_The Forest and Vale in Stuart Times_
A.D. 1603 to 1714
As in the two preceding chapters the records belonging to the Stuart
period are so numerous that one is almost embarrassed at the mass of
detailed information that has been preserved, and it is only possible to
select some of the most interesting facts. Commencing with the parish
registers, however, we are confronted with a gap of about thirteen years.
After having been kept with regularity since 1559, there appears on p. 48
of the earliest book this curious entry: "Edward Milnes Vicar of Pickering
rent out all these following leaves." The missing pages contained the
entries from 1602 to 1615, and this coincides with the years of Milnes's
tenure of the living, for he appears to have come to Pickering in 1602,
and he was deprived in 1615. The reasons for removing this vicar are
recorded as follows in the last pages of the register, but the motives
that prompted him to tear out these thirtyfive parchment pages from the
register do not appear:--
"A true copie of the Order of the Councel ther in Pickering Lith asserted?
obtained by Mr Lawrence Trotter attornie at the Common law Año do[=m]i
1615.
[Sidenote: [Much thumbed at the edge.]]
"At the Court at Greenewich on Sunday the 21 of May 1615 in the afternoone:
present L. Archbishop of Canterburie, L. Chancelor, L. Knolls, L.
Treasurer Mr Secretarie Winwood, D. of Linnox, Mr Chanceler of the Excheq,
E. of Worcester, L. Chiefe iusice, E. of Pembrooke, Mr of y^e Rolles, L.
Souch, Sir Thomas Lake.
[Transcriber's Note: [_P] and [_p] was used to represent a P or p with a
horizontal stroke through the lower part of the stem.]
"Complaint having bin made unto the boarde by the Inhabitants of the towne
and parish of Pickering in the Countie of Yorke. That that personage now
in possession of the bishop of Bristoll Deane of Yorke (it being an
indowment of the said Deanerie) such slender care hath bene had by him for
the preaching of the Gospell unto the said parishioners, and giving them
that Christianlike and necessarie instru[~c]on which is fitting, as for a
long time they scarce had any sermon at all amongest them. Where upon
their Lordships were pleased to direct their Letters unto the s^d Lord
Bishop admonishing and requiring him to give speedie order for the
redresse of so great an inconvenience and so scandalous to his ma^ties
most Christian goverm^t. But receaving answer from his Lordship that in
respect the said [_P]sonage being an impropria[~c]on is indued w^th a
Vicarage and a Viccar presented thereunto he held him selfe freed in Law
from any further charge, and that the said [_P]snage was in Lease w^th.
such other like excuses but that notwithstanding he was contented to
procure them 12 sermons every yeare, their Lordships thought fitting this
day to call him to the boarde, and to let him sea in reason of State,
besides the great obligacon they had as Christians it behoved them to
presse his Lordship notwithstanding the former excuse to have yet a
further care of the teaching so great a multitude (they being 4000 people)
considering how busie the priestes and Jesuits are in these dayes
(especially in these quarters) not only laboring to corrupt his ma^ties
subjects in their religion but also infecting them with such damnable
posiciones and Doctrine touching the valew ... (?) unto his ma^ties sacred
person where upon the said bishop made offer unto the boarde that he would
forthwith (?) remove the vicar now there present and place in his roome
some lerned and religious pastor who should as it was desired weekely
preach unto the people and carefully instruct them in the points of faith
and religion of which their Lordships were pleased to accept for the
present, and accordingly inioyned him to the performance thereof and
withall ordered the said preacher now to be presented should first be
approved and allowed by the lorde Archbishop of Yorke in respect of
abilitie and sufficiencie." This entry is thus attested:--
"CONCORDAT CUM REGISTRO
FFRANCIS COTTINGTON
LAURENCE TROTTER ATTORNIE
EDWARD BRIGHT VICARIUS DE
PICKERING SCRIPTOR HUIS EXEMPLARIS."
[Illustration: The Font of Pickering Church.
It dates in its present form from 1644, but the upper portion, which shows
traces of painting, appears to be of very much earlier workmanship, and
has been thought to be of Saxon origin.
]
Edward Bright succeeded to the living in 1615. We may believe that he was
selected as being a "lerned and religious pastor." He appears to have
remained in possession until his death in 1659, though there is an entry
of the baptism of a son of a certain Robert King in 1644, who is described
as "minister." There must have been some exciting scenes in Pickering at
this time, for in the year 1644, when many other churches suffered a
similar fate, the registers record the breaking up of the font and the
tearing to pieces of the church Prayer Book on the same day. The entries
are in very small pale writing at the back of one of the books and read:--
"Baptisterii Pickerensis Demolitio, Septemb. 25, 1644."
And in another hand:--
"Liturgia ecclesie ibidem lacerata eodem die 1644."
Edward Bright had several children whose names appear in the registers,
and one of them, Joseph Bright, was on the 11th of July 1652 "elected and
declared to be the parish clerk of Pickering." He was then twenty-five
years old. On the night of August the 26th, 1634, there was a fire in the
town which burnt down two houses and caused great fear among the
inhabitants. Then among other entries on the back pages of register No. 2,
1615-53, appear recipes of this character:--
"A [cure?] for the dropsie in ye winter. Take a gallon of white wine and
broome ashes to the quantitie [a few indecipherable words] sifted and
drinke a pint thereof morning and [cause?] it [to?] be drunken also at
meale times with ones meats and at other times when one is drie a little
quantitie. Matthew Mitso ... e."
"For the same in Summer. Take a pecke of sage and bake it in a riddon (?)
pastie, and when it is baked to a hard crust breake there crust and all in
it ... and ... unne it up all into a barrell of drinke, and drinke it in
the Su[=m]er time especially in maye."
"_A remeadie for the stich._
"Take a j^d. of treacle a j^d of aqua-vite and a j^d of sal ... and apply
them to the place."
"_A medicine for wormes._
"Take lavander c ... unset leekes an ox ('or bull' _inserted above_) gall
and cu[=m]in seed, fry these togither with . (?) . and lay them warme in a
linnen clath to the childes belly."
Some other remedies that belong to this period were discovered by Mr
Blakeborough[1] in this neighbourhood. I have taken them from the original
seventeenth century writing:--
[Footnote 1: Calvert's MS. book in the possession of Mr Richard
Blakeborough. ]
"Take for to clear the eyes 1 ounce of dried batts bloode groude to powder
& white hens bloode & dung sift & when they be well mixed & quite dry then
blowe a little in the ill eye & yt shall soon be well."
_"For a pinne or ivebbe in ye eye._
"Take ye galle of an hare the gall of a mowerpate and of a wild cat and
honey and hogs lard a like quantity mix all together and annoynt y^e eye
w^th a feather dipped in yt and yt shalle be soon cured."
The details of a remedy "For a fallynge sickness" though possibly
considered very efficacious are too repulsive for modern ears.
The following recipe, "For the making of Honey Cakes. Certayne to be
acceptable to y^e Fairy Folk," is from the same source and is dated 1605:--
"Taike of wilde honey thre ounce, of powder'd dill sede half ounce swete
violet roote in fine powder 2 drachmes and six ounces of white wheaten
meal which you will bringe to a light dowgh these thinges being all mixed
together with faire water. This done with a silver spune helde in ye hand
of a sure maid one be you sure who hath not as yet owther yielded her own
or do then or ever hath worn a garter band there bound by her lover for
such be not fitt and proper maids for the maykinge of Fairy Cakes. The
Cakes thus mayde be they to the number of seven unbaked and mayde to the
biggness of a marke. These cakes thus mayde may be used by any one
wishfull to intercede with or begge a boon from the Fairy folk alwaie
being mindfull of this matter be she passing as a maid lett her not dare
to mayke use of the cakes." Then follows the story of the evils that
befell "one Sarah Heugh who well knowing herself alacking her maiden-head"
tried to pass herself off to the fairies as a "true" maid.
Coming back to the registers of Pickering we find that on the 13th August
1694 Archbishop Sharp held a confirmation in the church and confirmed
about a thousand persons. The note is given in Latin as follows:--
"Memorandum. 13^o die Augusti 1694 Johannes Divina providentia Eboracensis
Archiepiscopus in ecclesia parochiali de Pickeringe Mille (aut eò circita)
Baptizatos Xti Relligioni Confirmavit.
"Joshua Newton.
"_Vicarius Ib._"
The parcel gilt Chalice still in use at Pickering Church belongs to this
period. It is dated 1613, and was made by Christopher Harrington, the
goldsmith of York. The paten was made in 1712 by Seth Lofthouse of London.
During the Commonwealth Levisham and Pickering parishes seem to have been
joined from 1653 to 1661. The Levisham burials and births appear in the
Pickering registers. Among the regular entries of deaths at Pickering are
recorded:--
"1619. Jane Greenwood a stranger buried March.
1631. Ellen Kirbye a poore Girle buried.
1634. A poor traveller buried here the 3 day of
June.
1636. Gawen Pollard pauper Generosus 30th
May."
It would be interesting to know how a pauper came to be a "generosus."
A bequest dated 1658 that seems to have been entirely forgotten appears in
one of the registers. It says: "Be it Remembred that Robert Huggett of
great Edston In the County of yourke Labourer did by his last will and
Testamente bearinge date the Eleaventh day of January in the yeare of
Grace one Thousande Sixe hundred fifty Eight give & bequeste unto
Elizabeth Huggett his Mother in Law all that his Cottage or Tennemente att
Pickeringe with all & singular the Appurtenances theirunto belongeing
duringe hir life Naturall and No longer and then to Come unto James Coates
of little Barugh Husbandman all the Right & Title of the above saide
Tennemente in Pickeringe aforsaide after the death of my saide Mother in
Law Hee payinge theirfor year by & every yeare for Ever the some of Twelve
shilling of Lawfull money of Englande to be paide unto the Poore of
Pickeringe att the feaste of Sainte Martin the bishopp in winter to begine
the firste paymente at Martinmas after the death of my saide Mother in Law
& not before which Twelve shilling shall be distributede at the discretion
of the saide James Coats or his assignes Togeather with the advice of the
Church wardins & overseers of the saide towne of Pickeringe for the time
beinge."
[Illustration: THE JACOBEAN ALMS BOX IN THE PORCH OF PICKERING CHURCH.]
The briefs collected at Pickering for various purposes were very numerous
between 1661 and 1665; they are set out elaborately at the back of one of
the registers, but they are given below in condensed form:--
BRIEFS COLLECTED IN PICKERING CHURCH.
1661. July 28. 6s. 6d. for Condover Church, Shropshire.
Sept. 8. 6s. Parish Church of Pontefract.
Nov. 10. 4s. 2d. for the losses of Henry Harrison, mariner.
Nov. 3. 13s. 7d. for the poor Protestants of Lithuania.
1661 Aug. 11. 5s. 10d. for the Parish Church of Scarborough.
Dec. 15. 5s. for the Parish Church, Dalby-Chalcombe,
in the County of Leicester.
Dec. 29. 5s. for the reparation for the Collegiate
Church of Rippon.
Jan. 29. 3s. 4d. for the loss of Christopher Greene of
Beighton, in the County of Derby.
Feb. 23. 4s. 4d. Brief by his Majesty's special order for
promoting the trade of fishing.
1662. April 6. 4s. for the loss of Thomas Welby in the
County address.
" 13. 4s. 4d. for the loss of William Copperthwaite.
No date. 5s. for the relief of John Wolrich of
(erased) County of Staffords.
1665. April 16. 4s. 2d. for the repairing of the Parish Church of
Tinmouth, in the County of Northumberland.
The system of briefs became subject to great abuses, and in 1828 it was
abolished. Most of the Pickering collections were very small, but the
people evidently had some sympathy for the poor Protestants of Lithuania,
for they gave nearly three times as much as usual.
Despite the statement made by Clark in his valuable book on "Mediæval
Military Architecture in England" that "Pickering was held for the king in
the Parliamentary struggles," I can find no records to show that this was
so or that any fighting took place there during the Civil War. I have
searched many volumes of tracts relating to the period for any reference
to Pickering, but although Scarborough on the east and Helmsley on the
west are frequently mentioned, and details of the sieges and surrenders
given, yet I have fourd no statement concerning Pickering. I must,
however, mention that at least two iron cannon balls have been discovered
in recent times embedded in the ground beneath the western walls of the
castle.
In a Cromwellian survey found by Mr R.B. Turton, among the records of the
Duchy of Lancaster,[1] there is, however, a most valuable account of the
castle dated July 15th, 1651. It mentions damage done by the soldiers "in
the time of the late warrs," but it also tells us that much lead, wood and
iron was taken to Scarborough Castle by Sir Hugh Cholmley, which seems to
show conclusively that the place was not defended. The Cromwellian
soldiers were probably quartered in the somewhat ruined castle and used
what timber they could find for lighting their fires. The survey of 1651
is as follows:--
[Footnote 1: "North Riding Record Society's Publications," vol. 1, New
Series, p. 65.]
"The capital Messuage is scituate on the North side of Pickering Towne and
knowne by the name of Pickering Castle; the Entrance whereof lyeth on the
South through a Gatehouse which is somewhat (qu: decayed) in respect that
all the covering is taken away. The outside gate you enter into a Spatious
Court contayneing one Acre and three Roodes more or less; on which (on the
East side) close adjoyning to the said Gate standeth a ruynous howse
partly covered with Slate, in which were lately three severall Roomes
below Staires, and as many above. But in the time of the late warrs, all
the floares for the chambering have been pulled down by the Souldiers
insomuch the whole howse is ready to fall, there being hardly any thing
left to support the Roofe; The owt walles being partly built of Stone and
part of Timber and the sparrs which are fastned to the mayne wall of the
Castle do still remayne. Further eastward to the said howse along the wall
standeth a Towre knowne by the Name of Dyet Towre, in which there hath
beene three severall Roomes with other Conveniencyes thereunto belonging,
which with litle Cost may bee made habitable, but the Lead Wood and Iron
was by S^r Hugh Cholmley (as we are informed) carryed to Scarbrough
Castle. Further along the said Wall standeth an other Tower North to the
aforesaid howse and knowne by the Name of Rossimund Towre, the walls in
good repaire, but the Wood Leade and Iron quite taken away. On the West
side of the aforesaid Gate along the Wall standeth an other Tower knowne
by the Name of Milne Tower, built within all of hewen stone with a staire
Case of the same, conteyneing one Roome above lately used for a lodging
chamber, but within these six or seven yeares all the Iron Lead and wood
have been taken away and nothing left besides the out walles which are in
very good repaire and one Rotten beame which lyeth cross the topp of the
said Towre. On the North side of the said Court opposite to the Gate
standeth an other Gate which is the Entrance over a decayed bridg into the
midle Castle and leadeth into an other spatious Court conteyneing two
Roodes more or less. On the North east of the said Gate standeth a fourth
Tower knowne by the name of Coleman Towre contenyneing two Roomes, but the
floars covering and all the wood is taken away. On the West side of the
said Court standeth a Large Ruyned hall almost all fallen to the ground
nothing of the Timber remayneing. At North end of which hall Eastward
standeth one howse covered with slate and in indifferent good repaire
conteyneing one Roome and knowne by the Name of the Chappell which is now
used for keepeing of Courts for the Honor aforesaid. On the backside of
which lyeth a third Court conteyneing two Roodes more or less in which
hath been diverse buildings but now ruyned and fallen to the ground. In
the midst of the whole Castle standeth a mount conteyneing one Acre on
which there is a spatious, ruyned, and old decayed building being nothing
but ruyned walls which in many places begin to fall downe. The said
building is commonly knowne by the name of the Moate. The Materialles of
the said Castle (which are there now remayneing), as the Timber hewen
stone and slate, wee estimate to bee worth in ready money (besides the
charge of takeing them downe)--CC li. The Ground lying within the walls
and Ditches of the Castle aforesaid conteyne in the whole three Acres and
three Roodes which is worth upon Improvem^t p. Ann.--C s."
[Transcriber's Note: The "CC li." and "C s." refer to 200 libra (pounds)
and 100 shillings respectively. Several previous transcribers were
confused by this, causing this note to be added.]
The story which has already been mentioned of the wanton destruction by
the Parliamentary soldiers of ancient documents that had been preserved in
the Castle may quite reasonably be true, but unfortunately Hinderwell, who
seems to have been the first to record the tale,[1] does not give any
authority for his statement. Another story which is sometimes mentioned
among the people of Pickering states that Parliamentary soldiers were
quartered in the church during the Civil War, but we can place no reliance
upon the legend. Some details of the raising of train bands in the
district are given in the memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley, the gallant
defender of Scarborough Castle. Writing of the year 1636, he says, "I was
at this time made Deputy-lieutenant and Colonel over the Train-bands
within the hundred of Whitby Strand, Ryedale, Pickering, Lythe, and
Scarborough Town." Three years later Sir Hugh tells us that in preparation
for the king's march against the Scots, he had much business in mustering
and training the soldiers of the Train-bands, and many journeys to York to
consult with the Vice-President and other Deputy-Lieutenants. "About June
the king sent down his army into Yorkshire, and himself came to it in
August. The Earl of Northumberland was General from whom I had a
commission. Divers of the colonels of the Train-bands, with their
regiments, were called to march with the king into Northumberland; amongst
which I had been one, but at that time I had caught cold and a dangerous
sickness, in raising and training my whole regiment together on
Paxton-Moor near Thornton, where one Hallden, a stubborn fellow of
Pickering, not obeying his captain, and giving me some unhandsome
language, I struck him with my cane, and felled him to the ground. The
cane was tipped with silver, and hitting just under the ear, had greater
operation than I intended. But either the man was ill or else
counterfeited so, to be freed from service; which I willingly granted, and
glad when he was well: but it was a good monition not to be hasty in the
like or any other provocation, for passion doth not only blind the
judgement but produceth other ill effects."
[Footnote 1: Thomas Hinderwell, "History of Scarborough," 1811, p. 350.]
In 1640, when Sir Hugh (as a burgess for Scarborough) was attending the
Short Parliament in London, his regiment was commanded to march to the
Scottish Border. His brother Henry Cholmley, being Lieut.-Colonel, went
with it, but at Durham they were ordered back.
In November 1641 Sir Hugh was again attending Parliament, and at that time
he feared the advance of the Scots into Yorkshire, "which," he says, "did
not a little disquiet my mind and thoughts for my dear wife and children;
the snow being so great, I could not possibly remove them so soon as I
desired"; "but at the latter end of February, as soon as the ways were
passable, I had her and all my family in London." It must have been an
unusually prolonged period of snow to keep Sir Hugh and his family apart
for two or three months. Roxby Castle was his birthplace, and his account
of his early years there includes an accident which might have had fatal
results.
[1]JC
_________|_________
| |
[2]SR [3]SRC
___________|_____________
| | | |
[4]SR [5]J [6]A [7]M
__________________________|______________________
| | | | | | |
| [8]F [9]R and [10]R [11]M [12]J [13]E
| |
| [14]M
[15]
__|______
| |
[16]K [17]SH
|
[18]SRC
|
[19]SHC
[1]
John Cholmley of Cheshire.
[2]
Sir Richard,
Lt.-Gov. of the Tower in the time of King
Henry VIII.; d. without issue; m. Elizabeth,
one of the daus. of ---- Nevill of Thornton
Bridge; probably bought land there.
[3]
Sir Roger Cholmley,
First to settle in Yorkshire; m. Catherine, dau.
of Sir Marmaduke Constable of Flamborough.
Sir Roger knighted 5th of Henry VIII., when
English had a great victory over the Scots;
died April 28th, 1538; bought Roxby.
[4]
Sir Richard,
Called "The Great Black Knight of the
North"; inherited property; knighted at
battle of Musslebury Hill, 5th of Edw. VI.;
m. 1st Margaret, d. of Wm. Lord Conyers.
[5]
John,
Slain in
his youth.
[6]
Anne,
m. to the Earl
of Westmoreland.
[7]
Margaret,
m. Henry
Gascoigne of
Ledbury, near
Richmond.
[8]
Francis,
m. Mrs. June
Boulmer; died
without issue.
[9] and [10]
Richard and Roger,
m. 2 bastard daus. of Dallrivers.
[Both set on one side.]
[11]
Margaret.
[12]
Jane.
[13]
Elizabeth.
[14]
Marmaduke.
[15]
Purchased many lands in Yorks,
Manors of Whitby, Whitby lithe,
and Stakesby purchased in 1555;
lived at Roxby; m. 2nd Katherine
(d. 1598), dau. of Henry, 1st
Earl of Cumberland, widow of
Lord John Scrope of Bolton.
[16]
Katherine.
[17]
Sir Henry, m. Margaret, dau. of Sir Wm. Babthorpe; succeeded Francis.
[18]
Sir Richard Cholmley,
Born 1580, succeeded 1617, died 1632.
[19]
Sir Hugh Cholmley,
the defender of Scarborough Castle.
Born 1600, succeeded 1632.
GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE CHOLMLEYS OF ROXBY, NEAR PICKERING.
(Taken from the details given in the memoirs of Sir Hugh Cholmley.)
"I was," he says, "the first child of my dear mother, born upon the 22nd
of July, being a Tuesday, and on the feast day commonly called Mary
Magdalen's day, in the year of our Lord God 1600, at a place called Roxby,
in the country of York, within the Hundred of Pickering lythe near to
Thornton, now much demolished, but heretofore the chief seat of my
great-grandfather, and where my grandfather, Sir Henry Cholmley, then
lived, which place (since I was married was sold by my father and self,
towards the payment of his debts)."
Sir Hugh then describes his weakness as a child due to the fault of his
nurse. This gave him such "a cast back" that he was a weak and sickly
child for many years.
"At three years old, the maid which attended me let me tumble out of the
great chamber window at Roxby, which (by God's providence) a servant
waiting upon my grandfather at dinner espying, leaped to the window, and
caught hold of my coat, after I was out of the casement. Soon after I was
carried to my father and mother, who then lived with her brother Mr John
Legard, at his house at Ganton nine miles from Roxby, where I continued
for the most part until I was seven years old; then my father and mother
going to keep house at Whitby, went with them, and beginning to ride a
little way by myself, as we passed over a common, called Paston moor [?
Paxton, above Ellerburne] one of my father's servants riding beside me, I
had a desire to put my horse into a gallop; but he running away, I cried
out, and the servant taking hold of my arm, with an intention to lift me
from my horse, let me fall between both, so that one of them, in his
gallop, trod on my hat; yet, by God's protection, I caught no harm."
When his father was living at Whitby he had another narrow escape. "The
next year," he writes, "being 1608 upon my very birth-day, being the feast
of Mary Magdalen, and I just eight years old, by God's great Providence, I
escaped as great, if not greater danger than this; which was, that, at my
Father's house, at Whitby aforesaid, there was a great fierce sow, having
two pigs near a quarter old, which were to be reared there, lying close
together asleep, near to the kitchen door, I being alone, out of folly and
waggery, began to kick one of them; in the interim another rising up,
occasioned me to fall upon them all, and made them cry; and the sow
hearing, lying close by, came and caught me by the leg, before I could get
up, and dragged me half a score yards, under the window of the room now
called the larder, and what in respect of the age and the amazement I was
in, could not help myself; from the leg she fell to bite me in the groin
with much fierceness; when the butler, carrying a glass of beer to my
father (then in his chamber) hearing me cry, set down the beer on the hall
table, and running out, found the sow passing from my groin to my throat."
Another famous name connected with this period is that of George Villiers,
second Duke of Buckingham. After the death of Charles II. the royal
favourite retired to his seat at Helmsley, his strength being very much
impaired by the vicious life he had led at Court. He seems to have devoted
himself to hunting and open-air sports. Certain stories connected with the
Duke and mixed up with the usual superstitions were told to Calvert nearly
a hundred years ago.
"Near the Checkers' Inn at Slapstean," he says, "there stood until a few
years agone the cottage in which there lived many years sen one Isaac Haw,
who in his day did hunt the fox with George Villiers, and many a queer
story did he use to tell. Here be one. There lived on the moor not over an
hour's ride from Kirkby Moorside, one Betty Scaife, who had a daughter
Betty, a good like wench." George Villiers seeing this girl one day is
said to have induced her to become his mistress either by force or with
her mother's consent. After having a dream she told Villiers to come near
her no more, foretelling at the same time the time and death he would die.
He was so affected by this that he is said to have ridden away and never
seen her again.
Haw also tells how he once rode on the moor with the spirit of the Duke of
Buckingham, being not aware at the time that his Grace was dead. Villiers
made an arrangement that when both were dead and the devil gave them a
holiday they would both hunt together on a certain moor.
"There be those whose word has been handed down to us," continues Calvert,
"who sware to having seen these two ahunting of a spirit fox with a spirit
pack of a moonlight night. I know one who hath in memory a song of that
day anent these two but it be so despert blasfemous that for the very fear
of injuring the chance of my own soul's salvation I do forbear to give it,
but if it be that you wish to copy on't, one Tom Cale a cobbler living in
Eastgate Pickering hath to my knowledge a copy on't."
[Illustration: THE HOUSE AT KIRBY MOORSIDE IN WHICH THE 2ND DUKE OF
BUCKINGHAM--THE FAVOURITE OF CHARLES II.--DIED.
The window of the bedroom is shown in the illustration. It is on the first
floor at the right hand side of the house.
]
The Duke lived to the age of sixty in spite of his life of unbridled vice,
and it seems that a sudden illness seized him after a hard day's hunting,
and he died at the house in Kirby Moorside where he was taken instead of
to Helmsley. The house is still standing, and one may even see the room in
which the reckless Duke expired. As may be seen from the illustration the
house is a good one, and at that time must have been, with one exception,
the best in the village. The lines by Pope descriptive of the favourite's
death are, therefore, quite unwarranted:--
"In the worst inn's worst room, with mat half hung,
The floors of plaster and the walls of dung."
It never was an inn, and the Rev. R. V. Taylor[1] has discovered that the
house was in the occupation of one of his tenants. I have carefully
examined the house without finding anything to suggest that such squalor
could have ever existed there. The staircase is very picturesque, and one
of the brass drop handles on the bedroom doors shows that the building was
a good one. The bedroom in which the Duke died has the fireplace blocked
up; there is a recessed window containing a seat, and the walls, where
they are panelled, are of fir, although the larger beams throughout the
house seem to be of oak.
[Footnote 1: "Yorkshire Notes and Queries," May 1904, p. 68.]
The sudden demise of this famous man must have created a sensation in the
village, and although the body was not buried at Kirby Moorside, the
parish register of that time has this illiterate entry[2]--
_"buried in the yeare of our Lord 1687
Marke Reame ..... Aprill y^e 12
Gorges viluas Lord dooke of bookingam etc. 19"_
[Footnote 2: The third volume of the registers at the top of page 4.]
A letter from Lord Arran to the Duke's late chaplain, dated April 17th,
1687, says, "I have ordered the corpse to be embalmed and carried to
Helmsley Castle and there to remain till my Lady Duchess her pleasure
shall be known. There must be speedy care taken; for there is nothing here
but confusion, not to be expressed. Though his stewards have received vast
sums, there is not so much as one farthing, as they tell me, for defraying
the least expense." From this it appears that he died on or before the
17th of April, and that after the embalming process had been performed the
intestines were buried at Kirby Moorside on the 19th and not on the 17th,
as stated by Gill in his "Vallis Eboracensis."
One of the tattered registers[1] of Kirby Moorside also contains the
following remarkable entry:--
"Dorythy Sowerbie of Bransdales (slayne with 6 bullett by theeves in the
night) was buryed the 23th (sic) Day of May 1654." A few years before this
in 1650 the burial is recorded of "a stranger that y^t sold stockins."
[Footnote 1: Vol. ii. p. 2]
On the first page of the register dated 1704, the vicar, "M. James
Musgrave," gives a list of "things belonging to the churich--a surplus, a
Hud, a challis, a patton, tow-flaggons [these are of pewter and are kept
in the church], a putter Dubler, a Tabill clorth, on napkin. A dubler for
christening."
During this period the Duchy records show that Pickering Forest was still
being robbed of its oaks, some of them being used to repair the defences
of Scarborough Castle during the Civil War.
"Wee are informed that there were xxx^tie Trees or }
thereaboutes cut downe in Newton dale within the }
said fforest and carried to Scarbrough Castle by } 20 0 0"
Order from Sir Hugh Cholmley then Gouernor of }
the same, to the value of }
Some of the other entries at the same time are given below.[1]
"Wee are informed that divers olde trees are cut downe }
within the fforest of Pickeringe in a place called }lib.
Deepdale and Helley Greene by Robert Pate by the } 6 0 0
Appointment of Mathew ffranke Esquire to the }
value of }
Likewise wee are informed that John Hassell gent }
hath cut downe diuers trees in Dalbye within the } 19 0 0
said fforest to the value of }
Wee are likewise informed that Beatrice Hassell widdow }
hath cut downe diuers trees in Dalbye Hagges } 12 0 0
within the said fforest, to the value of }
Wee are likewise informed That seuerall Tennantes of }
Goatland haue cut downe two hundred Trees and }
more within the fforest in the North part of } 30 0 0
Newtondale and Gillwood to the value of }
And that Robert ffranke gent did take Composicions
and summes of money of seuerall of the said
Tennants of Goatland for the same wood.
And allso we are informed that there hath bene cut }
downe Two hundred Trees in Haughe Hagge }
within the said fforest, And that the said Trees were } l. s. d.
cut downe and Carried away by the poore people of } 40 0 0
Pickeringe in the yeares 1647 and 1648 to the }
value of }
[Footnote 1: From a thin foolscap book containing, inter alia, the
findings of the Juries of the Courts Leet, etc., in the possession of the
Rev. Arthur Hill of Thornton-le-dale.]
From the same book we discover that
"George Grayson holdes by Copie of Court Roll one
Cottage in Pickeringe and one Garth thereunto belonging,
dated the 11th of Aprill 1659 And was
admitted Tennant thereof by John Syms then
Steward and paid ffine 0 0 4"
This is of considerable interest in view of the fact that the Grayson
family are still tenants of the Duchy.
Tenants are mentioned as holding property in "Smiddiehill" and "Hungate
Greene," and the entry given below is interesting on account of the
mention of the market cross that has completely disappeared.
"Jane Moone widdow holdes one Messuage and one
parcell of waste ground in Pickering neare to the
Market Crosse and was admitted Tennant thereof
by John Sym, now deputie Steward, by Copie dated
the 22d of November 1659: And paid ffine for per
Admittance ... 0 8 1"
Many of the small houses of Pickering must have been built at this time.
One near the castle gateway has a stone in the gable end bearing the
initials E.C.W., and the date 1646, another with a thatched roof on the
south side of Eastgate, dated 1677, is now fast going to ruin. The roofs
were no doubt at that time chiefly covered with thatch, and the whole town
must have been extremely picturesque. The stocks, the shambles, and the
market cross stood in the centre of the town, and there were none of the
unpleasant features that modern ideas, unchecked by a sense of fitness and
proportion, bring in their wake.
The castle, we have seen, was in a far more perfect state than at the
present time, but the church must have appeared much as it does to-day.
The circular wooden pulpit is Georgian, and thus the one that preceded it
has disappeared. Two of the three bells that still hang in the tower bear
the date 1638. The treble bell is inscribed "Praise the Lord," and sounds
the note G sharp. The middle bell gives F sharp and the inscription is
"Soli deo gloria." Hanging in the bellcote of the schools adjoining the
church is the small bell dated 1632 that was removed from the Bruce Chapel
in 1857 when the schools were built. Before that date children were taught
in the Bruce Chapel.
In Archbishop Sharp's manuscripts (page 106) preserved at Bishopthorpe
there is a detailed account of the parish of Pickering. It is dated 1706,
and is given under the heading of "Dean of York's Peculiars." There are
numerous abbreviations, but the meaning is plain in most instances.
"_Pickering Vic. St Peter and St Paul_.
"1706. No Papist.
"A[nno] R[egni] Edw. I. 13. The Manor, Castle, Forest of Pickering were
given to Edmund E. of Lancaster and so became thenceforward part of that
Dutchy. The Church of Pickering was by Hen. I. given to the Deanery of
York, w^th the soke thereof and all the chappells and tithes belonging. It
is let at the rent of 100 li.
"The Vicarage consists of a house &c. And the tithe Hay of Garths w^ch may
yield 7 or 8 Load in a year to the vicar, and all the small tithes of the
Parish. Besides an augmentation of 20 li p an. made since the
Restauration.
"This is a large parish in which are 2 Chappells neither of them endowed
as the minister Mr Newton tells me, but he allows 5th to a neighboring
minister to serve the one and the other he goes to himself. This vicarage,
of the D^ns Collation is val in my B at 28 li. It is I hope worth 60 li
[not above 40 K.B. 8. 3. 9. T 16-40b.] _The Deans Tenant pays 20 li of
it._
"Within this Parish are the Towns of Newton upon Rocliff, Blansby Park,
Kinthorp. Here also is Dereholm Grange and Loft Maress Grange. 1707. 41
(indistinct) John Pickering Vr.; 1715 Robert Hargreaves, Vicar; 1740 Sam^l
Hill Vicar.
"1745. George Dodsworth.
"1706 Papists 9. £ S. D.
"The Chappell of Goteland. 1716 4 0 0
"Being distant above 8 miles from the Parish Church
was by Dean Scot A.D. 1635 allowed the privilege of
Sepulture for the inhab. Saveing to the Mother
Church all its dues 1706 Certifyd by ye (indistinct) to
the Dean to be worth 4 0 0 Arising out of
Surplice Fees and Voluntary Contribution William
Prowde, Curate 1722 Jonathan Robinson, Curate."
[Illustration: The Maypole on Sinnington Green. The centre of many village
festivities in the past centuries.]
The country folk were in much the same state in regard to their morals and
superstitions as in the Georgian Era described in the next chapter, but it
is of great interest to know that efforts towards improvement were being
made as early as the year 1708. The following account given by Calvert of
an attempt to stop the May dance at Sinnington would show either that
these picturesque amusements were not so harmless as they appear at this
distance, or else that the "Broad Brims" were unduly severe on the
innocent pleasures of the time. The account is taken by Calvert "from one
Nares book."
[Illustration: An inverted stone coffin of much earlier date used as a
seventeenth century gravestone at Wykeham Abbey.]
"In the year 1708 there did come a great company of Broad Brims for to
stop the May Dance about the pole at Sinnington, and others acting by
concert did the like at Helmsley, Kirby Moorside and Slingsby, singing and
praying they gat them round about the garland pole whilst yet the may
Queen was not yet come but when those with flute and drum and dancers came
near to crown the Queen the Broad Brims did pray and sing psalms and would
not give way while at the finish up there was like for to be a sad end to
the day but some of the Sinnington Bucks did join hands in a long chain
and thus swept them clean from the pole. At Slingsby there was a great
dordum of a fight, but for a great while the Broad Brims have set their
faces against all manner of our enjoyment."
Fine examples of the carved oak cabinets, chests, and other pieces of
furniture of this period still survive in some of the houses of Pickering.
The cabinets generally bear the date and the initials of the maker, and
the I.B. to be seen on some of the finest pieces from this district are
the initials of John Boyes of Pickering, whose work belongs chiefly to the
time of William and Mary.