CHAPTER LXXIII.

A few final words as to Thomas Ward (or Warde), who was, I hold, no less

than Edward Oldcorne and his Penitent, the joint arbiter of destinies and

the controller of fates.

Indeed, as previously stated in an earlier portion of this Inquiry, my own

opinion is that Christopher Wright probably unlocked his burthened heart

to his connection, Thomas Ward, of whose constancy in friendship he would

be, by long years of experience, well assured, at a time anterior to that

at which he unbosomed himself to the holy Jesuit Priest, that skilled,

wise, loving minister of a mind diseased.

While Ward, on his part, readily and willingly, though at the imminent

risk of being himself charged as a knowing accomplice and accessory to the

Plot, undertook the diplomatic engineering of the whole movement, whereby

the Plot was so effectually and speedily spun round on its axis, even if

well-nigh at the eleventh hour.

In bidding farewell, a long farewell, to Thomas Ward, the following

extracts from a letter of Sir Edward Hoby[179] to Sir Thomas Edmunds,

Ambassador at Brussels, are important, although some of the passages have

already appeared in the earlier part of this Inquiry:——

“Such as are apt to interpret all things to the worst, will not

believe other but that Lord Mounteagle might in a policy cause

this letter to be sent, fearing the discovery already of the

letter; the rather that one Thomas Ward, a principal man about

him, is suspected to be accessory to the treason. Others

otherwise ... some say that Fawkes (alias Johnson) was servant

to one Thomas Percy; others that he is a Jesuit and had a shirt

of hair next his skin.

“Early on the Monday [_vere_ Tuesday] morning, the Earl of

Worcester was sent to Essex House to signify the matter to the

Earl of Northumberland, whom he found asleep in his bed, and

hath done since his best endeavour for his apprehension ... Some

say that Northumberland received the like letter that Mounteagle

did, and concealed it ...

“Tyrwhyt is come to London; Tresham sheweth himself; _and Ward

walketh up and down_.”[180] (The italics are mine.)

Surely, the twain facts that Thomas Ward “walked up and down,” and that

his brother, Marmaduke, was also at large, with the latter’s eldest

daughter, Mary, lodging in Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn (although we have

seen the Master of Newby apprehended in Warwickshire, in the very heart

and centre of the conspirators), _tend to demonstrate that the King, his

Privy Council, and Government were very much obligated to the

gentleman-servant and, almost certainly, distant kinsman of William Parker

fourth Lord Mounteagle, and that they knew it_.[A]

[Footnote A: Is it possible that some time after the Plot, Thomas Ward

retired into his native Yorkshire, and became the officer or agent for

Lord William Howard’s and his wife’s Hinderskelfe and other Yorkshire,

Durham, and Westmoreland estates? I think it is possible; for I find the

name “Thomas Warde” from time to time in the “_Household Books of Lord

William Howard_” (Surtees Soc). See Supplementum III. I am inclined to

think that the reason Father Richard Holtby, the distinguished Yorkshire

Jesuit, who was _socius_, or secretary, to Father Henry Garnet, and

subsequently Superior of the Jesuits in England, was never laid hold of by

the Government, was that Holtby had two powerful friends at Court in Lord

William Howard, of Naworth and Hinderskelfe Castles, and in Thomas Warde

(or Ward). Father Holtby was born at Fryton Hall, in the Parish of

Hovingham, between Hovingham and Malton. Now, Fryton is less than a mile

from Slingsby, where I suspect Thomas Warde (or Ward) finally settled

down, and both are only a few miles distant from Hinderskelfe Castle, now

Castle Howard. Fryton Old Hall is at present, I believe, occupied by Mr.

Leaf, and is the property of Charles James Howard ninth Earl of Carlisle,

the descendant of Lord William Howard. The late Captain Ward, R.N., of

Slingsby Hall, I surmise, was a descendant, lineal or collateral, of

Thomas Ward, of the days of Queen Elizabeth and King James I.]

From a grateful King and Country, Lord Mounteagle received, as we have

already learned, a payment of £700 a year, equal to nearly £7,000 a year

in our money.[A]

[Footnote A: Lord Mounteagle’s reward was £300 per annum for life, and

£200 per annum to him and his heirs for ever in fee farm rents. Salisbury

declared that Mounteagle’s Letter was “the first and only means” the

Government had to discover that “most wicked and barbarous Plot.”

Personally, I am bound to say I believe him. The title Lord Morley and

Mounteagle is now in abeyance (see Burke’s “_Extinct Peerages_”); but let

us hope that we may see it revived. An heir must be in existence, one

would imagine; for the peerages Morley and Mounteagle would be granted by

the Crown for ever, I presume. There is at the present date a Lord

Monteagle, whose title is of a more recent creation.]

But Ben Jonson, the rare Ben Jonson, the friend of Shakespeare, of

Donne,[B] and other wits of the once far-famed Mermaid Tavern, Bread

Street, London, deemed the temporal saviour of his Country to be still

insufficiently requited. So the Poet, invoking his Muse, penned, in the

young peer’s honour, the following stately epigram:——

[Footnote B: John Donne the celebrated metaphysical poet, afterwards Dean

of St. Paul’s, and author of the once well-known “_Pseudo-Martyr_,” which

Donne wrote at the request of King James himself. For one of Donne’s

ancestors _and descendants_, see _ante_ p. 160.

Henry Donne (or Dunne), a barrister, was brother to John Donne. He was, I

believe, implicated in the Babington conspiracy along with Edward

Abington, brother to Thomas Abington, and about ten other young papist

gentlemen, some of very high birth, great wealth, and brilliant prospects.

At the chambers of Henry Donne, in Thavies Inn, Holborn, London, “the

Venerable” William Harrington, of Mount St. John, near Thirsk, was

captured. Harrington fled to the College at Rheims to study for the

priesthood, in consequence of the impression made upon him by Campion, who

was harboured, in the spring of 1581, for ten days at Mount St. John;

Campion there wrote his famous “_Decem Rationes_.” Harrington was executed

at the London Tyburn, for his priesthood, in 1594. He is said to have

struggled with the hangman when the latter began to quarter him alive.

Harrington is mentioned in Archbishop Harsnett’s “_Popish Impostures_,” a

book known to Shakespeare. Harrington was a second cousin to Guy Fawkes,

through Guy’s paternal grandmother, Ellen Harrington, of York.]

“TO WILLIAM LORD MOUNTEAGLE.

“Lo, what my country should have done (have raised

An obelisk, or column to thy name;

Or if she would but modestly have praised

Thy fact, in brass or marble writ the same).

I, that am glad of thy great chance, here do!

And proud, my work shall out-last common deeds,

Durst think it great, and worthy wonder too,

But thine: for which I do’t, so much exceeds!

My country’s parents I have many known;

But saver of my country, thee alone.”

RECAPITULATION OF PROOFS, ARGUMENT, AND

CONCLUSIONS.

(1) The revealing plotter cannot have been Tresham or any one of the other

eight who were condemned to death in Westminster Hall; otherwise he would

have _pleaded_ such fact.

(2) The revealing plotter must have been amongst those who survived not to

tell the tale: that is, either Catesby, Percy, John Wright, or Christopher

Wright.

(3) Christopher Wright, a subordinate conspirator introduced late in the

conspiracy, was the revealing conspirator.

(4) Father Edward Oldcorne, S.J., was the Penman of the Letter.

(5) Thomas Ward was the diplomatic Go-between common to both.

_All these three were Yorkshiremen._

(6) Ralph Ashley was the messenger who conveyed the Letter to Lord

Mounteagle’s page, who was already in the street when the Letter-carrier

arrived.

_Perhaps a Yorkshireman._

(7) Mounteagle knew a letter was coming. Known to Edmund Church, Esq., his

confidant.

(8) Thomas Ward, on Sunday, the 27th October (the day after the delivery),

told Thomas Winter, one of the principal plotters, that Salisbury had

received the document; and on Sunday, the 3rd November, that Salisbury had

shown it to the King.

(9) Christopher Wright, who was at Lapworth when the Letter was delivered,

and within twenty miles of Father Oldcorne, saw Thomas Winter some little

time subsequent to the delivery of the Letter.

(10) Christopher Wright is said to have been the first who ascertained

that the Plot was discovered.

(11) Christopher Wright is said to have counselled flight in different

directions.

(12) Christopher Wright announced to Thomas Winter, very early on Tuesday,

the 5th of November, the capture of Fawkes that morning.

(13) Father Oldcorne’s handwriting to-day resembles that of the Letter; by

comparison of documents, certainly one of which is in Oldcorne’s

handwriting.

(14) Oldcorne was accused by the Government of sending “letters up and

down to prepare men’s minds for the insurrection.”

(15) Brother Ashley, his servant, was accused of carrying “letters to and

fro about this conspiracy.”

(16) Father Henry Garnet, Oldcorne’s Superior, mysteriously changed his

purpose expressed on the 4th October, of returning to London; and on the

29th October went from Gothurst to Coughton, in Warwickshire. (I think

Garnet’s main reason for going to Coughton was in order to meet Catesby,

and endeavour to induce him to discard Percy’s counsel and to seek refuge

in flight.)

(17) Father Oldcorne evaded giving a direct answer as to the Plot, when

questioned by Littleton, after November 5th.

(18) Hence, the facts _both before and after_ the delivery of the Letter

are consistent with, and indeed converge towards, the hypothesis sought by

this Inquiry to be proved.

(19) The circumstance that Christopher Wright displayed a strangely marked

disposition to “hang about” the prime conspirator, Thomas Winter, _after_

the sending of the Letter, is a suspicious fact, strongly indicative of a

consciousness on Christopher Wright’s part of a special responsibility in

connection with the revelation of the Plot; as showing anxiety for

personal knowledge that the train of revelation lighted by himself had, so

to speak, taken fire.

(20) Christopher Wright lived not to tell the tale.

(21) Hence, the hypothesis is a theory established, with moral certitude,

mainly by Circumstantial Evidence, which latter “mosaics” perfectly.

(22) Finally, the crowning proof of the theory sought by this Book to be

established is found in these nine words of the _post scriptum_ of 21st

October, 1605, to letter dated 4th October, 1605, under the hand of Father

Garnet to Father Parsons, in Rome[A]: “This letter being returned unto me

again, FOR REASON OF A FRIEND’S STAY IN THE WAY, I blotted out some words

purposing to write the same by the next opportunity, as I will do

apart:”——The word “stay” here being used to signify “check.” _Cf._,

Shakespeare’s “King John,” II., 2: and see Glossary to Globe Edition

(Macmillan).

[Footnote A: This letter, I understand, is still extant, and is in the

archives of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Westminster. I wonder whether by

any of the rigorous tests of modern science these “blotted out” words can

be discerned. Probably they have some reference to the Plot. The late Rev.

John Morris, S.J., thought they had not. But on this point I am obliged to

differ, _in toto_, from that painstaking editor of much invaluable

Elizabethan Catholic literature. See the learned Jesuit’s remarks on this

letter of the 4th October, 1605, in “_The Condition of Catholics under

James I._” (Longmans), p. 228.

Father Morris contends that for Father Garnet to have inserted a reference

to the Gunpowder Plot “between two such subjects as the choice of

Lay-brothers and his own want of money,” would have been for Garnet to

have exhibited a disposition “to be the most erratic of letter-writers.”

But, surely, Father Morris’s argument is feeble in the extreme when regard

is had to the fact that poor Henry Garnet’s mind, _from the 25th July,

1605, when he first heard from Tesimond, by way of confession, the general

particulars of the Plot, down to the 4th of October, 1605_, was a very

weltering chaos of grief, distress, and perplexity. And, therefore, the

most natural thing in the world was for him to exhibit a trifle of

eccentricity in the style of his epistolary correspondence, in such trying

circumstances, even with so acute and caustic a critic as Father Parsons.

I have said that about the 25th July, 1605 (St. James’-tide), Garnet had,

by way of confession, the _general particulars_ of the Plot, because I

think that Garnet obtained from Tesimond final details of the Plot at

Great Harrowden a fortnight before Michaelmas (11th October); in fact,

after the return from St. Winefrid’s Well, in Flintshire, Wales.

It is, however, probable that about the 21st of October, at Gothurst,

Tesimond may have made a further communication to Garnet, possibly in

consequence of Garnet’s sending for Tesimond _after_ he (Garnet) had

received “_the friend’s stay in the way_.” For the old tradition was that

Garnet _first_ had particulars from Tesimond, by way of confession, about

the 21st October. (See the earlier editions of Lingard’s “_History_.”)

But, of course, this was an error by _three months_, Garnet first

receiving at least general particulars from Tesimond about the 25th of

July. (At some future date I may, perhaps, write an essay on “_Garnet

after the 21st October, 1605_,” but at present I have not space to pursue

this matter further.)]

SUPPLEMENTA.

SUPPLEMENTUM I.

GUY FAWKES.

The forefathers of Guy Fawkes almost certainly sprang from Nidderdale, in

the West Riding of Yorkshire. See Foster’s “_Yorkshire Families_,” under

Hawkesworth, of Hawkesworth, and Fawkes, of Farnley.

Guy’s grandfather was William Fawkes, of York, who married a York lady,

Ellen Harrington.[A]

[Footnote A: Ellen Harrington’s father was Lord Mayor of York, in the

reign of Henry VIII., in the year 1536.]

William Fawkes became Registrar of the Exchequer Court of the Archbishop

of York, and died between the years 1558-1565.

William Fawkes had two sons and two daughters——Thomas Fawkes, a

merchant-stapler, and Edward Fawkes, a Notary or Proctor of the

Ecclesiastical Court, and afterwards an Advocate of the Consistory Court

of the Archbishop of York. (Certainly it is a strange and bitter irony

that an ancestry like this should have brought forth such a moral monster

as poor Guy Fawkes afterwards became. But our guiding motto must be:

“Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice.”)

Edward Fawkes married a lady whose Christian name was Edith, but her

surname is unknown. She was the mother of four children——two sons and two

daughters. Only one of her sons grew to man’s estate, and this was the

hapless Guy.

(Only four children are known of with certainty; but Guy _possibly may_

have had another brother, who was a student at the Inns of Court, in

November, 1605.)

Now, the exact house where Edith Fawkes gave birth to her ill-fated boy is

at present not known with certitude. There are four traditions respecting

the place. Two traditions say the house was on the south side of High

Petergate, York; one tradition that it was on the north side, adjoining

the alley called Minster Gates; the fourth tradition that it was at

Bishopthorpe. Personally, I am in favour of the Minster Gates’ tradition.

But the Bishopthorpe tradition is worthy of a respectful hearing.

My friend, Mr. William Camidge, F.R.H.S. (than whom no man now living in

York has a greater, if indeed as great, knowledge concerning the City’s

antiquarian lore) tells me in a letter, dated the 5th of November, 1901,

that in old Thomas Gent’s “_Rippon_” (1733) there is mention made of

Bishopthorpe as being Guy’s birthplace. Gent says, “The house opposite the

church[A] is said to be the birthplace of Guy Faux.”

[Footnote A: _I.e._, the _old_ Bishopthorpe Church. The present

Bishopthorpe Church is a handsome structure of recent date, at the

entrance to the village from York.]

Mr. Camidge continues: “I found, a few years ago, rooted in the minds of

the oldest inhabitants of Bishopthorpe, the positive assurance that Guy

Fawkes was born at Bishopthorpe, and the site of the house was indicated

by several persons. I found one of the descendants of the former owner of

the house, who assured me that her father always held that Guy Fawkes was

born in the house; that my informant’s great grandfather maintained the

same; and that for two or three generations they had shown the house as

the place of Guy Fawkes’ birth. The site of the house is now a

pleasure-garden; but a stone was put in the ground to mark the site.”

Now it is a remarkable fact that in almost all, if indeed not quite all,

of those places where there has been a strong local tradition to the

effect that the Gunpowder conspirators had some association with a

particular spot, subsequent investigation has found the tradition to be

well authenticated. (This was pointed out by David Jardine sixty years

ago.)

Yet the strongest argument against the Bishopthorpe tradition is that

Guy’s baptismal register is to-day found at the Church of St.

Michael-le-Belfrey, in the City of York.

Now, in the time of Elizabeth, as Dr. Elzé has pointed out in his “_Life

of Shakespeare_,” a child would be _baptized on the third day after

birth_. Hence, on the whole, I cannot personally accept the Bishopthorpe

tradition as to the _birthplace_ of Guy Fawkes.

It is, however, more than possible that as a babe in arms Guy Fawkes may

have _lived_ at Bishopthorpe. For the Act of Uniformity, whereby the York

Court of High Commission had been established, would bring much legal work

to his father, Edward Fawkes; and that the latter found it convenient to

have a house in close proximity to his Grace the Lord Archbishop of York,

a leading member of the High Commission, is one of the likeliest things in

the world.

In these circumstances, then, the present-day inhabitants of Bishopthorpe

may still lay the flattering unction to their souls (if they wish so to

do) that Guy Fawkes drank in his mother’s milk in their picturesque

Yorkshire village, on the banks of the noble Ouse.

Mr. J. W. Knowles, of Stonegate, York, another gentleman well versed in

York’s antiquities, informed me in August, 1901, that a Mr. John Robert

Watkinson, of Redeness Street, Layerthorpe, York, held a tradition that

Guy Fawkes’ birthplace was in the house adjoining the Minster Gates.

Accordingly, some little time afterwards, I wrote to Mr. Watkinson, who at

once kindly replied in a letter, dated 22nd October, 1901, as follows:——

“My reason for thinking that the house in High Petergate, at the

corner of the Minster Gates, ... is the house where Guy Fawkes

was born, is this:

“Some fifty years ago I was working at the same house when an

old Minster mason, named Townsend, told me it was the house

where Guy Fawkes was born. Job Knowles, an old bell-ringer and

watchman at the Minster at the time Jonathan Martin set the

Minster on fire, also told me it was the same house.

“It is an Elizabethan[A] house, but it has been re-fronted,

which you would see if you went inside and looked at the

wainscotting and the carved mantel-piece.”

[Footnote A: In a subsequent letter, Mr. Watkinson, who is a Protestant,

tells me that he is in the seventieth year of his age, and that he is

descended collaterally from Thomas Watkinson, of Menthorpe, near Selby,

the father of “the Venerable” Robert Watkinson, priest, who suffered

martyrdom at the London Tyburn in 1602, two years before the Gunpowder

Plot was hatched.]

Edward Fawkes died, aged forty-six, when his son, Guy, was not quite eight

years old. He was buried in the Minster on the 17th January, 1578-9. About

twenty-seven years afterwards this Yorkshire citizen’s thrice hapless

child——by nature a tall, athletic man, but then, by torture of the rack,

so crippled “that he was scarce able to go up the ladder”——met on the

shameful gallows-tree, and on the quartering block, in the Old Palace

Yard, Westminster, over against the Parliament House, the terrible death

of a condemned traitor. The whole world knows the reason why.

Mistress Edith Fawkes, Guy’s mother, was married a second time to a

gentleman named Dennis Bainbridge. He was connected with the John Pulleyn,

Esq., of Scotton, near Knaresbrough, and the probabilities are that Mr.

and Mrs. Dennis Bainbridge, and that lady’s children by her first husband,

namely Guy, Elizabeth and Ann Fawkes, all lived by the favour of the young

squire, John Pulleyn, in patriarchal fashion, at Scotton Hall. The

Pulleyns and the Bainbridges were Roman Catholics, and their names (along

with the names Walkingham, Knaresborough, and Bickerdyke) occur in

Peacock’s “_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_,” under the

title “Parish of Farnham.” The name Percy, of Percy House, is not found in

Peacock’s “_List_.”

[If the Bainbridges did not live at Scotton Hall, they may have lived at

Percy House, hard-by the Hall. Percy House is now owned by Mr. Slater, of

Farnham Hall, the property of the relatives of the late Charles Shann,

Esquire, of Tadcaster.]

It is, therefore, easy to understand how it came to pass that the mind of

young Guy Fawkes became impregnated with Roman Catholicism. For man is a

creature of circumstances.

Yorkshire abounded in Roman Catholics in the time of Elizabeth (see the

“_Hatfield MSS._” and numerous other contemporary records). Such was

especially the case with the district round about Knaresbrough and Ripon.

And recollecting that many Yorkshiremen had suffered a bloody death for

their conscientious adherence to their religion between the years 1582 and

Easter, 1604, when the Gunpowder Plot was hatched, one ceases to marvel at

such a psychological puzzle as even the mind of Guy Fawkes.——See

Challoner’s “_Missionary Priests_” and Pollen’s “_Acts of the English

Martyrs_,” already frequently referred to.

[“The Venerable” martyrs, Robert Bickerdyke, Peter Snow, Ralph Grimston,

Francis Ingleby, and John Robinson (some priests, others laymen) came from

Low Hall, Farnham; “at or near Ripon;” Nidd, near Scotton; Ferensby and

Ripley respectively. While the “Blessed” John Nelson came from Skelton,

York, and the “Blessed” Richard Kirkeman from Addingham, near Ilkley (both

priests). All these men suffered death for legal treason or felony based

upon their religion between the years 1578 and 1604. And, therefore,

according to the laws that govern human nature, such events were sure to

tell an impressive tale to a man like Guy Fawkes. Princes and statesmen

should avoid, as far as possible, inflicting punishments that impress the

imagination. Moreover, an inferior but potent objection against all

religious persecution is found in the wisdom enshrined in the exclamation

of Horace, “O imitators, a servile crowd!”]

The following testimony of Father Oswald Tesimond, one of Guy Fawkes’ old

school-fellows, along with John Wright and Christopher Wright, at Old St.

Peter’s School, in the Horse Fayre, Gillygate, York, where Union Terrace

now stands, will be of interest.

Fawkes was “a man of great piety, of exemplary temperance, of mild and

cheerful demeanour, an enemy of broils and disputes, a faithful friend,

and remarkable for his punctual attendance upon religious observances.”

His society was “sought by all the most distinguished in the Archdukes’

camp for nobility and virtue.”——Quoted by Jardine in his “_Narrative_,” p.

38.

How sad to think that such a man should have so missed his way in the

journey of life as to become so demoralized as to join in the Gunpowder

Treason Plot; nay, _in intention_, to be the most deadly agent in that

Plot. What can have caused, in the final resort, such a missing of his

way, and have wrought such dire demoralization? Echo answers what?

Yet nothing more clearly shows that Guy Fawkes deserved all the punishment

he got than the fact that he returned to his post in the cellar, where the

thirty-six barrels of gunpowder were, after no less than _three_ distinct

warnings that the Government had intelligence of the Plot. One warning was

given him on Monday, the 28th October, at White Webbs, by Thomas Winter; a

second, on Sunday night, the 3rd November, by Thomas Winter, after the

delivery of the Letter to the King; and the third, on Monday, the 4th

November, after the visit to the cellar of the Earl of Suffolk and Lord

Mounteagle, of which visit Fawkes informed Thomas Percy.——See Lingard’s

“_History_.”

Copies of the three following Deeds given in Davies’ “_Fawkeses, of

York_,” will be read with interest. One of the Deeds is an “Indenture of

Lease;” the second, an “Indenture of Conveyance;” and the third, a “Deed

Poll,” whereby Dennis and Edith Bainbridge release all right to Dower in

Guy Fawkes’ real estate that he “heíred” from his own father, Edward

Fawkes; all the property was outside Bootham Bar, in the suburbs of York.

In “_The Connoisseur_,” for November, 1901, is given a fac-simile of the

“Conveyance.” Thomas Shepherd Noble, Esq., of Precentor’s Court, York, one

of York’s most respected citizens, saw these Deeds sixty years ago in

York, he informed me on the 5th of November, 1901; and Mr. Noble then told

me he had no doubt that the fac-simile given in “_The Connoisseur_” of the

“Conveyance” is a fac-simile of one of the documents he saw _more than

half a century ago_.

The Pulleyns, Pulleines, Pulleins, or Pullens (for the family spelt their

name in all four ways) bore for their Arms one and four azure, on a bend

between six lozenges or, each charged with a scallop of the first, five

scallops sable: two and three azure, a fess between three martlets.——See

Flower’s “_Visitation of Yorkshire_,” Ed. by Norcliffe.

Flower gives the Pulleyns, of Scotton, first, and then the Pulleyns, of

Killinghall, near Harrogate.

Walter Pulleyn, the step-grandfather of Guy Fawkes, is given as a Pulleyn,

of Scotton. Walter Pulleyn married for his first wife Frances Slingsby, of

Scriven; for his second wife Frances Vavasour, of Weston, near Otley. One

branch of the Vavasours, of Weston, settled at Newton Hall, Ripley, which,

embosomed in trees, can be seen to-day by all those who drive from

Harrogate,[A] through Killinghall and Ripley, on towards Ripon. Their son

was William Pulleyn, who married Margaret Bellasis, of Henknoll; and

_their_ son and heir was John Pulleyn, almost certainly the John Pulleyn,

Esquire, of Scotton, given under the Parish of Farnham, in Peacock’s

“_List of Roman Catholics in Yorkshire in 1604_.”

[Footnote A: How lovely is this drive from Harrogate to Ripon on a bright,

balmy summer-morn! How amiable the fair sights and sounds that greet from

all sides the traveller’s eye and ear! What historic memories well-up in

the heart as Scotton Banks, on the right hand, and Ripley Valley, on the

left, appear through charming sweet vistas never-to-be-forgotten!]

Flower’s “Pedigree” shows that the Pulleyns, of Scotton, had intermarried

with the Ruddes, of Killinghall; the Roos, of Ingmanthorpe, near

Wetherby; the Tankards, of Boroughbridge; the Swales, of Staveley; the

Walworths, of Raventoftes, Bishop Thornton; the Coghylls, of Knaresbrough;

and the Birnands, of Knaresbrough; one and all old Yorkshire Catholic

gentry.

Flower also shows in his “Pedigree” of the Pulleyns, of Killinghall, that

James Pulleyn, of Killinghall, married first Frances, daughter of Sir

William Ingleby, of Ripley; and secondly Frances Pulleyn, daughter of

Walter Pulleyn, of Scotton. They must have been cousins in some degree.

Among _their_ numerous children were Joshua and William, both Roman

Catholic priests.

The “_Douay Registers_” (David Nutt) show that Joshua Pulleyn was ordained

priest in 1578. He returned to England on the 27th August of that year. He

was educated at Cardinal Allen’s[A] College in Douay. His brother, William

Pulleyn, was ordained in 1583, at the same time as the future martyr, “the

Venerable” Francis Ingleby, afterwards the friend of “the Venerable”

Margaret Clitherow, of York, and for harbouring whom, along with her

spiritual director, Father John Mush, belike of Knaresbrough, Margaret

Clitherow was indicted in the Guildhall, York, at the Lent Assizes of

1586.

[Footnote A: Cardinal Allen had been a lay canon of York Minster during

the reign of Philip and Mary. He was a Lancashire man, being a native of

Rossall, near Blackpool.]

In 1578 the College of Douay was transferred by Cardinal Allen to Rheims

(or Reims), where it remained for twenty-one years, when it was

transferred back to Douay. Fathers William Pulleyn and Francis Ingleby

were educated at the College at Rheims (or Reims).——See “Order of Queen

Elizabeth,” dated last day of December, 1582, in Appendix _postea_ where

Reims is mentioned in connection with the popish missionary priests it

was then sending forth into the City of York.[A]

[Footnote A: Miss Catharine Pullein, of the Manor House, Rotherfield,

Sussex, courteously tells me in a most interesting letter, under date 13th

May, 1901, that from the _inq. post mortem_ the above-named Walter Pulleyn

died in 1580. That his son William, whose wife was a Bellasis, died before

his father, so that in 1580 John Pulleyn (the one mentioned in Peacock’s

“_List for 1604_”) was the young squire. In 1581 or 1582 John seems to

have married. He suffered from the infliction of fines for popish

recusancy, and appears to have left Scotton between 1604 and 1612.

(Scotton Hall is to-day (1901), I believe, owned by the Rev. Charles

Slingsby, M.A., of Scriven Hall, near Knaresbrough. The tenant is Mr.

Thrackray.)]

There is a tradition to this day at Cowthorpe (or Coulthorpe, as it is

pronounced by ancient inhabitants), near Wetherby, that Guy Fawkes was

wont to visit that old-world village (until recently so quaint from its

thatched farm-houses and cottars’ dwellings, and but little changed belike

since the days of “Good Queen Bess”).

This tradition is certainly probably authentic; for a Roman Catholic

family, named Walmsley, at that time lived at Cowthorpe Hall, a dignified

“moated grange” between the Nidd and the historic “Cowthorpe Old Oak.” Guy

Fawkes, possibly, many a time and oft, may have stabled his horse at the

old Hall when, after fording at Hunsingore the shallow Nidd, he traversed

the pleasant fields betwixt Cowthorpe and Ingmanthorpe, near Wetherby,

where dwelt the family of Roos, who were, as above stated, allied by

marriage to Guy’s friends, the Pulleyns, of Scotton.

Lastly; so intelligent a Yorkshire lad as was, beyond all doubt or cavil,

the son of Edward Fawkes and Edith his wife——the lad whose manly but

delicately-formed handwriting may be seen to-day by all who have the

privilege of obtaining a sight of the precious document fac-similed in a

well-known monthly periodical for November, 1901[A]——must have visited, I

opine, Ribston Park, between Knaresbrough, Hunsingore, and Cowthorpe

(where had been in mediæval times a celebrated Preceptory of the Knights

Templars, the record of whose deeds against “the infidel Turk” may have

fired Guy’s imagination from his earliest years). Moreover, Richard

Goodricke, Esquire, of Ribston, had married Clara Norton, one of

chivalrous, old Richard Norton’s daughters, of Norton Conyers; and this,

to the popish youth, would be an additional attraction for going to view

Ribston Hall, its chapel, park, and pale.[B]

[Footnote A: “_The Connoisseur._”]

[Footnote B: Richard Norton fled to Cavers House, Hawick, in the Border

Country of Scotland, and afterwards to Flanders, where he died.——See “_Sir

Ralph Sadler’s Papers_,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.]

The Goodrickes derived the Ribston Estate (which included the Manor of

Hunsingore and the Lordship of Great Cattal) from Charles Brandon Duke of

Suffolk, William Parker fourth Lord Mounteagle’s great-great-grandfather.

The Goodrickes were akin to the Hawkesworths, who again were akin to the

Fawkeses, and likewise to the Wards (see _ante_). The Ribston branch of

the Goodrickes died out early in the nineteenth century——Sir Harry

Goodricke being the last baronet. The ancient Ribston, Hunsingore, and

Great Cattal demesne is now owned by Major Dent, of Ribston Hall, near

Knaresbrough.

From _“The Fawkes Family of York.”_

This Indenture made the fourtenth daye of October in the yere of

the reigne of our Sovereigne Ladye Elizabeth, by the Grace of

God Queen of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defender of the Faith,

&c. the xxxiijrd, Betwene Guye Fauxe of Scotton in the County of

Yorke gentilman of the one partye, and Christofer Lomleye of

the cittie of Yorke taylor, of the other partye, Witnessethe

that the said Guy Fauxe, for divers good cawses and

consideracions him thereunto speciallye moveinge, hath demysed

graunted and to farme letten, and by theis presentes doth demyse

graunt and to farme lett, unto the sayd Christofer Lomleye, one

barne and one garth on the backside of the said barn, with the

appertenaunces, scytuate lyeinge and beinge in Gilligaite in the

suburbes of the said cittie of Yorke, and three acres and half

of one acre of arrable lande, with the appertenaunces, in

Clyfton in the said countie of Yorke, whereof halfe of one acre

called a pitt lande, and one roode of lande lyinge at

Newe-Close-gaite, are lyinge and beinge in the common field of

Clyfton aforesaid towards Roclyffe, one half acre lyeth in the

field called Mylnefeilde in Clyfton afforesaid, one rood lyinge

in the flatt or field called Layres, one half acre called Layres

in the Fosse-feild, one half acre called Hungrine lande, one

half acre beyond the newe wynde mylne, and one half acre at the

More-brottes, all whiche are lyinge and beynge in the feildes of

Clyfton afforesaid; and also one acre of medowe lyinge and

beynge in the ynges or medowe of Clyfton afforesaid, with all

and singuler the appertenaunces in Clyfton aforesaid, nowe or

laite in the tenure or occupacion of the saide Christofer or his

assignes; to have and to holde the said barne, garth, three

acres and half of one acre of arrable lande, and the sayd acre

of medowe, and all other the premisses, with all and singuler

the appertenaunces, in Gilligaite and Clyfton afforesaid, unto

the sayd Christofer Lomley his executors and assignes, from the

feast of St. Martyne the Bishop, comonlye called Martinmas daye,

nexte ensewynge the daite hereof, for and dureinge the terme of

twentye and one yeres from thence nexte and ymediatlye

ensewinge and followinge fullye to be complett fynished and

ended, yeldinge and payinge therfore yerelye dureinge the said

terme unto the said Guye Fauxe his heires or assignes, fortie

and two shillinges of lawfull Ynglish monie at the feastes of

St. Martyne the Bishop in winter and Penteycost, or within ten

dayes nexte after either of the sayd feastes, yf it be lawfully

demaunded, by even and equall porcions. And the said Christofer

Lomley, for him his executors and assignes, doth by theis

presentes covenaunte and graunte to and with the said Guye

Fauxe, that he the said Christofer Lomley his executors and

assignes, at his and their proper costes and chardges shall well

and sufficyentlye repaire maintayne and uphould the said barne

at all tymes dureinge the said terme in all necessarie

reparacions, greate tymber onely excepted, whiche the said Guye

Fauxe, for him his heires and assignes, doth by theis presentes

covenaunt and graunte to and with the said Christofer Lomley his

executors and assigns, to delyver upon the ground at all tymes

as often as neede shall require dureinge the said terme. And the

said Guye Fauxe, for himself his heires executors and assignes,

doth by theis presentes covenant and grante to and with the sayd

Christofer Lomley, his executors and assignes, that he, the sayd

Christofer Lomley, his executors and assignes, shall or lawfully

maye at all tyme and tymes, and from tyme to tyme, dureynge the

sayd terme of twentye and one yeres, peacablye occupie and

quyetlie enjoye the said barne and all other the premisses and

every parte and parcell thereof, with all and everie their

appurtenaunces, without lett disturbance or interrupcion of any

person or persons whatsoever. And that the sayd barne, and all

other the premisses, with the appurtenaunces, at the daye of the

daite hereof are, and dureynge the sayd term of twenty and one

yeres shall and may continewe, clere and clerelie dischardged,

or well and sufficyently saved harmeles, by the sayd Guye Fauxe

his heires and assignes, of and from all former leases,

grauntes, charges, incumbraunces, and demaundes whatsoever, the

rentes by theis presentes reserved, and the covenauntes in theis

presentes expressed on the behalf of the said Cristofer Lomley,

to be observed and performed, onely excepted and foreprised. And

the said Guye Fauxe and his heires all and singuler the

premisses, with the appurtenances, before by theis presentes

demysed to the sayd Cristofer Lomley his executors and assignes,

dureigne the terme afforesayd, against all people rightfully

claimynge shall warrante and defende by theis presentes. In

witnes whereof, the partyes abovesaid to theis present

Indentures have interchangeablie set to their handes and seales

the daye and yere above written.

GUYE FAWKES. L.S.

Sealed and delivered, in the presence of us——DIONIS

BAYNEBRIGGE——JOHN JACKSON——CHRISTOPHER HODGSON’S marke ×

This Indenture maide the firste daie of Auguste in the xxxiiijth yere of

the reigne of our Soveraigne Ladie Elizabethe, by the grace of God Quewne

of England Fraunce and Ireland, Defendour of the Faithe, &c. Betwene Guye

Fawkes of the cittie of Yorke gentilman, of the one partye, and Anne

Skipseye of Cliftone in the countie of Yorke, spinster, of the other

partye Witnessithe that the said Guy Fawkes, for and in consideration of

the sum of xxix^{li} xiij^{s} iiij^{d} of good and lawfull English moneye

to him, the said Guye Fawkes, well and trewlie contentid and paid by the

said Anne Skipseye, at and before the ensealinge of these presentes,

whereof and wherewith the said Guye knowlegith him self to be fulie

satisfied contentid and paid, and the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires

executors administratores and assigneis, thereof to be fullie acquited and

dischargdgid for ever by theis presentes, hath geven grauntid alliened

bargained and sollde, and by these presentes dothe clerelie and absolutlye

geve graunt allien bargaine and sell unto the said Anne Skipseye, hir

heires and assigneis, that his messuage tenement or farme-hollde, with the

appurtenaunces, and a garthe and a gardine belonginge to the same, lyeinge

and beinge in Cliftone in the countie of York, and towe acres and an half

of arrable lande liinge in severall feilldes in Clifton aforesaid, half an

acre of medowe grounde liinge in a closse callid Huntingtone buttes,

within the townshipp and territories of Cliftone aforesaid, one acre of

medowe lyinge in Lufton Car, thre inges endes, and towe croftes or lees of

medowe in a crofte adjoyninge on the garth endes in Cliftone aforesaid, of

the easte parte of the said messuage; all which premissis are nowe in the

tenure and occupation of the said Anne Skipsie; and also one acre of

arable land and medowe liinge in the towne-end felld of Clifton aforesaid,

nowe or late in the occupation of Richard Dickinsone; and all other his

landes and tenementes in Clifton aforesaid, with all comons of pasture,

more grownde, turffe graftes, and all and singuler the appurtenaunces to

the same belonging or apperteyninge, in whose tenures or occupations

soever they nowe be, excepte thre acres and an half of arable land with

the appurtenaunces in Cliftone aforesaid, whereof half an acre callid a

pitt land, and a roode of land liinge at Newe Close Gate, and being in the

comon felld of Clifton aforesaid towardes Roclif, one half acre lyenge in

the felld callid Milne felld, one rood lying in the flatt callid the

Laires, and half acre callid Laires in Fosse filde, one acre callid a

hungrie land, one half acre beyonde the newe windemill, one acre of land

at the More Brottes; all which are lyinge and beinge in the felldes of

Cliftone aforesaid; and also one acre of medow lyinge and beinge in the

medowe or inges of Clifton, with theire appurtenaunces to the same

perteyninge or belonginge, by the said Guye Fawkes heretofore demissid

grauntid and to ferme letten for diverse yeres yett to come and unexpirid

to one Cristofer Lumleye of the cittie of Yorke tailor, as shall appeare

by one Indenture maid thereof betwene the said Guye Fawkes of the one

partie, and the said Cristofer Lumleye of the other partie, bearinge date

the xiiijth daie of October in the xxxiijrd yere of the said our

Soveraigne Ladie the Quenes Majestie reigne more at lardge maie appeare;

together with all the deedes evidences writinges, and escriptes, towchinge

and concerninge the premissis with the appertenaunces, before by these

presentes bargaind and solde by the said Guye Fawkes to the said Anne

Skipsie, which the said Guye nowe hathe in custodie, or which any othere

persone or persones have in their custodies to his use or by his

deliverie, which the said Guye Fawkes maie lawfullie come by withowte

suite in lawe: To have and to holld the said messuage cotage or

farme-holld, and all and singuler the premissis, with the appurtenaunces,

by these presentes before bargaind and solld (except before exceptid),

with all and singuler the appurtenaunces to the same perteyninge and

belonginge, in Cliftone, and the felldes of Cliftone aforesaid, together

with all the said deedes, evidences, writinges, and escriptes, towchinge

and concerninge the same, as is said, to the said Anne Skipseye her

heires and assigneis, to the sole and proper use and behowfe of the said

Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis for ever. And the said Guye Fawkes,

for him his heires executores and administratores, doeth covenant and

graunt by these presentes to and with the said Anne Skipseye, hir heires

executores administratores and assigneis, that he the said Guye Fawkes,

the daie of the makinge hereof, ys the verie and trewe owner of the said

messuage tenement and farme-hold, with all and singuler the landes,

medowes, pastures, comon of pasture, turbaries, with the same pertenyinge

or belonginge in Cliftone, and within the felldes and territories of

Clifton aforesaid, with other the appurtenaunces whatsoever to the same

perteyninge or belonginge before bargaind and sold, and that he is

lawfullie seassid thereof in his demesne as of fee in fee simple, and hath

full power and lawfull authoritie to bargaine and sell the same unto the

said Anne Skipeseye hir heires and assignes for ever. And also that the

said messuage tenement or farme-holld, and other the premissis, with the

appurtenances, before bargaind and sold, the daie of the makinge hereoff,

and at all tymes hereafter, and from tyme to tyme, is and shall stand

clerely acquittid and dischardgid, or otherwise savid harmeles, by the

said Guye Fawkes, his heires, executores or assignes, of and from all

former bargaines, sailles, joyntores, doweres, thirde parties,

feoffamentes, statutes-marchant and of the staple, recognizances,

writinges of eligit, condempnations, judgmentes, executions, fines,

forfaiturs, intrusions for allienations, rentes-chardges, rentes-seke, and

all othere chardges and incumberances whatsoever theye be, the rentes and

services hereafter to be dewe to the cheife lord of the fee thereof onely

exceptid. And also the said Guye Fawkes, for him his heires executores

and assigneis, dothe further covenant and graunt to and with the said Anne

Skipseye hir heires and assigneis, that Edeth the late wife of Edward

Fawkes deceassid, mothere to the said Guye Fawkes, and now wife to Dionese

Baynebridge gentillman, nor any other persone or persones whatsoever,

which have, shall have, or shall clame any lawfull right or title in or to

the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at any tyme hereafter moleste,

interrupt, or trowble, the said Anne Skipseye hir heires or assigneis, of

for and concerninge the premissis or any parte thereof, but that the said

Anne Skipseye hir heires and assigneis shall and maie at all tyme

peacablie and quietlie possess and enjoye the same and everie parte

thereof, and that all and everie persone or persones whatsoever, which doe

stand seazid of the premissis or any parte thereof, shall at all tymes,

and from tyme to tyme, within five yeres next ensuinge the date hereof,

upon the reasonable requeste and desire of the said Anne Skipseye hir

heires administratores or assigneis, make, knowledge, sealle, and deliver,

unto the said Anne Skipseye hir heires executores and assigneis, all such

further assurance and assurances whatsoever as shall be devisid or advisid

by the learnid councell in the lawes of this realme, beinge of the

councell of the said Anne Skipseye, whether the same shalbe by dede or

dedes inrollid, with warrantie against all men, inrollment of these

present Indentures, fine with like warrantie, recoverie with vocher or

vochers single or doble, release with warrantie against all men, or

otherwise or by soo manye of them as shall be advisid or requirid by the

said learnid councell of the said Anne, the cost and chardges whereof in

lawe shalbe at thonelie cost and chardges of the said Anne Skipseye hir

heires executores or assigneis. In witness whereof, the parties abovesaid

unto these present Indentures interchangable have sett there handes and

seall the daie and yere abovesaid.

GUYE FAWKES. L.S.

Seallid and delyverid in the presence of——GEORGE HOBSON——WILLIAM

MASKEWE——LANCELOT BELT——THOMAS HESLEBECKE——CHRYSTOFER LUMLEYE——IHON LAMB

marke ×——JOHN HARRISON——JOHN CALV’LEY.

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos hoc presens scriptum pervenerit

Dionisius Baynbrige de Scotton in comitatu Ebor’ generosus et Edetha uxor

ejus salutem in Domino sempiternam. Noveritis nos prefatum Dionisium

Baynbrige et Edetham remississe, relaxasse ac omnino de et pro nobis et

heredibus nostris per presentes inperpetuum quietum clamasse Anne Skipseye

de Cliftone in dicto comitatu Ebor’ spynster in sua plena pacificaque

possessione et seisina die confectionis presentium existenti heredibus et

assignatis suis, totum jus, statum, titulum, clameum, usum, interesse et

demaunda nostra quecunque que vel quas unquam habuimus, habemus, seu

quovismodo infuturum habere poterimus seu deberimus de et in uno cotagio

sive tenemento cum una clausura vocata A Grisgarthe et duobus croftis vel

selionibus cum suis pertinentiis in Cliftone predicto in comitatu Ebor’

predicto ac de et in una roda terræ arrabilis jacentis in Favild-nooke in

campis de Cliftone, inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et

terram Leonarid Weddell ex parte oriente, dimidia acra terræ jacente in

les Sokers inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte australi et terram

Thome Hill ex parte boriali, una roda terræ jacente in Longwandilles inter

terram Thome Hill ex parte boriali et terram nuper Roberti Wright ex

parte australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente

inter regias vias ibidem inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex parte

australi et Thome Hill ex parte boriali, dimidia acra terræ jacente in lez

shorte layeres inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte boriali et terram

nuper Rogeri Browne ex parte australi, dimidia acra jacente in Huntington

buttes inter terram Johannis Bilbowe ex parte occidente et terram Roberti

Walker ex parte orientali, una acra terræ jacente in Lupstone Carre in le

Northfelld sive campo juxta Roclif inter terram nuper Roberti Wright ex

parte australi et le moore dike ex parte boriali, et tribus dimidiis acris

prati jacentibus in fine prati vocati ynge endes quarum una dimidia acra

jacet inter pratum Edwardi Turner ex parte boriali et Thome Burtone ex

parte australi, alia dimidia acra inde jacet ex parte australi Leonardi

Weddell, et tertia dimidia acra inde jacet inter Thomam Hill ex parte

boriali et Henricum Granger ex parte australi, cum omnibus et singulis

suis pertinentiis in Cliftone et in campis de Cliftone predicto modo in

tenura sive occupatione prefate Anne Skipseye, ac etiam de et in una acra

terræ et prati jacente in le Towne-end felld de Cliftone predicto modo vel

nuper in occupatione Ricardi Dickensone, necnon de et in omnibus aliis

terris et tenementis in Clifton predicto que nuper fuerunt Guidonis Fawkes

generosi (tribus acris et dimidia acra terræ cum pertinentiis in campis de

Cliftone predicto et una acra prati in prato vocato le ynges de Cliftone

modo in tenura Cristoferi Lumleye, tantum modo exceptis per presentes),

ita viz. quod nec nos prefati Dionisius Bainbrige et Edetha aut nostrum

uterlibet nec heredes nostri nec aliquis alius sive aliqui alii pro nobis

seu nominibus nostris aut nomine nostrum alterius aliquod jus, statum,

titulum, clameum, usum, interesse vel demandum de et in predicto cotagio

sive tenemento cum clausura predicta, et de predictis duobus croftis vel

selionibus, aut de et in predictis premissis cum pertinentiis in Clifton

et campis de Cliftone predicto ut prefertur, seu de et in aliqua inde

parte sive parcellis (exceptis prius exceptis) decetero exigere, petere,

clamare vel vendicare, poterimus nec debemus in futuro, sed ut ab omni

actione, jure, titulis, clameo, usu, interesse, vel demando aliquid inde

habendi sive petendi sumus penitus exclusi et quilibet nostrum sit inde

penitus exclusus in perpetuum per presentes. Et nos vero prefati Dionisius

Baynbrige et Edetha et haredes nostri predicta omnia premissa cum suis

pertinentiis universis ut prefertur (exceptis prius exceptis) prefate Anne

Skipseye heredibus et assignatis suis in forma predicta contra nos et

heredes nostros warrantizabimus et imperpetuum defendemus per presentes.

In cujus rei testimonium nos prefati Dionisius Baynbrige et Edetha huic

presenti scripto nostro sigilla nostra apposuimus. Datum xxi^{mo} die

mensis Octobris, anno regni domine Elizabethe Dei gratia Anglie, Frauncie,

et Hibernie Regine, fidei defensoris &c. tricesimo quarto.

DIONIS BAYNEBRIGGE (L.S.)——E.B. (L.S.) Seallid and delyverid in

the presence of——GUYE FAWKES——WILLIAM GRANGE——JAMES RYDING.

SUPPLEMENTUM II.

HATFIELD MSS.——Part VI.

[Dr. Bilson] Bishop of Worcester to Sir Robert Cecil.

1596, July 17. I have viewed the state of Worcester diocese, and find it,

as may somewhat appear by the particulars here enclosed, for the quantity,

as dangerous as any place that I know. In that small circuit there are

nine score[A] recusants of note, besides retainers, wanderers, and secret

lurkers, dispersed in forty several parishes, and six score and ten

households, whereof about forty are families of gentlemen, that themselves

or their wives refrain the church, and many of them not only of good

wealth, but of great alliance, as the Windsors, Talbots, Throgmortens,

Abingtons, and others, and in either respect, if they may have their

forth, able to prevail much with the simpler sort.

[Footnote A: This letter will be read with interest, as affording

independent testimony to the strength of Popery in the County of Worcester

during the period of Father Oldcorne’s labours.]

Besides, Warwick[B] and the parts thereabout are freighted with a number

of men precisely conceited against her Majesty’s government

ecclesiastical, and they trouble the people as much with their curiosity

as the other with their obstinacy.

[Footnote B: This is interesting as showing that in the native county of

Shakespeare, Puritanism was gaining strength in 1596, probably through the

influence of the Earl of Leicester, Sir Thomas Lucy (of Charlcote), and

Sir Fulke Grevyll, as well as others.]

How weak ordinary authority is to do any good on either sort long

experience hath taught me, excommunication being the only bridle the law

yieldeth to a bishop, and either side utterly despising that course of

correction, as men that gladly, and of their own accord, refuse the

communion of the church, both in sacraments and prayers.

In respect therefore of the number and danger of those divers humours both

denying obedience to her Majesty’s proceedings, if it please her Highness

to trust me and others in that shire with the commission

ecclesiastical,[A] as in other places of like importance is used, I will

do my endeavour to serve God and her Majesty in that diocese to the

uttermost of my power.

[Footnote A: Under the provisions of the Elizabethan Act of Uniformity.]

First, by viewing their qualities, retinues, abilities, and dispositions;

next, by drawing them to private and often conference, lest ignorance make

them perversely devout; thirdly, by restraining them from receiving,

succouring, or maintaining any wanderers or servitors that feed their

humours; and, lastly, by certifying what effects or defects I find to be

the cause of so many revolting.

Her Majesty hath trusted me fifteen years since to be of the _quorum_ on

the commission ecclesiastical in Hampshire, and therefore age and

experience growing, as also my care and charge increasing, I hope I shall

not need to produce any further motives to induce her Majesty’s favour

therein, but the profession of my duty and promise of my best service with

all diligence and discretion, which I hope shall turn to her content and

good of her people.

With which my most humble petition, if it please you to acquaint her

Majesty; I will render you all due thanks, and make what speed I may

towards the place where I long to be and wish to labour to the pleasure of

Almighty God and good liking of her Majesty.

London 17 July 1596.

Signed

Encloses:——

The names and qualities of the wealthier sort of Recusants in Worcester

diocese:——

The Lady Windsor, with her retinue.

M^{r} Talbot.

Thomas Abington Esq. and Dorothy, his sister.

Thomas Throgmorton, Esq.

John Wheeler gent. and Elizabeth his wife.

Thomas Bluntt gent. and Bridgett, his wife.

John Smyth gent. Thomas Greene, gent.

Hugh Ligon gent., and Barbara, his wife.

Michael Folliatt, gent., and Margaret, his wife.

William Coles gent., and Marie, his wife.

M^{r} Bluntt, gent. of Hallow.

Hugh Day gent. and Margaret, his wife.

Lygon Barton, gent.

John Taylor, gent., and Ann, his wife.

John Midlemore, gent., Hugh Throgmorton gent.

Humphrey Packington, gent.

John Woolmer gent. of Inkbarrow.

Rowse Woolmer, gent.

John Woolmer gent. of Kingston.

M^{r} Busshop gent. of Oldbarrow.

[Total]——23.

The names of the gentlewomen that refuse the church, though their husbands

do not.

Margaret, wife of Roger Pen gent.

Jane wife of John Midlemore.

Alice wife of John Hornyhold gent.

Margaret wife of William Rigby gent.

Mary wife of Thomas Sheldon gent.

Dorothy wife of Thomas Rauckford gent.

Ann wife of William Fox gent.

Joan, wife of Thomas Barber gent.

Prudence wife of Thomas Oldnall gent.

Frances wife of John Jeffreys gent.

Elizabeth wife of Thomas Randall gent.

Mary wife of William Woolmer gent.

Elizabeth Ferreys widow.

Jane Sheldon widow.

Katherine Sparks of Hinlipp.

Dorothy Woolmer.

Jane Mary Eleanor daughters of Anthony Woolmer gent.

Of the meaner sort:——

Fourscore and ten several households where the man or wife or both are

recusants, besides children and servants.

SUPPLEMENTUM III.

THOMAS WARD.

It is probable that diligent search among the Cecil and Walsingham papers

will shed more light on Thomas Ward (or Warde) than I have been able

hitherto to gain.

The probabilities are, as has been already indicated, that Thomas Ward was

a younger son of Marmaduke Ward, of Newby, and Susannay, his wife. That

Marmaduke Ward’s elder son was Marmaduke Ward (who married Ursula Wright,

and afterwards, in all likelihood, Elizabeth Sympson), the father of that

extraordinary woman, Mary Ward.

I opine that Thomas Ward attached himself to the Court party of Queen

Elizabeth, through the Council of the North, established by Henry VIII.

after the defeat of the first Pilgrimage of Grace (1536).

Thomas Ward was just the sort of man (_me judice_) that Queen Elizabeth

would affect. Moreover, I find that a Captain John Ward was on the side of

the Crown on the occasion of the second Pilgrimage of Grace, commonly

called the Rising of the North, or the Earls’ Rebellion (1569).

Therefore, through the influence of a man like Sir Ralph Sadler, who was a

distinguished Privy Councillor of the Queen in the northern parts, a

Yorkshire gentleman, such as a Ward, of Mulwith, Newby, and Givendale,

would have no difficulty in obtaining an _entrée_ at Elizabeth’s Court,

who, as is well known, was, from a certain English conservative instinct

probably, favourably inclined to those Catholics whose leaning was

towards the easy side of things.[A]

[Footnote A: See “_Sir Ralph Sadler’s Papers_,” Ed. by Sir Walter Scott.

It is observable that although the Nortons and the Markenfields were for

the Earls, yet members of the following Yorkshire Catholic Families (many

of them kinsmen of the Wards) were for the Queen, who was not then

excommunicated:——The Eures, the Mallories, the Inglebies, the Constables,

the Tempests, the Fairfaxes, the Cholmeleys, the Ellerkers, and the

Wilstroppes.

For these Families and their alliances see the “_Visitations of

Yorkshire_,” by Glover, Ed. by Foster; and by Flower, Ed. by Norcliffe.

Also “_Dugdale_” (Surtees).]

Now, if Thomas Ward became a member of Elizabeth’s diplomatic service

under Sir Francis Walsingham, the inevitable question arises: Can Thomas

Ward (or Warde) have always maintained a conscience void of offence, or

did he sometimes stoop to compliances which were unworthy of his

principles and name?

At present I cannot say, yet I am constrained to allow that the following

two pieces of evidence afford curious reading and suggest many

possibilities:——

HATFIELD MSS.——Part VI., p. 96.

Thomas Morgan to Mary Queen of Scots.

1585, Mar. 30./Ap. 9. Informs her of his apprehension at the request of

the Earl of Derby. Mr. Ward’s negotiation to procure his being delivered

up into England. Requires her support. Lord Paget’s money taken in his

(Morgan’s) lodging. Efforts of Charles Paget and Thomas Throgmorton in his

behalf.

[It is to be recollected that this said Thomas Morgan was a Catholic of a

sort, who had been in the service of Archbishop Young, of York. Hence, a

Ward, of Ripon and York, was the very man the subtle Walsingham would

employ to negotiate a delicate matter requiring an accurate knowledge of

Morgan’s intellectual and moral characteristics; for Ward most likely had

known Morgan at York.]

* * * * *

Thirteen years later we find the name “Ward” again in the “_Hatfield

MSS._”

HATFIELD MSS.——Part VIII., p. 295.

1598 Aug. 4. Steven Rodwey to secretary Cecil for permission to go to

Italy to go over to accompany M^{r} Paget into Italy.

“The disgrace with your Honour I suspect to proceed, either of Lord

Cobham’s disfavour at another man’s suit, which I have not deserved; or by

the suggestion of _Ward_ M^{r} Paget’s, solicitor, because I refused to

carry his[A] letters that was so lately “jested” with high treason, and

might father all the faults I am charged with.”

[Footnote A: Whose letters? Paget’s or Ward’s?]

[Who or what Mr. Steven Rodwey was, one can only surmise. Possibly he was

a spy, who had been doing more business on his own account than on account

of his master. Hence, his disgrace with “his Honour.”

Charles Paget, a younger brother of Lord Paget, and his friend, Thomas

Morgan, figure in all histories of Mary Queen of Scots; also in “_Cardinal

Allen’s Memorials_,” Ed. by the late Dr. Knox (Nutt), there are some

interesting particulars about these two men, Charles Paget and Thomas

Morgan. They were hostile to Father Parsons and Parsons’ Spanish faction

among the English papists.]

But here, for the present, we must take our leave of Thomas Ward,

excepting to say that it is possible that he may be the same as the Thomas

Ward (or Warde) who is mentioned several times in the “_Household Books of

Lord William Howard_,” as his agent for the Howard-Dacre, Yorkshire,

Durham, and Westmoreland estates.[A]——See Note to p. 231 _ante_.

[Footnote A: The Rev. A. S. Brooke, M.A., the Rector of Slingsby, informs

me that his parish registers begin only in 1687. The late Captain Ward,

R.N., of Slingsby Hall, who lies in Slingsby Churchyard, perhaps may have

had some family tradition bearing on the point. It is certainly remarkable

that there should have been Wards, Rectors of Slingsby, from the time of

James I., and long afterwards. It suggests that Thomas Ward, the agent of

Lord William Howard, may have either married again after 1590, and had a

family; or else that some of the Wards, of Durham, or others that had

conformed to the Established Church received this ecclesiastical

preferment at the instance of Thomas Ward. Valentine Kitchingman, Esquire,

the grandson of Captain Ward, and owner of Slingsby Hall, has, however, no

such tradition. (I am told through the Rector of Slingsby, September,

1901.)]

The Right Honourable Charles James Howard ninth Earl of Carlisle, in the

course of two most gracious replies to letters of mine, informs me that,

although he has caused search to be made at Naworth and Castle Howard, he

has not been able to find any particulars concerning Thomas Ward (or

Warde) beyond what are mentioned in the “_Household Books of Lord William

Howard_” (Surtees Soc.); and that probably, owing to the fire at

Hinderskelfe Castle, after the time of Thomas Ward, letters or papers

containing possible reference to him may have been destroyed.

Lastly; I beg to bring before my readers the following document from the

Record Office, which makes mention of the name Ward; but whether or not

that of Thomas Ward, of Mulwith, in the Parish of Ripon, I cannot say:——

STATE PAPERS DOMESTIC——ELIZ., Vol. ccxxxviii., 126 I.

A. D. 1591.

Obiections against one Fletcher vicar of Clarkenwell for the

permission of these maters followinge

Fyrst at conveniente tymes of receivinge the holye communion at which time

he is to give warninge to all his parishioners for his privat comoditye he

excepteth sume particuler persones whose names are under written and of

them taketh money.

M^{r} Wardes[A] Two daughters.

M^{r} Gerrat his wiffe a watinge mayde called M^{ris} Marye and a man

called Anthenie recevinge of him for theire absence divers somes of money

and in my knowledge at Easter was Twoo yeares the some of xx^{s} in

goulde.

M^{r} Saunders and his Two Sonnes certen unknowne money.

Besides M^{ris} Gerrat being delivered of a doughter aboute Twoe yeares

since he did forbeare to cristen yt beinge bribed with a peece of money ye

Chillde being Cristned in the house, by a priest and she churched by th’

afforsaide preist being knowne to this Fletcher.

[Footnote A: What Mr. Warde can this have been? Not Thomas Ward (or

Warde), of Mulwith, I think. For the presumption is that he had no

children, for none are registered at Ripon Minster; and Thomas Ward was

more likely to have his children christened by a Protestant minister than

was his brother, Marmaduke; for the former evidently associated with

Protestants much more than the latter. Moreover, in 1591 any daughters

that Thomas Warde had can have been only about nine or ten years of age.

His wife died the previous year, 1590. (Still it may have been.)]

* * * * *

Norris and Watson persevantes have been divers times latly in ye closse

and Norris hath receved in ye way of borrowinge of sume V^{s} of others

more. But Watson by vertue of a comission from my L. of Cant. hath latly

serched Gerates house and M^{r} Wardes where he found nothinge at all they

being partly privie before of his cominge. But in M^{r} Wardes house

theire did latly remayne hidden under ye higest place of ye stares within

a nayled boarde divers bookes [not specified] pictures and other folishe

serimonyes.

Orders amungst ye papistes for ye releyse aswell of prisoners as

of ye porer sorte at libertye.

Yt is an order amungst ye papistes for ye releyse of prisoners aswell

Jesuytes as Laymen that there be a generall colleccion which beginneth at

ye L. Mountegue and so by degree to ye meaner sorte for ye maytenance of

three prisones in London, viz. the Klinke, the Marshallseas and Newgate

which cesseth not tyll ye some of a hundred and ffyftye poundes be

gathered quarterly which somme is sente by some trustye messinger to

London where yt is comitted to dyvers mens handes apoynted by the cheyfe

and from them to ye foresayde prysones.

Yt is further ordered for ye porer sorte of them beinge at libertie to

have theire dyett at several houses kepinge certen dayes for theyre

repayre to evereye house with certen money allowed to everye one at ye

wekes end And yf any recusante dye a piece of money is bequeathed to ye

porest sorte to saye dirge for theire sowles for a xii moneth to be payde

weklye both to men and women tyll this money be spente And thus they lyve

untyll ye lyke comoditye fall agayne.

per me Robartum Weston.

(Endorsed) 20 April. Robert Weston.

[On p. 76 of Text, in Note 1 at foot of page, it is stated that the first

Lord Mounteagle’s mother was Lady Eleanor Neville, sister to Richard

Neville, the King-maker. But I find that, under “Stanley,” in Flower’s

“_Visitation of Yorkshire_,” Ed. by Norcliffe (Harleian Soc.), _the great

grandfather_ of Edward Stanley first Lord Mounteagle, namely, Thomas Lord

Stanley, is said to have married Eleanor, daughter to Richard Nevell Earl

of Salisbury. _Their_ son is given as George Lord Stanley; _his_ son as

Thomas Stanley first Earl of Derby; and _his_ son as Edward Stanley first

Lord Mounteagle, who married Elizabeth Lady Grey, daughter of Sir Thomas

Vaughan, and whose son was Thomas second Lord Mounteagle.

But the “_National Dictionary of Biography_” (under “Stanley Earl of

Derby”) says that Eleanor Countess of Derby (_née_ Neville) was the

_daughter_ of Warwick, the King-maker. So the “learned” must be left to

determine the truth upon the point.

Again; on p. 160 of Text, in Note at foot of page, I have stated that the

young Lord Vaux of Harrowden was a descendant of Sir Thomas More.

But I find that that strong-minded lady his mother, Elizabeth Dowager Lady

Vaux of Harrowden, was _only distantly connected_ with Sir Thomas More.

For she was descended from _Christopher_ Roper, a younger brother of

William Roper, who married Margaret More.

Hence, Christopher Roper is the ancestor of the Lords Teynham, of Kent,

who, I believe, conformed to the Established Church after “1715,” as did

many old English papist families.]

SUPPLEMENTUM IV.

AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GIVENDALE, NEWBY, AND MULWITH,

ANCIENTLY IN THE CHAPELRY OF SKELTON, IN THE PARISH OF RIPON, IN

THE WEST RIDING OF THE COUNTY OF YORK.

On Sunday, the 22nd day of April, 1901, it fell out that the writer found

himself sojourning in the good City of Ripon; a city which a few years

ago, calling its friends and neighbours together, kept, amid high

festival, the one thousandth anniversary of its own foundation: at Ripon,

around the time-honoured towers of whose hallowed Minster abidingly cling

memories, strong and gracious, of canonized Saints and beloved

Apostles.[A]

[Footnote A: St. Wilfrid, Archbishop of York and Apostle of Sussex

(634-709) and his friend St. Willibrord, Archbishop of Utrecht and Apostle

of Holland.]

“Hail, smiling morn!” I exclaimed, on seeing at an early hour the bright

sunshine stream through my chamber windows. On this day of rest and

gladness will I hie me to the sites of the ancient roof-trees of those

whose graves, parted by long distances of space and time, are known

to-day, for the most part, no longer to Man, but to Nature merely.

Not to you and to me, gentle reader, are those graves to-day known (save

with one exception), but to the verdant grass, the crimson-tipped daisy,

the golden celandine, who are pre-eminently faithful watchers by the

dead. For steadfastly will _they_ remain watching until the daybreak of an

endless day.[A]

[Footnote A: This exception is the grave of Mary Ward, the daughter, it

will be remembered, of Marmaduke Ward and Ursula Wright, and,

consequently, the niece of Christopher Wright and, I maintain, of Thomas

Ward, the guide, philosopher, and friend of Lord Mounteagle. Mary Ward

died at the old Manor House, Heworth, on the 20th January, 1645-46, and is

buried at Osbaldwick, near York, where a stone, bearing a simple but

touching inscription, is still to be seen by an increasing number of her

admirers, Protestant and Catholic, the former of whom have ever styled her

“that good lady, Mary Ward.” The inscription on the gravestone bears out

this view of this great-hearted, truly human, English gentlewoman. It runs

thus: “To love the poore, persever in the same and live, dy, and rise with

them was all the ayme of Mary Ward, who, having lived 60 years and 8 days,

dyed the 20 of Jan., 1645.” That gravestone might also fittingly bear a

second inscription, consisting of those triumphant words of victory over

death: “_Credo_; _Spero_; _Amo_” (“I believe; I hope; I love”). The Rev.

F. Umpleby, the Vicar of Osbaldwick, and his churchwardens guard the

gravestone of Mary Ward with the most commendable care.]

Having duly paid my orisons to heaven in the ancient manner, and having

broken my fast with such fare as my place of sojourning bestowed, I set

out upon my quest.

I set forth alone, yet not alone; for mine was the companionship of lively

historical ideas. But as soon as I had journeyed about one mile to the

south-east of Ripon, I perforce came to a halt. For my footsteps, on a

sudden, had been arrested by the ear being struck with that most musical

of natural sounds——the sound of living, gurgling, murmuring waters.

I hearkened again, being infinitely pleasured by such natural music. And,

mending my pace somewhat, soon found myself at Bridge Hewick, looking down

from the parapet of the old grey bridge upon the rushing, boulder-broken,

glancing waters of the Ure, which, after gladdening fruitful Wensleydale,

flows through Ripon; and after skirting Givendale and Newby, and laving

“the green fields of England,” in front of Mulwith, hurries on towards

Boroughbridge; thence to Myton, where, by the junction of the Ure and

Swale, the Ouse[A] is formed, that majestic flood, which, with broad

swelling tide, flows past the towers of York, the far-famed Imperial City,

whose only peer in the western world is Rome.

[Footnote A: The winding Nidd, known to St. Wilfrid and dear to St.

Robert, pours itself into the Ouse at Nun Monkton, a few miles above York,

and not far from historic Marston Moor.]

I say I set out upon my quest for Givendale, Newby, and Mulwith alone, yet

not alone; because I had the companionship of lively historical ideas.

Thus much is true. And more: for romantic fancy conjured up visions before

my mental gaze during that sunny Rest-Day morning,

“When all the secret of the spring

Moved in the chambers of the blood,”[B]

[Footnote B: Tennyson’s “In Memoriam.”]

as I traversed those fair budding country-lanes, “made vocal by the song”

of a thousand warbling birds, and paradisaical

“With violets dim,

But sweeter than the lids of Juno’s eyes

Or Cytherea’s breath; pale primroses

That die unmarried, ere they can behold

Bright Phœbus in his strength.”[C]

[Footnote C: Shakespeare’s “Winter’s Tale.”——Shakespeare may have possibly

known, or at least heard of, Father John Gerard, S.J., the life-long

friend of Mary Ward, and the first “to English” Lorenzo Scupoli’s

“_Spiritual Combat_.” Any educated Buddhist or Mohammedan British subject

who wishes to understand the genius of Christianity should carefully study

the “_Spiritual Combat_.” It will repay his pains.

Francis Arden, who was in the Tower of London, escaped from that prison

along with Gerard during the night of 8th October, 1597. Francis Arden was

probably a relative of Edward Arden, who was executed as a traitor

on the 23rd December, 1583, in connection with the mysterious

Somerville-Arden-Hall conspiracy against the life of Queen Elizabeth. The

Shakespeares were justly proud of their connection with the Ardens, a fact

which is evidenced by the well-known application of John Shakespeare (the

poet’s father) to the College of Heralds for the grant of a coat-of-arms

that impaled and quartered the arms of the Ardens, of Wilmcote, his wife’s

family. I cannot doubt that the Ardens, of Wilmcote, Warwickshire, were of

the same clan as the Ardens, of Park Hall, Warwickshire, to which family

Edward Arden belonged, who was executed in 1583. To disallow the

relationship of the Ardens, of Wilmcote, with the Ardens, of Park Hall

(both in Warwickshire), simply because the former were less liberally

endowed with worldly goods in the reign of Elizabeth than the latter,

proves to demonstration that such disallowers, merely on such ground, have

something yet to learn respecting the England of “Good Queen Bess”——and of

every other England too.]

Yea, before my mind’s eye I seemed to behold, ever and anon, riding

towards and passing me on horseback, to and fro, from east to west, and

from west to east, the shadowy yet tall stately forms of Elizabethan

gentlemen, in feathered hat, girded sword, and Ripon spurs; aye, and of

Elizabethan gentlewomen likewise, in hooded cloak, white ruff, and pleated

gown.

Sometimes the groups, methought, were accompanied by one showing a graver

mien and more reverend aspect than the gentlefolk among whom he rode,

although apparelled and equipped externally as they. The breviary,

crucifix, and large jet rosary-beads which, in my phantasy, lay concealed

within the last-named’s breast, would betoken that he was a priest of the

ancient faith of the English people, although at that period one of such a

vocation was, by law, counted a traitor to his sovereign.

But my day-dreams vanished: from a vivid realization of a near approach to

Givendale, which was announced by a new guide-post visible to the eye of

flesh. A few paces further of walking, under the boughs of noble

interlacing trees, brought me by the gate leading to the dwelling-house

to-day known as Givendale——that historic name. The old hall occupied a

site most probably a little to the north of the present Givendale, and was

surrounded by a moat. Leland, writing in the reign of Henry VIII.,

describes it as “a fair manor place of stone.” Lovely views does Givendale

command of the valley of the Ure,[A] looking westward towards the sister

valleys of the Nidd and Wharfe and Aire.

[Footnote A: Givendale, in the time of Sir Simon Ward, who lived in the

reign of Edward II., was evidently the Wards’ principal seat near Ripon;

for Sir Simon Ward is described as of “Givendale and Esholt.” Esholt is in

the Parish of Otley. The arms of the Wards were azure, a cross patonce,

or. Sir Simon Ward’s daughter, Beatrice, was married to Walter de

Hawkesworth, and, through her, the Hawkesworth estate, in the Parish of

Otley, between Wharfedale and Airedale, came into the ancient family of

Hawkesworth (see Text _ante_). To-day, the well-known Fawkes family, of

Farnley (the friends of the artist, Turner, and of his great interpreter,

Ruskin), own Hawkesworth Hall, a fine, ivy-clad, antique mansion looking

towards Airedale. Campion was probably harboured here in the spring of

1581, and possibly also by the Hawkesworths, of Mitton, near Clitheroe.]

A kind wayfarer, whom I chanced to meet near Givendale, pointed out to me

the way to Skelton, Newby, and Mulwith.

I had to retrace from Givendale my steps for Skelton; but I soon found

from a second friendly guide-post that my good friend of a few moments

before had directed my eager steps aright.

The faithful following towards the south-east of the high road, running

parallel with the woods of Newby on my right, brought me in due course to

Skelton, a large limestone village, characteristic of that part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire.

I walked down the town street of Skelton and found that the Park-gates of

Newby entered from the village.

I passed, on my left, the little chapel of Skelton, standing in its

grave-yard, which, rebuilt in 1812, had taken the place of the chapel

where once or twice a year, “after long imprisonment,” it is probable

that Marmaduke Ward——though not Elizabeth, his wife, nor Mary, nor any of

his other children——“against his conscience” went to hear read the Book of

Common Prayer, in order to avoid the terrible penalty of having “to pay

the statute,” that is, to pay £20 per lunar month by way of fine for

“popish recusancy.”[A]

[Footnote A: This would be about £160 in our money. Thirteen of these

payments in one year would amount to about £2,080. Father Richard Holtby,

S.J., was a friend of the Wards, and the priest who decided Mary Ward’s

“vocation” in Baldwin’s Gardens, Holborn, London, after Marmaduke Ward had

been released from his brief captivity in Warwickshire. (See “_Life of

Mary Ward_,” vol. i., p. 89.) Holtby speaks of Mary as “my daughter

Warde.” Now, Father Holtby, of Fryton, near Hovingham, has recorded that

“after long imprisonment Mr. Blenkinsopp [of Helbeck, Westmoreland, no

doubt], _Mr. Warde_, Mr. Trollope [of Thornley, in the County of Durham,

no doubt], and Mrs. Cholmondeley [probably of Brandsby, near Easingwold],

and more” were “overthrown,” which clearly means became (temporarily at

least) “Schismatic Catholics,” by consenting to attend “the Protestant

church.” (See Morris’s “_Troubles_,” third series, p. 76.) This would be

in the years 1593-94-95, or previously. Peacock’s “_List_” for 1604, under

“Ripon,” gives “Elizabeth wief of Marmaduke Ward,” _but ominously no_

Marmaduke Ward. Therefore, like his relative Sir William Wigmore,

Marmaduke Ward, it is almost certain, for a time frequented his parish

church (contrary to what he deemed “the highest and best”) perhaps once or

twice a year. Poor fellow! he was, however, very strict in not allowing

his children to do the like. (See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” vol. i., pp. 30,

31.)]

The Newby Hall of to-day, the seat of R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire, is a

grand structure, having been designed by Sir Christopher Wren about the

year 1705. In the Park is the beautiful Memorial Church, built by the late

Lady Mary Vyner, in memory of her son, Frederick George Vyner, who was

slain by Greek brigands in the year 1870.[B]

[Footnote B: The late Dr. Stanley delivered, in Westminster Abbey, one of

his beautiful and pathetic “Laments,” after the sorrowful tidings reached

England that this fine young Englishman, by a deed of violence, had passed

into the world of the “Unseen Perfectness.”]

One mile from Newby is Mulwith.[A] It is reached by what evidently has

been an avenue in days of yore, connecting the two manor-houses.

[Footnote A: R. C. De Grey Vyner, Esquire (brother-in-law to the Most

Honourable the Marquis of Ripon, K.G., of Studley Royal, Lord Lieutenant

of the North Riding of Yorkshire), to-day owns Givendale, Newby, and

Mulwith. They are within about five miles of Ripon, and can be also

reached from Boroughbridge.]

The old hall of Mulwith was most probably a castellated mansion,

quadrangular in shape, with a Gothic chapel, gateway, drawbridge, and

moat, pretty much like Markenfield Hall, near Ripon, at the present day.

There was a fire at Mulwith in the year 1593, we know from the “_Life of

Mary Ward_.” And it may be, that the hall was then razed to the ground and

never afterwards rebuilt.[B]

[Footnote B: Mary Ward was born at Mulwith, in 1585 (see _ante_, p. 59).

Among her devoted scholars, who crossed the seas either with her or to

her, were Susanna Rookwood, Helena Catesby, and Elizabeth Keyes, each

respectively related, closely related, to the conspirators bearing those

names.——See “_Life of Mary Ward_,” vols. i. and ii.]

To-day Mulwith is a pleasant farmstead, built of brick with slated roof.

It is a two-storied, six-windowed dwelling, with homestead, gardens, and

orchards all adjoining.[C]

[Footnote C: My friend Mr. Renfric Oates, of Maidenhead, Berks., kindly

made me, when in Harrogate (in May, 1901), a sketch of Mulwith, which I

value highly. Since then a relative of his has bestowed upon me a portrait

of Mary Ward herself. So I am fortunate indeed. In the “_Life of Mary

Ward_,” by M. Mary Salome (Burns & Oates), the lady who so generously

gifted me with a picture I can scarcely prize enough, there is a copy from

the first of that remarkable series of paintings known as the Painted Life

of Mary Ward, which represents Mary (then a little maiden betwixt two and

three years old) toddling across the room, attired, as to her head, in a

tiny close-fitting cap. This picture bears the following note in ancient

German:——“‘Jesus’ was the first word of the infant, Mary, after which she

did not speak for many months.” Another of the famous pictures in the

Painted Life is one representing Mary, at the age of thirteen, making her

first Communion, at Harewell Hall, Dacre, Nidderdale. (I visited Harewell

Hall, which is still owned by the Inglebies, of Ripley, as in the days of

Mary Ward, on Wednesday, the 10th April, 1901, being courteously shown

round the Hall by Miss Simpson, the tenant. The River Nidd flows at the

foot of this ancient, picturesque dwelling.)]

In front of Mulwith still flows, as in the ancient days, the historic

waters of the Ure.[A] On almost every side the eye is gladdened with

woodland patches embroidering the horizon with that “sylvan scenery which

never palls.”[B]

[Footnote A: Near Newby, in February, 1869, Sir Charles Slingsby, Bart.,

of Scriven, when a-hunting was, with some other gentlemen, drowned in the

act of crossing in a boat the River Ure, then swollen high through

February floods. The event cast a profound gloom over Yorkshire for many a

long day. (The writer was eight years of age when this melancholy

catastrophe took place, and well does he remember the grief depicted on

the faces of the good citizens of York on the morrow of that sad

disaster.)]

[Footnote B: Lord Beaconsfield.]

Hence, at last I was come to my journey’s end. For I had reached Mulwith,

or Mulwaith, in the Parish of Ripon, whereof “Thomas Warde” is described,

who married M’gery Slater, in the Church of St. Michael-le-Belfrey, York,

on the 29th day of May, 1579.

Mrs. John Hardcastle and her son most kindly conducted me round the place

once more; for I had visited Mulwith about ten years previously, with my

sister, then approaching it from the east.

And on that Sunday evening (April 22nd, 1901), an evening calm and bright,

to the sound of sweet church bells, again I satisfied historic feeling by

the recollection of the Past; the sense whereof bore down upon me with a

force too strong for words, “too deep,” too high, “for tears.”

“_Many waters cannot quench Love; neither can the floods drown it._”

SUPPLEMENTUM V.

AN ACCOUNT OF A VISIT TO GREAT PLOWLAND (ANCIENTLY PLEWLAND), IN

THE PARISH OF WELWICK, HOLDERNESS, IN THE EAST RIDING OF THE

COUNTY OF YORK.

On Monday, the 6th day of May, 1901, the writer had the happiness of

accomplishing a purpose he had long had in mind, namely, that of paying a

visit to Great Plowland (anciently Plewland), in the Parish of Welwick,

Holderness, the birthplace of John and Christopher Wright, and also of

their sister, Martha Wright, who was married to Thomas Percy, of Beverley.

These three East Riding Yorkshiremen have indeed writ large their names in

the Book of Fate. For, as the preceding pages have shown, they were among

that woeful band of thirteen who were involved, to their just undoing, in

the rash and desperate enterprise, known as the Gunpowder Treason Plot, of

the year 1605, the second year of the reign of James I., King of England,

Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, and progenitor and predecessor of our own

Most Gracious King Edward VII. Long may he reign, a crowned and sceptred

Imperial Monarch: and in Justice may his house be established for ever![A]

[Footnote A: How full of happy augury for the future of our Empire was the

fine speech of His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, delivered in the

Guildhall, London, the 5th December, 1901, shortly following on the

Prince’s and His Princess’s return to Old England’s shores, after their

historic sojourning, during the year 1901, in His Majesty’s loyal

Dominions beyond the seas.]

The writer arrived at the town of Patrington (the post-town of Plowland)

somewhat late in the afternoon. He had not been before; but he well knew

that Patrington is famous, far and near, for its stately and

exquisitely-beautiful church, so aptly styled “the Queen of Holderness,”

the church of Hedon being “the King.”

After viewing the general features of the little town of Patrington,

which, maybe, is but slightly changed since its main street was trodden by

English men and English women of “the spacious days of Good Queen Bess,” I

(to have recourse to the first person singular, if the liberty may be

pardoned) went in search of some ancient hostelry such as wherein “Jack

Wright, Kit Wright, and Tom Percy,” then in the hey-day of their youthful

strength and vigour, quaffed the foaming tankard of the nut-brown ale, or

called for their pint of sack, when William Shakespeare[A] was the Sir

Henry Irving of his day, and was writing his immortal dramas for all

Nations and all Time.

[Footnote A: The common consent of mankind ranks Shakespeare, along with

Homer and Dante, as one of the world’s three Poet-Kings.]

Such a house of entertainment “for man and beast” I found in the inn

bearing the time-honoured and sportsmanlike sign of the “Dog and Duck”.

On entering the portals of this ancient hostelry the historic imagination

enabled me to conjure up the sight of some of the gentlemen who, three

hundred years ago, must have formed the company who assembled at the “Dog

and Duck;” to discuss, maybe, a threatened Spanish invasion of England’s

inviolate shores; “a progress” of the great Tudor Queen; or the action of

her Privy Counsellors, Lord Burleigh, Sir Francis Walsingham, the Earl of

Leicester, Sir Robert Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh, and the ill-fated Robert

Devereux Earl of Essex; or, belike, to sound the praises of that model of

chivalry, Sir Philip Sidney, the General Gordon, Lord Bowen, and Matthew

Arnold of his day, and the darling of his countrymen for ever.

If I had to content myself with the historic imagination alone for the

sight of John Wright, one of the most expert swordsmen of his time; of

Christopher Wright, who was a taller man than his brother, of a closer and

more peaceable disposition; and of Thomas Percy, their brother-in-law, who

was agent for his cousin, the great head of the House of Percy; and also

for the vision of all those high-born, courageous, but self-willed,

wayward Yorkshire Elizabethan gentlemen, in their tall hat, graceful

cloak,[A] and short sword girded on their side, with their tinkling

falcons on their wrist, with their cross-bows and their dogs: if I had to

be content with imagination alone for all this, on that Monday, the 6th

day of May, 1901, I had the sight and vision in the solid reality of flesh

and blood of “mine host” of the “Dog and Duck,” who bade me welcome in

right cheery tones; and, in answer to my question, told me he well knew

Great Plowland, in the Parish of Welwick (being a native of those parts),

and ever since he was a boy he had heard tell that some of the Gunpowder

plotters had been at Plowland.[B]

[Footnote A: The cloak was then one of the outward tokens of a gentleman.]

[Footnote B: It is impossible to understand Shakespeare’s characters

aright except one has first made a close study of such typical Elizabethan

gentlemen as the Gunpowder plotters and their friends, and of the

Elizabethan Catholic gentry in general. Hence the wide value of the

labours of such men as Simpson, Morris, Pollen, Knox, and Law.]