiralty 

Agarde's  Indices 

Ancient  Correspondence 

Ancient  Deeds  (Public  Record 
Office)  A  2420 

Antiquarian  or  Antiquaries 

Appendix 

Archaeologia  or  Archaeological 

Archasologia  Cantiana 

Archdeacon's  Records 

Architectural 

Assize  Rolls 

Audit  Office 

Augmentation  Office 

Ayloffe's  Calendars 

Bedford 

Bedfordshire 

Berkshire 

Bundle 

British  Museum 

Bodley's  Library 

Borough 

Brevia  Regia 

Britain,  British,  Britannia,  etc. 

Buckingham 

Buckinghamshire 

Calendar 

Cambridgeshire  or  Cambridge 

Cambria,  Cambrian,  Cam- 
brensis,  etc. 

Canterbury 

Chapter 

Carlisle 

Cartae  Antiquae  Rolls 

Corpus  Christi  College,  Cam- 
bridge 

Certiorari  Bundles  (Rolls 
Chapel) 

Chancery  Enrolled  Decree 
Rolls 

Chancery  Proceedings 

Chantry  Certificates  (or  Cer- 
tificates of  Colleges  and 
Chantries) 

Chapter  House 

Charity  Inquisitions 

Charter  Roll,  20  Henry  III. 
part  i.  Number  10 

Chartulary 


Chas 

Ches 

Chest 

Ch.    Gds.    (Exch. 
K.R.) 

Chich 

Chron 

Close      .... 

Co 

Colch.     .... 

Coll 

Com 

Com.  Pleas . 
Conf.  R.       .     .     . 
Co.  Plac.     .     .     . 

Cornw 

Corp 

Cott 

Ct.  R 

Ct.  of  Wards     .     . 

Cumb 

Cur.  Reg.    .     .     . 

D.  and  C.    .     .     . 
De  Bane.  R.     .     . 
Dec.  and  Ord. 
Dep.  Keeper's  Rep. 

Derb 

Devon    .... 

Doc 

Dods.  MSS.      .     . 
Dom.  Bk.    .     .     . 

Dors 

Duchy  of  Lane. 
Dur 

East 

Eccl 

Eccl.  Com. 

Edw 

Eliz 

Engl 

Engl.  Hist.  Rev.    . 
Epis.  Reg.    . 
Esch.  Enr.  Accts.   . 
Excerpta  e  Rot.  Fin. 

(Rec.  Com.) 
Exch.  Dep.       .     . 
Exch.  K.B.       .     . 
Exch.  K.R.       .     . 

Exch.  L.T.R.  .     . 

Exch.  of  Pleas,  Plea 

R. 
Exch.  of  Receipt    . 


Charles 

Cheshire 

Chester 

Church    Goods    (Exchequer 

King's  Remembrancer) 
Chichester 

Chronicle,  Chronica,  etc. 
Close  Roll 
County 
Colchester 
Collections 
Commission 
Common  Pleas 
Confirmation  Rolls 
County  Placita 
Cornwall 
Corporation 
Cotton  or  Cottonian 
Court  Rolls 
Court  of  Wards 
Cumberland 
Curia  Regis 

Dean  and  Chapter 

De  Banco  Rolls 

Decrees  and  Orders 

Deputy  Keeper's  Reports 

Derbyshire  or  Derby 

Devonshire 

Documents 

Dodsworth  MSS. 

Domesday  Book 

Dorsetshire 

Duchy  of  Lancaster 

Durham 

Easter  Term 

Ecclesiastical 

Ecclesiastical  Commission 

Edward 

Elizabeth 

England  or  English 

English  Historical  Review 

Episcopal  Registers 

Escheators  Enrolled  Accounts 

Excerpta  e  Rotulis  Finium 
(Record  Commission) 

Exchequer  Depositions 

Exchequer  King's  Bench 

Exchequer  King's  Remem- 
brancer 

Exchequer  Lord  Treasurer's 
Remembrancer 

Exchequer  of  Pleas,  Plea  Roll 

Exchequer  of  Receipt 


xv 


TABLE    OF    ABBREVIATIONS 


Exch.   Spec.  Com. 


Feet  of  F.  .  .  . 
Feod.  Accts.  (Ct. 

of  Wards) 
Feod.  Surv.  (Ct.  of 

Wards) 
Feud.  Aids  .     .     . 

fol 

Foreign  R.  .  .  . 
Forest  Proc. 

Gen 

Geo 

Glouc 

Guild     Certif. 
(Chan.)  Ric.  II. 

Hants     .... 

Harl 

Hen 

Heref.  .... 
Hertf.  .... 
Herts  .  .  .  . 

Hil 

Hist. 


Hist.  MSS.  Com. 
Hosp  ..... 
Hund.  R.  .  .  . 
Hunt  ..... 
Hunts  . 

Inq.  a.q.d.   .     .     . 

Inq.  p.m.    .     .     . 

Inst  ...... 

Invent  ..... 


Itin 


Jas.    . 
Journ. 


Lamb.  Lib. 

Lane. 

L.    and    P. 

VIII. 
Lansd.     . 
Ld.  Rev.  Rec.  . 
Leic.       .     .     . 
Le  Neve's    Ind. 

Lib 

Lich.      .     .     . 

Line. 

Lond. 


Hen. 


m. 

Mem.  .  . 
Memo.  R.  . 
Mich.  .  . 
Midd.  .  . 
Mins.  Accts. 


Exchequer  Special  Commis- 
sions 

Feet  of  Fines 

Feodaries  Accounts  (Court  of 

Wards) 
Feodaries  Surveys   (Court   of 

Wards) 
Feudal  Aids 
Folio 

Foreign  Rolls 
Forest  Proceedings 

Genealogical,      Genealogica, 

etc. 

George 

Gloucestershire  or  Gloucester 
Guild  Certificates  (Chancery) 

Richard  II. 

Hampshire 

Harley  or  Harleian 

Henry 

Herefordshire  or  Hereford 

Hertford 

Hertfordshire 

Hilary  Term 

History,  Historical,Historian, 

Historia,  etc. 

Historical  MSS.  Commission 
Hospital 
Hundred  Rolls 
Huntingdon 
Huntingdonshire 

Inquisitions    ad   quod    dam 

num 

Inquisitions  post  mortem 
Institute  or  Institution 
Inventory  or  Inventories 
Ipswich 
Itinerary 

James 
Journal 

Lambeth  Library 
Lancashire  or  Lancaster 
Letters     and     Papers,    Hen. 

VIII. 

Lansdowne 

Land  Revenue  Records 
Leicestershire  or  Leicester 
Le  Neve's  Indices 
Library 
Lichfield 

Lincolnshire  or  Lincoln 
London 

Membrane 
Memorials 
Memoranda  Rolls 
Michaelmas  Term 
Middlesex 
Ministers'  Accounts 


Misc.  Bks.  (Exch. 
K.R.,  Exch. 
T.R.  or  Aug. 
Off.) 


Mon. 

Monm.  . 

Mun.  .     . 

Mus.  .     . 

N.  and  Q.    . 
Norf.       .     . 
Northampt. 
Northants    . 
Northumb.  . 
Now.    . 
Nott. 


N.S. 


Off.  .  . 
Orig.  R. 
Oxf.  . 


P 

Palmer's  Ind.    . 

Pal.  of  Chest.  .  . 
Pal.  of  Dur.  .  . 
Pal.  of  Lane.  . 

Par 

Parl 

Parl.  R 

Parl.  Surv.   . 
Partic.  for  Gts.      . 

Pat 

P.C.C 

Peterb 

Phil 

Pipe  R 

Plea  R 

Pope    Nich.    Tax. 
(Rec.  Com.) 

P.R.O 

Proc 

Proc.  Soc.  Antiq.   . 


Pub 


R  ..... 

Rec.        .     .     . 
Recov.  R.    .     . 
Rentals  and  Surv. 
Rep  ..... 
Rev  ..... 
Ric  ..... 
Roff.       .     .     . 
Rot.  Cur.  Reg. 
Rut.  . 


Sarum 
Ser.    . 
Sess.  R. 
Shrews. 


Miscellaneous  Book  (Ex- 
chequer King's  Remem- 
brancer, Exchequer  Trea- 
sury of  Receipt  or  Aug- 
mentation Office) 

Monastery,  Monasticon 

Monmouth 

Muniments  or  Munimenta 

Museum 

Notes  and  Queries 
Norfolk 
Northampton 
Northamptonshire 
Northumberland 
Norwich 

Nottinghamshire  or  Notting- 
ham 
New  Style 

Office 

Originalia  Rolls 
Oxfordshire  or  Oxford 

Page 

Palmer's  Indices 

Palatinate  of  Chester 

Palatinate  of  Durham 

Palatinate  of  Lancaster 

Parish,  Parochial,  etc. 

Parliament  or  Parliamentary 

Parliament  Rolls 

Parliamentary  Surveys 

Particulars  for  Grants 

Patent  Roll  or  Letters  Patent 

Prerogative  Court  of  Canter- 
bury 

Peterborough 

Philip 

Pipe  Roll 

Plea  Rolls 

Pope  Nicholas'  Taxation  (Re- 
cord Commission) 

Public  Record  Office 

Proceedings 

Proceedings  of  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries 

Part 

Publications 

Roll 

Records 

Recovery  Rolls 

Rentals  and  Surveys 

Report 

Review 

Richard 

Rochester  diocese 

Rotuli  Curis  Regis 

Rutland 

Salisbury  diocese 
Series 

Sessions  Rolls 
Shrewsbury 


TABLE    OF    ABBREVIATIONS 


Shrops     .... 

Soc 

Soc.  Antiq.  . 

Somers 

Somers.  Ho. 

S.P.  Dom.   .     .     . 

Staff.       .... 

Star  Chamb.  Proc. 

Stat 

Stcph 

Subs.  R.       .     .     . 

Suff. 

Surr 

Suss 

Surv.  of  Ch.  Liv- 
ings (Lamb.)  or 
(Chan.) 

Topog 

Trans 


Shropshire 
Society 

Society  of  Antiquaries 
Somerset 
Somerset  House 
State  Papers  Domestic 
Staffordshire 

Star  Chamber  Proceedings 
Statute 
Stephen 
Subsidy  Rolls 
Suffolk 
Surrey 
Sussex 

Surveys    of  Church    Livings 
(Lambeth)  or  (Chancery) 


Topography  or  Topographi- 
cal 
Transactions 


Transl Translation 

Treas Treasury  or  Treasurer 

Trin Trinity  Term 

Univ University 

(Rec. 


Valor    Eccl. 

Com.) 

Vet.  Mon.   . 
V.C.H.  .     . 

Vic Victoria 

vol.  Volume 


Valor  Ecclesiasticus  (Record 

Commission) 
Vetusta  Monumenta 
Victoria  County  History 


Warw.  . 
Westm.  . 
Will.  . 
Wilts  . 
Winton. 
Wore. 


Yorks 


Warwickshire  or  Warwick 

Westminster 

William 

Wiltshire 

Winchester  diocese 

Worcestershire  or  Worcester 

Yorkshire 


xvn 


ECCLESIASTICAL 
HISTORY 


I 


early  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  county  of  Cumberland  is 
enveloped  in  a  dark  cloud  which  the  efforts  of  modern  research 
are  unable  to  penetrate.  In  the  absence  of  satisfactory  evidence, 
the  story  of  the  early  missions,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  our  district, 
must  be  accepted  with  considerable  hesitation.  The  monumental 
remains  of  the  Roman  occupation,  though  of  great  variety,  give  no 
indication  that  Christianity  was  accepted  by  the  Roman  legions  or  the 
auxiliary  forces  which  guarded  the  great  wall  and  colonized  the  country 
in  the  immediate  vicinity.  About  the  time  of  the  departure  of  the 
Romans,  it  is  said  that  Ninian  pushed  his  evangelical  mission  beyond 
the  Solway.  As  bishop  of  the  nation  of  the  Picts  who  dwelt  south  of 
the  Grampians,  his  missionary  sphere  extended  throughout  the  south- 
west of  Scotland,  and  his  cathedral  church  was  built  at  Whithern  or 
Candida  Casa  on  the  south  coast  of  Galloway.1  Bede  tells  us  that  he 
was  a  most  holy  man  of  the  British  nation  who  had  been  instructed  at 
Rome  in  the  faith,  by  whose  instrumentality  the  Picts  on  this  side  of 
the  mountains  were  led  to  forsake  idolatry.*  Though  the  historian  gives 
no  hint  that  he  ever  preached  in  the  dales  of  Cumberland,  the  opinion 
of  Geoffrey  Gaimar  cannot  be  overlooked  when  he  identifies  the  Picts 
baptized  by  Ninian  with  the  people  of  Westmorland.3  If  Ninian 
was  born  on  the  shores  of  the  Solway,4  the  saint  must  have  passed 
through  Cumberland  along  the  great  military  roads  on  his  way  to  and 
from  Gaul  and  Rome.  As  his  father  was  a  Christian,  and  as  Ninian 
was  baptized  in  infancy,  the  faith  must  have  been  accepted  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Carlisle  at  an  early  date. 

When  the  protection  of  the  Roman  power  was  withdrawn  the 
Britons  were  torn  asunder  by  internal  dissensions  and  hardly  pressed  by 
external  invasion.  For  a  century  and  a  half  all  matters  connected  with 
the  religious  history  of  the  district  are  in  hopeless  confusion.  The 
events  which  led  up  to  the  battle  of  Ardderyd  in  573  bring  upon  the 

1  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  (Rolls  Series),  i.  31-2. 

1  Hist.  Eccles.  iii.  cap.  4. 

»  Man.  Hist.  Brit.  (Rec.  Com.),  776. 

*  The  life  of  Ninian  by  Ailred,  abbot  of  Rievaulx,  written  between  1147  and  1167,  contains  little  of 
value  in  addition  to  the  well-known  passage  in  Bede  with  which  he  opens  his  narrative.  It  may  be 
taken,  however,  as  the  tradition  prevalent  in  the  twelfth  century  that  the  coast  of  the  Solway  was  the 
birthplace  of  the  saint. 

II  II 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

scene  the  great  apostle  of  the  Cumbrian  region.    When  we  come  to  the 
labours  of  St.  Mungo  or  Kentigern  we  catch  a  glimpse  of  what  appears 
to  be  genuine  history.    In  the  opinion  of  Jocelyn,  one  of  his  biographers,1 
Kentigern  was  the  prominent  figure  in  the  revolution  which  evangelized 
the  district.     Some   portions  of  the  scenery  of  Kentigern's  life  can  be 
identified  in  districts  of  modern  Cumberland.     Flying  from  Glasgow  to 
escape  the  persecution  of  the  pagans,  he  resolved  to  seek  refuge  among  the 
Christian  Britons  of  Wales,  and  arriving  at  Carlisle,  where  he  heard  that 
many  among  the  mountains  were  given  to  idolatry,  the  saint  turned  aside, 
says  his  biographer,  and,  God  helping  him,  converted  to  the  Christian 
religion  very  many  from  a  strange  belief  and  others  who  were  erroneous 
in  the  faith.     For  some  time  he  remained  in  a  thickly  wooded  place, 
and  he  erected  a  cross,  from  which  the  place  took  the  English  name  of 
Crossfield — that  is,  Crucis  Novak — where  a  new  basilica  was  erected  in 
Jocelyn's   time  and  dedicated  in   the   name  of  the  blessed   Kentigern. 
When  his  work  in  Cumberland  was  accomplished  the  saint  pursued  his 
journey  by  the  seashore,  scattering  the  seed  of  the  Divine  word  where- 
ever  he  went  till  he  reached  Wales.2     It  was  in  573,  during  Kentigern's 
absence,  that  the  establishment  of  Christianity  was  secured  by  battle  at  a 
place  which  has  been  identified  as  the  plains  of  the  Esk  near  Arthuret. 
The  new  king,  who  had  been  brought  up  as   a  Christian  in  Ireland, 
recalled  the  saint.     On  his   return  the  people   flocked  to  meet  him  at 
Hodelm  or  Hoddom  in  Dumfriesshire,  where  he  placed  his  see  for   a 
time  till  he  transferred  it  to  his  own  city  of  Glasgow.     For  many  years 
he  ruled  his  vast  diocese,  which  is  said  to  have   stretched  far   enough 
south  to  include  the  present  counties  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland. 
In  tracing  the  footsteps  of  St.  Kentigern  on  his  missionary  journey 
through  Cumberland  the   churches   entitled  in   his    name    have    been 
pointed  out  as  witnesses  of  his  triumph  over  the  paganism  of  the  dis- 
trict.    Within   the  modern   county  there  are  eight  such   dedications, 
seven  of  which  belong  to  parish  churches  which  date  at  least  from  the 
twelfth  century.      The  narrative  of  Jocelyn,  compiled  about  the  year 
1 185,  agrees  with  the  distribution  of  Kentigern  churches  in  the  county, 
and  from  it  we  may  gather  that  these  dedications  were  in  Jocelyn's  mind 
when  he  discoursed  on  the  saint's  wanderings  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
Carlisle.     The  churches  of  Irthington  and  Grinsdale  are  on  the  line  of 
the  Roman  wall,  the  supposed  route  taken  by  Kentigern  on  his  flight 
from  Glasgow.     Of  the  others,  Caldbeck,  Mungrisdale,  Castlesowerby 
and  Crosthwaite   lie  at   the   roots  of  the   mountains   which   form   the 
northern  boundary  of  the   Lake  District.      It  was  to  the  people  living 
among  the  mountains  that  he  is  said  to  have  directed  his  steps  after  his 
arrival  in  Carlisle.     The  two  remaining  churches  of  Aspatria  and  Brom- 

1  Two  biographies  of  St.  Kentigern  are  known  to  have  been  compiled  in  the  twelfth  century.  A 
portion  only  of  the  earlier,  written  by  an  unknown  author  at  the  suggestion  of  Herbert,  bishop  of  Glas- 
gow, remains  to  us,  and  has  been  printed  in  the  Registrum  Episcopates  Glasguensis  by  Mr.  Cosmo  Innes. 
The  complete  Life,  written  about  the  year  1185  by  Jocelyn,  a  monk  of  Purness,  exists  in  two  manuscripts : 
one  in  the  British  Museum,  and  the  other  in  Archbishop  Marsh's  Library  in  Dublin. 

3  Historians  of  Scotland,  v.  74. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

field  are  within  short  distances  of  the  sea,  situated  in  locis  maritanis^  to 
which  the  saint  was  obliged  to  digress  from  the  direct  route  to  his  de- 
stination in  Wales.  It  has  been  claimed  that  these  churches  occupy 
sites  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  Kentigern.1  None  of  them  are  men- 
tioned in  Jocelyn's  biography  with  the  exception  of  Crossfield,  which 
must  be  Crosthwaite.  A  church  was  built  in  Jocelyn's  day  on  the  site 
where  it  was  believed  that  Kentigern  erected  the  cross  as  the  sign  of 
salvation  and  as  a  witness  to  its  triumph  in  the  district.  As  no  other 
Kentigern  dedications  are  known  in  England,  the  tradition  which  ascribed 
the  evangelization  of  Cumberland  to  his  agency  is  deserving  of  the  highest 
respect. 

Nothing  seems  to  be  known  for  a  long  period  of  Kentigern's  suc- 
cessors or  the  fortunes  of  the  Christian  church  in  the  diocese  of  Glas- 
gow, which  he  founded  and  over  which  he  ruled.  The  Inquest  of 
David,2  a  document  ascribed  to  the  year  1 1 20,  which  deals  with  the 
history  of  the  see,  so  far  as  it  could  be  ascertained  by  '  the  elders  and 
wise  men '  of  Cumbria  at  that  date,  points  to  a  serious  state  of  affairs. 
The  narrative  of  the  Inquest  is  worthy  of  attention.  The  king  of  the 
province,  the  jurors  said,  co-operated  with  the  magnates  of  the  kingdom 
in  founding,  in  honour  of  God  and  of  St.  Mary  the  Blessed  Mother,  the 
church  of  Glasgow  as  the  pontifical  seat  of  the  bishop  of  the  Cumbrian 
region.  That  church  flourished  in  the  holy  faith,  and  by  divine  direc- 
tion received  Kentigern  as  its  first  bishop.  But  after  Kentigern  and  his 
many  (plures)  successors  were  gathered  to  God,  insurrections,  arising 
everywhere,  not  only  destroyed  the  church  and  its  possessions,  but  wasted 
the  whole  country  and  drove  the  inhabitants  into  exile.  When  a  con- 
siderable time  had  elapsed,  tribes  of  different  nations  poured  in  and  took 
possession  of  the  desolated  region.  These  tribes,  differing  in  race  and 
language  and  custom,  clung  to  heathenism  rather  than  the  worship  of 
the  faith.  Looking  back  from  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  on 
the  early  history  of  the  diocese  of  Glasgow,  the  Cumbrian  jurors  could 
see  nothing  but  anarchy  and  confusion  after  the  death  of  Kentigern. 
Several  successors  the  saint  is  said  to  have  had  in  his  diocese,  but  neither 
their  names  nor  the  dates  at  which  they  lived  have  come  down  to  us. 
The  district  was  the  battle  ground  of  conflicting  races — Britons,  Picts, 
Scots  and  Angles.  Until  the  middle  of  the  seventh  century  the  con- 
fusion lasted,  when  the  Anglian  race  obtained  the  mastery  and  absorbed 
at  least  the  southern  portion  of  the  country  into  the  kingdom  of 
Northumbria. 

When  we  pass  from  the  dark  period  during  which  the   Britons 

1  Bishop  Forbes  first  called  attention  to  the  dedications  in  Cumberland  in  connexion  with  Kenti- 
gern's missionary  journey  (Historians  of  Scotland,  v.  pp.  Ixxxiii.-lxxxv.).  Others  have  followed  in  the 
Bishop's  steps  (Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmorl.  Arctxeol.  Soc.  vi.  328-337,  vii.  124-127).  But  such  methods 
of  argument  are  very  unsafe.  Jocelyn  evidently  constructed  his  narrative  from  the  Kentigern  dedica- 
tions existing  in  his  time. 

a  Registrum  Episcopates  Glasguensis,  No.  I.,  printed  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  Bannatyne  and 
Maitland  Clubs  in  1843.  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Councils  and  Eccles.  Doc.  ii.  17.  In  1901  it  was  issued 
in  facsimile  as  a  tract  in  Glasgow. 

3 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

struggled  for  their  independence,  we  obtain  a  few  glimpses  of  real  his- 
tory. The  first  light  comes  from  the  pages  of  two  historians  to  whom 
we  are  indebted  for  much  of  our  knowledge  of  the  early  history  of 
northern  England.  Bede  comes  first  in  point  of  time,  and  it  must  have 
been  from  his  pages  that  the  anonymous  author  erroneously  identified 
with  Symeon  of  Durham,  some  centuries  later,  wrote  the  first  authentic 
chapter  of  the  religious  history  of  Carlisle  and  the  country  around  it. 
From  these  well-known  and  trustworthy  authorities  we  learn  that  it  was 
about  the  year  685  that  the  Church  of  the  English  became  established 
beyond  the  Pennine  range  on  the  shores  of  the  western  sea.  It  is  not 
known  at  what  precise  date  Cumbria  had  been  severed  from  British 
dominion,  but  in  the  year  above  mentioned  Ecgfrid,  king  of  North- 
umbria,  gave  to  St.  Cuthbert,  who  had  been  recently  consecrated  bishop 
of  the  Anglian  diocese  of  Lindisfarne,1  the  city  of  Luel,  that  is,  Carlisle, 
and  the  country  for  fifteen  miles  around  it  as  a  portion  of  the  territory 
with  which  he  endowed  the  see.2  In  that  city  Cuthbert  placed  a 
community  of  nuns  under  the  rule  of  an  abbess  and  founded  a  school. 
From  Bede 3  we  learn  that  the  abbess  was  a  sister  of  the  Northumbrian 
king.  When  Ecgfrid  set  out  on  his  fatal  expedition  against  the  Picts, 
Cuthbert  came  to  Lugubalia,  which  was  corruptly  called  Luel  by  the 
English,  to  speak  to  the  Queen,  who  was  there  in  her  sister's  monastery 
awaiting  the  result  of  the  war.  It  was  during  that  visit  that  the  citi- 
zens of  Carlisle  conducted  him  to  see  the  walls  of  the  town  and  the 
remarkable  fountain  built  by  the  Romans.  It  is  of  importance  to  notice 
the  condition  of  the  church  within  the  borders  of  Cumberland  at  this 
date,  so  far  as  it  can  be  ascertained  from  these  northern  chronicles. 
That  some  portion  of  it,  if  not  all,  was  included  in  an  organized  diocese 
is  undoubted.  Cuthbert  was  bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  a  diocese  which  had 
been  in  existence  for  half  a  century  with  a  succession  of  Scottish  or  Irish 
bishops.  The  points  of  difference  between  the  English  and  Celtic  rites 
had  been  fought  out  at  the  famous  conference  of  Whitby  in  664,  when 
the  Celtic  Church  was  dispossessed  of  its  hold  on  Northumbria. 
Lindisfarne  was  an  English  diocese  from  this  time  onwards,  and  Carlisle 
was  included  as  an  outlying  portion  of  it,  in  which  the  royal  family 
of  Northumbria  took  a  special  interest.  The  bishop  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical province  in  which  the  city  was  situated  paid  occasional  visits  to 
this  part  of  his  spiritual  charge.  While  Cuthbert  was  in  Carlisle  pre- 
paring the  Queen  for  the  disaster  which  he  foresaw  on  the  moors  of 
Nectansmere  he  was  called  to  a  neighbouring  monastery  to  dedicate  a 
church.4  The  name  of  the  church  consecrated  has  not  been  recorded, 

i  Bede,  Hist.  Eccles.  iv.  28.    Bishop  Stubbs  dates  St.  Cuthbert's  consecration  on  25  March  685 
(Reg.  Sacrum  Anglicanum,  Ed.  1897,  p.  7). 

_  »  Symeon  of  Durham,  Historia  de  S.  Cutbberto,  p.  141 ;  Relatio  de  Sancto  Cuthberto,  pp.  230-1 ,  Surtees 
Society.  The  Lives  of  St.  Cuthbert  ascribed  to  Symeon  are  by  an  earlier  author,  probably  in  the  tenth 
century. 

3  Vita  S.  Cutbberti,  cap.  xrvii.    It  is  clear  from  the  language  of  Bede  that  the  Abbess  of  Carlisle 
was  Ecgfrid's  sister,  and  not  the  sister,  but  the  sister-in-law,  of  the  Queen.     Freeman  has  taken  this  view 
of  the  passage  (Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmorl.  Archaol.  Soc.  vi.  256). 

4  Bede,  Vita  S.  Cutbberti,  cap.  xxviii. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

but  we  know  that  it  was  not  far  from  Carlisle,  as  he  had  undertaken  to 
rejoin  the  Queen  next  day.  Not  long  after  he  was  called  to  the  same 
city  to  ordain  priests  and  to  give  benediction  to  the  Queen  herself,  who 
had  taken  the  veil  in  that  monastery.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  this 
visit  that  the  venerable  priest  and  friend  of  St.  Cuthbert,  Herebert  by 
name,  came  from  his  seclusion  in  an  island  of  the  large  marsh  in  which 
the  Derwent  rises,  the  lake  now  called  Derwentwater,  as  he  used  to  do 
every  year  to  receive  from  the  saint  admonitions  in  the  way  of  eternal 
life.  Bede's  narrative  supplies  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  state  of  the 
Church  as  it  existed  in  the  district  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury, and  rests  on  the  surest  historical  basis,  for  Bede  was  recording 
events  which  had  happened  in  his  boyhood,  and  his  account  of  St. 
Cuthbert  was  submitted  for  revision  to  men  who  had  been  well  ac- 
quainted with  what  had  taken  place. 

It  was  political  wisdom  on  the  part  of  the  Northumbrian  rulers  to 
use  the  organization  of  the  church  as  the  basis  on  which  the  many 
races  of  the  kingdom  might  be  united  into  one  nation.  For  this  reason, 
no  doubt,  local  usages,  such  as  the  incidence  of  the  Easter  festival  and 
the  mode  of  tonsure,  were  abandoned  in  favour  of  a  more  universal 
custom.  Whatever  sort  of  submission  was  involved  by  the  compromise 
at  Whitby  in  664  it  did  not  obliterate  the  essential  features  of  the  Scottish 
Church.  The  whole  tone  of  the  church  in  the  northern  kingdom  was 
Celtic.  The  early  associations  of  the  bishops  of  Lindisfarne,  the  train- 
ing of  St.  Cuthbert  in  the  Celtic  monastery  of  Melrose,  the  well-known 
objections  of  the  King  and  Queen  to  the  claims  of  Wilfrid,  need  not  to 
be  repeated  here.  The  old  features  of  the  Celtic  Church  were  retained, 
and  chief  amongst  them  was  missionary  monasticism.  We  have  no 
trace  of  a  parochial  system  in  this  portion  of  Cumbria  before  the 
Norman  settlement  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  centres  of  ecclesiastical 
work  were  monastic  rather  than  parochial  while  the  district  remained 
under  English  rule.  The  monastery  of  Carlisle  and  its  school  were 
centres  of  educational  effort,  in  which  clergy  no  doubt  were  trained,  and 
from  which  they  were  sent  forth  to  minister  in  the  surrounding  district. 
In  Bede's  day  there  was  also  a  monastery  near  the  river  Dacore  or  Dacre,1 
not  far  from  Penrith,  which  was  ruled  by  Abbot  Thridred.  The  Celtic 
character  of  the  Church  in  Cumberland  about  the  eighth  century  is  still 
further  illustrated  by  the  legendary  life  of  St.  Bega,  who  is  said  to  have 
landed  in  a  certain  province  of  England  called  Coupland,  and  to  have 
taken  up  her  abode  in  a  dense  forest,  where  she  spent  many  years  in 
solitary  devotion." 

1  Hist.  Eccles.  iv.  c.  32.  There  seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  the  Dacre  in  Cumberland  is  the  place 
meant  here,  and  that  it  was  a  monastery  of  considerable  importance.  It  must  have  been  in  existence 
as  late  as  926,  in  which  year  it  appears  to  have  been  the  scene  of  the  famous  agreement  between  the 
three  kings,  when  Eugenius,  Ewen  or  Owen,  king  of  the  Cumbrians,  and  Constantine,  king  of  Scots, 
made  submission  to  king  Athelstan.  William  of  Malmesbury  calls  the  place  of  meeting  Dacor  (Gesta 
Regum  [Rolls  Series],  i.  147),  but  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  (i.  199)  says  that  the  peace  was  con- 
firmed at  a  place  called  Eamont.  The  collocation  of  names,  seeing  that  Dacre  and  Eamont  are  so  close 
together,  is  sufficient  to  identify  the  place  as  belonging  to  Cumberland. 

*  Cotton  MS.  Faustina  B.  iv.  ff.  122-39. 

5 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

By  the  defeat  of  Ecgfrid  the  kingdom  of  Northumbria  was   de- 
prived of  some  of  its  dependencies,  for  Bede1  states  that  the  strength  of 
the  English  Crown  from  that  time  began  to  waver,  insomuch  that  the 
Picts  recovered  their  land  and  some  of  the  Britons  their  liberty  ;  but  it 
must  not  be  taken  that  the  ecclesiastical  relations  of  our  district  with  the 
see  of  Lindisfarne  were  disturbed    by  the   catastrophe.     Though  the 
events  which  followed  are  shrouded  for  a  long  time  in  darkness,  so  late 
as  854,  when  Eardulf  was  consecrated  bishop,  Carlisle  was  a  portion  of 
that  diocese.2     During  this  episcopate  came  the  Danish  invasion,  which 
swept  every  organization  in  church  and  state  into  the  abyss  of  paganism. 
The  whole  kingdom  of  Northumbria  was  overrun  and  desolated  by  the 
Danes.     The  church  was  in  dire  jeopardy  and  its  rulers  hesitated  whether 
to  stand  their  ground  or  to  flee.    Eardulf  on  consultation  with  his  clergy 
determined  on  flight.    He  summoned  Eadred,  abbot  of  Carlisle,  surnamed 
Lulisc,  from  Luel  the  ancient  name  of  the  city,  with  whom  he  took  counsel 
about  the  shrine  of  St.  Cuthbert.3     After  an  exchange  of  views  it  was 
deemed  more  agreeable  to  St.  Cuthbert's  wishes  that  his  bones  should 
not  be  left  to  the  danger  of  desecration.    Raising  the  holy  and  uncorrupt 
body  of  the  father,  says  Symeon,4  they  placed  beside  it  the  relics  of  the 
saints,  such  as  the  head  of  St.  Oswald,  some  of  the  bones  of  St.  Aidan, 
together  with  the  bones  of  those  revered  bishops  Eadbert,  Eadfrid  and 
Ethelwold,  successors  of  St.  Cuthbert,  and  fled,  abandoning  the  mother 
church  of  the  Bernicians,  which  had  been  the  residence  of  so  many  saints. 
No  sooner  had  Bishop  Eardulf  departed  with  his  sacred  burden  than  a 
fearful  storm  burst  over  the  whole  province  of  Northumbria.     Every- 
where did  the  Danes  burn  down  the  monasteries  and  churches,  and  carry 
fire  and  sword  from  the  eastern  to  the  western  sea.     For  this  reason  the 
bishop  of  Lindisfarne  and  those  who  were  guardians  of  St.  Cuthbert's 
relics  found  no  place  of  repose,  but  going  now  forward,  now  backward, 
hither  and  thither,  they  fled  from   the   face  of  the   heathen   invader. 
Crossing  into  Cumbria  they  made  their  way  to  the  mouth  of  the  Derwent 
at  Workington,  with  the  hope  of  taking  ship  to  Ireland.    But  as  a  storm 
prevented  them  leaving  the  haven,  they  bent  their  steps  towards  Gallo- 
way, where  they  stayed  till  the  death   of  Halfdene,  the  Danish   king, 
emboldened  them  to  return. 

1  Hist.  Ecdes.  iv.  cap.  26. 

2  Symeon  of  Durham  (Surtees  Society),  i.  67. 

3  Ibid.  i.  73.     Ancient  Monuments,  Rites  and  Customs  of  Durham  (Surtees  Society),  pp.  55-6. 

4  The  story  of  the  translation  of  St.  Cuthbert's  relics  has  been  handed  down  as  a  precious  tradition 
in  the  northern  church.     To  the  writings  of  Symeon  (Of era  et  Collectanea  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  162-4), 
and  Reginald  (Libellus,  Surtees  Soc.  pp.  16-19,  20-1),  two  of  the  historians  of  Durham,  we  are  chiefly 
indebted  for  the  details.     Attempts  to  trace  the  course  pursued  by  the  fugitives,  who  carried  the 
sacred  burden,  have  been  often  made.     John  de  Wessington,  prior  of  Durham  from   1416  to   1446, 
compiled  a  list  of  places  where  they  rested,  and  hung  it  over  the  choir  door  of  the  church  of  Durham. 
The  original  compilation  in  the  prior's  handwriting  has  been  found  (Eyre,  History  of  St.  Cuthbert, 
pp.  98-9).     The  list  includes  as  resting-places  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  such  parishes  as   St. 
Cuthbert's,  Carlisle,  Edenhall,  Great  Salkeld,  Plumbland,  Embleton,  Lorton,  and  Cliburn,  to  which 
have  been  added,  from  other  versions,  Bewcastle  and  Dufton.    In  recent  years  all  of  the  sixteen  churches 
in  the  two  counties  which  bear  the  dedication  of  St.  Cuthbert  have  been  added  to  the  list  (Trans.  Cumb. 
and  Westmorl.  Archteol.  Soc.  ii.  14-20  j  vii.  128-31). 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

It  has  been  supposed  that  the  country  lay  in  ruins  after  the  inroad 
of  the  Danes,  and  that  no  remnant  of  church  organization  was  allowed 
to  exist  for  two  centuries  from  that  date.  The  ecclesiastical  history  of 
the  period  from  the  Scandinavian  invasion  till  the  conquest  of  the  district 
in  1092  is  confused  and  uncertain.  Florence  of  Worcester  tells  us  that 
the  city  of  Carlisle  which  Rufus  conquered  in  1092,  like  some  other 
cities  in  these  parts,  had  been  destroyed  by  the  pagan  Danes  two  hundred 
years  before,  and  had  remained  deserted  up  to  the  time  of  its  recovery  ; 
but  we  cannot  think  that  the  Christian  faith  was  totally  obliterated  from 
a  district  in  which  it  had  once  taken  so  deep  root,  as  we  know  it  had 
done  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carlisle  while  the  Northumbrian  kings 
ruled  from  sea  to  sea.  Whatever  may  have  been  the  vicissitudes  through 
which  it  passed,  no  history  exists.1  The  state  of  the  church  of  Cumbria 
south  of  the  Solway  between  the  invasion  of  the  Dane  and  the  conquest 
of  the  Norman  is  one  of  the  great  puzzles  of  our  early  history.2 

When  the  district  of  Carlisle  was  added  to  English  dominion  by 
William  Rufus  in  1092,  as  a  matter  of  course  it  would  fall  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  metropolitan  to  whose  province  it  was  adjacent. 
Twenty  years  before  the  annexation,  a  compact  was  made  between  the 
two  archbishops  at  the  council  of  Windsor  in  1072,  whereby  the  primacy 
over  Scotland  was  assigned  to  York.3  In  these  circumstances,  whatever 
pleas  were  put  forward  by  way  of  claim  to  the  ecclesiastical  oversight  of 
the  new  province,  the  metropolitan  had  the  determining  voice  in  its 
ultimate  bestowal.  As  a  matter  of  fact  the  land  of  Carlisle  became  an 
integral  part  of  the  metropolitan  diocese  from  the  date  of  its  conquest4 
till  the  time  arrived  for  the  creation  of  a  new  see  in  the  northern  pro- 
vince. It  will  be  seen  that  subsequent  events  assume  this  to  have  been 
the  case.  No  certain  information  has  been  preserved  to  tell  us  the 
nature  of  the  plans  employed  for  the  ecclesiastical  organization  of  the 
district  during  the  remaining  years  of  William's  reign.  It  is  perhaps 
too  much  to  expect. 

The  first  act  for  the  supply  of  ecclesiastical  institutions  in  the 
district  has  been  ascribed  to  one  of  the  followers  of  the  Conqueror, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  placed  in  Carlisle  by  William  Rufus  shortly 
after  the  annexation.  A  story  of  the  origin  of  diocesan  institutions, 
which  has  been  handed  down  by  tradition  from  a  remote  period,  is 
worth  consideration,  though  we  may  not  be  able  to  accept  it.  It  is 

1  It    would   be   a   mere  romance   to   build  up   a   narrative   from   the   remains  of   Christian 
monuments  with  which  the  modern  county  abounds.     From  these   lapidary  evidences   only  one 
conclusion  can  be  drawn.     The  Church  had  embraced   the  seaboard  and  penetrated  the  plains. 
Beyond  this  nothing   more   definite  can  be  said.     For   these   monumental   remains,   see   V .CM. 
Cumb.  i.  253-84. 

2  Freeman,  William  Rufus,  i.  315. 

3  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Councils  and  Eccles.  Doc.  ii.  12,  159.     By  this  agreement  the  jurisdiction  of 
York  extended  from  the  boundaries  of  the  diocese  of  Lichfield  over  the  whole  region  northwards  '  usque 
ad  extremes  Scotiae  fines,'  including  the  bishopric  of  Durham  or  Lindisfarne. 

4  Rival  claims  to  the  spiritual  sovereignty  of  the  new  district  were  put  forward  by  the  bishops  of 
Durham  and  Glasgow,  but  they  were  disallowed.     For  a  discussion  of  these  matters,  see  Haddan  and 
Stubbs,  Councils  and  Eccles,  Doc.  ii.  10-27. 

7 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

related  that   a  certain  chaplain    called    Walter,  a  Norman  who  came 
to  England  with  the  Conqueror,  had  obtained  possession  of  the  church 
of  Carlisle   and  the  church  of  Stanwix  with  their  chapels  and  the  vills 
around  Carlisle.     Walter  being  a  wealthy  man  began  to  build   within 
the  walls  of  the  city  a  noble  church  in  honour  of  Blessed   Mary  the 
Virgin,  but  while  the  work  was  still  in  progress  both  Walter  the  chap- 
lain and  William  the  king  had  died.     On  the  accession  of  Henry,  that 
king  constituted  Regular  Canons  in  the   great   church,  which  Walter 
had  founded,  and  gave  them  the  churches  and  lands  which  belonged  to 
the  deceased  chaplain  as  well  as  six  churches  in  Northumberland  with 
their  chapels,  namely,  the  churches  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  Newburn, 
Warkworth,  Rothbury,  Whittingham  and  Corbridge.    This  having  been 
done,  Henry  appointed  Adelulf  prior  of  the  new  institution  and  en- 
riched it  with  many  dignities.     After  several  years  Archbishop  Thurstin 
came  to  visit  the  district,  and  understanding  that  the  Archdeacon  of 
Richmond  had  no  right  in  these  parts  he  prevailed   on   the  king   to 
create  a  bishopric  in  Carlisle,  the  archbishop  having  given  compensation 
to  the  archdeacon  for  the  loss  of  jurisdiction  over  Cumberland,  West- 
morland  and   Allerdale.      By  decree  of  Pope  Innocent  and  licence   of 
King  Henry,  the  canons  elected  Adelulf  their  prior  as  first  bishop  of  the 
new  see,  and  Archbishop  Thurstin  consecrated  him  at  York1  in  1133. 
Before  we  go  further  it  would  be  well  to  notice  the  earliest  date  at 
which  the  foundation  of  the  priory  can  be  fixed.     A  few  years  are  not 
of  great  consequence  in  an  undertaking  of  this  kind,  which  must  have 
taken  a  long  period  to  complete.     The  accepted  date,  supported  by  a 
long  series  of  local  historians,  has  been   fixed   by  one  of  the  Scottish 
chroniclers,  Abbot  Bower  of  Inchcolm,  the  continuator  of  the  chronicle 
of  Fordun,"  who  tells  us  that  Henry,  by  the  persuasion  and  counsel  of 
his  Queen,  constituted  regular  canons  in  Carlisle  in  the  year   1102.     If 
the  district  was  in  the  king's  hand  at  that  date,  it  is  very  clear  proof  that 
Ranulf  Meschin  had  not  yet  arrived  as  its  political  ruler.     In  that  case, 
as  we  might  reasonably  expect,  no  grant  had  been  made  either  by  Rufus 
or  his  successor  till  some  definite  steps  had  been  taken  for  the  ecclesias- 
tical settlement  of  the  new  province.     That  an  effort  had  been  made  in 
the  early  years  of  Henry's  reign  to  found  the  priory  of  Carlisle  there 
can  be  no  question.     By  the  judgment  of  a  jury  delivered  at  Carlisle  in 

»  Lansdowne  MS.  721,  ff.  54-5 sb.  This  document  is  headed,  'Ex  Registerio  patris  Willelmi 
Strickland  episcopi  Carliolensis,'  and  appears  to  be  in  the  handwriting  of  the  early  years  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  From  this  source  probably  arose  the  tradition  which  we  identify  with  the  names  of 
Tonge  (Visitation  of  the  Northern  Counties  in  1530  [Surtees  Soc.],  102),  Leland  (Collectanea  [ed.  Hearne], 
i.  120-1),  and  Godwin  (De  Presul.  Anglic  [ed.  Richardson],  761-2). 

>  Scotichronicon,  ed.  Goodall,  i.  289.  It  should  be  pointed  out  that  Abbot  Bower  has  jumbled  up 
two  distinct  events  in  this  passage,  viz.,  the  foundation  of  the  priory  in  1102  and  the  introduction  of 
canons  regular  in  1133.  The  canons  regular  were  brought  to  Carlisle  long  after  the  foundation.  The 
Annals  of  Waverley  say  it  was  '  Adulf  '  who  '  put  canons  regular  in  the  church  of  his  See  '  (Annales 
Monastici  [Rolls  Series],  ii.  223).  Matthew  Paris  tells  the  same  story,  that  '  Athelulph,  having  been 
created  a  bishop,  placed  canons  regular  in  the  church  of  his  see  and  endowed  it  with  many  honours  ' 
(Historia  Anglorum  [Rolls  Series],  i.  245-6;  Chronica  Majora  [Rolls  Series],  ii.  158).  Other  chroniclers, 
like  Bartholomew  de  Cotton  (Hist.  Anglicana  [Rolls  Series],  pp.  62,  417),  and  Thomas  Rudborne  (Anglia 
Sacra,  i.  282)  follow  in  the  same  line. 

8 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

1278-9  it  is  alleged  that  the  site  of  the  priory  was  ancient  demesne  of 
the  Crown,  and  that  Henry  I  had  founded  the  priory  in  pure  and  per- 
petual alms  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  years  before,  as  the  jury  found 
by  an  inspection  of  that  king's  charter.1  In  view  of  these  statements  it 
may  be  taken  that  the  first  ecclesiastical  movement  in  the  new  district 
was  the  project  of  establishing  a  religious  house  in  Carlisle,  for  which 
purpose  the  king,  before  any  vassal  was  appointed  for  its  civil  adminis- 
tration, had  appropriated  by  his  charter  a  site  suitable  for  the  require- 
ments. If  for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  had  a  Scottish  wife,3  King 
Henry  manifested  a  real  interest  in  the  frontier  provinces  of  his  king- 
dom in  the  early  years  of  his  reign.  Soon  after  his  accession  he  placed 
one  of  his  chaplains,  Richard  d'Orival  (de  Aurea  Valle),  on  the  eastern 
border,  and  endowed  him  for  life  with  the  four  churches  of  Warkworth, 
Corbridge,  Whittingham  and  Rothbury,  situated  on  four  Northumbrian 
manors,  in  the  King's  hand.  At  a  later  date,  while  the  chaplain  still 
lived,  the  same  monarch  granted  to  the  priory  of  Carlisle  a  reversion  of 
these  churches,  and  added  as  a  direct  gift  the  churches  of  Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne  and  Newburn  in  the  same  county.3 

Throughout  the  reign  of  Henry  I  such  rapid  progress  was  made 
for  the  supply  of  religious  institutions  that  at  his  death  the  district  had 
been  formed  into  a  fully  equipped  diocese  with  a  bishop  at  its  head. 
The  intensity  of  religious  feeling  was  so  marked  that  no  fewer  than  four 
religious  houses  were  founded  during  his  reign  within  so  small  an  area 
as  the  modern  county.  This  is  all  the  more  remarkable  when  we  re- 
member that  the  ecclesiastical  movement  was  forced  to  keep  pace  with 
political  progress.  For  this  reason,  perhaps,  the  King's  project  of  com- 
pleting the  priory  of  Carlisle,  for  which  the  site  had  been  appropriated, 
was  obliged  to  wait  for  several  years.  Ranulf  Meschin,  the  new  ruler 
appointed  by  King  Henry,  instead  of  supplementing  the  work  of  his 
sovereign  in  Carlisle,  laid  the  foundation  of  a  new  institution  at  Wetheral,4 
as  a  cell  of  the  great  abbey  of  St.  Mary,  York.  During  Ranulfs  con- 
sulate the  district  must  have  settled  down  to  some  extent  and  become 
reconciled  to  English  rule,  for  after  his  departure  about  1 120,  we  meet 
with  more  manifest  signs  of  ecclesiastical  progress.  We  do  not  know 
as  a  matter  of  certainty  the  chronological  sequence  of  ecclesiastical 
events  as  they  took  place  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  Henry's  reign. 

1  Cumberland  Assize  Roll,  No.  132,  m.  32. 

*  Edith,  daughter  of  Malcolm,  king  of  Scotland,  who  after  her  marriage  changed  her  name  to  Maud 
in  compliment  to  her  husband's  mother. 

3  The  two  charters  of  Henry  I.  relating  to  the  Northumberland  churches  have  been  often  printed 
(Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  540  ;  Dugdale,  Monasticon,  vi.  144  ;  Raine,  The  Priory  of  Hexbam 
i.  App.  No.  v.).    They  are  included  in  the  confirmation  charter  of  6  Edward  III.,  the  original  of  which 
is  still  preserved  in  the  diocesan  registry  of  Carlisle.     It  should  be  noted  that  the  grant  of  the  four 
churches  to  Richard  d'Orival,  the  royal  chaplain,  must  have  been  made  before  1107,  when  William 
de  Werelwast,  one  of  the  witnesses,  became  bishop  of  Exeter  (Registrum  Sacrum  Anglic,  p.   41,   new 
edition).    From  the  witnesses  to  the  charter  granting  the  churches  to  the  priory  of  Carlisle,  the  date 
must  lie  between  1116  and  1129. 

4  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  pp.  1-5.     The  editor,  Archdeacon  Prescott,  says  that  the  witnesses  to  the 
foundation  charter  of  this  institution  would  seem  to  agree  with  '  the  first  twelve  years  of  Henry  I.'   There 
is  little  doubt  of  it. 


II 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Important  steps  had  been  taken  to  supply  two  centres  of  religious  enter- 
prise during  that  period,  but  little  else  seems  to  have  been  done.  The 
completion  of  these  institutions  was  the  work  of  later  years.  When  we 
examine  the  evidences  one  conclusion  only  can  be  arrived  at,  that  the 
ecclesiastical  reconstruction  of  the  district  according  to  Norman  methods 
must  be  ascribed  to  the  period  1 120-35  while  the  King  had  the  govern- 
ment of  the  conquered  province  in  his  own  charge. 

When  we  inquire  for  the  agents  upon  whose  shoulders  fell  the 
burden  of  church  organization  two  names  appear  to  whom  the  merit 
must  be  attributed.  For  the  founding  of  monasteries  or  the  creation  of 
a  bishopric  the  King  needed  the  co-operation  of  wealthy  men.  While 
the  district  was  ruled  by  a  great  vassal  ecclesiastical  progress  was  but 
slow.  Ranulf  at  an  early  period  of  his  rule  set  a  good  example  by 
starting  a  religious  house  at  Wetheral,  and  there  is  a  strong  presumption 
that  his  feoffee  at  Burgh-by-Sands  had  founded  a  parochial  church  within 
that  barony.1  But  we  have  no  proof  that  any  serious  effort  at  ecclesi- 
astical organization  had  been  made  till  after  Ranulfs  succession  to  the 
earldom  of  Chester.  Then  almost  immediately  two  men  appear  upon  the 
scene  whose  names  must  be  inscribed  on  the  foundations  of  the  ecclesi- 
astical edifice  raised  by  Norman  liberality  in  this  portion  of  ancient 
Cumbria.  To  Walter  the  priest  as  the  munificent  benefactor  of  the 
priory,  and  to  Adelulf,  the  first  bishop  of  the  diocese,  must  be  ascribed 
the  distinction  of  being  the  earliest  pioneers  in  the  ecclesiastical  work 
of  the  district. 

Walter  the  priest,  about  whose  antecedents  we  know  practically 
nothing,  stands  out  conspicuously  as  the  agent  in  resuscitating  the  priory 
which  Henry  had  founded  in  the  city  of  Carlisle.  There  is  no  early 
authority,  that  we  are  aware  of,  to  connect  Walter  with  the  land  of 
Carlisle  before  the  departure  of  Ranulf  Meschin.  In  the  sheriff's  in- 
quisition of  1212*  we  have  the  trustworthy  information  that  it  was 
Henry  I,  and  not  William  Rufus,  who  enfeoffed  Walter  with  the 
manors  of  Linstock  and  Carleton  at  the  annual  cornage  rent  of  37^.  4^., 
and  that  it  was  by  the  licence  of  the  same  King  that  he  assumed  the 
religious  habit  in  the  priory  of  St.  Mary,  Carlisle,  and  endowed  his 
adopted  home  with  his  worldly  possessions.  When  we  turn  to  King 
Henry's  confirmation  of  Walter's  benevolence,  we  get  some  more  light 
on  the  extent  of  his  possessions,  and  the  date  when  his  decision  was 
made  to  become  an  inmate  of  the  priory,  and  to  bestow  his  property 
for  the  benefit  of  the  institution.  King  Henry,  addressing  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York  and  all  his  barons  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  in- 
timated that  he  had  confirmed  to  God  and  St.  Mary  and  the  canons  of 
Carlisle  all  the  churches  and  all  the  land  which  belonged  to  Walter  the 
priest,  free  from  the  geld  of  cows  and  all  other  customs.3  It  was  probably 

1  Harleian  MS.  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram),  3911,  f.  z8b. 

»  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  422. 

3  Henricus,  Rex  Angliae,  Archiepiscopo  Eborfacensi]  et  omnibus  Baronibus  et  Ministris  suis 
et  fidelibus  suis  de  Cumbrelanda  et  Westmarialanda,  salutem.  Sciatis  me  dedisse  et  concessisse 
deo  et  sancts  Mariae  et  Canonicis  de  Cairlolio  omnes  ecclesias  et  totam  terrain  qux  fuit  Walteri 

IO 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

about  the  same  time  that  the  six  churches  in  Northumberland  before 
mentioned  were  set  aside  for  their  benefit.  While  thinking  of  his  own 
foundation  in  Carlisle,  the  King  did  not  forget  Ranulf's  at  Wetheral,  for 
on  that  house  also  he  conferred  both  lands  and  privileges.1  The 
monarch's  example  was  soon  followed  by  the  feudal  tenants  among 
whom  he  had  parcelled  the  conquered  territory.  William  Meschin, 
who  had  the  same  ecclesiastical  sympathies  as  his  brother,  founded  the 
priory  of  St.  Bees,*  outside  Ranulf's  fief,  as  a  cell  of  St.  Mary's,  York, 
and  some  years  later  Ranulf  his  son  established  a  Cistercian  house  at 
Calder.3  We  can  scarcely  review  those  critical  years  between  the  re- 
covery of  the  country  in  1092  and  its  cession  to  Scotland  in  1136  with- 
out being  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  little  progress  was  made  in  its 
settlement  or  development  while  Ranulf  acted  as  vicegerent  and  ruled 
the  land.  As  soon  as  the  King  took  over  the  administration,  the  district 
was  split  up  into  baronies  and  apportioned  among  trusty  tenants,  who 
co-operated  with  him  in  the  establishment  of  missionary  centres  for 
civilizing  and  educating  the  inhabitants. 

But  the  crowning  work  of  Henry's  life  in  his  northern  dominions 
was  the  creation  of  the  new  territory  into  a  diocese  in  1133.  Little 
could  be  done  to  wean  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  from  their  Scottish 
sympathies  while  the  district  remained  an  isolated  portion  of  the  vast 
archdeaconry  of  Richmond.  It  was  sound  policy  on  the  part  of  the 
King's  advisers  to  constitute  it  into  a  bishopric,  and  to  place  it  under 
immediate  supervision.  At  that  time  the  contest  between  Thurstin, 
archbishop  of  York,  and  the  Scottish  church  continued  to  rage,  the 
archbishop's  claim  to  jurisdiction  over  the  diocese  of  Glasgow  having 
been  asserted  with  especial  vigour.  There  is  little  doubt  that  Fordun 
was  right  when  he  pointed  to  Thurstin  as  the  true  instigator  of  the 
scheme  for  a  Carlisle  bishopric.  When  Henry,  probably  on  his  visit  to 
Carlisle  in  1122,  had  seen  John,  bishop  of  Glasgow,  performing  ponti- 
fical offices  in  Cumberland,  though  he  neither  recognized  him  as  his 
sovereign  nor  the  Archbishop  of  York  as  his  prelate,  the  King,  on  the 
advice  of  Thurstin,  placed  as  his  rival  in  the  district '  Eadwald '  by  force 
and  violence,  with  the  title  of  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  because  there  was  no 
one  who  dared  to  resist  him.  Bishop  John  was  so  mortified  at  seeing 
his  bishopric  thus  dismembered  without  sanction  of  law  or  protest  from 

presbiteri,  et  volo  et  firmiter  precipio  ut  ipsi  Canonici  eas  teneant  in  elemosinam  bene  et  in  pace 
et  quiete  de  geldo  vaccarum  et  de  omnibus  aliis  consuetudinibus.  Tfestibus]  Nigfelo]  de 
Albin[iaco]  et  Waltero  Espec  et  Pag[ano]  filio  Johannis.  Apud  Wirecestriam  (Chart.  R.  6  Edw.  III.  pt. 
i.  No.  30,  by  inspeximus).  The  division  of  the  province  into  the  two  districts  of '  Cumbreland  '  and 
'  Westmarialand  '  at  this  early  date  is  very  interesting  and  may  be  compared  with  the  Pipe  Roll  of  1130, 
where  the  same  division  is  recognized.  In  1248  Pope  Innocent  IV  granted  his  protection  and  con- 
firmation of  possessions  to  the  prior  and  convent  of  St.  Mary,  Carlisle,  and  specially  of  the  chapel  of  the 
church  of  Carlisle,  with  all  offerings,  tithes,  and  parish  rights  belonging  to  the  said  church,  except  the 
offering  at  Whitsuntide,  and  all  the  land  formerly  belonging  to  Walter  the  priest,  which  King  Henry  gave 
and  confirmed  by  his  charter  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  250).  This  papal  confirmation  marks  an  im- 
portant point  in  the  ecclesiastical  position  of  the  parish  of  St.  Mary's,  Carlisle,  in  its  relation  to  the  priory. 

'  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  pp.  14-19,  22-27. 

i  Reg.  of  St.  Bees  (Harleian  MS.  434),  lib.  i.  1-3. 

»  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  339-40. 

II 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  King  of  Scotland  that  he  retired  in  disgust  to  a  monastery.1  Thurstin 
had  no  difficulty  in  satisfying  the  interested  parties  as  far  as  English  law 
was  concerned.  The  archdeacon  of  Richmond  was  compensated  for  the 
loss  of  jurisdiction  by  the  bestowal  of  such  privileges  as  the  right  of  in- 
stitution to  and  the  custody  of  vacant  churches  within  his  archdeaconry, 
these  privileges  having  been  granted  at  the  request  and  by  the  confirma- 
tion of  the  King.  In  fact  many  of  the  ecclesiastical  immunities,  which 
the  famous  archdeaconry  enjoyed,  may  be  traced  to  this  period  when  a 
new  diocese  was  carved  out  of  its  ample  limits.3 

In  furtherance  of  the  scheme  for  a  new  bishopric  Henry  had  re- 
course to  his  old  policy,  when  he  set  about  the  completion  of  the  priory, 
of  selecting  a  rich  man  as  the  first  bishop.  Among  the  royal  chaplains 
he  had  a  wealthy  Yorkshire  landowner,3  Adelulf  by  name,  who  had 
taken  the  religious  habit,  and  had  become  prior  of  St.  Oswald's,  Nostell, 
an  Augustinian  house  near  Pontefract.  The  difficulties  of  founding  the 
bishopric  were  not  insuperable  when  little  or  no  provision  had  to  be 
made  for  the  maintenance  of  the  office.  The  poverty  of  the  see  of 
Carlisle  for  the  first  century  after  its  creation  is  well  known.  When 
Adelulf  died  in  1156  the  bishopric  remained  derelict  and  vacant  for 
about  fifty  years  till  adequate  provision  could  be  found  for  the  support 
of  the  dignity.  At  first  the  separate  endowment  was  ridiculously  small. 
Though  the  priory  of  Carlisle  was  first  founded,  gifts  of  real  property 
came  in  but  slowly  till  the  new  foundation  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of 
a  cathedral  church  in  1133.  For  some  years  after  that  date  political 
events  were  not  favourable  to  religious  enthusiasm  among  the  local 
magnates.  Three  years  after  its  foundation  the  diocese  passed  under 
the  sovereignty  of  the  Scottish  king  while  it  remained  subject  to  the 

1  Fordun,  Scotichronicon,  ed.  Goodall,  i.  449-50 ;  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Councils  and  Eccles.  Doc. 
ii.  27. 

3  When  John  of  Hexham  was  describing  the  limits  of  the  bishopric  which  Henry  I  had  set  up  at 
Carlisle,  he  assumed  the  York  oversight  when  he  stated  that  the  churches  of  Cumberland  and  West- 
morland which  belonged  to  a  York  archdeaconry  (quae  adjacuerunt  archidiaconatui  Eboracensi)  were 
bestowed  on  the  new  creation  (The  Priory  of  Hexham  [Surtees  Soc.],  i.  109,  1 10  ;  Twysden,  Decem 
Scriptores,  col.  257).  In  1201  Honorius  in  his  appeal  to  Pope  Innocent  about  the  archdeaconry  of 
Richmond  stated  '  quod  cum  inclytae  recordationis  primus  Henricus,  rex  Angliae,  apud  Car- 
leolum  sedem  episcopalem  vellet  de  novo  creari,  quia  ex  hoc  archidiaconatus  Richemundiae 
laedebatur,  rex  ipse  a  bonae  memoriae  quondam  Eboracensi  archiepiscopo  postulavit,  ut  in 
recompensationem  cuiusdam  partis,  qua;  subtrahebatur  archidiaconatui  memorato,  ei  predictas 
concederet  dignitates '  (Hoveden,  Chronica  [Rolls  Series],  iv.  177-8).  Whitaker  has  described  the 
privileges  of  this  archdeaconry  in  some  detail  (Hist,  of  Richmondshire,  i.  34-6).  From  a  description  of 
the  archbishopric  of  York  in  an  Arundel  manuscript  Hinde  has  quoted  the  following  statement  about 
the  diocese  of  Carlisle  :  '  Alterum  Cardolensum,  scilicet  Carduel  vel  Carlel,  qui  fuit  subtractus  ab 
Eborascensi,  non  tamen  demptus  ab  episcopatu  '  (Symeon  of  Durham  [Surtees  Soc.],  i.  221).  In  his 
'  mappa  mundi,'  Gervase  of  Canterbury  has  enumerated  such  places  as  '  Holm  Cotram,'  '  Woderhall,' 
'  Egremunt,'  '  Carduil,"  and  '  Ingelwde  '  under  '  Richemuntsire '  for  ecclesiastical  purposes  (Gtsta 
Regum  [Rolls  Series],  ii.  441). 

3  Selden  has  printed  a  charter  out  of  his  own  collection  whereby  Bishop  Adelulf,  while  Henry  I  still 
lived,  endowed  the  deanery  of  York  and  William  the  dean  and  all  his  successors  in  the  deanery  with  the 
tithes  of  the  mills  of  Pokelinton  and  of  his  domain  and  of  all  his  soch  (decimas  molendinorum  de  Pokelinton 
et  de  dominio  meo  et  de  iota  socha),  for  so  it  had  been  provided  and  appointed  by  King  Henry  (Historie 
of  Tithes,  ed.  1618,  pp.  337-8).  The  inference  is  obvious.  Had  Adelulf  been  exercising  the  right  as 
prior  of  St.  Oswald,  the  deed  of  gift  would  not  have  run  in  the  name  of  '  Ael.  Dei  gratia,  Carleolensis 
episcopus.'  Besides,  we  have  yet  to  learn  that  the  priory  of  Nostell  owned  the  manor  of  '  Pokelinton ' 
at  this  date.  It  is  certain  that  the  manor  did  not  belong  to  him  as  bishop  of  Carlisle. 

12 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

metropolitical  jurisdiction  of  York.      It  is  this  which  makes  the  early 
history  of  the  church  of  Carlisle  so  unique.      For  almost  the  whole  of 
his  episcopate  Adelulf  was  an  English  bishop  beneficed  in   the  kingdom 
of  Scotland.     After  his  death  in  1156,  though  the  district  reverted   in 
the  following  year  to  English  sovereignty,1  no  successor  was  appointed 
for  almost  half  a  century.     During  this  long  vacancy  the   diocese   was 
reckoned  a  unit  of  the  northern  province  administered  by  an  archdeacon, 
with  the  assistance  of  a  suffragan  of  York  for  the  performance  of  ponti- 
fical offices.2     While  Adelulf  lived  he  must  have  resided  at  his  cathedral 
church,  of  which  he  was  the  head  and  in  which  he  had  his  '  stool '  or 
'  cathedra.'     Owing  to  the  peculiar  vicissitudes  of  the  see  at  this  time, 
the  early  growth  of  the  capitular  institution  at  Carlisle  is  involved  in  no 
little  obscurity.     But  there  can  be  no  question,  as  we  shall  learn  from 
subsequent  proceedings,  that  throughout  the  first  episcopate  the  endow- 
ments of  the  bishopric  and  the  priory  were  held  to  be  indivisible,  and 
that  the  bishop  had  no  real  property  distinct  from  his  cathedral  church.3 
The  King  of  England  was  fortunate  in  his  choice  of  the  first  bishop 
of  Carlisle.    Of  all  the  prelates  who  have  ruled  the  northern  diocese  Adelulf 
is  pre-eminent,  not  only  as  a  great  churchman  gifted  with  the  will  and 
the  power  to  organize  the  new  foundation,  but  also  as  a  wise  statesman 
and  diplomatist  capable  of  reconciling   the   many  conflicting   interests 
arising  from  his  political  position.     Before  he  was  raised  to  the  see  he 
was  a  personage  of  considerable  influence  at  the  English  and  Scottish 
courts.     It  is  said  by  Eadmer  that  Henry  I  would  not  put  an  English- 
man even  at  the  head  of  a  monastery  ;  but  if  it  be  true  that  Adelulf  was 
not  a  Norman,  as  we  may  fairly  infer  from  his  name,  the  historian's  rule 
may  be  regarded  as  affording  the  usual  exception.      In  any  case  it  must 
be  confessed  that  his  qualifications  eminently  fitted  him  to  fill  with  dis- 
tinction the  difficult  post  to  which  he  had  been  nominated.     Though 
his  diocese  had  been  incorporated  with  the  kingdom  of  Scotland,  he  was 
often  employed  on  English  affairs,  and  attended  the  English  court  on  its 
peregrinations  in  various  parts  of  England  and  on  the  continent.     It  is, 
however,  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  Adelulf  was  able  to  take  up  the 
administration  of  his  diocese  immediately  after  his  consecration.     The 
retirement  of  John,  bishop  of  Glasgow,  to  the  monastery  of  Tyron  as 

»  Roger  de  Wendover  (Rolls  Series),  i.  16. 

2  Though  there  was  no  bishop  of  Carlisle,  the  district  retained  a  separate  existence  as  a  diocese, 
and  did  not  become  an  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  within  the  archdiocese  of  York.      When  Uctred,  son 
of  Fergus,  conferred  the  church  of  Torpenhow  on  the  abbey  of  Holyrood,  the  canons  of  that  place 
were  empowered  to  hold  it  as  freely  '  sicut  aliqua  ecclesia  in  toto  episcopatu  Karloliensi '  (Liber  Cartarum 
Sancte  Cruets  [Bannatyne  Club],  pp.  19,  20).    Christian,  bishop  of  Candida  Casa,  often  ministered  in  the 
diocese  of  Carlisle,  while  it  was  vacant,  as  suffragan  of  York.     He  was  present  at  the  foundation  of  the 
priory  of  Lanercost  about  the  year  1169  (Reg.  of   Lanercost,  MS.  i.  i).     In  1159  and  1160  the  sheriff 
of  Cumberland  allowed  him  14*.  Sd.  in  each  year,  no  doubt  as  a  reward  for  his  services  (Pipe   Rolls 
[Cumberland],  5  and  6  Hen.  II.).     Bishop  Christian  died  at  Holmcultram  in  1186  (Chron.  de  Mailros 
[Bannatyne  Club],  95). 

3  There  were  of  course  endowments  of  a  spiritual  nature  which  belonged  to  the  bishop  alone. 
For  example,  Archbishop  Thurstin  gave  him  the  prebend  of  St.  Peter's,  York  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  91). 
The  Pipe  Roll  of  1188  gives  an  account  of  the  episcopal  revenues  apart  from  those  of  the  priory  at  that 
date. 

13 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

a  protest  against  the  creation  of  the  bishopric  is  significant.  As  soon  as 
Stephen  had  seized  the  throne,  Pope  Innocent  II  reminded  him  of  the 
project  of  raising  '  the  place  of  Carlisle  to  the  rank  of  episcopal  dignity 
which  Henry  his  royal  predecessor  had  laboured  to  accomplish  till  his 
decease,'  at  the  same  time  urging  the  King  to  supply  what  was  lacking 
in  the  original  foundation.1  Whatever  may  have  been  the  obstacles  in 
the  way  of  completing  the  formation  of  the  see  they  were  surmounted 
in  1138  when  Alberic,  the  papal  legate,  held  a  provincial  council  of 
Scottish  bishops  at  Carlisle.  David,  king  of  Scotland,  was  present  with 
the  bishops,  abbots  and  barons  of  his  kingdom.  The  council  was  also 
attended  by  Robert,  bishop  of  Hereford,  and  Adelulf,  bishop  of  Carlisle, 
who  formed  the  legate's  suite  as  he  journeyed  through  England.  By 
this  synod  John,  bishop  of  Glasgow,  was  ordered  to  leave  his  retirement 
and  return  to  his  cure,  and  Adelulf  was  admitted  to  the  favour  of  King 
David  and  established  in  his  diocese.2 

When  the  diocese  had  become  finally  absorbed  into  the  English 
kingdom  in  1157  the  ecclesiastical  sympathies  of  the  local  magnates 
upon  whom  the  church  depended  for  the  support  of  its  ministrations 
were  not  completely  diverted  into  English  channels.  The  church  in  the 
twelfth  century  was  not  insular  or  national,  belonging  to  one  race  or  one 
kingdom  :  it  claimed  an  universal  sovereignty  over  all  nations.  For 
this  reason  no  doubt  the  political  frontier  which  marked  off  the  English 
from  the  Scottish  kingdom  was  scarcely  recognized  at  the  outset  among 
the  benevolent  landowners  who  first  endowed  religious  institutions  in 
this  part  of  the  country.  But  apart  from  religious  considerations  there 
was  a  community  of  feeling  as  well  as  an  identity  of  aim  among  the 
people  on  both  sides  of  the  national  boundary.  By  ties  of  property,  in- 
termarriage and  old  associations,  the  inhabitants  of  ancient  Cumbria 
remained  practically  one  people  for  a  long  period  after  they  had  become 
politically  separated.  The  needs  of  the  church  knew  no  political 
barriers.  Religious  houses  in  Scotland  received  grants  from  the  lords  of 
Cumberland  after  the  severance  of  the  diocese  from  Scottish  rule. 
National  prejudice  did  not  hinder  Scottish  laymen  from  extending  their 
benevolence  to  institutions  on  the  English  side  of  the  Border.  Turgis 
de  Russedale,  the  baron  of  Liddel,  appropriated  the  church  of  Kirkan- 

1  The  Priory  of  Hexkam  (Surtees  Soc.)  i.,  Appendix  No.  viii.     This  letter  of  Pope  Innocent  II  to 
King  Stephen,  taken  from  the  Great  White  Register  of  York,  is  dated  at  Pisa  on  22  April,  and  as  the  Pope 
was  there  on  that  day  in  1136,  and  apparently  not  in  that  month  of  any  later  year,  Haddan  and  Stubbs 
say  that  1 1 36  is  almost  certainly  the  date  (Councils  and  Eccles.  Documents,  ii.  30).     In  this  letter  Innocent 
reminded  Stephen  that  the  see  had  been  created  '  ex  dispensatione  Apostolica.'     Prynne  had  overlooked 
this  fact  when  he  took  the  formation  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  as  the  basis  of  his  argument  to  show  that 
the  King  had  an  inherent  power  without  the  Pope  to  create  new  bishoprics,  alter  dioceses,  and  curtail 
the  privileges  of  archbishops,  bishops,  and  archdeacons,  so  as  to  bind  their  successors  thereby   (Chrono- 
logical Vindication,  ii.  232). 

2  The  two  Hexham  historians,  Richard  and  John,  give  identical  accounts  of  this  provincial  council 
of  Scottish  bishops  under  Alberic  the  legate  in  1138,  John  adding  that '  Aldulf  '  the  bishop  was  received 
to  the  favour  of  King  David  and  admitted  to  his  bishopric   by  the  intercession  of  the  legate   (The 
Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  96-100,  121).    The  chronicle  of  Melrose,  under  date  1138,  mentions  Alberic's 
visit  to  David  at  Carlisle. 


CUMBERLAND    SEALS  :      EPISCOPAL    I 


WALTER  MALCLERC  (1224-1246). 


WALTER  MALCLERC   (1224-1246) 

COUNTERSEAL. 


SYLVESTER  EVERDON  (1247-1254). 


SYLVESTER  EVERDON 

(1247-1254) 

COUNTERSEAL. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

drews  or  Arthuret1  to  the  abbey  of  Jedburgh,  a  monastery  which  was 
also  enriched  with  the  church  of  Bassenthwaite  by  the  gift  of  Waldef 
son  of  Gospatric.'  The  church  of  Torpenhow '  was  granted  to  the  abbey 
of  Holy  Rood,  Edinburgh,  by  Uctred  son  of  Fergus  in  right  of  Gunnild, 
daughter  of  Waldeve,  his  wife.  The  abbey  of  Kelso  enjoyed  a  pension  issu- 
ing out  of  the  church  of  Lazonby4  by  the  gift  of  Hugh  de  Morvill.  The 
favours  conferred  on  Scottish  monasteries  by  Cumberland  landowners 
were  reciprocated  from  the  other  side.  On  the  western  border  alone 
many  instances  might  be  given  wherein  the  great  lords  of  Annandale  and 
Galloway  were  equally  considerate  to  English  institutions.  No  small 
portion  of  the  endowments  of  the  abbey  of  Holmcultram  was  situated 
in  Galloway  and  on  the  northern  shore  of  the  Solway.5  The  family  of 
Brus,  the  owners  of  the  great  fief  of  Annandale,  were  among  the 
foremost  benefactors  of  the  priory  of  Gisburn  in  Yorkshire.6  The 
priory  of  Lanercost  had  rent  charges  in  Dumfries.7  It  is  true  that 
family  ties  or  national  sentiment  had  much  to  do  with  several  of  these 
endowments.  One  might  expect  that  the  abbey  of  Holmcultram  should 
possess  strong  claims  upon  Scottish  liberality,  seeing  that  it  was  of 
Scottish  foundation  and  the  only  institution  left  in  the  district  as  a  relic 
of  the  Scottish  occupation.  Making  due  allowance  for  considerations 
of  this  sort,  we  should  not  forget  the  strong  international  sentiment 
which  pervaded  the  people  of  both  kingdoms,8  and  which  had  done  so 
much  to  forward  the  interests  of  the  church  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle. 

Though  the  establishment  of  churches  cannot  be  ascribed  exclu- 
sively to  Norman  agency,  we  are  not  left  altogether  in  ignorance  of  the 
progress  that  church  extension  had  made  under  the  first  Norman  settlers 
in  the  new  province.  If  we  take  the  barony  of  Burgh  by  Sands,  there  is  a 
strong  presumption  that  the  church  of  that  place  was  founded  by  one  of 
its  early  Norman  owners.  At  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  when 
Hugh  de  Morvill  made  a  grant  of  the  church  to  the  abbey  of  Holm- 
cultram, a  schedule  was  drawn  up  of  the  lands  with  which  it  was 
endowed.  From  the  circumstances  of  the  transaction,  it  is  clearly  seen 
that  the  origin  of  the  institution  was  a  matter  of  common  knowledge. 
The  foundation  of  the  church  was  spoken  of;  the  first  priest  was  named; 
the  portion  of  land  with  which  the  church  was  endowed  '  at  its  first 
foundation  '  was  set  out.  If  Swain,  the  first  priest,  on  his  appointment 

1  Facsimiles  of  National  A/SS.  of  Scotland,  No.  38  ;   Morton,  Monastic  Annals  of  Teviotdale,  pp. 
57-9  ;  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Ross,  MS.  f.  262  ;  Inq.  ad  quod  damnum,  2  Edw.  III.  No.  3. 

2  Ped.es  Finium  (Rec.  Com.),  10  John,  p.  10. 

3  Liber  Cartarum  Sanctae  Crucis,  Bannatyne  Club,  19-20. 

4  Liber  de  Calcbou,  Bannatyne  Club,  ii.  351  ;   Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  xiii.  25,  26 ;  xiv.  I. 
6  Reg.  of  Holmcultram  MS.  ff.  66-7,  91-125. 

6  Cart.  Prioratus  de  Gyseburne  (Surtees  Society),  ii.  340-52. 

7  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  ix.  13.     See  also  a  grant  of  Robert  de  Brus,  lord  of  Annandale,  of  pasture 
in  Gamelsby  and  Glassonby  (Ibid.  xiv.  4). 

8  The  close  communion  between  the  canons  of  Carlisle  and  the  canons  of  Holyrood  in  Edinburgh 
may  be  estimated  by  the  '  confederacio  '  for  the  purposes  of  prayer  which  existed  amongst  them  on  the 
death  of  one  of  their  number  (Liber  Cartarum  Sanctte  Crucis,  Maitland  Club,  p.  cxxxv.  ;   Liber  Vitce 
Eccl.  Dunelm.  (Surtees  Society),  p.  xvi.    The  '  confederation  '  is  written  in  a  comparatively  modern  hand 
in  the  Ritual  Book  of  Holyrood. 

15 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

to  the  new  church,  had  only  one  acre  of  land  on  the  south  side  of  the 
village  for  his  support,  the  worldly  possessions  of  his  benefice  were  not 
destined  to  remain  long  at  that  figure.  As  other  gifts  of  real  property 
soon  came  in,  it  cannot  be  said  of  the  landowners  of  Burgh  that 
they  were  backward  in  making  suitable  provision  for  the  maintenance 
of  religious  ministrations  in  that  parish.1  But  we  are  not  dependent 
on  the  example  of  Burgh  alone  to  support  the  view  that  the  parochial 
system  was  not  fully  established  in  Cumberland  at  the  period  when 
charter  evidence  furnishes  us  with  guidance.  If  we  look  from  the 
north  to  the  south  angle  of  the  county  as  it  now  is,  we  shall  find  that 
a  church  was  founded  there  and  a  parish  formed  so  late  as  the 
pontificate  of  Henry  Murdac,  archbishop  of  York,  that  is,  between 
1 147  and  1153.  Copsi,  the  first  lord  of  Corney  on  record,  founded 
a  church  in  his  manor  and  gave  it  with  its  appurtenances  at  the  date 
named  to  the  priory  of  St.  Bees,  to  which  house  it  was  confirmed  by 
Roger,  his  son,  and  by  other  members  of  his  family  at  a  later  date.2 
It  was  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  wildness  and  isolation  of  the  place  that 
provision  had  not  been  already  made,  for  the  parish  is  situated  on  the 
side  of  a  ridge  of  fells  which  forms  the  eastern  boundary  of  that  portion 
of  the  county  and  terminates  in  Black  Comb.  Of  the  ancient  parish 
churches,  that  is,  of  those  founded  before  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century, 
Corney  occupies  the  singular  position  that  it  is  the  only  church  in  Cum- 
berland whose  founder's  name  is  at  present  known. 

Church  extension  throughout  the  county  can  be  more  easily  under- 
stood by  reference  to  its  progress  in  the  royal  forest,  which  had  not  been 
split  up  into  parishes  till  a  late  date.  This  is  what  might  be  expected, 
for  in  many  places  the  need  could  not  have  been  pressing  :  with  the 
exception  of  the  officers  of  the  forest,  the  population  within  its  bounds 
must  have  been  very  small.  Penrith,  on  the  southern  limit,  had  its 
church  at  an  early  period,  no  doubt  of  royal  foundation,  as  the  King 
transferred  it  to  the  bishop  when  he  created  the  diocese  in  1 133."  As 
all  the  churches  within  the  forest  were  in  the  gift  of  the  Crown  in  the 
first  instance,  we  may  take  it  that  the  King  was  in  no  way  behind  his 
subjects  in  making  spiritual  provision  for  his  tenants  in  proportion  to  the 
property  held  in  his  own  hand.  All  the  unenclosed  land  in  the  forest 
was  extra-parochial.  When  assarts  were  made  and  became  inhabited, 
the  tithes  accruing  from  the  cultivated  land  were  the  right  of  the  Crown. 
Upon  this  point  a  notable  case  was  heard  in  1290  in  a  dispute  about  the 
tithes  arising  in  certain  enclosed  lands  called  Linthwaite  and  Curthwaite. 
The  King's  attorney  claimed  them  because  these  places  were  within  the 
bounds  of  the  forest,  where  the  King  alone  could  enclose  lands,  build 

»  Harleian  MSS.  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram),  3911,  f.  a8b,  3891,  f.  32b. 

3  Reg.  of  St.  Bees  MS.  (Harl.  MS.  434),  ii.  3.  In  the  same  Register  are  preserved  the  confirmation 
charters  of  Roger  son  of  Copsi,  Orm  son  of  Roger,  Benedict  de  Pennington,  and  Christina  de  Coupland 
and  Waldeve  her  husband  (Ibid.  ii.  2).  Christina  de  Coupland  was  probably  the  daughter  of  Copsi 
(Pipe  Roll  [Cumberland],  31  Hen.  II.). 

3  Close,  3  Hen.  III.  m.  lid ;  Pat.,  3  Hen.  III.  m.  5d  ;  Prynne,  Chronological  Vindication,  ed.  1665, 
ii.  376. 

16 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

houses,  found  churches,1  and  assign  the  tithes  to  whom  he  pleased.  The 
prior  of  Carlisle  based  his  claims  on  former  royal  grants  ;  the  parson  of 
Thursby  asserted  that  the  enclosures  were  within  his  parish  ;  the  Bishop 
of  Carlisle  put  forward  the  singular  plea  that  they  were  in  the  parish  of 
Aspatria,  the  advowson  of  which  belonged  to  him.2  After  much  litiga- 
tion the  tithes  were  awarded  to  the  King,  who  afterwards  granted  them 
to  the  prior.3  The  church  of  Carlisle  had  many  chartered  privileges  *  in 
the  forest  of  Inglewood,  and  the  burden  of  providing  spiritual  ministra- 
tions eventually  devolved  upon  the  prior  and  convent. 

The  practice  of  founding  chapelries  or  district  churches  arose 
gradually  as  the  need  began  to  be  felt  in  large  parishes.  It  was  usual 
for  the  owner  of  property  at  some  distance  from  the  parish  church  to 
obtain  the  bishop's  licence  to  have  an  oratory  in  his  house  or  to  build 
a  chapel  on  his  estate,  due  regard  being  had  to  the  rights  of  the  mother 
church.  The  method  of  founding  a  chapel  of  ease  differed  but  slightly 
from  that  of  the  parish  church,  except  in  the  ecclesiastical  status  of  the 
establishment.  As  far  back  as  records  carry  us  in  Cumberland,  the 
custom  of  erecting  chapels  was  contemporaneous  with  the  founding  of 
parish  churches.  One  of  the  earliest  and  most  interesting  of  these 
foundations  is  the  chapelry  of  Treverman  in  the  parish  of  Walton, 
founded  by  Gilmor,  son  of  Gilander,  during  the  episcopate  of  '  Edelwan,' 
the  first  bishop  of  Carlisle,  1133—56.  As  lord  of  Treverman  and 
Torcrossoc  he  caused  a  chapel  to  be  constructed  of  wattlework  (de  virgis) 
at  the  former  place  and  appointed  his  kinsman  Gillemor  to  the  chaplaincy, 
at  the  same  time  assigning  him  a  certain  parcel  of  land,  afterwards  called 
Kirkland,  for  his  sustenance.  It  is  particularly  noted  that  the  inhabi- 
tants had  the  benefit  of  all  divine  offices  of  religion,  with  the  exception 
of  baptism  and  burial,  before  the  parish  church  on  which  it  was 
dependent  had  been  appropriated  to  the  priory  of  Lanercost.8  In 
later  instances  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  were  more  particular  in 

1  In  the  lordship  of  Penrith,  which  belonged  to  the  Crown,  a  chaplain  was  maintained  out  of 
the  revenues  issuing  from  that  place.  Richard  III.  directed  a  warrant  to  his  receiver  '  of  the  lordship  of 
Penryth  in  Cumberland  that  now  is  or  for  the  tyme  shalbe  to  content  and  paye  yerely  unto  the  same  Sr 
William  (Bellendre,  priest)  the  sum  of  fourty  shillinges  to  thentent  that  the  same  Sr  William  shall  syng 
masse  in  the  chapell  of  or  lady  of  grace  at  Amotbrigge.  Yeven  etc.  at  Notingham  the  xxth  day  of  Marche 
a°  primo  '  (Harleian  MS.  433,  f.  i66b) 

3  Rot.  Parl.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  37,  38,  48  ;  ii.  44-5  ;  Ryley,  Placita  Parliamentaria,  ed.  1661, 
pp.  49-51.  A  compressed  account  of  this  suit  was  cited  by  Sir  Edw.  Coke  in  support  of  his  explanation 
of  the  word  '  assert '  or  '  assart '  (4  Institutes,  ed.  1648,  p.  307). 

3  Pat.  22  Edw.  I.  m.  27. 

4  These  privileges  originated  with  the  following  charter  of  Henry  I. :  '  Henricus,  Rex  Angliz, 
justiciariis,  vice-comitibus,  baronibus,  forestariis  et  ministris   suis  et  fidelibus  de   Cumberlanda, 
salutem.     Precipimus   quod  Canonici  sanctz  Mariae   de   Karlfeolo]   bene   et  in  pace  et   quiete 
habeant  et  teneant  diuisas  suas  de  foresta  sicut  eis  dedi   et   concessi   in  elemosinam   et  sicut  eis 
perambulari  et  demonstrari  precepi  et  omnia  aisiamenta  sua  in  bosco  et  pascuis  et  omnibus  rebus 
sicut  in  suo  dominio.     Et  nullus  eos  vel  homines  siue  res  eorum  inquietet  super  hoc  super  foris- 
facturam  meam,  set  omnes  res  eorum   in   pace   sint   sicut  elemosina   mea.     T[este]   Nig[elo]   de 
Albpniaco]  apud  Waltham  '  (Chart.  R.  6  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  No.  30,  by  insfeximus).     This   charter, 
together  with   the   grant  of   the  lands  of  Walter  the  priest,   was   recited     and    confirmed    by 
Henry  II. 

6  Reg.  of  Lanercost  MS.    ff.  260-1.     The  internal  evidence  of  this  deed  is    conclusive   that  the 
bishop  referred  to  by  the  jurors  was  Adelulf  of  Carlisle,  and  not  ^Ethelwin  of  Durham  (1056-1071). 
ii  17  3 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

defining  the  relationship  of  the  district  chapel  to  the  parish  church. 
When  Patric,  son  of  Thomas  de  Workingto^n,  founded  the  chapel  of 
Thornthwaite  about  the  year  1240,  the  abbot  aVnd  convent  of  Fountains, 
rectors  of  the  parish  of  Crosthwaite,  in  which  tlrve  new  chapel  was  built, 
made  a  stipulation  that  all  the  chaplains  should  g*rive  obedience  to  the 
mother  church  and  relinquish  all  claim  to  tithes,  gre/it  and  small,  and  to 
all  oblations  and  obventions,  due  and  accustomed.1  Tvhough  the  rights 
of  the  parish  church  were  always  jealously  safeguarded,  ii*  did  not  prevent 
the  occurrence  of  parochial  troubles.  When  Thomas,  rector  of  Dean, 
induced  the  inhabitants  of  Clifton  to  bury  their  dead  in  h;  is  churchyard, 
the  rector  of  Workington,  in  whose  parish  the  chapelry  was  situated, 
appealed  in  1219  and  forced  the  rector  of  Dean  to  disi  continue  the 
practice.2  J 

In  course  of  time  chapels  attained  to  a  position  of  independence, 
but  it  was  frequently  a  long  process.  For  various  causes,  a^  the  need 
was  felt,  parochial  rights  were  granted  by  the  ecclesiastical  authorities. 
The  right  of  burial  in  the  chapel  yard  was  a  crucial  stage  in  the'  develop- 
ment, and  the  concession  was  considered  of  such  high  moment  tfriat  every 
precaution  was  taken  to  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  mother  Vchurch. 
The  chaplain  on  his  appointment  was  obliged  to  swear  subjectionV  to  the 
rector,  by  whose  will  he  was  always  removable  ;  the  inhabitants  emtered 
into  an  agreement  to  continue  their  contribution  to  the  repairs  oSf  the 
mother  church  as  well  as  to  keep  the  chapel  and  all  its  belongingrs  at 
their  own  charges.  In  all  cases  the  consecration  of  the  chapel  yard  «was 
a  necessary  feature  of  the  transaction  ;  in  some  cases  the  dedication  i  of 
the  chapel  is  mentioned.  In  1534  the  right  of  burial  was  granted  ito 
the  chapel  of  Ennerdale  by  reason  of  its  distance  from  St.  Bees  and  tine 
great  inconvenience  occasioned  at  funerals  by  the  badness  of  the  roads.3 
About  the  same  time  a  similar  privilege  had  been  given  to  the  chapel 
of  Loweswater  on  the  petition  of  Henry,  earl  of  Northumberland,  the 
good  friend  of  the  church  in  that  neighbourhood.  In  a  deed  of  extra- 
ordinary length  4  the  relative  position  of  chapel  and  mother  church  w/as 
set  out  with  a  minuteness  which  showed  what  a  firm  grip  the  moniks 
kept  over  their  subordinate  churches.  It  was  given  with  its  endowment 
of  two  oxgangs  of  land  to  St.  Bees  by  Randulf  de  Lindesay  and  Hectreda 
his  wife  soon  after  the  foundation  of  the  priory.5  Many  of  the  indepen- 
dent cures  in  Cumberland  have  attained  their  present  position  by  this 
process  of  development  from  district  chapels. 

»  Reg.  of  Fountains  (Cotton  MS.  Tiberius,  C.  xij),  ff.  97-8.  Patric  son  of  Thomas  had  a  grant  of 
'  Tornthayt  in  Derwentfelles '  from  Alice  de  Rumelli,  daughter  of  William  fitz  Duncan,  in  the  early 
part  of  the  thirteenth  century,  which  place  he  undertook  to  assart  and  cultivate.  It  is  noteworthy  that 
as  soon  as  the  estate  became  inhabited,  the  owner  set  about  at  once  to  provide  a  chapel  for  his  tenants, 
A  late  copy  of  the  deed,  by  which  Patric  was  enfeoffed,  remains  with  his  descendant  at  Workington  Hall. 

"  Reg.  of  St.  Bees  (Harl.  MS.  434),  ii.  15.  In  the  Register  of  Glasgow  there  are  several  documents 
illustrating  the  origin  and  privileges  of  parish  churches,  and  the  jealousy  with  which  their  incumbents 
watched  the  tendency  of  chapels  to  interfere  with  the  offerings  and  dues  of  the  mother  church  which 
were  only  of  inferior  importance  to  its  tithes  (Reg.  Epis.  Glasguensis  (Bannatyne  Club),  i.  pp.  xxiii. 
41,  48,  61,  et  passim). 

3  Reg.  of  St.  Bees  MS.  viii.  13.  4  Ibid.  ix.  6.  B  Ibid.  i.  12,  29. 

18 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

The  prolonged  vacancy  of  the  see,  extending  over  nearly  fifty 
years  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Adelulf  in  1 156,  was  so  unprecedented 
that  writers  of  distinction  were  driven  to  hazard  various  guesses  to 
account  for  it.  The  tradition  among  the  antiquaries  of  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries  that  a  certain  Bernard,  indiscriminately  styled 
Archbishop  of  Ragusa  and  Archbishop  of  Sclavonia,  immediately  suc- 
ceeded Bishop  Adelulf,  was  transmitted  to  our  own  day  and  accepted 
without  hesitation  till  recent  years.  In  fact,  two  Bernards  in  succession 
were  often  conjured  from  the  shades  to  supply  the  missing  links  and 
preserve  the  continuity  in  the  roll  of  bishops.  But  the  witness  of  the 
chronicles  alone,  without  the  aid  of  charter  evidence,  is  conclusive  that 
no  bishop  had  accepted  the  see  of  Carlisle  during  the  reigns  of  Henry  II. 
and  Richard  I.,  though  the  former  king,  notwithstanding  his  well-known 
habit  of  keeping  the  ecclesiastical  revenues  of  vacant  dignities  in  his  own 
hand,  made  a  genuine  attempt  to  remedy  the  scandal  in  Carlisle.  So 
great  was  the  injustice  to  the  diocese  that  Gervase  of  Tilbury,  a  chronicler 
who  wrote  at  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Richard  I.,  while  describing  the 
condition  of  the  northern  province,  stated  that  the  archbishop  of  York 
had  only  two  suffragan  sees,  Durham,  which  enjoyed  so  many  privileges 
from  the  Roman  church,  and  Carlisle,  which  by  reason  of  its  prolonged 
vacancy  was  relegated  to  oblivion  more  than  to  subjection.1  When 
Robert  de  Torigni  was  accounting  for  the  absence  of  some  of  the  bishops 
from  Prince  Henry's  coronation  in  1170,  he  mentioned  this  fact  among 
others  that  Adelulf,  bishop  of  Carlisle,  was  dead  and  that  his  cathedra 
up  to  that  date  had  remained  without  an  occupant.2  In  1 186  the  king, 
being  in  Normandy,  dismissed  Hugh,  bishop  of  Durham,  from  his  attend- 
ance on  the  court,  and  sent  him  back  to  his  diocese  to  celebrate  the 
Easter  festival,  as  there  was  no  bishop  in  the  northern  province  at  the 
time,  York  with  many  other  bishoprics  in  England  being  vacant,  one  of 
which  was  Carlisle,  which  had  been  without  a  bishop  for  almost  thirty 
years.3 

There  can  be  no  question  about  the  sincerity  of  Henry's  intention 
in  1 1 86  to  fill  the  vacancy  by  the  appointment  of  a  bishop.  Many 
things  occurring  at  that  time  contributed  to  bring  about  this  desirable 
work.  Christian,  bishop  of  Whithern,  who  had  been  acting  as  suffragan 
to  the  archbishop  in  his  administration  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  had 
died  at  Holmcultram  in  that  year.4  The  King  reached  Carlisle  about 
the  same  time  on  his  expedition  to  punish  Roland,  lord  of  Galloway. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  that  Archdeacon  Robert,  the  local  head  of 

1  The  words  of  Gervase,  in  his  Otia  Imperialist,  are  important  in  this  connexion — '  Eboracensis 
Archiepiscopus  hos  duos  tantum  habet  suffraganeos  :  Durhamensem,  qui  tot  gaudet  privilegiis  Romanse 
ecclesis,  quod  jam  in  plenam  se  recepit  libertatem  :  et  Carleolensem,  qui  saepissime  'tanto  tempore 
vacat,  quod  oblivioni  potius  datur  quam  subjection! '  (Leibnitz,  Scriptores  Rerum  Brunsvicensium  (Han- 
over, 1707),  i.  917). 

*  Chron.  of  Stephen,  Henry  II.  and  Richard  I.  (Rolls  Series),  iv.  245. 

»  Benedict  Abbas,  Gesta  Hen.  II.  et  Ric.  I.  (Rolls  Series),  i.  344. 

<  Chron.  de  Mailros  (Bannatyne  Club),  95  ;  Pipe  Rolls  (Cumberland),  5  and  6  Hen.  II.  ;  Reg.  of 
Lanercost,  MS.  i.  i. 

19 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  diocese  during  the  vacancy,  had  died  also  in  1186,  or  had  become 
so  hopelessly  crippled  with  debt  that  he  was  obliged  to  resign  his  charge. 
The  occasion  was  opportune,  as  the  King  was  in  Carlisle,  and  as  the 
need  was  urgent  the  canons  of  St.  Mary's  petitioned  him  for  licence  to 
elect  a  bishop.  The  choice  of  the  chapter  fell  upon  Paulinus  de  Ledes, 
master  of  the  hospital  of  St.  Leonard's,  York,  who  was  known  as  an 
honest,  prudent  and  accomplished  man.  The  election  was  very  popu- 
lar in  the  city  and  diocese,  and  great  rejoicing  was  manifested  every- 
where, for  the  see  had  been  so  long  bereft  of  the  consolation  of  a  chief 
pastor,  the  vacancy  having  continued  since  the  death  of  Adelulf,  the  first 
bishop,  in  1156.  But  unfortunately  Paulinus  was  not  willing  to  accept 
the  nomination,  though  the  King  urged  him  to  it  by  the  offer  of  an 
annual  rent  charge  of  three  hundred  marks  issuing  from  the  churches  of 
Bamborough  and  Scarborough,  from  the  chapel  of  Tickell,  and  from 
two  of  the  royal  manors  near  Carlisle.1 

It  may  be  taken  that  King  Henry  did  not  despair  of  ultimately 
filling  the  vacancy,  in  spite  of  the  abortive  attempt  in  1 186,  for  a  revei«- 
sion  to  the  old  condition  of  ecclesiastical  government  by  means  of  an 
archdeacon  was  not  permitted  for  at  least  two  years.  The  custody  of 
the  bishopric  was  kept  in  his  own  hand,  and  no  archdeacon  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  office  vacated  by  Robert  during  that  period.  On  no 
other  supposition  can  be  explained  the  singular  entry  in  the  Pipe  Roll 
of  1 1 88  when  the  sheriff  accounted  to  the  Exchequer  for  the  issues  of 
the  archdeaconry  as  well  as  the  bishopric  for  the  two  years  in  question. 
The  sheriffs  return  gives  a  welcome  insight  into  the  episcopal  revenues 
at  this  early  period.  The  sources  of  receipts  from  '  the  bishopric  of 
Carlisle  for  two  years'  are  set  out  as  the  fees  of  two  synods  in  the  dio- 
cese and  archdeaconry,  oblations  at  Whitsuntide,  issues  of  the  churches 
of  Carleton,  Melburn,  Dalston  and  the  school  of  Carlisle,  besides  the 
pleas  and  perquisites  of  the  diocesan  court.  It  will  be  seen  that  at  this 
date  the  bishopric,  as  distinct  from  the  priory,  was  not  endowed  with 
any  real  property,  the  total  revenue,  which  amounted  in  two  years  to 
£52  IO..T.  6d.  being  exclusively  of  spiritual  obligation.  While  the  cus- 
tody remained  with  the  King,  the  whole  of  the  issues,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  balance  of  50.;.,  was  spent  on  building  operations,  then  in  pro- 
gress at  the  great  altar  and  pavement  in  the  cathedral  church  and  the 
dormitory  of  the  canons.  The  only  expenses  of  a  purely  episcopal  or 
archidiaconal  nature  amounted  to  the  small  sum  of  14.?.,  which  was  the 
cost  of  holy  oil  for  the  Easter  sacrament  and  its  carriage  from  London, 
the  archbishopric  of  York  being  then  vacant.  The  King's  attempt  to 
fill  the  bishopric  having  failed,  the  old  system  of  administration  through 
an  archdeacon  was  revived  in  1 188-9,  when  Peter  de  Ros  was  appointed 


'  Benedict  Abbas  (Rolls  Series),  i.  349,  360  ;  Hoveden  (Rolls  Series),  ii.  309  ;  Walter  of  Coventry 
(Rolls  Series),  i.  340.  Paulinus  de  Ledes  was  afterwards  mixed  up  in  an  interesting  plea  about  the 
advowson  of  the  church  of  Clifton  between  Richard  de  Marisco  and  the  Canons  of  Wartre  in  1199  (Rot. 
Curiae  Regis  [Rec.  Com.],  ii.  32-3). 


20 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

to  the  archdeaconry  and  also  to  the  custody  of  the  See.1  For  this  reason, 
there  is  little  doubt,  the  sheriff  ceased  to  account  for  the  revenues.  It 
is  probable  that  the  archdeacon  was  appointed  shortly  before  or  soon 
after  the  death  of  Henry  II.  on  6  July  1189,  when  the  project  of  an 
immediate  filling  of  the  vacancy  was  abandoned. 

The  fateful  journey  of  King  Richard  from  the  Holy  Land  in  1 192 
seems  to  have  been  the  indirect  cause  of  bringing  the  long  vacancy  in 
the  diocese  to  a  close.  Touching  at  Ragusa 2  on  the  shores  of  the 
Adriatic,  the  King  made  the  acquaintance  of  Bernard,  the  archbishop 
of  that  district,  who  perhaps  befriended  him  in  his  sorry  plight.  Bernard 
came  to  England  with  King  Richard,3  or  if  he  did  not  actually  attend  him 
on  his  homeward  journey,  it  is  known  that  he  was  in  England  a  few 
years  after  the  King's  return.  Bernard,  archbishop  of  Ragusa,  was 
present  at  the  coronation  of  King  John  in  1199,  and  witnessed  the 
homage  of  the  King  of  Scots  at  Lincoln  in  the  same  year.4  For  some 
time  after  this  date  he  was  in  constant  attendance  at  the  English  court, 
with  the  probable  intention  of  obtaining  preferment  in  England.  Mean- 
while, Pope  Innocent  was  unable  to  account  for  the  truancy  of  the  arch- 
bishop, who,  with  characteristic  temerity,  had  forsaken  the  church  of 
Ragusa.  In  1202  he  directed  a  bull  to  the  chapter  of  that  place,  in- 
forming them,  as  their  pastor  had  been  absent  for  more  than  four  years 
and  had  not  returned  to  his  cure  notwithstanding  frequent  expostulation, 
that  they  should  proceed  to  elect  a  successor  within  one  month  from 
the  date  of  receiving  his  licence.8  The  position  of  Archbishop  Bernard 
was  critical,  as  his  tenure  of  the  church  of  Ragusa  had  determined  and 
no  charge  had  been  found  him  in  his  adopted  country.  The  bishopric 
of  Carlisle  was  still  vacant,  and  though  it  possessed  few  attractions,  even 
for  a  needy  archbishop,  Bernard  was  induced  at  last  to  accept  it. 

The  archbishop  of  York  did  not  relish  the  prospect  of  importing 
another  archbishop  into  his  province,  as  if  two  suns  could  not  be  ex- 
pected to  shine  in  the  same  firmament.  The  pope,  however,  disarmed 
the  prejudice  of  Archbishop  Geoffrey  by  the  undertaking  that  Bernard 
should  lay  aside  his  archiepiscopal  dignity,  exercise  the  episcopal  office 
in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  without  the  use  of  the  pall,  and  pay  due 

1  Errors  about  Robert's  tenure  of  the  archdeaconry  have  arisen  from  a  misunderstanding  of 
the  ways  of  the  Exchequer.  The  archdeacon  was  a  debtor  to  the  estate  of  Aaron  the  Jew  of 
Lincoln,  who  died  before  1189  (Mag.  Rot.  Pip.  I  Ric.  /.  [Rec.  Com.],  219,  226).  These  debts 
appear  in  the  sheriff's  accounts  of  Cumberland  from  1191  to  1195,  the  Jew's  estate  being  in  the 
King's  hand.  From  the  continued  mention  of  Robert's  indebtedness,  it  has  been  concluded 
that  he  remained  archdeacon  of  Carlisle.  Peter  de  Ros  was  archdeacon  in  January,  1190  (Reg. 
of  Holmcultram  MS.  f.  51),  and  held  that  office  till  his  death  in  1196  (Hoveden,  Chron.  [Rolls 
Series],  iv.  14). 

>  Hoveden,  Chron.  (Rolls  Series),  iii.  185-6. 

"  Annales  Monastics  (Rolls  Series),  iii.  450. 

4  Hoveden,  Chron.  iv.  89,  141. 

«  Migne,  Patrologiae,  ccxiv.  970-1.  By  all  accounts  Bernard  was  very  unpopular  in  his  diocese  of 
Ragusa,  and  Innocent  III.  was  glad  to  get  rid  of  him.  He  told  the  archbishop  of  York,  when  he  was 
begging  the  see  of  Carlisle  for  him,  that  Bernard  had  been  unable  to  live  safely  at  Ragusa,  and  if  he  re- 
turned again,  '  mortis  sibi  periculum  imminebat '  (ibid.  ccxv.  58-9).  William  of  Tyre,  who  brought 
up  his  Historia  Rerum  to  1184,  has  drawn  a  woeful  picture  of  the  inhabitants  of  Ragusa  at  this  period — 
'  populo  ferocissimo,  rapinis,  et  caedibus  assueto  inhabitata  '  (ibid.  cci.  266-7). 

21 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

reverence  and  obedience  to  his  metropolitan.1  On  10  January 
1203—4  King  John  intimated  to  the  archbishop  of  York  that  he  had 
confirmed  the  arrangement,  and  at  the  same  time  he  had  directed  his 
letters  to  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  to  receive  Bernard  and 
obey  him  as  their  bishop.2  Thus  closed  one  of  the  strangest  chapters 
in  the  history  of  the  northern  church,  for  from  this  date  the  irregularity 
in  the  episcopal  succession  may  be  said  to  have  ceased.  Perhaps  there 
is  no  diocese  in  England  which  presents  so  many  curious  features  of 
ecclesiastical  vicissitude.  If  we  consider  the  political  difficulties  which 
confronted  the  first  bishop,  the  lengthy  vacancy  which  followed  his 
death  owing  to  the  poverty  of  the  see,  the  attempts  which  were  made 
to  remedy  the  deficiency,  the  personality  of  the  second  bishop  as  primate 
of  a  foreign  province  whose  allegiance  to  the  papal  chair  was  so  slender 
that  he  forsook  his  charge  without  permission,  we  can  in  some  measure 
estimate  the  early  struggles  of  our  ancestors  in  building  up  the  church 
in  this  portion  of  the  kingdom,  and  the  sacrifices  they  were  called  on 
to  make  before  such  a  glorious  heritage  could  be  handed  on  to  their 
children. 

Soon  after  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Bernard  it  was  found  possible 
to  put  the  tenure  of  the  diocese  on  such  a  financial  basis  that  a  return 
to  the  old  state  of  things  which  existed  before  his  arrival  was  not  likely 
to  occur.  The  time  had  come  for  a  partition  of  the  property  of  the 
church  of  Carlisle  between  the  priory  and  the  bishopric.  During  the 

i  This  letter  of  Innocent  III.  to  the  archbishop  of  York  is  interesting.  In  the  first  place  the  pope 
expressed  the  fear  that  Bernard's  poverty  would  bring  the  ministerial  office  into  disrepute.  He  acknow- 
ledged also  the  source  from  which  the  grant  of  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle  was  derived,  for  it  was  conferred 
on  Bernard,  not  by  the  pope  himself,  but '  de  munificentia  et  liberalitate  clarissimi  in  Christo  filii  nostri, 
Johannis  regis  Anglorum  illustris,'  for  his  maintenance.  It  is  important,  too,  in  explaining  Bernard's 
future  position  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  that  is,  the  tenure  of  a  suffragan  see  by  an  archbishop.  Ber- 
nard's ecclesiastical  status  in  relation  to  his  metropolitan  is  thus  set  out — '  Nos  enim  ei  de  sedis  aposto- 
licae  benignitate  concessimus,  ut  in  ipso  episcopatu,  absque  usu  pallii,  officium  episcopale  valeat  exercere, 
tibi  tanquam  metropolitano  reverentiam  et  obedientiam  impensurus '  (Migne,  Patrologiae,  ccxv. 
58-9).  Bishop  Stubbs  must  have  overlooked  this  letter,  as  he  does  not  acknowledge  him  to  have  been 
one  of  the  bishops  in  regular  succession.  In  one  place  he  says  that  the  see  had  not  been  '  filled  up  until 
1219,  although  administered  for  a  time  by  Bernard,  ex-archbishop  of  Ragusa'  (Benedict  Abbas,  i.  344) : 
in  other  places  he  calls  him  'the  administrator  of  Carlisle'  (Registrum  Sacrum,  p.  51,  new  edition; 
Hoveden,  iv.  89).  It  is  evident  that  Stubbs  had  been  misled  by  the  phraseology  of  some  writs  of 
Henry  III.  For  instance,  on  the  restitution  of  the  temporalities  to  Bishop  Hugh  in  1218,  the  sheriff 
is  commanded  to  give  such  seisin  as  '  Bernardus,  Archiepiscopus  Sclavonic,  quondam  custos  ejusdem 
Episcopatus  inde  habuit  cum  custodiam  inde  recepisset  per  dominum  Johannem  Regem  patrem  nos- 
trum '  (Rot.  Liu.  Claus.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  369).  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  Bernard  was  as  much  bishop 
of  Carlisle  as  any  of  his  successors. 

2  Rot.  Litt.  Pat.  (Rec.  Com.),  pp.  3/b,  38  ;  Rymer,  Fcedera,  new  edition,  i.  90  ;  Migne,  Patrologiae, 
ccxvij.  no-Il  ;  Prynne,  Chronological  Vindication,  ii.  241.  But  Bernard  must  have  had  the  offer 
of  Carlisle  some  years  before  10  January  1203-4,  ^e  date  of  his  nomination  and  acceptance,  for  King 
John  granted  the  see  to  the  archbishop  of  Sclavonia  in  1200  till  he  could  provide  him  with  a  better  bene- 
fice (Rot.  Chart.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  96b).  Bernard  was  evidently  holding  out  in  hope  of  more  important 
preferment,  for  in  1202  the  diocese  was  still  vacant  (Rot.  Litt.  Pat.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  7),  and  in  1203  Alex- 
ander de  Lucy  had  the  archdeaconry  and  custody  of  the  bishopric  (ibid.  i.  306,  35b).  King  John  en- 
deavoured to  supplement  the  slender  income  of  the  northern  diocese.  In  1206-7,  he  granted  to '  Bernard, 
bishop  of  Carlisle,'  an  annual  pension  of  twenty  marks  for  life  (Rot.  Litt.  Claus.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  67b  ;  Rot. 
Litt.  Pat.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  76).  As  the  bishopric  was  again  vacant  in  1214  (ibid.  i.  118,  1380,  142,  I42b), 
Bernard  ruled  the  diocese  from  1204  to  1214.  Fordun  states  that  in  1212  he  was  '  aetatis  decrepitae, 
et  infirmitatis  continuae,  sicque  mortem  in  januis  ei  cerneret  imminere,'  and  that  he  afterwards  died  as 
bishop  of  Carlisle — '  episcopo  Karliolis  mortuo  '  (Scotichronicon,  ed.  Goodall,  ii.  12-13). 

22 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

long  period  while  the  diocese  was  without  a  bishop  the  endowments 
were  at  the  sole  arbitrament  of  the  prior  and  convent,  and  the  canons 
came  to  regard  them  as  belonging  exclusively  to  the  priory.  In  due 
course  they  were  disillusioned.  While  the  nation  was  torn  asunder  by 
the  indefensible  conduct  of  King  John,  political  feeling  in  Cumberland 
was  on  the  side  of  the  barons,  who  invited  the  Scottish  king  to  espouse 
their  cause,  and  offered  to  deliver  up  the  city  of  Carlisle  and  the  castles 
of  the  county  to  him.1  When  Alexander  seized  the  county  the  bishopric 
was  vacant  by  the  death  of  Bishop  Bernard.  The  canons  not  only  re- 
ceived the  King  to  communion,  though  he  was  in  a  state  of  excommuni- 
cation, but  also  committed  the  dark  deed  of  electing  a  Scotsman  to  the 
vacant  bishopric  at  Alexander's  suggestion/  The  act  of  treason  brought 
a  doom  on  the  priory.  On  complaint  of  King  John  and  the  bishops  to 
Rome,  the  papal  legate  in  England  was  instructed  to  take  extreme 
measures  for  the  punishment  of  the  offenders.  The  canons  were  forth- 
with expelled  from  Carlisle  in  1218  and  placed  in  other  regular  churches  ; 
their  election  of  a  bishop  was  declared  void  ;  and  other  canons,  faithful 
to  the  English  king,  were  appointed  in  their  room.3 

It  is  evident  that  the  treason  of  these  unfortunate  churchmen  was 
made  the  occasion  of  effecting  a  radical  change  in  the  relation  of  the 
bishop  of  Carlisle  to  his  chapter.  The  time  was  opportune,  as  the  see 
was  vacant.  Not  only  were  the  offending  canons  to  be  sent  into  exile, 
but  the  possessions  and  rents  of  their  church  were  to  be  distributed 
between  the  bishop  and  the  new  canons,  the  complainants  having  urged 
that  such  measures  would  tend  to  tranquillity,  as  the  priory,  being  near 
the  Border,  exercised  much  influence  either  for  or  against  the  King  and 
realm.  The  papal  mandate  came  into  force  soon  after  the  consecration 
of  Bishop  Hugh  de  Beaulieu,  which  took  place  in  February  1218-9. 
From  this  time  onward  through  the  episcopates  of  Hugh,  Walter  and 
Silvester  de  Everdon,  a  sordid  controversy  raged  between  those  bishops 
and  the  canons  on  the  division  of  the  property  of  the  church.  Two 
legates  in  succession,  Gualo  and  Pandulf,  were  arbitrators  between  the 
parties,  with  the  assistance  of  local  commissioners  to  arrange  the  details. 
The  burden  of  the  partition  fell  chiefly  on  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram 
and  the  prior  of  Hexham,  but  various  officials,  lay  and  clerical,  from 
the  sheriff  of  the  county  to  the  rural  deans,  were  employed  from  time 
to  time  to  bring  about  an  amicable  arrangement.4  It  is  unfortunate  that 

1  Ayloffe,  Calendar  of  Ancient  Charters  and  Scottish  Rolls,  pp.  327-8  ;  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland 
Club),  pp.  17-18,  25. 

3  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  27. 

a  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  48,  57,  68,  81.  The  King's  complaint  to  the  pope  will  be  found  on  Pat. 
I  Hen.  III.  m.  3d.  The  pope's  mandate  for  the  expulsion  of  the  canons  has  been  printed  by  Rymer 
(Fotdera  [new  edition],  i.  147). 

*  Honorius  III.,  in  May  1223,  confirmed  to  Bishop  Hugh  and  his  successors,  'in  accordance  with 
letters  of  Popes  Innocent  and  Adrian,  the  bishopric  and  parish  of  Carlisle,  as  defined  by  Turstin,  archbishop 
of  York,  at  the  request  of  the  chapter,  with  the  consent  of  King  Henry;  namely  the  episcopal  see  in  St. 
Mary's  church,  Carlisle,  called  of  old  '  Lugubalia,'  in  which  are  to  be  observed  all  the  customs  of  other 
bishoprics  in  England  ;  the  prebend  of  St.  Peter's,  York,  granted  by  Turstin  ;  the  church  of  Meleburn  ; 
the  land  of  Barou-on-Trent ;  5.1.  daily  by  gift  of  the  said  King  ;  and  all  other  lands,  houses,  and  goods 
granted  or  that  shall  be  granted  by  kings  of  .England  or  others  ;  also  the  ordinance  of  possessions  and 

23 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  first  award  made  by  Gualo  has  not  been  found,  though  fairly  accurate 

schedules  could  be  compiled  from  the  evidences  of  later  history.     The 

second  distribution  made  by  Pandulf  the  legate  while  Hugh  was  bishop 

and  Bartholomew  was  prior,  and  the  final  agreement   between    Bishop 

Silvester  and  Prior  Ralf,  are  happily  on  record  by  inspeximus  in  a  Charter 

Roll  of  1 290.*     The  unpleasantness  of  this  thankless  duty  fell  chiefly  to 

the  lot  of  Bishop  Hugh.     For  this  reason  we  can  well  understand  the 

acrimonious  language  used  by  the  author  of  the  'Chronicle  of  Lanercost' 

in  reference  to  this  bishop,  for  that  anonymous  scribe  took  the  side  of 

.  the  canons  throughout  the  dispute,  alleging  that  they  were  coerced  by 

fear  diO death  into  celebrating  divine  offices  with  the  King  of  Scotland. 

When  Bikhop  Hugh  met  with  a  fatal  accident  at  the  abbey  of  Ferte  in 

Burgundy  on  , his  return  from  the  Roman  court  in  1223,  the  chronicler 

saw  in  his  deatH  ..the  just  judgment  of  God  for  the  expulsion  of  the 

canons  and  the  fraudulent  jdi.vision  of  their  property.* 

The  name  of  Walter  Mauc:lerk  will  rank  among  the  foremost  of  the 
early  bishops  of  Carlisle  who  have^(  contributed  by  their  exertions  and 
influence  to  the  endowment  of  the  biLhopric.  As  a  young  man  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  king's  clerks  in  the  -reign  of  John,8  and  was  often 
employed  on  the  King's  business  in  that  andVJie  succeeding  reign.  His 
connexion  with  Cumberland  commenced  before  his  consecration  as 
bishop  of  Carlisle.  He  had  been  constable  of  Carlisle  castle  and  sheriff 
of  Cumberland  in  1222,  and  was  engaged  in  that  year  vOn  the  special 
business  of  the  King  in  the  district.4  It  is  probable  that  h^  was  a  canon 
of  Carlisle  as  well  as  a  canon  of  Southwell  when  he  was  elected  to  the 
see  in  1223,  for  the  King  intimated  to  the  archbishop  of  Yoirk  that  he 
had  not  assented  to  the  election,  and  until  that  assent  was  &iven  the 
archbishop  was  forbidden  to  confirm  the  choice  of  the  canons.8  During 
his  episcopate  the  division  of  the  property  between  the  bishopric  and 
the  priory  had  advanced  almost  to  completion.  In  1244  Bishop  Walter 
made  an  important  concession*  to  the  prior  and  convent  of  ii-ertain 

rents  made  by  G(ualo)  cardinal  of  St.  Martin's,  papal  legate,  and  their  divisions  made  between  tha  bishop 
and  the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle  '  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  91).  In  1 226,  by  order  of  the  saml  p0pe) 
another  report  was  made  on  the  local  conditions  of  the  ordinance  (ibid.,  i.  112). 

i  Charter  Roll  18  Edw.  I.  (83)  No.  26.  The  date  of  the  first  ordinance  by  Pandulf  is  about  j22O> 
and  the  final  agreement  was  made  in  1249.  Innocent  IV.  issued  a  bull,  17  January,  1248,  on  the  Catena 
qutstionis  between  Bishop  Silvester  and  his  chapter  about  the  division  of  the  possessions  of  the  Cjhurch 
of  Carlisle  (Add.  MS.  15,356,  f.  239  ;  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  256). 

»  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  27,  30.  Bishop  Silvester,  also  concerned  in  the  division  of  the  prc^pertVj 
'  transit  eciam  sed  horribiliter  ex  hoc  mundo,  equo  lapsus  et  fractus  cervicibus '  (ibid.  p.  62).  Mlttbew 
Paris  (iii.  333,  ed.  Madden)  tells  the  same  story  that  on  13  May  1254  this  bishop  died  '  supinvls  cor. 
ruens  de  equo  et  ossium  dissolutis  compagibus  expirans.'  Bishop  Walter  did  not  fare  so  badly,  -hough 
he  had  many  troubles. 

a  Rot.  Lift.  Claus.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  2ob.  *  Ibid.  i.  49ob,  5O2b,  513. 

«  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  31 ;  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  57 ;  Reg.  of  Abp.  Gray  (Surtees  S^)Ciety)) 
134  ;  Rot.  Litt.  Claus.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  56ob,  573b  ;  Pat.  7  Hen.  III.  m.  ad.  The  profession  of  subjection 
made  by  Bishop  Walter  to  Archbishop  Gray  of  York  is  as  follows  :  '  Ego  Walterus,  Carleolensis  eiectus 
episcopus,  profiteer  sanctae  Eboracensi  ecclesiae,  et  tibi,  Waltere,  Ebor.  archiepiscope  et  Angliae  primaS) 
et  successoribus  tuis  canonice  substituendis  subjectionem  et  canonicam  obedientiam,  et  propna  manu 
confirmo  et  subscribe  '  (Reg.  of  Gray  [Surtees  Soc.],  p.  144). 

8  Bishop  Walter's  concession  to  the  canons  of  Carlisle  is  recited  in  the  Inspeximus  charter  Of  5  Edw. 
III.,  the  original  of  which  still  remains  among  the  archives  of  the  bishop  of  Carlisle.  The  deed  w,s  dated 
at  Carlisle  on  3  April,  in  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  pontificate. 

24 

( 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

liberties  and  privileges  which  had  been  previously  granted  to  them 
jointly  by  Henry  III.  From  the  same  king  he  obtained  the  manor  of 
Dalston1  in  1230,  which  has  afforded  the  principal  residence  of  the 
bishops  of  Carlisle  almost  from  that  date.  The  grant  was  afterwards 
extended  by  the  addition  of  ample  privileges  in  the  neighbouring  forest. 
As  patron  and  benefactor  of  the  Friars  from  their  first  coming  to  Eng- 
land, he  was  instrumental  in  importing  colonies  of  the  Dominicans  and 
Franciscans  into  his  cathedral  city.2 

As  a  courtier  and  diplomatist  the  fortunes  of  Bishop  Walter  shared 
in  the  vicissitudes  of  success  and  defeat  according  as  he  pleased  or  dis- 
pleased his  royal  master.    At  one  time  he  held  the  highest  offices  in  the 
state,  and  at  another  he  was  under  arrest  or  in  flight.     In  1233  he  went 
into  exile  beyond  the  sea  for  no  other  reason,  in  the   opinion   of  the 
chronicler  of  Lanercost,3  than  for  the  wrong  done  by  the  King  to  him 
and  his  church  of  Carlisle.     The  quarrel  must  have  been  acute,  for  on 
his  flight  the  diocese  was  put  under  an  interdict  on  the  first  Sunday  in 
Advent,  and   the  regular  and  secular  clergy  were  obliged  to  say   the 
divine  offices  in   a  low  voice  with  closed  doors.     The  estrangement, 
however,  did  not  last  long,  for  in  1234  the  same  authority  reported  that 
the  bishop  had  become  reconciled  to  the  King.     There  can  be  little 
doubt  that  Bishop  Walter  had  been  harshly  treated.     The  King  gave 
him  the  treasurership  of  the  Exchequer  in  1232  to  hold  during  life,  but 
by  the  influence  of  Peter   de  Roches,  bishop    of  Winchester,  he  was 
dismissed  in  a  summary  manner.4     Intending  to  cross  the  channel  from 
Dover,  with  the  view  perhaps  of  laying  his  grievances  before  the  pope, 
he  was  seized  by  the  King's  messengers.     The  bishop  of  London,  being 
an   eye-witness   of  the   indignities   inflicted   on   the   distressed   bishop, 
threatened  to  excommunicate  all  who  had  laid  violent  hands  on  him, 
and  repaired  immediately  to  the  court  to  submit  the  matter  to  the  King.5 
The  bishop  again  visited  the  court  and   took   part  in   the  baptism  of 
Prince  Edward  in  1239."     Though  he  was  joined  with   some   of  the 
other  bishops  in  a  commission  to  discuss  the  affairs  of  the  church   in 
1 24 1,7  his  relations  with  the  King  were  not  as  cordial  as  they  were 
before  the  rupture.     King  Henry  sent  him  a  reprimand  in  1243   com- 
manding  him  not  to  intermeddle  in  affairs  of  state,  as  it  was  high  time 
that  he  attended  to  the  health  of  his  soul.8     Galling  as  the  rebuke  must 
have  been  to  the  old  favourite,  it  was  not   till  three  years  afterwards 

1  Chart.  R.  14  Hen.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  10. 

»  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  42.  We  are  told  in  the  Annals  of  Bermondsey  that  in  1206  St.  Francis 
instituted  the  rule  of  the  Friars  Minors,  and  in  that  year  was  made  the  translation  of  the  first  prior, 
Petreius,  by  the  lord  Bernard,  formerly  archbishop  of  Ragusa,  who  had  come  to  England  with  King 
Richard,  from  whom  he  had  received  custody  of  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle  (Annales  Monastici  [Rolls  Series], 
iii.  450). 

3  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  42-3. 

4  Charter  16  Hen.  III.  m.  4  ;  Madox,  History  of  the  Exchequer,  1711  edition,  pp.  568-9 ;  M.  Paris, 
Chronica  Majora  (Rolls  Series),  iii.  240. 

6  M.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  iii.  248  ;  Historia  Anglorum,  ii.  358. 

6  Ibid.  iii.  539-40  ;  Historia  Anglorum,  ii.  422. 

7  Chronica  Majora,  iv.  173. 

8  Close  27  Hen.  III.  pt.  i.  (Vase.)  m.  I3d. 

n  25  4 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

that  he  took  the  King's  hint  and  retired  from  the  see  of  Carlisle. 
Divinely  inspired,  as  it  was  thought  at  the  time,  Bishop  Walter  resigned 
his  bishopric  in  1246,  and  took  refuge  among  the  Friars  Preachers  at 
Oxford,  where  he  did  many  memorable  things  before  his  death.1 
Matthew  Paris  puts  a  different  complexion  on  the  cause  of  his  resigna- 
tion, ascribing  it  to  qualms  of  conscience,  as  the  bishop  feared  his  entry 
on  the  episcopate  in  the  first  instance  had  not  been  legitimate.2  It 
would  be  nearer  the  truth  perhaps  to  accept  the  bishop's  own  statement 
that  the  causes  of  his  retirement  were  old  age  and  weakness  of  body, 
which  rendered  him  incapable  of  doing  his  work.  Archbishop  Walter 
Gray,  before  releasing  him  from  the  pastoral  care  of  the  diocese,  bore  a 
willing  testimony  to  his  loyalty  to  the  church  of  York  and  to  his  dili- 
gence in  the  exercise  of  the  episcopal  office.3  Before  he  left  the  diocese 
the  King  gave  him  licence  to  make  his  will.4  He  died  at  Oxford  in 
1 248,°  in  the  religious  society  of  those  whom  he  favoured  and  endowed 
before  he  had  embarked  on  the  stormy  sea  of  temporal  affairs. 

Few  striking  events  of  diocesan  interest  took  place  during  the 
episcopates  which  covered  the  latter  portion  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
Like  Bishop  Walter,  his  predecessor,  Bishop  Silvester  de  Everdon  had 
held  high  office  in  the  state  before  his  election  to  the  see  of  Carlisle. 
Matthew  Paris,  who  always  spoke  in  admiration  of  this  bishop,  in  de- 
scribing his  nomination  in  1 246,  said  that  he  had  been  king's  clerk  and 
sometime  chancellor  of  England,  a  man  of  great  fame  and  conversation, 
well  versed  in  legal  forms,  specially  in  matters  relating  to  chancery,  but 
that  he  was  unwilling  to  accept  the  proffered  honour,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  his  riches,  as  his  reluctance  to  undertake  the  burden  of  the 
episcopal  office.6  At  last,  under  pressure,  though  he  considered  himself 
unworthy,  he  consented.  During  the  few  years  of  his  episcopate  he 
was  much  engaged  in  legal7  and  political  affairs,  and  took  part  in  the 
stirring  contests  between  the  church  and  the  crown.  The  memorable 
struggle  on  the  right  of  free  election  to  bishoprics  is  well  known. 
Bishop  Silvester  was  one  of  the  four  prelates  chosen  by  the  lords  spiritual 
to  wait  on  the  King  at  the  parliament  held  in  London  in  1253  f°r  t^ie 
purpose  of  demanding  those  liberties  he  had  sworn  to  maintain,  the 
most  fundamental  of  which  and  the  most  pressing  at  that  moment  was 
the  right  of  election.  It  was  only  on  that  condition  they  would  consent 
to  supply  him  with  the  money  he  asked  for.  The  King  turned  upon 
the  prelates,  and  with  an  unusual  display  of  indignation  asked  them  in- 
dividually where  they  would  have  been  had  he  not  exercised  his  discre- 

»  Annales  Monastici,  ii.  337  (Annals  of  Waverley)  ;  iii.  170  (Annals  of  Dunstable) ;  iv.  94  (Chronicon 
Thomae  Wykes). 

2  M.  Paris,  Chronica  Majora,  iv.  564 ;  Historia  Anglorum,  iii.  n. 

Reg.  of  Abp.  Walter  Gray  (Surtees  Society),  98. 

Nicolson  and  Burn  have  printed  this  licence  (Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  255-6). 

Chronica  Majora,  v.  16;    Historia  Anglorum,  iii.  40. 

Chronica  Majora,  iv.  569-587  ;  Historia  Anglorum,  iii.  30,  302. 

Bishop  Silvester  was  a  justice  itinerant  with  Roger  de  Thurkelby  at  York  at  Michaelmas,  1251 
(Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  i.  336  ;  Foss,  Biographia  Juridica,  p.  242).  See  also  Fine  Rolls  (Rec. 
Com.),  ii.  130 ;  and  the  Guisbro'  Chartulary  (Surtees  Society),  i.  216. 

26 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

tion  in  the  filling  of  their  sees.  His  ironical  reference  to  the  bishop 
of  Carlisle,  as  he  addressed  him,  was  bitter  in  the  extreme.  '  And  you, 
Silvester  of  Carlisle,'  he  said,  '  who  have  been  licking  my  chancery  as 
the  clerkling  of  my  clerks,  I  have  raised  to  a  bishopric,  and  I  have  made 
you  a  somebody  at  the  expense  of  many  divines  and  great  men  whom  I 
have  passed  over  in  your  favour.'  But  personal  rebuke  was  not  enough. 
The  King  called  on  them  to  resign,  as  they  had  been  so  unjustly  elected, 
and  promised  that  his  partiality  in  their  favour  would  put  him  on  his 
guard  in  future,  and  prevent  him  from  preferring  any  person  to  a  bishopric 
without  due  merit.  The  bishops  pleaded,  in  their  embarrassment,  that 
the  past  might  well  be  overlooked,  if  security  for  the  future  was 
guaranteed.  It  was  a  drawn  battle.  The  King  obtained  his  subsidy, 
and  the  bishops  were  satisfied  with  the  assurance  that  the  liberties  of 
the  church  would  be  respected.1  Bishop  Silvester  was  killed  by  a  fall 
from  his  horse3  in  1254. 

The  effect  of  the  bishops'  remonstrance  with  the  King  was  visible 
on  the  election  of  a  successor  to  Bishop  Silvester.  The  choice  of  the 
canons  of  Carlisle  fell  on  Master  Thomas  de  Vipont,  rector  of  Greystoke, 
no  doubt  a  member  of  the  well-known  local  family  of  that  name,  though 
the  King  urged  the  claims  of  the  prior  of  Newburgh.  The  canons, 
however,  maintained  their  right,  and  Thomas  was  consecrated  in 
February  1255  by  the  bishop  of  Durham.3  As  his  short  episcopate 
terminated  in  October  1256,*  little  remains  of  his  episcopal  acts  in  the 
diocese  except  a  few  confirmation  charters  to  the  religious  houses  of  no 
general  interest.5  On  his  death,  Walter  de  Kirkham,  bishop  of  Durham, 
successfully  pleaded  his  right  to  the  sequestration  of  the  benefices  in  his 
diocese  belonging  to  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle  while  that  see  was  void. 
After  inquiry  in  the  king's  court,  the  profits  arising  at  that  time  and 
also  on  the  previous  vacancy  were  assigned  to  him  by  the  King's  writ, 
for  which  the  bishop  paid  a  thousand  marks.8  Again  and  again  in  after 
years  the  same  claim  was  made  and  the  same  decision  was  given.  In 
1279,  on  the  avoidance  by  the  death  of  Bishop  Robert  de  Chause,  when 
the  custody  of  vacant  bishoprics  formed  one  of  the  articull  cleri  proposed 
before  the  King  in  parliament,  the  King  acknowledged  his  charter  to 
Bishop  Walter  above  mentioned,  and  awarded  the  fruits  of  the  bishop  of 

1  Cbronica  Majora,  v.  374.  Bishop  Silvester  joined  with  the  other  bishops  on  this  occasion  in  pro- 
nouncing the  sentence  of  excommunication  on  all  violaters  of  charters  (Rymer,  Foedera,  i.  289-293  ; 
Hemingburgh,  Chron.  (Eng.  Hist.  Soc.),  i.  285  ;  Stubbs,  Select  Charters,  edition  1870,  pp.  364-5.  A 
corrupt  version  of  the  '  sentence  '  is  on  record  in  The  Whitby  Chartulary  (ii.  509-10),  which  has  led  Canon 
Atkinson  into  grievous  miscalculations. 

*  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  62  ;   Chronica  Majora,  v.  431  ;  Historia  Anglorum,  iii.  333. 

3  Chronica  Majora,  iv.  455  ;  Historia  Anglorum,  iii.  337  ;   Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  62. 

*  Chronica  Majora,  v.  588. 

5  Reg.  of  Wetherhal  (Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Archaeol.  Soc.),  p.  61  ;  Reg.  of  Holmcultram  MS. 
f.  25.  One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  Bishop  Vipont  was  a  licence  to  Alan  de  Berwise  to  build  a  private  chapel 
in  Berwise.  The  deed  is  dated  '  Apud  la  Rose  vij  Kalend.  Marcij,  pontificatus  nostri  anno  primo,'  i.e. 
23  February  1255  (Machel  MSS.  v.  255  ;  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  p.  319).  He  had  been  consecrated  only 
sixteen  days  (Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  62). 

8  Nicolson  and  Burn  have  printed  the  King's  writ  (Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  257-8)  from  Prynne 
(Chronological  Vindication,  ii.  970).  The  letters  patent  will  be  found  OR  Pat.  R.  44  Hen.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  5. 

27 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Carlisle's  churches  in  the  diocese  of  Durham  to  Bishop  Robert  of  Durham, 
and  a  writ  was  issued  to  Robert  de  Avenel  to  make  livery  accordingly 
and  not  to  meddle  with  them  further.1  A  different  rule  was  applied  to 
the  custody  of  the  spiritualities  situated  within  the  vacant  bishopric  ; 
these  were  adjudged  to  the  primate  of  the  province  by  order  of  Parlia- 
ment. A  test  case  arose  in  1328  after  the  death  of  Bishop  Halton, 
when  Robert  de  Barton,  keeper  of  the  bishopric,  was  ordered  by 
Edward  III.  to  cause  the  fruits  and  obventions  of  the  churches  of 
Penrith  and  Dalston,  which  were  appropriated  to  the  bishopric,  to  be 
delivered  to  William,  archbishop  of  York,  then  keeper  of  the  spiritu- 
alities, in  accordance  with  the  agreement  in  the  late  Parliament  at 
Westminster,  that  the  keepers  of  void  archbishoprics,  bishoprics,  abbeys, 
and  priories  should  only  intermeddle  with  the  temporalities  and  not 
with  appropriated  churches,  prebends  and  other  spiritual  things.8  Pre- 
cisely the  same  mandate  was  sent  to  the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle, 
who  had  been  appointed  keepers  of  the  temporalities  on  the  death  of 
Bishop  Ross  in  13  32."  But  this  did  not  touch  the  right  of  the  bishop 
in  whose  diocese  the  spiritualities  of  other  bishops  were  situated.  It 
was  natural  that  these  should  revert  to  his  custody  and  not  to  that  of 
the  primate.  The  bishop  of  Durham  had  custody  of  the  churches 
within  his  diocese  in  the  patronage  of  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  ;  the 
spiritualities  within  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  were  the  perquisites  of  the 
archbishop  of  York.  If  this  distinction  be  borne  in  mind,  much  con- 
fusion will  be  avoided. 

A  new  type  of  bishop  succeeded  on  the  death  of  Silvester  de 
Everdon,  not  a  politician  engaged  in  statecraft,  not  a  justice  on  circuit, 
but  a  bishop  who  devoted  his  energies  to  the  duties  of  his  office.  When 
Robert  de  Chause4  was  elected  by  the  canons  in  1257,  Archbishop 
Sewall,  who,  according  to  the  annalist  of  Dunstable,  made  him  fair 
promises  and  ill  returns,  temporized  in  confirming  the  choice,  with  the 
supposed  intention  of  securing  the  appointment  of  a  certain  master 
John,  thus  causing  a  delay  which  obliged  the  bishop  designate  to  appeal 
to  the  pope  for  redress.8  On  taking  over  the  charge  after  two  short 
episcopates,  Bishop  Chause  was  confronted  with  many  difficulties,  occa- 

1  The  date  of  the  articuli  cleri  found  in  the  register  of  Archbishop  Wickwaine  (Letters  from  the 
Northern  Registers  [Rolls  Series],  70-8)  must  be  about  the  year  1279,  the  only  possible  year  to  make  Article 
xiij  intelligible.  The  see  of  Carlisle  was  vacant  from  1278  to  1280.  In  1279  the  King  addressed  letters 
to  his  northern  officers  to  deliver  the  sequestration  to  Bishop  Robert  de  Insula  (Close,  7  Edw.  I.  m.  3  ; 
Pat.  7  Edw.  I.  m.  5). 

»  Close,  2  Edw.  III.  m.  20.  a  Ibid.  6  Edw.  III.  m.  23. 

4  Though  this  bishop  is  found  under  various  names,  we  have  adopted  that  of  Robert  de  Chause,  the 
name  given  to  him  by  Matthew  Paris  (Chronica  Mafora  [Rolls  Series],  v.  678).  As  Robert  de  Chauro  he 
was  rector  of  Stanton  in  the  diocese  of  Ely  in  1254,  when  by  request  of  the  Queen,  whose  clerk  he  was, 
permission  was  given  him  to  hold  additional  benefices  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  307)  ;  he  was  dispensed 
by  Pope  Innocent  IV.  on  account  of  illegitimacy,  and  while  Archdeacon  of  Bath,  as  Robert  de  Chaury, 
an  indult  was  granted  in  1257  that  he  might  receive  episcopal  dignity  (ibid.  i.  347).  A  local  chronicler, 
who  ought  to  know  best,  calls  him  Robert  de  Chalize  or  Chalise  (Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  101,  145).  In 
the  annals  of  Dunstable  he  is  named  Robert  de  Chawre  (Annal.  Monast.  [Rolls  Series],  iii.  205).  His  name 
was  given  as  Robert  Chaury  in  1290  by  one  of  the  clerks  in  the  Court  of  Chancery  (Pat.  1 8  Edw.  I.  m. 
20),  and  he  was  styled  '  archbishop '  of  Carlisle  by  another  (ibid.  5  Edw.  I.  m.  3). 

•  Annales  Monastici  (Rolls  Series),  iii.  205. 

28 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

sioned  probably  by  a  previous  slackness  in  the  administrative  work  of 
the  diocese.  During  the  whole  term  of  his  episcopate  from  his  consecra- 
tion in  1258  till  his  death  in  1 278,  his  life  was  engrossed  with  a  succession 
of  disputes,  sometimes  acting  as  mediator  in  local  differences,  often 
standing  out  in  defence  of  the  rights  and  traditions  of  his  see.  As  a 
reformer  he  met  with  determined  opposition  in  the  highest  quarters. 
Yielding  in  his  dispute  with  the  abbey  of  St.  Mary,  York,  in  1266,  he 
relinquished  his  claim  to  the  custody  of  the  priory  of  Wetheral  during 
a  vacancy,  as  well  as  to  the  institution  and  removal  of  the  priors,  in 
exchange  for  the  remission  of  an  annual  pension  due  to  that  priory  from 
one  of  the  churches  in  his  patronage.1  The  King  of  Scotland  failed  to 
deprive  him  of  the  church  of  Great  Salkeld2  in  1261,  though  he  was 
not  so  fortunate  in  his  defence  of  the  patronage  of  the  church  of  Roth- 
bury  in  Northumberland,  claimed  by  King  Edward.3  Richard  de 
Crepping,  who  succeeded  the  bishop  as  sheriff  of  the  county  in  1272, 
unjustly  charged  him  before  the  lord  chancellor  with  urging  his  tenants 
to  refuse  the  oath  of  fealty  to  the  young  king,  a  groundless  allegation, 
which  caused  much  bitterness  in  the  district.*  The  last  four  years  of 
the  bishop's  life  were  troubled  by  a  long  and  expensive  suit  promoted 
by  Michael  de  Harcla,  who  claimed  that  the  manor  of  Dalston  and  the 
advowson  of  the  church  were  his  by  right  of  hereditary  succession,  a 
suit  which  was  still  undecided  at  the  bishop's  death."  He  did  not 
flinch  from  what  he  conceived  to  be  the  duties  of  his  calling  on  account 
of  the  frowns  of  kings  and  magnates,  but  steadily  worked  for  the  rights 
of  his  diocese  and  the  welfare  of  his  spiritual  subjects.  With  Robert  de 
Chause  the  series  of  bishops  who  resided  in  the  diocese  and  gave  them- 
selves wholly  to  local  administration  may  be  said  to  commence.  The 
chronicler  of  Lanercost  has  left  us  a  beautiful  picture  of  the  piety  and 
amiability  of  the  bishop's  character,  his  zeal  for  the  honour  of  God,  and 
the  good  of  His  people,  which  he  said  would  never  fade  while  the  world 
lasted.6 

The  informalities  attending  the  election  of  a  successor  to  Bishop 
Robert  involved  the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle  in  serious  trouble  with 
the  Crown.  In  due  course  two  of  the  canons  were  deputed  to  carry  the 
news  to  London  and  obtain  the  necessary  conge  d'elire  for  the  election  of 
a  new  bishop.7  The  choice  of  the  house  fell  on  William  de  Rothelfeld, 
dean  of  York,  who  renounced  the  election  and  died  soon  after.  With- 

>  Reg.  of  Wetberbal,  pp  73-7. 

1  Close  46  Hen.  III.  m.  izd  ;   Rymer,  Fcedera,  i.  417. 

'  Close,  6  Edw.  I.  m.  I5d  ;  Pat.  18  Edw.  I.  m.  20;  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  102;  Rot.  Parl. 
(Rec.  Com.),  i.  6b,  22b. 

4  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  258. 

6  De  Banco  Rolls  No.  6  Mich.  2  and  3  Edw.  I.  m.  6^d  ;  No.  n,  3  and  4  Edw.  I.  m.  77d  ;  No.  17, 
4  and  5  Edw.  I.  m.  3d  ;  No.  36,  8  and  9  Edw.  I.  m.  43d.  An  account  of  this  interesting  series  of  pleas 
will  be  more  appropriately  given  under  the  manorial  history  of  Dalston. 

•  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  101-2. 

?  Pat.  6  Edw.  I.  m.  3.  The  licence  to  elect  is  dated  27  October,  1278.  The  name  of  the  prior  of 
Carlisle  in  1282  was  Robert  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS.  f.  14),  though  perhaps  not  Robert  de  Everdon  as 
stated  in  Nicolson  and  Burn  (Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  259). 

29 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

out  petitioning  for  a  fresh  licence,  the  canons  appointed  a  committee 
of  the  convent  to  proceed  to  election,  and  they  chose  Ralf  de  Ireton, 
prior  of  Gisburn  in  Yorkshire,  and  apparently  a  member  of  the 
well-known  family  of  Ireton  in  Cumberland,  and  presented  their  choice 
to  William,  archbishop  of  York,  who  died  before  confirming  it.  The 
chapter  of  York  refused  confirmation,  and  the  King  also  withheld  his 
consent  in  high  indignation  that  a  second  election  should  have  been 
made  without  his  licence.  The  convent  appealed  to  the  pope,  and  Prior 
Ralf  repaired  to  Rome  to  support  the  petition.  The  pontiff  appointed  three 
cardinals  to  examine  the  election,  and  on  account  of  the  informality  that 
they  discovered,  he  cancelled  it.  Then  on  his  own  authority,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  character  and  learning  of  Prior  Ralf,  as  he  said,  he 
appointed  him  bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  had  him  there  and  then  consecrated 
by  the  bishop  of  Tusculum.  Without  further  parley  he  intimated 
what  he  had  done  to  the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle,  to  the  clergy  and 
people  of  the  diocese,  to  the  archbishop  of  York  and  to  the  King.1 
Though  the  King  compromised  with  the  pope  for  the  sake  of  peace  and 
accepted  the  provision,2  he  did  not  forgive  the  convent  for  the  second 
election,  for  they  were  forced  to  pay  the  greater  part  of  five  hundred 
marks,  of  which  they  had  been  amerced  in  satisfaction  of  the  irregu- 
larity.3 

Bishop  Ireton  lost  no  time  in  taking  up  the  threads  of  diocesan  work, 
which  had  fallen  from  the  fingers  of  his  predecessor.  It  would  appear 
that  building  or  improvement  was  in  progress  at  his  cathedral,  and  that 
money  was  needed  to  complete  it.  Bending  his  energies  at  once  in  this 
direction,  he  summoned  his  clergy  in  synod  for  consultation,  and  made 
request  for  a  subsidy.  Though  he  only  landed  in  England  on  30  May, 
the  synod  was  held  in  the  following  October,  when  the  clergy  granted 
him  a  tenth  of  their  ecclesiastical  revenues  payable  in  two  years  on  the 
basis  of  the  true  valuation.  It  was  a  drastic  measure  for  a  new  bishop, 
and  gave  rise,  of  course,  to  much  grumbling.  The  levy  on  the  monastic 
house  in  which  the  chronicler  of  Lanercost  was  domiciled  amounted  to 
£24  of  the  new  money  for  one  year,  and  drew  from  the  poet  of  the 
establishment  a  caustic  screed  of  Latin  verse  on  the  ill-doings  of  the 
shepherd  who  ought  to  feed  rather  than  fleece  the  flock  so  long  bereft 
of  a  pastor's  care.  As  the  chronicler  distinctly  says  that  funds  were 
needed  ad  fabricam  culmims  majoris  ecclesiae  suae  sedis,  we  should  not 
wonder  at  the  poor  estimation  in  which  the  bishop  was  held  by  some  of 
those  who  were  called  upon  to  supply  them.  In  their  eyes  he  was  crafty, 

1  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  461.     The  dean  of  York  was  elected  13  December,  1278  (Chron.  de  Laner- 
cost, p.  102).     Nicolson  and  Burn  notice  an  assize  roll  quoted  by  Prynne  (Chron.  V 'indie,  iii.  1230),  in 
which  the  prior  of  Carlisle  pleaded  that  he  and  his  convent  did  not  understand  that  they  had  done  any 
contempt  or  prejudice  to  the  King  by  the  second  election,  for  that  having  obtained  leave  to  elect  and  the 
person  elected  disagreeing  thereto,  they  thought  it  was  res  integra,  and  that  they  might  proceed  to  choose 
again;  but  if  it  was  contempt,  they  submitted  themselves  to  the  King  (Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  258-9). 
The  annalist  of  Dunstable  was  in  error  when  he  stated  that  the  prior  of  Gisburn  appealed  to  the  pope 
against  the  metropolitan  (Annales  Monastics  [Rolls  Series],  iii.  283). 

2  Pat.  8  Edw.  I.  m.  10. 

3  Ibid.  10  Edw.  I.  m.  18  ;  Close  10  Edw.  I.  m.  7. 

30 


CUMBERLAND    SEALS :      EPISCOPAL    II 


RALPH  IRETON  (1280-1292). 


RALPH  IRETON   (1280- 
1292)  COUNTERSEAL. 


JOHN  HALTON  (1292-1324). 


JOHN  Ross  (1325-1332). 


.••s  I  •!•''•< 


Sr' 

mr' 


THOMAS  APPLEBY  (1363-1395). 


THOMAS  APPLEDY 
(1363-1395). 


JOHN   KIRBY  (1332-1352). 


THOMAS  APPLEBY  (1363-1395) 
COUNTERSEAL. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

subtle,  and  very  greedy,  using  his  visitations  as  the  means  of  wringing 
contributions  from  the  simple-minded  clergy  of  his  diocese.1  In  the 
latter  years  of  his  life  the  bishop  was  often  employed  by  his 
sovereign  on  political  and  other  missions,  chiefly  in  connection  with 
Scottish  affairs.2  But  the  end  was  drawing  near.  In  April  1291  he 
received  a  faculty  from  Pope  Nicholas  IV.  to  dispose  by  will  of  his 
personal  property  (not  belonging  to  the  service  of  the  altar  or  to  the 
Augustinian  order  of  which  he  was  a  member)  in  funeral  expenses  and 
remuneration  of  servants  and  kinsmen,  his  debts  being  first  paid.3  On 
the  last  day  of  February  1292  he  died  at  his  house  of  Linstock  after 
the  fatigue  of  a  journey  in  deep  snow  from  London,  where  he  had  been 
attending  Parliament,  and  was  buried  in  his  cathedral  church.4 

A  most  dreadful  calamity  befell  the  city  of  Carlisle  a  few  months 
after  Bishop  Ireton's  death,  the  desolation  of  the  flock  following  closely 
on  the  removal  of  the  pastor,  as  the  chronicler  of  Lanercost  pathetically 
described  it.     For  the  space  of  a  whole  day  and  night  towards  the  end 
of  May  1292  a  tempest  raged  on  sea  and  land.     The  winds  blew  with 
such  terrific  fury  that  travellers  on  foot  and  horseback  were  overthrown 
or  driven  from  the  track  ;  the  sea  was  forced  inland  to  a  greater  distance 
than  ever  was  known  by  the  oldest  inhabitant,  inundating  the  maritime 
districts  and  destroying  crops  and  cattle.     When  the  hurricane  was  at 
its  highest,  an   incendiary,  in  a  moment  of  malicious  rage  against  his 
father  for  disinheriting  him,  set  fire  to  certain  houses  without  the  city 
walls  to  the  west  of  the  cathedral,  that  a  stranger  might  not  enjoy  his 
inheritance.     The  city  and  neighbourhood  were  soon  in  flames,  and  the 
devastation  was  universal.     The  chronicler  of  Lanercost,  who  was  an  eye- 
witness of  the  conflagration,  has  left  behind  him  a  vivid  picture  of  the 
destruction.     Streets,  churches,  municipal  buildings,  houses,  muniments, 
organs,  bells,  wood,  glass   and   stalls   were  burnt  to  ashes.     The  only 
houses  of  note   left   standing  were    the    conventual    buildings   of  the 
Jacobins  or  Black  Friars  on  the  west  walls,  which  were  saved  with  the 
greatest  difficulty.     It  was  particularly  noted  that  the  flames  devoured 
the  tomb  of  Bishop  Ireton  in  the  cathedral,  mausoleum  improbi  exactoris,  as 
the  chronicler,  retaining  his  old  grudge  against  the  bishop,  referred  to  it, 
though  that  of  his  predecessor,  Robert  de   '  Chalix,'  escaped  untouched. 
The  culprit,  at  least   the  young  man  on  whom  suspicion  had  fallen,  was 
taken,  tried  and  hanged.8     The  destruction  of  the  city  was  not  altogether 
an  unmixed  evil.     The   fire   taught  the  citizens  the   dangers  to  which 
they  were  exposed  by  the   employment  of  wood  in  the  construction  of 
their  houses.     With  the  co-operation  of  the   King,  who  granted  them 
charters  in  place  of  those   that   were  burnt,  and  in  supplying  stone  for 

1  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.   102-6. 

3  Rymer,  Foedera,  new  edition,  i.  734-6,  738,  762,  766-8,  774. 

3  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  534-5. 

4  W.  de  Hemingburgh,  Chron.  (Eng.   Hist.  Soc.),  ii.  40;  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  143-4.      The 
latter  authority  puts  the  bishop's  death  on  the  following  day,  I  March. 

5  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  144-5,  147;  Walter  de  Hemingburgh  adds  that  the  culprit  was  found, 
tried,  and  hanged  (Chron.  ii.  40). 

31 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  building  of  their  houses,  the  city   again  rose  to  its  ancient  dignity 
and  importance.1 

It  was  fortunate  that  a  prelate  of  the  courage  and  resource  of 
Bishop  Halton  ruled  the  diocese  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
His  election  took  place  about  the  time  of  the  calamity  which  laid  the 
cathedral  in  ashes.2  Four  years  afterwards  the  war  with  Scotland  broke 
out  with  all  its  attendant  miseries  and  disasters  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Border  counties.  For  almost  three  centuries  from  this  date  the  history 
of  the  diocese,  owing  to  Scottish  invasions,  is  coloured  by  the  troubles 
and  devastations  arising  from  its  geographical  position.  The  bishops  of 
the  period  in  question  were  sometimes  military  commanders,  mostly 
north-country  born,  often  natives  of  the  county,  not  unfrequently  cadets 
of  great  feudal  families.  Some  of  them,  like  Halton  and  Kirkby,  con- 
trolled the  garrison  of  Carlisle  Castle,  and,  not  content  with  acting  on 
the  defensive,  went  into  Scotland  more  or  less  in  a  military  capacity,  at 
one  time  as  diplomatists  to  effect  a  peace,  and  at  another  to  carry  fire 
and  sword  into  the  enemy's  territory.  Bishop  Kirkby  was  held  in 
particular  detestation  (summo  odio)  by  the  Scots  for  commanding  in  person 
on  various  expeditions  in  1 337,  and  the  enemy  was  not  slow  in  retaliating 
on  the  bishop  and  all  his  belongings.3  A  visit  to  the  bishop  was  a 
feature  of  almost  every  Scottish  invasion.  They  sacked  Rose  Castle 
again  and  again,  killed  his  deer,  and  emptied  his  fishponds.4  Nearly  all 
the  bishops  before  the  Reformation  were  employed  in  the  adjustment  of 
diplomatic  relations  and  the  arrangement  of  truces  between  the  two 
kingdoms,  and  sometimes  little  thanks  they  got  for  their  pains.  After 
nearly  thirty  years  of  conspicuous  service  to  the  State,  Bishop  Halton 
on  one  occasion  in  1321,  after  a  period  of  unexampled  suffering  among 
his  tenants  and  dependants,  petitioned  the  Crown  for  relief,  and  asked 
that  his  expenses  should  be  allowed  for  the  nine  weeks  he  spent  at  New- 
castle-upon-Tyne  with  other  magnates  on  an  embassy  to  the  Scots,  but 
it  seemed  to  the  King  and  the  council  that  since  the  bishop  went  for 
the  good  of  the  realm  in  general  and  his  own  diocese  in  particular,  and 
since  his  journey  from  Carlisle  to  Newcastle  was  not  far,  he  must  bear 
his  own  expenses." 

1  On  the  petition  of  the  citizens  of  Carlisle  in  1304,  the  King  granted  leave  to  take  stone  without 
hindrance  in  the  forest  of  '  Inglewode  '  for  the  building  of  their  houses  and  the  restoration  of  the  same 
vill  after  the  late  fire  (Rot.  Parl.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  i66b  ;  Ryley,  Placita  Parliamentaria,  p.  255).  In  their 
petition  for  a  new  charter  with  all  their  former  privileges,  the  citizens  stated  '  quod  carte  sue  per  quas 
eandem  villam  tenuerunt  combuste  fuerunt '  (ibid.  i.  166-7).  A  new  charter  was  granted  in  1293, 
wherein  it  is  testified  that  their  late  charters  were  burned  by  misadventure  in  a  fire  in  the  city  of  Carlisle 
(Pat.  21  Edw.  I.  m.  8).  This  confirmatory  charter  has  been  printed  (Royal  Charters  of  Carlisle,  ed.  R.  S. 
Ferguson,  pp.  10-11). 

3  Hemingburgh  states  that  Bishop  Ralf  de  Ireton  died  on  the  last  day  of  February  and  the  burning 
of  the  cathedral  took  place  on  the  feast  of  St.  Dunstan  the  archbishop  (May  19)  1292  (Chronicon,  [Eng. 
Hist.  Soc.],  ii.  40).  Another  account  of  the  fire  fixes  the  date  on  30  May  (Chron.  de  Lanercost  [Maitland 
Club],  144).  As  the  election  of  John  de  '  Halghton,'  canon  of  Carlisle,  to  the  vacant  see  was  made  on 
9  May,  and  the  King's  confirmation  was  given  on  26  May  (Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  262  ; 
Pat.  20  Edw.  I.  m.  12),  it  may  be  taken  that  the  calamity  to  the  cathedral  church  had  no  influence  on 
the  choice  of  the  canons. 

3  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  pp.  291-3.  «  Close,  13  Edw.  II.  m.  19,  m.  21. 

•  Ancient  Petition,  No.  5117. 

32 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

A  few  words  will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  the  miserable  condition 
of  the  diocese  during  the  progress  of  hostilities  between  the  two 
kingdoms.  Seldom  had  the  land  absolute  rest  from  the  fear  of  invasion. 
There  is  little  occasion  to  turn  to  the  pages  of  chronicles  for  adequate 
language  to  describe  the  sufferings  of  clergy  and  laity  on  both  sides  of 
the  Border  in  those  barbarous  struggles.  From  the  pens  of  the  Bishops 
of  Carlisle  pictures  of  woe  and  desolation  have  been  handed  down  to  us 
which  no  chronicler  could  imitate,  unless  he  was  a  witness  of  the  miseries 
he  described  and  a  sufferer  in  the  spoliation.  In  pleading  for  an  indul- 
gence in  the  payment  of  a  royal  tenth  in  1301,  Bishop  Halton  pointed 
to  the  miserable  state  of  the  diocese  for  the  past  four  years  and  more, 
owing  to  the  depredations  of  the  treacherous  Scots.  Some  of  the 
religious  were  scattered,  as  their  monasteries  were  destroyed,  and  several 
of  the  churches  with  their  parishes  were  reduced  to  ashes,  insomuch 
that  the  clergy  were  unable  to  live  on  the  fruits  of  their  benefices, 
but  were  forced  to  beg  alms  from  place  to  place.1  In  1318  the 
same  bishop  bewailed  the  dreadful  injuries  which  his  diocese  had 
suffered  for  more  than  twenty-four  years  from  cruel  invasions.  The 
Scots  had  slain  men  and  women,  old  and  young,  orphans  and  widows, 
burnt  nearly  all  the  churches,  houses  and  buildings,  driven  off  their 
cattle,  carried  away  their  treasure,  ornaments  and  every  movable  of 
value,  and  destroyed  the  whole  country,  so  that  the  lands  of  the 
bishopric  lay  uncultivated,  the  sources  of  his  revenues  were  wasted, 
and  he  himself  was  reduced  to  a  state  of  indigence  and  want.  For 
the  relief  of  his  urgent  need  he  begged  the  pope  to  sanction  the 
appropriation  of  the  church  of  Horncastle  in  Lincolnshire  to  his  see.2 
Afflictions  of  this  nature  afforded  a  common  theme  of  complaint  to 
the  bishops  of  Carlisle  in  the  fifteenth  century  as  well  as  the  four- 
teenth, though  of  course  the  frequency  of  hostilities  and  the  amount 
of  damage  depended  on  the  recurrence  of  international  disputes.  Few 
indeed  of  the  medieval  bishops  escaped  losses  or  troubles  from  the  Scots. 
The  remains  of  the  ancient  defences  at  Rose  Castle,  their  official  residence, 
about  seven  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Carlisle,  are  a  witness  to  the 
present  day  of  its  former  strength.3 

The  poverty  of  the  diocese,  caused  chiefly  by  the  Scottish  wars, 
drove  the  bishops  and  the  monastic  corporations  to  cast  covetous  eyes 
on  the  wealthier  of  the  parish  churches,  with  the  view  of  encompassing 
their  appropriation.  It  was  no  new  policy,  for  the  religious  houses  had 
ample  experience  of  this  method  of  increasing  their  revenues.  Priories, 
like  Carlisle,  Wetheral  and  St.  Bees,  were  endowed  with  advowsons  and 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS.  f.  59;  Letters  from  the  Northern  Registers  (Rolls  Series),  151.  In  1309 
Bishop  Halton  excused  his  attendance  at  parliament  '  propter  distanciam,  temporis  brevitatem,  timorem 
invasionis  Scottorum,  necnon  corporis  infirmitatem  qua  affligimur '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS. 
f.  120). 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS.  f.  211  ;  Letters  from  the  Northern  Registers,  282-3.  The  bishop 
had  obtained  licence  from  the  Crown  to  appropriate  the  church  in  1314  (Pat.  8  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  17). 

3  John  de  Kirkby,  the  warrior  bishop,  had  a  licence  to  crenellate  his  house  of  '  La  Rose  '  in  1336, 
and  the  same  liberty  was  repeated  to  Bishop  Welton  at  a  subsequent  date  (Pat.  10  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  27, 
29  Edw.  III.). 

11  33  5 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

had  obtained  rectories  as  early  as  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  All  the  early 
bishops  granted  licences  for  appropriations,  though  the  custom  of  the 
ordination  or  taxation  of  vicarages  was  not  completely  established  till 
the  reign  of  Henry  III.  and  the  episcopate  of  Walter,  the  fourth  bishop. 
If  we  glance  at  the  process  by  which  the  revenues  of  a  parish  church 
became  the  property  of  a  religious  house,  it  will  be  seen  how  step  by 
step  the  monks  gained  their  end.  The  advowson  of  the  church  of 
Crosthwaite,  for  example,  was  granted  to  the  monastery  of  Fountains  by 
Alice  de  Romelli,  daughter  of  William  fitz  Duncan,  about  the  year 
1212.  Bishop  Bernard  confirmed  the  appropriation  of  the  whole  of  the 
revenues,  except  an  annual  stipend  of  one  hundred  shillings,  which  he 
reserved  for  a  vicar  who  should  be  elected  by  the  monks  and  presented 
to  the  bishop  for  institution,  the  said  vicar  being  answerable  for  all 
episcopal  dues  and  having  the  cure  of  souls.  The  appropriation  had 
the  sanction  of  the  pope,  the  metropolitan,  and  the  prior  and  convent  of 
Carlisle,  but  its  completion  was  delayed  by  the  resignation  of  the  rector, 
who  retired  on  an  annual  pension  of  five  marks.  Though  this  arrange- 
ment lasted  through  two  episcopates  and  received  the  confirmation  of 
Bishops  Hugh  and  Walter,  it  was  not  brought  to  a  successful  issue  till 
Henry  de  Curtenay  had  resigned  his  pension  in  1227,  an(^  ^  Adam  de 
Crosthwaite,  the  first  vicar,  had  died  some  years  afterwards.  All  the 
complications,  however,  were  cleared  away  in  1250,  when  Bishop 
Silvester  made  a  definite  ordination  of  the  vicarage  by  declaring  particu- 
larly the  various  sources  of  the  vicar's  stipend,  assigning  him  a  vicarage 
house,  certain  tithes  and  other  revenues.1  In  the  taxation  of  vicarages 
after  appropriation,  unless  the  sources  of  the  vicar's  stipend  were  care- 
fully set  out,  quarrels  with  the  impropriators  were  likely  to  ensue. 
When  Adam,  son  of  Adam  de  Levington,  granted  the  church  of  Kirk- 
andrews  on  Eden  to  the  nuns  of  St.  Andrew  of  Marrig,  though  Bishops 
Bernard  and  Hugh  in  succession  confirmed  the  appropriation  of  the 
church  to  their  use,  Ralf  the  chaplain  succeeded  in  forcing  a  composition 
in  1263  whereby  the  nuns  should  receive  a  pension  of  sixty  shillings  a 
year,  and  that  he  and  his  successors  should  have  peaceable  possession  of 
the  residue  nomine  personatus*  But  ordinations  were  drawn  up  with  the 
greatest  care,  so  that  the  vicar  was  independent  of  the  individual  or 
corporation  to  whom  the  appropriation  belonged.  The  division  of  the 
parochial  revenues  was  so  arranged  that  the  incumbent  was  answerable 
to  the  bishop  in  spiritualities  and  to  the  impropriator  in  temporalities, 
yielding  to  the  latter  no  other  service  than  that  which  was  due  from  any 
tenant  of  a  lay  fee. 

This  policy  of  robbing  parishes  for  the  support  of  religious  corpora- 
tions, some  of  which  had  no  connection  with  the  diocese  or  the  county, 
though  it  had  fallen  to  some  extent  into  decay  towards  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  was  resuscitated  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Scottish 
wars  and  the  impoverishment  of  the  local  monastic  houses  by  the  con- 

1  Reg.  of  Fountains  MS.  ff.  101,  323-330. 

*  Collectanea  Topografhica  tt  Genealogica,  v.  235-6. 

34 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

centration  of  the  national  host  on  the  Border  for  the  invasion  of  Scotland. 
Edward  I.  was  often  the  guest  of  the  bishop  and  the  local  monasteries. 
The  expenses  of  entertainment  of  the  King  and  his  court  were  a  severe 
burden  on  their  resources.  But  for  a  couple  of  centuries  the  losses 
caused  by  Scottish  incursions  were  the  reasons  pleaded  for  the  appro- 
priations.1 In  1230  Henry  III.  had  bestowed  the  manor  of  Dalston 
with  the  advowson  of  the  church  on  the  see,2  but  none  of  the  bishops, 
though  resident  within  the  parish,  had  intermeddled  with  the  fruits  of 
the  rectory  till  Bishop  Halton  had  obtained  a  royal  licence  in  1301  for 
its  appropriation,3  and  in  later  years  he  had  no  difficulty  in  getting  the 
sanction  of  successive  archbishops  of  York,  when  the  way  was  made 
clear  by  the  death  or  cession  of  the  rector  in  possession.4  The  arch- 
bishop gave  elaborate  reasons  for  his  consent,  such  as  the  burning  of  the 
cathedral  church,  the  losses  caused  by  the  international  troubles,  the 
daily  goings  and  comings  of  magnates  on  the  Border,  and  the  crippling 
expenses  incurred  by  affording  hospitalities  on  these  occasions.6  He 
contented  himself  by  sketching  out  the  broad  principles  on  which  the 
appropriation  should  be  carried  out,  and  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  filled  in 
the  lines.  The  last  attempt  at  appropriation  that  need  be  mentioned 
was  made  by  Bishop  Lumley,  who  obtained  a  licence  in  1441  to  annex 
to  his  table  the  churches  of  Caldbeck  and  Rothbury  on  the  old  pretext 
that  he  was  unable  to  support  his  episcopal  dignity  owing  to  his  losses 
from  the  daily  inroads  of  the  Scots,"  but  this  appropriation  never  took 
place. 

One  of  the  first  chantries  in  the  diocese  was  founded  in  1300  at 
Bramwra  by  Thomas  de  Capella,  vicar  of  Kirkbystephen.  With  the 
King's  licence  the  founder  alienated  three  messuages  and  seventy-two  and 
a  half  acres  of  land  in  Newbiggin,  Raughton,  and  Bramwra,  for  the 
purpose  of  maintaining  one  priest  to  celebrate  in  a  chapel  de  novo  con- 

1  On  8  July  1304  the  King  issued  licences  to  the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle  for  the  appropri- 
ation of  the  churches  of  Addingham  and  Edenhall '  in  compensation  of  the  burning  of  their  houses  and 
churches,  and  divers  plundering  by  the  Scots,'  both  churches  being  of  their  own  patronage  (Pat.  32 
Edw.  I.  m.  ii  ;  Inq.  p.m.  32  Edw.  I.  No.  130).  When  the  same  king  gave  his  consent  for  the  appro- 
priation of  Castlesowerby  in  1307,  the  grant  was  made  'out  of  devotion  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  in 
consideration  of  the  relics  of  Thomas  the  Martyr  and  other  saints  being  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary, 
Carlisle,  and  of  the  losses  of  the  prior  and  convent  by  invasions  and  burnings  of  the  Scots '  (Pat.  35 
Edw.  I.  m.  17).  The  appropriation  took  place  on  the  death  of  the  rector,  Henry  de  Ritter,  in  1309 
(Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS.  f.  124). 

»  Chart.  R.  14  Hen.  III.  m.  10.  '  Pat.  29  Edw.  I.  m.  29. 

4  The  ordination  of  Archbishop  Corbridge,  which  recites  the  licence  of  King  Edward,  was  made 
on  29  March  1301,  '  cedente  vel  decedente  rectore  ipsius  ecclesiae  qui  nunc  est,'  but  the  rector  held  out 
for  some  years.     Archbishop  Greenfield  completed  the  ordination  on  19  February  1306-7.     In  the 
record  it  is  entitled  '  Acceptacio  et  approbacio  W.  Archiepiscopi  Eboracensis  super  appropriacione  eccle- 
sie  de  Dalston.'     The  deed  by  which  Bishop  Halton  assigned  the  stipend  to  the  vicar — '  Assignacio  vicario 
de  Dalston  '—is  dated  4  July  1307  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS.  ff.  107-9). 

5  These  were  the  reasons  alleged  by  Bishop  Kirkby  in  1334  why  his  diocese  was  unable  to  pay  the 
royal  tenth  demanded  from  the  clergy  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Kirkby  MS.  f.  308).     In  1341  the  same  bishop 
absolved  the  diocese  '  ab  onere  visitationis  '  in  consequence  of  their  impoverishment  by  the  Scottish  wars, 
and  pleaded  his  great  charges  in  guarding  the  Marches,  in  which  their  churches  were  situated,  that  the 
clergy  might  give  him  a  subsidy,  specially  as  he  foresaw  a  renewal  of  hostilities  (ibid.  f.  430). 

8  Pat.  21  Hen.  VI.  pt.  2,  m.  22  ;  Tanner,  Notitia  Monastica,  ed.  J.  Tanner,  p.  75 ;  Nicolson  and  Burn, 
Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  273. 

35 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

struenda  at  the  latter  place  for  the  souls  of  himself  and  his  ancestors.1  But 
the  fashion  did  not  take  hold  of  the  public  mind  till  a  much  later  date, 
when  it  became  a  rule  to  found  chantries  in  parish  churches.  We  have 
a  notable  example  of  this  when  it  became  necessary  to  transplant  the 
chantry  of  Bramwra  to  the  church  of  Hutton  in  1361.  Owing  to  the 
depreciation  in  the  value  of  land  caused  by  the  scarcity  of  tenants  and 
labourers  after  the  great  pestilence,2  the  endowments  of  the  chantry  were 
quite  insufficient  to  maintain  a  chaplain  at  Bramwra.  The  chapel  had 
been  vacant  for  a  long  time  and  no  priest  was  willing  to  undertake  the 
duty.  In  these  circumstances  Thomas  de  Hoton  in  the  Forest,  upon 
whom  the  right  of  the  founder  had  devolved,  reconstituted  the  chantry 
in  the  church  of  St.  James  in  Hutton,  and  gave,  in  addition  to  the  old 
endowment,  land  in  the  vill  of  Hutton  to  sustain  a  perpetual  chaplain  to 
celebrate  at  the  altar  of  the  blessed  Mary  there  for  the  souls  of  himself 
and  his  wife,  Isabel,  and  for  the  souls  of  their  parents  and  all  their  pre- 
decessors. It  was  stipulated  that  the  advowson  and  patronage  of  the 
chantry  should  be  vested  in  Thomas  de  Hoton  and  his  heirs.  In  giving 
confirmation  to  the  transference  of  the  institution,  Bishop  Welton 
ordained  that  the  chantry  priest  should  sing  or  say  (dicat  cum  nota  ve/ 
sine  nota]  the  Canonical  Hours  daily  with  the  rector  or  parish  chaplain 
of  Hutton  and  celebrate  at  St.  Mary's  altar  on  Sundays  with  special 
commemoration  of  all  souls  above  mentioned,  using  on  other  days  of  the 
week  the  office  of  the  dead  with  Placebo  and  Dirige.  It  should  be 
mentioned  that  the  chaplain  of  the  chantry  was  subject  to  the  rector  in 
all  canonical  and  lawful  demands.3  The  subjection  of  the  chaplain  to 

1  Inq.  p.m.  28  Edw.  I.  No.  133.  On  20  October  1302  a  writ  ad  quod  damnum  was  issued  to  the 
sheriff  to  inquire  if  Thomas  de  Capella  may  alienate  to  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  a  messuage  and  forty  acres 
of  land  in  Newton  Reigny  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton  MS.  f.  62).  The  founder  made  an  addition  to  the 
endowment  of  the  chantry  in  1310-1311  (Orig.  R.  4  Edw.  II.  m.  19  ;  Inq.  ad  quod  damnum,  4  Edw.  II. 
No.  66),  and  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  obtained  the  appropriation  of  the  chapel  in  the  following  year  (Orig.  R. 
5  Edw.  II.  m.  21).  John  de  Capella,  a  burgess  of  Carlisle,  founded  a  chantry  in  St.  Katherine's  chapel  in 
the  church  of  the  Blessed  Mary,  Carlisle,  the  chaplain  of  which  was  obliged  to  celebrate  for  his  soul  and 
for  the  souls  of  all  the  faithful  departed  for  ever.  In  1366  some  of  the  tenants  of  the  burgages,  with 
which  the  chantry  was  endowed,  withheld  the  rents  from  J.  de  Galwidia,  the  perpetual  chaplain,  to  '  the 
peril  of  their  souls  and  the  prejudice  of  the  said  chaplain  and  chantry '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Appleby  MS. 
f.  156). 

2  We  have  little  local  information  about  the  havoc  made  among  the  clergy  by  the  great  pestilence 
or  Black  Death  of  1349  in  this  diocese.  There  is  an  ominous  gap  in  the  diocesan  registers  between  1347 
and  1352.  When  the  plague  attacked  the  province  of  York,  the  pope  sent  the  archbishop  an  indulgence 
allowing  every  one  to  choose  his  own  confessor  with  a  proviso  that  the  privilege  should  not  be  abused. 
A  copy  of  this  brief  was  sent  to  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  on  28  April,  1 349  (Letters  from  the  Northern  Registers 
[Rolls  Series],  399-400).  There  is  more  explicit  evidence  of  the  devastation  among  the  clergy  caused  by 
the  second  visitation,  which  was  the  cause  of  the  removal  of  the  chantry  from  Bramwra  to  Hutton.  In 
1363  Bishop  Appleby  complained  to  the  pope  of  the  lack  of  priests  in  his  diocese  owing  to  the  late  pesti- 
lence, and  prayed  for  the  necessary  faculties  to  promote  forty  persons,  secular  and  regular,  of  the  age  of 
twenty  to  all  the  holy  orders  that  they  might  minister  in  the  same,  and  also  to  dispense  twelve  persons 
of  illegitimate  birth  and  six  others  being  sons  of  priests  or  illegitimate  sons  of  married  men,  so  that  they 
might  be  ordained  and  hold  benefices  with  cure  of  souls  (Cat.  of  Papal  Petitions,  i.  437). 

3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton  MS.  ff.  78-9.  There  is  an  account  of  a  very  curious  dispute  about  the 
patronage  of  a  chantry  in  the  church  of  Brigham  in  1532.  Sir  John  Lamplugh  had  the  King's  letters  to 
induct  one  Richard  Robinson,  clerk,  but  the  church  was  held  by  force  in  the  interests  of  the  Earl  of  North- 
umberland. The  parish  priest  was  obliged  to  go  '  to  his  chamer  to  say  his  mattens '  as  '  the  chirche 
dorrys  was  shett  upe  ne  culd  hawe  entres  in  the  chirche  bot  at  such  tymys  as  he  was  lattyne  in.'  The 
earl's  servants  abode  day  and  night  in  the  church  '  and  hawd  meytt  and  drynke  and  a  bed  within  the  sayd 

36 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

the  rector  or  vicar  of  the  church  in  which  the  chantry  was  established 
was  a  prevailing  feature  of  these  foundations.  When  Lady  Margaret 
de  Wigton  conferred  the  rectory  of  Wigton  on  the  monastery  of  Holm- 
cultram  in  1332  on  condition  that  four  monks  should  be  added  to  the 
inmates  of  the  convent  and  two  secular  priests  should  be  maintained  by 
the  monastery  in  Wigton  church  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  masses 
for  the  souls  of  her  ancestors  and  all  the  faithful  departed,  the  Bishop 
of  Carlisle  in  ordaining  the  chantry  made  provision  that  the  chaplains 
should  be  under  the  control  of  the  parochial  vicar.1 

The  bishop  presided  in  the  diocesan   synod 2  unless  prevented  by 
sufficient   cause,  in   which  case   he   commissioned   a   deputy,  often  the 
official  or  the  prior  of  Carlisle,  to  act  in  his  place.     Though  several  of 
these  commissions  are  recorded,  one  only  need  be  mentioned.     Bishop 
Welton,  wishing  to  have  counsel  and  advice  from  his  clergy  on  arduous 
business,  issued  a  mandate   in    1353    to   the    Abbot    of  Holmcultram, 
recently    made  his  official,  and  John  de  Welton,  learned  in  the  law, 
empowering  them   to  summon  together  the  prior   and   chapter  of  the 
cathedral  church,  abbots  and  priors  exempt  and   not  exempt,  the  arch- 
deacon, rectors,  vicars,  and  other  ecclesiastical  persons  within  the  diocese, 
and  to  expound    to  them  when  so  assembled  the  business  in  hand.      At 
the   Michaelmas  synod  in  the  following  year,  the  prior  of  Carlisle  was 
commissioned  to  convocate  the  clergy,  and  to  preside  in   the  bishop's 
absence  ;  also  to  certify  by  his  letters  the  result  of  their  deliberations.3 
By  virtue  of  their  appropriate  churches,  abbots   and   priors  of  religious 
houses  not  situated  in  the   diocese   were   obliged   to   attend  the   Carlisle 
synod   in   person    or   by  proxy   unless   the   obligation  was  remitted  by 
special  grace.     Bishop  Welton  was  very  considerate   in   granting  these 
remissions.     In  1354  he  issued  licences  to   Richard,  prior   of  Wartre  ; 
Thomas,   abbot   of  Whitby  ;   and  John,   prior  of  Connishead,  excusing 
their  personal  presence  in  synod  during  their  tenure   of  office.4     Mulcts 
(multe]  were  not  unfrequent  for  non-appearance.     In  1402  the  abbot  of 
Whitby  was  amerced  in  2OJ-.  because  '  in  no  manner  '  did  he  appear  in 
the  synod  held  after  the  feast  of  Michaelmas,  and  the  abbot  of  Fountains 
was  fined  IQJ.  in  1469  for  a  like  offence.     The  mulcts  of  the  parochial 
clergy  were  naturally  smaller  than  those  of  abbots  and  priors,  and  varied 
considerably,  perhaps  according  to   the   richness   of  the  benefice  or  the 
contumacy  of  the  offender.     The  rector  of  Greystoke  had  to  pay  6s.  8</., 
and  the  rector  of  Brough  under  Stainmore,  IQJ.   for   non-appearance  in 
1402.     The  bishops  were  not  very  exacting  in  the  levy  or   recovery  of 
these  fines.     In  1494  the  arrears  amounted  to  the  very  respectable  sums 

chirch  and  chantre.'     With  the  help  of  the  parishioners  the  intruders  were  finally  expelled  by  force  and 
possession  was  given  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  Vlll.,  vol.  v.  1433). 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Kirkby  MS.  ff.  280-1. 

2  The  holding  of  synods  and  the  payment  of  synodals  seem  to  be  coeval  with  the  formation  of  the 
diocese.  The  acts  of  the  early  bishops  of  Carlisle  assume  the  one  and  the  other  (Reg.  of  Wetherbal  [Cumbld. 
and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.],  44-5,  210-12  ;   Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  3,  6). 

3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton  MS.  ff.  I,  10 ;  Ibid.  Kirkby  MS.  f.  403. 
'  Ibid.  Welton  MS.  ff.  9,  10. 


37 


\. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

in  each  of  the  deaneries  as  follows  : — Carlisle,  i  ojs.  ^d.  ;  Cumberland, 
115-r.  ;  Allerdale,  88j.  lod.  ;  and  Westmorland,  143^.  \od.1  In  the 
matter,  however,  of  the  payment  of  synodals,  the  mandates  of  the  bishops 
gave  no  uncertain  sound.  Bishop  Appleby  issued  a  monition  to  the 
dean  of  Cumberland  in  1379  to  warn  those  clergy,  with  whose  names 
he  had  supplied  him,  that  they  must  pay  the  respective  sums  at  which 
their  benefices  were  rated  within  twenty  days  from  the  date  of  the 
monition.* 

The  most  interesting  document  connected  with  diocesan  synods  in 
Carlisle  may  be  found  in  the  second  of  the  ancient  registers  of  the  see 
bound  up  between  the  acts  of  Bishops  Welton  and  Appleby.  It  has  no 
date  and  little  internal  evidence  upon  which  to  found  a  conjecture  as 
to  the  episcopate  in  which  it  was  originally  drawn  up.3  The  compila- 
tion is  made  up  of  an  introduction  and  sixty-two  canons  or  constitutions 
on  subjects  of  ecclesiastical  work  and  administration.  The  statutes* 
embrace  a  wide  range  of  subjects  dealing  with  diocesan  and  parochial 
work.  There  are  directions  for  the  administration  of  the  sacraments 
and  the  instruction  of  the  people  ;  rules  for  the  custody  of  churches  and 
churchyards  ;  injunctions  about  sequestration,  wills,  tithes,  litigation, 
excommunication  and  punishment  ;  regulations  for  the  guidance  of 
archdeacons,  rural  deans,  and  executors,  for  visitations,  rural  chapters  and 
the  recovery  of  debts.  Several  of  the  constitutions  were  drawn  up  with 
special  reference  to  the  clergy  in  all  their  private,  social  and  public 
relations,  domestic  life,  association  with  nuns,  taverns,  secular  business, 
offices  and  courts,  their  ordination,  learning,  residence,  amusements,  and 
goods.  Few  of  these  diocesan  regulations  are  without  local  colour. 
Though  nearly  all  of  them  may  be  found  among  the  institutes  of  other 
dioceses,  they  have  been  so  adapted  to  the  needs  of  Carlisle  that  they 

i  These  facts  are  taken  from  the  original  Compoti  of  registrars  and  rural  deans  now  in  the  Bishop's 
Registry  at  Carlisle. 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Appleby  MS.  f.  312.  Lists  of  the  '  denarii  synodales '  payable  at  various  periods 
by  the  benefices  of  the  diocese,  arranged  under  deaneries,  may  be  found  among  the  diocesan  muniments. 
For  the  fourteenth  century,  see  ibid.  Halton  MS.  G.  501-2,  and  ibid.  Appleby,  MS.  f.  340 ;  for  the 
seventeenth  century,  the  manuscript  Rental  of  Bp.  White ;  and  for  the  eighteenth  century,  the  MS. 
Schedule  of  Bp.  Osbaldiston.  The  synodals  pro  utroque  termino  were  4/.  or  ^s.  for  each  benefice  in  the 
fourteenth  century  and  only  half  of  these  sums  in  the  seventeenth,  but  the  custom  of  the  eighteenth 
century  reverted  back  to  the  payment  of  the  full  quota.  Such  churches  as  Stapleton,  Eston,  Cambok, 
Carlatton,  and  others  were  excused  payment  in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  owing  to  the  de- 
struction caused  by  Scottish  invasions.  The  payment  of  synodals  and  procurations  was  abolished  in  the 
diocese  of  Carlisle  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  for  England  by  virtue  of  '  an  instrument  which 
has  been  sealed  by  the  Board  and  which  was  published  in  the  London  Gazette  on  the  31  July,  1876.' 

3  The  copy  of  the  constitutions  entered  in  the  diocesan  register  of  Carlisle  (Welton  MS.  ff.  129- 
140)  must  have  been  made  long  after  they  had  been  enacted  in  synod  and  published  by  the  bishop.     The 
scribe,  when  adding  marginal  notes,  was  sometimes  in  doubt  about  the  true  meaning  of  an  article  and 
placed  ut  patft  as  a  warning  to  the  reader  not  to  take  his  summary  as  absolute.     The  articles  of  greater 
importance  and  more  frequent  use  are  scored  with  index  fingers.     These  constitutions  probably  belong 
to  the  great  episcopate  of  Bishop  Halton. 

4  The  Carlisle  constitutions  were  framed  on  the  model  of  the  statutes  of  the  councils  mentioned 
in  the  preamble.     The  Lateran  council  was  held  in  1215  under  Pope  Innocent  III.    The  canons  of  the 
council  of  Oxford,  held  for  all  England  under  Archbishop  Langton  in  1222,  were  published  in  con- 
formity with  those  of  the  Lateran.     The  bishop  of  Carlisle  followed  closely  the  canons  of  Oxford  in  many 
particulars.    The  council  of  London,  celebrated  in  1237  under  Otto  the  papal  legate,  the  archbishops 
of  Canterbury  and  York  sitting  with  him,  was  also  for  all  England. 

38 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

may  be  regarded  as  characteristic  of  northern  ecclesiastical  life  and 
morals.  The  constitutions  on  the  decline  in  popular  esteem  of  the  feasts 
of  St.  Cuthbert  and  on  the  prevalence  of  perjury  in  the  diocese  may  be 
taken  as  examples  of  independent  legislation.  Few  will  withhold  a  word 
of  admiration  for  their  high  religious  tone  and  far-reaching  usefulness. 
No  one  can  read  these  diocesan  constitutions  without  the  conviction 
that  the  public  worship  of  God  had  been  conducted  with  a  reverent 
solemnity  and  magnificent  splendour  capable  of  engaging  the  senses  and 
impressing  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  that  distant  age.1 

There  does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  ritual  uniformity  in 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland  before  the  promulgation  of  the  Book  of 
Common  Prayer  as  the  national  use  in  the  sixteenth  century.  By  an 
enactment  of  the  diocesan  synod  in  the  fourteenth  century  the  Arch- 
deacon of  Carlisle  was  obliged,  when  on  visitation,  to  inquire  whether 
the  canon  of  the  mass  was  celebrated  in  churches  correctly  and  dis- 
tinctly according  to  the  use  of  York  or  Sarum.2  From  this  it  may  be 
gathered  that  either  *  use '  could  be  selected  according  to  the  predilec- 
tion of  individual  incumbents.  When  Sir  Robert  Parvyng  attempted 
to  found  a  college  in  the  church  of  Melmerby  in  1342,  it  was  ordained 
that  the  master  and  chaplains,  vested  in  surplice,  amice  and  black  cope, 
should  sing  matins  and  prime  daily  at  sunrise  according  to  the  use  of 
the  church  of  Sarum.3  On  the  other  hand,  in  1 369,  Richard  de  Aslacby, 
vicar  of  St.  Michael,  Appleby,  bequeathed  to  his  son  John  a  psalter  and 
a  breviary  of  the  use  of  York.1  In  this  respect  Carlisle  seems  to  have 
followed  the  custom  of  the  metropolitan  diocese  of  York,  where  the 
uses  of  York  and  Sarum  were  employed  at  discretion. 

The  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  too  compact  to  need  the  permanent 
employment  of  a  bishop  suffragan.  Neighbouring  bishops,  or  some- 
times the  suffragans  of  York,  were  called  in  to  perform  the  necessary 

1  For  a  century  and  a  half  after  the  Submission  of  the  Clergy  in  1534,  when  the  diocesan  synod  was 
emptied  of  its  legislative  functions,  the  bishops  of  Carlisle  continued  to  call  their  clergy  together  twice 
a  year  as  aforetime,  viz.  soon  after  Easter  and  about  Michaelmas,  the  traditional  dates  on  which  synods 
had  been  held  in  previous  centuries.  Bishop  Robinson  celebrated  his  sacnsancta  synodos  in  1606,  the 
record  of  which  still  exists.  At  the  Easter  session,  Chancellor  Dethick  presided,  and  at  Michaelmas  the 
bishop  presided  in  person.  In  1627,  during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  White,  there  were  '  two  Synods 
in  the  yere  on  Thursdaies  after  Low  Sunday  and  Michaelmas.'  The  total  of  the  synodals  paid  at  each 
session  was  £6  gs.  8d.,  of  which  sum  js.  6d.  was  '  due  to  the  fouer  Rural  Deans ;  to  the  archdeacon, 
£l  igj.  <)d.  So  there  remains  due  to  the  Lo.  Bishop  every  synod,  £4  2s.  $d.  So  this  is  pd.  twice  in  the 
yere,  scilicet,  yerely,  £8  4*.  lod.'  (Rental  of  Dp.  White,  MS.).  In  1686  Bishop  Smith  issued  a  monition 
for  holding  a  synod.  He  intimated  to  his  apparitor-general  that  he  purposed  doing  so  for  the  whole  of 
the  diocese  on  Thursday,  19  August,  in  the  consistorial  place  (loco  consistorialf)  of  his  cathedral  church 
at  nine  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  To  this  holy  synod  were  called  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Carlisle,  and 
all  rectors,  vicars,  curates,  and  stipendiaries  who  were  wont  to  be  summoned  ab  antiquo.  The  clergy 
were  required  to  pay  '  the  annual  synodals  and  all  other  sums  of  money  due  and  payable  to  us  by  reason 
of  the  said  synod  '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Smith  MS.  ff.  87-8).  Records  of  the  diocesan  synod  should  be  care- 
fully distinguished  from  those  of  synods  ad  eligendum,  that  is,  meetings  of  the  clergy  of  the  archdeaconry 
to  elect  proctors  for  convocation  (ibid.  ff.  186-7). 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton  MS.  f.  135. 

3  Ibid.  Kirkby  MS.  f.  459. 

«  Ibid.  Appleby  MS.  f.  178.  In  1342  the  Vicar  of  Morland,  vultum  lugulrem  exhibens,  complained 
to  Bishop  Kirkby  that  on  his  way  from  Morland  to  Penrith  he  lost  his  book,  called  a  Journal,  which  he 
carried  with  him  for  the  purpose  of  saying  the  Canonical  Hours  either  on  the  road  or  in  the  vill  of 
Penrith  (ibid.  Kirkby  MS.  f.  451). 

39 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

functions  when  the  see  was  vacant  or  in  cases  of  illness  or  absence.  On 
several  occasions  during  the  latter  portion  of  the  twelfth  century  the 
bishop  of  Whithern,  probably  under  commission  from  the  archbishop, 
was  employed  in  Carlisle,  and  remunerated  for  his  services  out  of  the 
Exchequer.1  When  Bishop  Appleby  was  unable,  owing  to  illness,  to 
cope  with  the  work  entailed  on  him  in  preparation  for  the  Eastertide  of 
1371,  he  issued  a  commission  to  William,  bishop  of  Sodor,  solely  for 
the  consecration  of  holy  oil  and  the  confection  of  chrism,  naming 
Maundy  Thursday  and  Dalston  church  as  the  time  and  place  for  the 
performance  of  the  function.3  If  a  considerable  time  elapsed  between 
the  death  or  translation  of  one  bishop  and  the  enthronement  of  another, 
the  services  of  a  suffragan  were  requisitioned  to  do  what  was  necessary. 
When  William  Raa,  diocesan  registrar,  rendered  his  account  to  Bishop 
Story  in  1464-5,  he  reported  that  he  had  nothing  to  answer  in  the 
matter  of  dimissory  letters,  as  they  had  been  issued  without  charge,  no 
suffragan  having  been  engaged  before  his  incoming.  The  costs  of  em- 
ploying a  suffragan  during  a  vacancy  were  charged  to  the  revenues  of 
the  bishopric.  In  1478-9  Robert  Whelpdale,  the  registrar,  paid  to  the 
lord  suffragan  of  York  2os.  in  part  of  a  greater  sum  due  to  him  by 
Bishop  Bell.  The  same  prelate,  through  his  registrar,  Richard  Stanley, 
paid  a  sum  of  4o.r.  on  27  August  1489  for  a  like  purpose.3  It  may  be 
taken  that  the  institution  was  not  known  in  the  diocese  before  the 
Reformation,  and  that  when  outside  bishops  were  employed  they  were 
remunerated  according  to  the  services  rendered.4 

The  frequent  mention  in  the  episcopal  records  of  the  occurrence  of 
bloodshed  and  violence  in  churchyards  arose  partly  no  doubt  from  the 
practice  of  holding  fairs  and  markets  in  such  places  during  the  medieval 
period.5  Though  the  statute  of  1285  (13  Edw.  I.  st.  2.  cap.  6)  alleged 
'  the  honour  of  the  church  '  as  the  reason  for  prohibiting  the  custom, 

1  Pipe  R.  5  and  6  Hen.  II.      An  allowance  of  141.  Sd.  was  made  by  the  sheriff  of  Cumberland  in  each 
of  these  years,  1159  and  1160,  to  this  bishop, 
a  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Appleby  MS.  f.  247. 

3  Accounts  of  the  diocesan  registrars,  MS.  1464-90. 

4  The  parliament  of  Henry  VIII.  (26  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  14),  providing  for  the  appointment  of  suffra- 
gans, specified  the  names  of  several  towns  which  should  '  be  taken  and  accepted  for  the  sees  of  Bishops 
Suffragans  to  be  made  in  this  realm  and  in  Wales.'     As  '  Pereth  '  is  one  of  the  towns  mentioned  in  the 
Act,  it  was  confused  with  Penrith  in  Cumberland,  a  pardonable  error  when  it  is  remembered  that  the 
Cumbrian  town  was  often  written  '  Perith,'     and  is  often  so  pronounced  at  the  present  day.     At  no 
period,  perhaps^was  the  confusion  more  inconvenient  than  in  1888,  when  the  bishop  of  Ripon  selected 
the  town  of  Penrith  as  the  titular  see  of  his  suffragan.     The  consecration  led  to  a  protest  from  the  dio- 
cese of  Carlisle,  which  contributed  to  the  change  of  title  to  that  of  Richmond  by  Royal  warrant  in  1889. 
To  this  controversy  we  owe  the  'Suffragans  Nomination  Act'  (51  &  52  Victoria,  c.  56)  and  the  sub- 
sequent consecration  of  the  Rev.  H.  Ware,  on  11  June  1889,  as  the  first  bishop  suffragan  of  Carlisle  with 
the  title  of  Bishop  of  Barrow-in-Furness. 

6  For  the  origin  of  fairs  and  markets  in  churchyards,  see  Spelman,  Glossarium,  s.v.  Feria.  Causes 
of  blood  were  forbidden  to  be  heard  in  churches  or  churchyards  by  a  constitution  of  Archbishop  Langton 
in  1222  (Lyndwood,  Provincial,  Oxford  edition,  p.  270).  Markets  were  prohibited  in  churches  (and  in 
churchyards  according  to  the  gloss  of  John  of  Athon)  by  the  constitution  of  Othobon  in  1269  (Lyndwood, 
Constitutions  Legatinae,  p.  136).  The  penalties  for  striking  or  drawing  weapons  in  sacred  places  are 
set  out  in  the  statute  of  5  Edw.  VI.  cap.  4.  The  88th  canon  of  1603  rigidly  insisted  on  the  inviolate 
character  of  churches  and  churchyards.  Breaches  of  the  seventh  commandment  or  other  uncleanness 
as  well  as  the  shedding  of  blood,  were  held  to  cause  desecration  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton  MS.  f.  5). 

40 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  the  real  motive  was  of  a  different 
nature.  In  1300  Isabel  de  Fortibus,  countess  of  Albemarle,  was  sum- 
moned to  show  by  what  right  she  held  a  market  at  Crosthwaite  without 
the  King's  licence,  to  which  charge  she  replied  by  her  attorney  that  she 
held  no  market  and  exacted  no  toll,  stallage,  nor  any  other  profit,  but 
that  the  men  of  that  neighbourhood  were  accustomed  to  meet  at  the 
church  there  on  festival  days  for  the  sale  of  flesh  and  fish.1  As  the 
practice  was  continued,  the  people  of  Cockermouth  complained  to 
Parliament  in  1306  that  the  congregation  of  Crosthwaite  bought  and 
sold  every  Sunday  in  their  churchyard  corn,  flour,  beans,  peas,  linen, 
cloth,  meat,  fish  and  other  merchandise  to  the  detriment  of  the  Cocker- 
mouth  market,  and  in  contravention  of  the  rights  of  the  Crown  therein. 
In  response  to  this  petition  the  sheriff  of  Cumberland  was  ordered  to 
stop  the  holding  of  the  market  in  Crosthwaite  churchyard  on  Sunday  or 
any  other  day.* 

If  the  interests  of  commerce  weighed  with  Parliament  in  forbidding 
Sunday  markets  in  churchyards,  another  consideration  altogether  was 
present  in  the  minds  of  the  clergy  of  Carlisle.  By  a  fourteenth  century 
constitution  of  the  diocesan  synod,  pleas  and  markets  were  forbidden  to 
be  held  in  churchyards.  The  canon  declared  that  as  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  ejected  those  who  bought  and  sold  in  the  Temple  that  the 
house  of  prayer  might  not  be  made  into  the  den  of  a  thief,  so  it  was 
justifiable  for  the  synod  to  decree  that  public  markets  or  pleas  should 
not  be  held  in  churches,  porches  or  churchyards  on  Sundays  or  other 
days,  and  that  buildings  should  not  be  erected  therein  unless  the  time  of 
war  demanded  it,  and  if  they  had  been  so  erected  they  should  be  thrown 
down.  Parish  priests  were  also  enjoined  to  forbid  lewd  dances  (luitas 
choreas)  or  other  shameful  plays,  specially  on  festivals  of  the  church  and 
vigils  of  saints,  for  those  who  did  such  things  were  accounted  to  sacrifice 
to  demons  and  desecrate  holy  places  and  sacred  seasons.3  But  the  statute 
of  the  diocesan  synod  was  not  sufficient  to  check  the  custom  in  Carlisle. 
In  1379  Bishop  Appleby  learned  that  fairs  and  markets  were  held  on 
Sundays  and  festival  days  in  churches  and  churchyards  throughout  his 
diocese,  and  that  owing  to  the  tumult  caused  thereby  it  was  impossible 
for  rightly  disposed  persons  to  attend  to  their  devotions.4  In  the  bishop's 
opinion  the  time  had  come  for  the  discontinuance  of  the  custom,  and  in 
consequence  the  machinery  of  the  diocese  was  put  in  motion  to  abate 
the  nuisance.  Many  centuries  were  destined  to  elapse  before  the  bishop's 
hopes  were  realized.6 


1  Placita  de  Quo  Warranto  (Rec.  Com.),  p.  115. 

2  Rot.  Parl.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  197  ;   Ryley,  Placita  Parliamentaria,  332-3. 


3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton  MS.  f.  132. 

«  Ibid.  Appleby  MS.  f.  313. 

6  Hutchinson  relates  a  story  of  Thomas  Warcop,  Vicar  of  Wigton  1612-1653,  in  connection  with 
the  butcher  market  held  in  that  town  on  Sundays  during  his  incumbency.  '  The  butchers,'  he  said, 
'  bring  up  their  carcases  even  at  the  church  door  to  attract  the  notice  of  their  customers  as  they  went  in 
and  came  out  of  church  ;  and  it  was  not  infrequent  to  see  people  who  had  made  their  bargains  before 
prayer  began,  to  hang  their  joints  of  meat  over  the  backs  of  the  seats  until  the  pious  clergyman  had 
finished  the  service  '  (Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  479). 

II  41  6 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

The  bishops  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  in  the  Border 
diocese  were  as  a  rule  men  of  action,  either  as  soldiers  and  diplomatists 
or  as  prelates  and  pastors.     Bishop  Halton,  not  merely  by  reason  of  the 
duration  and  strenuousness  of  his  episcopate,  but  on  account  of  his  re- 
markable individuality,  may  be  truly  regarded  as   one  of  the  greatest 
bishops  that  has  ever  adorned  the  northern  see.     His  untiring  energy 
during  the  early  severities  of  international  troubles,  his  attentive  super- 
vision of  the  diocese,  his  independence  of  papal  dictation,1  his  tact  as  a 
diplomatist,  as  well  as  his  courage  as  a  soldier,  the  trusted  counsellor  of 
his  sovereign  and  the  resolute  defender  of  his  clergy,  the  rebuilder   of 
his  cathedral  and  the  impartial  dispenser  of  justice  among  his  people, 
qualities  such  as  these  shed  a   lustre   on   his   episcopate   and   make   it 
memorable  for  all  time.     Bishop  Ross,  his  successor,  was  a  prelate  of 
different  mould,  a  mere  puppet  of  the  papacy,  who  was  wont  to  describe 
himself  as  bishop  of  Carlisle  *  by  divine  permission  and  by  favour  of  the 
apostolic  see.' a     A  local  historian  called  him  a  man  from   the   south 
(homo  australis]  imposed  on  the  diocese  by  the  pope.3     From  his  subse- 
quent quarrels  with   the  prior  and   convent   about  their   appropriated 
churches  *    we    may   infer   that  the   cathedral  body   never    forgot    the 
manner  of  his  appointment  when  their  own  nominee  was  rejected  in 
his  favour.     In  many  respects  Bishop  Kirkby's  tenure  of  the   see  was 
the  stormiest  on  record.     When  he  was  not  fighting  with  the  Scots  in 
the  open  field,  he  was  engaged  in  feuds  with  the  pope,  the  chapter  of 
York,  or  his  own  archdeacon  ; B  but  he  appeared  to  care  as  little  for  the 
threats  of  excommunication  from  Rome  as  the  actualities   of  invasion 
from  Scotland.     When  some  of  his  officers  were  assaulted  at  Penrith  in 
1337  and  at  Caldeustanes  in  the  suburbs  of  Carlisle  in  1341,  he  issued 
in  each  case  a  general  sentence  of  outlawry  against  the   assailants,  and 
afterwards  ordered  the  body  of  one  of  them  to  be  exhumed   and  cast 
out  of  the  churchyard.     Before  the  mandate  was  carried  out,  however, 
he  was  induced  to  relent  on  the  intercession  of  Robert  Parvynk  and  to 
absolve  the  corpse.8     His  firmness  in  the  exercise  of  disciplinary  powers 
during  a  period  of  unexampled  laxity  caused  by  the  Scottish  wars  pre- 
pared the  diocese  for  the  quiet  episcopates  which  followed.     There   is 

»  Bishop  Halton  was  a  signatory  to  the  non-allowance  of  a  papal  provision  in  1305.  Hugh,  bishop 
of  Byblus  in  Syria,  presented  letters  from  Benedict  XL, appealing  to  the  King  for  a  provision,  as  Hugh 
had  been  harassed  by  the  Saracens  and  was  unable  to  maintain  his  dignity.  The  privy  council  of  King 
Edward,  of  which  Bishop  Halton  was  a  member,  replied  that  the  papal  request  was  '  manifestly  preju- 
dicial to  the  king  and  his  royal  crown,  and  therefore  could  not  be  granted  '  (Rot.  Parl.  [Rec.  Com.],  i. 
lySb,  179).  It  was  at  Carlisle  that  the  first  anti-papal  statute  was  passed  by  the  English  Parliament, 
35  Edw.  I.  cap.  2  (Ingram,  England  and  Rome,  p.  99).  In  1318  Bishop  Halton  was  selected  as  one  of  the 
peers  to  be  in  close  attendance  on  Edward  II.  (Close  12  Edw.  II.  m.  2zd  ;  Rot.  Parl.  i.  4S3b).  He 
was  present  at  the  great  council  of  Vienne  in  1311-12  when  the  Templars  were  suppressed  (Milman, 
Latin  Christianity,  ed.  1867,  vii.  298-302).  His  arrangements  for  the  administration  of  the  diocese, 
while  he  was  '  in  remotis,'  and  several  of  his  acts,  while  he  sojourned  '  apud  Viennam,'  are  recorded  in 
his  Register,  MS.  ff.  142-3. 

"  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Ross  MS.  f.  253. 

«  Cbron.  de  Lanercost,  p.  253. 

«  Car!.  Epis.  Reg.  Ross  MS.  f.  258. 

»  Ibid.  Kirkby  MS.  ff.  358-9,  362,  367,  453-5,  458,  etc. 

«  Ibid.  ff.  355,  427,  431. 

42 


THE  MEETING   OF  RICHARD   II.  AND   BISHOP  MERKS  WITH  HENRY 
OF  LANCASTER. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

no  need  to  dwell  on  the  domestic  policy  of  Bishops  Welton  and  Appleby, 
for  apart  from  their  political  services  on  the  frontier,  their  tenures  of 
the  see  were  chiefly  remarkable  for  devotion  to  the  work  of  the  pastoral 
office.  For  almost  the  whole  of  his  episcopal  life,  1353—62,  vigorous 
efforts  were  made  by  Bishop  Welton  to  restore  and  beautify  the  choir 
of  his  cathedral.1  The  long  episcopate  of  Bishop  Appleby,  1363—95, 
was  unhappily  disturbed  by  a  grievous  commotion  in  his  chapter,  which 
threw  the  diocese  into  an  uproar  for  several  years.3 

Little  need  be  said  of  the  two  bishops  whose  episcopates  brought 
the  fourteenth  century  to  a  close.  Robert  Read  was  bishop  of  Carlisle 
only  for  a  few  months  in  1396  before  his  translation  to  Chichester.3 
Though  Bishop  Merks  cannot  have  often  visited  his  diocese  during  the 
two  years  he  held  the  see,  he  is  perhaps  the  most  famous  of  all  the 
medieval  bishops  of  Carlisle.  The  speech  *  which  he  is  alleged  to  have 
delivered  in  the  Parliament  of  1399  on  behalf  of  his  unfortunate 
sovereign,  Richard  II.,  has  played  an  important  role  in  the  controversies 
about  the  royal  prerogative  which  raged  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Whether  or  not  he  made  the  speech  ascribed  to  him,  it  is  certain  that 
the  bishop  was  much  in  the  company  of  King  Richard  before  his  de- 
position, and  that  he  was  actually  present  at  the  time  it  is  supposed  to 
have  been  delivered.  Moreover,  Henry  IV.  informed  the  pope  in  1400 
that  he  had  deprived  Merks  of  his  bishopric  for  high  treason  and 
treachery  to  his  royal  person.  The  portrait  of  this  bishop,  the  earliest 
portrait  of  a  bishop  of  Carlisle  in  existence,  is  preserved  in  the  British 
Museum. 

None  of  the  bishops  of  the  fifteenth  century  left  a  permanent  mark 
on  the  diocese  except  Bishop  Strickland  at  the  beginning  and  Bishop 
Bell  at  the  end  of  the  century.  We  do  not  attribute  this  phenomenon 
to  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  nation  during  the  historic  struggle 
between  the  houses  of  Lancaster  and  York  half  as  much  as  to  the  short- 
ness of  the  episcopates.  No  fewer  than  eleven  bishops  ruled  the  diocese 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton  MS.  ff.  64,  74,  82,  109, 123.  In  1363  the  pope  granted  an  indulgence 
to  penitents  who  visited  the  cathedral,  which  had  been  burned,  on  the  five  feasts  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
or  who  would  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  fabric  (Cal.  Papal  Petitions,  i.  437). 

J  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Appleby  MS.  ff.  348-53.  This  disturbance  is  noticed  in  the  account  of  the 
priory  of  Carlisle. 

3  Bishop  Robert  Read  was  translated  from  Lismore  to  Carlisle  on  26  January,  1395-96,  and  from 
Carlisle  to  Chichester  on  5  October,  1396  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  iv.  535,  539).     In  the  same  year  John 
Frizelle,  rector  of  Uldale,  had  an  indult  for  seven  years  to  let  the  fruits  of  his  rectory  to  farm  while 
engaged  elsewhere,  as  he  was    unable  to   reside  without  danger  owing  to  the    whirlwinds  of  war 
(guerrarum  turbines)  which  were  afflicting  the  diocese  (ibid.  iv.  535). 

4  The  controversies  occasioned  by  this  speech  cannot  be  reviewed  here.     The  speech  is  ascribed 
to  the  bishop  by  the  contemporary  author  of  the  Chroniquedela  Traisonet  Mori  de  Rich.  11.  (Eng.  Hist. 
Soc.),  pp.  70-1,  though  it  is  not  mentioned  by  another  French  contemporary  authority,  the  metrical 
chronicle  of  Creton  (Archaeokgia,  xx.  99),  which  states  that  no  word  was  said  in  parliament  in  Richard's 
favour.     Much  has  been  written  by  the  editors  of  these  chronicles  for  and  against  the  authenticity  of  the 
speech.     It  has  been  also  recorded  and  embellished  by  Hall  (Chronicle,  p.  14,  ed.  1809),  Holinshed  (Chron- 
icles, iii.  pt.  i.  512),    and    Shakespeare  (Richard  II.,  Act.  iv.  Scene  i),  from  whom  it  passed  into 
English  literature.    The  speech  has  been  often  printed  in  separate  form,  as  may  be  seen  by  reference  to 
the  catalogue  of  the  library  in  the  British  Museum.    Bishop  White  Kennett  vigorously  attacked  the 
authenticity  of  the  speech  in  three  celebrated  but  now  very  rare  '  Letters  to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  con- 
cerning one  of  his  predecessors,  Bishop  Merks,'  published  in  1713,  1716,  and  1717. 

43 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

during  that  period,  a  larger  number  than  in  any  other  century  of  its 
history,  several  of  whom  were  in  possession  only  for  a  few  years.  To 
the  episcopates  of  Bishop  Strickland,  1400-19,  and  of  Bishop  Bell, 
1478—96,  may  be  traced  various  diocesan  undertakings,  some  of  which 
remain  to  this  day.1  But  it  must  not  be  assumed  from  the  frequent 
vacancies  in  the  bishopric  that  the  work  of  the  church  was  altogether 
impeded,  or  that  there  was  anything  in  the  nature  of  lethargy  or  stagna- 
tion peculiar  to  the  fifteenth  century.  The  ecclesiastical  machinery 
continued  to  move  in  its  destined  course  :  the  bishops  changed,  but  the 
organizations  of  the  diocese  went  on.  The  ministers'  accounts  of  the 
see2  which  have  survived  for  this  century  show  that  the  diocese  was 
well  equipped  in  all  its  departments,  and  that  the  diocesan  officers  of 
all  grades  were  not  slow  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  The  dis- 
ciplinary powers  of  the  court  were  exercised  in  the  cases  of  clergy  and 
laity  as  occasion  required,  and  ample  provision  was  made  for  bringing 
religious  ministrations  within  reach  of  the  people.  The  bishops  kept  a 
staff  of  domestic  chaplains  about  them,  who  seem  to  have  been  passed 
on  from  one  bishop  to  another,  and  were  always  ready  to  take  charge  of 
a  parish  when  the  incumbent  died  or  was  laid  aside  by  illness.  The 
parochial  clergy  worked  under  many  difficulties.  Licences  for  non- 
residence  were  often  issued  and  pluralities  were  allowed.  At  one  time 
the  diocese  was  thrown  into  a  turmoil  as  the  fortunes  of  war  gave  suc- 
cess to  the  Yorkist  or  Lancastrian  faction,  and  at  another  it  was  devas- 
tated by  an  incursion  of  the  Scots. 

During  the  time  of  the  relaxation  of  hostilities  between  the  two 
kingdoms,  inaugurated  by  the  accession  of  the  Tudor  dynasty  and  the 
close  of  the  wars  between  the  rival  Roses,  more  settled  modes  of  life 
became  possible  and  a  new  era  may  be  said  to  have  commenced.  The 
close  of  the  fifteenth  century  and  the  early  years  of  the  sixteenth 
witnessed  an  astonishing  revival  of  ecclesiastical  activity  in  the  diocese 
of  Carlisle.  Though  many  of  the  parish  churches  in  Cumberland  bear 
traces  of  architectural  alteration  at  this  period,  the  new  spirit  is  more 
manifest  in  the  monastic  houses.  Within  a  few  miles  of  the  Border, 
three  of  the  most  important  houses  in  the  north-western  county  were 
situated,  each  of  which  was  exposed  to  incessant  attack.  The  priory  of 
Carlisle,  protected  by  the  walls  of  the  city,  was  more  at  liberty  to  follow 
its  internal  development  without  serious  inconvenience,  but  Holmcul- 
tram  and  Lanercost  were  destitute  of  this  advantage.  As  soon  as  inter- 

1  According  to  Leland,  Bishop  Strickland  '  fecit  magnum  campanile  in  cathedrali  ecclesia  a  medie- 
tate  ad  summum,  una  cum  quatuor  magnis  campanis  in  eadem,  et  stalla  perpulchra  in  choro,  et  co-oper- 
torium  cancellae  ejusdem.  Aedificavit  turrim  magnam  in  manerio  de  Rosa,  quae  adhuc  vocatur  Strikelands 
Towre  '  (Collectanea,  ed.  T.  Hearne,  1774,  i.  346).  The  same  authority  states  that  '  Strikland,  bishop 
of  Cairluel  did  the  cost  to  dig  '  the  Penrith  water  supply  (Itinerary,  ed.T.  Hearne,  1711,  vii.  50-1).  In 
the  compoti  of  the  diocesan  receiver-general  for  1488-9,  there  is  a  full  account  of  the  costs  of  rebuild- 
ing the  castle  and  chapel  of  Rose.  For  the  decoration  of  the  chapel  three  images  were  purchased  at 
York  by  Bishop  Bell. 

»  Too  little  attention  has  been  given  to  these  diocesan  accounts  :  they  are  full  of  the  most  curious 
information  about  the  administration  of  the  diocese  during  several  episcopates  from  Bishop  Strickland 
to  Bishop  Penny.  They  consist  of  numerous  rolls  of  parchment  and  paper  in  the  Registry  of  Carlisle. 

44 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

national  matters  began  to  settle  down,  there  is  ample  proof  of  activity 
and  vigour  in  repairing  and  improving  what  had  been  ruinated  by 
neglect  and  war.  The  election  of  Prior  Godebowre  of  Carlisle  almost 
synchronised  with  the  period  indicated,  and  very  soon  after  his  appoint- 
ment his  labour  in  beautifying  the  priory  was  begun.  It  is  scarcely 
possible  to  exaggerate  the  value  and  amount  of  the  work  done  by  him 
and  his  two  successors  within  the  priory  precincts.  Their  names  or 
initials  are  found  almost  everywhere.  Turning  to  Holmcultram,  the 
largest  and  wealthiest  house  in  the  county,  the  same  evidence  of  vitality 
and  zeal  was  manifest  at  this  time.  Abbot  Chamber  was  a  great  builder, 
and  the  fragments  of  his  work  in  that  church  and  neighbourhood  are 
monuments  of  his  energy  and  skill.  Meanwhile  the  religious  men  of 
the  neighbouring  priory  of  Lanercost  were  not  idle.  There  is  no  need 
to  search  the  ruins  for  bricks  and  mortar,  inscriptions  and  dates,  as  valid 
witnesses  of  contemporary  facts.  We  have  documentary  proof  that  the 
prior  and  his  brethren  were  just  as  active  as  their  neighbours  in  bringing 
up  their  church  and  conventual  buildings  to  the  requirements  of  a  more 
peaceful  and  settled  period.1  That  which  strikes  us  in  all  these  improve- 
ments and  decorations  is  the  evidence  it  affords,  which  cannot  be  con- 
tested, that  the  monasteries  on  the  Border  were  full  of  life  and  vigour  at 
the  time  that  violent  hands  were  laid  upon  them. 

Conspicuous  in  this  movement  was  the  desire  to  recall  the  monas- 
teries to  their  ancient  ideals  of  austere  devotion  and  charity.  With  the 
restoration  of  the  outward  fabrics  of  the  monasteries  there  was  a  corre- 
sponding revival  of  monastic  rule  and  a  general  transformation  of  religious 
life.  It  was  a  time  of  national  renascence.  Wolsey  was  its  guide.  His 
attempt  to  save  the  church  of  England  in  its  entirety  by  a  judicious 
reformation  has  not  received  the  attention  it  deserves.  But  we  are  only 
concerned  with  his  doings  so  far  as  they  relate  to  our  own  district. 
Synods  of  the  regular  and  secular  clergy  were  held  and  codes  of  regula- 
tions were  drawn  up  and  issued  to  the  monasteries  and  the  bishops.  We 
have  no  certain  evidence  that  any  of  the  local  ecclesiastical  magnates 
took  part  in  the  deliberations  at  Leicester  and  London.  Whether  they 
did  or  not  is  immaterial  ;  we  know  their  attitude.  Prior  Simon,  whose 
zeal  at  Carlisle  is  well  known,  did  not  appear  in  person  or  by 
proxy  at  Leicester  in  1518,  but  the  worst  complaint  the  visitors  of  his 
Order  could  make  against  him  was  that  he  had  forwarded  his  dues  with 
the  accustomed  liberality  of  his  house.*  It  is  fortunate  that  we  have  a 
clear  statement,  a  year  or  two  later,  of  the  views  of  the  bishop  of 
Carlisle  on  the  religious  movement  of  this  time.  It  is  a  most  pathetic 

'  Additional  MS.  24,965,  f.  218  ;  L,  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  iv.  128. 

2  The  priors  of  Kyrkam  and  Worsthorpe,  visitors  of  the  province  of  York,  certified  '  quod  prior 
de  Carlill  nee  per  se  nee  per  procuratorem  comparet,  cum  quo  tamen  mitius  agitur  prematura  sua  liberali- 
tate  loci  debita  '  (Cotton  MS.  Vespasian,  D.  i.  68b).  At  this  Council  the  Cardinal  was  admitted  a  con- 
frere of  the  chapter  and  commissioned  to  reform  the  Order  (Ibid.  Vitellius,  B.  iii.  223).  Wolsey  lost  no 
time  in  issuing  his  ordinationei  ft  statuta,  consisting  of  eighteen  articles,  on  the  internal  discipline  of 
Austin  monasteries  (Ibid.  Vespasian,  F.  ix.  22  et  seq.).  These  statutes  have  been  printed  by  Wilkins 
(Concilia,  iii.  683-8).  The  priories  of  Carlisle  and  Lanercost  would  be  affected  by  these  injunctions. 

45 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

letter '  from  an  old  man  just  recovering  from  a  severe  illness,  unable  to 
undertake  a  journey  to  London.  He  deplored  the  obvious  vices  and 
errors  which  were  beginning  to  spread  without  check  through  Christen- 
dom, and  wished  Wolsey  success  in  their  repression — a  task  which  the 
aged  prelate  acknowledged  to  be  difficult.  That  was  in  1520,  be  it 
remembered,  several  years  before  the  domestic  affairs  of  Henry  VIII. 
had  brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  papacy.  This  movement  was 
a  spontaneous  effort  of  the  English  church  to  purge  herself  of  the  egregia 
vicia  et  errores  and  to  bring  herself  into  line  with  the  requirements  of  a 
more  enlightened  age.  In  the  hands  of  a  prelate  like  Bishop  Penny  the 
new  injunctions  must  have  made  a  change  in  the  religious  houses  and 
among  the  clergy  within  his  jurisdiction. 

The  ecclesiastical  movement  was  continued  with  considerable 
vigour  during  the  early  portion  of  the  episcopate  of  John  Kite,  who 
succeeded  Bishop  Penny  in  1521.  Wolsey  had  little  faith  in  non- 
resident bishops.  A  few  months  after  his  translation  from  Armagh  * 
my  lord  of  Carlisle  was  requested  with  other  prelates  to  be  person- 
ally within  his  diocese  on  an  appointed  day.  Lord  Dacre,  the  steward 
of  the  episcopal  manors,  pleaded  with  the  cardinal  for  delay  owing 
to  the  scarceness  of  provisions  in  Cumberland,  of  which,  he  said, 
there  was  not  enough  to  sustain  the  people  without  the  help  of  the  other 
northern  counties.3  There  is  abundant  evidence  that  Bishop  Kite  was 
the  firm  ally  of  Wolsey  in  the  reformation  of  the  church,  and  an  earnest 
prelate  in  the  pastoral  care  of  his  people.  '  I  beseech  you  of  pity,'  he 
wrote  to  the  cardinal  in  1523,  the  year  after  his  coming,  '  to  have  mercy 
of  many  good  men,  women,  and  children  of  the  parish  of  Bewcastle 
within  my  diocese,  who,  since  before  Easter  last  past,  have  had  neither 
sacrament  nor  sacramental  that  I  know  of,  though  many  of  them  have 
been  often  with  me  for  redress.  There  are  both  aged  and  young  who 
have  not  offended  and  yet  are  in  like  punishment.'*  The  diocese  of 
Carlisle  had  its  share  in  the  reforming  movement  of  this  period.5  The 

'  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  iii.  77.  The  letter  of  Bishop  Penny  is  the  earliest  known  document 
connected  with  the  Reformation  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  It  has  been  printed  in  full  by  the  present 
writer  in  The  Monasteries  of  Cumb.  and  Westmor.  before  Dissolution,  App.  i.,  Carlisle  Scientific  and  Literary 
Society,  1899. 

»  John  Kite,  archbishop  of  Armagh,  who  had  been  employed  on  the  King's  business  in  Spain,  was 
named  among  the  bishops  to  attend  Henry  VIII.  to  '  The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold  '  (Rymer,  Fcsdera, 
xiii.  710).  In  the  summer  of  1521  he  was  translated  to  Carlisle  through  Wolsey's  influence.  The  cost 
of  the  papal  bulls  amounted  to  1,790  ducats,  but  for  Wolsey's  sake  275  ducats  were  remitted.  It  was 
considered  a  great  compliment,  as  the  pope  was  in  great  need  of  money  at  the  time  (Cotton  MS.  Vitellius, 
B.  iv.  132, 136  ;  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  iii.  1430-1,  1477).  Kite  had  restitution  of  the  temporali- 
ties of  the  see  on  12  November,  1521  (Pat.  13  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  I,  m.  n  ;  Rymer,  Fcedera,  xiii.  759);  the 
papal  bull,  authorizing  the  preferment,  bears  date  12  July  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  fill.,  iii.  1757)-  Bishop 
Penny  must  have  died  early  in  1521. 

»  Cotton  MS.  Caligula,  B.  ii.  252. 

4  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIIL,  vol.  iii.  34,  36.    The  bearer  of  this  letter  to  Wolsey  was  '  a  clerke  of  my 
dyocesse,  my  servant  and  offycyall  (who)  hath  licence  of  me,  in  as  moche  as  my  power  is,  for  iij  yeres  to 
goo  to  his  booke  at  some  unyversite  '  if  necessary  beyond  the  sea. 

5  Bishop  Kite's  friendship  with  the  cardinal  is  well  known.    He  was  one  of  the  bishops  with  whom 
Wolsey  was  accused  of  taking  secret  counsel  in  Lord  Darcy's  impeachment  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIIL,  iv. 
5749).     After  his  fall,  the  cardinal  and  his  attendants  '  continued  for  the  space  of  three  or  four  weeks 
without  beds,  sheets,  table  cloths,  cups  and  dishes  to  eat  our  meat  or  to  lie  in.'    He  was  '  compelled  to 

46 


CUMBERLAND    SEALS  :      EPISCOPAL    III 


MARMADUKE  LUMJ.EY 
(1430-1449). 


RICHARD  BARNES  (1570-1577) 
AD  CAUSAS. 


NICHOLAS  CLOSE 
(1450-1452). 


RICHARD  SENHOUSE 
(1624-1626). 


JOHN  KYTE  (1521-1537). 


JAMES  USSHER  (1642-1656). 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

bishop's  association  with  the  cardinal  was  the  means  of  supplying  him 
with  a  subordinate  who  was  perhaps  a  more  famous  man  than  his 
diocesan.  William  Byrbanke,  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  Erasmus, 
became  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  about  the  same  time  that  Kite  became  its 
bishop.  With  the  art  of  a  courtier,  which  earned  for  him  the  sobriquet 
of  the  '  flatteryng  Byshope  of  Carel,' l  Kite  told  Wolsey  that  he  had 
delayed  Byrbanke's  return  from  Rose  Castle,  as  he  wished  to  entertain 
him  for  the  favour  he  bore  to  the  court  he  came  from.*  There  is  little 
evidence  of  the  archdeacon's  personal  residence  in  the  diocese,  but  his 
appointment  and  his  tenure  of  office  may  be  taken  as  symptomatic  of 
what  was  going  on.  Byrbanke  was  in  the  constant  employment  of 
Wolsey,  acting  as  his  agent  in  all  the  schemes  in  which  that  prelate  was 
engaged.3  A  notable  feature  in  the  archdeacon's  life  was  his  friendship 
with  Erasmus.  From  the  pen  of  that  illustrious  man  we  have  a  picture, 
as  he  only  could  sketch  it,  of  what  Byrbanke  was,  the  vir  integerrimus  of 
all  his  friends.  The  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  was  one  of  a  constellation 
of  brilliant  men  who  dreamt  of  reforming  ecclesiastical  abuses  without 
disturbing  the  unity  of  the  church.  Of  this  band  of  scholars  Erasmus 
was  the  sun  and  the  strength.  While  writing  of  these  men  he  exclaimed 
to  Byrbanke  :  '  O  vere  splendldum  Cardinalem,  qui  tales  viros  habet  in  consi- 
//»,  cujus  mensa  talibus  luminibus  cingitur  !  '  Even  in  the  remote  diocese 
of  Carlisle  two  of  Wolsey's  friends  were  posted  to  carry  out  the  policy  of 
reformation  in  parish  church  and  monastery  with  which  his  great 
name  is  identified.4 

borrow  of  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  and  Sir  Thomas  Arundell  both  dishes  to  eat  his  meat  in,  and  plate  to 
drink  in,  and  also  linen  cloths  to  occupy  '  (Life  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  ed.  Singer,  pp.  225,  257-8). 

1  This  nickname  was  given  to  Bishop  Kite  by  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  in  a  letter  to  '  his  beloved 
cosyn  Thomas  Arundel,  one  of  the  gentlemen  of  my  lord  legates  prevy  chambre '  (Cavendish,  Life  of 
Wolsey  [ed.  Singer],  p.  463). 

*  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII. ,  vol.  iii.  2566. 

>  Archdeacon  Byrbanke  appears  to  have  been  of  Cumbrian  extraction  (Trans.  Cumbld.  and  Westmorld. 
Archaeol.  Soc.  xv.  38).  We  find  him  as  early  as  1488  in  the  service  of  Bishop  Richard  Bell  as  his  chaplain. 
In  1508  he  was  nominated  by  the  Austin  priory  of  Conishead  in  Lancashire  as  one  of  their  proctors  to  the 
diocesan  synod  of  Carlisle  by  virtue  of  the  appropriation  of  the  church  of  Orton  in  Westmorland  to  that 
house  (Hist.  MSB.  Com.  Rep.  [Rydal  MSS.],  xii.  App.  vii.  5).  He  accompanied  Archbishop  Bainbridge  to 
Rome  as  one  of  his  secretarial  staff.  In  Rome  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Erasmus,  which  afterwards 
ripened  into  a  life-long  friendship.  In  1512  he  was  appointed  prebendary  of  Fenton  in  the  church  of 
York,  which  he  held  till  he  resigned  in  1531  (Hardy,  Le  Neve,  iii.  185).  On  the  death  of  Cardinal  Bain- 
bridge,  he  acted  as  one  of  his  executors,  and  wrote  some  letters  to  Henry  VIII.  accusing  the  Bishop  of 
Worcester  of  poisoning  the  cardinal  (Cotton  MS.  Vitellius,  B.  ii.  ff.  94-97  ;  Ellis,  Orig.  Letters,  1st  ser. 
i.  99-108).  Bishop  Silvester  rewarded  his  traducer  by  defaming  him  in  turn  among  his  friends  as  '  that 
scoundrel  Burbanke,'  or  again  that '  he  does  not  know  under  heaven  a  greater  dissembler  '  (Ibid.  Vitellius, 
B.  iii,  f.  172).  Pope  Leo  X.  acted  as  peacemaker,  absolving  the  bishop  sub  plumbo  of  all  knowledge  of  the 
crime,  and  creating  Byrbanke  a  prothonotary  apostolic  with  a  strong  recommendation,  on  his  departure 
from  Rome,  to  the  King's  favour  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry.  VIII.,  vol.  ii.  13  ;  Dep.  Keeper,  Rep.  ii.  App.  p.  190). 
At  least  six  impressions  of  his  seal  exist,  and  all  of  them  of  the  same  date  in  February,  1524-25.  They 
are  attached  to  the  deeds  of  survey  and  surrender  of  certain  monastic  houses  taken  by  Byrbanke  as  com- 
missioner for  Henry  VIII.  and  Wolsey  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  V '111.  vol.  iv.  1137).  The  illustration  of  this 
archdeacon's  seal  given  above  is  the  only  seal  of  an  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  known  to  exist,  and  has  been 
reproduced  from  the  impression  attached  to  the  Tonbridge  surrender.  The  seal  now  used  by  arch- 
deacons of  Carlisle  is  a  side  vacante  seal  of  uncertain  date,  procured  at  some  date  for  the  keeper  of  the 
see,  when  vacant,  and  has  no  connexion  with  the  archdeaconry  (Trans.  Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Archaeol. 
Soc.  xv.  35-42). 

4  Erasmi  Epistolae,  lib.  xvi.  3,  p.  725 ;  xviii.  41,  p.  806 ;  xxi.  57,  p.  1 1 24  ;  Jortin,  Life  of  Erasmus,  i. 
150 ;  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  Vlll.,  vols.  ii.-iv.  passim. 

47 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

But  events  travelled  fast  in  these  days.  The  church  was  not 
left  to  recover  herself  in  her  own  way.  The  clouds  were  gathering 
around  the  monastic  institution,  not  for  the  purpose  of  purgation  but  of 
extinction.  When  the  storm  broke,  reform  was  not  mentioned.  The 
destruction  of  the  monasteries  was  not  conceived,  matured  and  carried 
out  in  a  day.  The  actual  suppression  was  the  outcome  of  long  years  of 
agitation,  distress,  calumny,  bitterness,  in  which  the  sacred  name  of 
religion  itself  was  imperilled.  There  is  no  trace  in  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle  at  this  time  of  any  opposition  to  the  exercise  of  the  traditional 
rights  of  the  Crown  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  renunciation  of  papal 
authority  was  an  easy  matter  in  the  diocese.  The  parish  clergy  followed 
their  bishop,1  and  none  of  the  regulars  are  known  to  have  dissented 
either  in  Convocation  or  elsewhere.  But  the  agitation  and  unrest  which 
led  up  to  all  this  had  a  serious  effect  on  monastic  communities. 

At  this  juncture  cases  arise  in  one  of  our  local  houses  which  throw 
out  as  in  a  mirror  a  picture  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  nation  at  large. 
In  1533  a  monk  of  Holmcultram,  Thomas  Grame  by  name,  was 
possessed  of  a  procuratorial  office  in  the  neighbouring  church  of  Wigton, 
a  church  appropriated  to  that  monastery.  As  the  profits  of  the  office 
were  spent  on  his  own  amusements  to  the  detriment  of  the  house,  the 
seal  was  called  in,  but  the  monk  remained  obdurate  and  appealed  to  the 
Roman  pontiff,  who  '  without  consent  or  counsel  of  our  chapter  nor  yet 
having  licence  from  the  visitors  of  the  Cistercian  Order  '  pronounced 
him  capax  beneficii  and  overruled  all  objections.  The  monks  must  have 
felt  now,  if  they  had  never  felt  before,  the  inconvenience  of  a  foreign 
authority  exercising  jurisdiction  in  the  internal  affairs  of  English  houses. 
At  all  events,  the  attachment  of  this  monastery  to  Rome  must  have  been 
very  slender  indeed,  when  the  secular  arm  was  invoked  to  set  aside  the 
papal  decree.2 

In  the  same  year  much  more  serious  matters  were  brought  to  light 
in  the  monastery  of  Holmcultram,  which  caused  no  small  stir  among 
the  friends  and  enemies  of  the  monastic  order.  A  short  time  before, 
Gawyn  Borudall  or  Borradale,  an  inmate  of  the  house,  was  a  candidate 
for  the  vacant  abbacy,  but  he  was  rejected  in  favour  of  Matthew  Deveys, 
whose  election  was  duly  confirmed.  In  a  brief  space  Abbot  Deveys 
died  after  a  short  illness,  which  recalled  to  the  monks  the  threats  of 
Borradale  in  the  hour  of  his  defeat.  Foul  play  was  freely  discussed, 
and  the  suspicion  of  poison  rested  on  the  rejected  candidate.  Borradale 
was  arrested  and  confined  in  the  dungeon  of  Furness  Abbey,  where  he 
lay  for  nearly  six  months.3  The  uproar  brings  out  many  things  which 
show  us  how  matters  were  working  up  to  the  desired  end.  The  Abbot 
of  Furness,4  the  monk's  gaoler,  told  Cromwell,  the  minister  who  had  the 
King's  business  in  hand,  that  Borradale  was  a  '  masterful  man '  with 

1  Bishop  Kite's  declaration  of  the  Royal  Supremacy  in  1534  is  one  of  those  still  surviving  at  the 
Record  Office  (Chapter  House,  Acknowledgments  of  Supremacy,  s/a  i.  27,  Bp.  of  Carlisle).    It  is  in  beautiful 
condition  with  an  undamaged  impression  of  his  seal. 

2  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  Fill.,  vol.  vi.  781. 

3  Ibid.  vi.  986.  4  Ibid.  vi.  1557. 

48 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

'  secret  bearers.'  The  notorious  Dr.  Legh,  the  future  scourge  of  the 
monasteries,  one  of  the  secret  bearers  of  the  accused  monk,  interceded  in 
his  behalf  and  reminded  Cromwell  that  he  was  capable  of  doing  the 
King  good  service  in  that  house  and  on  the  Border.1  When  we  know 
that  this  was  the  monk,  who  was  subsequently  chosen  Abbot  of  Holm- 
cultram  for  the  purpose  of  surrendering  the  monastery  into  the  King's 
hands,  the  scandal  assumes  a  new  magnitude  and  the  intrigues  of  the 
royal  agents  come  into  view.  We  can  now  understand  why  it  was  that 
Borradale's  name  was  omitted  in  after  years  from  the  infamous  charges 
which  blackened  the  characters  of  the  rest  of  his  brethren,  when  Legh 
and  his  associates  made  their  reports  to  the  King  and  Parliament  on  the 
eve  of  the  suppression. 

Cromwell  was  now  master  of  the  monasteries.      Every    religious 
house  in  England  was    entangled  in  his  net.     There  was  no  room  in 
his  system  to  distinguish   between  their    virtues  and    their  vices  ;  the 
hour  for  their  complete    overthrow   had  come.     But  the   tales   of  his 
agents    must    be    arranged    in    formal   language  and    invigorated  with 
official  sanction.     With  this  view,  royal  commissioners2  were  despatched 
to  visit  the  monasteries  and  bring  back  a  report  for  the  information  of 
the  King  and  Parliament.     It  is  of  some  interest  to  know  that  Thomas 
Legh,  the  most  diligent  of  these  visitors,  was  a  native  of  Isell  in  Cum- 
berland.    His  associate,  Richard  Lay  ton,  was  also  north  country  born. 
These  two  men  were  the  chief  commissioners  for  the  north.     In  their 
petition 3  to  Cromwell  begging  for  the  post,  it  is  stated  that  they  knew 
'  the  fassion  off  the   countre  and  the  rudenes  of  the  pepull '  and  that 
through   '  owre   frendes  and  kynsfookes  dispersyde  in  thos  parties  ther 
ys  nother  monasterie,  selle,  priorie   nor  any  other  religiouse  howse  in 
the  north  but  other  doctor  Lee  or  I  have  familier  acqwayntance '  with 
it.     Ready   tools  like   these   could    not    be   disregarded    by  a  minister 
who  was  a  matchless  judge  of  men.     With  astonishing  quickness  they 
accomplished  their  task.     From  a  study  of  their  movements,  not  more 
than  a  few  days  could  have   been  devoted  to  the  visitation  of  all  the 
houses  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland.     It  is  absurd  to  suppose  that 
the  commissioners  had  any  intention  to  make  a  bona  fide  report  on  the 
condition  of  individual  monasteries.     There    was    no   time  to   hold  a 
serious  investigation,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  court  of  inquiry 
was  held  or  witnesses  called.     By  28  February  1536,  it  was  announced 
to  Cromwell  that  '  a  clean  booke  of  the  compertes '  was  made  and  sent 
to  his  honourable  mastership  '  bye  yor  commissaries  Doctor  Layton  and 
Doctor  Lee  '  and  *  a  duble  thereof  would  be  brought  to  him  shortly.* 

1  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  V III.,  vol.  vi.  985,  986. 

2  The  instructions  to  the  commissioners  for  the  county  of  Westmorland  have  been  printed  in  Trans. 
Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Archaeol.  Soc.,  xiii.  385-8,  from  the  original  book  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  v. 
721  (2).    General  instructions  will  be  found  in  Burnet  (Collection  of  Records,  Oxford,  1816,  i.  pt.  ii.  24-26). 

3  Layton's  petition  on  behalf  of  Legh  and  himself  has  been  printed  by  Wright  (Suppression  of  the 
Monasteries,  Camden  Soc.,  pp.  156-7)  from  Cotton  MS.  Cleopatra,  E.  iv.  f.  10.    The  business  he  was  so 
desirous  to  undertake  appeared  so  light,  that  he  proposed  '  to  ryde  downe  one  syde  '  of  England  '  and 
cum  up  the  other.' 

«  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  x.  363. 

ii  49  7 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Notwithstanding  the  indignation  with  which  the  King's  declaration 
on  the  contents  of  the  '  Black  Book  Jl  was  received  in  parliament,  the 
arts  of  diplomacy  counselled  prudence  in  framing  the  Act  of  Suppres- 
sion. In  order  to  allay  the  fears  of  the  bishops  and  mitred  abbots  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  it  was  resolved  to  suppress  only  the  smaller 
monasteries  with  a  revenue  under  £200  a  year.  The  preamble  of 
the  Act  (37  Henry  VIII.  cap.  28)  sets  out  the  reason  for  parliamentary 
interference  with  the  property  and  organization  of  the  church.  The 
monasteries,  marked  out  for  destruction,  are  stated  to  have  been  guilty 
of  '  manifest  synne,  vicious,  carnall  and  abhominable  lyvyng  '  on  the 
evidence  of  '  the  compertes  *  of  the  late  vysytacions  as  by  sondry  cred- 
yble  informacions.'  But  the  larger  houses,  which  were  for  the  present 
exempted,  were  equally  plunged  in  nameless  infamy  by  the  '  compertes ' 
of  the  late  visitation,  though,  according  to  the  same  Act,  '  relygyon  is 
right  well  kept  and  observed,  thankes  be  to  God,  in  the  great  solempne 
monasteryes  of  this  realme.'  It  is  manifest  that  the  statutory  reasons  for 
parliamentary  action  were  fraudulent  and  that  the  court  party  had  got 
up  the  alleged  irregularities  for  the  purpose  of  passing  the  Bill  through 
both  houses.  In  our  own  district  the  exemption  of  the  Act  affected 
only  the  abbey  of  Holmcultram  and  the  priory  of  Carlisle,  but  all  the 
other  smaller  communities,  Lanercost,  Wetheral,  St.  Bees,  Calder  and 
Shap,  the  nunneries  of  Armathwaite  and  Seton,  and  the  friaries  of  Car- 
lisle, Penrith  and  Appleby  were  swept  away. 

The  dissolution  of  the  smaller  houses  of  religion  caused  unrest  and 
indignation  throughout  the  country.  Insurrection  broke  out  in  Lincoln- 
shire and  soon  spread  to  the  north.  The  rising  in  Yorkshire  assumed 
such  alarming  proportions  that  the  King  was  advised  to  treat  with  the 
rebels  in  a  conciliatory  spirit.  An  account  of  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace, 
as  the  rebellion  was  called,  may  be  read  in  any  history.  But  the  notable 
feature  of  the  rebellion  in  Cumberland  was  the  entire  absence  of  men  of 
position  from  the  movement.  The  rabble  had  no  leaders.  Even  the 
parish  clergy  stood  aloof.  It  is  probable  that  the  monks  secretly  fomented 
the  disaffection  ;  but  if  so,  with  the  exception  of  the  abbot  of  Holm- 
cultram, they  did  not  show  themselves  in  the  open  field.  The  indiffer- 
ence of  the  clergy  provoked  the  commons  to  a  white  heat  of  exasperation. 
It  was  openly  discussed  '  that  they  shuld  never  be  well  till  they  had 
striken  of  all  the  priestes  heddes,  saying  they  wold  but  deceave  them.' 
A  special  grudge  was  felt  against  two  or  three  of  them.  Chancellor 
Towneley,  who  was  rector  of  Caldbeck,  though  his  parishioners  were 

i  The  Black  Book  does  not  exist  in  its  entirety,  but  supposed  fragments  of  it  may  be  found  at  the 
Record  Office  and  British  Museum  (L.  and  P.  of  Hen.  VIII.,  vol.  x.  364  ;  Cotton  MS.  Cleopatra,  E.  iv. 
147  ;  Lansdowne  MS.  988,  f.  l).  The  portion  relating  to  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  has  been  often 
printed  (Trans.  Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Archaeol.  Soc.,  iv.  88-90  ;  Monasteries  of  Cumb.  before  Dissolution, 

PP-  45-7)- 

3  For  various  reasons  some  writers  have  doubted  whether  the  contents  of  the  Black  Book  were  ever 

read  in  parliament.  There  is  now  no  doubt  upon  the  point.  Bishop  Latimer  says  that  '  when  their 
enormities  were  first  read  in  the  parliament-house,  they  were  so  great  and  abominable  that  there  was 
nothing  but  "  down  with  them  "  '  (Sermons,  Parker  Soc.,  p.  123).  In  the  Act  of  Suppression  '  the  com- 
pertes of  the  late  vysytacions  '  hold  a  prominent  place. 

50 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

up,  did  not  join  the  insurgents  till  a  missive  was  sent  threatening  to 
hang  him  on  the  highest  tree  of  the  diocese.  Roland  Threlkeld,  the 
pluralist  vicar  of  Melmerby,  Lazonby  and  Dufton,  was  treated  in  a 
similar  fashion.1  Rumours  were  current  in  London  implicating  the 
bishop  of  Carlisle,  the  prior  of  Lanercost,  the  vicar  of  Penrith,  and 
others,  but  without  sufficient  reason.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk  corrected 
the  mistake  about  the  vicar  of  Penrith,  and  Chancellor  Towneley 
exculpated  his  diocesan  from  any  knowledge  of  the  rebellion.  As  for 
the  prior  of  Lanercost,  there  is  no  evidence  of  his  treason.1  The  only 
cleric  of  consequence,  who  took  a  prominent  part,  was  Robert  Thomson, 
vicar  of  Brough  under  Stainmore,  a  demented  individual,  who  was 
regarded  as  a  prophet  among  the  people.  When  Norfolk  '  tied  up  '  his 
threescore  and  fourteen  of  the  rebels  in  the  various  towns  and  hamlets 
of  the  county,  only  one  ecclesiastic  3  was  among  the  number,  a  chaplain 
in  Penrith,  all  the  rest  being  of  the  labouring  or  agricultural  class. 

In  many  ways  the  rebellion  was  an  unexpected  piece  of  good  luck 
to  the  King  and  his  advisers.  It  furnished  them  with  a  pretext  to 
demolish  the  monasteries  root  and  branch,  and  they  were  not  long  in 
setting  about  it.  There  was  no  talk  now  that  '  religion  was  right  well 
kept  and  observed  '  in  them  as  the  Act  of  1536  declared  ;  many  of  the 
monks  were  compromised  by  siding  with  the  rebels,  and  the  King  was 
determined  not  to  let  the  opportunity  slip.  The  exemption  of  the 
statute  in  the  first  instance  did  not  blind  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram  to 
the  ultimate  intention  of  the  legislature.  When  he  joined  the  insurrec- 
tion and  urged  his  tenants  to  follow  his  example,  it  was  with  the  con- 
viction that  the  existence  of  his  abbey  was  the  stake  for  which  he  was 
about  to  play  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life.  On  the  day  before  the  com- 
mons laid  siege  to  Carlisle  he  sent  the  brethren  in  solemn  procession  for 
a  blessing  on  the  enterprise,  praying  the  '  All  myghty  God  prossper  them, 
for  yffe  they  sped  not  this  abbe  ys  lost.' 

The  King's  agents  forwarded  to  Cromwell  indisputable  proof  of 


»  In  the  confession  of  Chancellor  Towneley  and  the  examination  on  oath  of  Robert  Thomson,  vicar 
of  Brough  under  Stainmore,  two  lengthy  documents,  we  get  a  good  account  of  the  insurrection  in  Cum- 
berland (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  Fill.,  vol.  xii.  pt.  i.  687  (i,  2).  These  and  other  documents  have  been 
printed  in  Monasteries  of  Cumb.  before  Dissolution,  pp.  50-94. 

1  One  of  the  county  histories  (Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Westmorland,  i.  569)  contains  a  letter 
from  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  to  the  King,  correcting  the  rumour  with  regard  to  the  vicar  of  Penrith.  This 
letter  is  important,  as  the  original  does  not  now  exist  among  the  State  Papers.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
procured  '  from  the  lords'  answer  to  the  tenants  concerning  tenant  right ' — a  manuscript  in  the  hands  of 
the  editors  in  1777.  The  cock-and-bull-story  about  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  was  transmitted  by  Sir  Thomas 
Wharton  to  Cromwell  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  fill.,  vol.  xi.  319),  and  demolished  by  Chancellor  Towneley 
(ibid.  xii.  687).  There  is  no  evidence  known  to  the  writer  against  the  prior  of  Lanercost,  except  that 
he  is  mentioned  in  a  despatch  from  the  King  to  Norfolk,  ordering  him  '  to  be  tyed  up  '  with  a  number  of 
others.  This  is  not  the  only  mistake  made  by  the  King  in  that  despatch.  The  document  has  been  printed 
in  full  by  the  Surtees  Society  (The  Priory  of  Hexham,  vol.  i.  pp.  cl.-cliii.). 

3  It  is  stated  in  a  document  ascribed  to  1539  that  ten  men,  chiefly  coiners  and  thieves,  were  con- 
demned at  the  Carlisle  assizes  in  the  December  of  that  year,  but  two  of  them  '  for  high  treason,  because 
they  had  bruted  in  those  parts  that  the  Comons  were  up  in  the  South  countrey.'  One  of  these  was 
Richard  Howthwaite,  sub-prior  of  Carlisle  (Cotton  MS.  Caligula,  B.  iii.  156 ;  Monasteries  of  Cumb. 
before  Dissolution,  pp.  92-4).  The  name  of  the  ecclesiastic  who  was  '  tied  up  '  with  the  others  was  Edward 
Penrith  (L.  and  P.  of  Henry  fill.,  xii.  498). 

51 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Abbot  Carter's  treason/  The  tenants  of  the  lordship  of  Holmcultram 
testified  to  overt  acts  of  rebellion.  Thomas  Grame,  the  monk  who  had, 
on  the  recommendation  of  Sir  Thomas  Wharton,  previously  intrigued 
for  the  abbacy  on  the  death  of  Abbot  Ireby,  and  who  had  so  recently, 
with  the  connivance  of  the  pope,  defied  the  monastery  in  the  matter  of 
the  Wigton  office,  came  forward  to  tighten  the  noose  on  the  neck  of  his 
late  superior,  and  did  not  leave  a  single  loophole  through  which  the 
doomed  man  could  escape.  Before  the  King's  pardon  after  the  first  in- 
surrection, and  after  the  King's  pardon  at  the  second  insurrection,  the 
abbot  was  at  the  head  of  the  insurgents.  In  dealing  with  the  abbot, 
when  his  treason  was  so  public,  one  would  have  expected  at  least  the 
ordinary  formalities  of  a  regular  trial.  But  justice  did  not  suit  the  tor- 
tuous methods  of  the  royal  agents.  Sir  Thomas  Wharton  repaired 
'  sekerethly  '  with  his  confederates  to  the  abbey,  examined  some  witnesses 
procured  by  Dan  Thomas,  and  afterwards  boasted  to  Cromwell  that  he 
was  able  to  depart  from  the  abbey  without  the  abbot's  knowledge  of  his 
proceedings.1  As  the  King  had  as  yet  no  legal  authority  to  dissolve  the 
abbey,  notwithstanding  the  abbot's  treason,  Holmcultram  being  one  of 
the  larger  houses  exempted  by  the  statute,  Gawyn  Borradale,  the  late 
suspect  for  poisoning  Abbot  Deveys,  was  appointed  the  last  abbot  with 
the  object  of  making  a  free  surrender.  The  final  act  was  not  long  de- 
layed. 

There  was  little  now  to  be  done  but  to  take  possession  of  the  houses 
and  granges  of  the  expelled  monks.     Before  the  royal   commissioners 
started  on  their  visitation,  Cromwell  was  flooded  with  applications  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  for  a  share  of  the  spoils.     To   these   he   paid 
little  heed  as  long  as  the  King's  affairs  sped  to  his  liking.     When  it 
became  necessary,  as  he  told  the  King, '  to  clinch  the  business  and  make 
the  settlement  irrevocable  ' — that  is,  to  pass  a  confirmatory  Act  and  to 
make  legal  the  surrender  of  the  greater  monasteries — the  most  useful  of 
the  large  landowners  had  their  applications  graciously  entertained.     To 
write  of  the   dismantling  of  the  monastic  nouses  in   Cumberland,  the 
stripping  of  the  lead  roofs,  melting  the  bells,  the  sale  of  the  contents  of 
dormitories  and  kitchens,  the  desecration  of  the  altars,  the  holy  vest- 
ments and  all  the  instrumenta  ecclesiastica  of  the   conventual  churches, 
would  be  a  melancholy  chapter  of  diocesan  history.     The   church   of 
Holmcultram  was  spared  on  the  supplication  of  the  inhabitants  of  that 
district.     It  was  their  parish  church,  they  pleaded,  and  little  enough  to 
hold  them  all,  being  eighteen  hundred  '  houselynge'  people;  and  it  was 
their  place  of  refuge   as  well,  their   only  defence  against  their   Scotch 
neighbours.3     Dr.  Legh,  with  infinite  magnanimity,  allowed  the  church 
to  stand  till  the   King's  pleasure   was   known.4     The  property   of  the 

1  Cotton  MS.  Caligula,  B.  iii.  285,  286. 

2  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  Fill.,  vol.  xii.  pt.  i.  1259  (i.). 

>  Cotton  MS.  Cleopatra,  E.  iv.  243  ;  Ellis,  Original  Letters,  1st  ser.,  ii.  90. 

4  It  does  not  appear  that  the  fabric  of  the  conventual  church  was  hurt  in  any  way  at  the  suppression 
of  the  abbey.  The  dilapidation  of  the  chancel  or  choir  in  1602  was  the  occasion  of  certain  negotiations 
between  the  bishop  and  the  University  of  Oxford  for  its  repairs.  In  1724  a  faculty  was  issued  to  rebuild 

52 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

priories  of  Carlisle  and  Wetheral  was  still  retained  in  the  service  of 
religion,  but  the  monastic  features  of  the  one  and  the  bulk  of  the  build- 
ings of  the  other  went  down  in  the  general  devastation. 

Perhaps  the  most  pathetic  scene  in  the  last  act  of  this  drama  was 
the  condition  of  the  religious  men  who  were  driven  from  their  houses. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  all  of  them,  or  nearly  all  of  them,  had  received 
patents  for  an  annual  pension,  varying  from  £6  to  a  few  marks  accord- 
ing to  station  or  age.  It  did  not  suit  the  royal  policy  to  permit  the  use 
of  the  religious  habit  for  the  remaining  life  of  the  disestablished  clergy. 
Writing  of  the  surrender  of  Holmcultram,  Dr.  Legh  told  his  employers  * 
that  '  the  monks,  arrayed  in  secular  apparel,  having  honest  rewards  in 
their  purses,  are  dispersed  abroad  in  the  country.'  It  was  a  high  offence 
on  the  part  of  William  Lord  Dacre,  in  the  eyes  of  the  court  hack  who 
expected  the  grant  of  Lanercost,  that  the  expelled  monks  were  allowed 
to  revisit  their  old  home  3  in  their  '  chanons  cotes.'  These  priests  were 
forbidden  to  wear  the  ecclesiastical  habit  as  well  as  to  exercise  the 
sacred  function.  A  whole  brood  of  them  was  scattered  broadcast  in 
the  land  in  laymen's  apparel,  but  unable  to  do  laymen's  work.  The 
Duke  of  Norfolk  reported  to  the  King,  after  the  suppression  of  the 
monasteries  in  the  northern  counties,  that  he  had  300  monks  on  his 
hands  wanting  capacities.  A  few  who  had  served  the  King  were 
accommodated  here  and  there,  like  Thomas  Grame,  the  betrayer  of  his 
master,  who  was  appointed  by  Dr.  Legh  to  '  the  chapel  called 
St.  Thomas'  chapel  to  make  him  a  chamber  there ' — one  of  the  several 
chapels  now  extinct  in  the  parish  of  Holmcultram.  Some,  like 
Edward  Mitchell  and  Hugh  Sewell  of  the  priory  of  Carlisle,  were 
selected  to  fill  vacancies  on  the  new  foundation  in  order  to  save  their 
pensions.  But  the  mass  of  the  dispossessed  monks  remained  mere 
pensioners  without  clerical  employment  to  the  end  of  their  days.  They 
were  required  to  show  their  patents  periodically  to  their  paymasters,  as 
returned  convicts  are  obliged  to  report  themselves  to  the  police.  If 
they  left  the  district  where  they  were  known,  it  was  at  the  risk  of 
losing  their  pensions.  The  lists  of  these  pensioners  appear  year  after 
year  with  monotonous  regularity  ;  each  year  they  grew  fewer  in  num- 
ber ;  some  of  them  survived  the  collapse  of  their  houses  for  almost 
half  a  century. 

The  ecclesiastical  legislation  of  Edward  VI.  added  an  important 
contingent  to  the  multitude  of  the  pensioners.  One  of  the  first  acts  of 
his  reign  was  to  seize  the  lands  and  endowments  of  the  chantries,  free 
chapels,  stipendiary  curacies  and  collegiate  churches  throughout  the 
kingdom.  It  is  true  that  the  revenues  of  many  of  these  institutions  had 
been  granted  to  Henry,  his  father  (37  Hen.  VIII.  cap.  4)  ;  but  the 

the  nave  and  sell  the  materials  to  be  got  by  dismantling  the  chancel ;  at  which  date  the  church  took  its 
present  shape ;  or  rather  the  shape  as  shown  in  Buck's  print  of  1739  with  the  groins  of  the  chancel  arches 
in  situ. 

1  L.  and  P.  of  Henry  VIII.,  vol.  xiii.  pt.  i.  547,  551. 

*  Ibid.  xiii.  pt.  i.  304. 

53 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

spoliation  was  not  complete  when  that  monarch  died.1  The  new  Act 
(i  Edw.  VI.  cap.  14)  annexed  their  lands,  goods  and  chattels  to  the 
Crown  on  a  pretext  of  the  '  superstition  and  errors  in  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, brought  into  the  minds  of  men  by  devising  and  phan- 
tasying  vain  opinions  of  purgatory  and  masses  satisfactory  to  be 
done  for  them  which  be  departed,  the  which  doctrine  and  vain 
opinion  by  nothing  more  is  maintained  and  upholden  than  by  abuse 
of  trentals,  chantries  and  other  provisions  made  for  the  continuance  of 
the  said  blindness  and  ignorance.'  In  order  to  allay  public  apprehension, 
there  was  a  sort  of  promise  held  out  that  the  money  should  be  used  for 
founding  grammar  schools,  helping  the  Universities  and  making  pro- 
vision for  the  poor  ;  but  these  pious  intentions  were  never  wholly 
fulfilled.2 

As  the  Act  was  passed  on  4  November  1547,  and  the  commission 
to  survey  the  spoils  was  issued  on  14  February  1547—8,  it  cannot  be 
said  that  much  time  was  lost  in  putting  the  new  law  in  force.  The 
commissioners  for  Cumberland  were  authorized  to  survey  and  examine 
all  colleges,  chantries,  free  chapels,  fraternities,  guilds,  stipendiary 
curacies,  and  other  spiritual  promotions  within  the  county,  the  revenues 
of  which  had  been  given  and  ought  to  come  to  the  King.  In  a  certi- 
ficate 3  delivered  into  court  on  6  December  1 548  by  the  hand  of  Allan 
Bellingham,  the  surveyor,  the  commissioners  reported  on  the  religious 
institutions  of  sixteen  different  places  in  Cumberland.  Kirkoswald,  a 

1  The  commission  for  this  survey,  dated  14  February,  1546,  consisted  of  Robert,  bishop  of  Carlisle, 
Thomas  lord  Wharton,  Sir  John  Lowther,  knight,  and  Edward  Edgore,  esquire.    The  survey  for  the 
two  counties  was  returned  on  six  membranes  written  (save  the  last)  on  both  sides,  giving  in  detail  the 
possessions  of  each  chantry  with  the  names  of  tenants  and  annual  rent.    The  first  three  membranes 
comprise  the  chantries  in  the  '  Countie  of  Cumbrelonde,'  and  the  remaining  three  comprise  those  in 
'  Westmerlonde.'     The  list  for  Cumberland  begins  with  the  '  Rood  Chantry  '  in  the  cathedral  church 
of  Carlisle.     It  had  a  total  yearly  rent  of  £4  I$s.  $d.  from  tenements,  a  sum  which  agrees  exactly  with 
the  subsequent  survey  of  Edward  VI.     The  '  goodes  and  cattalles  belonginge  to  the  same,'  valued  at 
£3  5/.  zd.  in  the  Edwardian  survey,  are  here  set  forth  in  detail  thus  :  '  Furst,  one  messe  booke,  3*.  \d. ; 
foure  aulter  clothes,  I2d.  ;  thre  vestementes,  3^.  q.d. ;  two  aubbes,  izd. ;  two  candelstykes  of  brasse,  zd. ; 
and  challes  of  silver  (55*.)  parcell  gylte  weynge  15  ounces  at  y.  8d.  the  ounce ;  a  corporal  with  case, 
4<i. ;   an  olde  chyste,  lod, ;   z  crewettes,  zd.     (Total)  65 s.  zd.'    This  survey,  which  is  of  considerable 
local  interest,  will  be  found  at  the  Public  Record  Office  under  the  official  description  of  '  Rentals  and 
Surveys,  No.  846,'  but  formerly  known  as '  Exch.  Q.  R.  Ancient  Miscellanea,  bundle  -7/1-'  In  many  parishes 
there  were  various  small  endowments  for  the  perpetuation  of   obits,  lights  before  the  sacrament  and 
other  minor  parochial  institutions,  which  were  plundered  at  this  period.  Among  the  ancient  rentals  of 
the  see  of  Carlisle  there  is  a  survey  of  the  '  Terre  luminarium  beate  Marie  '  in  the  parish  of  Dalston,  of 
the  time  of  Henry  VII.,  which  betokens  an  adequate  provision  for  that  purpose.     The  endowment  con- 
sisted of  no  fewer  than  seventeen  separate  parcels,  each  parcel  varying  in  value  from  l%d.  to  "js.  a  year, 
such  as  a  messuage,  a  toft,  a  rood  of  meadow,  an  acre  of  land,  a  tenement,  a  cottage,  and  so  forth,  up  and 
down  the  parish.     The  total  rental  amounted  to  Z<)s.  $d.     It  is  evident  that  these  small  parcels  were  be- 
queathed by  the  poorer  tenants  of  the  parish. 

2  Strype  has  given  a  list  of  free  grammar  schools  founded  by  Edward  VI.  (Memorials,  edition  1721, 
ii.  535-7),  but  if  this  list  be  carefully  scrutinized,  it  will  be  found  that  very  few  of  them  had  their  origin 
in  the  reign  of  that  monarch.     The  statement  of  J.  R.  Green  that '  one  noble  measure,  indeed,  the  foun- 
dation of  eighteen  grammar  schools,  was  destined  to  throw  a  lustre  over  the  name  of  Edward  '  (Short 
History  of  the  English  People,  edition  1891,  p.  360),  has  been  disputed  by  Mr.  A.  F.  Leach  in  an  article 
on  '  Edward  VI.  :   Spoiler  of  Schools '  in  the  Contemporary  Review,  September,  1892.     The  preface  to 
the  Yorkshire  Chantry  Surveys  (Surtees  Society)  by  Mr.  Wm.  Page  should  also  be  consulted. 

'  This  certificate,  containing  the  survey  of  all  the  chantries  in  the  county,  is  preserved  in  the  Aug- 
mentation Office,  Chantry  Certificates,  No.  1 1,  Cumberland. 

54 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

parish  with  a  population  of  five  hundred *  '  howseling  '  people — that  is, 
of  persons  old  enough  to  receive  the  Eucharist — had  a  college  in  the 
parish  church  of  the  foundation  of  Thomas  the  late  Lord  Dacre,  father 
of  the  Lord  Dacre  that  then  was.  The  lands  and  tenements  belonging 
to  the  institution  were  valued  at  £89  IGJ.  gd.  The  college  in  the  parish 
church  of  Greystoke,  on  which  three  thousand  '  howselinge  '  people  were 
dependent,  was  '  off  the  foundation  of  one  Urbane,  bishoppe  of  Rome  at 
the  peticon  of  one  Rafe,  baron  of  Graystocke,  auncestour  to  the  lorde 
Dacre  that  nowe  is.'  John  Dacre,  the  master,  was  also  parson  and  served 
the  cure  himself,  there  being  no  endowed  vicar.  There  were  two 
chapels  belonging  to  the  college  called  '  Watermelike  and  Threlkett,  th' 
one  distant  seven  miles  and  th'  other  six  miles  from  the  parish  church.' 
The  yearly  revenue  of  the  college  amounted  to  £84  19^.  8*/.,  which, 
after  deducting  reprises  of  $ys.  ic*/.,  left  a  rental  '  clere  by  yere '  of 
£82  u.  lod.  These  were  the  only  two  collegiate  churches  in  the 
county. 

The  chantry  of  Our  Lady  in  Hutton  in  the  Forest  was  of  the 
foundation  of  the  ancestors  of  William  Hutton  to  celebrate  in  the 
parish  church  there  for  ever.  There  were  two  chantries  in  Penrith, 
one  in  the  castle  and  the  other  in  the  parish  church  ;  the  salary  to  the 
priest  of  the  former  was  paid  annually  at  the  King's  audit,  the  office 
being  in  the  gift  of  the  Crown.  There  were  no  lands  to  maintain  the 
service  of  the  priest  in  the  parish  church,  but  the  incumbent  received 
his  stipend  yearly  by  the  hands  of  Sir  John  Lowther.  The  chantry  of 
the  Blessed  Mary  in  Skelton  and  that  of  St.  Leonard "  in  Bromfield 
were  founded  to  celebrate  mass  and  sing  divine  service  in  the  parish 
churches  there.  The  parish  of  Wigton  contained  three  institutions 
coming  within  the  purview  of  the  Act,  namely,  the  chantry  of 
St.  Katherine  in  the  parish  church,  the  hospital  of  St.  Leonard,  and  a 
free  chapel  '  of  the  foundation  of  the  ancestors  of  the  late  Earl  of 
Northumberland  to  celebrate  there,  which  was  not  observed,  for  it  lieth 
on  the  Borders  and  is  decayed  and  destroyed.'  Three  stipendiary  cura- 
cies were  endowed  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  mass  in  the  parish 
church  of  Torpenhow,  the  incumbents  whereof  received  a  salary  of  £4 
each.  Though  the  parish  of  Crosthwaite  contained  two  thousand  'house- 
ling  '  people,  there  was  but  one  chantry,  that  of  St.  Mary  Magdalene, 
for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  mass  in  the  parish  church.  In  Egremont 
there  was  a  stipendiary,  called  a  Lady  priest,  and  in  Brigham  a  chantry, 
both  for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  mass  and  singing  divine  service  in 
the  parish  churches  there.  The  chantries  of  Cockermouth  were  of  a 
diversified  description.  The  stipendiary  of  the  parish  chantry  '  used  to 
kepe  and  teache  a  grammer  schole  there  and  to  pray  for  the  soulle  of 

1  In  another  list  of  the  chantries,  compiled  when  they  were  in  the  hands  of  the  King,  the  population 
of  Kirkoswald  is  set  down  as  '  one  thousand  howseling  people  '  (Augmentation  Office,  Chantry  Certificate 
No.  12,  Cumberland).  In  both  enumerations,  of  course,  the  parish  of  Dacre,  being  under  the  spiritual 
charge  of  the  college,  would  be  included. 

a  When  the  revenues  of  this  chantry  were  sold,  it  was  called  the  chantry  of  St.  George  the  Martyr 
in  the  church  of  Brumfeld  (Augmentation  Office,  Miscellaneous  Books,  Ixvii.  148-50). 

55 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  founder  for  ever.'  Rowland  Noble,  the  incumbent  and  master  of 
the  school,  enjoyed  the  revenues,  amounting  to  1 1 6s.,  for  his  salary. 
Two  stipendiaries  were  constituted  '  of  the  gifte  of  the  late  Prynce  of 
famous  memory,  Kinge  Henrye  the  eight,  to  celebrate  in  the  castle 
there '  ;  there  were  no  lands  belonging  to  these  chantries,  but  the  in- 
cumbents yearly  received  their  allowances  from  the  King's  receiver- 
general  at  Cockermouth.  In  Edenhall  there  was  a  chantry  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  mass  of  the  Blessed  Mary  in  the  parish  church  ; 
in  Great  Salkeld,  a  stipendiary  curacy  for  the  celebration  of  one  mass  in 
the  parish  church,  '  off  the  foundacon  of  John  Worsoppe  '  with  an 
annual  revenue  of  40-1-.  ;  and  in  Mosser,  a  chantry  of  Our  Lady  founded 
to  find  a  priest  to  celebrate  there  for  ever,  but  '  one  Thomas  Sawkeld 
Esquier  receyvethe  the  yerlie  profittes  therof,  by  what  tytle  it  is  un- 
knowne,  and  gyvethe  the  priest  4/.  towardes  his  fyndinge.'  The  city  of 
Carlisle  had  no  fewer  than  six  chantries,  endowed  with  lands  and  tene- 
ments affording  revenues  of  varying  amounts  from  1 $s.  4^.  to  £4  1 3J.  5^. 
In  the  cathedral  were  the  chantries  of  St.  Katherine,  St.  Roke,  the  Rood 
or  St.  Cross  and  Our  Lady,  the  incumbents  of  which  used  to  celebrate 
mass  there  ;  dependent  on  the  church  of  St.  Cuthbert  were  the  chantry 
of  Our  Lady  l  and  the  chantry  of  St.  Alban.  "  In  all  whych  colleges, 
chauntryes,  frechappelles,  guyldes,  fraternytyes,  stypendaryes,  ther  ys  no 
precher  founde,  grammer  scole  taught,  nor  pore  people  relevyd,  as  yn 
ther  severall  certyfycates  yt  dothe  appere.'  The  pensions  awarded  to 
the  priests  of  the  dissolved  foundations  were  about  as  much  or  almost 
as  much  as  the  salaries  they  were  in  the  habit  of  receiving  as  incum- 
bents.2 For  this  reason  the  secular  priests  were  more  liberally  treated 
than  the  monks,  inasmuch  as  no  rule  seems  to  have  been  observed  in  the 
granting  of  pensions  at  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries.  The  lands 
and  endowments  of  these  institutions  were  immediately  leased  or  sold, 
the  sale  often  reaching  as  many  as  twenty-four  years'  purchase.  Some 
of  the  property  was  bought  by  local  people,  but  much  of  it  went  to 
professional  jobbers  like  one  '  Thomas  Brende  of  London  scryvener.' 3 

As  the  sale  of  the  chantry  lands  was  insufficient  to  provide  the 
King  with  money  to  meet  his  pressing  debts,  a  new  commission  was 
sent  out  in  1552  instructing  local  committees  to  seize  all  the  goods, 
plate,  jewels,  and  ornaments  of  the  parish  churches  and  chapels,  '  leving 
nevir  the  less  in  every  parishe  churche  or  chappell  of  common  resorte 

1  This  chantry,  which  had  the  small  revenue  of  15*.  $d.  a  year,  does  not  appear  to  have  been  dis- 
solved.    It  does  not  occur  in  the  list  of  chantries  in  the  King's  hand,  nor  is  the  incumbent,  Henry  Blan- 
rasset,  mentioned  in  the  list  of  ejected  priests  to  whom  pensions  were  bestowed.     It  is  odd  that  the 
chantry  of  St.  Alban  is  ascribed  both  to  St.  Cuthbert's  church  and  to  the  cathedral.     In  the  survey  made 
by  the  local  commissioners  it  is  placed  under  St.  Cuthbert's  ;  in  the  King's  list  it  is  catalogued  under  the 
cathedral. 

2  These  pensions  are  recorded  on  the  King's  list  of  chantries  (Augmentation  Office,  Chantry  Certi- 
ficates, No.  12,  Cumberland). 

3  The  particulars  of  the  endowments,  the  names  and  rents  of  the  tenants,  the  conditions  of  sale, 
the  names  of  the  purchasers,  and  the  amount  of  the  purchase  money  are  all  set  out  in  schedules  in  Mis- 
cellaneous Books,  Nos.  67  and  68,  at  the  Augmentation  Office.     The  property  of  the  Carlisle  chantries 
lay  chiefly  within  the  city,  from  which  it  would  appear  that  they  had  been  founded  by  burghers. 

56 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

two  or  more   challesses   or  cupps   according  to   the   multitude  of  the 
people  every  such  churche  or  chappell  and  also  such  other  ornaments 
as  by  their  discretions  shall  seme  requisite  for  the   devyne  servyce  in 
every  such  place  for  the  tyme.'     When  the  work  was  finished  a  certifi- 
cate was  delivered  into  court,  entitled  '  A  just  veue  and  perfyt  inventorye 
of  all  the  guds,  plate,  juells,   bellis,  vestiments,  and   other  ornaments 
within  every  pariche  churche,  chapell,  brotherheid,  gyld,  or  fraternitie 
in  the  countie  of  Cumbreland,  maide  by  Sir  Thomas  Dacre,  Sir  Richard 
Musgrave,    knights,    William    Pykerynge,    Thomas    Salkeld,     Robert 
Lamplughe,  Anthony  Barwis,  esquiers,  auctorisid  by  the  Kyngs  Majes- 
tie's  commission  heronto  datid  the  vjth  day  of  May  in  the  sext  yeir  of 
his  Majesties  reign.'     The  commissioners    returned    the    schedules    of 
church   goods   according   to   wards,   ranging    the    churches    under    the 
wards  of  Cumberland,   Leith,  Eskdale,   Allerdale  above  Derwent  and 
Allerdale  below  Derwent :  the  Leath  ward  entries  have   been   divided 
into   two  sections.     As   might    be    expected    in  a  scattered  and  poor 
diocese  like    Carlisle,  the   sacred   instruments    of  divine    service  were 
neither  numerous  nor  valuable.     A  chalice  of  silver,  a  couple  of  vest- 
ments and  a  bell  or  two  were  the  only  requisites  of  some  of  the  churches, 
but   most   of  them  of  average  wealth  and   importance   possessed  two 
candlesticks  of  brass  and  a  pair  of  censers.     In   larger  churches   like 
Carlisle   cathedral  and   Greystoke   college  the    ornaments    presented    a 
greater   and  richer  variety.     By  subsequent  mandates  directions  were 
given  for  the  disposal  of  the  spoils.     Churches  were  entitled  to  retain 
one  or  two  chalices  '  to  thintent  the  said  churches  and  chappelles  may 
be  furnysshedd  of  convenyent  and  comely  things  mete  for  thadmynystra- 
cion  of  the  holy  Communyon ' ;  a  proper  cover  for  the  '  communyon 
table '  and  a  surplice  or  surplices  for  the  minister  or  ministers,  the  resi- 
due of  the   linen  ornaments  and  implements   to   be  distributed  freely 
among  the  poor  of  the  parish  ;  but  all   copes,  vestments,  altar   cloths 
and  other  ornaments,  as  well  as  all  parcels  or  pieces  of  metal,  '  except 
the  metall  of  greatt  bell,  saunce  bells  in  every  of  the  said  churches  or 
chapells,'  were  ordered  to  be  sold  to  the  King's  use.1     Before  the  whole 
of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  reached  the  royal  coffers,  Edward  VI.  died, 
and  Mary,  who  succeeded,  at  once  stopped  the  spoliation  of  the  parish 
churches.     On  inquiry  in  1556  it  was  found  that  much  of  the  plunder, 
of  which  the  plate  alone  weighed  265  ounces,  was  in   the  custody  of 
the  Lady  Ann  Musgrave,  the  widow  of  one  of  King  Edward's  commis- 
sioners for  Cumberland.     No  doubt,  as  much  of  the  plate  as   was  re- 
covered and  could  be  identified  was  returned  to  the  parishes  to  which 
it  belonged,  but  the  vestments  and  other  ornaments,  which  had  been 
'  prysed  by  the  sworne  men  '  and  sold,  were  lost  or  destroyed.* 

>  The  Rev.  H.  Whitehead,  a  most  diligent  and  painstaking  antiquary,  has  printed  the  instructions 
of  the  commissioners  for  Cumberland  and  the  full  text  of  the  survey  from  the  '  Exchequer  Q.  R.  Church 
Goods  3*5  and  -fa  6  Edward  VI.'  (Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Arcbaeol.  Soc.  Trans,  viii.  186-204). 

3  Mr.  Whitehead  has  written  a  very  interesting  appendix  on  '  Queen  Mary's  commission  of  inquiry 
as  to  church  goods '  in  Old  Church  Plate  in  the  Diocese  of  Carlisle  (pp.  316-8)  from  the  original  documents 

ii  57  8 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

If  all  the  parishes  of  Cumberland  felt  the  scourge  when  the  valu- 
able portion  of  their  church  furniture  was  confiscated,  several  of  them 
were  notoriously  wronged  in  the  matter  of  religious  ministrations  after 
the  dissolution  of  the  chantries  and  endowed  curacies.  The  district  of 
Mosser,  which  had  its  own  chapel  and  priest,  was  absorbed  into  the 
extensive  parish  of  Brigham.  The  staff  of  clergy  which  served  Grey- 
stoke  and  the  outlying  chapelries,  comprising  an  area  of  nearly  eighty 
square  miles  with  a  population  of  3,000  communicants,  was  reduced  from 
seven  priests  to  three.  Of  the  eight  clergy  who  ministered  in  the 
associated  parishes  of  Kirkoswald  and  Dacre  only  two  were  left.  The 
two  parishes  of  Carlisle,  embracing  large  areas  around  the  city,  were 
stripped  naked  of  religious  services  except  what  could  be  afforded  by 
two  minor  canons  of  the  cathedral.  Three  stipendiary  curacies  in 
Torpenhow  and  three  in  Wigton  were  abolished  ;  in  fact  every  endow- 
ment for  the  maintenance  of  assistant  clergy  in  the  larger  parishes  of  the 
county  was  gathered  into  the  royal  treasury.1 

The  religious  changes  during  the  reign  of  Edward  do  not  appear  to 
have  troubled  the  consciences  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese.  At  least 
there  is  not  much  evidence  to  show  that  they  warmly  favoured  or 
violently  opposed  the  new  Prayer  Book.  The  progressive  party  was 
fortunate  in  securing  the  compliance  of  Robert  Aldridge,  bishop  of 
Carlisle,  for  though  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  many  of  the  liturgical 
innovations 2  we  may  well  believe  that  his  scholarly  abilities  exerted  a 
moderating  influence  on  the  extravagances  of  some  of  the  reformers. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  bishop  reflected  the  general  attitude 
of  the  clergy  of  Carlisle.  In  1540  King  Henry  had  ordered  him  home 
to  his  diocese  '  there  to  remain  for  the  feeding  of  the  people  both  with 
his  preaching  and  good  hospitality,'  *  and  if  he  continued  to  cultivate 
in  mature  age  the  charm  of  eloquence  which  in  his  earlier  years  had 
captivated  Erasmus,4  we  may  be  sure  that  his  advocacy  of  the  Reforma- 
tion on  the  old  lines  must  have  produced  an  impression  on  the  northern 
clergy.  We  have  not  met  with  any  cases  of  deprivation  for  resistance 
to  the  Second  Book,  but  there  was  one  notable  figure  in  the  diocese, 
Lancelot  Salkeld,  the  last  prior  and  first  dean  of  Carlisle,  who  was 
unable  to  accept  the  new  ecclesiastical  position.  As  soon  as  the 
religious  policy  of  Edward's  reign  became  manifest,  he  took  the  wise 
step  of  resigning  his  deanery.  At  Christmas  1548,  Sir  Thomas  Smith  . 
was  appointed  to  succeed  him  with  the  obligation  to  pay  the  late  dean  ' 

in  the  Public  Record  Office.     The  Marian  inquiries  went  back  to  the  spoliation  of  the  lead  and  bells  of 
cathedrals  and  monasteries  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 

»  The  Survey  of  the  chantries  (Augmentation  Office,  Chantry  Certificate,  No.  II,  Cumberland) 
should  be  compared  with  Bishop  Best's  report  on  the  clerical  staff  of  his  diocese  in  1563  (Harl.  MS.  594, 
f .  9),  in  order  to  see  how  the  number  of  the  parochial  clergy  had  been  reduced  in  the  intervening  period. 

2  Strype,  Memorials,  ii.  466. 

3  Proceedings  and  Ordinances  of  the  Privy  Council  (Rec.  Com.),  vii.  88. 

4  Erasmus  was  much  attached  to  Aldridge  when  he  was  master  of  Eton.     In  his  letters  he  used  such 
terms  as  '  Mi  Roberte  in  Christo  charissime,'  and  spoke  of  him  as  the  '  blandae   eloquentiae   juvenis ' 
(Erasmi  Epistolae,  edition  1642,  xxi.  26,  55,  xxiii.  8).     The  two  friends  visited  together  the  shrine  of  Our 
Lady  of  Walsingham  (Life  and  Letters  of  Erasmus,  ed.  Froude,  p.  229). 

58 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

a  pension  of  £40  a  year.1  But  none  of  the  prebendaries  followed  Dean 
Salkeld  into  retirement.  The  reaction  under  Queen  Mary  was  attended 
with  few  inconveniences.  In  1554  Dean  Salkeld  was  restored  to  the 
deanery,  though  Sir  Thomas  Smith  was  very  loth  to  yield  it  to  him. 
'  About  May,'  he  said,  '  I  gave  up  quasi  sponte  the  provostship  of  Eton 
and  the  deanery  of  Carlisle,  and  I  had  a  pension  from  the  queen  of 
£100  a  year.'  As  Dean  Smith  had  never  visited  his  deanery,  the  return 
of  Salkeld  to  his  old  home  must  have  been  welcome  to  his  former  col- 
leagues. With  the  exception  of  a  couple  of  the  clergy,2  who  were 
deprived  because  they  were  married  men,  we  have  met  with  no  other 
cases  of  mishap  during  Mary's  reign.  The  atrocity  of  the  stake  and  the 
faggot,  thanks  perhaps  to  the  enlightened  instincts  of  Bishop  Aldridge, 
had  not  gained  an  entry  into  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  Owen  Oglethorpe 
who  succeeded  in  1557  was  not  the  style  of  prelate,  if  we  may  judge 
him  by  the  part  he  took  in  the  theological  discussions  of  the  late  reign, 
who  would  willingly  consent  to  the  penalty  of  death  as  a  punishment  for 
doctrinal  aberrations.3 

The  intentions  of  Queen  Mary  to  restore  to  the  church  what  had 
been  confiscated  by  the  legislation  of  the  late  reigns,  that  is  from  20 
Henry  VIII.,  are  matters  of  general  history.  When  she  could  not  pre- 
vail on  her  subjects  to  relinquish  the  spoils  of  the  religious  houses,  she 
determined  to  set  them  an  example  by  making  a  full  restitution  of  all 
the  church  property  vested  in  the  Crown.  With  the  masterly  firmness 
of  Tudor  resolve,  the  Queen  informed  the  privy  council  that  her  con- 
science would  not  suffer  her  to  retain  it,  but  with  all  her  heart,  freely 
and  willingly,  she  surrendered  all  the  said  lands  and  possessions  that  order 
and  disposition  might  be  taken  of  them  to  the  honour  of  God  and  the 
wealth  of  her  realm.4  Parliament  was  prevailed  upon  to  pass  an  Act 5 
for  this  purpose  as  far  as  the  Crown  was  concerned.  By  it,  under  the 
direction  of  Cardinal  Pole,  all  rectories,  impropriations,  tithes,  glebe 
lands,  and  other  ecclesiastical  possessions,  which  had  been  perquisites  of 
the  Crown  since  the  twentieth  year  of  Henry  VIII.,  were  to  be  employed 

1  Archaeologia,  xxxviii.  97-127.  In  this  paper  Mr.  J.  G.  Nichols  has  collected  many  additional 
particulars  about  the  life  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith.  Writing  to  the  Duchess  of  Somerset  in  1550,  Smith 
stated  among  other  things  that  the  revenue  of  '  the  deanery  of  Carlisle,  paieing  40  /»'.  pencion  to  him  that 
resigned  it  to  me,  is  8o/.'  (Harl.  MS.  6989,  f.  141).  Nichols  questions  the  truth  of  Strype's  statement 
that  Sir  Thomas  '  repaired  to  his  deanery  of  Carlisle,'  as  the  order  of  the  Council,  which  he  quoted,  does 
not  support  the  inference  that  Smith  ever  visited  the  church  of  which  he  was  nominally  dean. 

3  The  names  of  these  incumbents  were  Thomas  Atkinson,  rector  of  Ormside,  and  Percival  Wharton, 
vicar  of  Bridekirk,  but  they  were  restored  by  the  royal  commissioners  at  the  accession  of  Elizabeth  (S.P. 
Dom.  Elizabeth,  x.  ff.  147,  149). 

'  Fuller,  the  historian,  accounted  for  the  absence  of  martyrs  in  Cumberland  during  Mary's  reign 
by  the  facts  that  the  people  were  '  nuzzled  in  ignorance  and  superstition,'  and  that  those  who  favoured 
the  Reformation  were  connived  at  by  Owen  Oglethorpe,  the  courteous  bishop  of  Carlisle  '  (Worthies  of 
England,  ed.  S.  Jefferson,  p.  8).  If  we  can  believe  Fox,  Isabel  Foster,  wife  of  John  Foster,  cutler,  of  the 
parish  of  St.  Bride's  in  Fleet  Street,  London,  who  was  burnt  on  27  January  1556,  was  a  Cumberland 
woman — '  This  foresaid  Isabel  was  born  in  Greystock,  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  '  (Ac ts  and  Monuments, 
Ch.  Hist,  of  England,  vii.  748). 

*  Fox,  Acts  and  Monuments,  Ch.  Hist,  of  England,  vii.  34. 

B  2  &  3  Philip  and  Mary,  cap.  4.  This  Act  was  repealed  by  I  Elizabeth,  cap.  4,  as  that  queen  had 
intentions  somewhat  different  from  those  of  her  deceased  sister. 

59 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

in  the  augmentation  of  small  livings,  the  maintenance  of  preachers,  and 
the  provision  of  exhibitions  at  the  Universities  for  poor  scholars.  The 
cardinal  lost  no  time  in  carrying  out  the  intention  of  the  statute  and 
relieving  the  conscience  of  his  royal  mistress.  The  royal  warrant,  which 
restored  these  ecclesiastical  possessions  to  Bishop  Oglethorpe,  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  diocesan  registry  of  Carlisle/  As  the  document  is  dated 
14  November  1558,  its  provisions  were  never  carried  into  effect.  The 
Queen  and  Pole  were  dead  and  the  Act  was  repealed  not  many  months 
after  the  arrival  of  the  warrant  at  the  registry  of  Carlisle.  But  the 
Queen  has  left  at  least  one  memorial  of  her  benevolent  intentions  which 
is  still  exercised  in  the  diocese.  It  was  by  her  gift  that  the  bishops  of 
Carlisle  had  obtained  the  right  of  advowson  and  collation  to  the  four 
prebendal  stalls  in  the  cathedral,2  a  privilege  which  experience  has  proved 
to  be  of  great  moment  in  diocesan  administration. 

The  legislative  changes  for  the  settlement  of  the  church  introduced 
into  the  first  parliament  of  Elizabeth  were  vigorously  opposed  by  Bishop 
Oglethorpe  of  Carlisle,  one  of  the  most  moderate  and  enlightened 
prelates  on  the  episcopal  bench  at  that  time.  Though  he  was  the  only 
bishop  in  England  who  could  be  induced  to  act  at  the  Queen's  corona- 
tion,3 his  papal  sympathies  were  robust  enough  to  enable  him  to  join  in 
the  general  resistance  of  the  episcopate  to  the  new  departure  in  ecclesias- 
tical reform.  For  some  reason  not  specified,  he  was  obliged  to  enter 
into  recognizance  with  certain  other  bishops  to  appear  daily  before  the 
lords  of  the  Council,  and  not  to  depart  from  London  without  licence. 
In  addition  he  had  to  pay  a  fine  of  £250  f°r  '  contempt  of  late  com- 
mitted against  the  Queen's  Majesty's  Order.'  It  is  a  curious  circum- 
stance, showing  the  bishop's  hostility  to  the  proposed  changes,  that  day 
by  day  as  he  appeared  before  '  Lord  Great  Seal '  in  obedience  to  the 
conditions  of  his  recognizance,  he  had  been  most  assiduous  in  his  attend- 
ance in  the  House  of  Lords,  opposing  the  passage  of  the  two  great 
measures,  the  Supremacy  and  Uniformity  Bills,  then  before  the  House.* 
When  these  measures  became  law,  the  bishop  of  Carlisle  refused  to  take 

>  The  warrant  is  endorsed  '  A  graunte  to  Bishop  Oglethorpe  and  his  successors  in  the  See  of  Carlisle 
of  certain  benefices  and  advowsons  by  King  Phillip  and  Queene  Mary,  viz. :  Bampton,  Crosby,  Millom, 
Irton,  Dereham,  Kirkoswald,  etc.,  in  Cumberland  by  Letters  Patent ;  date  5  &  6  Phil,  and  Mary,'  a  copy 
of  which  has  been  entered  on  the  Patent  Roll  of  that  year.  The  cord,  composed  of  mixed  strands  of 
green  and  white  silk,  still  hangs  from  the  vellum  sheet,but  the  seal  which  it  once  carried  is  completely 
gone.  The  document  has  been  printed  by  the  present  writer  in  Trans.  Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Archaeol. 
Sac.,  xv.  21-6. 

2  Pat.  4  &  5  Philip  and  Mary  ;  Tanner,  Notitia  Monastica  (ed.  J.  Tanner,  1744),  p.  75. 

3  The  coronation  of  the  Queen  was  solemnized  with  all  the  ceremonies  of  the  ancient  ritual.    Bishop 
Oglethorpe  had  the  use  of  Bonner's  vestments  for  the  occasion.     A  letter  was  sent  by  the  Privy  Council 
(Acts  [New  Series],  vii.  42)  '  to  the  Bishop  of  London  to  lende  to  the  Busshopp  of  Carlisle,  who  is  ap- 
poynted  to  execute  the  solempnitye  of  the  Quenes  Majesties  Coronacion,  universum  apparatum  pontificium 
quo  uti  solent  Episcopi  in  hujusmodi  magnificis  illustrissimorum  regum  inaugurationibus.'     The  Queen  con- 
tinued to  hold  Bishop  Oglethorpe  in  kindly  remembrance,  for  she  told  Bishop  Robinson,  when  he  did 
fealty  for  Carlisle  in  1598,  that  she  was  resolved  to  furnish  that  see  with  a  worthy  man  for  his  sake  who 
first  set  the  crown  on  her  head  (Fuller,  Worthies  of  England,  edition  1684,  p.  135). 

*  Compare  Acts  of  P.  C.,  vii.  79,  80,  81,  etc.,  with  D'Ewes,  Journ.  of  the  House  of  Lords,  pp.  19,  21, 
23,  26-7,  etc.  The  events  of  this  period  have  been  narrated  in  chronological  order  by  Rev.  Henry  Gee 
(Elizabethan  Clergy  and  the  Settlement  of  Religion,  1558-1564). 

60 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

the  Oath  of  Supremacy,  and  was  deprived  on  21  June  1559.  But  he 
did  not  long  survive  the  final  overthrow  of  the  papal  jurisdiction,  for  he 
died  on  the  last  day  of  that  year  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  St. 
Dunstan  in  the  West. 

When  steps  were  taken  to  put  into  operation  the  Acts  of  Supremacy 
and  Uniformity  as  the  legislative  basis  for  the  settlement  of  religion,  the 
diocese  of  Carlisle  was  bereft  of  the  guidance  of  its  bishop.1  On  the 
very  day  that  the  Prayer  Book  was  to  come  into  use,  24  June,  three 
days  after  Bishop  Oglethorpe's  deprivation,  letters  patent  were  issued  for 
the  royal  visitation  of  the  northern  province  by  virtue  of  the  powers 
vested  in  the  Crown  by  the  Act  of  Supremacy.3  The  Queen  held  the 
English  clergy  in  the  hollow  of  her  hand.  But  it  was  thought  advisable, 
after  the  resistance  of  the  episcopate,  to  proceed  prudently  and  to  treat 
the  consciences  of  the  general  body  of  the  clergy  with  as  much  leniency 
as  possible.  The  chief  duty  of  the  visitors  was  to  enforce  the  settle- 
ment of  religion  as  it  was  set  out  in  the  Prayer  Book  of  1559.  It  was 
the  acknowledgment  of  the  suscepta  religio  that  played  the  most  prominent 
part  in  the  visitation  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  Coming  so  soon  after 
the  Marian  reaction,  when  the  reforming  movement  suffered  a  temporary 
check,  the  liturgical  changes  made  so  many  of  the  clergy  to  wince  that 
no  one  could  forecast  what  would  be  the  result  of  the  visitation.  But 
the  unrivalled  diplomacy  of  Cecil  in  dropping  for  the  present  the  Oath 
of  Supremacy  and  fastening  attention  on  the  Prayer  Book  probably 
averted  an  ecclesiastical  revolt. 

The  commission  which  exercised  the  powers  of  visitation  in  the 
diocese  of  Carlisle  consisted  of  only  three  members,  Edwin  Sandes,  S.T.P., 
Henry  Harvey,  LL.D.,  and  George  Browne,  esquire.  The  first  act  was 
to  visit  the  cathedral,  and  for  this  purpose  the  whole  capitular  body  was 
summoned  to  the  chapter  house  on  Tuesday,  3  October  1559.  Prayers 
having  been  said  and  the  word  of  God  having  been  sincerely  preached 
to  the  people  by  master  Edwin  Sandes,  the  aforenamed  visitors,  as  it  is 
related  in  the  record,3  sat  judicially,  and  solemnly  exercised  the  royal 

1  We  have  good  authority  for  assuming  that  Archdeacon  Neville  was  in  favour  of  the   liturgical 
changes  then  in  progress.  Soon  after  the  Queen's  accession,  the  following  letter  was  addressed  to  Cecil 
by  the  Earl  of  Westmorland  on  the  archdeacon's  behalf  :  '  After  my  vearye  hartie   comendacons,    wheras 
George  Nevell,  doctor  in  devinitie,  archedeacon  of   Carlell,  is  desirous  to  be  one  of  the  Quenes   Mats 
chaplins  ordenarye  to  attende  one  quarter  in  the  yere,  thiese  are  to  assure  you  that  notwithstandinge  he 
is  of  my  howsse  and  kindred,  yet  if  I  did  not  knowe  the  man  to  be  of  honeste  conversacon  and  therwith 
so  well  inclined  and  disposed  to  set  fourthe,  in  his  Cures  and  ells  wheare,  all  suche  good  and  vertuous 
doctrine  as  by  the  quene  her  highnes  aucthoritie  shalbe  from  time  to  time  set  fourthe,  so  as  the  procurers 
of  his  preferment  shall  susteine  no  lack  therby,  I  wolde  not  voughtsafe  this  comendacon  of  him.     But 
consideringe  and  trusting  his  service  maye  be  acceptable  to  that  respect,  I  am  bold  to  desire  you  to  further 
his  sute,  wherin  yow  shall  binde  me,  besides  hartie  thankes  to  doo  yow  the  like  plesure.     And  thus   fare 
you  well.'  .Frome  London  this  xviith  daye  of  December,  1558,  by  youre  asseuryd  ffrend,   H.  Westmir- 
land  '  (S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  vol.  i.  No.  36). 

2  Ibid.  iv.  33. 

3  The  record  of  the  Northern  Visitation,  embodied  in  a  book  of  400  pages,  is  a  document  of  great 
importance.    It  is  officially  known  at  the  Public  Record  Office  as  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  vol.  x.     It  opens  with 
the  commission  to  the  visitors,  and  contains  an  account  of  the  visitation  of  the  four  dioceses  of  the  nor- 
thern province  (ff.  1-108).     Then  follow  the  '  acta  et  processus  habiti  et  facti  coram  commissariis — in 
causis  beneficiatorum  et  restitutionis  beneficii,  etc.'  (ff.  121-205).    Further  on  in  the  book  we  get  a  sum- 
mary of  the  Detectiones  et  Comperta  and  schedules  of  the  absentees  from  the  visitation.     As  the  various 

61 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

visitation.  The  venerable  dean,  Lancelot  Salkeld,  the  last  prior  of  the 
old  foundation,  who  had  passed  through  all  the  vicissitudes  of  this 
eventful  period,  appeared  personally  and  subscribed  isoluntarie  et  bono 
animo  to  the  articles  of  the  received  religion  (suscepte  religionis).  Then 
the  commissioners  charged  him  on  oath  to  make  a  return  to  the  articles 
of  inquiry  on  the  morrow  at  noon.  The  four  prebendaries  also  volun- 
tarily and  willingly  subscribed.  Seven  out  of  the  eight  minor  canons 
appeared  and  did  likewise.  The  other  minor  canon  was  detained  in  the 
country  by  reason  of  bad  health.  The  commissioners  found  little  to 
complain  of  in  the  internal  affairs  of  the  capitular  body.  The  only 
presentations  recorded  among  the  detectiones  et  comperta  of  the  visitation 
were  'that  the  Dean,  Edward  Mytchell  and  Richard  Brandlynge,  preb- 
endaries ther,  have  not  byn  resident  as  often  as  they  oughte,  nether 
have  theye  kepte  their  quarter  sermones  accordyng  to  the  statutes.  Item, 
Hugh  Sewell,  prebendary  ther,  hath  not  byn  so  often  resydent  as  he 
oughte.  Item,  Barnabye  Kyrkebride  hath  not  byn  resident  nether  kepte 
his  quarter  sermones  as  he  oughte  to  have  don.'  The  success  of  the 
visitors  in  reconciling  the  dean  and  chapter  to  the  Prayer  Book  was  a 
good  omen  for  the  rest  of  the  diocese.  On  the  following  day,  4  October, 
the  visitors  sat  in  the  choir  of  the  cathedral  to  which  the  clergy  and 
people  of  the  deaneries  of  Carlisle  and  Allerdale  were  summoned.  All 
the  clergy  who  did  not  appear  were  pronounced  contumacious.  The 
visitation  was  continued  on  Friday  in  the  parish  church  of  Penrith,  for 
the  deaneries  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland.  During  this  session 
the  commissioners  ordered  the  fruits,  tithes  and  other  emoluments  of 
the  rectory  of  Marton  (Longmarton)  which  William  Burye,  clerk,  then 
possessed,  to  be  sequestrated,  and  committed  the  power  of  sequestration 
to  John  Dudeley,  gentleman.1  Nearly  a  third  of  the  parish  clergy 
of  the  diocese  absented  themselves  from  the  visitation,  and  were  pro- 
nounced contumacious. 

By  one  of  the  provisions  of  the  letters  patent  directing  the  visita- 
tion, the  commissioners  were  authorized  to  restore  incumbents  who  were 
unlawfully  deprived  during  the  late  reign.  Only  two  cases  of  restitution 
to  benefices  were  made  by  the  visitors  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  In  the 
case  of  the  benefice  of  Ormside  (Ormysyde),  moved  by  Thomas  Atkynson, 
rector,  against  Percival  Yates,  the  commissioners  at  their  session  in 
Penrith  on  6  October  1559,  adjudged  the  benefice  to  Atkinson,  and 
decreed  that  Yates  should  be  removed  from  the  same.  But  Atkinson 
did  not  enjoy  his  recovered  rectory  long,  for  we  read  soon  after  that  the 
church  of '  Ormysshed'  had  been  vacant  for  a  whole  year  by  the  resigna- 

sub-sections  of  this  record  have  been  used  for  the  account  of  the  royal  visitation  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle, 
it  has  not  been  thought  necessary  to  indicate  the  folio  for  each  statement.  The  arrangement  of  the 
manuscript  makes  it  easy  to  consult.  Strype  made  use  of  this  book,  for  he  says  :  '  This  commission  I  saw 
in  the  Queen's  Paper  House  bound  up  in  a  volume  in  folio,  containing  all  the  inquisitions  and  matters 
done  and  found  in  this  large  Northern  visitation  '  (Annals,  ed.  1709,  i.  167). 

1  Bury  was  not  deprived,  for  he  died  rector  of  Longmarton  ;  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  George 
Bury,  M.A.,  on  17  April  1562,  on  the  presentation  of  Henry,  Earl  of  Cumberland  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg., 
Best,  MS.  f.  5). 

62 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

tion  of  the  last  incumbent.1  Marriage  was  the  cause  of  the  deprivation 
in  the  other  case.  The  motion  was  made  by  Percival  Wharton,  the 
former  vicar  of  Bridekirk,  against  William  Graye,  the  vicar  in  possession. 
Both  parties  appeared  before  the  visitors  in  the  parish  church  of  Kendal 
on  10  October.  Graye  stated  'that  the  sayde  Percyvall  Wharton  was 
instituted  and  inducted  in  the  sayd  benefice  and  beynge  in  possession 
was  depryved  for  that  he  was  maryed  and  as  to  the  statutes  he  doth  refer 
himself  to  the  same.'  The  benefice  was  adjudged  to  Wharton,  who 
enjoyed  it  till  1563,  when  he  became  vicar  of  Kirkbystephen.2  The 
detections  or  comperta  presented  against  the  laity  were  neither  specially 
characteristic  of  the  time  nor  of  a  very  serious  nature.  The  church- 
wardens and  parishioners  of  Morland,  Great  Salkeld,  Shap,  and  Skelton 
presented  that  they  had  no  register  book ;  the  church  of  Great  Salkeld 
was  in  decay  ;  the  parishioners  of  Warcop  lacked  a  Paraphrase,  though 
they  had  a  box  for  the  poor  ;  the  churches  of  Skelton  and  Kirkandrews 
had  no  curates ;  presentations  for  breaches  of  morality  were  made  only 
by  the  churchwardens  of  Cliburn  and  Newbiggin.  When  we  remember 
that  these  detections  were  made  in  answer  to  the  Articles  of  Inquiry,  the 
churchwardens  having  first  touched  the  most  holy  Gospels  of  God,  it 
cannot  be  said  that  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  in  an  unsound  condition. 
The  notable  feature  of  the  visitation  was  the  alacrity  with  which  the 
main  body  of  the  clergy  subscribed  to  the  Prayer  Book,  for  though  the 
number  of  absentees  swells  to  a  formidable  list,  the  figures  are  deceptive, 
as  several  of  the  incumbents  were  pluralists  or  non-resident  and  subscribed 
in  other  places.3  At  a  later  date  we  shall  be  able  to  estimate  the  value 
of  this  conformity  to  the  majority  of  the  clergy  and  how  much  of  it 
was  due  to  fear. 

The  conformity  of  Dean  Salkeld  was  a  great  blow  to  a  distinguished 
personage  who  was  anxiously  expecting  to  obtain  his  place.  For  more 
than  two  centuries  it  has  been  maintained  that  the  dean  of  Carlisle  was 
deprived  by  the  visitors  of  1559,  but  we  have  already  shown  that  no 
fault  was  found  in  him  at  that  time.  As  the  error  has  been  so  often 
repeated  *  it  may  be  convenient  if  we  state  the  efforts  that  were  un- 
successfully made  to  bring  about  his  ejectment.  The  following  letter 

1  '  Item  quod  ecclesia  de  Ormysshed  in  comitatu  Westmorland,  Carliolensis  Dioceseos,  vacat 
in  presenti  et  vacavit  per  annum  integrum  per  resignacionem  ultimi  incumbentis '  (Exch.  Cert.  Bishops' 
Inst.  Carl.,  No.  i).  On  20  July  1565  Richard  Towlson  was  collated  to  the  rectory  on  the.  death  of 
Christopher  Parker,  the  last  incumbent  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Best,  f.  19). 

a  Percival  Wharton  was  appointed  to  the  free  chapel  in  the  castle  of  Penrith  in  1552  (Memo.  R. 
Recorda,  East.,  5  Edw.  VI.  m.  33).  He  vacated  the  incumbency  in  1554,  when  he  had  an  exonera- 
tion of  £23  exacted  from  him  for  the  fruits  of  the  said  chapel  (ibid.  Mich.,  I  and  2  Phil,  and  Mary, 
m.  194). 

3  For  instance,  George  Nevell,  rector  of  Bolton  in  Alderdale,  was  preconized  at  Carlisle,  and,  as  he 
did  not  appear,  was  pronounced  contumacious,  but  he  must  have  appeared  and  subscribed  at  Penrith  as 
rector  of  Great  Salkeld,  for  his  name  does  not  find  a  place  in  the  black  list  for  the  deanery  of  Cumberland 
in  which  his  benefice  was  situated. 

*  It  seems  that  Hugh  Todd  was  the  first  to  start  the  theory  of  Dean  Salkeld's  ejection  in  1559  for 
refusing  the  supremacy  (Notitia  Ecclesie,  p.  8).  To  Todd  may  be  traced  the  error  in  Le  Neve  (Fasti, 
ed.  Hardy,  iii.  246),  and  in  all  the  local  histories.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  early  controversialists  like 
Nicholas  Sander,  Bridgwater  and  Dodd  did  not  claim  Dean  Salkeld  as  a  papist,  for  his  name  does  not 
appear  on  their  lists. 

63 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

from  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  addressed  to  Cecil  and  dated  9  September  1560, 
throws  a  much  needed  light  upon  a  very  strange  transaction. 

Sr  As  I  have  bene  ever  so  I  praye  yow  let  me  be  now  bolde  to  treble  yow  in  my 
small  cawses.  How  be  it  I  do  not  thinck  this  small.  Ye  know  in  Quene  Maries  tyme, 
as  from  diverse  other  whome  they  did  not  favor  they  toke  away  all  spirituall  livinge,  so 
from  me  they  toke  the  provostshippe  of  Eaton  and  the  Deanery  of  Carleill.  Eaton  in  dede 
I  was  content  quasi  nolens  volens  to  resigne  and  did  resigne.  But  the  deanerie  of  Car- 
leill I  never  did  resigne  nor  was  therof  deprived,  and  to  saie  the  truth  they  never  made 
matter  of  yt,  but  gave  it  streight  to  one  Sr  Launcelot  Salkeld.  Now  in  this  tyme 
emongs  other  I  partlie  at  your  advice  put  my  peticon  up  before  my  Lord  of  Caunter- 
burie  and  other  the  Commissioners  to  be  restored.  Citacon  was  decrede  and  sent 
downe  and  not  aunswerid,  for  the  waye  beinge  so  farre  and  those  contrey  men  have  all 
the  shiftes  in  the  worlde  to  avoide  the  lawe.  Well,  another  was  decreed  and  sent 
downe,  enclosed  within  a  Lettre  directed  from  my  Lords  the  Commissioners  to  the 
Maior  of  Carleill  to  se  it  servid.  Yet  wolde  he  not  aunswer  nor  make  a  procter,  but  sent 
to  me  another  excuse  of  sicknes,  and  that  he  wold  either  come  or  sende  one  to  me  to 
satisfie  me  out  of  hande.  Now  this  Salkeld  is  dede,  and  I  know  nothinge  dothe  let 
whie  I  shold  not  enioie  my  Deanery  of  Carleill  as  frelie  as  ever  I  did.  And  therefore  I 
am  so  bolde  as  to  declare  this  unto  yowe,  that  if  eny  labor  be  made  to  the  Quenes  Majes- 
tic for  it,  ye  wold  be  so  good  as  to  show  my  right  unto  it,  and  to  requier  hir  Highnes 
to  be  so  gracious  unto  me  as  to  let  me  enioie  that  wch  is  myne  owen,  and  wch  no  man 
can  take  fro  me  by  the  lawe.  Or  if  ye  will  be  so  good,  though  no  labor  be  made,  yet 
to  shew  this  to  hir  Highnes  lest  it  shold  be  graunted  unwares,  for  if  it  shold  be  given 
to  eny  other  (as  I  trust  her  highnes,  being  enformid  of  my  right,  will  not)  I  must  enter 
my  sute  against  hym  as  an  usurper,  as  I  did  against  this  Launcelote  Salkelde,  who, 
although  he  did  enioie  it  all  Quene  Maries  tyme,  yet  being  now  cited,  neither  wold  nor 
could  have  aunswerid  me.  And  after  all  kiend  of  delaies,  now  this  Michaelmas  I 
dowted  not  to  have  had  hym  deprivid  and  removid,  one  of  the  prebendaries  there, 
a  verie  honest  man,  and  whom  the  said  Salkeld  did  sende  unto  me  to  entreate  me  to 
staie  the  sute  against  hym  for  a  tyme,  sent  his  man  unto  me  with  certaigne  word  of  the 
said  Salkeld's  deth,  wch  was  on  Tewisday  the  thirde  of  this  moneth,  willinge  me  to  tak 
the  Deanery  uppon  me  and  to  declare  the  same  with  som  open  doeinge  to  the  hole 
Chapitre.  Which  thinges  I  did  miende  to  do,  but  not  before  I  had  made  yow  privie 
unto  it  and  had  furst  your  aide  and  advise.  I  praye  yow  let  me  be  so  bolde  as  to  crave 
an  aunswere  of  yow  by  this  bearer  my  servaunt,  if  it  be  not  to  moche  treble  unto  yow. 
I  wold  have  waited  uppon  yow  myself,  but  my  rewme  is  now  so  sore  uppon  me  that  it 
puttith  me  in  feare  of  an  agew,  but  I  trust  with  good  guidaunce  it  shall  rather  be  feare 
than  daunger.  Thus  I  committ  yow  to  God  From  Theydon  Mount  in  Essex  the 
ixth  of  September,  1560.  Yowres  allwais  to  commaund,  T.  Smith.1 

Amazement  is  scarcely  the  word  to  express  our  feelings  at  the 
audacious  perversion  of  the  truth  which  this  pillar  of  the  Reformation 
had  made  with  regard  to  Dean  Salkeld's  connection  with  the  capitular 
body.  But  a  new  anxiety  was  before  him.  There  was  another  candi- 
date for  the  vacant  deanery  in  the  person  of  Hugh  Sewell,  one  of  the 
prebendaries.  We  must,  however,  allow  Sir  Thomas  to  tell  his  story  to 
the  end.  There  is  another  letter  from  him  c  to  the  right  honorable  Sr 
WilP  Cicill,  knight,  principall  secretarie  to  the  Quenes  Majestic.'  It 
is  as  follows  : — 

Sr.  When  I  cam  fro  the  Cowrte  havyng  reposed  my  trust  and  confidence  in  yow 
after  so  gratious  words  of  the  quenes  Majestic,  I  did  so  quiet  myself  that  I  thought 
this  mater  at  an  eand  and  me  happy.  Now  I  understand  by  my  freend  Michel  that 
there  is  still  a  broile  in  it,  and  that  there  should  be  a  commission  derected  out,  w"* 

»  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  xiii.  30. 
64 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

wherfore  it  should  be  I  can  not  gesse.  Yf  for  restitucon,  I  am  in  possession  of  the 
Deanery  and  so  taken  and  reputed  at  Carliell  as  Deane,  ffor  there  thei  all  know  my 
right.  And  agayne  for  that  mater  it  is  all  ridie  before  the  Commissioners  in  the 
consistorie  and  two  citacons  were  sent  from  my  l(ord)  of  Cant(erbury)  and  the  rest  of 
the  Commissioners  to  the  lat  usurper  therof  in  his  lief  tyme  t'apere  and  shew  cawse 
whie  he  should  not  be  avoided  and  I  restorid,  afore  whom,  if  eny  man  have  eny  thyng 
against  me,  he  may  obiect  it.  Yf  ye  enquire  of  Sewell's  habilitie,  both  my  l(ord)  of  London 
and  my  l(ord)  of  Worcester  and  all  the  rest  of  the  quenes  Majesties  visitors  there 
knowes  hym  well  enough,  a  man  most  unworthie  not  onely  that  but  eny  such  rowme. 
And  even  in  Quene  Maries  tyme  when  I  had  not  myche  favor  as  ye  knowe,  and  mater  was 
so  right  agaynst  me,  and  partlie  as  the  compleyning  of  Barnaby  Kirkbride  and  hym, 
we  were  all  callid  before  the  cownscell.  And  when  I  was  fownd  innocent,  there  aperid 
such  fowle  matr  agaynst  them  two  for  spoilyng  of  the  churche  and  devidyng  the  goodes 
therof  amonge  them  selves,  and  other  wise  misusyng  of  the  revenues  therof  that  the 
were  comytted  to  the  Flet.  But  what  hath  he  to  do  with  the  Deanery  now  except 
to  resigne  it  ?  I  still  must  crave  of  you,  seyng  I  beg  no  new  thyng,  but  to  enioy  myne 
owen,  and  desire  nothyng  so  myche  as  quietnes  to  contynewe  as  ye  have  bene  myn 
earnest  freende  and  help  that  such  one  as  he  be  not  borne  agaynst  me  to  make  contro- 
versie  in  my  right  where  he  hath  none.  For  as  I  am  contente  with  my  pore  livyng, 
so  methynks  in  this  world  I  should  not  feare  that  it  should  be  demynisshed.  Thus  ones 
agayn  and  still  beyng  bolde  to  treble  yow,  I  comyt  yow  to  God.  From  Mounthall  the 
xxiii  of  October,  1560.  Yr  allwais  assuridlie,  T.  Smith.1 

It  is  quite  true  that  Sewell  and  Kirkbride  appeared  before  the  Council 
on  23  October  1555,  in  answer  to  summons,  and  the  charges  against 
them  were  committed  on  ro  November  following  to  Sir  Edward 
Hastings,  master  of  the  horse,  and  Bourne,  one  of  the  secretaries,  for 
examination,  with  power  to  send  them  to  prison  if  they  thought  good 
till  the  matter  was  further  investigated.2  Though  Bishop  Sandes  selected 
Sewell  to  preach  at  the  Penrith  session  of  the  visitation  in  1559,  he  can 
have  had  little  respect  for  a  man  who  was  a  zealous  papist  in  Mary's 
reign  and  an  ardent  reformer  as  soon  as  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne. 
Bishop  Grindal,  the  other  prelate  to  whom  Sir  Thomas  Smith  referred, 
informed  Cecil  three  years  afterwards  that  Sewell  was  '  discreditted  by 
reason  of  his  inconstancie.'3  The  importunity  of  the  worthy  knight  at 
last  prevailed,  for  Lancelot  Salkeld  died  on  3  September  1560,  and  Sir 
Thomas  Smith  was  installed  in  the  deanery  on  the  twentieth  of  the  same 
month.4 

The  clergy  of  the  diocese  had  a  little  breathing  time  to  reflect  on 
the  ordeal  through  which  they  had  just  passed  before  they  were  again 
called  upon  to  renew  their  allegiance  to  the  religious  settlement.  Mean- 
while the  see  had  to  be  supplied  with  a  bishop.  As  yet  Bishop  Ogle- 
thorpe  was  the  only  clergyman  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  who  suffered 
by  the  legislative  changes  made  in  the  first  parliament  of  the  Queen. 
Though  there  was  no  legal  impediment  in  the  way  of  filling  up  the 
bishopric  rendered  vacant  by  the  bishop's  deprivation,  no  appointment 

i  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  xiv.  27. 

>  Acts  of  the  P.  C.  [new  series],  v.  1 88,  192. 

a  Lansd.  MS.  (Burghley  Papers,  1562-3),  vi.  86.  Hugh  Sewell  was  appointed  canon  of  the  cathedral 
on  20  August  1547,  on  the  death  of  William  Florence  (Rymer,  Fcedera,  xv.  190).  The  dean  and  chapter 
made  him  vicar  of  St.  Lawrence,  Appleby,  in  April  1559,  and  he  was  instituted  to  Caldbeck  in  Decem- 
ber 1560  (Exch.  Cert.  Bishops'  Inst.  Carl.,  No.  i). 

4  Exch.  Cert.  Bishops'  Inst.  Carl.,  No.  I. 

II  65  o 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

had  been  made  for  over  a  year  after  his  death.  It  was  probably  about 
the  time  of  the  northern  visitation  that  Edwin  Sandes  was  nominated  to 
Carlisle,  but  he  gave  no  reasons  for  declining  it  except  a  general  reluct- 
ance to  undertake  the  responsibilities  of  the  episcopal  office.1  In  urging 
Bernard  Gilpin,  the  Apostle  of  the  North,  to  accept  the  nomination 
early  in  the  following  year,  Sandes  reminded  him  that  there  was  no  man 
in  that  part  of  the  kingdom  fitter  than  himself  to  be  of  service  to  religion. 
He  informed  him  also  that  by  the  Queen's  favour  he  should  have  the 
bishopric  just  in  the  condition  in  which  Dr.  Oglethorpe  left  it  ;  nothing 
should  be  taken  from  it,  as  had  been  the  case  with  some  others.  Gilpin 
is  said  to  have  replied  that  if  any  other  bishopric  but  Carlisle  had  been 
offered  to  him,  he  might  possibly  have  accepted  it,  but  in  that  diocese 
he  had  so  many  friends  and  acquaintances,  of  whom  he  had  not  the  best 
opinion,  that  he  must  either  connive  at  many  irregularities,  or  draw 
upon  himself  so  much  hatred,  that  he  should  be  less  able  to  do  good 
there  than  any  one  else.2  Ultimately,  the  see  was  filled  by  the  conse- 
cration of  John  Best  on  2  March  1561,"  a  man  who  had  been  a  select 
preacher  for  the  northern  visitors,  and  who  had  been  instituted  by  them 
to  the  benefice  of  Romaldkirke,4  in  the  diocese  of  Chester,  void  by  the 
deprivation  of  Bishop  Oglethorpe.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that 
Sandes  was  the  instrument  of  his  preferment. 

In  a  few  months  after  the  see  was  filled  by  the  consecration  of 
Bishop  Best,  steps  were  taken  to  bring  those  clergy  to  conformity  who 
had  refused  subscription  to  the  suscepta  religio  during  the  royal  visitation 
of  1559.  Early  in  1561  the  lord  president  of  the  north  was  ordered 
to  inquire  into  certain  secret  conventicles  of  recusants  which  were 
reported  to  have  been  held  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  and  the 
other  northern  counties.  In  the  following  May  a  commission,  consisting 
of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  rulers  of  the  northern  province,  was  issued 

»  Zurich  Letters  (Parker  Society)  1558-1579,  No.  xxxi.  :  Burnet,  Coll.  of  Rec.,  iii.  382-3.  In  this 
letter,  Sandes  told  Peter  Martyr,  on  I  April  1560,  that  he  had  returned  to  London  fatigued  in  mind  and 
body  after  his  labours  in  the  northern  parts  of  England.  The  see  of  Worcester  had  been  thrust  upon  him 
by  the  Queen,  though  he  had  wished  to  decline  it,  as  he  had  done  that  of  Carlisle,  to  which  he  had  been 
nominated  before.  He  relates  his  action  in  the  northern  visitation  in  taking  down  and  burning  '  all 
images  of  every  kind.'  Then  he  adds  significantly :  '  Only  the  popish  vestments  remain  in  our  church, 
I  mean  the  copes,  which,  however,  we  hope  will  not  last  very  long.'  This  hope  of  the  good  bishop 
was  never  realized.  The  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle,  replying  to  Bishop  Rainbow's  articles  of 
visitation  in  1666,  stated  that  '  necessary  utensils  for  the  performance  of  Divine  Service  we  have,  and 
ornaments,  as  copes,  etc.,  we  intend  shortly  to  have.  But  some  of  the  Church  utensils  were  imbezilled 
in  the  late  times  of  usurpation,  as  the  brazen  Eagle,  upon  which  ye  chapters  were  read '  (Statutes  of 
Carlisle  Cathedral,  ed.  J.  E.  Prescott,  p.  30).  In  an  inventory  dated  I  February,  1674,  belonging 
to  the  same  church,  there  are  mentioned  '  two  wrought  and  embroidered  copes '  which  the  dean  and 
chapter  still  possess  (ibid.  p.  35). 

2  Memoirs  of  Bernard  Gilpin,  ed.  C.  S.  Collingwood,  pp.  122-5  5    £'/*  °f  Bernard  Gilpin,  ed.  William 
Gilpin,  pp.  58-60 ;  Fuller,  Church  Hist.,  bk.  ix.  63-4. 

3  Strype,  Life  of  Parker,  edition  1711,  p.  67  ;   Machyn's  Diary,  Camden  Soc.,  p.  252.        Sir  John 
Hayward  gives  the  surname  of  '  Beast '  to  this  bishop,  the  way  in  which   '  Best '  was  probably  pronounced 
in  the  sixteenth  century  (Annals  of  Eliz.,  Camden  Soc.,  p.  27).      John  Best  had  been  deprived  of  his 
benefice  in  I555i  and  afterwards  went  about  privately  from  place  to  place  in  Lancashire  and  the  adjoining 
counties  preaching    the  Gospel  to  select    companies  assembled  by  assignation,  and  sometimes  giving 
the  Communion  (Strype,  Mem.,  ed.  1721,  iii.  222,  471). 

*  S.P.  Dom.  Elizabeth,  vol.  x. 

66 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

with  the  view  of  tendering  the  Oath  of  Supremacy  to  the  clergy.1  Bishop 
Best,  who  was  a  member  of  this  commission,  undertook  the  first  visita- 
tion of  his  diocese,  backed  up  by  its  protection  and  armed  with  its 
powers.  It  was  during  this  visitation  that  the  real  trial  of  strength 
between  the  Old  and  New  Learning  was  made  in  the  diocese.  The 
year  1561  marks  a  memorable  period  in  the  history  of  the  reforming 
movement  in  which  the  church  of  Carlisle  passed  once  and  for  all  from 
the  papal  jurisdiction.  From  the  bishop's  own  pen  we  have  an  account 
of  the  reception  he  met  with  from  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  diocese. 
After  three  sermons  in  the  cathedral  church,  the  common  people,  with 
much  rejoicing,  affirmed  that  they  had  been  deceived.  The  same  thing 
happened  for  the  next  two  weeks  throughout  all  his  visitation;  the 
gentlemen  of  the  country  received  him  in  every  place  with  much  civility. 
He  was  unable  to  express  his  obligations  to  Lord  Wharton  and  Lady 
Musgrave,  his  daughter,  who  had  entertained  him  '  for  ye  Gospell's  sake.' 
Lord  Wharton  was  a  worthy,  wise  man,  and  very  well  beloved  in  the 
country,  in  whose  time,  as  the  Bishop  had  heard,  the  country  was  never 
so  well  governed.  But  he  had  a  very  poor  opinion  of  the  clergy. 
'The  preistes,'  he  reported  to  Cecil, 

are  wicked  ympes  of  Antichrist,  and  for  ye  moste  parte  very  ignorante  and 
stubburne,  past  measure  false  and  sotle  :  onlie  feare  maketh  them  obedient.  Onlie  three 
absentid  themselves  in  my  visitacon,  and  fled  because  they  wolde  not  subscribe,  of  ye 
which  two  belonge  to  my  Lorde  Dacres  and  one  to  ye  Earle  of  Cumberland.  Unto 
which  I  have  assigned  dayes  undre  danger  of  deprivation.  Aboute  xii  or  xiii  churches 
in  Gylsland,  all  undre  my  Lorde  Dacre  do  not  appeare,  but  bearyng  themselves  apon 
my  Lorde  refuse  to  come  in,  and  at  Stapilton  and  sondrye  of  ye  other  have  yet  masse 
openly,  at  whome  my  lorde  and  his  officers  wynke  ;  and  althoughe  they  stande  excom- 
munycate,  I  do  no  furdre  medle  with  them  untill  I  have  some  aide  frome  my  lorde 
president,  and  ye  consaile  in  ye  northe,  lest  I  myght  trouble  ye  contrey  withe  those  yt 
in  maner  are  desperate,  and  yet  I  doubte  not  but  by  pollycie  to  make  them  obedient 
at  my  lorde  Dacre  commyng  into  ye  contrey. 

The  bishop  perceived  that  Lord  Dacre  was 

something  too  myghtie  in  this  contrey  and  as  it  were  a  prynce  and  ye  lorde  warden  of  ye 
West  marches  of  Scotland  and  he  are  but  too  great  frendes. 

It  was  the  prevalent  opinion  in  the  district  that  the  lord  warden  suffered 
the  Scots  to  do  harm  in  England  with  impunity  and  put  off  the  days  of 
march  and  justice  on  offenders  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  home  Lord 
Dacre,  who  had  been  too  long  detained  in  London  in  the  opinion  of  his 
friends.3  As  the  bishop  had  been  only  four  months  consecrated  when 
he  commenced  his  visitation,  he  had  little  opportunity  of  making  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  his  clergy  or  judging  of  their  feelings  and 
difficulties.  At  all  events,  it  was  determined  to  make  an  example  of  one 

1  In  the  commission  it  is  stated  that  as  certain  ecclesiastical  persons  had  absented  themselves  from 
the  late  visitation,  the  commissioners  were  appointed  to  administer  the  oath  to  all  ecclesiastical  persons 
in  the  northern  province  and  to  certify  the  reception  and  refusal  thereof  into  Chancery.     The  text  of 
the  commission  has  been  printed  by  Dr.  Gee  (The  Elizabethan  Clergy,  pp.  172-3)  from  Pat.  3  Eliz.  pt. 
10,  m.  34d. 

2  S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz.  xviii.  21.    This  letter  has  also  been  calendared  under  Foreign  Papers,  Elizabeth, 
1561-2,  No.  323. 

67 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

of  those  '  wicked  imps  of  Antichrist  '  without  further  delay,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  aid  of  the  Council  in  the  north  was  invoked. 

The  bishop's  success  in  bringing  most  of  the  recalcitrant  clergy  to 
a  state  of  passive  conformity  must  have  exceeded  his  expectations. 
Much  had  taken  place  in  the  two  years  that  elapsed  since  the  royal 
visitation.  There  had  been  sufficient  time  to  discuss  the  ecclesiastical 
changes  and  to  make  up  their  minds  about  their  future  attitude.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  only  two  of  the  clergy  of  the  whole  diocese,  who  had 
absented  themselves  from  the  bishop's  visitation,  pushed  their  resistance 
to  the  extreme  limit  and  refused  to  acknowledge  the  legislative  settle- 
ment of  religion.  These  men  were  Hugh  Hodgson,  rector  of  Skelton, 
and  Robert  Thompson,  rector  of  Beaumont,  both  churches  being  in 
the  patronage  and  under  the  protection  of  Lord  Dacre,  who,  as  we 
have  seen,  was  a  resolute  opponent  of  the  reforming  party.  As 
Hodgson  had  been  deprived  of  his  provostship  of  Queen's  College, 
Oxford,  by  the  royal  visitors  in  1559,  little  compunction  was  felt  in 
proceeding  against  him  at  once.  Bishop  Best  had  no  power  as  yet  to 
deprive  for  nonconformity,  but  as  he  was  a  member  of  the  Northern 
Commission  his  duty  was  clear.  Hodgson  was  arrested  early  in  August 
at  Kirkoswald,  the  house  of  Lord  Dacre,1  his  patron,  by  the  authority 
of  the  president  and  council  of  the  north,  and  conveyed  to  York,  where 
the  oath  was  tendered  to  him,  and  by  him  peremptorily  and  obstinately 
refused.  On  2 1  August  the  sentence  of  deprivation  was  pronounced,2  and 
on  26  November  Henry  Dacre,  bachelor  of  arts,  was  instituted  to  Skel- 
ton on  the  nomination  of  Lord  Dacre,  warden  of  the  march.3  The 
case  of  Thompson,  rector  of  Beaumont,  did  not  come  on  at  that  time. 
It  was  not,  however,  long  delayed,  for  on  5  May  1562  Henry  Hasel- 
head  was  instituted  to  the  rectory,  vacant  by  the  deprivation  of  Robert 
Thompson,  the  last  incumbent,  who  had  obstinately  refused  to  take  the 
oath  contained  in  the  Act  of  Parliament.  This  nomination  was  also 
made  by  Lord  Dacre.4  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  these  two  recu- 
sants were  influenced  in  their  resistance  by  the  shelter  of  the  great  name 
of  Dacre,  a  nobleman  who,  in  the  words  of  Bishop  Best,  was  '  some- 
thing too  mighty  in  this  country  and  as  it  were  a  prince.'  These  were 
the  only  victims  of  the  Elizabethan  settlement  of  religion  in  a  diocese 
which  contained  at  least  1 20  cures  of  souls,5  including  curates  in  quasi- 
sole  charge.  If  we  sum  up  the  whole  loss  which  the  diocese  sustained 
by  the  enforcement  of  the  Act  of  Uniformity,  we  cannot  count  on 
more  deprivations  than  those  of  the  bishop  and  two  parish  priests.  It 
cannot  be  said  that  the  clergy  as  a  body  embraced  the  liturgical  changes 
with  alacrity,  but  none  except  those  mentioned  persisted  in  their  refusal 
to  work  the  new  ecclesiastical  system. 

>  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  10.  Dacre's  influence  may  be  gathered  from 
the  fact  that  the  lord  president  wrote  to  him,  after  Hodgson's  deprivation,  that  Richard  Dudley  might 
not  forfeit  his  favour  in  consequence  of  his  having  arrested  the  priest  in  his  lordship's  house. 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Best,  f.  3. 

3  Ibid.  f.  4.  «  Ibid.  f.  5. 

«  Harl.  MS.  594,  f.  9. 

68 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

When  Bishop  Best  had  finished  his  first  visitation  and  had  come  to 
an  understanding  with  his  clergy,  his  difficulties  were  not  by  any  means 
surmounted.  There  was  a  deep  underlying  current  of  disaffection 
which  caused  him  considerable  anxiety  for  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the 
cause  he  had  espoused.  As  far  as  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  were  con- 
cerned, the  battle  of  uniformity  was  fought  and  won  :  the  papal  juris- 
diction was  shattered :  the  supremacy  of  the  Crown  was  treated  with 
toleration  :  the  book  of  Common  Prayer  was  installed  in  the  churches : 
the  Injunctions  were  generally  accepted  and  observed.  But  the  clergy 
alone  did  not  constitute  the  church  ;  the  laity  had  still  to  be  reconciled. 
If  it  were  true,  as  the  Bishop  informed  Cecil,  that  the  common  people 
heard  him  gladly,  and  that  some  of  the  gentry  had  entertained  him  for 
the  Gospel's  sake,  yet  there  was  a  wide-spread  opposition  to  the 
principles  of  the  reformed  religion  among  the  great  magnates  of  the 
two  counties  which  forced  him  to  proceed  with  the  utmost  caution. 
Six  months  after  his  visitation,  on  14  January  1561—2,  he  opened  his 
mind  to  Cecil  again,  and  informed  him  by  a  secret  message  of  the 
perilous  position  in  which  he  stood.  First,  he  said,  there  are  here 
such  rumours,  tales  and  lies  secretly  blown  abroad,  partly  by  writings 
in  French  and  partly  by  evil-disposed  papists,  secretly  whispered  in 
corners,  that  every  day  men  look  for  a  change  and  prepare  for  the  same. 
The  people  desirous  of  it  openly  say  and  do  what  they  wish  concerning 
religion  without  check  or  punishment.  The  rulers  and  justices  of  the 
peace  wink  at  all  these  things  and  look  through  their  fingers.  When 
the  bishop  pointed  out  these  irregularities  he  only  provoked  private 
displeasure.  Before  the  great  men  came  into  these  parts,  he  could  do 
more  for  Christ's  Gospel  in  one  day  than  he  could  do  now  in  two 
months.  He  only  wished  to  punish  and  deprive  certain  evil  men,  who 
would  neither  do  their  office  according  to  the  good  laws  of  the  realm, 
nor  acknowledge  the  Queen's  supremacy,  nor  obey  him  as  ordinary. 
Such  men  as  these  were  not  only  supported  and  tolerated,  but  also  re- 
tained as  counsellors  and  brought  into  open  place,  whereby  those  of 
evil  religion  were  encouraged  to  be  stubborn,  and  those  who  embraced 
the  true  doctrine  were  defaced  and  ignored.  These  men  were  kept  in 
private  households  contrary  to  the  orders  of  the  archbishop  of  York, 
the  lord  president  and  the  commissioners.  The  bishop  dared  not  to  say  it 
was  wrong,  as  he  knew  the  danger  thereof;  but  he  assured  Cecil  that  as 
long  as  this  state  of  things  lasted  God's  glorious  Gospel  could  not  take 
root  there.  If  he  were  present  to  see  the  rule  of  Cumberland  and 
Westmorland  under  the  two  heads  thereof,1  Lord  Dacre  and  the  Earl  of 

1  Bishop  Grindal,  writing  to  Cecil  on  21  January  1562-3,  besought  him  to  be  good  to  the  bishop 
of  Carlisle.  There  were  marvellous  practices  to  deface  him  '  in  my  lawless  country,'  and  by  him  to 
destroy  the  cause  of  religion.  If  the  two  noblemen  of  whom  he  complained  were  touched  by  the  authority 
of  the  Privy  Council,  it  would  be  a  terror  to  the  rest  (Lansd.  MS.  vii.  57  ;  Remains  of  Abp.  Grindal, 
Parker  Soc.,  pp.  267-8).  Grindal  always  maintained  a  lively  interest  in  the  county  of  his  birth,  though 
he  had  not  a  very  high  opinion  of  its  religious  condition.  In  another  letter  to  Cecil,  dated  17  May  1563, 
he  said  that  '  I  have  offte  thowghte  to  make  a  generall  sute  to  you  for  regarde  for  that  litle  Angle  wher 
I  was  borne,  called  Cowplande,  parcell  off  Cumberlande,  the  ignoranteste  parte  in  Religion  and  moste 
oppressed  off  covetouse  landlordes  off  anie  one  parte  off  this  realme  to  my  knowlege.  I  entende  att  my 

69 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Cumberland,  it  would  cause  him  to  weep.  By  the  hand  of  a  trusty 
friend  he  sent  him  a  copy  of  certain  articles  in  the  French  tongue 
which  had  been  circulated  in  the  diocese,  causing  much  talk  and  great 
rejoicing  among  the  papists,  with  such  wishing  and  wager  making  about 
the  alteration  of  religion,  such  rumours  and  tales  of  the  Spaniards  and 
French  landing  in  Scotland  and  in  the  west  marches  of  England  for  the 
reformation  of  the  same,  alienating  the  people's  hearts  which  were 
quieted  before.  Little  wonder  that  the  people,  after  their  experience  of 
the  rapid  changes  in  religion  under  Edward  VI.  and  Mary,  were  becom- 
ing bewildered,  and  were  slow  to  accept  the  Elizabethan  settlement  '  for 
feare  of  a  shrewid  torne.' l  Time  only  could  give  them  confidence  and 
wean  them  from  their  old  ways. 

When  we  turn  to  Bishop  Best's  relations  with  the  members  of  the 
capitular  body  of  the  diocese,  we  shall  find  that  little  help  or  encour- 
agement could  be  gained  from  that  quarter.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
this  good  prelate  was  obliged  to  fight  the  battle  of  the  Reformation 
single-handed  ;  his  greatest  enemies  were  the  men  of  his  own  house. 
Writing  to  Cecil  on  15  April  1563,  he  complained  that  owing  to  the 
absence  of  Dr.  Smith,  the  dean,  the  church  of  Carlisle  was  going  to 
decay  ;  their  woods  were  almost  destroyed  ;  the  leases  of  their  farms 
were  made  to  kinsmen  for  three  or  four  score  years,  though  the  limit 
was  twenty-one  years  by  their  statutes,2  the  canons  themselves  taking 
the  profits ;  where  ten  pounds  were  allowed  yearly  for  repairs,  nothing 
was  done  ;  almost  as  little  was  done  where  thirty  pounds  were  allotted 
for  the  poor  and  the  mending  of  highways  ;  no  residence  was  kept,  no 
accounts  ;  the  prebendaries  turned  everything  to  their  own  gain.  The 
bishop  was  unable  to  bring  about  reform  by  his  visitation,  for  they 
were  confederate  together,  and  the  losses  were  their  own.  Three  of  the 

nexte  cominge  to  you  to  discourse  more  largely  off  the  state  theroff  which  godde  wyllynge  shall  be  shortly. 
I  have  no  more  to  saye  for  this  matter,  butt  only  to  praye  you  yff  yor  graunte  be  nott  fullye  paste  to 
take  order  bothe  for  the  goode  education  off  the  Warde  and  nott  to  leave  the  poore  tenantes  subiecte  to 
the  expilation  off  these  countrey  gentlemen  without  some  choyse  '  (Lansd.  MS.  vi.  51).  Twenty  years 
after  this  date  he  founded  the  Grammar  School  of  St.  Bees  in  the  '  litle  Angle  '  of  Cumberland  where 
he  was  born. 

1  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  xxi.  13.  The  articles  in  French,  which  were  circulated  in  the  diocese  and 
caused  Bishop  Best  so  much  disquietness,  were  called  '  Articles  of  the  Religion,'  scheduled  under  several 
heads  (S.P.  Foreign,  Eliz.  1561-2,  No.  771). 

1  The  seventh  statute  contains  the  following  restriction  on  leases :  '  We  will  also  that  no  lands  shall 
be  let  on  lease  beyond  twenty-one  years,  nor  from  time  to  time,  as  from  three  years  to  three  years,  or 
from  seven  years  to  seven  years,  or  by  way  of  renewal  of  any  term  after  it  shall  have  expired.  Neverthe- 
less, we  permit,  that  houses  or  buildings  in  cities  and  villages  may  be  let  on  lease  for  a  term  of  fifty  years 
or  at  the  most  of  sixty  years '  (Stat.  of  the  Cathedral  Church  of  Carl.,  ed.  J.  E.  Prescott,  p.  34).  These 
leases  were  afterwards  the  source  of  much  trouble.  From  a  statement  by  Attorney-General  Gilbert 
Gerard,  called  the  '  Case  of  the  Colledge  of  Carlisle,'  drawn  up  in  1568,  we  learn  that  most  of  the  judges, 
but  not  all,  thought  that  the  leases  were  valid,  though  issued  by  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle  with 
a  variation  from  the  proper  style  and  title.  An  authoritative  decision  in  the  courts  was  much  needed 
(S.P.  Dom.  Addenda,  Eliz.,  xiv.  31,  38).  When  'Mr.  Wolley,  her  Highnes'  secretary  for  the  Latyn 
tounge,'  was  appointed  to  the  deanery  of  Carlisle  in  January  1577-8,  he  was  instructed  '  to  understande 
the  state  of  that  churche,  to  th'ende  that  such  thinges  as  were  a  misse  might  be  reformed.'  Certain  of 
the  same  College  remained  in  deep  arrearages  to  the  church  ;  the  accounts  should  be  looked  into  ;  the 
tenants  backward  with  their  rents  should  be  urged  to  pay  [Acts  of  P.  C.  (new  series),  x.  131-2].  There 
are  three  interesting  writs  from  Charles  I.  on  the  subject  of  leases  made  by  the  bishop  and  the  dean  and 
chapter  of  Carlisle  in  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Potter,  ff.  286-8. 

70 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

prebendaries  were  unlearned  and  the  fourth  unzealous.  In  a  word,  '  the 
Citie  is  decaid  by  theym,  and  Codes  truth  sclanderyled.'  As  a  new 
warden  of  the  western  marches  was  about  to  be  appointed,  he  recom- 
mended that  some  wise  and  grave  men  of  experience  should  be  joined 
with  him  in  the  commission,  for  it  was  hard  to  find  a  man  that  should 
not  be  quickly  corrupted  there  and  buy  and  sell  poor  men's  goods  and 
lives.  The  sheriff  was  vexing  him  so  much  about  the  affairs  of  the 
late  Bishop  Oglethorpe  that  his  estates  were  of  little  value  to  him.1 
Soon  after  this  terrible  indictment  was  delivered,  Barnaby  Kirkbride, 
one  of  the  '  unlearned  '  prebendaries,  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  a 
vacancy  in  the  capitular  body  was  created.  The  bishop  did  not  spare 
'  horseflesshe '  in  order  that  his  own  nominee  might  be  appointed. 
Gregory  Scott  was  posted  up  to  London  with  a  letter  to  Bishop  Grindal 
in  furtherance  of  his  candidature.  In  a  letter  to  Cecil,  begging  the 
appointment  of  Scott,  Bishop  Grindal  stated  that  the  bishop  of  Carlisle 
had  often  complained  to  him  of  the  want  of  preachers  in  his  diocese, 
having  no  help  at  all  from  his  cathedral  church.  Sir  Thomas  Smith, 
his  dean,  was  occupied  in  the  Queen's  affairs,  as  he  knew  ;  all  his 
prebendaries  (Sewell  only  excepted,  who  was  discredited  by  reason  of 
his  inconstancy)  were  '  ignorante  preistes  or  olde  unlearned  monkes.' 
One  of  the  said  unlearned  prebendaries  had  lately  departed,  and  the 
bishop  of  Carlisle  was  anxious  to  obtain  the  void  prebend  for  Gregory 
Scott,  '  beinge  thatt  countrie  man  borne,  well  learned  and  off  goode 
zeale  and  synceritie,'  as  Bishop  Grindal  partly  knew  by  his  own  ex- 
perience. The  prebend  was  in  value  just  £20  as  he  had  been  informed.2 
It  is  satisfactory  to  know  that  Scott,  with  the  help  of  such  distinguished 
patrons,  obtained  the  appointment  and  was  installed  on  2  May  1564,  in 
the  presence  of  Thomas  Tukie,  the  official  principal  of  Carlisle,  and  six 
of  the  minor  canons,  but  none  of  the  prebendaries  assisted  at  the  func- 
tion.3 Bishop  Best,  being  an  advanced  reformer  of  the  Helvetian  type, 
kept  about  him  as  private  chaplains  certain  refugees,  who  had  returned 
to  England  on  the  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  gradually  slipped 
them  into  benefices  or  prebends  as  they  became  vacant  by  the  death  of 
the  old  priests.  One  of  these,  a  Scotsman  called  John  Mawbraye, 
Maybraye,  or  Makebray,  a  noted  preacher  at  Frankfort  in  Queen 
Mary's  days,  was  installed  in  the  cathedral  on  18  January  1565-6, 

1  Lansd.  MS.  vi.  (Burghley  Papers,  1562-3). 

2  Ibid.  vi.  86.      Bishop  Grindal's  letter  is    dated  '  frome  my  howse   att  Fulham,  27  Decemb. 
1563,'  and  endorsed  '  B.  of  London  for  Mr.  Scott  to  be  a  prebendary  of  that  church.'     It  has  been  printed 
by  the  Parker  Society  in  the  Remains  of  Abp.  Grindal,  pp.  285-6.     Strype  has  explained  that  from  the 
bishop's  allusion  to  Sewell's  inconstancy  we  may  infer  that  he  was '  a  compiler  under  the  late  religion  '  ; 
indeed  Sewell  changed  his  religion  on  every  demise  of  the  Crown.     But  the  same  writer  misunderstood 
the  reference  to  the  departure  of  'one  of  the  said  unlearned  prebendaries,'  as  Kirkbride  had  died, and 
not '  fled  abroad,  perhaps  to  Louvain  or  some  other  place,  as  many  of  the  papists  now  did  '  (Strype,  Life 
of  Grindal,  edition  1710,  p.  85). 

3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Best,  f.  14.     Gregory  Scott,  the  new  prebendary,  was  a  writer  of  verses  and 
published  '  A  briefe  Treatise  agaynst  certayne  Errors  of  the  Romish  Church,  etc.     Very  plainly,  notably 
and  pleasantly  confuting  the  same  by  Scriptures  and  auncient  writers.     Compiled  by  Gregory  Scot,  1570. 
Perused  and  licensed  according  to  the  Quene's  Maiestie's  Iniunction,  1574.'     There  can  be  no  doubt 
about  the  strong  Protestant  flavour  of  the  poet's  sentiments. 

71 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

on  the  death  of  Edward  Mitchell,  one  of  the  prebendaries.1  As 
time  went  on,  the  dawn  on  the  ecclesiastical  horizon  began  to  break 
before  the  bishop's  eyes,  and  though  he  often  complained  of  failing 
health  and  '  paynfull  travails,'  he  lived  to  see  a  certain  measure  of  suc- 
cess to  crown  his  efforts.  The  poor  opinion  that  Bishop  Best  enter- 
tained about  the  intellectual  equipment  and  administrative  ability  of  his 
prebendaries  was  not  altogether  justifiable.  Charges  so  sweeping  are 
seldom  upheld.  It  is  true  that  the  state  of  the  capitular  body  was  bad 
enough,  but  we  must  not  overlook  the  sentiments  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith, 
the  dean,  about  the  conduct  of  his  diocesan  and  the  effect  of  his  inter- 
meddling in  capitular  affairs.  In  a  letter  to  Cecil  from  Toulouse  on 
10  February  1564-5,  he  complained  of  'that  busy  Bishop  of  Carlisle' 
who  had  made  such  turmoil  among  the  prebendaries  of  the  church 
there,  and  pointed  out  that  the  bishop  had  more  '  tongue  '  than  wisdom 
and  goodwill.  The  dean  did  not  wish  to  excuse  the  prebendaries,  '  as 
they  have  done,  so  let  them  have '  ;  but  there  was  one  Mitchell  there, 
whom  he  had  left  as  his  vice-dean,  who  almost  alone  had  held  up  that 
church  by  his  worldly  policy,  so  as  to  bring  it  out  of  debt.  Every 
prebendary,  the  dean  reminded  Cecil,  was  catching  for  himself  and 
his  friends  what  he  could  in  these  days  of  religious  changes.  He 
knew  the  fashion  of  these  countrymen  well  enough,  that  if  the  presence 
of  Mitchell  was  withdrawn  from  the  cathedral,  the  church  would  not 
stand  long  ;  but  what  betwixt  the  bishop  and  the  prebendaries,  the 
dean  was  unable  to  get  a  penny  out  of  them  for  a  twelvemonth  or 
more.2 

The  bishop  had  his  diocese  in  some  state  of  organization  at  this 
period  so  far  as  it  could  be  expected  from  one  in  his  difficult  position. 
From  a  memorandum  which  he  supplied  to  the  Privy  Council  in  July 
1563  in  answer  to  certain  articles  of  inquiry,  we  get  a  good  idea  of  the 
condition  and  characteristics  of  the  ecclesiastical  area  over  which  he 
ruled.  In  answer  to  the  first  article  he  replied  that  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle  contained  two  shires,  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  ;  but  out 
of  the  former  Coupland  was  exempted  as  being  in  the  diocese  of  Chester, 
and  out  of  the  latter  the  barony  of  Kendal  was  exempted,  being  in  the 
same  diocese.  By  the  second  article  the  Council  inquired  '  into  what 

i  Among  the  refugees  at  Frankfort  in  1554,  Strype  enumerates  '  the  Scotch  preacher,  John  Make- 
bray,  who  was  the  first  that  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  English  there  for  about  a  year,  and  then  went 
to  another  church  in  the  Low  Country  (Mem.,  edition  1721,  iii.  146-7).  Makebray  appears  also  in  the 
list  of  exiles  given  by  Whitehead  in  his  Brief  Survey  of  the  Troubles  begun  at  Frankfort,  printed  in  1575. 
In  the  same  list  we  have  the  names  of  such  north  country  men  as  Edmond  Grindal  and  Edwin  Sandes 
(Dodd,  Church  Hist.,  ed.  Tierney,  ii.  67).  In  July  1564  Lord  Scrope,  reporting  to  Cecil  his  conferences 
with  the  Scottish  warden  at  Dumfries,  stated  that '  a  chaplin  of  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  called  Mawbraye, 
and  two  of  the  prebendaries  of  the  same  church,  preached  there  several  days  to  great  audiences  who  liked 
their  sermons  and  doctrine'  (Foreign  Papers,  Elizabeth,  1564-5,  No.  558).  In  the  record  of  his  collation 
to  the  prebend,  to  which  he  was  inducted  by  Sewell,  he  is  described  as  '  magister  Johannes  Maybraye, 
verbi  Dei  minister.'  Mitchell,  who  preceded  him,  was  '  in  legibus  bacchalarius '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg., 
Best,  f.  20). 

2  S.P.  Foreign,  Eliz.,  1564-5,  No.  980(7).  Strype  has  much  to  say  on  the  '  unreasonable  leases 
in  the  church  of  Carlisle  '  and  the  efforts  that  were  made  '  to  redress  the  mischiefs  the  Popish  spoilers 
of  the  church  now  reformed  had  done,  as  well  out  of  malice  as  covetousness '  (Annals,  ed.  1709,  i.  510-1). 

72 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

maner  of  regimentes '  the  diocese  was  divided  ;  whether  the  same  be 
archdeaconries,  deaneries  or  such  like  ;  how  many  there  were  with  their 
distinct  names  ;  '  who  occupieth  the  same  roomes  at  this  present  and  wher 
they  are  to  your  understanding  ? '  The  bishop  answered  that  the  dio- 
cese had  but  one  archdeaconry,  and  that  the  archdeacon's  name  was 
Mr.  George  Nevell,  who  was  not  resident  within  the  diocese,  but  lived 
at  a  place  in  Richmondshire  called  Well  ;  the  diocese  was  divided  into 
one  deanery  of  the  cathedral  church  and  four  rural  deaneries,  viz. 
Cumberland,  Westmorland,  Carlisle  and  Allerdale  ;  the  dean  of  the 
cathedral,  who  was  always  absent  by  dispensation  as  he  alleged,  had 
under  him  four  prebendaries  of  the  same  church,  of  whom  none  kept 
residence  there,  but  lay  upon  their  benefices  abroad  in  the  diocese.  In 
reply  to  the  third  question  he  reported  that  as  yet  he  knew  not  of  any 
'  exempte  or  peculiar  places '  within  the  circuit  of  his  diocese  where  he 
had  not  full  jurisdiction  as  ordinary.  The  fourth  and  fifth  articles  were 
concerned  with  the  number  of  churches  within  each  archdeaconry, 
deanery  or  other  regiment,  which  of  these  churches  were  parochial, 
how  many  of  them  had  parsons,  vicars  or  curates  ;  '  and  wheras  the 
parishes  are  so  large  as  they  have  divers  chappells  of  ease  which  have 
or  ought  to  have  curates  or  ministers  in  them,  to  certifie  howe  manye 
be  of  that  sort  in  everie  suche  parishe,  with  the  names  of  the  townes  or 
hamletts,  where  the  same  churches  or  chapells  are  so  scituate,'  and  also 
to  state  how  many  households  were  within  every  parish  or  member  of 
any  parish  that  had  such  churches  or  chapels  of  ease.  In  the  bishop's 
return  of  over  one  hundred  parishes,  there  is  no  indication  that  any  of 
the  benefices  were  destitute  of  curates,  or  that  there  was  any  lack  in  the 
supply  of  clergy.  Extensive  parishes  like  Crosthwaite,  Holmcultram 
and  Kirkbystephen  had  the  largest  populations,  exceeding  those  of  the 
two  Carlisle  parishes,  and  such  places  as  Kirkandrews-on-Eden,  Grins- 
dale,  Denton  and  RoclifFe  were  very  sparsely  populated.1 

The  attention  of  the  second  parliament  of  the  Queen  was  turned 
to  the  enforcement  of  the  Royal  Supremacy  among  the  clergy  and  laity 
alike.  The  chief  provisions  of  the  penal  Act2  of  1563  were  concerned 
with  the  repression  of  papal  sympathy  and  the  acceptance  of  the  oath 
of  allegiance.  Under  this  new  legislation  the  justices  of  the  peace  were 
directed  to  search  out  defenders  of  papal  authority  and  certify  the  pre- 
sentments into  the  Queen's  Bench  under  penalty.  Before  the  justices  could 
be  employed  on  this  delicate  business,  it  was  necessary  to  have  satis- 
factory assurances  of  their  loyalty  to  the  religious  settlement  and  their 
capabilities  to  administer  the  Act.  From  Bishop  Best's  return  of  the 
justices,  dated  18  November  1564,  we  get  an  insight  into  the  condition 
of  conformity  among  the  educated  portion  of  the  laity  of  his  diocese. 
As  soon  as  the  bishop  had  received  the  Council's  letter  he  had  a  con- 
ference with  such  '  grave  wyttye  men,  good  in  relligion  as  favourers  of 
the  policie  of  the  realme  nowe  established,'  but  with  men  of  contrary 

1  Harl.  MS.  594,  f.  9.    Compare  also  ibid.  595,  f.  85. 
2  5  Eliz.  cap.  i. 

n  73  10 


A     HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

religion  he  durst  have  no  conference.  A  great  obstacle  to  the  good 
success  of  the  '  policies  established  '  was  the  perpetual  continuance  of 
the  sheriffwick  of  Westmorland,  by  which  means  there  was  always 
some  one  in  office  who  by  no  means  favoured  '  the  true  way.'  Sus- 
picious people  were  allowed  to  pass  through  the  country  unapprehended, 
and  some  had  '  in  the  wyld  mountaynes  preached  in  chappells.'  The 
Queen's  receivers  and  other  officers  of  the  lower  sort,  not  being  good  in 
themselves,  often  discouraged  such  as  dared  not  displease  them.  The 
tenants  of  noblemen  in  the  two  counties  were  afraid  to  declare  them- 
selves in  favour  of  '  that  way '  for  fear  they  should  lose  their  farms.  The 
justices  of  assize,  though  they  made  '  a  good  face  of  relligion  in  gevinge 
of  the  charge,'  in  all  their  talks  and  acts  showed  themselves  not  favour- 
able towards  any  man  or  cause  of  religion,  which  the  people  marked 
and  talked  much  of.  The  bishop  enclosed  the  names  of  all  the  justices 
of  the  peace  of  the  two  shires  within  his  diocese,  with  notes  of  religion, 
learning  and  wisdom,  both  according  to  his  own  knowledge,  and  from 
what  he  could  learn  by  conference  with  trustworthy  men  ;  also  the 
names  of  such  as  in  religion  were  sincere  and  favourable  to  the  settle- 
ment, '  most  fytt  men  to  be  appoynted  in  place  of  some  of  the  other.' 
The  value  of  the  bishop's  opinions  on  the  religious  sympathies  of  the 
chief  laymen  of  his  diocese  at  this  early  period  of  Elizabethan  uni- 
formity cannot  be  exaggerated  in  point  of  interest.  Of  the  justices  of 
the  peace  already  in  office  he  reported  as  follows  :  '  My  Lord  Dacre, 
butt  especially  my  lady  his  wyfe,  are  to  be  reformed  in  relligion  :  Sir 
Thomas  Dacre  of  Lannercost,  knight,  Gustos  Rotulorum  within  the  countie 
of  Cumberland,  to  be  admoneshed  in  relligion,  and  verie  unfytt  for  that 
office  ;  Henrye  Curwen  of  Workington,  armiger,  William  Pennington 
of  Muncaster,  armiger,  John  Lampleugh  of  Lampleugh,  armiger, 
Thomas  Myddleton  of  Skyrwith,  armiger,  in  relligion  good  and  meat  to 
contynue,  and  the  said  Myddleton  lerned  somethinge  in  the  lawes;  John 
Aglionby  of  Carlill,  armiger,  Richard  Blannerhasset,  deade,  armiger,  not 
staid  in  relligion,  but  to  be  admoneshedd,  and  within  the  lyberties  of 
the  Cetie  of  Carlill  none  other  able  but  poore  men  ;  Richard  Salkeld  of 
Corby  or  Rosgill,  armiger,  not  good  in  relligion  ;  William  Myddleton, 
gentleman,  William  Pyckringe,  gentleman,  in  relligion  evell  and  not 
meatt.'  The  bishop  recommended  the  following  to  be  appointed  : 
'  Henry  lord  Scroope,  lord  warden,  Mr.  George  Scroope  his  brother  ; 
George  Lampleughe  of  Cockermouth,  armiger,  Henry  Towsone  of 
Brydekyrk,  armiger,  Thomas  Layton  of  Dalemayne,  armiger,  Mr. 
Anthony  Twhattes  of  Unerigg,  clerk,1  men  of  wysedome  and  good  relli- 
gion, experyent  and  learned  but  not  in  the  lawes  ;  Thomas  Carleton  of 
Carleton,  gentleman,  Andrewe  Huddlestone,  gentleman,  in  relligion  good 
and  wyttye  men.'  In  the  bishop  of  Chester's  return  for  the  parcel  of 

1  Anthony  Thwaites,  S.T.P.,  was  the  only  clerical  justice  recommended.  He  was  an  early  sup- 
porter of  the  reforming  policy  of  Bishop  Beft,  and  was  present  at  Rose  Castle  on  29  September  1561, 
when  that  bishop  held  his  first  ordination  in  the  diocese.  He  was  appointed  to  the  vicarage  of 
Aspatria  in  December  1565,  a  benefice  in  the  bishop's  patronage  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Best,  ff.  3,  20). 

74 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

Cumberland  within  his  diocese  he  stated  that  William  Pennington  of 
Muncaster  was  favourable  and  Henry  Curwen  of  Workington  and  John 
Lamplugh  of  Lamplugh  were  unfavourable  to  the  established  religion, 
but  that  so  far  as  he  knew  there  were  no  other  persons  in  that  district 
fit  to  be  made  justices.1  It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  reformed  doctrine 
had  met  with  some  acceptance  among  the  educated  laity  of  the  north- 
western counties ;  and  though  there  is  evidence  of  a  strong  opposition, 
active  resistance  was  destined  to  decline  as  the  new  ideas  made  progress 
among  the  clergy,  and  men  became  more  assured  that  the  settlement  of 
religion  was  permanent  and  irreversible. 

The  uncertainty  which  prevailed  about  the  permanence  of  the 
settlement  had  a  serious  effect  on  the  supply  of  a  good  class  of  clergy  in 
the  northern  diocese.  Throughout  the  years  of  Bishop  Best's  episco- 
pate, when  the  strain  of  the  Reformation  was  greatest,  few  men  were 
admitted  to  holy  orders  by  him  for  work  in  his  own  diocese.  Two 
deacons  and  one  priest  make  up  the  sum  of  his  ordinations  for  the  first 
eight  years  of  his  episcopate,  1561-8.  The  educational  equipment  of 
candidates  for  ordination  during  the  episcopates  of  his  successors,  Bishops 
Barnes  and  May,  appears  deplorable  in  the  extreme.  The  mention  of 
a  graduate  in  long  lists  of  deacons  and  priests  is  of  very  rare  occurrence. 
As  a  rule  the  clergy  had  little  education  except  what  they  received  at 
the  village  school.  It  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  candidate  to  be 
admitted  to  the  diaconate  on  one  day  and  to  be  instituted  to  a  benefice 
on  the  day  following.  Early  in  the  struggle  for  uniformity,  when  the 
want  of  clergy  was  most  acute,  the  bishops  constituted  a  new  order  of 
'  Reader  '  to  tide  over  the  dearth  of  the  right  sort  of  men.  These 
readers  were  placed  in  parishes  destitute  of  incumbents,  and  were  obliged 
to  live  according  to  certain  rules  laid  down  by  the  bishops.  The  new 
order  was  not  allowed  to  preach  or  interpret,  but  only  to  read  what  had 
been  appointed  by  authority.  The  ministration  of  the  sacraments  and 
other  public  rites  was  forbidden,  except  the  burial  of  the  dead  and  the 
churching  of  women.  To  the  constitution  of  this  new  departure  in 
ecclesiastical  order  Bishop  Best  gave  his  adhesion.2  The  influence  of 
such  a  staff  of  parochial  clergy  for  the  Christian  edification  of  the  mass 
of  the  people  can  be  well  imagined.  From  the  pen  of  Bishop  Henry 
Robinson,  a  native  of  the  parish  of  St.  Mary,  Carlisle,  successively 
Fellow  and  Provost  of  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  we  get  an  authoritative 
account  of  the  moral  condition  of  the  diocese  the  year  after  his  conse- 
cration to  its  oversight.  Writing  from  Rose  Castle  on  26  December 

1  These  letters  are  now  at  Hatfield  in  the  possession  of  the  Marquess  of  Salisbury,  and  have  been 
calendared  by  the  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  (Hatfield  House  MSS.,  i.  306-312)  as '  A  Collection  of  Original  Letters 
from  the  several  Bishops,  etc.,  to  the  Privy  Council,  with  Returns  of  the  Justices  of  the  Peace  and  others, 
within  their  respective  Dioceses,'  1564.  Miss  Mary  Bateson  has  printed  those  letters  in  full  for  the  Cam- 
den  Society  in  the  Camden  Miscellany,  vol.  ix. 

"  This  is  a  very  interesting  document  of  date  not  earlier  than  1561.  It  is  called  '  Injunctions  to 
be  confessed  and  subscribed  by  them  that  shalbe  admytted  Readers,'  and  bears  the  signatures  of  the  two 
archbishops  and  nine  bishops,  including  Bishop  Grindal  of  London  and  Bishop  Best  of  Carlisle  (Add.  MS. 
19,398,  f.  59).  Strype  says  that  its  provisions  were  enjoined  in  1559  and  confirmed  by  the  Convocation 
of  1562  (Annals  of  the  Reformation,  ed.  1709,  i.  306-7). 

75 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

1 599,  the  bishop  told  Cecil  that  the  most  part  of  the  gentlemen  of  the 
country  gave  good  tokens  of  soundness  in  religion,  and  the  poorer  sort 
were  generally  willing  to  hear,  but  withal  they  were  pitifully  ignorant 
of  the  foundations  of  Christianity,  of  the  corrupt  state  of  man,  of  the 
justice  of  God  against  sin,  the  grace  of  Christ  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead.  As  they  were  without  knowledge,  so  many  of  them  were 
without  all  fear  of  God,  adulterers,  thieves,  murderers.  The  chief 
spring  of  all  this  wofulness  came  principally  of  the  weakness  and  care- 
lessness of  the  ministry.  In  divers  places  of  the  Borders,  the  bishop 
continued,  the  churches  had  walls  without  covering,  and  they  had  none 
to  celebrate  divine  service,  save  only  certain  beggarly  runners,  who  came 
out  of  Scotland,  neither  could  men  of  worth  be  induced  to  live  there, 
because  their  maintenance  was  withholden  and  their  lives  were  in  con- 
tinual danger.  In  the  more  peaceable  parts  of  the  diocese  there  were 
some  clergymen  of  very  commendable  parts  both  for  knowledge  and 
conscience,  but  their  number  was  very  small.  Others  there  were  that 
might  do  much  good  if  they  had  half  that  delight  in  discharging  their 
function  which  they  had  in  idleness,  vain  pleasures  and  worldly  cares. 
The  far  greatest  number  is  utterly  unlearned,  unable  to  read  English 
truly  and  distinctly.  One  great  occasion  thereof  was  the  great  facility 
of  his  predecessor  in  committing  the  charge  of  souls  to  such  as  were 
presented  by  those  who  cared  not  how  silly  the  clerk  was,  so  long  as 
they  themselves  enjoyed  the  fat  of  the  living.  But  that  was  not  all,  for 
there  were  divers  churches  appropriated  and  served  only  with  stipendiary 
curates,  divers  chapels  of  ease  served  at  the  charges  of  poor  people,  be- 
cause the  parish  churches  were  too  far  from  them.  These  places  must 
be  wholly  unserved,  and  so  let  the  people  grow  from  ignorance  to 
brutishness,  or  else  such  must  be  tolerated  as  will  be  entertained  for  five 
marks  or  four  pounds ;  the  greatest  annual  stipend  that  any  of  the  clergy 
had  was  twenty  nobles  towards  all  charges.  It  was  a  heavy  but  too 
true  description  of  these  poor  churches,  for  redress  whereof  the  bishop 
submitted  himself  and  his  service  to  Cecil's  direction.1  This  was  not 
the  peevish  complaint  of  a  partizan  like  Bishop  Best  when  he  called 
the  Marian  clergy  of  his  diocese  '  wicked  imps  of  Antichrist,'  but  the 
sober  judgment  of  an  earnest  prelate  taking  a  dispassionate  survey  of  his 
charge,  and  estimating  the  results  of  what  forty  years  of  the  new 
church  policy  had  wrought  upon  the  manners  and  sentiments  of  the 
people. 

A  new  force  was  about  to  be  introduced  which  was  destined  to 
upset  the  calculations  of  those  who  were  working  steadily  for  uni- 
formity throughout  the  church.  The  political  action  of  the  papacy  in 
denouncing  O^ueen  Elizabeth  marked  a  turning  point  in  the  history  of 
conformity  to  the  established  doctrine  and  worship.  A  body  of  foreign 
theologians,  sitting  at  Trent,  declared  unanimously  that  it  was  a  grievous 
sin  for  Englishmen  to  attend  the  prayers  and  sermons  of  the  English 
church,  and  the  pope,  acting  on  the  decision,  published  his  well-known 

»  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  cclxxiii.  56. 
76 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

bull  excommunicating  and  deposing  the   Queen.      On  15  May  1570   a 
copy  of  this   document   was   found  on   the  gates  of  the  house   of  the 
Bishop  of  London,  placed  there  by  a  man  named  Felton.     It  was  the 
casting  of  the  die.     The  pace  of  the  reforming  movement  was  quick- 
ened and  developed  into  a  struggle  between  England  and  Rome.     We 
shall  not  stop  to  notice  the  precautions  taken  on  the  English   side   to 
protect  the  Queen  and  to  safeguard  the  future  of  the  established  religion. 
But  one  cannot  help  expressing  compassion  for  the  men  who  were  not 
altogether  dissatisfied  with  the  national  policy,  and  yet  unable  to  disso- 
ciate themselves  from  the  fascination  of  the  old  worship.     A  new  situa- 
tion was  created.     Civil  allegiance  was  now  declared  to  be  incompatible 
with  papal  sympathies.     Though  Felton's  act  was  known  and  discussed 
in  Cumberland  very  soon  after  the  excommunication  was  set   up,  and 
was  producing  disastrous  results  in  places  so  near  as  Lancashire,  Bishop 
Barnes  of  Carlisle  could  write  on  27  October  1 570  that  he  was   most 
hopeful  of  his  work  in  his  new  diocese.     Of  a  truth,  he  told  Cecil,  he 
never  came  to  a  place  in  the  land  where  more  attentive  ear   was  given 
to  the  Word  than  in  Carlisle,  and  that  if  he  could  receive   the   aid   of 
the  civil  power,  he  could  promise  '  as  faythfull,  paynefull  (and  if  God 
will)  effectuall  travell  as  ever  poore  Bisshoppe  did  performe  within  his 
cure.'    For  ten  years  he  had  acted  as  bishop  in  those  north  parts,  and  knew 
the  disposition  of  the  people  right  well,  as  he  persuaded  himself.     To 
tell  the  truth  he  had  found  the  commonalty  of  Cumberland  and  West- 
morland far  more  conformable  and  tractable  in  all  matters  of  religion 
than  ever   he   found  in  the  better   sort  in  Yorkshire.     All  will  most 
quietly  and  reverently  hear,  '  none  will  reclayme  nor  feare  by  deede,' 
except  the  lowland  men   and   certain  gentlemen,   but  attentively   and 
gladly  seem  to  hear  and  yield  to  the  truth.     The  bishop  was  sanguine 
of  great  and  good  success  in  this  '  so  rude  a  countrie,'  and  yet  not  by 
far  so  rude  as  the  people  of  many  places  in  the  south,  nor  so  far   from 
God's  religion  as  they  had  been   thought.      But  the  publication  of  the 
papal  bull,  though  it  had  not  the  effect  its  authors  expected,  was  a  real 
danger,  and   unless   precautions  were   taken   in   time,  a  papal  reaction 
might  set  in  which  would  prove  disastrous  to  the  commonwealth.     As 
a  preliminary,  he  enclosed  '  a  brefe  note  '  of  the  gentlemen  of  his  dio- 
cese as  they  showed  themselves,  and  as  he  found   them,  in   order  that 
the  authorities  might  know  how  to  act  in  the  case  of  emergency.1 

1  The  bishop's  '  brefe  note '  is  as  follows :  '  Comb'.  Simon  Musgrave,  miles,  licet  evangelium 
profiteatur  circa  religionem  tamen  negligens,  vanus,  atheist,'  etc.  Henricus  Curwen,  miles,  vir  multum 
jurans,  nee  timens  Deum  nee  religionem  ullam  curans :  domi  nescio  quid  monstri  alit.  Christoferus 
Dacre,  armiger,  pauperum  insignis  oppressor,  ceterum  in  partes  evangelii  inclinare  potius  videtur  quam 
papismi.  Cuthbertus  Musgrave  de  Crokedake,  armiger,  vanus,  inconstans,  supersticiosus,  ac  sanguin- 
arius  papista.  Johannes  Dalston,  armiger,  vir  vafri  ingenii,  tempori  serviens,  etqui  maxime  extinctum 
cuperet  evangelium.  .  .  .  Lee,  armiger,  licet  fautor  avitas  religionis,  corrigibilis  tamen  ac  mansuetus 
papista,  ingenuzque  naturae,  virtutis  ac  justiciz  amans.  Anthonius  Barwis,  armiger,  jurisperitus, 
evangelio  inimicus  capitalis  in  quo  signa  ir<e  Dei  apparent.  Thomas  Salkyld,  armiger,  jurisperitus, 
maximus  hostis  evangelii.  Richardus  Salkyld,  armiger,  (et)  Thomas  Hutton,  armiger,  veritati  resist- 
unt,  quamque  qui  maxime.  Thomas  Dcnton  de  Warnehill,  armiger,  papista,  Lovaniensium  fautor 
maximus.  Johannes  Briskoe,  generosus,  cordis  obdurati  veritatem  odit.  Cane  pejus  et  ang.  .  .  . 
Henricus  Denton  de  Cardcwe,  generosus,  vir  timens  Deum  ac  fautor  veritatis.  Richardus  Blaner- 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

The  publication  of  the  bull  deposing  the  Queen  appears  to  have 
made  little  difference  to  the  progress  of  conformity  in  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle,  except  that  it  was  the  means  of  redoubling  the  vigilance  of  the 
local  authorities  and  urging  them  on  to  a  more  stringent  application  of 
the  existing  law.  Bishop  Barnes,  on  a  closer  acquaintance  with  the 
people  of  the  two  counties,  took  an  optimistic  view  of  the  prospects  of 
religion  within  his  charge.  Writing  to  Burghley  on  19  October,  1571 
he  thankfully  recognized  that  God  had  reared  up  the  church  of  his 
Christ,  and  mightily  prospered  His  Gospel  and  the  bishop's  simple 
ministry  '  in  this  angle  and  utmoste  corner  amongest  these  salvage 
people,'  and  he  doubted  not  that  in  a  short  time  his  labours  would 
yield  great  and  good  fruit  to  God  and  the  Queen's  Majesty.  At  this 
juncture  the  Bishop's  opinions  on  the  state  of  external  conformity  in  his 
diocese  are  of  considerable  interest.  He  dared  boldly  to  assure  Burghley 
that  at  that  day  there  was  not  one  known  gentleman  or  other  within  his 
little  diocese  that  openly  repined  against  religion,  refused  to  communicate 
or  come  to  church  to  hear  divine  service,  or  shunned  sermons  or  openly 
spoke  against  the  established  religion  or  the  ministers  thereof.  There 
was  the  insignificant  exception  of  the  Lowlands,  consisting  of  the  four 
parishes  of  Arthuret,  Kirklinton,  Bewcastle  and  Stapleton,  amongst  the 
people  of  which  there  was  neither  fear,  faith,  virtue  nor  knowledge  of 
God,  nor  regard  of  any  religion  at  all.  Some  indeed  were  not  in  all 
things  satisfied  or  reclaimed,  but  they  were  in  a  good  way  and  coming 
well  forward.1 

hassett,  armiger,  Maior  Carleolensis,  vir  mitis,  justiciae  pacisque  studens,  licet  papista.  Johannes 
Eaglionbye,  armiger,  justiciarius  Carleolensis,  vanus,  blasphemusque  papista,  nullum  Dei  habens  tim- 
orem,  raptor,  pestis,  perniciesque  reipublicae.  Johannes  Blanerhassett,  armiger,  insignis  adversarius 
veritati.  Johannes  Lamplewghe,  armiger,  insignis  fautor  evangelii,  veritatis  .  .  .  professor  pius. 
Georgius  Lamplewghe,  armiger,  verus  Israelita  in  quo  non  est  fraus.  Henricus  Towson,  generosus, 
amicus  veritatis.  Thomas  Carleton,  generosus,  vir  timens  Deum,  evangelic  favens.  Thomas  Laiton, 
generosus,  virpius,  zelotes.  WestnT :  Richardus  Lowther,  armiger,  veritatis  adversarius  insignis,  azilum 
et  propugnator  pessimorum  quorumcunque.  Henricus  Crakenthorpe,  armiger,  Blinkensoppe,  armiger, 
Wyber,  armiger,  Lancastre,  armiger,  papists.  Richardus  Dudley,  armiger,  alter  Jehu.  Thomas  War- 
coppe,  armiger,  aulicae  religionis  nee  inimicus.  Clibburne,  gtnerosus,  spirans  minas  maliciamque  ad- 
versus  veritatem.  Humfridus  Musgrave,  armiger,  amicum  veritatis  palam  se  profitetur.  Lancelotus 
Pickringe,  armiger,  evangelic  favet.  Gilpyn,  generosus,  ex  animo  evangelium  profitetur.  Qui  juxta 
regulam  evangelii  incedunt,  pax  super  illos  et  misericordia  et  super  Israelem  Dei  etc.  Hisvero  qui  con- 
tentiosi  sunt  veritatem  resistunt,  ventura  est  gravi  Dei  indignacio  etc.'  (S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Ixxiv.  22,  i.) 

1  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xx.  84.  The  savage  state  of  society  and  the  want  of  adequate  religious 
instruction  on  both  sides  of  the  Border  attracted  the  attention  of  the  commissioners  who  met  at  Carlisle 
in  1596  to  discuss  the  lamentable  effects  which  the  lawless  and  disobedient  disposition  of  the  most  part 
of  the  inhabitants  had  wrought  between  the  Marches.  The  first  article  agreed  upon  was  '  that  the 
princes  be  most  humbly  and  earnestly  entreated  to  cause  God's  ministers  of  the  Word  to  be  planted  at 
every  border  church,  to  inform  the  lawless  people  of  their  duty,  and  to  watch  over  their  manners,  and 
that  the  principal  inhabitants  of  each  parish  shall  put  in  surety  to  their  prince  for  due  reverence  to  be 
used  towards  their  pastors  in  their  offices,  and  the  safety  of  their  persons  ;  and  that  to  this  effect,  order 
may  be  timely  taken  for  reparation  of  the  decayed  churches  within  the  bounds '  (Nicolson,  Leges  Alar- 
chiarum,  151).  A  presentation  was  made  by  a  jury  of  Cumberland  gentlemen  at  Carlisle  on  30  April, 
1597, '  that  the  churche  of  Bewcastle,  the  churche  of  Stapleton,  the  church  of  Arthred,  being  within  this 
Marche,  have  bene  decayed  by  the  space  of  threscore  yeares  and  more,  but  we  certanely  knowe  not  the 
patrons  of  the  sayd  churches,  neyther  who  ought  to  buyld  the  same.  And  the  churche  of  Lanerdcost 
ys  nowe  also  in  decaye  and  haith  so  bene  by  the  space  of  two  or  thre  yeares  last  past,  but  by  whome  the 
same  ought  to  be  repaired  we  knowe  not.  And  the  churche  of  Kirklinton  is  also  in  decaye,  and  so  haithe 
contynewed  the  space  of  twentie  yeare,  and  that  William  Musgrave  esquier,  and  Edward  Musgrave  his 
sonne,  are  patrons  of  the  same  '  (Border  Papers  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  311-2). 

78 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

Bishop  Barnes  was  not  backward  in  bringing  gentle  pressure  upon 
those  who  were  halting  in  their  allegiance  between  England  and  Rome 
in  order  that  the  national  movement  might  be  accelerated  in  his  diocese. 
With  the  High  Commission  at  his  back  he  was  armed  with  coercive 
power  sufficient  to  meet  all  his  requirements.  Archbishop  Grindal's 
visitation  of  the  northern  province  marked  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
conformity.  His  injunctions,  drastic  in  substance  and  detail,1  were 
fraught  with  consequences  of  great  ecclesiastical  interest.  The  bishop 
of  Carlisle  adapted  them  to  the  needs  of  his  own  diocese.  The  visitation 
of  1571  appears  to  have  worked  a  change  of  considerable  magnitude  in 
the  ritual  of  divine  service.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  visitation  Bishop 
Barnes  issued  a  mandate  to  the  eighteen  men  and  churchwardens  of 
Crosthwaite,  with  the  authority  of  the  Queen's  Commission  in  the 
province  of  York,  that  the  old  accessories  of  the  church  service,  with 
which  the  people  had  been  familiar,  but  which  Archbishop  Grindal  had 
stigmatized  as  '  relics  and  monuments  of  superstition  and  idolatry,' 
should  be  utterly  defaced,  broken  and  destroyed.  The  mandate  was 
given  at  Rose  Castle  under  the  Bishop's  seal  on  31  October  1571,  and 
ran  in  the  names  Richard,  bishop  of  Carlisle,  Henry,  lord  Scrope  of 
Bolton,  lord  warden  of  the  Western  Marches,  Symon  Musgrave,  knight, 
Richard  Dudley,  esq.,  Gregory  Scott  and  Thomas  Tookye,  prebendaries 
of  Carlisle,  members  of  the  High  Commission.  As  portions  of  the 
document  are  of  considerable  interest  in  describing  the  ritual  changes  at 
this  period,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  appropriate  them. 

-'  We  command  and  decree,'  so  the  mandate  recites,  '  that  the  said  eighteen  men 
and  churchwardens  doe  buy  and  provide  for  the  said  church  of  Crosthwait  and  use 
of  the  parishioners  before  Christmas  next  two  fayre  large  Communion  Cups  of  silver 
with  covers,  one  fyne  diaper  napkin  for  the  Communion  and  Sacramental  Bread,  and 
two  fayre  potts  or  flaggons  of  tynne  for  the  wyne,  which  they  shall  buy  with  such 
moneye  as  they  shall  receyve  for  the  chalices,  pixes,  paxes,  crosses,  candlesticks,  and 
other  church  goods  which  they  have  to  sell,  yf  the  some  taken  for  the  same  will  suffice 
to  pay  for  the  said  cuppes,  table  napkin,  pewter  potts  or  flagons ;  yf  not,  a  levye  or 
taxe  to  be  cesste  through  the  said  parish  for  the  provideing  and  buying  of  the  premisses. 
And  we  furthermore  enjoyne  that  the  eighteen  men  and  churchwardens  do  forthwith 
sell,  alienate  and  put  away  to  the  most  and  greatest  commoditye  of  the  said  church  all 
and  everye  such  popish  reliques  and  monuments  of  superstition  and  idolatrye  as  pre- 
sently remaine  in  the  said  parish,  of  the  church  or  parish  goodes,  converting  the  prices 
thereof  receyved  to  the  parish  use  wholly  ;  and,  namely,  two  pixes  of  silver,  one  silver 
paxe,  one  cross  of  cloth  of  gold  which  was  on  a  vestment,  one  copper  crosse,  two  chalices 
of  silver,  two  corporase  cases,  three  hand-bells,  the  scon  whereon  the  Paschall  stood, 
one  pair  of  censures,  one  shippe,  one  head  of  a  paire  of  censures,  xxix  brasen  or  latyne 
candlesticks  of  six  quarters  longe,  one  holy  waiter  tankard  of  brasse,  the  canopies  which 

i  These  injunctions  will  be  found  in  full  in  the  Remains  of  Abp.  Grindal,  Parker  Soc.,  pp.  121-144, 
and  in  summary  in  Strype's  Life  of  Ab-p.  Grindal,  edition  1710,  pp.  167-170.  There  can  be  no  doubt, 
as  Strype  says,  that  the  Archbishop  showed  a  great  zeal  for  the  discipline  and  good  government  of  the 
church,  but  it  is  questionable  whether  all  the  ritual  practices  which  he  condemned  could  be  described 
as  '  old  popish  customs.'  There  is  a  strong  presumption  that  both  Grindal  and  Parker,  the  two  arch- 
bishops, exceeded  their  powers  as  metropolitans  in  the  wholesale  destruction  of  church  furniture  made 
in  the  visitations  of  1571.  The  same  remark  would  apply  to  the  visitation  of  Bishop  Barnes,  except  in  so 
far  as  he  sheltered  himself  under  the  autocratic  power  of  the  High  Commission.  The  correspondence 
between  the  archbishops  on  this  subject  may  be  read  in  Remains  of  Grindal,  pp.  326-8,  or  in  Strype's 
Grindal,  pp.  165-6. 

79 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

hanged  and  that  which  was  carryed  over  the  Sacrament,  two  brasen  or  latyne  chris- 
matories,  the  vaile  cloth,  the  sepulcher  clothes,  the  painted  clothes  with  pictures  of 
Peter  and  Paul  and  the  Trinity  ;  and  all  other  monuments  of  poperye,  superstition, 
and  idolatrye  remaininge  within  the  said  parishe  ;  and  this  to  be  done  effectuallye 
before  the  first  daye  of  December  next,  and  a  perfect  accompt  of  the  parcels  sold  and 
moneye  receyved  for  the  same,  to  be  delivered  up  unto  the  ordinarye  under  the  subscrip- 
tion of  the  vicar  of  Crosthwait,  three  of  the  eighteen  men,  and  the  three  churchwardens 
before  the  sixt  daye  of  December  next.  We  also  enjoyne  that  the  fower  vestments, 
three  tunicles,  fyve  chestables,  and  all  other  vestments  belonging  to  the  said  parish 
church  and  to  the  chappells  within  the  said  parishe  be  presently  defaced,  cut  in  peces, 
and  of  them  (yf  they  will  serve  thereunto)  a  covering  for  the  pulpitt  and  quissions  for 
the  church  made  and  provided  :  and  likewise  the  albes  and  amysies  sold,  and  faire 
lynnen  clothes  for  the  Communion  Table,  a  covering  of  buckram  frynged  for  the  same, 
to  be  bought  and  provided  before  Christmas  next ;  and  that  for  the  chappels  in  the 
parish,  decent  Communion  Cupps  of  silver  or  of  tynne  to  be  provided  before  Christmas 
next.  We  doe  also  decree  and  firmlye  enjoyne  that  all  and  singular  the  parishioners  of 
this  parish  of  Crosthwait,  being  of  years  of  discretion  and  sufficientlye  instructed  in 
the  grounds  and  principles  of  the  Christian  faith  (the  examination  and  approbation 
whereof  we  leave  and  referre  to  the  vicar)  shall  openlie  communicate  at  least  thrise  in 
their  parish  church  yearly,  whereof  Easter  to  be  one  tyme,  and  at  such  general  Com- 
munions the  deacons  and  ministers  of  chappels  of  the  parish  shall  come  and  help  and 
assist  the  vicar  and  curate  at  the  ministration  of  the  same.  We  also  decree,  ordain 
and  straitlye  enjoyne  the  said  eighteen  men  and  churchwardens  that  this  year  be,  that 
they  before  Christmas  next  prepare,  make,  erect,  and  set  up  a  decent  perclose  of  wood 
wherein  the  morninge  and  eveninge  prayer  shall  be  read,  to  be  placed  without  the  Quear 
doore,  the  length  whereof  to  be  twelve  foot  and  the  breadth  twelve,  the  height  five 
foot,  with  seats  and  desks  within  the  same,  the  paterne  whereof  we  send  you  here  withal ; 
and  that  they  also  see  the  said  church  furnished  with  all  books  convenient  for  the  same 
before  Christmas  next,  that  is  to  say,  with  a  Bible  of  the  largest  volume,  one  or  two 
Communion  books,  fower  Psalter  books,  the  two  tomes  of  Homilies,  the  Injunctions,  the 
Defence  of  the  Apology,  the  Paraphrasies  in  Englishe,  or  instead  thereof  Marlorate  upon 
the  Evangelists  and  Beacon's  Postill  and  also  four  Psalter  books  in  metree.  We  decree 
also,  enjoyne  and  straitly  charge  and  command  that  from  hencefurth  there  be  no  divine 
service  publiquely  said  in  this  parish  church  nor  any  of  the  chappels  thereunto  belonginge, 
nor  any  bells  runge  on  any  abrogate  holidayes,  nor  any  concourse  of  idle  people  to  the 
church  or  chappel  on  such  forbidden  days,  that  is  to  wette,  on  the  feasts  or  dayes  of 
Allsowles  or  the  evenning  and  night  before,  on  St.  Katharine,  St.  Nicholas,  Thomas 
Becket,  St.  George,  the  Wednesdayes  in  Easter  and  Whitson  weekes,  the  Conception, 
Assumption,  and  Nativity  of  our  Ladye,  St.  Lawrence,  Mary  Magdalen,  St.  Anne  or 
such  like,  which  are  forbidden  to  be  kept  holidaye  by  the  lawes  of  this  realme.  And  we 
straitly  command  that  none  hereafter  use  to  pray  upon  anye  beads,  knots,  portasses, 
papistical  and  superstitious  Latyne  Prymers  or  other  like  forbidden  or  ungodly  bookes 
either  publiquely  or  openlye,  commandinge  the  vicar,  curate  and  churchwardens 
diligently  and  circumspectly  to  inquire  hereof  from  tyme  to  tyme  and  duely  to  present 
without  favour  all  offenders  against  this  injunction  from  tyme  to  tyme.  We  command 
also  that  from  hencefourth  there  be  no  Communion  celebrated  at  the  burial  of  the  dead 
nor  for  any  dead  nor  any  monethes  mynds,  anniversaryes,  or  such  superstitions  used. 

These  injunctions  were  '  for   ever   to  be  observed  within   the  parish  of 
Crosthwait  and  chapels  thereof  under, the  heaviest  fines  and  penalties.1 

1  Before  issuing  the  above  orders  the  commissioners  had  settled  divers  disputes  in  the  parish  of 
Crosthwaite  and  made  certain  awards  about  the  mode  of  electing  and  admitting  the  eighteen  men  and 
churchwardens,  the  parish  clerks'  wages,  and  the  school  stock.  The  whole  mandate  was  issued  in  dupli- 
cate, one  copy  to  be  kept  in  the  parish  chest  of  Crosthwaite  and  the  other  to  be  deposited  among  the 
records  of  the  Commission.  The  original  of  the  parish  copy  was  brought  to  Bishop  Nicolson  by  Mr. 
Clarke,  curate  of  Crosthwaite,  from  the  vicar,  eighteen  men  and  churchwardens,  and  was  transcribed  by 
him  on  19  July,  1704.  The  bishop's  transcript  is  now  preserved  in  the  Nicolson  MSS.  ii.  189-199,  in 
the  custody  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle. 

80 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

After  this  visitation  the  sacred  instruments  of  divine  service  were  sold 
and  put  to  profane  uses.1 

But  the  work  of  visitation  was  not  given  up  wholly  to  destruction. 
At  his  cathedral  church,  which  he  visited  on  26  October  1571,  he  took 
steps  to  institute  a  course  of  preaching  throughout  the  year  which  in  his 
opinion  would  contribute  to  the  augmentation  of  Christian  knowledge 
in  that  city.     The  visitation  was  held  in  the   upper  chamber  (in  solaria 
eminentlorf)  of  the  chapter  house  between  the  hours  of  nine  and   eleven 
in  the  forenoon,  where  all  the  ministers   of  the  church  were  preconized 
and  appeared,  with  the  exception  of  Sir  Thomas  Smith,  the  dean,  who 
answered  by  proxy.     After  the  delivery  of  the  charge   the  Bishop  pro- 
ceeded to  unfold  his  scheme  for  the  greater   increase   of  the  church  of 
Christ  under  his  pastoral  care.     Additional   sermons  were   to  be  under- 
taken by  the  Bishop  himself,  the  dean,  archdeacon  and  prebendaries  on 
stated*  Sundays   and  holy  days   at  different   times  of  the   year.3     The 
adults  and  children  of  the  city  were   to   receive  systematic  instruction  in 
the  church  catechism  in  the  parochial  churches   of  St.  Mary  and  St. 
Cuthbert  on  days  set  apart  for  that  purpose.     The  lecturer  of  the  cathe- 
dral  (sacre  theologie  pre lector) ,  who  had  his  duties  defined  as  catechist  in 
the  choir,  was  required  to  supply  the  place  of  any  of  the  preachers  who 
might  be  unavoidably  absent  when  his  turn  came.     All  the  ministers  of 
the   church,  including  the  dean,  greater  canons,  lesser   canons,  school- 
masters, choristers  and  bedesmen  were  counselled  to   receive  the  holy 
Eucharist  (sacram  sanctamque  synaxini)    at  least  eight  times  a  year,  viz., 
on  the  first  Sunday  of  Advent,  Christmas  Day,  the  first  Sunday  of  Lent, 
Easter  Day,  Pentecost,  and  on  the  fifth,  twelfth,  and  nineteenth  Sundays 
after  Trinity.     The  Bishop  enjoined  the  minor  canons,  who   had  been 
suspected  of  papism  (suspe ctos  papismo) ,  to  repeat  the  Articles  of  Religion 
with  an  audible  voice  in  St.  Mary's  church  at  the  time  of  divine  service 
after  the  Apostles'  Creed,  as  well  as  in  the  presence  of  the  congregations 
of  the  churches  of  which  they  were  incumbents.     That  there  might  be 
no  shirking  of  the  duty,  appointed  days  were  declared  for  the  purpose. 

As  yet  no  trace  of  nonconformity  has  been  found  in  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle.  Within  the  womb  of  the  church  there  was  a  struggle  of 
extreme  elements,  but  their  time  of  birth  had  not  yet  arrived.  The 
incumbents  of  Dacre,  Melmerby  and  Crosby  Ravensworth  were  deprived 
in  1572  for  refusing  subscription  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  of  Religion, 

1  William  Fleming  of  Rydal  wrote  to  his  cousin  William  Lowther  of  '  Sewborwens,'  on  4  June 
1576,  asking  for  the  loan  of  plate,  as  he  was  expecting  a  great  number  of  worshipful  friends  and  strangers. 
A  '  chalice  '  was  enumerated  in  the  memorandum  of  receipt,  and  Fleming  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  he 
asked  for  the  '  patrone  '  which  belonged  to  it,  in  order  to  make  a  trencher  (Hist.  MSB.  Com.  [Rydal  MSS.], 
Rep.  xii.  App.  vii.  n).  It  is  little  wonder  that  so  few  examples  of  medieval  Communion  vessels  have 
survived  to  the  present  day. 

'  The  visitation  took  place  in  the  presence  of  Barnard  Aglionby,  notary  public  and  principal  regis- 
trar of  the  diocese,  who  made  a  notarial  record  of  the  proceedings,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  found  in  the 
Nicolson  MSS.  iii.  49-56,  in  the  custody  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle. 

3  Henry  VIII.  did  not  lay  a  heavy  burden  on  the  dean  and  canons  in  the  matter  of  sermons.  Each 
canon  was  obliged  by  statute  to  preach  personally  or  by  deputy  every  year  four  sermons  at  least  to  the 
people  in  the  cathedral  in  the  English  tongue  on  certain  specified  Lord's  days ;  and  the  dean  only  three 
sermons  a  year  (Stat.  of  the  Cathedral  Church  of  Carl.,  ed.  J.  E.  Prescott,  pp.  41-2). 

ii  81  ii 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

and  in  the  same  year  Percival  Kirkbride  was  ejected  from  Asby  probably 
for  the  same  cause.  There  were  two  or  three  other  cases  of  deprivation 
in  1575,  but  the  record  gives  no  clue  of  the  influences  that  brought  them 
about.1  No  attempts  seem  to  have  been  made  at  this  period  to  organize 
congregations  or  to  carry  on  surreptitious  ministrations  from  place  to 
place  either  in  the  puritan  or  papal  interest.  The  two  priests  who 
refused  the  oath  of  supremacy  in  1561  and  those  others  who  were  unable 
to  accept  the  Articles  of  Religion  dropped  altogether  out  of  view  after 
deprivation.  But  taking  the  diocese  as  a  whole,  we  do  not  find  evidence 
of  external  nonconformity,  or  recusancy  as  it  was  then  called,  till  the 
foreign-bred  emissaries  from  Douay  and  other  seminaries  started  their 
secret  mission  in  the  northern  diocese.  None  of  the  old  priests  had  any- 
thing to  do  with  the  movement.  It  was  a  new  and  alien  institution,  half 
religious  and  half  political,  glowing  with  enthusiasm  and  tainted  with 
treason,  bringing  disastrous  consequences  to  those  who  came  under  its 
spell.  The  conspicuous  figure  in  the  new  crusade  was  John  Bost,  son  of 
a  Westmorland  landowner,  a  man  of  undoubted  ability  and  undaunted 
courage,  a  dexterous  controversialist  and  a  devoted  papist.  Born  of  an 
old  family  for  many  centuries  settled  at  Penrith  and  Dufton,  younger  son 
of  Nicholas  Bost  of  Wellyng  in  the  latter  parish,  educated  at  Queen's 
College,  Oxford,  of  which  society  he  was  elected  a  Fellow  in  1 572,  he 
passed  over  to  Douay  in  August  1580,"  and  was  ordained  according  to 
the  Roman  ritual  and  sent  on  the  English  mission  in  the  following  year. 
It  was  this  remarkable  man  who  first  laid  the  foundation  of  noncon- 
formity in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  and  who  may  in  truth  be  regarded 
as  the  father  or  originator  of  the  Roman  Catholic  body  in  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland.  If  it  were  possible  to  stir  up  a  desire  for  the  Roman 
obedience  in  the  breasts  of  the  people  of  the  two  counties  or  to  fan  into 
flame  the  dying  embers  of  their  papal  sympathies,  no  more  brilliant 
agent  could  have  been  selected,  for  his  intellectual  gifts  and  family  con- 
nexions and  knowledge  of  the  district  invested  him  with  a  prestige 
which  the  whole  hierarchy  of  Carlisle  was  powerless  to  rival  or  put 
down. 

In  1581,  the  year  in  which  the  chief  penal  act  against  papism  was 
passed,  the  real  troubles  of  those  who  had  papal  sympathies  may  be  said 
to  have  begun.  By  this  statute  (23  Elizabeth,  c.  i)  it  was  made  high 
treason  to  be  reconciled  to  the  Roman  church,  and  seminarists  saying, 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Barnes,  MS.  ff.  41-3. 

2  Douay  Diaries,  ed.  T.  F.  Knox,  i.  10,  28,  168,  173.    Nicholas  Boste,  gentleman,  of  Wellyng  in 
Dufton,  made  his  will  on  3  December,  1569,  which  was  proved  at  Brougham  [Browholme]  on  13  February 
1560-70.     He  bequeathed  his  '  sowle  to  God  Almyghte,  trystyng  in  the  mercye  of  Chryste  and  throwgh 
his  Passyone  yt  yt  shall  be  partyner  wt.   the  holye  company  of  Hevyne  '  and  his  body  to  be  buried  in 
the  parish  church  of  Dufton.     Bequests  were  made  to  Janet  Boste  his  wife,  Lancelot  his  son  and  heir, 
Elizabeth  his  daughter,  Thomas  Warcoppe  his  godson,  Edward,  Hugh,  and  Michael  Boste  his  cousins, 
Oliver  Middleton  his   right  worshipful  kinsman,   and  others  of  the  Hutton  and  Threlkeld  families. 
To  the  future  seminarist,  at  that  time  an  undergraduate  at  Oxford  ;  '  I  wyll  that  my  sone,  John  Boste, 
shall  have  fower  merks  of  mony  in  the  yere  for  thre  yeres  nyxt  to  come  and  yt  to  be  payd  by  my  executors 
owt  of  my  guds  and  lands  and  he  to  clame  no  more  of  my  guds  for  his  barne  part  or  other  waye.'      The 
testator  was  possessed  of  lands  and  houses,  goods  and  chattels,  both  at  Penrith  and  Dufton.     The  will 
is  now  lodged  in  the  Probate  Registry  of  Carlisle. 

82 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

and  persons  hearing  mass  were  subjected  to  fine  and  imprisonment. 
Further  penalties  were  laid  upon  those  who  neglected  to  attend  the 
church  service.  The  necessity  for  this  oppressive  legislation  was  ascribed 
to  the  efforts  that  were  being  made  at  that  time  to  withdraw  English 
subjects  from  their  natural  allegiance  to  the  Queen.  From  this  date  the 
conflict  between  England  and  Rome  became  acute.  The  local  authori- 
ties were  on  the  alert  for  the  presence  of  strangers  ;  domiciliary  visits 
were  made  to  the  houses  of  persons  suspected  of  harbouring  seminarists  ; 
the  boundaries  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  were  watched  and  notes  taken 
of  the  personal  appearance  of  suspicious  characters  who  passed  in  or  out ; 
the  clergy  and  justices  of  the  peace  were  obliged  to  inform  the  bishop1 
or  the  lord  warden  of  what  was  taking  place  in  the  country  ;  the  eyes 
of  Walsingham's  spies  looked  into  every  corner  of  the  two  counties. 
Lord  Scrope  could  report  in  February  1583-4,  that  privy  search  had 
been  made  in  all  suspected  places  for  writings  and  letters  touching  'the 
present  state  of  religion.'  Andrew  Hilton,  '  a  wicked  piller  of  papistrie,' 
was  in  the  sheriffs  close  ward  ;  so  was  Lancelot  Bost,  brother  of  the 
notorious  seminarist ;  and  Richard  Kirkbride  of  Ellerton  was  also  safe 
under  good  bond.  A  few  days  later,  in  answer  to  letters  from  the  privy 
council,  Lord  Scrope  and  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  stated  that  they  had 
failed  to  apprehend  Richard  Cliburne  and  '  one  Mouneforde  a  seminarie 
Scottes  preist,'  though  diligent  search  had  been  made  throughout  the 
two  counties  by  Humfrey  Musgrave,  Thomas  Hamonde,  chancellor  of 
the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  Richard  Dudley  and  Henry  Leighe.  Damning 
evidence  against  Hilton  as  the  associate  of  Bost  and  a  retailer  of  news 
from  Scotland  to  foreign  intriguers  was  transmitted ;  Richard  Kirkbride 
of  Ellerton,  brother-in-law  of  Cliburne,  had  been  apprehended,  but  they 
had  admitted  him  to  bail  as  he  was  an  honest  conformable  man,  and 
although  he  was  a  brother  of  Percival  Kirkbride,  'a  verie  notable  papiste,' 
yet  the  said  Richard  was  one  of  the  jury  that  indicted  his  said  brother 
for  not  coming  to  church.  Lancelot  Bost  had  also  been  taken  into 
custody  at  his  mother's  house,  and  by  the  letters  found  there  it  appeared 
that  he  was  the  associate  of  his  brother,  the  seminarist,  who  had  recently 
paid  him  a  visit,  and  of  other  seminarists  like  William  Hart  lately 
executed  at  York  for  high  treason.3  So  far  nonconformity  had  made  but 
little  progress  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  its  chief  stronghold  being  in 
Westmorland  among  the  kinsfolk  of  John  Bost. 

From  the  letters  and  papers  taken  on  the  persons  of  Hilton  and 
Lancelot  Bost  some  knowledge  is  obtained  of  the  tactics  of  the  seminarists 
in  their  attempts  to  promote  discontent  against  the  established  religion. 
Bost  the  priest  was  very  shy  of  appearing  often  in  his  native  district,  but 
he  had  intermediaries  through  whom  his  books  and  writings  were  dis- 
tributed among  the  faithful.  The  chief  scene  of  his  labours  was  in 
Yorkshire,  where  he  '  ridd  with  a  cloth  bag  behinde  him,  apparelled  in  a 
cloake  of  rattes  color,  a  white  frise  jerkin  laide  with  blewe  lace,  and  in  a 
paire  of  buffe  lether  hose.' 3  For  the  thirteen  years  of  his  mission  he 

1  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  cclxxviii.  7.       "  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xxviii.  57,  58.       »  Ibid,  xxviii.  58  (i). 

83 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

had  never  been  out  of  England,  except  for  five  years  in  Scotland,  when 
he  sojourned  at  Edinburgh,  Lord  Seton's,  Fernihurst,  and  other  places, 
but  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  since  he  first  arrived  at  Hartlepool  from 
abroad,  was  spent  in  the  northern  counties.1  It  must  be  acknowledged 
that  the  seminarists  as  a  rule  took  high  ground  in  their  assaults  on  the 
church  of  England.  Bost  arrayed  the  whole  force  of  his  dialectic  in 
proving  that  the  established  religion  had  none  of  the  marks  of  a  true 
church,  inasmuch  as  it  wanted  antiquity,  universality,  and  consent.  His 
writings  on  the  claims  of  the  church  of  Rome  to  the  sympathies  of  his 
brethren  were  full  of  earnest  piety  and  eloquence.  But  the  political 
position  which  he  sought  to  defend  was  very  curious  in  view  of  the 
papal  bull  which  deposed  the  Queen  as  a  heretic  and  usurper.  He 
maintained  that  he  loved  the  Queen  and  would  take  her  part  if  the  pope 
himself  should  send  an  army  against  her  majesty,  but  if  the  pope  by  his 
Catholic  authority  deposed  her  as  a  heretic,  then  he  could  not  err,  nor 
could  the  church,  and  all  Catholics  were  bound  to  obey  the  church.  It 
was  little  wonder  that  Topcliffe  told  lord  keeper  Puckering  that  the 
seminarist  was  '  full  of  treason  as  ever  wretche  was.' a  It  may  be  men- 
tioned, however,  that  the  burden  of  the  arguments  contained  in  the 
seized  letters  and  papers  belonging  to  the  priests  and  their  Cumbrian 
sympathizers  was  chiefly  taken  up  with  denunciations  of  the  church  of 
England  and  with  praise  of  the  church  of  Rome.  The  main  thesis  of 
the  controversy  was,  as  Andrew  Hilton  from  his  prison  in  Carlisle  urged 
on  his  friend  Lancelot  Bost,  that  the  Roman  communion  was  the  ark  of 
God,  outside  of  which  there  was  no  salvation.  The  propaganda  went 
on  and  the  local  authorities  bent  their  energies  to  catch  the  agents.  In 
time  of  danger  the  fugitives  were  hidden  in  caves  in  the  ground  or 
secret  places  where  it  was  impossible  to  find  them.  In  the  opinion  of 
one  of  Cecil's  spies,3  expressed  in  October  1593,  many  were  'converted 
unto  popery  '  within  the  past  two  years,  but  especially  among  tenants  in 
Westmorland.  He  was  able  to  report  the  names  of  twenty-one  '  preistes 
yt  ar  now  in  ye  North  '  and  there  were  many  more  that  he  could  not 
name.4  But  the  North  was  getting  too  hot  for  the  papal  sympathizers, 
and  many  of  them  began  to  withdraw  to  the  Low  Countries  and  else- 
where. 

By  proclamation  in  1580  certain  places  in  each  diocese  were 
specially  appointed  for  the  restraint  of  the  principal  recusants,  as  the 
ordinary  prisons  to  which  they  were  accustomed  to  be  committed  only 
rendered  them  more  obstinate  in  their  recusancy.5  This  new  policy  was 
no  doubt  recommended  with  the  view  of  showing  more  leniency  to  those 

»  Lansd.  MS.  75,  f.  22. 

*  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xxviii.58.  (viii.);  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  ccxlv.  124. 

3  Ibid,  ccxlv.  131. 

4  The  examination  of  Lancelot  Bost,  Andrew  Hilton,  and  James  Harrington,  together  with  the 
documents  found  in  their  houses,  may  be  seen  in  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xxviii.  58,  i.  ii.  iii.  vi.  vii.  viii. 
59,  i.  ii.  iii.     The  State  Papers  of   1583-4  contain  much  interesting  matter  about  recusancy  in  the 
diocese  of  Carlisle. 

6  Peck,  Desiderata  Curiosa,  iii.  11-12,  39-40;  Egerton  Papers,  Camden  Soc.,  pp.  83-6. 

84 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

who  had  conscientious  scruples  about  conformity.  At  first  the  castle  or 
citadel  of  Carlisle  was  utilized  by  the  sheriff  for  this  purpose,  though  as 
a  matter  of  fact  few  were  committed  to  his  custody.  After  the  attainder 
and  condemnation  of  Philip  Howard,  earl  of  Arundel,  in  1589,  when 
his  estates  escheated  to  the  Crown,1  the  castle  of  Greystoke  was  used  for 
some  years  as  the  special  place  where  the  local  recusants  were  lodged,  and 
within  the  limits  of  the  ample  park  of  which  they  were  confined. 
Francis  Mountain  was  the  keeper  of  the  recusants  of  Greystoke,2  at  least 
from  1592  to  1594,  the  ordinary  diet  of  the  Fleet  prison  being  allowed 
for  their  maintenance.  But  the  arrangement  did  not  last  long,  for  the 
Lady  Arundel  regained  possession  of  Greystoke  in  1601,  and  afterwards 
became  an  occasional  resident  at  the  castle. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice  that  Lord  Scrope,  warden  of  the  western 
marches,  showed  a  greater  zeal  for  bringing  recusants  to  conformity  than 
the  bishop  of  Carlisle,  his  colleague  in  these  matters.  In  a  letter  to 
Walsingham  3  on  8  February  1583-4,  he  pleaded  for  the  issue  of  a  com- 
mission to  himself  and  Bishop  May  to  call  before  them  Francis  Dacre 
and  his  wife  and  Thomas  Denton  of  Warnell  and  his  wife,  who  were 
'  of  late  mytche  drawne  and  persuaded  from  relegyon,'  to  examine  them 
when  they  received  the  Communion  during  the  past  six  months,  and 
also  to  make  a  general  call  to  all  suspected  persons  and  their  wives 
within  the  diocese  for  a  public  Communion,  in  order  that  a  good  under- 
standing might  be  obtained  how  they  stood  affected  to  the  church.  But 
some  time  elapsed  before  his  wishes  were  gratified.  In  January  1596-7, 
the  bishop  of  Carlisle  took  action  through  his  chancellor  to  find  out 
from  the  churchwardens  the  names  of  the  recusants  in  the  various 
parishes  of  the  diocese  and  the  dates  when  they  were  last  presented  for 
recusancy.  The  return  of  Chancellor  Dethick,  endorsed  '  recusants  in 
Cumberland  and  Westmerland  in  the  diocess  of  Carlisle,  dated  Januarie 
1596,  but  received  May  1597,'  is  a  document  of  the  greatest  interest  in 
showing  the  extent  of  nonconformity  at  this  period.  It  is  as  follows  : — 

'Jan.  1597.  Presentment  of  recusants  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  The  present- 
ment by  the  churchwardens  of  the  recusants  within  the  dioces  of  Carlisle  in  Januarye 
1596.  Cumberland,  Crostwhait :  Mr.  Frauncis  Radcliffe  of  Darwaine  water,  esquier, 
and  Issabell  his  wife,  with  his  tenn  children  and  his  servauntes,  George  Blenkinsopp, 
Francis  Hetherington,  Robert  White  and  one  Albanye,  servingmen,  Issabell  Hutchinson, 
Grace  Fetherston  and  one  Myrable,  with  the  base  begotten  daughter  of  Sr  George 
Radcliffe,  knight,  the  Ladie  Katherine  Radcliffe  (mother  to  ye  said  Mr.  Frauncis  Rad- 
cliffe), a  verie  old  woman  :  xiii  moneths.  Seburham  :  Mrs.  Anne  Denton  the  wife  of 
Thomas  Denton  esquier  recusant :  ii  moneths.  Wetherall :  George  Skelton  gentle- 
man and  Anne  his  wife,  recusants :  viii  moneths.  Warwick  :  Helene  Warwick  the 
wife  of  Thomas  Warwick  of  Holme  yate  gentleman,  recusant  by  her  own  confession  : 
iiii  years.  Westmerland,  Petterdale,  a  chappell  of  Barton  : ,  Mrs.  Fraunces  Lancaster 
the  wife  of  Mr.  Lancelott  Lancaster,  gentleman,  recusant :  vi  moneths.  Aslcham  : 
Mrs.  Martha  Sanfoorde  the  wife  of  Thomas  Sanfoord  esquier,  and  Fraunceis  Teasdale 

»  The  Lives  of  Philip  Howard,  Earl  of  Arundel,  and  Ann  Dacres  bis  wife,  ed.  Duke  of  Norfolk,  E.M., 
1857,  pp.  89-95. 

'  In  the  parish  register  there  is  a  record  of  the  baptism  of  the  children  '  of  Mr.  Francis 
Mountaine  then  being  at  that  present  Keeper  of  the  recusants  at  Graistoke  castle.' 

a  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xxviii.  59. 

85 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

sometimes  his  servant,  recusant :    vi  moneths.     Warcopp  :    Andrew  Hilton,  esquier, 

endyted  long  synce,  Alice  his  wife,  Wenefrede  his  daughter,  and  Mary  ye  wife  of  John 

his  sonne,  recusants  :    vi  moneths.     Dufton  :    Mrs.  Frauncis  Boaste  the  wife  of  Mr. 

Lancelot  Boaste,  recusant,  vi  moneths.     St.  Michael's  in  Appelbie  :   Margaret  Machell 

the  wife  of  Hugh  Machell,  gentleman,  recusant :   xii  moneths.     Crosby  Ravenswoorth  : 

Mr.  Thomas  Pickering,  gentleman,  relapsed,  and  Ann  his  wife  daughter  to  ye  Lady 

Radcliff,   and  John  Warriner  her  servaunt,  recusants  ;  iii  moneths.     Morlande  :    Jone 

Sawkell  the  wife  of  Oswold  Sawkell,  a  very  poore  woman,  recusant  :  vi  moneths.    Burgh 

under  Stanemoore  :   the  wife  of  Mr.  Henry  Blenkinsopp  of  Helbeck  esquier,  Joane  her 

maide,  and  William  Colling,  servauntes,  which  are  said  to  be  gone,  Mrs.  Margerie 

Blenkinsopp  his  mother,  an  old  woman,  and  her  two  daughters  Maudlin  and  Joane, 

Frauncis  Blenkinsopp  her   sonne  and  Charles  Blenkinsop  her  coosin,  recusants  every 

one  :  vi  moneths.     The  forenamed  parties  have  bene  yerelye  presented  for  ye  space  of 

these  five  yeres  at  the  least  unto  ye  graunde  juryes  at  the  assises.     Henry    Dethick 

chancelor  to  the  Lord  B(ishop)  of  Calisle.'  l 

It  need  scarcely  be  pointed  out  that  only  in  four  parishes  in  Cumberland 
and  in  eight  parishes  in  Westmorland  had  the  papal  agents  made  any 
permanent  impression.  And  yet  the  bishop  of  Carlisle,  Dr.  Henry 
Robinson,  on  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  diocese,  was  not  altogether 
satisfied  with  its  condition  in  the  matter  of  conformity.  On  26 
December  1599  he  stated  that  he  found  in  his  new  charge  more  popish 
recusants  than  he  anticipated,  yet  the  number  which  belonged  to  that 
faction  within  his  diocese  was  far  less  than  within  the  barony  of  Kendal 
and  the  deanery  of  Coupland,  both  of  which  places  were  within  the 
jurisdiction  or  Chester.  Of  those  that  had  been  long  faulty  in  that  way, 
eight  or  nine  had  within  the  past  two  months  reformed  themselves.  Of 
the  rest  who  persisted  in  their  separation,  the  chief  people  by  little  and 
little  went  out  of  the  country  as  the  Lady  Katherine  Ratcliffe,  Francis 
her  son,  Anne  Denton  the  wife  of  Thomas  Denton  of  Warnell,  Henry 
Blenkinsopp  of  Helbeck,  his  mother,  wife  and  children,  Thomas  Sand- 
ford  of  Askham,  a  non-communicant,  and  Martha  his  wife,  a  recusant, 
with  all  the  rest  of  the  recusants  of  their  several  families/ 

In  this  great  effort  to  produce  a  reaction  in  favour  of  the  papacy, 
the  diocese  of  Carlisle  contributed  two  heroic  souls  who  sought  and 
found  martyrdom  in  the  interests  of  the  Roman  church.  We  cannot 
withhold  a  word  of  admiration  for  the  long  and  splendid  services  which 
John  Bost  rendered  to  the  papal  cause.  For  many  years  his  fame  rang 
through  the  northern  counties  as  the  most  dangerous  seminary  priest  in 
the  country.  Vain  were  the  efforts  of  the  lord  president  of  the  north  to 
arrest  him  ;  a  whole  army  of  spies  was  on  his  track,  as  the  fugitive 
wandered  in  disguise  from  place  to  place,  seldom  stopping  more  than 
two  or  three  nights  in  one  house.  When  the  time  came  for  him  to 
yield  up  his  life  in  testimony  to  the  strength  of  his  religious  convictions, 
it  was  by  the  treachery  of  friends  that  he  was  delivered  into  the  hands 
of  the  civil  authorities.  Ewbanke  had  conference  once  with  Bost,  said 
Tobie  Matthew,  Dean  of  Durham,  writing  to  Burghley,  and  was  in  some 
hope  to  have  brought  him  into  the  lord  president's  hands,  for  in  their 
youth  they  had  been  chamber-fellows  in  Queen's  College,  Oxford,  and 

1  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  cclxii.  22.  >  Ibid,  cclxiiii.  56. 

86 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

were  countrymen,  and  had  been  schoolfellows  before  in  Westmorland. 
But  as  Bost  grew  jealous  of  his  safety,  they  never  met  again  till  the  priest 
was  captured.  When  Bost  was  taken,  Ewbanke  was  present  by  the 
Dean's  special  direction  and  behaved  himself  so  considerately  that  with- 
out him  and  his  man  the  fugitive  could  not  have  been  secured  at  that 
time.1  In  his  examination  at  Durham  on  11  September  1593,  by  the 
lord  president,  the  dean  of  Durham,  and  others  of  the  Council  of  the 
North,  Bost  acknowledged  that  he  was  above  fifty  years  of  age  ;  born 
at  Dufton  in  Westmorland  ;  left  Oxford  '  aboute  thirteen  yeres  synce  ' 
to  go  to  the  parts  beyond  the  seas  ;  within  a  year  and  a  half  was  made 
priest  at  Rheims  by  the  Bishops  of  Laon  and  Soissons  and  returned 
again  to  England  with  twenty-eight  other  priests,  including  Ballard. 
After  describing  his  wanderings  he  further  confessed  that  for  the  past 
year  he  never  left  Yorkshire,  Durham  and  Northumberland,  and  during 
the  past  five  years  he  was  often  in  Yorkshire  for  a  month  at  a  time,  and 
that  it  was  very  much  against  his  will,  when  he  was  unable  to  say  mass 
once  every  day.2  During  his  imprisonment  in  the  Tower  he  is  said  to 
have  been  '  often  most  cruelly  racked  insomuch  that  he  was  afterwards 
forced  to  go  crooked  upon  a  staff.'  Of  his  trial  and  execution  in  July 
1594,  on  a  charge  of  treason  to  his  country,  we  have  a  graphic  descrip- 
tion, if  genuine,  by  an  eye-witness,  Christopher  Robinson,  a  fellow- 
countryman  and  seminary  priest  of  the  same  mission.  The  execution 
was  carried  out  according  to  the  barbaric  methods  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  when  the  victim  behaved  with  the  greatest  fortitude  and 
devotion.  In  1 597  Robinson  himself,  a  native  of  Woodside  near  Wigton 
in  Cumberland,  who  had  been  ordained  in  1591  at  Douay  while  the 
college  sojourned  at  Rheims  and  sent  to  England  in  the  following  year, 
was  executed  at  Carlisle  on  the  same  charge.  The  bishop  of  Carlisle  is 
said  to  have  held  frequent  conferences  with  him  and  to  have  showed  him 
great  kindness  and  consideration  while  he  was  in  custody,  but  was  unable 
to  shake  his  papal  convictions.3  Few  causes  doomed  to  failure  can 

1  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  xxxij.  89  (latter  part).  For  the  academic  career  of  Henry  Ewbanke  the  reader 
may  consult  Clarke's  Register,  Oxford  Hist.  Soc.,  ii.  56,  iii.  81,  or  Foster's  Alumni  Oxonienses.  He  is 
described  on  the  matriculation  register  of  Queen's  College  as  a  Londoner  by  birth,  but  as  Dr.  Magrath, 
the  present  provost  of  Queen's,  has  privately  pointed  out,  '  it  is  probably  a  bedel's  blunder,  as  he  would 
not  in  that  case  have  got  a  tabardship  or  a  fellowship.'  It  will  be  seen  from  the  dean  of  Durham's  state- 
ment that  Ewbanke  was  at  school  in  Westmorland  with  John  Bost,  probably  at  Appleby  Grammar  School. 
He  was  afterwards  a  canon  of  Durham  and  had  his  pedigree  and  arms  enrolled  at  St.  George's  visitation 
in  1615. 

*  A  certified  copy  of  his  confession  will  be  found  in  Lansd.  MS.  75,  f.  22.  The  vera  copia  is  signed 
by  John  Bost,  and  witnessed  by  '  H.  Huntyngdon,'  the  lord  president.  The  document  is  endorsed 
'  1593.  The  examination  of  John  Boste,  II  Septembris,  1593.' 

3  Challoner,  Memoirs  of  Missionary  Priests  (1878),  i.  207-9,  239~4°>  "•  3II-5  >  Douay  Diaries,  \. 
15,  31,  ii.  223,  232,  239.  Bishop  May,  writing  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil  on  II  July,  1597,  said  that '  Thomas 
Lancaster  is  the  only  man  that  I  have  trusted  or  can  trust  to  discover  such  Jesuits  and  seminaries  as  do 
lurk  within  my  diocese,  to  the  corruption  of  many  of  her  Majesty's  subjects.  He  was  the  only  man  that 
gave  me  sure  intelligence  when  and  where  I  might  apprehend,  as  I  did,  Christopher  Robinson,  our  late 
condemned  seminary,  whose  execution  hath  terrified  a  great  sort  of  our  obstinate  recusants  ;  where, 
nevertheless,  there  be  still  harboured  three  or  four  more  notable  seminaries  or  Jesuits,  who  pass  and 
repass  within  my  diocese  without  controlment,  such  is  the  careless  or  partial  dealing  of  some  of  our  jus- 
tices. Among  the  said  seminaries  or  Jesuits  there  is  one  Richard  Dudley,  termed  by  the  aforesaid  Robin- 
son and  other  his  associates  the  angel  of  that  profession.  He  is.  the  only  heir  of  Edmund  Dudley,  esquire, 

87 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

number  two  such  disciples.  But  the  enthusiasm  for  Rome  which  flamed 
up  brilliantly  for  a  time  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  never  laid  hold  of  a 
considerable  section  of  the  community  and  was  soon  spent. 

The  episcopate  of  Bishop  Robinson  was  so  remarkable  for  its  success 
in  bringing  about  conformity  to  the  national  religion  that  the  words 
inscribed  on  the  pastoral  staff  which  forms  a  feature  of  his  memorial 
brass  in  Carlisle  cathedral — Corrigenda,  Sustentando,  Vigilando,  Dirigendo — 
may  be  taken  as  descriptive  of  his  ministry  and  not  as  a  mere  monu- 
mental euphemism.  Immediately  after  his  appointment  to  Carlisle,  he 
petitioned  for  a  special  commission  '  for  the  repressing  of  recusants,'  but 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  thought  the  time  inopportune  until  the 
renewal  of  the  general  commission  for  the  province  of  York.  In  1 600 
he  petitioned  again  on  the  ground  that  some  of  the  most  disordered  of 
his  churches  were  superstitiously  popish  and  others  were  impiously 
licentious,  one  husband  having  several  wives  then  living  and  one  wife 
several  husbands.  People  of  that  sort  took  little  notice  of  ecclesiastical 
censures,  but  he  pleaded  that  if  the  principals  felt  the  smart  of  civil 
justice,  they  would  be  humbled,  at  least  it  would  prevent  the  canker 
spreading  as  it  was  then  doing  to  the  subversion  of  many.'  At  the  same 
time  he  felt  that  the  church  of  which  he  was  bishop  needed  the  most 
strenuous  exertions  in  order  to  raise  the  clergy  and  people  to  a  higher 
moral  standard,  the  want  of  earnestness  in  the  former  and  of  Christian 
knowledge  in  the  latter  being  a  real  trouble  to  him.a  No  pains  were 
spared  during  the  eighteen  years  of  his  episcopate  to  bring  about  the 
desired  result. 

It  was  the  tendency  of  the  penal  laws  to  produce  outward  con- 
formity only,  without  reference  to  the  religious  convictions  of  the 
individual.  Papists  were  not  agreed  at  this  time  on  the  expediency  of 
attending  the  church  services.  Prominent  men  like  Lord  William 
Howard  of  Naworth,  according  to  Panzani,  were  in  favour  of  the  oath 
of  allegiance  and  occasional  conformity.*  It  was  his  moderation  perhaps 
which  saved  Lord  William  from  the  troubles  of  the  general  persecution. 
The  agents  of  the  government  in  the  north  were  not  slow  to  bring 
railing  accusations  against  him  on  account  of  his  papism,  but  James  I. 
steadily  refused  to  disturb  him.4  Soon  after  the  King's  accession  com- 
plaints were  made  that  Howard  was  maintaining  one  Skelton  of 
Wetheral  in  his  service,  the  said  Skelton  being  a  'church  papist'  who 
came  to  church  only  at  Easter  and  was  said  to  have  been  a  harbourer  of 

whose  grandfather,  old  Richard  Dudley,  being  a  good  Protestant,  did  in  his  lifetime  so  detest  his  grand- 
child's obstinacy  that  he  disinherited  him  of  all  his  lands  and  conveyed  them  to  his  second  brother.  It 
is  known  to  many  of  our  gentlemen  that  the  said  angelical  Jesuit  or  seminary  is  harboured  in  those  parts, 
yet  none  of  them  will,  though  they  see  him,  lay  hands  on  him.  Unless  Lancaster  can  be  induced  by  his 
persuasion  and  authorized  to  apprehend  Dudley  and  his  associates,  now  lurking  in  this  country,  they  will 
never  be  taken  '  (Cal.  of  Salisbury  MSS.  vii.  298). 

»  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  cclxxv.  66.  »  Ibid,  cclxxiii.  56. 

»  Engl.  Hist.  Rev.  xviii.  118. 

4  John  Dudley,  writing  to  his  brother  from  London  on  12  November,  1616,  stated  that  the  infor- 
mation Mr.  Salkeld  had  exhibited  against  Lord  William  Howard  for  recusancy  was  withdrawn  by  the 
King's  command  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Ref.  [Rydal  MSS.]  xii.  App.  vii.  15). 

88 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

seminary  priests  and  a  traitor  who  fled  into  Tyrone's  camp  during  the 
rebellion  in  Ireland.  He  was  further  accused  of  keeping  a  priest  in  his 
house  and  trying  to  revive  recusancy  throughout  the  district.1  But  no 
attention  was  paid  to  these  reports  by  those  in  authority,  and  Lord 
William  Howard  continued  to  the  end  of  his  days  a  trusted  servant  of 
the  government  in  the  civilization  of  the  Border  counties.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  battle  of  national  religion  had  been  fought  and  won  during 
the  late  Queen's  reign.  Recusancy  had  become  so  insignificant  that  it 
was  no  longer  regarded  as  a  danger  to  the  State. 

When  King  James  visited  Carlisle  in  August  1617,  Bishop  Snowden 
presented  an  address  on  his  own  behalf  in  which  he  laid  before  his 
Sovereign  some  notice  of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  condition  of  the 
diocese  as  he  had  found  it  after  a  study  '  for  the  space  of  well  nere  two 
moneths  by  my  presence  in  visitations,  sessions,  and  commissions,  and 
by  petitions,  conference  and  suggestions.'  The  state  ecclesiastic  was 
hugely  weakened,  not  only  by  the  impropriations  served  by  poor  vicars 
and  a  multitude  of  base  hirelings,  but  by  compositions  contracted  in  the 
troublous  times  and  now  proscribed,  yet  there  was  some  show  of  grave 
and  learned  pastors.  And  albeit  many  of  the  clergy  in  their  habits  and 
external  '  inconformities  '  seemed  to  be  puritans,  yet  none  of  them  were 
found  of  repugnant  opinion  to  the  bishop's  monitions  or  the  ecclesias- 
tical law.  Though  the  diocese  was  not  infested  with  recusants  so 
dangerously  as  the  bishoprics  of  Durham  and  Chester,  yet  in  his  late 
visitations  about  eighty  persons  had  been  detected  and  presented,  and 
most  of  these  were  confined  to  a  few  families,  whose  conversion  or 
reformation  he  should  strive  to  effect  by  gentle  persuasion  and  all  other 
good  means  to  the  utmost  of  his  power."  The  condition  of  the 
diocese  was  such  as  we  might  have  expected  from  its  previous  history. 
The  succession  of  bishops  of  ultra-protestant  proclivities,  who  were 
more  interested  in  the  suppression  of  papism  than  in  the  building  up  of 
the  clergy  and  people  in  the  principles  of  the  national  religion,  had  done 
its  work.  The  standard  of  clerical  education  and  efficiency  had  been 
lowered  and  the  church  had  fostered  within  itself  those  puritan  '  habits 
and  external  inconformities'  which  were  so  soon  to  break  out  to  the 
subversion  of  Church  and  State. 

The  true  tendency  of  the  old  ecclesiastical  policy  began  to  be 
realized  when  King  James  addressed  a  letter  to  Archbishop  Abbot  in 
1622  on  the  abuses  and  extravagances  of  preachers  in  the  pulpit,  and 
sent  him  directions  to  be  observed  in  the  composition  of  sermons.  The 
King's  interposition  produced  much  discontent  among  the  clergy,  who 

i  S.P.  Dom.  James  I.  vols.  xl.  n,  Ixxxvi.  34  ;  Lord  William  Howard's  Household  Books,  Surtees  Soc. 
pp.  423-4,  etc. 

"  Bishop  Snowden's  address  to  his  '  most  blessed  Soveraigne  my  great  and  most  gratious  Lord  and 
Master  '  was  dated  at '  Rose  Castle,  August  2,  1617,'  by  '  your  Maties  meanest  but  most  obliged  and  most 
dutifull  subject  and  servant,  Robt.  Carlisle.'  The  document  was  found  about  twenty  years  ago  by  Mr. 
Walter  Money,  F.S.A.,  among  papers  collected  by  John  Packer,  secretary  to  George  Villiers,  first  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  and  printed  in  the  Carlisle  newspapers.  Chancellor  Ferguson  has  made  it  more  acces- 
sible by  reproducing  it  in  full  in  his  Dioc,  Hist,  of  Carl.  (S.P.C.K.),  pp.  131-3. 

II  89  12 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

viewed  the  directions  as  an  unwarranted  reflection  on  their  discretion. 
To  smooth  matters  over  and  to  explain  the  royal  message  a  supple- 
mentary mandate  was  issued  by  authority,  a  summary  of  which  was 
sent  to  every  bishop  and  through  him  to  every  parsonage  in  the  king- 
dom.1 In  a  letter  to  Bishop  Milburne  of  Carlisle  2  for  the  reform  of 
the  pulpit,  dated  9  January  1622-3,  Archbishop  Matthew  stated  that 
his  majesty  was  grieved  to  hear  almost  daily  of  defection  '  from  our 
religion '  both  to  popery  and  anabaptism,  or  other  points  of  separation 
in  some  parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  that  he  was  inclined  to  ascribe  the 
growing  leakage  to  the  failure  of  the  preachers.  The  clergy  were  en- 
joined to  devote  themselves  to  a  simple  exposition  of  the  positive 
teaching  of  such  formularies  as  the  catechism,  homilies  and  articles  of 
religion,  giving  special  attention  to  the  examination  of  children  in  the 
catechism,  '  which  was  the  most  ancient  and  laudable  custom  of  teach- 
ing in  the  church  of  England.'  Above  all  preachers  were  counselled 
to  leave  off  bitter  invectives  against  papists  and  puritans,  and  to  give 
more  attention  to  the  explanation  of  the  doctrine  and  discipline  of  their 
own  church. 

The  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  unfortunately  situated  at  this  period 
for  carrying  out  reforms  owing  to  the  interruptions  in  a  settled  policy 
caused  by  frequent  changes  in  the  episcopate.  During  a  period  of  about 
thirty  years,  1616—46,  no  fewer  than  six  bishops  had  ruled  the  see. 
With  one  exception  there  was  little  opportunity  for  any  of  these  bishops 
to  make  a  permanent  impression  on  the  diocese.  For  the  whole  of  the 
period,  though  a  great  effort  was  made  by  Bishop  Potter  to  alter  the 
tack,  the  old  ship  was  steadily  drifting  towards  the  rocks.  The  supply 
of  educated  clergy  was  the  problem  then,  as  it  had  been  in  the  time  of 
Elizabeth.  It  was  the  complaint  of  Bishop  White's  secretary  that  '  at 
our  first  visitation  there  was  never  a  doctor  of  divinitie  nor  advocate, 
but  eleven  or  twelve  licensed  preachers,  three  or  four  bachelors  of 
Divinity  and  eight  double  beneficed  men.'3  Notwithstanding  the 
academic  prestige  of  Bishop  Potter  as  provost  of  Queen's  College, 
Oxford,  he  was  unable  to  attract  educated  men  to  seek  holy  orders  at 
his  hands.  Though  there  was  general  conformity  in  his  diocese,  he 
reported  to  Archbishop  Neile  that  the  wretched  stipends  of  the  bene- 
fices forced  him  to  admit  mean  scholars  to  the  diaconate  rather  than  to 
allow  the  people  to  be  utterly  without  divine  service.  The  tendency 
of  the  time  may  be  gauged  by  the  further  statement  that  the  church- 
wardens were  slow  to  present  absentees  from  church,  and  the  magistrates 
were  equally  reluctant  to  punish  them.*  The  articles  of  inquiry  which 
the  bishop  sent  to  the  churchwardens  and  sworn  men  at  his  first  visita- 

i  Collier  has  printed  these  three  documents  on  the  reform  of  preaching  (Eccl.  Hist.,  vii.  428-34,  ed. 
Lathbury). 

3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Milburne,  ff.  252-4. 

3  The  little  paper  rental-book  of  Bishop  White,  from  which  this  information  is  taken,  con- 
tains many  notes  of  interest  about  the  diocese  from  1626  to  1629  in  the  matter  of  the  epis- 
copal revenues,  leases,  subsidies,  fees,  synodals,  patronage  and  procurations. 

«  Ferguson,  Dioc,  Hist,  of  Carl.  (S.P.C.K.),  p.  133. 

90 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

tion  in  1629  are  of  the  comprehensive  character  that  prevailed  at  that 
period.  They  were  formulated  chiefly,  as  one  might  expect,  to  enforce 
the  canons  of  1603.  The  instruments  of  divine  service  which  the  laity 
were  bound  to  provide  in  every  parish  church  and  chapel  were  the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer  with  the  new  calendar,  the  English  Bible  of 
the  new  translation  in  the  largest  volume,  two  Psalters,  two  books  of 
Homilies,  a  decent  font,  a  table  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  a  convenient 
seat  for  the  minister  to  sit  in,  a  comely  and  decent  pulpit,  with  cloth 
and  cushion  for  the  same  ;  a  comely  communion  table,  with  a  fair  linen 
cloth  to  lay  on  the  same,  and  some  covering  of  silk,  buckram,  or  other 
suchlike  for  the  clean  keeping  thereof ;  a  fair  and  comely  communion 
cup  of  silver  with  a  silver  cover,  for  the  ministration  of  the  Holy  Com- 
munion ;  a  chest  or  box  for  the  poor,  and  the  book  of  constitutions  and 
canons.  The  only  vestment  for  the  minister  supplied  at  the  charge  of 
the  parish  was  a  decent  large  surplice  with  sleeves,  but  the  church- 
wardens were  required  to  state  whether  the  minister  usually  wore  the 
surplice  when  he  was  saying  public  prayers  and  ministering  sacraments, 
and,  if  he  were  a  graduate,  did  he  also  upon  his  surplice  wear  such 
hood  as  was  agreeable  to  his  degree,  and  such  decent  apparel  as  was 
appointed  by  the  late  constitutions.1  When  Potter  was  nominated  to 
the  see  of  Carlisle  by  the  influence  of  Archbishop  Laud,  people  were 
astonished  at  the  selection,  as  the  new  bishop  was  suspected  of  puritan 
inclinations.  Fuller  says  he  was  known  at  Court  as  the  penitential 
preacher ;  he  afterwards  came  to  be  called  the  puritanical  bishop.3  But 
there  is  no  trace  of  puritanism  in  his  articles  of  inquiry.  One  reads 
them  over  with  the  reeling  that  he  was  steadfastly  loyal  to  the  church 
as  then  understood,  and  wished  to  see  the  doctrine  and  worship  as  em- 
bodied in  her  constitutional  documents  accepted  and  observed  by  the 
people. 

When  it  was  said  of  Bishop  Potter  that  organs  would  blow  him 
out  of  the  church,  the  satire  may  have  been  occasioned  in  allusion  to 
the  revival  of  more  stately  and  reverent  methods  of  conducting  Divine 
worship  with  which  the  name  of  Archbishop  Laud  will  be  for  ever 
associated.  But  there  was  less  fear  in  this  isolated  corner  of  the  king- 
dom than  in  any  other  diocese  of  a  recrudescence  of  the  ancient 
solemnity  in  the  church  service.  If  the  parish  churches  of  the  diocese 
of  Carlisle  were  no  further  advanced  in  point  of  ritual  and  reverence 
than  the  cathedral,  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  new  ideas  which  at  that 
time  began  to  fill  men's  minds  had  ever  reached  the  northern  counties. 
There  is  a  curious  description  of  Carlisle  cathedral  in  the  autumn  of 
1634,  in  which  three  officers  of  the  military  establishment  in  Norwich, 
whilst  on  a  tour  of  pleasure  from  thence  into  the  north,  have  left  us 
their  impressions  of  its  service.  The  cathedral  was  nothing  so  fair  and 
stately  as  those  they  had  seen,  but  more  like  a  great  wild  country 
church  ;  and  as  it  appeared  outwardly  so  it  was  inwardly,  neither 

1  Second  Rep.  of  the  Commissioners  on  Rubrics,  Orders,  etc.  (Blue  Book),  pp.  506-8. 
a  Worthies  of  England,  ed.  1684,  p.  841. 

91 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

beautified  nor  adorned  one  whit.  The  organs  and  voices  did  well  agree, 
the  one  being  a  shrill  bagpipe,  the  other  like  the  Scottish  tone.  The 
sermon  in  the  like  accent  was  such  as  they  could  hardly  bring  away, 
though  it  was  delivered  by  a  neat  young  scholar,  one  of  the  bishop's 
chaplains.  The  communion  also  was  administered  and  received  in  a 
wild  and  irreverent  manner.1 

Though  it  cannot  be  said  that  church  feeling  was  remarkably 
strong  in  the  diocese,  there  was  a  leaven  of  devoted  loyalty  among  the 
clergy  to  King  Charles  as  the  political  clouds  began  to  gather  around 
his  throne.  When  events  became  more  threatening  the  clergy  were 
destitute  of  the  immediate  supervision  and  personal  guidance  of  their 
bishop.  It  is  true  that  James  Usher,  the  saintly  primate  of  Ireland,  had 
received  the  see  in  commendam  from  the  King  in  1 642,  about  a  month 
after  the  death  of  Bishop  Potter.  But  it  is  doubtful  whether  that 
illustrious  prelate  ever  set  foot  within  the  diocese.  When  Sir  Timothy 
Fetherstonhaugh  laid  the  King's  request  for  a  subsidy  in  his  distress 
before  the  assembled  clergy  in  the  chapter  house  at  Carlisle  on  1 3  April 
1643,  the  attitude  of  those  that  were  present,  though  far  from  sym- 
pathetic, cannot  be  described  as  disloyal.  They  acknowledged  with 
thankfulness  that  '  the  honourable  bench  '  had  recognized  their  '  ancient 
and  due  libertys  '  in  representing  the  subsidy  as  a  voluntary  contribution, 
and  they  were  quite  willing  to  admit  that  a  tenth  part  of  the  sum  of 
the  counties,  as  far  as  the  diocese  extended,  was  a  full  proportion  if  they 
had  enjoyed  their  entire  dues  as  set  out  unto  them  by  the  law  of  God. 
But  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  every  one  of  them  had  suffered  great 
diminution  in  their  rights  by  impropriations  and  prescriptions,  yet  they 
were  willing  to  raise  themselves  to  the  proportions  suggested,  and  were 
of  opinion  that  the  same  might  be  expected  of  their  absent  brethren. 
It  was  not  their  intention  that  lay  impropriators  should  be  allowed  to 
escape,  for  they  were  required  to  join  with  the  vicars  to  advance  the 
tenth,  or  wholly  to  undertake  it  where  there  was  no  vicar,  '  since  they 
are,  so  farr  as  concerning  the  tithes  they  recieve,  ecclesiastical  persons.' 
For  once  the  clergy  of  Carlisle  spoke  out  in  defence  of  their  ancient 
rights,  inasmuch  as  they  stipulated  '  that  this  our  acte  may  be  acknow- 
ledged as  voluntary  and  not  to  be  drawn  into  example  and  so  worded  by 
the  clerke  of  the  sessions.'*  Before  the  year  1643,  in  which  these 
manly  words  were  spoken,  was  brought  to  a  close,  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle,  as  an  administrative  unit  of  the  English  church,  had  ceased  to 


1  '  A  Relation  of  a  short  Survey  of  26  counties,  &c.,  observ'd  in  a  seven  weekes  journey  begun  at  the 
City  of  Norwich  and  from  thence  into  the  North  on  Monday,  August  nth,  1634,  and  ending  at  the 
same  place.  By  a  Captaine,  a  Lieutannant  and  an  Ancient.  All  three  of  the  Military  Company  in  Nor- 
wich' (Lansd.  MS.  213). 

1  This  document,  the  earliest  in  the  register  of  Bishop  Usher,  is  headed  '  the  humble  answere  of 
the  clergy  within  the  diocez  of  Carleill  present  in  the  chapter  house,  April  1 3th,  1643,  to  the  request 
brought  from  the  hole  bench  by  Sir  Tymothy  Fetherstonhaugh  Kte,'  and  is  subscribed  by  '  Isaac  Singleton, 
archdeacon,  Frederick  Tonstall,  Hen.  Sibson,  Leonard  Milburn,  Tho.  Head,  William  Fairfax,  Christofer 
Peale,  Charles  Usher,  Will  Gregson  (?),  Parcivall  Head,  Tymothy  Tully,  William  Head,  Richard  Sibson, 
Richard  Sharpies  '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Usher,  MS.  f.  313). 

92 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

exist.     The  last  entry  in  the  diocesan  register  of  Bishop   Usher  is  dated 
3  November  1643.' 

There  was  no  serious  disturbance  of  the  clergy  in  their  benefices 
till  the  city  of  Carlisle  received  a  Scottish  garrison  on  28  June  1645,  after 
a  protracted  siege,  during  which  the  inhabitants  made  a  gallant  stand, 
and  suffered  many  privations  for  church  and  king.  Taken  as  a  whole 
the  clergy  and  gentry  of  Cumberland  were  royalists,  and  managed  to 
hold  their  ground  till  the  capital  was  forced  to  surrender.  The  county, 
says  the  youthful  historian  of  the  siege,  was  generally  free  from  the 
seeds  of  schism  and  untainted  with  the  present  rebellion.2  Before  the 
city  was  given  up  to  General  Lesley  it  was  stipulated  that  a  livelihood 
out  of  the  church  revenues  should  be  allowed  to  every  member  of  the 
cathedral  body  then  resident,  until  the  parliament  had  determined  other- 
wise, and  that  no  church  should  be  defaced.  But  the  terms  of  surrender 
were  not  observed.  In  a  moment  of  fanatical  fury,  the  cloisters,  part  of 
the  deanery,  the  chapter  house  and  prebendal  buildings  were  pulled 
down,  and  the  materials  were  sacrilegiously  used  to  build  a  main  guard 
and  repair  the  fortifications  of  the  city.  The  west  portion  of  the 
cathedral  was  also  demolished,  leaving  only  three  bays  of  the  venerable 
Norman  structure  standing,  and  the  parliamentary  officers  were  so 
moved  with  zeal  and  something  else  against  magnificent  churches  that 
they  had  intended  to  pull  down  the  whole  cathedral,  and  to  have  no 
church  but  St.  Cuthbert's.3  Fortunately  the  intention  was  not  carried 
out.  Though  Cumberland  was  far  removed  from  the  headquarters  of 
the  destructive  party,  it  had  its  full  share  of  sufferings  in  other  ways. 
The  Scots  had  not  forgotten  their  old  methods  of  harrying  the  country. 
Hugh  Todd  told  Walker  in  after  years  that  the  clergy  suffered  more 
from  the  Scots  than  from  other  people.4  So  great  was  the  destruction 
about  the  cathedral  that  the  charters  of  the  capitular  body  were  sold  to 
make  a  tailor's  measures.5  From  the  Border  church  of  Rocliffe  the 
parish  register  and  other  church  requisites  were  taken  away  by  the 
Scottish  army  in  1648."  For  several  years  little  else  but  anarchy  pre- 
vailed in  the  county,  as  the  fortunes  of  the  opposing  forces  fluctuated  in 
favour  of  the  King  or  the  parliament.  In  the  sequestrations  which 

1  The  acts  of  Bishop  Usher  were  made  by  commission  consisting  of  the  archdeacon  and  one  of  the 
canons,  though  they  ran  in  his  own  name  ;   '  James,  by  divine  pity,  archbishop  of  Armagh  and  primate 
and  metropolitan  of  all  Ireland,  also  commendatory  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg. 
Usher,  ff.  314-7).    Very  few  of  his  acts  are  on  record,  and  only  those  between  15  April  and  3  November 
1643. 

2  Narrative  of  the  Siege  of  Carlisle  in  1644  and  1645,  ed.  S.  Jefferson,  pp.  1-48. 

3  The  articles  of  surrender  have  been  preserved  by  Hugh  Todd  (Account  of  the  City  and  Diocese  of 
Carlisle  (Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Arch.  Soc.),  pp.  23-6).     Todd's  account  of  what  took  place  during 
the  Civil  War  may  be  accepted  as  satisfactory,  inasmuch  as  he  lived  so  near  the  times  which  he  described. 
He  was  a  Cumberland  man,  and  must  have  been  acquainted  with  many  of  the  actors  in  these  great  events. 

*  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy,  i.  51. 

6  Nicolson,  English  Hist.  Library,  second  ed.  p.  127. 

8  On  the  fly-leaf  of  the  register  of  that  parish  we  find  the  following  memorandum  in  a  neat  bold  hand  : 
'  Cumberland,  Roecliffe,  at  Easter,  1679.  John  Litle  and  Jeff.  Urwin  being  ch[urch]wardens.  This 
register  book  was  bought  at  ye  instigation  of  Mr.  Tho.  Stalker,  Mr.  A.  Coll.  Reg.  Oxon.,  curate  yn  of 
this  ch.  of  Roecliffe,  lect'.  of  St.  Cuthberts,  Carlile,  and  minor  canon  of  ye  cathed".  ch.  in  yt  citty. 
There  was  not  one  yr  before  for  many  yeares,  being  taken  away,  with  other  utensills  of  ye  church,  by 
Scotts  armyes,  and  last  of  all  by  Ld.  Duke  Hamilton's  in  ye  year  1648.' 

93 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

followed  the  military  triumph  of  puritanism,  the  leading  clergy  of  the 
diocese,  as  well  as  the  dean  and  chapter,  were  ejected  from  their  livings. 
If  there  was  any  tendency  on  the  part  of  those  with  royalist  proclivities 
to  hold  on,  the  committee  of  '  tryers'  accepted  the  most  flimsy  charges 
wherewith  to  oust  them  from  their  parishes. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  clergy,  specially  those  in 
the  poorer  and  more  secluded  parishes,  bent  their  necks  to  the  puritan 
yoke  and  stood  their  ground.  It  is  difficult  to  estimate  the  motives  of 
those  who  accepted  the  directory  and  swore  to  maintain  the  covenant, 
but  there  is  evidence  that  if  some  did  so  from  conviction,  others  acted 
from  policy.1  Against  these  may  be  placed  the  example  of  Timothy 
Tullie,  rector  of  Cliburn,  who  became  '  the  bright,  particular  star  '  of 
presbyterianism  while  the  Commonwealth  lasted,  but  who  altered  his 
orbit  without  dimming  his  lustre  by  becoming  a  canon  of  York  2  on  the 
restoration  of  the  church  and  crown.  The  committee  of  '  tryers,'  not- 
withstanding the  supposed  leniency  with  which  they  exercised  their 
unpleasant  vocation,  were  quite  unable  to  find  substitutes  of  their  own 
way  of  thinking  for  the  vacant  benefices.  For  fourteen  years  the  pre- 
cincts of  the  cathedral  lay  in  ruins,  and  the  floor  of  the  cathedral  itself 
was  common  ground  at  the  disposal  of  all  the  sects.  The  principal 
churches  of  the  diocese  were  supplied  either  by  resident  or  itinerant 
ministers  of  the  presbyterian,  independent  or  baptist  persuasion,  but  the 
presbyterians  predominated  in  number  and  influence.  If  pluralism  could 
be  alleged  with  truth  as  a  defect  of  the  old  order  of  church  government, 
it  was  repeated  in  an  aggravated  form,  though  perhaps  from  necessity, 
when  the  sequestrators  had  finished  their  work,  for  it  was  no  uncommon 
thing  for  one  minister  under  the  new  regime  to  be  the  peripatetic  pastor 
of  three  parishes.  Some  of  the  churches  were  shut  up,  and  most  of  the 
preachers  admitted  by  the  commissioners  were  not  ministers  at  all,3  not 
even  according  to  the  religious  conceptions  of  the  period. 

For  some  time  after  the  fall  of  episcopacy  there  was  no  ecclesias- 
tical or  religious  organization  among  the  ministers  and  no  cohesion 
among  the  parishes.  The  vacant  churches  had  been  allotted  to  members 
of  various  sects  as  each  sect  in  turn  had  gained  the  mastery  of  the  local 
committees.  In  any  group  of  parishes  it  was  possible  to  find  the  minis- 
ters in  charge  belonging  to  opposing  denominations.  The  presbyterians 
endeavoured  to  form  some  sort  of  church  discipline,  but  every  attempt 
at  combination  created  jealousy  among  the  rest  and  led  to  controversy 
and  strife.  The  first  effort  to  form  an  alliance  between  the  presbyterians 
and  independents  was  begun  in  1653,  'but  it  took  not'  among  the 
brethren  of  '  congregational  judgment.'  It  is  a  singular  coincidence 

1  Thomas  Denton,  writing  in  1 687-8,  stated  that   '  the   Common   Prayer  was  read  in  the  church 
of  Sebergham  in  all  ye  late  times  of  trouble,  and  we  never  had  a  phanatick  in  the  parish,  neither  then 
nor  since  '  (Perambulation  of  Cumb.  in  1687-8,  MS.  f.  85). 

2  Hardy,  Le  Neve,  iii.  190.     Timothy  Tullie  was  collated  to  Cliburn  by  Bishop  Potter  on  19  June 
1639  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Potter,  MS.  f.  301). 

o  Burton,  Life  of  Sir  Philip  Musgrave  (Carlisle  Tracts),  p.  34 ;    Walker,  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy, 
i.  97  ;   George  Fox's  journal,  Leeds  edition,  i.  223. 

94 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

that  it  was  in  this  year  that  George  Fox  commenced  his  mission  in  the 
county.  There  was  a  cloud  upon  the  horizon,  at  this  time  no  bigger 
than  a  man's  hand,  which  soon  grew  to  such  stupendous  proportions 
that  the  two  principal  denominations  were  forced  to  combine  in  order 
to  preserve  themselves  from  extinction.  Fox  made  a  progress  from 
parish  to  parish  through  the  western  portion  of  the  county.  At  Brigham 
he  converted  John  Wilkinson,  '  who  was  preacher  of  that  parish  and  of 
two  other  parishes  in  Cumberland,'  in  which  neighbourhood  '  many 
hundreds  were  convinced.' '  Consternation  is  scarcely  the  word  to  de- 
scribe the  state  of  feeling  which  filled  the  hearts  of  the  religious  leaders 
in  that  portion  of  the  county  at  the  missionary  success  of  Fox.  In  the 
records  of  the  independents  of  Cockermouth  for  the  year  1654  we  are 
told  that  'the  i6th  day  of  the  4th  month  the  churches  met  at  Bride- 
kirk,  where  they  solemnly  made  confession  of  their  Faith,  and  renewed 
their  covenant  with  God,  begging  of  the  Lord  His  grace  and  strength, 
that  they  might  stand  against  that  deluge  of  errors  that  had  overflown 
the  country,  and  had  shattered  to  pieces  the  other  congregations  about 
Broughton  ;  only  some  few  friends  of  the  people  had  since  come  to 
land  and  kept  together  in  communion.'3  The  religious  instincts  of  the 
people,  so  far  as  they  were  represented  by  the  preachers  who  had  sup- 
planted the  old  order  of  clergy,  began  to  gravitate  towards  Fox,  who, 
in  a  few  years,  was  almost  universally  accepted  as  the  sovereign  pontiff 
of  Cumberland.  The  puritan  teachers  were  so  utterly  forsaken  that  the 
churches  in  some  parishes  stood  empty.3 

It  can  be  readily  imagined  that  the  external  pressure  of  Fox's 
preaching  contributed  in  no  small  measure  to  '  the  agreement  of  the 
associated  ministers  and  churches  of  the  counties  of  Cumberland  and 
Westmorland,'  which  was  brought  to  a  successful  issue  in  1656.  Those 
who  take  the  trouble  to  read  the  Articles  of  Association  and  reflect  on 
the  application  of  the  rules  of  discipline  and  government  will  see 
nothing  extravagant  in  the  epigram  of  Milton,  that  '  new  Presbyter  is 
but  old  Priest  writ  large.'  Even  '  the  power  of  the  keys,'  which  was 
claimed  to  be  latent  in  presbyterianism,  was  accepted  in  a  modified 
form  by  the  independents.  The  formulary  of  excommunication  obtained 
a  wider  range  and  descended  to  more  minute  detail  than  was  ever  known 
in  the  strictest  days  of  the  English  church.  For  the  better  carrying  out 
of  the  agreement,  the  county  was  divided  into  three  districts  or  associa- 
tions, Carlisle,  Penrith,  and  Cockermouth,  which  should  meet  monthly, 
more  or  less,  as  occasion  required,  or  as  the  greater  part  of  the  association 
thought  fit.  The  ministers  of  Westmorland  gave  their  consent  to  the 
Agreement  so  far  as  the  general  propositions  were  concerned,  but  made 
their  own  arrangements  about  places  of  meeting.  An  eirenicon  was 

»  George  Fox's  Journal,  Leeds  edition,  i.  220-6. 

1  Lewis   Hist,  of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Cockermouth,  pp.  17-8. 

8  George  Fox's  journal,  i.  226-30,  441.  This  statement  by  Fox  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  exagger- 
ation :  it  is  fully  borne  out  by  the  records  of  Congregationalism  at  Cockermouth  (Hist,  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church,  pp.  14-25).  The  weapon  of  excommunication,  which  the  ministers  used  against  the 
seceders,  had  no  effect  on  the  general  apostasy. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

addressed  *  to  all  that  profess  the  Name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  in  the  counties 
of  Cumberland  and  Westmerland,  both  magistrates  and  people '  in 
explanation  of  the  Articles  and  with  an  exhortation  to  obedience.  All 
scandalous  persons,  such  as  episcopalians,  papists  and  quakers,  were 
rigidly  excluded  from  the  Association  till  they  had  publicly  recanted 
their  errors.1 

The  moving  spirit  of  this  great  effort  for  unity  among  the  sects  was 
Richard  Gilpin,  pastor  of  Greystoke,  a  minister  of  refined  and  scholarly 
attainments,  who  exercised  a  well-deserved  influence  over  the  presby- 
terian  section  of  the  community.  His  soul  had  been  vexed  at  the 
profaneness  which  he  saw  thriving  around  him  for  want  of  discipline 
in  the  churches,  and  at  the  divisions  and  jealousies  fomented  among 
brethren  of  the  same  household  of  faith.  In  order  to  help  in  rebuild- 
ing the  spiritual  Sion,  he  laboured  day  and  night  to  bring  about  recon- 
ciliation. On  19  May  1658  he  preached  his  famous  'acceptable 
sermon  '  on  the  '  Temple  Rebuilt,'  at  Keswick,  before  a  general  meeting 
of  the  associated  ministers  of  the  county,  which  was  printed  at  the 
unanimous  request  of  those  who  heard  it.  Notwithstanding  Gilpin's 
eloquent  pleading  for  peace,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  his  labours  for  unity 
were  only  partially  successful.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
presbyterian  body  looked  up  to  him  as  their  counsellor  and  guide,  but 
it  is  questionable  whether  the  leaders  of  independency  were  in  full 
sympathy  with  the  Association  movement.  At  least  we  find  the  discipline 
of  the  congregational  connexion  exercised  independently  of  the  Associa- 
tion at  Bridekirk  in  1656,  the  delinquent  being  the  incumbent  of 
Plumbland.  However  much  the  fusion  of  the  sects  fell  short  of  Gilpin's 
ideal,  one  cannot  help  admiring  the  zeal  of  the  ministers  in  guarding 
the  ordinances  of  religion  from  profanation  and  their  self-denying 
courage  in  making  a  stand  for  godliness  at  a  time  when  faith  and  hope 
and  love  had  almost  deserted  the  mass  of  the  Cumbrian  population. 

When  the  church  and  monarchy  were  restored  in  1660  the  diocese 
of  Carlisle  was  in  a  pitiable  condition  of  desolation.  The  west  end  of 
the  cathedral  lay  in  ruins  ;  the  deanery  and  prebendal  houses  were 
uninhabitable  ;  Rose  Castle,  the  historic  seat  of  the  bishops,  had  been 
mutilated  during  the  Civil  War  and  patched  up  for  the  residence  of  a 
Cromwellian  general.  Several  of  the  benefices  were  vacant  or  held  in 
plurality.  All  the  old  members  of  the  capitular  body  had  died  before 
the  Restoration  with  the  exception  of  Lewis  West,  canon  of  the  third 
stall.  When  Richard  Sterne,  who  had  acted  as  chaplain  to  Archbishop 
Laud  on  the  scaffold,  was  consecrated  on  2  December  1660,  his  task  in 
the  reorganization  of  the  diocese  was  by  no  means  easy  or  agreeable. 
The  dean  and  chapter  had  to  be  constituted  ;  questions  of  disputed 
patronage  made  the  appointment  of  incumbents  to  vacant  parishes  irk- 

»  The  quarto  pamphlet,  from  which  this  account  is  taken,  is  entitled,  '  The  Agreement  of  the 
Associated  Ministers  and  Churches  of  the  Counties  of  Cumberland  and  Westmerland,  with  something 
for  Explication  and  Exhortation  annexed.'  It  was  printed  in  London  in  1656  and  sold  'by  Richard 
Scott,  bookseller  in  Carlisle.' 

96 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

some  and  difficult.  Though  the  new  bishop  met  with  many  obstacles, 
something  was  done  during  his  short  episcopate  to  bring  order  out  of 
chaos  and  to  equip  his  diocese  with  the  necessary  agencies.  Much  of 
his  attention  at  the  outset  was  engrossed  with  the  arrangement  of  the 
revenues  and  temporal  concerns  of  the  see  ;  but  it  cannot  be  said  that 
the  spiritual  wants  of  the  people  were  overlooked.  The  bulk  of  the 
incumbents  returned  to  their  episcopal  allegiance,  but  those  who  had 
been  made  ministers  according  to  the  rites  which  obtained  during  the 
Commonwealth  were  objects  of  sympathy  and  concern.  Few  of  these 
ministers  awaited  the  passing  of  the  Bartholomew  Act  in  1662  to 
be  driven  from  their  parishes.  The  tide  of  adversity  had  set  in,  and 
nobly  bowing  to  the  inevitable  they  retired  without  compulsion. 
Dr.  Gilpin  quietly  relinquished  the  cure  of  Greystoke  to  William 
Morland,  the  former  rector,  who  had  been  ejected  in  1650.  Some 
of  the  leaders  among  the  presbyterians  and  independents  followed  his 
example.  When  Bishop  Sterne  put  the  Act  of  Uniformity  into 
force  he  found  a  general  inclination  to  accept  it.  As  the  organization 
and  visitation  of  the  diocese  proceeded  the  bishop  introduced  a  moderate 
system  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  ;  he  pressed  the  obligation  of  the 
festivals  and  fasts  of  the  church  on  the  observance  of  the  faithful l ;  and 
he  took  steps  '  to  afford  the  rite  and  benefit  of  Confirmation  by  prayer 
and  imposition  of  hands  upon  all  such  people  as  shall  come  duely  prepared 
for  the  receiving  of  the  same.'  It  may  be  said  that  while  Bishop  Sterne 
ruled  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  he  gave  no  indications  of  possessing  those 
untoward  qualities  of  popery,  sourness,  and  ill-temper  with  which 
Burnet  *  has  loaded  his  memory. 

The  attention  of  Bishop  Rainbow,  during  the  early  years  of  his 
episcopate,  was  directed  to  the  supply  of  spiritual  ministrations  and  the 
lawful  performance  of  divine  service  in  the  parish  churches.  The 
diocese  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  devastation  of  the  Cromwellian 
period.  In  many  parishes  little  provision  was  made  for  the  due  celebra- 
tion of  the  sacraments.  To  remedy  these  defects  he  bent  all  his  energies. 
Visiting  the  dean  and  chapter  on  6  September  1666,  he  found  the 
cathedral  staff  to  consist  of  thirty-six  persons — a  dean,  four  prebendaries, 
six  minor  canons,  a  master  of  choristers,  six  choristers,  six  lay  singing 
men,  a  verger  (virgtfer),  a  subsacrist,  six  almsmen,  a  gate-keeper,  a 
butler,  a  cook  (who  seems  to  have  been  considered  a  person  of  some 
consequence  in  the  community),  and  an  assistant  cook.  It  then  trans- 
pired that  the  necessary  instruments  for  the  performance  of  divine 
service  had  been  provided  with  the  exception  of  ornaments  such  as  copes, 
etc.,  which  were  promised  in  a  short  time.  The  chapter  also  reported 
to  the  bishop  that  '  some  of  the  church  utensils  were  imbezilled  in  the 
late  times  of  usurpation,  as  the  brazen  eagle  upon  which  ye  chapters 
were  read.'3  For  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  wants  of  the  parish 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Sterne,  ff.  199,  257-8. 

»  Hist,  of  His  Own  Time,  Oxford,  1823,  ii.  427. 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Rainbow,  ff.  410-1  ;  Chapter  Minute  Books,  MS.  viii.  468. 

n  97  13 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

churches,  commissions  were  issued  in  the  four  deaneries  of  Carlisle, 
Cumberland,  '  Alndale,'  and  Westmorland,  to  make  inquiries.  The 
commission  for  the  deanery  of  Carlisle  was  delivered  on  7  December 
1668;  those  for  the  other  deaneries  on  14  September  1669.  Bishop 
Rainbow  stated  that  as  it  belonged  to  his  pastoral  office  to  see  the 
service  of  God  duly  performed,  His  churches  repaired  and  beautified, 
and  all  things  therein  done  in  decency  and  order,  it  was  his  duty  to  take 
notice  of  what  had  happened  during  the  long  discontinuance  of  church 
government  in  these  late  times  of  war  and  rebellion.  'The  churches  of 
this  our  diocese  of  Carlisle  are  become  very  ruinous,  the  Communion 
plate  and  linnen  plundered  and  stollen  away,  and  many  disorders  com- 
mitted to  ye  great  dishonour  of  Almighty  God,  the  scandall  and  offence 
of  all  good  Christian  people  and  the  breach  of  the  ancient  lawes  of  this 
land.'  The  commissioners  in  the  respective  deaneries  were  empowered 
to  call  before  them  churchwardens  and  parishioners,  and  to  inform  them- 
selves '  of  all  the  decayes,  defects,  ruines  and  incroachments  wch  are  in 
any  of  the  roofs,  leads,  windowes,  walls,  steeples,  floores,  pavements, 
pulpitts,  reading  desks,  seats  and  stalls  in  any  of  the  said  churches, 
chappells  or  in  any  of  their  churchyards,  houses,  edifices,  buildings  and 
grounds.'  It  was  the  duty  of  the  commissioners  also  '  to  see  that  the 
said  churches  be  provided  of  plate,  pewter,  linnen,  and  other  things 
necessary  for  the  Communion  Table,  as  likewise  of  bookes,  cushions 
and  other  things  required  for  the  pulpit  and  reading  desk  and  other 
uses.'  In  addition,  inquiry  was  made  about  the  temporal  concerns 
of  the  benefice,  glebe  lands,  mansions,  buildings,  church  stocks, 
augmentations,  legacies  and  other  charitable  uses.1  To  these  episcopal 
acts  in  1668-9  must  De  ascribed  the  supply  of  the  ornaments  in 
many  parish  churches  and  the  recovery  of  much  church  property 
lost  or  embezzled  during  the  Commonwealth. 

While  Bishop  Rainbow  was  making  strenuous  efforts  to  build 
up  the  church  in  his  diocese,  he  was  not  unmindful  of  those  who 
had  rejected  him  as  chief  pastor.  It  is  well  known  that  he  was  a 
conciliatory  prelate  who  did  everything  in  his  power  to  soften  the 
asperities  of  the  penal  code.  But  it  was  beyond  his  power  to  save 
nonconformists  from  the  consequences  of  resistance  to  the  law  ;  it 
was  the  civil  magistrate  who  dealt  with  those  who  dissented  from  the 
national  religion.  For  this  reason  it  is  to  the  court  of  Quarter  Sessions, 
and  not  to  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  that  we  turn  for  a  record  of  the 
troubles  of  the  various  religious  denominations  at  this  period.  The 
followers  of  George  Fox  were  the  first  to  feel  the  rigour  of  the  law. 
The  quakers  were  the  only  people  who  ostentatiously  defied  the  new 
enactments.  In  their  ill-regulated  enthusiasm  they  entered  the  parish 
churches  and  denounced  the  lives  and  doctrines  of  the  parish  clergy  in 
the  presence  of  their  congregations.  It  was  no  rare  thing  for  church- 
wardens to  have  half  a  dozen  quakers  before  the  justices  at  Quarter 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Rainbow,  ff.  460-1. 
98 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

Sessions  '  for  disturbing   the   minister   in   tyme    of  preaching.'     At  the 
Summer  Sessions  in  1670  Sir  Philip  Musgrave  paid  into  court  the  sum 
of  £j  as  the  king's    moiety  '  due  upon   a  conviction  of  several  seditious 
persons,'  which  sum  was  paid  over  to  the  sheriff.      Sir  Philip  Musgrave 
was  a  notorious   opponent   of  all  sectaries.     His  spies  were  sent  in  all 
directions  with  strict   orders  to  watch  the   '  bad  people,'  as  he  roughly 
called  them,  and  many  meetings  were  captured  by  these  agents.     John 
Lamplugh  did  not  hesitate  to  levy  a  fine  of  £10  on  the  overseers  of  the 
poor  of  the  parish  of  Dean,  '  for  negligence  in  their  office  in  not  making 
information  to  the  next  justice  of  the  peace  of  a  conventicle  at  Pardsay 
Cragg.'     Moreover,  the  quakers  carried  on   a  stout  resistance   to  the 
payment  of  tithes,  '  steeplehouse  rates   and   clerk's  wages,'  which  added 
not  a  little  to   their   other  troubles.     When  Charles  II.   granted  his 
temporary  indulgence  in  1672,  very  few  of  the  quakers  took  advantage 
of  it.     Almost  all  the  licences  for  preaching  houses  in  Cumberland  were 
taken  out  by  persons   of  the  presbyterian  or  congregational  persuasion.1 
Several  of  those  who  were  licensed  to  preach  are  well  known  in  the 
annals  of  Cumberland  nonconformity. 

It  is  a  matter  of  general  history  that  the  King  was  forced  by  the 
Cavalier  party  to  revoke  his  declaration  of  indulgence,  and  that  the  law 
known  as  the  Test  Act  of  1673  was  passed  to  which  he  reluctantly 
gave  his  consent.  There  is  a  long  entry  in  the  records  of  Quarter 
Sessions  explanatory  of  the  new  Act.  It  is  singular  that  though  the 
Act  affected  all  kinds  of  dissenters,  it  is  designated  in  the  preamble 
as  '  an  Act  for  preventing  danger  which  may  happen  from  Popish 
Recusants.'  The  justices  seemed  very  impartial  in  carrying  out  these 
penal  enactments,  as  they  affected  both  protestant  and  papist.  At 
the  Easter  Sessions,  1674,  above  a  hundred  persons  were  summoned 
'  for  not  repayreing  to  church  within  6  months  after  ye  6th  of  July  last.' 
Neither  degree  nor  sex  was  considered.  No  part  of  the  county  was  over- 
looked. The  non-churchgoers  were  indicted  from  places  so  wide  apart  as 
Alston  and  St.  Bees,  Kirklinton  and  Bootle.  Knights  and  squires  as  well 
as  yeomen  and  rustics,  were  fined  the  Sunday 'shilling.  Members  of  four- 
teen different  families  were  fined  out  of  the  parish  of  Kirklinton.  There 
was  a  goodly  contingent  from  Wetheral,  and  among  them  Francis 
Howard  of  Corby  and  Anne  his  wife.  The  yeomen  of  Leath  Ward 
were  conspicuous.  We  may  name  also  Sir  Francis  Salkeld  of  White- 
hall ;  Henry  Curwen,  with  five  of  the  same  name  from  Camerton  ; 
Katherine  Curwen  of  Workington  Hall  ;  Skeltons  of  Branthwaite,  and 
Porters  of  Bolton.  We  hear  no  more  of  church  neglect  till  the  October 
Sessions,  1680,  when  Sir  George  Fletcher  was  high  sheriff.  The 
majority  of  the  offenders  this  time  were  evidently  papists,  and  of  the 
squirearchy  ;  whereas  the  lists  of  1 674  were  principally  quakers  and 
of  the  yeomen  and  humbler  classes. 

1  Dioc.  Hist,  of  Carl.  (S.P.C.K.),  pp.  152-3.  The  list  of  Northumberland  licences  has  been  printed 
in  Arch.  JEliana,  xiii.  63.  Both  lists  will  be  found  in  '  Domestic  Entry  Books  of  Charles  II.'  at  the 
Record  Office. 

99 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

The  Toleration  Act  of  1689  was  welcomed  by  the  dissenting 
communities  of  the  county.  Whatever  they  suffered  in  past  years 
was  now  happily  at  an  end.  Though  the  provisions  of  the  Act  were 
meagre  enough,  they  were  sufficient  to  ease  dissenters  of  harassing  dis- 
abilities, and  give  them  scope  for  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion. 
The  Act  required  them  only  to  take  out  licences  for  their  meeting 
houses,  and  the  justices  had  no  alternative  but  to  grant  them.1 
Some  of  the  dissenting  ministers,  however,  disregarded  the  obliga- 
tions of  the  Toleration  Act  and  refused  to  take  out  licences.  Daniel 
Jackson  was  not  content  with  ministering  to  his  Stanwix  congregation, 
but  intruded  into  the  parish  of  Burgh,  where  he  held  conventicles  at 
night  in  wilful  defiance  of  the  law.  With  eight  of  the  principal 
inhabitants  of  that  place  he  was  brought  before  the  Christmas  Sessions, 
1692,  'ffbr  an  unlawfull  assemblie  under  pretence  of  religious  worshipp.' 
It  is  stated  in  the  indictment  that  to  the  number  of  forty  persons  they 
had  assembled  in  the  night  at  the  house  of Jannet  Hodgeson  of  Westend, 
widow,  for  that  purpose.  Nicholson  of  Kirkoswald  was  charged  at 
Michaelmas,  1694,  for  a  conventicle,  probably  at  Penrith,  as  the  others 
with  whom  he  was  indicted  belonged  to  the  immediate  neighbourhood. 
At  the  same  sessions  Anthony  Sleigh  of  Penruddock,  clerk  ;  George 
Nicholson  of  Kirkoswald,  clerk  ;  and  Thomas  Dawes,  of  the  same 
place,  clerk,  were  similarly  indicted  with  sundry  of  their  co-religionists. 
It  is  a  matter  of  no  surprise  that  the  law  should  be  put  in  force  against 
these  dissenting  ministers  who  were  foolish  enough  to  disregard  it. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  public  attention  was 
directed  to  the  alarming  increase  of  coarseness  and  immorality  through- 
out the  kingdom.  It  soon  became  the  subject  of  a  royal  proclamation, 
which  was  ultimately  embodied  in  an  Act  of  Parliament.  But  the 
friends  of  the  '  Society  for  the  Reformation  of  Manners '  were  destined 
to  meet  with  considerable  opposition  in  Cumberland.  The  dissenting 
element  went  cautiously  to  work  in  order  to  entrap  the  leaders  of  the 
church  party  into  blessing  the  enterprise.  One  great  mistake  the 
originators  seem  to  have  made,  when  they  called  the  movement  a 
covenant,  a  league,  or  association.  There  was  something  in  a  name  to 
the  churchmen  of  this  period,  and  it  is  manifest  they  did  not  relish  a 
novelty  on  English  ground  which  came  to  them  wearing  a  presbyterian 
aspect  and  dressed  in  the  Genevan  garb.  The  bishop  of  Carlisle  was 
surprised  into  giving  his  patronage,  and  matters  looked  like  peace.  But 
that  hope  was  doomed  to  sudden  disappointment.  Few  outside  those 
versed  in  church  matters  can  well  understand  the  position  of  Archdeacon 
Nicolson  in  his  attitude  to  the  movement.  His  action  was  not 
prompted  by  expediency  or  bigotry,  but  by  conscience  and  duty. 
Though  he  admitted  the  evil  needed  the  efforts  of  all  Christian  people, 
he  yet  maintained  that  the  '  Established  Church '  was  the  responsible 

1  The  licences  issued  by  the  justices  in  Quarter  Sessions  to  the  nonconforraing  communities  of  the 
county  are  very  numerous  and  extend  over  a  long  period.  Many  of  them  will  be  noticed  in  the  parish 
history. 

too 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

agent  which  should  of  itself  provide  the  remedy.  He  took  his  stand 
on  the  canons,  which,  he  alleged,  were  binding  on  his  conscience,  and 
denounced  those  clergy  who  ignored  them  by  joining  in  '  conventicles  ' 
with  dissenting  ministers,  under  cover  of  furthering  the  interests  of 
morals,  while  in  reality  they  were  causing  schism  and  breaking  the  law. 
The  clergy,  as  a  whole,  were  willing  enough  to  follow  their  archdeacon's 
advice,  till  Chancellor  Tullie  ranged  himself  on  the  other  side,  and  went 
in  strongly  for  the  amalgamation  of  church  and  dissent.  Under  his 
sgis  Cockburn,  the  vicar,  aided  by  a  few  of  the  neighbouring  clergy, 
set  up  the  covenant  at  Brampton,  which  soon  brought  down  the  arch- 
deacon's thunders  on  his  honest  head.  Archdeacon  and  chancellor  were 
summoned  to  Rose  Castle  to  answer  to  their  aged  diocesan  for  the  strife 
they  were  causing  in  his  diocese.  Little  came  of  it.  The  bishop  was 
too  old  and  too  infirm  to  curb  the  zeal  of  his  subordinates.  An  appeal 
was  made  to  the  archbishop  of  York,  but  he  shelved  the  question  ;  the 
bishop  of  Chester  was  inclined  to  side  with  the  chancellor,  so  Nicolson 
was  forced  to  struggle  on  alone.1 

The  episcopates  of  Bishops  Rainbow  and  Smith,  which  covered 
the  period  between  1664  and  1702,  were  devoted  chiefly  to  the  dis- 
charge of  their  functions  within  the  diocese.  It  was  their  endeavour  to 
set  a  good  example  to  their  clergy  and  to  urge  them  to  follow  it.  An 
attractive  picture  of  the  private  life  of  Bishop  Rainbow  has  been  drawn 
by  the  hand  of  one  who  knew  him.  *  Four  times  a  day  was  God 
publickly  called  upon  by  prayers  in  that  family  :  twice  in  the  chappel, 
which  part  his  lordship's  chaplains  performed  :  and  twice  in  the  dining 
room,  the  latter  of  these  at  six  in  the  morning  and  nine  at  night  was 
the  usual  task  of  our  right  reverend  worthy  prelate  himself,  if  not  dis- 
abled by  sickness.' '  His  enforcement  of  discipline  among  some  of  the 
clergy  '  who  had  been  sufficiently  criminal  and  neglectful  in  the  dis- 
charge of  their  function '  was  attended  with  unpleasantness  and  often 
provoked  opposition.  But  his  personal  example  in  devotion  to  duty 
acted  as  a  stimulus  to  the  diocese,  and  cleared  him  of  all  suspicion  of 
favouritism  or  private  grudge.  The  life  of  Bishop  Smith,  who  had  been 
dean  of  Carlisle  before  his  consecration,  was  fashioned  on  the  same 
model.  The  policy  of  both  prelates  was  to  raise  the  tone  of  the  clergy, 
and  increase  the  reverence  and  regularity  of  their  public  ministrations. 
The  dangers  of  the  episcopate,  to  which  the  bishops  of  Carlisle  after  the 
Reformation  had  succumbed,  were  happily  avoided  by  their  successors 
after  the  Restoration.  It  has  been  pointed  out  that  the  Elizabethan 
bishops  were  mainly  concerned  with  the  suppression  of  heresy  and  the 
enforcement  of  conformity,  a  policy  negative  in  its  aims  as  it  was  dis- 
astrous in  its  results.  The  bishops  of  Carlisle,  who  came  immediately 
after  1660,  set  themselves  the  task  of  rebuilding  the  church  as  a  spiritual 
edifice,  and  meddled  as  little  as  possible  with  the  demolishing  of  the 
religious  shelters  which  the  mistaken  policy  of  their  predecessors  had 

1  Letters  of  Wm.  Nicolson,  pp.  109,  145-58,  161-72,  etc. 
1  Life  of  Bishop  Rainbow  (London,  1688),  pp.  68-9. 
101 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

forced  earnest  men  to  erect  for  themselves.  When  they  came  in  contact 
with  nonconformity,  their  attitude  was  that  of  conciliation  ;  but  they 
spared  no  pains,  as  Jonathan  Banks  said  of  Bishop  Rainbow,  to  urge 
the  clergy  'in  the  diligent  preaching  of  God's  word  :  in  the  due  adminis- 
tration of  the  Holy  Sacraments,  in  catechising  of  youth,  and  in 
admonishing  and  reclaiming  the  more  loose  from  their  immoralities.' J 
It  is  to  this  policy  of  positive  teaching  that  one  must  ascribe  whatever 
measure  of  success  the  churchmen  of  that  period  attained  in  rebuilding 
'  the  city  of  their  fathers'  sepulchres.'  The  munificence  of  Bishop 
Smith  in  the  distribution  of  his  private  fortune  is  still  bearing  fruit  in 
some  of  the  schools,  churches  and  parsonages  of  the  diocese. 

The  pastoral  care  exercised  by  the  bishops,  and  the  condition  of 
the  parish  churches  at  this  time,  may  be  gathered  from  the  articles  of 
inquiry  and  the  replies  sent  in  by  the  churchwardens  at  visitation. 
The  earnestness  of  the  bishops  cannot  be  doubted,  but  if  we  judge  the 
clergy  and  people  according  to  modern  standards,  the  verdict  cannot  be 
given  that  they  were  filled  with  sentiments  of  decency  and  order  in  the 
care  of  the  churches  and  the  performance  of  divine  service.  From  a 
study  of  the  parish  churches  it  is  pleasant  to  turn  to  the  mother  church 
of  the  diocese,  of  which  we  get  a  contemporary  account  from  the  pen 
of  one  who  had  little  sympathy  with  ecclesiastical  observance.  Thomas 
Story  states  that  about  1687  he  went  diligently  to  the  public  worship, 
especially  to  the  cathedral  at  Carlisle,  where  in  time  of  public  prayer 
they  used  all,  male  and  female,  so  soon  as  that  creed  called  the  Apostles' 
Creed  began  to  be  said,  to  turn  their  faces  towards  the  east ;  and  when 
the  word  JESUS  was  mentioned,  they  all  as  one  bowed  and  kneeled  to- 
wards the  altar-table,  as  it  was  called,  where  stood  a  couple  of  Common 
Prayer  Books  in  folios,  one  at  each  side  of  the  table,  and  over  them 
painted  upon  the  wall  I.H.S.,  signifying  'Jesus  Hominum  Sa/vafor* 

William  Nicolson,  archdeacon  of  Carlisle,  an  ecclesiastic  of  a 
different  type  to  his  immediate  predecessors,  succeeded  to  the  see  on  the 
death  of  Bishop  Smith  in  1702.  This  prelate  was  a  scholar  of  con- 
siderable repute,  a  strong  politician,  a  laborious  and  tireless  worker, 
whose  fame  was  not  confined  to  the  district  in  which  he  lived.  In 
his  letters,  diaries,  controversies  and  visitations,  apart  from  his  solid  con- 
tribution to  the  scholarship  of  his  day,  there  is  embodied  a  local  litera- 
ture of  which  we  have  no  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  diocese.3  In 
his  primary  visitation  in  1703—4  he  has  left  an  account  of  the  condition 
of  the  churches  and  the  character  of  the  clergy  under  his  spiritual  rule, 
invaluable  indeed  as  a  record  of  many  things  which  have  long  since 
passed  away,  but  so  highly  coloured  that  it  is  difficult  to  accept  it  as  a 
faithful  delineation  of  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  period.  His  views 
of  men  and  things  not  up  to  his  own  standard  appear,  like  those  of  all 


1  Life  of  Bishop  Rainbow  (London,  1688),  pp.  63-4. 
»  Journal  of  the  Life  of  Thomas  Story  (ed.  1747),  pp.  3-4. 


8  Letters  of  William  Nicolson  (ed.  J.  Nicols,  London,  1809)  ;  Diaries  of  Bishop  Nicolson  (ed.  Bishop 
of  Barrow-in-Furness)  in  the  Cumb.  and  Westmor.  Arch.  Soc.  'Irani,  new  series,  vols.  i.  ii.  iii.  iv. ; 
Miscel.  Accounts  of  the  Diocese  of  Carlisle,  1877. 

102 


•  'Tv  ->       £ 

'      '   i 


' 

-  - 


inlllb-* 

.'  I  niii    /  ////.'//  i7dt. 


i     '  '     / 

.  -•-  7 
I 


.'  A/,///..    - 
THOMAS   SMITH,   BISHOP   OF  CARLISLE. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

earnest  reformers,  to  err  on  the  side  of  pessimism.  It  is  very  painful 
to  read  that  the  Bibles  were  torn  or  wanted  binding,  or  were  of  the  old 
translation  ;  the  altars  were  rotten  or  crazy,  or  placed  irregularly  ;  the 
seats  were  mean,  or  too  high,  or  scurvily  low  ;  the  fonts  were  ill-placed, 
broken,  or  shallow  and  lumpish  ;  the  parsons  were  bad  managers,  lazy, 
non-resident,  melancholic,  a  little  loose,  pluralists,  irregular,  or  read  too 
fast.  Such  are  some  of  the  musings  of  a  supercilious  young  prelate  who 
had  been  a  canon  of  the  cathedral  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  archdeacon 
of  Carlisle  at  twenty-seven,  and  bishop  of  the  diocese  at  forty-seven. 
If  the  church  was  in  the  deplorable  condition  described  in  the  journal 
of  his  visitation  tour,  it  must  have  been  in  some  measure  due  to  his 
own  negligence  during  the  twenty  years  of  his  archidiaconate.  On  the 
other  hand,  when  we  think  of  the  conditions  under  which  parish  priests 
exercised  their  vocation,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  internal  fittings  and 
arrangement  of  the  parish  churches  and  mountain  chapels  were  not  up 
to  the  canonical  standard.  In  very  many  places  the  church  was  the 
parish  school,  and  the  incumbent  or  curate  was  the  schoolmaster. 
These  clergymen,  so  severely  handled  by  their  young  diocesan,  were  the 
pioneers  of  modern  education,  and  if  for  no  other  reason  we  may  look 
with  sympathy  rather  than  condemnation  on  the  methods  they  were 
forced  to  employ.  What  was  lost  in  the  sacrifice  of  external  ceremonial 
and  orderly  service  was  gained  in  the  systematic  religious  instruction  of 
the  young.  Perhaps  it  was  only  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  where 
Wordsworth  l  could  find  in  a  parish  register  the  memorable  entry  '  that 
a  youth  who  had  quitted  the  valley  (of  Borrowdale),  and  died  in  one  of 
the  towns  on  the  coast  of  Cumberland,  had  requested  that  his  body 
should  be  brought  and  interred  at  the  foot  of  the  pillar  by  which  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  sit  while  a  schoolboy.'  The  bishop  has  given 
it  as  his  own  experience,  while  rector  of  Great  Salkeld,  that  it  was  not 
till  he  had  built  a  school  and  removed  the  children  thereto  that  anything 
like  the  decencies  of  public  worship  could  be  maintained  in  that  church. 
But  the  condition  of  the  church  in  Cumberland  should  not  be 
estimated  solely  from  the  hasty  judgments  formed  by  Bishop  Nicolson 
on  his  first  perambulation  of  the  diocese.  We  have  from  his  own  pen 
a  more  trustworthy  test  by  which  a  more  accurate  opinion  can  be  formed 
of  the  church's  supremacy  over  the  agricultural  population.  The  order 
of  confirmation  is  a  distinctive  rite  which  differentiates  the  doctrinal 
observance  of  the  church  from  every  class  of  protestant  nonconformity. 
Neglect  of  this  rite  is  a  sure  sign  of  leakage  or  paralysis.  What  do  we 
find  ?  When  the  bishop  '  ended  ye  work  of  Confirmation  '  on  his  first 
circuit  of  visitation  in  1702,  he  had  conferred  the  gift  on  5,537  persons, 
a  number  which  throws  into  the  shade,  when  population  and  area  are 
considered,  the  best  efforts  of  any  of  his  successors  in  our  own  day.  On 
28  August  at  Kirkbystephen  he  '  confirmed  799  without  a  pause  and 
singly,'  the  throng  being  so  great  that  one  of  the  candidates  was  '  almost 
killed,'  and  at  Penrith  on  30  August,  '  889  in  ye  forenoon  and  102  in 

1  Description  of  the  Scenery  of  the  Lakes  (London,  1823),  p.  54. 

103 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

afternoon,  in  all  991,  whereof  about  300  were  parishioners  of  Penrith," 
feats  of  human  endurance  characteristic  of  this  extraordinary  prelate,  as 
well  as  incontestable  evidence  of  the  influence  and  zeal  of  the  parochial 
clergy. 

The  political  troubles  which  preceded  the  Hanoverian  accession 
were  a  source  of  much  embarrassment  to  a  small  section  of  the  com- 
munity which  was  suspected  of  disaffection  to  the  government.  As 
early  as  1706  parliament  had  acquainted  the  Queen  'with  several  cir- 
cumstances of  the  very  great  boldness  and  presumption  of  the  Romish 
priests  and  papists  in  this  Kingdom,'  and  the  privy  council  notified  to 
the  bishops  '  that  a  distinct  and  particular  account  should  be  taken  of 
all  papists  and  reputed  papists  with  their  respective  qualities,  estates  and 
places  of  abode.'2  The  Acts  of  1708  were  put  in  force  without  delay 
in  Cumberland.  At  the  Midsummer  Sessions  of  that  year  eighteen 
reputed  papists  were  summoned  to  appear  and  conform  to  the  law.  In 
the  following  August  Bishop  Nicolson  informed  the  primate  that  '  popery 
has  advanced  by  very  long  strides  of  late  years  in  this  country  and  too 
many  of  our  magistrates  love  to  have  it  so.  At  the  very  time  that  the 
French  were  on  our  coasts  and  our  people  daily  expected  the  news  of 
their  being  landed,  the  wealthier  of  our  papists,  instead  of  being 
seized,  were  cringed  to  with  all  possible  tenders  of  honour  and  respect, 
and  those  very  gentlemen,  who  were  entrusted  with  the  taking  of 
them  into  custody,  seemed  rather  inclined  to  list  themselves  in  their 
services.' 3  The  rigour  of  the  law  was  sorely  felt  by  the  papists  during  the 
period  of  the  abortive  insurrection  of  1715.  While  the  panic  lasted 
stringent  measures  were  adopted  for  the  security  of  the  county.  The 
bishop  issued  a  circular  letter  to  his  clergy  on  1 5  October,  in  which  he 
stated  that  '  there  being  now  a  most  unnatural  and  dangerous  rebellion 
raised  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  diocese  by  several  papists  and  other 
wicked  enemies  to  our  happy  establishment  in  church  and  state,  I  cannot 
but  think  it  a  necessary  duty  on  this  pressing  occasion  to  exhort  you  and 
the  rest  of  my  brethren  to  animate  and  encourage  your  respective 
parishioners  in  defence  of  their  religion,  laws  and  liberties  against  all 
such  traitorous  attempts  towards  the  destruction  of  his  majesty's  royal 
person  and  the  subversion  of  his  most  gracious  government.'4  The 
civil  authorities  had  not  been  backward  in  preparing  for  emergencies. 
At  the  Hilary  Sessions,  1714—5,  the  high  constables  handed  in  lists  of 
papists  or  persons  so  reputed  in  their  respective  wards  who  had  been 
summoned  to  appear.  As  the  vigilance  of  the  justices  increased,  a 
greater  number  of  papists  was  discovered.  At  the  Sessions  of  January, 
1715— 6,  no  fewer  than  fifty  persons,  esquires  and  yeomen,  rich  and 
poor,  were  summoned  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  '  being  persons  by  us 
suspected  to  be  dangerous  or  disafected  to  his  majesty  or  his  government.' 

1  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmor.  Arch,  Soc.  new  series,  ii.  177-9,  !8i  ;   Miscellany  Accounts  of  Dio. 
of  Carl.  pp.  133,  147- 

«  Letters  of  Wm.  Nicolson,  pp.  330-2.  8  Add  MS,  6116. 

«  Letters  of  Wm.  Nicolson,  p.  432, 

104 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

When  the  scare  of  the  Pretender's  invasion  had  faded  away,  the  Roman 
Catholic  body  in  Cumberland  suffered  little  inconvenience  from  the  penal 
laws  except  during'  the  rebellion  of  1745,  when  they  were  disarmed  and 
the  sleeping  laws  were  revived  and  put  in  force  till  the  danger  was  passed. 
Roman  Catholicism  never  took  deep  root  in  Cumberland.  Except 
in  a  few  families  of  distinction  like  the  Howards,  Curwens  and  Rad- 
clifFes,  with  their  tenants  and  servants,  this  form  of  religious  belief  had 
almost  died  out  before  the  Irish  immigration  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  Bishop  Leyburne,  who  visited  the  northern 
counties  in  1687,  when  papists  were  much  favoured  in  high  quarters, 
reported  that  he  had  confirmed  22  persons  at  Greystoke,  127  at  Corby, 
and  426  at  Brampton.  But  from  the  statistics  sent  to  the  Propaganda 
by  Bishop  Petre  on  8  September  1773,  it  may  be  gathered  that  'few 
Catholics  '  were  found.  In  Bishop  Smith's  account  of  his  vicariate  on 
14  October  1830,  there  were  only  four  stations  or  meeting  places 
for  Roman  Catholics  in  the  county.  The  number  of  stations  was 
increased  to  six  in  1839  during  the  vicariate  of  Bishop  Briggs.1 

An  unfortunate  broil  among  the  members  of  the  capitular  body 
about  the  administration  of  their  domestic  affairs  disturbed  the  peace 
of  the  diocese  for  some  time  during  Bishop  Nicolson's  episcopate. 
The  appointment  of  Dr.  Francis  Atterbury  to  the  deanery  of  Carlisle 
in  1704  was  warmly  resented  by  the  bishop,2  and  it  was  soon  evident 
that  the  old  jealousies  which  existed  between  them  as  scholars  and 
antiquaries  would  be  imported  into  their  public  concerns.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  follow  step  by  step  the  unseemly  wrangles  between  bishop 
and  dean.  Another  member  of  the  chapter,  Hugh  Todd,  also  an 
antiquary,  had  old  scores  to  wipe  out,  and  he  lost  no  time  in  taking  sides 
against  his  diocesan.  Occasions  soon  arose  to  fan  the  smouldering 
embers  into  flame.  A  small  matter  of  discipline  among  the  minor 
canons,  who  had  behaved  themselves  indecorously  in  the  vestry  of  the 
cathedral,  and  the  nomination  of  an  incumbent  to  one  of  the  benefices 
in  the  patronage  of  the  chapter  were  the  pretexts  on  which  Atterbury 
and  Todd  set  the  city  of  Carlisle  in  an  uproar  and  involved  the  heads  of 
the  diocese  in  an  altercation,  the  sounds  of  which  had  reached  to  every 
corner  of  the  kingdom.  The  quarrel  was  mainly  concerned  with  the 
position  of  the  dean  in  the  capitular  body,  about  which  there  was 
some  doubt  owing  to  an  apparent  discrepancy  between  the  authority 
of  the  statutes  and  the  endowment  charter.  Denying  the  validity  of 
the  statutes  as  not  having  received  the  sanction  of  the  Crown  and 
parliament,  Dean  Atterbury  claimed  it  as  his  sole  right  '  to  take  cogni- 
sance of  and  punish  offences  and  disorders  '  in  the  church,  and  as  the 
majority  of  the  chapter  ignored  his  claims,  he  went  further  and  formally 
objected  to  everything  that  was  done  by  the  other  members,  in  which 
resistance  he  was  supported  by  Dr.  Todd.  The  dean  withheld  the  key 
of  the  box  in  which  the  chapter  seal  was  kept  and  refused  his  consent 


1  Brady,  Engl.  Catholic  Hierarchy,  pp.  143-4,  2^3>  27^~7> 
*  Tram.  Cumb.  and  WestmoT.  Arch.  Soc.  new  series,  ii.  197. 

II  105  »  14 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

to  chapter  acts.  As  the  position  had  become  intolerable,  Bishop  Nicol- 
son  interposed  and  urged  the  members  of  the  church  to  compose  their 
differences,  but  as  the  admonition  was  without  effect  he  determined  to 
visit  and  enforce  obedience.  The  scene  in  the  chapter  house  between 
the  bishop  and  Dr.  Todd,  the  dean's  proxy,  was  not  edifying.  Formal 
objection  was  taken  to  the  visitation  on  the  ground  that  the  Queen  alone 
was  the  legal  visitor.  Compromise  was  now  impossible.  The  bishop 
excommunicated  Dr.  Todd.  A  war  of  pamphlets  ensued.  The  quarrel 
was  carried  to  the  civil  courts  and  to  the  House  of  Commons.  At 
length  an  Act  of  Parliament  (6  Anne,  c.  21)  was  passed  confirming  the 
validity  of  the  statutes x  ;  the  doctor  was  released  from  the  ban  of  excom- 
munication, and  the  trouble  was  at  an  end.2 

The  preaching  of  John  Wesley  in  Cumberland  was  not  attended 
with  the  enthusiasm  and  wholesale  conversions  which  marked  the  pro- 
gress of  George  Fox  a  century  before.  The  mass  of  the  population, 
though  they  listened  with  respect,  remained  unmoved  ;  the  gentry  as  a 
rule  stood  aloof.  When  the  great  preacher  visited  the  county,  he 
was  not  recognized  by  the  bishop  of  the  diocese,  and  had  neither 
sympathy  nor  support  from  the  clergy.  In  a  private  house  or  at 
the  market  cross  or  in  some  public  building  like  a  town  hall,  Wesley 
exercised  the  gifts  of  his  vocation  as  he  journeyed  from  place  to 
place.  On  11  April  1753  he  found  that  the  love  of  many  of  the 
society  in  Whitehaven  had  '  waxed  cold,'  though  '  a  considerable  number 
appeared  to  be  growing  in  grace.'  On  the  following  Sunday  '  he 
preached  in  the  afternoon  at  Cockermouth  to  well  nigh  all  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  town.'  At  Branthwaite  in  1757  '  many  of  the  congregation 
came  from  far  '  to  hear  him  ;  *  the  word  had  free  course  '  at  Cocker- 
mouth,  '  even  the  gentry  seemed  desirous '  of  accepting  his  doctrine. 
On  his  return  to  Cumberland  in  1761  it  can  scarcely  be  said  that  he 
was  otherwise  than  disappointed  with  the  fruits  of  his  previous  labours. 
The  whole  congregation  at  Workington  behaved  well,  but  he  could  not 
perceive  that  the  greater  part  understood  anything  of  the  matter. 
Wesley's  experience  of  the  people  of  Wigton  had  a  depressing  effect 
upon  him.  ' The  congregation  when  I  began,'  he  says,  'consisted  of 
one  woman,  two  boys,  and  three  or  four  little  girls,  but  in  a  quarter  of 
an  hour  we  had  most  of  the  town.  I  was  a  good  deal  moved  at  the 
exquisite  self-sufficiency,  which  was  visible  in  the  countenance,  air,  and 
whole  deportment  of  a  considerable  part  of  them.'  When  he  reached 
Carlisle  in  1770  he  found  that  '  it  was  here  a  day  of  small  things,  the 
society  consisting  but  of  fifteen  members.'  On  a  further  visit  to  the 

1  A  full  account  of  this  squabble  may  be  gathered  from  the  numerous  documents  collected  by  Nichols 
and  printed  in  his  Letters  of  Wm.  Nicolson,  and  the  bishop's  private  sentiments  may  be  seen  in  Bishop 
Nicotian's  Diaries,  now  in  course  of  publication  by  the  Bishop  of  Barrow-in-Furness  in  the  new  series  of 
the  Cumb.  and  Westmor.  Arch,  Soc.  Trans.    The  legal  aspect  of  the  case  has  been  treated  exhaustively 
by  Burn,  Eccl.  Law  (ed.  Phillimore,  1842),  ii.  94-104,  and  by  Phillimore,  Eccl.  Law  (ed.  1873),!.  173-84. 

2  Another  dispute  arose  in  1752  on  the  interpretation  of  the  statutes  in  relation  to  the  dean's  nega- 
tive power  in  the  conferring  of  benefices.     Compare  Phillimore,  Eccles.  Law,  i.  192-4,  with  Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.  Osbaldiston,  ff.  175-7,  235-7.      The  peace  of  the  capitular  body  was  again  disturbed  in  1858  by 
the  interference  of  Dean  Close  with  the  duties  of  the  precentor. 

1 06 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

city  in  1772  little  progress  seems  to  have  been  made  ;  he  was  received 
by  '  a  small  company  of  plain  loving  people.'  It  is  evident  that  Carlisle 
did  not  at  first  take  to  methodism.  Wesley  had  but  a  poor  opinion 
of  his  prospects  in  the  cathedral  city.  When  he  preached  at  the  town 
hall  there  in  1780,  it  was  to  the  poor  only,  as  the  rich  could  not  rise 
in  time  to  hear  him.  From  the  number  and  seriousness  of  his  hearers 
at  a  later  meeting,  he  '  conceived  a  little  hope  that  even  here  some  good 
will  be  done.'1  The  same  opinion  was  expressed  in  1797  by  a  church- 
man who  described  the  people  of  Carlisle  as  '  very  ignorant  in  religion : 
they  wander  as  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  They  seem,  however,  open 
to  conviction,  they  have  conscience.  There  are  here  some  methodist 
and  dissenting  interests,  but  feeble  and  of  little  weight,  nor  is  there 
a  dissenter  here  of  any  popularity,  or  as  it  should  seem  of  any 
religious  zeal.' "  Of  all  the  scenes  of  Wesley's  personal  ministrations 
in  Cumberland,  his  hopes  of  Whitehaven,  where  he  often  preached, 
were  the  brightest.  Of  this  town  he  wrote  in  1784  that  there  was  a 
fairer  prospect  than  there  had  been  for  many  years.  The  society  was 
united  in  love,  not  conformed  to  the  world,  but  labouring  to  experience 
the  full  image  of  God,  wherein  they  were  created.  His  meetings  had 
been  attended  by  all  the  church  ministers  and  most  of  the  gentry  of  the 
town,  but  they  behaved  with  as  much  decency  as  if  they  had  been 
colliers." 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  methodism  made  slight  impression 
on  the  people  of  Cumberland  before  the  secession  of  1791-1836.  It 
was  only  after  it  had  become  an  integral  portion  of  nonconformity  that 
its  influence  began  to  be  felt  in  towns  or  country  villages.  The  process 
of  separation  went  on  gradually  for  almost  fifty  years,  and  it  is  only  now 
and  again  that  we  get  glimpses  of  it  as  an  organized  religious  community. 
As  soon  as  its  members  determined  to  create  charitable  trusts  and  to 
accept  gifts  of  real  property  for  the  support  of  their  distinctive  tenets, 
it  may  be  said  that  its  independent  existence  was  assured.  One  of  the 
earliest  establishments  in  the  county  was  made  at  Brampton  in  1789 
during  the  lifetime  of  Wesley.  No  other  charitable  trust  had  been 
registered  on  behalf  of  the  methodists  during  the  eighteenth  century. 
But  very  soon  after,  the  endowment  of  the  society  went  on  apace.  In 
1802  and  1817  gifts  of  real  property  were  registered  for  their  use  at 
Carlisle,  in  1806  at  Maryport,  in  1811  at  Alston,  in  1814  at  Keswick, 
in  1826  at  Workington,  in  1827  at  Whitehaven,  and  in  1828  at 
Wigton.*  In  all  these  places  there  was  no  rapid  cleavage  between  the 
church  and  methodism.  It  is  quite  true  that  chapels  sprang  up  and 
congregations  to  some  extent  came  together,  but  among  those  early 
methodists  there  was  a  lingering  love  for  the  sacramental  ministrations 
of  the  parish  clergy.  Attendance  on  the  services  of  the  church  was  not 
wholly  relinquished.  The  parish  priest  was  often  called  in  to  baptize 

i  Journal  of  John  Wesley  (London,  1829),  pp.  359,  412,  490,  640,  666,  720,  766-7. 
'  Life  of  Dean  Milner,  p.  130.  »  Journal  of  John  Wesley,  p.  808. 

«  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmor.  Arch.  Soc.  new  series,  ii.  348-79. 

107 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

infants '  and  to  bury  the  dead,  while  not  a  few  availed  themselves  of  the 
Holy  Eucharist  at  Easter  and  on  other  great  festivals.  Traces  of  this 
respect  for  the  ordinances  of  the  church  are  still  visible  in  many  country 
villages.  It  is  only  in  our  own  day  that  the  general  body  of  methodists 
has  drifted  completely  into  separation. 

The  pecuniary  assistance  given  to  the  chapelries  and  poor  benefices 
by  Queen  Anne's  Bounty  had  a  considerable  effect  in  raising  the  tone 
and  increasing  the  efficiency  of  the  clergy  of  the  diocese.  In  Cum- 
berland there  was  much  need  of  it.  To  meet  the  requirements  of 
the  large  and  scattered  parishes  in  the  mountainous  districts,  chapels 
of  ease  arose  with  stipendiary  curates  dependent  for  their  salaries  on 
parochial  incumbents,  the  impropriators,  or  the  free  will  offerings  of 
the  inhabitants.  Several  of  these  chapelries  were  served  by  a  reader 
and  schoolmaster  not  in  holy  orders.  By  statute  i  Geo.  I.  st.  2,  c.  10, 
a  new  ecclesiastical  status  was  created,  and  protection  was  afforded 
to  those  curacies  which  had  received  an  augmentation  of  revenue 
from  the  Bounty.  It  was  this  Act  that  practically  abolished  the  lay 
reader  in  the  Cumberland  dales.  From  this  date  the  chapelries 
which  received  augmentation  became  perpetual  cures  and  benefices. 
In  returning  a  schedule  of  the  forty-eight  perpetual  curacies  in  the 
diocese  on  26  January  1739,  Bishop  Fleming  declared  that  all  the 
chapelries  he  had  named  were  entirely  distinct  from  their  respective 
mother  churches,  and  the  parishes  were  so  very  large,and  many  of  them 
situated  in  such  inconvenient  parts,  that  there  was  the  greatest  occasion 
to  have  distinct  curates  settled  in  them  all,  as  there  were  in  most  of 
them  constantly,  except  Newlands,  Thornthwaite,  Wythburn,  Borrow- 
dale  and  Nicholforest,  though  their  situation  was  such  that  none  could 
require  it  more  if  the  salaries  had  been  sufficient  for  their  mainten- 
ance. The  rectors  or  vicars  of  the  mother  churches  had  no  advantage 
from  these  chapelries  except  the  right  of  nomination  to  some  of  them, 
the  nomination  to  many  being  with  the  inhabitants.8 

No  trustworthy  evidence  has  been,  produced  to  show  that  the 
church  in  Cumberland  had  lapsed  into  a  state  of  lethargy  in  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  facts  are  all  on  the  other  side.  The  bishops 
of  Carlisle  were  prelates  of  distinguished  ability  who  devoted  their  time 
and  energy  to  episcopal  work,  and  not  a  few  of  them  were  men  of  saintly 
life.  The  names  of  Nicolson,  Lyttelton,  Law  and  Douglas  shed  a  lustre 
on  the  episcopate  of  the  eighteenth  century  for  learning  and  literary 
culture.  Bishop  Fleming,  the  head  of  a  great  house  in  Westmorland, 
has  left  a  name  behind  him  for  the  possession  of  Christian  virtues 3  which 

1  The  practice  of  keeping  a  register  of  births  and  baptisms  is  a  sure  sign  of  final  separation  from  the 
church.    For  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  these  registers   begin  in  1814  for  Fisher  Street,  Carlisle; 
in  1824  for  George  Street,  Wigton ;  in  1806  for   Michael   Street,  Whitehaven  (chapel   formed  in 
1747);    in  1814  for  Sandgate  Chapel,  Penrith;  in    1810  for  Alston;   in    1811   for  Garrigill ;   and 
in  1827  for  Nenthead.    Primitive  Methodism  was  established  in  Alston  in   1823,  their  registers 
commencing  in  1825  (Com.  Rep.   on  Nonconformist  Registers  [1838],  pp.  89,  119). 

2  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Fleming,  ff.  67-73. 

3  In  the  obituary  notice  of  this  prelate  which  appeared  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  (xvii.  324~6) 
of  1747,  it  is  stated  that  he  punctually  joined  with  his  family  '  four  times  a  day  in  the  publick  devotions 

1 08 


EDMUND  LAW,  BISHOP  OF  CARLISLE. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

reminds  us  of  the  character  of  Bishop  Rainbow.  The  parochial  activity 
of  the  century  is  written  in  the  ecclesiastical  architecture  of  the  diocese. 
It  was  a  time  for  the  rebuilding  and  enlargement  of  churches.  The 
Georgian  or  '  churchwarden  '  type  of  church  is  too  well  known  :  a  large 
rectangular  building  with  sash-windows,  overhanging  galleries,  and 
'  three-decker '  pulpits,  providing  accommodation  for  the  increasing 
population,  may  still  be  seen  in  many  parishes.  The  episcopal  registers 
contain  many  licences  for  restorations  and  rededications,  as  well  as  the 
consecrations  of  new  edifices  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  growing  industries 
on  the  western  coast.  The  inhabitants  of  Cumberland  were  a  church- 
going  people,  and  traditions  are  still  handed  down  to  tell  us  of  the  vast 
numbers  that  came  from  far  and  near  in  extensive  parishes  for  the  Sun- 
day service  and  the  Easter  sacrament.  In  the  churchwardens'  accounts 
of  many  parishes  we  read  of  the  amount  of  wine  used  at  the  Easter  or 
one  of  the  quarterly  sacraments  with  as  much  astonishment  as  we  view 
the  uncomfortable,  high-backed  pews.  The  parish  church  may  have 
been  more  of  '  a  preaching  house  '  than  '  a  place  of  worship,'  but  nobody 
can  deny  that  the  Cumbrian  looked  upon  it  as  his  spiritual  home.  There 
were  few  organs  in  the  churches  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Instru- 
mental accompaniments  to  divine  service  were  of  a  different  character  : 
surpliced  choirs  were  unknown  except  in  the  cathedral.  The  musical 
portion  of  the  service  in  the  larger  churches  was  rendered  by  a  medley 
of  men,  women  and  school  children  perched  in  a  gallery  at  the  west 
end,  with  the  assistance  of  the  pitch-pipe  or  '  loud  bassoon.'  The 
parish  clerk  was  precentor,  and  the  pitch-pipe  was  the  badge  of  his 
office.  In  most  of  the  country  parishes  of  Cumberland  this  instrument 
of  music  is  preserved  to  remind  us  of  an  extinct  custom  in  divine  service. 
Men  still  live  who  were  acquainted  with  no  other  church  music  in 
their  earlier  years.1 

The  first  symptom  of  the  evangelical  revival  reached  the  diocese 
through  the  agency  of  Dr.  Isaac  Milner,  a  distinguished  mathematician, 
the  senior  wrangler  incomparabllu  of  his  year,  who  became  dean  of 
Carlisle  in  1792.  The  sermons  of  the  new  dean  took  the  people  of 
Carlisle  by  storm.  '  When  the  dean  of  Carlisle  preaches,'  wrote  Dr. 
Paley,  '  you  may  walk  on  the  heads  of  the  people.  All  the  meetings 
attend  to  hear  him.  He  is  indeed  a  powerful  preacher.' a  The  orator 
was  untrammelled  by  considerations  of  formulary  or  creed  :  the  noncon- 
formist was  captivated  by  his  eloquence  as  well  as  the  churchman. 
During  Milner's  decanate  (1792-1820)  a  transformation  of  ecclesiastical 
feeling  was  made  in  Carlisle  and  the  immediate  neighbourhood.  The 
spirit  of  church  party,  soon  to  result  in  divided  counsels,  had  been  intro- 

of  the  church,'  and  that  by  his  death  society  had  lost  one  of  its  most  valuable  members,  and  the  Church 
of  England  one  of  its  chiefest  ornaments. 

1  In  answer  to  Bishop  Goodwin's  articles  of  inquiry  in  1872  '  whether  any  and  what  instrument  is 
used  in  each  church,'  the  churchwardens  made  replies  which  the  bishop  tabulated  thus  : — '  organ  in  93 
churches  ;  harmonium  in  171  ;  barrel  organ  in  3  ;  and  no  instrument  in  15  '  (Primary  Visitation  Charge, 
p.  16). 

'  E.  Paley,  Life  of  Dr.  Paley,  p.  clxxxvi. ;  M.  Milner,  Life  of  Dean  Milner,  pp.  1 16,  272. 

109 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

duced.  The  diocese  as  a  whole  had  been  devoted  to  the  support  of  the 
Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  as  representing  the  work  of 
the  church  at  home,  and  to  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel,  which  embodied  the  corporate  action  of  the  church  in  the 
mission  field.  It  was  customary  for  churchwardens  to  make  a  house  to 
house  collection  every  year  in  their  several  parishes  for  these  societies. 
As  the  dean  was  a  great  favourite  with  nonconformists,  the  agents  of 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  prevailed  upon  him  to  establish  an 
auxiliary  branch  in  the  cathedral  city.  This  was  done  in  1813  to  the 
delight  of  '  all  the  meetings,'  and  Lord  Morpeth  was  appointed  the  first 
president.1  The  introduction  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society  was  a 
task  of  greater  delicacy.  Bishop  Goodenough  remained  aloof ;  in  the 
capitular  body  the  dean  stood  alone  ;  few  persons  of  rank  or  station 
among  the  laity  enrolled  themselves  among  the  supporters  of  the  scheme. 
But  Dean  Milner  was  not  to  be  thwarted,  for  he  accepted  the  presidency 
of  the  Carlisle  association  in  February  1818.  Nor  did  he  confine  his 
sympathies  to  missionary  agencies  within  the  church  :  he  was  a  warm 
advocate  of  Moravian  and  Methodist  missions  and  a  liberal  subscriber  to 
their  funds.*  Nowhere  can  the  bent  of  his  mind  be  better  gauged  than 
by  his  action  with  regard  to  the  management  of  the  central  or  diocesan 
school  which  the  bishop  had  founded  in  Carlisle  in  1812.  The  dean 
was  for  the  admission  of  the  children  of  dissenters  with  certain  privileges 
by  way  of '  a  conscience  clause.'  The  bishop's  firmness  may  be  gathered 
from  his  rejoinder  to  these  proposals  :  *  I  have  no  idea  of  refusing  the 
benefit  of  education  upon  account  of  his  or  her  parents'  religious  prin- 
ciples. Any  child  will  be  allowed  to  enter,  provided  he  will  conform 
to  the  rules  of  the  school.  The  principal  of  those  rules  will  be  that 
they  learn  the  Catechism  of  the  Church  of  England,  be  instructed  in 
our  Liturgy,  and  give  their  regular  attendance  on  the  Sundays  at  our 
church.  These  are  indispensable  conditions,  if  I  have  anything  to  do 
with  the  conduct  of  the  school.'3  But  the  seed  sown  by  this  eminent 
man  took  root  downward  and  bore  fruit  upward.  The  principles  of 
which  Dean  Milner  was  the  champion  are  stamped  broad  and  visible 
on  the  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  nineteenth  century  in  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle. 

The  spread  of  nonconformity  in  country  villages  was  largely  due  to 
the  system  of  pluralities  which  prevailed  to  such  an  alarming  extent 
during  the  period  immediately  before  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria. 
When  the  heads  of  the  church  like  bishops,  deans,  and  prebendaries  held 
more  than  one  dignity,  it  was  impossible  to  deny  the  parish  priests  a 
participation  in  the  same  system.  In  1835  about  one-half  of  the  bene- 
fices of  the  diocese  were  filled  in  plurality.*  To  one  of  these  the 
incumbent  as  a  rule  gave  his  attention,  but  the  other  was  delivered  over 

1  Life  of  Dean  Milner,  pp.  565,  577-8. 

»  Ibid.  pp.  608,  610,  672.  '  Ibid.  pp.  486-9,  etc.,  574. 

*  Rep.  of  the  Commissioners  on  Eccl.  Revenues  (1835),  pp.  214-22.  Of  the  bishops  of  Carlisle,  Dr. 
Percy  was  the  last  pluralist.  At  this  date  he  held  the  chancellorship  of  Salisbury  Cathedral  and  a  prebend 
in  St.  Paul's  (ibid.  p.  3). 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

to  a  stipendiary  curate,  often  ill-paid  and  poorly  equipped  for  the  cure 
of  souls.     This  custom  was  not  observed  only  in  small  parishes  with  little 
endowment,  where  there  might  have  been  a  difficulty  in  obtaining  the 
services  of  an  incumbent.     Fortunate  clergymen,  commanding  private  or 
ecclesiastical  patronage,  were  in  possession  of  most  of  the  valuable  bene- 
fices.     The  total   amount  expended  on  the    employment   of  assistant 
curates  in  the  ancient  diocese  was  £3,684,  nearly  the  whole  of  which 
was  found  by  the  pluralists  for  the  provision  of  substitutes  in  the  parishes 
which  they  held  but  could  not  serve.1    When  extensive  tracts  of  country 
were  deprived  of  the  religious  ministrations  and  pastoral  oversight  of 
resident    incumbents,    it    cannot   be  wondered   at  that  in   a  period   of 
political  ferment  and  constitutional  change  there  should  be  a  shrinkage 
of  the   church's  influence  and  that   the   sects  should  occupy  the  lost 
ground.    To  Cumberland  people,  imbued  with  the  idea  that  priests  work 
at  their  trade  for  wages  like  other  men,2  the  disinterested  services  of  the 
methodists   appealed   with  such   irresistible   force  that   chapels  of  this 
religious  persuasion  were  established  in  every  considerable  village  of  the 
county  before  1840. 

But  reform  was  in  the  air  :  a  new  era  was  at  hand.  The  commis- 
sioners appointed  to  consider  the  state  of  '  the  established  church  '  with 
reference  to  ecclesiastical  duties  and  revenues  made  their  third  report  in 
1836  in  which  it  was  recommended  'that  the  sees  of  Carlisle  and  Sodor 
and  Man  be  united,  and  that  the  diocese  consist  of  the  present  diocese  of 
Carlisle,  of  those  parts  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  which  are  now 
in  the  diocese  of  Chester,  of  the  deanery  of  Fumes  and  Cartmel  in  the 
county  of  Lancaster,  of  the  parish  of  Aldeston  now  in  the  diocese  of 
Durham,  and  of  the  Isle  of  Man.'3  By  subsequent  legislation  (6  and  7 
Will.  IV.  c.  77,  and  I  Viet.  c.  30)  the  diocese  was  extended  to  its 
present  limits  :  the  ecclesiastical  annexation  of  the  diocese  of  Sodor  and 
Man  did  not  take  place,  and  the  parish  of  Alston,  though  in  Cumberland, 
was  allowed  to  remain  as  aforetime  in  the  diocese  of  Durham.  Under 
the  authority  of  these  Acts,  the  deanery  of  Coupland  in  Cumberland  and 
the  deaneries  of  Furness  and  Cartmel,  which  included  the  whole  of 
Lancashire  north  of  the  Sands  together  with  the  portions  of  the 
deaneries  of  Kirkby  Lonsdale  and  Kendal  within  the  county  of  West- 
morland, that  is,  the  old  barony  of  Kendal,  were  severed  from  the 
diocese  of  Chester  and  archdeaconry  of  Richmond  and  annexed  to  thfc 
diocese  of  Carlisle,  the  whole  addition  having  been  formed  into  a  new 

1  To  the  non-residence  of  the  incumbent  must  be  ascribed  the  decay  of  so  many  parsonage  houses 
in  the  diocese  at  this  time.  The  commissioners  returned  fourteen  parsonages  as  unfit  for  habitation, 
and  thirty-one  benefices  in  which  there  was  no  parsonage  at  all. 

»  This  feature  of  the  Cumberland  character  struck  John  Wesley  as  he  passed  through  Bowness  on 
Solway  in  1753,  and  caused  him  to  make  a  note  of  it.  '  Our  landlord,  as  he  was  guiding  us  over  the  Frith, 
very  innocently  asked,  "  How  much  a  year  we  got  by  preaching  thus  ?  "  This  gave  me  an  opportunity 
of  explaining  that  kind  of  gain  which  he  seemed  utterly  a  stranger  to.  He  appeared  to  be  quite  amazed 
and  spake  not  one  word,  good  or  bad,  till  he  took  his  leave  '  (Journal,  pp.  359-60). 

3  Third  Re-fort  of  the  Church  Com.  (1836),  pp.  9,  1 1,  23.  On  the  map  of  the  proposed  diocese  at- 
tached to  the  report,  the  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  is  divided  into  only  three  deaneries,  viz.  Carlisle, 
Alderbie  or  Allerdale  or  Alnedale,  and  Westmorland. 

Ill 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

archdeaconry,  which,  for  lack  of  a  better  territorial  name,  was  called 
the  archdeaconry  of  Westmorland.  This  final  arrangement  was  made 
by  Order  in  Council,  dated  10  August  1847,  but  did  not  come  into 
force  till  the  death  of  Bishop  Percy  in  1856.  After  a  history  of  723 
years  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  entered  on  a  new  epoch.  Its  enlargement 
marks  the  turn  over  of  a  fresh  page.  The  period  of  organization  and 
activity  had  come.  The  railway  was  discovered  to  be  a  useful  agency 
in  diocesan  work,  and  bishops  of  Carlisle  were  not  slow  in  taking  advan- 
tage of  it. 

The  whole  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  specially  the  latter  portion 
of  it,  is  distinguished  for  the  ceaselessness  of  its  manifold  activities  and  the 
variety  of  its  diocesan  and  parochial  organizations.      It  is  true  that  at  all 
times  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  administered  on  plans  suited  to  its  geogra- 
phical situation  and  spiritual  necessities,  but  when  we  reach  the  Victorian 
period  the  church  became  more  plastic  and  adaptable  to  the  require- 
ments of  increasing  population  and  advancing  education.      The  history 
of  the  episcopate  is  embodied  in  '  the  daily  round  and  common  task '  of 
diocesan  movement.     Under  the  new  conditions  the  bishop  became  the 
most  indefatigable  worker  in  his  diocese.     Bishop  Villiers  lost  no  time  in 
carrying  out  the  legislation  of  1836  for  the  enlargement  of  his  charge. 
One  of  his  first  acts  after  consecration  was  the  nomination  of  an  archdeacon 
of  Westmorland  on  9  May  1856,  and  so  bent  was  he  on  diocesan  organi- 
zation that  the  long  obsolete  machinery  of  ruridecanal  action  was  revived 
on  i  January  1858  by  the  subdivision  of  the  diocese  into  eighteen  rural 
deaneries  and  the  appointment  of  a  beneficed  clergyman  in  each  district 
with  a  nominal  oversight.1      Very  soon  the  actual  condition  of  things 
began  to  dawn  on  the  chief  pastor  of  the  flock.     The  rural  deans  brought 
back  a  report  of  the  nakedness  of  the  land.      Populous  and  extensive 
parishes  needed  subdivision  :  new  churches,  new  parsonages,  increased 
incomes — this  was  the  mournful  tale.     Bishop  Waldegrave  lamented  in 
1 86 1  that  of  the   267  incumbencies  in  the  diocese,  58  had  no  glebe 
houses  at  all,  and  to  these  should  be  added  nine  places  in  which  the 
residences  were  unfit  for  habitation.     In  six  parishes  the  income  did  not 
attain  to  £50  a  year  ;  in  eight  it  did  not  exceed  £70 ;  in  three  it  barely 
reached  £80  ;    while  but  few  exceeded  I2o.2     While  this  undesirable 
state  of  things  was  being  remedied  by  the  action  of  the  Church  Exten- 
sion Society,  founded  by  himself  in  1862,  the  supply  of  the  right  sort  of 
clergy  became   the  pressing  problem   of  his    episcopate.       It  troubled 
Bishop  Waldegrave  as  it  had  troubled  many  of  his  predecessors.    Appre- 
hension was  expressed  that  the  bishop  was  lowering  the  status  of  the 
clergy   by  admitting   men  of  inferior   educational   equipment   to    holy 
orders.     The  charge  brought  a  spirited  defence  at  the  diocesan  visitation 
of  1864.     Of  the  sixty  candidates  ordained  during  the  four  years  of  his 
episcopate,  twenty-two   were   of  academic  rank,   twenty-six  had   been 
trained   in   theological  colleges,   and   only  twelve  were    literates,  men 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Villiers,  ff.  81,  145-50. 

3  Charge  at  his  Primary  Visitation  (1861),  p.  16. 

112 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

qualified  by  service  as  nonconformist  ministers,  Scripture  readers  or  lay 
assistants.  '  If  these  figures,'  he  said,  '  be  compared  with  those  of  the 
four  years  immediately  preceding  the  enlargement  of  the  diocese  in 
1856,  it  will  be  found  that,  while  the  number  of  candidates  ordained 
have  been  multiplied  rather  more  than  threefold  since  that  date,  that  of 
University  men  has  been  exactly  doubled.'  He  further  stated  that  a 
comparison  of  his  own  episcopate  with  that  of  Bishop  Villiers  would 
show  to  a  slight  extent  a  more  favourable  result.  Bishop  Waldegrave 
was  fully  alive  to  the  gravity  of  the  problem,  and  was  making  earnest 
efforts  to  grapple  with  it.  '  Forty-seven  churchless  villages  still  cry  out 
for  sanctuaries  ;  fifty-one  pastors  still  have  no  home  to  call  their  own  ; 
ninety-six  benefices  still  fall  short  of  £100  per  annum  ;  sixty-four  of 
them  exceed  that  sum,  but  do  not;  attain  to  £150.'  The  supply  of  a 
good  class  of  clergy  depended  on  adequate  provision  for  their  mainten- 
ance. While  life  lasted,  he  would  devote  himself  to  this  work.  Be  it 
said  to  the  credit  of  this  amiable  prelate  that  he  kept  his  word.1 

At  no  previous  period  in  the  nineteenth  century  had  the  church 
in  Cumberland  made  such  rapid  progress  in  its  various  spiritual  and 
philanthropic  aspects  than  during  the  long  and  remarkable  episcopate 
of  Bishop  Harvey  Goodwin,  1869-91.  His  fame  as  a  mathematician 
and  man  of  science,  his  power  as  a  preacher,  his  methodical  habits  and 
almost  exhaustless  capacity  for  work,  all  combined  to  stamp  the  iron 
energy  of  his  will  and  character  upon  the  diocese  of  which  he  was  the 
revered  and  honoured  chief  for  over  twenty  years.  The  history  of  his 
episcopate  has  been  written  by  the  bishop  himself,  and  no  description 
by  another  pen  can  approach  in  completeness  the  narrative  which  he 
has  left  behind  him  in  his  annual  pastoral  letters  and  triennial  charges. 
His  efforts  to  improve  the  material  condition  of  the  clergy,  to  pro- 
vide new  districts  with  churches,  to  attract  men  of  ability  into  his 
diocese,  and  to  raise  the  tone  and  stimulate  the  zeal  of  those  already 
at  work,  were  but  a  small  portion  of  his  policy.  The  character  and 
frequency  of  parochial  ministrations  were  never  lost  sight  of.  It  was 
his  endeavour  by  counsel  and  encouragement  to  raise  the  religious 
organization  of  every  parish  to  a  high  standard.  In  1872  the  Holy 
Eucharist  was  celebrated  at  least  monthly  in  158  churches  ;  in  1887 
the  number  of  churches  had  increased  to  255,  and  in  1890  to  271.  His 
aim  was  to  promote  a  celebration  of  the  divine  office  in  every  parish 
church  on  Sundays  and  holy  days.  In  the  same  manner  the  observance 
of  Ascension  Day,  which  had  become  almost  obsolete  in  Cumberland, 
the  frequent  advocacy  of  missionary  enterprise  in  foreign  lands,  the 
preparation  of  young  people  for  confirmation  and  systematic  teaching 
in  the  parish  schools  were  constantly  urged  upon  the  clergy. 

Cumberland  has  been  singularly  free  from  scandals  among  the 
clergy  either  in  their  private  lives  or  public  ministrations.  No  instance 
of  ritual  aberration  has  disturbed  the  ecclesiastical  harmony  of  the 

1  Bishop  Waldegrave,  Charge  at  bis  Second  Episcopal  Visitation  (1864),  pp.  23,  25-9. 
II  H3  15 


A    HISTORY  OF    CUMBERLAND 

county.  When  Bishop  Goodwin  had  occasion  to  refer  to  methods  of 
church  ministration,  ritual  defects  rather  than  ritual  excesses  were  the 
subject  of  his  allocution.  Sounds  of  conflict  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts 
over  the  colour  of  vestments  or  the  posture  of  priests  in  divine  service 
have  not  been  heard.  The  full  tide  of  the  Oxford  Movement  was 
spent  before  it  reached  our  shores.  Clergymen  of  forty  or  fifty  years' 
standing  speak  in  admiration  of  the  change  which  has  passed  over  the 
county  during  their  ministerial  life  in  the  matter  of  restored  churches, 
bright  and  orderly  services,  and  reverent  behaviour.  Here  and  there  an 
incumbent  vests  his  choir- men  and  boys  in  cassock  and  surplice,  takes 
'  the  eastward  position,'  lights  two  candles,  and  perhaps  puts  on  a 
special  vestment  for  the  celebration  of  the  weekly  sacrament.  But 
in  most  of  the  churches  there  is  no  attempt  at  outward  ceremony  ; 
a  plain  brass  cross  with  two  vases  for  flowers  is  the  only  ornament 
of  the  altar,  and  the  cassock,  surplice,  stole  and  academic  hood  are 
the  only  vestments  of  the  priest.  The  Public  Worship  Regulation 
Act  has  been  a  dead  letter  in  Cumberland.1  During  the  writer's 
experience  the  only  rag  of  ritualism  he  has  ever  seen  in  the  county 
was  the  black  or  academic  gown  for  use  in  the  pulpit.  In  1872 
this  strange  vestment  was  reckoned  among  the  '  ornaments  'of  1 1 8 
churches.2  The  black  gown  now  takes  its  place  with  the  pitch-pipe 
and  the  barrel  organ  as  the  relic  of  an  extinct  ritual. 

Not  a  little  uneasiness  in  ecclesiastical  circles  was  caused  by  the 
extreme  line  taken  up  by  Dean  Close  on  the  ritual  controversies  of  his 
time,  1856-81.  He  was  a  masterful  figure  in  the  religious  life  of  Carlisle, 
and  belonged  to  the  straitest  sect  of  militant  protestantism.  For  his  earnest 
eloquence  as  a  preacher  and  his  unwearying  advocacy  of  church  extension, 
temperance,  foreign  missions  and  other  philanthropic  agencies,  he  deserves 
a  grateful  recognition.  But  he  was  an  uncompromising  opponent  of  Trac- 
tarianism,  which  he  regarded  as  ecclesiastical  reaction.  The  vehemence  of 
his  denunciation  served  to  propagate  the  principles  he  condemned.  In 
1873  proposals  to  establish  a  religious  community  in  Caldewgate,  a  poor 
and  populous  district  of  the  cathedral  city  beneath  the  windows  of  the 
deanery,  were  carried  to  completion.  It  was  indiscreetly  called  '  an 
oratory,'  and  had  the  patronage  of  a  notorious  ritualist  of  a  southern 
diocese.  At  the  same  time  the  incumbent  of  a  neighbouring  parish 
made  some  alterations  in  his  method  of  conducting  service  after  the 
restoration  and  beautifying  of  his  church,  which  were  interpreted  as  an 
advance  to  Romish  practices.  In  addition  to  this,  the  bishop  made  a  state- 
ment in  the  cathedral  pulpit  of  what  he  '  conceived  to  be  sober  Church 

1  Under  the  eighth  section  of  this  Act,  only  one  representation  was  made  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle 
between  1874  and  1898,  and  the  bishop  refused  to  allow  proceedings  to  be  taken.  It  was  the  case  of  the 
vicar  of  St.  George's,  Barrow-in-Furness,  in  1878  (Public  Worship  Regulation  and  Church  Discipline, 
parl.  paper,  pp.  36-40).  The  ritual  practices  complained  of  were  harmless  enough,  and  most  of  them 
are  now  common  in  the  diocese  and  excite  no  suspicion.  In  1899  Bishop  Bardsley  testified  '  that  there  is 
not  one  instance  of  a  confessional  box  put  up  in  a  church  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  '  (Church  of  England 
Confessional  Boxes,  parl.  paper,  pp.  8-9). 

a  Bp.  Goodwin,  Primary  Charge,  p.  23. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

of  England  views  on  the  subject  '  ot  sacramental  confession.  The  in- 
dignation of  the  dean  of  Carlisle  found  vent  in  a  series  of  comminations 
which  are  read  with  astonishment  at  the  present  day.  It  was  a  passing 
excitement  and  soon  cooled  down.  When  a  pastoral  staff  was  presented 
to  Bishop  Goodwin  in  1884,  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the  Church 
Congress  to  Carlisle,  '  in  grateful  recognition  of  his  faithful  and  unwearied 
efforts  during  the  past  fourteen  years  in  tending  the  flock  of  God  com- 
mitted to  his  charge,'  the  memories  of  past  controversies  had  been 
forgotten,  and  the  unanimity  among  clergy  and  laity  in  selecting  this 
form  of  gift  marked  the  arrival  of  a  new  and  better  state  of  things. 


115 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


APPENDIX  I 

THE  DIOCESE  OF  CARLISLE 

AS  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  founded  nearly  half  a  century  before  the  counties  of  Cum- 
berland and  Westmorland  took  their  present  shape,  the  boundaries  of  these  civil  divisions 
had  no  effect  in  determining  its  extent.  The  district  or  land  of  Carlisle  from  which 
Dolfin  was  expelled  by  William  Rufus  was  a  strip  of  territory  between  the  rivers  Esk  and 
Derwent,  extending  eastward  from  the  Solway  to  the  Reycross  on  Stanemore  on  the  borders 
of  Yorkshire,  and  cut  off  from  Northumberland  and  Durham  by  the  Pennine  range  of  hills. 
It  embraced  the  whole  of  Cumberland  as  it  now  is,  with  the  exception  of  the  south-western 
angle  between  the  Derwent  and  the  Duddon,  known  as  the  county  or  barony  of  Coupland, 
and  the  eastern  portion  of  Westmorland,  known  as  the  county  or  barony  of  Appleby.  The 
present  county  of  Westmorland  was  thus  divided  into  two  parts,  the  barony  of  Appleby,  which 
was  included  in  the  land  of  Carlisle,  and  the  barony  of  Kendal,  which  at  the  date  of  the  cre- 
ation of  the  bishopric  was  a  part  of  the  great  county  of  York.  Some  time  after  the  conquest 
in  1092,  the  new  district  was  placed  under  the  rule  of  Ranulf  Meschin  as  the  vassal  of  the 
English  crown,  and  its  ecclesiastical  supervision  passed  at  once  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  York.  In  order  to  set  at  rest  the  rival  claims  of  the  bishops  of  Glasgow  and  Durham, 
who  from  certain  historical  associations  were  contending  for  its  oversight,  and  to  assist  more 
directly  its  ecclesiastical  development,  Henry  I.  created  the  new  province  into  a  bishopric 
with  the  seat  of  the  bishop  in  the  priory  church  which  he  had  founded  in  Carlisle.  Except 
in  the  cases  of  three  parishes  on  the  northern  and  eastern  bounds  of  modern  Cumberland 
with  very  peculiar  histories,  the  extent  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  had  undergone  no  alteration 
from  the  date  of  its  formation  in  1133  till  its  enlargement  in  1856. 

The  parish  of  Alston  on  the  eastern  border  has  the  peculiar  distinction  of  being  in  the 
county  of  Cumberland  and  diocese  of  Durham.  It  is  quite  certain  that  this  district  formed 
no  part  of  Ranulf  Meschin's  fief,  and  that  the  church  there  was  never  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  bishop  of  Carlisle.  The  parish,  cut  off  from  the  land  of  Carlisle  by  the  natural  barriers 
of  hills  and  wastes,  was  part  of  the  liberty  of  Hexham  or  Tyndal,  and  lay  without  the  county 
of  Cumberland  after  its  formation  as  a  fiscal  area  about  1174.'  On  the  other  hand,  the  small 
parish  of  Over  Denton  in  the  same  neighbourhood,  consisting  only  of  a  thousand  acres,  though 
in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  remained  in  the  diocese  of  Durham  till  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century.2  Both  of  these  churches  were  in  the  deanery  of  Corbridge  and  arch- 
deaconry of  Northumberland,  and  were  valued  as  such  in  the  taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas  IV. 
on  20  December  1291 ;  though  Over  Denton  is  not  noticed  in  the  valuation  of  Henry  VIII. 
in  1535,  it  is  included,  with  the  parish  of  Alston,  in  the  deanery  of  Corbridge  on  the  appended 
map  of  the  diocese  of  Durham.3  How  this  singular  arrangement  came  about  will  be  more 
conveniently  explained  when  the  history  of  individual  parishes  and  advowsons  of  churches 

1  The  early  history  of  the  advowson  of  Alston  is  stated  on  the  pleadings  in  Quo  Warranto  (Rec.  Com.), 
p.  120.  Its  subsequent  history  may  be  seen  in  Raine,  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  ii.  pp.  ix.  119,  and 
the  references  there  given.  In  the  Nonas  Rolls  of  Northumberland  for  1340  the  commissioner  reported 
that  he  did  not  answer  for  Alston  '  quia  est  infra  libertatem  de  Hextildesham  ubi  nullum  breve  regis 
currit '  (Hodgson,  Hist,  of  Northumberland,  iii.  pt.  iii.  p.  xxxvii.) 

a  The  advowson  of  Over  Denton  was  given  to  the  priory  of  Lanercost  by  Buethbarn  in  the  twelfth 
century  (Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  iii.  I,  2,  xii.  26,  i.  4,  5).  It  is  stated  in  the  Nonas  Rolls  that  Denton 
in  Gyldesland  formed  part  of  the  deanery  of  Corbridge,  but  was  not  in  the  county  of  Northumberland 
(Hodgson,  Hist.  iii.  pt.  iii.  p.  xxxvii.)  For  the  final  transference  of  the  church  of  Denton  from  the 
diocese  of  Durham  to  that  of  Carlisle  in  1703,  and  for  its  history  as  far  as  it  could  be  gathered  at  that 
date  from  the  episcopal  registers  of  Durham,  see  Bishop  Nicolson,  Miscellany  Accounts  (Cumbld.  and 
Westmorld.  Archseol.  Soc.),  p.  4. 

»  Compare  Taxatio  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  p.  316,  with  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  328.  The  distinc- 
tion between  Nether  Denton  and  Over  Denton  in  both  valuations  is  clearly  discernible. 

116 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

comes  under  review.  The  present  parish  of  Kirkandrews-on-Esk  was  formed  out  of  the 
Debatable  Land  on  the  Scottish  frontier  by  letters  patent  of  Charles  I.  in  I63I.1  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  there  was  a  church  of  Kirkandrews  near  the  present  site  in  the  early  part  of 
the  twelfth  century,2  when  the  land  of  Carlisle  extended  into  Scotland  further  than  the  inter- 
national boundary  finally  agreed  upon  by  the  commissioners  of  Edward  VI.  But  so  far  as  the 
history  of  the  diocese  is  concerned,  the  parish  of  Kirkandrews  had  no  separate  ecclesiastical 
existence  till  the  date  named. 

The  enlargement  of  the  diocese  in  1856,  so  as  to  include  the  whole  of  Cumberland  with  the 
exception  of  the  parish  of  Alston,  the  whole  of  Westmorland,  and  Lancashire  north  of  the 
Sands,  has  been  already  noticed.  It  consists  of  297  ecclesiastical  parishes,  of  which  169  are  in 
Cumberland. 


APPENDIX  II 

THE  ARCHDEACONRIES 

THERE  is  little  doubt  that  the  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  was  not  only  conterminous  with 
the  diocese,  but  was  also  coeval  with  its  formation  in  1133.     At  a  very  early  period  the 
benefices  of  the  diocese  were  taxed  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  the  archdeacon  as  well  as 
that  of  the  bishop.     When  Adelulf,  the  first  bishop,  confirmed  the  appropriation  of  certain 
churches  to  the  priory  of  Wetheral,  he  imposed  on  the  monks  the  obligation  of  paying  the 
synodals  and  archidiaconals  due  from  these  churches.     In  subsequent  confirmations  to  this 
house,  the  reservation  of  archidiaconal  dues  was  made  a   feature  of  the   bishop's  sanction.3 
Previous  to  the  extension  of  the  diocese  in  1856,  there  was  but  one  archdeaconry,  the  arch- 
deaconry of  Carlisle. 

During  the  long  vacancy  of  the  see  which  followed  the  death  of  the  first  bishop,  the 
archdeacon  was  the  local  head  of  the  diocese,  having  an  official  of  his  own  in  the  diocesan 
court,4  and  employing  chaplains  in  quasi-episcopal  fashion  for  the  maintenance  of  his  dignity.5 
Sometimes  the  archdeacon  was  entrusted  with  the  custody  of  the  bishopric,8  and  sometimes 
with  the  duties  of  official.  One  of  them  administered  the  affairs  of  the  diocese  throughout 
the  greater  portion  of  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  and  another  held  Carlisle  for  a  short  time  with 
the  archdeaconry  of  Durham.  During  the  prolonged  vacancy  of  the  bishopric,  appoint- 
ments to  the  archdeaconry  were  made  by  the  Crown.7 

It  is  not  certainly  known  what  provision  was  made  for  the  maintenance  of  the  office 
during  the  twelfth  century.  The  archdeacon  probably  had  a  share  of  the  endowments  of 
the  church  of  Carlisle,  out  of  which  the  bishopric  and  priory  were  supported  in  common.8 
In  the  thirteenth  century,  when  the  succession  of  bishops  became  regular,  two  benefices  appear 
to  have  been  burdened  one  after  the  other  for  the  maintenance  of  the  archdeacon.  When 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Smith,  MS.  ff.  325-6. 

'  National  MSS.  of  Scotland  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  No.  38. 

»  Reg.  of  Wetkerbal  (Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Archaeol.  Soc.),  pp.  44,  54,  58,  211,  213,  216. 

4  Archdeacon  Geoffrey  de  Lascy  had  an  official  in  the  time  of  Bishop  Bernard  (Reg.  of  Wetherhal, 
p.  72).  Thomas  de  Morland  was  archdeacon's  official  in  the  time  of  Bishop  Walter  (Reg.  of  Fountains, 
f.  324b).  Thomas  de  Foveis  filled  a  like  post  in  1264  (Whitby  Chartul.  i.  230,  285).  The  official  of  the 
archdeacon  of  Carlisle  was  recognized  by  the  diocesan  synod  in  the  fourteenth  century  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg. 
Welton,  ff.  134-5). 

»  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  2  ;  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  p.  101. 

*  Each  of  the  archdeacons  in  turn  was  custos  of  the  see  during  the  long  vacancy  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury.    Archdeacon  Robert  was  probably  custos,  for  he  had  power  of  institution  to  benefices    (Whitby 
Chartul.  i.  42).     Peter  de  Ross  was  certainly  custos  as  well  as  archdeacon  (Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  pp.  216, 
219)  ;  so  also  was  Americ  Thebert  (Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  2). 

*  Hoveden,  Chron.  (Rolls  Series),  iv.  14  ;  Rot.  Lift.  Pat.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  35b. 

8  This  appears  from  Bishop  Adelulf's  address  to  Elyas,  the  archdeacon,  and  the  chapter  of  St.  Mary, 
as  if  he  were  a  member  of  that  body  (Whitby  Chartul.  i.  38).  While  there  was  no  bishop,  if  the  arch- 
deacon performed  the  administrative  work  of  the  diocese,  he  would  claim  a  rightful  share  of  the  emolu- 
ments. 

117 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

Americ  Thebert,  rector  of  Dalston,  was  promoted  to  the  archdeaconry  in  1 196,  the  revenues 
of  that  church  became  contributory  to  the  support  of  the  office.  By  ordination  of  Bishop 
Irton  in  1285,  a  third  portion  of  the  fruits  of  Dalston  was  annexed  to  the  archdeaconry  propter 
evidentem  ipsius  exilitatem,the  amount  in  1292  being  as  much  as  £15.'  For  some  years  the 
pension  continued  to  be  paid,  but  it  appears  to  have  ceased  after  the  church  was  appropriated 
to  the  bishop's  table  in  I3O7-2  It  is  not  known  at  what  time  the  rectory  of  Great  Salkeld, 
granted  to  Bishop  Walter  on  27  September,  i2T,j,3  became  annexed  to  the  archdeaconry, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  it  had  been  enjoyed  by  the  archdeacons  of  Carlisle  from  the  close 
of  the  thirteenth  century  till  1855,  when  a  canonry  in  the  cathedral  was  substituted  by  Order 
in  Council.4 

Another  source  of  revenue  arose  from  the  procurations  paid  by  parish  churches  to  meet 
the  expenses  of  the  archdeacon's  visitation.  These  parochial  dues  were  of  prescriptive  obliga- 
tion. The  payment  was  a  natural  sequence  of  archidiaconal  visitation.  When  the  church  of 
Newton  Arlosh  was  founded  in  1 304,  Bishop  Halton  made  it  clear  in  the  deed  of  consecration 
that  the  incumbent  should  pay  the  archdeacon  forty  pence  by  way  of  procuration.8  The  arch- 
deacon of  Carlisle  was  invested  with  a  nominal  or  inquisitorial  jurisdiction  as  '  the  eye  of  the 
bishop  '  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  churches  and  clergy  and  reporting  to  his  diocesan  what  he 
had  seen  and  heard.  His  visitations  came  under  the  administrative  surveillance  of  the  dio- 
cesan synod,  which,  as  occasion  required,  laid  down  rules  for  his  guidance.  By  a  constitution 
of  the  Carlisle  synod  in  the  fourteenth  century,  it  was  declared  that  procurations  were  due  to 
the  archdeacon  on  the  principle  that  '  the  labourer  was  worthy  of  his  hire,'  but  the  clergy  in- 
sisted on  the  application  of  another  maxim  when  that  officer  did  not  visit,  namely,  that  no 
procurations  should  be  paid,  '  for  if  a  man  did  not  work,  he  should  not  eat.'  This  synod 
enacted  that  procurations  in  all  cases  should  be  moderate  for  man  and  beast,  and  that  the  arch- 
deacon's retinue  should  not  exceed  what  was  allowed  by  the  constitutions  of  the  church.6 
The  necessity  for  synodical  supervision  is  evident  from  the  proceedings  of  Archdeacon  Richard 
called  '  de  Lyth,'  who  was  punished  in  1291  for  exacting  immoderate  procurations  from  the 
rectors  of  the  diocese,  inasmuch  as  the  number  of  persons  who  attended  him  consumed  more 
victuals  than  the  amount  of  the  legal  dues.7 

The  collection  of  procurations  was  a  constant  source  of  trouble  to  the  archdeacons  of 
Carlisle.  Again  and  again  did  the  bishop  instruct  his  rural  deans  to  exhort  the  clergy  to 
an  immediate  discharge  of  their  obligations.8  In  some  cases  when  they  were  too  backward, 
the  archdeacon  was  authorized  to  proceed  against  them  by  the  weapons  of  ecclesiastical  censure, 
suspension,  excommunication,  and  interdict  in  the  diocesan  court.8  But  it  should  not  be  for- 
gotten that  all  these  things  took  place  by  the  exercise  of  the  bishop's  authority  alone.  It  was 
the  bishop  who  sent  out  his  rural  deans  to  warn  the  clergy  of  the  archdeacon's  visitation, 
and  it  was  he  who  dealt  with  them  for  the  non-payment  of  their  archidiaconal  obligations. 
Bishop  Halton  complained  in  1318  that  the  archdeacon's  procurations  could  not  be  recovered 
because  the  churches  were  burnt  and  travelling  was  so  perilous  that  no  visitations  could  be 
undertaken.10  But  a  time  came  when  there  was  an  archdeacon  who  could  visit,  and  who  caused 
a  commotion  in  the  diocese  by  claiming  co-ordinate  jurisdiction  with  the  bishop.  In  many 
respects  the  vagaries  of  Archdeacon  William  de  Kendale  are  most  interesting  in  diocesan 
history.  Provoked  by  the  execution  of  a  papal  writ  in  negocio  provisario  without  authority, 
Bishop  Kirkby  wisely  grappled  with  the  situation  by  issuing  a  commission  to  review  the  ecclesi- 
astical status  of  his  subordinate,  including  his  title  to  hold  the  church  of  Great  Salkeld  and  to 

»  Reg.  Abp.  Romanus  of  York,  MS.  f.  131  ;  Taxatio  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  p.  318. 

a  Archdeacon  Appleby,  in  a  return  of  the  emoluments  of  his  benefice  in  1 366,  reported  to  the  bishop 
that  '  the  portion  of  the  archdeacon  in  the  church  of  Dalston  was  taxed  at  £15,  of  which  he  had  never 
received  anything,  nor  any  of  his  predecessors,  for  forty  years  as  he  had  heard  '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Appleby, 
MS.  f.  152). 

3  Chart.  R.  21  Hen.  III.  No.  31,  m.  2.  In  1262  the  patronage  was  in  dispute  between  the  bishop 
of  Carlisle  and  the  King  of  Scotland  (Close,  46  Hen.  III.  m.  izd  ;  Rymer,  Fcedera  (ed.  1816),  i.  417). 
The  bishop  maintained  his  right  to  the  patronage  in  1292,  when  Richard  de  Whitby  was  persona  im- 
personata  of  Salkeld  and  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  (Quo  Warranto  [Rec.  Com.],  p.  116).  From 
the  latter  date  at  least  the  rectory  was  annexed  to  the  archdeaconry. 

*  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Villiers,  MS.  ff.  64-6. 

e  Harl.  MSS.  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram),  3911,  ff.  7-8,  3891,  ff.  20-1. 

o  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Wei  ton,  ff.  135-6. 

'  Cat.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  538.  »  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton,  f.  18. 

•  Ibid.  ff.  25,  35.  10  Ibid.  Halton,  ff.  209-10. 

118 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

receive  '  the  third  penny '  as  the  perquisites  of  chapters  and  synods.1  The  gravamen  of  the 
indictment  was  not  so  much  that  he  held  two  benefices  with  cures  of  souls,  but,  as  the  bishop 
told  the  Archbishop  of  York,  that  he  wished  to  find  out  by  what  right  the  archdeacon  usurped 
and  meddled  with  his  episcopal  jurisdiction  contrary  to  universal  custom.2  The  suit  lasted 
over  three  years  and  ended  disastrously  for  the  archdeacon,  for  he  was  deprived  in  1340  for 
persistent  contumacy  in  the  bishop's  court  and  diocesan  synod.3  The  right  of  the  archdeacon 
to  the  church  of  Salkeld  could  not  have  been  seriously  questioned,  but  his  claim  to  exercise 
a  concurrent  jurisdiction  within  the  archdeaconry,  which  was  conterminous  with  the 
diocese,  provoked  the  bishop  to  action. 

When  the  ecclesiastical  atmosphere  had  cleared  after  the  storm  raised  by  the  contentions 
of  William  de  Kendale,  the  bishop  adopted  a  more  conciliatory  attitude  towards  his  arch- 
deacon and  drew  up  an  agreement  which  marked  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  office.  By 
this  scheme  the  tenure  of  the  archdeaconry  was  made  more  agreeable  to  its  occupant,  and  all 
occasion  of  friction  was  for  ever  done  away.  As  the  terms  of  the  deed,  which  is  dated  z  May 
1360,  while  William  de  Rothbury  was  archdeacon,  are  in  many  respects  remarkable,  its  chief 
provisions  may  be  noticed.  In  the  first  place  the  bishop  conceded  to  his  subordinate  the  right 
to  have  a  proctor  in  the  chapters,  celebrated  by  the  official,  to  help  him  in  making  corrections, 
and  to  keep  a  counter-roll  of  the  corrections  so  made  ;  also  to  summon  by  his  letters  the  clergy 
to  his  visitation  and  to  proceed  by  ecclesiastical  censure  against  those  who  did  not  appear. 
Moreover  power  was  given  him  to  distrain  for  his  procurations.  And,  lastly,  it  was  allowed 
that  when  the  rural  deans  rendered  their  accounts,  the  archdeacon  was  to  receive  the  third 
penny  of  all  corrections  and  synodals,  or  he  may  proceed  against  the  said  deans  to  recover  his 
dues.4  It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  no  concessions  were  made  of  a  judicial  or  coercive 
jurisdiction,  and  no  power  was  delegated  in  contravention  of  the  bishop's  ordinary  right  of 
visitation.  The  archdeacon  resided  at  his  country  rectory  situated  almost  in  the  centre  of  the 
diocese,  from  which  he  made  periodical  circuits  of  diocesan  inspection.  As  the  procurations 
were  understood  to  be  a  reward  for  his  exertions  they  were  not  paid  when  the  visitation  was 
omitted.  The  third  penny  continued  to  be  advanced  by  the  rural  deans  out  of  the  capitular 
fees.  In  the  bishops'  accounts,  which  are  still  extant  for  several  years  between  1402  and  1509, 
it  is  invariably  noted  by  the  deans  in  the  schedule  of  receipts  that  the  tercia  -pars  of  corrections 
and  synodals,  always  of  course  a  varying  sum,  belonged  of  right  and  had  been  paid  to  the 
archdeacon.6 

The  history  of  the  archdeaconry  from  the  Reformation  to  the  extension  of  the  diocese  in 
1856  possesses  few  incidents  of  ecclesiastical  interest.  The  archdeacons  had  fallen  to  the  level 
of  country  parsons,  and  exercised  no  special  functions  except  the  induction  of  clergymen  to 
benefices  after  they  had  been  instituted  by  the  bishop,  the  presentation  of  candidates  for 
ordination,  which  they  were  bound  to  do  by  the  rubric  of  the  Ordinal,  and  the  personal  visita- 
tion of  churches  which  they  frequently  omitted.  During  the  religious  unsettlement  of  the 
Tudor  period,  the  office  came  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  sinecure.  The  archdeacon  of 
Carlisle  was  usually  non-resident.  If  not  employed  elsewhere,  the  cure  of  the  parish  of  Great 
Salkeld  claimed  his  attention.  The  importance  of  the  office  of  diocesan  chancellor,  which  is 
but  a  modified  form  of  the  offices  of  official  principal  and  vicar  general,  rose  out  of  the  ashes 
of  the  archidiaconate.  Owing  to  the  lethargy  of  archdeacons,  the  chancellors  pushed  them  on 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Kirkby,  ff.  358-9.  Kendale  claimed  the  third  penny  of  synods  and  chapters 
by  right  of  his  institution  to  the  archdeaconry  as  his  predecessors  had  received  it  before  him  by  ancient 
custom  (ibid.  f.  362). 

»  Ibid.  f.  367.  "  Ibid.  MS.  ff.  407-8. 

*  Ibid.  Welton,  ff.  67,  74. 

*  For  the  history  of  archidiaconal  jurisdiction  and  the  archidiaconal  court  see  the  excellent  account 
by  Bishop  Stubbs  in  Eccl.  Courts  Com.  Rep.  (1883),  i.  pp.  xviii.  xix.  21-51.     In  the  diocese  of  Carlisle 
the  archdeacon's  court  seems  to  have  been  suppressed  about  1270,  except  for  the  adjudication  of  trifling 
causes,  and  his  vested  interests  in  the  issues  were  compounded.     By  this  composition  the  tercius  denarius 
was  allowed  out  of  all  fines  and  impositions  levied  in  the  diocesan  courts.    When  Bishop  Halton  collated 
Peter  de  Insula  in   1302,  he  made  it  clear  that  the  new  archdeacon  should  not  meddle  with  matters 
requiring  judicial  investigation  contrary  to  the  custom  observed  in  that  diocese  for  thirty  years  or  more 
(Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Halton,  f.  62).     By  a  constitution  of  the  diocesan  synod,  the  archdeacon  or  his  official 
was  forbidden  to  exercise  coercive  power  (ibid.  Welton,  ff.  129-40).     From  the  date  of  the  composition, 
above  referred  to,  the  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  lost  all  title  to  a  disciplinary  jurisdiction,  and  as  long  as 
the  office  was  reckoned  a  constitutional  department  of  diocesan  administration,  the  bishops  never  relin- 
quished control  of  the  courts  to  which  their  clergy  owed  allegiance. 

119 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

one  side  and  gradually  usurped  all  their  prescriptive  rights  in  the  visitation  of  the  clergy.  But 
in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  the  archdeacons  had  a  poor  chance  in  the  competition.  The  chan- 
cellors, as  the  delegated  officers  of  the  bishops,  held  correctional  courts  in  various  centres  for 
the  transaction  of  the  legal  business  of  the  diocese.  These  courts  were  held  not  only  when 
the  bishop  visited,  but  when  they  did  not  visit.  For  two  centuries  after  the  Reformation, 
the  clergy  were  not  much  troubled  with  episcopal  visitation.  Matters  were  worse  in  the  case 
of  the  archdeacons.  We  have  not  noticed  a  single  record  of  archidiaconal  visitation  from  the 
Submission  of  the  Clergy  in  1534  until  the  new  departure  of  recent  years.  Throughout  the 
long  period  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  visitorial  power  of  the  archidiaconate  had 
been  suspended. 

After  the  Restoration  in  1660,  when  the  bishops  began  to  hold  their  triennial  visitations 
with  more  frequency,  their  chancellors  followed  their  example  in  holding  chapters  for  the 
hearing  of  causes.  As  time  rolled  on,  the  chapters  held  by  the  chancellors  came  to  be  regarded 
in  the  nature  of  a  visitation.  In  due  course  they  utilized  those  occasions,in  the  years  when 
the  bishops  did  not  visit,  for  the  delivery  of  homilies  to  the  clergy  and  churchwardens.  Dr. 
Paley,  who  had  been  appointed  archdeacon  in  1782  and  chancellor  in  1785,  at  once  detected 
the  incongruity  of  visitorial  charges  as  delivered  by  the  bishop's  legal  adviser.  In  speaking  of 
'  the  discourses '  usually  delivered  at  a  chancellor's  visitation,  he  remarked,  '  I  embrace  the 
only  opportunity  afforded  me  of  submitting  to  you  that  species  of  counsel  and  exhortation, 
which,  with  more  propriety  perhaps,  you  would  have  received  from  me  in  the  character  of 
your  archdeacon,  if  the  functions  of  that  office  had  remained  entire.' l  Still  the  custom  went 
on.  When  a  new  archdeaconry  was  added  to  the  diocese  in  1856,  the  chancellor,  relying  on 
his  letters  patent,  undertook  its  oversight.  Bishop  Goodwin,  however,  on  the  death  of  Chan- 
cellor Burton,  made  a  new  arrangement  whereby  he  appointed  a  layman  to  the  chancellorship 
and  invested  his  archdeacons  with  as  much  authority  in  visitation  as  the  law  of  the  land  and 
the  custom  of  the  diocese  allowed  them.  Dr.  Prescott  now  unites  in  his  own  person  the 
offices  of  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  a  and  chancellor  of  the  diocese.  When  the  diocese  was 
extended,  the  new  portion,  consisting  of  the  barony  of  Coupland  or  Egremont  in  Cumberland, 
the  barony  of  Kendal  in  Westmorland,  and  Lancashire  north  of  the  Sands,  was  constituted 
into  the  archdeaconry  of  Westmorland  by  Order  in  Council,  dated  to  August  1847,  which 
order  was  to  come  into  force  with  consent  of  Bishop  Percy  or  on  the  next  avoidance  of  the 
see.  As  the  bishop  withheld  his  consent,  the  new  archdeaconry  did  not  come  into  being  till 
after  his  death  in  1856,  when  his  successor,  Bishop  Villiers,  appointed  the  first  archdeacon  of 
Westmorland  in  that  year.3 

The  formation  of  the  archdeaconry  of  Furness  in  1884  occasioned  some  difference  of 
opinion.  Bishop  Goodwin  explained  his  action  in  these  words  :  '  Great  changes  have  taken 
place  in  this  diocese  in  the  course  of  the  last  thirty  years  in  consequence  of  the  development 
of  industries  connected  with  our  rich  possessions  of  iron  ore.  Large  towns  have  sprung  up 
where  small  villages  alone  existed,  or  perhaps  not  even  villages ;  and  the  whole  of  the  western 
side  of  the  diocese  has  a  new  and  immensely  multiplied  population.'  This  consideration, 
however,  did  not  cause  the  bishop  to  apply  to  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  for  the  pur- 
pose of  creating  a  new  archdeaconry  till  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  and  the  Duke  of  Buccleuch. 
offered  to  provide  £200  a  year  for  its  endowment.4  The  archdeaconry  of  Furness  was  con- 
stituted to  consist  of  the  rural  deaneries  of  Gosforth  in  Cumberland,  and  of  Cartmel,  Dalton, 
and  Ulverston  in  Lancashire,  by  Order  in  Council  dated  19  May  1884,  and  the  first  arch- 
deacon was  appointed  on  29  May  following.5 

In  order  to  carry  out  the  new  scheme  no  regard  was  paid  to  historic  boundaries,  and  the 
ancient  landmarks  were  obliterated.  Twelve  parishes  in  the  south-east  of  Cumberland  were 
dissevered  from  the  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  and  added  to  that  of  Westmorland  ;  the  ancient 
deanery  of  Coupland  was  split  in  two  and  divided  between  Westmorland  and  Furness.  After 
an  unbroken  continuity  of  seven  and  a  half  centuries  the  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  was  muti- 

»  Works  of  William  Paley  (ed.  E.  Paley,  1830),  vi.  61. 

2  The  first  '  charge,  delivered  to  the  clergy  and  churchwardens  of  the  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  '  by 
Archdeacon  Prescott,  took  place  '  at  his  ordinary  visitation  in  May,  1888,'  the  subject  being  '  Visitations 
in  the  ancient  diocese  of  Carlisle.'  The  charge,  which  has  been  printed,  contains  a  scholarly  survey  of 
past  visitations.  It  is  the  first  of  its  kind  on  record. 

>  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Villiers,  f.  81. 

4  Bishop  Goodwin,  Charge  (1884),  pp.  22-3. 

6  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Goodwin,  ff.  391-2. 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

lated,  and  its  boundaries,  which  lay  at  the  very  roots  of  northern  history  and  were  in  existence 
before  the  formation  of  the  counties  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  were  uprooted  and 
changed.  The  name  of  the  deanery  of  Coupland,  which  had  a  separate  history  dating  at  least 
from  the  early  years  of  the  fourteenth  century  *  as  an  outlying  portion  of  the  great  and  famous 
archdeaconry  of  Richmond,  was  expunged  from  local  nomenclature.  The  three  archdeacon- 
ries, into  which  the  present  diocese  of  Carlisle  is  divided,  have  neither  ecclesiastical  associ- 
ations nor  historical  significance. 

Each  of  the  archdeacons  of  the  diocese  holds  what  he  calls '  a  general  chapter  and  ordinary 
visitation  '  in  various  centres  of  his  archdeaconry  in  the  years  when  the  bishop  does  not  visit, 
to  which  he  summons '  all  rectors,  vicars,  and  curates  as  also  churchwardens  and  chapelwardens, 
both  old  and  new,  the  old  to  make  true  presentments  of  all  defaults  and  offences  of  ecclesiastical 
cognizance,  with  the  names  and  places  of  abode  of  the  several  delinquents,  and  those  newly 
elected  or  re-elected,  to  be  admitted  to  their  office.' 


APPENDIX  III 

THE  RURAL  DEANERIES 

THE  division  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  into  four  districts  a  had  undergone  no  modification 
while  rural  deaneries  remained  an  effective  part  of  church  organization,  the  deaneries  of 
the  twelfth  being  of  the  same  extent  as  those  of  the  sixteenth  century.  When  we  find 
the  deans  describing  themselves  in  early  documents,  say  from  1160  to  1190,  their  decanal  areas 
were  set  out  in  the  four  divisions  of  Carlisle,  Cumberland,  Allerdale,  and  Westmorland,3  the 
identical  divisions  which  were  in  use  till  the  office  became  extinct.  It  is  true  that  deans  some- 
times changed  their  territorial  titles,  but  it  is  certain  that  the  decanal  divisions  underwent 
no  alteration  to  justify  the  practice.  On  comparing  the  parishes  comprised  within  each  of 
the  four  divisions  in  1292,  the  date  of  the  valuation  of  Pope  Nicholas  IV.,  with  the  divisions 
recognized  at  various  periods  up  to  1560,  when  the  office  was  in  a  state  of  decay,  we  find  no 
shifting  of  decanal  boundaries.  In  the  meantime,  of  course,  new  parishes  had  been  formed 
and  old  parishes  had  been  absorbed  into  other  parishes,  but  the  territorial  extent  of  each  of 
the  four  deaneries  had  remained  stationary.  As  the  deanery  of  Westmorland  lay  without 
the  limits  of  Cumberland  as  we  now  know  it,  we  are  not  concerned  with  its  place  in  the  dio- 
cesan scheme.  The  remaining  portion  of  the  county,  not  included  in  the  old  diocese,  was 
constituted  into  the  deanery  of  Coupland,  a  partition  of  the  archdeaconry  of  Richmond  and 
diocese  of  York.  It  was  conterminous  with  the  barony  of  Egremont,  the  great  fief  granted 
by  Henry  I.  to  William  Meschin,  and  often  went  by  that  name.  This  deanery  was  included 
in  the  diocese  of  Chester,  created  in  1541,  and  remained  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop 
of  that  see  till  1856,  when  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  enlarged  to  its  present  dimensions.  The 
historic  division  of  the  county  into  four  deaneries  may  be  thus  tabulated  :  (i)  Deanery  of 
Carlisle,  comprising  thirty-five  parishes,  namely,  St.  Cuthbert's  and  St.  Mary's,  Carlisle, 
Bowness,  Aikton,  Cumwhitton,  Irthington,  Wetheral,  Warwick,  Farlam,  Burgh  by  Sands, 
Stanwix,  Crosby  on  Eden,  Beaumont,  Kirkandrews  on  Eden,  Dalston,  Carlaton,  Thursby, 
Brampton,  Stapilton,  Eston,  Cambok,  Athuret,  Kirklinton,  Bewcastle,  Castle  Carrock,  Orton, 
Kirkbampton,  Rocliffe,  Cumrew,  Hayton,  Scaleby,  Grinsdale,  Nether  Denton,  Walton,  and 
Sebergham.  (2)  Deanery  of  Allerdale,  eighteen  parishes :  Aspatria,  Wigton,  Kirkbride, 
Bromfield,  Bolton,  Ireby,  Uldale,  Crosthwaite,  Caldbeck,  Isell,  Bassenthwaite  (Beghokirk), 
Torpenhow,  Plumbland,  Gilcrux,  Bridekirk,  Crosscanonby,  Dearham  and  Camerton.  (3) 
Deanery  of  Cumberland,  seventeen  parishes  :  Greystoke,  Castlesowerby,  Skelton,  Dacre, 
Hutton,  Penrith,  Edenhall,  Great  Salkeld,  Lazonby,  Kirkland,  Ousby,  Melmerby,  Kirkoswald, 

•  Gale,  Reg.  Honor,  de  Richmond,  App.  pp.  63-4,  76. 

1  For  the  antiquity  of  rural  deaneries  in  England  and  their  formation  on  the  basis  of  the  civil  divi- 
sions, see  the  arguments  and  the  authorities  quoted  by  Gibson,  Codex  luris  Eccl.  Ang.  (ed.  1713),  ii.  1010- 
2;  Kennett,  Parochial  Antiquities  (ed.  1818),  ii.  337-45;  Dansey,  Hone  Decan.  Rurales  (ed.  1844), 
ii.  22-1 10. 

3  It  is  stated  by  Bartholomew  de  Cotton  that  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle  had  four  deaneries : '  I.  Cum- 
berland, 2.  Westmerland,  3.  Karlesle,  4.  .Airedale  '  (Hist.  Anglicana  [Rolls  Ser.],  p.  417). 

II  121  16 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Ainstable,  Renwick,  Addingham  and  Croglin.1  (4)  Deanery  of  Coupland.  The  boundaries 
of  Coupland  are  so  well  defined  by  nature  that  there  is  no  need  to  name  the  parishes  of  which 
it  was  composed.  In  1292  it  included  the  whole  of  the  south-west  angle  of  Cumberland  between 
the  Derwent  and  the  Duddon,  together  with  Lancashire  north  of  the  Sands.  At  some  date 
before  the  valuation  of  1535  the  Lancashire  portion  was  dissevered  from  it  and  constituted 
into  the  deanery  of  Furness  and  Cartmel.2 

While  the  institution  remained  a  factor  in  diocesan  administration,  it  does  not  appear  to 
have  been  of  much  consequence  in  the  constitutional  history  of  the  church.  In  whatever 
way  the  office  was  at  first  filled,  whether  by  election  of  the  clergy  of  the  deanery  or  by  appoint- 
ment of  the  bishop  or  archdeacon,  it  may  be  taken  that  in  its  later  history  the  bishop  of 
Carlisle  nominated  his  rural  deans.  As  so  little  is  known  of  the  method  of  appointment,  we 
may  reasonably  infer  that  it  was  not  a  patent  office  with  delegated  powers  like  that  of  the 
official  or  vicar-general,  nor  yet  a  benefice  with  a  territorial  jurisdiction  like  that  of  the  arch- 
deacon. In  the  fourteenth  century,  while  we  have  a  very  full  record  of  the  acts  of  five  suc- 
cessive bishops,  no  evidence  has  been  preserved  of  the  form  of  commission  entrusted  by  them 
to  the  rural  deans  of  the  diocese.  The  appointments  of  these  officers  were  not  considered 
suitable  for  or  worthy  of  record.  But  there  is  one  entry  3  in  the  register  of  Bishop  Welton, 
perhaps  unique  in  the  registers  of  the  English  episcopate,  which  shows  conclusively  that  the 
method  of  appointment  was  by  oral  declaration  or  nomination  without  any  writ  or  designation 
in  writing.  It  is  a  memorandum  to  the  effect  that  on  10  October  1355,  Bishop  Welton  gave 
authority  to  John,  vicar  of  Penrith,  to  be  his  dean  of  Cumberland.  It  is  satisfactory  to  have 
this  solitary  nomination,  for  it  is  sufficient  to  prove,  so  far  as  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  is  con- 
cerned, that  rural  deans,  like  chaplains,  apparitors  and  bailiffs,  were  the  personal  officers  of  the 
bishop,  who  engaged  or  dismissed  them  at  his  pleasure,  and  that  their  duties  were  regulated 
by  local  custom  and  the  will  of  their  employers.  It  has  been  thought  that  it  was  the  delivery 
of  the  decanal  seal 4  which  constituted  the  office,  but  as  the  canons  of  the  church  are  very 
explicit  on  the  use  of  the  seal  by  rural  deans,  no  claim  to  jurisdiction  can  be  constructed  on  this 
basis.  The  absence  of  record  shows  the  precarious  nature  of  the  tenure  by  which  the  office 
was  held. 

If  we  turn  to  the  recorded  acts  of  rural  deans  and  inquire  into  the  use  the  bishops  made 
of  them,  as  it  suited  their  convenience,  we  shall  not  be  left  in  doubt  of  the  nature  of  the  office. 
We  find  no  trace  of  the  exercise  of  jurisdiction  over  the  benefices  within  the  deanery.  The 
deans  invariably  acted  under  mandate  from  the  bishop.  It  was  '  by  the  tenor  of  these  pre- 
sents '  that  '  power  was  conceded  '  to  them  to  transact  his  business.  In  these  circumstances 
it  may  be  expected  that  their  duties  were  multifarious.  They  carried  the  bishop's  summons 
to  every  parsonage  warning  the  clergy  of  his  visitation.  When  a  subsidy  was  granted  in  synod, 
the  deans  were  instructed  to  collect  it.  From  several  of  the  benefices  pensions  were  due  to 
the  bishop,  and  the  deans  annually  accounted  for  their  collection.  When  parsons  were 
amerced  for  non-appearance  at  synod,  it  was  the  duty  of  the  deans  to  recover  the  fines.  We 
might  enumerate  a  long  list  of  decanal  duties,  but  all  of  them  have  the  same  complexion.  The 
rural  deans  were  the  messengers,  summoners,  process  servers,  and  tax  gatherers  of  the  diocese. 

From  what  has  been  stated  it  may  be  easily  inferred  that  the  decanal  office  was  closely 
associated  with  the  diocesan  registry.  Year  by  year  the  deans  presented  their  accounts  to 
the  registrar.  Several  of  these  accounts  are  still  extant  at  various  dates  between  1402  and 
1509.  They  are  all  of  the  same  character,  each  consisting  of  a  schedule  of  moneys  received 
and  paid  on  the  bishop's  behalf,  the  balance  going  to  the  registrar,  who  in  turn  rendered  account 

1  The  order  of  parishes  in  these  deaneries  has  been  taken  from  the  schedules  in  Carl.  Epis.  Reg. 
Halton,  ff.  501-2,  and  Ibid.  Appleby,  MS.  f.  340.  Though  the  benefices  were  the  same  in  1292,  the 
order  was  different  (Taxatio  Eccl.  [Rec.  Com.],  pp.  318-20).  The  same  rule  holds  for  the  valuation 
of  1535  (Valor  Eccl.  [Rec.  Com.],  v.  278-92). 

»  Compare  Taxatio  Eccl.  p.  328  with  Valor  Eccl.  v.  265-7,  ar>d  t'le  maP  °^  t'ie  diocese  of  Chester 
attached  thereto. 

3  '  Prefeccio  vicarii  de  Penreth  in  decanum  Cumbrie.     Memorandum  quod  decimo  die  Octobria 
anno   domini    millesimo  cccmo  lv'°   venerabilis   pater,    G(ilbertus),    dei   gracia    Karliolensis    episcopus, 
prefecit  dominum  Johannem  vicarium  de  Penreth  in  decanum  suum  Cumbrie '   (Carl.    Epis.  Reg. 
Welton,  f.  22).    Lyndwood  says  that  rural  deans  were  yearly  elected  and  sworn  in  the  diocesan  synod 
(Provincials  [Oxford,  1679],  p.  85). 

4  No  impression  of  a  decanal  seal  has  come  down  to  us  in  this  diocese.     But  we  know  that  the  deans 
used  a  '  seal  of  office  '  for  certifying  the  receipt  and  delivery  of  mandates,  inquisitions  de  jure  fatronatus 
and  such  matters  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Appleby,  ff.  166-7,  l84~5)« 

123 


ECCLESIASTICAL   HISTORY 

to  the  bishop.  One  feature  of  these  schedules  is  always  present,  that  is,  the  salary  of  the  dean. 
The  bishop  employed  him  to  collect  the  spiritualities  arising  within  his  deanery  from  synodals, 
corrections  and  testamentary  causes,  and  awarded  him  his  annual  allowance  for  the  service 
rendered. 

There  are  two  questions,  not  without  interest  at  the  present  day,  about  the  ancient 
position  of  rural  deans  in  the  scheme  of  diocesan  administration,  that  deserve  a  passing  notice, 
namely,  their  relation  to  the  archdeacon  and  to  the  rural  chapter.  It  does  not  appear  that  the 
archdeacon  had  any  power  over  them  at  the  date  when  the  diocesan  registers  begin  to  give 
us  guidance.  They  were  the  officers  of  the  bishop  alone.  When  the  archdeacon  '  disposed 
himself  '  to  make  his  visitation  in  1356,  it  was  the  bishop  who  sent  out  instructions  to  the  rural 
deans  for  the  citation  of  abbots,  priors,  rectors,  vicars  and  others  to  appear  on  the  days  and  at 
the  places  appointed.  It  was  not  the  duty  of  the  deans  to  drudge  for  the  archdeacon.  When 
the  clergy  were  slack  in  their  payment  of  archidiaconal  dues,  some  of  the  bishops  used  the  deans 
to  urge  the  clergy  into  an  early  discharge  of  their  liability.  Bishop  Welton  had  an  arrange- 
ment with  his  archdeacon  whereby  the  rural  deans  collected  them  for  him.1  In  the  rural 
chapters  we  might  have  expected  the  deans  to  have  had  pre-eminence,  but  that  was  not  the 
case.  The  holding  of  chapters  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  was  regulated  by  a  constitution  of 
the  diocesan  synod.  By  this  enactment  it  was  the  archdeacon  or  the  official  who  was  required 
to  celebrate  rural  chapters  at  places  most  convenient  to  the  clergy,  and  not  oftener  than  once 
a  month.3  When  arduous  business  was  brought  before  this  consultative  body,  the  official 
or  the  dean  was  commissioned  to  summon  the  clergy  by  mandate  of  the  bishop.  The  presi- 
dency of  rural  chapters  was  not  vested  in  the  dean.  It  was  coram  officiali  that  the  business 
was  transacted. 

During  the  progress  of  the  Reformation  the  usefulness  of  rural  deans  declined  in  this 
diocese.  Bishop  Best  found  the  old  order  in  existence  when  he  succeeded  to  the  charge  in 
1561.  The  diocese,  as  he  reported  to  the  privy  council  in  1563,  was  divided  into  five  '  regi- 
ments,' one  deanery  of  the  cathedral  church,  and  the  four  rural  deaneries  of  Carlisle,  Allerdale, 
Cumberland,  and  Westmorland.  He  also  supplied  the  names  of  the  deans,  the  parishes  within 
each  deanery,  and  the  number  of  households  within  each  parish.3  This  is  the  last  mention  of 
rural  deans  that  has  been  met  with  in  the  diocese.  Though  they  ceased  apparently  to  be 
nominated,  the  ecclesiastical  divisions  were  continued  for  various  purposes  up  to  the  close 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  1618  the  diocese  was  assessed  according  to  the  above-named 
deaneries  '  for  horse  and  armour  '  by  Bishop  Snowden,4  on  the  strength  of  '  letters  from  the 
lords  of  his  Majesty's  most  honourable  privy  council  to  him  directed.'  It  was  by  the  same 
divisions  that  Bishop  Rainbow  made  inquiries  in  1668-9  about  the  condition  of  church  plate 
and  church  furniture  after  '  the  long  discontinuance  of  church  government  in  those  late  times 
of  war  and  rebellion.'  5  The  same  bishop  held  his  visitation  in  1682  at  the  four  principal 
towns  in  these  deaneries,  at  the  cathedral  for  the  deanery  of  Carlisle,  at  Wigton  for  Allerdale, 
at  Penrith  for  Cumberland,  and  at  Appleby  for  Westmorland.6  In  1752  Bishop  Osbaldiston 
collected  his  procurations  and  synodals  by  the  same  ecclesiastical  divisions.7  In  later  years 
these  rural  deaneries  came  to  be  known  by  the  names  of  their  four  principal  towns,  Carlisle, 
Wigton,  Penrith,  and  Appleby.8  The  tradition  of  the  former  existence  of  rural  deaneries  had 
died  out  in  the  diocese  in  the  time  of  Bishop  Percy.  That  prelate  was  unable  to  trace  them 
in  his  diocesan  registers ;  writing  on  28  September  1843  he  said  definitely  that  '  there  are  no 
rural  deans  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  ' '  It  may  be  taken  that  for  almost  three  centuries  the 
office  was  extinct  in  the  northern  diocese. 

It  is  to  the  credit  of  Bishop  Villiers  that  it  was  he  who  revived  the  institution  in  our  own 
time.  On  i  January  1858,  by  the  stroke  of  his  pen,  he  subdivided  the  diocese  into  eighteen 
rural  districts  and  nominated  a  beneficed  clergyman  in  each  district  to  be  his  dean.  The 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Welton,  ff.  25,  28,  67. 
»  Ibid.  Appleby,  f.  136 
••>  Harl.  MS.  594,  f.  9. 
4  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Snowden,  f.  249. 
8  Ibid.  Rainbow,  ff.  460-1. 

0  Browne  Willis  gives  the  names  of  the  deaneries  as  Allerdale,  Carlisle,  Penrith,  and  Westmorland 
(A  Survey  of  Cathedrals,  i.  284). 

7  Manuscript  schedule  in  Diocesan  Registry. 

8  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumberland,  ii.  6. 
•  Dansey,  Harts  Decan.  Rurales,  ii.  371. 

123 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

same  bishop  re-arranged  the  deaneries  and  re-appointed  the  deans  on  I  January  1862.*  Again, 
on  27  January  1870  Bishop  Goodwin  altered  the  boundaries  and  increased  the  number  of 
deaneries,  making  twenty  for  the  whole  diocese.2  Another  shuffle  was  announced  in  the 
London  Gazette,  which  contained  an  Order  in  Council,  dated  10  March  1882,  ratifying  the 
new  scheme  of  deaneries  prepared  by  the  Ecclesiastical  Commissioners  and  sanctioned  by 
Bishop  Goodwin.3  At  the  present  time  (1904)  the  archdeaconry  of  Carlisle  contains  eight 
rural  deaneries  and  146  benefices  ;  the  archdeaconry  of  Westmorland,  6  deaneries  and  91 
benefices  ;  the  archdeaconry  of  Furness,  4  deaneries  and  60  benefices.  These  divisions  now 
follow  no  recognized  boundaries  and  have  no  historical  significance.  The  decanal  areas  were 
fortuitously  chosen  as  convenience  dictated  ;  they  vary  in  extent  from  12  to  22  benefices. 
In  announcing  the  rearrangement  of  1882  Bishop  Goodwin  very  truly  remarked  :  '  I  can 
scarcely  believe  that  even  after  all  the  trouble  that  has  been  taken  the  scheme  will  give  abso- 
lutely universal  satisfaction  in  every  one  of  its  details.'  But  there  was  the  assurance  that 
further  change  would  be  made,  if  thought  desirable.4 

When  Bishop  Villiers  revived  the  office,  he  appears  to  have  been  satisfied  with  the  nomi- 
nation of  the  deans.  The  entry  in  his  register  simply  records  the  fact  that  he  had  divided  his 
diocese  into  deaneries  and  appointed  deans.  In  later  years  the  institution  has  been  elevated 
into  a  patent  office  with  a  commission  in  scriptis.  Bishop  Goodwin  commissioned  his  deans 
(i)  '  to  inquire  into  and  duly  report  to  us  all  such  things  within  the  said  deanery,  as  it  is  meet 
for  the  honour  of  God  and  for  the  welfare  of  the  flock  of  which  we  are  overseers  that  we  should 
know,'  (2)  '  to  co-operate  with  the  archdeacon  of  your  archdeaconry  in  making  inquiry  into 
the  state  and  condition  of  the  churches,  chancels,  and  churchyards,  and  all  things  thereunto 
belonging,  and  also  into  the  state  and  condition  of  the  glebe  houses  and  glebe  lands  and  all 
things  thereunto  belonging,  within  your  said  deanery  rural,'  and  (3)  to  inspect  '  the  schools 
existent  within  your  deanery,  if  the  trustees  and  managers  thereof  shall  permit  you  so  to  do.' 
This  form  of  commission  has  varied  little  or  nothing  since  1865,  according  to  a  book  of  forms 
preserved  in  the  diocesan  registry.  In  making  a  record  of  appointments,  the  present  registrar 
follows  the  style  of  his  predecessors.  On  every  avoidance  of  the  see,  the  office  of  dean 
lapses,  but  it  is  customary  for  the  new  bishop  to  reappoint  all  the  old  deans  who  are  willing 
to  serve. 


APPENDIX    IV 

DIVISION  OF  THE  PROPERTY  OF  THE  CHURCH  OF  CARLISLE  BETWEEN 
THE  PRIORY  AND  THE  BISHOPRIC  • 

I./^\MN1BUS  sancte  Matris  ecclesie  filiis  presentem  cartam  inspecturis,  B.  humilis 
\^/  Prior  Karliolensis  et  ejusdem  loci  Conventus,  salutem  in  Domino.  Ad  universitatis 
vestre  noticiam  volumus  pervenire,  quod  cum  a  domino  G.  tituli  Sancti  Martini 
presbitero  Cardinali  quondam  legato  in  Anglia,  secundum  mandatum  apostolicum  prout  in 
literis  apostolicis  sibi  destinatis  continetur,  ordinacio  facta  fuisset  ecclesie  Karliolensis,  et 
secundum  formam  ejusdem  mandati  per  eundem  legatum  distribucio  fieri  debuisset,  inter 
venerabilem  patrem  Hugonem  Episcopum  nostrum  et  nos,  omnium  bonorum,  possessionum, 
ac  reddituum  ejusdem  ecclesie,  equali  porcione  ipsi  et  nobis  assignanda,  ut  perpetuo  nos 
medietatem  optineremus  omnium  ad  eandem  ecclesiam  pertinencium  mobilium  et  inmobi- 
lium,  que  tune  temporis  eadem  ecclesia  nostra  possederat  vel  possidere  debuerat ;  et  similiter 
idem  dominus  Episcopus  et  successores  ejus  reliquam  medietatem.  Tandem,  cum  propter 
repentinum  recessum  ejusdem  legati  ab  Anglia,  predicta  perfici  non  potuissent ;  de  iterate 
mandato  apostolico  dominus  P.  Norwycensis  electus  domini  pape  Camerarius,  post  ipsum 
apostolice  sedis  in  Anglia  legatus,  que  minus  in  eadem  ordinacione  vel  distribucione  facta 
fuerant  sicut  receperat  in  mandatis  apostolicis  perviros  venerabiles  Abbatem  de  Holomo  et 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Villiers,  ff.  145-50,  274-9.  »  Ibid.  Goodwin,  ff.  646-53. 

>  These  deaneries  are  set  out  in  full  detail  for  each  of  the  three  archdeaconries  in  the  Carlisle  Dio- 
cesan Calendars  from  1885  to  1904.  When  the  archdeaconry  of  Furness  was  created  by  Order  in  Council, 
dated  19  May  1884,  the  rural  deaneries  in  each  archdeaconry  were  again  named  and  sanctioned.  For 
the  modern  statutes  affecting  rural  deaneries  and  rural  deans,  see  Phillimore,  Ecdes.  Law,  i.  258. 

4  Pastoral  Letter  (1882),  p.  19.  «  Taken  from  Charter  Roll  18  Edw.  I.  No.  26. 

124 


ECCLESIASTICAL    HISTORY 

Priorem  de  Exsthildesh[am]  fecit  compleri.     Ita  tamen,  quod  cum  quedam  inter  ipsum  Epis- 
copum  et  nos  remansissent  pro  indiviso  ;  pro  eo  quod  tune  nequibant  prefati  viri  plenius  hiis 
vacare.     Postmodum  placuit  eidem  Episcopo  et  nobis  ut  compromitteremus  in  quosdam 
bonos  viros,  qui  juramento  prestito    reliqua,  que  remanserant  indivisa,  fideliter  dividerent, 
et  in  omnibus  medietate  partibus  assignata  omnia  terminarent.     Omnibus  igitur    per    eos 
rite   peractis ;  in  pleno  sinodo  Karliolensi  tarn  prima  quam  secunda  distribucio  a  predicto 
Episcopo  sunt  approbate,  et  ab  ipso  et  nobis  recepte  et  acceptate,  sicut  in  originali  inde  con- 
fecto  in  eodem  sinodo  recitato  et  quamplurium  Abbatum  et  aliorum  magnorum  virorum 
sigillis  munito,  plenius  continetur.     Sane  cum  idem  dominus  Episcopus  et  nos,  per  literas 
apostolicas  prefato  domino  P.  legato  delegatas,  Magistrum  Michaelem  Belet  super  medietate 
ecclesie  de  Corbrigg,  et  S.  de  Heind'  super  ecclesia  deWerkewrth  coram  eodem  legato  traxis- 
semus  in  causam,  quas  ecclesias  dicebamus  ad  nos  et  ad  ecclesiam  nostram  pertinere  de  jure, 
et  in  proprios  usus  possidere  debere.     Post  litem  super  hiis  legittime  contestatam,  cum  jam 
fere  perventum  fuisset  ad  extremum  examen,  tandem  predicti   viri   Magistri   M.    Belet  et 
S.    de   Heind'    in   presencia    ejusdem    domini   legati,  jus  ecclesie  Karliolensis  super  eisdem 
ecclesiis  sponte  per  se  recognoscentes,  eas  in  manu  domini  H.   Episcopi  nostri  resignarent. 
Unde  predictus  dominus  legatus  Priori  de  Tinemue  et  Priori  Augustald'  dedit  in  mandatis, 
ut   predictas    ecclesias   cum    omnibus    ad    eas   pertinentibus    domino    Episcopo   et    nobis 
assignarent,    et     in    earundem     inducerent     corporalem     possessionem,    et    a    quibuslibet 
contradictoribus  auctoritate  legacionis  sue  seu  delegacionis  tuerentur  inductos.     Post  traditam 
vero  ecclesiarum  possessionem,  cum  sepedictus    Episcopus  posuisset  in  opcione  nostra,  ut 
eligerimus,  quod  de  duobus  nobis  magis  placeret,  videlicet,  ut  eidem  Episcopo  et  successoribus 
ejus  nos  septuaginta  marcas  assignaremus  in  annuis  redditibus  in  partibus  Karliolensibus,  et 
totaliter  ecclesiam  de  Werkewrth  cum  omnibus  pertinenciis  perpetuo  possideremus,  aut  ipse 
sexaginta  marcas  assignaret  nobis  in  eisdem  partibus,  et  eandem  ecclesiam  ipse  et  successores 
sui  perpetuo  totaliter  possiderent,  et  omnia  sustinerent  onera  ad  eandem  ecclesiam  pertinencia, 
videlicet,  de  vicario  instituendo,  de  solvenda  porcione  quadraginta  marcarum  domino  Dunol- 
mensi,  secundum  quod  contingere  deberet  ecclesiam  de  Werkewrth  de  ipsis  quadraginta 
marcis,  quas  pro  omnibus  ecclesiis,  quas  ecclesia  Karliolensis  habet  in  Northumbria,  idem 
Episcopus  Dunolmensis  percipere  debet  sicut  continetur  in  carta  Hugonis  Episcopi  Dunol- 
mensis,  archidiaconalia  nichilominus  exhibendo,  et  si  qua  alia  contigerint  emergenda.     Nos 
de  communi  consensu,  libera  et  spontanea  voluntate,  previa  deliberacione  elegimus,  quod 
dominus  Episcopus  in  partibus  Karliolensibus,  secundum  quod  dictum  est,  assignaret  nobis 
redditum  sexaginta  marcarum  in  recompensacione  medietatis  ejusdem  ecclesie  deWerkewrth, 
et  nos  eandem  ecclesiam  cum  omnibus  pertinenciis  suis  quietam  clamaremus,  et  perpetuo 
possidendam  concederemus,  nee  aliquando  ei  vel  successoribus  suis  super   hiis    questionem 
moveremus.     Ipse  autem  Episcopus,  acceptans  electionem  nostram  et  concessionem,  ad  con- 
sideracionem  trium  bonorum  virorum  ex  parte  ipsius,  et  trium  ex  parte  nostra,  de  ipsis  sexa- 
ginta marcis  plenius  satisfecit.     Ipsi  vero  in  quos  compromisimus,  prestito  juramento,  quod 
in  neutram  declinarent  partem,  set  bona  fide  cuncta  perfectius  ordinarent,  universa  plenius 
perfecerunt,  et  ea  que  subscripta  sunt  de  redditibus  Episcopi  nobis  assignaverunt,  videlicet, 
medietatem  alteragii  ecclesie  sancte  Marie,  que  erat  in  manu  ejus  pro  viginti  marcis,  quinque 
skeppis  farine  et  siliginis,  de  Haiton  in  Gilleland  pro    sexdecim  solidis,  viij  denariis.      De 
terra  Rogeri  fratris  Prioris,  xl.  denarios.     De  rusticis  et  firmariis  de  Karleton  propter  servicium 
quod  Johannes  de  Crofton  debet,  xxxj.  solidos.    De  Nicholao  de  Askerton  et  Waltero  de  Bruns- 
kayt  et  Maria  de  Staynton  et  Johanne  Musee  de  Seal',  xvj.  solidos.     De  terra  Marthepet'  j. 
skeppam  de  farina  pro  xl.  denariis.  De  pensione  de  Kirkeland,  x.  solidos.    De  Uckemanby,  ij. 
solidos,  vj.  denarios.    De  Camberton,  ij.  marcas.    De  Ulnesby,  dimidiam  marcam.  De  terra 
de  Ireby,  ij.  solidos,  vj.  denarios.   De  Timpaur'  et  Neubigging,  xxiij.  solidos.     De  minutis 
redditibus  infra  Karliolum  et  circa,  prout  continetur  in  magno  rotulo  de  prima  distribucione, 
C.  et  iiij.  solidos.     De  vastis  infra  Karliolum  et  circa,  xv.  solidos,  viij.  denarios.     De  porcione 
Episcopi  de  pensione  de  Ireby,  xx.  solidos.    De  Blencarn',  iij.  solidos.     De  Buthecaster,  xl. 
denarios.     De  Hoton  in  foresta,  xij.  denarios.     De  Radulpho  de  Caldecot,    xij.  denarios. 
Totam  decimam  de  Birkscagh  preter  scalam  Hospitalis  sancti  Sepulcri  pro  xliiij.  solidis.      De- 
cimam  de  Hubbricteby  pro  iiij.  libris  xvj.   denariis.     Decimam  de  Neuby  pro  xl.   denariis. 
Decimam  de  Morton  pro  vj.  solidis.     Decimam  de  Kunelholm  pro  xl.    denariis.     Totam 
partem  Episcopi  de  Neubigging  preter  communam  foreste  et  pasture,  que  sunt  xij.  bovate 
terre,  duabus  acris  minus.     Totam  partem  Episcopi  de  Birkscagh,  preter  unam  carucatam 
terre,  quam  tenet  Odardus  clericus  de  eo  et  successoribus   ejus.     De  Adam  de  Milneburn, 

125 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

vj.  denarios.  De  Talkan  in  Gilleland,  xij.  denarios.  De  Bramton  in  Westmorlanda,  vj. 
denarios.  De  Caber,  vj.  denarios.  DeLouth,  ij.  marcas.  DeCamboc,  ij.  solidos.  De  Cnochubcrt, 
ij.  solidos.  De  vico  Bochardi,  xl.  solidos.  Faciunt  autem  omnes  hii  redditus  summam  Ix. 
marcarum,  exceptis  ij.  solidis,  quos  remisimus  domino  Episcopo  pro  expensis  suis,  quas  fecit 
circa  adquisicionem  ecclesie  de  Werkwrth.  Sciendum  autem,  quod  dominus  Episcopus  et  suc- 
cessores  ejus  retinent  in  manu  sua  jus  patronatus  omnium  predictarum  ecclesiarum ;  nee 
recipimus  pensiones  ex  eis  nomine  pensionis  set  in  recompensacione  summe  Ix.  mar- 
carum suprascriptarum.  Utvero  omnia  supramemorata  eidem  domino  Episcopo  et  suc- 
cessoribus  ejus  firma  sint  imperpetuum  et  inconcussa,  presentem  cartam  nostram  eis  con- 
tulimus  sigillo  nostro  munitam.  Hiis  testibus  Magistro  A.  tune  Officiali  Karliolensi,  A. 
de  Espatric  tune  decano  Karliolensi,  Magistro  Th[oma]  de  Denton,  Odardo  clerico,  L. 
monacho  de  Holmo,  W.  monacho  Belli  Loci  tune  capellano  domini  Episcopi,  Fratre  G. 
et  fratre  W.  conversis  Episcopi,  Johanne  de  Crofton  cive  Karlioli,  et  multis  aliis. 

II.  Universis  Christi  fidelibus  ad  quos  presens  scriptum  pervenerit,  Johannes  Francus, 
Canonicus  Lichefeldensis,  Magister  W.  de  Glovernia,  Canonicus  Cicestrensis,  et  Magister 
P.  Legat,  Officialis  domini  Karliolensis,  salutem  in  Domino.  Noveritis,  quod  cum  contencio 
esset  inter  venerabilem  patrem  nostrum,  S.,  Dei  gracia  Karliolensem  Episcopum,  ex  parte 
una,  et  R.  Priorem  et  Conventum  Karliolensem,  ex  altera,  super  medietate  ecclesie  de 
Corbrigg,  ecclesia  et  terra  de  Ireby,  et  quibusdam  aliis  ecclesiis  et  possessionibus,  quas  Prior  et 
Conventus  Karliolensis  possident  contra  distribucionem  factam  inter  predecessores  predicti 
Episcopi,  Prioris  et  conventus,  et  super  ecclesia  de  Penred  et  molendinis  de  Hornecaster  et 
quibusdam  aliis  possessionibus  et  rebus  quas  idem  Episcopus  possidet  contra  distribucionem 
predictam,  et  super  libertatibus  Priori  et  Conventui  per  felicis  recordacionis  W. 
quondam  Karliolensem  Episcopum  concessis,  et  super  obedienciariis  in  Prioratu  Karliolensi 
instituendis  ac  destituendis  et  rebus  aliis.  Tandem  iidem  Episcopus,  Prior  et  Conventus 
ordinacioni  nostre  super  omnibus  premissis  totaliter  se  supposuerunt  sicut  plenius  liquet  per 
literas  utriusque  partis  patentes.  Nos  autem  tenore  distribucionis  predicte  plenius  inspecto 
et  intellecto,  et  utriusque  partis  jure  considerato,  paci  et  tranquillitati  eorundem  providere 
volentes  et  Deum  pre  oculis  habentes,  unanimi  assensu  or  dinavimus  quod  ecclesia  de  Penred 
et  molendina  de  Hornecastre,  ecclesia  de  Meleburn  cum  capella  de  Chelardeston,  et  manerium 
de  Barwe,  advocacio  ecclesie  de  Rowbirie,  advocacio  ecclesie  Novi  Castri,  advocacio  ecclesie 
de  Caldebeck,  salvo  jure  predictorum  Prioris  et  Conventus  in  decem  et  octo  marcis  annuis 
in  quibus  vendicant  se  jus  habere  in  eadem  ecclesia  post  decessum  vel  cessionem  Rectoris,  qui 
nunc  preest  eidem,  imperpetuum  remaneant  predicto  Episcopo  et  successoribus  suis  quieta 
et  soluta  a  predictis  Priore  et  Conventu  et  successoribus  eorundem.  Et  medietas  ecclesie  de 
Corbrigg  et  ecclesia  de  Ireby  cum  terra,  et  ecclesia  de  Camberton,  et  ecclesia  de  Cumrew,  et 
eciam  de  Hayton,  et  Prioratus  Hib[ernensis],  advocaciones  ecclesiarum  de  Hoton  et  de  Camboc 
et  de  Edenhal,  et  medietatis  ecclesie  de  Wytingham,  et  terra  de  Soureby  quieta  de  multura,  et 
decime  de  dicta  terra  provenientes,  imperpetuum  remaneant  predictis  Priori  et  Conventui 
et  eorum  successoribus  quieta  et  soluta  de  predicto  Episcopo  et  successoribus  suis,  salvo  jure 
ordinario.  Et  sciendum,  quod  idem  dominus  Episcopus  confirmabit  predictis  Priori  et  Con- 
ventui libertates  per  predecessorem  suum1  eisdem  concessas.  Et  quocienscunque  Supprior  vel 
Celerarius  in  Prioratu  Karliolensi  fuerit  preficiendus,  predicti  Prior  et  Conventus  eligent 
duos  vel  tres  ad  ilia  officia  idoneores,  quos  presentabunt  domino  Episcopo  si  fuerit  in  diocesi, 
sin  autem,  infra  mensem  postquam  eorum  electio  ad  ejus  pervenerit  noticiam  committet 
alicui  vices  suas  in  hac  parte,  ita  quod  ilia  officia  per  ejus  defectum  non  vacent  ultra  tempus 
predictum,  et  erit  in  opcione  ejusdem  domini  Episcopi  quem  voluerit  de  illis  tribus  Electis 
admittere  et  eidem  assensum  suum  prebere.  Preterea  ordinamus,  quod  omnia  in  utraque 
distribucione  contenta,  de  quibus  in  hac  ordinacione  nulla  fit  mencio,  in  suo  robore  permaneant 
imperpetuum  secundum  tenorem  utriusque  distribucionis.  Ita  tamen,  quod  idem  dominus 
Episcopus  alias  donaciones  factas  eisdem  Priori  et  Canonicis,  de  quibus  hie  nulla  fit  mencio, 
confirmabit  eisdem.  Et  ut  omnia  premissa  perpetuum  robur  firmitatis  optineant,  predictus 
Episcopus  uni  parti  hujus  scripti,  et  predicti  Prior  et  Conventus  alteri  parti  una  cum  sigillis 
nostris,  sigilla  sua  apposuerunt.  Acta  in  ecclesia  sancti  Laurencii  de  Appleby  in  crastino 
sancti  Egidii  anno  gracie  M.CC.  quadragesimo  nono. 

1  This  concession  of  liberties  by  Bishop  Walter  to.  the  Prior  and  Convent  of  Carlisle  is  recited 
by  inspeximus  in  Chart.  R.  6  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  No.  30. 

126 


OF 


CUMBERLAND 

Showing  ancient  Rural  Deaneries  and  the  Religious  Houses. 

Scale  . 


MILES   s 


IS  MILES 


William  Stanford  &•  Company,  Ltd.       i. 


ALLERDALE 

DIOCESE   OF  CARLISLE 


CALDERfl/oc£S£  op 
CHESTER 


PART  OF  '•-. 
^.     DEANERY    OF       \ 

V-COR  BRIDGE:' 

O'1*.  DIOCESE  OF  ; 
}  DURHAM. •• 


/^RELIGIOUS    HOUSES. 



AUSTIN  CANONS. 

1 .  Carlisle  Priory. 

2.  Lanercost  Priory. 

CISTERCIAN  MONKS. 
Holmcultram  Abbey. 

4.  Calder  Abbey. 

BENEDICTINE  MONKS. 

5.  StBees  Priory. 

6.  Wetheral  Priory. 

BENEDICTINE  NUNS. 

7.  Armathwaite  Priory. 

8.  Seton  Priory. 


FRIARS. 

9.  Carlisle.Dotninicans. 
i  o .  Carli  sle .  Franciscans . 
i  i .  Penrith, Austin. 

HOSPITALS, 

i  2.  Carlisle,  St. Nicholas. 

13.  Carlisle,  St. Sepulchre. 

14.  Wigton,  St.Leonard. 

15.  Bewcastle. 

16.  Caldbeck. 

17.  St.  John  in  the  Vale. 

COLLEGES. 

18.  Grey  stoke. 

19.  Kirkoswald. 


THE    RELIGIOUS   HOUSES 
OF    CUMBERLAND 


INTRODUCTION 

The  religious  houses  of  Cumberland,  though  not  individually  of 
great  fame  and  importance,  played  no  inconspicuous  part  in  the  moral 
well-being  of  a  district  unfortunately  situated  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
arts  of  peace  and  civilization.  Within  a  comparatively  small  area  six 
monastic  foundations  carried  on  their  work  with  varying  success  for 
almost  four  centuries.  Four  of  these  houses  were  close  to  the  border, 
and  suffered  much  during  the  long  period  of  hostility  between  the  two 
kingdoms.  The  priories  of  Carlisle  and  Lanercost,  separated  only  by  10 
or  1 1  miles,  were  of  the  Augustinian  order  ;  the  abbeys  of  Holmcultram 
and  Calder,  between  which  there  seems  to  have  been  little  communication, 
were  of  the  Cistercian  ;  and  the  priories  of  Wetheral  and  St.  Bees  were 
cells  of  the  great  Benedictine  abbey  of  St.  Mary,  York.  The  houses  of 
Calder  and  St.  Bees  were  in  the  archdeaconry  of  Richmond  and  diocese 
of  York,  but  the  rest  were  in  the  old  diocese  of  Carlisle.  With  the 
exception  of  Holmcultram,  which  owed  its  origin  to  the  Scottish  occu- 
pation, the  foundation  of  all  the  Cumbrian  houses  may  be  ascribed  to 
Norman  influence.  We  are  indebted  to  the  great  period  of  religious 
revival  under  Henry  I.  for  the  foundation  of  Carlisle,  Wetheral,  St.  Bees 
and  Calder.  Four  of  the  houses  were  undoubtedly  founded  by  subjects. 
Carlisle  was  of  royal  foundation.  It  is  difficult  to  tell  whether  Holm- 
cultram, which  was  an  offspring  of  Melrose,  was  founded  by  Alan  son  of 
Waldeve,  in  whose  fee  the  lordship  was  situated,  or  by  Henry  son  of 
King  David,  who  at  the  time  ruled  Cumberland. 

The  priory  of  Carlisle  stood  apart  from  the  rest  of  the  religious 
houses  by  reason  of  its  peculiar  association  with  the  ecclesiastical  life 
of  the  district.  At  the  creation  of  the  diocese  in  1133  the  church  of 
the  priory  became  the  cathedral  of  the  bishop,  and  the  canons  were 
constituted  his  chapter.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the  capitular  body 
consisted  of  a  prior  and  twelve  canons,  which  number  may  be  taken  as 
the  normal  strength  of  the  chapter.  At  the  same  period  only  four 
canons  and  a  prior  were  reckoned  on  the  foundation  of  Lanercost,  and 
though  Wetheral  was  founded  as  a  community  of  twelve  monks  its  num- 
bers had  dropped  at  the  date  in  question  to  a  prior  and  three  monks. 
Holmcultram  was  the  largest  and  most  important  house  in  the  county, 

127 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

and  its  abbot  was  for  a  time  a  lord  of  parliament/  The  number  of 
monks  varied  according  to  the  political  state  of  the  country.  In  1379 
the  abbot  and  fourteen  monks  contributed  to  the  royal  subsidy,  but  at 
the  time  of  the  dissolution  the  surrender  of  the  abbey  was  signed  by  the 
abbot  and  twenty-four  brethren.  All  the  houses  on  the  border  were 
subject  to  vicissitude.  In  times  of  special  distress,  when  the  Scots  were 
successful  in  frequent  raids,  the  revenues  were  found  incapable  of  support- 
ing the  inmates,  and  orders  had  to  be  issued  to  houses  in  more  peaceable 
parts  of  the  kingdom  to  admit  brethren  of  the  northern  monasteries  to 
hospitality  till  the  pressure  was  relaxed. 

It  is  a  peculiar  feature  of  monastic  history  on  the  border  that  the 
heads  of  religious  houses  were  not  exempt  from  the  international  custom 
of  trial  by  battle  which  prevailed  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  cen- 
turies. In  spite  of  condemnation  by  the  highest  authorities,1  the  duel 
was  observed  among  clerics  as  well  as  laymen.  In  1216  Pope  Inno- 
cent III.  issued  his  famous  bull  contra  duellum  religiosi  to  all  the  faith- 
ful throughout  the  province  of  York  and  realm  of  Scotland,  describing 
'  the  pestiferous  custom  '  then  in  fashion  between  the  two  kingdoms  as 
quite  contrary  to  the  law  and  honesty  of  the  church.  '  Even  to  this  day 
its  observance  is  so  far  abused,'  he  said,  '  that  if  a  bishop,  abbot  or  any 
cleric  happened  to  be  prosecuted  for  an  offence  for  which  the  duel  was 
wont  to  be  fought  between  laymen,  the  religious  man  was  compelled  to 
undergo  the  duel  in  person.'8  Some  years  later,  in  1237,  the  clergy  of 
England  presented  a  list  of  grievances  which  they  wished  Henry  III.  to 
redress.  In  one  of  the  articles  it  is  declared  that  by  the  command  of  the 
kings  of  England  and  Scotland  not  simply  clerics  but  also  abbots  and 
priors  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  were  forced  to  fight  with  lances  and 
swords  the  duel  which  was  called  Acra  on  the  marches  of  the  realms. 
An  abbot  or  prior,  whatever  his  dignity  or  order,  was  obliged  to 
sustain  the  combat  in  person  or  to  provide  a  champion.  If  the  cham- 
pion succumbed,  he  was  slain,  and  the  abbot  or  prior,  who  was  a  prisoner 
on  the  scene  of  battle,  was  likewise  beheaded.4  Though  the  clergy 
petitioned  that  so  detestable  an  abuse  should  be  no  longer  allowed  with 
respect  to  ecclesiastical  persons,  churchmen  remained  subject  to  the  duel 
in  the  border  laws  promulgated  in  1249.'  As  late  as  1279  we  have  an 
instance  of  preparation  for  a  duel  at  Appleby  before  the  justices  itinerant 
between  the  champions  of  the  abbot  of  Furness 8  and  Roger  son  of  Ralf 

1  Par/.  Writs  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  I,  25,  72  ;  ii.  37  ;  Lords'  Report  on  the  Dignity  of  a  Peer  (Index 
Summonitionum). 

"  The  ordeal  by  hot  or  cold  water  or  hot  iron  was  condemned  by  the  Lateran  Council  of  1215 
(Landon,  Manual  of  Councils,  i.  331).  Henry  III.  instructed  the  justices  itinerant  in  Cumberland  and 
Westmorland  in  1219  to  discontinue  the  custom  'cum  prohibitum  sit  per  ecclesiam  Romanam  judicium 
Ignis  et  Aquae  '  (Pat.  3  Hen.  III.  m.  5). 

3  Reg.  Epis.  Glasguensis  (Bannatyne  Club),  i.  94.  In  1176  a  letter  was  obtained  from  Henry  II. 
in  which  he  declared  '  that  no  cleric  should  be  forced  to  fight  the  duel'  (Ralph  de  Diceto,  Of  era  [Rolls 
Ser.],  i.  410). 

*  Ann.  Mon.  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  256-7. 

6  Nicolson,  Leges  Marchiarum,  8. 

6  For  some  churchmen's  champions  see  Neilson's  Trial  by  Combat,  50—3,  which  is  considered  the 
standard  authority  on  this  subject. 

128 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 

de  Hestholm  in  a  plea  of  common  pasture  at  Meles  in  Kirksanton  in 
Cumberland.  Roger  had  disputed  the  right  of  the  abbot  to  the  common, 
and  as  an  agreement  could  not  be  arrived  at,  one  of  the  parties  appealed 
the  other  in  wager  of  battle  that  God  might  defend  the  right.  The 
justices  sat  in  area  duelll  attended  by  members  of  the  county  court,  and 
as  the  combat  proceeded  the  affair  was  abruptly  ended  in  the  abbot's 
favour  by  Roger  renouncing  his  claim  to  the  property  and  withdrawing 
his  champion.1 

It  will  be  readily  admitted  that  a  county  on  the  Scottish  frontier 
was  ill  adapted  to  the  multiplication  of  nunneries.  In  fact,  one  marvels 
that  a  religious  society  of  women  could  exist  during  the  periods  of  bar- 
baric strife  which  broke  out  from  time  to  time  between  the  two  king- 
doms in  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  The  few  nuns  at 
Armathwaite  in  the  valley  of  the  Eden,  nine  miles  to  the  south  of 
Carlisle,  were  often  plundered  and  impoverished,  but  managed  to  hold 
together  till  the  dissolution.  The  nunnery  of  Seton,  though  far  removed 
from  the  scene  of  frequent  forays,  did  not  increase  in  wealth  or  influence. 
The  glimpses  we  get  of  it  betoken  its  miserable  condition  of  poverty. 
Both  institutions  were  entitled  in  the  name  of  Our  Lady  and  constituted 
under  the  Benedictine  rule. 

All  the  monastic  bodies  in  the  portion  of  Cumberland  within  the 
ancient  diocese  of  Carlisle  were  subject  to  episcopal  visitation  and  cor- 
rection except  the  Cistercian  abbey  of  Holmcultram.  The  value  of  the 
bishop's  periodic  inspection  was  proved  on  several  occasions  of  dispute  or 
mismanagement.  Monks,  canons  and  nuns  were  alike  amenable  to  his 
pastoral  advice.  In  the  early  centuries  of  diocesan  history  the  Bishop  of 
Carlisle  was  not  a  popular  figure  with  the  regular  clergy.  Whether  the 
hostility  took  its  rise  from  his  differences  with  the  priory  of  Carlisle  about 
the  distribution  of  the  property  of  his  church,  or  on  account  of  his  zeal  in 
keeping  cloistered  life  up  to  the  requisite  standard,  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  monasteries  smarted  under  his  supervision.  In  cases  of  dispute 
between  neighbouring  houses  the  bishop  was  the  natural  referee  for  the 
readjustment  of  friendly  relations.  From  some  instances  on  record  we 
see  that  he  did  not  spare  the  litigating  parties  ;  his  award  was  often 
drawn  up  in  language  of  sternness,  not  to  say  of  asperity.  But  as  time 
went  on  more  amicable  relations  prevailed.  The  monks  found  the 
bishop  a  useful  ally  in  promoting  their  interests,  and  they  were  too 
worldly  wise  not  to  grapple  with  the  situation  by  making  him  their 
friend.  Holmcultram  was  a  papal  peculiar  over  which  the  bishop  of 

I  Beck,  Ann.  Furnesienses,   224—5.      The  deed  of  quitclaim  which  followed  was  witnessed  by 
William  son  of  Thomas  de   Craystok,  Roger  de  Loncastria,  Thomas  de   Muletona,  Roger  de  Lasceles, 
Ranulf  de  Daker,  Thomas  de  Musegrave,  Alan  de  Orretona,  and  Robert  de  Mulcastre.     On  the  back 
of  the  deed  there  is  the  following  endorsement  :  '  Die  et  anno  contentis  in   hoc  scripto  Inrotulata  fuit 
tota  sententia  script!  istius   cum  divisis  eo  contentis  in  rotulis  Justiciariorum  hoc  scripto  nominatorum. 
Ipsis  Justiciariis  sedentibus  in  area  duelli  in  parte  percussi,  et  retractis  utrimque  campionibus   pacificati 
ad  instanciam  Rogeri  de  Estholme  ibidem  presentis  et  tarn  Inrotulamentum   predictum  quam  presentis 
script!  tenorem  gratis  concedentis  et  approbantis.'     A  somewhat  similar  di»el   was   fought  in  Yorkshire 
in  1239,  when  an  abbot  was  intimidated  by  armed  force   to  withdraw  his  champion  and  renounce  his 
right  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  179-80). 

II  129  17 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  diocese  had  no  visitorial  jurisdiction.  Like  the  priories  of  Carlisle 
and  Lanercost,  the  monks  had  the  right  of  electing  their  own  superior, 
but  that  election  would  be  void  unless  it  took  place  under  the  presidency 
of  the  abbot  of  Melrose.  In  this  respect  the  abbot  of  the  mother  house 
stood  in  much  the  same  relation  to  Holmcultram  as  the  bishop  did  to 
Carlisle  and  Lanercost,  for  in  these  houses  the  bishop's  licence  was 
the  necessary  prelude  to  every  election  as  his  confirmation  was  indis- 
pensable for  its  completion.  By  virtue  of  a  series  of  papal  bulls  Holm- 
cultram was  freed  from  episcopal  control.  An  unwarrantable  exercise 
of  papal  privilege  brought  the  monks  into  conflict  with  the  secular 
clergy  in  1401,  when  proctors  were  employed  in  the  deaneries  of 
Carlisle  and  Allerdale,  where  the  influence  of  Holmcultram  was  pre- 
dominant, 'to  labour  pro  clero  against  the  Cistercians'  in  the  matter  per- 
haps of  the  refusal  of  that  house  to  contribute  to  a  subsidy  due  to  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle.1  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  it  was  only  in  this  house 
that  undoubted  evidence  of  anarchy  and  disorder  was  discovered  during 
the  great  agitation  which  preceded  the  final  overthrow  of  the  monas- 
teries in  the  county. 

The  coming  of  the  friars  to  Carlisle  at  so  early  a  date  as  1233 
seems  to  have  been  due  to  the  ecclesiastical  sympathies  of  Bishop 
Walter.  At  all  events  in  that  year  the  Dominicans  or  Black  Friars 
and  the  Franciscans  or  Grey  Friars  were  introduced  into  that  city. 
Soon  after  the  Augustinians  gained  a  footing  in  Penrith.  The  Carmelites 
or  White  Friars  settled  at  Appleby,  and,  though  not  in  Cumberland,  they 
were  reckoned  among  the  four  mendicant  orders  which  exercised  their 
vocation  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle.  All  the  friars  were  under  episcopal 
control.  The  houses  in  Carlisle  and  Penrith  were  furnished  with  churches 
and  churchyards. 

It  is  claimed  that  hospitals  should  rank  as  religious  houses  among 
eleemosynary  institutions.  Little  is  known  of  the  nature  or  origin  of 
those  which  at  one  time  must  have  been  numerous  in  Cumberland. 
No  other  hospital  in  the  county,  of  which  record  has  been  discovered, 
attained  to  the  importance  of  St.  Nicholas,  Carlisle.  It  was  of  royal 
foundation  and  originally  a  house  for  lepers  only,  but  in  process  of 
time,  as  it  increased  in  wealth,  it  became  an  asylum  for  the  sick  and 
needy. 

The  foundation  of  colleges  seems  to  have  been  attended  with  con- 
siderable difficulty  in  Cumberland.  The  first  attempt,  undertaken  at 
Melmerby  in  1342,  utterly  failed,  and  it  was  only  after  prolonged 
negotiation  that  the  project  for  converting  the  parish  church  of  Grey- 
stoke  into  a  college  was  carried  to  a  successful  issue.  The  college  of 
Kirkoswald  was  founded  a  few  years  before  the  dissolution. 

1  In  the  accounts  (compoti)  of  the  deans  of  Allerdale  and  Carlisle  for  the  financial  year  1401-* 
certain  sums  were  allowed  to  the  accountants  for  '  procuratoribus  laborantibus  pro  clero  contra  ordinem 
Cisterciensem.'  These  entries  can  only  be  explained  in  their  relation  to  the  monks  of  Holmcultram. 
Compare  statute  2  Hen.  IV.  cap.  4  and  Chron.  man.  de  Melsa  (Rolls.  Ser.),  iii.  271-2,  279. 

130 


CUMBERLAND    SEALS:     RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 

AND    VARIOUS 


SEAL  OF  THE  PRIORY  OF   CARLISLE. 


DEAN  AND  CHAPTER  OF  CARLISLE  (1660). 


i 


ARCHDEACON  WILLIAM 
BYRBANKE. 


SEDE    VACANTE    (LATE 
CENTURY),  WRONGLY  USED  BY 
ARCHDEACON  OF  CARLISLE. 


VICAR  GENERAL  OF  CARLISLE 
(ISTH  CENTURY). 


CHANCELLOR  OF  BISHOP 
BARNES. 


ABBEY  OF  HOLMCULTRAM 
(1275-1300). 


PRIORY  OF  ST.  BEES. 


PRIORY  OF  LANERCOST 
(13™  CENTURY). 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


HOUSES    OF    AUSTIN    CANONS 


i.    THE   PRIORY    OF   CARLISLE 
We  naturally  look  to  Carlisle  for  the  earliest 
evidence  of  ecclesiastical  life  and  movement 
in  the  new  province  which  had  been  added  to 
the  English   kingdom  in  1092.     It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  very  early  in  his  reign,  most 
probably  in   1102,   Henry  I.   granted  a  site 
within  the  city  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a 
religious  establishment.1     For  various  reasons 
already  stated,  little  else  seems  to  have   been 
done  till  after  the  political  changes  of  1 120-2, 
when   Ranulf  Meschin,  the  civil   ruler,   left 
the    district   and    the    king  took  it   into   his 
own  hand.     From  this  date  onward  a  vigor- 
ous policy  was  carried  on  for  its  ecclesiastical 
development.     How  much  progress  had  been 
made  with  the  building  of  the  church  or  the 
religious    organization    of    the    city    during 
Ranulf's   consulate    we    cannot    tell.     The 
happy  turn  of  its  fortunes  may  be  ascribed  to 
the  pious  instincts  of  Walter  the  priest,  who, 
on  taking  the  religious  habit  and  becoming  an 
inmate  of  the  house,  endowed  the  institution 
with  all  his  churches  and  lands.2     The  king, 
at    whose    instigation    the    step    was    taken, 
granted   the    reversion    of  four    churches    in 
Northumberland    which    he    had    previously 
given  for  life  to  Richard  D'Orival  (de  Aure'a 
Valle),3  his  chaplain,  and  added  to  the  gift  two 
other  churches  in  the  same  county.     But  the 
landowners  of  the  neighbourhood  were  slow  to 
emulate  these  great  examples.     It  is  true  that 
Waldeve  son  of  Gospatric,  who  had  succeeded 
to  the  barony  of  Allerdale,  was  one  of  the 
first   patrons   of    the    royal    foundation  ;  the 
churches  of  Aspatria  and  Crosscanonby  ;  the 
chapel  of  St.  Nicholas,  Flimby  ;  and  a  house 
near    the    church    of  St.   Cuthbert,  Carlisle, 
were  of  his  gift.*     In  the  earlier  stages  of  its 
history   the  priory  does  not  appear  to  have 
created    much    enthusiasm.      Its    possessions 
consisted    chiefly    of  spiritualities,    with    the 
notable  exception  of  the  manors  of  Linstock 
and  Carleton  bestowed  by  Walter  the  priest. 
But  the  king  was  pursuing  a  steady  policy. 
In  1130  the  canons  were  busy  in  completing 
their  church.5     The  time  was  ripe  for  a  fresh 
development. 

The  foundation  of  the  bishopric  in  1133, 
with  the  seat  of  the  bishop  in  the  new  priory 
church  of  St.  Mary,"  gave  unity  and  force  to 

1  Assize  Roll  (Cumberland),  No.  132,  m.  32; 
Scotichronicm,  i.  289,  ed.  Goodall. 
1  Charter  R.  35  Edw.  I.  No.  100. 

•  Dugdale,  Mm.  vi.  (i),  144.          «  Ibid. 

•  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  26. 


the  ecclesiastical  life  of  the  district,  and  was 
chiefly  instrumental   in   bringing   in    endow- 
ments to   support    the    organizations    which 
followed.    Little  is  known  of  the  constitution 
of    the   priory  before    it  was    raised    to    the 
dignity  of  a  cathedral  chapter.     It  was  prob- 
ably a  house  of  secular  canons.     But  it  seems 
satisfactorily  proved,  if  we  trust  the  evidence 
of  the  chronicles,  that  it  was  Adelulf  the  first 
bishop,    soon  after  his  consecration  in  1133, 
who  changed   the  constitution  of  the  priory 
by  the  introduction  of  regular  canons  of  St. 
Augustine.7    To  this  circumstance,  there  can 
be  little  doubt,  we  owe  the  unique  position 
which    the    priory    of    Carlisle    held    as    the 
only  cathedral   chapter  of  regular  canons  in 
England.      Adelulf  had    been    prior  of  the 
Augustinian  house  of  Nostell  near  Pontefract, 
and  was  a  well  known  patron  of  his  order 
before  he  was  raised  to  the  episcopal  dignity.8 
When  we  take  into  consideration    the    late 
creation  of  the  bishopric  and  the  antecedents 
of  the  first  bishop,  the  singularity  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  cathedral  church  appears  to 
need    no    further    explanation.     The    bishop 
was  not  only  master  of  his  church,  but   he 
also  enjoyed  a    participation    in    its    endow- 
ments.    The    church    of    Carlisle    was    one 
ecclesiastical  corporation  with  the   bishop  at 
its  head.     It  is  a  curious  fact  in  illustration 
of  the  bishop's  predominance  in  his  cathedral 
that  the  monastic  order,  to  which  the  canons 
of  his  chapter  belonged,  could  not  make  sta- 
tutes or  ordinances  for    the  enlargement  or 
modification  of   the  rule  under  which   they 
lived  without  his  sanction.     In  1302,  many 
years  after  the  endowments  of  the  priory  and 
bishopric  had  been  separated,  when  the  heads 
of    Augustinian    houses    were    assembled    at 
Drax    in    Yorkshire,  Bishop   Halton  sent  a 
mandate  forbidding  them  to  enact  anything  to 
the  prejudice  of  his  church  of  Carlisle  without 
his  pontifical  consent  and  authority,  inasmuch 
as  his  chapter  was  composed  of  regular  canons 
of  their  order,  and  those,  making  new  ordi- 
nances  and    statutes,    should    be    guided    by 
moderation  that  the  bond  of  love    between 
subjects  and  rulers  (inter  subditos  et  parentes} 
might  be  strengthened.     This  mandate  was 
carried  to  the  conclave  at  Drax  by  Brother 
William,  a   canon   of  the  house,  nominated 
for  that  purpose  by  the  prior  and  chapter.9 

•  Sym.  ofDur.  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii.  285. 
'  Matth.  Paris,  Cbron.  Mag.  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii.  158  ; 
Dugdale,  Mon.  vi.  (i),  91.  »  Ibid 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  64. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


The  bishop's  supremacy  over  his  cathedral 
church  cannot  be  questioned.  It  has  been 
already  pointed  out  that  the  bishop  and  his 
chapter  formed  one  ecclesiastical  corporation 
and  held  the  lands  and  spiritual  possessions  of 
the  church  of  Carlisle  in  common.  When  a 
division  of  the  property  was  made  and  the  see 
became  an  institution  in  some  measure  separ- 
ate from  the  priory,  care  was  taken  to  define 
the  relationship  of  the  head  of  the  diocese  to 
the  corporate  body  occupying  the  church 
which  represented  the  unity  of  his  diocese 
and  contained  the  seat  of  his  jurisdiction. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  at  the  outset  the 
appointment  of  the  prior  was  in  the  patronage 
of  the  bishop,  and  perhaps  of  the  king  when 
the  bishopric  was  void.  When  the  terms  of 
the  arrangement  for  the  separate  endowment 
of  the  see  were  complete,  this  privilege  seems 
to  have  been  relinquished  to  the  chapter  in 
compensation  for  the  redistribution  of  emolu- 
ments. At  all  events  it  was  not  until  1248 
that  the  canons  had  the  liberty  of  electing 
their  own  superior.  On  25  November  in 
that  year,  Pope  Innocent  IV.  granted  pro- 
tection and  confirmation  of  possessions  to  the 
prior  and  convent,  and  especially  the  chapelry 
of  the  church  of  Carlisle,  with  all  offerings, 
tithes,  and  parish  rights  belonging  to  the  said 
church,  except  the  offering  at  Whitsuntide, 
all  the  land  formerly  belonging  to  Walter  the 
priest,  which  King  Henry  gave  and  confirmed 
by  his  charter,  and  other  possessions.  The 
pope  also  granted  to  the  canons  the  right  of 
electing  the  prior  and  prohibited  the  bishop 
from  disposing  of  their  emoluments  without 
their  consent.1 

The  bishop  however  did  not  give  up  alto- 
gether his  control  of  the  internal  affairs  of 
the  priory  when  the  property  was  divided.  It 
was  part  of  the  bargain  that  he  should  have 
a  voice  in  the  selection  of  the  sub-prior  and 
cellarer,  the  two  principal  officers  of  the  house. 
By  virtue  of  an  ordination  made  on  2  Sep- 
tember 1249,  between  Bishop  Silvester  on 
the  one  part,  and  R(obert),  the  prior,  and 
convent  on  the  other,  it  was  stipulated  that 
as  often  as  the  office  of  sub-prior  or  cellarer 
fell  vacant,  the  prior  and  convent  should 
nominate  two  or  three  fit  persons  and  present 
them  to  the  bishop  that  he  might  select  one 
for  the  vacant  post  ;  if  the  bishop  was  absent 
from  the  diocese  at  the  time,  he  was  required 
to  issue  a  commission  within  a  month  after 
the  presentation  had  been  brought  to  his 
notice,  that  the  offices  might  not  remain  va- 
cant beyond  the  aforesaid  period  ;  and  that 
it  should  be  at  the  option  of  the  bishop  when 


»  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  250. 


present,  or  of  his  commissioned  deputy  when 
absent,  to  select  one  of  those  candidates  nomi- 
nated by  the  priory  and  to  admit  him  to  the 
office.2  This  ordination  remained  in  force 
throughout  the  history  of  the  priory,  and 
sometimes  the  canons  were  not  backward  in 
keeping  the  bishops  up  to  the  letter  of  the 
original  agreement. 

A  vacancy  occurring  in  the  office  of  cellarer 
in  1331,  while  Bishop  Ross  was  residing  at 
his  church  of  Melbourne  in  Derbyshire,  the 
canons  nominated  two  of  their  number, 
Brothers  Geoffrey  de  Goverton  and  Ralf  Gray, 
and  requested  the  bishop  by  special  messenger 
to  select  one  of  them  for  the  post  or  issue  a 
commission  for  that  purpose.  The  letter  of 
nomination  was  dated  25  July,  and  the  latest 
time  allowed  to  the  bishop  for  signifying  his 
choice  was  8  September.  'Although  we  are 
not  compelled  by  law,'  so  the  letter  runs,  '  to 
write  to  you  while  you  are  out  of  the  diocese 
(in  remotis),  yet  for  the  sake  of  peace  and 
under  protest,  lest  it  be  quoted  hereafter  as  a 
precedent  against  us,  we  are  directing  these 
presents  for  this  turn.'  It  is  evident  that  the 
canons  were  trying  to  impress  their  bishop 
with  a  sense  of  their  magnanimity  by  pre- 
tending to  confer  a  favour  upon  him,  whereas 
in  reality  it  was  no  favour  at  all,  as  they  were 
obliged  by  law  to  do  what  was  done.  In 
response  the  bishop  appointed  the  prior  of 
Lanercost  and  the  official  of  the  diocese  to 

1  An  abstract  of  this  ordination,  recited 
by  inspeximus  in  Charter  Roll,  18  Edw.  I.  (83), 
No.  26,  may  be  given  to  illustrate  this  important 
point  :  '  Universis  Christi  fidelibus  ad  quos  presens 
scriptum  pervenerit,  Johannes  Francus,  canonicus 
Lichefeldensis,  magister  W.  de  Glovernia,  canonicus 
Cicestrensis,  et  magister  P(eter)  Legat,  officialis 
domini  Karliolensis,  salutem  in  Domino.  Noveritis 
quod  cum  contencio  esset  inter  venerabilem  patrem 
nostrum  S(ilvestrem),  Dei  gracia,  Karliolensem 
Episcopum,  ex  parte  una,  et  R(obertum)  Priorem 
et  Conventum  Karliolensem,  ex  altera,  super  .  .  . 
Et  quocienscunque  Supprior  vel  Celerarius  in 
Prioratu  Karliolensi  fuerit  preficiendus,  predict! 
Prior  et  Conventus  eligent  duos  vel  tres  ad  ilia 
officia  idoniores,  quos  presentabunt  domino  episcopo 
si  fuerit  in  diocesi,  sin  autem,  infra  mensem  post- 
quam  eorum  electio  ad  ejus  pervenerit  noticiam, 
committet  alicui  vices  suas  in  hac  parte,  ita  quod 
ilia  officia  per  ejus  defectum  non  vacent  ultra  tern- 
pus  predictum,  et  erit  in  opcione  ejusdem  domini 
Episcopi,  quem  voluerit  de  illis  tribus  Electis 
admittere  et  eidem  assensum  suum  prebere.  Pre- 
terea  ordinamus  .  .  .  Et  ut  omnia  premissa  per- 
petuum  robur  firmitatis  optineant,  predictus  Epis- 
copus  uni  parti  hujus  scripti,  et  predict!  Prior  et 
Conventus  alteri  parti,  una  cum  sigillis  nostris, 
sigilla  sua  apposuerunt.  Acta  in  ecclesia  sancti 
Laurencii  de  Appleby  in  crastino  sancti  Egidii 
anno  gracie  M°CC°  quadragesimo  nono.' 


132 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


choose  the  ablest  and  fittest  of  the  candidates 
and  induct  him  to  the  office.1  A  similar 
custom  was  observed  in  1338-9,  when  Bishop 
John  de  Kirkby  was  residing  at  Horncastle, 
with  respect  to  the  vacant  office  of  sub-prior. 
The  official  of  the  diocese  was  commissioned 
to  select  the  fitter  of  two  canons,  R.  Paule 
and  T.  de  Stanlaw,  submitted  to  him  for  the 
post.3  In  1379  the  tenure  of  the  office  of 
cellarer  came  before  Bishop  Appleby  for  his 
decision.  For  some  reasons  not  stated,  Prior 
John  de  Penreth  removed  Robert  de  Clifton 
from  his  office  without  the  consent  of  the 
majority  of  the  chapter,  which  caused  dis- 
sension and  discord  in  the  house.  Both 
parties  submitted  the  dispute  to  the  bishop, 
who  ordered  the  restoration  of  the  cellarer  to 
his  office  as  he  had  been  irregularly  deposed.3 

In  no  instance  have  we  met  with  the  de- 
privation of  a  prior  of  Carlisle,4  though  Bishop 
Halton  was  obliged  to  deliver  stern  injunctions 
to  Prior  Adam  de  Warthwyk,  and  Bishops 
Ross  and  Appleby  were  reduced  to  the  ex- 
tremity of  excommunicating  Priors  John  de 
Kirkby  and  William  de  Dalston  respectively. 
Many  examples  of  resignation  are  on  record. 
Pensions  were  allowed  to  the  retiring  priors 
and  suitable  provision  was  made  in  accord- 
ance with  their  exalted  station  for  the  rest  of 
their  lives.  These  pensions  were  voted  by 
the  canons  as  a  charge  upon  their  revenues 
and  approved  by  the  bishop.  In  cases,  of 
course,  where  the  voidance  arose  from  pre- 
ferment, no  pension  was  assigned. 

The  bishops  of  Carlisle  possessed  an  undis- 
puted power  of  visitation  of  the  convent,  which 
they  exercised  as  occasion  called.  Individual 
bishops  as  a  rule  took  an  early  opportunity 
after  their  appointment  to  make  a  general 
visitation  of  the  diocese,  in  which  not  un- 
frequently  the  priory  of  Carlisle  was  included. 
At  other  times  they  visited  when  a  cause  of 
dispute  or  some  irregularity  in  the  house  was 
brought  to  their  notice.  The  results  of  some 
of  these  visitations  are  not  devoid  of  interest. 
In  1301,  after  Bishop  Halton  had  visited  by 
his  ordinary  authority  the  convent  as  well  in 
head  as  in  members  at  the  request  of  Adam  de 
Warthwyk  the  prior,  and  inspected  the  state 
of  the  institution  within  and  without,  he  de- 
livered a  series  of  injunctions  to  the  prior 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Ross,  f.  265. 

'  Ibid.  Kirkby,  f.  390. 

3  Ibid.  Appleby,  ff.  319-20. 

*  Bishop  Nicolson  stated  in  his  '  Case  of  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  '  that  his  predecessors  had  '  cor- 
rected and  sometimes  deprived  the  priors  for  mis- 
application of  the  common  revenues '  (Letters  of 
Bp.  Nicolson,  pp.  341-2),  but  we  have  been  un- 
able to  verify  the  statement. 


which  show  us  how  indispensable  was  the 
episcopal  oversight  to  the  internal  discipline 
of  the  capitular  body.  By  the  depositions  of 
certain  canons  of  the  said  monastery  examined 
according  to  custom,  a  copy  of  which  was 
sent  to  Prior  Warthwyk,  the  following  charges 
were  preferred  against  him  :  negligence  and 
remissness  in  the  discipline  of  his  house  con- 
trary to  the  statutes  of  the  order  ;  his  house- 
hold was  much  too  expensive  in  those  days 
(familia  vestra  est  nimis  honerosa  bits  dtebui) ; 
in  preferring  and  removing  obedientiaries  and 
in  other  matters  affecting  the  house,  he  con- 
sulted only  with  Brothers  Robert  Karlile, 
William  de  Hautwysil,  and  William  de  Mel- 
burne,  the  advice  of  the  rest  of  the  chapter 
having  been  wholly  omitted  and  despised  con- 
trary to  the  decrees  of  the  holy  fathers  ;  in- 
competency  to  rule  the  priory,  inasmuch  as, 
owing  to  his  failings,  order  was  not  preserved 
among  the  brethren,  the  business  of  the  house 
was  not  transacted,  and  its  goods  were  wasted 
beyond  measure  by  his  expensive  entourage  ; 
by  appropriating  the  perquisites  of  his  court  he 
had  received  the  gressoms  and  profits  of  the 
green  seal  (gersummas  et  appruyamenta  viridis 
cere],  had  held  in  his  own  hand  for  three  years 
and  more  the  grange  of  Newbiggin,  whereof 
he  received  the  issues  and  spent  it  at  his  own 
free  will  without  consulting  the  majority  of 
the  convent,  had  returned  no  account  con- 
trary to  the  statute  of  the  Legate  '  de  rat- 
iociniis  reddendis,'  and  worst  of  all  he  had 
converted  the  proceeds  to  his  own  private 
uses  contrary  to  the  vow  of  his  profession  ; 
misappropriation  of  the  profits  of  the  trade  in 
wine  and  other  merchandise  which  Brother 
W.  de  Melburne  carried  on  with  his  conniv- 
ance without  rendering  any  account ;  holding 
back  money  due  from  the  tenants  of  the 
monastery  and  converting  it  to  his  own  use, 
till  the  treasurer  and  barons  of  the  Exchequer 
made  a  levy  on  the  common  goods  of  the 
house  to  its  great  damage  and  loss  ;  the  em- 
ployment for  a  long  time  of  W.  the  clerk,  as 
a  sower  of  discord  between  the  brethren  in  his 
own  interest ;  improvident  concession  of  a 
corrody  to  Stephen,  rector  of  Castle  Carrock, 
for  £4  without  converting  the  money  to  the 
use  of  the  house  ;  letting  to  farm  the  houses 
and  courts  of  his  manors  of  Corbridge  and 
Wyden  without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of 
the  convent  to  its  great  detriment ;  failure 
to  account  for  100  marks  paid  to  him  by 
Master  W.  de  Lowther  in  the  name  of  the 
monastery,  and  £200  of  old  money  and  40 
marks  of  new  money  left  in  the  treasury  by 
Robert  the  late  prior ;  appropriation  to  his 
own  use  of  the  profits  of  a  ship  made  at  the 
costs  of  the  house ;  by  reason  of  his  negli- 


133 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


gence  and  the  bumptiousness  (elacionem)  of 
Robert  de  Warthwyk  his  steward,  the  house 
had  an  evil  reputation  in  the  neighbourhood ; 
want  of  sympathy  with  his  sick  brethren  ; 
and  making  known  the  proceedings  of  the 
daily  chapter  when  the  secrets  of  the  order 
were  discussed,  and  scoffing  at  them  in  his 
own  chamber  in  the  presence  of  the  laity. 
Unless  these  charges  were  forthwith  remedied 
and  a  reformation  made  without  delay,  the 
bishop  informed  the  prior  that  he  should  be 
obliged  to  proceed  against  him  according  to 
the  insistance  of  the  canons  and  to  decree 
against  him  what  was  just.1 

A  scandal  of  great  magnitude  convulsed 
the  diocese  in  1385  when  the  patience  of 
Bishop  Appleby  was  exhausted  by  the  refusal 
of  Prior  William  de  Dalston  to  accept  his 
judicial  decision  in  some  matters  of  debate 
between  the  canons  or  to  give  him  canonical 
obedience.  At  last  the  bishop  brought  matters 
to  a  crisis  by  excommunicating  the  prior  and 
ordering  the  parish  priests  of  St.  Mary's  and  St. 
Cuthbert's  to  publish  the  sentence  at  the  cele- 
bration of  mass.  The  city  of  Carlisle  was 
in  an  uproar.  Many  of  its  leading  citizens 
and  clergy,  espousing  the  cause  of  the  prior, 
entered  the  cathedral  as  well  as  the  parish 
churches  at  the  head  of  an  armed  mob,  and 
snatching  the  bishop's  letters  from  the  hands 
of  the  officiating  priests  carried  them  forcibly 
away.  The  bishop  threatened  to  put  the 
whole  of  the  city  under  an  interdict  with  the 
exception  of  the  castle  and  its  chapel. 
Charges  of  adultery  against  the  prior  were 
raised  in  the  controversy.  The  majority 
of  the  canons  implored  the  bishop  to  visit  the 
house  ;  the  archbishop  cited  the  prior  and  his 
abettors  for  their  disobedience ;  the  king 
wrote  deploring  the  scandal  and  asking  for 
particulars.  The  upshot  of  the  unpleasant 
business  was  that  Prior  Dalston  was  induced 
to  give  obedience  to  the  bishop's  judgment 
and  to  resign  his  office.1  Perhaps  no  period 
of  equal  length  in  the  whole  history  of  the 
priory  of  Carlisle  witnessed  more  exciting 
scenes  than  the  months  of  August  and  Sep- 
tember 1385,  while  Bishop  Appleby  stood  up 
so  resolutely  for  the  maintenance  of  disci- 
pline and  order  in  his  cathedral  chapter  in 
spite  of  the  threats  and  opposition  of  the 
rulers  and  the  mob  of  his  cathedral  city.3 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  43. 

»  Ibid.  Appleby,  ff.  348-54>  357- 

*  The  declaration  of  obedience  made  by  Prior 
Dalston  a  fortnight  before  his  resignation  was  as 
follows  :  '  In  Dei  nomine  amen.  Ego,  frater 
Willelmus  de  Dalston,  prior  prioratus  Karlioli, 
ordinis  sancti  Augustini,  ero  fidelis  et  obedient 
vobis,  venerabili  in  Christo  patri  et  domino  meo, 


Though  we  have  notice  of  the  resignation 
of  several  of  the  priors  of  Carlisle,  only  in 
one  instance  have  we  found  particulars  of  a 
pension  allotted  to  any  of  them  out  of  the 
revenues  of  the  church.  The  exception  occurs 
i  n  the  case  of  Adam  de  Warthwyk,  who  showed 
such  incompetence  in  administering  the  affairs 
of  the  house.  In  1304,  three  years  after  the 
bishop's  onslaught  on  his  mismanagement, 
the  prior  resigned  of  his  own  free  will.  The 
reasons  he  alleged  for  taking  this  step  do  him 
credit.  He  confessed  that,  broken  with  old 
age  and  weakened  in  bodily  senses,  he  was 
quite  unable  to  rule  the  priory  any  longer. 
Bishop  Halton,  on  his  part,  in  assigning  him 
a  pension,  was  not  backward  in  complimen- 
tary appreciation  of  the  prior's  long  service  to 
the  church.  For  forty  years  he  had  lived  as 
a  canon  regular  under  the  rule  (doctrina)  of 
St.  Augustine  in  the  venerable  assembly  of 
the  convent  of  his  cathedral  church,  and  for 
twenty-one  years  and  more  he  filled  the 
laborious  office  of  prior  in  times  of  war  and 
troubles,  and  now,  as  he  had  stated,  he  was  so 
burdened  with  cares  and  stricken  with  age 
that  he  was  no  longer  able  to  remain.  In 
these  circumstances  the  bishop  determined, 
with  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  chapter,  to 
make  suitable  provision  for  his  comfort  as 
long  as  he  lived.  Among  the  particulars  of 
his  pension  may  be  mentioned  the  new 
chamber  which  the  prior  had  built  for  himself 
and  those  who  ministered  to  him  daily  ; 
rations  equal  to  three  times  those  of  an  ordin- 
ary canon  according  to  the  custom  of  the 
priory  ;  the  tithe  sheaves  of  Langwathby 
towards  the  expenses  of  his  household,  for  as 
he  was  the  scion  of  a  noble  family  in  the 
diocese,  a  provision  in  proportion  to  his 
station  and  the  hospitalities  expected  of  him 
should  be  made ;  an  allowance  of  twenty 
marks  yearly  for  his  clothing ;  one  servant 
and  a  boy  to  wait  upon  him  ;  and  when  he 
went  outside  the  precincts  of  the  monastery 
for  a  change  of  air  (ob  arts  intemperiem),  or  for 
recreation,  or  to  visit  the  granges  or  manors 
of  the  priory,  or  any  of  his  friends  within  the 
diocese,  or  for  any  lawful  reason,  the  prior 
and  convent  for  the  time  being,  under  their 
debt  of  obedience,  were  obliged  to  provide  him 
and  his  household  with  suitable  means  of 
travelling.* 

The  traditional   relationship  of  the  cathe- 
dral as  the  chief  temple  of  the  diocese  to  the 

domino  Thome,  Dei  gracia,  Karliolensi  episcopo, 
et  successoribus  vestris  canonice  intrantibus,  offici- 
alibus  et  ministris,  in  canonicis  et  licitis  mandatis. 
Sic  Deus  me  adiuvet  et  hec  sancta  Evangelia ' 
(ibid.  f.  353). 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  80. 


134 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


parish  churches  was  preserved  and  perpetuated 
by  an  annual  homage  made  by  the  parish 
priests  during  the  week  after  Pentecost. 
Though  the  practice  was  not  confined  to  the 
church  of  Carlisle,  it  is  interesting  to  notice 
how  jealously  the  bishops  of  that  see  insisted 
on  its  observance.  In  1372  Bishop  Appleby, 
on  the  complaint  of  the  prior  and  sacrist  that 
some  of  the  rectors  and  vicars  failed  to  put 
in  an  appearance,  issued  a  mandate  to  the 
official  of  the  diocese  to  proceed  against  the 
truants.  The  clergy  were  bound,  the  man- 
date continued,  to  visit  the  cathedral  church 
once  a  year  and  to  join  in  the  procession  in 
their  surplices  with  the  cross  carried  before 
them  (pracessiona liter  in  superpelliciis  crucem  ante 
se  deferri  facientes),  and  to  do  other  things 
requisite  to  show  the  reverence  due  from  them 
to  the  bishop's  seat.  This  custom  which  had 
been  observed  ab  antiquo  should  on  no  account 
be  allowed  to  fall  into  disuse.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  and  instructive  phases  of 
medieval  ritual  in  its  assertion  of  the  corporate 
life  and  work  of  the  church.  From  a  sub- 
sequent mandate  in  1386  we  learn  that  the 
procession  wended  its  way  up  to  the  high 
altar  when  the  clergy  made  their  oblations  due 
to  God  as  a  sign  of  their  subjection  to  the 
cathedral  church.1  In  this  way  annually,  on 
some  appointed  day  in  Whitsun  week,  the 
clergy  paid  the  cathedraticum  due  from  every 
benefice  in  token  of  subjection  to  the  bishop's 
jurisdiction  and  of  allegiance  to  the  church 
which  represented  the  unity  of  the  diocese. 

Processions  of  various  descriptions  were  not 
of  unfrequent  occurrence  at  the  cathedral, 
inasmuch  as  it  usually  led  the  way  in  all 
matters  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  district. 
It  was  to  the  prior  and  official  of  Carlisle  that 
the  bishop  addressed  himself  in  1365,  when 
he  instituted  special  processions  with  the  sol- 
emn chanting  of  the  seven  penitential  psalms, 
the  litany  and  other  suitable  prayers  to  be 
undertaken  in  the  cathedral  and  all  churches 
collegiate  and  non-collegiate  throughout  the 
diocese,  for  good  weather.  The  autumn  of 
that  year  was  remarkable  for  violent  storms 
of  wind  and  rain  and  the  crops  were  much 
injured  by  the  rains  and  floods.3  Much  the 
same  procedure  took  place  when  processions 
were  ordered  as  propitiatory  ceremonies  for 
the  averting  of  a  threatened  pestilence  or  for 
success  of  the  English  arms  against  the  Scots.3 
Another  great  day  in  the  Christian  year  at 
Carlisle  was  Ash  Wednesday,  when  penitents 
flocked  from  places  far  and  near  to  receive 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  ff.  250,  361. 
a  Ibid.  ff.  144,  203. 
»  Ibid.  Kirkby,  f.  371. 


the  sacrament  of  reconciliation  in  the  mother 
church  of  the  diocese.  It  was  the  privilege 
of  the  bishop  to  attend  personally  on  these 
occasions,  but  in  his  absence  the  duty  was 
assigned  to  the  prior.  It  was  by  the  bishop's 
licence  or  commission  that  the  prior  was  able 
to  introduce  penitents  into  the  cathedral  and 
reconcile  them  to  the  church  ut  est  moris.* 

A  peculiar  privilege  was  enjoyed  by  the 
prior  and  convent  on  very  high  authority. 
Pope  Alexander  IV.  granted  them  an  indult 
in  1258  to  wear  birettas  or  caps  in  the  choir 
on  account  of  the  cold,  provided  they  were 
removed  at  the  Gospel  and  the  elevation  in 
time  of  mass.5  At  a  subsequent  period,  when 
the  utilitarian  convenience  of  the  privilege 
was  forgotten,  the  canons  of  Carlisle  were 
collated  to  their  prebends  by  the  delivery  of  a 
biretta  (per  byretti  nostri  traditionem)  from  the 
bishop,  perhaps,  like  the  verge  or  rod  in  civil 
life,  as  a  symbol  of  seisin.  This  custom  was 
in  force  at  Carlisle  throughout  the  reign  of 
Elizabeth." 

From  an  early  period  the  enclosure  of  the 
priory  or  monastic  precinct  at  Carlisle  has 
been  called  '  The  Abbey,'  though  the  church 
had  never  an  abbot  distinct  from  the  bishop. 
Freeman7  has  pointed  out  that  the  same 
peculiarity  existed  at  Bath  and  Durham.8 

«  Ibid.  Welton,  ff.  1 6,  25. 
«  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  361. 
"   Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Barnes,   ff.   35,  61,  84,  93, 
etc.  ;  Letters  of  Bp.  Nicolson  (ed.  J.  Nichols),  335-6. 

7  William  Rufus,  i.  139. 

8  As  the  antiquity  of  the  usage  at  Carlisle  has 
been  called  in  question,  it  may  be  convenient  to 
trace  it  back  far  enough  to  show  that  it  is  not  of 
modern  introduction.     At  the  time  of  the  eccle- 
siastical survey  in  1535,  via  abbathie  was  the  name 
of  the  street  whith  connected  the  north-west  gate 
of  the  precincts  with  the  Caldew  gate  of  the  city 
(Valor  Ecd.  [Rec.  Com.],  v.  277).     In    1488   the 
bishop  was  said  to  be  in  abbatbia  (Diocesan  MS. 
3  and  4  Hen.  VII.).     In  1388   the  priory  is   de- 
scribed as  St.  Mary's  Abbey  (Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  iv. 
75)  ;  and  in  1299   it  is  again  referred  to  as  the 
abbey  (ibid.  ii.  285).     Hemingburgh,  describing 
the  destruction  of  Carlisle  by  fire  in  1292,  particu- 
larly noted  that  the  city  cum  tola  abbatia  was  burnt 
and  consumed  (Chron.  [Engl.  Hist.  Soc.],  ii.  40). 
It  is  generally  supposed  that  the  name  had  origin- 
ated from  the  peculiar  position  which  the   bishop 
is  alleged  to  have  occupied  as  the  abbot  of  his 
cathedral.     The  bishop's  seat  on  the  south  side  of 
the  choir,  as  distinct  from  his  throne,  is  pointed 
out  as  an  evidence  of  the  immemorial  usage.     But 
no  good  authority  in  support  of  the  statement  has 
been  found.     Local  custom  gives  the   bishop   the 
seat  of  dignity  on  the  south  side  as  the  head  of  the 
church,  and  to  the  dean,  as  successor  of  the  prior, 
the  corresponding  seat  on  the  north  side  as   head 
of  the  chapter.     By  charter  of  William  the  Con- 


135 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


It  was  customary  for  the  bishops  at  their 
first  visitation  to  demand  an  inspection  of  the 
title  deeds  of  all  holders  of  ecclesiastical  pre- 
ferment or  spiritual  endowments  within  the 
diocese.  When  these  were  produced,  letters 
of  dimission  were  issued  confirming  the 
holders  in  possession.  Numerous  deeds  of 
this  nature  are  on  record  with  respect  to  the 
spiritualities  of  religious  houses  to  which 
churches  within  the  bishop's  jurisdiction  were 
appropriated.  From  one  of  these  records  of 
dimission  we  may  take  a  schedule  of  the 
spiritual  possessions  of  the  priory  of  Carlisle  in 
1355,  in  which  the  ecclesiastical  status  of 
each  of  the  churches  is  declared  as  they  ex- 
isted at  that  date  :  the  parish  churches  of  the 
blessed  Mary  and  St.  Cuthbert,  Carlisle,  with 
the  chapel  of  Sebergham,  the  churches  of 
Hayton  with  its  chapels,  Cumrew  and  Cum- 
whitton  (Comquityngton),  the  churches  of 
Crosscanonby  (Crossebye  in  Allerdale),  Cam- 
erton,  Ireby,  Bassenthwaite  (Beghokirk), 
Castle  Sowerby  (Soureby),  Rocliffe  (Routhe- 
cliff),  Edenhall  with  the  chapel  of  Lang- 
wathby,  and  Addingham  with  the  chapel  of 
Little  Salkeld  (Salkeld),  all  of  which  were  held 
in  preprint  usus.  In  the  churches  of  St.  Mary 
and  St.  Cuthbert,  Carlisle,  Hayton,  Rocliffe, 
Ireby,  Crosscanonby,  Camerton  and  Bassen- 
thwaite vicars  were  never  instituted,  nor  were 
the  vicarages  ever  taxed  or  '  ordained,'  but  all 
of  them  were  served  by  stipendiary  chaplains 
(per  capellanos  conducticios).  The  prior  and 
convent  also  possessed  the  following  pensions 
from  churches,  viz.  26s.  8d.  from  Lowther, 
261.  from  Kirkland,  6s.  Sd.  from  Ousby 
(Ulnesby),  2s.  from  Hutton  in  the  Forest 
(Hoton),  2s.  from  Castle  Carrock,  2s.  from 
Cambok,  6s.  Sd.  from  Bewcastle  (Bothecastre), 
2s.  6d.  from  Allhallows  (Ukmanby),  and  £6 
from  the  abbot  and  convent  of  Holmcul- 
tram.1  If  this  schedule  be  compared  with  the 
ecclesiastical  surveys  of  1535  and  I54O,2  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  only  addition  of  conse- 
quence which  was  made  in  the  spiritualities  of 
the  priory,  during  the  intervening  period,  was 
the  rectory  and  patronage  of  the  parish 
church  of  St.  Andrew,  Thursby,  which  Sir 
Robert  Ogle,  lord  of  Ogle  and  Thursby,  and 
Isabel  his  wife  gave  to  the  prior  and  canons 

queror  in  1084,  which  was  confirmed  by  King 
John  in  1204,  the  priors  of  Durham  obtained  all 
the  liberties,  customs,  dignities  and  honours  of  an 
abbot  and  had  the  seat  of  the  abbot  in  ebon  sinistro 
and  all  the  privileges  of  the  deans  of  York  (Cart. 
Antiq.  B.  No.  4  ;  Rot.  Chart.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  1 1 8 ; 
Rymer,  fcedera  [new  ed.],  i.  [i.],  3). 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  19. 

»  Yahr  Red.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  274  ;  Dugdale, 
Monasticon,  vi.  145. 


in  1468,  with  permission  to  appropriate  the 
said  church  and  serve  it  by  a  canon  of  their 
cathedral  or  any  other  suitable  chaplain,  with- 
out endowment  of  a  vicarage  in  the  church  or 
compulsion  to  distribute  a  yearly  sum  of  money 
to  the  poor  of  the  parish.3  The  churches  be- 
longing to  the  priory  in  the  diocese  of  Durham 
were  not  included  in  Bishop  Welton's  dimis- 
sion as  they  were  not  within  his  jurisdiction. 
The  cathedral  served  as  the  parish  church 
of  St.  Mary,  Carlisle,  from  the  date  of  its 
foundation,  as  the  priory  church  of  Laner- 
cost  had  done  for  that  parish.  It  can  scarcely 
be  denied  that  the  churches  with  which 
Walter  the  priest  endowed  the  priory,  when 
he  took  the  religious  habit  on  becoming  an 
inmate  thereof,  were  those  of  St.  Mary  and 
St.  Cuthbert,  Carlisle,  and  Stanwix.  The 
rectory  of  the  latter  church  was  equally 
divided  between  the  bishop  and  the  convent 
in  the  great  award  of  the  papal  legates,  but 
the  rectories  of  the  two  Carlisle  churches 
were  wholly  appropriated  to  the  canons.  The 
church  of  St.  Cuthbert  may  be  numbered 
among  the  earliest  ecclesiastical  institutions  in 
the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  of  which  authentic 
record  has  come  down  to  us.  A  house  near 
it  was  given  to  the  priory  by  Waldeve  son  of 
Gospatric,  one  of  its  first  benefactors.  We 
have  found  no  trace  of  a  church  of  St.  Mary 
apart  from  the  cathedral  and  no  vicarial  juris- 
diction over  the  parish  of  that  name,  except 
what  was  exercised  by  the  prior  as  the  im- 
propriator  of  the  revenues.  An  attempt  was 
made  in  1342  to  raise  it  from  its  position  as 
a  chapelry  to  the  dignity  of  a  vicarage,  and 
the  provincial  court  of  York  was  moved  by 
the  parishioners  for  that  purpose.  In  the  ap- 
peal to  the  metropolitan  it  was  stated  that  the 
church  of  the  Blessed  Mary  from  its  founda- 
tion had  been  and  was  at  that  time  a  parish 
church  with  an  independent  cure  (per  se 
curata),  having  people  separate  from  the 
parishioners  of  other  churches  and  a  wide  and 
extensive  parish  with  limits  and  bounds  of  its 
own,  insomuch  that  its  own  parish  church 
had  abounded  in  times  past  and  did  then 
abound  with  powers,  issues,  fruits  and  revenues 
sufficient  to  maintain  a  perpetual  vicar  of  its 
own  and  to  support  all  ecclesiastical  claims 
upon  it.  Furthermore  the  parishioners  com- 
plained that  the  sacrist  of  the  priory,  to  whom 
the  issues  of  the  parish  were  committed,  had 
neglected  the  cure  of  souls  and  that  insufficient 
ministrations  were  supplied  to  the  people. 
Notwithstanding  the  espousal  of  the  cause  of 
the  appellants  by  the  provincial  court,  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  gave  judgment  in  favour  of 


3  Pat.  8  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  23. 


136 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


the  priory,  because  we  have  found,  he  said, 
after  due  examination  of  the  evidences,  that 
the  prior  and  chapter  are  well  able  to  serve 
the  church  through  their  own  chaplains 
under  the  care  and  direction  of  the  prior  for 
the  time  being,  no  other  vicar  having  been 
ever  instituted  in  the  same.1  The  parish  of 
St.  Mary  was  not  unfrequently  called  the 
parish  of  Carlisle  cathedral,2  and  the  church- 
yard or  burial  ground  around  the  church  was 
known  as  the  churchyard  of  St.  Mary's  or  the 
churchyard  of  the  canons  of  St.  Mary's,  Car- 
lisle.3 The  parish  church  remained  within 
the  cathedral,  probably  in  the  nave,  ab  antique 
as  it  was  within  living  memory,  till  1869, 
when  the  present  church  of  St.  Mary  was 
built  within  the  abbey. 

The  ownership  of  the  tithes  arising  from 
assart  lands  in  the  forest  of  Inglewood  was  a 
constant  source  of  irritation  and  dispute  be- 
tween the  bishop  and  the  priory.  It  has  been 
already  mentioned  that  these  tithes  were 
granted  by  Henry  I.  to  the  church  of  Carlisle 
and  confirmed  by  Henry  II.  In  the  division 
of  the  church  property  by  the  papal  legates, 
the  ownership  of  the  tithes  of  lands  to  be 
assarted  in  the  future  was  not  clearly  laid 
down.  Edward  I.  however  acknowledged  in 
1280  the  claim  of  the  priory  to  the  tithe  of 
venison  in  the  forest.4  The  whole  matter 
was  reviewed  in  the  king's  court  in  1290, 
when  claims  were  separately  set  up  by  the 
bishop,  prior  and  parson  of  Thursby  for  the 
tithes  of  two  places,  Linthwaite  and  Kirk- 
thwaite,  newly  assarted  in  Inglewood,  the 
king  intervening  as  owner  of  the  forest. 
Bishop  Ralf  stated  that  the  places  in  question 
were  within  the  limits  of  his  church  of 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  ff.  448-9,  452, 
454-5.  The  conflict  between  the  diocesan  and 
provincial  courts  is  very  interesting.  Bishop  Kirkby 
showed  the  people  at  York  that  he  was  master 
of  his  own  diocese.  He  not  only  rejected  the 
vicar  that  the  provincial  court  sought  to  obtrude 
into  the  parish,  but  added  a  sentence  to  his 
judgment  which  is  worthy  of  attention  :  'prefatos 
priorem  et  capitulum  ab  impeticione  dictorum 
parochianorum  et  officii  nostri  in  hac  parte  absol- 
vimus,  et  per  decretum  absolutes  dimittimus  in 
hiis  scriptis'  (ibid.  f.  452),  thus  summarily  dis- 
missing the  appeal  without  hope  of  a  future  revival 
and  ignoring  altogether  the  intervention  of  the 
metropolitan  court. 

3  In  1506  Henry,  Earl  of  Cumberland,  ac- 
counted to  the  king  for  the  enclosures  made  by 
him  in  the  parish  of  Carlisle  cathedral  witHin  the 
bounds  of  the  forest  of  Inglewood  (Inq.  p.m.  21 
Hen.  VII.  Nos.  19-39). 

*  Testamenta  Karleoleasia  (Cumb.  and  Westmld. 
Arch.  Soc.),  ii,  114-5,  1 1 8. 

»  Close,  8  Edw.  I.  m.  2. 


Aspatria  :  Henry  de  Burton  claimed  that  they 
were  situated  in  his  parish  of  Thursby  ;  the 
prior  of  Carlisle  produced  a  certain  horn  of 
ivory  (quoddam  cornu  eburneum),  by  means  of 
which,  he  said,  Henry  the  old  king  enfeoffed 
the  canons  of  Carlisle  with  the  said  tithes.5 
Ultimately  judgment  was  given  in  favour  of 
the  king's  claim,  but  in  1293  that  claim 
was  relinquished  and  the  tithes  were  re- 
granted  to  the  canons.8  From  time  to 
time  the  right  of  the  canons  was  after- 
wards disputed  by  the  king's  foresters  or  by 
the  bishop's,  but  the  position  of  the  canons  on 
inquiry  remained  unshaken.  It  was  found, 
after  inquisition  in  1330,  that  the  prior  and 
his  predecessors  were  seised  of  the  tenth 
penny  arising  from  all  extra-parochial  agist- 
ments  within  the  forest  of  Inglewood  in  the 
times  of  all  keepers  of  that  forest  by  the 
hands  of  the  receiver  of  the  issues  thereof, 
from  the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  priory 
by  grant  of  Henry  son  of  the  empress  (im- 
peratoris),  until  Henry  le  Scrop,  the  late 
keeper,  detained  the  said  tenth  penny.  The 
king  confirmed  them  in  their  possession.7  It 
was  at  this  date  that  a  long  dispute  raged 
between  Bishop  Ross  and  Prior  John  de 
Kirkby  about  the  tithes,  resulting  in  the 
excommunication  of  the  prior  and  the  death 
of  the  bishop.8  The  revival  of  litigation 
was  the  means  of  procuring  a  confirma- 
tion from  the  Crown,  in  the  shape  of  a 
notification  of  the  record  of  a  cause  between 
Edward  I.  and  Adam,  then  prior,  tried  at 
Carlisle  before  the  justices  itinerant,  on  the 
morrow  of  All  Souls,  1285,  on  a  writ  of  quo 
warranto  touching  the  following  liberties  in 
Inglewood  Forest  :  common  of  pasture  in 
right  of  their  church  for  themselves  and  their 
tenants  within  the  metes  of  the  forest :  tithes 
of  venison  and  of  hay,  pannage,  after-pan- 
nage, agistment  of  foals,  calves,  lambs,  swine, 
goats  and  other  animals,  also  of  fish  taken 
in  the  lake  of  Tarnwadling,  called  '  layke- 
brait,'  the  hides  of  all  beasts  found  dead  by 
the  foresters,  the  right  to  hunt  the  hare  and 
fox  with  their  hounds  without  the  covert,  and 
that  their  hounds  be  quit  of  expeditation  ;  the 
right  to  a  charcoal  burner  to  make  charcoal 
from  all  dead  wood  in  the  grass  and  to  such 

6  Rot.  Par/.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  37-8  ;  ii.  44-5  ; 
Ryley,  Plac.  Par!,  (ed.  1661),  49-51. 

8  Pat.  22  Edw.  I.  m.  27. 

"  Close,  4  Edw.  III.  m.  31.  There  is  a 
curious  confusion  of  Henry  I.  and  Henry  II.  in 
this  roll,  arising  no  doubt  from  the  fact,  as  pre- 
viously stated,  that  Henry  II.  inspected  and  con- 
firmed the  charter  of  the  forest  given  by  Henry  I. 
to  the  church  of  Carlisle. 

•  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Ross,  ff.  263,  266. 


II 


137 


18 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


oaks  thrown  down  by  the  wind  as  they  and 
their  servants  can,  before  others,  mark  with  an 
axe  stroke  to  the  core  :  all  which  the  canons 
claimed  by  immemorial  usage,  producing  a 
horn  which  they  said  was  given  with  the 
liberties  by  Henry  I.  the  founder  of  their 
house.  Edward  III.  also  confirmed  a  writ, 
dated  7  February  1286,  whereby  these 
liberties  were  permitted  to  the  canons  with 
the  exception  of  trees  blown  down  by  the 
wind.1  It  is  probable  that  the  horn  of  ivory 
above  mentioned  was  seen  by  Xonge  2  in  his 
heraldic  visitation  of  the  northern  counties  in 
1530,  when  he  described  it  as  a  'great  home 
of  venery,  havyng  certeyn  bondes  of  sylver 
and  gold  and  the  versus  folowyng  graven  upon, 
"  Henricus  primus  nuster  foundator  opimus  ac 
dedit  in  teste  carte  pro  jure  foreste."  :  The 
dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle  still  possess  certain 
objects  catalogued  in  the  inventories  of  the 
cathedral  furniture  as  '  one  horn  of  the  altar  in 
two  parts '  or  '  two  horns  of  the  altar,'  which 
have  given  rise  to  much  antiquarian  discussion.3 
The  property  of  the  priory,  scattered  in 
small  parcels  over  the  border  and  central 
districts  of  the  county,  was  frequently  wasted 
and  destroyed  by  the  inroads  of  the  Scots. 
Again  and  again  the  canons  petitioned  for 
redress  or  alms  on  account  of  their  poverty 
and  sufferings.  The  documentary  evidences 
of  the  fourteenth  century  are  burdened  with 
appeals  and  complaints  from  Carlisle  and  the 
other  religious  houses  describing  the  woes  and 
wrongs  perpetrated  by  the  hereditary  enemy.* 
It  would  serve  no  useful  purpose  to  recount 
the  numerous  licences  and  gifts  made  in 
response  to  such  appeals.  The  strong  walls  of 
Carlisle  were  insufficient  to  protect  their 
church  and  cloisters  from  fire  and  damage. 
In  1316,  when  the  Scots  were  particularly 
aggressive,  the  canons  petitioned  for  a  grant 
of  timber  to  renovate  their  burnt  cathedral,8 

»  Pat.  5  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  8. 

1  Visitation  of  'the  Northern  Counties,  i53o(Surtees 
Soc.),  1 02. 

3  Arch.  iii.  22—3,  v.  340-5,  where  the  horns 
so  called  are  figured  ;  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld. 
Arch.  Soc.  ii.  3  3  7-47  ;  Cat.  of  the  Arch.  Mus. 
firmed  at  Carlisle  in  1859,  p.  16. 

1  It  was  little  wonder  that  the  name  of  Robert 
Bruce,  the  cause  of  many  of  their  misfortunes, 
was  held  in  detestation  on  the  English  side  of  the 
Border.  When  Cardinal  Peter  of  Spain,  the 
papal  legate,  came  to  Carlisle,  he  preached  in  the 
cathedral  and  '  revested  himselfe  and  the  other 
bishops  which  were  present,  and  then  with  candels 
light  and  causing  the  bels  to  be  roong,  they  accursed 
in  terrible  wise  Robert  Bruce  the  usurper  of  the 
crowne  of  Scotland  with  all  his  partakers,  aiders 
and  mainteiners"  (Holinshed,  ii.  523). 

«  Anct.  Petitions,  No.  4897. 


and  complained  against  the  conduct  of  Sir 
Andrew  de  Harcla,  sheriff  of  the  county,  who 
made  a  '  fosse  '  through  the  prior's  ground 
under  the  wall  of  the  city  and  set  fire  to  all 
the  priory  houses  outside  the  walls,  which 
could  not  be  replaced  for  £100.  As  the 
damage  had  been  done  for  the  safety  of  the 
priory  as  well  as  the  town,  owing  to  the 
rigorous  necessities  of  the  siege,  the  brethren 
were  requested  to  wait  for  peace  and  the 
king  would  not  forget  their  interests.6  So 
heavily  lay  the  destroying  hand  on  the  priory 
at  this  period,  that  Edward  II.  sent  writs  to 
the  abbots  of  Leicester  and  Thornton  on 
Humber,  and  to  the  priors  of  Thurgarton, 
Bridlington,  Worksop  and  Kirkham,  each 
to  receive  into  their  houses  one  of  the  canons 
of  Carlisle  to  be  nominated  by  the  prior's 
letters  patent  and  to  maintain  him  as  one 
of  their  own  canons  until  the  priory  of 
Carlisle  was  relieved  from  its  present  state,  as 
its  goods  were  so  robbed  and  wasted  by  the 
Scottish  rebels  that  they  were  insufficient  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  canons  of  the  house.7 
It  was  a  privilege  of  the  Crown  to  exact  a 
corrody  from  all  the  religious  houses  of  royal 
foundation,  and  in  times  of  prosperity  the 
king  was  accustomed  to  demand  it  from  the 
priory  of  Carlisle.  In  1331  Richard  Cham- 
pion, in  consideration  of  his  good  service  to 
Edward  I.  and  Edward  II.,  was  sent  to  the 
convent  to  receive  such  maintenance  as  Peter 
de  Kirkosvvald,  deceased,  had  in  that  house 
at  the  request  of  the  former  king.8  But  the 
time  came  when  the  kings  were  obliged  to  re- 
linquish the  privilege.  In  1386  Richard  II., 
in  consideration  of  the  great  losses  and 
destruction  by  the  Scots,  remitted  to  the  prior 
and  convent  and  their  successors  for  ever  the 
right  of  corrody  or  maintenance,  which  his 
progenitors  were  accustomed  to  give  therein 
and  which  the  king  in  his  time  had  given  to 
John  Hobcrone.*  At  that  time  their  losses 
were  exceptionally  severe.  As  late  as  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary  it  could  be  said  that 
the  Scots  '  are  verey  cruell  at  present.' 10 

The  kings  must  have  stayed  several  times 
at  the  priory  on  their  various  visits  to  Carlisle. 
Edward  I.  was  certainly  a  guest  there  in 
August  1 306,  for  on  the  tenth  of  that  month 
he  requested  James  de  Dalilegh,  his  agent  in 
Cumberland,  to  put  the  houses  of  the  priory 
in  readiness  for  his  reception  as  he  intended 

«  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.)  iii.  100-1. 
i  Close,  10  Edw.  II.  m.  2gd. 
"   Ibid.  5  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  ;d. 
•  Pat.  10  Ric.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  18,  35. 
10  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  xii.  App.  vii.  9  (Rydal 
Hall  MSS.) 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


to  occupy  them  immediately.1  The  cloisters 
were  sometimes  utilized  as  a  storehouse  for 
the  provisions  of  the  army.  It  was  one  of 
the  complaints  against  Sir  Andrew  de  Harcla 
in  1319  that  his  brother  John  broke  through 
the  wall  of  the  '  lunge  celer '  in  the  priory 
and  the  doors  of  others,  and  took  out  twenty 
tuns  of  the  '  £lite '  of  the  king's  wine.2 

The  statue  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary 
was  a  conspicuous  figure  among  the  '  orna- 
ments '  of  the  cathedral,  as  we  should  expect 
in  a  church  entitled  in  her  name.  If  we  con- 
sider the  ecclesiastical  relation  of  the  cathedral 
to  the  diocese  we  can  in  a  measure  under- 
stand the  meaning  of  Bishop  Welton's  phrase 
when  he  spoke  of  the  people  under  his  juris- 
diction as  '  the  subjects  of  God  and  the  glori- 
ous Virgin  Mary,  His  mother,  in  whose 
honour  the  said  church  was  erected.'3  The 
cult  of  the  Virgin  was  a  devotional  instinct 
of  considerable  power  in  the  religious  life  of 
the  city  and  diocese  of  Carlisle.  In  1363 
Bishop  Appleby  obtained  from  the  pope 
indulgences  extending  over  ten  years  for 
penitents  who  visited  the  cathedral  (which 
had  been  burned)  on  the  five  feasts  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  or  who  lent  a  helping  hand 
to  the  fabric.4  When  the  Scots  were 
assaulting  Carlisle  in  the  time  of  Richard  II., 
a  woman  appeared  to  them  and  announced 
the  near  approach  of  the  king's  army,  but 
that  woman,  said  Henry  of  Knighton,6  was 
believed  to  be  the  glorious  Virgin  Mary, 
the  patroness  of  Carlisle,  who  had  often 
appeared  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  city.  In 
1380  Joan,  wife  of  John  de  Dundrawe,  be- 
queathed a  girdle  wrought  in  silver  for  the 
image  of  the  Blessed  Mary  in  the  cathedral.6 
The  prior  and  convent,  inflamed  with  the 
energy  of  pious  devotion,  made  application  to 
Bishop  Close  and  Archbishop  Kempe  in  1451 
for  an  indulgence  to  aid  them  in  procuring 
a  richly  decorated  statue  of  the  Virgin  for  the 
cathedral  of  Carlisle.  Nothing  would  satisfy 
them  short  of  an  image  or  statue  covered  with 
plates  of  silver  and  overlaid  with  gold,  gems, 
precious  stones,  and  many  other  costly  orna- 
ments, for  the  praise  of  God,  the  increase  of 
the  veneration  and  honour  of  the  most  glori- 
ous Virgin  and  for  provoking  the  devotion  of 
Christ's  faithful  people  daily  flocking  there  on 
pilgrimage.7  In  1469  John  Knoblow,  parson 

Cal.  of  Doe.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  488. 
Ibid.  iii.  127. 

Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  109. 
Cal.  of  Papal  Petitions,  i.  437. 
Twysden,  Decent  Scriptures,  col.  2675. 
Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  327. 
7  The  Priory  of  Hexham   (Surtees   Soc.),  i.  pp. 
xcvii.-xcviii. 


of  Lamplugh,  gave  a  legacy  to  the  prior  and 
convent  that  five  candles  might  be  lighted  in 
honour  of  the  five  joys  of  the  Blessed  Virgin 
in  front  of  her  image  in  the  conventual  church 
every  night  after  compline  when  the  antiphon, 
Salve  Regina,  was  sung.8  This  fervid  devo- 
tion to  sumptuous  imagery  was  general 
throughout  the  diocese  in  the  fourteenth  and 
fifteenth  centuries.9 

Though  it  was  a  special  veneration  for  the 
Blessed  Virgin  which  was  the  chief  cause  of 
making  Carlisle  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  its 
possession  of  some  relics  of  the  saints  contri- 
buted not  a  little  to  its  fame.  According  to 
a  statement  of  J.  Denton,10  Waldeve  son  of 
Earl  Gospatric  brought  from  Jerusalem  and 
Constantinople  a  bone  of  St.  Paul,  and  another 
of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  two  stones  of  Christ's 
sepulchre,  and  part  of  the  Holy  Cross,  which 
he  gave  to  the  priory.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Alan  son  of  the  said  Waldeve  gave 
the  Holy  Rood  which  was  in  their  possession 
as  late  as  the  fourteenth  century.  But  it  is 
not  stated  whether  or  not  it  was  part  of  the 
real  cross  of  our  Lord.11  Waldeve  and  Alan 
were  great  benefactors  of  the  church  of  Car- 
lisle in  various  other  ways.  As  Hugh  de 
Morvill,  one  of  the  assassins  of  Archbishop 
Becket,  had  a  family  connection  with  the 
diocese,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  some 
relics  of  the  martyr  should  find  their  way  to 
Carlisle.  In  the  early  years  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  when  John  de  Courcy  founded  an 
establishment  of  regular  canons  at  Toberglorie 
in  the  suburb  of  Downpatrick  (Dun)  in 
Ulster,  and  made  it  a  cell  of  Carlisle,  the  new 
institution  was  entitled  in  the  honour  of  St. 
Thomas  the  martyr  out  of  respect  to  the 
canons  of  the  mother  house.13  At  that  date 

8  Richmondshire  Wills  (Surtees  Soc.),  7. 

9  When  Bishop  Bell  rebuilt  the  chapel  at  Rose 
Castle  in  1489  he  purchased  three  images  at  York 
for  its  decoration  (Compotus  W.  Skelton,  MS.). 
In  1359  J°hn  Lowry  made  a  bequest  in  his  will 
for  painting  the  image  of  the  Holy  Rood  in  the 
church  of  Arthuret,  and  in  1362  Robert  de  Why- 
terigg  expressed  a  wish   to   be  buried  in  the  choir 
of  Caldbeck  before  the  image   of  St.  Mary  Mag- 
dalene (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,    ff.  60,  103). 
Richard    de    Aslacby,    vicar    of    St.    Michael's, 
Appleby,  desired  his  body  to  be  buried  coram  Cruce 
in  his  own  church,  and  Nicholas  de  Motherby 
bequeathed  the  modest  sum  of  izd.  in  1362  for 
the  use   of  the    Holy    Rood    in   the   church   of 
Soureby  (ibid.  ff.  102,  178). 

10  Cumberland,  99. 

11  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.   584-5  ;  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot. 
(Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  16. 

12  Pat.  12  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  19  ;  Dugdale,  Man. 
vi.  145.      Edward  II.  confirmed  to  the  canons  of 
Carlisle  all    those  donations   '  quas   Johannes   de 


139 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


it  is  evident  that  St.  Thomas  must  have  been 
held  in  high  esteem  in  the  church  of  Carlisle. 
At  a  later  period  we  learn  the  cause.  It  was 
in  the  cathedral  in  presence  of  Bishop  Halton 
that  Robert  Bruce  in  1297  swore  on  the  holy 
mysteries  and  on  the  sword  of  St.  Thomas  to 
be  faithful  and  vigilant  in  the  cause  of  King 
Edward.1  It  must  have  been  the  possession 
of  this  relic  that  made  so  great  an  impression 
on  that  king,  for  on  several  of  his  visits  to  the 
city  he  paid  special  veneration  to  the  memory 
of  the  saint.  In  1300  the  king  made 
his  oblations  at  the  altar  in  the  church  ot 
the  priory  in  honour  of  St.  Thomas  the 
martyr.2  At  a  later  visit  in  1307,  a  few 
weeks  before  his  death,  the  old  warrior  en- 
dowed the  canons  with  the  advowson  of  the 
church  of  Castle  Sowerby  for  the  devotion  he 
bore  to  the  glorious  Virgin  Mary  and  the 
relics  of  the  blessed  Thomas  the  martyr  and 
other  saints  which  they  had.3  In  1536, 
before  the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses, 
the  royal  commissioners  reported  that  the 
priory  had  a  portion  of  the  Holy  Cross,  the 
sword  with  which  Thomas  of  Canterbury 
was  martyred,4  and  the  girdle  of  St.  Bridget 
the  virgin. 

The  only  relics  of  the  ancient  ritual  of  the 
priory  which  have  survived  to  our  day  are  two 
copes,  one  of  which  has  been  ascribed  to  the 

Curceio  fecit  Deo  et  canonicis  regularibus  ecclesie 
predicte  de  loco  quern  fundavit  in  honore  St. 
Thome  martyris  ad  honorem  ipsorum  canonicorum 
juxta  fontem  que  vocatur  Toberglorie  in  suburbio 
de  Dun,  inter  duas  vias,  quarum  una  tendit  ad 
Crems,  alia  ad  grangiam  de  Saballo.'  No  vestige 
of  the  site  now  remains.  Robert  son  of  Troite 
forfeited  his  land  in  Cumberland  because  he  went 
into  Ireland  with  John  de  Courcy,  but  he  regained 
possession  in  1207  (Pipe  R.  9  John).  There 
is  at  least  one  church  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle, 
that  of  Farlam  in  Gillesland,  which  is  entitled  in 
the  name  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury.  At  an 
early  period  Walter  de  Wyndesoure  granted  some 
land  to  the  church  of  St.  Thomas  the  martyr  in 
Farlam,  et  sanctis  ibidem  adoratis,  a  gift  which  was 
afterwards  confirmed  by  Ranulf  de  Vaux,  lord  of 
the  fee  (Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  i.  20). 

1  Hemingburgh,  Chron.  (Engl.  Hist.  Soc.),  ii. 
129. 

*  Liber  Quot.  Contrar.  Gardenb<t  (Soc.  Antiq.), 

43- 

3  Pat.  35  Edw.  I.  m.  17. 

4  L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  x.  364.     Denton,  who 
died   in    1617,  said  that  '  the  sword  that  killed 
St.  Thomas  was  at  Ishall  in  my  father's  time   and 
since   remaineth    with    the    house    of    Arundel ' 
{Cumberland,  68).     It  was  probably  brought  from 
the  priory  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution  to  Isell  by 
Dr.  Legh,  the   royal  commissioner  for  the   view- 
ing of  religious  houses,  who  was  a  cousin  of  John 
Legh  of  that  place  (ibid.  v.  1447,  vi.  1346). 


fifteenth  century  and  the  other  to  the  six- 
teenth. The  older  vestment  has  richly  em- 
broidered orfrays  with  representations  of  the 
saints,  and  the  other  is  of  cloth  of  gold.  In  a 
seventeenth  century  inventory  of  '  things  to 
be  provided,  corrected,  ordered  and  done  in 
the  cathedral  church  of  Carlisle  and  about  its 
revenues,'  it  was  directed  '  that  the  two  copes 
be  mended  and  worn  by  the  Epistler  and 
Gospeller.'  The  date  of  the  inventory 
appears  to  be  1685-6.  How  long  after  they 
continued  to  be  worn  at  Carlisle  is  not 
known.8 

The  revenues  of  the  priory  varied  greatly 
from  time  to  time  according  to  the  peaceful 
or  disturbed  state  of  the  border.  The  value 
of  the  temporalities  in  1291,  which  may  be 
taken  as  a  normal  period,  was  assessed  by  the 
commissioners  of  Pope  Nicholas  IV.  at  £96 
19*.  ;  whereas  in  1319,  after  the  devasta- 
tions of  the  Scottish  wars,  the  value  had  fallen 
to  ^2O.6  The  spiritualities,  consisting  chiefly 
of  tithes  and  pensions,  would  fluctuate  in  a 
corresponding  proportion.  The  prior  con- 
tributed £4.  to  the  subsidy  granted  by  the 
clergy  of  Carlisle  to  Richard  II.  in  1379,  the 
value  of  his  benefice  having  been  assessed  at 
jT20O  ;  each  of  the  eleven  canons  contributed 
35.  4</.7  In  the  valuation  of  1535  the  gross 
value  of  the  spiritualities  was  set  down  at  ^332 
5*.  iod.,  and  the  temporalities  at  £150  2s.  3^., 
which  make  a  total  of  £482  8s.  id.  The  neces- 
sary outgoings  in  Crown  and  manorial  rents, 
pensions,  ecclesiastical  payments,  alms,  and 
fees  to  civil  officials,  amounted  to  £64  4*.  8^., 
leaving  a  net  revenue  of  £4 1 8  3*.  \d?  The 
alms  exacted  of  the  canons  by  ordination  or 
foundation  are  of  the  greatest  interest.  The 
schedule  enumerates9  stated  sums  by  ordination 

6  These  copes  were  described  in  detail  by  Chan- 
cellor Ferguson  in  1885  (Trans.  Cumb.  andWestmld. 
Arch.  Soc.  viii.  233-6).  The  manuscript  book 
belonging  to  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle,  in 
which  the  inventory  is  recorded,  is  entitled,  '  A 
perfect  Rental  of  all  Rents  due  and  payable  to  the 
dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle,  A.D.  1685—6.' 
Henry  Lord  Scrope  and  Bishop  Barnes  were  com- 
missioned in  1572  to  search  the  diocese  of  Carlisle 
for  vestments,  copes,  etc.,  which  had  been  con- 
cealed (S.P.  Dam.  Elizabeth,  Add.  xxi.  65).  The 
copes  shown  at  Durham  Cathedral  were  regularly 
worn  during  the  communion  service  by  preben- 
daries and  minor  canons  until  the  time  of  War- 
burton  (Raine,  North  Durham,  94  ;  Stuart.  Rev. 
xxxii.  273).  Accounts  agree  that  the  copes 
ceased  to  be  used  at  Durham  about  1780. 

6  Pope  Nich.  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  3zob,  333b. 

»  Exch.  Cler.  Sub.  Dioc.  of  Carl.  bdle.  60,  No.  I. 

8  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  275-6. 

»  Bishop  Walter's  gift  of  Old  Salkeld  in  1230 
is  omitted  from  this  enumeration.  For  the  health 


140 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


of  Henry  I.,  the  founder  of  the  priory,  and 
Maud  his  queen,  for  the  souls  of  themselves 
and  their  successors  :  by  ordination  of  William 
Strickland,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  a  solemn  obit  for  himself  annually  and 
for  priests  celebrating  for  his  soul :  by  ordi- 
nation of  Bishop  Marmaduke  Lumley,  for  a 
wax  candle  to  be  continually  burning  before 
the  most  venerable  sacrament  of  the  Eucharist 
in  their  church  for  ever  :  by  ordination  of 
Bishop  Gilbert  Welton  for  a  solemn  obit 
celebrated  for  him  and  for  priests  celebrating 
annually  :  by  ordination  of  Edward  IV.  given 
to  three  bedells  annually  :  by  ordination  of 
the  same  king  to  priests  celebrating  for  the 
souls  of  himself,  Elizabeth  his  consort,  and 
all  his  successors1  :  and  by  ordination  of  Sir 
Gilbert  Ogle,  lord  of  Ogle,3  for  an  annual 
obit.  Of  the  monastic  houses  in  the  county, 
the  priory  of  Carlisle  ranked  after  the  abbey 
of  Holmcultram  in  point  of  revenues.  These 
two  houses,  having  incomes  of  more  than 
£200  a  year,  were  reckoned  among  the  greater 
monasteries,  and  thus  escaped  the  first  dissolu- 
tion. 

After  the  canons  had  obtained  the  privilege 
of  electing  their  own  superiors,  they  usually 
made  choice  of  one  of  their  body  to  fill  the 
office.  Almost  all  the  priors  of  Carlisle  were 
north-country  men  ;  several  of  them,  like 
Adam  de  Warthwyk,  William  de  Dalston, 
Thomas  de  Hoton,  Simon  Senhouse,  and 
Lancelot  Salkeld,  are  known  to  have  belonged 
to  families  of  distinction  in  Cumberland.  As 
the  election  of  the  bishop  was  vested  in  the 
chapter,  the  way  was  open  for  a  canon  of 
Carlisle  to  obtain  the  highest  ecclesiastical 
position.  Perhaps  it  is  to  this  consideration 
that  we  owe  the  social  status  of  the  families 
from  which  the  priors  of  Carlisle  were  re- 


of  the  soul  of  King  John  and  W.,  father  of  the 
bishop,  he  gave  to  the  priory  all  his  holding  in 
'  Old  Salkhil,'  in  free  alms,  for  the  support  of  two 
regular  canons,  one  to  celebrate  mass  for  the  soul 
of  Henry  III.  and  the  other  to  do  likewise  for  the 
said  bishop  and  his  successors  (Chart.  R.  14  Hen. 
III.  pt.  ii.  m.  7). 

1  The  revenues  of  the  hospital  of  St.  Nicholas 
by  Carlisle  were  granted  to  the  priory  and  convent 
in  1477  by  Edward  IV.,  on  the  condition  that 
they  should  find  a  canon  priest,  to  be  called  the 
king's  chaplain,  to  celebrate  masses  and  other 
divine  services  in  the  monastery  for  the  good 
estate  of  the  king,  and  his  consort  Elizabeth,  and 
their  children,  and  for  their  souls  after  death  (Pat. 
17  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  1 6). 

'  Sir  Robert  Ogle  and  Isabel  his  wife  gave  land 
in  Thursby  with  the  advowson  and  patronage  of 
the  church  to  the  prior  and  canons  regular  of 
Carlisle  in  1468  (Pat.  8  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  23). 


cruited.  In  the  neighbouring  priory  of  Laner- 
cost,  a  house  of  the  same  religious  order,  no 
such  family  distinction  is  observable.  It  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  suggest  that  some  of  the 
bishops,  like  Halton,  Kirkby  and  Appleby, 
had  been  previously  members  of  the  cathedral 
chapter.  Had  the  choice  of  the  canons  been 
always  unfettered  and  had  their  elections  been 
uncontrolled  by  the  political  necessities  of  the 
Crown  or  the  growing  arrogance  of  the  papacy, 
the  number  of  bishops  of  Carlisle  trained  in 
their  own  house  would  have  been  much 
greater.  It  amounted  almost  to  a  scandal 
that  Prior  John  de  Horncastle,  who  had  been 
elected  bishop  by  the  chapter  in  1352  and 
confirmed  by  the  king,  should  have  been 
ousted  from  the  bishopric  by  a  papal  intrigue 
before  his  consecration.  In  other  ways  also 
preferment  was  open  to  the  canons.  In 
1273  Geoffrey  de  Stok,  canon  of  Carlisle,  was 
appointed  abbot  of  St.  Patrick's,  Saul,  on  the 
nomination  of  the  Bishop  of  Down,  with  the 
counsel  and  consent  of  the  king's  lieutenant 
in  Ireland.8 

The  priors  of  Carlisle  were  frequently  em- 
ployed in  secular  affairs  as  the  occasions  of 
state  demanded.  In  the  great  controversy 
about  the  hereditary  claims  of  the  royal  line 
of  Scotland  over  the  northern  counties,  the 
prior  was  appointed  one  of  the  king's  assessors 
in  1242,  for  the  purpose  of  assigning  60 
librates  of  land  in  Cumberland  to  King  Alex- 
ander towards  a  settlement,  with  instructions 
to  return  the  '  extent '  in  writing  under  his 
seal  that  the  king  might  know  of  what  the 
allotments  consisted.*  It  is  not  necessary  to 
pass  in  review  the  various  posts  of  trust  they 
were  called  upon  to  fulfil  from  time  to  time 
in  the  civil  administration  of  the  district. 
The  prior  of  Carlisle  was  found  a  convenient 
coadjutor  or  substitute  for  the  sheriff,  either 
as  paymaster  or  overseer  of  the  various  re- 
pairs and  alterations  required  in  maintaining 
the  fortifications  of  an  important  frontier 
town.5  In  1524  a  commission  was  issued 
to  Thomas  Lord  Dacre,  the  prior  of  Carlisle, 
Sir  Christopher  Moresby  and  Richard  Salkeld 
to  settle  disputes  which  had  arisen  between  the 
subjects  of  the  two  kingdoms  relative  to  the 
fishgarths  of  the  river  Esk.8  Up  to  the  very 
last  the  priors  of  Carlisle  were  found  useful 
agents  in  forwarding  the  civil  and  philanthropic 
interests  of  the  community. 

»  Pat.  i  Edw.  I.  m.  4. 

«  Ibid.  26  Hen.  III.  m.  7d. 

*  Close,  10  Edw.  II.  m.  25  ;  7  Edw.  III. 
pt.  i.  m.  II  ;  12  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  19  ;  Pat. 
2  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  8  ;  4  Ric.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  26. 

«  B.M.  Cott.  MS.  Caligula,  B.  v.  69. 


141 


A   HISTORY    OF   CUMBERLAND 


Adelulf  is  reputed  by  a  venerable  tradi- 
tion to  have  been  prior  of  Carlisle  when  the 
bishopric  was  founded  in  1133.  The  state- 
ment was  accepted  as  early  as  the  fourteenth 
century.  On  17  September  1343  a  return 
was  made  by  the  prior  and  chapter  of  Carlisle 
of  the  succession  of  the  bishops  of  the  see,  as 
far  as  it  could  be  ascertained  from  the  chron- 
icles and  ancient  books  in  their  possession,  at 
the  request  of  the  prior  and  convent  of  Conis- 
head,  with  the  view  of  settling  some  dispute 
about  the  church  of  Orton  in  Westmorland 
which  had  been  appropriated  to  the  latter 
house.  In  that  return  it  was  stated  on  the 
evidence  then  at  their  disposal  that  Adelulf, 
prior  of  Carlisle,  was  consecrated  Bishop  of 
Carlisle  in  the  year  1133.*  If  that  be  the 
case,  he  is  the  first  prior  on  record,  but  we 
have  not  discovered  his  name  in  any  con- 
temporary document. 

Walter,  prior  of  Carlisle,  was  a  prominent 
figure  in  some  notable  functions  of  great  in- 
terest in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  the  dis- 
trict. With  Bishop  Adelulf  he  witnessed 
the  foundation  charter  of  the  abbey  of  Holm- 
cultram  on  I  January  1150,  and  was  also 
present  at  the  courts  of  David  I.  and  Mal- 
colm IV.  when  the  said  charter  was  con- 
firmed.8 When  Robert  de  Vaux  founded 
the  priory  of  Lanercost  about  the  year  1169, 
Prior  Walter  of  Carlisle  witnessed  the  char- 
ter.3 These  two  events  are  of  considerable 
importance  in  fixing  the  exact  period  in 

1  Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  A,  No.  416.  The 
deed  which  has  been  printed  in  the  Reg.  of  Wether- 
M(Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.),  pp.  417-8, 
goes  on  to  state  that  to  Bishop  Adelulf  succeeded 
immediately  afterwards  (foitea  immediate)  Bernard 
and  then  Hugh,  who  died  in  1233,  in  whose 
time  Bartholomew,  prior  of  Carlisle,  with  the  con- 
sent of  his  chapter,  confirmed  the  church  of 
'  Overton  in  Westmeria '  to  the  prior  and  convent 
of '  Coningeshevid.'  The  errors  and  misstatements 
in  this  portion  of  the  return  are  manifest,  for 
Bishop  Bernard  did  not  succeed  immediately  after 
Bishop  Adelulf,  inasmuch  as  the  see  was  vacant 
for  nearly  fifty  years  between  the  two  episcopates, 
and  Bishop  Hugh  died  in  1223,  not  in  1233. 
The  appropriation  of  the  church  of  Orton  to  the 
priory  of  Conishead  by  licence  of  Bishop  Hugh  is 
still  on  record.  The  witnesses  of  the  deed  were 
Bartholomew),  prior  of  Carlisle  ;  Thomas  son  of 
John,  then  sheriff  of  Cumberland  ;  Hugh  de 
Plessiz,  constable  of  Carlisle  ;  William  de  Yrebi  ; 
Master  A(dam)  de  Kirkebi,  official  of  Carlisle  ; 
Adam  de  Aspatric,  dean  of  Carlisle  ;  and  Alan  de 
Caldebec,  dean  of  Allerdale  (Duchy  of  Lane. 
Chart.  Box  A.  No.  412). 

a  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff,  221-3  ;  Dug- 
dale,  Mm.  v.  594 ;  Chron.  ofMelrose,  in  ann.  1150; 
Hoveden,  Chron.  i.  2 1 1  (Rolls  Ser.) 

3  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  i.  I. 


which  this  prior  lived.  Walter  witnessed  two 
charters  of  Alan  son  of  Waldeve,  by  which  he 
granted  land  in  '  Scadebuas '  and  '  Goseford  ' 
to  the  monks  of  St.  Bees.4  He  must  have 
lived  for  some  time  after  1169,  for  he  wit- 
nessed several  subsequent  charters  to  the 
priory  of  Lanercost  granted  by  Robert  de 
Vaux  and  others  of  that  neighbourhood.5 
His  name  is  also  found  in  connection  with 
several  deeds  in  the  monastic  registers  of 
Wetheral  and  Whitby.6  It  is  usually  main- 
tained that  Prior  Walter  is  the  same  person  as 
Walter  the  priest  who  endowed  the  priory  of 
Carlisle  with  all  his  possessions  before  he  took 
the  religious  habit  in  that  house,  but  no  such 
supposition  can  be  entertained  without  vio- 
lence to  chronology. 

Gilbert,  prior  of  Carlisle,  made  a  composi- 
tion with  Robert  de  Vaux  in  the  presence 
of  Robert,  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle,  renouncing 
the  right  which  his  convent  claimed  in  the 
churches  of  Irthington  and  Brampton.  He 
also  witnessed  a  charter  of  David  son  of 
Terry  and  Robert  son  of  Asketill  to  the 
priory  of  Lanercost  on  the  church  of  Denton 
and  the  hermitage  which  Leising  held.7 

John  appears  to  have  been  prior  of  Carlisle 
for  a  considerable  period,  as  his  name  is  often 
found  in  local  evidences  of  the  reigns  of 
Richard  I.  and  John.  In  the  monastic  regis- 
ters of  Holmcultram,  Lanercost  and  Wetheral 
there  are  recorded  several  deeds  to  which  he 
is  mentioned  either  as  a  party  or  a  witness.8 
John  was  prior  when  the  convent  of  Carlisle 
leased  '  Waytecroft '  to  Thomas  son  of  Gospa- 
tric,  and  quit-claimed  the  tithes  of  Scotby  to 
the  priory  of  Wetheral.  With  a  number  of 
Cumberland  men,  he  was  present  at  Winches- 
ter in  1194  when  King  Richard  granted  Old 
Salkeld  to  Adam,  cook  of  Queen  Eleanor,  for 
his  good  services.9  In  1196  Prior  John  had 
come  to  an  agreement  with  Henry  de  Wich- 
enton  about  the  third  part  of  the  church  of 
Lowther,  and  a  similar  agreement  was  arrived 
at  between  him  and  Ralf  de  Bray  in  1204 
with  respect  to  the  church  of  RoclifFe.10 

«  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  MS.  ff.  3lb,  132  (Harl.  MS. 

434)- 

»  Reg.   of  Lanercost,  MS.   i.   9,   14  ;  u.   18  ; 

v.  3  ;  viii.  5. 

6  Reg.  ofWetherbal  (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.),  63,  80,  86,  loo-i,  no  ;  Whitby  Chartul. 
(Surtees  Soc.),  i.  38. 

'  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  5  ;  iii.  1 3. 

"  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  f.  35  ;  Reg.  of 
Lanercost,  MS.  ii.  1 2  ;  v.  4  ;  viii.  2-4  ;  Reg.  of 
Wetherhal  (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.),  69, 

176,  212,  2l8. 

»  Cart.  Antiq.  F.  14  ;  Rymer,  Faedera,  i.  63. 
10  Pedes  Finium  (Pipe  R.  Soc.),  7  &  8  Ric.  I.  No. 
128  ;  ibid.  (Rec.  Com.),  Cumberland,  pp.  7-8. 


142 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


The  priory  was  vacant  on  6  May  1214,  when 
the  king  bestowed  the  latter  church  on  Odo  de 
Ledreda  his  clerk.1 

In  the  summer  of  1214  four  canons  of 
Carlisle  were  deputed  to  carry  the  record  of 
the  election  of  a  new  prior  for  the  confirma- 
tion of  King  John.2  On  25  August  in  that 
year  the  king  informed  the  archdeacon  of 
Carlisle  by  letters  close  that  Brother  Henry, 
canon  of  Merton,  was  canonically  and  with 
his  assent  elected  to  the  priory  of  Carlisle  and 
had  done  homage  :  he  was  to  be  admitted 
without  delay  to  the  office.3  The  Chronicle 
of  Lanercost,  which  gives  his  name  as  Henry 
de  Mareis,  adds  that  the  appointment  re- 
ceived papal  confirmation  in  November  1214.* 
After  the  death  of  Bishop  Bernard,  Prior 
Henry  confirmed  the  appropriation  of  the 
church  of  Crosby  Ravensworth  made  by  that 
bishop  to  the  abbey  of  Whitby,5  and  did  a 
similar  service  to  the  priory  of  Lanercost 
in  respect  of  certain  of  their  churches.8 

Bartholomew  was  prior  during  some  por- 
tions of  the  episcopate  of  Bishops  Hugh  and 
Walter.  He  was  not  only  a  witness  to  the 
charter  whereby  the  former  bishop  confirmed 
the  spiritual  possessions  of  the  priory  of  Laner- 
cost, but  also  granted  a  charter  to  the  same 
effect  on  behalf  of  the  convent  of  Carlisle.7 
This  prior  did  a  similar  service  to  the  abbey 
of  Whitby  8  in  respect  of  the  church  of 
Crosby  Ravensworth  in  Westmorland.  He 
witnessed  a  charter  which  Bishop  Hugh 
granted  to  the  priory  of  Wetheral,  confirm- 
ing to  the  monks  the  churches  of  St.  Michael 
and  St.  Laurence,  Appleby  ;  9  and  in  com- 
pany with  Bishop  Walter  and  Archdeacon 

1  Rot.  Chart.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  zo6b.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  year  of  the  vacancy  was  1214. 

2  Rot.  Lift.  Claus.  (Rec.  Com.),  16  John,  i.  p. 


3  Ibid.  211,  2  lib. 

*  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  14.     It  is  probable  that 
Prior  Henry  was  a  brother  or  relative  of  Richard 
de    Mareis,    the    notorious    chancellor    of   King 
John,  afterwards    Bishop   of    Durham.     Richard 
had  been  Archdeacon  of  Richmond  and  North- 
umberland in  1213,  when  the  king  conferred  on 
him  a  canonry  of  York  (Rot.  Lift.  Pat.  John  [Rec. 
Com.]    105).     The  same  person  is  also  found  act- 
ing as  official  of  Carlisle  in  Bishop  Bernard's  time 
(Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  3,  4).     Merton  was 
an  Augustinian  priory  in  Surrey. 

8  Hist.  MSS.  Com.,  Rep.  xii.  App.  vii.  322 
(Rydal  Hall  MSS.)  ;  Chart.  of  Whitby  (Surtees  Soc.), 
i.  43.  In  the  latter  reference  Canon  Atkinson  has 
called  him  Prior  Hugh  in  error. 

6  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  4. 

*  Ibid.  viii.  7,  8. 

8  Whitby  Chart.  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  45-6,  262. 

*  Reg.  ofWetherhal,  53-5,  67-8,  118,  etc. 


Gervase  he  was  a  witness  to  the  charter  of 
Ivo  de  Vipont,  granting  lands  in  Alston  to 
the  priory  of  Hexham.10  He  also  confirmed 
a  charter  of  Bishop  Hugh  to  the  abbey  of 
Newminster,11  and  witnessed  the  licence  given 
by  the  same  bishop  to  the  priory  of  Conis- 
head  to  appropriate  the  church  of  Orton  in 
Westmorland.12  Prior  Bartholomew  died  in 

I23I.1J 

Ralf  Barri,  nephew  of  Bishop  Walter,  suc- 
ceeded Bartholomew  in  1231  and  ruled  the 
priory  till  his  death  on  9  February  1247." 
When  Bishop  Walter  confirmed  the  church 
of  Burgh-by-Sands  to  the  abbey  of  Holm- 
cultram  on  12  April  1234  Prior  Ralf  and 
Archdeacon  Gervase  were  witnesses  to  the 
charter.  The  same  prior  afterwards  issued  a 
charter  to  the  same  effect  on  behalf  of  the 
convent  of  Carlisle.18  With  Bishop  Walter 
and  William,  prior  of  Wetheral,  he  wit- 
nessed the  charter  whereby  Roland  de  Vaux 
granted  certain  land  of  his  fee  in  Treverman 
to  the  canons  of  Lanercost  for  the  soul  of 
Robert  de  Vaux  his  brother.18  In  1235-6 
Ralf  de  Duffeld  and  Emma  his  wife  brought  a 
suit  in  the  king's  court  against  Bishop  Walter 
and  Prior  Ralf  for  an  unjust  ejectment  from 
their  free  tenement  in  Sebergham,  which 
had  been  previously  bestowed  on  Prior  Ralf 
by  William  Wasthose,  father  of  the  said 
Emma.17  About  the  same  period  the  dispute 
between  this  prior  and  the  abbey  of  Holm- 
cultram  about  the  tithe  of  fish  caught  in  the 
river  Eden  was  submitted  to  the  adjudication 
of  Walter,  Bishop  of  Carlisle.18  Prior  Ralf 
was  a  party  to  several  deeds  and  leases  belong- 
ing to  the  priory  of  Wetheral.18 

When  Robert  succeeded  in  1247  tne  cus" 
tody  of  the  lands  of  John  de  Vipont  was 
delivered  to  him  on  the  same  condition 
as  Ralf  his  predecessor  had  held  it,  the 
lands  having  been  taken  into  the  king's  hand 
by  reason  of  the  death  of  the  said  Ralf, 
prior  of  Carlisle.20  On  22  October  1248 

10  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  ii.  120-1. 

11  Newminster  Cartul.  (Surtees  Soc.),  216—7. 
11  Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  A,  No.  412. 
"  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  41. 
»  Ibid.  41,  53. 

«  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  17,  1 8. 
16  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  ii.  21  ;  v.  2  ;  vii.  1 8. 
»  Bracton't  Note  Book   (ed.  F.  W.   Maitland), 
No.  1153;  Plac.  de  Quo  Warr.  (Rec.  Com.),  125. 

18  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  20-1  ;  Harl. 
MS.  3891,  f.  29b. 

19  Reg.  ofWetherhal,  182,  200,  205-6,  etc. 

20  Rot.  Orig.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  10.     This  prior  is 
called  Robert  de  Morvill  by  some  writers,  but  no 
contemporary  authority  for  the  surname  has  been 
found. 


143 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Bishop  Silvester  of  Carlisle  and  Robert,  prior 
of  the  same,  gave  a  bond  to  the  prior  and 
convent  of  Durham  that  they  should  be  held 
free  of  cost  and  expense  if  they  would  con- 
firm the  appropriation  of  the  churches  of 
Newcastle,  Newburn,  Warkworth,  Cor- 
bridge  and  a  moiety  of  Whittingham,  which 
Bishop  Nicholas  of  Durham  had  made  to  the 
church  of  Carlisle  on  the  ordination  of  Masters 
William  de  Kilkenny,  Archdeacon  of  Coven- 
try ;  Thomas  de  Wymundeham,  precentor  of 
Lichfield  ;  Odo  de  Kilkenny  and  Walter  de 
Merton,  clerks.1  Robert  was  prior  on  2  Sep- 
tember 1249,  when  the  ordination  already  re- 
ferred to  was  made  between  Bishop  Silvester 
and  the  priory  about  the  final  redistribution 
of  the  property  of  the  church  of  Carlisle. 

Robert  had  ceased  to  be  prior  about  1258. 
On  17  December  1258  Pope  Alexander  IV. 
issued  a  mandate  to  the  priors  of  Hexham, 
Lanercost  and  Wetheral,  on  the  petition  of 
the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle,  to  inquire 
about  the  conduct  of  Robert,  a  canon,  then 
prior,  who,  submitting  to  the  bishop's  visita- 
tion, and  thinking  that  on  account  of  his 
excesses  he  was  about  to  be  removed,  re- 
signed ;  on  which  the  bishop  ordered  him  to 
reside  in  the  church  of  Corbridge  in  North- 
umberland with  one  canon  at  least,  and  to 
pay  from  its  proceeds  40  marks  a  year  to  the 
prior  and  chapter,  keeping  the  rest,  which 
was  estimated  to  amount  to  90  marks,  for 
their  sustentation.  The  Bishop  of  Durham 
admitted  Robert  to  the  said  church  by  order 
of  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  on  the  petition  of 
the  convent  whose  church  it  was.  But  the 
new  vicar  of  Corbridge  broke  out  into  disso- 
lute living,  and  was  likely  to  perish,  placed  as 
he  was  outside  all  discipline.  The  pope 
ordered  the  priors,  if  the  facts  were  found  as 
stated,  to  cause  Robert  to  return  to  his  clois- 
ter and  to  remain  there  under  his  prior's 
obedience.1 

The  names  of  Adam  de  Felton  and  Alan 
are  usually  introduced  after  Robert  de  Morville 
in  lists  of  the  priors  of  Carlisle,  but  no  reasons 

1  By  the  kindness  of  Canon  Greenwell  this  deed, 
now  in  possession  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Dur- 
ham, has  been  perused  by  the  writer.  The  seals  of 
the  bishop  and  priory  are  in  a  fair  state  of  preserva- 
tion. The  legend  on  the  bishop's  seal  :  +  SILVES- 
TER DEI  GRA  KA  .  .  .  LEOLENSIS  EPISCOPVS.  The 

counterseal  :  +TE  ROGO  VIRGO  REGI  sis  VIGIL  ERGO 
GREGI.  The  legend  on  the  seal  of  the  priory  is 
very  much  mutilated  :  +  .  .  .  LESIE  SANCTE 
MARI  .  .  .  EOLI.  The  deed  is  endorsed  :  '  Obli- 
gacio  Episcopi  et  Prioris  Karln'  de  indempnitate 
confirmacionis  ecclesiarum  eorundem  in  proprios 
usus.' 

*  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  361-2. 


have  been  given  for  their  adoption.  As 
Nicolson  and  Burn  3  have  apparently  followed 
the  list  of  Hugh  Todd,4  these  priors  should 
be  received  with  the  greatest  suspicion  till 
some  evidence  is  put  forward  to  establish 
their  titles. 

John,  prior,  and  the  convent  of  Carlisle, 
confirmed,  on  15  May  1263,  an  ordination 
made  by  Bishop  Robert  de  Chause  between 
Isabel,  prioress  of  Marrick,  and  Ralf  de 
Kirkandres,  chaplain,  with  respect  to  the 
church  of  Kirkandrews  on  Eden.5 

Robert  was  prior  of  Carlisle  on  27  Decem- 
ber 1278,  when  the  convent  elected  Ralf, 
prior  of  Gisburne,  to  be  Bishop  of  Carlisle.8 
On  16  July  1282  Bishop  Ralf  de  Ireton  con- 
firmed the  appropriation  of  the  church  of 
Addingham  with  its  chapel  of  Salkeld  to  him 
and  the  convent,  the  advowson  of  which  had 
been  granted  by  Christiane,  widow  of  Robert 
de  Brus.  The  prior  and  canons  had  peti- 
tioned for  the  licence  on  the  ground  of  the 
extraordinary  burdens  the  cathedral  church 
had  to  bear  by  reason  of  its  geographical  posi- 
tion and  the  frequent  concourse  of  clergy  and 
people  in  confinio  duarum  regionum?  On 
24  April  1283  Prior  Robert  confirmed  a  pen- 
sion to  Adam  de  Coupland,  clerk,  by  grant 
of  the  same  bishop.  At  a  subsequent  period 
it  was  stated  that  Robert  had  vacated  the 
priory  by  resignation  at  a  time  when  the 
house  was  in  a  good  financial  condition.8 

The  next  prior  was  named  Adam,  against 
whom  Edward  I.  in  1285  issued  a  writ  of  quo 
•warranto  touching  certain  liberties  which  the 
priory  claimed  in  Inglewood  Forest.9  The 
full  name  of  the  prior  afterwards  appears  as 
Adam  de  Warthwyk.  In  1287  this  prior 
confirmed  the  taxation  of  Walton  vicarage 
ordained  by  Bishop  Ralf  de  Ireton  for  the 

»  Hist.  ofCumb.  ii.  301. 

«  Nofiiia  Eccl.  Cathed.  Carl.  (ed.  R.  S.  Fer- 
guson), 4. 

6  Coll.  Topog.  et  Gen.  v.  235-6,  where  four  most 
interesting  deeds  are  set  out  at  length.  In  Todd's 
list  the  names  of  John  de  Halton,  afterwards 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  John  de  Kendal  are  men- 
tioned among  the  priors  about  this  date  (Notitia 
Eccl.  Cathed.  Carl.  4)  ;  but  Todd's  list  is  intoler- 
able. 

8  Chan.  Eccl.  Pet.  for  Elections,  24  June  1278, 
file  6  ;  Dep.  Keeper's  Rep.  vi.  App.  p.  94. 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  ff.  181-2  ;  Letters 
from  the  Northern  Reg.  (Rolls  Ser.),  251-2. 

s  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  ff.  14,  43.  With 
Nicholas  de  Lewelin,  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle,  he 
witnessed  a  grant  of  Maud  de  Vaux  in  her 
widowhood  to  the  priory  of  Lanercost  (Reg.  of 
Lanercost,  MS.  x.  7). 

»  Cal.  of  Pat.  1330-4,  pp.  1 1 1-2. 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


priory  of  Lanercost,1  and  in  1303  did  a  simi- 
lar service  to  the  abbey  of  St.  Mary,  York, 
by  confirming  the  appropriation  of  the  church 
of  Bromfield  to  that  monastery.2  His  name 
is  inscribed  on  the  famous  Ragman  Roll3  of 
1 296  as  Adam  '  prior  de  Cardoyl  del  counte 
de  Are,'  a  county  in  which  the  priory  prob- 
ably had  some  property.  At  the  bishop's 
visitation  in  1300  he  heard  some  grievous 
complaints  against  the  prior's  negligent  ad- 
ministration of  the  house,  and  delivered  a 
code  of  drastic  injunctions*  for  a  speedy  re- 
formation. These  injunctions  have  been  al- 
ready referred  to.  Adam  de  Warthwyk  re- 
signed the  priory  of  his  own  free  will  and 
accord  on  18  September  1304,  when  a  very 
liberal  pension  and  ample  privileges  were 
conceded  to  him,  because  he  was  a  cadet  of 
a  noble  family  in  the  diocese  (quta  a  magnati- 
bus  et  personis  nobilibus  nostre  diocesis  procreatus 
et  oriundus).  He  had  been  forty  years  a 
canon  and  twenty  years  and  more  prior  of 
the  house.  The  pension  was  decreed  by 
Bishop  Halton  with  the  unanimous  consent 
of  the  chapter.5 

William  de  Hautewysil  was  prior  for  only 
four  years,  as  he  resigned  on  28  September 
1308.  On  the  same  day  licence  was  obtained 
by  Robert  the  sub-prior  for  the  canons  to 
elect  a  successor.8 

On  the  cession  of  the  last  prior,  Robert  de 
Helpeston  was  canonically  elected,  and  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  having  examined  the  re- 
cord of  the  election  and  found  that  it  had 
been  conducted  according  to  the  decrees  of 
the  holy  fathers,  confirmed  him  in  the  priory 
on  I  October  13087  On  the  same  day  a 
mandate  was  sent  to  the  official  of  the  diocese 
to  induct  and  install  him.  In  1320  Prior 
Robert  demised  to  Robert  de  la  Ferte  a  mes- 
suage, 13  acres  of  land  and  2  acres  of  meadow 
in  Salkeld,  lands  which  were  afterwards  for- 
feited by  the  adherence  of  Robert  de  la 
Ferte  to  the  Scots  and  delivered  back  to  the 
priory.8 

Simon  de  Hautwysell  succeeded,  but  died 
after  a  short  incumbency.  On  13  July  1325, 
Roger,  the  sub-prior,  and  the  chapter  of  Car- 
lisle petitioned  the  bishop  for  his  licence  to 
elect  a  successor,  William  de  Hurworth,  a 

1  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  xi.  3. 

8  Add.  Chart.  17155,  17156. 

»  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  208. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  43.  In  the  same 
year  he  confirmed  a  pension  of  £40  granted  by 
Bishop  Halton  to  John  de  Drokensford,  king's 
clerk,  from  the  issues  of  the  manor  of  Horncastle 
(ibid.  f.  49). 

«  Ibid.  f.  80.     «  Ibid.  £113.     7   Ibid.  f.  114. 

•  Cal.  of  Close,  i33°-3>  P-  357- 


canon  of  the  house,  being  the  bearer  of  the 
petition.  As  Bishop  Ross  had  just  been  con- 
secrated, the  canons  had  previously  sent  him 
a  laudatory  letter  informing  him  that  the  re- 
ceipt of  the  papal  bulls  announcing  his  ap- 
pointment to  the  see  of  Carlisle  had  filled 
their  breasts  with  ineffable  joy.9 

It  is  said  that  William  de  Hurworth  was 
the  next  prior,  but  we  have  not  succeeded  in 
finding  any  good  authority  for  the  statement. 
In  fact  the  evidences  are  against  it,  inasmuch 
as  his  name  is  found  as  a  canon  of  the  house 
for  many  years  during  subsequent  priorates.10 
On  8  February  1329  Thomas  Peytefyn, 
chaplain,  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of 
Edenhall,  which  was  in  the  king's  gift  by 
reason  of  the  priory  of  Carlisle  being  in  his 
hand.11  We  know  for  certain  that  John  de 
Kirkby  was  prior  in  1330,  and  that  Bishop 
Ross  issued  an  excommunication  against  him 
on  3  January  1330-1  for  failing  to  pay  the 
papal  tenth  granted  to  John  XXII.  by  the 
clergy  of  Carlisle.13  About  this  time  there 
was  a  long  and  bitter  dispute  between  the 
bishop  and  the  priory  as  to  the  tithe  of  assart 
lands  in  the  forest  of  Inglewood  which  was 
ultimately  referred  to  the  secular  courts.13 
The  controversy  was  brought  to  a  sudden 
termination  by  the  death  of  Bishop  Ross  and 
the  elevation  of  Prior  Kirkby  to  fill  his 
place.  When  William  de  Hurworth  and 

9  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.  Ross,  ff.  268-9. 

10  Hugh  Todd  appears  to  have  been  the  first  to  sug- 
gest that  William  de  Hurworth  was  prior  (Notitia 
Eccl.  Cathed.  Carl.  p.  5).  The  lists  of  priors  of  Carlisle 
given  by  Browne  Willis  and  Dugdale  were  founded 
on  that  of  Todd.  As  the  Episcopal  Registers  have 
been  quoted  as  the  authority,  it  is  evident  that  Todd 
had  not  read  carefully  the  record  of  the  petition 
to  elect  a  prior  in  the  room  of  Simon  de  Haut- 
wysell, deceased,  which  William  de  Hurworth  was 
directed  to  convey  to  the  bishop,  '  dilectum  nobis 
in  Christo  fratrem  Willelmum  de  Hurword,  can- 
onicum  nostrum,  latorem  presencium,  vobis  dirigi- 
mus,  vestre  paternitati  reverende  humiliter  suppli- 
cantes  quatinus  ad  eiusdem  ecclesie  prioratus 
regimen  nobis  licenciam  priorem  elegendi  ut  est 
magis  liberaliter  concedatis '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg., 
Ross,  ff.  268-9).  h  's  clearly  stated  in  the 
record  that  he  was  the  proctor  of  the  convent 
seeking  for  power  to  elect  and  not  its  nominee  to 
the  priorate.  William  de  Hurworth,  canon  of 
Carlisle,  was  employed  in  various  capacities,  as 
bishop's  proctor,  diocesan  penitentiary  and  such 
like  during  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Kirkby.  He 
was  commissioned  to  transact  diocesan  business  as 
late  as  1342  (ibid.  Kirkby,  ff.  300,  307-8,  363, 

454)- 

"  Pat.  3  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  36. 
»»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Ross,  f.  263. 
«  Ibid.  f.  262  ;  Close,  5  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  l6d. 


II 


145 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Richard  de  Whytrigg,  canons  of  Carlisle, 
brought  the  news  of  the  bishop's  death  to  the 
king,  letters  patent  were  sent  to  the  convent 
authorizing  the  election  of  a  bishop  to  the 
vacant  pastorate  who  should  faithfully  serve 
his  church,  king  and  country.1  On  8  May 
1332  the  king  signified  to  the  Archbishop 
of  York  his  assent  to  the  election  of  John 
de  Kirkby,  prior  of  Carlisle,  to  be  Bishop  of 
Carlisle.2  By  a  similar  writ  the  temporalities 
of  the  bishopric  were  restored  to  him  in  the 
following  July.3  By  an  order  in  1334  the 
prior  of  Carlisle  was  respited  for  rendering 
his  account  to  the  king  for  the  time  when 
the  late  prior  (John  de  Kirkby),  his  prede- 
cessor, was  receiver  of  the  money  for  the 
victuals  of  the  king  and  his  father,  sold  in 
Cumberland.*  From  this  it  would  appear 
in  the  absence  of  direct  proof  that  John  de 
Kirkby  was  the  prior  that  succeeded  Simon 
de  Hautwysell,  or  at  least  that  he  was  prior 
for  some  time  during  the  reign  of  Edward  II. 

Geoffrey  was  the  next  prior,  for  on  8  March 
1333-4,  Bishop  John  de  Kirkby  acknow- 
ledged that  he  owed  him  £400,  which  was 
to  be  levied,  in  default  of  payment,  on  his 
lands  and  chattels  in  Cumberland." 

It  is  said  that  John  de  Horncastle  was  prior 
in  1352  when  he  was  elected  to  fill  the  see 
of  Carlisle.  As  the  elect  and  confirmed  but 
not  the  consecrated  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  he 
performed  certain  diocesan  acts  which  are  on 
record.6  In  1363  a  plenary  remission  at  the 
hour  of  death  was  granted  by  the  pope  to 
'John  de  Horncastell,'  prior  of  Carlisle.7 
Bishop  Appleby  cited  the  prior  and  convent 
to  undergo  his  visitation  in  1366,  to  which 
citation  the  prior  expressed  his  readiness,  and 
conveyed  to  the  bishop  the  names  of  the 
capitular  body.  It  is  interesting  to  note  their 
names :  John  de  Horncastell,  prior ;  John  de 
St.  Neots,  sub-prior  ;  Thomas  de  Warthole  ; 
Thomas  de  Colby  ;  Richard  Bully  ;  William 
de  Dalston  ;  Thomas  de  Penreth  ;  Adam  del 
Gille  ;  John  de  Overton  ;  Thomas  Orfeor ; 
William  Colt ;  Robert  del  Parke  and  Robert 
de  Edenhale,  that  is,  a  prior  and  twelve 
canons.  It  was  intimated  that  Thomas  de 
Penreth  was  absent  for  purposes  of  study, 
which  was  held  to  be  a  valid  excuse.  John 
de  Horncastle  signified  his  intention  to  the 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Ross,  ff.  249-50. 

»  Pat.  6  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  33. 

a  Ibid.  6  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  25  ;  Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.,  Kirkby,  ff.  251-2. 

4  Cal.  of  Close,  1333-7,  P-  3°6. 

<>  Close,  8  Edw.  III.  m.  33d. 

'  Rfgittrum  Domini  Johannis  de  Horncastro,  elect't 
tt  confirmati  de  anno  domini  mccclij. 

i  Cal,  of  Papal  Petitions  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  437. 


bishop  in  November,  1376,  of  retiring  from 
the  priorate  on  account  of  old  age  and  bad 
health,  and  the  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle  was 
commissioned  to  receive  his  resignation  and  to 
absolve  him  from  his  duties.8 

In  obedience  to  the  bishop's  licence  to  elect 
a  successor,  the  choice  of  the  canons  fell  on 
John  de  Penreth.  This  prior  had  a  dispute 
with  Robert  de  Clifton,  the  cellarer,  in  1379, 
with  the  result  that  the  cellarer  was  removed 
from  his  office.  The  whole  case  was  ulti- 
mately submitted  to  the  arbitration  of  the 
bishop.9  Prior  John  de  Penreth  was  associ- 
ated with  Robert  de  Rawebankes,  abbot  of 
Holmcultram,  and  Lambert  de  Morland, 
abbot  of  Shap,  in  1379,  as  collectors  of  a 
subsidy  granted  by  the  clergy  of  the  diocese 
of  Carlisle  to  Richard  II.  in  the  second  year 
of  his  reign.10  In  the  return  of  the  collectors 
the  benefice  of  the  prior  of  Carlisle  was  as- 
sessed at  £200,  the  amount  of  his  contribu- 
tion being  equal  to  that  of  the  bishop,  viz. 
£4.  The  following  canons  were  named  in 
the  assessment  at  the  rate  of  3*.  4^.  each  : 
Thomas  de  Warthehole,  Thomas  de  Colby, 
John  Cole,  Robert  Bury,  Robert  de  Clyfton, 
John  de  Overton,  Richard  Herwyk,  Richard 
Bellerby,  Richard  Brumley,  Thomas  Dalston 
and  Hugh  Thoresby,11  a  prior  and  eleven 
canons.  For  certain  lawful  causes  the  priory 
was  resigned  by  John  de  Penreth  on  9  August 
I38i.12 

The  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  having  learnt  by 
proclamation  that  there  was  no  opposition  to 
the  election  of  William  de  Dalston,  a  canon 
of  the  house,  decreed  that  he  should  be  in- 
stalled in  the  vacant  priorate.  That  was  in 
August  1381.  The  choice  of  the  canons 
was  the  source  of  a  great  scandal  in  the  dio- 
cese of  Carlisle.  The  prior  had  refused  to 
make  the  declaration  of  canonical  obedience 
to  the  bishop  which  led  to  his  excommunica- 
tion. He  was  ultimately  persuaded  to  resign 
on  28  September  1385,  after  he  had  made 
the  requisite  declaration.13  This  prior  had 
been  employed  under  the  Crown  in  January, 
1384—5,  as  surveyor  of  the  works  for  the  re- 
pair of  the  castle  of  Carlisle.14 

After  the  cession  of  Prior  Dalston,16  great 

«   Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  ff.  165,  289. 

•  Ibid.  ff.  319-20. 

»°  Ibid.  ff.  314-5. 

«'  Exch.  Cler.  Sub.  Dioc.  of  Carl.  bdle.  60,  No.  i. 

"  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  387. 

"  Ibid.  ff.  337-8,  348-52. 

"  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iv.  73. 

16  It  would  appear  that  Dalston,  on  his  return 
to  a  subordinate  position  in  the  priory,  became  a 
troublesome  inmate  of  the  house.  In  1390  he 
was  cited  with  two  other  canons,  Robert  Clifton 


146 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


circumspection  was  exercised  by  the  bishop 
before  he  admitted  a  successor.  The  official 
of  the  diocese  was  commissioned  to  see  that 
the  election  was  conducted  according  to  law, 
and  to  certify  the  formalities  to  the  bishop. 
Having  satisfied  himself  that  Robert  de  Eden- 
hall  was  the  choice  of  the  canons,  and  that 
there  was  no  opposition,  he  directed  his  letters 
to  the  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle  on  10  October 
1385,  to  give  the  said  Robert  corporal  pos- 
session of  the  prior's  stall  in  the  choir  and 
his  place  in  the  chapter  house.1 

It  is  difficult  to  distinguish  the  priors 
during  the  fifteenth  century,  inasmuch  as 
all  those  that  have  been  met  with  bear 
the  same  Christian  name.  In  the  old  lists 
no  fewer  than  five  priors  of  the  name  of 
Thomas  have  been  mentioned.  John  Denton 
has  given  the  order  of  succession  as  Thomas 
Hoton,  Thomas  Barnby,  Thomas  Huthwaite 
and  Thomas  Gudybour.8  In  their  revised 
list,  Nicolson  and  Burn  have  placed  between 
Hoton  and  Barnby  the  name  of  '  Thomas 
Elye  who  built  the  grange  of  New  Lathes 
near  the  city  (of  Carlisle)  on  the  walls  of 
which  his  name  is  legible.'  From  the  latter 
source  we  learn  that  '  Thomas  de  Haythwaite 
erected  the  bishop's  throne  in  the  quire  on 
the  back  part  whereof  his  name  was  inscribed.' 3 
Neither  of  these  inscriptions  is  now  to  be 
found. 

A  few  dates  may  help  to  ascertain  the 
chronological  order  with  more  certainty. 
By  letters  patent,  dated  4  January  1413-4, 
William,  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  appointed  Thomas 
de  Hoton,  prior  of  the  cathedral  church  of 
Carlisle,  to  collect  the  subsidy  granted  to  the 
Crown  by  the  convocation  of  York  on  27 
July  1413.*  It  was  certified  by  Thomas, 
prior,  and  the  convent  of  Carlisle,  on  20  Sep- 
tember 1423,  that  Joan,  wife  of  John  de 
Gaytford  in  the  county  of  Nottingham,  for- 
merly wife  of  Elias  de  Thoresby,  deceased, 
and  daughter  of  Master  John  de  Welton,  was 
legitimate  and  born  of  the  said  Master  John 
and  Alice  his  wife  in  holy  wedlock.5  Thomas 

and  Richard  Everwyk,  for  disobedience.  On  their 
deliverance  from  custody,  they  gathered  some  sol- 
diers of  the  town  and  castle  and  took  forcible  pos- 
session of  the  priory,  denying  an  entry  to  the 
bishop  and  the  prior  (Pat.  13  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii. 
m.  zd). 

'   Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  ff.  353-4. 

3  Cumberland  (ed.  R.  S.  Ferguson),  98. 

3  Hiit.  ofCumb.  ii.  303. 

4  Exch.   Cler.  Sub.   Dioc.  of   Carl.   bdle.    60, 
No.  8a. 

«  B.M.  Add.  Chart.  No.  15770.  The  seal 
of  the  priory  attached  to  this  deed  is  very  much 
broken  and  the  legend  indistinct. 


Barnby,  prior  of  Carlisle,  was  returned  in  a 
list  of  gentry  of  the  county  of  Cumberland 
by  certain  local  commissioners,  one  of  whom 
was  Marmaduke  Lumley,  Bishop  of  Carlisle, 
in  the  twelfth  year  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI. 
1433-4."  In  the  muniment  room  of  Lowther 
Castle  there  is  an  original  lease  of  a  tenement 
in  Cardew,  dated  at  Rose  on  1 1  August  1457, 
and  given  by  William,  Bishop  of  Carlisle. 
The  lease  was  confirmed  by  Thomas  de 
'  Huthuayte,'  prior  of  Carlisle,  on  behalf  of 
the  convent.  Damaged  impressions  of  the 
seals  of  the  bishop  and  prior  still  remain. 

During  an  inquisition  for  proving  the  age 
of  Hugh,  son  and  heir  of  Hugh  Lowther, 
late  of  Lowther,  taken  on  8  November, 
1482,  it  was  deposed  that  he  was  born  at 
Lowther  on  the  Feast  of  the  Assumption 
in  1461  and  baptized  in  the  church  of  that 
vill,  the  godfathers  being  Richard  Wherton, 
rector  of  the  said  church,  and  Thomas,  prior 
of  Carlisle,  and  the  godmother,  Elizabeth 
Moresby.7 

In  the  statute  of  13  Edward  IV.,  1473,  it 
was  provided — 

that  this  Acte  of  Resumption,  or  any  other  made 
or  to  be  made  in  this  present  Parlement,  ex- 
tend not  nor  in  any  wise  be  prejudiciall,  dis- 
avauntage,  derogation  or  hurt  to  Edward  Bishop 
of  Carlill,  nor  to  his  predecessours  nor  suc- 
cessours,  nor  to  Thomas  Priour  of  Carlill,  and 
Covent  of  the  Monestery  or  Priorie  of  Carlill,  nor 
to  their  predecessours  nor  successours,  nor  to  any 
of  theym,  nor  to  any  yefte  or  yeftes,  graunte  or 
grauntes,  licence  or  licences,  ratifications,  releases, 
assignations  or  confirmations  to  theym,  or  to  their 
predecessours,  or  to  any  of  theym,  made,  graunted 
or  had,  by  what  name  or  names  the  Bishop  or 
Priour  and  Covent  of  the  seid  Monestere  or 
Priorie,  or  their  predecessours  be  or  were  named 
or  called  in  the  same.8 

It  is  not  known  precisely  at  what  date  the 
priorate  of  Thomas  Gudybour  began  or  ended. 
It  is  certain  that  he  was  prior  of  Carlisle  in 
1476,  for  in  the  early  part  of  that  year  he 
was  present  at  Hexham  when  William  Bywell 
was  elected  head  of  that  house.9  It  is  prob- 
able that  he  was  in  office  for  a  considerable 
period.  During  his  time  the  cathedral  church 
had  been  renovated,10  the  legends  of  the  saints 

8  Fuller,  Worthies  of  England  (ed.  J.  Nichols), 
i.  240-1. 

?  Inq.  p.m.  22  Edw.  IV.  No.  58. 

s  Rot.  Par/.  (Rec.  Com.),  vi.  76. 

*  Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  App.  No.  xc.  Thomas 
Godebowre  was  parson  of  the  parish  church  of 
Dacre  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  on  23  February 
1462  (Pat.  i  Edw.  IV.  pt.  iv.  m.  9). 

10  The  renovation  of  the  cathedral  while  Thomas 
Gudybour  was  prior  is  well  authenticated. 


147 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


stencilled  on  the  back  of  the  choir  stalls,  and 
the  tithe-barn  near  St.  Cuthbert's  church 
built.  His  initials  in  monogram,  T(homas) 
G(udybour)  P(rior),  have  been  found  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  cathedral  and  monastic  build- 
ings, and  it  was  stated  in  an  inscription  on 
the  door  of  an  old  cupboard  in  the  sacristy 
that  the  house  flourished  under  his  rule  (domus 
hec  floruit  Gudebowr  sub  tegmine  Thome].  In 
1484  King  Richard  III.  granted  to  Thomas, 
the  prior,  and  the  canons  of  the  cathedral 
church,  a  great  part  of  the  possessions  of 
which  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Scots,  two 
tuns  of  red  wine  of  Gascony  yearly  in  the 
port  of  Kingston  on  Hull  for  use  in  their 
church,  that  they  might  pray  for  the  good 
estate  of  the  king  and  his  consort  Anne, 
Queen  of  England,  and  for  their  souls  after 
death  and  the  souls  of  the  king's  progenitors.1 
Among  the  muniments  of  the  city  of  Car- 
lisle there  is  an  '  indenture  made  at  Karlell  ' 
on  i  March  1484—5  'betwixt  the  right 
worshipfull  ffather  in  God,  Thomas  Gudybour, 
priour,  and  his  brethre  the  convent  of  the 
cathedrall  kirke  of  Karlell,'  on  the  one  part, 
and  the  mayor  and  citizens  of  Carlisle  on  the 
other,  about  '  the  teynde  multure  of  the 
mylnes  belongyng  to  the  said  Citee.'  To 
this  deed  the  seal  of  the  priory  is  attached,  to- 
gether with  a  counter-seal  of  singular  design.2 
Simon  Senus,  Senose,  or  Senhouse,  is  said 
to  have  been  chosen  prior  of  Carlisle  in  1507, 
but  there  must  be  an  error  of  some  years  in 
the  date.  On  10  December  1505  Thomas, 
Lord  Dacre,  and  Sir  Edward  Musgrave  en- 
tered into  a  recognizance  of  1,000  marks 
for  the  finding  of  four  sureties  before  Simon, 
prior  of  Carlisle,  and  Cuthbert  Conyers, 
clerk,  for  the  payment  of  540  marks  due 
to  the  king.  The  money  was  paid  and 
the  debt  cancelled  on  12  July  iSog.3  By  a 


Richard  III.  sent  the  following  letter  '  to  or  wel- 
beloved  servant  John  Crakenthorp,  receyvor  of  our 
landes  within  our  countie  of  Cumberland.  We 
woll  and  charge  you  y'  of  such  money  as  is  now 
in  yo  handes  or  next  and  furst  shall  come  unto 
y°  same  by  vertue  of  yor  office,  ye  contente  and 
pay  (among  other  disbursements)  unto  or  trusty  and 
welbeloved  in  God  y  priour  of  oure  monastery 
of  Carlile  the  some  of  v"  which  we  have  geven 
towardes  ye  making  of  a  glasse  windowe  within 
y*  same  or  monastery.  And  thise  or  lettres  shalbe 
yo'  warraunt  and  discharge  in  y  behalve.  Yvien 
etc.  at  Gaynesburgh  the  xth  day  of  Octobre  the 
first  yere  of  or  reigne  '  (Harl.  MS.  433,  f.  1203). 

1   Pat.  I  Ric.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  20. 

*  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld,  Arch.  Sof.  vii. 
330-4;  Cat.  of  the  Arch.  Mus.  firmed  at  CarRsle 
in  1859,  p.  24;  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of 
Cumb.  ii.  303. 

3  L.  and  P.  Hen.  mi.  i.  296. 


148 


deed  '  geven  att  Karlisle  the  xiii.  day  of  June 
the  viiith  yere  of  the  reign  of  our  most 
naturall  Soverayn  lord  king  Henry  the  VIHth  ' 
(1516),  Simon  Senhouse,  prior  of  Carlisle,  joined 
Thomas  Lord  Dacre,  the  lord  warden  of  the 
Marches,  Sir  Christopher  Dacre,  Robert  Col- 
dale,  '  maire  of  the  citie  of  Karlell,'  and  other 
gentlemen,  aldermen  and  bailiffs  of  the  city 
in  an  appeal  for  funds  for  '  the  reedifyeng  and 
bulding  of  a  new  brige  of  xxi  jowelles  adion- 
yng  the  wallis  of  the  forsaid  Citie  standing 
over  the  river  of  Eden  now  beyng  decayed, 
and  a  perte  of  the  same  fallen  down.'  *  On 
15  July  1518  a  grant  in  frankalmoin  was 
made  by  the  Crown  to  Simon,  prior,  and  the 
canons  of  Carlisle,  of  the  fishery  of  Carlisle 
at  the  annual  rent  of  one  mark,  and  of  one 
tun  of  red  wine  annually  at  the  port  of  New- 
castle for  sacrament.8  While  Senhouse  was 
prior,  his  chamber  or  residence  was  rebuilt  or 
renovated,  for  in  a  room,  now  the  drawing- 
room,  of  the  deanery,  there  remains  a  curi- 
ously decorated  ceiling  with  quaint  couplets 
inscribed  on  the  crossbeams.  A  drawing  of 
one  of  these  verses  by  Miss  Close,  daughter 
of  the  Dean  of  Carlisle,  was  exhibited  at  the 
meeting  of  the  Archaeological  Institute  held 
at  Carlisle  in  1859,"  the  record  of  which  is  as 
follows : 

Symon  Senus  Prior  sette  yis  roofe  and  scalope  here, 
To  the  intent  wythin  thys  place  they  shall  have 

prayers  every  daye  in  the  yere. 
Lofe  God  and  thy  prynce  and  you  nedis  not  dreid 

thy  enimys. 

Among  the  painted  ornaments  on  the  ceiling 
are  roses,  birds,  the  escallop  shell,  the  ragged 
staff,  and  escutcheons  of  arms.  Other  verses 
have  been  recorded  by  Hutchinson,7  but  they 
have  no  particular  interest.  The  whole  of 
the  ornamentation  of  the  chamber  is  now 
very  faint.  The  altar-tomb  in  the  north 
transept  of  the  cathedral,  in  front  of  the  con- 
sistorial  court,  is  reputed  to  commemorate  this 
prior,  but  the  inlaid  brass  plates,  now  to  be 
found  there,  are  no  parts  of  the  original 
structure. 

Christopher  Slee  must  have  been  prior  for 
some  time  before  1528,  for  in  that  year  the 
north-western  gate  of  the  precincts  of  the 
abbey  was  built.  Around  the  elliptical  arch 
on  the  inside,  facing  '  the  Fratry,'  there  is  an 
inscription  now  very  much  worn  by  the 

*  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  xii.  App.  vii.  6  (Rydal 
Hall  MSS.) 

*  Pat.   10  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  ii.  m.  6  ;  L.   and  P. 
Hen.  nil.  ii.  4323. 

6  Cat.  of  the  Arch.  Mus.  formed  at  Carlisle  in 
1859,  p.  26. 

Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  602. 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


weather,  but  still  legible  :  '  Orate  pro  anima 
Christoferi  Slee  prioris  qui  primus  hoc  opus 
fieri  incepit  A.D.  1528.'  Christopher,  prior 
of  Carlisle,  was  joined  in  a  commission  on 
22  September  1529,  with  Sir  William  Pen- 
nington,  Sir  John  Ratclyf  and  Richard  Irton 
to  survey  the  castle  of  Carlisle,  and  to  deliver 
the  ordnance  found  in  it  to  Sir  Thomas 
Clifford  and  the  castle  to  William  Lord 
Dacre.1  In  1534  '  Christofer  prior  of  the 
cathedrall  churche  of  Karliol '  was  one  of  the 
signatories  of  the  inventory  taken  on  9  May, 
26  Henry  VIII.,  of  the  'moveables  '  of  Lord 
Dacre  remaining  at  his  house  of  Naworth  by 
the  Earls  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland.2 
He  was  returned  in  the  ecclesiastical  valuation 
°f  J535  as  P"01"  °f  Carlisle  and  vicar  of 
Castle  Sowerby,  a  church  appropriated  to  the 
priory.3  In  the  discredited  report  of  the 
royal  commissioners  on  the  condition  of  the 
religious  houses,  ascribed  to  the  year  1536, 
Prior  '  Slye '  was  charged  with  incontinency.4 
Soon  after  this  date  Prior  Slee  was  deposed, 
but  for  what  reason  we  have  not  ascertained. 
In  an  undated  letter  addressed  '  to  the  ryght 
worshupffull  Master  cecretorie  to  ye  kynges 
grace  be  this  letter  delyvered,'  Robert  Cokett 
thus  informed  Cromwell  of  the  event : — 

Right  worshupffull  Sr.  I  (thowgh  unable)  have 
me  recomendyt  unto  yor  discreitnes,  besechynge 
you  of  yor  grett  goodnes  to  have  me  excusyd  of 
my  rude  and  symple  letter.  Pleasyth  it  yow  to 
know  that  ye  Prior  of  Carelell  is  deposed  and  put 
downe,  wherapone  yf  it  pleas  yow  of  yowr  goodnes 
to  be  so  good  unto  one  kynsmane  of  myne  called 
Sr  Will  Florens,  chanon  of  ye  foresaid  howsse,  as 
make  hyme  Prior  yerof,  for  of  a  trewth  he  is  most 
able  reportynge  me  unto  ye  kynges  grace  vicitours, 
and  both  he  and  I  shalbe  bownd  unto  yow  to  pay 
unto  ye  kynges  grace  all  suche  thynges  as  it  shall 
pleas  yow  to  require,  and  yow  to  have  for  yowr 
payn  takynge  an  hundreth  markes.  Besekynge 
yow  of  yowr  answere  by  y°  berer  hereof.  Yor  bed- 
man,  Robert  Cokett.6 

Lancelot  Salkeld,  a  canon  defamed  in  the 
report  of  the  royal  visitation,  was  made  prior 
of  the  house  for  the  purpose  of  its  surrender. 
From  an  entry  in  Cromwell's  accounts  *  under 
date  17  February  1538-9,  '  prior  of  Carlyle 
by  Dr.  Bellysys,  40  marks,'  we  may  gather 
that  he  had  not  been  long  appointed,7  as  the 

1  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil.  iv.  5952. 

2  Ibid.  vii.  676. 

3  Vahr  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  274-88. 

4  L.  and  P.  Hen.  PHI.  x.  364. 

6  Ibid.  vii.  1632.     This  letter  has  been  calen- 
dared under  the  year  1 5  34,  but  it  must  be  ascribed 
to  a  later  date,  perhaps  1536. 

»  Ibid.  xiv.  pt.  ii.  782,  p.   325. 

7  He  must  have  been  appointed  before  I  August 
1537,  for  on  that  date  he  issued  a  lease  of  the  tithes 


receipt  suggests  the  amount  for  which  the 
post  was  purchased.  Sir  Thomas  Wharton 
was  not  a  welcome  visitor  to  the  priory  when 
he  took  up  his  abode  there  in  December  1539, 
in  anticipation  of  the  coming  of  the  commis- 
sioners for  the  suppression.  He  complained  to 
Cromwell  that  he  was  '  straitly  lodged,'  and, 
while  pleading  for  better  accommodation,  he 
urged  his  preferential  claim  to  what  was  sold 
or  let  for  the  king's  use.8  The  priory  was 
surrendered  with  all  its  possessions  by  Lance- 
lot Salkeld,  prior,  and  the  convent  on  9 
January  1540,  and  acknowledged  the  same 
day  before  Richard  Layton,  one  of  the  clerks 
of  Chancery.9  Pensions  were  assigned  on 
the  day  following  to  those  canons  who  had 
retired,  viz.  a  pension  of  £6  i  y.  ^d.  to  John 
Birkebek,  and  £5  6s.  8d.  each  to  Richard 
Throp  and  William  Lowther.10  By  letters 
patent,  dated  2  May  1541,  the  king  recon- 
structed the  late  monastery  of  St.  Mary, 
Carlisle,  as  a  cathedral  of  one  dean  and  four 
prebendaries  to  be  the  see  of  Robert  Aldridge, 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  his  successors,  the 
new  establishment  to  consist  of  Lancelot 
Salkelde,  dean,  William  Florence,  first  pre- 
bendary ;  Edward  Loshe,  second  ;  Barnaby 
Kyrkbryd,  third  ;  and  Richard  Brandeling, 
fourth.11  A  few  days  later,  on  6  May,  by 
royal  charter,  the  new  institution,  henceforth 
to  be  known  as  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  the 
Cathedral  Church  of  the  Holy  and  Undivided 
Trinity  of  Carlisle,  was  endowed  with  the  re- 
venues of  the  dissolved  priory  of  St.  Mary, 
and  with  most  of  the  revenues  of  the  dissolved 
priory  of  Wetheral.12  Lancelot  Salkeld,  the  last 
prior  of  the  old  institution,  became  the  first  dean 
of  the  new,  thus  perpetuating  the  succession. 
The  canons  of  the  priory  submitted  to  the 
new  state  of  things  with  a  bad  grace.  The 
name  of  the  institution  had  changed  but  that 
was  all  :  the  old  leaven  was  still  there.  It 
took  time  to  reconcile  the  canons  to  the 
liturgical  changes  in  the  public  service  of  the 
cathedral.  Master  '  Hew  '  Sewell,  M.A.,  one 
of  the  most  notorious  of  the  local  clergy  of 
the  Tudor  period,  lodged  an  information  with 
the  civil  authorities  against  their  non-com- 
pliance with  recent  ecclesiastical  legislation. 

of  St.  Nicholas,  Newcastle,  as  appears  by  a  copy  on 
record  in  the  Dean  and  Chapter  Registers  (ii.  37). 

»  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  xiv.  pt.  ii.  734. 

•  Close,  31  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  iv.  No.  17  ;  Rymer, 
Faedera  (old  ed.),  xiv.  668. 

10  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil.  xv.  44. 

«  Pat.  33  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  ix.  m.  28.  The 
charter  was  enrolled  and  issued  to  the  new  body 
on  8  May  1541. 

"  Ibid.  33  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  9,  m.  11-5; 
L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  xvi.  878. 


149 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


He  brought  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  '  one 
book  called  a  legend '  which,  he  said,  was 
daily  '  occupied  '  in  the  church  of  the  late 
monastery  of  Carlisle,  and  in  which,  contrary 
to  the  Acts  of  Parliament,  the  service  of 
Thomas  Becket  and  the  usurped  name  '  papa ' 
of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  were  unerased. 
Lancelot  Salkeld,  late  prior,  and  at  that  time 
(i  May  1540)  guardian  of  the  monastery, 
demanded  the  return  of  the  book,  and  offered 
sureties  for  it ;  but  the  justices,  John  Lowther, 
Edward  Aglionby,  Thomas  Dalston  and 
Lancelot  Salkeld,  thinking  the  matter  too  high 
for  their  determination,  sent  it  to  the  king  to- 
gether with  the  depositions  of  the  sub-chanter 
and  another  brother.  The  effect  of  the  depo- 
sitions was  that  Lancelot  Robynson,  one  of 
the  deponents,  would  have  rased  out  the  service 
of  Thomas  Becket,  but  William  Florence, 
chief  chanter  of  the  monastery,  took  the  book 
from  him,  gave  it  to  the  clerk  of  the  choir, 
and  bade  him  keep  it  secret,  for  he  would 
correct  it.  Before  they  rose  in  the  morning 
of  2  May,  Florence  had  disappeared.  Salkeld, 
the  guardian,  informed  the  constable  of  the 
castle  that  the  absent  canon  would  return 
by  noon  on  that  Sunday  'or  else  he  to  be 
hanged.'  Sewell  added  that  John  Austane,  a 
brother  of  the  monastery,  exclaimed  when 
the  book  was  taken,  'Tush,  it  is  but  for  a 
book,  it  will  be  despatched  well  enough  for 
money.'1  But  matters  soon  settled  down. 
William  Florence  remained  a  canon  of  the 
new  capitular  body  till  his  death  in  1547,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  Sewell.2  Austane  was 
one  of  the  eight  minor  canons  of  the  founda- 
tion. Salkeld  died  Dean  of  Carlisle  on  3 
September  1560,'  leaving  behind  him  a  name 
for  piety,  rectitude  and  consistency  second  to 
none  in  the  history  of  the  diocese. 

PRIORS  OF  CARLISLE 
Adelulf,4  ?  circa  1133 

1  L.   and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  xv.  619,  633 
»  Rymer,  Faedera  (old  ed.),  xv.  1 90. 

3  Exch.  Cert,  of  Bishop's  Inst.  Carlisle,  No.  I. 

4  Adelulf  is  said  to  have  been  prior  when  the 
bishopric  of  Carlisle  was  founded  in  1133  (Duchy 
of  Lane.   Chart,  box  A,  No.   416)  ;  there  is  no 
contemporary  evidence  on  the  point  however,  and 
the  statement  is  somewhat  doubtful,  since   he  is 
said  by  Matthew  of  Paris  to  have  been  prior  of 
Nostell  near  Pontefract  (Chnm.  Maj.  [Rolls  Ser.], 
ii.  158).   On  the  other  hand  Adelulf  held  the  priory 
of  Nostell  with  the  bishopric,  for  in  1140  he  was 
prior  of  that  house  when  Augustinian  canons  were 
brought  to  the  priory  of  St.  Andrew  from  St. 
Oswald's  through  his  instrumentality — '  ecclesiam 
Sancti  Oswaldi  cui  ipse  episcopus  jure  prioris 
praeerat '  (Skene,  Chron.of  Picts  and  Scots,  191-2). 


Walter,6  occurs  1150  and  1169 

Gilbert6 

John,7  occurs  1194  and  1204 

Henry  de  Mareis,8  elected  1214 

Bartholomew,9  occurs  circa  1224,  died  in 

1231 
Ralf  Barri,10  elected  1231,  died  9  February 

1247 
Robert11  de  Morville  (?),  elected   1247,  re" 

signed  circa  1258 
Adam  de  Felton  la  (?) 
Alan13(?) 

John,13  occurs  1263 
Robert,14  occurs  1278  and   1283,  resigned 

circa  1284 
Adam  de  Warthwyk,15  elected  circa  1284, 

resigned  18  September  1304 
William    de    Hautewysil,16  elected    1304, 

resigned  28  September  1308 
Robert  de  Helpeston,17  elected  1308,  oc- 

curs 1320 
Simon  de  Hautwysell,18  died  before  13  July 


John  de    Kirkby,18    occurs   1330,    elected 

Bishop  of  Carlisle  1332 
Geoffrey20  occurs  8  March  1333-4 
John  de  Horncastle,21  occurs  1352,  1363, 

resigned   1376 

5  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  221-3  ;  Dug- 
dale,  Man.  v.  594  ;  Cbron.  ofMelrose  in  anno  1150; 
Roger  Hovedon  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  2  u  ;  Reg.  of 
Lanercost,  MS.  i.  i,  9,  14  ;  ii.  18  ;  v.  3  ;  viii.  5. 

8  Ibid.  viii.  5  ;  iii.  13. 

7  Cart.  Antiq.  F.  14  ;  Rymer,  Faedera,  i.  63  ; 
Pedes  Finium  (Pipe  R.  Soc.),  7  and  8   Ric.  I.  No. 
128  ;  ibid.  (Rec.  Com.),  Cumberland,  pp.  7-8. 

8  Rot.  Lift.  Claus.  (Rec.  Com.),  16  John,i.  zo7b; 
Chron.  de  Lanercost,  14. 

9  He   was  contemporary    with    Bishops    Hugh 
and    Walter  Mauclerc    (Reg.    of  Lanercost,  MS. 
viii.  7,  8).    Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  53-5,  67-8,  118, 
etc.  ;  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  41. 

10  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  41,  53. 
"  Rot.  Orig.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  10  ;  Cal.  of  Papal 

Letters,  i.  361-2. 

12  The  names  of  these  priors  are  given  by  Nicol- 
son  and  Burn  in  Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  301,  but 
no  evidence  is  given  to  establish  their  claim, 
and  the  statement  should  be  received  with  sus- 
picion. 

»  Coll.  Topog.  et  Gen.  v.  235-6. 

"  Chan.  Eccl.  Pet.  for  Elections,  24  June  1278, 
file  6  ;  Dep.  Keeper's  Rep.  vi.  App.  p.  94  ;  Carl. 
Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,fF.  14,  43. 

is  Cal.  of  Pat.  1330-4,  pp.  1  1  1-2  ;  Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.,  Halton,  f.  43. 

i8  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  113. 

»  Ibid.  f.  114;  Cal.  of  Close,  1330-3,  p.  357. 

is  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Ross,  ff.  268-9. 

«  Ibid.  f.  263  ;  Pat.  6  Edw.  III.  pt.  2,  m.  33. 

»°  Close,  8  Edw.  III.  m.  33d. 

21  He  was  said  to  be  prior  of  Carlisle  when   he 


150 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


John  de  Penreth,1  elected  1376,  resigned 
9  August  1381 

William  de  Dalston,2  elected  1381,  re- 
signed 28  September  1385 

Robert  de  Edenhall,3  elected  1385 

Thomas    de    Hoton,*    occurs     1413     and 

H23 

Thomas  Elye.8 

Thomas  Barnby,8  occurs  1433-4 
Thomas  Huthwaite,7  occurs  1457 
Thomas    Gudybour,8    occurs    1476     and 

1484-5 
Simon  Senus  or  Senhouse,8    occurs    1505 

and  1518 
Christopher  Slee,10  occurs  1528  and  1535, 

deposed  circa  1536 
Lancelot    Salkeld,11    appointed     before     i 

August    1537,    surrendered    9    January 

1539-40 

DEANS  OF  CARLISLE 
Lancelot  Salkeld,  last  prior  and  first  dean, 

1541  ;  resigned  in  1548 
Sir  Thomas  Smith,  knight,  LL.D.,  1548  ; 

resigned  quasi  sponte  in  15 54 
Lancelot  Salkeld,  restored  in   1554;  died 

in  1560 
Sir  Thomas  Smith,  re-appointed  in  1560  ; 

died  in  1577 

Sir  John  Wolley,  knight,  M.A.,  1577-96 
Sir  Christopher  Perkins,  knight,i  596-1 622 
Francis  White,  S.T.P.,  1622-6 
William  Peterson,  S.T.P.,  1626-9 
Thomas  Comber,  S.T.P.,  1629-42 
Guy  Carleton,  S.T.P.,  1660-71 
Thomas  Smith,  D.D.,  1671-84 
Thomas  Musgrave,  D.D.,  1684-6 
William  Grahme,  D.D.,  1686-1704 

was   elected  to  the  see  in   1352.     Cat.  of  Papal 
Petitions,  i.  437  ;  Carl.   Epis.   Reg.,  Appleby,    ff. 
165,289. 
»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  ff.  319-20,  387. 

>  Ibid.  337-8,  348-52- 
s  Ibid.  ff.   353-4. 

«  Exch.  Cler.  Subs.,  Dioc.  of  Carl.,  bdle.  60, 
No.  8a  ;  B.M.  Add.  Chart.  No.  15770. 

>  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  303. 

«  Fuller,  Worthies  of  England  (ed.  J.  Nichols),  i. 
240-1. 

*  He  confirmed  a  lease,  dated  II  August  1457, 
of  a  tenement  in  Cardew  (original  in  muniment 
room  of  Lowther  Castle). 

»  Priory  ofHexham,  i.  App.  No.  xc. 

'  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  i.  296  ;  Pat.  10  Hen. 
VIII.  pt.  2,  m.  6. 

10  From  an  inscription  on  the  arch  of  the 
north-western  gate  of  the  precincts  of  the  abbey. 
Valor  Ecd.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  274-88  ;  L.  and  P. 
Hen.  VIII.  \\\.  1632. 

»  Carl.  D.  and  C.  Reg.  ii.  37  ;  Close,  31  Hen. 
VIII.  pt.  4,  No.  17  ;  Rymer,  fcedera  (old  ed.), 
xiv.  668. 


Francis  Atterbury,  D.D.,  1704-11 
George  Smalridge,  D.D.,  1711-3 
Thomas  Gibbon,  D.D.,  1713-6 
Thomas  Tullie,  LL.D.,  1716-27 
George  Fleming,  LL.D.,  1727-35 
Robert  Bolton,  LL.D.,  1735-63 
Charles  Tarrant,  D.D.,  1764 
Thomas  Wilson,  D.D.,  1764-78 
Thomas  Percy,  D.D.,  1778-82 
Geoffrey  Ekins,  D.D.,  1782-92 
Isaac  Milner,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  1792-1820 
Robert  Hodgson,  D.D.,  F.R.S.,  1820-44 
John  Anthony  Cramer,  D.D.,  1844-8 
Samuel  Hinds,  D.D.,  1848-9 
Archibald  Campbell  Tait,  D.C.L.,  1849- 

56 

Francis  Close,  D.D.,  1856-81 

John  Oakley,  D.D.,  1881-3 

William  George  Henderson,  D.C.L.,  D.D., 
1884 

The  seal  of  the  priory  of  Carlisle1*  is 
round,  representing  the  half  length  figures  of 
the  Virgin  and  Child  upon  a  bridge,  between 
two  angels  with  outstretched  wings  censing. 
A  Gothic  building  stands  on  each  side  of 
the  bridge,  which  has  two  trefoiled  arches, 
within  which,  on  the  left,  is  an  ecclesiastic, 
probably  a  canon,  and  on  the  right  a  bishop 
with  mitre  and  crosier.  Between  the  arches 
is,  in  a  small  countersunk  oval  panel,  a  cross. 
At  the  base  is  an  embattled  wall.  The  legend 
is  :  SIGIL'  .  .  .  CCLESIE  SANCTE  MAR  .  .  . 
EOLI.  Two  impressions  of  this  seal ia  are  at 
the  British  Museum  attached  to  deeds  about 
the  appropriation  of  the  church  of  Bromfield 
in  1303. 

A  counter  seal,14  perhaps  that  of  Adam  de 
Warthwyk,  the  prior,  is  the  impression  of  an 
antique  gem  representing  a  winged  Fortune 
or  Minerva  with  inscription  in  field  :  DIVS  F  .  . 
...  In  the  metal  setting  at  the  points  be- 
tween the  gem  and  the  legend  are  two  shields 
of  arms  :  top  three  bars  base  fretty. 

The  seal  of  the  dean  and  chapter"  is  a 
pointed  oval  showing  the  Virgin  kneeling  be- 
fore an  altar  on  which  is  an  open  book.  Be- 
hind is  a  classical  niche  with  a  round  headed 
arch,  and  below  is  the  shield  of  arms  of  the 
chapter.  The  legend  runs  :  SIGIL  •  DECANI  • 

ET    '   CAP   •   ECCL   •    CATH    '    B    '  MARIE  '  VIRG  ' 
CARLIOL  '   l66o. 

12  The  seal  reproduced  here  is  from  a  deed  in 
the  possession  of  the  dean  and   chapter  of  Dur- 
ham, but  see  also  B.M.  Seals,  2412-7. 

13  Add.  Chart.  17155,  17156. 
"  B.M.  Seals,  2412. 

"  See  Mrs.  Henry  Ware's  article  '  On  the 
Seals  of  the  Bishops  of  Carlisle,  and  other  Seals 
belonging  to  that  Diocese,'  in  Transactions  oj  Cumb. 
end  Wcstmld.  Arch.  Sac.  xii.  226. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


2.   THE   PRIORY   OF   LANERCOST 

On  the  banks  of  the  Irthing  close  to  the 
Roman  wall,  in  the  country  which  we  now 
associate  with  the  genius  of  Sir  Walter  Scott, 
Robert  de  Vaux  son  of  Hubert  de  Vaux, 
lord  of  Gillesland,  founded  the  priory  of 
Lanercost  for  regular  canons  of  the  Order  of 
St.  Augustine.  Tradition  places  the  founda- 
tion in  1169,  which  agrees  with  the  evidence 
of  the  earliest  charter  of  the  house.1  The 
church  was  entitled  in  the  name  of  St. 
Mary  Magdalene,  a  dedication  of  singular 
rarity  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland. 
Early  in  the  seventeenth  century  John  Denton 
mentioned,  but  seems  to  have  rejected,  the 
legend  which  ascribed  the  foundation  to  the 
remorse  felt  by  the  noble  founder  for  having 
slain  Gille  son  of  Boet  who  owned  the  fief 
before  it  was  given  to  Hubert  his  father. 
The  story,  however,  has  found  its  way  into 
some  of  the  editions  of  Camden,  and  been 
often  repeated  on  his  authority.  Denton 
rightly  appealed  to  Robert's  charter  of  founda- 
tion, which  states  that  the  benefaction  was  made 
for  the  sake  of  Henry  II.,  who  had  enfeoffed 
his  father  with  the  barony  and  confirmed  it  to 
himself,  and  for  the  health  of  the  souls  of 
his  father  Hubert  and  his  mother  Grace. 

Before  Robert  de  Vaux  granted  the  charter, 
the  scheme  must  have  reached  almost  to 
the  verge  of  completion,  so  full  and  com- 
prehensive are  its  terms  and  references  and 
differing  so  conspicuously  from  the  successive 
charters  which  marked  the  various  stages. in 
the  foundation  of  Wetheral  and  St.  Bees.  The 
grantor  assigned  to  God  and  St.  Mary  Mag- 
dalene of  Lanercost  and  to  the  regular  canons 
there  the  lawn  (landa)  of  Lanercost  between 
the  ancient  wall  and  the  Irthing  and  between 
Burth  and  Poltros,  the  vill  of  Walton  by 
stated  bounds,  the  church  of  that  vill  with 
the  chapel  of  'Treverman,'  the  churches  of 
Irthington,  Brampton,  Carlaton  and  Farlam, 
certain  lawns  by  bounds  as  '  Gille  son  of 
Bueth '  held  them,  besides  numerous  immun- 
ities and  privileges  throughout  the  whole 
barony.  The  tenor  of  the  charter  a  betokens 


1  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  i.  I.  In  1761  George 
Story,  vicar  of  Lanercost,  erected  a  stone  tablet  in 
the  church  to  the  memory  of  Robert  de  Vaux, 
founder  of  the  priory,  and  of  his  wife  Ada  Engaine, 
on  which  he  inscribed  1 1 1 6  as  the  year  of  foun- 
dation. The  vicar  evidently  took  his  date  from 
a  note  in  the  register  of  the  priory  on  the  foun- 
dations of  the  religious  houses  in  the  diocese  of 
Carlisle  (ibid.  f.  267).  Story's  error  has  been 
often  repeated. 

'  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  i.  I.     It  is  scarcely 


a  generous  disposition  and  a  liberal   hand  in 
the  multiplication  of  gifts  for  the  start  of  the 
new  institution,  and  the  concourse  of   wit- 
nesses, who  assembled  to  subscribe  their  names 
to    the    deed    of   endowment,    is    a    striking 
evidence   that   the  occasion  was  regarded  as 
one  of  unusual   dignity  and  importance.     In 
addition  to  many  tenants  and  clergy  of  Gilles- 
land, the  foundation  charter  was  witnessed  by 
Christian,  Bishop  of  Whithern  in  Galloway, 
suffragan    to    York    during    the    vacancy    at 
Carlisle,  Walter  prior  of  Carlisle,  and  Robert 
archdeacon  of  the  same  place,  as  representative 
of  the  ecclesiastical  authority  at  that  date.    The 
marginal   note  in   the  register  of  the   house 
which  states  that  the  church  was  dedicated  by 
Bernard,    Bishop  of   Carlisle,   in    1169,    the 
sixteenth  year  of  Henry  II.  and  the  twelfth 
of  his  pontificate,  is  not  worthy  of  credit,  for 
though   the  year  of  foundation  must  be  ap- 
proximately   correct,    it    is    not    true    that 
Bernard    was    Bishop    of  Carlisle    in    1169. 
The    note    belongs    to    a    class    of    legends 
about  Bishop  Bernard  that  arose  at  an  early 
period. 

The  liberality  of  the  founder  was  not  con- 
fined to  the  endowments  granted  in  the  first 
charter.  The  register  of  the  priory  contains 
many  other  deeds  of  gift  and  confirmation 
extending  over  his  long  tenure  of  the  barony. 
In  several  of  these  charters,  when  he  had 
occasion  to  refer  to  his  territorial  title,  he 
reverted  to  the  old  phrase3  employed  by 
Henry  II.  in  the  original  enfeoffment  of  his 
family  and  repeated  by  himself  in  his  founda- 
tion charter,  '  infra  baronian  quam  dominus 
rex  Henricus  Anglic  dedit  patri  meo  et  mihi 
in  terra  que  fuit  Gille  filii  Bueth.'  Few  of 
the  religious  houses  founded  by  subjects  in  the 
northern  counties  can  point  to  a  patron  more 
distinguished  in  personal  qualities  than  Laner- 
cost, for  Robert  de  Vaux,  immortalized  by 
Jordan  Fantosme,*  his  contemporary,  was 
a  valiant  soldier,  a  great  judge,  a  prudent 
statesman,  and  a  munificent  benefactor  of 
his  church  and  country.  The  example 

necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  distinction  be- 
tween the  Register  or  Chartulary  of  Lanercost  and 
the  Chronicon  de  Lanercost  or  Chronicle  of  Laner- 
cost. The  Register  is  a  collection  of  deeds  of  the 
usual  character  belonging  to  a  religious  house  and 
still  remains  in  manuscript,  a  copy  of  which  is  in 
the  custody  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle. 
The  Chronicon  belongs  to  the  class  of  medieval 
chronicles  and  has  been  printed  by  the  Maitland 
and  Bannatyne  Clubs. 

s  Ibid.  i.  13,  viii.  17. 

4  Chron.  of  the  War  between  the  English  and 
the  Scots  in  1173  and  1 174  (Surtees  Soc.  No.  1 1), 
1370-1460,  etc. 


152 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


he  set  was  infectious,  for  his  family,  kin- 
dred and  descendants  rank  foremost  among 
those  who  contributed  to  the  prosperity  and 
welfare  of  the  priory.  It  would  carry  us 
beyond  the  limits  of  this  notice  to  refer  to  all 
the  benefactors  who  assisted  in  its  endowment, 
members  of  the  families  of  Morville, 
Engayne,  Windsor,  Denton,  Castelcayroc, 
Neuton,  le  Sor,  Tilliol,  de  la  Ferte,  Ireby 
and  others.  In  common  with  the  other 
religious  houses  of  the  county,  the  small  pro- 
prietors were  as  forward  in  making  bequests 
according  to  their  station  as  the  great 
magnates. 

The  priory  was  rich  in  the  possession  of 
churches,  for  over  and  above  the  five  churches 
probably  all  that  were  at  that  time  in  the  barony 
granted  by  the  founder,  the  church  of  Grines- 
dale  was  given  by  Richard  de  Neuton  and 
Robert  le  Sor,  that  of  Lazonby  was  brought 
into  relations  with  the  priory  by  Ada  Engayne 
and  afterwards  bestowed  by  her  son  Hugh  de 
Morvill,  and  that  of  Denton  by  Buethbarn, 
the  lord  of  the  place.  Ada  Engayne  granted 
an  annuity  of  three  marks  out  of  the  reve- 
nues of  the  churches  of  Burgh-by-Sands  and 
Lazonby  for  the  souls  of  William  Engayne  her 
father  and  Eustachia  her  mother,  and  for  the 
soul  of  Simon  de  Morvill  her  late  husband,  to 
which  Christian,  Bishop  of  Whithern,  and 
Robert,  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle,  were  parties.1 
This  pension  was  afterwards  the  occasion  of 
scandal  to  the  canons  of  Lanercost,  involving 
them  in  a  contest  with  the  monks  of  Holm- 
cultram  about  the  church  of  Burgh,2  as  the 
pension  out  of  Lazonby  led  to  an  estrange- 
ment with  the  abbey  of  Kelso.3  The  policy 
of  appropriation  was  pursued  with  as  much 
vigour  at  Lanercost  as  elsewhere.  The 
Bishop  of  Whithern  confirmed  to  the  canons 

1  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  v.  4-6  ;  ii.  1 5-6  ; 
iii.  1-2  ;  xii.  26. 

a  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  12-3.  It  is 
rarely  that  we  meet  with  a  bishop  using  such  em- 
phatic language  as  Bishop  Hugh  of  Carlisle 
employed  on  that  occasion.  He  stated  that  danger 
was  likely  to  accrue  to  his  diocese  by  reason  of  the 
collusion  between  the  brethren  of  the  two  houses. 
In  gross  and  reckless  ignorance  of  the  canons 
of  the  church  they  had  made  compositions 
and  meddled  with  matters  with  which  they 
had  no  concern  and  over  which  they  had  no 
power.  The  bishop  pronounced  the  whole  trans- 
action unlawful,  and  forced  John,  prior  of  Laner- 
cost, to  renounce  on  behalf  of  his  house  the  claim 
to  an  annual  pension  from  the  church  of  Burgh. 
Having  heard  all  the  arguments  and  seen  all  the 
evidences,  he  also  awarded  the  patronage  to  the 
abbey  of  Holmcultram. 

3  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  xiii.  25-6;  Liber  de 
Cakhou  (Bannatyne  Club),  ii.  351. 


the  churches  Robert  de  Vaux  gave  them  at 
the  foundation  of  the  priory.  Americ, 
Archdeacon  of  Carlisle,  issued  a  licence  at  a 
later  period  for  their  appropriation,  including 
those  of  later  donation  on  the  death  or  resig- 
nation of  the  incumbents  in  possession,  the 
canons  undertaking  to  discharge  all  diocesan 
obligations.  The  bishops,  when  the  succession 
was  restored,  carried  on  the  tradition.  Bishop 
Hugh  was  the  first  Bishop  of  Carlisle  who 
espoused  the  interest  of  the  parishioners  in 
the  matter  of  appropriations  and  made  it  a 
principle  of  diocesan  administration,  a  policy 
which  brought  him  into  disrepute  with  the 
religious  corporations.  He  made  it  the  usual 
condition  of  his  assent  that  fit  vicars  should 
be  presented  to  the  bishop  for  the  service  of 
the  churches  and  that  a  competent  portion 
should  be  set  aside  out  of  the  revenues  for 
their  maintenance.  Subsequent  prelates 
imitated  his  example,  and  as  the  power  of 
the  episcopate  began  to  strengthen  after  the 
prolonged  vacancy,  the  vicarages  of  appro- 
priated churches  were  taxed,  that  is,  the  sources 
of  the  incumbent's  income  were  set  out  with 
legal  exactness  in  the  deed  of  episcopal  con- 
firmation. The  canons  of  Lanercost  obtained 
ecclesiastical  recognition  in  customary  form 
for  the  appropriation  of  all  their  churches. 

In  this  recognition  of  course  there  was 
included  the  papal  sanction,  an  opportunity 
rarely  neglected  for  advancing  the  papal 
influence.  The  confirmation  of  Alexander 
III.  in  1 1 8 1  is  an  interesting  document. 
With  alacrity  the  pope  took  the  church  of 
Lanercost  under  the  protection  of  the  blessed 
Peter  and  decreed  that  the  rule  of  St.  Augus- 
tine should  be  observed  inviolate  therein  for 
ever.  After  reciting  and  confirming  the 
grants  to  the  priory,  licence  was  given  to 
receive  clerks  and  laymen  flying  from  the 
world  and  to  retain  them  in  the  religious  life. 
No  brother  after  profession  was  allowed  to 
depart  without  leave  of  the  prior.  For  their 
appropriated  churches  the  canons  were  author- 
ized to  select  suitable  priests  and  present  them 
to  the  bishop  of  the  diocese  for  institution  to 
the  cure  of  souls,  the  priests  answering  to  the 
bishop  in  spiritual  matters  and  to  the  canons 
in  temporal.  In  times  of  general  interdict, 
it  should  be  lawful  to  celebrate  divine  offices 
in  the  priory  with  low  voice  and  closed  doors 
and  without  the  ringing  of  bells.  The  right 
of  burial  to  all  those  who  desired  it  was 
granted  to  the  church,4  except  for  those  under 

*  Robert  de  Vaux  son  of  Ralf  de  Vaux  be- 
queathed his  body  to  the  canons  of  Lanercost, 
'  ubicunque  et  quandocumque  ex  hac  vita  migra- 
verim  '  (Register  of  Lanercost,  MS.  ii.  4). 


II 


153 


20 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


excommunication  or  interdict,  with  due  respect 
to  the  rights  of  other  churches.  The  liberty 
of  free  election  of  the  prior,  conceded  by  the 
founder,  was  also  recognized  and  confirmed. 
Later  popes  laid  down  strict  rules  for  the 
regulation  of  the  priory  in  its  relations  to  the 
diocese.  It  was  stipulated  by  Honorius  III. 
in  1224  that  the  chrism,  holy  oils  and  ordin- 
ation of  clerks  should  be  procured  from  the 
diocesan  bishop  if  he  be  a  catholic  and  in  com- 
munion with  the  holy  Roman  See,  and  no 
one  should  be  allowed  to  erect  a  new  chapel 
or  oratory  within  the  bounds  of  any  of  their 
churches  without  the  bishop's  licence,  saving 
only  the  privilege  of  the  Roman  pontiffs.1 

Notwithstanding  the  privileges  of  the 
Holy  See,  the  priory  of  Lanercost  was  an 
integral  portion  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  and 
the  bishop's  ordinary  power  of  visitation  was 
effective  and  unimpaired.  Again  and  again 
was  it  exercised  by  successive  bishops  for  the 
correction  of  abuses  and  the  maintenance  of 
discipline.  The  author  of  the  Chronicle  of 
Lanercost  describes  the  first  visitation  of 
Bishop  Ralf  Ireton  on  22  March  1281,  the 
year  after  his  consecration.  The  canons 
vested  in  their  copes  met  the  new  prelate  at 
the  gates  of  the  priory,  as  they  had  met  King 
Edward  and  Queen  Eleanor  a  few  months 
before.  Having  given  his  benediction,  the 
bishop  received  them  to  the  kiss  of  peace, 
kissing  first  their  hands  and  then  their  lips. 
In  the  chapter  house  he  preached  from  the 
text, '  Lo,  I  myself  will  require' ;  the  preaching 
being  ended,  the  bishop  proceeded  with  his 
visitation,  'during  which,' says  the  chronicler, 
'  we  were  compelled  to  accept  new  constitu- 
tions.' 2 

There  are  several  monitions  on  record  in 
the  episcopal  archives  by  which  intimations 
were  given  of  visitations  by  various  bishops. 
Bishop  Kirkby  gave  notice  on  i  February 
1344-5  that  he  intended  to  visit  the  priory, 
in  head  and  members,  in  their  chapter  house 

1  The  whole  of  these  ecclesiastical  confirmations 
will  be  found  in  the  eighth  part  of  the  Register  of 
the  priory  of  Lanercost,  where  they  form  an 
interesting  series. 

a  'Finita  przdicatione,  visitationem  suam  prose- 
cutus  est  in  qua  coacti  sumus  novellas  constitutiones 
recipere '  (Chron.  de  Lanercost  [Maitland  Club], 
p.  1 06).  This  passage  is  fatal  to  Stevenson's  con- 
tention that  the  Ckronicon  de  Lanercost  was  written 
by  a  Minorite  of  Carlisle  and  not  by  an  inmate  of 
Lanercost.  The  visitation  referred  to  was  clearly 
that  of  the  priory  and  not  of  the  diocese.  He  has 
mistaken  the  meaning  of  the  passage  altogether. 
The  new  constitutions  were  issued  '  finita  praedica- 
tione,'  when  his  sermon,  not  his  visitation,  was 
ended  (Cbron.  pp.  vii.  viii.). 


154 


on  a  stated  day.3  The  like  was  done  by 
Bishop  Welton  in  1356  and  1358,*  and  by 
Bishop  Appleby  in  1368  and  I373.8 

In  many  ways  the  bishop  of  the  diocese 
exercised  a  pastoral  oversight  of  the  house 
other  than  by  the  function  of  visitation.  It 
was  his  office  to  confirm  the  election  of  the 
canons  when  the  priory  was  vacant,  to  insti- 
tute the  new  prior  and  to  lay  down  rules,  if 
need  be,  for  his  future  guidance.  According 
to  custom  he  required  the  nominee  of  the 
canons  to  be  in  priest's  orders,  of  canonical 
age  and  legitimate  birth.  Having  been 
satisfied  in  these  matters,  the  bishop  admin- 
istered the  oath  of  canonical  obedience  and 
then  issued  his  letters  to  the  Archdeacon  of 
Carlisle  or  some  diocesan  official  like  a  rural 
dean  to  induct  the  new  prior  into  the  temporal 
possessions  and  to  assign  him  his  stall  in  the 
choir  and  his  place  in  the  chapter.  The 
form  of  the  oath  of  obedience  to  the  diocesan 
is  of  some  interest  :  '  In  the  name  of  God, 
Amen.  I,  Brother  Thomas  of  Hexham, 
prior  of  the  priory  of  Lanercost  of  the  Order 
of  St.  Augustine,  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle, 
will  be  faithful  and  obedient  to  you  my 
venerable  father  in  Christ  and  lord,  the  Lord 
Gilbert,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Bishop  of 
Carlisle,  and  to  your  successors  canonically 
appointed,  your  officials  and  ministers,  in 
canonical  and  lawful  demands.  So  help  me 
God  and  these  holy  Gospels  of  God,  and 
this  I  subscribe  with  my  own  hand.'6  Some- 
times the  bishop  dismissed  the  new  prior  with 
the  injunction  to  promote  amity  among  the 
brethren  and  exercise  mildness,  as  his  station 
required,  in  the  internal  administration  of  the 
convent. 

According  to  the  idiosyncracies  of  the 
bishop  or  the  necessities  of  the  occasion,  more 
stringent  obligations  had  to  be  undertaken  by 
a  new  prior  before  his  institution.  Bishop 
Welton  exacted  a  formidable  list  of  promises 
in  1354  from  Prior  Thomas  of  Hexham 

3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkeby,  f.  477. 

«  Ibid.  Welton,  ff.  26,  44. 

B  Ibid.  Appleby,  ff.  197,  254. 

6  Ibid.  Welton,  f.  12.  The  form  of  obedience 
subscribed  by  Prior  Richard  de  Ridale  in  1355  is 
as  follows  :  '  In  Dei  nomine  amen.  Ego  frater 
Ricardus  de  Ridale,  ordinis  sancti  Augustini,  in 
Priorem  Prioratus  de  Lanercost,  Karliolensis  dio- 
ceseos,  postulatus,  et  in  eiusdem  loci  Priorem  canon- 
ice  confirmatus,  ero  fidelis  et  obediens  vobis  vener- 
abili  in  Christo  patri  et  domino  meo,  domino 
Gilberto,  Dei  gracia,  Karliolensi  episcopo,  vestris- 
que  successoribus  canonice  intrantibus,  officialibus 
et  ministris,  in  canonicis  et  licitis  mandatis.  Sic 
Deus  me  adiuvet,  et  hec  sancta  Dei  evangelia,  et 
hoc  propria  manu  mea  subscribe '  (ibid.  f.  20). 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


(Hextildesham)  in  addition  to  the  cherishing  of 
goodwill  among  the  brethren  and  the  practice 
of  gentleness  in  his  government  of  the  house. 
Some  of  these  conditions  may  be  mentioned  : 
that  he  should  not  by  any  means  transact 
important  business  without  the  consent  of  the 
convent :  that  the  common  seal  should  be 
faithfully  kept  in  the  custody  of  three  canons 
or  two  at  the  least  :  that  he  should  keep  only 
a  few  dogs  (canes  nisi  paucos) :  that  he  should 
not  frequent  or  mix  himself  up  with  common 
sports  (communibus  venationibus) :  that  no  relig- 
ious or  secular  man  of  the  priory  should  keep 
dogs  of  any  sort :  and  that,  as  a  pension  had 
been  allotted  to  his  predecessor,  he  should 
abide  by  the  award  the  bishop  had  made.1 
The  peculiar  provisions  in  restraint  of  the 
sporting  proclivities  of  the  canons  can  be 
easily  understood  in  a  country  which  abounded 
in  game.  The  priory  was  not  always  at 
peace  with  the  lords  of  Gillesland  about  the 
rights  of  hunting  in  the  barony.  In  1256 
a  final  concord  was  accepted  by  Thomas  son 
of  Thomas  de  Multon  before  the  justices 
itinerant  at  Lancaster  whereby  the  litigating 
parties  came  to  an  understanding  about  the 
hunting  of  their  respective  demesnes.8  By 
this  agreement,  which  contains  many  inter- 
esting features  of  forest  law,  the  convent  was 
entitled  to  enclose  with  a  ditch  and  low 
hedge  their  part  of  Warth-colman  and  to 
maintain  a  deer-leap  (saltorium)  therein  for 
the  purpose  of  enabling  the  big  game  to 
enter  the  enclosure  and  of  preventing  them 
coming  out  again  :  and  besides  to  keep  a 
pack  of  hounds  consisting  of  four  harriers 
cleporarios)  and  four  swift  brachs  (brachettos 
(urrentes )  to  take,  as  often  as  they  wished, 
foxes,  hares  and  all  other  animals  known  as 
'  clobest.'  It  was  natural  that  the  canons,  as 
large  landowners,  should  regard  with  jealousy 
any  encroachments  on  the  sporting  rights  of 
their  estates,  game  being  an  important  article 
of  food,  but  there  was  just  a  possibility  that 
the  ways  of  the  world  might  invade  the 
quiet  seclusion  of  the  cloister.  Bishop  Welton 
was  apparently  of  opinion  that  things  were 
going  too  far  at  Lanercost,  for  on  his  coming 
to  the  see  in  1353  he  took  the  first  opportunity 
that  presented  itself  to  curb  the  sporting  pro- 
pensities of  the  brethren  and  to  keep  the 
ruling  passion  within  the  line  of  moderation. 

It  is  pleasing  to  note  that  at  Lanercost  as 
well  as  at  Carlisle  the  head  of  the  house, 
when  feeble  in  health  or  broken  down  with 
age,  was  able  to  retire  from  the  cares  of  office 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  12. 
3  Pedes  Finium   (Cumberland),  case   35,  file   2, 
No.  68  ;  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  ix.  4. 


and  to  pass  the  evening  of  his  life  in  comfort 
within  the  precincts  of  the  priory.  The 
procedure  on  the  resignation  of  a  prior  was 
no  doubt  regulated  by  the  rule  of  the  Augus- 
tinian  Order.  It  was  customary  at  Lanercost 
for  the  convent  to  name  the  pension  and 
submit  it  to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  for  his 
approval,  or  at  least  the  matter  was  arranged 
between  the  bishop  and  the  canons.  In 
1283  Prior  John  retired  on  a  pension  con- 
firmed by  Bishop  Ralf  Ireton.3  The  nature 
of  the  retiring  allowance  which  John  de 
(Bothecastre)  Bewcastle  received  in  1354 
throws  a  much  needed  light  on  the  simple 
habits  of  cloistered  life  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  It  was  ordained  by  Bishop  Welton 
that  Brother  John,  broken  with  old  age  and 
burdened  with  weakness  of  body,  should  have 
for  the  term  of  his  life  a  fit  place  to  dwell 
within  the  confines  (septa)  of  the  priory  :  two 
canonical  allowances  (libratas')  daily  of  meal 
and  drink,  two  pairs  of  new  boots  and  two 
pairs  of  new  socks  at  such  times  of  the  year 
when  these  articles  of  apparel  were  usually 
delivered,  a  sufficient  supply  of  fire  and  light, 
and  46;.  8d.  in  lieu  of  clothing  and  other 
necessaries  payable  at  three  terms  of  the  year, 
viz.  at  Christmas,  131.  4^. ;  at  Pentecost,  20*. ; 
and  at  Michaelmas,  13;.  4</.  The  bishop 
also,  out  of  respect  to  his  former  station, 
required  the  convent  to  make  him  an  allow- 
ance for  a  valet  (minister)  with  a  suitable 
livery  (roba)  or  half  a  mark  in  lieu  thereof.4 

When  a  vacancy  occurred  by  the  death  or 
resignation  of  the  prior,  jurisdiction  over  the 
house  at  once  passed  to  the  sub-prior  till  the 
office  was  filled  by  the  free  election  of  the 
canons.  At  times  the  bishops  did  not  fail  to 
impress  this  on  all  concerned.  When  Prior 
Thomas  of  Hexham  died  in  1355,  Bishop 
Welton  sent  the  vicars  of  Irthington  and 
Brampton  to  inform  the  canons  that  the  care 
of  the  convent  was  entrusted  to  the  sub-prior 
'  as  well  of  right  and  custom  as  by  our 
authority  it  is  known  to  belong.'  If  disputes 
arose  over  an  election,  the  bishop  was  the  sole 
referee,  by  whose  kindly  mediation  an  amicable 
arrangement  was  made.  When  Richard  de 
Ridale,  a  canon  of  Carlisle,  and  John  de 
Nonyngton,  a  canon  of  Lanercost,  were  pos- 
tulated to  the  priory  in  1355  by  two  parties  in 
the  house,  the  bishop  cited  them  to  Rose 
Castle,  where  he  gave  judgment  in  favour  of 
the  former  candidate  and  confirmed  him  in 
the  office.5 

Soon  after   the    foundation    of  the   house, 

3  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  113. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  13. 

«  Ibid.  S.  20-1. 


153 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Robert  de  Vaux,  the  founder,  granted  to 
the  canons  the  right  of  free  election,  so  that 
when  the  lord  prior  died  the  person  on  whom 
the  choice  of  the  canons  or  the  greater  part  of 
them  fell  should  be  elected  in  his  place.  To 
this  concession  Robert,  archdeacon  of  Carlisle, 
Walter,  prior  (of  Carlisle),  and  others  were  wit- 
nesses.1 It  was  not  always  that  the  patron  of 
the  house  acted  with  such  consideration  to  the 
canons.  At  later  periods  the  lords  of  Gilles- 
land  betrayed  an  interest  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  priory  which  was,  to  say  the 
least,  not  a  little  embarrassing  to  the  inmates. 
In  1261  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  was  obliged  to 
invoke  the  power  of  the  Crown  to  eject  Sir 
Thomas  de  Multon,  who  had  held  the  priory 
for  a  year  or  more  by  lay  force  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  bishop  and  his  officers  and  to  the 
detriment  of  the  discipline  of  the  house.  It 
is  curious  to  find  at  this  period  the  phrase 
laicalis  insolentia  used  to  denominate  lay  inter- 
ference in  ecclesiastical  affairs.8  The  same 
practical  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  priory 
was  again  manifest  in  1524,  when,  at  a  time 
of  great  monastic  activity,  Lord  Dacre  repri- 
manded the  prior  for  occupying  himself  so 
much  in  building  and  outward  works  that  he 

1  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  i.  14.  This  privilege 
was  afterwards  confirmed  by  Pope  Alexander  III. 
in  1 1 8 1  (ibid.  viii.  1 7)  and  by  Robert  de  Vaux, 
son  of  Ranulf  (ibid.  i.  22). 

*  As  the  letter  of  Bishop  Robert  de  Chause  has 
many  points  of  interest  and  seems  to  be  little 
known  locally,  it  may  be  useful  to  give  the  full 
text  :  '  Serenissimo  principi  et  domino  reverendo 
H(enrico).  Dei  gratia,  regi  Anglorum  illustri, 
devotus  suus  R(obertus),  permissione  divina  Karleo- 
lensis  ecclesias  minister  humilis,  salutem  et  promp- 
tum  ad  obsequia  famulatum,  cum  omni  reverentia 
pariter  et  honore.  Cum  dominus  Thomas  de 
Multon  prioratum  de  Lanercost  jam  per  annum  et 
amplius  per  vim  laicalem  tenuerit  occupatum,  ita 
quod  nee  nobis  aut  officialibus  nostris  ad  ea  exer- 
cendum  qua:  officio  nostro  incumbunt,  nee  priori 
ejusdem,  quern  ibidem  praefecimus,  ad  corrigendum 
canonicorum  suorum  excessus,  seu  ad  disponendum 
de  utilitatibus  ejusdem  prioratus  aliquo  modo 
patere  potest  ingressus,  vestras  majestati  regiae  omni 
qua  possumus  devotione  humiliter  supplicamus, 
quatenus  vicecomiti  Cumberlandias  vestris  velitis 
dare  literis  in  mandatis,  ut  vim  laicalem  a  prioratu 
predicto  auctoritate  regia  studeat  amovere  :  ne 
locus  ille  divino  cultui  dedicatus  per  laicalem  in- 
solentiam  ulterius  profanetur.  Valeat  et  vigeat 
excellentia  vestra  regia  per  tempora  longiora. 
Datum  apud  Bellum  Locum,  sexto  idus  Martii, 
anno  Domini  millesimo  ducentesimo  sexagesimo 
primo  et  pontificatus  nostri  anno  quinto.  Domino 
regi  Anglia:  illustri '  (Royal  and  Hist.  Letters,  Hen. 
III.  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii.  167).  Sir  Francis  Palgrave 
gave  an  abstract  of  this  letter  in  1843  (Def. 
Keeper's  Rep.  iv.  142). 


was  apt  to  neglect  the  more  serious  duties  of 
his  vocation.  The  following  '  copie  of  a 
lettre  to  the  prior  of  Lanrecost '  throws  a 
welcome  light  on  monastic  institutions  at  this 
date  : — 

Maistar  Prior  of  Lanrecost  and  convent  of  the 
same,  I  recOmende  me  to  youe,  and  at  my  being 
last  w'  youe  I  shulde  have  spokin  w'  youe  and 
shewed  youe  my  mynde  and  opynyofi  in  diverse 
mattiers  most  proufitable  and  beneficiall  to  youe 
and  yor  monastery,  whiche  for  lak  as  well  of  leaser, 
the  bushop  being  ther,  as  also  for  the  mattiers  of 
importaunce  concernyng  the  Kinge  busines  in 
hand  to  be  fulfilled,  that  I  couthe  not  have  tyme 
and  space  so  to  doo.  Albeit  a  parte  of  my  mynde 
is  that  forasmiche  as  youe,  Maister  Prior,  being  soo 
often  occupied  aswell  in  outward  warkes  and  busi- 
nesses as  buylding,  oversight  of  warkmen,  quarri- 
ours,  maisons,  wrightes,  wallers  as  others  nedefull 
to  be  sene  to  for  the  cOmon  weale  of  youe  all,  yor 
monastery,  servante  and  store,  cannot  have  tymes 
convenient  and  space  to  see  to  the  inwarde  parte 
of  yor  chirche  as  to  take  hede  and  see  the  service  of 
God  contynuallymaignteyned,the  order  of  Religion 
w'  the  Cerymoneys  of  the  same  w'in  the  Chirche, 
Closter,  Dortor  and  frater  observed  and  kept  so 
weale  as  nedefull  it  were.  Therfore  expedient  it 
is  that  ye  have  eas  and  help  of  a  parte  of  yor  said 
charge  to  be  taken  of  youe,  bereason  that  two 
persounes  may  the  better  take  hede  to  the  execu- 
tion of  many  businesses  than  one  person.  And  in 
as  muche  as  I  am  yor  Foundo'  and  bounde  in  con- 
sciens  to  see  for  yor  weales  and  geve  unto  youe  my 
most  fruytfull  counseill,  woll  therfore  and  hertely 
prey  youe  that  w'  convenient  diligence  after  the 
recept  herof,  ye  woll  assemble  youe  to  gidders  in 
yor  chapito*  Hous  and  ther  lovingly  condescend 
aggre  youe  and  elect  oon  of  yor  selfe  to  be  yor  sup- 
prior,  siche  as  ye  in  yor  consciences  most  assuredly 
truste  may  and  shalbe  most  beneficiall  aswell  to  the 
mayntenance  of  Godde  service  w'in  yor  monastery, 
conversacion  in  his  owne  person,  as  prouffitable  to 
yor  said  monastery  yerely  and  frome  tyme  to  tyme 
herafter.  So  as  the  same  person  so  chosen  may 
have  the  charge  of  the  service  of  the  churche  and 
ordor  of  his  brethern  undre  youe,  maister  Prior, 
trusting  therby  that  persounes  now  highe  mynded, 
wolfull  and  obstacle  there,  may  and  woll  fro  thens- 
furthe  knaw  their  selfe  the  better,  And  use  the 
vowe  of  obedience  according  to  profession.  And 
youe,  maister  Prior,  to  reasorte  to  the  charge  of 
the  churche,  chapito'  Hous,  and  frater  at  all  tymes 
that  ye  conveniently  may.  And  not  w'standing 
the  obstinacie  som  tyme  used  by  Sr  Richard 
Halton  aftre  his  profession  cont'ry  thordor  of 
Religion,  whiche  he  all  utterly  has  refused,  and  be 
the  help  of  the  holy  goost  is  vertuously  reduced  of 
his  owne  good  mynde  to  my  singular  pleaser,  corn- 
forth,  and  consolacion  above  any  temperall  man, 
seing  the  good  qualities  in  hym  and  his  inward 
goodness  and  mynde  to  yor  House  and  me  knowen, 
faithfully  professed  in  his  hert  to  God,  Mary  Mag- 
dalen, and  that  Hous.  In  Myn  opynyon,  upon 
my  feith  and  conscience,  I  think  unfeynedly  that 


156 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


the  said  S'  Richard  Halton  is  most  dyscrete,  suffi- 
cient, and  able  to  be  yor  supprior.  And  for  my 
parte,  as  far  as  in  me  is,  being  yor  foundor,  I  assent 
to  his  election,  trusting  ye  woll  all  or  the  most 
parte  of  youe  assent  to  the  same,  yor  most  prouffet 
and  weales  perfitely  remembred,  notw'standing  he 
having  a  vicary,  whiche  makes  him  more  able  to 
occupie  the  same  Rowme.  And  upon  a  parte  of 
yo  more  towardly,  humbly,  and  obedient  demean- 
ors to  be  used  hereafter  then  has  bene  of  late,  may 
and  shall  have  me  to  be  yor  better  good  lord  and 
com  to  promotion  upon  yor  good  demerette,  w'out 
whose  help  I  see  not  as  y'  shall  cum  therunto. 
Wherefore  I  counseill  youe  all  thus  to  be  contented 
and  elect  hym  w'out  any  obstinacie  or  grudge  as 
ye  intende  to  pleas  me.  At  Morpath  the  penult 
day  of  February  Anno  xv°  H.  VIII.1 

From  these  evidences  it  will  appear  that  the 
advowson  of  the  priory,  which  passed  from  one 
lord  of  Gillesland  to  another  as  a  piece  of  real 
property,*  existed  in  reality  as  well  as  in  name, 
and  was  a  potential  force  in  the  regulation  of 
the  house. 

From  its  geographical  position  the  priory 
was  exposed  to  constant  dangers  from  the 
attacks  of  Scottish  marauders.  Its  unprotected 
condition  so  close  to  the  frontier  served  as  an 
invitation  to  the  Border  clans  to  harass  it  in 
retaliation  for  the  depredations  of  their  English 
enemies.  After  the  outbreak  of  the  War  of 
Independence  its  real  troubles  began.  In  1296, 
the  year  of  the  rupture  with  Balliol,  the 
Scottish  army  encamped  at  Lanercost  after 
burning  the  priory  of  Hexham  and  the  nun- 
nery of  Lambley,  and  laying  waste  the  valley 
of  the  Tyne.3  By  a  timely  alarm,  no  doubt 
created  by  the  artifice  of  the  canons,  the 
Scots  retreated  through  Nicolforest  with  their 
plunder,  having  burnt  only  certain  houses  of 
the  monastery  but  not  the  church.4  No 
words  were  too  strong  on  the  lips  of  English 
writers  to  describe  the  cruelties  and  impieties 
practised  by  the  enemy  on  that  occasion.  The 
poet  historian  of  Bridlington 5  narrates  that 

i  B.M.  Add.  MS.  24,965,  f.  218. 

a  The  advowsons  of  religious  houses  founded  by 
subjects  descended  to  their  heirs,  unless  alienated 
or  forfeited,  as  the  houses  of  royal  foundation  re- 
mained with  the  Crown.  For  instance,  the  advow- 
son of  Lanercost  was  reckoned  in  the  'extent'  of  the 
Dacre  possessions  in  1340  and  1485  (Inq.  p.m. 
13  Edw.  III.  ist  Nos.  35  ;  Cat.  of  Inq.  p.m.  Hen. 
VII.  i.  157).  Similarly  the  advowsons  of  St. 
Bees  and  Calder  descended  among  the  lords  of 
Egremont  (Inq.  p.m.  15  Edw.  II.  No.  45  ;  39 
Edw.  III.  ist.  Nos.  17).  These  examples  might 
be  easily  multiplied. 

»  Chron.  de  Melsa  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii.  261. 

*  Heminburgh,  Chron.  (Engl.Hist.  Soc.),  ii.  102. 

e  Quoted  by  J.  Raine  as  the  lines  of  Peter 
Langtoft  in  The  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.), 
i.  p.  Ixxxii. 


157 


Corbrigge  is  a  toun,  the  brent  it  whan  thei  cam  : 
Tuo  hous  of  religioun,  Leynercoste  and  Hexham, 
Thei  chaced  the  chanons  out,  ther  godes  bare  away, 
And  robbed  alle  about :  the  bestis  tok  to  pray. 

The  devastation,  added  the  chronicler  of 
Lanercost,  cannot  be  imputed  to  the  bravery 
of  warriors,  but  to  the  cowardice  of  robbers, 
who  invaded  a  thinly-populated  country 
where  they  were  sure  to  find  no  resistance.6 
The  bold  initiative  taken  by  the  Scots  in  this 
and  in  the  following  year  under  Wallace 
caused  a  sensation  throughout  the  northern 
counties.  Their  savage  deeds  provoked  loud 
calls  for  reprisals  on  the  part  of  the  English. 
One  writer  declared  that  as  the  house  of 
Lanercost  had  suffered  innumerable  evils, 
inexorable  vengeance  should  be  enacted  in 
return.  Fordun,  the  Scottish  historian,  re- 
garding the  whole  thing  with  complacency, 
remarked  that  Wallace  returned  safe  and 
sound  to  his  own  country  after  a  successful 
expedition.7 

Several  visits  of  Edward  I.  to  the  priory  in 
the  latter  part  of  his  reign  are  on  record.  A 
few  days  were  spent  there  with  Queen  Eleanor 
in  the  autumn  of  1280  on  his  way  to  New- 
castle, when  the  convent  met  him  at  the  gate 
in  their  copes  and  the  king  graciously  made  a 
votive  offering  of  silk  cloth  to  the  church.  It 
was  reported  that  during  his  short  stay  he 
took  200  stags  and  hinds  while  hunting  in  his 
own  domain  of  Inglewood.  Again,  soon 
after  midsummer  1300,  as  he  passed  through 
Carlisle  with  the  nobles  and  magnates  of  his 
kingdom  on  his  way  to  the  siege  of  Carlave- 
rock,  he  turned  aside  and  made  a  short  stay 
at  Lanercost.  On  his  last  fateful  visit  to  the 
north  in  1306,  he  came  to  the  priory  with 
Queen  Margaret  at  Michaelmas  and  continued 
there  till  the  following  Easter,  the  journey 
having  been  completed  by  easy  stages  in  a 
horse  litter  owing  to  age  and  infirmity.  It 
was  while  he  sojourned  at  Lanercost  that  the 
brothers  of  Robert  de  Brus  and  other  Scottish 
captives  were  sent  to  Carlisle  for  execution, 
the  stern  old  warrior  having  with  his  own 
mouth  sentenced  Thomas  de  Brus  to  be 
dragged  at  the  tails  of  horses  from  Lanercost 
to  Carlisle  before  the  dread  sentence  of  hang- 
ing and  beheading  was  carried  out.  The 
heads  were  suspended  on  the  three  gates  of 
Carlisle,  except  the  head  of  Thomas  de  Brus, 
which  was  reserved  to  decorate  the  keep  of 
the  castle.8 

•  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  174,  193. 

7  Scotichronicon  (ed.  W.  Goodall),  ii.  172. 

8  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  105,  194,  205—6.       On 
the  last   day   of  June   1300,  Edward   I.   sent    an 
oblation   by  the   hand  of  Henry  de  Burgo,  canon 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


If  the  king  was  too  unmindful  of  the  trouble 
and  expense  his  prolonged  stay  had  caused  the 
priory,  the  canons  were  not  slow  in  refreshing 
his  memory.  They  begged  him,  having  re- 
gard to  the  reduced  state  of  their  house  and 
the  damages  they  suffered  by  him  and  his  at- 
tendants, which  a  great  sum  would  not  suffice 
to  restore,  that  by  way  of  recompense  he  would 
grant  them  the  church  of  '  Hautwyselle,' 
worth  about  100  marks  a  year,  but  as  the 
abbot  of  Aberbrothok,  to  whom  the  church 
belonged,  indignantly  refused  to  accept  an 
allowance  in  exchange,  the  proposal  fell 
through.1  Before  his  departure  however 
the  king  granted  his  licence  for  the  appropria- 
tion of  the  churches  of  Mitford  in  Northum- 
berland and  Carlatton  in  Cumberland,  for  the 
relief  of  their  necessities.  In  his  letter  to  the 
pope  the  king  alleged,  as  reasons  for  his 
liberality,  the  special  devotion  he  felt  to  St. 
Mary  Magdalene  in  whose  honour  the  con- 
vent was  founded,  the  long  stay  he  was  forced 
to  make  on  account  of  illness,  the  burning  of 
their  houses  and  the  robbery  of  their  goods  by 
the  Scots,  insomuch  that  the  priory  was  much 
impoverished  and  depressed.2  The  same 
motives  were  repeated  in  his  letters  patent.3 
In  confirming  the  appropriations,  the  bishops 
of  Durham  and  Carlisle  told  the  same  mourn- 
ful tale  of  the  distressed  condition  of  Laner- 
cost.* It  seemed  as  if,  at  that  time,  burnt 
houses  and  an  exhausted  treasury  were  the 
distinguishing  characteristics  of  this  once 
flourishing  foundation. 

The  fate  of  Lanercost  henceforward  de- 
pended on  the  political  relations  of  the  two 
kingdoms.  In  times  of  truce  the  house  was 
at  rest  and  employed  the  breathing  space  for 
the  repair  of  its  waste  places  ;  when  hostili- 
ties broke  out,  it  was  the  objective  of  raid  and 
robbery.  In  August,  1311,  Robert  Bruce, 
King  of  Scotland,  came  to  the  monastery  with 
a  great  army  and  made  it  his  headquarters  for 

of  the  priory,  to  be  offered  on  the  great  altar  of 
the  church  of  Lanercost  (Liber  Quot.  Gardenbte 
[Soc.  of  Antiq.],  p.  40). 

1  Cat.  of  Doc.  Scot.  ii.  503. 

a  Rymer,  FaeJera  (new  ed.),  i.  1012. 

a  Pat.  35  Edw.  I.  m.  25. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  140.  This  ap- 
propriation involved  the  canons  of  Lanercost  in 
a  dispute  with  the  priory  of  Durham  on  the  issue 
whether  the  church  of  Meldon  was  a  chapel  depen- 
dent on  Mitford  or  a  parish  church  separate  from 
it.  In  1 3 10  an  amicable  arrangement  was  made 
at  Lanercost  whereby  Prior  Henry  on  behalf  of  his 
house  acknowledged  the  independence  of  Meldon. 
The  deeds  of  this  acknowledgment  still  exist  at 
Durham,  and  have  been  printed  by  Hodgson, 
History  of  Northumberland,  ii.  pt.  iii.  54-6. 


three  days,  imprisoning  several  (plurei)  of 
the  canons  and  committing  infinite  evils. 
At  length  however  he  set  the  canons  at 
liberty.5  In  fulfilment  of  the  treaty  be- 
tween the  same  king  and  Edward  III.  in 
1328,  a  mutual  interchange  of  good  offices 
was  effected  between  the  priory  of  Lanercost 
and  the  abbey  of  Kelso  in  respect  of  their 
common  revenues  out  of  the  church  of 
Lazonby.6  One  of  the  worst  trials  experi- 
enced by  the  house  occurred  in  1346,  when 
David  II.  ransacked  the  conventual  buildings 
and  desecrated  the  church.  Fresh  from  the 
overthrow  of  the  fortalice  of  Liddel  and  the 
unchivalrous  slaughter  of  Walter  of  Selby,  its 
gallant  defender,  the  Scots,  with  theatrical 
manifestations  of  joy,  David  cum  diabolo  being 
their  leader,  marched  to  the  priory  of  Laner- 
cost, where  the  canons,  men  venerable  and 
devoted  to  the  Lord,  dwelt.  They  entered 
the  holy  place  with  haughtiness,  threw  out 
the  vessels  of  the  temple,  stole  the  treasures, 
broke  the  doors,  took  the  jewels,  and  destroyed 
everything  they  could  lay  hands  on.7  One 
of  the  priors  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Scots 
in  1386,  and  set  at  ransom  at  a  fixed  sum  of 
money  and  four  score  quarters  of  corn  of 
divers  kinds.  There  was  a  difficulty  in  con- 
veying the  corn  to  Scotland,  which  added 
somewhat  to  the  prior's  misery  and  the  pro- 
longation of  his  imprisonment.8 

An  effort  was  made  in  1409  to  retrieve 
the  fallen  fortunes  of  the  house  by  an  appeal 
to  the  Archbishop  of  York  for  letters  of 
quest '  throughout  the  northern  province. 

6  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  218. 

«  Close,  2  Edw.  III.  m.  16  ;  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot. 
(Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iii.  173-4. 

7  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  345-6.      This  reference 
to  Lanercost  has  been   omitted   from   Stevenson's 
argument    on    the    authorship   of  the  Chronicle. 
It  is  certainly  the  description  of  an  eye-witness. 

8  Rot.  Scotitf  (Rec.  Com.),  ii.  86. 

9  Abstracts  of  many  of  these  letters  of  quest,  re- 
ferring to  institutions  at   home  and  abroad,  have 
been  recorded  in  the  fourteenth  century  registers 
of  the  Bishops  of  Carlisle.     One  of  these,  taken  at 
random,  may  be  given  here    as   an    illustration  : 
'  Memorandum    quod    septimo    die    Novembris, 
anno     M'CCC'LIX",     apud     manerium     de    Rosa, 
renovate    fuerint    littere    pro    questoribus    fabrice 
ecclesie  collegiate  beati  Johannis  Beverlacensis  sub 
sigillo  domini   Karliolensis  episcopi,  durature  per 
unum   annum    extunc  immediate    sequentem,    ad 
prosecucionem  Thome  de  Coketon,  procuratorem 
dicte  ecclesie  Beverlacensis '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Wei- 
ton,  f.  60).     As    the   practice  often   led   to  great 
abuses,  it  needed   the  constant    vigilance   of  the 
bishops.     In  1342  Bishop  Kirkby  issued  a  warning 
to  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  to  beware  of  false  and 
fraudulent questors  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  f.  446). 
A  noble  was  the  usual  fee  to  the  diocesan  registrar 


158 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


In  response  Archbishop  Bowet  sent  a  moni- 
tion to  his  suffragans,  inviting  them  to  give 
facilities  to  the  proctors  of  the  priory  for 
making  the  requisite  collection  ;  the  bishops 
were  also  enjoined  to  see  that  the  object  of 
the  alms  should  be  properly  explained  by  the 
parish  priests  in  the  churches,  and  that  the 
money  collected  should  be  delivered  without 
diminution  to  the  questors.  The  causes 
which  reduced  the  canons  to  such  straits 
were  recounted  to  the  archbishop  in  doleful 
tones  by  the  prior ;  the  monastery  with  its 
principal  buildings  were  threatening  ruin  ; 
their  possessions  were  in  a  state  of  dilapidation 
or  consumed  with  fire  by  the  frequent  in- 
cursions of  the  Scots  ;  their  lands,  especially 
those  near  the  confines  of  Scotland,  were 
lying  uncultivated  and  practically  useless. 
With  these  and  other  burdens  and  expenses, 
the  canons  had  sunk  to  such  a  condition  of 
poverty  and  want  that  they  were  unable  to 
live  and  serve  God  according  to  the  profession 
of  their  order  without  the  help  of  other 
Christians.  An  indulgence  of  forty  days  was 
granted  to  all  persons  who  contributed  of 
their  goods  to  the  repair  of  the  monastery  or 
to  the  maintenance  of  the  poor  canons.1 

The  priory  was  in  comparatively  affluent 
circumstances  before  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
between  the  two  kingdoms  in  1296.  The 
annual  revenue  of  the  house  was  returned  at 
£74  I2s.(>d.  in  the  valuation  of  Pope  Nicho- 
las IV.  in  1291,  whereas  at  the  time  of  the 
new  taxation  in  1318  the  valuation  of  the 
temporalities  had  fallen  to  nothing,  like  that 
of  several  parish  churches  on  the  frontier, 
inasmuch  as  their  goods  were  utterly  wasted 
and  destroyed  by  Scottish  incursions.2  It 
has  been  already  stated  that  the  prior's  bene- 
fice was  assessed  at  £20  for  the  royal  subsidy 
in  1379-80.  The  gross  revenues  of  the 
house  in  1535  amounted  for  spiritualities  and 
temporalities  to  £79  igs.,  which,  after  de- 
ducting such  necessary  outgoings  as  synodals, 
fees  and  salaries,  left  a  net  annual  revenue  of 

for  the  bishop's  licence  or  its  renewal  to  make  the 
collection.  For  instance,  Master  Robert  Whelpe- 
dale,  Bishop  Bell's  registrar,  returned  the  following 
sum  in  his  diocesan  accounts  in  1480:  'Fines 
Questorum.  Set  respondet  de  xxxiiu.  iiijV.  re- 
ceptis  de  finibus  questorum  sanctorum  Thome 
Rome,  vis.  viiid.  Antonii  vis.  viiid.,  sancti  Roberti 
iuxta  Knaresburgh,  vis.  viiid.,  et  sancti  Johannis 
Beverlaci,  vis.  viiid.,  et  sancti  Lazari,  vis.  viii</., 
pro  licencia  questandi  per  unum  annum  integrum, 
etc.  Summa,  xxxiiis.  \\\\J. '  (Accounts  of  Bp.  Bell, 
MS.). 

1  The  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  p. 
xcv.-xcvi. 

3  Pope  Nich.  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  320. 


£77  us.  lid.3  It  is  quite  evident  that  the 
value  of  the  priory  fluctuated  from  time  to 
time  according  to  the  peaceful  or  disturbed 
state  of  the  Borders. 

From  the  records  of  the  great  Scrope  and 
Grosvenor  controversy,  which  lasted  from 
1385  to  1390,  we  get  a  curious  glimpse  into 
the  conventual  buildings  under  the  guidance 
of  the  prior.  Among  the  superiors  of  the 
religious  houses  in  the  north  of  England,  who 
gave  evidence  relative  to  the  antiquity  of  the 
arms  of  Scrope  from  windows,  seals,  monu- 
ments and  embroidered  vestments,  William, 
prior  of  Lanercost,  was  called.  His  deposi- 
tions are  of  great  local  interest.  William, 
prior  of  the  house,  stated  that  he  was  thirty- 
four  years  of  age,  and  that  on  a  window  in 
the  west  end  of  his  church  were  the  arms  of 
Scrope  within  a  bordure  or,  and  the  same 
arms  were  placed  in  the  refectory  between 
those  of  Vaux  and  Multon,  their  founders  ; 
and  that  in  the  refectory  and  west  window  of 
their  church  were  the  old  arms  of  the  King  of 
England,  the  arms  of  France,  the  arms  of 
Scotland,  and  the  arms  of  Scrope,  azure  a 
bend  or,  the  which  arms  had  been  in  the  said 
window  since  the  building  of  their  church 
in  the  time  of  Henry  II.,  and  by  common 
report  throughout  the  country  they  were  the 
arms  of  Scrope  ;  that  there  remained  banners 
used  at  the  funerals  of  great  lords  and  em- 
broidered with  their  arms,  amongst  which 
were  those  of  Scrope.  He  also  deposed  that 
the  arms  of  Scrope  were  entire  in  an  old 
chapel  at  Kirkoswald,  and  that  they  had  at 
Lanercost  the  said  arms  embroidered  on  the 
morse  of  a  cope  with  a  white  label  for  differ- 
ence, and  that  the  same  had  been  in  the 
priory  from  beyond  the  time  of  memory. 
Being  asked  how  he  knew  that  the  said  arms 
belonged  to  Sir  Richard  Scrope,  the  prior  said 
that  such  had  always  been  the  tradition  in 
their  house,  and  that  he  had  heard  his  pre- 
decessor, who  was  an  old  man,  say  that  he 
had  heard  from  ancient  lords,  knights  and 
esquires  that  the  Scropes  were  come  of  a 
noble  race  and  high  blood  from  the  time  of 
the  Conqueror,  as  appeared  by  evidences,  and 
the  prior  who  preceded  him  also  said  that 
they  were  cousins  to  one  Gant  who  came 
over  with  the  Conqueror,  and  that  their  arms 
were  descended  in  right  line  to  Sir  Richard 
Scrope,  as  was  known  by  common  report  in 
all  parts  of  the  north.  As  to  Sir  Robert 
Grosvenor,  the  prior  deposed  on  oath  that  he 
had  never  heard  of  him  or  his  ancestors  until 
the  day  of  his  examination.  The  suit,  which 
commenced  at  Newcastle  on  20  August  1385, 


8  fa/or  Ecc.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  277. 


159 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


was  finally  closed  in  1390  when  the  '  coat ' 
was  awarded  to  Scrope  by  the  king  in  person 
in  his  palace  of  Westminster.1 

Amid  the  sorrows  and  confusion  attending 
the  fall  of  the  religious  houses,  John  Robin- 
son, the  last  prior  of  Lanercost,  managed  to 
keep  his  name  unsullied  from  the  asper- 
sions of  the  royal  visitors  which  blackened 
the  characters  of  so  many  of  his  contemporaries 
and  to  steer  a  clear  course  through  the  politi- 
cal troubles  which  followed  the  dissolution. 
In  1534  Prior  John  was  deputed  with  other 
gentlemen  of  the  county  to  make  an  inven- 
tory of  the  '  moveables  '  of  Sir  Christopher 
Dacre  when  he  was  in  disgrace.*  As  '  Leon- 
ardecoste '  was  one  of  the  northern  houses 
suspected  of  complicity  in  the  insurrection  of 
1537  it  is  to  be  feared  that  hard  fate  awaited 
some  of  the  canons.  The  king  writing  to 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk  in  that  year  said — 

Forasmoche  as  all  thise  troubles  have  ensued  by 
the  solicitation  and  traitorous  conspiracyes  of  the 
monkes  and  chanons  of  those  parties,  we  desire  and 
pray  you,  at  your  repaire  to  Salleye,  Hexam, 
Newminster,  Leonerdecoste,  Saincte  Agathe,  and 
all  suche  other  places  as  have  made  any  maner  of 
resistence,  or  in  any  wise  conspired,  or  kept  their 
houses  with  any  force,  sithens  th'  appointement  at 
Dancastre,  you  shall,  without  pitie  or  circumstance, 
now  that  our  baner  is  displayed,  cause  all  the 
monkes  and  chanons,  that  be  in  anywise  faultie,  to 
be  tyed  uppe,  without  further  delaye  or  ceremony, 
to  the  terrible  exemple  of  others,  wherin  we 
thinke  you  shall  doo  unto  us  highe  service.8 

There  was  no  charge  made  against  the  prior 
in  this  wrathful  missive.  When  the  priory 
of  Lanercost  was  brought  to  an  end,  John 
Robinson  its  last  head  was  awarded  in  1539 
a  retiring  allowance  of  £8  a  year.* 

Some  difficulty  was  experienced  by  the 
authorities  in  the  gift  of  the  possessions  of  the 
dissolved  priory.  At  first  they  were  demised 
or  leased  to  Sir  William  Penison,  a  court 

1  The  depositions  of  William,  prior  of  Laner- 
cost, were  considered  of  sufficient  interest  to 
entitle  them  to  special  mention  by  the  able  writer 
who  reviewed  Sir  Harris  Nicholas'  edition  of '  The 
Controversy  between  Sir  Richard  Scrope  and  Sir 
Robert  Grosvenor  in  the  Court  of  Chivalry,  A.D. 
MCCCLXXXV-MCCCXC,  folio,  London,  1832,' 
in  the  S^uar.  Rev.  (April,  1836),  Ivi.  24-5. 

8  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil.  vii.  646.  The  only 
charge  made  in  the  Black  Book  against  the  inmates 
of  Lanercost  was  one  of  personal  uncleanness 
against  Edward  Ulwalde  and  Thomas  Rideley, 
two  of  the  canons.  The  girdle  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalene  was  stated  to  be  amongst  the  relics 
of  the  house. 

3  Ibid.  xii.  (i.)  479  ;   Prior1)  ofHexham  (Surtees 
Soc.),  App.  No.  ci. 

4  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  xiv.  (i.)  596. 


favourite,  a  proceeding  which  was  hotly  re- 
sented by  the  Dacres,  who  considered  that 
their  family  claims  were  pre-eminent.6  A 
lively  correspondence  ensued.  Sir  William 
complained  that  — 

my  lorde  Dacre,  contrarie  to  my  will  and  pleasure 
or  ony  promise  to  him  therof  made,  dothe  usurpe 
the  ferme  of  Lanercoste  demaynes  and  benefice 
therto  appropriat,  taking  all  thinges  as  his  owne, 
puttyng  out  and  in  tennantes  and  prestes,  so  that 
by  his  maintenances  the  hole  convent  do  confeder 
and  flok  to  gither  there  in  their  chanons  cotes  very 
unsemely. 

Lord  William  Dacre,  replying  to  the  charges 
made  against  him — 

by  the  relacion  of  maister  Penison  being  the  Kinges 
maiesties  fermour  of  Lanercoste, 

assured  Cromwell  that  he  had  not  exceeded 
the  commands  of  the  king's  commissioners — 

and  as  unto  the  flocking  of  any  chanons  ther  or 
empeching  to  be  made  to  his  deputies  by  me  or 
any  oder  for  me  in  the  receipte  of  the  revenues 
or  any  oder  prouffettes  ther,  I  did  never  nor  no  one 
for  me  medled  therwithal." 

The  priory  was  subsequently  granted  to 
Thomas  Dacre  of  Lanercost,  the  king's  ser- 
vant, by  letters  patent  dated  22  November 
1542.  It  was  a  grant  in  tail  male  of  the 
house  and  site  of  the  dissolved  priory  of 
Lanercost  with  the  water  mill  there,  the 
'  tannehowse,'  gardens,  closes,  messuages  and 
all  the  demesne  lands  of  the  said  late  priory, 
all  which  lie  in  Lanercost  parish  and  belonged 
to  the  said  priory  ;  except  the  church  and 
churchyard  of  Lanercost  and  the  mansion 
called  the  Utter  Yate  House  there  for  the 
dwelling  of  the  curate  or  vicar,  to  be  held 
of  the  king  by  the  service  of  one  twentieth 
of  a  knight's  fee  rendering  for  the  same  9$. 
yearly.7 

PRIORS  OF  LANERCOST 


i  HIUHD    wr     j.j/M>r.  i\ 

Symon,  circa  1181—4  8 
John,  1 220* 


1 60 


«  Ibid.  xiii.  (i.)  588  ;   xiv.  (i.)  604. 

e  Ibid.  xiii.  (i.)  304,  522. 

*  Pat.  34  Hen.  VIII.  iii.  m.  23  ;  L.  and  P. 
Hen.  7III.  xvii.  1154  (76). 

8  Reg.  of  Lanercost,  viii.  9,  14,  17,  18.  Symon 
was  probably  the  first  prior,  for  it  was  to  him 
that  Bishop  Christian  of  Whithern  confirmed  the 
churches  given  by  Robert  de  Vaux  at  the  founda- 
tion of  the  house. 

»  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  14-6.  The 
award  of  Bishop  Hugh  of  Carlisle  between  John, 
prior  of  Lanercost,  and  the  monks  of  Holmcultram 
is  dated  in  1230  by  a  clerical  error  in  the  copy  of 
the  register  with  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle. 
The  correct  date  of  1220  is  given  in  the  Harleian 
copy  (3891). 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


Walter,    I2561 

John  of  Galloway  (de  Galwythia),  circa 

1271,    resigned  with  a  pension  in 

1283,  died   in    1289 2 
Symon  de   Driffeld,  elected   16  August 

I2833 

Henry  (de  Burgo),  circa  1310,  died  9 
December  1315* 

Robert  de  Meburne,  elected  in  Decem- 
ber 1315  5 

William  de  Suthayk,  died  in  1337 

John  de  Bowethby,  elected  in  1337, 
died  in  1338  8 

John  de  Bewcastle  (Bothecastre),  elected 
in  1338,  resigned  with  a  pension 
in  1354' 

Thomas  de  Hexham  (Hextildesham), 
elected  2  December  1354,  died  in 

July  1355" 

Richard  de  Ridale,  elected  in  1355, 
custody  of  the  priory  delivered  to 
Martin  de  Brampton,  canon  of  the 
house,  in  1360,  during  Prior  Rich- 
ard's absence  9 


1  Reg.  of   Lanercost,  vii.  21,  ix.  4. 

1  Ibid.  ix.  14,  xii.  13,  xiii.  9  ;  Cbron.  de 
Lanercost,  113,  133. 

s  Symon  appears  to  have  ruled  the  house  for  a 
long  period,  as  a  prior  of  that  name  exemplified  a 
papal  dispensation  in  1306  to  a  canon  of  Laner- 
cost (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  101). 

*  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  232.  There  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  this  prior  was  the  same  per- 
son as  Brother  Henry  de  Burgo,  or  Brother  H.  as 
he  was  oftener  called  in  the  Chronicle  of  Laner- 
cost, who  was  the  poet  of  the  house  for  some 
time  before  his  election  to  the  priorate,  and 
whose  muse  supplies  a  perpetual  source  of  diver- 
sion to  the  readers  of  the  Chronicle.  The  verses 
between  1280  and  1290  may  be  regarded  as  his 
best,  notably  his  ironical  effusion  on  the  subsidy 
exacted  by  Bishop  Ireton  from  the  clergy  in  1280 
and  the  accounts  he  wrote  of  his  detention  in 
prison  for  three  days  at  Durham  in  1282.  The 
versification  introduced  after  1290  was  anonymous, 
and  contributions  of  this  sort  ceased  altogether 
after  1315,  the  year  of  Prior  Henry's  death. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  1 80. 

«  Ibid.  Kirkby,  ff.  356-7. 

7  Ibid.  ff.  379-80  ;  Pat.  32  Edw.  I.  m.  10. 

e  Ibid.  Welton,  ff.  12,  20,  21. 

9  Ibid.  ff.  20,  21,  73.  Bishop  Welton  stated 
in  his  commission  that  Prior  Richard  had  forsaken 
his  post  and  withdrawn  himself  to  some  remote  and 


Peter  Froste,  circa   I37910 

John,    1380" 

William,  circa   1385-90 

Alexander  Walton,   1434" 

John  Werke,  installed  in   1465  13 

Richard  Cokke,  received  benediction  in 

H92-3 
John  Robinson,  circa   1534-9 

The  seal  of  Lanercost1*  is  of  the  usual 
monastic  pattern,  pointed  oval  with  the  figure 
of  Mary  Magdalene  on  a  platform  holding  a 
palm  branch  in  her  right  hand  and  a  covered 
unquent  pot  in  her  left.  In  the  field  on  each 
side  a  wavy  branch  of  flowers  and  foliage, 
above  which  is  on  the  left  a  crescent  and  on 
the  right  a  star.  The  legend  is  S  :  CAPIT'LI  : 

SCE  :    MARIE  :    MAGDALENE  :    DE  :    LANRECOST. 

distant  place,  and  as  the  bishop  wished  to  provide 
for  the  house  during  his  absence,  he  committed  the 
priory  to  Brother  Martin  with  the  injunction  that 
he  should  give  the  bishop,  while  the  prior  was 
absent,  or  to  the  prior  when  he  was  present,  a 
faithful  account  of  his  administration. 

10  Exch.  Cler.  Subs.   bdle.  60,  No.  i,  dioc.  of 
Carl.     The  value  of  the  prior's  benefice  was  set 
down  at  £20,  the  amount  of  his  assessment  being 
lo/.      The   canons  of  the  house    were    Thomas 
Prest,   Richard   Felton,   John   Forth   and   Robert 
Estwake,  who  paid  I  zd.  each  to  the  subsidy. 

11  Ibid.  No.  23.     Prior  John  of  Lanercost  and 
Abbot    Robert    of   Shap    were    commissioned    by 
Bishop  Appleby  to  collect  the  sixteenth  granted 
by  the  clergy  of  Carlisle  to  Richard  II.  in  the  third 
year  of  his  reign. 

12  Jefferson,  Leatk  Ward,  495. 

13  In  the  compotus  of  William    Raa,   registrar  of 
the  diocese,   from  the  morrow  of  Michaelmas,  4 
Edw.  IV.  to  the  vigil  of  Easter,  5  Edw.  IV.,   that 
is  for  a  year  and  a  half,  we   find  this   entry  :  '  Et 
de  xl/.  receptis  de  Johanne  Werke  (Clerk  cancelled) 
canonico    pro    installacione    sua   in   prioratum  de 
Lanercoste,  etc.'     In  a  similar  compotus  of  Robert 
Fisher,  registrar,  from  6  March,  7  Henry  VII.  to 
1 1  March,  8  Henry  VII.,  there   is  recorded   this 
item  of  episcopal  revenue  :  '  Benedictiones   abba- 
tum   et   priorum.     Et   de   xLr.   receptis  pro  bene- 
dictionibus   Ricardi   Cokke,  prioris   de   Lanercost 
hoc  anno.' 

i*  Attached  to  deeds  dated  1310  respecting  an 
arrangement  made  between  the  canons  of  Laner- 
cost and  the  priory  of  Durham,  which  are  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Dur- 
ham. See  also  B.M.  Seals  3395.  Hodgson  in  his 
History  of  Northumberland,  ii.  pt.  iii.  54—6,  has  re- 
produced a  poor  impression  of  this  seal. 


II 


161 


21 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


HOUSES    OF    CISTERCIAN    MONKS 


3.     THE    ABBEY   OF    HOLMCUL- 
TRAM1 

The  abbey  of  Holmcultram,  situated  in 
the  low-lying  district  between  Carlisle  and 
the  Solway,  was  founded  as  an  affiliation  of 
the  great  Cistercian  house  of  Melrose  by 
Prince  Henry,  son  of  David,  King  of  Scot- 
land, in  the  year  II5O,2  while  he  was  ruler 
of  the  province  ceded  to  Scotland  by  King 
Stephen  and  afterwards  known  as  the  county 
of  Cumberland.  In  this  great  work  he  was 
assisted  by  Alan  son  of  Waldeve,  the  lord  of 
Allerdale,  who  relinquished  to  the  new 
foundation  the  tract  of  territory  which  Henry 
had  given  him  for  a  sporting  domain.  The 
act  of  the  prince  of  Scotland  and  his  vassal 
was  confirmed  by  King  David.  It  is  difficult 
to  account  for  the  statements  of  the  chronicles 
which  mention  the  name  of  the  founder. 
Scottish  writers,  in  exuberant  admiration  of 
his  benevolence,  have  ascribed  the  foundation 
to  David  himself.3  Of  these  perhaps  Fordun 
is  the  most  positive,  for  he  states  that  Earl 

1  By  indulgence  of  the  Cumberland  and  West- 
morland Antiquarian  Society  access  has  been  had 
to  its  fine  transcript  of  the  Register  or  Chartulary 
of  Holmcultram,  which  has  been  collated  with  all 
the  copies  known  to  be  extant.  These  are  (a)  the 
Register  in  the  custody  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of 
Carlisle,  of  date  about  1250-1300  with  later  addi- 
tions, which  came  into  their  possession  in  1777 
by  will  of  Joseph  Nicolson  of  Hawkesdale  ;  (b) 
Harleian  MS.  3911,  date  about  1300  with  later 
additions  ;  (c)  Harleian  MS.  3891,  date  about 
1350  with  some  later  additions;  (J)  Harleian 
MS.  1 88 1,  an  untrustworthy  copy  as  stated  in 
the  Catalogue  of  the  Harleian  MSS.,  said  to  have  been 
made  at  the  expense  of  Hugh  Todd,  canon  of 
Carlisle,  a  contains  a  number  of  entries  not 
found  in  b  or  c,  but  on  the  other  hand  b  and  c 
contain  many  entries  not  found  in  a.  b  has  some 
entries  which  are  not  in  c,  while  c  has  many  en- 
tries which  are  not  in  b.  When  the  Register  of 
Holmcultram  is  quoted  a  is  the  copy  referred  to 
unless  where  otherwise  stated.  In  Bishop  Nicol- 
son's  opinion  the  copy  in  the  possession  of  the 
dean  and  chapter  '  is  not  the  same  Reg'  book 
which  was  in  my  Lord  William  Howard's  cus- 
tody.' It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Harleian 
MS.  294,  ff.  2030-6,  contains  extracts  made  by 
Roger  Dodsworth  in  1638  from  a  Register  of 
Holmcultram  then  in  the  possession  of  Lord 
William  Howard  of  Naworth.  That  MS.  is  re- 
ferred to  in  Dugdale's  Monasticon. 

3  Chron.  of  Melrose,  in  ann.  1150  ;  Roger  de 
Hoveden,  Cbron.  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  2 1 1  ;  Scotichnnicon, 
i.  296  (ed.  Goodall),  ii.  539. 

3  Wyntoun,  Orygynale  Cronykil,  ii.  181  ;  (ed. 
Laing)  iii.  333. 


Henry,  on  the  suggestion  of  Waltheve,  aboot 
of  Melrose,  enriched  with  ample  possessions 
the  illustrious  abbey  of  Holmcultram  which 
his  father  had  founded,  and  brought  the  work 
to  a  successful  issue  by  applying  to  the  Scot- 
tish house  for  its  first  superior.4  Leland  on 
the  English  side,  with  the  foundation  charter 
before  him,  recognized  Alan  son  of  Waldeve 
as  the  originator  of  the  scheme,  and  credited 
Earl  Henry  only  with  its  completion.6  In 
after  years  when  the  district  was  recovered 
from  Scotland,  and  Henry  II.  had  taken  the 
abbey  under  his  protection  and  confirmed  it 
in  his  possessions,  the  King  of  England  was 
reputed  as  its  legal  founder.6 

There  is  much  to  be  said  in  favour  of  the 
theory  that  Alan  son  of  Waldeve  was  the 
real  originator  of  the  institution.  In  the 
charter  of  foundation  which  gave  the  scheme 
practical  shape  Earl  Henry  declared  that  he 
had  given  in  perpetual  alms  to  the  abbot  and 
monks  the  two  parts  of  Holmcultram  (Holme 
Coltria),  which  he  had  caused  to  be  marked 
with  bounds  at  the  time  he  had  granted  the 
third  part  to  Alan  as  a  hunting  ground. 
'  But  besides  I  have  confirmed,'  the  charter 
proceeds,  '  the  donation  of  the  said  Alan,  son 
of  Waldeve,  and  of  Waldeve  his  son,  that  is, 
the  third  part  of  Holmcultram  which  I  had 
given  Alan  for  his  hunting  and  which  he  in 
the  presence  of  my  father,  myself,  and  my 
barons  gave  and  confirmed  by  his  charter  at 
Carlisle  to  the  abbot  and  monks  of  the  said 
place.'  It  is  clear  that  Alan  son  of  Waldeve 
was  a  participator  in  the  foundation,  though 
Earl  Henry,  his  superior  lord,  has  properly 

*  Scotiekronicon,  i.  347. 

5  Collectanea  (ed.  Hearne,  1774),!.  33.  Hearne 
quotes  Camden  (p.  773,  ed.  Holland),  who  ascribed 
the  foundation  to  David,  for  '  hoc  tempore  Scotus 
prsfuit  Cumbris.'  Camden  referred  to  the  place 
as  '  the  abbey  de  Ulmo  or  Holme  Cultraine.' 

8  In  official  documents  the  foundation  is  in- 
variably ascribed  to  'our  royal  progenitors,'  the 
confirmation  of  Henry  II.  having  been  viewed  as 
the  source  of  the  title  of  the  monastery  to  its  lands. 
In  1278-9  the  jurors  at  the  Carlisle  Assize  stated 
that  the  Isle  of  Holmcultram  was  the  demesne  of 
King  Henry  the  elder  (although  this  is  the 
usual  style  of  Henry  I.,  Henry  II.  of  course  is 
meant,  and  the  jurors  may  have  been  making  a 
comparison  between  Henry  II.  and  Henry  III.), 
who  founded  that  abbey.  The  abbot  proffered 
the  king's  charter  to  that  effect.  He  had  also 
confirmations  from  Richard  I.,  John  and  Henry  III. 
(Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.]  ii.  146,  p-36). 
The  acts  of  the  Scottish  rulers  in  Cumberland 
were  not  recognized  in  English  law. 


I62 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


got  all  the  credit,  inasmuch  as  it  was  he  who 
granted  the  foundation  charter,  by  which  the 
whole  of  the  lordship  was  assigned  to  the 
monks.  In  addition,  the  founder  granted 
materials  from  his  forest  of  Inglewood  (Engles- 
woda)  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  the 
buildings  of  the  new  monastery,  and  within 
the  bounds  of  Holmcultram  he  established  all 
the  liberties  and  privileges  which  his  father 
had  conferred  on  the  abbeys  of  Melrose  and 
Newbottle.  The  deed  was  witnessed  by 
'  Adulf,'  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  Walter,  prior 
of  the  same,  together  with  several  Scottish 
and  Cumbrian  dignitaries.1 

Of  the  numerous  royal  confirmations  of 
its  possessions  which  the  house  obtained  it  is 
not  necessary  to  notice  more  than  those  of 
the  early  kings  to  whom  allegiance  was  due. 
David  I.  confirmed  his  son's  donation  of 
Holmcultram  'and  also  that  third  part  of 
Holm(cultram)  which  Alan  son  of  Waldeve 
had  given  to  the  monks  for  the  health  of  his 
soul.'  The  charter  of  Malcolm  IV.  dealt 
more  at  length  with  the  separate  gifts,  and 
confirmed  them  '  as  the  charter  of  my  father 
and  the  charter  of  Alan  himself  testify.' 
Malcolm  also  sanctioned  '  the  confirmation 
of  David,  King  of  Scotland,  my  predecessor.' 
Both  of  these  confirmations  are  short  and 
have  the  same  witnesses,  Adelulf,  Bishop  of 
Carlisle,  and  Walter,  prior  of  the  same,  who 
had  been  parties  a  few  years  before  to  the 
foundation  charter  of  Prince  Henry.  The 
English  king,  Henry  II.,  ignoring  all  previous 
charters,  took  into  his  custody  and  protection 
the  abbey  and  all  its  belongings,  and  gave 
and  confirmed  to  the  monks  the  island  of 
Holmcultram  with  its  appurtenances,  Raby 
with  its  boundaries,  the  right  to  take  wood  in 
his  forest  for  the  building  of  their  houses, 
pasture  for  their  swine  without  pannage  and 
the  bark  of  fallen  trees.  By  the  charters  of 
succeeding  kings,  notably  those  of  Richard  I. 
and  John,  the  house  was  endowed  with  many 
valuable  privileges  and  immunities.2 

1  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  211-2  ;  Dug- 
dale,  Man.  v.   594  ;    Reg.   of  Wetherhal,  421-2. 
The  part  that  Alan  son  of  Waldeve  took  in  the 
foundation   was   considered    by   his    successors    of 
sufficient  moment  whereon  to  build  a  claim  to  the 
advowson  of  the  abbey.     In  1219  the  abbot  and 
convent  complained  to  the  king  and  council  that 
although  their  house  was  founded  by  his  ancestors, 
Kings  of  England,  and  they  had,  among  others,  a 
charter  of  King  John  of  a  certain  hermitage  and  stud 
(haraciuni)  in  the  forest  of  Inglewood,  the  Earl  of 
Albemarle,  claiming  the  advowson  of  the  abbey, 
vexed  them  unjustly  (Close,  3  Hen.  III.  pt.  ii.m.  l). 

2  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  157-63,221-3; 
Dugdale,  Man.  v.  594-5,  602-6. 


163 


This  great  abbey,  which  overshadowed  in 
riches  and  influence  the  rest  of  the  religious 
houses  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  had 
many  friends  and  benefactors  on  both  sides  of 
the  Border  before  the  rupture  with  Scotland  in 
1296.  Endowments  were  freely  lavished 
upon  it  by  landowners,  large  and  small,  in 
various  parts  of  the  two  counties.  It  would 
not  be  easy  to  single  out  a  family  of  distinc- 
tion within  its  sphere  of  influence  which  had 
not  sooner  or  later  some  dealings  with  its 
monks.  Though  districts  of  the  county  like 
Penrith  and  Coupland  may  be  regarded  as 
the  special  preserves  of  the  priories  of  Carlisle 
and  St.  Bees  and  the  abbey  of  Calder,  it  was 
not  unknown  that  the  monks  of  Holme  tres- 
passed on  their  brethren  and  secured  firm 
footholds  in  these  places.  Into  the  barony  of 
Gillesland,  specially  devoted  to  the  interests 
of  the  priory  of  L/anercost,  they  do  not  seem 
to  have  penetrated  ;  but  in  the  great  lordship 
of  Allerdale,  the  fief  of  Alan  son  of  Waldeve, 
they  obtained  many  possessions  outside  their 
own  extensive  franchise  of  Holmcultram. 
The  house  kept  up  friendly  relations,  as  long 
as  it  was  politically  prudent,  with  the  kings 
and  magnates  of  Scotland,  and  procured  from 
them  lands  and  liberties  of  considerable  value 
to  the  community.  The  Scottish  possessions 
were  chiefly  in  Annandale,  the  fief  of  the 
Brus  or  Bruce  family,  and  in  Galloway,  the 
principality  of  Fergus.  Free  trade  with 
Scotland  was  conceded  by  William  the  Lion 
and  free  passage  through  the  Vale  of  Annan 
by  Robert  de  Brus.  The  kings  of  Man 
allowed  the  ships  of  the  monks  to  visit  the  ports 
of  the  island  and  to  buy  and  sell  free  of  toll.3 
Some  idea  of  the  rapid  rise  to  wealth  of  this 
house,  in  comparison  with  other  houses  in  the 
county,  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that 
before  1175,  or  about  thirty  years  from  its 
foundation,  the  monks  had  established  no  fewer 
than  seven  granges  within  their  lordship,  viz. 
the  old  grange  and  the  granges  of  '  Ternis,' 
Mayburgh,  Skinburness  (Schineburgh), '  Seve- 
hille,'  Raby  and  Newton  Arlosh  (Arlosk), 
possessions  which  Pope  Lucius  thought  of 
sufficient  importance  to  be  placed  in  the  fore- 
front of  his  charter  of  confirmation.4 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Holmcultram  was 
ever  wealthy  in  spiritual  endowments.  The 


3  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  77,  99-101, 
113,  234—6  and  passim. 

*  Harl.  MS.  3911,  f.  138  ;  3891,  ff.  110-2. 
In  Dugdale's  edition  of  this  charter  the  granges  of 
Mayburgh  and  Skinburness  have  been  omitted 
(Man.  v.  598).  The  granges  in  1535  were  at  Sil- 
loth  (Selaythe),  Calvo  (Calfehou),  '  Sanderhous ' 
and  Raby  (Valor  Eccl.  v.  282). 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


neighbouring  church  of  Burgh-by-Sands  was 
bestowed  by  Hugh  de  Morvill  for  the  purpose 
of  finding  lights,  wine  and  all  things  neces- 
sary for  the  adornment  of  the  abbey  church, 
the  ministers  of  the  altar  and  the  sacraments 
of  Christ.      In  sanctioning  the  appropriation 
Bishop  Hugh  provided  that  the  monks  should 
appoint  a  fit  vicar  to  have  the  cure  of  souls 
and  pay  episcopal    dues,    and    assign    him   a 
competent     maintenance.1       Burgh-by-Sands 
was  the  only  church  in   England    that    the 
monks  possessed  till    1332,   when  the   Lady 
Margaret  de  Wigton   gave  them  the  church 
of  Wigton    in    consideration  of    their    great 
losses   by  the   perpetual   forays  of  the  Scots. 
For  this  grant  the  house  was  under  obligation 
to  find  four  monks  of  the  Order  to  celebrate 
divine  offices  daily  in  the  abbey  church  and 
to  found  a  chantry  of  two   secular  chaplains 
to  do  the  same  at   Wigton.2     The  relations 
of  the  abbey  with    the    Scottish    church    of 
Kirkwynny  were  often  disturbed  by  political 
or    ecclesiastical    contingencies.      In    a    roll 
dated     17    June     1391,    presented    to     the 
anti-pope     Clement     VII.,     it    was    stated 
that  this  church,  which  used  to  be  served  by 
one  of  the  monks  of  Holme,  had  been  for 
some  time  neglected  and   committed  to   lay- 
men ;    it  was    therefore  petitioned   that    the 
monastery    of    Glenluce    might    serve     it.3 
This    church     was     committed     to     Holm- 
cultram    free   of  synodals    and  all   episcopal 
burdens  by  Joceline    and    other    Bishops    of 
Glasgow.1 

Though  the  papal  bulls  are  lengthy  and 
numerous,  there  is  little  of  special  or  local 
interest  in  the  privileges  which  the  monks 
of  this  house  enjoyed.  By  these  bulls8 
the  bishop  in  whose  parochia  the  abbey 
was  founded  was  prohibited  to  call  the  abbot 
or  monks  to  synods  or  outside  conferences ; 
nor  should  he  presume  to  visit  the  monastery 
for  the  purpose  of  celebrating  orders,  trying 
causes,  or  calling  public  assemblies ;  nor 
should  he  meddle  with  the  election,  institu- 
tion, or  removal  of  an  abbot  contrary  to  the 
statutes  of  the  Order.  But  the  bishop  should 
be  requested  with  becoming  respect  to  give 
benediction  to  new  abbots,  and  on  these 
occasions  the  abbots  were  instructed  not  to 
go  beyond  the  form  of  profession  allowed  by 
the  Cistercian  institutes.  In  the  matter  of 

1  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  13-7. 

2  Pat.   6  Edw.  III.  pt.    i,  m.  12  ;  Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.,  Kirkby,  ff.  245-9,  280-1  ;  Dugdale,  Man. 
v.  599. 

3  Cal.  of  Papal  Petitions,  i.  576. 

4  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  108-10. 

6  Ibid.  ff.  239  et  seq.  ;  Dugdale,  Monasticon,  v. 
599-603. 


the  consecration  of  altars,  churches  and  holy 
oil,  the  ordination  of  monks,  or  of  any  other 
ecclesiastical  sacrament,  the  diocesan  bishop 
would  bestow  all  these  things  upon  them. 
In  1357  Hugh  Pelegrini,  the  papal  nuncio, 
requested  Bishop  Welton  to  search  his  regis- 
ters carefully  and  make  a  report  on  the  num- 
ber of  churches,  monasteries  and  other  places 
in  his  diocese  exempt  from  episcopal  jurisdic- 
tion and  immediately  subject  to  the  Holy 
See.  The  bishop  replied  that  there  were  no 
such  places  in  his  diocese  except  the  monas- 
tery of  Holmcultram  of  the  Cistercian  Order 
and  the  monastery  of  Shap  of  the  Premon- 
stratensian  Order.6  Notwithstanding  this  im- 
munity it  was  usual  for  the  abbot  to  attend 
at  Carlisle  soon  after  his  election  and  make 
his  profession  of  canonical  obedience.7  In  the 
ordination  lists  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  the 
monks  of  this  house  are  found  in  compara- 
tively large  numbers. 

The  abbey  of  Melrose  was  brought  into 
intimate  relations  with  Holmcultram,  and 
often  exercised  an  effective  jurisdiction  over 
the  affairs  of  the  monastery.  Its  influence  in 
the  choice  of  an  abbot  must  have  been  con- 
siderable, inasmuch  as  no  election  could  be 
canonically  conducted  without  the  presence 
of  the  abbot  of  the  mother  house.  When 
Abbot  Robert  died  in  1318  the  convent  peti- 
tioned the  king  for  a  safe  conduct  for  the 
abbot  of  Melrose  to  attend  the  election  of  his 
successor,  as  the  abbey,  being  domus  fihalh 
domfis  de  M euros  in  Scocia,  could  not  other- 
wise fill  the  vacant  post.8  In  various  ways 
we  see  the  subjection  of  Holmcultram  to  the 
Scottish  house.  In  1326-7  the  abbot  ob- 
tained licence  from  Edward  III.  to  visit  Scot- 
land during  the  truce  on  the  ground  that  he 
wished  to  survey  his  grange  in  Galloway  and 

6  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  33.  The  house  of 
Shap  belonged   to  the  Order  of  White   Canons, 
who  lived  after  the   reformed   rule  of  St.   Austin 
and  wore  a   white  habit.     The  Order  took   its 
territorial  name  from  Premonstre  in  the  diocese  of 
Laon  in  Picardy,  where  the  rule  was  first  used. 

7  As  the  abbey  of  Holmcultram  was  a  papal 
peculiar,  the  form  of  canonical  profession  to  the 
Bishop    of  Carlisle  is    interesting  :     '  Obediencia 
abbatis  de  Holmo  facta  xxiiij  die  Augusti,  anno 
etc.   (m°ccc°)  lxv°.     Ego,  frater  Robertus  Raw- 
bankes,     abbas     de     Holmcultram,     Cisterciensis 
ordinis,  subiectionem,  reverenciam,  et  obedienciam 
a  sanctis  patribus  constitutam  secundum  regulam 
Sancti    Benedicti    tibi,    pater    Episcope,    tuisque 
successoribus    canonice    substituendis,    et   ecclesie 
tue  Karliolensi,  ac  sacrosancte  sedi  apostolice,  salvo 
ordine  meo,  perpetuo  me  exhibiturum  promitto' 
(Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  144). 

8  Pat.    12    Edw.    II.   pt.    i,   m.   28;    Rymer, 
Fcedera  (new  ed.),  ii.  370. 


164 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


treat  with  the  abbot  of  Melrose,  his  superior, 
about  the  rule  of  his  house.1  During  a 
vacancy  at  Holmcultram  Abbot  Richard  of 
Melrose,  when  visiting  the  house  by  virtue  of 
his  ordinary  jurisdiction  and  presiding  at  the 
election  of  a  new  pastor  by  virtue  of  the  same 
jurisdiction,  delivered  to  the  monks  a  code  of 
injunctions,  which  he  caused  to  be  read  in 
the  chapter  house  of  the  monastery  in  pre- 
sence of  them  all  on  the  last  day  of  Novem- 
ber 1472.  The  injunctions  were  concerned 
with  the  internal  rule  of  the  house  in  the 
regulation  of  the  services  of  the  church  and 
the  discipline  of  the  monks.  It  was  ordered 
that  the  daily  and  nightly  offices  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  the  Canonical  Hours  should  be 
skilfully  and  devoutly  celebrated,  and  that  the 
form  delivered  to  them  by  their  father 
Bernard  should  be  observed  in  the  reading, 
intoning,  chanting  and  other  ceremonies. 
The  priests  of  the  monastery  were  expected 
to  receive  the  Eucharist  four  times  a  week 
(quater  septimana)  unless  hindered  by  some 
sufficient  impediment,  and  those  who  were 
not  priests  twice  at  least  within  the  space  of 
fifteen  days  (bis  saltern  infra  quindenam).  As 
the  cloister  would  be  a  tomb  without  learn- 
ing— 'quia  claustrum  sine  literatura  vivi 
hominis  est  sepultura ' — the  study  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures  should  be  indefatigably  pur- 
sued, for  in  them  they  had,  as  Bernard 
taught,  the  surest  refuge  in  all  their  troubles. 
The  abbot  was  recommended  to  observe  the 
greatest  circumspection  that  no  monk  should 
visit  persons  or  places  beyond  the  monastic 
bounds,  unless  he  was  attended  by  a  com- 
panion of  honest  conversation,  and  that  no 
woman  should  be  allowed  to  pass  through  or 
make  a  stay  within  the  precincts  lest  the 
good  name  of  the  house  should  be  blackened 
to  the  detriment  of  religion.  In  addition  to 
strict  rules  for  the  regulation  of  diet,  fasting  and 
discipline,  the  abbot  was  ordered  to  procure  a 
man  learned  in  grammar  for  the  instruction 
of  the  younger  brethren  in  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, to  rebuild  the  infirmary  (cellam  pro  fra- 
tribus  egrotantibus)  as  quickly  as  possible  and 
to  refit  it  with  the  necessary  utensils,  and  also 
to  supply  the  inner  doors  of  the  monastery 
with  locks  to  keep  out  unwelcome  visitors. 
Furthermore,  as  monks  by  the  traditions  of 
the  sacred  canons  and  the  monastic  rule  were 
dead  to  the  world  and  forbidden  to  mix  them- 
selves up  with  secular  affairs,  no  one  professed 
within  that  monastery  should  be  allowed  to 
exercise  the  office  of  bailiff  or  forester,  which 
savoured  of  irregularity  ;  and  as  complaints 
were  made  about  the  occupations  of  Brother 


1   Pat.  i  Edw.  III.  pt.  i,  m.  29. 


John  Ribtoun,  the  abbot  was  desired  to  with- 
draw him  from  secular  business  till  the  next 
visitation,  unless  some  other  order  was  signi- 
fied to  him  in  the  meantime.3 

The  fame  of  the  abbey  as  a  religious  in- 
stitution may  be  gathered  in  some  measure 
from  the  frequency  with  which  men  of  posi- 
tion and  influence  bequeathed  their  bodies  to 
be  buried  within  its  precincts.  Of  the  not- 
able personages  who  were  buried  there,  we 
may  give  the  most  distinguished  place  to 
Christian,  Bishop  of  Candida  Casa  or  Whithern, 
and  to  the  father  of  Robert  Bruce,  King  of 
Scotland.  The  bishop  was  held  in  such  high 
esteem  by  the  monks  that  the  charter,  in 
which  he  declared  that  he  had  given  his 
allegiance  to  the  Cistercian  Order  and  become 
an  inmate  of  that  house,  where  he  willed  his 
body  to  be  buried,  was  rubricated  as  the  '  con- 
firmation of  St.  Christian  the  bishop.'  His 
interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  abbey  may  be 
judged  by  the  vigorous  language  of  excom- 
munication with  which  he  invoked  eterni  in- 
cendii  penas  on  all  who  presumed  to  damage 
the  monks  or  their  possessions.3  The  his- 
torian of  Lanercost  was  shocked  at  the 
impiety  of  Bruce,  because  in  his  devastating 
expedition  of  1322  he  spoiled  the  monastery 
though  the  body  of  his  father  had  been  buried 
there.*  It  might  be  expected  that  Hugh  de 
Morvill,  the  lord  of  Burgh,  who  had  been  in 
such  close  association  with  the  house,  should 

1  Liber  S.  Marie  de  Melroi  (Bannatyne  Club), 
ii.  596-9.  With  reference  to  the  educational 
equipment  of  the  monks,  it  may  be  mentioned 
that  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram  and  the  prior  of 
Carlisle  alone  of  all  the  religious  houses  in  the 
county  were  required  to  search  their  chronicles  and 
archives  for  historical  matter  relating  to  King  Ed- 
ward's dispute  with  Scotland,  and  to  transmit  the 
same  by  the  best  informed  member  of  each  monas- 
tery to  the  Parliament  at  Lincoln  on  zo  January 
1301  (Rymer,  Fcedera,  i.  923  ;  Part.  Writs  [Rec. 
Com.],  i.  92).  The  valuable  report  from  Carlisle 
has  been  printed  in  Psdgnvc's  Documents  and  Records 
(Rec.  Com.),  68-76,  and  is  known  as  the  Cronica 
de  Karleolo,  and  also  in  the  Calendar  of  Documents 
relating  to  Scotland  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  \  1 5-7). 
Some  of  the  books  and  MSS.  which  belonged  to 
Holmcultram  have  found  their  way  to  the  British 
Museum.  A  '  bestiary '  inscribed  with  the  words, 
'  liber  sancte  Marie  de  Holmcultram,'  will  be 
found  among  the  Cotton  MSS.  Nero  A.  v.  1-3. 
An  early  manuscript,  written  in  a  hand  of  the 
twelfth  century,  containing  an  account  of  the 
miracles  of  St.  John  of  Beverley,  which  once  be- 
longed to  Holmcultram,  is  catalogued  in  the  same 
collection  as  Faustina  B.  iv.  8,  and  has  been 
printed  by  Raine  (Historians  of  the  Church  of  York 
[Rolls  Ser.],  i.  261). 

3  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  112-3. 

4  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  246. 


165 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


select  it  as  his  burial  place.  The  monks  cannot 
have  been  averse  to  a  custom  which  gave  them 
a  claim  upon  the  benevolence  of  the  deceased 
man's  descendants.  Thomas  son  of  Andrew 
de  Kirkconnell,  at  the  request  of  Robert, 
abbot  of  Holmcultram,  where  the  body  of 
his  father  was  entombed,  made  a  grant  to  the 
abbey  for  his  father's  soul.1  In  all  such  cases 
the  rights  of  parish  churches  were  invariably 
recognized  by  the  payment  of  parochial  dues. 
When  Adam  de  Bastenthwayt,  whose  will 
was  proved  at  Rose  in  January,  1358-9? 
bequeathed  his  body  to  be  buried  in  the 
cloister  of  the  monastery  near  to  his  father 
and  mother,  if  the  consent  of  the  convent 
could  be  obtained,  he  stipulated  that  the 
mortuary  due  to  the  parish  church  of  St. 
Bees,  '  Bastenthwayt,'  should  be  delivered.2 
These  examples  will  be  considered  sufficient 
to  illustrate  the  custom. 

This  abbey  was  one  of  the  Cumbrian 
houses  at  which  Edward  I.  stayed  from  time 
to  time,  while  on  his  expeditions  against  Scot- 
land. It  was  to  Holmcultram  that  Robert 
Wisheart,  Bishop  of  Glasgow,  came  of  his 
own  free  will  to  meet  the  king  in  October 
1300,  and  to  renew  his  broken  vow  of 
allegiance.  For  the  fourth  time  the  bishop 
took  the  oath  upon  the  consecrated  Host, 
upon  the  Gospels,  upon  the  Cross  of  St.  Neot, 
and  upon  the  Black  Rood  of  Scotland,  in  the 
presence  of  Bishop  Halton  of  Carlisle,  the 
abbot  of  Holmcultram,  and  many  of  the 
great  lords  of  England  and  the  envoys  of 
France.3  It  is  not  easy  to  account  for  the 
king's  presence  at  Burgh-by-Sands,  where  he 
died  on  7  July  1307,  as  it  was  impossible  that 
he  should  propose  to  lead  his  army  into  Scot- 
land by  that  route.  It  is  probable  that  as  the 
host  was  encamped  at  Carlisle,  the  king  was 
on  his  way  thither  from  Holmcultram  *  when 
he  was  seized  with  the  fatal  sickness. 

The  position  of  the  abbey  on  the  southern 
shore  of  the  Solway  jeopardized  its  safety  at 
every  outbreak  of  hostilities  between  the  two 
kingdoms.  The  story  of  its  losses  and  suffer- 
ings would  necessitate  a  detailed  narrative  of 
Border  feuds.  The  fact  that  the  house  was 
of  Scottish  foundation  did  not  save  it  from 
attack  or  in  any  way  mitigate  its  hardships. 
As  early  as  1216  the  Scots,  in  revenge  for 

i  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  21,  121-2. 

"  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  30. 

s  Rymer,  fcedera,  i.  924  ;  Palgrave,  Doc.  and 
Rec.  (Rec.  Com.),  clxxviii.  344. 

4  This  supposition  is  consistent  with  the  official 
memorandum  of  the  king's  death  (Rymer,  fcedera, 
i.  1018).  Letters  patent  were  issued  from  Holm- 
cultram on  the  day  before  and  the  day  after  the 
fatal  event  (Cal.  of  Pat.  1301-7,  pp.  535-6). 


King  John's  invasion,  broke  into  Cumberland 
by  way  of  the  Solway  and  pillaged  the  abbey 
of  Holmcultram  in  spite  of  the  orders  of 
Alexander  II.  who  had  extended  his  peace  to 
religious  houses.  The  chronicles  of  Melrose 
and  Lanercost  describe  the  mischief  done  in 
almost  the  same  words.  It  was  a  wholesale 
spoliation.  The  Scots  took  everything  they 
could  lay  hands  on,  the  holy  books,  vestments, 
chalices,  horses  and  cattle,  utensils  and  gar- 
ments, going  to  the  extremity  of  stripping  a 
monk  who  was  lying  at  his  last  gasp  in  the 
infirmary.  But  their  impiety  did  not  pass 
unpunished.  On  their  return  homewards 
with  the  spoils,  nearly  two  thousand  Scots 
were  drowned  in  the  tide  as  they  forded  the 
river  Eden.6  At  a  later  date  the  sufferingsof  the 
monks  were  more  protracted  owing  to  contin- 
uous warfare.6  In  addition  to  the  forfeiture  of 
their  Scottish  possessions,  the  house  was  im- 
poverished by  losses  at  home.  In  1315-6 
they  petitioned  the  king  for  the  advowson  of 
the  church  of  Kirkby  Thore  in  Westmorland, 
as  the  abbey  was  plundered,  their  houses 
burned,  their  lands  wasted,  and  their  cattle, 
horses  and  oxen  were  driven  away.7  The 
strain  was  so  great  at  this  period  that  the 
resources  of  the  house  were  unable  to  support 
the  community  as  aforetime.  In  1319  some 
of  the  monks  were  dispersed  in  different 
abbeys  of  their  own  order  until  Holmcultram 
was  relieved  of  its  oppressions.8  On  one 
occasion,  in  1385,  the  monks  paid  ^2OO  to 
the  Earl  of  Douglas  as  an  indemnity  for  the 
ransom  of  their  church  and  lands  from  de- 
struction.9 In  fact,  up  to  the  very  time  of 
the  dissolution,  the  abbey  was  in  danger  of 
spoliation.  As  late  as  1527  the  monks  petitioned 
parliament  that  they  might  be  discharged 
from  the  office  of  collectors  of  tenths,  aids, 
loans  and  other  exactions,  and  from  the  pay- 
ment of  taxes  and  tallages,  as  their  house 
was  situated  on  the  frontier  and  often  in  great 
danger  from  the  Scots.10 

It  must  not  be  taken  that  the  abbey  was  in 
a  perpetual  state  of  siege  and  never  enjoyed 

*  Chron.  of  Melrose,  in  ann.  1216;  Chron.  de 
Lanercost,  18. 

6  Even  in  times  of  peace  the  abbey  was  situated 
in  a  dangerous  locality.  In  1235  the  king,  having 
heard  that  the  monks  had  suffered  great  damage 
from  malefactors  in  the  places  where  their  granges 
were,  granted  them  liberty  to  have,  outside  the 
forest,  their  servants  armed  with  bows  and  arrows 
to  protect  their  goods  (Pat.  19  Hen.  III.  m.  5). 

'  Parl.  Petitions,  No.  3946. 

s  Close,  13  Edw.  II.  m.  i8d. 

»  Parl.  Petitions,  No.  4165  ;  Pat.  9  Ric.  II.  pt. 
i.  m.  5  ;  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iv.  78. 

10  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil.  iv.  3053  (iv.) 


166 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


periods    of    repose.     Like    the    rest    of    the 
country  on  the   immediate  frontier,   its    pros- 
perity depended  on  international  relations.  At 
one   time   the  ships  of  the  convent  traversed 
the  Irish  Sea  and  carried  on  a  brisk  trade  with 
Ireland  and  the  Isle  of  Man.      In  1224  leave 
was  given  that  the  abbot  might  send  his  ship 
where  he  pleased  with  a  cargo  of  wool.1     On 
the   patent   rolls  of  the   thirteenth  and  four- 
teenth   centuries    numerous    licences  are    on 
record    to    permit  the  buying  of  victuals  in 
Ireland,  Gascony  and  elsewhere.    The  monks 
had  a  good  port  at  Skinburness  within  their 
own  franchise,  which  was  used  as  a  naval  base 
for  the  supply  of  provisions  and  stores  during 
the  wars  with  Scotland,2  and  so  great  was  its 
use   on  these  occasions  that  Edward  I.  gave 
the  monks  the  liberty  to  have  a  free  borough 
and  a  fair  and  market  there  in  1300,  with  an 
allowance  for  wool  seized  to  the  king's  use.3 
The  monks  like  other  practical  men  looked 
after  the  affairs  of  their  house  and  were  not 
afraid    to    assert  their  rights  when    occasion 
demanded.     In  1263  the  abbot  impleaded  the 
Archbishop  of    York  for  hindering  the  free 
passage  of  his  carts  and  carriages  beyond  the 
bridge  of  Hexham  which  his  predecessors  had 
always  obtained  when  needful.4     Before  the 
justices  itinerant  in  1292  the  convent  success- 
fully maintained  its  title  to  all  the  lands  and 
privileges  which  were  claimed  as  belonging  to 
the  house.5     There  was  no  fear  that  a  power- 
ful personage  like  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram 
should    tamely    submit    to    unjust   treatment 
from  the   secular  magnates  of  the  land.     In 
1300  a  commission  of  oyer  and  terminer  was 
appointed    to    try  a    cause  on  his  complaint 
that  William  de  Mulecastre,  lately  while  he 
was  sheriff,  and  others  at   divers  times,  took 
some  of  the  abbot's  carts,  laden  with  victuals 
and    other  goods,  on  the    high   road  in  the 
middle  of  the  city  of  Carlisle  and  town    of 
Torpenhow,   with  the  oxen    drawing  them, 
and  refused  to  let  them  be  replevied,  so  that 
a  great  number  died,  sold  a  palfrey  the  abbot 
had  lent  him,  broke  his  grange  at  Ellenborough 
(Alneburgh)   and  carried  away  his  oats,  took 
away  a  boat  with  its  gear  at  Skinburness,  led 
away  some  of  his  beasts  and  sheep  at  Holm- 

1  Pat.  8  Hen.  III.  m.  5. 

2  Cal.ofPat.  1292-1301,  pp.  389,  488,  554, 
585. 

3  Harl.  MS.  3891,  ff.  21-3,  108. 

4  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.   (Scot.    Rec.    Pub.),   i.   462. 
The   house  had  a  charter  of  quittance  from   toll 
pontage,  passage,  and  all   custom   in   England  or 
Ireland  from  King  Richard  (Fine  R.  2  John  [Rec. 
Com.],  117-8  ;  Chancellor's  R.  3  John  [Rec.  Com.], 
68-9). 

B  Plac.  de  £>uo  Warrants  (Rec.  Com.),  I  30. 


cultram,  distrained  his  men  and  tenants  of 
Ellenborough  by  their  carts  and  draught  cattle 
and  detained  them  till  they  extorted  ransom.8 

The  disturbed  state  of  the  Border  did  not 
divert  attention  from  the  need  of  monastic 
discipline.  We  read  of  John  de  Foriton  for- 
saking his  habit  in  1352  and  William  de 
Levyngton  escaping  from  the  monastery  by 
night  in  1354,  but  these  refractory  monks 
were  not  permitted  to  return  until  they  had 
received  a  papal  dispensation  to  be  reconciled. 
When  John  de  Monte  took  it  into  his  head 
to  visit  the  Roman  Court  without  the  leave 
of  his  superior,  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram 
was  instructed  to  carry  out  the  ordinances 
against  apostates  as  the  monk  wished  to  be 
reconciled  to  his  Order.  It  is  pleasing  to  find 
that  some  of  the  monks  like  Richard  Gray, 
who  was  made  a  papal  chaplain  in  1402,  had 
attained  to  ecclesiastical  distinction.7 

The  exercise  of  the  king's  right  to  grant 
corrodies  for  good  service  was  often  a  burden 
to  the  religious  houses.  An  instance  of  one 
of  these  may  be  given  to  illustrate  the  custom. 
Edward  II.  informed  the  abbot  and  convent 
in  1309  that  he  had  caused  Thomas  de 
Ardern,  who  served  the  king  and  his  father, 
to  be  sent  to  them,  and  requested  them  to 
admit  him  to  their  house  and  to  find  him  and 
a  yeoman  and  two  grooms  serving  him,  food 
and  clothing  according  to  their  stations,  and 
to  provide  reasonable  sustenance  for  his  two 
horses.  Letters  patent  for  his  lifetime  to  this 
effect  were  to  be  given  him  under  their 
chapter  seal  and  a  speedy  report  made  to  the 
king  on  what  they  had  done  therein.8  A  royal 
pensioner  of  this  sort  could  not  have  been  a 
welcome  visitor  at  Holmcultram  in  the  crippled 
condition  of  their  finances  at  that  period. 

9  Cal.  of  Pat.  1292-1301,  p.  554. 

'  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  m.  470,522,  572-3,  iv. 
316.  No  inmate  has  attained  to  the  fame  of 
Michael  Scott,  wizard  and  necromancer,  celebrated 
alike  by  Dante  (Inferno,  c.  xx.  11.  1 1 5-7),  Boccaccio 
(Decameron)  and  Sir  Walter  Scott  (Lay  of  the  Last 
Minstrel),  who  is  said  to  have  passed  some  time  in 
the  monastery.  Camden  was  told  on  his  visit  to 
Cumberland  that  in  Wolsty  Castle  near  Holmcul- 
tram, built  by  the  monks  for  a  treasury  and  place 
of  safety  to  lay  up  their  books,  charters  and  evi- 
dences against  sudden  invasion  of  the  Scots,  the 
secret  works  of  Michael  the  Scot  lay  in  conflict 
with  moths,  '  which  Michael,  professing  here  a  re- 
ligious life,  was  so  fully  possessed  with  the  study  of 
mathematickes  and  other  abstruse  arts,  about  the 
yeere  of  our  Lord  1 290,  that  beeing  taken  of  the 
common  people  for  a  necromancer,  there  went  a 
name  of  him  (such  was  their  credulity)  that  he 
wrought  divers  wonders  and  miracles '  (Brit.  [ed. 
Holland]  773). 

s  Close,  3  Edw.  II.  m.  z6d. 


167 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Some  idea  of  the  hardships  that  houses  so 
near  the  frontier  had  endured  may  be  gathered 
from  a  comparison  of  the  valuations  of  the 
temporalities  of  the  monastery  in  1291,  just 
before  the  outbreak  of  the  Scottish  wars,  and 
in  1319,  the  palmy  days  of  Robert  Bruce 
after  the  battle  of  Bannockburn.  At  the 
former  period  the  annual  revenue  was  re- 
turned at  £206  5*.  iod.,  and  at  the  later 
date  it  amounted  only  to  ^o.1  This 
abbey  was  the  wealthiest  house  in  the  counties 
of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  and  owing 
to  its  exposed  situation  it  sustained  greater 
losses  than  any  of  the  others,  with  the  ex- 
ception perhaps  of  Lanercost.  In  I5352 
the  gross  valuation  of  the  temporalities 
amounted  to  £370  ijs.  od.  and  the  total 
revenues  of  the  house  to  £53  5  35.  jd.  After 
the  deduction  of  necessary  outgoings,  the 
clear  net  value  was  taxed  at  £4.77  19*.  %d. 

The  abbots  of  Holmcultram  were  em- 
ployed in  general  affairs  and  went  about  the 
world  more  than  any  of  the  heads  of  the 
local  religious  houses.  In  the  great  dispute 
between  the  bishop  and  the  priory  about  the 
division  of  the  revenues  of  the  church  of 
Carlisle  in  1 221-3,  the  abbot  of  that  date 
was  associated  with  the  prior  of  Hexham  as 
papal  assessor.3  When  differences  arose  be- 
tween the  Archbishop  of  York  and  the  Bishop 
of  Durham  in  1329—30  touching  the  question 
of  jurisdiction  and  the  cognizance  of  causes, 
the  pope  appointed  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram, 
the  prior  of  the  friar  preachers  of  Carlisle, 
and  the  archdeacon  of  the  same  place  to  act 
as  mediators,  but  they  petitioned  to  be  ex- 
cused as  there  were  no  lawyers  thereabouts  to 
consult,  the  people  were  ill-disposed,  and 
Carlisle  was  so  far  from  the  diocese  of  York.4 
In  1340  and  1341  the  king  appointed  the 
abbots  of  Holme  and  Calder  and  three  lay- 
men as  collectors  of  the  ninth  of  lambs, 
fleeces  and  sheaves  in  Cumberland.5  During 
the  vacancy  of  the  see  in  1352,  while  John 
de  Horncastle  was  the  elect  and  confirmed 
but  not  the  consecrated  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  the 
abbot  of  Holme  acted  as  vicar-general  of  the 
diocese  and  was  re-appointed  on  the  accession 
of  Bishop  Welton.8  Again  and  again  safe 
conducts  were  issued  to  the  abbot  when  he 
wished  to  attend  the  chapter  general  of  his 
order  at  Citeaux,  and  the  keeper  of  Dover 

1  Pope  Nick.  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  320,  333. 

'  Valor  Ecd.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  282-3. 

3  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  81,  91  ;  ii.  112,  256. 

1  Ibid.  ii.  320  ;  Letters  from  the  Northern  Reg- 
isters (Rolls  Sen),  p.  359. 

»  Pat.  14  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  45  ;  15  Edw. 
III.  pt.  i.  m.  31. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  MS.  f.  i. 


1 68 


was  instructed  to  allow  him  to  embark  at  that 
port.7  The  daughter  house  of  Grey  Abbey 
and  a  small  property  in  Ireland  brought  the 
abbot  from  time  to  time  to  that  country,8  and 
the  fealty  he  owed  to  Melrose  as  well  as  his 
oversight  of  the  grange  in  Galloway  9  necessi- 
tated occasional  visits  to  Scotland  in  time  of 
truce.  Though  the  house  is  not  reckoned 
among  the  mitred  abbeys  of  the  kingdom,  the 
abbot  was  summoned  to  parliament  and  to  the 
great  Councils  of  State  between  1294  and 
131 2.10  In  days  of  national  mourning  the 
house  was  selected  among  the  greater  monas- 
teries to  celebrate  the  obsequies  of  the  deceased. 
The  abbot  was  requested  to  pray  for  the  soul 
of  Edmund,  Earl  of  Cornwall,  in  1296,  for 
Joan,  Queen  of  France,  in  1305,  and  for 
Philip  the  Fair  in  1314."  From  these  cir- 
cumstances we  may  conclude  that  Holmcul- 
tram occupied  a  pre-eminent  position  among 
the  religious  institutions  of  the  county. 

Some  of  the  superiors  of  this  monastery 
attained  individual  distinction  or  notoriety 
from  various  causes.  Everard,  the  first  abbot, 
ruled  the  house  for  the  long  period  of  forty- 
two  years  from  the  date  of  its  foundation  in 
1150  till  his  death  in  1192.  His  name  is 
often  found  in  the  records  of  that  time.  It 
was  probably  at  Holmcultram  that  Huctred 
son  of  Fergus  executed  the  deed  whereby  he 
gave  a  carucate  of  land  in  Crevequer  to  the 
hospital  of  St.  Peter,  York,  several  of  the 
witnesses  being  local  men,  such  as  Everard 
the  abbot,  Robert  the  prior,  and  William  the 
cellarer  of  Holmcultram,  Robert  archdeacon 
of  Carlisle,  Ralf  clerk  of  the  same  place, 
Robert  son  of  Trute  sheriff  of  the  same, 
Richard  his  brother,  Hubert  de  Vaux,  Peter 
del  Teillos,  Christian,  Bishop  of  Whithern, 
who  often  visited  the  house,  besides  others 
from  Galloway  near  to  the  English  border.12 

7  Rymer,  Tcedera,  ii.  78  ;  Close,    15    Edw.  II. 
m.  3od,  and  passim. 

8  Pat.  5  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  24  ;  Reg.  of  Holm- 
cultram, MS.  ff.  241,  245. 

9  Pat.  I  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  29. 

10  Par/.  Writs  (Rec.  Com.),  i.   26,  and  passim. 

11  Rymer,  Fcedera  (new  ed.),  i.  842,  922,  971  ; 
ii.  258. 

12  Cal.    of  Doc.    Scot.  ii.  422.       The    date    of 
Everard's    promotion    to   Holmcultram  has    been 
doubted.     Bishop  Stubbs   dated  his  tenure  from 
1175    to    1192,    but    his  error  apparently    arose 
from  identifying  the  abbacia  de  Holme,  one  of  the 
twelve    vacant    houses   in    1175,   with   Holme  in 
Cumberland   (Benedict  Abbas,  i.  92,  ii.  80).     It  is 
clear  from  the  deed  of  Uctred  son  of  Fergus  that 
it  was   passed   before    1164,   the    year  in    which 
Hubert    de    Vaux,    one  of    the  witnesses,  died. 
The  Chronicle  of  Melrose  mentions  Everard  in 
connection  with  the  foundation  in  1150. 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


Robert  de  Brus  and  Eufemia  his  wife  (mu/ier) 
gave  a  fishery  in  TordurF  to  Everard  and  the 
brothers  of  Holme  which  was  afterwards  con- 
firmed by  Robert  their  son.1  Abbot  Everard 
perambulated  the  boundaries  of  his  land  of 
Kirkwinny  in  company  with  Christian,  Bishop 
of  Whithern,  and  Huctred  son  of  Fergus,2 
and  was  present  at  Peebles  when  William  ' 
the  Lion  granted  the  great  charter  to  the 
abbey  of  Jedburgh.3  The  greatest  function 
in  which  he  ever  took  part  was  the  corona- 
tion of  King  Richard,4  which  he  attended  on 
3  September  1189.  It  was  to  Abbot  Everard 
in  1185  that  Pope  Lucius  confirmed  all  the 
possessions  of  the  house.5  Fordun  has  left  us 
a  beautiful  picture  of  his  saintly  life  from 
childhood  to  old  age,6  and  tradition  has  sup- 
plemented it  by  ascribing  to  him  many 
scholarly  accomplishments.  It  is  said  that 
he  wrote  the  life  of  St.  Adamnan,  of  St. 
Cumen,  and  of  St.  Waltheve,  the  latter  being 
his  old  superior  at  Melrose,  but  the  manu- 
script of  none  of  these  biographies  is  known 
to  be  extant.7  In  1192  he  entered  into 
rest  in  a  good  old  age,  full  of  days  and  vir- 
tues.8 

Adam  de  Kendal  has  been  made  famous  in 
a  Scottish  chronicle  as  the  unfortunate  abbot 
of  Holmcultram.  The  new  abbot,  who  suc- 
ceeded about  1215,  seeing  the  Bishop  of  Car- 
lisle crippled  with  age  and  infirmity  and  at  the 
gates  of  death,  conceived  the  lofty  ambition 
of  gaining  the  episcopate  at  an  early  period. 
By  secret  intrigue  and  public  bribery  he 
squandered  the  revenues  of  the  monastery  in 
order  to  make  friends  of  those  who  might  be 

1  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  66-7. 
3  Harl.  MS.  3891,  f.  8;b. 

3  National  MSS.  of  Scotland,   I,   38;  Monastic 
Annals  ofTcviotdale,  57—9. 

4  Bened.   of  Peterborough,  Gesta  Hen.  II.    et 
Ric.  I.  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii.  80. 

8  Harl.  MS.  3911,  ff.  I37b-i4ib;  Dugdale, 
Man.  v.  598. 

8  Scotichronicon  (ed.  Goodall),  i.  347. 

7  Descriptive  Cat.  of  Materials  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii. 
225—6.     The  editor  of  Camden  had  views  of  his 
own   (ed.  Gibson,  ii.  1059).     John   Denton,  who 
wrote  about    1610,   must  have  seen  some  manu- 
script ascribed  to  Abbot  Everard,  for  he  said  that 
'  Everardus  some  time  abbot  of  Holm  Cultram, 
who  lived  in  the  days  of  Henry  II.,  hath  registered 
to  posterity  that  the  Danes  had  a  house  or  temple 
of  sacrifice  or  a  publick  place  at  Thursby  where 
the  pagans  offered  up  the   blood  of  captives  to  a 
God  whom  in  that  sort   they  honoured '  (Hist,  of 
Cumb.  93). 

8  Cbron.  of  Melrose,  in  ann.  1192.       On  two 
occasions  we  find  him  witnessing  charters  of  Richard 
de  Morevill,   constable  of  the   King  of  Scotland 
(Liber  S.  Marie  de  Melrose,  i.  82,  98). 


able  to  influence  the  election.  Intelligence 
of  his  methods  in  due  time  reached  the  ears 
of  the  superior-general  of  the  Cistercian  order, 
who  caused  inquiries  to  be  made  which  ended 
in  the  deposition  of  the  abbot.  Throwing 
himself  on  the  mercy  of  the  chapter,  he  was 
permitted  to  take  up  his  abode  at  Hildekirk 
in  the  forest  of  Inglewood,  a  hermitage  be- 
longing to  the  abbey.  When  the  Bishop  of 
Carlisle  died  and  the  day  for  the  election  of 
his  successor  arrived,  the  deposed  abbot  sent 
a  secret  messenger  to  learn  the  result.  But 
the  name  of  Adam  de  Kendal  was  not  men- 
tioned. The  disappointment  so  preyed  on  his 
spirits  that  he  became  insane  and  died  in  great 
misery  at  Holmcultram  as  a  terrible  warning 
to  the  ambitious.9  The  Chronicle  of  Melrose 
is  silent  on  Adam's  faults,  mentioning  only 
his  resignation  (suo  cessit  officio)  in  1223. 
While  he  was  abbot  he  made  a  grant  of  ten 
measures  of  salt  annually  at  Martinmas  to 
the  priory  of  Lanercost.10 

Another  abbot  of  Holmcultram,  deserving 
a  special  notice,  was  Robert  Chamber,  who 
flourished  during  the  religious  revival  which 
preceded  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries. 
He  was  a  local  man  of  the  family  of  Chamber 
of  Raby  Cote  in  that  lordship  and  is  comme- 
morated by  many  fragmentary  memorials 
scattered  in  various  parts  of  that  neighbour- 
hood, either  built  into  farm  houses  or  still 
existing  about  the  abbey  church.  Over  the 
arch  of  the  present  porch  of  the  church  there 
is  inscribed — '  Robertas  Chamber  fecit  fieri 
hoc  opus  A°  Dnl  M.D.VII.'  Upon  the 
pedestal  of  a  statue  of  the  Virgin  may  be  seen 
the  '  chained-bear,'  the  well-known  rebus  of 
his  name  with  the  legend  beneath,  'Lady 
deyr  save  Robert  Chamber.'  The  inscription 
'  orate  pro  anima  Roberti  Chamber  abbatis,' 
which  Bishop  Nicolson  observed  in  the  church 
at  his  visit  in  1703,  has  disappeared.11  In 
almost  every  considerable  house  of  the  parish 
some  remnant  of  Abbot  Chamber's  work  may 
be  seen,  bearing  his  name,  initials,  or  some 
enigmatical  conceit  about  him.  In  the  bitter 
disputes  which  followed  the  suppression  of  the 
monastery,  the  great  days  of  Abbot  Chamber 
were  often  referred  to  by  witnesses  and  their 
recollections  recorded  on  the  depositions. 
But  inferences  about  the  dates  of  his  tenure 
of  office  are  very  conflicting,  and  no  reliance 
can  be  placed  on  such  evidences.  On  12 
March  1512  he  was  joined  in  a  commission 
with  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  and  William 
Bewlay  to  inquire  into  the  possessions  of 


II 


8  Fordun,  Scotichronicon  (ed.  Goodall),  ii.  1 2-6. 
0  Harl.  MS.  3891,  f.  33b. 
11  Miscellany  Accounts,  24—5. 
169  22 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


George  Kyrkebryde,  deceased.1  He  estab- 
lished an  alms  in  the  abbey  church  for  priests 
singing  yearly  masses  at  the  altar  of  our 
Holy  Saviour  Jesus  for  the  souls  of  Henry  II. 
and  Henry  VIII.  and  for  his  own  soul.z 
Robert  Chamber  is  said  to  have  '  rygned '  as 
abbot  of  Holmcultram  for  thirty  years. 

As  soon  as  the  destruction  of  the  religious 
houses  became  a  subject  of  agitation  in  the 
country,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  preserve 
discipline  in  large  communities.  In  Holm- 
cultram a  discreditable  state  of  anarchy  was 
disclosed.  During  the  seven  years  before  the 
surrender  no  fewer  than  four  abbots  ruled 
the  monastery.  Dan  Matthew  Dyves  or 
Deveys,  a  monk  of  the  house,  became  abbot 
in  1531  through  the  instrumentality  of  Robert 
Cokett  of  Bolton  Percy  in  Yorkshire,  an 
honour  which  cost  the  new  abbot  ^100  in 
fine  to  the  Crown.  His  death  took  place  in 
the  following  year  under  suspicious  circum- 
stances. Sir  John  Lamplugh,  in  a  letter 
bearing  date  16  September  1532,  told  Crom- 
well that  Gawyn  Borradale,  one  of  the 
brethren,  was  suspected  of  being  implicated 
in  the  death  of  the  abbot  of  Holme.  The 
monk  was  arrested  and  imprisoned  in  the 
abbey  ofFurness,  where  he  remained  for  about 
half  a  year.  The  depositions  of  the  religious 
and  temporal  men  connected  with  the  abbey 
of  Holmcultram  have  been  preserved,  from 
which  it  may  be  gathered  that  Borradale  was 
suspected  of  poisoning  Abbot  Deveys  in  a  fit 
of  jealousy  or  disappointment  after  the  elec- 
tion. Borradale  had  powerful  friends  and 
eventually  attained  the  object  of  his  desires. 
It  was  he  who  afterwards  surrendered  the 
house  to  the  king's  commissioners.3 

The  surname  of  the  next  abbot  of  Holm- 
cultram was  variously  written  as  Yerbye, 
Jerbye  and  Irebye,  but  he  probably  belonged 
to  the  Cumberland  family  of  Ireby  or  origin- 
ated from  the  parish  of  that  name.  Thomas 

1  Pat.  3  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  ii.  m.  I4d  ;  L.  and  P. 
Hen.  7111.  i.  3075. 

*  Valor  Ecc.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  282. 

a  L.  and  P.  Hen.  7111.  v.  277,  657,  1317. 
The  following  documents  have  been  copied 
by  the  writer  from  the  originals  at  the  Record 
Office  and  printed  by  the  Carlisle  Scientific  and 
Literary  Society  :  Dr.  Legh's  defence  of  the  ac- 
cused monk  (ibid.  vi.  985);  petition  from  Fur- 
ness  protesting  his  innocence  and  claiming  a  fair 
trial  (ibid.  vi.  986) ;  John,  abbot  of  Byland's  letter 
of  intercession  to  Cromwell  on  behalf  of  the  monk 
(ibid.  vi.  987) ;  depositions  of  monks  and  others 
before  Abbot  Ireby  concerning  the  death  of  the 
late  abbot  (ibid.  vi.  988) ;  letter  of  Roger,  abbot 
of  Furness,  on  the  character  of  Borradale  and  his 
abettors  (ibid.  vi.  1557). 


Ireby  succeeded  soon  after  the  death  of  Abbot 
Deveys  and  gave  promise  of  ruling  the  house 
'according  to  right  and  conscience,'  as  John 
Lord  Husey  expressed  it  to  Cromwell  on 
19  November  1532.  The  new  abbot  had 
restitution  of  the  temporalities  on  1 1  March 
1533,  for  which  he  paid  a  fine  of  ^50.  The 
discipline  of  the  monks  was  a  great  concern 
to  him,  and  something  was  done  during  his 
term  of  office  to  restore  confidence  and  pro- 
mote charity  after  the  disaster  to  his  predeces- 
sor. Thomas  Graham,  a  refractory  brother, 
who  held  a  proctorship  in  the  church  of 
Wigton,  was  called  to  account  for  neglect  of 
his  duty  and  his  seal  was  revoked.  Some  of 
his  letters  are  preserved  at  the  Record  Office, 
and  his  signature  may  still  be  read  with  that 
of  Christopher  Slee,  prior  of  Carlisle,  in  attes- 
tation of  an  inventory  of  the  '  moveables '  of 
Lord  William  Dacre,  seized  in  1534  by  the 
Earls  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland  and 
Sir  Thomas  Clifford,  the  king's  commissioners. 
It  '  pleased  Gode  almyghtt  to  call  unto  his 
mercy  Thomas  Irebye,  our  discreitt  father 
and  laitt  abbot  of  our  monasterye,  whiche 
dyde  depart  from  this  present  lyffe  the  x'  day 
of  August  (1536),  whosse  sowlle  Gode  par- 
don, leivyng '  the  monks  of  Holmcultram  a 
'  powre  floke  without  heide  or  governore.'  * 

On  ii  August  1536,  the  day  following 
the  death  of  Abbot  Ireby,  the  whole  monas- 
tery consisting  of  the  sub-prior  and  twenty- 
one  monks  signed  a  petition  to  Cromwell  '  to 
suffer  us  to  have  our  free  and  liberall  election 
accordyng  to  the  statutes  and  rewlles  of  our 
holly  religion  to  elect  one  of  the  brethern  of 
owre  monastery  to  be  heide  and  governore  of 
the  same,"  alleging  as  an  excuse  for  haste 
their  nearness  to  the  Scottish  border  and  the 
fear  '  leist  the  ravyschyng  wolffe  doo  enter 
into  the  floke '  in  the  event  of  any  delay  in 
the  appointment  of  their  head.8  Intrigues 
were  on  foot.  Sir  Thomas  Wharton  recom- 
mended Graham,  the  monk  already  referred 
to,  who  offered  to  give  400  marks  to  the 
king's  highness  for  the  office  besides  his  first 
fruits,  but  other  arrangements  were  made. 
Thomas  Carter,  who  was  apparently  not  a 
member  of  the  chapter  of  Holmcultram,  was 
placed  over  the  house.6  His  name  appears 
loaded  with  infamy,  a  few  months  after  his 
appointment,  in  that  '  cleane  '  but  unreliable 
'  booke  of  compertes '  which  the  royal  visitors 
presented  to  Parliament.  In  the  insurrections 
of  1537  Abbot  Carter  was  a  prominent  figure, 
urging  his  tenants  to  join  the  commons, 

«  Ibid.  v.  1556  ;  vi.  228  (i.),  781,  988,  1205  ; 
vii.  676 ;  xi.  276. 

»  Ibid.  xi.  276.          a  Ibid.  xi.  319. 


170 


RELIGIOUS   HOUSES 


organizing  processions  in  his  church  as  a  sup- 
plication for  their  success,  and  going  in  person 
as  an  envoy  on  their  behalf  to  demand  the 
surrender  of  Carlisle.1  Thomas  Graham,  the 
monk  who  was  foiled  in  his  ambition  to  be- 
come the  head  of  the  monastery  at  the  last 
vacancy,  was  employed  by  the  civil  power  as 
a  spy  on  the  doings  of  the  new  abbot.2  Out 
of  the  many  charges  made  against  the  abbot, 
Graham's  depositions  only  may  be  selected: — 

At  the  furst  Insurreccon  agan  the  Abbott. 

Item,  y'  the  abbot  sent  to  W.  Alanbe  y'  he 
schuld  scend  to  James  Hounter  to  warn  all  abowt 
hym  to  be  at  Waytlynghow  upon  payn  of  hayng- 
ynge  too  meet  y"  comanes  there. 

Item,  the  abbot  was  mayde  comyssyonr  to  Car- 
lell  ffrom  ye  comanes  and  rode  towert  Carlell  as 
nere  as  he  durst  and  send  to  them  y'  was  wthin 
ye  cetee  and  askytt  delyver  of  ye  town  to  ye 
comones, 

Item,  the  abbot  rod  to  Pereth  to  ye  comanes 
y'  rod  to  Yorke,  and  ther  the  said  abbatt  gayve 
them  ample  to  ther  expensys. 

Item,  the  said  abbot  spake  with  one  Hew 
Will'mson  at  the  last  Insurreccon,  the  day  afor  the 
comanes  lade  siege  to  Carlell,  and  askytt  hym 
'  qwhat  newys '  and  the  said  Hew  answer11  &  said 
to  hym  agayn,  '  ther  was  never  sayke  agatheryng 
to  ye  brodfeld  as  ther  was  y'  day  afore ' :  and  the 
abbot  answerytt  &  sayde,  'All  myghty  god  prossper 
them,  for  yffe  they  sped  not  this  abbe  ys  lost  : ' 
and  upon  the  sayng  he  sent  for  ys  subprior  and 
comandyt  hym  to  cawse  the  brether  to  goo  daly 
w'  processcon  to  speed  ye  comones  jorney. 

The  Articles  of  brakyng  of  ye  Kynges  graces 
Iniunccons  as  her  after  folloys  : 

Item,  y'  the  abbot  hays  broght  dyvers  woman 
in  the  inwart  partes  of  or  monistry  to  dyn  and 
suppe  agans  or  Iniunccons. 

Item,  y'  the  said  abbott  hays  sold,  w'houte  ony 
lycens  of  ye  kynges  grace  or  of  his  vicittores,  as 
myche  platt  as  com  to  houndreth  poundes  &  more. 

Item,  the  said  Abbat  hays  gyflyng  or  covent 
seyll  agayns  iij  or  iiij  of  ye  bredrs  myndes  agayns 
o'  monisty  profett, 

Item,  the  said  abbatt  gayfFe  too  yc  abbott  of  By- 
land,  ffor  helpyng  hym  too  ys  promocon,  a  salt  of 
gold  &  sylver  to  valoo  of  xx"  markes  &  more. 

Item,  y1  the  abbot  haithe  sold  or  joelles  of  or 
kyrke. 

Item,  the  said  abbot  hays  lattyng  o'  demaynes 
agans  ye  kynges  grace  Iniunccon. 

Item,  the  abbot,  sens  the  kynges  graces  pardon 
was  gyftyng,  cawsytt  hys  tennands  a  gayns  ther 
wyll  to  must'  afor  hym  in  the  kyrke,  &  therby 
wold  hayve  them  to  ryddyng  to  ye  brodfell  to  the 
comanes,  &  ye  denyett  hym  &  said  they  wold  not 
go,  excepe  he  went  wth  them  hys  selffe  :  and  befor 
them  all  the  said  abbot  comandytt  Cudbert  Mus- 
grave,  of  ye  comones  nayme,  to  take  the  tennandes 

1  L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  xii.  pt.  i.  687. 
a  Ibid.   xii.  pt.  i.    1259;    Cott.  MS.   Caligula 
B,  iii.  286. 


&  go  to  the  brod  fell,  &  so  bothe  Cudbert  &  all 
tenands  denyett  ye  abbot  comandment  &  wold  not 
go  :  &  yis  aforsaid  I  will  refere  me  to  tennandes 
qwether  it  was  so  or  nay  :  &  this  comandment  & 
mettyng  was  the  day  befor  the  comanes  laid  sieges 
to  Carlell. 

Item,  all  the  sterryng  of  ye  tennandes  w'hin  the 
Holme  lordscheppe  was  euer  be  ye  commandment 
of  y"  abbot,  bothe  at  the  furst  insurreccon  &  also 
at  ye  last,  qwhen  he  caws'  them  to  com  to  y° 
abbey. 

At  ye  last  Insurreccon  qwhen  he  comandytt 
them  to  ryde  too  ye  brod  feld  w"1  Cudbert  Mus- 
grave. 

per  Tho.  Graym,  monicum. 

(Endorsed?)     The  Abbot  of  Holm  to  incite 
his  Tenants  to  come  wth  the 
Rebells  at  the  broadfeild.3 

It  is  probable  that  the  life  of  Abbot  Carter 
was  forfeited  by  his  complicity  in  the  insur- 
rection, for  before  the  year  1537  was  ended 
another  abbot  reigned  in  his  stead. 

Gawen  Borudale  or  Borradale,  the  monk 
previously  suspected  of  poisoning  Abbot 
Deveys,  was  appointed  a  few  months  before 
the  dissolution  of  the  monastery.  In  a  letter 
to  Cromwell,  dated  23  January  1538,  Sir 
Thomas  Wharton  stated  he  had  seen  in  the 
abbot  of  Holme  '  ryght  honest  procedynges 
and  a  good  borderer  in  ye  kynges  graces 
affayres.'  On  6  March  following,  the  house 
was  surrendered  to  Thomas  Leigh,  LL.D., 
in  the  presence  of  John  Leigh,  William 
Blithman,  James  Rookesby,  William  Leigh, 
Thomas  Dalston  and  others.  The  deed  of 
surrender  was  signed  by  the  abbot  and 
twenty-four  monks  and  sealed  with  the 
seal  of  the  convent.  Within  a  fortnight 
after  the  surrender,  18  March,  the  com- 
munity was  turned  adrift,  or  in  the  words 
of  Dr.  Leigh,  the  monastery  was  'withe 
moche  quyetnes  and  contentacion  of  the 
cuntry  dissolvyd  and  the  monckis  in  secular 
apparell,  having  honest  rewardis  in  ther 
purses,  be  disparsyd  abrode.'  The  late  abbot 
continued  in  spiritual  charge  of  the  lordship 
of  Holmcultram  and  had  '  for  his  logyng,' 
with  which  he  was  '  ryght  well  contentyd, 
the  chambre  that  he  was  in  before  he  was 
abbot,  then  called  the  selleras  chambre,  and 
the  chambre  at  the  stayr  hed  adjoynyng  to 
the  same.'  The  brethren  received  pensions 
in  varying  sums  from  40*.  to  j£6  and  returned 
to  secular  life.*  On  the  earnest  supplication 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Holme  the  abbey  church 
was  not  destroyed.  It  was  not  only  to  them 
their  parish  church,  they  pleaded, '  and  little 

*  Cott.  MS.  Caligula  B,  iii.  285. 
«  L.  and  P.  Hen.  Fill.  vol.  xiii.  (i.)  128,  434, 
436,  547,  and  passim. 


171 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


ynoughe  to  receyve  all  us  your  poore  orators, 
but  also  a  grete  ayde,  socor,  and  defence  for 
us  ayenst  our  neighbors  the  Scotts,  withe  out 
the  whiche  few  or  none  of  your  lordshipps 
supplyants  are  able  to  do  the  king  is  saide 
hieghnes  our  bounden  duetye  and  service.' l 
Since  that  date  the  church  has  been  shorn  of 
many  of  its  glories  and  suffered  many  mis- 
fortunes. 

ABBOTS  OF  HOLMCULTRAM 

Everard,  1150-92  2 
Gregory,  uga3 

William  de  Curcy,  translated  to  Melrose 
in  1215,*  thence  to  Rievaulx  in  1216 
Adam  de  Kendal,  I2I5-236 
Ralf,  1223  * 

William,  resigned  in  I2337 
Gilbert,  1233-7" 
John,  1237-55 » 

1  Cott.  MS.  Caligula  E,  iv.  243  ;  Ellis,  Original 
Letters,  ser.  i,  ii.  90. 

2  The  authorities  for  these  dates  may  be  seen 
ante,  p.  168  etseq. 

s  Chron.  of  Melrose,  in  anno  1192.  During  his 
time  Affreca,  daughter  of  Godred,  King  of  Man, 
wife  of  John  de  Curcy,  founded  the  house  of 
Grey  Abbey  (Jugum  Dei)  in  Ulster,  which  was 
colonized  from  Holmcultram  and  became  affiliated 
thereto  (Chron.  Mannitf,  in  anno  1 204).  When 
the  floors  of  the  Irish  house  were  cleared  of 
rubbish  about  1 840,  a  leaden  seal  of  Bishop  Ralf 
de  Ireton  of  Carlisle  was  found.  It  bore  the  fol- 
lowing legend :  RADULPHUS  DEI  GRACIA  KARLEO- 

LENSIS    EPISCHOP    (ReCVCS,  Atttlq.  of  DotCH,  92). 

*  Chron.  of  Melrose,  in  anno  1215.  Fordun  is 
very  enigmatical  on  this  abbot's  tenure  of  Holm- 
cultram (Scotichronicon  [ed.  Goodall],  ii.  12).  Abbot 
William  is  often  found  in  association  with  Bishop 
Bernard  of  Carlisle  (Guisbn'  Chart.  [Surtees  Soc.], 
ii.  319  ;  Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  B,  No.  164  ; 
Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  1 8,  19).  He  also 
witnessed  a  charter  of  Melrose  in  company  with 
Ralf,  Bishop  of  Down,  and  Warin,  abbot  of  Rie- 
vaulx (Liber  S.  Marie  de  Melrose  [Bannatyne  Club], 

'•  53,  54). 

B  See  ante,  p.   169. 

6  Chron.   of  Melrose,   in   anno    1223;  Reg.  of 
Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  23,  24.     He  had  been  for- 
merly abbot  of  Grey  Abbey  in  Ireland. 

7  Chron.  of  Melrose,  in  anno  1233. 

8  Ibid,  in  annis  1233,  I237  ;  Harl.  MS.  3891, 
f.    I9b  ;     Feet   of    F.   (Cumb.),    19   Hen.    III. 
No.  22.     He  had  been  previously   master  of  the 
'  converts '  in  Holmcultram  and  died  at  Canterbury 
on  his  way  home  from  the  general  chapter  of  his 
order. 

9  Chron.  of  Melrose,  in  annis  1237,  1255.     This 
abbot  made    an    agreement  with   the  prior  of  St. 
Bees  'pro   mina    nostra    super  terram  suam  apud 
Whithofthaven  reponenda  '  (Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  MS. 
x.  7).     See  also  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.), 
i.  509. 


Henry,  I255,10  1262,"  1267" 

Gervase,  1274,"  1279  u 

Robert    de     Keldesik,    1 289,"    1 292," 

1296,"  131 8  18 

Thomas  de  Talkane,  I33i,19  1336  20 
Robert  de  Sitthayk  or  Sothayk,  1351," 

1359" 

10  Cbron.   of  Melrose,  in  anno  1255.     He  had 
been  a  monk  of  the  house. 

11  Several  of  his  transactions  about  property  in 
Carlisle  and  Newcastle  are  on  record   about    this 
date  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.   ff.  70,    151-2  ; 
Harl.  MS.  3891  ff.  78-9,  81-2). 

12  The   Chron.   of  Melrose,  in  anno  1 267,  states 
that  Abbot  Henry  was    deposed   from  Holmcul- 
tram by   Adam  de  Maxstun,    abbot  of  Melrose, 
but  was  restored  to  his  former  seat  by  the  Cistercian 
chapter. 

13  Netominster  Chartul.  (Surtees  Soc.),  238. 

14  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  40-1,  212. 
"  Ibid.  ff.  216-7. 

18  Harl.  MS.  391 1,  f.  63!).  In  reply  to  a  letter 
from  the  king's  chancellor,  requesting  him  to  send 
a  horse  in  1291  to  carry  the  rolls  of  chancery, 
Abbot  Robert  pleaded  for  delay,  '  as  God  knows ' 
he  was  at  that  time  unprovided  with  one  fit  for  the 
work  (Royal  Letters,  No.  1140  ;  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot. 
[Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  138).  See  also  Reg.  of  Holm- 
cultram, MS.  A,  201-2  ;  Harl.  MS.  3891,  f.  76b. 

17  His  name  appears  on  the  famous  Ragman 
Roll  for  the  reason  no  doubt  that  his  house  held 
lands  in  Scotland  (Stevenson,  Documents,  ii.  68-9  ; 
Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  196).  In 
1297  he  recovered  a  rent  in  Blencreyk  against 
William  de  Bretteby  (Orig.  R.  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  102). 

16  He  must  have  died  in  that  year,  for  on  12 
August  1318,  a  letter  of  safe  conduct  was  issued 
to  the  abbot  of  Melrose  that  he  might  come  to 
Holmcultram  to  preside  at  the  election  of  a  suc- 
cessor (Rymer,  Facdera,u.  370).  In  13 19  William, 
prior  of  the  house,  was  sent  into  Scotland  to  treat 
for  the  liberation  of  the  men  of  the  Bishop  of  Ely 
lately  captured  in  the  battle  of  Miton  near  York 
(Rot.  Scotia?,  i.  204,  205). 

11  Harl.  MS.  3891,  f.  I42b.  He  cannot  have 
been  abbot  for  many  years  before,  for  in  1327  he 
was  described  as  a  monk  of  Holmcultram  (Close 
Roll,  i  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  18).  He  carried  out 
the  negotiations  with  Lady  Margaret  de  Wigton 
for  the  transfer  and  appropriation  of  the  church 
of  Wigton  to  his  house  in  1331-2  (Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.,  Kirkby,  ff.  245-9,  280-1). 

20  In  this  year  he  made  presentation  to  the 
church  of  Dronnok,  diocese  of  Glasgow,  the  ad- 
vowson  of  which  had  been  given  to  Holmcultram 
by  Edward,  King  of  Scotland  (Glasg.  Epis.  Reg. 
[Bannatyne  Club],  i.  249-5 1),  and  to  the  church  of 
Wigton,  diocese  of  Carlisle  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg., 
Kirkby,  ff.  333-4). 

<"•  Cal.  of  Papal  Petitions,  i.  215  ;  Cal.  of  Papal 
Letters,m.  453,  461  ;  Chron.  Man.  de  Melsa,  iii.  108. 

22  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  ff.  57,  103.  In 
1362  he  had  a  dispute  with  William,  perpetual  vicar 
of  Wigton,  about  the  will  of  William  de  Bromfeld. 


172 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


Robert    de    Rawbankcs 

I365, I3791 

(?)  Gregory,2  temp.  Richard  II. 

(?)  Robert  Pym,  ascribed  to  the  fifteenth 
century  3 

William  Reddekar,  circa  1434* 

Thomas  York,  circa  1458-65."  Va- 
cancy in  1472  e  ;  again  in  1480  7 

Robert  Chamber,  1507,  15 I2,8    1518° 

John  Nicolson10 


i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  ff.  144,  314; 
Exch.  Gler.  Subs.  bdle.  61,  No.  I,  diocese  of 
Carl.  See  also  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.), 
iv.  47.  In  the  porch  of  the  abbey  church  there 
still  exists  a  fragment  of  his  tomb  with  the  letter- 
ing ' .  .  .  DE  RAWBANKYS  ABBAS  .  .  .' 

>  Reference  to  Abbot  Gregory  is  made  in  a  case 
for  the  opinion  of  counsel  about  1720,  that  in  the 
time  of  Richard  II.  he  demanded  tithe  from  the 
copyholders  of  Holmcultram. 

3  In  the  British  Museum  a  cast  of  a  signet  bears 
the  legend  :  '  ROB'TI  PYM  ABB'TIS  DE  HOLME'  (Cat. 
of  Seals,  i.  586).  These  two  abbots  are  received 
into  the  list  with  much  hesitation. 

*  Fuller,  Worthies  of  England,  (ed.  Nichols), 
i.  240—1.  The  gravestone  of  this  abbot,  dug  up 
in  1867,  shows  beneath  a  rich  canopy  a  pastoral 
crook  with  a  shield  on  either  side  bearing  a  cross 


or     Rabankes,  Matthew  Dyves  or  Deveys,  1531  " 

Thomas  Ireby,  Yerbye,  or  Jerbye,  1533, 

1536 

Thomas  Carter,  15 37 

Gawen  Borudale  (Borrodale),  last  abbot, 

1538 

The  seal  of  the  convent  attached  to  the 
deed  of  surrender18  bears  a  full  length  figure 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  with  the  Child  on  her 
left  arm  and  the  inscription  slightly  mutilated  : 
si  :  COMUNE  :  ABBATIS  :  ET  :  CONVENTUS  : 

DE    :    HOLM    :    COLTRAM. 

In  the  British  Museum  there  is  the  cast  of 
a  seal,  injured  in  places  by  pressure,  and 
ascribed  to  the  thirteenth  century,13  which  may 
have  belonged  to  Abbot  Gervase  (1274, 1279), 
or  to  either  of  his  predecessors,  Gregory  or 
Gilbert.  It  is  a  pointed  oval.  The  Virgin 
with  a  crown  holds  the  Child  on  the  left  arm 
and  stands  on  a  shield  of  the  arms  of  England 
under  a  trefoiled  canopy  supported  on  slender 
shafts.  At  the  base  of  the  shield  are  two 
busts  with  hands  supporting  it.  On  each  side 
is  a  small  niche  containing  on  the  left  a  saint 
with  crown  and  sceptre,  on  the  right  a  bishop 
or  abbot.  In  the  base  is  a  lion  dormant. 
The  legend  has  been  mutilated  :  s.  c  .  .  .  . 


moline  and  lion  rampant,  the  arms  of  the  monas-      BATIS  ET  CONVENTVS  DE   HOLMCOL- 


tery.     Around    the     edge    runs    the    inscription  : 
'  Hie   IACET  WILLMS  RY(DE)KAR   ABBAS   xxi    (?)    DE 

HoLMB       CoLTRAN     CVIVS        AlE    PROPICIETUR    DfiUS, 

AMEN.' 

6  Arch.  &Iiana  (old  ser.),  ii.  399.  He  was 
selected  in  1458  to  act  as  one  of  the  English 
commissioners  for  the  preservation  of  truces  with 
the  Scots  (Rot.  Scotia:,  ii.  387-8).  One  of  the 
bells  of  Holmcultram  is  inscribed  with  the  legend 
in  black  letter  :  '  +  IHS  :  THOMAS  :  YORK  :  ABBAS  : 
DE  :  HOLM  :  cu  :  DOMINIO  :  ANNO  :  DNI  :  MILL"  : 
cccc  :  LXV.'  There  is  also  a  fragment  at  one  of 
the  farm  houses  in  the  parish  which  carries  a  shield 
with  his  initials  supported  by  monks. 

6  Liber  S.  Marie  de  Metros  (Bannatyne  Club), 
i.  596-9. 

7  In  the  accounts  of  the  diocesan  registrar  of 
Carlisle  for   20   Edw.  IV.  the   following  payment 
is  on  record  :    '  Et  soluti  iiij  clericis  Karlioli  exis- 
tentibus  apud   Rosam  ad  benedictionem  abbatis  de 
Holme,  i]s.' 

B  For  the  date  of  this  abbot  see  ante,  pp.  1 69-70. 

8  In   this  year,    10  Hen.  VIII.,  he  appointed 
Thomas    Lord    Dacre    and    William    his    son    as 
stewards  of  all  the  abbey  lands  (Nicolson  MS.  iii. 
107). 

10  The  only  notice  of  Abbot  John  Nekalson  or 
Nicolson  that  has  been  found  is  in  a  memoran- 
dum among  the  family  papers  of  Chambers  of 
Raby,  dated  in  1591,  now  in  the  parish  chest  of 
Holmcultram,  and  submitted  to  the  writer  for 
inspection  by  Mr.  F.  Grainger.  It  is  as  follows : 
'  Lord  Robt.  Chambers  rygned  the  abbet  of  Holem 
lordshep  30  yeares,  and  after  him  rygned  John 


TRAM. 

A  counter-seal  of  the  thirteenth  century  14 
bore  a  right  hand  vested,  holding  a  pastoral 
staff,  embowered  with  foliage,  with  the  words : 

CONTRA  SIGILLUM  DE  HOLMO  15 

There  is  in  the  British  Museum  the  cast  of 
a  seal  ascribed  to  Abbot  Thomas,16  of  date 
about  1350.  The  abbot  is  standing  under  a 
canopy  supported  on  slender  shafts  with  a 
pastoral  staff  in  his  right  hand  and  a  book  in 
his  left.  In  the  base  is  a  lion's  face  and  out- 
side the  shafts  on  each  side  is  a  wavy  sprig  of 
foliage.  This  legend  is  imperfect :  SIGILLUM 

ABBA    .    .    .    HOLMCOLTRAM. 


Nekalson  5  yeares,  and  after  him  rygned  Thomas 
Jerbie  fower  yeares  and  moor,  and  after  him  rygned 
on(e)  Gaven  Borradell  tow  yeares  and  moor  wch 
waes  the  last  of  all  the  lords  (abbits  cancelled  in 
the  MS.).  Abbet  Chambers  died  threscore  year 
andtowell  (twelve)  yeares  senc,  1591.'  He  is  also 
mentioned  in  another  list  of  abbots  who  succeeded 
Chamber  (Nicolson  MS.  iii.  100). 

11  For  this  abbot  and  his  successors,  see  ante, 
p.  170. 

»  Aug.  Off.  Deed  of  Surrender. 

"  B.  M.  Seals  3288. 

"  Ibid.  3289. 

"  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  ii.  542. 

16  B.  M.  Seals  3290.  There  is  also  the  signet  of 
Abbot  Robert  Pym  used  as  a  counterseal.  It 
shows  a  pastoral  staff  (ibid.  3291). 


173 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


4.   THE  ABBEY  OF  CALDER 

The  abbey  of  Calder  is  situated  in  a  wooded 
recess  nearly  a  mile  from  the  village  of  Cal- 
derbridge,  on  the  high  road  midway  between 
Egremont  and  Gosforth,  in  the  south-west  of 
the  county,  not  far  from  the  priory  of  St. 
Bees.  It  was  an  affiliation  of  the  neighbour- 
ing monastery  of  Furness  and  at  first  of  the 
order  of  Savigny  which  in  1148  was  united 
to  the  Cistercian  Order.1  As  no  chartulary 
of  the  house  is  known  to  exist,  we  are  de- 
pendent for  its  history  on  incidental  notices 
gathered  from  various  sources. 

From  a  trustworthy  narrative  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  abbey  of  Byland  in  Yorkshire  2  by 
Philip  the  third  abbot  of  that  monastery,  we 
derive  almost  all  we  know  of  the  early  his- 
tory of  Calder  with  great  fulness  of  detail.  As 
Abbot  Philip  obtained  his  information  from 
Roger  his  predecessor,  one  of  the  original 
monks  of  Calder,  and  as  his  story  fits  in  well 
with  the  local  events  of  the  period  and  con- 
tradicts no  ascertained  historical  facts,  it  may 
be  taken  that  his  narrative  is  worthy  of  credit. 
Other  evidences  of  undoubted  authority  seem 
to  support  his  statements. 

This  abbey  is  the  third  house  in  the  county 
which  owes  its  origin  to  the  great  and  famous 
family  of  Ranulf  Meschin,  the  first  Norman 
lord  of  Cumberland.  The  priory  of  Wetheral 
was  founded  by  him  in  the  early  years  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  I.,  and  the  priory  of  St.  Bees 
was  founded  by  his  brother,  William  Meschin, 
soon  after  1 1 20,  both  as  cells  of  the  Benedic- 
tine abbey  of  St.  Mary,  York.  It  may  be 
admitted  that  Ranulf,  the  son  of  William, 
took  an  interest  in  St.  Bees,  which  lies  within 
the  fee  of  Coupland,  and  was  a  great  bene- 
factor of  his  father's  foundation.  The  time 
came,  perhaps  after  his  father's  death,  when 
this  Ranulf  founded  another  house  at  Calder  3 

1  Though  the  abbey  of  Calder,  like  all  Cister- 
cian  churches,   was  entitled   in   the  name  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  we  have  on  record  an  indulgence, 
granted   by   Thomas,    Bishop   of   Whithern,   and 
dated  at  Furness  on  26  July  1314,  for  the  soul  of 
Richard  Carpenter,  who  formerly  lived  in  the  vill 
of  '  Goderthwayt '  and  was  buried  in  the  church- 
yard of  St.  Andrew  within  the  monastery  of  Calder 
(Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  A,  No.  121). 

2  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  349-53. 

3  Pope  Eugenius  III.  (l  145-53)  said  in  a  letter 
that  William  son   of  Duncan  gave  Calder  to  the 
monks  of  Furness,  but  further  on  he   qualified  the 
statement  by  saying  that  '  Ranulf  Mustin  '  was  the 
real  founder  (Dugdale,  Man.  v.  249-50).     At  the 
time  of  the  suppression,  the  tradition  was  that  the 
abbey '  was  founded  by  Lord  Raynalld  Meschynne, 
lord   of    Copland,  in    1134'   (Harl.     MS.     604, 
f.  122). 


a  few  miles  from  his  baronial  seat  at  Egre- 
mont. The  abbey  was  founded  on  10  Janu- 
ary 1134,  when  Ranulf  gave  the  land  of 
Calder  (Kaldra)  with  its  appurtenances  for 
that  purpose.  It  was  at  a  later  date  probably 
that  he  added  '  Bemertone  '  and  '  Holegate,'  a 
burgage  in  Egremont,  two  saltpans  at  White- 
haven,  fisheries  in  the  Derwent  and  Egre,  pas- 
ture for  the  cattle  of  the  monks  in  his  forest, 
and  materials  for  building  their  houses.  A 
colony  of  twelve  monks  with  Gerold  as  their 
abbot  went  out  from  Furness  and  occupied 
the  new  foundation.  Abbot  Philip  of  Byland 
has  left  their  names  on  record,  viz.  Robert 
de  Insula,  Tocka  de  Loncastre,  John  de 
Kynstan,  Theodoric  de  Dalton,  Orm  de 
Dalton,  Roger  the  sub-cellarer,  Alan  de 
Wrcewyk,  Guy  de  Bolton,  William  de  Bol- 
ton,  Peter  de  Pictaviis,  Ulf  de  Ricomonte 
and  Bertram  de  London.  These  monks  re- 
mained in  community  at  Calder  for  four 
years,  living  in  great  hardship  and  privation 
under  the  constitutions  of  the  order  of  Savigny 
in  Normandy,  to  which  at  that  time  the  abbey 
of  Furness  belonged. 

The  political  troubles  which  followed  the 
death  of  Henry  I.  were  disastrous  to  the 
new  institution  at  Calder.  David,  King 
of  Scots,  while  he  was  laying  siege  to  the 
castle  of  Norham,  sent  William  son  of  Dun- 
can, his  nephew,  into  Yorkshire,  who  wasted 
the  province  of  Craven  and  obtained  pos- 
session of  Furness.  The  atrocities  com- 
mitted during  that  expedition  by  the  Picts 
and  Galwegians  of  the  Scottish  army  are 
well  known.4  Philip  of  Bywell  tells  us  that 
the  abbey  of  Calder  was  one  of  the  victims 
of  the  raid.  Thirsting  for  the  blood  of  the 
English,  'the  barbarian  Scots'  came  unex- 
pectedly with  great  fury  on  the  newly  founded 
(nuper  inceptam)  abbey  and  took  away  all  they 
could  lay  hold  of,  entirely  spoiling  the  house. 
The  desolate  monks  sought  refuge  at  the  gate 
of  Furness,  but  they  were  refused  admittance. 
It  was  said  in  excuse  for  the  cruelty  of  the 
convent  that  as  Abbot  Gerold  was  unwilling 
to  resign  his  office  and  absolve  his  monks  from 
their  profession  to  him,  it  would  have  been 
inconvenient  to  have  had  two  abbots  with 

«  The  Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  82.  Canon  Raine 
has  pointed  out  the  singularity  of  King  David's 
injunction  to  his  nephew  William  son  of  Duncan 
that  he  should  devastate  the  district  of  which  he 
was  feudal  chief.  The  only  explanation  seems  to 
be  that  an  effort  was  made  in  1138  to  keep  Wil- 
liam out  of  his  inheritance.  John  of  Hexham 
tells  us  that  the  seignory  of  Skipton  was  restored 
to  him  in  1151  by  King  David.  It  is  almost 
certain  that  Ranulf  Meschin  was  dead  at  the  time 
of  the  raid. 


174 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


their  communities  dwelling  in  the  same  abbey. 
Others  have  assigned  a  more  sordid  motive  to 
the  monks  of  Furness.  We  need  not  follow 
the  wanderings  of  the  monks  of  Calder  till, 
under  the  protection  of  Archbishop  Thurstin 
and  by  his  mediation,  they  were  established 
at  Byland.  One  cart  drawn  by  a  team  of 
eight  oxen  was  sufficient  to  convey  all  their 
books  and  household  stuff  as  they  set  out  from 
Calder  never  to  return.  As  soon  as  Abbot 
Gerold  had  found  a  resting  place  and  begun 
to  increase  in  this  world's  goods,  fearing  lest 
the  abbot  of  Furness  would  exercise  a  patronal 
jurisdiction  over  him,  he  set  out  to  Normandy 
and  laid  the  whole  truth  of  his  departure 
from  Calder  before  Serle,  abbot  of  Savigny. 
On  the  feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  1142, 
a  chapter  general  of  the  Order  was  held  and 
he  was  released  from  his  allegiance  to  Furness. 
Returning  to  England  in  haste,  he  repaired 
to  York,  where  he  died  on  24  February 
following.  Roger,  who  had  come  from  Fur- 
ness  with  him  and  was  sub-cellarer  at  Calder, 
was  chosen  abbot  in  his  place.  When  the 
news  of  these  proceedings  was  noised  abroad, 
the  abbot  and  convent  of  Furness,  perceiving 
that  they  had  been  outwitted  by  the  deceased 
Gerold,  and  that  the  monks  who  were  driven 
from  their  gates  had  submitted  themselves  and 
their  successors  to  the  church  of  Savigny  and 
were  settled  elsewhere  with  no  intention  of 
returning,  ordained  Hardred,  one  of  their 
monks,  and  sent  him  out,  in  or  about  1143, 
at  the  head  of  another  community  to  occupy 
the  deserted  house  of  Calder.  Thus  was  the 
succession  resumed  and  the  original  founda- 
tion revived. 

The  confusion  arising  from  disputed  juris- 
diction did  not  end  with  Gerold's  renunciation 
of  Furness.  Abbot  Hardred  of  Calder  set  up 
a  claim  to  jurisdiction  over  Byland  on  the 
ground  of  affiliation,  as  the  monks  had  de- 
parted from  his  house  and  the  church  of 
Savigny  had  unjustly  obtained  their  allegiance. 
Roger,  then  abbot  of  Byland,  answered  with 
becoming  dignity  that  no  such  claim  could  be 
entertained,  and  reminded  Hardred  of  their 
rebuff  from  the  gates  of  Furness.  Ultimately 
a  friendly  arrangement  was  made  and  the 
claims  of  Calder  were  abandoned.  On  the 
other  hand  the  convent  of  Furness  challenged 
jurisdiction  over  Byland  by  similar  arguments, 
but  at  a  general  chapter  in  the  presence  of 
many  abbots  and  priors  of  the  northern 
counties,  with  the  famous  JElred  of  Rievaulx 
as  referee,  the  claims  of  Furness  were  dis- 
allowed. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  successors 
of  Ranulf  Meschin  in  the  barony  of  Coup- 
land,  including  William  son  of  Duncan,  his 


brother-in-law,  who  had  previously  ravaged 
the  district,  continued  to  befriend  the  abbey 
and  augment  its  possessions.  Cecily,  Countess 
of  Albemarle  and  lady  of  Coupland,  con- 
firmed the  monks  in  all  their  lands,  for  the 
souls  of  her  father  and  mother  and  of  King 
Henry,  to  which  Master  Robert  the  constable, 
Isaac  de  Scheftling,  Simon  de  Scheftling, 
William  Chirtelig,  William  de  Scheftling  and 
Thomas,  chaplain  of  the  countess,  were  wit- 
nesses. The  example  of  the  founder's  suc- 
cessors was  followed  by  the  landowners  in  the 
vicinity.  William  de  Esseby  and  Hectred 
his  wife,  benefactors  of  St.  Bees,  gave  Becker- 
met  and  the  mill  of  that  place  in  memory  of 
William,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  and  Cecily  the 
countess,  and  of  Ingelram  the  earl's  brother, 
as  the  donor  had  received  it  from  the  earl. 
The  witnesses  of  this  deed  were  Richard, 
prior  of  St.  Bees,  Robert  priest  (presblter)  of 
Ponsonby,  Roger  priest  of  Egremont,  Jurdan 
parson  of  Goseford,  Richard  son  of  Osbert  of 
St.  Brigid,  Richard  vicar  of  the  same  church, 
and  Ketel  son  of  Ulf.  Beatrice  de  Molle  be- 
stowed on  the  monks  5  oxgangs  of  land  in 
Little  Gilcrux  (Gillecruch)  and  the  fourth 
part  of  the  mill  in  Great  Gilcrux.  The  land 
had  been  previously  confirmed  to  Beatrice  by 
Adam  son  of  Uhtred,  her  uncle,  as  the  gift 
of  William,  his  nephew,  as  the  charter  of  the 
said  William  son  of  Liolf  de  Molle  testified. 
Richard  de  Boisville  gave  10  acres  of  land  in 
his  part  of  Culdreton  with  common  of  pasture 
pertaining  thereto. 

The  lords  of  Millom.  were  also  benefactors 
of  Calder.  By  a  charter  given  at  '  Milnam  ' 
in  the  month  of  April,  1287,  John  de  Hud- 
leston  bestowed  on  the  abbey  pasture  for  six 
cows,  four  horses  and  forty  sheep  with  their 
following  on  the  common  of  Millom,  saving 
to  the  monks  the  other  privileges  granted  by 
his  ancestors.  At  a  later  date  in  1291,  John 
son  of  John  de  '  Hideleston '  gave  William 
son  of  Richard  de  Loftscales  his  '  native  '  and 
all  his  belongings,  quit  of  all  villenage  as  far 
as  the  donor  was  concerned.1  The  abbot 
paid  a  fine  in  1300  for  the  alienation  in 
mortmain  to  his  convent  by  John  de  Hudles- 
ton  of  8£  acres  of  land,  i  acre  of  meadow 

1  The  six  charters,  of  which  a  summary  is  given 
above,  were  copied  by  the  Rev.  John  Hodgson  in 
1830  'from  the  originals  in  possession  of  W.  J. 
Charlton  of  Hesleyside,  Esq.,  which  came  into  his 
family  in  1680  by  the  marriage  of  his  great-great- 
grandfather with  Mary,  daughter  of  Francis  Sal- 
keld  of  Whitehall,  in  the  parish  of  All-hallows, 
Cumberland,'  and  were  printed  in  full  by  him  in 
Arch.  &Iiana,  ii.  387-90.  S.  Jefferson  has  given 
a  good  account  of  these  charters  in  Allerdale  Ward, 
3H-7- 


175 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


in  Bootle,  and  a  place  in  Millom  called 
'  Barkerhals '  containing  gj  acres  of  land  and 
i  J  acres  of  meadow.1 

The  abbey  had  also  been  endowed  by  John 
son  of  Adam  and  Matthew  his  brother  with 
the  whole  land  of  '  Stavenerge '  ;  by  Robert 
Bonekill,  with  a  carucate  in  Little  Gilcrux 
(Gillecruz)  which  Ralf  the  clerk  of  Carlisle 
occupied,  1 2  acres  and  i  perch  in  Little  Gilcrux, 
I  acre  of  meadow  between  these  two  places 
and  pasture  for  twenty  oxen,  twelve  cows  and 
six  horses  with  their  following  of  one  year ; 
by  Roger  son  of  William  with  land  in  '  Ike- 
linton  '  and  '  Brachamton  '  and  part  of  the 
mill  in  the  latter  place  ;  by  Richard  de  Lucy, 
with  a  moiety  of  the  mill  in  Ikelinton  a  ;  by 
Thomas  son  of  Gospatric,  with  a  toft  in 
Workington,  an  annual  gift  of  twenty  salmon, 
and  a  net  in  the  Derwent  between  the  bridge 
and  the  sea  ;  and  by  Thomas  de  Multon, 
with  a  moiety  of  the  vill  of  '  Dereham  in 
Airedale '  with  the  advowson  of  the  church 
of  the  same  vill.  These  donations  were  con- 
firmed to  the  monks  in  1231  by  charter3  of 
Henry  III. 

The  convent  was  called  upon  from  time  to 
time  to  defend  its  title  to  its  possessions. 
Adam  son  of  Gilbert  de  Comwyntyn  im- 
pleaded  the  abbot  in  1279  'n  resPect  °f  a 
messuage  in  Cockermouth  as  the  right  of 
Emma  his  wife.*  Certain  manorial  privileges 
of  the  abbey  lands  were  questioned  by  the 
Crown  in  1292,  when  it  was  stated  that  the 
monks  had  enjoyed  them  since  the  reign  of 
Richard  I.  From  this  suit  at  law  we  gather 
that  the  house  possessed  3  carucates  of  land 
in  Gilcrux,  a  carucate  in  Dearham,  an 
oxgang  in  Millom,  10  acres  in  Irton  and  2 
oxgangs  in  Bootle.8 

The  abbey  was  not  rich  in  appropriated 
churches.  At  the  time  of  the  dissolution, 
the  monks  only  possessed  the  rectories  of 
Cleator,  Gilcrux,  and  of  St.  John  and  St. 

1  Pat.  28  Edw.  I.  m.  13  ;  Inq.  p.m.   20  Edw. 
I.  No.  172. 

2  Roger  de  Lucy  held    1 5  librates  of  land  in 
Ickleton  (Ikelington)  in  the   hundred  of  Whittles- 
ford,  Cambridgeshire,  late  of  the  Honor   of  Bou- 
logne, and   Richard  de  Lucy  held   a   knight's  fee 
there  in  1212  (The  Red  Book  of  the  Exch.  [Rolls 
Ser.],  ii.  529,  582  ;  Testa  de  Nevill  [Rec.  Com.], 
274b).       In    1302-3    the    abbot   of  Calder  was 
assessed  at  lot.  to  the  royal  aid  for  the  fourth  part 
of  a  knight's  fee  held  of  Thomas  de  Multon  as  of 
the  Honour  of  Boulogne  (Feud.  Aids,  i.  144,  161, 
175,  180). 

a  Chart.  R.  1 5  Hen.  III.  m.  9  ;  Dugdale, 
Mm.  v.  340-1. 

4  Three  Early  Assize  R.  of  Northumb.  (Surtees 
Soc.),  p.  297. 

o  Plac.  de  £>uo.  Wan.  (Rec.  Com.),  1 16-7. 


Bridgid,  Beckermet.6  An  attempt  was  made 
by  Thomas  de  Multon  to  transfer  the  advow- 
son of  Dearham  from  the  priory  of  Gisburn, 
to  which  Alice  de  Romelly  had  given  it,  but 
the  attempt  failed,  and  the  church  con- 
tinued in  the  appropriation  of  the  Yorkshire 
house  to  the  last.7  In  1262  the  Archdeacon 
of  Richmond  prevailed  on  the  abbey  to  bestow 
upon  him  the  church  of  Arlecdon  (Arloke- 
dene),  as  he  had  no  convenient  retreat  in 
Coupland  wherein  he  could  lodge  for  the 
exercise  of  the  duties  of  his  vocation.8  That 
powerful  official  had  only  a  poor  opinion  of 
the  natural  features  or  the  climate  of  Cum- 
berland. It  needed  the  attraction  of  the 
church  of  Arlecdon  to  induce  him  to  cross 
the  sands  of  Duddon  and  to  brave  the  swollen 
rivers  and  uncertain  weather  of  that  outlying 
portion  of  his  spiritual  charge.8  An  arrange- 
ment was  made  apparently  to  the  advantage 
of  the  abbot  as  well  as  the  archdeacon.  The 
church  of  Arlecdon  had  been  a  trouble  to  the 
abbey,  inasmuch  as  the  abbot  had  paid  a  fine 
of  40*.  in  1255  for  having  an  assize  of  last 
presentation  against  Richard  son  of  John  le 
Fleming.10  The  church  of  St.  John  lay  near 
to  Calder  and  to  the  parish  church  of  St. 
Bridgid  which  already  belonged  to  the  monks. 
By  judgment  of  the  Archbishop  of  York,  St. 
John's  was  appropriated  to  the  abbey  in 
consideration  for  the  abbot's  consent  to  the 
appropriation  of  Arlecdon  to  the  archdeaconry 
of  Richmond.  It  is  stated  by  J.  Denton  u 
that  John  le  Fleming  had  given  the  patronage 
of  the  rectory  of  Arlecdon  to  Jollan,  abbot  of 
Calder,  in  1242.  The  abbot  and  convent 
proved  their  title  to  the  church  of  Gilcrux  in 
1357  before  Bishop  Welton  of  Carlisle.1* 

Little  on  record  has  been  found  about  the 
history  of  the  abbey  church  or  precincts.     J. 

«  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  264. 

7  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  340-1,  No.  i.  ;  vi.  271, 
No.  xv. 

9  Ibid.  v.  341,  Nos.  ii.  and  iii. 

8  By  all  accounts  the  climate  of  Cumberland 
was  considered  a  distressing  experience  by  outsiders. 
In  this  year,  1262,  a  justice  itinerant  prayed  to  be 
excused    going   on    circuit,    '  in  partes    Cumber- 
landiae  .   .  .    turn    propter   loci    distantiam,    turn 
propter    distemperantiam    asris    meae  complexioni 
valde  discordantem  '  (Royal  and  Hist.  Letters,  [ed. 
Shirley],  ii.  222). 

10  Fine  R.   39  Hen.  III.   m.  10   (Excerfta  E. 
Rot.  Fin.  [Rec.  Com.],  ii.  203). 

11  Cumberland,   27.   Denton  must  have  had  in 
mind   the  plea  between  the  parties  in  1241  when 
the  right  of  Calder  was  confirmed  and  the  benefits 
of  the   prayers  of  the  monastery  were  granted  to 
John  le  Fleming  (Feet  of  F.  Cumberland,  case  35, 
file  3,  No.  263). 

12  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  £51. 


I76 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


Denton  was  of  opinion  that  the  abbey  '  was 
not  perfected  till  Thomas  de  Multon  finished 
the  works  and  established  a  greater  convent 
of  monks  there.'  In  1361  Bishop  Welton 
issued  a  licence  with  indulgence  to  a  monk  of 
that  house  to  collect  alms  in  his  diocese  for 
the  fabric  of  the  monastery.1 

It  cannot  be  said  that  Calder  was  ever  a 
rich  house.  In  1292  its  temporalities  were 
valued  at  £32  a  year,2  and  in  1535  the  gross 
revenues  of  the  abbey  amounted  only  to 
£64  35.  gd.y  which,  after  deducting  certain 
outgoings,  was  reduced  to  the  clear  annual 
income  of  £50  9*.  3<-/.3 

The  abbots  of  Calder  do  not  often  appear 
in  the  public  life  of  the  country.  They  occa- 
sionally come  into  notice  when  applying  for 
royal  protection  to  go  beyond  the  sea  on  the 
business  of  their  house  or  to  attend  the  general 
chapters  of  the  Cistercian  Order.4  In  the 
fourteenth  century  they  were  sometimes  em- 
ployed in  the  collection  of  ecclesiastical  sub- 
sidies.8 

The  abbey  was  visited  by  the  king's  com- 
missioners 8  in  1535  and  an  unfavourable  report 
was  made  in  the  Black  Book.  Five  monks, 
Robert  Maneste,  William  Car,  John  Gis- 
burne,  Matthew  Ponsonby,  and  Richard 
Preston  were  accused  of  uncleanness  ;  Wil- 
liam Thornton  and  Richard  Preston  of  incon- 
tinency ;  and  John  Gisburne  and  Richard 
Preston  were  said  to  desire  freedom  from  their 
conventual  vows.  The  only  relic  of  super- 
stition found  in  the  monastery  was  a  girdle 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  supposed  to  be  effica- 
cious to  women  in  child-bed.7 

The  monastery  seems  to  have  been  sur- 
rendered to  the  commissioners  and  dissolved 
on  4  February  1536,  Richard  Ponsonby,  the 
abbot,  receiving  a  pension  of  £12  a  year 
which  was  to  date  from  the  Feast  of  the 
Annunciation  following.  William  Blithman 
was  the  actual  agent  in  its  overthrow.  The 
rectories  of  St.  Bridgid,  St.  John,  St.  Leonard, 
and  Gilcrux  were  leased  to  William  Leigh, 
but  the  house  and  site  of  the  abbey  and  the 
adjoining  lands  were  granted  to  Thomas 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  8 1. 

>  Pope  Nich,  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  329^ 

3  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  264. 

4  Pat.  1 6  Edw.  I.  m.  6  ;  20  Edw.  I.  m.  7. 

&  Ibid.  14  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  45  ;  15  Edw. 
III.  pt.  i.  m.  32  ;  Close,  6  Edw.  III.  m.  l6d. 

«  Harl.  MS.  604,  f.  122. 

'  The  Compendium  Compertorium  or  'Cleane 
Booke  of  Compertes,'  as  arranged  by  John  ap  Rice, 
otherwise  called  the  '  Black  Book,'  is  well  known. 
Fragments  of  it  will  be  found  in  L.  and  P.  Hen. 
Vlll.  x.  364  ;  Cott.  MS.  Cleop.,  E,  iv.  147  ; 
Lansd.  MS.  988,  f.  I. 


Leigh,  LL.D.,  the  notorious  commissioner  for 
the  northern  suppression.  To  Dr.  Leigh 
were  also  given  a  right  of  common  on  Coup- 
land  Fells  and  the  fishery  called  Monkegarth 
on  the  sea  sands  near  Ravenglass.8  The  clear 
annual  value  of  the  doctor's  grant  was 
j£i3  IOJ.  4^.,  and  the  rent  of  2Js.  id.  due  to 
the  Crown  continued  to  be  paid  by  the  owners 
of  Calder  Abbey  till  its  late  owner  redeemed  it. 

ABBOTS  OF  CALDER 

Gerold,  1134,  afterwards  abbot  of  By- 
land,  Yorks 

Hardred  (Hardreus),  circa  1143' 

Adam,  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century10 

David,  circa  1200  n 

John,  circa  1211  12 

G.,  circa  1218  13 

Ralf14 

Jollan,  1241-6" 

John,  1246" 

Nicholas,  circa  1250" 

Walter,  circa  I25618 

William,  circa  1262  19 

Warin,  circa  1286  20 

«L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  vol.  xii.  (i.),  1025  ;  vol. 
xiii.  (i.),  577,  588.  The  grant  to  Dr.  Leigh  has 
been  enrolled  on  Pat.  30  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  vi.  m.  20, 
of  which  an  abstract  has  been  made  in  the  L. 
and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  vol.  xiii.  (i.),  1519  (71). 

»  Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  B,  No.  262. 

10  He  was  contemporary  with  Prior  Robert  of 
St.  Bees  and  witnessed  Richard  de  Lucy's  charter 
of  incorporation   to   the    borough    of    Egremont 
(Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Sac.  i.  282-4). 

11  Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  B,  No.  80,  printed 
in    Farrer's  Lane.  Pipe  R.  and  Early  Chart.  362. 
He  was  a  witness  to  this  charter. 

12  An  unnamed  abbot  of  Calder  received   bene- 
diction   from    Ralf,   Bishop    of  Down,   in    1 2 1 1 
(Chron.  of  Me/rose,  in  anno  ;  Chrtm.  de  Lanercost, 
2),  and  about  the  same  time  John,  abbot  of  Calder, 
witnessed  several  charters  (Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart. 
Box  B,  Nos.  164,  260  ;  Reg.  of  Fountains  abbey 
[Cott.  MS.  Tib.  C,  xii.],  ff.  104-11). 

13  With  Augustin,  prior  of  Conishead,  he  wit- 
nessed a  deed  in  the  Reg.  of  St.  Bees  (Harl.  MS. 
434).  vij.  5. 

14  Dugdale,  Mm.  v.  340.  Professed  obedience 
to  Archbishop  Walter  Gray  (1216-55). 

16  Between  these  dates   he  was  engaged  in  suits 
at  la  w  with  John  le  Fleming,  Al  exander  de  Ponsonby, 
and  John,  prior  of  Conishead,  about  the  property 
of  the  abbey  (Feet   of  F.   Cumberland,  case  35, 
file  3,  Nos.  263,  34,  54b). 

18  J.  Denton,  Cumberland,  23. 

17  Duchy  of  Lane.  Chart.  Box  B,  No.  187. 

18  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  MS.  xii.  i  ;  Denton,  Cum- 
berland, 23. 

19  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  341. 

«°  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Sac.  ix.  232. 


II 


177 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Elias, 

Richard,  I322,2  1334  3 

Nicholas  de  Bretteby  (Birkby),  1367* 

Richard,  circa  1432  6 

Robert  de  Wilughby  8 

John,  1462 r 

John  Whalley,  1464 

John  Bethom,  1501 


Lawrence  Marre,  1503—13 

John  Parke,  1516 

John  Clapeham,  1521 

Richard  Ponsonby,  1525-36 
Only    one   impression  of  the    seal    of   this 
house  is  known.8     It  is  a  pointed  oval,showing 
an  abbot  in  vestments.     The  legend  is  much 
mutilated  :   +   .   .  .  TIS  DE  CALDRA. 


HOUSES    OF    BENEDICTINE    MONKS 


5.  THE  PRIORY  OF  ST.  BEES  • 

The  Benedictine  priory  of  St.  Bees  occu- 
pies a  favourable  position  on  the  western  coast 
at  the  opening  of  a  valley  sheltered  by  a  great 
berg  or  hill,  which  projects  into  the  sea  like  a 
vast  irregular  bastion,  and  is  known  as  St. 
Bees  Head.  It  is  said  that  the  valley  which 
connects  the  promontory  with  the  mainland 
was  once  traversed  by  the  tide.  But  there  is 
no  warrant  for  assuming  that  any  appreciable 
change  has  taken  place  in  the  physical  con- 
figuration of  the  neighbourhood  within  the 
historic  period.  As  the  site  of  the  priory 
marks  the  level  of  the  valley  beneath  the 
south-eastern  spur  of  the  headland,  the  sea 
must  have  receded  long  before  its  foundation. 

The  priory  took  its  name  from  a  previous 
religious  establishment,  of  which  nothing 
seems  to  have  survived  till  the  twelfth  century 
except  the  tradition  of  its  former  existence. 
From  the  legendary  life  of  Bees  or  Bega, 
written  in  all  probability  by  a  monk  of  the 
priory  at  a  late  date,10  we  learn  that  she  was 

1  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  340.  3  Ibid. 

3  Close,  7  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  4d. 

4  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  340  ;  Dur.  Obit.  R.  (Surtees 
Soc.),  p.  58. 

6  Testamenta  Eboracensia  (Surtees  Soc.),  iii.  327. 
Quotation  from   Register    of  the  Archdeacon    of 
Richmond  in  Harl.  MS.  6978,  f.  25b. 

'  A  monumental  inscription  still  preserved 
among  the  ruins  of  the  abbey,  records  the  name 
of  this  abbot  whose  place  in  the  list  is  not  known, 
but  entered  here  as  being  its  probable  position. 
The  inscription  may  be  thus  read  :  me  IACET 

DOMPNVS    ROBERTVS    DE    WILVGHBY  ABBAS    DE    CALDRA 
CVIVS    ANIME    PROPICIETVR    DEVS. 

7  For  this  and  the  subsequent   abbots  see  Dug- 
dale, Mm.  v.  340  :  Torre  MS.   (York)  f.   1408, 
compiled  from  the  archiepiscopal  registers. 

8  Anct.  D.,  L  478. 

9  The  source  from  which  the  materials  for  this 
account  of  St.  Bees  has  been  taken,  is,  unless  when 
otherwise  stated,  the    chartulary    of    the   priory, 
Harleian  MS.  434. 

10  The  story  of  the  life  and  miracles  of  St.  Bega 
is  written   on  a  small  folio  of  vellum  among  the 
Cotton  MSS.  Faustina  B.  iv.  ff.  122—31.     It  was 
printed   at   Carlisle  in    1842  by  Samuel  Jefferson, 


the  daughter  of  an  Irish  king,  who  reigned  as 
a  Christian  monarch  in  the  seventh  century. 
For  good  reasons  she  fled  from  her  father's 
court,  and  taking  ship,  landed  after  a  pros- 
perous voyage  '  in  a  certain  province  of 
England  called  Coupland.'  Bega  found  the 
place  covered  with  a  thick  forest,  and  admirably 
adapted  for  a  solitary  life.  Wishing  to  dedi- 
cate her  life  to  God,  she  built  for  herself  a 
virgin  cell  in  a  grove  near  the  seashore,  where 
she  remained  for  many  years  in  strict  seclusion 
and  devout  contemplation.  In  the  course  of 
time  the  district  began  to  be  frequented  by 
pirates.  The  good  saint  however  dreaded  not 
death,  nor  mutilation,  nor  the  loss  of  temporal 
goods,  of  which  she  was  destitute  except  her 
bracelet  (armilla\  but  she  feared  the  loss  of  her 
virginity,  the  most  precious  treasure  with 
which  heaven  can  endow  her  sex.  By  divine 
command  Bega  hastened  her  departure  from 
the  place,  but  she  was  induced  to  leave  her 
bracelet  behind  her,  that  miracles  in  ages  to 
come  might  be  performed  in  that  neighbour- 
hood in  testimony  of  her  holy  life. 

At  this  time  Oswald  was  the  king  of 
Northumbria,  and  the  holy  Aidan  was  the 
chief  bishop  of  Lindisfarne.  To  the  bishop, 
Bega  directed  her  steps  and  disclosed  the  secret 
of  her  heart.  The  man  of  God,  struck  by 
her  story,  admitted  her  to  sacred  vows,  putting 
upon  her  head  a  veil  for  a  royal  diadem  and 
a  black  garment  for  a  purple  robe,  for  before 
that  date,  as  Bede  testified,  the  kingdom  of 
Northumbria  was  without  nuns.  By  the 

with  a  translation,  introduction  and  notes  by  G. 
C.  Tomlinson.  The  author's  name  is  unknown. 
All  historical  notice  of  the  saint  appears  to  have 
been  lost  from  the  time  of  her  death,  except  the 
incidental  allusion  to  her  connection  with  St. 
Hilda  by  the  venerable  Bede  (Historia  Eccles.  iv. 
23),  but  the  writer  of  her  life  determined  to  collect 
all  that  had  survived  by  tradition.  Sir  Thomas 
Hardy  ascribed  the  compilation  to  the  end 
of  the  twelfth  century  (Descriptive  Catalogue  of 
Materials,  Rolls  Ser.  i.  224-5).  From  the  internal 
evidence  in  the  account  of  the  saint's  miracles 
the  writer  is  inclined  to  put  the  date  at  a  much 
later  period. 


I78 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


influence  of  St.  Aidan  she  prevailed  on  King 
Oswald  to  grant  her  a  place  fit  for  religious 
uses,  by  name  '  Hereteseia,'  which  by  inter- 
pretation is  called  Hartlepool.  Here  she  built 
a  beautiful  monastery  to  which  many  maidens 
flocked  for  the  service  of  religion.  Thus  the 
pious  Bega  was  the  first  to  establish  a  nunnery 
in  Northumbria. 

Several  centuries  have  elapsed  since  the 
historian  gathered  up  the  traditions  of  the 
priory,  and  wove  them  into  a  connected 
story.  We  have  little  to  say  about  the  life  or 
miracles  of  the  saint  except  as  they  bear  on 
the  district  with  which  her  name  is  connected. 
Leland  mentions  that  '  Bega  at  first  built  a 
humble  little  monastery  in  Coupland  not  far 
from  Carlisle  in  the  extreme  limits  of  England 
where  there  are  now  so  many  monks  of  St. 
Mary's,  York,  commonly  called  Sainct 
Beges,'1  but  the  venerable  Bede  is  silent  on 
the  saint's  residence  in  Cumberland.  The 
legendary  life  gives  no  support  to  the  belief 
that  a  nunnery  was  continued  at  St.  Bees 
after  Bega  had  taken  her  departure.  If  such 
were  the  case,  all  trace  of  it  must  have  been  lost 
during  those  dark  centuries  in  northern  history 
which  preceded  the  Norman  Conquest. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  influence 
of  Bega  was  a  power  in  the  south-western 
portion  of  the  county  in  the  early  years  of  the 
twelfth  century.  The  district  had  borne  her 
name,  and  a  parish  church  was  entitled  in  her 
honour  before  the  Norman  lord  of  that  place 
determined  to  found  a  religious  house  within 
a  few  miles  of  his  baronial  seat  at  Egremont. 
The  date  of  the  foundation  of  the  priory  by 
William  Meschin,  the  first  Norman  owner  of 
Coupland,  can  only  be  approximately  given. 
His  first  charter  was,  as  one  might  say, 
only  declaratory  of  his  intention  to  proceed 
with  the  undertaking.  It  was  also  an  invita- 
tion to  his  own  knights  and  to  the  proprietors 
of  neighbouring  fiefs  to  aid  him  in  the  work. 
The  new  institution  was  to  be  founded  as  a 
cell  or  subordinate  house  of  the  great  abbey  of 
St.  Mary  near  the  walls  of  York,  to  which 
his  family  apparently  owed  some  obligation. 
In  the  first  instance  he  made  it  known  that  he 
had  given  to  God,  St.  Mary  and  the  holy 
virgin  Bega,  six  carucates  of  land  in  Kirkby 
(Cherchebi),  as  well  as  the  manor  which 
William  the  Bowman  (hailstorms)  had  in 
addition,  and  moreover  that  he  would  confirm 
similar  gifts  for  the  same  purpose  by  any  of 
his  knights  from  their  own  lands.  Most  of 
those  who  witnessed  this  deed,  Wal- 
deve,  Reiner,  Godard,  Ketel,  William  the 
chaplain,  Coremac  and  Gillebecoc,  were 


Collectanea  (ed.  Hearne,  1774),  v.  39. 


afterwards  the  foremost  in  forwarding  the 
scheme.  When  the  project  had  taken  prac- 
tical form,  Thurstin,  Archbishop  of  York,  in 
whose  diocese  the  barony  of  Coupland  was 
included,  was  called  in  to  advise  on  the 
character  of  the  institution  about  to  be  esta- 
blished. It  is  evident  that  the  great  arch- 
bishop was  the  moving  spirit  of  the  whole 
scheme.  The  large  landowners  of  the  neigh- 
bourhood associated  themselves  with  the 
founder,  and  contributed  their  share  to  its 
first  endowment.  Waldeve,  lord  of  Allerdale 
below  Derwent,  who  had  received  his  barony 
from  Henry  I.,  granted  the  manor  of  Stain- 
burn  ;  Ketel  gave  Preston ;  Reiner,  two 
oxgangs  of  land  in  Rottington  with  the  native 
who  dwelt  there.  As  a  supplement  to  his 
former  gift,  William  Meschin  added  the  church 
of  Kirkby  and  its  parish,  the  bounds  of  which 
were  defined  by  trustworthy  men  as  from 
Whitehaven  to  the  river  Keekle  (Chechel), 
and  as  the  Keekle  falls  into  the  Egre,  and  as 
the  Egre  flows  to  the  sea.  He  also  gave  the 
chapel  of  Egremont  within  the  said  bounds 
and  the  tithes  of  his  domain  and  of  all  his 
men,  as  well  as  the  tithes  of  his  fisheries  and 
the  skins  of  his  venison.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  grants  in  the  early  endowment  of  the 
priory  was  that  of  Godard,  lord  of  Millom,  who 
gave  the  churches  of  Whicham  (Witingam) 
and  Bootje  (Bothle),  with  two  manses  (man- 
mr<s\  and  their  whole  parishes  and  tithes. 
The  gift  was  made  by  the  advice  and  assent 
of  William  the  founder,  his  liege  lord,  in  the 
presence  of  Archbishop  Thurstin  on  the  day 
of  the  dedication  of  the  church  of  St.  Bees  for 
the  special  purpose  of  finding  lights  for  divine 
service.  These  churches  and  estates  were 
demised  to  the  Benedictine  abbey  of  St.  Mary, 
York,  with  the  view  of  founding  a  monastic 
establishment  in  the  church  of  St.  Bees  con- 
sisting of  a  prior  and  six  monks  of  their 
obedience.  The  pious  work  was  done  for  the 
health  of  King  Henry  and  Archbishop 
Thurstin,  for  the  souls  of  Queen  Maud  and 
William  the  Atheling,  and  for  the  relief  (pro 
remedio)  of  his  ancestors  and  successors.  From 
these  deeds  it  may  be  inferred  that  the  founda- 
tion of  the  priory  could  not  have  taken  place 
before  1120.* 

William  Meschin  the  founder  paid  a  grace- 
ful tribute  to  the  co-operation  of  his  wife 

2  The  good  Queen  Maud  died  in  1 1 1 8  and 
was  buried  at  Westminster  (Hoveden,  Cbron.  [Rolls 
Ser.]  i.  172).  Thurstin  was  not  consecrated  Arch- 
bishop of  York  till  19  October,  1119  (Symeon  of 
Durham,  Opera  et  Coll.  [Surtees  Soc.],  p.  no). 
William  the  son  of  Henry  I.  was  lost  at  sea  in 
the  wreck  of  the  White  Ship  in  1 1 20. 


179 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Cecily  and  his  son  Ranulf  in  his  efforts  to 
establish  the  institution.  His  children  and 
descendants  in  after  years  were  foremost  among 
its  benefactors.  To  the  memory  of  his  father 
and  by  the  advice  of  Fulk,  his  uncle,  Ranulf 
gave  the  monks  the  manor  of  Ennerdale 
(Avenderdale),  and  endowed  them  with  many 
liberties  in  his  woods  and  forests.  Alice  de 
Romilly,  when  she  became  owner  of  the 
barony  on  the  death  of  Ranulf  her  brother, 
was  a  munificent  patron  of  her  father's  founda- 
tion. There  can  be  no  truth  in  the  story 
that  Ranulf  Meschin  was  jealous  of  the 
possessions  of  the  priory,  and  sought  to 
diminish  the  boundaries  of  their  franchise.  It 
is  said  that  men,  envious  of  the  monastic  life, 
had  instilled  into  that  nobleman's  ear  that  the 
monks  had  encroached  upon  his  lands.  In  the 
suits  at  law  which  ensued  the  cause  was 
defended,  and  ample  evidences  were  produced 
on  behalf  of  the  priory,  but  no  agreement 
could  be  arrived  at.  On  the  day  appointed 
for  measuring  the  landmarks  and  setting  the 
bounds,  the  dispute  was  settled  by  divine  inter- 
vention, for  the  whole  of  the  surface  of  the 
adjacent  country  was  covered  with  a  deep 
snow,  but  within  the  bounds  that  the  monks 
had  attached  to  the  church  of  St.  Bees  not 
the  vestige  of  a  single  flake  appeared. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate  the  gifts 
of  lands,  churches  and  rents  made  to  the 
monks  at  various  periods.  Numerous  deeds 
of  endowment  have  been  preserved  in  the  fine 
chartulary  of  the  priory.  Landowners,  great 
and  small,  distinguished  and  obscure,  had 
contributed  a  share  to  its  possessions.  But 
there  is  one  noticeable  feature  of  the  endow- 
ments worthy  of  special  mention.  It  is  very 
remarkable  how  the  traditions  of  a  family 
were  carried  on  in  connection  with  a  single 
religious  house.  It  is  not  only  true  that 
the  descendants  of  William  Meschin  in  the 
barony  of  Coupland  were  generous  to  his 
foundation,  but  the  descendants  of  Waldeve, 
Ketel,  Godard  and  Reiner,  who  were  associ- 
ated with  him  in  its  first  establishment,  were 
liberal  in  their  benefactions.  In  fact  it  might 
be  said  that  the  priory  owed  whatever  measure 
of  prosperity  it  possessed  to  the  munificence 
of  these  families,  the  Romillys,  Albemarles, 
Lucys,  Multons,  Curwens,  Milloms,  Hudle- 
stons,  Rotingtons  and  others. 

Though  most  of  the  property  of  the  priory 
was  confined  to  that  portion  of  the  county 
bordering  on  St.  Bees,  where  the  magnates  in 
question  lived,  the  monks  kept  up  a  frequent 
communication  with  the  Isle  of  Man,  where 
they  enjoyed  some  manors.  It  is  said  that  the 
prior  of  St.  Bees  had  a  seat  in  the  little  parlia- 
ment of  that  kingdom.  It  is  very  probable. 


Guthred,  King  of  the  Isles,  gave  the  priory  the 
land  called  'Eschedale'  and  '  Asmundertofts ' 
quit  of  all  service,  tarn  de  pecunia  quam  de  aco- 
neux,  in  exchange  for  the  church  of  St.  Olave 
and  the  little  vill  of  '  Evastad.'  King  Ragdnald 
bequeathed  the  land  of  Ormeshau '  which  lay 
towards  the  sea  at  the  port  of  '  Corna,'  while 
King  Olave  granted  licence  to  buy  and  sell  in 
the  island.  The  abbot  and  convent  of 
Rushen  were  consenting  parties  to  some  of 
these  charters.  In  later  years,  when  Thomas 
Ranulf,  earl  of  Moray,  and  Anthony  Bee, 
Bishop  of  Durham,  ruled  the  island,  the  grants 
of  the  former  kings  were  recognized  and  con- 
firmed. The  priory  also  owned  some  property 
in  the  south-west  of  Scotland,  chiefly  of  the 
gift  of  the  families  of  Curwen  and  Brus. 

In  comparison  with  the  other  monastic 
houses  in  the  county  St.  Bees  was  wealthy, 
ranking  in  the  matter  of  revenues  after  Holm- 
cultram  and  Carlisle.  In  1291  the  cell  was 
valued  at  £66  13$.  4^.,  and  in  1535  the  gross 
annual  income  was  assessed  for  taxation  at 
£149  19*.  6d.  or  £143  i6s.  2d.  after  the 
deduction  of  reprises.1  In  1545  a  sum  of 
£280  2J.  was  returned  to  the  Augmentation 
Office  as  the  total  issues  of  the  late  priory 
with  arrearages.2 

In  1178  the  church  of  Neddrum,  now 
called  Island  Magee  in  Strangford  Lough,  was 
remodelled  into  a  monastic  establishment  by 
Sir  John  de  Courcy,  the  conqueror  of  Ulster, 
and  affiliated  to  St.  Bees,  as  a  cell  of  St.  Mary 
of  York.  The  island  was  a  portion  of  the 
ancient  possessions  of  the  see  of  Down,  but 
as  Malachi,  the  bishop,  was  a  prisoner  in  the 
hands  of  Sir  John,  his  consent  to  the  alienation 
was  easily  obtained.  In  the  bishop's  confir- 
mation of  the  grant  it  is  stated  that,  when  he 
gave  and  confirmed  to  the  monks  of  St.  Bees 
the  church  and  two-thirds  of  all  the  lands  and 
benefices  belonging  to  it,  he  was  acting  of  his 
own  free  will  out  of  devotion  to  God,  and  not 
under  any  compulsion.  Courcy's  gift  was 
also  confirmed  by  Thomas  and  Eugene,  arch- 
bishops of  Armagh.  The  monks  of  St.  Bees 
do  not  seem  to  have  taken  kindly  to  their  Irish 
relation,  for  no  memorandum  of  the  transaction 
was  made  in  the  register  of  their  house.  The 
only  connection  that  we  have  noticed  between 
the  two  institutions  is  that  one  of  the  early 
priors  of  St.  Bees  was  transferred  to  the  priory  of 
Neddrum.  Its  conventual  existence  seems  to 
have  been  of  short  duration,  for  at  the  date  of 
the  taxation  of  Pope  Nicholas  it  is  mentioned 
simply  as  the  church  of  Neddrum,  and  was 

1  Pope   Nick.    Tax.  (Rec.    Com.),    308  ;  Valor 
Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  1 1 . 
3  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  580. 


180 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


valued  at  the  small  sum  of  seven  marks.1 
The  chief  relic  to  which  the  monks  of 
St.  Bees  paid  veneration  was  the  bracelet 
above  mentioned,  which  St.  Bega  left  behind 
her  on  her  flight  from  Cumberland.  In  the 
legendary  life  of  the  saint  several  stories  are 
told  of  the  power  of  this  talisman.  It  had 
been  the  means  of  convincing  Walter  Espec, 
the  great  Yorkshire  baron,  that  he  was  claim- 
ing wrongfully  some  possessions  of  the  abbey 
of  St.  Mary,  York  ;  and  it  brought  destruc- 
tion on  Adam,  son  of  Ailsi,  who  had  forsworn 
himself  in  favour  of  the  lord  of  Coupland  on 
the  subject  of  the  Noutgeld  to  the  detri- 
ment of  the  people  of  that  district.  On  one 
occasion,  when  the  holy  bracelet  was  exhi- 
bited in  public  on  account  of  its  great  sanc- 
tity, a  certain  perverse  creature  sacrilegiously 
stole  the  precious  cloth  in  which  it  had  been 
wrapped  and  hid  it  in  his  boot.  By  the  ven- 
geance of  St.  Bega  the  leg  of  the  thief  became 
paralysed,  and  thus  was  his  sin  discovered. 
Having  been  carried  to  the  priory  church,  he 
confessed  his  guilt,  and  his  leg  was  restored  to 
its  original  soundness  by  the  goodness  of  the 
most  merciful  Virgin,  who  is  wont  to  pity 
those  who  are  truly  penitent.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  the  bracelet  of  St.  Bega  was  a 
powerful  institution  in  Coupland.  The  monks 
used  it  to  give  special  sanction  to  their  agree- 
ments. Obligations  were  rendered  pre-emin- 
ently binding  and  sacred  when  they  were 
made  on  the  bracelet.  For  instance,  John 
de  Hale,  for  the  greater  security  of  faithfully 
observing  his  obligation,  bound  himself  and 
his  heirs  on  his  corporal  oath  by  touching  the 
holy  relics  et  super  armillam  sancte  Bege.  The 
touching  of  the  relics  was  the  usual  mode  of 
taking  an  oath,  but  in  matters  of  high  im- 
portance the  bargain  was  made  upon  the 
bracelet  as  the  means  of  giving  it  the  greatest 
sanction. 

The  priory  appears  to  have  had  little  deal- 
ings with  the  ecclesiastical  world  in  its  papal 
or  diocesan  aspect.  There  are  few  papal 
documents  in  the  register.  Far  removed 
from  the  centre  of  the  great  diocese  of  York, 
it  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  its  way  in  soli- 
tude. It  is  true  there  are  some  deeds  of  the 
mother  house  of  St.  Mary  and  some  com- 
missions from  the  archbishop  with  the  men- 
tion here  and  there  of  an  archdeacon  of  Rich- 
mond, but  they  are  comparatively  few  in 

1  Nine  deeds  connected  with  this  transaction 
have  been  printed  in  a  summary  by  Dugdale 
(Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  575-6)  from  the  Cotton  MS., 
but  they  have  been  given  more  at  length  by 
Reeves  (Eccl.  Antiq.  of  Down,  187-97).  The  Cotton 
Roll  is  much  mutilated,  but  Dr.  Reeves  has 
deciphered  the  material  parts  of  the  charters. 


number.  Unlike  the  religious  houses  or  the 
county  within  the  bounds  of  the  see  of 
Carlisle,  episcopal  authority  was  seldom  in- 
voked for  the  purpose  of  discipline  or  for  the 
confirmation  of  the  acts  of  the  convent.  At 
some  date  between  1154  and  1181  Arch- 
bishop Roger  of  Pont  1'Eveque  confirmed  to 
the  priory  all  their  churches,  chapels  and 
tithes  in  Coupland,  with  the  lands  belonging 
to  them,  viz.  the  churches  of  Workington, 
Gosforth,  Corney,  Bootle,  Whitbeck  and 
Whicham  ;  the  chapels  of  Harrington,  Clif- 
ton, Loweswater,  and  the  chapel  and  tithes 
of  Weddicar.  He  also  freed  the  church  of 
St.  Bees  for  ever  from  attendance  on  synods, 
and  from  all  aids  to  archbishop  or  archdeacon, 
at  the  same  time  granting  the  priory  dis- 
ciplinary powers  to  deal  with  the  clergy  of 
their  appropriate  churches.  Except  for  the 
short  period  during  the  reign  of  Stephen, 
when  David,  King  of  Scots,  exercised 
sovereignty  over  Cumberland  as  far  south  as 
the  river  Duddon,  the  kings  claimed  no  royal 
prerogative  in  confirming  the  charters  of  this 
house. 

The  priors  of  St.  Bees  did  not  take  a  pro- 
minent part  in  the  public  affairs  of  church  or 
state.  Some  of  them,  like  Alan  de  Nesse, 
Roger  Kirkeby  and  Edmund  Thornton,  rose 
to  high  dignity  on  becoming  abbots  of  York  ; 
but  few  of  the  others  were  known  outside 
their  immediate  surroundings.  In  1219  Pope 
Honorius  III.  appointed  the  priors  of  St.  Bees, 
Lancaster  and  Cartmel  to  determine  a  dis- 
pute between  the  abbot  of  Furness  and  the 
vicars  of  Dalton  and  Urswick  about  the  right 
of  burial  in  the  chapelry  of  Hawkshead  ;  they 
delivered  judgment  in  favour  of  the  monas- 
tery, and  ordered  the  chapel  yard  to  be  con- 
secrated for  sepulture.  At  a  later  date 
Gregory  IX.  delegated  plenary  authority  to 
the  priors  of  the  same  houses  as  a  sort  of 
ecclesiastical  syndicate  to  dissolve  sentences 
of  excommunication  and  interdict  against  the 
Cistercian  monasteries  of  the  province  of 
York.3  It  will  be  seen  from  the  list  of 
priors  that  we  have  been  able  to  collect  how 
few  of  them  had  attained  to  anything  like 
distinction  in  the  general  history  of  the 
county.  Perhaps  the  geographical  isolation 
of  the  district  had  a  depressing  effect  on  the 
chances  to  promotion  of  its  leading  eccle- 
siastical magnates. 

John  Matthew,  who  was  prior  while  the 
clouds  were  beginning  to  gather  around  the 
monastic  houses,  was  not  a  favourite  with 
his  superior,  William,  abbot  of  York.  In  a 
letter  ascribed  to  the  year  1533,  the  abbot 


181 


Beck,  Ann.  Furnes'unses,  43,  181,  185. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


told  Cromwell  that  '  this  man,  in  whos  favor 
ye  writ  to  me  of,  hayth  beyn  prior  at  Lincoln 
and  at  seynt  Martin's,  parcell  of  our  monas- 
terie,  who  alwey  hayth  beyn  of  such  ordre, 
condicions  and  liberalte  that  he  thereby 
brought  our  house  to  great  dettes  and  other 
cherges  and  vexacions.'  On  representations 
from  Cromwell,  Matthew  was  transferred  to 
the  priory  of  St.  Martin  near  Richmond. 
Sir  George  Lawson,  in  support  of  the  abbot's 
action,  told  the  secretary  that  the  prior  was 
'  a  verey  yll  husband  as  hath  bene  well 
proved  at  Lincoln,  Saynt  Martyn's  and  Seynt 
Bees  where  he  hathe  bene  prior.  And  now 
of  late  gret  complayntes  cumyng  of  extorcion 
and  other  gret  urgent  wronges  done  at  Saynt 
Bees  to  the  tenauntes  and  inhabitantes  ther. 
Wherapon  on  Saynt  Calixt  daye  last,  at  the 
generall  chapiter  yerely  holden  at  Saynt  Mary 
abbey,  as  the  usuall  custume  is,  when  all  the 
priors  of  the  celles  and  other  hede  officers  of 
the  said  Monasterie  dothe  assemble  to  see  and 
aview  the  state  and  accomptes  of  the  same, 
knowing  the  demeanor  and  yll  husbandrye 
of  the  said  Dan  John,  exchanged  and  re- 
voked hym  from  Saynt  Bees.  And  yete  when 
he  shuld  have  bene  a  conventuall,  for  your 
sake  and  favour  of  your  former  letter,  named 
hym  to  be  prior  of  Saynt  Martynes,  a  propir 
Celle  nye  unto  Richemond  and  a  reasonable 
good  liffing,  whiche  he  cold  never  obtayne 
but  in  your  favour.  And  now  it  is  reported 
unto  you  that  he  shuld  be  otherwise  entreated, 
whiche  of  a  suretie  is  not  so,  but  my  lord 
abbott  dothe  and  woll  do  at  your  complenta- 
cion  all  that  reasonably  is  to  be  done.  And 
yete  his  brethren  and  covent  is  sore  sett 
against  the  said  dan  John  Mathew  for  his 
mysdemeanour  many  wayes.'  Sir  George 
urged  Cromwell  '  to  give  no  credens  to  any 
person  that  shall  make  suite  or  labour  agaynst 
my  said  lord  abbott,  for  it  hath  not  bene  sene 
that  any  perpetuite  hath  bene  graunted  undir 
covent  scale  to  such  like  person '  as  '  Dan 
John  Mathew,  late  prior  of  Saynt  Bees,  with- 
out a  special  and  urgent  cause  and  a  man 
proved  of  good  demeanour  and  husbandrye 
for  the  well  of  his  house.'  Robert  Cokett, 
a  kinsman  of  the  deposed  prior,  denied  all  the 
charges  made  against  him,  and  appealed  '  to 
ye  gentyllmen  and  yomen  in  ye  cowntre  with 
all  ye  honest  men  yerin '  in  proof  of  John 
Matthew's  honesty  and  good  behaviour.1  At 


the  dissolution  of  the  religious  houses  John 
Matthew  was  a  cloister  monk  of  St.  Mary's, 
York,  and  received  a  pension  of  £6  13*.  $d.2 
It  is  evident  that  Prior  Matthew  was  per- 
manently deposed,  for  John  Poule  was  in- 
cumbent of  St.  Bees  in  1535  when  the 
ecclesiastical  survey  was  made.3 

The  clouds  had  burst  over  the  religious 
houses  and  the  end  was  drawing  near.  Priors 
were  made  or  unmade  as  it  suited  the  royal 
will.  The  last  prior  of  St.  Bees  was  Robert 
Paddy,  who  caused  a  memorandum  to  be 
entered  on  the  flyleaf  of  the  chartulary  of  his 
house  that  he  had  agreed  with  Christopher 
Lyster  for  all  manner  of  labour,  debts,  pay- 
ments, wages  and  covenants  from  the  begin- 
ning of  the  world  till  Michaelmas  Day  1538, 
and  that  the  said  Christopher  had  undertaken 
to  pay  at  the  following  Martinmas  his  yearly 
rent  with  all  fines  due  to  the  said  Prior 
Robert  from  his  entry  or  coming  to  the  priory. 
The  prior  of  St.  Bees  was  suspected  of  com- 
plicity with  the  '  Pilgrimage  of  Grace.'  Wil- 
liam, Abbot  of  York,  wrote  to  Cromwell  early 
in  1537  that  he  had  sent  Dan  Robert  Paddy 
'  to  his  room,'  but  was  afraid  of  what  might 
befall  him  on  the  journey.  'I  sent  him  thither,' 
he  said,  '  and  as  it  is  surmised  he  should  be 
lettyd  by  ye  commons  in  these  parts  in  his  rid- 
ing thither  un  knowledge  or  writing  of  me.'  * 

The  king's  agents  in  1536  were  unable  to 
find  cause  of  complaint  against  the  prior,  and 
though  efforts  were  made  to  connect  him  with 
the  northern  rebellion,  nothing  seems  to  have 
come  of  it.  The  only  evil  report  made  by 
the  commissioners  was  that  two  of  the  monks, 
John  Clyffton  and  John  Fullscroft,  were 
accused  of  personal  depravity.  When  the 
priory  was  surrendered  Robert  Paddy,  the 
last  prior,  received  an  annual  pension6  of 
£40,  the  warrant  being  dated  3  June,  1538. 
In  his  survey  of  the  monastery  at  the  time 
of  the  dissolution  James  Rokeby,  auditor  of 
the  Court  of  Augmentations,  thus  described  8 
the  priory  precincts  :  '  The  scite  of  the  late 
house,  with  a  towre  koveryd  w*  lead  called 
the  Yatehouse,  and  other  edificez  with  garth- 
ings  lienge  within  the  utter  walls,  contenyng 
one  acre  and  di.  (a  half)  and  is  worth  by  the 
yere  over  and  above  the  reparacons,  w'  one 
dufe  cote  w*in  the  same  scite,  v8.' 

On  21  November,  1541,  Thomas  Leighe 
was  granted  a  lease 7  for  twenty-one  years  of 


1  These  three  letters  from  the  L.  and  P.  Hen. 
Vlll.  vi.  746,  1359,  vii.  295,  have  been  printed 
as  an  appendix  to  a  lecture  given  by  the  writer 
before  the  Carlisle  Literary  and  Scientific  Society 
in  March,  1898,  and  will  be  found  in  the  Society's 
Transactions. 


182 


2  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  569. 

3  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  1 1. 

*  L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  xii.  (i.)  132,  133,  640. 
s  Ibid.  xiv.  (i.)  60 1. 
6  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  578-9. 
L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll.  xvi.  728. 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


'  St.  Bege  monastery,  with  the  rectory  of 
Kyrkeby  Beycoke  and  chapels  of  Lowse- 
water,  Ennerdale,  Eshedale  and  Wasedale.' 

PRIORS  OF  ST.  BEES 

Robert l 

Deodatus,2  late  twelfth  century 
Richard  3 

Waleran,4  circa  1197 
Robert,5  1202 
John,8  circa  1207 
Daniel,7  circa  1210 
Ralf,  circa  I22O 
Guy,8  circa  1235 
John  de  Lestingham,  circa  1254 
William  de  Rothewel,  circa  1256 
Nicholas  de  Langeton,9  circa  1258-82 
Benedict,  circa  1282—6 
Absalon,10  circa  1287 
William  de  Dereby,  circa  1288-94 
Hugh  de  Cumpton,  circa  1301 
Alan    de    Nesse,11    1313,    transferred    to 
St.  Mary's,  York 

1  Leland,  Collectanea,  i.  25. 

J  He  was  prior  when  Abbot  C[lement]  of  York 
conferred  the  chapel  of  Clifton  on  Waltheof  son 
of  Thomas,  clerk  of  Dene.  Among  his  co-wit- 
nesses was  William,  prior  of  Wetheral. 

3  He   was   the    first  witness    to    the    grant    of 
Beckermet  by  William  de  Esseby  and   Hectreda 
his  wife  to  the  abbey  of  Calder.     The  gift  was 
made  for  the  souls  of  William,  Earl  of  Albemarle, 
and  of  his  wife  Cecily  and  of  Ingelram,  the  earl's 
brother  (Arch.  JEllana  [old  ser.],  ii.  388). 

4  He   was   afterwards   prior    of    Neddrum   in 
Strangford  Lough,  an  affiliation  of  St.  Bees,  while 
Thomas  O'Conor  and  Eugene  MacGillivider  filled 
the  primacy  of  Ireland,  that  is,  for  the  latter  part 
of  the  period  between  1185   and  1216  (Dugdale, 
Man.  iii.  574  ;  Reeves,  Antiq.  of  Down,  192-3). 

5  He  was  prior  when  Richard  de  Lucy  founded 
the  borough  of  Egremont.     The  charter  has  been 
printed   in  facsimile  in  the  Cumb.    and    Westmld. 
Arch.  Sue.  Trans,  i.  281-5  (see  ante,  i.  329).     He 
was  also  engaged  in  a  plea  with   Richard,  son   of 
Peter,  in  1202,  about  land  in  Whitehaven  (Feet  of 
F.,Cumb.  1195-1214  [Rec.  Com.]  5).     His  name 
occurs  often  in  the  chartulary  about  this  date. 

6  Walter  of  Coventry  (Rolls  Ser.),  ii.  199,  with 
chartulary. 

7  Compare  Itin.  of  K.  John  (Rec.  Com.)  with 
chartulary. 

8  He  was  a  contemporary   with  Ralf,   prior    of 
Carlisle,  and  William  Rundel,  prior  of  Wetheral 
(Reg.  of  Wetheral  [Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.], 

345- 

8  Many  of  his  acts  have  been  registered  in  the 

chartulary  of  the  priory  at  various  dates  between 
1258  and  1282. 
10  Anct.  D.,  L.  282. 


William  de  Seynesbury,13  1360 

Thomas  de  Brignol,  circa  1370 

Thomas  de  Cotingham,13  circa  1379 

Nicholas  de  Warthill,  circa  1387 

Roger  Kirkeby,14  1434-6 

Dr.  Stanlaw,16  circa  1465 

John  Warde,  circa  1474 

Roger  Armyn,  circa  1485 

Edmund  Smyth  or  Thornton,18  circa  1496 

Edmund  (Whalley  ?),17  circa  1516 

Robert  Alanby,18  circa  1523 

John  Matthew,  1533 

John  Poule,  1535 

Robert  Paddy,  1536-8 

There  is  an  indistinct  cast  of  a  seal 19  at  the 
British  Museum,  showing  what  appears  to  be 
an  ornamented  cross,  the  legend  of  which  is 
defaced. 

An  impression  of  the  seal  of  Prior  Absalon, 
circa  1287,  exists.30  It  is  a  pointed  oval,  and 
shows  the  Lamb  of  God.  The  legend  is 
SIGILL'  KRIS'  ABSALON'  PRIORIS  DE  BIGEE. 

11  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  538  ;  Pat.  7  Edw.  II.  pt.  i, 
mm.  20,  15. 

11  Cal.  of  Papal  Petitions,  i.  315-6,  357-8. 

13  The  name  of  this  prior  is  found  often  in 
leases  of  that  date.     His  grave-cover    is    still    in 
existence,  though  in  a  sadly  mutilated  condition. 
It  is  a  fine  example  of  an  incised  stone  bearing  the 
figure  of  a  monk.     Around  the  edge  of  the   slab 
runs    the    legend  :    me   JACET    [BONE    MEMO]    RIE 

PRATER    THOMAS     DE    COTYNGHAM     QUONDAM      PRIOR 

HUJUS    ECCLESIE  QUI    OBIIT  ANNO    DNI    M°CCC 

CUJUS    A?E    PPl'    DE'. 

14  Jefferson,  Leath  Ward,  p.    495  ;    Dugdale, 
Man.  iii.  539. 

15  Hist.  MSS.  Com.   Rep.  x.  App.  pt.  iv.  227 
(Lord  Muncaster's  MSS.) 

18  In  1496  William  Senhouse,  Bishop  of  Carlisle, 
was  called  in  to  settle  a  dispute  between  the  prior 
of  the  cell  of  St.  Bees  and  Christopher  Sandes 
about  falcons  on  St.  Bees  Head  (fro  falconibus  in 
lez  berghe).  The  priory  was  vacant  or  the  prior 
was  absent  in  1498,  for  in  that  year  William  son 
of  Christopher  Sandes  entered  into  an  agreement 
with  Thomas  Barwyke,  custos  of  the  cell  of  St. 
Bees,  about  the  bounds  of  the  land  of  Rottington. 

17  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.   iv.   2216  ;  Dugdale, 
Man.  iii.    539.     As  Edmund  Whalley  succeeded 
Edmund  Thornton  as  abbot  of  St.  Mary's,York,in 
1521,  it  is  probable  that  both  of  them  had  been 
previously  priors  of  St.  Bees. 

18  He  was  late  prior  of  Wetheral  and  St.  Mary's, 
York.     During  his  priorate,  in  1523,  there  was  a 
threatened  invasion  by  the  Duke  of  Albany,  and 
there  are  interesting  letters  between  the  prior  and 
Lord  Dacre,  Warden  of  the  Marches,  in   Add. 
MS.  24,965,  ff.  96,  99. 

19  B.M.  Seals,  3953.        20  Anct.  D.,L.282. 


I83 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


6.    THE   PRIORY  OF   WETHERAL  » 
The  priory  of  Wetheral,  of  the  Benedic- 
tine order,  was  founded  in  the  beautiful  val- 
ley of  the  Eden  a  few  miles  above  Carlisle 
by  Ranulf  Meschin,    the  first  Norman    lord 
of    Cumberland,    at  a  date    not    later   than 
1 1 12  and  perhaps  in  1106.  Ranulf  conveyed 
the  manor  of  '  Wetherhala '  and  all  the  land 
belonging  thereto,  which   no  doubt  included 
the  churches  of  Wetheral  and  Warwick,  to 
Stephen,  abbot  of  St.  Mary's,  York,  in  per- 
petual alms,  and  when  the  priory  was  brought 
into  being  as   a  cell  of  that  great  Benedic- 
tine  house,  he  supplemented  his  former  gift 
by   the  concession    of  a  salmon   weir  and  a 
water  mill  in  the  Eden  close   to  the  site  of 
the  new  institution.     The  munificent  founder 
soon  afterwards  gave  to   the  priory  the   two 
churches  of  St.  Michael  and  St.  Lawrence  in 
his  castellum  or  fortified  town  of  Appleby,  and 
two  parts  of  the  tithe  of  his  domain  on   both 
sides  of  the  Eden,  and  two  parts  of  the  tithe 
of  Meaburn  and  Salkeld.    From  these  charters  * 
we   are    not   able  to  gather  the  size  of  the 
institution  Ranulf  founded,  but  we  afterwards 
learn  that   the   priory  was    constituted  with 
twelve   monks3    at  the    outset,  though    that 
number  was  not  maintained  at  a  subsequent 
date.    In  the  formalities  attending  the  founda- 
tion of  this  house  some  of  the  leading  men  of 
the  district  appear  for  the  first  time.     In  one 
or  other  of  the  four  charters  granted  by  the 
founder,  such  well-known  persons  as  Waldeve 
son  of  Earl  Gospatric,  Forn  son  of  Sigulf, 
Ketel    son    of  Eldred,   Odard,    Hildred   the 
knight,  Wescubrict,   and  Godard,  are  men- 
tioned at  this  early  period.     We  know  little 
of  other  local   magnates  associated  with  the 
scheme,  such   as  Richer,  sheriff  of  Carlisle,  to 
whom     Ranulf    addressed     the     foundation 
charter,  (unless  indeed  he   be  identified  with 

1  The  authority  for  the  statements  in  this  article 
will  be  found  in  the  Register  of  Wetberhal,  edited 
for  the  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.  by  J.  E. 
Prescott,  D.D.,  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle.  Reference 
has  been  made  to  the  deeds  and  charters  according 
to  their  numbers  in  the  printed  book,  and  also  to 
the  illustrative  documents  when  taken  from  original 
sources.  The  inferences  or  historical  conclusions, 
drawn  from  the  documents  in  notes  and  appendices, 
have  not  always  been  followed.  It  should  be 
mentioned  that  the  Repster  of  Wetberhal  has  been 
printed  from  late  seventeenth  century  copies  of  the 
original,  and  in  consequence  there  are  some  mani- 
fest corruptions  in  the  text  of  the  charters.  A 
more  authoritative  text,  ascribed  to  the  fourteenth 
century,  has  recently  been  recovered  and  lodged 
in  the  custody  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle. 

2  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  Nos.  1-4. 

3  Ibid.,  Illust.  Doc.  No.  Hi. 


Richard  the  knight  of  subsequent  fame,)  Her- 
vey  son  of  Morin  and  Eliphe  de  Penrith.  Of 
his  own  relations  William  Meschin  and 
Richard,  his  brothers,  as  well  as  his  wife  Lucy, 
took  part  in  the  foundation  as  witnesses  to  his 
charters.  The  priory  was  entitled  in  the 
name  of  St.  Constantine,  but  the  dedication 
was  afterwards  changed  to  the  Holy  Trinity 
and  St.  Constantine,  perhaps  an  amalgamation 
of  the  original  dedication  with  that  of  the 
parish  church  of  Wetheral. 

The  priory  had  many  influential  patrons, 
not  only  amongst  the  kings  but  among  the 
great  landowners  of  the  district.  Henry  I. 
was  of  course  the  first  royal  patron  4  who  con- 
firmed the  acts  of  his  subordinate  and  added 
to  his  foundation  grants  of  all  the  pasture 
between  the  Eden  and  the  highway  called 
the  '  Hee-strette '  running  parallel  to  the 
river  and  leading  from  Carlisle  to  Appleby, 
and  also  the  privilege  of  feeding  swine  in  the 
king's  forest,  free  of  pannage.  Other  privileges 
were  bestowed  by  succeeding  kings  with  the 
exception  of  Stephen,  who  had  yielded  up  the 
land  of  Carlisle  to  David,  King  of  Scots,  as  a 
preliminary  to  his  attainment  of  the  Crown. 
The  lords  of  Corby  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Eden  were  good  and  generous  neighbours  to 
the  monks,  though  at  times  the  fishing  rights 
in  the  river  were  the  occasion  of  disputes, 
but  to  the  credit  of  both  parties  be  it  said 
that  they  soon  made  up  their  differences  and 
settled  their  disputes.  Some  of  the  greatest 
families  of  the  district  as  well  as  some  of  the 
humblest  are  numbered  among  the  benefactors 
of  the  house. 

In  its  ecclesiastical  aspect  the  priory  of 
Wetheral  differed  very  widely  from  that  of  St. 
Bees,  though  both  were  cells  of  the  same 
abbey,  arising  no  doubt  from  their  geographical 
situation,  the  one  being  in  the  diocese  of  Car- 
lisle and  in  close  proximity  to  the  cathedral 
city,  and  the  other  being  in  the  vast  diocese 
of  York  far  removed  from  the  centre  of 
diocesan  life.  The  bishops  of  Carlisle  exer- 
cised an  immediate  supervision  over  the  affairs 
of  Wetheral,  but  no  evidence  has  been  traced 
whereby  it  may  be  assumed  that  a  similar 
oversight  was  extended  to  St.  Bees  either 
by  the  archbishops  of  York  or  by  the  arch- 

4  It  is  worthy  of  note  that  it  was  Henry  I.  and 
not  any  earlier  king  who  survived  in  tradition  as 
the  royal  associate  of  Ranulf  Meschin,  while  he 
held  Carlisle.  Pope  Lucius,  writing  in  1185  to 
Everard,  abbot  of  Holmcultram,  in  confirmation 
of  the  possessions  of  that  house,  spoke  of  the 
island  of  Holmcultram  '  Sicut  fuit  foresta  (sive 
forestata)  tempore  Henrici  Regis  senioris  et  Ra- 
dulphi  comitis  Cestrie '  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram, 
M.S.  fF.  1370-141^  Harl.  MS.  3911). 


184 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


deacons  of  Richmond.  At  one  time  the 
bishops  of  Carlisle  claimed  the  custody  of  the 
priory  of  Wetheral  during  a  vacancy,  as  well 
as  the  right  of  institution  and  deprivation  of 
the  priors.  These  episcopal  privileges  were 
contested  in  1256  while  Robert  de  Chause 
was  bishop  of  Carlisle.  The  dispute  was 
settled  in  a  manner  agreeable  to  the  litigants. 
The  bishop  consented  to  relinquish  his  right 
to  the  custody,  and  to  institute  the  nominee  of 
the  abbey  of  York  in  consideration  of  the  grant 
of  ai  marks  which  the  monks  were  accustomed 
to  receive  out  of  the  church  of  Nether  Denton 
since  the  episcopate  of  Bishop  Walter.1  The 
bishops  of  Carlisle  exercised  their  ordinary 
power  of  visitation  when  they  thought  fit,  and 
never  gave  up  the  right  of  benediction  and 
institution  of  the  priors  to  the  very  last. 

The  bishops  also  kept  a  firm  hand  on  the 
churches  and  spiritual  revenues  in  the  diocese 
which  belonged  to  the  priory.  Adelulf,  the 
first  bishop  of  the  see,  confirmed  to  the  monks 
of  St.  Mary's,  York,  the  churches  they  were 
known  to  possess  in  his  diocese,  viz.  the  cell 
of  Wetheral  with  the  parish  of  Warwick,  all 
the  tithes  of  Scotby,  the  churches  of  St. 
Michael  and  St.  Lawrence  in  Appleby,  the 
churches  of  Kirkby  Stephen,  Ormside,  Mor- 
land,  Clibburn,  Bromfield,  Croglin,  and  the 
hermitage  of  St.  Andrew  in  the  parish  of 
Kirkland,  with  the  only  condition  that  the 
monks  should  make  decent  provision  for  the 
maintenance  of  a  priest  in  each  of  these 
churches,  and  pay  their  episcopal  dues  which 
included  of  course  synodals  and  archidiaconals.* 
As  a  rule  the  monks  thought  it  desirable  to 
obtain  similar  confirmation  from  successive 
bishops,  thereby  differing  materially  from  the 
priory  of  St.  Bees,  in  whose  register  very  few 
of  these  confirmations  from  the  archbishops 
have  been  recorded.  It  must  not  be  assumed 
that  all  these  churches  continued  in  the 
patronage  of  the  priory.  As  all  the  religious 
houses  in  Cumberland  had  been  founded  and 
for  the  most  part  endowed  before  the  diocese 
of  Carlisle  enjoyed  a  regular  succession  of 
bishops,  many  of  the  churches  in  the  county 
were  in  some  way  connected  with  these  in- 
stitutions. In  after  years  the  bishops  were 
not  reluctant  to  obtain  possession  of  some  of 
these  churches  where  it  was  possible.  It  was 
ever  the  policy  of  the  see  to  gain  a  supremacy 
within  its  own  jurisdiction.  Nor  were  the 
heads  of  houses  loth  to  conciliate  the  bishops 


1  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  No.   34.     A  record  of  this 
convention  has  been  made  in  Bishop  Sterne's  Reg- 
ister (Carl.   Epis.   Reg.,  Sterne,  ff.  251-2),  'Ex 
Registro  Prioratus  de  Wederhal,  fF.  20,  21. 

2  Reg.  of  Wetberkal,  Nos.  15,  1 6. 


by  an  occasional  indulgence  of  this  kind,  for 
in  many  ways  the  good  offices  of  the  bishops 
of  Carlisle  were  of  the  greatest  moment  to 
the  monks. 

In  1248  Bishop  Silvester  obtained  from 
the  abbey  of  York  the  right  of  patronage  of 
the  churches  of  Ormside,  Musgrave  and  Clib- 
burn, and  also  of  the  churches  of  Burgh- 
under-Stanemore  and  St.  Michael  in  Appleby,3 
all  of  which  remain  to  the  present  day  in 
the  hand  of  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  except 
the  church  of  Clibburn,  which  passed  into 
lay  patronage  in  1874.*  The  laity  were  not 
backward  in  protecting  the  interest  of  parish- 
ioners in  case  the  appropriate  churches  of  the 
monks  were  insufficiently  served.  In  1366 
Sir  John  de  Warthewyk  complained  in  forcible 
terms  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  that  the 
priory  had  been  dealing  unjustly  with  the 
churches  of  Wetheral  and  Warwick  in  not 
supplying  proper  ministrations.5 

Papal  interference  with  the  affairs  of  this 
priory  was  not  always  successful.  In  1165, 
when  the  see  of  Carlisle  was  void.  Alexander 
III.  granted  an  indult  to  the  abbey  of  St. 
Mary,  York,  which  applied  to  Wetheral, 
permitting  chaplains  to  serve  in  the  churches 
where  there  were  no  vicars.6  Gregory  IX., 
relying  on  the  confirmation  of  previous 
bishops,  allowed  the  priory  to  enter  on  the 
appropriation  of  St.  Michael's,  Appleby,  not- 
withstanding the  opposition  of  Bishop  Walter.7 
But  the  papal  court  had  not  always  its  own 
way.  In  1309  Clement  V.  provided  a  prior 
for  the  house  in  the  person  of  Robert  de 
Gisburne,  though  the  convent  of  St.  Mary's, 
York,  the  lawful  patrons,  had  a  prior  of  its 
own  presentation  already  in  possession.  The 
Crown  intervened  and  prohibited  the  induc- 
tion of  the  papal  nominee  until  the  letters  of 
collation  were  examined  in  regard  to  any  en- 
croachment on  the  royal  prerogative.8  It  is 
known  that  at  this  time  Bishop  Halton  was  a 
prelate  of  pronounced  anti-papal  proclivities.9 
By  a  natural  process  the  controversy  with 
Bishop  Kirkby  in  1338  about  the  advowsons 
of  Wetheral  and  Warwick  was  referred  to 
Rome,  when  the  English  ecclesiastical  courts 

3  This  deed  was  extracted  in  1664  '  ex  Registro 
Prioratus  de  Wederhal,  fo.  21,'  and  put  on  record 
in    Bishop    Sterne's    Register    (Carl.    Epis.    Reg., 
Sterne,  f.  253.     See  also  ibid.  Halton,  f.  67). 

4  By  an  Order   in   Council  dated   20  October 
1874,   Bishop    Harvey    Goodwin    exchanged   the 
rectory  of  Clibburn  with  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale  for 
the  churches  of  Embleton  and  Lorton. 

6  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  148. 

6  Reg.  of  Wetherbal,  No.  33. 

7  Ibid.  No.  25. 

s  Pat.  3  Edw.  II.  m.  34. 

»  Rot.  Par/.  (Rec  Com.),  i.  178-9. 


II 


185 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


failed  to  grant  redress  to  one  or  other  of  the 
contending  parties. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  in  the 
history  of  Wetheral  is  the  right  of  sanctuary 
or  freedom  from  arrest  which  it  afforded  to 
criminals  for  offences  committed  outside  its 
bounds.  This  privilege  was  conferred  on  the 
priory  by  Henry  I.  when  he  endowed  it  with 
all  the  customs  and  liberties  enjoyed  by  the 
churches  of  St.  Peter  in  York  and  St.  John 
in  Beverley.1  It  was  also  confirmed  by  later 
kings.  The  bounds  of  the  sanctuary  were 
not  conterminous  with  those  of  the  manor, 
but  were  marked  by  six  crosses,  viz.  the  cross 
on  the  bank  of  the  Eden  opposite  Corby,  the 
cross  near  St.  Oswald's  chapel,  the  cross  by 
the  lodge  (juxta  le  loge)  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  the  cross  by  the  hedge  at  Warwick  on 
the  boundary  of  the  manor,  called  the 
Wetheral  'gryth  crosse,'  the  cross  between 
the  vill  of  Scotby  and  the  prior's  grange  there, 
and  the  cross  on  the  bank  of  the  burn  at 
Cumwhinton.2  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  no 
refuge  was  allowed  to  those  whose  offence 
was  committed  within  the  liberty.  When 
the  felon  reached  the  desired  asylum,  he  was 
obliged  to  toll  a  bell  in  the  church  and  swear 
before  the  bailiff  of  the  manor  that  he  would 
henceforth  behave  himself  as  a  law-abiding 
subject. 

The  right  of  sanctuary  was  a  conspicuous 
privilege  involving  such  far-reaching  conse- 
quences to  the  community  to  which  it  apper- 
tained, that  claims  to  the  exercise  of  this 
liberty  were  regarded  by  the  law  with  a 
jealous  eye.  It  may  be  taken,  we  suppose, 
that  the  church  which  enjoyed  this  privilege 
was  called  upon  at  some  time  or  another  to 
prove  its  title.  There  are  few  places  of  sanc- 
tuary that  have  not  figured  in  the  law  courts. 
The  sanctuary  of  Wetheral  was  not  singular 
in  this  respect.  Three  cases  of  considerable 
interest  came  before  the  justices  itinerant  at 
Alston  in  1292,  whereby  the  title  of  the 
priory  to  the  liberty  was  established.  Andrew, 
son  of  Thomas  of  Warwick,  having  slain  a 
man  by  a  blow  on  the  head  with  a  stick,  fled 
to  Wetheral  and  obtained  '  the  peace '  accord- 
ing to  ancient  custom.  As  it  was  not  known 
by  what  warrant  the  priory  exercised  such  a 
privilege,  the  abbot  of  St.  Mary's,  York,  was 
summoned  to  prove  the  title.  It  was  main- 
tained that  from  time  immemorial  the  liberty 
of  receiving  felons  within  its  jurisdiction 
(infra  banlucam)  was  possessed  by  the  priory 
of  Wetheral,  an  oath  having  been  first  taken 
by  such  felons  that  they  should  conduct  them- 


»  Reg.  of  Wetherbal,  No.  5. 
s  Ibid,  lllust.  Doc.  No.  xxx. 


selves  well  and  not  depart  beyond  the  bounds. 
The  verdict  of  the  jurors  was  given  in  fav- 
our of  the  right  of  sanctuary.  In  two  other 
cases  of  manslaughter  at  the  same  assize,  the 
felons  sought  refuge  at  Wetheral,  and  the 
jurors  found  to  the  same  effect.3  From  the 
fact  that  Edward  III.  offered  pardon  in  1342 
to  all  the  '  grithmen  '  or  criminals  who  had 
obtained  the  '  grith  '  or  peace  at  Wetheral, 
Beverley,  Ripon  and  Tynemouth,  on  the 
condition  that  they  should  go  out  and  fight 
in  Scotland,  it  may  be  inferred  that  the 
liberty  of  sanctuary  was  largely  used  in  the 
northern  counties  at  that  date.* 

During  the  wars  of  Scottish  independence 
the  resources  of  the  religious  houses6  on  the 
Border  were  put  to  a  severe  strain  by  the 
entertainment  of  royalties  and  magnates  on 
their  way  to  Scotland.  The  English  side  was 
of  course  the  basis  of  military  operations. 
The  depredations  of  the  Scots  or  the  expenses 
incurred  by  hospitality  were  the  principal 
excuses  alleged  for  the  appropriation  of 
churches  to  meet  the  increased  outlay. 
Edward  I.  had  stayed  at  the  priories  of  Car- 
lisle and  Lanercost  and  the  abbey  of  Holm- 
cultram,  as  well  as  with  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  at  Rose  Castle.  It  is  not  surprising 
therefore  that  the  Prince  of  Wales  should 
have  sojourned  at  Wetheral  about  the  same 
period.  He  was  there,  presumably,  as  the 
guest  of  the  monks,  on  20  October,  1301, 
and  again  early  in  the  year  1307,  a  few 
months  before  he  came  to  the  throne.  It 
was  on  the  latter  occasion  that  Dungall  Mac- 
dowill,  a  Galwegiari  captain,  brought  to  the 
prince's  court  at  Wetheral  Sir  Thomas  de 
Brus  and  Alexander  his  brother,  brothers  of 
Robert  de  Brus,  King  of  Scots,  and  Reynold 
de  Crauford,  whom  he  had  wounded  and 
taken  in  battle,  together  with  the  heads  of 
certain  Irish  and  Cantire  men  decapitated  by 
him  and  his  army  during  the  war.  The 
Chronicle  of  Lanercost  gives  a  grim  account 
of  the  subsequent  execution  of  the  prisoners  at 
Carlisle,  the  head  of  Thomas  de  Brus  having 
been  placed  on  the  keep  of  the  castle.8 

Several  of  the  priors  of  Wetheral  were 
advanced  to  the  distinction  of  being  abbots 
of  the  mother  church  of  St.  Mary,  York, 
and  one  of  them  was  appointed  to  the  great 

'  Reg.  of  WetherM,  lllust.  Doc.  No.  xxix. 

*  Ibid.  No.  xxviii. 

B  At  this  time  garrisons  were  sometimes  kept  in 
religious  houses  when  their  walls  were  strong 
enough  for  fortification.  In  1300  Edward  I. 
placed  garrisons  in  divers  abbeys  of  Scotland 
(Liber  S>uot.  Contrar.  Garderobtf,  180). 

6  Reg.  of  Wetberbal,  lllust.  Doc.  No.  viii. 


186 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


priory  of  Durham.  William  Rundel  rose  to 
be  abbot  of  York  in  1239,  John  de  Gilling 
in  1303,  William  de  Brudford  in  1382, 
Thomas  Pigott  in  1399,  Thomas  Bothe  in 
1464,  and  William  Thornton  in  1530,  the 
latter  being  the  last  abbot  of  St.  Mary's.1 
William  de  Tanfeld  was  '  provided '  to  the 
priory  of  Durham  by  Clement  V.  in  1308,  and 
the  monks  of  Wetheral  were  not  sorry  at  his 
promotion.  It  is  said  that  he  paid  for  the 
appointment  3,000  marks  to  the  pope  and 
1,000  marks  to  the  cardinals,  the  enormous 
sum  having  been  extorted  from  the  priory  of 
Wetheral  to  the  impoverishment  of  the 
house.  Robert  de  Graystanes,  an  official  of 
Durham  at  the  time  and  one  of  its  historians, 
described  the  new  prior  as  tall  in  stature, 
handsome  in  countenance,  pleasing  in  man- 
ners, and  liberal  in  spending  money,  but 
ignorant  of  the  way  to  get  it,  inasmuch  as 
he  increased  rather  than  diminished  the  debts 
of  the  house.2 

In  1536  the  royal  commissioners  made 
their  report  on  this  house,  when,  strange 
to  say,  they  had  only  an  accusation  of  personal 
depravity  to  make  against  two  of  the  monks, 
Nicolas  Barneston  and  Robert  Goodon.  At 
that  time  the  priory  was  reputed  to  have 
possessed  as  relics  a  portion  of  the  Holy  Cross 
and  some  of  the  Blessed  Virgin's  milk.3  It  is 
probable  that  Ralf  Hartley,  the  last  prior,  was 
put  in  by  Cromwell's  influence  for  the  pur- 
pose of  the  dissolution.  The  deed  of  sur- 
render was  executed  on  20  October  1538,  and 
authenticated,  not  with  the  official  seal  of  the 
house,  but  with  a  seal  bearing  the  prior's 
initials.  The  document  has  only  two  signa- 
tures :  '  per  me  Radulphum  Hartley  priorem 
Monasterij  sive  prioratus  de  Wederhall:  per  me 
Johannem  Clyfton  monachum  ibidem.'  *  The 
surrender  was  enrolled  on  28  January  following 
before  Thomas  Legh,  one  of  the  clerks  of  the 
Chancery.8  By  a  warrant  dated  20  Novem- 
ber 1539,  a  pension  of  ,£20  was  allotted  to 
the  late  prior,  and  smaller  sums  to  Thomas 
Hartley,  John  Wytfeld  alias  Batson,  John 
Clyfton,  and  John  Gale,  brethren  of  the 
house.  On  31  January  1539—40,  Ralf  Hart- 
ley's pension  was  revised  and  fixed  at  £12 
with  the  addition  of  his  interest  in  the  rectory 
of  Wetheral  and  Warwick  and  the  annexed 
chapels  of  St.  Anthony  and  St.  Severin.8  In 

1  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  538-9. 

2  Hist.  Dunelm.   Scriptures  Tres.   (Surtees   Soc.), 
85-9;  Anglla  Sacra,  i.  753. 

a  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  x.  364. 

*  Ibid.  xiii.  (ii.)  657  ;  Dep.  Keeper's  Rep.  viii. 
App.  ii.  48. 

*  Close,  30  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  ii.  m.  62. 

6  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  xiv.  (i.)  599,  602,  609. 


1 5  5  5  only  two  of  the  pensioners  of  Wetheral 
were  alive,  viz.  Ralf  Hartley,  who  was  still 
drawing  his  pension  of  £12,  and  one  Edward 
Walks  who  was  enjoying  his  annuity  of  4O*.7 

The  demesne  lands  and  churches  of  this 
house  were  granted  to  the  dean  and  chapter 
of  Carlisle  by  their  charter  of  endowment, 
with  the  exception  of  the  churches  of  Wetheral 
and  Warwick,  which  were  afterwards  be- 
stowed by  letters  patent,  dated  15  January 
1547,  on  the  petition  of  that  body.8 

The  work  of  dismantling  the  priory  was 
soon  commenced.  Account  was  rendered  by 
Sir  Thomas  Wharton  and  James  Rokebie,  the 
commissioners  of  surrender,  on  31  December 
1538,  of  the  sale  of  divers  church  utensils, 
tables  of  alabaster,  brass  candlesticks,  various 
wooden  images,  choir  stalls,  vestments,  censers, 
altar  linen,  and  a  lectern,  not  to  mention  the 
domestic  furniture  and  farming  stock,  imple- 
ments and  produce  belonging  to  the  monks, 
the  more  costly  articles  like  chalices,  vases  and 
jewels  having  been  delivered  to  William 
Grene,  the  king's  receiver.9  In  1555  Lance- 
lot Salkeld,  dean  of  Carlisle,  reported  'that 
one  bell  of  the  thre  bells  perteyning  to  the 
layte  sell  of  Wetherell  came  to  Carlysle, 
whiche  bell  was  hanged  uppon  the  walle  called 
Springall  Tower  in  Carlyle  to  call  the  work- 
men to  worke  at  the  making  of  the  new 
cytydall  in  Carlyle  and  mending  of  the  castell 
ther.'  The  other  two  bells,  he  said,  re- 
mained in  a  house  at  Wetheral  unbroken 
awaiting  removal.10  The  priory  buildings  soon 
went  to  decay  and  were  never  repaired. 
Thomas  Denton,  writing  in  1687,  stated  that 
only  the  gatehouse  remained  entire  and  in 
good  repair  in  his  time.  Its  survival  may 
probably  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
it  then  'served  the  minister  for  a  vicarage- 
house.'  n  As  for  the  dormitories  and  cloisters, 
tarn  seges  ubi  Troja  fuit. 

7  Trans.    Cumb.   and   WestmU.  Arch.    Sac.    xiii. 
382.     Edward  Walles  was  the  bailiff  of  Wetheral 
and  had  a  vested  interest  in  the  priory  (Valor  Eccl. 
[Rec.  Com.],  v.  10). 

8  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  Illust.  Doc.  xl.  xli. 
»  Ibid.  No.  xiii. 

10  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.  ix.  264. 

11  Peramb.  of  Cumb.  f.  96.     The  story  imposed 
upon  Hutchinson  (Hist,  of  Cumb.  i.  156)  that '  what 
was  left  of  this  edifice  by  the  zealots  of  Henry  VIII.'s 
days  was  demolished,  except  the  gateway  or  lodge, 
with  a  fine  elliptic  arch  (which  is  now  converted  into 
a  hayloft),  by  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle,  who 
built  a  prebendal  house,  etc.,  in  Carlisle  with  the 
materials '    is  evidently  a  fabrication.      It    is   also 
false  that  'when  this  was  in  agitation  Mr.  Howard, 
the  late    beautifier  of  Corby,   offered  a  sufficient 
compensation  if  they  would  suffer  the  building  to 
stand,  but  his  proposition  was  rejected.'  The  state- 


I87 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


PRIORS  OF  WETHERAL 

Richard  de  Reme,  early  twelfth  century1 

Ralf,  circa  1 130 

William,  late  twelfth  century2 

Thomas,  circa  1203-1 4  3 

Suffred,  circa  1218-23  4 

William  Rundel,  circa  1 225-39  5 

Thomas,  circa  1241 

Richard  de  Rouen,  circa  1251 

Henry  de  Tutbury  (Tutesbiri),  circa 
1257 

Thomas  de  Wymundham,  circa  1270-90 

William  de  Tanfield,  1292,"  prior  of 
Durham  in  1308 

John  de  Gilling,  resigned  on  becoming 
abbot  of  York  in  1303  ' 

John  de  Thorp,  appointed  on  16  Novem- 
ber, 1 303s 

Robert  de  Gisburn,  circa  1309, 'excom- 
municated in  I3J310 

Gilbert  de  Botill,  instituted  in  1313," 
prior  of  St.  Mary,  York,  in  1313-9 

ment  of  Thomas  Denton,  who  wrote  more  than  a 
century  before  Hutchinson,  is  conclusive.  The 
dean  and  chapter  made  an  effort  in  1703  'to 
build  a  good  house  for  our  curate  '  at  Wetheral, 
but  the  curate  at  that  time  had  other  ideas  (Carl. 
Epis.  Reg.,  Nicolson,  f.  56). 

1  Leland,   Collectanea,  i.   25.     Todd,  evidently 
copying  Leland,  added  that  Richard  presided  over 
the  priory  in  the   time  of  William    Rufus  (Notitia 
Eccl.  Cathed.  Carl.  34).     Both  statements  lack  con- 
firmation. 

2  William  was  prior  when  Clement  was  abbot  of 
York,  and  Deodatus  was  prior  of  St.  Bees  (Reg.  of 
St.  Bees,  MS.  ff.  54b,  55  ;  Harl.  MS.  434). 

3  He  was  a  contemporary  of  Bernard,  Bishop  of 
Carlisle  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  f.  14). 

4  Contemporary  with  Bishop  Hugh  of  Carlisle 
(Reg.  of  Lanercost,  MS.  viii.  7,  8  ;   Whltby  Chart. 
[Surtees  Soc.],  i.  45). 

6  It    must  have   been   this  prior  who  received 
twenty-four  oaks  in  the  forest  of  Carlisle  ad  fabric  am 
ecclesie  sue  de  Wetherhal  of  the  gift  of  Henry  III. 
in  1229  (Close,  14  Hen.  III.  m.  19). 

8  The  sequence  of  priors  about  this  date  is  very 
confused  owing  to  papal  interference  and  conflicting 
evidence.  Compare  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters  (Rolls 
Ser.),  ii.  40,  Palgrave,  Parl.  Writs,  i.  1 86,  and  Rot. 
Parl.  i.  191  with  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  76. 

7  Pat.  31  Edw.  I.  m.  17. 

8  Vacancy  caused  by  his  predecessor's  election  to 
York — '  per  creationem  nostram  in  abbatem  dicti 
monasterii '    (Carl.   Epis.    Reg.,    Halton,    f.    73). 
Papal  attempt  to  supersede  him   in   1 309,  but  re- 
sisted by  the  Crown   (Pat.    2   Edw.    II.  pt.    i.  m. 
8,  and    3    Edw.   II.    m.  34  ;    Carl.    Epis.    Reg., 
Halton,  ff.  125,  131). 

9  Called  prior   in  a  papal  licence  of  that  year 
(Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  ii.  53,  94). 

10  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  ff.  168,  214. 
»  Ibid. 


Adam  de  Dalton,  I3I9,12  1330,"  1341  14 
William  de  Tanfield,  1341,"  1366  16 
William  de  Brudford, admitted  in  1373," 

abbot  of  York  in  1382  18 
Robert  Grace,  circa  1379  19 
Richard  de  Appilton,  circa  I38220 
Thomas    Pigott,    admitted    in     I386,21 

abbot  of  York  in  1399 
John  de  Stutton,  1399  22 
Thomas  Stanley,  1434  23 
Robert  Hertford,  1444,  1446" 
Thomas  Bothe,  1456,  abbot  of  York  in 

i46425 
Robert  Esyngwalde,  1490 

12  Ibid.  f.  214. 

13  Reg.  of   St.  Bees,   MS.   ff.  96,  96b.     Two 
deeds  of  this  date  were  given  '  apud  Wedirhale  in 
presencia  fratris  Ad.  de  Dalton  tune  prioris  eiusdem 
loci.' 

14  In    this   year    he    was    in  trouble    with   the 
chapter  of  York  for  which  he  was  probably  obliged 
to  retire.    The  record  of  the  dispute  occupies  three 
folio  pages  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  ff.  420—2). 

16  Ibid.  f.  428,  but  see  ibid.  Welton,  f.  6. 

16  Archbishop  Thoresby  described  him  in  1366 
as   modernus  prior,  and   Sir   John   Warwick    had 
already  spoken  of  him  to  the  archbishop  as  a  busy- 
body (satageus)  in  local  matters  (Carl.  Epis.    Reg., 
Appleby,  f.  148). 

17  Ibid.  f.  258. 

18  Pat.  6  Ric.  II.   pt.  i.  m.  27.       In   the  royal 
assent  to  his  election,  he  is  described  as  a  monk  of 
St.  Mary's  and  a  doctor  of  theology. 

i»  Exch.  Cler.  Subs.  dioc.  of  Carl.  bdle.  60, 
No.  I .  Contributed  to  the  malum  subsldlum  granted 
to  Richard  II.  by  the  Parliament  of  his  second 
year.  The  writ  to  Bishop  Appleby,  ordering 
the  collection,  is  dated  8  July  1379  (Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  314).  Three  monks  of  the 
house,  Simon  West,  William  Faxton  and  John 
Estone,  also  contributed. 

20  Carl.   Epis.    Reg.,  Appleby,  f.    342.      The 
record   of  admission  is    undated,    but   it    appears 
among  entries  of  that  year. 

21  Engaged  at  York  in   1392  as  proctor  of  the 
abbey  of  St.  Mary  in  a  great  dispute  about  liability 
to  repair  the  chancel  of  Bromfield  church  (ibid.  ff. 

362,  365-7)- 

22  One  of  the  collectors  of  a  tenth  granted  on 
1 2  May  1 399  to  the  king  by  the  clergy  of  Carlisle, 
deputed  for  that  purpose  by  letters  patent  of  W., 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  as  appears  by  a  memorandum 
of  4  Henry  IV.  inter  Recorda  in  the  Michaelmas 
term.    By  a  similar  memorandum  of  the  sixth  year, 
we  learn  that  John  Soureby  acted  as  proctor  for  the 
collectors  (Exch.  Cler.  Subs.  dioc.  of  Carl.  bdle.  60, 
No.  2b). 

23  Fuller,  Worthies  of  England,  ed.  J.  Nichols,  i. 
240-1. 

24  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.  viii.  424. 

25  In  the  royal  assent  to  his  election,  he  is  de- 
scribed as  a  monk  of  St.  Mary's,    York    (Pat.    4 
Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  ii).     He  resigned  the  abbey 
in  1485  (ibid.  2  Ric.  III.  pt.  iii.  m.  2). 


188 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


Robert  Alanby,  1497,  afterwards  prior 
of  St.  Mary's,  York,1  and  St.  Bees 

William  Thornton,  made  abbot  of  York 
in  1530" 

Richard  Wederhall,  1535* 

Ralf  Hartley,  last  prior,  1539 


The  only  known  seal  referring  to  this 
monastery  is  that  attached  to  the  deed  of 
surrender,8  which  is  Prior  Ralf  Hartley's  sig- 
net. It  is  shield-shaped  and  bears  his  initials 
united  by  a  knot  looped  and  tasselled. 


HOUSES    OF    BENEDICTINE    NUNS 


7.     THE  NUNNERY  OF  ARMA- 
THWAITE 

The  nunnery  of  Armathwaite  was  situated 
in  a  lovely  glen  near  the  junction  of  the  river 
Croglin  with  the  Eden  in  the  southern  angle 
of  the  parish  of  Ainstable,  a  few  miles  from 
the  vill  of  Armathwaite  on  the  other  side  of 
the  river  Eden  in  the  forest  of  Inglewood. 
At  an  early  period  it  was  known  as  the  nun- 
nery of  Ainstable  from  the  name  of  the  parish. 
It  was  said  to  have  been  founded  by  William 
Rufus  on  6  January  1089  for  black  nuns  of 
the  Order  of  St.  Benedict  in  the  honour  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
but  no  one  at  the  present  time  credits  the  ex- 
traordinary charter  upon  which  the  allegation 
was  made.  Freeman  stated  that  the  charter 
was  '  spurious  on  the  face  of  it,' 4  and  the 
editors  of  the  Calendars  of  Patent  Rolls  have 
pronounced  it  '  a  forgery.' 6  The  genuine- 
ness of  the  document  was  accepted  without 
question  by  the  older  writers,  no  doubt  for 
the  reason  that  it  was  confirmed  in  1480 
by  Letters  Patent  of  Edward  IV.  It  is 
very  difficult  to  conceive  how  a  document 
so  full  of  anachronisms  could  have  imposed 
on  anybody.  By  this  so-called  charter 
William  Rufus,  King  of  the  English  and 
Duke  of  the  Normans,  was  supposed  to  give 
the  nuns  the  2  acres  of  land  upon  which 
the  house  was  built,  and  in  addition  the  3 
carucates  of  land  and  10  acres  of  meadow 
lying  next  the  nunnery,  216  acres  in  the 
forest  of  Inglewood  on  the  north  of  a  certain 
water  called  Tarnwadelyn,  common  of  pas- 
ture throughout  the  same  forest  for  themselves 
and  their  tenants,  sufficient  wood  for  their 

»  B.M.  Add.  MS.  24,965,  f.  99. 

3  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  539.  Over  the  south  chancel 
window  of  Wetheral  church  is  the  inscription  : 
'  Orate  pro  anima  Willelmi  Thornton  abbatis.' 

3  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  10.  Over  the 
chancel  door  of  Wetheral  church  is  the  inscription  : 
'  Orate  pro  anima  Richardi  Wedderhall.'  From 
these  inscriptions  it  would  appear  that  the  chancel 
was  rebuilt  about  the  time  of  the  surrender  of  the 
priory. 

«  William  Rufus,  ii.  506. 

5  Cal.  of  Pat.  1476-85,  p.  208. 


buildings  by  delivery  of  his  foresters,  an  an- 
nual rent  of  401.  from  the  king's  tenements 
in  Carlisle  to  be  paid  by  the  keeper  of  the 
city  at  the  feasts  of  Pentecost  and  St.  Martin, 
and  freedom  from  toll  throughout  the  whole 
of  England.  Besides  it  was  claimed  in  this 
charter  that  Rufus  had  granted  to  the  nuns, 
within  their  house  and  their  lands  adjoining, 
all  the  liberties  which  he  had  conceded  to  the 
monastery  of  Westminster  without  molesta- 
tion of  any  of  the  king's  sheriffs,  escheators, 
bailiffs  or  lieges.  All  these  privileges  were  to 
be  had  and  enjoyed  from  the  king  and  his 
heirs  in  pure  alms  of  his  free  will  and  con- 
cession 'as  hert  may  it  thynk  or  ygh  may  it 
se.' 7  It  cannot  be  said  that  the  nuns  were  too 
modest  in  their  desire  for  special  privileges. 

«  Aug.  Off.  Deeds  of  Surrender  and  B.M.  Seals 
4325.  Hutchinson  has  given  an  illustration  of 
Prior  William  de  Tanfield's  seal  (Hut.  of  Cumb.  i. 

348)- 

7  The  charter  has  been  printed  in  full  by  Dug- 
dale  (Man.  iii.  271)  from  the  Inspeximus  in  Pat.  20 
Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  4.  The  confirmation  is  dated 
at  Westminster,  20  June,  1480,  when  the  nuns 
paid  half  a  mark  in  the  hanaper.  The  adroit  allu- 
sion by  the  nuns  to  the  alleged  charters  of  King 
Athelstan  to  St.  John  of  Beverley — '  Swa  mikel 
fredom  give  I  ye,  Swa  hert  may  think  or  eghe  see ' 
(Man.  ii.  129-30) — and  to  St.  Wilfrid  of  Ripon— 
'  I  will  at  thai  alkyn  freedom  have  :  and  in  al 
thinges  be  als  free  as  hert  may  thynke  or  eygh  may 
se'  (Thorpe,  Diflom.  Angl.  182) — need  not  be 
pointed  out.  The  phrase  in  the  Armathwaite 
charter  must  have  been  considered  of  great  con- 
sequence at  this  period,  for  it  is  quoted  in  Letters 
Patent  of  Henry  V.  as  the  conspicuous  privilege  of 
Beverley  and  Ripon  (Man.  vi.  131 2).  This  allusion 
alone  is  enough  to  condemn  the  document  as  a 
forgery  without  the  more  visible  evidence  that 
Cumberland  did  not  belong  to  the  King  of  England 
in  1089,  and  that  Rufus  never  used  the  title  of 
'  Duke  of  the  Normans.'  In  the  paper  survey  of 
the  nunnery  at  the  time  of  the  dissolution  it  is 
stated  that  the  '  yerely  rent  going  out  of  the  lands 
of  o'  Sov'ane  lord  the  king  in  Karlell,  to  be  paid 
by  the  hands  of  the  keeper  of  the  towne  of  Karl- 
isle,  by  the  yere  xlV  was  '  ex  concessione  Willelmi 
Regis  Conquestoris '  (Man.  iii.  273),  a  blunder 
worthy  of  comparison  with  the  statements  of  the 
Rufus  charter. 


189 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


On  the  strength  of  the  forged  charter  a 
claim  to  the  liberty  of  sanctuary  was  put  for- 
ward, for  we  are  probably  justified  in  ascrib- 
ing to  this  date  the  erection  of  the  square 
pillar  about  3  yards  high,  inscribed  with  a 
cross  and  the  words  '  Sanctuarium  1088,' 
which  was  placed  on  rising  ground  above  the 
nunnery,  and  by  which  the  nuns  bolstered  up 
their  claim  to  exercise  the  rights  in  this  re- 
spect enjoyed  by  the  abbey  of  Westminster. 
This  sanctuary  stone 1  has  been  the  delight 
and  puzzle  of  antiquaries  for  many  genera- 
tions. 

Very  few  authentic  references  to  this  house 
which  may  be  said  to  possess  the  element  of 
interest  have  been  found.2  The  earliest  no- 
tice of  its  existence  that  has  been  met  with 
may  be  dated  about  1200.  It  occurs  in  a 
charter  of  Roger  de  Beauchamp  to  the  priory 
of  St.  Bees,  wherein  it  is  stated  that  the  land 
he  gave  to  that  monastery  was  near  the  land 
of  the  nuns  of  '  Ainstapillith  '  in  '  Leseschalis' 
or  Seascale  on  the  western  coast.3  Like  the 
rest  of  the  religious  houses  the  nuns  of 
'  Ermithwait '  suffered  heavy  losses  during 
the  Scottish  wars.  Edward  II.  compassion- 
ating the  state  of  the  poor  nuns  of  '  Ermyn- 
thwait '  who  had  been  totally  ruined  by  the 
Scots,  granted  them  pasture  for  their  cattle  in 

1  A  drawing  of  the  '  sanctuary  stone  or  pillar  at 
Nunnery,'  as  the  place  is  now  called,  will  be  found 
in  B.M.  Add.  MS.  9642,  ff.  91, 170.  A  disserta- 
tion with  a  picture  of  the  stone  was  written  by 
Mr.  S.  Pegge  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  of  1755, 
pp.  440,  451.  The  same  author  writing  in  1785 
on  the  '  History  of  the  Asylum  or  Sanctuary  ' 
stated  that  the  sanctuary  stone  built  into  the  pillar 
must  have  been  the  Jridstoll.  This  however  was 
very  wonderful,  as  the  stone,  if  it  were  ihefridito//, 
ought  in  all  reason  to  have  been  within  the  nun- 
nery. It  could  not  well  be  taken  thence  and  in- 
cluded within  the  pillar  since  the  Reformation, 
because,  to  judge  from  the  form  of  the  letters  in 
the  inscription,  the  pillar  appeared  to  be  as  old  as 
the  foundation  of  the  nunnery.  The  matter  de- 
served to  be  further  inquired  into  ;  this  however 
might  be  determined  in  the  meantime  that  the 
privilege  of  sanctuary  at  this  place  extended  to 
that  pillar  (Arch.  viii.  28).  The  nuns  made 
it  clear  in  their  charter  that  they  wanted  the 
liberty  to  extend  to  the  lands  adjacent  to  the 
house  and  not  to  the  house  alone.  For  this  reason 
they  were  consistent  in  placing  the  'sanctuary 
stone '  on  the  boundary. 

1  Fordun  mentions  as  a  report  current  in  his 
time  that  David  I.  founded  a  monastery  of  nuns 
of  St.  Bartholomew  near  Carlisle,  but  no  institu- 
tion of  this  name  has  been  found  (Scoticbronicon 
[ed.  Goodall],  i.  301). 

3  Similar  references,  though  of  somewhat  later 
date,  will  be  found  in  the  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  267, 
269,  272,  276. 


Inglewood  Forest  during  pleasure.4  In  1331 
they  were  excused  the  payment  of  jf  10  due 
to  the  Crown  for  victuals  bought  by  them  in 
the  previous  reign,  for  the  reason  that  their 
lands  and  rents  were  greatly  destroyed  by  the 
wars  with  Scotland.6 

It  is  fortunate  that  we  have  at  least  one 
undoubted  record  which  throws  a  good  light 
on  the  internal  constitution  of  the  nunnery 
and  its  relation  to  the  diocese  of  Carlisle. 
From  this  we  learn  that  the  nuns  had  the 
liberty  of  free  election  of  a  prioress,  and  that 
with  the  bishop,  to  whom  she  made  obedience, 
rested  the  confirmation  and  institution  of  the 
person  elected.  There  is  little  doubt  that  the 
bishop  exercised  a  jurisdiction  in  the  visitation 
of  the  house.6  In  their  petition  to  Bishop 
Wei  ton  in  1362  the  nuns  stated,  through 
Cecily  Dryng  the  sub-prioress,  that  the  con- 
vent, wishing  to  provide  a  prioress  in  the 
room  of  Dame  Isabel  deceased,  assembled  in 
the  chapter  house  on  the  Thursday  next  after 
the  Feast  of  St.  Bartholomew  for  the  purpose 
of  consultation,  and  unanimously  elected 
Dame  Katherine  de  Lancaster,  their  fellow- 
nun,  to  the  vacant  post.  A  record  of  the 
election  was  sent  to  the  bishop  under  the 
seal  of  the  house,  whereupon  he  confirmed 
it  and  committed  to  Dame  Katherine  the  cure 
and  administration  in  spiritualities  and  tem- 
poralities of  the  said  priory,  due  profession  of 
obedience  having  been  first  made.  On  2 
September  the  bishop  issued  his  mandate  to 

4  Pat.  ii  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  25. 

5  Pat.  5  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  5  ;  Dugdale,  Man. 
iii.  271.     The  petition  of  the  '  poures  Nonaynes, 
la  Prioresse  et  le  Covent  de  Ermythwait  en  Com- 
berland,    que    sount    si    nettement    destruitz    par 
les   enemys   descoce    qeles    nount    unquore  dount 
viure '  is  still  on  record.     The  victuals  had   been 
purchased  from  Sir  John  Lowther   and  his  com- 
panions in  the  late  reign.     They  prayed  the  king 
for  the  soul  of  his  father  and  of  his  ancestors,  and 
in    the  name  of  charity  to   pardon  the  debt    'a. 
les  dites    dames'     (Anc.     Petitions,    No.    2230). 
Bishop  Nicolson  refers  to  '  Ermithwaite '  as  the 
ancient  spelling  of  Armathwaite  in  his  etymology 
of  the  place-name  :  '  In  this  neighbourhood  there 
is  also  the  site    of  a    nunnery   founded    (or    re- 
established) by  William  Rufus  :  one  of  the  terri- 
tories whereof  is  still  called  Armethwait  (antiently 
Ermit-thwait)   and    another   Nunclose,'   thus   de- 
riving it  from  '  Eremit '  or  '  hermitage,'  the  place 
of   a    recluse,    a    solitary  recess    (Letters    [ed.    J. 
Nichols],  404-6). 

6  The  bishop's  right  of  visitation  is  clear  from 
the  fact  that  the  nunnery  paid   -js.  6d.  triennially 
in  lieu  of  procurations  at  his  visitation  (Vahr  Eccl. 
[Rec.  Com.],  v.    292).       In  a  later  survey  it  is 
stated  that  a  yearly  pension  of  zs.  6d.  was  due  to 
the   bishop  out  of   the  church    of  '  Aneslaplith ' 
(Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  273). 


190 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


the  Archdeacon  of  Carlisle  to  assign  to  the 
said  prioress  her  stall  in  the  choir  and  place 
in  the  chapter.1 

When  we  come  to  the  period  when  the 
foundation  charter  was  forged  we  get  some 
hint  to  account  for  its  fabrication,  and  to  ex- 
plain why  it  was  that  the  nuns  were  able  to 
impose  on  the  authorities.  From  letters 
patent  of  Edward  IV.,  dated  9  April  1473, 
we  learn  that  it  was  represented  to  the  king 
by  the  prioress  and  convent  of  the  house 
or  priory  of  '  Armythwayte,'  situated  near 
the  marches  of  Scotland,  which  was  of  the 
foundation  of  his  progenitors  and  of  his 
patronage,  that  the  houses,  enclosures  and 
other  buildings  of  the  said  priory  had  been 
destroyed  by  the  Scots,  and  that  the  house 
had  been  despoiled  of  its  goods,  relics,  orna- 
ments, books  and  jewels,  and  the  charters 
and  other  muniments  burnt  or  carried  off, 
and  in  these  circumstances  the  king  confirmed 
the  nuns'  estate  in  the  priory  and  all  its  pos- 
sessions, and  especially  in  an  ancient  close 
called  'the  Noune  close,'2  that  they  might 
pray  for  his  good  estate  and  the  good  estate 
of  Elizabeth  his  consort  and  of  Edward  his 
son,  and  for  their  souls  after  death.3  Seven 
years  after  this  date,  that  is  on  20  June  1480, 
Isabel  the  prioress  and  nuns,  bereft  of  char- 
ters and  title-deeds,  presented  their  compila- 
tion, which  they  ascribed  to  William  Rufus, 
and  had  it  inspected  and  confirmed  as  already 
mentioned. 

From  the  fourteenth  century  wills  on  re- 
cord in  the  diocesan  registers,  we  learn  that 
this  nunnery  had  some  friends  and  received 
bequests  as  well  as  the  other  religious  institu- 
tions in  the  county.  In  1356  Dame  Agnes, 
the  consort  of  Sir  Richard  de  Denton,  be- 
queathed 10s.  and  in  1358  John  de  Salkeld 
40*.  to  the  prioress  and  her  sisters  of 
'  Hermythwayt.'  Richard  de  Ulnesby,  rec- 
tor of  Ousby  or  Ulnesby,  was  good  enough 
in  1362  to  bequeath  them  a  cow  which  he 
had  in  that  parish,  while  a  citizen  of  Carlisle, 
William  de  London,  in  1376,  and  a  country 
gentleman,  Roger  de  Salkeld,  in  1379,  made 
them  bequests  of  money.* 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  ff.  98-9. 

1  It  is  very  odd  that  in  1348  Edward  III. 
should  have  granted  to  Thomas  le  Eawer  and 
Robert  de  Meurose  for  their  good  service  a  certain 
close  near  Ternwatheland  called  '  la  Nouneclose ' 
within  the  king's  forest  of  Inglewode  (Rot.  Orig. 
[Rec.  Com.],  ii.  193).  From  the  name  of  the 
place  it  must  have  had  some  previous  connection 
with  the  nunnery. 

3  Pat.  13  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  13  ;  Dugdale, 
Mm.  iii.  271—2. 

«  Dioc.  Reg.  of  Carl.  MS.  ii.  ff.  29,  49,  86,  292, 
304. 


In  the  valuation  of  1291  the  temporalities 
of  the  prioress  of  '  Ermithwayt '  were  assessed 
at  £10,  but  in  1318  they  were  not  taxed  as 
they  were  totally  destroyed  5  by  the  Scots. 
The  value  of  the  priory  in  1535*  amounted 
to  the  sum  of  £19  2s.  id.,  which  included 
£6  from  the  rectory  of  the  church  of  '  Ayn- 
stablie,'  of  which  the  prioress  was  patron. 
The  annual  outgoings,  amounting  to  I IOJ.  2d.y 
were  composed  of  a  pension  of  I2d.  to  the 
priory  of  Wetheral,  2s.  6d.  for  procurations 
to  the  bishop,  and  io6s.  8d.  for  the  stipend 
of  the  chaplain  of  the  nunnery.  There  is  no 
evidence  to  show  by  whom  or  at  what  date 
the  rectory  of  Ainstable  was  appropriated  to 
the  nunnery,  and,  strange  to  say,  there  is  no 
record  of  any  institution  to  the  benefice  in 
the  medizval  registers  of  the  see  of  Carlisle. 
The  real  property  of  the  house  at  the  time  of 
the  dissolution  was  scattered  in  small  parcels 
so  far  apart  as  Ainstable,  Kirkoswald,  Cum- 
whitton,  Blencarn,  Kirkland,  Glassonby, 
Crofton  and  Carlisle.  The  most  extensive 
estate  they  possessed  in  one  place  was  '  the 
Nouneclose,'  consisting  of  216  acres,  and 
split  up  into  several  tenements.  The  40;. 
rent  in  Carlisle  said  to  have  been  '  given 
by  William  the  Conqueror'  was  worth 
nothing.7 

The  house  seems  to  have  been  dis- 
solved soon  after  31  July  1537,  when  the  in- 
ventory of  its  possessions  was  made.  It 
consisted  of  a  prioress  and  three  nuns,  against 
none  of  whom  did  the  commissioners  bring  an 
accusation  in  their  notorious  Black  Book. 
Anne  Derwentwater  received  a  pension  of 
53*.  ifd.  a.  year,  and  was  still  in  receipt 
thereof  in  1555. 8  The  priory  and  rec- 
tory of  Ainstable  were  leased  to  Leonard 
Barowe  of  Armathwaite  on  2O  July  1538," 
but  the  manor  was  afterwards  sold  by 
Edward  VI. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  this  house  many  re- 
miniscences of  the  nuns  still  survive  to  tell  of 
their  former  occupation.  The  site  of  the  priory 
has  been  called  Nunnery  from  the  dissolution 
to  the  present  time,  and  the  name  of  Nunclose 
in  the  forest  of  Inglewood  near  Armathwaite 
has  not  changed.  When  Mr.  Samuel  Jeffer- 
son wrote  in  1840,  part  of  the  wall  of  the 

0  Pope  Nich.  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  32ob,  333b. 
<>  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  291-2. 

1  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  272—4. 

8  Q.  R.  Misc.  Bks.  xxxii.  £71.  The  list  of  the 
pensioners  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  with 
the  amount  of  their  pensions,  has  been  extracted 
by  the  present  writer  from  this  record  and  printed 
in  the  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Sac.  xiii. 

375-83- 

»  L.  and  P.  Hen.  7111.  xiv.  (i.)  606. 


191 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


monastic  buildings  was  standing  on  the  west 
side  of  the  dwelling  house.1  The  field  in 
which  the  sanctuary  pillar  was  erected  is  still 
called  '  Cross  Close  '  to  the  north-east  of  the 
site.  At  a  short  distance  was  the  burial 
ground,  a  small  square  of  land  surrounded  by 
lofty  trees.  At  this  place  was  found  a  monk's 
head  with  a  cowl  very  rudely  cut  in  stone. 
When  the  old  nunnery  was  taken  down,  as  it 
is  said,  in  1715,  a  small  painting  on  copper 
of  a  Benedictine  nun,  with  a  rosary,  cross,  a 
book  in  her  hand  and  a  veil  on  her  head,  was 
found  in  a  niche  in  the  wall.  In  the  north- 
west end  of  the  present  house  a  stone  from 
the  old  buildings  was  inserted  bearing  the 
following  couplet  : — 

Though  veiled  Benedictines  are  remov'd  hence, 
Think  of  their  poverty,  chastity,  faith,  obedience. 

Near  the  site  of  the  old  house  there  is  a 
spring  still  called  the  Chapel  Well.  Nicolson 
and  Burn,2  writing  in  1777,  printed  a  fac- 
simile of  an  old  inscription  on  a  bed-head  at 
Nunnery,  then  called  the  nun's  bed,  which 
may  be  read,  '  Mark  the  end  and  yow  shal 
naver  doow  amis.'  Hutchinson,3  a  few  years 
later,  could  not  trace  the  inscription  or  find 
anybody  who  had  ever  seen  it. 

PRIORESSES  OF  ARMATHWAITE 

Isabel,4  died  1362 

Katherine  de  Lancaster,5  elected  1362 
Isabel,6  occurs  1480 
Isabel  Otteley,7  died  1507 
Agnes  or  Annis  Elvyngton,8  died  1507 
Agnes    or    Anne    Derwentwater,9    occurs 
1535,  1537 


8.  THE  NUNNERY  OF  SETON  OR 
LEKELEY 

The  nunnery  of  Seton  occupied  a  pictur- 
esque position  on  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  parish  of  Bootle  beneath  the  rising  grounds 
of  Corney.  It  was  originally  called  the  nun- 
nery of  Lekeley  from  the  name  of  the  land  in 
the  vill  of  Seton  on  which  it  was  built.  No 
fewer  than  four  religious  houses  owned  land 
in  this  vill.  The  abbey  of  Holmcultram 
had  the  whole  of  Lekeley  with  the  exception 

1  Leath  Ward,  239-41. 

2  Hist.  ofCumb.  ii.  431. 

3  Hist,  of  Cumb.  i.  192. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  ff.  98,  99. 
»  Ibid. 

«  Cal.  of  Pat.  1476-85,  p.  208. 
?  Dugdale,  Mm.  iii.  272-4.     She  is  perhaps  the 
same  person  as  the  previous  Isabel. 
"  Ibid.  270.         »  Ibid.  272. 


of  the  land  granted  to  the  nunnery,10  and  the 
priory  of  St.  Bees  had  a  grant  of  land  in  Seton 
from  Henry  son  of  Thomas,  which  Thomas 
was  at  one  time  parson  of  Bootle.11  Before 
1 190  the  abbey  of  Cockersand  was  in  posses- 
sion of  6  acres  in  Seton  in  Coupland  with  a 
share  of  the  pasture  of  the  vill.12 

The  nunnery  was  founded  at  Lekeley  by 
Henry  son  of  Arthur  son  of  Godard,  lord  of 
Millom,  towards  the  close  of  the  twelfth 
century.  Though  the  foundation  charter  is 
not  forthcoming,  we  have  authentic  evidence 
of  the  grant.  When  Henry  son  of  Arthur, 
with  the  consent  of  Godit,  his  wife,  gave 
Lekeley  in  free  marriage  to  Henry  son  of 
William  with  his  daughter  Gunnild,  he 
excepted  the  land  there  which  he  had  already 
bestowed  on  the  nuns  (excepta  terra  in  Lekeleya 
quam  dedi  sanctimonialibus  servientibus  Deo  et 
sancte  Marie  in  Lekeleya).13  As  Henry  Kirkby 
was  reputed  to  have  been  the  founder  at  the 
time  of  the  dissolution,14  it  must  have  been 
Henry  son  of  Arthur,  lord  of  that  district,  to 
whom  reference  was  made.  The  nunnery 
was  entitled  in  the  name  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  and  its  inmates  observed  the  Bene- 
dictine rule.15 

Religious  associations  of  women  did  not 
flourish  in  Cumberland.  The  rough  life  and 
continual  warfare  of  a  border  county  did  not 
tend  to  promote  institutions  more  adapted  to 
settled  and  peaceful  districts.  Though  the 

10  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  60-2. 

11  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  MS.  xiii.  8-9. 

2  Cockersand  Chart.  (Chetham  Soc.),  i.  4. 

13  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  f.  60.    Henry  son 
of  Arthur  appears  to  have  succeeded  to  the  lordship 
of   Millom  in    1185   {Pipe   R.   30  and    31    Hen. 
II.).     The  grant  to  the  nuns  was  made  before  his 
daughter's    marriage.      As    Dugdale    printed    an 
irrelevant   charter  under  the  title  of  this    house 
from  the  Register  of  Holmcultram  in  the  Harleian 
collection,    the  usual  accounts  of  the    priory    of 
Seton  are  misleading.     J.  Denton,  who  had  seen 
the  copy  of  the  register  now  in  the  custody    of 
the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Carlisle,  has  not   been 
misinformed    (Cumberland,    pp.    13—4)-     It    was 
Henry    son   of  Arthur    who    gave    a    portion    of 
Lekeley  to  the  nuns.     The  rest  of  Lekeley,  after- 
wards   bestowed     on    his    daughter    Gunnild    in 
marriage,  was  granted  in  her  widowhood  to  the 
monks  of  Holmcultram  and  confirmed  by  other 
members  of  her  family. 

14  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil.  x.  364. 

15  '  Monasterium  Beate  Marie  de  Ceton  in  Cop- 
landia,    Ordinis    sancti     Benedicti     Dioc.     Ebor' 
(Durham  Obit.  R.  [Surtees  Soc.],  19,  54).     Tanner 
was  in  error  when  he  said  that  the  nunnery  was 
'  dedicated    to   St.    Leonard,'   thus   confusing   the 
real    dedication    with     that    of  the    hospital   of 
Lancaster   which  belonged  to   the   nuns    (Notitia 
Monastica,  77). 


192 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


nunnery  of  Lekeley  was  far  removed  from  the 
Scottish  frontier,  in  a  secluded  position  on  the 
south-western  seaboard,  it  was  always  in  a 
crippled  state  of  finances.  On  13  November, 
1227,  Archbishop  Walter  Gray  granted,  with 
the  assent  of  William,  archdeacon  of  Rich- 
mond, the  appropriation  of  the  church  of  St. 
Michael  of  Irton  to  the  prioress  and  con- 
vent of  Lekeley  in  consideration  of  their 
poverty.1  At  a  later  date  the  condition 
of  the  institution  was  even  more  deplorable. 
On  i  April,  1357,  Henry,  Duke  of  Lancaster, 
in  the  sixth  year  of  his  palatinate,  learning  on 
undoubted  authority  that  the  priory  of  Seton 
was  so  poor  (ita  exilii)  that  there  was  not  a 
sufficiency  to  support  the  prioress  and  nuns, 
granted  the  appropriation  of  the  hospital  of 
St.  Leonard,  Lancaster,  which  was  at  that 
time  vacant  and  of  his  patronage,  with  all  its 
lands  and  possessions,  as  a  help  to  the 
sustentation  of  the  house.  The  duke  also 
gave  to  the  prioress  and  nuns  the  advowson  of 
the  chantry  of  one  chaplain  in  the  hospital,  and 
enjoined  the  burgesses  of  Lancaster  to  assent 
to  the  gift  and  to  bestow  the  alms  and  duties 
on  the  said  hospital  which  were  incumbent  on 
them  from  time  immemorial.2  The  abbey  of 
Holmcultram  seems  to  have  been  considerate 
to  the  poor  nuns  of  Seton.  On  18  October, 
1459,  Thomas  York,  abbot  of  that  house, 
leased  all  the  lands  the  abbey  possessed  between 
Esk  and  Duddon,  called  Lekeley,  to  Elizabeth 
Croft,  prioress,  for  twelve  years  at  an  annual 
rent  of  twenty  shillings.3 

A  fragment  of  what  appears  to  have  been 
the  monumental  slab  of  a  prioress  is  built  into 
the  wall  of  a  barn  at  High  Hyton  not  far 
from  the  nunnery  towards  the  sea.  It  has 
occupied  this  position  from  a  time  beyond 
memory.  One  end  of  the  slab  has  been 
broken  off  and  lost.  The  inscription  cut  on 
either  side  of  a  pastoral  crook  reads  :  +  me 
IACET  .  .  .  DENTONA  AN  ...  The  fragment 
measures  34  inches  in  length  and  22  inches  in 
width.  From  the  charges  made  in  1536  by 
Layton  and  Legh  in  their  infamous  '  book  of 
compertes '  we  learn  that  Joan  Copland  was 
the  prioress  at  that  date  and  that  Susanna 
Rybton  was  an  inmate  of  the  house.  In  the 
previous  year,  when  the  ecclesiastical  survey 

1  Reg.  ofAbp.  Walter  Gray  (Surtees  Soc.),  18. 

*  Dugdale  printed  this  deed  from  an  imperfect 
autograph  in  the  Office  of  Arms  (Mm.  iv.  227). 
Sir  Thomas  Hardy  has  supplied  the  date  and  wit- 
nesses from  the  Rolls  of  the  Chancery  of  the  County 
Palatine  of  Lancaster,  Class  xxv.  A.  3*7,  No.  19 
(Dep.  Keeper's  Rep.  xxxii.  App.  i.  335). 

3  A  copy  of  the  original  indenture  has  been 
printed  by  J.  Hodgson  in  Arch.  Mllana  (old  ser.), 
»•  399- 


was  made,  Joan  Seton  is  named  as  the 
prioress,  but  she  was  probably  the  same  person 
under  another  surname. 

The  total  revenue  of  the  nunnery  in  1535 
was  returned  at  £13  171.  4^.,  and  after 
deducting  reprises,  ^12  I2J.4  This  sum  was 
made  up  of  the  following  items  :  value  of  the 
site  of  the  priory,  305. ;  rents  and  farms  in 
'  Whitebyke  '  and  tenements  in  '  Furdes  '  and 
'  Bolle,'  141.  $d. ;  rents  in  the  vill  of  Lancaster, 
£6  os.  $d.  ;  spiritualities  of  the  church  of 
Irton,  £5  I2J.  8^.  By  the  valuation  of 
James  Rokebyon  24  June,  1536,  the  demesne 
lands  in  the  occupation  of  the  priory  were 
worth  .£3  6s.  8d.,  and  the  gross  issues  of  the 
rectory  of  Irton  were  £13  6s.  8d.  The 
value  of  the  demesne  lands  when  granted  to 
Hugh  Ascue  of  the  king's  household  in  1542 
was  set  down  at  £4  in.  $d.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  the  rectory  of  Irton  was  leased  to  the 
same  person  for  twenty-one  years.5 

A  tradition  about  the  manner  of  granting 
Seton  Priory,  which  survived  till  late  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  is  of  curious  interest. 
Edmund  Sandford,  writing  about  the  year 
1675,  has  left  us  this  version  of  it.  'The 
religious  house  was  gott,'  he  said,  '  by  one  Sir 
Hugo  Askew,  yeoman  of  the  seller  unto 
Queen  Catherin,  in  Henry  the  Eights  time, 
and  borne  in  this  contry.  And  when  that 
Queen  was  deforced  from  her  husband,  this 
yeoman  was  destitute,  and  he  aplied  himself 
for  help  to  Lo(rd)  Chamberlain  for  some  place 
or  other  in  the  king's  service.  The  Lord 
Steward  knew  him  well  because  he  had  helpt 
him  to  a  cup  wine  the  best,  but  told  him  he 
had  no  place  for  him,  but  a  charcole  carrier. 
Well,  quoth  this  Monsin  Askew,  help  me  with 
one  foot  and  let  me  gett  in  the  other  as  I  can. 
And  upon  a  great  holiday,  the  king  looking 
out  at  some  sports,  Askew  got  a  cortier,  a 
frinde  of  his,  to  stand  before  the  king,  and 
then  he  got  on  his  vellet  cassock  and  his 
gold  chine  and  baskett  of  chercols  on  his 
back,  and  marched  in  the  king's  sight  with  it. 
O,  saith  the  king,  now  I  like  yonder  fellow 
well  that  disdains  not  to  doe  his  dirty  office  in 
his  dainty  clothes — what  is  he  ?  Says  his 
frinde  that  stood  by  on  purpose,  It  is  Mr. 
Askew  that  was  yeoman  o'th  celler  to  the  late 
Queen's  Matic  and  now  glad  of  this  poore  place 
to  keep  him  in  yr  Ma"IS  service,  which  he 
will  not  forsake  for  all  the  world.  The  kinge 
says,  I  had  the  best  wine  when  he  was  i'th 

4  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  265  ;  Man.  iv. 
227-9. 

6  Pat.  33  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  i.  m.  41  ;  L.  and 
P.  Hen.  7111.,  xiii.  (i.),  585,  xvii.  220  (56),  xviii. 
(i.),  549.  The  priory  seems  to  have  been  granted 
to  Ascue  on  lease  in  the  first  instance. 


II 


193 


25 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


celler  ;  he  is  a  gallant  wine  taster,  let  him 
have  his  place  againe  and  afterwards  knighted 
him.' l 

After  Askew  got  his  lease  of  the  priory 
lands  in  1537,  he  was  not  allowed  to  have 
peaceable  possession,  for  an  attempt  was  made, 
when  the  commonalty  of  the  northern  counties 
rose  in  rebellion,  to  oust  him  and  restore  the 
nuns  to  their  old  home.  By  a  petition  in 
1540  'to  the  Righte  Worshipfull  Sor 
Richarde  Riche,  Knighte,  Chauncellor  of  the 
Kynge's  Courte  of  Augmentacons  in  (of)  the 
Revenues  of  his  Crowne,  moste  humblye 
sheweth,  and  complaynethe  unto  your  good 
maystershippe,  your  dailye  oratour,  Hughe 
Ascue,  officer  in  the  kynges  graces  sellar,  that 
where  your  seide  oratour  hathe  of  the  kinges 
grace's  dymyse  by  indenture  undre  his  grace's 
grete  scale  of  his  Courte  of  Augmentacons  of 
the  revenues  of  his  Crowne,  the  house  and 
scite  of  the  late  pryorye  or  house  of  nunes  of 
Seyton  in  the  countie  of  Cumberland  w'  all 
and  singuler  the  appurtenances,  by  auctorytie 
of  parlyamente  suppresside  and  dissolvyde,  into 
whiche  saide  house  or  pryorye  by  vertue  of  his 
seide  lease  yor  saide  oratour  dyd  entre  and  was 
therof  peassablye  possesside  and  the  same  did 
furnyshe  w'  suche  goodes  and  catalls  as  he 
then  hadd.  So  y1  is  that  one  Thomas 
Skelton  beynge  accompanyde  w'  diveres  other 
rebellyous  and  mysdemenyde  persons  at  the 
tyme  of  the  commocon  in  the  Northe, 
ryoutouslye  entryde  into  the  seyde  late 


pryorye  then  beinge  in  your  oratour's  hande, 
as  ys  aforesaide,  and  there  put  in  the  late 
pryores  of  the  same  late  pryorye,  whoe  re- 
manede  ther  afterwarde  by  the  space  of  a 
quarter  of  a  yere  and  more  w'  here  hole 
retinue  at  the  onlye  coste  and  charge  of  your 
oratour,  and  the  goodes  and  catalls  of  your 
seid  oratour  dyd  waste,  dystroye,  and  carye 
awaye  to  the  value  of  xxiii/.  Wherfore  it 
maye  please  your  good  maistershipe  the 
premises  tenderlye  consideryde  to  graunte  the 
kynges  graces  lettres  of  pryvye  scale  to  be 
directide  unto  the  saide  Thomas  Skelton, 
commaundynge  him  by  the  same,  other  to 
restore  unto  your  said  oratour  his  saide  goodes 
and  catalls  so  by  him  so  dystraynede  and 
caryede  awaye,  or  agrewithe  your  seide  oratour 
that  he  be  and  personallye  appere  before  your 
maistershippe  in  the  Kinges  Courte  of 
Augmentacons  of  the  revenues  of  his  crdwne 
at  a  certayne  daye  and  undre  a  certeyne  payne 
by  your  good  maistershippe  to  be  lymittede, 
then  and  ther  to  aunswere  to  the  premisses  and 
further  to  abyde  suche  ordre  and  dyrectyon  in 
the  premisses  as  shall  seme  to  your  good 
maistershippe  to  stonde  w'  equite  and  good 
consceyence,  and  your  seide  oratour  shall 
daylye  praye  to  God,  etc.'3 

PRIORESSES  OF  SETON 
Elizabeth  Croft,4  occurs  1459 
Joan  Seaton,6  occurs  1535 
Joan  Copland,6  occurs  1536 


THE    FOUR    HOUSES    OF    FRIARS 


9.  THE    DOMINICAN    FRIARS    OF 
CARLISLE 

10.  THE    FRANCISCAN    FRIARS    OF 

CARLISLE 

11.  THE  AUSTIN   FRIARS   OF   PEN- 

RITH 

THE    CARMELITE    FRIARS    OF 
APPLEBY 

The  four  orders  of  mendicant  friars  had 
obtained  settlements  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle 
before  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  same  year  witnessed  the  coming  of  the 
friars  preachers,  black  friars  or  Dominicans, 
and  the  friars  minors,  minorites,  grey  friars, 
or  Franciscans,  to  Carlisle  while  Walter  was 
bishop  of  the  diocese.  In  1233,  says  the 
Chronicle  of  Lanercost,"  the  order  of  friars 

1  A  Cursory  Relation  of  all  the  Antiquities  and 
Familyes  in  Cumberland  (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.  1890),  p.  6. 

*  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  42. 


minors  came  to  the  city  of  Carlisle  about  the 
Feast  of  the  Assumption,  1 5  August,  and  re- 
ceived a  house  (mannoneni}  within  the  walls  of 
the  city  ;  and  the  order  of  friars  preachers 
about  the  feast  of  St.  Michael,  29  September, 
without  the  walls.  It  is  said  that  the  friars 
of  St.  Mary  of  Mount  Carmel,  Carmelites,  or 
white  friars,  were  established  in  Appleby  by 
the  Lords  Vesey,  Percy  and  Clifford  in  1281,' 
and  it  is  known  as  a  certainty  that  the  friars 
eremites  of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine,  Au- 
gustinians,  or  Austin  friars,  were  carrying  on 
their  mission  in  Penrith  before  I3OO.8  These 
religious  communities  occupied  a  prominent 
ecclesiastical  position  in  the  district,  and 

3  Dugdale,  Mon.  iv.  228—9. 

*  Arch.  ^S/iana  (old  ser.),  ii.  399. 

«  Valor.  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  265. 

o  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil.,  x.  364. 

7  Dugdale,  Man.  vi.  1581. 

8  Liber  £>uot.  Contrar.  Gardenbte  (Soc.  Anticj.), 
4°.  43- 


194 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


though  the  black  friars  and  grey  friars  exer- 
cised the  greater  influence,  they  were  all 
usually  associated  in  the  minds  of  the  people 
as  the  four  orders  of  friars. 

The  friars  minors,  having  obtained  a  settle- 
ment on  the  south-east  side  of  the  city  of 
Carlisle,  were  not  long  in  starting  to  erect 
their  chapel  and  buildings.  In  July  1235 
Thomas  de  Multon,  keeper  of  the  forest  of 
Carlisle,  was  instructed  to  supply  them  with 
twenty  oaks  as  the  king's  gift  for  the  con- 
struction of  their  church,  and  in  the  following 
November  the  king  made  them  another  pre- 
sent of  twenty  pieces  of  timber  (fuste)  for  the 
building  of  their  houses.1 

The  friars  preachers  met  with  greater  ob- 
stacles to  a  final  settlement  when  they  chose 
an  habitation  without  the  walls.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  statement  of  the  Chronicle 
of  Lanercost  is  correct  upon  this  point.  Soon 
after  their  arrival,  viz.  on  12  March  1233-4, 
it  was  stated  that  the  friars  preachers  of  Car- 
lisle had  petitioned  the  king  for  a  place  (placid) 
in  the  public  highway  (strata  publica)  which 
lay  between  their  chapel  on  the  one  side  and 
their  land  on  the  other,  and  as  the  king  had 
learned  by  inquisition  that  it  would  be  no  in- 
jury to  the  city  or  loss  of  any  one  if  he  should 
grant  their  request,  the  sheriff  of  Cumberland 
was  ordered  to  give  them  seisin  of  the  said 
'  place '  for  the  enlargement  of  their  houses 
and  buildings.2  But  in  June  1237  they  were 
obliged  to  remove  the  house  they  had  erected 
in  the  public  highway  without  the  city  (extra 
civitatem)  on  the  ground  that  it  was  a  nuis- 
ance.3 At  this  time  they  must  have  gained  a 
footing  within  the  walls,  for  in  1237,  both 
before  and  after  the  injunction  to  pull  down 
the  house  outside,  they  obtained  leave  to  per- 
forate the  city  wall,4  or  make  an  excavation 
beneath  it  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  the 
water  conduit  of  their  chambers  extra  civi- 
tatem*  Their  church  was  not  completed 

1  Close,  19  Hen.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  7  ;  20  Hen. 
III.  m.  24. 

*  Ibid.  1 8  Hen.  III.  m.  28. 

»  Ibid.  21  Hen.  III.  m.  9. 

4  Ibid.  22  Hen.  III.  m.  14  ;  22  Hen.  III.  m.  2. 

B  Some  rectification  of  the  city  boundaries  or 
alteration  of  the  walls  must  have  taken  place  at 
this  period  to  cause  the  displacement  of  the  friars 
preachers.  In  1232  the  citizens  had  obtained 
from  the  Crown  a  licence  to  levy  tolls  on  mer- 
chandize for  two  years  to  help  them  to  inclose 
the  city  (ad  villam  suam  daudendam)  for  its  security 
and  defence  (Pat.  1 6  Hen.  III.  m.  4  ;  Rymer, 
FceJera,  i.  205).  Their  position  within  the  city 
was  not  changed  after  1237.  In  1315,  when 
Bruce  besieged  Carlisle,  their  buildings  are  men- 
tioned with  those  of  the  Austin  canons  as  being 


for  several  years  after  this  date,  for  in  1239 
and  1244  tney  na^  gifts  of  timber  in  Ingle- 
wood  Forest  for  the  purpose  of  its  construc- 
tion.6 

After  the  establishment  of  the  houses  we 
have  only  occasional  notices  of  their  exist- 
ence for  a  long  time,  except  as  the  recipients 
of  alms  from  public  sources  or  of  gifts  of  land 
for  the  enlargement  of  their  premises.  In 
1278  the  king,  hearing  that  Bishop  Robert 
de  Chause  before  his  death  left  a  deposit  in 
the  custody  of  the  friars  minors  within  the 
city  of  Carlisle,  ordered  Thomas  de  Norman- 
ville,  his  steward,  to  repair  thither  in  person, 
and  take  it  to  the  king's  use  in  satisfaction  of 
the  late  bishop's  debts  to  him.  Two  years 
afterwards  King  Edward  gave  to  the  same 
friars  six  oaks  fit  for  timber  out  of  his  forest.7 
The  Augustinians  of  Penrith  were  active  in 
enlarging  their  borders  early  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  In  1318  John  de  Penrith  granted 
them  a  piece  of  land  for  the  extension  of 
their  habitation,8  and  in  1331  and  1333  John 
de  Crumbewell  made  them  gifts  of  tenements 
and  land  for  a  similar  purpose.9  In  like 
manner  it  was  found  by  inquisition  taken  at 
Carlisle  on  4  February  1333-4  that  Thomas 
le  Spencer,  chaplain,  might  alienate  to  the 
friars  preachers  there  a  piece  of  land  240  feet 
in  length  and  7  feet  in  breadth  to  form  a  road 
straight  from  the  street  to  their  dwelling- 
place.  The  land  was  held  in  chief  by  house- 
gavel,  and  was  worth  40^.  a  year  in  all  is- 
sues.10 No  licence  for  the  transfer  has  been 
recorded  on  the  patent  rolls. 

The  houses  of  friars  in  Carlisle  had  a  share 
in  all  the  vicissitudes  which  go  to  make  up 
the  chequered  history  of  that  city.  From 
their  situation  close  to  the  walls,  the  preachers 
on  the  west  and  the  minorites  on  the  south- 
east, their  buildings  occupied  dangerous  posi- 
tions in  times  of  siege  and  assault.  In  the 
great  fire  of  1292,  when  the  whole  city  in- 
cluding the  abbey  and  the  houses  of  the  friars 
minors  were  reduced  to  ashes,  the  preachers 
alone,  says  the  historian,  were  saved  with  the 

near  the  walls  on  the  west  side,  as  the  friars  minors 
were  located  on  the  east  (Ckron.  tie  Lanercost,  231). 
Leland  found  'withyn  the  walles  ii  howses  offreres, 
blake  and  gray '  (Itinerary  [ed.  Hearne,  1711], 
vii.  48). 

6  Close,  24  Hen.  III.  m.  19  ;  Liberate  R.  28 
Hen.  III.  m.  5  ;  Pipe  R.  (Cumb.),  29  Hen.  III. 

7  Ibid.  6  Edw.  I.  m.  3  ;  ibid.  8  Edw.  I.  m.  2. 

8  Inq.  a.q.d.    12    Edw.   II.   No.    57;  Pat.    12 
Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  19. 

»  Inq.  p.m.  5  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii   No.  109  ;  7  Edw. 
III.  pt.  ii.  No.  36 ;  Pat.  7  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m. 
20  ;  Dugdale,  Man.  vi.  1591. 
10  Inq.  a.q.d.  7  Edw.  III.  No.  1 2. 


195 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


greatest  difficulty.1  Another  chronicler,  la- 
menting in  verse  over  the  unspeakable  calamity, 
has  told  us  that  amid  all  the  ruins  of  '  the  re- 
nowned vill '  only  the  Jacobins,  the  French 
name  for  the  friars  preachers,  survived  the 
catastrophe.2  During  the  panic  occasioned 
by  the  fire  two  thieves  escaped  out  of  prison, 
one  of  whom  took  sanctuary  in  the  cathedral 
church  and  the  other  in  the  church  of  the 
friars  minors.  In  consequence  the  citizens 
were  amerced  in  a  fine  of  £16  to  the  Ex- 
chequer, but  the  king  pardoned  them  on  con- 
dition that  they  should  recognize  that  they 
were  bound  to  the  safe  custody  of  felons  fly- 
ing for  sanctuary  to  churches  within  their 
city.3 

During  the  progresses  of  the  king  or  mem- 
bers of  the  royal  family  through  the  country, 
the  religious  houses  on  the  route,  at  which 
they  called  or  stayed,  were  the  recipients  of 
royal  bounties  in  consideration  of  the  outlay 
made  by  the  religious  men  on  their  behalf,  or 
as  gifts  in  alms  to  meet  their  immediate  wants. 
When  the  kings  were  in  the  north  on  their 
various  military  expeditions  against  Scotland, 
the  local  houses  were  often  called  upon  to 
provide  accommodation  for  them  in  person  or 
for  members  of  the  court.  In  1 300  Edward  I. 
stayed  occasionally  with  the  friars  preachers 
and  friars  minors  in  Carlisle,  and  made  com- 
plimentary gifts  to  them  by  way  of  acknow- 
ledgment of  their  hospitality.  Sometimes  he 
gave  them  alms  for  their  food,  or  for  the 
performance  of  some  religious  act  like  the 
celebration  of  mass  for  the  soul  of  the  Count 
of  Holland  or  the  Earl  of  Cornwall.  Similar 
oblations  were  offered  to  the  friars  of  St. 
Augustine  of  Penrith  and  the  friars  of  Mount 
Carmel  of  Appleby,  with  the  former  of  whom 
he  stopped  two  days  and  with  the  latter  one 
day  on  his  journey  south.  The  wardrobe 
accounts  of  the  first  three  Edwards  contain 
many  items  of  gifts  and  offerings  made  to  the 
four  houses  of  friars  in  the  diocese  of  Carlisle 
by  these  kings  or  by  members  of  their  house- 
holds on  their  journeys  through  the  district.1 
In  other  ways  also  the  kings  were  benevolent 
in  dealing  with  these  institutions.  In  1334 
the  friars  minors  of  Carlisle  purchased  victuals 
to  the  value  of  £8  from  Robert  de  Barton, 
the  king's  receiver,  for  their  maintenance,  but 
the  king  ordered  the  debt  to  be  discharged 

1  Chron.  W.  de  Hemingburgh  (Engl.  Hist.  Soc.), 
ii.  40. 

2  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  147. 

3  Lysons,  Brit.  Cumb.  Mag.,  73,  quoting  Close 
Roll,  21  Edw.  I. 

*  Liber  £)uot.  Contrar.  Garderobce  (Soc.  Antiq.), 
4.2-3,  etc. ;  Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.  vi.  140-2. 


and  the  brethren  acquitted  in  the  following 
year  as  an  act  of  grace.5  Edward  III.  must 
have  had  pleasant  memories  of  the  happy 
Christmas  he  spent  with  the  minorites  of 
Carlisle  in  1332,  when  the  commonalty  of 
the  city  and  neighbourhood  displayed  in  a 
marked  degree  evidences  of  loyalty  and  affec- 
tion.6 

Few  things  betoken  the  popularity  of  the 
friars  among  the  laity  of  every  grade  more 
than  their  success  with  'the  dead  hand'  in 
the  matter  of  testamentary  bequests.  There 
was  no  attempt  to  gain  possession  of  real 
property  in  lands  or  houses,  like  the  monks 
and  nuns,  beyond  what  was  necessary  for 
their  habitations  and  chapels  or  immediate 
convenience,  their  vows  of  poverty  forbidding 
them  to  hold  such  possessions.  But  gifts  of 
money  or  in  kind  kept  flowing  in  at  their 
solicitation.  It  is  a  striking  feature  of  me- 
dieval wills  that  the  four  orders  of  friars  as  a 
class  or  one  of  the  orders  in  particular  usually 
figured  as  a  beneficiary  in  testamentary  dis- 
positions. It  would  be  difficult  to  decide 
whether  the  Dominicans  or  Franciscans  were 
most  popular  with  the  dying  man.  The 
churchyards  in  Carlisle  seem  to  have  been 
often  used  as  places  of  burial  by  people  in  the 
neighbourhood.  When  it  is  remembered  that 
the  secular  priest  of  the  parish  in  which  the 
testator  lived  invariably  claimed  the  mortuary 
due  to  him  wherever  the  body  of  his  parish- 
ioner was  laid,  it  will  be  seen  that  burial  in 
the  churchyards  of  the  mendicant  orders 
involved  a  double  burden  to  the  deceased 
man's  estate.  But  financial  considerations 
did  not  prove  a  barrier  to  the  persuasion  of 
the  friars.  In  1356  Matthew  de  Redman, 
dating  his  will  at  Carlisle,  bequeathed  his 
body  to  be  buried  in  the  churchyard  of  the 
friars  preachers  of  Carlisle  with  his  best  beast 
as  a  mortuary  to  his  parish  church  ;  to  the 
friars  preachers  he  left  20*.  ;  and  a  like  sum  to 
the  friars  minors  ;  also  6s.  $d.  to  Brother 
Robert  Deyncourt.  A  great  local  dignitary 
like  Sir  Robert  Tilliol  of  Scaleby  desired  his 
body  to  be  laid  among  the  friars  preachers  of 
Carlisle  in  1367,  as  Robert  del  Shelde,  a 
humble  citizen,  had  done  ten  years  before 
among  the  friars  minors.  Secular  priests  often 
came  under  the  same  spell.  In  the  same 
year,  1362,  two  incumbents  in  distant  parts  of 
the  diocese  disposed  of  their  bodies  in  this 
fashion  :  Johnde  Seburgham,  vicar  of  Walton, 
desiring  to  be  buried  in  the  church  of  the 
friars  minors,  and  Richard  de  Ulnesby,  rector 
of  Ulnesby  or  Ousby,  in  the  church  of  the 


196 


Close,  8  Edw.  III.  m.  4d  ;  9  Edw.  III.  m.  33. 
Chron.  de  Lanercost,  271. 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


friars  preachers  ;  John  de  Dundrawe  of  Carlisle, 
in  bequeathing  his  body  to  be  laid  among  the 
friars  minors  in  1380,  made  arrangements  for 
the  payment  of  1 5  marks  to  two  chaplains 
for  one  year,  or  to  one  chaplain  for  two  years, 
to  celebrate  for  his  soul  at  Our  Lady's  altar  in 
their  church,  adding  a  jug  and  a  mazer  bowl 
as  a  personal  gift.1  These  benefactions  were 
not  confined  to  testators  in  the  immediate 
vicinity  of  Carlisle.  The  friars  had  a  wider 
field  of  missionary  enterprise  which  knew  no 
frontier  of  county  or  diocese.  Sir  Brian  de 
Stapilton  was  not  forgetful  of  the  friars  of 
Carlisle  in  1394,  and  Sir  Richard  le  Scrop, 
lord  of  Bolton,  bequeathed  205.  in  1400  to 
every  house  of  friars  in  Carlisle,  Penrith  and 
Appleby,a  whereas  John  Knublow,  rector  of 
Lamplugh,  in  the  archdeaconry  of  Richmond, 
singled  out  the  friars  preachers  and  friars 
minors  of  Carlisle  as  the  objects  of  his  gener- 
osity when  he  was  making  his  will  in  1469.* 
The  friars  were  not  backward  in  looking  after 
their  own  interests,  in  cases  where  executors 
neglected  to  pay  the  amounts  left  to  them  by 
will.  A  curious  case  arose  in  the  diocesan 
court  of  Carlisle  in  1340,  in  which  the 
Dominican  prior  was  complainant  and  Agnes 
widow  of  William  Hare  of  Derham  was  the 
defendant.  After  much  litigation  the  bishop 
decided  that  the  friars  were  entitled  to  the 
benefaction  of  five  marks  sterling  bequeathed 
by  the  deceased,  and  ordered  Agnes  the  exe- 
cutrix to  pay  that  sum  within  six  days  together 
with  20s.  id.  as  costs.4 

The  relationship  of  the  friars  to  the  cor- 
porate life  of  the  church  should  not  be  mis- 
understood. It  was  the  bishop  who  conferred 
holy  orders  on  the  inmates  of  their  houses, 
and  it  was  under  his  licence  that  they  exer- 
cised their  vocation  in  his  diocese.  In  the 
ordination  lists  on  record  in  the  diocesan 
registers,  the  names  of  friars  admitted  to 
successive  degrees  will  be  found.  To 
William  de  Eyncourt,  a  friar  preacher,  Bishop 
Ross  committed  in  1330  the  faculty  to  preach 
throughout  his  whole  diocese,  to  hear  the 
confessions  of  all  who  were  willing  to  confess 
to  him,  to  give  absolution,  and  to  enjoin  salu- 
tary penance  except  in  cases  reserved  by  the 
canons  to  the  bishop  himself.5  The  same 

1  Testamenta  Karleolensia  (ed.  R.  S.  Ferguson), 
10,    1 6,  40,  82,  135-7.     William   de   Laton   of 
Newbiggin  bequeathed  his   body  in  1369  to  be 
buried  in  the  church  of  the  Augustinian  friars  of 
Penrith  (ibid.  90). 

2  Testamenta  Eboracensia  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  198, 
274. 

3  Rickmondshire  Wills  (Surtees  Soc.),  8. 
«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  f.  414. 

'  Ibid.  Ross,  f.  261.     Bishop  Kirkby,  having 


licence  was  given  to  Brother  Thomas  de 
Skirwyth  in  1356  on  the  recommendation  of 
Robert  de  Deyncourt,  a  friar  preacher  of 
Carlisle.6  On  24  February  1354-5,  Brother 
William  de  Croft  of  the  order  of  the  Blessed 
Mary  of  Mount  Carmel  in  Appleby,  having 
been  presented  by  the  prior  provincial  iuxta 
capitulum  super  catkedram,  was  admitted  by 
Bishop  Welton  to  the  office  of  preaching  and 
the  hearing  of  confessions  in  the  place  of 
John  de  Haytefeld  of  the  same  order.7  In  the 
licences,  the  cases  reserved  to  the  bishop  were 
often  set  out  by  name.  When  William  de 
Dacre,  lector  of  the  convent  of  friars  minors  in 
Carlisle,  in  whose  integrity  of  conscience  the 
bishop  of  the  diocese  was  fully  confident,  was 
admitted  to  exercise  his  office  in  fora  penitencie,8 
cases  of  the  violators  of  nuns,  perjurers  in 
assizes  or  indictments,  matrimonial  causes, 
divorces  and  crimes  involving  the  loss  of  life 
or  limb  were  specially  excepted.  In  the 
faculty  which  Thomas  de  Thornton  of  the 
Augustinian  Order  in  Penrith  received  in  1365 
for  one  year,  Bishop  Appleby  added  to  the 
reservations  the  practice  of  usury  and  breaking 
and  entering  his  parks  of  Rose  or  Beaulieu  to 
take  anything  away.8  It  is  evident  that  the 
Bishops  of  Carlisle  exercised  an  effective 
jurisdiction  over  the  acts  of  the  mendicant 
orders  within  the  diocese. 

It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  the  friars,  estab- 
lished in  the  three  different  centres  of  the  diocese, 
would  be  popular  with  the  parochial  clergy  if  we 
have  regard  to  the  nature  of  their  vocation  and 
method  of  life.  At  every  turn  they  were 
apt  to  intrude  on  the  office  and  tread  on  the 
toes  of  the  secular  priest.  They  had  a  roving 
commission  to  enter  parishes,  to  preach,  hear 
confessions,  solicit  alms,  and  to  perform  various 
ecclesiastical  functions  which  in  many  instances 
must  have  brought  them  into  conflict  with 
the  country  clergy.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
much  unpleasantness  had  arisen  and  complaints 
were  numerous  about  the  intrusion  of  the 
friars.  The  privileges  of  the  parochial  clergy 
were  violated  to  such  an  extent  that  they 

formerly  granted  to  Symon,  prior  of  the  Carmelites 
of  Appleby,  licence  '  penitenciarie  nostre  curam 
gerere,'  recalled  the  licence  and  revoked  the  prior's 
commission  in  1341.  The  same  bishop  made  J. 
de  Levyngton,  a  minorite,  the  penitentiary  of 
Cumberland  in  1346  (ibid.  Kirkby,  ff.  442,  488). 
In  1355  Brothers  Richard  de  Swynesheved,  warden 
(gardianus)  of  the  convent  of  friars  minors  of  Carl- 
isle, William  de  Kirkby  and  Adam  de  Waldyngfeld 
of  the  same  convent  were  admitted  to  preach  in 
place  of  Robert  de  Shirewode,  Thomas  Faunell  and 
John  de  Dalton  removed  (ibid.  Welton,  f.  1 1 7). 

«  Ibid.  f.  1 1 8.         i  Ibid.  f.  115. 

8  Ibid.  f.  118.          »  Ibid.  Appleby,  f.  146. 


197 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


appealed  to  the  pope  for  redress  in  1300. 
The  bull  of  Boniface  VIII.  contra  Fratres  is 
on  record.1  It  was  not  by  any  means  entirely 
in  favour  of  the  secular  clergy,  though  regu- 
lations were  laid  down  to  restrain  the  friars  in 
their  aggressions  on  the  parochial  office.  The 
pope  prescribed  the  cases  in  which  they  might 
preach  and  hear  confessions,  and  at  the  same 
time  recommended  the  parish  priests  to  receive 
them  kindly  for  the  sake  of  the  apostolic  see. 
In  1352  the  clergy  of  Carlisle  moved  Bishop 
Welton  for  relief.  It  was  represented  to 
him  that  the  mendicant  orders,  not  content 
with  their  own  bounds,  were  in  the  habit  of 
betaking  themselves  frequently  to  divers 
churches  and  chapels,  not  for  the  sake  of 
preaching  the  word  of  God,  but  in  the  same 
churches  and  chapels  on  Sundays  and  Festivals 
during  the  solemnity  of  mass,  when  a  great 
multitude  of  people  were  present,  to  the  im- 
pediment of  divine  culture  and  the  stirring  up 
of  tumult,  with  vain  and  heedless  displays  of 
excessive  indulgences  and  plenary  remission, 
sought  quest  of  money  and  not  gain  of  souls 
with  open  books  in  their  hands  like  questors, 
contrary  to  canonical  sanctions  and  the  rules 
of  their  orders  and  the  customs  anciently 
observed,  for  which  reason  uproars  among  the 
people  and  injurious  reports  were  almost  of 
daily  occurrence.  The  bishop,  wishing  to 
remedy  these  abuses,  sent  his  mandate  to  all 
deans,  rectors,  vicars  and  parish  chaplains,  for- 
bidding them  under  pain  of  the  greater 
excommunication  to  permit  any  friar  of  the 
mendicant  orders,  even  when  licensed  by  him 
in  the  form  of  the  constitution,  to  exercise  a 
quest  of  any  sort  in  their  churches  or  chapels, 
and  specially  in  time  of  divine  service,  unless 
on  production  of  special  letters.2 

The  Augustinians  of  Penrith  had  recourse 
to  various  devices  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
house.  It  appears  that  the  voluntary  alms  of 
the  people  of  that  district  were  not  sufficient. 
Bishop  Welton  assisted  them  in  some  meas- 
ure by  appointing  the  prior  in  1360  during 
pleasure  to  the  church  of  Newton  Reigny, 
which  had  been  vacant  for  some  time,  and 
allowing  him  to  discharge  the  cure  of  souls 
by  some  fit  brother  of  the  community.3  The 
same  consideration  was  shown  by  Bishop 
Appleby  in  1365,  when  R.  the  sacrist  of  the 
house  was  appointed  to  the  same  charge  for 

1  Carl.    Epis.    Reg.,  Halton,  ff.  44-5  ;    Hist. 
MSS.  Com.  Rep.  ix.  (i.),  180. 

2  Ibid.  Welton,  f.  43. 

3  Ibid.  f.  69.      The  church  cannot  have  been 
vacant  very  long,  for  in  June  1357  John  de  Bram- 
wra  was  appointed  on  the   resignation  of  Gilbert 
Raket  (ibid.  ff.  33-4). 


198 


four  years.*  The  brothers  contrived  a  new 
expedient  in  1360,  from  which  they  expected 
a  substantial  addition  to  their  encumbered 
finances.  In  that  year  they  started  and  in- 
tended to  continue  a  light  at  mass  in  the  con- 
ventual church  at  Penrith  in  honour  of  the 
Nativity  of  the  Saviour  and  the  blessed  Mary, 
so  that  when  the  divine  office  was  sung  the 
light  should  burn  on  the  feast  of  the  Nativity 
every  year.  But  they  were  unable  to  con- 
tinue this  without  the  alms  of  the  faithful. 
In  order  to  promote  such  a  praiseworthy 
devotion,  the  bishop  issued  a  firm  indulgence 
for  forty  days  to  all  in  his  diocese  who  went 
to  the  conventual  church  in  a  contrite  and 
penitent  spirit  for  the  purpose  of  hearing  mass 
on  that  day  or  who  contributed  of  their  goods 
for  the  keeping  up  of  the  said  light.8 

It  may  be  regarded  as  a  testimony  of  the 
estimation  in  which  the  prior  of  the  friars 
preachers  was  held  that  he  was  sometimes 
employed  in  important  and  delicate  negotia- 
tions or  he  was  present  at  great  functions. 
The  prior  of  the  Carlisle  preachers  was  a 
witness  to  the  award  made  in  1289  for  the 
settlement  of  a  dispute  between  the  Augustin- 
ian  priory  of  Pontefract  and  the  Cluniac  house 
of  Monk  Bretton.8  In  1329  he  was  appointed 
in  a  commission  with  the  abbot  of  Holrncul- 
tram  and  the  archdeacon  of  Carlisle  by  Pope 
John  XXII.  to  hear  a  cause  between  the 
Bishop  of  Durham  and  the  Archbishop  of 
York,  but  they  refused  to  undertake  the  task 
owing  to  the  scarcity  of  lawyers  in  the  district 
and  their  distance  from  York.7  Dr.  Saunder- 
son  was  one  of  the  last  wardens  of  the  grey 
friars  in  Carlisle,  having  been  in  possession  of 
that  dignity  in  I523.8  When  the  end  of  the 
religious  houses  was  drawing  nigh,  the  king 
made  what  use  he  could  of  the  preaching 
capacities  of  the  friars  in  upholding  the 
authority  of  a  general  council 9  and  belittling 
the  power  of  the  pope,  but  no  allegiance  to 
the  national  policy  could  avert  their  fall.  In 
1534  was  begun  the  royal  visitation  with  a 
view  to  their  extinction.  George  Browne, 
prior  of  the  Augustinian  hermits  in  London, 
was  appointed  by  the  Crown  to  the  office  of 
provincial  prior  to  the  whole  order  of  friars 
hermits  in  England,  and  John  Hilsey  received 


1  Ibid.  Appleby,  f.  146. 
e  Ibid.  Welton,  £73. 

8  Dugdale,  Mm.  v.  123-4.     *n  vol.  vi.   1485, 
the  date  is  given  as  1269  by  an  oversight. 

7  Letters  from  the  Northern  Registers  (Rolls  Ser.), 
359-60. 

8  B.M.  Add.  MS.  24,  965,  ff.  115-6. 

9  B.M.  Cott.  MS.  Cleopatra  E,  vi.  f.  312  ;  L. 
and  P.  Hen.  nil.  vi.  1487. 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


a  similar  commission  over  the  whole  order  of 
friars  preachers  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the 
houses  of  all  friars  of  whatever  order  through- 
out the  kingdom,  viz.  the  friars  minors  of 
the  order  of  St.  Francis,  the  friars  preachers 
of  the  order  of  St.  Dominic,  the  friars  her- 
mits of  the  order  of  St.  Augustine,  the 
Carmelite  friars  of  the  order  of  St.  Mary, 
and  the  crossed  friars,  and  making  inquiry 
concerning  their  lives,  morals  and  fealty  to 
the  king.  If  needful,  they  were  authorized 
to  instruct  them  how  to  conduct  themselves 
with  safety,  to  reduce  them  to  uniformity, 
calling  in  the  aid  of  the  secular  arm  as  occasion 
required.1  This  visitation  was  the  precursor 
of  their  destruction. 

In  the  spring  of  1539,  the  task  of  sup- 
pressing the  northern  houses  of  friars  was  en- 
trusted to  the  capable  hands  of  Richard,  Bishop 
of  Dover.  Writing  from  Lincoln  on  the  first 
Sunday  in  Lent,  he  conveyed  to  Cromwell 
the  sentence  of  their  impending  doom  in  these 
words  :  '  I  trosteyd  to  a  made  an  ende  of  the 
vesytacyon  :  but  I  am  certefyyd  that  yet  ther 
be  stondeyng  in  the  north  parte  above  xx 
placeys  of  freyrs,  as  in  Grantham,  in  Newarke, 
in  Grymsseby,  in  Hull,  in  Beverley,  in  Schar- 
borow,  in  Carlehyll,  in  Lancaster,  and  in 
dyverse  placeys  more,  for  the  which  howseys 
I  well  serge  so  that  I  trost  to  leve  but  fewe 
in  Ynglond  before  Ester,  and  I  thyngke  yt 
woll  be  ner  Ester  or  that  I  can  make  an  ende, 
besecheyng  yower  lordschyp  to  be  good  lorde 


for  the  pore  ffreyrs  capacytes  :  they  be  very 
pore  and  can  have  lytyll  serves  withowtt  ther 
capacytes.  The  byschoyppys  and  curettes  be 
very  hard  to  them,  withowtt  they  have  ther 
capacytes.' 3  Pursuing  his  way  northward 
and  finding  nothing  but  '  povertye  and  lytyll 
lefte  scarce  to  pay  the  dettes,  so  that  in  these 
houses  the  king's  Grace  shall  have  butt  the 
lede,'  he  arrived  at  Grimsby,  from  which  he 
intimated  to  the  Lord  Privy  Seal  on  'thys 
xxix  day  off  February  '  (i  March)  that  he  was 
riding  '  to  Hull,  and  so  to  Beverlaye  and  to 
Skarborrowe  and  Karlehyll,  and  to  Lancaster, 
and  other  houses  as  I  shall  here  off  by  the 
waye.' 4  Before  the  close  of  1539,  the  four 
houses  of  friars  were  swept  away  and  their  sites 
leased  or  sold,  with  the  exception  of  the  buildings 
of  the  black  friars  in  Carlisle,  which  were  re- 
tained in  the  king's  hand,  enclosed  with  a  paling, 
and  converted  into  a  council  chamber,  maga- 
zine and  storehouse  for  the  convenience  of 
the  garrison.  Nothing  now  remains  but  the 
name  to  tell  of  their  former  occupation. 
Blackfriars  Street  on  the  west  walls  preserves 
the  name  and  indicates  the  site  of  the  friars 
preachers,  as  Friars  Court  behind  Devonshire 
Street  marks  the  locality  of  the  minorites  or 
grey  friars  in  Carlisle.  In  Penrith  the 
Augustinians  are  commemorated  in  a  house 
called  the  Friary  and  a  street  known  as  Friars 
Gate.  The  name  and  the  site  of  the  Car- 
melites in  Appleby  have  altogether  dis- 
appeared. 


HOSPITALS 


12.     THE    HOSPITAL    OF    ST. 
NICHOLAS,  CARLISLE 

The  vicissitudes  of  the  hospital  of  St. 
Nicholas,  Carlisle,  the  best  known  house  in 
the  county,  display  many  features  of  great 
interest  in  the  history  of  eleemosynary  institu- 
tions. It  was  of  royal  foundation  at  some 
period  before  the  reign  of  King  John,  but  the 
name  of  the  founder  or  the  date  of  the  foun- 
dation has  not  been  preserved.  Hugh  Todd, 
a  former  canon  of  Carlisle,  ascribed  the  foun- 
dation to  William  Rufus,8  the  most  unlikely 
of  all  the  kings.  As  its  records  and  muni- 
ments perished  after  the  outbreak  of  the  wars 
of  Edward  I.  with  Scotland,  when  the  hos- 
pital was  plundered  and  burnt,  its  early  history 
must  remain  in  comparative  obscurity.  Only 
two  deeds  of  endowment,  which  are  of  any 

1  Pat.   25    Hen.    VIII.  pt.  ii.   m.   6d  ;  L.  and 
P.  Hen.  nil.  vii.  587  (18). 

2  Notitia  Eccl.  Cath.  Carl.  (Cumb.  and  Westmld. 
Arch.  Soc.),  35. 


199 


value,  are  known  to  exist,  and  these  are  on 
record  in  the  register  of  Bishop  Kirkby. 

The  first  reference  to  the  hospital  that  has 
as  yet  come  to  light  is  a  letter  of  protec- 
tion from  King  John  sent  in  1201  to  the 
lepers  of  Carlisle.8  About  the  same  date  we 
have  a  charter  from  Hugh  de  Morvill  endow- 
ing the  hospital  of  St.  Nicholas  outside  the 
city  of  Carlisle  with  a  ploughland  of  his  de- 
mesne in  the  village  of  Hoff  near  Appleby, 
the  land  and  goods  of  Richard  the  smith  of 
Burgh,  his  villein,  40*.  of  land  in  Thurston- 
feld,  and  other  lands  and  rents  elsewhere  on 
the  condition  of  finding  one  chaplain  to 
celebrate  divine  offices  for  the  souls  of  the 
faithful,  and  maintaining,  with  the  consent  of 
the  master  and  brethren,  three  infirm  brothers 

»  B.M.  Cott.  MS.  Cleopatra  E,  iv.  f.  212  ; 
Wright,  Suppression  of  the  Monasteries  (Camden 
Soc.),  191-3. 

'  L.  and  P.  Hen.  7111.  xiv.  (i.),  413;  Ellis, 
Original  Letters,  ser.  3,  iii.  179-81. 

6  Rot.  Chart.  2  John  (Rec.  Com.),  loib. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


(tres  fratres  infirmos)  on  his  presentation 
and  on  that  of  his  heirs  for  ever.1  At  a  later 
period  perhaps,  while  Bernard  was  bishop  and 
Geoffrey  his  archdeacon,  Adam  son  of  Robert, 
the  true  patron  of  a  moiety  of  the  church  of 
Bampton  near  Carlisle,  gave  to  the  hospital 
and  the  sick  people  (infirmis)  there  serving 
God  a  moiety  of  the  tithe  sheaves  of  Little 
Bampton,  with  the  proviso  that  two  sick 
persons  should  be  maintained  on  the  nomina- 
tion of  himself  and  his  successors.  If  these 
nominations  were  not  made,  five  skeps  of 
meal  should  be  distributed  to  the  poor  on  the 
Feast  of  St.  Nicholas.  In  any  other  eventu- 
ality, the  bishops  of  Carlisle  were  authorized 
to  dispose  of  the  tithe  as  they  thought  best 
for  the  good  of  the  donor's  soul.2  It  is  evi- 
dent from  the  tenor  of  these  charters  that 
the  advantages  of  the  institution  were  not 
exclusively  confined  to  lepers  at  the  opening 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  for  though  it  had 
been  originally  founded  as  a  leper-house,  the 
qualifications  for  admittance  must  have  been 
modified  to  some  extent  by  the  conditions 
attached  to  successive  endowments.  That 
such  was  the  case  we  shall  presently  see. 

The  early  history  of  the  hospital  was  the 
subject  of  an  inquest  before  a  royal  commis- 
sion in  1341,  when  all  the  available  evidences 
were  brought  under  review  and  a  verdict  was 
returned  on  the  oath  of  the  jurors.3  It  was 
ascertained  by  this  commission  that  the  insti- 
tution was  founded  by  some  king  of  England, 
long  before  the  time  of  memory,  for  the  sus- 
tenance of  thirteen  lepers,  men  and  women,  a 
master  in  Holy  Orders  who  should  be  resi- 
dent and  sing  mass  at  his  will,  and  a  chaplain 
who  should  sing  mass  daily  for  the  benefactors 
of  the  hospital.  This  king,  whose  name  the 
jurors  knew  not,  endowed  the  institution 
with  great  possessions  of  lands  for  the  per- 
petual support  of  the  master  and  lepers  as 
well  as  the  brethren  and  sisters,  appointed 
for  them  a  chapter  and  a  common  seal  which 
should  remain  in  the  custody  of  the  master 
and  of  two  or  three  or  four  of  the  lepers, 
and  ordained  that  the  lepers  should  always  be 
clad  in  clothes  of  russet  and  live  under  the 
rules  of  the  hospital  for  ever.  It  was  also 
appointed  at  the  foundation  that  the  master 
as  well  as  the  brethren  and  sisters  should  have 
commons  together  within  the  precincts,  saving 
this,  that  the  master  might  appoint  a  tem- 

»  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  f.  303. 

2  Ibid.  f.  482.  J.  Denton  says  that  Gilbert  son 
of  Gilbert  de  Dundraw  gave  the  hospital  a  portion 
of  Crofton  called  Gillmartinridden  (Cumberland, 


Pat.  15  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  49,  48. 


porary  substitute  if  he  had   to  attend  to  the 
business  of  the  hospital  elsewhere. 

The  original  constitutions  of  the  hospital 
were  observed  until  by  lapse  of  time  the 
greater  part  of  the  lepers  died,4  when  by  com- 
mon consent  of  the  master,  brethren  and  sis- 
ters, their  places  were  filled  by  poor,  weak 
and  impotent  folk  (pauperes,  debiles  et  impo- 
tentei),  which  led  to  a  modification  of  the 
existing  rules.  We  have  already  noticed  how 
the  bequests  of  Hugh  de  Morvill  and  Adam 
son  of  Robert  contributed  to  this  change. 
Other  donations  followed  with  similar  con- 
ditions. The  commonalty  of  the  city  of 
Carlisle  granted  to  the  hospital  on  every  Sun- 
day for  ever  a  pottle  (potellum)  of  ale  from 
each  brewhouse  of  the  city,  and  a  loaf  of 
bread  from  each  baker  exposing  bread  for  sale 
on  Saturday,  in  return  for  which  the  master 
should  receive  into  the  hospital,  on  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  mayor  and  commonalty,  all 
the  lepers  in  the  city.  By  virtue  of  these 
grants,  the  donors  and  their  successors  pos- 
sessed the  right  to  present  lepers  and  other  poor 
persons  for  maintenance  in  the  institution. 

In  1292  a  dispute  arose  about  the  patron- 
age of  the  hospital.6  The  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
claimed  the  right  of  instituting  the  master  on 
the  presentation  of  the  brethren  who  made 
choice  of  a  fit  person  for  that  purpose.  The 
Crown  denied  the  right  of  the  inmates  to 
elect  a  master  from  their  own  body,  and 
challenged  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishop  over 
the  hospital  for  any  purpose  whatever.  When 
the  matter  was  referred  to  the  judges  of  assize, 
the  jury  found  that  the  patronage  was  in  the 
king's  hand,  for  though  Bishop  Ireton  made 
the  last  appointment,  the  king's  ancestors 
always  conferred  it  till  the  time  of  Henry  III. 
Besides,  the  brethren  were  never  in  the  habit 
of  electing  any  one.  The  gross  value  of  the 
hospital  was  returned  at  that  time  at  £35 
131.  4^.,  out  of  which  twelve  sick  persons 
(languid!)  were  maintained  with  a  master  and 
a  chaplain  to  celebrate  divine  offices,  which 
chaplain  had  the  assistance  of  a  clerk. 

«  The  disease  of  leprosy  was  not  extinct  in 
Cumberland  in  the  fourteenth  century.  In  1357 
the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  had  learned  with  sorrow 
that  Adam,  rector  of  '  Castelkayrok,'  was  be- 
sprinkled with  the  spot  of  leprosy  (lepre  macula  est 
respenus),  insomuch  that  by  reason  of  the  horror 
and  loathsomeness  of  the  disease  (morbi  deformitatem 
et  hoirorem)  he  was  unable  to  minister  the  sacra- 
ments and  sacramentals  to  his  parishioners.  The 
rector  was  cited  to  appear  personally  in  the 
bishop's  presence  at  Rose  and  show  cause  why  a 
coadjutor  should  not  be  appointed  to  assist  him 
(Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  43). 

«  Plac.  de  £>uo.  Warr.  (Rec.  Com.),  122. 


200 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


The  verdict  of  the  jury,  by  which  the 
Crown  recovered  the  patronage,  had  a  mo- 
mentous effect  on  the  internal  observances  of 
the  hospital.  The  master  nominated  by  the 
bishop  resigned  or  was  dispossessed.  Hugh 
de  Cressingham,  a  justice  in  eyre  and  '  an  in- 
satiable pluralist,'  according  to  Prynne,  before 
whom  the  case  was  decided,  was  appointed  in 
his  place.  The  new  master  drew  up  a  code 
of  rules,  formed  no  doubt  on  the  old  model, 
for  the  government  of  the  house.1  These 
constitutions  are  of  considerable  interest  and 
may  be  summarized  as  follows  :  All  the 
brethren  and  sisters  on  their  first  entry  should 
take  an  oath  of  obedience  and  fealty  to  the 
master  and  to  live  chastely  and  honestly 
within  the  cloister  and  without  when  sent  on 
business  of  the  hospital  ;  that  they  should  rise 
in  the  morning  at  the  ringing  of  the  bell  and 
come  in  person  to  the  church  or  chapel  to 
pray  for  the  faithful  departed,  all  the  bene- 
factors of  the  hospital,  and  specially  for  the 
royal  family  ;  that  they  should  have  a  cloister, 
the  gates  of  which  should  be  closed  with  iron 
bars  both  day  and  night,  and  specially  by 
night  ;  that  a  general  porter  should  be 
specially  appointed  and  sworn  to  guard  the 
gates  according  to  rule,  whose  business  also 
it  would  be  to  keep  the  well  (fontem)  and  the 
court  within  and  without  the  cloister  clean 
from  all  defilement ;  that  the  brethren  should 
sleep  in  one  house  and  likewise  the  sisters  in 
another  by  themselves ;  that  none  of  the 
brethren  or  sisters  should  go  out  of  the  cloister 
wandering  about  the  country  or  city  without 
special  leave  of  the  master ;  that  the  brethren 
should  work  as  long  as  they  could  for  the 
common  benefit  of  the  hospital ;  that  no 
brother  or  sister  should  go  out  of  the  cloister 
under  penalty  by  night  by  the  walls  or  the 
gate,  or  by  day  from  the  ringing  of  the  bell 
in  the  hall  until  the  ringing  of  the  bell  in  the 
church  ;  that  the  brethren  and  sisters  should 
be  obedient  to  the  precepts  of  the  master  or 
his  deputy  in  all  things  lawful  and  honest, 
and  any  brother  or  sister  found  refractory  or 
disobedient,  for  the  first  offence  should  lose 
his  or  her  livery  and  be  admonished,  for  the 
second  should  lose  the  two  next  liveries  and 
be  admonished  to  amend,  otherwise  on  the 
third  offence  he  or  she  should  be  expelled 
from  the  cloister  and  be  entirely  deprived  of 
his  or  her  corrody  without  hope  of  return  ; 
that  the  master  should  not  permit  any  married 
man  or  woman  staying  within  the  cloister  to 
pass  the  night  with  wife  or  husband,  brother 
or  sister,  within  the  cloister,  to  commit  forni- 
cation or  other  offence  on  pain  of  expulsion  ; 


that  a  brother  or  sister  making  a  quarrel  or 
charge  unjustly,  whereby  public  or  private 
scandal  should  arise,  should  suffer  similar  pen- 
alties ;  and  that  none  should  usurp  any  office 
or  power  within  the  hospital  without  the 
assent  of  the  master  and  the  more  discreet 
part  of  the  chapter. 

When  the  war  broke  out  in  1296  between 
the  two  kingdoms,  the  hospital  from  its  posi- 
tion without  the  walls  of  Carlisle  was  open  to 
attack  and  soon  became  impoverished  and 
almost  ruined.  It  was  found  next  to  impos- 
sible to  observe  the  rules  laid  down  a  few 
years  before.  Whereupon  Richard  Oriell, 
the  custos  during  the  absence  of  Hugh  de 
Cressingham  the  master,  managed  as  best  he 
could  in  the  altered  state  of  political  affairs. 
It  was  arranged  by  him  that  each  of  the 
brethren  and  sisters  should  receive  yearly  from 
the  hospital  by  the  hands  of  the  master  for 
sustenance  two  skeps  of  barley,  two  skeps  of 
oats,  two  skeps  of  flour,  three  strikes  of  wheat, 
if  there  was  wheat  enough  from  the  wainage  of 
the  hospital,  two  cart  and  two  wagon  loads  of 
wood,  a  portion  of  the  bread  and  ale  received 
from  the  commonalty  of  Carlisle,  and  4*.  out 
of  the  rents  of  the  hospital  for  clothing  and 
other  necessaries  till  the  house  was  relieved.2 

The  procedure  introduced  by  Oriell  and 
followed  by  some  of  his  successors  was  a  great 
benefit  to  the  house,  whereby  it  was  much 
enriched,  and  many  poor  persons  other  than 
foundationers  were  participators  in  its  alms. 
When  Edward  II.  bestowed  the  custody  on 
Thomas  de  Wederhale,  the  good  governance 
of  the  hospital  began  to  decline.  The  new 
master  was  not  a  chaplain  and  did  not  observe 
the  rules  of  the  foundation  or  the  constitu- 
tions made  by  his  predecessors.  He  wasted 
the  goods  in  many  ways  and  kept  the  common 
seal  in  his  own  possession,  and  charged  the 
hospital  with  corrodies  to  divers  people  with- 
out the  assent  of  the  brethren  and  sisters. 
The  chapter  of  the  hospital  soon  ceased  to 
exist  under  his  methods.  When  an  inmate 
of  the  hospital  died,  no  other  was  admitted  to 
residence  according  to  the  rules  of  the  founda- 
tion, those  being  non-resident  who  were  ad- 
mitted on  the  presentation  of  benefactors  like 
the  heirs  of  Hugh  de  Morvill  and  the  com- 
monalty of  Carlisle.  During  the  mastership 
of  Wederhale  the  number  of  lepers  and  other 
poor  persons  was  curtailed,  and  divine  worship 
and  works  of  piety  were  wholly  withdrawn, 
except  that  he  retained  a  chaplain  to  sing 
mass  daily  and  eight  poor  persons  who  dwelt 
elsewhere  and  lived  on  the  goods  of  the 
hospital.  The  affairs  of  the  house  went  from 


II 


1  Pat.  15  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  49. 


Ibid. 


201 


26 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


bad  to  worse.  Each  succeeding  master  was 
no  better  than  the  last.  The  hospital  became 
the  perquisite  of  the  master  and  was  farmed 
for  his  own  profit.1  Nor  did  that  official  cease 
to  forward  his  own  interests.  In  1336  the 
royal  tax  gatherers  were  forbidden  to  assess  the 
goods  of  the  hospital,  as  it  had  been  founded 
by  the  king's  progenitors,  and  was  so  slenderly 
endowed  that  there  was  scarcely  a  sufficiency 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  master  and  brethren 
and  other  poor  persons  who  resorted  there.8 

The  condition  of  the  hospital  became  a 
public  scandal,  and  reports  on  its  dilapidation 
and  mismanagement  were  laid  before  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  and  the  Crown.  The 
king  prohibited  the  bishop  from  visitation,  no 
doubt  on  the  representation  of  Thomas  de 
Goldyngton,  the  master,  as  irregular  and  in- 
convenient in  institutions  of  royal  founda- 
tion or  patronage.3  Commissions  of  inquiry 
into  the  misrule  of  the  hospital  became  the 
order  of  the  day.  In  1335  an  inquisition 
ad  quod  damnum  found  that  the  rules  had  not 
been  observed  as  they  ought  to  have  been 
for  thirty-six  years  and  more,  because  the 
said  place  was  burned  and  totally  destroyed, 
first  by  the  Earl  of  Buchan's  war  and  after- 
wards several  times  by  the  Scots,  so  that  the 
constitution  had  not  been  and  as  yet  could 
not  be  observed.4  Matters  dragged  on  till 
the  summer  of  1340,  when  a  visitation  of 
the  hospital  was  made  by  a  commission  con- 
sisting of  the  bishop  and  prior  of  Carlisle, 
Robert  Parvyng,  and  Robert  de  Eglesfeld, 
parson  of  Burgh  under  Stainmore.  The 
whole  history  and  management  of  the  institu- 
tion was  probed  to  the  bottom  and  a  sweeping 
report  on  its  condition,  as  already  detailed, 
was  made.  The  master  was  ordered  to  appear 
before  the  king  in  his  chancery  at  West- 
minster, the  common  seal  was  taken  from 
him,  and  the  corrody  holders  were  delivered 
to  the  custody  of  the  prior  of  Carlisle.8 

The  internal  condition  of  the  hospital  was 

1  Pat.  1 5  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  49. 

2  Close,  10  Edw.  III.  m.  14. 

3  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  f.  329. 

«  Inq.  a.q.d.  9  Edw.  III.  No.  6;  Pat.  9  Edw.  III. 
pt.  ii.  m.  I4d.  The  hospital  was  burnt  in  1337 
by  the  Scots  (Chron.  de  Lanercost,  292). 

"  Pat.  15  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  mm.  49,  48. 
To  the  researches  made  in  1340  and  to  the  ex- 
emplification of  the  results  of  the  inquiry  on  this 
patent  roll  we  are  indebted  for  much  of  what  we 
know  of  the  history  of  this  hospital.  The  roll  has 
been  printed  in  full  by  Dr.  Henry  Barnes  of  Car- 
lisle (Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Sue.  x.  114- 
23),  and  an  excellent  summary  has  been  given  in 
the  Calendar  prepared  by  Mr.  R.  F.  Isaacson  of 
the  Public  Record  Office.  To  this  inquiry,  no 


again  an  anxiety  to  the  authorities  in  1380. 
It  was  the  duty  of  Simon,  Archbishop  of  Can- 
terbury, to  visit  it,  but  as  he  was  unable 
through  urgent  business  to  do  so  personally, 
he  commissioned  the  prior  of  Wetheral,  Hugh 
de  Westbrook,  and  Adam,  parson  of  Bolton, 
to  undertake  the  inquiry.  The  terms  of 
reference  extended  to  divers  defects  in  respect 
of  its  houses,  books,  vestments  and  other 
ornaments,  the  diminution  of  its  chaplains, 
the  alienation  and  waste  of  its  lands,  and 
quarrels  among  its  ministers.8  As  a  new 
master  was  appointed  a  few  months  after- 
wards, it  may  be  taken  that  a  reformation  had 
been  effected  by  the  visitation.  The  hospital 
lingered  on  as  an  independent  institution  till 
1477,  when  Edward  IV.  transferred  it  with 
all  its  lands,  tenements,  rights,  liberties,  fran- 
chises, commodities,  and  emoluments  to  the 
priory  of  Carlisle,  the  grant  to  take  effect  on 
the  death  or  cession  of  the  master.  For  this 
concession  the  priory  was  obliged  to  find  a  canon 
who  was  a  priest,  to  be  called  the  king's  chaplain, 
to  celebrate  masses  and  other  divine  services 
in  the  monastery  for  the  good  estate  of  the 
king  and  his  consort  Elizabeth,  Queen  of 
England,  and  their  children,  and  for  their 
souls  after  death.7  It  should  be  remembered 
that  the  change  in  the  constitution  of  the 
hospital  did  not  impair  the  right  of  those  who 
had  a  legal  interest  in  its  endowments.  The 
Dacres  continued  to  exercise  the  privilege  of 
presentation  of  poor  men  to  corrodies  as  the 
lords  of  Burgh  had  done  since  the  days  of 
Hugh  de  Morvill.  On  the  death  of  Hum- 
phrey Lord  Dacre  in  1484,  the  nomination 
to  a  corrody  in  the  hospital  of  St.  Nicholas, 
Carlisle,  at  that  time  worth  13*.  4^.  a  year, 
was  reckoned  among  the  Dacre  possessions  in 
right  of  the  barony  of  Burgh-by-Sands.8 

One  feature  of  the  endowments  of  the 
hospital  deserves  a  special  mention  inasmuch 
as  it  appears  to  have  been  a  common  appur- 
tenance of  leper  houses,  that  is,  a  thrave  of 
corn  was  due  from  time  immemorial  from 
every  ploughland  in  the  county  of  Cumber- 
land. In  1358  a  jury  reported  a  long  list  of 
defaulters  in  various  parishes  who  had  de- 
tained their  contributions  for  the  past  eight 
years.  These  dues  ought  to  have  been  de- 
livered in  the  autumn  of  each  year  to  the 
bailiff  of  the  hospital.9  Bishop  Appleby  was 
obliged  to  denounce  the  practice  in  1371.  The 

doubt,  we  owe  the  record  of  the  two  ancient  deeds 
in  the  register  of  Bishop  Kirkby. 

6  Pat.  3  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  2od. 

7  Ibid.  17  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  16. 

8  Cal.  of  Inq.  p.m.  Henry  VII.  i.  157. 

8  Inq.  p.m.  31  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  No.  53. 


202 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


sheaves  were  called  '  thraves  of  St.  Nicholas,' 
and  were  due,  in  the  bishop's  opinion,  by 
grant  of  the  kings  of  England.1 

In  1541  the  possessions  of  the  hospital 
were  included  in  the  endowment  charter  of 
the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle,2  whose 
estates  were  charged  under  the  letters  patent 
to  maintain  a  chaplain  to  celebrate  divine 
offices  in  the  hospital  in  presence  of  three 
'  bedells'  and  the  lepers  therein,  with  a  pension 
for  the  said  poor  '  bedells.'  There  is  now  no 
trace  of  the  buildings  of  the  hospital  in  exist- 
ence ;  nothing  is  left  of  the  institution  but 
the  name  of  the  district  of  St.  Nicholas  in 
Botchergate  to  the  south  of  the  city.  From 
the  parliamentary  survey  of  1650  we  learn 
that  the  hospital  was  altogether  destroyed 
during  the  siege  of  Carlisle  in  1645,  and  that 
the  churchyard  belonging  to  it  abutted  on  the 
highway  on  the  south  and  east.  Evidences 
of  burial  have  been  found  in  that  district  dur- 
ing the  last  century.  The  whole  site  is  now 
covered  with  streets  and  modern  dwellings. 

MASTERS  OF  THE  HOSPITAL  OF  ST.  NICHOLAS, 

CARLISLE 

William,  chaplain,  circa  I2OO3 
Robert  son  of  Ralf,  temp.  John  * 
William,  rector,  circa  I24O6 
John,  rector,  circa  1245  * 
Symon,  master,  1270' 
Hugh  de  Cressingham,  1 293-7  8 
Richard  de  Oriell,  custos,  1300" 

Henry  de  Craystok,  master,  appointed  in 
10 


1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  212.     It  is  said 
that  King  Athelstan  endowed  in  936   the  hospital 
of  St.  Leonard,  York,  with  a  thrave  of  corn,  called 
Petercorne,  from  every  plough  in  the  bishopric  of 
York     (Dugdale,    Man.     vi.    608-9).      Certainly 
Bishop  Appleby  issued  a  monition  in    1378   to  his 
subjects  of  Carlisle  not  to  neglect  the  payment  of 
the  blada  sancti  Petri  to   the   same  establishment 
(Carl.   Epis.    Reg.,   Appleby,  f.    306).     A  similar 
mandate  had  been  issued  by  Edward  III.  in  1333 
to  the  sheriffs  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  to 
aid  the  proctors  and   bailiffs  of  the  hospital  of  St. 
Leonard,  York,  in  levying  one  thrave  of  corn  for 
every  plough   in   these  counties  taken  by  virtue  of 
charters  granted  by  former  kings  (Pat.  7  Edw.  III. 
pt.  i.  m.  n). 

2  Ibid.  33  Henry  VIII.  pt.  ix.  mm.  11-5  ;  L.and 
P.  Hen.  Vlll.  xvi.  878  (i  i). 

3  Reg.  of  tVetherhal  (C-amb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.),  1 14. 

*  Plac.  de  S>uo  Warr.  (Rec.  Com.),  122. 
6  Reg.  ofWetherhal  (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.),  276. 

6  Ibid.  176-9.          '  Ibid.  l8o-I. 

8  Pat.  21  Edw.  I.  m.  13. 

9  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  46. 

10  Pat.  31  Edw.  I.  m.  17.     It  is  stated   in   the 


John  de  Crosseby,  1309-27  " 
Thomas  de  Wederhale,  temp.  Edw.  II. 

confirmed  in  1327  12 
Ralf  Chevaler,  1328" 
William  de  Northwell,  1332" 
Thomas  de  Goldyngton,  1  334" 
John  de  Appleby,  1369" 
William  de  Cotyngham,  1380,"  resigned 

in  1388 
Nicholas  de  Lodal,  warden,  1388,"  re- 

signed in  1389 

John  de  Grysedale,  warden,  1389  19 
William    Hayton,    clerk,    resigned    in 


John  Canonby,  1423  20 
John  de  Thorpe,  last  independent  mas- 
ter, circa  1477  al 


13.     THE    HOSPITAL    OF    ST. 
SEPULCHRE,  CARLISLE 

This  hospital  appears  to  have  been  a  vigor- 
ous institution  in  the  thirteenth  century,22  but 
very  little  is  known  of  its  later  history.  At  a 
date  between  1309  and  1327  John  de  Crosseby, 
'  mestre  del  Hospital  de  Seynt  Nicolas  dehors 
Kardoil,'  sent  a  petition  to  the  king  in  council 
on  behalf  of  John  de  la  More  and  John  de 
Boulton,  brothers  of  the  hospitals  of  St. 
Nicholas  and  St.  Sepulchre,  about  certain  ar- 
rearages due  to  the  Crown  from  the  demesne 
lands  in  the  suburb  of  Carlisle  leased  to  them 
by  Henry  III.23 

letters  patent  that  the  office  was  vacant  through 
the  death  of  Cressingham,  an  event  which  took 
place  in  1297. 

11  Ibid.  2  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.   17.     This  master 
was  instrumental   in   the  rebuilding   (refeccione)  of 
the   chapel  of  the    hospital    in    1319   (Close,    13 
Edw.  II.  m.  21),  and  caused  John  de   Culgayth, 
rector  of  a  moiety  of  Bampton,  to  be  arrested   in 
1310    for   the    non-payment  of   his   dues    (Carl. 
Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  138). 

12  Pat.  i  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  22. 

13  Ibid.  2  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  4  ;  3  Edw.  III. 
pt.  i.  m.  37. 

4  Ibid.  6  Edw.  III.pt.  ii.  m.  1 8. 
18  Ibid.  7  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  3.  In  1342  it  is 
said  that  he,  described  as  medicus,  passed  into  Scot- 
land with  Johan  le  Spicer  of  Carlisle  to  give  medi- 
cal aid  to  the  king's  enemies  (Pat.  1 6  Edw.  III. 
pt.  ii.  m.  28d). 

16  Dugdale,  Man.  vi.  757. 

17  Pat.  4  Ric.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  26. 

18  Ibid.  1 1  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  20. 

19  Ibid.  12  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  4. 
10  Ibid,  i  Hen.  VI.  pt.  ii.  m.  4. 
21  Ibid.  17  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  16. 

33  Inq.  p.m.  3 1  Hen.  III.  No.  25  ;  34  Hen.  III. 
No.  46. 
33  Anct.  Petitions,  No.  1949. 


203 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


14.    THE    HOSPITAL    OF    ST. 
LEONARD,  WIGTON1 

This  house  had  property  in  Waverton  at 
an  early  date,  for  it  is  mentioned  in  a  charter 
of  Lambert  son  of  Gillestephen  of  Waverton 
that  the  land  of  the  hospital  was  situated  on 
the  east  side  of  the  vill.2  When  the  chantries 
were  dissolved  in  1546,  George  Lancaster 
was  incumbent  of  the  hospital  of  St.  Leonard, 
Wigton.3 


caster)  was  unable  to  pay  the  assessment    as 
the  land  belonging  to  it  lay  uncultivated." 

1 6.     THE     HOSPITAL     HOUSE     OF 
CALDBECK 

Gospatric  son  of  Orm  gave  this  hospital 
(hospitalem  domum  de  Caldebech)  with  the  church 
of  that  place  to  the  priory  of  Carlisle  8  some 
time  before  1170. 


15.   THE    HOSPITAL    OF    LENNH', 
BEWCASTLE 

The  collectors  of  the  tenth,  given  by  the 
clergy  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  in  1294  to 
Edward  I.  for  the  Holy  Land,  refer  to  this 
house  and  reported  that  the  hospital  of  Lennh' 
in  Bewcastle  (Hospitale  de  Lennh1  in  Bothe- 


17.     THE    HOUSE    OF     ST.     JOHN, 
KESWICK 

The  house  of  St.  John  (domus  sancti  "Johan- 
nis)  existed  either  as  a  hospital  or  hermitage 
in  the  early  years  of  the  thirteenth  century  7 
and  has  bequeathed  its  name  to  the  vale  of 
St.  John  near  Keswick. 


COLLEGES 


1 8.     THE  COLLEGE  OF  GREY- 
STOKE 

The  district  served  by  the  collegiate  church 
of  Greystoke  ranks  third  in  the  list  of  the  ex- 
tensive parishes  in  Cumberland,  the  civil 
parishes  of  St.  Bees  and  Crosthwaite  being 
considerably  larger.  The  church  occupies  a 
picturesque  corner  of  Greystoke  Park  near  to 
the  gates  of  the  castle  on  the  eastern  side  of 
the  parish,  close  to  the  boundary  of  the  parish 
of  Dacre.  It  contains  two  ancient  chapelries, 
Threlkeld  on  the  west  side  of  the  parish  and 
Watermillock  on  the  south  towards  the  lake 
of  Ulleswater.  The  area  of  the  whole  dis- 
trict is  over  48,000  acres.  In  1291  the 
church  of  Greystoke,  valued  at  ^120,*  was 
the  richest  parochial  institution  in  the  diocese 
of  Carlisle. 

When  the  fashion  of  founding  collegiate 
churches  was  introduced  into  Cumberland,  a 
start  was  not  made  with  the  church  of  Grey- 

1  At  one  time  hospitals  such  as  this  and  those 
following  must  have  been  numerous  in  Cumber- 
land, for  near  to  many  villages  the  name  of  Spittal, 
the  usual  term  in  the  vernacular  for  hospital,  still 
survives  to  remind  us  that  some  such  institution 
once  occupied  that  site  though  all  record  of  it  has 
been  lost.  Nothing  has  been  discovered  to  show 
the  nature  of  these  institutions,  but  it  may  be 
taken  that  in  them  some  provision  was  made  to 
isolate  cases  of  endemic  disease  or  to  supply  the 
wants  of  the  poor  or  to  afford  shelter  to  the  desti- 
tute. 

"  Reg.  of  Holmcultram, MS.  f.  73. 

3  Aug.  Off.  Chant.  Cert.  No.  12. 

<  Pope  Ni(t>.  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  3  20. 


stoke.  The  credit  of  the  first  attempt  was  due 
to  Sir  Robert  Parvyng,  the  well  known  chan- 
cellor of  Edward  III.,  who  owned  consider- 
able property  in  the  county.  Though  his 
foundation  at  Melmerby  was  never  com- 
pleted, mention  may  be  made  of  the  prelim- 
inary steps  taken  with  that  intent,  inasmuch 
as  they  furnish  us  with  some  very  interesting 
features  of  collegiate  institutions  at  an  early 
period  of  their  history.  In  1342  Sir  Robert 
entered  into  negotiations  with  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities  for  the  purpose  of  transforming  the 
parish  church  of  Melmerby  into  a  college  of 
eight  priests,  one  of  whom,  Richard  de  Cal- 
decote,  was  designated  the  custos  or  master. 
The  fragmentary  record8  of  the  proposed 

»  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  f.  278. 

6  Dugdale,  Man.  vi.  144. 

'  Reg.  of  Fountains  Abbey  (Cott.  MS.  Tib.  C, 
xii.),  f.  78b. 

s  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Kirkby,  MS.  f.  459.  The 
deed,  as  recorded  in  the  episcopal  register,  ends 
abruptly  without  apparent  cause,  but  it  is  un- 
doubtedly authentic,  for  on  4  May  1342  Robert 
Parvyng  had  licence  from  the  king  for  the  aliena- 
tion in  mortmain  of  the  advowson  of  Melmerby 
to  certain  chaplains  to  celebrate  divine  offices  in 
that  church  and  for  its  appropriation  by  the  chap- 
lains (Pat.  1 6  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  7).  It  may  be 
taken  that  the  scheme  was  abortive  owing  to  the 
death  of  Sir  Robert  in  the  following  year  and  the 
division  of  his  property  among  grandchildren 
(Inq.  p.m.  1 7  Edw.  III.  ser.  i.  No.  48).  The 
proposed  institution  was  described  as  a  college  or 
chantry,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  former 
was  intended  :  a  chaplaincy  in  a  collegiate  church 
was  frequently  described  as  a  chantry. 


204 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


foundation  supplies  us  with  the  particulars  of 
the  institution  in  contemplation.  One  mes- 
suage and  an  oxgang  of  land  in  Melmerby 
together  with  the  advowsons  of  the  rectories 
of  Melmerby  and  Skelton  were  assigned  for 
the  support  of  the  college.  In  the  former 
parish  the  master  was  to  be  responsible  for 
the  cure  of  souls,  but  in  the  latter  a  vicar  was 
to  be  appointed.  No  member  of  the  college 
could  be  removed  by  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
except  for  reasonable  cause,  and  all  chaplains 
were  subject  to  the  master.  The  founder 
strictly  reserved  to  himself  and  his  heirs  the 
rights  of  patronage.  It  was  arranged  that 
the  master  and  chaplains  should  repair  daily 
in  the  morning  (aurora)  or  at  sunrise  to  the 
church  of  Melmerby,  vested  in  surplice,  amice, 
and  black  cope,  and  sing  the  Canonical  Hours 
devoutly  and  distinctly,  viz.  matins  and  prime 
according  to  the  use  of  Sarum  ;  which  done, 
immediately  without  pause,  the  mass  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  should  be  celebrated  cum  nota 
by  one  of  the  chaplains  ;  then  two  chaplains 
by  the  direction  of  the  master  should  cele- 
brate two  masses  at  the  altar  of  St.  Nicholas, 
one  a  mass  of  St.  Nicholas,  and  the  other  a 
mass  of  St.  Margaret.  In  this  abortive  at- 
tempt to  found  the  college,  licences  were 
sought  from  the  king,  the  bishop  and  chapter 
of  Carlisle,  and  Thomas  de  Blith,  rector  of 
Melmerby,  but  there  is  no  evidence  to  show 
why  the  foundation  was  not  completed,  ex- 
cept that  Sir  Robert  Parvyng  died  in  1343, 
the  year  after  the  proposal  was  made. 

A  similar  incident  attended  the  next  at- 
tempt to  found  a  collegiate  church  in  Cum- 
berland, though  the  scheme  was  ultimately 
successful.  In  1358  Lord  William  de  Grey- 
stoke  proposed  to  change  the  rectory  of  Grey- 
stoke  into  a  college  with  a  master  or  custos 
and  chaplains,  and  obtained  a  licence  from 
the  Crown  to  bestow  the  advowson  of  the 
church  and  certain  lands  and  tenements  in 
Newbiggin  on  the  new  foundation.1  Bishop 
Welton  of  Carlisle  gave  his  sanction  and 
confirmed  the  appointment  of  the  rector, 
Richard  de  Hoton  Roof,  to  be  the  master, 
and  Andrew  de  Briscoe,  Richard  de  Bramp- 
ton,  William  de  Wanthwaite,  Robert  de 
Threlkeld  and  William  de  Hill,  to  be  the 
chaplains.2  The  scheme,  however,  was  car- 
ried no  further  at  that  time  owing  to  the 
death  of  Lord  Greystoke  in  July  1359,  and 
the  minority  of  the  heir.3 

1  Orig.  R.  32  Edw.  III.  m.  25. 

2  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist.  ofCumb.  ii.  362. 

3  Inq.  p.m.  33  Edw.  III.  ser.  i.  No.  43.     That 
the  scheme  was   not  completed  at   the  death   of 
Lord  Greystoke  is  certain,   for  Richard  de  Hoton 
was  rector,  and  not  master  or  custos,  in  1361  when 


Soon  after  Ralf,  Lord  Greystoke,  came  of 
age,  the  scheme  for  founding  the  college  was 
revived.  In  1374  the  licence  granted  to 
Lord  William,  his  father,  was  renewed  to 
him  *  by  Edward  III.,  but  many  difficulties 
had  to  be  surmounted  before  the  foundation 
was  brought  to  a  successful  issue.  Lord 
Greystoke  appealed  to  Bishop  Appleby  of 
Carlisle  in  January  1377-8,  alleging  that  the 
church  of  which  he  was  patron  was  wealthy  ; 
that  in  the  absence  of  the  rector  the  church 
was  badly  served  and  the  sick  were  not 
properly  visited ;  and  that  in  consequence 
the  parishioners  were  not  as  devout  as  they 
should  be.  The  bishop  issued  a  commission, 
composed  almost  equally  of  clerics  and  lay- 
men, which  made  a  report  on  the  local  con- 
ditions. It  was  found  after  inquiry  that  the 
church  was  valued  at  £100,  or  £80  after 
taking  away  all  deductions  ;  that  it  was  served 
by  one  parochial  chaplain  and  his  parish  clerk 
(clericum  aquebajulum)  in  the  parish  church, 
and  by  another  chaplain  and  his  clerk  in  the 
chapel  of  Watermillock  (Wethirmelok),  three 
miles  distant  from  the  mother  church,  and  by 
another  chaplain  and  his  clerk  in  Threlkeld, 
four  miles  distant ;  and  that  the  parish  of 
Greystoke,  though  it  was  extensive,  being 
seven  miles  long  and  four  miles  broad,  was 
thus  served  from  time  immemorial.6  The 
report  was  apparently  not  satisfactory  to  the 
bishop,  for  in  April  1379  he  issued  another 
commission  with  substantially  the  same  refer- 
ence. After  the  second  inquiry  it  was  re- 
ported that  the  church  was  rich,  though  not 
so  rich  as  of  old ;  the  revenues  were  on  the 
decrease  rather  than  the  increase  ;  that  the 
value  was  £100,  though  it  was  once  £120  ; 
that  the  said  church  used  to  be  ruled  by 
three  chaplains  and  three  clerks,  and  that  it 
was  at  that  time  so  served ;  and  that  it  could 
not  be  on  account  of  the  size  of  the  parish 
or  the  fewness  of  the  ministers  that  the 
parishioners  were  spiritually  neglected,  as  the 

he  had  the  king's  pardon  for  acquiring  lands  and 
tenements  in  Greystoke  without  licence  (Orig.  R. 
35  Edw.  III.  m.  49).  His  nuncupative  will  was 
proved  on  22  January  1365—6,  by  which  he  be- 
queathed his  body  to  be  buried  in  the  churchyard 
of  Greystoke,  and  made  certain  dispositions  by 
way  of  settlement  with  his  successor  for  dilapida- 
tions in  the  choir  of  the  church  and  houses  of  the 
rectory  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  145). 

*  Orig.  R.  48  Edw.  III.  m.  33.  The  licence 
was  again  renewed  by  Richard  II.  on  6  December 
1377,  in  which  the  two  former  licences  were  con- 
firmed. The  decease  of  William,  Lord  Grey- 
stoke, is  stated  to  have  been  the  cause  of  delay  in 
the  first  instance  as  the  alienation  was  incomplete 
when  he  died  (Pat.  I  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  10). 

5  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  ff.  306-7. 


205 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


parish  and  the  ministry  were  constituted  then 
as  of  old  ;  yet  it  would  be  to  the  greater  glory 
of  God  if  the  number  of  ministering  clergy 
was  increased  ;  and  that  the  revenues  were 
able  to  sustain  a  provost  and  five  chaplains  at 
the  parish  church  as  well  as  the  chaplains  at 
Watermillock  and  Threlkeld.1  Notwith- 
standing all  these  negotiations,  nothing  more 
appears  to  have  been  done  for  two  or  three 
years.* 

The  bishop  and  the  patron  were  not 
turned  from  their  purpose  by  the  continued 
opposition  to  the  scheme,  for  the  college  was 
formally  founded  in  1382.  When  all  the 
preliminaries  were  arranged  Bishop  Appleby 
sent  a  mandate  to  the  parochial  chaplain  of 
Greystoke  and  to  the  chaplains  of  Threl- 
keld and  Watermillock,  calling  their  atten- 
tion to  the  great  defects  in  the  nave  of  the 
parish  church,  its  stone  walls,  wood  work, 
fittings,  and  glass  windows,  and  to  the 
ruinous  condition  of  the  tower  (campanile 
eiusdem  totaltter  ruit  ad  terram),  and  setting 
them  a  time  for  their  repair.  He  had  heard 
also  at  his  recent  visitation  that  certain  of  the 
parishioners  were  frequenting  the  chapels  of 
Threlkeld  and  Watermillock  for  divine 
offices,  and  were  refusing  to  pay  their  por- 
tions to  the  maintenance  of  the  mother 
church.  It  was  intimated  to  them  that  all 
the  inhabitants  were  obliged  to  contribute  or 
incur  the  usual  penalty.3  On  the  petition 
of  Ralf,  Lord  Greystoke,  setting  forth  the 
urgent  need  of  the  new  foundation,  Pope 
Urban  issued  the  necessary  faculties  in  May 
1382  for  the  erection  of  a  college  of  seven 
perpetual  chaplains,  and  Archbishop  Nevill  of 
York,  his  legate,  completed  the  work.  Gil- 
bert Bowet  was  constituted  the  first  master 
or  keeper  of  the  perpetual  college  of  Grey- 
stoke, and  to  the  six  chantries  other  appoint- 
ments were  made  :  John  Lake,  of  the  diocese 
of  Lichfield,  to  the  chantry  of,  the  altar  of  St. 
Andrew  ;  Thomas  Chambirleyne,  of  the 
diocese  of  Norwich,  to  the  chantry  of  St. 
Mary  the  Virgin  ;  John  Alve,  of  the  diocese 
of  York,  to  the  chantry  of  St.  John  the 
Baptist  ;  Richard  Barwell,  of  the  diocese  of 

1  On  12  February  1379-80,  the  rector,  John 
de  Claston,  had  leave  to  absent  himself  for  two 
years  and  to  farm  the  cure  during  that  period 
(Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  3  2 1 ).  It  seems  that 
William  Eston  acted  as  his  substitute,  for  he  was 
returned  as  the  rector  of  Greystoke  for  the  clerical 
subsidy  granted  to  Richard  II.  in  the  second  year 
of  his  reign,  the  value  of  the  benefice  having  been 
returned  at  £40  and  the  tax  at  £1  (Clerical  Sub- 
sidies, $f-,  dioc.  of  Carlisle). 

1  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  f.  342. 

a  Ibid.  ff.  309-10. 


Lincoln,  to  the  chantry  of  St.  Katharine  the 
Virgin  ;  Robert  de  Newton,  of  the  diocese  of 
Lichfield,  to  the  chantry  of  St.  Thomas  the 
Martyr  ;  and  John  de  Hare,  of  the  diocese  of 
York,  to  the  chantry  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Peter 
and  St.  Paul.4  The  master  and  chantry 
priests  were  bound  in  canonical  obedience  to 
the  Bishop  of  Carlisle.  Not  one  of  the  first 
collegiate  staff  was  drawn  from  the  diocese, 
except  Gilbert  Bowet,  the  master,  who  had 
been  chaplain  there  from  1365  till  the 
foundation  of  the  college.8  The  patronage 
of  the  new  establishment  in  head  and 
members  was  retained  in  the  house  of  Grey- 
stoke.6 

The  relationship  of  the  college  to  the 
chapelry  of  Threlkeld  was  the  subject  of  an 
ordination  or  award  (laudum)  made  by 
Bishop  Lumley  of  Carlisle  in  1431.  As 
discord  had  arisen  between  the  rector  or 
master  and  chaplains,  fellows  (consocios)  or 
chantry  priests  (cantaristas)  of  the  collegiate 
or  parochial  church  of  Greystoke  on  the  one 
part  and  Sir  Henry  Threlkeld  and  the  tenants 
of  the  vill  or  lordship  of  Threlkeld  on  the 
other,  about  the  appointment  of  a  chaplain 
or  chaplains  successively  in  the  church  or 
chapel  of  Threlkeld,  which  is  dependent  on 
the  said  church  of  Greystoke,  and  about  the 
manner  of  tithing  corn  and  hay  and  other 
fruits  within  the  vill  of  Threlkeld,  the  whole 
dispute  was  placed  in  the  bishop's  hands  at 
his  personal  visitation  of  the  diocese  in  the 
collegiate  church  of  Greystoke  on  26  Sep- 
tember 1431,  and  both  parties  undertook  to 
abide  by  his  award.  It  was  decided  by  the 
bishop  that  Sir  Henry  Threlkeld  and  his 
heirs  after  him,  with  the  consent  of  their 
tenants,  should  nominate  the  chaplain, 
within  one  month  after  the  time  of  vacation, 
to  the  rector  or  master  and  chaplains  of  the 
college,  and  if  they  found  him  fit  and  able  to 
celebrate  divine  offices  and  to  minister  the 
sacraments  and  sacramentals,  they  should 
admit  him  within  six  days  to  the  chaplaincy  ; 
but  if  they  considered  him  unfit  or  unable 
they  should  send  him  to  the  bishop  or  his 
official  for  fuller  examination.  If  the  bishop 
found  the  nominee  unfit,  it  should  be  lawful 
for  the  master,  with  the  consent  of  the 
chaplains  or  chantry  priests,  for  this  one  turn 
to  nominate  a  fit  person  to  the  bishop  within 
ten  days  from  the  rejection  of  the  former  can- 
didate ;  otherwise  the  nomination  for  that 

«  Ibid.  f.  343. 

»  Ibid.  ff.  145-6  ;  Clerical  Subsidies,  f,  dioc.  of 
Carlisle. 

«  Cat.  of  Inq.  p.m.  Hen.  Vll.  i.  109  ;  Inq. 
p.m.  9  Hen.  VIII.  Nos.  32-8. 


206 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


turn  only  should  pertain  to  the  bishop,  future 
nominations  remaining  with  Sir  Henry 
Threlkeld  and  his  heirs.  It  was  also 
ordained  that  the  college  of  Greystoke  should 
receive  all  the  tithes  of  Threlkeld  except 
tithes  of  corn  and  hay  together  with  the 
oblations  due  and  accustomed  ;  that  the 
inhabitants  should  pay  to  the  chaplain 
celebrating  in  the  chapel  £3  ijs.  in  dicem 
denariis  at  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  ad  vincula 
and  Michaelmas  in  lieu  of  the  tithes  of  corn 
and  hay,  whether  the  land  was  cultivated  or 
not  ;  and  that  the  college  should  allow  the 
chaplain  a  yearly  stipend  of  I2s.  sterling  over 
and  above  the  sum  contributed  by  the 
inhabitants.1 

When  the  ecclesiastical  survey  was  taken 
in  1535,  the  total  value  of  the  rectory  and 
college  was  set  down  as  ^82  14*.,  out  of 
which  the  master  was  obliged  to  pay 
£4.2  6s.  8d.  in  pensions,  synodals  and  pro- 
curations to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  and  in 
stipends  of  the  chaplains.  Each  chantry 
priest  received  an  annual  allowance  of 
£3  6s.  8d.  for  victuals,  and  a  like  sum  in 
money  for  private  use,  at  the  hands  of  the 
master  of  the  college.' 

In  pursuance  of  the  Act  of  Parliament 
(i  Edw.  VI.  cap.  14)  for  the  dissolution  of 
chantries,  the  king  issued  a  commission,  dated 
at  Westminster  on  14  February  1547-8, 
'  for  thenquyrie,  survey  and  examynacon  of 
all  colleges,  chauntries,  frechappelles,  frater- 
nyteis,  guyldes,  stipendaries,  priestes,  and 
other  spirituall  promocons' within  the  county 
of  Cumberland  '  whiche  are  geven  and  oughte 
to  come  unto  his  highnes.'  From  the  sur- 
vey we  learn  that  there  were  3,000  '  hows- 
linge  people '  in  the  parish  of  Greystoke,  and 
that  the  '  colledge  in  the  parish  churche 
there '  was  '  off  the  foundacon  of  one  Urbane, 
bishoppe  of  Rome,  at  the  peticon  of  one 
Rafe,  baron  of  Graystocke,  auncestor  to  the 
lorde  Dacre  that  nowe  is.'  John  Dacre, 
clerk,  of  the  age  of  forty  years,  was  the  mas- 
ter, and  had  for  his  annual  salary  ,£40  '  over 
and  besides  £61  in  other  places.'3  It  is  also 

1  Carl.    Epis.    Reg.,    Smith,    ff.    364-9.     A 
notarial   copy  of  this  deed  was  entered  in  Bishop 
Smith's  register  on    27   July  1698,   by  desire  of 
Archdeacon  Nicolson,  from  the  original  in  posses- 
sion of  Lord  Lonsdale. 

2  Valor  Ecd.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  287. 

3  In  July   1526  the    churches   of  Folkton,   in 
the  diocese  of  York,  and  Wemme,  in  the  diocese 
of  Coventry  and  Lichfield,  were  united   during 
the  incumbency  of  John  Dacre,  LL.B.,  of  noble 
birth  (L.  and  P.  Hen.   Vlll.   iv.    2360).     Dacre 
can  have  been  only  about   nineteen   years   of  age 
at  that  time.     Perhaps  this  young  sprig  of  no- 


stated  that  <  James  Beamont,  of  th'age  of  80 
yeares,  George  Atkinson  of  th'age  of  56 
yeres,  Anthony  Garnett  and  Lancelot  Levyns 
of  th'age  of  40  yeres,  Edwarde  Elwood  of 
th'age  of  50  yeres,  and  John  Dawson  of 
th'age  of  58  yeres,4  have  every  of  them 
yerely  for  his  salarie,  over  and  besides  £26 
wch  James  Beamont  hath  in  other  places, 
£3  6s.  8d.  besides  their  borde  wch  is  in  the 
hole  £20.'  The  lands  and  tenements  be- 
longing to  the  college  were  valued  at  ^84 
igs.  8d.,  from  which  £2  ijs.  lod.  should  be 
deducted  for  reprises,  '  and  so  remayneth 
clere  by  yere  £82  is.  iod.'  The  goods  and 
chattels  were  valued  at  £16  ijs.  8d.  As  a 
postscript  to  the  survey  the  commissioners 
noted  that  '  the  said  John  Dacre,  master 
there,  is  also  parson  and  hath  no  vycare  in- 
dowed,  but  serveth  the  cure  hymselfe.'  5 

When  the  king's  agents  had  seized  the 
chantries,  the  valuation  of  the  college  of 
Greystoke  was  returned  at  £78  141.  From 
the  notes  added  to  the  new  survey  we  may 
gather  that  there  was  some  doubt  in  the 
minds  of  the  commissioners  about  the  legality 
of  their  proceedings  in  seizing  the  property  of 
this  college.  To  the  schedule  of  pensions, 
in  which  the  annual  sum  of  £19  was  assigned 
to  the  master,  that  is,  somewhat  less  than  half 
of  his  stipend,  and  £5  to  each  of  the  chaplains, 
the  following  memorandum  was  appended  : 
'Forasmuch  as  the  title  of  this  colleage  is 
supposed  doubtefull,  respect  the  pencions  un- 
till  it  be  examyned  in  the  court.'  It  is  odd 
that  it  was  to  the  college  of  Greystoke,  and 
not  as  an  appendix  to  the  whole  survey,  that 
the  commissioners  affixed  this  observation  : 
'In  all  whych  colleges,  chauntryes,  fre- 
chappelles, guyldes,  fraternytyes,  stypend- 
aryes,  ther  ys  no  precher  founde,.  grammar 
scole  taught,  nor  pore  people  relevyd,  as  yn 
ther  severall  certyfycates  yt  doth  appere.'  It 

bility  may  be  identified  with  the  '  parson  Dakers 
of  St.  Nicholas  Hostell,'  Cambridge,  who  '  hurt 
Christopher,  Mr.  Secretary's  servant,'  in  1530. 
When  the  vice-chancellor  committed  him  to  ward 
he  escaped  from  the  beadle,  '  and  that  night  there 
was  such  a  jetting  in  Cambridge  as  ye  never 
heard  of,  with  such  boyng  and  crying,  even 
against  our  college,  that  all  Cambridge  might  per- 
ceive it  was  in  despite'  of  the  vice-chancellor.  It 
must  have  been  a  '  town  and  gown  '  row,  for  the 
vice-chancellor  complained  that  it  was  '  made  a 
country  matter  and  greatly  labored '  (ibid.  iv. 
6325). 

*  It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  three  chaplains, 
first  named  in  this  list,  held  respectively  the 
chantries  of  St.  Katharine,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Mary 
the  Virgin,  in  1535  (fabr  Eccl.  [Rec.  Com.}, 
v.  287). 

5  Chant.  Cert.  No.  II,  Cumberland. 


207 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


was  also  reported  that  '  ij  chaples  are  belong- 
ing to  this  colleage  caulled  Watermelike  and 
Threlkett,  thone  distant  vii  myles  and 
thother  vi  myles  from  the  parish  churche.'  * 
When  the  legality  of  seizing  the  rectory  and 
its  profits  on  the  king's  behalf  came  to  be  re- 
viewed in  court,  it  was  argued  by  the  incum- 
bent that  he  was  possessed  by  presentation, 
admission,  institution  and  induction  ;  that  the 
church  was  indeed  made  collegiate,  but  it  was 
by  the  pope's  authority  only  ;  that  they  had 
no  common  seal,  and  therefore  were  not  a 
legal  corporation.  As  judgment  was  given 
against  the  king,  the  church  continued  rec- 
torial and  parochial.  In  reporting  the  case 
Judge  Dyer  laid  stress  upon  the  want  of  a 
common  seal,  but  Lord  Coke  was  of  opinion 
that  the  king's  title  failed  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  church  was  made  collegiate  by  the 
pope's  authority  only  without  the  royal 
assent.2  The  argument  of  the  appellant  and 
the  remarks  of  Lord  Coke  seem  strange  in 
the  light  of  the  letters  patent  of  Edward  III. 
and  Richard  II.,  by  which  the  proposal  to 
found  the  college  of  Greystoke  received  the 
royal  sanction. 

MASTERS  OF  GREYSTOKE 
Gilbert  Bowet,  first  master,  1382 
Richard  Lascy,  1 4 1 2  3 
Adam  de  Aglionby,  1420* 
Richard  Wryght 5 
Thomas  Eglisfelde  8 

1  Chant.  Cert.  No.  12,  Cumberland. 

2  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  363, 
quoting  Dyer's  Reports,  f.  8 1 ,  and  Coke's  Reports,  iv. 
107.     See  also  Tanner,  Notitia  (ed.  1744),  p.  77. 

3  Named   in  a  commission  with  John  de  Burg- 
ham,  rector  of  Melmerby,  and  Robert  de  Bampton, 
vicar  of  Crosby  by  Eden,  to  collect  a  tenth  given 
to  Henry  IV.  by  the  clergy  of  Carlisle,  20  Jan. 
1411—2  (Clerical  Subsidies,  \°,  dioc.  of  Carlisle). 

*  Sued  in  that  year  by  William  Rebanks  and  his 
wife  for  lands  in  Raughton  (Nicolson  and  Burn, 
Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  363).  Aglionby  had  been 
appointed  priest  of  the  chantry  of  St.  Mary  in 
1386  on  the  death  of  Thomas  Chamberlayne 
(Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Appleby,  fo.  359). 

6  In  1704  Bishop  Nicolson  copied  the  follow- 
ing inscription  in  a  window  over  the  south  door 
of  the  choir  :  '  Orate  pro  anima  Ricardi  Wryht 
quondam  magistri  Collegii  de  Graystok  '  (Miscellany 
Accounts,  ed.  Ferguson,  pp.  1 29-30).  As  no  date 
has  been  found,  the  name  is  placed  here  for  con- 
venience. 

6  Commemorated  with  Walter  Readman  on  a 
sepulchral  brass  in  the  choir,  the  inscription  on 
which  was  copied  by  the  Rev.  T.  Lees  about 
1860:  'Hie  jacent  corpora  magistri  Thome 
Eglisfelde  et  Walteri  Readman  veritatis  professoris 
quondam  huius  collegii  prepositorum.  Qui  Wal- 
terus  obiit  iiij°  die  Novembris  Anno  domini 


Walter   Readman,  S.T.P.    1507,*  died  in 

1509" 

William   Husband,    1509,°    1518 10 
John  Whelpdale,  died   in    1526" 
John  Dacre,  last  master,  I535,12   I54713 


19.    THE  COLLEGE  OF  KIRK- 
OSWALD 

The  collegiate  church  of  Kirkoswald, 
situated  in  the  Eden  valley  about  fourteen 
miles  to  the  south  of  Carlisle,  was  of  late 
foundation  and  only  existed  for  about  twenty- 
five  years  before  it  was  dissolved.  It  served 

M°  ccccc"  ix°.  Quorum  animabus  propicietur 
Deus.'  Browne  Willis  set  down  the  date  of 
Eglisfelde's  mastership  about  1440  (Tanner, 
Notitia,  app.  of  edition,  1744),  but  from  his  asso- 
ciation with  Readman  on  the  brass  the  date  must 
be  considerably  later.  He  seems  to  have  been 
Readman's  immediate  predecessor. 

7  One  of  the    executors    of    Roger    Leyburn, 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  under  his  will,  dated   17  July 
1 507 ;    appointed   by  the    dean    and   chapter   of 
York   to  collect    the   bishop's  goods    (Test.   Ebor. 
Surtees  Soc.  iv.  262—3). 

8  Memorial  brass  given  above. 

9  For    the     term,    Michaelmas    1509-10,    the 
registrar  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle  accounted  to  the 
bishop  for  I  y.  $d.  '  de   institutione  domini  Wil- 
helmi     Husbande    ad    ecclesiam    collegiatam     de 
Graistok '  (MS.  in  diocesan  registry). 

10  Jefferson,  Ltath  Ward,  p.  360.    If  Jefferson's 
date  is  correct,  this  was  the   master  of  Greystoke 
sent  by  Thomas,  Lord  Dacre,  into  Scotland  on  8 
Aug.  1516,  to  levy  the  queen's   feoffment  (Ellis, 
Orig.  Letters,  first  ser.  i.  1 33  ;  L.  and  P.  Hen.  Vlll. 
ii.  2293). 

Ll  On  the  floor  in  the  south  transept  there  is  a 
memorial  brass  plate  containing  a  half  length 
figure  of  a  doctor  of  laws,  clad  in  gown  and  fur 
tippet  with  the  arms  of  Whelpdale — three  grey- 
hounds current  in  pale  and  collared — on  either 
side  of  the  inscription  :  '  Orate  pro  anima  Johan- 
nis  Whelpdall,  legum  doctoris,  magistri  Collegii  de 
Graystok  et  rectoris  de  Caldebek  qui  obiit  viij° 
Julii  anno  domini  1526.'  Around  the  head  of 
the  east  window  of  Caldbeck  church  there  runs 
a  Latin  legend  that  John  Whelpdale  '  hoc  opus 
fieri  fecit.'  Care  should  be  taken  to  discriminate 
between  two  rectors  of  Caldbeck  of  that  name. 
The  younger  succeeded  the  elder  in  that  church 
in  1488. 

12  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  287. 

13  Chant.    Cert.    (Cumb.),   Nos.   ii,   12.     In 
the    church    there    is    a    through-stone    bearing 
the  inscription  :  'J.D.P.G.  anno  domini    1557.' 
The  initials  seem  to  mean   '  John   Dacre,  provost 
of  Greystoke,'  as  if  he  had  resumed  his  old  title  in 
Queen  Mary's  reign.     He   conformed  to   all  the 
ritual    changes    during  the    first  years   of  Queen 
Elizabeth  and   died   in    1567   (Carl.   Epis.  Reg., 
Best,  fo.  22). 


208 


RELIGIOUS    HOUSES 


as  the  parish  church  for  an  area  of  11,000 
acres.  Though  the  instrument  of  ordination 
cannot  be  traced,  there  is  evidence  enough  to 
show  that  the  institution  was  founded  by 
Thomas,  Lord  Dacre,  who  died  in  1525.  The 
value  of  the  benefice  before  the  church  was 
made  collegiate  was  taxed  at  ^48  is.  $d.  in 
1291,*  and  at  £5  in  131 8,2  owing  to  the 
devastation  of  the  Scottish  wars.  In  i486,3 
on  the  death  of  Lord  Dacre,  the  advowson 
was  declared  to  be  appurtenant  to  the  manor 
and  to  belong  to  Thomas,  his  son  and  heir, 
at  that  time  eighteen  years  of  age. 

In  the  ecclesiastical  survey  of  1535  the 
college  is  called  '  the  rectory  and  college  of 
Kyrkowswald  and  Dacre,'  and  the  superior  is 
styled  '  the  master  or  provost  of  the  collegiate 
church  of  St.  Oswald  of  Kyrkoswald  and 
Dacre.'  The  college  was  endowed  with  the 
advowsons  and  fruits  of  the  associated  churches 
of  Kirkoswald  and  Dacre,  both  of  which 
were  in  the  patronage  of  the  Dacre  family. 
The  foundation  consisted  of  a  master  or  pro- 
vost and  five  chaplains,  together  with  two 
perpetual  vicars  for  the  pastoral  oversight  of 
the  parishes.4  The  total  value  was  assessed 
at  £78  i6s.  6d.y  out  of  which  several  pay- 
ments were  due  in  rents,  stipends  and  pen- 
sions. The  perpetual  vicars  of  Kirkoswald 
and  Dacre  received  individually  a  stipend  of 
j£8  a  year,  and  each  of  the  five  chaplains 
,£6  13*.  4^,  After  all  outgoings  were 
deducted,  there  remained  ^27  17$.  for  the 
stipend  of  the  master,  £4  of  which  was 
in  dispute  between  the  college  and  the  Bishop 
of  Carlisle.  The  names  of  the  collegiate 
staff  were  John  Hering,  LL.D.,  master  or 
provost ;  Thomas  Moyses,  perpetual  vicar  ot 
the  church  of  Kirkoswald  ;  Thomas  Langrig, 
perpetual  vicar  of  Dacre,  and  John  Scailes, 
Roland  Dawson,  John  Blencarne,  Peter 
Levyns,  and  William  Lowthyan,  perpetual 
chaplains  of  the  college.6  The  patronage  of 
the  college  in  head  and  members  belonged  to 
Lord  Dacre. 

The  advisers  of  Edward  VI.  were  a  little 
too  precipitate  in  their  attempt  to  dissolve  this 
college  under  the  authority  of  the  Act  of  37 
Henry  VIII.  cap.  4.  On  19  April  1547 
they  despatched  letters  to  Rowland  Threlkeld 
(Thirkeld),  the  provost,  intimating  the  altera- 

1  Pope 'Nub.  Tax.  (Rec.  Com.),  320. 

»  Ibid.  333. 

»  Cal.  Inq.p.m.  Hen.  VII.  \.  157. 

4  The  editors  of  Dugdale's  Monasticon,  vi.  1450, 
were  misled  by  Tanner  (Notitia,p.  78)  and  Nicol- 
son  and  Burn  (Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  426)  in  supposing 
that  Kirkoswald  was  a  college  of  twelve  secular 
priests  founded  by  Robert  Threlkeld. 

6  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  290-1. 


tion  of  the  college  to  another  use  and  promis- 
ing pensions  of  reasonable  sort  to  the  members. 
On  the  following  day,  when  the  commissioners 
arrived  at  Kirkoswald  and  took  possession,  it 
seems  that  the  provost  refused  to  surrender 
the  house  and  offered  resistance.  There  are 
no  signatures  to  the  deed  of  surrender,6  and 
as  the  impression  of  the  seal  is  broken  and 
very  much  obliterated,  it  is  impossible  to 
say  whether  the  official  seal  of  the  college, 
if  one  existed,  was  used  for  that  purpose. 
Later  on,  8  June,  it  was  intimated  that  the 
privy  council  had  once  resolved  to  have 
punished  the  disobedience  to  the  king's  com- 
missioners and  make  an  example  for  the 
terror  of  others,  but  as  the  members  of  the 
college  were  now  grown  more  manageable 
and  were  bent  on  compliance,  and  seemed 
sorry  for  their  former  stubbornness,  it  was 
thought  fit  to  continue  them  on  the  premises 
till  further  orders  should  be  taken  for  their 
pensions  and  for  the  disposal  of  the  college. 
For  the  present  only  an  inventory  of  the 
goods  should  be  taken.7  In  this  way  a  virtue 
was  made  of  a  necessity  and  the  commis- 
sioners retired  with  as  much  dignity  as  they 
could  under  the  circumstances. 

Under  the  Act  of  i  Edward  VI.  cap.  14 
the  privy  council  was  on  surer  ground.  The 
surveyors  of  chantries  and  colleges,  appointed 
on  14  February  1547-8  by  the  powers  given 
under  the  above  Act,  stated  that  the  parish  of 
'  Kirkeswolde '  contained  500  'howseling 
people,'  and  that  the  '  colledge  in  the  parishe 
churche  there '  was  '  off  the  foundacon  of 
Thomas  late  lorde  Dacres,8  father  of  the 
lorde  Dacres  that  nowe  is.'  The  lands  and 
tenements  belonging  to  the  college  were 
valued  at  £89  IQJ.  <)d.,  and  '  Rowlande 
Threlkelde,  clerke,  provoste  there,  of  th'age 
of  68  yeres,  hathe  yerely  for  his  salarye,  over 
and  besides  £52  in  other  places,  £20* 

Some  of  the  particulars  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  college  are  not  devoid  of  interest.  It 
transpired  that  'one  thowsand  howseling 
people,'  no  doubt  including  the  inhabitants  of 
the  parish  of  Dacre,  were  dependent  on  the 
college,  and  that  there  were  '  too  vycars  in- 
dewyd  in  the  sayd  colledge,  viz.  John  Scoles, 
vycar  ther,  and  Rowlande  Dawson,  serving 
in  the  churche  of  Dacre  appropriate  to  the 

6  Dep.  Keeper's  Rep.  viii.  App.  ii.  25. 

7  Collier,   Eccl.   Hist.   v.    231,   ed.    Lathbury  ; 
Acts  ofP.C.  1547-50,  p.  504. 

8  In  1536,  when  Drs.  Layton  and  Legh  com- 
piled their  celebrated  Black  Book  or  Compendium 
Compertorum,  they  reported  that  '  Dominus  Dakres ' 
was  founder  of  the  college  and  that  its  revenues 
were  worth  £71  (L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  x.  364). 

9  Chant.  Cert.  (Cumberland),  No.  1 1. 


II 


209 


27 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


same  colledge,  eyther  of  theym  having  ,£8 
yerely.'  The  total  revenue  of  the  house  was 
set  down  at  ^£79  195.  6d.,  and  '  so  remayneth 
clere  '  £"]  I  1 9*.  6d.,  after  deducting  j£8  '  for 
the  wages '  of  the  vicar  of  Dacre.  The  net 
stipends  '  whych  the  sayd  incumbents  yerelye 
recevid  for  ther  lyvynges '  were  as  follow : 
'  Roland  Threlkeld,  master  of  the  sayd  col- 
ledge,  for  his  pencion  and  fyndynge  of  the 
howse,  £35  1 9*.  6d.  ;  John  Scalles,  £7  6s.  8d.  ; 
Robert  Thomson,  John  Blenkerne,  Robert 
Redshawe,  William  Lauthean  and  William 
Hayre,  j£6  each.'  The  incumbents  of  the 
two  parishes  were  allowed  to  remain  in  spirit- 
ual charge,  but  the  master  and  five  chaplains 
were  ejected,  the  former  receiving  an  annual 
pension  of  ^17  10;.,  and  each  of  the  latter 

£5-' 

As  the  last  master  of  the  college  was  in 
many  respects  a  remarkable  man,  the  account 
of  him  written  in  1677  by  Richard  Singleton 
may  be  given  here.  In  describing  the  church 
of  Melmerby,  of  which  Roland  Threlkeld 
had  been  rector,  he  says  : — 

The  window  at  the  east  end  of  the  quire  hath  3 
lights,  proportionable  to  the  rest  of  the  building, 
wherin  formerly  hath  been  store  of  curious 
painted  glasse.  In  the  midlemost  of  which  lights 
towards  the  top  ther  is  yet  to  be  seen  a  coat  of 
the  Threlkelds  in  its  colours,  a  maunch  gules  in 
a  ffield  argent :  and  in  the  midst  of  the  uppermost 
part  of  the  maunche  there  is,  I  take  it,  a  trefoil. 
In  the  light  between  the  said  midle  light  and  the 
vestry  hath  been  set  up  or  painted  in  his  gown  and 
cassoke  I  conceive  (not  much  unlike  to  ours  at  this 
day)  one  Rol[and]  Thrfelkeld]  which  is  yet  to  be 
seen  entire  from  his  midle  to  his  feet,  and  his 
right  arme  is  yet  extant,  with  this  inscription 
underneath  at  the  bottom,  in  black  letters  :  '  ®C3tC 

pro  attima  IRolanbt (under  that  these 

words)  JDuftOtV  I  suppose  this  inscription  hath 
gon  all  along  the  bottom  of  the  three  lights  and 
sett  out  all  his  titles,  ffor  report  tells  us,  he  was 
rector  of  Dufton  and  vicar  of  Lazonby  as  well  as 
rector  of  Melmorby  :  he  was  rector  also  of  Haugh- 
ton  in  the  Spring  neer  Duresme  and  prebendary 
of  Carlisle  and  master  of  Kirkoswald  Colledge. 
'Twas  he  that  built  a  bridge  at  Force  mill  for  his 

«  Chant.  Cert.  (Cumberland),  No.  12. 


own  convenience  to  passe  between  Melmoreby  (wher 
he  most  resided)  and  Lazonby.  He  was  not 
married,  nor  did  he  admitt  any  womane  to  manage 
about  his  house,  but  kept  (as  I  have  heard  by 
some)  a  dozen  men,  by  another,  sixteen  men  to 
wait  on  him,  and  for  every  man  he  usually  kild  a 
biefe  at  Martinmasse  time  (pluralities  sure  were 
not  scrupled  then  since  a  man  might  have  enjoyed 
tot  quof). 

From  the  same  narrative2  we  learn  that  while 
master  of  Kirkoswald  he  made  considerable 
additions  to  the  church  of  Melmerby. 

MASTERS  OF  KIRKOSWALD 
John  Hering,  LL.D.  1523,"  1535  4 
Roland  Threlkeld,  last  master,  1539,  I543,5 
1548. 

»  The  MS.,  entitled  'The  Present  State  of  the 
Parish  and  Man'  of  Melmerby  in  Cumberland 
from  Mr.  Singleton,  Rector  there,  and  sent  to  me 
1 9  of  June,  1677.  T[homas]  M[achel],'  is  bound 
up  in  vol.  vi.  of  the  Machel  collection  in  the 
custody  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle.  As 
Singleton's  information  was  only  traditional,  his 
facts  should  be  accepted  with  great  caution. 

3  On  5  December  I5Z3,  Thomas  Lord  Dacrc, 
the  founder  of  the  college,  appointed  Thomas 
Moyses,  one  of  the  five  perpetual  chaplains  in  the 
said  college,  John  Hering  being  at  that  time  '  pro- 
vost of  the  church  of  St.  Oswald,  Kirkoswald' 
(Add.  MS.  24965,  f.  I23b  ;  L.  and  P.  Hen.  nil. 
iii.  3606).  The  college  cannot  have  been  founded 
long  before  this  date. 

«  Valor  Eccl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  290. 

5  Mentioned  in  the  First  Fruits  Composition 
Books  under  1539  and  1543  in  connection  with 
the  college  of  Kirkoswald  ;  rector  of  Halton  in 
Lancashire  in  1542  (Jackson,  Papers  and  Pedigrees, 
ii.  295).  Singleton  confounded  Halton  with 
'  Houghton  in  the  Spring  near  Duresme '  as  afore- 
said. At  the  time  of  his  death  in  1565,  Threlkeld 
was  rector  of  Melmerby  and  Dufton  (Carl.  Epis. 
Reg.,  Best,  f.  21).  By  his  will  proved  at  Carlisle 
on  3  October  1565,  he  made  certain  bequests  to 
poor  people  in  the  parishes  of  Melmerby,  Dufton, 
Halton,  Kirkoswald  and  Lazonby  ;  his  body '  to  be 
buryed  within  the  quere  of  the  parish  church  of 
Melmerby.'  In  his  will  the  ancient  phraseology 
was  maintained  (Jackson,  Papers  and  Pedigrees,  ii. 
306-12). 


210 


MONUMENTAL 
EFFIGIES 


county  of  Cumberland  is  fairly  rich  in  ancient  monumental 
effigies.  Forty-one  are  still  to  be  found  in  twenty-four  churches 
in  the  county.  All  are  described  in  detail  in  this  article.  It 
will  be  seen  that  in  some  instances  there  are  as  many  as  two  or 
more  independent  figures,  while  in  six  churches  the  effigies  of  man  and 
wife  are  lying  side  by  side.  Images  of  warriors  in  mail  armour,  perhaps 
of  the  thirteenth  century,  are  to  be  seen  at  Calder  Abbey,  Dacre,  Laner- 
cost  and  Ousby.  Fourteenth  century  effigies  exist  at  Cumrew,  Croglin, 
Greystoke,  Kirkland,  Kirkoswald,  Great  Salkeld.  Of  fifteenth  century 
date  we  find  specimens  at  Ainstable,  Crosthwaite,  Greystoke,  Millom 
and  Workington.  At  Camerton  we  have  '  Black  Tom '  Curwen,  who 
is  supposed  to  have  died  in  1510.  Others  of  the  sixteenth  century  are 
Sir  Richard  Salkeld  and  Dame  Jane  his  wife  at  Wetheral,  and  Bishop 
Barrow  (possibly)  in  the  cathedral  at  Carlisle.  At  Great  Salkeld  A. 
Hutton  and  his  wife,  1637,  lie  on  altar  tombs  in  the  churchyard,  and  a 
mural  tablet  to  the  memory  of  Thomas  and  Margaret  Bertram  (1609) 
adorns  the  east  wall  of  the  church  of  Kirkoswald. 

The  only  ecclesiastics  are  two  bishops  in  the  cathedral,  and  an 
archdeacon  at  Great  Salkeld.  Civilians  with  their  wives  remain  at 
Crosthwaite  and  Great  Salkeld,  while  knights  with  their  wives  are  at 
Ainstable,  Millom,  Wetheral  and  Workington.  Female  effigies  alone 
are  seven  in  number,  viz.  at  Cumrew,  Croglin,  Kirkoswald,  Milburn, 
Stanwix,  Torpenhow  and  Whitbeck.  Only  two  wooden  effigies  are  in 
existence,  viz.  at  Ousby  and  Millom.  The  small  figures  at  Holme 
Cultram  and  Bowness-on-Solway  are  clearly  fragments  of  altar  tombs. 
Perhaps  the  most  curious  is  the  small  figure  at  Ainstable,  which  is  so 
far  a  puzzle  to  antiquaries. 

AINSTABLE  is  charged  with  the  armorial  bearings  of  the 

I.  An  effigy  of  red  sandstone  of  a  man  in  Aglionby   family,  viz.  argent,  two  bars,  and 

plate  armour  with  shirt  of  mail  showing  at  in  chief  three  martlets  sable.     A  bawdric  of 

the  neck.     Length,  5  feet  6  inches.    The  head  panels  of  quatrefoils    supports  a    dagger    on 

is  bare,  with  a  band  round  the  forehead,  and  the  right  side.     The  arm  defences  consist  of 

rests  on  a  tilting  helmet  with  crest-wreath,  plain   pauldrons,    brassards,    elbow  cops,    and 

but  without  crest.     The  face  has  beard  and  vambraces  of  several  plates.     The   gauntlets 

moustachios.     A    tight    fitting    surcoat  with  are  very  large  (probably  of  leather  faced  with 

escalloped  lower  edge  covers  the  body.     This  steel)  and  perfect,  the  thumbs  and  joints  of 

211 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


the  fingers  being  seen  distinctly.  The  thighs 
are  covered  with  plain  plates  and  the  knees 
have  knee  cops,  also  small  and  plain.  The 
armour  is  of  early  fifteenth  century  date. 
Built  into  the  wall,  close  by  this  effigy,  is 
the  crest  of  the  Aglionbys  (a  demi-eagle  dis- 
played, gold). 

II.  A  lady  with  horned  head-dress  resting 
on  a  pillow.     The  features  are  well  marked 
and  strong.     The  upper  bodice  is  plain  ;  the 
waist  is  encircled  by   a  girdle   with   buckle. 
The  under  garment  is  shown  at  the  wrists 
buttoned  up  the  arms  as  far  as  seen.     The 
hands  are  placed   in   an   attitude  of  prayer  ; 
the   ends  of  the  fingers  are    gone,   but   the 
thumbs  are  visible.     The  feet  are  broken  off. 
Around  the  tomb  is  this  inscription  :  ORATE 

PRO  ANIMA  KATARINE  DENTON  QUE  OBIIT  A  DNI 
M  CCCCXXVIII. 

These  effigies,  representing  John  Aglionby 
and  Katherine  Denton  his  wife,  were  origin- 
ally in  St.  Cuthbert's  Church,  Carlisle,  but 
are  supposed  to  have  been  removed  when  it 
was  rebuilt  in  1778.  Bishop  Nicolson,  in 
his  Miscellany  Accounts  (p.  lOi),  writing  of 
St.  Cuthbert's  Church,  Carlisle,  says :  '  In 
the  north  isle,  over  against  the  middle  win- 
dow (in  which  are  the  Aglionbys'  arms  in 
cross),  lies  a  man  in  armour  with  his  wife  by 
his  side,  and  over  her,  Orate,  etc.  (as  above).' 

III.  A  small  red  sandstone   effigy  3   feet 
long,  now  in  the  chancel  of  Ainstable  Church. 
The  figure  is  clad  in  a  loose  robe  or  surcoat, 
and  the  feet  rest  on  a  dog.    The  head,  which 
has  been  covered  with  a  mitre  or  cap,  pos- 
sibly a  bascinet,   is  much  broken.     On   the 
breast,  suspended  by  a  band  round  the  neck, 
is  a  heater-shaped  shield 1  charged  with  a  fret, 
probably  for  Salkeld. 

BOWNESS-ON-SOLWAY 

Built  into  the  wall  of  the  rector's  stable 
is  a  red  sandstone  headless  trunk  of  an  ecclesi- 
astic wearing  a  chasuble  and  holding  a  book. 
The  portion  which  remains  of  the  original 
effigy  is  2  feet  long  by  i  foot  6  inches  broad. 

CARLISLE  CATHEDRAL 
I.  The  effigy,  which  is  of  Purbeck  marble, 
is  now  in  an  arch  in  the  north  aisle  on  the 
floor.  It  was  placed  in  this  arch  in  1856, 
at  the  time  of  the  restoration  of  the  cathedral, 
and  it  only  goes  into  it  owing  to  the  fact  that 
the  feet  have  been  broken  off.  The  follow- 

1  Mr.  Mill  Stephenson,  F.S.A.,  says  :  '  I  think 
the  shield  shows  that  this  is  a  warrior  in  his 
ordinary  attire.  The  shield  proves  this.  With 
regard  to  the  size,  my  own  opinion  on  these  little 
figures  is  that  they  are  placed  over  heart  burials.' 


ing  is  a  description  by  Mr.  Bloxam,  F.S.A.  : 
'  The  effigy  of  a  bishop  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. He  is  represented  bearded,  with  the  mitra 
pretiosa  on  his  head,  the  amice  about  his  neck, 
and  in  the  alb,  tunic,  and  dalmatic,  over 
which  is  worn  the  chesible,  which  is  long, 
with  the  rationale  in  front  of  the  breast.  The 
right  hand,  now  gone,  was  in  the  act  of 
benediction.  The  pastoral  staff  is  on  the 
left  of  the  body.  Above  the  head  is  an  Early 
English  canopy,  now  much  mutilated.  This 
is  said  to  be  Bishop  de  Everdon,  who  died 
in  1254  or  1255. '8 

Chancellor  Ferguson  considered  that  this 
effigy  might  be  that  of  Bishop  Ireton,8  who 
died  in  1292.  There  is  no  evidence  that  de 
Everdon  had  a  monument  in  the  cathedral. 
The  canopy  has  an  angel  with  clasped  hands 
on  either  side. 

II.  In  the  south  aisle  is  a  recumbent  effigy 
of  a  bishop  in  red  sandstone.  Mr.  Bloxam 
describes  this  figure  thus  :  '  His  face  is  closely 
shaven  ;  on  his  head  is  worn  the  mitra  pretiosa 
with  pendent  infulae  behind.  The  amice  is 
worn  about  the  neck.  On  the  body  appear, 
first  the  skirts  of  the  alb,  then  the  extremities 
of  the  stole,  then  the  tunic,  over  that  the 
dalmatic,  over  all  the  chesible,  with  the 
rationale  in  front  of  the  breast.  The  maniple 
hangs  down  from  the  left  arm  ;  the  right 
hand  is  gone,  but  was  upheld  in  the  act  of 
benediction.  The  pastoral  staff,  enveloped 
in  a  veil,  appears  on  the  left  side,  but  the 
crook  is  gone ;  the  left  hand  is  also  gone. 
The  shoes  or  sandals  are  pointed,  and  the  feet 
rest  against  a  sculptured  bracket.  The  head 
reposes  on  a  square  cushion.  Above  is  a 
canopy  partly  destroyed.  The  effigy  appears 
to  be  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
circa  1469.'*  This  effigy  reclines  on  an 
altar  tomb  between  the  south  aisle  and  St. 
Katherine's  Chapel.  The  panels  on  the  south 
side  are  of  original  work.  Those  visible  on 
the  north  side  are  modern,  having  been  carved 
when  the  wooden  screen  separating  the  aisle 
from  the  chapel  was  moved  from  the  north 
to  the  south  side  of  the  monument.  In  the 
centre  of  the  groining  of  the  canopy  is  a  rose. 
On  each  side  of  the  mitre  are  three  roses  of 
the  same  pattern  as  the  rationale  and  the 
designs  at  the  ends  of  the  stole  and  maniple. 

2  Arch.  Jour.,  xxxix.  449. 

3  It  is  more  probably  the  monument  of  Bishop 
Robert   de  Chause  or  Chalix  (1258-78).    Seethe 
account  of  the  fire  of  1292  at  Lanercost  :  'ita  ut 
mausoleum   improbi  exactoris  [i.e.  Bishop   Ireton] 
flamma   voraret,     sed    termini     predecessoris    sui, 
Robert!  de  Chalix,  ex  omni  parte  intacti  perseverent ' 
(Chron.  de  Lanercost,  Maitland  Club,  1839,  p.  145). 

*  Arch.  Jour.,  xxxix.  449. 


212 


MONUMENTAL    EFFIGIES 


The  drapery  and  feet  are  beautiful.  The 
shoes  show  the  toes.  The  bracket  at  the 
feet  has,  to  the  left,  an  animal  with  long  ears, 
and  on  the  right  a  small  lion  with  curly  mane. 
Chancellor  Ferguson  concluded  that  it  was  the 
effigy  of  Bishop  Barrow,  who  died  in  1429. 

CALDER   ABBEY 

I.  This  figure  is  clothed  in  a  complete  suit 
of  chain  mail.    The  right  hand  is  broken  off; 
it  has  evidently  been  holding  the  large  cross- 
hilted  sword  which  is  hung  in  front.     The 
head  rests  on  an  oblong  pillow.    The  features 
of  the  face  are  bold.     A  sleeveless  surcoat  of 
linen  or  cloth  is  worn  over  the  armour  and 
confined  at  the  waist  by  a  cord.     On  the  left 
arm  is  a  heater-shaped  shield  emblazoned  with 
the  arms  of  Layburne,  or  Layburn,1  of  Cuns- 
wick  in  Westmorland.    There  is  also  a  label 
for  an  eldest  son. 

II.  Another  figure  of  the  same  period  as 
No.  I.    In  this  one  the  top  of  the  coif  of  chain 
mail    is  round,  in  the    last    it    is  flat.     The 
hands  are  joined  in  prayer.     The  head  rests 
on  two  cushions,  the  top  one  being  round, 
the  other  oblong.    The  mittens  of  chain  mail 
are  perfect,  being  continued  from  the  sleeves 
of  the  hauberk  and  undivided  for  the  fingers. 
This  figure  carries  a  heater-shaped  shield,  sus- 
pended by  a  guige  or  strap  passing  over  the 
right  shoulder,  and  emblazoned  with  the  arms 
of  the  Flemings. 

III.  Another  man  in  armour  very  similar 
to  No.  I.  though  slightly  larger.     The  device 
on  the  shield  is  obliterated.     The  right  hand 
rests  on  the  hilt  of  the  sword.     There  is  no 
clue  as  to  whom  this  effigy  represents. 

IV.  Two  arms  in  chain  armour.     A  large 
slab  carved  with  a  very  mutilated  head  in  a 
coif  of  chain    mail,  with  a    rich    crocketted 
canopy    of  thirteenth    century    work    above. 
It  is  very  much  worn  with  the  weather,  yet 
upon  it  we  can  trace  angels  as  supporters,  and 
very  clearly,  a  five  pointed  star  in  one  panel 
of  the  top  or  back  of  the  canopy,  and  a  moon 
with  a  crescent  on  it. 

All  the  four  effigies  are  of  red  sandstone. 

1  Dr.  Parker  of  Gosforth  wrote  to  me  on 
26  September,  1901,  as  follows  :  'We  have  been 
excavating  the  chancel  at  Calder  Abbey,  and  have 
found  what  appears  to  be  the  missing  end  of  the 
effigy  of  De  Layburne.  The  bevelled  slab  and  the 
pattern  of  chain  mail  correspond  with  the  effigy  ; 
the  legs  have  been  crossed,  the  foot  is  inclosed  in 
a  stocking  of  chain  mail,  and  the  feet  have  rested 
on  an  animal  which  seems  to  be  a  double-headed 
lion,  or  two  lions  conjoined.  There  is  also  part 
of  the  life-sized  head  of  an  ecclesiastic  which  was 
found  two  or  three  years  back,  and  a  right  hand 
grasping  a  staff.' 


CAMERTON 

THOMAS  CURWEN,  '  Black  Tom  of  the 
North.'  A  red  sandstone  effigy,  painted 
black. 

The  head,  bare  with  long  hair,  rests  on  a 
tilting  helmet,  surmounted  by  the  crest  of 
the  Curwens,  a  unicorn's  head  erased.  The 
horn  however  is  broken  off.  A  shirt  of 
mail  is  visible  under  the  tuilles  and  possibly  at 
the  neck.  On  the  breastplate  is  a  spear  rest. 
The  arms  are  protected  by  pauldrons  (the 
left  as  usual  being  larger  than  the  right), 
brassards,  scalloped  elbow  cops  and  vambraces. 
Gauntlets  cover  the  hands  and  wrists.  To  a 
skirt  of  four  taces  are  suspended,  by  straps, 
three  large  invected  tuilles.  The  leg  armour 
consists  of  cuissards  or  thigh  pieces,  knee  cops, 
and  jambes,  and  on  the  feet  are  broad-toed 
sabbatons.  The  rowel  spurs  are  fastened  with 
broad  straps.  At  the  feet  is  a  sheep  or  lamb. 
A  gypciere  is  beside  the  dagger.  The 
long  sword  with  ornamental  hilt  is  perfect, 
and  is  held  in  its  place  by  a  strong  belt  with 
large  buckle  with  elaborate  pendant.  At  the 
last  restoration  in  1890,  this  effigy  was  re- 
placed on  its  original  altar  tomb  in  the  south 
transept. 

The  writer  has  received  the  following  com- 
munication from  Lord  Dillon  :  '  Mr.  Mill 
Stephenson  to-day  showed  me  the  photograph 
of  Black  Tom  Curwen's  effigy  in  Camerton 
Church.  It  appears  to  be  a  very  interesting 
one,  especially  for  some  details.  The  "  arm- 
ing points  "  or  laces  for  attaching  portions  of 
the  armour  (in  this  case  the  shoulder  and 
elbow  pieces),  are  found  in  some  effigies  else- 
where, e.g.  the  Harcourt  (see  Hollis)  and  the 
Crosby  and  Hungerford  effigies  (see  Stothard), 
but  the  points  for  fastening  the  arming  shoes 
to  the  sollerets  are  uncommon.  ...  In  the 
National  Gallery  in  a  picture  of  St.  William, 
and  in  one  of  the  Archangel  Michael,  by 
Simone  Papa,  at  Naples,  this  detail  is  well 
shown.  In  actual  suits  of  armour  the  two 
holes  in  the  sollerets  for  the  points  are  too 
often  ignorantly  filled  up  with  false  rivets. 
A  photo  showing  this  point  of  the  Camerton 
effigy  would  be  very  interesting.  The  single 
central  tullle  and  the  pendent  sword  belt  are 
also  noteworthy.'  On  the  sides  of  this  altar 
tomb  are  shields,  some  bearing  various  curious 
devices,  others  coats  of  arms. 

CROSTHWAITE 

Effigies  of  a  civilian  and  lady  in  limestone. 
The  male  figure  wears  the  costume  of  a  mer- 
chant of  the  fifteenth  century.  A  long  loose 
tunic  reaches  from  the  neck  to  the  feet,  with 
wide  sleeves  which  grow  tight  round  the 


213 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


wrist.  It  is  secured  round  the  waist  by  a 
belt  from  which  hangs  a  gypciere  or  purse. 
The  head  is  bare  and  the  hair  is  parted  in  the 
middle.  A  collar  showing  traces  of  colour 
encircles  the  neck.  A  long  mantle  is  secured 
by  a  cordon  crossing  from  shoulder  to  shoulder 
and  the  hands  enclose  a  heart.  The  feet  rest 
on  a  dog  and  the  head  on  a  cushion  with 
tassels. 

The  lady  is  habited  in  a  close  fitting 
kirtle  with  tight  sleeves,  encircled  round  the 
waist  with  a  broad  girdle  and  fastened  across 
the  hips  by  other  bands.  Over  this  is  worn 
the  sideless  cote-hardi.  The  head  is  covered 
with  a  peculiar  kind  of  crown  or  cap  with 
a  small  rosette  at  the  top  and  rests  on  two 
cushions.  Beneath  the  cap  a  veil  falls  grace- 
fully on  the  shoulders.  Round  the  neck  is  an 
ornamental  collar  and  a  necklace  from  which 
a  pendent  jewel  rests  on  the  bosom,  while 
from  the  girdle  hangs  a  cord  whose  broken 
ends  fall  nearly  to  the  feet.  A  mantle  also 
falls  from  the  shoulders  and  is  held  by  a  band 
across  the  bosom,  fastened  by  brooches.  The 
hands  hold  a  heart.1 

The  effigies  are  on  the  south  side  of  the 
altar  rails.  Over  them,  resting  on  stout 
pillars,  is  a  heavy  slab  of  marble  in  which  is 
embedded  the  brass  of  Sir  John  Ratcliffe  and 
Dame  Alice  his  wife.  There  is  very  little 
detail  in  the  dress  to  help  in  the  identification 
of  these  effigies,  but  they  are  generally  be- 
lieved to  be  those  of  Sir  John  de  Derwent- 
water  and  his  lady,  who  lived  in  the  reigns 
of  Henry  VI.  and  the  three  preceding  sove- 
reigns. 

CUMREW 

Effigy  of  a  lady.  A  massive  sepulchral 
red  sandstone  monument  found  under  the 
floor  of  the  old  church  near  where  the 
chancel  arch  should  have  been.  It  is  that  of 
a  lady  whose  head  reclines  on  a  cushion,  be- 
hind which  is  a  small  dog  with  pendulous  ears 
and  smooth  hair,  not  unlike  a  dachshund.  A 
similar  but  larger  and  much  broken  dog  is  at 
the  feet.  The  lady  wears  a  wimple  ;  a 
coverchief  is  on  her  head  and  falls  gracefully 
on  the  shoulders.  The  hair  is  concealed. 
The  rest  of  the  costume  consists  of  super- 
tunic  and  kirtle.  The  former  envelopes  the 
entire  person.  It  has  no  waist  cincture  and 
its  sleeves  are  loose  and  long  hanging.  Of 
the  kirtle  nothing  is  visible  but  the  tight 
sleeves.  The  feet  are  large,  in  clumsy 
pointed  shoes.  The  hands,  showing  the 

1  History  of  Crosthtvaite  Church,  p.  60,  published 
by  J.  B.  Nichols  &  Sons,  London,  1853,  where  is 
an  illustration. 


thumbs,  are  in  the  attitude  of  prayer.     This 
effigy  is  now  in  the  vestry. 

CROGLIN 

The  much  mutilated  effigy  of  a  lady,  very 
similar  in  size,  about  6  feet,  and  in  almost 
exactly  the  same  dress  as  the  effigy  at  Cum- 
rew.  The  lady's  feet  are  visible  and  rest  on 
an  animal.  The  face  and  head-dress  are 
destroyed.  It  rests  in  the  churchyard  on  the 
south  side  of  the  church  and  is  nearly  over- 
grown with  grass.  The  lady  is  said  to  be  a 
member  of  the  Wharton  family. 

Cumrew  and  Croglin  are  adjoining  parishes, 
and  the  same  sculptor  probably  worked  both 
effigies  from  the  same  model. 

DACRE 

A  red  sandstone  effigy  of  a  man  in  banded 
mail  armour.  The  belts  for  shield  and  sword 
are  ornamented  with  crosses.  The  mail 
mittens  hang  from  the  wrists  ;  as  far  as  can 
be  seen,  the  left  leg  is  crossed  over  the  right. 
This  effigy  is  now  on  the  floor  of  the  north 
side  of  the  chancel.  It  is  said  to  be  the 
monument  of  one  of  the  Dacre  family  of  the 
time  of  Henry  III. 

GREYSTOKE 

Jefferson  in  his  History  of  Leatb  Ward, 
p.  364,  says  :  '  On  the  north  side  of  the  choir 
is  a  fine  alabaster  altar  tomb  on  which  recline 
two  knights.  .  .  .  The  front  is  enriched  with 
angels  in  compartments,  bearing  shields  em- 
blazoned with  the  arms  of  Greystoke  in  pro- 
per colours.  On  the  end  towards  the  nave 
are  two  shields  with  the  arms  of  Greystoke 
(ancient)  and  Grymethorpe.'  The  front  of 
one  tomb  is  still  in  the  church.  As  the 
knights  are  of  quite  different  sizes,  it  is  cer- 
tain they  were  not  originally  on  the  same 
tomb.  Now  they  lie  side  by  side  on  the 
pavement  in  the  west  end  of  the  south  aisle. 

I.  The  larger  figure,  broken  off  at  the 
knees,  is  clad  in  the  plate  armour  of  the  early 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  head  is 
bare,  and  rests  on  a  huge  tilting  helmet.  The 
pauldrons  are  massive  and  fluted,  the  left  one 
being  larger  than  the  right.  The  elbow  cops 
are  ornamented  as  well  as  the  knee  cops. 
He  wears  a  collar  of  SS.  Attached  to  the 
skirt  of  taces  are  tuilles.  The  straps  and 
buckles  of  the  armour  generally  are  well 
preserved.  The  large  bawdric  has  a  pattern 
of  quatrefoils.  Another  band  is  passed  over 
the  right  hip,  but  the  sword  which  it  supported 
has  disappeared.  Traces  of  colour  are  still 
visible.  Mrs.  Hudleston  says  :  '  This  figure 
represents  a  Baron  of  Greystoke  of  about 


214 


MONUMENTAL    EFFIGIES 


1440,  the  date  ot  a  very  similar  effigy  of  Sir 
Robert  Grashill  in  Haversham  Church,  Notts. 
It  is  perhaps  John,  the  i6th  Baron  Grey- 
stoke,  who  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  and 
heiress  of  Robert,  Baron  Ferrers  of  Wemme. 
By  his  will  dated  10  July,  1436,  he  ordered 
his  body  to  be  buried  in  the  collegiate  church 
of  Greystoke  and  bequeathed  to  that  church 
his  best  horse  as  a  mortuary,  and  all  his  habi- 
liments of  war,  consisting  of  coat  armour, 
pennon,  gyron,  etc.' 

II.  The  smaller  figure,  Mrs.  Hudleston 
suggests,  is  that  of  the  founder  of  the 
college,  or  collegiate  church  of  Greystoke, 
William  le  Bon  Baron,  who  died  1359.  He 
lies  below  a  canopy  which  bears  many 
shields,  formerly  charged  with  painted  armorial 
devices,  now  too  defaced  to  be  made  out. 
Portions  of  angels  are  discernible.  He  wears 
a  plain,  acutely  pointed  steel  bascinet  to  which 
the  camail  or  tippet  of  mail  is  laced.  The 
hands,  in  gauntlets,  are  in  attitude  of  prayer. 
The  surcoat  with  fringe  border  covers  the 
body.  The  arms  and  legs  are  protected  with 
the  usual  plate  armour.  The  feet  rest  on  a 
lion  with  a  long  tail  reaching  almost  to  the 
surcoat.  A  dagger  hangs  from  the  baw- 
dric.  The  head,  supported  by  two  draped 
angels,  rests  on  a  cushion.  On  each  side  of 
the  ankles  is  a  shield  without  device.1 

HOLME     CULTRAM     ABBEY 
CHURCH 

The  figure  of  an  abbot  is  on  the  front  of 
a  dismembered  altar  tomb,  now  in  the  porch. 
The  abbot  is  seated  on  a  throne.  His  head 
is  mitred  :  he  wears  a  chasuble  with  rationale 
on  his  breast.  The  alb  with  apparel  is  seen 
distinctly  under  the  chasuble.  The  feet  pro- 
ject from  below  the  robes.  He  holds  his 
staff  over  his  left  shoulder.  Three  monks 
pray  on  each  side  of  him.  There  are  two 
other  portions  of  the  same  tomb  in  the  porch. 
The  whole  is  clearly  the  monument  of 
Robert  Chambers,  for  at  one  end  is  a  shield 
with  the  chained  bear  and  R.C.  so  familiar  to 
every  local  antiquary  and  so  common  in  the 
Abbey  holme.  He  was  Abbot  from  1507-1518. 

KIRKOSWALD 

I.  The  effigy  of  a  lady  in  red  sandstone. 
The  mutilated  head,  from  which  flows  a  veil, 
showing  a  curl  on  either  side,  rests  on  a 

1  Mr.  Mill  Stephenson  says  :  'This  is  interest- 
ing as  an  early  example  of  the  bascinet  and  camail. 
The  high  pointed  bascinet  is  significant.  There 
is  an  effigy  of  Sir  John  de  Herteshull  at  Ashton, 
Northamptonshire,  who  died  1365  (circa"),  very 
like  it.' 


cushion.  Her  dress,  without  girdle,  is  plain 
and  reaches  to  the  feet,  which  are  large  for 
the  size  of  the  figure.  On  each  of  the 
shoulders  is  a  small  decorated  band  something 
like  an  epaulette,  not  visible  in  the  sketch. 
The  simplicity  of  the  gown,  and  the  tresses 
of  hair  on  each  side  of  the  face,  lead  to  the 
belief  that  the  effigy  is  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  It  lies  on  the  north  side  of  the 
sanctuary. 

II.  An  alabaster  monument  put  up  to  the 
memory  of  Margaret  Bertram,  who  died  in 
the  year  1609,  by  Thomas  Bertram,  her 
husband.  The  picture  speaks  for  itself. 
Thomas  Bertram  and  Margaret  his  wife  are 
kneeling  on  opposite  sides  of  a  prayer  desk, 
the  two  sons  kneel  behind  the  father  and  a 
daughter  is  seen  behind  the  mother.  The 
tablet  containing  the  inscription  has  suspended 
at  one  end  of  it  a  censer  and  at  the  other  a 
book.  The  hour-glass  and  skull  remind  the 
reader  of  death.  The  dresses  are  those  of 
the  late  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  century. 
Bishop  Nicolson  gives  the  inscription,  which 
he  calls  tedious  and  blundering.  Margaret 
Bertram  was  one  of  the  sisters  and  co-heirs 
of  Thomas  Brougham  of  Brougham,  and  wife 
of  Thomas  Bertram. 

KIRKLAND 

An  effigy  of  white  chalk  stone,  of  the 
middle  of  the  fourteenth  century.  The 
figure  is  clad  in  a  surcoat  of  remarkable 
length,  and  has  a  large  sword  hanging  in 
front.  There  is  no  trace  of  mail  armour 
now,  although  the  head  seems  as  if  it  had  a 
close-fitting  helmet,  from  the  sides  of  which 
tufts  of  hair  project.  The  hands  hold  a 
heart.  This  is  said  to  be  the  effigy  of  a 
Fleming.  It  now  rests  on  the  floor  on  the 
north  side  of  the  chancel. 

LANERCOST 

I.  Two  fragments  of  an  armed  figure  in  red 
sandstone  of  the  latter   part  of  the  fourteenth 
century.     The  body  is  clothed  in  hauberk  of 
chain  mail  with  surcoat  embroidered  with  the 
armorial    bearings    of  Vaux    of    Triermain. 
The    thigh    has   a   cuissard  of   plate.     The 
bawdric    is   very   richly    ornamented.      The 
other  fragment  gives  the  left  foot   in  a  sol- 
leret  of  plate,  resting  on   a  recumbent   lion, 
from  whose  mouth  depends  a  scroll. 

II.  A  recumbent  effigy  of  a  layman  6  feet 
3  inches  long  by  i  foot  7  inches.    The  figure 
is  clothed  in  a  tunic  without  belt,  reaching  a 
little  below  the  knee.     The  legs  appear  to  be 
covered   with  tight-fitting    hose.      The   feet 
without  shoes  rest  on  a  dog.     The  hands  are 


215 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


palm  to  palm  on  the  breast.  The  head  rests 
on  a  cushion,  and  on  it  there  appear  to  have 
been  three  angels,  one  at  the  crown  of  the 
head,  the  other  two  at  the  sides  of  the  face. 
The  hair  is  long  and  curly.  The  date  is  late 
fourteenth  or  early  fifteenth  century.  This 
effigy  now  rests  on  a  Dacre  altar  tomb,  and 
is  said  to  have  been  brought  from  the  church- 
yard. A  modern  inscription  in  cursive  letters 
has  been  cut  across  the  lower  part  of  the 
figure,  as  follows  :  John  Crow  of  Longlands 
died  March  23rd,  1708,  aged  25  years. 

Tradition  says  he  was  a  workman  at  the 
building  of  the  abbey,  who  fell  from  the 
clerestory  and  broke  his  neck,  but  Pennant 
says  he  broke  his  neck  by  a  fall  he  had  in 
climbing  round  the  ruins  of  the  church  on 
23  March,  1708. 

III.  The  headless  bust  of  a  figure,  assumed 
to  be  that  of  a  deacon,  is  in  an  aumbry  of 
the  transept. 

MILBURN 

Resting  against  the  south  wall  of  the 
church  on  the  outside  is  the  recumbent  effigy 
of  a  lady  in  white  stone,  very  much  worn 
from  exposure.  She  is  clad  in  a  robe  with 
girdle.  The  head,  hands  and  feet  are  all 
missing.  Length  of  the  fragment  4  feet. 

MILLOM 

I.  On  a  very  handsome  altar  tomb  of  ala- 
baster are  the  effigies  of  a  gentleman  and  his 
lady,  undoubtedly  of  the  Hudleston  family  ; 
but  there  is  nothing  to  show  which  members 
they  are.  The  man  is  on  the  sinister  side  of 
the  slab,  and  is  bareheaded  with  long  flow- 
ing hair.  The  head  rests  on  a  tilting  helmet 
of  which  the  crest  is  gone,  but  the  mantling 
on  the  sinister  side  remains.  The  crest  in 
most  cases  is  found  on  the  dexter  side  of  the 
head.  Chain  mail  is  seen  at  the  neck.  The 
pauldrons  are  large  and  plain.  A  skirt  of 
invected  taces  with  dependent  tuilles  covers 
the  lower  part  of  the  body.  A  collar  of  roses 
and  stars  hangs  from  the  neck.  The  date  is 
the  middle  or  end  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

The  lady's  costume  is  of  a  similar  date  to 
that  of  her  husband.  Her  head-dress  appears 
to  be  knitted,  she  wears  an  elaborate  collar 
with  a  sexfoil  ornament — the  pendants  of 
both  hers  and  her  husband's  are  defaced.  A 
sideless  cote-hard  i  conceals  part  of  the  belt 
which  encircles  the  plain  kirtle.  A  long 
mantle  is  seen  hanging  at  the  side  of  the 
dress,  but  the  cord  on  the  breast  and  the 
folded  hands  have  been  entirely  destroyed. 

The  tomb  on  which  the  effigies  rest  is  in 
the  south-east  corner  of  the  aisle,  one  side  and 
end  being  against  the  walls.  The  other  side 


and  end  contain  seven  cusped  pinnacled  and 
crocketted  niches,  each  containing  a  figure  of 
an  angel  bearing  a  plain  shield.  Six  of  these 
are  attended  by  one  small  kneeling  figure  and 
the  other  by  two.  A  date  is  given  to  the 
whole  monument  because  these  small  figures 
are  those  of  females,  wearing  the  butterfly 
head-dress  which  was  in  fashion  between 
the  reign  of  Edward  IV.,  1461,  and  the 
early  years  of  Henry  VII.,  1485. 

II.  A  grotesque  looking  fragment  of  the 
effigy  of  a  man  in  oak.  The  figure  is  very 
much  worn,  but  plate  armour  is  seen  at  the 
knees.  The  feet  rest  on  a  lion.  It  is  of 
late  fourteenth  or  early  fifteenth  century  date. 

OUSBY 

An  effigy  (7  feet  long)  in  oak  of  a  man  in 
chain  mail  of  the  thirteenth  century,  very 
similar  to  the  stone  ones  of  the  same  period 
previously  described.  Figure  in  chain  mail 
with  plate  knee  cops,  camail,  and  long 
sleeveless  surcoat,  cut  up  the  middle. 
Under  it  a  hawberk  of  mail  over  a 
haqueton.  Apparently  banded  mail  on  legs 
and  ringed  elsewhere.  The  spur  straps  are 
left,  but  spurs  gone.  Narrow  guige  over 
right  shoulder,  but  shield  and  part  of  left  side 
of  effigy  gone.  Narrow  waist  belt  but  broader 
sword  belt  with  long  ends  hanging  down. 
The  hilt  and  blade  of  sword  gone.  Legs 
crossed  at  knee.  Feet  on  a  dog. 

Bishop  Nicolson  has  stated  that  '  the  tradi- 
tion is  that  he  was  an  outlaw  who  lived  at 
Cruegarth  in  this  parish,  and  that  he  was 
killed,  as  he  was  hunting,  at  a  certain  place  on 
the  neighbouring  mountain,  which  (from  that 
accident)  keeps  the  name  of  Baron-Syde  to 
this  day.  For  all  great  men  were  anciently 
call'd  Barons  in  this  country.' l  The  figure 
is  now  in  the  chancel  ;  formerly  it  was  in  a 
recess  on  the  south  side  of  the  nave. 

ST.  BEES 

Two  fragments  of  male  effigies.  The 
older  one  (thirteenth  century)  has  traces  of 
surcoat,  hood,  waistbelt,  and  shield  tolerably 
perfect,  having  the  armorial  bearings  of 
the  Ireby  family  (a  shield  fretty). 

The  second  figure  is  also  that  of  a  knight, 
but  of  the  fourteenth  century,  probably  about 
1370.  Slight  traces  of  the  pauldrons,  camail, 
surcoat,  bawdric,  etc.2 

1  Miscellany  Accounts,  p.  66. 

2  Gough  states  on   the    authority   of  Nicolson 
and  Burn's  History  that  there  is  a  wooden  effigy  at 
St.  Bees,  but  Lysons  could  not  find  it,  and  it  cer- 
tainly is  not  there  now.     It  is  said  to  be   that   of 
Anthony  Lord  Lucy,  41  Edw.  III. 


216 


MONUMENTAL    EFFIGIES 


GREAT   SALKELD 

I.  ANTHONY  HUTTON  and  ELIZABETH 
BURDETT  his  wife.  The  effigies  and  the 
slab  on  which  they  lie  have  been  carved  out 
of  one  block  of  stone.  Mr.  Watson  says  it 
is  tufa,  a  rock  formed  by  springs  depositing 
magnesian  limestone.  The  slab  is  now  split 
down  between  the  effigies  into  two  pieces. 
'  The  effigy  to  the  dexter  side,  that  of  a  man, 
wears  a  legal  costume,  a  gown  with  long 
hanging  sleeves,  richly  laced  over  the  upper 
part  of  the  arm,  the  "  crackling  "  as  it  would 
be  called  at  Cambridge.  His  right  arm  is  ex- 
tended along  his  side  and  the  hand  grasps  his 
long  hanging  sleeve  near  its  end.  His  left 
arm  is  doubled  on  the  chest,  and  the  hand 
holds  a  folded  paper.  The  gown  reaches  to 
the  ground  and  has  a  deep  round  falling  col- 
lar, probably  of  lawn  :  the  sleeves  close-fitting 
from  elbow  to  wrists,  with  plain  cuffs  of  lawn 
or  linen.  The  lady's  attitude  is  similar  to 
that  of  her  husband,  except  that  her  left  arm 
is  extended  at  her  side  and  her  right  doubled 
upon  her  chest.  She  has  a  ruff"  round  her 
neck,  a  flowing  veil  over  her  head,  and  full 
sleeves  :  her  gown  is  gathered  in  at  the  waist 
by  a  knot  of  ribbons.'  * 

Anthony  Hutton  died  at  Penrith  in  1637, 
and  was  buried  in  the  quire  of  St.  Andrew's 
Church.  His  wife,  Elizabeth  Burdett,  who 
survived  him  for  thirty-six  years,  placed  these 
effigies  in  Penrith  parish  church. 

It  is  a  difficult  matter  to  explain  how  these 
monuments  ever  came  to  be  brought  to  Great 
Salkeld.  It  is  supposed  that  at  the  pulling 
down  of  the  old  Penrith  parish  church  in 
1720  they  were  removed  for  safety  to  Hutton 
Hall,  in  Penrith,  until  perhaps  a  place  might 
be  found  for  them  in  the  new  building.  In 
the  course  of  time  Mr.  Watson  says  they 
were  claimed  by  '  Mr.  William  Richardson, 
doctor  of  physic,  of  Town  Head,  Penrith, 
and  afterwards  of  Nunwick  Hall,'  then  called 
Low  House,  in  Great  Salkeld  parish.  He 
had  married  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Richard  Hut- 
ton  of  Gale,  a  manor  in  Melmerby,  and  of 
Penrith,  on  the  strength  of  which  connection 
with  the  Huttons  Mr.  Watson  thinks  that  he 
'assumed  the  Hutton  arms,  cast  the  Hutton 
crest  upon  the  leaden  heading  of  his  water 
spouts,  and  carried  off  the  Hutton  effigies.' 

Bishop  Nicolson  gives  a  long  account  of 
this  monument  and  the  inscription  on  it.2 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Hutton  did  not  die  till 
1673,  so  that  she  must  have  lived  thirty-six 
years  after  her  own  monument  was  erected, 

1   Trans,  of  Cumb.  and  Westm.  Antiq.  Soc.,  xii. 


65. 


Miscellany  Accounts,  pp.  151,  152. 


and  all  those  years  have  worshipped  beside 
her  own  recumbent  effigy  in  her  parish 
church. 

II.  THOMAS  DE  CALDEBECK,  Archdeacon 
of  Carlisle,  died  1320.  The  archdeacon 
is  clad  in  amice,  alb,  chasuble  and  maniple. 
His  head  (on  which  is  the  tonsure)  rests  on 
a  pillow,  while  at  the  feet  is  the  figure  of  a 
small  lion.  His  hands  are  clasped  in  the 
attitude  of  prayer.  The  following  inscription 
in  Lombardic  capitals  runs  along  the  cham- 
fered margin  of  the  slab  under  the  figure  • 
HIC  :  JACET  :  MAGISTER  :  THOMAS  I  DE  I  CAL- 
DEBEC  :  ARCHIDIAC  :  KAR(L). 

STANWIX 

A  much  worn  effigy  of  a  female  in  red 
sandstone  lies  in  the  churchyard  south  of  the 
church,  buried  in  the  grass.  There  is  little 
to  give  any  clue  to  the  date  except  the  shape 
of  the  head,  which  seems  to  be  without  cap, 
but  with  a  curl  on  each  side.  This  leads  us 
to  believe  the  effigy  to  be  of  the  fifteenth 
century.  The  arms  are  very  straight  and 
are  partly  covered  with  large  sleeves,  which 
are  seen  below  the  elbows.  The  feet  rest 
on  a  greyhound.  The  effigy  is  5  feet  5^ 
inches  long.  The  Rev.  J.  R.  Wood,  the 
present  vicar,  says  that  sixty  years  ago  the 
figure  had  the  letters  G.H.S.  cut  legibly  on 
the  breast,  no  doubt  a  modern  usurpation, 
like  that  of  John  Crow  at  Lanercost.  This 
he  learnt  from  a  caretaker,  who  remembered, 
as  a  child,  often  playing  upon  the  monument. 

TORPENHOW 

A  very  much  worn  recumbent  figure  of  a 
lady  now  standing  vertically  in  the  church- 
yard near  the  gate. 

WETHERAL 

I.  SIR  RICHARD  SALKELD  and  DAME  JANE 
his  wife,  only  child  and  heir  of  Roland  Vaux 
of  Triermain,  about  1500. 

Two  figures  of  alabaster,  showing  traces 
of  colour,  gold  and  vermilion  especially.  Sir 
Richard  is  in  plate  armour  with  shirt  of  mail 
appearing  at  the  throat  and  below  the  taces. 
The  head  bare,  with  hair  cut  short  in  front 
and  left  long  behind,  rests  on  a  tilting  helmet, 
much  broken,  but  the  crest  wreath  remains. 
At  the  back  of  the  helmet  is  a  shield  with 
the  arms  of  Salkeld  (vert  a  fret  silver).  On 
the  shoulders  are  pauldrons,  and,  as  usual  in 
the  fifteenth  century,  the  right  one  is  of 
lighter  construction  than  the  left  in  order 
to  give  more  freedom  to  the  sword  arm. 
Around  his  neck  is  a  collar  of  roses  and  SS. 
The  arms  are  broken  off",  but  the  hands  are 
seen  to  have  been  clasped  in  prayer  on  the 


II 


217 


28 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


breast.  A  paunce  covers  the  lower  part 
of  the  breastplate  and  is  scalloped  at  the 
edges,  running  to  a  point  and  buckling  to  the 
breastplate  below  the  chin.  There  are  three 
taces  with  dependent  fluted  tuilles  covering 
the  thighs.  The  legs  are  covered  with  cuissards, 
knee  cops  and  greaves.  Part  of  one  leg  is 
gone,  but  the  other  is  fairly  perfect.  The  foot, 
showing  the  strap  of  the  spur,  rests  on  a  lion, 
whose  head  is  gone,  but  whose  long  tail  is 
clearly  seen.  The  sword  has  disappeared, 
but  traces  of  the  hilt  are  visible.  The  sword- 
belt  is  narrow  and  transverse,  covered  with 
small  quatrefoils.  The  outline  of  the  dagger 
is  discernible  on  the  right  side  of  the  slab. 

The  armour  is  of  a  slightly  earlier 
date  than  1500,  but  the  monument  may 
easily  have  been  executed  before  Sir  Richard's 
death,  and  then  placed  in  its  position  under 
the  inscription,  which  was  clearly  drawn  up 
by  Dame  Jane,  as  there  is  no  mention  of  her 
decease. 

Dame  Jane's  head  rests  on  two  cushions. 
At  the  back  of  these  is  a  shield  with  arms  of 
Salkeld  impaling  those  of  Vaux  of  Triermain 
(a  red  and  gold  chequered  band  across  a  silver 
shield).  On  her  head  she  wears  a  cap  some- 
thing like  a  biretta,  as  at  Crosthwaite,  with 
a  button  in  the  centre  of  the  top.  Under  it 
is  a  coverchief,  and  under  that  her  long  hair 
hanging  down.  She  wears  a  collar  of  SS 
and  roses,  with  a  jewel  pendant,  like  her 
husband.  The  lady's  kirtle  is  seen  at  the 
waist,  where  it  is  held  in  its  place  by  a  narrow 
belt,  tied  at  the  right  side  with  a  long  end 
hanging  down.  A  rosary  is  tucked  through 
the  belt ;  above  the  kirtle  is  the  sideless 
cfite-hardi.  Over  all  is  a  mantle,  open,  but 
fastened  by  a  strap  across  the  breast.  The 
feet  are  hidden  by  the  skirt. 

In  the  heraldic  collection  of  monumental 
records  in  the  Lansdowne  MSS.  of  the  British 
Museum  is  a  description  of  the  tomb  and 
copy  of  the  epitaph  made  in  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  when  no  doubt  the  tomb 
and  inscription  would  be  perfect. 

Here  lyes  Sir  Richard  Salkeld,  rgt  Knyth 

Who  sometyme  in  this  land  was  mekill  of  myth 

The  Captain  and  kep  of  Carlisle  was  he, 

And  also  the  lord  of  Korbe. 

And  now  lyes  under  this  stayne. 

And  his  lady  and  wiff  dayme  Jayne, 

In  ye  year  of  our  Lord  God  a  Thousand 

And  Five  Hundreth,  as  I  understand 

The  aighteen  of  Feweryere 

That  gentill  Knyth  was  berit  here 

I  pray  you  all  that  this  doys  see 

Pra  for  ther  saulys  for  charitc 

For  as  yay  yr  so  mon  we  be. 


Bishop  Nicolson,  in  1703,  says  the  in- 
scription was  'over  the  arch  betwixt  the  Quire 
and  ye  North  Isle,  and  under  it  an  old 
monument  whereon  are  laid  two  alabaster 
bodies  (male  and  female).'  *  After  this  the 
effigies  were  moved  within  the  altar  rails, 
where  they  remained  until  the  restoration  in 
1882.  They  were  then  moved  into  the 
Howard  mausoleum,  but  Sir  Henry  Howard 
(Mr.  Philip  Howard's  second  brother),  our 
ambassador  at  The  Hague,  objected  because  he 
considered  they  spoiled  the  Nollekens  statue 
and  endangered  the  vault  beneath.  The 
tomb  was  then  placed  in  its  present  position, 
and  the  rector  thinks  it  is  the  original  one, 
as  the  Corby  pew  formerly  stood  here. 

WHITBECK 

Effigy  of  a  lady  in  red  sandstone,  which 
has  been  sometime  painted.  Local  tradition 
calls  her  the  Lady  of  Annaside.  The  head 
rests  on  a  pillow.  A  wimple  is  drawn  over 
her  chin,  and  a  veil  covers  her  head  and  falls 
on  her  shoulders.  A  large  mantle  covers  her 
dress  and  is  tucked  up  under  her  left  arm. 
Her  feet  rest  on  a  dog.  The  date  of  the 
effigy  is  about  1300.  Possibly  the  lady  may 
be  one  of  the  Hudlestons  of  Anneys.  The 
effigy  used  to  be  in  the  churchyard,  where  it 
was  much  worn  by  heedless  feet ;  now  it  is 
carefully  preserved  in  the  church. 

WORKINGTON,  ST.   MICHAEL'S 

SIR  CHRISTOPHER  CURWEN  and  his  wife 
ELIZABETH  DE  HUDLESTON,  1450.  Two 
effigies  of  grey  limestone  on  an  altar  tomb, 
7  feet  4  inches  long,  having  on  the  west  side 
five  niches  with  cinquefoil  heads,  each  bear- 
ing a  shield.  The  arms  at  the  head  of  the 
dexter  side  are  those  of  Curwen  impaling 
lozengy  for  Croft,  being  the  arms  of  Chris- 
topher's father  and  mother ;  the  next  are 
those  of  Curwen  and  Hudleston,  his  own 
and  those  of  his  wife  ;  the  third  coat  Curwen 
only  ;  the  fourth  Curwen  impaling  six  annu- 
lets gold,  for  Lowther,  their  son's  arms  and 
those  of  his  wife ;  and  the  last  Curwen  im- 
paling the  eldest  son  of  a  Pennington  who 
predeceased  his  father ;  which  last  were  the 
arms  of  Christopher,  the  grandson  of  the 
entombed  pair,  and  those  of  his  wife. 

The  head  of  the  effigy  of  the  knight  has 
round  its  brow  an  embroidered  band  or  cap, 
and  rests  on  a  cushion  with  a  tilting  helmet 
behind,  bearing  the  crest  of  the  Curwen 
family,  a  unicorn's  head  erased  silver,  armed 
gold.  A  large  collar  of  plate  protects  the  upper 


Miscellany  Accounts,  pp.  49-50. 


218 


MONUMENTAL    EFFIGIES 

chest  and  neck.     On  it  rests  a  collar  of  SS  ornament.      A  strong  belt  holds  her  kirtle, 

with  trefoil  brooch  and  pendent  star.     The  while  over  all  is  a  large  mantle  fastened  across 

plate  armour  is  plain,  the  vambraces  seem  to  the  chest  with  bands  held  together  by  a  clasp, 

be  of  leather  and  buttoned.     The  hands  of  The  ends  of  the  cords  fall  down  and  end  in 

both    knight    and    lady    hold    hearts.       The  tassels.     Two  small  dogs  with  collars  of  bells 

bawdric  is  very  ornamental.    The  long  sword  rest  at  the  foot  of  the  tomb,  and  look  towards 

is  perfect  with  a  pierced  hand  and  arm  for  the  lady's  face — one  is  biting  the  end  of  her 

hilt.     The  feet  in  pointed-toed  sollerets  rest  mantle. 

on  a  dog.  The   monument   was  formerly   under  the 

The  lady's  head  has  a  peculiar  head-dress,  tower,  but  is  now  in  the  north-east  corner 

somewhat  similar  to  the  one  at  Hawkshead,  of  the   north    aisle.      This   inscription    runs 

and   rests  on    two   cushions,  one   above    the  round  the  top  edge  of  the  tomb  :  'Orate  pro 

other  ;  an  angel  on  either  side  looks  on  her.  animabz  Xtoferi  Curwen  militis  et  Elizabethe 

Around   her  neck  is  a  collar   with   pendent  uxoris  ejus.' 


219 


POLITICAL   HISTORY 


I 


geographical  position  of  the  modern  county  of  Cumberland 
has  had  an  important  influence  in  determining  its  formation  as 
a  political  unit  of  the  English  commonwealth.  On  every  side, 
with  insignificant  exceptions,  the  boundaries  are  well  marked 
by  river,  mountain  or  sea.  The  district  is  wedged  in  between  the 
Pennine  range  and  the  Solway  Firth,  and  is  almost  cut  off  from  Scotland 
by  a  long  arm  of  the  sea  which  runs  inland  for  such  a  distance  that 
only  a  few  miles  of  outlet  are  left  towards  the  north.  The  approach 
from  the  south  is  blocked  by  great  mountain  masses,  through  which 
there  are  few  passes  except  towards  Yorkshire  through  the  valley  of  the 
Eden.  The  whole  district  occupies  such  a  peculiar  position  that  its  de- 
limitation as  a  political  area  must  have  been  determined  to  some  extent 
by  its  natural  boundaries.  The  Roman  general  who  chose  the  Solway 
as  the  termination  of  the  Great  Wall  would  seem  almost  instinctively  to 
have  traced  a  frontier  on  the  western  side  which  was  to  be  the  boundary 
between  contending  tribes  and  nations.  The  wall  as  a  whole  was  the 
real  limit  of  the  effective  power  of  Rome,  beyond  which  she  never  per- 
manently established  her  authority.  Occasionally  indeed  her  dominion 
extended  as  far  as  the  more  northern  barrier  between  the  Clyde  and  the 
Forth,  but  in  that  region  it  had  scarcely  passed  the  stage  of  military 
occupation  and  was  held  only  by  an  intermittent  and  precarious  tenure. 
The  wall  of  Hadrian  remained  the  true  frontier.  Nowhere  therefore 
more  than  on  its  western  side,  owing  to  the  isolation  of  the  district 
from  the  rest  of  the  country,  was  the  momentous  change  felt  which  took 
place  when  the  emperor  Honorius  sent  letters  to  the  cities  of  Britain, 
announcing  the  withdrawal  of  the  legionaries  and  bidding  them  to  pro- 
vide in  future  for  their  own  safety.  Thus  at  the  opening  of  the  fifth 
century  was  terminated  that  Roman  occupation  which  had  endured  for 
more  than  three  hundred  years,  and  which  must  have  in  many  ways  in- 
fluenced the  fortunes  and  affected  the  characters  of  the  inhabitants. 

For  a  long  period  after  the  withdrawal  of  the  Roman  forces  the 
district  south  of  the  Solway  has  little  or  no  history.  There  is  nothing 
but  darkness,  unrelieved  by  a  single  gleam  of  light,  during  the  centuries 
which  elapsed  between  the  departure  of  the  Roman  and  the  coming  of 
the  Teuton.  Of  documentary  record  there  is  none.  It  is  true  that  we 
read  much  in  the  pages  of  Gildas  and  Bede  of  what  the  Britons  suffered 
from  internal  dissensions  and  the  constant  inroads  of  hostile  races  like  the 
Picts,  Scots  and  Angles,  but  we  cannot  justify  the  exclusive  application 

221 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

of  the  narratives  to  the  political  conditions  of  any  special  locality.  The 
memories  of  their  struggles  for  independence  have  been  handed  down  in 
the  legendary  poetry  of  the  race.  At  an  early  date  the  immortal  name 
of  Arthur  was  known  and  his  exploits  were  celebrated  in  this  district. 
It  is  needless  to  inquire  whether  or  not  he  was  a  local  personage.  The 
pertinacity  of  the  tradition  which  has  covered  the  modern  county  with 
Arthurian  sites1  may  not  be  set  aside  as  altogether  valueless.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  we  have  in  Arthur  the  eponymous  hero  who  represents  in 
himself  the  vicissitudes  of  the  British  race,  the  ideal  and  never-to- 
be-forgotten  champion  in  whose  deeds  the  struggles  of  the  nation 
for  liberty  and  independence  have  been  personified,  an  early  type  of  all 
that  was  high  and  noble  which  was  to  stir  men's  hearts  for  ages  yet 
to  come.  From  another  class  of  legend  with  more  claim  to  be  con- 
sidered historical  we  derive  a  circumstantial  laccount  of  the  political 
triumph  of  the  Christian  faith  and  the  establishment  of  a  British  king- 
dom of  which  our  district  formed  a  part.  If  the  general  features  of  the 
narrative  be  genuine,  the  victory  of  Rederech  over  the  forces  of  paganism 
in  the  great  battle  of  Ardderyd  in  573  forms  an  important  landmark  in 
local  history.  On  one  side  were  the  Britons,  who  had  remained  steadfast 
to  the  faith  of  their  Christian  teachers,  and  on  the  other  were  those  who 
had  apostatized  and  wished  to  adhere  to  the  old  religion  of  their  race. 
The  struggle  '  to  break  the  heathen  and  uphold  the  Christ '  was  event- 
ually successful.  After  the  battle,  the  site  of  which  has  been  identified 
with  Arthuret,  a  parish  about  eight  miles  to  the  north  of  Carlisle,  it  is 
said  that  Rederech,  the  Christian  leader,  became  king  of  the  Britons 
and  consolidated  the  mixed  tribes  of  the  western  coast  into  a  kingdom 
which  stretched  from  the  Clyde  to  the  Mersey.  The  capital  was  fixed 
at  Alcluyd  or  Dumbarton,  and  the  kingdom  was  called  Strathclyde.2 

Whatever  value  may  be  ascribed  to  these  traditions  it  is  quite  cer- 
tain that  the  kingdom  of  Strathclyde  did  not  survive  in  its  entirety  for 
many  years,  for  we  know  that  in  the  seventh  century  the  district  south 
of  the  Solway  was  an  integral  portion  of  the  English  kingdom  of  North- 
umbria.  The  district  at  that  time  had  no  distinctive  name  and  perhaps 
no  separate  political  existence.  All  we  know  is  that  it  was  subject  to 
English  3  rule.  But  there  is  one  circumstance  from  which,  in  the  ab- 

1  The  legend  of  King  Arthur  has  been  a  fruitful  subject  of  controversy  which  cannot  be  noticed 
here.  The  Arthurian  sites  in  Cumberland  have  been  discussed  by  writers  of  ability  like  Dr.  Skene  (Celtic 
Scotland,  i.  152—8).  See  also  his  Four  Ancient  Books,  and  his '  Notice  of  the  site  of  the  Battle  of  Arderyth  ' 
in  Proceeding  of  the  Soc.  of  Antiq.  of  Scotland  (1867),  vi.  95.  Mr.  Stuart  Glennie  has  gone  minutely  into 
the  Cumberland  section  of  Arthurian  Scotland  (Arthurian  Localities,  pp.  68-76).  Apart  from  the 
statements  of  writers  like  Gildas  and  Nennius,  the  earliest  reference  that  we  have  found  of  Arthur's 
connection  with  the  district  is  contained  in  the  confirmation  charter  of  Henry  II.,  dated  about  1175,  in 
which  some  land  in  Carlisle  is  described  as  being  '  circa  Burum  Arthuri  in  Kaerlelol  iuxta  mansionem 
Canonicorum  '  (Trans,  of  Cumb.  and  West.  Arcbtetl.  Soc.  iii.  248,  new  ser.).  Welsh  traditions  were  very 
prevalent  among  the  antiquaries  of  Cumberland  in  the  twelfth  century.  What  is  meant  by  the  '  burum 
Arthuri'  may  be  considered  a  subject  of  debate. 

a  The  battle  of  Ardderyd,  the  centre  of  a  group  of  Welsh  traditions,  has  been  fully  described  by 
Dr.  Skene  in  Celtic  Scotland,  \.  157-9,  where  he  has  collected  the  most  valuable  of  the  authorities. 

3  On  the  use  of  the  word  'English'  to  designate  the  inhabitants  of  Britain  before  the  Norman 
Conquest  as  distinguished  from  '  Saxon  '  or  '  Anglo-Saxon,'  the  interesting  and  learned  note  of  Mr. 
Freeman  should  be  consulted  (Norman  Conquest,  i.  528-41). 


222 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

sence  of  direct  evidence,  certain  deductions  may  be  drawn.  The  Roman 
city  of  Luguvallum,  or  Luguvallium  as  it  is  called  on  the  itinerary  of 
Antonine,  now  known  as  Carlisle,1  never  lost  its  identity  amid  all  the 
changes  and  chances  of  tribal  wars.  One  of  the  political  legacies  that 
Rome  left  behind  in  Britain  was  the  organization  of  cities  as  the  centres 
of  local  authority  for  the  surrounding  territory.  There  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  Luguvallum,  which  was  close  to  Hadrian's  wall  in  a  situa- 
tion with  great  natural  advantages  for  defence  and  or  easy  access  from 
the  Romanized  district  to  the  south,  formed  the  centre  of  a  territorial 
rule  which  was  not  obliterated  by  the  departure  of  the  legions,  but  which 
was  carried  on  by  the  native  population  and  may  have  had  something  to 
do  indirectly  with  the  ultimate  evolution  of  the  modern  county.  Of 
all  the  Roman  sites  in  this  corner  of  the  empire,  Luguvallum  is  the 
only  political  organism  of  importance  that  has  survived.  The  district 
in  the  neighbourhood  had  no  distinctive  designation  except  what  it  re- 
ceived from  its  territorial  association  with  the  city.  The  Roman  name 
continued,  though  the  language  of  the  inhabitants  had  changed.  When 
the  light  of  genuine  history  falls  on  the  district,  the  city  of  Lugubalia  is 
revealed  as  a  place  of  strength  and  a  centre  of  settled  government.  It 
is  not  known  at  what  date  or  by  what  king  the  English  conquest  was 
pushed  to  the  western  sea,  but  at  some  time  in  the  seventh  century, 
earlier  or  later,  the  western  districts  from  the  Solway  to  the  Mersey  had 
passed  under  English  dominion.  The  Northumbrian  supremacy  was  a 
very  real  thing  at  that  period.  Lands  in  Lancashire  between  the  Ribble 
and  the  Cocker2  were  bestowed  on  Wilfrid  about  666-9,  and  the  see  of 
Lindisfarne  was  endowed  by  King  Ecgfrith  in  685  3  with  the  city  of 
Lugubalia,  then  called  Luel,  and  a  circuit  of  fifteen  miles  around  it. 
Bede  gave  no  name  to  the  land  in  which  the  city  was  situated,  but  he 
speaks  as  if  it  were  the  centre  of  a  flourishing  English  community  in 
which  the  ecclesiastical  organizations  had  reached  a  high  standard  under 
the  patronage  of  Cuthbert,  Bishop  of  Lindisfarne,  and  the  royal  family 
of  Northumbria.  From  Bede's  pen  we  have  a  pleasant  picture  of  Lu- 
gubalia and  its  neighbourhood.  From  the  city  Cuthbert  went  forth  on 
his  episcopal  errands  to  ordain  ministers  or  to  dedicate  a  church,  and 

1  Carlisle  appears  in  the  list  of  British  cities  given  by  Nennius  (cap.  67)  under  the  name  of  Caer- 
Luadiit,  Caer-Ligualid,  or  Cair-Lualid,  which  has  been  identified  by  Usher  as  Lugubalia  (Man.  Hist. 
Brit.  p.  77).  Henry  of  Huntingdon,  probably  with  the  list  of  Nennius  before  him,  mentions  '  Kair-Lion 
quam  vocamusCarleuil '  (Historia  Anghrum,  p.  7),  but  he  is  apparently  mistaken  in  that  identification,  for 
the  '  Cair-Legion  '  of  Nennius  has  the  alternative  reading  of '  Cair-Legion  guar  Usic,'  that  is,  Caerleon 
on  Usk.  The  statement  of  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  (bk.  ii.  9)  that  Leil  son  of  Brute,  a  lover  of  peace 
and  justice,  succeeded  his  father  and  built  a  city  in  the  north  part  of  Britain  and  called  it  Kaerliel  after 
his  own  name,  may  be  accepted  as  pure  romance. 

»  This  grant  marks  an  important  event  in  local  history.  Eddi  (Vita  Wilfridi,  cap.  1 7)  says  that 
Gaedyne,  perhaps  Castle  or  Little  Eden,  was  given  to  Wilfrid  with  Caetlevum  and  other  places.  Caet- 
levum  is  probably  the  ancient  name  of  Cartmell  in  Furness.  The  anonymous  author  of  the  Historia  de 
S.  Cuthbcrto,  erroneously  ascribed  to  Symeon  of  Durham,  mentions  that  '  dedit  ei  (S.  Cuthberto)  rex  Ecg- 
fridus  terram  quae  vocatur  Cartmel,  et  omnes  Britannos  cum  eo,  et  villam  illam  quae  vocatur  Suthged- 
luit,  et  quicquid  ad  earn  pertinet'  (Symeon  of  Durham  [Surtees  Soc.],  i.  141  ;  [Rolls  Ser.]  i.  200).  The 
date  of  this  tract  has  been  ascribed  by  Mr.  Hodgson  Hinde  to  the  tenth  century. 

a  Symeon,  Hist,  de  S.  Cuthbert.  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  199  ;  Haddan  and  Stubbs,  Councils  and  Eccles.  Doc. 
ii.  pt.  i.  6. 

223 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

to  the  city  Herebert  came  from  his  lonely  retreat  in  Derwentwater 
twenty-five  miles  away  to  consult  with  his  revered  diocesan.1  There 
was  a  nunnery  in  the  city,  graced  by  a  superior  of  noble  birth,  and 
there  was  a  school  founded  by  the  saint  himself.  The  citizens  pointed 
with  pride  to  the  ancient  walls  and  conducted  St.  Cuthbert  to  see  a 
fountain  built  with  marvellous  skill  by  the  Romans.3  Every  notice  of 
the  city  at  this  date  bespeaks  a  long  occupation  by  the  Teutonic  con- 
queror. In  English  mouths  the  Latin  name  had  taken  an  English  form, 
for  we  are  told  by  Bede  that  Lugubalia  was  corrupted  by  the  English 
into  Luel.  It  was  the  capital  of  an  extensive  district,  wider  than  the 
area  which  Ecgfrith  had  added  to  the  temporal  possessions  of  Lindis- 
farne.  For  more  than  eight  centuries  after  the  legions  were  withdrawn 
from  Lugubalia,  its  Roman  name  clung  to  the  city  as  if  to  proclaim  its 
continuous  existence.3  Though  successive  masters  changed  or  corrupted 
it  at  pleasure,  the  city  as  an  institution  remained  the  political  centre  of 
the  district.  No  other  designation  has  appeared  above  the  surface  of 
history  to  indicate  the  region  south  of  the  Solway  as  a  political  state. 
As  the  district  was  nameless  when  it  was  won  by  the  Norman,  the  land 
of  Carlisle  or  the  county  of  Carlisle  was  utilized  to  describe  it  for  nearly 
a  hundred  years. 

There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  district  of  Carlisle  con- 
tinued a  portion  of  the  Northumbrian  realm  till  the  whole  of  northern 
England  was  thrown  into  confusion  and  anarchy  by  the  Danish  invasion. 
The  overthrow  of  Ecgfrith  by  the  Picts  in  the  disastrous  battle  of  Nech- 
tansmere*  in  685  does  not  appear  to  have  disturbed  the  political  allegiance 
of  its  inhabitants.  It  is  true  that  Northumbrian  power  was  weakened 
by  Ecgfrith's  defeat,  and  that  some  of  the  Britons,  presumably  those  in 
the  valley  of  the  Clyde,  had  regained  their  independence  in  consequence, 
but  the  region  south  of  the  Roman  wall  on  the  Solway  shore  remained 
faithful  to  English  dominion.  In  854  Bishop  Eardulf  of  Lindisfarne, 
according  to  Symeon  of  Durham,8  claimed  that  Luel,  or  Carleol,  as  the 
city  was  called  in  Symeon's  day,  had  belonged  to  his  bishopric  since  the 
time  of  King  Ecgfrith,  and  when  the  same  bishop  took  flight  from  the 
pagan  Danes  in  875,  and  entered  on  his  seven  years'  pilgrimage  with 
the  relics  of  St.  Cuthbert,  it  was  through  this  district,  not  apparently  as 
through  a  hostile  region,  that  he  made  his  way  to  the  mouth  of  the 
Derwent  for  the  purpose  of  embarking  to  Ireland.'  In  all  probability 
the  political  relations  of  the  district  with  Northumbria  remained  un- 

1  Bede,  Hist.  Eccles.  iv.  29.  »  Bede,  Vita  S.  Cuthberti,  cap.  27. 

3  Lugubalia  as  the  ancient  name  of  Carlisle  survived  in  authentic  documents  till  a  late  period. 
When  Pope  Honorius  III.  confirmed  Bishop  Hugh  in  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle  in  1223,  he  spoke  of  it 
as  'the  episcopal  see  in  St.  Mary's  church,  Carlisle,  called  of  old  "Lugubalia,"  in  which  are  to  be  ob- 
served all  the  customs  of  other  bishoprics  in  England  '  (Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  91,  ed.  Bliss).  It  is  used 
by  Walsingham  in  relation  to  the  bishop  and  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle  in  1345  and  1400  :  Bishop 
Kirkby  is  described  as  '  episcopus  Lugubalia;,'  and  the  bishopric,  to  which  William  Strikeland  succeeded, 
as '  pontificatum  Lugubaliae'  (Hist.  Angl.  [Rolls  Ser.],  i.  266-7,  "•  247)- 

*  Symeon,  Hist.  Dunelm.  Eccles.  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  32,  ed.  Arnold. 

*  Ibid.  53  ;  Symeon,  Hist.  Regum,  (Rolls  Series),  ii.  101,  ed.  Arnold. 

8  Symeon,  Hist.  Dunelm.  Eccles.  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  146,  163,  ed.  Hinde  ;  GeofF.  of  Monmouth, 
Man.  Hist.  Brit.  i.  68 1. 

224 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

changed  for  the  remaining  portion  of  the  ninth  century.  After  the 
death  of  Halfdene,  Bishop  Eardulf  returned  to  Northumberland,  but 
not  to  his  ruined  cathedral  of  Lindisfarne  ;  and  his  companion,  Abbot 
Eadred,  surnamed  Lulisc  from  Luel,  the  place  of  his  habitation,  had  re- 
turned to  Luercestre  or  Luelcestre,  as  Carlisle  was  then  called,  from  their 
sacred  odyssey  with  the  saint's  body.1  It  was  at  the  monastery  of  Carlisle, 
which  had  apparently  escaped  destruction  during  the  first  outburst  of 
heathen  invasion,  that  St.  Cuthbert  appeared  in  a  vision  to  Abbot 
Eadred,  and  from  which  he  sent  him  to  proclaim  to  the  Danes  that 
Guthred  son  of  Hardacnute  should  be  their  king.2  Though  there  is  a 
discrepancy  in  the  date  when  this  mission  took  place,  one  authority 
fixing  it  in  883  and  another  in  890,  it  is  of  small  consequence.  The 
fact  of  interest  to  be  remembered  is  that  the  monastery  of  Carlisle  re- 
mained intact  till  the  death  of  Halfdene.  It  is  a  point  of  great  import- 
ance in  the  history  of  the  district  if  additional  probability  can  be  given 
to  the  statements  in  the  tracts  ascribed  to  the  authorship  of  Symeon  that 
Abbot  Eadred  returned  to  the  monastery  of  Carlisle  after  his  seven  years' 
pilgrimage.3  The  total  destruction  of  the  city  by  the  Danes  rests  on  the 
sole  authority  of  Florence  of  Worcester.  In  describing  the  conquest  of 
William  Rufus  in  1092  Florence  advanced  on  the  account  given  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  by  stating  that  the  city,  like  some  others  in 
these  parts,  had  been  destroyed  by  the  pagan  Danes  two  hundred  years 
before,  and  had  remained  deserted  up  to  that  time.  This  statement  was 
accepted  by  Symeon,  and  embodied  in  his  history  of  the  kings.4  But 
the  destruction  has  not  been  noticed  by  either  of  the  chroniclers  in  the 
ordinary  sequence  of  events  during  the  Danish  invasion,  and  no  special 
weight  can  be  attached  to  the  authority  of  Symeon  in  support  of  this 
remarkable  statement,  inasmuch  as  he  was  but  the  faithful  copyist  of 
Florence  for  the  events  of  the  period.  There  is  much  reason  to  believe 
that  the  monastery  of  Dacore  or  Dacre,  about  20  miles  to  the  south  of 
Carlisle,  at  which  miraculous  cures  are  said  to  have  been  wrought  in  728 
by  the  agency  of  St.  Cuthbert's  relics,5  was  untouched  by  the  ravages  of 
the  Danes.  It  was  at  this  place,  as  it  would  seem,  that  Athelstan  re- 
ceived the  homage  of  the  kings  in  926."  From  the  latter  date,  every 

1   Symeon,  Hist.  Regum,  ii.  114,  ed.  Arnold  ;  i.  73,  ed.  Hinde. 

»  The  Historia  de  S.  Cuthberto  calls  Eadred  the  abbot  of  Luercestre,  but  it  must  be  a  scribal  error 
for  Luelcestre  (Symeon  of  Durham,  i.  143,  231,  ed.  Hinde).  Mr.  Freeman  has  suggested  a  similar  con- 
fusion between  the  letters  /  and  r  in  Gullkrmus  for  Guillelmus  (Trans,  of  Cumb.  and  West.  Arcbeeol.  Sac. 
vi.  244). 

3  It  may  be  pointed  out  that  Mr.  Freeman  at  first  stated  that  Lugubalia  was  part  of  the  lands  lost 
to  Northumbria  by  the  fall  of  Ecgfrith  (William  Rufus,  ii.  545),  but  he  afterwards  revised  this  opinion, 
as  he  '  had  not  given  heed  enough  to  the  story  of  Eadred,  which  clearly  fixes  the  loss  of  the  country,  as 
well  as  the  destruction  of  the  city,  to  the  Danish  invasion  of  875  '  (Trans,  of  Cumb.  and  West.  Archceol. 
Sac.  vi.  258).     This  paper  on  'The  Place  of  Carlisle  in  English  History,'  read  at  the  joint  meeting  of 
the  Royal  Archaeological  Institute  and  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Archaeological   Society  held 
at  Carlisle  in  1882,  deserves  careful  study. 

4  Hist.  Regum,  ii.  220,  ed.  Arnold.     '  Haec  enim  civitas,  ut  illis  in   partibus  aliae  nonnullae,   a 
Danis  paganis  ante  cc  annos  diruta,  et  usque  ad  tempus  id  mansit  deserta.' 

«  Bede,  Hist.  Eccl.  bk.  iv.  c.  32. 

6  The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  (i.  1 99)  states  that  the  submission  was  made  '  on  thaere  stowe  the 
genemned  is  aet  Eamotum,'  which  Mr.  Thorpe  understood  to  be  Emmet,  but  he  has  not  indicated 

II  225  29 


A    HISTORY   OF   CUMBERLAND 

place  name  within  the  limits  of  the  modern  county  disappears  from 
history  for  a  century  and  a  half.  The  city  of  Carlisle  ceased  to  be  so 
far  as  recorded  history  is  concerned.  The  memorials  of  the  district 
south  of  the  Solway  perished.  It  is  just  possible  that  Florence,  full  of 
the  ruthless  ravages  of  the  Danes  in  the  north,  and  rinding  no  materials 
for  the  history  of  the  north-western  district,  jumped  to  the  conclusion 
that  Carlisle  shared  the  fate  of  many  cities  in  the  rest  of  Northumbria. 
Subsequent  events  may  help  to  throw  doubt  on  the  alleged  destruction 
of  Carlisle  and  the  desertion  of  its  site. 

After  the  Danish  conquest  of  Northumbria  all  is  dark  or  indistinct 
in  the  region  south  of  the  Solway.  We  lose  the  guidance  of  Carlisle  in 
our  efforts  to  disentangle  the  obscure  allusions  which  may  possibly  refer 
to  the  district.  In  the  tenth  century  the  chroniclers  make  incidental 
mention  of  tribes  and  peoples  inhabiting  the  western  shores,  but  it  is 
very  difficult  to  say  with  certainty  that  our  district  was  included.  As 
yet  the  territory  between  the  Solway  and  the  Duddon  had  no  political 
existence  as  a  separate  state,  and  we  know  not  whether  it  had  been  dis- 
severed from  Northumbria  when  that  kingdom  began  to  decline.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  Strathclyde  extended  south  of  Hadrian's  wall  at  any 
time  subsequent  to  the  English  conquest.  The  territorial  name  is  a 
warrant  that  it  comprised  only  the  valley  of  the  Clyde,  and  can  have 
extended  little  beyond  what  is  now  known  as  Clydesdale.  In  that  case 
allusions  to  the  Straecled-Walas,  Streatcledwali,  Stratcluttenses,  or  Welsh 
of  Strathclyde,  need  present  no  difficulties.  But  it  is  different  with  the 
Cumbri,  a  race  which  has  given  its  name  to  the  modern  county,  and  of 
which  we  have  no  mention  before  875.  Ethelwerd  is  the  first  of  the 
chroniclers  who  uses  the  word,1  but  he  gives  no  indication  of  the  terri- 

where  that  locality  is  (ii.  85).  Florence  of  Worcester  (Man.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  573)  almost  used  the  same 
phrase,  '  in  loco  qui  dicitur  Eamotum,'  in  which  he  is  followed  by  Symeon  of  Durham  (Hist.  Regum, 
ii.  124).  Mr.  Arnold,  the  editor  of  Symeon,  suggests  that  Etton  in  the  east  riding  of  Yorkshire  is 
meant.  The  importance  of '  Dacore  '  in  Bede's  day  furnishes  a  strong  probability  that  the  '  Eamotum ' 
of  the  Chronicle  and  Florence  may  be  identified  with  Eamont,  formerly  Eamot,  in  Cumberland,  which 
is  close  to  Dacre.  But  we  have  the  positive  testimony  of  William  of  Malmsbury  that  the  Scots  sub- 
mitted to  Athelstan,  '  ad  locum  qui  Dacor  vocatur,'  which  is  sufficient  to  settle  the  identity  of  '  Eamo- 
tum'  (Gesta  Regum  Anglorum,  \.  147,  ed.  Stubbs).  There  is  a  tradition  that  the  conference  was  held 
in  a  room  of  Dacre  Castle,  still  pointed  out  as  'the  kings'  chamber.'  E.  W.  Robertson  denies  the  truth 
of  the  whole  story  of  the  submission  of  the  kings  to  Athelstan,  and  suggests  that  the  account  in  the 
Cottonian  MS.  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  is  an  interpolation  ;  he  also  says  that  Malmsbury's  authority 
for  the  statement  was  an  old  poem  (Early  Kings,  ii.  397—8). 

1  It  may  be  taken  that  '  Cumbri '  and  '  Cumbria,'  as  the  designation  of  the  people  and  their 
territories,  did  not  come  into  use  before  the  eleventh  century,  but  it  is  an  open  question  whether 
Ethelwerd  was  the  first  to  employ  the  terms.  In  the  tractate  on  the  Life  of  St.  CadnH  it  is  stated  that 
King  Donald  conducted  the  saint  to  the  city  of  Leeds,  which  was  the  boundary  between  the  northmen 
and  the  Cumbrians,  'conduxit  usque  Loidam  Civitatem  quae  est  confinium  Normannorum  atque 
Cumbrorum '  (Skene,  Chron.  of  the  Puts  and  Scots,  p.  116).  As  Cadrog  died  about  976,  and  as  the 
author  of  the  Life  states  that  he  had  his  information  from  the  saint's  disciples,  Dr.  Skene  has  dated  the 
tract  in  the  eleventh  century.  Ethelwerd  certainly  lived  and  wrote  in  the  same  century  (Hardy,  De- 
scriptive Catalogue,  i.  571-4  ;  ii.  65).  The  people  of  this  region  were  called  Britons  by  Gildas, 
Nennius  and  Bede,  and  their  kings  were  spoken  of  by  Adamnan  and  the  Ulster  Annals  as  reigning  in 
Petra  Cloithe  or  Alocluaithe,  but  no  mention  is  made  of  Cumbri.  Strathclyde  was  introduced  by 
later  writers  as  the  name  of  the  kingdom  over  which  the  kings  ruled.  In  the  matter  of  territorial 
titles  Sir  Henry  Maine's  remarks  on  the  history  of  tribe  sovereignty  (Ancient  Law,  pp.  103-9)  and 
Mr.  Freeman's  notes  on  early  geographical  nomenclature  are  of  great  value  (Norman  Conquest,  i.  584-6, 
597-605). 

226 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

tory  they  occupied.  As  a  matter  of  fact  he  employs  the  designation  as 
if  it  were  synonymous  with  the  people  of  Strathclyde.  When  Halfdene 
had  subdued  the  valley  of  the  Tyne  in  875,  we  are  told  by  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  Chronicle,  Asser  and  Florence,1  that  he  often  made  war  on  the 
Picts  and  Strathclyde  Welsh,  whereas  Ethelwerd  *  in  describing  the 
same  exploit  calls  the  native  tribes  by  the  names  of  Picts  and  Cumbri. 
In  describing  later  events  the  chroniclers  are  still  more  indefinite. 
Florence  relates  that  in  901  Edward  the  Elder  received  the  submission 
of  the  kings  of  the  Scots,  Cumbrians,  Strathclyde  Welsh  and  all  the 
west  Britons;3  and  in  921  the  same  authority  states  that  the  king  of 
Scots  with  his  whole  nation,  Reinald  king  of  the  Danes,  with  all  the 
Angles  and  Danes  that  dwell  in  Northumbria,  and  also  the  king  of 
the  Strathclyde  Welsh,  accepted  King  Edward  as  their  father  and 
lord,  and  made  a  firm  treaty  with  him.4  Symeon  of  Durham  and 
Geoffrey  Gaimar  follow  in  the  same  strain.  In  his  description  of  the 
battle  of  Brunanburh  in  937,  Symeon  says  that  Athelstan  put  to  flight 
Onlaf,  the  Danish  king  of  Northumbria,  Constantine,  King  of  Scots,  and 
the  king  of  the  Cumbri,  with  their  whole  host  ;  but  Gaimar  differ- 
entiates the  people  taking  part  in  the  battle  as  Scots,  Cumbri,  Galwe- 
gians  and  Picts.6  Again  and  again  we  meet  with  '  the  king  of  the 
Cumbri,'  without  any  hint  of  the  region  over  which  he  ruled.  It  is 
curious  that  no  English  equivalent  of  the  word  was  admitted  into  the 
pages  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  till  a  late  date.  In  the  account  of 
the  famous  cession  by  King  Eadmund  in  945  we  get  the  first  glimpse 
of  the  tribe  in  the  name  of  Cumbraland  or  Cumberland,  the  territory 
which  he  had  harried  and  delivered  to  Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  on  con- 
dition that  he  should  be  his  ally  on  sea  and  on  land.  Florence  trans- 
lates the  '  Cumbraland  '  of  the  Chronicle  into  the  Latin  form  of  '  the 
land  of  the  Cumbri,'  though  the  Welsh  annalists,  referring  to  the  in- 
cursion, identify  the  region  as  Strat  Glut  or  Ystrat  Glut,  that  is  Strath- 
clyde.6 From  these  scattered  notices  of  the  inhabitants  it  would  be 
hazardous  to  suggest  that  the  region  south  of  the  Solway  was  a  separate 
territorial  unit  belonging  to  the  Cumbri,  or  to  draw  any  positive  con- 
clusions on  its  political  affinities  to  the  neighbouring  states.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  the  Cymric  race,  breaking  away  from  Northumbrian  rule, 
made  common  cause  with  their  kinsfolk  of  Strathclyde,  and  attained 
some  measure  of  national  independence  during  the  declining  period  of 
the  Northumbrian  kingdom.  The  rise  of  the  racial  name  of  Cumbri7 

i  Mm.  Hist.  Brit.  pp.  355,  478,  558.  »  Ibid.  p.  515.  »  Ibid.  p.  568. 

«  Ibid.  p.  572.  5  Ibid.  pp.  686,  808.  «  Ibid.  pp.  388,  574,  837,  847. 

7  There  does  not  appear  to  be  any  doubt  of  the  origin  of  the  word  Cumbri  or  Cumbria.  It  is  from 
the  Welsh  Cymru,  meaning  exclusively  the  Principality,  and  pronounced  as  if  spelled  Kumry  or  Kumri 
(Rhys,  Celtic  Britain,  p.  142).  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth  had  no  compunction  in  deriving  the  name  from 
Kamber,  one  of  the  sons  of  King  Brute,  as  he  accounted  for  the  origin  of  Alban,  the  name  of  Celtic 
Scotland,  from  Albanach,  and  Lloegr,  the  Welsh  name  for  England,  from  Locrinus,  members  of  the 
same  family  (Hist.  Britonum,  p.  23,  ed.  Giles).  Jocelyn  of  Furness,  who  wrote  in  the  twelfth  century, 
has  adopted  the  forms  Cambria,  Cambrensis  and  Cambrinus,  in  connection  with  the  north-western  dis- 
trict (Life  of  St.  Kentigern,  pp.  54,  58,  87,  etc.  ;  Hist,  of  Scotland,  v.)  Cambria  and  Cumbria  were  at 
first  used  indiscriminately  for  the  same  region.  It  is  curious  that  St.  Petroc,  who  was  a  native  of  Wales, 
is  called  a  Cumber  or  a  Cimber  in  one  old  life  (Celtic  Britain,  p.  141).  Cumbria  seems  the  more  correct 

227 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

as  distinctive  of  the  people  appears  almost  to  warrant  the  existence  of 
some  sort  of  political  autonomy  on  the  western  seaboard.  But  two 
events  are  clearly  discernible  amid  all  the  confusion  of  the  tenth  cen- 
tury. The  submission  of  the  western  tribes  to  Edward  the  Elder  in 
924,*  and  the  grant  of  the  district  to  Malcolm,  King  of  Scots,  by  King 
Eadmund  in  945,"  are  noteworthy  incidents  with  which  the  future 
history  of  the  country  was  intimately  concerned.  It  is  with  the  latter 
event  only  that  we  need  to  trouble  ourselves  here. 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  the  introduction  of  Cumberland 
as  a  geographical  term  synchronized  with  the  so-called  cession  of  the 
district  to  the  Scottish  crown.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  at  this 
period  the  name  embraced  a  definite  territory  which  extended  north  and 
south  of  the  Solway  from  the  Firth  of  Clyde  to  the  river  Duddon.  Its 
southern  boundary  has  been  described  by  a  fairly  respectable  Scottish 
authority  as  the  Rerecross  on  Stainmore,  a  pillar  standing  on  the  con- 
fines of  Yorkshire  and  Westmorland,  which  still  in  part  remains.3  The 
canons  of  Carlisle,  however,  when  they  made  their  report  on  the  history 
of  the  district  to  Edward  I.  in  1291,  appear  to  have  had  no  knowledge 
of  this  grant  to  Malcolm  and  offered  no  opinion  on  the  territorial  extent 
of  Cumbria  as  it  existed  after  the  cession  of  945.*  But  if  the  statement 
of  the  Scottish  Chronicle  on  the  southern  boundary  be  accepted  as  con- 
clusive, it  may  be  taken  that  the  territory  south  of  Solway  had  been 
withdrawn  from  Northumbrian  influence  and  that  the  previous  inde- 
pendence to  which  it  had  attained  was  completely  destroyed.  In  the 
course  of  its  history  the  land  had  been  British,  Roman,  English,  perhaps 
British  again,  and  now  for  a  time  it  was  to  be  subject  to  Scottish  rule. 

Considerable  diversity  of  opinion  exists  on  the  precise  nature  of 
the  grant  made  to  Malcolm  by  King  Eadmund  in  945.  Mr.  Freeman 
interpreted  the  records  of  the  transaction  as  indicating  a  permanent 

form,  as  it  has  been  admitted  into  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  :  Cumberland,  Cumbraland,  or  Cumer- 
land — the  land  of  the  Cumbras,  Cumbri  or  Kymry.  There  was  a  notable  personage  of  the  name  of 
Cumbra  in  the  south  of  England  in  the  eighth  century.  The  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  calls  him  '  Aldor- 
man  Cumbra,'  unjustly  slain  in  755  by  Sigebryht  and  the  West  Saxon  witan  (i.  82,  ed.  Thorpe).  The 
same  person  is  referred  to  by  Ethelwerd  as  '  Dux  Cumbran,'  by  Florence  of  Worcester  as  '  Dux  Cum- 
branus,'  and  by  Geoffrey  Gaimar  as  '  Combran,'  'Cumbrat,'  or'Enconbrand'(Mo».  Hist.  Brit.  pp.  507-8, 
543.  78?)-  Henry  of  Huntingdon  alludes  to  him  as  'Cumbra  consul  ejus  nobilissimus'  (Hist.  Anghrum, 
p.  122,  ed.  Arnold).  But  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  exercised  any  sway  in  the  Welsh  region  of 
Britain. 

1  Florence  of  Worcester  gives  the  year  of  submission  as  924,  but  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  places 
it  in  921. 

a  Some  of  the  Scottish  chronicles  insist  on  a  grant  of  Cumberland  to  Scotland  by  King  Eadmund 
before  945.  In  the  Chronicles  of  the  Picts  and  Scots  (ed.  Skene,  p.  204)  it  is  said  that  the  country  as  far  as 
'  Reir  Croiz  de  Staynmore  '  was  given  to  Donald  mac  Dunstan,  King  of  Scotland,  and  in  the  Life  of 
St.  Cadroi  it  is  suggested  that  Donald  was  king  of  the  Cumbri  when  the  saint  visited  that  people  (ibid. 
p.  1 1 6). 

3  Skene,  Chnn.  of  Picts  and  Scots,  p.  204.  For  the  erection  of  this  stone  by  Marius  or  Meuric,  King 
of  the  Britons,  to  celebrate  his  victory  over  Roderic,  King  of  the  Picts,  and   for  the  legends  about  the 
origin  of  Westmorland,  Westymar,  Westmering  or  Gwysmeuruc,  by  reason  of  that  monument,  see  the 
Welsh  '  Bruts '  in  Skene,  Chnn.  of  Picts  and  Scots,  pp.  1 22,  I  56-7.  Some  antiquaries  think  that  the  pillar 
is  the  fragment  of  a  Roman  milestone. 

4  Palgrave,  Documents  and  Records,  68-76.     It  should  be  remembered  that  the  extent  of  Cumbria 
described  by  the  canons  of  Carlisle   can  be  applied  only  to  1069  and  to  no  previous  date.      To  make 
the  statement  retrospective  violates  the  whole  purport  of  the  return. 

228 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

feudal  benefice  lasting  till  the  Norman  conquest  of  the  district  in  1092, 
for  which  the  kings  of  Scotland  or  their  heirs  did  homage  or  military 
service  as  occasion  required.  It  was  probably,  he  said,  the  earliest 
instance  in  Britain  of  a  fief  in  the  strictest  sense  as  opposed  to  a  case  of 
commendation.1  It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the  events  of  subsequent 
history  with  this  view.  Without  attaching  too  much  weight  to  the 
gradual  introduction  of  feudal  ideas  by  the  later  chroniclers  into  the 
earliest  account  of  the  grant,2  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  a  permanent 
cession  to  Scotland  was  neither  maintained  nor  recognized  by  those 
who  had  the  closest  interest  in  the  original  agreement.  It  appears 
improbable  that  King  Ethelred  regarded  the  grant  by  his  prede- 
cessor as  permanent  when  he  plundered  Cumberland  in  iooo,3  or  that 
Symeon  of  Durham  should  have  stated  that  the  district  was  under  the 
dominion  of  Malcolm  III.  in  1070,  not  possessed  by  right  but  subjugated 
by  force,*  had  he  been  aware  of  the  compact.  Scottish  writers  have  put 
forward  sundry  explanations  to  account  for  the  non-admission  of  their 
national  claims  upon  the  territory.  Fordun  6  ascribed  the  raid  of  King 
Ethelred  to  the  refusal  of  the  Prince  of  Cumbria  to  contribute  to  the 
Danegeld,  alleging  that  the  Cumbrians  owed  no  other  tax  than  to  be 
ready  at  the  king's  command  to  defend  their  liberties  with  the  sword. 
An  earlier  Scottish  writer  better  informed  than  Fordun,  unable  to  close 
his  eyes  to  the  facts  of  history,  confessed  that  the  province  had  not 
remained  in  the  uninterrupted  possession  of  Scotland,  for  King  Ead- 
mund's  donation  had  been  often  conquered  and  abandoned  for  the  sake 
of  peace  between  the  two  kingdoms.8  In  view  of  this  admission  it  is 

i  Norman  Conquest,  \.  62,  124,  571-3. 

»  According  to  the  statement  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  under  945,  '  Her  Eadmund  cyning 
oferhergode  eal  Cumbraland  and  hit  let  eal  to  Malculme  Scotta  cyninge  on  thaet  gerad  thaet  he  waere 
his  midwyrhta  aegther  ge  on  sae  ge  on  lande.'  The  compact  is  not  noticed  by  Ethelwerd,  but  Florence 
(Man.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  574)  and  Symeon  of  Durham  (ii.  126,  ed.  Arnold)  render  «  midwyrhta'  as  'fidelis,' 
thus  importing  into  the  word  the  feudal  ideas  of  a  later  age.  Henry  of  Huntingdon  is  more  literal  in 
his  translation  :  '  commendavit  earn  Malculmo  Regi  Scotiae  hoc  pacto,  quod  in  auxilio  sibi  foret  terra  et 
mari.'  Subsequent  chroniclers  have  transformed  the  agreement  into  a  permanent  feudal  transaction. 
On  the  death  of  Eadmund  in  946,  the  same  compact  was  renewed  with  his  successor  Eadred  after  he 
had  reduced  all  Northumberland  under  his  power — '  and  Scottas  him  athas  sealdan  thaet  hie  woldan  eal 
thaet  he  wolde.'  But  we  hear  nothing  more  of  the  renewal  of  oaths  on  a  succession  to  the  English 
Crown,  nor  do  we  read  of  the  Scottish  kings  fighting  often  on  the  English  side,  as  they  were  bound  to 
do  by  their  oath  of  fealty,  had  this  cession  of  Cumberland  been  a  permanent  agreement.  In  E.  W. 
Robertson's  opinion  Cumberland  south  of  the  Solway,  '  when  it  was  not  under  the  authority  of  the 
Northumbrian  earls  in  whose  province  it  was  included,  may  be  said  to  have  remained  in  a  state  of 
anarchy  till  the  conquest'  of  1092  (Scotland  under  Early  Kings,  i.  72). 

3  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  (Rolls  Series),  i.  249;  Man.  Hist.  Brit.  (Florence  of  Worcester),  p.  583. 

*  '  Erat  enim  eo  tempore  Cumbreland  sub  regis  Malcolmi  dominio,  non  jure  possessa  sed  violenter 
subjugata'  (Hist.  Regum,  ii.  191,  ed.  Arnold). 

6  Unde  rex  Etheldredus,  regulo  Cumbrie  supradicto  Malcolmo  scribens,  per  nuncium  mandavit, 
quod  suos  Cumbrenses  tributa  solvere  cogeret,  sicut  ceteri  faciunt  provinciales.  Quod  ille  protinus  con- 
tradicens  rescripsit,  suos  aliud  nullatenus  debere  vectigal,  preterquam  ad  edictum  regium,  quandocun- 
que  sibi  placuerit,  cum  ceteris  semper  fore  paratos  ad  bellandum.  Nam  pulchrius  esse,  dicebat,  ac  multo 
praestantius,  viriliter  cum  gladio,  quam  auro  defendere  libertatem  (Chrmica  Gentis  Scotorum,  iv.  c.  35  ; 
Historians  of  Scotland,  i.) 

6  Donald  Mac  Dunstan  ij.  aunz.  Edmound,  freir  Athelstan,  duna  a  cesti  Donald,  roy  Descoce, 
tout  Combirland,  pur  quo!  lez  Escoces  ount  fait  clayme,  tanque  al  Reir  croiz  de  Staynmore  :  mais  eel 
doune  ad  este  souent  conquys  puscedy  et  relesse  en  maint  peise  fesaunt  (Skene,  Chron.  of  Picts  and  Scots, 
p.  204).  The  date  of  the  chronicle  from  which  the  above  extract  is  taken  has  been  ascribed  to  1280. 

229 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

difficult  to  defend  the  old  theory  of  the  effective  sovereignty  of  Scot- 
land over  the  district  south  of  the  Solway  from  the  date  of  King 
Eadmund's  grant  till  the  conquest  of  Carlisle  in  1092.  It  would 
appear  that  the  compact  lasted  only  for  the  lifetime  of  the  contract- 
ing parties,  for  Kenneth  son  of  Malcolm  soon  after  his  accession  in 
971  plundered  part  of  the  district  of  Strathclyde  and  the  whole  of 
Northumbria  as  far  as  Stainmore.1  In  these  circumstances  it  must  be 
concluded  that  Scottish  claims  to  the  sovereignty  of  Cumberland, 
founded  on  King  Eadmund's  grant,  must  have  been  put  forward  at  a 
later  date. 

Early  authorities  like  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  and  Florence  of 
Worcester  are  content  with  the  bare  statement  of  King  Ethelred's 
invasion  of  Cumberland  in  1000.  Henry  of  Huntingdon2  however 
enlarges  on  the  older  narratives  and  supplies  a  reasonable  account  of  the 
object  of  the  expedition.  King  Ethelred,  he  says,  assembled  a  powerful 
host  and  went  into  Cumberland,  which  was  at  that  time  a  stronghold 
of  the  Danes,  and  he  conquered  the  Danes  in  a  great  battle  and  laid 
waste  and  pillaged  nearly  the  whole  of  Cumberland.  In  this  state- 
ment we  have  a  more  likely  pretext  for  the  invasion  than  that  sup- 
plied by  Fordun,  to  which  attention  has  been  called,  and  it  possesses 
the  additional  recommendation  that  it  seems  to  harmonize  with  the 
general  sequence  of  events  in  the  northern  districts.  It  is  noteworthy 
how  much  the  Danish  colonization  is  mixed  up  with  the  political 
vicissitudes  of  Cumberland,  whether  that  geographical  term  be  taken 
in  its  limited  or  enlarged  sense,  and  how  often  these  vicissitudes  resulted 
from,  or  were  associated  with,  the  history  of  Northumbria.  It  was  an 
unjustifiable  exercise  of  Danish  power  in  that  kingdom  which  drew  the 
attention  of  King  Eadmund  to  northern  affairs  and  caused  the  expulsion 
of  the  two  kings  in  944,'  and  it  was  probably  some  insubordination  on 
the  part  of  the  people  of  Cumberland,  if  we  can  trust  Huntingdon's 
description  of  their  character,  that  led  in  the  following  year  to  the  ces- 
sion of  this  treacherous  and  lawless  race  to  the  dominion  of  the  Scottish 
king.4  Both  acts  seem  to  have  been  parts  of  one  plan,  the  annexation 
of  Northumbria  to  his  own  kingdom  ofWessex  and  the  cession  of  Cum- 
berland to  Scotland,  as  he  was  himself,  owing  to  its  turbulence  and 
isolation,  unable  to  keep  it  under  effective  control.  If  it  be  admitted 
that  the  evidence  is  insufficient  to  predicate  a  permanent  grant  of 
Cumberland  to  Scotland  in  945,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the  district 

1  Statim  (Cinadius  filius  Maelcolaim)  predavit  Britanniam  ex  parte.     Scotti  predaverunt  Saxoniam 
ad  Stanmoir,  et  ad  Cluiam,  et  ad  Stangna  Dera'm  (Skene,    Chron.  of  Picts  and  Scots,  p.  10).     Skene 
interpreted  the  Britannia  of  the  '  Pictish  Chronicle  '  as  the  land  of  the  Strathclyde  Britons,  and  Saxonia 
as  '  the  northern  part  of  Northumbria  as  far  as  Stanmore,  Cleveland,    and  the  pools  of  Deira,  that 
is,  the  part    of  Northumbria  which  had  been   placed  as  a  separate    earldom    under    EadulP    (Celtic 
Scotland,  i.  369).     E.  W.  Robertson  understood    Britannia  to  refer    to  Cumberland   (Early   Kings,   i. 
72).     As  Kenneth  II.    began    to  reign   in  971,  the  expedition  against   Strathclyde   must  have  taken 
place  soon  after  (statim)  his  accession. 

2  Historia  Angkrum,  p.   1 70,  ed.  Arnold.     There  is  no  mention  of  Scottish  sovereignty  in   this 
account  ;  the  Danes  were  in  possession  of  the  district  called  Cumberland  at  this  time. 

3  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  i.  89-90.  »  Historia  Angkrum,  p.  162,  ed.  Arnold. 

230 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

had  attained  some  measure  of  independence  or  had  reverted  to  the 
dominion  of  Northumberland,  with  which  it  had  been  politically 
connected  before  the  government  of  that  kingdom  had  been  thrown 
into  confusion  by  the  Danish  inroads. 

Of  the  Danish  predominance  in  the  district  south  of  the  Solway 
there  can  be  no  doubt.  It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Mr.  Freeman '  that 
no  proof  was  needed  to  show  that  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  were 
largely  Scandinavian  to  this  day,  but  there  was  no  record  how  they  had 
become  so.  In  Northumberland,  he  says,  we  know  when  the  Danes 
settled,  and  we  know  something  of  the  dynasties  which  they  founded. 
But  the  Scandinavian  settlement  of  Cumberland — Norwegian  no  doubt 
rather  than  Danish — we  know  only  by  its  results.  We  have  no  state- 
ment as  to  its  date,  and  we  know  that  no  Scandinavian  dynasty  was 
founded  there.  The  clue  to  the  great  puzzle  of  Cumbrian  ethnology 
might  not  have  been  so  difficult  to  find,  had  attention  been  given  to  the 
political  association  of  the  western  district  with  Northumberland.  There 
was  no  occasion  for  a  Scandinavian  dynasty,  and  no  need  for  a  separate 
record  of  the  Scandinavian  settlement  on  the  understanding  that  Cum- 
berland continued  subject  to  Northumbrian  dominion,  except  at  rare 
intervals,  during  the  Danish  ascendency.  There  is  documentary  proof, 
however,  the  value  of  which  cannot  be  exaggerated,  that  the  territory 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carlisle  was  politically  connected  with  North- 
umberland for  some  period  during  the  eleventh  century,  subject  to 
Northumbrian  law,  and  ruled  by  Northumbrian  earls.  As  this  evidence 
is  new  to  history,  it  calls  for  special  examination. 

The  document  in  question,  of  which  athirteenth  century  copy  written 
on  vellum  and  wonderfully  well  preserved  exists  in  the  muniment  room 
at  Lowther  Castle,  is  a  writ  or  grant  of  Gospatric  bestowing  certain 
privileges  on  his  freemen  and  dependants  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Carlisle. 
The  deed,  which  is  in  English  and  of  unrivalled  interest,  throws  a  wel- 
come light  on  the  political  and  territorial  history  of  Cumberland,  and 
adds  much  to  our  knowledge  of  the  district  before  it  was  conquered  by 
William  Rufus  in  1092.  As  the  contents  display  so  many  evidences  of 
genuineness,  both  philological  and  topographical,  there  is  no  hazard  in  re- 
garding the  document  as  of  unquestionable  authority.  By  its  means  we 
can  compel  the  darkness  in  some  measure  to  yield  up  its  secret,  and  we 
are  enabled  to  set  back  the  domain  of  ascertained  knowledge,  imperfect 
though  it  be,  for  a  period  of  at  least  half  a  century.  Before  Gospatric's 
writ  was  made  public,  we  could  not  get  behind  the  statement  in  the 
Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  that  Dolfin  was  ruler  of  Carlisle  in  1092,  and  we 
possessed  no  trustworthy  evidence  about  the  tenure  or  tenants  of  the 
district,  except  what  might  be  gathered  from  the  great  Inquest  of  Fees 
in  121 2,  a  feudal  transaction  which  we  were  compelled  to  accept,  in  the 
absence  of  the  Domesday  Survey,  as  the  foundation  of  the  territorial 
history  of  Cumberland.  The  date  of  the  grant  is  very  difficult  to  fix 
with  any  approach  to  exactness,  but  it  may  be  assigned  to  some  period 

1  Norman  Conquest,  i.  634. 
231 


A   HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

before  the  Conquest  by  William  Rufus.  It  can  scarcely  be  earlier  than 
1067  when  Gospatric  purchased  the  earldom  of  Northumberland  from 
William  the  Conqueror,  though  it  may  have  been  issued  after  1072  when 
King  Malcolm  of  Scotland  gave  him  Dunbar  and  the  adjacent  lands  in 
Lothian. 

Before  deductions  are  made  from  this  new  evidence  on  the  political 
condition  of  the  district,  it  is  desirable  that  the  writ1  should  be  printed 
in  full. 

Gospatrik  greet2  ealle  mine  wassenas3  &  hyylkun  mann,  freo  &  Srenge,  beo 
woonnan  on  eallun  bam  landann  beo  weoron  Combres  &  eallun  mine  kynling*  freond- 
lycc  ;  &  ic  cySe  eoy  ^  myne  mynna  is  &  full  leof  ^  Thorfynn  Mac  Thore  beo  swa 
freo  on  eallan  ftynges  beo  beo  myne  on  Alnerdall  swa  aenyg  mann  beo,  oiSer  ic  o$er 
aenyg  myne  wassenas,  on  weald,  on  freyft,  on  heyninga  &  aet  aellun  iSyngan,  beo  by 
eoriSe  basnand  &  SeoroniSer,  to  Shauk,  to  Wafyr,  to  poll  WaiScen,  to  bek  Troyte  & 
beo  weald  aet  Caldebek  ;  &  ic  wille  ^  beo  mann  bydann  mr3  Thorfynn  aet  CarSeu  & 
Combe'Seyfoch  beo  swa  freals  my3  hem  swa  Melmor  &  Thore  &  Sygoolf  weoron  on 
Eadread  dagan,  &  ne  beo  neann  mann  swa  iSeorif,  behat  mi$  •})  ic  heobbe  gegyfen  to 
hem,  ne  ghar  brech  seo  gyrth  iSyylc  Eorl  Syward  &  ic  hebbe  getySet  hem  cefrelycc 
swa  aenyg  mann  leofand  beo  welkynn  'Seoron'Ser  ;  &  loc  hyylkun  by  bar  bySann  geyld 
freo  beo  swa  ic  by,  &  swa  willann  WalHSeof  &  Wygande  &  Wyberth  &  Gamell  & 
Kuyth  &  eallun  mine  kynling  &  wassenas  ;  &  ic  wille  ^  Thorfynn  heobbe  soc  &  sac, 
toll  &  theam,  ofer  eallun  bam  landan  on  CarSeu  &  on  Combe'Seyfoch  •}}  weoron 
gyfene  Thore  on  Moryn  dagan  freols  myd  bode  &  wytnesmann  on  J'yylk  stow. 

Gospatrik  greets  all  my  dependants  and  each  man,  free  and  dreng,  that  dwell  in 
all  the  lands  of  the  Cumbrians,  and  all  my  kindred  friendlily ;  and  I  make  known  to 
you  that  my  mind  and  full  leave  is  that  Thorfynn  6  Mac  '  Thore  be  as  free  in  all 
things  that  are  mine  in  Alnerdall 7  as  any  man  is,  whether  I  or  any  of  my  dependants, 
in  wood,  in  heath,  in  enclosures,  and  as  to  all  things  that  are  existing  on  the  earth  and 

1  This  document,  the  existence  of  which  has  been  well  known  to  Lord  Lonsdale,  was  submitted 
to  Chancellor   Burn  when  he  was  examining  the  muniments  at   Lowther  for  the  History  of  Westmor- 
land and,  Cumberland,  published  in  1777,  and  bears  an  endorsement   in  his  handwriting,  but  he  ap- 
parently did  not  fully  recognize  its  importance.     The  present  writer's  attention  was  called  to  it  by 
Canon  Greenwell,  at  whose  suggestion  he  examined  it  at  Lowther  and  contributed  an  article  thereon  to 
the  Scottish  Historical  Review,   October,  1903.     The  deed  has  been  the  subject  of  an  article  in  the 
Ancestor,  October,  1903,  by  the  Rev.   F.  W.  Ragg,  who  saw  it  and  procured  a  photograph  of  it   in 
1902.     It  has  been  also  printed  by  Canon  Greenwell  in  A  History  of  Northumberland,  vii.  25-6,   and 
with  facsimile  by  Professor  Liebermann  in  Archiv  Jiir  das  Stadium  der  neueren  Spracben  und  Literaturen, 
cxi.  pt.  3-4,  275-8. 

2  The  rapid  transition  from  the  third  person  to  the  first  in  Gospatric's  mode  of  address  is  common 
and  idiomatic.     Compare  the  letter  of  ^Elfthryth  to  ^Elfric,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  that  of 
Wulfstan,  Archbishop  of  York,  to  King  Cnut,  for  the   identical  phraseology  of  our  charter  (Thorpe, 
Diplomatarium,  pp.  295,  313). 

a  This  is  a  rare  word  and  is  used  thrice  in  the  writ.  It  cannot  be  Norman  for  vassals,  for  '  vassal ' 
was  not  adopted  into  English  at  this  date.  It  is  apparently  British,  a  form  of  the  Welsh  '  gwassan,'  a 
dependant  or  retainer,  but  it  is  from  the  same  Celtic  root  as  the  Prankish  '  vassallus.'  For  the  use  of 
vassalus  before  the  Conquest,  see  Maitland,  Domesday  Book  and  Beyond,  p.  293. 

4  For  the  use  of  this  word,  which  is  of  very  rare  occurrence,  the  reader  may  be  referred  to  the 
alleged  charter  of  Edward  the  Confessor  printed  by  Kemble  (Codex  Diplomatics,  iv.  236). 

5  A  personal  name  not  uncommon  in  Cumberland  in  the  twelfth  century.     In  the  Chartulary  of 
St.  Bees,  '  Thorfinsacre '  is  named  as  a  plot  of  land.      The  parish  of  Torpenhow  is  written  '  Thorphin- 
how '  in  some  early  deeds.     The  hill  overlooking  the  village  of  Thursby  is  still  known  as '  Torkin  '  pro- 
bably from  this  person. 

•  This  word  for  '  son'  is  extremely  rare  in  local  evidences.  We  have  Gospatric  Mapbennoc,  that 
is,  '  Mac  Bennoc,'  in  the  Pipe  Roll  of  Cumberland  of  1158  :  his  name  appears  in  the  Roll  of  1 163  as 
'  Gospatric  fil.  Beloc.' 

'  The  great  district  of  Allerdale  situated  on  the  western  seaboard  between  the  Wampool  and  the 
Derwent,  so  called  perhaps  because  it  was  traversed  by  the  river  Alne  or  Ellen.  Near  its  mouth  is  the 
vill  of  Alneburg  or  Ellenborough. 

232 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

under  it,  at  Shauk  and  at  Wafyr  and  at  Pollwathoen  *•  and  at  bek  Troyte 2  and  the 
wood  at  Caldebek3  ;  and  I  desire  that  the  men  abiding  with  Thorfynn  at  Cartheuand 
Combetheyfoch 4  be  as  free  with  him  as  Melmor 6  and  Thore  6  and  Sygulf  were  in 
Eadread's  days,  and  that  (there)  be  no  man  so  bold  that  he — with  what  I  have  given 
to  him — cause  to  break  the  peace  such  as  Earl  Syward  and  I  have  granted  to  them  for 
ever  as  any  man  living  under  the  sky  ;  and  whosoever  is  there  abiding,  let  him  be  geld 
free  as  I  am  and  in  like  manner  as  Walltheof  and  Wygande7  and  Wyberth8  and 
Gamell  9  and  Kunyth10  and  all  my  kindred  and  dependants  ;  and  I  will  that  Thor- 
fynn have  soc  and  sac,  toll  and  theam  over  all  the  lands  of  Cartheu  and  Combethey- 
foch that  were  given  to  Thore  in  Moryn's11  days  free,  with  bode  and  witnessman  l2 
in  the  same  place. 

It  may  be  inferred  from  the  general  tenor  of  the  document  that  Gos- 
patric  held  a  high  position  in  the  district,  for  it  is  most  improbable  that 
he  should  have  used  such  a  style  of  address  to  the  men  of  Cumbria 
had  he  been  only  the  lord  of  Allerdale.  Subsequent  events,  such  as  the 
position  of  his  son  Dolfin  at  Carlisle  in  1092  and  the  succession  of  Wal- 
deve  to  the  paternal  estates  in  Allerdale,  appear  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
Gospatric  ruled  the  district  south  of  the  Solway.  As  no  allusion  is  made 
to  Scottish  sovereignty,  and  as  Gospatric  appeals  to  the  laws  which  Earl 
Siward  and  he  had  established  in  Cumberland,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
of  the  political  subjection  of  the  district  to  Northumberland  at  the 
period  to  which  the  grant  refers. 

It  is  interesting  to  inquire  how  northern  events  during  Siward's  tenure 
of  the  earldom  (1041— 55)  u  will  suit  this  Northumbrian  overlordship.   It 

I  Shauk,  Waver  and  Wampool,  three  streams  well  known  as  boundaries  of  Allerdale  on  the  north 
and  north-east.    The  Wampool  is  usually  found  in  early  evidences  as  Wathunpol,  which  is  much  the  same 
form  as  that  in  this  charter. 

»  Troutbeck  is  the  common  name  for  a  small  stream  in  northern  England. 

»  Caldbeck,  a  parish  forming  the  eastern  limit  of  Allerdale. 

«  Cardew  and  Cumdivock,  two  vills  in  the  parish  of  Dalston,  separated  from  Allerdale  by  the  water 
of  Shauk  and  lying  over  against  Thursby. 

*  Probably  the  owner  from  whom  the  parish  of  Melmerby  in  the  east  of  Cumberland  took  its  name. 

«  Apparently  the  same  person  as  the  father  of  Thorfynn  above  mentioned,  who  gave  his  name  to 
Thursby  or  Thoresby,  as  the  parish  was  called  in  the  twelfth  century. 

'  Probably  the  owner  of  Wiggonby,  a  vill  to  the  north-west  of  Thursby  in  the  parish  of  Aikton 
near  the  Wampool. 

s  Not  identified  unless  he  was  the  owner  of  Waberthwaite,  formerly  Wyberthwaite,  a  small  parish 
in  the  lordship  of  Millom,  which  was  within  the  portion  of  ancient  Cumbria  surveyed  under  Yorkshire 
in  Domesday  as  part  of  the  possessions  of  Earl  Tostig. 

9  Perhaps  the  owner  of  Gamelsby,  a  vill  on   the  Wampool  in  the  parish  of  Aikton.     It  is  almost 
certain  that  another  Gamel,  the  son  of  Bern,  who  lived  somewhat  later,  bequeathed  his  name  to  Gamelsby 
in  Leath  Ward.       It  is  very  striking  that  we  should  have  the  names  of  Thore,  Wygande,  and  Gamell 
embodied  in  a  group  of  places  close  to  the  Wampool. 

10  The  reading  of  the  script  here  is  somewhat  doubtful  owing  to  the  condition  of  the  ink.     The 
name  may  be  intended  for  some  form  of  the  uncertain  Celtic  or  Pictish  name  Kenneth,  which  appears  in 
Symeon  of  Durham  under  774  as  'Cynoht.' 

II  The  owner  of  the  district  of  Dalston,  of  which  Cardew  and  Cumdivock  are  parcels.      Dalston 
was  afterwards  forfeited  by  Hervey  son  of  Morin  ;  was  an  escheat  in  the  hand  of  Henry  II.  ;  and  was 
granted  to  the  See  of  Carlisle  by  Henry  III. 

1J  The  services  of  '  bode  and  wytnesmann  '  were  well  known  institutions  in  the  early  history  ot 
Cumberland.  In  1292  John  de  Hodelston  excused  the  monks  of  Furness  of  suit  at  his  court  of  Millom, 
of  pannage  and  puture,  and  of  '  bode  and  wyttenesman '  for  ever,  which  services  were  formerly  claimed 
from  them  in  respect  of  their  land  of  Brotherulkill  in  Coupland  (Duchy  of  Lancaster  Charter,  Box  B,  No. 
I  55).  Opinions  differ  on  the  exact  nature  of  these  institutions. 

13  Symeon  (i.  91,  ii.  198,  ed.  Arnold)  says  that  Earl  Eadulf  was  slain  by  Siward  in  1041,  and 
Florence  (Mem.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  600)  calls  Siward  earl  of  the  Northumbrians  in  the  same  year.  He  was  cer- 
tainly in  possession  of  the  earldom  in  1043  according  to  Symeon  (ii.  163)  and  died  at  York  in  1055  as 
stated  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.. 

II  233  30 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

is  possible  that  Siward  had  seized  Carlisle  after  his  successful  expedition 
into  Scotland  against  Macbeth  in  1054,'  and  that  the  gyrth  spoken  of  in 
Gospatric's  writ  may  have  been  extended  to  the  Cumbrians  as  a  result  of 
the  war.  In  this  connection  we  should  not  pass  over  the  statement  of 
Gaimar,  not  found  elsewhere,  that  '  Earl  Syward  made  an  agreement 
with  the  King  of  Scotland  when  he  went  ;  but  Macbeth  destroyed  the 
peace  and  ceased  not  to  carry  on  war.' 2  There  is  little  need  to  accept 
every  statement  in  the  mythical  history  of  Siward3  or  to  press  unduly 
the  testimony  of  Bromton  4  in  support  of  Gospatric's  writ,  but  the  story, 
common  to  both  of  these  authorities,  that  Siward  was  made  Earl  of  West- 
morland, Cumberland  and  Northumberland,  and  was  the  means  of  effect- 
ually tranquillizing  (potenter  pacificavit)  these  territories  cannot  be  rejected 
without  some  show  of  reason.  The  Norse  names  borne  by  the  potentates 
of  the  district  seem  to  lend  probability  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Danish 
earl  found  sympathetic  associates  in  establishing  his  peace  in  the  western 
province  of  his  charge. 

In  the  statement  of  Gospatric's  deed  that  the  magnates  of  Cum- 
berland held  their  lands  free  of  geld  we  may  find  some  explanation  of 
Earl  Siward's  success  as  a  legislator.  To  what  does  this  tribute  refer  ? 
As  it  cannot  be  suggested  that  no  territorial  service  was  exacted  from  the 
chief  tenants  of  the  district,  we  are  compelled  to  assume  that  some 
extraordinary  or  exceptional  burden  on  the  land  is  referred  to.  It  is 
possible  that  Fordun  used  the  exemption  of  Cumberland  from  the 
Danegeld  as  the  pretext  whereon  to  build  his  argument  that  it  was  the 
refusal  of  the  inhabitants,  as  subjects  of  the  Prince  of  Scotland,  to  con- 
tribute to  the  tax  which  stirred  up  the  energies  of  King  Ethelred  in  1000 
and  brought  about  the  invasion.  However  that  may  be,  the  fact  of  the 
freedom  from  geld  is  incontestable,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  good 
ground  for  rejecting  its  identity  with  the  Danegeld.8  The  district 
comprised  a  strong  Scandinavian  settlement  ;  while  Siward  held  the  reins 
of  power,  it  was  ruled  by  a  Danish  earl ;  the  people  were  reduced  to 
order  by  Northumbrian  legislation.  Everything  appears  to  suggest  the 
influence  and  protection  of  Northumberland  at  this  period. 

1  Siward's  expedition  into  Scotland  in  1054  is  mentioned  by  most  of  the  chronicles,  but  the  dnnals 
of  Ulster  (i.  595,  ed.  Hennessy)  add  the  interesting  fact  that  'three  thousand  of  the  men  of  Alban  were 
slain,  and  fifteen  hundred  of  the  men  of  Saxonia  with  (ini)  Dolfinn  mac  Finntuir  (Thorfinn).' 

a  Man.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  825.  'Li  quens  Syward  done  s'accordat  al  rei  d'Escoce,  u  il  alat  ;  mais Mache- 
den  defuit  la  pes  :  de  guerreier  ne  fist  releis." 

3  The  tract  '  Origo  et  gesta  Siwardi  Dani '  has  been  often  printed,  but  see  it  in  Langebech, 
Serif  tores  Rerum  Danicarum,  iii.  287  :  also  'Vita  et  Passio  Waldevi  Comitis'  in  Original  Lives  of  Anglo- 
Saxons before  the  Conquest  (Caxton  Soc.),  8,  22-3.  Mr.  Freeman  has  rejected  the  whole  story  with  the 
exception  of '  the  one  bit  of  history  which  lurks  in  all  this,'  viz.  '  the  fact  of  the  union  of  the  earldoms 
of  Northumberland  and  Huntingdon  in  the  person  of  Siward '  (Norman  Conquest,  i.  768-9). 

*  Twysden,  Decem  Serif  tores,  col.  946. 

6  It  is  thought  that  Danegeld  was  a  popular  name  of  dislike  for  the  tax  originally  applied  to  pay- 
ments made  to  buy  off  the  Danes  and  afterwards  transferred  to  these  other  payments  made  to  Danish 
and  other  mercenary  forces  (Freeman,  Norman  Conquest,  ii.  124,  574-5).  In  that  case  it  was  unlikely 
that  the  nickname  should  be  used  by  Gospatric  in  his  declaration  of  its  remission  to  one  of  hi«  vassals. 
The  earliest  occurrence  of  the  word  seems  to  be  in  Domesday  (336^),  but  instances  of  its  payment 
during  the  reign  of  Ethelred  are  often  alluded  to  by  later  writers.  Though  the  Danegeld  was  remitted 
by  the  Confessor,  its  payment  was  revived  at  an  early  period  by  the  Conqueror.  It  had  afterwards 
become  subject  to  numerous  exemptions  (Ellis,  Introduction  to  Domesday,  \.  350-1). 

234 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

There  is  no  doubt  that  during  the  confusion  which  followed  the 
Norman  invasion  in  1066  King  Malcolm  seized  Cumberland  and  became 
sovereign  of  the  district  between  the  Solway  and  the  Duddon.  The  state- 
ment of  the  'Cronica  de  Karleolo'  cannot  be  gainsaid  that  Cumbria  in 
1069  embraced  the  southern  province  to  its  furthest  limit.1  But  how 
long  the  Scottish  sovereignty  lasted  is  another  question.  It  is  difficult  to 
discuss  Gospatric's  relation  to  Cumberland  apart  from  the  general  history 
of  Northumbria,  though  it  is  clear  enough  from  the  evidence  of  the 
writ  above  mentioned  that  he  was  not  only  a  great  landowner  in  the 
district  like  Earl  Tostig,  his  predecessor,2  but  that  he  was  its  ruler 
and  overlord.  If  the  date  of  the  grant  could  be  settled  with  certainty,3 
a  more  trustworthy  deduction  might  be  made  about  the  part  Gospatric 
played  to  preserve  the  integrity  of  the  Northumbrian  earldom  against 
Scottish  and  Norman  intrigue.  He  was  a  personage  of  great  prestige  in 
the  northern  province.  A  scion  of  the  illustrious  house  of  Bamborough, 
allied  in  blood  on  his  father's  side  with  the  reigning  family  of  Scotland, 
and  the  grandson  of  Ethelred,  the  English  king,4  Gospatric  exercised  a 
predominant  influence  in  Northumberland  when  William  the  Con- 
queror landed  at  Pevensey.  On  no  other  assumption  than  that  he 
attempted  at  the  outset  to  revive  the  independence  of  the  ancient  king- 
dom, or  at  least  to  maintain  an  independence  comparable  to  it,  can  the 
statements  of  the  chronicles  be  explained  or  reconciled.  It  was  his 
policy  to  play  the  Scot  against  the  Norman  and  to  hold  the  balance  of 
power  between  them.  He  courted  the  protection  of  Malcolm  or  William 
as  it  suited  his  purpose.  In  1067  he  secured  from  King  William  a  recog- 
nition of  his  title  to  Northumberland  as  an  earldom,5  upon  which  he 
had  manifest  claims  in  right  of  his  mother,  Aldgitha,  daughter  of  Earl 

1  The  'Cronica  de  Karleolo'  was  drawn  up  in  1291  by  the  prior  and  convent  of  Carlisle,  after 
a  diligent  examination  of  the  chronicles  and  writings  in  their  possession,  and  transmitted  to  Edward  I. 
by  the  hand  of  Alan  de  Frysington,  precentor  of  the  church,  when  that  king  was  seeking  historical 
information  concerning  Scotland.  The  entry  relating  to  the  extent  of  Cumbria  in  1069  is  as  follows  : — 
'1069.  Cumbria  dicebatur  quantum  modo  est  Episcopatus  Karleolensis  et  Episcopatus  Glasguensis  et 
Episcopatus  Candidecase  et  insuper  ab  Episcopatu  Karleolensi  usque  ad  flumen  Dunde  '  (Palgrave, 
Documents  and  Records,  p.  70).  This  statement  is  often  regarded  as  retrospective,  but  if  so,  why  should  the 
canons  have  been  so  particular  in  recording  the  date  at  which  Cumbria  attained  such  dimensions  ?  It 
is  quite  clear  that  its  territorial  extent  had  undergone  some  alteration  in  1069. 

a  Domesday  Book,  i.  30 1£. 

3  It  is  not  known  in  what  year  Gospatric  died,  though  Roger  of  Hoveden  (i.  59,  ed.  Stubbs)  has 
recorded  the  place  and  manner  of  his  death.  When  the  grantor  speaks  in  the  writ  of  the  peace  which 
Earl  Syward  and  he  had  bestowed  on  their  vassals,  he  appears  to  be  referring  back  to  a  period  when  he 
had  been  Earl  of  Northumberland.  He  would  scarcely  have  used  such  a  phrase  had  he  been  the  earl 
in  possession.  In  that  case  the  date  must  have  been  after  1072,  when  he  was  deprived  of  the  earldom 
(Symeon,  ii.  196,  ed.  Arnold;  Hoveden,  i.  126,  ed.  Stubbs).  There  is  nothing  in  the  writing  to  suggest 
whether  Gospatric  ruled  the  district  as  an  independent  sovereign  or  as  a  subject  of  the  Scottish  crown. 
If  the  date  be  taken  after  1072,  there  can  be  no  question  of  his  dependence  on  Scotland  notwith- 
standing the  absence  of  any  mention  of  Scottish  sovereignty.  On  the  assumption  that  the  grant  was 
made  while  he  was  Earl  of  Northumberland,  1067—72,  his  independence  of  Scotland  is  unassailable. 

*  Symeon,  i.  216,  ii.  199,  383  ;  Chronicle  ofMelrose,  in  ann.  950. 

5  There  is  little  doubt  that  Gospatric  succeeded  to  the  earldom  in  1067,  though  the  date  of  his 
appointment  is  often  placed  in  1068  or  1069.  If  we  compare  the  statements  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle  under  1067  that '  Gospatric  eorl  and  tha  betstan  menn  foron  into  Scotland  '  and  under  1068 
that  '  Gospatric  eorl  mid  Nordhymbrum  and  ealle  tha  landleoden  '  took  part  in  the  destruction  of  York, 
we  can  form  no  other  conclusion. 

235 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Uhctred,  and  in  1068  he  fled  to  Scotland1  after  the  rebellion  of  Edwin 
and  Morcar,  in  which  he  was  probably  implicated.  It  can  scarcely  be 
disputed  that  the  appointment  of  Robert  Cumen "  was  an  attempt  to 
supersede  Gospatric  in  the  earldom.  Malcolm  seized  the  occasion  of 
Gospatric's  disgrace  and  took  possession  of  Cumberland.  But  his  name 
was  still  a  power  in  the  land.  As  a  counter-move  in  the  game  Gospatric 
submitted  to  King  William  in  1070,"  and  immediately  turned  his  wrath 
on  King  Malcolm  for  the  betrayal  of  his  interests  by  harrying  Cumber- 
land in  turn,4  and  no  doubt  recovering  its  possession.  Events  proved  how- 
ever that  the  Conqueror  was  aware  of  the  political  situation  in  the  north, 
for  on  his  return  after  the  invasion  of  Scotland  in  1072  he  deprived  Gos- 
patric of  his  earldom  on  charges  which  he  had  hitherto  overlooked.6  The 
exiled  earl  again  sought  refuge  in  Scotland  and  made  common  cause  with 
the  Scottish  people  against  Norman  power.  Malcolm  gave  him  Dunbar 
and  the  adjacent  land  in  Lothian  till  better  days  dawned  and  Gospatric 
recovered  his  lost  possessions.8  At  this  date  the  curtain  falls  on  Cumbrian 
affairs,  and  is  not  again  uplifted  till  the  conquest  by  William  Rufus  in 
1092. 

The  time  was  at  hand  when  political  affairs  in  the  north-western 
district  were  destined  to  take  a  fresh  turn  and  the  limits  of  the  Scottish 
kingdom  to  be  settled  beyond  dispute.  Hitherto  the  northern  nation 
had  shown  a  tendency  to  advance  rather  than  to  recede.  The  Scots 
were  restless  in  their  efforts  to  obtain  an  enlargement  of  their  territories 
towards  the  south.  But  William  Rufus  was  determined  to  check  their 
aggressions  and  to  secure  a  natural  frontier  between  the  two  nations. 
With  this  view,  there  can  be  little  doubt,  as  we  read  in  the  Anglo-Saxon 
Chronicle^  King  William  went  north  to  Carlisle  with  a  large  force  in 
1092,  restored  the  town  and  built  the  castle  ;  and  drove  out  Dolfin  who 

1  Symeon,  Hut.  Regum,  ii.  186  ;  Hoveden,  Cbnnica,  \.  117.  Gospatric  with  other  Northum- 
brian nobles  accompanied  Edgar  the  ^Etheling,  Agatha  his  mother,  and  Margaret  and  Christine,  his 
sisters,  in  their  flight  to  Scotland. 

J  This  happened  in  1069  when  Earl  Gospatric  with  the  whole  host  of  Northumbria  joined  the 
Danes  in  resisting  the  advance  of  the  Normans.  Robert  Cumen  was  slain  before  the  gates  of  Durham 
(Symeon,  ii.  187,  ed.  Arnold). 

3  '  Reconciliati  sunt  Guallevus  presens,  et  Caius-Patricius  absens,  sacramento  per  legates  exhibito ' 
(Orderic  VitaRs,  bk.  iv.  c.  5).  It  is  significant  that  Gospatric  did  not  commit  himself  to  the  king's 
power  by  personal  attendance  :  he  made  his  submission  by  deputy.  In  1071,  the  following  year,  he 
was  deputed  by  order  of  King  William  to  meet  Bishop  Walcher  at  York  and  conduct  him  to  Durham 
(Symeon,  ii.  195  ;  Hoveden,  i.  126). 

«  Symeon,  ii.  191-2  ;  Hoveden,  i.  121-2.  Symeon  states  that  Gospatric,  having  wasted  Cumber- 
land '  atroci  depopulatione,'  retired  with  much  plunder  '  in  munitionem  Babbenburch  firmissimam,' 
from  which  he  harassed  the  forces  of  the  enemy  by  frequent  forays,  for  Cumberland  was  at  that  time 
under  the  dominion  of  Malcolm,  not  possessed  of  right  but  subjugated  by  force.  Mr.  Hodgson  Hinde, 
in  view  of  his  belief  in  the  effectiveness  of  Scottish  sovereignty  over  Cumberland  from  945,  has  rejected 
the  authority  of  Symeon's  text  on  the  mutual  reprisals  of  Malcolm  and  Gospatric  (Symeon  of  Durham, 
xxviii-xxx.  86-8).  If  the  present  text  is  corrupt  and  untrustworthy,  it  has  not  altered  to  any  appre- 
ciable extent  since  1291,  for  the  canons  of  Carlisle  told  the  same  story  to  Edward  I.  (Palgrave,  Docu- 
ments and  Records,  p.  70).  The  atrocities  committed  on  both  sides  may  be  incredible  on  Mr.  Hinde's 
hypothesis,  but  the  incredibleness  disappears  when  the  political  necessities  of  Gospatric's  position  are  re- 
cognized. 

5  Symeon,  ii.  196  ;  Hoveden,  i.  126.     Gospatric  was  charged  with  aiding  and  abetting  the  murder 
of  Robert  Cumen  and  his  men  at  Durham,  though  he  had  not  been  present  in  person,  and  that  he  had 
been  on  the  side  of  the  enemy  when  the  Normans  were  slain  at  York. 

6  Symeon,  ii.  199  ;  Hoveden,  i.  59. 

236 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

had  previously  ruled  the  land  there  ;  and  garrisoned  the  castle  with  his 
own  men  and  then  returned  to  the  south  ;  and  sent  very  many  country 
folk  with  their  wives  and  cattle  to  dwell  there  and  to  till  the  land.1  We 
are  not  told  whose  vassal  Dolfin  was,  but  from  the  previous  connection 
of  Earl  Gospatric,  his  father,  with  the  Scots,  it  is  probable  that  he  owed 
allegiance  to  the  Scottish  king.  If  the  region  south  of  the  Solway  had 
been  held  by  Dolfin  on  behalf  of  Scotland,  the  sovereignty  of  that  king- 
dom had  been  definitely  annulled  by  the  expedition  of  1092. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  no  name  came  into  use  for  the  district  from 
which  Dolfin  had  been  expelled  except  what  had  been  taken  from  its 
vicinity  to  Carlisle.  In  documents  of  the  early  portion  of  the  twelfth 
century  it  was  known  as  the  Power  (potestas)  or  Honor  of  Carlisle,*  a 
designation  which  was  continued  till  the  formation  of  the  counties  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland  as  fiscal  areas  in  1177.  This  point  is 
very  significant  and  needs  not  to  be  stated  at  great  length.  The  expedition 
of  1092  is  described  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  as  an  expedition  to 
Carlisle.  Florence  of  Worcester  regarded  Carlisle,  to  which  Rufus 
marched  his  host,  as  being  in  Northumbria,  an  opinion  adopted  by 
Symeon  of  Durham  without  protest.3  When  Henry  of  Huntingdon 
enumerated  the  shires  of  England,  he  had  no  name  to  give  the  new 
district  except  '  that  region  in  which  is  the  new  bishopric  of  Carluil.'  * 
As  the  northern  boundary  of  the  land  of  Carlisle  was,  roughly 
speaking,  the  Solway,  there  must  have  been  some  recognized  frontier  to 
Dolfin's  province  which  Rufus  accepted,  and  up  to  which  he  claimed 
as  the  right  of  his  crown.  A  fortuitous  delimitation  of  Cumbria  in 
1092  is  almost  inconceivable  if  under  that  name  we  understand  the 
state,  homogeneous  and  indivisible,  which  is  said  to  have  reached  from 
the  Clyde  to  the  Duddon  and  to  have  been  held  by  the  Scottish 
king  under  the  treaty  of  945.  The  records  of  the  conquest  un- 
doubtedly assume  that  the  district  of  Carlisle  was  a  political  state  of 
itself,  and  that  it  was  governed  by  usurped  authority.  There  is  no  ques- 
tion that  the  Solway  was  a  settled  boundary  and  was  accepted  as  such 
by  both  nations.  When  King  David  established  Robert  de  Brus  in 
Annandale,  the  fief  was  described  as  extending  '  to  the  bounds  of 
Ranulf  Meschin,'  the  first  Norman  lord  of  Carlisle  of  whom  there  is 
mention.  The  Scottish  king  ordained  that  his  vassal  should  enjoy  '  all 

1  The  history  condensed  in  this  entry  of  the  Chronicle  is  of  the  utmost  interest  :  'On  thisum 
geare  se  cyng  W.  mid  mycelre  fyrde  ferde  nord  to  Cardeol  and  tha  burh  geaedstathelede,  and  thone 
castel  arerde,  and  Dolfin  ut  adraf,  the  aeror  thaer  thes  landes  weold,  and  thone  castel  mid  his  mannan 
gesette,  and  syddan  hider  sud  gewaende,  and  mycele  maenige  cyrlisces  folces  mid  wifan  and  mid  orfe 
thyder  saende  thaer  to  wunigenne  that  land  to  tilianne.'  Florence  of  Worcester,  who  closed  his  history 
in  1117  (Hardy,  Descriptive  Catalogue,  ii.  1 3  3),  has  incorporated  the  statement  in  these  words  :  '  Rex 
in  Northimbriam  profectus,  civitatem  quae  Brytannice  Cairleu,  Latine  Lugubalia,  vocatur,  restauravit  et 
in  ea  castellum  aedificavit.'  For  a  critical  examination  of  the  technical  words  in  the  account  given  by 
the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  which  deserve  close  attention,  the  paper  by  Mr.  Geo.  Neilson  in  Notes  and 
Queries  (8th  ser.  viii.  321—3)  should  not  be  overlooked. 

1  Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  pp.  2,  25,  ed.  J.  E.  Prescott. 

3  Hist.  Regum,  ii.  220,  ed.  Arnold.     Symeon  has  incorporated  in  his  history  the  exact   words  used 
by  Florence. 

4  '  Ilia  regio  in  qua  est  novus  episcopatus  Carluil '  (Hist.  Anghrum,  p.  10,  ed.  Arnold). 

237 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

the  customs  which  Ranulf  Meschin  ever  had  in  Carlisle  and  in  all  his 
land  of  Cumberland.'  *  The  land  of  Cumberland,  as  the  name  for  the 
district  south  of  the  Solway,  is  a  singular  admission  to  be  found  in  a 
Scottish  document  of  that  date.  At  a  later  period,  when  David  was 
sovereign  of  Carlisle,  there  is  nothing  remarkable  in  his  address  to  his 
faithful  sheriffs  and  justices  of  all  Cumberland  (totius  Cumberlandie)  or 
in  the  gift  to  the  see  of  Glasgow  of  certain  royal  perquisites  of  his 
courts  throughout  Cumbria  (per  totam  Cumbrian!}?  That  the  Scots 
claimed  the  province  as  far  south  as  Stainmore  everybody  admits.  The 
wise  men  who  made  the  famous  Inquest  of  David3  about  1 120  entered 
a  feeble  protest  that  the  prince  of  Cumbria  was  not  the  ruler  at  that  time 
of  the  whole  of  the  Cumbrian  region,  though  they  were  unable  to  point  to 
a  single  bit  of  property  south  of  the  Solway  ever  possessed  by  the  see  of 
Glasgow,  in  the  diocese  of  which  the  land  was  said  to  have  been. 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  English  appropriation  of  Cumberland  as 
a  territorial  designation.  The  name  came  into  informal  use  at  an  early 
period  after  the  conquest  of  1092.  When  Henry  I.  endowed  the 
canons  of  Carlisle  with  the  churches  and  lands  of  Walter  the  priest  he 
directed  his  writ  to  all  his  barons  of'  Cumbreland  and  Westmarialand.'4 
The  same  division  was  recognized  in  the  Pipe  Roll  of  1 130  under  the 
titles  of  'Chaerleolium  '  and  '  Westmarieland.'5  These  names  had  been 
floating  about  from  time  immemorial  as  indicative  of  territorial  areas. 
Gaimar  relates  that  the  Picts  baptized  by  Ninian  were  '  Westmaringiens,'8 
and  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  has  recorded  under  966  the  wasting  of 
'  Westmoringa-land '  by  Earl  Thored,7  or  '  Westmereland  '  as  Gaimar 
called  it  in  his  account  of  the  foray.  But  a  long  period  elapsed  after 
1092  before  the  names  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  were  adopted 
by  the  English  Exchequer  as  definite  fiscal  areas.  Throughout  the 
reign  of  Henry  I.  there  had  been  a  county  of  Carlisle  8  which  at  first 

1  Nat.  MSS.  of  Scotland,  i.  No.  xix.  Rec.  Com.          J  Reg.  Epls.  Glasg.  i.  I  ^,  Bannatyne  Club. 

3  This  famous  document,  entitled  '  Inquisicio  per  David,  Principem  Cumbrensem,  de  terris  ecclesie 
Glasguensi  pertinentibus  facta,'  was  dated  in  1116  by  Mr.  Cosmo  Innes,  but  it  is  probably  later,  in 
1 1 20  or  1 122.  In  it  we  have  Cumbria  described  as  '  regio  quedam  inter  Angliam  et  Scotiam  sita  '  ; 
David  as  '  Cumbrensis  regionis  principem  (non  vero  toti  Cumbrensi  region!  dominabatur)  '  ;  and  the 
diocese  of  Glasgow  as  '  Cumbrensis  parochia.'  The  inquest  was  made  and  witnessed  by  some  well 
known  magnates  on  both  sides  of  the  frontier.  It  is  printed  in  facsimile  in  Reg.  Epis.  Glasg.  i.  3—7, 
Bannatyne  Club. 

*  This  charter  has  been  printed  under  the  section  of '  Ecclesiastical  History.' 

«  Pipe  Roll,  31  Hen.  I.  pp.  140-3,  ed.  J.  Hunter. 

6  'Ninan  aveit  ainz  baptizi  les  altres   Pictes  del   regne  ;  ces  sunt  les  Westmaringiens   ki  done 
esteient  Pictiens"  (Man.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  776). 

7  '  Her  Thored  Gunneres  sunu   forhergode  Westmoringaland.'     This  Thored  is  described  in  the 
Chronicle  under  992  as   'Thored  Eorl.'     It  was   conjectured  by  Mr.  E.  W.  Robertson  that  he   was 
Earl  of  Deira  or  Yorkshire  (Scot,  under  Early  Kings,  ii.  441-2),  to  which  Mr.  Freeman  gives  his  assent 
(Norm.  Conq.  i.  646).     Gaimar  noted  the  event  :  '  Fors  sul  Torel,  ki  revelat :  Westmereland  sur  lui 
preiad '  (Man.  Hist.  Brit.  p.  808). 

»  The  foundation  charter  of  the  priory  of  Wetheral,  one  of  the  earliest  documents  relating  to  the 
district  in  existence,  was  addressed  by  Ranulf  Meschin  to  '  Richerio  vicecomiti  Karlioli  et  omnibus  homi- 
nibus  suis,  Francis  et  Anglis,  qui  in  potestate  Karlioli  habitant '  (Reg.  ofWetherhal,  pp.  1-2).  Arch- 
deacon Prescott  has  dated  the  deed  between  1092  and  1112,  but  the  witnesses  seemed  to  agree 
better  with  the  Inter  date.  Though  there  can  scarcely  have  been  a  fully  equipped  county  at  so 
early  a  date,  the  mention  of  a  sheriff  of  Carlisle  is  very  significant.  On  the  relation  of  a  sheriff  to  a 
county,  see  Pollock  and  Maitland,  Hist,  of  Engl.  Law  before  Edw.  I.  (and  ed.),  i.  533-4. 

' 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

was  probably  conterminous  with  the  fief  of  Ranulf  Meschin,  that  is,  the 
district  which  was  formed  into  a  diocese  in  1133.  It  is  well  known 
that  Ranulf  was  ruler  of  a  portion  of  the  present  county  of  Westmor- 
land ;  he  built  a  castle  at  Appleby  and  made  various  grants  of  churches 
and  lands  in  that  neighbourhood  to  St.  Mary's  Abbey  at  York.1 
Though  we  meet  with  a  sheriff  of  Carlisle  about  1106,  there  is  no 
mention  of  a  sheriff  of  Westmorland  till  1130,"  ten  years  after  Ranulf 
had  resigned  his  fief  into  the  king's  hand.  It  is  probable  that  it  was 
between  1120  and  1130,  while  Henry  I.  administered  the  affairs  of  the 
district,  the  fiscal  reconstruction  took  place,  for  in  the  latter  year  West- 
morland was  a  definite  area  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  separate  sheriff. 
The  local  administration  of  Carlisle  (Chaerkolium)  and  Westmorland 
(Westmarieland]  was  thrown  into  confusion  after  the  death  of  Henry  L, 
when  the  whole  district  was  wrested  from  Stephen  by  the  Scots  during 
the  anarchy.  On  the  recovery  of  the  province  in  1 1 57  by  Henry  II. 
the  old  territorial  arrangement  was  revived  and  continued  till  the 
Scottish  invasion  in  1 174.  For  a  few  years  the  sheriff  of  Carlisle  was 
unable  to  make  returns  for  the  county  by  reason  of  the  war.  Mean- 
while a  reconstruction  of  the  fiscal  areas  must  have  taken  place  at  the 
Exchequer,  for  in  1177  the  Pipe  Rolls  are  resumed  with  the  name  of 
Cumberland  substituted  for  that  of  Carlisle  as  the  official  designation  of 
the  county.3  The  great  barony  of  Coupland,  reaching  from  the  Der- 
went  to  the  Duddon,  which  lay  outside  the  fief  of  Ranulf  Meschin  and 
the  Honor  of  Carlisle,  must  have  been  incorporated  with  the  county  of 
Carlisle  soon  after  the  recovery  of  the  district  in  1 1 57.  Though  it 
retained  for  many  years  the  name  of  the  county  of  Coupland,  and  was 
reckoned  a  separate  area  in  the  rota  of  itinerant  justices  in  1176,*  its 
revenues  were  accounted  for  by  the  sheriff  as  early  as  1162,  and  pleas 
in  Coupland  became  one  of  the  sub-titles  in  the  rolls  of  the  sheriff  of 
Cumberland  in  1 178.  In  these  circumstances  it  can  scarcely  be  doubted 
that  the  formation  of  the  county  of  Cumberland,  as  we  now  know  it, 
must  be  assigned  to  the  year  1 177.  The  final  application  of  the  name 
to  a  definite  area  presents  one  of  those  curious  vagaries  in  territorial 
nomenclature  often  difficult  to  explain.  The  chief  difficulty  in  this  case 
arises  from  the  early  method  of  geographical  description  in  naming 
territories  after  their  inhabitants.  The  varying  fortunes  of  the  Cymric 
race  subjected  the  land  of  their  habitation  to  a  continual  state  of 
change.  After  many  vicissitudes  of  contraction  and  expansion,  the 
geographical  term  which  had  undergone  a  slow  process  of  formation 
was  at  last  crystallized  and  adopted  by  the  Norman  conqueror  as  the 
name  of  a  fiscal  area  in  the  heart  of  ancient  Cumbria.6 

1  Reg.  of  Wetherbal,  pp.  10-14,  e<^-  J-  E.  Prescott. 

=  Pipe  Roll,  31   Hen.  I.  pp.  26,  133,  142,  ed.  J.  Hunter. 

3  All  this  may  be  clearly  seen  from  a  study  of  the  Pipe  Rolls  under  the  years  named. 

*  Benedict.  Abbas,  i.  108,  ed.  Stubbs.  For  a  more  detailed  account  of  the  formation  of  the 
counties  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  see  ante,  i.  309-11. 

6  Mr.  Freeman  has  pointed  out  a  similar  phenomenon  in  the  formation  of  the  county  of 
Northumberland,  inasmuch  as  '  that  part  of  old  Northumberland,  which  is  quite  away  from  the 
Humber,  has  kept  the  name  of  Northumberland  to  this  day,'  though  the  usage  certainly  began  as 

239 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

The  statement  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle  *  about  the  expedition 
of  1092  may  be  regarded  as  a  summary  of  the  work  of  William  Rufus 
in  reclaiming  the  land  of  Carlisle  and  incorporating  it  into  the  English 
kingdom.  The  Solway  was  accepted  as  the  international  boundary. 
The  remaining  portion  of  the  reign  was  employed  in  rebuilding  the 
city  and  colonizing  the  district  in  its  neighbourhood.  The  king  never 
visited  the  north  again.  It  rested  with  his  successor,  Henry  I.,  to 
secure  the  permanence  of  the  work  by  the  appointment  of  Ranulf 
Meschin,8  a  Norman  nobleman,  to  the  lordship  of  the  recovered  pro- 
vince with  ample  powers  of  jurisdiction  and  defence.  The  new  ruler 
fixed  his  residence  at  Appleby  3  in  the  valley  of  the  Eden,  where  his 
castle  commanded  the  passes  into  Yorkshire.  For  the  defence  of  his 
charge  on  the  north  Ranulf  created  two  baronies  which  stretched  almost 
the  whole  length  of  the  frontier,  that  of  Burgh  by  Sands  on  the  southern 
banks  of  the  estuary  of  the  Eden  as  it  falls  into  the  Solway,  and  that  of 
Liddel  on  Esk,  a  strip  of  territory  which  lay  athwart  the  outlet  into 
Scotland,  and  committed  them  to  the  care  of  trusty  men,  the  former 
to  Robert  de  Trivers  and  the  latter  to  Turgis  Brundas.  As  a  supple- 
ment to  the  gift  of  Burgh  by  Sands,  the  custody  of  the  forest  of  Cumber- 
land was  added  to  the  benefice  of  Robert  de  Trivers  at  an  annual  rent  of 
ten  marks.  These  are  the  only  acts  of  infeudation  ascribed  to  Ranulf 
Meschin,  while  he  was  lord  of  Cumberland,  in  the  great  Inquest  of 
Fees  of  1212.*  There  appears  to  have  been  no  displacement  of  the 
original  territorial  owners,  except  perhaps  in  those  instances  when  it 
was  necessary  at  the  outset  for  defensive  purposes.  It  is  probable  that 
Dolfin,  who  was  expelled  by  William  Rufus  in  1092,  had  opposed  that 
king's  policy  of  annexation  ;  but  taking  the  district  as  a  whole  there 

early  as  the  eleventh  century  (Norm.  Conq.  i.  644—5).  He  attributes  the  allocation  of  the  names 
for  the  present  area  to  the  predominance  of  the  English  settlement  between  Tyne  and  Tweed, 
which  had  been  undisturbed  by  Danish  power.  If  we  accept  this  explanation,  it  will  afford  a 
strong  reason  for  the  adoption  of  Cumberland  on  the  western  coast  as  the  name  of  a  region  which 
had  continued  subject  to  the  English  traditions  of  Northumbrian  rule  (E.  W.  Robertson,  Early  Kings, 
ii.  436-7). 

1  Anglo-Saxon  Cbron.  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  359. 

3  The  date  of  Ranulf  Meschin's  appointment  to  the  lordship  of  Cumberland  is  not  known,  but  it 
must  have  been  early  in  the  reign  of  Henry  I.  His  foundation  charter  of  the  priory  of  Wetheral  cannot 
have  been  granted  later  than  1112,  when  Stephen,  Abbot  of  St.  Mary's  York,  died,  to  whom  the  manor 
of  Wetheral  was  conveyed  for  the  endowment  of  the  new  institution  (Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  529,  538,  583). 
It  was  Henry  I.,  and  not  an  earlier  king,  who  confirmed  this  donation  (Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  14-19).  Ranulf 
is  frequently  associated  with  Henry  I.  when  his  tenure  of  Carlisle  is  referred  to.  For  instance,  in  1175 
Pope  Alexander  speaks  of  the  Island  of  Holmcultram/sicut  fuit  forestata  tempore  Henrici  Regis  et  Radulphi 
comitis  Cestrie  '  (Reg.  of  Holmcultram  MS.  f.  245),  and  Pope  Lucius  repeated  the  same  phrase  in  1 185 
(Harl.  MS.  3911,  f.  138).  For  the  disputed  passage  in  the  foundation  charter  of  Wetheral  in  which 
the  name  of  William  has  been  substituted  for  that  of  Henry,  thus  antedating  the  issue  of  the  charter  to 
the  reign  of  Rufus,  see  7.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  301-2. 

»  Ranulf  gave  to  St.  Mary's,  York,  for  the  endowment  of  Wetheral,  '  ecclesiam  sancti  Michaelis  et 
ecclesiam  sancti  Laurentii  castelli  mei  de  Appelby  cum  omnibus  quae  ad  eas  pertinent  sicut  Radulphus 
capellanus  meus  tenuit  quietas  et  liberas  ab  omni  terreno  servicio  '  (Reg.  of  Wetherhal,  10-12).  The  word 
caitellum  in  this  charter  must  be  understood  in  its  archaic  sense  of  a  fortified  town  or  enclosure,  whether 
surrounded  by  walls  or  earthworks,  as  it  included  the  two  ancient  parish  churches  which  remain  to  this 
day.  For  the  distinction  between  '  tower  and  castle  '  in  early  documents,  see  Round,  Geoffrey  de  Man- 
deville,  328-46.  In  1130  the  '  castellum  de  Aplebi '  was  in  the  king's  hand  (Pipe  R.  31  Hen.  I.  p.  143, 
Rec.  Com.) 

«  Exch.  K.  R.  Knights'  Fees,  £,  m.  2  ;  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  421. 

240 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

can  be  little  doubt  that  the  great  body  of  local  magnates  quietly 
acquiesced  in  the  new  state  of  things.1  Though  the  recorded  acts  of 
the  Norman  ruler  are  few  and  unimportant  they  may  be  taken  as  em- 
blematic of  the  future  history  of  the  territory  under  his  charge.  It 
was  a  frontier  state,  exposed  to  continual  incursion  and  attack,  always 
on  the  defensive,  the  barrier  against  a  hostile  kingdom. 

The  political  status  of  the  new  district  was  scarcely  completed  be- 
fore Ranulf  Meschin's  connection  with  it  was  severed  by  his  succession 
to  the  earldom  of  Chester  after  the  wreck  of  the  'White  Ship  '  in  1 120, 
in  which  his  cousin  Earl  Richard  perished  with  William  the  Aetheling 
and  several  of  the  Norman  nobility.  The  change  of  government  occa- 
sioned by  Ranulf's  withdrawal  was  fraught  with  consequences  to  the 
northern  province.  King  Henry  appointed  no  vassal  in  his  place,  but 
took  the  lordship  into  his  own  hand,  and  lost  no  time  in  visiting  it  in 
person.  In  1 122,  on  the  occasion  of  a  visit  to  Northumberland,  we  are 
told  on  good  authority  that  he  turned  aside  towards  the  western  sea  with 
the  view  of  taking  into  consideration  the  condition  of  the  city  of 
Carlisle,  which  he  ordered  to  be  fortified  with  a  castle  and  towers,  and 
left  money  for  that  purpose.2  The  strategic  importance  of  the  city  of 
Carlisle  as  a  bulwark  against  the  Scot  was  recognized  by  King  Henry 
as  it  had  been  recognized  by  Rufus  thirty  years  before.  Occupying  the 
crest  of  a  bold  headland,  protected  in  the  front  by  the  deep  and  swiftly 
flowing  Eden,  to  the  west  by  the  Caldew  and  to  the  east  by  the  Petteril, 
the  ancient  city  which  had  played  no  inconspicuous  part  in  the  con- 
quests of  Roman,  Englishman  and  Dane  was  withdrawn  from  the 
oblivion  in  which  it  had  lain  for  two  hundred  years,  and  was  rebuilt  and 
garrisoned  to  defend  the  district  from  northern  attack.  If  it  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  settlement  of  England's  frontier  against  Scotland  and  the 
fortification  of  Carlisle  were  the  most  important  deeds  of  the  Red 

1  The  writ  of  Gospatric,  printed  above,  throws  a  new  light  on  the  Inquest  of  Service  of  1212,  in 
which  Henry  I.  is  described  as  the  original  source  of  enfeoffment  of  several  of  the  knights  of  Cumberland 
in  their  fees.  If  we  were  compelled  to  accept  the  literal  interpretation  of  the  verdict  of  the  jurors,  there 
could  be  no  dispute  that  many  of  the  great  territorial  owners  were  displaced  by  Henry  I.  to  make  way  for 
the  Norman  immigration.  Gospatric's  writ,  however,  in  which  he  is  described  as  the  owner  of  Allerdale, 
makes  it  quite  clear  that  the  infeudation  was  not  originated  by  King  Henry,  but  that  the  jurors  of  1212 
ignored  all  previous  possession  by  Gospatric  the  father,  and  looked  upon  the  king's  confirmation  of  Waldeve 
the  son,  in  the  fee  of  Allerdale,  as  the  source  of  the  title.  The  same  interpretation  may  be  applied  to  the 
tenure  of  the  barony  of  Greystoke.  The  jurors  stated  that  it  was  Henry  who  gave  it  to  Forne,  the  son  of 
Siolf  or  Sigulf,  but  from  the  mention  of  the  name  of  Sigulf  as  one  of  the  magnates  of  Cumberland  '  in 
Eadread's  days,'  it  may  be  assumed  that  he  was  the  owner  of  Greystoke  before  he  was  succeeded  by  his  son 
Forne,  to  whom  Henry  I.  in  after  years  confirmed  the  barony.  There  is  no  inconsistency  in  the  evidence 
of  the  two  documents,  for  the  jurors  were  following  a  well-established  law  in  regarding  the  king's  con- 
firmation as  the  source  of  title.  The  displacement  of  Dolfin  by  William  Rufus  in  1092  may  be  accounted 
for  by  his  resistance  to  the  annexation,  for  we  are  told  that  his  brother  Waldeve,  who  succeeded  to  Aller- 
dale, was  retained  '  as  an  ally  on  account  of  the  war  between  the  Scots  and  England,  as  he  was  a  Scotsman  ' 
(Tower  Misc.  Roll,  if  a). 

J  'Hoc  anno  (1122)  Henricus  post  festum  Sancti  Michaelis  Northymbranas  intrans  regiones  ab 
Eboraco  divertit  versus  mare  occidentale,  consideraturus  civitatem  antiquam  quae  lingua  Brittonum 
Cairleil  dicitur,  quae  nunc  Carleol  Anglice,  Latine  vero  Lugubalia  appellatur,  quam  data  pecunia  castello 
et  turribus  praecepit  muniri '  (Symeon,  Hist.  Regum,  ii.  267).  King  Henry's  attention  to  the  fortification 
of  Carlisle  was  evident  at  a  later  date,  as  may  be  gathered  from  the  money  he  expended  in  1 1 30 '  in  operibus 
Civitatis  de  Caerleolio,  videlicet,  in  Muro  circa  Civitatem  faciendo,'  and  in  the  maintenance  of  a  garrison 
of  knights  and  Serjeants  for  its  defence  (Pipt  R.  31  Hen.  I.  pp.  140-1). 

II  241  31 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

King's  life,1  the  credit  of  recognizing  the  value  of  the  work  done  by  his 
predecessor,  and  of  developing  and  defending  the  policy  he  had  initiated, 
must  be  ascribed  to  King  Henry.  The  military  measures  taken  by  the 
vassal  contrast  strangely  with  the  defensive  precautions  of  the  sovereigns 
while  the  district  remained  in  their  hands.  Ranulf  Meschin  was  con- 
tent with  entrenching  himself  forty  miles  away  from  the  frontier  and 
leaving  its  protection  to  his  sub-feudatories,  but  as  soon  as  King  Henry 
relieved  him  of  his  charge  he  revived  the  policy  of  King  William  by 
making  Carlisle  the  key  of  the  military  situation  as  well  as  the  political 
centre  of  the  district.  The  wisdom  of  the  Norman  kings  was  amply 
justified  by  subsequent  history.  The  castle  of  Carlisle  continued  for  five 
centuries  the  true  defence  of  England  on  the  western  border. 

The  political  allegiance  of  Cumberland  was  diverted  into  a  new 
channel  after  the  death  of  Henry  I.,  when  the  district  was  ceded  to 
Scotland  in  1136  as  the  price  of  Stephen's  usurpation.8  The  change  of 
government,  though  not  regarded  with  repugnance  by  the  inhabitants, 
was  the  occasion  of  unrest  and  insecurity  while  it  lasted.  King  David 
took  up  his  residence  in  Carlisle  with  the  view  perhaps  of  making  it 
ultimately  the  southern  capital  of  his  dominion,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
adding  to  its  defences  he  built  the  mighty  keep  (fortissimam  arcem)  of 
the  castle  and  heightened  the  walls  of  the  city.3  The  Cumberland  men 
fought  by  David's  side  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard  in  1 138,  and  it  was 
to  Carlisle  the  army  retreated  after  its  defeat.*  On  this  occasion  a 
memorable  attempt  was  made  to  mitigate  the  horrors  of  warfare.  It 
was  arranged  by  the  terms  of  the  peace  established  between  David  and 
Stephen  that  all  women  taken  prisoners  by  the  Scots  should  be  brought 
to  Carlisle  and  set  at  liberty,  churches  should  thenceforth  be  secure  from 
attack,  and  children  and  women,  the  sick  and  aged,  should  be  spared.5 
Though  the  Scottish  king  had  little  to  fear  from  the  distrust  in  which 
he  was  held  by  Stephen,  his  title  to  the  sovereignty  of  Cumberland  was 
menaced  on  more  than  one  occasion  by  Ranulf,  Earl  of  Chester,  a  fickle 
and  restless  nobleman,  who  claimed  the  territory  by  right  of  inheritance. 

i  Freeman,  William  Rufus,  i.  313  ;  Norm.  Conquest,  v.  117-8. 

»  Chron.  Sieph.  Hen.  II.  Ric.  I.  (Rolls  Series),  iii.  146. 

8  Mr.  George  Neilson  was  the  first  to  throw  doubt  on  the  accepted  view  that  the  keep  of  Carlisle 
was  built  by  William  Rufus  in  1092.  After  a  critical  examination  of  the  evidences,  he  has  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  it  was  the  work  of  King  David  about  1 1 39.  The  argument  is  based  on  the  positive  state- 
ment in  the  '  Cronica  Beate  Marie  Huntingdon  '  (Palgrave,  Documents  and  Records,  103),  a  statement  re- 
peated by  Bower  (Scoticbronifon,  i.  294,  ed.  Goodall),  that  David  built  the  fortissimam  arcem  of  Carlisle 
(Notes  and  Queries,  8th  series,  viii.  No.  200).  If  that  be  the  case  it  is  curious  that  Jordan  Fantosme  should 
speak  of  it  in  1174  as  '  the  great  old  tower  '  (la  grant  tur  antive)  from  which  William  the  Lion  threatened 
to  throw  Robert  de  Vaux  unless  he  surrendered  the  city  (Chronicle  [Surtees  Soc.],  11.  614-5). 

«  Prior  Richard  of  Hexham  distinguishes  between  the  Picts,  Cumbrians  and  the  men  of  Carlisle 
and  the  adjoining  district  who  were  summoned  to  join  David's  army  on  his  invasion  of  the  territory  of 
St.  Cuthbert  (Priory  of  Hexham  [Surtees  Soc.],  i.  85).  Aelred  relates  that  the  Cumbrians  were  under  the 
command  of  Henry,  Prince  of  Scotland,  at  the  battle  of  the  Standard,  and  that  he  behaved  with  valour 
and  skill  throughout  the  fight  (Twysden,  Decem  Scriptores,  342).  The  Continuator  of  Florence  (in  anno, 
1138)  says  that  the  prince  reached  Carlisle  on  foot  attended  by  a  single  knight.  The  chronicles  generally 
agree  that  the  defeat  of  the  Scottish  army  was  disastrous,  many  having  been  slain  in  segetibus  et  silvis  in 
the  rout  which  followed  the  battle  (Henry  of  Huntingdon  [Rolls],  264 ;  Hemingburgh  [Eng.  Hist.  Soc.],  i. 
61-2).  To  the  numbers  of  the  slain  the  Cumbrians  contributed  their  share  (Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  93). 

«  Richard  of  Hexham  (Rolls  Series),  170-1 ;  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  99-100. 

242 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

In  1140,  when  Henry,  Prince  of  Scotland,  set  out  for  Stephen's  court, 
we  are  told  by  John  of  Hexham  that  Ranulf  stirred  up  strife  against 
him  on  account  of  Carlisle  and  Cumberland,  which  he  demanded  for 
himself  by  right  of  patrimony,  and  wished  to  take  him  by  armed  force 
on  his  return.  But  Stephen,  urged  by  the  entreaty  of  the  queen,  saved 
him  from  the  meditated  peril,  and  thus  provoked  the  bitter  enmity  of 
his  powerful  vassal.1  Ranulf  had  recourse  to  diplomacy  to  attain  his 
ends.  Impressed  by  the  political  significance  of  the  visit  of  Henry  of 
Anjou  to  Carlisle  in  1149,  and  of  the  magnificent  reception  given  to 
him  by  King  David,  he  renewed  his  claims  on  Carlisle.  It  was  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  gatherings  that  ever  took  place  in  the  northern 
city,  and  boded  nothing  but  ill  to  the  English  king.  Stephen  came  to 
York  to  watch  the  proceedings.8  For  the  present  negotiations  were 
successful.  Henry  of  Anjou  undertook,  when  he  became  King  of 
England,  to  restore  Newcastle  and  the  whole  of  Northumberland  to 
David,  and  Earl  Ranulf,  remitting  his  indignation  for  the  loss  of  Carlisle, 
obtained  the  Honor  of  Lancaster  in  satisfaction.3  The  political  en- 
tanglements of  the  Scottish  occupation  were  not  confined  to  the  pressure 
of  external  enemies.  David  had  foes  in  his  own  household.  For  some 
reason  not  recorded  an  estrangement  existed  between  the  king  and 
William  fitz  Duncan,  his  nephew,  who  in  right  of  his  wife,  Alice  de 
Rumelli,  was  entitled  to  the  barony  of  Coupland  in  south-west  Cumber- 
land as  well  as  the  Honor  of  Skipton  in  Craven.  It  was  probably  his 
inability  to  obtain  this  inheritance  that  caused  him  to  overrun  the  dis- 
trict with  relentless  barbarity  in  1 138,  and  to  destroy  the  monastery  of 
Calder.4  At  all  events  it  was  not  till  1151  that  he  was  restored  to  his 
fief  by  David.5  Death  wrought  a  wonderful  change  in  the  political 

1  The  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  131-2, 134.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Ranulf  Meschin 
did  not  voluntarily  resign  Carlisle  to  Henry  I.  when  he  succeeded  to  the  earldom  of  Chester.  The  claims 
of  Ranulf,  his  son,  at  this  period  seem  to  suggest  compulsion.  Orderic  Vitalis  (bk.  xii.  cap.  28)  states  that 
'  Ranulf  of  Bayeux  obtained  the  earldom  of  Chester,  with  all  the  patrimony  of  Earl  Richard,  being  the 
next  heir  as  nephew  of  Matilda,  Earl  Hugh's  sister,'  but  Dugdale  says  that  he  '  left  the  earldom  of  Cum- 
berland on  condition  that  those  whom  he  had  enfeoffed  there  should  hold  their  lands  of  the  king  in  capite, 
and  settled  himself  at  Chester  '  (Baronage,  i.  37). 

J  Twysden,  Decem  Serif  tores  (Gervase  of  Dover),  1366. 

3  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  159-61. 

4  Prior  Richard's  description  of  the  atrocities  committed  by  the  Picts  under  William  fitz  Duncan  in 
1138  is  appalling.    Bursting  into  Yorkshire, '  propter  peccata  populi,  victoriam  optinentes,  possessiones 
cujusdam  nobilis  coenobii,  quod  in  Fuththernessa  situm  est,  et  provinciam  quae  Crafna  dicitur,  ex  magna 
parte,  ferro  et  flamma  destruxerunt.     Igitur  nulli  gradui,  nulli  aetati,  nulli  sexui,  nulli  conditioni  par- 
centes :  liberos  et  cognatos  in  conspectu  parentum  suorum,  et  dominos  in  conspectu  servorum  suorum, 
et  e  converso,  et  maritos  ante  oculos  uxorum  suarum,  quanto  miserabilius  poterant,  prius  trucidaverunt ; 
deinde,  proh  dolor  !  solas  nobiels  matronas,  et  castas  virgines,  mixtim  cum  aliis  feminis,  et  cum  praeda 
pariter,  abduxerunt.    Nudatas  quoque,  et  turmatim  resticulis  et  corrigiis  colligatas  et  copulatas,  lanceis  et 
telis  suis  compungentes,  ante  se  illas  abegerunt.     Hoc  idem  in  aliis  bellis,  sed  in  hoc  copiosius   fecerunt 
(Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  82-3).    Canon  Raine  remarks  on  the  singularity  that  any  injunction  should  induce 
William  fitz  Duncan  to  devastate  the  district  of  which  he  was  the  feudal  chief.     The  only  reason  that  can 
be  alleged  to  account  for  his  ferocity  is  that  he  was  kept  out  of  his  inheritance  by  force.  The  area  of  devas- 
tation was  extended  to  Coupland  in  Cumberland  when  the  monastery  of  Calder  was  destroyed  (Dugdale 
Man.  v.  349).     There  is  no  doubt  that  the  family  of  William's  wife  had  been  expelled  from  Coupland 
during  the  anarchy  in  1136-9,  for  about  that  time  William  of  Lancaster  had  possession  of  the  fief  by  gift 
of  King  Stephen.     See  the  charter  of  Stephen  to  the  abbey  of  Furness,  printed  by  Mr.  Farrer  from  the 
Coucher  Book  of  Furness  in  Pipe  Rolls  of  Lancashire,  304-5. 

6  Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  163. 

243 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

aspect  of  Cumberland  in  a  few  years  by  removing  King  David  and 
Henry  his  son,  King  Stephen,  and  Ranulf,  Earl  of  Chester.1  Stephen 
died  in  1154,  the  year  after  David,  and  was  succeeded  by  Henry  II., 
the  son  of  Maud,  whose  claims  he  had  displaced.  The  Scottish  suc- 
cession had  fallen  into  the  hands  or  Malcolm,  a  mere  boy,  from  whose 
feeble  grasp  Henry  wrested  the  territory  which  the  necessities  of 
Stephen  had  driven  him  to  resign. 

For  almost  a  century  after  the  retrocession  by  Malcolm  the  Maiden 
in  1 157,"  the  Scots  continued  to  press  their  national  claims  to  the  district 
south  of  the  Solway,  and  on  every  opportune  occasion  demanded  some 
equivalent  in  compensation.  It  may  be  said  that  England's  difficulty 
was  Scotland's  opportunity  for  reviving  her  demands.  The  administra- 
tion of  Cumberland  during  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  was  a  delicate  task 
in  view  of  its  Scottish  sympathies  and  associations,  requiring  all  the 
resources  of  tact  and  skill  to  complete  its  incorporation  as  a  portion  of 
the  English  commonwealth.  The  king  took  a  personal  interest  in  the 
recovered  province  and  visited  Carlisle  from  time  to  time  as  the  public 
affairs  of  the  district  called  for  his  immediate  attention.3  He  came 
north  in  1 158  and  held  a  conference  with  King  Malcolm  in  that  city, 
but  the  kings  separated  mutually  displeased,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  King  of  Scots  was  not  knighted  at  that  time.*  It  was  on  this  visit 
that  King  Henry  committed  to  Hubert  de  Vaux  the  barony  of  Gilles- 
land,  a  wide  tract  abutting  the  frontier  on  the  east  which  had  been 
previously  held  by  Gille  son  of  Boet,  a  local  chieftain  who  appears  to 
have  acknowledged  no  feudal  superior.*  The  presence  of  a  Scottish 
element  among  the  territorial  owners,  which  the  King  of  Scotland  was 
not  backward  in  utilizing  as  it  suited  his  purpose,  was  a  constant  danger 


1  Prince  Henry  died  on  12  June  1152  (Anglia  Sacra,  i,  161  ;  Cbron.  of  Melrose,  in  anno)  ;  David  died 
at  Carlisle  on  24  May  1153  (Priory  of  Hexham,  i.  168)  ;  Earl  Ranulf  died  on  16  December  1153,  having 
been  poisoned  as  was  thought  by  William  Peverel  (Twysden,  Decem  Scriptores,  1374).  King  Stephen  died 
in  1154. 

>  Anglia  Sacra  (Chron.  of  Holyrood),  i.  161  ;  Decem  Serif  tores  (Ralf  de  Diceto),  531 

8  The  king  was  certainly  in  Carlisle  in  1158  and  1186  :  possibly  also  in  1163.  Compare  the  outline 
itinerary  of  Henry  II.  prepared  by  Bishop  Stubbs  (Benedict  Abbas,  Gesta  Hen.  II.  Ric.  I.  [Rolls  Series],  ii. 
app.  i.  to  Preface)  with  Eyton's  Itinerary  of  Henry  II.  32-3,  39,  62,  269.  The  visit  in  1186  was  of  great 
political  and  ecclesiastical  importance.  The  king  came  north  with  a  powerful  army  to  assist  William, 
King  of  Scotland,  in  punishing  Roland  son  of  Uctred  son  of  Fergus,  lord  of  Galloway,  for  his  evil  conduct 
to  his  kinsman,  Duncan  son  of  Gilbert  son  of  Fergus.  Messengers  were  sent  to  summon  Roland  to  the 
king's  presence  in  Carlisle.  Under  safe  conduct  Roland  came  and  made  his  submission,  giving  hostages 
for  the  performance  of  his  pledges  (Benedict  Abbas,  i.  348-9  ;  Hoveden  [Rolls  Series],  ii.  309).  It  was  on 
this  occasion  that  Henry  made  an  effort  to  fill  the  vacant  see  of  Carlisle  by  the  nomination  of  Paulinus  de 
Ledes,  master  of  the  Hospital  of  St.  Leonard,  York  ;  but  Paulinus  refused  the  bishopric,  though  the  king 
offered  to  endow  it  with  a  rental  of  the  value  of  300  marks  issuing  from  the  churches  of  Bamborough  and 
Scarborough,  the  chapelry  of  Tickhill,  and  two  royal  manors  near  Carlisle  (Hoveden,  ii.  309 ;  Benedict 
Abbas,  i.  349). 

«  Hoveden,  i.  216 ;   Cbron.  de  Mailros  (Bannatyne  Club),  76. 

6  The  charter  of  enfeoffment  has  been  printed  in  facsimile  from  the  record  in  the  Cartae  Antiquaein. 
a  previous  volume  (i.  320).  Though  witnessed  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  it 
was  the  outcome  of  the  king's  visit  to  Carlisle.  In  the  Pipe  Roll  of  1 158  (4  Hen.  II.)  the  sheriff  of  Carlisle 
accounts  for  £l  I  y.  given  to  Hubert  de  Vaux  by  the  king's  writ  as  a  corrody  in  preparation  of  his  visit. 
For  the  tenure  of  Gillesland  by  Gille  son  of  Boet,  see  V .CM.  Cumb.  i.  310,  and  an  article  by  the  present 
writer  in  the  Scottish  Antiquary,  xvii.  105-11. 

244 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

to  the  peace  of  the  district.1  Taking  advantage  of  complications  in 
England,  William  the  Lion  made  a  desperate  attempt  in  1 174  to  regain 
the  lost  possessions  of  his  crown.  By  a  sudden  and  well-directed  inroad, 
he  succeeded  in  taking  the  castle  of  Liddel,  which  belonged  to  Nicholas 
de  Stuteville,  and  the  king's  castles  of  Appleby  and  Brough  under  Stain- 
more  which  had  been  in  the  custody  of  Robert  de  Stuteville,  but  the 
castle  of  Carlisle,  garrisoned  by  the  baronage  of  the  county,  resisted  his 
repeated  assaults  during  a  prolonged  siege.3  For  the  gallant  defence  of 
Carlisle  Jordan  Fantosme  has  ascribed  the  credit  to  Robert  de  Vaux, 
whose  heroic  conduct  and  unsullied  honour  he  has  immortalized  in  his 
metrical  '  Chronicle  of  the  War.' 3  The  capture  of  King  William  at 
Alnwick  brought  hostilities  to  a  close,  and  the  land  had  rest  from  Scot- 
tish incursions  for  a  considerable  time.  Though  the  attempt  to  regain 
the  county  failed,  the  attendant  devastations  were  not  without  effect  on 
its  economic  condition  and  fiscal  administration/ 

King  Richard  began  his  reign  with  a  magnanimous  act  of  restitu- 
tion to  Scotland  by  which  he  restored  to  '  his  dearest  cousin  '  William 
the  Lion  the  castles  of  Roxburgh  and  Berwick  with  the  Honor  of 
Huntingdon,  and  released  him  from  the  humiliating  conditions  extorted 
by  Henry  II.  after  his  capture  at  Alnwick.5  The  Scottish  chieftains  in 
their  turn  gave  security  that  they  should  not  pass  the  border  during 
Richard's  absence  on  the  Crusade.8  But  the  understanding  did  not  last 
long.  In  1194  the  Scottish  claims  were  again  renewed  and  diplomatic 
negotiations  followed  with  the  inevitable  result  that  Richard  retained 
his  sovereignty  over  the  northern  counties  and  William  departed  dolens 
et  confusus  from  the  English  court.  At  this  time  Richard  made  a  most 
interesting  proposal  to  the  Scottish  king  with  the  view,  no  doubt,  of 
establishing  a  friendly  alliance  between  the  two  kingdoms.  There  was 
to  be  a  marriage  between  Otho  son  of  Henry,  Duke  of  Saxony,  nephew 
of  Richard,  and  Margaret  daughter  of  King  William,  with  the  stipula- 
tion that  the  King  of  Scotland  should  dower  his  daughter  with  the 
whole  of  Lothian  and  the  King  of  England  should  give  Otho  and  Mar- 
garet the  whole  of  Northumberland  and  the  county  of  Carlisle.  The 
proposed  agreement,  however,  was  declined  by  King  William,  and  the 
settlement  of  the  Scottish  claims  was  in  consequence  postponed.7 

The  unprecedented  nature  of  King  John's  taxation  created  so  much 
discontent  in  Cumberland  and  produced  so  serious  a  strain  on  the  loyalty 
of  the  people  that  the  safety  of  the  county  was  in  jeopardy  towards  the 
close  of  his  reign.  Immediately  after  his  accession  precautions  had  been 

1  See  the  list  of  Scottish  landowners '  qui  morabantur  in  regno  Scotiae,  habentes  terras  et  tenementa 
infra  ballivam  meam  Cumbrie,'  which  the  sheriff  took  into  the  king's  hand  in  1296  on  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  (Doc.  of  Hist,  of  Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  41-3). 

»  Benedict  Abbas,  Gesta  Hen.  II.  Ric.  I.  (Rolls  Series),  i.  64-70 ;  Walter  of  Coventry  (Rolls  Series), 
i.  225  ;  Hoveden  (Rolls  Series),  ii.  60. 

8  Published  in  the  Rolls  Series  of  Chronicles  and  Memorials,  and  also  by  the  Surtees  Society. 

•  r.C.ff.Ctt«i.  1.309-1 1. 

*  Rymer,  F cetera,  i.  50  ;  Nat.  MSS.  of  Scotland,  i.  No.  46. 
8  Chron.  Ric.  Divis.  (Eng.  Hist.  Soc.),  9. 

i  Hoveden  (Rolls  Series),  iii.  243,  250,  308  ;  Walter  of  Coventry  (Rolls  Series),  ii.  95-6. 

245 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

taken  to  resist  the  Scottish  claims,  but  as  time  went  on  more  was  to  be 
feared  from  the  exasperation  of  the  inhabitants  than  from  any  external 
enemy.  The  wave  of  constitutional  movement,  which  reached  its 
highest  water  mark  in  the  signing  of  the  Great  Charter  in  1215,  had 
swept  the  kingdom  to  its  northern  limits  and  awakened  the  baronage  of 
Cumberland  to  the  historic  character  of  their  tenemental  services.  Not 
scared  by  the  arbitrary  nature  of  the  Inquest  of  1212  the  jurors  boldly 
appended  the  significant  clause  to  their  return  of  knights'  fees  that  the 
tenants  by  cornage,  the  prevailing  tenure  of  the  county,  were  obliged 
at  the  king's  precept  to  occupy  the  post  of  danger  in  the  royal  army  to 
Scotland,  in  going  in  the  vanguard  and  in  returning  in  the  rearguard, 
thus  declaring  that  their  obligations  exempted  them  from  service  abroad 
in  consideration  of  their  extraordinary  services  in  the  protection  of  the 
frontier  at  home.1  The  men  of  Carlisle  were  urged  by  the  baronage 
of  England  to  make  common  cause  with  them  for  the  assertion  of 
their  ancient  liberties/  Alexander  the  young  King  of  Scotland  favoured 
the  constitutional  movement  in  the  hope  of  regaining  the  northern 
counties.  Crossing  the  border  he  laid  siege  to  Carlisle  and  eventually 
took  both  the  city  and  the  castle.3  It  is  undoubted  that  the  sympathies 
of  the  people  of  Cumberland  were  at  this  crisis  favourable  to  Alexan- 
der and  alienated  from  their  own  sovereign.  The  canons  of  Carlisle 
were  on  the  baronial  side  and  voluntarily  submitted  themselves  to  the 
King  of  Scotland.  Despite  the  interdict  of  the  pope  they  elected  a 
Scotsman  to  the  vacant  bishopric  and  celebrated  divine  offices  with 
excommunicated  persons.*  During  the  anarchy  a  portion  of  the  Scottish 

1  A  translation  of  the  Inquest  of  1212  for  Cumberland  has  been  printed  (F.C.H.  Cumb.  1.421-2). 
Mr.  J.  H.  Round  has  pointed  out  the  historical  interest  of  this  remarkable  survey.  Politically,  he  says,  it 
illustrates  John's  exactions  by  its  effort  to  revive  rights  of  the  Crown  alleged  to  have  lapsed,  a  grave  and 
alarming  feature  selected  for  mention  by  the  annalist  of  Waverley.  Institutionally,  it  is  of  great  interest, 
not  only  as  an  instance  of  '  the  sworn  inquest '  employed  on  a  vast  scale,  but  also  for  its  contrast  to  the 
inquest  of  knights  in  1166  and  its  points  of  resemblance  to  the  Domesday  inquest  of  1086.  Of  far  wider 
compass  than  that  of  1166,  it  was  carried  out  on  a  different  principle.  Instead  of  each  tenant-in-chief 
making  his  own  return  of  his  fees  and  sending  it  in  separately,  the  sheriff  conducted  the  inquiry  Hundred 
by  Hundred  for  the  county  ;  and  out  of  these  returns  the  feudal  lists  had  to  be  subsequently  constructed 
by  the  officials  (Commune  of  London,  etc.,  274-5). 

»  In  the  '  Catalogus  Munimentorum  '  delivered  to  Edward  I.  at  Berwick  in  1291  we  have  suggestive 
abstracts  of  the  lost  Scottish  evidences  which  are  relevant  to  the  troubles  of  this  period.  Some  of  these 
may  be  quoted  :  I.  Charta  baronum  Angliae  probis  hominibus  de  Karleol'  contra  Johannem  regem 
Angliae  de  civitate  Karl'  reddendo  regi  Scotiae.  2.  Charta  baronum  Angliae  missa  tenentibus  North- 
umbrian!, Cumbriam,  Westmerlandiam  contra  Johannem  regem  Angliae  '  (Ayloffe,  Cal.  of  Ancient 
Charters,  327-8).  This  catalogue  has  been  often  printed  :  see  it  in  the  Acts  of  the  Parliament  of  Scotland, 
vol.  i.,  appendix  to  Preface,  No  I.  Edward  I.  has  been  accused  by  the  Scottish  historians,  Hector  Boece 
and  Buchanan,  of  having  burned  the  original  charters,  but  for  the  disappearance  of  those  early  Records 
of  Scotland,  the  temperate  judgment  of  Mr.  Bain  may  be  referred  to  (Cal.  of  Scot.  Documents,  i.  pref. 
v.-iz.) 

3  It  is  stated  in  the  Chronicle  of  Melrose  (in  anno,  1216)  that  Alexander  did  not  obtain  possession  of 
the  castle  of  Carlisle  at  that  time,  a  statement  adopted  without  demur  by  the  chronicler  of  Lanercost — 
'  castellum  tamen  ilia  vice  non  oppugnavit '  (Cbron.  de  Lanercost  [Bannatyne  Club],  1 8).  There  is  evi- 
dence, however,  to  show  that  the  castle  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Scots.  On  23  September  1217  Alexander 
was  ordered  to  restore  to  Robert  de  Vipont  the  castle  of  Carlisle  and  all  the  lands  he  had  seized  and  all 
the  prisoners  taken  by  him  during  King  John's  troubles  with  his  barons  (Pat.  I  Hen.  III.  m.  3). 

«  Cal.  of  Papal  Letters,  i.  48,  57.  The  king's  complaint  to  the  pope  against  these  rebellious  church- 
men was  couched  in  emphatic  terms.  He  informed  him  that  the  canons  of  Carlisle  were  favourers  and 
adherents  of  the  King  of  Scotland,  the  enemies  of  pope  and  king,  and  despisers  of  the  legate's  authority  ; 

246 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

army,  devils  rather  than  soldiers  as  the  Chronicle  of  Melrose  calls  them,1 
contrary  to  the  command  of  the  king  who  had  taken  men  of  religion 
under  his  protection,  savagely  attacked  the  monastery  of  Holmcultram, 
pillaged  the  whole  district,  and  spread  terror  and  confusion  among  its 
peaceful  inhabitants.  Retribution  quickly  followed,  for  on  their  retreat 
across  the  estuary  of  the  Eden,  the  *  dainty  Cumbrian  queen '  of  Dray- 
ton,  they  were  enveloped  in  its  swiftly  rising  tide,  and  it  is  said  that 
1,900  Scots  perished  in  one  brief  hour.8  The  death  of  King  John 
brought  this  tumultuous  period  to  a  close  ;  peace  was  established  be- 
tween the  two  kingdoms,  and  the  people  of  the  county  returned  to 
their  allegiance.3 

The  Scottish  claims  on  the  northern  counties,  handed  on  as  a 
damnosa  hereditas  from  one  English  sovereign  to  another,  were  at  length 
settled  by  papal  intervention.  Pope  Gregory  made  strenuous  efforts  to 
compose  the  estrangement  between  the  two  kingdoms  arising  from  this 
dispute.  The  matter  was  now  taken  up  in  earnest  and  carried  to  a 
successful  issue.  Writing  to  the  parties  in  1236  the  pope  described 
himself  as  specially  bound  by  ties  of  affection  to  Henry  III.  and  as 
sincerely  loving  the  King  of  Scotland,  and  urges  them  to  come  to  an 
agreement,  believing  that  from  peace  great  benefits  would  accrue  to 
either  kingdom.4  In  1237  King  Henry  issued  his  letters  patent,  em- 
bodying the  terms  agreed  upon  in  presence  of  the  legate's  clerk  and 
envoy  at  York,  for  the  '  extension  '  of  his  demesnes  in  Cumberland  and 
Northumberland,  where  there  were  no  castles,  up  to  £2O°  °f  ^anc^ 
annually,  excepting  his  manor  of  Penrith  and  forest  of  Cumberland,  it 
not  being  the  king's  intention  that  the  said  manor  or  forest  should  be 
'  extended.'8  After  much  disputing  between  the  assessors  deputed  to 
select  the  lands,  an  agreement  was  ultimately  arrived  at  in  1242,  when 
King  Henry  handed  over  the  manors  of  Langwathby,  Salkeld,  Scotby, 

they  irreverently  and  contumaciously  celebrated  divine  offices  in  forbidden  places  in  the  presence  of 
excommunicated  persons  ;  they  became  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  Scotland  who  was  in  hostile  possession 
of  the  city,  received  him  as  their  patron  and  lord,  and  did  fealty  to  him  ;  and,  worse  than  all,  in  prejudice 
of  the  king's  right  and  that  of  the  Church  of  York,  they  elected  at  the  instance  of  the  King  of  Scots  an 
excommunicated  clerk  as  their  bishop  and  pastor  (Pat.  I  Hen.  III.  m.  3d  ;  Rymer,  Foedera,  i.  147).  The 
chronicler  of  Lanercost  endeavours  to  rehabilitate  the  reputation  of  the  canons  by  saying  that  they  were 
compelled  by  fear  of  death  to  celebrate  divine  offices  with  the  excommunicated  King  of  Scots  (Chron.  de 
Lanercost,  27). 

i  Chron.de  Mailtos  (Bann.  Club),  122-3. 

»  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  1 8. 

3  Eodem  anno  (1217)  omnes  vero  barones  Angliae  fecerunt  homagium  Henrico  filio  Johannis :  et 
rex  Scottorum  Alexander,  antequam  absolvi  mereretur,  Carliolum  voluntati  regalium  Angliae  tradidit 
(Chron.  de  Lanercost,  25).  See  the  list  of  knights  who  returned  to  their  allegiance  on  the  accession  of 
Henry  III.  in  Close  Rolls  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  373-5. 

•  The  pope's  letters,  dated  4  January  1235-6,  one  to  the  Archbishop  of  York  and  the  Bishop  of 
Carlisle,  and  another  to  the  King  of  Scotland,  have  been  printed  by  Rymer  (Fcedera,  i.  214-5).     A  sum- 
mary of  another  letter  to  the  King  of  Scotland,  dated  26  April  1236,  has  been  given  by  Bain  (Cal.  of  Scot. 
Doc.  i.  232-3). 

•  Pat.  21  Hen.  III.  m.  i  ;  Pipe,  22  Hen.  III.  m.  4  ;  Pat.  22  Hen.  III.  m.  8.     See  also  Pat.  22  Hen. 
III.  mm.  5d,  6.     Fordun  says  that  on  the  day  of  St.  Maurice  (21  September)  in  the  year  1237,  Alexander, 
King  of  Scots,  and  Henry,  King  of  England,  with  their  queens  and  the  lords  of  either  kingdom,  met  at 
York  ;  where,  for  fifteen  days,  they  talked  over  the  entangled  affairs  of  the  kingdoms  in  the  presence  of 
Cardinal  Otho,  the  papal  legate.     When  the  negotiations  were  over,  the  King  of  Scotland  went  home 
again  in  safety  (Chronica  [ed.  Skene],  i.  291). 

247 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Soureby  (Castlesowerby)  and  Carlatton,  and  £60  of  land  in  the  manor 
of  Penrith  with  all  liberties  and  free  customs  as  contained  in  the  chiro- 
graph made  in  the  presence  of  Cardinal  Otho  at  York,  the  said  lands 
to  be  held  by  the  render  of  a  sore  goshawk  yearly  at  Michaelmas  at 
Carlisle.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  advowsons  of  the  churches  with  a 
certain  lime-kiln  (rogo)  in  Castlesowerby  should  remain  to  the  King  of 
England.1  Thus  was  the  long  controversy  between  the  two  kingdoms 
brought  to  a  happy  close.  The  King  of  Scotland,  in  compensation  for 
the  surrender  of  his  hereditary  rights  to  the  northern  counties  and  some 
other  claims,  received  £200  °f  land  in  Cumberland,  for  which  he  did 
homage  and  fealty,  and  paid  an  annual  acknowledgment.2  Perhaps 
no  better  evidence  can  be  adduced  to  show  how  the  good  understanding 
affected  the  peace  of  the  county  than  the  condition  of  Carlisle  Castle  as 
it  existed  in  1255.  The  keep  was  in  decay,  the  walls  in  a  bad  state, 
and  the  joists  and  planking  broken  and  rotten.  Maunsell's  turret,  and 
the  turret  of  William  de  Ireby,  as  well  as  the  turret  beyond  the  inner 
gate,  which  were  levelled  in  the  war  in  the  time  of  King  John,  were 
never  after  restored  or  repaired  ;  a  great  part  of  the  paling  (paliciarum) 
within  and  without  the  castle  was  likewise  burned  and  destroyed.3 
There  was  no  pressure  from  without  to  necessitate  elaborate  defences  ; 
the  county  had  entered  on  an  era  of  almost  unbroken  peace  and  of 
steady  progress  and  prosperity. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  agreement  between  the  monarchs 
in  1 242  cleared  the  way  for  the  settlement  of  many  outstanding  differ- 
ences between  their  subjects  on  both  sides  of  the  frontier.  A  specific 
complaint  in  1248,*  that  the  ancient  laws  and  customs  of  the  marches 
of  the  two  kingdoms  were  not  so  well  observed  as  formerly,  was  made 
the  occasion  of  an  inquiry  for  ascertaining  what  these  laws  and  customs 
were,  and  for  enforcing  their  observance.  As  a  sequel  to  this  pre- 
liminary investigation  a  convention  was  held  on  14  April  1249,  an(^  a 
jury  of  twenty-four  knights,  after  formal  and  exhaustive  inquiry,  framed 
and  adopted  the  famous  Border  code  called  the  Leges  Marchiarum  or 

1  Chart,  26  Hen.  III.  m.  5.  The  advowson  of  the  church  of  Salkeld  was  in  dispute  between  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle  and  the  King  of  Scotland  in  1262  (Close,  46  Hen.  III.  m.  I2d  ;  Rymer,  Fcedera,  i.  417). 

"  Alexander  II.  was  not  regular  in  his  payment  of  a  hawk  annually  to  the  king  for  his  Cumberland 
manors  according  to  the  agreement,  for  he  was  five  years  in  arrear  in  1248  (Close,  32  Hen.  III.  m.  6). 
The  manor  of  Castlesowerby,  lying  within  the  forest  of  Inglewood,  was  assigned  in  1257  by  Alexander  III. 
to  his  consort  Queen  Margaret  for  her  chamber  (ad  cameram  mam),  with  liberty  to  improve  and  assart  the 
wastes  thereof  (Pat.  41  Hen.  III.  m.  10  ;  Close,  41  Hen.  III.  m.  5  ;  Pat.  47  Hen.  III.  m.  15). 

3  This  very  interesting  report  on  the  condition  of  Carlisle  Castle  about  1257  has  been  printed  in 
Royal  and  Hist.  Letters  (Rolls  Series),  ii.  124-5.    The  names  of  the  knights  of  the  county  who  made  the 
inspection  were  Thomas  de  Lascelis,  William  de  Derewentewater,  Robert  de  Castelkayrok,  and  Alan  de 
Orreton. 

4  The  complaint  was  made  by  the  King  of  Scotland  by  reason  of  injustice  done  to  Nicholas  de  Sules 
against  the  laws  of  the  March.    Under  authority  of  a  writ  of  Henry  III.,  inquiry  was  made  on  the  March 
by  twelve  knights,  six  from  either  side,  according  to  ancient  March  law  and  custom,  who  said  that  Nicholas 
de  Sules  had  been  injured  by  being  impleaded  elsewhere  than  at  the  March,  although  he  held  land  in 
England ;  for  no  one  of  either  kingdom,  although  holding  lands  in  both,  was  liable  by  March  law  to  be 
impleaded  anywhere  but  at  the  March  for  any  deed  by  his  men  dwelling  in  England  done  in  Scotland,  or 
for  any  deed  by  his  men  dwelling  in  Scotland  done  in  England  (Inq.  p.m.  33  Hen.  III.  No.  65).      The  in- 
quest has  been  printed  by  Mr.  Bain  in  Cal.  Scot.  Documents,  i.  559-60.  See  also  Inq.  p.m.  8  Edw.  I.  No.  81. 

248 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

Laws  of  the  Marches,1  that  regulated  the  intercourse  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  Border  shires  of  the  two  kingdoms.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  these  laws  were  not  formulated  at  random  or  enacted  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  Border  as  they  existed  at  that  period.  It  was  the 
task  of  the  jurors  to  find  out  the  customs  that  had  prevailed  ab  antiquo, 
and  to  codify  them  into  a  system.  This  great  statute,  which  eventually 
became  the  basis  of  international  law  for  the  people  on  both  sides  of  the 
frontier,  had  its  roots  in  the  distant  past,  and  played  an  important  part 
in  the  regulation  of  the  political  and  civil  life  of  Cumberland  for  several 
centuries. 

Everything  seemed  to  promise  a  continuance  of  the  happy  relations 
between  the  two  kingdoms  when  Edward  I.  ascended  the  throne.  King 
Alexander  attended  his  coronation  and  did  homage  for  the  estates  he 
held  in  England."  Edward's  first  visit  to  Cumberland  after  his  accession 
was  made  in  September  1280,  when  he  stayed  at  Carlisle,  visited  the 
priory  of  Lanercost  in  company  with  Queen  Eleanor,  and  hunted  in 
Ingkwood  Forest.3  In  1283  the  castle  of  Carlisle  was  placed  in  the 
custody  of  Robert  de  Brus,  afterwards  called  the  Competitor,  who  was 
at  the  same  time  made  sheriff  of  the  county,  both  of  which  positions 
his  father  filled  under  Henry  III.4  International  jealousies  were  to  a 
large  extent  allayed,  and  magnates  owning  lands  in  both  kingdoms  were 
able  to  take  part  in  local  government  and  perform  the  civil  functions 
due  to  their  positions  without  straining  their  allegiance.  But  the  inter- 
vention of  Edward  in  the  disputes  about  the  succession  to  the  throne  of 
Scotland  after  the  death  of  the  Maid  of  Norway  ruptured  the  good  re- 
lations between  the  two  countries  and  eventually  led  to  the  War  of  In- 
dependence, the  full  weight  of  which  was  to  fall  on  the  Border  counties. 
The  real  troubles  began  in  1296  when  the  Earl  of  Buchan  broke  into 
Cumberland  and  ravaged  the  county  with  savage  ferocity.  In  this  raid 
the  Scottish  army  is  said  to  have  behaved  with  unwonted  cruelty ;  for 
not  being  able  to  seize  upon  the  strong,  the  soldiers  wreaked  their  ven- 
geance on  the  weak,  the  decrepit  and  the  young ;  children  of  two  or 
three  years  old  they  impaled  upon  lances  and  threw  into  the  air  ;  con- 
secrated churches  they  burned  ;  women  dedicated  to  God  they  ravished 
and  slew.6  But  when  they  advanced  on  Carlisle  they  were  repulsed  by 
the  citizens  with  much  bravery.  There  is  no  need  to  recite  in  detail 
the  story  of  carnage  and  bloodshed  which  disgraced  the  civilization  of 
this  gloomy  period.  Raid  followed  raid  and  reprisal  provoked  reprisal. 
In  1297  William  Wallace,  the  famous  Scottish  patriot,  after  defeating  the 
Earl  of  Warenne  at  Stirling,  harried  Cumberland,  leaving  burnt  home- 

1  The  Leges  Marchiarum  will  be  found  in  Acts  of  the  Parliaments  of  Scotland  (  Rec.  Com.),  i.  413-6. 
Bishop  Nicolson  of  Carlisle  printed  them  in  1705  from  an  imperfect  text  (Leges  Marchiarum,  1-9).  Rid- 
path  compiled  a  summary  from  Nicolson's  book  (Border  History,  138-42). 

1  Close,  2  Edw.  I.  m.  5  ;  Pipe,  2  Edw.  I.  m.  i8d  ;  Liberate,  3  Edw.  I.  m.  12. 

8  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Bann.  Club),  105-6  ;  Cal.  of  Close  Rolls  (1279-88),  61-2  ;  Cal.  of  Pat.  Rolls 
(1272-81),  396-7. 

«  Q.  R.  Memoranda,  n  Edw.  I.  m.  2d  ;  Orig.  R.  11  Edw.  I.  m.  8  ;  Pat.  39  Hen.  III.  m.  3. 

5  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Bann.  Club),  174  ;  Hemingburgh  (Engl.  Hist.  Soc.),  ii.  94-6. 

II  249  32 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

steads  and  a  wasted  country  to  mark  his  route/  Carlisle  became  the 
rendezvous  of  the  English  army  and  the  basis  of  military  operations  on 
the  western  coast.  Skinburness  was  the  chief  port  on  the  Solway  for 
the  collection  of  stores  shipped  from  Ireland  and  elsewhere.3  The  king 
was  in  the  north  on  several  occasions  conducting  operations  and  ordering 
levies.  In  1300  there  were  gathered  together  to  meet  him  the  flower 
and  glory  of  the  English  nation,  and  seldom,  if  ever,  has  Carlisle  seen  such 
an  assemblage  within  its  walls.  His  son  Edward,  Prince  of  Wales,  was 
with  him,  and  among  other  illustrious  names  may  be  mentioned  those  of 
Mortimer,  Valence,  Vere,  Bigod,  Bohun,  and  Beauchamp.  After  the 
fall  of  Caerlaverock  the  king  returned  to  Cumberland  in  September  and 
divided  his  time  between  Holmcultram,  Rose  Castle  and  Carlisle,  till 
urgent  affairs  called  him  to  Yorkshire.  In  1 306  Robert  Bruce  killed 
the  Red  Corny n  in  the  church  of  the  Grey  Friars  at  Dumfries  and 
stepped  at  once  into  the  place  of  national  hero  left  vacant  by  the  execu- 
tion of  Wallace  in  the  previous  year.3 

King  Edward  at  once  saw  the  gravity  of  the  crisis  and  nerved  him- 
self for  a  final  effort.  His  army  was  summoned  to  assemble  at  Carlisle 
in  July,  but  seized  with  dysentery  he  turned  aside  to  Lanercost  where 
the  winter  of  1306-7  was  spent  in  extreme  bad  health.4  In  March  he 
was  removed  to  Linstock,8  a  seat  of  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  for  the  pur- 
pose no  doubt  of  attending  the  sitting  of  parliament  in  Carlisle  at  which 
was  passed  the  well-known  statute  directed  against  papal  encroachments.' 
But  Edward's  days  were  drawing  to  a  close,  and  the  grim  struggle  on 
which  he  had  entered  was  to  be  left  to  other  hands.  Having  offered 
up  the  litter,  in  which  he  travelled,  in  the  cathedral,  the  indomitable 
old  man  set  forth  from  Caldcotes  to  Burgh  by  Sands,  where  he  expired 
on  7  July  1307,  '  non  relinquens  sibi  similem  in -sapientia  et  audacia 
inter  principes  Christianos.' 7  The  effect  of  the  international  struggle 
in  Cumberland,  which  lay  so  near  the  theatre  of  military  operations, 
may  well  be  imagined.  Nowhere  perhaps  can  be  found  a  more  doleful 
picture  of  the  ravages  of  the  war  than  in  the  plaintive  letter  of  the 
Bishop  of  Carlisle,  written  in  1301,  in  which  he  described  the  devas- 

»  Cbron.  de  Lanercost  (Bann.  Club.),  190-1  ;  Wyntoun,  bk.  viii.  11.  2189-90. 

«  Cat.  of  Pat.  Rolls  (1292-1301),  389,  488,  585  ;  Liber  Quot.  Card.  (Soc.  of  Antiq.),  83,  123,  274. 

8  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  203  ;  Nicb.  Trivet  (Engl.  Hist.  Soc.),  407. 

4  The  chronicles  seem  to  agree  that  Edward  treated  his  Scottish  prisoners  with  unaccustomed 
severity  immediately  before  his  death.  In  February  1307  Dougall  Machduel,  a  Galwegian  potentate, 
having  taken  prisoners  the  brothers  of  Robert  de  Brus  and  Sir  Reginald  de  Crauforde  while  on  a  foray  into 
Galloway,  brought  them  first  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  at  Wetheral  and  afterwards  to  the  king  at  Lanercost. 
Though  the  prisoners  were  wounded  with  lances  and  arrows  the  stern  monarch  sentenced  with  his  own 
mouth  Thomas  de  Brus  to  be  drawn  at  the  tails  of  horses  from  Lanercost  to  Carlisle,  and  there  to  be 
hanged  and  beheaded.  The  other  brother  Alexander,  dean  of  Glasgow,  and  Crauforde  were  sentenced 
to  be  hanged  and  beheaded.  The  head  of  Thomas  de  Brus  was  placed  on  the  keep  of  the  castle,  and  the 
heads  of  the  other  two,  with  the  heads  of  other  chieftains,  -brought  by  Machduel,  were  suspended  on  the 
three  gates  of  Carlisle.  Nigel  de  Brus,  another  brother  of  Robert,  was  hanged  at  Newcastle  after  con- 
demnation by  the  king's  justices  (Chron.  de  Lanercost,  205-6  ;  Nicb.  Trivet,  410  ;  Col.  of  Scot.  Doc.  [Scot. 
Rec.  Ser.],  iv.  489). 

«  Cat.  of  Pat.  Rolls  (1301-7),  479-502. 

«  Commonly  called  the  Statute  of  Carlisle  and  the  first  of  our  anti-papal  statutes.    See  the  petitions 
on  which  it  was  founded  in  Rotuli  Parl.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  219-20. 
i  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Bann.  Club),  207. 

250 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

tation  of  the  county  since  the  hostilities  began.  The  treacherous 
Scottish  race,  he  complained,  by  repeated  incursions  during  the  past 
four  years,  had  destroyed  and  burned  the  greater  part  of  his  diocese 
with  its  inhabitants,  so  that  the  monasteries  were  pillaged  and  the 
religious  men  dispersed  ;  some  of  the  churches  with  their  parishes 
were  reduced  to  ashes  and  their  incumbents  forced  to  beg  alms  for 
their  sustenance  ;  and  taxation  was  out  of  the  question,  for  in  many 
places  there  was  nothing  for  the  tax-gatherer  to  find.1 

The  war  with  Scotland  was  the  means  of  reviving  the  old  subject 
of  the  military  immunity  of  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  men 
from  service  beyond  their  own  frontiers.  In  their  conflict  with  King 
John,  the  knights  of  Cumberland  maintained  that  their  obligation  con- 
sisted in  the  safe  convoy  of  the  army  on  its  passage  through  the  two 
counties  to  and  from  Scotland.  As  soon  as  war  was  declared  in  1297 
they  reasserted  their  constitutional  rights  and  made  agreement  with  the 
king's  northern  officers  that  if  they  joined  the  expedition  their  action 
must  be  regarded  as  voluntary  service.  It  was  stipulated  that  the  ex- 
pedition (ceste  chevauchee]  they  were  about  to  undertake  of  their  own 
free  will  should  not  be  turned  as  a  service  to  them  or  their  heirs  ;  nor 
should  the  king  nor  his  heirs  be  able  to  challenge  any  service  as  of 
right  from  them  nor  their  heirs  by  reason  of  that  expedition.  The 
required  guarantee  was  given  to  the  lieges  of  the  two  counties  by  the 
king's  officers,3  and  afterwards  ratified  in  1300  by  letters  patent  in 
which  King  Edward  acknowledged  that  the  said  expedition  (equitatus) 
should  not  be  to  their  prejudice,  and  should  not  be  drawn  into  a  pre- 
cedent, and  that  neither  he  nor  his  heirs  should  claim  any  service  by 
reason  thereof.3  In  the  tumultuous  days  which  followed,  the  people  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland  asserted  their  right  to  the  enjoyment  of 
these  exceptional  privileges,  maintaining  that  their  service  to  the  king 
and  his  ancestors  in  war  consisted  in  meeting  the  army  on  its  march  to 

i  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton  MS.  f.  59  ;  Letters  from  the  Northern  Registers  (Rec.  Com.),  151. 

1  Mr.  Stevenson  has  printed  this  important  deed  from  the  Privy  Seals,  25  Edw.  I.,  in  the  Public 
Record  Office.  As  it  is  of  undoubted  interest  in  the  political  history  of  Cumberland,  it  may  be  repro- 
duced here  :  '  Henry  de  Percy  e  Robert  de  Clifford  a  touz  les  loiaus  e  feus  nostxe  seigneur  le  roi  du  cunte 
de  Cumberlaund,  saluz.  Cum  vous  nous  eies  grantez  greablement  de  chivaucher  ad  tout  vostre  pouersur 
les  enemyes  nostre  segneur  le  rei  en  Escoce,  en  aide  du  dist  nostre  seigneur  le  rei  e  de  nous,  qe  a  coe  fere 
sumes  ordynez  par  ses  lettres  patentes,  alegaunz  pur  vous  qe  coe  ne  deves  fere  de  drait,  e  priaunz  qe  coe 
a  vous  ne  a  vos  heirs  ne  soit  tourne  en  servage  :  nous  eantz  regars  a  vostre  bone  volentee,  vous  grauntoms, 
e  par  cestes  noz  lettres  patentes  obligoms  de  fere  vous  aver  les  lettres  patentes  nostre  seigneur  le  rei  seeles 
de  sun  seel,  entre  le  jour  de  cestes  lettres  fetes  e  la  feste  Saint  Michel  prochain  suaunt,  qe  ceste  chevauchee 
qe  vous  de  vostre  bone  volentee  ove  nous  enpernes,  ne  sait  tourne  en  servage  a  vous  ne  a  vos  heirs  :  ne 
qe  le  dist  nostre  segneur  le  reys  ne  ses  hers  vers  vous  ne  vers  vos  heirs  nul  servis  de  drait  par  ceste  chevauchee 
peuse  chalanger.  En  tesmogne  de  queu  chose,  a  cestez  nos  lettres  patentes  avous  mys  nos  selz.  Escrites 
a  Kardoil,  le  jour  de  Saint  Johan  le  Batist  en  le  an  du  dist  nostre  segnur  le  rei  Edwarde  vint  e  quynt ' 
(Doc.  illustrative  of  Hist,  of  Scot.  ii.  186-7).  ^n  tne  same  collection  of  Privy  Seals  occurs  a  document  in 
similar  terms  for  the  satisfaction  of  the  men  of  Westmorland. 

3  Pat.  28  Edw.  I.  m.  6.  The  letters  patent,  after  a  recital  of  the  terms  of  the  agreement  between 
the  men  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  and  Henry  de  Percy  and  Robert  de  Clifford,  '  nuper  custodes 
municionis  nostre  in  partibus  Cumbr'  et  Westmerl','  end  thus :  '  Nos  concessionem  et  obligacionem  pre- 
dictas  acceptantes  volumus  et  concedimus  pro  nobis  et  heredibus  nostris  quod  dictus  equitatus,  quern 
prefati  homines  comitatuum  predictorum  in  Comitiva  dictorum  Henrici  et  Roberti  fecerunt,  sicut  pre- 
dictum  est,  non  cedat  eis  vel  eorum  heredibus  in  prejudicium  vel  trahatur  in  consequenciam  in  futurum.' 
This  document  has  been  printed  by  Palgrave  in  Parl.  Writs,  i.  345. 

251 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Scotland,  *  a  la  Rerecroiz  sus  Estaynmor,'  and  going  in  the  vanguard  as 
far  as  '  la  Marche  de  Solewathe,'  and  on  the  return  from  Scotland  they 
should  take  the  '  reeregarde  '  from  Solway  to  the  '  Rerecroiz.'  It  was 
further  alleged  that  if  it  happened  for  the  defence  of  the  realm  that  the 
king  required  their  services  within  it,  he  should  pay  their  wages  in 
their  own  country  before  they  started.  In  addition  it  was  pleaded 
that  they  should  be  allowed  to  be  at  war  or  truce  with  the  Scots, 
as  they  considered  most  for  the  king's  honour  or  their  own  profit,  by 
the  advice  of  his  officers  on  the  frontier,  without  hindrance  or  chal- 
lenge.1 It  is  evident  that  the  men  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland 
were  inspired  with  the  belief  that  the  military  burden  on  the  two 
counties  was  confined  to  the  protection  of  the  frontier,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  the  idea  of  local  sovereignty  to  which  they  had  so  often 
asserted  their  claim  was  handed  down  from  a  period  when  Cumbria 
was  mistress  of  her  own  destinies.* 

In  the  thirteenth  century  the  first  steps  towards  parliamentary 
representation  were  taken  in  the  reigns  of  Henry  III.  and  Edward  I. 
Cumberland  no  doubt  was  represented  in  the  assemblies  which  Henry 
summoned  in  1254  and  1261,  while  Carlisle  also  in  1283  was  invited 
to  send  'two  of  its  wiser  and  more  experienced  citizens'  to  the  national 
council  which  Edward  brought  together  at  Shrewsbury  for  the  trial  of 
David  brother  of  the  Welsh  prince  Llewelin.  On  this  occasion,  in 
contradistinction  to  the  usual  practice,  the  writ  was  addressed  to  the 
mayor  and  citizens.3  In  his  later  parliaments  Edward  treated  the  town 

i  Tower  Miscell.  Roll,  No.  459 ;  Cat.  of  Scot.  Doc.  (Scot.  Rec.  Ser.),  iii.  135.  Mr.  Bain  has  dated 
this  petition  between  1315-20,  but  there  is  a  strong  presumption  that  it  belongs  to  the  period  1297-1300, 
when  the  lieges  were  disputing  with  Percy  and  Clifford  about  their  obligations  to  service  in  the  Scottish 
wars.  For  a  discussion  of  the  early  history  of  these  claims  to  immunity  from  service  beyond  the  frontier, 
see  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  321-8. 

*  It  may  be,  as  Professor  Maitland  has  said,  that  Northumbrian  tenures  were  extremely  puzzling  to 
the  lawyers  at  Westminster  (Engl.  Hist.  Rev.  v.  630),  but  the  tenants  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland 
succeeded  at  this  time  in  establishing  their  historic  claims  to  what  are  not  unlike  the  military  privileges 
of  a  palatine  state.  The  exemption  of  the  two  counties  from  service  beyond  their  own  borders,  by  reason 
of  the  exceptional  burden  of  defence  thrown  upon  them  owing  to  their  geographical  position,  may  be 
illustrated  by  reference  to  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  people  of  Chester  on  the  frontier  of  Wales.  Among 
the  privileges  confirmed  to  the  barons  of  that  shire  by  Earl  Ranulf  (Blundevil)  late  in  the  twelfth  century 
occur  the  following  :  '  that  by  reason  of  the  heavy  service  which  the  barons  discharged  in  Cestreshyre 
none  of  them  shall  do  service  to  the  Earl  without  the  border  {extra  lymam)  except  of  his  own  free  will  and 
at  the  Earl's  cost :  and  if  the  Earl's  knights  of  England,  who  owe  ward  to  the  Earl  at  Chester,  be  sum- 
moned to  perform  their  ward,  and  there  be  no  army  of  the  Earl's  enemies  present,  and  no  need  for  the 
barons,  the  barons  may  return  to  their  homes  and  rest ;  and  if  an  army  of  the  Earl's  enemies  be  in  readiness 
to  come  into  his  land  of  Cestreshyre,  or  if  the  castle  be  besieged,  the  said  barons  with  their  army  and  view 
(et  visu  sud)  shall  come  forthwith  at  the  Earl's  summons  to  remove  that  army  to  the  best  of  their  power, 
and  when  that  army  has  retired  from  the  Earl's  land,  the  said  barons  with  their  army  may  return  to  their 
own  lands  and  rest  while  the  knights  of  England  perform  their  ward,  and  the  said  barons  are  not  needed, 
saving  to  the  Earl  the  services  which  are  due  from  them  '  (Pat.  28  Edw.  I.  m.  22,  by  inspeximus).  There 
is  much  reason  to  believe  that  these  palatine  claims  may  be  accounted  for  by  the  previous  incorporation 
of  Cumbria  in  the  old  kingdom  of  Northumberland.  It  is  a  striking  feature  of  northern  history  how 
palatinates,  regalities,  and  liberties,  like  Durham,  Hexham,  Tyndale,  Sedbergh,  and  Lancaster,  sprang 
up  on  its  ruins.  For  a  full  discussion  of  this  important  subject,  see  Mr.  Page's  article  on  '  Northumbrian 
Palatinates  and  Regalities '  in  Arckceologia,  li.  1-12,  and  Dr.  Lapsley's  argument  in  The  County  Palatine 
of  Durham,  16-21,  109.  There  was  no  opportunity  for  the  district  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  to 
grow  into  a  fully  equipped  palatinate  like  its  northern  neighbours,  as  it  devolved  to  the  administration  of 
the  Crown  so  early  as  1 120. 

'  Parl.  Writs  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  16. 

252 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

communities  as  parts  of  the  shire  and  his  summons  was  issued  through 
the  sheriffs.  To  these  early  writs,  however,  we  have  no  returns,  and 
we  do  not  know  the  names  of  those  who  were  elected.  The  first 
original  writ  on  record,  endorsed  with  the  names  of  the  knights  returned, 
is  for  the  parliament  held  at  Westminster  in  1290,  when  Walter  de 
Mulcaster,  Hubert  de  Multon  and  William  de  Boyvill  were  elected  to 
serve  as  representatives  of  the  county.1  In  1295  representatives  of  the 
cities  and  boroughs  were  permanently  added  ;  and  to  the  parliament  of 
that  year  the  city  of  Carlisle  and  the  boroughs  of  Cockermouth  and 
Egremont  were  invited  to  send  members,  two  for  the  county,  two  for 
the  city,  and  two  for  each  of  the  boroughs.  The  names  of  these  eight 
representatives  are  known.2  No  further  summons  appears  to  have  been 
issued  to  the  boroughs  till  1640,  when  the  privilege  of  representation 
was  restored  to  Cockermouth.3  From  that  date  it  continued  to  return 
two  members  till  1867,  when  the  number  was  reduced  to  one.  It  was 
finally  disfranchised  under  the  Act  of  1885.  It  is  unquestionable  that 
boroughs  such  as  Egremont  looked  upon  the  privilege  of  returning 
members  in  the  light  of  a  serious  burden  by  reason  of  the  salaries  con- 
nected with  it.  These  were  fixed  at  4.*.  a  day  for  a  knight  of  the  shire 
and  usually  2s.  for  a  borough  member,  and  were  due  for  the  whole  time 
of  his  service,  his  journey  to  and  from  and  his  stay  in  parliament.  We 
can  easily  understand,  therefore,  the  plea  made  on  behalf  of  some  of  the 
smaller  communities  asking  to  be  relieved  of  the  burden  which  had 
been  maliciously,  as  they  conceived,  placed  upon  them.4 

The  representation  of  the  clergy  in  the  early  parliaments  is  worthy 
of  observation.  From  a  writ,  dated  30  September  1295,  we  learn  that 
the  prior  and  archdeacon  of  Carlisle,  one  proctor  for  the  chapter  and 
two  proctors  for  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  were  summoned  to  the  parlia- 
ment at  Westminster  in  that  year.5  In  the  parliament  of  Carlisle  in 
1307  a  great  number  of  ecclesiastics  were  permitted  to  appear  by  proxy, 
probably  on  account  of  the  remote  distance  of  the  place  of  meeting. 
At  this  parliament  Bishop  Halton  of  Carlisle  and  the  abbot  of  Holm- 
cultram  were  present  ;  and  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  were  represented 
by  John  de  Boghes,  William  de  Goseford,  Robert  de  Suthayke,  and 

»  Parl.  Writs  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  21. 
»  Ibid.  i.  35. 

3  The  subject  of  representation  was  much  discussed  in  the  parliament  of  1640.     It  does  not  appear 
upon  what  principle  a  precept  should  have  been  sent  to  Cockermouth  when  Egremont  was  omitted,  as 
both  boroughs  had  been  represented  in  the  parliament  of  1295  (Lords'  Report  on  the  Dignity  of  a  Peer, 

'•  375 -«)• 

4  The  first  writ  on  record  for  the  expenses  of  the  knights  for  the  shire  of  Cumberland  appears  to  be 
that  dated  20  March  1300,  wherein  the  sheriff  was  directed  to  pay  to  them  '  racionabiles  expensas  suas  in 
veniendo  ad  nos,  ibidem  morando,  et  inde  ad  propria  redeundo  '  according  to  custom  (Close,  28  Edw.  I. 
m.  I2d  ;  Parl.  Writs  [Rec.  Com.],  i.  85-6).     In  1328  we  have  a  writ  to  the  mayor  and  bailiffs  of  the  city 
of  Carlisle  to  pay  John  de  Harrington  and  Simon  de  Sandford,  their  burgesses,  the  sum  of  £j  12s.  for 
thirty-eight  days'  service  in  parliament,  that  is,  at  the  rate  of  zs.  a  day  (Close,  2  Edw.  III.  m.  gd  ;   Rot. 
Parliam.  [Rec.  Com.],  ii.  441).     By  Act  35  Henry  VIII.  cap.  n,  the  wages  of  a  knight  of  the  shire  were 
fixed  at  4;.  a  day,  and  of  a  burgess  of  a  town  at  ^s.  a  day,  according  to  ancient  custom.      There  is  much 
on  the  wages  of  parliamentary  representatives  in  the  Lords'  Reports  on  the  Dignity  of  a  Peer,  i.  325,  336, 
369  and  passim. 

«  Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  ff.  21-2. 

253 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Adam  de  Appleby.1  Among  the  names  of  the  knights  of  the  shire  to 
be  found  in  the  earlier  returns  are  those  of  Mulcaster,  Boyvill,  Har- 
rington, Multon,  Cleter,  Whitrig,  Wigton,  Tilliol,  Joneby,  Moresby, 
Lucy,  and  Bampton.  The  name  of  Lowther  first  appears  in  1324 
in  the  person  of  Hugh  de  Lowther,  though  a  scion  of  that  great  family 
represented  the  county  of  Westmorland  in  1305.*  Carlisle  in  early 
days  was  most  frequently  represented  by  the  Grenesdales,  two  persons 
of  that  name,  Robert  and  Alan,  being  the  burgesses  in  1305.  In  these 
parliaments  the  owners  of  the  great  baronies  of  Egremont,  Greystoke, 
Gillesland  and  Liddel  sat  amongst  their  peers. 

Before  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  1296  none  of  the  castles  except 
the  castle  of  Carlisle  played  an  important  role  in  the  political  history  of 
Cumberland.  The  absence  of  great  fortresses  may  be  to  some  extent 
accounted  for  by  the  geographical  position  of  the  county  and  the  peculiar 
dangers  to  which  it  was  exposed.  Protected  on  three  sides  by  natural 
defences,  the  outlet  towards  Scotland,  its  only  vulnerable  side  by  land, 
was  guarded  by  the  castle  of  Carlisle,  which  watched  over  the  safety  of 
the  district  with  *  the  outlook  of  a  sentinel.'  It  was  the  county  castle, 
under  control  of  the  sheriff,  the  rallying  point  of  the  posse  comitatus,  and 
the  key  of  the  military  strength  of  the  western  border.  None  of  the 
other  castles,  of  which  there  were  comparatively  few,  came  into  political 
prominence  before  the  death  of  Edward  I.  It  is  true  that  some  ot  the 
great  baronies  like  Allerdale,  Coupland  and  Liddel  had  fortresses  of  one 
kind  or  another  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  but  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  castle  or  peel  of  Liddel  on  the  actual  frontier,  the  district 
depended  little  on  them  for  its  safety.  The  castles  of  Cockermouth  and 
Egremont  were  too  far  removed  from  the  zone  or  danger  to  be  of  much 
service  in  keeping  the  Scots  in  check.  The  international  troubles  which 
arose  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  had  a  tendency  to  undermine 
feudal  methods  of  defence  by  driving  the  large  landowners  to  shift  for 
their  own  protection,  thus  weakening  the  old  obligation  of  ward  in  the 
county  castle.  The  safety  of  the  county  was  taken  out  of  the  hand  of 
the  sheriff  and  committed  to  the  custody  of  another  royal  officer,  first 
called  the  captain  and  then  the  warden  of  the  western  march,  at  whose 
call  the  tenants  were  obliged  to  muster  for  the  repelling  of  an  inroad  or 
the  arrangement  of  a  truce.3  It  was  an  exceptional  expedient  created  to 

1  Rot.  Parliam.  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  188-91.  In  this  roll  the  names  of  those  who  appeared  by  proxy  are 
recorded.  In  1 309  Bishop  Halton  sent  Adam  de  Appelby  to  represent  him  at  Westminster,  having  had 
leave  of  absence  '  propter  distanciam,  temporis  brevitatem,  timorem  invasionis  Scottorum,  necnon  cor- 
poris  infirmitatem  qua  affligimur  '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Halton,  f.  120). 

1  Parliaments  of  England  (Blue  Book),  i.  20,  69. 

a  Though  the  origin  of  the  warden  of  the  march  is  involved  in  some  obscurity,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  it  took  its  rise  as  an  institution  or  was  reconstituted  soon  after  the  outbreak  of  the  war  with 
Scotland  in  1296.  On  12  July  1297,  Robert  de  Clifford  was  appointed  '  capitaneus  municionis  Regis  in 
partibus  Cumbrie  '  against  the  Scots  till  further  orders,  and  a  writ  of  aid  in  favour  of  the  said  Robert  was 
directed  to  the  sheriff,  bailiffs,  and  other  ministers  of  the  county  (Pat.  25  Edw.  I.  pt.  ii.  m.  I  ;  Parl.  Writs 
[Rec.  Com.],  i.  294-5).  In  1298  he  was  appointed  captain  in  the  counties  of  Cumberland,  Westmorland, 
Lancaster,  Annandale  and  the  Marches  as  far  as  the  county  of  Roxburgh  ;  all  persons  having  lands  in  the 
said  counties  and  liberties  were  to  assemble  at  '  Cardoyl '  within  eight  days  from  receipt  of  notice  (Pat. 
27  Edw.  I.  m.  41).  In  1299  Clifford  was  called  captain  of  the  defence  (municionis)  in  the  parts  of  Carlisle 

254 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

meet  the  political  necessities  of  the  situation.  With  this  revolution  in 
military  policy,  there  sprang  up  a  number  of  inferior  defences,  castles, 
towers,  peels  and  fortified  houses,  posted  here  and  there  on  the  chief 
estates,  where  their  owners  might  be  secure  from  sudden  incursions. 
Noteworthy  evidence  of  the  political  change  may  be  gathered  from  the 
prompt  action  of  some  of  the  local  dignitaries  as  soon  as  the  protecting 
presence  of  the  great  Edward  was  withdrawn.  On  the  same  day  of  the 
month  following  his  death,  24  August  1307,  three  licences  to  crenellate 
and  enclose  with  a  stone  wall  were  granted  for  the  security  of  the  Cum- 
berland march  ;  to  Robert  de  Tilliol  for  his  house  of  Scaleby  on  the 
north  of  the  Eden,  to  Richard  le  Brun  for  Drumburgh  (Drombogh)  on 
the  southern  shore  of  the  upper  reach  of  the  Solway,  and  to  William  de 
Dacre  for  Dunmalloght  at  some  distance  from  the  Border.*  The  licences 
on  record  do  not  represent  the  activity  which  prevailed  in  the  four- 
teenth century  in  the  progress  of  self-defence.  Though  the  castle  of 
Carlisle  was  still  regarded  as  the  bulwark  of  the  county's  safety,  every 
considerable  landowner  took  measures  to  protect  himself  and  his  depen- 
dants with  leave  or  without  it.  The  commune  of  Cumberland  was  not 
always  satisfied  with  the  military  protection  afforded  them  by  the  new 
devices  of  the  central  authority.  In  1322  the  most  famous  of  Border 
captains  was  declared  to  be  of  little  use,  and  a  petition  was  sent  up  that 
he  might  be  superseded.3  Again  and  again  representations  were  made 
that  the  castle  and  city  of  Carlisle  were  in  perilous  state  and  too  little 
attention  was  given  to  the  defence  of  the  northern  frontier.4  The 
neglect  of  the  central  government  threw  the  district  on  its  own  re- 
sources. During  the  reign  of  Edward  II.  we  have  John  de  Denum 
showing  that  he  had  kept  his  fortress  called  the  Tower  of  Melmerby  at 
his  own  expense  with  a  garrison  of  twelve  men,  '  always  well  defended 
by  the  grace  of  God  against  the  Scots  to  the  great  damage  and  loss  of 
their  men  '  ;  he  now  petitioned  that  his  lands  were  so  wasted  that  he 
could  not  support  a  garrison  in  the  Tower,  and  it  would  be  a  serious 
inconvenience  to  the  county  if  '  she '  was  taken.*  Individual  efforts  like 

and  the  king's  lieutenant  there  (Pat.  27  Edw.  I.  m.  28).  The  chronicler  of  Lanercost  writes  under  the 
years  1309  and  1311  as  if  the  office  had  not  been  long  created  : '  Nee  potuerunt  custodes,  quos  rex  Angliae 
posuerat  in  Marchia,  resistere  tantae  multitudini  Scottorum  quos  (Robertus  de  Bruse)  adduxerat '  (Cbron. 
de  Lanercost,  213,  217).  For  the  obligation  of  the  tenants  of  Cumberland  to  attend  the  Border  meeting, 
called  Endemot,  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  its  character  as  an  institution,  see  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  324-6. 

1  When  the  custody  of  the  March  changed  hands  in  February  1323,  the  castles  and  peels  delivered 
to  the  charge  of  the  new  warden  were  Carlisle,  Naworth,  Cockermouth,  Egremont  and  Highhead  in 
Cumberland,  and  the  castles  of  Appleby,  Brougham  and  Mallerstang  in  Westmorland,  with  small  per- 
manent garrisons  (Excheq.  Accts.  bundle  16,  nos.  9,  13).  The  garrison  of  Carlisle  consisted  of  five 
knights,  thirty-four  men-at-arms,  forty  hobelars  and  forty  foot.  The  men  maintained  in  the  other 
castles  were  very  few  in  comparison.  The  feudal  levy  of  Cumberland,  returned  by  the  sheriff  in 
1323-4,  was  made  up  of  twelve  knights  and  forty-eight  men-at-arms  (hominum  ad  arma),  whose  names 
are  given  by  Palgrave  (Purl.  Writs,  ii.  [ii.],  650). 

1  Pat.  i  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  mm.  15, 16, 18. 

3  This  complaint  was  made  against  Sir  Andrew  de  Harcla  in  1322  (Royal  Letter,  No.  4342).      The 
document  has  been  printed  by  Mr.  Stevenson  in  Cbron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  537-8. 

4  See  specially  the  petition  of  the  commune  of  Cumberland  about  1355  in  Cat.  of  Scot.  Doc.  (Scot. 
Rec.  Pub.),  iii.  290. 

6  Ancient  Petition,  No.  5208  ;  see  also  ibid.  No.  5206. 

255 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

this  were  not  always  thrown  on  the  side  of  established  government.  In 
1 349  the  constable  of  Carlisle  and  the  sheriff  of  the  county  were  com- 
manded to  arrest  William  de  Stapleton  and  commit  him  to  Carlisle 
castle  for  seizing  certain  Scotsmen  who  came  to  Carlisle  under  safe  con- 
duct and  carrying  them  off  to  his  fortress  on  the  water  of  Eamont 
(Amote)  and  refusing  to  deliver  them  up  to  the  king's  officers.1 

From  this  period  resistance  to  Scottish  inroads  was  distributed  over 
the  whole  county  ;  licences  to  crenellate  became  more  frequent  ; '  castles 
like  Cockermouth  were  supplied  with  keepers  and  permanent  garrisons 
answerable  to  the  Crown  ;  3  the  whole  frontier  was  studded  with 
defences.  Though  the  rectangular  peels,  still  so  plentiful  in  the  county 
and  so  characteristic  of  it,  were  mainly  the  product  of  a  later  date,*  the 

1  Pat.  24  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  2id. 

8  In  addition  to  the  licences  already  noticed  the  following  may  be  mentioned  :  to  Hugh  Lowther  for 
his  dwelling-place  (mansum)  of  Wythope  in  Derwentfells  on  12  July  1318  (Pat.  12  Edw.  II.  m.  31)  ;  to 
Ranulf  de  Dacre  for  Naworth  (Naward)  on  27  July  1335  (ibid.  9  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  20)  ;  to  John  de 
Hodleston  for  Millum  on  24  August  1335,  to  enclose  with  a  dyke  and  crenellate  (ibid.  9  Edw.  III.  pt.  ii. 
m.2o);  to  John  (Kirkby),  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  for  his  mansum  of  La  Rose  on  9  April  1336  (ibid.  loEdw.  III. 
pt.  i.  m.  27)  ;  to  Bishop  Gilbert  (Welton)  for  same  (ibid.  29  Edw.  III.) ;  to  William  Lengleys,  the  king's 
yeoman  (dilectus  vallettus  noster),  for  his  manerium  of  Highhead  (Heyheved)  on  6  October  1342  (ibid.  1 6 
Edw.  III.  pt.  ii.  m.  i)  ;  to  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram  for  his  manerium  of  Wolsty  within  the  bounds  of 
Holmcultram  (ibid.  22  Edw.  III.)  ;  to  the  men  of  the  vill  of  Penrith  for  the  vill  of  Penrith  on  10  April 
1346  (ibid.2oEdw.III.pt.  i.  m.  18)  ;  to  William  Lord  Greystoke,  'quod  ipse  mansum  suum  de 
Graystok  muro  de  petra  et  calce  firmare  et  kernellare  et  mansum  illud  sic  firmatum  et  kernellatum 
tenere  possit  sibi  et  heredibus  suis  imperpetuum,'  on  5  October  1353  (B.  M.  Lansdowne  Chart.  No.  122) ; 
to  Gilbert  de  Culwen,  knight,  for  the  house  that  he  had  built  at  his  manor  of  Workington  (Wirkyngton) 
in  the  March  of  Scotland,  on  4  March  1380  (Pat-3  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  15)  ;  to  William  de  Stirkeland,  clerk, 
for  his  chamber  (camera)  in  the  vill  of  Penrith  in  the  March  of  Scotland  on  12  February  1397  (ibid.  20 
Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  22)  ;  to  same,  '  unum  mantelettum  de  petra  et  calce  facere  et  camerae  predictae  con- 
jungere  et  mantelettum  predictum  kernellare,'  on  2  April  1399  (ibid.  22  Ric.  II.  pt.iii.  m.  37).  It  may 
be  noted  here  that  the  above  William  Strickland,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Carlisle,  was  a  considerable  land- 
owner in  that  district  and  a  benefactor  of  the  town  of  Penrith. 

'  On  26  November  1 309  the  king  commanded  Gilbert  de  Culewenne,  keeper  of  the  castle  of  Cocker- 
mouth,  to  pay  David,  Earl  of  Athol,  50  marks  in  aid  of  his  expenses  in  the  March  of  Scotland  (Close, 
3  Edw.  II.  m.  14).  In  1314  Sir  Thomas  de  Richmond  held  the  castle  as  warden  with  Richard  de  Rich- 
mond his  brother,  and  19  vallets,  10  crossbowmen,  and  80  archers  (Cat.  of  Scot.  Doc.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  iii. 
77).  The  '  Piel  of  Ledel '  was  also  in  the  custody  of  a  warden  in  1310-1  (ibid.  iii.  45),  and  surrendered 
in  1316  (ibid.  iii.  128). 

*  Mr.  George  Neilson,  in  his  Peel :  its  Meaning  and  Derivation  (Glasgow,  1893),  has  traced  the  his- 
torical evolution  of  the  Border  peel  from  its  first  conception  as  a  palisaded  or  stockaded  enclosure  to  its 
latest  development  as  a  rectangular  tower  of  stone  surrounded  with  a  barmekan.  One  of  the  earliest 
examples  of  this  institution  in  Cumberland  is  the  peel  of  Liddel,  which  may  be  taken  as  an  illustration  of 
this  class  of  stronghold.  The  casttllum  or  fortified  close  of  Liddel  was  taken  by  William  the  Lion  in  1 1 74 
(Benedict.  Abbas,  Gesta  Hen.  II.  Ric.  I.  [Rolls  Series],  i.  65)  ;  in  1282  it  is  described  as  the  site  of  a  castle 
with  hall  of  wood,  a  chapel,  etc.  (Inq.  p.m.  10  Edw.  I.  No.  26) ;  arrangements  were  made  on  10  November 
1300  for  '  repairing  the  mote  and  the  fosses  around :  strengthening  and  redressing  the  same,  and  the  pele 
and  the  palisades,  and  making  lodges  within  the  mote  if  necessary  for  the  safety  of  the  men-at-arms  of  the 
garrison  '  (Cal.  of  Scot.  Doc.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  299).  Some  of  the  titles  by  which  it  was  designated  are 
interesting.  In  1 310  it  was  referred  to  as  the  'Piel  of  Ledel,'  and  in  13193$  the  '  Pele  of  Lidell '  (ibid.  iii.  45, 
1 28) ;  as  the '  fortalitium  de  Lidelle'  in  1 346  (Chron.  de  Lanercost  [Maitland  Club],  345  ;  Hist.  Dunelm.  Script. 
Ires  [Surtees  Soc.],  ccccxxxiv.)  ;  the  '  municipium  de  Lidallis  quod  apud  Marchias  erat '  (Scotichronicon 
[Goodall],  ii.  340)  ;  as '  quoddam  manerium  dominae  de  Wake  vocatum  Ludedew '  (Galf.  le  Baker  [Giles], 
170)  ;  best  known  as  '  Liddel  Moat,'  or  '  Liddel  Strength,'  the  latter  of  which  has  been  adopted  by  the 
Ordnance  Survey.  The  great  ditches,  which  still  remain,  show  that  it  was  a  hill-fort  surrounded  by  a 
moated  palisade.  It  is  quite  certain  that  many  of  the  peels  constructed  by  Edward  I.  as  military  expe- 
dients were  made  of  wood.  In  1300  money  was  paid  to  '  carpentariis  facientibus  pelum  in  foresta  de 
Ingelwode  assidendum  circa  castrum  de  Dunfres  '  (Liber  Quot.  Contrar.  Garder  [Soc.  Antiq.],  165)  ;  similar 
payments  were  made  to  carpenters  and  sawyers  in  1298-9,  '  ad  sarranda  ligna  pro  construction  peli ' 
at  the  castle  of  Lochmaban  (Doc.  of  Hist,  of  Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  360-1).  When  rectangular  towers 
of  stone  were  erected  in  the  sixteenth  century  to  cope  with  the  unceasing  spoliations  of  the  Border  land, 

256 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

fourteenth  century  witnessed  the  rise  of  many  strongholds  throughout 
the  land.  The  building  of  embattled  churches,  '  half  church  of  God, 
half  fortress  'gainst  the  Scot,'  to  which  the  parishioners  flocked  in  time 
of  danger,  is  a  curious  feature  of  this  movement.  Close  to  the  estuary 
of  the  Eden,  two  of  these  churches  remain  intact  to  the  present  day. 
Shortly  after  1303  the  monks  of  Holmcultram  erected  one  of  these 
fortified  churches  at  Newton  Arlosh  for  the  protection  of  their  tenants,1 
and  at  a  subsequent  date  the  strong  tower  of  the  church  of  Burgh  by 
Sands  was  rebuilt 2  with  walls  6  or  7  feet  thick,  two  notable  examples  of 
the  medieval  fortress  with  arched  chambers,  loop-holes  and  embrasures 
capable  of  resisting  a  siege.  The  rector  of  Bowness  on  Solway  dwelt  in 
a  fortalice  close  to  the  churchyard  wall,  the  vestiges  of  which  were  only 
recently  demolished.3  Places  of  defence  erected  by  the  voluntary  efforts 
of  the  community  were  afterwards  utilized  by  the  Crown.  In  1380  the 
king  commanded  all  laymen  holding  i  oo  marks  or  more  of  land  or  rent 
to  reside  constantly  on  their  estates  for  the  defence  of  the  March,  and 
to  see  that  all  castles  and  fortalices  within  3  or  4  leagues  of  the  frontier 
were  well  fortified  and  provided  with  men  and  stores  to  resist  the  Scots  ; 
similar  instructions  were  given  to  all  captains,  lords,  wardens  of  castles, 
mayors  and  other  officers  to  obey  the  king's  lieutenant  in  charge  of  the 
March.4  This  distribution  of  responsibility,  occasioned  by  the  necessity 
of  the  time,  was  not  without  effect  on  the  military  position  of  the 

the  old  word  '  peel '  was  used  to  describe  them,  the  name  by  which  they  are  known  to  the  present  day. 
Almost  every  old  house  of  considerable  size  in  Cumberland  includes  one  of  these  square  towers  or  peels, 
though  it  is  often  difficult  to  find  them  except  by  the  thickness  of  the  walls.  In  many  places  they  stand 
alone  by  farm  houses,  once  the  seats  of  country  squires. 

1  The  bishop's  licence  for  the  building  of  the  church  of  Newton  Arlosh  is  dated  II  April  1304,  and 
runs  thus :  '  considerantes  insuper  statum  vestrum  per  hostiles  invasiones  et  depredaciones  Scottorum 
adeo  depauperatum  quod  terras  vestras  more  solito  ad  commodum  vestrum  excolere  non  potestis  .  .  .  con- 
cedimus  .  .  .  ut  liceat  vobis  in  territorio  vestro  de  Arlosk  infra  fines  vestros  predictos  unam  capellam 
seu  ecclesiam  de  novo  construere  pro  vestris  inquilinis  et  inhabitantibus  infra  fines  vestros  de  Holm  moran- 
tibus  .  .  .  Quam  capellam  seu  ecclesiam,  cum  constructa  fuerit,  iuxta  decenciam,  etc.  (Harleian  MS. 
391 1  [Reg.  of  Holmcultram],  ff.  7-8).  Ground  plans,  elevations  and  sections  of  this  church,  as  it  existed 
at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century,  have  been  given  by  Messrs.  Lysons  (Hist,  of  Cumberland, 
pp.  cxc.-cxci.). 

J  The  erection  of  the  present  tower  of  the  church  of  Burgh  by  Sands  is  often  ascribed  to  the  reign 
of  Edward  I.,  but  that  date  is  much  too  early.  In  a  commission  for  inquiring '  super  prostracione  quorun- 
dam  arcuum  in  ecclesia  de  Burgo  super  Sabulones,'  dated  15  July  1360,  Bishop  Welton  speaks  of  'quern- 
dam  arcum  operi  novi  campanilis  adherentem  in  dicta  ecclesia  '  (Carl.  Epis.  Reg.,  Welton,  f.  68).  From 
this  statement  it  may  be  concluded  that  the  tower  was  not  at  that  time  an  ancient  structure. 

3  In  1464  William  Raa,   registrar  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle,  made  this  entry  in  the   bishop's 
accounts  of  that  year  :    '  De  fine  rectoris  de  Bowness  pro  una  litera  questandi  pro  reparacione  unius 
domus  defensionis  ibidem  non  respondet  hie  quia   conceditur  per  dominum  gratis '  (Diocesan  MS.). 
Leland  says  that '  Bolnes  ys  at  the  Poynt  or  Playne  of  the  Ryver  of  Edon  wher  ys  a  lytle  poore  Steple  as  a 
Fortelet  for  a  brunt,  and  yt  ys  on  hyther  syde  of  the  Ryver  of  Edon,  abowt  a  viii.  myles  from  Cair  Luel ' 
(Itinerary,  vii.  52  [ed.  Hearne],  1744).   In  a  survey  of  Border  fortresses  made  by  Christopher  Dacre  in  1580, 
the  condition  of  '  Bownes  Towre  '  is  thus  described  :  '  This  house  or  towre  doth  belonge  to  y"  parsonage 
theire,  standing  about  4  miles  west  and  by  north  from  ye  said  house  of  Drumburghe  adioyning  to  the  sea 
criek  v/*  devideth  ye  English  and  Scotesche  borders  and  the  furthest  parte  towardes  yc  west,  y'  y°  Scotts 
may  enter  otherwise  then  by  botinge,  and  about  a  mile  and  a  half  over  the  same  criek  to  Scotland  at  a 
full  sea,  a  place  of  small  receipt  and  yet  very  necessairy  for  defence  of  y'  parte  of  the  Border,  partly  de- 
cayed, the  charges  of  wch  reparacon  with  a  plattforme  for  ordinance  wch  were  necessarie  to  be  made  upon 
yc  same  towre  is  esteamed  to  £40  and  without  the  platforme  to  £10 '  (5.  P.  Dam.  Eliz.  Add.  xxvii. 
44  [3]).     A  wall  of  this  tower  was  standing  close  to  the  rectory  in  1856. 

4  Pat.  3  Ric.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  5. 

II  257  33 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

county  castle  of  Carlisle.  Defiantly  it  still  stood  out  from  its  steep 
sandstone  bluff  towards  the  north,  but  the  change  of  tactics  adopted  by 
Scotland  from  the  occasional  invasion  of  a  regular  army  to  a  perpetual 
and  exasperating  system  of  guerilla  warfare  needed  a  more  extended  line 
of  defence  at  every  strategical  point.  Except  in  times  of  special 
emergency,  the  ward  of  the  town  and  castle  was  relegated  to  the  citizens 
aided  by  a  small  permanent  garrison,  and  its  defences  were  neglected  and 
fell  into  decay.  The  historic  service  of  castleguard  as  an  obligation  on 
the  whole  county  had  become  obsolete.  The  change  in  the  political 
importance  of  the  county  castle  was  well  summed  up  about  1385  by  the 
mayor  and  citizens  of  Carlisle,  who  complained  to  the  Crown  that  their 
walls  were  in  part  fallen,  their  fosses  were  filled  up,  and  their  gates  could 
not  be  shut  without  much  difficulty  ;  they  had  neither  '  pount  leve, 
portcolys,  barmecan,  bretage,  bareres,  ne  garetts '  ;  their  inhabitants  were 
so  few  that  they  could  not  resist  the  Scottish  attacks  ;  and  the  seigneurs 
of  the  county  around,  who  used  to  repair  to  the  city  in  war  time,  had 
raised  castles  of  their  own  on  account  of  its  weakness,  and  many  knights, 
esquires  and  others  no  longer  came  to  the  city  for  the  same  reason.1 
Local  strongholds  were  appraised  at  such  a  high  value  in  the  defence  of 
the  Border  that  their  number  became  the  subject  of  international  agree- 
ment in  1388  when  it  was  stipulated  that  no  fortress  should  be  built 
anew  or  repaired  in  the  counties  of  Cumberland  or  Northumberland,  or 
of  Berwick,  Roxburgh  or  Dumfries,  except  those  in  progress  at  that 
date.2 

The  wars  of  Edward  I.  with  Scotland  brought  into  prominence  the 
political  divisions  of  the  county  as  units  for  the  raising  of  military 
levies.  It  has  been  already  pointed  out  that  these  divisions  must  have 
had  their  origin  at  a  very  early  period  in  connection  with  the  great 
baronies,  each  of  the  divisions  being,  as  most  likely,  an  administrative 
area  or  constabulary  dependent  on  a  royal  or  baronial  castle.3  About  a 
century  after  its  fiscal  formation,  the  county  appears  divided  into  five 
parcels,  Carlisle  or  Cumberland,  Lyth  or  Leath,  Eskdale,  Allerdale  or 
Allerdale  below  Derwent,  and  Coupland  or  Allerdale  above  Derwent, 
the  names  of  which  are  in  use  at  the  present  day.  These  were  the 
civil  areas  under  the  name  of  bailiwicks  which  supplied  the  juries  and 
made  presentments  at  the  Assizes  of  Carlisle  in  1278  and  1292.*  Before 
the  death  of  Edward  I.  these  divisions  were  used  for  military  purposes. 
When  commissions  of  array  were  issued,  letters  dated  at  Carlisle  on  19 
March  1307  were  directed  to  John  de  Castre  for  the  levy  of  200  foot- 
men in  '  the  parts  '  of  Eskdale  and  Gillesland  ;  to  Richard  le  Brun  for 
a  like  number  in  '  the  county  '  of  Cumberland  ;  to  Richard  de  Cletere 
for  the  same  in  '  the  parts '  of  Coupland  and  Cockermouth  ;  to  Richard 
de  Kirkbride  for  the  same  in  '  the  parts '  of  Allerdale  ;  and  to  Roger  de 

i  Ancient  Petition,  No.  5950  :  Cal.  of  Scot.  Doc.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iv.  78. 
»  Tower  Miscell.  Roll,  No.  459  ;  Cal.  Scot.  Doc.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iv.  85. 
a  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  327-9. 

4  Assize  Rolls  (Cumberland),  6  Edw.  I.  No.  132,  m.  32d  ;    20  Edw.  I.  No.  135,  m.  10,  I7d  ;    Three 
Early  Assize  Rolls  of  Northumb.  (Surtees  Soc.),  266 ;   Doc.  of  Hist,  of  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  358. 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

Laton  for  100  footmen  in  'the  bailiwick'  of  Lyth.1  In  a  previous 
commission,  dated  at  Lanercost  on  20  February  1 307,  the  separate 
liberties  or  franchises  of  Penrith,  Cockermouth,  Egremont,  the  bishop- 
ric of  Carlisle,  and  the  priory  of  Carlisle  were  named  with  '  the  baili- 
wicks '  of  Cumberland,  Allerdale,  Eskdale  and  Gillesland,  and  Lyth  and 
Alstonmore,  for  the  contribution  of  quotas  of  footmen,  varying  from 
20  to  200,  according  to  the  extent  or  capacity  of  the  area.3  It  is 
singular  that  the  name  of  ward,  the  equivalent  in  Cumberland  for  the 
hundred  or  wapentake  of  other  counties,  has  not  been  found  as  a  desig- 
nation of  these  political  divisions  till  we  reach  the  muster  rolls  of  the 
sixteenth  century.'  The  bailiwicks  of  the  forest  of  Cumberland  were 
known  as  wards  throughout  the  fourteenth  century,4  and  probably  at  a 
much  earlier  date. 

The  frontier  position  of  Cumberland  continued  to  mould  its 
political  history  for  several  centuries.  Though  the  county  was  called 
upon  from  time  to  time  to  withstand  invasion  by  the  organized  forces 
of  Scotland,  its  chief  embarrassment  was  caused  by  a  system  of  pre- 
datory incursions  which  rendered  life  and  property  insecure.  The 
long  continuance  of  Border  feuds  had  a  demoralizing  effect  on  the  in- 
habitants of  both  sides.  Civilization  had  made  little  advance.  The 
history  of  the  county  for  the  three  centuries  before  the  union  of  the  two 
kingdoms  is  written  in  blood.  The  occasional  intervals  of  truce  serve 
only  as  a  background  to  throw  out  the  principal  lineaments  of  slaughter 
and  devastation  which  dominate  the  picture.  Mutual  reprisal  was  re- 
duced to  a  science.  The  dangers  with  which  the  district  was  menaced 
bred  a  rough  and  sturdy  race  of  independent  men  whose  duty  to  fight 
coincided  with  the  safety  of  themselves  and  their  families.8  The 
stern  necessities  engendered  by  such  conditions  of  warfare  were  instru- 
mental in  training  the  great  territorial  families  in  habits  of  continual 
watchfulness,  and  supplying  some  of  the  best  commanders  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  county.  Families  like  the  Tilliols  of  Scaleby,  the  Lucies 
of  Cockermouth,  the  Greystokes  of  Greystoke,  the  Dacres  of  Naworth, 
and  others  became  conspicuous  as  fighting  families,  and  displayed  qualities 
which  one  would  expect  from  the  nature  of  their  position  and  the  em- 
ployments on  which  they  were  engaged.  The  records  of  the  fourteenth 

i  Pat.  35  Edw.  I.  m.  23  ;   Parl.  Writs  (Rec.  Com.),  i.  380.  3  Pat.  35  Edw.  I.  m.  32. 

3  Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  37-62.     In  the  records  of  Quarter  Sessions  for  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  each  of  the  five  wards  of  the  county  is  found  in  the  administration  of  a  chief 
constable. 

4  In  1307  the  forest  of  Inglewood  was  composed  of  the  three  'wards'  of  Penrith,  Allerdale  and 
Gatesgill  (Gaytescales),  each  of  the  two  former  wards  having  four  foresters,  and  the  latter  two  (Pat. 
35  Edw.  I.  m.  15).     The  ward  of  Penrith  was  an  important  division  of  the  forest  (Cal.  of  Pat.  Rolls, 
1399-1401,  pp.  34,  200;  Cal.  Rot.  Pat.[Rec.  Com.],  166,  172,  I73b,  210).  In  1371  we  have  the  'warda 
de  Gateshales  infra  forestam  de  Inglewood '  (Pat.  45  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  38)       The  present  parish  of 
Westward  took  its  name  from  '  le  Westwarde  in  Allerdale,'  as  it  was  called  in  1383  (Cal.  of  Pat.  Rolls, 
1381-5,  p.  392). 

8  For  a  description  of  the  state  of  the  Border  at  this  period  see  Vrayes  Chroniques  (ed.  Palain),  i. 
47-8.  Jehan  le  Bel  gained  his  information  about  the  methods  of  Border  inroads  either  from  personal 
observation  or  by  the  report  of  Sir  John  of  Hainault,  whose  friend  he  was.  Froissart  acknowledges  his 
indebtedness  to  this  chronicle,  as  well  he  might,  for  several  of  his  chapters  are  wholly  or  in  part 
appropriated  from  it  (Anct.  Chronicles  [ed.  Berners],  i.  63-4). 


A   HISTORY   OF   CUMBERLAND 

century  teem  with  deeds  of  incursion  and  reprisal.  In  1357  Sir  Robert 
Tilliol,  called  Tuylliyoll  by  the  Scots,  accomplished  some  very  successful 
expeditions,  or  '  drives '  as  we  should  call  them  according  to  the  nomen- 
clature of  modern  warfare.  In  company  with  Sir  Thomas  de  Lucy  he 
forayed  the  lands  of  William,  lord  of  Douglas  in  Eskdale,with  a  great  force 
raised  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  and  robbed  the  people  there 
in  open  day  of  1,000  oxen,  cows,  and  other  young  beasts,  1,000  sheep 
and  horses,  and  plundered  all  the  houses.  It  was  complained  that  Lucy 
lay  in  ambush  and  seized  the  people  who  attempted  to  rescue  their 
goods.  The  crime,  as  it  was  alleged,  was  bad  enough  when  committed 
in  time  of  war,  but  the  raiders,  starting  from  Lochmaban  Castle,  which 
was  nothing  but  a  den  of  thieves,  ravaged  the  land  in  open  day  with 
banners  displayed  in  time  of  truce,  and  had  set  to  ransom  many  of  the 
people  to  their  damage  of  £5,000  sterling.1  Some  of  the  Bishops  of 
Carlisle  were  military  personages,  captains  of  Carlisle  Castle  and  stren- 
uous leaders  in  the  field.  John  de  Kirkby  was  a  martial  prelate,  on 
whom  the  mantle  of  his  predecessor,  John  de  Halton,  had  fallen  ;  on 
more  than  one  occasion  he  proved  himself  a  valiant  fighter.  In  1 345 
he  was  nearly  captured  by  the  Scots  ;  he  was  unhorsed  but  regained  his 
saddle,  rallied  his  forces  and  defeated  the  foe.8  The  chronicler  of  Laner- 
cost  says  that  the  Scots  held  him  in  the  greatest  detestation  (summo  odio 
habuerunt)  because  he  often  went  against  them  in  battle.3 

But  there  are  few  military  figures  to  compare  with  Andrew  de 
Hartcla  for  the  distinguished  part  he  played  on  the  stage  of  Border 
history  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  international  struggle.  Fighting  in 
Scotland,  defending  Carlisle,  resisting  invasion,  quelling  insurrection, 
wise  in  council,  brave  in  battle,  sheriff  of  Cumberland,  knight  of  the 
shire,  captain  of  Carlisle,  warden  of  the  March,  lieutenant  of  the 
northern  counties,4  Andrew  de  Hartcla  rose  in  his  sovereign's  favour  with 
astonishing  rapidity,  till  he  was  created  Earl  of  Carlisle  on  25  March 
1322,  with  the  grant  of  1,000  marks  and  other  revenues  for  the  main- 

1  Cat.  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pat.),  iii.  306-7. 

2  Walsingham,  Hist.  Anglie  (Rolls  Ser.),  i.  266-7.     On  tn's  occasion  the  Scots,  under  Sir  William 
Douglas,  had  burnt  several  villages  between  Carlisle  and  Penrith.     Bishop  Kirkby  and  Sir  Thomas  de 
Lucy,  a  very  brave  knight,  surrounded  them  on  every  side  in  the  night,  and  made  such  a  noise  with  horns 
and  trumpets  that  the  Scots  were  unable  to  take  food  or  sleep. 

3  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  291-2. 

4  Michael  de  Hartcla  had  been  sheriff  of  Cumberland  from  1285  to  1298  (Pat.  13  Edw.  I.  m.  9  ; 
Q.  R.  Memoranda,  27  Edw.  I.  m.  4d).     Monsire  Andrew  de  Hartcla  was  on  the  king's  service  in  Scot- 
land in  1310  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  iii.  32)  ;   sheriff  of  Cumberland  in  1311  (Pat.  5  Edw.  II. 
pt.  ii.  m.  ll)  ;  knight  of  the  shire  in  1312  (Part.  Writs  [Rec.  Com.],  ii.  [ii.],  77)  ;  held  Carlisle  against 
the  Scots,  who  might  have  been  harassed  oftener  in  the  March  if  he  had  a  more  numerous  garrison, 
and  defeated  them  near  '  le  Redecros '  on  Stainmore  in  1314  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  iii.  70,  76-7)  ;    successfully 
defended  Carlisle  in  1315  against  Bruce,  who,  flushed  with  his  victory  at  Bannockburn,  made  a  formidable 
attack  upon  it  (Hemingburgh,  Chron.  [Eng.  Hist.  Soc.],  ii.  294 ;  Chron.  de  Lanercost  [Maitland  Club], 
230-2)  ;  in  the  same  year  received  1,000  marks  as  '  geredoun '  for  making  prisoners  certain  Scotsmen  of 
note  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  iii.  86) ;    taken  prisoner  by  the  Scots  in  1316  (Barbour,  The  Brus,  327)  and  redeemed 
at  a  heavy  ransom  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  iii. 98,132);  at  the  siege  of  Berwick  in  I3l9attheheadof  980  foot,  and 
360  hobelars  (ibid.  iii.  125-6)  ;  complaints  by  the  commonalty  of  Carlisle  in  1319  about  his  trafficking 
with  the  Scots,  releasing  prisoners,  and  interfering  with  justice  on  the  March   (ibid.  iii.  127-8) ;     chief 
warden  of  the  whole  Border,  and  sovereign  arrayer  of  the  men-at-arms  on  foot  of  these  Marches  in  1322 
(ibid.  iii.  144) ;    summoned  to  undertake  various  expeditions  and  to  perform  special    duties    between 
1309  and  1322  (Part.  Writs  [Rec.  Com.],  ii.  [iii.],  971-2). 

260 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

tenance  of  his  dignity.     This   distinction  was  conferred  upon  him,  as 
stated  in  the  patent,  for  his   signal  victory  at  Boroughbridge  and  his 
delivery  of  Thomas,  Earl  of  Lancaster,  into  the  king's  hand.1      Hartcla 
became  the  most  powerful  personage  in  the  north.     But  his  fall  was  no 
less  rapid  than  his  rise.  His  degradation  within  a  year  of  the  conferring 
of  the  earldom  is  one  of  the   most   striking   and   dramatic  episodes  in 
Cumbrian  history.     It  is  very  doubtful  that,  in  the  action  which  he  had 
taken  in  concluding  a  peace  with  the  Scots,  Hartcla  was  really  a  traitor 
to  the  best  interests  of  his  country.     He  had  already  been  appointed  a 
commissioner  to  deal  with  Bruce,2  and  subsequent  events  may  have  in- 
creased his  conviction   of  the  wisdom  of  such  a  step.     The  position  of 
the  county  was  full  of  gloom,  and  no  one  better  than  he  could  gauge  the 
hopelessness  of  the  unequal  contest  between  a  tried  warrior  like  Robert 
Bruce  and  a  man  like  his  own   king,  infirm   of  purpose   and  animated 
only  by  a  vague  desire  to  revenge  himself  on  his  enemies.     In   1322  a 
petition    had   been   sent    to   King  Edward  from   the   dwellers   on   the 
Marches,  telling  how  dreadful  were  their  sufferings  and  that  they  had 
nothing  but  their  naked  bodies  to  give  to  his  service,  at  the  same  time 
imploring  him  to  come  to  their  relief.3     But  Hartcla  knew  by  experi- 
ence the  futility  of  such  a  course,  and  he  was  aware  how  little  could  be 
expected  from  the  king.     It   would  seem   that,  actuated   by  such   im- 
pressions, he  responded  to  the  advances   made   by  Bruce,  whom  he  met 
at  the  castle  of  Lochmaban  on   3  January  1323.*      On  his   return  to 
Carlisle,  the  earl  reported  the  terms  of  the  peace  to  an  assembly  of  the 
principal  men  of  the  county  (omnes  majores  comitatus  ejusdem,  quam  regulares 
quam  etiam  seculares]  by  whom  they  were  accepted,  more  from  fear  than 
of  their  own  wish.     The  news  was  received  with  different  feelings  by 
the  commonalty  (pauperes  et  mediocres  et  agrkultores] ,  who  made  no  secret 
of  their  pleasure  that  the  King  of  Scotland  should  be  allowed  to  hold 
his  own  kingdom  on  condition  that  they  should  live  in   peace.6     King 
Edward,  however,  looked  at  the  matter  from  another  standpoint,  though 
he  seemed  not  to  have  been  clear  in  the  first  place  how  far  Hartcla  was 
in  the  wrong.     He  ordered  an  inquiry  into   the  rolls   of  Chancery  for 
the  exact  terms  of  the  earl's  commission  to  treat  with  the  Scots,  but  it 
is  doubtful  that  he  waited  for  a  reply.     On    i    February  the  king  and 
his  council  issued  a  commission  to  Sir  Anthony  de  Lucy   to  arrest  the 
earl,  which  was  carried  out   in   the   castle   of  Carlisle.     Intelligence  of 
the  event  reached  the  king  at   Knaresborough  on    28  February,  and  so 

1  Rymer,  Fcedera,  ii.  (i.),  481  ;   Pat.  15  Edw.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  22  ;   Lords'  Report  on  the  Dignity  of  a 
Peer,  ill.  175.     Leland  states  that  Lancaster  tried  to  corrupt  Hartcla  at  Boroughbridge  by  offering  him 
one  of  the  counties  he  had  in  his  possession  if  he  would  favour  his  cause.    '  But  Herkeley  refusid  his  offre. 
Then  Thomas  prophetied  that  he  wold  sore  repent  and  that  shortely  so  fair,  and  that  he  should  dy  a 
shameful  deth,  that  is  to  say,  to  be  hangid,  drawen  and  quartered  (Collectanea,  i.  464). 

2  Pat.  15  Edw.  II.  pt.  ii.  m.  29. 

s  Royal  Letters,  No.  4342  ;  Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iii.  148.  This  petition  has  been 
printed  by  Mr.  Stevenson  in  Chron.  de  Lanercost,  537-8. 

4  The  indenture  made  between  them  has  been  printed  in  a  summary  by  Bain  with  remarks  on  the 
character  of  the  peace  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  iii.  pp.  xxx.,  xxxi.  148-9). 

8  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  248-50. 

26l 


A   HISTORY   OF   CUMBERLAND 

overjoyed  was  he  that  he  gave  a  free  pardon  to  the  messenger  of  all  his 
offences.1  Judgment  was  pronounced  against  the  earl  on  3  March  by 
Geoffrey  le  Scrope,  the  king's  justiciar,  and  on  the  same  day  the  sword 
of  the  county  was  wrested  from  his  hand  and  the  golden  spurs  of 
knighthood  were  torn  from  his  heels.  He  was  then  dragged  to  the 
gallows  at  Harraby  and  hanged,  drawn  and  quartered,  his  head  being 
sent  to  London,  and  his  quarters  to  Carlisle,  Newcastle,  York,  and 
Shrewsbury.  To  the  last  he  professed  he  had  acted  only  in  the  best 
interests  of  the  kingdom.11  It  may  well  have  been  so,  for  two  months 
after  his  disgrace,  Edward  himself  was  obliged  to  come  to  terms,  and 
made  a  truce  with  the  Scottish  king  to  last  for  thirteen  years.'  At  a 
subsequent  date,  during  the  regency  which  governed  in  the  time  of  the 
minority  of  Edward  III.,  the  English  claims  on  the  northern  kingdom 
were  abandoned  and  a  fresh  truce 4  was  concluded  on  terms  very  similar 

i  Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iii.  149. 

*  On  8  January  1322-3  the  king  sent  a  mandate  to  the  inhabitants  of  Cumberland  and  Westmor- 
land, forbidding  them  to  enter  into  any  truce  with  the  Scots,  and  on  the  same  day  he  requested  the  earl 
to  inform  him  personally  of  the  reported  truce  that  he  had  made  (Pat.  16  Edw.  II.  pt.  i.  m.  8  ;  Close, 
16  Edw.  II.  m.  i6d  ;  Rymer,  Foedera,  ii  [i.],  502).  On  13  January  he  ordered  a  search  for  the  terms  of 
the  earl's  commission  to  treat  with  the  Scots  and  its  endurance  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  iii.  148),  and  on  19  January 
a  transcript  of  the  articles  of  the  agreement  between  Hartcla  and  Bruce  was  sent  to  the  council  at  York, 
with  the  remark  that  in  the  king's  opinion  the  truce  was  fraught  with  great  danger  (ibid.  iii.  148-9). 
The  arrest  took  place  on  25  February  by  Lucy,  with  the  assistance  of  Sir  Hugh  de  Lowther,  Sir  Richard 
de  Denton  and  Sir  Hugh  de  Moriceby,  who  entered  the  great  hall  of  the  castle  for  that  purpose  without 
arousing  suspicion  (Chron.  de  Lanercost,  249-50).  The  king  ordered  his  condemnation  and  degrada- 
tion on  27  February,  and  the  sentence  was  pronounced  and  carried  into  execution  on  3  March  (Parl. 
Writs  [Rec.  Com.],  ii.  [ii.],  262-3  ;  Abbrev.  Placit.  [Rec.  Com.],  351).  In  the  record  of  the  judgment,  the 
destination  of  portions  of  the  earl's  body  was  ordered  as  above,  but  the  author  of  the  Chronicle  of  Lanercost 
(Maitland  Club,  251)  has  substituted  Dover  and  Bristol  for  York  and  Shrewsbury.  There  seems  to  be  an 
error  in  both  authorities,  for  on  10  August  1328  Sir  Andrew's  sister  Sarah,  widow  of  Roger  de  Leyburn, 
obtained  royal  licence  to  gather  his  bones  and  commit  them  to  ecclesiastical  sepulture,  orders  to  that  effect 
having  been  issued  to  the  keeper  of  Carlisle  castle,  the  mayor  and  sheriffs  of  London,  the  mayor  and 
bailiffs  of  Newcastle  and  Bristol,  and  the  bailiffs  of  Shrewsbury  (Close,  2  Edw.  III.  m.  2od).  Opinions  differ 
whether  the  earl  was  actuated  by  patriotic  or  treacherous  motives  in  concluding  the  peace  with  Bruce. 
The  Chronicle  of  Lanercost  (pp.  250-1)  states  that  his  confessors  after  his  capture  '  iustificabant  et  ex- 
cusabant  ab  intentione  et  nota  proditionis  et  vitam  suam  priorem  notabiliter  commendabant."  His 
unsuspicious  conduct  in  allowing  himself  to  be  captured  so  easily  is  a  strong  point  in  his  favour.  In  1327 
Henry,  his  nephew  and  heir,  petitioned  Edward  III.  for  a  restoration  of  his  lands  on  the  ground  that  he 
had  never  been  regularly  convicted  of  treason,  he  and  his  forefathers  having  served  the  king  and  his 
ancestors  since  the  Conquest  (Anct.  Pet.  No.  2500).  The  Scots,  who  were  impressed  with  the  renown 
of  his  '  beaux  faites  d'armes,'  attributed  his  fall,  when  Earl  of  Carlisle,  to  pride  (Scala  Cronica,  149). 
In  the  wardrobe  accounts  of  Edward  III.,  under  the  year  1338,  a  notice  appears  of  thirteen  silver  dishes 
marked  on  the  border  with  the  arms  of  Hartcla,  valued  at  £16  (Cal.  Doc.  Scot.  iii.  234).  According  to 
Sir  Harris  Nicolas  in  A  Roll  of  Arms  of  the  Reign  of  Edward  the  Second,  compiled  between  1308  and  1314, 
the  arms  of  the  Hartcla  family  were,  '  Sire  Michel  de  Herteclaue  de  argent  a  une  crois  de  goules  :  Sire 
Andrew  de  Herteclaue  meisme  les  armes  e  un  merelot  de  sable.'  The  initial  letter  of  a  charter  of  Edward  II. 
to  the  city  of  Carlisle,  dated  12  May  1316,  is  embroidered  with  a  well-executed  vignette,  representing 
the  siege  of  a  walled  town  and  showing  two  groups  of  figures  outside  the  frame  of  the  letter.  The  chief 
of  the  defenders  is  a  knightly  figure  in  complete  armour,  in  his  right  hand  a  lance  in  the  act  of  striking, 
and  on  his  left  a  shield  bearing  the  arms  of  Hartcla ;  the  scene,  no  doubt,  was  intended  to  depict  the 
gallant  defence  of  the  city  by  Sir  Andrew  de  Hartcla  against  the  Scots  in  1315  (Trans.  Cumb.  and 
Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.  vi.  319;  Royal  Charters  of  Carlisle,  13). 

»  Close,  16  Edw.  II.  m.  £d ;   Rymer,  Fosdera,  ii.  521-2. 

4  Pat.  I  Edw.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  19  ;  Fcedera,  ii.  (ii.),  696.  There  is  a  very  interesting  account  of  this 
treaty  in  Chron.  de  Lanercost  (Maitland  Club),  261,  where  it  is  stated  that  the  policy  of  Edward  I.  was 
reversed,  and  the  claim  to  the  sovereignty  of  Scotland  was  abandoned.  '  Reddidit  etiam  eis  partem 
crucis  Christi,  quam  vocant  Scotti  Blakerode,  et  similiter  unum  instrumentum  sive  carta  msubjectionis 
et  homagii  faciendi  regibus  Angliae,  cui  appensa  erant  sigilla  omnium  magnatum  Scotias,  quam  fecerant 
avo  regis,  et  a  Scottis,  propter  multa  sigilla  dependentia,  Ragman  vocabatur.' 

262 


mo 

(Tiumm, 

.  a__ 
nym 

(ftutottcm  fificSu"  > 


REPRESENTATION   OF  THE  DEFENCE  OF  CARLISLE  BY  SIR  ANDREW  DE  HARCLA 
AGAINST  THE  SCOTS  IN   1315,  ON  A  CHARTER  OF  EDWARD  II. 
TO  THE  CITY  OF  CARLISLE. 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

to  those  which  had  been  arranged  only  four  years  before  at  Lochmaban 
and  for  the  acceptance  of  which  Hartcla  had  died  a  martyr. 

During  the  occasional  periods  of  truce  which  occurred  intermit- 
tently in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.,  cordial  relations  sprang  up  and  ways 
were  opened  for  more  frequent  intercourse  between  the  two  kingdoms. 
The  English  king  was  fond  of  the  tilt  and  tournament,  and  his  tastes  in 
that  direction  brought  about  an  international  rapprochement  which 
diplomacy  had  failed  to  effect.  The  court  of  chivalry  had  become  an 
established  institution  under  his  patronage.  Though  appeal  to  arms 
had  been  from  an  early  period  a  conspicuous  feature  of  Border  law,1  the 
internecine  wars  of  the  fourteenth  century  had  a  tendency  to  hasten  the 
decay  of  the  personal  duel.  The  reviving  interest  in  chivalry  brought 
in  a  new  type  of  combat  which  combined  the  old  idea  of  judicial  award 
with  the  more  modern  instinct  of  sport  and  the  exhibition  of  individual 
skill.  By  special  provision  in  the  patent  of  the  warden  of  the  March 
it  was  enjoined  that  in  every  case  when  the  duel  was  challenged 
between  combatants,  the  acceptance,  offer  or  wager  should  be  reserved 
to  the  king  or  his  lieutenant.2  With  such  regulations  in  force,  the 
adjudication  of  points  of  honour  or  dispute  became  a  matter  of  public 
interest,  and  distinguished  men  of  both  countries  were  brought  face  to 
face  under  guarantees  of  safe  conduct  to  settle  their  differences  by  feats 
of  arms.  On  6  June  1390  Sir  William  Douglas,  knight,  had  licence  to 
come  to  England  with  a  retinue  of  forty  horsemen,  knights,  squires  and 
valets,  and  armour  for  his  own  person  only,  and  prosecute  a  plea  in  the 
court  of  chivalry  before  the  marshal  of  England  which  he  had  with  Sir 
Thomas  de  Clifford,  chivaler,  lord  of  Westmorland.3  A  more  famous  joust 
in  war  (de  guerra  hastiludium)  took  place  in  the  city  of  Carlisle  from  2 1  to 
27  June  1393,  when  Sir  Richard  de  Redemane  encountered  William  de 
Halyborton  and  three  other  Scotsmen  in  the  presence  of  Sir  Henry  de 
Percy,  who  was  ordered  to  be  present  as  the  king's  lieutenant.4  These 
instances  of  international  tilting  bespeak  a  lull  in  the  hostile  relations  of 
the  two  kingdoms,  and  though  peace  was  liable  to  interruption  at  any 
moment,  the  custom  may  be  regarded  as  an  evidence  of  a  good  under- 
standing, which  was  scarcely  possible  at  any  time  since  the  outbreak 
of  the  War  of  Independence  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

Amid  the  vicissitudes  of  Scottish  warfare  a  new  mode  of  military 
enterprise  was  introduced  about  the  year  1382,  which  was  destined 
in  time  to  revolutionize  the  whole  system  of  frontier  defence.  Guns 
and  gunpowder,  cannon  and  calivers  were  brought  into  use  as  engines 
of  destruction.6  But  it  cannot  be  said  that  the  shield,  lance  and  bow- 

1  Leges  Marchiarum  (ed.  Nicolson),  6.  Neilson's  Trial  by  Combat  (London  1890),  should  be  con- 
sulted for  the  history  of  duel  by  law. 

a  Rot.  Scotia  (Rec.  Com.),  ii.  49-50.  3  Chancery  Files,  bundle  No.  416. 

«  Pat.  16  Ric.  II.  pt.  iii.  m.  16;  Tower  Privy  Seals,  16  Ric.  II.  file  5  ;  Cal.Rot.  Pat.  (Rec.  Com.), 

226b. 

6  John  Prior  of  Drax  accounted  for  provision  of  '  gun-poudre '  and  'artelar'  among  lists  of  other 
victuals  for  the  castles  of  Berwick  and  Roxburgh  between  1382  and  1384,  and  in  the  accounts  of  the 
sheriff  of  Cumberland  for  1384-5  there  are  several  entries  which  show  that  the  new  power  had  been 
called  into  play  for  the  defence  of  Carlisle.  Two  great  '  gunnes'  were  placed  on  the  keep  of  the  castle 

263 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

string  were  abandoned  at  this  period  ;  the  new  engine  seems  to  have 
been  confined  at  first  to  purposes  of  defence.  The  archer  had  his  useful- 
ness as  well  as  the  artillery,  for  at  the  above  date  fifty  men-at-arms  and  a 
hundred  mounted  archers  were  maintained  at  Carlisle  as  a  permanent 
garrison,  and  in  1488  hobelars  and  archers,  '  bumbards '  and  artillery 
were  reckoned  as  the  munitions  necessary  for  the  fortification  of  Carlisle 
and  Bewcastle.1 

One  of  the  causes  of  exasperation  between  the   two   peoples  was  a 
small  strip  of  territory  on   the  frontier,  variously  called  the  Threapland, 
Eatable  or  Debatable  land,  sometimes  the  Batail  land,  which  had  never 
been  properly  determined  by  bounds  nor  acknowledged  as   belonging  to 
either  kingdom.     In  the  fifteenth   century  several  attempts  were  made 
by  means  of  friendly  negotiations  to  bring  this  thorny  controversy   to  a 
close.     By  a  convention  at  Durham  in  1449  between  English  and  Scot- 
tish commissioners  it  was  agreed  '  that  all  the  claymers  and  chalongours 
of  the    landez  called  Eatable  landez  or  Threpe    landez    in  the  West 
Marchez'  should  have  free  entry  and  use  of  the  district  in  dispute  with- 
out prejudice  of  the  right  of  the  King  of  Scotland.1    At  subsequent  dates 
between  1451  and  1457  this   international  understanding  was  renewed.3 
A  new  element  of  strife,  however,  was   introduced  in    1474  when   a 
fishgarth  or  dam  was  constructed   by  the  inhabitants  of  Cumberland  in 
the  lower  waters  of  the  Esk,  whereby  salmon  were  prevented  ascending 
the  river  to  the  detriment  of  the  fishing  industry  in  the  upper  or  Scot- 
tish waters.     The  fishgarth  was  complained   of  as   a   nuisance,  and  as 
often  as  it  was  removed,  it  was   replaced  by  the  Cumberland  men.     In 
the  heat  of  the  crisis  a  commission  was  appointed  *  to  visite  and  see  the 
place  and  by  inquisition  and   recorde  taken  of   the  eldest   and   feith- 
fullest  persoones  of  the  Marches  there  '  to  inform  themselves  of  the 
truth  and  how  '  the  said  fishgaert  hath  been  kepte,'  and  thus  to  finish 
and  determine  the  quarrel,  safe  conducts  to   the   envoys  having  been 
guaranteed  by  both  sovereigns.4    English  subjects  maintained  that  they 
had  the  right  by  law  and  custom  to  erect  and  hold  the  fishgarth,  while 
the  Scots  asserted  the  contrary.     The  fishing  of  the  Esk,  being  but  a 
part  of  the  greater  dispute  about  the  international  boundary,  continued 
to  be  a  burning  question  of  debate  for  many  generations.     The  larger 
issue  was  the  subject  of  inquiry  during  a  truce  in   1493  when  Thomas 
Lord  Dacre,  Sir  Richard  Salkeld,  and  Sir  John  Musgrave  were  appointed 
to  meet  the  delegates  of  the  King  of  Scots  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the 
disputes  which  had  arisen  afresh  in  the  West  Marches,  both  as  to  the 
fishings  of  the  Esk,  the  bounds  of  the  Debatable  Land,  and  the  site,  limits 

and  a  lesser  gun  in  the  angle  of  the  outer  bailey,  mounted  on  wooden  frames  (bocbez  de  fuistez)  and 
bound  with  iron  '  ligatures.'  Richard  Potter  was  paid  for  casting  three  brass  cannon  in  the  city,  for 
which  Robert  Delmane,  probably  a  German,  supplied  the  iron  hoops.  Purchases  of  '  poweder  de  salt- 
petre '  and  '  live '  sulphur  were  made  at  York,  and  a  mason  was  employed  for  five  weeks  polishing 
(scapulantf)  120  stones  for  the  guns.  These  munitions  of  war  were  handed  over  to  John  de  Thirlwalle, 
deputy  warden  of  the  castle,  by  indenture  dated  4  December  1 384  (Cal.  Scot.  Doc.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  iv. 
71,  74-6). 

1  Chancery  Signed  Bills,  3  Henry  VII.  No.  35.  a  Rymer,  Fcedera,  xi.  244. 

3  Ibid.  xi.  288,  336,  399.  «  Chancery  Signed  Bills,  5  Hen.  VII.  No.  27. 

264 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

and  bounds  of  the  monastery  of  Canonby  ;  also  for  perambulating  and 
surveying  the  same  and  placing  new  metes  and  bounds  if  necessary.1 
But  there  was  no  finality  in  these  negotiations  ;  the  dispute  was  handed 
on  to  embitter  international  feuds.  At  a  later  date  the  controversy 
raged  specially  around  the  question  whether  the  lands  of  Canonby  were 
debatable  ground.  It  was  claimed  by  the  English  in  1531  that  'the 
boundes  of  Cannonby  is  inverouned  of  thre  partis  withe  the  Debatable 
grounde,  that  is  to  saye,  of  the  este,  weste  and  northe  :  and  of  the  southe 
syde  adjoynethe  upon  Englonde  :  soo  that  noo  parte  therof  adjoynethe 
upon  Scotlande,  and  hathe  bene  alwayes  used  as  a  hous  of  prayers  and 
newtre  betuixt  bothe  the  realmes.'2  In  1537  we  learn  from  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  Debatable  Land  that  it  contained  the  '  grownde  callede  Can- 
abye,  thatt  sayme  beyng  in  lenghtt  bye  estymatione  two  myllys  est 
annde  west,  annde  in  brede  two  myllys.' 3  For  some  time  longer  the 
territory  in  dispute  was  to  be  occupied  as  it  had  been  heretofore  by  '  byt 
of  mouth  alanerlie,'4  an  arrangement  under  which  rights  of  pasture  were 
enjoyed  during  the  daytime  only  by  the  inhabitants  of  both  countries," 
the  Threaplands  having  been  treated  as  international  common.  At  length 
a  compromise  was  arrived  at  by  commissioners  representing  both  king- 
doms and  a  partition  of  the  land  in  dispute  was  made.  In  the  award, 
dated  24  September  1552,  it  was  set  forth  that  as  the  inhabitants  of  the 
western  part  inclined  more  to  be  subjects  of  England,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  the  eastern  part  inclined  more  to  be  subjects  of  Scotland,  the  parti- 
tion should  be  guided  by  local  feeling.  An  earthen  barrier  was  thrown 
up  between  the  Esk  and  Sark,  and  its  terminations  marked  by  square 
pillars  with  the  arms  of  England  on  the  west  sides  thereof  and  the  arms 
of  Scotland  on  the  east  sides.  Lest  the  pillars  should  be  destroyed  by 
length  of  time  or  removed  by  evil  counsel,  the  sites  where  the  stones 
were  to  be  placed  were  described  as  the  bend  of  the  Esk  at  the  western 
side  of  a  field  called  Dimmisdaill,  where  a  syke  of  that  name  joins  the 
river,  and  a  bank  on  Scottish  ground  by  the  red  cliff  in  Kirkrigg  where 
the  Sark  in  turn  makes  a  curve  in  its  course.8 

1  Chan.  Signed  Bills,  9  Hen.  VII.  No.  31.  8  Armstrong,  Liddesdale,  App.  No.  25. 

»  Cotton  MS.  Calig.  B.  iii.  83.  «  Hamilton  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  54. 

•  Cott.  MS.  Caligula,  B.  vi.  ff.  167-8. 

•  Rymer,  Feeder  a,  xv.  315-9.     In  this  important  international  document  the  disputed  territory  is 
described  as  '  dictus  ager  nunc  variabilis,  nunc  litigiosus,  nunc  terra  contentiosa  vocari  solitus,  communi 
vero  utriusque  gentis  vocabulo  nuncupatus  the  Debatable  Land,  quasi  quis  dicat  terram  de  cujus  jure 
tarn  Angli  quam  Scoti  decertare  ac  contended  sintsoliti,  forma  oblonga  atque  inzquali  protendatur  ab 
occidente  in  orientem '  ;  and  the  partition  is  set  out  '  ut  in  ipso  utriusque  partis   discrimine,  trames 
linearis  rectus  transversim  ab  Esk  ad  Sark  fluvium   ducatur,  fossa  vel  sulco  vestigium  ipsius  denotante  ; 
ac  praeterea,  singulae  piramides  lapide  quadrato  singulis  ipsorum  Esk  et  Sark  fluviorum  ripis  interius 
imponantur,  in  ipsis  potissimum  (quoad  ejus  fieri  potest)  locorum  punctis  construendz  ac  collocandae, 
ubi  linea  seu  trames  ille  transversus  hac  iliac  extendetur.     Quosquidem  locos,  quo  planius  dinoscantur, 
ut  si  quo  vetustatis  aut  doli  mali  vitio  piramides  corruerint,  nihilo  secus  locorum  vestigia  ad  ipsarum 
reparationem  innotescant,  in  hunc  modum  hinc  describendos  putavimus :    locus  igitur   piramidi    Esk 
fluvii  ripz  imponendae  is  esto,  ubi  fluvii  ipsius  cursus  sinuose  incurvatus  est,  ad  campi  cujusdam  (vulgari 
sermone  vocati  Dimmisdaill)  latus  occidentale,  qua  torrens  seu  rivulus  quidam  vicinus  (vernacule  nuncu- 
patus Dimmisdaill  syke)  in  fluvium  jam  dictum  praecipitat.     Similiter,  piramidi  Sark   fluvii   quae  im- 
ponetur  ripaeisesto  locus,  qui  clivo  rubro  situs  est,  e  regione  loci  vocati  Kirkrigg  in  Scotia  paulum  supra 
le  Eatgyw',  ubi  vicissim  Sark  fluvii  alveolus  in  sinus  incurvatur.'     For  the  identification  of  the  pillars 
it  was  ordered  '  uti  arma  seu  principum  praedictorum  insignia  insculpantur  ;  ita  scilicet,  ut  quod  latus 

ii  265  34 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

It    is  worthy  of  mention    that  during  the    struggles   of  political 
factions  about  the  succession  to  the  crown  in  the  reigns  of  Richard  II. 
and  Henry  VI.  the  people  of  Cumberland  were  ranged  on  the  side  of 
the  reigning  house.     Far   removed  from   the   intrigues  of  the   central 
government  and  inured  to  the  hardships   of  frontier   defence,  the  con- 
stitutional subtleties  which   divided  the  nation  had  little  attraction  for 
them.     Perhaps  it  was  the  famous  stand  said  to  have  been   made  by 
Bishop  Merks  of  Carlisle,1  that  influenced  the  people  of  his  diocese  to 
uphold  the  cause  of  King  Richard.     At  all  events,  in    1401-2,  it  was 
reported  to  Henry  IV.  that  certain  churchmen,  exempt  and  not  exempt, 
and  laymen  as  well,  within  the  diocese  were  telling  the  people  that  the 
late  king  was  still  alive  and  dwelling  in  Scotland,  and  that  he  was  about 
to  invade  England  with  the  aid  of  the  Scots  enemy.     Repressive  measures 
were  taken  to  stop  the  reports   in   Cumberland   and  Westmorland,  and 
orders  were  issued  to  arrest  and  imprison  all   persons  who  maintained 
that  King  Richard  was  alive  in  Scotland.2     In  like  manner,  during  the 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  the  county,  so  far  as  it  took  part  in  the  constitu- 
tional struggle,  was  largely  Lancastrian  in  sympathy,  though  the  city  of 
Carlisle  was  held  in  the  Yorkist  interest  notwithstanding  a  close  siege 
by  the  Scots,  who  had  crossed  the  Border   to   assist  Queen  Margaret.3 
Several  of  the  great  families  espoused  the  Lancastrian  cause  and  brought 
disaster  on  themselves  and  their  estates.     Thomas,  lord   of  Egremont, 
was  slain  at  Northampton  in  1 460  * ;   Ralf,  Lord  Dacre,  fell  on  the  field 
of  Towton  in  March   1461  and  was  buried  in  Saxton  churchyard  under 
'  a  meane  tumbe.' 5  After  the  battle  of  Wakefield,  Ralf,  Lord  Greystoke, 
was  suspected  of  treachery  and  thereby  suffered  many  indignities,  but 
he  succeeded  in  clearing  himself  and   swore   allegiance  to  Queen   Mar- 
garet  and  her  son.6     When   accounts   came   to  be  reckoned  with  the 
vanquished  Lancastrians  in  the  first  Parliament  of  Edward  IV.  the  act 
of  attainder  included  the  names  of  several  Cumberland  and  Westmorland 
men.7     The  estates  of  the   late  Lord  Dacre   were   confiscated,  and   his 
castle  of  Naworth   (Neuwarde)   was   delivered  to  the  custody  of  Lord 

utriusque  piramidis  quod  occidentem  spectat,  dicti  serenissimi  Anglise  regis  insigniatur  armis,  quodque 
orientem  respicit  prxfatse  illustrissimae  reginae  Scotia;  armis  condecoretur.'  This  earthen  barrier  is  now 
known  as  the  Scotch  Dyke. 

1  See  his  speech  in  the  Parliament  of  1399  on  behalf  of  King  Richard,  which  has  occasioned  such 
a  lively  controversy  (Cbron.  de  la  Traison  et  Mart.  [Eng.  Hist.  Soc.],  70-1). 

2  Anct.  Pet.  No.  5945  ;  Pat.  3  Hen.  IV. ;   Cbron.  de  la  Traison  et  Mart  (Eng.  Hist.  Soc.),  p.  kx. 

3  One  of  the  acts  of  treason  alleged  against  certain  of  the  Lancastrians  was  that  they  procured  the 
Scots  to  enter  the  realm,  '  bringyng  the  same  Scotts  and  ennemyes  to  his  Cite  of  Carlile,  besegyngand 
envirounyng  it,  brennyng  the  Subarbes  therof,  destroiyng  the  Howses,  Habitacions  and  Landes  of  his 
Subgetts  nygh  therunto  in  manere  of  Conquest :  purposyng  ayenst  their  feith  and  Liegeaunce  to  have 
delyvered  the  seid  Cite,  the  key  of  the  Westmarches  of  Englond  into  the  possession  and  obeysaunce  of  the 
seid  Kyng  of  Scotts,  and  to  have  spoiled  the  Coroune  of  Englond  therof  '  (Rot.  Parl.  [Rec.  Com.],  v. 
478).     In  compensation  for  the  immoderate  violence  and  cruelty  of  this  siege  Edward  IV.  granted  the 
city  of  Carlisle  a  charter  reducing  the  fee  farm  rent  of  the  city  from  £80  to  £40,  and  bestowing  other 
privileges  (Royal  Charters  of  Carlisle  [Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Antiq.  Soc.],  53-5). 

*  William  of  Worcester,  Annales  (Liber  Niger),  ii.  481. 
6  Leland,  Itinerary,  vi.  1 1,  ed.  Hearne,  1711. 
«  William  of  Worcester,  ii.  486. 
'  Rot.  Parl.  (Rec.  Com.),  v.  476-88. 

266 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

Montague,1  but  at  a  later  date  both  his  title  and  much  of  his  property 
were  restored  to  Humfrey  his  brother,  who  had  succeeded  in  winning 
the  king's  favour.2  A  similar  policy  of  clemency  was  pursued  towards 
the  other  victims  of  the  struggle,  for  before  the  close  of  1461  we  find 
Lord  Greystoke  and  other  Lancastrians  named  in  a  commission  for 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland  to  array  all  the  good  men  of  these 
counties  for  defence  against  the  king's  enemies  of  Scotland,  and  Henry 
VI.  and  Margaret  his  wife  and  their  adherents.3  The  work  of  pacifica- 
tion was  completed  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick, 
who  came  to  Carlisle  in  1462  for  that  purpose.4 

The  aim  of  the  new  dynasty  was  to  come  to  an  understanding  with 
the  Scottish  people  and  to  promote  peace  on  the  Border.  The  young 
king  of  Scotland  sent  ambassadors  to  Edward  IV.  in  April  1461,  and 
a  truce  between  the  two  countries  was  concluded  in  1463."  After  the 
death  of  the  Earl  of  Warwick  at  the  battle  of  Barnet,  the  Duke  of 
Gloucester,  the  king's  brother,  afterwards  Richard  III.,  was  appointed 
to  influential  offices  in  the  northern  counties  and  became  for  several 
years  closely  identified  with  the  north-western  district.  In  1471  he 
had  a  grant  of  the  lordship  and  castle  of  Penrith 6 ;  in  1474  he  is 
found  acting  as  warden  of  the  Western  Marches7  ;  and  in  1475  he  was 
made  sheriff  for  life  of  the  county,8  offices  which  he  retained  till  his 
accession  to  the  throne.  There  was  peace  in  Cumberland  while 
Gloucester  was  at  the  head  of  its  military  affairs.8  So  successful  was 
his  administration  that  the  parliament  of  1482,  in  consideration  of  his 
services,  made  special  provision  that  the  wardenship  of  the  West  Marches 
should  descend  to  his  heirs  male  with  the  possession  of  Carlisle  and 
various  lands  in  Cumberland  and  such  adjoining  parts  of  Scotland  that 

1  William  of  Worcester,  ii.  493. 

2  Rot.  Parl.  (Rec.  Com.),  vi.  43  ;  Lords'  Reports  on  the  Dignity  of  a  Peer,  iii.  214-5  ;  Dugdale,  Bar. 
ii.  23-4. 

3  Pat.  I  Edw.  IV.  pt.  ii.  m.  I2d. 

4  There  is  a  curious  entry  in  the  minister's  accounts  of  Bishop  Kingscote,  dated  30  September  1462, 
which  shows  that  the  Kingmaker  had  taken  up  his  residence  at  Rose  Castle  during  the  summer  of  that 
year,  and  that  the  horses  of  his  army  had  spoiled  the  meadows  of  the  demesne  lands  there.     John  Yong, 
the  receiver-general,  thus  accounted  for  the  issues  of  Rose  Park  :  '  Et  de  decremento  firme  alterius  prati 
dominicalis  ibidem  vocati  le  Brademedewe  superius  onerati  ad  xxj.  per  annum  eo  quod  dimittitur  hoc 
anno  nisi  pro  viiLr.  pro  eo  quod  maxima  pars  eiusdem  per  equos  hominum  exercitus  Comitis  Warwicensis 
tempore  estivali  infra  clausum  huius  compoti  depasta  fuit  et  consumpta '  (MS.  in  diocesan  registry). 
The  earl's  stay  at  Rose  Castle  occurred  during  the  vacancy  of  the  see  between  the  death  of  Bishop  Percy 
and  the  consecration  of  Bishop  Kingscote.    He  was  afterwards  appointed  keeper  of  the  temporalities  on 
12  December  1463,  on  the  death  of  the  latter  bishop  (Pat.  3  Edw.  IV.  pt.  ii.  m.  ii).    His  appointment 
as  captain  of  Carlisle  Castle  and  warden  of  the  West  Marches  dated  from  the  king's  accession  on  4  March 
1461,  and  was  renewed  for  twenty  years  on  5  April  1462,  the  yearly  wages  being  £2,50x3  in  time  of  war, 
and  £1,250  in  time  of  truce  or  peace  at  the  hands  of  the  treasurer  of  England  and  the  chamberlains 
of  the  Exchequer  (Pat.  5  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  25). 

6  Col.  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  iv.  267,  272. 

8  Pat.  ii  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  18. 

*  Ibid.  14  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  22.  »  Ibid.  pt.  ii.  m.  4. 

9  In  1482  he  had  licence  to  buy  2,000  quarters  of  wheat  and  1,000  quarters  of  barley,  rye,  oats,  meslin, 
beans  and  peas  in  any  places  of  the  realm,  Wales  or  Ireland,  for  the  support  of  the  additional  garrison 
maintained  on  the  Border  (Pat.  21  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  10).     At  that  time  there  was  a  daily  increasing 
scarcity  of  provisions,  especially  corn,  on  the  West  Marches  on  account  of  the  great  number  of  soldiers  the 
king  had  been  '  occasioned  '  to  send  there  to  resist  the  '  manyfold  assaults  and  continuel  werres  '  of  the 
Scots  (Tower  Privy  Seals,  21  Edw.  IV.  file  i). 

267 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

they  might  be  able  to  subdue.1  He  is  said  to  have  occasionally  resided 
at  Carlisle  Castle,  where  there  is  a  tower,  bearing  his  name,  on  the 
southern  face  of  which  is  sculptured  the  figure  of  a  boar,  which  was  his 
badge. 

Cumberland  enjoyed  a  period  of  comparative  rest  during  the  closing 
years  of  Henry  VII.,  but  with  the  advent  of  the  strong  will  and  quick 
temper  of  Henry  VIII.  matters  soon  assumed  a  different  aspect.  His 
foreign  policy,  directed  as  it  was  at  first  against  France,  the  old  ally  of 
Scotland,  brought  him  into  dangerous  collision  with  his  brother-in-law, 
James  IV.  Lord  Dacre  was  employed  as  an  intermediary  to  compose 
the  points  of  difference  and  to  confirm  the  existing  peace.  Nothing 
however  would  satisfy  James  short  of  Henry's  desisting  from  his  designs 
on  France  and  his  active  participation  in  the  league  against  that  country. 
In  1513,  while  Henry  was  still  abroad,  he  crossed  the  Border  at  the 
head  of  a  large  army  and  took  Norham  Castle,  but  was  subsequently 
encountered  by  the  Earl  of  Surrey  at  Flodden  and  defeated  and  slain 
with  many  of  his  greatest  nobles.  On  the  English  side  Lord  Dacre 
commanded  the  levies  of  Gillesland,  and  his  intervention  at  a  critical 
moment  was  a  powerful  factor  in  the  victory  that  was  won.2  The 
battle  of  Flodden  was  the  prelude  to  a  fresh  outbreak  of  sanguinary 
feuds  in  which  Dacre  played  a  principal  part.  His  letters  to  the 
privy  council  respecting  his  work  as  warden  of  the  March  are  little 
more  than  reiterated  accounts  of  the  destruction  he  was  engaged  to 
carry  out.  One  of  these,  dated  17  May  1514,  in  which  he  defends 
the  vigilance  and  success  of  his  administration,  may  be  selected  as  an 
indication  of  what  was  taking  place  at  this  period.  '  For  oone  cattell 
taken  by  the  Scotts,'  he  reported,  '  we  haue  takyn,  won  and  brought 
awey  out  of  Scotland  cth  :  and  for  oone  shepe,  ccth  of  a  surity.  And 
has  for  the  townships  and  housis  burnt  in  any  of  the  said  Est,  Mid- 
dill  and  West  Marches  within  my  reull,  fro  the  begynnyng  of  this 
warr  unto  this  daye,  as  well  when  as  the  late  King  of  Scotts  laye  in 
the  same  Est  Marches  as  at  all  other  times,  I  assure  your  lordships  for 
truthe  that  I  haue  and  hes  caused  to  be  burnt  and  distroyed  sex  tymes 
moo  townys  and  howsys  within  the  West  and  Middill  Marches  of  Scot- 
land in  the  same  season  then  is  done  to  us,  as  I  may  be  trusted  and  as 

1  Rot.  Parl.  (Rec.  Com.),  vi.  204-5.  In  the  preamble  of  the  Act  it  is  stated  '  that  the  seid  Due, 
beyng  Wardeyn  of  the  seid  Westmarches,  late  by  his  manyfold  and  diligent  labours  and  devoirs,  hath 
subdued  grete  part  of  the  Westbordures  of  Scotlande,  adjoynyng  to  Englond,  by  the  space  of  xxx  miles 
and  more,  therby  at  this  tyme  not  enhabite  with  Scotts,  and  hath  gete  and  acheved  diverse  pa rcelles 
therof  to  be  under  the  obeissaunce  of  oure  said  Soverayne  Lorde,  not  oonly  to  the  grete  rest  and  ease  of 
th'  enhabitauntes  of  the  seid  Westmerches,  but  also  to  the  grete  suerty  and  ease  of  the  North  parties  of 
Englond,  and  moche  more  therof  he  entendith,  and  with  Goddis  grace  is  like  to  gete  and  subdue  herafter : 
and  the  seid  Westmerches  the  more  suerly  to  be  defended  and  kept  ayenst  the  Scotts,  if  the  seid  appoynte- 
ments  and  agrements  be  perfourmed  and  accomplished.' 

a  In  the  official  account  of  the  battle  it  is  said  that  the  Scots  charged  '  in  good  order  after  the 
Almayns  manner  without  speking  a  word.'  Edmund  Howard  was  on  the  right  wing  of  Lord  Howard 
with  1,000  Cheshire  and  500  Lancashire  men,  who  were  defeated  by  Alexander  Lord  Hume,  lord  chamber- 
lain of  Scotland.  Mr.  Gray  and  Sir  Humphrey  Lyle  were  taken  prisoners ;  Sir  Wynchard  Harbottle  and 
Maurice  Barkley  were  slain ;  Edmund  Howard  was  thrice  '  feled,'  when  Dacre  came  to  his  relief  and 
routed  the  Scots  (L.  tf  P.  of  Henry  Vlll.  i.  4441). 

268 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

I  shall  evidently  prove.'  As  Dacre  went  on  to  describe  his  destructive 
progress,  he  boasted  that  for  twelve  miles  along  the  water  of  the  Liddel, 
where  there  were  an  hundred  ploughs,  and  along  the  Ewes  for  eight 
miles,  where  there  were  an  hundred  and  forty  ploughs,  every  inch  of 
the  country  lay  desolate  and  no  corn  was  sown  on  the  grounds.  He 
had  burnt  and  destroyed  the  township  of  Annan  and  thirty-three  other 
places  in  that  region,  all  of  which  he  named.  Whereas,  he  concluded, 
there  were  over  four  hundred  ploughs  in  these  places  in  time  past,  they 
were  all  clearly  wasted  and  no  man  dwelt  in  any  of  them,  save  only  in 
the  towers  of  Annan  steeple  and  Woolhope.1  Such  was  the  contribution 
to  the  progress  of  agriculture  that  the  lord  warden  of  the  Western 
Marches  could  make  four  hundred  years  ago  ! 

The  disaster  of  Flodden  left  Scotland  with  a  widowed  queen,  sister 
of  Henry  VIII.,  and  an  infant  son.  The  Duke  of  Albany,  who  had 
been  brought  up  in  France  and  was  naturally  devoted  to  the  interest  of 
his  adopted  country,  was  made  regent,  and  kept  the  county  of  Cumber- 
land for  a  time  in  a  state  of  panic  by  reports  of  intended  invasion.  By 
a  letter,  '  scriblyed  in  hast  at  Sainct  Bees  upon  Sainct  Luke  daye  thevan- 
gelist,'  1523,  dan  Robert  Alanby,  the  prior  of  that  house,  informed 
Lord  Dacre  that  a  great  number  of  ships  were  seen  upon  the  coast : 
they  were  supposed  to  be  a  portion  of  the  fleet  of  the  Duke  of  Albany 
and  likely  to  land  in  Coupland  and  destroy  them  utterly.  The  prior 
urged  the  lord  warden  to  command  Christopher  Curwen  of  Working- 
ton,  John  Lamplugh,  lieutenant  of  Cockermouth  Castle,  and  Richard 
Skelton  of  Branthwaite,  to  come  with  all  their  power  to  their  assistance 
and  to  defend  that  district  '  with  the  grace  of  God  and  the  prayer  of 
his  holy  sainctes.'  Dacre  reported  the  occurrence  to  the  Earl  of  Surrey 
and  added  particulars  about  the  number  of  the  ships  and  the  places 
where  they  had  been  seen,  at  the  same  time  assuring  him  that  his  neigh- 
bours of  Annandale  had  never  moved  or  stirred,  but  remained  still  at 
home  in  their  habitations.3  Nothing  came  out  of  this  naval  demonstra- 
tion :  there  was  distrust  on  both  sides  ;  but  Lord  Dacre,  by  working  on 
the  fears  of  Albany,  adroitly  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  truce. 

The  lawless  condition  of  the  Scottish  clans  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Debatable  Land  became  at  this  time  a  serious  danger,  and  engaged  the 
attention  of  the  rulers  of  both  kingdoms.  In  defiance  of  law  and  truce 
they  wasted  the  English  frontier  and  extended  their  depredations  to  their 
own  country  as  circumstances  favoured  their  prospects  of  plunder. 
Their  allegiance  was  claimed  by  both  sovereigns,  but  rendered  to 
neither.  It  soon  became  manifest  that  united  action  between  the  two 
governments  was  necessary  to  deal  effectively  with  the  anarchy  on  the 
Western  Marches.  Complaints  were  made  in  1526  and  satisfaction 
demanded  for  the  '  offences  doon  within  Englound  by  the  surenamez  of 
Armestrongs,  Elwolds,  Croosyers  and  Nixsonnes  dwellyng '  on  the 

»  Cotton  MS.  Calig.  B.  ii.  f.  190 ;  L.  W  P.  of  Henry  VIII.  i.  5090. 
»  Add.  MS.  24,965,  ff.  96,  99  (now  ff.  188,  190). 

269 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

opposite  side,1  but  the  answer  came  back  to  the  Earl  of  Cumberland,  the 
English  warden,  that  if  he   wished  to   meddle   '  with    suche   as   Arme- 
stronggs  ar  and  other  like  wilde   and   mysguyded   men,'  he  would   be 
obliged  to   use  craft   and   espial  as  well    as  the   power   of   the  sword. a 
Repeated   complaints   from   the   English  warden  and  the  indiscriminate 
slaughter  of  his  own  subjects  at  length  stirred  up  King  James  to  attempt 
redress,  and  for  this  purpose  he  entered  into  an  agreement  with  Wolsey 
for    combined    action    against    the    outlawry    on   the    Border.     These 
negotiations   had  little  practical  effect.     The  Armstrongs   continued  to 
'  run  day  forays,  robbed,  spoiled,  burned  and  murdered  '  within  England. 
Again  it  was  proposed  to  take  from  them  all  their  goods  and  possessions, 
burn  and   destroy   their  houses,  corn,  hay  and  fuel,  and   take  all  their 
wives  and  bairns  and  bring  them  to  ports  of  the  sea,  and  send  them  away 
in  ships  to  be  put  on  land  in  Ireland  or  other  far  parts,  from  which  they 
may  never  return  home  again,3  but  the  Armstrongs  replied  to  the  threat 
by  seizing  on  the  Debatable  Land,  and  in  spite  of  truces  and  Border  law 
built  divers  houses  and  edifices,  probably  peels  or  towers,  for  their  pro- 
tection.4    William,  Lord  Dacre,  incensed  by  their  audacity,  collected  a 
force  of  2,000  men  and  marched  secretly  upon   them  in   the   hope   of 
taking  them  by  surprise,  but  the  Armstrongs  had  timely  warning  of  the 
intended  raid  and  succeeded  in  defeating  the  English  warden  and  scatter- 
ing   his  host.     Failures  like  this  roused   the  Border  clans  to  acts  of 
retaliation.     The  history  of  this  period  is  a  tale   of  atrocious  robberies 
and  devastation.     In    1528    Henry,  Earl  of  Northumberland,  estimated 
the  power  of  the  Armstrongs  with  their  adherents  at  above  3,000  horse- 
men, and  stated  that  any  undertaking  on  behalf  of  the  Scottish  king  to 
subdue  them  was  '  but  a  braigg  and  no  thing  likely  to  take  any  effect.' * 
The  opinion  however  was  not  well  founded,  for  James  was   determined 
to    try    conclusions    with    those    unruly    subjects    who    owned  not  his 
authority.     In   1530   the    king  approached  the   Border  and  hanged  a 
number  of  the   Armstrongs,  including   their  famous   leader,  Johnie  of 
Gilnochie,  who  had  been  betrayed  into  his  hand.     The  merciless  execu- 
tion of  the  chieftain  and  *  threty  sax  o'  his  cumpanie '  produced  a  deep 
impression  on  the  minds  of  the  commonalty  of  the  district,  and  became 
a  fruitful  subject  for  celebration  in  the  ballad  and   dramatic   poetry  of 
the  sixteenth  century.6 

The  people  of  Cumberland  joined  in  the  resistance  of  the  northern 
counties  to  the  ecclesiastical  policy  of  Henry  VIII.  when  he  had  entered 
on  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries.  Disaffection  was  imported  from 
Yorkshire,  and  the  agents  of  Robert  Aske  and  Lord  Darcy,  the  northern 
leaders,  were  busy  in  fomenting  discontent  and  urging  the  commonalty 
to  strike  a  blow  on  behalf  of  the  ejected  monks.  The  local  symptoms 

«  Cotton  MS.  Calig.  B.  vi.  f.  409.  »  Ibid.  iii.  f.  115. 

3  Ibid.  i.  f.  296.  «  Ibid.  vii.  f.  212. 

•  L.  &-  P.  of  Henry  VIII.  iv.  5055. 

6  Mr.  Bruce  Armstrong  has  collected  much  information  about  this  notorious  freebooter  from  Scottish 
chronicles  and  Border  ballads,  as  little  about  his  capture  and  execution  can  be  gleaned  from  the  public 
records  (Hist,  of  Liddesdale,  273-80). 

270 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

of  insurrection  were  first  observable  in  Westmorland,  when  the 
parishioners  of  Kirkbystephen  and  Brough  under  Stainmore  mustered 
on  Sanford  Moor  on  16  October  1536  in  response  to  the  rising  in 
Richmondshire  and  Durham.  The  commons,  as  the  insurgents  were 
called,  chose  as  their  leaders  Robert  Pullayn,  Nicholas  Musgrave,  Chris- 
topher Blenkinsopp  and  Robert  Hilton,  who  undertook  the  task  of 
swearing  the  people  to  be  true  to  God,  the  church,  the  king  and  the 
commonwealth.  Dividing  themselves  into  two  bands,  Musgrave  at 
the  head  of  one  party  marched  down  one  side  of  the  Eden  towards 
Penrith,  and  Pullayn  with  his  company  went  down  the  other.  In 
vain  did  they  search  for  the  gentry  dwelling  on  either  side.  Sir 
Thomas  Wharton,  Mr.  Warcop  of  Lammerside  Hall,  and  Sir  John 
Lowther  had  fled  ;  but  they  succeeded  in  catching  Mr.  Dudley  and 
others  at  Eamont  Bridge.  In  a  few  days  the  insurrection  was  general. 
Penrith  became  the  rallying  point  for  the  rebellious  commons  of  the 
eastern  part  of  the  county.  After  a  tumultuous  meeting  on  Penrith  Fell, 
the  captains  of  that  place,  Anthony  Hutton,  John  Beck,  Gilbert  Whelp- 
dale  and  Thomas  Birbeck,  who  received  the  names  of  Charity,  Faith, 
Poverty  and  Pity,  sent  messengers  to  Edenhall  and  compelled  Sir  Edward 
Musgrave  to  take  the  oath.  Parties  were  scattered  in  all  directions  to 
fan  the  flame  of  rebellion.  The  commons  of  Caldbeck  rose  on  23 
October  and  brought  Chancellor  Towneley,  their  rector,  with  them  to 
a  meeting  at  Cartloganthorne,  where  they  were  joined  by  the  commons 
of  Greystoke,  Skelton,  Castlesowerby,  and  the  townships  beyond  Eden. 
Robert  Thomson,  vicar  of  Brough  under  Stainmore,  who  was  regarded 
as  a  prophet  by  the  insurgents,  took  novel  measures  to  overcome  the 
unwillingness  of  the  parochial  clergy  to  espouse  his  cause.  At  the 
assemblage  on  Kylwatlynhow,  he  ordered  the  crier  to  proclaim  that  if 
Parsons  Towneley  and  Threlkeld  and  others  refused  to  join  the  commons 
'  they  shuld  stryke  off  owr  heydes  and  set  my  heyd  (Towneley 's)  on  the 
heyst  playce  within  the  diocese.'  It  was  necessary,  he  argued,  that  the 
commons  should  be  supplied  with  a  staff  of  able  chaplains  to  instruct 
them  in  the  faith.  At  the  daily  mass  in  Penrith  church,  where  the 
four  captains  followed  him  in  procession  through  the  aisles  with  drawn 
swords,  this  singular  man  expounded  one  by  one  the  ten  commandments 
and  declared  '  that  the  brekyng  of  these  comaundementes  was  the  cause 
of  all  that  grete  troble.'  In  the  western  division  of  the  county  the 
centre  of  the  insurrection  was  at  Cockermouth,  to  which  Thomson  and 
twenty  followers  repaired  for  a  meeting  to  be  held  on  Moota  Hill. 
Thither  came  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram  with  the  tenants  of  his  lord- 
ship. Repeated  messages  were  sent  to  Carlisle,  but  that  city  remained 
loyal  to  the  king  under  the  guardianship  of  Sir  Thomas  Clifford,  bastard 
son  of  the  Earl  of  Cumberland.  Great  anxiety  was  felt  for  its  safety 
when  the  insurgents  to  the  number  of  15,000  men  assembled  on  3 
November  at  Burford  Oak  on  Broadfield,  about  seven  miles  from  the 
city,  but  by  the  intervention  of  Sir  Christopher  Dacre  they  were 
dissuaded  from  besieging  it.  There  were  rumours  that  the  king 

271 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

desired  to  conciliate  the  people,  and  that  proclamation  to  that  effect 
had  been  made  on  the  previous  day.  In  the  proclamation  it  was 
stated  that  all  offences  committed  before  i  November  1536  should  be 
forgiven  on  condition  that  the  rebels  gave  up  their  leaders,  returned  to 
their  homes,  and  made  submission  before  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  whom 
the  king  intended  to  send  into  these  parts  as  his  lieutenant-general.  In 
the  absence  of  the  vicar  of  Brough,  some  or  the  leaders  joined  with 
Dacre  in  advising  the  commons  '  to  recule  and  go  home  every  man  to 
his  howsse  and  to  rest  ther  without  any  fforder  insurrection  untill  siche 
tyme  as  the  kynges  plesure  wer  forder  knowen.'  Sir  Christopher  Dacre 
undertook  to  act  as  mediator  between  them  and  the  mayor  and  captain 
of  Carlisle,  and  gave  them  pledges  that  '  no  man  shuld  be  stopyd  from 
Carlill  to  sell  ther  stuff  in  the  merkett,'  and  that  '  the  sawgers  of  the 
lorde  Clifforthe  shuld  not  ride  on  the  commens.1  The  notable  feature 
of  the  first  insurrection  in  Cumberland  was  the  entire  absence  of  men 
of  position  from  the  movement.  The  rabble  had  no  capable  leaders. 
Even  the  parish  clergy  held  aloof.  It  was  but  a  feeble  performance 
from  first  to  last.  As  the  people  returned  to  their  homes  sullen  and 
discontented,  the  Border  men  of  Esk  and  Line  and  '  the  black  quarters  ' 
offered  to  harry  the  two  counties  in  revenge,  but  they  were  restrained 
by  Sir  Thomas  Clifford.2 

Though  the  suppression  of  the  monasteries  was  the  ostensible  cause 
of  the  rebellion,  motives  of  a  more  selfish  nature  were  at  the  bottom  of 
the  political  unrest  in  Cumberland.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  agrarian 
grievances  contributed  much  to  the  exasperation  of  the  people  against 
their  rulers.  When  the  people  had  dispersed  to  their  homes  they  pulled 
down  enclosures,  took  possession  of  tithe-barns,  broke  the  heads  of  bailiffs 
and  threatened  the  landlords  with  penalties  unless  their  demands  were 
granted.  The  Earl  of  Cumberland  told  the  king  on  12  January  1537 
that  the  people  were  so  wild  there  was  danger  of  a  further  rebellion.3 
On  Saturday,  13  January,  Robert  Wetlay  and  Parson  Wodall,  agents 
of  Dr.  Leigh,  one  of  the  commissioners  for  the  suppression,  were 
taken  at  Muncaster  and  brought  to  Egremont  and  afterwards  to  Cocker- 
mouth,  barely  escaping  with  their  lives.  A  few  days  later  the  commons 
spoiled  all  the  tithe  barns  on  the  west  side  of  the  Derwent.*  The  fire 
of  a  second  insurrection  was  smouldering,  and  needed  only  a  spark  to 
burst  into  flame.  A  pretext  was  not  long  delayed.  On  Monday,  1 2 
February,  Sir  Thomas  Clifford  went  to  Kirkbystephen  to  arrest  two 
of  the  ringleaders  of  the  first  insurrection,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the 

1  The  details  of  the  progress  of  the  first  insurrection  are  fully  stated  by  Chancellor  Towneley  and 
the  vicar   of   Brough   in  their  examinations  before  Tregonwell,  Lay  ton  and  Leigh  '  in  the  Towre  of 
London'  on  20  March  1537  (L.  &•  P.  of  Henry  VIII.  xii.  [i.],  687  [1-2]).    These  depositions  with 
other  documents  of  this  period  have  been  printed  by  the  present  writer  in  The  Monasteries  of  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland  (Carl.  Scient.  Soc.),  25-94. 

2  L.  &•  P.  of  Henry  VIII.  xi.  993. 

3  Ibid.  xii.  (i),  18,  71.    In  the  opinion  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  expressed  to  Cromwell  on  21  February, 
1537,  agrarian  grievances  were  the  chief  cause  of  the  rebellion  in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  (ibid, 
xii  [I],  478). 

«  Ibid.  185. 

272 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

steeple  of  the  church.  His  horsemen,  composed  in  great  part  of '  strong 
thieves  of  the  Westlands,'  that  is,  of  Esk  and  Line,  began  to  spoil  the 
town  and  roused  the  inhabitants  to  resistance.  A  skirmish  ensued,  and 
Sir  Thomas  was  defeated  and  forced  to  retire  to  Brougham  Castle.1  The 
rout  of  the  king's  forces  was  the  signal  for  a  general  rising.  Under  the 
command  of  Nicholas  Musgrave  and  Thomas  Tibbee,  the  heroes  of 
Kirkbystephen  steeple,  a  force  of  4,000  or  5,000  men  marched  to 
Penrith  and  Greystoke,  where  they  were  joined  by  other  contingents, 
and  '  mayd  a  sawtt  at  Carlill  the  frydday  next  afor  the  fryst  sowndey  of 
Lent,'  1 6  February  1537.  The  'a  sawtt'  of  Carlisle  was  vigorously 
repulsed  by  Sir  Christopher  Dacre,  who  fell  upon  the  rebels,  scattered 
them,  and  took  700  or  800  prisoners.  Sir  Thomas  Clifford  atoned  for 
his  imprudence  at  Kirkbystephen  by  bursting  out  of  the  city  and 
following  the  chase  at  least  twelve  miles.  The  Duke  of  Norfolk  was 
hastening  to  the  relief  of  Carlisle,  but  when  he  arrived  on  19  February 
nothing  was  left  for  him  to  do  but  to  execute  the  prisoners.* 

When  the  news  of  the  overthrow  of  the  rebels  reached  the  king, 
he  was  profuse  in  his  thanks  to  Dacre  and  Clifford  for  their  acceptable 
services.  The  day  had  come  for  exacting  retribution  on  those  mis- 
guided men  who  had  dared  to  question  his  proceedings.  To  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk  he  sent  the  following  merciless  instructions,  which  show  the 
fury  into  which  he  was  thrown  by  the  rebellion  : — 

We  doo  ryght  well  approve  and  allowe  your  procedinges  in  the  displayng  of  our 
baner  :  and  forasmoche  as  the  same  is  now  spredde  and  displayed,  by  reason  wherof, 
tyll  the  same  shalbe  closed  again,  the  cours  of  our  lawes  must  geve  place  to  th'ordenaunces 
and  estatutes  marciall :  our  pleasure  is,  that,  before  you  shall  close  upp  our  said  baner 
again,  you  shal  in  any  wise  cause  suche  dredfull  execution  to  be  doon  upon  a  good 
nombre  of  th'  inhabitauntes  of  every  towne,  village  and  hamlet,  that  have  offended  in 
this  rebellion  as  well  by  the  hanging  of  them  uppe  in  trees,  as  by  the  quartering  of 
them,  and  the  setting  of  their  heddes  and  quarters  in  every  towne,  greate  and  small, 
and  in  al  suche  other  places,  as  they  may  be  a  ferefull  spectacle  to  all  other  herafter, 
that  wold  practise  any  like  mater :  whiche  we  requyre  you  to  doo,  without  pitie  or 
respect  according  to  our  former  letters.'  3 

In  obedience  to  the  terms  of  this  commission  the  work  of  execution 
began.  Out  of  6,000  prisoners  seventy-four  were  chosen  as  principal 
offenders  and  judged  to  suffer  death,  the  king's  banner  being  displayed. 
Had  the  duke  attempted  trial  by  jury,  not  a  fifth  man  of  them,  he 
thought,  would  have  suffered.  As  iron  was  marvellously  scarce  in 
Cumberland,  it  was  necessary  that  some  of  the  prisoners  should  be 
despatched  by  ropes  only  ;  twelve  however  would  be  hanged  in 
chains  in  Carlisle,  and  as  many  more  as  chains  could  be  made  for 
in  their  native  villages.4  Chancellor  Towneley  and  the  vicar  of 

i  L.  &•  P.  of  Hen.  Fill.  xii.  (i.),  419,  439-  *  Ibid.  xii.  (i.),  448,  468. 

»  Ibid.  lii.  (i.),  479 ;  Priory  of  Hexham  (Surtees  Soc.),  i.  pp.  cl.-cliii. 

4  Of  the  seventy-four  victims  executed,twenty-one  were  Cumberland  men  from  the  districts  of  Penrith 
and  Cockermouth,  the  value  of  their  forfeited  goods  being  estimated  by  Sir  Thomas  Wharton  at  only  100 
marks,  and  the  goods  of  the  Westmorland  men  at  300  marks  (L.&-  P.  of  Hen.  V11I.  xii.  p.],  498,  641). 
The  bodies  were  left  to  hang  in  their  respective  villages  in  the  sight  of  their  families  and  friends,  no 
one  being  allowed  to  take  them  down.  The  wives  and  daughters  of  some  of  the  rebels  took  the  bodies 

"  273  35 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Enough  were  sent  to  London  for  examination,  as  Norfolk  was  doubtful 
about  their  guilt. 

The  results  of  these  insurrections  had  a  tendency  to  aggravate  the 
differences  that  existed  between  Henry  VIII.  and  James  V.  Many  of 
the  '  rebellis  and  brokin  men,'  '  grey  freris,  uther  doctouris,  and  religious 
men  '  took  refuge  beyond  the  Border  and  were  there  '  resett  wythin  the 
reaulme  of  Scotland,'  to  the  great  indignation  of  the  English  king.1  The 
death  of  his  sister,  Queen  Margaret,  in  1541  removed  an  influence  that 
served  to  maintain  peaceful  relations  between  the  two  kings.  James 
was  unable  to  approve  of  his  uncle's  attacks  on  the  church,  and  the  two 
countries  gradually  drifted  into  a  renewal  of  war.  In  the  autumn  of 
1 542  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  was  commissioned  to  enter  Scotland  from  the 
eastern  side.  King  James  proceeded  at  once  to  organize  a  counter 
attack  against  the  West  March,  the  main  brunt  of  which  was  to  fall 
on  Carlisle.  The  Scottish  army  of  about  14,000  men  left  Lochmaban 
on  24  November,  but  without  a  responsible  leader,  James  himself 
coming  no  nearer  to  the  scene  of  conflict  than  '  a  hill  caulid  Burnswarke,' 
whose  square-topped  height  overlooks  the  district  from  Burdoswald  to 
the  Solway,  from  whence  he  witnessed  the  complete  overthrow  of  his 
forces.  As  the  army  crossed  the  Esk,  the  smoke  of  the  burning  houses 
of  the  Grahams  *  soon  made  the  presence  of  the  invaders  known  and 
roused  the  garrison  of  Carlisle  who  had  been  already  forewarned. 
Rapidly  gathering  together  what  gentlemen  and  borderers  he  could 
find,  Sir  Thomas  Wharton,  captain  of  the  castle,  despatched  them  across 
the  Line  under  the  leadership  of  Sir  Thomas  Dacre,  a  natural  son  of 
Lord  Thomas  and  founder  of  the  Dacres  of  Lanercost,  and  Jack  Mus- 
grave,  the  captain  of  Bewcastle.  The  Scottish  troops,  retiring  upon 
'  Arthureth  tower,'  were  quickly  dislodged  and  forced  across  the  Esk 
'  at  a  strate  ford  which  is  called  Sandyforde.'  Beyond  this  was  the 
Solway  Moss,  from  which  the  disastrous  day  was  to  take  its  name, 
lying  between  the  Esk  and  Sark,  in  the  bogs  of  which  those  who 
had  escaped  drowning  or  capture  soon  lay  at  the  mercy  of  their 
pursuers.  Never  before  had  there  been  a  more  pitiful  defeat.  Fourteen 

and  buried  them  in  churchyards  by  night  or  in  ditches,  the  priests  refusing  burial.  In  order  to  pacify 
the  king's  wrath  at  this  new  offence,  inquiries  were  held  at  Carlisle,  Penrith  and  Cockermouth,  to  ascer- 
tain the  names  of  the  culprits  and  the  circumstances  of  the  crime.  The  depositions  of  these  wretched 
wives,  mothers  and  daughters  who  cut  down  or  gathered  up  the  decaying  remains  and  buried  them  in 
secret,  in  some  cases  '  with  the  chynes  about  them,'  furnish  one  of  the  most  gruesome  episodes  on  record. 
One  instance  may  be  given.  Richard  Cragg's  wife  deposed  '  that  she  knowyth  not  of  hys  lowsyng  furthe 
of  the  chyne,  but  she  sayth  that  she  brought  hym  home  upon  a  carre  and  had  with  hyr  Jenet  Harres, 
wedow,  and  Jenet  Newcom  of  Egyllsfelde,  and  the  prest  wolde  not  suffer  hym  to  be  bureyd,  and  so  in 
the  nyght  she  bureyd  hym  in  a  dyke  as  she  says  ;  she  further  stated  'yt  a  cosyn  of  hys  afterward  died 
of  the  corruption  of  hyr  husband  and  takyn  hym  down'  (ibid.  xii.  [i.],  1214,  1246). 

i  Hamilton  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  41,  84. 

1  The  Grahams  of  Esk  supported  the  king  against  the  rebellious  commons  in  1536-7.  The  Duke 
of  Norfolk  wrote  on  16  May  1537,  that  the  '  fowre  bretherne  of  the  Greymes  '  were  '  the  furst  that  did 
set  uppon  the  Kinges  highnes  rebelles  at  th'assault  of  Carliell '  and  '  the  furst  that  ever  brake  spere  uppon 
any  of  the  commons  after  th'assault '  (L.  &•  P.  of  Hen.  VIII.  xii.  [i.],  1215).  In  a  curious  petition  to 
the  king  from  Arthur  Graham  and  his  brethren  for  reward,  their  valiant  deeds  are  picturesquely 
described,  the  most  notable  of  which  was  that  they  had  taken  seven  score  prisoners  during  the  rout  of 
the  rebels  in  1537,  '  and  I  the  forsaid  Arthur  Grame  toke  one  of  the  chief  capteyns  named  Thomas 
Tebold,'  the  notorious  leader  of  the  Westmorland  insurgents  (ibid.  xii.  [i.],  1217  [ij). 

274 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

thousand  men  were  completely  vanquished  by  less  than  three  thousand. 
It  was  a  rout  rather  than  a  battle.  Two  earls,  five  barons,  and  some 
thousands  of  men  were  taken  prisoners,  and  the  fugitives  who  escaped 
had  to  face  the  tender  mercies  of  the  men  of  Liddesdale,  '  who  spoyled 
them  of  all  their  arrayment  and  because  they  shuld  the  more  spedely 
flye,  they  toke  also  their  botes  from  them.' l  There  was  great  jubilation 
in  London  at  the  entry  of  some  of  the  prisoners  on  19  December,  for 
which  occasion  it  was  '  provided  that  every  off  the  sayde  Scottisshe 
prisoners  sholde  have  att  theyre  entre,  for  a  knowlege,  a  redde  Saynt 
Androwes  crosse.' ' 

The  victory  of  Solway  Moss,  followed  so  soon  by  the  death  of 
James  V.,  roused  Henry  VIII.  to  pursue  a  vigorous  policy  on  the  Border. 
The  wardens  of  the  marches  were  urged  to  harass  the  enemy  on  every 
opportunity.3  The  king  was  assured  that  it  was  within  his  power  to 
lay  hands  '  on  as  much  of  Scotland  as  is  on  this  side  the  Firth  on  the 
east  side,  and  as  much  as  is  on  this  side  Dumbarton  on  the  west  side,' 
and  that  there  would  be  no  peace  '  untill  your  highness  hath  set  your 
marches  to  the  limits  aforesaid.'  '  Oh,'  the  letter  continued,  '  what  a 
godly  act  should  it  be  to  bring  such  a  sort  of  people  to  the  knowledge 
of  God's  laws,  the  country  so  necessary  to  your  dominions,  by  reason  of 
which  so  many  souls  should  live  in  quietness.'4  The  released  prisoners 
from  Solway  Moss  returned  to  Scotland  bound  by  pledges  to  further 
English  interests  in  that  country.  There  was  a  general  forward  move- 
ment. The  wild  spirits  on  the  Border,  inured  to  fray  and  foray,  plunged 
into  the  struggle  with  such  zest  that  the  record  of  their  depredations  in 
the  shire  of  Dumfries  and  the  adjacent  districts  forms  a  dreadful  catalogue 
of  burning  and  pillage  which  has  few  equals  in  the  annals  of  predatory 
war.  In  1547,  when  Edward  VI.  succeeded  his  father,  English  rule 
prevailed  throughout  the  greater  part  of  Dumfriesshire.  The  conflict 
was  continued  with  unabated  vigour  by  William,  Lord  Dacre,  who  had 
succeeded  Lord  Wharton  in  the  wardenry.  But  the  long  struggle,  carried 
on  with  such  barbarity,  was  fast  bringing  the  belligerents  to  a  state  of 
exhaustion.  On  the  fall  of  the  Protector  Somerset  new  counsels  prevailed 

i  Hamilton  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  pp.  Ixxxiii.-hcnvi.,  307-8,  317-9.  The  number  of  Scots 
routed  at  Solway  Moss  has  been  variously  estimated  by  those  who  took  part  in  the  battle.  Sir  Thomas 
Wharton,  fresh  from  the  conflict  and  eager  to  magnify  his  victory,  estimated  the  Scots  at  14,000,  though 
some  said  20,000.  After  diligent  inquiry  Lord  Lisle  reported  to  King  Henry  that  there  were  17,000 
at  least.  The  English  forces  were  variously  estimated  from  2,000  to  3,000.  It  was  said  that  5,000  horses 
were  captured,  as  the  Scots  fled  towards  the  moss  through  which  horses  could  not  pass.  The  Scottish 
army  '  had  fowre  fawconnettes  of  brasse,  twolfe  bases  two  upon  every  carte,  and  three  half  bases  uppon 
one  carte,  havyng  aboue  thirtye  standertis  besides  flaggis.'  The  battle  was  decided  between  '  Akeshaw- 
hill '  and  '  Howpsikehill,'  in  the  region  in  which  Longtown  is  now  situated.  '  Ten  men  was  drawyn 
with  fisher  nettes  furthe  of  Heske  thre  dales  after.' 

»  Acts  of  P.O.  (new  ser.),  i.  63.  The  prisoners  were  lodged  in  the  Tower  for  a  short  time,  from 
whence  they  were  brought  to  the  Star  Chamber,  '  by  two  and  two  together  in  new  gowns  of  black  damask 
and  other  apparell  sutable  '  at  the  king's  cost,  to  be  admonished  for  their  offences  by  the  Lord  Chancellor 
before  their  liberation  (Herbert,  Life  of  Hen.  7111.  pp.  485-6).  Twenty  of  the  Solway  prisoners  were 
selected  to  be  sent  to  London  (Hamilton  Papers  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  i.  326). 

'  As  early  as  1532,  Henry  instructed  Lord  Dacre  to  tamper  with  the  men  of  Liddesdale  and  that 
region  in  order  to  '  annoye  the  King  of  Scottis '  (Hamilton  Papers  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  i.  6). 

«  Ibid.  i.  331. 

275 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

under  the  influence  of  Dudley,  who  worked  for  peace  between  the  two 
countries.  A  truce  was  arranged  on  20  March  i  ^49—50  in  the  church 
of  Norham,  which  formed  the  basis  of  an  international  settlement,1  and 
subsequently  led  to  the  division  of  the  Debatable  Land.  The  stringency 
of  the  regulations  re-established2  in  1552  for  watch  and  ward  on 
the  northern  frontier  of  Cumberland,  and  the  number  of  men  em- 
ployed by  day  and  night  in  carrying  out  this  territorial  system  of  self- 
defence,  show  the  insecurity  which  prevailed  in  the  county  at  this  period. 
Each  township  had  its  own  organization  of  watchers  who  perambulated 
in  assigned  places,  and  the  principal  men  of  the  district  acted  as  over- 
seers to  set  the  watch  and  report  on  its  regularity.  Every  man  was 
obliged  to  rise  and  follow  the  fray  upon  the  sound  of  horn,  shout  or 
outcry  upon  pain  of  death.3  Under  this  police  system  a  great  advance 
was  made  for  the  pacification  and  government  of  the  Border  district. 

The  turn  in  Scottish  affairs,  which  sent  Mary,  the  ill-fated  daughter 
of  James  V.,  across  the  Solway  after  her  disastrous  defeat  at  Langside, 
was  full  of  evil  consequences  to  Cumberland.  Landing  at  Workington 
on  1 6  May  1568,  she  was  met  next  day  by  Richard  Lowther,  deputy 
warden  of  the  march,  and  conveyed  to  Carlisle  Castle.  The  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  on  the  plea  that  she  had  landed  within  his  liberty 
of  Cockermouth,  endeavoured  without  success  to  remove  her  from 
Lowther's  hands.4  The  weeks  the  Queen  of  Scots  spent  at  Carlisle  were 
some  of  the  most  anxious  that  her  troubled  life  had  seen.  She  had 
appealed  to  Elizabeth,  but  knew  not  what  would  be  the  answer.  Friends 
crowded  round  her,  and  she  was  soon  the  centre  of  a  little  court.  From 
the  walls  of  her  prison  she  could  see  the  blue  hills  of  her  native  land. 
It  would  be  easy  to  signal  to  her  friends  and  not  difficult  to  escape 
in  the  course  of  some  of  the  excursions  she  was  at  first  allowed  to 
make.  Sir  Francis  Knollys,  writing  on  15  June,  says: — 

Yesterday  her  Grace  went  out  at  a  postern  to  walk  on  a  playing-green  towards 
Scotland  :  and  we  with  twenty-four  halberders  of  master  Read's  band,  with  divers 
gentlemen  and  other  servants,  waited  on  her.  Where  about  twenty  of  her  retinue 
played  at  football  before  her  the  space  of  two  hours  very  strongly,  nimbly  and  skilfully, 
without  any  foul  play  offered,  the  smallness  of  their  balls  occasioning  their  fairplay. 
And  before  yesterday  since  our  coming  she  went  but  twice  out  of  the  town  :  once  to 

1  Leges  Marchitarum,  77-98. 

2  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  system  of  watch  and  ward  originated  in  I5S2-  In  ^e  Court 
Rolls  of  the  manor  of  Dalston  for  1496-7  provision  is  made  for  the  watching  of  the  manor  on  the  lines 
adopted  in  1552.  One  clause  of  the  regulations  then  in  force  will  serve  as  an  illustration  :    '  Hawksdale  ; 
Willim  Nicson[and]Willim  Holme  schall  begyn  the  wach  with  dayly  light  att  evyn  and  schall  come  to 
Thomas  Louthre  house  thare  to  tak  ye  wach  ;  so  to  remayne  to  light  of  the  morne  and  thare  gif  over 
thare  wach  at  thare  departyn  :  and  they  schall  kepe  wach  from  the  said  Thomas  house  on  to  the  entend 
beyonde  Will  Nicson  hous  :    and  the  said  Th :  Louthre  schall  presentt  every  defaltt  onwith  uppon  the 
morne  to  the  bailyay  of  the  Roos  ;  and  the  said  Th  :  schall  hire  a  wachman  and  gif  hym  iiijd  when  so  ever 
eny  defalt  is  mad  att  evyn  in  takyng  of  eny  manner  wach.     Ric.  Thomlynson  [and]  Th  :  Bullok  schall 
begyn  thar  wach  for  the  tothar  parte  of  the  said  town  and  take  itt  and  kepe  itt  as  is  afore  said  in  every 
parte.'     The  tenants  were  obliged  to  watch  in  couples  nightly. 

3  These  very  interesting  regulations,  with  the  names  of  watches,  divisions  of  districts,  and  other 
matters  explanatory  of  the  whole  system  of    defence,  have  been  embodied  by  Bp.  Nicolson  in  Leges 
Marchiarum,  206-28. 

*  Cat.  of  State  Pa-pers  relating  to  Scotland,  1509-1603,  ii.  853-5,  ^73- 

276 


MAP   OF    CASTLES  AND  FORTRESSES 

Victoria  History  of  Cumberland. ^^^ 


/"'"Bewcastle 

•* 

Askerton, 

.'"*          A          ; 

}*A  Towers  of       "fryer-mam 
•     A  the  Grahams  \' 

Scaleby        *(OverDenton 

by  Sands        5Na5/orth 


Wo  I  sty 


Work  in eton 


COCKERMQUTH  •     f ,      AB  .         __, 

Greystoke         ^Penrijth/' 
WythQr 


Dunmalloght 


*T     i 

/   "Highhefed  "'\ 

Kirkoswald*   Melmerby         / 
EdenhallX  _x.— -J 


REFERENCE 

Cast/es  /^7  Che  /2C/>.  Century 

Castles ,  Peels,  Fortified  Houses, 
and  Churches,  in  the  14th.  Century 

Castles,  Peels,  Fortified  Houses 
and  Churches,  in  the  16th.  Century 

SCALE   OF  MILES 
IO  5  O  IO 


William  Stanford t  Co.Ltd., 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

the  light  play  of  football  in  the  same  place :  and  once  rode  a-hunting  the  hare,  she 
galoping  as  fast  upon  every  occasion  and  her  whole  retinue  being  so  well  horsed,  that 
we  upon  experience  thereof,  doubting  that  upon  a  set  course  some  of  her  friends  out  of 
Scotland  might  invade  and  assault  us  upon  the  sudden  to  rescue  and  take  her  from  us, 
we  mean  hereafter,  if  any  Scottish  riding  pastimes  be  required  that  way,  so  much  to 
fear  the  endangering  of  her  person  by  some  sudden  invasion  of  her  enemies  that  she 
must  hold  us  excused  in  that  behalf.1 

The  dangers  surrounding  her  presence  at  Carlisle  were  obvious.2 
On  13  July  she  was  removed  to  Bolton  Castle,  the  residence  of  Lord 
Scrope,  the  warden  of  the  Western  March.  The  intrigues  which 
gathered  round  her  were  dangerous  to  the  peace  of  the  county.  The 
Earl  of  Northumberland,  who  soon  raised  the  standard  of  rebellion, 
had  a  vast  territorial  influence  in  the  district,  and  many  of  the  country 
gentlemen  sympathized  with  his  plans  on  behalf  of  the  exiled  queen. 
Though  there  were  few  acts  of  treason  committed  in  Cumberland  in 
connection  with  the  rebellion  of  the  earls  in  1569,  public  feeling  was 
in  a  heated  condition  and  a  source  of  anxiety.3  When  the  danger  passed, 
a  fresh  trouble  arose  in  which  one  of  the  most  powerful  families  in  the 
county  was  to  play  a  principal  part. 

Thomas,  Lord  Dacre,  at  his  death  in  1566  had  left  an  infant  son 
George,  who  was  killed  in  1569  by  a  fall  from  his  vaulting-horse  at 
Thetford.  The  estates  passed  to  his  three  sisters  as  co-heiresses. 
But  Leonard  Dacre,  their  uncle,  who  was  next  heir  male,  '  stomached 
it  much,'  as  Camden  said,  '  that  so  goodly  an  inheritance  descended 
by  law  to  his  nieces.' 4  Their  mother,  after  Thomas,  Lord  Dacre's 
death,  had  married  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  eventually  became 
guardian  of  her  daughters  ; 8  and  Leonard  Dacre  proceeded  to  at- 
tempt by  intrigue  what  he  was  likely  to  lose  at  law.  It  was  a 
dangerous  game,  but  he  played  it  with  the  art  of  a  master.  He 
plunged  headlong  into  the  proposal  for  the  marriage  of  the  Scottish 
queen  with  the  duke.  Whilst  courting  the  patronage  of  Elizabeth, 
he  was  deeply  implicated  in  the  treasonable  schemes  against  her.  He 
encouraged  the  Earls  of  Northumberland  and  Westmorland  to  rebellion, 
and  at  the  same  time  offered  his  services  for  its  suppression.*  After  the 
flight  of  the  earls,  he  fortified  Naworth  and  held  it  with  a  force  of 
3,000  men  on  the  pretence  of  an  expected  invasion  from  Scotland. 

1  Cotton  MS.  Calig.  B.  ix.  291. 

*  S.P.   Dom.   Eliz.   Add.   xiv.    17.     It  was   suspected   that   the  affray  in  Carlisle  Cathedral  in 
August  1568  was  connected  with  her  cause  (ibid.  xiv.  22  [1-9]). 

3  Lord  Scrope  informed  Sir  William  Cecil,  on  30  November  1569,  that  Cumberland  stood  in  great 
peril  for  a  few  days,  and  very  likely  would  have  entered  into  rebellion,  by  means  of  some  tenants  and 
agents  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland,  had  not  great  care  been  exercised  on  his  part  to  prevent  it  (S.P. 
Dom.   Eliz.  Add.   xv.    56).     The   earl's   tenants   in    the   lordship  of   Cockermouth   were   capable   of 
mustering  a  force  of  1,200  men  (ibid.  xv.  76  [i.J.     The  Bishop  of  Carlisle  made  a  long  declaration  about 
a  conspiracy  to  kill  him  and  take  Carlisle  Castle,  of  which  he  had  charge  during  the  temporary  absence  of 
Lord  Scrope  (ibid.  xv.  89-90). 

4  Hist,  of  Elizabeth,  p.  136. 

5  For  the  story  of  the  litigation  over  the  Dacre  estates,  see  the  account  written  by  Lord  William 
Howard,  one  of  the  duke:s  sons,  who  married  Lady  Elizabeth  Dacre,  one  of  the  co-heiresses  (Household 
Books  of  Lord  W.  Howard,  [Surtees  Soc.],  365-93).    On  Leonard's  title  to  the  barony  of  Dacre,  the  note 
of  objections  and  answers  in  S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xviii.  1 1  (v.)  may  be  consulted. 

8  Ibid.  xiv.  104. 

277 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

But  the  English  queen  was  not  deceived  by  his  political  manoeuvres. 
Peremptory  orders  were  sent  to  Lord  Hunsdon,  her  lieutenant  in  the 
north,  to  arrest  '  that  cankred  suttill  traitor,  Leonard  Dacres,'  as  she  after- 
wards called  him.1  He  was  summoned  to  Carlisle  on  the  plea  of  holding 
a  consultation  on  the  state  of  the  country.  With  skilful  diplomacy  he 
pleaded  the  state  of  his  health  as  an  excuse,  and  in  turn  asked  Lord  Scrope 
to  dine  with  him  in  his  chamber.1  Lord  Hunsdon,  disregarding  the 
warning  of  Scrope  as  to  the  popularity  of  the  Dacres  and  the  impossibility 
of  getting  Cumberland  men  to  act  against  any  of  them,3  determined  to 
advance  with  what  troops  he  could  collect.  After  a  night  march  from 
Hexham,  he  came  before  Naworth  at  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  20  Feb- 
ruary 1 570  ;  the  beacons  had  been  burning  all  night  and  every  hill 
was  full  of  horse  and  foot,  crying  and  shouting  as  if  they  had  been  mad. 
As  the  castle  was  well  furnished  with  ordnance,  men  and  munition,  Lord 
Hunsdon  thought  it  more  prudent  to  evade  an  encounter  till  he  joined 
forces  with  Lord  Scrope  at  Carlisle.  Dacre,  however,  had  no  intention 
of  allowing  him  to  escape.  He  pursued  him  for  four  miles,  and  fell  upon 
him  with  vigour  in  a  heath  as  he  was  preparing  to  cross  the  river  Gelt, 
not  far  from  the  cliff  on  which  are  found  the  letters  which 

the  vexillary 
Hath  left  crag  carven  o'er  the  streaming  Gelt. 

The  onslaught  of  Dacre's  tenants  on  the  royal  forces  was  terrific.  In 
his  report  of  the  skirmish  *  Hunsdon  told  the  queen  that  '  hys  foot- 
men gave  the  prowdyst  charge  on  my  shott  that  I  ever  saw.'  Leaving 
Sir  John  Forster  with  500  horse  to  protect  his  rear,  Lord  Hunsdon 
charged  with  the  rest  of  his  cavalry,  slew  between  300  and  400,  and 
took  between  200  and  300  prisoners.  On  the  following  day  Dacre  was 
proclaimed  a  traitor,"  his  castles  of  Naworth,  Rocliffe,  Greystoke  and 
Kirkoswald  were  seized,  and  a  great  part  of  his  force,  who  had  been 
induced  to  rebel  in  defence  of  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  rights  of 
their  feudal  superior,  surrendered  and  submitted  themselves  to  the 
queen's  mercy.8 

Scottish  affairs  continued  to  dominate  the  political  fortunes  of 
Cumberland.  To  meet  any  emergency  that  might  arise  on  the  western 
frontier,  steps  were  taken  to  inquire  into  the  military  levies  of  the 
county  and  the  condition  of  its  defences.  The  names  of  the  well- 

i  S.P.  Don.  Eliz.  Add.  rvii.  112. 

'  His  letter  has  been  printed  by  Sharpe  (Mem.  of  Rebellion,  etc.,  217). 

3  S.P.  Dam.  Eliz.  Add.  rvii.  56,  67  (i.). 

«  Sir  John  Forster  gave  a  graphic  description  of  the  encounter  to  Sir  William  Cecil  (Cotton  MS. 
Calig.  C.  I,  384),  which  has  been  printed  by  Sharpe  (Memorials  of  the  Rebellion,  221-2). 

»  In  the  proclamation  of  Lord  Scrope,  Dacre  was  accused  of  levying  the  queen's  subjects  in  Gilles- 
land  by  firing  and  burning  the  beacons  on  pretence  of  an  invasion  by  the  Scots,  and  other  enormities. 
To  avoid  deception  in  future,  the  lieges  were  ordered,  upon  the  burning  of  the  beacons,  to  repair  to  none 
save  to  the  beacon  of  the  castle  of  Carlisle  (S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  Add.  xvii.  108  [i.]). 

«  Leonard  Dacre  fled  to  Scotland  and  afterwards  to  Flanders,  where  he  died  on  12  August  1573 
as  a  pensioner  of  the  King  of  Spain.  One  of  the  English  spies  reported  in  1575  that  he  was  buried  in  the 
church  of  St.  Nicolas,  Brussels,  with  an  epitaph  representing  him  as  exiled  for  the  sake  of  his  religion 
(S.P.  Dom.  Eliz.  cv.  10 ;  Douay  Diaries,  i.  298-9). 

278 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

affected  gentlemen  were  carefully  tabulated  and  distinguished  from  those 
in  whom  confidence  could  not  be  placed.  Special  attention  was  given 
to  the  musters  of  horse  and  foot  with  the  view  of  ascertaining  the  force 
that  could  be  put  in  the  field.  When  preparations  like  these  were 
taken  in  hand  in  1580  by  Lord  Scrope  as  warden  of  the  West  March,  it 
was  found  that  there  were  520  light  horsemen  within  his  wardenry 
besides  gentlemen  and  their  household  servants  to  the  number  of  200. 
The  musters  of  footmen  were  taken  according  to  the  division  of  the 
county  into  wards,  the  total  in  1581  for  the  wards  of  Eskdale,  Leath, 
Allerdale-below-Derwent  and  Cumberland  being  estimated  at  over  6,000 
men,  in  which  returns  '  is  sett  downe  everie  man  as  furnyshede  at  his 
daye.'  The  equipment  consisted  of  jacks,  steel  caps,  spears,  lances  or 
bows,  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  there  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  such 
weapons.  In  a  few  instances  there  is  a  gun  ;  while  one  adventurous 
man,  Richard  Atkinson  of  Cumwhitton,  whose  name  may  be  handed 
down,  was  prepared  to  do  battle  '  with  a  piche  forke.' l  The  survey  of 
the  fortresses  made  by  Christopher  Dacre  in  1580,  showing  the  con- 
dition of  their  armaments  and  recommending  repairs,  is  of  the  greatest 
interest.  The  frontier  was  studded  with  a  chain  of  castles  besides  peels 
and  strongholds  of  lesser  note.2  Some  thought  these  strongholds 
insufficient  to  guard  the  western  frontier,  and  at  the  height  of  the 
panic  a  proposal  was  made  to  call  into  use  the  crumbling  ruins  of  the 
Roman  wall.  It  might  either  be  restored,  or  a  similar  barrier  erected, 
at  a  cost,  it  was  reckoned,  of  some  thirty  thousand  pounds.*  The  pre- 
parations to  resist  invasion  were  not  altogether  valueless  after  the  scare 
had  passed  away.  There  was  much  to  test  the  ability  of  the  local  autho- 
rities in  protecting  life  and  property  on  the  Border.  Petty  acts  of 
wrong-doing  were  on  the  increase  ;  no  man's  dwelling  was  secure  from 
attack  ;  the  days  of  moss-trooping  as  an  organized  system  of  robbery 
had  begun.  Pictures  of  forays  at  this  period  through  'Solway  Sands, 
through  Tarras  Moss,'  so  familiar  to  the  readers  of  Sir  Walter  Scott,4 

»  Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  37-62. 

3  Bewcastle,  three  miles  from  Scotland,  a  place  of  great  strength  ;  Askerton  Tower,  two  miles  south 
by  west  from  Bewcastle  and  six  miles  from  Scotland  ;  Rocliffe  Castle,  two  miles  from  Scotland  and  three 
miles  from  Carlisle  ;  Carlisle  Castle,  a  place  of  great  respect :  the  Citadel  of  Carlisle,  a  fortress  or  bulwark 
for  the  defence  of  the  city,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  to  the  south  of  the  castle  ;  Drumburgh,  neither  castle 
nor  tower,  but  a  house  of  convenient  strength  and  defence,  about  six  miles  west  and  by  north  from  Carlisle 
Castle  and  two  miles  from  Scotland,  a  very  fit  place  of  defence  for  that  part  of  the  Border ;  Bowness  Tower, 
belonging  to  the  parsonage,  four  miles  west  and  by  north  from  Drumburgh,  adjoining  a  sea  creek  which 
divides  the  English  and  Scottish  borders,  very  necessary  for  defence,  partly  decayed,  a  new  platform  for  ord- 
nance required  ;  Wolsty  Castle,  about  seven  miles  west  and  by  south  from  Bowness  Tower  and  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  sea  creek,  '  and  about  4  houres  boring  over  the  said  crick  to  Scotland' ;  the  castles  of  Cocker- 
mouth,  Greystoke,  Penrith,  Kirkoswald,  Naworth  and  Triermain.  It  was  recommended  that  two  new 
fortresses  should  be  built  on  the  ring  of  the  Border,  between  Wolsty  and  Rocliffe  (ibid.  i.  32  ;  S.P.  Dam. 
Eliz.  Add.  rrvii.  44  [i.-iii.],  mil.  70  pi.].  The  rough  outline  of  the  defences  of  the  West  Border 
in  the  Cotton  Manuscript  [Calig.  B.  viii.  239]  probably  belongs  to  this  period.  The  date  must  be  sub- 
sequent to  the  division  of  the  Debatable  Land  in  1552,  for  the  Scotch  Dyke  is  traced  on  the  'Plott.' 
On  the  English  portion  of  the  district  between  Esk  and  Sark,  south  of  the  dyke,  there  are  five  towers, 
and  between  Line  and  Esk  nine  towers :  with  the  remark  that  '  all  these  little  stone  houses  or  towers 
ar  betwene  Serk  and  Eske  and  betwene  Eske  and  Leven  and  belong  the  Greyms.' 

3  Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  i.  300-2. 

4  For  instance,  see  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,  i.  21. 

279 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

are  not  overdrawn.    In  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  statesmen,  the  inhabitants 
of  these  districts  were  known  as  '  the  bad  Borderers.' 

It  is  to  the  period  under  review  that  the  famous  episode  of  Kin- 
mont  Willie  belongs.  This  noted  freebooter,  whose  name  is  so  familiar 
in  the  complaints  presented  to  the  march  courts,  had  been  arrested  by 
the  Musgraves  in  1596  while  in  attendance  at  the  court  of  Kershope, 
and  handed  over  to  Mr.  Salkeld,  who  immured  him  in  the  castle  of 
Carlisle.  The  legality  of  his  arrest  seems  doubtful,  and  the  explanations 
of  his  captors  read  a  little  like  accusations  against  themselves.  In  the 
opinion  of  Lord  Scrope  there  could  be  no  question  of  the  legality  if  the 
attestation  of  the  witnesses  was  true.  Other  reasons  for  detaining  him 
were  his  notorious  enmity  to  the  warden's  office  and  the  many  outrages 
lately  done  by  his  followers.1  In  a  later  despatch  he  added  that  men  of 
experience  in  Border  causes  regarded  him  as  a  lawful  prisoner,  if  a  Scots- 
man '  in  time  of  peace'  may  be  so.8  The  bold  Buccleuch,  however, 
took  the  law  into  his  own  hands  and  made  his  '  proude  attempt ' 
against  her  Majesty's  castle  of  Carlisle,  '  the  chiefest  fortresse  in  these 
partes.'  On  14  April  1596  the  Scots,  with  '  500  horsemen  of  Buclughes 
and  Kinmontes  frendes,  did  come  armed  and  appointed  with  gavlockes 
and  crowes  of  iron,  handpeckes,  axes  and  skailinge  lathers,  unto  an  owte- 
warde  corner  of  the  base  courte  of  this  castell,  and  to  the  posterne  dore 
of  the  same  :  which  they  undermyned  speedily  and  quietlye  and  made 
themselves  possessores  of  the  base  courte,  brake  into  the  chamber  where 
Will  of  Kinmont  was,  carried  him  awaye,  and  in  their  discoverie  by 
the  watch  lefte  for  deade  two  of  the  watchmen,  hurte  a  servante  of 
myne,  one  of  Kynmontes  keperes,  and  were  issued  againe  oute  of  the 
posterne  before  they  were  descried  by  the  watche  of  the  innerwarde, 
and  ere  resistance  coulde  be  made.'  The  guard,  Scrope  continued,  by 
reason  of  the  stormy  night,  were  either  asleep  or  had  taken  shelter  from 
the  violence  of  the  weather,  by  which  means  the  Scots  achieved  the 
enterprise  with  little  difficulty.3  Great  was  the  rejoicing  of  the  de- 
liverers and  deep  was  the  annoyance  of  Lord  Scrope.  O^ueen  Elizabeth 
was  not  less  incensed  at  the  outrage  offered  to  her  representative.  Sir 
William  Bowes,  her  agent  at  the  court  of  James,  was  instructed  to  bring 
the  matter  before  the  king,  and  to  declare  that  peace  could  be  no  longer 
maintained  unless  Buccleuch  was  handed  over  to  answer  for  his  offence. 
In  the  end,  after  long  negotiations,  he  was  induced  to  surrender 
himself  in  October  1597  to  the  queen's  commissioner  at  Berwick,4 
where  he  remained  until  the  beginning  of  the  following  year.  He 
was  then  released,  leaving  his  son,  a  lad  of  ten  years,  to  answer  for 
the  pledges  he  had  given  of  good  behaviour.5  In  1599  the  queen 
gave  him  leave  to  reside  abroad,  and  it  was  probably  on  this  occasion 

that  she  used  the  words  so  often  quoted  that  *  with  ten  thousand  of 

A 

»  Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  114-5.     The  attestation  of  the  Musgraves  will  be  found  in 
Cal.  of  Salisbury  MSS.  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.),  vi.  84-5. 

*  Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  171.  a  Ibid.  ii.  120-2. 

4  Ibid.  ii.  416-9.  8  Ibid.  ii.  516-7. 

280 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

such  men  our  brother  of  Scotland  might  shake  the  firmest  throne  in 
Europe.'  Buccleuch  always  asserted,  and  in  this  he  was  supported 
by  Scrope,  that  he  was  assisted  in  his  exploit  by  the  Grahams,  and 
that  he  could  have  done  nothing  without  their  co-operation,1  naming 
more  especially  Francis  Graham  of  Canonby  and  Walter  of  Netherby, 
the  chief  leaders  of  that  clan.  The  Grahams  at  that  time  were  a 
constant  thorn  in  the  side  of  Lord  Scrope.  In  1596  he  proposed 
that  a  '  straight '  letter  should  be  addressed  to  him  by  the  Privy 
Council,  commanding  him  to  send  up  some  of  them,  whose  names  he 
specified,  without  letting  them  know  the  cause  beforehand,  and  on  their 
appearance  to  commit  them  to  prison.  He  added  that  he  would  amply 
justify  the  step,  and  that  it  would  greatly  contribute  to  the  common 
benefit  and  peace  of  the  district.3  But  the  family  was  too  powerful  and 
its  position  too  assured  to  be  thus  summarily  dealt  with.  Scrope's 
language  about  them  was  vigorous  ;  he  called  them  '  caterpillars,' 
'  a  viperous  generation,'  *  malignant  humours,'  and  such  like  terms.3 
The  northern  authorities  seem  to  have  been  of  Lord  Scrope's  opinion, 
for  in  1600  the  gentlemen  of  the  county  presented  a  petition  to  the 
Council,  in  which  they  affirmed  that  the  Grahams,  their  clan  and 
children,  were  the  chief  causes  of  the  decay  of  the  country,4  and  in  1606 
the  English  commissioners  informed  the  Earl  of  Salisbury  that  the 
people  of  Cumberland  abhorred  and  feared  the  name  of  Graham.6  There 
was  wisdom  in  the  advice  tendered  to  Cecil  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
lost  if  they  could  be  kept  on  reasonable  terms.  Elizabeth,  who  took  a 
personal  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  Border,  refused  her  sanction  to 
extreme  measures,  to  Lord  Scrope's  great  annoyance. 

Carlisle  was  at  this  time  the  meeting  place  of  a  commission 
appointed  to  consider  the  grievances  under  which  the  Border  suffered 
and  to  suggest  a  remedy.  It  was  composed  of  delegates,  representative 
of  both  countries,  who  drew  up  an  agreement  called  the  Treaty  of 
Carlisle.  The  principal  recommendations  were  that  good  ministers 
should  be  planted  in  every  Border  church,  to  inform  the  lawless  people 
of  their  duty  and  to  watch  over  their  manners  ;  no  warden  or  keeper 
should  ride  in  hostile  manner  in  the  opposite  realm  without  special 
command  under  royal  hand  and  seal  ;  no  borderer  should  keep  about 
him  idle  persons  such  as  remain  in  village  alehouses ;  Border  councils 
should  be  appointed  to  enrol  all  notorious  thieves  and  to  put  them  to 
death  after  the  first  conviction."  The  Bishop  of  Durham,  who  was 
chairman  of  the  commission,  told  Burghley  on  2  June  1597,  in  justifica- 
tion of  the  severity  of  some  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty,  that  '  I  have 
found  by  experience  many  years  in  these  parts  that  levity  does  little 
good  and  severity  no  harm,  and  that  however  it  prevailed  elsewhere, 
fearful  proceeding  is  no  policy  here.' T  One  of  the  chief  grievances,  the 

i  Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  367-8.  '  Ibid.  ii.  120. 

3  Ibid.  ii.  160,  486,  etc.  4  Ibid.  ii.  690-1. 

8  Hist.  A/SS.  Com.  Rep.  (Muncaster  MSS.),  x.  App.  iv.  248. 

«  Nicolson,  Leges  Marchiarum,  149-69  ;   Border  Papers  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  316-7. 

7  Ibid.  ii.  332-4. 

II  28l  36 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

levying  of  blackmail,  was  dealt  with  by  the  Act  of  43  Elizabeth,  cap.  13. 
It  recited  that  many  persons  residing  in  Cumberland,  Northumberland, 
Westmorland  and  Durham  were  taken  from  their  houses  and  carried 
away  as  prisoners  and  kept  till  they  were  redeemed  with  great  ransoms  ; 
and  that  of  late  there  had  been  many  incursions,  raids  and  spoiling  of 
towns,  villages  and  houses  within  the  said  counties,  so  that  many 
had  been  forced  to  pay  a  certain  rate  of  money,  corn  or  cattle,  com- 
monly called  blackmail,1  to  divers  persons  inhabiting  near  the  borders. 
By  this  Act,  which  was  not  repealed  till  7  and  8  George  IV.,  the 
takers  of  blackmail  were  judged  to  be  felons  and  punished  with 
death  without  benefit  of  clergy.  King  James  proceeded  to  the 
Border  to  consult  for  the  due  enforcement  of  the  international  agree- 
ments, and  was  met  at  Newby  near  Annan  by  Mr.  Leigh,  the  deputy 
warden,  and  Mr.  Aglionby,  the  mayor  of  Carlisle.  The  main  object  of 
James  during  the  closing  years  of  the  century  was  to  secure  his  accession 
to  the  English  throne,  and  no  doubt  his  interest  in  Border  affairs  was 
quickened  by  his  desire  ultimately  to  unite  the  two  kingdoms  and  carry 
to  a  successful  conclusion  the  policy  at  which  Edward  I.  and  Henry  VIII. 
in  earlier  days  had  aimed. 

The  union  of  the  two  kingdoms  under  one  monarch,  though  not 
accompanied  by  the  union  of  the  nations,  prepared  men's  minds  for  that 
most  desirable  event.  At  the  very  outset  of  his  reign  King  James  was 
confronted  with  the  old  difficulties  of  the  Border  land,  for  while  he 
was  at  Berwick  on  his  way  to  London  intelligence  was  brought  of  a 
destructive  foray  into  Cumberland  which  reached  as  far  as  Penrith. 
Sir  William  Selby  was  at  once  despatched  to  the  rescue  at  the  head  of  a 
strong  escort.  Though  the  raiders  fled  in  terror  at  his  approach,  some 
of  them  were  captured  and  hanged,  and  many  of  their  habitations  were 
blown  up  and  burnt.*  For  the  speedy  suppression  of  offenders  and  the 
restoration  of  law  and  order,  the  middle  shires,  as  the  borders  were  now 
called,  were  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  royal  commission  and  gov- 
erned as  a  Crown  colony.  The  first  meeting  of  the  commissioners  was 
held  in  Carlisle  on  9  April  1605,  when  certain  articles  for  their  guidance 
were  agreed  upon,  and  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  was  elected  convener.  All 
persons  living  within  the  bounds  of  the  commission  or  in  certain  other 
specified  districts  were  forbidden  the  use  of  armour,  weapons,  and  horses, 
'  savinge  meane  naggs  for  their  tillage,'  and  the  troublesome  inhabitants 
should  be  removed  to  some  other  place  '  where  the  change  of  aire  will 
make  in  them  an  exchange  of  their  manners.'  The  Grahams  of  Esk  were 
the  first  to  feel  the  inconvenience  of  the  new  regime.  The  commissioners 
were  determined  to  root  them  out.  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  stated  in  1605 

1  The  local  definition  of  blackmail  is  very  curious.  The  Grahams  defined  it  in  1596  as '  a  protection 
money  or  a  reward  pro  clientela ' ;  it  was  called  '  a  defence '  by  those  who  received  and  '  a  black  maile  ' 
by  those  who  paid  it  (Border  Papers,  ii.  143-4,  156,  163-4). 

a  Ridpath,  Border  Hist.  p.  703,  quoting  Stowe,  Chron.  p.  819.  The  raid  was  made  by  the  Grahams  to 
the  number  of  eighty,  headed  by  Walter  Graham  of  Netherby,  who  were  persuaded  that  until  James 
was  a  crowned  king  in  England,  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  ceased  and  were  of  no  force,  and  that  all  offences 
done  in  the  meantime  were  not  punishable  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  [Muncaster  MSS.],  x.  App.  iv.  244). 

282 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

that  '  if  the  Grahams  were  not,  these  parts  would  be  as  free  from  blood 
and  theft  as  Yorkshire.'  No  time  was  lost  in  arranging  for  their 
removal.  One  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  were  selected  as  '  fytt  for  his 
Majestee's  service,'  and  transported  to  the  cautionary  towns  of  Flushing 
and  Brill,  the  cost  of  their  journey  to  Newcastle  having  been  defrayed 
by  the  Exchequer.  But  the  members  of  the  clan  who  submitted 
voluntarily  to  expatriation  were  not  contented  in  their  new  sphere. 
True  to  their  traditions  of  lawlessness,  they  returned  for  the  most  part 
without  leave  ;  some  by  desertion  and  others  by  passport,  at  which  the 
king  was  highly  offended  and  ordered  their  arrest  and  imprisonment  till 
his  pleasure  was  known.  It  was  easier  to  give  the  order  than  to  carry 
it  out.  The  Grahams  rode  about  in  small  companies  with  pistols  and 
lances,  and  succeeded  for  a  considerable  time  in  eluding  their  pursuers. 
Sir  Henry  Leigh,  provost  marshal  of  Carlisle,  was  sent  to  reside  at 
Netherby  with  fifteen  horsemen,  and  Sir  William  Cranston  with  a  like 
number  at  the  Hollows  Tower.  Friction,  however,  arose  between  the 
commissioners,  and  Cranston  was  accused  by  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  of 
showing  undue  leniency  to  the  Grahams.  The  king  wrote  in  February 
1 606  and  demanded  an  explanation  of  the  delay  in  proceeding  against 
the  '  runagates  '  from  the  cautionary  towns.  As  soon  as  a  resolute  course 
was  taken,  the  Grahams,  not  wishing  to  hazard  their  lives,  submitted  to 
transportation  to  Ireland.  The  commissioners  were  able  to  report  to 
the  Earl  of  Salisbury,  on  1 3  September  1 606,  that  the  chief  Grahams 
were  sent  to  Workington1  under  the  escort  of  the  sheriff  and  John 
Musgrave's  horsemen  ;  there  were  not  then  left  between  Line  and  Sark 
more  than  three  Grahams  of  ability,  of  whom  two  were  more  than 
eighty  years  of  age.  All  the  notorious  offenders,  whose  manner  terrified 
peaceable  men,  had  gone  away  :  some  of  their  wives,  who  could  not  go 
then,  would  follow  in  the  spring.  Although  Esk,  Sark  and  Line  were 
purged  of  evil  men,  there  remained  others  in  Bewcastle  and  Gillesland 
fit  to  follow.  The  contributions  made  by  the  gentry  and  freeholders 
of  the  county  towards  the  expenses  of  the  transplantation  did  not  meet 
with  the  approval  of  the  central  government.  Though  the  contribu- 
tions in  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  varying  in  sums  from  £5  to 
2s.  6d.  amounted  to  over  £4°°»  a  balance  of  £200  was  still  needed, 
and  the  council  censured  the  backwardness  of  the  northern  gentry  in 
offering  money  to  make  it  up,  and  especially  the  conduct  of  Sir  John 
Dalston,  who  refused  on  the  bench  in  open  court  to  contribute  any- 
thing. 

The  expatriation  of  the  Grahams  did  not  reduce  the  district  to 
peaceable  government.  There  was  '  that  bloodie  and  theevish  clanne 
of  Armstrongs  of  Whithaughe  in  Liddesdale  by  whom  and  their 
allies  many  horrible  spoils  and  cruell  murthers  have  been  committed,' 
and  much  dissatisfaction  was  expressed  at  the  inertness  of  the  commis- 
sioners. From  the  end  of  1 606  Lord  William  Howard  of  Naworth  took 

1  They  were  conveyed  to  Dublin  in  six  ships  and  sent  to  Connaught,  the  company  consisting  of 
114  Grahams  and  45  horses. 

283 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

an  active  part  in  civilizing  the  late  border,  and  seems  to  have  regarded 
the  employment  as  a  pleasant  pastime.  Writing  to  Lawson  on  9 
January  1 607  he  says  : 

I  would  have  been  very  glad  to  have  seen  you  in  my  poor  house,  but  sorry  that  you  should 
lose  so  much  labour  in  this  cold  weather,  and  in  such  foul  ways.  I  was  away  fishing,  and  I  took 
as  many  as  I  could  get.  I  was  in  hopes  to  have  taken  Anton's  Edward  himself,  but,  for  want 
of  a  better,  was  glad  to  take  his  son  Thomas  Gifford,  and  Jock  Sowlugs,1  the  last  but  not  the 
least  in  villainy.  I  desire  you  to  keep  him  for  a  jewel  of  high  price.  Pray  cause  the  records  to 
be  searched.  If  you  find  matter  sufficient  to  hang  the  other  two,  hould  up  your  finger  and  they 
shall  be  delivered.  I  confess  myself  a  southern  novice.3 

For  a  novice,  however,  he  was  successful  in  his  expeditions,  and  it 
was  in  a  great  measure  due  to  his  efforts  that  the  pacification  of  the 
district  was  carried  out.  In  his  advice  to  the  king  in  1 6 1 5,  he  recom- 
mended firm  government  rather  than  transplantation  as  the  best  cure 
for  the  troubles  of  the  middle  shires.  Lord  William  was  a  radical 
reformer  of  the  best  type  :  he  suggested  as  a  first  step  a  change  of 
governors.  Of  the  commissioners  Sir  William  Selby  dwelt  in  Kent 
and  Sir  John  Fenwick  was  a  gentleman  that  aimed  more  at  private 
life  than  public  employment  ;  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  who  dwelt  in  the 
inmost  part  of  Cumberland  and  was  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  and  Sir 
William  Hutton,  who  was  in  poor  health,  were  both  learned  and 
sufficient  men,  but  altogether  unable  to  serve  in  the  field  ;  John  Mus- 
grave,  the  provost  marshal,  had  been  a  serving  man,  was  of  mean 
condition  and  weak  estate,  and  in  alliance  and  kinship  with  many  sur- 
names that  had  been  heinous  offenders,  '  and  some  of  them  as  yett  no 
saintes.'  Among  his  recommendations  he  gave  prominence  to  the 
keeping  and  training  of '  slue  doggs '  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  thieves 
and  outlaws  through  the  mosses  and  waste  lands  of  the  marches  as  the 
king  formerly  commanded.3  In  a  short  time  this  recommendation  was 
put  into  practice.  On  29  September  1616  the  commissioners  revived 
the  old  institution  of  setting  watches  in  the  dangerous  districts  and 
made  provision  for  the  keeping  of  '  slough  dogs  '  at  the  charge  of  the 
inhabitants.4 

1  The  real  name  of  this  villain  was  John  Armstrong,  who  was  accused  of  divers  murders,  and  especially 
of  inhuman  barbarity  to  a  woman  in  the  presence  of  Anton's  Edward  or  Edward  Armstrong,  another 
villain,  guilty  of  twelve  murders.  Almost  everybody  in  Cumberland  at  this  period  had  '  to-names '  or 
nicknames,  from  some  peculiarity  of  person,  dress,  or  belongings,  some  of  them  being  reproachful  or 
offensive,  like  Jock  Sowlugs.  The  custom  was  inevitable  among  clans  where  many  persons  of  the  same 
name  dwelt  in  one  place.  In  the  parish  registers  of  the  county  the  nicknames  are  often  recorded  in  order 
to  distinguish  the  marriage  or  burial  of  the  right  person. 

*  The  above  account  of  the  pacification  of  Cumberland  after  the  union  of  the  Crowns  is  founded, 
unless  otherwise  stated,  on  the  records  of  the  northern  commission  in  possession  of  Lord  Muncaster  and 
the  Earl  of  Crawford  and  Balcarres,  as  reported  in  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  x.  App.  iv.  229-73,  and  Rep.  ii. 
App.  pp.  181-2.  The  volume  at  Muncaster  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Joseph  Pennington,  a 
member  of  the  commission,  and  that  at  Dunecht  appears  to  be  the  official  record  kept  by  Sir  Wilfrid 
Lawson,  as  '  liber  Wilf.  Lawson  '  is  inscribed  on  the  first  page. 

3  Household  Books  of  Lord  W.  Howard  (Surtees  Soc.),  417-20. 

4  These  blood  hounds,  whose  game  was  man,  were  disposed  as  follows :  '  Imprimis,  beyond  Eske,  by 
the  inhabitants  there  to  be  kept  above  the  foot  of  Sarke,  one  dogge  :  item,  by  the  inhabitants  the  inside 
of  Eske  to  Richmont's  Clugh,  to  be  kept  at  the  Moate,  one  dogge  :  item,  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  parish 
of  Arthered,  above  Richmont's  Clugh,  with  the  Bayliffe  and  Black  quarter,  to  be  kept  at  the  Bayliehead, 
one  dogge  :  item,  Newcastle  parish,  besides  the  Baylie  and  Black  quarters,  to  be  kept  at  Tinkerhill,  one 

284 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

Lord  William  Howard  had  a  difficult  part  to  play,  inasmuch  as  he 
was  a  recusant  and  could  hold  no  official  post  under  the  Crown,  but 
King  James  refused  to  notice  the  charge  of  recusancy  l  and  employed  his 
great  local  influence  on  the  side  of  good  government.  As  a  successful 
hunter  of  moss  troopers  he  has  won  undying  renown.  Speaking  of  those 
marauders,  Fuller  said  :  '  they  had  two  great  enemies,  the  laws  of  the 
land  and  the  Lord  William  Howard  of  Naworth.'2  His  manifold 
activities  spread  such  terror  among  the  wrongdoers  that  it  became  a 
common  belief  in  the  county,  which  his  enemies  tried  to  use  to  his 
detriment,  that  '  ther  is  mercie  with  God  but  no  mercie  with  my  Lord 
Willyam.'3  There  is  no  need  to  accept  the  fanciful  picture  which  Sir 
Walter  Scott  has  left  us  of  this  famous  chieftain.  Stripped  of  all  poetic 
glamour  and  judged  by  the  dry  light  of  authentic  records,  Lord  William 
Howard  stands  out  as  the  greatest  figure  of  his  time  in  the  civilization 
of  the  marches,  and  though  he  sent  many  moss-troopers  '  to  that  place 
where  the  officer  always  doth  his  work  by  daylight,'  the  regeneration  of 
the  county  was  effected  by  legal  process  without  recourse  to  those  sum- 
mary methods  which  tradition  has  connected  with  his  name.4 

The  union  of  the  Crowns  revived  once  more  the  old  controversy 
on  the  nature  of  Border  service.  The  tenants  of  Cumberland  and  West- 
morland during  the  long  period  of  Border  warfare  had  held  their  lands 
on  the  condition  of  rendering  military  service  when  summoned  by  the 
warden  of  the  Western  Marches.  The  necessity  of  this  obligation  ceased 
with  the  Union.  As  this  main  incident  of  the  tenure  was  no  longer  to 
be  enforced,  the  baronial  owners  assumed  that  the  rights  of  the  tenants 
were  also  terminated  and  that  the  lands  had  reverted  to  themselves.  It 
was  a  distressing  period  for  the  cornage  tenants.  Fortunately  in  the 
case  of  Lord  William  Howard,  one  of  the  most  extensive  landowners 
in  the  county,  the  dispute  was  amicably  settled  at  an  early  period 
by  the  grant  of  long  leases.6 

The  visit  of  King  James  to  Carlisle  in  1617  on  his  return  from 
Scotland  seems  to  have  had  little  political  significance.  Bishop 
Snowden  reminded  him  that  the  city  was  in  great  ruin  and  extreme 
poverty,  and  that  in  the  country  at  large,  many  of  the  meaner  sort 
lived  dispersedly  in  cottages  or  little  farms,  scarcely  sufficient  for  their 
necessary  maintenance,  whereby  idleness,  theft  and  robberies  were 

dogge  :  item,  the  parish  of  Stapylton,  one  dogge  :  item,  the  parish  of  Irdington,  one  dogge  :  item,  the 
parishes  of  Lanercost  and  Walton,  one  dogge  :  item,  Kirklington,  Skaleby,  Houghton,  and  Richarby,  one 
dogge :  item,  Westlinton,  Roucliff,  Etterby,  Stainton,  Stanwix,  and  Cargo,  to  be  kept  at  Roucliff,  one  dogge' 
(Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumb.  i.  pp.  cxxx.-cxxxi. ;  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  iii.  App.  p.  39). 

1  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  15. 

2  Worthies  of  England  (ed.  Jefferson),  p.  5. 

"  S.P.  Dom.  James  I.  xl.  II,  Ixxxvi.  34.  It  was  said  in  1617  that  Lord  William  Howard  had  gotten 
the  greatest  footing  in  the  northern  counties  that  ever  any  subject  had,  and  that  he  could  command  a 
greater  following  there  than  the  king  himself  (ibid.  xcii.  17). 

4  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  direct  attention  to  the  Surtees  Society  edition  (No.  68)  of  Selections 
from  the  Household  Books  of  Lord  William  Howard  of  Naworth  Castle,  where  Mr.  Ornsby  has  collected 
many  documents  relating  to  the  life  and  time  of  this  remarkable  nobleman. 

6  Household  Books  of  Lord  W.  Howard  (Surtees  Soc.),  413,  425-7.  On  the  early  history  of  tenure  by 
Border  service,  see  F.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  321-7. 

285 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

occasioned.1  The  citizens  were  more  definite  in  their  '  demand  of 
his  Majestic  at  hys  being  at  Carlisle,'  for  they  petitioned  to  have  a 
nobleman  to  reside  in  Carlisle  Castle  as  some  compensation  for  the 
reduction  of  the  garrison  after  the  Union,  to  have  one  of  the  three 
sittings  of  York  kept  at  Carlisle  once  in  the  year,  no  doubt  to  indulge 
their  litigious  propensities  of  which  Bishop  Snowden  warned  the  king, 
and  that  he  should  be  pleased  for  the  honour  of  his  name  and  posterity 
to  create  an  university  in  that  poor  city.3  After  hearing  a  sermon  from 
the  bishop  and  taking  leave  of  the  civic  dignitaries,  James  departed,  and 
nothing  further  was  heard  of  the  requests  of  the  citizens.3 

The  first  symptom  of  the  struggle  which  was  to  occupy  the  whole 
of  the  reign  of  Charles  I.  may  be  assigned  to  the  king's  letter  to  the 
Earl  of  Cumberland,  on  17  September  1625,  asking  for  the  levy  of  a 
loan  on  privy  seal.  The  justices  of  the  peace  made  the  common  excuse 
of  inability  to  pay,  owing  to  the  poverty  of  the  county,  and  sent  up  a 
list  of  contributions,  amounting  to  £320,  which  it  was  hoped  would 
meet  immediate  necessities/  The  aid  of  Lord  William  Howard  was 
called  in  on  account  of  the  influence  he  was  known  to  wield,  as  the 
earlier  appeal  had  met  with  such  scant  response.  In  spite  of  the  dis- 
inclination of  the  gentry  of  Cumberland  to  lend  the  king  money,  the 
county  as  a  whole  stood  firm  in  its  allegiance.  The  development  of  the 
disputes  between  him  and  his  subjects  and  the  resistance  offered  by 
Scotland  to  his  policy  in  that  country  soon  brought  Carlisle  into  a 
position  of  the  first  importance.5  For  several  years  before  the  crisis 
came,  there  were  signs  of  military  activity  everywhere  :  the  train- 
bands of  the  county  were  mustered  and  drilled  ;  the  magazines  were 
replenished  with  gunpowder  ;  munitions  of  war  were  collected  and 
stored ;  the  equipment  of  an  army  was  in  preparation,  from  the 
supply  of  field-pieces  and  pistols  to  the  music  to  be  beaten  by  the 
drummers.8  The  nobility  and  .gentry  were  ordered  in  1638  to  be  in 
readiness  to  repel  the  impending  invasion  of  the  Scots,  and  Sir  Philip 
Musgrave  was  appointed  colonel  of  the.  musters  of  the  two  counties 
with  instructions  to  secure  Carlisle.7  Having  left  Carlisle  in  charge 
of  Sir  Francis  Willoughby,  Sir  Philip  took  up  his  quarters  at  Scaleby 
Castle  with  100  men  of  his  own  company  and  sent  a  like  number 
to  hold  Bewcastle.  Wentworth  urged  the  king  in  May  1639  to 
increase  the  garrison  of  Carlisle  by  1,500  men  :  '  500  men  being  too 


i  A  copy  of  the  bishop's  loyal   address  to  the  king,  found  among  the  papers  of  the  first  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  has  been  printed  by  Chancellor  Ferguson  in  Dioc.  Hist,  of  Carlisle  (S.P.C.K.),  731-3. 
3  Some  Municip.  Rec.  of  Carlisle  (Cumbld.  and  Westmld.  Archzol.  Soc.),  95. 

3  In  the  register  of  the  guilds  there  is  the  following  interesting  entry  :  '  The  King's  most  excellent 
Majestye,  James  I.,  was  here  at  Carliol,  the  4th  daye  of  August,  1617,  where  the  Maiore  of  the  city,  Mr. 
Adam  Robinson,  with  Thomas  Carleton,  recorder,  and  the  brethern  presentyd  hym  firste  with  a  speech, 
then  wyth  a  cup  of  golde,  valued  at  £30,  and  a  purse  of  sylke  with  40  jacobuses  or  pieces  of  the  same' 
(Jefferson,  Hist,  of  Carlisle,  46-7). 

4  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  iii.  App.  p.  39 ;   Rushworth,  Hist.  Coll.  i.  422. 
6  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  iii.  App.  p.  79  ;  iv.  App.  p.  55. 

8  Ibid.  (Muncaster  MSS.),  x.  App.  iv.  273-4. 

T  Burton,  Life  of  Sir  P.  Musgrave  (Carlisle  Tracts),  p.  6. 

286 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

small  a  number  to  make  it  good  against  an  enemy  ;  however,  not  to 
divide  those  500  at  least,  as  lately  they  were,  one  hundred  of  them 
being  taken  forth  of  the  town  to  defend  Beucastle,  and  another  hun- 
dred to  the  guarding  of  another  castle,  being  places  of  no  strength  or 
consequence,  and  which  an  enemy  would  scarcely  ever  think  upon, 
unless  incited  thereunto  out  of  hope  to  have  execution  of  these  two 
companies,  so  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  regiment.'1  In  July  1640 
Sir  Nicholas  Byron  was  appointed  military  governor  of  the  castle  and 
city  of  Carlisle  with  extensive  powers/  When  Leslie  crossed  the  Border 
and  took  Newcastle^  the  idea  became  generally  prevalent  that  the  victory 
would  be  followed  by  an  advance  on  Carlisle.  Information  was 
despatched  throughout  the  county  by  Sir  William  Howard,  Sir  George 
Dalston  and  Sir  Thomas  Dacre  that  the  Scots  were  preparing  to  invade 
Cumberland  and  to  deal  with  it  as  they  had  done  with  Northumberland 
and  the  Bishopric  of  Durham.  Orders  were  issued  for  a  general  muster 
of  the  military  strength  of  the  county,  including  trainbands  and  '  dra- 
gooners,'  at  Carlisle  on  3  October  1640.  The  deputy  lieutenants  and 
justices  of  the  peace  gave  instructions  '  that  one  able  man  out  of  every 
five  be  chosen  to  defend  the  country,  and  that  the  four  who  stay  at 
home  shall  provide  arms  and  allowances  ;  that  all  freeholders  shall  come 
themselves  or  send  an  able  man  with  arms  and  allowance,  except  the 
trainbands  of  horse  and  foot,  in  regard  of  their  more  immediate  service  ; 
that  the  country  in  general  shall  contribute  towards  the  charges  of 
making  such  works  as  shall  be  thought  necessary  by  the  lieutenant 
governor  for  the  defence  of  the  city  ;  and  that  upon  the  firing  of  the 
beacons  all  the  chosen  men  shall  repair  to  Carlisle  with  seven  days  pro- 
vision upon  pain  of  death.'  It  was  also  ordered  that  every  soldier 
should  bring  with  him,  besides  his  arms,  a  spade,  shovel  or  pickaxe  to 
Carlisle,  from  whence  they  should  be  carried  in  carts  to  the  places  where 
they  should  be  used.3  For  the  moment  however  the  danger  passed  from 
Carlisle,  and  under  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  with  the  Scots  its 
garrison  was  disbanded  and  the  two  counties  were  obliged  to  con- 
tribute to  the  maintenance  of  the  Scottish  army  while  the  truce 
lasted.  The  county  had  no  opportunity  of  showing  its  military 
prowess  in  defence  of  the  king,  but  the  lord  lieutenant  was  probably 
right  when  he  stated  '  that  it  was  not  possible  to  keep  the  counties  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland  out  of  the  Scottish  power,  whensoever 
they  should  endeavour  to  take  them  in.'  * 

When  the  royal  cause  began  to   decline   in  the  northern  counties 
after  the  defeat  of  Marston  Moor,  Carlisle  alone  remained  faithful  to  the 


»  Rushworth,  Hist.  Coll.  ii.  929. 

a  Rymer,  Fasdera,  xx.  427-8.  In  the  same  month  the  king  sent  three  troops  of  horse  under  Sir 
Thomas  Lucas  for  the  defence  of  the  Border.  Sir  Thomas  Lucas's  troop  of  100  men  was  quartered  in 
the  Abbey  holme  ;  another  troop  at  Arthuret  and  Howend  ;  and  a  third  of  some  60  soldiers  at  Bewcastle 
(Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  vi.  App.  p.  329). 

>  Ibid.  (Muncaster  MSS.),  x.  App.  iv.  274-5  >  ibid.  (Devonshire  MSS.),  iii.    App.  p.  40. 

*  Rushworth,  Hist.  Coll.  ii.  1309. 

287 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

cavaliers.1     An  attempt  had  been  made  in  1 643  to  take  it  in  the  interest 
of  the  parliament  by  '  a  Rascall  rout,'  as  it  was  called  at  the  time,  under 
the  leadership  of  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson   and   others,  but   it   was  defeated. 
To  Carlisle  fled  in  the  spring  of  1 644  the  famous  Marquis  of  Montrose, 
and  there  found  shelter,  and  it  was  from  Carlisle   that  he   set   forth   in 
August,   disguised    as    a    groom    with    only   two    companions,    on    his 
desperate   plunge  into   Scotland.     But   a  more  formidable  attempt  was 
now  to  be  made  on  the  city.     David  Leslie  was  sent  after  the  taking  of 
York    to    operate    against  it.     Sir  Thomas   Glenham,  general    of    the 
northern  counties,  retreated  with   some  broken  troops  into  Cumberland 
and  shut  himself  up   in   Carlisle.     In   his  pursuit  of  Glenham,  Leslie 
encountered  Sir  Philip  Musgrave   and  Sir  Henry  Fletcher,  who  retired 
before  him  ;  he  crossed  the  Eden  near  Great  Salkeld,  and  arriving  before 
Carlisle  surveyed  the  approaches  to  the  city   from  Harraby  Hill,  where 
the  gallows  stood  ; — '  a  place,'  says  Isaac  Tullie,  the  historian  of  the  siege, 
'  more  proper  for   them  he  could  not  have  chosen.'     Then  commenced 
the  famous  siege  of  1644-5,  *^e  surrounding  forces   being  stationed  at 
Newtown,  Stanwix  and  Harraby.     The  headquarters  of  Leslie  were  at 
Dalston  Hall.     The  garrison  was  reduced  to  great   straits,  which  are 
forcibly  depicted  in  the  pages  of  the   diary   of  Isaac  Tullie,  a  lad   of 
eighteen  years,  who  has  left  a  history  of  the  siege.a     On  10  May   1645 
a  fat  horse  taken  from  the  enemy  was  sold  for  ten  shillings  a   quarter. 
Captain  Blenkinsop  came  in  with  the  news   on    30   May,  '  yt  the   king 
was  come  into  Westermerland  and  y*   Leslie   had  warned  ye  countries 
carts  to  fetch  away  his  badgige  ;  which   caused   the  joyful!  garrison  to 
eat  that  day  three  days  provision,  and  repent  with  a  cup   of  cold  water 
for  three  dayes  after.     At  this  time  three  shillings  peeces   were   coined 
out  of  the  cyttysens  plate.'     In  June  hempseed,  dogs  and  rats  were  eaten, 
and  the  '  gentlemen  and  others   [were]   so  shrunk  that  they   could  not 
chuse  but  laugh  one  at  another  to  see  their  close  hang  as  upon  men  on 
gibbets,  for  one   might  have  put  theire  head    and   fists  between    the 
doublet  and  the  shirts  of  many   of  them.'     But  the  end  was   drawing 
nigh.     On  23  June  '  the  townsmen  humbly  petitioned  Sir  Thos  Glenham 
y*  their  horse  flesh   might  not  be  taken  from   them   as  formerly  and 
informed  him  y1  they  were  not  able  to  endure  ye  famine  any  longer  ;  to 
wch  he  gave  no  answer  nor  redresse  in  four  dayes  space  ;  at  which  time 
a  few  woomen  of  ye  scolds  and  scum   of  the  citty  mett  at  ye  Cross, 
braling  against  Sr  Henry  Stradling  there  present  who  first   threatned  to 
fire  upon  them  ;  and  when  they  replyed  they  would  take  it  as  a  favor, 

1  Sir  Richard  Graham,  writing  in  1644,  said  that  the  prime  gentlemen  of  the  county  had  lately 
certified  Sir  Thomas  Glenham  of  the  ill-doings  of  Leonard  Dykes,  the  sheriff,  and  desired  his  removal. 
He  recommended  Edward  Musgrave  to  be  appointed  sheriff  of  Cumberland  and  Philip  Musgrave  sheriff 
of  Westmorland  ;    '  these  two  men  are  the  most  powerful  to  serve  the  king  in  their  counties  and  with  the 
assistance  he  would  give  them  would  carry  both  the  counties  for  the  king '  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  vi. 
App.  p.  335)- 

2  In  1840  Mr.  Samuel  Jefferson  printed  Tullie's  Narrative  of  the  Siege  of  Carlisle  in  1644  and  1645, 
from  Harl.  MS.  6798,  with  an  introduction  and  some  useful  notes.     It  forms  one  of  a  series  known  as  the 
'  Carlisle  Tracts,'  published  by  Jefferson. 

288 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

he  left  them  wth  tears  in  his  eyes,  but  could  not  mend  their  commons.' 
But  no  relief  was  coming  for  Carlisle  ;  and  after  the  defeat  of  the  king 
at  Naseby  on  24  June  1645,  Sir  Thomas  Glenham,  whom  Clarendon1 
calls  '  an  officer  of  very  good  esteem  in  the  king's  armies  and  of  courage 
and  integrity  unquestionable,'  felt  that  nothing  was  left  for  him  but  to 
capitulate,  which  he  did  on  25  June  '  upon  as  honourable  conditions  as 
any  that  were  given  in  any  surrenders.'  The  garrison  marched  out  with 
all  the  honours  of  war,  '  with  their  arms,  flying  colours,  drums  beating, 
matches  lighted  at  both  ends,  bullets  in  their  mouths,  with  all  their  bag 
and  baggage,  and  twelve  charges  of  powder  a  piece.'  Provision  too  was 
made  in  the  articles  of  surrender  for  the  protection  of  the  lives  and 
property  of  the  citizens.  Carlisle  had  once  more  covered  itself  with 
glory.2  It  was,  said  Tullie,  '  little  in  circuite  but  great  and  memorable 
for  loyalty.'  As  an  instance  of  the  changes  and  chances  that  happened 
to  men  in  this  stirring  period,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  the  next  time 
David  Leslie  saw  the  city  he  had  besieged  and  taken,  he  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  army  which  Charles  II.  was  leading  on  its  way  to  '  the 
crowning  mercy '  of  Worcester. 

Though  Carlisle  was  surrendered,  the  principal  men  of  the  county 
did  not  think  at  the  time  of  making  peace  with  the  parliament. 
With  Sir  Thomas  Glenham  they  marched  southwards  and  joined  the 
remnant  of  the  Naseby  army  at  Cardiff,  where  they  requested  the 
king  that  they  might  serve  him  in  one  troop  under  the  command  of 
Sir  Philip  Musgrave.  The  battle  of  Rowton  Heath,  which  soon 
followed,  was  fatal  to  the  Cumberland  contingent  of  the  royal  forces. 
Sir  Henry  Fletcher  and  Mr.  Philip  Howard  were  slain,  and  Sir  Philip 
Musgrave  and  Sir  Thomas  Dacre  were  wounded  and  taken  prisoners, 
as  were  many  of  Sir  Philip's  troop.3  Meanwhile  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  was  made  to  retake  Carlisle  in  October  1645  by  the  royalists 
under  Lord  Digby  and  Sir  Marmaduke  Langdale,  but  they  were 
defeated  in  an  engagement  on  Carlisle  Sands.*  In  the  following  year 
the  growing  estrangement  between  the  Scottish  and  parliamentary  forces 
resulted  in  the  dismissal  of  the  former  in  December  1646,  but  the  Scots 
appear  to  have  delayed  their  departure  from  Carlisle.  When  the  com- 
missioners, sent  down  to  inspect  the  condition  of  the  city,  made  their 
report  in  February  1647,  they  stated  that  they  had  commenced  the 
work  of  slighting  (dismantling)  the  fortifications  on  26  January  last,  and 
had  found  the  town  a  model  of  misery  and  desolation  as  the  sword, 
famine  and  plague  had  left  it.  The  garrison  was  '  yet  in  town,'  and 
recommended  them  an  engineer  to  take  down  the  ordnance  from  the 
castle,  citadel  and  walls,  and  remount  them  on  carriages  which  were  so 

1  Hist,  of  Rebellion  (Oxford,  1826),  iii.  185. 

2  The  articles  of  surrender  will  be  found  in  Todd's  Account  of  the  Citty  of  Carlile  (Cumbld.  and 
Westmld.  Archsol.  Soc.),  pp.  23-6.    On  8  October  1644,  Sir  William  Armyne  informed  Lenthall  that  the 
castles  of  Scaleby,  Naworth  and  Millom  were  holding  out  against  the  parliamentary  forces  as  obstinately 
as  Carlisle  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  [Portland  MSS.],  xiii.  App.  i.  185-6). 

3  Burton,  Life  of  Musgrave  (Carlisle  Tracts),  pp.  9-10. 

4  Baker,  Cbron.  of  the  Kings  of  England,  p.  544. 

"  289  37 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

decayed  and  deprived   of  their   irons  as  to  be  unserviceable   for  those 
weighty  burdens.1 

The  struggle,  renewed  afresh  in  1648,  was  due  to  the  difficulties 
that  arose  in  reconciling  the  conflicting  interests  that  the  previous  hos- 
tilities had  brought  into  existence.  Sir  Philip  Musgrave,  again  at 
large,  hurried  from  Edinburgh,  where  he  was  making  arrangements 
for  a  Scottish  invasion,  and  by  a  bold  stroke  on  the  night  of  29 
April  surprised  Carlisle,  many  gentlemen  of  the  neighbourhood  being 
in  and  about  the  town,  so  that  the  citizens  were  thrown  into  confusion 
and  made  little  resistance.2  The  capture  of  Carlisle  raised  the  hopes  of 
the  royalists  of  the  county,  and  though  many  of  the  leading  men  had 
already  compounded  for  their  estates,  yet  they  entered  again  so  actively 
into  the  king's  service  that  upon  the  last  day  of  May  there  appeared  in 
the  field  5,000  foot  well  armed  and  800  horse,  raised  in  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland.3  On  the  departure  of  Sir  Philip  Musgrave,  who 
went  to  Edinburgh  to  urge  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  to  advance  with  the 
Scottish  army,  General  Lambert,  the  leader  of  the  parliamentary  forces 
in  the  northern  counties,  marched  from  Yorkshire,  took  Rose  Castle  by 
storm,*  and  besieged  Scaleby  Castle,  which  surrendered  without  firing  a 
shot.  On  the  approach  of  Hamilton,  the  parliamentary  forces  retreated, 
leaving  a  garrison  in  Appleby  Castle.  By  order  of  Sir  Marmaduke 
Langdale,  the  castle  and  city  of  Carlisle  were  put  at  the  disposal  of 
the  duke,  who  placed  in  them  a  Scottish  garrison  and  left  Sir  William 
Livingstone  as  governor.  When  Appleby  Castle  was  recovered  and  the 
Scottish  and  English  forces  marched  into  Lancashire,  Sir  Philip  Mus- 
grave was  appointed  to  remain  behind  for  the  protection  of  the  two 
counties.  Few  men  were  left  with  him,  but  in  a  short  time  he  collected 
together  a  force  of  800  horse  and  1,200  foot,  which  he  considered 
sufficient  for  his  immediate  necessity.  The  defeat  of  the  Duke  of 
Hamilton  at  Preston  by  Cromwell  and  Lambert,  who  had  joined  forces, 
was  felt  to  be  a  decisive  blow  to  the  royal  cause  in  the  two  counties. 
Cromwell  now  demanded  the  surrender  of  Carlisle.  Writing  in  Sep- 
tember, he  said  :  '  If  you  deny  me  herein,  I  must  make  an  appeal  to 
God,'  that  is,  he  would  resort  to  sterner  measures.6  Musgrave  urged  the 
governor  of  Carlisle  to  join  forces  with  him  and  hold  the  city  for  the 
king.  Amid  jealousies  and  divided  counsels  between  the  Scottish  and 
English  troops,  nothing  was  left  but  to  treat  with  the  enemy  and  obtain 
the  best  terms  for  surrender.6  After  the  delivery  of  the  castles  of  Carlisle 
and  Appleby  the  royal  cause  was  completely  shattered  in  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland. 

1  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (House  of  Lords  MSS.),  vi.  App.  p.  158.     Some  sixteen  pieces  of  ordnance 
were  sent  to  Cockermouth.    The  commissioners  asked  whether  they  should  remove  '  the  two  murderers ' 
which  had  '  of  old  time  continued  upon  ground  within  the  castle.' 

2  Clarendon,  Hist,  of  Rebellion,  vi.  52-4.     Burton  states  that  by  Sir  Philip's  order  sixteen  men,  the 
chief  of  whom  were  George  Denton  and  John  Aglionby,  entered  the  city  and  made  themselves  master  of 
it.     '  This  was  done  ye  2Qth  of  April  in  ye  fatall  year  '48  '  (Life  of  Sir  P.  Musgrave,  p.  12). 

a  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  19-20. 
*  Ibid.  (Hamilton  MSS.),  xi.  App.  vi.  125. 

'  Carlyle,  Letters  of  Cromwell,  Nos.  Ixxii.-lxxvi.  8  Life  of  Sir  P.  Musgrave,  pp.  13-5. 

290 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

After  the  execution  of  Charles  I.,  Cumberland  was  the  first  English 
county  to  welcome  his  successor.  Charles  II.  having  made  terms  with 
his  Scottish  subjects  and  become  their  covenanted  king  was  crowned  at 
Scone  on  New  Year's  day,  1651.  He  determined  to  invade  England, 
and  started  in  July  accompanied  by  Leslie.  Their  spirits  rose  as  they 
crossed  into  Cumberland.  '  As  soon  as  we  came  into  England,  his 
Majesty  was  by  an  Englishman,  whom  he  made  king-at-arms  for  that 
day,  proclaimed  king  at  the  head  of  the  army  with  great  acclamation 
and  shooting  of  cannon.'  Passing  from  Dalston,  they  were  greeted  at 
Hutton  by  the  rector  of  that  place  and  the  widow  of  Sir  Henry  Fletcher, 
who  had  been  slain  at  Rowton  Heath.  At  Penrith  the  king  was  again 
proclaimed  and  'will  be  in  all  the  market  towns  where  we  march.'  But 
so  broken  was  the  spirit  of  the  county,  few  joined  his  ranks.  People 
saw  his  army  pass,  but  there  was  no  flocking  to  his  standard.  The 
young  king,  we  are  told,  as  he  came  through  Hutton,  looked  pale  and 
pensive,  seated  in  a  coach  with  some  of  the  Scottish  nobility.*  His 
depressed  feelings  were  but  the  premonition  of  coming  disaster,  for  his 
cause  was  lost  for  the  time  on  the  field  of  Worcester,  and  England, 
Scotland  and  Ireland  lay  at  Cromwell's  feet. 

During  the  Commonwealth,  Cumberland  was  placed  under  the 
government  of  Sir  Arthur  Haselrig  and  left  to  settle  down  after  its 
troubles  as  best  it  might.  Many  of  the  county  families  had  suffered  in 
lives  and  property  for  their  devotion  to  the  king.  In  1651,  for  instance, 
Sir  Timothy  Fetherstonhaugh,  v/hose  two  sons  had  been  slain  at 
Worcester,  was  named  among  the  nine  persons  who  were  adjudged  by 
the  Council  of  State  as  '  fit  to  be  brought  to  trial  and  made  examples  of 
justice.'  Three  only  appear  to  have  been  brought  to  execution,  of  whom 
Sir  Timothy  was  one.  Before  his  execution  at  Chester  in  October  1651, 
he  stated  in  a  farewell  letter  to  his  ' unparallelled  wife '  that,  'though  his 
death  be  fatal,  and  some  would  make  it  scandalous,  yet  posterity,  truth 
and  other  generations  might  not  call  it  so,  nor  would  our  age  have 
called  it  so  ten  years  since.  God  knows  he  had  nothing.'  *  His  losses 
amounted  to  £10,000,  and  the  only  recompense  his  family  received  at 
the  Restoration  was  a  pageship  for  his  son  and  a  portrait  of  Charles  I. 
Sir  Patrick  Curwen  was  fined  £2,000  ;  Charles  Howard,  the  great- 
grandson  of  Lord  William  Howard,  was  cleared  of  his  delinquency  for 
having  borne  arms  against  the  parliament  by  the  payment  of  £4,000. 
The  towns  were  equally  in  distress.  The  state  of  the  whole  county  is 
described  as  lamentable,  and  no  less  than  30,000  families  are  said  to 
have  been  without  seed  or  bread,  corn  or  money.  Parliament  ordered 
a  collection  to  be  made  for  them,  but  the  amount  raised  was  quite 
inadequate  to  meet  their  needs. 

In  the  Long  Parliament,  as  it  is  termed,  which  assembled  in   1 640, 
and   the  '  rump '  of  which  was  not  dissolved  until  the  memorable  20 

»  Jefferson,  Leath  Ward,  pp.  23,  425-6,  quoting  Dr.  Todd's  MS.  history  of  the  diocese  of  Carlisle, 
which  cannot  now  be  traced. 

a  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  20. 

291 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

April  1653,  Cumberland  was  at  first  represented  by  Sir  Patrick  Curwen 
and  Sir  George  Dalston,  the  former  of  whom  had  been  first  elected  in 
1625,  and  the  latter  had  been  member  since  1620.'  They  were  both 
ardent  royalists,  and  were  excluded  as  such  under  the  disabling  order  of 
1 645,  their  places  being  taken  by  William  Ermyn  and  Richard  Tolson  ; 
the  latter  was  probably  one  of  the  Tolsons  of  Bridekirk  near  Cocker- 
mouth,  which  was  a  stronghold  of  the  Puritan  party.  Only  one  of  the 
members  for  Carlisle  was  rejected,  as  Richard  Barwise  was  already 
known  as  a  supporter  of  the  revolutionary  movement.  The  next  parlia- 
ment to  be  summoned  was  that  which  lived  in  history  under  the  name 
of  the  Barebones  Parliament.  It  was  a  nominated  assembly  called 
together  on  the  authority  of  Cromwell  alone.2  For  the  purpose  of  this 
parliament,  the  four  northern  counties  were  grouped  together,  and  four 
members  were  allotted  to  them.  One  of  these  was  Colonel  Charles 
Howard,  who  has  been  already  named  as  having  purged  his  delinquencies 
by  the  payment  of  a  fine.  Since  that  time,  however,  he  had  fought  at 
Worcester  on  the  parliamentary  side  and  done  very  gallant  service, 
'  though  at  his  personal  smarts.'  He  would  seem  now  to  have  enjoyed 
the  entire  confidence  of  the  Protector,  for  he  was  also  made  a  member 
of  the  new  Council  of  State.3  Before  this  he  had  been  appointed 
governor  of  Carlisle.  In  the  parliament  of  1654  two  members  were 
once  more  assigned  to  Cumberland,  and  Colonel  Howard  and  Mr. 
William  Brisco  were  elected,  as  they  were  again  in  that  of  1656. 
When  Cromwell  determined  in  1657  to  form  a  second  or  upper  house, 
Howard  was  called  to  it  as  Baron  Gillesland  and  Lord  Morpeth,  one  of 
the  few  peerages  that  Cromwell  bestowed.  He  is  marked  as  being  in 
attendance  when  the  Houses  met  in  1658.'  After  the  Protector's  death 
Howard  remained  one  of  the  close  advisers  of  his  son  Richard,  the 
county  being  represented  by  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  and  Mr.  Brisco.  In 
the  Convention  of  1 660  Colonel  Howard  resumed  his  place  as  member 
for  Cumberland  with  Sir  Wilfrid  as  his  colleague.  It  was  this  assembly 
that  decreed  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  To  the  new  parliament  of  1 66 1 
the  county  sent  its  old  representatives,  Sir  Patrick  Curwen  and  Sir  George 
Fletcher.  Sir  Patrick's  former  colleague,  Sir  George  Dalston,  who  had 
represented  Cumberland  for  more  than  thirty  years,  did  not  live  to  see 
the  king's  return.  He  died  in  1657  respected  by  parliament  and  loved 
by  kings,  a  leading  man,  prevailing  by  his  great  reputation  of  justice  and 
integrity." 

The  legislation  of  the  early  parliaments  of  Charles  II.  produced 
some  notable  changes  in  the  political  obligations  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Cumberland,  and  almost  brought  them  into  line  with  the  rest  of  the 

1  Parliaments  of  England  (Blue  Book),  i,  450,  463,  487. 
»  Masson,  Life  of  Milton,  iv.  501. 

3  Gardiner  Commonwealth  and  Protectorate,  ii.  259. 

4  Masson,  Life  of  Milton,  v.  323. 

s  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor  preached  his  funeral  sermon  on  28  September  1657,  which  was  printed  in 
1658  under  the  title  of  '  A  Sermon  preached  at  the  Funerall  of  that  worthy  Knight  Sr  George  Dalston 
of  Dalston  in  Cumberland.' 

292 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

country.  The  last  shred  of  feudal  tenure  was  abolished  ;  the  levies  of 
the  county  received  parliamentary  recognition  ;  a  new  system  of  military 
service  was  begun.  The  necessity  of  providing  for  their  own  safety, 
which  was  a  burden  on  the  frontier  counties,  had  ceased  since  the  union 
of  the  Crowns,  and  though  the  old  customs  were  temporarily  revived 
during  the  civil  war,  they  fell  into  abeyance  during  the  Protectorate. 
By  the  enactments  of  1662  the  county  was  absorbed  into  the  military 
organization  of  the  nation  as  a  whole,  and  subjected  to  the  burden  of 
contributing  its  quota  to  the  national  forces.  The  exceptional  position 
of  the  frontier  counties,  however,  was  not  yet  at  an  end.  An  additional 
obligation  was  thrown  upon  them  of  dealing  with  a  state  of  society 
which  had  been  fostered  by  their  past  history  and  associations.  The 
attention  of  parliament  in  1662  was  directed  to  the  condition  of  the 
northern  borders,  and  an  Act1  was  passed  for  the  declared  purpose  of 
putting  down  disorderly  and  lawless  persons,  commonly  called  moss- 
troopers, who  had  for  many  years  frequented  the  counties  of  Northum- 
berland and  Cumberland,  and  who  had  increased  *  since  the  time  of  the 
late  unhappy  distractions.'  The  justices  of  the  peace  in  Quarter  Sessions 
were  now  constituted  in  the  place  of  the  special  commissioners  of 
James  I.,  who  had  in  turn  succeeded  the  lord  wardens  of  the  marches. 
In  Cumberland  the  new  authority  was  empowered  to  levy  a  yearly  tax 
not  exceeding  £200  for  the  defence  of  the  county.  A  crude  police 
system  was  established,  consisting  of  an  officer,  called  the  country 
keeper,  and  twelve  men,  for  the  purpose  of  hunting  the  thieves  and 
bringing  them  to  the  gallows."  Book-keepers  were  appointed  in  all  the 
market  towns  of  the  county,  where  the  country  people  were  at  liberty  to 
register  their  cattle.  The  office  of  country  keeper 3  was  a  sort  of  insur- 
ance agency  responsible  to  the  owner  for  the  value  of  all  booked  cattle 
stolen  or  lost.  The  records  of  Quarter  Sessions  for  about  a  century  after 
the  system  was  instituted  teem  with  evidence  of  the  working  of  this  new 
machinery.  It  should  be  mentioned  that  the  Act  was  permissive  and  had 
to  be  revived,  as  occasion  called,  at  the  expense  of  the  county.4  The  office 
of  country  keeper  was  a  yearly  appointment,  and  it  often  happened  that 
the  same  person  was  re-appointed  for  several  years  in  succession.  The 
allowance  varied  from  year  to  year  according  to  the  state  of  the  country, 
but  it  could  not  exceed  £200  as  allowed  by  the  Act. 

The  application  of  the  Border  service  for  the  protection  of  property 
may  be  illustrated  by  an  entry  in  the  sessional  records  : — 

i  13  &  14  Charles  II.  c.  22,  entitled  '  An  Act  for  preventing  of  theft  and  rapine  upon  the  Northern 
Borders  of  England.'  It  was  amended  by  the  subsequent  Acts  18  Charles  II.  c.  3,  and  29  &  30  Charles  II. 
c. 2.  Compare  this  legislation  with43  Elizabeth  c.  13,  and  13  Geo.  III.  c.  31.  The  reputation  of  the 
countyfor  thieving  was  noticed  by  George  Fox  on  his  visit  to  Gillesland  in  1653  (Journal [Leeds,  1836], 
i.  241). 

*  By  the  Act  1 8  Charles  II.  c.  3,  great  and  notorious  thieves  and  spoil  takers  in  the  counties  of  North- 
umberland and  Cumberland  shall  suffer  death  as  felons  without  benefit  of  clergy,  or  may  be  transported 
for  life  by  order  of  the  judges  of  assize. 

3  It  was  customary  to  select  one  of  the  justices  for  the  office  of  country  keeper.    Bonds  of  the  country 
keepers  continued  to  be  registered  with  the  clerk  of  the  peace,  Carlisle,  till  1756,  about  which  time,  pro- 
bably, the  justices  ceased  to  have  the  Act  renewed. 

4  In  the  proceedings  of  the  sessions  there  are  frequent  orders  for  this  purpose. 

293 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Whereas  it  appears  upon  oathe  that  James  Bell  of  Corby,  upon  ye  nth  of  May  last, 
had  two  oxen  stolen  from  Snowdon's  Close,  price  £8,  and  ye  same  was  lawfully  booked  ' 
by  Matthew  Whitfield,  book-keeper  there,  Ordered  that  Thomas  Warwick,  Esq.,  trea- 
surer for  ye  money  collected  for  ye  Border  service,  doe  pay  ye  said  James  Bellyesume 
of  six  poundes  for  ye  sd  oxen  (Easter,  1668). 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  working  of  the  new  institution  that  moss- 
trooping  was  not  what  it  used  to  be,  that  is,  exclusively  confined  to 
Scots  who  made  sallies  into  the  county  and  retreated  with  their  booty 
across  the  Border.  It  had  degenerated  into  a  sneaking  system  of 
brigandage  and  outlawry,2  when  bands  of  thieves  concealed  themselves 
in  the  wild  moorlands  of  Bewcastle  or  among  the  hills  of  Borrowdale, 
where  the  agents  of  the  law  found  a  difficult  entry.  Not  the  Debatable 
Land  alone,  but  every  inch  of  the  county  had  to  be  watched  and  guarded, 
book-keepers  having  been  stationed  in  Carlisle,  Wigton,  Penrith, 
Kirkoswald,  Brampton,  Longtown,  Cockermouth,  Keswick,  Bootle, 
Ravenglass,  Egremont,  Whitehaven,  Workington,  Ireby,  Holmcultram, 
and  Alston  Moor.  Judging  from  the  entries  in  the  order  books  of 
Quarter  Sessions,  the  Border  service  was  instrumental  in  destroying  this 
long-standing  species  of  crime.  It  is  said  by  Gray 3  that  the  practice 
lingered  on  among  the  dalesmen  of  Borrowdale  till  the  accession  of 
George  III. 

The  statutes  which  provided  machinery  *  for  ordering  the  forces  in 
the  several  counties  of  this  kingdom  '  present  no  special  features  in  their 
application  to  Cumberland.  In  times  of  scare  or  political  unrest,  the 
forces  of  the  county  were  put  in  array  to  meet  the  emergency.  When 
the  news  of  the  fire  in  London  of  1 666,  supposed  to  have  been  caused 
by  the  French  and  Dutch,  reached  the  north,  Lord  Carlisle  called  out 
the  trained  bands  and  stationed  Major  Lowther's  and  Mr.  Fleming's 
companies  at  Kendal,  Sir  George  Fletcher's  at  Appleby,  Sir  William 
Carleton's  at  Penrith,  Sir  Francis  Salkeld's  and  Captain  Hudleston's  at 
Cockermouth,  Sir  Thomas  Dacre's  at  Brampton,  and  the  light  horse  at 
Penrith.  Again  when  troubles  broke  out  in  Scotland,  in  the  summer  of 
1679,  there  was  a  general  muster  of  the  two  counties  at  Carlisle,  and  Sir 
Daniel  Fleming  was  obliged  to  inform  Lord  Morpeth  that  there  were 
many  defects  and  gaps  to  be  supplied  in  his  contingent,  as  it  had  not 
been  called  out  since  June  1 676.*  The  militia  played  no  part  in  the 
affairs  of  Cumberland  during  the  Revolution  of  1688.  After  the  flight 
of  King  James,  however,  a  bold  initiative  was  taken  by  the  local  leaders 
to  hold  the  county  for  King  William.  On  10  December  1688,  when 
an  alarm  was  raised  of  an  Irish  and  Scottish  invasion,  Sir  John  Lowther 
of  Lowther  issued  warrants  for  a  muster  of  militia  at  Penrith  on  19 

*  It  was  ordered  at  the  Midsummer  Sessions  1704  '  that  only  one  shilling  be  taken  for  booking  stollen 
goods  and  nothing  for  a  copy  or  certificate  of  the  bookinge.' 

»  Lord  Thanet,  writing  on  3  April  1685,  told  Lord  Dartmouth  that  Cumberland  was  in  no  little 
disorder,  and  if  a  militia  were  anywhere  needed  it  was  certainly  there,  where  they  were  '  often  alarrummed 
by  the  Borderers  whose  trade  was  and  ever  will  be  fighting  and  stealing  for  their  daily  bread  '  (Hist.  MSS. 
Com.  Ref.  [Dartmouth  MSS.],  xi.  App.  v.  124). 

3  Journal  of  a  Tour  in  the  Lakes,  3  October  1769. 

«  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  42-3,  159. 

294 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

December,  but  they  were  disbanded  when  it  was  found  that  the  report 
was  false.  On  that  occasion  Sir  Christopher  Musgrave  and  Sir  George 
Fletcher  found  themselves  at  the  head  of  3,000  men.1  In  any  case,  the 
Cumberland  levies  could  have  been  of  little  value  as  a  fighting  force,  for 
they  had  not  been  mustered  during  the  lieutenancy  of  Lord  Preston,  and 
their  arms  were  taken  from  them  in  the  late  king's  time.2 

The  parliament  elected  in  1661  sat  for  eighteen  sessions  and  was 
in  reality  the  Long  Parliament,  though  that  title  has  been  accorded  to 
the  last  parliament  of  Charles  I.  Cumberland  was  represented  in  it 
from  January  1665  by  Sir  John  Lowther  of  Whitehaven,  and  Westmor- 
land had  for  one  of  its  members  from  1677  his  cousin,  Sir  John  Lowther 
of  Lowther.3  These  two  members  of  the  Lowther  family  continued  to 
represent  their  respective  counties  for  a  long  period  :  Sir  John  of  White- 
haven,  in  every  parliament  down  to  1700,  and  Sir  John  of  Lowther, 
with  a  brief  interval  in  1679,  down  to  1696,  when  he  was  called  to  the 
upper  house  as  Viscount  Lonsdale.  They  were  of  great  business 
capacity  and  commanding  influence,  and  their  long  tenure  of  the  repre- 
sentation, almost  unbroken,  marks  the  growing  position  of  the  house  of 
Lowther  in  the  political  affairs  of  the  two  northern  counties.  Thus  Sir 
John  Lowther  of  Whitehaven  could  write  to  Sir  Daniel  Fleming  of 
Rydal  on  the  eve  of  the  election  in  1 679  :  '  I  and  Lord  Morpeth  stand 
for  Cumberland,  Sir  Richard  Graham  for  Cockermouth,  Sir  Philip 
Howard  and  Sir  Christopher  Musgrave  for  Carlisle,  all  agreed.' 4  It 
was  an  influence  deserved  by  high  character  and  good  service.  They 
belonged  to  the  moderate  country  party  and  acted  with  the  Whigs  in 
resistance  to  the  reactionary  policy  of  Charles  II.,  and  in  the  attempt  to 
exclude  his  brother  James  from  the  throne.8 

When  James  II.  attempted  to  pack  the  parliament  with  his  own 
supporters,  the  Lowthers  stood  firm  for  the  constitutional  party.  No 
effort,  however  unscrupulous,  was  spared  on  the  king's  part.  The 
lords  lieutenants  were  sent  down  to  their  counties  with  instructions  to 
issue  interrogatories  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  to  ascertain  how  they 
would  vote  at  the  next  election.  Many  refused  to  discharge  the  odious 
service  and  were  dismissed.  The  Earl  of  Thanet  was  deprived  of  his 
lieutenancy,  and  Viscount  Preston,  the  third  baronet  of  the  family  of 
Graham  of  Netherby,  was  appointed  in  his  stead.8  He  came  down, 
but  he  returned  with  '  cold  news  from  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,' 7 

»  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  227,  231.  »  Ibid.  267,  331. 

3  Parliaments  of  England  (Blue  Book),  i.  521,  530. 

«  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  155. 

6  Lord  Lonsdale,  Memoir  of  James  11.  pp.  ix.-x. 

6  The  commission  of  lieutenancy  of  Westmorland  and  Cumberland  to  Thomas,  Earl  of  Thanet,  is 
dated  3  March  1685  (Pat.  I  James  II.  pt.  i.  No.  14),  and  to  Richard,  Viscount  Preston,  revoking  that  to 
the  Earl  of  Thanet,  is  dated  29  August  1687  (Pat.  3  James  II.  pt.  8,  No.  4d).     See  Def.  Keeper's  Rep. 
xlii.  App.  p.  728. 

7  Macaulay,  Hist,  of  England  (ed.  1858),  iii.  63.     The  king's  instructions  to  the  lord  lieutenant  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland  will  be  found  in  Memoirs  of  Great  Britain  (ed.  1771-3),  iii.  129-30,  printed 
by  Sir  John  Dalrymple  from  Lord  Pres'on's  despatch  book  at  Netherby.     By  the  last  article  Preston  was 
required  to  inform  the  king  '  wha-  ^atholicks  and  what  dissenters  are  fit  to  be  added  either  to  the  list 
of  the  deputy  lieutenants  or  to  the  commission  of  the  peace  throughout  the  said  lieutenancy.' 

295 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

counties  in  which  the  king  had  great  confidence.     Justices  had   been 
disjusticed  wholesale  to  no  purpose.     The  corporation   of  Carlisle    had 
indeed  proved  more  subservient.     The  charter  of  that  municipality  had 
been  withdrawn  by  Charles  II.  and  replaced  by  one  which  made  its  chief 
officers    removable    at    the    king's  discretion.1     James  II.  exercised  the 
power  that    had    been    so    conferred.     The  corporation,   packed  with 
nominees,  yielded  to  his  wish,  and  promised  '  to  elect  such  members   as 
shall  concur  with  your  majesty,'   and   at  the  same  time  expressed  the 
hope  that  there  might  be  no  want  of  his  issue  '  to  sway  the    sceptre  as 
long  as  the  sun  and  moon  endure.' ''     But  very  different  was  the  issue  in 
the  county.     Every  effort  was  made  to  win  the  Lowthers  to  the  king's 
side.     Sir  Daniel  Fleming  wrote  to  Sir  John  of  Lowther  on  2  December 
1687  informing  him  of  the  report  that  he  had  been  'closeted,'  and  had 
become  an  affirmative  man,  affirmative,  that  is,  to  the  questions  that  had 
been  issued.3     But  it  was  not  so.     There  is,  indeed,  every  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  answers  of  the  chief  men  in  the  two  counties,  which  are 
said  to  have  been  framed  with  admirable  skill,  were  the   result   of  con- 
certed action  throughout  the  country.4     The  famous  meeting  to  which 
the  justices  had  been  summoned  took  place   at  Penrith   on   24  January 
1688.     Lord    Preston  was  very  active  beforehand    in  persuading  the 
justices  to  accede  to  the  royal  will.     Sir  John  of  Lowther  came  to  Pen- 
rith 'in  his  coach  with  six  horses,'  attended  by  a  few   of  the  justices, 
while  Sir  Daniel  Fleming  and  others  accompanied  the  lord  lieutenant  on 
horseback  from  Hutton,   where  he  had  been  staying.     The  place  of 
meeting  was  the  George  Inn,  where  the  gentlemen  '  took  their  seats 
around  a  long  table.'     Lord  Preston  made  a  short  speech,  declaring  his 
Majesty's  commands,  and  intimating  that  if  they  preferred  to   give  oral 
answers  he  would  call  in  his  secretary  to  write  them  down.     After  a 
considerable  pause   Sir  John  of  Lowther  proposed  that    the    answers 
should  be  given  in  their  own  handwriting,  and   for  this  purpose   those 
who  wished  should  be  allowed  to  withdraw  from  the   council  chamber 
for  the  space  of  an  hour.     The  proposal  was  at  once  agreed  to,  and  '  the 
protestant  gentlemen  did  go  into  one  room  and  the  papists  into  another.' 
After  the  deliberation  Sir  George  Fletcher  stood  up  and  read  aloud  his 
answers,  announcing  his  determination  to  stand  for  parliament  and  leave 
the  king's  questions  to  the  judgment  of  the   House  of  Commons.     Sir 
William  Pennington,  who  followed,  was   more  prudent,  expressing  his 
readiness  to  help  the  king  in  all  things  reasonable,  and  to  vote   for  the 
abolition  of    the  penal  laws,  if  the  safety  of  the  Church  of  England 
were  guaranteed.     Sir  Richard  Musgrave  of  Hayton  did  not  disguise 
his  attachment  to  the  Protestant  religion,  and  promised  to  support  those 
only  who,  in  his  opinion,  would  best  promote  the  public  good.     Then 

1  Hiit.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Carlisle  Corporation  MSS.),  ix.  App.  i.  199-200. 

*  Rapin  states  that  the  servile  address  of  the  corporation  of  Carlisle  was  '  supposed  to  be  drawn  up 
by  a  Jesuit '  (Hist,  of  England  [ed.  Tindal,  1731],  rv.  141-2). 

»  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  [Rydal  MSS.],  xii.  App.  vii.  207. 

4  Macaulay,  Hist,  of  England  (ed.  1856),  iii.  61.  He  says  too  that  the  form  of  answer  to  the  king's 
questions  was  circulated  all  over  the  kingdom  and  generally  adopted. 

296 


SIR  JOHN  LOWTHER,  BART. 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

came  the  answers  of  Sir  John  of  Lowther,  who  deferred  his  opinion  on 
the  first  question  till  he  heard  the  debates  of  the  House,  and  in  reply 
to  the  second,  he  would  support  those  who  were  loyal  and  well  affected 
to  the  king  and  the  established  government.  The  same  answers  were 
given  by  the  majority  of  the  justices  present,  disagreeing  with  the  king 
on  the  first  two  issues,  but  all  of  them  expressed  the  desire  to  satisfy  his 
third  question  by  striving  to  live  in  love  and  charity  with  their  brother 
Christians  of  every  persuasion.  Of  the  thirty-one  justices  who  attended 
the  meeting,  only  eleven  ranged  themselves  on  the  king's  side,  and  these 
were  mostly  papists  and  men  of  little  influence.  At  the  conclusion  of 
the  business  Lord  Preston  '  treated  all  the  gentlemen  very  kindly  and 
nobly  with  wine,  ale,  and  a  good  dinner.'  Though  the  outcome  of  the 
Penrith  meeting  was  disappointing  to  the  king  and  his  advisers,  a  more 
decided  opposition  was  given  by  those  who,  for  some  reason  or  other, 
were  absent.  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  of  Isell  was  the  only  absentee  who 
gave  unqualified  adhesion  to  the  proposals,  except,  perhaps,  John 
Fisher  of  Stainebankgreen,  who,  with  inconsistent  hesitation,  suspended 
his  opinion  on  the  first  question  and  assented  to  the  second.  Of  the 
others  who  answered  by  letter,  all  were  apparently  for  the  maintenance 
of  the  penal  laws,  some  answering  evasively,  a  few  with  firmness.  In 
a  few  months  all  the  old  justices  of  Cumberland  were  disjusticed  '  ex- 
cepting eight  whose  names  here  follow  :  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  Sir 
William  Pennington,  Mr.  Charles  Orfeur,  Lawyer  Aglionby,  Mr. 
Warwick,  Squire  Dacre,  Mr.  Thomas  Dalston,  and  Mr.  William  Chris- 
tian,' *  who  had  declared  themselves  in  favour  of  the  king's  plans.3 

Cumberland  had  its  share  in  the  confusion  and  excitement  of  the 
Revolution.  Shortly  before  the  landing  of  the  Prince  of  Orange,  the 
justices  retained  in  the  commission  of  the  peace  drew  up  an  address  of 
sympathy  with  the  king,  in  which  they  told  him  that  at  that  juncture 
they  thought  it  their  duty  to  offer  their  lives  and  fortunes  to  his 
Majesty's  service,  not  doubting  but  a  happy  success  would  attend  his 
Majesty's  arms  ;  and  if  he  thought  fit  to  display  the  royal  standard  they 
faithfully  promised  to  repair  to  it  with  their  persons  and  interest.3  But 
it  was  too  late,  the  Revolution  had  begun.  In  a  fit  of  panic  the  ejected 

i  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  212. 

«  The  authorities  for  the  above  narrative  on  the  events  of  1687-8,  unless  where  otherwise  stated, 
are  the  collection  of  original  documents  in  the  Bodleian,  printed  by  Sir  George  Duckett  in  Penal  Laws 
and  Test  Act  in  1688,  and  in  Transactions  of  Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  Arch&ol.  Soc.  iv.  346-71,  and  the 
letters  and  papers  at  Rydal  Hall,  printed  by  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Westmorld.  and  Cumbld.  i.  165-71. 
8  Chambers,  Book  of  Days  (1883),  ii.  550.  This  was  no  idle  boast  on  the  part  of  the  papist  justices, 
for  Mr.  Howard  and  his  son,  Mr.  Curwen,  and  Mr.  Salkeld  joined  the  army  of  King  James  as  volunteers 
in  November  1688  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  [Rydal  MSS.],  xii.  App.  vii.  220).  Scottish  troops  to  the  num- 
ber of  2,000  passed  through  Carlisle  on  10  October  1688  on  their  way  south,  and  threw  the  county  into 
consternation.  The  posse  comitatus  was  called  out  and  marched  to  Kirkby  Lonsdale,  where,  as  it  was 
reported,  a  skirmish  took  place  and  the  Irish  and  Scotch  were  routed  (ibid.  215,  227,  229).  There  was 
not  much  bloodshed,  if  we  are  to  believe  a  popular  ballad  which  satirized  the  courage  of  the  local  militia 
in  the  encounter  : — 

In  '88  was  Kirkby  feight 

When  ne'er  a  man  was  slain  : 
They  ate  their  meat  and  drank  their  drink, 
And  so  went  yham  again. 

II  297  38 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

justices  were  reinstated,1  and  an  order  was  issued  on  17  October  1688 
to  restore  '  all  the  corporations  of  England  to  their  ancient  privileges, 
the  displacing  all  officers  whatever  in  them  that  claimed  their  places  by 
anie  grant  made  by  the  Crown  since  1679,  and  the  reinstating  all  those 
turned  out  since  then.'2  Events  moved  fast  in  Cumberland.  After 
failing  to  induce  the  justices  to  call  out  the  militia,  Sir  John  Lowther  of 
Lowther  summoned  a  meeting  at  Penrith  on  i  December,  and  issued  a 
declaration  in  favour  of  a  free  parliament.  At  the  same  time  an  order 
was  sent  to  the  constables  to  keep  watch  and  ward,  and  fire  the  beacons 
in  case  of  invasion  or  insurrection.3  Sir  Christopher  Musgrave  and  Sir 
George  Fletcher  took  possession  of  the  corporations  of  Carlisle  and 
Appleby,  'entering  into  the  ffirst,'  says  Sir  John  of  Lowther,  'in  a  kind 
of  cavalcade  and  ostentation  of  meritt,  when  in  realitie  they  had  so  far 
complied  with  those  times  as  to  deliver  up  the  charters  of  Carlisle, 
Kendal,  &c.,  which  was  the  illegal  action  now  redressed.'  On  the 
seizure  of  Carlisle,  the  popish  garrison  fled.4  Before  the  end  of  the  year 
the  county  was  held  for  King  William.  It  was  a  bold  venture  on  the 
part  of  the  local  leaders,  and  though  personal  and  political  differences 
prevented  concerted  action  in  promoting  the  Revolution,  they  were  all 
united  in  settled  determination  to  stand  up  for  institutions  untainted  by 
corruption,  and  the  right  of  free  election  untrammelled  by  arbitrary 
power/ 

One  of  the  features  of  county  government  during  the  reign  of 
William  III.  was  the  persecution  of  those  who  were  opposed  to  the 
political  settlement  which  followed  the  Revolution.  Affairs  in  Cumber- 
land reached  a  climax  in  May  1692,  when  Sir  John  Lowther,  in  com- 
pany with  the  deputy  lieutenants,  held  a  court  at  Penrith  for  the  purpose 
of  settling  accounts  with  '  the  popish  recusants  or  such  as  are  soe  re- 
puted.' It  was  here  that  many  of  the  Protestant  Jacobites  returned  to 
their  allegiance  and  took  the  oath  of  fidelity,  but  the  great  body  of  the 
papists  remained  true  to  their  traditions  :  they  '  were  all  summoned  but 
none  of  them  appeared.'  William  Fletcher  was  '  a  prisoner  in  Carlisle.' 
Dr.  Bradley,  '  a  phisitian  of  Whitehaven,'  had  fled  to  Ireland  ;  William 
Cragg  was  '  convicted ' ;  John  Skelton  appeared,  refused  the  first  time, 
and  paid  a  fine  of  £i  ;  Richard  Skelton,  John  Warwick,  and 
Francis  Howard  appeared,  refused  a  second  time,  and  each  paid  a  fine  of 
£5  ;  Henry  Dacre  had  bolted  ;  'John  Story  of  the  Know,  but  his 
name  being  George,  he  avoyded  appeareing  upon  the  misnomer '  ;  William 

»  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  212-3,  2IS- 
2  Lord  Lonsdale,  Memoir  of  the  Reign  of  James  II.  p.  52. 

s  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  223,  225-6 ;  ibid.  (Lonsdale  MSS.),  xiii. 
App.  vii.  97-8. 

4  Memoir  of  the  Reign  of  James  II.  p.  52  ;  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Lonsdale  MSS.),  xiii.  App.  vii. 
99-100. 

5  The  clergy  of  the  diocese  were  piloted  through  the  dangers  of  the  Revolution  by  Bishop  Smith 
and  Archdeacon  Nicolson.     The  bishop  was  in  close  touch  with  the  leaders  of  public  opinion  in  the 
county,  and  his  advice  was  often  sought  (Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  [Rydal  MSS.],  xii.  App.  vii.  203,  209-11). 
When  the  political  crisis  was  past,  Archdeacon  Nicolson  issued  an  able  and  forcible  letter  to  the  clergy, 
dated  15  May  1689,  urging  '  that  a  firm  allegiance  is  due  to  their  present  Majesties,  King  William  and 
Queen  Mary  '  (Letters  of  William  Nicolson,  6-12). 

298 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

Howard  was  'sicke  and  not  able  to  appeare  '  ;  Thomas  Brewer  of  Penrith 
'  refused  tosweare,  and  was  fined  40^.,  and  did  afterwards  take  the  oathes.' 
The  Jacobites  of  Cumberland  appear  to  have  suffered  little  further  in- 
convenience till  the  suspicion  of  the  privy  council  was  aroused  by  the 
reports  of  plots  in  France  on  behalf  of  the  exiled  king.  On  25  Feb- 
ruary 1696  the  local  authorities  were  instructed  by  Lord  Carlisle  to 
have  the  two  counties  in  readiness,  and  to  secure  the  horses,  arms  and 
persons  of  all  persons  disaffected  to  the  government.  '  You  must  be 
careful,'  he  said,  '  to  leive  no  armes  or  horses  that  may  be  serviceable 
to  them  upon  such  an  occasion  as  this  in  any  Roman  Catholicks'  hands, 
and  you  will  also  be  careful  to  return  theme  their  horses  againe  when 
this  matter  is  over.'  Warrants  were  issued  in  accordance  with  these 
instructions,  but  little  came  of  them.  Papists  and  nonjurors  were  so 
few  and  inconsiderable  that  they  were  not  considered  dangerous.  More- 
over the  mob  was  so  averse  to  popery  that  there  would  be  twenty  to 
one  against  the  Jacobites.1  It  must  be  said  that  unless  danger  was 
actually  imminent,  or  the  justices  were  forced  by  imperative  orders,  the 
penal  laws  were  put  in  force  in  Cumberland  with  as  much  leniency  and 
consideration  as  possible. 

The  first  effect  of  the  legislative  union  with  Scotland  in  1707  was 
to  stir  up  a  feeling  in  favour  of  the  Stuarts,  which  the  friends  of  the 
pretender  were  careful  to  keep  alive  by  promises  of  immediate  invasion. 
Parliament  took  precautionary  measures  by  passing  an  Act  for  the  better 
security  of  her  Majesty's  person  and  government,  and  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  those  who  were  suspected  of  conspiring  against  them.  At  the 
Easter  Sessions  1708  the  deputy  lieutenants  and  justices  of  Cumberland 
arranged  for  a  special  meeting  at  the  Moothall,  Carlisle,  on  28  April 
following,  '  in  order  to  put  ye  said  Act  in  execucon  by  tendring  ye 
oath  of  abjuration  to  all  papists,  nonjurors  and  such  others  as  may  be 
suspected  to  be  dangerous  or  disaffected  to  her  Majesty  or  her  govern- 
ment.' In  pursuance  of  this  order,  the  high  constables  were  directed 
to  summon  '  the  severall  persons  whose  names  were  underwritt '  to 
appear  accordingly.  The  report  made  to  the  privy  council  on  the  loyalty 
of  the  county  did  not  indicate  that  the  pretender  had  a  large  following 
of  sympathizers.  The  persons  who  refused  the  oath  of  abjuration 
numbered  about  eighteen  in  all,  and  included  such  names  as  Thomas 
Fletcher  of  Moresby,  Joseph  Porter  of  Wearyhall,  John  Porter  of 
Flimby,  Joseph  Curwen  of  Seton,  John  Warwick  of  Warwickhall, 
Thomas  Howard  of  Corby,  William  Tonstall  of  Wetheral,  James  Dacre 
of  Lanercost,  Richard  Skelton  of  Armathwaite,  and  Marcus  Fletcher 
of  Hutton.  Bishop  Nicolson  took  an  active  part  in  enforcing  the  law, 
and  held  individual  conference  with  papists  for  the  purpose  of  persuasion. 
Writing  to  Mr.  Salkeld  of  Whitehall  on  24  July  1708,  he  explained 
that  the  hazard  of  invasion  was  not  quite  blown  over,  and  that  he  was 
more  than  ever  apprehensive  of  danger  from  the  great  numbers  of  those 

'  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Rydal  MSS.),  xii.  App.  vii.  339-43. 
299 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

who  refused  the  oath.1     In  a  short  time  the  scare  passed  away  and  the 
rigour  of  the  penal  laws  was  relaxed. 

The  accession  of  George  I.  was  the  signal  for  a  renewal  of  plots 
on  behalf  of  the  pretender  and  a  revival  of  the  law.  In  obedience  to 
the  king's  proclamation  the  justices  of  the  county  at  the  Hilary  Sessions 
1715  issued  warrants  to  the  high  constables  to  summon  certain  'papists 
or  soe  reputed  or  soe  suspected  to  be,  and  all  others  as  they  shall  know 
or  suspect  to  be  papists  or  nonjurors'  to  appear  at  the  Town  Hall, 
Cockermouth,  on  i  February,  that  they  may  be  dealt  with  according  to 
law.  The  activity  of  the  justices  in  holding  adjourned  courts  in  various 
parts  of  the  county  for  the  purpose  of  putting  the  penal  laws  in  force 
betokens  their  anxiety  to  prepare  for  the  coming  danger.  The  first 
note  of  warning  that  the  pretender  was  meditating  an  invasion  of  the 
kingdom  was  conveyed  to  Lord  Carlisle,  the  lord  lieutenant  of  Cumber- 
land, on  20  July  1715,  when  he  was  commanded  to  enforce  the  law 
against  suspects,  to  take  from  them  their  horses  and  arms,  and  to  confine 
them  to  their  usual  habitations.*  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  the 
news  of  the  rising  in  Scotland  threw  the  local  authorities  of  Cumberland 
into  a  panic,  and  found  them  unprepared  to  withstand  an  invasion.  On 
1 6  September  orders  came  down  from  the  privy  council  for  the  em- 
bodiment of  the  militia,  and  in  a  few  days  after  for  the  seizing  of  the 
persons  and  horses  of  papists  and  nonjurors.  The  confusion  and  dismay 
which  had  taken  possession  of  the  local  gentry  may  be  gathered  from 
Lord  Lonsdale's  letter,  dated  8  October,  to  the  Earl  of  Carlisle.  The 
deputy  lieutenants  had  given  instructions  for  seizing  the  persons  and 
arms  of  papists,  but  did  not  meddle  with  the  horses,  for  it  would  be 
doing  a  great  hardship  to  several  papist  gentlemen  who  kept  running 
horses  for  their  diversion  which  were  fit  for  no  other  service  whatever  ; 
and  it  would  be  as  much  security  to  the  country,  for  when  their  persons 
and  arms  were  secured,  such  horses  as  they  had  could  be  of  no  danger 
to  the  government.  In  the  matter  of  the  militia  orders  were  given 
for  a  muster,  but  there  was  a  difficulty  about  the  officers'  commissions. 
For  a  like  reason  the  raising  of  the  light  horse  was  postponed.  One 
thing  at  least  the  justices  and  deputy  lieutenants  agreed  upon  doing, 
and  that  was  to  seize  the  papists  and  immure  them  in  Carlisle.3  The 
bishop  seems  to  have  been  the  only  person  in  authority  who  had  his 
wits  about  him,  for  on  15  October  he  sent  a  circular  letter4  to  his 
clergy,  informing  them  of  a  most  unnatural  and  dangerous  rebellion 
raised  in  the  neighbourhood  of  this  diocese  by  several  papists  and  other 
wicked  enemies  to  our  happy  establishment  in  church  and  state,  and 
urging  them  to  animate  and  encourage  their  respective  parishioners  in 
defence  of  their  religion,  laws  and  liberties  against  all  such  traitorous 
attempts  towards  the  destruction  of  his  Majesty's  royal  person  and 

1  Letters  of  Bishop  Nicolson,  pp.  380-7 

»  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Lord  Carlisle's  MSS.),  xv.  App.  vi.  14. 

'  Ibid.  pp.  15-7. 

4  Letters  of  Bishop  Nicolson,  p.  432. 

300 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

the  subversion  of  his  most  gracious  government.  The  sheriff  was 
induced  to  raise  the  posse  comitatus,  which  was  posted  on  Penrith  Fell 
a  day  or  two  before  the  arrival  of  the  rebels.  On  the  last  day  of  October 
a  small  body  of  troops  reached  Longtown.  Avoiding  Carlisle  they 
advanced  by  Brampton,  where  James  VIII.  was  duly  proclaimed.  It 
was  calculated  that  the  invaders  numbered  a  thousand  or  twelve  hundred 
foot  and  six  hundred  horse.  Robert  Patten,  vicar  of  Allendale  and 
formerly  curate  of  Penrith,  who  was  with  the  Northumberland  con- 
tingent, states  that  as  the  rebels  drew  near  Penrith  they  had  notice  that 
the  sheriff  had  got  together  the  posse  of  the  county  to  the  number  of 
14,000  men  commanded  by  Lord  Lonsdale  and  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle, 
for  the  purpose  of  opposing  their  march  into  England.  But  they  gave 
the  rebel  army  no  occasion  to  try  whether  they  would  stand  or  no  ;  for, 
as  soon  as  a  party  of  scouts  had  reported  on  the  advance,  the  rustic 
soldiery  broke  up  their  camp  in  the  utmost  confusion,  shifting  every 
one  for  himself  as  best  they  could,  as  is  generally  the  case  with  an  armed 
but  undisciplined  multitude.1  To  Patten  was  assigned  the  task  of  cutting 
off  the  retreat  of  the  bishop,  but  Forster  afterwards  countermanded  the 
order.  Having  proclaimed  King  James  and  stayed  the  night  at  Penrith, 
the  insurgents  set  out  next  day  for  Appleby.  No  damage  was  done  to 
the  town,  and  no  one  received  hurt  but  one  man,  who  was  shot  through 
the  arm.' 

The  conduct  of  the  local  levies  at  Penrith  has  been  a  fruitful 
subject  of  controversy,  and  various  reasons  have  been  alleged  for  its 
ineffectiveness.  The  most  unlikely  of  all  is  that  which  ascribes  it  to 
secret  sympathy  with  the  objects  of  the  insurrection.8  It  is  better  to 
listen  to  the  testimony  of  those  who  were  on  the  field  and  most  capable 
of  forming  a  correct  judgment.  Lord  Lonsdale  and  Bishop  Nicolson 
appear  to  lay  the  blame  on  the  want  of  arms.  The  former  told  Lord 
Carlisle  on  the  eve  of  the  invasion  that  the  militia  was  almost  throughout 
ill-armed,  and  that  orders  had  been  issued  to  the  men  before  the  muster 
to  put  the  arms  they  had  in  the  best  condition  possible,  and  to  throw 
away  their  pikes  and  get  firelocks  in  their  place.4  With  shame  and 
humiliation  the  bishop  informed  his  friend,  Ralph  Thoresby,  that  the 
county  had  been  *  in  a  great  pother  on  the  dry  visit  that  was  lately  made 
us  by  the  united  rebels  of  Scotland  and  Northumberland.  The  posse 
of  our  county  was  drawn  up  against  them,  and  our  men  were  at  least 
four  to  one  :  but  having  no  arms,  they  modestly  gave  way,  and  I  was 
an  eyewitness  of  the  enemy's  vanguards  marching  peaceably  into 
Penrith.'  They  had  been  told  that  General  Carpenter  was  on  the  heels 
of  the  rebels  and  would  assuredly  be  up  with  them  before  they  reached 
Cumberland  :  *  and  that  we  should  have  nothing  more  to  do  than  to 
pick  up  some  of  the  shattered  fragments  into  which  he  would  chop 

»  Patten,  History  of  the  Late  Rebellion  (ed.  1717),  pp.  82-3.  *  Ibid,  pp   84-5. 

'  G.  G.  Mounsey,  Carlisle  in  1745,  pp.  97-100.    Most  of  the  local  writers,  jealous  of  the  reputation 
of  their  countrymen  for  bravery  in  battle,  have  adopted  Mr.  Mounsey's  views. 
«  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Ref.  (Lord  Carlisle's  MSS.),  xv.  App.  vi.  18. 

301 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

them  :  for  such  a  service  we  were  well  enough  equipped.'  *  It  should  be 
remembered  that  the  militia  made  up  only  a  small  portion  of  the  posse  of 
the  county,  though  perhaps  that  body  was  little  better  armed  or  trained 
than  the  general  concourse  which  assembled  at  the  sheriff's  summons. 
None  of  these  men  had  ever  faced  an  enemy  before.  Two-thirds  of 
them,  as  one  of  them  afterwards  related,  were  armed  with  scythes,  bill- 
hooks and  pitchforks  :  the  remainder  with  rusty  spears,  swords  and 
muskets  which  had  laid  peaceably  in  the  chimney  since  the  righting  days 
of  Oliver  Cromwell.2  Bishop  Nicolson,  who  had  every  opportunity  of 
gauging  the  political  sympathies  of  the  two  counties,  has  cleared  them 
of  leanings  to  the  cause  of  the  pretender.  Writing  to  Archbishop  Wake 
on  1 6  September  1716,  he  said  that  along  the  Western  Marches  they  pre- 
tended to  an  universal  fealty  and  allegiance  to  King  George.  In  speaking 
of  the  Scottish  prisoners  sent  to  Carlisle  for  trial  after  the  battle  of 
Sheriffmuir,  it  did  not  concern  him  to  know  why  they  had  been  sent 
to  Cumberland,  but  he  was  willing  to  believe  that  it  was  the  unsullied 
reputation  of  the  county  which  had  brought  that  burdensome  honour 
upon  it.3  Nobody  of  consequence  joined  the  rebels  as  they  advanced 
through  the  two  counties.  Dacre  of  Lanercost,  who  had  promised  to  raise 
forty  men,  had  been  '  taken  with  a  fortunate  fever,'  which  hindered  his 
purpose  and  saved  his  estates.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  servants 
of  the  papists  in  prison  at  Carlisle  had  marched  to  Preston,  but  the 
number  was  insignificant.4  The  great  mass  of  the  people  appears  to 
have  been  apathetic  ;  to  the  last  an  invasion  was  not  anticipated  ;  for 
many  years  the  training  of  the  militia  had  been  neglected  ;  the  men 
who  assembled  at  Penrith  had  no  military  experience,  no  arms,  no 
discipline. 

The  disgraceful  flight  of  the  county  forces  at  Penrith  was  not 
sufficient  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  central  government  to  the  inefficiency 
of  the  militia  and  posse  comitatus  as  a  line  of  national  defence.  There 
is  no  evidence  that  special  attention  was  given  to  the  training  and 
arming  of  the  rural  soldiery  after  the  rebellion  was  quelled  and  the 
immediate  danger  over.  The  old  system  was  allowed  to  continue,  and 
the  country  soon  settled  down  in  a  sense  of  security  as  if  nothing  had 
occurred.  But  in  the  next  generation  there  was  to  be  a  rude  awakening: 
once  again  history  would  repeat  itself.  The  rebellion  of  1715  brought 
little  credit  to  the  bravery  and  manly  qualities  of  the  people  of 
Cumberland,  nor  was  the  county  destined  to  retrieve  its  sullied  reputa- 
tion in  the  subsequent  events  of  1745.  The  government,  alarmed  by 
the  defeat  of  Sir  John  Cope  at  Preston  Pans,  despatched  Colonel 

1  Letters  to  Ralph  Thoresby,  ii.  319-20. 

*  Literary  Remains  of  Thomas  Sanderson,  pp.  9-22.     The  poet  claims  that  the  events  of  the  day 
were  related  to  him  '  by  one  who  had  a  share  in  its  glory.' 

3  Ellis,  Original  Letters,  first  series,  iii.  364-5.     Twenty-one  letters  from  the  bishop  to  the  primate 
have  been  printed  in  this  series.     Several  of  them  are  of  considerable  interest  on  the  trial  of  the  Scottish 
prisoners  in  1716  and  their  treatment  during  their  imprisonment  in  Carlisle  Castle.     Among  the  records 
of  the  corporation  there  are  some  interesting  entries  on  the  same  subject. 

4  Patten,  History  of  the  Late  Rebellion,  pp.  84-5. 

302 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

Durand  to  undertake  the  defence  of  Carlisle.  Arriving  on  1 1  October, 
the  new  governor  found  the  city  in  a  weak  and  defenceless  condition. 
The  castle  had  no  ditch,  no  outworks  of  any  kind,  no  covered  way. 
The  garrison  consisted  of  two  companies  of  invalids,  making  about 
eighty  men,  very  old  and  infirm  ;  two  companies  of  militia,  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men  ;  a  troop  of  light  horse,  about  seventy,  and  the 
town  guard,  said  to  consist  of  nine  companies  of  thirty  men  each.  Five 
companies  of  the  militia,  which  had  been  posted  in  the  open  villages  of 
the  county,  were  brought  in  as  a  reinforcement  of  the  garrison,  and  ten 
pieces  of  ship  cannon,  which  Captain  Gilpin,  one  of  the  officers  of  the 
invalids,  had  sent  from  Whitehaven,  were  mounted  on  the  ramparts. 
The  outposts  of  the  army  of  Prince  Charles  Edward  appeared  on 
Stanwix  Bank  on  9  November,  which  was  Martinmas  term  day,  when 
the  city  was  thronged  with  people  from  the  surrounding  country,  and 
the  investment  was  begun  on  the  following  day.  Two  days  after,  how- 
ever, the  prince,  hearing  that  Marshal  Wade  was  approaching  from 
Newcastle,  withdrew  his  force  and  retired  in  the  direction  of  Brampton. 
The  deputy  mayor,  with  all  the  self-assertion  of  a  municipal  busybody, 
immediately  forwarded  a  jubilant  despatch  to  the  government,  stating 
that  he  had  routed  the  rebels,  and  claiming  '  that  the  town  of  Carlisle 
had  done  his  Majesty  more  service  than  the  great  city  of  Edinburgh  or 
than  all  Scotland  together.'  '  The  king,'  says  Walpole  in  one  of  his 
letters,  '  spoke  of  him  at  his  levee  with  great  encomiums.  Lord  Stair 
said,  '  Yes,  sir,  Mr.  Patterson  has  behaved  very  bravely.'  The  Duke 
of  Bedford  interrupted  him  :  '  My  lord,  his  name  is  not  Paterson,  that 
is  a  Scotch  name ;  his  name  is  Patinson.'  But  the  deputy  mayor  had 
made  his  boast  too  soon.  On  1 3  November  the  Duke  of  Perth  returned, 
and  two  days  after  the  castle  and  city  were  surrendered  to  the  rebels. 
The  part  played  by  the  doughty  Pattinson  was  treated  with  great 
ridicule  by  the  ballad-mongers  of  the  period.  Walpole  only  expressed 
the  universal  contempt  for  the  blustering  and  pompous  burgher  when  he 
said  you  may  spell  his  name  any  way  you  like.1 

The  extraordinary  conduct  of  the  militia  of  the  two  counties,  to 
which  the  early  surrender  of  the  town  was  chiefly  due,  is  indefensible, 
and  can  only  be  explained  by  their  want  of  moral  and  discipline.  The 
military  governor  was  thwarted  at  every  turn  by  their  mutinous  attitude 
and  by  the  intermeddling  of  the  municipal  authorities.  A  few  days 
after  the  militia  arrived,  the  statutory  month  of  service  having  expired,8 
they  were  with  difficulty  persuaded  to  remain  on  a  promise  of  advance 
of  pay.  '  In  this  manner,'  said  Chancellor  Waugh,  '  some  of  the 
militia  officers  were  in  some  sort  compelled  to  stay,  though  much 
against  their  inclinations  or  real  intentions  ;  others  of  them  were  ready 
and  willing  to  do  their  best  service  for  the  defence  of  the  place  ;  the 

1  Letters  of  H.  Walpole  to  H.  Mann  (ed.  Lord  Dover),  ii.  156-9. 

1  The  order  in  council  for  raising  the  militia  is  dated  5  September  1745  ;  Lord  Lonsdale's  letter  to 
the  deputy  lieutenants  of  the  two  counties  to  call  a  meeting  for  a  muster  is  dated  9  September ;  the  muster 
roll  was  taken  on  28  September. 

303 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

former  were  always  complaining  of  ill  usage  ;  and  all  of  them  thought 
they  were  not  treated  as  they  ought  to  be  by  the  corporation  ;  and  that 
Pattinson  was  only  seeking  his  own  gain,  which  indeed  was  very  plain, 
and  his  insolence  to  be  dispensed  with  by  nothing  but  real  and  hearty 
zeal  for  the  publick  and  for  his  Majesty's  service,  which  made  it 
necessary  to  avoid  all  disputes  at  this  time.'  As  soon  as  the  news  spread 
that  Marshal  Wade  was  unable  to  come  to  their  relief,  the  militia  threw 
down  their  arms  and  deserted  their  posts.  In  spite  of  the  remonstrance 
of  Colonel  Durand,  the  officers,  amid  '  such  a  general  distraction  and 
confusion  as  no  tongue  can  describe,'  drew  up  a  statement  on  1 4  Novem- 
ber, the  fifth  day  of  the  siege,  that  '  the  militia  of  the  countys  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmoreland,  having  come  voluntarily  into  the  city 
of  Carlisle,  for  the  defence  of  the  said  citty,  and  having  for  six  days  and 
six  nights  successively  been  upon  duty,  in  expectation  of  relief  from  his 
Majesty's  forces,  but  it  appearing  y*  no  such  relief  is  now  to  be  had,  and 
ourselves  not  able  to  do  duty  or  hold  out  any  longer,  are  determined  to 
capitulate,  and  do  certify  that  Colonel  Durand,  Captain  Gilpin,  and  the 
rest  of  the  officers  have  well  and  faithfully  done  their  duty.'  The 
inhabitants  of  the  town  soon  followed  the  example  of  the  militia.  The 
officers  of  the  permanent  garrison,  deserted  on  all  sides,  had  nobody  on 
whom  to  rely  but  two  companies  of  invalids,  many  of  whom  were  ex- 
tremely infirm  and  unable  to  man  the  walls  or  work  the  guns.  In  this 
desperate  predicament  they  determined  to  hold  the  castle  alone.  Mean- 
while the  mayor  and  militia  officers  sent  messengers  to  treat  with  the 
rebels,  but  the  capitulation  of  the  city  was  refused  unless  the  castle  was 
also  surrendered.  Protesting  against  such  an  infamous  and  dishonour- 
able capitulation,  as  Colonel  Durand  described  it,  the  little  garrison  of 
the  castle  was  forced  to  bow  to  the  inevitable  or  turn  their  guns  on  the 
inhabitants  of  the  town.  The  mayor  and  corporation  went  to  Brampton, 
and  on  bended  knees  delivered  the  keys  to  the  prince,  apparently 
oblivious  that  but  a  month  before  they  had  presented  an  effusive  address 
of  loyalty  to  George  II.,  expressing  their  indignation  that  an  abjured 
and  popish  pretender  should  be  fomenting  a  rebellion  in  Scotland.1 

It  is  idle  with  the  documents  before  us  to  plead  that  it  was  dis- 
content with  the  reigning  dynasty  that  led  to  the  mutiny  of  the  militia 
and  the  lukewarmness  of  the  citizens.  Political  sympathy  with  the 
Stuarts  does  not  appear  to  have  influenced  the  conduct  of  anybody. 
When  the  preparations  for  the  defence  were  in  progress,  the  militia  and 
citizens  were  valiant  and  confident,  but  in  a  few  days,  when  the  city  was 
encircled  with  the  enemy,  the  proud  boasts  of  the  defenders  were  no 
longer  heard.  The  capitulation  of  the  city  before  a  single  battery  was 
raised  against  it  filled  the  county  with  shame  and  dismay.  There  can 

*  It  is  pleasant  to  chronicle  what  is  known  of  the  conduct  of  the  Highlanders  while  they  sojourned  in 
Cumberland.  '  I  must  do  the  rebels  the  justice  to  say,'  wrote  George  Smith, '  that  they  never  used  so  much 
as  a  single  woman  in  the  whole  country  with  the  least  indecency,  notwithstanding  the  crimes  of  that  nature 
laid  to  their  charge.  'Tis  said  that  the  Prince  had  given  strict  orders  to  the  contrary,  and  declared  that 
every  officer  should  suffer  as  the  criminal  for  actions  of  that  nature  committed  by  any  of  the  ruffians  under 
him  ;  whether  true  or  not  I  cannot  say'  (Gentleman's  Magazine  [1746],  xvi.  233-4). 

3°4 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

be  little  doubt  that  George  Smith,  a  local  antiquary  of  some  distinction, 
was  right  when  he  wrote  to  a  friend  that — 

we  are  yet  in  doubt  whether  that  ignominious  surrender  was  caused  by  cowardice 
or  treachery  or  both  ;  I  think  it  most  probable  that  it  was  lost  through  a  presump- 
tion that  it  would  never  be  attacked  and  for  want  of  a  regular  discipline  among 
the  men.  The  Pretender's  son  was  proclaimed  at  the  Cross,  the  keys  of  the  city 
being  carryed  to  him  at  Brampton  by  the  mayor  and  attendants.  It  should 
seem  a  necessary  question  how  the  keys  of  a  garrison  town,  the  custody  of  which 
was  always  till  then  committed  to  the  governor,  nominal  or  residential,  came  to  be 
delivered  into  the  mayor's  hands  for  such  a  use  at  such  a  time.1 

As  it  was  in  1715,  so  it  was  in  1745.  Neither  officers  nor  men  of  the 
militia,  foot  and  horse,  had  training  or  discipline.  When  the  light 
horse  were  mobilized  in  September  there  were  no  officers  to  take  the 
command  ;  the  foot  came  to  Carlisle  with  pouches  full  of  bullets  which 
would  not  fit  the  bores  of  their  muskets.  The  righting  qualities  of  the 
men  of  Cumberland  were  atrophied  by  neglect.  The  military  ardour  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  not  the  ardour  of  the  men  who  so  gallantly 
faced  Lord  Hunsdon's  '  shott '  at  Gelt  Bridge  in  1570,  and  routed  the 
nobility  of  Scotland  at  Solway  Moss  in  1 542  ;  nor  was  it  the  ardour  of 
those  who  held  Carlisle  against  William  the  Lion  in  1 174,  flouted 
William  Wallace  in  the  zenith  of  his  power  in  1297,  Robert  Bruce  in 
1315,  and  marched  out  with  all  the  honours  of  war  after  the  long  siege 
of  1645.  The  uselessness  of  the  county  forces  was  entirely  responsible 
for  the  surrender.  After  the  rebellion  was  quenched,  Colonel  Durand 
was  tried  by  court-martial  and  acquitted  of  all  blame  ;  the  mayor  and 
town  clerk  were  ordered  into  custody  for  a  time '  ;  but  the  militia  officers 
were  treated  with  contempt  and  no  notice  was  taken  of  their  conduct. 

When  the  Highlanders  marched  southwards,  strengthened  with  the 
prestige  attaching  to  the  capture  of  Carlisle,  they  left  behind  them  a 
garrison  under  Captain  Hamilton,  who  experienced  much  difficulty  in 
preserving  order  in  the  city  and  neighbourhood.  Symptoms  of  anarchy 
were  observable  throughout  the  county,  though  no  overt  act  of  pillage 
took  place.  The  citizens  of  Carlisle,  exasperated  by  the  tyranny  of 
Highland  government,  began  to  rouse  themselves,  necessity  inspiring 
them  with  courage  ;  secret  associations  were  formed,  and  a  scheme  was 
laid  to  storm  the  castle  and  destroy  the  rebel  garrison.  Chimerical  as 
the  project  appeared,  it  terrified  the  governor  to  invite  the  mayor  and 
aldermen  to  an  entertainment  in  the  castle,  where  they  were  secured, 
though  soon  after  released  on  parole.  Others  were  confined  on  sus- 
picion, and  every  village  in  the  surrounding  district  was  searched  for 
arms  and  ammunition.  Frequent  skirmishes  happened  between  the 
citizens  and  the  rebels,  in  which  it  appears  that  the  townsmen  held  their 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine  (May  1746),  xvi.  234.  William  Gilpin  stated  that  the  British  militia  in 
1745  was  neither  trained  nor  exercised.  Every  soldier  pretended  to  be  as  wise  as  his  officer  :  and  in  fact 
he  was  as  wise,  for  in  the  two  regiments  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  there  was  not  an  officer  who 
knew  how  to  draw  up  a  platoon  (Memoirs  of  the  Gilpin  Family,  p.  67). 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1746),  xvi.  41. 
ii  3°5  39 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

own.  The  governor  endeavoured  to  check  the  lawlessness  against  his 
authority  by  seizing  the  parents  of  the  offenders,  as  if  the  punishment  of 
the  fathers  would  atone  for  the  faults  of  their  sons.  As  the  hostility  of 
the  inhabitants  began  to  be  more  clearly  displayed,  Hamilton  resorted  to 
menaces  by  threatening  martial  law.  This  was  the  state  of  affairs  in  the 
middle  of  December,  when  the  governor  was  informed  of  the  retreat  of 
the  pretender's  forces  towards  Carlisle.  He  then  seized  on  the  market 
and  fixed  his  own  price  on  the  commodities,  ransacking  the  country 
people  and  impressing  beds  for  the  use  of  the  garrison.1  Notwithstand- 
ing many  complaints  it  was  maintained  by  impartial  observers  that  the 
rebel  forces  were  under  excellent  discipline  and  did  less  mischief  than 
had  been  feared."  Some  of  the  clergy  of  Carlisle  became  so  friendly 
with  the  Highland  officers  that  they  came  under  the  suspicions  of  the 
Duke  of  Cumberland,  and  were  but  coldly  received  by  the  bishop  when 
the  trouble  was  over. 

The  retreat  of  the   pretender's  army  threw   the  county  into   con- 
sternation,  as  it  was  feared   that  '  a  mob  of  exasperated   ruffians,  dis- 
appointed of  their  grand  project  and  in  want  of  all  things,'  would  devote 
itself  to  plunder.     The  Duke  of  Cumberland,  who  was  in  close  pursuit, 
sent  expresses,  warning  the   inhabitants  to  arm  and  intercept  the  flight 
or  to  cut  off  straggling   parties   before  they  regained  Carlisle.      Penrith 
beacon  was  fired  as  a  signal  of  distress,  and  the  whole  county  flocked 
to  its  relief,  but  as  the  rebels  kept   in  a  compact  body  an  attempt  to 
engage  them  was  considered  impracticable.     The  rearguard  action   at 
Clifton   in  Westmorland,  in  which  Lord  George  Murray   checked  the 
advance   of  his   pursuers   and   secured  the  safe  retreat  of  his  army,  was 
fought  on  19  December,  and  on   the   following  day  the  whole  force 
reached  Carlisle.     Little  time  was  spent   in  the  city.     Prince  Charles, 
before  taking  his  leave,  left  a  garrison  of  some  four  hundred  men  to 
hold  the   city  with  the  view  of    retarding  the  pursuit.     The  High- 
landers  crossed  the  flooded  Esk  at  Longtown,  nothing  being  seen   of 
them  but  their  heads  and   shoulders  as  they  crossed.     On  reaching  the 
opposite  side  it  is  said  that   the   pipers  at  once  struck  up  and  the  men 
danced  to  the  music  till  their  clothes  were  dry.     On  the  same  day  the 
Duke  of  Cumberland  arrived  before  Carlisle  and  commenced  the  siege. 
He  took   up  his  quarters   at   Blackball  in   the   same  house   in   which 
the  pretender's  son  had  stayed  about  a  month  before.     Six  guns  from 
Whitehaven  were  brought  to  Rocliffe  and  conveyed  to   the   batteries 
erected  on  Primrose  Bank.3     Dispositions  ot  the   royal  troops  were   so 
made  that  it  was  impossible  for  any  of  the  garrison  to  escape.     Colonel 
Townley,  the  governor  of  the  city,  was  determined  to  defend   it  to  the 
last  extremity,  resolving  that   '  it  was  better  to  die  by  the  sword  than 
fall  into  the  hands  of  those   damned    Hanoverians.'     Gallant  attempts 
had  been  made  to  repair  the  breaches  of  the   castle  walls  against  which 

1  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1746),  xvi.  234-5,  302. 

»  Gilpin,  Memoirs  of  the  Gilpin  Family  (ed.  W.  Jackson),  p.  69. 

3  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1746),  xvi.  301-2. 

306 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

the  batteries  were  directed.  After  an  investiture  of  ten  days  the 
garrison  displayed  the  white  flag,  and  the  duke  carried  out  his  threat 
that  he  would  soon  bring  down  about  the  rebels'  ears  '  the  old  hencoop,' 
as  he  is  reported  to  have  called  the  castle  when  he  first  viewed  it. 
The  only  terms  of  surrender  allowed  were  that  the  rebels  should  not 
be  put  to  the  sword,  but  be  reserved  for  the  king's  pleasure.1  The 
duke  took  up  his  residence  at  Mr.  Highmore's  house  in  English  Street, 
where  the  prince  had  lodged,  and  the  garrison  was  imprisoned  in  the 
cathedral.  Carlisle  was  handed  over  to  the  care  of  Colonel  Charles 
Howard,  one  of  the  burgesses,  a  somewhat  unusual  duty  for  a  member  of 
parliament  to  discharge.  The  quartering  of  the  retaining  force  on  the 
citizens  was  a  constant  grievance.  The  clergy  were  loud  in  their 
protests  against  the  desecration  of  their  church.  On  10  January  1745-6 
the  prisoners  were  sent  off  to  Lancaster  and  Chester.  It  was  a  melan- 
choly procession  as  it  filed  through  the  English  gate.  The  officers  were 
pinioned,  with  their  legs  tied  beneath  the  bellies  of  their  horses  ;  the 
footmen  marched  two  abreast,  the  ranks  connected  by  a  rope.  Though 
the  people  of  Carlisle  received  little  glory  by  the  events  of  1745,  it 
retains  the  distinction  of  being  the  last  of  English  cities  to  stand  a  siege, 
as  Cumberland  was  the  last  English  county  that  was  trodden  by  the  foot 
of  an  invader. 

After  the  decisive  battle  of  Culloden,  the  machinery  of  the  law  was 
set  in  motion  to  avenge  the  rebellion.  Carlisle  was  one  of  the  places 
selected  for  the  trial  of  prisoners.  Thither  were  sent  no  less  than  382, 
including  some  who  had  been  taken  at  the  surrender  of  the  city,  but 
most  of  them  were  Scots  captured  at  Culloden.  The  commission  of 
assize  was  opened  on  1 2  August  1 746  by  Chief  Baron  Parker  and  other 
judges.  As  the  trial  of  such  a  large  number  was  beyond  the  power  of 
judges  and  juries,  it  was  proposed  as  an  act  of  extrajudicial  grace  to 
the  common  prisoners,  said  to  have  been  about  370,  that  they  should 
draw  lots  for  one  in  every  twenty  to  be  tried  and  the  rest  to  be  trans- 
ported. Some  of  the  prisoners  agreed  to  these  terms,  and  in  this  way 
the  number  of  those  who  were  indicted  was  reduced  to  1 27,  all  of 
whom  with  the  exception  of  two  were  thrust  into  the  dungeons  of  the 
castle.  True  bills  were  found  by  the  grand  jury,  of  which  Sir  George 
Dalston  of  Dalston  Hall  was  the  foreman.  That  time  might  be 
allowed  the  prisoners  for  the  preparation  of  a  defence,  the  court  was 
adjourned  till  9  September.  On  the  return  of  the  judges  the  assize 
sermon  was  preached  in  the  cathedral  by  Erasmus  Head,  one  of  the 
prebendaries,  who  had  been  absent  from  his  stall  during  the  troublous 
period.  The  wrathful  ecclesiastic,  hearing  the  '  clamorous  blood  '  of 

1  A  medal  was  struck  in  commemoration  of  the  reception  of  the  city  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
a  specimen  of  which  may  be  seen  in  the  museum  of  that  city.  It  shows  a  bust  of  the  duke  in  profile  with 
the  legend  :  '  WILL  :  DUKE:  CUMB.  :  BRITISH  HERO  :  born  1 5th  April,  1721.'  On  the  reverse  there 
is  depicted  a  representation  of  the  rebellion — a  figure  in  armour  destroying  a  monster  :  round  the  edge 
is  the  motto  :  '  For  my  Father  and  Country,'  and  beneath,  '  Carlisle  reduced  and  Rebels  flew,  December 
1745.'  An  illustration  of  the  medal  has  been  reproduced  by  Mr.  J.  A.  Wheatley  in  his  little  monograph 
on  Bonnie  Prince  Charlie  in  Cumberland,  p.  48. 

307 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

murdered  Englishmen  '  loudly  calling  amidst  the  piteous  cries  of  the 
widow  and  the  fatherless  for  a  legal  vengeance,'  condemned  the  wretched 
rebels  in  frenzied  rhetoric  and  committed  them  to  divine  mercy,  with 
the  profane  assurance  '  that  they  may  penitently  suffer  in  this,  as  not  to 
suffer  infinitely  more  in  the  next  world.'1  Little  need  be  said  of  the 
individual  indictments.  The  trial  of  Thomas  Cappock,  commonly  called 
the  mock  bishop  of  Carlisle,  lasted  six  hours,  while  the  culprit,  who 
appeared  at  the  bar  in  gown  and  cassock,  skilfully  pleaded  for  his  life.* 
Pleading  was  of  little  avail,  for  very  few  were  acquitted.  When  the 
prisoners  were  brought  up  for  sentence  it  is  said  that  Cappock 
endeavoured  to  cheer  his  fellows  by  bidding  them  to  be  of  good  courage, 
for  '  they  should  not  be  tried  by  a  Cumberland  jury  in  the  next  world.' 
Of  those  sent  to  trial,  ninety-one  were  sentenced  to  death.  At  the 
conclusion  of  the  assize  the  judges  released  '  the  gentlemen  of  Carlisle 
who  were  confined  there  without  any  questions  asked  them,' 3  those  no 
doubt  who  had  been  arrested  by  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  on  the 
recapture  of  the  city.  The  work  of  execution  was  not  long  delayed  ; 
nine,  including  '  Thomas  Cappock  the  Pretender's  bishop,'  suffered  at 
Carlisle  on  Saturday,  1 8  October  ;  nine  at  Brampton  on  the  following 
Tuesday  ;  and  on  the  same  day  nine  at  Penrith.4  By  way  of  com- 
memorating the  surrender  of  Carlisle  to  the  rebel  forces  on  1 5  November, 
eleven  more  victims,  including  Sir  Archibald  Primrose  of  Dunipace, 
were  selected  to  grace  the  first  anniversary.  All  those  unfortunate  men 
are  said  to  have  behaved  on  the  scaffold  with  great  firmness.  The  last 
act  of  this  bloody  drama  is  summed  up  in  an  order  of  Quarter  Sessions, 
when  the  justices  of  the  peace  voted  a  fee  to  'Henry  Holstead,  sexton 
of  St.  Mary's,  for  sixteen  graves  for  the  Rebells  who  dyed  at  Carlisle.' 6 
Among  the  more  enduring  results  of  the  rebellion  was  the  military 
road,  as  it  is  commonly  called,  which  was  now  projected  between 
Carlisle  and  Newcastle-upon-Tyne.  It  is  said  that  General  Wade,  who 
had  found  difficulty  in  1745  in  moving  his  troops  from  one  side  of  the 
country  to  the  other,  had  recommended  an  improvement  of  the  com- 
munication between  the  two  towns  as  soon  as  the  nation  had  settled 
down.  A  petition  was  sent  to  the  House  of  Commons  from  the 
districts  most  interested  that  the  road  should  be  made  at  the  public 
expense.8  Power  to  carry  out  the  scheme  was  ultimately  given  to 
certain  local  commissioners  by  the  Act  24  George  II.  The  new  road, 
made  in  1751-8,  followed  to  a  large  extent  the  course  of  the  old  Roman 

1  This  amazing  sermon  was  printed  in  1747  under  the  title  of  '  Loyalty  recommended  on  proper 
principles.'  The  sentiments  of  the  audience  may  be  judged  from  those  of  the  pulpit.  The  sermon  at 
York  on  21  August,  to  which  the  judges  had  just  listened,  was  of  a  similar  character. 

"  Gentleman's  Magazine  (1746),  xvi.  494-5.  It  is  stated  here  that  Cappock  '  left  a  good  benefice  to 
follow  the  rebels,  and  was  made  by  the  young  Pretender  Bishop  of  Carlisle.' 

3  Ibid.  555. 

4  Ibid.  557,  610.     The  accounts  of  the  numbers  executed  at  these  places  often  differ. 

6  The  above  account  of  the  rebellion  in  1745  is  founded,  unless  otherwise  stated,  on  the  letters  and 
papers  collected  by  Mr.  G.  G.  Mounsey  in  his  Authentic  Account  of  the  Occupation  of  Carlisle  in  1745  by 
Prince  Charles  Edward  Stuart,  published  in  1846. 

6  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  Rep.  (Lord  Carlisle's  MSS.),  xv.  App.vi.  204.  Lord  Lonsdale's  letter  is  dated 
19  July  1750. 

308 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

military  way  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  Eden.  Before  the  making 
of  the  military  road,  communication  between  Carlisle  and  Newcastle 
was  by  a  road  crossing  the  Eden  at  Warwick  Bridge,  which  was 
by  all  accounts  of  difficult  transit.  The  grand  jury  of  the  county, 
at  the  Quarter  Sessions  held  at  Carlisle  in  July  1691,  requested 
'  that  a  bridge  at  Botcherby  be  built  and  a  new  way  purchased 
there  ;  the  whole  river  of  Petterill  having  broken  into  the  old  way,  by 
which  means  neither  the  Judges  nor  any  other  persons  can  safely  passe, 
unlesse  they  goe  through  the  corne  fieldes ;  and  if  the  river  be  high  noe 
person  can  passe  that  way  ;  and  the  present  bridge  at  Botcherby  hath 
twice  beene  repaired  by  the  county  of  late  yeares.'  The  new  road  to  the 
eastern  districts  was  the  beginning  of  an  era  of  road  making  in  Cumber- 
land. From  this  time  forward,  under  a  settled  government,  and  with  the 
blessing  of  continuing  peace,  so  long  denied  to  the  Border  counties,  dates 
that  steady  growth  of  trade  and  agriculture  which  has  taken  place. 

The  failure  of  the  territorial  levies  to  check  the  inroad  of  the 
rebel  forces  directed  men's  minds  to  national  defence.  But  as  time 
went  on  the  enthusiasm  of  the  military  reformers  cooled  down,  and 
little  was  done  for  the  improvement  of  the  county  forces  till  1756—7, 
when  the  Act  30  George  II.  brought  into  existence  what  is  known  as 
the  new  militia.  In  1761—2  it  was  thought  necessary  to  repeal  the  old 
militia  laws  and  reduce  their  substance  into  one  act  of  parliament.  By 
this  statute  (2  Geo.  III.  cap.  20,  sec.  41)  the  contribution  of  Cumber- 
land to  the  national  forces  was  fixed  at  the  quota  of  320  men.  A 
scheme  was  adopted  in  1782  by  which  every  English  regiment,  not 
bearing  the  title  of  royal,  was  attached  to  a  county  and  granted  the 
county  title  in  order  to  cultivate  a  local  connection  for  the  populariza- 
tion of  each  unit  of  the  army  and  the  furtherance  of  recruiting.  For 
some  reason  not  known  the  34th  Regiment,  first  raised  in  1702,  was 
allotted  to  Cumberland,  and  the  55th,  first  raised  in  1756,10  Westmor- 
land. It  must  be  admitted  that  the  attempt  at  localization  had  failed, 
as  no  real  connection  between  the  regiments  and  the  counties  was  ever 
attained.  Under  the  army  localization  scheme  of  1871  the  two 
regiments  were  linked  together  in  the  second  sub-district  or  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland  brigade,  with  the  headquarters  or  depot  at  Carlisle 
Castle.  When  Colonel  Newdigate  assumed  the  command  in  1873 
sanguine  hopes  were  expressed  that  the  ranks  of  these  two  regiments 
would  soon  be  filled  with  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  men.  To 
celebrate  the  formation  of  the  regimental  district,  two  sets  of  shot- 
torn  and  weather-beaten  colours  of  the  34th  Regiment  were  deposited 
with  much  solemnity  over  the  regimental  tablet  in  Carlisle  Cathedral 
on  9  October  1873,  and  on  18  July  1874  a  Chinese  standard  cap- 
tured by  a  lieutenant  of  the  55th  Regiment  at  the  battle  of  Tinghai 
in  1841  was  laid  up  in  Kendal  church  amongst  the  old  colours 
placed  there  in  1851.*  By  another  military  device  the  Cumberland 

1  Much  information  about  the  services  of  these  two  regiments  will  be  found  in  Noakes's  Historical 
Account  of  the  34^  and  55^  Regiments  (Carlisle,  1875). 

309 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

and  Westmorland  regiments  were  more  closely  allied  on  i  July  1881, 
under  the  name  of  the  Border  Regiment,  which  is  now  composed  of 
the  old  corps,  the  34th  and  55th,  the  former  being  styled  the  first 
battalion,  and  the  latter  the  second  battalion,  together  with  the  militia 
and  volunteer  battalions  of  the  two  counties.  Up  to  the  present  time 
the  localization  of  the  regiments  has  not  borne  much  fruit  in  the 
encouragement  of  recruiting  from  these  districts.  It  is  stated  on  good 
authority  that  the  young  men  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  show 
little  disposition  to  adopt  soldiering  as  a  profession. 

The  early  years  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  witnessed  the  rise  of  a 
powerful  force  in  local  politics,  which,  for  ambition  and  daring,  has  been 
seldom   equalled   and   never   surpassed    in   the   north-western    counties. 
The  conspicuous  part  that  Sir  James  Lowther  played  in  parliamentary 
constituencies  for  almost  a  generation  may  be  regarded  as  a  great  era  in 
the  political  history  of  Cumberland.     Sir  James  had  succeeded  not  only 
to  the  Lowther  property,  but  also   to  the  accumulated  wealth   of  the 
Whitehaven  branch  of  the  family.      He  had   been  returned  for  Cum- 
berland in  1757,  and  for  Cumberland  and   Westmorland  in    1761,  but 
decided  to    serve  for    the  latter   county.     In  this   year  he  married   a 
daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Bute,   and   though    originally  a  Whig   he   was 
soon  drawn  into  closer  alliance  with  the  Tories.      In  1762,  on  the  death 
of  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  fearing  that    a   Whig  might   be  elected  in    his 
stead,  Sir  James  resigned  his  seat  for   Westmorland,  and   was  returned 
again  for  Cumberland.     The  Duke  of  Portland,  who   was  strongly  op- 
posed to  Lord  Bute,  was  Lowther's  rival  in  territorial  influence  in  the 
north.     The  duke  was  fourth  in  succession  to   the  Bentinck   who   had 
come  over  with  William  III.,  and  had  received  from  him  in  1694  a  grant 
of  the  Honor  of  Penrith  and  of  land  in  the  parishes  of  Great  Salkeld, 
Langwathby,  Gamelsby,  Scotby,  and  Castlesowerby,  called  the  Queen's 
Hames,  the  property  in  fact  which  had  been  given  to  the  Scottish  king 
in  1 242,  in  compensation  for  the  abandonment  of  his  claims,  and  which 
had  subsequently  reverted  to  the  English  crown.      The  grant  was   held 
to  include  the  forest  of  Inglewood,  with  the  lordship  of  Carlisle  Castle 
and  the  socage  manor  thereof,  and  successive  dukes  had  always  acted  on 
that   assumption.      In   the   course    of  an   action   which   the    duke    had 
brought  against  Sir  James  in  relation  to  some  interference  with  a  fishery 
at  Carlisle,  the  legal  advisers  of  the  latter  discovered  that  in  the  original 
grant  to  the   first  Earl   of  Portland    by   King  William,    the   forest  and 
manor  of  Carlisle  had  been  expressly  excluded.      As  rights  of  owner- 
ship had  been  exercised  by  the  Bentincks  for  more  than  sixty  years,  that 
period  constituted  a  valid  title  to  possession  which  no  one  could  impugn 
but  the  Crown.      According  to  a  legal    maxim,   however,  nullum   tempus 
occurit  regi,  no  lapse  of  time  could  prejudice  the  right  of  the  sovereign, 
and  Sir  James  Lowther,  in  order  to  put    himself  into  a   position  to   test 
the  claim  of  the  Portlands  to  the  property,   applied  to   the   government 
for  a  lease  of  it  to  himself.     The  lease  was  granted  and  notice  given  to 
the  tenants  on  the  estates  to  pay  no  further  rents  to  the  Portland  agents. 

310 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

The  first  step  taken  to  defend  the  interest  of  the  titles  was  the  introduc- 
tion into  the  House  of  Commons  of  the  Nullum  Tempus  Bill,  as  it  was 
called,  which  proposed  to  take  away  the  privilege  of  the  Crown.  After 
a  stormy  debate  it  was  rejected  by  a  majority  of  twenty.  Parliament 
was  immediately  dissolved,  and  the  election  of  1768  was  naturally  fought 
in  Cumberland  under  conditions  of  great  excitement.  Money  was  freely 
spent  on  either  side,  and  the  costs  of  the  two  parties  are  said  to  have  been 
not  less  than  £130,000.  After  a  severe  contest,  the  poll  being  open  for 
nineteen  days,  the  candidates  returned  were  Henry  Curwen  and  Sir 
James  Lowther.  It  was  a  drawn  battle,  a  representative  of  each  interest 
having  been  elected.  On  petition,  however,  Sir  James  was  unseated,  and 
Henry  Fletcher,  the  other  Portland  nominee,  was  elected  in  his  room. 
The  Nullum  Tempus  Bill  was  again  introduced  and  passed,  with  a 
clause  inserted  saving  the  rights  of  Sir  James  if  he  prosecuted  them 
within  a  year.  This  he  undertook  to  do  at  once,  serving  more  than 
three  hundred  notices  of  ejectment  on  the  tenants.  The  trial  came  on 
in  1771,  when  Sir  James  was  non-suited  on  the  ground  that  the  rents 
reserved  to  the  Crown  under  his  lease  were  not  sufficient  to  comply 
with  the  provisions  of  the  Civil  List  Act  of  Queen  Anne.  The  real 
claim  of  the  Duke  of  Portland  was  therefore  never  decided.  The 
estates  continued  in  his  possession  till  they  were  ultimately  sold  to  the 
Duke  of  Devonshire  in  1787.' 

After  the  political  uproar  of  1768,  a  concordat  was  agreed  to 
by  the  contending  factions,  under  which  each  party  was  to  return  a 
member  for  the  county,  both  sides  being  apparently  exhausted. 
This  local  compromise  was  observed  by  the  Whig  and  Tory  leaders 
till  so  late  a  date  as  1 8  3 1 .  In  the  art  of  unscrupulous  electioneering, 
Sir  James  Lowther  seems  to  have  had  few  equals,  and  to  him  was 
due  the  notorious  stratagem  by  which  in  1784  no  fewer  than  1,195 
freemen  were  added  to  the  electors  of  Carlisle,  500  of  them  being 
his  own  colliers.  The  artifice  resulted  in  the  return  of  his  cousin, 
John  Lowther,  for  the  constituency  in  1786,  but  he  was  unseated  on 
petition.  The  committee  appointed  by  the  House  of  Commons  reported 
in  1791  that  the  right  of  election  for  the  city  of  Carlisle  was  in  the 
freemen  of  the  said  city,  duly  admitted  and  sworn  freemen,  having  been 
previously  admitted  brethren  of  one  of  the  eight  guilds  or  occupations 
of  the  said  city,  and  deriving  their  title  to  such  freedom  by  being  sons  of 
freemen,  or  by  seven  years  of  apprenticeship  to  a  freeman,  residing 


1  The  literature  of  this  great  contest  is  somewhat  voluminous.  In  the  present  writer's  possession 
are  three  contemporary  pamphlets :  (i)  The  Case  of  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Portland  respecting  two 
leases  lately  granted  by  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  to  Sir  James  Lowther,  Bart.,  with  observations  on  the 
motion  for  a  Remedial  Bill  for  quieting  the  possession  of  the  subject.  (2)  An  Answer  to  the  Duke  of 
Portland's  Case.  (3)  A  Reply  to  a  pamphlet  entitled.  '  The  Case  of  the  Duke  of  Portland  respecting  two 
leases  granted  by  the  Lords  of  the  Treasury  to  Sir  James  Lowther,  Bart.'  The  three  pamphlets 
were  printed  in  1768.  A  full  account  of  the  political  uproar  of  this  period  will  be  found  in  Mr.  Richard 
S.  Ferguson's  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  M.P.'s,  pp.  126-67.  See  also  the  account  of  the  debate  in 
parliament  in  the  Annual  Register  for  1768,  pp.  78-82,  and  Walpolc's  Memoirs  of  the  Reign  of  George 
III.  (ed.  Le  Marchant),  iii.  143-6,  161-3,  290-2. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

during  such  apprenticeship  within  the  said  city  and  in  no  others.1  The 
unseating  of  John  Lowther  prevented  Carlisle  from  becoming  a  pocket 
borough  in  the  hands  of  Sir  James,  who  was  created  Lord  Lonsdale  in 
1784,  but  an  arrangement  was  subsequently  made  by  which  he  con- 
trolled one  seat  and  the  Howards  the  other.  By  the  exercise  of  his 
powerful  influence  and  his  great  wealth  he  could  usually  return,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  two  seats  for  Cumberland  and  Carlisle,  two  members  each 
for  Westmorland  and  Cockermouth,  and  one  for  Appleby.  These,  with 
the  two  he  nominated  for  the  pocket  borough  of  Haslemere,  which  he 
purchased,  constituted  the  political  clique  known  as  '  Lord  Lonsdale's 
Ninepins,'  who  were  obliged  to  vote  in  parliament  according  to  his 
directions.  This  remarkable  politician  is  thus  satirized  in  a  contem- 
porary ballad  : — 

Even  by  the  elements  his  power  confessed  : 

Of  mines  and  boroughs  Lonsdale  stands  possessed, 

And  the  sad  servitude  alike  denotes 

The  slave  who  labours,  and  the  slave  who  votes. 

To  his  credit,  however,  it  must  be  put  down  that  he   returned  Pitt  for 
his  borough  of  Appleby,  and  opposed  the  American  war. 

The  leader  of  the  Carlisle  Whigs  in  the  election  of  1786  was  John 
Christian  of  Workington  Hall,  who  subsequently  adopted  the  name  of 
Curwen,  and  who  represented  either  the  city  or  the  county  with  a  short 
interval  till  his  death  in  1829.  During  this  long  period  there  is  no  man 
who  better  deserves  to  have  his  name  recorded,  whether  he  be  viewed  as 
a  parliamentary  representative  or  a  country  gentleman  devoted  to  the 
progress  of  agriculture.  Though  he  never  attained  the  first  rank  as  a 
parliamentarian,  his  public  services  were  considered  so  great,  that  he  is 
said  to  have  been  offered  a  peerage  by  two  prime  ministers,  which, 
however,  on  each  occasion  he  declined.  It  was  at  Mr.  Curwen's  feet 
that  young  Sir  James  Graham  of  Netherby  drank  in  that  political 
wisdom  which  was  to  bear  such  splendid  fruit  in  after  years.  Carlisle 
was  Graham's  first  constituency  in  Cumberland,  which  he  represented 
from  1826  to  1829.  On  the  death  of  J.  C.  Curwen  in  the  latter  year, 
he  resigned  Carlisle  and  was  returned  for  the  county,  where  he  remained 
till  his  defeat  in  1837.  After  serving  other  constituencies  outside  the 
home  counties  from  1837  to  1852,  he  was  recalled  to  Carlisle,  which  he 
represented  till  his  death  in  1861.  The  political  career  of  Sir  J.  R.  G. 
Graham  is  more  of  a  national  than  a  local  possession.2  He  was,  perhaps, 
the  most  illustrious  parliamentary  figure  the  county  of  Cumberland  has 
ever  produced,  illustrious  beyond  others  in  the  senate  and  the  state,  and 
no  less  useful  to  those  among  whom  he  was  born  and  died.  When  Mr. 
Gladstone,  who  had  been  for  twenty  years  in  the  habit  of  seeking  his 
advice,  heard  of  '  the  sad  and  unexpected  news  from  Netherby,'  he  wrote 
to  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland  that  he  had  lost  a  friend  whom  he  seemed 

1  R.  S.  Ferguson,  Cumbld.  and  Westmorld.  M.P.'s,  p.  208. 

»  A  Life  of  Sir  James  R.  G.  Graham  has  been  written  in  two  volumes  (London,  1863)  by  Mr. 
McCullagh  Torrens,  and  another  by  Dr.  Lonsdale  in  his  series  of  Cumberland  Worthies  (1868). 

312 


m 


JOHN  CHRISTIAN  CURWEN,  ESQ. 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

to  appreciate  the  more  because  the  world  appreciated  him  so  inade- 
quately ;  his  intellectual  force  could  not  be  denied,  but  he  had  never 
known  a  person  who  had  such  signal  virtues  that  were  so  little  under- 
stood.1 

The  Reform  Act  of  1832  made  considerable  changes  in  local  con- 
stituencies. Carlisle  and  Cockermouth  returned  their  two  members, 
but  Whitehaven  was  made  a  parliamentary  borough  with  a  single 
member ;  while  Cumberland  was  divided  into  two  divisions,  east  and 
west,  each  with  two  representatives.  The  last  election  under  the  old 
conditions  was  that  of  1831,  and  old  electors  have  often  told  the  tale 
how  on  that  occasion  they  walked  to  Cockermouth,  where  the  polling 
was  held,  from  the  most  distant  parts  of  the  county,  to  vote  for  'the  bill, 
the  whole  bill,  and  nothing  but  the  bill.'  Still  further  changes  followed 
under  the  Representation  Act  of  1884.  Cockermouth,  which  had  lost 
one  member  in  1867,  was  now  disfranchised  altogether  ;  Carlisle  lost  one 
of  its  seats  ;  and  Cumberland  was  parcelled  out  into  four  single  member 
constituencies,  called  respectively  the  Eskdale,  Penrith,  Cockermouth 
and  Egremont  divisions. 

»  Morley,  Life  of  W.  E.  Gladstone,  \\.  88. 


II 


313  40 


APPENDIX  No   I 


LIST  OF   SHERIFFS   OF   CARLISLE   OR    CUMBERLAND » 


Before  1 1 1 2  2     .   Richer  3 
Mich.  1129  or      Hildret 


earlier 

"57  • 

1165  . 

1172  . 


"74  • 


Mich.  1175  . 

»       "79  • 
„       1180  . 

East.  1185  . 

Mich.  1 1 86  . 

„  1187  . 

„  1188  . 

„      "97  • 
„      1198  . 

East.     1199  . 
Mich.  1 200  . 

",         1 201   . 

East.     1203  . 

99        99 

I  Dec.  1204. 

Mich.       „    . 
,,       1209  . 
30  Jan. 1213 
Mich.       „   . 
7  Jan.  1216  . 

II  Feb.  1222  , 

99  99       ' 

17  Mar.  „    , 
Mich.  1222  . 

,,       1223  . 

»       I224  • 

„       1225  . 


„       123° 
27  Jan. 1233 


.  Robert,  son  of  Troite 

.  Robert  Troite 

,.  Adam  his  son 

.  Adam  son  of  Robert  Troite 

.  Robert  de  Vaux 

CUMBERLAND 

.  Robert  de  Vaux  or  Vallibus 
.   Roger  de  Legecestria 
.  Robert  de  Vaux,  in  person 
.  Hugh  de  Morewich 
.  Nicholas  his  brother 
.   Nicholas  de  Morewich 
.   William  son  of  Aldelm 
.  Robert  de  Tateshale 
.  William  de  Stuteville 

John  le  Aleman 
.  Hugh  Bardulf 
.  William  de  Stuteville  4 

John  le  Aleman 
.  Philip  Escrop 
.  Robert  de  Curtenai 

Alan  de  Caudebec 
.   Roger    de    Lasci,    constable 

Chester 

.  Walter  Marescallus 
.   Hugh  de  Neville 
.   Robert  de  Ros 
.  Alan  de  Caudebec  8 
.  Robert  de  Vipont 
.  William  de  Rughedon  and 
.  Walter  Mauclerc 
.  Walter  Mauclerc  6 
.  Alan  de  Caudebec 
.  Walter,  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
.   Robert,     son     of     William 

Hampton 
.  Walter,  Bishop  of  Carlisle 

Robert,  son  of  William  de  Ham- 
ton,  or  Robert  de  Hamton 
.  Thomas,  son  of  John 
.  Thomas  de  Muletone  7 


of 


5  Feb.    1236 
30  May    „ 
East. 

Mich.       „ 
29  Apr.  1248 
22  Aug.  1255 
28  Oct.     „ 
Mich.        „ 
1259 

24-26  May  1260 
9    July    1261      . 
Mich.         „ 
20  Sept.  1265      . 

24  Oct.  1268     . 

26  Oct.  1270     . 
Mich.        „ 

1271     . 

8  May  1272  . 

17  Oct.  1274  . 

27  Oct.  1277  . 
Mich.  „ 

25  Oct.  1278  . 
14  Apr.  1282  . 
3  May  1283  . 

e«* 


de 


1  This   list   has  been   compiled,  unless  where  otherwise 
Mated,  from  the  List  of  Sheriffs,  published  by  the  Master  of 
the  Rolls. 

2  The  dates  here  given  are  those  of  appointment  or  of 
commencement  of  account. 

3  Reg.  of  ffetberbal,  p.  I. 

*  Robert  de  Nuers  occurs  as  sheriff  in  the  beginning   of 
the  ijth  century  (Rtg.  of  ffetberal,  pp.  96,  14.0,  255). 
8  Served  till  Mich.  1214. 
8  Account  in  his  name  begins  Mich.  1222. 
7  Accounted  from  Mich.  1232  to  East.  1236. 


East. 

Mids, 


99 

.    TllM      '.  1285 

14  June  1298 
"  T1"-      1303 


Charles  de  Garderoba  8 

William  de  Acra,or  de  Dacre.and 

John  de  Mora  9 

William  de  Acra  or  de  Dacre 

John  de  Bayll  or  Bailol 

Robert  de  Brus  10 

William,  Earl  of  Albemarle 

Remy  de  Poclinton 

William,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  in 

person 

Robert  de  Mulecastre  " 
Eustace  de  Bailliol 
Matthew  de  Eboraco 
Roger  de  Leyburne 
Walter  de  Morton,  his  clerk 
Ranulf  de  Dacre 
Robert,  Bishop  of  Carlisle 
Ralph  de  Pokelinton 
Matthew  Cardoil,  and 
Roger  de  Poklinton 
Richard  de  Crepping 
Robert  de  Hamtone 
John  de  Swynburn 
Michael  de  Newbigging 
Gilbert  de  Corwen  la 
William  de  Boyvill 13 
William  de  Boyvill,  knt." 
Robert  de  Brus 
Michael  de  Harcla 
Milliam  de  Mulecastre 
John  de  Lucy 
William  de  Mulecastre 
Alexander  de  Bastengthwaite 
Gilbert  de  Colewenn 
Alexander  de  Bastengthweyt. 
John  de  Castre  15 
Andrew  de  Hartcla  18 
John  de  Castre 
Andrew  de  Hartcla  17 
John  de  Castre  18 
Andrew  de  Hartcla  19 
Anthony  de  Lucy  so 
Andrew  de  Harcla 


3  Dec 

7  Oct.  1304 
26  Mar.  1307  . 
1 8  Nov.  1308 

4  Oct.  1309  . 
10  Apr.  1310  . 
15  Oct.  1311  . 
15  Dec.  „ 

25  Jan.  1312  . 

5  Feb.  1316  . 

8  June  1318  . 
20  July  1318  . 
8  Apr.  1319  . 

8  Did  not  account. 

9  Accounted  from  Easter  1236. 

10  Did  not  account. 

11  Accounted  till  Mich.  1261. 

12  Accounted     to    East.    1283,    though    ordered    to   be 
removed  from  office,  6  Dec.  1282. 

13  Did  not  account. 

1*  Did  not  account  :  elected  in  county  court. 

l5  Accounted  till  East.  1312. 

1*  Did  not  account. 

1'  Accounted  from  East.  1312. 

18  Accounted  from  Mich.  1315. 

1J  Did  not  account. 

20  Accounted  from  East.  1318. 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


11  Feb.  132^ 

23  July  „ 

24  Mar.  1325 
13  Apr.   „ 

4  Feb.  1327 

5  Dec.  1330 
27  Jan.  1336 

8  Feb.  1338 

12  May   „ 

19  Nov.  1341 
5  Nov.  1345 

16  Apr.  1350 

3  Nov.  1351 

4  Mar.  1354 

15  » 

16  Jan.  1355 
10  Nov.  1356 

3  Nov.  1358 
i  Oct.  1359 

24  Mar.  1360 

10  Dec.  1361 

20  Nov.  1362 

1 6  Nov.  1366 
20  May,  1367 
27  Nov.  1368 

5  Nov.  1371 
12  Dec.  1372 

7  Nov.  1373 
12  Dec.  1374 

4  Oct.  1375 
26  Oct.  1376 

9  Mar.  1377 
26  Nov.  „ 

25  Nov.  1378 

5  Nov.  1379 
1 8  Oct.  1380 

i  Nov.  1381 
24  „   1382 

I  »   1383 

11  Dec.  1384 

20  Oct.  1385 
1 8  Nov.  1386 
18  „   1387 

I  Dec.  1388 
15  Nov.  1389 

7  ..   139° 

21  Oct.  13;! 
18   „  1392 

17  Nov.  1393 
i  „   "394 
9  »>   r395 
i  Dec.  1396 
3  Nov.  1397 

17  »  1398 
30  Sept.  1399 
24  Nov.  1400 

8  „   1401 
29  „   1402 

5  »   !4°3 

22  Oct.   1404 


.  Anthony  de  Lucy 

.   Henry  de  Malton 

.   Hugh  de  Louthre 

.   Robert  Brun  or  le  Brun 

.   Peter  de  Tilliol  * 

.    Ranulf  or  Ralph  de  Dacrc 

.    Richard  de  Dcnton  a 

.   Rowland  de  Vaux 

.   Anthony  de  Lucy 

.   Hugh  de  Moriceby 

.  Thomas  de  Lucy 

.   Richard  de  Denton 

.   Hugh  de  Louthre 

.  William  de  Lye 

.   Hugh  de  Louthre 

.   William  de  Threlkeld 

.   Robert  Tilliol 

.   William  de  Lancastre 

.   Matthew  de  Redman  3 

.    Christopher  de  Moriceby  4 

.  Robert  Tilliol 

.   Christopher  de  Moriceby 

.  Robert  Tilliol  s 

.  William  de  Wyndesore  • 

.  Adam  Parvyng 

.  John  de  Denton 

.   Robert  Moubray,  knt. 

.  John  Derwentwater,  knt. 

.   John  de  Denton 

.   John  Derwentwater,  knt. 

.  John  Bruyne 

.  Roger  de  Clifford 

.  John  Derwentwater 

.   William  Stapelton 

.   Gilbert  Culwen,  knt. 

.   John  Derwentwater,  knt. 

.  Amand  Mounceux 

.   Robert  Parvynges,  knt. 

.   Amand  Mounceux 

.   John  Thirllewall  the  younger 

.   Amand  Mounceux 

.  John  Thrillewall 

.  Peter  Tilliol,  knt. 

.  John  Irby,  knt. 

.   Richard  Redeman 

.   Christopher  Moriceby,  knt. 

.  John  de  Irby,  knt. 

.  Thomas  Musgrave,  knt. 

.   Richard  Redeman,  knt. 

.   Peter  Tilliol,  knt. 

.   John  de  Ireby,  knt. 

.   Richard  de  Redeman,  knt. 

.   William  Culwen,  knt. 

,   Richard  Redeman,  knt. 

.  William  Legh  or  Lee,  knt. 

.   William  Lowther 

,   Richard  Redeman,  knt. 

,   William  Osmunderlowe,  knt. 

,  Peter  Tilliol  or  Tyliolf 

,  John  Skelton,  knt. 


1  Accounted  from  Mich.  1326. 

2  Accounted  from  Mich.  1335. 

3  Did  not  account. 

*  Accounted  from  Mich.  1359. 

6  Did  not  account. 

8  Accounted  from  Mich.  1366. 


22  Oct.    1405    .  Richard  Skelton 

5  Nov.   1406     .   William  Lowther 

23  „       1407    .   Robert  Louther,  knt. 

15  „       1408    .  John  Skelton,  knt. 
4    „       1409    .  John  de  Lamore 

29  „       1410    .   Robert  Rodyngton 

10  Dec.  1411     .   Richard  Redeman,  knt. 

3  Nov.  1412    .   William  Lye  or  de  Legh,  knt. 

6  „       1413     .   James  Haryngton 
10     „       1414    .   William  Stapelton 

i  Dec.   1415     .   Christopher  Culwen,  knt. 

30  Nov.  1416    .  John  Lancastre,  knt. 

10     „       1417     .   William  Osmunderlowe,  knt. 

4  „       1418    .   Robert  Louther,  knt. 

24  „       1419    .  John  Lamplogh,  knt. 

16  „       1420    .   William  Stapulton  the  elder 
i  May  1422     .  Nicholas  Radclif,  knt. 

14  Feb.  1423     .   William  Legh,  knt. 

13  Nov.  1423    .  Christopher  Culwen,  knt. 

6  „       1424    .   Christopher  Moriceby,  knt. 

15  Jan.    1426    .  Nicholas  Ratclyf,  knt. 
12     „       1427    .  John  Penyngton,  knt. 

7  Nov.  1427    .  Christopher  Culwen  or  Curwen, 

knt. 

4  „       1428    .  Thomas  Moresby,  knt.7 
10  Feb.  1430     .  Thomas  de  la  More 

5  Nov.  1430    .  John  Penyngton,  knt. 
26     „       1431     .   John  Skelton,  knt. 

5    „       1432    .  John  Lamplogh,  knt. 
5    „       1433    .  Christopher  Culwen  or  Curwen, 
knt. 

John  Penyngton,  knt. 

John  Broghton 

Henry  Fenwyk 

Christopher  Curwen,  knt. 

Christopher  Moresby,  knt. 

Hugh  Louther 

John  Skelton 

William  Stapilton 

Thomas  Beauchamp 

Thomas  de  la  More 

Christopher  Curwen 

John  Skelton 

John  Broghton 

Thomas  de  la  More 

Thomas  Crakenthorp 

Thomas  Curwen,  knt. 

John  Skelton 

Roland  Vaux 

Thomas  de  la  More 

No  sheriff  * 

John  Hodylston 

Hugh  Louther 

Thomas  Curwen,  knt. 

Richard  Salkeld 

Henry  Fenwick,  knt.9 

John  Penyngton,  knt. 

Christopher  Moresby  lo 

Richard  Salkeld  ll 

Rowland  Vaux 

7  Christopher  Moresby,  knt.,  accounted. 
9  Hugh  Lowther  afterwards  collected  what  he  could  for 
the  King.     See  Pipe  Roll. 

9  Account  rendered  by  his  executor. 

10  Did  not  account. 

11  Accounted  from  Mich.  1460. 


3  ,, 

H34 

7  „ 
8  „ 

H35 
H36 

7  » 
3  „ 

H37 
H38 

5  ,, 

"439 

4  » 

1440 

4  » 

6  „ 

1441 
1442 

4  » 

6  „ 

H43 
1444 

4  ,. 
4  ,, 

H4S 
1446 

9  ,, 
9  » 
20  Dec. 

J447 
1448 
1449 

3  ,, 
3  Nov. 

1450 
1451 

8  „ 

Mich. 
4  Nov. 

1452 
HS3 
HS4 

4  » 
17  » 

H5  S 
1456 

7  ,, 

7  » 

1457 
1458 

7  » 
7  „ 
6  Mar. 
7  Nov. 

HS9 
1460 

1461 
1461 

315 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Nov.  1463 
>.      H64 


5 

5  „ 
5  „ 
5  » 
Mich. 
5  Nov. 

5  ,, 

6  „ 


1466 

1467 
1468 

1469 
1470 


10  June  1471 
9  Nov.  1471 
9  »  H72 

5     » 

7    » 
1  8  Feb. 
Mich. 


H73 
M74 

H7S 
H74 
H77 
6  Nov.  1483 

Sept.  1485 

Nov. 


1486 
1487 
1488 
1489 
1490 
1491 
1492 

H93 
1494 

1 495 
'497 
H97 
1505 


12 

5 

4  » 

4  » 

5  » 

5  „ 

5  ,, 

26  „ 

7  ,, 
5  ,, 
5  » 

12  Feb. 

5  Nov. 

i  Dec. 

27  Nov.  1506 
3  Dec.  1507 

15  „   1508 

14  Nov.  1509 

9  ,,   IS'O 

8  „   IS" 
7  »   1512 

14  Apr.  1514 

7  Nov.  1514 

26  Apr.  1516 

10  Nov.  1516 

9  „   ISI7 

1518 
1519 
1520 
1522 
1522 

1523 
1524 
1526 


8  „ 
6  „ 
3  Feb. 

12  Nov. 

13  » 
10    „ 
27  Jan. 


John  Hodilston,  knt. 
Thomas  Lamplough,  knt. 
Richard  Salkeld 
Rowland  Vaux 
No  sheriff.1 
John  Hodilstone,  knt. 
William  Legh,  knt. 
Richard  Salkeld. » 
Christopher  Moresby,  knt.3 
William  Par,  knt. 
John  Hudilleston,  knt. 
William  Legh,  knt. 
Richard  Curweyn,  knt.4 
Richard,  Duke  of  Gloucester  5 
John  Hudleston,  knt. 
John  Crakenthorp,  knt. 
Richard  Salkeld  « 
Christopher  Moresby,  knt. 
Richard  Kirkeby ' 
Christopher  Moresby,  knt.8 
Thomas  Beauchamp 
John  Musgrave,  knt.9 
Henry  Denton  10 
Launcelot  Thirkeld 
Edward  Redmayn 
John  Musgrave,  knt. 
Richard  Salkeld,  knt. 
Christopher  Moresby,  knt.11 
Thomas  Beauchamp  12 
Christopher  Dacre 
John  Huddelston,  knt. 
Hugh  Hoton  or  Hutton 
John  Ratclyff 
Hugh  Hoton  or  Hutton 
Thomas  Curwen,  knt. 
John  Penyngton,  knt. 
John  Skelton  of  Armathwayt 
John  Crakenthorp 
Edward  Musgrave,  knt. 
John  Radclyf,  knt. 
John  Louther,  knt.13 
Thomas  Curweyn,  knt. 
Gawin  Eglesfeld 
John  Ratcliff,  knt. 
Edward  Musgrave,  knt. 
Thomas  Fayrefax 
Christopher  Dakres,  knt.14 
John  Penington 
John  Ratclyf,  knt. 
Christopher  Curwen 
Christopher  Dakres,  knt. 


1  J.  de  Appilby,  receiver,  was  exempted  by  pardon  from 
accounting  for  any  issues. 
^  Did  not  account. 

3  Accounted  from  Mich.  1470. 

4  Did  not  account. 

5  Pat.  14  Edw.  iv.  pt.  ii.  m.  4. 

6  Accounted  from  East.  1483. 

7  Did  not  account. 

8  Accounted  from  Mich.  1486. 
8  Accounted  to  Mich.  1491. 

10  Did  not  account. 

11  He  made  the  proffer  at  Easter  1496,  and  was  amerced 
for  non-attendance  at  Mich,   following,   but,   according   to 
Pipe  Roll,  Richard  Salkeld  was  sheriff. 

12  Accounted  from  Mich.  1496. 
1*  Accounted  from  Mich.  1515. 
I4  Accounted  from  Mich.  1521. 


7  Nov. 

1526 

16  „ 

1527 

7  „ 

1528 

9  » 

1529 

II    )T 

1530 

9  ,, 

1531 

20   „ 

IS32 

17  » 

1533 

14  .» 

IS34 

22   „ 

1535 

27   ,, 

IS36 

14   » 

1537 

IS  ,, 

IS38 

17  » 

1539 

17  » 

1540 

27  ,, 

1541 

22   „ 

IS42 

23   ,, 

1543 

16  „ 

1544 

22   „ 

IS45 

23   ,, 

1546 

27   „ 

1547 

3  Dec. 

1548 

12  Nov. 

1549 

» 

1550 

ii  » 

iSSi 

10  „ 

IS52 

8  „ 

1553 

H  » 

1554 

H  » 

1555 

13  ,, 

1556 

12  Apr. 

1557 

1  6  Nov. 

u 

23  „ 

1558 

9  » 

ISS9 

12   „ 

1560 

8  ,. 

1561 

20  Mar. 

1562 

19  Nov. 

1562 

8  „ 

1563 

9  ». 

1564 

17  July 

1565 

16  Nov. 

1565 

18  „ 

1566 

18  „ 

1567 

18  „ 

1568 

12   „ 

1569 

13  » 

1570 

14  » 

1571 

13  ,, 

IS72 

10   „ 

IS73 

IS  ,, 

IS74 

IS  », 

IS7S 

13  ,, 

1576 

27  ,, 

1577 

17  » 

1578 

23  », 

IS79 

21   „ 

1580 

27   „ 

1581 

S  Dec. 

1582 

.    John  Ratclyff,  knt. 

.   Edward  Musgravc,  knt. 

.   William  Pcnyngton,  knt. 

.   Thomas  Wharton 

.   Richard  Irton 

.   Christopher  Dacre,  knt. 

.   William  Musgrave,  knt. 

.   Christopher  Curwcn,  knt. 

.  Cuthbert  Hutton 

.   Thomas  Wharton,  knt. 

.   Thomas  Curwen,  knt. 

.  John  Lamplewe,  knt. 

.   John  Thwaites 

.   Thomas  Wharton,  knt. 

.   Thomas  Dawston  or  Dalston 

.   William  Musgrave,  knt. 

.   John  Loder  or  Lowther,  knt. 

.  Thomas  Salkeld 

.   Edward  Aglondby  or  Aglyonby 

.   Robert  Lamplugh 

.   Thomas  Sandeford 

.  Thomas  Wharton,  knt. 

.   John  Leigh  or  a  Lee 

.   John  Lamplugh 

.   John  Lother,  knt. 

.   Richard  Eglesfeld 

.   William  Penyngton 

.   Thomas  Leigh  of  St.  Bees 

.    Richard  Musgrave,  knt. 

.   Thomas  Sainford  or  Sandford 

.   Richard  Eglysfeld  15 

.   Robert  Lampleugh  18 

.   John  Legh 

.  William  Penyngton 

.  Thomas  Dacre  of  Lannercost,  or 

Thomas  Dacres  the  elder 
.  John  Lamplugh 
.   Hugh  Ascue,  knt.17 
.   Henry  Curwen18 
.   William  Musgrave 
.   Anthony  Hodleston 
.  Thomas  Dacre,  knt. 
.   Christopher  Dacres 19 
.  William  Pennyngton 
.   Richard  Lowther 
.   John  Dalston 
.   Cuthbert  Musgrave 
.   Simon  Musgrave 
.   Henry  Curwen,  knt. 
.  George  Lampleighe 
.  John  Lamplughe 
.   William  Musgrave 
.  Anthony  Hudleston 
.  Henry  Tolson  or  Towelson 
.   John  Dalston 
.   George  Salkeld  of  Corbridge 
.   Francis  Lampleugh 
.  John  Lamplugh 
.   Henry  Curwen,  knt. 
.   Christopher  Dacre 
.  Wilfrid  Lawson 


15  Did  not  account. 

1*  Accounted  for  whole  year. 

1'  Did  not  account. 

18  Accounted  from  Mich.  1561. 

19  On  death  of  Sir  Thomas  Dacre. 


316 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


25  Nov.  1583  .  John  Dalston 

19  „       1584  .  John  Middelton 
22     „       1585  .  George  Salkeld  1 
14     „       1586  .  John  Daulston 2 
Mich.       1587  .   George  Salkeld 
25  Nov.  1588  .   Richard  Lowther 
24     ,,       1589  .   Henry  Curwyn,  knt. 

24  „       1590  .   Christopher  Pykeringe 

25  „       1591  .  John  Southwicke 

16  „       1592  .   William  Musgrave 

20  „       1593  .   Gerard  Lowther 

21  „       1594  .  John  Dalston 

27  »       '595  •   Launcelot  Salkeld 

22  „       1596  .   Christopher  Dalston 
2S     »       IS97  •  Wilfrid  Lawson 

28  „       1598  .  Thomas  Salkeld 

2  Dec.  1599  .  Joseph  Pennyngton 

24  Nov.  1600  .   Nicholas  Curwen 

2  Dec.  idol  .  William  Orfeur 

7     „       1602  .   Edmund  Dudley 

1  „       1603  .   William  Hutton 

5  Nov.  1604  .  John  Dalston,  knt. 

2  Feb.  1606  .   Christopher  Pickeringe 

17  Nov.  1606  .  Wilfrid  Lawson,  knt. 

9     „       1607  .   Christopher  Pickeringe,  knt. 

12     „       1608  .   Henry  Blencoe  or  Blinko 

,,       1609  .   William  Hutton,  knt. 

6  Nov.  1610  .   Joseph  Pennington 

„       1611  .  Christopher  Pickeringe,  knt. 

„       1612  .   Wilfrid  Lawson,  knt. 

„       1613  .   Thomas  Lamplugh 

„       1614  .   Edward  Musgrave,  knt. 

„      1615  .  Richard  Fletcher 

1 1  Nov.  1616  .   William  Musgrave  of  Holme 

6     „       1617  .   William  Huddleston  of  Milham 

9    „       1618  .  George  Dalston,  knt. 

„       1619  .   Henry  Curwen,  knt. 

6  Nov.  1620  .  John  Lamplughe  of  the  Fells 

„       1621  .   Henry  Fetherstonhaughe 

7  ,,       1622  .  Thomas  Dudley 
II  May    1623  .   Edmund  Dudley 

16  July    1623  .  Thomas  Lamplughe,  knt. 

„       1623  .   Richard  Sanforde,  knt. 

„       1624  .   Richard  Fletcher,  knt. 

„       1625  .   Henry  Blincowe,  knt. 

„       1626  .   Peter  Senhouse 

4  Nov.  1627  .  Christopher  Dalston 

„       1628  .   William  Layton 

„       1629  .   William  Musgrave,  knt. 

7  Nov.  1630  .  Christopher  Richmond 

„       1631  .   Leonard  Dykes 

„       1632  .   John  Skelton 

10  Nov.  1633  .  William  Orfeur 

5  „       1634  .   Richard  Barwis 
„       1635  .   William  Lawson 

3  Oct.  1636  .   Patrick  Curwen,  bart. 

30  Sept.  1637  .  Thomas  Dacres  or  Darcye,  knt. 

4  Nov.  1638  .  Timothy  Fetherstonhaugh,  knt. 

„       1639  .  William  Penington 

„       1640  .  Christopher  Lowther 

„       1641  .  Henry  Fletcher,  bart. 

„      1645  .  Wilfrid  Lawson 

6  Feb.  1647  .  William  Orfeur 


13  Feb.   1647 

17    „       1647 

7  Nov.  1649 

21       „          1650 

4  »       1651 

12       „          1652 

24  Mar.  1653 
,,  1657 
„  1658 

5  Nov.  1660 

„  1661 

„  1662 

„  1663 

„  1664 

12  Nov.  1665 

7    „  1666 

6  „  !667 
6    „  1668 

ii     „      1669 
4    » 


2O 


9    »      1671 

11  „      1672 

»  1674 
10  Nov.  1676 
14  „  1678 
13  »  1679 

4  „   1680 

13  „   1682 

12  „    1683 

1684 

„    I685 

25  Nov.  1686 

5  Dec.  1687 
8  Nov.  1688 

18  „   1689 

27  „   1690 

14  Dec.  1691 
17  Nov.  1692 
16  „   1693 

19  Dec.  1694 

5  ,,   1695 

3  »   1696 

23  ,,   1697 

22   „    1698 

20  Nov.  1699 

28  „    1700 

1  Jan.  1702 

19  „   1702 
3  Dec.  1702 

2  Dec.  1703 

21  „   1704 

3  ,,   1705 
14  Nov.  1706 

20  „    1707 

29  „  1708 

I  Dec.  1709 


A^C(_.  i  /*-*y 

16  July,  1710 
_  >  Sept  """ 
13  Dec, 


1  JUI/>  »/«* 
26  Sept.  1710 
r»—  1711 


Accounted  till  Mich.  1588. 
3  Did  not  account. 


317 


11  „   1712 
30  Nov.  1713 
16  „   1714 

5  Dec.  1715 
25  June  1716 

12  Nov.  1716 

• 


.  Henry  Tolson 

.  John  Barwis 

.  Charles  Howard  of  Naward 

.  William  Briscoe 

.  John  Barwis 

.  Miles  Halton 

.  Wilfrid  Lawson,  knt. 

.  George  Fletcher,  bart. 

.  William  Pennington 

.  Daniel  Fleminge 

.  John  Lowther,  bart. 

.  Francis  Salkeld,  knt. 

.  John  Lamplough 

.  Edward  Musgrave,  knt. 

.  William  Dalston,  knt. 

.  Richard  Tolson 

.  William  Layton 

.  Miles  Penington 

.  Thomas  Curwen 

.  Anthony  Bouch 

.  Richard  Patrickson 

.  Barnard  Kirkbride 

.  William  Orfeur 

.  William  Blenerhassett 

.  Wilfrid  Lawson 

.  George  Fletcher,  bart. 

.  Leonard  Dykes  or  Dikes 

.  Edward  Hasell  or  Hassell 

.  Andrew  Huddleston 

.  Richard    Musgrave    of    Haton 

Castle,  bart. 

.  William  Pennington,  bart. 

.  John  Dalston,  bart. 

.  Henry  Curwen 

.  Edward  Stanley 

.  Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 

.  Richard  Lamplugh 

.  Christopher  Richmond 

.  Joseph  Huddlestone 

.  Henry  Brougham 

.  John  Ballantine,  knt. 

.  John  Ponsonby 

.  John  Latus 

.  Timothy  Fetherstonhaugh 

.  Thomas  Dawes 

.  Robert  Carleton 

.  Thomas  Lamplugh 

.  Christopher  Crakenthorp 

.  Richard  Crakenthorpe 

.  John  Dalston 

.  John  Senhouse 

.  John  Brisco 

.  Christopher  Curwen 

.  Robert  Pennington 

.  Richard  Lamplugh 

.  Richard  Hutton 

.  William  Ballentine 

.  Henry  Fairclough 

.  Robert  Blacklock 

.  John  Fisher 

.  Charles  Dalston,  bart. 
.  Thomas  Pattinson 

.  Humphrey  Senhouse 

.  Thomas  Brougham  of  Scales 
.   John  Nicholson 
.  Henry  Blencow 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


29  Nov. 

1726 

1  6  Dec. 

1727 

18  „ 

1728 

18  „ 

1729 

H  » 

1730 

9  » 

1731 

23  „ 

1731 

'4  » 

1732 

20   „ 

1733 

„ 

1734 

18  „ 

1735 

19  Jan. 

1737 

12  „ 

1738 

21  Dec. 

1738 

27  „ 

1739 

24  „ 

1740 

3  ^  )> 

1741 

16  „ 

1742 

21  Dec.  1717     .   Robert  Lamplugh  of  Dovenby  13   Feb.  1767 
21     „       1718    .  Thomas  Fletcher  of  Hutton 

6  Jan.    1719    .   John  Ponsonby  15  Jan.  1768 
3  Dec.   1719     .   John  Stanley 

3  Jan.    1721     .   Joshua  Laithes  27     „  1769 

14  Dec.  1721     .   Charles    Highmore    of    Arma-        9  Feb.  1770 

thwaite                                           6    „  1771 

„     1722     .   Peter  Brougham  17     „  1772 

7  Jan.    1724    .   Joseph  Dacre  Appleby                         8     „  1773 
10  Dec.  1724    .  John  Fletcher  of  Cleahay                   7     ,,  1774 

13  Jan.    1726     .  Thomas    Lutwidge    of    White- 

haven                                              6    „  1775 

John  Ballantine                                     5     „  1776 
Edward  Hasell  of  Dalmaine 

Gustavus  Thompson  31  Jan.  1777 

Eldred  Curwen  28     „  1778 

Richard  Musgrave,  bart.                    i  Feb.  1779 

Augustine  Erie                                      2     „  1780 
Edward  Stanley  of  Ponsonby 

Henry  Aglionby                                    5     „  1781 

John  Benn                                             I     „  1782 

Fletcher  Partis  10     „  1783 
John  Dalston  of  Milrigg 

William  Hicks  of  Whitehaven            9    „  1784 
John  Gaskarth  of  Hiltop                      7     „  1785 
Joseph  Dacre  Appleby  13     „  1786 
Richard  Cooke  of  Cammarton 
Montague  Farrer  28  June  1786 
Henry  Fletcher  of  Hutton  12  Feb.  1787 
Humphrey  Senhouse  of  Nether- 
hall                                                  8     „  1788 

5  Jan.    17/1/1     .   Jerome  Tullie  of  Carlisle  26  May  1789 

10  „       1745     .   Joshua  Lucock  of  Cockermouth 

16  „       1746    .   Christopher  Pattenson  of  Pen-  29  Jan.  1790 

rith                                                 4  Feb.  1791 

15  „       1747    .  Thomas  Whitefield  of  Clargill 

14  „       1748    .  Walter     Lutwidge    of    White- 

haven 

11  „       1749    .  Henry     Richmond     Brougham 

of  Highead  ' 

28  June  1749     .  John  Ponsonby  of  Hale  II     „  1795 

17  Jan.    1750    .   Richard  Hilton  of  Hilton  Castle,        5     „  1796 

bart.                                                i     „  1797 

6  Dec.  1750    .  George  Irton  of  Irton                        7    „  1798 

14  Jan.    1752    .  George     Dalston    of    Dalston, 

bart.                                                I     „  1799 

7  Feb.  1753     .   Henry  Curwen  of  Workington  21     „  1800 
31  Jan.    1754    .  William    Fleming    of    Skirwith, 

bart.                                                  4  June  1801 

29  »       J755    •  Timothy    Fetherstonhaugh    of 

Kirkoswald                                     3  Feb.  1802 

27    »       J7S6    •  Wilfrid    Lawson    of    Brayton,        3     „  1803 
bart. 

4  Feb.  1757     .   Edward  Stephenson  of  Keswick           i     „  1804 

27  Jan.    1758     .  John  Senhouse  of  Calder  Abbey         6     „  1805 
2  Feb.  1759     .   James  Spedding  of  Whitehaven 

23  Apr.  1759     .   John  Gale  of  Cleator                           I     „  1 806 
I  Feb.  1760     .   William  Dalston  of  Milrigge 

28  Jan.    1761     .  John  Langton                                       4     „  1807 

15  Feb.  1762     .  John  Richardson  of  Penrith                 3     „  1808 
4     „       1763     .  Henry  Aglionby  of  Nunnery 

10     „       1764    .  Henry  Ellison  of  Whitehaven              6     „  1809 

i     „       1765    .  Samuel  Irton  of  Irton  Jan.  1810 
17    „       1766    .  John  Christian  of  Unerigg 

8  Feb.  1811 

1  Died  in  office.  24  Jan.  l8l2 


3  „  1792 
6  „  1793 
5  »  1794 


.  Thomas    Lutwidge    of   White- 
haven 
Wilfrid    Lawson,    of     Brayton, 

bart. 

John  Robinson  of  Watermillock 
,   Michael  le  Fleming  of  Skirwith 
John  Spedding  of  Armathwaite 
William  Hicks  of  Papcastle 
John  Dixon    of  Whitehaven 
.   George  Edward  Stanley  of  Pon- 
sonby 

Anthony  Benn    of  Hensingham 
Roger  Williamson     of  Snettle- 

garth 

Robert  Walters  of  Whitehaven 
John  Brisco  of  Crofton 
Williams  Hasell  of  Dalemain 
Henry  or  Christopher  Aglionby 

of  Nunnery 

Thomas  Storey  of  Mirehouse 
William  Dacre  of  Kirklinton 
John  Orfeur  Yates  of  Skerwith 

Abbey 

John  Christian  of  Unerig 
Edward  Knubley  of  Wigton 
James    Graham    of    Netherby, 

bart. 

William  Wilson  of  Brakenbar 
.  Thomas  Whelpdale  of  Skirsgill 

Hall 

.   Frank  Vane  of  Hutton,  bart. 
.  Thomas    Denton    of     Warnell 

Hall 

William  Browne  of  Tallentire 
.   Edmund     Lamplugh    Irton    of 

Irton 

Edward  Hasell  of  Dalemain 
Thomas  Pattenson'of  Melmerby 
William    Henry    Milbourne     of 

Armathwaite  Castle 
James  Graham  of  Netherby,  bart. 
James  Graham  of  Barrock  Lodge 
Hugh  Parkin  of  Skirsgill 
Richard    Hodgson    of    Carlisle, 

knt. 

John  Hamilton  of  Whitehaven 
John  Charden  Musgrave  of  Eden- 
hall,  bart. 
Wilfrid  Lawson  of  Brayton  Hall, 

bart. 

Edward  Lawson  of  Dalemain 
Robert  Warwick  of  Warwick 

Hall 

John  de  Whelpdale  of  Penrith 
Charles  Smallwood  Featherston- 

haugh  of  Kirkoswald 
Joseph  Dykes  Ballantine  Dykes 

of  Dovenby 

John  Tomlinson  of  Briscoe  Hill 
Thomas  Irwin  or  Irvin  of  Jus- 
tice Town 

Miles  Ponsonby  of  Hail  Hall 
Henry  Fletcher  of  Clea  Hall 

bart. 

John  Losh,  of  Woodside 
Thomas  Hartley  of  Linethwaite 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


10  Feb.  1813  . 


4    » 
13    „ 

12       „ 
12      „ 

24  Jan. 
10  Feb. 
12  „ 

6    „ 

4    » 

31  J^. 


2  Feb. 

30  Jan. 

5  Feb. 

13     ,» 

28  Apr. 

II  Feb. 

2  „ 

31  Jan. 

6  Feb. 

r  )> 

3  ,, 

7  ,. 

8  „ 
2  „ 

6      : 


S  ,, 

5  » 

4  » 

3  " 

6  „ 


1814  . 

1815  . 

1816  . 

1817  . 

1818  . 

1819  . 

1820  . 

1821  . 

1822  . 

1823  . 

1824  . 

1825  . 

1826  . 

1827  . 

1828  . 

1828  . 

1829  . 

1830  . 

1831  . 

1832  . 

1833  • 

1834  . 


1836  . 

1837  . 

1838  . 

1839  . 

1840  . 

1841  . 

1842  . 

1843  . 
1844 

1845  U 


2      „         1846      . 


4    •> 
ii     ,, 


1847  . 

1848  . 


13    »      I849 


5    ,* 
ii    „ 

2      „ 


1850  . 

1851  . 

1852  . 


Wastell  Brisco  of  Crofton  Place, 

bart. 

Thomas  Benson  of  Wreay  Hall 
William  Ponsonby  Johnson  of 

Walton  House 
William    Brown     of    Tallantire 

Hall 
Philip    Musgrave   of    Edenhall, 

bart. 

Milham  Hartley  of  Rosehill 
Thomas  Salkeld  of  Carlisle 
Wilfrid  Lawson  of  Brayton 

House 

John  Marshall  of  Hallstead 
William  Crackenthorpe  of  Bank 

Hall 
Edward    Stanley   of    Ponsonby 

Hall 
Thomas  Henry  Graham  of  Ed- 

mund Castle 

Matthew  Atkinson  of  Staingills 
Humphrey  Senhouse  of  Nether- 

hall 

William  James  of  Barrock  Park 
Thomas  Parker  of  Warwick  Hal] 
William  Blamire  of  Thackwood 

Nook 
Edward    Williams    Hasell     of 

Dalemain 
Christopher      Parker,    Petterill 

Green 

John  Taylor,  Dockray 
Henry  Howard,  Corby  Castle 
Henry  Curwen,  Workington 
Henry  Howard,1  Greystoke 
Richard  Ferguson,  Harker  Lodge 
Thomas  Irwin,  Calder  Abbey 
Sir  Francis  Fletcher  Vane,  bart., 

Armathwaite 
John  Dixon,  Knells 
Thomas  Hartley,  Gillfoot 
Sir    George     Musgrave,     bart., 

Edenhall 
James    Robertson   Walker,    Gil- 

garron 
Fretchvill    Lawson    Ballantyne 

Dykes,  Dovenby  Hall 
Robert  Hodgson,  Salkeld  Hall 
George  Harrison,  Linethwaite 
Timothy  Fetherstonhaugh,  Kir- 

koswald 
Joseph    Pocklington     Senhouse, 

Netherhall 

Gilf  rid  William  Hartley,  Rosehill 
Henry  Dundas  Maclean,  Lazon- 

by  Hall 
Andrew      Fleming     Hudleston, 

Hutton  John 

Thomas  Salkeld,  Holm  Hill 
George  Head  Head,  Rickerby 
George  Henry  Oliphant,  Broad- 
field 


1  The  names  of  the  sheriffs  from  1834  to  1904  have 
been  taken  from  the  official  record  kept  by  the  Clerk  of 
the  Peace  of  Cumberland. 


7  Feb.   1853     .   Francis  Baring  Atkinson,  Ramp- 

beck 

30  Jan.    185.).    .   Thomas   Alison    Hoskins,    Hig- 
ham 

8  Feb.  1855     .   Thomas  Story  Spedding,  Mire- 

house 

30  Jan.    1856     .   Sir  Henry    Ralph    Vane,  bart., 
Hutton  Hall 

2  Feb.   1857     .   Charles  Fetherstonhaugh,  Staf- 

field  Hall 

3  „       1858     .   Anthony  Benn  Steward,  Chapel 

House 
3     „       1859    .  Gamel   Augustus,    Lord  Mun- 

caster 
23  Jan.    1860     .   Philip    Henry    Howard,   Corby 

Castle 

Thomas  Ainsworth,  The  Flosh 
Samuel  Lindow,  Cleator 
William    Nicholson     Hodgson, 

Newby  Grange 
Thomas     Brocklebank,     Green- 

lands 
William  Postlethwaite,The  Oaks, 

Millom 
Sir     Frederick    Ulric     Graham, 

bart.,  Netherby 
William  Edward  James,  Barrock 

Park 

Sir  Robert  Brisco,  Crofton  Hall 
John  Ewart,  Kingfield  House 
Timothy  Fetherstonhaugh,  Kir- 

koswald 

William  Banks,  Highmoor 
George  Moore,  Whitehall 
Thomas  Holme  Parker,  Warwick 

Hall 

John  Lindow,  Ehen  Hall 
John  Porter  Foster,  Kilhow 
George   John   Johnson,    Castle- 

steads 

1877  .  Jonas    Lindow    Burns   Lindow, 

Irton  Hall 

1878  .   Frederic  John  Reed,  Hassness 

1879  .  Henry  Charles  Howard,   Grey- 

stoke  Castle 

26  „       1880    .  James  Lumb,  Homewood 

2  Mar.  1  88  1    .  Samuel  Porter  Foster,  Kilhow 

27  Feb.  1882     .   George  Routledge,  Stonehouse 

3  Mar.  1883    .  Jonas  Lindow,  Ehen  Hall 

4  „       1884    .   Henry      Anthony      Spedding, 

Mirehouse 

5  „       1885    .  Lamplugh  Fretchvill  Ballantine 

Dykes,  Dovenby  Hall 

1886  .  Henry  Pearson  Banks,  Highmoor 

1887  .  Thomas   Hartley,   Armathwaite 

Hall 

1888  .  Henry   Fraser   Curwen,  Work- 

ington 

6  Apr.  1889     .  Edwin  Hodge  Banks,  Highmoor 
21  Mar.  1890    .  Henry  Jefferson,  Springfield 

20    „       1891    .  John  Stirling  Ainsworth,  Hare- 
croft 

1892  .  Humphrey     Pocklington     Sen- 

house,  Netherhall 

1893  .  George  William  Mounsey  Hey- 

sham,  Castletown 


4  Feb. 

5  „ 
3  ,, 

1861 
1862 
1863 

3  ,, 

1864 

4  ., 

1865 

3  ,. 

1866 

2  ,, 

1867 

30  Jan. 
4  Feb. 
5  „ 

1868 
1869 
1870 

8  „ 
S  » 
5  „ 

1871 
1872 
1873 

2  „ 

4  » 
12  „ 

1874 
1875 
1876 

(.  .- 


22 
22 


8 
7 

17 


16 


3*9 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


io  Mar.  1894 

8    „       1895 

6  „       1896 

26  Feb.    1897 

7  Mar.  1898 


Sir     Richard    James     Graham,  7  Mar.  1899 

bart.,  Netherby  3  „  1900 
Joseph  Harris,  Calthwaite 

Louis  Carruthers  Salkeld,  Holm  9  „  1901 

Hill  6  „  1902 
Colonel  ^Thomas  Angelo  Irwin, 

Lynehow  12  „  1903 

George    Graham     Kirklinton,  7  „  1904 

Kirklinton  Hall 


William  Parkin  Moore,  Whitehall 
Charles  Lacy  Thompson,  Milton^" 

Hall 

Hamlet  Riley,  Ennim 
Captain  William  Percy  Standish, 

Breckonhill  Tower 
Thomas  Dixon,  Rheda 
Richard    Heywood  Thompson,     /^ 

Nunvvick  Hall 


APPENDIX   No   II 


KNIGHTS   OF   THE    SHIRE    ELECTED    FOR   CUMBERLAND1 


1290   .      .   Walter  de  Mulcaster 

Hubert  de  Multon 

William  de  Boyvill 
1295    .      .   Robert  de  Haveryngton 

Hubert  de  Multon 

1297  .      .   William  de  Boyvill 

Robert  de  Wytering 

1298  .      .   No  returns  found 
1299-1300  Richard  de  Cleter 

Robert  de  Witerige 
1300-1301  John  de  Wyggeton 

Robert  de  Tilliol 
1 302  .  .  Robert  de  Joneby 

Nicholas  de  Moresby 
1304-5     .  John  de  Wygeton 

1306  .      .  John  de  Lucy 

Walter  de  Bampton 
1 306-7     .  [John  de  Denton  a 

William  de  Langrigg] 

1 307  .     .  Richard  le  Brun 

Alexander  de  Bastenthueit 
1309  .      .  William  de  Mulcastre 

Alexander  de  Bastenthuit 
1311   .      .  Robert  de  Leyburn 

Walter  de  Bampton 

1311  .     .  William  de  Mulcastre 

Henry  de  Malton 

1312  .      .  Andrew  de  Hartcla 

Alan  de  Grensdale  or  Grynnesdale 
1312-13    .   No  returns  found 

1313  .      .No  returns  found 

1313  .      .   John  de  Wygeton 

Robert  de  Layburne 

1314  .      .   No  returns  found 
1314-15   .  Robert  de  Tilliol 

Henry  de  Malton 
1315-16  .  No  returns  found 
1316  .  .  Alexander  de  Bastenthwayt 

Walter  de  Kirkbrid 
1316  .     .  Robert  le  Brune 

1  The  following  lists  of  knights  and  burgesses  before  1880 
have  been  compiled  from  the  Parliaments  of  England,  printed 
by  order  of  the  House  of  Commons  ;  those  of  later  date  have 
been  collected  from  various  sources. 

2  These  two  names  are   found  in  the  Writ  de  Expensis 
without  reference  to  any  county,  but  there  is  little  doubt 
that  they  belong  to  Cumberland, 


1316  .      .   John  de  Skelton 

1318  .      .  John  de  Boyvill 

Adam  de  Skelton 

1319  .      .   Robert  de  Laybourn 

Alexander  de  Bastenthwayt 

1320  .      .  Alexander  de  Bastenthweyt 

Robert  le  Broun 

1321  .      .   Robert  de  Leybourn 

William  de  Aykeheved 

1322  .      .  Peter  Tyliol 
1322   .      .   Henry  de  Malton 

No  returns  found 
1323-4     .   Hugh  de  Louthre 
John  de  Orreton 

1324  .      .  Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Skelton 

1325  .     .  Robert  de  Mulcastre,  knt. 

Robert  Parvynk 
1326-7     .  Robert  le  Brun 
John  de  Orreton 

1327  .      .  John  de  Orreton 

Robert  Parvynk  or  Parvyng 
1327-8     .   Peter  de  Tilliol 
Robert  Parvyng 

1328  .     .  Robert  de  Eglefeld 

Richard  de  Salkeld 
1328   .     .  Peter  de  Tilliol 

John  de  Skelton 
1328-9     .  No  return  found 
1329-30  .  John  de  Orreton 

Thomas  de  Hardegill 

1330  .     .  Peter  de  Tilliol 

John  de  Orreton 

1331  .     .  Richard  de  Denton 

Robert  Parvyng 
1331-2     .  Richard  de  Denton 
Robert  Parvyng 

1332  .      .   Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Haveryngton 
1332  .     .  Peter  de  Tilliol 

Richard  de  Denton 
1 333-4     •  Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Haveryngton 

1334  .      .   Hugh  de  Moriceby 

William  Lengleys,  nepos,  or  Lenglis  le 
Cosyn 

1335  .     .  Peter  de  Tillioll 
320 


.   Richard  de  Denton 
.  John  de  Orreton 

Henry  de  Manton 
.  No  returns  found 
.  Peter  de  Tilliol 

Richard  de  Denton 
.   Richard  de  Denton 

Hugh  de  Moriceby 
.  John  de  Orreton 

Thomas  de  Skelton 
.  Thomas  de  Hardegill 

Richard  de  Bery 
.   Peter  de  Tilliol 

John  de  Haveryngton 
.  John  de  Orreton 

John  de  Haveryngton 
.   John  de  Orreton 

John  de  Haveryngton 
.   Peter  de  Tilliol 

John  de  Orreton 
.   Peter  de  Tilliol 

Hugh  de  Louthre 
.  Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Orreton 
.   Hugh  de  Louthre 

Henry  de  Malton 
.  No  returns  found 
.  Peter  de  Tillioll 

John  de  Orton 
.  John  de  Orreton 

Thomas  de  Hardgill 
.   Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Orreton 
.   Richard  de  Denton 

Robert  de  Tillioll 
.   Henry  de  Malton 
.   Richard  de  Denton 
.  Thomas  de  Rokebj 

Thomas  de  Hardegill 
.   Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Orreton 
.   John  de  Orreton 

Robert  de  Tillioll 
.  Robert  de  Tillioll 

Adam  Parvyng 
.   John  de  Orreton,  knt. 

Christopher  de  M 
.  Henry  de  Malton 

Robert  de  Tillioll 
.  Robert  de  Tillioll,  knt. 

William  Lengleys  or  ] 
.   William  Lengleys,  chi 

Christopher  de  Mori 
.   Robert  de  Tillioll,  ki 

William  Engleys,  knt. 
.   Christopher  de  Morie 

William  de  Stapilton 
.  James  de  Pykery 

John  de  Denton 
.   William  Lengley 

Robert  Moubraj 
.   Robert  Culwenne 

William  de  Stapilton 
.  Gilbert  Culwenne 


1  Curwenne  in  the  enrolment  of  the  Writ  de  Expensis. 


1335  • 
1335-6 

1336  . 
1336-7 

1337  • 
1337-8 

1338  . 
1338-9 

1339  • 
1339-4° 
134°  • 
1341  . 

1343  • 

1344  • 

1346  . 
1347-8 

1348  . 
1350-1 
1351-2 
1352  • 

1353  • 

1354  • 

1355  • 
1357  • 
1357-8 
1360  . 
1360-1 

1362  . 

1363  - 

1364-5 
1366  . 

1368  . 

1369  . 
1370-1 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 

on                                    1372  . 

.   Robert  Moubray,  knt. 

John  de  Denton 

»                                       1373  • 

.   Gilbert  de  Culwen,  chivaler 

I 

Adam  Parvyng,  chivaler 

1375-6 

.   Gilbert  de  Culwenn,  chivaler 

in 

William  Stapelton 

in                                        1376-7 

.   John  de  Denton 

y 

Amand  Monceux 

'377  • 

.   Robert  Moubray,  chivaler 

n 

Richard  del  Sandes 

:gill                                       1378   . 

.  Peter  Tillioll 

Clement  de  Skelton 

"379  • 

.   John  Derwentwatre 

>ton 

Thomas  de  Whitrigg 

1379-80 

.   Robert  de  Moubray,  chivaler 

;ton 

William  de  Culwen,  chivaler 

1380   . 

.   Peter  Tillioll 

;ton 

William  de  Huton  in  the  Forest 

1381   . 

.   Gilbert  de  Culwen 

John  de  Denton 

1382  . 

.   Richard  de  Salkeld 

John  Dalmore 

in                                      1382  . 

.   Clement  de  Skelton 

Thomas  Bowet 

i                                        1382-3 

.   Clement  de  Skelton,  chivaler 

John  de  Dalston 

1383  • 

.   Thomas  de  Blenkansop 

Amand  Mounceux 

1384  . 

.   John  de  Corkeby 

John  de  Brouham 

;ill                                    1384  . 

.   John  de  Ireby,  chivaler 

in 

Thomas  de  Lamplogh,  chivaler 

1385   - 

.   Peter  de  Tillioll,  chivaler 

>n 

Richard  de  Beuleu 

I                                        1386  . 

.   Amand  Mounceux 

i 

John  de  Thirlwall,  jun. 

m                                     1387-8 

.  John  de  Derwentwatre,  chivaler 

by  le  Cosyn 

John  de  Ireby,  chivaler 

:gill                                    1388   . 

.  Robert  de  Mulcastre,  chivaler 

jn 

Amand  Mounceux 

1389-90 

.  William  de  Threlkeld,  knt. 

Amand  Mounceux,  knt. 

1                                          139°   • 

.   William  de  Stapilton 

1 

Thomas  del  Sandes 

1391    . 

.   Peter  Tillioll 

knt. 

Robert  de  Louther  2 

[oriceby                             I392~3 

.  Geoffrey  Tilliol,  knt. 

i 

William  de  Louthre,  knt. 

1                                          1393-4 

.  Clement  de  Skelton 

1,  knt. 

Robert  de  Louther 

or  Lenglish,  knt.            I394~5 

.   William  Stapilton 

i,  chivaler 

Thomas  del  Sandys 

Vforiceby                            1396-7 

.  John  de  Ireby,  chivaler 

11,  knt. 

Clement  de  Skelton,  chivaler 

knt.                                 1397-8 

.   Peter  Tillioll 

[oriceby 

William  de  Osmundrelawe 

Iton                                    1399  . 

.  William  de  Leegh,  chivaler 

ig,  knt. 

Rolland  Vaux 

1400-1 

.   Robert  de  Louther 

,  chivaler 

William  de  Stapilton 

,  chivaler                          1402  . 

.   William  de  Legh 

• 

John  de  Skelton 

Iton                                  1403   . 

.  Robert  de  Louther,  chivaler 

e  * 

William  de  Louther,  chivaler 

a  Loweyer  in  the  enrolment  of  the  Writ  de  Expensis. 
321  41 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


1404   .      .   John  de  la  More,  chivaler 

William  de  Bewelieu,  chivaler 

1405-6     .  Robert  de  Louther,  chivaler 
John  de  Skelton,  chivaler 

1407  .     .  William  Stapilton 
William  Dalmore 

1411   .     .  No  returns  found 

1413  .      .   Peter  Tillioll,  knt. 

William  de  Beaulieu 
1413-14   .   Robert  de  Louthre,  chivaler 
William  del  Legh,  chivaler 

1414  .      .   Christopher  de  Culwen,  knt. 

John  de  Eglesfeld 

1415  .      .   No  returns  found 
1415-16   .   John  de  Lancastre,  chivaler 

William  de  Stapilton,  sen. 
1417   .      .   Peter  Tillioll,  knt. 

Robert  de  Louthre,  knt. 

1419  .      .  William  Legh,  knt. 

Richard  Restwold 

1420  .     .  Peter  Tillioll,  chivaler 

Thomas  Delamore 

1421  .      .  John  de  Lamplough,  knt. 

Richard  Restwold,  jun. 

1421  .      .   Peter  Tillioll,  chivaler 

Nicholas  Redclyff,  chivaler 

1422  .      .   Peter  Tillioll,  chivaler 

John  Skelton,  chivaler 

1423  .      .  Christopher  Culwen,  knt. 

William  del  Legh,  jun.,  knt. 
1425   .      .   Peter  Tillioll 

Christopher  Culwen 
1425-6     .  Peter  Tillioll,  chivaler 

Hugh  de  Louthre,  esq. 
1427  .      .   Christopher  Curwen,  chivaler 

Nicholas  Radcliffe,  chivaler 
1429  .     .  Thomas  Parr 

Thomas  de  la  More 
1430-1     .  Christophet  Curwen,  chivaler 

Hugh  Louther 

1432  .     .  Christopher  Curwen,  chivaler 

John  Penyngton,  chivaler 

1433  .     .  William  Leigh,  chivaler 

William  Laton,  esq. 
1435   .     .  Thomas  Curwen,  esq. 

William  Dikes 
1436-7     .  William  Stapilton 

John  Broughton 
1441-2     .  Ralf  de  Dacre,  esq. 

Thomas  Curwen,  esq. 
1446-7     .  John  Penyngton,  esq. 

William  Martyndale,  esq. 
1448-9     .  Thomas  Curwen 

Hugh  Louther 

1449  .      .  John  Skelton 

Richard  Belyngham 

1450  .      .  Thomas  Crakanthorp,  esq. 

Thomas  Dalamore  or  Delamore,  esq. 
1452-3     .  John  Skelton,  esq. 

Roland  Vaux,  esq. 
1455  .     .  Thomas  Colt,  esq. 

Thomas  Delamere,  esq. 

1459  .     .  Thomas  Curwen,  knt. 

William  Legh,  esq. 

1460  .      .   No  returns  found 
1467  .     .  John  Huddilston,  knt. 


1467  .  . 

1472  .  . 

1477-8  . 

1529  .  . 

1541-2  . 

I54S  •  • 

1547  •  • 

1552-3  . 

1553  •  • 

1554  .  . 

1554  .  . 

1555  •  • 
1557-8  . 

1558-9  . 

1562-3  . 

1572  .  . 

1584  .  . 

1586  .  . 

1588-9  . 

1592-3  . 

1597  .  ; 
1601   . 

1603-4  • 
1614  . 

1620-1  . 

1623-4  . 

1625  .  . 

1625-6  . 

1627-8  . 

1640  .  '. 

1640  . 
(Long  Par 
liament) 

1646  .  . 


Richard  Salkeld,  esq. 

John  Parr,  knt. 

Richard  Salkeld. 

William  Par,  knt. 

James  Moresby 

Christopher  Dacre 

John  Leigh 

Thomas  [Wh]arton 

Thomas    Wharton,   son    and    heir    of 

Thomas  Lord  Wharton 
Cuthbert  Huton,  esq. 
Thomas  Warton,  knt. 
Richard  Musgrave,  esq. 
Richard  Musgrave,  knt. 
Henry  Curwen,  esq. 
Thomas  Wharton,  knt. 
Thomas  Dacres,  jun.,  knt. 
John  Leigh,  esq. 
Robert  Penruddock,  esq. 

esq.' 

Robert  Penruddok,  esq. 
Thomas  .  .  .    l 
Henry  Curwen,  esq. 
Leonard  Dacres,  esq. 
John  Dalstone,  esq. 
No  returns  found 
Leonard  Dacres,  tsq. 
Henry  Curwen,  esq. 
Simon  Musgrave,  knt. 
Edward  Scroope,  esq. 
No  returns  found 

Robert  Bowes,  esq.,  treasurer  of  Berwick 
Henry  Leighe,  esq. 
Thomas  Scroope,  knt. 
Robert  Bowes,  esq. 
Nicholas  Curwen,  esq. 
Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
Joseph  Pennington 
Christopher  Pickerringe 
William  Huddleston,  esq. 
Gerard  Lowther,  esq. 
Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
Edward  Musgrave,  esq. 
William  Lawson,  knt. 
Thomas  Penruddock,  knt. 
George  Dalston,  knt. 
Henry  Curwen  knt. 
George  Dalston,  knt.,  of  Dalston 
Ferdinand  Hudleston,  esq.,  of  Millome 
George  Dalston,  knt.,  of  Dalston 
Patrick  Curwen,  esq.,  of  Workington 
George  Dalston,  knt. 
Patrick  Curwen,  esq. 
George  Dalston,  knt. 
Patrick  Curwen,  bart. 
George  Dalston,  knt. 
Patrick  Curwen,  bart. 
George  Dalston,  knt. 
•  Patrick  Curwen,  bart. 

William  Ermyn,  esq.,  and  Richard 
Tolson,  esq.,  vice  George  Dalston, 
knt.,  and  Patrick  Curwen,  bart.,  dis- 
abled to  sit 

1  Returns  defaced. 


322 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


1654  •      •  Charles  Howard,  csq. 

William  ....  i 
1656  .  .  No  return  found 
1658-9  .  No  return  found 

1660  .     .  Col.  Lord  Charles  Howard 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  knt. 

1661  .     .  Patrick  Curwen,  bart. 

George  Fletcher,  bart. 

1664-5     .  John   Lowther,  bart.,  of   Whitehaven 
vice  Patrick  Curwen,  bart.,  deceased 
1678-9     .  John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 

Richard  Lamplugh,  esq. 
1679  .     .  Edward  Lord  Morpeth 

John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 
1680-1     .   George  Fletcher,  bart. 

John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 
1685   .      .   Richard  Viscount  Preston 

John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 
1688-9     •  George  Fletcher,  bart.,  of  Hutton 

John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 
1689-90   .  George  Fletcher,  bart. 

John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 
1695   .     .  George  Fletcher,  bart. 

John  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 
1698  .     .  George  Fletcher,  bart. 

John  Lowther,  bart. 
1700-1      .   Richard  Musgrave,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 

1701  .     .   Edward  Hasell,  knt. 

George  Fletcher,  esq. 

1702  .      .   Richard  Musgrave,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1705   .      .   George  Fletcher,  esq. 

Richard  Musgrave,  esq. 
1708   .      .   James  Lowther,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1710   .      .  James  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Whitehaven 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq.,  of  Brayton 
1713   .      .   James  Lowther,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1714-15    .  James  Lowther,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1722   .      .  Christopher  Musgrave,  bart. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1727   .      .  James  Lowther,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1734  .      .  James  Lowther,  bart. 

Joseph  Pennington,  bart. 
1741   .      .  James  Lowther,  bart.,  of  Whitehaven 

Joseph   Pennington,    bart.,    of    Mun- 

caster. 
1744-5     .  John  Pennington,  bart.,  vice  Sir  Joseph 

Pennington,  deceased 
1747  .     .  James  Lowther,  bart. 

John  Pennington,  bart. 

1754  .      .  James  Lowther,  bart. 

John  Pennington,  bart. 

1755  .      .  William    Lowther,   bart.,   of    White- 

haven,  vice  Sir  James  Lowther,  de- 
ceased 

1756  .     .  William     Fleming,    bart.,    vice     Sir 

William  Lowther,  deceased 
'757  •     •  Jarnes  Lowther,  bart.,  vice  Sir  William 
Fleming,  deceased 


1  Return  torn. 


1761  .      .  John  Pennington,  bart. 

James  Lowther,  bart. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart.,  vice  Sir  James 
Lowther,  who  elected  to  sit  for  West- 
morland 

1762  .      .  James   Lowther,  bart.,  vice   Sir   Law- 

son,  deceased 
1768   .      .   Henry  Fletcher,  esq.a 

Henry  Curwen,  esq. 
'774   •      •   James  Lowther,  bart. 

Henry  Fletcher,  esq. 
1780   .      .  James  Lowther,  bart. 

Henry  Fletcher,  esq. 
1784  .      .  Henry  Fletcher,  bart. 

William  Lowther,  esq. 
1790  .      .  Henry  Fletcher,  bart.,  of  Clea 

Humphrey  Senhouse,  esq.,  of  Nether- 
hall 
1796   .      .  Henry  Fletcher,  bart.,  of  Clea 

John   Lowther,   esq.,  of  Swillington, 

Yorks. 
1802  .     .  Henry  Fletcher,  bart. 

John  Lowther,  esq. 

1806  .•     .  John   Lowther,   esq.,   of   Swillington, 

Yorks. 

George  Howard,  commonly  called 
Lord  Viscount  Morpeth 

1807  .      .  John  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swillington 

George  Howard,  called  Lord  Morpeth 
1812  .      .  John  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swillington 

George    Howard,    esq.,    of    Na worth 
Castle,    commonly    called    Viscount 
Morpeth 
1818   .      .  John  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swillington 

George  Howard,  Lord  Morpeth 
1820   .      .  John  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swillington 

John  Christian  Curwen,  esq.,  of  Work- 

ington  Hall 
1826   .      .   John  Lowther,  bart. 

John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 

1829  .      .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart., 

of    Netherby,   vice   John   Christian 
Curwen,  deceased 

1830  .      .  John  Lowther,  bart. 

James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 
James  Robert   George  Graham,  bart., 
re-elected  after  appointment 

1831  .      .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 

William  Blamire,  esq.,  of  Thackwood 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

1833   .     .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart., 

of  Netherby 
William  Blamire,  esq.,  of  Thackwood 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

William  Viscount  Lowther,  of  White- 
haven 

Edward  Stanley,  esq.,  of  Ponsonby 
Hall 

Samuel  Irton,  esq.,  of  Irton  Hall,  vice 
William  Viscount  Lowther,  who 
elected  to  serve  for  Westmorland 

a  Return  amended  by  order  of.  the  House,  dated  16  Dec. 
1768,  by  crating  the  name  of  Sir  Jamei  Lowther  and  sub- 
stituting the  name  of  Henry  Fletcher. 


323 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


1835 
1836 

1835 

1837 

1840 

1837 
1841 


1852 


1857 


EASTERN  DIVISION 

James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart.,      1859 

of  Netherby 

William   Blamire,  esq.,  of  Thackwood 
William  James,  esq.,  of  Barrock  Lodge, 

vice    William    Blamire,    appointed 

Chief  Commissioner  of  Tithes 


WESTERN  DIVISION 

Edward     Stanley,    esq.,    of   Ponsonby 

Hall 
Samuel  Irton,  esq.,  of  Irton  Hall 


EASTERN  DIVISION 

Francis  Aglionby,  esq.,  of  Nunnery 
William  James,  esq.,  of  Barrock  Lodge 
,   Charles  Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq.,  Naworth   Castle,  vice  Francis 

Aglionby,  deceased 

WESTERN  DIVISION 
Edward     Stanley,  esq.,  of    Ponsonby 

Hall 
Samuel  Irton,  esq.,  of  Irton  Hall 

EASTERN  DIVISION 
Charles  Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq. 
William  James,  esq. 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Edward  Stanley,  esq. 
Samuel  Irton,  esq. 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

Charles  Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq. 
William  Marshall,  esq. 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Edward  Stanley,  esq. 
Henry  Lowther,  esq. 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

Charles  Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq. 
William  Marshall,  esq. 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Henry  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Whitehaven 

Castle 
Samuel  Irton,  esq.,  of  Irton  Hall 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

Charles  Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq. 
William  Marshall,  esq.,  of  Patterdale 

Hall 

WESTERN  DIVISION 
Henry    Wyndham,    esq.,   of    Cocker- 
mouth  Castle 


1860 


1865 


1868 


1872 

1874 

1876 
1879 

1874 

1880 
1881 

1880 


1885 
1886 
1892 


Henry   Lowther,    esq.,    of    Lowther       1895 


Castle 


1900 


EASTERN  DIVISION 
Charles  Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq.,  of  Castle  Howard 
William  Marshall,  esq.,  of  Patterdale 

Hall 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Henry  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Whitehaven 
Castle 

Henry  Wyndham,  esq.,  of  Cocker- 
mouth  Castle 

Percy  Wyndham,  esq.,  vice  Sir  Henry 
Wyndham,  K.C.B.,  deceased 

EASTERN  DIVISION 
Charles  Wentworth  George   Howard, 

esq. 
William  Marshall,  esq. 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Henry  Lowther,  esq. 

Percy  Scawen  Wyndham,  esq. 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

William  Nicholson  Hodgson,  esq. 
Charles   Wentworth  George  Howard, 
esq. 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Henry  Lowther,  esq. 

Percy  Scawen  Wyndham,  esq. 

Lord  Muncaster,  vice  Henry  Lowther, 

esq.,  called  to  the  Upper  House  as 

Earl  of  Lonsdale 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

Charles   Wentworth  George  Howard, 

esq. 

William  Nicholson  Hodgson,  esq. 
Edward   Stafford  Howard,  esq.,    vice 

W.  N.  Hodgson,  deceased 
George    James     Howard,     esq.,     vice 

Charles  W.  G.  Howard,  esq.,  deceased 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

Percy  Scawen  Wyndham,  esq.  • 
Lord  Muncaster 

EASTERN  DIVISION 

Sir  R.  C.  Musgrave,  bart. 
Edward  Stafford  Howard,  esq. 
George  James   Howard,  esq.,  vice  Sir 
R.  C.  Musgrave,  deceased 

WESTERN  DIVISION 

David  Ainsworth,  esq. 

Hon.  Percy  Scawen  Wyndham 

COCKERMOUTH    DIVISION 

.  Charles  James  Valentine,  esq. 
,  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 
.   Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 
.  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 
.   John  Scurrah  Randies,  esq. 


324 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


ESKDALE    DIVISION 

1885  .  .  Robert  Andrew  Allison,  esq. 

1886  .  .  Robert  Andrew  Allison,  esq. 
1892  .  .  Robert  Andrew  Allison,  esq, 
1895  .  .  Robert  Andrew  Allison,  esq. 

1900  .      .   Claude  William  Henry  Lowther,  esq. 

ECREMONT   DIVISION 

1885  .  .   Lord  Muncaster 

1886  .  .   Lord  Muncaster 
1892   .  .   David  Ainsworth,  esq. 
1895   .  .  Hon.  H.  V.  Duncombe 
1900   .  .  James  Robert  Bain,  esq. 

PENRITH  DIVISION      v 

1885  .      .   Henry  Charles  Howard,  esq. 

1886  .      .  James  William  Lowther,  esq. 
1892   .      .  James  William  Lowther,  esq. 
1895   .      .  James  William  Lowther,  esq. 
1900   .      .  James  William  Lowther,  esq. 

CARLISLE 

BURGESSES 
1295  .     .  Robert  de  Grenesdal 

Andrew  le  Seler 
1302  .     .  Henry  le  Espicer 

Andrew  le  Serjaunt 
1304-5     .   Robert  de  Grynnesdale 

Alan  de  Grynnesdale 

1 306  .      .   Alan  de  Grinesdale 

1307  .      .   Andrew  le    Serjaunt,   of  Carlisle  (de 

Karliolo) 

Richard  de  Hubrychby 
1309  .  .  William,  son  of  Ives 

Robert  de  Grinnesdale 
1311  .  .  John  de  Crofton 

William,  son  of  Henry,  son  of  Ives  l 

1311  .      .   Alan  de  Grinnesdal 

William  le  Taylour  or  Taillour 

1312  .     .  John  de  Ireland  (Hibern') 

Thomas  de  Wraton 

1313  .      .   Robert  de  Grinnesdal 

John  de  Wynton  2 
1314-15  .  Robert  de  Grinnesdal 

Bernard  Lacatour 
1318.  .  Robert  de  Grinnesdal 

William,  son  of  Ives 

1319  .      .   Robert  de  Grinesdale 

Bernard  Pulter 

1320  .      .  William,  son  of  Henry 

Henry  le  Spicer 

1321  .      .   John  de  Capella 

1321  .     .  John  de  Ba  .  .  . 

1322  .      .   JohndeWylton 

Thomas  de  Colston 
1 323-4    .   John  de  la  Chapele 

Gilbert  de  la  Chapele 
1325  .      .   Bernard  le  Poleter 

John  de  la  Chapele 
1326-7  .  John  Flemyng 

Nicholas  le  Despenser  3 
1327  .  .  John  de  la  Chapell 

1  The  enrolment  of  the  Writ  de  Expensis  gives  Alan  de 
Grenesdale  and  Andrew  son  of  Peter  of  Carlisle. 

3  The  enrolment  of  the  Writ  de  Expensis  gives  Andrew 
le  Serjaunt  and  William  son  of  Henry. 

3  The  enrolment  of  the  Writ  de  Expensis  gives  John 
Flemyng  and  Robert  de  Grenesdale. 


1327  • 
1327-8 

1328  . 
1328-9 
1329-30 
1330  . 
I33I-2 
1332  . 
1333-4 

'334  • 
'334- 
1335  • 

I33S-6 

1337  • 
1337-8 

1338  - 
1338-9 
134°  • 


*344  • 
1347-8 
1348  • 
1350-1 

'353  • 
1355  - 

'357  • 
1357-8 
1360  . 

1360-1 
1360-1 

1362  . 

1363  • 

1364-5 
1366  . 

1368  . 

1369  . 


.   Thomas  Caskell 

.   Alan  de  Grynnesdall 

John  de  Capella 
.  Robert  de  Grynnesdall 

Alan  de  Grynnesdall 
.   John  de  Haveryngton 

Simon  de  Sandford 
.   John  de  Haverington 

Richard  de  Skelton 
.   John  de  Haveryngton 

Robert  de  Gryndon 
.   John  de  Haveryngton 

Simon  de  Sandford 
.  John  Flemyng 

Adam  de  Crofton 
.  John  Flemyng 

Adam  de  Crofton 
.   John  de  Pikeryng 
.    Henry  Pepir 
.  John  de  Eslington 

Thomas  Worthschypp 
.   Thomas  de  Hardgill 

Thomas  de  Frisington 
.   John  de  Denton 

Adam  de  Broghton 
.   Thomas  de  Pardishowe 

Giles  de  Orreton 
.  William  Broun 

Thomas  de  Fresington 
.   John  de  Exlyngton 

Thomas  de  Hardegill 
.   John  Flemyng 

Adam  de  Crofton 
.   Thomas  de  Hardegill,  jun. 

John  Flemyng,  jun. 
.   Thomas  de  Hardegill,  jun. 

Thomas  de  Grynnesdale 
.   Adam  de  Crofton 

Robert  de  Tybay 
.  Adam  de  Crofton 

Thomas  de  Appelby 
.   Robert  de  Tebay 

John  de  Raghton 
.  No  return  found 
.  William  de  Artureth 

Thomas  de  Alaynby 
.  Thomas  de  Alaynby 

John  de  Thorneton 
.   Thomas  de  Alaynby 

William  le  Spenser 
.   Thomas  de  Alaynby 

William  Spenser 
.   John  de  Thornton 
.  Adam  de  Agillounby 
.  William  Artureth 

William  Spenser 
.  Adam  Halden 

William  Spenser 
.  William  de  Artureth 

Richard  de  London 
.   Richard  Orfevre 

William  de  Clyfton 
.  Adam  de  Agylounby 

William  de  Clifton 
.  William  de  Artureth 


325 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


1 369  .      .   John  de  Waverton 

1371  .      .   John  de  Whitlawe 

1372  .      .   William  de  Raghton 

William  de  Carlisle  (Karliolo) 

1373  .      .   Richard  de  Denton 

Thomas  Taillour 
1376-7     .   Richard  de  Denton 

John  de  Burgh 
1378   .      .   Robert  de  Karlelee 

John  de  Levyngton 
1379-80  .   Robert  de  Karlellee 

William  del  Park 
1381    .      .   Robert  de  Karlelee 

John  de  Blenerhayset 
1382-3     .   William  de  Osmounderlawe 

John  de  Skelton 

1383  .      .   Richard  de  London 

John  de  Appelby 

1384  .      .   Stephen  de  Kartell 

Thomas  de  Bolton 
Richard  de  Lundon 
John  de  Blenerhayset 

1385  .      .  William  de  Agliounby 

John  de  Blencowe 

1386  .      .   Adam  de  Denton 

Robert  de  Briscowe,  jun. 
1387-8     .  Robert  de  Karliolo 

William  de  Aglionby 
1388   .      .  John  de  Corkeby 

Nicholas  Leveson 
1389-90   .  John  Mounceux 

Alan  de  Kirkebrig 
1391   .     .  John  Mounceux 

Robert  de  Bryscowe 
1392-3     .   John  de  Redesdale 

John  de  Werk 
1394-5      .   John  Brugham 

John  Mounceux 
1396-7     .   John  de  Helton 

John  de  Burgham 
1397-8     .  Robert  de  Briscowe 

John  de  Briscowe 
1 399  .     .  John  Helton 

Robert  de  Briscowe 
1402   .      .   John  de  Sourby 

William  Boweson 

1413  .     .  Robert  de  Karlell,  jun. 

Ralf  de  Blenerhaisset 

1414  .     .  Robert  de  Karlell,  jun. 

William  Cardoile 
1415-16  .  Robert  de  Lancastre 

William  Bell 
1417   .     .  Robert  de  Karlell,  jun. 

William  Cardoile 

1419  .     .  Robert  Karlell 

Thomas  Manyngham 

1420  .      .  Thomas  de  Derley 

Richard  de  Mulcastre 

1421  .     .  Robert  de  Karlell,  jun. 

Thomas  Pety 

1421  .     .  William  de  Manchestre 

John  Thomson 

1422  .     .  Robert  Karlell,  jun. 

Richard  Draxe 

1423  .     .  Richard  Briscowe 

William  Whiteheved 


1425   . 

1425-6 
1427  . 
1429  . 
1430-1 
1432  • 
H33  • 
1435  • 
1436-7 
1441-2 
1446-7 
1448-9 

1449  . 

1450  . 

HS2-3 
H5S  • 
1459  . 
1467  . 
1472  . 
1477-8 
1529  . 
1541-2 
IS4S  • 
1547  • 
ISS2-3 

1553  • 

1554  • 

1554  • 

1555  • 
1557-8 
1562-3 
1572  . 


Thomas  Petyt 

Robert  Maderer 

Richard  Mulcastre 

Nicholas  Toppy 

John  de  Helton 

William  Camberton 

Thomas  Derwent 

Adam  Heveryngton 

Averard  Berwyk 

Robert  Clerk 

John  Sharpp 

Thomas  Cuthbertson 

Richard  Briscowe  or  Briskowe 

Richard  Beaulieu 

William  Morthyng 

Nicholas  Thomson 

Robert  Mabsen 

Thomas  Mareschall 

John  Blenerhassett 

William  Butler 

Thomas  Stanlawe 

George  Walton 

Robert  Karlill,  jun. 

Richard  Alanson 

Thomas  Colt 

John  Bere 

Richard  Alanson 

Alvered  Mauleverere 

Richard  Alanson 

Thomas  Derwent 

John  Bere 

Thomas  Derwent 

Richard  Bewley 

Thomas  Rukyn 

Henry  Denton 

Richard  George 

Robert  Skelton 

John  Coldale 

Edward  Redemayn 

John  Appilby 

Edward  Aglyonby 

John  Coldeale 

William  Stapilton 


Hugh  Aglionby 
Robert  Smyth 
Edward  Eglonby,  esq. 
Thomas  Dalston,  esq. 
Edward  Aglionby,  jun. 
John  Dudley 
John  Aglionbie 
Simon  Briscoe 
Robert  Whitley 
Richard  Mynsho 
Robert  Whitley 
Richard  Mynsho 
William  Middilton 
William  Warde 
Richard  Asshton,  esq. 
Robert  Dalton,  esq. 
Richard  Assheton,  gent. 
William  Mulcaster,  gent. 
Thomas  Pattenson,  gent. 
Robert  Mulcaster,  gent. 
Thomas  Tallentyer,  gent.,  vice  Robert 
Mulcaster,  deceased 


326 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


1586  .  , 

1588-9  , 

1592-3  , 

'597  •  • 

1601  .  . 

1603-4  . 

1614  .  . 

1620-1  . 

1623-4  • 

1625  .  . 

1625-6  . 

1627-8  . 
1640  . 

1640  . 
(Long  Par- 
liament) 

1654   •  • 

1656   .  . 
1660   . 


Henry  Mackwilliams,  esq. 

Thomas  Blenerhassett 

Henry  Scroope,  esq. 

John  Dalston,  esq. 

Henry  Scroope,  esq. 

Edward   Aglionbye   or  Eglionby,  esq. 

Henry  Scrope,  esq. 

Thomas  Samford,  jun.,  esq. 

Henry  Scroope,  esq. 

John  Dudleye,  esq. 

Thomas  Blenerhassett,  esq. 

William  Barwicke,  esq. 

George  Buttler,  esq. 

Nathaniel  Tomkins,  esq. 

Henry  Fayne,  knt. 

George  Butler,  esq. 

Henry  Fayne,  knt. 

Edward  Aglionbye,  esq. 

Henry  Fayne,  knt. 

Edward  Aglionby,  esq. 

Henry  Fane,  knt. 

Richard  Grame,  esq. 

[Richard]  Barwise,  esq.1 

Richard  Graime,  esq. 

William  Dalston,  esq. 

Richard  Barwis,  esq. 

William  Dalston,  esq. 

Richard  Barwis,  esq. 

Thomas  Cholmley,  esq.J 


Mr.  Downing  4 

William  Brisco,  esq. 

Jeremiah  Tolhurst,  esq. 
1661    .      .   Philip  Howard,  knt. 

Christopher  Musgrave,  esq. 
1678-9     .   Philip  Howard,  knt. 

Christopher  Musgrave,  knt. 
1679   .      .   Philip  Howard,  knt. 

Christopher  Musgrave,  knt. 
t68o-i     .  Edward  Lord  Morpeth 

Christopher  Musgrave,  knt. 
1685   .     .  Christopher  Musgrave,  knt. 

James  Graham,  esq. 
1688-9     .  Christopher  Musgrave,  knt.  and  bart. 

Jeremiah  Bubb,  esq. 
1689-90  .  Jeremiah  Bubb,  esq. 

Christopher  Musgrave,  esq. 

1692  .  .  William  Lowther,  esq.,  son  of  John 
Lowther,  esq.,  late  of  Hackthorp, 
vice  Jeremiah  Bubb,  deceased 

1694  .     .  James    Lowther,    esq.,    vice   William 

Lowther,  deceased 

1695  .     .  William  Howard,  esq. 

James  Lowther,  esq. 
1698  .  .  William  Howard,  esq. 

James  Lowther,  esq. 
1700-1  .  Philip  Howard,  esq. 

James  Lowther,  esq. 

1701  .      .  Philip  Howard,  esq. 

James  Lowther,  esq. 

1702  .      .   Christopher  Musgrave,  esq. 

1  Return  defaced. 

*  Elected  via  Sir  William   Dalston,  bart.,  disabled  to  sit 
(Commons  Journals,  2$  Sept.  1645). 

3  Return  torn. 

4  Returned    also    for    Peebles,  but    elected    to    sit    for 
Carliile. 


1702  .      .   Thomas  Stanwix,  esq. 
1705   .      .  Thomas  Stanwix,  esq. 

James  Mountague,  knt. 
1708  .     .  James  Montague,  knt. 

Thomas  Stanwix,  esq. 

James   Montague,  knt.  (re-elected  on 

becoming  Attorney  General) 
1710  .      .  Thomas  Stanwix,  esq. 

James  Mountague,  knt. 

1710-11    .   Brigadier  Thomas  Stanwix  re-elected 
after  appointment   to   an   office   of 
profit  by  the  Crown 
1713   .      .  Christopher  Musgrave,  bart. 

Thomas  Stanwix,  esq. 
1714-15   .   Thomas  Stanwix,  esq. 

William  Strickland,  esq. 

1721  .      .  Henry   Aglionby,   esq.,    vice  Thomas 

Stanwix,  appointed  to  an  office  of 
profit  by  the  Crown 

1722  .     .  Henry  Aglionby,  esq. 

James  Bateman,  esq. 
1727   .      .  Charles  Howard,  esq. 

John  Hylton,  esq. 
1734   .      .  Charles  Howard,  esq. 

John  Hylton,  esq. 
1741   .      .   Charles  Howard,  esq. 

John  Hylton,  esq.8 

1746  .      .  John  Stanwix,  esq.,  vice  John  Hylton, 

deceased 

1747  .      .  John  Stanwix,  esq. 

Charles  Howard,  esq. 
1754   .      .  Charles  Howard,  knt. 

John  Stanwix,  esq. 
1761    .      .   Raby  Vane,  esq. 

Henry  Curwen,  esq. 

1768  .      .  Edward  Charles  Cavendish  Bentinck, 
esq. 

George  Musgrave,  esq. 

1774  .      .   Fletcher  Norton,  esq. 

Anthony  Storer,  esq. 

1775  .      .  Walter   Stanhope,   esq.,  vice  Fletcher 

Norton,  who  accepted  the  steward- 
ship of  the  manor  of  East  Hendred 
1780  .     .  Charles  Howard,  commonly  called  Earl 

of  Surrey 
William  Lowther,  esq. 

1783  .     .  Charles  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey,  re- 

elected  after  appointment  as  one  of 
the  Lords  Commissioners  of  the 
Treasury 

1784  .     .  Charles  Howard,  Earl  of  Surrey 

Edward  Norton,  esq. 

1786  .     .  John  Christian,  esq.,  vice  Edward  Nor- 
ton, deceased  6 

Rowland  Stephenson,  esq.,  vice  Charles 
Howard,  called  to  the  Upper  House.7 
1790  .     .  John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 


6  Return  amended  by  order  of  the  House,  dated  26 
January,  1741-2,  by  erasing  the  name  of  John  Stanwix  and 
substituting  that  of  John  Hylton. 

6  Return  amended  by  order  of  the  House,  dated  31  May 

1786,  by  erasing  the  name  of  John  Lowther  and  substitut- 
ing that  of  John  Christian. 

7  Return  amended  by  order  of  the  House,  dated  26  Feb. 

1787,  by  erasing  the  name  of  Edward   Knubley  and   sub- 
stituting that  of  Rowland  Stephenson. 


327 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


1790  .     .  Wilson  Braddyll,  esq.1 

1796   .      .  John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 

Frederick  Fletcher  Vane,  bart. 
1802   .      .  John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 

Walter  Spencer  Stanhope,  esq. 

1806  .      .   John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 

Walter  Spencer  Stanhope,  esq. 

1807  .      .   John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 

Walter  Spencer  Stanhope,  esq. 
1812  .      .  James    Graham,     bart.,    of     Edmund 

Castle 

Henry  Fawcett,  esq. 
1816  .      .  John     Christian    Curwen,    esq.,    vice 

Henry  Fawcett,  deceased 
1818   .      .   John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 

James    Graham,     bart.,    of    Edmund 

Castle 
1820  .     .  James    Graham,    bart.,    of    Edmund 

Castle 

John  Christian  Curwen,  esq. 
William   James,  esq.,  vice  John  Chris- 
tian   Curwen,  esq.,  who  elected  to 
serve  for  Cumberland. 

1825  .     .  Philip  Musgrave,  bart.,  vice  Sir  James 

Graham,  deceased 

1826  .     .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 

Philip  Musgrave,  bart. 

1827  .     .  James  Law  Lushington,  esq.,  vice  Sir 

Philip  Musgrave,  deceased 

1829  .     .  William  Scott,  bart.,  vice    Sir   James 

Robert  George  Graham,  who  ac- 
cepted the  stewardship  of  the  Chil- 
tern  Hundreds 

1830  .      .   James  Law  Lushington,  esq. 

Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq. 

1831  .      .  William  James,  esq. 

Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq. 
1833   .      .  Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq. 

William  James,  esq. 

1835   .      .  Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq.,  of  Corby 
Castle 

William  Marshall,  esq.,  of  Patterdale 

Hall 
1837   .      .  Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq. 

William  Marshall,  esq. 
1841    .      .   Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq. 

William  Marshall,  esq. 

1847  .     .  John  Dixon,  esq. 

William  Nicholson  Hodgson,  esq. 

1848  .     .  William     Nicholson    Hodgson,    esq., 

vice 

John  Dixon,  whose  election  was  de- 
clared void 

Philip  Henry  Howard,  esq.,  vice  Wil- 
liam Nicholson  Hodgson,  whose 
election  was  declared  void 

1852  .     .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 

Joseph  Ferguson,  esq. 

1853  .      .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 

re-elected  after  appointment 
1857  .      .  William  Nicholson  Hodgson,  esq. 

James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 

1  Return  amended  by  order  of  the  House,  dated  3  March 
1791,  by  erasing  the  names  of  James  Clarke  Satterthwaite 
and  Edward  Knubley,  and  substituting  those  of  John  Chris- 
tian Curwen  and  Wilson  Braddyll. 


1859  .     .  James  Robert  George  Graham,  bart. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 
1861   .      .  Edmund    Potter,  esq.,  vice  Sir  James 

R.  G.  Graham,  deceased 
1865   .     .  William  Nicholson  Hodgson,  esq. 

Edmund  Potter,  esq. 
1868  .     .  Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 

Edmund  Potter,  esq. 
1874  .      .   Robert  Ferguson,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 
1880   .      .   Robert  Ferguson,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 

1885  .      .   Robert  Ferguson,  esq. 

1886  .      .   William  Court  Gully,  esq. 
1892   .      .   William  Court  Gully,  esq. 
1895   .      .   William  Court  Gully,  esq. 
1900  .      .   William  Court  Gully,  esq. 

COCKERMOUTH 

BURGESSES 

1295   .      .  William  Bully 
Peter  de  Hale 

1640   .      .  John  Fenwicke,  bart. 
(Long  Par-  John  Hippesley,  knt. 
liament) 

1642  .  .  Francis  Allen  a  vice  Sir  John  Fenwicke, 
bart.,  who  elected  to  serve  for 
Northumberland 

1660  .      .   Richard  Tolson,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  esq. 

1661  .      .   Hugh  Potter,  esq. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  knt. 
1661-2     .  Robert  Scawen,  esq.,  vice  Hugh  Potter, 

deceased 
1670  .      .   John  Clarke,  esq.,  vice  Robert  Scawen, 

deceased 
1675   .      .  Richard    Graham,    bart.,     vice    John 

Clarke,  deceased 
1678-9     .  Richard  Graham,  bart. 

Orlando  Gee,  esq. 
1679  .     .  Richard  Graham,  bart. 

Orlando  Gee,  esq. 
1680-1      .   Richard  Graham,  bart. 

Orlando  Gee,  esq. 
1685   .     .  Orlando  Gee,  knt. 

Daniel  Fleming,  knt. 
1688-9     .   Henry  Capel,  knt. 

Henry  Fletcher,  esq.,  of  Hutton 
1689-90  .   Orlando  Gee,  knt. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 
1695   .      .   Charles  Gerard,  bart. 

Goodwin  Wharton,  esq. 
1698   .      .   William  Seymour,  esq. 
1698  .      .  George  Fletcher,  esq. 
1700-1      .   William  Seymour,  esq. 

George  Fletcher,  esq. 
1701    .      .  Goodwin  Wharton,  esq. 

William  Seymour,  esq. 

1701-2  .  Thomas  Lamplugh,  esq.,  of  Lam- 
plugh,  vice  Goodwin  Wharton,  who 
elected  to  serve  for  Bucks. 


2  Another  indenture  returning  Sir  Thomas  Sandford,  bart. 
was  taken  off  the  file  by  order  of  the  House,  3  Dec.  1645 
(Commons  Journals). 


328 


POLITICAL    HISTORY 


1702   .      .  James  Stanhope,  esq.  1767 

Thomas  Lamplugh,  esq. 
1705   .      .  James  Stanhope,  esq. 

Thomas  Lamplugh,  esq.  1768 

1708   .      .  James  Stanhope,  esq. 

Albermarle  Bertie,  esq. 

1710  .      .   Nicholas  Lechmere,  esq 

James  Stanhope,  esq. 

1711  .      .  James  Stanhope  re-elected,  his  election      1769 

having  been  declared  void 

1713   .      .  Joseph  Musgrave,  esq. 

Nicholas  Lechmere,  esq.  '774 

1714-15    .   James  Stanhope,  esq. 

Nicholas  Letchmere,  esq.  1775 

1717  .  .  Thomas  Pengelly,  serjeant-at-law,  vice 
James  Stanhope,  appointed  to  an 
office  of  profit  by  the  Crown 

1717  .      .  Percy  Seymour,  esq.,  commonly  called 

Lord  Percy  Seymour,  vice  Nicholas      1780 
Letchmere,  appointed  to  an  office  of 
profit  by  the  Crown  •  ^84 

1721  .     .  Anthony    Lowther,    esq.,    vice    Lord 

Percy  Seymour,  deceased  1786 

1722  .      .  Thomas  Pengelly,  knt. 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 

1726-7     .  William  Finch,  esq.,  vice  Sir  Thomas      1790 
Pengelly,  appointed  to  an  office  of 
profit  by  the  Crown 
1727   .      .   William  Finch,  esq.  1793 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 
1734  .      .  William  Finch,  esq.  !79^ 

Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart. 

'737-8     .   Eldred  Curwen,  esq.,  vice  Sir  Wilfrid      1800 
Lawson,  deceased 

1741  .      .  William  Finch,  esq.  1802 

John     Mordaunt,    esq.,    of    Freefolk, 

Hants.  1805 

1742  .      .  William    Finch,    re-elected    after    ap- 

pointment   as  vice    chamberlain    of 

the  Household 
1747  .     .  Charles    Wyndham,    bart.,  of    West-      1806 

minster 

John  Mordaunt,  esq.,  of  Freefolk  1807 

William  Finch,  esq.,    vice  Sir  Charles 

Wyndham,  who  elected  to  serve  for 

Taunton 

1754  .      .  Percy     Wyndham    O'Brien,    esq.,    of      1807  . 

Short  Grove,  Essex 
John    Mordaunt,    knt.,    of    Freefolk, 
Southamptonshire 

1755  .      .  Percy   Wyndham   O'Brien,    re-elected 

after    appointment   as   one   of    the      1808   . 
Lords    Commissioners  of  the  Trea- 
sury 

1757  .      .  Percy,  Earl  of  Thomond,  Ireland,  re- 
elected  after    appointment  as  trea-       1810  . 
surer  of  the  Household 

1761  .      .   John  Mordaunt,  knt.  1812   . 

Charles  Jenkinson,  esq. 

1762  .      .  Charles     Jenkinson,     esq.,     re-elected 

after   appointment  as  treasurer   and 
paymaster  of  the  Ordnance 

1816  . 

1  Double  return,  dated  18  Jan.  1717-18  ;  the  indenture 
by  which  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson  was  returned  was  taken  off 
the  file  by  order  of  the  House. 


II 


329 


.  John  Elliot,  esq.,  vice  Charles  Jenkin- 
son,   appointed   one    of    the    Lords 
Commissioners  of  the  Admiralty 
.  George  Macartney,  knt. 
Charles  Jenkinson,  esq. 
George  Johnstone,  esq.,  vice    Charles 
Jenkinson,  who  elected  to  serve  for 
Appleby 

.  James  Lowther,  bart.,  vice  Sir  George 
Macartney,  who  accepted  the  stew- 
ardship of  the  Chiltern  Hundreds 
.  George  Johnstone,  esq. 

Fletcher  Norton,  esq. 
.   Ralph     Gowland,    esq.,    vice    George 
Johnstone,  who  elected  to  serve  for 
Appleby 

James  Adair,  esq.,  vice  Fletcher  Nor- 
ton, who  elected  to  serve  for  Carlisle 
.  John  Lowther,  esq. 

John  Baynes  Garforth,  esq. 
.  John  Lowther,  esq. 

James  Clarke  Satterthwaite,  esq. 
.  Humphrey    Senhouse,  esq.,  vice  John 
Lowther,  who  accepted  the  steward- 
ship of  the  Chiltern  Hundreds 
.   John  Anstruther,  esq.,  of  Lincoln's  Inn 
John  Baynes  Garforth,  esq.,  of  Steeton, 

Yorks. 
.  John  Anstruther,  esq.,  re-elected  after 

appointment 
.  John  Baynes  Garforth,  esq. 

Edward  Burrow,  esq. 
,  Walter    Spencer   Stanhope,   esq.,   vice 

Edward  Burrow,  deceased 
,   Robert  Ward,  esq. 

James  Graham,  esq. 

,  George  Steward,  esq.,  commonly  called 
Viscount  Garlics,   vice  James  Gra- 
ham, who  accepted  the  stewardship 
of  the  manor  of  East  Hendred,  Berks. 
,  John  Lowther,  esq. 
James  Graham,  esq. 
Thomas   Hamilton,   commonly   called 
Lord  Binning,  vice  John  Lowther, 
esq.,  who  elected  to  serve  for  Cum- 
berland 

John  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swillington 
James  Graham,  esq.,  of  Edmond  Castle 
John     Osborn,     esq.,    of    Chicksands 
Priory,   Beds.,   vice  John   Lowther, 
who  elected  to  serve  for  Cumberland 
William    Lowther,     esq.,     commonly 
called  Viscount  Lowther,  vice  John 
Osborn,  who  accepted  the  steward- 
ship of  the  Chiltern  Hundreds 
William  Lowther,  Viscount  Lowther, 

re-elected  after  appointment 
William  Viscount  Lowther 
John  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swillington 
Augustus  John  Foster,  esq.,  of  Killar- 
ney,  Ireland,  vice  John  Lowther,  esq., 
who  elected  to  serve  for  Cumberland 
John  Henry  Lowther,  esq.,  of  Swilling- 
ton, vice  Augustus  John  Foster,  esq., 
who  accepted  the  stewardship  of  the 
Chiltern  Hundreds 

42 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


1813  .  .  Thomas  Wallace,  esq.,  of  Carlton  Hall, 
vice  Viscount  Lowther,  appointed 
one  of  the  Lords  Commissioners  of 
the  Treasury 

1818  .  .  Thomas  Wallace,  esq.,  re-elected  after 
appointment 

1818  .     .  John  Henry  Lowther,  esq.,  of   Swill- 

ington 

John   Beckett,  esq.,  of  Somerby  Park, 
Line. 

1820  .     .  John  Beckett,  esq. 

John  Henry  Lowther,  esq. 

1821  .     .  William    Wilson  Carus  Wilson,   esq., 

Casterton  Hall,  vice  John  Beckett, 
who  accepted  the  stewardship  of  the 
Chiltern  Hundreds 
1826  .     .  Randolph  Stewart,  Viscount  Garlies 

1826  .      .   William  Wilson  Carus  Wilson,  esq. 

1827  .      .   Lawrence    Peel,    esq.,   vice    William 

Wilson  Carus  Wilson,  who  accepted 
the  stewardship  of  the  manor  of 
East  Hendred,  Berks 

1830  .     .   Randolf  Stewart,  Viscount  Garlies 

Philip  Pleydell  Bouverie,  esq. 

1831  .      .  John  Henry  Lowther,  esq. 

James  Scarlett,  knt. 
1833   .      .  Fretcheville  Lawson  Ballantine  Dykes, 

esq.,  of  Dovenby  Hall 
Henry    Aglionby   Aglionby,    esq.,    of 

Newbiggin  Hall 

1835  .     .  Henry  Aglionby  Aglionby,  esq.,of  New- 

biggin  Hall. 

Fretcheville  Lawson  Ballantine  Dykes, 
esq.,  of  Dovenby  Hall 

1836  .     .  Edward  Horsman,  esq.,  of  Edinburgh, 

vice  Fretcheville  Lawson  Ballantine 
Dykes,  who  accepted  the  steward- 
ship of  the  Chiltern  Hundreds 

1837  .     .  Henry    Aglionby   Aglionby,    esq.,    of 

Newbiggin  Hall 
Edward  Horsman,  esq. 

1840  .     .  Edward     Horsman,    esq.,    re-elected 

after  appointment 

1841  .     .  Henry   Aglionby   Aglionby,    esq.,    of 

Nunnery 

Edward  Horsman,  esq. 
1847  .     .  Henry  Aglionby  Aglionby,  esq. 

Edward  Horsman,  esq. 

1852  .  .  Henry  Wyndham,  esq.,  of  Cocker- 
mouth  Castle 

Henry   Aglionby   Aglionby,    esq.,    of 
Nunnery 


1854  .  .  John  Steel,  esq.,  of  Derwent  Bank, 
vice  Henry  Aglionby  Aglionby,  esq., 
deceased 

1857  •     •  Jo}m  Steel,  esq.,  of  Derwent  Bank 

Richard  Southwell  Bourke,  Lord  Naas 

1858  .     .  Richard  Southwell  Bourke,  Lord  Naas, 

re-elected  after  appointment 

1859  •      •  Jonn  Steel,  esq.,  of  Derwent  Bank 

Richard  Southwell  Bourke,  Lord  Naas 

1865  .      .   John  Steel,  esq. 

Richard  Southwell  Bourke,  Lord  Naas 

1866  .      .  Lord  Naas  re-elected 

1868   .      .   Andrew  Green  Thompson,  esq.,  vice 

John  Steel,  deceased 

1868   .      .   Isaac  Fletcher,  esq.,  of  Tarnbank 
1874  •      •   Isaac  Fletcher,  esq. 

1879  .      .   William   Fletcher,  esq.,  Brigham  Hill, 

vice  Isaac  Fletcher,  deceased 

1880  .      .   Edward  Waugh,  esq. 

WHITEHAVEN 

BURGESSES 

1833   .      .   Matthias  Attwood,  esq.,  of  London 
1835    .      .   Matthias  Attwood,  esq. 
1837   .      .   Matthias  Attwood,  esq. 
1841    .      .  Matthias  Attwood,  esq. 
1847   .      .   Robert  Charles  Hildyard,  esq. 
1852   .      .   Robert  Charles  Hildyard,  esq. 
1857   •      •   Robert  Charles  Hildyard,  esq. 

George   Lyall,    esq.,   vice   Robert    C. 

Hildyard,  deceased 
1859  .      .  George  Lyall,  esq. 
1865    .      .  George  Cavendish  Bentinck,  esq. 
1868  .     .  George  Augustus  Cavendish  Bentinck, 

esq. 

1874  .      .  George  Augustus  Cavendish  Bentinck, 

esq. 

1875  .      .   George  A.  C.  Bentinck,  esq.,  re-elected 
1880  .      .  George  A.  F.  C.  Bentinck,  esq. 

1885  .      .  George  A.  F.  C.  Bentinck,  esq. 

1886  .      .  George  A.  F.  C.  Bentinck,  esq. 

1891  .      .   Sir  James  Bain 

1892  .      .  Thomas  Shepherd  Little,  esq. 
1895   .      .  Augustus  Helder,  esq. 

1900  .      .  Augustus  Helder,  esq. 

EGREMONT 

BURGESSES 

1295   .      .  William  de  Gylling 

Alexander,  son  of  Richard 


330 


INDUSTRIES 


I 


principal  industries  of  Cum- 
berland, which  may  be  regarded  as 
characteristic  of  the  county  from 
a  remote  date,  are  in  a  large 
measure  determined  by  its  mari- 
time position  and  natural  features.  The 
coast  line  of  an  inland  sea,  forming  numerous 
bays  and  estuaries  and  extending  from  north 
to  south  throughout  its  whole  length,  is  so 
admirably  adapted  to  fish  production  and  speci- 
ally to  the  breeding  of  salmon,  that  the  dis- 
trict has  attained  a  well-deserved  distinction 
for  this  industry.  Owing  to  the  nature  of 
its  geological  formation,  the  upper  strata  of 
the  greater  part  of  its  surface  have  been  stored 
with  rich  veins  of  mineral  wealth,  such  as 
iron  ore,  coal,  lead,  silver,  copper,  plumbago 
and  other  metals,  a  great  laboratory  which 
has  contributed  to  the  material  prosperity  of 
the  county  and  afforded  employment  to  large 
numbers  of  the  population.  The  working  of 
certain  of  those  minerals  ranks  in  point  of 
antiquity,  as  far  as  ascertained  knowledge  is 
concerned,  with  the  salmon  industry.  Though 
the  coal  measures  are  now  one  of  the  most 
valuable  and  important  assets  in  Cumberland 
industries,  the  production  of  coal  by  means  of 
mining  dates  back  but  a  very  short  period. 
Few  of  the  minor  industries  are  sufficiently 
characteristic  of  the  county  to  call  for  special 
treatment  in  this  place. 

As  salmon  is  victual,  and  nothing  is  more 
precious  than  victual,  according  to  the  pro- 
verbial saying  of  lord  Coke,  it  may  be  ex- 
pected that  the  salmon  industry  should  take 
precedence  in  a  district  so  peculiarly  adapted 
by  nature  to  its  pursuit.  It  is  not  suggested 
that  the  fisheries  are  the  most  lucrative  source 
of  wealth  in  Cumberland,  but  there  can  be 
no  dispute  that  they  constitute  an  historic 
industry  for  which  the  county  has  been 
famous  from  the  earliest  period  of  which  there 
is  authentic  record.  Few  counties  of  the 
kingdom  are  so  favourably  situated  for  the 
development  of  this  industry.  The  coast  line 
is  included  in  the  arm  of  the  Irish  Sea  known 
as  the  Solway  Firth,  and  embraces  a  fishing 
area  shaped  in  the  form  of  a  cone.  At  its 
narrow  end  it  is  little  more  than  a  sandy 


estuary,  which  at  low  water  dwindles  into  a 
contracted  channel  fordable  in  some  places  at 
low  tide.  At  the  base  of  the  cone  towards 
the  west  the  Solway  broadens  out  into  a  wide 
expanse  of  open  sea,  so  that  the  Scottish  shore 
is  only  distinctly  visible  in  clear  weather. 
Within  this  area  all  the  salmon  producing 
rivers  of  the  county  are  situated.  The  sea- 
board starts  with  a  crescent  sweep  from  south 
to  north  from  the  estuary  of  the  Duddon,  its 
natural  termination  and  the  natural  boundary 
between  Cumberland  and  the  detached  portion 
of  Lancashire  called  Lancashire  north  of  the 
Sands.  During  its  progress  in  a  north- 
westerly direction  it  is  pierced  at  Ravenglass 
by  an  estuary  formed  by  the  mouth  of  three 
rivers,  the  Esk,  Mite  and  Irt,  which  take 
their  rise  in  the  mountainous  district  of  that 
neighbourhood.  From  this  place  the  coast 
line  bends  seaward,  forming  a  bold  headland 
at  St.  Bees,  the  most  westerly  point  of  the 
county,  and  then  sweeps  north-east  to  Work- 
ington,  where  it  is  again  pierced  by  the  out- 
let of  the  Derwent  close  to  that  town.  To 
the  north  of  Workington  the  Ellen  forms  a 
small  estuary  at  Maryport,  where  the  coast 
curves  gradually  inland  to  form  Allonby  Bay, 
and  then  proceeds  in  a  northerly  direction  to 
Skinburness  Point  in  the  upper  reaches  of  the 
firth.  From  Skinburness  to  the  Scottish 
border  the  coast  is  irregular  and  broken  by 
the  mouths  of  several  rivers  which  discharge 
themselves  into  the  narrow  portion  of  the 
Solway.  The  southern  shore,  indented  by  a 
wide  basin  into  which,  at  its  opposite  extremi- 
ties, flow  the  waters  of  the  Waver  and  Wam- 
pool,  takes  an  easterly  direction  at  Bowness 
Point  and  sweeps  inland  to  its  termination, 
where  it  is  pierced  by  the  estuary  of  the 
Eden,  the  largest  river  in  the  county,  and  a 
little  further  north,  beyond  Rocliffe  Marsh, 
by  the  estuaries  of  the  Esk  and  Sark,  both  of 
which  are  for  the  greater  part  Scottish  rivers.1 
From  the  natural  features  of  the  county, 
bounded  by  the  Pennine  range,  which  forms 

1  The  Spectator  (Supplement),  12  March  1870  : 
Report  of  the  Royal  Commiiiioni  on  the  Solway 
Fisheries,  1881  and  1896. 


331 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


the  watershed  on   its  eastern   side,  and  com- 
prising some  of  the  greatest  mountain  masses 
in  England   in   its   central  and   southern  dis- 
tricts,   it    may    be    assumed    that    its    rivers, 
though  not  attaining    to    any  dimensions  in 
length  or  volume  of  water,  are   well  adapted 
to  the  breeding  of  salmon.     With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Eden,  which   rises  on  the  borders 
of  Yorkshire  and  flows  through  Westmorland 
and  Cumberland,  the  other  rivers  can  scarcely 
be  dignified  by  that  name  owing  to  the  short- 
ness of  their  course.     Wordsworth  was    of 
opinion  that   the  streams  of  the  county  were 
more  of  the  nature  of  large  brooks  than  rivers, 
especially    while    they    flowed    through    the 
mountain  and  lake  country.     But   if  not  of 
great    dimensions   all   the  rivers    possess    the 
general  feature  that  their  water  is  remarkably 
clear   and  flows  with  considerable  swiftness 
and  often  at  a  good  depth   over  gravelly  and 
rocky   channels.     At    Appleby    the  Eden  is 
considerably  above  the  sea  level,  and  its  aver- 
age fall  is  said  to  be  about  28  feet  per  mile. 
The    Derwent,    which    flows    through    two 
lakes,     Derwentwater     and     Bassenthwaite, 
receives  the  Cocker  at  Cockermouth,  so  called 
from  the  confluence  of  the  streams,  and  runs 
into  the  sea  at  Workington,  forming  many 
pools  and  sheltered  beds  in  its  course.     The 
southern    Esk,    rising  on  the  side  of  Great 
End,  enters  the  sea  at  Ravenglass,  where  it 
mixes  on  the  sands  with  the  Mite  and   the 
Irt.     The  beauty  of  river  scenery  in  Cumber- 
land is  proverbial,  and   if  we  take  the  Eden, 
Derwent,  and  southern  Esk  as  the  chief  ex- 
amples, few  streams  in  any  county  can  rival 
them,  either  for  their  waterbreaks  and  wooded 
banks  or  for  the  picturesque  valleys  through 
which  they    pass.     When    we    consider    the 
migratory  habits  of  the  salmon  and  the  laws 
by  which  the  species  is  maintained,  the  spawn- 
ing on  the  upper  or  shallow  beds  of  inland 
streams,  and  their  mature  existence  spent  in 
passing   to  and   fro   between    salt  and    fresh 
water,  it  will  be  seen  how  suitable  the  rivers 
of  the  county  are   to   their  production  and 
how  well  adapted  is  the  sheltered  condition  of 
the  Solway  shore  to  their  growth  and  nurture. 
In  these  circumstances  it   is  not  surprising 
that   the  salmon    fisheries   should    be    found 
among  the  earliest  industries  of  the  county. 
As  soon  as  we  touch  the  record  evidence  of 
the    district,   clauses   about    fisheries   or    fish 
pools  or  liberty  to  fish   are  embodied  in  the 
earliest  charters  granted  to  local  magnates  or 
religious  establishments.     Henry  I.  endowed 
the  priory  of  Carlisle  with  a  fishery   in  the 
Eden.1    By  a  special  charter  Ranulf  Meschin 
made  a  grant  of  a  sluice  and  pool  for  a  fishery 

1  Dugdale,  Man.  vi.  144. 

332 


in  the  same  river  to  the  monks  of  Wetheral 
at  a  date  before  H2O.2  Alice  de  Rumelli, 
daughter  of  William  Meschin,  gave  to  the 
priory  of  St.  Bees  about  1140  the  sole  liberty 
of  making  fisheries  in  the  port  of  Whitehaven, 
in  all  places  in  the  sea,  and  in  other  waters 
within  their  bounds.3  Henry  III.  confirmed 
in  1231  to  the  abbey  of  Calder  fisheries  in 
the  Derwent  and  '  Egre,'  which  had  been  the 
gift  of  Ranulf  Meschin  almost  a  century 
before.4  In  1227  Thomas  de  Multon  paid 
the  king  a  fine  of  five  marks  for  licence  to 
make  a  fishery  in  the  forest  of  Inglewood  at  a 
place  called  Forst'  on  the  bank  of  the  Eden, 
the  condition  of  grant  being  that  the  said 
fishery  should  not  injure  the  neighbouring 
fisheries  and  especially  the  fishery  which  be- 
longed to  the  city  of  Carlisle.6  These  ex- 
amples will  be  sufficient  to  show  that  at  the 
very  dawn  of  documentary  history  the  creation 
of  private  rights  in  fishing  was  in  full  opera- 
tion. 

In  addition  to  the  grant  of  fisheries,  it  was 
the  habit  of  territorial  owners  at  an  early 
period  to  make  annual  grants  of  salmon  from 
their  own  waters  to  the  religious  houses. 
Thus  Alice  de  Rumelli,  the  great  lady  of 
Allerdale,  daughter  of  William  fitz  Duncan, 
confirmed  the  grant  of  fourteen  salmon  every 
Lent  to  St.  Bees,  which  had  previously  been 
bestowed  by  Alan  son  of  Waldeve,  and  six 
more  on  her  own  behalf.6  Thomas  son  of 
Gospatric  gave  to  the  abbey  of  Calder  out  of 
his  own  fisheries  twenty  salmon  yearly  at  the 
feast  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  together  with  a 
net  in  the  Derwent  between  the  bridge  and 
the  sea.7  In  1250  Patric  son  of  the  fore- 
going Thomas  bound  himself  and  his  heirs 
to  give  to  St.  Bees  fourteen  salmon  annually, 
viz.  six  in  Lent  before  Palm  Sunday  and 
eight  at  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  ad  vincula,  at 
his  house  in  Workington.8  These  gifts 
should  not  be  confounded  with  the  tithe  of 
fish  owned  by  the  church.  For  example, 
when  William  Meschin  founded  the  priory  of 
St.  Bees,  he  endowed  it  with  the  tithes  of  his 
fisheries  in  Coupland.9  In  a  dispute  between 

2  Reg.  of  Wetherhal  (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.)  6-9. 

a  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  lib.  i.  6. 

*  Chart.  R.  15  Hen.  III.  m.  9. 

s  Ibid.  1 1  Hen.  III.  pt.  i.  m.  24  ;  Fine  R. 
1 1  Hen.  III.  m.  9.  In  1485  a  fishery  in  the  Eden 
under  '  Baronwod '  in  the  manor  of  Lazonby  was 
reckoned  among  the  possessions  of  the  Dacres  of 
Gillesland  (Cal.  of  Inj.  p.m.  i  Hen.  711.  i.  70). 

o  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  lib.  i.  7. 

•>  Chart.  R.  15  Hen.  III.  m.  9. 

s  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  lib.  v.  15. 

»  Ibid.  i.  2. 


INDUSTRIES 


the  abbey  of  Holmcultram  and  Gilbert  de 
Feritate,  rector  of  Bowness,  an  amicable 
agreement  was  arrived  at  whereby  the  rector 
conceded  to  the  abbot  the  tithe  of  fish  of  a 
standing  net  (retis  stantivi)  and  all  kinds  of 
fishing  practised  in  the  Eden  by  the  people  of 
Burgh-by-Sands,  and  the  abbot  in  turn  yielded 
to  the  rector  the  fish  tithes  of  Bowness  and 
Drumburgh,  except  the  fishing  of  the  river 
reaches  at  Polleburgh.1  In  a  similar  dispute 
which  the  same  abbey  had  with  the  priory  of 
Carlisle,  bishop  Walter  acted  as  mediator. 
The  bishop  awarded  that  the  tithe  of  fish 
caught  in  the  Eden  at  Fleminghalse,  Vaer- 
halse,  Depedraif,  and  at  other  places  within 
the  parish  of  Rocliffe,  and  drawn  to  land  in 
that  parish,  should  belong  to  the  canons  of 
the  priory  as  rectors  of  the  church,  but  that 
for  the  sake  of  peace  the  canons  should  pay 
the  monks  an  acknowledgment  of  two  shillings 
a  year.3 

Disputes  about  fishing  rights  and  fish  tithes 
were  not  confined  to  the  religious  houses  at 
this  early  period.  The  fisheries  of  lay  pro- 
prietors were  also  guarded  with  jealous  care. 
In  1208  an  action  was  decided  in  the  king's 
court  at  Carlisle  before  the  justices  itinerant 
between  Alan  de  Pennington  and  others,  com- 
plainants, and  Richard  de  Lucy,  lord  of  Aller- 
dale,  deforciant,  in  which  the  fisheries  of 
Ravenglass  formed  a  conspicuous  feature.  At 
that  time  fishing  rights  on  the  Mite  (Mighet) 
and  Esk  were  considered  worth  a  suit  at  law.3 
Other  instances  might  be  given  to  show  that 
fishery  disputes  were  not  confined  to  recent 
centuries. 

A  singular  reservation  of  the  eighth  fish, 
which  appears  to  have  been  a  feudal  rent,  is 
mentioned  in  several  charters  in  connection 
with  the  fisheries  in  Eden  belonging  to  the 
monks  of  Wetheral.4  William  son  of  Odard 
of  Corby  reserved  the  eighth  fish  from  the 
coup  of  the  monks  as  his  own  perquisite  of 
the  fishery  granted  to  them  by  his  ancestors. 
This  tribute  reminds  us  of  the  practice  of  the 
bishop  of  Glasgow,  who  claimed  the  eighth 
of  the  royal  profits  issuing  out  of  the  civil 
courts  of  that  diocese.5 

It  is  unfortunate   that  the  earliest   record 

'  Reg.  of  Holmcultram  (Harl.  MS.   3891),  f. 


Ibid.  ff.  20-1  ;  Dugdale,  Mm.  v.  598. 

=>  Fines  (Rec.  Com.),  10,  u. 

4  Reg.ofWetherbal(<Z\\m\>.  andWestmld.  Arch. 
Soc.),  84,  93  ;  Dugdale,  Man.  iii.  588-9  ;  Neilson, 
Annals  of  the  Soltvay,  53. 

6  Reg.  Efts.  Glasguensls  (Bannatyne  Club),  i. 
12,  22.  It  should  be  noticed  that  this  perquisite 
was  granted  by  David,  king  of  Scotland,  and  was 
applicable  per  totam  Cumbrian 


evidence  is  so  silent  about  the  tenure  of 
fisheries  and  methods  of  fishing.  In  the  upper 
parts  of  rivers  the  tenure  is  simple  enough. 
Though  the  running  water  in  common  law 
belonged  to  no  one,  riparian  ownership  ex- 
cluded the  public  as  trespassers  on  the  lands 
adjoining  the  rivers.  In  1393,  when  the 
famous  fishing  statute  of  17  Richard  II.  cap. 
9  was  passed,  it  was  found  on  inquisition  that 
the  owner  of  the  Honor  of  Cockermouth  had 
the  oversight  of  the  Derwent  from  source  to 
sea  with  power  to  punish  trespassers  and  to 
burn  nets  and  unlawful  engines.  In  the 
barony  of  Burgh-by-Sands  there  appears  to 
have  been  a  common  right  in  the  fishing  of 
the  Eden,  which  forms  its  northern  boundary. 
Like  right  of  pasture  on  common  land,  the 
tenants  possessed  a  certain  interest  in  the 
fishing  in  proportion  to  the  value  of  their 
tenements.  Hugh  de  Morvill  granted  to  the 
monks  of  Holmcultram  an  entire  net  at 
Polleburgh  and  in  all  other  places  on  the 
Eden  in  common  with  the  men  of  the  vill 
of  Burgh,  together  with  a  booth  and  a  fit 
place  to  dry  their  net.6  At  a  later  date, 
about  1240,  in  an  agreement  between  Thomas 
de  Multon  and  the  same  abbey  about  a  net  in 
the  Eden,  which  was  appurtenant  to  the  ten- 
ancy, it  was  stated  that  a  carucate  of  land  in 
the  barony  carried  with  it  the  right  of  fishing 
with  two  nets.7  In  a  similar  manner  the 
tenants  of  Workington  were  associated  with 
the  lord  in  the  fishing  of  Derwent.  Patric 
son  of  Thomas  son  of  Gospatric  conceded  to 
Holmcultram  the  whole  of  his  fishery  of  Seton 
and  one  free  net  in  Derwent  wherever  his 
free  men  drew  the  river.8  The  manorial 
aspect  of  fishing  rights  is  very  interesting  at 
this  early  period. 

The  earliest  methods  of  fishing  of  which 
there  is  documentary  evidence  do  not  seem  to 
h?.ve  differed  from  those  now  in  use.  Angling 
with  a  hook  and  fishing  with  a  net  obtained 
in  the  twelfth  century  as  they  do  to-day.  In 
the  concession  of  William  son  of  Odard  to 
the  monks  of  Wetheral  about  1175  the  ex- 
clusive right  of  fishing  was  granted  in  a  portion 
of  the  Eden  near  the  priory,  so  that  neither 
he  nor  his  heirs  could  fish  with  hook  or 
net  or  in  any  other  way  between  Munchewat 
and  the  mill  pool.9  Fish  coops,  coffins  or 
baskets  were  employed  in  the  upper  reaches 
of  the  Cumberland  rivers.  The  monks  above 
named  obtained  from  the  owner  of  Corby,  a 

8  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  Carl.  Cath.  Lib.  ff.  5,  6. 
7  Ibid.  ff.  19-20. 

s  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  Harl.  MS.  3891,  54-5. 
»  Reg.  of  Wetherhal (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch. 
Soc.),  84. 


333 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


manor  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  not 
only  the  right  to  fix  their  weir  in  the  bank 
but  the  whole  of  the  bank  on  that  side  and 
the  fishery  in  the  Eden  belonging  to  the  vill.1 
A  charter  to  Holmcultram  mentions  both  sea 
and  sand  fisheries  in  the  mouth  of  the  Wam- 
pool.a  It  is  scarcely  open  to  question  that 
the  sand  fishings  were  practised  by  means  of 
some  contrivance  fixed  by  stakes  in  the  sand. 
Concessions  of  fishing  from  boats  were  of 
ordinary  occurrence.  William  son  of  Simon 
de  Skefteling  granted  a  fishery  in  the  sea  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ellen  (Alne)  and  one  fishing 
boat  (naviculam  p'uchatoriam)  and  a  toft  on  the 
beach  whereon  to  dry  the  nets,  with  free 
passage  over  his  land  to  the  fishery.3  Alan 
son  of  Waldeve  ordered  that  as  often  as  the 
ship  (navli)  of  the  monks  of  St.  Bees  should 
fish  at '  Scaddebuas '  no  rent  or  exaction  should 
be  claimed  from  the  men  who  manned  the 
fishing  craft.4  The  owners  of  fishing  rights 
on  the  Scottish  side  of  the  Solway  were  not 
always  careful  to  tie  down  their  grantees  to 
any  special  method.  William  deBrus,  in  his 
grant  of  fisheries  to  Melrose  and  Holmcultram, 
gave  the  monks  liberty  to  exercise  the  art  in 
any  way  they  chose.5 

In  many  of  the  early  grants  of  fisheries  the 
sturgeon  and  a  fish  called  the  great  fish  or  le 
graspes,  which  is  usually  but  doubtfully  identi- 
fied as  the  whale,  were  reserved  to  the  grantor. 
It  is  supposed  that  these  great  fishes  were  the 
right  of  the  Crown,  and  that  it  lay  outside  the 
power  of  the  manorial  owner  to  deal  with 
them.  The  same  custom  was  common  to 
England  and  Scotland.  In  the  Brus  charters 
to  Melrose  cited  above  the  sturgeon  only  is 
reserved,  but  in  the  charters  to  the  English 
abbey  sturgeon  and  le  graspeis  are  named  as 
the  perquisites  of  the  lord  of  Annandale.  In 
this  connection  it  may  be  interesting  to  observe 
that  Thomas  de  Multon  had  licence  in  1281 
to  take  sturgeon6  in  the  king's  fishery  of 
Carlisle  during  his  life  at  the  yearly  rent  of 
131.  4<f.  This  fish  cannot  have  been  very 
plentiful  in  Scottish  waters,  for  we  find  '  ferde- 
kyns  '  of  sturgeon  7  purchased  in  the  London 
market  in  1424  for  James  I.  In  the  survey 
of  the  barony  of  Burgh  taken  by  royal  com- 

1  Reg.  of  Wetkcrhd  (op.  cit.),  78-8 z. 
1  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  604. 

3  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,    Carl.  Cath.  Lib.  ff. 

44-5- 

4  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  i.  ii. 

'  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  Carl.  Cath.  Lib.  f.  67  ; 
Harl.  MS.  391 1,  ff".  102^,  104-6  ;  Liber  tie  Melrose, 
(Bannatyne  Club),  668  ;  Neilson,  Annals  of  the  Sol- 
tvay,  52. 

«  Pat..  10  Edw.  1.  m.  22. 

'  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.)  iv.  197-8. 


mission  in  1589  on  the  attainder  of  Leonard 
Dacre  the  jury  was  of  opinion  '  that  the  lord 
of  the  said  manner  ought  to  have  all  the  royall 
and  principall  fysshes,  viz.  :  whales,  sturgeons, 
porposes,  thirlepolles,  sealles,  turbettes  and 
such  like '  caught  on  the  English  side  from 
Skinburness  to  back  of  Garth  Head,  being 
about  ten  miles  from  Carlisle.  It  was  custom- 
ary for  the  lord  of  the  manor  at  that  time  to 
allow  the  tenants  for  a  sturgeon  3*.  4^.,  for  a 
thirlepolle  2O</.,  for  a  turbot  I2d.,  but  the 
other  fishes  were  wont  to  be  distributed  among 
the  lord's  officers  and  tenants  there.  In  the 
subsequent  history  of  that  barony  the  same 
reservation  of  royal  fishes  was  made  in  the 
leases  of  fisheries  in  the  Eden.8 

That  the  rivers  of  Cumberland  were  famous 
for  the  production  of  salmon  we  have  every 
reason  to  believe.  It  was  the  only  article  of 
food  particularly  specified  by  king  John  in 
1215,  when  he  sent  messengers  to  procure 
merchandise  from  the  citizens  of  Carlisle.9 
From  the  instructions  of  Henry  III.  to  the 
various  sheriffs  and  bailiffs  of  the  northern 
counties  on  the  occasion  of  the  marriage  of 
the  princess  Margaret  at  York  in  1251  the 
same  peculiarity  may  be  noted.  The  pro- 
vision of  salmon  was  ordered  only  from  the 
sheriff  of  Cumberland  and  the  bailiff  of  New- 
castle-on-Tyne,  the  former  having  to  send 
fifty  'calivered' salmon  put  'in  pane.'10  About 
this  time  public  opinion  was  taking  practical 
shape  for  the  regulation  of  fisheries,  and  a 
formal  presentment  was  made  at  the  Assizes 
of  Newcastle  in  1269  about  the  destruction 
of  salmon  and  their  fry  in  the  northern 
rivers.11  In  consequence  the  justices  made  an 
order  which  afterwards  received  recognition 
as  possessing  statutory  force.  The  same  judg- 
ment of  assize  was  made  at  Carlisle  in  1278 
on  the  presentment  of  a  Cumberland  jury. 

"  The  survey  of  the  barony  of  Burgh-by-Sands 
on  the  attainder  of  Leonard  Dacre  has  been  printed 
among  the  documentary  evidences  used  in  an  ex- 
chequer action  between  the  citizens  of  Carlisle  and 
the  earl  of  Lonsdale  in  1867.  Many  interesting 
facts  about  the  history  of  the  Eden  fisheries  are  in- 
cluded in  that  collection.  Mr.  Geo.  Neilson's  note 
on  the  'guhail'  in  its  relation  to  Scots  law  should 
be  consulted  (Annals  of  the  Solway,  54).  The  tongue 
of  the  fish  called  'le  graspes'  or  'craspeis'  was 
reserved  to  William  the  Conqueror  according  to 
custom  (Harl.  Chart.  83  A,  12  ;  Rymer,  Tecedera,'\. 
4).  See  Cal.  of  Doc.  France  (P.R.O.),  81,  for  the 
reservation  of  the  sturgeon  in  1107,  and  also 
Madox,  History  of  the  Exchequer,  3  49-8 1 ,  ed.  1711. 
»  Close  R.  John  (Rec.  Com.)  i.  191*. 

«  Ibid.  35  Hen.  III.  m.  i. 

"  Three   Early    Assize   Rolls   of  Northumberland 
(Surtees  Soc.),  208-9. 


334 


INDUSTRIES 


It  is  very  interesting  for  the  light  it  throws  on 
the  common  law  and  ancient  custom  of  fishing 
in  the  rivers  of  the  county.1 

It  will  be  expedient  to  refer  to  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  assize  in  1278  at  some  length,  for 
here  we  touch  upon  what  may  be  termed  the 
foundation  of  legal  enactments  in  connection 
with  fishing  customs  in  Cumberland.  The 
records  of  the  court  may  be  construed  as 
follows  :  The  jurors  of  Lythe  and  Eskdale 
and  of  Cumberland  and  Allerdale  made  a 
presentment  regarding  the  great  destruction 
of  salmon  coming  up  to  spawn  and  of  the  fry 
going  down  to  sea  in  the  waters  of  Eden  and 
Esk  and  other  rivers  of  the  county.  There- 
fore the  whole  county,  knights  and  free- 
holders, unanimously  determined  that  from 
Michaelmas  to  St.  Andrew's  Day  no  net 
should  be  drawn  or  placed  at  weirs,  pools  or 
mills,  or  mill  pools,  and  that  none  should  fish 
in  any  waters  of  the  county  with  nets,  'ster- 
kilds'  or  other  engine,  or  without  engine, 
within  the  said  close  time.  Also  that  from 
the  feasts  of  the  Apostles  Philip  and  James  till 
the  nativity  of  St.  John  the  Baptist  no  net  or 
'  wile '  or  '  borache '  should  be  placed  at  pools 
or  mills  or  mill  pools,  nor  any  net  placed  at 
weirs,  save  by  the  conservators  of  rivers,  and 
that  the  meshes  should  be  wide  enough  to  let 
the  salmon  fry  through,  viz.  of  four  thumbs' 
length.  It  was  provided  also  that  so  often  as 
any  fisher  or  miller  or  other  person  infringed 
this  provision  and  was  convicted  he  should  be 
sent  to  the  king's  prison  and  not  repledged, 
unless  by  consent  of  the  conservators.  The 
jurors  likewise  attested  that  Thomas  de  Multon 
of  Gillesland,  as  his  ancestors  had  done  before 
him,  took  fines  from  all  illegal  nets  in  the 
Eden  at  a  place  called  Polleburgh  by  view  of 
knights  and  others  appointed  to  the  custody 
of  the  waters  ;  but  if  the  king's  bailiffs  had 
arrived,  then  the  judgments  pertained  to  the 
king  for  that  turn. 

It  was  also  provided  that  all  '  boraches  '  at 
mills  should  henceforth  be  removed  under  for- 
feiture of  forty  shillings  for  each  conviction, 

1  Fisheries  in  Cumberland  were  not  altogether 
confined  to  salmon.  The  herring  was  a  staple 
article  of  food  at  an  early  date.  Waldeve  son  of 
Gospatric  and  William  Engaine,  two  magnates  who 
owned  land  on  the  western  seaboard,  gave  to  the 
priory  of  Carlisle  the  tithes  of  their  herring 
fisheries,  which  grants  were  confirmed  by  Henry 
II.  about  1175  (Dugdale,  Mon.vi.  144).  Waldeve 
and  Alan  his  son  bestowed  a  manse  and  a  herring 
fishery  in  Eltadala  or  Allerdale  on  the  canons  of 
Hexham  (The Priory  ofHexham  [Surtees  Soc.]  i.  59). 
A  fishery  for  lampreys  in  the  Eden  near  Cumwhitton 
belonged  to  the  Dacres  in  1485  (Cal.  of  litq.  p.m. 
Hen.  Vll.  i.  69). 


and  that  there  should  be  no  more  than  three 
small  nets  in  the  Eden  by  custom,  the  meshes 
whereof  with  a  knot  should  be  of  three 
thumbs'  length  for  catching  lampreys ;  and 
none  should  fish  with  these  except  from  the 
feast  of  St.  Andrew  till  the  quinzaine  next 
before  the  feast  of  St.  John  Baptist.  The 
king  for  his  castle  of  Carlisle  should  have  one  ; 
the  citizens  of  Carlisle  another  in  their  pool 
at  the  garden  leased  to  the  city  for  £15,  in 
which  none  should  fish  without  leave  of  the 
citizens ;  and  if  more  nets  were  found  they 
might  be  put  down  by  the  conservators.  The 
jury  presented  and  the  whole  county  com- 
plained that  the  prior  of  St.  Bees  had  two 
engines  called  coops  (cupe)  for  catching  sal- 
mon in  his  pool  of  Stainburn,  where  in  times 
past  he  had  but  one  ;  and  the  other  was  set 
up  six  years  before  without  warrant  and  after 
the  last  circuit  of  the  judges,  on  which  account 
he  was  amerced.  The  sheriff  was  instructed 
to  remove  the  second  coop  at  the  prior's  ex- 
pense. It  was  enjoined  moreover  that  in  each 
pool  of  the  Eden,  Esk  and  Derwent  and  other 
waters  where  salmon  might  be  taken,  in  mid- 
stream by  ancient  custom  there  ought  to  be  a 
pass  wide  enough  for  a  sow  with  her  five  little 
pigs ;  and  as  the  following  were  unduly 
narrowed,  viz.  at  Cockermouth,  Camerton, 
Stainburn  and  Workington,  these  openings 
ought  to  be  so  enlarged  at  the  costs  of  those 
who  contracted  them.  The  judges  then  named 
as  conservators  twelve  persons  chosen  by  con- 
sent of  the  whole  county,  who  were  obliged  to 
make  oath  in  court  for  the  faithful  discharge 
of  their  office.  It  was  also  provided  that  all 
nets  and  engines  found  on  the  waters  contrary 
to  law  and  custom  should  be  burned  in  the 
presence  of  the  conservators.  This  enact- 
ment was  to  endure  for  ever  to  the  good  of 
the  whole  county  and  others  adjacent.2 

The  width  of  the  fish-gap  or  free  passage 
in  midstream,  '  according  to  old  custom  wide 
enough  for  a  sow  with  her  five  little  pigs,'  is 
a  subject  of  curious  interest  in  the  history  of 
Cumberland  fisheries.  The  same  measure- 
ment was  in  use  several  years  later.  In  1293 
a  plea  was  heard  at  Newcastle  before  the 
itinerant  justices  against  the  monks  of  Weth- 
eral  for  raising  the  fish  pool  and  contracting 
the  fish  pass  in  the  Eden  contrary  to  ancient 
custom,  by  which  the  gap  was  to  be  wide 
enough  for  a  sow  with  her  five  little  pigs  to 
pass  through.3  It  would  be  difficult  to  deter- 
mine in  feet  and  inches  the  exact  width  of 

*  Cal.    of  Doc.    Scot.    (Scot.     Rec.    Pub.)     ii. 

38-9- 

3  Assize  R.  (Northumb.),  No.  651,  21  Edw.  I. 
rot.  36  ;  Reg.  of  Wttherhal  (op.  cit.),  400-1. 


335 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


the  passage  necessary  for  a  sow  and  her  litter. 
Turning  to  Scots  law  we  find  an  analagous 
measurement  in  use  at  an  earlier  period.  It 
was  laid  down  in  a  statute  made  at  Perth  in 
1177  that  according  to  the  king's  assize  the 
midstream  was  always  to  be  free  to  the  extent 
that  a  swine  of  three  years  old,  well-fed,  could 
not  touch  either  side  with  its  head  or  its  tail. 
Between  1293  and  1372  this  unique  method 
of  measurement  appears  to  have  been  dropped 
in  Cumberland,  for  in  the  latter  year  the 
aperture  was  expressed  in  feet  in  a  judgment 
between  the  lord  of  Cockermouth  and  John 
de  Camerton  about  a  fishing  dispute  in  the 
Derwent.  The  earl  of  Angus,  the  com- 
plainant, brought  an  action  for  injury  to  his 
part  of  the  river  by  John  de  Camerton's  weir. 
It  was  alleged  that  the  complainant  had  from 
time  immemorial  an  aperture  of  the  breadth 
of  24  feet,  commonly  called  the  free  water, 
which  aperture  ought  always  to  be  in  the 
deeper  part  of  the  river  and  in  all  mill  pools 
and  demesnes  from  that  weir  to  the  sea.  The 
cause  of  the  action  was  that  John  had  filled 
up  the  aperture  with  stones  to  divert  the  water 
to  his  mill,  whereby  only  four  salmon  were 
taken  then  for  the  forty  that  were  taken  be- 
fore. It  was  decided  that  8  feet  of  the 
handiwork  of  stones  was  a  nuisance,  and  it  was 
ordered  to  be  abated  at  John's  expense.1 
When  the  measure  became  a  matter  of  statute 
law  the  legislature  left  it  to  the  discretion  of 
the  justices,  who  were  empowered  to  survey 
and  search  all  weirs  that  they  should  not  be 
too  narrow  so  as  to  lead  to  the  destruction 
of  salmon  fry,  but  with  '  a  reasonable  open- 
ing' according  to  ancient  custom  (17  Ric.  II. 
c.9). 

The  citizens  of  Carlisle  have  possessed  a 
fishery  in  the  Eden  from  an  early  date.  It 
was  found  by  inquisition  in  1 22 1  that  a 
fishery  in  that  river  was  included  in  the  '  farm' 
of  the  city  which  they  held  of  the  king.2  At 

1  Assize  R.  45  Edw.  III.  summarized  in  the 
report  of  the  Special  Commission  on  Lord  Lons- 
Jale'i  Salmon  Hall  Fishery  in  1868.  In  the 
same  report  there  is  reference  to  another  document, 
being  an  Elizabethan  survey  on  the  death  of  the 
earl  of  Northumberland,  dated  1577,  in  which  it 
is  stated  that  for  twenty-four  years  past  the  river 
Derwent  was  a  free  water  and  kept  open  in  all 
places  without  coop,  fish-garth,  or  any  other  let 
from  the  sea  or  foot  of  the  said  river  unto  an  old 
coop  or  fish-garth  then  decayed,  which  stood  about 
Cockermouth  Castle.  But  the  river  had  been 
then  (1577)  stopped  and  shut  up  with  a  fish-garth 
made  of  late  years  by  Sir  Henry  Curwen  to  the 
prejudice  of  the  said  earl  and  to  the  great  damage 
and  loss  of  his  tenants  and  farmers. 

*  Fine  R.  5  Hen.  III.  m.  2  ;  Royal  Charters  oj 
Carlisle  (Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.),  1-3. 


an  assize  in  Carlisle  in  1292  they  claimed 
that,  when  Henry  II.  demised  the  city  to 
them  at  a  certain  rent,  the  fishery  was  an 
appurtenant  of  the  '  farm,'  though  a  jury  of 
country  gentlemen  returned  the  verdict  that 
it  was  without  the  borough  and  in  the  juris- 
diction of  the  county.3  Whatever  doubt  may 
have  existed  at  this  time  about  their  right  to 
the  fishery,  which  according  to  the  record  was 
located  at  '  Beumund '  or  Beaumont,  it  was 
set  at  rest  by  a  charter  of  Edward  II.  in  1316, 
who  granted  a  fishery  to  the  citizens  '  for  the 
betterment  of  our  city  of  Carlisle.'  Another 
gift  was  made  by  Edward  IV.  in  1461.  Not 
only  did  that  king  confirm  '  the  king's  fishery 
in  the  Eden  water,'  but  also  'out  of  his  more 
abundant  grace  '  he  granted  '  the  custody  of 
our  fishery  of  Carlisle  otherwise  called  the 
sheriff's  net  or  fishery  of  frithnet  in  Eden 
water  in  the  county  of  Cumberland  to  have 
to  themselves,  their  heirs,  and  successors  for 
ever  without  yielding  anything  therefor." 
Regulations  for  the  good  ordering  of  these 
fisheries  were  made  from  time  to  time  and 
recorded  among  the  bye-laws  of  the  city.  In 
the  Dormont  Book,  the  earliest  official  record 
of  the  Corporation,  it  was  directed  in  1561 
that  the  farmers  of  the  King  Garth  and  Free 
Net  should  yearly  present  the  market  of  Car- 
lisle '  with  the  half  part  of  all  such  fyshe  as 
thei  shall  gyt  at  the  same  (fisheries)  for  the 
better  furnishment  and  releef  of  all  the  in- 
habitantes  of  the  same  city  upon  paine  and 
forfitor  of  6s.  8d.  for  everie  default.'  A  cen- 
tury later  the  King  Garth  fishery  could  not 
have  been  so  productive  as  to  allow  the  lessees 
to  give  half  their  yield  of  fish  by  way  of  rent, 
for  in  1680  the  Corporation  granted  them  a 
substantial  abatement.  In  former  times  there 
must  have  been  good  years  and  bad  years  for 
the  taking  of  salmon  in  the  Eden  as  the  rent 
of  the  fisheries  fluctuated  from  one  year  to 
another.  In  1597  the  rent  of  the  Free  Net 
was  £14  and  of  the  King  Garth  £32,  whereas 
in  the  following  year  the  former  was  only 
,£1 1  los.  and  the  latter  £20  3*.  4^.  In  1600 
the  value  of  the  Free  Net  had  risen  to  £13 
6i.  8^.,  while  the  rent  of  King  Garth  re- 
mained as  it  had  been  two  years  before.  In 
1648  the  rent  of  King  Garth  was  only  £10  ; 
in  1652  both  fisheries  were  let  to  one  farmer 
for  j£iO,  the  Free  Net  now  assuming  the 
name  of  '  Freebote,'  but  in  the  following  year 
the  rent  of  '  the  fishgarthe  with  ye  free  boate ' 
was  demised  at  ^38.  The  annual  letting  of 
the  fisheries  was  stopped  by  order  of  the  Cor- 
poration in  1673,  when  it  was  provided  that 


3  Plac.    de   Quo   Warr.  (Rec.   Com.), 
Royal  Charters  of  Carlisle,  4-6. 


336 


INDUSTRIES 


they  should  be  let  to  farm  for  terms  of  seven 
years,  the  farmer  doing  all  repairs.  George 
Sowerby  was  then  the  lessee  under  a  lease  of 
seven  years  at  an  annual  rent  of  £24..*  Ow- 
ing to  the  change  in  the  bed  of  the  Eden  at 
King  Garth,  the  citizens  of  Carlisle  had  some 
trouble  in  maintaining  their  full  right  of  fish- 
ing there.  A  '  new  goyt '  or  '  gote,'  com- 
monly called  '  the  goat,'  a  dam  course,  gut  or 
sluice,  was  made  about  1597,  through  which 
the  Eden  afterwards  broke  its  way,  forsaking 
its  old  channel  and  soon  converting  '  the  goat ' 
into  the  main  stream.  The  fishing  of  the 
new  channel  was  the  subject  of  negotiation 
in  1683  and  1684  with  the  lord  of  the  barony 
of  Burgh  upon  whose  property  the  river  had 
encroached.3  In  1 693  the  dispute  was  settled 
by  an  agreement  with  Sir  John  Lowther 
whereby  the  right  of  fishing  in  the  new  bed 
was  demised  to  the  Corporation  for  an  annual 
acknowledgment.  By  the  action  of  the 
owner  of  Burgh  the  agreement  was  terminated 
in  1670  and  the  fishing  of 'the  goat'  was  the 
occasion  of  a  suit  at  law.  Since  that  date  the 
citizens  have  had  other  lawsuits  in  defence  of 
their  fishing  rights.3  In  later  years  King 
Garth  has  kept  up  many  associations  with 
municipal  life  unconnected  with  fishing  broils. 
In  1733  need  was  felt  for  a  house  there  for 
the  use  of  the  lessees  of  the  fishery,  and  the 
mayor  was  empowered  to  contract  for  the 
purchase  of  a  piece  of  ground  whereon  to 
erect  the  desired  building.  This  house  be- 
came the  rendezvous  of  the  mayor  and  com- 
monalty, and  high  revel  was  held  from  year 
to  year  when  the  common  councilmen  treated 
his  worship  to  a  good  dinner  and  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  fishing  grounds.  The  last  dinner 
to  the  mayor  held  at  this  place  was  celebrated 
under  canvas  in  1892. 

As  the  northern  Esk,  from  its  junction  with 
the  Liddel  to  the  Solway,  practically  formed 
the  international  boundary  between  England 
and  Scotland,  the  right  of  fishing  in  its  waters 
was  the  occasion  of  many  disputes  between 
the  Borderers,  and  the  subject  of  many  con- 
ferences and  arbitrations  between  the  envoys 
of  both  kingdoms.  The  inhabitants  of  Cum- 
berland constructed  a  dam,  known  as  a  fish- 
garth,  on  the  river  by  which  they  intercepted 
the  fish  on  their  way  to  the  upper  pools,  thus 
depriving  the  Scottish  fishermen  of  their  right- 
ful share.  The  Scotsmen,  denying  the  Eng- 

1  Some  Municipal  Records  of  the  City  of  Carlisle 
(Cumb.  and  Westrald.  Arch.  Soc.),  62,  307. 

»  Ibid.  273,  311,  318,  321. 

3  Plea  of  the  Corporation  of  Carlisle  against  Lord 
Lonsdak,  printed  in  1868,  where  the  evidences  are 
embodied. 


lish  right  to  stop  the  fish,  removed  the  ob- 
struction. The  dispute  which  arose  in 
consequence  of  its  removal  lasted  for  about  a 
century  and  caused  much  ill-feeling  between 
the  inhabitants  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
river.  For  the  purpose  of  doing  justice  be- 
tween the  parties  it  was  agreed  at  West- 
minster in  1474,  touching  the  matter  in  dis- 
pute, that, — 

certaine  lordes,  not  bordurers,  of  both  parties, 
shall  be  auctorized  by  their  princes  to  visile  and 
see  the  place  and  by  inquisition  and  recorde  taken 
of  the  eldest  and  feithfullest  persoones  of  the 
Marches  there,  aswele  of  the  one  partie  as  of  the 
othir,  and  by  alle  othir  convenient  and  reasonable 
weyes  and  moyens,  they  shall  enfourme  thaym  of 
the  truth,  and  hough  in  old  tyme  the  said  fishgaert 
hath  been  kepte,  and  thereuppon  put  thaym  in 
thair  devoir  to  fynyssh  and  determe  that  debate 
and  querelle.  The  lordes  of  both  sides  shall  mete 
in  the  Westmarche  for  this  matier  the  tenth  day 
of  Marche  nex  to  come.  Both  princes  shall  wright 
and  gefe  straitly  in  charge  to  thir  subgiettes  of 
either  side,  that  during  the  said  inquisition  noon 
of  thaym  be  so  hardy  to  make  any  rode,  dispoille, 
brennyng  or  werre  upon  the  othir,  by  occasion  of 
setting  upp  or  taking  downe  of  the  said  fishgaert, 
nor  for  noon  othir  matier  nor  cause  :  but  that  the 
trewes  be  observed  and  kept,  and  that  they  that 
fyndeth  themselves  wronged  or  grieved  sue  for 
redress  to  their  superiors  as  reason  requireth.4 

But  the  dispute  did  not  end  with  the  appoint- 
ment of  this  commission.  Again  and  again 
in  subsequent  years  the  English  asserted  their 
right  to  erect  and  hold  on  the  river  Esk  a 
hedge  or  enclosure,  commonly  called  a  fish- 
garth,  where  the  fish  might  be  more  easily 
caught  by  them,  and  they  maintained  that 
such  right  belonged  to  the  king  of  England 
and  his  subjects  by  law  and  custom,  while  the 
subjects  of  the  king  of  Scotland  as  stoutly 
maintained  the  contrary.  In  true  border 
fashion  the  fish-garth  was  destroyed  by  the 
Scots  as  often  as  it  was  erected  by  the  Eng- 
lish.5 Questions  about  the  bounds  of  the  de- 
batable land  were  imported  into  the  contro- 
versy which  did  not  tend  to  simplify  matters. 
After  many  abortive  attempts  to  settle  the 
dispute,  it  was  finally  decided  in  1493  that 
damage  to  the  fish-garth  should  not  be  con- 
sidered a  violation  of  the  peace.  Later  on, 
in  1498,  Thomas  lord  Dacre  had  a  grant 
from  king  James  of  '  al  and  hale  oure  fisching 
of  the  water  of  Esk  for  the  space  and  termez 
of  thre  yeris,'  with  power  to  put  in  '  garth  or 

4  Rymer,  Fcedera,  vol.  v.  pt.  iii.  p.  53,  old  ed.  ; 
Bruce  Armstrong,  History  of  Liddesdale,  172. 

s  Rot.  Scoti<e  (Rec.  Com.),  ii.  450,  452,  478, 
490,  493,  498  ;  Cal.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.), 
iv.  317,  324. 


II 


337 


43 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


garthis  for  the  dew  lauboring  and  occupying 
of  the  said  fischins; '  for  the  annual  rent  of 

O 

'  four  seme  of  salmond  fisch,  ilk  seme  con- 
tenand  xiij  fisch  salmand '  payable  '  to  our 
capitan  constable,  and  keparis  of  our  castell  of 
Lochmabane.'  It  does  not  appear  how  this 
agreement  was  brought  about,  though  possibly 
it  was  reckoned  at  the  time  the  most  feasible 
way  to  overcome  the  difficulty.  But  it  did 
not  last  long,  for  at  various  periods  from  1502 
up  to  the  time  of  the  Union  the  fish-garth  on 
the  Esk  was  the  subject  of  negotiation  between 
the  people  of  both  realms.1  Taken  as  a 
whole  the  fisheries  occupy  a  prominent  place 
among  the  industries  of  the  county  and  supply 
an  interesting  aspect  of  its  history.2 

The  mineral  wealth  of  the  county  was 
known  at  the  earliest  period  of  which  there 
is  trustworthy  record.  The  first  Norman 
settlers  soon  made  themselves  acquainted  with 
the  numerous  veins  of  metalliferous  ores 
which  run  through  the  upper  strata,  and  have 
been  one  of  the  chief  sources  of  Cumberland 
industries.  The  silver  mines  of  Carlisle  may 
be  said  to  occupy  the  place  of  pre-eminence, 
as  they  have  supplied  the  first  distinctive  in- 
dustry on  record,  and  their  fame  has  been 
great  in  the  history  of  the  district.  When 
one  of  the  chroniclers  stated  that  a  vein  of 

1  The  authorities  and  references  in  Bruce  Arm- 
strong's History  of  Liddesdale,  172—4,  should  be 
consulted. 

a  Much  information  about  the  later  history 
of  this  industry,  as  carried  on  in  the  Eden  and 
northern  Esk,  may  be  gathered  from  a  curious 
pamphlet  entitled  The  Fisherman's  Defence  (8vo, 
pp.  vii.  79),  published  in  1807  by  Charles  Waugh, 
a  fisherman  of  Bowness  on  Solway.  Its  sub-title 
will  be  sufficient  to  indicate  its  character  and  con- 
tents :  '  A  few  remarks  and  observations  on  some 
sections  of  "  An  Act  of  Parliament "  made  and 
passed  in  the  Forty-fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  His 
Majesty  King  George  the  Third  intituled  "  An 
Act  for  the  better  regulating  and  improving  the 
Fisheries  in  the  Arm  of  the  Sea  between  the 
county  of  Cumberland  and  the  counties  of  Dum- 
fries and  Wigton  and  the  Stewartry  of  Kirkcud- 
bright :  and  also  the  Fisheries  in  the  several  streams 
and  waters  which  run  into  or  communicate  with 
the  said  arm  of  the  sea."  Also,  a  description  of 
several  sorts  of  nets  used  in  the  arm  of  the  sea, 
showing  the  strength  of  twine  used  in  making,  and 
the  manner  of  knitting,  rigging,  setting,  cleaning 
and  using  the  said  nets.  Also,  a  short  description 
of  several  sorts  of  fish  taken  in  the  arm  of  the  sea, 
which  are  not  prohibited  by  the  Act  to  be  taken 
in  close  time,  showing  the  time  of  their  spawning 
being  in  full  perfection  &c.  To  which  is  annexed 
the  substance  of  a  letter  sent  to  the  committee 
appointed  by  owners,  farmers,  or  occupiers  of 
fisheries  in  the  rivers  Eden,  Esk,  &c.  to  carry  the 


Act  into  execution.' 


silver  had  been  discovered  at  Carlisle  in  1 133  3 
he  must  have  been  in  error  about  the  date,  for 
these  mines  were  worked  by  the  citizens  of 
Carlisle  and  other  lessees  several  years  before. 
As  a  matter  of  course  much  is  known  of 
them,4  as  they  were  retained  in  possession  of 
the  Crown,  and  from  them  metal  was  obtained 
for  the  royal  mint  at  Carlisle.  They  occupy 
a  prominent  place  in  the  sheriff's  annual  re- 
turns of  the  revenues  of  the  county.  By  a 
curious  fiscal  arrangement,  the  mines  were 
recorded  at  the  Exchequer  as  the  mines  of 
Carlisle  though  they  were  situated  at  Alston,5 
a  parish  on  the  border  of  Northumberland 
nearly  thirty  miles  away.  It  is  strange  that  they 
should  be  called  silver  mines,  for  they  are 
really  lead  mines  with  a  small  impregnation  of 
the  more  precious  metal. 

From  the  Pipe  Rolls  may  be  gathered  many 
interesting  particulars  about  the  lessees  and 
rents  of  the  mine  of  Carlisle  during  the 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries.  In  1158 
the  rent  paid  by  William  son  of  Erembald  ° 

3  Eti/offum  Historiarum  (Rolls  Ser.),  iii.  64 ;  Pipe 
R.  (Rec.  Com.)  31  Hen.  I.  p.  142. 

4  The  mine  of  Carlisle  was  not  the  only  lead 
mine    in   Cumberland    in   the    king's  hand.      In 
1331    Robert  de  la   Forde  and  Richard  Campion 
were  appointed  to  search  for  a  mine  of  silver  and 
lead  reported  to  exist  in  Minerdale  and  Silverbeck 
in  Cumberland  and  Harcla  in   Westmorland,  by 
view  of  Robert  de  Barton  whom  the  king  nomin- 
ated keeper  of  the  mine  (Pat.  5  Edw.  III.  pt.  2,  m. 

13). 

"  A  jury  declared  in  1414-5  'quod  mmeatores 
minere  de  Aldeston  que  currit  in  Scaccario  domini 
Regis  per  nomen  minere  Karlioli  tempore  quo 
minera  predicta  fuit  in  manu  domini  Edwardi, 
nuper  Regis  Anglic,  proavi  domini  Regis  nunc, 
etc.,  semper  habuerunt  quasdam  libertates '  (Inq. 
a.  q.  d.  3  Hen.  V.  No.  7).  It  is  evident  that 
reference  is  made  here  to  letters  close  of  1356, 
in  which  the  mine  of  '  Cardoil,'  as  understood  at 
the  Exchequer,  is  identified  with  the  mine  of 
'  Aldeneston'  (Rymer,/W«a,vol.  iii.pt.  I,  p.  330). 
The  same  view  is  expressed  in  letters  patent  of  1414 
when  William  de  Stapleton  was  lessee  of  the  mines 
(Pat.  2  Hen.  V.  pt.  2,  m.  1 3). 

6  Hodgson  has  suggested  with  much  probability 
that  William  son  of  Erembald  or  Erkenbald  may 
have  been  an  unfortunate  German  speculator,  as  the 
name  has  a  German  sound  (Hist.  o/Northumb.  vol.  iii. 
pt.  2,  p.  45).  Germans  and  Dutch,  it  will  be  seen 
hereafter,  have  been  associated  with  mining  in 
Cumberland  from  an  early  period.  In  1359  Til- 
man  of  Cologne,  of  whose  nationality  there  can  be 
no  doubt,  was  the  lessee  of  the  mines  of  silver, 
copper  and  lead  in  '  Aldeston  More,'  in  which 
year  he  obtained  letters  of  protection  for  himself 
and  his  workmen  so  that  they  might  carry  on  their 
mining  without  molestation  (Rymer,  Faedera,  vol. 
iii.  pt.  i,  p.  422). 


338 


INDUSTRIES 


was  100  marks,  though  the  rent  returned  by 
him  in  1159  was  100  pounds,  a  sum  paid  by 
his  successor,  William  son  of  Holdegar,  for 
some  years.  In  1165  the  management  of 
the  mine  reverted  to  William  son  of  Erem- 
bald.  This  lessee  began  to  show  signs  of 
insolvency  in  1 172,  and  the  arrears  continued 
to  accumulate  till  they  were  over  £2,000  in 
1179.  Soon  after  the  mine  passed  to  other 
hands,  but  the  debt  was  carried  on  from  year 
to  year,  according  to  a  well  known  custom  at 
the  Exchequer,  in  the  sheriffs'  rolls  of  Cum- 
berland and  Northumberland  for  over  a  cen- 
tury. Consignments  of  lead  were  despatched 
from  this  mine  by  the  king's  writ  to  various 
places;  to  Windsor  in  1167  for  the  king's 
house;  fifty-five  cartloads  in  1168  to  the 
sheriff  of  Northumberland  for  transport  to 
Caen  ;  to  Grandmont  in  1 176  for  the  use  of 
the  abbey  ;  and  100  cartloads  in  1 179  for  the 
building  of  the  church  of  Clairvaux.  Gifts 
of  this  sort  from  the  royal  mine  might  be 
multiplied  to  any  extent.  The  king  gave 
orders  for  the  supply  of  silver  or  lead  as 
occasion  required.  He  had  his  mint  and 
exchequer  at  Carlisle,  and  transacted  his  busi- 
ness through  his  local  officers.1 

The  importance  of  the  mine  of  Alston 
may  be  estimated  in  some  measure  by  the 
letters  of  protection  issued  at  various  times  for 
the  protection  of  the  miners  and  the  liberties 
conferred  upon  them  as  a  community.  In 
1222  the  king's  miners  of  Cumberland  had 
letters  of  protection  till  Henry  III.  came  of 
age,  and  in  the  following  year  a  similar  favour 
was  bestowed  on  the  miners  of  Yorkshire  and 
Northumberland  who  were  regarded  as  within 
the  bailiwick  of  the  county  of  Cumberland.2 

1  In  n  64  William  the  moneyer  rendered  ac- 
count of  £200  for  the  mines  of  Carlisle  (Pipe  R. 
Cumb.  10  Hen.  II).  In  quittance  of  the  rent  of 
a  house  at  Carlisle  which  the  justices  delivered  to 
Nicholas  the  assayer  for  the  carrying  on  of  his 
business  (prolabore  suo)  $s.  (ibid.  33  Hen.  II).  The 
king  ordered  bishop  Walter  in  1231  that  he  should 
cause  to  be  made  out  of  the  money  (de  denariis)  in 
his  custody  viii  scutellas  argenteas,  each  dish  of  four 
marks  weight,  and  viii  salsaria  argentea,  each  of 
one  mark  weight,  and  have  them  forwarded  to  York 
(Close  1 5  Hen.  III.  m.  2).  For  the  constitution 
of  the  mint  of  Carlisle  and  the  names  of  the  officers 
in  1242,  see  Red  Book  of  the  Exchequer  (Rolls  Ser.), 
iii.  1078. 

'  Pat.  6  Hen.  III.  m.  2  ;  ibid.  7  Hen.  III.  m.  5. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  the  original  mine  was  in 
Cumberland.  In  1163  William  son  of  Holdegar 
rendered  account  for  the  mine  of  Carlisle  and  the 
mine  of  Yorkshire  (Pipe  R.  9  Hen.  II.),  and  in 
1 1 66  two  mines  are  scheduled  under  the  title  of 
the  mine  of  Carlisle  (ibid.  1 2  Hen.  II.).  It  is 
probable  that  all  the  royal  mines  in  the  northern 


Several  letters  ot  a  similar  character  were 
issued  during  the  reign  of  Henry  III.  In 
1234  and  1235  royal  mandates  signified  that 
the  miners  of  Alston  should  enjoy  the  privi- 
leges and  immunities  which  the  miners  in 
times  past  were  accustomed  to  have,  and  be 
allowed  to  dig  and  mine  without  molestation ; 
merchants  were  also  obliged  to  repair  to  the 
mine  with  victuals  for  the  sustentation  of  the 
miners.3 

Among  the  presentments  made  in  1278—9 
before  the  justices  itinerant  at  their  special 
session  in  '  Aldenestone,'  it  was  stated  that  the 
king  should  receive  each  ninth  '  disc '  dug  up 
by  the  miners,  and  each  '  disc  '  should  contain 
as  much  ore  as  a  man  could  lift  from  the 
ground.  As  to  the  remaining  eight  '  discs '  the 
king  should  have  the  fifteenth  penny  of  all 
the  ore  sold,  but  that  the  king  should  find  at 
his  own  expense  for  the  miners  a  certain  man 
called  a  '  drivere,'  who  knew  how  to  separate 
silver  from  lead.  The  jury  on  being  asked 
the  value  of  the  mine  replied  that  it  depended 
on  the  nature  of  the  ore  they  found,  good  or 
bad,  but  that  there  was  ore  enough  of  one 
sort  and  another  to  last  till  the  end  of  time.* 
The  justices  of  the  same  assize  found  that 
very  many  evil-doers  from  Cumberland  and 
elsewhere  were  harboured  by  the  miners.  By 
all  accounts  the  little  community  at  Alston 
was  composed  of  a  troublesome  class  of  people. 
As  early  as  1170  the  men  of  William  the 
moneyer  were  amerced  for  a  misdemeanor.5 

The  first  designation  of  the  liberties  en- 
joyed by  the  miners  of  Alston  that  we  have 
met  with  is  contained  in  the  well  known 
record  of  1290  quoted  by  Coke6  from  the 
Plea  Rolls.  From  this  it  would  appear  that 
the  miners  had  the  privilege  of  cutting  down 
wood,  to  whomsoever  it  belonged,  nearest  and 
most  convenient  to  the  silver  vein  they 
happened  to  find,  and  to  take  as  much  of  such 
wood  as  they  pleased  for  the  roasting  and 
smelting  of  the  ore.  The  further  liberty  was 
claimed  of  preventing  the  owners  from  cutting 
wood  till  the  needs  of  the  mines  were  satisfied. 
In  fact  the  miners  did  as  they  pleased  with 
the  woods  in  the  vicinity  of  Alston  on  the 

counties  at  this  date  were  reckoned  as  within  the 
bailiwick  of  Cumberland. 

"  Pat.  1 8  Hen.  III.  m.  7  ;  ibid.  20  Hen.  III. 
m.  13  ;  ibid.  21  Hen.  III.  m.  10.  These  three 
rolls  have  been  printed  in  full  by  Hodgson  (Hist,  of 
Northumb.  vol.  iii.  pt.  2,  p.  46—7). 

4  Cat.  of  Doc.  Scot.  (Scot.  Rec.  Pub.),  ii.  41, 
quoting  the  Assize  R.  of  6-20  Edw.  I. 

•  Pipe  R.  (Cumb.)  16  Hen.  II. 

6  Institutes,  ii.  578  ;  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of 
Westmld.  and  Cumb.  ii.  440  ;  Hodgson,  Hist,  of 
Northumb.  vol.  iii.  pt.  2,  pp.  47-8. 


339 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


assumption  of  immemorial  usage.  In  1356 
Edward  III.  caused  an  inquiry  to  be  made  by 
a  jury  at  Penrith  for  the  purpose  of  rinding 
out  the  immunities  which  justly  belonged  to 
the  miners.  The  verdict  was  to  the  effect 
that  they  dwelt  together  in  shiels  (in  shells  suit) 
and  enjoyed  the  liberty  of  choosing  from 
among  themselves  one  coroner  and  one  bailiff 
called  a  '  kynges  sergeant '  ;  the  coroner  had 
cognizance  of  all  pleas  of  felonies  and  tres- 
passes, debts  and  other  matters,  arising  among 
themselves  ;  the  king's  bailiff  made  executions 
among  them  respecting  themselves  and  their 
servants.  When  the  miners  were  dispersed, 
one  or  two  in  a  place,  the  liberties  ceased  to 
be  exercised  by  those  separated  from  the  rest, 
but  while  they  dwelt  together  and  followed 
their  mining  occupations  it  was  customary  for 
them  and  their  predecessors  to  exercise  these 
privileges  from  time  immemorial,  rendering  to 
the  king  ten  marks  at  the  Exchequer  of  Car- 
lisle.' *  The  claims  of  the  miners  to  traditional 
liberties  were  not  always  accepted  without 
challenge.  In  1292  they  were  summoned  to 
answer  the  king  by  what  warrant  they  claimed 
that  the  justices  itinerant  in  Cumberland 
should  come  to  Arneshowe  in  Alston  to  hold 
pleas  of  the  Crown  2  touching  the  mine  there 
without  the  licence  of  the  king  and  his  pro- 
genitors. The  miners  pleaded  that  from  the 
time  that  the  justices  began  to  itinerate  in 
these  parts  they  and  all  the  miners  that  pre- 
ceded them  always  used  such  liberty  without 
interruption,  but  at  the  same  time  petitioned 
that  the  matter  should  be  inquired  into  by  the 
country.  It  would  appear  from  the  record 
that  the  claim  was  not  sustained  as  the  miners 
had  totally  lost  the  liberty  to  hold  pleas  of  the 
Crown. 

The  Stapletons,  while  they  were  lords  of 
the  manor  in  the  fifteenth  century,  were 
lessees  of  the  mine  and  seem  to  have  been 
actively  interested  in  mining.  In  1414 

1  Inq.  p.  m.  30  Edw.  III.  (znd  Nos.),  No.  70. 
The  verdict  of  the  jury  was  afterwards  confirmed  by 
letters  patent  (Pat.  30  Edw.  III.  pt.  3,  m.  23).    In 
the  same  year  the  king  forbad  the  bailiff  of  Tyne- 
dale  on  any  account  to  cause  the  miners  to  appear 
beyond  the  county  of  Cumberland  to  answer  for 
the  payment  of    any  contribution  charged  upon 
them  for  their  mines  in  prejudice  of  their  ancient 
rent  of  ten  marks  (Close  30  Edw.  III.  m.  1 6). 

2  Plac.  de  S>uo.  Warr.   (Rec.    Com.),    p.   117. 
Pleas  were  held  at  Alston  on  16  January,  1278-9, 
before  Hugh  de  Multon  and  Robert  de  Wardewyk 
sent  there  by  John  de  Vaux  and  the  other  justices 
itinerant    at    Carlisle.     The    causes    heard    were 
wholly  concerned  with  the  conduct  of  the  miners 
and    the   working    of  the    mines  (Cal.    of  Doc. 
Scot.  [Scot.  Rec.  Pub.],  ii.  40). 


William  de  Stapleton  complained  that  from 
time  beyond  memory  he  and  his  predecessors, 
lords  of  the  manor  of  Alston,  had  been  pay- 
ing an  annual  rent  of  ten  marks  for  the  mine, 
notwithstanding  that  the  said  mine  for  the 
past  fifty  years  and  more  had  been  profitless, 
to  their  manifest  expense  and  impoverishment. 
Several  concessions  were  made  to  the  lessees 
at  this  period  for  the  development  of  the  in- 
dustry,3 but  it  is  evident  that  the  product  of 
the  mine  was  inconsiderable  and  of  little  value 
to  the  Crown.  When  new  arrangements 
were  made  by  Edward  IV.  for  the  working  of 
royal  mines  in  the  north,  the  mine  at  Alston 
More  called  '  the  Fletcheroos,'  now  called 
4  the  Fletchers,'  a  little  over  a  mile  to  the 
north-east  of  Garrigill,  was  demised  in  1475 
with  the  mines  of  Keswick  in  Cumberland, 
Richmond  in  Yorkshire  and  Blanchland  in 
Northumberland,  to  Richard,  duke  of  Glouces- 
ter, and  others  for  fifteen  years.4  From  this 
date  the  rise  of  mining  companies  comes  into 
full  view,  with  the  consequent  extension  of 
the  mining  industries  throughout  Cumberland. 
The  mineral  resources  of  the  Alston  district 
have  contributed  largely  to  the  wealth  of  the 
northern  counties. 

The  iron  mines  rank  among  the  earliest  in- 
dustries, and  their  working  appears  to  have 
been  confined  at  first  to  the  great  barony  of 
Coupland  in  the  south-western  portion  of  the 
county.  It  is  not  necessary  to  inquire  which 
of  the  local  mines  may  claim  the  precedence 
in  order  of  time,  for  soon  after  the  Norman 
settlement,  as  soon  as  we  touch  on  charter 
evidence,  liberty  to  work  iron  mines  and  the 
grant  of  forges  or  of  wood  for  the  making 
of  charcoal  for  furnaces  were  subjects  of  fre- 
quent concession  by  the  lords  of  that  barony 
to  the  neighbouring  religious  houses.  The 
mines  about  the  town  of  Egremont,  justly 
famous  as  an  industrial  centre,  have  been  con- 
tinuously worked  since  the  early  years  of  the 
twelfth  century.  William  son  of  Duncan, 
who  succeeded  to  the  fief  of  William  Mes- 
chin,  granted  to  the  monks  of  St.  Bees  an 
iron  mine  (minant  ferrt)  in  his  land  at  '  Chir- 
naby,'  sometimes  called  '  Achirnaby,'  near 
Egremont,  to  make  iron  (ad  ferrum  faciendum) 
for  ever.5  The  mining  of  iron  ore  (mynera 
ad  ferrum]  was  carried  on  at  '  Thyrneby '  by 


a  Pat.  2  Hen.  V.  pt.  2,  m.  13.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  Pat.  4  Hen.  V.  m.  8  recites  by 
Inspeximus  several  instruments  previously  referred 
to  about  the  liberties  of  the  miners,  the  greater 
part  of  which  has  been  printed  by  Hodgson  (Hist. 
ofNorthumb.  vol.  iii.  pt.  2,  pp.  52-3). 

4  Pat.  15  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i,  mm.  15,  22. 

5  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  i.  39  ;  viii.  8. 


340 


INDUSTRIES 


the  lords  of  Egremont  in  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury.1 It  was  stipulated  in  1338  when  the 
lands  of  John  de  Multon  were  parcelled 
among  his  three  co-heiresses  that  the  iron 
mines  of  '  Thernby  '  and  '  Grabergh  '  and 
the  forges  in  the  market-place  of  Egremont 
and  opposite  the  rector's  wall  should  be  held 
in  common.2  Another  mine  at  Egremont 
was  given  to  the  monks  of  Holmcultram  by 
William,  Earl  of  Albemarle.3 

The  lords  of  Coupland  were  most  generous 
to  Holmcultram  in  the  matter  of  mines  and 
forges  within  their  fee.  In  addition  to  the 
above  mentioned  mine  at  Egremont  the  same 
earl  granted  a  forge  at  Winfel,  and  as  much 
green  and  dead  wood  as  was  necessary  to  make 
charcoal  (carbonem)  for  its  maintenance.  In 
the  confirmation  of  the  grant  by  Cicely  his 
wife,  the  location  of  the  forge  is  described  as 
being  in  her  forest  of  '  Wynfell,'  and  the 
liberty  of  cutting  wood  was  confined  to  the 
district  between  the  Ehen  (Eigne)  and  Cocker 
(Koker).4  This  monastery  carried  on  an  ex- 
tensive industry  in  the  manufacture  of  iron. 
Lambert  de  Multon  gave  twenty-four  measures 
of  his  iron  ore  (xxiiij  duodenas  mine  ferrt)  in 
Coupland  annually  to  sustain  one  forge,  when- 
ever he  and  his  men  worked  the  mine,  with 
free  access  through  his  land  on  condition  that 
the  monks  should  not  smelt  the  said  ore  with- 
in the  barony  of  Coupland.  The  same  privi- 
lege was  afterwards  accorded  by  his  heirs  with 
further  provisions  about  the  digging  of  the 
mine  and  carrying  away  the  ore.  The  monks 
had  furnaces  within  their  own  lordship  of 
Holmcultram  and  rented  land  at  Whitehaven 
from  their  brethren  at  St.  Bees  for  the  purpose 
of  smelting.  John,  abbot  of  Holmcultram 
(temp.  Henry  III.),  acknowledged  himself  bound 
to  the  prior  of  St.  Bees  for  the  payment  of  six 
pence  of  silver  yearly  for  setting  up  their 
furnace  at  Whitehaven,  but  the  prior  was  at 
liberty  to  remove  it  at  any  time.6  In  the 
grants  of  wood  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
abbey  the  lords  of  Coupland  forbad  the  monks 
to  make  charcoal  for  their  forges  in  the  lord- 
ship of  Holmcultram8  without  his  special 
licence. 

Another  historic  industry  contingent  on  the 
geographical  position  of  the  county  was  the 
manufacture  of  salt,  which  for  several  centuries 

1   Inq.  p.m.  1 5  Edw.  II.  No.  45. 
»  Pat.  12  Edw.  III.pt.  I,  m.  10. 
3  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  Harl.  MS.  3911,   f. 
50^  ;  Dugdale,  Mm.  v.  597. 

1  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  Harl.  MS.    3911,  ff. 

5°,5',  52- 

6  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  x.  7. 

6  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  Harl.  MS.  3891,  ff. 
15,  1 6. 


was  plied  on  the  seaboard  from  the  mouth  of 
the  northern  Esk  to  the  sands  of  Duddon. 
In  various  districts  the  low-lying  marshes 
bordering  the  principal  estuaries,  with  extensive 
peat  mosses  to  landward,  were  well  adapted 
for  the  furtherance  of  this  industry.  Though 
no  saltpans  have  been  worked  in  Cumberland 
for  more  than  a  century,  evidence  that  it  was 
once  a  flourishing  business  is  still  visible  almost 
everywhere  along  the  coast.  Survivals  of  the 
hollow  basins  formed  by  embankment  with 
convenient  access  to  the  sea  in  which  the 
brine  was  stored  for  the  purpose  of  evapor- 
ation may  still  be  traced  in  many  places.  But 
perhaps  a  stronger  proof  of  its  prevalence  and 
antiquity  may  be  gathered  from  the  number 
of  place-names  which  still  carry  a  reminiscence 
of  its  former  existence.  The  names  on  the 
ordnance  map  could  be  multiplied  to  any  ex- 
tent from  ancient  documents.  The  northern 
boundary  of  the  manor  of  Rocliffe  in  1589 
was  '  Salt  Coote  Hylles  on  the  syde  of  the 
ryver  of  Eske.'  Then  again  Salcotes  near 
Newton  Arlosh  was  so  named  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Edward  I."  In  fact  the  marshes 
about  the  common  estuary  of  the  Wampool 
and  Waver  were  celebrated  for  their  saltpans 
from  an  early  period.8  As  we  proceed  further 
south  we  meet  successively  with  Salta  and  Salta 
Moss  north  of  Allonby;  Saltern,  with  its  ex- 
tensive ruins,  the  name  of  the  point  north  of 
Parton;  Saltom  Bay  between  Whitehaven  and 
St.  Bees  Head;  Saltcoats  beside  Ravenglass, 
and  Salthouse  on  the  sands  of  Duddon  near 
Millom.  But  saltworks  were  not  confined  to 
those  places  which  retain  the  name,  for  in 
numberless  other  localities  along  the  shore  we 
know  that  the  industry  was  carried  on  with- 
out having  bequeathed  the  name  to  the 
ordnance  survey. 

The  importance  of  the  industry  may  be 
reckoned  in  some  measure  from  the  nature  of 
the  concessions  made  to  religious  houses  by 
local  magnates  who  owned  land  on  the  coast. 
The  priory  of  Carlisle  received  from  William 
Engaine  a  grant  of  four  saltpans  (salinas) 
between  Burgh  and  Drumburgh9  on  the  banks 
of  the  Eden  where  the  waters  are  tidal.  Two 
saltpans  in  the  same  district  were  given  to  the 
priory  of  Wetheral,  one  by  Ralf  Engaine  and 
the  other  by  William  his  son  aforenamed,  both 
of  which  gifts  were  afterwards  confirmed  by 
Simon  de  Morville,10  who  succeeded  to  the 
barony  of  Burgh  in  1157.  The  same  house 

?  Cal.    of  Doc.    Scot.    (Scot.    Rec.    Pub.),     iv. 

392~3- 

8  Liber  Quot.  GarJerobte  (Soc.  Antiq.),  123. 

9  Dugdale,  Man.  vi.  144. 

10  Reg.  ofWetherhal,  187-8. 


341 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


was  endowed  by  Maurice  de  Man  with  a  place 
in  the  territory  of  Ayringthwait  close  to 
Whitehaven,  whereon  they  might  construct  a 
saltpan,  with  free  access  by  the  same  road  that 
he  had  granted  to  saltpans  in  the  same  place 
belonging  to  the  monks  of  St.  Bees.1  The 
two  priories  were  at  liberty  to  take  their 
estovers  and  easements  as  well  in  land  as  in 
water  as  they  thought  most  convenient.  In 
addition  to  several  saltpans  in  Galloway  and 
Dumfries  the  priory  of  St.  Bees  had  one  on 
the  sands  of  Duddon  2  of  the  gift  of  Adam  son 
of  Henry,  lord  of  Millom,  known  before  1247 
as  '  Salthus  in  Coupland,'  beside  which  the 
monks  of  Furness  possessed  a  grange.3  On 
the  principle  that  sal  sapit  omnia  we  may  be 
sure  that  convenience  for  the  manufacture  of 
salt  was  regarded  as  a  valuable  perquisite  by 
the  religious  communities.  At  all  events  by 
their  frequent  mention  in  local  chartularies, 
it  may  be  taken  that  concessions  of  saltpans 
were  eagerly  sought  after  and  carefully  pro- 
tected by  them. 

The  profits  arising  from  the  manufacture 
of  salt  were  not  an  inconsiderable  portion  of 
the  revenues  of  lay  proprietors  as  well  as  of 
religious  houses.     At  the  time  of  the  dissolu- 
tion  of  the  monasteries  the  annual  rent  of 
saltpans  belonging  to  the  abbey  of  Holmcul- 
tram  was  estimated  at  £13  us.  8d.*     After 
this  date  the  industry  in  the  lordship  ofHolm- 
cultram  fell  into  decay,  though  the  '  pannes ' 
continued    to    be    farmed    by    the   Chamber 
family  for  almost  a  century.     In  one  of  the 
rentals  of  Henry  VIII.,  now  among  the  parish 
papers,  it  is  stated  that  there  were  within  that 
lordship    certain    saltpans,  the   most    part   of 
which  were  utterly  decayed,  and  the  rest  were 
likely  to  decay  unless  they  were  demised  to 
tenants  for  a  term  of  years.5     In  1589  in  the 
survey  of  the  manor  of  Bowness  on  Solway 
after  the  attainder  of  Leonard  Dacre,  '  the 
profit  to  be  aunswered  for  makinge  of  sake 
yerely,'  together  with  the  turbary  set   apart 
for    that    purpose,    was   valued    at    £5    i6j. 
according  to  the  rate  of  the  market.     The 
rent  varied    according   to  the   quantity    pro- 
duced and  the  price  in  the  market.     In  that 
year  '  the  said  sake  came  but  to  a  xiiij  lodde 
that  is  in  busshels  Iviij,'  the  price  of  a  bushel 
ranging  from  twenty  pence  to  two  shillings. 

1  Reg.  of  Wetherhal  (op.  cit.),  233  ;  Reg.  of  St. 
Bees,  MS.  v.  4.   Ayringthwait  is  given  on  Green- 
wood's map  of  1830  as  Harrathwaite. 

2  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  i.  23-5. 

3  Coucher  Book  of  Furness  (Chetham   Soc.),  iii. 
604  ;  Beck,  Ann.  Furnesiemes,  208. 

4  Dugdale,  Mon.  v.  619. 

6  Trans.   Cumb.    and   Westmld.  Arch.  Soc.  (new 
ser.),  i.  199. 


The  saltpans  on  the  coast  in  the  parish  of 
Crosscanonby,  presumably  the  property  of  the 
dean  and  chapter  of  Carlisle,  were  worth  £40 
a  year  in  1684  without  coal,6  and  those  '  under 
the  hill  called  Lowkey '  near  Workington 
were  of  the  same  value.7  From  the  evidences 
it  would  appear  that  pitcoal  was  substituted  for 
peat  as  the  fuel  used  in  this  industry  during  the 
latter  period  of  its  history.  In  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  salt  became  subject  to  excise 
duty,  we  learn  from  the  records  of  the  quarter 
sessions  that  badgers  and  sellers  of  salt  were 
often  in  trouble  with  the  magistrates  for  evad- 
ing the  law.  The  fair  of  Rosley  enjoyed  a 
considerable  reputation  at  that  time  for  the 
sale  of  such  merchandise. 

The  great  industry  of  coal  mining,  for 
which  Cumberland  has  a  well  merited  dis- 
tinction, cannot  be  traced  back  to  a  very  early 
period.  Though  we  have  frequent  mention  of 
the  use  of  coal  we  have  not  found  any  record 
of  coal  mines  being  worked  in  Cumberland 
before  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  true  that 
the  monks  of  St.  Bees  8  were  acquainted  with 
the  coalfields  near  Whitehaven  as  early  as  the 
reign  of  Henry  III.,  but  it  is  doubtful  whether 
the  value  of  coal  was  sufficiently  recognized  at 
that  period  to  encourage  them  to  work  it  as 
an  industry.  It  is  at  a  much  later  date  that 
digging  for  coals  became  an  organized  institu- 
tion. The  Dacres  of  Naworth  worked  the 
coal  mines  of  '  Tynyelfell '  or  Tindal  Fell  9 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  till  they 
were  forced  to  desist  by  the  inroads  of  the 
Scots.  In  1485  the  mines  were  valueless  for 
that  reason.  In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
uses  of  pitcoal  became  generally  recognized  in 
the  county,  and  coal  mining  sprang  up  into 
one  of  the  most  extensive  industries  in  the 
north. 

The  copper  mines  of  Newlands  near  Kes- 
wick  were  selected  by  Camden  to  disprove 
the  assertion  of  Caesar  that  '  the  Britons  had 
ore  of  copper  brought  unto  them  beyond  the 
sea,'  and  as  these  mines  contained  veins  of 
gold  and  silver  the  great  antiquary  showed 
the  groundlessness  of  Cicero's  statement  that 
there  was  not  a  particle  of  silver  in  the  island.10 
The  Keswick  mines  appear  to  have  been 
worked  at  intervals  since  the  reign  of  Henry 
III.11  This  is  very  probable,  for  in  1318 
Edward  II.  appointed  two  engineers  to  search 

6  Ibid.  i.  1 1 . 

i  Thomas  Denton,  Perambulation  of  Cumb.  in 
1687-8,  MS.  f.  31. 

s  Reg.  of  St.  Bees,  Harl.  MS.  434,  lib.  v.  5. 

»  Cal.  oflnq.p.m.  Hen.  Vll.  i.  157. 

10  Brit.  (ed.  Holland),  767. 

"  Camden  quotes  a  Close  Roll  for  this  statement, 
but  we  have  not  succeeded  in  finding  the  reference. 


342 


INDUSTRIES 


and  examine  the  mines  of  copper  and  silver 
at  Caldbeck  and  the  parts  adjacent  in  the 
presence  of  the  sheriff  of  Cumberland,  and  to 
make  a  report  of  what  they  had  found  there.1 
In  the  fifteenth  century  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion that  they  were  known  to  the  officers  of 
the  Crown.  In  1468  Richard,  earl  of  War- 
wick, and  John,  earl  of  Northumberland,  had  a 
lease  for  forty  years  of  all  the  mines  of  gold 
and  silver,  and  all  the  mines  of  lead  contain- 
ing gold  and  silver  found  north  of  the  Trent, 
with  power  to  dig  and  search  freely  after 
agreement  with  the  owners  of  the  soil.a 
George  Willarby,  the  prospecting  engineer, 
reported  in  1474  that  he  had  found  three 
notable  mines  in  the  north  of  England,  one  of 
which  yielded  27  Ib.  of  silver  to  the  fodder 
of  lead.  One  of  these  was  the  mine  of 
'  Fletcheroos '  in  Alstonmoor,  and  another 
was  the  mine  of  Keswick  in  Cumberland. 
In  1475  Walter  Barsonhowson  was  appointed 
master  refiner  of  '  les  ewres '  of  the  king's 
four  mines  in  the  north,3  and  in  1478  the 
old  lease  was  surrendered  and  all  the  mines 
of  gold,  silver,  copper  and  lead  in  Northum- 
berland, Cumberland  and  Westmorland  were 
granted  to  a  colony  of  Dutch  and  German 
miners  for  ten  years,  on  condition  that  they 
paid  to  the  king  a  fifteenth  part  of  the  ore 
and  to  the  lord  of  the  soil  and  curate  of  the 
parish  an  amount  to  be  agreed  upon,  with 
power  to  appoint  a  steward  born  in  the  realm 
to  hold  a  court  in  the  king's  name  in  the 
mines  and  to  determine  all  pleas  except  those 
of  land,  life  and  members.4 

The  foreign  miners  must  have  continued 
working  at  Keswick  with  more  or  less  success 
till  the  great  revival  of  mining  operations  at 
that  place  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of 
queen  Elizabeth.  As  early  as  1516  'the 
Hugstettyrs  and  Belzers '  were  in  the  service 
of  Henry  VIII.5  Joachim  '  Hoegstre '  was  the 
principal  surveyor  and  master  of  all  the  mines 
in  England  and  Ireland  in  1528,  in  which 
year  he  proposed  the  employment  of  six  ex- 
perienced Germans  and  1,000  men  for  the 
development  of  this  industry,8  but  it  was  not 
till  1565  that  the  Keswick  mines  jumped  into 
prominence  as  the  most  lucrative  veins  of 
copper  in  the  kingdom.  The  influx  of  foreign 

1  Orig.  R.  12  Edw.  II.  m.  7. 
3  Pat.  8  Edw.  IV.  pt.  iii.  m.  14. 

3  Ibid.  14  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.   m.  yd;  15   Edw. 
IV.  pt.  i.  m.  22  ;  15  Edw.  IV.  pt.  i.  m.  12. 

4  Ibid.  1 8  Edw.  IV.  pt.  ii.  m.  30. 

«  Cott.  MS.  Vitellius,  B.  xix.  234  ;  L.  and  P. 
Hen.  mi.  ii.  2310. 

6  Pat.  20  Hen.  VIII.  pt.  i.  m.  3  yd  ;  Cott. 
MS.  Titus,  iv.  147  ;  L.  and  P.  Hen.  VIII.  iv. 
5110. 


workmen  at  that  time  soon  became  a  danger 
to  the  peace  of  the  community,  and  the  war- 
fare between  the  miners  and  the  inhabitants 
was  often  attended  with  disastrous  results.  It 
was  suspected  that  the  attacks  on  the  miners 
were  connived  at  by  lady  Ratcliffe,7  who 
resented  the  intrusion  of  the  foreigners  into 
her  neighbourhood.  In  1566  a  commission 
was  issued  to  lord  Scrope  and  the  local 
magistracy  to  repress  the  assaults,  murders 
and  outrages  on  the  Almain  miners,  who  had 
lately  come  to  Keswick  for  the  purpose  of 
searching  for  and  working  minerals.8 

But  another  opponent  of  the  industry 
arose  when  the  earl  of  Northumberland  had 
ascertained  in  1567  that  the  minerals  dug  up 
at  Newlands  belonged  without  doubt  to  him 
only,  and  that  the  workers  were  trespassers 
on  his  land.  A  suit  at  law  followed,  but  as 
the  mines  yielded  a  proportion  of  gold  and 
silver  they  were  adjudged  to  the  Crown.9 
The  principal  overseer  was  Daniel  '  Hech- 
stetter,'  no  doubt  a  scion  of  the  house  of 
Joachim  above  mentioned,  who  had  brought 
with  him  400  men  in  I565-10  Operations 
were  carried  on  in  Newlands  and  Borrowdale, 
and  six  smelting  furnaces  were  at  work  daily 
in  Keswick  and  elsewhere.  A  piece  of 
ground  was  purchased  in  1568  from  Mr. 
Curwen  at  Workington  with  the  view  of 
building  a  wharf  for  the  export  of  the  ore.11 
Though  coal la  and  wood  were  sometimes 
used,  peat  was  recognized  as  the  staple  fuel 
for  the  supply  of  the  furnaces.  In  1597  Mar- 
cus Stainbergus,  Richard  Ledes,  and  Emanuel 
'  Hechstetter '  complained  to  Cecil,  governor  of 
the  royal  mines,  that  there  was  a  great  lack 
of  peat  owing  to  the  wet  summer  at  Keswick, 
which  hindered  mining,  and  in  consequence 
the  men  had  only  poor  wages.13  But  there 
was  a  suspicion  that  the  strangers  were  not 
dealing  fairly  with  the  authorities,  some  think- 
ing that  the  Dutchmen  were  only  seeking 
their  own  profit.  Inasmuch  as  the  mines 
were  becoming  less  productive  and  presuma- 
bly going  to  decay,  lord  Scrope  was  instructed 
in  1599  to  pay  a  surprise  visit  to  Keswick 
and  take  the  opinion  of  the  local  gentry  on 
the  state  of  affairs.  If  the  mines  were  worn 
out  as  the  Germans  pretended,  some  course 


i  Cat.  S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz.  xl.  8 1. 

8    Ibid.  Xl.   87. 

8  Ibid.  xlii.  31,  35  ;  Camden,  Brit.  (ed.  Hol- 
land), 767. 

10  Cat.  S.  P.  Dom.  E/iz.  xxxvi.  59. 

11  Ibid,  xlvii.  52. 

12  There  was  a  great  difficulty  of  procuring  coals 
for  the  Keswick  mines  in  1568  (ibid,  xlviii.  13). 

"  Ibid,  cclxiv.  30. 


343 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


should  be   taken  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
workmen.1 

Robinson  of  Ousby,  who  saw  the  books  of 
the  German  miners  in  1702,  says  that  when 
queen  Elizabeth  won  the  suit  against  the 
earl  of  Northumberland,  her  officers  seized  a 
hundred  tons  of  ore  in  her  name.2  Opera- 
tions continued  till  1642,  when  the  smelting 
houses  were  destroyed  and  most  of  the  miners 
were  slain  during  the  Civil  War.3  An 
attempt  was  made  by  the  duke  of  Somerset 
to  re-open  the  mines  at  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  but  the  project  was 
abandoned  after  a  great  outlay,  because  the 
operator,  not  understanding  the  nature  of  the 
ore,  burnt  and  destroyed  fifty  tons  of  the  best 
goldscope  ore  without  the  production  of  one 
pound  of  fine  copper.4  Various  attempts  to 
work  the  Keswick  mines  had  been  made  by 
private  companies  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
but  they  met  with  scanty  encouragement, 
and  were  finally  abandoned  in  1864.° 

The  black  lead  mine  of  Keswick  was  of 
sufficient  interest  to  attract  the  notice  of 

1  S.  P.  Dom.  Eliz.  cclxxi.  40.     It  may  be  re- 
marked that  the  State  Papers  of  this  period  contain 
numerous  references  to  the  progress  of  mining  at 
Keswick   from  the  incorporation  of  the  company 
in  1561  (ibid,  xviii.  1 8)  till  the  end  of  the  reign. 

2  Robinson,  Essay  towards  a  Nat.  Hist,  of  Cumb. 
and  Westmld.  (ed.   1709)  61-4.     When  Robinson 
stated   that  the  copper  works  at  Keswick  in  queen 
Elizabeth's  time  were  the  most  famous  in  England 
and  perhaps  in  Europe,  he  was  probably  right  ; 
certainly  they  were  the  most  famous  in  Cumberland 
for  '  the  mynes  royale  '  there  were  the  only  mines 
marked  by  Speed  on  his  map  of  1610.     Bishop 
Nicolson   noted  in  his  diary,  under  date  25  July 
1702,  that  'Mr.  Robinson  of  Ousby,  giving  an 
account  of  the  Copper  works  at  Keswick,  saies  the 
Account  Book  of  the  old   German  miners,  very 
fairly  written,  is  in  ye  hand  of  old  Mrs.  Hechstetter 
in  that  parish  :  and  that,  by  one  of  them,  it  ap- 
pears that  they  refined  their  metal  with  ye  hoofs 
and  pairings  of  horses.'     In  the  same  diary  it  is 
stated  in    1705  that  the  account  books  relating  to 
the  mines  were  in  possession  of  the  duke  of  Somer- 
set's agent  (Trans.  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  Arch.   Soc. 
[new  ser.],  ii.  173-4  5  ">•  34)- 

3  Thomas  Denton,  Perambulation  of  Cumb.  in 
1687-8,  MS.  ff.  38,  40,  41.     Our  author  was  of 
opinion  that  it  would  have  taken  £4,000  to  begin 
work  at  these  mines  in  his  day.       Remains  of  the 
smelting  houses  may  still  be  seen  at  the  east  end  of 
Keswick  :  notably  the  mill  race  by  the  side  of  the 
Greta,  part  of  which  has  been  cut  through  the  solid 
rock. 

4  Robinson,  Essay  towards  a  Nat.  Hist.  63—4. 

5  For  a  description  of  these  mines  and  of  the 
modern  attempts  to  re-open  them,  the  reader  may 
be  referred  to  Postlethwaite,  Mines  and  Mining  in 
the  Lake  District,  19-32. 


Camden  who  described  the  mineral  product  as 
a  'kind  of  earth  or  hardened  glittering  stone 
which  painters  use  to  draw  their  lines  and 
make  pictures  of  one  colour  in  their  first 
draughts.'6  The  mine  was  situated  on  the 
eastern  side  of  Seatoller  Fell  near  the  hamlet 
of  Seathwaite  in  the  manor  of  Borrowdale 
about  9  miles  from  Keswick.  The  mineral 
otherwise  known  as  plumbago,  or  wad  in  the 
vernacular  of  the  district,  is  reputed  to  be  of 
remarkable  purity.  It  drew  from  Robinson 
of  Ousby  a  curious  panegyric  setting  forth 
the  uses  to  which  it  was  put  in  the  latter  half 
of  the  seventeenth  century.  '  The  most  re- 
markable mundick  vein  upon  these  mountains,' 
he  said,  '  is  that  we  call  wadd  or  black  lead. 
This  was  found  upon  Borrowdale  mountains 
near  Keswick,  and  there  is  not  any  other  of 
the  same  kind  in  England  nor  perhaps  in 
Europe,  at  least  that  I  have  heard  of.  Its 
composition  is  a  black,  pinguid  and  shining 
earth,  impregnated  with  lead  and  antimony. 
This  ore  is  of  more  value  than  either  copper, 
lead,  or  iron.  It  was  bought  up  by  the 
apothecaries  and  physicians  of  the  day  and 
used  medicinally  for  various  sorts  of  ills  with 
good  success.  At  the  first  discovering  of  it, 
the  neighbourhood  made  no  other  use  of  it, 
but  for  marking  of  sheep,  but  it  is  now  (i  709) 
made  use  of  to  glazen  and  harden  crucibles, 
and  other  vessels  made  of  earth  or  clay  that 
are  to  endure  the  hottest  fire.  It  was  also 
used  by  dyers  of  cloth  to  make  their  "  blues  " 
to  stand  unalterable  and  for  the  polishing  of 
fire-arms.  The  vein  was  but  opened  once  in 
seven  years,  as  the  quantities  obtained  were 
sufficient  to  serve  the  country.  The  mineral 
was  bought  up  at  great  prices  by  the  Hol- 
landers. ' 7 

This  industry  was  protected  by  a  special 
Act  of  Parliament  (25  Geo.  II.  c.  10),  in 
which  it  is  stated  that  the  mineral  was  neces- 
sary for  '  divers  useful  purposes,  and  more 
particularly  in  the  casting  of  bomb-shells, 
round-shot,  and  canon-balls,'  and  by  which 
it  is  made  a  felony  '  to  enter  unlawfully  any 
mine,  or  wad-hole  of  wad,  or  black-cawke, 
commonly  called  black-lead,  or  unlawfully 
taking  or  carrying  away  any  wad  therefrom, 
or  buying  or  receiving  the  same,  knowing  it 
to  be  unlawfully  taken.'  In  1800  it  is  said 
that  a  house  was  built  over  the  mouth  of  the 
principal  mine,  and  armed  men  were  kept  on 
guard  there  during  the  night.  As  a  further 
precaution  the  miners  were  stripped  and  care- 
fully searched  on  leaving  their  work,  and 


«  Brit.  (ed.  Holland),  767. 
7  Nat.  Hist,  of  Cumb.  and  Westmld.  74-6  (pub- 
lished 1709). 


344 


INDUSTRIES 


when  the  plumbago  was  sent  to  London  an 
armed  escort  accompanied  it  as  far  as  Kendal.1 

The  deposits  of  plumbago  are  not  found  in 
veins,  like  other  minerals,  but  in  pipes  or  sops 
of  varying  sizes  at  some  distance  from  them. 
In  1778  one  of  these  yielded  417  casks,  each 
cask  containing  70  Ib.  of  the  best  plumbago. 
Another  deposit  found  in  1803  produced  over 
31  tons.  As  the  current  price  of  the  ore 
was  about  30*.  a  pound,  plumbago  mining  in 
the  eighteenth  century  was  regarded  as  a  very 
lucrative  industry.  Since  1833  the  mine  has 
been  worked  at  intervals,  but  no  deposit  of 
value  has  been  found.2  Though  the  ore  is 
scarce,  Keswick  still  retains  its  ancient  reputa- 
tion for  the  manufacture  of  lead  pencils,  as  an 
inferior  species  of  foreign  plumbago,  when 
compressed,  can  be  utilized  for  that  purpose. 
There  is  a  tradition  that  plumbago  was  first 
discovered  by  the  uprooting  of  an  ash  tree  in 
a  storm. 

Cumberland  retains  its  position  as  one  of 
the  most  flourishing  and  important  centres  of 
the  tanning  trade  in  the  United  Kingdom. 
The  large  tanneries  in  Maryport  and  White- 
haven  are  still  regarded  by  those  engaged  in 
this  industry  as  examples  of  modern  enterprise 
and  effective  management.  But  like  other 
minor  industries  the  manufacture  of  leather 
has  undergone  many  changes  and  fluctuations 
in  recent  years.  Half  a  century  ago  there 
were  thirty-three  tanneries  in  the  county  with 
the  yearly  output  of  60,800  tanned  hides  ; 
at  the  present  time,  though  the  number  has 
been  reduced  to  ten,  the  yearly  output  has  in- 
creased to  215,200  hides.  In  the  eighteenth 
century  almost  every  considerable  village  had 
a  tannery  ;  some  of  them  had  more  ;  but  the 
introduction  of  steam  power  and  the  employ- 
ment of  chemicals  instead  of  oak  bark  had  a 
tendency  to  crush  out  the  small  tanneries  and 
to  concentrate  capital  in  the  more  convenient 
centres  for  trade.  Within  living  memory 
there  were  seven  tanneries  in  operation  at 
Cockermouth,  four  at  Egremont,  and  one  each 
at  Brampton,  Harrington  and  Parton,  but 
they  have  all  disappeared.  In  other  places 
the  declension  is  also  observable.  The  tan- 
neries in  Carlisle  have  been  reduced  from  five 
to  one,  at  Wigton  and  Whitehaven  from 
three  to  one,  at  Penrith  from  two  to  one. 
The  number  has  remained  stationary  at 
Maryport,  Scotby,  Workington  and  Thur- 
stonfield,  with  an  enormous  increase  in  the 
output  of  tanned  hides.3 

1  Postlethwaite,  Mines  and  Mining  in  the  Lake 
District,  33-5. 
»  Ibid.  34-5. 
"  We  are  indebted  to  Mr.   Alfred  Sutton    of 


It  is  natural  that  a  mountainous  county  like 
Cumberland  should  be  prolific  in  the  pro- 
duction of  stone  and  slate  for  building  pur- 
poses. The  Honister  slate  and  Lazonby  flag 
hold  a  high  reputation  for  durability  in  the 
northern  counties.  From  an  early  period  the 
lessees  of  the  bishops  of  Carlisle  worked  the 
red  sandstone  quarries  of  Shauk  and  Unthank 
in  their  lordship  of  Dalston,  from  the  former 
of  which,  judging  by  the  inscription  which 
once  existed  on  the  face  of  the  rock  there,  it 
is  almost  certain  the  Romans  took  some  of 
their  stone  for  the  construction  of  the  Great 
Wall.  The  quarries  in  various  localities  on 
mountain  side  and  undulating  uplands  may 
be  classed  among  the  minor  but  important 
industries. 

At  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century 
Cumberland  enjoyed  some  reputation  for  the 
manufacture  of  textile  fabrics.  Hand-loom 
weavers  plied  their  calling  in  every  village. 
Numerous  small  mills  had  sprung  up.  The 
manufacture  of  coarse  linen  cloth  had  been 
established  in  Carlisle  as  early  as  1750,  and 
was  followed  in  a  few  years  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  calico  stamperies,  which  gave  em- 
ployment to  a  large  number  of  people  and 
caused  a  considerable  influx  of  Irish  and  Scotch 
into  the  city.  Machinery  for  the  carding  and 
spinning  of  cotton  was  erected  in  various 
parts  of  the  district,  and  manufactories  thrived 
beyond  the  expectation  of  the  promoters. 
But  it  may  be  said  now  that  the  day  of 
country  mills  and  small  industries  has  passed 
away.  In  most  country  districts  the  old  in- 
dustries, on  which  a  section  of  the  population 
depended  for  subsistence,  are  fast  becoming 
extinct.  The  segregation  of  the  industrial 
classes  in  large  centres  and  the  concentration 
of  capital  for  the  promotion  of  limited  com- 
panies have  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the 
smaller  industries  of  the  county. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  improved 
methods  of  communication  had  an  important 
influence  in  bringing  about  this  industrial 
revolution.  Much  had  been  done  in  Cum- 
berland between  1750  and  1770  to  facilitate 
transit  by  means  of  turnpike  roads.  Before 
this  period  the  roads  of  the  county  were  for 
the  most  part  narrow  lanes  fitted  only  for 
transport  by  pack  horses.  When  the  local 
acts  were  obtained  for  their  widening  and 
improvement,  the  exaction  of  tolls  gave  rise 
to  considerable  popular  discontent,  and  it  was 
a  long  time  before  the  inhabitants  were  recon- 
ciled to  the  innovation.  But  experience 
eventually  proved  that  the  amount  of  tolls 


II 


Scotby  for  the  statistics  of  the   tanning  industry  of 
the  county. 


345 


44 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


levied   for  the   formation  and   repair  of   the 
roads  was  more  than  counterbalanced  by  the 
advantages  of  the  new  means    of  transit.     In 
addition    to     these     facilities    for    commerce 
between   neighbouring  districts,   an  artificial 
canal    from    Maryport  by   Carlisle  to   New- 
castle-on-Tyne,  thus  connecting  the   Solway 
with  the  North  Sea,  was  proposed   in    1794. 
Application  was  made  to  Parliament  in  1797 
for  the  necessary  powers,   but  owing  to  dis- 
putes in  Northumberland,  whether  the   canal 
should   be  constructed  on  the  north  or  south 
side  of  the  Tyne,  the  project  was  abandoned. 
At  a  later   period  a  more  moderate  scheme 
for  connecting  the   city  of  Carlisle  with   its 
port  on  the  Solway  was  revived  and  success- 
fully carried    out.     In    1819    a    ship    canal 
nearly    twelve    miles    in    length  with    eight 
locks  or  sluices  was  commenced,  and  in  1823 
it  was  opened  with  great  ceremony  and  amid 
much  rejoicing.     It  commenced  at  Port  Car- 
lisle and  terminated  in  Caldewgate,  near  the 
Cumberland   Infirmary,    where    a    capacious 
basin  and  a  large  warehouse  were  constructed. 
Vessels  of  100  tons  were  able  to  discharge 
their  freights  on  the   outskirts   of  the    city 
within  half  a  mile  of  the  Market  Cross,  and 
communication  was  facilitated  with  the  ports 
along  the  western  coast  as  far  as  Liverpool. 
The  canal  was  the  means  of  stimulating  the 
trade  of  Carlisle  and  the  surrounding  district. 
In  a  short  time  after  it  was  opened  the  price 
of  coal  fell  from  6£rf.  to   3^.    per   Carlisle 
peck.     The  canal  was  abandoned  in  favour 
of  the  railway  after  having  been  of  immense 
benefit    to    the    inhabitants    of    Carlisle    for 
about  thirty  years. 

The  old  project  of  connecting  the  eastern 
and  western  seas  by  means  of  a  canal,  which 
was  dropped  in  1797,  was  revived  in  another 
form  in  1829,  when  an  Act  was  obtained  to 
construct  a  railway  from   Carlisle  to   New- 
castle through  the  Tyne  valley,  a  distance 
of  about  60  miles.     The    work  was  com- 
menced in  1 830,  and  the  line  was  opened  for 
traffic  throughout  its  entire  length   in    1838. 
One  of  the  engineering   features  of  this  line 
in  its  passage    through    Cumberland    is   the 
magnificent    bridge     over     the     Eden     at 
Wetheral,    consisting    of    five    semicircular 
arches    of    80    feet    span     each,    with    an 
elevation   of  too   feet  above  the  water  level. 
With  the  help  of  the  ship  canal  from  Carlisle 
to  the  Solway,  the  new  railway  afforded  a 
cheap  and  expeditious  transit  to  the  Liverpool 
and  Irish  merchants  for  the  carriage  of  goods 
and  merchandise  to  and  from  Hamburg  and 
Holland.     The  Newcastle  and  Carlisle  rail- 
way, amalgamated  in  1862  with  the  North- 
Eastern,  is  the  oldest  railway  line   in    Cum- 


berland, and  takes  rank  with   the  oldest  rail- 
ways of  the  kingdom. 

This  experiment  in   railway  enterprise  was 
soon  followed  in  other  places  in  Cumberland, 
and  for  thirty  years  the  construction  of  lines 
in  various  parts  of  the  county  was  pursued 
with  vigour.     The  act  of  incorporation l  for 
the  Maryport  and  Carlisle  Railway  Company 
was  obtained   in    1837,   and  sections  of  the 
line    were    opened    between    Maryport    and 
Arkleby    in    July    1840,    between    Arkleby 
and    Aspatria  in    December    1841,   between 
Carlisle  and  Wigton  in  May  1843,  and  the 
line  was  ready  for  traffic  throughout  its  whole 
length  of  twenty-eight  miles  on  10  February 
1845.      The  line  was  extended  through  the 
towns    of   Workington    and    Harrington    to 
Whitehaven    in    1 847    by  the    Whitehaven 
Junction  Company  (incorporated  in  1844),  a 
distance  of  twelve  miles,  thus  connecting  the 
four  important  ports  on  the  western  coast  and 
providing  direct  communication  between  the 
great  industrial  centres  of  that  region.     The 
Furness   Railway  Company,  incorporated   in 
1845  by  Act  of  8  &  9  Victoria,  cap.    100, 
opened  their  line   between  Whitehaven   and 
Ravenglass,  a  distance  of  nearly  17  miles  in 
1849,  and  from  Ravenglass  to  Millom,  about 
the  same   distance,    in    the    following    year. 
Thus  a  great  thoroughfare  was  laid  from  the 
extreme  south  of  the  county  along  the  coast 
to  Maryport  where  the  line  turned  inland  to 
Carlisle.      Offshoots   were   sent   out   in  the 
course  of  time  to  connect  country  towns  and 
local   industries    with    the  main  line.     The 
company  which  laid  the  line  from  Cocker- 
mouth  to  Workington  was  incorporated  in 
1845  by  Act  of  8  &   9  Victoria,   cap.    I2O, 
and  the  line  was  opened  throughout  in  1847. 
The  Cleator  and  Workington  Junction  rail- 
way with  a  distance  of  about  thirty  miles,  was 
opened  for  mineral   traffic  on   I    July  1878, 
and  for  passengers  on   18  October  1879,  the 
general  offices   being  at  the  central    station, 
Workington.     From  Ravenglass  the  Furness 
Company  made  a  line  with   a   3-feet  gauge 
through  the  Eskdale  valley  as  far  as  Boot,  a 
distance  of  7^   miles.      This  little   railway, 
much  utilized  during  the  tourist  season,  was 
opened  for  goods  traffic  on  24  May  1875, 
and  for  passengers  on  2O  November  1876. 

The  portion  of  the  Lancaster  and  Carlisle 
railway,  which  enters  Cumberland  near  Pen- 
rith,  was  opened  for  traffic  in  1846,  the 
company  having  been  incorporated  in  1844 
by  Act  of  7  &  8  Victoria,  cap.  37.  The 
line  was  leased  in  1859  for  a  period  of  900 
to  the  London  and  North-Western 


years 


346 


1  Act  i  Vic.  cap.  3. 


INDUSTRIES 


Company  and  became  an  integral  part  of  the 
great  trunk  line  from  London  to  Glasgow 
and  Edinburgh.  The  locomotive  and  iron 
road  have  penetrated  into  the  heart  of  the 
Lake  District  and  connected  Keswick,  its 
capital,  with  Penrith  on  the  east  and  Cocker- 
mouth  on  the  west.  The  south  of  Scotland 
was  brought  into  immediate  relations  with 
the  coal  district  of  West  Cumberland  by  the 
construction  of  the  Solway  Junction  railway, 
remarkable  for  its  great  viaduct  which  spans 
an  arm  of  the  Solway  between  Annan  and 
Bowness.  It  now  forms  a  part  of  the  Cale- 
donian system.  The  Whitehaven,  Cleator 
and  Egremont  Company  was  incorporated  in 
1854  by  Act  of  17  &  1 8  Victoria,  cap.  64, 
and  the  line  was  opened  for  the  conveyance  of 
passengers  in  1857,  having  been  previously 
used  for  mineral  traffic  for  about  eighteen 
months. 

A  new  development  of  railway  extension 
took  place  in  1853  when  an  Act1  was  obtained 
to  convert  the  ship  canal  from  Carlisle  to  the 
Solway  into  a  railway.  From  a  financial 
point  of  view  the  canal  was  never  a  success 
to  the  shareholders  owing  to  the  shifting 
nature  of  the  channel  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  port.  A  little  lower  down  the  firth  a 
natural  haven  was  recognized  in  Silloth  Bay, 
and  powers  were  procured  in  1885  to  con- 
struct docks  at  this  place  and  to  extend  the 
new  railway  to  that  termination.  The  rail- 
way which  follows  the  track  of  the  canal  for 
some  distance,  has  been  incorporated  with  the 
North  British  system.  The  Midland  Rail- 
way was  long  excluded  from  the  county  and 
the  Scottish  traffic  beyond  it.  The  share- 
holders were  alarmed  at  the  engineering  diffi- 
culties in  the  way  of  extension  of  the  line 
from  Settle  in  Yorkshire  to  Carlisle,  and  the 
bill  for  the  necessary  powers  of  construction 

1  Act  1 7  Vic.  cap.  1 1 9. 


was  opposed  by  the  landowners  on  the  route. 
Eventually  all  obstacles  were  surmounted  and 
the  line  was  opened  for  goods  in  August 
1875,  and  for  passengers  in  May  1876. 

For  a  maritime  county,  so  peculiarly  situ- 
ated as  Cumberland,  with  great  mountain 
masses  forming  its  southern  boundaries  and 
severed  from  Northumberland  and  Durham 
by  the  Pennine  range  of  hills,  its  whole  area 
may  be  said  to  be  well  supplied  with  railway 
communication.  The  Citadel  station,  which 
forms  the  terminus  for  eight  important  rail- 
ways running  into  Carlisle,  viz.,  Midland, 
London  and  North- Western,  North-Eastern, 
Caledonian,  North-British,  Glasgow  and 
South-Western,  Maryport  and  Carlisle,  and 
Carlisle  and  Silloth  lines,  is  built  of  white 
stone  in  the  Elizabethan  style  with  a  fine 
entrance  to  the  city  through  Court  Square. 
It  is  under  the  joint  management  of  the 
Caledonian  and  London  and  North-Western 
companies.  The  station  was  extended  under 
the  powers  of  an  Act  of  1873,  and  greater 
accommodation  was  provided  for  the  enor- 
mous traffic,  occasioned  by  the  completion  of 
the  Midland  line.  It  is  now  reckoned  one  of 
the  finest  railway  stations  in  England.  The 
glass  in  the  roof  alone  is  said  to  cover  an  area 
of  7  acres.  The  present  staff  consists  of  one 
superintendent,  one  secretary,  one  night 
stationmaster,  seven  inspectors,  seven  foremen, 
twenty  signalmen,  eighteen  ticket  examiners, 
four  luggage-room  attendants,  four  lavatory 
attendants,  eight  ladies'  room  attendants, 
eleven  shunters,  six  shacklers,  seven  police- 
men, thirty-six  porters,  four  lampmen,  two 
engine-men,  ten  platelayers,  eight  painters, 
joiners,  plumbers,  etc.,  one  chief  booking 
clerk,  nine  booking  clerks,  one  chief  parcels 
clerk,  and  sixteen  parcels  clerks,  making  a 
total  of  182  persons  in  the  employment  of 
the  railway  authorities  at  Carlisle  station. 


347 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


COAL    MINING 


The  supreme  importance  of  the  West 
Cumberland  coalfield,  exposed  to  view  along 
the  sea -board  from  Barrowmouth  near 
Whitehavcn  to  Maryport,  and  thence  inland 
to  Bolton  Low  Houses,  is  apt  to  cause  other 
and  minor  tracts  of  coal  in  Cumberland  to 
be  overlooked.  There  are,  however,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  county,  the  true  Coal 
Measures,  forming  the  western  extremity  of 
the  Newcastle  coalfield,  at  Midgeholme  ;  the 
seams  of  coal  found  in  the  Carboniferous 
Limestone,  along  its  escarpment  at  the  great 
Pennine  fault,  and  also  in  the  Alston  district  ; 
and  the  seams  of  coal  occurring  in  the  tract 
of  Carboniferous  Limestone  lying  between  the 
eastern  extremity  of  the  West  Cumberland 
coalfield  and  the  Permian  sandstone  near 
Penrith. 

WEST  CUMBERLAND  COALFIELD 

Area. — According  to  the  Geological  Survey 
of  England  and  Wales,  the  West  Cumberland 
coalfield  apparently  terminates  to  the  north 
at  the  Aspatria  fault  which  puts  in  the  Per- 
mian sandstone  ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact, 
workings  have  been  driven  a  considerable 
distance  beyond  it  in  the  Yard  Band  from 
Brayton  No.  4  Pit.  Similarly  to  the  south, 
judging  from  the  same  Survey,  it  might  seem 
that  the  coalfield  ends  at  the  Permian  sand- 
stone of  St.  Bees  Head,  whereas  the  Croft 
Pit  workings,  Whitehaven  Colliery,  extend, 
in  the  Main  Band,  a  long  way  under  the 
Permian  sandstone  ;  and  the  Gutterfoot  bore- 
hole conclusively  proved  the  continuity  of  the 
principal  coal  seams  as  far  south  as  the  village 
of  St.  Bees. 

The  eastern  boundary,  formed  by  the  Car- 
boniferous Limestone,  is  the  only  one  that 
can  at  present  be  defined  with  any  precision. 

Westward  the  Coal  Measures  dip  to  the 
sea,  but  their  extent  in  that  direction  can  only 
be  surmised. 

The  exposed  coalfield  may  be  described 
generally  as  a  belt  of  Coal  Measures,  reposing 
either  on  the  Millstone  Grit  or  on  the  Yore- 
dale  rocks  of  the  Carboniferous  Limestone 
series,  along  the  north-west  base  of  the  Cum- 
berland hills. 

From  Barrowmouth,  the  exposed  coalfield 
measures  about  16  miles  to  Crosby  Colliery. 
Throughout  that  distance  it  has  an  average 
width  of  about  4^  miles.  Near  Crosby  Col- 
liery the  coalfield  trends  to  the  east,  and  is 
there  only  three-quarters  of  a  mile  wide.  The 
eastern  extremity  of  the  uncovered  coalfield 
is  about  12  miles  from  Crosby  Colliery,  and 


has  an  average  width  of  about  \\  miles. 
Thus  the  total  area  of  the  coalfield,  as  shown 
by  the  Geological  Survey,  is  about  90  square 
miles.  To  this  must  be  added  the  area  of 
coalfield  already  proved  under  the  Permians, 
say  6  square  miles,  and  the  known  area  under 
the  sea,  say  1 2  square  miles,  making  the  total 
extent  of  coalfield  known  up  to  the  present 
time  to  be  about  108  square  miles. 

Thickness. — The  Coal  Measures  of  West 
Cumberland  consist  of  two  unconformable 
divisions,  viz.  : — 

1.  The  Upper  or  Whitehaven  Sandstone 

series. 

2.  The  Lower  or  Productive  Measures. 

The  upper  beds  of  the  Whitehaven  Sand- 
stone series  were  first  recognized  by  Mr.  W. 
Brockbank1  in  1891,  in  the  section  of  the 
borehole  put  down  at  Frizington  Hall,  a  few 
miles  east  of  Whitehaven,  where  they  were 
found,  418  feet  thick,  immediately  under- 
neath the  Permian  breccia,  to  contain  two  thin 
beds  of  Spirorbis  limestone,  and  three  thin  coal 
seams. 

The  sandstone  forming  the  cliffs  at  White- 
haven,  where  it  is  about  170  feet  thick,  and 
covering  the  Lower  Coal  Measures  there 
and  at  Cleator  Moor,  Ellenborough,  Crosby, 
Oughterside  and  Bolton,  belongs  to  the  lower 
part  of  the  Upper  Coal  Measures. 

Mr.  Newell  Arber2  considers  the  White- 
haven  sandstone  series  to  be  at  least  600  feet 
thick ;  but  probably  its  maximum  thickness 
is  778  feet  in  the  Bolton  district. 

Mr.  J.  D.  Kendall  has  estimated 3  that  the 
Lower  Coal  Measures  are  the  thickest  at 
Workington,  viz.  1 300  feet,  but '  there  is  some 
doubt  as  to  the  vertical  extent  of  the  series 
since  the  base  has  not  so  far  been  definitely 
determined.' 

The  aggregate  thickness  of  the  West 
Cumberland  Coal  Measures  may  therefore  be 
taken  to  be  2,078  feet. 

T/>4  Whitehaven  Sandstone  Series.  —  This 
series  consists  chiefly  of  purple  sandstones  and 
shales  ;  but  the  lower  part  also  comprises  light 
and  dark  coloured  shales  resembling  those  of 
the  Lower  Coal  Measures,  and  several  work- 
able seams  of  coal.  At  the  Bolton,  Crum- 
mock  and  Weary  Hall  collieries  two  of  these 
seams,  viz.  the  Crow  Coal  and  Master  Band, 

1  Mem.  y  Pro.  Lit.   fc?  Phil.  Soc.  Man.  sec.  4, 
iv.  418. 

2  Quart.  Journ.  Geol.  Soc.  lix.  2. 

3  Tram.  North  of  Eng.   Init.   Mining  Engineers, 
xxxii.  347. 


348 


-  St     ffEC-EffS      C0t.f.f£/fr 


HfCST 


irate  f  -*f° 


INDUSTRIES 


have  been  worked  extensively.     The   Crow 

Thickness  of               Depth 

Coal,    2  ft.    6  in.   thick,   is  about  5   fathoms 

Seam                               coal 
ft.     in. 

faths. 

above  the  Master  Band,  which  is  4  ft.  9  in. 

7.  Main     .     .     .     .10     o 

.      .         98 

thick,  and  30  fathoms  above  the  '  Main  Band,' 

8.   Yard      ....20 

.      .       H3 

as  the  Yard  Band  is  termed  in  that  locality. 

9.  Little  Main  (No.  2)   2      8 

•      •       134 

At  Aspatria  Bank  End  Pit  these  two  seams 

10.   Hamilton  or  Four 

were  called  the  '  Crow  Band  '  and  the  '  Ten 

Feet  ....     4     6 

.      .       ISO 

Quarters  '  seam.    At  Ellenborough,  Ewanrigg 

1  1  .  Udale    ....     3     o 

•      •       174 

and  Flimby  Collieries  only  the  upper  of  these 

ST.  HELENS 

two  seams  has  been  worked,  and  was  there 

Thickness  of 

known  by  three  different  names  —  the  Yard 

Seam                           coal 

Depth 

f 

Band,  the  Whitecroft  Seam  and  the  Senhouse 

ft.    in. 

T) 

faths. 
.  f.  \ 

I.   Brassey   .     .     .      2    10 

10 

High  Band. 
Lower     Coal    Measures,  —  These     may    be 

2.  Upper      White 
Metal  ...30. 

.        ,3       I 

designated   the  productive  measures,   because 

3.  Lower      White 

\? 

they  are  by  far  the  more  prolific  in  coal. 

Metal  ...28. 

32          N 

The  following  sections  give  a  list  of  the 

4.  Slaty.     ...24. 

•    43    a 

principal  seams  proved  in  the  various  parts  of 

5.  Ten  Quarters    .46. 

•       49     ~ 

the  coalfield  :  — 

6.   Rattler    ...30. 

•       53  I 

WHITEHAVEN. 

7.  Cannel  and  Metal  : 

T»  ir         i             r.       ^ 

JVletal    ^  it.  ^    „ 

Thickness  of         Depth  at 
Seam                              coal             Wellington  Pit 

v  8     o 
Cannel  5   „   J 

.       84 

ft.    in.                  laths. 

8.  Yard  Band  .     .      I     6     . 

•       97 

I.  Metal    ....36..        48 

9.  Little  Main       .20. 

•     H7 

2.  Preston  Isle  Yard  .26..        53 

10.  Lick  Bank   ..24. 

.     136 

3.  Bannock     ...60..        74 

4.  Main     ....90..        96 

FLIMBY,  ELLENBOROUGH  AND 

EWANRIGC  2 

5.  Yard      ....30..      109 

Thickness 

°f              Depth 

6.  Little  Main      .      .      2      o      .      .      127 

Seam                              coal 
ft.    in. 

faths. 

7.  Six  Quarters    .     .     6     o     .     .      139 

I.  Hamilton    ...40 

•     •       52 

8.  Four  Feet  ...     2     3     ..      187 

2.  White  Metal   ..36 

.    .      61 

CLEATOR  MOOR 

3.  Top  Yard  ...28 

.     .      64 

Thickness  of            Depth  at 

4.  Slaty      ....      5      8 

.    .      70 

Seam                             coal                  Lindow  Pit 

5.  Ten  Quarters  ..79 

.     .      83 

ft.    in.                    faths. 

6.  Rattler  ....     3     8 

.     .      90 

I.  Six  Feet      .     .     .     3    10     .     .        51 

7.  Brick     ....     i      5 

•     •       93 

2.  Four  Feet  ...47..       56 

8.  Crow    ....30 

.     .     no 

3.  Five  Feet    ...45..        65 

9.  Cannel  and  Metal  : 

4.   Bannock     ...50..        78 

Metal     ...     3     4 

.     .     ii  i 

5.  Main     ....90..       95 

Cannel    ...50 

.     .     115 

6.  Yard      ....     2     8     ..     104 

10.  Yard      ....20 

.     .     127 

7.  Little  Main     .     .      2      3      .     .      120 

1  1  .  Little  Main     ..20 

.     .     146 

8.  Low  Bottom    .     .     3      2     .     .      133 

12.  Lick  Bank  ...20 

•     •     157 

HARRINGTON 

CROSBY,  DEARHAM  AND 

GlLCRUX 

Thickness  of             Depth  at 

DpnfVi   at 

Seam                            coal                     John  Pit 

Thickne,,of      ^J~  p. 

ft.    in.                   fathi. 

Seam                            Coal 

Dearham 

I.   Metal     ....20..         2O 

ft.    in. 

faths. 

2.  Two  Feet  ...20..       35 

I.  White  Metal   ..22 

.       .         30 

3.  Three  Feet      ..30..        52 

2.  Ten  Quarters  ..74 

•      •         59 

4.  Four  Feet  ...36..       90 

3.   Rattler  .     .     .     .     2    10 

•       •         72 

5.  Udale    .     .     .     .     3     o     .     .     118 

4.   Brick     ....      2     o 

•     •       74 

WoRKINGTON  * 

5.  Crow     ....     2     6 

.     .       83 

Thickness  of 

6.  Cannel  and  Metal  : 

Seam                               coal                       DePth 

Metal    ...      3     o 

'     '   \   8C 

ft.    in.                    faths. 

Cannel  ...50 

.     .  /   85 

I.  Brassey  ....30..        28 

7.  Yard     ....20 

.     .        96 

2.  Cannel  .     .     .     .      I    10     .     .        40 

8.  Brassey  ....     2     6 

.     .     108 

3.  Metal    ....17..       48 

9.   Little  Main     ..20 

.     .     113 

4.   Fiery     .     .     .     .      I      6     .     .        55 

10.   Lick  Bank  ...20 

.     .     131 

5.  Moorbanks      ..26..        60 

6.  Little  Main  (No.  I  )   I     6     .     .       64 

*  Compiled    from    sections    of   Watergate    Pit 

/  .  1  .  .  ..            ._    «.U  ,.    /^-  1    J    H  ^  _*.-!     D  J\    1     D  „  l_  I  

1  Compiled  from  the  sections  of  several  pits. 


Hood  Pit  (below  that  seam). 


349 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


In  the  dip  north  drift,  driven  from  No.  I 
Pit,  Crosby  Colliery,  the  following  scams 
were  passed  through  below  the  Lick  Bank 
Seam,  viz. : — 

Thickness     Depth  from  Lick 
of  coal  Bank  Seam 

ft.     in.  faths. 

1 1 .  Coal  Scam  .      .      2      3  .     .      2 1 

12.  „        „     .     .     2     o     .     .     27 
ij-      „        „..*,»..     37 


OUGHTERSIDE    AND    AsPATRIA  * 
Thickness  of 
coal 


Seam 

Yard    .       . 

Little  Main 
Lick  Bank 


ft. 
4 

2 
I 


Depth 

faths. 

89 

108 
123 


BROUGHTON,  RIBTON,  CLIFTON  AND 
GREYSOUTHEN  2 

Thickness  of 


Seam 


I. 

2. 

3- 

4- 
5- 


coal 
ft.     in. 

3 
I 

5 
i 

2 

7 

2 

2 
2 


Depth 
faths. 

17 
24 

31 

37 


White  Metal      . 
Slaty    .... 
Ten  Quarters 
Rattler      .     .     . 
Crow  .... 

6.  Cannel  and  Metal   .     7     o     .     .     60 

7.  Yard 2     o     .     .     73 

8.  Little  Main   .     .     .      2     o     .      .     93 

9.  Lick  Bank      .     .     .     2     o     .     .     99 

The  base  of  the  Lower  Coal  Measures 
cannot  at  present  be  defined  because  the  Mill- 
stone Grit  has  not  been  identified  in  any  shaft 
or  borehole  ;  but  the  Yoredale  rocks  or  Car- 
boniferous Limestone  have  been  proved,  in 
several  parts  of  the  coalfield,  through  the 
Coal  Measures.  The  Limestone  was  reached 
in  two  boreholes,  put  down  near  Fitz,  Aspa- 
tria,  in  the  strata  below  the  Yard  Band,  at  the 
depth  of  70  fathoms  from  the  surface  ;  at 
Crosby  Colliery,  in  the  dip  north  drift,  at  43 
fathoms  below  the  Lick  Bank  Seam  ;  at  John 
Pit,  Harrington,  at  33  fathoms  below  the 
Udale  Seam ;  and  lastly,  at  Ladysmith  Pit, 
Whitehaven,  at  54^  fathoms  below  the  Main 
Band. 

Correlation  of  the  Seams. — Until  the  publi- 
cation of  Mr.  J.  D.  Kendall's  paper,  in  1883, 
on  the  '  Structure  of  the  Cumberland  Coal- 
field,' the  correlation  of  the  seams  met  with 
in  the  different  districts  of  the  coalfield  had 
not  been  thoroughly  undertaken.  It  may 
now  be  summed  up  as  follows  : — 

(i)  The  Five  Feet  Coal  at  Cleator  Moor 
corresponds  to  the  Moorbanks  Seam  at  Working- 
ton  and  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam  at  Greysouthen, 
Ellenborough,  Bullgill,  Dearham,  Flimby  and 
Broughton  Moor. 

1  Compiled  from  the  sections  of  No.  3  Pit,  and 
the  bore-hole  at  No.  i  Pit,  Aspatria. 

2  Compiled  from  the  sections   of  William  and 
Lowther  Pits,  Clifton. 


(2)  The  Bannock  Band  at   Cleator  Moor  and 
Whitehaven  corresponds  to  the  Little  Main   Band 
at   Workington   and   the   Rattler  Band   at  Ellen- 
borough. 

(3)  The  Main   Band  at  Whitehaven,  Cleator 
Moor  and  Workington  is  one  and  the  same  seam, 
and  corresponds  to   the  Cannel   and   Metal  Band, 
together   with  the  Crow  Coal,  in  the  Maryport 
district. 

(4)  The  Yard  Band  (known  as  the  Main  Band 
in  the  Bolton  Colliery)  is  continuous  throughout 
the  coalfield. 

(5)  The  Lick  Bank  seam  of  Greysouthen  is  the 
Hamilton   Band  at   Workington,  the  Three   Feet 
Seam   at    Harrington,  the   Six   Quarter    Seam    at 
Whitehaven,  and  the  Low  Bottom  Seam  at  Clea- 
tor Moor. 

The  Coal  Seams  :  Thickness,  character  and 
mode  of  working. — The  sections  given  above 
furnish  the  number  and  names  of  the  seams, 
with  the  approximate  average  thickness  of  coal 
in  each. 

The  thickness  of  the  coal  and  the  bands  of 
'  metal '  almost  invariably  found  intercalated 
with  the  coal  in  all  the  seams  differ  so  much, 
even  in  the  same  colliery,  that  it  would  be 
tedious  and  confusing  to  give  numerous  and 
detailed  sections  to  show  the  different  phases 
in  which  each  seam  is  found  all  over  the  coal- 
field. 

But  the  Main  Band,  the  most  important  of 
all  the  seams,  deserves  more  than  a  passing 
notice.  At  Whitehaven,  Cleator  Moor, 
Montreal,  Asby,  Walkmill,  Oatlands,  and 
Clifton  it  may  be  said  to  form  one  seam, 
though  divided  by  thin  layers  of  'metal.' 
North  of  Workington  these  '  metal '  bands 
develop  in  thickness,  dividing  the  coal  into 
three  separate  and  distinct  seams,  known  re- 
spectively by  the  names  of  the  Crow  Coal, 
the  Metal  Band,  and  the  Cannel  Band. 

The  following  section,  taken  in  the  Delaval 
district,  William  Pit,  Whitehaven,  will  give 
some  idea  of  the  character  of  the  Main  Band 
where  it  forms  one  seam,  in  the  greatest  per- 
fection : — 


Little  Top  coal    . 
Metal  .... 

ft. 
.     o 

in. 

6 

ft.   in.         ft.    in. 
O      2 

Bearing  Top  coal 
Main  Top  coal   . 
Metal  .... 

2 
2 

0 

4 

0      C 

Undergrowth  coal 
Metal  .... 

I 

6 

.      0      I 

Coal  ('four-inch') 
Metal  .... 

.       0 

7 

O      2 

Spar  coal   . 
Benk  coal  . 
Metal         .     .     . 

I 

•     3 

4 
6 

O       2 

Mother  coal   .     . 

.       0 

5 

12      2     +     I       O     =     13    2 


350 


INDUSTRIES 


Although  the  Main  Band  in  other  parts  of 
the  coalfield  may  be  said  to  be  divided  into 
three  seams,  it  is  generally  known  in  those 
localities  by  the  names  of  two  of  its  members, 
viz.  the  '  Cannel  and  Metal  Band,'  the  highest 
being  little  worked. 

An  illustration  of  this  triple  division  may 
be  taken  from  the  shaft  at  Watergate  Pit, 
Flimby  Colliery,  where  the  section  is  : — 

ft.     in.  ft.    in.     ft.    in. 

..29.         — 
.      .         —         .26 

08  — 


Crow  coal — 
Coal      . 
Metal   . 
Coal 


3      5 


Metal  .      .     .     . 

Metal  Band  — 
Coal     .     .     .     . 

Metal  .     .      .      . 

.18.— 

I        O 

Coal     .     .     .     . 

.18.— 

1 1 
1 1 


3     4 


i     o 


Metal   .     .     . 
Cannel  Band — 
Top  coal    . 
Metal  .     .     . 
Coal     .     .     . 
'Tom'      .     . 
Spar  coal  . 
Cannel 
Stone  . 
Bottom  coal    . 
'Scram'    .     . 
Dirt 


4     4 


—  .08 

—  •°3 
i     6  .       — 

—  •03 
-  •     o     31 


The  Main  or  Cannel  and  Metal  Band 
has  of  all  the  seams  been  worked  to  the 
greatest  extent,  both  under  land  and  sea  ;  and 
next  to  the  Main  Band  the  Bannock  Band  of 
Whitehaven  and  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam  of 
other  districts  have  received  the  most  atten- 
tion. 

Since  the  introduction  of  the  long-wall 
system  of  mining  within  recent  times  into  the 
West  Cumberland  coalfield,  the  thin  seams 
below  the  Main  Band — the  Yard,  Little  Main, 
and  Lick  Bank — have  been  worked  at  St. 
Helens,  Clifton,  Flimby,  Broughton  Moor, 
and  Dearham  Collieries  to  a  considerable  but 
much  less  extent  than  the  superior  and  thicker 
seams  throughout  the  coalfield. 

Generally  the  produce  of  the  West  Cum- 
berland coal  seams  may  be  described  as  house, 
gas  and  coking  coals.  The  cannel  found  in 
the  Cannel  Band  is  of  a  stony  nature,  and 
most  of  it  is  left  underground.  About  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the 
smelting  of  iron  in  blast  furnaces  with  coke 


had  become  an  assured  success,  furnaces 
of  that  kind  were  built  within  the  West 
Cumberland  coalfield  at  Little  Clifton,  Mary- 
port,  Seaton  and  Frizington. 

'About  1750,  or  possibly  a  little  earlier, 
Messrs.  Cookson  &  Co.,  who  worked  coal 
mines  at  Clifton  and  Greysouthen,  erected  a 
blast  furnace  at  Little  Clifton,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Marron.'  * 

In  1765  M.  Jars  visited  the  Clifton  furnace 
and  described  the  primitive  mode  in  which 
coal  was  then  converted  into  coke.2  Large 
coals  were  stacked  so  as  to  allow  circulation 
of  air  amongst  them,  in  conical  heaps,  from 
10  to  12  feet  in  diameter  at  the  base,  and 
about  5  feet  high.  These  heaps  were  lighted 
from  the  top,  after  which  they  were  covered 
all  over  with  a  thin  layer  of  clay  and  coal- 
dust,  and  care  was  taken  to  stop  up  any  open- 
ings that  might  be  formed  in  this  covering,  on 
the  windward  side,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
destruction  of  the  coke  when  formed. 

Except  at  Seaton  little  success  seems  to  have 
attended  the  iron  furnaces  built  circa  1750  in 
West  Cumberland  ;  and  with  their  abandon- 
ment, after  a  brief  career,  any  particular 
demand  for  coke  would  cease.  Little  appears 
to  have  been  done  in  the  district  in  the  manu- 
facture of  coke  from  those  early  days,  until 
the  introduction  of  railways  and  the  establish- 
ment of  the  iron  and  steel  works  along  the 
west  coast  led  to  a  demand  for  a  local  supply 
of  coke  to  supplement  that  derived  from  the 
east  coast,  although,  in  the  interim,  '  cinders ' 
(as  coke  was  often  styled)  were  made  on  a 
limited  scale  at  several  collieries. 

A  great  drawback  to  the  use  of  West 
Cumberland  coke  was  at  one  time  due  to  the 
impurities  contained  in  the  coal  from  which 
it  was  made  ;  but  that  difficulty  has  in  a  great 
measure  been  overcome  by  the  adoption  of 
the  improved  pulverising  and  coal-washing 
machinery  now  in  use. 

All  the  ovens,  until  1894,  were  of  the 
beehive  pattern,  about  1 1  feet  diameter  by  9 
feet  in  height ;  and  at  most  of  the  existing 
ovens  the  gases,  formerly  wasted,  are  utilized 
for  raising  steam,  thus  effecting  a  great  saving 
in  colliery  consumption.  But  nowhere  in  the 
district  are  the  bye-products  recovered. 

In  1894  a  great  innovation  was  made  in 
coke-making,  in  West  Cumberland,  by  the 
erection  of  24  Copp^e  coke  ovens  at  No.  3, 
St.  Helens  Colliery.  Each  of  these  ovens 
is  30  ft.  long,  6  ft.  6  in.  high,  and  2  ft. 
wide,  and  produces  about  4  tons  of  coke 

1  Archeology  of  West  Cumberland  Inn  Trade,  by 
Mr.  H.  A.  Fletcher. 

3  Voyages  Metallurgiques,  tome  i.  236. 


351 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


every  48  hours,  the  coking  process  occupying 
nearly  one  half  the  time  taken  by  the  bee- 
hive oven. 

All  coal  used  for  coking  is  now  washed  by 
means  of  special  machinery  for  that  purpose, 
the  Sheppard  and  the  Copp6e  washers  being 
chiefly  used.  In  1890  a  Luhrig  washing 
plant  was  erected  at  Ellenborough  Colliery 
at  a  cost  of  upwards  of  ^4,000,  exclusive  of 
the  buildings,  but  it  was  removed  in  1892 
when  the  owners  of  the  colliery  went  into 
liquidation. 

Mode  of  Working, — Until  the  introduction 
of  the  'long-wall'  system  within  recent  times, 
when  the  thin  seams  came  to  be  worked,  the 
method  of  working  the  coal  was  exclusively 
by  '  bord  and  pillar.' 

In  the  early  days  of  coal  mining,  when 
the  coal  was  worked  near  the  outcrops  or  at 
very  shallow  depths,  the  coal  pillars  were  left 
very  small,  in  some  cases  only  4  or  5  yards 
square,  and  in  others  1 5  yards  long  by  2  yards 
wide ;  but  as  seams  were  worked  at  greater 
depths  the  sizes  of  the  pillars  were  increased. 
At  Whitehaven  at  the  present  day  the  pillars 
of  coal  left  in  the  first  working,  under  the 
sea,  are  25  yards  square,  and  the  workings 
are  generally  6  yards  wide.  Thus  35  per 
cent  of  coal  is  obtained  in  the  first  working 
and  65  per  cent  of  coal  is  left  in  the  pillars. 

Before  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  none  of  these  pillars  were  removed, 
and  it  may  be  said  without  exaggeration  that 
in  some  of  the  old  collieries  fully  half  of  the 
coal  has  been  left  and  may  never  be  recovered. 
On  the  other  hand,  at  many  of  the  old  pits 
at  Whitehaven  the  pillars  have  been  left  suffi- 
ciently large  and  will  undoubtedly  be  worked 
at  some  future  day  when  a  scarcity  of  coal 
arises. 

Underneath  the  sea  at  Whitehaven  some  of 
the  pillars  have  been  removed *  where  the  cover 
was  100  fathoms  or  more  ;  but  during  the 
continuance  of  the  Crown  lease,  from  1860 
to  1880,  the  pillars  were  only  allowed  to  be 
'split'  in  the  second  working,  and  thus  in 
most  of  the  districts  where  the  pillars  were 
'  robbed '  probably  30  per  cent  of  the  coal 
has  been  irretrievably  lost. 

Since  1890  a  system  of  working  in  panels 
underneath  the  sea  has  been  adopted,  and 
enables  the  coal  to  be  almost  entirely  got. 

Under  the  sea,  at  Harrington,  the  Main 
Band  has  been  worked 'bord  and  pillar'  at  21 
fathoms,  the  pillars  having  been  left  in  ;  and 
the  Six  Quarters  seam  is  being  worked  long- 

1  Evidence  of  Mr.  G.  B.  Forster,  Report  of 
Cod  Commission,  1871,  vol.  ii.;  also  Trans.  North  of 
Eng.  Inst.  of  Mining  Engineers,  xiii.  97. 


wall  at  45  fathoms.  At  St.  Helens,  the  Ten 
Quarters  seam  at  70  fathoms,  and  the  Cannel 
and  Metal  Band  at  105  fathoms,  are  being 
worked  long-wall  under  the  sea. 

A  method  resembling  long-wall  is  said  to 
have  been  introduced  probably  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  at  Warnell  Fell, 
Sebergham,  where  a  seam  of  coal  16  in.  thick 
was  worked  ;  but  long-wall,  on  any  extended 
scale,  was  not  adopted  till  about  1870,  when 
it  was  applied  in  the  Rattler  Band,  No.  2  Pit, 
St.  Helens. 

Long-wall  means  the  extraction  of  all  coal 
in  one  operation,  the  full  length  of  a  long 
'  face,'  the  roof  settling  down  behind  as  the 
'  face  '  advances.  There  are  many  modifica- 
tions of  long-wall,  but  what  is  generally  fol- 
lowed in  West  Cumberland  may  be  thus  de- 
scribed. The  coal  is  worked  against  the  line 
of  '  cleat,'  and  brought  out  by  '  gateways ' 
made  12  yards  apart  through  the  goaf,  and 
supported  on  each  side  by  pack- walls  a  few 
yards  wide,  built  either  of  stone  '  brushed ' 
from  the  roof,  or  of  '  metal '  out  of  the  seam, 
or  of  '  bottom '  that  has  been  lifted  in  the 
'  gateways.'  It  is  only  in  the  '  gateways ' 
that  height  is  made  for  the  conveyance  of 
the  coal  by  ponies  or  hand-trailing. 

Between  the  '  gateways '  nothing  but  the 
coal  is  worked.  These  gateways  are  cut  off 
by  cross-gateways  which  are  made  every  60 
yards  so  as  to  lessen  the  length  of  roadway 
to  be  maintained. 

Since  1870  the  thin  coals,  e.g.  the  Yard, 
Little  Main  and  Lickbank  seams,  have  been 
invariably  worked  by  long-wall ;  but  at  Buck- 
hill  Pit,  Clifton,  in  the  first  instance,  and 
afterwards,  in  1895,  at  No.  3  Pit,  St.  Helens, 
that  method  has  been  successfully  applied 
to  getting  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band 
where  that  seam  is  divided  by  a  stratum  of 
'  metal '  several  feet  thick.  The  Cannel  Band 
(the  lower  portion  of  the  seam)  is  worked 
long-wall  first,  the  '  metal '  dividing  the  seam, 
and  the  Metal  Band  being  left  up  in  the  first 
working.  The  Metal  Band  is  afterwards 
worked  long-wall. 

Pumping,  binding,  Haulage  and  Ventilation. 
— Inasmuch  as  coal  was  first  worked  in  this 
county  to  the  rise,  or  along  the  level  from 
'  day-holes  '  made  from  the  outcrops  or  where 
the  seams  were  exposed  on  the  surface,  no 
machinery  was  requisite,  even  if  it  had  been 
known,  in  those  early  times.  The  water 
naturally  flowed  from  the  workings ;  and  the 
coal  was  probably  borne  out,  in  the  earliest 
days,  in  baskets  carried  by  women  and  girls 
on  their  backs.  The  places  still  known  as 
'bearmouths'  at  Whitehaven  were  the  en- 
trances to  the  roads  (made  from  the  outcrops 


352 


INDUSTRIES 


of  the  seams)  along  which  the  coal  was  thus 
borne  out  from  the  mines. 

The  second  development  of  coal-mining  in 
West  Cumberland  would  probably  take  place 
circa  1650,  when,  to  win  new  tracts  of  coal, 
pits  were  sunk  and  drifts  were  cut  horizontally 
through  the  strata  from  the  lower  grounds  to 
drain  the  workings.  That  arrangement  was 
called  the  '  pit  and  adit  system.'  At  the  pit 
the  coal  was  raised  originally  by  jack-rolls 
and  subsequently  by  horse  gins,  whilst  the 
adit  served  the  purpose  for  draining  the  rise 
coal.  The  pit  also  caused  a  natural  ventila- 
tion sufficient  for  the  limited  extent  of  work- 
ings in  those  early  days. 

It  was  probably  about  1675  that  corves 
were  introduced  in  West  Cumberland  for  the 
conveyance  of  coals  from  the  workings,  for 
they  are  mentioned  in  the  pay-sheets  of  the 
Greenbank  Colliery,  Whitehaven,  in  that 
year.  The  corf  was  a  circular  basket  made 
of  hazel  rods,  provided  with  an  iron  bow  for 
attachment  to  the  hook  at  the  end  of  the 
winding-rope.  The  first  corves  carried  2j 
cwt.  of  coal  each  ;  but  the  size  of  the  corf 
increased  as  larger  pits  were  sunk,  and  when 
the  horse-gins  were  superseded  by  steam  wind- 
ing-engines. In  fact,  the  corves  or  baskets, 
used  in  some  of  the  Main  Band  pits,  in 
latter  days  carried  as  much  as  12  cwt.  of 
coal  each.  Although  the  tub,  cage  and 
guide-rod  system  was  introduced  into  the 
Newcastle  coalfield  about  the  year  1834, 
corves  continued  to  be  used  in  West  Cumber- 
land until  a  much  later  date.  And  at  William 
Pit,  Whitehaven,  large  baskets  made  of  hazel 
rods,  carrying  1 2  cwt.  of  coal  each,  were  used 
up  to  the  year  1875,  when  they  were  super- 
seded by  steel  tubs. 

The  accompanying  illustration  of  the  old 
William  Pit  top,  Whitehaven,  shows  the  last 
of  the  corves  or  baskets  and  the  ingenious 
contrivance  of  William  Golightly,  the  over- 
man, in  1839,  for  landing  the  baskets  on  to 
the  trams  at  the  top  and  bottom  of  the  shaft. 

The  corves  were  undoubtedly  in  the  earliest 
days  placed  on  ashen  runners,  resembling  a 
sledge,  and  conveyed  along  the  corf-way,  con- 
structed of  two  parallel  lines  of  wooden  rails. 
These  old  wooden  roads  were  continued  to 
be  used  for  the  conveyance  of  coals  under- 
ground until  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, when  cast  iron  tram  rails  (of  the  angle- 
iron  pattern)  and  edge  rails  were  adopted. 

After  the  introduction  of  tram  plates  the 
corves  were  placed  upon  low  trams  fitted  with 
small  plain  wheels  without  flanges,  and  con- 
veyed to  the  sidings  at  the  rolley  roads  which 
were  laid  with  edge  rails.  At  these  sidings 
there  were  hand  cranes  which  were  used  for 


lifting  the  full  corves  off  the  small  trams  on 
to  larger  trams  with  flanged  wheels,  which 
were  drawn  by  horses  along  the  rolley-roads 
to  the  shaft  bottom. 

After  the  use  of  cranes  was  abandoned  in 
the  Main  Band  collieries  at  Whitehaven  and 
Workington,  light  wooden  bogies,  also  fitted 
with  small  plain  wheels,  were  used  on  tram- 
plate  roads  for  bringing  the  rise  coals  down 
from  the  workings  to  '  stears,"  which  were 
tips  erected  at  the  sidings,  and  at  which  the 
bogies  were  emptied  into  the  corves  or  baskets 
for  conveyance  to  the  shaft.  These  baskets 
were  made  up  into  trains  or  '  rallies '  which 
were  drawn  by  horses  to  the  pit  bottom ;  and 
where  the  rolley-road  was  long  there  were 
stages  at  which  there  were  sidings  or  pass-byes. 

As  the  main  underground  roads  were  ex- 
tended to  the  dip  and  the  horse  work  became 
correspondingly  heavier,  it  became  imperative 
to  contrive  some  other  means  for  traction 
underground.  Accordingly  the  steam-engine, 
which  had  proved  so  useful  for  pumping  and 
winding  in  shafts  was  applied  for  drawing 
trains  of  tubs  along  those  roads  by  means  ot 
hemp  ropes  in  the  first  instance  and  after- 
wards by  wire  ropes. 

It  is  difficult  to  say  when  mechanical  haul- 
age was  first  introduced  for  underground 
haulage  in  the  Cumberland  coalfield,  but 
probably  it  was  in  the  year  1818,  when  a 
high-pressure  engine  was  erected  underground 
in  William  Pit,  Whitehaven. 

Since  that  time  several  systems  of  under- 
ground mechanical  haulage  have  been  adopted 
in  the  West  Cumberland  collieries.  The 
'  main-and-tail  rope '  would  probably  be  the 
first  method  tried.  Then,  where  there  was 
a  dip  road  into  the  workings,  a  single  rope 
was  used,  the  '  empty  set '  of  tubs  taking  the 
rope  inbye  and  the  engine  drawing  the  '  full 
set'  outbye.  In  some  cases  the  engine  is  placed 
near  the  shaft  bottom,  and  in  others  on  the 
surface.  The  system  now  generally  in  use  in 
the  West  Cumberland  coalfield  is  that  known 
as  the  '  endless  rope.'  It  may  be  described  as 
an  endless  steel  wire  rope  driven  by  a  steam- 
engine  at  bank.  At  the  engine  the  rope  is  lapped 
several  times  round  the  drum  in  order  to  give 
the  engine  the  necessary  grip  ;  and,  inbye,  the 
rope  passes  round  a  terminal  pulley.  The 
rope  is  kept  taut  upon  the  drum  by  a  balance- 
weight  attached  to  a  sliding  pulley  (near  the 
engine)  round  which  the  rope  on  the  'empty' 
side  is  made  to  pass ;  and  in  the  case  of  a  long 
and  undulating  engine  plane  a  similar  tighten- 
ing arrangement  is  also  placed  at  the  far  end. 

There  are  two  lines  of  rails,  one  being  used 
for  the  full  sets  coming  out  and  the  other  for 
the  empty  sets  going  in.  The  sets  of  tubs  are 


II 


353 


45 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


attached  to  the  rope  by  means  of  clutches  or 
clips,  of  which  there  are  many  varieties. 

The  third  era  in  West  Cumberland  coal- 
mining may  be  said  to  commence  at  the  time 
when  it  became  necessary  to  win  the  coal  to 
the  dip  of  the  adit-levels.  This  involved  the 
use  of  pumping  machinery,  and  therefore  un- 
til the  invention  of  the  steam  engine  nothing 
very  great  in  this  direction  could  be  under- 
taken. 

The  first  steam  pumping  engine,  or  'fire 
engine,'  in  Cumberland  was  erected  for  Mr., 
afterwards  Sir  James,  Lowther,  at  Stone  Pit, 
Ginns,  Whitehaven.  A  'Licence  from  the 
Committee  of  Proprietors  in  the  Fire-Engine 
to  Mr.  James  Lowther,'  dated  22  February, 
1726,  recites  that  Thomas  Newcomen,  iron- 
monger, of  Dartmouth,  Devon,  and  others, 
by  articles  of  agreement  dated  10  November, 
1715,  covenanted  with  Mr.  Lowther  to  set 
up  a  '  fire-engine,'  with  a  steam  barrel  of  at 
least  1 6  inches  diameter  within  and  8  feet  in 
length,  at  his  Stone  Pit  situate  between 
Whitehaven  and  a  place  adjoining  called 
Howgill,  and  that  such  engine  had  accordingly 
been  erected  and  '  since  continued  to  be 
wrought  there.' 

This  engine  was  hired  from  the  proprietors 
by  Mr.  Lowther  for  £182  per  annum,  under 
the  agreement  dated  10  November,  1715. 
On  the  surrender  of  that  agreement,  and  in 
consideration  of  the  payment  of  £350,  the  in- 
denture, dated  22  February,  1726,  was  made 
between  several  London  gentlemen,  who  were 
then  the  committee  appointed  '  by  the  Pro- 
prietors of  the  Invention  for  raising  water  by 
fire,'  and  Mr.  Lowther,  by  which  he,  his 
heirs  and  assigns  were  licensed  to  use  the 
engine  and  to  erect  in  its  stead  another  of 
the  same  kind,  the  cylinder  of  which  should 
not  exceed  22  inches  in  diameter  and  9  feet 
in  length,  at  his  or  their  collieries  in  the 
manor  of  St.  Bees,  at  a  peppercorn  rent.  A 
schedule  and  valuation  of  this  historic  engine 
was  made  by  Mr.  Lowther's  agents,  the 
Spedding  brothers  (John  and  Carlisle)  ;  and  in 
1726  Mr.  Lowther  bought  the  engine  at  the 
Ginns  Pit  for  £100,  above  and  beyond  the 
amount  agreed  to  be  paid  for  the  licence  to 
use  the  patent. 

Although  there  are  no  drawings  of  the 
Ginns  'fire-engine,'  some  idea  of  it  may  be 
gained  from  the  particulars  given  in  Speddings' 
schedule  and  from  existing  drawings  of  other 
of  Newcomen's  early  fire-engines. 

The  foundation  of  the  engine  was  a  copper 
boiler,  built  in  the  form  of  a  haystack,  probably 
10  or  12  feet  in  diameter.  On  the  top  of 
the  boiler  was  fixed  the  cylinder,  17  inches 
diameter  and  8  feet  long,  closed  at  the  bottom 


and  open  at  the  top.  The  piston,  inside  the 
cylinder,  was  6  inches  thick  and  made  steam- 
tight  with  hemp  packing.  The  piston-rod 
was  attached  by  a  chain  to  one  end  of  a 
beam  of  wood,  20  feet  long,  at  the  other  end 
of  which,  attached  in  a  like  manner,  was  the 
rod  which  worked  the  pumps  in  the  pit. 
The  pumps,  then  called  '  pump  trees,'  because 
in  fact  they  were  trees  bored  out  to  form 
pipes,  were  7  inches  diameter ;  and  the  whole 
set  was  1 8  fathoms  long. 

The  pressure  of  steam  used  was  only  i  or 
2  Ib.  per  square  inch  more  than  that  of  the 
atmosphere.  The  action  of  the  engine  has 
been  described  by  the  late  Mr.  Isaac  Fletcher, 
M.P.,1  as  follows  : — 

The  engineman  opened  a  valve  communicating 
with  the  boiler  and  admitted  steam  into  the  cylin- 
der, and  another  valve  or  tap  from  the  cylinder  to 
the  atmosphere  being  opened  for  a  few  moments, 
all  the  air  was  expelled  from  it  and  its  place  sup- 
plied with  steam.  A  valve  was  then  opened  ad- 
mitting a  jet  of  cold  water  into  the  cylinder, 
which  condensed  the  steam  and  created  an  in- 
stantaneous vacuum.  The  pressure  of  the  atmo- 
sphere on  the  top  of  the  piston  (14  Ib.  on  the 
square  inch)  then  caused  the  piston  to  descend, 
and  at  the  same  time  lifted  the  column  of  water 
by  the  other  end  of  the  beam.  This  completed 
the  first  stroke  of  the  engine,  and  a  repetition  of 
the  process  by  the  engineman  kept  the  engine 
going  at  the  rate  of  five  or  six  strokes  per  minute. 

Mr.  Fletcher  further  adds  : — 

The  engine  was  afterwards  made  self-acting,  and 
many  improvements  were  made  by  the  celebrated 
Smeaton  and  others  in  its  details,  but  in  its  main 
features  it  remained  as  left  by  its  inventor,  and  was 
the  only  pumping-engine  used  for  draining  mines 
for  a  period  of  fifty  or  sixty  years  ;  and  indeed 
with  the  addition  of  a  separate  condenser  and  air- 
pump  invented  by  Watt,  there  are  to  this  day  many 
examples  of  the  '  atmospheric  engine '  at  work, 
notably  the  very  fine  one  at  William  Pit,  White- 
haven  Colliery.2 

A  second  '  fire-engine '  was  afterwards 
erected  at  the  Ginns,  and  was  in  continual 
use  till  about  1780.  It  had  a  copper  boiler 
about  10  feet  in  diameter  with  a  lead  top,  a 
brass  cylinder  28  inches  diameter,  and  wooden 
pumps  8  inches  diameter,  with  a  brass  work- 
ing-barrel. 

The  success  of  the  Ginns  '  fire-engine '  led 
to  a  still  larger  one,  on  the  Newcomen  atmo- 
spheric principle,  being  erected  at  Saltom  Pit, 
in  1731,  which  had  then  been  sunk  close  to  the 
shore  to  the  Main  Band — a  depth  of  7  6  fathoms. 
The  boiler  was  12  ft.,  the  cylinder  40  in.,  and 
the  pumps  (in  four  lifts)  were  7  in.  diameter. 


1  Archttohgy  of  the  West  Cumb.  Coal  Trade. 

2  Ceased  working  1899. 


354 


INDUSTRIES 


This  engine,  being  found  inadequate  to  deal 
with  the  quantity  of  water,  was  supplemented 
by  a  duplicate  engine.  In  1782  both  these 
engines  were  replaced  by  an  engine  that  was, 
at  that  day,  regarded  as  a  great  mechanical 
wonder.  It  was  an  atmospheric  engine  with 
a  cylinder  70  in.  diameter  and  6  ft.  stroke. 
It  had  an  air  pump  3  ft.  in  diameter  and 
3  ft.  stroke.  The  beam  was  oak,  24  ft.  long, 
21  in.  deep  and  19  in.  broad.  There  were 
four  lifts  of  pumps,  the  two  top  sets  1 1  in. 
and  the  two  bottom  sets  nf  in.  diameter; 
and  three  malleable  iron  boilers,  each  13  ft. 
6  in.  diameter,  9  ft.  4  in.  high,  with  hemi- 
spherical tops.  This  engine  continued  at  work 
until  1866,  when  the  pit  was  abandoned. 

Prior  to  the  abandonment  of  the  Clifton 
Collieries  in  1781,  Sir  James  Lowther  had 
erected  two  large  atmospheric  engines,  viz. 
one  near  the  Marron  at  Little  Clifton,  and 
the  other  at  Reelfitz  Pit,  sunk  in  1780, 
near  the  Marron,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
the  Derwent.  The  latter  was  very  powerful, 
having  a  cylinder  cast  in  two  lengths,  60  in. 
diameter,  with  8  ft.  stroke,  working  two  1 2  in. 
pumps,  each  lifting  from  the  Main  Band  35 
fathoms. 

In  1794  Mr.  John  Christian  Curwen  sunk 
Lady  Pit,  near  the  shore  at  Workington, 
where  he  erected  both  large  pumping  and 
winding  engines  of  the  best  designs  in  those 
days. 

Although  William  Pit,  Whitehaven,  had 
been  sunk  to  the  Main  Band  a  depth  of  95 
fathoms  in  1805,  the  permanent  pumping 
engine  thereat  was  not  erected  until  1810. 
The  cylinder,  open-topped,  was  80  in.  diameter, 
with  9  ft.  stroke.  There  were  four  haystack 
boilers,  13  ft.  diameter,  which  supplied  steam 
at  5  lb.  pressure  per  square  inch.  The 
original  wood  beam  was  afterwards  replaced 
by  a  cast-iron  one  with  parallel  motion  at 
each  end.  The  pumps,  12  in.  diameter,  were 
four  bucket-lifts. 

At  Isabella  Pit,  Workington,  sunk  by  Mr. 
Curwen,  1812— 18,  there  was  a  pumping- 
engine  said  to  have  been  the  most  powerful 
that  had  been  erected  in  Cumberland  up  to 
that  time.  It  had  a  cylinder  66  in.  diameter, 
9  ft.  stroke  ;  worked  six  sets  of  pumps,  four  of 
them  being  16  in.  diameter,  down  to  a  depth 
of  130  fathoms;  and  was  on  Boulton  and 
Watt's  principle. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury there  have  been  many  improvements  made 
in  pumping-engines,  but  it  is  not  proposed  to 
deal  any  further  here  with  their  evolution  than 
by  describing  two  of  the  best  engines  now  at 
work  in  the  coalfields. 

The   pumping-engine  at   Wellington  Pit, 


Whitehaven,  is  the  most  powerful  in  the 
district.  It  is  a  high  pressure,  single-acting 
inverted  Cornish  engine,  erected  for  the  Earl 
of  Lonsdale  in  1866.  The  steam  cylinder 
is  vertical,  90  in.  diameter  with  10  ft.  stroke, 
and  it  has  three  double-beat  equilibrium  valves. 
The  beam,  placed  underneath  the  cylinder,  is 
formed  of  two  wrought  iron  parallel  plates,  of 
girder  section,  each  30  ft.  in  length  by  7  ft. 
deep  in  the  centre,  tapering  to  3  ft.  at  each  end. 
The  steam  acts  on  the  top  side  of  the  piston 
only,  the  piston  rod  forcing  one  end  of  the 
beam,  which  is  cushioned,  down  10  ft.,  while 
the  pump  rods  and  lower  column  are  raised 
10  ft.  at  the  other  end  of  the  beam,  also 
cushioned.  In  the  up-stroke  of  the  piston 
the  steam  is  in  equilibrium,  and  the  surplus 
weight  of  rods  forces  up  the  two  upper 
columns  of  water. 

The  water  is  pumped  from  a  depth  of  140 
fathoms  in  three  lifts,  the  top  and  middle  sets 
having  20  in.  rams,  and  the  bottom  set  a 
2o£  in.  bucket. 

At  William  Pit,  Whitehaven,  is  a  pumping- 
engine  of  quite  a  different  type.  It  superseded 
in  1899  the  old  atmospheric  engine  described 
above.  It  is  placed  8  fathoms  below  the  Main 
Band,  and  forces  the  water  through  a  main 
10  in.  diameter,  to  the  surface,  and  was  con- 
structed for  the  Whitehaven  Colliery  Com- 
pany. It  may  be  described  as  a  horizontal 
high-pressure,  duplex  ram-pumping  engine 
with  suction  condenser.  The  cylinders  are 
30  in.  diameter  with  1 8  in.  stroke,  and  the 
rams  are  10  in.  diameter. 

It  is  remarkable  that  the  steam-engine  should 
have  been  seventy  years  in  use  for  pumping  before 
any  attempt  was  made  to  apply.it  to  winding 
in  pits.  Perhaps  the  reason  was  that  the  early 
engineers  did  not  know  that  rectilinear  could 
be  converted  into  rotary  motion  by  means  of 
the  crank,  and  how  the  engine  could  be 
reversed. 

The  first  recorded  departure  from  winding 
by  horse-gins  was  made  at  George  Pit,  White- 
haven,  in  1787,  where,  on  the  same  shaft  as 
the  rope-rolls,  was  an  overshot  water-wheel 
driven  by  the  water  pumped  by  the  'fire- 
engine.' 

The  first  winding-engine,  or  '  rotative 
machine '  in  West  Cumberland,  was  prob- 
ably that  erected  at  Davy  Pit,  Whitehaven, 
in  1791,  by  Messrs.  Heslop  &  Millward, 
Seaton  Iron  Works,  Workington.  It  had 
two  open-topped  cylinders,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  main  centre  of  the  beam  (which 
was  made  of  wood),  called  respectively  the 
hot  cylinder  and  the  cold  cylinder.  The 
steam,  on  being  admitted  under  the  piston  in 
the  larger  or  hot  cylinder,  raised  it  ;  the  re- 


355 


A    HISTORY    OF   CUMBERLAND 


turn  stroke  was  then  made  by  the  momentum 
of  the  fly-wheel  assisted  by  the  weight  of  the 
connecting  rod  and  the  action  of  the  cold 
cylinder.  The  exhaust  steam  from  the  hot 
cylinder  passed  to  the  smaller  or  cold  cylinder 
by  means  of  the  connecting  pipe,  which  be- 
ing constantly  immersed  in  cold  water  acted 
as  a  condenser,  producing  sufficient  condensa- 
tion to  reduce  it  to  atmospheric  pressure  as  it 
entered  and  filled  the  cold  cylinder.  The 
cold  piston  having  arrived  at  the  top  of  its 
stroke,  and  its  cylinder  being  thus  filled  with 
steam,  the  injection  valve  was  opened,  thus 
admitting  a  jet  of  water  which  condensed 
the  steam  so  that  the  unbalanced  atmospheric 
pressure  assisted  in  the  down  stroke. 

This  form  of  engine  came  into  general  use  ; 
and  an  engine  of  this  kind,  in  use  at  Wreah 
Pit,  Hensingham,  up  to  1878,  may  be  seen 
in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 

Since  the  days  of  the  Heslop  engine  many 
improvements  have  been  made  in  winding 
and  pumping  machinery.  Firstly,  with  the 
inventions  of  Watt  and  others — the  closing 
in  the  top  of  the  cylinder,  the  parallel  motion, 
and  making  the  steam  act  on  both  sides  of 
the  piston — came  the  vertical  and  beam  en- 
gines made  on  the  Boulton  and  Watt 
principle.  These,  in  their  turn,  have  been 
replaced  by  horizontal  high  pressure  engines, 
which  are  now  generally  used  for  winding  in 
West  Cumberland. 

The  present  winding  engine  at  Henry  Pit, 
Whitehaven,  is  an  example  of  one  of  the  best 
modern  engines  of  that  class  in  the  coalfield. 
It  was  erected  in  1871  ;  has  two  horizontal 
cylinders,  36  in.  diameter  with  6  ft.  stroke, 
and  Cornish  valves  ;  and  a  drum  18  ft.  4  in. 
diameter,  fitted  with  a  powerful  steam  brake. 
Round  steel  wire  ropes,  5^  in.  circumference, 
are  used  for  winding.  The  engine  raises  four 
steel  tubs  (on  two  decks  in  each  cage),  each 
tub  carrying  about  14  cwt.  of  coal.  The 
conductors  are  flat-bottomed  steel  rails,  50  Ib. 
per  yard. 

There  were  no  guides  or  conductors  for  the 
baskets  in  their  journeys  through  the  shafts, 
William  Pit,  Whitehaven,  being  the  sole  excep- 
tion ;  and  it  was  therefore  not  surprising  that 
the  ascending  and  descending  baskets,  swinging 
at  the  end  of  the  ropes,  should  collide  at 
'  meetings,'  and  sometimes  precipitate  their 
freight — occasionally  workpeople  going  to  or 
coming  from  their  work — to  the  bottom. 

The  general  adoption  of  cages  with  guides, 
the  regulations  of  the  Mines  Acts,  and  the  use 
of  detaching  hooks  at  most  of  the  pits  in  the 
district,  have  reduced  the  hazards  in  raising 
and  lowering  persons  in  shafts  to  a  minimum. 
When  coals  were  drawn  by  horse-gins,  round 


hemp  ropes  were  used,  but  when  the  steam 
engine  came  to  be  applied  to  winding,  flat 
hemp  ropes  were  adopted  because  the  varying 
diameter  of  the  rope  roll,  due  to  the  coiling 
and  uncoiling  of  the  rope,  tended  to  counter- 
balance the  engine.  Lastly,  the  flat  hemp 
ropes  were  succeeded  by  flat  wire  ropes,  and 
these,  again,  by  the  round  wire  ropes  now 
invariably  used  for  winding. 

In  the  earliest  days  of  coal-mining,  the 
only  ventilation  which  circulated  in  the 
limited  area  of  workings  was  that  resulting 
from  natural  causes.  But  when  the  work- 
ings became  more  extensive,  and  it  became 
imperative  to  deal  more  effectually  with  the 
firedamp  that  was  given  off  in  larger  quanti- 
ties as  new  fields  of  coal  were  opened  out,  the 
underground  furnace  was  the  means  generally 
adopted  to  create  artificial  ventilation,  and  was 
continued  in  use  for  that  purpose  at  all  of  the 
collieries  in  the  county  until  about  1870,  when 
mechanical  ventilation  came  into  vogue. 

The  furnace  was,  in  some  cases,  placed  on 
the  surface  in  connection  with  a  tall  chimney 
or  air-tube,  but  its  usual  situation  was  at  the 
bottom  of  the  upcast  shaft,  where  better 
results  were  obtained. 

The  furnace  was  a  huge  open  fire,  placed  on 
a  grate  I  o  or  1 2  ft.  wide  by  8  or  9  feet  long, 
a  short  distance  from  the  shaft  foot  in  a  brick 
archway  ;  and  all  the  return  air  from  the 
workings  passed  over  it.  In  other  coalfields 
'  dumb  '  drifts  were  used  to  carry  the  return 
air  into  the  upcast  shaft  without  passing  over 
the  furnace,  which  was  fed  with  a  '  split '  of 
fresh  air  ;  but  this  practice  did  not  obtain  in 
Cumberland. 

At  Duke  Pit,  Whitehaven,  in  1806,  fire- 
damp was  piped  to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft, 
and  burned  there  to  produce  a  ventilating 
current ;  but  this  practice  did  not  last  very 
long.  A  velocity  of  four  miles  an  hour  was 
obtained,  whereas  common  furnaces  seldom 
produced  more  than  three  miles  an  hour.1 

Notwithstanding  all  the  care  that  could  be 
used,  the  open  furnace,  especially  without  a 
dumb  drift,  was  a  constant  source  of  danger. 

In  1814,  Mr.  Swinburn,  agent  for  Mr. 
Curwen,  invented  a  mechanical  ventilator, 
which  was  tried  at  Union  Pit,  Workington ; 
but  it  did  not  prove  to  be  a  success. 

In  1840,  Mr.  James  Reed,  engineer  at 
Whitehaven  Colliery,  constructed  a  '  fanning 
machine,' which  was  tried  at  Duke  Pit,  White- 
haven,  but  after  running  a  few  years  was 
discontinued. 

It  was  not  until  1870  that  mechanical  ven- 
tilation, as  it  is  now  understood,  was  intro- 


Monthly  Magazine,  xxiii.  499. 


356 


INDUSTRIES 


duced  into  West  Cumberland.  In  that  year 
a  Guibal  fan,  36  ft.  diameter  by  12  ft.  wide, 
was  erected  for  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  at  Duke 
Pit,  Whitehaven.  This  ventilator  is  still  at 
work.  It  is  driven  by  two  duplicate  hori- 
zontal engines  working  alternately.  Each 
engine  has  a  cylinder,  30  in.  diameter  by 
30  in.  stroke,  and  works  direct  on  to  the  fan 
shaft,  at  60  revolutions  per  minute.  The 
quantity  of  air  produced  is  70,000  c.  ft.  per 
minute  with  2^  in.  of  water  gauge. 

Since  then  Guibal  fans  of  various  sizes 
have  been  erected  at  other  collieries  in  Cum- 
berland. 

At  Watergate  Pit,  Flimby,  there  is  a 
Waddle  fan  (erected  in  1880)  at  work.  It 
is  30  ft.  diameter  by  2  ft.  wide.  It  is  driven 
by  a  single  engine  with  a  cylinder  24  in. 
diameter  by  4  ft.  stroke  at  the  rate  of  60 
revolutions  per  minute,  and  produces  about 
40,000  c.  ft.  of  air  per  minute  with  a  water 
gauge  of  i^  in.  The  air  is  received  at  the 
centre  on  one  side  of  the  fan,  and  is  expelled 
at  the  periphery. 

The  most  recently  erected  fan  in  West 
Cumberland  is  at  William  Pit,  Whitehaven, 
and  was  made  for  the  Whitehaven  Colliery 
Company  in  1899,  and  is  styled  'Walker's 
Indestructible  Fan.'  It  is  22  ft.  diameter 
by  7  ft.  wide.  It  is  driven  by  an  engine 
with  a  single  cylinder,  36  in.  diameter  by 
42  in.  stroke.  The  driving  pulley  on  the 
crank  shaft  is  18  ft.  diameter  by  2  ft.  i\  in. 
wide,  grooved  for  ten  if  in.  cotton  ropes  ; 
the  pulley  on  the  fan  shaft  is  7  ft.  diameter, 
2  ft.  1\  in.  wide,  and  similarly  grooved. 
With  the  fan  running  at  120  revolutions  per 
minute,  120,000  c.  ft.  of  air  are  produced 
with  a  water  gauge  of  6  in. 

Perhaps  in  no  other  coalfield  was  the 
danger  of  working  with  naked  lights  in  coal 
mines  sooner  or  more  thoroughly  appreciated 
than  in  this  county.  In  the  earliest  White- 
haven  Colliery  pay-sheets  there  are  frequent 
entries  relating  to  '  burnt '  men. 

Probably  about  1730,  Mr.  Carlisle  Sped- 
ding,  Sir  James  Lowther's  colliery  viewer, 
invented  the  famous  steel  mill  for  the  pro- 
duction of  a  light  by  which  miners  could 
work  with  some  degree  of  safety  in  an  atmo- 
sphere where,  by  reason  of  its  being  so  highly 
charged  with  firedamp,  the  use  of  candles 
was  dangerous.  In  an  account  of  the  fire- 
damp at  Saltom  Pit,  Whitehaven,1  which  Sir 
James  Lowther  contributed  to  the  Royal 
Society  in  1733,  allusion  is  made  to  the  use  of 
flints  and  steel  for  the  purpose  of  affording  a 
light  to  miners  in  places  abounding  with  fire- 
damp. 

1  Philosophical  Transactions  (1733),  vol.  xxxviii. 


The  use  of  the  steel  mill,  which  began  in 
the  Whitehaven  pits,  extended  to  other  coal- 
fields. About  1760  it  was  introduced  into 
the  collieries  on  the  Tyne  and  Wear,  and  was 
used  there,  in  dangerous  places,  up  to  1813. 

The  steel  mill  was  a  small  steel  disc  made 
to  revolve  rapidly  by  means  of  a  cogwheel 
and  pinion,  against  a  piece  of  flint,  the  stream 
of  sparks  thereby  emitted  affording  a  glimmer- 
ing light  which  enabled  the  collier  to  perform 
his  task. 

Steel  mills  were  only  used  in  workings 
where  a  dangerous  quantity  of  gas  was  given 
off,  candles  being  generally  used  by  miners 
until  the  invention  of  the  miner's  safety-lamp 
by  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  superseded  both  them 
and  the  steel  mill  which  had  been  proved  to 
be  quite  unsafe. 

The  improved  system  of  ventilating  mines, 
known  as  '  coursing  the  air,'  was  invented 
about  1760  by  Mr.  James  Spedding,  son  of 
Mr.  Carlisle  Spedding.  '  Coursing  the  air ' 
consisted  of  threading  the  current  of  air  up 
certain  workings  and  down  others  until  it 
ventilated  the  whole  waste.  That  system, 
which  involved  numerous  doors  and  the  air 
travelling  round  the  workings  long  distances 
in  one  current,  was  superseded  by  the  '  split 
air '  system,  carried  out  first  at  Wallsend 
Colliery  in  1810  by  Mr.  Buddie. 

Soon  after  its  invention,  Sir  Humphrey 
Davy's  safety  lamp  was  tried  and  adopted  at 
Whitehaven  Colliery.  '  On  the  28th  of 
March,  1816,  the  safety  lamp  of  Sir  H.  Davy 
was  put  to  the  severest  test  possible  in  the 
workings  of  William  Pit,  Whitehaven,  the 
most  dangerous  in  the  kingdom.' 3  As  in  the 
case  of  the  steel  mill,  the  use  of  the  safety 
lamp  was  not  made  compulsory  in  all  parts 
of  the  mine,  and  candles  were  still  used  where 
little  or  no  gas  was  to  be  seen.  It  was  also 
a  common  practice  to  use  the  lamps  with  the 
tops  off  unless  too  much  gas  was  present. 

When  so  much  was  left  to  the  discretion 
of  the  officials  and  the  work-people  in  that 
respect,  it  was  not  surprising  that  explosions 
did  not  cease  with  the  advent  of  the  safety 
lamp,  and  that  it  soon  became  necessary  to 
adopt  stringent  regulations  to  enforce  the  ex- 
clusive use  of  locked  safety  lamps  beyond 
stations  fixed  by  the  management. 

After  the  introduction  of  the  Davy  lamp 
other  forms  of  safety  lamps,  particularly  the 
Stephenson  and  Clanny,  were  also  used  ;  but 
since  the  issue  of  the  report  of  the  Royal 
Commission  on  Accidents  in  Mines  in  1886, 
and  the  passing  of  the  Coal  Mines  Regulation 
Act,  1887,  the  use  of  those  three  types  of 


3  Newcastle  Courant,  April  13,  1816. 


357 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


lamps  was  prohibited,  because  the  Davy  lamp 
passed  the  flame  in  a  current  with  a  velocity 
of  400  ft.,  the  Clanny  lamp  at  600  ft.,  and 
the  Stephenson  lamp  at  800  ft.  per  minute. 

The  safety  lamp  now  usually  adopted  in 
this  district  is  of  the  Marsant  type.  It  has  a 
thick  glass  cylinder  surrounding  the  flame, 
like  the  Clanny  lamp,  and  above  the  glass 
cylinder  are  two  and  sometimes  three  conical 
gauze  caps  which  fit  close  together  at  their 
lower  extremity  on  to  the  top  of  the  glass, 
and  gradually  diverge  from  each  other  in  pro- 
ceeding upwards.  The  gauze  caps  are  pro- 
tected by  a  bonnet  of  sheet  iron  screwed  on 
to  a  flange  above  the  glass.  The  air  is 
admitted  by  a  number  of  holes  round  the  base 
of  the  bonnet,  and  after  descending  on  to  the 
wick,  ascends  and  escapes  through  a  series  of 
large  holes  round  the  top  of  the  bonnet. 

Lamps  of  this  description  can  be  used  with 
safety  in  currents  having  a  velocity  of  3,000 
ft.  per  minute. 

Dip. — From  Whitehaven  to  Maryport  the 
general  dip  of  the  Coal  Measures  is  to  the 
west,  towards  the  sea.  Between  the  William 
Pit  workings  of  the  Whitehaven  Colliery  and 
Parton  there  is  an  anticlinal  towards  which 
the  strata  rise  from  the  Micklam  fault  west- 
ward, and  over  which  they  again  have  the 
normal  dip  to  the  west.  The  Main  Band 
outcrops  at  low  water  mark  near  the  mouth 
of  Lowca  Beck,  but  occurs  again  over  the 
summit  of  the  anticlinal.  From  Maryport  to 
the  eastern  extremity  of  the  coalfield  the  dip 
is  to  the  north-west. 

Faults  and  Nips. — Numerous  faults,  the 
majority  of  which  have  a  north-west  and 
south-east  direction,  divide  the  coalfield  into 
narrow  strips,  and  in  some  cases  throw  off  the 
upper  measures  altogether,  thus  bringing  the 
lower  seams  nearer  to  the  surface,  and  more 
easily  rendering  them  accessible.  The  principal 
faults  are  : — 

(1)  The  James  Pit  Fault,  which  runs  from  near 
James  Pit,  Whitehaven,  to  Bigrigg,  is  a  downthrow 
fault  to  the  north-east. 

(2)  The  Micklam  Fault,  which  runs  from  Mick- 
lam  Pit,  Harrington,  to  near  Rheda,  Frizington,  is 
an  upthrow  fault  to  the  north-east  of  about  I  zo 
fathoms. 

(3)  The    Distington    Fault,    which  runs    from 
near  Harrington  towards  Distington,  throws  in  the 
Carboniferous  Limestone,  at  the  Barf  Quarries  to 
the  north-east. 

(4)  The  Flimby  Fault,  which  runs  from  near 
Risehow,  towards   Camerton  Colliery,  is  an   up- 
throw fault  to  the  west,  throwing  off  the  Cannel 
and  Metal  Band. 

(5)  The  Dearham  Fault,  which  runs  from  near 
Birkby  towards  Dovenby,  is  a  downthrow  fault  to 
the  north-east. 


(6)  The  fault  separating  the  Nos.  I  and  2  Pits 
from    the  No.    3    Pit,   Brayton  Domain   Colliery, 
is  90  fathoms  down  to  the  north-east. 

(7)  The  large  downthrow  fault  to  the  north-east 
which  separates   the  No.  3   Pit,  Brayton  Domain 
Colliery,  from  Allhallows  Colliery. 

(8)  The  downthrow  fault  to  the  north-east  near 
Crummock  Old  Colliery,  about  80  or  90  fathoms. 

(9)  A  large  downthrow  fault  to  the  north-east, 
between    Crummock     Old    Colliery    and     Bolton 
Colliery. 

(10)  Terminal  Fault,  near  Bolton  Wood  Lane, 
which  throws  in  the  Permian  sandstone. 

Other  faults  run  north-east  and  south-west. 
Of  these  the  principal  are  : — 

(1)  The  Montreal  Fault,  which  is  estimated  to 
be  about  200  fathoms. 

(2)  The  fault,  south  of  Crosby  Colliery,  which 
is  an  upthrow  to  the  south  of  about  1 70  fathoms. 
It  throws  up  the  Carboniferous  Limestone  which 
forms  the  southern  boundary  of  the  eastern  divi- 
sion of  the  coalfield. 

(3)  The  Aspatria  Fault,  a  downthrow  fault  to 
the  north,  which  runs  from  Maryport  vt&  Aspatria 
to  near  Bolton  Low  Houses,  and  was  considered 
to  be  the  northern  boundary  of  the  coalfield. 

'  Nips '  are  narrow  tracts  resembling  silted- 
up  river  beds  in  the  coal  seam,  where  the 
coal  has  been  replaced  by  deposits  of  sand- 
stone, or  shale.  Cumberland  miners  term 
these  barren  tracts  '  geld  '  ground.  '  Nips ' 
in  West  Cumberland  vary  in  width  from  a 
few  yards  to  hundreds  of  yards,  and  extend 
sometimes  considerable  distances.  Perhaps 
the  most  notable  '  nip '  in  West  Cumberland 
is  that  on  which  the  Isabella  Pit,  Workington, 
was  sunk.  In  1814  that  pit  had  been  sunk 
by  Mr.  John  Christian  Curwen  to  the  Moor- 
banks  Seam,  which  was  found  in  its  normal 
thickness  at  a  depth  of  90  fathoms  from  the 
surface.  Mr.  Curwen  then  continued  the  pit 
to  a  depth  of  128  fathoms,  reached  in  1818, 
where  the  Main  Band  should  have  been  found, 
but  the  seam  was  proved  to  be  '  nipped  '  out. 
This  was  a  bitter  disappointment  after  the 
expenditure  of  £50,000.  The  Main  Band 
was,  however,  ultimately  proved,  through  the 
'  nip,'  by  a  drift  400  yards  long. 

HISTORY 

The  existence  of  coal  in  Cumberland  may 
have  been  known  from  an  early  period  ;  but 
little  of  it  was  worked  before  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century.  In  1560,  Sir  Thomas 
Chaloner,  lord  of  the  manor  of  St.  Bees,  in  grant- 
ing certain  leases  of  lands  within  that  manor, 
reserved  to  himself  the  right  to  dig  for  coals, 
at  the  same  time  granting  his  lessees  liberty  to 
take  coals  from  the  lord's  coalpits  for  their 
own  use  on  condition  that  they  paid  therefor 


358 


INDUSTRIES 


and    laboured     from     time     to   time    therein 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  manor.1 

In  1586  he  granted  the  governors  of  St. 
Bees  Grammar  School  liberty  to  take  forty 
loads  of  coals  at  his  coal  pits,  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Bees,  for  the  use  of  the  school. 

In  the  St.  Bees  Grammar  School  leases  of 
1608  the  tenants  covenanted  to  permit  the 
governors  and  their  successors  to  get  coals  in 
the  demised  premises ;  but  there  is  no  record 
of  any  advantage  having  been  taken  of  the 
covenant  until  1650,  when  the  governors 
demised  their  pit  or  bearmouth  within  the 
closes  called  Stephen  Ridding,8  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Bees,  with  liberty  to  dig  for  coal 
therein,  for  the  term  of  four  years  at  the 
yearly  rent  of  £3.  In  1664  the  governors 
demised  to  other  lessees  Stephen  Ridding  Pit, 
to  hold  the  same  from  the  first  day  that  2O 
tons  of  coals  should  be  there  gotten  for  the 
term  of  seven  years,  at  the  yearly  rent  of  £3. 
The  colliery  was  surrendered  in  1679. 

The  copper  works  at  Keswick,  built  in 
1567,  used  coal  which  was  supplied  from 
Bolton  Colliery  ;  *  and  according  to  the  '  State 
Papers  '  the  owners  of  those  works  were  com- 
plaining in  1568  about  the  great  difficulty  in 
procuring  coal. 

Whitehaven. — Whitehaven  must  occupy  by 
far  the  most  prominent  place  in  any  account 
of  the  Cumberland  coal  trade,  because  of  the 
extent  and  importance  of  its  collieries,  which 
owe  their  great  development  to  the  Lowther 
family. 

After  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries 
the  manor  of  St.  Bees  remained  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  Crown  till  1553,  when  King 
Edward  VI.  granted  the  priory  of  St.  Bees, 
with  the  manor  and  rectory,  to  Sir  Thomas 
Chaloner.  It  was  sold  by  his  son  to  Thomas 
Wybergh,  who  mortgaged  it,  in  1600,  to  the 
Lowthers,  into  whose  hands  it  eventually 
came. 

Sir  Christopher  Lowther,  the  founder  of 
the  Whitehaven  branch,  died  in  1644,  and 
was  succeeded  in  the  estates  and  baronetcy 
by  his  infant  son  Sir  John,  who  on  his  attain- 
ment of  manhood  began  to  develop  the  coal 
mines  at  Whitehaven  with  great  energy  and 
enterprise.  His  efforts  were  directed  in  the 
first  place  to  acquiring  as  much  land  as  he 
possibly  could  in  the  immediate  neighbourhood 
of  his  inheritance,  in  order  to  form  an  area 
sufficiently  large  for  his  mining  projects  ;  and 
afterwards  to  the  improvement  of  the  harbour 

1  Report  of  Commissioners  on  Cumberland  Charities, 
1819-37. 

'•  Two-and-a-half  miles  from  Hemingham. 

3  Robinson's  M?/.  H'ut.sfCumb.  W  Westmorland. 


of  Whitehaven,  so  as  to  facilitate  the  export 
of  coal. 

On  24  March,  1669  (21  Chas.  II.),  he 
obtained  from  the  king  a  grant  of  150  acres 
of  land  between  high  and  low  water  marks 
near  Whitehaven.4  In  1678  (30  Chas.  II.) 
Sir  John  Lowther  obtained  from  the  Crown  a 
further  grant  of  land  between  high  and  low 
water  marks  near  Whitehaven,5  after  a  rival 
but  unsuccessful  claim  had  been  set  up  thereto 
by  the  Earl  of  Carlingford  and  others. 

The  first  coal  worked  by  Sir  John  Lowther 
was  from  the  outcrops  of  the  Yard,  Burnt, 
and  Prior  Bands,  along  the  western  side  of 
the  St.  Bees  valley,  in  the  locality  called  How- 
gill,  between  Greenbank  and  Ginns. 

The  Yard  Band  was  a  seam  lying  above 
the  Bannock  Band.  Burnt  Band  was  the 
original  name  of  the  Bannock  Band,  and 
the  Prior  Band  was  the  original  name  of  the 
Main  Band. 

The  first  workings  from  the  outcrops  of 
the  seams  would  naturally  be  much  impeded 
by  surface  water  ;  and  to  overcome  this 
difficulty  at  Howgill  Colliery  would  be  Sir 
John  Lowther's  object  in  driving  a  level  or 
watercourse  from  Pow  Beck.  This  level 
was,  about  1663,  commenced  near  the  old 
Copperas  Works,  Ginns,  and  driven  due 
west  until  it  intersected  the  Burnt  or 
Bannock  Band,  in  which  it  was  continued 
along  the  level  course  of  that  seam  in  a 
southerly  direction,  to  the  east  of  Monkwray. 
It  was  afterwards  extended  to  Knockmurton 
Pit,  near  the  southern  boundary  of  the  ceme- 
tery— a  total  distance  of  about  1,800  yards. 
It  is  still  known  as  the  Bannock  Band  surface 
water  level,  and  is  used  for  draining  the  out- 
crop water  into  Pow  Beck. 

North  of  Whitehaven  harbour,  Mr.  Robert 
Bigland  had  worked,  prior  to  1668,  coal  under 
the  Duke  of  Somerset's  Bransty  estate  ;  and 
from  that  year  to  1696,  Sir  John  Lowther 
worked  the  Bransty  Colliery  for  the  supply  of 
coals  to  Bransty  salt-pans.  The  band  of  coal 
worked  there  was  22  in.  thick. 

The  only  existing  details  of  Sir  John 
Lowther's  first  collieries  south  of  Whitehaven 
are  contained  in  two  wages  books  relating  to 
the  Greenbank  Colliery  and  Three  Quarters 
Band  Collieries  for  1675.  According  to  an 
account  of  wages  and  disbursements  for  the 
week  ended  14  April,  1675,  it  appears  that 
five  haggers  were  employed  at  Greenbank  at 
a  fixed  wage  of  8^ct.  a  day,  and  that  the 
darg  was  21  burthens,  of  which  eight  were 


4  History  and  Laws  of  the  Foreshore  and  Seashore, 
by  Stuart  A.  Moore,  barrister-at-law,  p.  4 1 5 . 
8  Ibid.  p.  418. 


35'9 


A    HISTORY   OF   CUMBERLAND 


equivalent  to  a  '  ton.'  Four  '  bearers '  con- 
veyed the  coals  to  the  bearmouth  at  a  fixed  rate 
of  °]\d.  a  day  each.  There  the  coals  were 
turned  into  a  bank,  whence  they  were  either 
carted  or  taken  by  pack-horses  to  the  harbour 
at  a  cost  of  is.  a  ton. 

The  Greenbank  corf  contained  about  z\ 
cwt.  of  coal.  In  addition,  ten  other  men 
were  employed  underground,  so  that  the  whole 
crew  of  this  seventeenth  century  pit,  including 
a  bankman  above-ground,  numbered  20. 

The  selling  prices  of  coal  then  were  :  To 
ships,  3*.  per  ton  (including  leading)  ;  country, 
2J.  per  ton  ;  and  tenants,  is.  ^.d.  per  ton. 

At  the  '  Three  Quarters  Band  Colliery,' 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  earliest  pits  at  Howgill, 
there  were  four  baggers  paid  at  a  fixed  wage  of 
8^d.  a  day  each,  three  trailers  at  7\d.  a  day 
each,  and  two  winders  and  one  bankman  who 
received  3*.  zd.  a  day  amongst  them. 

Up  to  1679  several  pits  had  been  sunk  at 
the  Howgill  Colliery.  In  that  year  the 
Woodagreen  Pit  was  sunk  near  the  Ginns. 

At  this  time  the  coals  were  carted  from  the 
pits  to  the  harbour,  and  copper  tokens  were 
issued  to  the  carters  as  a  method  of  checking. 
The  tokens  used  at  Whingill  in  1679  have 
been  described  by  the  late  Chancellor  Fer- 
guson.1 

In  1680  Mr.  Christian  appears  to  have 
been  one  of  the  principal  workers  of  coal  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Whitehaven.  He  held 
leases  of  Mr.  Anthony  Benn's  coal  in  Hensing- 
ham,  Mr.  Thomas  Skelton's  coal  at  Corkickle, 
Mr.  Fletcher's  Whingill  Colliery,  and  other 
royalties  in  Moresby  and  Distington. 

In  1680,  coal  was  shipped  at  Whitehaven 
from  the  Howgill,  Greenbank,  Whingill, 
Wray,  and  Scalegill  pits. 

It  had  then  become  the  practice  to  staith 
the  coals  near  the  harbour  when  the  ships 
could  not  or  would  not  take  them. 

Sir  John  Lowther's  object  in  staithing  may 
be  gathered  from  the  following  letter  written 
by  him  from  London  on  28  August,  1680,  to 
Mr.  Tickell,  his  agent  at  Whitehaven  : — 

As  to  staithing  my  intentions  are  not  to  staith  a 
coal  when  ye  ships  doe  take,  but  my  single  design 
is  y'  Dublin  may  not  complain  of  dearness  of  coales 
in  winter  or  spring  as  they  did  last  year,  for  w*  be- 
twixt y"  imployment  of  ships  in  yc  cattle  trade, 
and  a  stop  ther  was  of  Moresby  coales,  they  were 
30;.  ye  tun  at  Dublin. 

The  coals  from  Moresby  were  shipped  at 
Parton  and  entered  into  keen  competition 
with  the  Whitehaven  coals  in  the  Dublin 
market.  Whilst  Sir  John  Lowther,  in  1680, 


was  improving  Whitehaven  harbour,  Mr. 
Fletcher  conceived  the  idea  of  doing  likewise 
at  Parton.  He  attempted  to  build  a  pier  and 
harbour  there,  near  low  water  mark,  upon  the 
land  that  had  been  granted  to  Sir  John 
Lowther  by  Charles  II.,  whereupon  Sir  John 
exhibited  a  bill  in  the  Court  of  Exchequer 
against  Mr.  Fletcher  and  others 

setting  forth  the  ill  consequences  of  such  an  attempt 
to  the  Revenue,  to  trade,  to  the  Rights  of  Sir  John 
Lowther,  and  of  persons  who  have  settled  in 
Whitehaven,  and  to  the  interest  and  benefit  of  the 
county  in  general,  and  after  the  defendants' 
answers,  upon  a  full  hearing  of  the  matter,  the 
Court  prohibited  the  said  Mr.  Fletcher  by  a  per- 
petual Injunction.2 

In  1682  a  violent  explosion  occurred  at 
Mr.  Christian's  colliery  at  Priestgill  near 
Hensingham,  by  which  one  man  was  killed 
and  six  injured.  The  flame  and  smoke  from 
it  could  be  seen  half  a  mile  off. 

Hitherto  the  coals  appear  to  have  been 
conveyed  from  the  Whitehaven  pits  to  the 
harbour  in  sacks,  carried  on  the  backs  of 
horses,  and  there  emptied  into  the  ships.  Dur- 
ing 1682  Mr.  Gale  advocated  the  construction 
of  a  '  coalway '  to  the  Woodagreen  Pit  to 
enable  '  carts  and  wains '  to  be  drawn  with 
greater  facility  and  to  obviate  the  use  of  sacks 
in  loading  the  vessels  in  the  harbour.  This 
intended  road  was  described  as  a  '  causeway ' 
bounded  on  each  side  with  wood  balks  on 
which  the  cart-wheels  would  run.  Such  a 
cartway  was  constructed  during  the  following 
year  and  proved  to  be  a  great  improvement  on 
the  old  mode  of  transport,  which  however  was 
still  continued  from  the  more  distant  pits. 

During  1685  Sir  John  Lowther  introduced 
at  his  Whitehaven  pits  an  engine,  the  '  cog 
and  rung  gin,'  3  and  the  '  wind  engine  '  for 
raising  water  from  the  mines.  The  latter  was 
a  windmill  with  six  sails,  working  one  or 
more  chain  pumps  which  were  not  uncom- 
mon in  the  north  of  England  at  that  time. 

In  1685  Mr.  Christian  found  a  'Three 
Quarter '  coal  in  Corkickle,  adjoining  Sir 
John's  Flatt  property,  and  sank  two  pits  close 
to  the  boundary.  The  seam  was  24  in. 
thick.  The  coal  therefrom  was  got  by  Mr. 
Christian's  four  Newcastle  haggers  at  a  cost  of 
I  zd.  a  ton,  and  could  be  led  to  the  harbour  at 
a  further  charge  of  jd.  a  ton.  The  output  of 
coal  was  10  tons  per  day. 

Denton,  in  his  MS.  '  Perambulation  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  1687-8,'  thus 
refers  to  Whitehaven  :  '  The  vessels  there  are 


1  Cumb.  and  Westm.  Antiq.  and  Arch.  Soc.  Trans. 
xv.  392-416. 


2  Broad  sheet  preserved  in  Lincoln's  Inn. 

3  Annals  of  Coal  Mining,  by  R.  L.  Galloway,  p. 
168. 


360 


INDUSTRIES 


fraught  with  coal  from  Hensingham  and 
Moresby  Pitts.'  Further  on  he  mentions  : 
'  Stokehow  is  a  little  Manor  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Patricksons,  his  demesne,  tenements  and  col- 
liery being  per  ann.  jTi^O.'1  The  colliery 
referred  to  in  this  quotation  was  undoubtedly 
that  at  Scalegill  near  Whitehaven,  which  then 
was  the  property  of  Mr.  Patrickson  of  Stock- 
how. 

In  1692  Sir  John  Lowther  was  working 
the  Prior  Band  at  Howgill  and  Greenbank, 
Whitehaven,  and  Lattera  Colliery,  Moresby  ; 
and  was  actively  engaged  in  negotiations  for 
the  purchase  of  neighbouring  coal  properties. 

The  output  of  coal  from  Sir  John  Lowther's 
collieries  during  1695  was:  Howgill,  15,196 
tons  ;  Greenbank,  2,321  tons  ;  Lattera,  1,387 
tons;  total,  18,904  tons. 

In  1695  Mr.  Lamplugh  began  the  erection 
of  a  pier  upon  the  foundations  of  Mr. 
Fletcher's  venture  against  which  the  injunc- 
tion had  been  obtained  by  Sir  John  Lowther 
in  1680.  Sir  John  again  interfered  because  it 
was  a  trespass  on  the  land  granted  to  him  by 
Charles  II.  ;  and  the  Court  of  Exchequer,  at 
his  instance,  prohibited  Mr.  Lamplugh  by 
perpetual  injunction  from  building  the  pro- 
jected new  pier.  The  baronet  did  not,  how- 
ever, oppose  the  repairing  of  an  old  pier. 

During  1 697  Mr.  Gilpin  (Sir  John  Lowther's 
agent)  suggested  the  establishment  of  the 
Copperas  Works,  which  were  eventually 
erected  at  Ginns,  Whitehaven.  There,  green 
vitriol  (ferrous  sulphate)  was  made  from  the 
iron  pyrites,  or  '  marchasites '  as  they  were 
called  by  Mr.  Gilpin,  which  were  picked  out 
of  the  coals. 

At  this  time  an  iron  forge  was  in  operation 
at  Cleator,  and  ironstone  obtained  from  a 
band,  3  in.  thick,  at  Hensingham  Colliery, 
was  smelted  thereat,  without  mixture  with 
other  ore. 

During  1699  a  commencement  was  made 
with  a  level  from  Pow  Beck  near  Thicket, 
to  drain  the  coal  between  that  point  and 
Greenbank.  This  watercourse,  at  a  distance 
of  400  yards  from  its  mouth,  cut  the  Prior 
Band,  in  which  it  was  continued  until  it 
reached  the  Greenbank  dyke,  a  distance  al- 
together of  about  1,400  yards. 

During  1700  the  new  Ginns  Pit  and  the 
Stone  Pit  were  sunk  near  Ginns  to  the  Prior 
Band,  and  were  ultimately  connected  to  the 
'  end  gills '  of  the  various  pits  to  the  south  in 
the  same  seam,  thereby  forming  one  con- 
tinuous watercourse  as  far  as  Fish  Pit,  a 
distance  of  1,400  yards.  There  the  level 
passes  through  a  fault  into  the  Bannock  Band, 


in  which  it  pursues  its  way  past  Gameriggs 
to  Fox  Pit,  finally  to  the  level  end  in  Wilson 
Pit  Bannock  Band.  This  level  is  now  known 
as  Gameriggs  surface  water-level,  and  is  still 
used. 

The  first  steam  pumping  engine,  then  called 
'  a  fire-engine,'  was  set  up  at  Stone  Pit  in  1715- 
Up  to  that  time  twelve  pits  had  been  sunk  in 
the  Howgill  Colliery  near  the  outcrops  of  the 
Burnt  and  Prior  Bands  besides  those  mentioned. 

The  output  of  coal  from  Sir  John  Lowther's 
pits  for  the  year  1700  was  : — 


Howgill,  Prior  Band  . 
„       New  Gin 
„       Knockmurton 
„       Yard  Band     . 

Lattera  (Moresby) 


Tons 
4,817 
13,837 
3,7'3 
3,336 


27,287 


1  fol.  30. 


II 


In  1705  an  Act  of  Parliament  was  passed, 
at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Fletcher,  Moresby  Hall, 
and  the  inhabitants  of  Parton,  for  enlarging 
the  pier  and  harbour  there,  notwithstanding 
the  opposition  of  Sir  John  Lowther,  in  the 
interests  of  Whitehaven. 

Sir  John  Lowther  died  in  1705,  after  a  life 
of  unceasing  effort  to  develop  the  trade  of 
Whitehaven.  He  left  his  estates  to  his  second 
son,  Mr.  James  Lowther  (who  succeeded  to 
the  title  in  1731),  who  followed  up  his  father's 
schemes  for  the  development  of  Whitehaven 
with  such  success  that  at  the  time  of  his  death 
it  was  second  in  importance  only  to  two  or 
three  other  ports  in  the  kingdom. 

In  all  his  colliery  undertakings  Mr.  (after- 
wards Sir  James)  Lowther  had  the  assistance 
of  the  two  brothers,  John  and  Carlisle  Sped- 
ding.  But  it  was  the  latter  who  had  the  prac- 
tical direction  of  the  collieries,  which  under 
his  management  prospered  exceedingly. 

After  the  introduction  of  the  steam  pump- 
ing or  '  fire '  engine  at  Howgill  Colliery  in 
1715,  Mr.  Lowther  proceeded  to  open  out  the 
Whingill  Colliery.  The  first  Whingill  pits 
which  Mr.  Lowther  sank  were  near  the  out- 
crop of  the  Prior  Band  on  the  top  of  Harras 
Moor,  about  450  ft.  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  In  1716  the  output  from  them  was 
about  200  tons  a  week.  Mr.  Lowther  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  draining  the  coal  under 
Harras  Moor  by  means  of  a  level  watercourse, 
which  he  commenced  from  Bransty  Beck  near 
Whitehaven.  This  level  in  course  of  time 
was  driven  as  far  as  the  Bateman  Pit,  a  dis- 
tance of  about  i£  miles.  It  drained  eventually 
all  the  Whingill  Colliery  in  the  Bannock  and 
Main  Bands  except  the  workings  in  George, 
Lady  and  James  Pits,  which  are  below  its  level. 
The  water  from  the  George  and  Lady  Pits 

•I  46 


A    HISTORY   OF   CUMBERLAND 


was  pumped  at  the  George  Pit  up  to  a  level 
which  discharged  into  Bransty  Beck,  near  to 
Lonsdale  Place.  The  James  Pit  Main  Band 
was  drained  to  the  Saltom  Pit  through  the 
single  stone  drift,  driven  in  1796  underneath 
Whitehaven,  which,  until  a  connection  was 
made  many  years  afterwards  seawards,  was  the 
only  communication  underground  between  the 
Howgill  and  Whingill  Collieries. 

The  success  that  had  attended  the  intro- 
duction of  the  steam  engine  for  pumping,  at 
Ginns  Pit,  the  water  from  the  workings  bor- 
dering upon  the  outcrops  of  the  seams  in  the 
St.  Bees  valley  undoubtedly  led  Mr.  Carlisle 
Spedding  to  propose  to  Mr.  Lowther  the  bold 
project  of  sinking  a  pit  close  to  the  seashore, 
as  near  to  the  dip  as  possible,  for  the  purpose 
of  winning  and  working  not  only  the  land 
coal  which  lay  between  the  coast  line  and  the 
workings  to  the  rise,  but  also  the  coal  under 
the  sea. 

The  site  selected  for  this  great  undertaking 
was  close  to  high  water  mark,  and  a  com- 
mencement was  made  there  in  1729  with  the 
sinking  of  the  pit  which  was  afterwards  named 
Saltom.  It  was  completed  to  Main  Band  in 

I731- 

The  coals  at  Saltom   Pit    were    drawn  to 

bank  at  the  shore  level  by  gins,  conveyed 
by  a  short  drift  to  the  bottom  of  the  Raven- 
hill  Pit  and  there  drawn  to  the  top  of  the 
cliffs,  a  height  of  27  fathoms,  again  by  gins. 
Thence  the  coals  were  taken  by  waggons  to 
the  staith  at  the  south  side  of  the  harbour.  It 
is  generally  believed  that  the  first  waggon-way 
was  made  to  Parker  Pit ;  but  it  is  not  unlikely 
that  the  first  railway  of  that  kind  was  made 
either  to  Ravenhill  Pit  or  to  Saltom  Pit.  The 
Parker  Pit  waggon-way  is  shown  in  the  '  Bird's- 
eye  view  of  Whitehaven,'  engraved  by  Richard 
Parr  from  a  painting  by  Mr.  Matthias  Read, 
executed  in  1738  (vide  illustration).  The 
waggons,  carrying  44  cwt.  of  coals,  were 
mounted  on  cast  iron  wheels  and  ran  on  wooden 
rails.  At  Howgill,  these  railways  were  laid 
from  the  pits  to  a  large  staith,  capable  of  holding 
3,000  waggons  of  coals,  that  was  constructed 
close  to  the  quay  at  the  south  harbour.  The 
coals  could  either  be  shipped  from  the  five  spouts 
which  were  erected  there,  or  stored  in  the 
staith,  which  was  for  the  greater  part  covered 
in.1  All  the  waggon-ways  had  a  descent  to 
the  harbour.  The  full  waggons  were  braked 
down  by  means  of  a  '  convoy '  fixed  to  the 
side  of  the  waggon,  and  the  empties  were 
taken  back  to  the  pits  by  horses.  The  coals 

1  Dr.  Joshua  Dixon,  in  his  Life  of  Bnwnrigg, 
p.  Hz,  states  that  the  covered  part  of  the  staith 
held  5,244  waggons  of  coals  and  the  uncovered 
part  2,352  waggons,  in  the  year  1801. 


from  the  Whingill  pits  were  conveyed  at  this 
time  in  a  similar  manner  to  a  large  staith  situate 
on  the  site  of  the  present  cab  stables,  and 
thence  they  were  carted  to  the  shipping.  To 
dispense  with  this  dilatory  and  costly  mode  of 
shipment  it  was  decided  to  carry  the  waggon- 
way  direct  to  the  shipping  berths  on  the  north 
wall  across  Tangier  Street.  Bransty  Arch 
was  built  with  this  object,  and  the  incline 
over  it  was  opened  with  great  hlat  on  9  August, 
1803. 

In  1737  a  violent  explosion  occurred  at 
Corporal  Pit,  Arrowthwaite,  by  which  twenty- 
one  men,  one  woman  and  three  horses  were 
killed  ;  and  in  1740  an  explosion  at  Hinde 
Pit  killed  two  persons,  did  a  lot  of  damage, 
and  stopped  the  pit  for  several  weeks. 

In  addition  to  Saltom  Pit,  Mr.  Carlisle 
Spedding  sank  Thwaite,  King,  Duke,  Kells, 
Fish,  Newtown,  Country,  Moss  and  Hinde 
Pits,  on  the  Howgill  side;  and  sank  Carr, 
Pearson,  Pedlar,  Taylor,  Fox,  Daniel,  Jackson, 
Hunter,  Watson,  Harras,  Green  and  other 
pits  on  the  Whingill  side. 

In  1740  the  output  of  Howgill  Colliery 
was  88,801  tons,  derived  from  the  Prior 
and  Bannock  Bands  at  Watson,  Banks,  Hinde, 
Fish,  Saltom,  Thwaite,  Parker,  Gameriggs 
and  Howgill  Heads  Pits.  The  output  at  the 
Whingill  Colliery  was  only  8,4 1 9  tons,  raised 
from  the  Prior  Band  at  Hunter,  Furnace, 
Tate,  and  Gibson  Pits.  During  the  same  year 
the  Parton  and  Scalegill  Collieries,  producing 
small  outputs,  were  being  worked  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Whitehaven  pits. 

In  1742  the  Governors  of  St.  Bees  Gram- 
mar School  leased  to  Sir  James  Lowther  all 
their  coal  mines  in  the  manor  of  St.  Bees,  at 
the  yearly  rent  of  £3  los.  No  coal  seems  to 
have  been  worked  under  the  school  lands  from 
1680  until  that  year.  In  1819  this  lease 
formed  the  subject  of  an  inquiry  by  the  Charity 
Commissioners;  and  in  1821  the  Attorney- 
General,  in  accordance  with  their  Report  in- 
stituted proceedings  in  Chancery  with  a  view 
of  setting  aside  the  lease,  on  the  plea  that  Sir 
James  Lowther  and  his  steward,  Mr.  John 
Spedding,  being  governors  of  the  school  when 
the  lease  was  granted,  the  same  was  therefore 
void.  In  1827  Lord  Chancellor  Lyndhurst 
gave  judgment.  The  lease  was  annulled,  and 
the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  the  successor  of  the 
original  lessee,  was  ordered  to  pay  the  gover- 
nors £13,280,  out  of  which  the  expenses  of 
the  suit  had  to  be  defrayed. 

In  1765  M.  Jars  visited  the  Whitehaven 
pits  and  described  them  in  Les  Voyages  Mhal- 
lurgiques,  from  which  it  appears  that  the  Saltom 
Pit  workings  were  then  two-thirds  of  a  mile 
under  the  sea. 


362 


H 

a 


P 

o 

CO 
OS 

<; 

K 


2 
O 


INDUSTRIES 


In  1765  the  output  of  coal  at  Whitehaven 
during  the  week  ending  6  November  was  : — 

Howgitf  Colliery,  2,253  tons>  derived  from  the  Prior 

Band  at  Duke,  Kells, 
King,  Fox,  Wilson, 
Hinde  and  Saltom 
Pits ;  from  the  Ban- 
nock Band  at  Kells, 
King,  and  Fish  Pits  ; 
and  from  the  Yard 
Band  at  Thwaite  Pit. 

WhingiU  Colliery,  1,094  „  derived  from  the  Prior 

Band  at  Jackson, 
Pearson,  Fox,  Hunter, 
Pedlar  and  Scott  Pits. 
Total  .  .  3,347  tons 

The  shipping  price  was  then  y.  4-d.  a  ton. 

The  chief  winning  during  Mr.  James 
Spedding's  stewardship  was  the  sinking  of 
Croft  Pit.  It  was  drawing  coals  from  the 
Prior  Band  in  1774,  and  has  worked  continu- 
ously ever  since  until  the  present  day. 

On  the  Whingill  side,  Wolfe,  Davy,  Lady, 
Bateman,  George,  North,  and  Howe  Pits  were 
sunk  to  the  Main  Band,  and  Scott  Pit  to  the 
Six  Quarters  Seam,  during  the  agency  of  Mr. 
James  Spedding,  who  retired  in  1781,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Mr.  John  Bateman. 

In  1781  Lady,  George,  Davy,  North,  Jack- 
son, Pearson,  Bateman  were  working  at 
Whingill  Colliery,  and  turning  out  1,732  tons 
of  coal  per  week. 

At  Howgill  Colliery  in  1781  the  following 
pits  were  at  work,  and  capable  of  producing 
weekly  : — 

Tons 

Duke  Pit,  Prior  Band 216 

King  Pit  „  360 

„  Bannock  Band  ....  1 80 

Kells  Pit,  Prior  Band 1 80 

„  Bannock  Band  ....  180 

Croft  Pit,  Prior  Band 648 

„        Bannock  Band      ....  360 


Total     2,124 

In  January,  1791,  the  Main  Band  was 
being  worked  underneath  the  town  of  White- 
haven,  and  the  workings  had  reached  the 
neighbourhood  of  Duke  Street,  where,  on 
31  January,  a  holing  was  made  into  an  old 
waste,  and  liberated  a  large  quantity  of 
water,  drowning  two  men,  one  woman,  and 
five  horses  in  the  workings.  The  ground 
suddenly  shrank  in  the  garden  behind  Somer- 
set House  (then  the  residence  of  Mr.  H. 
Littledale),  which,  together  with  a  number  of 
other  houses  in  Scotch  Street  and  George 
Street,  were  cracked  and  otherwise  damaged. 

At  Carlisle  Assizes  in  the  following  August 
Mr.  Littledale  brought  an  action  against  the 
Earl  of  Lonsdale  for  the  damage  caused  to 


his  house.  The  case  was  tried  before  Justice 
Thompson  and  a  special  jury,  who  found  for 
the  plaintiff.  In  great  wrath  the  earl  shut 
up  all  his  collieries  and  works  at  Whitehaven 
rather  than  run  the  risk  of  having  other  actions 
brought  against  him.  This  closing  of  the 
pits  thoroughly  alarmed  the  town,  and  a 
petition,  signed  by  2,500  people,  was  forwarded 
to  the  earl,  praying  him  to  continue  the  work- 
ing of  the  mines,  and  promising  in  that  case 
to  indemnify  him  against  all  actions  in  die 
future.  A  reply  acceding  to  the  prayer  of  the 
petition  was  sent  from  Lowther  on  21  Sep- 
tember ;  and  great  was  the  joy  of  the  populace. 

After  the  subsidence  of  the  houses  in 
Whitehaven  in  1791  Mr.  Bateman  left  the 
service  of  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  Thomas  Wyley  and  others, 
under  whose  management  the  Whitehaven 
Collieries  so  suffered  that  Mr.  Bateman  was 
reinstated  in  1802. 

In  1792  a  great  subsidence  of  the  surface 
took  place  at  Scalegill  Colliery  where  Stanley 
Pond  now  is. 

An  excellent  description  of  the  Whitehaven 
Collieries  in  1793  was  contributed  at  the 
time  to  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal  Irish 
Academy  by  Dr.  Fisher,  M.D.,1  who  asserted 
that  in  Great  Britain  the  Howgill  Colliery, 
which  covered  an  area  of  2,400  acres,  was 
then  the  most  extensive  colliery,  and  that 
King  Pit,  in  that  colliery,  which  had  been 
sunk  1 60  fathoms  to  the  Six  Quarters  Seam, 
was  the  deepest  pit.  He  also  said  the  White- 
haven  Colliery  had  produced  for  a  few  years 
last  past  from  100,000  to  120,000  tons  of 
coal,  Dublin  measure,  yearly.  The  White- 
haven  waggon  contained  2  Dublin  tons, 
weighing  21  or  22  cwt.  each. 

In  1797  Sir  Wilfred  Lawson  was  the  owner 
of  the  Low  Hall  Colliery  near  Ingwell,  Hen- 
singham,  where  the  Six  Quarters  Seam  was 
worked.2 

In  1 800  James  Pit,  Whingill  Colliery,  was 
sunk. 

Mr.  Bateman's  greatest  undertaking  was  the 
sinking  of  the  William  Pit  on  the  shore  near 
Bransty.  It  was  begun  in  1804,  and  com- 
pleted in  1 8 1 2.  The  first  coal  shipped  there- 
from was  on  10  March,  1806. 

In  1810  William  Pit  fired  when  a 
party  consisting  of  Messrs.  John  Peile  and 
Caleb  Hetherington,  viewers,  and  four  work- 
men were  making  some  change  in  the  venti- 
lation. Two  of  the  workmen  were  killed. 
The  others  were  severely  burned,  particularly 


1  Annual  Register,  1794,  xxxvi.  326. 
1  Cumb.  and  West.  Antlj.  and  Arch.  Soc.  Trans. 
xv.  402. 


363 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Mr.  Peile,  who  subsequently  became  Lord 
Lonsdale's  chief  colliery  agent. 

In  1 8 1 1  Mr.  Bateman  was  succeeded  in 
the  management  of  the  Whitehaven  Collieries 
by  Mr.  John  Peile. 

At  that  time  the  pits  drawing  coals  at  the 
Howgill  Colliery  were  Kells,  Croft,  and 
Wilson  ;  and  at  the  Whingill  Colliery,  Wil- 
liam, North  and  James. 

In  1812  Mr.  Taylor  Swainson,  engineer  at 
the  Whitehaven  Collieries,  tried  his  invention 
of  the  '  iron  horse,'  or  locomotive  engine,  on 
the  Croft  Pit  waggon-way.  The  engine 
answered  admirably,  but  the  track  was  not 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight. 

The  output  for  1814  was  : — 


Hovigill  Colliery- 
Kells    Pit      . 
Croft  Pit 
Wilson  Pit    . 

Wbingill  Collier-y- 
William  Pit  . 
North  Pit  . 
James  Pit 


Waggons      Waggons 

10,694 
25,031 
22,836 


34.151 

9.835 

14,072 


58,561 


58,058 
116,619 


A  waggon  of  coals  weighed  42  cwt. 

On  27  February,  1819,  three  successive 
explosions  occurred  in  Kells  Pit,  Main  Band, 
Howgill  Colliery,  by  which  twenty  persons 
were  killed.  Candles  as  well  as  Davy  lamps 
were  in  use  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  the  gas 
had  fired  at  a  candle. 

In  1821  there  was  an  explosion  of  firedamp 
in  the  Main  Band  workings,  William  Pit, 
which  caused  the  death  of  five  naggers  and 
seven  boys  and  girls.  The  explosion  was 
attributed  to  a  sudden  great  outburst  of  gas 
that  had  ignited  at  an  open  light.  Although  a 
Davy  safety-lamp  was  supplied  to  each  hagger, 
its  use  with  the  top  on  was  '  more  honoured 
in  the  breach  than  the  observance.' 

William  Pit  was  the  scene  of  a  still  more 
dire  calamity  in  1823,  when  a  violent  explosion 
of  firedamp  in  the  Main  Band  workings 
resulted  in  the  death  of  1 5  men,  1 5  boys,  and 
2  girls.  Seventeen  horses  also  perished.  It 
was  the  general  opinion  that  the  explosion 
had  been  occasioned  by  some  one  having  had 
the  top  of  a  safety-lamp  off. 

In  1826  nine  men  were  suffocated  in 
William  Pit  by  the  smoke  from  a  fire  which 
had  originated  in  an  underground  engine-room. 
In  explosions  at  Croft  Pit  6  lives  were  lost  in 
1828  and  23  lives  in  1831.  Both  disasters 
were  caused,  it  was  thought,  by  the  men  work- 
ing with  their  lamp-tops  off,  as  they  did  unless 


ordered  to  the  contrary  by  the  officials.  In 
1839  23  men  and  boys  were  killed  by  an 
explosion  of  fire-damp  in  the  Main  Band 
workings,  William  Pit,  about  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  shaft.  The  gas  had  fired  at 
the  open  light  of  a  boy  who  was  accompany- 
ing the  deputy  on  his  rounds. 

The  undertaking  with  which  Mr.  Peile's 
name  will  always  be  identified  is  the  sinking 
of  the  Wellington  Pits,  Whitehaven,  which 
was  begun  in  1840.  The  Main  Band  was 
reached  in  1843,  and  the  Six  Quarters  Seam 
in  1845.  Thence  level  stone-drifts  were 
driven  seaward  and  intersected  the  Main  Band 
at  a  distance  of  900  yards.  Peile's  design  was 
to  sink  the  pits  a  further  depth  of  1 60  fathoms 
— a  total  depth  of  300  fathoms  from  the 
surface.  The  last  100  fathoms,  it  was  as- 
sumed, would  be  in  the  Carboniferous  Lime- 
stone. At  the  increased  depth  he  proposed  to 
drive  a  pair  of  level  drifts  westward  until  they 
intersected  the  Six  Quarters  Seam,  then  the 
Main  Band,  and  finally  the  Bannock  Band  at 
a  total  distance  of  4,500  yards  from  the  shafts. 

Messrs.  George  Stephenson  (the  celebrated 
engineer)  and  Frank  Forster,  who  were  con- 
sulted about  this  scheme  by  Lord  Lonsdale, 
reported  against  it. 

In  1844  a  violent  explosion  of  firedamp 
in  the  Six  Quarters  Seam  workings,  Duke 
Pit,  killed  1 1  men  and  1 1  horses.  The 
coroner  in  summing  up  the  evidence  at  the 
inquest  said  that  if  the  tops  had  been  on  the 
lamps  the  accident  would  no  doubt  have  been 
prevented. 

In  1 847,  Wilson  Pit  ceased  drawing  coals ; 
4  coal-hewers  were  killed  by  an  explosion 
of  gas  in  the  Main  Band  workings  of  Croft 
Pit ;  and  Mr.  John  Peile  retired  from  the 
office  of  principal  colliery  agent  to  Lord 
Lonsdale,  being  succeeded  by  Mr.  Peter 
Bourne,  with  Mr.  William  Anderson,  South 
Shields,  as  consulting  viewer. 

The  output  of  the  Whitehaven  Collieries 
in  1847  was  : — 


Howgill  Colliery — 
Saltom  Pit 
Croft  Pit    .     . 
Wilson  Pit       . 
Wellington  Pit 

Whingill  Colliery— 
William  Pit     . 
North  Pit  .     . 
Wreah  Pit  . 


Waggons      Waggons 
12,384 

7.577 
8,861 


63,452 


30,292 


24,846 

3,597 
1,849 


93,744 
The  waggon  contained  48  cwt.  of  coals. 


364 


INDUSTRIES 


In  1847  tnc  se'l>ng  price  of  screened  coals 
was  21  s.  per  waggon  of  48  cwt. 

In  1855  an  explosion  of  firedamp  occurred 
in  the  Bannock  Band  workings  of  Croft  Pit, 
about  a  mile  from  the  shaft,  whereby  4  men 
were  killed. 

In  1862  the  Main  Band  was  proved  in 
the  St.  Bees  Grammar  School  royalty,  over 
the  large  downthrow  fault  which  had  stopped 
the  workings  in  Croft  and  Wilson  Pits  to  the 
south,  and  which  was  supposed  to  form  the 
southern  boundary  of  the  West  Cumberland 
coalfield.  This  fault  has  since  been  crossed 
seawards  by  the  main  dip  haulage  road,  in 
Croft  Pit,  and  the  Bannock  and  Main  Bands 
have  been  won  therefrom,  the  workings  in 
the  latter  seam  being  now  about  2,300  yards 
west  of  the  St.  Bees  fault,  underneath  the 
Permian  sandstone. 

In  1863  an  underground  fire  broke  out  in 
the  workings  in  the  Six  Quarters  Seam, 
Wellington  Pit.  The  fire  originated  in  this 
underground  flue  and  spread  to  such  an  extent 
that  it  was  determined  to  exclude  all  the  air 
from  the  fire  by  hermetically  sealing  Duke 
Pit  and  flooding  the  entrance  to  the  workings 
in  the  Six  Quarters  Seam  at  the  Wellington 
shaft-foot,  admitting  the  sea  down  one  of  the 
Wellington  Pits  by  means  of  a  drift,  fitted 
with  sluices,  driven  from  the  shore  between 
high  and  low  water  marks.  It  was  not  until 
1866  that  the  fire  was  completely  extin- 
guished. 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Anderson,  in  1862, 
Messrs.  T.  E.  and  G.  B.  Forster  and  T.  G. 
Hurst  were  appointed  Lord  Lonsdale's  con- 
sulting viewers. 

In  1866  the  total  output  of  the  Whitehaven 
Colliery  was  255,505  tons,  derived  from 
William,  Croft,  Wellington,  and  Wreah  Pits. 

Henry  Pit  (alongside  William  Pit)  was 
sunk,  1870-2,  to  a  depth  of  155  fathoms, 
whence  drifts  were  set  away  and  won  over 
faults,  the  Six  Quarters  Seam,  a  considerable 
area  of  which,  both  under  land  and  sea,  was 
worked  up  to  1891,  when  the  workings  were 
abandoned. 

An  important  bore-hole  was  put  down  with 
the  diamond  rock-drill,  1873-4,  at  Gutterfoot, 
St.  Bees,  with  the  view  of  proving  the  Coal 
Measures  under  the  Permian  rocks.  In  this 
it  was  entirely  successful,  for  at  a  depth  of 
1, 438  ft.  it  passed  through  the  Main  Band. 

In  1874  Mr.  R.  F.  Martin  became  viewer 
for  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale's  collieries.  During 
his  three  years  in  office,  he  thoroughly  modern- 
ized the  plant,  abolished  the  use  of  baskets, 
and  introduced  compressed  air  haulage  on  the 
main  roads  in  William  Pit.  He  erected  a 
Guibal  fan  at  William  Pit,  and  also  at  Kells 


Pit,  and  abolished  the  last  of  the  under- 
ground furnaces.  Both  above-ground  and 
under-ground  he  made  many  improvements. 

In  1877  Mr.  G.  H.  Liddell,  from  Burn- 
hope  Colliery,  Durham,  was  appointed  col- 
liery agent. 

The  output  of  coal  at  the  Whitehaven 
Pits  for  the  year  1876  was  281,968  tons. 

At  William,  Wellington,  and  Croft  Pits 
the  Main  Band  was  worked.  A  little  of  the 
Bannock  Band  was  worked  at  Wellington 
Pit  ;  and  the  Six  Quarters  Seam  was  worked 
at  Henry  and  Wreah  Pits. 

In  1878  Wreah  Pit,  Hensingham,  was 
abandoned.  In  1878  Lord  Lonsdale  bought 
from  the  Crown  the  coalfield  ten  miles 
under  the  sea  from  Lowca  Beck  to  the  River 
Calder.1 

In  1 88 1  the  coke  industry  was  revived  at 
Whitehaven  by  the  building  of  coke-ovens  on 
the  foreshore  near  William  Pit. 

In  1882  an  explosion  of  firedamp  took  place 
in  the  Countess  district  Main  Band,  William 
Pit,  by  which  four  men  were  killed. 

The  greatest  output  of  the  Whitehaven 
Collieries  whilst  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale  worked 
them  was  attained  in  the  year  1886,  when 
417,039  tons  of  coal  were  produced  from 
William,  Henry,  Croft  and  Wellington  Pits. 

On  ii  August,  1888,  the  Whitehaven 
Collieries,  worked  without  interruption  by  the 
Lowther  family  since  the  middle  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  were  leased  to  Sir  James 
Bain  ;  his  sons,  Messrs.  J.  R.  and  J.  D.  Bain  ; 
and  Mr.  J.  S.  Simpson,  who  assumed  the  title 
of  the  Whitehaven  Colliery  Company.  The 
new  company  made  many  changes  and  intro- 
duced the  endless  rope  haulage. 

In  1900  the  output  of  the  Whitehaven 
Collieries  was  : — 


William  Pit  . 
Wellington  Pit 
Croft  Pit  . 


Tont 
246,850 
113,094 
176,549 


536,493 

At  the  present  time  the  workings  of  the 
Whitehaven  Collieries  are  solely  in  the  Main 
Band,  and  with  the  exception  of  those  in  the 
St.  Bees  Grammar  School  royalty  are  all 
under  the  sea. 

The  Whitehaven  Collieries  now  extend  to 
a  greater  distance  underneath  the  sea  than  any 
others  in  the  world.  The  furthest  workings 
have  been  made  from  William  Pit  in  the 
Main  Band,  where  a  distance  of  nearly  4 
miles  from  high  water  mark  has  been  reached. 
The  cover  at  that  extreme  point  is  about  2OO 
fathoms. 


1  43  &  44  Viet.  c.  3. 


365 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Cleator  Moor. — The  first  collieries  at  Clea- 
tor Moor  were  Lilt's  Pit  at  Bowthorn,  and 
Mr.  Dean's  at  Keekle  Grove  ;  at  work  in 
1 802  in  the  Five  Feet  Seam. 

In  1839  Messrs.  Barker  and  Harrison  sank 
the  Whinny  Hill  Pit  114  fathoms  to  the 
Main  Band,  from  which,  and  from  the  Five 
Feet  Seam,  coals  were  raised  in  1843  ;  and 
in  1847  this  Whinny  Hill  or  Wyndham 
Colliery  was  taken  over  by  the  Whitehaven 
Haematite  Iron  Company,  who  afterwards 
sank  No.  2  Pit  to  the  south-east. 

In  1848  a  terrible  explosion  took  place  in 
the  Five  Feet  Seam  workings  in  Whinny  Hill 
Pit,  causing  the  death  of  30  perjons. 

In  1849  tne  Threapthwaite  Coal  Company 
put  down  at  Threapthwaite  two  shafts,  whence 
the  Bannock  and  Main  Bands  were  worked 
until  1872. 

In  1 86 1  the  Whitehaven  Haematite  Iron 
Company  completed  Hope  Pit  to  the  Main 
Band,  a  depth  of  120  fathoms,  and  con- 
tinued No.  2  Pit  to  the  Low  Bottom  or  Six 
Quarters  Seam. 

In  1863  three  men  and  a  boy  lost  their 
lives  in  No.  2  Pit.  They  had  walked  into 
a  body  of  gas  that  had  accumulated  in  con- 
sequence of  a  fall  of  roof. 

Wyndham  Colliery  (No.  2  and  Hope  Pits) 
was  closed  in  1871.  The  Five  Feet,  Ban- 
nock, Main,  Yard  and  Low  Bottom  Seams 
had  been  worked  there. 

In  1869  the  Whitehaven  Haematite  Iron 
Company  sank  the  Lindow  Pits  and  worked 
the  Main,  Five  Feet,  Bannock  and  Yard 
Bands  there  between  Wyndham  and  Threap- 
thwaite Collieries.  In  1891  the  Lindow  Pits 
were  put  down  to  the  Six  Quarters  Seam, 
and  in  1897  the  colliery  was  laid  in. 

Mr.  Stirling's  Montreal  Colliery,  Moor 
Row,  is  the  only  one  now  working  in  the 
Cleator  Moor  coalfield.  It  was  sunk  in 
1867  to  the  Main  Band,  a  depth  of  81 
fathoms,  and  there  the  Five  Feet,  Bannock 
and  Main  Bands  have  been  worked.  At  this 
colliery  may  be  witnessed  the  unique  sight 
of  coal  and  iron  ore  being  drawn  at  the  same 
shaft,  a  rich  deposit  of  haematite  having  been 
won  from  the  Main  Band,  through  the  large 
upthrow  fault  that  throws  up  the  Carbonifer- 
ous Limestone. 

Workington,  Harrington,  Distington,  Mores- 
by, Arlecdon  and  Dean. — The  Curwens  are 
said  to  have  worked  and  exported  coal  at 
Workington  before  1650;*  but  in  an 
account  of  the  mines  in  the  manor  of  Work- 
ington in  1673  no  mention  of  any  colliery 


is  made,  and  Sandford,  whose  MS.  is  in  the 
library  of  the  dean  and  chapter  at  Carlisle, 
describing  Workington  in  1676,  says:  'The 
haven  was  not  then  frequented  with  ships 
and  the  colliery  was  decayed.' 

Denton  in  his  MS.  '  Perambulation  of 
Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  1 687-8,' 2 
observes  that  the  colliery  within  Mr.  Curwen's 
demesne  at  Workington  was  worth  £200  a 
year. 

Coal  mining  appears  to  have  been  con- 
ducted on  a  small  scale  until  the  invention  of 
the  steam  engine  enabled  the  Curwens,  about 
1730  or  1740,  to  sink  Union,  Moorbanks, 
Hunday  3  and  Schoolhouse  Pits,  which  were 
at  work  in  1750. 

M.  Jars  visited  the  Workington  coal  mines 
in  1765,  and  described  them  in  his  Voyages 
Metallurgiques.  According  to  his  account  six 
workable  seams  of  coal  had  been  proved,  the 
lowest  bed,  4  feet  thick,  occurring  at  the 
depth  of  60  fathoms  at  the  Engine  Pit. 
Firedamp  abounded  in  the  mines,  and  ex- 
plosions, notwithstanding  the  use  of  steel 
mills,  were  frequent.  Indeed,  during  M.  Jar's 
visit  two  men  were  killed  and  many  burned. 

In  1771  the  output  of  coal  raised  at  the 
Workington  Colliery  was  1,701  tons,  and  in 
1772,  10,742  tons.  In  1774  the  quantity 
had  increased  to  23,600  tons,  and  in  1780  to 
33,350  tons. 

Up  to  1 794  all  the  coal  had  been  obtained 
from  pits  in  the  Banklands  or  eastern  division 
of  the  Workington  Colliery.  In  that  year 
Mr.  John  Christian  Curwen  had,  under  the 
advice  of  Mr.  John  Grieve,  engineer,  Edin- 
burgh, completed  the  sinking  of  Lady  Pit 
on  the  shore  to  the  Main  Band,  which  was 
found  to  be  in  great  perfection  at  a  depth  of 
84  fathoms.  This  was  the  commencement 
of  the  Chapel  Bank  or  western  division  of 
Workington  Colliery. 

At  that  date  Mr.  Curwen's  colliery  com- 
prised 9  pits  ;  but  there  was  another  colliery, 
comprising  5  pits,  worked  by  Mr.  Walker  for 
the  trustees  of  Anthony  Bacon,  Esq.,  M.P., 
London.  The  daily  shipment  of  coals  from 
Mr.  Curwen's  pits  was  100  waggons,  and 
from  the  other  pits  50  waggons*  of  three 
English  tons  each. 

The  sinking  of  Union  Pit,  Chapel  Bank 
Colliery,  was  begun  in  1795,  and  finished 
to  the  Main  Band,  58  fathoms,  in  1798. 

An  action  was  brought  in  1800  by  the 
Earl  of  Lonsdale  against  Mr.  Curwen  for  a 
trespass  alleged  to  have  been  made  from  John 
Pit,  Banklands  Colliery,  into  his  lordship's 


1  Archeology  of  West  Cumberland  Coal  Trade,  by 
Isaac  Fletcher,  M.P. 


a  f.  33.  *  Winscales. 

*  Hutchinson,  History  of  Cumberland,  ii.  140. 


366 


INDUSTRIES 


royalty,  under  the  Cloffbcks,  in  the  Moor- 
banks  Seam.  The  trespass  was  clearly  proved, 
and  the  action  was  compromised  by  the  pay- 
ment of  a  goodly  sum  to  the  earl. 

In  1799  the  output   of  the  Chapel   Bank 
Colliery  was  : — 

Tons 

Lady  Pit,    Main  Band       .     .     21,059 
Union  Pit  „  .     .      1 1,089 


In  1800  the  output  of  Banklands  Colliery 
was : — 

Tons 

John   Pit,    Moorbanks  Seam  .  2,276 

Elizabeth  Pit        „  „     .  6,135 

Hope  Pit,    Main  Band      .     .  6,473 

Henry  Pit  „  .     .  2,578 

Old  Engine  Pit,  Main  Band  .  2,978 

Crosthwaite  Pit,  Yard  Band    .  6,134 
Bowness   or    Well    Pit,    Four 

Feet  Seam 5,° '5 


31,589 

In  1808  Mr.  Curwen  began  the  sinking 
of  Isabella  Pit,  which  reached  in  1814  the 
Moorbanks  Seam,  found  in  perfection  at  90 
fathoms. 

In  1816  the  sinking  of  Isabella  Pit  was 
resumed,  and  in  1818  the  pit  had  been  sunk 
128  fathoms  to  the  position  of  the  Main  Band, 
which  was  discovered  to  be '  nipped-out.'  How- 
ever the  lower  part  of  the  Main  Band  was 
subsequently  proved  through  the  '  nip,'  by  a 
stone-drift  400  yards  long,  driven  to  the  west ; 
and,  eventually,  100  yards  further  south,  the 
seam  was  found,  in  its  normal  thickness,  in 
1822. 

The  output  of  the  Workington  Collieries 
during  1816  was  : — 

Chapel  Bank  Colliery —  Tons 

Lady  Pit,  Main  Band       .     .  8,846 

Union  Pit           „                .     .  12,834 

Isabella  Pit,  Moorbanks  Seam  9,634 


Banklands  Colliery — 

Church  Pit,  Main  Band    . 


3',3H 


9,393 


40,707 

The  '  nip  '  prevented  the  Main  Band  being 
worked  east  of  Isabella  Pit  ;  but  that  seam 
was  worked  therefrom  to  a  considerable  ex- 
tent under  the  land  towards  Union  and  Lady 
Pits,  and  to  the  south-west,  under  the  sea,  to 
the  dip  of  Lady  Pit. 

When  Chapel  Bank  Colliery  became  to  be 
thoroughly  developed,  Banklands  Colliery  was 
laid  in  and  all  the  shafts  were  filled  up. 
Church  Pit,  the  last  to  be  closed,  was  aban- 
doned in  1820,  when  the  removal  of  some  of 


the  Main  Band  pillars  on  the  east  side  of  the 
'  Sand-wash  '  (separating  the  Chapel  Bank 
and  Banklands  Collieries)  had  liberated  the 
'  sand  feed '  which  overcame  the  pumping 
engine. 

Buddie  Pit  had  then  been  sunk  27  fathoms 
to  the  Hamilton  Seam,  and  from  that  pit  a 
small  area  of  Main  Band  that  had  been  left  in 
Church  Pit  was  worked  from  a  drift  made,  at 
a  subsequent  date,  over  a  down  east  fault  of 
40  fathoms. 

The  output  of  Workington  Colliery  (then 
limited  to  Chapel  Bank)  in  1829  was  : — 


Isabella  Pit,  Moorbanks  Seam 
Main  Band 


Lady  Pit,  Main  Band 


Tons 

6,541 

17,665 

24,206 
15,464 

39,670 


Workington  Colliery  until  1837  had  been 
free  from  any  very  serious  catastrophe.  On  the 
28th  of  July  in  that  year  a  disaster  took  place, 
causing  the  deaths  of  27  persons  and  28  horses 
and  the  loss  of  the  Chapel  Bank  Colliery. 
On  that  date  the  sea  broke  into  the  Main 
Band  workings  at  the  rise  of  Camperdown 
district  in  Lady  Pit,  and  speedily  filled  every 
working  in  Lady,  Union,  and  Isabella  Pits. 
Fortunately,  access  to  the  district,  being  con- 
fined to  two  drifts,  so  limited  the  passage  of 
the  sea  into  the  other  parts  of  the  colliery  that 
time  was  afforded  for  30  persons  to  escape  by 
the  bearmouth,  near  Union  Pit.  The  fall,  by 
which  the  sea  effected  its  entrance  into  the 
mine,  was  about  80  yards  in  diameter,  and 
occurred  i£  miles  south  of  Lady  Pit,  and 
about  50  yards  below  low  water  mark,  opposite 
Salter  Beck. 

The  Camperdown  district  was  worked  to 
the  rise  of  the  main  south  road,  leading  direct 
from  Lady  Pit  towards  the  land.  The 
workings  had  reached  within  20  fathoms  of 
the  bed  of  the  sea  and  were  nearly  up  to  the 
line  of  the  '  Sand-wash,'  which  divides  Chapel 
Bank  and  Banklands  Collieries.  The  coal  in 
this  area  had  been  cut  up  into  pillars,  15 
yards  by  10  yards,  which  the  manager  had 
begun  to  remove.  Heavy  falls  of  roof,  accom- 
panied with  sea-water,  ensued ;  but  regardless 
of  these  warnings  the  manager  persisted  in 
working  the  pillars  until  the  fall  of  roof  took 
place  which  let  the  sea  into  the  colliery. 

After  the  abandonment  of  Banklands  and 
Chapel  Bank  steps  were  taken  to  open  out 
Buddie  and  Moorbanks  Engine  Pits.  The 
latter  was  again  abandoned  in  1840,  the  Main 
Band,  supposed  to  have  been  left,  having  been 
found  to  have  been  worked. 


367 


A   HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


From  1837  to  1845  the  output  of  coal  at 
Workington  Colliery  was  from  Buddie  Pit, 
where  a  small  area  of  Main  Band,  left  to  the 
dip  of  Church  Pit,  was  worked. 

The  sinking  of  Jane  Pit  near  Buddie  Pit 
was  commenced  in  1843,  and  the  Hamilton 
Seam  was  won  in  1846,  at  73  fathoms. 

In  1851  the  output  of  coal  from  the  Yard 
and  Hamilton  Seams  at  Jane  Pit,  and  the 
Main  Band  at  Buddie  Pit,  was  20,000  tons. 

The  Jane  and  Buddie  Pits  worked  until 
1853,  when  Buddie  Pit  was  abandoned,  the 
gravel  feed  liberated  by  pillar  workings  proving 
to  be  too  much  for  the  old  engine  and  pumps. 

In  1854,  Hope  Pit,  Ellerbeck,  was  sunk  to 
the  Four  Feet  Seam,  a  depth  of  30  fathoms  to 
the  rise  of  Banklands  Colliery.  The  pit 
turned  out  to  be  unprofitable  and  was  aban- 
doned in  1858. 

A  small  output  of  coal  was  kept  up  at  Jane 
Pit  until  1864  from  the  Yard  and  Hamilton 
Bands. 

In  1 864  Mr.  Curwen  leased  the  Working- 
ton  royalty  at  Jane  Pit  to  Mr.  William  Irving, 
who  afterwards  sank  Annie  Pit  72  fathoms  to 
the  Hamilton  Seam,  which  he  worked  until 
his  death  in  1872,  whereupon  Mr.  H.  K. 
Spark,  Darlington,  took  a  lease  of  the  colliery. 
In  1875  coal  work  ceased  at  Annie  Pit  and 
pumping  was  discontinued  at  Jane  Pit. 

In  1875  the  Workington  Collieries  Com- 
pany acquired  Mr.  Spark's  interest,  but  after 
pumping  the  water  out  of  the  pits  the  com- 
pany collapsed. 

Later  Mr.  W.  A.  Wooler,  Darlington,  be- 
came the  lessee  of  Workington  Colliery  ;  but 
he  did  nothing  in  the  way  of  development. 
The  lease  was  surrendered  in  1893. 

In  the  manor  of  Harrington,  in  1673,  the 
two  coal  pits,  one  of  which  supplied  the  salt 
pans  with  fuel,  were  valued  at  ^100  per  an- 


num. 


For  nearly  100  years  afterwards  there  is  no 
information  respecting  coal  mining  at  Harring- 
ton, though  it  may  be  taken  for  granted  that 
coal  was  worked  in  a  small  way  during  that 
time  for  use  at  the  salt-pans  of  Parton  and 
Harrington. 

Near  Lowca,  the  Bannock  and  Main  Bands 
outcrop  along  the  shore  and  were  worked  a 
little  before  1750. 

In  1 770  and  long  afterwards,  ironstone  was 
worked  by  Mr.  Curwen  along  the  shore  and 
sent  to  Seaton,  Clifton,  Backbarrow  and 
Netherhall  Furnaces. 

Coal  on  the  upthrow  side  of  Micklam  fault 
was  worked  from  the  Three  Feet,  Four  Feet, 
and  Udale  Seams,  from  a  dozen  or  more  pits, 
between  1750  and  1790  ;  and  was  conveyed 
along  wooden  railways  to  Harrington  Har- 


bour. These  pits  were  drained  by  the  '  Snout 
Brow  level,'  which  extended  from  the  sea  to 
Hodgson  Pit. 

In  1796  coals  were  drawn  at  Bella,  Udale, 
Old  Basket,  Fox,  Natty,  Laybourne,  Henry, 
and  John  Pits,  on  the  upthrow  side  of  the 
Micklam  fault. 

From  John  Pit  a  long  drift,  set  over  several 
faults,  won  the  Udale  Seam,  which  was  worked 
towards  the  Micklam  fault ;  and  from  Bella 
and  Hodgson  Pits  the  Four  Feet  Seam  was 
worked  close  up  to  that  fault. 

In  1804  Harrington  Colliery  consisted  of 
Udale,  Tarn,  Jane,  Bella  and  Henry  Pits, 
where  41,420  tons  of  coal  were  raised  and 
about  70  hewers  employed.  Hodgson  Pit 
was  sunk  during  that  year. 

About  1825  Mr.  Curwen  began  the  sinking 
of  Micklam  Pit  to  win  the  upper  seams  west 
of  Micklam  fault.  The  pit  was  sunk  on  the 
upthrow  side  of  the  fault,  through  the  Three 
Feet,  Four  Feet,  and  Udale  Seams  to  a  depth 
of  90  fathoms,  at  which  level  the  Main  Band 
was  cut  by  a  short  drift  over  the  fault  in 
1830,  and  a  large  feed  of  water  liberated. 
Nothing  further  was  done  until  1865. 

In  1838  John  Pit  was  the  scene  of  the 
most  terrible  explosion  of  firedamp  that  has 
ever  been  chronicled  in  the  annals  of  Cum- 
berland coal  mining,  by  which  no  less  than  40 
men  and  boys  were  killed. 

Mr.  Curwen  worked  John  and  Hodgson 
Pits  until  1864,  when  Messrs.  Bain,  Blair, 
and  Paterson  (the  predecessors  of  the  present 
firm  of  Messrs.  James  Bain  &  Co.)  entered 
upon  the  Harrington  Ironworks  and  Harring- 
ton Coal  royalty. 

The  lessees  re-opened  Micklam  Pit  and 
worked  a  little  coal  from  the  lower  seams  on 
the  east  side  of  the  Micklam  fault.  But  the 
chief  use  to  which  Micklam  Pit  was  ulti- 
mately put  was  for  draining  the  unwrought 
field  of  coal  on  the  west  side  of  the  fault. 
For  that  purpose,  in  1867,  a  pumping  engine 
was  established  there. 

At  this  time  No.  3  Pit  was  sunk  north  of 
Micklam  Pit,  and  there  the  coal  remaining  in 
the  Three  Feet  and  Four  Feet  Seams,  between 
Mr.  Curwen's  old  workings  and  high  water 
mark,  was  worked  till  1879. 

In  1871  No.  4  Pit  was  sunk  to  the  Four 
Feet  Seam,  a  depth  of  49  fathoms,  and  from 
it  the  coal  remaining  in  that  seam  between 
the  old  Hodgson  Pit  workings  and  Lowca 
Beck  on  the  east  side  of  the  Micklam  fault 
was  worked  up  to  1879. 

About  the  same  time  No.  6  Pit  was  sunk 
near  Lowca  Point,  on  the  west  side  of  the 
Micklam  fault,  to  the  Bannock  and  Main 
Bands.  It  was  discontinued  in  1874. 


368 


INDUSTRIES 


West  of  No.  6  Pit,  No.  8  Pit  was  sunk  on 
the  foreshore,  to  win  the  Main  Band  which 
outcrops  near  low  water  mark.  The  pit, 
which  was  1 1  fathoms  to  the  Main  Band, 
continued  at  work  till  1874,  when  an  influx 
of  water  stopped  operations.  The  Bannock 
and  Main  Bands  on  the  west  side  of  Micklam 
fault  was  principally  worked  from  No.  7  Pit 
from  187410  1901.  The  workings  in  the 
Main  Band  extended  to  the  north,  underneath 
the  sea,  to  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  from  low 
water  mark,  beyond  which  limit  it  was  deemed 
imprudent  to  go  by  reason  of  the  thinness  of 
the  cover. 

The  output  from  Harrington  Colliery  is 
now  altogether  from  No.  9  Pit,  which  was 
sunk  near  No.  7  Pit  in  1880,  to  the  Six 
Quarters  Seam,  which  has  been  worked  along- 
side the  Micklam  fault  both  under  the  land 
and  the  sea. 

The  earliest  recorded  coal  mining  at  Clifton 
was  on  the  Curwen  property  about  1673. 
The  Lowthers  and  the  Cooksons  of  New- 
castle were  amongst  the  first  to  work  coal  in 
Clifton.  Reelfit  Colliery  was  at  work  in  1735. 
The  Lowthers  began  to  work  coal  in  Clifton 
on  an  extensive  scale  before  1750,  Sir  James 
Lowther  having  constructed  a  wooden  railway 
from  Workington  to  a  staith  at  Great  Clifton, 
to  which  the  coal  was  carted.  Some  of  these 
pits  were  drained  by  adits  into  the  Marron 
and  Lostrigg,  others  by  a  water-wheel  at 
Bridgefoot,  and  the  rest  by  two  atmospheric 
pumping  engines. 

In  1771  Sir  James  Lowther  closed  all  his 
collieries  at  Clifton,  Flimby,  and  Seaton,  at 
short  notice,  on  becoming  aware  of  the  exis- 
tence of  a  clause  in  the  lease  of  the  Beerpot 
Ironworks,  Workington,  which  he  had  granted 
in  1763  to  Messrs.  Hicks,  Spedding  &  Co., 
whereby  he  was  bound,  so  long  as  he  worked 
any  pits  within  a  distance  of  four  miles,  to 
supply  the  ironworks  with  coals  from  those 
pits  at  the  shipping  price. 

In  1781  the  Clifton  coals  were  sold  to  the 
country  at  2s.  3<f.  and  to  the  shipping  at 
Workington  at  3;.  $d.  a  ton. 

When  Sir  James  Lowther  stopped  his 
Clifton  pits,  Mr.  Cookson's  pits  in  Grey- 
southen  and  Clifton  became  flooded  out. 

From  1781  there  was  no  coal-mining  of 
any  consequence  at  Clifton  until  1803,  when 
the  Earl  of  Lonsdale  began  opening  out  a 
colliery  on  Clifton  Moor  near  Quarry  Hill, 
on  the  west  side  of  Lostrigg  Beck,  in  two 
little  seams  lying  above  the  Main  Band,  the 
lower  one  being  10  fathoms  deep  at  John 
Pit.  The  workings  were  drained  by  a  level 
into  Lostrigg  Beck.  This  colliery  was  worked 
by  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale  up  to  1815. 


From  1815  to  1822  Mr.  John  Johnson 
leased  the  Clifton  Moor  pits  ;  and  Mr.  John 
Fletcher  had  them  from  1815  until  1829, 
when  they  were  abandoned. 

In  1827  Mr.  Thomas  Westray  sank  the 
Westray  or  Clifton  Pit  to  the  Cannel  and 
Metal  Band  (a  depth  of  55  fathoms)  in  Mr. 
Isaac  Cookson's  royalty  at  Great  Clifton. 

In  1842  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  having 
acquired  Mr.  Cookson's  royalty  and  Mr. 
Westray's  interest  therein,  proceeded  to  work 
the  colliery,  and  continued  to  do  so  until 
1856. 

In  1852  Messrs.  Isaac  and  William  Fletcher 
became  lessees  of  Mr.  Curwen's  royalty  in 
Little  Clifton,  and  sank  a  pit  (40  fathoms  to 
the  Main  Band)  near  Crossbarrow.  In  1854 
the  same  firm  sank  Harry  Gill  Pit  on  Mr.  John 
Cookson's  royalty  to  the  same  seam.  The  suc- 
cess of  their  efforts  induced  Lord  Lonsdale  to 
sink  Lowther  Pit,  half  a  mile  to  the  westward, 
which  reached  the  Main  Band  in  1855  at  a 
depth  of  only  30  fathoms.  About  this  time 
disputes  arose  as  to  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale's 
title  to  the  royalty  under  certain  lands  in 
Great  and  Little  Clifton,  but  those  differences 
were  settled  by  his  lordship  purchasing  the 
estates,  and  thus  becoming  the  owner  of 
nearly  all  the  land  in  both  townships.  In 
1856  Lord  Lonsdale  granted  a  lease  of  all  his 
royalty  in  Great  and  Little  Clifton  to  Messrs. 
Fletcher,  who  completed  the  Lowther  Pit. 

In  1860  Lowther  Pit  was  sunk  30  fathoms 
deeper,  and  from  that  depth  a  short  drift 
won  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band  to  the 
west  over  a  downthrow  fault  of  30  fathoms. 
Besides  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam  and  the  Can- 
nel and  Metal  Band,  the  Little  Main  Seam, 
won  in  1873,  and  Lickbank  Seam,  won 
in  1878,  were  also  worked  to  a  large  extent 
by  Messrs.  I.  and  W.  Fletcher  on  the  east 
side  of  the  same  fault.  In  1861  William 
Pit,  Great  Clifton  (still  at  work),  was  sunk  by 
the  same  firm,  and  from  it  has  been  worked 
the  Main  Band  on  the  west  side  of  the  large 
downthrow  west  fault,  which  bounds  the 
workings  in  Lowther,  Clifton  and  the  old  pits 
to  the  south  as  far  as  the  outcrop  of  the  Main 
Band  near  the  Marron.  The  William  Pit 
Main  Band  workings  to  the  south  are  now 
beyond  Lostrigg  Beck  and  eastward  have 
reached  the  outcrop  in  Stainburn. 

In  1873  the  West  Cumberland  Iron  and 
Steel  Co.,  Ltd.,  became  the  sub-lessees  of 
the  Clifton  Collieries,  and  continued  to  work 
them  until  1887,  when  the  Allerdale  Coal 
Co.,  Ltd.,  took  them  over. 

In  1875  Westray  Pit  was  laid  in. 

In  1885  Lowther  Pit  was  abandoned. 

The  Cooksons  of  Newcastle  were  working 


II 


369 


47 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


coal  in  the  township  of  Greysouthen  anterior 
to  1750. 

Since  then  many  pits  have  been  sunk  by 
various  persons,  and  a  large  area  of  coal  has 
been  worked,  more  particularly  in  the  Cannel 
and  Metal  Band,  south-eastward  to  the  out- 
crop. The  most  southerly  workings  are  those 
that  have  been  made  from  Allan  Pit  near  to 
Dean  parish  boundary,  upwards  of  2  miles 
from  the  confluence  of  the  Marron  and  Der- 
went.  The  most  northerly  workings  in  the 
Cannel  and  Metal  Band  have  been  made  from 
Melgramfitz  and  other  pits  up  to  an  upcast 
east  fault  of  40  fathoms  that  runs  underneath 
the  village  of  Greysouthen. 

In  1761  Sir  James  Lowther  was  working 
the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band,  in  Greysouthen, 
at  the  depth  of  34  fathoms  at  Reelfitz  Pit, 
east  of  the  Marron. 

In  1766  two  small  pits,  20  fathoms  deep, 
were  being  worked,  presumably  by  Mr.  John 
Cookson  near  the  Marron,  about  half  a  mile 
south  of  Bridgefoot,  for  the  supply  of  coal  to 
the  Clifton  furnace. 

In  1783  Mr.  Cookson  was  working  Windy 
Hill  or  Linefitz  Colliery,  on  the  east  side  of 
the  Marron,  in  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band. 
In  1787  Messrs.  William  Walker  &  Co. 
leased  the  coal  under  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  township,  and  carried  on  an  extensive 
and  profitable  business  for  a  period  of  eighty 
years. 

In  1800  Messrs.  John  Wilson  &  Co.,  in 
which  Mr.  J.  W.  Fletcher  was  a  partner, 
opened  a  new  colliery  in  Greysouthen.  They 
obtained,  in  1807,  at  an  Assize  trial  at  Car- 
lisle, £1 6,000  damages  from  Messrs.  William 
Walker  &  Co.,  who,  it  was  proved,  had  worked 
a  large  quantity  of  coal  belonging  to  Messrs. 
Wilson  &  Co.,  whose  colliery  they  had  also 
damaged  by  throwing  water  upon  it. 

Messrs.  Walker  &  Co.  were  then  working 
Agill,  Walker  and  Moss  Pits,  and  Messrs. 
Wilson  &  Co.  were  working  Wilson  Pit. 

In  1 8 1 6  Messrs.  Lysons  include  amongst  the 
list  of  collieries  '  Greysouthen,  belonging  to 
Messrs.  Walker,  Harris  &  Co.,  supposed  to 
have  a  sale  of  about  10,000  waggon-loads  an- 
nually.'1 

In  1829  there  were  two  collieries  belong- 
ing to  Messrs.  Birbeck  and  Fletcher  and 
Messrs.  Harris  &  Co.2 

In  1831  Messrs.  Birbeck  and  Fletcher 
were  working  George  and  Hope  Pits,  in  the 
Cannel  and  Metal  Band,  in  the  Earl  of 
Egremont's  royalty,  south  of  Mayfield,  near 
the  boundary  of  the  parish  of  Dean. 

1  Magna  Britannica,  iv.  p.  cxxiv. 

2  History,  etc.  Cumb.  and  Westm.  1829,  Parson 
and  White,  p.  188. 


In  1837  Messrs.  Joseph  Harris  &  Co.  were 
working  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band  at 
Nepgill,  and  in  1838  at  John  Pit,  both  of 
which  were  comprised  in  the  Millbanks  Col- 
liery. 

In  1842  Mr.  Harris  was  still  carrying  on 
Millbanks  Colliery  near  Bridgefoot,  in  Grey- 
southen, whilst  Messrs.  Fletcher  &  Co.  were 
raising  coal  a  little  to  the  south  at  Mary  Pit. 
The  Millbanks  Colliery  produced  about  130 
waggons,  and  Mary  Pit,  100  waggons  per 
week. 

From  1855  to  1863  Messrs.  Fletcher  did 
not  work  any  coal  in  Greysouthen,  but 
Messrs.  Harris  &  Co.  did.  In  1860  the 
latter  had  one  colliery  in  the  Cannel  Band, 
42  fathoms  deep,  where  70  persons  were 
employed.3 

In  1 863  Messrs.  Isaac  and  William  Fletcher 
completed  Melgramfitz  Pit,  from  which  the 
Ten  Quarters  Seam  and  the  Cannel  and  Metal 
Band  were  extensively  worked  until  1886, 
when  the  pit  was  closed. 

Mr.  Harris  continued  working  coal  at 
Nepgill  Pit  until  1874.  At  this  pit,  which 
was  sunk  to  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band,  a 
considerable  area  of  Lickbank  Seam  was 
worked  to  the  south  through  an  upthrow 
fault. 

In  1877  New  Banks  Pit  near  Nepgill  Pit 
had  been  opened  out  by  Messrs.  Kenyon  and 
Campbell.  It  was  sunk  to  the  Rattler  Band, 
a  depth  of  25  fathoms  from  the  surface,  and 
continued  at  work  till  1884. 

Since  the  closing  of  Melgramfitz  Pit  in 
1886  no  coal  has  been  worked  in  Grey- 
southen. 

In  the  township  of  Winscales,  the  Curwens 
worked  coal  from  1783  to  1806.  Coal  was 
again  worked  in  1873,  when  the  Rev.  A.  F. 
Curwen  and  Messrs.  Were  and  Blair  took  a 
lease  of  the  Curwen  royalty,  and  sank  a  pit 
at  Wythemoor,  lo^  fathoms  to  the  Yard  Band. 
After  1875  Mr.  Blair,  and  after  1880  Dr. 
Richmond,  Greenock,  carried  on  the  colliery, 
which  was  closed  in  1886. 

Coal  had  been  found  in  the  parish  of  Dis- 
tington  early  in  the  seventeenth  century.  In 
1614  Mr.  John  Fearon  demised  his  coal 
mines  at  Great  Gunnerdine  to  Mr.  George 
Fletcher,  Tallentire ;  and  in  1615  the 
court-roll  refers  to  the  coals  under  certain 
tenements. 

The  Christians,  Fletchers  and  Lamplughs 
were  the  earliest  workers  of  coal  in  Disting- 
ton. 

In  1675  Sir  John  Lowther  acquired  the 
lease  of  the  Fearon  coal  mines  from  Mr. 


Whellan,  History  of  Cumberland,  p.  298. 


370 


INDUSTRIES 


Henry  Fletcher,  Tallentire  ;  and  in  1709 
his  son,  Mr.  James  Lowther,  purchased  the 
reversion. 

From  that  time  the  Lowthers  bought  coal 
property  in  Distington  whenever  opportunity 
offered  ;  and  in  1737  Mr.  John  Brougham 
of  Scales,  who  purchased  the  manor  when  it 
was  sold  in  1720,  under  a  decree  of  Chancery, 
on  the  Fletcher  family  becoming  extinct,  con- 
veyed it  to  Sir  James  Lowther. 

In  1694  Mr.  Lamplugh  was  working  a 
colliery  at  Stubscales.  North  of  Boonwood 
fault,  Gunnerdine  Level,  driven  from  Stubs- 
gill  to  Moss  Pit,  West  Croft,  drained  the  old 
Main  Band  pits,  sunk  on  the  outcrop  ;  and 
south  of  the  fault  Rugard's  or  Castlerigg  level, 
made  from  the  hillside,  near  Bottom  Bank, 
to  Rugard's  or  Castlerigg  Pit,  served  a  similar 
purpose. 

Although  the  records  are  scanty,  coal  was 
worked  continuously  during  the  eighteenth 
century  at  Distington.  In  1768  a  colliery 
was  working  at  Boonwood,  Distington,  at 
which  there  was  a  cinder  oven.  In  1781  Mr. 
Crosthwaite  worked  the  Three  Feet  or  Six 
Quarters  Seam  at  Moss  and  High  Pits,  on 
his  own  property,  at  Gunnerdine  near  Boon- 
wood  ;  and  Sir  James  Lowther  was  working 
the  Metal  Band  ( 1 2  fathoms  under  the  Main 
Band)  at  Moor  Gate  and  Moss  Pits,  also  known 
as  Gunnerdine  Colliery.  The  Main  Band  at 
those  pits  and  the  adjacent  Glaister  Pit  had 
been  exhausted  at  that  date,  up  to  the  outcrop. 
Mr.  Walker  had  then  a  pit,  19  fathoms  to 
the  Yard  Band,  north  of  Mr.  Crosthwaite's 
Moss  Pit.  In  1805  Jackson  Pit  was  at  work 
in  Mr.  Crosthwaite's  royalty.  In  1806  the 
output  of  Moss  and  Moor  Gate  Pits,  Gun- 
nerdine, still  worked  by  Lord  Lonsdale,  was 
6,581  tons.  In  1812  Lord  Lonsdale's  Gun- 
nerdine Colliery  consisted  of  Moss  and  Ru- 
gard's Pits,  with  an  output  of  3,258  tons. 
In  1813  Mrs.  Martin  was  working  two  thin 
seams  of  coal  from  two  '  bearmouths '  at  Fisher 
Beck  near  Prospect  House.  Coal  was  drawn 
at  Gunnerdine  Colliery  until  1815,  when 
Bottom  Bank  Colliery  superseded  it.  In 
that  year  Stubscales  or  Dyan  Pit  was  sunk  to 
the  Main  Band,  36  fathoms.  In  1820  there 
were  three  'cinder'  ovens  at  Castlerigg  Pit, 
which  was  worked  in  connection  with  Bot- 
tom Bank  Colliery.  In  1831  Jane  Pit,  Boon- 
wood,  belonging  to  Mr.  Allinson  Crosthwaite, 
was  drawing  coals  from  the  Bannock  and  Four 
Feet  Seams.  In  1845  Bottom  Bank  Colliery 
was  abandoned.  The  Main  Band  and  the 
seams  underneath,  viz.  the  Metal,  Two  Feet 
and  Three  Feet  Bands,  had  been  worked  from 
Boonwood  fault  to  the  line  of  Parton  drifts. 

From   1845   to   J85i   the  Dyan  Pit  was 


the  only  colliery  worked  by  Lord  Lonsdale 
in  Distington. 

In  1859  Mr.  Ralph  Tate  worked  a  colliery 
at  Commonside.  In  1863  he  took  a  lease  of 
Haycastle  Colliery,  Distington,  where  he 
worked  the  Yard  Band  until  1872. 

In  Gilgarran  Captain  Robertson  Walker 
began  mining  coal  about  1830.  He  had 
three  pits  from  which  the  Yard  Band  was 
worked  at  depths  varying  from  10  to  20 
fathoms.  He  had  also  six  '  cinder '  ovens. 

In  1843  Mr.  Ralph  Tate  worked  the  Gil- 
garran Pits  sunk  by  Captain  Walker.  Lack 
of  capital  compelled  him  to  desist  in  1854. 

The  next  coal-mining  at  Gilgarran  was 
in  1872,  by  a  company  in  which  Messrs. 
Mackenzie  and  Main  were  interested.  After 
reopening  the  old  Yard  Band  Pits,  the  com- 
pany abandoned  active  operations  in  1875. 

In  1866  Mr.  James  Rankin  put  down 
Greyhound  Pit  at  Studfold  near  the  Dean 
boundary.  He  worked  an  upper  seam,  2  ft. 
6  in.  thick,  at  25  fathoms,  and  the  China 
Band,  4  ft.  thick,  at  35  fathoms  ;  but  the 
workings  in  both  seams  were  very  limited. 

After  the  closing  of  the  Gilgarran  and 
Haycastle  Pits  no  coal  was  worked  in  Dis- 
tington until  1880,  when  the  Moresby 
Coal  Co.,  Ltd.,  completed  their  Oatlands 
Pit  to  a  depth  of  1 08  fathoms,  whence  the 
Main  Band  was  won  by  a  short  drift.  Since 
that  date  the  Main  Band  has  been  worked 
over  a  large  area  to  the  south-west,  and 
to  the  west  up  to  the  great  '  nip '  lying 
immediately  to  the  dip  of  the  Old  Gunner- 
dine  Colliery.  At  the  same  pit  the  Bannock 
Band  has  been  and  is  being  worked  exten- 
sively in  conjunction  with  the  Main  Band  ; 
and  the  China  Band  has  been  worked  to  a 
less  extent. 

Records  of  coal-mining  in  the  parish  of 
Moresby  date  back  to  1680,  when  Mr. 
Thomas  Addison  was  working  Howgate 
Colliery,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Tickell  (Sir  John 
Lowther's  agent)  had  a  colliery  at  Goose- 
green. 

In  1693  Howgate  Colliery  was  still  at 
work,  whilst  Mr.  Richard  Sanderson  and  Mr. 
Henry  Birkett  were  working  adjacent  pits  in 
Moresby  ;  and  Sir  John  Lowther  began  the 
working  of  Lattera  Colliery,  which  drained 
into  a  level  made  from  the  ghyll,  descending 
to  Lowca  Beck,  near  Moresby  House. 

The  output  from  Lattera  Colliery  in  1695 
was  1,387  tons,  derived  from  the  Little  Main 
and  Yard  Bands. 

In  1697  the  owners  of  the  copper  mines 
in  Dunnerdale,  Millom,  erected  works  in 
Moresby  for  the  smelting  of  their  ore  with 
coal. 


371 


A   HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


In  1706  at  Lattera  Colliery,  the  Main 
Band  and  '  Square  Coal '  were  worked  at 
Towerson  Pit  ;  the  '  Square  Coal '  at  White 
Close  Pit ;  and  the  Yard  Band  at  Punfulldale 
Pit,  the  total  output  of  coal  being  3,789 
tons. 

By  the  Act  of  Parliament  obtained  in  1705 
by  Mr.  Thomas  Fletcher,  lord  of  the  manors 
of  Moresby  and  Distington,  Mr.  Thomas 
Lamplugh  and  others,  4^.  a  ton  was  charged 
upon  coal  exported  at  Parton  for  1 1  years  to 
raise  jfi,6oo  for  the  improvement  of  the 
harbour  there. 

That  Act  was  intended  to  benefit  Parton  ; 
but  a  print  published  circa  1717,  entitled 
The  Miserable  Case  of  the  Poor  Inhabitants  of 
Parton,  etc.,  alleged  that  Mr.  Lamplugh  had 
taken  advantage  of  the  Act  for  his  own 
private  gain. 

It  appears  from  that  document  that  the 
trustees  under  the  Act,  most  of  whom  owed 
their  appointment  to  the  influence  of  Mr. 
Lamplugh,  left  the  management  of  the 
harbour  to  him,  and,  in  1707,  entered  into  a 
contract  with  him  whereby  he  covenanted  to 
make  a  harbour  sufficient  for  '  fifty  sail  of 
ships  for  £1,210.' 

Mr.  Lamplugh,  so  The  Miserable  Case 
states,  failed  to  complete  his  contract,  although 
he  received  the  payment  agreed  upon,  and  had 
sold  his  collieries. 

The  inhabitants  of  Parton,  foreseeing  the 
impending  ruin  of  the  harbour,  and  knowing 
that  they  had  no  power  over  Mr.  Lamplugh 
or  the  trustees,  were  willing  that  the  harbour 
duties  should  be  continued  for  a  further  term 
in  order  that  the  harbour  might  be  kept  up. 

In  1724  the  duties,  which  had  lapsed  in 
1716,  were  re-enacted  for  a  further  term  of 
15  years. 

The  passing  of  the  Parton  Harbour  Act, 
1705,  was  strenuously  opposed  by  Sir  John 
Lowther,  but  the  application  for  the  Act  of 
1724  received  the  support  of  his  successor, 
Mr.  James  Lowther.  Both  had  in  the  interim 
acquired  large  interests  at  Parton. 

In  1713  Mr.  Lowther  purchased  Mr. 
Lamplugh's  collieries  at  Parton. 

In  1731  Lattera  Colliery  consisted  of 
Fisher  and  Lister  Pits,  in  the  Main  Band,  and 
Punfulldale  Pit  in  the  Yard  Band. 

In  1738  Sir  James  Lowther's  collieries 
in  Moresby  comprised  the  Hall  and  Lattera 
Collieries.  At  the  Hall  Colliery,  Hutton  Pit 
was  the  only  one  at  work,  but  in  that  year  a 
commencement  was  made  with  working  coal 
at  Long  Bransty  Barugh.  At  the  Lattera 
Colliery  coal  work  was  still  going  on  in  Lister 
and  Fisher  Pits. 

No    coal  was  raised  at  the    Hall  Colliery 


after  1739,  but  pumping  went  on  at  Hutton 
Pit  till  1743. 

Lattera  Colliery  at  this  time  was  worked 
intermittently.  Lister  and  Fisher  Pits  were 
stopped  in  1741,  and  coal  work  was  not  re- 
sumed at  Lattera  until  1742,  when  Lamb 
Hills  Pit  was  opened  out  and  the  Metal  Band 
worked  until  1750. 

In  1751  at  Lattera  Colliery,  Blearbank  Pit, 
afterwards  known  as  White  Pit,  was  sunk. 
In  1 776  this  pit  was  working  the  Main  Band 
towards  the  High  farmhouse  but  was  soon  dis- 
continued. 

The  next  coal  working  in  Moresby  took 
place  from  Parton  Drift  and  Countess  Pit, 
begun  in  1827  and  1832  respectively.  The 
Parton  Drift  had  reached,  when  abandoned 
in  1863,  the  Distington  parish  boundary — 
i  £  miles  from  Parton  ;  and  at  its  extremity  a 
small  district  of  Main  Band  was  wrought  in 
Moresby  parish.  The  Parton  Drift  was  the 
outlet  for  coal  produced  at  Countess  and 
Moresby  New  Pits. 

At  these  pits,  coals  from  the  Bannock, 
Main,  and  Six  Quarters  Seams  were  raised  to 
the  level  of  the  Parton  Drift,  and  thence 
conveyed  to  Parton  Pit,  10  fathoms  deep, 
where  they  were  drawn  to  bank. 

Countess  Pit  was  sunk  a  total  depth  of 
91  fathoms,  but  coals  were  only  drawn  up 
to  the  level  of  the  Parton  Drift,  which  was 
there  25  fathoms  from  the  surface.  The 
Main  Band  and  Six  Quarters  Seam  were 
worked  thereat  until  1863,  when  the  pit  was 
stopped. 

Moresby  New  Pit  was  sunk  in  1849,  east 
of  Millgrove,  52  fathoms  to  the  Main  Band, 
14  fathoms  below  the  level  of  Parton  Drift, 
and  was  abandoned  in  1850. 

The  Main  Band  was  worked  south-east  of 
the  pit  towards  Gillhead  and  Canada  ;  and 
through  an  upthrow  fault  the  Six  Quarters 
Seam  was  worked  to  the  north. 

From  1863  no  coal  was  worked  in  the 
parish  of  Moresby  until  1879,  when  Walk- 
mill  Pit  was  sunk  by  the  Moresby  Coal  Co., 
Ltd.,  25  fathoms  to  the  Main  Band,  which  has 
been  and  is  being  worked  on  the  rise  side  of 
the  Micklam  dyke  from  Parton  drifts  on  the 
north,  to  Dub  Beck  in  Weddiker  on  the 
south,  and  to  the  east  under  Weddiker  Rigg. 

Coal  and  ironstone  (from  the  Coal 
Measures)  were  worked  in  the  parish  of  Dean 
in  early  times.  In  1777  Nicolson  and  Burn 
stated  that  there  were  coal  pits  at  the 
Edge,  Branthwaite,  where  catscalp  (ironstone) 
used  at  the  Clifton  and  Seaton  furnaces  was 
obtained  up  to  1813,  when  the  manufacture 
of  iron  at  Seaton  ceased. 

From    this   time  until    1824    Mr.    J.   C. 


372 


INDUSTRIES 


Curwen,  Workington  Hall,  was  working  coal 
at  Branthwaite. 

In  1815  George  O'Brien,  Earl  of  Egre- 
mont,  lord  of  the  manor  of  Dean,  granted 
a  lease  of  his  coal  mines  in  Whillimoor  to 
Anthony  Wild,  Kidburngill,  Arlecdon,  coal 
miner,  and  Henry  James  Johnson,  White- 
haven,  grocer  ;  and  in  1 834  the  lease  was 
renewed  to  Anthony  Wild's  widow  and  John- 
son. 

Wild's  pits  were  situated  near  Dean  Cross, 
and  were  drained  by  a  level  into  Thief  Gill. 

Dean  Moor  Colliery  was  worked  from 
1856  to  1859  by  General  Wyndham,  and 
in  1860  by  Mr.  Percival. 

Subsequently  it  was  taken  by  Mr.  George 
Grierson,  who  sank  the  present  shafts  34 
fathoms  deep  to  the  Yard  Seam.  It  passed 
through  the  'Anthony  Wiley '  Seam  30  in. 
thick  at  27  fathoms. 

In  1880  Mr.  William  Summerson,  Cock- 
field,  Durham,  became  lessee  of  the  colliery, 
which  is  now  being  worked  by  the  Dean 
Moor  Colliery  Co.,  Ltd. 

Adjoining  Dean  Moor  Colliery  Messrs.  W. 
Baird  &  Co.,  Gartsherrie,  worked  the  Moor- 
side  royalty  in  Whillimoor  from  1874  to 
1880.  A  seam  3  ft.  thick  was  worked  by 
that  company  at  No.  I  Pit  at  a  depth  of  14 
fathoms.  Afterwards  Mr.  A.  Johnston 
worked  Moorside  Colliery  until  1899. 

In  the  parish  of  Lamplugh  Messrs.  Sherwen, 
Moore,  Brown  and  Burnyeat,  sank  in  1872, 
near  Whitekeld,  a  pit  from  which  were 
worked  a  seam  3  ft.  thick,  at  15  fathoms, 
and  a  seam  5  ft.  2  in.  thick,  considered  to 
be  the  Main  Band  at  26  fathoms.  The 
colliery  was  abandoned  in  1879. 

In  the  parish  of  Arlecdon  Messrs.  Brady  & 
Co.  sank  a  pit  near  the  Mosses  about  1819, 
but  their  efforts  were  unsuccessful.  Little 
coal  mining  was  done  until  Mr.  William 
Irving,  Workington,  took  a  lease  of  Lord 
Lonsdale's  royalty  in  1860  and  put  down  the 
present  Asby  Colliery  53  fathoms  to  the 
Main  Band  which  was  found  in  great  per- 
fection. The  Irving  family  along  with  other 
partners  carried  on  Asby  Colliery  until  1899, 
when  Messrs.  Johnson  and  Peile,  the  present 
lessees,  took  it. 

Coal  was  worked  anterior  to  1700  in  the 
township  of  Whillimoor.  Since  that  date 
coal  has  been  worked  in  a  small  way  at  inter- 
vals. 

The  colliery  at  which  most  coal  has  been 
worked  in  Whillimoor  was  Venture  Pit,  sunk 
near  Greenspot  in  1852,  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Hinde,  sailmaker,  of  Whitehaven.  It  was 
let  to  Mr.  Joseph  Ward,  Cleator  Moor,  and 
others  in  1860  ;  and  was  discontinued  in  1865. 


At  Venture  Pit  the  upper  seam,  2  ft. 
6  in.  thick,  at  14  fathoms,  and  the  lower 
seam,  said  to  be  the  China  Band,  3  ft.  thick 
at  26  fathoms,  were  worked. 

Coal  was  first  worked  in  the  parish  of 
Frizington  about  1718.  Mr.  John  Wood  in 
1728  worked  coal  in  Howth  Gill,  where  he 
had  established  furnaces  for  the  manufacture 
of  'pit-coal  iron.'  In  1730  Mr.  Wood's  pit- 
coal  iron  was  proved  to  be  worthless  at  a 
public  test  that  took  place  at  Whitehaven. 
From  1783  to  1789  Sir  James  Lowther 
worked  the  Howth  Gill  Colliery,  the  out- 
put from  which  was  only  10  tons  a  day. 
The  last  coal  mining  in  Frizington  was  un- 
dertaken in  1 86 1  by  Messrs.  Gibson,  Cook 
and  Musgrave,  who  sank  the  pit  known  as 
'  Boghole,'  on  Frizington  Moor,  48  fathoms  to 
the  '  Top  Seam,'  5  feet  thick,  which  was 
worked  until  the  colliery  was  closed  in  1878. 

Seaton,  Camerton,  F/imby,  Ellenborough, 
Broughton,  Dearham,  Dovenby,  Crosby,  Gil- 
crux. — Two  miners  named  Gorton  from 
Swailedale,  Yorkshire,  played  a  prominent 
part  in  the  early  development  of  the  coal 
mines  within  the  manor  of  Seaton. 

In  1722  they  obtained  from  Mr.  Henry 
Curwen,  Workington,  lord  of  the  manor,  a 
lease  of  the  Seaton  colliery  for  a  term  of 
thirty-eight  years. 

A  map  of  Seaton  coal  works  in  1722  shows 
several  pits,  16  fathoms  deep,  in  Moorhouse 
Guards,  sunk  on  a  level  discharging  into 
Eagle  Gill ;  other  pits  near  Seaton  Town 
Head  ;  and  a  level,  driven  in  '  Pearson  Wood,' 
to  the  Yard  coal  in  a  pit  near  St.  Helens 
No.  2  Colliery. 

The  manor  passed  by  bequest  from  the 
Curwens  to  Mr.  Charles  Pelham,  Brocklesby, 
Lincolnshire,  from  whom  it  was  purchased 
by  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale. 

In  1727  the  Gortons  took  from  Mr.  Pel- 
ham  a  lease  of  his  coal  mines  in  Seaton  on 
terms  identical  with  those  in  Mr.  Curwen's 
lease. 

In  1728  Captain  Walter  Lutwidge  and 
Mr.  John  Spedding,  Whitehaven,  bought  the 
Gortons'  interest  in  the  leases  from  Mr. 
Pelham  and  Mr.  Curwen.  Thereupon  Seaton 
Colliery  was  carried  on  by  Captain  Lut- 
widge, John  Spedding  and  Thomas  Benn, 
Whitehaven. 

In  1729  the  output  of  coal  at  Seaton  Col- 
liery was  8,290  tons  from  Smithy,  Murra 
Cards  and  Aygill  Pits. 

In  1732  Sir  James  Lowther  had  bought 
out  Messrs.  Spedding  and  Benn,  and  from 
that  date  until  the  end  of  the  lease  in  1760, 
in  conjunction  with  Captain  Lutwidge,  car- 
ried on  the  colliery.  In  1740  they  had  wag- 


373 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


gon-ways  to  all  their  pits.  The  length  of  the 
main  waggon-way  from  Workington  harbour 
to  Goodly  Croft  Pit,  in  Muncaster  Close,  was 
nearly  3  miles,  and  there  were  branches  to 
the  other  pits.  Goodly  Croft  Pit,  the  termi- 
nus of  the  waggon-way,  was  in  Seaton  Banks 
near  Kirklands. 

Seaton  Colliery  consisted  of  two  groups  of 
pits,  one  at  St.  Helens  and  Moorhouse  Guards ; 
and  the  other,  in  Seaton  Banks,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Derwent.  To  the  pits  at  St. 
Helens  a  waggon-way  proceeded  from  the 
north  side  of  Workington  harbour  through 
Fullock  Meadow.  A  branch  up  Hazell  Gill 
brought  the  coals  from  High  Seaton  pits  down 
to  the  harbour. 

In  1741  the  output  of  coal  at  Seaton  Col- 
liery from  Muncaster,  Holden,  Cragg  Close, 
Pearson  Close,  Wales,  Murra  Cards,  and 
Loaning  Head  Pits  was  34,566  tons ;  in 
1748,  from  Stephen,  High,  Low,  Falcon, 
Well,  Crag  and  Pattinson  Pits,  32,188  tons  ; 
and  in  1753,  from  Hill,  Pearson,  Muncaster 
and  Moor  Pits,  39,328  tons. 

The  seams  worked  were  called  the  Murra 
Cards,  Smithy  and  Crow  Bands. 

After  1760  Sir  James  Lowther  carried  on 
Seaton  Colliery  alone. 

In  1781  Robinson  Pit,  in  Seaton  Banks, 
produced  daily  18  tons  of  coal  from  a  5  ft. 
seam  at  24  fathoms ;  and  two  pits  in  Kirk- 
lands,  28  tons  from  a  26  in.  seam.  In  1781 
Sir  James  Lowther  stopped  his  pits  at  Seaton 
for  reasons  already  given.  In  1800  Lord 
Lonsdale  was  again  working  two  pits  in  Kirk- 
lands  and  supplying  coal  to  Seaton  Iron 
Works.  Since  then  little  has  been  done  in 
Kirklands  until  Dr.  Mutch  began  operations 
in  1883. 

About  1825  Mr.  John  Fletcher,  Seaton 
Green,  became  lessee  of  Mr.  Ralph  Cook's 
Camerton  Colliery  and  sank  Greengill  Pits, 
completed  to  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam,  30 
fathoms,  in  1829.  His  tenancy  lasted  until 
1840. 

Mr.  William  Thornburn,  Papcastle,  then 
took  Camerton  Colliery,  being  succeeded  in 
1857  ty  Messrs.  Cook  &  Co. 

In  1873  Mr.  Joshua  Mulcaster  became 
lessee.  Since  1876  Dr.  Mutch  has  carried 
on  the  colliery,  which  consists  of  two  pits 
and  a  drift  in  Israel  Gill,  where  the  Little 
Main,  Potash  and  Lickbank  Seams  have  been 
worked. 

From  1840  coal  and  fireclay  have  been 
worked  continuously  at  Moorhouse  Guards, 
Seaton,  from  seams  above  the  Ten  Quarters, 
by  successive  lessees,  the  present  being  the 
Seaton  Firebrick  Co. 

About  1850  Messrs.  Buckham,  Mulcaster, 


Nicholson  and  Harris  sank  Mary  or  Buckham 
Pit,  No.  i,  Seaton  Moor  Colliery,  in  the 
eastern  part  of  Seaton  to  the  Ten  Quarters 
Seam,  32  fathoms.  This  pit  was  abandoned 
in  1869. 

In  1 86 1  Messrs.  Mulcaster,  Nicholson, 
Cook,  Bell  and  Westray  reopened  and  en- 
larged two  of  Sir  James  Lowther's  old  pits 
at  St.  Helens  and  continued  them  to  the 
Cannel  and  Metal  Band.  These  pits  were 
called  Nos.  i  and  2,  St.  Helens  Colliery ;  and 
there  the  Rattler,  Ten  Quarters,  and  Cannel 
and  Metal  Bands  were  worked  until  the  col- 
liery was  stopped  in  1887. 

In  1870  Messrs.  Mulcaster  and  Bell  be- 
came the  lessees  of  St.  Helens  Colliery,  and 
in  1877  began  the  sinking  of  No.  3  Colliery, 
Siddick,  which  was  completed  by  their  suc- 
cessors, the  St.  Helens  Colliery  and  Brick 
Works  Co.,  Ltd.,  to  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam 
in  1880,  and  to  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band, 
a  depth  of  119  fathoms,  in  1882.  In  1889 
the  shafts  were  put  down  to  the  Lickbank 
Seam,  a  depth  of  170  fathoms. 

The  Ten  Quarters,  Cannel  and  Metal, 
Little  Main  and  Lickbank  Seams  have  been 
worked  extensively  from  this  colliery  under 
the  land,  and  the  workings  in  the  two  upper 
seams  have  now  entered  the  under-sea  area. 

In  1888  an  explosion  of  firedamp  occurred 
in  the  Cannel  Band  workings  in  No.  3  Col- 
liery, causing  the  loss  of  30  lives. 

In  1901  Nos.  I  and  2  shafts  at  St.  Helens 
were  reopened,  enlarged  and  deepened  to  win 
the  coal  over  the  faults  that  had  stopped  the 
former  lessees.  The  Carboniferous  Limestone 
was  reached,  but,  owing  to  faults,  its  position 
below  any  known  seam  of  coal  could  not  be 
determined. 

Coal  mining  in  the  parish  of  Flimby  be- 
gan at  Flimby  Park  or  Woodside  Colliery, 
which  was  worked  by  Sir  James  Lowther  in 
1781.  At  that  time  it  must  have  been  an  old 
colliery,  because  a  level  had  then  been  driven 
from  the  Ellenborough  boundary  for  a  dis- 
tance of  i,2OO  yards  to  the  south  for  the 
drainage  of  the  rise  coal,  in  which  had 
been  sunk  seventeen  pits,  of  which  Wren  Pit, 
the  most  important,  was  58  fathoms  to  the 
Cannel  Band.  The  Colliery  was  stopped  in 
1781. 

In  1802  Mr.  John  Walker  entered  upon 
the  Flimby  Park  Colliery  and  worked  it  until 
1825.  In  1802  it  had  a  daily  output  of  70 
tons,  and  gave  employment  to  23  men. 

From  1839  to  1842  Mr.  John  Fletcher 
worked  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band  at  a  pit, 
near  Risehow.  About  1850  Messrs.  John 
Harris,  Darlington,  and  Robert  Wilson  sank 
John  and  Risehow  Pits.  The  Cannel  Band 


374 


INDUSTRIES 


under  the  foreshore  was  worked  at  the  latter 
until  1858,  when  it  was  closed. 

In  1855  they  sank  Robin  Hood  Pit,  also 
in  Mr.  Curwen's  property. 

In  1854  Messrs.  Harris,  Nicholson  and 
Mulcaster  took  Lord  Lonsdale's  Seaton  Moor 
royalty,  and  opened  Nos.  2  and  3  in  Flimby 
in  the  Cannel  Band.  These  pits  were  stopped 
in  1869. 

In  1855  Messrs.  Isaac  Bass  and  Robert 
Wilson  became  the  lessees  of  Lord  Lonsdale's 
Flimby  royalties.  Subsequently  Flimby  Col- 
lieries were  worked  by  Mr.  Wilson  and  his 
sons  until  1 893,  when  the  concern  was  formed 
into  the  Flimby  and  Broughton  Moor  Coal 
and  Firebrick  Co.,  Ltd.  The  pits  now  draw- 
ing coals  at  Flimby  are  Watergate  Pit,  sunk 
in  1866;  Robin  Hood  Pit;  and  Moor  Pit, 
sunk  in  1873  >  fr°m  which  most  of  the  seams 
occurring  in  the  coalfield  have  been  worked 
over  a  large  area.  Mr.  Wilson  took  over  the 
Seaton  Moor  Collieries  in  1870. 

The  only  other  colliery  in  Flimby  is  at 
Gillhcad,  where  the  Gillhead  Coal  and  Fire- 
brick Co.  have  been  working  coal,  fireclay 
and  ganister  from  the  Little  Main  and  Lick- 
bank  Seams  since  1897.  Mr.  J0^11  Scurr 
had  a  pit  at  Gillhead  in  1832,  but  the  present 
shaft  was  sunk  by  Messrs.  Lucock  and  Carl- 
ton  in  1867.  In  1875  Mr.  Henry  Graves, 
Aspatria,  took  the  colliery,  and  was  in  1881 
succeeded  by  his  son,  Mr.  Richard  Graves, 
who  carried  it  on  until  1897. 

In  the  manor  of  Ellenborough  Mr.  Sen- 
house  of  Netherhall  began  to  work  coal  in  a 
small  way  about  1740.  In  1767  he  let  his 
colliery  at  Ellenborough  to  Messrs.  Monk- 
house  and  Laws,  who  required  coal  for  their 
glass  works.  The  colliery  having  been  sur- 
rendered, Mr.  Senhouse  resumed  working  it 
in  1772. 

In  1772  Ellenborough  Colliery  or  Mally 
Pit  produced  60  tons  of  coal  per  week,  and  in 
1786  the  output  had  risen  to  500  tons  a 
week. 

Soon  afterwards  Mr.  Senhouse  engaged 
Mr.  George  Wrightson  of  Byker,  Newcastle- 
on-Tyne,  to  be  his  viewer.  In  1790  he 
erected  a  '  fire-engine '  made  by  the  Carron 
Company  at  the  new  winning,  Great  Pit, 
Ellenborough.  It  had  a  36  in.  cylinder,  and 
the  pumps  were  9  in.  diameter.  In  1792  it 
was  removed  to  a  more  advantageous  position 
at  Engine  Pit  in  Ellenborough  Gill. 

From  1786  to  1790  Morrison,  Ashley, 
Common,  Martin,  Gavel  and  Meadow  Pits 
were  sunk.  In  1790  the  output  was  about 
250  tons  a  week. 

After  1790  Gill,  Kirkborough,  Beck  Moor, 
Brick  and  Ann  Pits  were  sunk. 


Mr.  Senhouse  continued  working  Ellen- 
borough  Colliery  until  1808.  None  of  the 
Ellenborough  Pits  had  yet  been  sunk  below 
the  Senhouse  High  Band,  then  called  the 
Orfeur  Seam. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  refer  here  to  the 
adjacent  Ewanrigg  estate  belonging  to  Mr. 
Christian,  because  after  1849  Mr.  Joseph 
Harris  carried  on  both  Ewanrigg  and  Ellen- 
borough  Collieries.  Prior  to  1755  Mr.  John 
Christian  had  sunk  pits  in  his  manor  of 
Ewanrigg.  He  and  his  son,  Mr.  John 
Christian  Curwen,  sank  John  or  Dog  Ken- 
nel, Henry,  William,  Thompson,  Cass, 
Rough  Ground,  Mall  Scott,  Middle  Tarn 
and  High  Pits  to  the  Cannel  Band. 

Ewanrigg  and  Broughton  Collieries  were 
from  an  early  period  worked  together ;  and  at 
the  latter  coal  was  worked  from  numerous 
shallow  pits. 

In  1755  Messrs.  Humphrey  Senhouse, 
Netherhall  ;  John  Christian,  Ewanrigg  ; 
Thomas  Hartley,  John  Gale,  Edmund  Gib- 
son, Whitehaven  ;  and  James  Postlethwaite, 
Maryport,  entered  upon  Broughton  Colliery. 
They  worked  the  '  Main  '  and  '  Little '  Bands 
at  the  Three  Quarters,  East  and  West  Saw 
Pits,  at  the  rate  of  200  tons  a  week. 

During  1773  Mr.  Christian  bought  out 
the  other  partners  in  Broughton  Colliery, 
which  he,  and  afterwards  his  son,  Mr.  John 
Christian  Curwen,  carried  on  in  connection 
with  the  Ewanrigg  Colliery. 

During  twenty -six  years  ended  1781, 
765,530  tons,  of  36  Winchester  bushels 
each,  were  raised  from  Broughton  pits. 

In  1802  Mr.  J.  C.  Curwen  took  a  lease  of 
Broughton  Colliery  from  the  Earl  of  Egre- 
mont,  who  stipulated  that  Ewanrigg  level 
should  be  extended  to  No.  35  Pit  in  Brough- 
ton Moor.  This  water-level  had  been  made 
from  the  low  ground,  near  Ewanrigg  Hall,  to 
the  Cannel  Band  in  Broughton,  and  on  its 
extension  measured,  with  its  branches,  nearly 
2  miles.  Mr.  Christian  also  constructed  a 
wooden  waggon-way  from  Broughton  pits 
to  the  Arches  near  Ewanrigg  Hall,  whence 
the  coals  were  carted  to  Maryport.  In  1812 
18,498  tons  of  coal  were  raised  at  Mr. 
Curwen's  Broughton  Colliery,  chiefly  from 
the  Cannel  Band. 

The  area  mined  in  Broughton  Moor  is 
divided  into  six  distinct  strips  by  north  and 
south  faults.  In  the  most  westerly  of  these 
divisions  next  to  Flimby,  Seaton,  and  Ribton, 
Mr.  Curwen  sank  Middle  Tarn,  High  Tarn, 
Brough  and  Country  Pits,  and  Messrs.  Ross, 
Fletcher  &  Co.,  Wyndham  Pit.  In  the  next 
or  second  division  to  the  east,  separated  from 
the  first  by  an  upthrow  west  fault  of  20 


375 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


fathoms,  were  Old  Level,  Fiery,  Low  Tarn, 
and  Standing-stone  Pits,  sunk  by  Mr.  Curwen. 
Buckhill  Pit  is  in  this  tract.  The  third  tract, 
separated  from  the  second  by  an  up  east  fault 
of  30  fathoms,  is  studded  with  numerous  old 
pits,  including  Philip  Pit,  sunk  by  Mr.  Curwen, 
at  the  north,  and  old  Ruston  Pit  at  the  south. 
In  the  fourth  tract,  separated  from  the  third  by 
an  upthrow  west  fault  of  1 8  fathoms,  were 
numerous  old  pits  (sunk  along  the  outcrop  near 
a  down  east  fault  of  30  fathoms  which  divides 
the  fourth  and  fifth  tracts),  and  Bertha  Pit 
from  which  coal  was  worked  to  the  south  as 
far  as  Bradmoor  Pits.  In  the  fifth  tract,  the 
chief  pits  were  the  Henry  or  Nelson  (closed  in 
1862),  and  Mary  Pits.  In  the  sixth  tract, 
furthest  to  the  east,  separated  from  the  fifth  by 
an  upthrow  east  fault  of  12  fathoms  coal  was 
worked  from  the  fault  to  the  outcrop  by  scores 
of  old  pits,  extending  to  Little  Broughton. 

In  recent  years  a  piece  of  Cannel  Band,  in 
the  northern  part  of  the  sixth  tract,  was 
wrought  from  Road  End  Pit  up  to  the  out- 
crop. 

From  183710  1856  Messrs.  Ross,  Fletcher 
&  Co.  worked  Wyndham,  Standing-stone, 
Nelson,  Mary  and  Road  End  Pits. 

In  1 860  Mr.  John  Harris,  Darlington,  sank 
the  first  Bertha  Pit,  and  worked  it  until  1872, 
when  Mr.  Robert  Wilson  took  the  northern 
portion  of  Broughton  Moor,  upon  which  the 
new  Bertha  Pit  is  sunk,  and  Messrs.  I.  and 
W.  Fletcher  took  the  remainder  of  Lord 
Leconfield's  Broughton  royalty  on  which 
Buckhill  Pit  is  sunk. 

At  Bertha  Pit,  72  fathoms  to  the  Lickbank 
Seam,  the  seams  below  the  Cannel  Band  are 
now  being  worked  by  the  Flimby  and  Brough- 
ton Moor  Coal  and  Firebrick  Co.,  Ltd.,  Mr. 
Wilson's  successors. 

At  Buckhill  Pit  66  fathoms  deep  to  the 
Little  Main  Seam,  the  Main,  Yard,  and 
Little  Main  Seams  are  being  worked  by  the 
Allerdale  Coal  Co.,  Ltd.,  who  succeeded 
Messrs.  Fletcher. 

Near  Dearham  boundary,  in  the  township 
of  Little  Broughton,  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam 
was  worked  to  Lonsdale  Pit,  Dearham,  until 
its  abandonment  in  1894. 

In  1898  Messrs.  Williamson  and  Walton 
sank  Alice  Pit,  Outfields,  in  Little  Broughton, 
to  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam. 

To  revert  to  Ewanrigg  and  Ellenborough 
Collieries.  Ewanrigg  Colliery  was  worked 
by  the  Christian  family  up  to  1836,  when  it 
was  taken  by  Mr.  A.  W.  Hillary,  son  of  Sir 
William  Hillary,  who  worked  the  colliery  up 
to  1840,  when  Mr.  Joseph  Harris  took  it. 
He  abandoned  the  old  pits  and  began  a  new 
winning,  at  Risehow,  which  was  unsuccessful. 


On  entering  upon  Ellenborough  Colliery, 
Mr.  Joseph  Harris  began  the  sinking  of  No.  2 
shaft  which  was  completed  to  the  Ten 
Quarters  Seam,  100  fathoms,  in  1851. 

The  Maryport  Haematite  Iron  and  Steel 
Co.,  Ltd.,  were  lessees  of  the  colliery  from 
1878  until  1891,  when  they  went  into  liqui- 
dation. 

From  the  shafts  now  open,  the  Rattler, 
Ten  Quarters  and  Cannel  and  Metal  Seams 
have  been  worked  to  the  north  up  to  the  fault 
which  throws  in  the  Permian  Sandstone,  at 
Maryport. 

In  1892  Ellenborough  Colliery  was  closed. 

In  1895  the  present  lessees,  the  Ellen- 
borough  Colliery  Co.,  Ltd.,  took  the  colliery, 
and  began  working  the  Senhouse  High  Band. 

In  the  parish  of  Dearham,  Sir  James 
Lowther,  Whitehaven,  was  amongst  the  first 
to  work  coal.  From  1723  to  1758  he 
worked  the  Dearham  Crosa  or  Crosey  Pits. 

In  1728  Crosa  Colliery,  comprising  Hazel, 
Gill  and  Wilson  Pits,  at  which  there  were 
only  6  hewers,  was  under  the  supervision  of 
Mr.  Carlisle  Spedding,  Whitehaven. 

From  1732  to  1736  Troughear,  Bell, 
Reavel  and  Bowerham  Pits,  and  from  1736 
to  1750,  Tolson,  Fortune,  Winder,  Shilton, 
Grindall,  Simond,  Armstrong,  Jacob,  Fletcher, 
Gardner,  Cason  and  Birkby  Pits  were  sunk  at 
Crosa. 

In  1750  the  output  of  coal  at  Crosa  Pits 
was  I  oo  tons  a  week. 

In  1752  Hazel  Gill  and  Wren,  and  in 
1755  Cason  Bell,  Orfeur  and  Wilson  Pits 
were  producing  a  total  output  of  150  tons  a 
week. 

In  1758  Sir  James  Lowther  was  working 
Little  and  Sim  Pits  at  Crosa,  probably  the 
last  which  he  worked  in  Dearham. 

Since  then  others  have  worked  coal  further 
up  Row  Beck  towards  Townhead. 

In  1803  Mr.  James  Penn  worked  the 
Rattler  Band  from  a  pit  13  fathoms  deep, 
near  Dearham  Hall ;  and  the  pillars  in  the 
Ten  Quarters  Seam  were  being  brought  back 
from  day-holes  in  the  east  bank  at  Row 
Beck. 

In  1808  Dearham  Row  Colliery,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  Row  Beck,  was  at  work. 

About  1820  Mr.  John  Walker,  Flimby 
Park  Colliery,  became  lessee  of  the  Earl  of 
Lonsdale's  Dearham  royalty,  and  worked  the 
Ten  Quarters  Seam  at  Hope,  William  and 
Bell  Pits. 

After  his  day  his  sons  (Messrs.  John  and 
Thomas  Walker),  and  after  them  Messrs. 
John  Mackintosh  and  Thomas  Walker  (sons 
of  Mr.  Thomas  Walker)  further  developed 
Dearham  Colliery  in  the  Ten  Quarters  and 


376 


INDUSTRIES 


Cannel  and  Metal  Bands.  They  sank  Scott, 
George,  Croft  and  Victoria  Pits,  but  their 
principal  pits  were  Lowther  and  Lonsdale. 

Lonsdale  Pit  was  sunk  in  Dcarham  Out- 
gang  about  1830.  Several  years  afterwards, 
the  pumping  plant  proving  to  be  inadequate, 
the  workings  became  flooded.  The  pumping 
engine  was  then  removed  to  the  new  winning 
(completed  in  1840),  named  Lowther  Pit,  in 
Garlic  Gill ;  and  Lonsdale  Pit  stood  till 
1852,  when  more  powerful  machinery  was 
erected  and  enabled  it  to  be  re-opened. 

In  1877  Messrs.  J.  M.  and  T.  Walker 
sold  Dearham  Colliery  to  Mr.  John  Osmas- 
ton,  Derby.  The  colliery  was  not  successful 
during  his  tenancy,  and  was  taken  over  by 
the  Cumberland  Union  Banking  Co.,  who 
carried  on  Lonsdale  Pit,  until  1894,  when 
the  lease  was  surrendered  and  the  colliery 
abandoned. 

Others  besides  the  Walker  family  worked 
coal  in  Dearham  after  the  Lowthers,  but 
none  to  the  like  extent.  In  1820  Mr. 
Ephraim  Barker  had  a  pit  near  Bell  Pit,  from 
which  he  worked  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam,  at 
1 4  fathoms;  and  in  1823  he  was  working 
a  pit,  5  fathoms  deep  to  the  Cannel  Band,  at 
High  Crosshow. 

In  1840,  Messrs.  Ostle  and  Duglinson 
were  working  the  Cannel  Band,  30  fathoms 
deep,  at  a  pit  on  the  east  bank  of  Row  Beck, 
near  Townhead.  In  its  vicinity  Messrs. 
Wood  and  Steel  worked  the  Cannel  and 
Metal  Band  at  John  Pit  from  1846  to  1850. 
The  same  firm  also  sank,  about  1842, 
Orchard  Pit,  near  Dearham  Hall,  which  was 
afterwards  sunk  by  Mr.  John  Steel,  M.P., 
to  the  Little  Main  Seam. 

In  1842  waggon  roads  were  made  from 
the  Dearham  pits  to  the  Maryport  and  Car- 
lisle Railway. 

In  1860  Orchard  Pit,  still  worked  by  Mr. 
Steel,  found  employment  for  80  persons,  and 
produced  about  1 1,000  tons  of  coal. 

Messrs.  W.  Tickle  &  Sons  were  getting 
coal  and  fireclay,  between  1866  and  1877,  'n 
Dearham,  from  the  thin  seams  below  the 
Yard  Band  out  of  adits  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Ellen.  From  1894  to  1901  Messrs.  Steele 
and  Beveridge  were  working  coal  and  fireclay 
in  the  same  locality. 

After  the  abandonment  of  Lonsdale  Pit,  a 
company  of  working  men  re-opened  a  pit, 
worked  by  Mr.  John  Paitson  in  1823,  at 
Townhead,  and  began  working  the  Cannel 
and  Yard  Bands  between  Lonsdale  Pit  work- 
ings, and  Row  Beck.  The  company  went 
into  liquidation  in  1903. 

At  the  same  time  the  Dearham  Colliery 
Co.,  Ltd.,  composed  largely  of  working  men, 


was  formed.  They  reopened  the  old  shafts 
at  Crosshow,  and  worked  the  1 8  in.  Little 
Main  and  Lickbank  Seams  until  1903,  when 
the  company  went  into  liquidation. 

In  the  parish  of  Dovenby  the  principal  coal 
workings  have  been  made  in  recent  times  near 
the  outcrop  of  the  Cannel  Band,  near  Sepul- 
chre Beck. 

From  1830  to  1838  Messrs.  Henry  Tickle 
&  Son  worked  the  Cannel  and  Metal  Band 
from  a  pit  sunk  south  of  Row  Beck  Mill. 

About  1853  Messrs.  Steel  and  Miller  sunk 
a  pit  25  fathoms  deep  near  Dovenby  Close 
and  worked  the  Cannel  and  Metal,  Yard  and 
Little  Main  Seams  until  1860. 

The  next  venture  was  by  Messrs.  Harris 
and  Carlton,  who  sank  in  1872  a  pit  near  the 
south-east  corner  of  Dearham  parish,  and 
worked  the  Cannel  and  Metal,  Yard,  Little 
Main,  and  Brassey  seams.  Messrs.  Harris  & 
Son,  Derwent  Thread  Mills,  and  afterwards 
Messrs.  James  and  William  Wood,  Glasgow, 
continued  the  colliery  until  1895,  when  it 
was  laid  in.  Since  then  no  coal  has  been 
worked  in  Dovenby. 

The  collieries  that  have  been  worked  in 
Gilcrux  parish  lie  between  the  Ellen  and  the 
fault  which  throws  up  the  Carboniferous  Lime- 
stone near  the  village.  The  first  coal  mining 
was  by  the  Dykes  family,  Dovenby  Hall,  in 
1740.  In  1784  Miss  Dykes,  lady  of  the  manor, 
and  Mr.  Sealby  had  each  two  pits  at  work  in 
Gilcrux. 

In  1807  the  original  Gilcrux  Colliery, 
covering  an  area  of  40  acres  in  the  Metal 
and  Ten  Quarters  Seams,  which  had  been 
drained  by  the  water  mill  at  the  '  Bob '  Pit 
near  the  Ellen,  was  standing  full  of  water. 
The  actual  working  part  of  the  colliery  was 
so  much  troubled  in  1807  that  Mr.  Grieve, 
Edinburgh,  who  was  consulted,  advised  its 
removal  from  the  vicinity  of  the  springs  at 
Gilcrux  village  and  that  a  new  winning  be 
made  west  of  the  old  Water  Mill  Pit. 

In  1808  Mr.  Grieve  surveyed  the  route  of 
a  projected  waggon  road  from  Gilcrux  Colliery 
to  the  sea  at  Blue  Dial.  At  the  same  time 
he  suggested  the  alternative  scheme  of  an 
underground  level  from  the  sea  at  Blue  Dial 
to  Gilcrux  Colliery,  similar  to  the  Bridge- 
water  Canal,  inasmuch  as  it  could  be  used 
not  only  for  the  conveyance  of  coal  but  also 
for  the  drainage  of  the  colliery. 

Mr.  Dykes  did  not  live  to  carry  out  either 
of  these  proposals,  and  in  1831  his  widow 
decided  to  lease  the  colliery.  At  that  time 
the  field  of  coal  won  by  Jane  Pit,  the  sole 
one  then  at  work,  was  nearly  exhausted. 

In  1831  the  colliery  was  leased  to  Messrs. 
William  Quayle  and  Williamson  Peile,  col- 


II 


377 


48 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


liery  viewers,  Whitehaven,  and  after  their 
deaths  carried  on  by  their  widows  until  the 
expiration  of  the  lease  in  1852. 

Mr.  Edward  Bowes  Steel  then  became  the 
lessee  of  Gilcrux  Colliery  and  continued  to 
work  Jane  Pit.  In  1854  Eliza  Pit,  or  Ellen- 
side  Colliery,  was  sunk  about  a  mile  east  of 
Jane  Pit. 

In  1860,  when  Messrs.  John  Steel,  M.P., 
Cockermouth,  and  William  Miller,  White- 
haven,  became  the  sub-lessees  of  the  colliery, 
coal  was  worked  at  Jane  and  Eliza  Pits.  Jane 
Pit  had  then  been  sunk  to  the  Yard  Band,  a 
depth  of  76  fathoms,  whence  the  upper  and 
principal  seams  were  gained  by  drifts  through 
downthrow  faults  ;  and,  at  Eliza  Pit,  the  Ten 
Quarters  Seam  was  worked.  The  total  out- 
put at  both  pits  was  250  tons  a  day. 

In  1859  the  sinking  of  Ellen  Pit  near 
Bullgill  Station  was  commenced,  and  in  1862 
was  finished  to  the  Lickbank  Seam,  a  depth 
of  101  fathoms. 

In  1866  Mr.  Dykes  granted  a  lease  of  the 
colliery  to  the  Gilcrux  Colliery  Co.,  Ltd., 
who  sublet  it  in  1868  to  the  Crosby  Colliery  - 
Co.,  in  which  Mr.  William  Mulcaster,  Flimby, 
was  the  managing  partner  ;  and  they  worked 
it  in  conjunction  with  Crosby  Colliery,  com- 
prising No.  i  and  Rosegill  Pits. 

The  sinking  of  No.  i  Crosby  Pit  was 
begun  in  1854  and  the  Ten  Quarters  Seam 
was  reached  in  1856. 

Rosegill  Pit  was  completed  to  the  Ten 
Quarters  Seam  in  1863,  and  subsequently 
the  lower  coal  seams  down  to  the  Yard  Band 
were  won  by  a  dip  drift. 

In  1867  No.  i  Crosby  Pit  was  continued 
to  the  Little  Main  Seam,  which  however 
was  only  worked  for  a  few  years.  The  shaft 
was  afterwards  the  upcast  for  the  other  two 
pits  until  1893,  when  it  was  abandoned. 

Crosby  and  Gilcrux  Collieries  were  trans- 
ferred to  the  Lonsdale  Haematite  Iron  and 
Steel  Co.,  Ltd.,  Whitehaven,  in  1883,  and  in 
1885,  at  No.  i  Crosby  Pit,  the  dip  drift  which 
proved  the  Carboni  ferous  Limestone,  60  fathoms 
below  the  Little  Main  Seam,  was  begun  from 
that  seam. 

In  1896  the  Bullgill  Colliery  Co.,  Ltd., 
took  Crosby  and  Gilcrux  Collieries,  and  Rose- 
gill  Pit  was  closed. 

In  1901  the  Bullgill  Coal  Co.,  Ltd.,  took 
over  the  Gilcrux,  or  Bullgill  Colliery,  and  are 
now  raising  coal  at  Ellen  Pit  from  the  Crow 
Coal  and  Metal  Band. 

The  manor  of  Birkby  with  that  of  Brough- 
ton  was  purchased  in  1738  from  the  Duke  of 
Wharton's  trustees  by  Charles,  Duke  of 
Somerset,  from  whom  it  has  descended  to 
Lord  Leconfield. 


378 


In  1781  Mr.  John  Christian,  Ewanrigg, 
took  a  lease  of  Birkby  Colliery  from  the  Earl 
of  Egremont. 

In  1796  the  vend  of  coal  had  increased  to 
6,430  tons. 

The  colliery  was  untenanted  from  1802  to 
1832,  when  Messrs.  Tickle  and  Thompson 
leased  it  from  the  Earl  of  Egremont.  They 
gave  it  up  in  1836.  Birkby  royalty  was  let, 
from  1837  to  1856,  to  Messrs  Ross,  Fletcher 
and  Thompson,  who  however  did  not  work 
any  coal  there. 

About  1860  Mr.  W.  Tickle  established 
Birkby  Brickworks  and  began  to  work  from 
adits  in  both  banks  of  the  Ellen  the  thin  seams 
of  coal  and  fireclay  below  the  Little  Main. 

From  1879  to  1883  Messrs.  Croudace  and 
Watson  were  tenants  of  Birkby  works,  which 
were  then  sold  to  a  company  promoted  by 
Mr.  David  Burns,  Carlisle.  Mother  Pit  was 
then  sunk  to  the  Little  Main  Seam,  12 
fathoms,  and  in  1893  a  further  depth  of  10 
fathoms  to  No.  2  Seam.  Shortly  afterwards 
the  pit  was  abandoned,  and  thus  ended  all 
coal  mining  in  Birkby. 

The  earliest  reference  to  coal  mining  at 
Oughterside  is  in  the  will  of  William  Orfeur, 
High  Close,  dated  1681,  by  which  he  be- 
queathed the  gear  belonging  to  his  colliery  at 
Oughterside  to  his  son.  An  old  map  shows 
that  in  1700  the  Duke  of  Somerset  had  two 
pits  north  of  Mr.  Orfeur's  colliery  near  the 
Ellen.  Nicolson  and  Burn  in  1777  recorded 
that  there  was  then  a  good  colliery  at  Ough- 
terside. Coal  mining  in  Oughterside  was  only 
on  a  small  scale  until  1830,  when  Mr.  Kirk- 
haugh  sank  a  pit  at  Westmoor  to  the  Yard 
Band,  a  depth  of  48  fathoms.  The  seams  of 
coal  in  Oughterside  are  the  Ten  Quarters, 
30  in.,  and  Yard  Bands.  The  two  first  are 
in  the  Whitehaven  Sandstone,  and  are  absent 
at  Westmoor  Pit;  but  were  wrought  at 
numerous  old  pits  and  by  Mr.  Fletcher  at 
the  Bank  End  Pit,  abandoned  in  1858. 

Before  the  construction  of  the  Maryport 
and  Carlisle  Railway,  Oughterside  coals  were 
carted  to  staiths  at  Allonby  for  shipment. 
Mr.  Kirkhaugh  continued  working  his  col- 
liery until  1850,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
the  Aspatria  Coal  Co.  (Messrs.  Westray, 
Fletcher  and  Bragg). 

In  1857  tne  Yard  Band  was  exhausted, 
and  a  trial  of  the  30  in.  seam,  30  fathoms 
above,  proved  it  to  be  unsatisfactory. 

About  the  same  time  as  Mr.  Kirkhaugh 
began  operations,  Mr.  Joseph  Harris,  Grey- 
southen,  was  engaged  at  old  Domain  Colliery, 
Oughterside,  at  Nos.  I,  3,  and  Hall  Pits, 
where  the  Yard  and  30  in.  seam  were  ex- 
tensively worked. 


INDUSTRIES 


The  old  Domain  Colliery  was  stopped  in 
1861. 

In  the  Aspatria  district,  the  Yard  Band  is 
found,  in  great  perfection,  upwards  of  4  feet 
thick. 

Mr.  Joseph  Harris,  Greysouthen,  embarked 
in  coal-mining  there  in  1822,  when  he  sank 
a  pit  in  Plumbland,  and  worked  the  Yard 
Band  up  to  the  outcrop. 

In  1826  Messrs.  Drewry  &  Co.,  and  in 
1836  Mr.  Thornthwaite,  were  working  the 
Yard  Band  from  pits  at  Arkleby. 

In  1850  Mr.  Harris,  son  of  the  lessee  of 
the  Plumbland  and  Oughterside  Collieries, 
sank  Nos.  i  and  2  Pits,  Bray  ton  Domain  Col- 
liery, from  which  the  Yard  Band  was  worked, 
until  1870,  when  the  coal  was  exhausted  up 
to  the  outcrop  and  to  faults. 

In  1869  Mr.  Harris's  trustees  sank  No.  3 
Brayton  Domain  Pit,  over  a  large  downthrow 
fault,  which  puts  in  the  Yard  Band  again  to 
the  east. 

At  No.  3  Pit,  closed  in  1902,  a  large  tract 
of  Yard  Band  has  been  worked  eastward  to 
the  outcrop  at  Blennerhasset  and  Baggrow, 
and  northwards  to  the  Permian  fault. 

No.  4  Brayton  Domain  Pit  was  sunk  near 
Brayton  Junction,  1888-92,  by  Mr.  Joseph 
Harris,  Calthwaite  Hall,  92  fathoms  to  the 
Yard  Band,  5  ft.  thick,  beyond  the  fault, 
which  was  regarded,  at  one  time,  to  be  the 
northern  limit  of  the  coalfield. 

East  of  No.  3  Pit  is  Allhallows  Colliery, 
sunk  near  Mealsgate  Station,  by  Messrs.  I. 
and  W.  Fletcher,  in  1874,  to  the  Yard  Band, 
5  ft.  thick,  a  depth  of  105  fathoms.  The 
Allerdale  Coal  Co.,  Ltd.,  who  now  have  the 
colliery — the  only  one  now  at  work  in  the 
eastern  part  of  the  coalfield,  sank  the  Brayton 
Knowe  Pit  to  the  same  seam  in  1902. 

East  of  Allhallows  lie  the  old  disused  Priest- 
croft,  Weary  Hall,  Crummock,  and  Bolton 
Collieries  at  the  eastern  termination  of  the 
coalfield  where  the  Crow,  Master  and  Yard 
Bands  were  worked.  Coal  in  this  region  had 
been  worked  in  1567,  but  not  very  largely 
until  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

In  1782  two  'fire-engines,'  one  with  a 
42  in.  and  the  other  with  a  30  in.  cylinder, 
were  advertised  to  be  sold  at  Weary  Hall 
Colliery. 

In  1809  Messrs.  Fawcett,  Crosthwaite  & 
Co.  held  a  lease  of  Low  Bolton  and  Weary 
Hall  Collieries  from  the  Earl  of  Egremont. 
The  aggregate  output  for  the  year  was  28,000 
tons  of  coal. 

Crummock  Colliery  lay  to  the  east  of 
Weary  Hall  Colliery.  In  1830  the  Crow 
and  Master  Bands  were  approaching  ex- 
haustion in  that  pit.  A  nip  which  occurs  in 


those    seams    there    was    described    by    Mr. 
Williamson  Peile  in  1831.' 

In  1858  Messrs.  Thomas  Addison  &  Co. 
had  Bolton,  Weary  Hall  and  Crummock  Col- 
lieries, and  Messrs.  Drewry  &  Co.,  Priestcroft 
Colliery  near  Mealsgate.  In  1863  Priestcroft 
Colliery,  and  in  1865  Weary  Hall  Colliery, 
ceased  work.  Bolton  Colliery,  held  by  Messrs. 
Addison  &  Co.,  remained  open  till  1869. 
Coal  was  last  worked  in  Bolton  in  1874  by 
the  Maryport  Iron  Company. 

MlD-CuMBERLAND    COALFIELD 

This  title  may  be  given  to  that  part  of  the 
belt  of  Carboniferous  Limestone  strata,  ranging 
from  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  western 
coalfield  towards  Penrith,  in  which  several 
thin  beds  of  coal  have  been  worked,  notably 
in  Caldbeck  and  Warnell  Fells. 

According  to  Hutchinson,  writing  in  1794, 
Mr.  Joseph  Dobson,  manager  of  Warnell  Fell 
Colliery,  had  stated  there  was  evidence  to 
prove  that  coals  had  been  dug  there  300  years 
before  that  time.  The  Rev.  Thomas  Robinson, 
rector  of  Ousby,  writing  in  1709,  said  the 
seam  of  coal  worked  at  Warnell  was  1 8  in. 
thick,  and  that  the  colliery,  which  was  very 
ancient,  had  'served  the  neighbouring  towns 
for  some  ages.' a 

In  1738  Charles,  Duke  of  Somerset,  pur- 
chased from  the  trustees  of  the  Duke  of 
Wharton  the  manor  of  Caldbeck,  including 
a  colliery.  Caldbeck  Colliery  down  to  1750 
was  held  under  the  Duke  of  Somerset ;  but 
it  was  leased  by  the  Earl  of  Egremont  to 
various  tenants  from  that  date  to  1822,  since 
when  it  has  been  unlet.  In  1774  Sir  James 
Lowther  bought  the  manor  of  Warnell.  Coal 
had  then  been  worked  in  the  manor  at  Holmes 
Colliery,  where  there  were  three  powerful 
water  '  bob '  engines,  and  also  at  Stockdale 
Gill  level  driven  into  the  high  ground  north- 
east of  the  Hall. 

These  collieries  were  standing  in  I775> 
but  Broadmoor  Colliery  near  Shauk  Beck,  in 
the  parish  of  Westward,  was  then  at  work. 
At  Stockdale  Gill  Colliery  the  seam  had  been 
worked  long-wall. 

About  1780  the  Rev.  J.  Watson,  Cumrew, 
recorded  that  a  few  coals  were  got  in  Scale- 
field,  Greystoke. 

In  1794,  according  to  Hutchinson,  War- 
nell Colliery  was  a  considerable  undertaking, 
carried  on  by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  held 
it  under  the  Duke  of  Portland  ;  but,  owing 

1  Trans.  Nat.  Hist.  Sue.  of  'Northumberland  and 
Durham,  ii.  178-80. 

a  An  Essay  towards  a  Nat.  Hist,  of  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland. 


379 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


to  untoward  circumstances,  coal  had  not  been 
worked  for  40  years  in  Warnell  Denton. 

Jefferson,  in  1 840,  alluded  to  unsuccessful 
trials  for  coal  at  Motherby  and  Hutton  John, 
and  remarked  upon  the  poor  quality  of  the 
coal  got  at  Hewer  Hill. 

In  1839  Warnell  Colliery,  which  had  for 
years  been  standing,  was  restarted,  under  a 
lease  from  Lord  Lonsdale,  by  Messrs.  Taylor 
&  Co.,  who  sank  two  pits,  26  fathoms  deep, 
in  1843,  to  the  seam  of  coal,  20  inches  thick, 
worked  to  the  rise  in  the  old  colliery. 

In  1851  nine  hewers  were  getting  coal 
there. 

EAST  CUMBERLAND  COALFIELD 

Until  1893  the  coal  produced  in  east  Cum- 
berland was  obtained  from  two  sources — the 
true  Coal  Measures  and  the  Carboniferous 
Limestone  series  ;  but  since  then  exclusively 
from  the  latter. 

The  Coal  Measures  in  East  Cumberland 
are  at  the  western  extremity  of  the  Newcastle 
Coalfield,  and  extend  along  'the  90  fathoms 
Dyke '  for  about  one  mile  westward  from 
Midgeholme(near  the  Northumberland  bound- 
ary) and  have  an  average  width  of  half  a  mile. 

The  following  coal  seams,  in  this  area, 
were  passed  through  in  the  Midgeholme 
Pit:— 

Depth 

Seam                      Thickness  from  surface 

feet  fathoms 
Five  Quarters,  or  High 

Crag  Nook     ...        4  38 

Low  Crag  Nook     .     .        4  39 

Three  Quarters       .     .        z|  48 

Wellsyke 5  66 

Slag,  or  Midgeholme  .        5  80 

A  seam  named  the  Low  Main,  2  ft.  6  in. 
thick,  5  fathoms  below  the  Midgeholme  Seam, 
was  proved  through  an  upthrow  fault  met 
with  in  the  workings.  The  coal  measures 
dip  i  in  4  to  the  '  dyke.' 

The  Carboniferous  Limestone  series  is 
thrown  up  to  the  surface  in  East  Cumberland 
by  the  enormous  dislocation  called  the '  Pennine 
fault,'  which  commences  in  Dumfriesshire  and 
passes  through  Talkin  Tarn,  Renwick,  Mel- 
merby,  Milburn,  Dufton  and  Hilton  to 
Brough  in  Westmorland. 

Coal  has  been  worked  in  the  Carboniferous 
Limestone  series,  along  the  escarpment  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Pennine  fault,  chiefly  from 
three  seams  found  in  the  Yoredale  or  Upper 
Limestone  division  above  the  '  Whin  Sill,'  a 
bed  of  basaltic  trap  which  varies  in  thickness 
from  24  ft.  in  some  localities  to  120  ft.  in 
Alston  Moor.  In  the  Scar  or  Lower  Lime- 
stone division,  beneath  the  '  Whin  Sill,'  there 


is  one   thin  seam  of  coal  which  was  worked 
formerly  at  Renwick. 

In  the  Upper  Limestone  division  the  seams 
are  the  Top  Coal,  4  in.  to  6  ft.  2  in.  thick  ; 
the  Tindale  coal,  3  ft.  3  in.  to  5  ft.  2  in. 
thick  ;  and  the  Hynam  Coal,  2  ft.  3  in.  thick,1 
from  which  coal  has  been  mined  at  Ousby, 
Hartside,  Alston,  Croglin,  Oakshaw,  and  other 
places,  but  to  the  greatest  extent  on  the  Earl 
of  Carlisle's  property  at  Tindale  Fell  and 
Talkin. 

HISTORY 

The  record  of  an  early  attempt  to  prove 
coal  in  East  Cumberland  is  in  the  books  of 
the  Newcastle  Corporation,  wherein  it  is 
stated  that  in  1522  coal  was  bored  for  on 
Greenside  Rigg,  in  the  parish  of  Farlam.2 

In  a  household  book  of  Lord  William 
Howard  there  are  entries,  beginning  in  1618, 
relating  to  coal  exploration.  In  1628  the  sum 
which  he  paid  for  sinking  a  pit  is  recorded  ; 
and  a  little  later  on,  it  is  stated  that  he  sold, 
in  one  year,  coal  worth  £61 .  The  Crag  Nook 
Seam  was  then  being  worked  from  the  outcrop 
at  Midgeholme,  and  boring  for  coal  on  Tin- 
dale  Fell  was  in  progress.  During  the  next 
100  years  doubtlessly  coal  was  worked  on  a 
small  scale,  but  there  are  no  records  for  that 
period. 

Rev.  T.  Robinson,  rector  of  Ousby,  in 
1709,"  said  the  Coal  Fell4  Colliery  was  very 
ancient,  and  was  then  leased  to  Mr.  Mowbray. 
In  1735  Charles,  Earl  of  Carlisle,  granted 
a  lease  of  Coal  Fell  and  other  collieries  in  the 
barony  of  Gillesland  to  Mr.  Thomas  Howard. 

In  1736  Crag  Nook  and  Pryor  Dyke  Pits 
were  at  work,  in  the  Coal  Measures,  between 
Roachburn  and  Midgeholme.  The  output, 
400  loads  per  week,  was  all  sold  at  the  banks. 

In  1739  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  was  getting 
from  100  to  450  loads  of  coal  per  week  at 
Midgeholme  Pit. 

In  1747  Lord  Carlisle's  Talkin  Colliery 
comprised  Caroline,  Moss,  and  Wyatt  '  Pits,' 
in  reality  adits,  from  which  the  Limestone 
coal  seam  was  worked. 

In  1769  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  was  carrying 
on  Tarnhouse  or  Tindale  Fell  Colliery,  besides 
the  Talkin  and  Midgeholme  Collieries. 

In  1775  the  first  railway  to  Tindale  Fell 
Colliery  was  made  on  which  cast-iron  fish-bel- 
lied rails  were  used.  This  railway  was  made 
between  Tindale  Fell  and  Brampton,  and  the 
coals  were  conveyed  along  it  in  chaldron 
waggons  drawn  by  horses.  The  waggon  road 

1  Geol.  Sur.  Sheet,  106,  S.W. 

1  Carlisle  Patriot,  9  August,  1889. 

3  Natural  History  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland. 

*  Near  Greenside. 


380 


INDUSTRIES 


did  not  take  the  same  route  exactly,  nor  was 
it  so  long  as  the  existing  railway  which  begins 
at  Brampton  and  terminates  at  the  Alston 
branch  of  the  North  Eastern  Railway. 

In  1808  wrought-iron  rails  were  introduced 
on  the  Tindale  Fell  railway. 

In  1818  Mr.  R.  Stevenson,  Edinburgh, 
first  called  attention  to  Lord  Carlisle's  Colliery 
waggon  way  of  malleable  iron  rails. 

In  1824  Tindale  Fell  Colliery  railway 
improvements  came  to  be  better  known  when 
the  relative  merits  of  a  canal  and  a  railway 
from  Newcastle  to  Carlisle  were  under  dis- 
cussion, and  doubts  were  cast  on  the  perma- 
nency of  the  malleable  iron  rails.  The 
Newcastle  Courant,  7  December,  1824,  quoted 
a  letter  by  Mr.  James  Thompson,  Kirkhouse, 
in  which  he  stated  that  rails  of  this  descrip- 
tion, laid  sixteen  years  previously,  were  then 
in  use  at  Tindale  Fell  and  presented  no  ap- 
pearance of  lamination. 

In  1801  Tarnhouse,  or  Tindale  Fell,  and 
Talkin  Collieries  comprised  Shop,  Venture, 
Fox,  Caroline  and  Chance  drifts,  and  pro- 
duced 197,015  loads  of  coal.  The  output 
rose  to  278,615  loads  in  1810,  and  the  drifts 
then  at  work  were  William,  Morpeth,  Fox, 
George  and  Henry. 

In  1819  the  output  had  fallen  to  198,859 
loads  of  coal.1  In  that  year  the  Earl  of  Car- 
lisle appointed  Mr.  James  Thompson  to  be 
his  colliery  agent.  Mr.  Thompson  began 
the  sinking  of  Blacksike  Pit,  Talkin,  in  1819, 
and  King  Pit,  Midgeholme,  in  1821. 

In  the  early  part  of  Mr.  Thompson's 
management  Tarnhouse  and  Talkin  Collieries 
consisted  of  Henry,  Morpeth,  West,  George, 
Blacksike,  Moss  and  Catch  Pits  or  drifts. 

In  1825  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  became  the 
lessee  of  Croglin  Colliery,  belonging  to  the 
Earl  of  Egremont. 

In  1829  Tarnhouse,  Talkin  and  Midge- 
holme Collieries  produced  34,795  chaldrons 
of  coal,  and  Croglin  Colliery  3,772  chaldrons. 
The  pits  drawing  coals  at  the  former  were 
Henry,  Blacksike  and  George. 

In  1835,  under  Mr.  Thompson's  manage- 
ment, the  output  of  Lord  Carlisle's  collieries, 
which  comprised  Howgill,  Blacksike,  King 
and  George  Pits,  had  risen  to  76,002  chal- 
drons. 

Mr.  Thompson  was  a  man  of  progressive 
ideas,  as  may  be  judged  by  the  many  improve- 
ments he  effected  on  the  Tindale  Fell  rail- 
way. But  the  greatest  innovation  which  he 
introduced  there  was  the  adoption  of  the 
locomotive  steam  engine. 

1  A  load  was  3,  and  a  chaldron,  36  imperial 
bushels. 


In  1837  he  purchased  from  the  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  Railway  Co.  Stephenson's 
famous  locomotive  engine  the  '  Rocket,'  and 
placed  it  upon  the  Earl  of  Carlisle's  railway. 

The  '  Rocket '  worked  on  the  railway  to 
Midgeholme  from  1837  to  1844,  and  in  1862 
Messrs.  James  Thompson  &  Sons  presented 
it  to  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  where  it 
may  still  be  seen. 

On  8  August,  1837,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  polling  for  a  member  of  Parliament  in 
East  Cumberland,  the  Alston  returns  were 
brought  by  conveyance  to  Midgeholme,  where 
the  '  Rocket '  was  in  waiting  and  conveyed 
them  to  Kirkhouse,  accomplishing  the  dis- 
tance of  four  miles,  it  is  said,  in  four  and  a 
half  minutes. 

In  1839  the  Earl  of  Carlisle  leased  his 
collieries  to  Mr.  James  Thompson,  who  con- 
tinued to  develop  the  collieries  with  the 
same  energy  and  ability  that  had  characterized 
his  administration  of  them  for  his  lordship. 
Furthermore,  he  took  practical  steps  to  ame- 
liorate the  social  condition  of  his  workpeople 
by  building  improved  dwellings,  by  carrying 
on  a  farm  to  supply  their  wants,  and  by 
initiating  an  allotment  system  by  which  each 
workman  was  allowed  an  acre  of  land  upon 
which  to  graze  a  cow. 

At  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Thompson's  lease 
coal  was  drawn  from  seams  in  the  Coal 
Measures  at  King  Pit,  Midgeholme  Colliery, 
and  from  the  Limestone  Seam  at  Howgill 
Pit,  Tindale  Fell,  Blacksike  Pit,  Talkin  and 
at  Guide  Pit,  Croglin. 

Midgeholme  Colliery  was  just  sunk  within 
Cumberland,  east  of  Tindale  Fell. 

Howgill  '  Pit '  was  an  adit  near  Howgill 
Burn,  from  which  the  coal  under  Tindale 
Fell  was  worked.  The  Limestone  Seam  had 
also  been  wrought  at  Morpeth,  Henry,  Stagg, 
Fox,  Hazard  and  Colliery  Thorn  drifts,  which, 
with  Howgill  drift,  constituted  Tarn  House, 
or  Tindale  Fell  Colliery,  carried  on  with 
Clowsgill  Lime  Works. 

Talkin  Colliery,  or  Blacksike  Pit,  lay  a  mile 
to  the  west  of  Tindale  Fell  Colliery.  It  was 
a  shaft  30^  fathoms  deep  to  the  Limestone 
Coal,  3  ft.  2  in.  thick,  which  had  also  been 
worked  from  Caroline,  Duke,  Dove,  Wyatt, 
Venture,  Shop,  West  and  William  day-levels. 

Geltsdale  Colliery,  situated  about  two  miles 
south  of  Talkin  Colliery,  comprised  Moss  and 
George  drifts  where  the  Limestone  Coal,  4  ft. 
thick,  was  worked. 

Guide  Pit,  Croglin  Colliery,  was  about 
three  miles  south-west  of  Geltsdale  Colliery, 
on  Croglin  Fell.  A  seam  i  ft.  4  in.  thick, 
in  the  Limestone  Series,  was  worked  there  for 
lime  burning. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


No  account  of  Mr.  James  Thompson,  the 
first  lessee  of  the  Naworth  Collieries,  would 
be  complete  without  reference  to  the  '  dan- 
dies'  or  carriages  which  he  put  on  to  the 
colliery  railway  for  the  convenience  of  his 
workpeople  who  lived  at  Midgeholme,  How- 
gill  and  Forest  Head,  going  to  Brampton  on 
market  days.  The  first  '  dandies '  were  drawn 
by  horses.  Mr.  James  Thompson  died  in  1851, 
having '  laid  the  foundation  of  that  large,  pros- 
perous, and  self-supporting  colony  of  miners 
that  now  exists  along  the  sides  of  Tindale, 
Haltonlea  and  other  neighbouring  Fells.'  * 

He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  Mr.  Thomas 
Charles  Thompson,  who  continued  the  good 
work  initiated  by  his  father,  and  on  his  death 
the  Blenkinsop  and  Naworth  collieries,  which 
in  1820  only  gave  occupation  to  180  men, 
afforded  work  for  nearly  1,000  hands.  Mr. 
T.  C.  Thompson  died  in  1888  and  was  fol- 
lowed in  the  control  of  the  collieries  by  his 
sons,  Mr.  Charles  Lacy  Thompson  and  Mr. 
James  Thompson. 

Howard  Pit  was  sunk  in  1875  near  old 
Coalfell  Colliery  and  abandoned  in  1896. 

At  the  present  day  the  Roachburn  Colliery, 
situated  between  Brampton  Junction  and 
Lambley,  and  Bishop  Hill  drift  near  Tindal 
Tarn,  from  both  of  which  the  Limestone 
Coal  is  worked,  are  the  only  places  where 
coal  is  being  raised,  in  Cumberland,  at  Na- 
worth Collieries. 

In  addition,  Messrs.  Thompson  &  Sons  are 
working,  from  Blenkinsopp  Colliery,  Green- 
head,  Northumberland,  coal  from  the  Little 
Limestone  Seam  within  the  parish  of  Midge- 
holme  in  Cumberland.  At  Blenkinsopp  the 
Little  Limestone  Seam  is  reached  from  the 
hillside  by  a  stone  drift  about  one  mile  long, 
and  thence  there  is  a  haulage  road  in  that 
seam  into  the  Midgeholme  coal  for  a  further 
distance  of  three  miles. 

The  quantity  of  Little  Limestone  Coal 
wrought  in  Cumberland,  but  brought  to  bank 
at  Blenkinsopp,  about  40,000  tons  a  year,  is 
included  in  the  Government  returns  for 
Northumberland. 

Coal  has  been  worked  from  early  times  at 
other  places  from  the  Carboniferous  Limestone 
Series  along  the  Pennine  range,  mainly  for 
lime-burning. 

The  most  important  of  such  mining  was 
at  Croglin. 

The  manor  of  Croglin  was  purchased  in 
1738  by  Charles,  Duke  of  Somerset,  from  the 
trustees  of  the  Duke  of  Wharton,  and  in- 
cluded a  colliery  which  was  worked  continu- 
ously from  that  date  until  1864,  when  all 


operations  ceased.  From  1759  it  was  held 
under  the  Earl  of  Egremont  by  various  lessees, 
the  most  important  of  whom  were  the  Earl 
of  Carlisle,  who  worked  the  colliery  from 
1825  to  1839,  and  Messrs.  James  Thompson 
&  Sons,  who  had  it  from  1839  to  1852.  It 
remained  unlet  till  1854,  when  Mr.  Joseph 
Watson  took  it  and  carried  it  on  up  to  its 
finish  in  1864. 

The  coal  workings  at  Hartside  and  Ren- 
wick  were  as  early  as  any  in  the  Crossfell 
range. 

Singleton's  '  Account  of  Melmerby,'  a  MS. 
in  the  library  of  the  Dean  and  Chapter  at 
Carlisle,  dated  1677,  refers  to  coal  mining  at 
Hartside  and  Renwick. 

The  Rector  of  Ousby,  in  1709,  also  re- 
ferred to  the  collieries  on  Hartside  and  Ren- 
wick  Fells,  where  a  seam  of  coal  18  in. 
thick  was  worked. 

In  1777,  according  to  Nicolson  and  Burn, 
and  in  1794,  according  to  Hutchinson,  Ren- 
wick  Colliery  was  let  at  £33  a  year. 

In  1888  boreholes,  put  down  at  Rayson 
Hall,  Ousby,  in  the  Upper  Limestone  Series, 
proved  several  seams  of  coal,  varying  in  thick- 
ness from  a  few  inches  to  4  feet ;  and  in 
1892  Mr.  T.  Kirkbride,  Arlecdon,  was  re- 
ported to  have  struck  a  promising  seam  of 
coal  on  the  same  property. 

M.  Jars,  in  1765,  described  the  Crow  Coal, 
in  the  mountains  of  Alston  Moor,  as  being 
unfit  for  the  forge,  but  excellent  for  burning 
lime. 

At  the  present  time  Messrs.  Benson  &  Co. 
at  Alston  drift ;  the  Veille  Montagne  Zinc 
Co.  at  Dowgang  and  Guttergill,  Nenthead  ; 
and  the  Alston  and  Nentforce  Quarry  Co., 
are  the  only  producers  ot  coal  at  Alston,  and, 
in  the  aggregate,  do  not  employ  more  than 
40  persons  underground.  The  three  firms 
are  all  working  the  '  Little  Limestone  Coal,' 
which,  in  the  Alston  district,  is  found  in  two 
distinct  seams,  lying  20  feet  apart,  the  upper 
being  about  20  in.  and  the  lower  12  in. 
thick. 

Several  thin  seams  of  coal  have  been 
worked  in  the  Carboniferous  Limestone 
Series,  in  the  parish  of  Bewcastle,  and  at 
Penton,  near  the  Liddle.  At  the  latter  place 
a  shaft  was  sunk  in  1836,  19  fathoms,  and 
proved  several  seams  of  coal. 

In  Bewcastle  the  last  coal  mining  was  at 
Oakshaw,  on  Black  Line  river,  where  a 
small  quantity  of  coal  was  worked  from  a  seam 
1 8  in.  thick,  from  1898  to  1900. 


STATISTICS 


Carlisle  Journal,  13  March,  1888. 


382 


Output. — Prior  to  1854,  no  reliable  record  of 


INDUSTRIES 


the  production  of  coal  from  Cumberland  mines 
had  been  kept.  In  that  year  the  publication 
of  mineral  statistics  by  Mr.  Robert  Hunt,  of 
the  Mining  Record  Office,  was  commenced. 

Since  1872  the  Home  Office  has  issued 
annual  Blue  Books,  which  give  more  reliable 
statistics  than  Mr.  Hunt's  figures,  which  were 
little  better  than  approximations  compiled 
from  voluntary  returns  and  estimates. 

In  1854  the  output  of  coal  for  Cumber- 
land was  887,000  tons.  In  1873  it  had 
risen  to  1,747,064  tons,  but  dropped  to 
1,102,267  tons  the  following  year.  In  1877 
it  had  recovered  to  1,515,783  tons,  but  fell 
away  the  ensuing  year  to  1,388,283  tons. 
Then  it  advanced,  with  slight  relapses  in  1882 
and  1884,  up  to  1,796,594  tons  in  1887. 
After  then  the  output  declined  until  1892, 
when  it  was  only  1,424,749  tons.  Next 
year  saw  a  marked  improvement,  and  in  1894 
the  production  reached  2,058,867  tons,  which 
was  the  'record'  quantity  until  1898,  when 
2,061,878  tons  were  produced.  In  1901, 
2,108,360  tons  were  raised. 

Employees. — In  1854  the  number  was 
3,579  ;  in  1884,  6,480  ;  in  1899,  7,897  ; 
and  in  1901,  8,884. 

Exports. — Before  1836  coals  were  sold  by 
measure — sometimes  by  chaldron  but  generally 
by  waggon.  Over  measure  was  prevented  by 
a  '  streaker,'  placed  at  a  certain  height  above 
the  railway.  Originally  the  waggon  contained 
2  tons,  but  the  contents  were  increased,  as 
time  went  on,  to  42,  44,  45  and  eventually  to 
50  cwt.  On  account  of  the  uncertain  size 
of  the  waggon,  the  measure  in  which  up  to 
1836  the  exports  was  invariably  expressed, 
there  is  considerable  difficulty  in  determining 
the  weights  at  different  periods  and  places. 

In  1765  M.  Jars  said  that  it  was  alleged 
that  the  collieries  at  Whitehaven,  Working- 
ton,  Harrington  and  Maryport  produced  each 
day  1,000  tons  of  14  cwt.  each. 

Assuming  that  such  a  rate  of  export  was 
maintained  for  250  days  throughout  the  year, 
the  total  quantity  of  coal  shipped  at  the  four 
ports  must  have  been  175,000  tons. 

Hutchinson  gives  the  exports  for  12  years, 
1781  to  1792,  in  waggons.  Assuming  the 
waggons  to  have  each  contained  2  tons  of  coal, 
the  quantities  exported  in  1781,  1788  and 
1792  were  : — 


1781 

I788 

1792 

Tons 

Tons 

Tons 

Whiteh.iven  . 

I  11,200 

158,124 

111,944 

Workington, 

Maryport  and 

^ 

Harrington     . 

I  10,256 

150,966 

157,480 

221,456     309,090     269,424 

From  1792  no  complete  account  can  be 
given  of  the  coal  shipments  at  each  of  the 
Cumberland  ports,  excepting  Whitehaven. 

During  Mr.  Bateman's  absence  from  the 
management  of  the  Whitehaven  Collieries 
the  Whitehaven  exports  had  dwindled  to 
90,628  tons  in  1802  ;  but,  on  his  return  in 
1803,  they  at  once  bounded  up  to  153,728 
tons.  They  kept  to  about  that  figure  until 
1808,  when  201,766  tons  were  shipped,  and 
after  several  fluctuations  reached  220,386  tons 
in  1814.  Between  1814  and  1831  the 
Whitehaven  coal  shipments  never  exceeded 
200,000  tons  per  annum. 

In  1831  and  1839  the  coals  shipped  were  : 
1831 

Tons 

204.543 
66,298 

78,080 


Whitehaven 
Maryport 
Workington  , 
Harrington  , 


1839 

Tons 

230,287 


61,741 
47,692 


363,154 

In   1855  and   1865  the  coal  exports  (Har- 
rington not  given)  were  : — 

1855  1865 

Tons  Tons 

Whitehaven      .    212,665  I4^>°43 

Maryport     .     .    286,106  466,701 

Workington      .    112,426  146,506 


611,197         761,250 

In  1867,  476,162  tons  of  coal  were  ex- 
ported from  Maryport,  the  largest  quantity 
that  has  ever  been  shipped  in  one  year  from 
any  port  in  Cumberland. 

In  1873  the  Whitehaven  shipments,  owing 
to  a  strike,  sank  to  89,434  tons — the  lowest 
quantity  recorded  since  1781. 

The  following  figures,  taken  from  mineral 
statistics  issued  by  the  Home  Office,  show 
the  fluctuations  in  Cumberland  coal  exports 
up  to  1901  : — 

Workington 
&  Harrington      Total 
Tons  Tons 

82,824      458,219 

106,141     575,773 

114,127   603,695 


1885, 
I897. 
1901 


Whitehaven  Maryport 

Tons  Tons 

183,599  191,796 

300,442*  169,190 

253,401  236,167 


1  The  greatest  shipment  of  coal  at  Whitehaven. 


383 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

LIST   OF    COLLIERIES    (43)    IN    THE    YEAR    1900 


Colliery 

• 

Situation 

Owner 

Persons 
employed 

All  hallows  

Mealsgate    . 

Allerdale  Coal  Co  

116 

Alston  Drift     .... 

Alston    . 

Wm.  Benson  

1C   ' 

Asby      

Asby       .     .     . 

Asby  Coll.  Co  

1  5 

Birkby  Drift    .... 

Birkby    .     .      . 

Steele  &  Co  

5U 

Bishop  Hill     .... 

Brampton    . 

Thompson  &  Sons     

71 

Branthwaite  Drift 

Branthwaite 

Branthwaite  Coll.  Co  

Brayton  Domain,  No.  3  Pit 

Aspatria 

Jos.  Harris       

227 

No.  4.  . 

Brayton 

it  1 
488 

Broughton  Moor  . 
Buckhill      

Broughton  . 
Broughton  . 

Flimby  &  Broughton  Moor  Coal  etc.  Co.     . 
Allerdale  Coal  Co.     ... 

364 

Bullgill       

Bullgill  .     .     . 

Bullgill  Coal  Co  

J3U 
21Q 

Camerton    . 

Camerton  Coll.  etc.  Co  

ziy 

I  C  I 

Clifton        

Clifton   .     .      . 

Allerdale  Coal  Co.     ... 

*i  * 

Dearharn 

Dearham  Coal  Co  

T5" 

Dean  Moor     .... 

Dean  Moor 

Dean  Moor  Coll.  Co  

j^.i 
6? 

Nenthead    . 

Veille  Montagne  Co  

"/ 

71 

Ellenborough  .... 
Gillhead     

Maryport    . 
Flimby  . 

Ellenborough  Coll.  Co  
Gillhead  Coal  etc.  Co  

/ 
252 

Camerton    . 

Camerton  Coll.  etc.  Co  

T* 

I  7 

Guttergill 

Alston 

Veille  Montagne  Co. 

1  / 

71 

Harrington   No   C  Pit 

Harrington 

James  Bain  &  Co  

/ 

No   7 

No   o 

72 

Clifton 

Allerdale  Coal  Co  

3'9 

Moor  Row 

John  Stirling    

Hi 

Moorhouse  Guards 

Seaton    . 

Seaton  Firebrick  Co  

18 

Oakshaw     

Bewcastle 

Richard  Mitchell  

3° 

C  l 

Oatlands 

s 

Outfields 

Outfields  Coll.  Co  

zu/ 

8c 

Renwick 

Robert  Watson     

°3 
21 

Brampton 

Thompson  &  Sons     

2781 

Robin  Hood  .... 
Rock  Hill  

Flimby  .     .     . 
Alston    . 

Flimby  &  Broughton  Moor  Coal  etc.  Co.     . 
Alston  &  Nentforce  Limestone   Quarry  Co. 

384 

61 

Seaton  Moor  .... 
St  Helens  Nos  I  &  2  Pits 

Seaton  Moor    . 
Flimby  . 

Flimby  &  Broughton  Moor  Coal  etc.  Co. 
St.  Helens  Coll.  etc.  Co.  Ltd  

67 

O7 

„      No.  3  Pit  .     . 

Siddiclc  .     .     . 
Dearham 

j>                 n                 »»                

Town  head  Coll.  Co  

71 
771 

Walkmill 

Moresby 

Moresby  Coal  Co  

1  C/L 

Watergate  
\Vhitehaven   Croft  Pit 

Flimby  . 

Flimby  &  Broughton  Moor  Coal  etc.  Co.  Ltd. 
Whitehaven  Coll.  Co  

jS^ 
402 
626 

Wellington  Pit 

Whitehaven 

^^illiam 

I   OC  C 

Wood  Drift 

•»u>3 

41 

8,646 

Working  coal  in  the  Carboniferous  Limestone  Series. 


384 


INDUSTRIES 


HEMATITE    MINING 


A  history  of  haematite  mining  in  Cumber- 
land would  be  incomplete  without  some 
reference  to  the  subject  in  its  earliest  infancy. 
Unfortunately,  very  few  trustworthy  records 
are  obtainable  prior  to  the  dawn  of  the 
Victorian  era,  and  this  precludes  the  possi- 
bility of  any  connected  account  being  given 
of  the  early  working  of  this  important  mineral. 
Judging  however  from  the  slag  heaps  that  are 
found  scattered  over  the  mountains  and  dales 
of  many  parts  of  the  Cumberland  lake  dis- 
trict, where  small  veins  of  haematite  are 
known  to  exist  in  the  syenite  and  other 
older  rocks,  it  may  be  safely  asserted  that  as 
far  back  as  the  time  of  the  Romans  iron  ore 
was  worked  and  smelted  by  the  primitive 
methods  then  in  use. 

In  Mr.  J.  D.  Kendall's  recent  work,  en- 
titled The  Iron  Ores  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  mention  is  made  of  an  iron  ore  mine 
in  the  parish  of  Egremont  near  Whitehaven, 
as  far  back  as  the  twelfth  century,  and  the 
same  author  also  refers  to  iron  ore  having 
been  worked  intermittently  at  Yeathouse  in 
the  parish  of  Arlecdon  during  the  seventeenth 
century.  These  doubtless  were  merely  sur- 
face scratchings.  Hutchinson  states  that 
there  was  'at  Crowgarth  (in  Cleator  parish) 
the  most  singular  mine  of  iron  ore  supposed 
to  be  in  Great  Britain,'  and  that  'in  1790, 
and  1791,  the  annual  exportation  from  this 
source  to  the  Carron  foundry  in  Scotland, 
amounted  to  over  2O,OOO  tons.'  The  same 
author  also  says  that '  in  the  parish  of  Arloch- 
den  (Arlecdon)  freestone,  iron  ore,  coal  and 
limestone  are  found  and  worked.' 1 

It  was  not  until  about  the  year  1825  that 
the  value  of  the  Whitehaven  district  as  an 
important  mining  field  began  to  be  appreci- 
ated, and  that  any  regular  and  systematic 
working  of  haematite  was  attempted.  The 
early  pioneers  in  the  discovery  and  opening 
up  of  the  great  mineral  wealth,  which  was 
destined  to  play  so  important  a  part  in  the 
iron  industry  of  the  country  during  the  reign 
of  Queen  Victoria,  were  Mr.  Anthony  Hill 
of  the  Plymouth  Iron  Works,  South  Wales, 
Mr.  R.  Barker  and  Messrs.  Fitzsimmons  & 
Co.,  who  under  leases  from  the  Earl  of 
Egremont  began  to  work  the  outcrop  ore  at 
Bigrigg  in  the  parish  of  Egremont,  and  that 
near  the  surface  at  Crowgarth  in  Cleator 
parish.  No  certain  record  of  the  output 


raised  at  this  time  seems  to  be  obtainable,  but 
that  the  lessees  mentioned  were  fairly  success- 
ful is  evidenced  by  the  fact  of  other  mining 
adventurers  shortly  afterwards  commencing 
operations.  In  Mr.  Kendall's  work  already 
referred  to,  two  instances  are  given  of  the 
finding  of  old  oak  spades  about  this  time, 
one  at  Langhorne  in  Egremont  parish,  and 
the  other  at  Yeathouse  in  Arlecdon  parish. 
Another  instance  of  the  relics  of  ancient 
mining  came  under  the  writer's  own  obser- 
vation when  working  (about  the  year  1872) 
a  shallow  deposit  of  ore  on  the  Crossfield 
estate  near  Cleator  Moor,  and  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  Crowgarth  mine  mentioned 
by  Hutchinson.  At  about  5  or  6  fathoms 
from  the  surface,  several  rounded  pieces  of  old 
oak  were  found,  which  had  the  appearance  of 
having  been  parts  of  old  mining  implements, 
showing  that  workings  had  been  carried  on 
here  also  at  a  very  early  date. 

The  first  records  of  the  quantity  of  iron 
ore  raised  in  Cumberland  are  given  by  Mr. 
Richard  Meade,  assistant  keeper  of  mining 
records,  in  his  work  entitled  The  Coal  and 
Iron  Industries  of  the  United  Kingdom.  He 
gives  the  output  and  the  number  of  mines  at 
work  in  the  year  1849  as  follows  : — 


Position  of 
mine 

Number 
of  pits 

Name  of  owner  or  firm 

Output 

Cleator   . 

2 

Messrs.  Ainsworth  & 
Co. 

30,000 

Bigrigg   . 
Gutterby 
Yeathouse 
Woodend 

4 
3 

2 
2 

Messrs.  Hill  &  Co.  . 
Mr.  John  Lindow  . 
Messrs.  Tulk  &  Ley 
Messrs.  Attwood  &  Co. 

20,000 
20,000 
15,000 
15,000 

>3 

100,000 

1   History  of  Cumberland,  ii.    30,  89  (published 
1794)- 


Between  the  years  1849  and  1855  there  does 
not  appear  to  have  been  any  complete 
record  of  output  kept,  but  from  the  latter 
year  onwards,  the  total  annual  quantity 
raised  is  given  in  the  Board  of  Trade  mining 
returns.  The  outputs  from  the  individual 
mines  are  not  shown  until  the  year  1872, 
when  the  first  metalliferous  Mines  Act  came 
into  operation.  Tables  containing  these  out- 
puts will  be  given  and  made  use  of  here- 
after. The  output  of  iron  ore  for  the  year 
1855  was  200,000  tons,  showing  an  increase 
of  100,788  tons  over  that  of  1849.  This 
increase  of  production  clearly  proves  that 


II 


385 


49 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


between  these  periods  haematite  mining  in 
the  Whitehaven  district  had  received  an  im- 
petus, and  that  the  district,  as  an  important 
mineral  field,  was  being  more  fully  recognized 
and  was  attracting  greater  attention  and 
larger  capital  to  its  development. 

Prior  to  the  year  1856  only  five  blast 
furnaces  had  been  erected.  These  were  as 
follows  : — 


Name  of 
ironworks 

Owners 

Fur- 
naces 
built 

Fur- 
naces in 
blast 

Cleator  Moor 

Whitehaven  Haema- 

4 

3 

tite  Iron  Co. 

Harrington    . 

C.  H.  Plevins   .     . 

I 

0 

5 

3 

Ironworks  at  Seaton  (Messrs.  Smith  &  Co.) 
were  put  in  blast  in  1857.  In  1856,259,167 
tons  of  haematite  were  raised  in  the  White- 
haven  district,  of  which  152,875  tons  were 
carried  by  rail,  and  39,617  tons  were  smelted 
at  the  local  ironworks.  The  destinations  of 
this  ore,  as  well  as  that  raised  in  1857,  when 
the  production  reached  323,812  tons,  were  as 
follows :  — 


Destination 

Quantities 
1856                1857 

South  Wales    .     .     .     . 
Staffordshire    .... 

124,630 
26,768 

51.470 
15,865 
8I7 

i63,3S4 
36,758 
44,489 

22,377 
323 

District  Ironworks     .     . 

219,550 

39>6l7 

267,301 
56,511 

Total      .... 

259,167 

323,812 

A  large  proportion  of  this  ore  was  carted  from 
the  mines  to  Whitehaven  harbour,  the  princi- 
pal port  of  Cumberland,  and  shipped  to  the 
various  smelting  centres  in  England,  Scotland 
and  Wales  ;  only  a  small  quantity  (as  will  be 
seen  from  the  above  table)  was  consumed 
locally.  The  high  railway  rates  for  east 
coast  coke  at  this  time  appear  to  have  de- 
terred capitalists  from  building  local  furnaces, 
as,  with  the  exception  of  an  extension  of  the 
Harrington  ironworks  in  1857,  and  the  erec- 
tion of  the  Workington  ironworks  in  1858, 
it  was  not  until  1863,  when  the  West 
Cumberland  Iron  and  Steel  Co.  began  opera- 


tions, that  any  additions  were   made  to  the 
ironworks  already  mentioned. 

The  following   is  a  list  of  the  ironworks 
and  the  year  of  their  erection  from  1857  : — 


Year  of 
erection 

Name  of  ironworks 

Place  of  erection 

i8S7 

Harrington 

Harrington 

1858 

Workington 

Workington 

1863 

West  Cumberland 

Workington 

1870 

Maryport   . 

Maryport 

1870 

Solway  .... 

Maryport 

1870 

Millom       .     .     . 

Millom 

1872 

Moss  Bay   . 

Workington 

1872 

Lonsdale     . 

Whitehaven 

1873 

Parton  .... 

Parton 

i874 

Derwent     .     .     . 

Workington 

1876 

Lowther 

Workington 

i879 

Distington  . 

Distington 

The  Whitehaven  Haematite  Ironworks  at 
Cleator  Moor,  of  which  special  mention  has 
been  made,  were  erected  in  the  year  1841. 

The  important  discovery  of  the  Bessemer 
process  about  the  year  1856  caused  an  in- 
creasing demand  for  Cumberland  haematite, 
and  hence  the  ore  was  year  by  year  more 
largely  exported  into  the  other  iron  smelting 
centres  of  the  kingdom,  where,  being  mixed 
with  the  ores  of  these  districts,  it  greatly  im- 
proved the  quality  of  the  manufactured  iron 
and  steel. 

A  great  impetus  was  given  to  the  develop- 
ment of  haematite  mining  in  the  Whitehaven 
district  by  the  opening  of  the  Whitehaven, 
Cleator  and  Egremont  railway  (now  worked 
by  the  London  and  North  Western  and 
Furness  joint  railways)  to  Egremont  and 
Frizington,  in  1857.  This  railway  was 
opened  for  passenger  traffic  on  June  I  of  that 
year,  although  a  portion  of  the  mineral  traffic 
had  been  conveyed  to  Whitehaven  for  a  short 
time  prior  to  that  date.  It  was  extended  to 
Rowrah  in  1863,  and  finally  to  Marron  in 
1865,  forming  there  a  junction  with  the 
Cockermouth  and  Penrith  railway.  A  con- 
nection with  the  Furness  railway  was  also 
effected  by  an  extension  southwards  from 
Egremont  to  Sellafield.  The  phenomenal 
advance  of  the  district  as  an  important  mining 
centre  very  soon  made  this  railway  one  of  the 
best  dividend  paying  concerns  in  the  kingdom. 
Before  the  opening  of  the  Whitehaven, 
Cleator  and  Egremont  railway,  all  the  ore 
raised  in  the  Whitehaven  district,  with  the 
exception  of  that  consumed  at  the  local  iron- 
works, was  carted  to  Whitehaven  (a  distance 
of  from  three  to  five  miles),  where,  in  the 


386 


INDUSTRIES 


event  of  there  being  no  vessel  in  readiness  in 
the  harbour,  the  ore  was  deposited  in  the 
depots  situated  in  different  parts  of  the  town. 
Mr.  Thos.  Ainsworth,  Messrs.  Attwood  & 
Son,  and  Messrs.  Tulk  &  Ley  each  owned 
one  of  these  depots. 

The  following  mines  were  at  work  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Whitehaven  in  the  year 
1858,  when  the  output  of  haematite  was 
331,544  tons,  of  which  quantity  the  Parkside 
mines  alone  raised  96,107  tons. 


Parishes 

Names  of  mines 

Names  of  owners 

Egremont 

Bigrigg  Moor, 

S.  &  J.  Lindow 

etc. 

Cleator    . 

B'grigg      .     . 
Bigrigg      .     . 
Langhorne 
Woodend  . 
Cleator 

Anthony  Hill 
Wilson,  Peile  &  Co. 
Lord  Lonsdale 
Henry  Attwood  &  Son 
Thos.  Ainsworth 

Arlecdon  . 

Crowgarth 
Jacktrees    . 
Todholes  . 
Birks     .     .     . 

Anthony  Hill 
S.  &  J.  Lindow 
John  Stirling 
H.  Attwood  &  Son 

Frizi  n  gto  n 
Parks 

D.  &  J.  H.  Robinson 
&  Co. 

High  House  . 
Parkside     . 

S.  W.  Smith  &  Co. 
Fisher,  Dees,  Fletcher 
&  Co. 

Salter  and 
Eskett 

Yeathouse  . 
Salter    .     .     . 
Eskett  .     .     . 

Fletcher,  Miller  &  Co. 
Nicholson  &  Co. 
D.  &  J.  H.  Robinson 

&  Co. 

Lamplugh 

Knockmurton 
Agnes  . 

Thos.  Carmichal 
Fletcher,  Miller  &  Co. 

individual  mines,  these  will  be  afterwards 
dealt  with  and  classified  under  their  respective 
parishes. 

(2)  The  district  around  Millom,  known  as 
the   '  Millom  district,'   forming   the   extreme 
south-eastern    portion    of    Cumberland,    and 
embracing  the  extensive  mines  of  Hodbarrow 
in  Millom  parish,  and  Whicham  and  Silecroft 
in  the  parish  of  Whicham. 

(3)  The  Eskdale  valley,  near  Boot,  in  the 
parish  of  St.  Bees,  occupying  a  central  posi- 
tion  between    the  Whitehaven  and   Millom 
districts. 

(4)  The  Alston  Moor  or  Weardale  district, 
in  the  north-eastern  part  of  the  county. 

GEOLOGICAL  POSITION.  Districts  i  and  2. 
The  haematite  deposits  in  the  first  two  dis- 
tricts mentioned  occur  principally  in  the 
carboniferous  or  mountain  limestone,  which 
rests  immediately  (as  in  the  Whitehaven  dis- 
trict) on  the  Skiddaw  slate  of  the  lower 
Silurian  system,  and  in  the  Millom  district, 
on  the  Borrowdale  or  Coniston  series  of 
rocks.  The  greatest  aggregate  thickness  of 
the  beds  comprising  this  limestone  formation 
has  been  found  to  be  over  900  feet. 

The  carboniferous  limestone  series  is 
divided  into  seven  distinct  beds,  as  follows  : — 

First,  or  top  limestone. 

Second 

Third 

Fourth,  or  clints 

Fifth 

Sixth 

Seventh 


This  list  is  taken  from  the  Mineral  Statistics 
of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  by  Robert  Hunt, 
F.R.S.,  Keeper  of  Mining  Records,  but  each 
mine  is  here  arranged  under  its  respective 
parish. 

Before  proceeding  further  with  the  histori- 
cal part  of  the  subject,  it  is  desirable  that  a 
brief  general  outline  should  be  given  of  the 
districts,  geological  position,  and  modes  of 
occurrence  of  the  hxmatite  of  Cumberland. 

DISTRICTS. — (i)  That  known  as  the 
'  Whitehaven  district,'  lying  to  the  north-east 
and  south-east  of  Whitehaven,  and  extending 
from  Knockmurton  in  the  parish  of  Lamplugh 
in  the  north  to  the  town  of  Egorment  in  the 
south,  covering  a  distance  of  between  seven 
and  eight  miles.  This  district  has  hitherto 
been  the  source  from  which  the  largest  portion 
of  the  haematite  raised  in  the  county  has 
been  obtained.  The  iron  ore  bearing  area 
embraces  the  parishes  of  Lamplugh,  Salter 
and  Eskett,  Arlecdon,  Cleator  and  Egremont. 
As  it  may  be  of  advantage  in  localizing  the 


The  largest  and  best  deposits  of  haematite  are 
most  commonly  found  in  the  first  and  second 
beds,  although  good  payable  bodies  of  ore 
have  been  discovered  and  worked  in  the  whole 
series.  A  large  number  of  '  faults '  traverse 
the  limestone,  running  for  the  most  part 
north-west  and  south-east,  at  angles  varying 
from  5°  to  25°  from  the  magnetic  meridian. 
These  are  termed  '  north  and  south '  faults. 
A  smaller  number  of  '  east  and  west '  faults 
also  occur,  some  of  them  of  considerable  im- 
portance. It  is  along  the  line  of  these 
'  faults,'  or  in  close  proximity  thereto,  that 
the  best  deposits  of  haematite  are  found. 
There  are  three  forms  of  haematite  occurrence, 
viz.  vein-like,  bed-like,  and  irregular  and 
patchy  masses,  the  latter  locally  termed  '  poc- 
kets,' '  sops '  and  '  guts,'  the  gut-like  deposits 
continuing  longitudinally  for  considerable  dis- 
tances and  frequently  running  parallel  to  the 
'  faults '  which  are  found  near  them.  Veins 
of  haematite  also  occur  in  the  Skiddaw  slate  at 
Kelton  Fell  and  Knockmurton,  and,  as  will 


387 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


be  seen  later  on,  these  have  been  worked 
largely  and  profitably  during  the  last  thirty 
years. 

District  3.  The  veins  or  haematite  most 
largely  worked  in  the  Eskdale  valley,  near 
Boot,  occur  in  the  granite,  and  for  some  time 
attracted  considerable  attention.  Veins  of 
ore  also  occur,  as  has  been  already  said,  in  the 
syenite  and  other  igneous  rocks  throughout 
the  more  mountainous  parts  of  the  county, 
but  these  have  rarely  been  found  of  sufficient 
size  to  be  profitably  worked. 

District  if.  The  brown  haematite  of  Al- 
ston Moor  is  found  in  the  limestone  at  Kilhope 
Fell.  It  is  associated  with  the  important  and 
rich  lead  veins  of  the  district,  but  owing  to  its 
uncertain  quantity  and  variable  quality,  the 
ore  has  not  been  worked  on  a  large  scale. 

The  first  of  the  following  two  analyses  is 
an  average  of  a  number  of  samples  of  first 
class  haematite  from  Salter  and  Eskett  parish 
in  the  Whitehaven  district,  and  the  second  is 
from  a  sample  of  similar  ore  from  Cleator 
parish  in  the  same  district.  The  average 
yield  of  metallic  iron  from  ores  of  the  White- 
haven  district  has  however  been  materially 
reduced  of  late  years,  and  reasons  are  after- 
wards given  explanatory  of  this  fact. 


ANALYSES  OF  HEMATITE    FROM    THE 
WHITEHAVEN  DISTRICT 


No.  i 

No.  2 

Ferric  oxide     .... 
Manganous  oxide. 

82-285 
•419 
3-062 

85-461 
•055 

von 

Magnesia    

•180 

Lime     

"OO4. 

IO'C2C 

7'AOO 

Carbonic  acid  .... 
Phosphoric  acid    . 
Sulphur      
Water   

•600 
•042 

•144 

2*204. 

•022 
•074 
VIOO 

99-461 

100-033 

Metallic  iron  .... 

57-60 

59-82 

The  yield  of  metallic  iron  from  some  of  the 
richest  samples  of  this  district  ranged  from  60 
to  65  per  cent.  Analyses  of  hzmatite  from 
Millom  (Hodbarrow)  and  Eskdale  will  be 
given  later,  when  further  dealing  with  these 
districts. 

The  total  output  of  Cumberland  haematite 
from  the  year  1855  to  1860  inclusive  is  shown 
in  the  following  table  : — 


Year 

Output  of  haematite, 
Whitehaven  district 

Alston  Moor 
district 

Total  output  of 
haematite 

Value  of  output 

1855     .      .      . 

200,788 

200,788 

£110,433 

1856     .      .      . 

259,167 

8,089 

267,256 

146,991 

I857     .      .      . 

323,8l2 

10,113 

333,9^5 

183,659 

1858     .      .      . 

331,544 

17,094 

348,638 

183,478 

l859     .      .      . 

400,306 

I,87I 

402,177 

201,088 

i860     .      .      . 

466,851 

1,930 

468,781 

222,671 

1,982,468 

39,°97 

2,021,565 

£1,048,320 

From  1858  the  production  of  haematite  in- 
creased at  a  very  rapid  rate,  and  mining 
operations  which  had  hitherto  been  confined 
to  the  outcrop  and  shallower  deposits  were 
largely  extended. 

Boring  (which  was  the  principal  method 
used  for  ascertaining  the  depth  and  position  of 
the  ore)  was  also  vigorously  carried  on.  A 
very  prevalent  idea  was  held  by  many  of  the 
older  miners  about  this  time  that  it  was  use- 
less to  bore  or  prove  the  ground  below  the 
first  bed  of  limestone,  and  many  instances  of 
disappointment  have  occurred  where,  by  the 
stoppage  of  boring  operations  too  soon,  large 
and  valuable  deposits  of  haematite  remained 
undiscovered.  These  were  found  after  the 
royalty  had  been  given  up  by  the  first  lessees 
and  retaken  by  others  possessing  greater  enter- 
prise, and  stimulated  by  discoveries  at  lower 


depths  in  other  parts  of  the  district.  Owing 
to  the  erratic  deposition  of  haematite,  a  large 
amount  of  capital  had  necessarily  to  be  spent 
in  this  way  in  prospecting  the  various  royalties 
in  the  district,  and  even  after  mines  had  be- 
come productive  in  many  royalties,  boring 
was  extensively  carried  on,  as  being  the  best 
means  of  maintaining  and  increasing  the  out- 
put. In  one  instance  over  250  boreholes 
were  put  down  in  a  royalty  having  an  area  of 
about  65  acres.  In  this  case  however  the 
greater  number  of  these  were  only  to  shallow 
depths,  having  been  bored  between  the  years 
1865  and  1872.  Many  of  the  later  borings 
in  this  royalty  were  put  down  over  100 
fathoms  to  the  slate  rock.  Percussion  boring 
by  means  of  the  '  spring-pole,'  worked  by 
hand,  was  the  method  first  adopted  in  the 
Whitehaven  district.  Afterwards  the  boring 


388 


INDUSTRIES 


engine  and  '  tilt-pole  '  were  brought  into  use, 
and  later,  during  the  year  1873,  the  diamond 
boring  system  was  introduced  by  Mr.  John 
Vivian,  C.E.,  and  largely  carried  on  in 
Cumberland.  This  method  of  boring,  al- 
though considerably  more  costly  per  fathom 
of  ground  bored,  has  decided  compensating 
advantages  both  in  saving  of  time  and  in 
securing  solid  cores  of  the  various  strata  passed 
through.  It  is  still  most  successfully  carried 
on  by  Messrs.  Vivians'  Boring  and  Exploration 
Co.  Ld.  of  Whitehaven  ;  and  Mr.  Vivian, 
the  managing  director  of  the  company,  has 
devoted  much  time  and  attention  to  improve 
the  system,  with  the  result  that  its  capa- 
bilities for  producing  a  perfect  cylindrical  core 
from  over  3,000  feet  are  unsurpassed.  The 
apparatus  consists  of  a  crown  head  screwed  on 
to  a  cylindrical  core  tube,  which  head  is  set 
on  the  face  with  diamonds  (carbon  or  bort). 
This  is  caused  to  revolve  and  cuts  an  annular 
ring  in  the  rock,  leaving  a  solid  core  for 
withdrawal  in  the  core  tube  ;  water  is  used 
for  flushing  away  the  debris  from  the  crown 
face  and  keeping  it  cool.  The  Diamond 
Boring  Co.  have  put  down  165  boreholes  in 
Cumberland,  the  total  depth  bored  being 
103,833  feet.  The  aggregate  thickness  of 
hzmatite  passed  through  was  1,159^  feet. 

In  1871  a  remarkable  upward  movement 
in  the  iron  trade  of  the  country  occurred, 
largely  owing  to  the  then  increasing  trade  in 
iron  with  America.  The  '  boom '  was  at  its 
height  in  1873,  when  the  highest  prices 
obtained  for  hematite  and  haematite  iron 
were  371.  dd.  and  195*.  respectively.  Capital 
was  freely  spent  in  extensive  boring,  sinking 
and  drifting  operations  ;  in  fact,  the  greatest 
activity  known  in  the  history  of  the  industry 
prevailed  in  the  various  districts,  and  as  a 
result,  the  total  output  of  haematite  was 
largely  augmented.  The  culminating  effect 
of  this  increased  expenditure  in  development 
work  was  not  however  fully  realized  until 
1880,  when,  for  that  and  the  following  three 
years,  the  aggregate  output  of  Cumberland 
haematite  amounted  to  6,309,605  tons,  or  an 
average  of  1,577,401  tons  per  annum.  The 
maximum  total  yearly  output  was  reached  in 
1872,  when  1,725,478  tons  were  raised. 

The  following  table,  giving  the  number  of 
furnaces  built  and  in  blast  in  Cumberland, 
reflects  the  great  activity  in  the  iron  trade 
during  the  early  part  of  the  '  seventies.'  Up 
to  the  year  1869,  seventeen  furnaces  had 
been  built,  of  which  only  nine  were  in  blast. 
During  the  following  year  (1870)  ten  more 
furnaces  were  erected,  making  a  total  of 
twenty-seven,  of  which  twenty-four  were  in 
blast. 


Year 

Furnaces 
Built               In  blast 

Pig-iron  made 

Tons 

1871 

34 

>8| 

336,569 

1872 

37 

33i 

440,575 

I873 

39 

33i 

456,877 

I874 

5i 

3°i 

390,840 

I875 

5i 

jif 

486,1  12 

1876 

47 

25 

436,887 

I877 

5° 

26J 

538,156 

1878 

5i 

27 

542,904 

I879 

5' 

»7i 

531,638 

1880 

5i 

40 

79°,343 

Average 
per  annum 

\  46-20 

30-40 

495,090-10 

389 


It  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  schedule 
that  the  average  yield  per  furnace  in  blast  was 
16,285-85  tons  per  annum. 

For  a    few  years   at  this  time    the   com- 
petition for  the  acquirement  of  good  haematite 
royalties  in  Cumberland  was  very  keen.     As 
an  instance,  it  may  be  mentioned  that  when 
the  Jacktrees  royalty   in   Cleator  parish  was 
advertised     to     let,    the     tonnage     royalties 
offered  ranged  from  Js.  6d.  to   14*.  per  ton, 
and  a  lease  of  the  royalty  was  actually  taken 
and    the    ore    worked    at    the    latter   figure. 
Prior  to  the  year  1870,  leases  were  obtained 
at  royalty  rates  ranging  from   is.  to  is.  6d. 
per    ton,  while,    after    the    '  boom '    of    the 
early    '  seventies '    had    passed,  one    sixth  of 
the  selling  price  of  haematite,  with  a  mini- 
mum of  from  is.  6d.  to  2s.,  was  considered  a 
fair  average  royalty.    This  rate,  unfortunately 
for  the  welfare  of  the  mining  interests  of  the 
county,  was  not    by  any  means    universally 
adopted,  as  higher  rates  were  in  some  cases 
exacted,  and  this  fact  has  undoubtedly  had  an 
apathetic    effect    (especially  during    the    pre- 
vailing low  prices  of  the  last  decade)  in  the 
development  of  new  districts  along  the  belt  of 
low-lying  land  between  the  seacoast  and  the 
more  mountainous  parts  of  the  Lake  District, 
extending    from  Egremont    in  the  north   to 
Millom  in  the  south.     The  condition  of  the 
iron  trade  in  1872  and  1873  was  such  that 
confident    predictions    were    made    that    the 
price  of  haematite  would  not  fall  below  20*. 
per  ton  for  many  years  to  come.     A  study 
however  of  the  average  selling  prices  given  in 
tables  Nos.  II.,  III.   and  IV.  will  show  the 
fallacy  of  such  reasoning. 

Previous  to  the  introduction  of  dynamite 
in  1871,  blasting  powder  was  almost  exclu- 
sively used  in  the  working  of  haematite,  but 
for  many  years  past  dynamite  has  been  in 
great  demand  for  this  class  of  mining,  and 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


very  little  powder  is  now  used.  In  the 
working  of  all  deposits  of  Cumberland  ore, 
explosives  are  required  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent.  The  quantity  used  per  ton  of  ore 
worked  varies  considerably  according  to  the 
character  of  the  ore  in  the  different  deposits. 
Some  ores  are  so  compact  and  hard  that  they 
can  only  be  worked  by  jumper  boring  and 
.blasting  ;  others  are  of  a  softer  and  more 
friable  nature,  and  merely  require  an  oc- 
casional '  shot '  partially  to  loosen  the  ground, 
after  which  the  ore  can  be  easily  worked  with 
the  pick.  Dynamite  proved  highly  advan- 
tageous in  the  working  of  many  of  the  harder 
ores,  especially  where  water  was  present,  and 
the  deposit  was '  honey-combed '  with  '  loughs.' 
Owing  to  the  high  cost  of  working  such 
ground  with  powder,  many  of  the  workings 
had  to  be  abandoned.  It  was  afterwards 
found  however  that  the  quicker  action  of 
dynamite,  as  well  as  its  greater  explosive 
power,  produced  results  which  admitted  of 
the  profitable  working  of  these  hard,  wet,  and 


'  loughy  '  ores,  and,  as  a  consequence,  many 
of  the  abandoned  workings  were  reopened. 

In  the  year  1881  blasting  gelatine,  gelatine 
dynamite,  and  gelignite  were  introduced  into 
Cumberland.  They  are  respectively  50,  25 
and  10  per  cent,  stronger  than  dynamite. 
The  last  named  is  now  more  extensively  used 
than  any  other  explosive. 

The  tables  which  will  now  be  given  in 
further  dealing  with  the  subject  afford  the 
best  illustration  of  the  progress  made  in  the 
working  of  haematite  in  Cumberland  during 
the  last  four  decades  of  Queen  Victoria's 
reign,  each  table  showing  the  total  output  for 
one  decade  as  obtained  from  the  Government 
returns.  The  average  yearly  selling  price  at 
the  mines  has  been  fixed  as  nearly  as  possible 
for  ore  of  good  average  quality,  and  the  gross 
value  of  the  total  yearly  output  calculated 
therefrom.  The  selling  price  of  hsematite 
pig-iron  for  each  year  is  also  given,  the  figures 
having  been  supplied  by  Messrs.  Rylands  of 
Birmingham  from  their  Iron  Trade  Circular. 


TABLE  No.  I 


Year 

Total  output  of  haematite 
ore 

Average  selling 
price  at  mines 

Value  of  output 

Prices  of  haematite 
pig-iron 

Tons 

£ 

1861 

472,195 

9/~ 

212,488 

48/6 

1862 

533,94° 

I0/- 

266,970 

55/~ 

1863 

690,974 

12/6 

431,859 

6s/- 

1864 

863,667 

'3/~ 

561,383 

«3/- 

1865 

797,059 

H/- 

557,94' 

7o/-  to  8s/- 

1866 

838,047 

H/- 

586,633 

8o/-    ,92/6 

1867 

890,566 

H/~ 

623,396 

77/6    ,87/6 

1868 

926,628 

13/6 

625,474 

75/-    ,  8o/- 

1869 

1,047,819 

'3/9 

720,375 

6S/-    ,8o/- 

1870 

i,i90>435 

1  6/6 

982,109 

72/6    ,  So/- 

8, 25',  330 

13/5-97 

£5,568,628 

Mean  72/4-80 

Ratio  of  average  price  of  haematite  ore  and  mean  average  price  of  haematite  pig-iron  for  ten  years 
ending  1870  :   I  to  5-36. 

TABLE  No.  II 


1871 

,290,703 

1  8/6 

1,193,900 

77/6  to  8s/- 

1872 

,168,276 

28/- 

1,635,586 

io5/-,  i7o/- 

1873 

,229,826 

3i/6 

1,936,976 

i75/~,  I95/- 

1874 

,119,662 

24/- 

',343,594 

9°/~,  I95/- 

1875 

,147,968 

•9/- 

1,090,570 

77/6  ,  95/- 

1876 

,353,910 

15/6 

1,049,280 

72/6  ,  8o/- 

1877 

,351,44! 

'5/- 

1,013,581 

6S/-,  72/6 

1878 

,357,886 

H/6 

984,467 

58/6,  7o/- 

1879 

,227,006 

«3/- 

797,554 

47/~  ,  56/- 

1880 

,491,440 

18/6 

1,379,582 

55/~  ,  97/6 

12,738,118 

19/6-10 

£12,425,090 

82/3-60  1  1  1/7-20 

Mean  96/1  1-40 

Ratio  of  average  price  of  haematite  ore,  and  mean  average  price  of  haematite  pig-iron  for  ten  years 
ending  1880  :   I  to  4'96.     The  highest  price  obtained  for  hzmatite  during  this  decade  was  37/6  in 

i873- 

390 


INDUSTRIES 

TABLE  No.  Ill 


Year 

Total  output  of  haematite 

Average  selling 

Value  of  output 

Prices  of  haematite 

ore 

price  at  mines 

pig-iron 

Tons 

£ 

l88l 

1,615,635 

H/9 

i,  19',  53i 

56/-  to6z/- 

1882 

1,725,478 

'4/9 

1,272,540 

53/6  „  6o/- 

1883 

1,477,052 

12/9 

941,621 

SQ/-  „  56/- 

1884 

1,357,206 

10/9 

729,498 

44/6  „  46/6 

1885 

1,227,550 

10/3 

629,119 

42/6  „  44/- 

1886 

1,260,588 

I0/- 

630,294 

4°/-  „  43/3 

1887 

I,479>5l6 

io/3 

758,252 

44/-  „  49/6 

1888 

1,573,043 

IQ/- 

786,521 

42/6  „  44/6 

1889 

1,593,890 

12/9 

1,016,105 

44/6  ,,  5°/~ 

1890 

1,431,159 

'+/- 

i,  oo  1,8  1  1 

52/3  »  76/- 

14,741,117 

12/1-84 

£8,957,292 

46/11-70  53/2-10 

Mean  50/0-90 

Ratio  of  average  price  of  haematite  ore,  and  mean  average  price  of  haematite  pig-iron  for  ten  years 
ending  1890  :   I  to  4-12. 

TABLE  No.  IV 


1891 

1,417,860 

10/9 

762,100 

5i/-to53/- 

1892 

1,355,007 

10/6 

711,379 

47/6  „  49/6 

1893 

1,352,410 

I0/- 

676,205 

44/~  >»  46/~ 

1894 

1,286,590 

,o/- 

643,295 

44/~  ,,  45/6 

1895 

1,215,410 

10/6 

638,090 

42/6  „  45/~ 

1896 

1,279,558 

n/6 

735,746 

47/~  »  - 

1897 

1,294,160 

I2/- 

776,496 

47/~  ,,  51/- 

1898 

1,251,764 

12/9 

797,999 

49/-  „  5'/~ 

1899 

1,137,75° 

'5/- 

853,3i* 

59/~  »  76/6 

1900 

1,103,430 

16/9 

924,121 

75/6  „  83/6 

12,693,939 

11/10-15 

£7,5  18,744 

50/7-80  55/8-00 

Mean  53/1-90 

Ratio  of  average  price  of  haematite,  and  mean  average  price  of  haematite  pig-iron  for  ten  years 
ending  1900  :   I  to  4-48. 

TABLE  No.  V 

Summary  of  foregoing  tables  showing  total  output,  average  price,  value  of  output,  and  average  price 
of  haematite  pig-iron. 


No.  of  table 

Total  output  for  each 
decade 

Average  price  at 
mines 

Value  of  output 

Average  price  of  haematite 
pig-iron 

I 

2 

3 

4 

Ton> 
8,251,330 
12,738,118 
14,741,117 
12,693,939 

I3/5497 
I9/6-IO 
12/1-84 
II/IO-I5 

5,568,628 
12,425,090 
8,957,292 

7,5!  8,744 

72/4-80 
96/11-40 
50/0-90 
53/I-90 

48,424,504 

14/2-84 

£34,469,754 

68/1-75 

Ratio  of  average  price  of  haematite  ore,  and  mean  average  price  of  haematite  pig-iron  for  four 
decades  ending  1900  :    I  to  4-78. 


The  object  of  the  following  table  (No.  VI.) 
has  been  to  classify  as  nearly  as  possible,  with- 
in parish  areas,  the  output  of  haematite,  as 
shown  by  the  Board  of  Trade  returns,  from 
the  individual  mines  of  the  ore  bearing  dis- 


tricts in  Cumberland,  during  the  decades 
ending  1880,  1890,  and  1900  respectively. 
As,  however,  a  few  of  the  returns  from  mine 
owners  raising  ore  from  more  than  one  parish 
are  not  shown  separately,  the  classification 


391 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


here  given  is  only  approximate.  At  the  same 
time  these  aggregate  returns  have  been  as 
fairly  apportioned  as  possible,  and  the  results 
are  sufficiently  accurate  to  secure  the  object 
in  view,  viz.  that  of  showing  the  most  pro- 
ductive areas  in  the  different  districts. 


Complete  individual  mining  returns  are  not 
obtainable  prior  to  the  year  1872,  and  there- 
fore the  output  for  1871  is  dealt  with  pro- 
portionately, and  added  to  the  parish  totals 
of  the  subsequent  nine  years  of  the  first  de- 
cade. 


TABLE  No.  VI 
WHITEHAVEN  DISTRICT 


Parishes 

1st  decade 
1871-80 

2nd  decade 
1881-90 

3rd  decade 
1891-1900 

Parish  totals 

District  totals 

Per  cent,  of  inc.  or 
dec.  between  1st 
and  3rd  decade 

Tons 

Tons 

Tons 

Tons 

Tons 

Inc. 

Dec. 

Arlecdon 

2,059,645 

I>724,i49 

1,528,674 

5,312,468 

25-77 

Cleator    . 

4,505.95' 

3,508,899 

2,165,333 

10,180,183 

5'  '94 

Egremont     .     . 

1,273,702 

3,151,387 

3,136,632 

7,561,72! 

146-26 

Ennerdale     . 

7OO 

540 

1,240 

Hensingham 

1,136 

1,136 

Lamplugh     . 

535,261 

769,456 

606,363 

1,911,080 

13-28 

Salter  and  Eskett 

1,704,844 

924,112 

374,003 

3,002,959 

78-06 

St.  John  Becker- 

met     .     .     . 

4,946 

4,946 

10,080,103 

10,078,543 

7,817,087 

27,975,733 

22-45 

MILLOM  DISTRICT 


Millom    . 
Whicham 

2,597,767 
731 

4,487,618 
161,705 

4,742,092 
134,760 

11,827,477 
297,196 

82-54 

2,598,498 

4,649,323 

4,876,852 

12,124,673 

87-67 

ESKDALE  DISTRICT 


St.  Bees  .     .     . 

49,217 

13,049 

62,266 

62,266 

ALSTON  DISTRICT 


Alston      .      .      . 

10,300 

202 

10,502 

10,502 

40,173,174 

A  description  of  the  more  important  mines 
and  mining  operations  in  each  parish  area 
will  now  be  given,  with  a  view  of  showing 
the  part  these  have  played  in  the  rise  and 
fall  of  haematite  mining  in  the  various  dis- 
tricts specified. 

WHITEHAVEN  DISTRICT 
ARLECDON  PARISH. — The  largest  produc- 
ing mines  here  prior  to  the  year  1880  were  the 
old  Parkside,  High  House  and  Crossgill  mines. 
The  first  bedlike  deposit  of  haematite  worked  at 
Parkside  was  one  of  the  best  and  richest  de- 
posits in  the  Whitehaven  district.  Mr.  Kendall, 


in  his  description  of  this  deposit,  says  :  '  The 
length  of  the  deposit  on  a  north  and  south  line 
is  about  450  yards,  and  its  breadth  from  east 
to  west  is  about  370  yards.  Its  area  is  about 
34  acres  as  far  as  worked,  being  larger  in 
superficial  extent  than  any  other  deposit  in 
the  district.  It  has  also  yielded  the  largest 
quantity  of  ore.'  The  Crossgill  and  the 
High  House  mines,  which  are  contiguous 
royalties,  have  also  worked  portions  of  this 
extensive  deposit.  The  greatest  output  from 
the  Parkside  mines  since  1872,  as  shown  by 
the  Board  of  Trade  returns,  was  144,880 
tons  raised  during  the  year  1874,  that  from 


392 


INDUSTRIES 


the  High  House  mines  120,036  tons  in  1873, 
and  from  Crossgill  41,134  tons  in  1873.  A 
list  of  the  haematite  producing  mines  in  this 
parish  in  the  year  1900,  with  their  respective 
outputs,  is  afterwards  given  in  Table  No.  IX. 
Among  the  mines  which  have  now  ceased 
working,  Birks  and  Yeathouse  may  be  men- 
tioned as  being  two  of  the  oldest  mines  in 
the  parish  ;  the  others  include  Dyke-Nook, 
Goose  Green  and  Rattenrow.  Table  No.  VI. 
shows  a  gradual  decrease  in  the  production 
of  haematite  from  this  area  during  the  three 
decades  specified,  the  falling  off  in  output 
between  the  first  and  third  decade  being 
25'77  Per  cent-  The  Parkside  and  Crossgill 
mines  still  yield  considerable  quantities  of  ore, 
both  royalties  being  now  worked  by  the 
Parkside  Mining  Co. 

CLEATOR  PARISH. — As  will  be  seen  by 
reference  to  Table  No.  VI.,  this  parish  pro- 
duced by  far  the  largest  quantity  of  haematite 
during  the  ten  years  ending  1880.  The 
principal  producing  mines  at  that  time  were 
Montreal,  worked  by  Mr.  John  Stirling  ; 
Cleator,  worked  by  the  Cleator  Iron  Ore 
Co.  (Messrs.  Ainsworth) ;  Crossfield,  worked 
by  the  Crossfield  Iron  Ore  Co.  from  1865 
until  1894,  and  now  carried  on  by  Mr. 
James  Robertson  Walker,  the  present  owner 
of  the  property  ;  Crowgarth,  worked  by 
Lord  Leconfield  ;  and  Longlands  and  Row- 
foot  at  the  south  end  of  the  parish,  worked 
by  the  Messrs.  Lindow. 

The  largest  deposit  of  haematite  in  this 
area  has  been  that  in  the  Montreal  mines 
along  the  east  and  west  '  fault '  forming  the 
junction  of  the  coal  and  limestone  measures. 
This  '  fault '  has  a  '  downthrow  '  to  the  north 
of  over  2OO  fathoms.  The  extent  of  this 
rich  deposit  will  be  best  understood  by  the 
fact  that  during  the  decade  ending  1880, 
2,008,748  tons  of  haematite  were  obtained 
from  these  mines.  The  ore,  as  is  the  case 
with  most  of  the  deposits  in  this  parish,  is 
of  a  very  good  quality,  one  of  the  analyses 
previously  given  being  from  a  sample  obtained 
from  this  part  of  the  district.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice  that  for  many  years  a  considerable 
output  of  both  iron  ore  and  coal  has  been 
raised  from  the  No.  4  pit  in  the  Montreal 
royalty.  This,  so  far  as  the  writer  is  aware, 
forms  a  unique  feature  in  the  mining  records 
of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  maximum 
yearly  output  of  haematite  from  the  Montreal 
mines  was  attained  in  1877,  when  265,678 
tons  were  raised.  For  the  decade  ending 
1880,  the  production  of  haematite  from  the 
Crossfield  mines  was  928,526  tons,  and  from 
the  Cleator  Iron  Ore  mines,  583,742  tons  ; 


while  the  maximum  outputs  were  136,597 
tons  in  1876  from  the  former,  and  88,640 
tons  in  1877  from  the  latter.  Coal  was  also 
found  in  a  portion  of  the  Crossfield  estate, 
but  this  was  worked  by  Mr.  Stirling  and 
raised  from  his  No.  4  pit.  Large  quantities 
of  rich  ore  were  also  raised  during  this  period 
from  Lord  Leconfield's  Crowgarth  and  Messrs. 
Lindow's  Longlands,  and  Rowfoot  mines.  In 
this  parish  the  ore  was  worked  '  open-cast ' 
in  several  places. 

Mr.  John  Stirling,  who  afterwards  proved 
so  successful  in  opening  up  large  and  valuable 
deposits  in  the  Montreal  royalty,  first  began 
his  mining  operations  at  '  Todholes,'  a  small 
property  near  Cleator  Moor.  The  deposit 
here  was  worked  'open-cast,'  and  had  been 
working  for  some  time  before  the  year  1860. 
Mention  is  made  of  this  '  open-cast '  by 
Whellan  as  follows  :  '  At  a  place  called  Tod- 
holes  near  Cleator  an  openwork  has  for  some 
time  been  in  operation  ;  the  superficial  cover- 
ing of  15  to  20  feet  in  thickness  which  con- 
tains very  numerous  angular  fragments  of 
limestone  being  removed,  the  red  iron  ore 
was  worked  as  a  quarry.  The  floor  of  the 
deposit  is  a  white  and  red  mottled  shale  ; 
boreholes  have  been  sunk  in  it  to  a  depth  of 
30  or  40  feet  without  meeting  with  any  other 
material.' 1  The  bed  of  haematite  overlying 
this  shale  is  said  to  have  been  upwards  of  30 
feet  in  thickness.  The  next  important '  open- 
cast '  was  opened  up  and  worked  by  Mr. 
Thomas  Ainsworth  near  Cleator.  This  was 
an  '  outcrop '  of  haematite  lying  on  a  north 
and  south  '  fault,'  having  an  '  upthrow '  to 
the  west  of  about  40  fathoms,  and  in  its 
extension  northwards  running  through  the 
Crossfield  and  Montreal  properties.  It  was 
worked  on  an  extensive  scale  and  at  a  com- 
paratively early  date.  Later,  during  the 
decade  ending  1880,  the  Crossfield  Iron  Ore 
Co.  worked  similar  deposits  of  haematite  by 
means  of  two  '  open-casts,'  and  Mr.  Stirling, 
by  another,  further  to  the  north,  all  being  on 
the  same  '  fault '  as  that  at  Cleator.  The 
three  last  '  open-casts '  were  situated  in  the 
low  lying  ground  close  to  the  river  Keekle. 
This  stream  is  subject  in  wet  weather  to 
sudden  and  heavy  floods  from  its  extensive 
watershed,  although  in  dry  seasons  it  contains 
very  little  water.  To  avert  the  danger  from 
flooding  of  these  open  workings,  as  well  as 
to  insure  the  safety  of  the  adjacent  mines, 
it  was  found  necessary  to  construct  a  large 
wooden  trough  in  the  bed  of  the  river.  This 
troughing  was  formed  of  4-inch  pitch  pine 
planks,  resting  on  12-inch  square  pitch  pine 


1  History  of  Cumberland,  p.  7  7  (published  1860) 


II 


393 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


soletrees,  about  30  feet  in  length,  and  placed 
about  5  feet  apart,  the  inside  size  of  the 
troughing  being  as  follows  :  width  of  bottom, 
2O  feet ;  width  across  top,  29^  feet ;  and 
vertical  depth,  9  feet.  The  first  section  of 
troughing  was  built  by  the  Crossfield  Co. 
in  the  year  1878,  when  about  60  yards  of 
the  river  bed  were  boxed  over,  and  from  time 
to  time  other  sections  of  varying  lengths  were 
added  by  this  company.  Mr.  Stirling  also 
extensively  troughed  the  river  bed  running 
through  his  royalty,  until  the  combined  length 
of  troughing  in  the  two  properties  was  about 
528  yards.  Although  the  first  outlay  was 
considerable,  a  great  saving  was  effected  in 
the  cost  of  pumping  from  the  mines  in  the 
low-lying  ground  in  each  royalty,  whilst  the 
ore  immediately  under  the  river  bed  with 
that  forming  the  adjacent  parts  of  the  deposit 
has  been  worked  out.  This  large  body  of 
ore,  representing  probably  over  a  million  tons, 
would,  without  the  protecting  troughing,  have 
had  to  be  left  unworked.  At  the  south  end 
of  the  parish  a  portion  of  the  river  had  to 
be  diverted  near  to  the  junction  of  the  rivers 
Ehen  and  Keekle.  This  work  was  jointly 
carried  out  by  the  Messrs.  Lindow  and  Messrs. 
Bain  &  Co.,  in  order  to  admit  of  the  work- 
ing out  of  the  '  rise '  ore  resting  on  the  slate- 
rock  and  to  ensure  the  safety  of  the  Longlands 
and  Woodend  mines.  As  will  be  seen  from 
Table  No.  VI.,  the  output  of  haematite 
from  the  Cleator  parish  during  the  three 
decades  ending  1900  shows  a  large  falling 
off,  the  decrease  between  the  first  and  last 
decades  being  51*94  per  cent.  Occupying 
as  it  does  a  central  position  in  the  Whitehaven 
district,  this  area  has  been  well  proved,  and 
although  it  may  continue  to  produce  ore  for 
many  years,  future  mining  operations  will  in 
all  likelihood  still  continue  to  show  a  very 
material  declension. 

EGREMONT  PARISH. — Although  it  was  in 
this  parish  that  some  of  the  earliest  mining 
of  haematite  took  place,  we  find  from  Table 
No.  VI.  that  during  the  decade  ending  1880 
it  only  occupied  the  fourth  place  among  the 
ore  producing  areas  of  the  Whitehaven  dis- 
trict, Cleator,  Arlecdon  and  Salter  and  Eskett 
taking  the  lead  in  the  order  named.  Prior 
to  and  during  this  period  the  most  important 
mines  in  the  parish  were  the  old  Bigrigg 
mines  of  Lord  Leconfield,  the  Woodend, 
Gutterby,  Ironriggs  and  Peile  pits  of  Messrs. 
Lindow,  the  Woodend  mines  of  Messrs. 
Bain  &  Co.,  the  mines  of  the  Ehen  Mining 
Co.,  Robin  Benn,  Billy  Frears  and  Fletcher 
pits  on  Postlethwaite's  Moor  Row  estate,  and 
the  Moor  Row  mines.  Up  to  the  year  1880 


very  little  had  been  done  in  the  way  of 
mining  near  the  town  of  Egremont,  but 
operations  are  now  being  conducted  there 
on  an  extensive  scale. 

The  Wyndham  and  Gillfoot  Park  mines, 
which  have  produced  the  highest  outputs  in 
the  Whitehaven  district  during  the  last  ten 
years,  only  began  to  raise  ore  in  1879.  From 
the  Gillfoot  mines  7,807  tons  were  returned 
for  that  year  ;  this  was  followed  by  an  out- 
put of  72,880  tons  for  the  year  1880,  and 
up  to  the  present  time  good  and  regular  out- 
puts have  been  maintained,  the  maximum 
output  of  121,742  tons  being  reached  in 
1889.  The  Wyndham  Co.,  who  started 
sinking  within  a  short  distance  of  the  river 
Ehen,  a  little  to  the  south  of  the  Egremont 
railway  station,  had  a  large  quantity  of  water 
to  contend  with,  their  progress  for  a  few 
years  being  considerably  retarded  from  this 
cause.  In  1883  however  73,139  tons  were 
raised,  while  the  maximum  output  up  to  the 
present  time  was  attained  in  1898,  when  the 
output  reached  112,501  tons.  Some  years 
ago  this  company  had  to  make  a  deviation 
in  the  river  Ehen,  owing  to  a  threatened 
inbreak  from  the  original  river  bed.  This 
work  was  satisfactorily  completed,  and  has 
enabled  the  company  to  work  out  a  much 
larger  quantity  of  ore  than  they  could  other- 
wise have  secured.  These  two  mines,  which 
are  now  worked  by  the  Wyndham  Mining 
Co.,  are  specially  mentioned,  as  it  is  owing 
to  their  large  outputs  that  the  Egremont 
parish  has  taken  the  premier  position  during 
the  last  decade,  as  the  largest  ore  producing 
area  in  the  Whitehaven  district.  The 
Wyndham  Co.  (who  also  work  the  Falcon 
Mines)  are  about  to  commence  the  sinking 
of  a  shaft  about  20O  fathoms  in  depth  near 
Orgill  in  this  parish. 

Other  mines  of  considerable  importance 
have  for  some  years  past  been  in  operation, 
of  which  may  be  mentioned  the  Moss  Bay 
Haematite  Iron  and  Steel  Co.'s  mines,  and 
Messrs.  Bain  &  Co.'s  mines  at  Woodend, 
the  Syke  House,  and  Sir  John  Walsh  mines 
of  Messrs.  S.  &  J.  Lindow,  the  Pallaflat  and 
Southam  mines,  the  Parkhouse  mines  of 
Messrs.  Charles  Cammell  &  Co.  Ld.,  Postle- 
thwaite's Moor  Row  mines,  and  the  mines 
at  Moor  Row  worked  by  the  executors  of 
the  late  Mr.  T.  H.  Dalzell.  The  Town- 
head  Mining  Co.  in  Egremont  and  the 
Ullcoats  Mining  Co.  in  St.  John  Beckermet 
parish  have  quite  recently  been  added  to  the 
list  of  ore  producers,  while  the  Millom  & 
Ascham  Haematite  Iron  Co.  Ld.  are  sink- 
ing a  shaft  in  a  small  royalty  at  Ullbank  in 
Beckermet  parish  near  Egremont. 


394 


INDUSTRIES 


LAMPLUGH  PARISH. — This  is  the  most 
northerly  parish  in  the  Whitehaven  district 
where  haematite  is  worked.  It  is  worthy 
of  special  notice,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  only 
part  in  Cumberland  where  hjematite  is  found 
in  workable  quantities  in  the  Skiddaw  slate. 
The  properties  of  Kelton  Fell  and  Knock- 
murton  within  a  short  distance  of  Ennerdale 
Lake  have  been  profitably  worked  for  many 
years  by  Messrs.  William  Baird  &  Co.  of 
Scotland.  The  ore  occurs,  as  has  already 
been  observed,  in  veins  in  the  Skiddaw  slate, 
having  for  the  most  part  a  north-west  and 
south-east  direction.  These  veins  have  a 
considerable  extension  both  longitudinally  and 
vertically,  and  although  the  ore  deposits  are 
not  continuous,  they  are  sufficiently  persistent 
to  permit  of  the  mines  being  profitably  carried 
on.  Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  the  deposits 
may  be  formed  from  the  fact  that  over  a 
million  tons  of  haematite  have  been  raised 
from  these  mines,  the  maximum  output  being 
reached  in  1883,  in  which  year  it  amounted 
to  61,377  tons.  A  shaft  about  80  fathoms 
in  depth  has  recently  been  sunk  which  will 
open  up  a  large  extent  of  ore  bearing  ground 
and  add  greatly  to  the  life  of  the  mines. 
Previous  to  the  Messrs.  Baird  commencing 
operations  early  in  the  '  seventies,'  two 
attempts  had  been  made  to  work  ore  in  this 
locality,  one  by  Mr.  Thomas  Carmichal,  and 
the  other  by  Mr.  John  Stirling  of  the 
Montreal  mines,  both  ventures  proving  un- 
successful. 

The  district  lying  to  the  north  of  Lam- 
plugh  parish  has  hitherto  produced  very  little 
ore ;  this  may  probably  be  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  limestone  in  its  extension  northwards 
is  intersected  by  a  smaller  number  of  im- 
portant '  faults '  than  is  the  case  in  the  rich 
ore  bearing  ground  farther  south.  The 
ground  here  has  however  not  been  sufficiently 
proved,  and  future  explorations  may  lead  to 
further  discoveries  in  this  direction.  Ore  in 
considerable  quantity  was  got  at  Murton  in 
this  parish,  where  mining  for  a  time  was 
extensively  carried  on,  and  later,  about  the 
year  1880,  a  vigorous  attempt  was  made  to 
open  up  mines  at  Whinnah,  but  without 
much  success.  This  district  is  however  still 
worth  attention.  Work  has  now  been  sus- 
pended at  the  Windergill  mines  at  the  south 
end  of  the  parish.  These  mines  have  pro- 
duced in  the  past  a  large  quantity  of  ore. 
The  other  mines  at  work  here  are  the 
Winder  mines,  worked  by  the  Parkside 
Mining  Co.,  and  Margaret  pit  worked  by 
Messrs.  Ainsworth.  At  the  latter  a  fine 
deposit  of  ore  has  been  worked  for  some  years 
past.  The  pit  is  over  130  fathoms  in  depth, 


the  ore  lying  at  that  level  on  a  north  and 
south  '  fault,'  which  outcrops  in  the  Yate- 
house  estate.  This  deposit  is  likely  to  con- 
tinue to  yield  good  outputs  of  ore  for  many 
years. 

SALTER  AND  ESKETT  PARISH. — Consider- 
ing the  small  area  of  this  parish,  it  has  pro- 
duced a  large  quantity  of  excellent  haematite. 
The  production  of  ore  for  the  first  of  the 
three  decades  is  shown  in  Table  No.  VI.  to 
have  amounted  to  over  a  million  and  a  half 
tons.  Owing  however  to  the  limited  work- 
able area,  the  decrease  during  the  following 
two  decades  has  been  more  marked  than  in 
any  of  the  other  parish  areas  described.  As 
shown  on  Table  No.  VI.,  the  output  for  the 
last  period  of  ten  years  shows  a  decline  of 
78-o6  per  cent  compared  with  that  of  the 
first  decade.  The  older  and  more  important 
mines  in  this  parish  were  the  Eskett,  Salter 
and  Eskett,  and  Postlethwaite's  Eskett  mines, 
from  all  of  which  large  quantities  of  ore  have 
been  raised.  The  Salter  Hall  and  Eskett  Park 
mines  have  also  in  the  past  added  largely  to 
the  output  of  the  district.  The  bulk  of  the 
ore  obtained  from  the  Salter  Hall  mines  was 
worked  from  a  large  vein-like  deposit  lying 
on  a  north  and  south  '  fault,'  which  in  its 
extension  northwards  formed  also  the  best 
producing  deposit  in  Postlethwaite's  Eskett 
royalty.  Only  three  mines  are  at  present 
working  in  this  area.  These  will  be  found 
in  Table  No.  IX. 

ENNERDALE  AND  KINISIDE,  HENSINGHAM 
AND  ST.  JOHN  BECKERMET  PARISHES. — 
Table  No.  VI.  shows  that  small  quantities 
of  haematite  have  been  obtained  from  each 
of  these  areas,  but  up  to  the  present  time 
these  additions  to  the  output  of  the  district 
have  been  of  little  moment.  As  will  be 
gathered  however  from  the  remarks  already 
made  about  Beckermet  and  other  areas  imme- 
diately to  the  south  of  Egremont,  these  are 
likely  to  form  a  very  important  mining  centre 
in  this  part  of  Cumberland  in  the  near  future. 
The  output  shown  in  the  table  as  having 
been  raised  from  Beckermet  parish  was  worked 
by  the  Wyndham  Mining  Co.  of  Egremont, 
and  that  from  Hensingham  parish  by  Mr. 
Stirling  from  the  Montreal  mines. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  from 
time  to  time  to  work  the  ore  veins  in  the 
older  rocks  about  the  hills  around  the  Enner- 
dale lake,  but  these  have  proved  abortive, 
owing  to  the  small  size  of  the  veins  and  the 
hard  nature  of  the  rocks  encasing  them. 
Messrs.  Charles  Cammell  &  Co.,  Ltd.,  some 
years  ago  ran  a  prospecting  drift  into  the 
hillside  near  the  lower  end  of  the  lake,  on  its 


395 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


south-western  side.  This  drift  was  driven  for 
a  considerable  distance,  but  no  ore  was  found 
of  any  commercial  value.  In  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Gosforth  also  some  prospecting  work 
has  been  carried  out,  but  although  the  ore 
indications  are  abundant,  no  sufficient  work- 
able quantity  has  yet  been  found.  The  total 
quantity  of  haematite  raised  from  the  various 
parishes  in  the  Whitehaven  district  during 
the  last  thirty  years  has  amounted  to  nearly 
28,000,000  tons.  The  present  output  from 
the  mines  in  each  parish  will  be  found  in 
Table  No.  IX. 

MILLOM   DISTRICT 

MILLOM  PARISH. — Although  the  ore  bear- 
ing area  of  this  part  of  the  county,  so  far  as 
proved,  is  much  smaller  than  that  of  the 
Whitehaven  district,  the  deposit  of  haematite 
at  Hodbarrow  worked  by  the  Hodbarrow 
Mining  Co.  Ltd.  far  surpasses  in  size  and 
richness  any  other  area  of  the  same  extent  in 
Cumberland  or  even  in  Great  Britain.  This 
deposit  is  not  only  of  vast  dimensions,  but 
the  ore  is  noted  for  its  uniformly  high  yield 
of  metallic  iron.  The  following  is  an  average 
analysis  of  the  ore  : — 


Dried  at 
212°  Fah. 

Ferric  oxide     .... 

85-20 

88-57 

Alumina     

i'3S 

1-40 

Manganese  oxide  . 

•08 

•09 

Carbonate  of  lime 

2-07 

2-15 

„          „    magnesia  . 

•I  i 

•12 

Silica     

7"23 

7'SO 

Sulphuric  acid  (SO3). 

•16 

•17 

Phosphoric  acid  (P2O5)  . 

trace 

trace 

Moisture    

r8o 

lOO'OO 

lOO'OO 

Metallic  iron  .... 

S9-64% 

62-00% 

Insol.  silic.  residue     .     . 

8-  1  8% 

8-5°% 

The  total  output  from  the  Hodbarrow 
mines  from  1864  to  1900  inclusive  has  (as 
shown  in  Table  No.  VII.)  amounted  to 
12,790,126  tons,  and  it  will  be  seen  from 
Table  No.  VIII.  that  this  quantity  represents 
more  than  one  third  of  the  total  output  from 
all  other  mines  in  Cumberland.  The  annual 
average  number  of  persons  employed  at  these 
mines  is  as  under :  Above  ground,  350  ; 
under  ground,  1,050  ;  total,  1,400. 


TABLE   No.   VII 
Output  of  haematite  from  the  Hodbarrow  mines. 


Year 

Output  in 
tons 

Total  output 
in  decades 

Year 

Output  in 
tons 

Total  output 
in  decades 

1861   .  .  . 

_ 

1881   .  .  . 

358,621 

3,564.67o 

1862   .   .   . 

— 

1882   .  .  . 

453,523 

1863   .   .   . 

— 

1883  .  .  ; 

473,374 

1864   ... 

78,993 

1884  .  .  . 

488,208 

1865    .   .   . 

117,329 

1885  .  .  . 

4Z7,95' 

1866   .   .   . 

131,542 

1886  .  .  . 

441,044 

1867   .   .   . 

181,504 

1887  .  .  . 

468,994 

1868   .   .   . 

201,380 

1888  .  .  . 

474,238 

1869   .   .   . 
1870   .   .   . 

198,705 
!74>943 

1,084,396 

1889  .  .  . 
1890  .  .  . 

492,265 
405,146 

4,483,364 

1871    .   .   . 

207,146 

1891  .  .  . 

535,oio 

1872   .   .   . 

211,771 

1892  .  .  . 

523,973 

1873   .   .   . 

203,791 

1893  .  .  . 

531,04! 

1874   .   .   . 

201,663 

1894  .  .  . 

474,667 

1875   .   .   . 

202,817 

1895  .  .  . 

451,327 

1876   .   .   . 

271,098 

1896  .  .  . 

471,164 

1877   .   .   . 

270,195 

1897  .  .  . 

483,559 

1878   .   .   . 

274,962 

1898  ... 

420,336 

1879   .   .   . 

293,637 

1899  .  .  . 

435,400 

1880   .   .   . 

343,194 

2,480,274 

1900  .  .  . 

415,615 

4,742,092 

3,564,670 

12,790,126 

396 


INDUSTRIES 


TABLE    No.    VIII 

Showing  percentage  which  the  output  of  haematite  from  the  Hodbarrow  mines  bears 
to  that  of  all  other  haematite  raised  in  Cumberland  during  the  last  four  decades. 


Decade  ending 

Output  from 

Hodbarrow  mines 

Output  from  all 
other  mines  in 
Cumberland 

Total  output 
of  Cumberland 
haematite 

Percentage 

1870     

1  1.084.406 

7.l66.Q34- 

8.2C  I.33O 

I  C'l  3 

l88o     

2,4.80,274. 

IO.2C7,84.4. 

I  2,  718,  1  l8 

24-18 

1800            .... 

4..  4.83  364. 

IO.2C7  7C  ? 

H74.I    117 

J2  '7  I 

IQOO      . 

4,74.2,002 

7.QC  1.84.7 

12.  6Q?  Q3Q 

co'6j. 

12,790,126 

35,634,378 

48,424,504 

3  5  '9° 

The  great  interest  these  celebrated  mines 
have  excited  in  the  mining  world  is  a  suffi- 
cient reason  for  quoting  largely  from  a  paper 
by  Mr.  Cedric  Vaughan,  managing  director 
of  the  Hodbarrow  mines,  and  also  from  a 
joint  paper  by  Mr.  Vaughan  and  Mr.  H. 
Shelford  Bidwell,  the  resident  engineer  of 
Messrs.  Coode,  Son  &  Matthews,  which 
firm  is  constructing  the  '  Outer  Barrier ' 
works  now  in  progress.  The  former  of  these 
articles  gives  a  succinct  account  of  the  dis- 
covery and  working  of  this  wonderful  deposit 
of  haematite,  and  the  latter  a  description  of 
the  sea  wall  and  embankment  works,  which 
were  designed  and  are  now  being  carried  out 
by  the  above  firm  of  engineers. 

These  papers  appeared  in  the  Transactions  of 
the  Institution  of  Mechanical  Engineers  for  1902 
at  their  meeting  held  in  Barrow,  and  the 
Council  of  the  Institute  as  well  as  the  writers 
of  the  articles  and  engineers  have  kindly 
granted  their  consent  to  the  following 
accounts  being  given  : — 

HODBARROW  IRON  ORE  MINES,  MILLOM 
These  mines  were  first  discovered  about  1845 
through  the  occurrence  of  veins  of  ore  in  the 
carboniferous  limestone  which  forms  the  rocks  on 
the  shore  at  Hodbarrow  Point.  The  late  William 
Earl  of  Lonsdale  worked  one  of  these  veins  by 
means  of  an  adit  level  from  the  shore  ;  but,  meet- 
ing with  little  success,  he  gave  up  the  venture,  and 
granted  a  '  take  note  '  to  the  founders  of  the  Hod- 
barrow Mining  Co.  in  1855.  A  shaft  was  sunk 
on  the  same  vein,  and  the  shaft  and  engine  house 
are  still  visible  on  the  top  of  the  hill  at  flodbarrow 
Point.  As  the  vein  was  followed  it  began  to  nip 
out,  and  boring  was  resorted  to.  The  late  Mr. 
William  Barratt  observed  that  the  veins  converged 
towards  the  west,  and,  putting  down  a  bore-hole 
at  the  probable  point  of  intersection,  proved  100 
feet  of  solid  ha;matite  ore,  and  so  discovered  the 
first  deposit  in  1856.  This  deposit  yielded  ex- 
cellent ore,  and  while  the  company  were  working 
it  they  built  workmen's  houses  on  the  adjoining 
mains  without  knowing  what  was  beneath  them. 
While  sinking  a  well  to  supply  these  houses  with 


water,  another  large  deposit  was  found  by  means  of 
a  bore-hole  put  down  at  the  bottom  of  the  well 
with  the  view  of  increasing  the  water  supply. 
This  led  to  other  borings  in  the  vicinity,  when  it 
was  found  that  a  very  large  deposit  of  ore  existed 
under  the  Hodbarrow  mains. 

The  first  discovered  deposit  was  comparatively 
shallow,  with  not  more  than  60  feet  of  cover  over 
it  at  any  part,  and  in  one  place  it  came  almost  to 
the  surface.  Between  this  deposit  and  the  larger 
one  was  an  intermediate  deposit  of  smaller  area, 
which  overlapped  the  large  or  main  deposit,  this 
last  named  lying  much  deeper  and  having  a  cover 
about  200  feet  thick.  The  first  and  second  de- 
posits are  practically  worked  out,  and  it  is  the 
larger  or  main  deposit  which  is  now  being  worked. 
The  company's  first  lease  of  the  minerals  only 
extended  to  ordinary  high-water  mark  on  the 
south,  and  ore  was  proved  to  exist  right  up  to  this 
boundary.  But  inasmuch  as  the  surface  caved  in 
when  the  ore  was  extracted  it  was  necessary  to 
leave  a  barrier  of  ore  360  feet  wide  to  protect  the 
mains  from  the  sea,  which  otherwise  would  have 
filled  the  hollows  on  the  surface,  and  eventually 
have  flooded  the  mine  as  well.  This  barrier  was 
ultimately  found  to  contain  over  five  million  tons 
of  ore,  and  to  enable  the  company  to  win  this  a 
sea  wall  (figs.  I  and  2)  was  erected  in  1 890  to  ex- 
clude the  sea  from  the  foreshore  immediately  in 
front  of  the  mine.  Sir  John  Coode  was  the  en- 
gineer, and  it  was  the  last  work  he  finished  just 
before  his  death.  It  was  a  novel  piece  of  engineer- 
ing, being  a  combination  of  a  sea  wall  and  a 
water-tight  dam. 

The  Earl  of  Lonsdale  then  gave  the  company 
rights  to  search  for  ore  under  the  foreshore  sea- 
wards ;  and,  after  boring  for  some  years  under 
considerable  difficulty,  owing  to  the  heavy  seas 
which  frequently  washed  away  the  stagings  and 
gear,  it  was  satisfactorily  proved  that  the  main 
deposit  of  ore  extended,  not  only  under  the  old 
high-water  mark,  but  also  under  the  sea  wall,  and 
to  a  distance  of  some  500  yards  beyond  it.  The 
full  extent  of  this  ore  ground  has  not  however  even 
yet  been  fully  proved. 

The  second  sea  wall,  or  '  Outer  Barrier '  as  it  is 
officially  termed,  will  enclose  an  area  of  1 70  acres, 
and  when  completed  it  will  enable  the  company 
to  win  the  ore  under  the  foreshore,  which  could 


1  The  output  given  here  is  from  the  year  1864,  when  Government  returns  were  first  recorded. 

397 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


not  otherwise  have  been  worked  with  safety.  The 
mine,  which  is  liable  to  inrushes  of  sand  and  water 
from  the  cover,  is  drained  by  three  Cornish  pump- 
ing engines,  each  having  a  cylinder  70  inches 
diameter  by  9  feet  stroke.  One  of  these  engines 
works  a  plunger  25  inches  diameter  by  10  feet 
stroke,  the  other  two  each  work  a  pair  of  1 8-inch 
plungers  by  10  feet  stroke,  all  from  a  depth  of  50 
fathoms,  with  bucket  lifts  from  60  fathoms  up  to 
the  50  fathom  level.  As  a  general  rule  one  of 
these  engines  is  sufficient  to  keep  the  mine  drained, 
but  when  a  run  of  sand  occurs  it  takes  two  and 
sometimes  all  three  of  them  to  contend  with  it. 
The  plungers  lift  sand  and  water  with  ease  so  long 
as  the  sand  is  kept  in  a  fluid  state,  and  this  is 
effected  by  taking  a  jet  of  fresh  water  down  from 
the  surface  and  discharging  it  into  the  sump, 
which,  acting  under  a  head  of  300  feet,  keeps  the 
sand  in  the  sump  in  such  a  condition  of  fluidity 
that  the  plungers  lift  it  without  difficulty  ;  and 
should  the  sand  during  a  temporary  stoppage  settle 
in  the  pump  column,  the  door  of  the  top  clack  is 
removed,  the  jet  is  turned  up  the  column,  which 
quickly  clears  it  of  sand,  the  door  is  then  replaced, 
the  column  is  filled  with  fresh  water  from  the  top, 
and  the  engine  goes  to  work  again  at  once. 

The  winding  engines  are  direct  acting.  The 
last  new  one  was  made  by  Messrs.  Walker  Brothers 
of  Wigan,  and  has  two  cylinders,  each  24  inches 
diameter  by  4  feet  6  inches  stroke,  with  1 1  feet 
drums.  In  the  year  1898  a  bed  of  quicksand 
was  tapped  in  the  mine,  which  established  a  con- 
nection between  the  sea  and  the  underground 
workings,  a  cavity  being  formed  on  the  outer  fore- 
shore, and  a  heavy  rush  of  tidal  water  into  the 
mine  took  place,  passing  many  fathoms  below  the 
foundations  of  the  sea  wall.  This  however  was 
promptly  checked  by  filling  up  the  cavity  on  the 
shore  with  furze  and  clay,  but  not  before  the  sea 
wall  showed  signs  of  distress  through  deflection, 
caused  by  the  undercurrent  of  tidal  water  into  the 
mine.  The  clay  embankment  behind  the  wall 
subsided  about  5  feet,  and  this  subsidence  had  the 
effect  of  shutting  off  the  connection  with  the  sea, 
and  the  influx  of  tidal  water  shortly  after  ceased. 
Mr.  Matthews,  of  Messrs.  Coode,  Son  &  Matthews, 
having  been  called  in,  advised  that  the  sea  wall 
would  stand,  provided  it  were  not  exposed  to 
heavy  strokes  from  the  sea,  and  he  designed  a 
wave  breaker  of  pell-mell  blocks  of  concrete  (20 
tons  each),  which  was  placed  in  front  of  the 
damaged  wall,  and  which  has  effectively  protected 
it  from  sea  action.  He  also  not  only  levelled  up 
the  subsided  embankment,  but  added  to  it  also 
both  in  height  and  width,  so  as  to  give  additional 
weight,  and  thus  aid  in  shutting  off  the  leakage 
into  the  mine.  This  accident  had  the  effect  of 
hastening  the  negotiations  for  the  erection  of  an 
outer  barrier,  the  necessity  for  which  had  already 
become  apparent  through  the  discovery  of  the  fact 
that  the  ore  body  extended  a  long  way  seaward  of 
the  existing  sea  wall.  In  view  of  previous  ex- 
perience, Mr.  Matthews,  in  designing  this  new 
and  larger  structure,  which  like  its  predecessor  had 
to  be  both  water-tight  and  sea  proof,  provided  for 
a  flexible  bank  instead  of  a  rigid  wall,  so  as  to  pro- 


vide for  such  contingencies  hereafter  as  connection 
between  the  outer  foreshore  and  the  mine,  should 
such  again  occur. 

OUTER   BARRIER  (figs.  I  and  3) 
The  following  description  of  this  work  has 
been   written   by   Mr.   H.   Shelford   Bidwell, 
the  resident    engineer  under  Messrs.  Coode, 
Son  &  Matthews  : — 

The  outer  barrier  consists  of  a  bank  of  rubble 
limestone,  protected  on  the  seaward  side  for  the 
greater  portion  of  its  length  by  an  outer  covering 
of  25  ton  concrete  blocks  deposited  pell-mell,  an 
inner  and  smaller  bank  of  slag,  with  a  filling  of 
clay  between  these  two  banks.  Where  concrete 
blocks  are  not  used,  the  bank  is  protected  by  large 
lumps  of  limestone  weighing  from  8  to  15  tons. 
Under  the  centre  of  the  clay  bank,  in  order  to 
form  a  cut-off  preventing  percolation  of  water  be- 
neath the  barrier,  tongued  and  grooved  sheet  piling 
is  driven  into  the  bottom,  this  being  of  pitch  pine 
varying  in  length  from  1 8  to  27  feet,  or  of  steel 
32  to  35  feet  long,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
foundation.  Where  the  natural  clay  is  near  the 
surface  the  piling  is  dispensed  with,  and  a  puddle 
trench  is  substituted,  the  puddle  being  well  keyed 
into  the  natural  clay. 

Over  the  piling  or  the  puddle  trench,  as  the 
case  may  be,  a  puddle  wall  is  constructed  in  the 
heart  of  the  clay  bank  to  prevent  percolation  of 
water  through  the  barrier,  being  brought  up  to  a 
level  of  five  feet  above  high  water  of  ordinary 
spring  tides.  The  surface  of  the  clay  filling  is  to 
be  covered  with  a  layer  of  slag,  and  provision  is 
made  for  a  parapet  of  concrete  blocks  if  found 
necessary.  There  will  be  four  sluice  culverts 
through  the  barrier,  constructed  of  concrete-in- 
mass,  faced  at  the  openings  with  granite  masonry. 
The  total  length  of  the  barrier  is  6,870  feet,  or 
rather  more  than  a  mile  and  a  quarter.  It  has  an 
extreme  height  of  40  feet,  and  its  greatest  width 
at  the  base  is  210  feet.  The  area  reclaimed  by 
this  barrier  will  be  1 70  acres.  The  contract  for 
the  work  has  been  entrusted  to  Messrs.  John  Aird 
&  Co.  of  Westminster,  who,  as  already  stated, 
were  the  contractors  for  the  first  sea  wall. 

WHICHAM  PARISH. — The  principal  mining 
operations  carried  on  here  were  those  of  the 
Whicham  Mining  Co.,  begun  about  the  year 
1877  and  continued  until  the  year  1895. 
During  this  time  about  300,000  tons  of 
haematite  were  raised.  Owing  however  to 
the  ore  deposit  not  being  sufficiently  large  to 
meet  the  heavy  expenditure  incurred  by 
pumping,  etc.,  it  was  found  impracticable  to 
carry  on  the  mines  profitably,  and  this  ulti- 
mately led  to  their  abandonment.  The  returns 
of  ore  from  the  Millom  district  during  the  last 
three  decades  will  be  found  in  Table  No.  VI. 

ESKDALE  DISTRICT 
ST.   BEES   PARISH. — Several  veins   of  ore 
have   been  worked  at   the  head   of   Eskdale 


398 


INDUSTRIES 


valley  near  Boot.  These  occurring  in  the 
Eskdale  granite  have  produced  the  largest 
quantity  of  ore.  From  1872  to  1883,  59,266 
tons  were  worked  from  these  mines,  princi- 
pally from  the  vein  known  as  '  Nab  Ghyll.' 
About  the  beginning  of  the  decade  ending 
1880  considerable  interest  was  excited  by  the 
glowing  reports  which  were  made  as  to  the 
productiveness  and  extent  of  these  deposits. 
One  of  these  reports  on  the  Eskdale  district 
reckoned  the  probable  yield  of  some  of  the 
veins  by  millions  of  tons,  and  asserted  that  a 
large  portion  of  the  upper  part  of  the  de- 
posits could  be  worked  and  conveyed  to  the 
terminus  of  the  Ravenglass  and  Eskdale  rail- 
way at  a  cost  of  2s.  6d.  per  ton.  After 
working  for  the  period  above  stated,  the 
Eskdale  Mining  Co.  proved  conclusively  that, 
although  the  veins  here  were  richer  than  other 
known  veins  in  the  older  rocks,  they  were  too 
irregular  and  too  much  mixed  up  with  foreign 
matter  to  admit  of  their  being  carried  on  pro- 
fitably. No  ore  appears  to  have  been  worked 
from  these  mines  since  the  year  1883. 

ANALYSIS  OF  ORE  FROM  '  NAB  GHYLL'  VEIN 


No.  1. 
Dried  at 
212°  Fah. 

No.  2 

27'4.1 

Q2-C7 

Manganous  oxide 

•03 

•O2 

2-ie 

2-OC 

6-10 

•88 

zviS 

•CO 

Q'O4. 

•08 

Phosphoric  acid  .... 

•o4 

•03 

Sulphuric  acid     .... 

•02 

•oi 

Carbonic  acid  and  water     . 

32-00 

370 

99-99 

99-84 

Metallic  iron  

I9'20 

64-80 

The  quality  of  the  Eskdale  ore  was  found 
to  be  very  variable,  as  the  foregoing  analysis, 
given  by  Mr.  Kendall  in  his  work  already 
referred  to,  clearly  shows. 

ALSTON  DISTRICT 

This  district  has  long  been  famous  for  its 
production  of  lead  ore,  but,  as  already  men- 
tioned, brown  haematite  ore  occurring  in  the 
limestone  and  associated  with  the  lead  veins 
has  been  worked  from  time  to  time.  No 
large  deposits  of  ore  however  have  at  any 
time  been  found,  and  owing  to  its  low  yield 
of  metallic  iron  it  has  not  proved  of  much 
value  commercially.  Since  the  rich  deposits 
of  the  Whitehaven  and  Millom  districts  have 
been  so  largely  worked,  little  attention  has 
been  given  to  the  iron  ores  of  Alston,  the 
Board  of  Trade  returns  since  1872  only 
showing  an  output  of  8,639  tons- 

The  following  table  (No.  IX.)  shows  the 
output  of  haematite  from  each  mine  and  the 
total  production  from  each  of  the  ore  pro- 
ducing parishes  in  Cumberland  for  the  year 
1900.  The  Hodbarrow  Mining  Co.  Ltd. 
has  been  the  only  company  outside  the 
Whitehaven  district  returning  an  output  of 
ore  for  some  years  past,  and  for  the  year 
1900  the  output  obtained  from  these  mines, 
viz.  415,615  tons,  represents  60-43  Per  cent 
of  the  total  quantity  raised  in  the  White- 
haven  district,  which  amounted  to  687,815 
tons. 

The  numbers  placed  before  the  names  of 
the  different  mines  have  reference  to  the 
position  of  the  latter  as  shown  on  plan  No.  i . 


TABLE   No.  IX 

Showing  the  output  of  haematite  from  the  individual  mines,  in  the  various  parish  areas  in  Cumber- 
land already  enumerated,  for  the  year  1900. 

WHITEHAVEN  DISTRICT 


Parish 

No3.  on  plan 

Name  of  mine 

Name  of  owner 

Output  of 
haematite 

Parish 
totals 

Arlecdon 

I 

Crossgill      .      .      . 

Parkside  Mining  Co.    . 

2<5>377 

2 

Parkside     .     .     . 

JJ                               M 

30,179 

3 

Frizington  Parks  . 

Chas.  Cammell  &  Co.  Ltd. 

16,133 

4 

High  House    .     . 

Isaac  Fletcher    .... 

7.477 

5 

Holebeck    .     .     . 

Dalmellington  Iron  Co.Ltd. 

22,61  1 

6 

Lonsdale    . 

Lonsdale  Mining  Co.  Ltd. 

'7.573 

7 

New  Parkside  .     . 

New  Parkside  M.  Co.  Ltd. 

3,492 

8 

Mowbray         and 

Chas.  Cammell  &  Co.  Ltd. 

16,600 

Landshaw 

I  A  a.  A  A  •> 

399 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Parish 

Nos.  on  plan 

Name  of  mine 

Name  of  owner 

Output  of 
hxmatite 

Parish 

totals 

Cleator    .     . 

9 

Cleator. 

Cleator  I.  O.  Co.    .     .     . 

23,572 

10 

Crossfield    . 

Jas.  Robertson  Walker 

'3,374 

ii 

Crowgarth  .      .     . 

Lord  Leconfield 

11,382 

12 

Jacktrees     . 

Carron  Co.  Ltd. 

19,036 

13 

Longlands  } 

'4 

Rowfoot      >     . 

S.  &  J.  Lindow      .     .     . 

29,268 

'5 

Glebe         ) 

16 

Montreal    . 

John  Stirling      .... 

39,806 

Pit    in     Egre- 

Moor Row 

Exors.  ofT.  H.  Dalzell    . 

2,502 

mont  Parish, 

No.  19 

Do.  do.  No.  23 

Postlethwaite's 

Exors.  of  M.  Postlethwaite 

2,354 

Moor  Row 

Do.  do.  No.  28 

Woodend   . 

Jas.  Bain  &  Co.      .     .     . 

'4,54' 

ICC  8?  C 

1  j  3»°  J  j 

Egremont 

'7 

Bigrigg  .... 

Lord  Leconfield 

26,057 

18 

Gillfoot  Park  .     . 

Gillfoot  Park  Mining  Co. 

62,951 

'9 

Moor  Row      .     . 

Exors.  of  T.  H.  Dalzell    . 

5,9'9 

20 

Moss  Bay   . 

Moss  Bay  H.  I.  &S.  Co.  Ltd. 

26,549 

21 

Pallaflat      .     .     . 

Pallaflat  Iron  Ore  Co.  Ltd. 

22,250 

22 

Park  House     .      . 

Chas.  Cammell  &  Co.  Ltd. 

8,723 

23 

Postlethwaite's 

Exors.    of    Miles    Postle- 

17,478 

Moor  Row 

thwaite 

24 

25 

Sir  John  Walsh) 
Syke  House       ) 

S.  &  J.  Lindow      .     ... 

26,485 

26 

Southam 

Southam  H.  Co.  Ltd.  . 

7,398 

27 

Townhead  . 

Townhead  M.  Co.      .     . 

9,502 

28 

Woodend   . 

Jas.  Bain  &  Co.      ... 

18,170 

29 

Wyndham  .     .     . 

Wyndham  M.  Co.  Ltd.    . 

63,473 

2QJ.  QC  C 

7T,7->  J 

Hensingham 

Pit  in  Cleator 

Montreal    .     . 

John  Stirling      .... 

',136 

Parish,  No.  16 

I    136 

Lamplugh     . 

30 

Kelton  and  Knock- 

W.  Baird  &  Co.  Ltd.  .     . 

14,440 

murton 

3' 

Margaret    . 

Cleator  I.  O.  Co.    ... 

42,932 

32 

Winder      .     .     . 

Parkside  Mining  Co.   . 

7,699 

65,07  I 

S'lltcr     citid 

Eskett   .... 

Cleator  I.  O.  Co.    .     .     . 

Q,2O8 

Eskett 

7* 

34 

Postlethwaite's 

Postlethwaite's  Eskett  M. 

5,365 

Eskett 

Co.  Ltd. 

35 

SalterHall.     .     . 

Wyndham  M.  Co.  Ltd.    . 

10,856 

2C.4.2Q 

5,T    7 

St.  John 

Pit    in    Egre- 

Wyndham .     .     . 

99                      99                 )' 

4,483 

Beckermet 

mont  Parish, 

No.  29 

36 

Ullcoats      .     .     . 

Ullcoats  M.  Co.  Ltd.  .     . 

464 

4C\  A  1 

,947 

Total  from  Whitehaven  district  .     .       687,815 


MILLOM  DISTRICT 


Millom    .     . 

— 

Hodbarrow 

The  Hodbarrow  M.  Co.  Ld. 

4i5,6i5 

415,615 

Total  .     .     . 

1,103,430 

400 


INDUSTRIES 


It  will  be  found  by  comparing  the  output 
of  the  Whitehaven  district  in  the  foregoing 
table  with  the  average  annual  output  of  the 
totals  given  in  Table  No.  VI.  that  the  produc- 
tion of  haematite  in  this  part  of  Cumberland 
is  still  on  the  decline.  The  first  decade  end- 
ing 1880  gives  an  average  annual  output  of 
1,008,010  tons;  the  second  decade  ending 
1890  gives  an  average  annual  output  of 
1,007,854  tons;  the  third  decade  ending 
1900  gives  an  average  annual  output  of 
781,708  tons;  while  the  actual  output  for 
the  year  1900  is  only  687,815  tons. 

The  one  favourable  feature  in  this  district, 


as  shown  by  Table  No.  IX.,  is  the  maintenance 
of  the  output  from  the  Egremont  parish, 
which  for  the  year  dealt  with  has  yielded 
294,955  tons,  or  nearly  noo  per  cent  more 
than  any  other  individual  parish  in  the  dis- 
trict. The  Hodbarrow  mines  also,  in  Mil- 
lom  parish,  which  are  the  mainstay  of  the 
county,  are  still  producing  the  splendid  out- 
puts which  have  been  so  long  the  character- 
istic feature  of  these  wonderful  mines. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  blast  furnaces  in 
Cumberland  taken  from  the  General  Report 
and  Statistics  of  Mines  and  Quarries  for  the 
year  1900  : — 


TABLE  No.  X 


Furnaces 

Name 

Situation 

Owners 

Number 

Average  in  blast 
during  the  year 

Cleator  Moor  . 
Derwent  I.  and  S.1 
Distington  . 

Cleator  Moor 
Workington    . 
Distington 
Harrington 

Whitehaven  Hem.  I.  and  S.  Co.  Ltd.     . 
Chas.  Cammell  &  Co.  Ltd  
Distington  Hem.  I.  Co.  Ltd  
James  Bain  &  Co  

4 
5 
3 

4. 

2 

5 

2 
2 

Lonsdale     . 
Lowther 
Millom.     .     .     . 
Moss  Bay  .     .     . 
New  Yard 

Whitehaven    . 
Workington    . 
Millom      .     . 
Workington    . 

Lonsdale  Hem.  Smelting  Co.  Ltd.    .      . 
Lowther  Hem.  I.  and  S.  Co.  Ltd.     . 
Millom  and  Askham  Hem.  I.  Co.  Ltd.  . 
Moss  Bay  Hem.  I.  and  S.  Co.  Ltd.  .     . 
Kirk  Bros.  &  Co.  Ltd  

3 
3 
6 

4 
i 

2 

,.B_2 

1  >  a 

3rV 

2 

T7. 

North-Western     . 

»             • 
Mary  port  . 

North-Western  Hem.  S.  Co.  Ltd.     .     . 
Chas.  Cammell  &  Co.  Ltd  

5 

"1 

'A 

2 

Workington     . 

Workington    . 

Workington  Hem.  I.  and  S.  Co.  Ltd.     . 

3 

2 

Totals  .     .     . 

44 

•»  r  * 
2  5  la' 

Total  make  of  pig-iron,  856,851    tons  ;  total  iron  ore  used,  1,643,421    tons  ;  average  yield  per 
furnace  in  blast  for  the  year  1900,  33,392-48  tons. 


As  will  be  seen  from  a  former  table  giving 
the  number  of  furnaces  in  blast  and  their 
production  during  the  decade  ending  1880, 
the  yield  per  furnace  was  only  16,285-85 
tons  per  annum.  The  above  yield  for  1900 
therefore  exhibits  an  increase  in  the  producing 
power  per  furnace  of  105-04  per  cent. 

The  exportation  of  haematite  from  the 
Whitehaven  harbour,  which  during  the  de- 
cade ending  1870  amounted  to  2,633,579  tons, 
fell  in  the  next  decade  to  1,014,359  tons  (as 


shown  in  Table  No.  XI.)  while  for  the  suc- 
ceeding two  decades  the  exports  were  only 
73,820  tons  and  18,490  tons  respectively. 
For  1899  and  1900  exportation  had  alto- 
gether ceased.  In  spite  of  this,  Table  No.  X. 
shows  that  with  only  about  57  per  cent  of 
the  total  number  of  furnaces  in  blast  the  con- 
sumption of  haematite  for  the  year  1900  was 
1,643,421  tons,  or  539,991  tons  more  than 
the  total  production  of  Cumberland. 


1  Messrs.  Chas.  Cammell  &  Co.  Ltd.,  who  transferred  their  works  from  Dronfield  to  Workington, 
commenced  rolling  operations  during  the  year  1883.     The  introduction  of  these  extensive  works  into 
Cumberland  has  added  greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  the  town  of  Workington  as  well  as  that  of  Maryport, 
where,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  foregoing  table,  the  Solway  Ironworks   (built  and  worked  for   many 
years  by  the  Solway  Haematite  Iron  and  Steel  Co.  Ltd.)  are  now  under  the  control  of  this  firm. 

2  Fractions  show  the  proportion  of  the  year  the  furnaces  were  in  blast. 


II 


401 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

TABLE  No.  XI 
Tonnage  of  haematite  exported  from  Whitehaven  harbour  during  the  four  decades  ending  1900. 


Year 

Tons 

Decade  totals 

Year 

Tons 

Decade  totals 

1861  .     .     . 

3OO,OOO 

(Estimated) 

1881.     .     . 

13,865 

1862.      .      . 

307,079 

1882.       .      . 

5,802 

1863.      .      . 

336,174 

1883.       .      . 

8,956 

1864.      .      . 

337,518 

1884.      .      . 

7,444 

1865.      .      . 

250,667 

1885.      .      . 

1,009 

1866.      .      . 

I88,0l6 

1886.       .      . 

4,428 

1867.      .      . 

203,540 

1887.      .       . 

662 

1868.      .      . 

206,845 

1888.       .      . 

16,691 

1869.      .      . 

252,216 

1889.       .       . 

11,628 

1870.      .      . 

251,524 

2,633,579 

1890.       .      . 

3,335 

73,820 

1871  .      .      . 

152,297 

1891  .      .      . 

2,418 

1872.      .      . 

125,232 

1892.       .       . 

1,784 

1873.      .      . 

58,450 

1893.      .      . 

2,393 

1874.      .      . 

IOI,9l6 

1894.      .      . 

3,483 

1875.      .      . 

IO2,8oi 

I895.      .       . 

'54 

1876.      .      . 

H87349 

1896.       .       . 

ml 

1877.      .      . 

13',  138 

1897.      .      . 

8,257 

1878.      .      . 

80,056 

1898.       .      . 

811 

1879.      .      . 

63,688 

I899.       .      . 

nil 

1880.      .      . 

50,432 

1,014,359 

1900  .       .       . 

nil 

19,300 

Total  for  two  decades 

3,647,938 

Total  for  two  decades 

93,120 

Small  cargoes  of  Spanish  ore  from  the  ex- 
tensive deposits  in  the  Bilbao  district  were 
first  imported  early  in  the  'seventies,'  but  the 
increase  in  this  traffic  of  late  years  has  been 
so  large  that  Spain  has  now  become  a  formid- 
able rival  in  supplying  the  haematite  require- 
ments of  Cumberland.  Table  No.  XII. 
shows  the  importation  of  Spanish  ore  to 
Whitehaven  harbour  during  the  last  two  de- 
cades, that  for  the  first  decade  being  approxi- 
mately 70,154  tons,  and  for  the  second, 
242,511  tons;  the  imported  ore  for  the  last 
five  years  representing  86-49  Per  cent  °f  tne 
total  tonnage  for  the  last  decade.  These 
quantities,  however,  also  include  the  Irish  ore 
supplied  from  the  county  of  Antrim. 

Large  rmportations  of  Spanish  ore  have 
also  taken  place  to  the  other  important  ports 
on  the  west  coast  of  Cumberland,  particularly 
to  Workington  and  Maryport,  but  the  above 
figures  from  Whitehaven  harbour,  kindly  sup- 
plied by  the  authorities  there,  clearly  indicate 
the  advancement  made  in  this  direction.  In 
view  of  the  foregoing  facts,  much  interest 
centres  in  the  favourable  developments  now  in 
progress  in  the  southern  parts  of  the  White- 
haven  district. 

A  short  description  of  the  usual  methods 
adopted  for  the  working  of  haematite  deposits 
in  Cumberland  will  not  be  out  of  place  in 
this  article,  and  the  author  has  obtained  the 
permission  of  the  Council  of  '  The  Institution 


of  Mining  Engineers '  to  give  extracts  from 
his  own  paper  on  the  '  Working  of  Haema- 
tite in  the  Whitehaven  District,'  read  before 
the  North  of  England  Institute  of  Mining  and 
Mechanical  Engineers  at  their  annual  meeting 
at  Newcastle-upon-Tyne  on  4  August  1894. 

TABLE  No.  XII 


Year 

Tons 

Decade  totals 

I88l 

Estimated 

7,5°° 

1882 

„ 

7,500 

1883 

•j 

8,000 

1884 

„ 

8,000 

1885 

7,188 

1886 

6,679 

• 

1887 

5,839 

1888 

11,042 

1889 

4,746 

1890 

3,660 

70,154 

1891 

4,716 

1892 

7,313 

1893 

4,561 

I894 

6,952 

1895 

9,217 

1896 

11,981 

I897 

12,772 

1898 

23,664 

1899 

67,168 

1900 

94,167 

242,511 

Total  for  2  decades 

312,665 

402 


INDUSTRIES 


The  three  forms  of  haematite  already 
noticed  are  vein-like,  bed-like,  and  irregular 
or  patchy  masses.  The  working  of  each  is 
described  in  the  above  paper  as  follows  : — 

VEIN-LIKE  DEPOSITS  (figs,  i  and  2). — 
The  usual  method  of  working  vein-like  ore 
may  be  briefly  described.  Having  sunk 
the  shaft  in  a  suitable  position,  levels  are 
driven  off  at  right  angles  to  the  '  fault '  at 
distances  from  120  to  180  feet  apart  ver- 
tically, the  number  of  levels  depending  on 
the  extension  of  the  vein  in  that  direc- 
tion. After  the  ore  has  been  intersected 
and  its  width  proved,  longitudinal  workings 
are  commenced  right  and  left,  '  rises '  are  put 
up  on  the  footwall  as  the  various  workings 
advance,  the  pillars  between  each  'rise'  being 
from  60  to  70  feet  in  length.  Intermediate 
horizontal  workings  are  then  driven  from  the 
'rises,'  middlings  of  from  15  to  30  feet  being 
usually  left  between,  and  thus  the  system  of 
splitting  up  the  vein  goes  on.  The '  rises'  form 
hoppers,  shoots,  or  (as  locally  termed)  '  hur- 
ries '  for  conveying  the  ore  from  the  inter- 
mediate workings  to  the  different  levels 
communicating  with  the  shaft.  Until  com- 
munication by  means  of  the  '  rises'  has  been 
effected  with  the  different  levels,  the  ventila- 
tion of  the  workings  is  obtained  in  the  usual 
way,  viz.  by  bratticing  of  brick  or  canvas  or 
by  wooden  boxes. 

In  the  case  of  a  wide  vein,  say  from  IOO 
to  1 2O  feet,  two  longitudinal  workings  may 
be  driven  right  and  left  from  the  shaft-drift, 
care  being  taken  in  so  doing  to  '  blind '  the 
opposite  workings,  not  only  to  strengthen  the 
drift,  but  as  a  safeguard  in  carrying  on  blast- 
ing operations.  Unless  the  hanging  and  foot- 
walls  are  of  a  strong  character,  it  is  advisable 
not  to  drive  the  workings  close  to  them,  but 
to  leave  a  portion  of  ore  against  them  for  sup- 
port. The  size  of  the  workings  varies  from 
8  to  2O  feet  wide  and  from  8  to  12  feet  high. 
These  dimensions  are,  however,  altogether 
regulated  by  the  nature  of  the  ore  :  where 
that  is  very  hard  and  free  from  joints  or 
cleats,  larger  workings  than  those  stated  may 
be  safely  carried  on,  and  in  such  cases  little 
or  no  timbering  may  be  necessary.  This 
however  is  the  exception,  not  the  rule,  as  in 
most  deposits  the  character  of  the  ore  is  sub- 
ject to  frequent  changes,  and  renders  timber- 
ing necessary  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  even 
in  the  first  series  of  workings. 

BED-LIKE  DEPOSITS  (figs.  3  and  4). — The 
usual  method  of  working  this  class  of  deposit  is 
by  the  pillar  and  stall  system.  The  pit  is  sunk 
in  a  convenient  position  in  the  royalty  and  as 
far  as  possible  to  the  dip.  When  the  ore  bed 
has  been  reached,  and  adequate  provision  has 


been  made  either  by  sump  or  lodge  for  con- 
tending with  the  water,  a  level  is  driven  at 
right  angles  to  the  dip  of  the  strata,  while  at 
the  same  time  a  heading  is  carried  on  to  the 
'  rise.'  As  the  branch  workings  on  the  levels 
advance,  stalls,  bords,  throughs  or  (as  locally 
termed)  '  thirls '  are  commenced,  leaving  pil- 
lars 24  to  45  feet  in  length.  From  the  head- 
ing also  other  workings  are  branched  off,  with 
from  1 8  to  36  feet  of  solid  ground  between 
each.  The  pillars  thus  formed  (when  the 
'  thirls '  from  the  various  level  workings  are 
holed)  measure  from  430  to  1,620  square  feet. 
Smaller  pillars  will  suffice  in  the  case  of  very 
hard  and  strong  ore. 

The  width  and  height  of  the  workings  de- 
pend very  much  on  the  hardness  and  thickness 
of  the  ore  and  the  nature  of  the  roof.  In  the 
case  of  very  hard  ore  with  a  good  strong 
roof,  and  where  the  thickness  of  the  bed  will 
permit,  the  workings  may  safely  and  with  ad- 
vantage be  made  from  15  to  20  feet  square, 
but  where  the  ore  is  tender  they  are  usually 
driven  from  9  to  1 2  feet  square,  while  timber- 
ing in  the  latter  case  is  necessary,  more 
especially  if  a  shale-bed  (as  very  often  hap- 
pens) overlies  the  deposit.  No  definite  di- 
mensions, however,  can  be  fixed  for  regulating 
the  size  of  the  workings  in  these  deposits,  as 
can  be  done,  for  instance,  in  the  working  of 
the  thicker  coal  seams,  as  the  varying  con- 
ditions met  with  render  it  impracticable. 
The  engineers  or  managers  of  these  mines 
require  therefore  to  exercise  their  discrimina- 
tion and  bring  practical  experience  to  their 
aid  in  coming  to  a  decision  on  this  point, 
although  the  writer  thinks  that  in  many  in- 
stances errors  of  judgment  have  sometimes 
been  committed  (especially  in  the  earlier 
working  of  these  deposits)  in  making  the  first 
workings  both  too  high  and  too  wide,  and 
thus  not  only  incurring  considerable  risk  to 
life,  but  likewise  causing  great  loss  of  mineral 
to  the  proprietors  of  the  mines. 

The  main  heading  is  frequently  used  as  the 
trail-road  for  bringing  the  ore  from  the  work- 
ings to  the  shaft,  and  so  long  as  the  gradient 
is  light,  '  skutches '  or  sprags  are  used  in 
running  the  loaded  bogies  or  tubs  down  to 
the  level  drift.  It  frequently  happens,  how- 
ever, that  the  beds  rise  at  so  steep  an  angle 
as  to  necessitate  the  making  of  an  incline, 
worked  either  by  a  wire  rope  or  chain  pulley, 
or  by  a  drum  furnished  with  an  efficient 
brake.  As  the  gradients  of  the  beds  are 
variable,  sometimes  running  nearly  flat  and  at 
other  times  at  a  steep  angle,  a  series  of  in- 
clines are  frequently  in  use  in  working  a  de- 
posit. The  full  bogies  (one  or  two  at  a 
time)  bring  up  the  empty  ones,  and  swinging 


403 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


platforms  are  used  where  the  different  work- 
ings connect  with  the  inclines. 

After  the  level  workings  have  reached  the 
extreme  limit  of  the  ore,  either  by  being  cut 
off  by  a  fault  or  stone  trouble,  or  by  the 
boundary  line,  the  work  of  taking  out  the 
pillars  is  begun.  When  the  roof  is  of  a 
strong  character,  the  pillar-ore  can  be  ob- 
tained at  considerably  less  cost  than  when 
driving  the  thirls  or  stalls,  the  chief  care 
necessary  being  to  protect  the  line  of  work- 
ings either  by  pillars  built  of  the  stone  that 
may  be  got  in  working  the  ore,  or  by  pillars 
of  wood  or  strong  props.  When  wood  is 
employed  for  this  purpose,  old  railway  sleepers 
and  squared  Norway  timber  are  often  used. 
Very  little  ore  is  lost  under  such  circum- 
stances, probably  not  more  than  2  per  cent, 
and  where  the  ore  is  thin,  the  loss  does  not 
reach  i  per  cent.  More  care  is  necessary  and 
greater  expense  is  incurred  when  the  roof 
consists  of  a  softer  or  less  sound  limestone 
or  shale  bed,  as  a  much  larger  quantity  of 
timber  is  required,  and  in  spite  of  all  pos- 
sible care  being  exercised,  the  superincum- 
bent weight  may  cause  a  collapse  of  the 
roof.  In  such  cases  some  of  the  pillars  may 
have  to  be  approached  through  fallen  ground. 
Then  slice  after  slice  is  taken  off  until  the 
ore  is  removed.  In  this  way  the  working 
back  of  the  pillars  is  carried  on  until  that 
supporting  the  main  heading  is  reached, 
which  in  the  meantime  is  left  undisturbed. 
The  heading  pillars  are  then  worked  back 
from  the  inside  in  a  similar  manner  until  the 
deposit  is  exhausted.  Should  the  ore  extend 
further  to  the  dip,  the  shaft  is  deepened  and 
drifts  or  '  eyes '  are  driven  out  at  lower 
levels.  The  mode  of  procedure  in  working 
out  pillar-ore  is  to  commence  at  the  'rise'  side 
of  the  pillar,  taking  about  6  or  8  feet  of  the 
ore  as  a  working  face  and  carrying  it  down  to 
the  dip  side  of  the  pillar.  When  this  has 
been  done,  and  the  roof  behind  secured  as 
indicated,  another  strip  of  ore  is  in  like  man- 
ner taken  out.  Sometimes  stumps  of  ore  are 
left  at  the  two  corners  of  the  pillars  as  a 
means  of  strengthening  the  roof  until  the 
building  of  the  wood  or  stone  pillars  is  com- 
pleted. These  stumps  can  then  usually  be 
taken  out  with  safety.  Timber  is  set  round 
the  pillar  in  some  cases  to  keep  up  the  roof 
whilst  the  pillar  is  being  removed. 

Where  the  ore-bed  has  been  of  great  thick- 
ness and  two  tiers  of  workings  are  rendered 
necessary,  the  pillars  of  the  top  tiers  may 
sometimes  have  to  be  left  as  near  as  possible 
over  the  bottom  pillars,  with  substantial  mid- 
dlings between  the  workings  and  strong  arches 
of  ore  in  the  roof  of  the  higher  workings. 


The  upper  pillars  are  then  first  worked  out 
down  to  the  sole  of  the  top  tier  of  workings. 
If  the  roof  and  ore  are  strong  and  hard,  the 
working  of  the  ore  takes  place  from  the  in- 
side outwards,  but  if  the  reverse  conditions 
are  present,  then  the  working  proceeds  from 
the  outside  inwards,  while  the  roof  will  re- 
quire timbering.  In  the  latter  case,  before 
proceeding  with  the  work  it  may  be  necessary 
to  support  the  roof  of  the  lower  workings  or 
fill  them  with  debris  (as  afterwards  described) 
if  this  has  not  already  been  done.  When  the 
top  pillars  have  been  brought  back  so  far,  as 
much  of  the  roof  ore  should  be  taken  as  can 
be  got  out  with  safety  ;  round  larch  timber  is 
then  placed  across  the  top  of  the  middlings 
with  the  ends  resting  on  the  top  of  the  bot- 
tom pillars,  and  these  are  overlaid  with  cover- 
wood  and  debris  above  the  coverwood  to  a 
depth  of  3  or  4  feet.  The  middlings  may  be 
then  worked  out  from  the  bottom  upwards 
and  the  working  of  the  bottom  pillars  after- 
wards commenced.  Should  a  general  collapse 
of  the  workings  take  place  before  all  the  ore 
has  been  extracted,  drifts  are  driven  through 
the  fallen  ground  from  the  nearest  available 
points  and  the  ore  worked  out,  as  has  already 
been  described  in  speaking  of  robbery  work- 
ings in  vein-like  deposits. 

In  certain  conditions  of  the  roof  and  ore 
it  is  often  considered  advisable,  before  com- 
mencing to  remove  the  pillars,  to  pack  with 
debris  the  waste  area  round  them  close  up  to 
the  bottom  of  the  middlings,  access  drifts  to 
the  bottom  of  the  pillars  and  'rises'  to  the 
middlings  being  left  through  the  debris.  In 
this  way  the  ore  in  the  lower  tier  of  workings 
may  be  extracted  with  comparative  safety, 
even  should  there  be  a  collapse  of  the  roof 
in  the  upper  tier.  In  some  mines  instead  of 
taking  all  the  debris  obtained  from  the  various 
workings  and  development  drifts  in  the  mine 
and  depositing  it  on  the  spoil-bank  at  the 
surface,  a  large  portion  is  used  for  the  above 
purpose.  The  bed-like  deposits  are  subject 
to  the  same  irregularities  as  those  that  occur 
in  the  vein-like  deposits,  viz.  nips,  vertical 
enlargements,  and  '  horses '  or  large  blocks  of 
stone  intermixed  with  the  ore.  These  dis- 
turbances of  course  increase  the  cost  of  work- 
ing the  ore,  and  render  the  above  method 
of  working  liable  to  considerable  alterations. 
The  stone  blocks  are  left  as  pillars,  and  they 
frequently  deflect  the  workings  from  their  in- 
tended course. 

A  good  example  of  a  bed-like  deposit  is 
that  in  Postlethwaite's  Fletcher  pit  near  Moor 
Row.  The  ore  is  of  a  hard  nature  but  very 
rich  in  metallic  iron,  and  has  the  advantage  of 
a  strong  limestone  roof.  In  consequence  of 


404 


INDUSTRIES 


this  there  is  a  very  small  percentage  of  loss 
in  working  out  the  pillars.  The  uniform 
extension  of  the  deposit  over  a  large  area  is 
also  very  marked.  This  deposit  occurs  in  the 
second  limestone. 

IRREGULAR  DEPOSITS  (figs.  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, 
10). — The  third  form  of  ore  deposit  is  that  of 
irregular  and  patchy  masses  in  the  limestone. 
These  deposits  also  occur  in  the  vicinity  of 
'  faults.'  They  may  be,  and  sometimes  are, 
connected  with  vein-like  and  bed-like  deposits. 
This  kind  of  deposit  cannot  be  worked  in  any 
very  systematic  manner.  The  method  usually 
adopted  is  as  follows :  Assuming  that  the  pit 
has  been  sunk  and  a  level  driven  out  to  the 
ore,  care  must  be  taken  not  to  drive  the 
workings  too  large  until  the  nature  of  the 
deposit  is  thoroughly  understood.  About  9 
feet  square  is  an  average-sized  working,  but 
this  of  course  is  altogether  dependent  on  the 
character  of  the  ore.  The  first  workings  are 
driven  in  the  same  way  as  in  the  bed-like 
deposits,  viz.  by  a  series  of  working  places 
and  pillars,  until  the  enclosing  stone  is  reached 
on  all  sides  and  the  horizontal  extension  of 
the  ore  at  that  level  is  known.  If  ore  has 
been  left  in  the  roof,  it  is  followed  upwards 
either  at  the  junction  of  the  ore  with  the 
stone,  or  by  plumb-rises  in  the  ore  at  the  most 
suitable  points  with  the  view  of  ascertaining 
the  vertical  extension  in  that  direction  ;  and 
if  the  height  of  the  ore  will  permit,  another 
tier  of  workings  is  driven  horizontally,  leaving 
a  middling  of  sufficient  thickness  between  the 
sole  of  the  upper  and  the  roof  of  the  first 
working.  If  the  full  height  of  the  pocket  of 
ore  has  been  reached  by  the  higher  tier  of 
workings,  any  leads  of  ore  into  the  surround- 
ing stone  are  now  followed  up,  and  if  the 
royalty  is  a  rich  one  other  pockets  of  ore 
may  be  opened  out  in  this  way. 

It  may  be  that  the  connecting  ore  lead  is 
very  small  and  not  workable  to  profit ;  but  in 
this  kind  of  deposit  better  results  are  ob- 
tained by  following  these  than  by  drifting 
through  the  solid  stone,  unless  ore  has  been 
proved  by  boring  to  lie  at  a  convenient  level 
and  at  a  short  distance  from  some  part  of  the 
working.  In  such  a  case,  should  there  be  no 
direct  lead  of  ore,  a  stone  drift  is  at  once 
driven  in  the  direction  of  the  bore-hole,  ad- 
vantage being  taken  of  the  existence  of  any 
shale  beds  running  in  this  direction,  even 
although  it  may  be  necessary  to  go  a  little 
out  of  the  direct  course  in  doing  so,  the 
difference  in  cost  in  driving  through  limestone 
and  shale  being  of  material  consideration. 

The  stone  surrounding  these  irregular  de- 
posits is  often  of  a  very  hard  and  siliceous 
character  and  full  of  loughs,  rendering  the 


operation  of  driving  very  slow  and  expensive. 
It  may  be  here  stated  that  the  cost  of  driving 
a  limestone  drift  varies  greatly,  and  ranges 
from  13*.  to  405.  per  foot,  while  a  shale  drift 
may  be  driven  at  a  cost  of  from  Js.  to  i6x. 
per  foot.  As  the  development  of  the  mine 
goes  on,  the  workings  will  consist  of  a  num- 
ber of  ramifications  through  the  limestone. 
Sometimes  the  connection  between  one  large 
pocket  of  ore  and  another  is  by  a  gut  of  ore 
of  considerable  size.  These  guts  are  usually 
enclosed  between  two  stone  backs  forming 
the  sides  and  by  an  irregular  roof  and  sole. 
If  any  ore  is  left  in  the  bottom  of  the  first 
workings  a  downward  or  dip  working  is  made, 
and  in  the  event  of  its  continuance  or  further 
development  the  shaft  is  deepened  and  another 
level  driven  out.  In  this  way  it  may  be 
found  necessary  to  drive  a  series  of  levels,  one 
below  the  other,  from  the  same  shaft.  In 
the  event  of  the  ore,  cut  by  the  first  level, 
exhibiting  a  marked  extension  upwards  and 
necessitating  the  use  of  a  number  of  hop- 
pers or  hurries  before  it  can  be  conveyed  to 
the  shaft,  it  is  often  found  advisable  to  set  off 
an  upper  level  from  the  same  shaft,  or,  should 
the  distance  be  too  great,  to  sink  a  new  shaft 
from  the  surface. 

Careful  timbering  is  also  required  in  the 
working  of  this  class  of  ore,  more  especially 
if  the  pockets  are  of  large  dimensions.  In 
the  working  of  some  of  the  smaller  pockets, 
where  the  enclosing  stone  is  of  a  hard  nature, 
no  timber  may  be  required.  Small  guts  in 
this  kind  of  ground  are  worked  as  far  as  pos- 
sible from  the  dip  to  the  rise,  and  are  subject 
to  similar  nips  and  enlargements  as  those 
accompanying  other  forms  of  deposits.  The 
guts  usually  run  parallel  to  the  main  faults 
nearest  to  them,  and  often  continue  for  con- 
siderable distances.  The  workings  are  first 
carried  to  their  farthest  extension,  and  any 
ore  left  in  the  roofs,  soles  or  sides  is  stripped 
off  from  the  inside  outwards.  The  taking 
out  of  pillars  and  middlings  left  in  the  mine 
after  the  ore-bearing  area  has  been  worked 
over,  is  carried  on  in  a  similar  manner  to  that 
already  described  in  dealing  with  bed-like  de- 
posits. 

The  irregular  masses  of  ore  in  the  old  and 
new  No.  i  pits  and  the  No.  4  pit  of  the 
Montreal  mines  may  be  mentioned  as  one  of 
the  largest  deposits  of  this  kind  in  the  district. 
An  immense  quantity  of  haematite  of  good 
quality  has  been  raised  from  these  mines  dur- 
ing the  last  thirty  years,  and  although  the 
three  forms  of  deposits  are  found  in  the 
royalty,  by  far  the  largest  proportion  has  been 
obtained  from  the  irregular  deposit.  Other 
deposits,  such  as  High  House  and  Crossfield 


405 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


No.  2  pit,  have  also  been  of  an  extensive 
character. 

The  particulars  shown  in  the  following 
table  of  the  number  of  persons  employed 
underground  in  haematite  mining  throughout 
Cumberland,  from  1893  to  1900  inclusive, 
are  taken  from  the  annual  reports  of  Mr. 
J.  L.  Hedley,  H.M.  Inspector  of  Mines  and 
Quarries  for  the  county. 

Table  showing  annual  outputs,  number  of 
persons  employed  underground,  and  output 
per  person  underground  : — 


during  the  years  1889,  1895,  and  1900. 
These  analyses  were  made  by  the  Lonsdale 
Haematite  Iron  and  Steel  Co.  Ld.  and  include 
samples  from  twelve  different  mines : — 


Persons 

Output  per 

Year 

Output 

under- 

person 

ground 

underground 

1891 

,417,860 

3,764 

376 

1892 

,355.007 

3,96° 

342 

1893 

,352,410 

3,725 

363 

1894 

,286,590 

3,599 

357 

I895 

,215,410 

3,564 

34' 

1896 

,279,558 

3,698 

346 

I897 

,294,160 

3,8i7 

339 

1898 

,251,764 

3,74' 

334 

1899 

,137,750 

3,56o 

320 

1900 

,103,43° 

3,524 

3'3 

Average 

1,269,393-90 

3,695-20 

343-io 

These  figures  indicate  a  gradual  decrease 
in  the  producing  power  of  the  mines,  while 
as  a  result  the  cost  of  raising  the  ore  is  pro- 
portionately increased.  This  however  only 
applies  to  the  Whitehaven  district,  as  the 
large  outputs  from  the  Millom  district  are 
likely  to  be  maintained  for  many  years. 

In  the  older  mines  of  the  first  district  the 
cost  of  production  is  also  adversely  affected 
by  an  increased  cost  for  timber  and  the  greater 
care  that  has  to  be  exercised  in  keeping  the 
ore  free  from  impurities.  Where  the  strata 
have  been  much  crushed  by  collapses  of  the 
roof  and  pillars  it  is  practically  impossible  to 
keep  some  of  the  shale  and  other  impurities 
from  mixing  with  the  ore,  the  result  being 
that  the  yield  of  metallic  iron  is  lowered  and 
that  of  silica  increased. 

The  following  table  shows  the  average 
yield  of  metallic  iron,  etc.,  from  the  principal 
producing  mines  of  the  Whitehaven  district 


No.  of  mines 

from  which 
samples  were 

Year 

Metallic 
iron 

Insoluble 
residue 

Water 

taken 

'4 

1889 

54-38 

9-03 

6-91 

12 

I89S 

52-69 

10-53 

6-48 

12 

1900 

52-43 

12-74 

6-05 

The  result  for  1900  may  therefore  be  taken 
as  the  present  average  yield  of  the  White- 
haven  district. 

The  haematite  miners  of  Cumberland  are 
on  the  whole  a  steady  and  industrious  class. 
'  Strikes '  have  been  of  rare  occurrence  in  the 
various  districts,  and  this  has  largely  contri- 
buted to  the  welfare  and  better  social  position 
of  the  miners.  Most  of  them  are  now  mem- 
bers of  the  Cumberland  Miners'  Association, 
which  has  for  some  years  (after  several  pre- 
vious failures)  established  a  footing  in  the 
county.  Well  organized  centres  of  the  St. 
John  Ambulance  Association  exist  in  the 
Whitehaven  and  Millom  districts,  in  which 
the  workmen  take  a  great  interest.  The 
success  of  this  movement  in  the  former  dis- 
trict has  been  largely  owing  to  the  well 
directed  efforts  of  Mr.  J.  L.  Hedley  and  his 
assistant  Mr.  W.  Leek,  H.M.  Inspectors  of 
Mines  for  Cumberland,  who  have  devoted 
much  time  and  attention  to  the  work,  and  in 
the  latter  to  the  energy  and  zeal  displayed  in 
this  direction  by  the  managers  of  the  Hod- 
barrow  mines. 

The  activity  now  prevailing  in  prospecting 
work  to  the  south  ofEgremont  in  the  White- 
haven  district,  and  the  encouraging  results 
obtained,  will,  it  is  hoped,  induce  further 
search  along  the  low  lying  belt  of  land 
stretching  between  Egremont  and  Millom ; 
so  that,  by  the  opening  up  of  new  mines,  the 
falling  off  in  the  output  from  the  northern 
portion  of  the  Whitehaven  district  may  be 
counteracted  and  a  future  period  of  prosperity 
assured  for  haematite  mining  in  Cumberland. 


406 


INDUSTRIES 


THE    EDEN    AND    ESK    FISHERIES 


The  salmon  fisheries  in  the  Eden  are  and 
have  been  from  time  immemorial  of  some 
little  importance,  whether  regarded  as  a  source 
of  food  supply  or  as  a  means  of  livelihood  to  a 
not  inconsiderable  number  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  district  through  which  the  river  flows. 
An  attempt  to  form  even  an  approximate  es- 
timate of  the  number  of  fish  caught  is  a  diffi- 
cult if  not  an  impossible  task,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  for  various  reasons  the  net  fishermen 
are  most  reticent  as  to  the  extent  of  their 
takes.  It  would,  however,  be  quite  safe  to 
say  that  in  an  average  year  several  thousands 
of  salmon  are  taken  in  the  river  and  estuary. 
In  addition  to  these,  there  would  be  grilse 
which  would  probably  outnumber  the  salmon, 
and  trout  which  would  outnumber  salmon 
and  grilse  combined.  It  is  much  easier  to 
estimate  the  number  of  men  who  make  the 
principal  part  of  their  living  by  fishing,  as  we 
have  reliable  data  to  guide  us  in  the  number 
of  licences  issued. 

In  dealing  with  the  salmon  fisheries  as  an  in- 
dustry I  propose  to  divide  the  river  into  sections, 
commencing  at  its  mouth,  and  for  this  purpose 
I  cannot  do  better  than  adopt  the  boundaries 
which  are  fixed  by  the  Eden  Fishery  Board  for 
the  purpose  of  levying  licence  duties.  That  part 
of  the  river,  which  lies  below  or  westward  of 
Burgh  Marsh  Point  is,  for  licensing  purposes, 
looked  upon  as  public  or  common  water, 
though  whether  it  is  really  public  water  is 
open  to  considerable  doubt.  This,  however, 
does  not  come  within  the  scope  of  this  paper. 
The  method  of  fishing,  practised  in  this  part 
of  the  river,  is  now  exclusively  that  of  the 
haafnet.  Up  to  the  year  1893  the  whemmle 
or  drift-net  fishermen,  who  were  chiefly  Scots- 
men, used  to  fish  as  far  eastward  as  Burgh 
Marsh  Point,  but  in  that  year  the  Eden 
Fishery  Board,  with  the  approval  of  the  Board 
of  Trade,  prohibited  whemmle  or  drift  nets 
eastward  of  the  Solway  Viaduct,  thus  estab- 
lishing what  is  called  a  playground  in  that 
portion  of  the  estuary.  Quite  recently 
whemmle  or  drift  nets  have  been  declared  to 
be  illegal  and  now  no  licences  are  issued  ;  haaf 
nets,  however,  are  still  allowed.  This  mode 
of  fishing  probably  gives  employment  to  a 
greater  number  of  men  than  any  other.  The 
number  of  licences  issued,  which  varies  accord- 
ing to  the  productiveness  of  the  season,  has 
risen  as  high  as  150.  The  haaf  net  is  of  a 
very  simple  character  and  consists  of  a  beam 
of  wood  about  16  feet  long  supported  by 
three  legs  from  4  to  5  feet  in  height,  to 


which  framework  is  attached  a  net  having  a 
considerable  amount  of  bag.  The  fisherman 
wades  into  the  river  to  the  necessary  depth, 
sets  up  his  net  and^holds  it  in  position  till  he 
feels  a  fish  strike  the  bag,  when  he  tilts  his 
net  imprisoning  the  fish  in  the  bag  and  brings 
it  ashore.  A  licence  duty  of  30*.  for  each  net 
has  to  be  paid  to  the  Eden  Fishery  Board. 
A  great  deal  depends  on  getting  a  good  stand, 
and  to  avoid  disputes  it  is  the  custom  with 
most  of  the  fishermen  to  draw  lots  for  choice 
of  places.  Thus  the  element  of  luck  enters 
very  largely,  as  indeed  it  does  in  all  methods 
of  fishing. 

The  next  section  for  licensing  purposes  is 
that  which  lies  between  Burgh  Marsh  Point 
and  the  North  British  Railway  Bridge  near 
Carlisle.  The  draught  net  is  practically  the 
only  one  used  in  it.  The  number  of  boats 
employed  varies  from  twelve  to  fourteen  or 
fifteen,  and  as  each  boat  requires  four  men,  it 
will  be  seen  that  about  fifty  men  find  em- 
ployment in  this  portion  of  the  river.  The 
licence  duty  to  be  paid  for  each  draught  net  is 
£5.  There  only  remains  that  stretch  of  the 
river  situated  above  the  North  British  Bridge 
which  practically  means  between  that  place 
and  Armathwaite,  as  there  is  very  little  fishing 
except  angling  practised  above  that  point.  In 
this  portion  the  mode  of  fishing  is  more 
varied,  consisting  of  draught  net,  hang  net, 
coracle  net  and  coops.  At  Warwick  and 
Corby  coops  still  exist,  the  only  species  of 
fixed  engine  to  be  found  in  the  Eden  fishery 
district.  The  fisheries  in  this  part  of  the 
river  are  generally  most  productive  in  the 
earliest  months  of  the  season,  the  water  at 
that  time  being  well  stocked  with  fish  that 
have  run  up  during  the  annual  close  season 
which  ends  on  February  2,  and  it  frequently 
happens  that  considerably  more  fish  are  killed 
in  the  upper  or  middle  reaches  of  the  river  in 
February  and  March  than  are  killed  in  the 
lower  waters.  After  that  time  the  lower 
waters  begin  to  have  the  advantage,  as  the 
fish  that  are  then  taken  are  nearly  all  fish  that 
are  ascending  from  the  sea  or  estuary.  The 
hang  net  is  probably  the  most  successful  net 
in  the  upper  waters,  but  in  the  light  of  a 
recent  decision  in  the  High  Courts  there 
appears  to  be  some  doubt  as  to  its  legality,  and 
it  is  not  unlikely  that  its  use  may  have  to  be 
discontinued.  The  fishermen  in  this  portion 
of  the  river  are  like  those  in  the  stretch  below, 
who  fish  for  hire  and  are  occasionally  em- 
ployed at  other  kinds  of  work.  Probably 


407 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


there  are  not  more  than  a  dozen  of  them  al- 
together, as  the  coops  require  very  little  atten- 
tion and  there  are  not  more  than  four  or  five 
net  licences  issued.  Thus  we  may  gather 
that  in  a  good  season  upwards  of  200  fisher- 
men make  the  greater  part  of  their  livelihood 
out  of  the  river  and  estuary.  Some  of  those 
in  the  lower  waters  about  Port  Carlisle  and 
Bowness  supplement  this  by  fishing  for  white 
fish  during  the  close  time  for  salmon,  but 
those  higher  up  do  not  enjoy  this  opportunity 
and  have  to  make  the  best  shift  they  can  to 
obtain  employment  from  farmers  and  others. 
Many  years  ago,  when  agriculture  was  pros- 
perous, there  was  no  difficulty  in  finding  work 
such  as  fencing,  draining,  etc. ;  but  nowadays, 
as  farmers  cannot  afford  to  employ  much  extra 
labour  and  landowners  cannot  afford  to  drain 
more  than  is  absolutely  necessary,  the  poor 
fishermen  often  fare  badly. 

With  regard  to  the  ownership  of  the  fish- 
eries,  it  may   be  explained  that  though  the 
waters  below  Burgh  Marsh  Point  are  called 
public   waters  and  can  be  fished  by  any  one 
who    takes    out   a   licence,  those  above  that 
point  are  undoubtedly  private  property.     In  a 
general  way  the  landowners  have  the  right  of 
fishing  opposite  their  land,  but  in  the  course 
of  time  some  of  these  rights  have  been  bought, 
sold  and   severed   from  the  land,  so  that  the 
rule  does  not  always  apply  at  the  present  day. 
The   Earl  of  Lonsdale  is  by  far  the  largest 
owner.     The  Corporation  of  Carlisle,  by  vir- 
tue of  an  ancient  grant,  owns  what  is  called 
the   '  free  boat,'  which  has  the  right  to  fish 
in  that  part  of  the  river  which  lies  between 
King    Garth  and    Etterby.     The  said  '  free 
boat'  may  fish  at  any  of  the  numerous  fishing 
stations  between  these  two  points,  and  at  any 
one  of  them   may  take  every  third    draught, 
no  matter  how  many  other  boats  may  be  fish- 
ing at  the  same  station  at  the  time.     At  one 
time  the  fishing  of  the  Corporation  was  of 
considerable  value,  but  owing  to  a  change  in 
the  course  of  the  river   and  other   circum- 
stances,  that  value   has   been  very  much  re- 
duced.    A   house  standing   in  a  small  field, 
called   King's   Garth   or  King  Garth,  is   an 
appurtenant  to  the    fishery,    and    here    until 
quite  recently  the  complimentary  dinner  to 
the  Mayor    was  held.     This  dinner  was  a 
very  ancient  institution,  and  in  former  times 
it  was  the  custom   for  the  members  of  the 
Corporation  to  proceed  down  the  river  and 
see  that  the  '  free  boat '  fished  through  all  the 
water  in  which  it  had  a  right  to  fish,  by  way 
of  maintaining  those   rights,  finishing  off  at 
King  Garth,  where  a  feast  was  prepared  for 
them,    and  spending  the  rest  of   the  day  in 
conviviality.     The  other  owners  of  fisheries 


are  practically  the  owners  of  the  adjoining 
land  or  those  who  have  bought  the  rights  from 
some  such  owner. 

Much  has  been  written  in  recent  years  and 
still   continues  to  be  written  about  the  deca- 
dence of  the  salmon  fisheries  in  general,  and 
more  than   one  Royal  Commission  has  been 
appointed    to    inquire    into    the    matter,    but 
without   any    practical   results   as  yet.     It  is 
doubtful    indeed    whether    the     fisheries    are 
likely  to  be  benefited   by  anything  the  Com- 
missioners may  recommend,  as  after  all  there 
is  a  limit  to  the  productive  powers  of  a  river 
just  as  there  is  a  limit  to  the  capacity  of  land 
for    carrying    a    herd    of  stock  or    of  game. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  there  have  been  times 
when   the  fisheries  in   Eden  were  at  a  very 
much  lower  ebb  than  they  are  at  present,  bad 
as  they  are.     Such  a  time  occurred  fifty  years 
ago  when,  as  is  proved  by  information  in  the 
possession  of  the  writer  and  from  conversations 
with  old  fishermen,  it  was  a  common  enough 
occurrence   to  fish   for  several  weeks  without 
seeing   a  single  fish.       There  are,  however, 
reasons  which  might  partially  account  for  this, 
to  which  I  may  refer  later.      After  that  time 
the  fisheries  began  gradually  to  improve,  and 
the  next  thirty  years  were  more  or  less  pros- 
perous until  the  year   1878,  when  a  disease, 
which  up  to  that  time  was  unknown,  suddenly 
made  its  appearance  and  caused  serious  devas- 
tation.    This  disease,  known  as  '  saprolegina 
ferox,'  attacked  fish  of  all   species  and  at  all 
stages  of  their  growth,  and  very  few  that  were 
attacked  recovered.     The  few  that  did  recover 
were  migratory  fish  of  the  salmon  tribe  which 
by  a  natural  instinct  made  their  way  down  to 
the  salt  water  as  soon  as  they  were  attacked, 
and  there  is  reason  to  think  that  these  fish 
recovered.     Those,  however,  that  were  in  the 
higher  reaches  of  the  river  succumbed  before 
they  were  able  to  reach  those  healing  waters, 
and   large  numbers  were  taken  out  both  by 
poachers  and  by  the  water  bailiffs.     The  latter 
in    the    year    1882  took   out  and  buried  no 
fewer  than  2,036  salmon.     Since  that  time 
the   numbers  have  steadily   decreased,  till  in 
1900  only  twenty  salmon  were  so  accounted 
for.     It  is  hoped   that  like  many  other   epi- 
demics  it  is  becoming  less  virulent  and   that 
shortly  it  will  have  spent  itself  and  the  river 
will    be    again    free    from   disease.     To  this 
disease  a  great   deal  of  the  late  and   present 
scarcity  of  salmon  may  be  attributed.     There 
are  other  contributory  causes,  and  one  of  these 
is  the  increased  pollution  of  the  river,  par- 
ticularly    in   the  lower    reaches,    where   on 
account  of    the  sewage  from   the  town    of 
Carlisle,  which  is  discharged  into  the  river, 
there  is  a    considerable  diminution  of    the 


408 


INDUSTRIES 


number  of  fish.  A  laudable  attempt  is  being 
made  to  deal  with  the  difficulty,  but  at 
present,  it  is  to  be  feared,  without  any  very 
satisfactory  results. 

A   word  as  to   the  watching  of  the  river 
may  not  be  out  of  place.     In  1870  the  Eden 
Fishery  Board  was  formed,  having  jurisdiction 
over    the    greater    part  of  the  Eden   and   its 
tributaries,  together  with  the  English  side  of 
the  Solway  Firth.      It   is  composed    of  ex- 
officio    members,  appointed    by   the    County 
Councils  of  Cumberland    and  Westmorland, 
and  members  elected  by  the  licence  holders  in 
the  common  waters    of  the    Solway.     This 
Board,   which    has    a    revenue  from   licences 
reaching  in  good   seasons  almost  to  £1,000, 
employs  a  staff  of  bailiffs  and  an  inspector  who 
look    after    the    district.       The    number    of 
bailiffs  varies  slightly  according  to  the  money 
at  the  Board's  disposal,  but  usually  consists  of 
ten   permanent   men  with  additional  help  in 
the  spawning  season.      These   men  are  sta- 
tioned   at  various   points  ranging  from    Port 
Carlisle  to  Kirkby  Stephen.      It  will  be  seen 
that    some    of  them  have  a  large  extent  of 
water  to  watch.      The  most  difficult  portion 
of  the  river  is  naturally  that  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Carlisle,  where  there  has  been  always 
a  certain  number  of  poachers  who  work  in 
gangs    and    are    very   difficult    to   deal  with. 
About  100  years  ago  an  association  of  fishing 
proprietors  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
tecting the  fisheries,  watchers  were  employed, 
and  no  doubt  a  certain  amount  of  useful  work 
was  done  ;   but  for  some  reason  or  other  the 
association  was  broken  up,  and  from  that  date 
till  1870  any  watching  that  was  done  was  the 
result  of  private  enterprise.     At  that  time  the 
worst  and  most  destructive  form  of  poaching 
was  the  taking  of  fish  from  the  spawning  beds 
by  means  of  spears  and  torches,  or  as  it  was 
called  '  blazing  or  burning  the  water.'      The 
spawning  beds  above  Wetheral  at  Brocklewath 
and  Holm  Wrangle  were  favourite  places  for 
this  form  of  diversion,  and  it  was  usual  for  the 
proprietors  of  the  lower  reaches  to  proceed  in 
a   body  to  these  haunts  during  the  spawning 
season    and    lie    in    wait    for    the    poachers. 
Many  a  desperate  fight  was  the  result  till,  on 
one  occasion  about  the  year  1861,  a  watcher, 
who  was  employed  by  some  of  the  lower  pro- 
prietors, was  killed  during  an  encounter  with 
poachers   at    Brocklewath.       The    assailants 
were  identified  and  two  of  them  were  sen- 
tenced   to    long    terms    of    penal    servitude. 
This  appears  to  have  sounded  the  death  knell 
of  organized   poaching.       Shortly    afterwards 
the  Fishery  Board  was  formed,  and  now  the 
risk  of  detection  is  so  great  that  few  care  to 
take  the  chance  of  it. 


It  has  been  mentioned  that  there  were  cer- 
tain reasons  which  might  partly  account  for 
the  scarcity  of  salmon  fifty  years  ago.  At 
that  time  and  up  to  the  year  1861,  when  a 
new  Act  was  passed  prohibiting  the  killing  of 
herling,  or  as  they  are  locally  called  '  whiting,' 
it  was  the  usual  practice  to  kill  large  numbers 
of  these  fish  in  the  nets,  and  although  there  is 
still  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to  their 
species,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  they  are 
the  young  of  salmon,  and  that  their  destruc- 
tion in  large  numbers  was  bound  to  have  a 
prejudicial  effect  on  the  salmon  fisheries.  It 
may  also  seem  strange  that  as  late  as  1861  it 
was  lawful  after  March  1 5  to  kill  salmon  with 
the  spear  or  '  leister,'  after  which  time  it  was 
supposed  that  the  majority  of  the  fish  had  all 
finished  their  reproductive  work  and  descended 
to  the  sea  to  recuperate,  and  that  not  much 
harm  could  be  done.  Such,  of  course,  was 
the  method  of  fishing  in  the  days  of  '  Red 
Gauntlet.' 

Nor  can  we  say  that  this  is  the  only  re- 
miniscence of  those  days  in  face  of  the 
grievances  that  still  exist  between  the  fisher- 
men on  the  English  and  those  on  the  Scot- 
tish shores  of  the  Solway.  At  the  present 
time  the  Englishman  has  decidedly  the  worst 
of  it.  The  Act  of  1861  declared  that  fixed 
engines  were  illegal,  thus  at  one  stroke 
abolishing  all  the  stake  nets  on  the  English 
side  of  the  Solway.  On  the  Scottish  side 
however  the  proprietors,  taking  advantage  of 
an  old  statute  which  was  passed  at  a  time 
when  the  two  countries  were  engaged  in 
hostilities,  and  which  exempted  the  waters  of 
Solway  from  the  prohibition  against  the  use 
of  fixed  engines,  established  their  claim  to 
their  stake  nets,  and  thus  were  enabled  to 
retain  a  method  of  fishing  which  was  de- 
clared illegal  and  was  discontinued  on  the 
English  side.  This  is  held  by  the  English 
fishermen  to  be  a  great  injustice.  In  addi- 
tion to  this,  as  the  weekly  close  time  on  the 
English  side  extends  to  forty-two  hours,  while 
that  on  the  Scottish  side  is  six  hours  shorter, 
the  English  fishermen  have  the  mortification 
of  seeing  their  rivals  fishing  on  the  other  side 
of  the  channel  while  they  are  compelled  to 
stand  idly  by.  Moreover,  the  fishermen  on 
the  Scottish  shore  may  use  a  net  whose  mesh 
measures  7  inches,  while  the  Englishmen's 
mesh  must  measure  not  less  than  8  inches 
except  for  two  months  of  the  year.  Thus  it 
will  be  seen  that  the  Englishmen  have  very 
good  reason  to  complain  of  the  laws  govern- 
ing the  fisheries  of  the  two  countries.  Several 
recommendations  have  been  made  by  Royal 
Commissions  and  other  bodies  that  the  Sol- 
way  should  be  placed  under  one  law,  and 


II 


409 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


that  it  should  be  administered  by  a  Joint 
Board  ;  but  the  difficulties  in  the  way  are  so 
great  that  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  will  ever 
be  accomplished.  The  Commission  which  is 
at  present  sitting  will  probably  have  some- 
thing to  say  in  the  matter,  as  well  as  on  the 
causes  which  have  led  to  the  existing  scarcity 
of  salmon  ;  but  it  is  quite  possible  that  before 
that  report  is  issued  an  improvement  in  the 
fisheries  may  have  taken  place,  when  the 
matter  will  probably  be  shelved  until  we 
have  another  period  of  depression,  seeing  that 
an  Act  of  Parliament,  which  will  be  neces- 
sary before  any  alteration  is  made,  will  scarcely 
meet  with  the  approval  of  all  parties  con- 
cerned, and  is  sure  to  be  strenuously  opposed. 

A  word  upon  the  different  migrations  of 
fish  may  not  be  out  of  place  in  these  observa- 
tions. At  the  beginning  of  the  year  if  the 
weather  is  open,  considerable  numbers  of 
what  are  called  spring  salmon  usually  make 
their  way  from  the  estuary  to  the  river. 
These  are  young  fish  that  have  never 
spawned,  and  are  of  the  finest  quality,  having 
a  very  good  reputation  in  all  the  markets  and 
commanding  the  highest  price.  The  average 
weight  of  these  fish  is  8  or  9  Ib.  Later  the 
average  weight  increases,  until  in  the  months 
of  July  and  August  it  is  quite  common  to 
catch  fish  of  20  or  even  30  Ib.  weight. 
These  later  fish  are  probably  making  their 
way  up  to  the  spawning  beds,  and  on  them 
the  future  stocking  of  the  river  depends.  The 
nets  in  the  river  are  discontinued  at  the  end 
of  August,  and  after  that  time  the  only  ene- 
mies the  fish  have  to  contend  against  are  the 
anglers  and  of  course  poachers.  The  migra- 
tion of  grilse,  which  are  undoubtedly  the 
young  of  salmon,  commences  about  the  end 
of  May  or  the  beginning  of  June,  and  goes 
on  until  the  autumn.  When  these  fish  first 
arrive  their  weight  does  not  exceed  4  or  5  Ib., 
but  later  6  or  7  Ib.  may  be  taken  as  the 
average.  The  salmon  trout  commence  to 
run  in  April  and  continue  till  probably 
August.  The  weight  of  salmon  trout  does 
not  vary  as  does  that  of  grilse,  and  i£  Ib. 
may  be  taken  as  the  average  weight.  The 
minimum  size  of  mesh  which  is  allowed,  viz. 
7  inches,  will  not  take  a  trout  of  less  than 
i  Ib.  or  1 1  Ib.,  so  that  the  smaller  fish  escape 
the  net,  and  are  either  caught  by  the  angler 
or  are  left  to  reproduce  their  species. 

Much  has  been  written  about  the  relation 
which  the  different  species  of  salmon,  grilse, 
sea  trout  and  herling  bear  to  each  other,  and 
many  experiments  have  been  made  with  a 
view  of  determining  the  question  ;  but  author- 
ities are  by  no  means  yet  agreed  on  the  sub- 
ject, and  the  writer,  after  thirty  years  intimate 


connection  with  the  fisheries,  has  only  learned 
that  the  more  he  sees  the  more  he  is  con- 
vinced of  his  ignorance  of  fishing  matters. 

It  may  be  of  some  interest  to  refer  in  con- 
clusion to  the  destination  of  the  fish  that  are 
caught.  Before  the  advent  of  railways  and 
of  rapid  transit  we  are  told  that,  after  a  good 
run  of  fish,  the  price  was  so  low  that  a  good 
salmon  might  be  bought  for  one  shilling,  and 
that  servants  who  were  making  engagements 
used  to  stipulate  that  they  were  not  to  be  fed 
on  salmon  more  than  once  or  at  most  twice 
a  week.  At  that  time  the  fish  had  to  be 
consumed  at  or  within  a  comparatively  short 
distance  from  the  place  where  it  was  caught ; 
consequently  when  the  supply  was  in  excess 
of  the  demand  prices  fell  very  low.  At  the 
present  day,  owing  to  the  use  of  ice  and  the 
splendid  service  of  trains,  fish  can  be  sent  to 
all  parts  of  England  and  even  to  the  con- 
tinent. It  is  not  at  all  unusual  for  Eden  and 
Solway  fish  to  be  sent  to  Paris,  and  it  fre- 
quently happens  that  salmon  can  be  bought 
cheaper  in  London  than  in  Carlisle. 

It  may  be  noticed  in  connection  with  the 
migration  of  salmon  that  the  Eden  is  very  much 
earlier  than  its  sister  river  the  Esk,  which  in 
turn  is  earlier  than  the  Derwent.  This  is 
somewhat  difficult  to  account  for.  It  is  usual 
to  attribute  it  to  the  fact  that  the  Eden  waters 
are  warmer  than  those  of  other  rivers,  but  why 
this  should  be  so  one  can  scarcely  understand, 
as  the  Eden  is  fed  from  some  of  the  highest 
watersheds  in  the  country,  such  as  the  west 
side  of  Crossfell,  the  north  side  of  Skiddaw, 
Lake  Ulleswater,  and  the  highest  reaches  of 
the  Irthing.  Whatever  may  be  the  explana- 
tion, the  fact  remains  that  salmon  ascend  the 
Eden  two  months  earlier  than  they  ascend 
the  Esk,  and  that  in  the  Derwent  it  is  not 
usual  to  see  any  considerable  number  of  sal- 
mon before  May  or  June. 

Although  the  Esk  may  be  called  the  sister 
river  to  the  Eden,  falling  into  the  same 
estuary  and  having  many  of  the  same  charac- 
teristics, it  occupies  a  very  different  position 
from  a  commercial  point  of  view.  In  Eden 
the  greatest  interest  is  netting,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  rather  an  important  one,  and  in 
which  a  good  deal  of  capital  is  employed  ;  in 
Esk  the  greatest  interest  is  angling,  netting 
occupying  but  a  subordinate  position.  Indeed 
for  the  last  fifteen  years  there  have  been  no 
nets  in  Esk. 

Previous  to  the  year  1886  nets  were  used 
in  the  lower  waters,  which  principally  belong 
to  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale.  These  waters  ex- 
tend from  the  sea  upwards  to  the  junction 
with  the  river  Lyne.  Above  that  point  the 
Duke  of  Buccleuch  and  Sir  Richard  Graham 


410 


INDUSTRIES 


of  Netherby  are  practically  the  sole  owners. 
In  1886  these  two  gentlemen,  with  a  view 
to  improving  their  fisheries  in  the  upper 
waters  for  angling,  rented  the  Earl  of  Lons- 
dale's  fishery  and  took  off  the  nets.  Curiously 
enough  this  experiment  had  not  the  effect 
expected  from  it,  for,  instead  of  improving, 
the  angling  appears  to  have  deteriorated,  and 
now  the  old  arrangement  has  been  reverted 
to,  and  nets  will  again  be  used  in  the  lower 
waters. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Esk  is  a  very 
fine  river  for  angling.  Large  numbers  of 
sea  trout  and  herling  usually  ascend  in  their 
season,  and  furnish  excellent  sport.  It  is 
also  comparatively  free  from  pollution,  which 
in  dry  weather  gives  it  a  great  advantage 
over  the  Eden.  In  Esk  the  water  comes 
down  in  flood  very  rapidly  and  subsides  just 
as  rapidly.  This  is  owing  to  the  hilly  nature 
of  its  watershed,  its  principal  tributaries  being 
the  Lyne,  Liddel,  Tarras,  Wauchope  and  the 
Ewes,  all  of  which  carry  the  drainage  of  a 
very  mountainous  district.  There  is  no 
Fishery  Board  which  has  jurisdiction  over  the 
Esk,  consequently  there  is  no  power  to  levy 
licence  duties,  and  the  protection  has  to  be 


undertaken  by  the  proprietors.  For  the  same 
reason  there  is  a  slight  difference  as  compared 
with  Eden  in  the  weekly  close  time  ;  Esk  is 
governed  by  the  statute,  and  has  its  close 
time  commencing  at  twelve  noon  on  Saturday 
and  terminating  at  six  a.m.  on  Monday,  while 
Eden,  by  virtue  of  a  bye-law  of  the  Fishery 
Board,  commences  and  terminates  six  hours 
earlier.  By  another  bye-law  the  Eden  Board 
extended  the  season  for  angling  to  Novem- 
ber 15,  while  Esk  ends  on  November  i. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  Esk  is  partly  an 
English  and  partly  a  Scottish  river,  it  has 
occupied  a  somewhat  anomalous  position  with 
regard  to  legislation,  the  laws  of  the  two 
countries  differing  very  materially.  Previous 
to  1862,  when  a  Scottish  Fishery  Act  was 
passed,  that  portion  of  the  Esk  which  is  in 
Scotland  was  subject  to  Scottish  law  and  the 
portion  in  England  to  English  law.  In  1865 
an  English  Act  placed  the  whole  of  Esk  from 
its  source  to  the  sea  under  the  English  law  as 
far  as  salmon  are  concerned,  but  while  doing 
so  omitted  to  repeal  previous  statutes,  thus 
leaving  the  Scottish  portion  of  the  Esk  under 
four  different  and  partly  contradictory  Acts, 
which  sometimes  leads  to  confusion. 


DERWENT    FISHERIES 


Some  time  after  the  Norman  Conquest  we 
get  the  first  insight  of  the  value  of  the  Der- 
went  fishery  from  old  grants  and  charters. 
Whenever  we  find  in  the  history  of  the  past 
that  some  particular  interest  or  industry  has 
at  any  time  been  protected  by  charter  or 
statute,  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  that  particular 
interest  or  industry  was  at  the  time  of  its  pro- 
tection considered  to  be  of  some  importance. 

In  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century  Gos- 
patric  son  of  Orm  gave  two  parts  of  the 
fishery  in  Derwent  to  the  abbey  of  Holm- 
cultram,  except  Waytcroft,  which  he  gave  to 
the  priory  of  Carlisle.  Thomas  confirmed  the 
grant  of  Flimby  made  by  his  father  Gospatric 
to  the  convent  of  Holmcultram,  and  gave  to 
that  house  the  whole  fishings  of  Derwent.1 
In  1190  we  find  in  the  papal  confirmation  of 
grants  to  the  abbey  of  Holmcultram  amongst 
a  long  list  the  following  :  '  Ex  dono  Thomas 
filii  Cospatricii,  unum  rete  in  Derwent  cum 
visneto,  et  unam  piscariam  in  Derwent,  et 
unam  mansuram  in  ripa  ejusdem  fluminis, 
sicut  carta  ejusdem  testatur.2  This  papal 
confirmation  is  by  Clement  III. 


1  Reg.  of  Holmcultram,  MS.  ff.  34-6. 

1  Dugdale,  Man.  v.  600.     Thomas  son  of  Gos- 


411 


About  forty  years  later  we  find  that  the 
abbot  and  monks  of  Calder  were  claiming 
the  sole  possession  of  these  fisheries,  and 
indeed  through  all  this  period  the  religious 
houses  exacted  and  clung  tenaciously  to 
rights  of  fishery  which  were  confirmed  as 
occasion  required  by  different  sovereigns.  The 
monks  of  Calder  seem  to  have  been  successful 
in  substantiating  their  claim,  for  Henry  III. 
confirmed  to  them  their  claims  to  the 
fishery  of  Derwent  and  that  of  Egrein  1231. 
The  grant  runs  as  follows  :  'Ex  dono  Ranulphi 
Meschin  piscariam  de  Derewent  et  piscariam  de 
Egre — Ex  dono  Thomae  filii  Gospatricii,  20 
Salmpnes  annuatim  ad  festum  Sancti  Johannis 
Baptistas;  et  unum  rete  in  Derewent,  inter 
pontem  et  mare.' 3  From  this  document  we 
gather  that  the  grant  to  Calder  Abbey  was 
made  by  Thomas  son  of  Gospatric,  who  made 

patric  gave  8  acres  of  land  in  Seton,  adjoining  to  3z 
acres  of  their  own  there  and  one  net  in  Derwent, 
and  one  toft  nigh  the  bank  where  they  may  abide 
and  manage  the  fishery.  And  John  son  of  Alan  de 
Camberton  released  to  them  a  pool  which  they  had 
made  or  should  make  to  turn  the  water  of  Derwent, 
or  so  much  thereof  as  should  be  prejudicial  to  their 
fishery  of  Seton. 
Ibid.  v.  34.1. 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


the  former  grants  to  Holmcultram.  It  is  also 
very  noticeable  that  the  Derwent  could  supply 
20  salmon  on  Midsummer  day,  a  thing  which 
is  very  certain  it  could  not  do  now. 

The  monks  seem  to  have  been  very  aggressive 
in  all  matters  connected  with  their  possessions. 
The  prior  of  St.  Bees  *  was  worsted  at  an  assize 
held  in  Carlisle  1278-9,  when  the  jurors  pre- 
sented and  the  whole  county  complained  'that 
the  prior  of  St.  Bega  has  two  engines  called 
"  cupe "  for  catching  salmon  in  his  pool  of 
Staynburn,  where  in  time  past  he  had  but  one, 
and  the  other  was  set  up  six  years  ago  without 
warrant  and  after  the  last  justice  eyre.  There- 
fore he  is  in  amercement.'  The  sheriff  is 
ordered  to  remove  the  second  '  cupa '  at  sight 
of  the  jury  at  the  prior's  expense.  This 
seems  to  be  the  first  mention  of  coops  at 
what  is  now  Salmon  Hall,  where  Lord 
Lonsdale's  coops  are  still  situated.  All  the 
fishing  previous  to  this  may  have  been 
lower  down  between  the  bridge  and  the 
sea,  unless  the  word  '  piscariam '  refers  to 
some  engine,  which  is  unlikely.  In  all  pro- 
bability the  whole  fishing  was  done  by  net 
until  the  coops  at  Stainburn  were  erected. 

This  assize  is  also  especially  interesting  for 
the  glimpse  afforded  of  the  practical  working 
of  fisheries  in  this  county  during  the  thir- 
teenth century.  On  this  occasion  the  jurors 
of  the  county  made  a  presentment  regarding 
the  great  destruction  of  salmon  coming  up  to 
spawn,  and  likewise  of  the  young  fry  going 
down  to  the  sea.  The  whole  county,  knights 
and  freeholders,  unanimously  decided  that 
they  should  observe  a  close  time,  '  that 
from  Michaelmas  to  St.  Andrew's  Day  no 
net  shall  be  drawn  or  placed  at  weirs,  pools, 
or  mills,  or  mill-ponds,  and  that  none  fish  in 
the  above  or  any  other  waters  in  the  county 
with  nets,  stergilds,  or  other  engine  within 
said  close  time  or  without  engine.  Also  that 
from  the  feast  of  the  Apostles  Philip  and 
James  until  the  Nativity  of  St.  John  Baptist 
no  net  or  "  wile  "  or  "  borache  "  shall  be  placed 
at  pools  or  mills  or  mill-ponds  in  said  waters.' 
Only  approved  nets  were  to  be  employed, 
and  the  meshes  were  required  to  be  wide 
enough  to  let  the  salmon  fry  through,  viz.  of 
four  thumbs  length.  Persons  convicted  of 
illegal  practices  were  to  be  summarily  disposed 
of  by  being  sent  to  the  king's  prison. 

The  voluntary  adoption  of  close  time  and 
regulations  for  fishing  seems  to  prove  that  up  to 

1  William  de  Fortibus,  Earl  of  Albemarle,  by  his 
charter  granted  and  confirmed  to  the  church  of  St. 
Bees  in  Coupland,  all  his  ancestors'  grants,  that  is  to 
say,  the  salmons  which  they  had  by  the  gift  of  Alan, 
son  of  Waltheof,  and  six  salmons  which  they  had 
by  the  gift  of  the  Lady  Alice  de  Romely. 


this  time  there  had  been  no  legal  close  time. 
It  also  seems  to  point  to  the  fact  that  all  kinds 
of  fishing  had  greatly  increased,  and  that  the 
nets  and  fixed  engines  were  getting  very  de- 
structive. We  can  well  understand  this  if 
there  were  no  regulations  attached  to  their 
working.  This  presentment  would  also  argue 
that  fishing  was  now  general  on  the  river  and 
not  confined  to  the  mouth  as  previously. 
The  coops  at  Stainburn  were  probably  a  de- 
velopment of  the  fishery  formerly  carried  on 
between  the  bridge  and  the  sea,  and  not  an 
older  or  separate  fishery.  It  would  be  found 
easier  and  more  profitable  to  have  a  coop  than 
to  use  nets,  or  if  nets  were  used  there  were  in 
addition  the  coops,  and  the  business  qualities 
of  the  monks  have  been  shown  before.  One 
of  the  enactments  of  this  jury  survived  until 
the  last  century,  viz.  their  order  that  illegal 
nets  were  to  be  burnt  in  public  when  seized. 
In  1827  a  large  and  no  doubt  useful  collec- 
tion of  fishing  nets  was  publicly  burnt  in 
the  market-place  of  Appleby.  This  part  of 
the  presentment  lasted,  therefore,  throughout 
the  intervening  period. 

To  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  we  must  refer  for 
the  first  attempt  to  make  statutable  provision  for 
a  close  time  for  salmon.  '  It  is  provided,'  reads 
the  statute  of  Westminster  the  Second  (1285), 
'  that  the  waters  of  Humber,  Ouse,  Trent, 
Don,  Aire,  Derwent,  Nid,  Yare,  Severn, 
Tees  and  all  other  waters  wherein  salmons  be 
taken  in  the  realm  shall  be  in  defence  for 
taking  salmon  from  the  Nativity  of  our  Lady 
unto  St.  Martin's  day.'  Richard  II.  reincor- 
porated  these  provisions  in  an  Act  of  the 
1 3th  of  Richard  II.  (1389)  and  further  de- 
clared that  '  no  fisher  or  garthman  nor  any 
other  of  what  estate  or  condicion  that  he  be 
should  put  in  the  waters  of  ...  nor  any 
other  waters  of  the  realm  nets  called  stalkers, 
nor  any  other  nets  or  engines  whatsoever  by 
the  which  the  fry  or  the  breed  of  the  salmon, 
lampreys  or  any  other  fish  might  in  anywise 
be  taken  or  destroyed.'  Four  years  later  the 
justices  of  the  peace  of  all  the  counties  of 
England  were  appointed  conservators  of  the 
above  mentioned  Acts  of  Edward  I.  and 
Richard  II.  for  the  preservation  of  salmon  '  in 
the  counties  where  they  be  justices.'  This 
was  in  1393.  History  does  not  state  that 
these  close  times  were  carefully  observed,  and 
the  feud  between  the  upper  and  lower  riparian 
owners  would  be  as  bitter  then  as  it  is  to-day. 
The  only  mention  of  salmon  about  this 
period  in  the  upper  waters  of  the  Derwent  is 
that  salmon  are  seen  at  'spawning  time.' 
Evidently  they  were  very  scarce  except  at 
that  time. 

Coming  to  a  later  period  we  get  references 


412 


INDUSTRIES 


to  the  fishery  in  the  Derwent  from  Pennant, 
Camden,  Denton,  Leland  and  others,  one  of 
whom  describes  '  Wyrekinton  as  oppidum 
piscatorium.'  Camden  l  says  :  '  After  these 
rivers  are  united,  the  Derwent  falls  into  the 
sea  at  Workington,  famous  for  the  salmon 
fishing.  It  is  now  the  seat  of  the  family  of 
theCurwens.'  Leland's  description  *  is:  'Also 
on  the  west  syde  of  Darwent  is  a  prety  crcke, 
wher  as  shyppes  cum  to,  wher  ys  a  lytle  prety 
fyssher  town  cawled  Wyrkenton,  and  ther  is 
the  chefe  howse  of  Sir  Thomas  Curwyn.' 
Pennant  says :  '  The  Derwent  washes  the 
skirts  of  the  town  and  discharges  itself  into 
the  sea  about  a  mile  west.'  It  may  be 
mentioned  here  that  no  reference  is  ever 
made  to  the  use  of  the  haf  or  haaf  net  so 
common  at  the  head  of  the  Solway.  Doubt- 
less the  mouth  of  the  river  has  never  lent  it- 
self to  the  use  of  this  net  any  more  than  it 
does  now.  Striking  the  fish  with  leisters  in 
the  tideway  was  always  a  favourite  method 
of  fishing,  and  was  in  vogue  in  1785  on  the 
whole  of  the  Solway  coast.  In  1755  the 
Gentleman 's  Magazine  makes  reference  to 
the  value  of  salmon,  '  which,'  observes  this 
anonymous  writer,  '  at  their  markets  sells 
from  three  halfpence  to  twopence  a  pound  ; 
but  the  people  have  so  little  notion  of  dress- 
ing it  to  advantage  that  they  throw  away  the 
livers,  and  eat  the  fish  without  having  so  much 
as  a  little  melted  butter  for  sauce.  If  any  re- 
main unsold  after  the  market  is  over,  they  cut 
it  in  pieces  and  salt  it,  putting  it  up  close  in 
a  pot  or  earthen  vessel,  to  be  eaten  as  winter 
provision  with  potatoes  or  parsnips.'  This 
anonymous  writer  apparently  did  not  know 
that  the  Workington  men  sent  their  fish  '  up 
to  London  upon  horses,  which  changing  often, 
go  night  and  day  without  intermission,  and, 
as  they  say,  out-go  the  post,  for  that  the  fish 
come  very  sweet  and  good  to  London,  where 
the  extraordinary  price  they  yield,  from  2s.  6d. 
to  4*.  per  pound,  pays  very  well  for  the  car- 
riage. They  do  the  same  from  Carlisle.' 
In  view  of  the  bad  roads  which  had  to  be 
traversed  this  method  of  marketing  fish  implies 
that  those  engaged  in  the  industry  were  men 
of  enterprise. 

Clarke  stated  in  1787  that  salmon  never 
entered  Derwentwater,  but  as  they  were  found 
in  Borrowdale  this  must  be  a  mistake,  and 
probably  arose  from  the  difficulty  of  observ- 
ing fish  in  the  lake.  Pennant  writing  of  the 
Derwent  says  that  salmon 

come  up  the  river  from  the  sea  about  Michaelmas, 
and  force  their  way  through  both  lakes  as  far  as 


1  Britannia  (ed.  Gibson)  ii.  1008. 

2  Itinerary  (ed.  Hearne)  vii.  49. 


Borrowdale.  They  had  lately  been  on  their  re- 
turn, but  the  water  near  the  (Ouze)  bridge  proving 
too  shallow  to  permit  them  to  proceed,  they  were 
taken  by  dozens,  in  very  bad  order,  in  the  nets 
that  were  drawing  for  trout  at  the  end  of  the  lake. 

The  author  of  Observations  chiefly  Lithological 
wrote  in  1804  : — 

The  lake  of  Derwentwater  has  no  char  in  it  ; 
only  perch,  or  bass,  as  it  is  here  called,  eels,  pike 
and  trout ;  and  the  salmon  which  pass  through  the 
lakes  of  Derwent  and  Bassanthwaite  from  the  river 
Cocker  to  spawn  in  the  winter  season.  In  the 
month  of  May  the  salmon  smelts,  or  fry,  as  they 
are  called,  are  on  their  way  to  the  ocean.  They 
may  then  be  very  easily  caught.  They  are 
esteemed  a  great  delicacy. 

Hutchinson  speaking  of  Workington  says: — 

The  salmon  fishery  on  the  river  Derwent  is 
considerable.  Mr.  Curwen's  tenant  has  the 
draught  from  the  High  Pier  and  on  the  Quay  ; 
Lord  Lonsdale's  tenant  draws  from  the  Mer- 
chants' Quay  up  to  Cammerton,  about  four 
miles  in  length.  The  sea  coast  fishery  is  farmed 
of  Mr.  Curwen  by  Richard  Graham,  who  gives 
us  the  following  account  of  his  method  of  taking 
salmon,  which  he  calls  salmon  hunting  :  'The 
salmon  hunter  is  armed  with  a  spear  of  three 
points  barbed,  having  a  shaft  fifteen  feet  in  length. 
When  the  fish  is  left  by  the  tide,  intercepted 
by  shallows  or  sand  banks,  near  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  or  at  any  inlets  on  the  shore,  where 
the  water  remains  from  one  foot  to  four  feet  in 
depth,  or  when  their  passage  is  obstructed  by  nets, 
they  shew  where  they  lie  by  the  agitation  of  the 
pool  ;  when  my  horse  is  going  at  a  swift  trot  or  a 
moderate  gallop,  belly  deep  in  the  water,  I  make 
ready  my  spear  with  both  hands,  and  at  the  same 
time  hold  the  bridle  ;  when  I  overtake  the  salmon, 
I  let  go  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  strike  with 
the  spear,  and  seldom  miss  my  stroke,  but  kill  my 
fish  ;  then  with  a  turn  of  my  hand  I  raise  the 
salmon  to  the  surface  of  the  water,  turn  my  horse's 
head  the  readiest  way  to  shore,  and  so  run  the 
salmon  on  to  dry  land  without  dismounting.  In 
the  fishery  I  am  establishing  at  Workington,  in  the 
proper  season,  by  different  modes,  I  can  kill,  one 
day  with  another,  one  hundred  salmon  a  day  ; 
methods  of  my  own  invention  I  intend  to  put  in 
practice,  which  never  were  practised  before  in  any 
part  of  the  world  ;  I  have  tried  them,  and  they 
answer,  and  when  known,  they  may  become  a 
public  good.  I  can  take  the  fish  up  at  sea  in  ten 
fathom  water.  A  man  in  the  ordinary  way  of 
salmon  hunting,  well  mounted,  may  kill  forty  or 
fifty  in  a  day  ;  ten  salmon  is  not  a  despicable  day's 
work  for  a  man  and  a  horse.  My  father  was  the 
first  man  I  ever  heard  of  who  could  kill  salmon  on 
horseback.' 

Our  correspondent  then  offers  a  wager  of  100 
guineas  that  at  this  time  he  will  kill  more  salmon 
on  horseback  in  one  day  than  any  three  men  in 
England.  He  adds  : — 

The  most  noted  places  for  killing  salmon  on 
horseback  are  the  rivers  Eden  and  Esk ;  from 


413 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Sandsfield  to  Bowness,  and  sometimes  as  far  to 
the  west  at  Skinburness.  The  seasons  for  killing 
salmon  at  Workington  are  in  August,  September, 
October  and  sometimes  in  February.1 

No  commercial  value  seems  ever  to  have 
attached  to  salmon  fishing  by  net  at  any 
place  above  Stainburn.  There  are  many  who 
have  netted,  and  do  net,  but  for  sport  only  and 
not  for  profit,  and  at  present  there  would  be 
encouragement  for  such  a  practice.  Hutchin- 
son,  in  describing  Cockermouth,  says  :  '  The 
rivers  abound  with  salmon,  trout,  brandling, 
pike,  eels  and  other  smaller  fish.'  Other  re- 
ferences about  the  latter  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century  are  similar  in  character,  and  would 
point  to  that  period  as  the  high  water  mark 
in  the  history  of  the  salmon.  The  artificial 
condition  of  rivers  at  the  present  time  are  pre- 
judicial to  fish  ;  there  is  a  maximum  of  pollu- 
tion, a  minimum  of  food  for  fishes.  Drainage 
has  been  the  cause  of  the  destruction  of  spawn 
in  autumn,  and  also  the  cause  of  drought  in 
summer,  when  the  small  streams  run  abso- 
lutely dry  and  thousands  of  fry  and  yearlings 
are  thereby  destroyed,  the  majority  falling  a 
prey  to  birds  and  rats. 

The  coops  at  Stainburn,  first  mentioned  in 
1278,  have  probably  been  in  continuous  use 
ever  since.  They  are  now  the  property  of 
Lord  Lonsdale,  and  are  let  to  a  few  gentlemen 
who  sublet  to  the  Derwent  Fishery  Board. 
These  coops  have  now  for  a  very  consider- 
able time  been  let  either  from  year  to  year  or 
by  lease,  and  no  record  has  been  kept  either 
by  the  owner  or  tenant  of  the  number  or 
weight  of  fish  taken.  The  late  tenants, 
Messrs.  Dalzell,  used  to  net  from  Salmon 
Hall,  where  the  coops  are,  as  far  as  the 
Cloffbcks,  but  the  present  tenants  have  done 
very  little  netting,  preferring  that  the  fish 
should  run  up  the  river  and  afford  sport  for 
the  rod  fishers.  There  has  also  been  no 
record  taken  of  the  salmon  caught  by  rod, 
either  previous  to  or  since  the  Fishery  Board 
came  into  being,  but  the  last  few  seasons  have 
been  wretched,  and  there  seems  to  be  a  very 
bad  outlook  for  the  salmon  fishery. 

The  Derwent  Fishery  Board  was  formed 
on  the  29  March  1880,  with  the  late 
Mr.  William  Fletcher  as  chairman,  and 
with  the  exception  of  the  first  two  years 
there  are  records  of  the  revenue  obtained 
from  rod,  net,  coop  and  general  licences. 
These  last  however  have  more  interest  in 
the  trout  than  in  the  salmon.  Appended  are 
lists  giving  all  the  information  which  is  avail- 
able by  the  clerk  to  the  Derwent  Fishery 
Board,  Mr.  T.  C.  Burn,  with  reference  to 


the  sources  of  revenue  obtained.  These 
figures  are  an  index  roughly  of  the  various 
good  and  bad  seasons,  but  cannot  be  taken 
as  an  exact  exposition  of  the  state  of  the 
Derwent  and  its  tributaries  during  each  year. 
The  pursuit  of  salmon  fishing  has  grown  so 
remarkably  during  the  last  thirty  years  that 
all  rivers  here,  as  well  as  in  Norway,  Sweden 
and  Finland,  are  ransacked  by  rods,  so  that, 
though  the  spoil  is  less,  there  is  a  greater  rush 
even  to  the  mediocre  waters  of  the  Derwent, 
and  a  somewhat  fictitious  value  may  be  given 
to  the  later  years.  It  cannot  but  be  a  matter 
of  great  regret  that  a  fine  river  like  the  Der- 
went should  produce  such  a  miserable  salmon 
harvest,  but  the  varied  interests  make  any 
scheme  well  nigh  impossible  to  carry  out, 
and  the  number  of  small  proprietors  are 
always  a  great  hindrance  to  any  complete 
arrangement  or  improvement.  It  seems  that 
at  the  present  time  the  salmon  fishery  of  the 
Derwent  is  of  much  less  value  than  it  was 
when  the  first  records  are  to  be  found. 

DERWENT  FISHERY  BOARD 

Amount  received  for  Salmon  Licences  for  the 

following  years,  viz.  : — 


Year 

Instrument  licensed 

Total 

Rods 

Nets  and 
coop 

General 

licence 

£ 

«• 

d. 

£    ••  '• 

£ 

£ 

'• 

* 

1881  ! 





— 

1882 

1  66 

O 

o 

15     o  o 

9 

i  go 

0 

O 

1883 

149 

5 

o 

23     o  o 

9 

181 

5 

o 

1884 

178 

10 

o 

16     oo 

20 

214 

10 

o 

1885 

208 

15 

o 

25     o  o 

12 

245 

15 

o 

1886 

221 

0 

o 

22       O    O 

17 

260 

0 

o 

1887 

162 

IO 

o 

31        00         12 

205 

IO 

e 

1888 

161 

10 

o 

36   13  4 

12 

2IO 

3 

4 

1889 

I  80 

0 

0 

40     o  o 

12 

232 

o 

o 

1890 

172 

5 

o 

30     o  o 

12 

2I4 

5 

o 

1891 

201 

o 

o 

24     o  o 

18 

243 

o 

o 

1892 

260 

5 

o 

21        00 

18 

299 

S 

o 

I893 

2I9 

5 

0 

27     o  o 

18 

264 

5 

o 

1894 

I67 

o 

o 

27     o  o 

18 

212 

o 

o 

I895 

2O9 

10 

o 

22       00 

18 

249 

10 

•o 

1896 

210 

10 

0 

17     oo 

18 

H5 

10 

o 

1897 

200 

5 

o 

17     o  o 

18 

235 

5 

o 

1898 

151 

7 

6 

17     oo 

18 

186 

7 

6 

1899 

'47 

7 

6 

17     oo 

18 

182 

7 

6 

1900 

122 

o 

o 

17     o  c 

18 

'57 

0 

o 

1901 

I4O 

5 

o 

22       0    C 

18 

180 

5 

o 

1  Hist,  ofCumb.  ii.  139-41. 


The  Secretary  of  State's  certificate  of  for- 
mation of  the  Board  is  dated  29  March  1880. 

1  Information  for  these  years  is  not  available. 
Salmon  and  trout  licences  included  in  the  accounts 
in  one  amount  ;  it  is  therefore  impossible  to 
define  salmon. 


414 


INDUSTRIES 


THE    RAVENGLASS    FISHERIES 


The  estuary  of  Ravenglass  is  formed  by 
the  confluence  of  three  rivers  which  discharge 
themselves  into  the  sea  at  that  place.  The 
Irt,  which  flows  from  Wastwater,  approaches 
the  estuary  from  the  north,  its  course  having 
been  deflected  by  banks  of  sand  on  the  sea 
shore.  The  Esk,  which  rises  on  the  shoulder 
of  Crossfell,  meeting  with  the  same  obstruc- 
tion, makes  a  bend  towards  the  north  a  little 
below  Waberthwaite  church.  The  Mite 
occupies  a  central  position.  The  combined 
waters  of  the  three  rivers  have  forced  an 
opening  through  the  sand  banks  to  the  sea, 
thus  forming  a  spacious  harbour  on  which  the 
town  is  situated.  The  projecting  tongues  of 
sandhills  approaching  each  other  from  the 
north  and  south,  known  as  Drigg  Common 
and  Esk  Meals,  unite  to  make  a  natural  har- 
bour within  which  there  is  anchorage  for 
small  vessels.  At  high  tides  the  depth  of  the 


estuary  could  register  at  least  2O  feet  on  the 
bar.  At  low  water  nothing  is  seen  but  a 
wide  expanse  of  sand  fringed  by  a  massive 
line  of  sandhills  in  the  distance,  with  a  streak 
of  fresh  water  running  through  it  as  the  com- 
bined rivers  flow  to  the  open  sea.  In  days 
gone  by,  the  natural  advantages  for  anchorage 
made  Ravenglass  a  port  of  considerable  trade 
and  importance  for  that  district,  but  for  many 
years  past — that  is,  since  the  opening  of  the 
Furness  railway — it  has  been  on  the  decline. 
The  visit  of  a  ship  or  trading  boat  is  now 
an  event  of  rare  occurrence. 

The  fisheries  in  this  estuary,  owing  chiefly 
to  the  smallness  of  the  streams  which  dis- 
charge themselves  into  it,  have  never  been 
comparatively  of  great  importance.  The 
following  schedule  will  give  some  idea  of 
their  productiveness  as  well  as  the  size  of  fish 
taken  in  these  waters. 


SEA  TROUT  AND  SALMON  TAKEN  AT  THE  NET  FISHERIES  AT  RAVENGLASS 


Sea  Trout 

Grilse  and  Salmon 

Total  Sea  Trout,  Grilse 
and  Salmon 

Year 

No.  of  fish 

Weight 

No.  of  fish 

Weight 

No. 

Weight 

lb. 

lb. 

lb. 

1875    .... 

228 

546 

125 

1,  08  I 

353 

1,627 

1876   .... 

349 

836 

383 

2,920 

732 

3,756 

1883    .... 

345 

854 

293 

2,301 

638 

3,155 

1884   .... 

506 

1,478 

444 

3,220 

950 

4,698 

1885    .... 

287 

707 

361 

2,957 

648 

3,664 

1886   .... 

412 

1,082 

2'3 

1,480 

625 

2,562 

1887    .... 

712 

1,823 

206 

i,374 

918 

3,197 

1888    .... 

467 

954 

332 

1,980 

799 

2,934 

1889   .... 

'.949 

4,081 

389 

2,541 

2,338 

6,622 

Total     .     . 

5,255 

12,361 

2,746 

19,854 

8,001 

32,215 

lb. 

Average  size  of  sea  trout  2-3S 

„        „          grilse  and  salmon      .     .     .       7.23 

It  is  admitted  by  the  netsmen  that  the 
fisheries  at  Ravenglass  during  the  four  seasons 
ending  with  1901  have  been  on  the  decline 
when  compared  with  prior  seasons.  This 
fact,  together  with  a  short  study  of  the  above 
table,  may  show  that  no  progress  has  been 
made  in  fish  production  since  the  formation 
of  the  West  Cumberland  Fishery  District  in 
1879. 

Of  the  three  rivers,  the  Irt,  Esk  and  Mite, 
falling  into  the  sea  at  Ravenglass,  the  Irt  is 
the  most  important  considered  as  to  the  num- 
ber of  sea  trout  and  salmon  ascending.  Three 


draught  nets  are  generally  in  use  by  the 
riparian  owners  on  this  river  :  one  at  Drigg 
by  Mr.  Hodgkin,  another  at  Holmrook  by 
Mr.  C.  R.  F.  Lutwidge,  and  a  third  by  Sir 
Thomas  Brocklebank  of  Greenlands.  But 
their  use  is  not  regular,  and  during  some 
seasons  it  is  understood  no  netting  takes  place. 
The  river  Esk,  although  many  fine  fish 
run  up  it,  is  inferior  to  the  Irt  as  to  num- 
bers. No  net  was  used  on  the  Esk  above 
Ravenglass  during  1901.  The  river  Mite 
being  small  has  only  a  few  sea  trout,  with  an 
occasional  grilse,  that  run  up  it.  It  is  not 


415 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


netted.  The  number  taken  up  the  rivers  by 
netting  may  be  estimated  at  about  one-eighth 
of  the  total  yield  at  Ravenglass  on  the 
average. 

A  few  fish  commence  to  run  in  May,  but 
the  principal  numbers  run  in  June,  July, 
August  and  September.  The  sea  trout  are 
the  first  to  run,  which  they  do  in  June  and 
July,  the  grilse  coming  usually  in  July  and 
August.  The  largest  salmon  are  the  last  to 
ascend.  A  few  salmon  are  generally  taken 
each  season  exceeding  20  Ib.  in  weight,  but 
only  one  exceeding  30  Ib.  in  weight  has  been 
recorded.  That  was  taken  on  10  September 
1902  and  weighed  36  Ib. 

There  are  three  modes  of  taking  sea  trout 
and  salmon  at  Ravenglass  by  nets.  Two  are 
used  in  connection  with  a  fixed  stake  net 
placed  in  the  river  Esk  at  Ravenglass.  The 
first  is  by  a  trap,  or  as  it  is  locally  called  a 


'  fish-house,'  which  takes  fish  on  the  flood  tide, 
and  into  which  the  fish  once  entering  cannot 
easily  return.  The  second  is  on  the  ebb  tide 
by  an  ordinary  fish  garth,  a  2-inch  grating 
stopping  the  fishes'  descent  to  the  sea.  The 
third  mode  of  capture  is  by  a  long  draught 
net,  worked  by  two  fishermen  with  the  aid 
of  a  boat.  By  this  means  all  likely  pools  in 
the  estuary  are  drawn.  The  principal  one 
near  the  harbour  mouth,  called  Mungarth,1  is 
constantly  drawn  at  every  ebb,  while  the  fish 
are  running,  during  the  netting  season  which 
closes  on  September  14. 

The  Ravenglass  fisheries  are  in  the  West 
Cumberland  Fishery  District,  which  extends 
from  St.  Bees  North  Head  lighthouse  on  the 
north  to  Haverigg  Point  on  the  Duddon  on 
the  south.  This  district  was  formed  in  1879. 
All  fishery  rights  at  Ravenglass  are  owned  by 
Lord  Muncaster  of  Muncaster  Castle. 


THE    SOLWAY    FISHERIES 


So  far  as  can  be  ascertained  the  value  of  the 
Solway  Firth  as  a  fishing  ground  was  first 
discovered  in  the  year  1853,  when  trawling 
was  commenced  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
Firth  by  a  fisherman  named  James  Baxter 
hailing  from  Morecambe  with  a  boat  called 
James.  When  he  began  trawling  he  found 
that  shrimps,  soles,  plaice,  cod  and  skate  were 
very  plentiful,  and  on  this  news  spreading 
additional  boats  commenced  fishing  year  after 
year  until  at  the  present  time  there  are  about 
sixty  boats  engaged  in  fishing  from  Silloth 
northwards  to  Burgh  Marsh  Point,  a  distance 
of  about  eighteen  miles,  and  at  least  240 
boats  to  the  south  of  Silloth,  making  alto- 
gether a  total  of  about  300  boats  at  work  on 
the  Cumberland  coast,  including  trawl-boats, 
draft  and  drift-net  boats,  and  also  boats  used 
in  line-fishing. 

Draft-net  fishing  for  sparling  (otherwise 
known  as  smelts)  was  next  discovered  and  for 
a  time  proved  a  valuable  industry,  but  owing 
to  the  absence  of  any  close  time  during  the 
breeding  season,  the  fishermen  captured  them 
all  the  year  round,  in  consequence  of  which 
the  fish  became  so  nearly  extinct  that  the  pur- 
suit of  them  almost  ceased. 

Up  to  about  the  year  1865  fishermen  used 
any  kind  of  nets  they  wished,  including  such 
as  trap-nets,  poke-nets  and  stream-nets,  these 
of  course  being  '  fixed  engines,'  but  about  this 
year  their  use  was  by  Act  of  Parliament  de- 
clared illegal  on  the  English  side  of  the  Firth. 
The  law,  however,  did  not  prevent  their  use 
on  the  Scotch  side,  and  they  still  continue  to 


be  used  there  to  the  present  time.     Line  fish- 
ing for  cod  and  skate  was  also  followed. 

In  the  year  1864  oyster  dredging  was  com- 
menced opposite  Maryport  by  a  boat  hailing 
from  Fleetwood  in  Lancashire,  and  as  the  in- 
dustry was  found  to  be  productive,  it  attracted 
some  thirty  large  boats  from  Fleetwood,  Jersey, 
and  other  ports.  This  fishing  continued  pro- 
ductive for  about  three  years,  but  then  gradu- 
ally fell  away  owing  to  the  bed  being  over- 
fished.  As  the  fishermen  were  unable  to  make 
a  livelihood  it  practically  ceased  to  be  pursued. 

As  might  naturally  be  expected,  owing  to 
there  being  no  close  season  for  any  of  the 
different  kinds  of  sea-fish  and  no  restriction  in 
the  size  of  the  mesh  of  nets  which  were  used, 
fish  of  all  kinds  grew  scarcer  and  scarcer  until 
in  fact  the  Firth  became  almost  valueless  as  a 
fishing  ground,  and  this  state  of  things  con- 
tinued up  to  the  year  1897,  when  the  Cum- 
berland Sea  Fisheries  bye-laws  came  into  force. 
Since  that  year  the  fishing  industry  has  in- 
creased by  leaps  and  bounds.  In  their  first 
annual  report  the  committee  thought  it  only 
right,  before  dealing  with  the  principal  objects 
of  the  report,  to  give  a  short  reiumi  of  the 
circumstances  which  had  led  to  the  formation 
of  the  Cumberland  Sea  Fisheries  District. 
The  facts  were  shortly  these  :  In  the  month 
of  November  1893  the  Sea  Fisheries  Com- 
mittee, which  was  then  composed  wholly  of 
members  of  the  County  Council  of  Cumber- 


416 


1  Monkgarth,  a   fishery  formerly  belonging   to 
the  monks  of  Calder  (Dugdale,  Man.  v.  342). 


INDUSTRIES 


land  and  which  worked  in  combination  with 
Lancashire,  considered  that  the  time  had  come 
when  application  might  advantageously  be 
made  to  the  Board  of  Trade  under  the  pro- 
visions contained  in  the  Sea  Fisheries  Regula- 
tion Act,  1888,  to  constitute  a  Sea  Fishery 
District  for  the  county  of  Cumberland  and  its 
estuaries,  extending  to  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Sark  at  Sarkfoot,  near  Gretna,  as  its  extreme 
northern  boundary.  A  scheme  for  the  creation 
of  the  district  was  accordingly  formulated  and 
submitted  to  the  County  Council  of  Cumber- 
land who,  after  full  consideration,  gave  it  their 
sanction,  and  the  committee  thereupon  pro- 
ceeded to  submit  it  to  the  Fisheries  and  Har- 
bour Department  of  the  Board  of  Trade  with 
a  view  of  obtaining  their  sanction  and  approval. 
Owing  to  the  innumerable  public  notices 
which  are  required  by  the  Board  of  Trade 
Regulations  to  be  given  to  all  persons  and 
bodies  likely  to  be  affected  by  such  a  scheme, 
the  question  had  to  be  fully  and  carefully 
considered,  and  in  consequence  did  not  make 
such  rapid  progress  as  some  people  wished  for, 
and  in  the  month  of  November  1894  the 
point  which  had  been  fixed  as  the  southern 
boundary  of  the  proposed  district  was  altered 
in  order  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  Sea  Fish- 
eries Committee  which  existed  in  Lancashire, 
and  the  boundary  was  then  defined  as  '  a  line 
drawn  true  south-west  from  the  seaward 
extremity  of  Haverigg  Point  in  the  said 
county  of  Cumberland.' 

All  these  preliminary  points  having  been 
disposed  of,  the  scheme  was  placed  before  the 
Board  of  Trade  and  was  sanctioned  by  them. 
Whereupon  after  having  had  nearly  a  year's 
experience  of  the  bye-laws,  it  was  found  that 
they  were  proving  of  much  benefit  to  the 
fishermen  of  Cumberland,  not  only  on  account 
of  the  efficient  system  of  watching  which  was 
maintained  throughout  the  whole  district  by 
the  officers  appointed  by  the  committee,  thus 
enabling  poachers  to  be  captured  and  dealt 
with  in  such  a  way  as  would  put  a  stop  to 
their  nefarious  practices,  but  also  from  the  fact 
that  immature  fish  were  protected  from  being 
captured.  The  result  was  that  as  only  the 
best  paying  size  of  fish  was  placed  on  the 
market  the  price  of  fish  on  the  coast  had  risen 
considerably.  The  committee  has  throughout 
endeavoured  to  carry  out  the  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment and  the  bye-laws  sanctioned  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  in  such  a  manner  as  would 
prove  beneficial  to  the  fishing  industry,  and 
yet  not  be  likely  to  press  hardly  on  those  per- 
sons who  are  dependent  on  that  trade  for 
their  means  of  livelihood. 

When  the  bye-laws  first  came  into  opera- 
tion orders  were  given  to  the  officers  of  the 


committee  that  all  offenders  should  be  warned 
in  the  first  instance  to  desist  from  illegal 
practices,  and  it  was  not  until  warnings  were 
found  ineffectual  that  the  aid  of  the  law  was 
invoked. 

In  the  year  1898  these  bye-laws  were 
working  admirably  and  proving  to  be  of  great 
service  to  the  fishermen  of  Cumberland. 
The  season  was  a  very  good  one  both  as 
regards  the  quantity  and  quality  of  different 
kinds  of  fish  obtained,  with  the  exception  of 
herrings,  which  were  very  scarce.  Trawling, 
which  commenced  in  the  month  of  August, 
was  very  good,  and  a  large  number  of  boats 
came  to  the  Cumberland  district  from  Lan- 
cashire, Isle  of  Man,  and  even  from  Grimsby 
and  other  places.  This  experience  affords 
good  evidence  that  the  committee  has  a  valu- 
able fishery  to  protect. 

In  the  year  1899  the  fishing  season, 
notwithstanding  the  rowgh  weather  which 
prevailed  in  the  autumn,  was  on  the  whole 
exceedingly  prolific,  and  much  better  than 
that  of  the  preceding  year.  Fish  were  for  the 
most  part  abundant  and  of  good  quality,  and 
very  large  takes  of  nearly  all  kinds  of  fish, 
including  haddock  (which  had  not  been 
known  to  be  so  plentiful  for  years),  were 
made  by  the  fishermen,  and  good  prices  were 
realized.  Herring  and  mackerel,  as  was 
the  case  in  the  year  1898,  were  scarce,  and 
the  sparling  fishermen  also  complained,  but 
they  attributed  their  want  of  success  not  to 
the  scarcity  of  fish,  as  they  were  known  to  be 
still  plentiful,  but  to  the  shifting  channels. 

An  entirely  new  feature  in  the  fishing  in- 
dustry of  the  coast  commenced  in  June  1899, 
viz.  that  of  prawn  trawling,  which  during 
part  of  the  season  proved  very  successful,  but 
the  weather  throughout  the  latter  part  of  the 
year  was  very  stormy  and  interfered  greatly 
with  this  fishing.  The  prices  realized  were 
not  particularly  high,  but  in  spite  of  this  good 
returns  were  obtained  on  account  of  the  great 
number  of  prawns  caught,  and  it  is  quite  evi- 
dent, from  the  large  quantities  of  these  fish 
which  have  been  taken,  that  the  Solway, 
more  particularly  off  Maryport,  abounds  in 
prawns.  This  new  class  of  fishing  has 
attracted  between  twenty  and  thirty  boats  to 
our  fishing  ground,  many  of  them  being  from 
Morecambe  Bay,  which  is  a  recognized  prawn 
trawling  district. 

The  quantity  and  value  of  fish  landed  dur- 
ing the  year  ending  31  December  1899  on 
the  Cumberland  coast  was — including  soles, 
lemon  soles,  plaice,  white  flounder,  sparling, 
cod,  gurnet,  red  gurnet,  grey  gurnet,  turbot, 
brill,  whiting,  herring,  skate,  bluet,  conger, 
shrimps,  prawns,  crayfish,  lobsters,  oysters, 


ii 


417 


53 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


mussels,  periwinkles,  and  cockles — total 
weight,  747  tons  19  cwt.  l£  qrs.  ;  value, 

£i°,473  9'-  "K 

In  the  year  1900  the  first  and  second  class 

fishing  boats  had  some  excellent  takes  of 
various  kinds  of  fish  throughout  the  district, 
including  soles,  haddocks,  and  plaice,  and 
more  especially  on  the  south  side  of  Silloth, 
where  such  an  abundant  supply  has  not  been 
known  to  exist  for  many  years.  The  fish 
were  of  good  size  and  quality.  The  stake- 
net  and  draft-net  fishermen  also  had  a  very 
profitable  season  among  the  plaice  in  the 
northern  portion  of  the  district.  Skate  and 
sparling  have  not  been  so  plentiful  for  years, 
but  herring  and  mackerel  (as  was  the  case 
during  the  past  two  seasons)  and  cod  were 
very  scarce  indeed. 

Long-line  fishermen  along  the  coast  from 
Silloth  northwards,  however,  were  very  suc- 
cessful among  small  cod,  the  Firth  being 
literally  alive  with  this  class  of  fish,  but  during 
the  quarter  ending  3 1  December  of  that  year 
the  stormy  weather  which  prevailed  seriously 
interfered  with  the  efforts  of  the  fishermen 
who  pursued  this  industry.  Off  the  coast  of 
Worlcington  and  Maryport  there  were  again 
some  excellent  takes  of  '  prawns,'  the  fishing 
for  which,  as  mentioned  before,  only  com- 
menced in  June  1899,  and  good  prices  were 
realized.  The  prawn  trawlers  had  also  some 
very  successful  catches  from  Workington 
northwards  among  small  soles  and  plaice, 
which  were  very  abundant  in  that  portion  of 
the  district.  Lobsters,  shrimps,  mussels  and 
cockles  of  good  size  and  quality  were  also 
plentiful  in  different  parts  of  the  district,  and 
the  prices  obtained  were,  it  is  understood,  in 
all  cases  equal  to  those  of  the  year  1899. 

On  comparing  the  weight  of  fish  landed  on 
the  Cumberland  coast  during  the  year  1900 
with  that  of  the  previous  year,  there  is  an 
increase  of  56  tons  odd.  The  total  weight 
and  value  are  as  follows  : — 


tons  cwt.  qrs. 

1900  .  804    7  o|- 
1899  .    747  19  ii 


.  . 

value  1 2,049    J  3  71 

»     i<M73     9  I  IT 

i,576     3  8 


Increase    56  7    3    weight 


There  is  a  large  number  of  sailing  and 
steam  trawlers  hailing  from  Scotland,  Lanca- 
shire, Isle  of  Man,  and  Grimsby  that  con- 


stantly fish  in  the  Firth,  but  as  their  catches 
are  invariably  taken  to  other  markets  it  is 
impossible  to  say  what  weight  of  fish  is  landed 
by  them  annually. 

In  the  year  1897,  when  the  Cumberland 
Sea  Fisheries  bye-laws  came  in  force,  there 
were  only  two  trawl  boats  fishing  out  of 
Maryport  harbour,  and  now  there  may  be 
seen  at  times  forty  boats  sailing  from  that  port, 
twenty-four  belonging  to  Maryport,  and  the 
remainder  hailing  from  other  places. 

Herrings  were  very  plentiful  in  the  years 
1888  and  1889,  some  of  the  boats  (containing 
three  men  each)  getting  as  much  as  30,000 
herrings  in  one  night's  fishing.  These  fish  seem 
to  frequent  the  coast  intermittently,  one  year 
they  may  be  very  plentiful  and  the  next  year 
very  scarce,  but  so  far  as  can  be  ascertained 
no  reason  has  been  discovered  for  this  strange 
condition  of  things.  Crabs  are  also  plentiful 
along  the  shores  of  the  Firth.  Oysters,  which 
were  almost  extinct  in  the  year  1867  owing 
to  overfishing,  are  now  very  plentiful,  the 
beds  extending  from  opposite  Maryport  to 
Selker  rocks,  a  distance  of  about  twenty-six 
miles. 

There  are  hundreds  of  acres  of  cockles,  the 
main  bed  extending  from  opposite  Silloth  to 
West  Scaur  near  Bowness,  a  distance  of  about 
six  and  a  half  miles,  and  there  is  also  a  very 
fine  mussel  bed  at  Ravenglass  extending  for  a 
distance  of  about  a  mile  long. 

It  is  not  easy  to  calculate  with  accuracy 
the  number  of  persons  who  are  dependent  on 
this  industry  for  their  livelihood,  but  we  shall 
not  be  rating  it  at  too  high  a  figure  if  we 
place  it  at  about  450  men.  At  times  during 
the  year  when  the  rough  weather  prevails  and 
the  small  boats  are  unable  to  get  out  to  fish, 
some  of  the  men  follow  other  employments. 
There  are  also  about  200  men  and  boys  who 
follow  line-fishing  for  cod,  skate,  crab  and 
lobster  along  the  shores.  So  that  taken  to- 
gether perhaps  650  people  dwelling  on  the 
seaboard  are  more  or  less  dependent  on  the 
fishing  industry  for  their  subsistence. 

In  conclusion  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  Solway  Firth  is  one  of  the  finest  firths  in 
Great  Britain  as  a  fishing  ground,  and  is 
yearly  proving  of  greater  value  ever  since  the 
adoption  of  the  Cumberland  Sea  Fisheries 
bye-laws  and,  it  would  seem,  entirely  through 
the  protection  thereby  afforded. 


418 


SPORT  ANCIENT  AND 

MODERN 


I 


popular  diversions,'  wrote 
Hutchinson  1  of  the  people  of 
Eskdale,  '  are  hunting  and  cock- 
fighting.'  What  was  true  of 
part  of  the  county  a  hundred 
years  ago  has  been  true  ever  since  of  the 
whole,  especially  of  the  wilder  districts.  The 
natives  of  Cumberland  are  essentially  sports- 
men, keen  about  hunting  of  every  kind, 
about  fishing  and  wrestling  and  hound-trail- 
ing, even  yet  in  places  about  cockfighting. 
They  have  been  fortunate  in  their  oppor- 
tunities (such  as  an  unenclosed  mountainous 
country  to  roam  over,  and  many  lakes  and 
rivers  not  very  strictly  preserved  to  fish  in), 
and  the  traditions  of  sport  have  been  handed 
down  to  each  succeeding  generation  by  en- 
thusiastic teachers,  masters  of  their  different 
crafts.  Long  after  the  middle  of  last  century, 
to  thousands  of  men  engaged  in  farming, 
hunting,  in  one  form  or  another,  was  the 
chief  relaxation,  and  such  sports  as  those 
mentioned  above  were  almost  the  only  other 
amusements.  At  the  present  time  some  beasts 
of  the  chase  are  practically  extinct  ;  game 
is  more  generally  preserved  than  it  was  even 
twenty  years  ago  ;  and  railways,  if  they  have 
not  done  much  to  interfere  with  hunting,  have 
tempted  people  away  from  their  homes,  and 
opened  out  new  interests  to  them  of  quite  a 
different  kind.  So  an  interesting  race  of  men, 
which  is  referred  to  later  on,  is  fast  dis- 
appearing, and  their  place  is  being  taken  by 
others,  also  of  sporting  instincts,  but  with 
fewer  opportunities  of  indulging  them,  leading 
busier  lives,  and  moving  more  about  in  the 
world. 

Of  the  various  field  sports  and  pastimes  of 
which  an  account  is  given  in  this  section 
two  or  three  date  back  for  some  hundreds 
of  years  ;  and  the  origin  of  the  others 
must  be  almost  coeval  with  the  history  of 
the  human  race.  It  is  impossible  to  imagine 
a  period  when  men  were  so  rude  and  un- 
developed that  they  did  not  catch  fish,  and, 


1  History  of  Cumberland,  i.  579. 


after  some  fashion  or  another,  kill  animals  or 
birds.  The  pedigree  of  the  chase  comes  to  us 
in  a  fairly  consecutive  line  from  very  remote 
periods.  Flint  arrow-heads,  relics  of  the 
ancient  hunters  of  the  Stone  Age,  have  been 
found  in  different  parts  of  the  county  ;  stags' 
horns  in  barrows  enclosed  by  stone  circles, 
and  in  Roman  graves.2  Then,  by  strange 
laws  and  many  quaint  records  and  accounts, 
it  is  brought  down  to  our  own  days. 

The  welfare  of  the  deer  was  an  object  of 
the  deepest  concern  to  our  early  kings.  They 
made  a  science  of  hunting  ;  they  kept,  or 
laid  waste,  immense  tracts  of  country,  so  that 
it  might  be  carried  on  with  the  least  possible 
interference,  and  they  defended  it  and  fur- 
thered its  interests  with  an  elaborate  code  of 
formidable  laws  ;  they  held  the  life  and  limb 
of  a  country  clown  to  be  of  small  account 
compared  with  the  life  or  even  the  distress  of 
a  stag. 

In  the  Pipe  Rolls  there  is  frequent  mention 
of  deer,  or  what  concerns  deer,  '  in  the  forest.' 
We  read  there  the  everyday  little  details  of 
small  offences  and  punishments  as  they  oc- 
curred seven  hundred  years  ago  ;  how  in  1158 
Gillo  the  forester  owed  5  marks  for  a  plea, 
the  next  year  33*.  4^.,  and  then  how,  in 
1 1 60,  he  and  William  de  Essebi  each  paid 
that  sum  into  the  treasury,  '  and  are  quit.' 
Here  are  recorded  the  payments  for  the 
carriage  of  the  king's  venison,  fines  for  ani- 
mals taken,  'pounded'  in  the  forest,  for 
swine  so  taken,  for  '  rent  of  the  forest,'  many 
payments  for  this,  'of  pleas  of  the  fores,t.' 
We  can  understand  something  ot  the  anxiety 
with  which  '  Robert  son  of  Simon  de  Salkil 
renders  account  of  i  oo*.  that  his  son  may  be 
quit  of  a  certain  fawn  which  he  took  in  the 
forest.'  3 

The  modern  owner  of  a  partially  enclosed 

*  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  228,  245,  251.  For  all  the 
information  concerning  deer  and  hunting  from 
the  various  Registers  and  Pleas  of  the  Forest  and 
Pipe  Rolls,  and  for  the  notes  upon  hawking,  I  am 
indebted  to  the  Rev.  James  Wilson,  the  editor. 

»  Ibid.  i.  340,  344-5,  361,  404. 


419 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Scotch  forest  has  been  known  to  erect,  on 
that  part  of  his  '  march '  where  the  ground 
was  suitable,  a  fence  over  which  his  neigh- 
bour's deer  might  easily  jump,  but  once  inside 
could  not  get  back  without  going  perhaps 
many  miles  round.  Exactly  the  same  thing 
used  to  be  done  six  or  seven  hundred  years 
ago  in  Cumberland  ;  landowners  near  forests 
were  accustomed  to  empark  their  estate  and 
construct  deer-leaps,  or  '  saltatoria,'  contri- 
vances to  enable  beasts  of  the  forest  to  enter 
the  park  and  prevent  them  coming  out  again. 
If  a  deer  leap  was  too  near  a  forest,  the  jus- 
tices in  eyre  could  cause  it  to  be  removed  as 
a  nuisance.1 

In  1225  the  abbot  of  Holmcultram  paid 
a  fine  of  20  marks  for  assarting  and  cultiva- 
ting 10  acres  of  the  king's  wood  in  Caldbeck, 
and  for  enclosing  the  same  between  the  lawn 
of  Warnell  and  the  river  Caldew.  But  the 
enclosure  must  be  so  constructed  that  on  the 
side  of  the  lawn  of  Warnell  towards  the  forest 
they  should  make  a  low  hedge,  so  that  the 
deer  may  enter  and  go  out,  and  on  the  other 
side  next  the  Caldew  they  shall  make  a  high 
hedge  and  a  good  one,  so  that  the  king's 
deer  may  not  get  out  of  his  forest  by  that 
hedge.* 

'  Strakur '  was  a  dog  used  in  poaching  ; 
the  name  occurs  frequently  in  the  Cumber- 
land Forest  Eyre  Rolls  of  15  Edward  I. 
From  this  it  may  be  gathered  that  poaching 
was  a  common  offence  in  the  county  as  early 

1  In  1256  an  agreement  was  concluded  between 
Thomas  son  of  Thomas  de  Muleton  and  the  prior 
and    convent    of  Lanercost    whereby    the    canons 
might  enclose  with  a  ditch  or  hedge  their  part  of 
Warthcolman,   and    have    a   '  salterium '    therein 
(Reg.  of  Lanercost  MS.  ix.  4).     At  the  Cumber- 
land forest  eyre  of  1285  a  presentment  was  made 
that  Isabel  de  Clifford  held  a  park  wherein  there 
were  two  deer-leaps,  one  being  a  league,  and  the 
other  a  league  and  a  half,  from  it.     '  For  a  long 
time   they   have  been  a    nuisance    to    the    King's 
forest '  (Pleas  of  the  Forest,  pp.  cxvii.-cxviii.,  Selden 
Society). 

In  the  Close  Rolls  there  are  frequent  mention 
of  '  mandates '  or  orders  concerning  deer  in 
Cumberland.  In  1205  King  John  ordered  Sir 
Richard  de  Lucy  to  supply  the  Constable  of  Ches- 
ter with  thirty  stags  '  on  this  side  of  the  water  of 
Carlisle '  (Close  Rolls,  John,  Rec.  Com.  i.  45b). 
There  is  a  mandate  from  the  same  king  in  1 207  to 
Richard  de  Egremont  to  permit  the  constable  of 
Chester  to  take  ten  stags  in  the  forest  of  Carlisle 
(Close  Rolls,  John,  Rec.  Com.  i.  9ob).  Henry  III. 
ordered  Thomas  de  Muleton  to  permit  the  Earl  of 
Albemarle  to  take  two  stags  in  1223,  and  ten  in 
1225,  in  the  same  forest  (Close  Rolls,  Hen.  III. 
Rec.  Com.  i.  549,  and  ibid.  ii.  5ob). 

2  Fine  Roll,  9  Hen.  III.  pt.  2,m.  4 ;  Bain,  Calen- 
dar of  Documents,  i.  908. 


as  1287.  In  the  fourteenth  century  the 
poachers  did  not  spare  even  the  bishop.  In 
1375  Bishop  Appleby  was  obliged  to  excom- 
municate '  the  sons  of  iniquity '  who  had 
broken  into  his  park  of  Rose  and  '  totally 
destroyed '  all  the  beasts  of  chase  therein, 
as  well  with  dogs  as  with  nets  and  other 
engines.8 

Those  who  are  interested  in  the  general 
subject  of  red  deer  in  the  county,  and  the 
complicated  system  of  forests  instituted  by 
the  Normans,  the  names  of  which  are  so 
familiar  to  us  at  the  present  day,  should 
refer  to  a  recent  book  published  by  the 
Selden  Society  called  Select  Pleas  of  the  Forest. 
It  is  perhaps  worth  mentioning  that  the  word 
'  forest,'  which  has  been  used  in  Cumberland 
for  eight  hundred  years,  never  necessarily 
meant  a  country  covered  with  wood,  but 
always  a  district  where  there  were,  or  had 
been,  deer.  The  word  has  the  same  signifi- 
cance in  Scotland  at  the  present  time. 

From  that  dim  period  when  '  the  whole  of 
Britain  was  a  land  of  uncleared  forest,  and 
only  the  downs  and  hill-tops  rose  above  the 
perpetual  tracts  of  wood,'  *  down  to  nearly 
the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  red  deer 
roamed  wild  over  Cumberland.  Mr.  Mac- 
pherson  has  given  reasons  for  believing  that 
the  dying  out  of  the  last  herd — in  Ennerdale 
— took  place  about  I78o.6  If  Hutchinson 
is  correct  they  were  very  scarce  in  that  imme- 
diate neighbourhood  considerably  earlier,  for, 
writing  in  1 794,  he  mentions  that  a  red  deer 
was  chased  into  Wastwater  and  drowned, 
'  within  the  memory  of  several  persons 
living.' 8 

If  falconry  was  ever  much  practised  in 
Cumberland  we  know  little  about  it,  though 
scattered  references  to  the  sport  are  met  with 
in  the  old  registers  and  rolls.  It  was  the 
most  aristocratic  of  all  field  sports,  but  un- 
suited  to  any  densely-wooded  country.  In 
the  register  of  Bishop  Welton  it  is  related 
that  '  while  Sir  William  Lenglis,  knight,  was 
hunting  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Brunstock, 
in  the  autumn  of  1360,  he  set  his  falcon  to 
flight,  but  the  bird  disappeared  from  view  and 
did  not  return.  Evoking  the  power  of  the 
Church  he  caused  the  bishop  to  have  notice 
given  to  all  the  churches  of  the  district  of 
his  loss,  with  a  declaration  of  the  penalties 
to  be  inflicted  on  those  who  detained  the  said 
falcon.'7  In  1486  Bishop  William  Senos 

3  Reg.  of  Bishop  Appleby,  MS.  f.  262. 

4  Origins  of  English  History,  p.  222. 

5  Fauna  of  Lakeland,  p.  61. 

6  History  of  Cumberland,  i.  5  80. 

7  Reg.  of  Bishop  Welton,  MS.  f.  73. 


420 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


was  called  in  to  arbitrate  between  Edmund 
Thornton,  prior  of  the  cell  of  St.  Bees,  and 
Christopher  Sandes  in  a  dispute  about  falcons 
in  lez  berghe,  a  place  near  St.  Bees  noted  for 
its  breed  of  falcons.1  Raughton  near  Dalston 
was  a  celebrated  eyry  in  the  twelfth  century, 
as  St.  Bees  was  in  the  sixteenth.  In  the 
Testa  de  Nevtll  there  are  eight  references  to 
hawks'  eyries  in  Cumberland,  and  six  of  these 
refer  to  Ration,  Rauton,  or  Rauftone.  '  The 
vill  of  Ration  is  a  serjeanty  to  keep  the 
hawks'  eyries  (erias  accipitruni)  of  the  lord 
the  King,  and  is  worth  loos,  a  year.'* 

Hunting  in  Cumberland,  both  of  deer,  fox 
and  hare,  is  of  great  antiquity  ;  nearly  700 
years  ago  (1215)  King  John  wrote  to  Robert 
de  Ros  commanding  him  to  licence  William 
de  Ireby  to  have  dogs  and  greyhounds  for 
hunting  the  fox  and  the  hare  in  the  forest 
of  Carlisle.3  Henry  III.  in  1231  granted 
licence  to  the  Bishop  of  Carlisle  that  he  or 
his  men  might  follow  beasts  of  the  chase 
from  his  forest  of  Dalston  into  the  king's 
forest,  and  kill  them  there  if  necessary,  and 
to  return  with  the  venison  without  any 
molestation  to  his  servants  or  his  dogs  from 
the  king's  foresters.4  In  1276  Edward  I. 
gave  licence  to  Robert  de  Ros  to  hunt  with 
his  own  hounds  the  fox  in  the  king's  lands 
of  Holderness  till  Pentecost,  but  he  was  not 
to  take  the  king's  larger  game  nor  hunt  in 
other  men's  warrens.6 

Ten  or  fifteen  years  ago,  scattered  over  the 
country  side,  were  many  '  hunters '  of  the  old 
school,  mines  of  information  about  everything 
connected  with  hounds  and  vermin  ;  a  good 
many  lived  in  the  Whitehaven  district,  notable 
amongst  whom  were  old  Joe  Irwin  and  '  Dr ' 
Longmire  ;  what  these  two  and  their  like  did 
not  know  about  foxes  and  otters  and  grey- 
hounds, and  especially  about  '  foumats,'  was 
hardly  worth  knowing  ;  they  were  of  a  race 
of  mighty  hunters,  and  there  was  something 
heroic  in  the  fashion  in  which  they  followed 
the  chase.  Nothing  but  pure  love  of  sport 
made  such  men  as  these  sportsmen  ;  they  had 
no  fine  horses  to  ride,  no  audience  before 

i  Reg.  of  St.  Bees  (Harl.  MS.  434),  ff.  88,  1 8  ib. 
The  abbot  of  St.  Mary's,  York,  ordered  that  two 
falcons  and  a  tersel  be  sent  from  St.  Bees  to  secre- 
tary Crumwell  in  1534.  As  none  could  take 
them  '  braunchers,'  he  caused  them  to  be  taken 
as  nigh  flying  as  possible.  The  best  eyrie  at  St. 
Bees  at  that  time  was  on  the  land  of  Roger  Sandes 
(Letters  and  Papers  of  Henry  VIII.  vols.  vii.  832, 
liii.  pt.  i.  1325). 

*  i.  420. 

»  Close  Rolls,  John,  Rec.  Com.  i.  187. 

*  Charter  Roll,  i  5  Hen.  III. 

5  Close  Roll,  4  Edw.  I.  m.  13. 


whom  to  perform  brave  deeds  ;  they  went 
where  the  hunt  led  them,  their  wet  clothes, 
reeking  like  kilns,  dried  on  them  at  nights, 
as  with  rum  and  tobacco  and  never-ending 
'  cracks '  mainly  about  the  particular  creature 
they  had  been  pursuing,  they  sat  by  the 
kitchen  fire  of  that  house  which  happened 
to  be  nearest  to  them  when  darkness  stopped 
them  ;  at  the  earliest  sign  of  dawn  they  were 
afoot  again.  The  otter  hunter  was  a  fox 
hunter,  and  a  foumart  hunter  as  well,  when 
opportunity  served,  and  sometimes  a  cock- 
fighter,  but  the  last-named  was  often  a  cock- 
fighter  only  ;  physical  strength  and  complete 
indifference  to  weather  were  not  indispensable 
to  him,  though — after  the  act  came  into  force 
which  made  his  favourite  pursuit  an  illegal 
one — a  knowledge  of  the  country  and  the 
ability  to  use  his  legs  well  were  sometimes 
useful  accomplishments. 

The  palmy  days  of  cockfighting  have  long 
passed  away  ;  the  law  which  allows  infinitely 
more  cruel  sports  has  laid  a  heavy  hand  on 
that  one  '  sporting '  occupation,  which  was 
thoroughly  enjoyed  by  all  who  took  part  in 
it,  both  animal  and  bird.  Yet  still  in  some 
parts  of  Cumberland,  at  the  end  of  a  solitary 
occupation  road  leading  nowhere,  or  in  a 
quiet  corner  of  the  fells,  a  man  taking  a  walk 
on  a  Sunday  afternoon  may  come  upon  a 
patch  of  turf  where  not  many  hours  before 
a  small  crowd  had  gathered,  and  see  by  certain 
infallible  signs  how  hard  it  is  for  a  custom 
which  has  been  ingrained  into  people  for 
generations  altogether  to  die  out. 

We  do  not  know  when  puntshooting  was 
first  introduced  into  Cumberland,  or  indeed 
into  England.  Nicholas  Cox,  the  fourth 
edition  of  whose  book  was  published  in  1697, 
mentions  nothing  larger  than  a  'fowling  piece' 
with  a  barrel  five  and  a  half  or  six  feet  long, 
and  '  an  indifferent  bore  under  Harquebus.'  8 

It  is  to  Colonel  Peter  Hawker,  who  was 
born  in  1786  and  died  in  1853,  tnat  every 
modern  wildfowler  owes  a  deep  debt  of  grati- 
tude, for  he  made  a  science  of  punt-shooting, 
and  his  Instructions  to  Young  Sportsmen  7  may 
be  read  as  a  handbook  now.  No  one  can 
write  upon  that  subject  and  not  draw  upon 
the  famous  book,  and  every  gunner  on  our 
coast  is  indebted  to  him  for  some  detail  in 
his  gun  or  its  fittings  or  in  the  lines  of  his 
punt.  Colonel  Hawker  only  once  visited 
Cumberland,  but  it  is  interesting  to  compare 

*  The  Gentleman's  Recreation,  in  Four  Parts, 
'  Fowling  '  (London,  1697),  p.  13.  Out  of  some 
450  pages,  Cox  devotes  only  three  or  four  to  the 
gun. 

7    1st  cd.  1814  ;   nth,  1859. 


421 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


his  work  with  that  of  the  modern  gunner  on 
the  Solway.  We  see  that  a  man  may  spend 
a  long  life  in  punting  and  make  his  chief 
bags  of  a  bird  which  others,  on  apparently 
similar  waters,  hardly  ever  come  across. 
According  to  Mr.  Nichol  '  barnacle  geese 
are  the  birds  that  offer  the  best  night  shoot- 
ing upon  the  Solway  Firth.'  In  fifty  years 
Colonel  Hawker  only  killed  three  of  this 
species  of  geese.1  Mr.  Chapman,  speaking 
of  the  Northumberland  coast  and  the  same 
bird,  writes  :  '  I  have  never  met  with  them  ; 
though  numerous  on  the  Solway  and  west 
coast  they  are  practically  unknown  on  the 
east.'  * 

The  Cumberland  puntsman  '  can  only  re- 
call a  single  occasion  when  he  met  with  a 
large  flock  of  brent.'  Hawker  killed  i,327-3 

In  the  Outer  Hebrides,  next  to  barnacle, 
grey  lags  are  the  most  common  of  all  the 
geese.  During  thirty  years  the  Solway  gun- 
ner has  only  once  been  afforded  sport  by  the 
latter.4 

On  most  coasts  wigeon  greatly  outnumber 
mallard ;  the  comparative  scarcity  of  the 
latter,  which  Mr.  Nichol  mentions,  and  the 
lack  of  brent  are  certainly  due  to  the  absence 
of  the  seaweed  Zostera  marina,  the  favourite 
food  of  both.6 


There  is  a  curious  statement  in  Demon's 
account  of  Cumberland  as  to  the  derivation 
of  the  name  '  Rotington,'  a  village  near 
Whitehaven.  '  Rotington  villa  ad  prata  Ro- 
tinge,  so  called  because  it  was  usually  haunted 
with  barnacles,  rotgeese  and  wildfowl,  before 
it  was  inhabited.' 6  No  doubt  rotgeese  is 
rootgeese,  and  refers  to  the  habits  of  the 
brent.7 

Mr.  NichoPs  bag  of  thirty-eight  barnacle 
at  a  shot  is  probably  a  record  for  Great 
Britain  for  this  species  of  geese  ;  forty  were 
killed  in  1890  on  the  coast  of  Holland  ;  fifty- 
two  and  ninety-six  are  the  British  records 
for  brent  and  wigeon.8 

Racing  in  Cumberland  is  now  carried  on 
after  a  less  primitive  fashion  than  used  for- 
merly to  be  the  case.  For  many  years  there 
was  flat  racing  on  Harras  Moor  near  White- 
haven,  and  also  an  annual  steeplechase  meet- 
ing. The  old  grand  stand  may  still  be  seen 
on  the  moor.  In  1852  it  was  even  thought 
worth  while  to  publish  an  elaborate  coloured 
lithograph  of  the  finish  of  a  race  opposite  this 
stand.  Later  a  company  was  formed  to  carry 
on  the  steeplechasing,  and  part  of  the  course 
was  enclosed,  but  for  some  reason  its  efforts 
were  not  successful,  and  racing  in  the  west  ol 
the  county  has  now  altogether  died  out. 


FOX     HUNTING5 


That  Cumberland  is  essentially  a  sporting 
county  I  think  few  will  deny.  No  doubt  the 
casual  observer  who  flies  through  the  country 
in  an  express  train,  or  who  spends  a  fortnight 
among  the  mountains  in  the  Lake  District, 
will  smile  incredulously  when  we  talk  of 
hunting  in  Cumberland,  and  express  serious 
doubts  as  to  the  practicability  of  it.  But  yet 
I  venture  to  state  that  Cumberland  has  long 
held,  and  does  still  hold  its  own  as  regards 
hunting;  and  few  are  aware  that  we  have 
between  the  mountains  and  the  Solway  a 
large  stretch  of  country  which  is  a  surprise  to 
the  stranger  and  a  delight  to  those  who  ride 
across  it — a  grass  country  of  which  Cum- 
brians are  justly  proud. 

As  a  matter  of  fact  the  foxes  bred  in  the 

1  The  Diary  of  Colonel  Peter  Hawker,  with  Intro- 
duction by  Sir  Ralf  Payne-Gallwey,  ii.  357 
(London,  1893). 

*  Bird  Life  on  the  Border,  by  Abel   Chapman 
(1889),  p.  199. 

3  Diary,  ii.  357. 

*  If  islands  or  suitable  shores  are  wanting,  grey 
lag,  feeding  on  grass  and  not  on  mud,  can  seldom 
be  approached  in  a  punt. 

6  Fauna  of  Lakeland,  p.  244.. 


low  country  rarely  take  to  the  hills  except  a.t 
the  end  of  a  long  run.  It  is  sometimes  the 
case  that  hounds  come  upon  a  travelling  fox 
or  a  hill-bred  fox,  and  then  the  result  is 
generally  a  finish  on  the  mountains  with  a 
disappointed  field  left  at  the  bottom  ;  equally 
the  fell  hounds  I  have  met  running  in  the 
low  country  have  brought  their  fox  from  the 
hills  ;  but  these  occurrences  are  rare. 

Of  regular  fox  hunting,  as  we  would  term 
it  now,  there  is  little  record  up  to  last  cen- 
tury. There  were  hounds  which  hunted  the 
fox,  but  not  exclusively,  and  it  was  a  common 
occurrence  in  the  early  days  of  hunting  for 
each  sportsman  to  come  to  the  trysting-place 
with  his  own  hound  ;  this  curious  medley 
joined,  and  together  hunted  what  came  first 
to  scent ;  but  the  records  show  us  that  the 

8  An  accompt  of  the  most  considerable  estates  and 
families  in  the  county  of  Cumberland,  etc.,  by  John 
Denton  of  Cardew  (Cumberland  and  Westmorland 
Antiquarian  and  Archaeological  Society,  1 8  87),  p.  2  5 . 

7  fauna  of  Lakeland,  p.  245-6. 

8  Encyclopaedia  of  Sport,  ii.  167—8. 

9  Some  of  these  notes  I  have,  by  the  courtesy 
of  the  editor  of  the  Badminton  Magazine,  been  al- 
lowed to  republish. 


422 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


deer  was  the  animal  usually  selected  for  the 
chase.  At  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury three  hounds  were  sent  from  Keswick  to 
Hertfordshire,  but  after  the  first  run  two  of 
them  were  found  to  be  missing,  and  were 
next  heard  of  at  Keswick.  This  proves  that 
hunting  was  indulged  in  at  that  period  on 
the  west  side  of  Cumberland. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  "Squire"  Hasell 
kept  hounds  at  Dalemain  which  were  fox- 
hounds by  name,  but  which  would  in  point 
of  fact  hunt  the  deer  or  the  fox.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  following  century  the 
last  two  stags  in  Winfell  and  Inglewood 
forests  were  captured  ;  and  although  there 
were  stags  then  in  Martindale,  as  there  still 
are  to-day,  it  was  practically  the  end  of  stag- 
hunting  ;  hounds  were  amalgamated,  and  the 
first  pack  of  Cumberland  foxhounds  was  es- 
tablished. These  hounds  were  taken  by 
Major  Colomb  of  Armathwaite,  who  was  a 
painter  as  well  as  a  sportsman ;  but  as  he  kept 
no  diary  himself  the  newspapers  of  that  time 
are  the  only  records.  The  late  Sir  Henry 
Howard  often  related  his  experience  with 
those  hounds  under  Major  Colomb  when  they 
hunted  Dumfriesshire  as  well  as  Cumberland, 
often  going,  as  he  told  us,  into  Dumfriesshire 
with  the  hounds  for  a  fortnight  at  a  time. 
There  are  some  pictures  now  at  Greystoke 
Castle  painted  by  Major  Colomb.  On  his 
retirement  in  1831  Mr.  Hasell  (who  had  been 
hunting  privately  during  the  Major's  master- 
ship) again  took  the  hounds.  And  it  was  at 
this  period  that  the  name  of  '  Inglewood  Fox- 
hounds '  was  substituted  for  '  Cumberland 
Foxhounds '  and  the  Dumfriesshire  country 
was  given  up. 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Hasell's  retirement  the 
Inglewood  hounds  disappeared ;  I  think  the 
year  given  is  1839.  They  were  sold,  it 
is  said,  at  a  low  price.  During  this  time 
several  packs  of  harriers  had  been  advertised 
to  hunt  in  Cumberland  ;  the  principal  pack 
was  the  Carlisle  harriers  which  was  kept  near 
Carlisle  for  some  time,  and  when  the  Ingle- 
wood Foxhounds  ceased  to  exist,  they  were 
turned  into  foxhounds.  Later  they  were 
taken  by  Captain  Ferguson,  who  turned  them 
again  into  staghounds,  and  in  order  to  procure 
stags  went  off  to  Scotland  and  captured  three 
stags  and  two  hinds  from  Lord  Galloway's 
forest.  On  Captain  Ferguson's  retirement 
these  hounds  were  taken  by  Colonel  Salkeld 
of  Holm  Hill,  who  kept  them  at  his  own 
expense.  While  under  his  mastership  foxes 
were  hunted  during  the  first  part  of  the  sea- 
son and  stags  during  the  latter,  but  on  Colonel 
Salkeld's  retirement  in  1849  tne  nouncls  were 
given  by  him  to  Dumfriesshire.  This  brings 


us  to  John  Peel,  who  had  for  some  time  pre- 
vious been  hunting  the  western  country. 

I  have  talked  with  several  people  who 
hunted  with  this  famous  sportsman,  although 
I  believe  it  to  be  true  that  many  still  think 
John  Peel  had  almost  a  pre-historic  existence. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  he  died  as  lately  as  1854,* 
having  hunted  in  some  form  or  another  for 
over  forty  years.  As  I  said  before,  there  are 
now  several  men  in  Cumberland  who  followed 
him  and  his  hounds.  They  have  narrated  to 
me  their  recollections  of  the  familiar  figure  : 
the  blue-grey  coat  with  its  brass  buttons,  the 
white  beaver  hat  and  choker  tie,  the  knee 
breeches,  which  were  joined  by  a  pair  of  long 
stockings,  and  then,  most  curious  of  all,  the 
fact  that  he  always  wore  shoes,  to  one  only 
of  which  a  spur  was  attached.  No  truer 
sportsman  ever  lived  ;  for  over  forty  years 
John  Peel  hunted  his  hounds.  He  has  been 
immortalized  in  verse  and  song,  and  the  ro- 
mance and  halo  with  which  his  name  is  sur- 
rounded will  last  as  long  as  hunting  remains 
the  national  sport  of  this  country.  John 
Peel  was  a  statesman  (the  northern  definition 
of  a  yeoman)  living  in  Caldbeck  village,  and 
from  there  he  hunted  the  west  of  Cumberland, 
and,  as  Matthew  Graves  tells  us,  '  no  wile  of 
a  fox  or  a  hare  could  evade  his  scrutiny.' 

In  1850  Mr.  Lawson,  the  present  Sir 
Wilfrid  Lawson,  joined  John  Peel,  keeping  a 
few  hounds  of  his  own,  the  hounds  often 
hunting  together ;  and  in  1858,  after  the  death 
of  the  old  sportsman,  Mr.  Lawson  became 
the  possessor  of  the  entire  pack  of  hounds, 
and  of  these  were  formed  the  second  and 
present  pack  of  'Cumberland  Foxhounds,' 
although  they  were  not  formally  named  as 
such  until  1859. 

The  first  records  I  can  find  of  the  doings 
of  this  pack  are  in  the  hunting  diaries,  the 
first  of  which  runs  as  follows  :  '  November 
12,  1850.  Found  two  or  three  foxes.  Ran 
one  to  Vitey's  house  and  lost  him  in  the  wood 
again.'  Again,  '  November  22.  Along  with 
Peel's  hounds  drew  Isel  blank,  found  at 
Mumberson's,  and  ran  him  to  ground  in  the 
earth  at  Isel  with  only  three  couples  of 
hounds.  Grand  scent.'  These  records  of 
each  day  were  kept  with  great  regularity.  In 
February  1856  Mr.  Lawson  recounts  that 
'  as  they  arrived  at  Westward,  Peel's  hounds 
ran  a  fox  which  they  had  found  in  Denton 
Side  into  the  lower  wood.'  It  would  appear 

1  The  inscription  on  his  headstone  in  Caldbeck 
churchyard  is  as  follows :  '  In  memory  of  John 
Peel  of  Ruthwaite,  who  died  Nov.  13,  1854,  aged 
78  years.'  The  symbols  of  his  craft  are  duly 
emblazoned  on  the  monument. 


423 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


during  this  period  at  times  that  foxes  were 
scarce,  and  there  is  an  amusing  tale  told  of 
Mr.  Lawson  when  he  went  south  to  have  a 
few  days  with  Lord  Fitzhardinge's  hounds. 
On  being  asked  how  he  could  leave  his  hounds, 
his  reply  was,  '  Well,  you  see,  there  are  only 
two  foxes  left,  one  called  Scutty  and  one  called 
Snippy  ;  the  hounds  have  killed  Scutty  and 
Snippy  wants  a  rest  ! ' 

There  are  records  of  great  runs  in  this 
diary,  and  in  the  third  volume  there  is  the 
following  summary  of  the  sport  during  eleven 
seasons  commencing  in  1850  and  ending  in 
1861:— 


hunted  three  days  a  week.  This  joint  master- 
ship lasted  for  a  period  of  nine  years,  Mr. 
Howard  and  Colonel  Wybergh  acting  as 
huntsmen  on  alternate  days.  During  this 
time  there  were  some  record  runs,  but  Mr. 
Howard  asserts  that  thirty  years  ago,  when  he 
first  hunted,  the  foxes  were  better  than  they 
are  now,  but  the  scent  not  so  good,  and  that 
he  remembers  when  for  six  weeks  on  end 
scent  was  bad. 

One  of  the  best  runs  during  this  time  is 
recorded  in  the  diary.  It  took  place  on  No- 
vember 1 6,  1877,  when  hounds  ran  from 
Redmayne  through  the  Tarnities  and  Blind- 


Seasons 

Days 
out 

Killed 

Run  to 
ground 

Lost 

Hunted 

Blank  days 

Accounted 
for 

1850—1       

1,6 

7 

6 

26 

•7C 

g 

18512             .... 

A  A 

6 

6 

to 

J.2 

J8C2     1 

1Q 

6 

27 

37 

I  2 

I  O 

1853-4       ........ 

I  8^4.—  ? 

2O 

17 

0 

7 

2 

8 

'4 

22 

16 

17 

9 

7 

2 
I  C 

i8cc-6 

C7 

I  1 

6 

?2 

4.0 

17 

1856-7     
1857-8     
i8<;8-q 

65 
63 
68 

«7 

'9 
16 

12 
I  I 
I  I 

41 
5° 
61 

70 

So 

88 

13 

6 

8 

29 
3° 

27 

i  8  CQ—  60  . 

6e 

I  2 

16 

6c 

Ql 

7 

28 

1860-1      

72 

27 

22 

27 

76 

'4 

49 

Total.     .     .     . 

562 

124 

IO4 

395 

623 

107 

228 

During  these  years  the  Carlisle  Harriers 
were  given  up,  and  Mr.  Lawson  gradually 
increasing  his  country  undertook  to  hunt  the 
whole  county  in  1857,  removing  the  hounds 
from  Brayton  to  Raughtonhead.  In  1861 
Mr.  Milham  Hartley  took  over  the  hounds 
and  they  were  then  named  the  Cumberland 
Hounds.  Mr.  Briscoe  followed  three  years 
later,  but  he  retired  after  a  very  short  time  on 
the  score  of  ill  health.  The  hounds  were 
again  taken  on  by  Mr.  Hartley  who  records 
the  following  in  his  diary  at  the  end  of  his 
sixth  season  :  '  So  ends  my  six  years'  master- 
ship, during  which  time  the  hounds  have 
killed  ninety  foxes  and  had  some  long  runs. 
There  are  still  a  few  foxes  in  the  county,  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  gentlemen  who 
succeed  will  show  sport.' 

After  Mr.  Hartley's  retirement,  a  com- 
mittee of  management  was  formed  for  a 
period  of  three  years  when  Sir  Wilfrid 
Lawson  again  resumed  the  mastership  and 
was  joined  in  1872  by  Major  Wybergh. 
Captain  Sharp  is  mentioned  in  the  diary  as 
'  keeping  the  whole  establishment.'  On 
Captain  Sharp's  retirement  in  1876  the  duty 
was  undertaken  by  Mr.  Howard  of  Greystoke 
and  Colonel  Wybergh,  the  country  to  be 


crake  into  Isel  Wood.  The  hounds  pushed 
him  through  and  breaking  at  the  east  end 
ran  to  Threapland  Gill,  out  of  it  on  the 
north  side  as  if  for  Brayton,  but  changing  his 
mind  the  fox  went  to  the  right  past  Bothel 
Craggs  to  Snittlegarth  ;  from  thence  we  ran 
past  Ireby  on  to  Intachre,  and  leaving  Snow 
Hill  on  the  left  kept  a  straight  line  to  Caldeck 
village,  when  the  fox  being  headed  turned 
nearly  straight  back  for  a  short  distance, 
managing  thereby  to  puzzle  the  hounds.  On 
hitting  it  off  the  scent  was  weak,  and  as 
horses  and  men  had  had  quite  enough  we 
gave  the  gallant  fox  up.  A  splendid  run, 
distance  from  point  to  point  about  fifteen 
miles — a  great  deal  more  the  way  the  hounds 
ran.  Pace  fast,  a  short  check  just  before  get- 
ting to  Snittlegarth,  otherwise  they  must  have 
killed  him  before  he  reached  Caldbeck. 

In  1885  Colonel  Wybergh  retired  and  Mr. 
Howard  hunted  the  whole  county  until  he 
was  joined  by  Mr.  Lawson  in  1886,  who 
undertook  the  western  division  for  four  sea- 
sons, at  the  end  of  which  time  Mr.  Howard 
again  took  the  whole  county  till  1895,  when 
a  new  arrangement  was  made,  the  Cumber- 
land hunt  handing  over  half  the  county  to 
Mr.  Salkeld  of  Holm  Hill,  who  established  a 


424 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


pack  of  hounds  of  his  own  at  Holm  Hill,  while 
the  Cumberland  foxhounds  hunted  the  other 
half  under  the  joint  mastership  of  Mr.  Howard 
and  Mr.  C.  J.  Parker,  the  latter  acting  as 
huntsman,  and  under  this  regime  the  country 
is  at  present  hunted. 

There  are  altogether  six  packs  of  hounds 
and  six  packs  of  harriers  in  Cumberland. 
Four  of  these  hunt  the  hills  almost  exclusively 
and  are  generally  followed  on  foot.  The 
oldest  of  these  packs  would  appear  to  be  the 
one  named  at  present '  the  Blencathra  Hounds.' 
And  it  is  generally  believed  that  the  hounds 
mentioned  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  article 
which  were  sent  from  Keswick  to  Hertford- 
shire, and  on  being  let  loose  were  not  heard 
of  again  till  they  reappeared  at  Keswick,  were 
the  predecessors  of  Mr.  Crozier's  present  pack. 
To  that  gentleman  I  owe  the  following  ex- 
tracts which  he  has  kindly  sent  me  gathered 
by  the  honorary  secretary  of  the  hunt. 

'  The  story  of  the  origin  of  the  Blencathra 
hounds  is  similar  to  that  of  most  of  the  moun- 
tain packs.  The  ancient  books  of  the  church- 
wardens in  many  of  the  Lake  parishes  contain 
numberless  entries  of  payments  made  for  the 
heads  of  foxes.  As  much  as  a  guinea  was  paid 
for  the  head  of  a  "  greyhound  fox  "  and  10s.  6d. 
for  a  cub  ;  but  the  hill  farmers  could  not  de- 
pend upon  this  method  of  capture,  and  there- 
fore many  of  them  kept  a  hound  or  two. 
These  animals  had  no  pretension  to  purity  of 
breed,  and  would  hunt  the  hare  as  an  alter- 
native to  the  fox.  Gradually  the  dalesfolk  as 
well  as  their  neighbours  on  the  hills  began  to 
organize  hunts,  especially  in  the  spring  when 
foxes  became  dangerous  to  lambs.  News- 
papers were  scarce  in  those  days  and  seldom 
seen  in  farm-houses.  But  a  very  effective 
method  of  advertising  hunts  was  adopted. 
Immediately  after  service  the  parish  clerk 
mounted  a  tombstone  in  the  churchyard  and 
announced  to  the  assembled  crowd  the  dates 
and  plans  for  meets  and  sales  by  auction  dur- 
ing the  ensuing  week.  Mr.  Crozier  recol- 
lects perfectly  being  a  witness  of  this,  nor 
has  he  forgotten  the  Sunday  fox  hunts  which 
were  a  highly  popular  institution,  the  farmers 
asserting  that  Sunday  was  the  only  day  they 
could  spare  for  hunting  purposes.  Over  100 
years  ago  Mr.  Crozier's  father  kept  several 
couples  of  hounds,  including  some  which  be- 
longed to  the  famous  hunter  of  the  western 
country,  John  Peel.  His  son,  Mr.  John  Cro- 
zier, was  born  in  the  year  1822,  and  while  still 
a  boy  his  father  handed  over  to  him  the  master- 
ship of  the  hounds  which  office  he  has  now 
held  over  sixty  years,  the  first  thirty  of  which 
he  maintained  the  .hunt  at  his  own  expense. 
The  longest  run  he  remembers  was  an  after- 


noon run  when  a  fox  started  on  Skiddaw,  and 
after  attempting  to  elude  his  pursuers  by 
travelling  in  a  ring  but  rinding  it  of  no  avail 
was  forced  to  take  a  line  through  Portinscale, 
Borrowdale,  over  the  mountains  into  West- 
morland, and  under  cover  of  darkness  got 
away  towards  Broughton-in-Furness  in  Lanca- 
shire. The  dogs  were  found  the  next  morning 
lying  asleep  near  Coniston  Crag.  The  dis- 
tance they  had  travelled  in  a  straight  line 
being  35  miles,  but  at  least  another  15  would 
be  added  by  the  many  deviations,  thus  making 
a  run  of  50  miles.  Fell  hunting  has  many 
dangers  both  for  hounds  and  men,  and  Mr. 
Crozier  remembers  many  occasions  on  which 
hounds,  having  jumped  clear  on  rocks  and 
found  themselves  '  binked,'  have  been  un- 
able to  return  and  eventually  have  met  their 
death  by  falling  over  precipices  in  a  desperate 
effort  to  escape.' 

In  the  breeding  of  hill  hounds  there  are 
many  difficulties  in  maintaining  the  qualities 
which  are  essential  for  hill-work,  but  by  judi- 
cious crossing  the  breed  at  intervals  with  south 
country  and  neighbouring  packs  of  hounds 
this  has  been  most  successful.  Another  of 
the  fell  packs  is  the  Ulleswater  pack  of  hounds, 
which  hunts  exclusively  on  the  hills,  being 
followed  (with  rare  exceptions)  on  foot. 

I  have  hunted  with  them,  and  it  is  a  won- 
derful sight  to  watch  the  huntsman  making 
his  way  to  them  with  extraordinary  rapidity 
up  the  mountains,  running  often  far  into  the 
night.  It  is  a  curious  fact  worth  mentioning 
that  fell  hounds  when  they  kill  a  fox  will  not 
break  it  up,  a  peculiarity  which  I  believe  I 
am  right  in  stating  is  all  their  own. 

The  inhabitants  of  Cumberland  are  sports- 
men from  hereditary  instincts.  As  I  said 
before,  squires  and  statesmen,  hill  farmers  and 
dalesmen  alike  have  combined  to  keep  alive 
and  encourage  these  sporting  qualities  during 
many  generations.  But  as  in  all  other  parts 
so  in  Cumberland,  bad  trade,  agricultural  de- 
pression, the  depreciation  of  land  have  as 
natural  consequences,  affected  the  hunting. 
Perhaps  Cumberland  has  suffered  less  than 
some  counties,  and  hunting  may  continue 
longer.  The  stranger  element,  so  strong  in 
the  south,  does  not  exist  in  Cumberland. 
Those  who  hunt  here  belong  to  the  soil  and 
therefore  we  have  not  to  contend  with  the 
same  amount  of  damage  which  is  done  by 
those  who  come  out  to  gallop  and  jump  re- 
gardless of  injury  to  the  farmers.  But  still 
it  is  to  be  regretted  that  wire  has  made  its 
appearance  in  this  county.  Thirty  years  ago 
it  was  unknown,  and  now  in  some  parts  of 
the  hunting  country  fence  after  fence  in  suc- 
cession is  wired.  It  is  particularly  disastrous 


ii 


425 


54 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


in  the  more  cramped  parts  of  the  country 
where  the  jumping  is  incessant.  In  some 
parts  of  Cumberland  we  have  tracts  of  open 
country,  the  wild  grass  and  moorland  stretch- 
ing for  many  a  mile,  a  stone  wall  here  and 
there  breaking  the  monotony.  Those  who 
would  follow  hounds  in  Cumberland  must 
make  up  their  minds  that  no  weather  will 
be  too  bad,  no  day  too  long,  no  fence  too 
rough.  Of  fences  we  have  plenty.  Rough 
banks  with  ditches  are  more  often  to  be  met 
with  than  any  other  fence,  and  if,  as  is  often 
the  case,  a  horse  who  is  a  stranger  to  the 
country  attempts  to  fly  them  disaster  is  sure 
to  follow.  The  Irish  horse  or  the  horse  bred 
in  Cumberland  will  jump  on  to  the  bank, 
either  placing  his  fore-feet  on  the  top  or 
lightly  dropping  his  hind  legs  on  it,  which 
gives  the  necessary  impetus  for  clearing  the 
ditch  beyond  and  landing  himself  well  into 
the  next  field.  Then  there  are  the  stone 
walls ;  more  frequent  perhaps  in  the  west  of 
the  country  than  the  east,  they  appear  very 
formidable,  but  are  easier  to  manipulate  than 
they  seem  at  first  sight.  There  is  very  seldom 
a  ditch  on  the  other  side,  and  a  horse  who 
understands  them  will  sometimes  even  bank 
them,  and  it  is  always  better  to  ride  at  them 
slowly.  There  are  a  certain  amount  of  posts 
and  rails  in  Cumberland,  and  in  the  extreme 
east  of  the  county  the  obstacles  are  mostly  in 
the  form  of  small  flying  fences,  and  the 
country  being  cramped  there  is  continuous 
jumping. 

A  Cumberland  hunter  must  be  prepared 
for  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  fences,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Cumberland  Irish 
bred  horses  are  the  best  suited  to  the  country. 
The  Cumberland  horses  for  the  most  part  are 
generally  of  the  short  thick  kind,  wonderfully 
clever,  though  perhaps  a  trifle  slow  ;  they 
will  gallop  and  jump  all  day,  and  if  you  leave 
them  alone  will  extricate  themselves  from 
most  difficulties.  The  coverts  in  Cumber- 
land are  of  a  varied  nature  ;  there  are  some 
very  big  woodlands  in  the  west  of  the  county 
forming  a  good  home  for  many  a  fox  ;  these 
woodlands  are  bad  to  get  away  from,  and 
some  of  them  situated  on  the  side  of  a  hill 
running  along  for  a  mile  or  two  make  a  hard 
draw  for  hounds  and  huntsmen,  but  add 
greatly  to  the  picturesqueness  of  the  scene. 
There  are  a  great  many  gorse  coverts,  a  good 
deal  of  this  being  natural,  forming  in  some 
places  very  thick  hedgerows  ;  and  it  is  very 
difficult  for  the  hounds  to  push  a  fox  out,  and 
these  gorse  coverts  often  take  a  very  long 
time  to  draw.  The  most  typical  covert  in  . 
Cumberland  is  the  ghyll  (the  north  country 
definition  of  a  woody  ravine)  planted  on  both 


sides,  with  a  stream  as  a  rule  running  through 
the  bottom.  These  ghylls  form  a  very  snug 
shelter  for  a  fox  and  nearly  always  hold  one. 
In  a  run  these  ghylls  are  our  most  formidable 
obstacles  and  generally  cause  a  great  delay  for 
the  field,  as  there  is  probably  only  one  prac- 
ticable path  through  it,  and  a  good  many  are 
often  left  behind. 

That  Cumberland  is  a  good  scenting  coun- 
try is  a  fact  that  will,  I  think,  be  admitted  by 
all  who  have  hunted  there,  and  those  who 
have  been  associated  with  hunting  the  hounds 
for  the  last  thirty  years  maintain  that  scent 
has  much  improved  of  late.  In  some  parts 
of  the  country  the  constant  fences  check  the 
hounds  a  little,  but  on  the  whole  the  country 
carries  a  very  good  scent.  The  foxes 
have  not  of  late  been  as  good,  it  is  said,  as 
formerly,  although  I  am  told  they  are  improv- 
ing again  now.  The  Cumberland  fox  is 
hardy  and  fast,  more  of  the  '  greyhound ' 
type  than  the  terrier.  In  some  parts  of  the 
county  they  are  too  numerous,  while  in 
others  there  is  a  scarcity  ;  but  a  blank  day  in 
Cumberland  is  almost  an  unknown  occur- 
rence. 

There  have  been  one  or  two  noted  foxes. 
There  was  one  that  lived  in  Greystoke  Park 
for  years,  nicknamed  by  the  inhabitants  '  The 
Thornyland  Pet.'  He  was  a  huge  fox  with 
a  white  neck.  He  never  left  Thornyland 
pasture.  The  hounds  hunted  him  round 
Greystoke  Park  during  the  space  of  four  hours 
and  lost  him,  and  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  he 
was  never  seen  again.  Another  fox  I  re- 
member was  found  over  and  over  again  by 
Mr.  Salkeld's  hounds  in  one  of  their  coverts. 
He  always  took  the  same  line  of  twelve 
miles  from  Dobs  Cross  to  Greystoke.  This 
occurred  several  times  in  one  season,  and 
sportsmen  went  out  with  great  hopes  to  draw 
the  covert  secure  in  the  knowledge  that  if 
'  Peter,'  as  the  fox  was  named,  was  about,  a 
run  was  assured. 

A  curious  coincidence  I  recollect  many 
years  ago.  Towards  the  end  of  a  long  run, 
when  hounds  were  close  on  to  their  fox,  he 
turned  into  the  little  churchyard  of  Caldbeck, 
and  running  over  John  Peel's  grave  with  the 
pack  in  full  cry  he  was  pulled  down  in  the 
open  just  over  the  churchyard  wall,  an  un- 
conscious tribute  to  the  old  sportsman. 

As  I  sit  writing  many  memories  of  bygone 
runs  come  crowding  over  me,  runs  never  to 
be  forgotten  by  those  who  took  part  in  them. 
We  are  at  the  covert  side  in  breathless  silence. 
No  sound  but  the  huntsman's  voice  and  the 
rustle  of  the  dead  leaves  under  the  hounds' 
feet  as  they  race  through  on  a  fresh  line  of  a 
fox.  A  solitary  whip  at  the  far  end  lifts  his 


426 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


cap,  and  that  cry  of  '  Gone  away '  rings 
through  the  air.  From  out  of  the  covert  the 
hounds  stream,  close  behind  them  rides  the 
field,  each  one  scrambling  for  a  start.  A  big 
stone  wall  confronts  us.  Side  by  side  we 
take  it ;  a  few  refuse  and  are  lost.  We  are 
landed  in  a  rough  grass  field,  rather  heavy 
going  for  the  riders  but  carrying  a  strong 
scent.  Through  a  small  wood  they  race, 
their  heads  down.  Making  our  way  through 
the  fir-trees  we  follow,  a  bank  with  a  blind 
ditch  carries  us  out  of  it,  and  down  the  green 
fields  we  gallop  taking  two  sets  of  rails  as  we 
go.  But  the  pace  is  beginning  to  tell ;  al- 
ready some  are  being  left  behind  ;  a  rough 
fence  into  the  road,  another  out  of  it  ;  on  we 
go  through  plough  which  rides  light  to-day. 
A  ghyll  is  in  sight,  the  wary  huntsman  turns 
to  the  right,  he  knows  the  only  practicable 
spot ;  several  of  the  unwary  plunge  in  and 
we  see  them  no  more.  Following  close  upon 
the  hounds  we  descend  the  ghyll,  our  hands 
shading  our  faces  from  the  thorn  bushes, 
which  are  so  thick  that  one  man  is  literally 
pulled  from  his  horse.  This  delays  those  be- 
hind him,  but  a  few  of  us  who  are  fortunate 
enough  to  be  in  front  reach  the  bottom  ;  a 
small  running  brook  meets  our  eyes,  the 
hounds  are  already  across.  For  a  moment 
on  the  other  side  they  hesitate,  they  throw 
up  their  heads.  But  before  the  huntsman 
can  get  to  them  they  pick  it  up  and  ascend 
the  hill  in  full  cry.  Treading  on  each  other's 
heels,  reckless  of  consequences,  we  scramble 
through  the  water,  and  breaking  through  the 
rails  on  the  far  side  speed  up  the  hill  ;  a  big 
fence,  about  the  biggest  fence  in  Cumberland, 
is  before  us,  a  copper  beech  hedge  with  rails 
run  through.  We  ride  at  it ;  several  refuse  ; 
the  field  is  becoming  more  and  more  select. 
Now  and  then  the  cry  of  '  Seeds  '  sounds  in 
our  ears,  and  this  means  a  circuitous  round, 
as  the  Cumberland  farmer  on  that  point  is 
firm.  Whether  hard  or  soft  the  seed  field  is 
sacred.  We  are  on  rising  ground,  anxious 
eyes  are  turned  with  the  hopes  of  viewing  a 
second  horseman,  but  they  have  had  no  chance. 
Banks  and  stone  walls  follow  in  quick  succes- 
sion, the  scent  is  tremendous.  As  we  cross  a 
road  an  old  shepherd  on  his  pony  greets  us, 
'  I  seed  t'  fox,  nobbut  a  laal  un.'  And  then 
the  excitement  overcoming  him,  he  turns  his 
pony  at  a  fence  exclaiming,  '  T'  sheep  and  t' 
dog  can  tak'  care  o'  thersels.  I  must  hev'  a 
hunt,'  and  he  joins  us.  We  are  crossing  the 
moorland  in  Greystoke  Park ;  it  is  heavy 
going  and  the  hounds  are  leaving  us.  Blen- 


cathra,  or  Saddleback  as  it  is  commonly  called, 
looms  high  above  us,  but  we  can't  stop- 
Across  the  broad  open  space  we  follow,  down 
into  the  grey  valley  of  the  Caldew,  and  then 
begin  the  ascent.  Hounds  are  facing  the  hill 
in  full  cry.  We  are  forced  into  a  slow  trot 
and  at  times  to  a  walk.  Skiddaw  Forest  is  in 
front  of  us.  We  struggle  on.  The  hounds' 
notes  get  fainter  and  fainter,  and  only  the 
huntsman  and  whips  pursue  as  they  must. 
We  drop  off  our  exhausted  horses.  We  have 
done  our  utmost ;  we  have  lived  with  the 
best  of  them  ;  and  we  ride  our  tired  horses 
home  with  that  consciousness  within  us  and 
the  hope  that  such  a  good  fox  may  escape  and 
live  to  give  us  another  such  day. 

Harrier  hunting  in  Cumberland  is  much 
the  same  as  in  other  counties.  One  important 
pack  of  harriers,  the  '  Eamont,'  has  disap- 
peared during  the  last  few  years  owing  to  the 
death  of  their  master,  Mr.  Carleton  Cowper. 
One  or  two  packs  of  beagles  have  sprung  into 
existence,  but  for  the  most  part  the  same 
packs  of  fell-hounds  that  have  hunted  for 
many  years  are  continuing  to  do  so.  Hares 
in  some  parts  of  Cumberland  are  extremely 
scarce  and  becoming  more  so,  and  in  no  part 
of  the  country  are  they  very  numerous,  ex- 
cept perhaps  in  Lowther  Park  and  its  sur- 
roundings. 

I  would  repeat  again  that  the  hunting  in- 
stincts are  still  strong  in  Cumberland.  There 
are  no  doubt  a  few  who  condemn  it — there 
are  some  who  have  suffered  by  their  land 
being  overridden — there  are  always  some  who 
have  no  sympathy  with  hunting,  and  there 
are  a  few  pessimists  who  tell  us  that  hunting 
will  not  last  ;  that  bad  times,  want  of 
money,  the  prevalence  of  wire  ever  increasing 
will  all  tend  towards  its  disappearance.  But  I 
am  an  optimist,  and  I  am  confident  that  this, 
the  national  sport  of  England,  has  a  deep- 
rooted  existence  in  the  hearts  of  the  people, 
and  I  venture  to  prophesy  that  it  will  be  a 
bad  day  for  the  country  when  hunting  ceases 
to  be ;  it  is  the  keynote  to  all  sport,  and  tends 
to  promote  and  strengthen  good  feeling  and 
friendship  between  all  classes  of  men. 

The  following  is  a  summary  of  the  sport 
during  the  last  two  years,  which  gives  a  fair 
average  and  bring  this  article  up  to  date : — 


Seasons 

Days 

Killed 

Run  to 

Lost 

Hunted 

Blank 

out 

ground 

1900-1 

56 

32 

17 

4' 

90 

0 

1901-2 

48 

48 

'S     i  44 

107 

O 

427 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


SHOOTING 


The  materials  for  writing  an  account  of 
shooting  in  the  county  of  Cumberland  are 
but  scanty.  No  squire  of  old  days  seems  to 
have  thought  it  worth  his  while  to  keep  such 
a  diary  as  did  Colonel  Hawker  or  Lord 
Malmesbury,  and  these  mines  of  interesting 
information  available  to  the  Hampshire  his- 
torian are  quite  wanting  here.  No  game 
book  or  rough  jottings  of  sport  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  or  even  very  early  in  the 
nineteenth,  are  to  be  met  with  ;  one  at 
Greystoke  which  dates  from  1825  goes  back 
the  furthest  of  all.  Though  the  amount  of 
game  killed  in  a  day  or  a  season  a  hundred  or 
a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  would  seem 
small  to  us,  it  would  not  be  so  to  those  who 
killed  it.  Records  would  be  established  then 
from  time  to  time,  and  no  doubt  these  records 
still  exist,  hidden  away  in  journals  and  letters 
in  old  country  houses ;  but  they  are  inaccessible 
now  and  not  to  be  found  except  by  chance. 
The  present  business-like  volumes  kept  by  all 
men  who  shoot  much  were  unknown.  If  the 
strong  and  comely  John  Osbaldistone,  who 
'  has  most  of  the  gamekeeper '  in  Sir  Hilde- 
brand's  old  Northumberland  hall,  had,  instead 
of  muddling  himself  with  brandy,  spent  some 
of  his  abundant  spare  time  in  jotting  down  at 
night  what  he  and  his  wild  brothers  had 
killed  or  hunted  during  the  day,  how  grateful 
would  we  be  to  him  now.  As  we  would  be 
too  if  someone  had  cared  enough  for  them  to 
write  on  the  backs  of  the  pictures  '  dimmed 
with  smoke  and  March  beer '  which  hang  in 
many  an  old  hall,  some  brief  particulars  of 
the  sitter  and  the  artist,  both  now  long  since 
forgotten  and  never  to  be  known. 

Field  sports  are  seldom  mentioned  by 
English  historians  :  Lord  Macaulay  has  only 
two  or  three  references,  one  of  which  concerns 
the  Cumberland  border.  After  speaking  of 
the  wild  state  of  the  country  in  1685,  he 
comes  down  to  later  times  and  quotes  from 
Scott's  life  in  what  state  the  then  Duke  of 
Northumberland's  father  found  the  '  people 
in  Keeldar  when  he  went  up  to  shoot  there. 
The  women  had  no  other  dress  than  a  bed- 
gown and  petticoat  ;  the  men  were  savage, 
and  could  hardly  be  brought  to  rise  from  the 
heather  either  from  sullenness  or  fear.'  *  And 
he  goes  on  to  speak  of  their  wild  dances  and 
songs. 

About  the  year  1803  Colonel  Thornton 
made  his  well-known  expedition  into  Scot- 
land and  the  north  of  England.  He  pene- 


The  History  of  England,  i.  286  (ed.  1849-61). 


trated — the  word  is  not  an  ill-fitting  one  to 
use  considering  the  dangers  and  difficulties  he 
seems  to  have  met  with  on  the  way — as  far 
north  as  Inverness,  and  returned  to  Yorkshire 
through  Cumberland.  A  sloop  manned  by 
three  sailors  was  sent  first  to  Forres  with 
heavy  goods,  and  then  with  two  boats,  two 
baggage  waggons  and  a  tandem  gig,  and  many 
horses  for  riding  and  driving,  with  a  valet, 
groom,  waggoner  and  other  servants,  a  fal- 
coner, an  artist,  and  endless  supplies  of  food 
and  liquors,  guns,  nets,  hawks  and  pointers — 
with  a  paraphernalia,  as  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell 
says,  calculated  on  lines  for  exploring  Labra- 
dor— the  colonel  set  forth  and  shot  and  fished 
and  netted  and  hawked  his  way  northwards. 
He  must  have  been  a  man  of  great  energy 
and  power  of  organization  ;  the  directions  to 
his  servants  are  given  after  a  military  fashion 
which  is  sometimes  very  amusing.  Pike  fish- 
ing and  snipe  and  woodcock  shooting  seem  to 
have  been  his  favourite  pursuits.  He  gives 
long  descriptions  of  the  scenery  he  passed 
through,  which  impressed  him,  as  it  did  all 
travellers  of  that  period,  more  by  its  desola- 
tion and  dangers  than  by  its  beauty  ;  he  never 
came  across  a  pretty  girl  without  chronicling 
the  fact,  and  he  devotes  a  considerable  part 
of  his  diary  to  detailing  the  elaborate  dinners 
he  and  his  friends  partook  of  in  the  wilderness, 
and  the  abundant  liquid  with  which  they 
washed  them  down.  Probably  this  history 
gives  in  the  main  a  correct  account  of  what 
really  took  place,  though  now  and  then  our 
confidence  in  its  absolute  accuracy  is  a  little 
shaken,  as,  for  example,  when  he  so  set  his 
'  bullet  gun '  as  to  be  sure  of  hitting  a  card 
at  200  yards,  or  when,  after  making  a  long 
shot  at  an  old  'moor  game'  cock,  he 
measured  the  distance  and  was  disappointed 
to  find  it  was  '  only  a  hundred  and  three 
yards.' 

On  October  23  he  reached  Carlisle  and 
travelling  by  Wigton,  Bassenthwaite — where 
he  met  and  entered  into  conversation  with 
'  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  innocent 
country  girls '  he  ever  saw — Keswick,  Gras- 
mere,  Rydal,  Ponsonby  and  Muncaster,  he 
passed  into  Lancashire  by  Coniston. 

It  is  unfortunate  for  our  special  purpose 
that  Colonel  Thornton  did  not  devote  much 
space  to  the  latter  part  of  his  tour  ;  possibly 
he  was  a  little  stale,  a  little  tired  of  shooting 
and  fishing  and  hawking  by  the  time  he  got 
into  Cumberland  ;  even  the  dinners,  though 
the  quality  of  them  is  mentioned,  are  not 
given  in  detail.  He  saw  men  hunting  salmon — 


428 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


and  catching  them — with  Newfoundland  dogs 
in  the  low  Esk  ;  he  tried  a  brace  of  pointers 
near  Ouse  Bridge,  but  did  not  approve  of 
them,  and  after  a  day  or  two  spent  at  Rydal 
Hall  he  rode  over  by  Hard  Knott  to  Ponsonby 
with  Sir  Michael  le  Fleming  and  his  daughter. 
The  next  morning  the  company  divided,  some 
shooting,  others  coursing,  but  with  only  poor 
results — 'a  brace  of  hares.'  Sir  Michael's 
shooting,  adds  the  diarist,  '  was  quite  harm- 
less.' The  colonel  also  found  fault  with  his 
friend's  greyhounds  as  having  too  much  of  the 
lurcher  in  them.  The  day  following  Sir 
Michael  went  out  shooting  by  himself,  but 
came  back  empty  handed  '  which  he  attributed 
to  his  gun  being  crooked.'  After  a  pleasant 
stay  at  Ponsonby,  from  the  windows  of  which 
'  on  a  favourable  day  you  may  discern  Flint- 
shire,' the  colonel  journeyed  on  to  Muncaster, 
and  greatly  admired  the  house  and  views  and 
splendid  oaks.  '  I  never  saw  any  place  more 
fortunately  situated.'  But  though  Lord 
Muncaster  pressed  him  to  stay  a  few  days, 
assuring  him  that  there  were  plenty  of  wood- 
cocks about,  the  traveller  resisted  the  tempta- 
tion and  hurried  back  to  Rydal,  where  on  the 
28th  day  of  October  he  killed  five  woodcock 
and  a  snipe  and  so  finished  his  stay  in  Cum- 
berland. He  remarked  that  woodcocks  were 
very  plentiful  during  the  season,  and  formerly 
sold  in  great  numbers  at  Hawkeshead  for  six- 
pence each.  '  But  now  the  Flys  from  Kendal 
take  them  south,  they  are  as  much  increased 
in  value  as  other  articles  of  luxury.'  A  grue- 
some likeness  of  a  '  heath  cock '  is  the  last 
engraving  in  the  charming  old  first  edition, 
and  we  are  glad  to  think  it  was  copied  from  a 
bird  ;shot  in  Scotland  and  not  in  Cumber- 
land.1 

There  have  been  no  ptarmigan  in  Cum- 
berland for  at  least  a  hundred  years.  There 
are  no  capercailzie.  Mr.  Howard  Saunders  * 
mentions  thirty-one  varieties  of  duck  as  having 
been  killed  in  the  three  kingdoms,  and  of 
these  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Macpherson  *  names 
twenty-one  which  have  been  shot  in  the 
county.  Of  the  remaining  ten  most  of  them 
are  so  rare  that  they  have  been  noticed  only 
six  or  seven  times  or  even  once  or  twice. 
The  three  wild  swans  have  all  been  killed, 
and  the  three  snipe,4  and  seven  out  of  eleven 


1  A  Sporting  Tour  through  the  Northern  Parts  of 
England  and  great  part  of  the  Highlands  of  Scotland, 
etc.  pp.  1 06,  149,  277-80  et  seq.  ed.  I  (London  : 
printed  for  Vernor  and  Hood,  etc.  1804). 

*  Manual  of  British  Birds,  pp.419-78  (ed.  1899). 

>  V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  199  et  seq. 

4  One     specimen    of  the    red-breasted    snipe 
(Macrorhamphus  griseus)  has  been  killed  ;  but  Mr. 


species  of  geese.  Here  again  of  the  four 
wanting  to  Cumberland  only  two  specimens  of 
one  have  been  seen  in  Britain,  and  four  of  an- 
other, and  the  other  two  are  only  known  in 
a  wild  state  from  having  been  first  domesti- 
cated. 

In  a  preface  to  the  Rev.  H.  A.  Macpher- 
son's  Fauna  of  Lakeland,  the  late  Chancellor 
Ferguson  carefully  defined  the  borders  or 
marches  of  that  district,  including  in  it  the 
whole  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  and 
a  small  part  of  Lancashire.  With  the  two 
latter  counties  this  paper  has  nothing  to  do, 
but  we  may  make  use  of  his  description  so  far 
as  it  applies  to  the  former.  With  an  insig- 
nificant exception  the  '  whole  of  the  western 
border  is  waterwashed '  by  fresh  water  for  a 
comparatively  short  way.  So  far  as  shooting 
is  concerned  the  coast  from  somewhat  south 
of  Allonby  to  St.  Bees  Head  is  practically 
worthless,  and  from  St.  Bees  till  we  come  into 
the  neighbourhood  of  Drigg  it  is  of  little 
value.  The  shores,  either  rocky  or  occupied 
by  grey  beaches  of  shingle  or  barren  sands, 
have  no  attraction  for  duck.  Along  the 
coast  line  from  Drigg  to  the  boundary  of  the 
county,  the  river  Duddon,  are  various  estuaries 
and  mud  flats  formed  by  the  Irt,  Mite  and 
Esk,  and  in  these  places  they  are  fairly  abun- 
dant. But  on  the  north-west  seaboard — the 
estuaries  of  the  Border  Esk,  the  Eden,  the 
Wampool  and  the  Waver — are  the  chief 
resorts  of  the  many  kinds  of  wildfowl 
which  are  shot  in  Cumberland,  for  here 
are  the  flat  waterwayed  mosses  along  the 
Solway,  the  rich  mud  flats  and  oozes,  and 
sheltered  bays  and  creeks  where  punts  can 
be  worked. 

Following  the  division  boundary  of  the 
county  with  Scotland  lie  first  the  moors  of 
Netherby.  Where  it  runs  south  with  North- 
umberland the  great  stretches  of  wild  country 
belonging  to  Naworth  come  in,  the  Gillesland 
moors  and,  a  little  further  south,  Tindale  Fell 
and  Geltsdale.  The  famous  moor  of  Knares- 
dale  is  just  over  the  county  march,  as  are  also 
the  chief  Alston  moors,  but  Rotherhope,  be- 
longing to  Mr.  Horrocks,  is  in  Cumberland. 
Here  in  1866  over  1,400  brace  of  grouse 
were  killed — a  bird  to  the  acre — and  this  re- 
markable average  would  have  been  still  better 
if '  driving '  at  that  time  had  not  been  carried 
on  in  a  somewhat  primitive  fashion,  with  no 
'  flankers  '  and  few  drivers.  Rotherhope  has 
been  much  damaged  by  netting,  reference  to 
which  is  made  further  on  in  this  article. 

Howard  Saunders,  in  the  second  edition  of  his 
book,  classes  this  bird  among  the  sandpipers 
(Manual  of  British  Birds,  p.  621). 


429 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Southward  lie  the  moors  belonging  to  Eden- 
hall  and  Greystoke  and  the  Marshalls,  and 
then  a  wide  range  of  hills  stretch  from  Kes- 
wick,  by  Wastwater  and  Dalegarth  and 
Muncaster,  to  the  mouth  of  the  Duddon. 

Grouse  are  to  be  found  in  Cumberland 
almost  wherever  there  is  heather,  but  many 
of  the  fells  are  very  green  and  give  better 
feeding  for  sheep  than  game.  They  are 
also  plentiful  on  many  of  the  lower  mosses  or 
flows.1 

Partridges,  besides  being  more  or  less  com- 
mon wherever  there  is  cultivation,  wander  in 
places  up  into  the  hills,  and  then  are  to  be 
met  with  in  the  great  stone  walled  '  seeve  '  or 
rush-covered  enclosures  often  far  away  from 
any  turnips  or  cornfields.  These  enclosures, 
before  the  new  law  made  their  lives  a  burden 
to  them,  were  the  homes  of  many  strong- 
limbed  lusty  hares,  and  were  desirable  places 
for  coursing.  The  writer  of  this  article  well 
remembers  in  the  '  seventies '  forty-six  hares 
being  counted  in  a  4-acre  field  belonging 
to  his  father,  feeding  on  a  May  morning  on 
the  young  oats,  and  he  was  present  at  a 
coursing  meeting  in  the  same  parish  of 
Moresby  when  more  than  sixty  hares  were 
turned  out  of  the  'Priest  Ground,'  a  30- 
acre  patch  of  rough  unpreserved  land  lying 
at  the  foot  of  Whillimoor.  There  is  still 
plenty  of  cover  on  the '  Priest  Ground  '  though 
it  has  been  drained  and  limed  since  then,  but 
hares  now  are  very  few  and  far  between.  In 
those  days  what  were  called  the '  preserves  '  on 
Lord  Lonsdale's  Whitehaven  estate  stretched 
far  and  wide  ;  a  country  into  which  the  har- 
riers were  on  no  account  to  be  allowed  to 
wander.  It  is  little  wonder  then  that  with  '  its 
heathery  grouse  moors  .  .  .  saltings,  bogs  and 
mosses  along  the  Solway  and  the  Irish  Sea, 
highly  cultivated  arable  and  pasture  land  in 
the  plain  of  Cumberland,  richly-wooded  river 
valleys  and  sheltered  combes,  mountains, 
meres,  tarns  and  fells,'8  this  county  has  always 
been  famous  for  the  varieties  of  its  game  and 
wildfowl.  But  though  the  variety  is  great  it 
is  not,  with  some  few  exceptions,  one  where 
very  big  bags  are  obtained.  The  properties 
and  farms  are  not  as  a  rule  large,  and  where 
the  acreage  is  wide,  as  in  the  fell  country,  the 
land  is,  as  has  been  said,  unproductive  of 
game. 

1  A  few  years  ago  a  pair  of  grouse  found  out  a 
small  patch  of  heather,  about  3  acres  in  extent,  at 
Froggo  Tarn  near  St.  Bees,  and  bred  on  it.  This 
patch  is  about  3  miles  from  the  nearest  bit  of  real 
moor,  viz.  Dent,  and  is  surrounded  entirely  by 
cultivated  land.  The  late  Mr.  Jefferson  of  Spring- 
field shot  some  of  the  brood. 

8  Fauna  of  Lakeland,  p.  x. 


If  the  first  week  in  September  sees  the 
harvest  well  started,3  there  will  be  few  small 
properties  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land  which  are  not  carefully  shot  over, 
and  though  the  reward  may  often  be  a  small 
one,  yet  everything  is  a  question  of  degree, 
and  a  man  who  comes  home  with  eight  or 
ten  brace,  when  he  only  expected  to  shoot 
three  or  four,  will  probably  enjoy  his  day 
more  than  the  owner  of  a  big  manor  whose 
bag  falls  short  by  twenty  brace  of  the  hundred 
he  was  told  he  should  get.  It  is  pleasant  to 
think  of  these  small  parties  of  sportsmen  out 
in  the  autumn  ;  statesmen  on  their  own 
grounds,  tenant  farmers  renting  the  shooting 
on  their  holdings  and  perhaps  that  of  a  neigh- 
bour or  two  ;  the  bags  will  not  be  swelled  by 
hares  as  they  used  to  be  ;  in  some  places  a 
pheasant  is  never  seen,  a  stray  snipe  or  hare 
or  duck  make  up  the  variety.  The  little 
holiday,  the  day  snatched  from  the  routine  of 
the  farm,  is  good  for  the  men,  and  we  may 
be  sure  for  the  country  also. 

Shooting  in  Cumberland  during  the  last 
century  seems  to  have  been  carried  on  for  the 
most  part  after  a  quiet  reasonable  fashion,  and 
owing  to  the  number  of  small  properties  was 
participated  in  by  many  people.  Where  a 
large  head  of  game  was  kept  up  the  landlords 
have  dealt  fairly  with  their  tenants,  and  these 
are  the  reasons,  with  one  other  to  be  added, 
why  not  so  much  has  been  heard  in  this 
county  of  the  various  troubles  which  game 
preservers  often  meet  with  elsewhere,  viz. 
poaching  on  a  large  scale,  grumbles  from  far- 
mers as  to  damage  done  to  crops  by  hares  and 
rabbits  and  pheasants,  to  turnips  by  walking 
across  them,  to  sheep  by  continually  shifting 
them  when  driving  grouse.  Probably  the 
other  reason  is  the  sporting  instinct  which 
exists  in  a  greater  or  less  degree  in  most 
Cumberland  people's  breasts.  No  doubt  this 
sporting  instinct  accounts  for  some  poaching, 
but  it  accounts  also,  we  feel  sure,  for  the 
wish  the  average  farmer  feels,  if  he  and  his 
landlord  '  get  on  '  at  all  together,  that  the 
latter  should  find  a  reasonable  amount  of 
game  on  his  land  when  he  comes  to  look  for 
it.  In  olden  days,  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago, 
when,  except  on  the  larger  estates,  gamekeepers 
and  preserving  were  practically  unknown,  any 
sportsman,  who  was  also  in  the  widest  sense 
of  the  word  a  gentleman,  was  welcome  to 
wander  anywhere  with  his  gun,  would  meet 

3  In  the  Carlisle  Journal  of  September  I  and 
12,  1810—12,  are  notices  calling  attention  to  the 
lateness  of  the  season  and  strongly  recommending 
sportsmen  to  abstain  from  shooting  '  till  the  whole 
crop  is  severed  from  the  ground.' 


430 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


with  the  truest  kind  of  hospitality,  and  have 
given  him  all  the  help  the  farmer  could  give, 
as  to  the  best  line  to  take  and  the  best  places 
to  meet  with  whatever  he  might  be  in  search 
of.  Though  a  wanderer  of  this  old  world 
fashion  would,  of  course,  be  an  impracticable 
person  now,  the  kindly  feeling  is  still  very 
common,  and  in  most  places  a  considerate 
landlord  will  find  game  and  rabbits  waiting  for 
him  in  ample  abundance,  and  a  cheery  tenant 
anxious  to  show  them  to  him,  and  proud  if  the 
bag  taken  off  his  farm  is  a  good  one.  It  goes 
without  saying  that  a  greedy  or  a  mean  land- 
lord's experience  will  be  different,  and  a  poor 
one,  who  is  forced  to  get  as  much  rent  as  he 
can  and  give  as  little  as  possible  back,  how- 
ever personally  amiable  he  may  be,  cannot 
expect  in  this  utilitarian  age  to  have  kept  for 
him  what  he  can  make  no  return  for.  There 
is  little  doubt  that  in  the  not  far  distant  future 
good  shooting  will  only  be  for  those  who  can 
afford  to  farm  their  own  land  and  are  able  to 
put  up  with  the  loss,  be  it  small  or  great, 
which  must  fall  upon  the  shoulders  of  either 
the  man  who  owns,  or  the  man  who  feeds, 
game  ;  high  farming  and  game  in  any  quanti- 
ties, with  perhaps  the  exception  of  partridges 
and  grouse,  are  incompatible. 

The  sporting  feelings  of  the  Cumberland 
farmer  are  easily  seen  when  the  question  is 
the  preservation  of  hares  in  a  coursing  district. 
The  tenant  there  extends  a  most  kindly 
toleration  towards  them,  and  though  he  may 
fidget  at  the  very  considerable  damage  they 
do  if  the  meetings  are  held  late  in  the  season, 
yet  he  will  rarely  h  ustle  them  unfairly  himself, 
or  allow  any  one  else  to  do  so  if  he  can  help  it. 
There  is  naturally  plenty  of  petty  poaching, 
of  snaring  rabbits,  a  little  netting  of  partridges 
in  some  districts,  killing  of  pheasants  where 
they  are  plentiful  and  not  well  looked  after  ; 
but  the  organized  raids  so  common  in  some 
counties,  the  attacks  on  great  preserves  by 
desperate  men  careless  of  life,  are  almost  un- 
known. Till  the  Ground  Game  Act  was 
passed  hares,  where  the  keepers  were  active, 
often  abounded  and  flourished  exceedingly  in 
the  closest  neighbourhood  of  towns.  Dent, 
separated  merely  by  a  shallow  river  from  a 
thickly  populated  mining  district,  may  be 
given  as  one  example,  and  Rheda  in  the  same 
district  as  another. 

On  some  large  estates  hares  are  numerous 
still.  At  Netherby  for  example  they  are 
very  plentiful,  but  on  many  small  holdings 
they  are  practically  extinct.  After  the 
Ground  Game  Act  came  into  force  a  fierce 
attack  was  made  on  them  generally  through- 
out the  land,  and  farms  which  used  to 
give  ten  or  twenty  or  more  in  a  day  knew 


them  no  more.  But  now  something  of 
a  reaction  has  set  in,  and  their  prospect 
of  survival  is  much  better  than  it  was. 
The  farmer,  for  one  thing,  has  recognized 
that  by  exterminating  the  animal  he  was 
depriving  himself  of  a  very  desirable  addition 
to  his  table,  as  well  as  of  the  interest  of 
securing  it. 

In  Cumberland,  as  in  all  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, the  character  of  shooting  and  the  way 
it  is  carried  on  have,  where  it  is  followed  on 
any  scale,  entirely  changed  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century.  On  small  properties 
hunting  the  turnips  and  rough  fields  with  a 
pointer,  and  beating  the  hedgerows  for  a  stray 
pheasant  with  a  spaniel  or  two,  subjects 
which  have  been  so  often  picturesquely  written 
about  and  illustrated,  are  still  the  way  in 
which  a  small  bag  is  made  up  and  a  great 
deal  of  enjoyment  gained,  all  the  more  enjoy- 
ment perhaps  since  the  sportsman  is  now  clad 
in  tweed  knickerbokers  and  cap  instead  of 
tight  breeches,  top  boots  and  a  high  hat.  But 
dogs  are  seldom  seen  on  heather  now  ;  driving 
is  not  put  off  to  the  end  of  the  season  but 
begins  on  the  I2th,  systematically  and  scien- 
tifically carried  out  on  large  moors,  on  small 
ones  with  two  or  three  beaters  and  peat 
hags  and  walls  instead  of  butts.  Partridges 
are  either  driven  or  more  generally  walked 
up,  a  long  line  of  men,  spaced  with  retrievers, 
taking  the  place  of  the  bag-carrying  game- 
keeper and  his  lads,  and  hurrying  breathless 
pointers  and  setters.  And,  wherever  it  can 
be  managed,  pheasants  are  forced  as  high  as 
possible  over  the  heads  of  men  standing  well 
out  from  the  cover,  each  armed  with  two 
guns,  and  at  times  sorry  they  have  not  got 
three.  The  object  in  cover  shooting  not 
long  ago  was  to  kill  as  much  game  as  possible  ; 
now  it  is  to  kill  as  much  in  the  most  sporting 
possible  way. 

But  cover  shooting  has  now  to  a  great 
extent  become  an  artificial  sport,  and  a  large 
stock  of  pheasants  is  only  a  question  of  more 
or  less  suitable  woods,  and  a  willingness  to  pay 
a  considerable  sum  yearly  in  wages  and  food. 
And  it  is  evident  that  cover  shooting  will 
become  more  artificial  still,  for  wild  duck  are 
reared  now  in  some  places,  and  even  pigeons 
and  guinea  fowl  and  bantams  ;  the  death  rate 
amongst  these  birds  is  less  than  amongst  phea- 
sants, of  which  in  many  places  the  land  is 
'  sick '  and  their  food  is  cheaper.  In  suitable 
places  hand  reared  ducks  fly  well,  and  give 
often  high  and  sporting  shots.  It  is  a 
drawback  that  they  cannot  be  treated  quite 
naturally  :  if  hundreds  or  thousands  of  birds 
were  put  up  together  and  heavily  fired  at 
the  greater  number  would  escape.  In  places 


431 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


where  the  woods  are  adapted  for  them 
such  varieties  of  real  game  as  wild  turkeys 
and  capercailzie  add  to  the  interest  of  shoot- 
ing, but  bantams  and  guineafowl  seem  hardly 
worthy  of  good  sportsmen. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  do  more  than  mention 
the  effect  that  a  higher  class  of  farming  has 
had  on  shooting.  It  was  the  scantiness  of  the 
cover  which  first  forced  men  to  drive  and 
walk  up  partridges,  for,  especially  where  they 
were  numerous,  except  in  turnips,  they  soon 
ceased  to  lie  to  dogs.  The  sickle  was  used 
all  over  the  country  till  the  '  sixties '  ;  now 
the  reaping  machine  makes  the  stubbles 
almost  as  bare  as  a  lawn.  In  many  places 
the  great  wide  straggling  fences  which  were 
famous  places  for  nesting  in,  and  where  birds 
sat  well  late  on  in  the  season,  have  been  done 
away  with,  often  wire  has  taken  their  place, 
and  those  that  are  left  are  kept  much  more 
carefully  trimmed.  Rooks  must  either  have 
increased,  or  have  educated  themselves  into 
bad  habits,  for  it  seems  certain  that  they  do 
more  harm  to  eggs  than  they  used  to  do,  per- 
haps because  of  this  want  of  cover.1  And, 
especially  near  the  coast,  gulls  also  are  much 
more  destructive,  and  there  are  many  com- 
plaints of  the  havoc  they  cause  amongst  very 
young  partridges  and  pheasants.  Sir  Richard 
Graham  in  a  note  on  Netherby  refers  to  these 
detrimental  causes. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  their  editors  a 
careful  search  has  been  made  through  the 
early  files  of  the  oldest  newspapers  in  the 
county,  the  Cumberland  Pacquet^  the  Carlisle 
Journal  and  the  Carlisle  Patriot.  A  hundred 
and  twenty  years  ago  little  public  interest 
seems  to  have  been  taken  in  snooting.  The 
Pacquet  during  the  six  years  1774—9  has  not 
a  single  reference  to  it.  After  this  date  the 
notices  became  more  numerous  and  para- 
graphs relating  to  big  and  early  and  curiously 
marked  woodcocks,  and  solitary  snipe,  warn- 
ings about  trespassers,  arrivals  of  sportsmen 
and  their  bags  on  the  first  days  of  grouse  and 
partridge  shooting,  frequently  occur.  There 
are  long  warnings  to  men  inclined  to  poach  ; 
dire  examples  held  out  of  the  fate  of  those 

1  Mr.  Hartley  (of  Armathwaite  Hall)  suggests 
that  the  increase  dates  from  the  introduction  of  the 
rook  rifle.  Owners  of  rookeries  are  now  often  in- 
clined to  reserve  the  shooting  for  themselves,  since 
there  is  certainly  more  sport  in  killing  the  birds 
with  a  rifle  than  with  a  gun.  But  if  owing  to 
weather,  or  any  other  cause,  the  '  big '  days  have  to 
be  postponed,  a  great  many  rooks  cease  to  be 
'sitters'  and  escape  the  bullet.  Formerly  the 
'  crow  shutting '  was  handed  over  to  the  tenants 
and  neighbours  who  took  good  care  to  keep  the 
numbers  down. 


432 


breaking  the  law.  Indeed  he  must  have 
possessed  a  considerable  amount  of  courage 
who  went  in  unlawful  pursuit  of  game  at  the 
beginning  of  last  century  by  day,  and  especially 
by  night.  The  penalty  for  killing  game  out 
of  season  was  ^5  for  each  bird.  In  1803 
the  Carlisle  Journal  shows  what  was  likely  to 
befall  any  one  caught  night  poaching  ;  the 
hapless  wight  was  to  be  deemed  a  rogue  and 
a  vagabond,  whipped  and  imprisoned  for  the 
first  offence,  and  transported  for  the  second. 
An  old  friend  of  the  writer  once  announced 
that  he  had  taken  a  small  bit  of  rough  ground 
to  shoot  over,  and  on  our  asking  why  he  gave 
good  money  for  worthless  land,  he  replied  : 
'  There's  nowte  on't,  I  ken  there's  nowte  on't ; 
but  I  gang  til't  through  Mr.  P.'s  moss  and 
cum  back  fra't  through  Mr.  L.'s,  an'  I'se  nut 
dune  sae  badly,  efter  a'.'  What  would  this 
worthy,  a  man  respected  by  most  of  the 
neighbours  who  were  not  in  any  way  con- 
cerned in  the  preservation  of  game,  have  said 
if  justice  such  as  this  was  meted  out  to  him- 
self? 

In  1814  Dr.  Heysham  fined  three  young 
men  in  Carlisle  £10  each  for  killing  game 
without  a  certificate,  and  the  next  year  that 
well-known  naturalist  mulcted  a  Brampton 
man  in  £20  for  using  a  net ;  '  which  it  is 
hoped  will  act  as  a  warning  to  poachers,' 
remarked  the  Journal.  In  1819,  in  the 
same  paper,  is  a  long  article  on  the  iniquity 
of  the  game  laws,  the  cause  being  the  wound- 
ing of  a  poacher  by  one  of  Lord  Lonsdale's 
keepers ;  not,  as  the  editor  carefully  explained, 
because  the  keeper  was  attacked,  but  because 
the  man  ran  away.  Nothing  seems  to  have 
been  done  to  the  former.  And  as  a  last 
specimen  of  old  fashioned  penalty,  the  Journal 
relates  how  in  1824  two  women  were  sent  to 
goal  for  three  months  because  they  were  un- 
able to  pay  a  year's  wages  '  four  and  five 
pounds  for  breaking,  the  one  four  pheasant's, 
the  other  five  partridge's  eggs,'  and  how 
penalties  amounting  to  £350  were  in  1822 
hanging  over  a  man  in  Leicestershire  who 
had  killed  seven  pheasants  a  few  days  before 
the  time  allowed  by  the  law. 

Now  and  then  a  gleam  of  humour  passes 
down  through  the  old  pages  as  when  in  1804 
the  Pacquet  inserted  the  following  erratum  : 
'  For  "  Sir  Gilfrid  Lawson's  gamekeeper  killed 
1 4  woodcocks  in  one  shot,"  read  "  one  wood- 
cock in  14  shots." '  We  wonder  if  it  is  re- 
corded in  any  Lowther  game  book  about  the 
year  1808  that  a  keeper  there  shot  in  the 
Eden  '  with  two  barrels  the  extraordinary 
number  of  86  fish,  the  smallest  7  inches  in 
length.'  There  comes  a  wail  from  October 
of  the  same  year — '  The  preservation  of  the 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


game  is  become  a  very  arduous  business,  as 
our  volunteers  have  now  nothing  to  vent 
their  fury  upon  ! ' — and  a  further  lament  two 
years  later,  'Is  it  not  a  curious  fact  that  the 
right  of  shooting  partridges  and  pheasants  is 
favourably  investigated  in  Parliament  while 
the  growing  importance  of  this  city  (Carlisle) 
is  coldly  and  cruelly  neglected  ? ' 

There  are  many  instances  of  remarkable 
shots.  In  1819  'Mr.  Thomas  Craig  killed 
in  Alston  moor  40  grouse  in  17  shots.  Such 
a  thing  is  never  recorded  to  have  been  in  that 
part  of  the  country  before.'  'In  1822  near 
Allonby  a  gentleman  from  Essex  levelled  at 
the  bird,'  and  to  the  astonishment  of  himself 
and  his  companion  knocked  down  nine  part- 
ridges '  all  falling  quite  dead.'  The  Pacquet 
of  that  week  sarcastically  notices  the  incident 
and  asks  '  if  this  prodigious  sporting  feat  be 
true,  when  will  miracles  cease  ? '  The  Rev. 
Richard  Burn  of  Kirkandrews-upon-Eden  is 
said  to  have  killed  two  greylags  with  snipe 
shot  ;  but  this  hardly  seems  worth  chronicling 
when  compared  with  what  was  accomplished 
by  Wm.  Nixon  of  Sandsfield,  aged  1 1  years. 
This  infant  prodigy  shot  five  barnacle  geese 
with  one  ball  at  the  '  amazing  distance  of 
600  yards.'  We  may  here  mention  the  well 
known  curious  inscription  on  a  tombstone  in 
Bewcastle  churchyard  :  '  Jonathan  Telford 
of  Craggy  Ford,  who  died  April  25,  1866, 
aged  72.  Deceased  was  one  of  the  best 
moor  game  shooters  in  the  north  of  England  ; 
in  the  time  of  his  shooting  he  bagged  fifty- 
nine  grouse  in  seven  double  shots.' 

Netting  grouse  is  a  matter  on  which 
owners  of  moors  have  much  to  say  at  the 
present  time.  It  seems  to  have  been  an  old 
habit  in  Cumberland.  The  Pacquet  relates 
that  in  September,  1828,  the  keeper  of  Mr. 
Marshall  of  Hallsteads  seized  180  brace  in  a 
cart  on  Haresceugh  Fell.  '  We  do  not  enter- 
tain the  idea,'  remarked  the  editor,  '  that  the 
Alston  and  Garagill  poachers  killed  the  game 
with  the  gun.'  He  added  that  '  our  market 
(Carlisle)  is  supplied  weekly  with  three  hun- 
dred brace  of  moor  game.' 

We  bring  these  early  newspaper  notes  to 
an  end  with  an  ominous  extract  from  the 
Pacquet  of  September,  1779,  in  which  it  is 
stated  that  strict  orders  had  been  given  for  the 
apprehension  '  of  all  idle  young  fellows  as  well 
as  'prentices,  lawyer's  clerks,  etc.,'  who  should 
be  found  trespassing  ;  '  and  all  persons  giving 
notice  to  the  nearest  recruiting  party  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  names  and  places  of 
abode  of  the  offenders  will  be  handsomely 
rewarded,  and  their  names  concealed.' 

Netherby  is  the  best  sporting  estate  in 
Cumberland,  both  for  the  total  amount  of 


game  killed  in  a  season,  for  record  years  for 
different  kinds  of  game,  and  for  record 
days.  The  earliest  game  books  date  from 
1848,  and  as  they  have  been  carefully  kept 
ever  since  it  is  possible  to  trace  the  pro- 
gress of  shooting  better  here,  and  to  give  a 
fuller  account  of  it,  than  of  any  other  pro- 
perty in  the  county. 

In  1849  the  total  bag  was  2,132  head; 
grouse  401,  blackgame  80,  partridges  381, 
pheasants  242,  woodcock  123,  snipe  54,  wild- 
fowl 13,  hares  704,  rabbits  134.  The  total 
for  1887,  the  record  year,  was  :  grouse  1,962, 
blackgame  25,  partridges  6,100,  pheasants 
3,015,  hares  3,939,  rabbits  2,351,  woodcock 
1 66,  snipe  106,  duck  45,  various  60  ;  total 
17,769  head.  Large  as  this  total  is,  it  hap- 
pens that,  except  for  the  number  of  pheasants, 
3,015,  this  year  of  1887  was  not  a  record  for 
any  other  kind  of  game,  for  in  1872  3,643 
grouse  were  killed  ;  in  1869,  6,602  partridges, 
in  the  same  year  516  blackgame;  in  1876, 
5,715  hares;  in  1852,  22O  woodcock;  in 
1889,  123  snipe;  in  1899,  5501  wildfowl 
(these  latter  hand  reared).  The  record  day 
for  brown  hares  was  in  December  1876,  739 
by  seven  guns ;  for  walking  partridges,  October 
J887,  531  s'x  guns;  f°r  driving  partridges 
404,  for  ducks  4  and  5  December,  1900, 
when  seven  guns  killed  1,025  ar>d  1,229. 
The  soil  is  somewhat  rich  and  stiff,  and 
the  best  seasons  for  partridges  are  the  driest 
ones. 

Grouse  driving  was  first  started  on  this 
estate  in  1863,  and  since  then  the  use  of  dogs 
has  gradually  grown  less  and  less,  and  now 
none  are  taken  on  to  the  moors.  In  1848, 
on  14  August,  four  guns  killed  95  birds.  Sir 
Richard  Graham  says  that  here,  as  is  indeed 
invariably  the  case,  the  stock  of  birds  has  been 
much  improved  by  the  new  system.  Partridges 
have  been  driven  only  since  1894,  and  he 
does  not  think  that  'this  has  increased  the 
stock  appreciably.  There  are,  however,  other 
agencies  at  work  to  counterbalance  any  bene- 
fit resulting  from  driving.  I  think  perhaps 
the  chief  one  is  that  the  farmers  now  keep 
the  fences  very  much  closer  than  they  used 
to,  enabling  the  rooks  (whose  numbers  have 
increased  very  much)  to  find  the  nests  with 
greater  facility.  In  many  instances  fences 
have  been  grubbed  up  and  two  fields  thrown 
into  one  for  agricultural  purposes,  thereby 
curtailing  the  nesting  ground.  As  to  ground 
game  I  do  not  think  that  the  Hares  and 
Rabbits  Act  has  affected  this  estate  very 
much' ;  though  he  adds  :  '  Of  course  farmers, 
owing  to  agricultural  depression,  look  upon 
ground  game  with  a  more  jealous  eye  than 
they  used  to.' 


II 


433 


55 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Rabbits  were  unknown  at  Netherby  in 
the  early  part  of  last  century.  Indeed,  Sir 
Richard's  father  remembered  them  being 
introduced  'somewhere  about  the  year  1825,' 
and  they  must  have  been  singularly  scarce  for 
long  afterwards,  for  in  1848  only  134  were 
killed  during  the  whole  season,  and  on 
28  November,  1849,  f°ur  guns  got  a  mixed 
bag  of  137  head  without  a  single  rabbit  in  it. 
The  number  shot  (2,351)  in  the  record  year 
1887  bears  a  very  small  proportion  to  the 
15,418  head  of  other  kinds  of  game.  Sir 
Richard  Graham  turned  out  a  hundred  brace 
of  Hungarian  partridges  in  1895  with  the 
result  of  a  'marked  increase  of  stock  in  1896.' 
In  a  good  season  there  are  15  days  cover 
shooting  at  Netherby  without  going  over  the 
same  ground  twice. 

From  none  of  the  old  places  of  Cumber- 
land would  a  series  of  far-stretching  back- 
records  of  sport  be  of  more  interest  than 
from  Muncaster,  for  all  kinds  of  game  and 
wildfowl  were  plentiful  there,  and  such  a 
display  as  that  under  the  eyes  of  the  Bolton 
Abbey  monks — in  Landseer's  well-known 
picture — must  often  have  been  made  and 
could  sometimes  no  doubt  be  made  now, 
though  the  two  varieties  of  deer  would  be 
park-fed  and  not  hill-fed.  To  sportsmen  and 
also  to  antiquaries  who,  though  accounts  of 
modern  shooting  may  be  distasteful,  take  a 
keen  pleasure  in  investigating  little  details  of 
domestic  life  of  ancient  days,  the  rough 
jottings  of  long  ago  as  to  the  deer  missed  or 
killed,  the  place  and  the  weapons  used,  would 
be  of  the  deepest  interest.  The  great  oaks  of 
Muncaster  must  many  a  time  have  looked 
down  upon  tired  men  coming  back  from  the 
hill  or  wood,  exultant  or  disappointed,  full  of 
trying  some  new  weapon,  some  crossbow  or 
harquebuse,  which  were  to  them  just  what 
express  rifles  and  hammerless  ejectors  are  to 
us.  But  there  is  no  game  book  going  back 
any  length  of  time  here,  or  at  Ponsonby  or 
Crofton  or  Bray  ton  or  Workington  Hall  or 
Hutton,  and  we  fancy  that  the  registers  of 
shooting,  carefully  kept  day  by  day,  are  a 
comparatively  modern  invention,  very  little 
more  than  a  hundred  years  old.  No  doubt 
entries  of  this  kind  were  made  in  diaries  and 
journals  so  far  back  as  when  men  went 
to  the  chase,  and  diaries  and  journals  were 
kept,  but  such  documents  are  not  of  much 
interest  to  succeeding  generations,  and  are 
often  considered  mere  lumber  and  treated  as 
such. 

Muncaster  formed  part  of  the  great  forest 
of  Copeland  which  was  under  Percy  Earl  of 
Northumberland,  who  gave  the  game  to  Sir 
John  Pennington,  and  Lord  Muncaster  has 


among  his  deeds  one  of  the  nineteenth  year 
of  King  Henry  VII.  granting  to  this  Sii 
John  the  master  forestership  of  Eskdale  and 
Wastdale.  Here  were  to  be  had  deer  both 
red  and  fallow,  and  grouse  and  blackgame 
from  the  hill  ;  salmon  from  the  Esk,  the  Irt, 
and  the  Mite  ;  oysters  from  the  Ravenglass 
shore  ;  trout,  perch,  pike  and  eels,  and  charr 
and  sea  fish  of  all  kinds  ;  woodcock  from  the 
sunny  hillsides  and  coppices,  and  wildfowl  in 
great  abundance.  There  is  an  old  decoy 
pond  in  the  park,  but  the  ducks,  so  sensitive 
to  any  change  in  their  surroundings,  seldom 
visit  it  now. 

Some  fifteen  years  ago  the  estate  of  Dale- 
garth,  which  now  belongs  to  Lord  Muncaster, 
used  to  be  shot  over  with  dogs  and  yielded 
an  average  of  about  a  hundred  brace  of  grouse 
in  a  season.  Since  then  it  has  been  systema- 
tically driven,  and  five  years  ago  the  hundred 
brace  were  killed  in  one  day,  a  very  good 
proof  of  how  judicious  driving  will  improve  a 
moor.  The  result  would  be  better  still  if 
this  moor  were  not,  for  various  reasons,  a 
difficult  one  to  manage. 

Hutchinson 1  says  '  some  pheasants  were 
introduced  by  Lord  Muncaster '  ;  also  that 
he  had  a  large  rabbit  warren  at  Drigg.  '  In 
the  winter  season  there  is  so  great  plenty  of 
woodcocks  in  Muncaster  (which  they  catch 
in  snares  or  springes)  that  the  tenants  are 
bound,  by  the  custom  of  the  manor,  to  sell 
them  to  the  lord  for  pence  apiece.' 3  Hutch- 
inson copies  this  and  adds,  '  they  are  of  late 
years  become  very  scarce.' 

The  park  of  Greystoke  is  one  of  the 
largest  in  England  ;  as  seen  on  the  map  its 
green  circumference  would  take  in  any  half- 
dozen  others  in  the  county.  If  its  owner 
cared  for  shooting  as  much  as  he  does  for 
hunting  and  farming,  it  could  be  made  a  great 
preserve.  Without  going  outside  the  main 
boundaries  of  this  far  stretching  enclosure, 
one  to  be  measured  by  thousands  instead  of 
hundreds  of  acres,  almost  every  species  of 
game  may  be  found.  Its  rich  pastures  and 
sunny  banks  and  woodlands  rise  gradually 
towards  the  fells,  and  then  run  into  wilder, 
thinner  woods,  and  great  stretches  of  heather, 
where  there  are  grouse  and  blackgame.  In 
addition  to  the  ordinary  varieties  of  game, 
some  especial  ones  may  be  mentioned.  When 
driving  grouse  here  in  the  autumn  of  1898, 
Mr.  Senhouse  of  Netherhall  shot  a  white- 
fronted  goose  which  flew  across  the  line,  and 

1  History    of    Cumberland,    i.     570    (published 

'794)- 

*  Nicolson  and  Burn,  History  of  Cumberland,  ii. 

21  (published  1777). 


434 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


a  year  or  two  before  Mr.  Hartley  of  Armath- 
waite  killed  a  roe  and  a  rabbit,  '  right  and 
left.'  Roe  are  occasionally  found  in  the  park, 
but  this  does  not  exhaust  the  list.  Half  a 
century  ago,  a  Greystoke  keeper  made,  with 
evident  indifference,  two  entries  in  the  game 
book  which  certainly  none  of  his  successors 
would  care  about  making  now  :  '1852, 
February  1 5th.  I  shoot  a  fox  that  come  out 
of  Dickson's  planting,  fine  day.'  The  next 
entry  is  still  more  cold  blooded  :  '  1854, 
October  loth,  i  fox  in  Neb  side,  sitting, 
fine  day.'  We  have  got  no  entry  out  of  any 
game  book  so  interesting  and  suggestive  as 
this ;  the  eight  words  form  a  perfect  photo- 
graph.1 

Some  three  miles  as  the  crow  flies  from 
Greystoke  is  Gowbarrow  Park,  one  of  the 
few  places  in  England  where  red  deer,  though 
fenced  in,  live  in  a  natural  state,  and  have  to 
be  stalked  just  as  in  a  highland  forest.  Here, 
in  1894,  Mr.  C.  B.  Balfour  shot  a  stag 
weighing  24  St.  4  lb.,  and  in  September, 
1899,  the  Right  Hon.  J.  W.  Lowther  got 
one  weighing  28  st.  3  lb.,  both  clean.  These 
are  the  two  heaviest  stags  killed  at  Lyulph's 
Tower,  and  they  probably  owed  their  size  to 
many  outside  visits  to  cornfields  and  potatoes 
in  the  low  country. 

The  average  deer  of  Gowbarrow  and 
Martindale  are  probably  heavier  than  those 
in  most  Scotch  forests.  The  stags  just  men- 
tioned as  killed  in  the  former  park  were 
exceptional  beasts.  No  genuine  Scottish  hill 
stag  of  our  own  time  ever  brought  down  the 
pointer  of  the  scale  to  396  lb.  Though 
these  Gowbarrow  deer  are  imparked  '  they 
are,'  writes  Mr.  Macpherson 8  '  the  lineal 
descendants  of  the  stags  which  populated  the 
dales  and  hills  of  Cumberland  in  the  days 
when  the  Auroch  and  the  Beaver  were 
living  in  Lakeland.'  In  1612  a  Greystoke 
keeper  was  paid  five  shillings  for  taking 
two  fawns  to  Naworth.3  The  deer  are  both 
red  and  fallow,  and  are  only  fed  in  snow 
time. 

The  game  book  dates  back  to  1825;  in 
that  year  279  grouse,  272  partridges,  55 
snipe,  72  hares,  143  woodcocks  and  one 
pheasant  were  killed.  In  1827  two  gentle- 
men must  have  been  made  uncomfortable  by 
the  following  entry  opposite  their  names  : 

1  Mr.  Howard  writes :  '  Two  or  three  solitary 
snipe    have    been    killed,    but   I  cannot   find   out 
when.' 

2  In  a  letter  written  six  days  before  his  death. 

3  Selections  from  the  Household  Books  of  the  Lord 
William  Howard  of  Naworth  Castle,  p.  29  (Surtees 
Society). 


'  September  131)1,  2  guns  had  forty  shots  and 
killed  2  partridges.'  The  best  year  for  part- 
ridges was  472,  and  the  best  day  90.  For 
woodcocks  the  best  day  1 6. 

'  Grouse  abounds,'  writes  Hntchinson  about 
this  place  '  on  the  mountains  and  commons, 
partridges  on  the  lower  grounds.  Upon 
Saddleback  and  in  Graystoke  Park  many  foxes 
are  allowed  to  breed.'  4  He  also  mentions 
that  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  kept  nearly  1,000 
head  of  deer  '  fallow,  red,  and  a  few  Ameri- 
can.' 

Owing  to  its  favourable  position  and  to  the 
care  which  has  long  been  bestowed  upon  it, 
the  shooting  at  Edenhall  has  been  of  a  very 
high  class  for  many  years.  One  is  struck 
here  as  at  Netherby  by  the  small  number  of 
rabbits  killed.  A  search  through  the  many 
great  calf-bound  folios,  business-like  ledgers, 
more  like  those  we  associate  with  commercial 
houses  than  records  of  sport,  shows  how  few 
these  have  been.  Two  years  before  the 
Ground  Game  Act  was  passed  the  late  Sir 
Richard  Musgrave  gave  all  the  tenants  on  his 
estate  the  right  to  kill  rabbits  with  ferrets, 
nets  and  traps  during  the  whole  year.  Hares, 
no  doubt  chiefly  because  of  this  scarcity  of 
rabbits,  have  always  been  very  numerous ; 
during  the  best  years  from  1866  to  1879 
bags  of  300  to  nearly  500  in  a  day  were  not 
at  all  uncommon,  and  the  average  for  big 
days  during  this  period  works  out  at  about 
250  a  day,  2,179  in  eight  days  in  1870-71 
being  the  best.  Since  1890,  hares  have 
become  scarcer,  550  were  killed  in  the  season 
of  1897.  The  best  day  for  grouse  was  in 
August,  1872,  when  four  guns  got  210  birds 
on  Ousby  Moor,  and  that  famous  year  also 
gave  the  largest  total,  1 8 1  o. 

Partridges  also  flourish  abundantly:  53  'big' 
days  between  1865  and  1874  give  an  average 
of  8 1  birds  ;  102  brace  were  shot  in  one  day 
in  1873,  and  on  6  September,  1869,  the 
late  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  shot  to  his  own 
gun  87^  brace.  From  1896  to  1899  an 
average  of  536  partridges  was  obtained.  The 
best  day's  cover  shooting  was  in  1873  when 
1,237  nea<^  were  killed,  chiefly  hares  and 
pheasants.  Mr.  Raine,  who  was  head  keeper 
at  Edenhall  for  thirty-four  years  and  who  has 
now  retired  on  a  pension,  says  that  during  his 
time  both  Hungarian  5  and  a  change  of  blood 
of  English  partridges  were  tried,  and  he 
found  the  last  do  best ;  but  the  former  were 
imported  birds,  and  the  latter,  introduced  in 

4  History  of  Cumberland,  \.  406. 

6  Very  few  attempts  to  introduce  Hungarian 
partridges  seem  to  have  been  made  in  Cumber- 
land. 


435 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


eggs,  probably  had  the  best  chance.  Raine 
went  with  the  late  Sir  Richard  Musgrave  for 
eighteen  consecutive  years  to  shoot,  at  Mr. 
Hasell's  invitation,  a  stag  on  Martindale  ;  the 
best  stag  they  got  during  that  time  was  a 
'  royal '  weighing  24  st.  clean. 

Hutchinson,  writing  in  1794,  said  that  '  7 
or  8  years  ago,  quails  abounded  here  (Eden- 
hall)  but  they  were  nearly  destroyed  by  a 
severe  winter ;  they  are  now  beginning  to 
increase  again.' l  Quails  seem  very  scarce  in 
Cumberland  now.  Mr.  Heywood  Thompson 
of  Nunwick  Hall,  who  shot  four  in  the  parish 
of  Great  Salkeld  in  September,  1898,  informs 
us  that  a  neighbour  had  also  shot  them  in 
Melmerby  parish  '  but  not  recently.'  Mr. 
Macpherson  speaks  of  this  bird  as  '  an  irregu- 
lar summer  visitant '  and  as  having  been  shot 
on  Foulmire  Moss  in  1871  and  seen  at  Ramp- 
side  in  1885,  while  he  himself  saw  a  clutch 
of  eggs  taken  in  RocklifFe  Marsh  about  1882. 
It  seems  to  have  been  commoner  at  the 
beginning  of  last  century.8 

Naworth  is  another  provoking  instance  of 
a  fine  sporting  property  without  game  books 
going  back  for  any  length  of  time.  Lord 
Carlisle  writes  that  when  he  began  shooting 
forty-five  years  ago,  there  was  far  more 
heather  on  his  moors  than  there  is  at  present, 
but  the  conservatism  of  old  keepers,  who  ob- 
jected to  its  temporary  loss  when  burnt,  led 
to  its  dying  out  in  many  places,  and  now 
some  beats,  which  used  to  be  good,  are  entirely 
covered  with  bent  and  useless  for  grouse. 
There  was  no  driving  in  those  days,  and  the 
birds  lay  well  for  a  month  or  more  after  the 
'twelfth' ;  while  at  the  present  time,  after  the 
first  week,  it  is  little  use  pursuing  them  with 
dogs,  and  so  Lord  Carlisle,  somewhat  against 
his  will,  has  to  take  to  driving.  In  1872 — 
which  here  as  everywhere  stands  out  as  the 
best  year  for  grouse  ever  known — he  and 
three  other  '  guns '  killed  a  hundred  brace 
over  dogs  in  a  day,  372  brace  in  five  days. 
After  several  bad  seasons  the  north  moors  on 
the  Naworth  property,  which  have  suffered 
much  from  disease,  show  signs  of  improve- 
ment, six  'guns'  having  shot  there  in  1900 
140  brace  in  a  day,  while  on  Geltsdale, 
also  belonging  to  Lord  Carlisle,  Mr.  Lacy 
Thompson's  party  (7  guns)  killed  177  brace 
on  1 3  August  of  that  year. 

At  times  grouse  disease  has  worked  great 
havoc  in  Cumberland  ;  it  is  probable  that  the 
more  universal  and  systematic  way  in  which 
driving  is  now  carried  on  will,  to  a  certain 
extent  at  any  rate,  lessen  its  ravages ;  the 


1  History  of  Cumberland,  \.  271. 
*  Fauna  of  Lr.kdr.r.ri,  p.  338. 


birds  are  so  hustled  about,  and  mixed  up  in 
the  autumn  that  in-breeding  is  much  less 
likely  to  occur  here  than  on  moors  shot  over 
with  dogs,  where  often  some  broods  have 
nothing  taken  out  of  them,  and  remain  quietly 
on  the  same  part  of  a  hillside  all  the  following 
spring. 

There  is  good  partridge  shooting  about 
Brampton  ;  no  pheasants  are  reared  at  Na- 
worth, but  wild  ones  do  well  as  is  the  case 
in  all  this  district.  Blackgame  here,  as  in 
most  places,  seem  to  be  dying  out  ;  nearly 
everywhere,  except  in  such  well  established 
haunts  as  Dumfriesshire  and  Argyllshire, 
there  is  the  same  tale  to  tell — '  blackgame 
used  to  be  plentiful.'  Lord  Carlisle  blames 
the  shooting  of  greyhens  for  their  decrease, 
and  no  doubt  this  is  the  chief  cause.  But 
even  where  hens  are  spared  young  cocks  are 
seldom  given  any  law  ;  in  some  parts  few  of 
them  live  beyond  harvest  time,  and  this 
annual  clearing  off  of  young  blood  must  tell 
hardly  oh  the  race. 

In  the  well  known  Household  Book  of  Lord 
William  Howard  3  there  is  a  list  of  the  prices 
paid  for  game  and  wildfowl,  etc.,  from  1612 
to  1640.  A  gorcock  (red  grouse)  was  valued 
at  5</.,  blackcock  6d.  to  iod.,  greyhen  $d.  to 
6d.,  hare  4^.  to  8d.,  mallard  $%d.  to  yd., 
partridge  ^d.  to  6d.,  heron  6d.y  lapwing  i-^rf., 
bittern  8d.,  curlew  i\d.  to  6d.,  do  (jack)  or 
'  knave '  as  it  is  called  2d.,  moorfowl  3^.  to 
$d.  (As  grouse  and  blackgame  are  previously 
mentioned  it  is  difficult  to  say  what  this  last 
bird  is).  With  the  prices  given  here  we  may 
compare  those  in  a  list  '  communicated '  to 
Hutchinson  from  the  Roll  of  Birkby  Manor 
belonging  to  Lord  Muncaster. 

4 '  We  do  order  and  put  in  pain  that  every 
the  inhabitants  within  the  Manor  of  Birkby 
who  shall  hereafter  take  or  catch,  kill  or  come 
by  any  wildfowl  whatsoever,  shall  not  sell 
them  to  any  foreigner  or  stranger,  but  shall 
bring  them  to  the  lord,  or  his  bailiff,  for  the 
time  being,  at  the  prices  and  rates  hereafter 
specified,  viz.  for  every  mallard  4^. — Duck 
3<f. — Every  long  mallard  or  widgeon,  2d. — 
Woodcock  or  partridges,  id. — feelfaws  thros- 
tles, ousles,  each  four  id. — Every  curlew, 
3<£,  for  two  teals,  id. — Plover,  id. — Lap- 
wings one  halfpenny,  under  pain  and  for- 
feiture of  3;.  $d.  for  every  fowl,  otherwise 
sold,  as  formerly  accustomed.'  Hutchinson 
gives  no  date  to  the  Roll ;  the  editor,  Mr. 
Wilson,  fixes  it  as  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
probably  between  1670  and  1700.  The 

3  Selections  from  the  Household  Books  of  the  Lord 
William  Howard  of 'N aworth  Castle,  p.  Ixxvii.  (Surtees 
Society). 

4  History  of  Cumberland,  i.  578. 


436 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


purchasing  price  of  money,  when  Lord 
William  Howard's  account  book  was  kept, 
was  about  twelve  times  what  it  is  now,  so 
that  a  hare  at  its  cheapest  was  quite  up  to  its 
present  price,  and  most  game  and  wildfowl 
very  much  dearer. 

There  are  later  accounts  at  Naworth  deal- 
ing with  game  and  sport.  In  1733  the  price 
of  ferrets  '  bought  to  hunt '  in  Brampton 
Warren  was  "js.  each  ;  the  cost  of  keeping 
them  T,d.  and  $d.  a  week.  John  Dobson  got 
Sd.  for  a  day's  work  '  riveing  wood  to  dry 
rabbett  skins.'  These  skins  were  sold  for 
35.  6d.  a  dozen.  In  1736  it  cost  i6s.  to 
convey  320  couple  of  rabbits  from  Naworth 
to  Carlisle.  In  1740  there  was  a  payment  of 
5*.  6d.  to  Jos.  Smith  for  '  cutting  hollies  for 
dear.'  In  1744  is.  lod.  to  call  '  notices  at 
church  about  game.*  In  the  same  year  3*. 
for  '  convictions  against  shooters  of  game.' 
In  1787  'expenses  as  to  game  that  year' 
came  to  £84.* 

Sir  Henry  Vane,  writing  to  lament  the 
absence  of  old  game  books  at  Hutton-in-the- 
Forest,  has  some  interesting  notes  as  to  shoot- 
ing there  and  at  other  places  in  the  county. 
He  was  one  of  three  guns,  Sir  R.  Musgrave 
and  Lord  Brougham  being  the  others,  who  in 
the  '  seventies  '  killed  for  the  first  time  over  a 
hundred  brace  of  partridges  in  a  day  at  Eden- 
hall,  and,  a  little  later  on,  he  was  one  of  four 
guns  who  doubled  that  bag  and  established 
a  record  at  Netherby.  One  of  the  party, 
Colonel  Baring,  had  only  one  arm,  and  shot 
with  two  very  light  guns.  The  most  curious 
shot  he  has  seen  in  his  long  life  was  made  by 
the  Rev.  C.  Burton  of  Cliburn,  who  in 
Wythop  killed  with  one  barrel  a  woodcock 
and  a  partridge  flying  over  his  head.  In  these 
days  of  modern  guns,  it  is  interesting  to  hear 
that  the  old  keeper  at  Hutton,  Satterthwaite 
by  name,  who  taught  Sir  Henry  to  shoot, 
would  not  allow  him  to  cock  his  hammers  till 
the  bird  had  risen  or  the  hare  started  ;  but  this 
rule  was  relaxed  after  the  boy  in  his  excite- 
ment let  one  of  the  hammers  slip,  and  shot 
dead  his  teacher's  best  dog  which  was  pointing 
a  pheasant.  The  best  day  at  Hutton  for  par- 
tridges was  80  brace  for  three  guns.  In  the 
'  fifties '  rabbits  were  very  scarce  on  the 
Hutton  estate  ;  they  were  only  to  be  found 
at  Chapel  Wood,  Wythop.  Blackgame  seem 
dying  out,  as  they  are  in  so  many  places,  and 
woodcocks  are  fewer.  '  I  blame  rabbits,'  says 
Sir  Henry,  '  for  their  deserting  me.' 


A  little  vellum  bound  book  headed  Routen 
Burn  Grouse,  belonging  to  Mr.  R.  D.  Mar- 
shall of  Castlerigg  Manor,  is,  save  that  at 
Greystoke,  the  earliest  game  book  we  have 
been  able  to  refer  to.  This  book  dates  from 
1828  and  is  very  carefully  kept.  Sport  must 
sometimes  have  been  very  good  at  Melmerby 
and  Gamblesby  and  Ouseby  and  Bullman 
Hills.  In  five  days  in  1828,  five  guns  killed 
314^  brace  of  grouse.  Then  there  is  a  jump 
to  1835  when  254  brace  were  shot  in  nine 
days.  '  Helm  wind  '  is  put  opposite  one  entry 
to  account  for  a  small  bag.  In  1836,  383 
brace  were  killed  in  six  days,  142  on  the 
twelfth;  360  was  the  total  for  1837.  There 
was  never  more  than  two  weeks'  shooting  in 
any  year.  The  book  comes  down  to  1844 
when  the  entries  of  the  well-known  Cumber- 
land names,  Marshalls,  Wyberghs,  Lawsons, 
Dykeses,  Musgraves,  Fetherstonhaughs  end. 
Below  each  gun  is  his  total  for  the  day.  We 
see  that  on  12  August,  1836,  Mr.  H.  C. 
Marshall  shot  36  brace,  and  Sir  W.  Lawson 
12,  and  Mr.  A.  Marshall  i  bird  on  the 
26th.  This  is  an  interesting  little  book,  a 
model  of  a  game  record  so  far  as  it  goes. 
There  is  a  careful  list  of  the  grouse  given 
away,  and  at  the  end  another  list  of 
'poachers  at  Cross  House  in  1839-41,'  of 
whom  one  John  Smith  seems  to  have  had  a 
share  in  the  compounding  of  a  felony  with 
some  one,  for  '  he  begged  to  be  let  off  and 
paid  one  pound  part  fine.' 

The  Abbey  Holme  has  always  been  an  in- 
teresting district  for  a  sportsman.  Cox*  says 
'  this  part  of  the  country  (Holmcultram) 
was  a  large  forest  and  stock'd  with  red  deer 
at  the  Conquest,  the  Demesne  of  Allerdale.' 
At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
its  24,000  acres  were  chiefly  held  by  statesmen, 
and  at  the  present  time  Mr.  Francis  Grainger 
says  that  the  number  of  owners  is  scarcely 
less.  Owing  to  this  fact  and  to  the  farms 
being  also  small,  '  averaging  about  a  hundred 
acres,'  there  has  been  no  game  preserving  on 
a  large  scale.  In  the  Survey  of  1538  it  is 
stated  '  there  is  a  warren  and  coneys  upon  and 
about  the  Sea  Banks  which  be  worth  by  year 
to  let  to  farm  13/4.'  And  there  still  stretches 
a  warren  for  five  miles  along  those  sea  banks, 
which  is  worth  a  good  deal  more  now  than 
the  fraction  of  a  pound  at  which  it  was  in  the 
market  363  years  ago. 

This  is  a  good  country,  though  not  so  good 
as  it  used  to  be,  for  any  one  who  loves  wild 


1  In  1745  there  are  two  significant  items:  *  A  Compleat  Histoiy  of  Cumberland,  1700,  p.  376. 
'  I  yth  Dec,  taking  my  horses  to  Spadeadam  when  It  is  only  right  to  say  that  Thomas  Cox  is  not 
the  rebels  came  1/4.'  'Carrying  light  horses  into  usually  looked  upon  as  an  authority  in  matters  of 
Northumberland  out  of  the  way  of  rebels  5/-'  this  sort. 

437 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


shooting  and  is  willing  to  live  laborious  clays 
and  nights  without  expecting  a  great  reward, 
and  who  would  be  prouder  of  six  or  eight 
mallard  or  wigeon,  killed  in  the  dusk  of  a 
stormy  winter  evening,  than  of  a  share  in  a 
thousand  tame  wild  ducks  let  loose  out  of  a 
cover.  Bit  by  bit  the  wet  places  loved  by 
duck  and  snipe  get  fewer.  The  process  of 
drying  them  began  long  ago,  and  is  ever  going 
on,  but  there  are  great  mosses  here,  one  called 
Wedholm  Flow,  the  largest  in  Cumberland, 
and  fine  feeding  grounds  on  the  Solway  and 
in  the  estuary  formed  by  the  Wampool  and 
Waver.  In  hard  and  stormy  winters,  geese, 
both  barnacle  and  grey,  are  to  be  found  here, 
and  many  wigeon  and  mallard,  with  now  and 
then  a  rarity  such  as  a  tufted  duck  or  pintail. 
Mr.  Grainger,  to  whom  we  are  indebted  for 
most  of  our  information  about  this  very  inter- 
esting country,  says  that,  before  the  drainage 
scheme  of  the  Waver  and  Crummock  rivers 
about  1850,  the  mosses  stretching  from 
Abbey  to  Dubmill  afforded  splendid  duck 
shooting. 

A  somewhat  novel  sport  was  once  carried 
on  in  Holmcultram.  In  an  old  tithe  suit 
of  1586  occurs  the  following:  'That  the 
defendant  Mandeville  agreed  with  John 
Hending  for  4<D/-  to  kill  the  doves  in  Holme 
Cultram  church  ;  he  ripped  up  the  lead  to  go 
in  and  shoot  at  them,  and  did  often  shoot  at 
them  during  divine  service,  and  put  the  people 
to  great  fear.' 

In  an  old  news-sheet  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, there  is  mentioned  what  seems  to  be  a 
claim  on  the  part  of  the  Crown  to  the  game 
in  Holmcultram.  '  The  statutes  of  King 
Henry  VIII.  doth  give  liberty  to  shoot  to  any 
dwelling  within  v.  miles  of  the  sea,  or  with- 
in xii.  miles  of  the  borders  of  Scotland,  and 
that  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  sayd  inhabitants 
to  use  exercyses,  and  have  their  gunns,  etc.' 
In  the  minutes  of  Quarter  Sessions  held  at 
Cockermouth  in  1701,  it  is  stated  that  com- 
plaints have  been  made  that  persons  not 
qualified  by  law  possessed  '  in  her  maties 
manor  of  Holme  Cultram  gunns,  greyhounds, 
and  other  doggs,  ferretts,  coney  dogs,  hare- 
pipes,  snares  and  other  engines  for  the  taking 
and  killing  of  coneys,  haires,  pheasants,  par- 
tridge.' It  was  ordered  that  search  be  made 
for  all  these  and  that  they  be  destroyed. 
So  that  the  modern  flight  shooter  in  the 
Abbey  Holme  is  carrying  on  his  sport  in  a 
district  where  it  has  been  from  very  ancient 
times  a  care  to  kings  and  great  people  and  to 
the  law. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the 
lack  of  old  game  books  at  places  where  shoot- 
has  been  carried  on  for  many  years ;  Lowther 


is  in  the  same  category,  but  most  of  Lowther 
is  in  Westmorland,  and  will  no  doubt  be 
treated  of  under  that  county.  The  White- 
haven  Castle  estates  are  also  barren  of  details, 
and  Dovenby  and  Irton.  At  nearly  all  the 
places  mentioned  here  and  elsewhere  there  is 
good  shooting  of  various  kinds ;  at  Grey- 
southcn,  where  Mr.  Harris  has  killed  173 
brace  of  partridges  in  two  days,  and  Cal- 
thwaite  where  he  got  92  brace,  each  time  with 
four  guns  ;  at  Gilgarran ;  at  Castlesteads, 
where  the  kindly  red  soil  in  that  country  ad- 
joining the  Roman  Wall  encourages  and  keeps 
together  wild  pheasants  ;  at  Armathwaite  on 
Bassenthwaite,1  where  Mr.  Hartley  gets  in 
good  winters  many  wildfowl  with,  now  and 
then,  such  a  rarity  as  a  white-fronted  goose 
amongst  them  ;  at  Ennim,  Dalemain,  Skir- 
with  and  Barrock  ;  at  Holm  Hill  and  Castle- 
rigg  and  Isel  and  Irton  and  Bray  ton,  and  these 
by  no  means  exhaust  the  list.  Twenty-four 
woodcocks  have  been  killed  in  a  day  at  Isel 
(January,  1885).  A  hundred  acres  of  poor 
land  near  Ennerdale  lake  was  planted  by  the 
late  Mr.  Ainsworth  some  thirty  years  ago, 
and  the  wood  now  stands  out  as  a  huge  oasis 
in  that  sparsely  timbered  district,  and  holds  a 
great  many  pheasants. 

'  Becking '  is  a  means  of  capturing  grouse 
in  what  Mr.  Macpherson,  in  his  natural  his- 
tory of  that  bird,3  calls  '  a  dubious  but  not 
necessarily  illegal  fashion.'  Any  one  who 
has  fired  at  grouse  on  the  ground  when  he 
himself  was  perfectly  concealed,  especially  in 
thick  misty  weather,  knows  that  the  first  shot 
will  not  always  put  them  up  or  the  second  or 
the  third  ;  we  have  known  as  many  as  seven 
shots  fired  at  a  covey  of  twelve  before  one 
rose.  This  indeed  was  with  a  small  rifle,  but 
if  they  are  in  the  right  humour  they  will  take 
no  heed  of  the  louder  report  of  a  gun.  Such 
a  way  of  killing  grouse  is  of  course  not  con- 
fined to  Cumberland,  and  probably  the '  beck- 
ing '  itself  may  be  carried  on  in  other  parts 
under  another  name  ;  we  have  never  heard  of 
it  in  Scotland.  It  consists  of  imitating  the 
note  of  the  hen  bird  and  so  calling  the  cocks 
within  shot,  and  Mr.  Macpherson  gives  an  in- 
stance of  a  man  calling  ten  birds  to  him  and 
shooting  them  all,  one  by  one,  with  an  old 
muzzle-loader.  The  man  who  practises 
'  becking,'  gets  up  early,  goes  to  a  part  of  the 


1  There  are  a  great  many  goldeneye  ducks  on 
Bassenthwaite  which  do  much  harm  to  the  salmon 
fishing  on  the  Derwent.     As  many    as    five    and 
twenty  may  sometimes  be  seen  just  above   Ouse- 
bridge,  diving  for  spawn. 

2  The  Grouse,  p.  65  (1894),  '  Fur,   Feather  and 
Fin  '  Series. 


438 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


moor  where  he  knows  there  are  plenty  of 
birds,  hides  himself  as  well  as  he  can,  and, 
when  the  cocks  begin  to  crow  round  about  at 
dawn,  imitates  as  nearly  as  possible,  either 
with  some  instrument  or  his  unaided  breath, 
the  call  of  the  hen.  Dry  frosty  weather  is 
the  best  for  the  business.  We  have  very 
much  condensed  Mr.  Macpherson's  graphic 
description  of  this  curious  practice  which  he 
says,  though  not  given  up  altogether  '  has 
lately  fallen  into  disuse.' 

It  goes  without  saying  that  a  tenant  any- 
where can,  if  he  so  chooses,  do  a  great  deal 
of  harm  to  his  landlord  from  a  sporting  point 
of  view.  But  there  is  an  additional  way  by 
which  a  man  with  a  very  small  bit  of  land 
indeed,  can,  in  a  grouse  district,  cause  grevious 
annoyanse  and  loss  to  his  neighbours.  The 
cause  of  offence  may  only  be  a  tiny  strip,  a 
sour  pasture,  heatherless,  grouseless,  perhaps 
not  worth  sixpence  an  acre  for  any  purpose 
but  one.  But  if  this  strip  is  in  the  right  place 
(from  its  owner's  point  of  view)  and  there 
is  good  grouse  ground  round  it,  it  will  act  like 
the  fly  in  the  ointment  ;  like  a  grain  of  sand 
in  the  eye  putting  the  whole  body  wrong. 
Its  want  of  food  and  shelter  may  be  so  evident 
that  birds  seldom  light  on  it,  but  they  have  to 
fly  over  it,  and  nets  judiciously  arranged  and 
managed  will  in  the  course  of  a  season  capture 
a  very  large  number  of  them,  and  do  very 
great  harm  to  the  adjoining  beats.  It  would 
be  interesting  to  find  out,  the  process  would 
be  a  difficult  one,  how  many  grouse  such  a 
patch  would  give  in  a  season.  There  is 
always  a  large  demand  for  strong  birds  to  turn 
out,  and  a  satisfactory  price  to  be  got  for 
them.  If,  as  is  the  case  sometimes,  a  man 
rents  a  moor  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of 
netting,  and  limited  in  number  by  his  agree- 
ment, get  his  birds  in  this  way,  he  would  not 
do  more  harm  than  one  who  shot  the  same 
number,  though  probably  some  parts  of  a 
moor  might  be  too  hardly  worked  while  others 
were  scarcely  touched.  This  seems  to  be  a 
fair  way  of  supplying  a  legitimate  want.  But 
it  is  quite  another  matter  when  the  ideal  case 
we  mentioned  first,  which  is  a  very  real  case 
indeed  to  many  owners  of  moors,  comes  into 
working.  A  wide  district  of  great  yearly 
value  might  conceivably  be  quite  bared  of 
birds,  quite  ruined,  by  judicious  working  of 
nets  on  a  narrow  strip  of  land  in  itself  worth 
just  nothing  at  all.  There  is  some  analogy 
between  a  fowler  with  a  few  acres  of  land 
spoiling  a  grouse  moor,  and  a  fisherman  with 
a  few  yards  of  water  ruining  a  salmon  river, 
both  working  with  a  net,  but  the  second  pays 
often  a  big  rent.  And  the  law  as  it  stands 
can  help  neither  of  them. 


To  some  owners  of  moorland  this  question 
of  netting  is  a  most  serious  one  ;  the  case  is 
imaginable  of  a  poor  man  depending  for  his 
income  on  the  rental  of  a  fine  moor,  and 
being  practically  ruined  by  the  operations  of 
netters  round  him.  In  the  autumn  of  1897, 
a  somewhat  acrimonious  correspondence  on 
this  subject  was  carried  on  in  the  Field.  It 
is,  in  spite  of  what  was  said  in  these  letters, 
difficult  to  see  how  legislation  can  help  those 
who  are  injured.  Any  bill  to  render  it  illegal 
for  a  man  to  catch  wild  birds,  or  let  others 
catch  them,  on  his  own  ground,  would  have 
very  little  chance  of  becoming  law.  Some 
hard  words  were  used  against  those  who 
bought  live  grouse  for  the  purpose  of  '  turning 
down '  ;  the  number  of  people  doing  this 
must  be  very  considerable,  and  probably  the 
greater  majority  of  them  have  not  the  smallest 
idea  that  they  are  doing  any  injury  to  any 
one  by  their  purchases ;  and  in  some  cases 
neither  are  they,  for  if  a  moor  is  rented  for 
the  purpose  and  a  fair  amount  of  grouse  taken 
off  it  by  netting  instead  of  shooting,  no  one 
has  any  right  to  complain.  The  point  as  to 
whether  turning  out  grouse  was  beneficial  to 
new  districts  was  discussed  in  the  Field,  and 
one  or  two  correspondents  asserted  it  was  not. 
For  our  part  we  have  not  the  very  slightest 
doubt  on  the  matter,  for  we  have  several 
times  seen  the  most  marked  improvement 
rapidly  take  place  in  a  stock  of  grouse 
where  healthy  strange  birds  had  been  intro- 
duced. All  question  of  painting  or  marking 
grouse  in  any  way  seems  quite  unreasonable 
and  useless ;  if  the  stock  in  the  first  or 
second  season  (supposing  these  are  normal) 
does  not  speak  for  itself,  the  identification 
of  individual  birds  is  merely  of  academic 
interest.  Attempts  have  been  made  to  net 
against  the  netters,  and  so  tire  them  out 
and  drive  them  away,  but  this  involves 
expense  and  trouble  which  very  few  would 
be  willing  to  undertake.  To  buy  up  bits 
of  ground  which,  worthless  in  themselves, 
are  valuable  for  erecting  nets  on,  would  be 
an  endless  and  costly  and  often  impossible 
task. 

If  it  were  made  perfectly  plain  to  every 
one  interested  in  grouse  that  serious  injury 
was  done  in  some  districts  by  this  practice  of 
netting,  and  then,  if  those  interested  in 
stopping  it,  were  to  see  whether  they  could 
not  among  themselves  do  something  towards 
supplying  a  perfectly  natural  and  legitimate 
want,  viz.  the  introduction  of  fresh  blood,  a 
great  advance  would  have  been  made  towards 
putting  an  end  to  a  system  which,  while  it  is 
of  benefit  to  the  public,  is  so  harmful  to  indi- 
viduals. 


439 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


HORSE    RACING 


Horse  racing  as  a  department  of  British 
sport  can  be  traced  back  in  Cumberland  to 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  From  that 
date  there  is  evidence  that  the  county  was 
not  backward  in  this  form  of  amusement. 
At  whatever  date  horse  racing  may  have 
been  recognized  as  an  institution  elsewhere,  it 
must  have  been  a  popular  pastime  in  Cumber- 
land at  the  very  earliest  period  of  our  sporting 
history,  for  during  the  latter  portion  of  the 
sixteenth  century  there  were  two  notable 
racecourses  in  the  county — '  Langanby  '  moor 
for  the  people  of  the  country,  and  Kingmoor 
for  the  burghers  of  Carlisle. 

The  moor  of  Langwathby,  or  as  it  is 
traditionally  known,  '  Langanby,'  in  the 
valley  of  the  Eden,  is  the  oldest  and  most 
famous  horse  course  of  Cumberland  and 
Westmorland,  rivalling  Garterly  in  Yorkshire 
as  the  historic  racecourse  of  the  northern 
counties. 

If  we  believe  the  narrative  of  Edmund  Sand- 
ford,  the  jovial,  inquisitive,  gossiping  squire  of 
Askham,  a  man  who  might  have  sat  as  model 
for  Addison's  Will  Wimble,  fond  of  field 
sports  and  acquainted  with  every  stable  and 
cellar  of  note  in  the  two  counties,  we  can 
put  our  finger  on  the  date  when  racing  at 
'  Langanby  '  had  begun.  The  account  is  so 
curious  and  so  full  of  interest  that  it  must  be 
given  almost  in  his  own  language,  specially  as 
it  was  'writt  about  the  year  1675,"  a  period 
of  ultra-sporting  notoriety.  Writing  of  this 
racecourse  he  says  :  '  The  most  famous  horse 
course  ther  for  a  free  plate  on  midsomer  day 
yearly  :  and  the  first  founder  thereof,  squire 
Richard  Sandford,  younger  brother  of  Thomas 
Sandford  of  Askame  in  Westmorland,  was 
bred  up  with  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  as 
master  of  his  horse  and  a  brave  horseman. 
He  persuaded  the  Lord  Wharton  and  the 
Chevileir  Musgraves,  who  had  a  brave  breed 
of  horses,  and  many  of  the  country  gentry  to 
contribute  to  a  prize  of  plate  of  £20  yearly. 
And  it  was  the  famous  horse  course  of 
England  and  Scotland.  The  quondam  Duke 
of  Buckingham's  horse  called  "  Conqueror," 
and  the  Earl  of  Morray's  wily  horse  "  Fox," 
ran  here  for  £100,  but  the  "Conqueror" 
conquered  him  and  won  the  money.  The 
night  before  there  was  the  terriblest  blast  ever 
blown,  churches,  towers,  trees,  steeples  and 
houses  all  feeling  the  fury  of  the  furies 
thereof,  for  without  peradventure  the  devil 
was  astir  whether  of  England  or  Scotland  he 


could  not  tell,  but  the  English  horse  got  the 
prize.' l 

'  Langanby  '  was  a  famous  horse  course  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  racing 
possessed  the  same  peculiarity  then  as  it  is 
supposed  to  have  now,  that  it  outweighed 
every  other  attraction.  It  has  been  pointed 
out  as  a  sign  of  the  degeneracy  of  the  time 
that  the  great  antiquary,  Ralph  Thoresby, 
was  unable  to  muster  a  quorum  to  transact 
the  business  of  a  charity  committee  on 
account  of  the  absence  of  the  neighbouring 
gentry  at  a  horse  race.2  But  even  a  century 
earlier,  in  1585,  we  find  in  Cumberland  a 
justice  of  the  peace  refusing  to  meet  the 
queen's  commissioners  on  public  business  on 
account  of  his  engagements  at  '  Langan- 
by.'3 

The  date  of  the  races  over  this  course 
varied  from  time  to  time.  In  1585,  Richard 
Dudley's  horse  ran  in  April ;  on  30  April, 
1593,  Lord  Scrope,  warden  of  the  marches, 
refused  to  give  Bothwell  an  interview  '  on 
Langerbie  moor  at  the  horserace ' ; 4  in  1612 
the  date  was  Midsummer  Day,  when  we  know 
that  '  Langomby  race '  was  patronized  by  the 
young  bloods  of  the  Howard  family  ; 6  on 
27  May,  1663,  Daniel  Fleming  of  Rydal 
spent  4*.  6d.  at  '  Langanby  Moor  horse  race,' 
and  in  two  days  afterwards  he  '  paid  i  os. 
unto  Mr.  Layton  as  his  subscription  money 
towards  the  plate.' 6 

But  the  racing  annals  of  the  county  of 
Cumberland  are  enriched  by  the  possession 
of  relics  in  the  shape  of  racing  bells  which 
are  unequalled  in  point  of  interest  by  any 


1  Edmund  Sandford,  A  Cursory  Relation  of  all 
the  Antiquities  and  Familyes  in  Cumberland,  p.  43  : 
Kendal,  1890. 

2  Diary  of  Ralph  Thoresby,  i.  1 29,   1 69  ;  ii.  9, 
ed.  J.  Hunter. 

8  Richard  Dudley  in  a  letter  dated  at  Yanwith, 
13  April,  1585,  stated  that  he  could  not  meet  the 
commissioners  from  Yorkshire  concerning  Rothay 
Bridge  on  the  26th,  for  he  had  a  horse  to  run 
in  the  race  at  Langanbye  (Rydall  Hall  MSS.  p. 
n,  Hist.  MSS.  Com.  I2th  Report,  Appendix, 
part  vii.). 

4  Calendar   of  Border  Papers,   i.    831,   ed.    J. 
Bain. 

5  The  Household  Books  of  Lord  William  Howard 
of  Natvorth    Castle,     pp.     49,     51,     52,     Surtees 
Society. 

6  Rydal  Hall  MSS.  p.  373,  Hist.  MSS.  Com- 


440 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


other  survival  of  the  ancient  history  of  the 
'  turf.'  If  '  Langanby '  moor  afforded  scope 
for  the  exercise  and  amusement  of  the  people 
living  in  the  country,  Kingmoor  was  the 
trysting  place  for  the  citizens  of  Carlisle. 
The  moor,  an  ancient  estate  of  the  Corpora- 
tion situated  on  the  north  side  of  the  river 
Eden  within  easy  distance  of  the  city,  has 
been  associated  with  racing  transactions  from 
an  early  period.  The  chamberlains'  accounts 
in  the  city  records  contain  various  items  of 
money  paid  out  for  the  purchase  of  prizes  for 
these  races.  Later  the  prizes  were  given  by 
the  local  members  of  Parliament,  the  guilds 
from  time  to  time  voting  or  withholding  a 
plate  when  such  a  racing  prize  came  into 
fashion.  One  extract  may  be  given  in  order 
to  indicate  the  favour  in  which  horse  races 
were  held  by  the  commonalty  of  Carlisle  in 
the  days  of  the  first  Stuart  as  well  as  the 
nature  of  the  prizes  which  may  now  be  said 
to  be  extinct.  It  is  in  the  form  of  a  request 
made  on  21  April,  1619,  'that  Mr.  Maior 
and  his  breathren  shall  call  for  the  silver  broad 
arrowes  and  the  stock  and  the  horse  and  nage 
bells  with  all  expedytion  to  be  imployed  for 
manteyning  of  a  horse  race  for  the  cytties 
use  upon  the  Kingesmoor  at  such  tyme  yearely 
as  they  shall  thinke  convenient  and  to  article 
that  the  same  cup  shall  be  brought  in  yearley 
as  they  shall  thinke  ffittinge.'  *  These  '  horse 
and  nage  bells,'  still  the  property  of  the  Cor- 
poration of  Carlisle,  were  exhibited  before 
the  Archaeological  Institute  which  met  at 
Carlisle  in  1859,  and  were  pronounced  as 
'possibly  unique'  in  their  catalogue  to  the 
museum  of  antiquities  collected  together  for 
that  occasion.  They  are  globular  in  form 
with  slits  at  the  bottom  usual  in  bells  of  that 
class.  The  largest,  which  is  2^  inches  in 
diameter,  is  of  silver  gilt,  and  bears  on  a  band 
round  its  centre  the  inscription — 

+    THE    SWEFTES    +    HORSE    +   THES    +    BEL   + 

TO   +    TAK    +    FOR   +    MI    +    LADE    +    DAKER 

+    SAKE  * 

The  other  bell,  also  of  silver,  is  smaller  in 
size  and  bears  the  legend  '  1599,  H.B.M.C.,' 
being  the  initials  of  Henry  Baines,  mayor  of 

1  Municipal  Records  of  the  City  of  Carlisle,  pp. 
277-8  et  passim,  ed.  R.  S.  Ferguson  and  W. 
Nanson  (1887). 

8  This  Lady  Dacre  has  been  identified  with 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  George  Talbot,  fourth  Earl 
of  Shrewsbury,  and  wife  of  William,  Lord  Dacre  of 
Gillesland,  who  was  governor  of  Carlisle  early  in 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  But  the  identifi- 
cation is  fanciful.  The  bell  given  by  '  milade 
Daker'  cannot  be  of  later  date  than  the  period  in 


Carlisle,  1599.  As  racing  bells  they  have 
called  forth  a  large  amount  of  controversy 
throughout  the  country,  and  various  claims 
have  been  made  by  other  places  that  they 
possessed  sporting  relics  of  greater  rarity  and 
value.  But  the  Carlisle  bells  still  hold  the 
field  as  the  oldest  and  most  curious  racing 
prizes  in  existence.3  Kingmoor  shared  the 
honours  with  '  Langanby  '  as  the  chief  centres 
where  races  were  held  in  Cumberland  for  a 
long  period.4 


question,  though  it  may  possibly  be  much  earlier. 
In  1585  Humfray  Musgrave's  horse  'Bay  Sand- 
forth  '  ran  and  won  all  the  three  bells  at  a  horse- 
race at  Liddesdale.  Thomas  Carlton  came  home 
from  the  races  and  next  day  '  ranne  the  bell  of  the 
Wainerigge '  (Cal.  of  Border  Papers,  i.  309). 

3  These  bells  have  achieved  considerable  fame 
since  they  were  re-discovered  in  an  old  box  in  the 
town  clerk's  office  in  Castle  Street,  Carlisle,  about 
twenty-five  years  ago.  They  were  described  by 
the  late  Mr.  Llewellyn  Jewitt  as  '  unique '  in  the 
Art  Journal,  xix.  122,  new  series  (April,  1880). 
The  executive  committee  of  both  the  Sports  and 
Arts  Exhibition  and  of  the  Tudor  Exhibition,  held 
in  London  in  1890,  applied  to  the  Corporation  of 
Carlisle  for  the  loan  of  these  bells,  and  the  Sports 
and  Arts  being  the  first  to  apply  got  them.  At 
that  exhibition  the  bells  were  displayed  in  a  case 
containing  some  huge  pieces  of  racing  plate,  such 
as  the  York  Plate  of  1717,  the  Newmarket  Gold 
Cup  of  1705,  the  Newcastle  Cups  of  1819  and 
1823  and  others.  At  that  time  they  attracted 
much  attention,  and  were  engraved  in  several 
London  papers.  In  a  short  time  a  rival  to  '  the 
horse  and  nage  bells '  of  Carlisle  appeared  in  the 
shape  of  a  bell  said  to  have  been  presented  by 
William  the  Lion  to  the  borough  of  Lanark  in 
1 1 60.  But  the  experts  soon  detected  on  this  bell 
the  mark  of  a  seventeenth  century  silversmith, 
Robert  Dennistoun  of  Edinburgh,  so  that  it  is 
probably  not  much  older  than  1628.  The  bell 
was  not  an  uncommon  prize  either  in  horse  racing 
or  cockfighting,  and  was  held  by  the  victor  as 
challenge  cups  and  shields  are  at  the  present  day, 
from  one  year  to  another,  or  from  one  race  to 
another.  To  win  this  bell  was  considered  a  mark 
of  honour,  and  gave  rise  to  the  popular  expression 
of  '  to  bear  away  the  bell.'  At  York  the  racing 
prize  in  1607  was  a  small  golden  bell,  and  the 
Corporation  records  of  Chester  about  1600  show 
that  in  that  city  a  silver  bell  was  given  to  be  raced 
for  on  the  Roodee,  but  it  is  not  known  whether 
these  trophies  are  now  in  existence  (Cripps,  Old 
English  Plate,  pp.  143,  339,  4th  ed.  ;  Art  Journal, 
April,  1880  ;  Strutt,  Sports  and  Pastimes,  pp.  41-2). 

*  In  the  eighteenth  century  racing  on  Kingmoor 
began  to  decline.  In  the  early  portion  of  the 
century  the  Corporation  let  large  areas  of  the  moor 
to  various  people  on  leases  for  lives,  and  their 
descendants  at  the  close  of  the  century  claimed  the 
right  to  enfranchise  on  easy  terms.  In  pursuance 
of  these  claims  the  racecourse  was  enclosed.  In 


II 


441 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


It  has  been  generally  supposed  that  '  the 
Swifts,'  a  wide  and  undulating  meadow  on 
the  south  bank  of  the  Eden  near  to  Carlisle 
bridges,  was  selected  to  supersede  Kingmoor 
as  the  municipal  racecourse  about  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  the  owner- 
ship of  the  latter  course  became  the  subject 
of  litigation,  and  that  it  was  recognized  as 
the  place  for  annual  meetings  a  few  years 
before  the  grant  of  the  king's  plate  in  1763. 
But  the  Swifts  was  used  as  a  racecourse  long 
before  that  time.1  The  Duke  of  Devonshire 
possesses  amongst  the  archives  of  Bolton 
Abbey  a  survey  of  all  the  Crown  lands  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Carlisle  made  in  1612  by 
Mr.  Anthony  Curwen,  agent  of  the  Crown 
property.  In  speaking  of  the  Swifts  he  in- 
dulges in  the  singular  reminiscence  that 
'  many  old  men  and  women  about  Karliell 
did  well  knowe  and  remember  that  all  the 
grounds  were  one  contynuse  ground,  and 
when  he  was  a  scholler  at  Karliell  there  was 
no  hinderance  to  the  footeball  play  nor  to  the 
essayes  of  running  of  naggs,  men  and  women 
leaping,  dauncing,  etc.,  upon  every  Shrove 
Tuesday."  On  George  Smith's  map  of 
Carlisle,  published  in  1746,  we  have  a  picture 
of  <  The  Swiftes  or  City  Horse  Course,'  on 
which  there  are  rude  drawings  of  horses  with 
docked  tails  and  riders  in  jockey  costume,  one 
horse  being  flogged  up  for  the  final  struggle. 
The  starting  and  other  posts  and  a  judge's 
box  are  shown,  being  apparently  permanent 
structures.  In  the  eighteenth  century  horses 
running  on  the  Swifts  were  expected  to  do  a 
large  amount  of  work,  the  length  of  the 
course  and  the  weight  to  be  carried  varying 
according  to  the  age  of  the  horse.  In  1752 
three  year  olds  were  obliged  to  carry  9 
stones  and  run  in  two  mile  heats  ;  four  year 
olds,  9  stones  and  three  mile  heats ;  and  so 
on  till  mature  horses  were  required  to  carry 
10  stones  over  a  four  mile  course.2  Racing 
on  the  Swifts  is  now  (1901)  about  to  be 

the  nineteenth  century  some  of  the  freemen  of 
Carlisle  broke  down  the  fences  and  held  the  race, 
out  of  which  arose  the  assize  trial  of  Ismay  v. 
Barnes  held  at  Carlisle  in  1865,  when  the  freemen 
lost  their  case  and  the  races  on  Kingmoor  came  to 
an  end  (Municipal  Records  of  the  City  of  Carlisle, 
pp.  94,  100,  118,  142,  ed.  Ferguson  &  Nan- 
son). 

1  It  has  been  thought  that  the  place-name  of 
Swifts  was  derived  from  the  races  which  took  place 
there,    but    it    is    scarcely    probable.     The    name 
occurs   as   '  Swyft '   among   the   demesne   lands   of 
Carlisle    Castle    as    early   as    1353    (Abbrev.    Rot. 
Origin,  ii.  230^,  252^,  Record  Commission). 

2  Heber,  List  of  Horse-matches  run  in  1752,  pp. 
18-20. 


abandoned,  a  new  course  having  been  selected 
on  the  rising  ground  above  the  Caldew  near 
the  hamlet  of  Blackball  two  miles  to  the 
south  of  Carlisle. 

After  the  Restoration  of  Charles  II.  race- 
courses multiplied  and  interest  in  sport  be- 
came more  general  in  the  county.  It  would 
seem  that  Cumberland,  like  the  rest  of  Eng- 
land, had  gone  into  excess  when  '  the  king 
had  come  into  his  own  again.'  It  is  true 
that  many  of  the  leading  families  had  been 
either  beggared  or  impoverished  by  the  civil 
war,  yet  notwithstanding  these  disadvantages 
racing  and  field  sports  came  into  greater  prom- 
inence and  were  more  widely  practised  after 
the  strictness  of  the  Puritanical  days  of  the 
Commonwealth,  like  a  stream  rushing  with 
greater  force  after  a  temporary  confinement. 
If  we  return  to  the  pages  of  Sandford,  we  get 
frequent  peeps  into  the  stables  of  the  country 
gentry,  as  well  as  a  vivid  picture  of  the  state 
of  society  during  his  time.  In  that  writer's 
experience  almost  every  gentleman  in  the 
county  who  could  afford  it,  and  perhaps 
who  could  not  afford  it,  was  in  the  habit 
of  keeping  open  house  and  dispensing  hospi- 
tality as  occasion  offered,  the  information 
being  usually  appended  that  he  was  not 
without  a  running  horse  or  two  in  his 
stables.  Sir  George  Fletcher,  a  man  of 
great  local  repute  as  well  as  a  member  of 
Parliament,  is  described  as  'a  very  brave 
monsir,  great  housekeper,  hunter  and  horse 
courser,  never  without  the  best  running  horse 
or  two,  the  best  he  can  gett,'  a  portrait  of  Sir 
George  which  agrees  with  everything  else  we 
know  of  him.  A  like  account  is  given  of  old 
Sir  John  Dalston  and  Sir  George  Dalston  of 
Dalston  Hall,  '  two  brave  gentill  gallants  and 
justiciers,  great  gamesters  never  without  two 
or  three  running  horses,  the  best  in  England.' 
The  members  of  the  Dalston  family  were 
ever  great  patrons  of  '  the  turf,'  so  much  so 
indeed  that  traditions  of  their  sporting  cele- 
brity still  linger  in  the  parish  from  which  they 
took  their  name,  though  a  century  and  a  half 
has  elapsed  since  the  ancestral  hall  and  estates 
passed  to  other  hands.  It  is  still  said  of  one 
of  the  last  scions  of  this  ancient  house  that  he 
possessed  a  pair  of  running  horses  which  were 
such  a  match  in  swiftness  that  the  weight  of 
the  stable  key  would  be  sufficient  to  decide 
the  race.  Facts  go  to  show  that  Cumberland, 
however  backward  it  may  have  been  in  other 
matters,  was  pre-eminent  as  a  sporting  county, 
exposed  to  all  the  abuses  which  had  so  early 
crept  into  horse  racing  and  which  have  been 
inseparable  from  it  ever  since.  It  would 
appear  that  the  history  of  the  Cumberland 
'turf  at  this  period  affords  sufficient  justifi- 


442 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


cation  for  the  remarks  of  Burton  *  that  '  horse 
races  are  the  desports  of  great  men,  and  good 
in  themselves,  though  many  gentlemen  by  such 
means  gallop  themselves  out  of  their  fortunes.' 
One  brilliant  exception  to  this  reflection  is 
furnished  by  the  squire  of  Ewanrigg  Hall, 
who,  though  he  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  gam- 
ing, was  sharp  enough  not  only  to  keep  the 
lands  he  had  inherited,  but  to  make  ample 
provision  for  his  family  and  to  depart  this  life 
without  an  enemy.  Strange  and  piquant  is 
the  description  Sandford  gives  of  him  :  '  Mr. 
Joseph  Thwaits  in  my  time  one  of  the  wit- 
tiest brave  monsirs  for  all  gentill  gallantry, 
hounds,  hawkes,  horse  courses,  bowles,  bowes 
and  arrowes,  and  all  games  whatsoever — play 
his  £100  at  cards,  dice  and  shovelboord  if  you 
please,  and  had  not  above  £200  a  year  :  yet 
he  left  his  children  pretty  porcions  and  dyed 
beloved  of  all  parties.'  * 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  popularity  of 
other  kinds  of  amusement,  the  racecourse  was 
an  institution  that  flourished  in  Cumberland 
towards  the  close  of  the  Stuart  period.  In 
a  manuscript  history  of  the  county,  now  in 
possession  of  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  written  by 
Thomas  Denton  in  the  years  1687-8,  several 
racecourses,  at  that  time  in  high  favour,  have 
been  noted  by  him  as  existing  in  the  various 
parishes  of  his  perambulation.  Besides  those 
already  mentioned,  he  states  that  the  sandy 
plain  near  the  town  of  Drigg  was  converted 
into  a  horse  course  by  Sir  William  Pennington, 
and  a  plate  of  the  value  of  £10  was  run  for 
yearly  in  May.  Vestiges  of  this  ancient  course 
can  still  be  traced  in  that  locality.  A  little 
above  the  village  of  Whitrig  to  the  west  there 
stands  a  high  round  hill  called  Carmot,  from 
which,  he  says,  you  can  see  all  the  country 
round,  at  the  foot  of  which  began  a  horse 
course  which  ended  upon  the  top  of  Mootha, 
the  ascent  of  which  being  so  great  a  climb 
that  they  called  that  part  of  the  hill  'Trotter,' 
in  regard  that  few  horses  could  gallop  to  the 
top  of  it,  but  were  forced  to  trot  ere  they 

1  Anatomy  ofMelancholy,  pt.  z,  sec.  i,  cap.  iv.  ed. 
1660.     Henry  Curwcn,  who  was  sheriff  in  1688, 
went  by  the  name  of 'Galloping  Harry,'  owing  to 
his  partiality   to  racing  transactions.       It   is  said 
that  he  wasted  much  of  the  property  of  his  family 
in  this  way. 

2  A   Cursory  Relation    of  all  the  Antiquities  and 
Familycs     in     Cumber/and,    circa     1675,    p.     22. 
Compare    the   quatrain    of  Tom    Duri'ey,  a  con- 
temporary poet,  usually  but  unjustly  called  '  the 
Moore  of  the  Restoration  ' — 

'  Another  makes  racing  a  trade, 

And  dreams  of  his  prospects  to  come  ; 
And  many  a  crimp  match  he  made, 
By  bubbing  another  man's  groom.' 


come  to  the  top.  Denton  has  also  noted  race- 
courses on  Harethwaite  Common  and  Wood- 
cock Hill,  in  the  parish  of  Westward  ;  on  the 
sands  of  Skinburness  ;  on  Low  Planes  and 
Barrock  Fell,  in  the  parish  of  Hesket-in-the- 
Forest.  At  the  latter  place  the  course  circled 
round  the  fell,  and  measured  four  and  a  quar- 
ter miles.3  In  addition  to  these,  Machell, 
who  was  a  contemporary  of  Denton,  mentions 
'a  brave  horse  rase  along  the  seaside  at  Par- 
ton,'  near  Whitehaven. 

This  catalogue  of  racecourses  can  scarcely 
be  considered  exhaustive,  though  it  appears 
appalling  enough  when  compared  with  our 
notions  of  sporting  matters  and  the  number 
of  race  meetings  which  occur  in  our  day.  As 
it  only  represents  the  customary  centres  where 
horse  matches  took  place,4  it  may  well  be  said 
that  racing  had  reached  its  climax  at  this 
period.  During  the  latter  portion  of  the 
seventeenth  century  '  Langanby '  held  its 
own  as  the  county  racecourse,  though  the 
courses  at  Workington6  and  Burgh-by-Sands 
were  fast  rivalling  it  in  popularity.  At  this 
period  we  meet  with  a  strange  custom  in  con- 
nection with  horse  racing.  It  was  not  enough 
for  the  local  sportsmen  to  patronize  'the  turf 
in  their  private  capacities,  but  they  did  not 
deem  it  inappropriate  to  import  racing  into 
the  concerns  of  their  public  life.  In  fact, 
arrangements  for  the  next  horse  race  became 
a  recognized  part  of  the  business  transacted 
by  the  justices  in  Quarter  Sessions.  As  the 
records  of  the  sessional  proceedings  are  of  un- 
doubted interest,  and  appear  to  be  unique  in 
the  annals  of  sport,  the  extracts  may  be  repro- 
duced from  the  manuscript  volumes  in  the 
custody  of  the  clerk  of  the  peace  of  the 
county,  with  the  dates  and  places  of  the 

3  Thomas  Denton,  'A  Perambulation  of  Cum- 
berland and  Westmorland,   written   in   the    years 
1687  and  1688,'  MS.  ff.  20,  53,  59,  65,  99. 

4  At  this  period   the  popular  appetite  was  not 
satisfied  with    regular    meetings.     There    are    on 
record    various    challenges    for    private    trials    of 
horseflesh,  as    ambition    or    envy    prompted   the 
'  turfites '  of   the    day.     Among   the  manuscripts 
of  Mr.  Geo.  Browne  of  Troutbeck  there  is  a  very 
curious  agreement,  dated  30  May,  1692,  between 
a  Cumberland  gentleman  and  a  Westmorland  yeo- 
man as   to  a   race  to  be  run  by  their  respective 
mares  in  the  demesne  of  Calgarth  for  the  sum  of 
£zo  (Browne  MSS.  vol.  ii.  f.  199). 

5  These  races  took  place  on  a  piece  of  extra- 
parochial   ground,   near  Workington,  called   '  The 
Cloffock,'    which    is    still     used    for    sports    of  a 
different  kind.     It  is  situated  on    the   north  side 
of  the   town,   between   the   river  Derwent  and  a 
small    rivulet,    which    completely    surrounds    it. 
Races    were    held    in    this    course   within    living 
memory. 


443 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Sessions  at    which    the    racing    business  was 
transacted  : 

Cockermouth,  January,  169^. 
Ordered  that  the  High  Sheriffe  of  this  County  doe 
give  twenty  pounds  to  be  divided  into  two  Plates 
equally.  The  one  to  be  run  for  at  Workington, 
the  last  Wednesday  in  June.  And  the  other  to  be 
run  for  at  Langwathby  Moore  the  first  Thursday 
after  Apleby  Assizes  and  p'clamacon  to  be  made  a 
moneth  before  each  Race. 

Cockermouth,  January,  1699-1700. 
Agreed  by  the  Justices  of  the  peace  with  the  con- 
sent of  the  high  Sheriffe  That  the  Sheriffe  give 
fifteene  pounds  towards  a  Plate  in  Liew  of  Dinners 
for  the  future.  And  to  make  the  Plate  as  much 
more  as  he  pleaseth  to  be  runn  for  at  the  usuall 
course  at  Workington  and  Brough  Marsh,  the 
money  equally  to  be  divided,  viz.,  halfe  of  it  to 
be  run  for  at  the  Race  att  Workington  upon  Wed- 
nesday the  twenty-sixth  day  of  June.  And  the 
other  halfe  to  be  runn  for  at  Brough  Marsh  upon 
Fryday  the  nineteenth  day  of  July. 

Cockermouth,  January,  1  70^. 
Ordered  that  the  Sheriffe  finde  a  plate  what  he 
pleaseth  above  the  value  of  fifteen  pounds  to  be  all 
in  one  plate  &  to  be  runn  for  the  last  Wednesday 
in  June,  the  foure  miles  course  att  Workington 
tenn  stone  weight  the  bridle  and  sadle  included  in 
the  said  weight,  whosoever  runns  his  horse  to  putt 
in  ffbrty  shillings  saveing  the  Cum'b'lnd  gentlemen 
who  are  only  to  putt  in  twenty  shillings  if  theire 
owne  horses.  And  the  Justices  putting  in  theire 
owne  horses  to  pay  nothinge  and  the  second  horse 
to  have  the  stakes. 

Carlisle,  Easter,  1701. 

Whereas  the  Sheriffes  of  this  county  have  for  some 
yeares  by  past  been  excused  from  entertaineing  his 
Ma""  Justices  of  the  peace  at  the  gen'all  Quarter 
Sessions  of  the  peace  for  this  county  by  reason  of 
their  findeing  a  ffree  plate  to  be  yearely  run  for  at 
some  horse  course  w*in  the  county  which  for 
sev'all  reasons  is  now  found  inconvenient  and 
p'ticularly  for  that  the  Justices  at  their  said 
Sessions  doe  not  usually  meete  &  eate  together 
whereby  they  want  opportunity  to  conferr  &  con- 
sider about  the  business  of  the  country.  It  is 
ordered  &  desired  by  the  Justices  at  this  present 
Sessions  that  after  this  p'sent  yeare  the  succeedinge 
Sheriffes  for  this  county  will  for  the  time  to  come 
expend  the  wages  of  the  Justices  at  their  gen'all 
Quarter  Sessions  in  entertaineing  of  the  Justices 
with  a  dinner  that  they  may  have  the  better 
opportunity  to  discourse  &  consult  about  the 
countryes  business.  And  it  is  ordered  that  the 
said  wages  shall  not  be  suspended  or  otherwise  laid 
out  in  any  wise  whatsoever. 


Cockermouth,  January, 
Ordered  by  this  Cort  that  the  order  of  this  time 
twelve  month  concerning  the  Justices  haveing 
dinners  be  discharged  and  that  in  lieu  thereof 
the  Sheriffe  doe  pay  fifteene  pound  for  a  plate  to 
be  run  for  the  last  Thursday  in  August  upon 


Langwathby-moore.  The  course  to  be  three 
heats  fower  miles  each  heate.  And  the  course 
to  be  set  forth  by  John  Dalston  Esqr  high  Sheriffe 
of  the  said  county,  each  horse  to  carry  ten  stone 
weight  besides  bridle  and  sadle.  And  each  horse 
that  runns  to  be  sold  for  thirty  pounds  after  he 
hath  runn,  the  Sheriffe  to  have  the  first  offer  and 
the  Justices  the  next.  And  then  who  thinkes  fitt. 
And  e'vy  horse  that  runns  to  be  entered  with  the 
Sheriffe  one  weeke  before  he  runns.  And  ev'y 
Justice  of  peace  horse  that  runns  to  be  free.  Every 
gentleman  in  the  county  that  putts  in  a  horse  to 
pay  ten  shillings.  And  ev'y  stranger  to  putt  in 
twenty  shillings.  And  the  second  horse  to  have 
the  stakes.1 

There  is  no  necessity  to  point  out  the 
significance  of  these  extracts  from  the  ses- 
sional records  in  illustration  of  the  sporting 
proclivities  of  the  county.  One  peculiarity  in 
these  transactions  is  very  striking.  The  pro- 
fessional element  is  conspicuous  by  its  absence. 
The  races  were  practically  confined  to  the 
people  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  and 
as  far  as  we  can  infer  the  instinct  of  sport 
innate  in  Englishmen  was  the  determining 
cause  of  these  county  meetings.  But  the 
interest  of  the  justices  was  not  confined  to 
their  corporate  action  in  promoting  races.  On 
14  May,  1672,  William  Fletcher  of  Cocker- 
mouth  wrote  to  Daniel  Fleming  of  Rydal, 
that  he  was  just  starting  to  meet  his  relative, 
Sir  George,  at  Burgh  Marsh,  '  where  we  are 
to  have  a  famous  race  for  a  plate  which  he 
and  I  have  given  to  make  sport  among  the 
jockeys.'  In  the  same  strain  Henry  Fletcher 

1  The  names  of  the  justices  who  took  part  in 
these  sporting  deliberations  on  the  judicial  bench 
are  as  follows  :  Sir  William  Pennington,  Sir 
Richard  Musgrave,  Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  Sir  Ed- 
ward Hasell,  George  Fletcher,  Richard  Patrickson, 
Leonard  Dykes,  Robert  Carleton,  John  Aglionby, 
John  Briscoe,  William  Gilpin,  Thomas  Brougham, 
Edward  Stanley,  Richard  Lamplugh,  Anthony 
Hudleston  and  James  Nicholson.  There  was  evi- 
dently a  difference  of  opinion  among  them  whether 
the  sheriff  should  provide  a  dinner  or  a  racing 
plate.  On  the  four  occasions  when  'the  ffree 
plate  '  was  ordered  there  was  but  a  small  bench, 
with  Sir  William  Pennington  in  the  chair,  but  at 
the  Carlisle  Sessions  in  1701,  when  the  dinner  was 
substituted,  it  is  evident  Sir  William  was  out-voted, 
no  less  than  nine  justices  being  present.  Again, 
when  the  '  dinner  '  order  was  discharged  in  favour 
of  the  '  plate '  in  1 702,  the  Sessions  was  attended 
only  by  Sir  William  Pennington,  Sir  Richard 
Musgrave,  Robert  Carleton  and  William  Gilpin. 
With  regard  to  the  discontinuance  of  silver  plate 
as  prizes,  it  may  be  mentioned  here  that  'George  I. 
was  no  racer,  but  he  discontinued  silver  plate  as 
prizes,  and  instituted  the  Kings  Plates,  as  they  have 
been  since  termed,  being  100  guineas  paid  in  cash' 
(Quarterly  Review,  July,  1833,  p.  386). 


444 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


ventured  to  forecast  the  '  good  sport '  that 
was  likely  to  be  had  at  Workington  in  April, 
1687,  when  seven  horses  were  to  run,  'one 
of  Sir  John  Lowther's,  Mr.  Curwen's,  Mr. 
Davison's,  Mr.  Lowther's,  Charles  Bannister's, 
Jack  Aglionby's,  and  one  from  Cockermouth.'  * 
Racing  at  Burgh  was  invested  with  a  new 
interest  when  the  '  Barony  Cup '  came  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  prizes  for  competition  on 
this  course.  The  barony  of  that  name  passed 
by  purchase  to  the  Lowther  family  in  1684,* 
and  soon  after  that  date  we  find  record  of  the 
gift  of  this  cup.  It  is  said  that  it  was  originally 
given  by  the  lords  of  the  barony  '  upon  their 
respectively  coming  of  age.'  3  But  this  is  not 
in  accordance  with  more  recent  custom,  for 
during  the  nineteenth  century  it  had  been 
always  given  shortly  after  a  new  lord  succeeded 
to  the  estates.  Six  of  these  cups  are  known 
to  be  in  existence  at  the  present  time.  The 
oldest,  a  cup  of  silver,  inscribed  with  the 
legend,  'The  gift  of  the  Right  Honourable 
Richard  Lord  Viscount  Lonsdale,  run  for  on 
Burgh  Marsh  ye  loth  8br.  1712,'  is  now  in 
possession  of  the  representatives  of  the  late 
Mr.  Oliphant  Ferguson,  Broadfield  House,  in 
the  parish  of  Dalston,  having  been  won  by 
one  of  that  gentleman's  ancestors.  We  meet 
with  no  other  instance  of  the  '  Barony  cup ' 
till  1 804,  though  it  is  very  probable  that  other 
cups  may  have  been  run  for  between  1712 
and  that  date.4  The  first  cup  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  won  by  a  horse  said  to 
have  been  purchased  while  drawing  a  coal 
cart  at  Dearham.  It  is  of  massive  silver 
and  bears  the  inscription  '  Given  by  Willm. 
Viscount  Lowther  to  be  run  for  on  Thurs- 
day, 3rd  May,  1804,  on  Burgh  Marsh.  Won 

1  Rydal  Hall  MSS.  pp.  92,  373  (Hist.   MSS. 
Com.). 

2  Thomas  Demon,  '  Perambulation  of  Cumber- 
land,' MS.  f.  70. 

3  Hutchinson,  History  of  Cumberland,  ii.    509, 
Carlisle,  1794. 

*  Among  the  muniments  at  Lowther  there  is  an 
undated  petition  to  Sir  James  Lowther,  baronet, 
signed  by  twenty  of  '  the  inhabitants  of  Brough 
and  the  neighbouring  towns,'  asking  him  to  post- 
pone the  races  on  the  marsh  till  after  harvest. 
The  petitioners  'apprehended  that  the  races  at  this 
season,  being  time  of  harvest,  will  be  attended  with 
damages,  the  high  tides  having  overflow'd  and 
sanded  the  low  ground,  and  the  numbers  of  cattle 
being  confined  on  the  high  ground,  being  the  race 
ground,  and  the  number  of  people  attending  the 
Races  will  in  all  probability  make  the  cattle  break 
into  the  cornfields  adjoining  the  Marsh.'  Mr. 
William  Little,  the  earl  of  Lonsdale's  agent,  is  of 
opinion  that  '  the  petition  was  probably  presented 
between  1757  when  Sir  James  Lowther  came  of 
age  and  1784  when  he  was  raised  to  the  peerage.' 


by  Mayson  Hodgson's  C.  Mare.'  This  is  the 
veritable  cup  of  which  Anderson  wrote  : — 

The  cup  was  au  siller,  and  letter'd  reet  neycely, 
A  feyne  naig  they've  put  on't,  forby  my  Iword's 
name. 

It  is  now  in  possession  of  Miss  Ruth  Blaylock, 
Rindal  House,  Burgh-by-Sands,  who  inherited 
it  from  Miss  Hodgson,  daughter  of  the 
winner.  It  was  not  until  forty-one  years 
afterwards  that  another  '  Barony  Cup '  was 
run  for.  About  twelve  months  after  the 
death  of  William,  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  the  new 
earl  gave  'an  elegant  cup  value  fifty  guineas 
for  horses  foaled  within  the  barony  and  the 
bona  fide  property  of  a  free  or  customary 
tenant  at  the  time  of  starting.  Heats,  one 
mile  and  a  quarter.'  This  event  excited,  say 
the  newspapers  of  that  time,  an  extraordinary 
and  widespread  interest.  There  was  a  general 
holiday  in  Carlisle  and  it  was  estimated  that 
no  fewer  than  15,000  people  were  present  at 
the  races  on  Burgh  Marsh.  While  only  four 
horses  competed  in  1804,  nine  ran  for  the 
cup  in  1845.  The  prize  was  carried  off  by 
Mr.  Oliphant's  '  Lady  Eleanor '  in  the  final 
heat  by  a  couple  of  lengths.  The  cup  is 
inscribed  :  '  The  gift  of  the  Right  Honour- 
able William,  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  run  for  on 
Burgh  Marsh,  April  gth,  1845,  and  won  by 
George  Henry  Hewitt  Oliphant's  chestnut 
mare  '  Lady  Eleanor.'  This  cup  is  also  at 
Broadfield  House,  the  winner  being  the  late 
Mr.  Oliphant  Ferguson's  father.  Events  of 
the  same  nature  took  place  in  1873  and  1876, 
the  winner  in  the  former  year  being  Major 
Browne's  horse,  '  The  Crow,'  and  in  the 
latter  year  the  cup  was  won  '  in  a  canter  by 
Lady  Brown,'  the  property  of  Mr.  R.  Hodg- 
son of  Beaumont,  in  whose  family  it  is  still 
preserved.  Ten  horses  competed  for  the  race 
in  1876.  The  last  'Barony  Cup'  was  run 
for  in  1883,  when  the  present  Earl  of  Lons- 
dale succeeded  to  the  title.  In  this  year  the 
cup  was  changed  for  a  shield  valued  at  100 
guineas.  The  shield,  of  beautiful  pattern  and 
embossed  with  sporting  scenes,  bears  the  in- 
scription, 'The  Burgh  Barony  Cup,  the  gift 
of  the  Right  Honourable  Hugh  Cecil,  Earl  of 
Lonsdale,  for  horses,  &c.,  the  bona  fide  pro- 
perty of  free  or  customary  tenants  of  or 
resident  in  the  barony.  Won  by  Mr.  Thomas 
Robinson's  Harmony.'  It  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  Mr.  R.  B.  Hetherington  of 
Carlisle,  and  '  Harmony '  still  browses  on  the 
marsh  at  Burgh.  It  should  be  noticed  that 
the  '  Barony  Cup '  has  no  connection  with 
the  race  meetings  annually  held  in  that 
parish.  They  take  place  on  different  courses, 
the  race  for  the  cup  being  held  on  the  marsh 


445 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


and  the  annual  steeplechases  on  a  course  now 
marked  out  by  posts  in  the  fields  to  the  north 
of  the  parish  church. 

In  the  eighteenth  century  hunt  meetings 
were  often  held  at  Penrith,  Wigton,  Egre- 
mont,  and  elsewhere,  the  Hunters'  Plate, 
sometimes  of  the  value  of  50  guineas,  given 
by  the  gentlemen  of  the  county,  being  a  much 
coveted  prize.  These  meetings  were  always 
enlivened  by  cockfights  and  concluded  with  a 
ball.  There  is  some  vestige  of  the  same 
custom  surviving  at  the  present  day  in  what 
is  called  '  the  point  to  point  race '  at  the  end 
of  the  hunting  season,  but  it  is  a  feeble  affair, 


and  creates  little  interest.  It  cannot  be  denied 
that  the  sporting  instinct  of  Cumberland  has 
undergone  a  great  change  within  living 
memory.  With  the  exception  of  the  com- 
petition for  the  '  Burgh  Barony  Cup,'  which 
of  course  takes  place  only  at  long  intervals, 
there  is  little  or  no  racing  rivalry  among 
horse  breeders  in  the  county.  The  horses 
entered  annually  on  the  Swifts  at  Carlisle  or 
at  Burgh  by  Sands  are  supplied  for  the  most 
part  by  professional  sportsmen  from  a  distance. 
Racing  in  Cumberland  cannot  be  any  longer 
considered  a  county  institution.  The  local 
features  are  well  nigh  obliterated. 


WILDFOWLING 


There  is  probably  no  English  county,  not 
even  excepting  Norfolk,  in  which  the  gun  is 
more  generally  used  for  killing  wildfowl  than 
Cumberland.  In  earlier  days  the  capture  of 
duck  and  wigeon  was  often  effected  by  the 
use  of  snares,  still  remembered  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  Solway  Firth  under  the  name 
of  '  wiles.'  But  a  heavy  muzzle-loader  was 
for  many  generations  the  favourite  weapon  of 
the  Cumbrian  'statesman'  when  he  went  'on 
t'  moss  to  look  for  a  brace  of  teal  maybe  or  a 
couple  of  snipe.'  The  progress  of  agriculture 
has  drained  many  of  the  marshy  meadows 
which  formerly  afforded  '  smittle  spots '  for 
'  fowl,'  but  the  enthusiasm  for  killing  wild- 
fowl is  still  very  strong.  Good  shooting  can 
be  obtained  on  many  loughs  and  tarns  inland 
as  well  as  on  the  better  known  lakes,  but  the 
estuaries  of  the  coast  are  naturally  the  chief 
hunting  grounds  of  our  wildfowlers.  The 
marshes  of  the  Duddon,  of  the  Irt,  Mite  and 
Esk  are  not  without  their  attraction  for  wild- 
fowl, but  the  most  famous  shooting  quarters 
of  the  wildfowler  are  to  be  found  upon  the 
Solway  Firth.  Punt-gunners  have  exercised 
their  craft  upon  the  tideways  of  this  great 
basin  of  brackish  water  for  upwards  of  a 
hundred  years,  Port  Carlisle  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood having  been  their  chief  head- 
quarters. It  would  be  easy  to  dilate  upon 
the  experiences  of  such  veteran  gunners  of 
the  last  generation  as  '  Bill  the  Shooter,'  once 
of  Gretna,  or  the  late  Mr.  Borrowdale  of 
Glasson  ;  but  it  may  be  better  that  I  should 
tell  my  own  plain  unvarnished  tale  of  wild- 
fowling  just  as  I  have  followed  it,  year  in  and 
year  out,  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  without 
a  break. 

I  was  brought  up  on  the  Solway  Firth 
among  a  race  of  natural  wildfowlers,  who 
had  inherited  a  passionate  love  of  this  sport 


from  their  forefathers.  There  were  no  punt- 
guns  in  our  primitive  hamlet,  but  never- 
theless I  very  early  cherished  an  ambition  to 
acquire  one.  The  idea  did  not  find  favour 
with  my  elders,  and  my  youthful  resources 
being  meagre  I  had  to  commence  my  sport- 
ing career  with  a  very  doubtful  outfit.  The 
first  punt  that  I  became  the  proud  owner  of 
had  been  built  for  a  man  of  fourteen  stone, 
and  was  far  too  heavy  for  a  young  slight  lad 
to  handle  easily.  It  had  however  the  merit 
of  being  a  very  safe  craft.  My  gun,  on  the 
other  hand,  was  of  slender  calibre,  and  as  I 
was  ignorant  of  the  tricks  which  a  light  gun 
is  likely  to  play  when  too  heavily  loaded,  I 
not  unfrequently  ran  some  risk  of  losing  her 
overboard.  The  lock  belonged  to  an  old 
musket  brought  back  from  the  Crimean  war ; 
the  trigger  required  a  strong  pull,  an  un- 
satisfactory thing  in  any  fowling-piece,  but 
especially  in  a  punt-gun,  the  lanyard  of  which 
the  owner  is  accustomed  to  pull  with  his 
teeth.  Sometimes  this  weapon  was  too  stiff 
to  be  fired,  and  sometimes  my  teeth  were 
extracted  by  its  vagaries,  so  that  I  was  thank- 
ful to  exchange  it  for  a  safer  and  more  trust- 
worthy weapon.  The  first  punt  that  I  built 
for  myself  proved  a  great  success.  I  used  her 
for  seventeen  successive  winters.  She  mea- 
sured 1 7  feet  in  length  and  2  feet  8  inches  in 
breadth.  The  punt  that  I  now  use  is  of  the 
same  dimensions.  This  little  craft  enables  me 
to  explore  the  waters  of  the  Solway  Firth 
under  a  variety  of  circumstances,  and  though, 
as  a  professional  wildfowler,  I  am  obliged  to 
shoot  for  the  market,  my  greatest  pleasure  lies 
in  studying  the  habits  of  the  birds  that  I  find 
swimming  and  diving  in  the  tideway.  A 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  locality  in  which 
he  works  is  indispensable  to  the  wildfowler. 
Owing  to  the  strong  ebb  and  flow  of  the 


446 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


tides,  the  strength  and  swiftness  of  which  can 
only  be  realized  by  those  whose  calling  brings 
them  into  daily  contact  with  them,  the  punts- 
man  needs  to  exercise  constant  alertness.  One 
constant  and  ever  increasing  danger  to  punts- 
men  lies  in  the  number  of  stakes,  broken  and 
otherwise,  which  are  left  by  fishermen  in  the 
bottoms  of  the  channels.  A  puntsman  of  my 
acquaintance  was  thrown  out  of  his  punt  in 
consequence  of  its  striking  one  of  these  sub- 
merged stakes.  It  happened  to  be  ebb  tide, 
and  he  was  able  to  hold  on  until  the  water 
had  become  sufficiently  shallow  to  enable  him 
to  get  ashore  in  safety.  But  the  risk  of  a 
punt  striking  such  an  obstacle  in  the  dark  is 
very  great. 

The  spring  and  neap  tides  have  a  marked 
influence  upon  the  movements  of  wildfowl. 
The  gunner  has  to   learn   by  experience  in 
what  particular  position  he  is  likely  to  find 
the  birds  that  he  is  in  pursuit  of,  at  daybreak. 
Not  only  so,  but  he  has  to  outwit  the  caution 
of  the  most  wary  and  suspicious  wildfowl.  An 
incident  which  happened  during  the  daytime 
may  be  related  here.     I  had  occasion  to  leave 
my  punt  at  the  edge  of  a  narrow  channel,  and 
as  it  did   not  matter  whether  she  remained 
fast  or  not  I  omitted  to  throw  out  the  anchor. 
After  I   had  walked  two  or  three    hundred 
yards  towards  the  marsh  where  some  barnacle 
geese  were  feeding,  I  saw  a  flock  of  thirty  or 
forty  barnacles  come  and  settle  on  the  water 
edge,  about  150  yards  below  where  my  punt 
was    lying.     The    intervening    ground    was 
level,  so    that    it   was    impossible  for  me   to 
return  to  the  punt  unobserved.     Presently  I 
saw   my   punt  drift  off  into  the  current.     I 
watched   her  with  no  small    interest  as  she 
gradually  neared  these  shy  creatures.     I  was 
much  surprised  to  see  them  sit  until  the  punt, 
without  the  gunner,  was  within  forty  yards  of 
them  before  they  showed  any  signs  of  uneasi- 
ness.    Had   I   remained    on   board  the  little 
craft  they  would  not  have    allowed    her    to 
approach  within   a  hundred  yards  of  them. 
The  quieter  the  movements  of  the  puntsman 
and  the   more   he   keeps  out  of  sight  while 
'  setting  to '  fowl,  the  better  are  his  chances  of 
success.     Another  important  qualification  of 
the  fowler  is  the  power  of  estimating  distances 
correctly.     Water  and  sand  are  both  decep- 
tive with    regard    to    distance.     I  remember 
firing   eleven    shots   at    wigeon    one    stormy 
day  with  a  ten-bore   muzzle  loader,  heavily 
charged,  and  only  killing  one  bird.      As  soon 
as  I  saw  it  fall  it  dawned  upon  me  that  I  was 
shooting  at  too  great  a  distance.     At  certain 
times  wildfowl  are  extremely  restless  without 
any  apparent  reason.     Manoeuvre  as  cleverly 
as  you  may,  they  will  not  sit  long  enough  to 


allow  you  to  approach  within  range.  Under 
such  circumstances  it  is  best  to  leave  them 
alone,  for  if  you  get  a  shot  at  all  it  will 
probably  prove  a  long  one,  resulting  only  in 
your  wasting  more  ammunition  in  retrieving 
three  or  four  winged  birds,  while  on  the 
other  hand  you  may  have  scared  other  wild- 
fowl, that  under  more  favourable  conditions 
would  offer  good  sport.  I  have  long  observed 
that  fowl  of  the  night-feeding  kinds  are  most 
easily  approached  at  daybreak.  Like  most 
other  creatures  with  well-filled  stomachs,  they 
are  inclined  to  be  sleepy.  After  taking  a 
morning  bath  they  settle  down,  and  are  not 
so  easily  disturbed  as  at  other  times.  But  the 
gunner  who  wishes  to  take  advantage  of  this 
circumstance  must  be  willing  to  rise  early, 
for  he  must  get  into  his  punt  between  four 
and  six  in  the  morning  and  push  out  in  the 
dark  for  a  distance  of  two  or  three  miles,  until 
he  reaches  the  spot  where  he  expects  that  the 
wildfowl  will  alight  at  daybreak.  An  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  currents  of  the  tide- 
way is  indispensable  in  order  to  secure  even 
partial  success. 

Punting  upon  the  Solway  Firth  in  foggy 
weather  calls  for  the  exercise  of  a  more  than 
ordinary  degree  of  caution.  At  such  a  time 
the  fowler  can  safely  reckon  upon  getting 
near  enough  to  the  objects  of  his  pursuit  if  he 
can  find  them  without  losing  himself,  but  the 
latter  performance  is  by  far  the  easier  of  the 
two.  When  certain  species  of  wildfowl  have 
settled  during  the  prevalence  of  fog  they  are 
very  loth  to  stir,  but  if  once  they  become 
alarmed  and  take  wing  they  are  a  long  time 
before  they  settle  again.  My  mode  of  pro- 
cedure in  such  a  difficulty  is  to  steer  the  punt 
into  a  current  which  takes  a  fixed  course  and 
drift  with  it  to  the  place  where  I  expect  to 
find  fowl,  with  everything  ready  to  shoot, 
the  lanyard  fixed  to  the  trigger  being  held 
between  the  teeth.  This  means  that  the 
gunner  occupies  a  sitting  position,  with  both 
hands  at  liberty  to  keep  the  punt  in  the 
required  position,  ready  to  fire  the  instant 
that  the  birds  appear  in  sight.  On  i  Novem- 
ber, 1892,  a  very  foggy  day,  I  allowed  my 
punt  to  drift  with  a  strong  flood-tide  to  the 
place  where  I  expected  to  find  geese.  There 
I  lay  in  a  '  setting '  position,  straining  eyes 
and  ears  to  catch  the  least  indication  of  their 
whereabouts.  The  flap  of  a  wing  gave  me 
the  required  information.  Presently  about 
thirty  geese  loomed  out  of  the  mist  within 
easy  distance.  To  get  the  gun  to  bear  upon 
them  was  only  the  work  of  a  few  seconds. 
After  the  smoke  cleared  off  there  was  a  sight 
to  make  a  puntsman  glad  and  '  put  him  in  a 
splutter,'  as  we  say  in  Cumberland.  Three 


447 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


or  four  birds  were  pinioned,  and  one  made  off 
in  one  direction,  its  fellow  in  another.  It  was 
no  easy  matter  to  keep  the  cripples  in  sight 
until  they  could  be  stopped  with  a  shoulder 
gun,  especially  as  the  inrushing  tide  was 
covering  acres  of  level  sand,  while  thick  fog 
hung  all  around.  However  I  managed  to 
gather  up  fifteen  geese  and  lost  another.  It 
is  an  axiom  of  first  rate  importance  that  the 
gunner  must  never  allow  himself  to  lose  sight 
of  the  punt  in  a  mist,  unless  it  has  previously 
been  secured  to  a  bank  where  her  owner  is 
certain  of  finding  her  on  his  return.  I  have 
known  men  to  be  bewildered  in  the  fog  and 
to  leave  their  punts,  expecting  that  they  could 
grope  their  way  home  on  foot,  with  the 
result  that  they  lost  their  punts  and  failed  to 
find  their  way,  and  had  to  remain  upon  the 
marsh  until  they  attracted  the  attention  of 
their  friends  by  firing  their  shoulder  guns. 

Punt-gunning  by  moonlight  in  foggy 
weather  is  not  a  commendable  practice,  and 
can  only  be  carried  out  with  safety  under 
certain  special  conditions,  e.g.  when  both  tide 
and  moon  are  favourable.  I  have,  however, 
enjoyed  good  sport  with  barnacles  on  a  foggy 
night ;  indeed,  on  one  particular  evening  I 
killed  eighteen  of  these  geese  at  three  shots. 
The  best  chance  that  ever  offered  itself  I 
missed  by  having  an  empty  gun.  But  there 
is  the  risk  of  getting  uncomfortably  near  other 
fowlers  in  thick  weather.  I  have  had  more 
shots  flying  about  my  head  than  seemed  at  all 
desirable,  and  if  my  big  gun  had  happened  to 
have  been  fired  in  the  line  of  the  flight- 
shooter  who  fired  in  my  direction,  the  con- 
sequences would  have  proved  serious.  But 
though  the  sport  of  shooting  on  foggy  nights 
is  not  devoid  of  an  element  of  danger,  there 
is,  nevertheless,  a  peculiar  fascination  in  being 
out  in  the  midst  of  wildfowl  by  moonlight, 
whether  the  weather  be  dense  or  clear.  I 
have  only,  however,  found  shooting  on  the 
water  answer  on  the  flood-tide  up  to  high 
water.  As  soon  as  the  water  begins  to  ebb 
the  fowl  are  left  upon  the  marsh  or  mud  flats, 
which  are  as  a  rule  upon  a  dead  level,  scores 
of  acres  being  covered  at  high  water  with  ten 
or  twelve  inches  of  water,  which  ebbs  off 
very  quickly.  The  risk  of  being  left  stranded 
on  these  mud  flats  on  a  misty  winter  night  is 
not  worth  running,  and  one  experience  of 
this  kind  is  sufficient  in  a  lifetime.  On  the 
Solway  Firth  the  most  favourable  time  for 
night-fowling  is  from  i  o  p.m.  to  3  a.m.  The 
night  must  be  calm,  as  you  depend  almost 
entirely  upon  the  cries  of  the  fowl  to  direct 
your  course. 

Barnacle  geese  are  the  birds  that  offer  the 
best   night-shooting  upon  the  Solway  Firth, 


but  only  on  odd  occasions  can  they  be  found 
sufficiently  closely  packed  together  to  offer 
the  chance  of  a  raking  shot.  I  have  made 
good  bags  of  mallard  occasionally  during  the 
night,  but  only  during  hard  frost.  Mallard 
do  not  frequent  the  salt  marshes  of  the  Waver 
and  Wampool,  unless  previously  driven  from 
their  customary  feeding  grounds  by  sharp 
frost.  One  evening  in  1892,  when  a  heavy 
fall  of  snow  was  followed  by  severe  frost,  I 
started  from  home  about  9  p.m.,  the  moon 
and  tide  being  favourable,  with  the  intention 
of  shooting  barnacle  geese,  as  I  knew  that 
these  birds  were  in  the  neighbourhood.  I 
had  only  proceeded  about  two  miles  up  the 
marsh  when  a  shore-shooter  fired  a  shot  at 
the  geese.  I  then  saw  that  my  prospects 
of  sport  were  poor,  so  turned  homewards  ; 
shortly  after,  I  shot  a  goose  with  my  shoulder- 
gun  out  of  the  flock  disturbed  by  the  shore- 
shooter. 

After  proceeding  another  hundred  yards,  I 
moored  the  punt  and  listened.  A  wild  duck 
called  in  a  manner  that  indicated  that  she  was 
not  alone.  Dropping  into  position  as  quickly 
and  noiselessly  as  possible,  I  '  set  to '  where 
the  sound  came  from,  and  could  soon  hear 
the  ducks  feeding  on  the  only  piece  of  green 
ground  in  the  neighbourhood.  At  first  only 
one  or  two  fowl  were  visible,  but  I  gave  a 
low  call  and  the  birds  left  the  dark  ground 
and  entered  the  water.  After  giving  a  loud 
shout  I  fired,  and  picked  up  nine  mallards. 
Shortly  after  this  I  heard  geese  alighting  on 
the  marsh  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from 
where  I  was.  It  being  ebb  tide,  it  was  use- 
less to  try  to  get  near  them  with  the  punt. 
After  making  her  fast,  I  took  the  shoulder-gun 
and  tried  to  stalk  them.  After  a  long  per- 
spiring crawl  I  managed  to  get  to  what 
seemed  to  be  a  proper  distance  for  shooting 
purposes.  The  edge  of  the  marsh  happened 
to  be  very  rough  and  slippery,  hence  the 
instant  that  I  pulled  the  trigger  I  fell  down, 
both  barrels  going  off  together.  As  the  gun 
was  a  ten-bore  muzzle  loader,  loaded  with  6 
drachms  of  powder  and  2  ounces  of  shot  to 
each  barrel,  I  felt  strange  sensations  for  a  few 
seconds.  Before  ascertaining  how  the  geese 
had  fared  I  looked  for  the  gun,  thinking  to 
myself  that  if  the  birds  had  been  hit  as  hard 
as  I  had  there  must  be  some  fowl  to  pick  up. 
Sure  enough  I  gathered  four  geese,  making  a 
total  bag  for  the  evening  of  five  geese  and 
nine  mallards. 

I  now  propose  to  enumerate  some  of  the 
different  species  of  wildfowl  which  I  have 
shot  upon  the  Solway  Firth. 

Bewick's  Swan.  The  punt-gunner  has,  of 
all  men,  the  most  numerous  opportunities  of 


448 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


observing  the  movements  of  these  birds,  both 
in  flight  and  when  resting  on  the  sands  of  the 
Solway  Firth.  When  they  arrive  upon  the 
estuary  they  almost  invariably  alight  on  the 
sand  and  then  walk  into  the  water  to  wash 
and  dress  their  spotless  white  plumage.  They 
appear  to  visit  the  estuaries  in  the  daytime 
almost  exclusively.  Although  I  have  tramped 
about  the  shores  of  the  Solway  at  all  hours  of 
the  night  for  upwards  of  thirty  years,  it  has 
only  been  my  privilege  to  hear  the  notes  of 
wild  swans  in  the  night-time  on  three  dif- 
ferent occasions.  The  first  instance  occurred 
at  an  unusual  season  of  the  year  for  swans  to 
visit  tidal  waters,  namely,  in  the  month  of 
July.  Three  of  us  were  crossing  the  sand  on 
our  way  to  Anthorn  to  fish,  when  we  were 
startled  by  hearing  an  unusual  sound  about  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  off,  in  the  direction  of  a 
scaur  well  known  to  us.  The  hour  was 
between  one  and  two  on  a  Monday  morning. 
None  of  us  could  make  out  what  the  strange 
sound  could  be.  I  have  never  heard  it  since. 
It  resembled  the  short  loud  hiss  of  a  steam 
engine  when  blowing  off  steam,  and  we  con- 
cluded (while  making  our  way  in  the  direc- 
tion from  which  it  came)  that  it  must  be  a 
stranded  whale,  and  were  already  discussing 
the  best  method  of  securing  and  disposing  of 
the  animal,  when  to  our  disappointment  we 
saw  a  large  white  swan  rise  off  the  scaur.  To 
what  species  it  belonged  I  cannot  say.  Its 
voice  in  the  night  sounded  anything  but 
canny,  and  had  we  not  distinctly  seen  the 
bird  we  should  have  felt  persuaded  that  some 
strange  animal  must  be  in  the  neighbourhood. 
Another  night,  about  the  middle  of  February, 
1901,  having  occasion  to  take  observations  of 
the  weather  before  retiring  to  rest,  I  was 
delighted  to  hear  in  the  darkness  the  well 
known  musical  notes  of  the  Bewick's  swan 
uttered  by  birds  flying  over  the  houses 
towards  the  sea.  At  daybreak  on  the  follow- 
ing morning,  while  drifting  with  the  flood- 
tide,  I  got  within  thirty  yards  of  five  Bewick's 
swans,  which  I  conjectured  must  have  been 
the  birds  which  I  had  heard  in  the  darkness 
the  previous  night.  I  did  not  attempt  to 
shoot  them,  as  I  expected  to  find  either  geese 
or  wild  duck  in  the  vicinity.  Of  all  the 
species  of  web-footed  birds  that  have  fallen  to 
my  gun,  swans  are  the  least  difficult  to 
approach  in  a  punt  unless  you  come  across 
one  or  two  odd  birds  that  have  already  been 
shot  at,  in  which  case  they  seem  to  under- 
stand the  nature  of  the  suspicious-looking 
object  which  is  gradually  drifting  towards 
them,  and  make  off  to  some  safer  quarter. 
During  thirty  years'  punt-gunning  and  shore- 
shooting  I  have  only  killed  eight  wild  swans; 


but  then  I  never  searched  specially  for  them, 
and  usually  spared  them  when  found.  But 
on  the  first  day  of  March,  1901,  being  my 
last  shot  on  the  last  day  of  the  open  season,  I 
killed  five  Bewick's  swans,  three  old  birds  and 
two  cygnets,  out  of  a  herd  of  thirty,  which  is 
the  largest  I  have  met  with.  It  would  have 
been  easy  to  have  killed  double  the  number, 
had  I  felt  anxious  to  do  so.  The  morning 
was  wild  and  showery,  with  a  keen  east  wind 
blowing.  The  position  in  which  I  found  the 
birds  was  all  that  could  be  wished  for.  All 
seafowl  when  exposed  in  the  water  set  head 
to  wind.  Had  not  the  water  been  shallow 
and  the  punt  looking  right  in  the  wind's 
eye,  I  could  not  have  kept  her  from  filling 
with  water.  The  swans  were  packed  close 
together,  with  five  cygnets  in  the  rear.  They 
allowed  me  to  approach  as  near  as  was  desir- 
able, and  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  pinioned 
bird,  I  allowed  them  to  open  out,  wishing  to 
take  them  as  they  rose  upon  the  wing.  The 
report  of  my  gun  so  alarmed  them  that  at 
first  sight  it  seemed  as  if  I  had  killed  half  the 
flock.  They  floundered  and  splashed  on  the 
water  in  their  haste  to  escape,  calling  loudly 
to  one  another.  I  never  was  anxious  to  shoot 
swans,  and  after  what  I  saw  of  these,  I  am 
less  desirous  of  doing  so  than  I  was  previously. 
After  their  first  alarm  had  abated  they  soon 
discovered  that  some  of  their  companions 
were  missing,  and  returned  to  the  spot,  call- 
ing piteously  to  their  dead  mates  to  rejoin 
them,  and  evidently  wondering  why  they 
failed  to  do  so.  These  birds  do  not  as  a  rule 
stay  long  upon  the  Solway,  the  food  procur- 
able upon  the  marshes  being  less  palatable 
than  the  roots  and  fibres  of  aquatic  plants 
obtained  in  loughs  inland.  Bewick's  swans 
were  more  numerous  upon  the  Solway  Firth 
during  the  winter  of  1892—3  than  at  any 
other  time  within  my  recollection.  On 
3  December,  1892,  I  saw  two  flocks  of 
Bewick's  swans  on  the  wing  at  one  and  the 
same  time  ;  the  first  herd  consisted  of  twenty- 
four  birds,  the  other  of  twelve.  On  2  January, 
1893, 1  observed  five  birds  of  the  same  species. 
On  2  February  I  saw  two  birds.  On  1 1  March 
that  year  I  observed  eleven  Bewick's  swans  ; 
they  were  flying  due  east. 

Whooper  Swan.  This  bird  visits  the  Sol- 
way  Firth  less  frequently  than  its  smaller 
relative.  I  have  never  shot  a  whooper,  but 
I  observed  five  birds  of  this  species  on 
22  January,  1892.  No  doubt  I  may  have 
met  with  others  when  in  pursuit  of  duck,  but 
these  were  the  only  whoopers  that  I  carefully 
identified. 

Polish  Swan.  Whether  this  bird  deserves 
to  rank  as  a  separate  species  or  only  as  a 


ii 


449 


57 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


variety  of  the  mute  swan  is  a  matter  of 
opinion.  It  occasionally  visits  the  Solway 
Firth.  Four  Polish  swans  were  shot  upon 
the  waters  of  the  Solway  Firth  in  January, 
1892,  and  of  this  number  one  was  shot  by 
myself  on  the  fiftenth  of  the  month.  It  was 
a  male  and  weighed  1 8  Ib. 

Grey  Lag  Goose.  The  grey  lag  is  seldom 
present  in  any  numbers  upon  our  marshes  ; 
only  once  have  birds  of  this  species  afforded 
me  sport  when  punt-gunning.  On  21  De- 
cember, 1900,  when  shooting  with  another 
punt-gunner,  I  came  across  a  gaggle  of  about 
twenty  birds,  which  having  satisfied  their 
appetites  upon  the  marsh  were  now  resting 
high  and  dry  upon  a  mud  bank.  We  had  to 
wait  a  considerable  time  for  the  tide  to  float 
our  punts  near  the  geese,  but  before  we  could 
approach  within  range  the  flood-tide  reached 
the  fowl  and  drove  them  in  a  thin  line  before 
our  guns.  My  mate's  gun  missed  fire.  I 
killed  four  birds,  one  of  which  was  afterwards 
preserved  for  the  Carlisle  Museum.  These 
grey  lags  had  apparently  no  previous  experi- 
ence of  powder  and  shot ;  certainly  they  were 
remarkably  tame.  Some  few  years  earlier  a 
gaggle  of  six  birds  of  the  same  species 
appeared  upon  the  Solway  marshes.  The 
punt-gunner  who  first  fell  in  with  them  had 
an  opportunity  of  killing  all  six,  but  his  gun 
happened  to  miss  fire.  He  fell  in  with  them 
a  second  time  and  killed  one  of  their  number. 
The  other  five  remained  in  the  vicinity  about 
a  fortnight,  but  were  quite  unapproachable. 
I  tried  to  stalk  them  on  several  occasions,  but 
they  had  learnt  wisdom  by  the  misfortune  of 
their  companion,  and  were  not  to  be  outwitted. 

White-fronted  Goose.  This  species,  like  the 
last,  is  an  uncommon  visitor  to  the  Solway 
Firth.  Early  in  January,  1890,  a  gaggle  of 
nine  grey  geese  arrived  in  our  neighbourhood. 
On  the  sixth  of  the  month  I  observed  these 
birds  alight  upon  the  marsh,  and  managed, 
after  a  good  deal  of  exertion,  to  cross  a  stretch 
of  rough  water  and  enter  a  narrow  creek.  I 
waited  in  the  punt  until  the  tide  lifted  her 
above  the  level  of  the  marsh.  Being  then 
within  easy  distance  of  the  geese,  I  fired  and 
bagged  nine  white-fronted  geese  of  various 
ages.  This  was  a  red-letter  day.  I  have 
shot  single  birds  on  one  or  two  occasions,  but 
have  never  killed  any  number  except  on  the 
occasion  just  referred  to. 

Bean  Goose.  Hitherto  the  most  plentiful 
goose  upon  the  marshes  near  Skinburness  has 
been  the  bean  goose.  This  bird,  though  a 
common  winter  visitor,  affords  but  indifferent 
sport  to  the  wildfowler,  who  too  often 
experiences  the  bitter  truth  of  the  Cumbrian 
adage,  '  Thee's  gone  on  a  wild  goose  chase.' 


Bean  geese  are  easily  shot,  however,  if  found 
near  the  water.  They  are  very  partial  to 
the  same  certain  patches  of  the  marsh,  and 
may  be  found  upon  the  same  ground  for 
several  successive  winters.  The  old  race  of 
wildfowlers  used  to  say  that  it  was  useless  to 
go  out  shooting  wild  geese  upon  the  marsh 
before  midnight.  I  am  inclined  to  think  that 
they  were  not  far  wrong.  These  geese  as  a 
rule  fly  inland  at  daybreak,  returning  to  feed 
upon  the  marshes  during  the  night  and  early 
morning. 

Pink-footed  Goose.  Large  flocks  of  pink- 
footed  geese  have  latterly  frequented  Rock- 
liffe  Marsh,  but  this  bird  is  curiously  local  in 
its  preferences.  I  have  never  shot  any  birds 
of  this  species  with  my  punt-gun,  and  have 
only  killed  odd  birds  with  the  shoulder-gun. 
A  bird  which  I  shot  on  22  January,  1891, 
only  weighed  4  Ib.  14  oz.,  but  another  was 
shot  on  Rockliffe  Marsh  which  turned  the 
scales  at  8^  Ib. 

Brent  Goose.  Small  gaggles  of  brent  geese 
visit  the  foreshores  of  the  Solway  Firth,  but  I 
can  only  recall  a  single  occasion  upon  which 
I  met  with  a  large  flock  of  these  birds. 

Barnacle  Goose.  The  most  abundant  goose 
upon  the  marshes  of  the  Solway  Firth  is  the 
barnacle  goose.  Birds  of  this  species  usually 
arrive  in  the  neighbourhood  of  our  estuaries 
about  the  first  week  of  October  and  remain 
until  the  middle  and  sometimes  the  end  of 
April.  When  almost  every  other  species  of 
wildfowl  has  left  the  Solway,  either  on 
account  of  persecution  or  severe  weather,  the 
barnacle  goose  is  still  present  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  call  forth  the  skill  and  defy  the 
craft  of  the  wildfowler.  I  imagined  for  many 
years  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  shoot 
barnacle  geese  from  a  punt  in  daylight.  I 
still  find  it  a  difficult  feat,  except  when 
performed  under  certain  special  conditions. 
On  22  January,  1901,  while  waiting  until 
the  tide  should  float  my  punt  out  of  a 
creek  into  which  I  had  managed  to  get  un- 
observed, I  saw  a  flock  of  250  or  300  of 
these  geese  fly  off  the  marsh  and  settle  upon  a 
mud  bank  near  the  spot  where  I  lay  con- 
cealed. Presently  they  commenced  to  walk 
in  my  direction.  By  the  time  that  the  tide 
raised  the  punt  above  the  level  of  the  creek- 
edge,  the  geese  in  the  rear  were  passing 
at  too  great  a  distance  to  admit  of  much 
execution  being  done,  but  as  it  was  a  case  of 
taking  this  chance  or  none  I  fired  and  bagged 
half  a  dozen  birds.  The  best  shot  at  these 
birds  which  I  ever  enjoyed  was  obtained  on 
12  December,  1892.  Starting  between  five 
and  six  in  the  morning,  in  company  with 
another  punt-gunner,  we  worked  our  way  up 


450 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


the  estuary,  but  meeting  with  two  small 
flocks  of  geese  in  flight,  we  concluded  that 
these  birds  had  all  left  their  feeding  grounds. 
We  therefore  separated,  proceeding  in  oppo- 
site directions.  We  had  not  parted  more  than 
fifteen  minutes  when  I  observed  a  dark  line  in 
the  distance  between  the  approaching  daylight 
and  myself.  I  immediately  settled  into  posi- 
tion and  soon  discovered  that  the  dark  object 
was  a  flock  of  barnacle  geese.  I  shaped  my 
course  to  a  scaur  which  was  strewn  with  large 
stones  two  or  three  feet  high,  knowing  that  if 
once  I  could  gain  the  shadow  of  these 
stones  the  rest  would  be  comparatively  easy. 
Working  nicely  within  range  of  about  150 
geese,  I  soon  placed  a  pound  of  number 
one  shot  in  their  midst,  and  had  the  satis- 
faction of  bagging  thirty-eight  birds,  besides 
two  cripples  which  I  secured  the  following 
morning.  My  friend,  the  late  Rev.  H.  A. 
Macpherson,  informed  me  of  a  tantalizing 
experience  that  befell  a  local  wildfowler 
named  Smith  in  January,  1895,  when  the 
Wampool  and  Waver  were  full  of  floating 
ice.  He  donned  a  white  shirt  and  white  cap, 
covered  his  punt  with  snow,  and  paddled 
down  the  Wampool  an  hour  before  the  tide 
had  ceased  to  ebb.  At  first  the  ruse  seemed 
likely  to  succeed,  for  he  fell  in  with  a  flock  of 
barnacle  geese,  but  just  as  he  had  worked 
within  about  80  yards  of  the  birds  his  punt 
went  aground  upon  a  great  block  of  ice.  He 
tried  to  push  forward  and  he  attempted 
to  retreat,  but  he  found  his  punt  was  fast. 
Even  then  he  might  have  killed  a  few  birds, 
but  he  wanted  to  rake  the  whole  flock.  He 
therefore  made  up  his  mind  to  wait  for  the 
tide  to  flow.  When  the  tide  turned  it  moved 
his  punt,  but  only  turned  her  round,  so  that 
the  gun  pointed  up  stream,  while  the  birds 
were  now  behind  him  ;  before  he  could  right 
her  position  the  entire  gaggle  of  geese  rose  off 
the  sands  and  flew  away.  The  unsuccessful 
fowler  expressed  an  opinion  that  had  his 
efforts  prospered  he  would  have  made  '  sic  a 
mollment  of  them  ! '  Thomas  Peal  killed  six- 
teen barnacle  geese  with  his  shoulder-gun 
upon  Newton  Marsh,  7  February,  1894,  in 
two  shots.  A  westerly  gale  was  blowing  at 
the  time  with  heavy  rain.  The  wildfowler 
wormed  his  way  on  foot  up  the  creeks  until 
he  got  close  to  the  birds,  killing  nine  birds 
at  one  shot  and  seven  at  another.  He 
returned  home  at  the  end  of  the  day  with 
nineteen  dead  geese  and  one  winged  bird.  It 
rarely  happens  that  such  a  large  bag  of  these 
geese  is  made  during  the  day,  but  the  late 
Alfred  Smith,  an  enthusiastic  sportsman  and 
good  naturalist,  made  some  very  good  bags 
on  Rockliffe  Marsh.  He  and  three  brother 


gunners  together  shot  seventeen  barnacle 
geese  on  that  marsh  one  evening  in  Novem- 
ber, 1883.  He  often  related  how  on  a 
certain  memorable  occasion  he  crawled  a  long 
distance  along  the  side  of  the  Eden,  in  pur- 
suit of  a  flock  of  these  geese.  Unfortunately, 
just  as  he  got  within  range  of  the  birds,  he 
stepped  into  a  dangerous  quicksand,  from 
which  he  extricated  himself  with  the  greatest 
difficulty.  In  the  struggle  to  release  himself 
his  gun  became  choked  with  wet  sand,  and 
he  had  the  mortification  of  observing  the 
birds  at  close  quarters  without  being  able  to 
bag  one  of  their  number. 

Mallard.  The  bird  which  affords  the  best 
sport  to  the  wildfowler  in  Cumberland  is  the 
mallard  or  common  wild  duck,  and  I  rejoice 
to  say  that  this  bird  appears  to  be  upon  the 
increase.  On  referring  to  my  notes  I  find 
that  the  number  of  wild  duck  which  fell  to 
my  gun  in  the  winter  of  1900—1  exceeded 
the  bags  of  previous  seasons  by  the  substantial 
majority  of  sixty-five.  For  many  years  these 
birds  were  less  plentiful  upon  the  Solway 
Firth  than  wigeon.  The  time  at  which 
mallards  arrive  varies  with  the  particular 
season.  In  some  years  my  best  bags  have 
been  secured  between  the  middle  and  end  of 
November.  In  1900,  on  the  other  hand, 
mallard  were  more  numerous  during  the 
month  of  February  than  they  had  ever  been 
before,  at  least  in  my  own  experience.  The 
immense  extent  of  sand  which  is  exposed  at 
low  water  makes  it  difficult  for  the  wild- 
fowler to  get  a  shot  at  any  large  flocks  which 
may  be  present.  Again,  at  high  water  there 
are  so  many  small  bunches  of  wild  ducks 
scattered  about  that  it  is  very  difficult  to  reach 
the  big  flocks  without  alarming  these  out- 
posts, which  if  disturbed  communicate  their 
alarm  to  the  main  bodies.  I  have  met  with 
so  many  reverses  in  shooting  mallard  that  I 
now  make  it  my  rule  to  shoot  the  first  small 
bunch  that  comes  within  range,  as  half  a 
dozen  mallards  in  the  punt  are  worth  a  dozen 
on  the  water.  The  most  difficult  bird  to 
retrieve  when  pinioned  is  a  female  wild  duck. 
If  the  water  happens  to  be  rough  the  chances 
are  that,  when  once  she  has  gone  under,  you 
will  never  see  her  again,  for  when  she  rises  to 
the  surface  to  breathe  her  body  will  be  still 
submerged  and  only  her  bill  will  appear.  The 
mallards  which  frequent  the  shores  of  the 
Solway  Firth  in  hard  weather  may  often  be 
seen  at  the  entrance  to  small  runners  of 
water,  in  which  they  obtain  small  shell-fish. 
The  dietary  of  those  that  I  have  opened  has 
generally  proved  to  consist  of  small  and 
decayed  potatoes,  grain,  beans,  worms,  and 
minute  species  of  shellfish. 


451 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Wigeon.  Wigeon  used  at  one  time  to 
afford  first-class  shooting  on  the  Solway 
marshes,  both  to  the  flight-shooters  and  punt- 
gunners.  The  numbers  of  these  birds  have 
fallen  off  latterly,  probably  owing  to  the 
incessant  persecution  to  which  they  are  sub- 
jected. I  find  however  that  when  the  feed- 
ing ground  is  really  good,  wigeon  are  still 
fairly  numerous.  The  finest  sport  that  I  ever 
obtained  with  wigeon  was  in  the  winter  of 
1890-1,  that  of  1900-1  being  our  next  best 
season.  The  fact  is  that,  barring  excessive 
shooting,  such  as  scares  birds  away,  wigeon 
will  be  found  wherever  new  marsh  is  being 
formed.  The  largest  bag  that  I  procured  last 
winter  consisted  of  twenty-eight  birds. 

Pintail.  This  handsome  duck  occurs 
almost  annually,  but  only  in  very  small  num- 
bers. I  met  with  twenty  individuals  in  six 
seasons  and  have  shot  a  few  old  males  in  very 
perfect  livery. 

Gad-wall.  The  gadwall  is  one  of  the 
rarest  of  the  wildfowl  that  visit  the  Solway 


Firth.  I  have  very  seldom  met  with  it.  One 
of  the  finest  old  drakes  that  I  have  ever  seen 
was  a  bird  which  I  shot  out  of  a  bunch  of 
wigeon,  8  January,  1892.  I  have  killed 
others  with  my  shoulder-gun  when  flighting 
over  the  marshes,  but  the  bird  just  mentioned 
was  procured  with  the  punt-gun. 

Various  Wildfowl.  I  have  of  course  shot 
many  teal,  shovelers,  scaup,  tufted  ducks, 
common  scoters,  goldeneyes,  pochards,  shel- 
drakes, and  at  rare  intervals  a  few  velvet 
scoters  and  long-tailed  ducks  upon  the  waters 
of  the  Solway  Firth.  In  some  years  large 
numbers  of  scaups  and  common  scoters  con- 
gregate in  Silloth  Bay.  Goldeneyes  are  more 
numerous  on  the  higher  reaches  of  the  Solway 
Firth  than  in  my  own  immediate  neighbour- 
hood. They  are  sometimes  killed  in  fair 
numbers  by  the  Port  Carlisle  punt-gunners. 
Smews  and  goosanders  rarely  visit  the 
Waver  or  Wampool,  but  the  red-breasted 
merganser  is  not  uncommon  in  the  winter 
season. 


FOULMART  HUNTING 


Hunting  the  foulmart l  (Putorius  putorius) 
was  once  a  popular  sport  in  many  districts  in 
the  county.  As  there  was  no  need  for  the  em- 
ployment of  horses,  the  expenses  connected 
with  it  were  so  moderate  that  they  were  within 
easy  reach  of  almost  everybody.  A  good  stick 
and  a  stout  pair  of  legs  may  be  named  as  the 
chief  articles  of  equipment  for  the  day's  re- 
creation. When  the  fashion  for  this  sort  of 
hunting  arose,  the  sport  came  natural  and 
ready  to  the  hand  of  the  Borderer  whose 
ancestors  had  been  accustomed  to  track  the 
moss-troopers  across  the  wastes  of  Bewcastle 
and  the  Debatable  Land  with  the  aid  of 
sleuth-hounds  kept  for  that  purpose.  The 
Border  freeholder,  who  farmed  his  ancestral 
acres  and  acted  as  his  own  gamekeeper,  was 
notoriously  partial  to  good  hounds,  so  that 
the  formation  of  a  pack  in  any  village  or 
countryside  was  not  a  difficult  process,  es- 
pecially if  the  movement  was  started,  as  it 
often  was,  on  the  principle  of  co-operation. 
At  all  events  the  foulmart  was  destined  for 
almost  a  century  to  afford  pastime  to  a 

1  The  foulmart  is  so  named  from  the  strong  odour 
of  its  scent  to  distinguish  it  from  the  clean  mart 
or  sweetmart.  It  is  sometimes  called  the  pole- 
cat. It  was  known  in  Dr.  Heysham's  time  as  the 
'  fitchet  or  foulmart.'  In  the  vernacular  it  is 
usually  pronounced  '  foomat '  with  a  decided  ac- 
cent on  the  first  syllable.  James  Clarke  tells  us 
that  Roger  Ascham  called  it  '  the  fumart'  (Survey 
of  the  Lakes,  p.  193,  ed.  1789). 


large  number  of  people  throughout  the  county. 
The  history  of  the  sport  cannot  be  said  to 
date  back  to  any  antiquity.  Up  to  the  middle 
of  the  eighteenth  century  the  foulmart  was 
reckoned  as  vermin  and  ranked  with  the 
raven,  the  falcon,  the  fox,  the  badger  or 
brock,  to  be  shot  or  trapped  as  occasion  of- 
fered, and  a  reward  was  ready  for  the  slayer 
when  his  head  or  his  skin  was  presented  to 
the  authorities  of  the  neighbouring  parish. 
In  the  accounts  of  several  parishes  in  the 
county  the  churchwardens  are  credited  with 
varying  sums  which  they  paid  over  as  head 
money  for  the  slaughter  of  these  animals. 
As  late  as  1794,  Dr.  John  Heysham  had 
nothing  to  say  of  the  foulmart  as  a  beast  of 
venery,  though  he  mentioned  that  the  otter 
was  '  frequently  hunted  by  hounds  trained 
for  the  purpose.'  Its  characteristic  qualities 
in  the  eyes  of  that  eminent  naturalist  seemed 
to  have  been  confined  to  its  predatory  or 
destructive  habits.  'It  preyed  by  night,' 
he  said,  'and  was  extremely  destructive  to 
poultry  and  young  game  of  all  kinds  ;  in 
winter  it  approached  the  villages  where  it 
committed  great  depredations  in  farmyards.'  * 
A  zoological  observer,  3  who  visited  Keswick 
in  1803,  has  stated  that  'the  foul  and  sweet 
marts  (as  is  the  provincial  expression  for  the 

*  Hutchinson,  History  of  Cumberland,  i.  2,  'Cat- 
alogue of  Cumberland  Animals.' 
3  Observations  chiefly  Lithological. 


452 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


marten)  are  very  common  here,  and  are  val- 
uable on  account  of  their  skins.  The  first 
sells  for  eightpence  in  the  market,  and  the 
latter  for  four  shillings  and  sixpence.'  In 
these  circumstances  it  is  open  to  question, 
in  the  absence  of  actual  evidence,  whether 
the  foulmart  was  viewed  as  an  object  of 
sport  before  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  We  have  not  noticed  any  record 
of  it.  Be  that  as  it  may,  from  the  oral  testi- 
mony of  persons  still  living,  we  can  carry 
back  the  traditions  of  foulmart  hunting  as 
a  sport  till  within  a  few  years  of  1800.  For 
instance,  Mrs.  Stordy  of  Thurstonfield,  now 
in  her  eighty-seventh  year,  the  wife  and  mother 
of  foulmart  hunters,  remembers  well  that  the 
sport  evoked  the  enthusiasm  of  that  district 
when  she  was  '  quite  a  little  girl.'  From 
the  evidence  before  us  we  may  conclude 
that  this  form  of  pastime  was  a  creation  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  Old  sportsmen  used 
to  look  back  to  the  '  fifties '  and  '  sixties ' 
as  the  halcyon  days  of  foulmart  hunting  in 
Cumberland.  As  the  practice  has  been  ex- 
tinct for  ten  years  or  so,  it  may  be  said  that 
the  sport  was  peculiar  to  the  Victorian  era. 
One  never  hears  nowadays  of  a  hunt.  The 
animal  is  very  scarce  and  the  keenest  hunts- 
men shake  their  heads  when  you  suggest 
the  possibility  of  the  revival  of  the  recrea- 
tion. 

It  is  a  debatable  point  among  sportsmen 
whether  the  night  or  early  morning  was  the 
best  time  for  hunting  the  foulmart.  The 
advocates  of  a  '  good  moonlight  night '  con- 
tend that  as  the  '  quarry '  was  only  abroad 
between  sundown  and  sunrise  the  practice 
could  not  be  reckoned  a  sport  unless  there 
was  a  possibility  of  seeing  the  game  and 
killing  it  before  it  reached  its  lair  or  hiding 
place.  It  was  under  the  encouraging  light  of 
the  moon,  they  say,  '  that  the  drag  was 
hottest,  and  the  pace  was  breakneck*  as  the 
hounds  gave  tongue  that  they  were  in  touch 
with  the  game.  Our  inquiries  lead  us  to  the 
belief  that  most  of  the  hunting  in  Cumberland 
was  done  in  the  early  hours  of  the  morning. 
The  scent  remained  on  the  ground  from  eight 
to  ten  hours,  and  at  certain  times  of  the  year, 
or  on  a  damp  morning,  for  a  much  longer 
time.  The  months  'with  the  "r's"  in  them.' 
that  is,  the  months  from  September  to  April, 
were  considered  the  best.  But  the  month 
which  ranked  foremost  was  April,  for  it  was 
then  the  foulmart  left  the  heaviest  '  drag '  be- 
hind him :  it  was  the  rutting  season  when 
'  hob,'  or  the  dog  foulmart  was  apt  to  wander 
a  great  distance  during  the  night  in  search 
of  a  mate.  It  was  the  habit  of  John  Peel, 
the  famous  Cumberland  foxhunter,  as  soon  as 


the  hunting  season  was  over,  that  is,  about 
the  end  of  March,  to  pick  out  half  a  dozen 
of  the  older  deep-toned  foxhounds  and  to 
continue  his  sport  in  hunting  the  foulmart  till 
the  middle  of  May.  This  mighty  hunter 
was  in  favour  of  employing  the  slow  hounds 
of  his  pack  for  the  purpose.  In  the  depth  of 
winter,  when  the  weather  was  too  cold  for 
otter  hunting,  some  of  the  hounds  were  turned 
on  to  the  foulmart  with  more  or  less  success. 
But  the  more  experienced  sportsmen  say  that 
hounds  should  be  trained  specially  for  the  foul- 
mart,  as  foxhounds  and  otter  hounds  never 
become  experts  in  this  kind  of  sport.  Any 
hound  with  a  good  nose  may  afford  a  pleasant 
outing  to  the  generality  of  people,  but  'sport ' 
can  only  be  obtained  by  the  employment  of 
the  foulmart  hound.  The  number  of  hounds 
varied  according  to  the  nature  of  the  ground 
and  the  idiosyncrasy  of  the  huntsman.  Some 
authorities  advocate  as  many  as  eight  couples ; 
but  as  a  rule  it  had  been  found  that  two 
couples  with  a  good  terrier  were  quite  suffi- 
cient to  make  satisfactory  sport. 

The  genius  of  the  foulmart  hound  was 
tested  to  the  best  advantage  when  the  trail 
was  struck  '  heel-way,'  that  is  to  say,  when  the 
hounds  took  up  the  scent  and  ran  in  the  di- 
rection from  which  the  '  quarry  '  had  come, 
and  not  in  the  direction  in  which  it  had 
gone.  In  morning  hunting  this  contingency 
was  always  possible.  If  hounds  accustomed  to 
hunting  the  otter  or  the  fox  were  employed,  one 
might  follow  the  chase  for  hours  and  find 
at  the  finish  that  he  had  arrived  at  the  spot 
in  which  the  foulmart  had  slept  through 
the  previous  day. 

Mr.  Henry  C.  Howard  has  recorded  some 
curious  incidents  l  which  illustrate  the  lu- 
dicrous aspect  of  the  sport.  He  relates  that 
'  the  hounds  on  being  let  out  of  the  kennels 
struck  a  drag  at  once,  and  a  long  run  ensued, 
finishing  on  Skiddaw,  or,  as  he  should  per- 
haps have  said,  beginning  there,  as  it  was 
from  Skiddaw  that  the  quarry  had  started  on 
her  wanderings :  so  the  return  journey  had  to 
be  undertaken,  and  on  arrival  at  the  kennels 
the  foulmart  was  discovered  actually  lying  under 
the  building  from  which  the  hounds  had  set  off 
in  the  morning  ! '  One  day  at  Isel,  so  Mr.  F. 
Wybergh  informed  him,  a  foulmart  bolted 
out  of  a  stone-heap,  and  was  immediately 
killed.  Directly  afterwards  the  hounds  went 
on  the  scent  for  a  distance  of  four  miles  over 
the  Haigh,  nearly  to  Cockermouth,  and 
straight  back  to  the  same  stone-heap  where 
they  had  killed  in  the  morning,  thus  killing 


1  The  Badminton  Magazine  of  Sports  and  Pastimei, 
May,  1900,  No.  58,  pp.  524-31. 


453 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


the  beast  first  and  hunting  it  afterwards. 
On  another  occasion  Mr.  Wybergh,  at  the 
request  of  a  lady  living  near  Arkleby, 
brought  his  hounds  with  the  view  of  de- 
stroying a  foulmart  which  was  making  '  sad 
work  '  among  her  young  ducks.  The  hounds 
headed  off  from  a  cat-hole  in  the  barn  close 
by,  and,  after  a  long  run  at  a  good  pace, 
they  returned  to  the  same  cat-hole.  The 
hay  in  the  barn  was  then  moved,  and  Mr. 
Wybergh  had  the  satisfaction  of  killing  the 
largest  foulmart  he  ever  saw.  From  these 
incidents  it  may  be  gathered  that  the  train- 
ing of  the  foulmart  hound  became  an  object 
of  the  first  consideration. 

Mr.  Norman  Stordy  of  Thurstonfield, 
whose  family  has  been  foulmart  hunters  since 
hunting  came  into  fashion,  says  that  no 
hound  would  be  considered  worth  keeping 
unless  he  could  recover  himself  and  follow 
the  scent  '  toe-way.'  It  was  an  elementary 
principle  of  the  sport  that  a  good  hound 
was  never  deceived  in  his  direction.  If  he 
happened  to  strike  the  foil  or  scent  '  heel- 
way,'  he  would  soon  return  to  the  trail  and 
follow  it  where  it  was  hottest. 

Old  hunters  are  not  agreed  on  the  length 
of  time  that  the  scent  will  lie  on  the  ground 
in  favourable  weather.  We  have  one  tale, 
vouched  for  on  good  authority,  that  the  same 
foulmart  was  hunted  for  three  days  in  suc- 
cession, men  and  dogs  resting  at  night  and 
taking  up  the  drag  on  the  following  morning, 
till  at  last  the  beast  was  found  in  a  stone 
drain  and  slaughtered.  But  a  run  of  eight 
hours  was  sufficient  to  glut  the  appetite  of 
most  sportsmen.  The  late  Mr.  John  Jennings 
of  Thornby  Villa,  who  hunted  the  fox  in 
company  with  John  Peel,  once  took  the  drag 
of  a  foulmart  at  Miller  Moss,  to  the  west 
of  High  Pike,  and  ran  it  to  Sowerby  Row, 
and  from  thence  onwards  to  Middlesceugh, 
where  it  was  dug  out  of  a  hole  by  the  road 
side,  thus  covering  a  distance  of  about  twenty 
miles,  or  eight  miles  as  the  crow  flies.  One 
of  the  greatest  disappointments  Mr.  Stordy 
ever  had,  as  well  as  one  of  the  best  day's 
sport  he  remembers,  was  on  the  occasion  of 
a  run  from  Fisher's  Gill,  where  his  hounds 
came  upon  the  trail,  through  Aikton  and 
Drumleaning  to  Oulton  Moss.  After  two 
hours'  work  at  a  brisk  pace,  the  foulmart  when 
dug  out  was  discovered  to  be  a  bitch  with 
only  half  a  tail  !  As  females  were  exempt 
from  slaughter,  no  trophy  remains  to  signalize 
his  triumph  on  that  occasion.  It  was  no  un- 
usual experience  for  hunters  to  follow  the 
trail  from  daybreak,  or  4.30  a.m.,  till  late  in 
the  afternoon,  when  men  and  dogs  were 
obliged  to  desist  from  exhaustion. 


The  natural  features  of  the  country  were 
so  well  adapted  to  the  habits  of  the  foul- 
mart  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  in 
which  district  it  abounded  most.  It  was  found 
almost  everywhere.  Old  people  of  the  fell-sides 
say  that  they  were  so  plentiful  at  one  time  that 
the  farmers  had  to  shut  their  doors  in  order  to 
keep  them  out.  In  the  low-lying  tract  to 
the  west  of  Carlisle,  stretching  to  Maryport 
and  Silloth,  so  full  of  marsh  and  moss,  rough 
ground  and  damp  woods,  the  foulmart  bred  in 
abundance.  This  district  was  perhaps  the 
most  notable  in  the  county  for  this  kind  of 
sport.  Several  packs  of  hounds  hunted  in- 
discriminately over  that  area.  There  were 
one  or  two  packs  at  Carlisle,  and  packs'  at 
Thurstonfield,  Wigton  and  Aspatria.  There 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  under- 
standing between  the  sportsmen  as  to  a 
division  of  territory,  though  the  Aspatria 
hounds  usually  threw^  off  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Allonby.  In  the  central  district,  the 
pack  kept  by  the  Rev.  C.  H.  Wybergh,  for 
fifty  years  vicar  of  Isel  near  Cockermouth, 
enjoyed  a  sporting  reputation  second  to  none 
in  Cumberland.  In  the  south-west,  packs 
hunted  in  Ennerdale  and  Eskdale,  and  in  the 
east,  at  Alston,  but  they  do  not  appear  to  have 
been  as  well  established  as  those  which 
hunted  in  the  great  plain  of  the  county. 
We  believe  that  Mr.  Stordy's  was  the  last 
pack  to  go  out  of  existence. 

It  is  little  wonder  that  foulmarts  have 
become  very  scarce  in  the  county  when  we 
consider  the  numbers  killed  during  one  hunt- 
ing season.  It  is  said  that  the  late  Mr.  Isaac 
Stordy  was  responsible  for  an  average  of 
fifteen  a  year  with  the  Thurstonfield  pack 
alone.  Mr.  Coward,  a  notable  sportsman  in 
Carlisle,  could  remember  a  '  kill '  of  thirty- 
nine  in  one  season  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
that  city.  If  we  are  to  believe  reports  from 
Wigton  and  Aspatria,  the  destruction  of  foul- 
marts  in  these  districts  was  fairly  equal  in 
proportion.  But  the  authorities  are  not  quite 
agreed  on  the  actual  causes  of  the  scarcity. 
The  late  Rev.  H.  A.  Macpherson,  who 
has  collected  much  valuable  information  on 
the  natural  history  of  the  animal,  inclined  to 
the  belief  that  it  was  the  introduction  of  the 
steel  trap  and  the  employment  of  professional 
trappers  in  game  preserves.1  On  the  other 
hand,  Mr.  Henry  Howard  was  of  opinion 
'  that  the  great  number  of  rival  packs  which 
were  kept  for  some  years  between  Carlisle 
and  Silloth  must  very  considerably  have  re- 
duced their  number,  as,  from  what  I  could 
learn,  very  few  days  passed  without  one  or 


1    Fauna  of  Lakeland,  pp.  27-35. 


454 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


more  packs  being  out  on  the  war-path,  each 
one  desirous  of  scoring  over  his  rivals  ;  and  it 
seems  rather  curious  that  the  sport  should  have 
dropped  out  all  at  once,  after  being  carried  on 
for  a  number  of  years,  during  which  time 
the  country  was  very  much  over-hunted,  and 
there  appear  to  have  been  as  many  hounds  as 
hunters.'  1  We  owe  the  present  scarcity  of 
the  animal  probably  to  a  combination  of  both 


of  these  causes.  The  foulmart  still  roams 
after  sundown  beneath  the  hedgerows  and 
along  the  'soughs'  in  the  lowland  tracts,  of 
which  Abbeyholme  is  the  centre,  but  neither 
hound  nor  sportsman  follows  the  drag.  The 
numbers  are  too  few,  and  their  whereabouts 
are  too  uncertain  to  make  it  worth  while  to 
organize  a  hunt.  What  was  once  a  ruling 
passion  has  completely  passed  away. 


SWEETMART    HUNTING 


The  hunting  of  the  mart,  sweetmart,  clean- 
mart,  cragmart,  or  pine  marten  (Afuste/a  martei) 
— for  the  animal  is  known  locally  by  all  these 
names2— bears  a  certain  resemblance  to  the 
hunting  of  the  foulmart  except  in  the  nature 
of  the  country  in  which  the  sport  is  obtain- 
able. The  sweetmart  is  a  denizen  of  our 
mountainous  districts  and  frequents  the  pre- 
cipitous slopes  which  form  the  picturesque 
valleys  of  Eskdale,  Wasdale,  Ennerdale,  and 
Borrowdale.  It  is  also  found  on  the  hills  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Keswick  and  Ulles- 
water,  while  individuals  have  been  seen  in 
recent  years  on  the  sides  of  High  Pike  and 
Carrick.  If  his  malodorous  kinsman  was  an 
object  of  veneration  among  sportsmen  in  the 
plains  of  Cumberland,  the  mention  of  the 
sweetmart  to  the  dalesman  makes  his  eye  to 
kindle  and  his  tongue  to  speak  of  many  ad- 
ventures by  fell  and  field. 

During  a  portion  of  the  eighteenth  century 
the  sweetmart,  like  the  foulmart,  was  classed 
as  vermin  and  included  in  churchwardens' 
lists  as  a  destructive  beast  to  be  exterminated 
in  the  public  interest.  Its  name  does  not 
figure  so  often  in  those  accounts  owing  per- 
haps to  its  distribution  being  confined  to  a 
more  limited  area  as  well  as  to  the  circum- 
stance that  in  many  of  the  mountain  parishes 
the  annual  expenditure  of  the  churchwardens 
has  not  been  handed  down  to  us.  But  there 

1  Badminton  Magazine,  May,  1900,  p.   530. 

2  Manwood,  writing  at   the  close  of  the    six- 
teenth century,   names  the  species  '  the  marterne 
or  martron,  as  some  old  foresters  or  woodmen  do 
call  them,  being  the  fowerth  beast  of  chase,  where- 
of we  have  no  great  store  in  these  forests  on  this 
side  Trent,  but  yet  in  the  county  of  Westmerland 
in  Martendale  there  are  many '   (4  Treatise  of  the 
Forest  Lawes,  p.  26).     Clarke  calls  it  'the  marten,' 
or  'martern'  (Survey  of  the  Lakes,  pp.   30,   193, 
ed.    1789).     It  is  now  generally    known   as  'the 
mart,'  though  the  reappearance  of '  martern  '  under 
its  old  form   unexpectedly  occurs  in  the  church- 
wardens' accounts  of  Martindale,  a  parish  in  West- 
morland  on   the  Cumbrian   border,    in  the  years 
1825-6  (Fauna  of  Lakeland,  p.  Ixx.). 


can  be  no  doubt  that  its  death  warrant  had 
been  issued  and  a  price  set  on  its  head.  In 
the  manor  of  Greystoke  it  was  customary  for 
the  bailiff  to  keep  dogs  for  the  purpose  of 
destroying  foxes  and  other  vermin  which  in- 
fested that  neighbourhood,  for  which  protec- 
tion the  tenants  were  obliged  to  pay  a  certain 
quantity  of  oats,  a  manorial  rent,  which  went 
by  the  name  of  '  foresters'  corn.'  3  In  pro- 
cess of  time  the  custom  became  obsolete, 
though  the  lord  of  the  manor  continued  to 
exact  the  payment.  In  consequence  the 
vermin  began  to  increase,  and  farmers  and 
graziers  suffered  heavy  losses  during  the  lamb- 
ing season  from  their  depredations.  At  a 
vestry  meeting  called  to  consider  the  situation 
some  of  the  inhabitants  were  of  opinion  that 
the  lord  should  be  compelled  to  keep  the 
hounds  as  he  received  their  corn  for  that 
purpose,  '  but  the  more  general  opinion  was, 
that  since  damage  was  done  every  night  and 
immediate  relief  must  be  had,  it  was  better  to 
hire  men  to  destroy  the  vermin  than  risk  the 
precarious  issue  of  a  tedious  and  expensive 
suit  at  law.'  It  was  resolved  to  levy  a  cess 
on  the  parish  and  to  draw  up  a  schedule  of 
rewards  to  be  offered  for  the  slaughter  of 
'  these  noxious  animals.'  For  many  years 
afterwards,  we  are  told,  this  decree  remained 
in  force  and  the  following  prices  were  paid 
by  the  authorities  of  that  parish  :  'To  the 
taker  or  killer  of  a  fox,  i  o  groats ;  of  a  fox's 
cub,  3  groats;  of  an  eagle,  5  groats;  of  a 
marten,  3  groats ;  of  a  wild  cat,  2  groats ; 
of  a  raven,  I  groat.'  How  the  new  statute 
of  parish  law  was  first  carried  into  execution 
will  be  best  described  in  the  words  of  a  com- 
petent eye-witness,  whose  father  was  a  tenant 
of  the  manor.  'They  procured,'  he  said, 
4  the  swiftest  foxhounds  from  the  mountain- 
ous environs  of  Keswick,  etc.;  skilful  sports- 
men were  also  hired  to  attend  with  guns  and 
every  other  engine  for  the  destruction  of  these 
annoyers.  Whitsun  week,  A.D.  1759,  was 


8  This  manorial  tribute  was  common   in  many 
places  in  the  county. 


455 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


fixed  upon  for  the  attack,  when  I  myself  was 
an  eye-witness  to  the  death  of  twelve  foxes 
within  the  week.  The  sum  total  of  vermin 
destroyed  was  fifteen  foxes,  seven  badgers, 
twelve  wild  cats,  and  nine  martens  (called 
here,  by  way  of  distinction,  clean  marts)  be- 
sides a  prodigious  number  of  foulmarts, 
eagles,  ravens,  gleads,  etc.  The  wiles  and 
policy  of  the  foxes  were  truly  astonishing, 
such  as  jumping  from  the  rocks  upon  trees 
covered  with  ivy,  where  they  would  some- 
times conceal  themselves  and  defeat  their 
pursuers;  at  other  times  they  ran  just  within 
tha  edge  of  Ulleswater,  so  that  no  scent  re- 
mained.' 1  It  was  probably  out  of  this 
organized  effort  for  self-protection  that  the 
practice  of  hunting  the  vermin  as  a  sport 
arose  in  that  district.  The  sudden  change  of 
public  opinion  with  regard  to  the  sweetmart, 
the  foulmart  and  the  fox  during  the  latter 
half  of  the  eighteenth  century  is  very  striking. 
It  was  during  that  period  in  later  times  that 
these  animals  ceased  to  be  regarded  as  vermin 
and  came  within  the  category  of  sport.  The 
sporting  name  is  still  '  the  varmint,'  almost 
certainly  the  survival  from  a  more  prosaic 
time.  Whether  or  not  the  tenants  of  Grey- 
stoke  learned  to  respect  the  animal  for  its 
sporting  qualities  and  imbibed  their  sporting 
inclinations  from  the  orgies  of  1759,  certain 
it  is  that  very  soon  after  we  have  record  of 
the  sweetmart  as  a  beast  of  venery.  Richardson, 
writing  before  1794  of  the  fauna  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Ulleswater,  stated  that  the 
sweetmart  occasionally  afforded  good  sport  to 
the  hunters  in  the  woods  and  about  the  rocks, 
adding  that  its  skin  was  held  in  high  estima- 
tion.2 

The  hunting  of  the  mart,  so  keenly  enjoyed 
by  the  dalesmen,  must  be  reckoned  a  feature 
of  Cumberland  sport  during  the  nineteenth 
century,  though  it  appears  to  have  been  prac- 
tised more  frequently  in  the  sister  county  of 
Westmorland  where  the  animal  was  more 
widely  distributed.  We  have  no  certain  evi- 
dence to  show  whether  hounds  were  kept 
exclusively  for  this  sort  of  hunting.  It  is 
probable  that  the  packs  in  the  dales  were 
composed  of  foxhounds  and  employed  to  hunt 
foxes,  marts,  polecats  and  badgers  indiscrimin- 
ately as  occasion  offered.  While  Mr.  W.  A. 
Durnford  was  out  with  the  Wasdale  hounds 
in  1879  he  witnessed  a  mart  hunt  on  Yew- 
barrow,  a  mountain  about  1,000  feet  in 
height  overlooking  Wastwater.  In  the  graphic 
account  of  his  experiences  on  that  early  morn- 


1  James  Clarke,  Survey  of  the  Lakes,  pp.  29,  30, 
(ed.  1789). 

3  Hutchinson,  History  of  Cumberland,  i.  448. 


ing  he  says  it  soon  became  evident  that  some- 
thing was  on  foot  as  they  commenced  the 
ascent.  The  hounds  showed  manifest  signs 
of  excitement,  examining  every  nook  and 
stopping  at  every  crevice  to  take  in  the  scent. 
Suddenly  an  old  dog  gave  tongue  and  the 
whole  pack  was  quickly  off  in  full  cry  up  the 
face  of  the  mountain  raising  a  chorus  which 
resounded  from  crag  to  crag  across  the  valley 
below.  As  the  beast  was  soon  discovered  to 
be  a  mart,  men  and  dogs  settled  down  to  the 
chase.  At  one  time,  continues  the  sportsman, 
we  were  clambering  on  hands  and  feet  up  a 
perpendicular  precipice,  at  another,  crawling 
through  a  narrow  crevice  between  two  high 
boulders ;  now  running  across  a  sea  of  stones, 
which  gave  way  at  every  step  and  rendered  it 
impossible  even  to  think  of  standing  still ; 
now  stepping  from  ledge  to  ledge,  and  trust- 
ing one's  life  to  the  sturdy  alpenstock  with 
which  each  one  had  armed  himself  before  set- 
ting out.  The  hounds  were  in  the  mean- 
time clambering  up  with  an  agility  which 
would  astonish  their  relations  further  south, 
resembling  a  party  of  squirrels  rather  than 
members  of  the  canine  race  as  they  vied  with 
one  another  in  their  anxiety  to  be  to  the  fore. 

After  an  hour  of  that  sort  of  work,  the 
mart  took  refuge  in  a  crevice  in  the  face  of  a 
rock,  from  which  the  huntsmen  smoked  him 
out  with  the  aid  of  grass,  gunpowder  and  an 
old  newspaper.  As  soon  as  the  smoke  reached 
the  beast  it  bolted  from  a  hole  a  short  distance 
off.  Away  it  went  again  with  dogs  and  men 
in  hot  pursuit.  Presently  taking  refuge  in 
some  loose  boulders,  the  terriers  were  set  to 
work  and  from  the  '  bield '  it  was  soon  dis- 
lodged. But  it  was  the  beginning  of  the 
end.  The  '  quarry '  escaped  to  a  plateau  on 
the  summit  of  the  mountain  broken  only  by 
some  fragments  of  rock  which  afforded  no 
shelter.  It  was  evidently  making  for  the 
Pillar  Mountain  which  stood  out  in  the  dis^ 
tance,  a  notable  stronghold  for  birds  and  beasts 
of  prey,  and  which,  if  once  reached,  would 
afford  a  certain  protection.  Bravely  the  little 
creature  raced  on,  staking  life  on  its  swiftness 
of  foot.  On  the  level  ground  however  it 
had  no  chance,  though  it  managed  to  head  its 
pursuers  for  about  a  mile  after  leaving  the 
rocks.  The  hounds  alone  were  present  at 
the  death.3 

The  sport  was  not  always  accompanied  by 
the  element  of  danger  while  men  and  dogs 

3  For  the  picturesque  narrative  of  which  we 
have  made  a  short  summary  see  the  Field,  Dec.  6, 
1879.  The  article  has  been  reproduced  in  the 
Zoologist  of  1891  and  in  the  Fauna  of  Lakeland 
(1892). 


456 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


followed  the  chase  on  the  screes  and  lower 
fells  with  which  the  lake  country  abounds. 
It  is  not  every  sportsman  who  has  had  the 
exciting  experience  so  vividly  described  by 
Mr.  Durnford.  A  mart  hunt  is  oftener  a 
much  tamer  affair.  A  stiff  run  along  a  ridge 
of  fell,  or  down  a  rough  gill,  or  up  a  rocky 
surface,  with  the  deep  bay  of  the  dogs  in  his 
ears,  has  sufficed  for  many  a  hunter.  Some- 
times the  animal  takes  refuge  in  a  tree  at  a 
critical  moment,  but  its  favourite  hiding-place 
is  a  crevice  in  a  rock  or  in  a  heap  of  boulders. 
When  closely  pursued  on  a  level  its  mode  of 
running  is  by  a  series  of  leaps,  often  covering 
six  feet  at  a  bound.  It  is  not  often  that 
marts  visit  the  valleys,  except  during  the 
breeding  season  when  they  come  down  to  the 
woods  in  April  and  May  to  have  their  young. 
During  the  first  week  of  the  latter  month  in 


1886  a  fine  specimen  was  captured  by  the 
Blencathra  hounds  in  the  vale  of  Naddale 
near  Keswick. 

Local  naturalists  are  not  quite  agreed  on 
the  distribution  or  scarcity  of  the  sweetmart 
in  the  county,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  it  is 
not  now  as  plentiful  as  it  used  to  be.  From 
information  gathered  in  the  autumn  of  1901 
in  Eskdale  and  Keswick,  the  two  centres  of 
hill  hunting,  we  learn  that  it  is  only  now  and 
again  that  the  trail  of  a  mart  is  crossed.  In 
some  of  the  fell  districts  it  is  exceedingly 
scarce,  if  indeed  it  can  be  said  to  exist  at  all. 
The  last  individual  found  on  Black  Comb 
was  killed  as  far  back  as  1847.  But  on  the 
less  frequented  or  more  inaccessible  hills  in 
the  central  districts  the  mart  still  roams  and 
sportsmen  are  still  keen  on  a  hunt  if  a  fox 
fails  to  put  in  an  appearance. 


NORTH  COUNTRY  TRAIL  HOUNDS 
AND  TRAILS 


Hark  !  on  the  trail  I  hear 
Their  doubtful  notes,  preluding  to  a  cry 
More  nobly  full,  and  swell'd  with  ev'ry  mouth. 

Wm.  Somervile. 

Hound  dog  trail  matches  do  not,  as  far  as 
we  are  enabled  to  judge,  date  back  to  the 
earlier  times  of  wrestling.  Litt  in  his  Wrest- 
liana  does  not  once  mention  the  subject.  If 
we  had  the  means  of  arriving  at  a  knowledge 
of  its  origin  we  should  in  all  probability  find 
that  soon  after  coming  into  vogue  it  became 
in  most  instances  an  important  item  in  the 
programme  for  filling  up  a  day  or  two's  amuse- 
ment along  with  wrestling,  jumping,  etc. 
Keswick  races  or  wrestling  for  a  lengthened 
period  held  a  high  place  in  public  estimation, 
and  the  local  hound  dog  trails  were  considered 
the  most  celebrated  of  any  in  the  north.  Great 
was  the  rivalry  amongst  breeders  and  trainers. 
A  large  concourse  of  spectators,  both  residents 
in  the  town  and  neighbourhood  and  strangers 
from  all  the  distant  parts  of  Cumberland, 
Westmorland  and  north  Lancashire,  assem- 
bled to  witness  the  keen  contests.  The  ground 
was  highly  favourable  for  testing  the  capabili- 
ties of  the  very  best  dogs,  and  many  a  severely 
contested  trial  was  witnessed  by  the  anxious 
crowd.  Not  unfrequently  betting  in  small 
sums  was  brisk,  particularly  in  the  second 
day's  race,  when  an  estimate  could  be  formed 
of  the  speed,  hunting  qualities  and  endurance 
of  the  contending  animals.  There  was  at 
one  time  running  at  these  meetings  a  cele- 
brated hound  from  Threlkeld  Hall.  It  was 
not  unusual  to  hear  some  one  exclaim, '  I  hear 


ii 


t'ho  dog  and  he's  leading,'  and  sure  enough 
soon  after  '  Rattler '  would  come  tearing  in 
first.  This  same  '  Rattler '  ran  a  5  mile 
match  for  £10  at  Caldbeck — celebrated  for 
its  breed  of  trail  hounds — against  Gilkerson's 
'  Butler.'  The  conditions  were  to  win  and 
draw  on  each  mile.  Two  persons  were 
stationed — hidden  from  the  dogs  —  at  the 
end  of  each  mile  to  certify  which  was  first. 
'  Rattler '  won  the  first,  second,  third  and 
fifth  mile. 

Then  came  the  far-famed  '  Flan  '  meeting, 
rapidly  assuming  greater  proportions  and  offer- 
ing richer  prizes  than  had  previously  been 
given  at  the  best  patronized  meetings.  It 
would  be  difficult  in  any  part  of  the  country 
to  select  a  better  course — barring  a  straight- 
forward one — than  that  usually  selected  at 
Flan,  particularly  for  some  twenty  years  after 
the  meeting  was  established.  To  begin  with 
there  was  a  4  mile  run  on  the  slopes  of  a 
vale  nearly  straight,  then  crossing  the  vale 
and  climbing  to  the  summit  of  a  heathy 
common.  Then  followed  right  on  end  to 
the  winning  point  4  or  5  miles  of  good 
going  moor  ground.  As  many  as  thirty-two 
dogs  have  started,  and  the  number  frequently 
ranged  from  twenty  to  thirty.  It  was  a  really 
beautiful  sight  to  see  a  score  and  a  half 
high  couraged  and  resolute  dogs  all  brought 
to  the  post  in  perfect  condition  and  witness 
their  frantic  efforts  to  be  slipped  when  the 
trailer  came  within  a  field  or  two  of  the 
appointed  ground  where  the  struggle  com- 
menced. The  barking,  the  howling,  the 

457  58 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


struggling  would  suggest  the  idea  of  a  lot 
of  dogs  gone  furiously  mad,  and  when  let 
slip  such  was  the  eagerness  to  get  away  that 
not  one  gave  mouth.  There  was  usually  a 
prize  for  the  first  mile,  and  it  was  in  this 
short  run  that  dogs  like  Alpin's  '  Tuner ' — 
one  of  the  fastest — distinguished  themselves. 
The  course — 10  to  12  miles — was  usually 
run  in  from  twenty-six  to  thirty  minutes,  a 
pace  that  no  horse — trained  hunter  or  racer 
— over  similar  ground  could  have  main- 
tained, and  nearly  double  the  speed  of  a 
good  pedestrian  on  level  turf.  It  was  in 
running  up  to  the  winning  post,  facing  the 
crowd  and  noise  without  slackening,  that 
dogs  as  eager  and  well  trained  as  Devon- 
shire Square  '  Tovvler  '  and  Alick  Wallace's 
'  Tipler,'  sire  and  son,  snatched  victory  from 
more  forward  animals  and  got  placed  first  by 
the  judges. 

Yorkshire  dogs  were  for  several  years  at 
the  Flan  keen  and  frequently  successful  com- 
petitors against  the  northern  hounds.  Some- 
times they  defeated  the  whole  lot.  On  one 
occasion  a  bitch  from  Saddleworth  named 
'  Bounty,'  to  the  complete  dismay  and  dis- 
comfiture of  both  Cumbrians  and  Westmor- 
landers,  won  on  both  days,  carrying  off  not 
only  the  head  prize  but  a  round  sum  in  bets. 
'  Finder,'  another  Yorkshire  dog,  at  that  time 
from  the  neighbourhood  of  Oldham,  won  two 
days  together  at  Cartmel,  6  miles  from  the 
Flan,  beating  some  of  the  best  dogs  going. 
'  Swinger  '  from  Sheffield  was  a  first  rate  dog, 
and  frequently  distinguished  himself  both  in 
the  north  and  in  the  10,  12  and  14  mile 
matches  on  the  Yorkshire  moors.  The  York- 
shire trails  were  mostly  straight  on  end,  and 
the  dogs  not  slipped  till  the  trailer  had  been 
gone  an  hour  and  in  some  cases  much  more. 

The  longest  trail  we  have  any  knowledge 
of  was  run  a  few  years  before  the  '  Flan ' 
meetings  were  given  up.  The  length  of 
the  chase  was  at  least  25  miles,  all  over 
enclosed  ground  with  scores  of  stiff  fences. 
The  start  took  place  from  Swathmoor  near 
Ulverston  ;  thence  all  down  the  east  coast  to 
Roose,  a  village  close  by  the  sea ;  and  then 
past  the  rising  town  of  Barrow.  Thence 
to  the  west  side  of  Furness  the  trail  was  con- 
tinued in  a  somewhat  circuitous  direction  to 
Kirkby  Ireleth  and  thence  to  the  starting 
place.  A  noble  looking  dog  called  '  Ring- 
wood,'  bred  by  the  late  Henry  Rauthmell, 
Hutton  Bridge  End  near  Kendal,  had  the 
credit  of  pulling  off  the  chief  prize.  He 
was  from  a  good  stock  —  the  Devonshire 
Square  'Towler' — and  cut  out  the  work 
for  the  whole  of  this  unexampled  trail  by 
keeping  a  lead  the  whole  distance  from  30 


to  100  yards.  This  picking  up  the  scent 
and  keeping  a  lead  hunters  know  is  hard 
work.  The  same  dog  a  fortnight  after  ran 
a  match  for  ^20  against  a  Whitehaven  dog 
named  'Nudger.'  The  chase  was  from  Ulpha 
to  Bootle,  places  fully  10  miles  asunder,  and 
over  a  rough  mountainous  track  the  whole 
distance.  '  Ringwood  '  won  all  the  way  easily. 
Unfortunately  this  fine  foxhound  took  to 
worrying  sheep  and  had  to  be  destroyed.  Of 
his  breeder,  the  late  Mr.  Rauthmell,  it  may  be 
said  that  no  better  sportsman  has  lived  in 
Cumberland. 

At  Mardale,  at  the  head  of  Hawes  Water, 
one  of  the  wildest,  most  solitary  and  secluded 
dales  or  districts  in  the  whole  of  the  moun- 
tainous region  of  the  north,  Mr.  Rauthmell 
with  his  usual  train  of  followers  on  one  occasion 
stopped  for  a  whole  week.  In  that  time  nine 
foxes  were  killed.  But  the  excellent  sport 
on  that  occasion  was  marred  by  an  unhappy 
incident.  On  the  drag  of  a  fox  with  a  burn- 
ing scent  through  some  precipitous  screes 
between  High  Street  and  Mardale,  when  in 
momentary  expectation  of  Reynard  bolting, 
up  jumped  a  sheep.  The  pack  under  a 
sudden  excitement  broke  out  and  worried  to 
a  serious  amount.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind 
as  part  excuse  that  they  were  at  the  moment 
in  a  fever  of  expectation  and  were  becoming 
impatient.  They  had  then  been  bred  — 
principally  by  crossing  with  Devonshire  Square 
'  Towler ' — to  such  a  pitch  of  high  courage 
as  to  render  them  dangerous  in  such  a  crisis 
as  unfortunately  occurred.  Mr.  Rauthmell, 
with  the  promptitude  and  decision  that  dis- 
tinguished him,  had  the  offenders  shot  in 
order  to  prevent  further  destruction,  for  he 
well  knew  a  hound  once  guilty  is  likely  to 
continue  in  the  same  fault,  and  that  there  is 
no  safe  remedy  but  death. 

When  Mr.  Rauthmell  gave  up  keeping  the 
hounds  they  were  taken  in  a  covered  convey- 
ance to  York.  One  named  '  Ruler '  found 
its  way  back  to  Hutton,  a  distance  of  115 
miles,  through  a  perfectly  strange  country. 
The  dog  was  sent  away  a  second  time  and 
again  returned  home.  '  Ruler  '  was  allowed 
for  the  rest  of  his  life  to  remain  at  Hutton, 
and  from  frequently  going  out  with  Mr. 
Rauthmell  when  he  was  shooting  he  became 
nearly  as  good  as  a  pointer  as  he  had 
previously  been  in  the  chase,  and  would 
retrieve  either  game  or  rabbits. 

The  same  breed  of  dogs  can  be  trained  to 
run  with  fire  and  resolution  an  inanimate 
trail.  No  wonder  therefore  that  the  Duke 
of  Beaufort,  when  he  made  the  great  match 
for  one  thousand  guineas  to  run  ten  dogs 
4  miles  over  the  Beacon  course  at  New- 


458 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


market  against  five  thoroughbred  horses,  carry- 
ing eight  stones  and  a  half,  should  resort  to 
the  northern  trail  hound.  A  high  authority, 
the  Field,  said  that  the  duke's  '  sole  chance 
in  the  forthcoming  great  match  was  in  his 
adoption  of  the  northern  trail  hound  instead 
of  the  true  foxhound.'  This  dictum  we 
strongly  protest  against,  and  think  ample  testi- 
mony may  be  easily  produced  to  prove  the 
most  successful  trail  dogs  that  have  ever  ex- 
isted were  true  foxhounds.  Many  a  cross 
has  been  attempted  by  sanguine  breeders  to 
bring  out  a  dog  capable  of  contending  against 
and  beating  the  foxhound  at  trail  running. 
All  such  efforts  have  been  given  up  as  failures. 
Hunting  determination  in  a  ten  or  twelve 
miles  chase,  dogged  perseverance  to  run  a 
scent  till  the  end  is  accomplished,  and  a  fine 
sense  of  smelling  to  aid  the  work,  are  not  to 
be  found  except  in  very  rare  and  exceptional 
cases  out  of  the  true  foxhound  breed.  Half- 
bred  dogs  are  as  a  rule  useless  for  trail 
hunting.  With  a  breast  high  scent  they 
may  run  4  or  5  miles,  but  will  then  generally 
give  in. 

The  following  are  a  few  more  instances 
of  good  foxdogs  and  successful  trailers.  Sixty 
years  ago  the  late  Mr.  John  Todd  of  Water- 
head,  Gilsland,  had  a  large,  pure-shaped,  reso- 
lute dog  called  '  Towler.'  He  was  for  years 
regularly  hunted  with  the  Gilsland  pack. 
He  is  still  spoken  of  by  those  who  recollect 
and  have  heard  stories  recounted  of  his  mar- 
vellous speed  and  stoutness  as  by  far  the  best 
trail  dog  throughout  all  the  north  country  in 
his  day.  Twenty  years  later  Mr.  Todd  had 
another  'Towler.'  No  better  foxhound  at 
all  points  was  ever  slipped  from  a  couple. 
To  form  an  estimate  of  his  capabilities  for  a 
trailer  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that  at  six  and 
seven  years  old  he  several  times  defeated  the 
celebrated  '  Brampton  bitch '  while  in  her 
prime. 

'  Tipler,'  a  dog  bred  and  kept  at  Swaits 
near  Gilsland,  ran  several  10  and  12  mile 
matches.  His  speed  and  endurance  were  so 
extraordinary  that  he  won  them  all  with  ease. 
This  dog  was  the  admiration  and  boast  of 
both  old  and  young  foxhunters  throughout 
the  country  in  which  he  hunted.  He  was 
considered  the  most  certain  and  reliable  dog 
that  ever  chased  a  fox  over  the  wild  moors 
and  hills  of  the  north.  It  was  '  Tipler '  when 
the  '  arvel '  was  being  drunk  that  had  the 
credit  of  securing  many  a  brush. 

The  late  Mr.  Holmes  of  Colees — a  gen- 
uine foxhunter  of  the  '  olden  time ' — had  a 
'  Towler  '  considered  to  possess  extraordinary 
speed  on  a  trail  and  highly  esteemed  as  a 
persevering  dog  after  live  game.  This  gentle- 


man understood  dog  trailing  and  foxhunting 
well,  and  scouted  the  idea  that  half-bred  dogs 
could  compete  successfully  with  the  pure  bred 
foxhound. 

There  was  another  noted  '  Tipler  '  which 
we  must  not  omit  noticing.  It  belonged 
jointly  to  John  Paterson  and  Alick  Wallace, 
both  of  Carlisle  ;  was  a  big,  resolute,  spotted 
dog  standing  24  inches  high  with  a  well 
developed  large  head,  broad  chest,  and  some- 
what long  body.  The  career  of  this  trail 
hound  for  the  three  years  he  lived  was  dis- 
tinguished by  startling  incidents.  One  was 
perfectly  astounding,  as  the  reader  will  see 
below.  When  once  fairly  settled  on  a 
trail  and  warmed  to  his  work  '  Tipler '  was 
a  wonderfully  persevering  dog ;  he  would 
rush  without  a  stop  or  pause  through  the 
thickest  hedge  or  '  face  any  mortal  thing.' 
He  could  always  be  depended  upon  for  com- 
ing in  at  a  rattling  pace  and  mostly  finishing 
off  a  clear  winner.  During  a  brief  career 
in  east  Cumberland  he  started  frequently 
amongst  the  best  dogs,  and  on  trails  varying 
in  distance  from  5  to  12  miles  in  almost 
every  instance  carried  off  the  chief  prize.  On 
one  occasion  Alick  '  carried '  his  favourite 
westward  to  Cockermouth.  Trail  hunts 
took  place  on  two  successive  days,  '  Tip- 
ler '  won  the  first  day  and  ran  next  to 
Gilkerson's  '  Butler '  on  the  second  day. 
The  first  day's  trail  was  one  of  the  most 
spirited  runs  ever  witnessed.  Fifteen  prime 
dogs  started,  and  when  they  approached  the 
goal,  the  umpire  was  obliged  to  mount  a 
fence  in  order  to  decide  which  dog  made  the 
first  spring  to  clear  it,  three  of  the  foremost 
running  neck  and  neck,  or  rather  nose  and 
nose,  for  a  considerable  distance.  Returning 
by  way  of  Wigton  he  encountered  a  good 
field  on  two  days  and  was  again  victorious, 
thus  scoring  to  his  credit  three  important 
chases  and  a  good  second  place.  This  was 
in  1839. 

We  now  come  to  a  strange  accident  which 
put  an  end  to  a  brilliant  career  and  might 
easily  have  proved  fatal.  Some  sports  were 
advertised  to  be  held  at  Elijah  Kennedy's, 
Warwick  Bridge.  '  Tipler '  in  first  rate 
condition  went  to  contend  in  the  trail  and 
started  full  of  vigour  and  life,  but  never 
returned  within  sight  of  the  winning  post. 
Alick,  who  had  charge  of  the  dog  on  that  day, 
to  use  his  own  words,  '  laited  it  an'  better 
laited  it '  until  he  was  completely  worn  out. 
On  reaching  home  long  after  nightfall  he  was 
half  broken-hearted  at  his  loss.  By  daybreak 
on  the  following  morning  both  John  Paterson 
and  Alick  were  astir  to  renew  the  search,  and 
at  length  succeeded  in  finding  the  lost  dog 


459 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


among  some  brackens  and  long  grass  close 
to  the  dry  arch  of  Wetheral  bridge  on  the 
Corby  side  of  the  river  Eden.  Their  joy 
was  great  at  the  discovery,  but  soon  gave 
place  to  sad  and  bitter  feelings  when  the  state 
of  the  poor  brute  became  apparent.  It  had 
leapt  the  battlements  of  the  railway  bridge 
and  fallen  a  height  of  IOO  feet  !  Both  fore 
legs  were  so  violently  strained  by  the  fall  that 
it  could  not  crawl  from  the  spot,  and  had  lain 
all  night  in  extreme  agony  It  is  a  marvel  that 
any  life  was  left  after  such  a  fall.  Had  it  oc- 
curred nearer  the  middle  of  the  bridge,  and  the 
tumble  been  into  the  rough  bed  of  the  river, 
death  would  in  all  probability  have  been  the 
result.  Alick  and  his  sorrowing  companion 
carefully  lifted  the  dog  into  a  plaid  and  car- 
ried it  home  with  as  much  care  as  if  they 
had  been  bearing  a  lame  child.  Various  re- 
ports got  into  circulation  respecting  '  Tipler's ' 
leap  over  Wetheral  viaduct.  Some  persons 
would  have  it  that  an  attempt  was  made  to 
stop  the  dog,  and  that  he  cleared  the  battle- 
ments of  the  bridge  to  avoid  being  caught. 
Another  account  was  that  the  trail  had  been 
treacherously  dragged  over  the  battlements 
in  order  to  destroy  the  dog.  The  owners 
however  did  not  give  credit  to  either  state- 
ment. They  were  under  the  impression  that 
the  man  Harding,  who  ran  the  trail,  stopped 
on  the  bridge  to  rest  and  unwittingly  did  the 
mischief  which  nearly  cost  the  dog  its  life. 
The  accident  or  wilful  injury — whichever  it 
was — to  '  Tipler '  did  not  end  fatally,  but  he 
never  recovered  sufficiently  to  run  another 
race.  On  recovery  '  Tipler  '  was  turned  to 
the  stud  and  was  the  sire  of  some  noted 
dogs,  Devonshire  Square  '  Towler  '  being  one 
of  them. 

Probably  no  dog  trail  match  ever  created 
greater  interest  throughout  a  wide  district  in 
the  north  than  the  great  12  miles  on  end 
match  between  the  '  Brampton  bitch '  and  a 
pure  bred  foxhound  called  '  Ranger,'  which 
Mr.  Todd  of  Waterhead  got  from  the  Hay- 
don  Bridge  pack.  The  greatest  pains  were 
taken  by  both  parties  to  bring  their  dogs  to 
the  post  in  first  rate  condition.  A  peculiarity 
of  this  match  was  a  stipulation  that  both 
hounds  should  have  a  companion  dog,  one 
they  had  been  accustomed  to  run  with,  in 
order  to  make  or  assist  the  running.  '  Dam- 
sel,' a  bitch  belonging  to  Mr.  Thompson, 
started  for  this  purpose  with  Mr.  Todd's 
'  Ranger,'  and  Gilkerson's  '  Crowner '  with 
the  Brampton  bitch  '  Ruby.'  The  first  trial 
from  Waterhead  to  Kershope  Head  turned 
out  undecisive.  The  running  hounds  got  so 
close  to  the  trailers  that  they  had  left  the 
trail  before  arriving  at  the  goal.  A  fresh 


start  had  therefore  to  be  made,  and  the 
parties  agreed  to  run  directly  back  from 
Kershope  Head  to  Waterhead.  Mr.  Todd's 
'  Ranger '  led  and  did  the  leading  work  in 
the  two  long  chases  with  the  exception  of 
about  a  mile,  middle  way,  in  the  second 
start.  He  galloped  in  winner  at  the  finish, 
full  of  resolution  and  courage  and  immedi- 
ately flew  at  a  '  grew '  belonging  to  Mr. 
Hedley  of  Bewshaugh,  and  would  have  made 
short  work  in  worrying  '  long  tail '  had  not 
assistance  been  at  hand.  The  time  taken  to 
run  over  the  last  12  miles  was  twenty-five 
minutes  and  a  half,  very  fast  indeed  con- 
sidering the  rough  country  and  that  they  had 
done  1 1  miles  previously. 

Mr.  Routledge  of  Devonshire  Square  farm, 
midway  between  Penrith  and  Carlisle,  had  a 
'  Towler '  by  Alick  Wallace's  '  Tipler.'  This 
dog  hunted  the  fox  regularly  till  he  was  eight 
years  old.  He  began  to  run  trails  when 
eighteen  months  old  and  continued  for  up- 
wards of  six  years,  winning  regularly  two 
out  of  three.  He  was  an  extraordinary 
good  dog  at  finishing  ofF  or  coming  in,  fre- 
quently defeating  three  or  four  in  the  last 
200  yards.  He  appeared  a  strongly  made, 
big  dog — speedy  and  with  plenty  of  stamina, 
good  muscular  legs  and  hard  wiry  hair — 
capable  of  withstanding  from  morning  till 
night  the  piercingly  cold  sleety  rains  of  the 
Cumberland  hills.  We  have  no  particular 
data  to  go  by,  but  entertain  the  impression 
he  won  more  trails  than  any  other  dog.  He 
won  a  match  for  £40  on  Shap  Fells  that 
caused  considerable  sensation  at  the  time.  His 
opponent  was  '  Nudger '  from  Ulverston  but 
Yorkshire  bred,  a  weedy  animal  in  appear- 
ance when  beside  '  Towler.'  The  race  was 
a  straight  10  miles  over  some  very  rough 
ground.  It  was  altogether  a  hollow  affair. 
'  Towler '  led  from  the  first  and  came  in  a 
winner  fifteen  minutes  before  '  Nudger '  made 
his  appearance.  There  was  some  talk  of 
foul  play — that  the  beaten  dog  was  caught 
and  held.  No  evidence  was  however  forth- 
coming to  substantiate  any  such  allegation. 
On  an  open  common  stopping  a  dog  when 
in  full  cry  is  no  easy  matter.  Moreover,  Mr. 
Routledge's  well  known  reputation  as  an 
honourable  sportsman  gives  the  lie  to  such 
a  supposition.  The  probability  is,  as  a  good 
judge  at  the  time  stated,  that  '  Nudger,' 
finding  himself  outpaced  and  likely  to  be  left, 
had  made  a  wrong  cast,  intending,  as  dog 
trailers  term  it,  to  'cheat,'  and  for  a  time 
got  lost  thereby.  When  '  Towler  '  ran  at  the 
Burgh  Marsh  races  in  1845  he  was  not 
so  fortunate.  The  Border  dogs  gave  him 
and  the  best  hounds  of  Cumberland  and 


460 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


Westmorland  a  decisive  beating.  It  was 
a  capital  trail  run  at  a  speed  to  shut  up 
middling  ones.  Well  known  dogs  such  as 
Jeremiah  Wilson's  '  Laddie '  and  Fletcher 
Pearson's  '  Stormer,'  in  their  own  neigh- 
bourhood considerable  favourites,  came  in 
nowhere,  beaten  off  in  fact,  and  after  the 
first  mile  clean  out  of  the  hunt  altogether. 
The  winner  on  this  occasion  was  '  Black 
Towler,'  a  very  superior  fast  dog  bred  by 
Jim  Morley,  weaver,  at  Holme  Head,  Car- 
lisle ;  the  second  Mr.  Hodgson's  (of  Aikton) 
'  Darter.'  The  former  was  one  of  a  litter 
of  four  out  of  J.  Green's  '  Crafty  '  and  got 
by  '  Haydon  '  from  the  Haydon  Bridge  pack. 
They  were  considered  by  far  the  best  ever 
bred  in  one  litter.  Besides  '  Black  Towler ' 
there  was  another  '  Towler,'  a  '  Tipler,'  and 
'  Rattler.'  Morley  was  an  extraordinary 
character  in  his  way  about  trail  dogs,  so 
enthusiastically  attached  to  the  sport  that 
frequently  after  attending  to  his  trade  for 


twelve  hours  he  would  devote  hour  after  hour 
'  in  the  season  of  the  year '  till  midnight  and 
often  till  one  or  two  in  the  morning  in 
running  breaking-in  trails  for  young  dogs. 
This  was  Jim's  special  delight,  and  he 
'  waad  ha'  gane  anywhere '  to  see  a  good 
trail. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  interesting  to 
institute  a  comparison  between  the  hounds  of 
the  north  and  the  south.  For  this  purpose 
we  must  refer  again  to  the  12-mile  match 
run  near  Gilsland  in  twenty-five  minutes  and 
a  half  over  a  rough  country.  In  a  famous 
match  at  Newmarket  between  two  dogs 
owned  by  Mr.  Barry  and  two  belonging  to 
Mr.  Meynell,  the  time  for  4  miles  was  a  few 
seconds  over  eight  minutes.  Bearing  in  mind 
that  the  Gilsland  run  was  three  times  as  long 
as  the  other,  which  was  over  the  best  going 
ground  in  England,  we  should  probably  be 
correct  in  concluding  that  the  northern  hounds 
were  the  faster. 


OTTER    HUNTING 


The  early  history  of  the  hunting  of  the 
otter  (Lutra  vulgarii)  in  Cumberland  is  en- 
veloped in  much  obscurity.1 

A  search  of  parish  registers  has  failed  to 
discover  that  the  otter  was  on  the  list  of 
vermin  for  whose  destruction  churchwardens 
paid  rewards ;  but  as  such  head  money,  rang- 
ing from  sixpence  to  a  shilling  a  head,  was 
offered  at  Kendal,  in  the  neighbouring  county 
of  Westmorland,  in  1731-70,  it  seems 
probable  that  a  similiar  practice  prevailed 
in  some  parts  of  Cumberland.  At  any  rate, 
gamekeepers  regarded  otters  as  '  noxious 
animals.'  Nine  killed  in  one  year  (1821—2) 
by  Robert  Cowen,  gamekeeper  to  Sir  Wilfrid 
Lawson,  are  so  catalogued  in  the  Car/isle 

1  We  have  failed  to  find  references  to  otter 
hunting  in  Cumberland  in  the  early  records  of 
sport.  It  may  be  mentioned  however  that  a 
'  master  of  the  otter  hounds '  was  reckoned  among 
the  officers  of  the  king's  household  from  an  early 
period.  In  the  Wardrobe  Account  of  1 8  Edward 
I.,  John  le  Oterhunte  has  an  allowance  '  pro 
putura  octo  canum  suorum  lutericiorum.'  Edward 
IV.  had  a  pack  of  otter  hounds  which,  like  the 
packs  of  harriers  and  buckhounds,  was  composed 
partly  of  running  hounds  and  partly  of  greyhounds. 
By  letters  patent  dated  1 8  July,  1461,  the 
'  office  called  oterhunte '  was  granted  to  Thomas 
Hardegrove  for  life  (Select  Pleas  of  the  Forest,  p. 
145,  ed.  G.  J.  Turner,  Selden  Society).  It  is 
evident  that  otter  hunting  was  at  one  time  the 
sport  of  kings. 


461 


Journal  of  8  June,  1822,  in  a  list  of  vermin 
which  he  had  destroyed  in  twelve  months. 
The  hunting  of  the  otter  with  hounds  had 
however  already  begun.  There  appears  in 
Hutchinson's  History  of  Cumberland  a  descrip- 
tion by  Richardson  of  otter  hunting  from  a 
boat  on  Ulleswater  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century ;  and  in  an  obituary  notice  of  Thomas 
Fenton,  aged  77,  published  in  the  Carlisle 
Journal  of  26  July,  1823,  otter  hunting  is 
mentioned  among  the  diversions  of  that 
'veteran  sportsman.'  It  may  be  further 
stated  that  Dr.  Heysham  in  his  natural  history 
notes  in  '  Hutchinson,'  written  towards  the 
end  of  the  eighteenth  century,  remarks  that 
'the  otter,  although  not  numerous,  is  an 
inhabitant  of  almost  all  our  rivers  and  lakes, 
and  is  frequently  hunted  with  hounds  trained 
for  the  purpose.'  Otter  hunting  with  hounds 
in  Cumberland  may  therefore  be  carried 
back  to  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth 
century,  and  probably  it  was  practised  before 
that  period. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century 
otter  hounds  were  kept  in  small  numbers  in 
different  parts  of  the  county,  and  used  for 
hunting  both  otters  and  foulmarts.  About 
1830  otter  hounds  were  kept  at  Isel  Vicarage 
near  Cockermouth,  and  were  hunted  for  nearly 
thirty  years  by  the  vicar,  the  Rev.  Hilton 
Wybergh.  They  did  not  number  at  first 
more  than  half  a  dozen,  one  of  the  pack 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


being,  strange  to  say,  a  Newfoundland  dog, 
and  some  of  them  were  kept  at  Brayton  by 
Sir  Wilfrid  Lawson,  one  of  the  vicar's 
brothers.  As  time  went  on  the  strength  of 
the  pack  increased.  There  were  hounds  of 
good  blood  among  them,  notably  '  Swimmer ' 
and  'Stormer'  (painted  on  wood  in  1830  by 
Mr.  John  Hartley  and  now  in  the  possession 
of  Mr.  Francis  Wybergh)  ;  and  '  Guider,' 
which  Mr.  Francis  Wybergh  describes  as  by 
far  the  best  hound  he  ever  saw.  'Guider,'  like 
'  Stormer,'  was  sired  by  a  foxhound.  There 
was'Marjery'  too,  which  later  was  the  mother 
of  nearly  the  whole  of  a  kennel  of  sixteen. 
The  pack  varied  in  number  ;  but  ten  couples 
may  be  taken  as  its  full  strength.  One  of 
its  earliest  notable  runs  was  on  1 7  September, 
1837,  when  an  otter  was  dragged  from 
Bassenthwaite  Beck  into  the  side  of  Dash 
waterfall,  over  a  hilltop  adjoining  Skiddaw, 
and  down  the  watershed  of  the  river  Ellen. 
It  was  killed  in  that  river  close  to  the  famous 
hunting  and  coaching  hostelry  at  Cock 
Bridge.  This  run  was  interesting  as  proving 
that  otters  migrate  from  one  river  to  another 
— a  fact  in  natural  history  which  has  often 
since  been  demonstrated  on  the  Scottish  bor- 
der. The  Rev.  Hilton  Wybergh  was  a  very 
keen  sportsman,  and  his  otter  hunting  country 
was  very  extensive.  Near  home  he  had  that 
splendid  otter  river,  the  Derwent  ;  also  the 
Cocker  and  the  Ellen.  Further  away,  south  of 
Whitehaven,  the  Ehen,  Irt,  Mite,  Esk  and 
Duddon  ;  in  Westmorland  the  Eden,  Eamont 
and  Lowther  rivers,  and  Haweswater  fur- 
nished good  sport.  In  Scotland  the  pack 
hunted  the  Tweed,  the  Annan  (best  of  all), 
Esk,  Leader,  Lyne,  Kirtle,  and  JE,  ;  and  he 
even  went  to  Ireland  (in  1857)  an^  hunted 
the  Liffey.  No  list  of  fixtures  was  published 
in  the  newspapers  ;  but  the  word  was  passed 
round  among  enthusiasts  when  and  where  the 
meets  were  to  take  place.  For  what  may  be 
called  '  home  meets '  a  very  convenient  ar- 
rangement was  adopted.  Upon  a  suitable 
morning  William  Stordy,  who  lived  at  Isel 
Vicarage  and  hunted  the  pack  for  twenty-five 
years,  would  take  a  few  trusty  hounds  down 
to  the  river  at  Isel  Bridge  to  ascertain  if  an 
otter  had  been  afoot  there  during  the  night  or 
early  morning.  If  the  '  foil '  could  be  struck, 
young  Mr.  Francis  Wybergh  would  be  dis- 
patched upon  his  pony  to  Cockermouth,  six 
miles  away,  to  rouse  the  local  sportsmen,  who 
lost  no  time  in  getting  to  Isel.  The  largest 
otter  ever  killed  by  these  hounds  scaled  29  Ib. 
Some  most  exciting  sport  was  shown  from 
time  to  time,  and  Mr.  Francis  Wybergh  re- 
lates that  upon  a  certain  day  of  many  inci- 
dents an  enthusiast  said  to  him,  '  Oh  !  Mr. 


Frank,  this  is  far  too  much  for  yan  man  to 
see  ! '  Otters  were  plentiful  in  the  district, 
and  the  Rev.  Hilton  Wybergh  had  the  unique 
experience  one  winter's  morning  of  seeing 
three  of  them  from  his  own  bed.  In  spring, 
from  March  till  about  the  end  of  May, 
foulmarts  were  hunted.  The  hounds  were 
kept  together  until  1857,  wnen  tney  were 
disposed  of  to  Mr.  Newton  of  Devonshire, 
none  of  the  breed  remaining  in  Cumber- 
land. 

Dr.  Hildebrand,  a  Carlisle  medical  prac- 
titioner, had  a  small  pack  of  his  own  between 
1830  and  1840;  several  hounds  were  kept 
in  Carlisle  about  twenty  years  later  by 
butchers,  who  joined  forces  occasionally  in 
the  summer  months  and  hunted  the  Eden 
and  the  Lyne;  and  about  1860  Mr.  John 
Irving,  miller,  of  Maryport,  had  a  small  pack. 
It  was  not  however  till  1863,  when  the 
Carlisle  Otter  Hunting  Club  was  established, 
that  otter  hunting  became  a  popular  sport. 
The  Carlisle  pack  was  composed  of  ten 
couples  of  hounds,  with  a  few  terriers,  which 
had  before  been  in  private  hands  in  the 
district.  They  included  Mr.  Irving's  con- 
tingent ;  and  '  Carlisle  Thunder,'  a  celebrated 
specimen  of  the  breed,  was  at  their  head. 
The  owner  of  this  patriarch  of  the  pack  was 
Mr.  Robinson  Carr,  butcher,  who  was  chosen 
as  the  first  Master  ;  his  deputy  being  Mr. 
William  Robinson,  also  a  butcher,  who  contri- 
buted '  Lame  Swimmer,'  '  Major '  and  '  Rally,' 
three  hounds  of  the  same  strain.  Both  the 
Master  and  the  Deputy-Master  were  ex- 
perienced otter  hunters ;  and  William  Sander- 
son, afterwards  celebrated  as  '  Sandy,'  was 
appointed  huntsman.  Sandy,  who  at  this 
time  was  thirty  years  of  age,  was  a  butcher 
by  trade,  but  he  had  been  an  otter  hunter 
since  he  was  a  lad.  He  had  hunted  with  the 
Rev.  Hilton  Wybergh,  and  had  graduated  in 
the  sport  under  Dr.  Grant  and  Mr.  Lomax, 
two  keen  sportsmen,  who  hunted  on  the  Scotch 
side  of  the  Border.  Sandy  had  been  a  sprint 
runner  in  his  day,  and  was  endowed  with 
courage,  patience  and  great  physical  endurance. 
His  knowledge  of  the  habits  of  the  otter 
amounted  almost  to  instinct ;  and  he  had 
abiding  faith  in  his  well  trained  hounds.  The 
hunting  territory  of  the  new  club  comprised 
the  Eden  and  its  tributaries  within  a  range  of 
about  twenty-five  miles  ;  the  Esk,  the  Annan, 
and  the  Nith,  with  their  tributaries  on  and 
across  the  Border  ;  and  at  times  visits  would 
be  paid,  on  invitation,  to  Ayrshire,  and 
Roxburghshire,  and  to  the  Lune.  In  one 
year  the  north  of  Ireland  was  hunted.  The 
success  of  the  Carlisle  Otter  Hounds  was 
immediate,  and  in  a  very  few  years  they  had 


462 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


established  a  high  reputation  throughout  the 
kingdom.  Under  the  skilful  guidance  of 
Sandy,  excellent  sport  was  afforded  to  large 
'  fields,'  which  varied  in  number  from  200  at 
the  first  meet,  in  April,  1 864,  to  twice  that 
number  when  a  selection  of  the  pack  co- 
operated with  a  section  of  Dr.  Grant's  pack 
in  June,  1865,  at  Penton.  The  spectators 
as  a  rule  travelled  on  foot,  the  only  exceptions 
being  when  two  or  three  landed  proprietors, 
such  as  Sir  Frederick  Graham  of  Netherby 
and  Mr.  Johnson  of  Castlesteads,  rode  over 
to  meets  in  their  neighbourhood.  Occasion- 
ally ladies  joined  the  hunt.  Such  large  crowds 
might  have  been  embarrassing  but  for  the 
powerful  though  quiet  influence  of  Sandy,  in 
whom  the  spectators  had  implicit  confidence. 
'  Keep  back,'  he  would  say  to  any  who  were 
over  eager  ;  '  leave  the  hounds  alone  ;  they 
are  far  wiser  than  a  man  ;  they  can  tell  us 
far  more  than  we  can  tell  them.' 

On  a  very  good  day — of  course  there  were 
often  '  blanks ' — the  sport  was  exciting  from 
the  first  moment  when,  on  nearing  the  river, 
the  huntsman  released  his  pack  with  the  cry 
'  Seek  for  him  !  '  and  the  hounds  raced  to  the 
water  side.  Perhaps  even  at  this  early  stage 
'  Thunder '  would  throw  up  his  head  with  a 
loud  '  Boo  ! '  and  proclaim  that  the  otter  had 
been  there.  Sandy  at  once  recognizing  the 
voice  would  shout,  '  Ha,  lad  !  That's  him,' 
regardless  of  grammar  in  the  excitement  of 
the  moment ;  adding  quietly  to  those  around 
him,  '  That's  the  otter  ;  that  hound  never  told 
a  lie.'  Nor  was  '  Thunder '  the  only  George 
Washington  in  the  pack.  Now  the  other 
hounds  would  nose  the  drag  and  join  in  a 
canine  chorus,  which,  to  Sandy's  ears,  sounded 
'  like  a  peal  o'  bells.'  The  spectators  at  once 
arouse  themselves,  fearing  to  miss  any  incident 
in  the  hunt.  Some  run  along  one  bank  of 
the  river  ;  others  wade  across  to  the  other 
side.  But  suddenly  the  music  stops,  the  scent 
having  failed,  and  a  quiet  interval  is  only 
relieved  by  the  crack  of  the  huntsman's  whip 
calling  to  order  a  young  hound  that  had  been 
'running  riot'  after  a  rabbit.  The  old 
hounds  however  are  still  hard  at  work  on 
both  sides  of  the  river,  or  wading  and  swim- 
ming, trying  to  hit  off  the  '  foil '  again  by 
nosing  every  exposed  stone,  and  trying  to 
'  wind '  the  game  on  the  water  flowing  past 
them.  The  huntsman  makes  sure  that  he  is 
not  running  a  '  heel  drag '  by  examining 
stretches  of  sand  by  the  river  side  for  pad 
prints,  distinguishing  the  footing  of  the  otter 
from  that  of  a  hound  by  its  five  toe  marks. 
The  otter  has  swum  to  one  of  his  favourite 
holts  half  a  mile  away  behind  the  root  of  an 
old  ash  tree,  with  subterranean  retreats  higher 


up  the  river  bank.  '  Major '  and  '  Lame 
Swimmer' — both  famous  for  'marking  ' — have 
discovered  the  fact,  and  with  loud  voice  pro- 
claim it  to  their  associates,  who  give  a  re- 
sponsive '  boo  ! '  and  hurry  up  to  the  spot. 
Now  comes  the  chance  for  the  terriers.  One 
of  the  gamest  of  them  is  introduced  into  the 
hole,  and,  if  fortune  favours  the  field,  a 
distant  underground  scuffle  is  heard,  and  the 
otter  with  a  rapid  rush  bolts  into  the  river, 
perhaps  (as  happened  at  Wetheral  in  June, 
1869)  with  both  a  hound  and  a  terrier  hang- 
ing on  to  his  tough  hide.  At  this  point  a 
crisis  comes.  The  hunters  form  lines  across 
the  river,  both  above  and  below  the  hole  from 
which  the  otter  has  been  dislodged,  in  the 
hope  of  intercepting  his  progress  ;  but  some- 
times he  succeeds  in  making  his  way  under 
bushes  at  the  river  side  and  escaping  unseen. 
If  however  the  water  into  which  he  bolts  is 
a  deep  pool  he  swims  away  below  the  surface 
pursued  by  the  pack,  a  line  of  air  bubbles,  or 
'  bells '  as  they  are  called,  marking  his  progress. 
As  he  tires  the  '  bells '  become  more  numerous, 
and  he  begins  to  put  his  head  out  to  look  about 
and  take  breath.  The  appearance  of  his  head 
is  the  signal  for  a  loud  '  Hoo  !  '  and  waving  of 
hats  on  the  bank,  and  the  hounds  rush  forward 
in  maddened  frenzy.  Should  they  succeed  in 
reaching  him  his  moments  are  numbered, 
despite  his  slipperiness,  the  toughness  of  his 
hide,  and  the  superiority  of  his  swimming  and 
diving  powers.  But  he  may  succeed  in 
emerging  from  the  pool,  getting  away,  and 
gaining  another  favourite  stronghold  higher  up 
the  river.  This  time  the  refuge  leads  into  a 
drain  with  ramifications  in  the  field  above. 
Some  of  the  field  jump  upon  the  earth  to  try 
and  frighten  the  otter  out ;  but  that  failing, 
spades  are  procured  from  a  neighbouring  farm- 
house, the  drain  is  cut  say  twenty  or  thirty 
yards  from  the  river,  a  terrier  put  in,  and  the 
otter  driven  out  into  the  river,  and  probably 
'  into  the  jaws  of  death.'  But  perhaps — as 
often  happens — he  has  retired  to  an  impreg- 
nable cross  drain,  there  to  remain  until  his 
pursuers  have  departed. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  with  the 
establishment  of  strong  packs  changes  in 
favour  of  the  otter  have  been  made  in  the 
rules  of  the  hunt.  From  the  description  of 
the  otter  hunt  in  Ulleswater  at  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  it  appears  that  the 
hunter  was  armed  with  '  otter  grains  '  (bearded 
spears),  with  which  he  continued  to  strike  the 
otter  whenever  it  put  its  head  above  water  to 
take  breath.  The  use  of  the  spear  is  also 
shown  in  Landseer's  well  known  picture,  and 
in  older  illustrations  of  the  sport ;  but  it  has 
now  been  completely  abandoned,  otter  hunters 


463 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


only  carrying  hazel  poles  like  alpenstocks  to 
assist  them  in  wading  in  the  river.  Shortly 
after  the  establishment  of  the  Carlisle  pack, 
'  tailing  the  otter,'  that  is,  holding  him  by  the 
root  of  the  tail  to  assist  the  hounds  in  worry- 
ing him — a  hazardous  proceeding  for  the 
tailer — has  also  been  forbidden.  The  code 
sets  forth  that  'no  attempt  must  be  made  to 
seize  or  strike  the  otter,  or  to  interfere  with 
him  with  poles,  sticks,  or  otherwise,  at  any 
period  of  the  hunt.'  From  twelve  to  fourteen 
otters  are  killed  in  a  season  by  the  Carlisle 
hounds,  the  bitches  varying  from  13  Ib.  to 
1 8  Ib.  in  weight,  and  the  dogs  scaling  from 
17  Ib.  to  28  Ib.,  and  in  one  notable  instance, 
in  which  the  otter  was  drowned,  31  Ib. 

In  1866  Mr.  Robinson  Carr  resigned  the 
mastership,  and  Mr.  John  C.  Carrick  of 
Carlisle  was  appointed  to  the  office,  which 
he  held  until  1877,  when  he  was  succeeded 
by  Mr.  James  Steel  of  Eden  Bank,  Wetheral, 
who  undertook  the  responsibilities  until  1883, 
when  Mr.  Carrick  resumed  them.  In  1893 
Major  Arthur  Mounsey-Heysham,  a  keen 
local  sportsman,  not  only  undertook  the  mas- 
tership but  bought  the  hounds.  He  resigned 
in  1901,  when  Mr.  James  W.  Graham  of  Car- 
lisle succeeded  to  the  office.  The  palmy  days 
of  the  pack  were  in  the  twenty  years  during 
which  the  incomparable  Sandy  was  huntsman. 
One  of  the  most  celebrated  hunts  in  that  time 
was  on  29  June,  1 869.  The  meet  was  at 
Newby  Bridge,  near  Irthing  Foot,  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  A  drag  was  struck 
almost  immediately.  The  quest  continued  up 
the  Eden  beyond  Corby  Castle,  one  or  two 
strongholds  being  visited  on  the  way,  and  the 
otter  was  found  ensconced  behind  his  entrench- 


ments at  Cooey's  Nab,  below  Cotehouse 
Island.  He  was  ejected,  and  a  water  hunt, 
full  of  exciting  incidents,  ensued  between  that 
point  and  Corby  Castle.  It  did  not  end  till 
nearly  nine  o'clock  at  night,  when  the  otter, 
a  24  Ib.  dog,  was  killed  near  the  salmon  coops. 
Much  of  this  triumph  of  skill  and  endurance 
was  due  to  Sandy,  who  always  looked  upon 
this  hunt  as  one  of  his  finest  exploits.  Sandy 
remained  huntsman  for  fourteen  years  longer, 
when  failing  health  compelled  him  to  retire. 
His  death,  in  March,  1886,  was  tragic  and 
pathetic.  He  was  then  huntsman  of  the 
Brampton  Harriers.  The  meet  was  at 
Seathill,  Irthington,  and  after  the  hounds  had 
been  in  full  cry  for  twenty  minutes  Sandy  was 
missed.  Shortly  afterwards  a  labourer  crossing 
a  field  near  Freelands  found  him  lying  dead  on 
his  back.  His  hunting  whip  was  grasped  in 
one  hand,  and  a  favourite  terrier  was  seated 
on  his  chest.  Thus  this  famous  huntsman 
died  in  harness,  the  music  of  the  hounds 
which  he  loved  so  well  being  the  last  sounds 
that  fell  upon  his  ears.  His  successors  as 
huntsmen  of  the  Carlisle  Otter  Hounds  were 
first  of  all  Jim  Pattinson,  who  gave  place  to 
Ned  Park,  who  is  now  hunting  the  Brampton 
Harriers.  Park  was  followed  by  Tom  Parker, 
who  held  the  office  till  his  death  in  1899, 
when  his  son  '  Young  Tom  '  succeeded  to  the 
vacant  place.  The  pack  still  flourishes  (1902) 
but  a  rival  has  appeared  in  Dumfriesshire,  and 
packs  have  been  established  at  Cockermouth 
and  at  Egremont,  which  hunt  the  rivers  of 
their  respective  districts,  so  that  the  county 
of  Cumberland,  from  the  Scottish  Border  to 
the  boundary  lines  of  Lancashire  and  West- 
morland, is  now  fully  covered. 


ANGLING 


To  the  angler  Cumberland  offers  a  field 
both  wide  and  varied,  for  her  rivers,  lakes  and 
streams  are  many  in  number,  and  are  fairly 
well  stocked  with  both  migratory  and  non- 
migratory  Salmonidae,  also  in  some  instances 
with  several  species  of  coarse  fish. 

The  Eden,  with  its  tributaries,  forms  the 
most  important  river-system  of  Cumberland, 
and  runs  through  this  county  from  near 
Langwathby,  where  it  is  augmented  by  the 
Eamont,  for  a  distance  of  about  twenty-five 
miles  to  the  Solway  Firth.  It  is,  however, 
to  the  sister  county  of  Westmorland  that  the 
Eden  owes  its  origin,  for  it  rises  near  Kirkby- 
Stephen  and  runs  through  the  county  town  of 
Appleby,  whence  it  flows  until  it  enters  Cum- 
berland. The  Eden  is  also  indebted  to  West- 
morland for  the  contributions  of  the  river 


464 


Lowther,  a  tributary  of  the  Eamont,  and  the 
former  pretty  little  river  is  the  favourite 
spawning  ground  of  Eden  salmon. 

The  rivers  Irthing,  Petterill  and  Caldew  are 
also  tributaries  of  the  Eden  and  run  into  it  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Carlisle. 

The  rivers  Wampool  and  Waver  also  run 
into  the  mouth  of  the  Solway  but  they  are  of 
no  great  importance,  and  in  the  north-eastern 
corner  of  the  county  the  small  river  Line 
discharges  into  the  Border  Esk. 

The  other  rivers  of  Cumberland  spring 
from  the  Lake  and  Fell  district  of  the  county 
and  discharge  their  volumes  into  the  sea  at 
various  points  along  the  west  coast.  These 
are  the  Derwent,  the  Ellen,  the  Ehen,  the 
Calder,  the  Irt,  the  Esk  and  the  Duddon. 

The  lakes,  Bassenthwaite,  Derwentwater, 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


Ulleswater,  Wastwater,  Ennerclale,  Crum- 
mock,  etc.,  supply  one  or  other  of  the  rivers 
above  mentioned,  and  afford  sport  of  various 
kinds,  and  it  is  probable  that  by  cultivation 
this  might  be  greatly  improved. 

Salmon  are  plentiful  in  the  Eden,  for  large 
numbers  are  captured  annually  by  the  nets  in 
the  Solway,  in  the  tidal  waters  of  the  river, 
and  in  its  upper  reaches  so  far  as  Armathwaite 
Bay  or  Weir.  Considerable  numbers  of  these 
fish  are  caught  by  rod  and  line  from  Arma- 
thwaite downwards,  and  a  few  are  killed  in  the 
water  between  that  village  and  the  junction 
of  the  Eamont  with  the  main  river,  and  in 
the  Eamont  itself. 

It  is  difficult  to  obtain  trustworthy  returns 
of  the  salmon  captured  by  the  nets  in  the 
Solway  and  in  the  lower  waters  of  the  Eden, 
but  to  give  some  idea  of  what  sport  the  river 
might  afford,  were  it  preserved  for  rod-fishing, 
I  may  say  that,  in  a  recent  good  year  for 
salmon,  over  a  length  of  twelve  miles  of  water, 
six  miles  of  which  were  netted,  more  than  one 
thousand  fish  were  taken  in  the  spring  season, 
and  the  rods  probably  accounted  for  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  in  addition. 

In  the  Eden  there  are  both  spring  and 
autumn  runs  of  salmon,  the  precise  dates  of 
which  are  determined  by  the  rainfalls,  and  it 
is  scarcely  necessary  to  mention  that  these  do 
not  always  occur  at  times  best  suited  to  the 
open  season  for  rod-fishing,  viz.  from  16 
February  until  15  November  inclusive. 

Salmon  are  also  fairly  plentiful  in  the 
Derwent,  the  Ehen,  etc.,  but  there  is  practi- 
cally no  spring  run  of  fish  in  any  of  the  west- 
coast  rivers  ;  a  few  odd  fish  may  ascend  earlier 
or  later,  but  July,  August  and  September  are 
the  best  months  for  salmon  fishing  in  these 
rivers. 

Sea-trout  and  its  grilse,  the  herling,  ascend 
most  of  the  Cumberland  rivers  during  the  late 
spring  and  summer  months,  but  at  the  present 
time  these  fish  do  not  run  up  the  Eden  in 
any  numbers  beyond  a  few  miles  above  Car- 
lisle. 

Bull-trout  and  grayling  are  both  very 
scarce,  but  the  brown  trout  flourishes  in 
nearly  all  the  rivers  and  in  many  of  the  lakes 
of  Cumberland,  and  although  the  average 
weight  is  not  great,  they  are  very  handsome 
fish,  and  when  in  good  condition  show 
excellent  sport.  An  odd  fish  weighing  from 
4  Ib.  to  6  Ib.  is  now  and  again  captured  in  the 
Eden,  and  no  doubt  a  few  such  fish  exist  in 
the  deep  pools  in  the  Cumberland  portion  of 
the  river,  but  the  average  weight  of  the  trout 
killed  by  the  rod  in  the  middle  and  lower 
waters  would  probably  be  rather  under  than 
over  ^  Ib.,  which  is  rather  curious,  as  in  a  big 


river,  exceedingly  well  supplied  with  food,  one 
would  expect  a  higher  average  weight. 

A  good  many  trout  from  i  Ib.  to  2  Ib.  in 
weight  may  be  observed  jumping  the  weirs  in 
the  time  of  autumn  floods,  and  likely  enough 
these  might  be  killed  during  the  season  by 
spinning,  but  this  is  not  a  method  much 
practised  for  trout  in  Cumberland. 

The  rivers  which  discharge  their  volumes 
by  the  west  coast  contain  very  few  coarse  fish, 
but  the  Eden  breeds  a  good  many  pike,  and 
vast  numbers  of  chub  (locally  called  the 
skelly),  while  dace,  eels,  lampreys,  etc.,  are 
not  uncommon  ;  but,  as  might  be  expected, 
they  are  not  much  fished  for  where  the 
Salmonidas  are  fairly  plentiful.  It  would  be 
much  to  the  advantage  of  the  ova  and  young 
of  the  Salmonidae  if  the  Fishery  Board  and 
others  interested  were  to  make  regular  raids 
upon  these  coarse  fish,  which  in  this  county 
are  worthless. 

The  Cumberland  rivers,  like  all  those 
whose  watersheds  are  partly  under  cultivation, 
have  altered  much  of  recent  years  by  reason  of 
the  effect  of  the  system  of  land  drainage 
which  has  been  prosecuted  by  the  farmers. 
Year  after  year  tracts  of  mire  and  bog  dis- 
appear, and  crops  of  various  kinds  replace 
heather,  whins  and  bracken  ;  with  the  result 
that  the  rainfall,  instead  of  filtering  gradually 
through  the  soil  and  thence  by  way  of  the 
becks  into  the  tributaries  and  main  rivers,  now 
runs  off  the  channelled  land  as  water  from  a 
duck's  back.  Thus  the  volumes  falling  from 
the  clouds  are  retained  in  the  rivers  for  a 
much  less  space  of  time  than  was  formerly  the 
case,  and  for  a  far  shorter  period  are  they 
available  for  the  requirements  of  fish  life. 

A  definite  quantity  of  water  will  provide 
the  necessities  for  the  existence  of  the 
Salmonidae  over  and  over  again,  if  at  regular 
intervals  it  be  recharged  with  the  gas  abstracted 
and  be  permitted  to  free  itself  from  that 
returned.  These  operations  are  performed 
naturally  by  the  agency  of  falls  and  swift  runs 
which  agrate  the  water,  and  by  the  action  of 
aquatic  vegetation,  so  in  many  instances  the 
effect  of  land  drainage  in  hurrying  the  rainfall 
to  the  sea  may  be  compensated  for  by  opening 
up  the  higher  reaches  of  rivers  and  lakes, 
where  such  exist. 

It  can  scarcely  be  doubted  that  this  modern 
treatment  of  the  rainfall  has  considerably 
influenced  the  salmon  as  regards  the  times  at 
which  they  ascend  rivers,  the  Eden  for 
example,  and  if  no  fresh  fields  be  opened  up, 
so  as  to  permit  the  fish  to  distribute  themselves 
over  a  larger  area  of  water,  instead  of  being 
crowded  together  within  a  space  which  has 
become  insufficient  for  their  needs,  it  is 


H 


465 


59 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


obvious  that  disease  will  be  cultivated  and  the 
stock  offish  will  be  reduced  to  a  number  that 
the  decreased  volume  of  water  is  able  to 
support. 

There  is  another  influence  at  work  which 
is  most  disastrous  in  its  effects  upon  fish  life 
and  fish  reproduction  in  our  rivers  and 
estuaries,  viz.  the  pollution  of  the  water  by 
sewerage  and  refuse  from  manufactories,  etc. 
The  present  conditions  of  many  of  our 
rivers  from  these  causes  are  bad  enough,  but 
with  increasing  population,  unless  new 
measures  are  adopted,  they  are  certain  to  grow 
worse. 

The  Eden  running  into  the  sea  by  the 
straits  of  the  Solway  Firth  is  an  object  lesson 
providing  the  most  convincing  proof  of  the 
damage  that  sewerage  inflicts  upon  a  fishery, 
and  its  insanitary  condition  at  the  present  time 
reflects  discredit  on  the  authorities  of  Carlisle 
and  the  district. 

A  mass  of  filth  is  poured  into  the  river 
within  a  short  distance  of  Carlisle,  contamin- 
ating air  and  water  alike.  Lower  down  it 
surges  to  and  fro  with  the  tides,  being 
continually  augmented  by  the  refuse  from  the 
city  drains,  and  what  obstruction  it  causes  to 
running  fish  may  be  imagined  from  one  fact 
alone,  viz.  that  those  netting  below  the  main 
bulk  of  it  are  not  anxious  for  its  removal.1 

Several  autumn  floods  are  required  to  sweep 
away  the  sewerage  and  settlement  which 
collect  below  Carlisle  while  the  Eden  is  low 
during  the  summer  months.  Thus  the  ascent  of 
autumn  salmon  is  retarded  and  the  fish  sicken 
with  disease,  while  later  on  in  the  year  much 
of  the  ova  shed  upon  the  lower  beds  is  suffo- 
cated through  the  want  of  pure  water. 

After  a  series  of  floods  in  the  spring  or  in 
the  autumn,  which  unfortunately  occurs  but 
seldom,  the  fish  are  less  languid  and  pay  more 
heed  to  the  angler's  lure.  Again,  of  the  bulk 
of  the  fish  sickened  by  the  sewerage  below, 
some  few  will  take  the  fly  after  becoming 
recruited  in  health,  while  resting  for  a  week  or 
two  in  the  purer  middle  waters,  having  partly 
shaken  off  the  effects  of  the  poison  or  disease, 
but  large  numbers  die. 

Even  within  recent  times  angling  for  both 
salmon  and  trout  was  obtainable  in  Cumber- 
land for  quite  a  small  annual  payment,  and 

1  Since  these  lines  were  penned  a  statement 
was  semi-officially  made  at  the  meeting  of  the 
Eden  Fishery  Board  held  in  Carlisle  in  October, 
1902,  to  the  effect  that  the  town  council  of 
Carlisle  had  plans  in  their  possession  for  treating 
the  sewerage  of  the  city,  and  this  scheme  they 
hoped  to  carry  out  at  a  cost  of  £60,000.  There 
would  thus  seem  to  be  some  chance  that  this 
question  may  be  dealt  with  before  long. 


466 


fair  good  fishing  it  was  ;  but,  in  the  Eden  at 
all  events,  many  of  the  rods  fished  for  the 
markets  rather  than  for  sport,  and  I  once  saw 
a  man  kill  a  spring  fish  of  28  Ib.  and  take  it 
forthwith  by  train  to  Carlisle,  where  he  sold 
it  for  2s.  per  pound  and  was  again  fishing  the 
pool  within  little  over  two  hours. 

According  to  my  judgment  but  few  of  such 
professionals  were  good  salmon  anglers,  for 
many  of  them  tried  to  bully  fish  into  taking 
by  continual  casting  over  them,  and  when 
playing  a  fish  they  proceeded  more  as  if  the 
market  value  of  the  salmon  than  the  fish  itself 
were  on  the  hook. 

At  trout-fishing  on  the  contrary  many  of 
them  were  first-rate  hands,  they  fished  more 
freely  and  were  not  in  such  awe  of  the  quarry. 
In  the  use  of  the  fly,  the  creeper  and  the 
clear-water  worm  the  old  hands  were  expert, 
and  it  was  not  uncommon  for  a  rod  to  creel 
20  Ib.  to  25  Ib.  weight  of  trout  between  the 
hours  of  7  p.m.  and  early  morning  in  the 
summer  months. 

Until  it  became  illegal,  fishing  with  the 
otter,  or  'jacking'  as  it  was  called,  was 
practised  on  the  Eden,  and  to  within  recent 
years  some  of  the  old  hands  were  using  their 
big  jacking-reels  for  fly-fishing. 

Circumstances  have  much  changed  upon 
the  Eden  and  the  other  rivers  during  the  last 
twenty  years,  as  elsewhere,  and  there  is  very 
little  fishing  now  to  be  obtained  as  described 
above  upon  small  payment,  and  what  little 
there  may  be  is  overfished. 

Angling  rents  on  the  Eden  and  on  the 
other  rivers  of  the  county  are  about  on  a  par 
with  those  of  the  best  rivers  of  Scotland  as 
compared  with  the  number  of  fish  taken  by 
the  rod,  and  the  rents  paid  for  trout-fishing 
are  very  high  also  ;  however  one  obtains  a  vast 
amount  of  walking,  a  great  deal  of  casting  and 
unlimited  opportunities  of  wearing  out  good 
gut  and  flies  in  the  attempt  to  lure  '  dour  '  fish 
into  taking. 

Legislation  administered  with  a  firm  hand 
might  easily  improve  the  situation  and  without 
much  delay,  but  at  present  the  fact  is  not  to 
be  denied  that  the  salmon  of  the  Cumberland 
rivers  are  very  bad  takers. 

This  trait  in  their  character  has  unfortu- 
nately led  to  the  indiscriminate  and  selfish  use 
of  baits,  both  natural  and  artificial,  by  some 
who,  upon  finding  that  they  do  not  obtain 
sufficient  fish  (I  do  not  use  the  word  sport 
advisedly)  for  their  money,  become  desperate 
and  pelt  the  pools  from  morn  until  eve  with 
baits  mounted  upon  compound  tackle.  Even 
before  the  water  has  had  time  to  fine  down 
after  a  flood  this  class  of  angler  weights 
his  baited  cast  with  heavy  leads,  he  casts  the 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


lot  at  right  angles  across  the  stream  of  the  pool 
and  permits  the  combination  to  grovel  across 
the  bed  of  the  river,  the  water  being  so  thick 
the  while  that  the  fish  cannot  discern  the 
engine  in  time  to  shift  away  from  its  path. 
This  class  of  angler  like  the  sewerage  of 
Carlisle  can  be  easily  dispensed  with. 

I  have  been  told  by  old  men  who  have 
passed  their  days  upon  Eden's  banks  that  some 
forty  to  fifty  years  ago  the  river  was  more  an 
autumn  than  a  spring  one  as  regards  salmon- 
fishing,  but  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile  these 
statements  with  the  evidence  given  by  an  old 
man  in  a  recent  lawsuit  concerning  fishery 
rights  on  the  river,  and  as  the  incident  was 
not  without  humour  it  is  worth  relating. 

The  old  man  of  about  eighty  years  was 
summoned  to  give  evidence,  and  on  account 
of  his  extreme  age  and  deafness  was  invited  to 
afford  testimony  from  the  well  of  the  court. 
In  the  course  of  examination  he  stated  that 
he  and  his  mate,  in  the  olden  times,  while 
netting  a  pool  of  the  Eden,  captured  ninety- 
nine  salmon  in  one  night's  fishing.  The 
catch  was  certainly  a  very  large  one  and  the 
number  of  fish  seemed  somewhat  peculiar. 
In  cross-examination  by  eminent  counsel, 
questions  were  put  to  the  witness,  in  the  usual 
professional  tone,  which  seemed  to  imply  that 
his  memory  was  possibly  defective.  Failing 
to  catch  counsel's  words  the  old  man  raised 
both  hands  to  his  ears,  and  the  question 
gained  emphasis  by  repetition.  Without  a 
moment's  hesitation  the  old  fellow  replied 
more  or  less  in  these  words  :  '  A  remeember 
eet  weel — me  an'  Jim  had  been  feeshin'  a' 
neet,  an'  Jim  says  to  me,  "  We've  gotten 
ninety-nine  feesh,  an'  we  maun  hae  aneether 
to  mak'  eet  a  'underd,"  an'  we  wrought  on 
for  foor  moortal  'oors,  but  we  could  naV 
It  was  a  distinct  score  for  the  veteran,  who 
was  then  permitted  to  retire. 

It  is  difficult  to  imagine  that  these  could  all 
have  been  fresh-run  fish,  and  the  probable 
explanation  is  that  in  those  days  they  were 
not  so  particular  about  kelts. 

The  Cumberland  rivers,  including  the  best 
of  them,  the  Eden,  will  not  yield  a  big  bag  of 
salmon  under  existing  conditions  ;  indeed  five 
or  six  fish  is  the  most  I  have  known  taken  by 
a  rod  in  one  day,  and  this  has  happened  only 
under  peculiarly  favourable  conditions  of  water 
and  weather. 

I  killed  five  fish  one  day  with  the  fly  but 
they  only  averaged  1 1  lb.,  which  is  very  low 
for  the  river,  as  I  should  put  the  average 
weight  of  the  fish  falling  to  the  rod  in 
February,  March  and  April  at  about  1 7  lb.  to 
i81b.,  and  in  the  autumn  some  2  lb.  to  4  lb. 
higher. 


I  do  not  claim  to  possess  records  of  fish 
taken  throughout  the  length  of  the  Eden,  but 
at  about  the  above  spring  average  I  have  known 
four  fish  killed  by  a  rod  in  a  day  upon  a  few 
occasions,  many  times  have  I  known  of  three 
fish  in  a  day,  but  probably  most  anglers  fishing 
in  this  river  would  be  contented  with  the 
average  of  one  fish  a  day ;  indeed  the  probability 
is  that  in  a  month's  fishing,  upon  sufficient 
water  to  occupy  the  day,  fifteen  fish  would  be 
a  fair  bag,  and  twenty  a  very  good  one. 

A  few  years  since,  upon  8  November,  I 
killed  a  cock  fish  of  38  lb.,  and  soon  after  lost 
another  of  about  the  same  size  when  close  to 
the  bank,  and  then  landed  a  spring  fish  of  17 
lb.,  which  shows  how  early  upon  occasions 
will  the  spring  fish  ascend  the  river,  and  this 
was  not  a  solitary  instance. 

The  largest  fish  I  have  known  killed  on  the 
Eden  was  a  cock  fish  of  56^  lb.  in  the  back- 
end  with  an  artificial  minnow  just  above 
Warwick  Bridge,  and  he  was  a  very  fine  fish 
in  fair  condition. 

The  scenery  around  a  watershed,  the 
growth  of  timber,  shrubs  and  wild  flowers 
upon  the  banks,  together  with  the  resident 
and  migratory  bird-life,  add  so  much  to  the 
enjoyment  of  angling,  that  without  these 
adjuncts  the  sport  is  bereft  of  a  considerable 
amount  of  its  charm.  No  complaint  how- 
ever can  be  made  of  the  Cumberland  rivers 
and  lakes  in  these  respects,  for  their  scenery  is 
delightful,  as  it  tells  the  tale  of  the  seasons  by 
its  foliage  and  feathered  inhabitants. 

The  angling  is  also  interesting  in  itself,  for 
the  bluff  sandstone  crags  and  wooded  banks 
call  for  all  methods  of  casting,  and  the  sunken 
rocks  which  line  many  a  pool  demand  expert 
handling  of  the  fish  when  hooked. 

The  weather  is  often  uncommonly  wild 
and  rough  for  the  first  four  months  of  the  year 
in  Cumberland,  and  frost,  cold  winds,  snow 
and  sleet  are  pretty  certain  to  take  their  turns 
until  May  arrives ;  indeed  many  a  time  has 
my  line  been  frozen  in  the  rings  of  the  rod  as 
the  '  helm-wind '  swept  down  from  the  fells. 

The  opening  day  of  the  season  is  of  peculiar 
interest  to  the  salmon-fisher,  for  he  puts  up  his 
rod  with  the  knowledge  that,  whether  the  fish 
have  been  lying  in  the  pools  for  a  day  or  a 
month,  they  at  all  events  have  not  seen  a  fly 
or  bait  since  they  left  the  sea. 

The  rod  seems  a  trifle  heavy,  those  sub- 
merged rocks  to  be  covered  in  the  cast  appear 
somewhat  distant,  the  fly  does  not  shoot  forth 
and  drop  upon  the  ripple  with  quite  its  usual 
easy  grace,  and  as  he  wades  with  the  rushing 
stream  around  his  waist,  the  angler's  eyes  are 
rather  dazed  by  the  light  and  the  movement  of 
the  water,  while  the  awkward  wading  places 


467 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


he  treats  with  more  respect  than  is  his  wont. 
He  is  merely  a  little  out  of  practice,  and 
within  the  space  of  an  hour  or  so  he  can 
scarcely  credit  that  the  rod  has  for  so  long 
been  laid  aside. 

The  temperature  and  weather  in  Cumber- 
land may  vary  much  in  different  seasons,  but 
at  some  time  or  another  during  the  spring 
months,  even  in  a  somewhat  sheltered  valley 
like  that  of  the  Eden,  the  angler  is  sure  to 
encounter  rough  winds  bearing  rain,  hail,  sleet, 
or  snow,  and  he  should  be  clad  accordingly. 
The  gusty  blasts  come  hard  and  stiff  as  they 
strike  up  the  valley  direct  from  the  eastern 
fells,  and  although  there  is  a  fair  show  of  fish 
in  the  water  most  of  them  will  ignore  the 
best  efforts  of  both  head  and  hand,  contenting 
themselves  with  occasional  graceful  leaps  above 
the  surface  of  the  pools.  Yet  by  careful 
and  diligent  fishing  the  angler  should  pick 
up  an  odd  fish  or  two  now  and  again,  and 
under  the  circumstances  should  not  be 
altogether  dissatisfied  ;  indeed  my  experience 
is  that  one  rarely  fails  to  get  one  chance  a  day 
whatever  the  weather  and  water  may  be  like. 

To-day  as  he  walks  to  the  water  the  air 
seems  rather  softer,  and  of  wind  there  is  so 
little  that  it  is  difficult  to  tell  whence  it 
springs.  The  sky  is  completely  cloud- 
covered,  and  as  he  descends  the  steep  brow 
of  the  hill  the  pool  below  appears  in  excellent 
trim,  and  he  remarks  to  his  companion  :  'If 
fish  don't  take  to-day  they  never  will ! '  As 
the  angler  reaches  the  pool  the  air  has  become 
yet  milder,  and  fearful  that  the  sun  may 
penetrate  the  clouds  he  splices  his  rod  in  haste, 
runs  the  line  quickly  through  the  rings  and 
loops  on  the  well  soaked  cast  and  fly. 

One  cast — two  casts — three  casts — when, 
as  the  fly  is  hanging  almost  straight  down 
stream,  the  surface  of  the  water  is  agitated, 
and  in  the  turmoil  a  few  inches  of  a  dorsal  fin 
for  an  instant  catch  the  eye,  and  immediately 
the  tip  of  a  tail  cleaves  the  surface  and  dis- 
appears. The  line  draws  almost  impercep- 
tibly, the  rod-top  tells  no  tale,  and  the  fisher, 
with  that  restraint  and  confidence  acquired 
by  long  practice,  allows  a  second  or  so 
to  elapse  ere  he  moves  a  muscle.  Those 
seconds  seem  as  minutes,  but  the  sand  surely 
runs  from  the  glass ;  a  sharp,  firm  strike 
bends  the  rod  down  to  the  hand,  and  the 
line  is  tight  indeed.  The  dreaded  sunlight 
permits  of  no  dallying,  and  with  scant 
ceremony  the  fish  is  run  up  the  gravel  strand 
— a  fine  fresh  run  salmon  of  near  upon 
20  Ib. 

There  is  no  time  to  waste,  so  the  fly  speeds 
forth  again,  and  at  the  very  third  cast  it  is 
taken  savagely  under  water  with  no  surface 


rise.  A  powerful  fish  indeed,  but  the  best  of 
single  gut  permits  of  his  being  rattled  up  the 
strand  ere  he  scarce  appreciates  his  dilemma  ; 
his  weight  is  18  Ib. 

A  slight  rift  in  the  clouds  now  gives 
passage  to  feeble  golden  rays,  and  without 
delay  the  jock-scot  is  again  dismissed  upon  its 
errand. 

Twice  does  the  double-hooked  3^0  com- 
plete its  course  unmolested,  but,  curious  to 
relate,  again  at  the  third  time  of  asking  it  is 
arrested  in  its  progress  over  those  sunken 
moss-begrown  rocks.  This  time  the  fish 
fairly  races  at  the  fly,  and  before  any  strike  is 
possible  the  impetus  of  his  rush  lifts  him  high 
above  the  pool's  surface.  There  is  a  moment 
of  doubt  and  suspense,  but  fortunately  the  fly 
is  fast,  and  so  it  remains  until  released  from 
his  jaw  as  he  rests  upon  the  green  sward,  side 
by  side  with  his  brothers  in  misfortune,  the 
three  weighing  20  Ib.,  i81b.  and  21  Ib. 
Three  fine  spring  fish  killed  in  nine  casts 
within  the  space  of  forty  minutes,  whereas  the 
previous  week  of  hard  fishing  had  only  yielded 
a  like  result.  Such  was  the  luck  of  salmon 
fishing  upon  the  Eden,  and  I  hope  may  be 
again.  The  last  fish  was  not  hooked  a  moment 
too  soon,  for  as  he  came  to  bank  the  river  was 
aglow  with  sunlight  and  further  attempt  was 
useless  until  eventide. 

Towards  the  end  of  March  the  days  are 
getting  long,  and  the  sun  grows  in  power,  so, 
even  with  the  water  in  order,  it  is  not  good  to 
fish  during  the  mid-day  hours,  unless  indeed 
the  weather  be  dull.  Better  sport  will  pro- 
bably be  enjoyed  with  the  trout  rod,  for  on  or 
about  the  22nd  of  the  month  the  March- 
browns  will  come  sailing  down  the  necks  of 
the  pools  to  meet  their  fate  in  the  slower 
running  water  lower  down. 

The  seasons  differ  much  as  regards  trout- 
fishing.  The  trout  are  there  sure  enough,  but 
during  long  spells  of  cold  dry  weather  they 
feed  upon  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  when  the 
water  is  low  and  fine  they  are  extremely 
difficult  to  lure  with  the  fly,  lying  as  they  do 
in  the  flats  rather  than  in  the  streams,  at  the 
early  part  of  the  season. 

In  three  or  four  hours'  fishing  I  have  often 
landed  only  about  half  a  dozen  trout,  while 
upon  other  days  I  have  in  the  same  time 
killed  from  two  to  four  dozen,  averaging  about 
^  Ib.,  and  in  addition  have  returned  to  the 
water  ten  or  twelve  smaller  fish. 

The  March-brown  continues  to  rise  until 
nearly  the  middle  of  April,  but  soon  after  that 
fly-fishing  for  trout  becomes  for  a  while  rather 
uncertain  sport,  for  all  the  best  fish  will  be 
hunting  among  the  stones  for  the  creeper  (the 
pseudo-imago  of  the  stone-fly)  as  he  shifts  his 


468 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


position  while  wending  his  way  towards  the 
banks,  where  he  will  emerge  as  the  perfect 
winged  fly. 

The  creeper  is  fixed  upon  two  hooks 
mounted  above  one  another  and  back  to  back 
upon  a  strand  of  gut,  and  the  bait  is  cast  up 
stream  mostly  in  thin  water,  sometimes  only 
six  inches  deep,  and  so  long  as  the  creeper 
season  lasts  the  fish  will  scarcely  look  at  ought 
else. 

Later  on,  should  the  water  be  favourable, 
nice  baskets  of  trout  may  be  killed  with  the 
olive  and  the  blue  duns  when  the  sun  is  off 
the  water,  but  when  June  arrives,  trouting  is 
mostly  confined  to  early  and  late  hours,  and 
those  who  do  not  object  to  night-fishing  can 
make  good  bags  with  the  '  bustard '  (or 
artificial  moth)  in  warm  weather. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  most  of  the  proprietors 
and  lessees  do  not  fish  the  Eden  hard  for  trout, 
and  generally  give  it  up  when  they  have 
creeled  a  dozen  or  so,  but  upon  a  few  occasions 
I  have  tried  out  of  curiosity  to  see  what  I 
could  do,  and  in  1902  in  the  week  or  two 
previous  to  Whitsun-week,  I  killed  in  three 
days  forty-seven,  fifty,  and  fifty-six  trout, 
averaging  over  ^  Ib.  apiece,  and  also  returned 
to  the  river  ten  to  twelve  a  day,  but  the 
conditions  in  each  instance  were  exception- 
ally favourable. 

The  fifty-six  trout  were  killed  on  the  Friday 
before  Whitsun  Day  ;  they  weighed  32  Ib., 
and  were  caught  in  heavy  rain  between  the 
hours  of  1 1.30  a.m.  and  3.30  p.m. 

In  June,  July  and  August  the  sea-trout 
and  herling  ascend  the  Cumberland  rivers,  but 
these  sharp-sighted  fish  do  not  take  well  in  the 
daytime.  They  show  excellent  sport  in  the 
summer  evenings  and  nights. 

In  the  Derwent  and  in  the  other  rivers  of 


the  west  coast  of  Cumberland  there  is  really 
no  spring  run  of  salmon.  These  fish  make 
their  appearance  in  June  and  July  and  afford 
good  sport  into  September.  By  the  end  of 
September  in  Cumberland  the  summer  salmon 
fishing  and  sea-trout  fishing  are  practically 
over,  and  the  brown-trout  are  getting  soft  in 
condition  ;  thus  in  this  county  the  angler's 
remaining  chance  of  sport  with  the  rod  is 
centred  in  the  '  back-end '  salmon  fishing, 
which  entirely  depends  upon  the  rainfall. 

In  an  autumn  attended  by  continual  rain  I 
have  known  excellent  sport  enjoyed  on  the 
Eden  with  fresh-run  clean  fish,  but  for  the 
last  four  or  five  years  very  few  of  such  have 
ascended  the  river  to  any  distance  above 
Carlisle  until  after  the  annual  close-time  has 
commenced.  With  16  November  the  close- 
time  for  the  latest  of  the  Cumberland  rivers 
commences,  and  the  rods  are  laid  aside  until 
the  winter's  floods  shall  have  scoured  the 
river's  banks  and  bed  of  summer  growth  and 
have  obliterated  the  angler's  footprints  from 
the  waterside. 

The  river  Eden  with  its  excellent  tribu- 
taries, headed  by  such  grand  lakes  as  Ulles- 
water  and  Haweswater,  is  a  system  peculiarly 
constituted  by  nature  to  provide  the  necessities 
of  a  successful  salmon  fishery,  and  the  area 
at  the  command  of  fish  could  be  vastly 
increased  at  comparatively  small  expense. 
In  the  year  1900  a  hatchery  was  erected 
near  Armathwaite  by  private  subscription  of 
some  few  riparian  owners  and  lessees.  The 
house  and  ponds  were  constructed  so  as  to 
hatch  out  500,000  ova,  and  rear  the  resulting 
product,  and  since  that  date  it  has  continued 
to  do  good  work  ;  the  enterprise  should  soon 
increase  the  number  of  adult  fish  which  ascend 
the  river. 


COURSING 


Until  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
century  there  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
any  public  coursing  in  Cumberland.1  Owners 
of  greyhounds  ran  friendly  matches  on  each 
other's  lands,  but  the  sport  was  in  no  sense 
organized  nor  was  there  any  breeding  record 
kept.  It  is  very  difficult,  therefore,  except  in 

1  One  of  the  earliest  references  to  greyhounds  in 
Cumberland  appears  to  be  in  the  Pipe  Rolls  (see 
V.C.H.  Cumb.  i.  389),  where  it  is  stated  that  in 
the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  King  John,  Allan 
Wastehouse  received  a  sum  of  £109  I5/.  SJ.  as 
the  wages  for  eighteen  months  of  himself  and  four 
attendants.  This  included  the  care  of  a  stud  of 
ten  dogs,  called  'leporarii.'  Greyhounds  under 
one  name  or  another,  such  as  '  canes  de  mota,' 


very  few  cases,  to  trace  a  dog's  pedigree  back 
to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
literature  of  the  sport  commenced  in  1828 
with  a  book  published  by  Mr.  Thomas  Good- 
lake,  a  south  country  enthusiast,  and  annual 
records  were  initiated  by  Mr.  Thomas  Thacker 
in  1840  and  continued  by  him  for  some  years. 

'  currentes  canes,'  etc.,  are  not  unfrequently  men- 
tioned in  the  early  historical  records  of  Cumber- 
land. A  search  through  the  Monastic  Chartularies, 
Close  Rolls  and  Forest  Eyre  Rolls  relating  to  the 
county  might  be  worth  the  labour  to  those  accus- 
tomed to  such  investigation.  For  instance,  grey- 
hounds, locally  known  as  '  strakurs,'  were  used  by 
Cumberland  sportsmen  for  poaching  hares  on  the 
king's  demesnes  as  early  as  1287. 


469 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


Mr.  Thacker  also  compiled  a.  code  of  rules  ; 
but  it  was  not  until  1858  that  the  sport  was 
authoritatively  regulated  by  a  code  which,  with 
alterations  from  time  to  time,  is  now  in  force. 
The  official  Stud  Book  was  instituted  in  1881. 
But  before  that  time  strong  clubs  were  in 
existence  at  Workington  and  Whitehaven  ; 
the  latter  club  being  chiefly  supported — till 
its  dissolution  close  upon  1870  — •  by  the 
Lowther  family,  and  the  latter  by  the  Cur- 
wens,  being  then  succeeded  by  the  short-lived 
West  Cumberland  Club.  In  the  south-west 
of  the  county  too  there  was  plenty  of  coursing 
when  the  Whitehaven  and  Workington  Clubs 
were  full  of  life,  and  at  Cockermouth  General 
Sir  Henry  Wyndham,  M.P.,  permitted  meet- 
ings on  the  Castle  estate  for  many  years.  But 
Cockermouth  as  a  coursing  centre  was  most 
noted  for  the  Bridekirk  meeting,  held  on  the 
magnificent  grass  land  of  Mr.  Henry  Tesh- 
maker  Thompson's  Tarnities  estate  from  1854 
until  1 873,  when  his  successor,  Colonel  Green- 
Thompson,withdrew  the  necessary  permission. 
The  Bridekirk  Cup,  the  principal  stake  at  this 
meeting  during  the  nineteen  years  referred  to, 
was  one  of  the  chief  coursing  prizes  of  the 
season,  and  the  thirty-two  competing  grey- 
hounds embraced  the  pick  of  the  celebrities 
of  the  kingdom.  It  goes  without  saying  there- 
fore that  the  break  up  of  the  Bridekirk  meet- 
ings was  a  blow  to  coursing  in  Cumberland  ; 
indeed,  it  was  the  beginning  of  the  decadence 
that  culminated  with  the  Ground  Game  Act 
of  1880,  and  now,  unfortunately,  the  Bor- 
der Union  Meeting  on  the  Netherby  estate 
remains  alone  in  its  glory.  In  the  eastern 
part  of  the  county,  moreover,  there  was  at 
one  time  or  other  an  abundance  of  coursing, 
which  the  Hares  and  Rabbits  enactment  tended 
to  abolish.  In  this  connection  prominence  may 
be  given  to  the  Brampton  Club,  the  home  of 
which  was  on  the  Naworth  estate.  The  club 
in  question  existed  for  some  thirty  years,  and 
in  its  palmy  times  very  many  greyhounds 
whose  blood  courses  through  the  veins  of  lat- 
ter day  Waterloo  Cup  winners  graduated  on 
the  Naworth  estate,  which,  it  is  interesting  to 
add,  can  claim  the  distinction  of  being  the 
oldest  coursing  country  in  Cumberland  from 
a  historical  point  of  view. 

The  Border  Union  country  has  for  many 
years  past  been  second  in  importance  only  to 
the  Waterloo  Cup  in  Lancashire,  the  prize 
that  everybody,  fortunate  enough  to  possess  a 
first-class  greyhound,  is  ambitious  to  win.  The 
Border  Union,  however,  like  its  prototype,  was 
commenced  on  very  humble  lines  as  far  back 
as  1850,  but  as  time  rolled  by,  the  Netherby 
Cup  increased  in  reputation,  and  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  half-century  its  sixty-four  competi- 


tors have  included  the  pick  of  the  kennels  in 
England,  Ireland  and  Scotland.  Luckily  the 
Ground  Game  Act  has  not  exercised  the  de- 
terrent effect  so  severely  felt  in  every  other 
part  of  the  kingdom,  for  the  sufficient  reason 
that  the  Netherby  tenantry,  to  a  man  almost, 
co-operate  in  the  heartiest  manner  with  the 
managing  committee.  Indeed  it  is  a  singular 
fact  that  the  committee  is  to  a  great  extent 
composed  of  the  farmers.  And  it  is  fitting 
that  the  Border  Union  Meeting  should  be 
held  on  ground  that  for  coursing  purposes 
cannot  be  excelled  anywhere,  covering  as  it 
does  magnificent  stretches  of  grass  and  seeds, 
perfectly  level,  and  practically  clear  of  stones, 
its  locality  extending  from  the  outskirts  of 
Longtown  to  Gretna  on  the  banks  of  the 
Esk.  There  are  also  two  less  important 
meetings  held  on  the  Netherby  estates.  In 
some  other  parts  of  England,  as  well  as  in 
Ireland,  the  exigencies  arising  out  of  the 
Ground  Game  Act  led  to  the  introduction  of 
another  form  of  coursing  in  the  shape  of  in- 
closures,  in  which  the  hares  are  really  con- 
fined, and  liberated  from  their  covert  one  by 
one  as  required.  This  was  never  more  than 
an  imitation  of  the  ancient  pastime,  in  many 
respects  contemptible  by  comparison,  and  it  is 
creditable  to  the  instincts  of  Cumbrian  and 
Scottish  coursers  that  no  attempt  has  ever 
been  made  to  plant  this  abomination  in  the 
Border  county. 

In  the  old  days  when  public  coursing  was 
flourishing  from  end  to  end  of  the  county  it 
may  be  imagined  that  the  breeding  of  grey- 
hounds was  a  necessary  means  to  an  end.  In 
consequence  the  best  blood  north  and  south  of 
the  Border  was  ever  being  minlged  and  dis- 
seminated, and  the  present  day  result  is  that 
the  lines  of  long  past  Cumbrian  canine  nota- 
bilities are  to  be  found  in  the  pedigrees  of  all 
the  winners  of  valuable  stakes,  not  only  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  but  in  Australia,  New 
Zealand  and  the  United  States,  where  coursing 
has  for  several  years  past  been  a  popular  pas- 
time. Nowadays  however  Cumberland  is  almost 
destitute  of  breeding  studs,  the  only  one  worthy 
of  the  designation  being  Stonerigg  near  Car- 
lisle, belonging  to  Mr.  Thomas  Graham,  orig- 
inally a  Dumfriesshire  courser,  who  for  many 
seasons  past  has  bred  winners  by  the  score. 
Here  and  there  also  a  farmer  breeds  on  a  small 
scale  for  the  London  sale  ring,  young  grey- 
hounds reared  on  the  breezy  and  health-giving 
lands  of  Cumberland  invariably  commanding 
a  profitable  market.  In  this  connection  too 
several  of  the  principal  kennels  in  the  south 
of  England  supply  team  upon  team  of  young 
puppies  for  Cumberland  '  walks  '  ;  indeed,  the 
farmers'  wives  and  daughters  on  the  Border 


470 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


have  a  reputation  second  to  none  for  their  care 
and  upbringing  of  greyhounds,  and  quite  natu- 
rally they  watch  the  public  careers  of  their 
whilom  charges  with  the  deepest  interest. 

As  will  be  readily  inferred,  Cumberland  has 
the  credit  of  producing  a  long  array  of  famous 
greyhounds  during  the  sixty  years  public  cours- 
ing has  been  carried  on  in  the  county.  The 
palm  of  superiority,  from  every  point  of  view, 
must  undoubtedly  be  accorded  to '  Judge,'  bred 
in  1852  by  the  Rev.  John  Fox  of  St.  Bees, 
and  owned  by  his  friend  Mr.  Henry  Jefferson 
of  Rothersyke  near  Egremont.  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son was  the  owner  of  running  greyhounds  as 
far  back  as  1840,  winning  cups  at  White- 
haven,  Workington  and  elsewhere.  'Judge' 
was  by  Mr.  Jefferson's  own  dog  '  John  Bull ' 
(by  Jebb's'Lodore'out  of 'Jane'),  and  his  dam 
was  Mr.  Fox's  '  Fudge  '  (by  <  Oliver  Twist ' 
out  of  '  Fairy,'  by  the  celebrated  Cockermouth 
dog  '  Carronade '  out  of  '  Gamut,'  another  of 
Mr.  Fox's  kennel).  '  Judge '  was  therefore  a 
thorough  Cumberland  bred  dog.  He  was  a 
red  dog,  and  when  a  puppy  he  divided  a  stake 
at  Workington,  besides  winning  the  Altcar 
Club  Cup  in  Lancashire.  In  the  same  year 
he  ran  in  the  Waterloo  Cup,  and  was  beaten 
in  the  third  round  by  the  eventual  winner, 
Lord  Sefton's  '  Sackcloth.'  In  his  second  sea- 
son however  '  Judge '  commenced  by  winning 
the  Bridekirk  Cup,  and  then  attained  the  pin- 
nacle of  fame  by  securing  the  Waterloo  Cup, 
as  the  representative  of  Mr.  (now  Sir  Thomas) 
Brocklebank,  whilst  the  following  year  he  again 
made  a  bold  bid  for  Waterloo  Cup  honours, 
running  second  to  '  Protest '  after  an  '  unde- 
cided,' and  for  the  second  time  representing 
Mr.  Brocklebank.  '  Judge's '  peculiarity — a 
very  rare  one — was  that  he  required  little  or 
no  training  ;  in  other  words,  he  trained  him- 
self into  condition.  As  an  instance  of  his 
wonderful  constitution,  he  had  only  been 
about  a  week  in  hand  prior  to  winning  the 
Bridekirk  Cup,  and  at  the  close  of  the  ordeal 
was  fit  to  run  on,  in  spite  of  the  stout  hares. 
During  his  famous  running  career  it  is  a 
singular  fact  that  '  Judge '  in  three  of  his  five 
defeats  was  vanquished  by  the  ultimate  win- 
ner after  '  undecideds.'  In  one  instance  he 
went  to  slips  three  times  with  '  Bright  Idea ' 
in  the  Champion  Cup  at  Biggar,  in  Lanark- 
shire, whilst  he  had  to  be  drawn  lame  after  an 
'  undecided  '  with  the  Lancashire  bitch  '  Jael,' 
winner  of  the  Druid  Cup  on  the  Wiltshire 
Downs.  From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  gathered 
that '  Judge '  was  at  home  in  any  country,  and 
it  will  suffice  to  add  that  in  all  he  won  twenty- 
eight  courses  out  of  thirty-three.  At  the 
stud  Mr.  Jefferson's  wonderful  greyhound  was 
equally  successful.  He  was  the  sire  of  three 


Waterloo  Cup  winners,  namely  'Clive,'  'Maid 
of  the  Mill '  and  '  Chloe,'  the  second  referred 
to  being  a  Cumberland  bitch,  of  whom  more 
anon.  To  wind  up  our  reference  to  '  Judge,' 
his  stout  blood  is  to  be  found  in  at  least  three- 
fourths  of  the  Waterloo  Cup  winners  down  to 
the  present  day.  His  pedigree  traces  back  to 
the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In 
'  Judge's '  earlier  times  his  progenitors  were 
decidedly  in-bred,  a  circumstance  that  would 
be  carefully  avoided  in  these  latter  days,  in 
contradistinction  to  a  hundred  years  ago  when 
people  were  not  so  particular. 

At  this  stage  it  will  be  appropriate  to  in- 
troduce Sir  Thomas  Brocklebank  as  a  pro- 
minent Cumbrian  courser,  the  more  so  that 
he  was  a  contemporary  of  Mr.  Henry  Jeffer- 
son, the  Rev.  John  Fox  and  many  others  who 
were  pillars  of  the  pastime  in  the  early  'forties.' 
Of  that  worthy  school  he  is  the  only  represen- 
tative left,  and  from  1847  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time  he  has  been  actively  engaged  in 
coursing  pursuits  all  over  the  kingdom.  During 
his  long  career  Sir  Thomas  Brocklebank  has 
bred  and  run  many  first-class  greyhounds  that 
have  done  him  suit  and  service  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Altcar  and  Ridgway  Clubs,  and 
many  other  clubs  in  different  parts  of  the 
country,  not  omitting  the  Waterloo  Cup  and 
the  Whitehaven  and  Workington  Clubs  of  the 
old  days.  He  was  also  a  prominent  member 
of  the  National  Coursing  Club  during  a  long 
period  of  years.  Sir  Thomas  Brocklebank's 
most  notable  greyhounds  have  been  '  Border 
Boy,'  '  Britomart,'  '  Beer,'  '  Bowfell,'  '  Bees- 
wing,' '  Brigade,'  'Bacchante,' '  Bishop,'  <Bur- 
lador,' '  Biere,' '  Black  Veil '  and  '  Border  Song.' 
He  bred  them  all  with  the  exception  of  '  Bor- 
der Boy,'  bought  as  a  puppy  in  1850,  and 
'  Brigade,'  given  to  him  by  his  friend  Mr. 
Henry  Jefferson,  also  when  a  puppy,  in  1866. 
'Britomart'  won  the  Altcar  Club  Cup  in  1852, 
'  Bowfell '  was  second  for  the  Waterloo  Cup 
in  1862,  and  nineteen  years  later  'Bishop' 
occupied  the  same  tantalizing  position,  whilst 
the  brilliant  '  Brigade '  (a  grand-daughter  of 
'  Judge '  through  her  dam  '  Java ')  reached  the 
last  four  at  Waterloo,  when  the  Irish  wonder, 
'  Master  McGrath,'  was  victorious.  Subse- 
quently '  Brigade '  divided  the  Altcar  Club 
Cup  and  won  the  Bridekirk  Cup.  But  '  Bac- 
chante's '  record  was,  if  anything,  of  higher 
merit  than  any  of  the  foregoing  greyhounds, 
as  she  ran  second  for  the  South  Lancashire 
Stakes  (Ridgway  Club),  won  the  Waterloo 
Purse,  won  and  divided  the  Altcar  Cup,  and 
was  runner-up  for  the  Craven  Cup  over  the 
historical  Ashdown  country.  '  Bacchante's ' 
greatest  performance,  though  unsuccessful,  was 
when  she  met  the  celebrated  '  Bab  at  the  Bow- 


47 1 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


ster' in  the  fifth  round  of  the  Great  Scarisbrick 
Cup  at  Southport.  The  course  was  one  of 
the  longest  ever  witnessed  in  that  most  severe 
country,  and  the  greyhounds  were  a  match 
in  every  attribute  but  speed,  which  eventually 
left  the  Scotch  bitch  mistress  of  a  trying  situa- 
tion. '  Beer '  and  '  Beeswing '  were  daughters 
of  '  Bacchante,"  the  former  of  whom  divided 
two  Craven  Cups,  and  her  sister  was  the 
winner  of  an  Altcar  Cup  and  a  Lytham  Cup. 
During  later  years  '  Burlador '  divided  the  Car- 
michael  Cup  (in  Lanarkshire), and  'Black  Veil' 
and  '  Border  Song '  respectively  won  their  vet- 
eran owner  the  much  appreciated  Corrie  Cup 
in  Dumfriesshire.  Sir  Thomas  Brocklebank 
may  truly  be  described  as  the  '  father  of 
coursing,'  not  only  of  his  native  county  of 
Cumberland,  but  also  of  the  United  Kingdom. 
'  Carronade,'  although  located  in  Cumber- 
land, was  of  Scotch  lineage,  but  the  property 
of  Mr.  William  Bragg,  a  solicitor  in  Cocker- 
mouth,  and  agent  to  General  Wyndham,  suc- 
cessively M.P.  for  the  old  borough  and  for 
West  Cumberland.  '  Carronade's '  blood  runs 
through  many  Waterloo  Cup  winners,  inclu- 
sive of  '  Judge  '  and  '  Fullerton,'  the  latter  of 
whom  bears  the  great  distinction  of  having 
divided  and  then  won  in  three  consecutive 
years.  '  Carronade's  '  sire  was  '  Carron,'  de- 
scended from  one  of  the  Duke  of  Gordon's 
celebrities  about  1821,  and  'Carron'  ran  a 
sensational  match  in  1840  for  £100,  the  re- 
sult of  a  challenge  to  '  All  Scotland,'  but  was 
defeated  by  the  Earl  of  Eglinton's  '  Waterloo.' 
Mr.  Bragg  was  a  keen  courser,  a  winner  of 
many  prizes  in  West  Cumberland  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Workington  and  Whitehaven  Clubs, 
having  thus  been  intimately  associated  with 
Mr.  Fox,  Mr.  Jefferson,  Captain  John  Harris, 
Dr.  Anthony  Peat,  Mr.  Thomas  Falcon,  Mr. 
Joseph  Lindow,  Captain  Spencer,  Mr.  Thomas 
Dalzell  and  Mr.  Richard  Smith,  the  latter  also 
a  Cockermouth  sportsman  of  the  old  school 
and  a  manufacturer  in  the  town.  Travelling 
much,  in  conjunction  with  his  business  his 
greyhounds  ran  successfully  at  the  most  im- 
portant meetings  on  both  sides  of  the  border, 
and  from  the  year  1840  until  his  death,  some 
fifteen  years  later,  he  must  have  acquired  a 
valuable  collection  of  plate.  Recurring  to  Mr. 
Henry  Jefferson  and  to  the  Rev.  John  Fox, 
the  owner  of  '  Judge  '  had  also  the  celebrated 
'Jacobite,'  bred  however  in  1854  by  Mr.  Fox. 
'  Jacobite '  was  by  the  Nottingham  dog  '  Bed- 
lamite,' and  his  dam  was '  Florence,'  a  daughter 
of  '  Carronade'  and  'Gamut';  but  'Jacobite* 
early  passed  into  the  hands  of  a  Scottish  courser, 
Mr.  John  Gibson,  for  whom  he  won  many 
stakes,  and  subsequently  increased  his  fame  at 
the  stud.  Others  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  winning 


greyhounds  were  '  Jim-along-Josey,'  '  Jeremy 
Diddler,'  '  Jeu  d'Esprit,'  '  Jester,'  '  Judy,' 
'  Jeannie  Deans,'  'Johnny  Newcome,'  'Jeri- 
cho,' 'Jane,'  'Jack  o'  Lantern,'  'Jock,'  '  John 
Bull '  (sire  of  '  Judge  '),  '  Java  '  (winner  of  the 
Waterloo  Plate),  and  '  Imperatrice  '  (a  daughter 
of '  Java '),  who  was  the  dam  of  the  Lanca- 
shire wonder, '  Bed  of  Stone.'  The  Rev.  John 
Fox  retired  from  coursing  comparatively  early, 
but  between  1840—50  he  was  very  successful 
in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

A  well  known  greyhound  in  Cumberland 
about  1845  was  Mr.  John  Rogers's '  Crofton,' 
winner  of  several  prizes,  and  whose  name  is 
prominent  in  the  pedigrees  of  many  notabili- 
ties, inclusive  of  '  King  Lear '  and  '  Maid  of 
the  Mill,'  winners  of  the  Waterloo  Cup. 
'  Crofton  '  was  one  of  the  fastest  greyhounds 
of  his  time.  He  was  named  as  a  compliment 
to  the  Brisco  family,  of  whom  Sir  Robert, 
prior  to  succeeding  to  the  baronetcy,  was  an 
active  Cumberland  courser.  Sir  Robert's  first 
greyhound  of  note  was '  Beau  Coeur,'  whelped 
in  1838,  and  bred  at  Crofton.  Sir  Robert 
Brisco  won  no  fewer  than  five  Whitehaven 
Cups  in  the  early  '  forties.'  Captain  Joseph 
Spencer's  kennel  of  greyhounds  flourished  in 
1846  till  a  dozen  years  later.  He  will  not 
readily  be  forgotten  as  the  owner  of  '  Sun- 
beam,' a  son  of  '  John  Bull '  and  Mr.  Fox's 
'  Fleur-de-Lys.'  '  Sunbeam  '  began  his  career 
by  winning  a  stake  at  Altcar  ;  he  ran  second 
for  the  Bridekirk  Cup  and  Altcar  Club  Cup, 
also  won  the  Clifton  Cup  at  Lytham  and  the 
Douglas  Cup  at  Biggar,  and  within  a  few  days 
carried  off  the  Bendrigg  Cup,  one  of  the  lead- 
ing prizes  of  the  time  in  Westmorland,  where, 
by-the-bye,  there  is  now  no  public  coursing. 
But '  Sunbeam's '  historical  feat  was  his  defeat 
in  the  deciding  course  of  the  1857  Waterloo 
Cup  by  '  King  Lear,'  a  keen  disappointment 
for  Cumberland,  as  the  dog's  chance  was  con- 
sidered second  to  none.  The  year  following 
'  Sunbeam '  ran  into  the  last  four  of  Neville's 
Waterloo  Cup.  There  were  old  coursers 
however  who  considered  '  Seagull '  a  better 
greyhound  than  '  Sunbeam,'  both  as  a  public 
performer  and  at  the  stud.  '  Seagull '  was  by 
'  Bedlamite — Raven,'  and  was  bred  in  the 
south  of  England  ;  in  fact,  before  he  came  into 
Cumberland  had  run  under  the  name  of '  Re- 
veller.' It  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that  '  Sea- 
gull '  won  for  Captain  Spencer  two  Altcar 
Club  Cups,  the  Biggar  Cup,  the  Whitehaven 
Cup  and  the  Scottish  Champion  Cup,  truly  a 
brilliant  record,  and  reflecting  no  little  credit 
on  the  West  Cumberland  courser  as  a  judge 
of  a  good  greyhound. 

The  border  name  of  Hyslop  has  for  many 
years  been  associated  with  coursing  in  Cumber- 


472 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


land  and  farther  afield.  Five  brothers  were 
born  and  bred  on  the  Denton  Hall  farmstead- 
ing  of  Lord  Carlisle,  and  they  were  all  coursers 
of  the  old-fashioned  stamp,  breeding  and  run- 
ning their  greyhounds  to  some  substantial  pur- 
pose. The  eldest  of  them,  Mr.  John  Hyslop, 
now  more  than  fourscore  years,  makes  a  point 
of  attending  the  Border  Union,  while  the  two 
youngest,  also  veterans,  still  breed  and  run  a 
few  dogs  now  and  again.  The  other  two 
brothers  died  some  years  ago.  Mr.  John 
Hyslop  was  for  many  years  honorary  secretary 
of  the  old  Brampton  Club,  and  fifty  years  ago 
officiated  as  judge  at  the  Border  Union  meet- 
ing. But  it  is  with  the  many  good  greyhounds 
that  sprang  from  Denton  Hall  that  we  have 
now  to  deal.  Two  of  the  earliest  winners  were 
'  Young  Eve  '  and  '  Harpoon,'  by  '  Eden  '  out 
of  '  Old  Eve,'  and  '  Harpoon  '  in  the  same 
season  carried  off  the  Scottish  Champion  Cup 
as  well  as  a  valuable  stake  at  Workington. 
The  next  to  bring  lustre  to  Denton  Hall  was 
'  Hue  and  Cry,"  winner  of  the  Brougham 
Castle  Cup  in  1859,  an<^  m  a  year  or  so  the 
future  famous  brood  bitch  '  High  Idea*  was  to 
the  fore.  She  was  however  in  due  course 
eclipsed  by  her  son  '  Strange  Idea  '  (by  '  Car- 
dinal York '),  who  opened  his  career  by  win- 
ning the  Brampton  Puppy  Stakes,  and  he  won 
the  Waterloo  Plate  on  the  occasion  of  the  first 
of  '  Master  McGrath's '  three  Waterloo  Cup 
victories.  It  was  at  the  stud,  though,  that 
'  Strange  Idea '  made  a  name,  and  not  only 
were  his  fine  speed  and  brilliancy  transmitted 
to  future  Denton  Hall  winners,  but  to  grey- 
hounds all  over  the  country,  and  at  the  present 
day  there  is  scarcely  a  greyhound  of  note  in 
this  country,  as  well  as  in  Australia  and 
America,  in  whose  pedigree  the  '  Strange 
Idea'  line  is  not  to  be  found.  The  'Car- 
dinal York — High  Idea '  combination  included 
'  Lion's  Share,'  who  divided  the  Brampton 
Cup  ;  '  Bright  Idea,'  second  for  the  great 
Bothal  St.  Leger  in  Northumberland  ;  and 
'  No  Idea,'  who  divided  the  Bridekirk  Cup. 
'  Confidence  '  was  another  great  performer,  as 
she  was  a  winner  at  Brougham  and  at  Bramp- 
ton, and  divided  the  Bridekirk  Cup  with  Sir 
Thomas  Brocklebank's  '  Brigade.'  '  Strange 
Idea's '  best  success  at  the  stud  however  was 
a  bitch  called  '  Covet,'  a  daughter  of  the 
Northumberland  '  Curiosity,'  and  given  to 
the  Messrs.  Hyslop  for  the  stud  fee.  A 
lucky  bargain  it  was  too,  as  the  bitch  com- 
menced when  very  young  by  running  to 
the  end  of  a  Sapling  Stakes  at  Brampton, 
where  she  also  shared  the  Puppy  Stakes.  In 
a  month  only  from  this  '  Covet '  was  taken 
to  Bothal,  where  she  divided  the  St.  Leger 
of  143  puppies,  and  then  changed  hands  for 


£200,  the  new  owner  being  the  Lancashire 
courser,  Mr.  James  Spinks,  who  renamed  the 
bitch  '  Sea  Cove,'  under  which  name  she 
divided  the  Hardwick  Cup  in  Shropshire,  and 
then  won  the  Waterloo  Cup.  This  string 
of  successes,  it  is  interesting  to  know,  was 
achieved  when  the  bitch  was  a  puppy.  She 
was  not  by  any  means  a  fast  greyhound,  as  a 
matter  of  fact  she  was  led  by  '  Confidence ' 
in  a  private  trial  prior  to  the  Waterloo  Cup. 
The  last  of  the  really  good  greyhounds  owned 
by  the  Denton  Hall  triumvirate  was  '  Hermit,' 
who  created  a  memorable  surprise  when  he 
turned  the  tables  on  Lord  Haddington's '  Horn- 
pipe '  in  the  final  course  for  the  Stainburn  Cup 
at  Workington.  '  Hermit '  had  been  previously 
run  to  death  almost,  and  went  to  the  encounter 
a  thoroughly  distressed  greyhound,  whereby  the 
issue  appeared  a  certainty  for  the  Scotch  bitch. 
However  the  unexpected  happened,  as  it  often 
does  in  coursing,  as  after  '  Hermit '  had  been 
led  to  the  hare  he  resolutely  set  to  work 
when  the  opening  came,  and  finished  the 
winner. 

Captain  Dees  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Whitehaven  Club  in  its  palmiest  days,  and 
his  successes  on  Lord  Lonsdale's  ground  were 
simply  marvellous.  On  two  occasions  a  brace 
and  once  three  of  his  greyhounds  were  left  in 
for  the  Whitehaven  Cup,  which  required  to 
be  won  three  times  in  order  to  become  the 
permanent  property  of  a  member.  It  took 
Captain  Dees  seven  years  to  accomplish  the 
feat,  and  the  details  are  so  interesting  that 
they  are  here  given  :  1859,  Captain  Spencer's 
'Seagull';  1860,  Mr.  Lindow's  'Lizard'; 
1 86 1,  Mr.  (now  Lord)  Brougham's  'Belle  of 
Eamont' ;  1862,  Captain  Dees's  '  Ewesdale' 
beat  his  '  Duke '  ;  1 863,  Captain  Dees's 
'  Detector,'  his  '  Duke '  and  his  '  Ewesdale  ' 
divided  ;  1864,  Mr.  Blackstock's  <  Beckford ' ; 

1 865,  Mr.  A.  Thompson's  'Ticket  of  Leave' ; 

1866,  Captain  Dees's '  Doctor '  beat  his '  Dean 
Swift.'     '  Duke,'  it  should  be  added,  was  by 
'  Seagull,'  '  Detector '  by  '  Judge,'  and  '  Doc- 
tor '  and  «  Dean  Swift '  by  « Ewesdale.'    '  De- 
butante,' a  sister  of '  Detector,'  won  the  Border 
Union  Puppy  Stake  in  1863,  and  'Ewesdale' 
won  the  Bridekirk  Cup  in  the  same  year. 

The  name  of  Mr.  G.  A.  Thompson, 
owner  of  '  Ticket  of  Leave,'  recalls  another 
prominent  Brampton  courser.  At  one  time 
he  was  honorary  secretary  of  the  old  Bramp- 
ton Club,  and  he  started  as  an  owner  of 
greyhounds  in  1853  by  running  second 
for  the  Club  Cup  with  '  Telemachus.' 
Two  years  after  Mr.  Thompson  was  victor- 
ious in  the  Brampton  Cup  with  '  Titmouse,' 
who  also  ran  second  for  the  Caledonian  Cup 
to  '  Jacobite,'  whilst  she  divided  the  year 


II 


473 


60 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


following.  '  Tearaway,'  a  son  of '  Telemachus,' 
also  carried  off  the  Carmichael  Stakes  at  the 
same  meeting.  'Tearaway'  and  'Truth'  sub- 
sequently shared  the  Sefton  Stakes  at  Altcar, 
and  the  former  followed  it  up  with  the  Altcar 
Club  Cup,  whilst  'TearawayV  brother  'Tem- 
pest '  won  the  Bridekirk  Cup.  From  this  Mr. 
Thompson  all  at  once  got  together  a  strong 
kennel  of  high  class  greyhounds  that  could 
win  stakes  when  pitted  against  the  best  in  all 
countries.  It  would  be  tedious  to  name  the 
half  of  them,  and  it  must  suffice  to  observe 
that  'Tullochgorum'  (brother  to  '  King  Death,' 
winner  of  the  Waterloo  Cup  in  1864)  as  a 
puppy  ran  second  for  the  Sefton  Stakes,  and  in 
his  second  season  won  the  Brampton  Cup  and 
divided  the  Bridekirk  Cup.  'TullochgorumV 
Bridekirk  success  was  the  subject  of  winter 
controversy  round  many  a  farm  fireside  for 
years  after.  '  Theatre  Royal '  was  another 
great  greyhound.  She  was  by  'Cardinal  York' 
out  of  '  Meg  of  the  Mill '  (a  celebrated  Long- 
town  bitch),  and  after  earning  herself  a  name 
when  a  sapling,  the  following  season  won  the 
Challenge  Bracelet  on  Salisbury  Plains,  as  well 
as  running  second  at  Sundorne  in  Shropshire. 
In  her  next  season  '  Theatre  Royal '  won  the 
Altcar  Cup,  divided  the  Douglas  Cup  with 
'  Cauld  Kail,'  and  reached  the  penultimate 
stage  of  the  Waterloo  Cup,  won  by  '  Briga- 
dier.' And  'Trovatore'  (by  '  Ticket  of  Leave ' 
out  of  '  Touchwood  ')  was  yet  another  of  Mr. 
Thompson's  brilliant  performers.  She  won 
the  Brownlow  Cup  in  Ireland  and  the  Lytham 
Cup,  divided  the  Caledonian  Stakes,  and  was 
put  out  in  the  decider  for  the  Douglas  Cup  by 
'  Lancaster.'  Further,  Mr.  Thompson  acquired 
the  famous  brood  bitch  '  Princess  Royal,'  a  full 
sister  to  '  Theatre  Royal,'  just  before  his  re- 
tirement from  coursing  through  ill -health  ; 
indeed  he  died  at  Nice  almost  on  the  eve  of 
'  Master  McGrath's '  second  Waterloo  Cup 
victory. 

Memories  of  the  Bridekirk  Cup  are  closely 
associated  with  the  name  of  Mr.  John  Black- 
stock  of  Hayton  Castle,  who  was  practically 
the  founder  of  the  meeting.  As  an  owner  of 
greyhounds  he  had  achieved  something  more 
than  a  fair  share  of  success  at  Bridekirk  and 
other  important  meetings  in  different  parts  of 
the  country.  He  began  by  running  second  to 
'  Judge '  with  his  bitch  '  Bartolozzi '  for  the 
Bridekirk  Cup  of  1854.  '  Judge '  and  '  Barto- 
lozzi '  were  subsequently  mated,  and  the  pro- 
duce included  two  greyhounds  that  speedily 
gained  Mr.  Blackstock  fame,  namely  '  Bride- 
groom '  and  '  Maid  of  the  Mill,'  who  made 
their  first  appearance  at  Southport,  the  dog 
running  second  to  '  Derwentwater '  for  the 
Scarisbrick  Cup  after  three  '  undecideds,'  and 


the  bitch  winning  the  Southport  Stakes.  'Maid 
of  the  Mill '  followed  up  this  creditable  dtbut 
with  a  stake  at  Brougham,  and  she  found  more 
than  her  match  in  'Annoyance'  in  the  'deci- 
der '  for  the  Bridekirk  Cup,  but  was  not  long 
after  victorious  in  the  Waterloo  Cup.  '  Belle 
of  the  Moor,'  a  daughter  of  '  Bridegroom,' 
also  won  amongst  other  stakes  the  Netherby 
Cup,  and  '  Beckford,'  another  scion  of  '  Bride- 
groom,' carried  off  a  second  Bridekirk  Cup. 
'  Beckford '  was  the  fond  hope  of  all  Cumber- 
land for  the  Waterloo  Cup  of  1864,  but  he 
failed  to  survive  the  first  round,  winning  how- 
ever the  Purse  the  year  following.  By  com- 
mon consent  Mr.  Blackstock's  most  brilliant 
greyhound  was  '  Belle  of  Scotland  '  (a  daughter 
of  '  Maid  of  the  Mill '),  though  a  more  unfor- 
tunate one  never  went  to  slips,  as  after  run- 
ning unsuccessfully  all  over  the  kingdom  she 
managed  to  divide  the  Netherby  Cup,  soon 
after  which  she  went  to  the  stud.  In  1871 
'  Belle  of  Lome '  divided  the  Bridekirk  Cup. 

One  of  the  greatest  greyhounds  ever  associ- 
ated with  coursing  in  Cumberland  was '  Cauld 
Kail.'  Although  bred  on  the  Scotch  side  of 
the  river  Liddel  and  full  of  Cumberland  blood, 
'  Cauld  Kail '  was  subsequently  the  property  of 
Mr.  William  Forster  of  Stonegarthside,  also 
on  the  banks  of  the  Liddel  and  almost  oppo- 
site the  place  of  the  dog's  nativity.  '  Cauld 
Kail's '  earliest  successes  were  at  Brampton, 
where  he  divided  the  Cup,  and  at  Hawick 
and  Lockerbie,  where  he  also  shared  the  Stobs 
Castle  Stakes  and  the  Castlemilk  Stakes.  Next 
greatly  fancied  for  the  Waterloo  Cup,  won  by 
'  Brigadier,'  his  colours  were  lowered  in  the 
second  round,  after  two  '  undecideds,'  by  '  Blue 
Eye,'  but  the  following  month,  in  the  more 
congenial  Scottish  National  country,  he  divi- 
ded the  Douglas  Cup  (fifty-eight  entries)  with 
'  Theatre  Royal.'  A  second  division  of  the 
Stobs  Castle  Stakes,  and,  strange  to  say,  again 
with  '  Princess  Royal,'  ended  '  Cauld  Kail's ' 
winning  successes,  and  he  went  to  the  stud. 
His  immediate  progeny  won  valuable  stakes 
in  England,  Ireland  and  Scotland,  including 
the  Waterloo  Cup,  and  one  of  them,  a  Cum- 
berland-bred dog,  named  '  Royal  Water,'  after 
dividing  a  stake  at  Lockerbie,  changed  hands 
for  £150,  went  to  Australia  in  1874,  and 
shortly  after  landing  won  the  Waterloo  Cup, 
a  stake  of  the  same  dimensions  and  value  as 
that  in  England.  At  the  present  day,  like 
'  Judge  '  and  '  Strange  Idea,'  the  blood  of 
'  Cauld  Kail '  runs  in  the  veins  of  the  majority 
of  the  very  best  greyhounds.  Reverting  to 
Mr.  Forster,  however,  he  was  subsequently  the 
possessor  of  many  winners  of  valuable  stakes. 
Included  in  these  was  '  Fortuna '  (by  '  Cardi- 
nal York '  out  of  '  Meg '),  who  won  the  Jed- 


474 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


burgh  St.  Leger,  divided  the  Biggar  Stakes  with 
'  Wigton  Lass '  (bred  in  the  same  kennel  as 
'  Royal  Water  '),  ran  up  for  the  Sundorne 
Cup  (Salop),  and  divided  the  Bridekirk  Cup 
with  '  Princess  Royal.'  '  Fairy  Glen  '  (grand- 
daughter of  '  Cavalier,'  a  celebrated  son  of 
'  Cauld  Kail ')  won  Mr.  Forster  his  third 
Corrie  Cup,  whilst  the  last  really  good  one 
at  Stonegarthside  was  '  Fugitive '  (by  '  Cock 
Robin  '  out  of  '  Fortuna '),  whose  record  when 
a  puppy  was  signalized  by  dividing  the  Wig- 
townshire St.  Leger  and  the  Border  Union 
Derby,  also  running  into  the  semi-finals  of 
the  Waterloo  Cup,  when  he  was  put  out  by 
'  Magnano,'  the  winner,  and  a  son  of  '  Cauld 
Kail.'  In  his  second  season  '  Fugitive  '  divi- 
ded the  Netherby  Cup. 

In  the  '  fifties '  and  '  sixties '  the  Cumber- 
land farmers  had  a  notable  representative 
courser  in  Mr.  George  Carruthers,  the  then 
tenant  of  Gale  Hall  near  Penrith.  Mr. 
Carruthers'  name  will  go  down  to  posterity 
as  the  owner  of  the  third  Cumberland  Water- 
loo Cup  winner.  This  was  '  Meg,'  not  bred 
in  the  county,  by-the-bye,  but  in  Dumfries- 
shire, by  Mr.  John  Jardine,  her  sire  being 
Lord  John  Scott's  '  Terrona,'  and  her  dam 
'  Fanny  Fickle,'  both  full  of  the  best  Cumber- 
land blood.  A  slow  greyhound, '  Meg '  never- 
theless was  quick  in  seizing  openings,  and  once 
behind  a  hare  stayed  there.  It  was  these  valu- 
able qualities  that  won  her  the  Netherby  Cup, 
whilst  she  ran  second  next  year  and  was  put 
out  by  '  Johnny  Cope.'  It  was  only  a  month 
after  this  reverse  that  the  Cumberland  bitch 


succeeded  in  winning  the  Waterloo  Cup. 
'  Bonus,'  her  brother,  won  the  Brougham 
Cup,  and  ran  second  to  '  Tullochgorum  '  for 
the  Brampton  Cup,  and  to  '  Beckford  '  for  the 
Bridekirk  Cup.  Many  old  coursers  however 
unhesitatingly  point  to  '  Crossfell '  as  the  best 
of  Mr.  Carruthers'  greyhounds.  He  was  a 
son  of  the  Scotch  celebrity  '  Canaradzo  '  and 
the  Waterloo  Cup  heroine  '  Meg.'  '  Cross- 
fell,'  within  a  month  of  dividing  the  Brampton 
Cup,  won  the  Great  Scarisbrick  Cup  (sixty-four 
entries)  in  Lancashire,  and  the  year  following, 
when  the  stake  had  been  doubled  in  number 
of  entries,  he  Was  defeated  in  the  last  four  by 
the  invincible  'Bab'  at  the  Bowster.  Mr. 
Carruthers  also  owned  '  Canzonette,'  her 
daughter  '  Coupland  Lass,'  and  several  other 
winning  greyhounds. 

With  the  decadence  of  coursing  in  Cumber- 
land the  references  to  its  greyhounds  towards 
the  close  of  the  nineteenth  century  are  neces- 
sarily few  and  far  between,  and  it  must  suffice 
to  remark  that  the  one  and  only  kennel  of 
note  remaining  worthily  upholds  the  prestige 
of  past  years.  The  Stonerigg  Kennel  in  fact 
produced  another  Waterloo  Cup  winner  in 
1897,  that  is  to  say,  '  Gallant,'  who  is  owned 
by  a  native  of  Cumberland,  resident  in  the 
county  of  Durham,  but  was  trained  in  Cum- 
berland. 'Gallant's'  sire  is  'Young  Fullerton,' 
a  brother  of  the  great '  Fullerton,'  and  his  dam 
'  Sally  Milburn,'  so  that  he  is  full  of  the  best 
Cumberland  blood  of  bygone  days,  and  at  the 
stud  the  performances  of  '  Gallant's '  stock  are 
substantial  evidences  of  his  great  value  as  a  sire. 


GAME    COCKFIGHTING 


Seventy  or  eighty  years  ago  cockfighting 
was  one  of  the  most  popular  sports  in  the 
country.  If  not  admired,  yet  it  was  toler- 
ated by  all  ranks,  and  eagerly  followed  by  a 
numerous  class,  both  high  and  low,  rich  and 
poor,  from  the  nobleman  with  his  hundreds  of 
carefully  bred  and  carefully  treated  birds  to 
the  peasant  with  his  one  favourite,  proudly 
strutting  before  his  thatched  cottage.  Boys 
at  nearly  all  public  schools  were  brought  up 
and  initiated  into  all  the  mysteries  of  cock- 
fighting.  Clergymen  of  our  national  religion, 
when  the  offices  of  minister  of  the  Church 
and  school  teacher  were  combined,  frequently 
officiated  as  high  priests  at  the  Shrovetide 
gatherings,  nay,  made  the  practice  a  means  to 
increase  their  stipends.  Most  towns  had 
their  annual  mains  of  two,  three,  or  four 
days'  fighting.  County  was  arrayed  against 
county,  or  district  against  district,  sometimes 
for  extravagant  sums.  Most  villages,  parti- 


cularly throughout  the  northern  part  of  the 
kingdom,  had  their  Shrovetide  cockfights, 
when  mains  and  single  matches  were 
fought.  A  main  might  consist  of  any  un- 
even number  of  birds  agreed  upon  ;  a  match, 
of  two  birds.  The  stakes  might  be  in  the 
main,  say  ,£1  in  each  battle,  £10  the 
main,  the  result  of  the  latter  being  governed 
by  a  majority  of  wins.  Schools  throughout 
all  parts  of  the  country  had  their  '  captain 
matches,'  a  ridiculous  and  senseless  arrange- 
ment, which  yearly  brought  into  existence 
hundreds  of  youthful  cockers.  Masters  and 
pupils  were  often  more  conversant  with  the 
points,  qualities  and  colours  of  cocks  than 
with  grammar  or  arithmetic. 

Farmers  throughout  the  country  were  be- 
sieged with  solicitations  and  offers  of  remun- 
eration varying  from  2s.  6d.  to  4*.  a  year  for 
'  cock  walks.'  Huts  too  might  often  be  seen 
dotted  over  fields  erected  purposely  for  '  walks.' 


475 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


A  popular  nobleman  in  the  southern  part  of 
Lancashire  had  hundreds  of  game-cocks  out 
at  walk  at  the  same  time,  and  it  was  quite  a 
usual  thing  with  him  to  have  a  clause  inserted 
in  his  farm  leases  stating  that  the  tenant  must 
walk  a  game-cock  for  his  lordship,  just  as  in 
many  parts  of  the  country  nowadays  tenants 
are  often  required  to  walk  puppies  for  the 
master  of  the  hounds  hunting  the  district. 

A  singular  illustration  of  school  rights  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Carlisle  is  afforded  by  a 
donation  made  by  a  Mr.  Graham  of  a  silver  bell, 
weighing  2  ounces,  upon  which  is  engraved 
'Wrey  Chappie  1665,'  to  be  fought  for 
annually  on  Shrove  Tuesday  by  cocks.  About 
three  weeks  previous  to  the  eventful  day  the 
boys  assembled  and  selected  as  their  captains 
two  of  their  schoolfellows  whose  parents 
were  willing  to  bear  the  expenses  incurred 
in  the  forthcoming  contests.  After  an  early 
dinner  on  Shrove  Tuesday  the  two  captains, 
attended  by  their  friends  and  schoolfellows, 
who  were  distinguished  by  blue  and  red 
ribbons,  marched  in  procession  from  their 
respective  homes  to  the  village  green,  where 
each  produced  three  cocks,  and  the  bell  was 
appended  to  the  hat  of  the  victor,  in  which 
manner  it  was  handed  down  from  one  suc- 
cessful captain  to  another. 

In  1836  the  cockfighting  of  Wreay  was 
put  down  by  the  Rev.  R.  Jackson,  and  super- 
seded by  a  '  hunt,'  which  from  the  first 
obtained  a  degree  of  celebrity  to  which  the 
'  captain  battles '  never  had  any  pretension. 
For  some  time  after  cockfighting  was  nomin- 
ally put  down  it  still  went  on,  and  usually 
took  place  while  the  hunt  was  in  progress, 
and  wrestling  and  other  games  were  held. 
Schools  in  adjoining  villages  had  holiday  for 
'  Wreay  hunt.'  At  the  present  time  there 
are  the  ordinary  village  sports  at  Wreay,  and 
there  may  be  a  '  hound  trail '  ;  but  for  hunt- 
ing the  district  is  dependent  upon  neighbour- 
ing packs.  The  '  Wreay  bell '  has  been  lost 
for  some  twenty-five  years,  and  all  efforts  to 
trace  this  interesting  relic  have  failed.  When 
won  at  the  Shrove  Tuesday  cockfights  the 
owner  usually  allowed  it  to  be  kept  at  the 
village  inn,  and  the  probability  is  that  it  has 
been  stolen. 

At  Sedburgh  School  an  annual  payment  of 
a  guinea  was  made  by  each  pupil  to  the 
master  for  '  cock  money.'  Scholars  at  the 
Penrith  Grammar  School  also  paid  '  cock 
money '  annually,  and  indeed  the  practice 
obtained  in  many  schools  in  the  north. 

There  were  unfortunately  many  instances 
of  cockfighting  a  great  deal  more  deplorable 
than  village  school  fights  at  Shrovetide.  In 
most  of  the  secluded  dales  the  clergymen, 


from  their  connection  with  the  schools,  were 
the  principal  abettors  of  cockfighting.  Drink- 
ing was  a  regular  accompaniment  of  rural 
cocking,  and  the  two  bad  practices  combined 
tended  to  destroy  the  usefulness  of  Church 
ministers  in  districts  which  required  better 
teaching  and  example.  A  cockpit  was 
formerly  connected  with  Bromfield  Church, 
near  Wigton,  where  cockfighting  was  fre- 
quently carried  on  after  church  service  on 
Sundays,  with  what  effect  on  the  congrega- 
tion we  may  imagine. 

The  late  Chancellor  Ferguson,  in  an 
article  on  '  Cockfighting  '  in  the  Transactions 
of  the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian 
and  Archaeological  Society  (ix.  366-82),  writes  : 
'  It  is  possible  that  the  "  gentlemen  of  the  sod  " 
who  fought  their  mains  on  Sunday  in  a  church- 
yard cock-pit  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  sur- 
viving scholars." '  The  Chancellor  further 
says  that  this  Sunday  cocking  was  not  pecu- 
liar to  the  north  of  England. 

It  is  related  of  a  certain  sporting  parson 
that  while  dozing  in  his  pulpit  during  a  collec- 
tion he  suddenly  woke  up,  and  cried  out  in  a 
voice  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  the  whole 
congregation,  '  I'll  back  t'  black  cock — black 
cock  a  guinea — damn  me  ! ' 

But  keen  as  was  the  interest  in  school 
fights  and  local  mains  the  more  important 
mains  were  mostly  fought  in  towns,  and 
drew  large  and  sometimes  fashionable  crowds. 
Cocks  intended  to  fight  in  a  main,  say  at 
Liverpool,  Carlisle,  Penrith,  or  Ulverston, 
were  usually  weighed,  matched,  and  their 
colours  and  marks  taken  down  three  days 
before  fighting.  Occasionally  they  weighed 
and  fought  off  the  scale.  This  mode  of  pro- 
cedure was  however  exceptional.  The  'main' 
was  sometimes  only  a  day's  fight,  but  gener- 
ally lasted  three  or  four.  By  mutual  agree- 
ment each  contending  party  was  bound  to 
weigh-in  a  certain  specified  number  of  birds, 
thirty  or  forty  for  three  or  four  days'  fighting. 
The  weight  agreed  upon  would  be  mostly 
from  about  3  Ib.  14  oz.  to  5  Ib.  4  or  6  oz., 
and  the  contracting  parties  must  weigh  the 
whole  number  of  birds  they  agree  to  fight 
within  the  specified  weight.  Those  of  equal 
weight  were  appointed  to  contend  against 
each  other,  and  i  or  2  oz.  difference  in 


476 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


weight  according  to  agreement  was  not  a 
hindrance  to  their  being  '  main '  battles. 
When  a  greater  difference  in  weight  occurred 
they  were  termed  '  bye  '  battles.  Entrance 
to  the  cockpit  was  charged  pretty  high  in 
order  that  the  receipts  might  realize  some- 
thing towards  the  expenses  and  keep  out  the 
'  rough  '  element.  The  distinctive  marks  and 
colours  of  each  cock  after  being  weighed 
were  entered  in  a  book  with  so  much  parti- 
cularity as  almost  to  render  it  impossible  to 
substitute  another  in  place  of  the  one  whose 
description  was  recorded.  The  book  was 
produced  when  the  cocks  were  brought  into 
the  pit  ready  and  eager  for  action.  For  seven 
or  eight  days  before  the  cocks  were  weighed 
they  were  subjected  to  a  course  of  physicking 
and  spare  regimen.  They  were  sparred 
amongst  thickly  strewn  straw  with  '  muffles ' 
on  in  place  of  gloves,  tied  over  their  short- 
ened spurs  to  prevent  injury  ;  about  two  or 
three  sparrings  were  usually  given  in  the 
course  of  their  training.  This  not  only  got 
them  into  practice  and  improved  their  wind, 
but  also  rendered  them  eager,  so  that  they 
would  commence  fighting  at  once  on  being 
put  down,  since  in  a  match  a  cock  that 
walked  round  his  opponent  and  crowed 
would  probably  be  struck  by  the  other  cock 
before  he  had  begun  fighting.  Too  much 
sparring  had  a  contrary  effect,  and  would  de- 
stroy their  courage.  These  proceedings  were 
watched  by  the  experienced  feeder  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  were  intended  to  clean  out 
and  purify  the  system,  and  to  reduce  the 
weight  of  each  bird  as  much  as  was  thought 
prudent  prior  to  strong  food  being  given. 
Some  feeders  and  trainers  reduced  their  cocks 
more  than  others,  and  in  consequence  were 
enabled  when  pitted  against  their  opponents 
to  show  a  bigger  looking  bird.  This  system 
without  great  care  and  judgment  was  liable 
to  be  attended  with  bad  consequences.  Full 
strength  and  vigour — fighting  pitch — could 
not  be  got  up  before  fighting  time,  and  the 
battle  was  sometimes  thus  sacrificed  through 
want  of  stamina.  After  weighing,  instruc- 
tion and  description  duly  registered,  they 
were  hurried  from  the  weighing  room  to 
their  own  numbered  pen,  and  served  with  a 
most  generous  and  nourishing  feed.  This 
first  good  meal  since  being  penned  consisted 
of  fresh  warm  new  milk  and  '  cock  loaf,'  a 
rich  bread  made  with  great  care  from  fine 
flour,  eggs,  milk,  sugar,  and  sometimes  a  few 
currants  thrown  in.  After  this  first  meal  the 
feeding  was  continued  with  the  same  pre- 
pared bread,  whites  of  eggs,  barley  sugar,  and 
many  curious  compounds  which  the  feeder 
might  think  requisite.  Great  attention  was 


paid  to  cleanliness  and  having  the  straw  in 
their  pens  changed  constantly.  The  skill  and 
judgment  of  the  feeder  had  to  be  continually 
on  the  alert  during  the  preparation  and  feed- 
ing for  the  important  day  of  battle.  Some 
hardy  constitutioned  thriving  birds  will  jump 
up  into  condition  much  more  readily  than 
others,  and  have  to  be  fed  accordingly  ;  in- 
deed each  bird  in  the  pen  required  careful 
watching,  no  two  being  treated  exactly  alike. 
It  was  astonishing  how  readily  a  well  walked, 
sound  constitutioned  pen  of  two-year-old 
cocks  recovered  and  gained  flesh  after  a  vio- 
lent reducing  process  when  they  came  to 
have  good  feed  at  regular  intervals.  Success- 
ful feeding,  the  making  the  cock  fight  cool, 
right  in  his  wind,  ready  with  the  spur,  and  to 
wear  well  could  not  be  achieved  without 
much  study  and  long  experience.  The  suc- 
cess too  must  be  on  at  the  right  time,  for  it 
is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  cocks  only  re- 
mained in  full  and  complete  fighting  trim  for 
a  few  hours.  At  noon  they  might  be  capable 
of  splitting  a  thread,  and  in  four  hours  un- 
able, in  cocking  phraseology,  to  '  hit  a  pair  o' 
barn  doors.' 

As  an  instance  of  the  hold  that  cockfight- 
ing  had  over  educated  men  it  may  be  men- 
tioned that  one  of  its  most  enthusiastic  fol- 
lowers was  John  Wilson,  sometime  Professor 
at  Edinburgh.  Before  his  drawing-room  at 
Elleray  was  completed  there  was  a  main 
fought  in  it,  a  pit  being  fitted  up  with  sods 
from  the  adjacent  ground. 

A  match  which  illustrates  this  question  of 
management  was  the  big  meeting  at  Chester, 
when  an  Ulverston  gentleman  met  a  party  of 
Chester  gentlemen  for  £50  a  battle  and 
£1,000  the  main.  The  Ulverston  man  took 
with  him  some  of  the  finest  cocks  ever  put 
down  in  a  pit.  One  half  were  black  red 
beezers  bred  by  a  Mr.  Robert  Towers  of 
Force  Forge  in  High  Furness.  Their 
splendid  condition  made  the  fight  a  one- 
sided affair.  At  the  end  of  four  days'  fight- 
ing the  Ulverston  gentleman  retired  from  the 
pit  with  a  majority  of  sixteen  in  his  favour, 
and  returned  home  the  winner  of  a  very 
large  sum. 

The  scene  at  any  of  the  more  important 
meetings  was  usually  most  exciting.  The 
pit  erected  for  the  purpose  had  every  con- 
venience for  a  numerous  body  of  spectators 
and  was  generally  excessively  crowded.  The 
betting  amongst  such  a  host  of  spectators, 
almost  all  betting  men,  was  astounding ; 
thousands  of  pounds  changed  hands  at  the 
conclusion  of  each  match.  Notwithstanding 
the  immense  amount  of  betting,  disputes  sel- 
dom occurred,  and  if  a  disagreement  did 


477 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


arise,  a  summary  settlement  was  soon  effected 
by  the  appointment  of  a  referee  in  whose 
judgment  both  parties  had  confidence.  A 
defaulter  rarely  appeared  in  the  numerous 
assembly.  The  loud  bawling  of  anxious 
bettors,  the  frantic  efforts  to  get  on  the  odds 
or  hedge  previous  bets,  as  the  advantage  in 
fighting  swayed  from  one  to  the  other  of  the 
panting  and  exhausted  birds,  was  deafening. 
Most  of  our  readers  probably  do  not  know 
what  '  poundage '  means.  It  is  a  bet  when 
taken  up  of  jTiO  to  5*.  If  not  taken  up 
before  forty  is  deliberately  counted,  the  match 
is  concluded  in  favour  of  the  cock  backed  at 
such  long  odds.  The  offer  of  such  a  striking 
difference — j£io  to  a  crown — is  generally 
resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  a 
battle  to  an  end.  A  betting  man  named 
Clarke — a  small  tradesman  and  one  of  the 
yeoman  class,  residing  at  Broughton,  a  small 
market  town  on  the  confines  of  west  Cum- 
berland and  north  Lancashire — used  to  win 
the  '  poundage '  about  once  every  season  for  a 
great  number  of  years.  He  probably  won 
the  long  odds  oftener  than  any  other  betting 
man  in  the  habit  of  attending  cockfights. 
But  he  was  such  a  judge  as  was  seldom  met 
with.  He  had,  owing  to  his  acumen,  a 
singularly  successful  career  in  the  betting 
arena.  He  could  detect  what  is  termed  a 
'  throat '  in  its  earliest  stages  with  remark- 
able celerity  and  certainty.  A  '  throat '  is 
inflicted  by  and  arises  from  a  deep  body  blow. 
The  unfortunate  recipient  of  the  deadly  stab 
bleeds  internally,  and  in  a  majority  of  cases 
soon  after  the  infliction  of  the  wound  dies. 
In  most  cases  when  the  effects  of  the  blow 
are  fully  developed  there  is  a  loud  ruckling  in 
the  throat  and  attempts  to  void  the  blood. 
The  serious  nature  of  the  injury  is  then 
quite  plain  even  to  a  novice.  All  cocks  im- 
mediately after  receiving  the  blow  may  be 
seen  by  a  close  observer  to  draw  in  the  neck 
and  make  a  gasp  as  if  for  breath.  Mr.  Clarke 
being  quick  to  see  the  fatal  signal  would  fre- 
quently get  on  a  round  sum  before  it  was 
noticed  by  others.  He  would  often  drop  on 
a  half  awake  bettor  when  a  cock  was  knocked 
down  and  deprived  of  the  use  of  its  legs. 
There  is  a  great  difference  in  the  condition 
of  a  bird  when  the  legs  are  stretched  out  stiff 
and  when  they  can  yet  be  drawn  under  the 
body.  In  the  former  state  it  is  all  '  up,'  but 
in  the  latter,  when  the  legs  are  not  quite 
useless,  a  vicious  cock  will  occasionally  ad- 
minister a  blow  that  seals  the  fate  of  its 
standing  antagonist.  A  thoroughly  good 
judge  like  Mr.  Clarke  was  alive  to  these  and 
other  important  indications  which  will  fre- 
quently occur  during  the  progress  of  a  pro- 


478 


tracted  fight.  Mr.  Clarke  had  at  one  time  a 
breed  of  game  cocks  which,  judging  from 
appearances,  seemed  to  be  without  any  per- 
ceptible fault.  They  were  thoroughly  true 
game — stood  cutting  up  without  any  flinch- 
ing whatever  ;  but  were  unable  to  inflict  any 
return  injury  on  their  adversary.  They  were 
tried  time  after  time,  and  invariably  lost.  It 
did  not  matter  who  the  feeder  was,  the  up- 
shot was  always  the  same.  Ten  or  a  dozen 
were  thus  sacrificed  before  it  was  discovered 
or  surmised  that  they  had  no  proper  fighting 
leg  action.  They  could  not  in  striking  get 
their  legs  apart  so  as  to  make  the  blow  have 
any  damaging  effect.  After  so  signally  fail- 
ing in  brown  reds  Mr.  Clarke  tried  a  breed 
of  white  game,  and  they  turned  out  exceed- 
ingly well,  in  fact  were  thoroughly  deter- 
mined game,  wary  scientific  fighters,  quick 
and  sure  with  their  spurs,  and  with  no  end 
of  endurance. 

The  big  cockfights  were  usually  an  ac- 
companiment to  the  race  meetings  at  the 
larger  towns.  Ulverston  without  the  attrac- 
tion of  a  race  meeting  could  keep  up  with 
hlat  its  annual  three  days'  cockfighting  on  a 
raised  pit  in  the  large  assembly  room.  The 
opposing  party  to  the  Ulverstonians  was 
generally  a  Mr.  Benn,  a  celebrated  breeder 
in  west  Cumberland,  and  a  few  friends.  For 
generations  the  name  of  Benn  appeared  in 
the  annals  of  northern  cockfighting.  The 
Mr.  Benn  alluded  to  as  an  opponent  to  the 
Ulverston  gentlemen  resided  at  Middleton 
Place  near  Bootle,  and  for  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury bred  some  of  the  best  game  cocks  in  the 
kingdom.  His  brown  reds — well  known  and 
feared  throughout  a  wide  district — were  big 
slashing  muscular  hard-feathered  birds,  capable 
at  any  time  of  worrying  a  moderate  antagonist 
and  by  their  prowess  occupying  a  conspicuous 
position  in  the  Ulverston  and  other  mains. 
Previous  to  breeding  brown  reds,  Mr.  Benn 
had  for  three  or  four  years  a  lot  of  beautiful- 
looking,  gay-plumaged  birds.  They  were 
white  with  yellow  or  straw-coloured  saddles. 
When  in  tip-top  condition,  eyes  bright, 
sparkling,  and  feathers  shining  like  silver,  they 
made  a  showy,  slashing  fight,  hitting  when- 
ever they  lifted  a  leg,  but  if  ever  so  little  off 
fighting  pitch,  they  were  not  to  be  dreaded. 
A  gentleman,  looking  admiringly  at  one  of 
his  black  reds  just  about  to  be  set  down  to 
engage  its  white  and  yellow  foe,  exclaimed, 
'  Yan'l  see  my  cock  will  strip  every  feather  off 
the  white  one's  back,'  and  sure  enough  in  a 
short  time  the  surface  of  the  pit  was  strewn 
with  white  feathers.  To  illustrate  the  amaz- 
ing power  there  is  in  the  stroke  of  a  game- 
cock, we  may  remark  that  one  of  those  white 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


and  yellow  birds  sent  its  spur  clean  through  a 
deal  board  three  quarters  of  an  inch  thick, 
that  formed  an  edging  to  the  raised  pit.  The 
following  is  a  return  of  the  last  main 
fought  at  Ulverston  in  1828.  By  advertise- 
ment it  was  announced  that  '  a  grand  main 
of  cocks  was  to  be  fought  at  Ulverston  on 
the  twenty-ninth,  thirtieth  and  thirty-first  of 
May  between  the  gentlemen  of  Lancashire 
and  Cumberland.  William  Woodcock  feeder 
for  Lancashire  and  Addison  for  Cumberland. 
A  pair  of  cocks  to  be  in  the  pit  each  day  at 
ten  o'clock.'  The  fighting  took  place  in  the 
forenoon  and  afternoon  of  each  day,  and  was 
decided  as  follows  : — 

Woodcock  Addison 

Main  Byes  Main  Byes 

Thursday  forenoon     .     .     4-1  •  •  2  —  0 

„         afternoon    .     .     3—0  .  .  3—0 

Friday        forenoon     .     .     5—0  .  .  I   —   I 

„          afternoon    .     .      3  —   1  •  •  3  ~  ° 

Saturday    forenoon     .     .     4  —  0  .  .  2  —   1 

„         afternoon    .     .     3-1  .  .  3  -  o 


22-3  14-2 

The  superior  training  of  Woodcock's  birds 
gave  them  a  decisive  victory. 

At  the  time  that  this  main  was  fought, 
cockfighting  was  at  its  height  in  Ulverston 
and  the  neighbourhood  comprised  in  all  that 
large  district  known  as  Lonsdale  north  of  the 
Sands. 

Besides  the  Shrovetide  fighting  in  Lonsdale 
North,  open  mains  for  stakes  varying  in 
amount  from  £i  to  £2  were  fought  at  Dalton, 
Kirkby  Lonsdale,  Bouth,  Arrad-Foot,  etc. 
Nearly  every  village  in  fact  had  its  annual 
'  open  main.'  Within  a  circumference  of  ten 
miles  round  Ulverston  thousands  of  cocks 
must  have  been  slaughtered  yearly.  Arrad- 
Foot,  two  miles  from  Ulverston,  was  the  most 
celebrated  of  these  local  meetings.  From  80 
to  100  cocks  were  penned  in  the  early  part 
of  February  and  prepared  for  fighting.  The 
feeders  most  in  request  were  Askew,  Red- 
head and  Braithwaite,  all  three  men  of  con- 
siderable ability  and  skill  in  bringing  out  cocks 
in  fighting  condition.  Redhead  in  one  main 
against  Askew  made  a  consecutive  winning 
run  of  thirteen.  We  are  not  aware  that  such 
a  long  unbroken  run  has  been  paralleled.  No 
feeder  that  ever  pitted  a  cock  could  make  his 
birds  kill  quicker  than  Redhead.  It  was 
marvellous  how  quickly  they  could  take  away 
life.  They  appeared  to  be  fighting  quite 
easily.  No  loud  crack  with  the  wings — 
almost  noiseless,  in  fact — but  sure  after  two 
or  three  meets  to  stretch  out  their  adversary 
if  not  stone  dead  yet  in  the  throes  of 
death.  At  Whitsuntide,  on  the  race  day  at 
Arrad-Foot,  a  '  stag  main  '  was  for  several 


years  fought.  The  parties  to  the  meeting 
were  gentlemen  of  Hawkshead  versus  Ulver- 
ston, Redhead  feeder  for  the  latter  and  Nash 
the  former.  The  fighting  was  in  a  large 
empty  barn  on  a  raised  pit.  This  meeting 
attained  great  popularity  and  drew  together  a 
numerous  assemblage  of  sporting  characters. 

The  Carlisle  Patriot  by  advertisement  an- 
nounced a  long  main  of  cocks  to  be  fought 
at  Aspatria  on  17,  18,  19  and  20  March, 
1819,  between  the  gentlemen  of  Abbey  Holme 
and  the  gentlemen  of  Carlisle,  for  5  guineas 
a  battle  and  50  guineas  the  main,  Glaister 
feeder  for  Abbey  Holme  and  Kirk  for  Carlisle. 
The  result  of  this  great  fight  was  as  follows:  — 

Kirk  Glaister 

Main  Byes  Main  Byes 

First  day 5  -  o  .     .     8  -  2 

Second  day 7  —   I  ..6—1 

Third  day 8  -  2  .     .      5   -  o 

Fourth  day 8-0  .     .     4-0 

28-3  23-3 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  Carlisle 
came  ofF  victorious  by  five  in  the  main. 

The  late  Chancellor  Ferguson,  in  his 
article  on  cockfighting  in  the  Transactions  of 
the  Cumberland  and  Westmorland  Antiquarian 
and  Archaeological  Society,  writes  :  '  It  is  said 
that  the  Earl  of  Surrey  and  Sir  James  Low- 
ther,  in  1785,  erected  the  cockpit,  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  very  odd  ; 
probably  they  each  gave  a  handsome  sub- 
scription 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  feet  in  diameter,  the  walls 
12  feet  high,  and  it  was  45  feet  in  height  to 
top  of  the  octagonal  roof.  In  1829  it  was 
occupied  by  Messrs.  Burgess  &  Hayton  as  a 
brass  and  iron  foundry,  and  afterwards  was 
well  known  as  '  Dand's  smithy.'  It  is  now  a 
portion  of  the  premises  occupied  by  a  cabinet 
maker.  It  rose  to  be,  and  continued  for  a 
long  series  of  years,  a  most  attractive  gathering 
place,  and  much  more  aristocratic  in  its  charac- 
ter than  any  other  in  the  county.  The  most 
distinguished  individuals  who  honoured  the 
Carlisle  meetings  with  their  patronage  and 
presence  were  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  the 
Earl  of  Derby.  The  first  main  we  can 
glean  any  account  of  in  the  Carlisle  pit  was  a 
sixteen  cock  main  in  1804.  It  was  a  hard 
contested  fight,  and  won  by  a  cock  belonging 


479 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


to  '  humpy  back't  Thompson.'  An  impor- 
tant main  came  off  at  Stanwix,  Carlisle,  on 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday,  29  and  30  March, 
1828.  The  feeders  engaged  for  the  occasion 
were  Russell  and  Newton.  This  great  con- 
test, for  20  guineas  a  battle,  was  got  up  by  the 
gentlemen  of  east  Cumberland  against  those 
of  the  western  part  of  the  county.  Russell 
fed  for  the  west,  and  was  victorious  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  fighting  by  three  main 
battles.  The  weighing  in  had  not  been  very 
even,  for  several  matches  fell  into  byes,  which 
were  in  most  instances  won  by  Russell.  The 
gentlemen  of  east  and  west  Cumberland  had 
another  meeting  at  Oulton  near  Wigton  on 
6,  7  and  8  April,  1836.  According  to  the 
advertisement  in  the  Carlisle  Journal,  the 
stake  amounted  to  £50  the  main  and  £2  a 
battle.  The  eastern  gentlemen,  fully  deter- 
mined if  possible  to  retrieve  their  laurels,  en- 
gaged a  celebrated  feeder  from  the  southern 
part  of  the  kingdom  named  Weightman.  The 
western  were  fortunate  in  securing  the  services 
of  the  rising  feeder  Brough.  The  main  was 
fought  out  with  the  bitterest  determination. 
Brough,  speaking  of  the  fighting  afterwards, 
said,  '  Fwok  sed  'et  Weetman  was  niver  bet 
afoor,  but  I  dud  gin  'im  a  dressing.'  Soon 
after  this  main,  signs  that  this  public  cock- 
fighting  was  tottering  to  its  fall  began  to 
manifest  themselves.  In  the  year  following 
the  Oulton  meeting,  Isaac  Armstrong  of  Pow- 
hill  was  sent  to  the  house  of  correction  at 
Carlisle  by  J.  Dand,  Esq.,  for  fourteen  days 
with  hard  labour  '  for  aiding  and  assisting  in 
a  fighting  of  cocks  at  Kirkbride  in  March.' 
The  editor  of  a  Carlisle  paper  expressed  a 
hope  that  this  example  would  be  the  means 
of  putting  an  end  to  the  cruel  and  demoralizing 
practice  of  cockfighting,  which  had  so  long 
prevailed  in  many  of  the  country  towns  of 
Cumberland. 

While  cockfighting  was  rife,  and  for  many 
years  before  it  was  suppressed,  there  were 
throughout  Cumberland,  Westmorland  and 
north  Lancashire  numerous  cockfighting 
contests  called  '  bull  fights.'  At  that  time 
bull  beef  was  not  so  good  or  tender  or  so 
readily  saleable  as  the  three  or  four  year  old 
highly  bred  shorthorns  of  the  present  day. 
The  old  English  long  horned  breed  of  bulls 
six  or  seven  years  of  age  were  a  tough  lot  and 
difficult  to  dispose  of,  even  in  the  then 
scantily  supplied  meat  markets.  A  rump 
steak  ever  so  carefully  cooked  required  strong 
jaws  and  sound  teeth  to  masticate  it.  Far- 
mers therefore  resorted  to  the  popular  an- 
nouncement of  cockfighting  to  turn  the  car- 
cass into  pounds,  shillings  and  pence.  Their 
friends  and  neighbours  were  invited  to  enter 


the  cocks,  match  them,  and  fight  for  the  bull 
beef  cut  into  half  quarters.  The  price  put 
on  was  generally  a  trifle  over  market  value. 
By  this  means  farmers  were  enabled  to  realize 
something  more  than  the  threepence  per 
pound  which  butchers  could  afford  to  give  in 
those  days. 

From  all  information  that  can  be  gathered, 
Kirk  the  publican  and  Russell  seem  to  have 
been  by  far  the  most  popular  and  successful 
feeders  in  Cumberland  in  the  early  part  of 
the  last  century,  as  Brough  and  Bailey  were 
at  a  later  period.  Brough  and  Bailey  were 
the  last  two  of  the  celebrated  Cumberland 
feeders,  and  may  be  classed  as  equals  to  the 
Potters,  Gillivers,  Hines  and  Woodcocks  of 
southern  fame.  Brough — originally  a  pupil 
of  Glaister,  who  lived  near  Abbey  Holme — 
was  in  great  request  as  a  feeder.  He  had 
frequently  engagements  in  London,  New- 
market, Birmingham,  Staleybridge,  Manches- 
ter, Glasgow  and  other  places.  In  Brough's 
various  encounters  at  the  places  we  have  men- 
tioned his  skill  and  experience  in  a  majority 
of  instances  brought  him  off  victor.  He 
always  set  his  birds  himself,  and  would  not 
allow  any  one  else  to  act  for  him  in  this  way. 
In  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  usual  for  the 
same  persons  to  feed  the  cocks  and  set  them 
in  a  contest  ;  afterwards  the  tendency  was  for 
the  professions  of  '  feeders  '  and  '  setters '  to 
become  distinct  ;  women  were  sometimes 
'  feeders.'  When  a  man  set  his  own  birds  of 
course  he  had  to  have  an  assistant  to  bring 
them  to  him  in  the  pit.  A  Carlisle  man 
whose  real  name  was  Carruthers,  but  better 
known  locally  as  '  Dick  the  Daisy,'  had  a 
great  reputation  for  many  years  for  setting 
cocks  or  acting  as  '  pitter '  at  a  main.  He 
was  reckoned  one  of  the  best  men  of  his  day 
in  this  capacity,  and  was  often  engaged 
months  beforehand  by  the  principals  in  a 
match. 

In  1846  a  main  was  fought  at  the 
Dandie  Dinmont  without  much  pretence  of 
concealment,  a  coach  and  four  taking  the 
sportsmen  out  from  Carlisle.  '  Dick  the 
Daisy  '  was  one  of  the  setters  on  that  occasion. 
'  Within  the  last  twenty  years  a  gentleman  in 
Carlisle,  now  dead,  kept  his  cocks  in  a  sodded 
attic  in  his  house,  and  fought  them  within  the 
city.'  A  friend  of  the  writer  tells  him  that 
cockfighting  was  carried  on  in  various  parts  of 
Carlisle  till  quite  recently,  and  that  he  re- 
membered a  large  room  above  an  hotel  in 
Scotch  Street  into  which  cartloads  of  turves 
were  taken  and  laid  on  the  floor  for  the  pur- 
poses of  cockfighting.  In  the  Carlisle  Jour- 
nal of  17  April,  1868,  the  following  obituary 
notice  appeared:  'In  this  city  on  the  nth 


480 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


inst.,  Mr.  Richard  Bailey,  the  celebrated  cock- 
feeder,  at  the  ripe  age  of  77  years.'1 

When  Dick  died  his  admirers  subscribed 
and  put  up  a  monument  to  him  in  Carlisle 
cemetery,  on  which  were  graven  the  tools  of 
his  art,  a  pair  of  cock-spurs.  It  is  to  be  re- 
gretted that  this  interesting  tomb  has  been 
defaced  and  the  spurs  taken  off. 

Cockfighting  was  carried  on  openly  for 
many  years  in  the  surrounding  villages  after 
it  was  given  up  in  Carlisle  itself.  At  Thur- 
stonfield  the  annual  cockfight  took  place 
openly  on  Carlin  Saturday  (a  fortnight  before 
Easter)  ;  at  Great  Orton  Easter  Monday  was 
the  day,  and  Moorhouse  also  had  its  annual 
day.  Among  the  noted  breeds  remembered 
in  Cumberland  are  the  '  Jean's  my  darling,' 
formerly  kept  by  the  Wills  of  Burgh  ;  the 
'  Birchin  Greys,"  formerly  kept  by  Adam 
Honnam  of  Cobble  Hall  ;  the  '  Robespierres,' 
kept  by  the  Riggs  of  Moorhouse — a  bird 
which  used  to  fight  about  6  Ib.  and  which 
was  never  known  to  flinch.  Brough,  speak- 
ing of  a  breed  they  had  at  Abbey  Holme, 
says  they  were  the  best  he  ever  saw  or  knew. 
They  were  hardly  ever  beaten.  He  would 
often  point  proudly  to  a  stuffed  hen  of  this 
famous  breed,  called  '  Daisy,'  which  hung  on 
his  cottage  wall.  All  bred  from  this  hen 
were  prize  winners  except  in  one  single  in- 
stance. Brough  had  also  a  breed  of  white 
cocks ;  twenty  out  of  twenty-three  proved 
winners  of  first  class  prizes. 

At  Dalston  near  Carlisle  there  existed  a 
famous  and  highly  successful  breed  known  as 
'  black-reds,'  and  the  Dalstonians  are  to  this 
day  called  '  black-reeds.'  It  is  a  proverbial 
saying  with  them,  '  While  I  live  I'll  craw.' 

For  two  years  a  breed  of  singular  fighters 
were  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dalton  bred  by 
Mr.  William  Simpson,  Pennington  Mill. 
They  were  a  good  hard-feathered  black-red 
with  tawny  saddle.  On  being  set  down  to 
fight,  instead  of  '  setting  to '  face  to  face  they 
always  made  a  wheel  at  3  or  4  yards  dis- 
tance, and  swooping  down  on  their  opponents 
caught  them  on  the  broad  side  a  shooting 
blow.  If  not  successful  at  the  first  attempt 
the  same  manoeuvre  would  be  repeated  till  a 
crippler  was  dealt,  and  then  they  would  finish 
off  in  front.  We  have  alluded  to  Mr. 
Clarke's  breed  that  were  unable  to  use  their 

1  A  friend  of  the  writer  has  spoken  lately  to  Mr. 
Tyson  of  Grinsdale  who  remembers  Bailey,  and  has 
seen  him  '  pit '  cocks.  He  says  nothing  pleased 
Dick  Bailey  better  than  this.  He  became  so  ex- 
cited when  a  bird  was  fighting  that  he  would  follow 


legs  with  any  effect,  and  we  have  another 
instance  of  a  breed  that  could  but  wouldn't 
fight.  J.  Woodburn,  Esq.,  Thurstan  Ville 
near  Ulverston,  had  the  trouble  of  rearing  a 
breed  of  muffed  game-cocks.  They  were 
true  unflinching  game — good  shaped  and 
feathered,  quite  likely  to  turn  out  fighters, 
but  when  pitted  would  only  jump  up  and 
down  without  striking  out  a  blow,  and  in  this 
manner  would  suffer  cutting  up  without 
flinching.  A  correspondent  writes  :  '  Of 
men  of  repute  as  "  pitters  "  memory  recalls  the 
following  names  :  John  and  Edward  Bivens, 
Thomas  Coupland,  William  Kendall,  T. 
Chapman,  Thomas  Seward,  Robert  Steel, 
Bell  Burton,  William  Duke,  John  Dymond, 
Myles  Butcher,  John  Johnson  and  Richard 
Gelderd,  the  latter  the  owner  of  one  of  the 
biggest  game-cocks  we  remember.  He  was 
named  "  Ben  Gaunt,"  after  the  professional 
prize-fighter,  and  he  went  through  many 
battles  before  he  met  his  fate.'  Ben's  dead 
weight  was  9  pounds,  and  my  informant  '  had 
a  share  in  his  eating.'  A  gamecock  that  had 
been  fed  for  fighting  and  fallen  in  battle  was 
considered  a  great  luxury,  and  no  breed  of 
fowls  excels  them  for  the  table,  the  flesh  being 
beautifully  white,  short  in  fibre,  and  extremely 
delicate. 

A  proof  that  in  Cumberland  the  old  con- 
nection between  education  and  cockfighting 
is  not  wholly  severed  is  found  in  the  fact  that 
the  seal  of  the  Dalston  School  Board  displays 
a  fighting-cock,  a  Dalston  '  black-red,'  in  the 
act  of  crowing,  though  unfortunately  they 
have  omitted  to  add  the  motto  '  Dum  spiro 
cano,'  or  the  still  more  appropriate  and  ringing 
one  '  While  I  live  I'll  crow,'  both  of  which 
were  suggested,  we  understand. 

An  old  '  setter '  well  known  in  the  north 
remarked  to  the  writer  in  the  course  of  con- 
versation that  he  had  no  preference  in  colour. 
He  had  handled  black-reds,  bright-reds,  piles, 
and  the  white  one  above  mentioned,  and 
found  good  and  game  birds  in  all.  He 
thought  it  a  great  pity  that  the  sport  was 
dying  out,  for  we  had  no  substitute  to  show 
to  the  rising  generation  in  what  real  pluck, 
courage,  stamina  and  endurance  really  con- 
sisted. In  gamecocks  all  these  existed  in  the 
greatest  perfection,  and  he  thought  no  man 
could  prove  a  coward  after  seeing  how  game- 
cocks acquitted  themselves. 

the  strokes  with  his  fists,  imitating  the  actions  of 
the  bird.  If  there  were  any  feathers  in  the  mouth 
he  would  blow  them  out,  as  it  was  against  the  rule 
to  pick  them  out  with  the  hands. 


II 


481 


61 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


WRESTLING 


In  the  north,  up  to  within  quite  recent 
years,  wrestling  formed  a  part  of  almost  every 
youth's  education.  None  but  those  who  have 
attended  such  wrestling  rings  as  Carlisle  or 
Grasmere  can  realize  with  what  enthusiasm 
the  sport  is  regarded  in  the  Border  counties. 

In  writing  of  wrestlers  and  wrestling  it  is 
proposed  to  confine  the  account  mainly  to 
doings  which  are  within  the  memory  of  those 
now  living.  The  sport  is  of  course  a  very 
old  one,  but  there  are  few  evidences  from 
which  to  construct  its  early  history. 

It  seems  strange  that  a  harmless  sport  like 
wrestling  should  have  ever  been  looked  upon 
with  disfavour  by  a  considerable  portion  of 
the  community  and  classed  with  sports  like 
bull-baiting  and  cockfighting ;  but  that  this 
was  so  in  the  time  of  the  Puritan,  the  follow- 
ing curious  extract  will  abundantly  testify. 
It  is  quoted  from  '  The  Agreement  of  the  As- 
sociated Minister!  and  Churches  of  the  Counties 
of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  London  : 
Printed  by  T.  L.  for  Simon  Waterson,  and 
are  sold  at  the  sign  of  the  Globe  in  Paul's 
Churchyard,  and  by  Richard  Scot,  Bookseller 
in  Carlisle  1656'  : — 

All  scandalous  persons  hereafter  mentioned  are 
to  be  suspended  from  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  this  is  to  say — any  person  that  shall  upon 
the  Lord's  Day  use  any  dancing,  playing  at  dice, 
or  cards,  or  any  other  game,  masking,  wakes, 
shooting,  playing,  playing  at  football,  stool  ball, 
Wrestling  :  or  that  shall  make  resort  to  any  Playes, 
interludes,  fencing,  bull  baiting,  bear  baiting:  or  that 
shall  use  hawking,  hunting,  or  coursing,  fishing  or 
fowling  :  or  that  shall  publikely  expose  any  wares 
to  sale  otherwise  than  is  provided  by  an  Ordin- 
ance of  Parliament  of  the  sixth  of  April  1649. 
These  Counties  of  Cumberland  and  Westmorland 
have  been  hitherto  as  a  Proverb  and  a  by-word  in 
respect  of  ignorance  and  prophaneness  :  Men  were 
ready  to  say  to  them  as  the  Jews  of  Nazareth, 
can  any  good  thing  come  out  of  them. 

Early  in  the  last  century  back-hold  wrest- 
ling was  more  practised  and  held  in  higher 
estimation  in  the  borders  of  Cumberland, 
Westmorland  and  Northumberland  than  in 
any  other  place  in  England  or  Scotland.  Al- 
most every  village  had  its  annual  wrestling 
competition,  wherein  the  prizes  consisted 
chiefly  of  belts,  sometimes  of  silver  cups, 
leather  breeches  and  so  forth.  Gradually 
scientific  methods  came  to  be  introduced, 
and  it  is  urged  by  many  that  this  has  tended 
to  increase  the  system  of  '  barneying.'  No 
doubt  this,  however  deplorable,  is  true  to  a 


482 


certain  extent   in   spite    of  the   vigilance    of 
competent  judges. 

Among  the  most  celebrated  places  for 
wrestling  meetings  in  the  past  was  Melmerby, 
one  of  the  best  types  of  fellside  villages  in  Cum- 
berland. For  a  century,  and  probably  much 
longer,  Melmerby  commenced  its  annual  two 
days'  sports  on  old  Midsummer  day — that  is, 
on  5  July.  The  wrestling  took  place  on  that 
part  of  the  green  known  as  the  cockpit,  where 
many  a  doughty  champion  has  been  sent 
sprawling  at  full  length  on  his  back.  Al- 
though the  amount  given  in  prizes  was  small, 
the  entry  of  names  was  always  large,  from 
sixty  to  seventy  being  the  average  number, 
while  more  than  fourscore  men  have  con- 
tended at  various  times.  By  being  held  at 
the  season  of  the  year  when  the  days  were 
longest  Melmerby  Rounds  were  invariably 
attended  by  vast  concourses  of  spectators. 
The  Alstonians  used  to  muster  remarkably 
strong,  the  miners  and  others  coming  over 
Hartside  in  considerable  droves  from  that 
town  and  from  the  neighbouring  villages  of 
Nenthead  and  Garrigill  Gates.  So  great  be- 
came the  celebrity  of  the  Melmerby  ring  that 
first-rate  wrestlers  have  frequently  travelled 
as  far  as  thirty  and  forty  miles  to  throw 
and  be  thrown  upon  its  village  green.  Buy- 
ing and  selling  was  a  thing  unknown.  One 
friend  might  give  way  to  another  sometimes, 
but  as  a  rule  it  was  purely  the  honour  of  be- 
coming victor  for  the  time  being  that  stimu- 
lated the  competitors.  Owing  to  the  establish- 
ment of  spring  and  '  back-end '  fairs  in  the 
village  for  the  sale  of  cattle,  sheep,  etc.,  it 
was  thought  better  to  abolish  the  annual 
rounds.  Accordingly  this  ancient  gathering 
came  to  an  end  about  the  year  1850. 

Langwathby,  also  a  typical  Cumberland 
village  like  its  twin  sister  Melmerby,  was 
another  great  centre  for  wrestling.  The 
Langwathby  Rounds,  unlike  those  at  Mel- 
merby, were  held  annually  in  winter,  on  New 
Year's  Day  and  the  day  following.  Yeomen, 
farmers  and  husbandmen  from  the  neighbour- 
ing hamlets  were  the  principal  competitors. 
The  sports  took  place,  as  a  rule,  in  a  field 
close  to  the  village,  which  belongs  to  Mr. 
John  Hodgson ;  but  on  some  few  occasions 
they  were  held  on  the  opposite  or  western 
side  of  the  river  Eden.  The  prizes  given 
were  of  small  value  but  great  honour.  Dur- 
ing the  early  part  of  the  last  century  a  nar- 
row leathern  belt  of  meagre  appearance  or  a 
pair  of  buckskin  breeches  was  almost  the  only 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


trophy  given  for  wrestling.  In  the  year  1816, 
when  James  Robinson  won,  a  couple  of 
guineas  was  the  full  amount  offered,  and  this 
sum,  we  suppose,  was  never  exceeded  till 
many  years  after.  The  Langwathby  Rounds 
continued  to  flourish  as  long  as  they  were 
almost  entirely  confined  to  the  villagers  and 
the  rural  population.  But  when  the  meetings 
became  larger,  owing  to  the  increased  value 
of  the  prizes  offered,  they  were  gradually 
swamped  by  unruly  characters  from  the 
towns,  and  finally  had  to  be  given  up  about 
the  year  1870. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  notice  here  a  curi- 
ous and  remarkable  old  custom  at  which,  to- 
wards the  latter  end  of  the  eighteenth  century 
and  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth,  wrest- 
lings and  a  variety  of  other  sports  were  much 
patronized.  The  celebration  of  bridewains  or 
bidden  weddings  was  extremely  popular  in 
Cumberland.  All  the  people  of  the  country 
side  were  invited.  For  the  amusement  of  the 
spectators  assembled  prizes  were  given  for 
sports  of  various  kinds,  as  will  be  found  de- 
scribed in  the  graphic  dialect  poem  of  John 
Stagg,  the  blind  bard  : — 

Some  for  a  par  o'  mittens  loup't, 

Some  wrustl'd  for  a  belt  : 

Some  play'd  at  pennice-steans  for  brass : 

And  some  amaist  gat  fell't  : 

Hitch-step-an-loup  some  tried  for  spwort, 

Wi'  many  a  sair  exertion  : 

Others  for  bits  o'  'bacca  gurn'd, 

An  sec  like  daft  devarshon 

Put  owre  that  day. 

If  any  reader  wishes  for  a  full  description 
of  the  various  incidents  and  details  connected 
with  this  old  wedding  custom,  he  is  recom- 
mended to  consult  Stagg's  poem  of 'The  Bride- 
wain,'  from  which  the  preceding  lines  are 
quoted.  The  people  of  the  district  were 
generally  invited  to  these  weddings  by  public 
advertisement,  specimens  of  which  still  exist 
in  the  files  of  one  or  two  of  the  earliest  local 
newspapers. 

Ancient  sports  were  formerly  held  upon 
Stone  Carr  near  Greystoke.  They  existed 
for  many  years  previous  to  1787,  and  a  lea- 
thern belt  was  the  usual  prize  for  wrestling. 
The  Sunday  following  victory,  the  cham- 
pion might  be  seen  marching  to  church 
decorated  with  the  belt,  and  on  the  Sunday 
following,  showing  off  at  another  neighbour- 
ing church. 

Early  in  the  last  century  there  still  used  to 
be  held  meetings  on  10  July  on  the  top  of 
High  Street,  a  mountain  near  Haweswater 
in  Westmorland.  It  was  customary  on  that 
day  for  the  shepherds  of  the  mountain 


sheep  farms  to  hand  over  to  the  rightful 
owners  the  stray  sheep  they  had  collected. 
After  this  business  had  been  gone  through,  a 
dinner  was  set  out,  and  then  commenced 
wrestling  and  other  sports.  These  meetings 
were  discontinued  about  sixty  or  seventy  years 

ago- 
Previous  to  the  year  1809  the  wrestling  in 
the  vicinity  of  Ambleside  and  throughout  the 
Lake  circuit  in  general  was  considered  very 
inferior  to  that  usually  witnessed  about  Pen- 
rith  and  the  greater  part  of  Cumberland.  It 
was  probably  through  a  laudable  desire  to 
remedy  this  deficiency  and  to  bring  this  manly 
exercise  into  more  general  estimation  that 
Professor  Wilson,  then  residing  at  Elleray, 
who  was  devoted  to  athletic  amusements 
through  a  conviction  of  their  utility,  by  his 
own  liberality  and  example  promoted  the 
donation  of  a  larger  sum  of  money  to  wrestle 
for  at  the  annual  sports,  near  Ambleside  in 
the  year  1809,  than  had  ever  been  known  at 
any  preceding  period  in  that  part  of  West- 
morland. Among  the  competitors  for  this 
liberal  prize  was  Thomas  Nicholson  ofThrel- 
keld  in  Cumberland,  who  afterwards  attained 
such  distinction  at  Carlisle.  Nicholson  was 
the  winner  of  this  prize,  throwing  a  dis- 
tinguished wrestler  of  the  name  of  Dixon  and 
the  two  well  known  wrestlers  Rowland  and 
John  Long.  Owing  however  to  the  intro- 
duction of  evil  practices,  wrestling  in  the 
Windermere  district  has  completely  disap- 
peared. 

It  was  followed  in  the  days  of  its  pros- 
perity rather  in  an  amateur  than  a  profes- 
sional spirit.  This  is  particularly  exhibited 
in  the  case  of  Jonathan  Rodgers,  who,  after 
many  local  successes  and  other  more  important 
ones  against  such  men  as  Joseph  Parker  of 
Crooklands  and  Richard  Chapman  of  Patter- 
dale,  gave  up  wrestling  and  became  the  re- 
spected and  prosperous  tenant  farmer  of 
Brothereldkeld,  his  birthplace,  in  the  vale  of 
Eskdale. 

After  the  resuscitation  of  the  Ambleside 
wrestlings  by  Mr.  Wilson  in  1809  it  is  some- 
what remarkable  to  note  the  large  number  of 
first-rate  lake-side  wrestlers  that  came  out  ; 
and  it  may  not  be  amiss  to  bestow  a  passing 
notice  on  the  foremost.  The  celebrated 
Windermere  champion,  John  Barrow,  flour- 
ished in  the  wrestling  ring  in  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century.  William  Litt,  the  author 
of  Wratliana — one  whose  judgment  may  be 
relied  on — pays  him  a  deserved  compliment 
when  he  rates  him  as  '  the  most  renowned 
wrestler  of  this  period,'  and  '  a  match  for 
any  man  in  the  kingdom.'  He  stood  fully 
six  feet  and  weighed  fourteen  stone.  His 


483 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


favourite  chip  was  the  inside  stroke — indeed 
it  was  generally  considered  he  invented  the 
inside  chip,  and  that  William  Richardson 
of  Caldbeck  in  Cumberland,  better  known 
locally  as  '  Belted  Will,'  got  it  from  Barrow. 
Most  assuredly  the  pair  grassed  scores  with  it, 
and  were  quite  as  clever  as  Adam  Dodd,  who 
won  for  many  years  in  succession  at  Lang- 
wathby,  was  with  the  outside  stroke.  After 
Barrow,  Miles  and  James  Dixon  of  Grasmere 
were  the  prominent  men  about  Windermere. 
Before  the  Dixons  had  retired  the  two  Longs 
— Rowland,  commonly  called  Roan,  and 
John,  the  one  a  giant  in  size  and  strength 
and  the  other  a  big  burly  man — figured  in 
the  ring ;  then,  most  renowned,  in  the 
galaxy,  William  Wilson  of  Ambleside.  When 
full  grown  he  was  quite  six  feet  four  inches 
high,  straight,  and  as  lithe  as  a  willow  wand, 
and  at  twenty-two  he  weighed  from  fourteen 
to  fifteen  stone,  with  a  good  reach  of  arm 
and  a  finely  developed  muscular  frame.  As 
a  hyper,  or  'inside  striker'  as  Litt  calls  him, 
he  displayed  superb  form.  For  three  or  four 
years  he  stood  unmatched  and  irresistible  in 
this  particular  stroke,  and  since  his  day  no 
man  has  appeared  worth  calling  a  rival  to 
him  except  William  Jackson  of  Kinneyside. 

In  1818  he  and  Tom  Richardson  showed 
some  remarkably  good  play  in  the  ring  at 
Keswick,  which  for  a  time  was  justly  en- 
titled to  be  considered  the  most  important 
wrestling  gathering  in  the  north.  Wilson 
gathered  his  men  quickly  and  cleanly,  and 
threw  them  as  fast  as  he  came  to  them. 
Coming  against  Richardson  in  the  final  fall, 
he  lifted  him  from  the  ground  with  the  in- 
tention of  hyping,  but  failing  to  hold  his 
man  firmly,  Tom  turned  in,  and  after  a  con- 
siderable struggle  managed  to  bring  him  over 
with  the  buttock.  After  this  tussle  Wilson 
always  spoke  of  Richardson  as  being  '  swine- 
back't,'  meaning  thereby  that  his  back  was 
extremely  slippery  and  difficult  to  hold  from 
the  nature  of  its  peculiar  roundness. 

Wilson  again  attended  the  Keswick  gather- 
ing in  1819,  and  it  proved  memorable  above 
all  others  in  his  wrestling  career.  Although 
he  did  not  succeed  in  winning  the  chief  prize 
this  year,  he  nevertheless  distinguished  him- 
self ten  times  more  than  the  victor  who  did 
by  throwing  the  man  with  whom  no  one  else 
had  the  shadow  of  a  chance.  We  refer  to 
his  struggle  with  John  McLaughlan  of 
Dovenby,  more  than  two  inches  taller  than 
Wilson,  and  at  that  time  five  or  six  stones 
heavier.  As  a  prelude  to  this  fall  '  Clattan  ' 
(the  name  McLaughlan  was  commonly  known 
by)  took  hold  of  Wilson  in  the  middle  of  the 
ring  in  a  good  natured  sort  of  way  and  lifted 


him  up  in  his  arms  to  show  how  easily  he 
could  hold  him.  No  sooner  was  he  set  down 
than  Wilson  threw  his  arms  around  Clattan's 
waist  and  lifted  him  in  precisely  the  same 
way,  a  course  of  procedure  which  greatly 
amused  the  spectators.  After  these  prelimi- 
naries had  been  gone  through,  the  two  men 
were  not  long  in  settling  into  holds,  each 
having  full  confidence  in  his  own  powers  and 
his  own  mode  of  attack.  A  few  seconds 
however  decided  the  struggle  of  these  two 
modern  Titans.  No  sooner  had  each  one 
gripped  his  fellow  than,  quick  as  thought, 
Wilson  lifted  Clattan  from  the  ground  in 
grand  style  and  hyped  him  with  the  greatest 
apparent  ease,  a  feat  that  no  other  man  in 
Britain  could  have  done.  This  fall  is  still 
talked  of  at  the  firesides  of  the  dalesmen  of 
the  north — cottars,  farmers  and  '  statesmen  ' 
— as  one  of  the  most  wonderful  and  dazzling 
achievements  ever  witnessed  in  the  wrestling 
ring.  As  will  be  seen  below,  McLaughlan 
was  only  beaten  in  the  final  round  so  late  as 
1828. 

Returning  to  the  next  Keswick  meeting, 
Wilson  found  no  difficulty  in  walking  through 
the  ranks  of  1820.  Here  he  met  William 
Richardson,  '  Belted  Will '  of  Caldbeck,  in 
the  final  round  and  threw  him  with  ease. 
Litt  says  '  Richardson  had  not  the  shadow  of 
a  chance  with  him.'  This  testimony  is  ex- 
ceedingly significant  and  says  much  for  Wil- 
son's powers  as  a  wrestler.  '  Hoo  'at  thoo 
let  him  hype  the  i'  that  stupid  fashion,  thoo 
numb  divel,  thoo  ? '  said  Tom  Richardson 
('  Dyer ')  reproachfully  to  the  loser  of  the 
fall,  while  the  latter  was  engaged  in  putting 
his  coat  on.  'What,  he  hes  it  off,  an'  that 
thoo  kens  as  weel  as  anybody,'  was  the  sturdy 
reply.  '  I  cudn't  stop  him,  ner  thee  nowder, 
for  that  matter,  if  he  nobbut  gat  a  fair  ho'd  o' 
thee.'  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain, the  year  1 822  was  the  last  one  in  which 
Wilson  figured  in  the  ring.  If  this  be  cor- 
rect, his  wrestling  career  will  be  limited  to 
four  or  five  years'  duration  at  the  utmost.  No 
doubt  the  wasting  disease  from  which  he  suf- 
fered was  the  principal  cause  of  his  early  re- 
tirement from  a  sport  which  he  only  regarded 
as  a  means  of  recreation  and  pastime. 

Among  other  famous  lake-side  wrestlers  were 
Tom  Robinson,  the  schoolmaster  ;  Richard 
Chapman,  George  Donaldson,  Joseph  Ewebank 
and  Joseph  Sargeant,  the  two  last  being 
Haweswater  lake-siders  ;  William  Jackson,  an 
Ennerdale  lake-sider ;  and  Thomas  Longmire 
— men  whose  names  and  deeds  will  be  cher- 
ished as  long  as  '  wruslin '  is  a  household 
word  in  the  north.  At  present  there  is  not 
one  man  of  note  now  wrestling  on  the  im- 


484 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


mediate  borders  of  Windermere,  Ulleswater 
or  Derwentwater. 

The  experiment  of  giving  handsome  money 
prizes,  first  tried  at  Ambleside  for  two 
years,  was  followed  up  at  the  Carlisle  races, 
where  the  first  annual  wrestling  on  the  Swifts 
took  place  in  the  month  of  September,  1809. 
The  successful  establishment  of  the  great 
northern  wrestling  meeting  was  due  principally 
to  the  endeavours  of  Mr.  Henry  Pearson,  soli- 
citor, Carlisle.  Previous  to  this  period  wrest- 
ling in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Carlisle  was 
in  no  very  great  estimation.  It  was  seldom 
witnessed,  and  consequently  could  not  be  duly 
appreciated  ;  and  it  was  probably  owing  to  this 
circumstance  that  there  was  not  any  wrestler 
of  celebrity,  either  in  the  city  itself  or  within 
some  miles  of  it ;  therefore,  notwithstanding 
the  novelty  of  such  an  exhibition  on  the 
Swifts  and  the  very  handsome  sum  subscribed, 
the  competitors  were  not  usually  numerous. 

The  gentlemen  of  Penrith,  well  aware  of 
the  universal  satisfaction  the  revival  of  this 
truly  British  amusement  had  given  to  all 
ranks  at  Carlisle,  determined  to  adopt  the 
same  means  of  increasing  the  popularity  of 
the  ensuing  races  at  that  town ;  and  Dr. 
Pearson,  brother  to  Mr.  Pearson  of  Carlisle, 
exerting  himself  in  the  business,  it  was  at- 
tended with  corresponding  success.  As  Pen- 
rith was  deemed  a  kind  of  central  position 
between  Carlisle  and  Ambleside,  and  situated 
in  a  much  more  noted  country  for  wrestling 
than  either  of  them,  the  competitors  for  that 
prize  were  more  numerous  than  at  the  other 
places. 

The  wrestling  at  this  meeting  seems  to 
have  awakened  an  interest  in  the  sport,  for  in 
the  following  year  two  purses  of  gold  were 
offered  as  prizes,  and  an  immense  multitude 
was  drawn  to  the  ring.  Thomas  Nicholson, 
the  winner  of  the  previous  year,  whose  suc- 
cess at  Ambleside  has  already  been  mentioned, 
again  won  the  first  prize,  and  William 
Richardson  of  Caldbeck  obtained  the  second. 
Wrestling  had  now  been  fairly  set  going,  and 
in  October,  1811,  it  was  announced  that 
athletic  sports  in  Cumberland  were  to  be  re- 
vived. A  prize  of  twenty  guineas  was  to 
be  offered,  and  from  the  terms  of  the  an- 
nouncement it  would  appear  that  wrestling 
had  formerly  been  a  favourite  pastime,  but 
that  either  from  want  of  money  or  of  wrest- 
lers it  had  for  a  time  been  allowed  to  decline. 
Later  on  we  find  the  sport  patronized  at  Car- 
lisle by  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  the  Marquis  of 
Queensberry  and  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale,  the 
buttock  and  cross-buttock  in  those  days  being 
the  favourite  '  chips.' 

Tom  Nicholson  owed  the  high  position  he 


attained  in  the  wrestling  ring  not  to  over- 
powering strength  and  weight,  but  to  what 
lend  the  principal  charm  to  back-hold  wrest- 
ling— science  and  activity.  He  stood  close 
upon  six  feet :  lean,  muscular,  with  broad  and 
powerful  shoulders  ;  had  remarkably  long  arms, 
reaching,  when  at  full  length  and  standing 
perfectly  upright,  down  to  his  knees.  His 
weight  never  exceeded  thirteen  stone.  He 
accidentally  dislocated  his  shoulder  in  1812 
and  thereafter  acted  as  umpire. 

From  about  1827  to  1840  or  so,  the  in- 
terest in  wrestling,  not  only  in  Carlisle  but  all 
over  Cumberland  and  Westmorland,  continued 
to  increase  ;  the  prizes  were  more  tempting, 
the  entries  at  the  different  meetings  more 
numerous,  and  the  scientific  attainments  of 
the  athletes  became  more  and  more  apparent, 
till  at  Wigton  in  1839  the  all-weight  prize 
was  the  largest  entry  ever  known  in  England, 
either  before  or  since,  there  being  256  com- 
petitors. 

From  1822  up  to  1836  the  most  prominent 
names  in  wrestling  annals  were  those  of 
William  Cass,  John  Weightman,  George 
Irving,  John  McLaughlan,  John  Liddell, 
William  Robinson  of  Renwick,  T.  Richard- 
son, James  Little,  John  Fearon,  Robert 
Walters,  Tom  Todd,  and  Joseph  Robley  of 
Scarrowmannock,  who  is  credited  with  being 
the  originator  of  the  swinging  hype,  a  modus 
operandi  he  used  for  many  years  with  con- 
siderable effect  in  east  Cumberland. 

For  great  size  and  well  proportioned  figure, 
combined  with  amazing  strength  and  activity, 
John  Weightman  was  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable men  ever  bred  in  Cumberland. 
Born  at  Greenhead  near  Gilsland  in  1795,  he 
was  brought  up  at  the  quiet  pastoral  village 
of  Hayton  near  Brampton,  where  he  con- 
tinued to  live  until  the  time  of  his  death. 
From  a  physical  point  of  view  he  was  a 
wonder,  being  endowed  with  tremendous 
bodily  strength  on  the  one  hand  and  the 
agility  of  a  cat  on  the  other.  He  stood 
fully  six  feet  three  inches  high  and  weighed 
from  fifteen  to  sixteen  stone.  Possessing  a 
good  reach  of  arm  and  formidable  power  in 
the  shoulders,  he  invariably  beat  his  elbows 
into  the  ribs  of  an  opponent,  which  vice-like 
pressure  was  so  terrific  in  its  results  that  many 
strong  men  were  glad  to  get  to  the  ground 
in  order  to  escape  his  punishing  hug.  Not- 
withstanding the  facility  with  which  prizes 
might  have  been  gained,  it  was  only  on 
rare  occasions  that  Weightman  attended  the 
great  annual  gathering  at  Carlisle,  and  yet  he 
was  champion  in  three  different  years  in  the 
ring  there,  which  speaks  volumes  for  his  wrest- 
ling powers. 


485 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 


There  have  been  many  good  men  in  the 
north  who  have  not  been  fortunate  enough 
to  win  the  chief  prize  at  Carlisle  though  they 
were  second  to  none  in  wrestling  ability. 
Such  was  Torn  Todd,  who  was  a  most  ac- 
complished and  scientific  wrestler.  He  could 
buttock  cleanly,  hype  quickly,  and  excelled  in 
most  other  chips.  Weighing  and  watching 
his  opponent's  movements  narrowly,  he  seemed 
to  anticipate  what  was  coming  and  prepared 
accordingly,  both  for  stopping  and  chipping. 
In  taking  hold,  like  most  good  wrestlers,  he 
stood  square  and  upright ;  but  in  consequence 
of  having  a  very  peculiarly  shaped  back,  like 
half  a  barrel,  it  was  next  to  impossible  to 
hold  him.  At  the  Carlisle  meeting  of  1822 
he  made  a  gallant  but  unsuccessful  struggle 
to  carry  off  the  head  prize.  Being  engaged 
as  a  gamekeeper  in  the  service  of  the  Earl  of 
Carlisle  on  the  Naworth  estates,  he  entered 
himself  under  the  assumed  name  of  '  John 
Moses  of  Alston.'  Todd  distinguished  him- 
self much  by  throwing  several  dangerous 
hands,  of  whom  may  be  specially  mentioned 
John  Fearon  of  Gilcrux,  seventeen  stone 
weight ;  John  Liddell  of  Bothel,  a  fourteen 
and  a  half  stone  man  (winner  of  the  head 
prize  at  Keswick  a  few  weeks  previously, 
where  he  finally  disposed  of  William  Cass  of 
Loweswater)  ;  and  Robert  Walters  of  Car- 
lisle, a  light  weight,  but  an  accomplished 
scientific  wrestler.  In  the  final  fall  however 
with  Cass  the  weight — sixteen  stone — and 
strength  of  the  Loweswater  champion  proved 
too  much  for  twelve  and  a  half  stone. 

Turning  to  more  recent  times — times 
within  the  recollection  of  those  now  living — 
we  find  the  character  of  the  sport  well  sus- 
tained. Richard  Chapman,  William  Jackson, 
Robert  Gordon,  George  Donaldson,  Thomas 
Longmire,  Robert  Atkinson,  Joseph  Sargeant, 
Joseph  Ewebank,  J.  Milburn,  Jonathan 
Thomlinson  were — although  some  of  the 
above  were  really  only  about  eleven  stone — a 
few  of  the  chief  competitors  for  the  heavy- 
weight prizes  during  the  next  sixteen  or 
eighteen  years,  while  the  same  period  was 
noted  for  its  long  list  of  accomplished  light 
weights,  including  Jonathan  Whitehead, 
George  Donaldson,  Joseph  Harrington,  Joseph 
Halliwell,  Walter  Palmer,  John  Walters,  W. 
Glaister,  Thomas  Roper  and  many  olhers. 
As  far  back  as  1841  we  find  old  Jack  Ivison, 
who  only  died  recenlly,  winning  laurels  with- 
in ihe  cords.  Roper  was  a  fine  wresiler,  and 
his  winning  ihe  celebraled  match  wiih  Joseph 
Harringlon  of  Keswick  siamped  him  as  one  of 
ihe  best  men  of  his  day  at  his  weight.  This 
match  for  £5,  the  best  of  five  falls,  came  off  on 
the  morning  of  17  October,  1845,  at  Penrith 


486 


and  lerminated  in  favour  of  Roper,  who  won 
the  first  two  falls,  Harrington  the  third,  and 
Roper  the  fourth.  Harrington,  Halliwell  and 
Ben  Cooper  were  the  three  best  righl  leg 
strikers  of  their  day  and  righl  side  bullockers. 

Jonathan  Thomlinson  of  Embleton,  who 
carried  off  the  chief  prize  at  Carlisle  in  1834, 
was  just  about  ihe  same  size  and  weighl  as 
his  exceedingly  clever  predecessor  and  near 
neighbour,  Tom  Nicholson.  Though  he  did 
not  occupy  as  prominenl  a  position  in  the 
wrestling  world  as  William  Jackson,  Dick 
Chapman,  George  Donaldson  and  a  few 
others,  he  was  considered  by  good  judges  an 
exceedingly  clever  scienlific  wrestler,  and  if 
he  had  gone  about  from  place  to  place,  week 
after  week  and  year  after  year,  like  many 
others,  we  should  without  doubt  have  had  to 
credil  him  wilh  a  much  larger  list  of  victories. 

Those  interesled  in  wrestling  are  probably 
familiar  with  the  names  and  exploits  of  many 
Bamplon  scholars.  In  the  latler  part  of  ihe 
eighteenth  century,  Abraham  Brown,  a 
Bampton  scholar,  and  one  of  the  most  accom- 
plished wrestlers  that  ever  stepped  into  a  ring, 
invenled  and  broughl  into  practice  butlocking, 
one  of  the  most  effective  chips  a  clever 
wrestler  resorls  lo  for  bringing  down  an 
antagonisl.  Il  was  a  Bampton  scholar  under 
iwenly  years  of  age  who,  in  1827,  vanquished 
the  herculean  Weightman  at  Penrith.  At 
Bampton,  the  '  swing '  was  brought  out  and 
made  to  do  surprising  execution,  and  we  much 
doubt  if  any  one  has  appeared  during  the  last 
century  who  could  'swing'  so  effectively  as 
the  Bamptonian,  Joseph  Sargeant.  Another 
famous  Bamptonian  was  Joseph  Ewebank.  In 
height  he  measured  five  feet  ten  inches  and  a 
half,  and  generally  slripl  close  upon  fourteen 
slone  weight.  He  was  a  good  all-round 
wrestler,  excelling  most  particularly  with  the 
butlock  and  striking  with  the  left  foot.  His 
demeanour  in  the  ring  was  quick  and  un- 
obtrusive ;  at  work  without  any  delay  and  a 
determinalion  lo  win  honeslly,  if  al  all.  This 
fine  old  wresiler  left  a  good  representative 
behind  him  in  his  son  Noble  Ewebank,  also  a 
Bampton  scholar,  and  still  hale  and  hearty. 
He  was  good  all  round,  but  perhaps  his 
favourite  chips  were  the  hype  and  striking 
outside  with  the  righl  fool.  He  carried 
off  ihe  chief  prize  at  Carlisle  in  1858,  and 
won  at  many  other  meelings  aboul  ihis 
time,  often  being  successful  against  Richard 
Wright  and  William  Jameson,  who  were  the 
most  prominent  heavy  weights  of  ihe  period. 
He  was  a  finer  wrestler  than  either,  bul  not 
so  successful  againsl  Jameson  as  againsl 
Wrighl,  ihe  facl  being  lhal  Jameson  was  loo 
heavy  and  strong  for  him,  and  withal  quite  as 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


active.  He  threw  Wright  at  Ulverston, 
Carlisle,  Kendal,  Barrow,  and  five  times  at 
Lancaster.  Wright  only  threw  Ewebank 
once,  and  that  was  at  Jedburgh.  Ewebank 
was  also  successful  at  Newcastle,  Carlisle, 
Barrow,  and  at  Lancaster  he  twice  carried 
away  the  prizes.  He  won  the  prize  for  the 
last  sixteen  standards  at  Morecambe,  and  at 
Liverpool  divided  the  stakes  with  Longmire. 

In  the  ring  on  the  Swifts,  Richard  Chapman 
of  Patterdale,  the  most  extraordinary  middle- 
weight wrestler  that  ever  existed,  gained  a 
distinguished  position,  not  by  towering  height, 
not  by  extraordinary  strength  and  weight,  but 
by  sheer  force  of  activity,  science  and  clear- 
sighted shrewdness.  When  with  exulting 
shouts  he  was  hailed  victor  at  Carlisle  in 
1833,  he  was  not  nineteen  years  old,  weighed 
no  more  than  twelve  stone  six  pounds  and 
measured  five  feet  ten  inches.  When  the 
Carlisle  wrestling  of  1840  was  over  he  had 
gained  the  chief  prize  four  times.  No  one 
hitherto  had  attained  this  proud  position. 

Robert  Gordon  of  Plumpton,  who  won  the 
all-weight  head  prize  at  Carlisle  twice  and 
came  second  five  times,  never  exceeded  five 
feet  ten  inches  in  height,  his  general  wrestling 
weight  being  only  eleven  and  a  half  stone. 
If  there  had  been  in  his  day  eleven  stone 
wrestling  he  would  have  had  no  difficulty  in 
training  to  the  weight  provided  he  could  have 
been  induced  to  change  a  pair  of  heavy  cloth 
trousers  for  the  light  garments  in  which 
wrestlers  weigh  at  the  present  day.  In 
appearance  he  was  a  thin,  spare,  angular  sort 
of  man,  carrying  very  little  flesh,  big-boned, 
and  remarkably  strong  about  the  shoulders  and 
body.  His  limbs  however  were  so  light  and 
shapeless  that  he  never  cared  to  roll  his 
trousers  above  the  calf  of  his  leg.  He  had 
a  cautious  and  peculiar  way  of  getting  hold, 
or  rather  he  had  a  peculiar  way  of  slipping  his 
hold  and  getting  into  what  he  considered  a 
favourite  position.  This  mode  consisted  in 
keeping  well  clear  of  his  opponent,  and  to 
wriggle  down  on  one  side  of  him.  This  he 
generally  effected  from  possessing  vast  power 
in  the  shoulders  and  arms,  and  having  such  a 
lithe  slippery  back  that  scarcely  any  one  could 
hold  him.  His  iron  grip  was  so  powerful 
that  a  short  struggle  enabled  him  to  attain  his 
object  and  quietly  pull  his  antagonist  over  the 
knee  or  fairly  drag  him  to  the  ground.  Very 
few  men,  or  only  at  odd  times,  could  hinder 
Gordon  from  getting  them  into  this  fatal 
position.  He  rarely  lifted  his  man,  but  when 
he  did  so  the  fall  was  mostly  an  awkward  one. 

Like  Tom  Nicholson,  Dick  Chapman, 
William  Jackson  and  other  celebrated  wrest- 
lers, Gordon  appears  to  have  been  as  good 


when  about  twenty  years  old  as  during  the 
remaining  portion  of  his  career  ;  and  like 
William  Richardson  of  Caldbeck— '  Belted 
Will ' — he  was  not  once  thrown  in  the  first 
year  of  his  public  wrestling. 

In  1844  at  Penrith  he  wrestled  up  with 
Robert  Atkinson  of  Sleagill.  Both  of  the  final 
falls  were  severely  contested,  '  Sleagill ' 
viciously  gripping  and  gripping  again  as  if  he 
would  squeeze  the  very  life  out  of  his  wiry 
opponent.  All  however  of  no  avail.  He 
had  to  succumb  twice  in  succession  to  an 
eleven  and  a  half  stone  man. 

At  Carlisle  in  1846,  although  not  in  good 
feather  this  year,  William  Jackson  the  four- 
year  champion  came  again  for  the  express  pur- 
pose of  carrying  off  the  head  prize  for  the  fifth 
time.  When  drawn  against  Gordon  in  the 
fourth  round  the  latter  expressed  a  desire  to 
give  way  to  his  formidable  rival  without  a 
struggle.  His  mind  quickly  changed,  however, 
when  told  by  the  umpires  '  there  would  be  no 
money  for  him  at  all  unless  he  went  into  the 
ring  and  did  his  best.'  '  Wey  !  if  that's  to  be 
t'game,  than  I'll  russel  him  !  He  can  only 
throw  me  ! '  In  the  betting  large  odds  were 
offered — as  much  as  six  to  one,  and  up  to  ten 
to  one  on  Kinneyside.  Old  Will  Glen  of 
Calthwaite  staked  enthusiastically  against  his 
neighbour,  and  seemed  much  chagrined  at 
finding  himself  jCio  out  of  pocket  by  the 
fall.  The  men  were  no  sooner  in  holds  than, 
quick  as  lightning,  Gordon  got  into  his 
favourite  position.  Jackson  tried  hard  to 
neutralize  his  opponent's  tactics  by  drawing 
him  up,  but  his  utmost  efforts  were  futile. 
The  advantage  already  gained  was  used  so 
quickly  and  effectually  that  before  the 
champion  could  effect  any  change  he  was 
literally  dragged  to  the  ground  in  spite  of  all 
the  efforts  used.  Immense  cheering  greeted 
the  fall  and  for  some  time  a  perfect  furor 
raged  in  all  parts  of  the  ring. 

On  8  October,  1851,  the  great  match  for 
the  wrestling  championship  of  all  England 
and  £300  between  Jackson  and  Atkinson  took 
place  at  the  Flan  near  Ulverston.  This  event 
caused  a  greater  sensation  in  all  wrestling 
circles  than  any  contest  on  record  in  the 
north,  and  has  ever  since  been  a  theme  of 
conversation  among  the  natives  of  Cumber- 
land and  Westmorland.  The  contest  came 
off  in  a  spacious  ring  lying  to  the  north  of  the 
town  of  Ulverston,  in  the  presence  of  about 
10,000  persons.  On  the  afternoon  previous 
great  numbers  arrived  from  London,  Liver- 
pool and  Manchester,  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  contest  farm  servants,  farmers'  sons  and 
others,  on  foot,  poured  into  the  town  from  all 
points.  The  great  majority  from  Westmor- 


487 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


land  came  by  special  train.  The  Cumbrians 
were  taken  up  by  special  train  at  Carlisle  and 
the  intermediate  stations  between  that  city 
and  Whitehaven.  This  train,  when  it  left 
Whitehaven,  was  swelled  to  near  forty 
carriages,  and  was  drawn  part  of  the  way  by 
three  engines,  and  part  by  four.  Notwith- 
standing these  efforts,  it  was  an  hour  and  a 
half  behind  time,  and  the  passengers  had 
difficulty  in  reaching  the  wrestling  arena  (about 
four  miles  from  the  station)  in  time  to  see  the 
great  match. 

One  o'clock  was  the  time  stated  for  the  two 
competitors  to  enter  the  arena,  and  shortly 
after  that  hour  they  began  to  '  peel  off.' 
Atkinson,  a  native  of  Sleagill,  Westmorland, 
winner  in  1 847  of  the  chief  prize  at  Carlisle, 
whose  weight  on  this  occasion  reached  about 
eighteen  stone,  appeared  in  excellent  condition 
and  full  of  confidence  as  to  the  issue  of  the 
contest.  His  brawny  frame  and  colossal 
dimensions  were  a  theme  of  general  comment, 
and  elicited  expressions  of  astonishment  and 
wonder  from  a  large  number  of  sporting  men, 
who  had  congregated  to  witness  the  contest. 
Jackson,  as  is  well  known,  was  a  native  of 
Kinneyside,  a  mountainous  district  bordering 
the  lake  of  Ennerdale  in  Cumberland.  He  had 
carried  off  the  head  prize  for  four  successive 
years  at  Carlisle,  and  at  the  numerous  other  places 
where  he  had  wrestled  he  almost  invariably 
came  off  victorious  ;  but  he  had  retired  from 
the  ring  several  years  before  this  great  contest, 
and  there  is  no  doubt  he  made  a  mistake,  as 
was  said  at  the  time,  in  again  appearing  before 
the  public  to  contend  for  that  which  he  had 
before  so  honorably  won — the  championship 
of  England.  Jackson's  appearance  in  the 
ring  was  the  signal  for  the  most  rapturous 
cheering.  His  dignified  and  manly  deport- 
ment, his  strict  integrity  and  honesty  of 
purpose,  and,  still  more,  his  previous  achieve- 
ments, had  drawn  to  his  standard  a  numerous 
host  of  warm  admirers.  He  weighed  about 
fourteen  stone  and  a  half,  but  the  disparity  in 
the  bulk  of  the  men  was  strongly  marked 
when  they  placed  themselves  in  a  position  for 
'  play.'  At  starting,  betting  was  five  to  four 
and  £30  to  £20  on  Jackson  for  the  match,  and 
five  to  four  on  the  first  fall  in  his  favour.  The 
match  was  the  best  of  five  falls.  Jackson  only 
gained  the  second  fall,  the  first,  third  and 
fourth,  going  to  Atkinson,  who  thus  became 
wrestling  champion  of  England. 

After  William  Jackson  had  retired  from 
wrestling  the  most  prominent  man  for  many 
years  was  Thomas  Longmire  of  Troutbeck 
near  Windermere.  His  wrestling  career  for 
public  prizes  commenced  when  only  seven- 
teen years  old.  During  a  week's  holiday  at 


Whitsuntide,  wrestling  was  the  absorbing 
game  to  be  followed.  His  first  belt  was  won 
at  Crook  near  Kendal,  the  second  at  Flook- 
burgh  near  Cartmel,  the  third  at  Arrad-foot 
near  Ulverston.  These  winnings  at  three 
different  places  in  one  week,  where  he  would 
have  to  face  strong  local  rings,  are  sufficient 
proofs  that  when  only  seventeen  years  old  he 
possessed  extraordinary  science  and  strength. 
Longmire  won  the  chief  prize  at  Carlisle  in 
1 854  and  1855.  In  the  latter  year  in  the 
final  wrestle  up  he  came  against  the  celebrated 
William  Robley  of  Egremont.  It  was 
Cumberland  against  Westmorland,'  and  the 
best  man  in  each  county  to  contend  for  the 
championship.  The  betting  round  the  im- 
mense ring — lined  nine  or  ten  deep  with 
anxious  spectators — ranged  five  and  six  to  four 
on  Cumberland.  They  quickly  got  hold,  and 
soon  a  loud  cheer  from  thousands  proclaimed 
'  Longmire's  won,'  a  quick  resolute  back  heel 
having  stretched  his  antagonist  on  the  turf. 
They  had  soon  hold  again,  and  the  Westmor- 
land champion  put  in  one  of  his  grand  cross 
buttocks.  Both  went  to  the  ground  and  the 
umpires  amid  a  storm  of  disapprobation  de- 
cided 'a  dog  fall.'  It  was  the  general 
opinion  Longmire  ought  to  have  had  the  fall. 
He  did  not  attempt  to  interfere,  but  stood 
quiet  and  collected  at  the  side  of  the  ring,  and 
when  called  on  again  stepped  in  and  met  the 
cheer  of  the  multitude  with  characteristic 
modesty.  In  the  third  attempt,  as  soon  as 
they  had  hold  the  whole  of  the  surging  mass 
all  round  the  immense  circle  became  quiet  'as 
Billy  Watson'  lonnin'  of  a  lownd  summer 
neeght,'  till  the  Cumberland  representative 
went  down  with  an  admirable  outside  hype, 
when  a  wild  scene  of  congratulation  and  con- 
fusion ensued. 

At  nearly  the  close  of  Longmire's  career  in 
1859,  at  Lancaster,  his  old  opponent  Dick 
Wright  of  Longtown  turned  out  to  contest 
the  last  falls,  and  parried  two  attempts  with 
an  outside  stroke,  but  got  brought  to  ground 
with  a  third  attempt.  In  the  second  fall  the 
winner  resorted  to  his  favourite  swing,  sent 
his  opponent  spinning  with  great  velocity  and 
grassed  him.  Later  in  the  year  they  met 
once  more  at  Talkin  Tarn,  and  Wright  again 
suffered  defeat.  It  may  be  remarked  the  fact 
of  so  repeatedly  overcoming  the  best  Cumbrian 
in  his  prime  is  enhanced,  if  the  reader 
will  bear  in  mind  that  Longmire  was  nearly 
forty  years  old,  had  contested  for  twenty 
years  in  public  rings,  and  was  long  past  the 
prime  of  wrestling  days.  At  this  same  Talkin 
Tarn  entry,  before  becoming  entitled  to  the 
head  prize,  he  had  to  throw  Thomas  Roper, 
James  Pattinson,  William  Jameson  and 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


Thomas  Kirkup,  as  well  as  Dick  Wright. 
Though  many  people  might  think  otherwise 
it  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  good  wrestlers  very 
rarely  hurt  one  another,  and  Longmire  was  no 
exception  to  this  rule,  for  in  his  over  twenty 
years'  experience  he  was  never  once  hurt. 

Of  the  many  matches  that  took  place  about 
this  period  none  created  more  interest  than 
the  one  for  £100  and  the  championship  of 
the  light  weights  (eleven  stone)  between 
Jonathan  Whitehead  of  Workington  and 
Thomas  Davidson  of  Castleside,  on  19  August, 
1856,  at  Botchergate,  Carlisle.  Whitehead, 
one  of  the  oldest  wrestlers  in  the  ring, 
and  one  of  the  most  celebrated  of  his  class, 
was  about  thirty-seven  years  of  age,  five  feet 
nine  or  ten  inches  in  height,  finely  propor- 
tioned, and  had  at  his  command  a  store  of 
science  which  few  if  any  of  his  competitors 
could  equal.  Davidson,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  comparatively  young  in  years,  but  had 
earned  for  himself  a  well-merited  reputation 
as  a  crack  wrestler.  He  was  somewhat  less 
in  stature  than  Whitehead,  was  about  twenty- 
six  years  of  age,  and  possessed  strength, 
activity,  and  wrestling  capability  which  it 
required  the  utmost  exertions  of  his  opponent 
to  overcome.  Whitehead,  after  a  struggle 
lasting  rather  more  than  two  hours,  gained 
three  against  Davidson's  two  falls,  and  so  won 
the  match. 

For  about  a  dozen  years  after  Longmire 
had  retired  from  wrestling,  the  most  pro- 
minent men  in  the  Cumberland  and  West- 
morland rings  were  Richard  Wright,  Noble 
Ewebank,  William  Hawksworth,  William 
Jameson  amongst  the  heavy  weights ;  and  in 
the  long  list  of  middle  and  light  weights  to 
the  fore  as  successful  competitors  during  this 
period,  the  following  were  at  the  top  of  the 
tree  :  James  Pattinson,  Jim  Scott,  William 
Rickerby,  Ralph  and  Tom  Powley,  Joseph 
Allison,  W.  Lawson,  W.  Park,  George 
Graham,  John  Graham  (of  Carlisle),  Ben 
Cooper  and  Harry  Ivison. 

Richard  Wright  of  Longtown,  during  his 
career  of  something  approaching  to  twenty 
years,  had  but  one  or  two  equals  in  the 
wrestling  ring  as  a  crack  heavy-weight 
wrestler.  He  was  good  all  round,  but  his 
favourite  move  was  a  peculiar  twist  off  the 
chest  or  breast  stroke.  There  is  nothing  par- 
ticularly clever  about  the  manoeuvre  ;  the 
assailant  has  merely  to  grasp  his  man  firmly, 
twist  him  suddenly  to  one  side  and  as  suddenly 
to  the  other  ;  but  it  requires  great  develop- 
ment of  the  chest  in  order  to  accomplish  it 
successfully.  It  is  very  difficult  to  meet,  and 
time  after  time  has  foiled  the  best  men  in 
England.  Wright's  career  extended  from 


II 


489 


1855  to  1875,  and  he  succeeded  in  carry- 
ing off  the  chief  prize  at  Carlisle  no  less 
than  six  times  during  this  period. 

In  the  above  list  of  wrestlers  the  two  most 
powerful  men  of  their  weight  were  James 
Pattinson  (eleven  stone)  of  Weardale  and 
William  Jameson  of  Penrith.  James  Pat- 
tinson was  a  marvel  ;  like  George  Donaldson 
of  a  previous  generation  he  had  very  long 
arms,  reaching  well  below  his  knees  when 
standing  erect,  and  so  strong  was  he  that  it 
was  said  he  could  hold  Dick  Wright,  the 
champion  heavy  weight,  and  that  if  they  had 
had  a  match  the  betting  would  have  been  in 
favour  of  Pattinson.  Noble  Ewebank  has 
often  said  to  the  writer,  '  I  dreaded  Pattinson 
as  much  or  more  than  any  man  I  ivver  met  in 
the  ring.'  When  Pattinson  contested  for 
the  chief  prize  at  Carlisle  in  1859,  he  came 
against  William  Hawksworth  of  Shap  in  the 
final  wrestle  up,  one  of  the  strongest  heavy 
men  of  the  day,  and  won.  As  to  William 
Jameson,  he  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men,  for  strength  and  activity  combined,  who 
has  appeared  to  compete  for  prizes  in  the 
wrestling  rings  of  the  north.  He  won  the 
championship  at  Carlisle  no  less  than  five 
times,  and  in  the  opinion  of  some  men  who 
were  well  able  to  judge,  he  could  have  won 
for  ten  years  running  if  he  had  been  so 
minded,  so  active  and  powerful  was  he,  but 
he  was  not  so  keen  about  winning  as  his 
principal  opponent,  Dick  Wright. 

On  Monday,  26  August,  1872,  the  great 
wrestling  match  for  the  eleven  stone  cham- 
pionship of  the  world  and  £100,  between 
William  Rickerby  of  Carlisle  and  Ralph 
Powley  of  Lon  glands,  took  place  in  the 
circus,  William  Brown  Street,  Liverpool,  in 
the  presence  of  a  large  concourse  of  spectators, 
and  resulted  in  a  victory  for  Powley.  Few 
events  in  the  annals  of  wrestling  have  pro- 
voked a  wider  and  more  general  interest 
than  this  affair  did,  both  men  being  so  well 
known  as  first-class  athletes;  and  moreover 
their  merits  were  equally  divided,  having 
previously  met  six  times  and  obtained  three 
falls  each. 

The  Carlisle  "Journal  in  a  report  of  the 
match  remarked  :  '  There  cannot  be  the 
slightest  doubt  in  the  world  but  that  the 
best  man  at  the  weight  won  the  match. 
Rickerby  was  overmatched  throughout.  But 
though  beaten  he  was  not  disgraced.  He 
wrestled  as  well  as  ever  man  could  do  ;  but 
Powley  could  worry  him  in  taking  holds,  the 
Longlands  man  having  a  longer  reach,  and 
nature  having  moreover  endowed  him  with  a 
queer  back  to  get  hold  of.  The  second  fall 
was  perhaps  the  best  of  the  three,  and  it  was 


62 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


in  this  bout  that  most  science  was  displayed  on 
both  sides.  The  hype  was  Rickerby's  instru- 
ment of  warfare,  but  he  was  unable  to  bring 
over  his  opponent,  and  the  fatal  click,  which 
Powley  knows  so  well  how  to  use,  sealed 
Rickerby's  fate,  even  in  this  fall.  The  long 
and  short  of  it  is  that  though  Rickerby  is  a 
good  game  wrestler,  Powley  is  a  better  at 
eleven  stone.  The  three  wrestles  were  honest 
and  genuine  and  will  long  live  in  the  memory 
of  all  who  saw  them.  Powley's  great  length 
however  served  him  well,  and  he  won,  and 
won  well,  indeed.  A  word  now  for  the 
fallen.  Rickerby  is  a  great  wrestler,  but  he 
requires  that  which  he  can  never  have — 
namely,  an  inch  more  arm  reach  and  two 
inches  more  length  to  his  legs — in  order  to 
enable  him  to  throw  a  man  like  Powley  at 
eleven  stone.  As  it  is,  Powley  is,  and  has 
proved  himself  to  be,  the  champion  eleven- 
stone  man  in  the  world.  After  the  match, 
Rickerby,  in  good-hearted  style,  admitted  he 
was  fairly  beaten.' 

We  now  come  to  the  time  when  George 
Steadman  and  George  Lowden  came  to  the 
front,  closely  followed  by  William  Blair  of 
Solport  Mill,  one  of  the  greatest  buttockers 
ever  known,  Edward  Norman  of  Carlisle  and 
Hexham  Clark.  Steadman,  who  has  held  the 
championship  about  thirty  years,  retired  from 
the  ring  in  August,  1900,  after  winning  the 
chief  prize  at  the  Grasmere  sports.  Blair 
and  Norman  retired  some  years  ago,  and  it  is 
said  that  Lowden  will  not  appear  in  the 
wrestling  ring  any  more  as  a  principal,  conse- 
quently Hexham  Clark  becomes  champion, 
and  well  worthy  is  he  of  the  position. 

In  conclusion  we  may  say  that  wrestling, 
compared  with  what  it  was  in  its  palmy  days, 
has  latterly,  it  cannot  be  denied,  lost  some  of 
its  interest  for  the  people,  even  in  the  district 
where  it  has  held  supremacy  as  an  out-door 
sport  for  generations.  Youths,  it  is  true,  still 
practise  it  in  the  dales  and  on  the  fell  sides, 
and  it  takes  its  place  regularly  in  the  pro- 
gramme of  most  athletic  meetings  in  the  two 
counties.  Nevertheless  it  appears  to  be  incon- 
testably  relaxing  its  hold  upon  the  public, 
partly,  no  doubt,  owing  to  the  fact  that 
'  barneying '  becomes  so  frequent  when  men 
gain  the  top  of  the  tree,  that  legitimate  sport 
disappears  just  at  the  stage  when  it  would  be 
most  interesting  :  but  also,  we  imagine,  from 
other  causes,  traceable  to  the  principle  em- 
bodied in  the  maxim  '  other  times,  other 


manners.'  Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago  it 
was  a  very  different  matter.  The  tastes  of 
the  people  then  were  simpler  ;  and  it  was  no 
wonder  in  the  days  before  the  immense 
modern  development  of  field  sports  of  all 
kinds — cricket,  football,  horse-racing,  etc. — 
that  exhibitions  of  prowess  by  noted  wrestlers 
of  Penrith,  Carlisle  and  elsewhere  should 
have  stirred  the  towns  and  villages  of  Cum- 
berland and  Westmorland  to  their  depths. 

The  compilation  of  the  above  article  is  chiefly 
based  on  voluminous  manuscript  notes  made 
by  the  late  Jacob  Robinson  of  Ulverston  and  the 
late  George  Coward  of  Carlisle.  Very  many 
thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  J.  H.  C.  Colton  of  Carlisle 
for  enabling  me  to  acquire  these  notes,  and  also  to 
Mr.  Thomas  Coward  of  Carlisle  for  kindly 
revising  the  article  on  '  Hound  Dog  Trailing,'  on 
which  subject  he  is  an  acknowledged  authority. 
The  local  newspaper  files  have  materially  aided  my 
labours  in  a  variety  of  ways.  Besides  supplying 
many  passing  incidents,  I  have  found  them,  in 
some  instances,  exceedingly  useful  in  the  way  of 
verifying  facts  and  correcting  dates,  added  to 
which  I  am  indebted  to  a  multitude  of  narrators, 
who  with  never-failing  willingness  have  supplied 
the  items  of  the  various  events  chronicled. 

While  the  feats  of  many  well  known  wrestlers 
are  to  be  found  in  the  article  on  '  Wrestling,"  the 
names  of  others  equally  well  known  are  necessarily 
omitted,  and  little  or  no  allusion  is  made  to  those 
who  competed  only  in  the  rings  of  north  Lan- 
cashire, Westmorland  and  elsewhere  outside  Cum- 
berland, of  whom  there  have  been  many  of 
marked  ability  in  the  past.  The  following  list 
of  local  works  on  wrestling  have  been  largely 
quoted  from  :  Wrestllana  :  an  Historical  Account 
of  Ancient  and  Modern  Wrestling  by  William 
Litt,  Whitehaven  (R.  Gibson.  1823).  Second 
edition  of  the  above  (reprinted  from  the  White- 
haven  Netus)  by  Michael  and  William  Alsop, 
1860. 

Wrestllana :  A  Chronicle  of  the  Cumberland 
and  Westmorland  Wrestlings  in  London,  since  the 
year  1824.  By  Walter  Armstrong  (London  :  Simp- 
kin,  Marshall  &  Co.  1870). 

famous  Athletic  Contests,  Ancient  and  Modem, 
compiled  by  Members  of  the  Cumberland  and 
Westmorland  Wrestling  Society  (reprinted  from 
the  best  authorities)  (London  :  F.  A.  Hancock. 
1871). 

Great  Book  of  Wrestling  References,  giving  about 
2,000  different  prizes  from  1838  to  the  present 
day,  by  Isaac  Gate,  twenty-five  years  Public 
Wrestling  Judge  (Carlisle  :  Steel  Brothers.  1874). 

Wrestling  and  Wrestlers,  by  Jacob  Robinson  and 
Sidney  Gilpin  (London  :  Bemrose  &  Sons, 
Limited  ;  Carlisle  :  G.  &  T.  Coward). 


490 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


FOOTBALL 


ASSOCIATION 


The  modernized  Association  game  is  a 
recent  development  in  Cumberland.  A 
century  or  so  ago  the  '  football  play,'  with 
its  rude  rough-and-tumble  tactics,  existed 
and  flourished  amongst  the  villagers  in  cer- 
tain districts.  Then,  from  the  time  the  ball 
was  thrown  down  in  the  churchyard  until  it 
reached  its  goal — a  distance  of  two  or  three 
miles  perhaps  —every  inch  of  ground  was 
keenly  contested  by  almost  the  entire  male 
population  of  the  rural  villages  ;  and  in  some 
cases  even  by  the  other  sex. 

About  1874  occasional  games  of  Asso- 
ciation football  were  played  in  the  'Border 
City,'  but  no  organization  attempted  ;  '  the 
real  football,'  as  far  as  Cumberland  is 
concerned,  dates  from  the  late  '  seven- 
ties.' The  Carlisle  Club  was  the  first 
of  its  kind  apart  from  school  football, 
and  was  formed  on  8  September,  1880, 
two  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Den- 
ton  Holme  Club  in  the  same  city.  United 
efforts  at  Carlisle  were  immediately  followed 
by  the  formation  of  Wigton  Club  in  Sep- 
tember 1880,  and  the  Workington  and 
Distington  Clubs  a  short  time  later. 

The  organizations  named  were  the  ori- 
ginal members  of  the  Cumberland  Football 
Association,  which  was  established  at  Wig- 
ton  in  the  year  1884.  Progress  was  at 
first  slow.  It  took  the  novitiate  clubs  a 
long  time  to  persuade  the  hard-headed  Cum- 
brians that  football  was  a  health-giving  game 
to  be  admired  and  fostered.  In  January,  1886, 
there  were  seven  Association  clubs  in  the 
county,  but  only  four  affiliated.  But  the 
game  had  come  to  stay,  and  it  gradually 
gained  ground  until  in  the  season  of  1899- 
1900  the  Cumberland  Association  had  a 
record  membership  of  forty-two  clubs. 

The  season  of  1885—6  saw  the  inaugura- 
tion of  the  Cumberland  Cup  Competition, 
which  has  done  much  to  advance  the  game 
locally.  The  Carlisle  men  were  the  first 
winners,  their  victory  over  Workington  being 
challenged  without  avail  by  the  losers  on 
the  novel  ground  '  that  the  referee  gave 
his  decision  before  being  appealed  to  by  the 
umpires  ! '  Workington 's  revenge  came  later, 
for,  winning  the  much-coveted  trophy  the 
following  season,  they  retained  possession  un- 
til 1891-2,  when  it  was  gained  by  the  Moss 
Bay  Exchange,  another  Workington  combina- 
tion which  held  it  for  two  years.  In  1893-4 
the  cup  again  found  a  home  in  Carlisle,  but 


was  brought  back  the  next  year  to  Working - 
ton  by  the  Black  Diamonds.  From  that  period 
the  trophy  remained  in  the  Cumberland 
'  Ironopolis,'  until  the  season  1900—1,  when 
Shaddongate  United,  the  then  premier  Carlisle 
club,  was  successful.  During  this  time 
Workington  has  registered  four  more  wins, 
and  the  Black  Diamonds  one.  Frizington 
White  Star  were  the  holders  in  1901—2. 

With  a  view  to  encouraging  the  rising 
talent,  the  Cumberland  Shield  Competition 
was  inaugurated  in  1889.  It  has  fully 
answered  its  purpose,  thirty  or  more  teams 
competing  annually  for  the  coveted  trophy. 
So  keen  is  the  competition,  that  no  club  has 
won  the  shield  more  than  twice,  as  will  be 
seen  from  the  following  list  of  champions  : 
Season  1889-90,  Arlecdon  ;  1890—1,  Moss 
Bay  Exchange;  1891—2,  Black  Diamonds; 
1892-3,  Imperial  Rovers;  1893-4,  Wigton 
Harriers  ;  1894-5,  Workington  ;  1895-6, 
Black  Diamonds  ;  1896—7,  Workington  ; 
1897-8,  Frizington  White  Star;  1898-9, 
Shaddongate  United  ;  1899-1900,  Frizing- 
ton White  Star  ;  1900-1,  Cockermouth  Cru- 
saders ;  1901-2,  Scalegill  Rovers  ;  1902-3, 
Moss  Bay  Exchange. 

It  is  interesting  to  trace  the  development  of 
the  league  system  in  Cumberland.  A  '  West 
Cumberland  Association  League '  was  formed 
about  1890,  but  had  a  brief  and  precarious 
existence.  At  a  meeting  held  at  Cocker- 
mouth  24  March,  1894,  the  league  was 
reformed  under  the  title  of  '  The  Cumber- 
land League  '  and  its  scope  extended.  The 
following  eight  clubs  claimed  membership  : 
Imperial  Rovers  (Workington),  Cockermouth 
Crusaders,  Black  Diamonds,  Carlisle  City, 
Moss  Bay  Exchange,  Workington,  Keswick 
and  Wigton  Harriers.  The  league  com- 
menced working  the  following  season.  The 
Workington  men  proved  the  champions,  and 
retained  the  position  during  the  three  fol- 
lowing seasons.  In  the  seasons  of  1898-9 
and  1899-1900,  however,  the  seaport  club 
more  than  met  their  match  in  Frizington 
White  Star,  an  organization  in  the  iron-ore 
mining  district  which  had  been  making  bold 
but  unsuccessful  bids  for  the  cup.  The 
abstention  of  Keswick  from  league  football  in 
recent  years,  and  the  limited  number  of 
senior  clubs,  somewhat  checked  the  interest 
in  the  annual  competitions  ;  but  at  the 
meeting  of  1900  a  revival  appeared  to  have 
taken  place,  for  four  new  clubs  (three  of 
whom  had  been  working  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Junior  League)  joined  the  senior 


491 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


ranks  and  brought  up  the  number  of  competing 
clubs  to  ten,  the  largest  entry  up  to  date. 
The  present  members  are  Frizington  White 
Star,  Workington,  Black  Diamonds,  Moss 
Bay  Exchange,  Carlisle  Red  Rose,  Shaddon- 
gate  United,  Wigton  Harriers,  and  Keswick. 
The  league  has  a  promising  future,  being  in 
touch  with  the  four  divisions  into  which  the 
county  is  divided. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  league  held 
30  May  1896,  at  the  Commercial  Hotel, 
Workington,  a  junior  division  was  formed  of 
the  following  eight  clubs  :  Maryport,  Wig- 
ton  Harriers,  Cockermouth  Crusaders,  Har- 
rington, Workington  Reserves,  Moss  Bay 
Reserves,  Black  Diamonds  Reserves  and  Im- 
perial Rovers  Reserves.  Harrington  was  the 
first  winner.  The  season  following  (1897—8) 
the  composition  of  the  Junior  League  under- 
went a  great  change.  Of  the  original  clubs 
only  four — Cockermouth,  Wigton,  Harrington 
and  Moss  Bay — remained.  Maryport  had  suc- 
cumbed to  the  strong  opposition  of  the  Rugby 
code,  the  Imperial  Rovers  had  followed  suit, 
and  Workington  and  Black  Diamonds  with- 
drew their  reserve  teams.  Frizington  White 
Star  Reserves,  Wheatsheaf  Rovers  (a  junior 
Workington  club)  and  Arlecdon  were  in- 
cluded, and  made  up  a  complement  of  seven 
clubs,  of  which  Cockermouth  proved  the 
champion  with  16  points  out  of  a  possible 
2O,  having  only  once  suffered  defeat.  At 
the  annual  meeting  in  1898  the  Frizington 
Rovers  were  admitted  members,  but  as  the 
Moss  Bay  Reserves  retired,  the  number  of 
competing  clubs  remained  the  same.  After  a 
keen  competition  Frizington  White  Star  was 
declared  champion,  a  performance  which  that 
team  might  have  repeated  the  following  season, 
but  owing  to  a  variety  of  causes  the  fix- 
tures were  not  completed.  In  the  latter 
season  new  blood  had  been  admitted  with 
the  West  Seaton,  Distington  and  Scale- 
gill  Clubs,  whilst  Harrington  and  Wheat- 
sheaf  Rovers  had  gone  under,  succumbing 
to  the  inevitable.  The  Junior  League, 
weakened  by  the  promotion  of  three  of  its 
most  prominent  clubs  to  the  'upper  house,' 
collapsed,  but  its  place  has  been  taken  by  a 
similar  organization. 

In  October  of  the  Diamond  Jubilee  year 
a  meeting  was  held  at  the  King's  Arms 
Hotel,  Wigton,  '  to  consider  the  question  of 
forming  a  Cumberland  Thursday  Association 
League,  with  a  view  to  furthering  the  in- 
terests of  mid-week  football.'  It  was  unani- 
mously decided  that  such  a  combination  be 
set  on  foot.  The  original  clubs  were  few  in 
number  :  Aspatria  Agricultural  College,  Car- 
lisle Thursday,  Workington  Thursday  and 


Wigton  Harriers  Thursday.  Workington 
proved  the  first  champions  in  1898-9,  and 
repeated  the  success  the  following  season, 
when  interest  was  added  to  the  competition 
by  the  inclusion  of  Midland  United,  a  Car- 
lisle organization.  The  following  season  the 
committee  failed  to  carry  on  the  Thursday 
League. 

Other  competitions  which  have  done  much 
to  maintain  the  interest  in  the  game  in  Work- 
ington have  been  the  Workington  Infirmary 
Shield  Competition  and  the  Workington 
Town  Championship,  which  have  usually 
excited  the  keenest  encounters  amongst  the 
borough  clubs. 

No  organization  has  better  answered  the 
purpose  for  which  it  was  formed  than  the 
Carlisle  and  District  Charity  Shield  Com- 
petition, which  came  into  being  in  1890 
with  the  object  of  encouraging  the  game 
amongst  junior  clubs  or  teams.  In  a  great 
measure  due  to  the  hon.  secretary,  Mr.  J.  A. 
McLean,  the  competition  has  been  a  success 
from  the  beginning,  and  there  is  now  an 
average  annual  entry  of  over  twenty  clubs. 
The  winners  are:  1890—1,  Eden  Vale; 
1891-2,  West  End  Rangers  ;  1892-3, 
Carlisle  Red  Rose;  1893—4,  Carlisle  City; 
1894-5,  Willow  Holme  Mission  ;  1895-6, 
Shaddongate  United;  1896-7,  Carlisle  Red 
Rose;  1 897-8, Shaddongate  United  ;  1898-9, 
Carlisle  Red  Rose  ;  1899-1900,  Shaddon- 
gate United  ;  1900—1,  Shaddongate  United  ; 
1901-2,  G.  and  S.  W.  Rovers. 

The  Association  game  in  the  east  of  the 
county  will  probably  be  further  advanced  by 
the  Carlisle  and  District  Junior  League, 
formed  28  August  1900,  to  operate  in  a 
twelve  mile  radius  of  the  '  Border  City.' 
The  original  members  were  Dalston,  Wigton, 
Burnfoot  Star,  G.  and  S.W.  Rovers,  Carlisle 
Red  Rose,  Cummersdale  Hornets,  N.B.R. 
Loco.,  West  End,  Shaddongate  United,  Grass- 
ing Athletic,  Caxton  and  Longtown.  Cum- 
mersdale Club  was  the  first  winner,  and  N.B. 
Loco,  the  second. 

In  West  Cumberland  the  Egremont  Divi- 
sion Junior  League  was  formed  the  same 
month,  consisting  of  Frizington  White  Star, 
Frizington  Rovers,  Keekle,  Scalegill  Rovers, 
St.  Bees  and  Arlecdon.  The  first-named 
was  champion  in  1900—1,  and  in  1901—2 
Scalegill  Rovers. 

The  Cumberland  Junior  Medal  Competi- 
tion, during  its  brief  existence  under  the 
Association's  maternal  wing,  did  much  to 
foster  rising  talent. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  the  Cumberland 
Football  Association  each  affiliated  club  was 
entitled  to  representation  on  the  Executive 


492 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


Committee,  but  as  the  number  of  clubs  mul- 
tiplied this  method  grew  too  cumbersome 
in  its  working,  and  an  efficacious  departure 
was  made  when  the  system  of  club  repre- 
sentation—  under  which  the  interests  of  the 
county  might  occasionally  be  overlooked — 
was  abolished  and  divisional  representation 
substituted.  For  this  purpose  the  county  was 
grouped  into  four  divisions,  each  of  which 
is  represented  by  two  independent  men 
elected  at  the  annual  meeting.  In  1904, 
there  are  about  fifty  affiliated  clubs,  but 
of  this  number  fourteen,  although  affiliated 
direct,  are  connected  with  the  Carlisle  and 
District  Charity  Shield  and  do  not  take  part 
in  any  of  the  county  competitions. 

Any  record  of  Cumberland  Association 
football  would  be  incomplete  without  allu- 
sion to  that  pioneer  of  the  game,  Mr.  F.  J. 
Hayes  of  Workington.  He  was  one  of  the 
first  representatives  on  the  Association,  has 
ever  since  its  formation  occupied  a  seat  on 
the  Executive  Committee,  and  has  for  several 
years  impartially  filled  the  post  of  chairman, 
succeeding  in  that  capacity  the  late  Mr.  G. 
Hetherington  of  Wigton.  In  this  direction 
may  be  mentioned  the  good  work  done  by 
the  secretaries  of  modern  times  :  Mr.  R.  K. 
Malone  of  Workington,  who  on  his  departure 
to  the  west  of  Ireland — far  removed  from  the 
haunts  of  the  dribbling  code — relinquished 
the  secretarial  duties  to  Mr.  R.  Graham, 
then  of  Workington  and  now  at  Ebbw 
Vale.  Mr.  Graham  was  in  turn  succeeded 
by  Mr.  J.  C.  Ellis  of  Grasslot,  Maryport, 
who  at  the  time  of  writing  carries  out  the 
duties. 

West  Cumberland  has  ever  been  the  hot- 
bed of  the  Association  game,  but  the  eastern 
clubs  have  been  gradually  asserting  themselves. 
In  the  season  of  1893-4,  when  Carlisle  City 
brought  back  the  cup  to  the '  Border  City'  after 
seven  years'  absence,  and  the  Wigton  Harriers 
carried  the  shield  eastwards  for  the  first  time, 
the  west  county  clubs  received  warning  that 
they  must  look  to  their  laurels,  and,  roused  to 
greater  activity,  they  still  succeed  in  more 
than  holding  their  own.  The  admission  of  the 
Workington  Club  to  the  Lancashire  League 
in  the  season  of  1901—2  introduced  a  better 
class  of  football  into  the  district,  and  aroused 
greater  interest  in  Association  rules.  At  the 
present  time  almost  all  the  players  are 
amateurs,  professionals  being  practically  un- 
known in  the  north-west  county. 

RUGBY 


The   Rugby  Union  game  in  Cumberland 
is  a  product  of  the  last  thirty  years.     The 


earliest  trace  of  any  real  organization  for 
the  development  of  football  under  that  code 
is  to  be  found  in  1870.  In  that  year  the 
Carlisle  Club  had  not  only  a  local  habita- 
tion but  a  name  which  it  has  actively  main- 
tained up  to  the  present  time.  Carlisle's 
enterprise  before  long  received  the  flattery  of 
imitation  in  outlying  parts  of  the  county. 
In  1876  the  Whitehaven  Club  was  already 
making  a  reputation  as  a  staunch  supporter 
of  Rugby  football.  A  little  later  Workington 
followed  suit,  initiating  a  movement  which 
very  soon  found  plenty  of  support  in  the 
western  division.  So  rapid  indeed  was  the 
development  in  that  district  that  by  the  com- 
mencement of  1882  a  silver  challenge  cup, 
mainly  the  result  of  a  subscription  from 
the  western  clubs,  had  been  instituted. 
The  inauguration  of  the  cup  competition 
necessitated  an  organization  of  some  sort  to 
control  it.  The  outcome  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  county  club  which  was  in  time 
to  become  the  Cumberland  County  Rugby 
Football  Union  as  it  is  to-day.  In  con- 
nection with  this  county  club  two  names 
deserve  to  be  remembered  with  gratitude. 
The  Rev.  J.  W.  Wainwright  of  Aspatria  was 
elected  the  first  president,  but  the  credit  of 
the  initial  work  in  the  main  belongs  to 
J.  E.  Birkett  of  Workington  and  E.  G. 
Mitchell  of  Maryport,  who  did  active  service 
as  vice-president  for  several  years.  At  the 
time  the  number  of  clubs  of  any  influence 
was  limited.  The  County  Union  in  fact 
had  a  constituency  of  only  seven  clubs. 
These  were  Carlisle,  Aspatria,  Eden  Wan- 
derers, Maryport,  Workington,  Whitehaven 
and  Cockermouth,  and  these  seven  at  the 
outset  alone  competed  for  the  challenge  cup 
which  fell  into  the  hands  of  Aspatria  at 
the  first  contest  in  1883.  This  club  won 
again  in  1885,  Whitehaven  having  proved 
successful  in  the  intermediate  season.  As- 
patria's  second  victory  was  of  the  greater 
merit  from  the  fact  that  in  1885  the  county 
club  had  received  considerable  accession 
to  its  strength  by  the  addition  of  Millom, 
Penrith  and  Wigton,  among  other  clubs.  So 
far  Rugby  football  had  gone  on  steadily  in- 
creasing its  area  as  well  as  its  influence.  But 
it  had  difficulties  in  store  for  it.  Carlisle  won 
the  cup  in  1886  only  to  secede  from  the 
county  club  with  two  others  of  the  most 
influential  clubs,  namely,  the  Eden  Wanderers 
and  Whitehaven. 

Meanwhile  Cumberland  as  a  county  had 
been  making  history.  Matches  had  been 
arranged  and  played  with  Northumberland, 
Durham  and  Westmorland.  Fortunately  too 
the  withdrawal  of  the  three  clubs  just  men- 


493 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 


tioned  did  not  give  rise  to  prolonged  anxiety. 
For  a  time  it  looked  as  if  the  rupture  would 
have  serious  effects  in  retarding  if  not  alto- 
gether checking  the  extension  of  the  game. 
The  restoration  of  diplomatic  relations  was 
due  in  a  great  measure  to  the  patriotic  efforts 
of  two  stalwart  supporters  of  Rugby  football. 
The  one,  R.  Westray  of  Carlisle,  took  office 
as  president;  the  other,  C.  J.  Lewthwaite  of 
Cockermouth,  became  honorary  secretary  of  the 
county  club  on  its  resuscitation,  or  rather  on 
its  commencement  of  a  new  career  in  1887. 
With  the  two  workers  already  mentioned, 
J.  E.  Birkett  and  E.  G.  Mitchell,  as  vice- 
presidents,  the  Cumberland  Union  had  the 
advantage  of  four  keen  and  enthusiastic 
workers  for  its  principal  officers.  Under  their 
auspices  a  great  impetus  was  given  to  the 
game  throughout  the  county. 

By  1888  Cumberland  indeed  had  gained 
so  materially  in  strength  that  the  Rugby 
Union  paid  it  the  compliment  of  allotting  it 
a  representative  on  the  committee  of  the 
national  body.  By  this  time  the  supremacy 
in  club  football  had  passed  away  to  the 
western  district.  Millom  was  able  to  gain 
possession  of  the  challenge  cup  and  to  retain 
it  for  the  two  succeeding  years.  In  the  interim 
the  area  over  which  the  Union  itself  had 
control  had  naturally  been  extending  in  pro- 
portion as  the  game  grew  in  public  favour. 

The  immediate  result  of  the  elevation  of 
the  county  to  a  seat  on  the  Rugby  Union 
was  an  extension  of  the  programme  to  be 
undertaken  by  the  Cumberland  Fifteen. 
From  the  very  outset  the  Lancashire  exe- 
cutive had  extended  the  hand  of  fellowship  to 
their  neighbours,  a  kindly  act  which  did 
much  to  encourage  the  Cumbrians  when  they 
really  needed  encouragement.  Lancashire's 
example  was  soon  followed,  with  the  result 
that  before  long  Cumberland's  match  list  in- 
cluded fixtures  with  Cheshire,  Northumber- 
land, Westmorland,  South  of  Scotland  and 
Cambridge  University.  The  addition  of  these 
important  fixtures  naturally  brought  with  it 
a  corresponding  increase  in  the  influence  of 
the  County  Union.  In  1887  the  clubs 
affiliated  could  almost  have  been  counted  on 
the  fingers.  By  1892  no  less  than  twenty- 
six  acknowledged  Cumberland's  jurisdiction. 
The  institution  of  a  challenge  shield  for 
the  advancement  of  junior  players  in  1889 
had  perhaps  a  good  deal  to  do  with  this 
increase.  The  new  competition  proved  an 
undoubted  success,  so  much  so  that  in 
1892  no  less  than  twenty  teams  had  en- 
tered to  contend  for  the  possession  of  the 
trophy.  Just  about  this  period  Millom  was 
undoubted  champion  of  the  Cumbrian  clubs. 


Thrice  victorious  for  the  challenge  cup,  this 
club  not  only  scored  a  "  double  first"  in  1889 
by  landing  both  cup  and  shield,  but  after  an 
interval  of  a  year  won  the  latter  again,  as 
also  in  the  following  spring  of  1892. 
Millom's  record  between  1887  and  1892 
was  indeed  one  of  the  most  remarkable  feat- 
ures of  Cumberland  football  in  the  earlier 
days  of  the  Union.  In  only  one  season 
during  this  period  was  the  team  without  one 
or  other  of  the  two  trophies.  Both  were 
missed  in  1890,  and  that  season,  oddly  enough, 
Egremont  rivalled  Millom's  performance  of 
the  previous  spring  in  securing  the  shield  as 
well  as  the  cup.  In  the  earlier  days  of  the 
County  Club,  Cumberland's  record,  as  was 
only  to  be  expected,  was  one  of  but  partial 
success.  At  the  commencement  of  the  '  nine- 
ties,' Lancashire  was  quite  in  the  forefront 
of  Rugby  Union  counties,  and  the  Cumbrians 
were  thought  to  have  done  well  at  White- 
haven  in  February,  1890,  in  having  only 
7  points,  the  entire  score  of  the  match,  regis- 
tered against  them  by  the  Lancashire  Fifteen. 
But  the  men  of  Cumberland  were  apt  pupils, 
and  the  practical  experience  they  were  gain- 
ing in  meeting  players,  who  were  at  that  time 
of  a  better  calibre,  soon  bore  fruit. 

The  close  of  the  season  of  1893  gave  some 
conclusive  evidence  of  the  reality  of  the  pro- 
gress made  under  the  new  regime.  In  the 
County  Championship  the  Bordermen  had 
run  out  winners  of  the  North  Western 
Group  and  tied  with  Yorkshire  for  possession 
of  the  blue  ribbon  of  the  sport.  The  season's 
record  for  a  hitherto  obscure  county  was  re- 
markable. After  defeating  Cheshire  and  West- 
morland and  drawing  with  Lancashire,  the 
Cumbrians  vanquished  Cambridge  University, 
South  of  Scotland,  Middlesex  and  Devon. 
But  one  try  indeed  was  registered  against 
them,  obtained  on  the  Corpus  ground 
by  Cambridge  University,  and  this  was  the 
only  occasion  upon  which  Cumberland  had 
her  line  crossed  during  the  whole  of  the 
seven  matches.  The  final  contest  with 
Yorkshire,  coming  as  it  unfortunately  did 
within  two  or  three  days  of  the  arduous 
tour  of  over  1,000  miles,  with  its  severe 
encounters,  naturally  found  the  Border  team 
somewhat  stale  ;  anyhow  it  fell  an  easy 
victim  to  the  fresh  and  more  vigorous  York- 
shiremen.  The  position  however  was  an 
honourable  one  in  standing  next  to  a  county 
which  had  for  some  years  monopolized  the 
honour  of  being  declared  champion.  The 
succeeding  season,  if  producing  a  less  pro- 
minent position  for  the  county  team  than  in  the 
preceding  year,  found  the  clubs  more  than 
maintaining  their  progress  in  inter-club  fix- 


494 


SPORT    ANCIENT    AND    MODERN 


tures.  Perhaps  the  chief  point  of  interest 
in  this  season  (1893-4)  was  the  memorable 
Forsyth  and  Boak  case,  in  which  the  Cum- 
berland and  Yorkshire  Unions  found  them- 
selves involved  in  a  lengthy  and  costly  inquiry 
as  to  whether  these  two  players  had  been  im- 
properly induced  to  desert  the  Border  county 
for  the  purpose  of  assisting  in  the  operations 
of  the  Huddersfield  Club.  In  consequence  of 
the  decision  being  in  favour  of  the  complain- 
ants, the  suspension  of  the  Huddersfield  Club 
afforded  one  of  the  earliest  instances  of  punish- 
ment inflicted  by  the  Rugby  Union  in  the 
interests  of  amateur  sport.  The  advent  of 
the  season  1894—5  gave  promise  of  a  more 
pleasing  departure,  in  which  the  Border 
county  more  than  sustained  the  advance 
already  accomplished.  A  series  of  brilliant 
performances  against  Durham,  Lancashire, 
Westmorland,  Midland  Counties  and  Devon 
found  Cumberland  contesting  once  more 
with  Yorkshire  the  honour  of  being  declared 
champion  county  of  England.  A  splendid 
struggle  at  Manningham,  when  a  kick  at 
goal  was  the  narrow  margin  by  which 
Cumberland  had  to  yield  in  favour  of  York- 
shire, was  the  result.  As  an  indication  of  the 
relative  merits  of  the  two  rivals,  it  ought 
to  be  remembered  that  at  this  time  Yorkshire 
was  untouched  by  those  secessions  to  northern 
unionism  which  afterwards  so  seriously  deci- 
mated her  ranks,  a  circumstance  which  had  a 
most  material  bearing  on  the  severity  of  the 
test  to  which  Cumberland  was  subjected. 
Following  upon  an  uneventful  interval  the 
operations  of  1896-7  witnessed  a  surprising 
revival  of  the  county's  previous  good  form. 
Victories  were  gained  over  Durham,  Cheshire, 
Lancashire,  Yorkshire  and  Westmorland,  with 
a  draw  against  the  Northumbrians.  The  net 
result  was  the  attainment  for  the  third  time 
of  the  position  of  champion  of  the  north, 
with  the  honours  attaching  to  another  final 
contest  for  premier  county.  One  of  the 
most  remarkable  incidents  of  this  tournament 
was  that,  as  on  a  previous  occasion,  Cumber- 
land had  not  permitted  one  of  the  counties 
named  to  cross  her  goal-line.  The  final  test 
for  chief  honours  against  the  southern  cham- 
pion (Kent)  was  played  at  Carlisle  in  April 
1897,  when  the  Kentish  men  secured  a  well 
deserved  victory. 

Up  to  this  time  Cumberland  had  maintained 
its  normal  strength  of  about  sixteen  senior 
clubs.  The  following  season  however  was 
destined  to  see  a  change,  as  no  less  than  four 
of  these  clubs  cast  off  their  allegiance  to  the 
Rugby  Union  and  espoused  professionalism. 
Notwithstanding  the  disadvantages  attaching 
to  such  a  loss,  Cumberland  continued  to 


hold  a  strong  position  amongst  the  other 
counties,  and  in  1898—9  succeeded  in  defeat- 
ing Yorkshire,  Durham,  and  Cheshire,  drawing 
with  Lancashire,  and  succumbing  to  North- 
umberland only.  The  following  season,  that 
of  1899-1900,  had  to  be  met  under  very  dis- 
couraging auspices.  Reduced  to  a  member- 
ship of  only  three  clubs — Aspatria,  Carlisle, 
Penrith — Cumberland  had  to  face  a  situation 
of  no  ordinary  difficulty.  The  position  how- 
ever only  served  to  rouse  the  executive  to 
the  occasion,  and  to  its  credit  be  it  said  that 
notwithstanding  this  serious  reduction  of  nu- 
merical strength,  the  county  Fifteen  secured 
victories  over  Cheshire,  Lancashire  and  York- 
shire, a  draw  with  Durham,  and  only  sustained 
reverse  in  the  closing  contest  against  North- 
umberland. A  tie  for  the  northern  champion- 
ship being  thus  recorded  between  Cumberland 
and  Durham,  a  second  encounter  had  to  be 
undertaken,  in  which,  by  a  goal  to  nil,  Dur- 
ham secured  the  advantage.  As  the  latter 
subsequently  defeated  the  southern  champion 
(Devon)  by  a  substantial  score,  the  practical 
result  of  the  season  was  to  place  Cumberland 
— in  order  of  merit  at  least — next  to  the 
champion  county,  notwithstanding  the  severity 
of  the  ordeal  which  it  had  been  called  upon 
to  undergo. 

During  those  successful  competitions  with 
other  counties  it  was  only  to  be  expected  that 
the  Bordermen  should  find  their  way  into 
the  English  team.  These  selections  were 
confined  almost  exclusively  to  the  for- 
ward division,  a  department  in  which 
the  county  had  uniformly  excelled.  Fore- 
most amongst  those  securing  international 
caps  was  James  Davidson,  captain  of  the 
Aspatria  and  county  teams,  who  with  his 
brother  Joseph,  and  J.  H.  Blacklock  of  the 
same  club,  shared  with  Knowles  of  Millom 
the  honour  of  representing  Cumberland's  best 
forwards  at  that  period.  The  challenge  cup 
has  furnished  a  stimulus  to  local  effort  with 
varying  results.  The  Aspatria  club  has  sup- 
plied the  best  record  in  connection  there- 
with, having  carried  off  the  trophy  in  1883, 
1885,  1891,  1892,  1896  and  1899.  Millom 
won  in  1887,  1888,  1889;  Maryport  in 
1893,  1894;  Seaton  in  1895,  1897,  1898; 
the  remaining  contests  being  awarded  to 
Whitehaven  in  1884,  Carlisle  in  1886,  and 
Egremont  in  1890.  The  challenge  shield 
has  been  won  no  less  than  four  times  by  Mil- 
lom, namely  in  1889, 1891, 1892  and  1895  ;  by 
Workington  in  1897  and  1898  ;  by  Egremont 
in  1890;  Whitehaven  Recreation  in  1893; 
Maryport  in  1894;  Watft"  Brow  in  1896; 
and  Highmoor  Rovers  in  1899.  The  tem- 
porary discontinuance  of  these  two  competi- 


495 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

tions,  which  has  now  been  rendered  necessary  fessionalism,  which  fortunately  for  Rugby 
through  the  diminished  number  of  clubs,  is  a  Union  football  has  not  as  yet  reached  the 
regrettable  result  of  the  advance  of  pro-  south. 


496 


FORESTRY 


CUMBERLAND  cannot  be  considered  one  of  the  well-wooded 
counties  of  England,  as  the  aggregate  of  woods  and  plantations 
according  to  the  latest  official  returns  for  1895  amounts  only  to 
35,054  acres,  out  of  a  total  area  of  970,161   acres  (of  which 
11,533    are   water)-     This   indicates  woodlands  to  the  extent  of  about 
3 -6  per  cent,  of  the  total  area,  which  is  considerably  under  the  average 
percentage  for  the  whole  of  England   (5-4  per   cent.).     No  less  than 
261,158    acres    consist    of  mountain    and   heath   land  used  for    rough 
grazing.    The  only  other  county  which  contains  more  of  such  poor  land 
than   Cumberland   is  the  adjoining  county  of  Northumberland    (with 
469,719    acres),     and   if  the    similar    class    of  land    in    Westmorland 
(208,426  acres)  be  added  to  these  other  two,  the  three  mountainous 
northern  frontier  counties  contain  no  less  than  939,303  acres  out  of  the 
gross  total  of  2,289,662  acres  of  mountain  and  heath  lands  in  the  whole 
of  England. 

The  county  is  rich  in  the  variety  of  its  scenery  and  its  surface,  and 
it  shows  great  variations  as  to  its  climate.  Towards  the  east  and  south- 
west its  surface  is  diversified  by  high  rugged  sterile  mountains,  fissured 
with  gullies  abounding  in  waterfalls  and  fringed  with  woodlands,  and 
divided  by  deep  and  narrow  fertile  valleys,  often  with  lakes  ;  the 
northern  and  north-western  districts  are  low  and  flat,  or  else  gently 
undulating  ;  while  the  central  portion  consists  of  elevated  ridges,  hills, 
and  fertile  valleys.  On  the  coast  the  climate  is  mild  and  temperate 
though  rather  moist,  but  in  the  mountain  region  it  is  variable  and  wet, 
especially  during  the  summer  months  and  the  early  autumn.  The  rainfall 
varies  from  about  30  to  35  inches  in  the  Carlisle  and  Wigton  districts, 
amounting  to  about  50  inches  a  year  at  Whitehaven  on  the  west  coast, 
and  even  attaining  the  maximum  for  Europe  of  244  inches  measured  at 
the  Styhead  Pass  (1,600  feet)  in  1872.  The  mountain  region  comprises 
more  than  one-third  of  the  county  and  includes  some  of  the  highest 
elevations  in  England.  There  are  10  peaks  of  over  2,500  feet  in 
height,  four  of  which  exceed  3,000  feet  (Scaw-fell  Pike,  3,210  ;  Scaw- 
fell,  3,162  ;  Helvellyn,  3,1 1 8  ;  and  Skiddaw,  3,054). 

Throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  mountain  region  the  soil 
consists  of  a  black  peaty  earth,  often  spongy  and  wet,  which  extends 
into  the  moors  and  commons  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county.  On 
the  lower  hill-sides,  there  is  often  a  cold,  stiff,  wet  clay,  which  also 
frequently  forms  the  subsoil  on  the  lowlands,  consisting  mostly  of  dry 
loams  well  suited  for  farm  crops, 
ii  497  63 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

Whether  the  wooded  tracts  of  Cumberland  were  originally  'forests' 
in  the  legal  and  technical  sense  of  having  been  afforested  and  brought 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Justices  in  Eyre,  foresters,  and  minor 
officials,  or  whether  they  were  merely  called  '  forest '  after  the  manner 
still  customary  of  using  the  words  forest  and  woodland  as  more  or  less 
synonymous  terms,  does  not  seem  clear  from  any  of  the  works  published 
concerning  the  history  and  antiquities  of  this  county. 

The  actual  afforestation  or  afforestations  made  to  the  south  of 
Carlisle  probably  date  from  the  reign  of  Henry  II.,  who  had  a  passion 
for  this  exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative,  though  they  may  possibly  be 
older.  According  to  the  perambulation  of  1300  (29  Edward  I.)  there 
was  only  one  royal  forest  in  Cumberland,  i.e.,  one  forest  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  term  ;  and  this  was  the  forest  of  Englewood  or  Inglewood. 
This  was  a  large  tract  of  more  than  1 50  square  miles,  stretching  south- 
wards, south-west  and  south-east  from  close  to  the  city  of  Carlisle  away 
to  a  distance  of  about  16  miles,  and  with  a  breadth  of  about  10  miles. 
It  included  the  woodlands  of  Inglewood  between  the  Caldew  and  Petterel 
rivers,  those  of  West  Ward  to  the  south  of  the  Wampool,  part  of  what  is 
now  Greystoke  Park,  and  Plumpton  Park  between  the  Petterel  and  the 
Eden,  together  with  all  the  tillage,  pasturage  and  waste  lands  lying  within 
the  boundaries  perambulated  and  detailed  in  the  record.1 

Soon  after  this,  the  inhabitants  of  'Penreth  Sakeld  at  Soureby,' 
within  the  Inglewood  Forest,  petitioned  the  King  that  their  lands  were 
wasted  by  the  Scots  and  their  corn  destroyed  by  '  the  wild  beasts  of  the 
forest,'  and  on  26  October  1301  letters  patent  were  issued  granting 
them  the  perpetual  privilege  of  common  of  pasturage  for  all  their  cattle 
within  the  said  forest  in  as  ample  a  manner  as  the  prior  of  Carlisle,  and 
William  English,  and  other  tenants  holding  similar  privilege  by  royal 
grant ;  and  this  right  of  user  was  granted  '  without  interference  by  our- 
selves or  our  heirs,  justices,  foresters,  verderers,  regarders,  agistors, 
bailiffs,  or  any  other  of  our  other  officials  of  the  forest.' a  Tithes  in 
the  forest  of  Inglewood  had  previously  been  granted  by  King  Edward 
I.  to  the  prior  and  canons  of  Carlisle  in  a  deed  dated  5  December 
I293.3 

The  only  other  sanctuaries  for  game  of  any  considerable  size  left 
in  the  county  (and  probably  still  partially  wooded)  was  what  is  known 
as  the  'forest  of  Copeland,'  afterwards  called  Egremont,  lying  to  the 
south  of  the  four  lakes  (Thirlmere,  Derwentwater,  Crummock  Water, 
and  Ennerdale  Water)  towards  the  south-western  corner  of  the  county, 
Geltstone  or  Geltsdale  forest  (including  Breirthwaite  or  Tarnhouse 
Forest)  south-east  of  Castle  Carrock,  and  Nichol  forest  in  the  north-east 
of  the  county.  These  were,  however,  not  forests  but  chases.  Thus,  the 
barony  of  Copeland  was  granted  by  Ranulph  de  Meschines  to  his  brother 
William,  who  built  the  Castle  of  Egremont  and  made  various  grants  of 

1  This  perambulation  has  been  printed  by  Nicolson  and  Burn,  Hist,  of  Cumb.  ii.  522 
3  See  transcript  of  original  grant  given  in  Nicolson,  of.  cit.  i.  315. 
'  Ibid.  p.  546. 

498 


FORESTRY 

lands  subject  to  the  reservation  of  his  baronial  rights  of  the  chase  as  to 
hunting  '  hart  and  hind,  wild  boar,  and  their  kinds.'  So,  too,  with 
regard  to  Nichol  Forest  in  Eskdale  ward.  This  was  in  the  barony  of 
Lyddale,  and  was  granted  by  Ranulph  de  Meschines  to  Robert  de 
Stutevill,  from  one  of  whose  successors  in  the  reign  of  King  John, 
Nicholas  de  Stutevill,  the  hunting  ground  there  '  received  the  name 
of  Nichol  forest  which  it  bears  to  this  day.' 1 

A  survey  of  the  oak  trees  in  most  of  the  royal  forests  was  made 
about  1565.  In  an  inquisition  held  in  1588  concerning  the  chase 
specified  as  the  '  Foresta  de  Breirthwaite,'  also  known  as  Tarnhouse 
forest  or  Tindale  forest  and  adjoining  the  chase  or  '  forest  of  Geltesdale,' 
it  was  said  that  '  there  are,  within  the  said  forest,  certain  boundes  or 
dales  of  haye  ground,  &c.  do  amount  unto  874  acres  ;  and  there  are 
also  in  other  waste,  heath,  and  barren  ground,  within  the  said  forest, 
above  a  thousand  acres.'  But  nothing  is  said  of  woodlands,  which 
evidently  were  non-existent.  These  so-called  forests  of  Geltstone  or 
Geltsdale  and  Breirthwaite  had  been  given  to  the  priory  of  Hexham, 
but  when  Henry  VIII.  dissolved  the  religious  houses  they  were  granted 
to  the  barons  of  Gilsland.  About  a  hundred  years  ago  Geltsdale  forest 
is  described  as  a  considerable  tract  of  mountainous  land,  chiefly  heathy 
pasture,  with  some  extensive  birch  and  alder  woods  in  the  lower 
parts.* 

Another  timber  survey  was  ordered  to  be  made  in  1608  through- 
out all  the  '  forests,  parks,  and  chases  belonging  to  His  Majesty,'  but  in 
this  there  is  no  mention  of  any  timber  belonging  to  the  Crown,  or  over 
which  it  had  any  lien  under  the  forest  laws,  in  any  part  of  the  four 
northern  counties.  Probably  only  partially  wooded  near  the  base  of 
the  hills,  the  woodlands  once  existing  in  the  forest  of  Inglewood  and  in 
the  chases  (locally  known  as  forests)  seem  to  have  been  gradually  cleared 
and  completely  '  wasted  '  or  '  assarted '  to  tillage  and  pasturage  by  this 
time.  Plumpton  Park,  formerly  the  demesne  land  of  the  Crown,  had 
meanwhile  been  alienated.  On  26  April  1625  Charles  I.  granted  in  fee 
and  perpetuity,  '  all  that  the  park  or  land  of  Plumpton,  within  the 
forest  of  Inglewood,  containing  by  estimation  in  meadow,  pasture,  and 
arable  ground  2,436  acres,  and  common  of  pasture  in  the  forest  of  Ingle- 
wood to  the  same  appertaining'3 ;  so  apparently  the  park  of  Plumpton 
was  then  as  unadorned  with  timber  as  the  forest  of  Inglewood  had 
become.  The  manor  and  town  of  Penrith  had  been  granted 
in  1 397  to  Ralph  Nevill,  Earl  of  Westmorland.  It  was  forfeited  in 
1459,  and  again  in  1471,  when  it  was  granted  to  Richard,  Duke 
of  Gloucester,  and  became  attached  to  the  Crown  in  1483.  In  1616 
'  the  Honour  of  Penrith,  with  its  rights,  members,  and  appurten- 
ances,' were  demised  in  trust  for  Charles,  Prince  of  Wales  ;  and  in 
1671  they  were  granted  by  Charles  II.  as  part  of  Queen  Catherine's 

1  Nicolson  and  Burn,  op.  cit.   ii.  464. 

'  Britton  and  Brayley,  Beauties  of  England  and  Wales,  1802,  hi.  138. 

*  Nicolson  and  Burn,  of.  cit.  ii.  419,  420. 

499 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

jointure.  In  1696  they  were  granted  by  William  III.  to  William 
Bentinck,  first  Earl  of  Portland.  Subsequently  the  Duke  of  Portland 
contested  the  title  of  the  Crown,  holding  that  the  rights  in  Ingle- 
wood  forest  went  with  the  franchise  of  the  Honour  ;  and  he  won 
the  lawsuit  that  resulted.  On  page  3  of  the  Schedule  attached  to 
the  First  Report  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  to  enquire  into  the  State  and 
Condition  of  the  Woods,  Forests,  and  Land  Revenues  of  the  Crown,  1787,  Sir 
James  Lowther,  bart.,  is  shown  as  holding  under  lease  from  the 
Crown  (i)  'the  Manor  and  Forest  of  Ennerdale,  and  all  the  Mines 
and  quarries  within  the  said  Manor '  for  99  years  or  three  lives 
from  1765  at  a  rental  of  £20  ijs.  8|</.  and  one-tenth  of  the  profits 
on  mines  and  quarries  ;  and  (2)  '  the  Forest  of  Inglewood,  with  all 
Rents,  Courts,  Royalties,  Mines,  Quarries,  Privileges  and  appurten- 
ances thereto  belonging'  for  99  years  or  three  lives  from  1767  at  a 
rental  of  ijj.  4^.,  plus  one-third  of  the  profits  of  the  lands  and 
one-tenth  those  of  the  mines  ;  but  a  note  adds  that  this  estate  is 
now  lost  to  the  Crown  and  the  lease  invalid,  the  contest  regarding 
it  having  been  '  finally  determined  at  the  Summer  Assizes  for  Cum- 
berland in  1776'  in  favour  of  the  Duke  of  Portland.  This  manor 
and  the  forest  of  Inglewood  were  afterwards  sold  by  the  Duke  of 
Portland  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  in  1787.*  In  1873,  all  the  land 
held  in  this  county  by  the  Crown  consisted  merely  of  8^  acres  ;  but 
even  in  1788  there  were  no  Crown  woodlands  in  any  of  the  northern 
counties  of  England.1  The  forest  of  Inglewood  declined  to  the  lowest 
possible  level  of  an  absolutely  treeless  condition  in  1825. 

On  Wragmire  Moss,  until  the  year  1823,  there  was  a  well-known  oak,  known  as 
the  last  tree  of  Jnglezvood  forest,  which  had  survived  the  blasts  of  700  or  800  winters. 
This  '  time  honoured  '  oak  was  remarkable  ...  as  being  a  boundary  mark  between 
the  manors  of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  and  the  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Carlisle,  as  also 
between  the  parishes  of  Jiesket  and  St.  Cuthberts,  Carlisle ;  and  was  noticed  as  such 
for  upwards  of  600  years.  This  '  gnarled  and  knotted  oak,'  which  had  weathered  so 
many  hundred  stormy  winters,  was  become  considerably  decayed  in  its  trunk.  It  fell 
not,  however,  by  the  tempest  or  the  axe,  but  from  sheer  old  age  ;  this  happened  on 
13  June  1823.  If  not  of  late  years  as  beautiful  in  its  foliage,  nor  presenting  such  a 
goodly  assemblage  of  wide-spreading  and  umbrageous  branches,  as  some  other  cele- 
brated oaks,  yet  it  was  an  object  of  great  interest,  being  the  veritable  last  tree  of  Ingle- 
wood forest.3 

1  In  this  great  seignorial  franchise,  the  forest  of  Inglewood  comprises  many  parishes  within 
the  wards  of  Leath  and  Cumberland.  Hesket,  near  the  western  border,  is  the  scene  of  an 
interesting  survival  of  the  old  forest  court  of  freeholders,  long  after  the  abolition  of  the  courts  in 
royal  forests  by  the  Act  of  1817.  '  The  forest  or  Swainmote  courts  for  the  seigniory  are  held  annually 
on  the  Feast  of  St.  Barnabas  the  Apostle  (June  1 1),  in  the  open  air,  on  the  great  north  road  to  Carlisle. 
The  place  where  the  courts  are  held  is  marked  by  a  stone  table  placed  before  a  thorn  called  Court  Thorn, 
beneath  whose  branches  unnumbered  annual  courts  have  assembled.  The  tenants  of  upwards  of  twenty 
mesne  manors  attend  here,  from  whom  a  jury  is  impannelled  and  sworn  ;  of  which,  Dr.  Todd  says, 
anciently  the  Chamberlain  of  the  City  of  Carlisle  was  foreman.  Here  are  paid  the  annual  dues  to  the 
lord  of  the  forest,  compositions  for  improvements,  purprestures,  agistments,  and  puture  of  the 
foresters  '  (Jefferson,  History  and  Antiquities  of  Leath  Ward.,  1840,  page  205). 

J  See  The  account  of  the  Several  Woods,  Forests,  Parks  and  Chases  under  the  Surveyor  General  of  His 
Majesty's  Woods  and  Forests,  Appendix  No.  I,  Third  Report  of  Commissioners,  &c.,  1788,  p.  55. 

3  Jefferson,  op.  cit.  p.  206. 

500 


FORESTRY 

Early  in  the  nineteenth  century  the  only  places  where  even 
some  poor  scattered  remnants  of  the  original  woodlands  still  existed 
were  the  deer-parks  at  Greystoke,  Gowbarrow,  Muncaster  and  Crof- 
ton,  and  the  former  deer-parks  at  Cockermouth,  Naworth,  Brampton, 
Isel,  Brayton,  Castlerigg,  Ulpha,  Millom,  Crookdake  and  Netherhall. 
But  on  some  of  the  estates  a  good  deal  of  planting  was  done,  sometimes 
of  oak  and  other  hardwoods  in  the  valleys,  or  of  larch  and  pine  on  the 
hills.  Perhaps  one  of  the  best  wooded  of  these  during  the  early  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century  was  the  manor  of  Castlerigg,  which  along 
with  other  estates  in  Cumberland  had  been  granted  to  Greenwich 
Hospital  after  the  attainder  of  the  Earl  of  Derwentwater  in  1715,  for 
in  1777  it  is  spoken  of  as  having  been  'replenished  with  a  prodigious 
quantity  of  tall  stately  large  oaks ;  all  which  the  trustees  of  Greenwich 
Hospital  have  cut  down  and  sold,  but  within  a  few  years  past  they  have 
made  some  small  plantations.'  *  These  plantations  here  mentioned  are 
still  standing  and  consist  chiefly  of  oak  trees  of  large  dimensions  inter- 
spersed with  other  hardwoods,  while  they  also  contain  a  few  very  fine 
larch  trees  girthing  up  to  ten  feet  at  breast-height.  Among  the  latter 
those  known  locally  as  '  the  Twelve  Apostles '  are  splendid  specimens  of 
the  growth  of  larch  under  favourable  conditions. 

None  of  the  35,054  acres  of  woods  and  plantations  in  Cumberland 
are  owned  by  the  Crown.  They  are  all  to  be  found  on  private  estates, 
and  consist  chiefly  of  ornamental  woodlands  near  the  residences  of  the 
landowners,  of  game  covers,  or  else  of  woods  planted  for  the  two-fold 
purpose  of  growing  timber  for  profit  and  of  giving  shelter  to  the  lower 
pastures  in  windswept  localities.  Along  the  outer  edges  on  the  wind- 
ward side  of  such  plantations  the  growth  of  larch  and  pine  is  exceed- 
ingly poor,  being  dwarfish,  stunted,  and  bent  by  the  wind.  But  under 
the  shelter  of  the  outer  fringe  the  growth  of  the  conifers  has  usually 
been  satisfactory,  and  some  of  the  plantations  (chiefly  of  larch,  with 
pine  and  spruce  fir),  formed  in  blocks  varying  up  to  about  200  acres  in 
extent  about  the  middle  of  last  century,  have  yielded  very  satisfactory 
returns  both  directly  in  timber  and  indirectly  in  improved  grazing. 
Formed  on  land  of  inferior  quality  and  situated  at  a  considerable  eleva- 
tion— worth  in  fee-simple  only  about  £i  an  acre — larch  plantations 
(with  pine,  and  spruce  on  the  poorer  and  moister  parts),  then  made  at 
a  cost  of  £2  an  acre  (on  hillsides  having  good  natural  drainage),  have  in 
some  instances,  where  care  was  bestowed  not  only  on  their  formation 
but  also  on  their  subsequent  treatment,  yielded  remunerative  thinnings 
almost  every  year  (the  thinnings  being  done  in  annual  sections,  and 
repeated  about  every  five  years  or  so)  from  about  seven  years  after  plant- 
ing ;  while  the  crop  still  on  the  ground,  and  practically  mature  and 
ready  for  felling  whenever  clearance  may  seem  to  the  proprietor  desir- 
able, is  worth  from  £50  to  £60  an  acre,  according  to  the  local  market 
demand.  Though  such  crops,  of  course,  show  neither  the  same  large 
cubic  contents  nor  the  same  money  value  per  acre  as  if  the  plantations 

1  Nicolson  and  Burn,  op.  cit.  ii.  80. 
501 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

had  been  kept  in  close  cover,  yet  it  is  not  improbable  that  actuarial 
calculations  would  prove  that  under  the  given  local  circumstances  this 
system  of  treatment  with  early  thinnings  (and  with  pasturage  in  the 
woods  worth  at  least  five  shillings  an  acre  per  annum)  has  perhaps  been 
more  remunerative  than  any  more  scientific  sort  of  treatment  of  the 
woods  would  have  proved,  unless  the  production  of  timber  for  profit 
had  formed  the  main  object  desired  by  the  landowner. 

In  planting  for  either  shelter  or  profit  in  Cumberland  there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  conifers  are  likely  to  prove  the  most  successful.  For 
shelter  the  evergreen  Scots  pine  and  Douglas  fir  will  be  most 
effective,  while  a  mixture  of  larch  will  add  to  the  profit.  Taken  as  a 
whole,  the  climate  and  the  physical  conditions  of  the  county  are  far 
more  suitable  for  coniferous  than  for  hardwood  crops  of  timber,  even 
though  a  fine  growth  of  oak  and  other  broad-leaved  trees  (beech,  syca- 
more, elm,  etc.)  is  often  to  be  found  in  the  lower  situations,  more 
especially  when  well  sheltered,  as,  for  example,  around  the  shores  of 
Derwentwater. 

In  many  cases,  however,  the  mistake  has  been  made  of  raising 
pure  or  almost  pure  plantations  of  larch  on  the  hillsides,  and  often  on 
soil  and  situations  not  satisfying  its  natural  requirements  in  important 
respects,  in  order  to  reap  the  advantage  derivable  from  this  fine  timber 
as  compared  with  the  less  valuable  pines  and  firs.  The  result  of  this  has 
only  too  frequently  resulted  in  the  fungous  canker  disease  getting  a  firm 
foothold  among  the  young  poles,  thus  spoiling  their  growth  and  destroy- 
ing their  utility,  and  rendering  it  impossible  for  them  ever  to  develop 
into  valuable  stems.  So  prevalent  has  the  canker  disease  consequently 
become  in  many  parts  of  the  county,  since  about  the  year  1840,  that 
the  formation  of  mixed  crops  seems  to  hold  out  the  best  promise  of 
raising  sound  larch  timber,  the  larch  being,  of  course,  judiciously 
favoured  at  the  different  times  of  thinning.  Even  though  apt  to  lose 
its  top  from  wind  when  grown  in  single  specimens,  Douglas  fir  is  likely 
to  prove  a  very  valuable  tree  for  mixing  along  with  larch,  although  the 
assistance  of  Scots  pine  will  usually  be  required  on  the  poorer  classes  of 
land.  Some  of  the  finest  larch  in  the  county  is  to  be  found  growing 
among  the  old  oakwoods  where  they  were  probably  planted  first  of  all 
as  '  nurses,'  and  then  subsequently  allowed  to  stand  and  form  part  of  the 
main  crop. 

During  the  course  of  last  century  planting  of  oak  was  often  under- 
taken on  hillsides,  with  such  want  of  success  that  sometimes  hardly  a 
tree  remains  to  mark  the  site  of  the  plantation.  It  is  only  on  the  lower 
and  richer  lands  that  the  oak  plantations  can  be  said  to  have  done  well. 
Even  there  the  growth  of  the  trees,  originally  planted  with  a  view  to 
supply  crooks  and  ship-building  timber,  is  not  usually  of  the  straight, 
clean  description  that  now  fetches  the  best  market  price  ;  and  on  such 
lands  being  replanted,  mixed  conifer  crops  are  likely  to  prove  more 
profitable  than  broadleaved  trees. 

Owing  to  the  heavy  rainfall  and  the  stiff  soil  and  subsoil  in  many 

502 


FORESTRY 

parts  of  the  county,  drainage  is  often  necessary  before  planting  can  be 
carried  out  with  any  reasonable  chance  of  proving  successful.  This  adds 
considerably  to  the  expense  of  planting,  which  is  further  increased 
greatly  by  the  necessity  for  wire-fencing  against  rabbits.  The  earlier 
plantations  of  fifty  to  a  hundred  years  ago  had  not  this  difficulty  to  con- 
tend with,  and  this  alone  makes  a  very  considerable  difference  in  the 
cost  of  fresh  plantations  nowadays. 

'  The  New  Domesday  Book  '  or  Parliamentary  Return  of  Owners  of 
Land  in  England  and  Wales,  1873,  giving  the  acreage  and  rental  value 
of  the  lands  held  by  the  various  owners,  expressly  states  that  in  the 
details  compiled  '  no  account  is  taken  of  those  waste  lands,  the  area  of 
which  could  not  be  ascertained,  of  woods  other  than  saleable  underwoods,' 
etc.,  and  no  other  statistics  have  ever  been  collected  or  published  either 
officially  or  unofficially  ;  hence  no  statement  can  be  made  as  to  the 
total  extent  of  the  oakwoods,  larchwoods,  etc.,  on  individual  estates  or 
even  throughout  the  county  generally.  Most  of  the  woods  are  to  be 
found  on  the  largest  estates,  which  are  owned  by  the  Earl  of  Carlisle 
(Naworth  Castle),  the  Earl  of  Lonsdale  (Lowther  Castle),  Sir  Richard 
Graham,  bart.  (Netherby  Hall),  H.  Howard,  esq.  (Greystoke  Castle), 
and  Lord  Leconfield  (Cockermouth  Castle). 

From  an  arboricultural  point  of  view  the  Netherby  estate,  the  property 
of  Sir  Richard  Graham,  bart.,  on  the  river  Esk  about  ten  miles  north  of 
Carlisle,  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  in  the  county.  The  property  con- 
sists of  26,000  acres,  of  which  about  2,800  acres  are  plantations — exclu- 
sive of  ornamental  clumps,  park,  timber  and  hedgerow  trees — comprising 
about  1,000  acres  from  100  to  150  years  old,  1,300  acres  'from  50  to 
90  years,  and  about  500  acres  under  fifty  years  of  age.  These  woods 
are  all  enclosed  with  fencing  aggregating  about  300  miles  in  length. 
Although  not  more  than  150  to  200  feet  above  the  sea-level,  most  of 
the  land  planted  was  not  worth  more  than  five  shillings  to  seven  shillings 
and  sixpence  an  acre  for  agricultural  occupation,  and  drainage,  prepara- 
tory to  planting,  cost  about  seven  shillings  an  acre.  The  usual  plan 
followed  was  to  cut  open  drains,  2\  feet  wide  at  top  and  2  to  i\  feet 
deep,  at  a  distance  of  8  to  12  yards  according  to  the  degree  of  wetness 
of  the  land. 

The  better  tracts  were  planted  with  a  mixture  of  oak,  ash,  elm, 
sycamore,  larch,  silver  fir,  Scots  pine,  spruce,  and  a  few  lime,  maple, 
chestnut,  and  horse  chestnut,  while  the  black-topped  or  peaty  lands  were 
planted  with  Scots  pine,  spruce,  and  birch.  February  and  March  were 
found  to  be  the  best  months  for  planting,  all  the  larger-rooted  hardwoods 
being  set  in  pits  of  about  12  to  14  inches  square  and  one  foot  deep, 
while  smaller-rooted  hardwoods  and  conifers  were  simply  notched  into 
the  ground.  The  plants  were  put  in  3  to  3^  feet  apart  (3,556  to  4,840 
per  acre),  and  the  whole  cost  of  planting  seldom  exceeded  £5  an  acre. 
Where  hares  and  rabbits  were  numerous,  the  plantations  had  to  be 
specially  protected  by  wire-netting  for  six  to  eight  years,  and  in  such 
cases  of  course  this  added  very  materially  to  the  cost  of  protection. 

503 


A    HISTORY   OF    CUMBERLAND 

Thinning  operations  were  usually  begun  at  about  12  or  13  years  and 
repeated  every  four  or  five  years  till  the  plantations  were  30  years  of 
age,  after  which  they  were  continued  every  six  or  eight  years  for  other 
30  years.  To  ensure  regularity,  the  thinnings  of  the  old  and  the  young 
woods  were  so  arranged  that  the  whole  area  would  be  gone  over  at  least 
once  every  seven  years. 

During  the  twenty-eight  years  from  1855  to  1883,  in  which  800 
acres  were  planted  but  had  not  yet  become  old  enough  to  yield  appre- 
ciable returns,  the  receipts  obtained  from  the  woodlands  averaged  £i 
los.  i  id.  an  acre,  while  the  expenditure  on  them  was  >To  I2J.  4^.  per 
acre,  thus  showing  an  average  income  of  £o  1 8j.  yd.  per  acre  from  land 
whose  agricultural  value  varied,  as  already  mentioned,  from  five  shillings 
to  seven  shillings  and  sixpence  an  acre.  This  is,  of  course,  not  net  profit 
or  rental  yielded  by  the  land,  because  it  includes  the  annual  interest  pay- 
able on  the  capital  locked  up  in  forming  the  plantations  ;  but  then,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  does  not  give  any  indication  of  the  capital  represented 
by  the  growing  crops  of  timber.  Taking  the  whole  wooded  area  of 
2,800  acres  into  consideration,  the  average  receipts  have  been  £  i  zs.  id. 
per  acre,  the  expenditure  jTo  8j.  $d.  an  acre,  and  the  income  £o  1 3^.  %d. 
per  acre,  while  the  crops  still  left  to  mature  are  estimated  as  being 
worth  from  about  £40  to  >C°°  an  acre.  Insufficient  as  these  data  are 
for  showing  with  anything  like  actuarial  exactness  the  precise  amount  of 
profit  annually  accruing  from  these  investments  in  growing  timber  on 
the  Netherby  estate,  they  nevertheless  afford  a  tolerably  clear  proof  that 
the  plantations  have  been  profitable  in  themselves,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  woodlands  have  also  been  indirectly  of  further  benefit  in 
improving  adjoining  arable  land  through  the  shelter  from  wind  afforded 
to  it. 

The  woods  on  the  Greystoke  Estate,  the  property  of  H.  C.  Howard, 
esq.,  are  also  of  considerable  extent.  They  amount  altogether  to 
about  i, 8 60  acres,  of  which  701  acres  are  old  woods  planted  between 
1746  and  1814,  294  acres  planted  from  182610  1850,  334  acres  planted 
between  1852  and  1880,  and  531  acres  of  recent  plantations  formed 
from  1 88 1  to  1900.  The  largest  plantations  are  those  of  the  year  1808, 
when  200  acres  were  planted.  The  woods  now  consist  generally  of  a 
mixture  of  larch,  sycamore,  ash,  oak,  birch,  beech,  alder,  spruce  and 
Scots  pine  ;  while  the  general  treatment  accorded  to  them  consists  in 
simply  clear-felling  a  given  area  of  woodland  every  year,  and  replanting 
a  corresponding  acreage  of  recently  cleared  land  or  of  other  land  which 
it  is  desired  to  bring  under  wood.  Planting  is  done  both  in  autumn 
and  in  spring,  whenever  the  weather  will  permit.  The  plantations  of 
the  last  ten  years  have  amounted  to  360  acres,  or  an  average  of  36  acres 
a  year. 

The  woodlands  on  the  Brayton  estate,  the  property  of  Sir 
Wilfrid  Lawson,  bart.,  aggregate  1,503  acres.  About  three-fourths 
of  these  are  old  woods  of  uncertain  age,  mainly  consisting  of 
mixed  hardwoods  (though  principally  of  oak)  and  often  interspersed 

504 


FORESTRY 

with  Scots  pine  and  larch  ;  the  remainder  are  young  plantations  formed 
between  1870  and  1892,  and  consisting  chiefly  of  mixed  hardwoods 
with  Scots  pine,  spruce  and  larch  as  nurses,  or  else  of  mixed  Scots  pine 
and  larch.  Only  in  one  instance  has  larch  been  planted  almost  pure  in 
30  acres  of  a  plantation  (of  115  acres)  formed  during  1882  to  1884. 
The  largest  wooded  tract  on  the  estate  consists  of  a  compact  block  of 
694  acres  of  old  mixed  hardwoods,  with  some  Scots  pine  and  larch,  in 
the  parish  of  Isel. 

In  the  old  plantations  dating  from  the  active  period  of  arboriculture 
towards  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth, the  chief  aim  seems  to  have  been  the  growth  of  oak  for  ship- 
building, and  this  object  was  apparently  sought  to  be  attained  by  growing 
it  along  with  sycamore,  beech,  ash  and  larch.  In  the  younger  planta- 
tions formed  during  the  last  thirty  years  larch  has  been  largely  planted 
along  with  Scots  pine,  spruce  and  birch,  probably  with  a  view  to  secur- 
ing a  very  quick  growing  and  early  maturing  crop  ;  but  the  larch  has 
unfortunately  become  much  affected  with  the  cankerous  disease  due  to 
the  fungus  Peziza  Willkommii,  so  that  a  great  many  of  them  have  had 
to  be  cut  out.  In  some  instances  these  premature  clearances  have  been 
so  extensive  as  to  necessitate  the  replantation  of  such  parts  with  Scots 
pine.  In  this  locality  the  cultivation  of  birch  pays  fairly  well,  the  wood 
being  much  in  demand  for  making  the  soles  of  clogs. 

The  method  of  management  adopted  with  regard  to  the  older  woods 
is  the  customary  British  system  of  thinning  the  crops.  This  is  done 
regularly,  the  oak-trees  being  peeled  and  the  bark  sold  to  local  tanners. 
The  price  of  bark  has  during  late  years  ranged  from  £4  51.  o</.  to 
£5  oj.  od.  a  ton,  which,  though  nothing  like  so  favourable  to  growers  as  in 
past  times,  is  higher  than  the  recent  prices  obtaining  in  many  of  the 
other  parts  of  England.  Sometimes  a  few  acres  of  hardwoods  are  clear- 
felled  and  replanted  with  Scots  pine,  spruce  and  birch,  while  shoots  are 
allowed  to  spring  up  from  oak-stools  and  are  afterwards  cut  for  their 
bark  and  the  small  wood  they  yield. 

Pit  planting  is  the  method  usually  practised  on  the  Brayton  estate, 
but  T  shaped  notching  (with  close  planting  at  about  three  feet  apart,  or 
4,840  per   acre)  is  occasionally  adopted  when  planting  on  grass  land. 
Blanks  are  filled  during  the  first  and  second  years,  and  early  thinnings 
commence  at  from  1 5  to  20  years,  after  which  they  are  repeated  every 
six  to  eight  years.     Where  the  ultimate  crop  is  intended  to  consist  of 
hardwoods,  these  are  of  course  specially  favoured  during  the  thinnings, 
and   occasional   pruning  is  also   done   to  repair  defects  in  the  way  of 
forked  growth. 

But  some  of  the  smaller  estates  also  possess  woodlands  of  an  ex- 
tremely interesting  character.  In  this  respect  none  surpass  the  old  oak- 
woods  and  the  more  recent  larch  plantations  on  the  Castlerigg  and 
Derwentwater  estates,  the  property  of  R.  Dykes  Marshall,  esq.,  by 
whose  father  they  were  acquired  on  the  sale  of  the  forfeited  Derwent- 
water property  by  the  trustees  of  Greenwich  Hospital.  Some  of  the 
n  505  64 


A    HISTORY    OF    CUMBERLAND 

oak  plantations  made  by  the  trustees  during  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  the  outlook  was  very  gloomy  for  the  maintenance  of  the  supply 
of  timber  for  the  navy,  are  now  fine  specimens  of  typical,  old-fashioned 
English  arboriculture. 

Though  comparatively  small  in  extent,  the  woods  and  plantations 
on  the  Castlerigg  and  Derwentwater  estates  show  how  well  pleasure  and 
profit  can  be  combined  for  the  owner  under  a  continuity  of  careful,  well 
considered  and  methodical  management.  The  woods  (645  acres)  com- 
prise 28  acres  of  ornamental  plantations  and  shelter-belts,  181  acres  of 
woods  treated  partly  for  ornament  and  partly  for  profit  by  a  system  of 
selection  fellings  (such  as  were  also  included  within  the  term  thinnings, 
under  the  old-fashioned  system  of  British  Arboriculture),  and  406  acres 
of  plantations  of  different  ages  (but  mostly  mature  or  approaching  full 
maturity)  treated  purely  upon  commercial  principles.  Careful  estimates 
made  in  1900  show  that  these  406  acres  are  now  (after  heavy  regular 
thinnings  carried  out  periodically)  stocked  with  44,019  trees,  containing 
458,371  cubic  feet  of  timber. 

In  the  old  woods,  aggregating  about  350  acres  in  extent  and  con- 
sisting mainly  of  crops  of  oak  formed  about  100  and  150  years  ago, 
when  oak  for  shipbuilding  seemed  likely  to  be  able  to  command  a  high 
price  in  future,  the  timber  may  now  be  regarded  as  fully  mature. 
Measurements  made  from  borings  showing  the  annual  rings  of  several 
of  the  trees  prove  that  they  have  taken  from  15  to  21  years  to  increase 
by  one  inch  in  radius  (or  6f-  inches  in  girth),  and  the  rate  of  growth 
is  not  at  all  likely  to  increase  now.  Some  survivors  of  the  larch  appa- 
rently put  out  to  nurse  the  oak  are  now  splendid  trees,  girthing  up  to 
7  and  even  8  feet,  and  in  one  case  attaining  a  circumference  of  10  feet 
at  breast-height. 

The  chief  of  the  conifer  plantations  is  a  block  of  200  acres  (Coomb 
Wood),  an  outlying  plantation  formed  in  1846-8,  of  larch  with  slight 
admixture  of  spruce  in  moist  parts  and  Scots  pine  in  exposed  places. 
Here  the  rate  of  growth  ascertained  from  the  stems  showed  that  they  have 
taken  from  i  o  to  1 6  years  to  increase  by  the  last  inch  of  radius  (or  6|- 
inches  in  girth),  representing  a  current  increase  of  over  3  per  cent,  on 
the  trees  now  forming  the  crop.  Methodical  and  carefully  kept  estate 
accounts  show  (i)  that  this  plantation  was  made  at  a  cost  of  about  £2 
an  acre  (there  being  then  no  necessity  for  expensive  wire-netting  against 
rabbits)  on  land  the  fee-simple  of  which  was  not  more  than  £i  an  acre, 
and  (2)  that  from  a  very  early  age  this  wood,  being  periodically  thinned 
in  sections,  has  yielded  thinnings  almost  regularly  year  by  year.  As  for 
some  years  past  these  thinnings  have  really  been  of  the  nature  of  partial 
clearances  of  the  maturing  (and  nearly  mature)  crop,  which  have  thus 
already  liquidated  a  portion  of  its  capital  value,  the  stock  of  53  to 
55-year-old  timber  is  not  so  large  per  acre  as  it  otherwise  would  have 
been  ;  but,  as  the  grazing  (of  good  quality)  in  the  now  rather  open 
wood  is  let  along  with  other  pasture  land  at  about  five  shillings  an  acre, 
this  of  itself  forms  an  improved  income  from  what  the  land  could 

506 


FORESTRY 

possibly  have  yielded  for  pasturage  in  the  condition  it  was  in  before 
planting.  The  well  kept  estate  accounts  consequently  prove  that  this 
compact  block  of  plantation  of  about  200  acres  has  been  a  very  profitable 
and  beneficial  investment  to  the  landowner. 

One  of  the  great  dangers  to  which  investments  of  capital  in  the 
production  of  timber  must  be  exposed  in  a  county  with  the  configura- 
tion and  other  physical  conditions  of  Cumberland  is  windfall  and  other 
damage  by  heavy  winds.  Many  of  the  plantations  suffered  severely  in 
the  gales  which  occurred  towards  the  end  of  1883  and  the  beginning  of 
1884,  and  again  in  the  heavy  storms  of  the  autumn  of  1893  ;  but  a  year 
seldom  passes  without  damage  having  to  be  recorded  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent.  Protection  can  to  some  extent  be  afforded  by  felling  only 
against  wind.  Even,  however,  with  this  danger  being  kept  in  view, 
Cumberland  is  still  one  of  the  counties  of  England  best  suited  for  the 
profitable  growth  of  coniferous  timber  ;  and  with  the  present  outlook  in 
regard  to  the  maintenance  of  future  supplies  of  the  building  wood 
required  in  such  enormous  quantities  as  is  now  the  case  in  Britain,  this 
class  of  woodland  crop  is  what  holds  out  the  best  promise  of  profit  in 
time  to  come. 

There  is  a  good  market  for  timber  in  Cumberland.  Well-grown 
ash  is  in  demand  for  coach-building  and  agricultural  implements  ;  while 
oak,  beech,  larch  and  sycamore,  if  of  good  size,  can  be  readily  disposed 
of  to  buyers  coming  from  Newcastle,  Lancashire,  and  Yorkshire.1 

1  The  Journal  of  the  Board  of  Agriculture,  vol.  vii.  No.  I,  June  1900,  page  8. 


507 


670 

C9V6 

v.2 


The  Victoria  history  of  the 
county  of  Cumberland