counties, and only the well-to-do yeomen thought of taking their wives and
daughters frequently to market in the "shandry cart." It is only a quarter
of a century since the old pack-horses ceased to traverse some parts of
Westmorland and its borders. Mr. H. Speight, in one of his books,[20]
deals with a state of things which existed, not only in the Hawes
district, but considerably northward of that place. Handloom weaving was
an old local industry, and when a sufficient number of pieces were ready,
they were gathered up and conveyed by teams of pack-horses over the
mountains to the various West Riding towns. Discharging their loads they
would return laden with warp, weft, size, and other articles. When the
traffic ceased, hundreds of these sonorous pack-horse bells were sold for
old metal, and the brokers' shops for a time were full of them. Each bell
weighed from 1lb. to 2lbs. An old resident in North Westmorland not long
ago recalled very vividly the scenes to be witnessed, and confirmed the
accuracy of the following description from Mr. Speight's volume: "In the
old pack-horse days it was a sight worth remembering to witness the
procession of men and horses with miscellaneous goods, making their way
out of the Yorkshire dales, to Kirkby Stephen and the north. The drivers
from Garsdale and Grisedale came over the moor to Shaw Paddock, and thence
on to Aisgill, and to the old Thrang Bridge in Mallerstang, where they
were met by strings of pack-horses and men coming from the east country by
Hell Gill. It was a busy and picturesque scene, and the Thrang Bridge was
well named. Sometimes on special occasions, as during Brough Hill Fair,
the thrifty wives and daughters of the dales used to go up to Hell Gill
Bridge, and spread out stalls and baskets, stored with cakes, nuts,
apples, and bottles of home-made herb beer, and other non-intoxicants, to
sell to passing travellers. And a good business they did too, for there
was a continuous stream of wayfarers, who were glad, particularly if the
day were hot, to linger awhile and hear the gossip of the country-side,
cracking many a joke along with many a nut bought from the buxom stall
women. Occasionally herds of Highland cattle passed this way, and when the
far-travelled animals showed signs of fatigue, it was no uncommon thing to
see one of the men who carried a bagpipe play some lively air as he
marched in front of the drove. The animals seemed to enjoy the music, and
evidently appreciated this relief to the tediousness of the journey, by
walking, as they often would, with a brisker step, while some of them that
had lain down in the road would quickly rise at the novel far-sounding
strains, which brought many a cottager also to his feet from his home in
the echoing glen."
Old Customs.
Possibly the custom associated with Westmorland which can claim to be at
once among the oldest, as well as having been the most carefully followed,
is that connected with the familiar Countess's Pillar in the parish of
Brougham. The famous Countess Anne of Pembroke erected this structure in
1656, as the still perfect legible inscription on the southern side tells
us, for a laudable purpose: "This pillar was erected in 1656 by Anne,
Countess Dowager of Pembroke, etc., for a memorial of her last parting in
this place with her good and pious mother, Margaret, Countess Dowager of
Cumberland, the 2nd day of April, 1616, in memory whereof she has left an
annuity of L4, to be distributed to the poor of the parish of Brougham
every second day of April for ever, upon the stone placed hard by. _Laus
Deo._" The custom is scrupulously observed, the money being distributed on
April 2nd as directed, except when that day falls, as this year, on a
Sunday, and then the little ceremony is conducted on the following day.
When asked as to the regularity of the observance shortly before this
year's distribution, the Rev. W. S. Salman, the venerable Rector of
Brougham, said the details were carefully attended to; and, he added, "we
should soon hear about it if they were not."
How far the custom of rush-bearing goes back there is nothing in local
records to show, but there are some very old entries in the registers
concerning the practice. In spite of the Puritans the villagers were
keeping up the festival at Kirkby Lonsdale; there is this item among the
churchwardens' accounts for 1680: "Paid at the rush-bearing in drink, 3s."
Although the ceremony had in each place the same general features,
different parishes varied the proceedings. Flowers as well as rushes were
carried by the children, many of the blooms being made into garlands.
After the sermon, the roses and rushes brought the preceding year were
taken out, and the fresh ones put in their places. An old writer made the
following suggestion as to the origin of the custom: "That our forefathers
appointed a day on which they rendered public thanks to the Almighty for
His kindness in causing the earth to bring forth fruit for the sustenance
of man and beast, and that on these occasions they brought rushes, or
other productions of the soil, to the sanctuary, which they spread out as
a memorial before the lord." The theory is doubtless correct, as is proved
by the fact that at Warcop and other places where "rush-bearings"--minus
the rushes--are still kept up every summer, the service and other
proceedings are in the nature of a public thanksgiving.
[Illustration: COUNTESS'S PILLAR, BROUGHAM.
_From a Photo by Mr. John Bolton, Penrith._]
Nut Monday has passed into the region of forgotten things, even at such
places as the schools, where it was once a popular observance. It was,
however, kept so recently as 1861, when September 12th was held in Kendal
as a general holiday, almost every shop being closed. Possibly the failure
of the nut crop in several successive years was a factor in changing the
holiday to another time, and thus the day losing its distinctive
character. This, it will be noted, had nothing in common with another
custom observed in some other parts of the country--Crack Nut Sunday. The
latter was simply a desecrating practice, without a single good feature.
"Sunday observance" had more than a nominal meaning in bygone days, though
there is nothing to indicate that the people of the two counties had any
particular liking for the restrictions imposed. It was the practice in
nearly every town and village for the churchwardens to leave the church
during service time and walk through the town in search of people who
ought to have been at church, and special attention was paid to licensed
premises. Possibly, by the time the hostelries were reached, the
churchwardens felt the need of liquid refreshment; at any rate, they
frequently obtained it. Carlisle, in 1788, was divided into districts,
through each of which two constables and two of the principal inhabitants,
who took it in rotation, patrolled the streets from ten in the morning
till one, and from three to five in the afternoon, during which hours the
doors of all the public-houses were kept shut, the patrol having first
visited them to see that no person was tippling in them. "So much respect
is paid to this regulation," wrote a chronicler of the period, "that
during these hours no person is seen in the streets but those who are
going to or returning from some place of worship." Fines were occasionally
imposed for non-attendance at church; that does not seem to have been the
rule, moral suasion apparently sufficing to meet most requirements. The
Corporation of Kendal took powers to inflict what were then--three
hundred years ago--heavy fines for selling ale during service hours.
Among the customs and beliefs noted as prevalent at Whitbeck, in West
Cumberland, in 1794, were these: "Newly-married persons beg corn to sow
their first crop with, and are called corn-laiters. People always keep
wake with the dead. The labouring ox is said to kneel at twelve o'clock at
night, preceding the day of the Nativity; the bees are heard to sing at
the same hour. On the morn of Christmas Day breakfast early on
hack-pudding, a mess made of sheep's heart mixed with suet and sweet
fruits. To whichever quarter a bull faces in lying on All Hallows' Eve,
from thence the wind will blow the greater part of the winter." It has
been surmised that the hack-pudding resembles sweet-pie, which is not
unlike a mince-pie on a large scale, mutton being used instead of beef,
and the ingredients not finely chopped.
Here, as in other parts of the country, beating the bounds, both of
parishes and manors, was a popular, though oft-times toilsome, observance.
In a few registers, records have been preserved of the old-time landmarks,
a precaution of special value in days before the Ordnance Survey was
thought of. Dalston registers not only supply this information, but a
description of the ceremony of perambulation. Curiosities of divisions are
not lacking. An old man, once a parishioner of Dalston, told the Rev. J.
Wilson[21] that he had a vivid recollection of taking part in the ritual
of beating the bounds many years ago, and throwing a rope over a house,
part of which stands in Castle Sowerby, in order to mark the division of
the contiguous parishes. The walls of the house exist still, though
unroofed, where the inhabitants were wont to say, half a century ago, that
they always slept in Dalston and breakfasted in Castle Sowerby.
"Furth" was a word used by the inhabitants of Orton long ago. In those
days, before the era of coal burning, most of the houses had what were
called hearth fire-places, with big open chimneys but no fire-grates.
Householders had the privilege of getting turf on the moors, and during
the winter nights neighbours used to assemble in one another's houses in
succession. Orton and Ravenstonedale were famous places for knitting, and
the folks all sat round the blazing turf fire knitting away at top speed.
Both men and women were thus occupied, and made a peculiar rattling noise
with so many needles working at once. The conversations at these Furth
Neets were very amusing, the talk ranging from the state of the crops,
such as they were in those days of what would be called low farming, to
the prices of produce and the latest doings of Mary Baynes, the local
witch.
Formerly some of the inhabitants of Orton had what were called penthouses
in front of their dwellings. It was a custom on Candlemas Day for those
who had money to lend to appear under the sheds or penthouses, with
neckcloths tied round their heads, and if the weather was cold, while the
money-lenders were shivering beneath the scanty shelter, the borrowers
frequented the public-houses, where there was much carousing. This curious
custom has long been discouraged, and only one penthouse is now standing.
Reminders of Border service remained in the two counties long after the
Act of Union had been passed. Thus the secluded hamlet of Kentmere was
divided into sixty tenements for the maintenance of as many soldiers, and
so recently as the middle of this century it was written: "The vestiges of
this ancient regulation still remain, for the township is divided into
four parts, and each of these parts into fifteen tenements. For each
tenement a man serves the office of constable, and pays 2s. per annum to
the curate."
Public affairs in the village of Torpenhow used to be managed by "the
sixteen men," elected by the householders in the four quarters into which
the parish was divided, the vicar and churchwardens being apparently _ex
officio_ members of this early Parish Council. The last nomination of the
sixteen took place about 1807; they had a great variety of duties,
carrying out functions that are now discharged by School Boards, Parish,
District, and County Councils. So far as is known, the most detailed
information concerning the duties of the "sworn men" is given in the Orton
(Westmorland) registers, where, following the fourteen names of "the
sworne men of Orto' anno d'ni 1596," is this statement, so far as it can
be deciphered:--
"_Imprimis_ that thes be diligent and careful to see and provide that
the people be ... and behave the'selves honestlie ... feare of God
according to the Holie word of God and the Good and wholesome laws of
this land. _Secondlie_ to see that the Churchwardens be careful and
diligent in executinge their office, ioyne with thes in suppressing of
sinne and such as behave the'selves inordinatlie to reprove and
rebuke those who be found offenders, and if they will not amend to
p{e}sent the' to be punished. _Thirdlie_ to se that the Church and
Churchy{d} be decentlie repaired and mainteyned. Also we as agreed
y{t} everie p'sonnis beinge found faultie by the Churchwardens and
p'sented to the sworn me' shall paie xij{d.} to the poor ma's box. And
that whosoever doth not come p'sent the'selves lawfull warning being
given either of the xij or Churchwardens to the place appointed shall
lose xij to the poore ma's box without a sufficient cause to the
contrarie whereof thes are to certifie the rest assembled at ...
appointed to their meetinge. Lastly that the Churchwardes ... and take
the sam forfat ... p'sent the offenders."
Another kind of Parish Council existed at Helton, near Lowther, about a
century ago. A chronicler of seventy years since gives this account of
it:--"At Helton, at the end of the Tythe Barn, was formerly a stone seat,
where the inhabitants met for the purpose of transacting their parochial
affairs. He who came first waited till he was joined by the rest; and it
was considered a mark of great rudeness for anyone to absent himself from
the meeting. After conferring on such matters as related to the parish
they separated, and each returned home."
There was a very noteworthy Council at Watermillock, called the Head
Jurie, and Mr. W. Hodgson, a former schoolmaster in the parish, did good
service some years ago by transcribing the records of that body, from 1610
to more than a century later. They performed all the duties--and more--now
delegated to Parish Councils; indeed they seem to have had control of
everything pertaining to the government of the parish. Among the contents
of the book on "Paines and Penalties laid by the Head Jurie" is this entry
concerning a Court held in 1629:--
"We find for a good amongst ourselves that all the inhabitants within
the hamlet of Weathermelock shall amend all the church ways and all
other ways yearly, and every year, upon the first work day in
Christmas, if the day be seasonable, at ye sight of ye Constables and
Churchwardens for the time being upon paine of sixpence of everyone
that maketh default. And alsoe all as aforesaid shall meet and mend
the peat way always upon Whitsun Wednesday, and everyone to meet where
his way lyeth, and everyone to send a sufficient man to the sight of
the Constable for the time being upon paine of sixpence of everyone
that maketh default. And that the Constable be there upon paine of
sixpence to see who make default."
In the old manorial halls fools or jesters were frequently to be found
among the members of the households. The late Dr. Taylor suggested that
when Yanwath Hall was a very important link in the chain of Border
defences, such a servant was kept; and Mr. R. S. Ferguson once reminded
the members of the Archaeological Society that, in 1601, both the Mayor of
Carlisle and Sir Wilfred Lawson kept fools, as probably did also the
Bishop of Carlisle. The Mayor's fool got a coat for Christmas, while Sir
Wilfred's appears in the accounts of the Corporation as being "tipped" for
bringing messages to Carlisle. A fool was also kept at Muncaster Castle.
There was a custom very common in connection with the apprenticeship
system at the beginning of the century. In a pamphlet written by John S.
Lough, a former Penrith printer, appeared this paragraph:--"Burying the
Old Wife is a custom still prevalent among the operatives in the north at
the expiration of the term of apprenticeship. The late apprentice is taken
into a room adjoining that where the party is met to celebrate the
loosening, and after an old woman's cap is put on his head, the body is
enveloped in a white sheet. He is then taken upon the shoulders of his
comrades into the banqueting room, round which he is carried a few times,
in not very solemn procession, and finally placed upon the boards whereon
the figure of a grave is chalked. A kind of funeral service is gone
through, and the old wife is buried."
"The simple annals of the poor" in the two counties contain many pathetic
accounts of their condition and treatment ere the public conscience was
awakened to the necessity of a more humane method. Here, as in many other
parts of the country, the poor were often let out to contractors. Among
the churchwardens' accounts at Hayton for 1773 there is a copy of a
contract between the churchwardens and Thomas Wharton, of The Faugh, "for
letting the poor for a year" to the latter. The Rev. R. W. Dixon, vicar of
the parish, about twenty years ago went into the history of this
transaction. A vestry meeting was called for the purpose, and conditions
were entered into between the churchwardens and the overseers on the one
part, and Thomas Wharton on the other. The parish overseers were to find
bedding and apparel for the paupers, but Wharton was to mend their clothes
and stockings, and be allowed 5s. for the purpose. A child not a year old
was to be counted as one person with the mother, and be fed and clothed by
the parish; and if a pauper died in the house he was to be buried at the
expense of the parish. Wharton was to find sufficient meat, drink,
washing, lodging, and firing for the paupers, to the satisfaction of the
parish officers, who had authority to visit the house as often as they
pleased. He was to receive a yearly salary of L12 10s., and a weekly
allowance of 1s. 2d. for each pauper, but if a pauper stayed under a week
a deduction was to be made accordingly. On these terms Wharton was
declared master of the workhouse.
The children who used to attend the ancient Robinson's School at Penrith
were sent out each day to beg, and that there might be no mistake as to
their identity, each was obliged to wear what was locally called "the
badge of poverty."
It is decidedly an unfortunate thing, from the point of view of the
antiquary, that so many of the old plague stones which used to be found in
different places should have disappeared. Penrith had two; and one of them
remains, but from observations occasionally heard it is to be feared that
only a small proportion of the townspeople have an idea of the use of the
old font-like erection. It is interesting to quote the account given by a
Penrith land surveyor and innkeeper, who wrote more than a century ago[22]
on this subject:--"Nearly half-way between Eamont Bridge and Penrith
stands an house, called from its situation Half-way House, but formerly
_Mill_ or _Meal Cross_, from the following circumstance. During the
dreadful plague which visited this country in the year 1598, and almost
depopulated Penrith (no less than 2,260 in the town falling victims to
this merciless disease), the Millers and Villagers refused to bring their
commodities into the town to market for fear of infection. The
inhabitants, therefore, were under the necessity of meeting them here, and
performing a kind of quarantine before they were allowed to buy anything.
This was said to be almost at the option of the country people. This much
is certain: No man was allowed to touch the money made use of on these
occasions, it being put into a vessel of water, whence they had a method
of taking it without touching it with their fingers. For this purpose they
erected a cross which remains to this day. For greater conveniences they
erected a cross at the town's-head, and erected shambles, etc.; the place
still retains the name of the Cross-green: they built a third cross near
the Carlisle road a little above the second, where black cattle, sheep,
hoggs, and goats were sold; and it retains yet the name of the Nolt-Fair
[Nolt: Oxen, cows, etc.], and continues to be the market for cattle."
[Illustration: PLAGUE STONE, PENRITH.]
The road was widened and improved in 1834, when the water trough was
found, and afterwards placed where it now stands. There was a somewhat
similar structure in the park at Eden Hall, and is said to mark the site
of the former village. The base is still retained, but some decades ago
there was put a memorial cross upon it. Going over the border of
Westmorland a short distance are other reminders of these old-time
epidemics. In the parish registers of Hawkshead it is stated that in 1721
the sum of 1s. 6d. was paid to the apparitor for a book concerning the
plague. Here is material for several queries. Was there an outbreak of
some disease which obtained that name so late as 1720, or was the volume
meant for a record of what had gone before? Again, if the book was ever
written, what became of it? The records of the le Flemings, the Earls of
Lonsdale, the Earls of Westmorland, and others published by the Historical
Manuscripts Commission abound in references to the plague.
A stone in the remote hamlet of Armboth, above what is now the great
reservoir of the Manchester Corporation, marks the place where the local
commerce was carried on when personal intercourse was dangerous on account
of the plague. The custom existed after the epidemic had passed away, the
people from the fells and dales continuing to take their webs and yarn to
what is still known as "the Webstone."
The registers of Dalston are particularly valuable for purposes of local
history, partly owing to the fact that Rose Castle, the residence of the
Bishops of Carlisle, is in that parish. There are also many other ways in
which they are interesting. One of the earliest houses mentioned in the
books is Bell Gate or Bellyeat. Miss Kupar, who closely studied the
records of this and some other parishes, wrote a few years ago with regard
to this house: "The people will have it that a bell hung here to announce
the arrival of the pack-horses _en route_ for Keswick, and some maintain
that it served to warn the neighbourhood of the approach of the
moss-troopers."
Although the old custom of ringing the curfew is gradually dying out, in
several places in Cumberland and Westmorland the practice is kept up
still. In the hall at Appleby Castle there is an interesting reminder of
the custom. This is the curfew-bell which was found in the tower at the
Castle, and it finds an honoured place now among the family possessions.
When swung to and fro the bell is found to have a very sweet tone, but
while it was vigorously rung in the evenings long ago the burgesses would
not have any difficulty in hearing its loud and peculiar warning note. The
inscription is not very easy to decipher, but it appears to run thus:--
"Soli Deo Gloria. Pax Homibus, S.S. Fecit, 1661. W.S."
Nothing is known at the Castle as to the maker, though it is possible that
experts in bell-lore might be able to trace its record from the
inscription.
Old School Customs.
The chequered histories of the old schools at Appleby, Kirkby Stephen,
Kendal, Crosthwaite, Carlisle, Penrith, and several other towns in the two
counties, would suffice to make a large book of an interesting character.
Some of the rules which governed the institutions in bygone days were
decidedly quaint. The nineteen long paragraphs which make up the
"Constitutions, Ordinances, and Statutes for the Free Grammar School at
Kirkby Stephen," as drawn up in 1568 by Lord Wharton, included this
curious stipulation:--
"I will that the said Schoolmaster shall have and receive yearly L12
as his Hire and Wages, at two Terms of the year, if he teach in manner
and form following, viz., At the Feast of Pentecost and St. Martin, by
equal portions, by the hands of my Son, Heir, and Heirs, and the
Governours. And the said Schoolmaster shall, within ten dayes after he
hath taken upon him and be installed in the said Office, before the
said Governours, or two of them, and before my Son and Heir, or Heirs
of my House of Wharton, for the time being, and in presence of the
Churchwardens and Twelve men of Kirkby-Stephen Parish, or six of them,
in the Parish Church there, make this Oath following: 'I do swear by
the holy Contents of this Book that I will freely, without exacting
any money, diligently teach and instruct the Children of this parish,
and all others that resort to me, in Grammar and other Humane
Doctrine, according to the Statutes thereof made; And shall read to
them no corrupt or reprobate Book, or Works set forth at any time
contrary to the Determination of the Universal Catholic Church,
whereby they might be infected in their youth with any kind of Heresy
or corrupt Doctrine, or else be induced to an insolent manner of
Liveing; And further shall observe all the Statutes and Ordinances of
this School, now made or that hereafter shall be made, which concern
me; and shall do nothing in prejudice thereof, but help to maintain
the same, from time to time, dureing my abode herein, to the best of
my power. So Help me God, and the Contents of this book.'"
At six o'clock in the morning, and at the same hour in the evening, master
and scholars had to march from school to church, for prayers, afterwards
going to the tomb which Lord Wharton had erected in the quire and sing one
of fifteen psalms. This was the order for working hours:--"And the same
Scholemr., every Work-day at the least, shall begin to teach from Six a
Clock in ye morning in Summer, and from Seven a Clock in Winter; and so
shall continue in teaching until Eleven a Clock. The self same thing shall
he diligently do after Dinner, from One of the Clock till Six in Summer
and five in Winter."