held the first place in popularity among the holidays and festivals of the
year. In the summer season Whitsuntide--which marks the end of one term of
farm service--was the most popular. At Christmas "the treat circulated
from house to house, and every table was decorated in succession with a
profusion of dishes, including all the pies and puddings then in use. Ale
possets also constituted a favourite part of the festive suppers, and were
given to strangers for breakfast before the introduction of tea. They were
served in bowls, called doublers, into which the company dipped their
spoons promiscuously; for the simplicity of the times had not yet seen the
necessity of accommodating each guest with a basin or soup plate. The
posset cup shone as an article of finery in the better sort of houses; it
consisted of pewter, and was furnished with two, three, or more lateral
pipes, through which the liquid part of the compound might be sucked by
those who did not choose the bread. This plentiful repast was moistened
with a copious supply of malt liquor, which the guests drank out of horns
and the wooden cans already mentioned. The aged sat down to cards and
conversation for the better part of the night, while the young men amused
the company with exhibitions of maskers, amongst whom the clown was the
conspicuous character; or parties of rapier-dancers displayed their
dexterity in the sportive use of the small-sword. In the meantime the
youth of both sexes romped and gambolled promiscuously, or sat down not
unfrequently to hunt the rolling-pin."
The Gowrie Plot is brought to mind by a record in the Greystoke books that
is unusually quaint in its style: "1603, August, ffrydaye the v{th} day
was comnded for to be keapt holy daye yearely from cessation of laybour
w{th} gyvinge of thanks for the kyngs most excelent matye for his ma{tyes}
p'servation and deliverance from the Crewell Conspiracie practized against
his mat{ies} pson in Scotland that v{th} daye of August, 1600." Three
years sufficed for this celebration; then Gunpowder Plot came in for
notice, as is seen from an item dated November 5th, 1606: "The sayde daye
was Kenges holy day, and one sermon by M{r} pson the xi Isaie 2 verse."
The chronicler followed this registration of his text by a list of the
names of the chief people in the parish who attended the service.
The shearing days used to be high festivals on the fells and in the dales
of both counties. Now the gatherings have been deprived of some of their
most characteristic features; and even the chairing is almost forgotten.
Richardson's chapter on "Auld Fashint Clippins and Sec Like," in
"Stwories at Ganny uset to Tell," relates how the chairing used to be
done. The song, once an indispensable item in the programme, may now and
again be heard, lustily shouted by the dalesmen. After declaring that "the
shepherd's health--it shall go round," the chorus continues:
"Heigh O! Heigh O! Heigh O!
And he that doth this health deny,
Before his face I him defy.
He's fit for no good company,
So let this health go round."
The coronation of a monarch was invariably made the occasion for
merry-making by the consumption of much ale by the common folk, especially
by bell-ringers and others who could have the score discharged by the
churchwardens. There is such an entry in the Crosthwaite books relating to
the coronation of George the First. In 1821, November 5th, there was
"spent in ale at Nicholas Graves 5s." This worthy who was parish clerk at
Crosthwaite for fifty-six years, was also the owner of a public-house in
the town, and among his other qualifications was that of being will-maker
for many of the inhabitants. At Penrith, Kendal, Carlisle, and many other
places the church bells were set ringing, bonfires lighted, and ale
barrels tapped--usually at the expense of the churchwardens--on very small
provocation.
Among other festivals now no longer observed, and probably forgotten, was
that known as Brough Holly Night. In a little pamphlet published between
thirty and forty years ago the following note on the subject was printed,
but the writer has been unable to ascertain when the custom was last seen
in the old Westmorland town: "On Twelfth Night, at Brough, the very
ancient custom of carrying the holly-tree through the town is observed.
There are two or three inns in the town which provide for the ceremony
alternately, though the townspeople lend a hand to prepare the tree, to
every branch of which a torch composed of greased rushes is affixed. About
eight o'clock in the evening the tree is taken to a convenient part of the
town, where the torches are lighted, the town band accompanying and
playing till all is completed, when it is carried up and down the town,
preceded by the band and the crowd who have now formed in procession. Many
of the inhabitants carry lighted branches and flambeaus, and rockets,
squibs, etc., are discharged on the occasion. After the tree has been thus
paraded, and the torches are nearly burnt out, it is taken to the middle
of the town, where, amidst the cheers and shouts of the multitude, it is
thrown among them. Then begins a scene of noise and confusion, for the
crowd, watching the opportunity, rush in and cling to the branches, the
contention being to bear it to the rival inns, 'sides' having been formed
for that purpose; the reward being an ample allowance of ale, etc., to the
successful competitors. The landlord derives his benefit from the numbers
the victory attracts, and a fiddler being all ready, a merry night, as it
is called here, is got up, the lads and lasses dancing away till morning."
There were once many wells and springs in the two counties which were held
in more than common regard by the inhabitants, and corresponded to the
Holy Wells of other districts. Between sixty and seventy years ago this
was written of a custom once common at Skirsgill, about a mile from
Penrith: "Upon the sloping lawn is a remarkably fine spring; its water is
pure and sparkling, and was formerly held in such veneration that the
peasantry resorted to it, and held an annual fair round its margin. In
descending a flight of stone steps, you perceive inside a drinking cup,
and over the door-top, neatly cut in stone, the form of a water jug."
Cumberland is said to have had nearly thirty Holy Wells, and of one of
these Mr. Hope tells us[18] that "The Holy Well near Dalston, Cumberland,
was the scene of religious rites on stipulated occasions, usually Sundays.
The villagers assembled and sought out the good spirit of the well, who
was 'supposed to teach its votaries the virtues of temperance, health,
cleanliness, simplicity, and love.'"
The various well festivals in the Penrith district have all passed away,
as has a once popular gathering of another kind, known as Giant's Cave
Sunday. The assemblies were at "the hoary caves of Eamont," about three
miles from Penrith, and the late Rev. B. Porteus, then Vicar of Edenhall,
wrote of them nearly forty years ago: "The picnics are of frequent
occurrence at this picturesque and romantic spot; and have been
occasionally patronised by special culinary demonstrations by the
hospitable proprietor of the estate. Giant's Cave Sunday is still
observed, but the custom has dwindled into insignificance, the 'shaking
bottles' carried by the children at that season being the only remains of
what it has been. But it affords a pleasant walk to the people of
Penrith, as it has probably done since the time when the caves were the
residence of a holy man."
Among the festivities now to be numbered among bygone things must be
mentioned the Levens Radish Feast, which had much more than a local fame.
In the time of Colonel Grahme there was great rivalry between the houses
of Dallam Tower and Levens. The former once invited every person who
attended Milnthorpe Fair to partake of the good cheer provided in the
park, a piece of hospitality which irritated the Colonel very much. As a
consequence, the following year when the Mayor and Corporation of Kendal
went to proclaim the fair, he took them to Levens, and provided such a
royal entertainment that the civic fathers gladly accepted the invitation
for succeeding years. The fair sex were rigidly excluded. Long tables were
placed on the bowling green, and spread with oat bread, butter, radishes,
and "morocco," a kind of strong beer, for which the Hall was famed. After
the feast came the "colting" of new visitors, and various amusements that
are better to read about than witness.
[Illustration: LEVENS HALL.--_Front View._]
On the Road.
Few parts of England could have been so inaccessible as were Cumberland
and Westmorland prior to the middle of the last century. Roads were
scarce, unless the dignity of the name be given to the rough tracks which
served for the passage of pack-horses, and even these did not reach a
great number, having regard to the area which they served. There was
little to call the people away from home, to London and other great
centres of industry. The journey from the north to the Metropolis was such
a great undertaking that men who had any possessions to leave behind them
almost invariably made their wills before starting out. The richer sort,
of course, rode their horses, and an interesting account of the journey
was left by Henry Curwen, of Workington Hall, as to his trip to London in
1726. The most accessible route was very roundabout--by Penrith,
Stainmore, Barnard Castle, York, and so through the eastern counties. This
journey on horseback occupied thirteen days, including four which were
utilised for visiting friends on the way. The roads he described as being
very bad, and a ride of thirty-two miles he declared to be equal to fifty
measured miles.
People with fewer guineas to spare had of necessity to walk.
"Manufacturers made their wills, and settled their worldly affairs, before
taking a long journey, and many of them travelled on foot to London and
other places, to sell their goods, which were conveyed on the backs of
pack-horses."[19] Even more recently pedestrian excursions from Mid
Cumberland to London have been undertaken; there was the well-known case
of Mally Messenger, who died in August, 1856, at the age of ninety-three
years. Several times before she attained middle age Mally walked to London
and back to Keswick, a distance of 286 miles in each direction. On one
occasion she was passed by a Keswick man on horseback, who by way of a
parting message remarked, "Good-day, Mally; I'll tell them in Keswick
you're coming." The pedestrian, however, was the better traveller, for she
often used to boast afterwards that she reached Keswick first.
When old-time Bamptonians wanted to see the Metropolis they could not go
to Shap or Penrith and thence be carried by excursions for considerably
under a sovereign. This is how the vicar went on foot in 1697, as recorded
in the parish registers: "Feb. the 7 did Mr. Knott set forward for London,
got to Barking to Mr. Blamyres, Friday, March the fourth, to London March
the seaventh, remained there 8 weekes and 2 dayes, came out May the 5,
1698, gott to Bampton Grainge, May the 20, at night."
Even apart from the perils which beset travellers during the times of the
Border forays, there were many things which must have restrained the
average Cumbrian and Westmerian from wandering far abroad. To those who
were obliged to walk or ride far, the old hospitals must have been very
welcome institutions. One of these, of which all traces have long been
lost, was the hospital on the desolate and remote fells of Caldbeck. "Out
of Westmorland and the east parts of Cumberland there lying an highway
through Caldbeck into the west of Cumberland, it was anciently very
dangerous for passengers to travel through it, who were often robbed by
thieves that haunted those woody parts and mountains. Thereupon Ranulph
Engain, the chief forester of Englewood, granted licence to the Prior of
Carlisle to build an hospital for the relief of distressed travellers who
might happen to be troubled by those thieves, or prejudiced by the snows
or storms in winter." The Prior made the enclosure, and doubtless the
hospice was a boon to many a wayfarer; the population increased, a church
was established, and in the time of King John, the hospital being
dissolved, the property of the secular institution was handed over to the
Church, and to this day the manor is known as Kirkland. The need for
former protection of the kind is still preserved in a landmark in the
parish, "the Hawk," or as the local pronunciation has it, "Howk." This
grotto was a noted meeting-place for thieves.
Even the King's Judges were not exempted from the perils of the road.
Hutchinson's description of Brampton says that "The judges, with the whole
body of barristers, attorneys, clerks, and serving men, rode on horseback
from Newcastle to Carlisle, armed and escorted by a strong guard under the
command of the sheriffs. It was necessary to carry provisions, for the
country was a wilderness which afforded no supplies. The spot where the
cavalcade halted to dine, under an immense oak, is not yet forgotten. The
irregular vigour with which criminal justice was administered shocked
observers whose lives had been passed in more tranquil districts. Juries,
animated by hatred, and by a sense of common danger, convicted
house-breakers and cattle-stealers with the promptitude of a court-martial
in a mutiny; and convicts were hurried by scores to the gallows."
Even taxes did not, it is to be feared, prevent some of the Cumbrians
occasionally throwing in their lot with, or assisting, the vagabonds who
were the cause of all the trouble. "It was often found impossible to track
the robbers to their retreats among the hills and morasses, for the
geography of that wild country was very imperfectly known. Even after the
accession of George the Third, the path over the fells from Borrowdale to
Ravenglass was still a secret carefully kept by the dalesman, some of whom
had probably in their youth escaped from justice by the road." Such is the
record which may be gathered from Gray's "Journal of a Tour in the Lakes"
in 1769.
Coach travelling was an expensive luxury, and those who undertook the
journeys between London and the north did not do so solely for pleasure.
From an advertisement, nearly a column in length, which appeared in the
London _Star_ at the end of 1795 the following is taken:--
SARACEN'S HEAD INN.
SNOW-HILL, LONDON.
SAFE, EASY, AND EXPEDITIOUS TRAVELLING.
With every accommodation that can lessen the fatigue,
or add to the pleasure of the Journey, to
most parts of England and the
Principal Towns in Scotland,
by the following
NEW AND ELEGANT COACHES:
Carlisle and Penrith rapid Post Coach, goes with four horses, and a
guard all the way, passes through Brough, Appleby, Gretabridge,
Richmond, Catterick, Boroughbridge, Wetherby, Alberford, Doncaster,
and Grantham (the nearest way by 18 miles) sets out every morning, and
performs the journey with the greatest ease and convenience.
Passengers desirous to stop on the road, have the advantage of their
seats being secured in the next Coach (with only six Coachmen).
WILLIAM MOUNTAIN and CO. respectfully acquaint their Friends and the
Public that, still emulous to deserve as well as preserve their
invaluable esteem, they have provided Lamps and Guards, that travel
throughout with all the above Coaches.
N.B. The Proprietors of the above Coaches from the above inn, will not
be accountable for any Parcel, Luggage, Goods, &c., of more value than
Five Pounds (if lost) unless entered as such and paid for accordingly.
An earlier advertisement which appeared in the Cumberland newspapers of
1775 shows that the journey to London was done in three days, at a cost
of L3 10s. per passenger. The notice ran:--
"Carlisle Post Coach.--In Three Days for London.--Sets out from the
Bush Inn, Carlisle, every Sunday evening, at seven o'clock precisely,
by way of Burrowbridge, being well known to the public to be the
nearest and best road to London (and is also calculated for more ease
and satisfaction to the passengers than any other coach). It also sets
out from the Bell and Crown, Holborn, every Wednesday evening, at
eight o'clock. Each inside passenger from Carlisle to London to pay L3
10s. From the George Inn, Penrith, L3 7s. 6d., and threepence per mile
for all passengers taken up on the road. Each passenger to be allowed
14lb. luggage; all above to pay 4d. per pound; small parcels at 3s.
each.... Performed by J. Garthwaite and Co."
Locomotion was still more difficult and costly in the early part of the
seventeenth century. In the Household Books of Naworth, extending from
1612 to 1640, are found such significant entries as the following:--"March
22, 1626. Hewing a way for the coach beyond Gelt Bridge, 2s. 3d." On one
occasion, Sir Francis Howard, being sick, hired a coach for his journey
from London to Bowes, which cost L18. Lord William Howard's journeys to
London were always taken on horseback, and he was generally ten or twelve
days on the road, the travelling expenses varying, according to the number
of his retinue and the direction of the route taken. A journey by way of
Shiffnal and Lydney occupied eleven days, and cost L30 7s. 1d.; whilst the
expenses of another, from Thornthwaite to London with twenty-four men and
twelve horses in his train, came to L20 15s. 4d.
In addition to the coaches, people often travelled by what were termed
"expeditious wagons," which carried goods. One notice dated November 24th,
1790, concerning these vehicles may be quoted:--
"In ten days from Carlisle to London, and the same in return by way of
York every week. Messrs. Handleys respectfully inform their friends
and the public in general that they have erected stage waggons which
leave Carlisle early on Tuesday morning and arrive at York on Thursday
night, and Leeds on Saturday morning (where goods for all parts in the
south are regularly forwarded by the respective carriers), arrive at
the White Bear, Bassinghall Street, on Friday night, and set out every
Monday morning, and arrive at and leave York on Tuesday morning,
Bedal, Richmond, Barnard Castle, Burgh, Appleby, Penrith, and arrive
at Carlisle on Friday evening, where goods are immediately forwarded
to Wigton, Cockermouth, Workington, Whitehaven, and any other place in
Cumberland; also to Annan, Dumfries, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and
all other principal towns in Scotland. They hope by their attention
to business to merit the favours of all those who please to employ
them. N.B.--Their waggon leaves Sheffield on Saturday, and Leeds on
Monday. For further particulars apply to Robert Wilson, book-keeper,
or J. Birkett, innkeeper, Carlisle."
A writer in 1812, on the manners and customs of the people of Westmorland
during the preceding century, stated that wheel carriages were very little
used for private intercourse or trade; for persons of both sexes made
short journeys on horseback, the women being commonly seated on pillions
behind the men. Very few made long excursions from home, except the
manufacturers of Kendal, many of whom travelled on foot in quest of orders
for their worsted stockings and linsey-woolsey. Carriers did not employ
wagons, but drove gangs of pack-horses, each gang being preceded by a
bell-horse, and the owners reckoned a young woman equivalent to half a
pack in loading their beasts of burden. The predilection for transporting
all kinds of commodities on horseback was so general, that the fuel
consumed in Kendal came to the town in this manner. Coals were brought in
sacks upon galloways from Ingleton, and the turf or peat was conveyed from
the mosses in halts. These were a pair of strong wicker hampers, which
were joined by a pack-saddle, and hung across a horse's back. They were
put to various uses in husbandry, which offices are now performed by
carts. Halts gave way to carts in the progress of general improvement.
These vehicles were ill-contrived, particularly the wheels, which
consisted of two circular boards fixed without spokes immovably to the
ends of a cylinderical axle. The injudicious nature of the construction
required the axle itself to revolve beneath the cart, where it was kept in
its place by two pairs of parallel wooden pins, that projected downward
from the frame of the bottom.
A question concerning these old "tummel wheel'd cars" was asked in the
_Carlisle Journal_ a few months ago, and a correspondent supplied this
answer:--"I have seen at least two of these old-time machines of
locomotion. They had then been many years out of use. I speak now of a
date say 58 years gone past. One of them was stored in an open shed in the
farmyard of its venerable owner--the other had less respect shown to its
remains, for it stood in a neglected and unsheltered corner. Of course, I
never saw either of them in use. The wheels were funny, not to say clumsy,
looking affairs. Without spokes or felloes, they consisted of three
segment-shaped blocks of wood, fastened together rudely but strongly with
'dowels' of the same material, so as to form a circle. The wheels again
were similarly fastened to the axle, and the whole revolved in one solid
mass. The harness consisted mostly of ropes or girthing with loops at the
ends, and having cleets like the modern 'coo-tee' to hold them in
position. Very little leather was used, and but few buckles. Here is Mr.
Dickinson's description, 'In old times the horse was yoked to the cart by
a rope from the shoulders, and an iron ring sliding on the shaft held by a
pin. This was hammerband yoking. The tummel wheelers referred to were seen
by me in the Lake District (Ullswater) in the early forties.'"
Before turnpike roads were made, or wagons came into use, the merchandise
of Kendal was transported by the following pack-horses:--
One gang of pack-horses to and from London
every week, of about 20
One gang from Wigan weekly, about 18
One gang from Whitehaven, about 20
From Cockermouth 15
Two gangs from Barnard Castle 26
Two gangs from Penrith twice a week, about 15 each 60
One gang from Settle twice a week, about 15 each 30
From York weekly, about 10
From Ulverston 5
From Hawkeshead twice a week, about 6 12
From Appleby twice a week, about 6 12
From Cartmel 6
Carriages three or four times a week to and
from Milnthorpe, computed at 40 horse load 40
From Sedbergh, Kirkby Lonsdale, Orton, Dent,
and other neighbouring villages, about 20
----
Total 294
Besides 24 every six weeks for Glasgow.