Produced by Brian Foley and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
BYGONE CUMBERLAND AND WESTMORLAND.
[Illustration: THE LEPERS' SQUINT, ST. MICHAEL'S CHURCH,
BROUGH-UNDER-STAINMORE.
_From a Photo by Mr. George Arkwright, Beatrice, Nebraska, U.S.A._]
Bygone Cumberland
and
Westmorland
By Daniel Scott
LONDON:
WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., 5, FARRINGDON AVENUE, E.C.
1899.
TO EMMA.
Preface.
The information contained in the following pages has been derived from
many sources during the last twenty years, and in a considerable number of
cases I have examined old registers and other documents without being then
aware that some of their contents had already been published.
Few districts in the United Kingdom have been more thoroughly "worked" for
antiquarian and archaeological purposes than have Cumberland and
Westmorland. The Antiquarian Society and the numerous Literary and
Scientific Societies have, during the last thirty years, been responsible
for a great amount of research. I have endeavoured to acknowledge each
source--not only as a token of my own obligation, but as a means of
directing others wishing further information on the various points.
I also desire to acknowledge the help received in various ways from
numerous friends in the two counties.
DANIEL SCOTT.
PENRITH, _June 1st, 1899_.
Contents.
PAGE
AN UNPARALLELED SHERIFFWICK 1
WATCH AND WARD 9
FIGHTING BISHOPS AND FORTIFIED CHURCHES 22
SOME CHURCH CURIOSITIES 38
MANORIAL LAWS AND CURIOSITIES OF TENURES 64
OLD-TIME PUNISHMENTS 91
SOME LEGENDS AND SUPERSTITIONS 130
FOUR LUCKS 148
SOME OLD TRADING LAWS AND CUSTOMS 155
OLD-TIME HOME LIFE 169
SPORTS AND FESTIVITIES 188
ON THE ROAD 209
OLD CUSTOMS 223
OLD SCHOOL CUSTOMS 240
INDEX 257
Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland.
An Unparalleled Sheriffwick.
For a period of 645 years--from 1204 to 1849--Westmorland, unlike other
counties in England (excluding, of course, the counties Palatine), had no
Sheriff other than the one who held the office by hereditary right. The
first Sheriff of the county is mentioned in 1160, and nine or ten other
names occur at subsequent periods, until in 1202, the fourth year of the
reign of King John, came Robert de Vetripont. Very soon afterwards the
office was made hereditary in his family "to have and to hold of the King
and his heirs." The honour and privileges were possessed by no less than
twenty-two of Robert's descendants. Their occupation of the office covers
some very exciting periods of county history, the tasks committed to the
Sheriffs in former centuries being frequently of an arduous as well as
dangerous character.
The Sheriff had very important duties of a military character to carry
out. Thus in the sixth year of Henry the Third we have the command from
the King to the Sheriff of Westmorland that without any delay he should
summon the earls, barons, knights, and freeholders of his bailiwick, and
that he should hasten to Cockermouth and besiege the castle there,
afterwards destroying it to its very foundations. This order was a
duplicate of one sent to the Sheriff of Yorkshire concerning Skipton
Castle and other places. It is not known, however, whether the
instructions respecting Cockermouth were carried out or not.
The powers of Sheriff not being confined to the male members of the
family, the histories of Westmorland contain the unusual information that
at least two women occupied, by right of office, seats on the bench
alongside the Judges. The first of these was Isabella de Clifford, widow
of Robert, and, wrote the historian Machell, "She sate as is said in
person at Apelby as Sheriff of the county, and died about 20 of Edward I."
The other case was that of the still more powerful, strenuous, and gifted
woman, Anne, Countess of Pembroke. Of her it is recorded that she not
only took her seat on the bench, but "rode on a white charger as
Sheriffess of Westmorland, before the Judges to open the Assizes." It will
not be forgotten that territorial lords and ladies in bygone times held
Courts of their own in connection with their manors and castles. The Rev.
John Wharton, Vicar of South Stainmore, in a communication to the writer
some time ago said: "From documents shown me by the late John Hill, Esq.,
Castle Bank, Appleby, the great but somewhat masculine Anne, Countess of
Pembroke and Montgomery, seemed partial to Courts of her own. She sat upon
many offenders as a judge, and it is handed down that she executed divers
persons for treasonous designs and plotting against her estate."
The Memoranda Rolls belonging to the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer, show
the mode of presenting or nominating the Sheriff for Westmorland in the
time of the Cliffords, his admittance to the office by the Barons of the
Exchequer, and his warrant for executing it. From the Rolls of the 15th,
19th, and 23rd years of Edward the First, when the Sheriffwick passed into
the family of the Cliffords, it seems that the right of appointment was
the subject of litigation between the two daughters and heiresses of the
last of the Vetriponts. This ended in an agreement that the elder sister
should "present" to, and the younger should "approve" the appointment. In
this way Robert de Moreville was admitted to the office of Sheriff in the
fifteenth year of Edward's reign, Gilbert de Burneshead three years later,
and Ralph de Manneby in 1295, each swearing faithfully to execute his
office and answer to both daughters. On the death of the sisters the
Sheriffwick became vested in Robert de Clifford, son and heir of the
eldest, and continued in the possession of his descendants until the
attainder in 1461.
The list of Sheriffs is, of course, a very long one, and even allowing for
the large number of individuals who have left nothing more than their
names, there is much material for interesting study in the histories of
the others. The actual work was rarely done by the holders of the office.
"The functionaries who performed the duties were simply deputies for the
Sheriff, and although we find them attesting many ancient charters and
grants relating to the county, recording themselves as Vice-Comites (or
Sheriffs), they simply executed the office as Pro-Vice-Comites (or
Under-Sheriffs). The attainder of the Cliffords during the Wars of the
Roses, until its reversal in the first year of Henry the Sixth, causes a
void as regards their family, their places being filled from among the
supporters of the House of York."[1] For a considerable period Westmorland
was treated as part of Yorkshire, the Sheriff of the latter county
rendering an account of the two places jointly. From the time of John,
however, the accounts rendered for Westmorland by Yorkshire Sheriffs would
have been as Sub-Vice-Comites for the Vetriponts.
The High Sheriffs and their connections lived in considerable state when
the country was sufficiently peaceable to permit of it. This is proved by
the arrangement and size of their castles, while Sir Lancelot Threlkeld,
half-brother of Henry Clifford, used to boast that he had three noble
houses. One, at Crosby Ravensworth, where there was a park full of deer,
was for pleasure; one for profit and warmth wherein to reside in winter,
was the house at Yanwath; and the estate at Threlkeld was "well stocked
with tenants ready to go with him to the wars." The various "progresses"
of the Countess Anne also afford evidence of the state kept up, for she
frequently speaks of her journeys from one castle to another "escorted by
my gentlemen and yeomen."
Among the numerous pieces of patronage which became the prerogative of the
High Sheriffs of Westmorland, was that of the Abbey of Shap, but there
does not appear to be any record when this and other privileges passed
from them, the property being granted by Henry the Eighth to the Whartons.
Where so much power lay in the hands of one person, or of one family,
differences with other authorities was perhaps inevitable. The interests
of the burgesses of Appleby would seem to have clashed at times with those
of the Sheriff, and for very many years the parties kept up a crusade
against each other, especially during the reigns of the first three
Edwards. What the cost of those proceedings may have been to the Sheriff
cannot be told, but on the other side the result was the forfeiture of
rights for a considerable time, because the fee farm rent had got into
arrear. The Hereditary High Sheriff had the privilege of appointing the
governor of the gaol at Appleby, but he had to pay L15 per annum towards
the salary, while the magistrates appointed the other officials and made
up from the county rates the remainder of the cost of the institution.
The long period during which the holders of the Sheriffwick held the
privilege is the more remarkable--as Sir G. Duckett, Bart., reminded the
northern archaeologists in 1879--because of the way in which ancient grants
and statutes have in almost all cases become a dead letter and obsolete.
A singular incident in connection with the Sheriffwick happened about
seventy years ago, and is recorded in the life of Baron Alderson, father
of the Marchioness of Salisbury. The Baron went to Appleby to hold the
half-yearly assizes, but on arriving there found that he could not carry
out his work because Lord Thanet was in France, and had omitted to send
the documents for obtaining juries. The Judge had therefore to spend his
time as best he could for several days, until a messenger could see the
High Sheriff in Paris and obtain the necessary papers.
When the eleventh and last Earl of Thanet died in June, 1849, the male
line of the family ceased, the estates passing by will to Sir Richard
Tufton, father of the present Lord Hothfield. The office of Hereditary
High Sheriff was claimed by the Rev. Charles Henry Barham, of Trecwn,
nephew of the Earl, but a question arising as to the validity of a devise
of the office, Mr. Barham relinquished his claim in favour of the Crown.
An Act was afterwards passed--in July, 1850--making the Shrievalty in
Westmorland the same as in other counties.
Watch and Ward.
The geographical position of the two counties rendered an extensive system
of watching essential for the safety of the residents. In the northern
parts of Cumberland, along the Border, this was particularly the case; but
there watch and ward was more of a military character than was necessary
elsewhere, while as it was a part of the national defence it passed into
the care of the Government for the time being. From the necessity for
"watching and warding" against the northern incursions, came the name of
the divisions of the two counties. Cumberland had for centuries five
wards; more recently for purposes of local government these were increased
to seven; and Westmorland also has four wards.
The regulations of the barony of Gilsland, in a manuscript volume
belonging to the Earl of Lonsdale, are very explicit as to what was
required of the tenants in the way of Border service. These stipulated for
good horses, efficient armour and weapons for the bailiffs, and a rigid
supervision of those of lower rank. The tenants' nags were ordered to be
"able at anye tyme to beare a manne twentie or four-and-twentie houres
without a baite, or at the leaste is able sufficientlye to beare a manne
twentie miles within Scotlande and backe againe withoute a baite." Every
tenant, moreover, had to provide himself with "a jacke, steale-cape,
sworde, bowe, or speare, such weapons as shall be thought meatest for him
to weare by the seyght of the baylife where he dwelleth or by the
land-serjeante." The rules as to the watch required that every tenant
should keep his night watch as he should be appointed by the bailiff, the
tenant breaking his watch forfeiting two shillings, which in those days
was a formidable amount. The tenants had to go to their watch before ten
o'clock, and not to return to a house till after cock-crow; they were also
required to call twice to all their neighbours within their watches, once
about midnight, and "ones after the cockes have crowen."
Detailed instructions were drawn up for the guidance of the men during
their watches. These were even less emphatic, however, than those which
referred to the maintenance and keeping of the beacons, of which fourteen
public ones (including Penrith and Skiddaw) are named in Nicolson and
Burn's History. Modernising the spelling, one of the paragraphs runs as
follows:--
"The watchers of a windy night shall watch well of beacons, because in
a wind the fray cannot be heard, and therefore it is ordered that of a
windy night (if a fray rise) beacons shall be burnt in every lordship
by the watchers. One watcher shall keep the beacon burning and the
other make speed to the next warner, to warn all the lordships, and so
to set forwards. And if the watchers through their own default do not
see the beacons burn, or do not burn their own beacons, as appointed,
they shall each forfeit two shillings. If the warners have sufficient
warning by the watchers, and do not warn all within their warning with
great speed, if any fault be proved of the warner he shall forfeit
18d."
The "Orders of the Watch" made by Lord Wharton in October, 1553, are of
considerable local interest in connection with this subject, and the
following extracts may for that reason be quoted:--
"Ainstable, Armathwhaite, Nunclose, and Flodelcruke to keep nightly
Paytwath with four persons; William Skelton's bailiffs and constables
to appoint nightly to set and search the said watch. Four fords upon
Raven, to be watched by Kirkoswald, Laisingby, Glassenby, Little
Salkeld, Ullesby, Melmorby, Ranwyke, and Harskew: at every ford
nightly four persons; and the searchers to be appointed by the
bailiffs and constables, upon the oversight of Christopher Threlkeld,
the King's Highness's servant. Upon Blenkarn Beck are five fords, to
be watched by Blenkarn, Culgaith, Skyrwath, Kirkland, Newbiggin,
Sourby, Millburn, Dufton, Marton, Kirkbythore, Knock, and Milburn
Grange; bailiffs and constables to appoint searchers: Overseers,
Christopher Crackenthorp, and Gilbert Wharton, the King's Highness's
servants. Upon the water of Pettrel: From Carlisle to Pettrelwray;
bailiffs and constables there, with the oversight of the late Prior of
Carlisle for the time being, or the steward of the lands. And from
thence to Plompton; overseer of the search and watch nightly John
Skelton of Appletreethwayt, and Thomas Herrington, Ednal and
Dolphenby; Sir Richard Musgrave, knight, overseer, his deputy or
deputies. Skelton and Hutton in the Forest; overseers thereof, William
Hutton and John Suthake. Newton and Catterlen, John Vaux, overseer,
nightly. For the search of the watches of all the King's Highness's
lands, called the Queen's Hames, the steward there, his deputy or
deputies, nightly. From the barony of Graystock; the Lord Dacre, his
steward, deputy or deputies, overseers. This watch to begin the first
night of October, and to continue until the 16th day of March; and the
sooner to begin, or longer to continue at the discretion of the Lord
Warden General or his deputy for the time being. Also the night watch
to be set at the day-going, and to continue until the day be light;
and the day watch, when the same is, to begin at the day light, and to
continue until the day be gone."
[Illustration: PENRITH BEACON.
_From a Photo by Mr. John Bolton, Penrith._]
Penrith Beacon had an important place in the system of watch and ward in
the south-eastern parts of Cumberland and North Westmorland. As a
former local poet wrote:--
"Yon grey Beacon, like a watchman brave,
Warned of the dreaded night, and fire-fed, gave
Heed of the threatening Scot."
The hill before being planted as it now appears, was simply a bare fell,
without enclosures of any kind. The late Rev. Beilby Porteus, Edenhall, in
one of his books,[2] after mentioning the uses of Penrith Beacon,
added:--"Before these parts were enclosed, every parish church served as a
means of communication with its neighbours; and, while the tower of
Edenhall Church bears evident tokens of such utility, there yet exist at
my other church at Langwathby, a morion, back, and breast-plate, which the
parish were obliged to provide for a man, termed the 'Jack,' whose
business it was at a certain hour in the evening to keep watch, and report
below, if he perceived any signs of alarm, or indications of incursions
from the Border."
South Westmorland had as its most important look-out station, Farleton
Knott, where "a beacon was sustained in the days of Scottish invasion, the
ruddy glow of which was responded to by the clang of arms and the war
notes of the bugle."
Wardhole, now known as Warthol, near Aspatria, was once an important
protection station, watch and ward being kept against the Scots; from this
place "the watchmen gave warning to them who attended at the beacon on
Moothay to fire the same." The ancient beacon of Moota is about three
miles from Cockermouth. Dealing with the natural position of Bothel,
Nicolson wrote over a century ago:--"The town stands on the side of a
hill, where in old time the watch was kept day and night for seawake,
which service is performed by the country beneath Derwent at this place,
and above Derwent, in Copeland, at Bothil, in Millom. It is called
_servicium de bodis_ in old evidences, whereupon this hill was named the
_Bode-hill_, and the village at the foot of it _Bode-hill-ton_ (Bolton),
or _Bodorum Collis_. The common people used to call a lantern a _bowet_,
which name and word was then in use for a light on the shore to direct
sailors in the night, properly signifying a token, and not a light or
lantern, as they call a message warranted by a token a _bodeword_, and the
watchmen were called _bodesmen_, because they had a _bode_, or watchword
given them, to prevent the enemy's fraud in the night season."
There was a noted beacon near Bootle, from which that town took its old
name--"Bothill"--the beacon being fired, upon the discovery of any ships
upon the Irish Sea which might threaten an invasion, by the watchmen who
lay in _booths_ by the beacon. For the support of this service the charge
or payment of seawake was provided. This payment occurs in connection with
various manors; thus on an inquisition of knights' fees in Cumberland it
was found that Sir William Pennington held the manor of Muncaster "of the
King as of his castle of Egremont, by the service of the sixth part of one
knight's fee rendering to the King yearly for seawake 12{d}, and the
puture of two serjeants." At the same inquiry it was certified that
William Kirkby held the manor of Bolton, in the parish of Gosforth, of the
King "by knight's service, paying yearly 10/- cornage, and seawake,
homage, suit of court, and witness-man." He also paid two shillings
seawake for other lands in the district. Many other instances of this tax
for watch and ward in old days might be quoted, but diligent search and
inquiry during the last few months have failed to show that it is now
exacted in any form, or when the payments were allowed to lapse.
Of watch and ward as applied to town and village life as distinct from
Border service there may be found in Cumberland and Westmorland records
many very interesting and suggestive reminders. By the famous statute of
Winchester it was provided that from Ascension Day to Michaelmas in every
city six men should keep watch at every gate, in every borough twelve men,
and in every other town six or four, according to the number of the
inhabitants, and that these should watch the town continually all night
from the setting to the rising of the sun. This was but one of three kinds
of watches, the others being kept by the town constable, and the other set
by authority of the justices. Every inhabitant was bound to keep watch in
his turn, or to find another. It was specially provided that the watching
and warding should be by men able of body and sufficiently weaponed, and
therefore a woman required to watch might procure one to watch for her.
While the person thus chosen had to bear sundry punishments in default of
carrying out a duty which was neither pleasant nor safe, there was the
wise provision that if a watchman were killed in the execution of his
duty, as in endeavouring to apprehend a burglar, his executors were
entitled to a reward of L40. In the standard work by Orton's best known
former Vicar may be found two copies of Westmorland warrants, one for the
keeping of watch, and the other for the commitment of a person apprehended
by the watch, while there is also a copy of an indictment for not
watching. This was no mere matter of form; for hundreds of years after
King Edward instituted the system it was the chief safeguard against
robbery, and in a great many places against incursions of the enemy.
At Kendal watch and ward was strictly maintained, not for the purpose of
keeping out marauding Scots or other undesirable characters, but for the
maintenance of quiet and order in the streets. In 1575 the Mayor and
burgesses of Kendal made the following order with reference to the
watching of the borough:--
"It is ordered and constituted by the Alderman and head burgesses of
this borough of Kirkby Kendal, that from henceforth nightly in the
same borough at all times in the year, there shall be kept and
continued one sufficient watch, the same to begin at nine of the clock
of the night, and to continue until four of the clock in the morning,
in which watch always there shall be six persons, viz., two for
Sowtergate, two for Marketstead and Stricklandgate, and two for
Stramagate, to be taken and going by course in every constablewick one
after the other, and taking their charge and watchword nightly off the
constables or their deputies, severally as in old times hath been
accustomed; which six persons so appointed watchmen nightly shall be
tall, manlike men, having and bearing with them in the same watch
every one a halberd, ravenbill, axe, or other good and sufficient iron
bound staff or weapon, sallett or scull upon every one his head,
whereby the better made able to lay hands upon and apprehend the
disordered night walkers, malefactors, and suspicious persons, and to
prevent and stay other inconveniences, and shall continually use to go
from place to place and through street and street within the borough
during all the time appointed for their watch, upon pain to forfeit
and lose to the Chamber of this borough for every default these pains
ensuing, that is to say, every householder chargeable with the watch
for his default 3s. 4d., and every watchman for his default such fine
and punishment as shall be thought meet by the Alderman and head
burgesses."
Shortly before the end of 1582 the foregoing order was repealed and
another regulation substituted. The material part was in the following
quaint terms, the original spelling being observed:
"And shall contynnally goo and walk ffrome place to place in and
throughe suche streete within the same boroughe as they shal be
opoyntyd and assigned by the Constabull or his deputy then settinge
the watch that is to say ij of them in everie suche streete in
companye together as they may be apoynted ffor their sayd watche vpon
payne to forfeyte and losse to the Chamber of this Bourgh for everie
fault dewly pved theis payns ensuinge that is to say everie
householder and wedow and bachler Chargeable wth the watche for his
default xijd and every watchman ffor his default such ffyne and
punnyshmt as shal be thought mete by the Alderman or his deputye
ffrome tyme to tyme beinge."
At Carlisle and several other places the rules for the watch were among
the most interesting and important items in the whole of the rules
concerning local government. On the coast at times very vigorous action
was both required and taken. At Whitehaven, in February, 1793, a meeting
of the authorities was held "in consequence of the daring attempts made by
the enemy in other places and the dangers to which the port was formerly
exposed." Orders were issued for mounting all the heavy guns, and for
procuring ammunition and other stores. Thirty-six weapons were mounted in
six batteries; governors of these batteries were appointed, with other
officers. A nightly watch was set, and every precaution taken to prevent a
surprise, or to resist any attack which might be made on the port.
Fortunately the precautions were not put to the test.
Coming down to a much later period, but still connected with the
protection of the two counties, a curious incident may be recalled, if for
no other reason than that it is impossible for such a contretemps ever to
occur again. In 1807, after a ballot for the Cumberland Militia, Penrith
being the headquarters, an order arrived for the recruits to be marched up
to the regiment. They were, wrote an eye witness, accordingly mustered for
that purpose in marching order, and, followed by many of the populace,
arrived at Eamont Bridge, where the sister counties of Cumberland and
Westmorland divide. Here there was a sudden halt. They would not cross the
bridge without their county guinea. After some altercation, and promises
by Colonel Lacy and other gentlemen that they should be paid on joining
the regiment, which promises were of no avail, they were counter-marched
to Penrith. For three successive days they were thus marched, and still
halted at the division of the counties. The lower orders of the populace
took part with the soldiers, and a riot ensued, in which Colonel Lacy, the
commanding officer, was very roughly handled. The consequence was that a
troop of Enniskillen Dragoons was sent for from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and
arrived in Penrith on the morning of the third day. A hard black frost was
set in at the time, and the horses being "slape shod," they were falling
in every direction. They were marched along with the recruits, who again
stopped at the bridge. The populace was still unruly; the dragoons loaded
their firepieces; the Riot Act was read, and the word "March" was given;
but it was of no avail. A general cry was then raised that they would be
satisfied with the promise of Colonel Hasell of Dalemain, but of no other
man. Mr. Hasell came forward, and in a short, manly address, gave his
promise that they should be paid on joining the regiment, and with cheers
for the Colonel, they at once marched off.
Fighting Bishops and Fortified Churches.
The ecclesiastical history of Cumberland and Westmorland is curiously
interwoven with that of secular affairs. This to a large extent arises
from the geographical position of the diocese of Carlisle--and
particularly of the diocese before its extension in 1856, up to which year
it was the smallest in England. The Bishop of Carlisle in bygone centuries
had always to take a leading part in fighting schemes, and as the churches
would be the only substantial structures in some villages, they naturally
came to be put to other uses than those of worship.
The bishopric was indeed a unique district. Carlisle was the great Border
fortress of the West Marches; the Bishop was invariably a Lord Marcher,
and often Captain of the Castle. In copies which Halucton (Halton) caused
to be extracted from the Great Roll of the Exchequer, frequent references
are made to expenses incurred during a siege. These are believed to refer
to 1295-6, when the Earl of Buchan and Wallace assailed the city, and when
the Bishop was apparently Warden. The ecclesiasts during many hundreds of
years must have been almost as familiar with the touch of armour as with
that of their sacred robes. Writing on this subject over a century ago a
Cumberland authority said:--
"As an example of the prevailing humour of those martial times, what
sort of priest must we suppose Cressingham to have been, who never
wore any coat that is accounted characteristic of a profession, but
that in which he was killed, namely, an iron one. Beck, the fighting
Bishop, was so turbulent a mortal that the English King, in order to
keep him within bounds, was obliged to take from him a part of those
possessions which he earned in battle, and in particular the livings
of Penrith and Symond-Burne. But not to mention Thurstan, who fought
the battle of the Standard, there are sufficient reasons for believing
that most of the priests in the northern parts of England had a double
profession, and they are so often mentioned as principals in these
continual wars that one cannot help concluding that the martial one
was more attended to. When the pastors are such, what must the people
be?"
There was a very interesting quarrel--the facts being too numerous to be
stated here--concerning the manor of Penrith, and those in some other
parts of East Cumberland. They were in the possession of John de Baliol,
by virtue of an agreement come to between the Kings of England and
Scotland, but afterwards Edward the First quarrelled with Baliol, seized
his lands, and granted them to Anthony Beck, the military Bishop of
Durham already mentioned. That prelate had assisted the King at the battle
of Falkirk, with a considerable number of soldiers, and was greatly
instrumental in obtaining the victory. When the Parliament met at
Carlisle, however, the grant was disapproved, and as the Bishop did not
attend to show by what title he had taken the lands, they were adjudged to
belong to the Crown.
The manuscripts of the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle contain many
references to the knowledge of war required by the early Bishops. When
Linstock was the episcopal residence, it lay exposed to the incursions of
the Scots, whose respect of persons, as Mr. C. J. Ferguson has reminded
us, was small. In April, 1309, Bishop Halton excused himself from obeying
a summons to Parliament, pleading both fear of a Scots invasion and bad
health as reasons. Later correspondence showed that the Bishop had been
employed by the King as his deputy in suppressing outrages in the West
March, and desired to be freed from some of his duties. The King therefore
absolved the prelate from the duties to which he objected, but begged him
to assume the remainder of the offices in his commission, so as to
restrain the lawlessness prevailing on both sides of the Border.
The difficulties of defence, or the constant annoyance, became so great
that in 1318 Edward the Second obtained from the Pope the appropriation to
the bishopric of Carlisle of the church of Horncastle, Lincolnshire, to be
a place of refuge for the Bishop and his successors during the ravages of
the northern enemy. Thomas de Lucy, upon the invasion of the Scots in
1346, "joined his strength with the Bishop of Carlisle [Welton], and so
alarmed the enemy in the night-time, by frequent entering into their
quarters, that at length they fled into their own country. And a truce
shortly after ensuing, he was again joined in commission with the same
Bishop and others to see the same duly observed." The Bishop was soon
afterwards constituted one of the commissioners for the arraying of men in
the counties of Cumberland and Westmorland for the defence of the Borders,
the French then threatening an invasion. With the growth of these troubles
from abroad, pressure was put upon those who could raise funds, of whom
Bishop Appleby was not the least important. "_Brevia de privato sigillo_
quickly succeed one another at this time," wrote the Rev. J. Brigstocke
Sheppard, in 1881,[3] when he had gone carefully through the muniments of
the Dean and Chapter. "The King, in an agony of apprehension, occasioned
by the threat of invasion, backed by a large fleet collected in the
northern ports of France, begs the Bishop again and again to raise a
defensive militia, to cause prayers to be offered in all churches, and
finally to advance him as much money as he can upon security of the
clerical _disme_ which would soon be due." In a further letter, the King
being determined to borrow from such of his subjects as could best afford
to lend, ordered the Bishop to send for six of the richest clergy and six
of the most affluent laymen in each county, and upon these twenty-four to
impose a loan of fifty marks on an average--more upon those who could
afford it, and less upon those less able to bear the tax. In 1373 Bishop
Appleby was enjoined by the King to reside continually in his diocese upon
the Marches, and to keep the inhabitants in a state of defence as a
protection to the rest of the kingdom against the Scots.
And so through all the long list of Border troubles the Bishops had to
take a conspicuous share in the proceedings, until the ludicrous incident
on Penrith Fell, which was the last occasion on which a Bishop took part
in fighting on English soil. Various local chroniclers have given
different versions, but there seems to be no room for doubt that the one
by Chancellor Ferguson is accurate. When in 1715 the Jacobites marched
from Brampton to take Penrith, the people from all the country side
(though whether the number was 4,000 or 14,000, as variously stated, is
not material), armed with guns, scythes, pitch-forks, and other handy if
not always military weapons, went on to the fell to meet the rebels. The
"_posse comitatus_ were under Lord Lonsdale and Bishop Nicolson, the
latter seated in his coach, drawn by six horses. So soon as the
Highlanders appeared, the _posse comitatus_ went away; in plain words they
skedaddled, leaving the two commanders and a few of their servants. Lord
Lonsdale presently galloped off to Appleby, and the Bishop's coachman,
whipping up his horses, carried off his master _willy nilly_ to Rose
Castle. It is said the prelate lost his wig, while shouting from the
carriage window to his coachman to stop." The result of this ignominious
retreat was that the Jacobites took possession of Penrith for the time
being, but behaved well, their most serious action being the proclamation
of James the Third, and the capture of a lot of provisions.
From fighting prelates to fortified churches is not a long step. Three or
four of these structures have come in for more notice than the rest,
although the latter cannot thereby be considered as lacking some of the
most interesting features of the others. During the last thirty years the
changes necessitated by restorations of churches have caused some of these
relics of turbulent times to be somewhat altered; there are still,
however, numerous village structures which tell their own story much more
vividly, to the trained eye, than could be done by written record. When
the late Mr. John Cory, county architect for Cumberland, read his paper on
the subject at Carlisle a quarter of a century ago, he pointed out some of
the characteristics of these ancient ecclesiastical strongholds: "The
distance from each other tells of a scanty population; the deficiency of
architectural decoration shows that the inhabitants of the district were
otherwise engaged than in peaceful occupations; while traces of continual
repairs in the fabric are evidently not to be attributed to the desire
shown in the churches of many southern counties to make good buildings
better, but have resulted from the necessity occasioned by the partial
destruction of churches through hostile aggressions. In many instances it
may be said that the church had been erected scarcely less for the safety
of the body than for the benefit of the soul."
That the abbey of Holme Cultram was once both a fortress and a church is
shown to this day by the remains of earthworks which once served for its
defence. Curious entries in the parish books also indicate the bitter
hatred of the Cumbrians for those from over the Border. The value of the
abbey is shown by a petition of the inhabitants of the lordship to
Cromwell in 1538, when they asked "for the preservation and standynge of
the Church of Holme Cultrane before saide; whiche is not onlye unto us our
parish Churche, and little ynoughe to receyve all us, your poore Orators,
but also a great ayde, socor, and defence for us agenst our neghbours the
Scots, witheaut the whiche, few or none of your Lordshipp's supplyants are
able to pay the King his saide Highness our bounden dutye and service,
ande wee shall not onelye praye for his graciouse noble estate, but also
your Lordshipp's prosperitie with increase of honour long to endure."
The tower of Burgh-by-Sands Church, close to the Solway, was built at the
west end of the structure, with walls six feet to seven feet in thickness.
A further indication of the desire for security is found in the bottoms of
the windows of the church, which were placed eight feet from the ground.
Entrance to the fortified tower could only be obtained through a ponderous
iron door six feet eight inches high, with two massive bolts, and
constructed of thick bars crossing each other, and boarded over with oak
planks. As only one person at a time could gain access to the vaulted
chamber, there was every possibility of offering effective opposition to
attacks, while the ringing of the bells would be the signal for bringing
any available help. What was true of one side of the Solway was equally
true of the other, there being still traces of fortified churches on the
Scottish side of the Firth.
Newton Arlosh Church is another noteworthy example of a building
"Half house of God, half castle 'gainst the Scots,"
though here the bulk of the attention would seem to have been paid to
bodily danger. The doorway was made only two feet six inches wide, and as
at Burgh the lowest parts of the windows were placed above the reach of a
man's hand--in this case the sills were seven feet from the ground. Light
was of less consequence than security, and so the windows were only one
foot wide, with a height of three feet four inches.
Though further away from the Border than either of the other churches
mentioned, that at Great Salkeld was peculiarly liable to attack by the
Scottish raiders, as it occupies a strong position near the river Eden,
whose banks seem to have been much used by the undesirable visitors. The
tower is in a splendid state of preservation, although necessarily much
altered, in detail, from its former condition. There were five floors,
that on the ground level being a vaulted room, with a strong door of iron
and oak leading into the church. Three small apertures afforded light and
opportunities for watching from the first floor, and that room also
contained a fireplace. In a footnote in their "Cumberland" volume of
"Magna Britannia," the brothers Lysons suggest that Great Salkeld Church
might have been fortified about the time that Penrith Castle was built.
There is, however, no direct evidence on the point. Dr. Todd, the former
Vicar of Penrith, who was noted for his encounters with his superiors,
says in his account of Great Salkeld Church, that in his time there was a
place "called the Corryhole, for the correction and imprisonment of the
clergy, while the Archdeacon had any power within the diocese."
Prior to the restoration of Dearham Church, the structure possessed
numerous features of interest to the antiquary, some of which have
necessarily been removed or altered. The lower storey of the tower
consisted of a barrel-vaulted chamber, originally enclosed from the
church, and entered only by a small and strongly-barred doorway, similar
to that at Burgh. When the Antiquarian Society visited Dearham some twenty
years ago, the late Canon Simpson drew special attention to this part of
the church. He said it had unquestionably "been one of the old massive
fortified towers peculiar to the Border district: from it, whilst the
parishioners were being besieged, a beacon fire at the top would alarm
their friends in the surrounding country." Some oak beams then seen in the
tower showed signs of fire, one of them being charred half through. The
lower part of the tower of Brigham Church, only a few miles from Dearham,
is strongly vaulted with stone, access being obtained to the chamber above
by means of a narrow door and winding stairs. From these features it has
been concluded by archaeologists that this was one of the old Border
fortified churches.
Further away from the Border, into Mid Westmorland, the searcher may still
meet with evidences of old-time church builders having a much keener eye
for the defensive qualities of their structures than for architectural
beauty. Solidity was the first consideration, and although some of them
were, after all, but ill adapted for the purpose, they must have been, as
the Rev. J. F. Hodgson[4] once pointed out, "much larger and stronger
buildings than the wretched hovels of the common people. Their enclosures
would very generally offer the best position for defence. Among the
Westmorland churches, those of Crosby Garrett (or Gerard) and Ormside,
though small, and not structurally fortified, seem unmistakably posted as
citadels. Orton Church, too, both in structure and position, is admirably
situated for defence. At Brough, the church, a massive and easily
defensible building, is situated upon the precipitous bank of the
Hellebeck, and forms a sort of outwork of the Castle." The church at
Kirkby Stephen certainly occupies a position which would give its
occupants a strong hold on the Upper Eden Valley. The old church at
Cliburn, on the banks of the Leath, was also probably placed there with
some regard to defence. It is believed that the fine old church at Barton
was used for a like purpose, and the vicar some time ago pointed out to
the writer existing evidences of a large moat having probably been formed
in case of necessity, the river Eamont being near enough to ensure an easy
means of water supply.
There are preserved in the church of Langwathby two specimens of old
Cumberland armour--a helmet and a cuirass. The villagers have versions of
their own as to the wearer of these articles, but obviously the stories
rest on no better foundation than that of tradition; the real explanation
is, doubtless, that given by the late Rev. B. Porteus, and already quoted
in the chapter on "Watch and Ward."
Above the tomb of Sir Roger Bellingham (died 1533), in Kendal Church,
there is an ancient helmet suspended, but whether it was put there
because the helmet belonged to the knight, or as a memorial of his having
been created a knight banneret on the field of battle, there has nothing
come to the knowledge of local historians to enable them to decide. The
popular name for the helmet, however, is "the Rebel's Cap," and following
the account of Machell, who was living at the time, various writers have
given different versions of a story which, though doubtless correct in its
main points, is open to question on others. The version given by the late
Mr. Cornelius Nicholson[5] may be quoted, as it is the briefest:--
"In the Civil Wars of the Commonwealth, there resided in Kendal one
Colonel Briggs, a leading magistrate, and an active commander in the
Cromwellian army. At that time, also, Robert Philipson, surnamed from
his bold and licentious character, _Robin the Devil_, inhabited the
island on Windermere, called Belle Isle. Colonel Briggs besieged Belle
Isle for eight or ten days, until the siege of Carlisle being raised,
Mr. Huddleston Philipson, of Crook, hastened from Carlisle, and
relieved his brother Robert. The next day, being Sunday, Robin, with a
small troop of horse, rode to Kendal to make reprisals.
"He stationed his men properly in the avenues, and himself rode
directly into the church in search of Briggs, down one aisle and up
another. In passing out at one of the upper doors, his head struck
against the portal, when his helmet, unclasped by the blow, fell to
the ground and was retained. By the confusion into which the
congregation were thrown, he was suffered quietly to ride out. As he
left the churchyard, however, he was assaulted; his girths were cut,
and he himself was unhorsed. His party now returned upon the
assailants; and the Major, killing with his own hands the man who had
seized him, clapped the saddle upon his horse, and, ungirthed as it
was, vaulted into it, and rode full speed through the streets, calling
to his men to follow him; and with his party made a safe retreat to
his asylum on the lake. The helmet was afterwards hung aloft, as a
commemorating badge of sacrilegious temerity."
The episode was used by Sir Walter Scott for some particularly spirited
lines in "Rokeby" (stanza 33, canto vi.), and in his notes Sir Walter
explained that "This, and what follows, is taken from a real achievement
of Major Robert Philipson, called from his desperate and adventurous
courage _Robin the Devil_." A reference to the poem will show that this,
as dealing with fact, can only be applied to the first sixteen lines,
which run:--
"The outmost crowd have heard a sound
Like horse's hoofs on hardened ground;
Nearer it came, and yet more near,--
The very death's-men paused to hear.
'Tis in the churchyard now--the tread
Hath waked the dwelling of the dead!
Fresh sod and old sepulchral stone
Return the tramp in varied tone.
All eyes upon the gateway hung,
When through the Gothic arch there sprung
A horseman armed, at headlong speed--
Sable his cloak, his plume, his steed.
Fire from the flinty floor was spurned;
The vaults unwonted clang returned!--
One instant's glance around he threw,
From saddle-bow his pistol drew."
Mr. Stockdale, in his "Annals of Furness," says there was a tradition in
his time that the Parliamentarians in 1643 stabled three troops of horse
in the nave of Cartmell Church; and there can be no doubt that to similar
base uses other ecclesiastical structures in the diocese were occasionally
put in turbulent times. Carlisle Cathedral was often used for purposes of
war, and it was not free from other exciting scenes. During the
Commonwealth it was the centre of much rioting. George Fox preached there,
and files of musketeers had to be brought in to clear the place of the
rioters. After the ill-fated rebellion of '45, the cathedral was still
further degraded, being made into a prison for captured Highlanders.
Some Church Curiosities.
Under a great variety of divisions many curious facts connected with the
old-time churches of the northern counties might be noted that cannot here
be touched upon. Some of them--especially those associated with the
personal aspect--had their origin solely in the circumstances of the time;
others may be traced to personal idiosyncracies; while geographical
reasons may be found for a third class. With a few exceptions it has not
been deemed necessary in this chapter to go beyond the Reformation. Among
the records concerning Kendal Church is a reference in the Patent Rolls of
1295, in which Walter de Maydenestane is described as "parson of a moiety
of the church of Kirkeby, in Kendale." An inquiry in _Notes and
Queries_[6] brought the suggestion that probably this was one of the
places which used to have both a rector and a vicar, several instances of
that arrangement having been in force being mentioned. No information was,
however, forthcoming as to the Kendal case.
Boy bishops are not unknown, and Westmorland affords an instance of an
infant rector, the following appearing in the list for Long Marton, as
compiled by Dr. Burn:--"1299. John de Medburn, an infant, was presented by
Idonea de Leyburne, and the Bishop committed the custody of the said
infant to a priest named William de Brampton, directing him to dispose of
the profits of the rectory in such manner as to provide for the supply of
the cure, and the education of the young rector in some public school of
learning." If John de Medburn ever took up the duties of his office, it
could not have been for any extended period, as another rector was
instituted in 1330.