CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
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COBNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 087 975 672 
 
Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924087975672 
 
SCRIVELSBY, 
 THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
^I^Sh" "^^Hft-. 
 
SCRIVELSBY, 
 
 The Home of the Champions, 
 
 WITH SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 
 
 MARMION AND DYMOKE FAMILIES. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 By the rev. SAMUEL LODGE, M.A. 
 
 Canon of Lincoln, and Rector of Scrivelsby. 
 
 " Let me review the scene, 
 And summon from the shadowy past 
 The forms that once have been.'' 
 
 Longfellow. 
 
 HORNCASTLE : 
 
 W. K. Morton, High Street. 
 
 \LONDON : 
 
 Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row. 
 1893. 
 
To Wife and Children, and all who love a 
 Happy Home. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 HE Dymokes have dwelt at Scrivelsby for more 
 than five centuries, and the Championship, the 
 peculiar badge of their house, is strictly attached 
 to the feudal ownership of the Manor. This 
 alone gives the little village an importance to which, other- 
 wise, it could lay no claim. But it has become an article of 
 general agreement, that while no place, however small, is beneath 
 the notice of the historical enquirer, it is the duty of all 
 persons who have the leisure and inclination for such studies, to 
 make the most of their opportunities, and to rescue from 
 oblivion the records of the town or village, in which they 
 may chance to dwell. 
 
 Scrivelsby, as is well-known, is unusually rich in historical 
 associations, as well as in subjects of interest to the genealogist 
 aM antiquarian. But, owing to recent changes in the family 
 succession and other causes, there is an absolute dearth 
 of the ordinary sources of information, which are generally 
 to be found stored up amongst the archives of our country 
 houses, and, without which, it would be useless to attempt 
 
Vltt. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 anything in the shape of an exhaustive history of the families 
 that, from time to time, have inhabited them. 
 
 It is not, hovpever, the object of this w^ork to dwell 
 upon the history of the Marmions and Dymokes, apart from 
 their connection with Scrivelsby and the Championship; much 
 less does it propose to search out and follow up the offshoots 
 and collateral branches of the two families, in their various 
 settlements, in England or abroad. But, even in this restricted 
 area, it ought to be possible to excite the interest, not 
 only of the residents in the neighbourhood, but of that select 
 circle, also, amongst the general public, to whom the bye- 
 paths of history, and antiquarian research are always attractive. 
 
 It is true that the local reader will expect and appreciate 
 local details, which will be " caviare to the general " : but it 
 is not too much to hope that the general reader will find 
 some compensation in being introduced, it may be for the 
 first time, to an ancient Institution, which was once closely 
 connected with the history of the country, but is now in 
 danger of perishing from memory, and of leaving " not a rack 
 behind." The Championship, however, with its quaint 
 ceremonies and time-honoured associations, must not be 
 allowed to fall into abeyance, without at least an acknowledg- 
 ment of its past history, and an attempt to portray its origin, 
 growth, and present position. 
 
 The striking and almost romantic transference of the 
 Scrivelsby Manor from one branch of the Dymoke family to 
 the representative of another and an older branch a few 
 
INTRODUCTION. tX. 
 
 years ago, excited some notice at the time, and revived the 
 somewhat waning interest in the fortunes of a family which for 
 so many generations had been established at Scrivelsby. It 
 can hardly occasion surprise that this revival of interest has 
 brought to the surface many important questions respecting 
 the Dymokes, and the unique distinction of that which is 
 generally but incorrectly termed the hereditary Championship. 
 No fault, indeed, need be found with this description, as long 
 as it is clearly understood that the office is only hereditary 
 as being attached to the estate, which, in the natural course 
 of things, may be expected to descend from father to son, 
 in hereditary succession. Were it otherwise, the Championship 
 would have been the perquisite of the Tetford branch of the 
 Dymoke family from 1760 to 1875, while the estate was, 
 during that time, vested in what is known as the Scrivelsby 
 branch of the same family. But the ownership of the Manor 
 and the distinctive title are inseparably united. It will be 
 seen in the following pages that the Championship is so closely 
 connected with the possession of the land, that, apart from 
 Scrivelsby, no one is entitled to be called Champion to the 
 reigning sovereign. 
 
 Again, it is often, but erroneously, supposed that the 
 Manor of Scrivelsby is held on a different tenure from that 
 under which other estates are inherited. Because it was, 
 undoubtedly, a striking instance, in olden times, of feudal 
 occupation, it has been thought that, in some inscrutable 
 fashion, the owner of the Scrivelsby Manor is still a 
 
X. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 feudatory liegeman of the sovereign, and that he is tied 
 and bound by the peculiarities of his position. It is a pity 
 to dispel these pleasing hallucinations, but it is an historical 
 fact, that all feudal obligations have long ceased to be 
 operative, and that the last remnants of the feudal system 
 came to an end at the time of the Restoration in 1660, when 
 the Crown and Church lands, together with numerous Royalist 
 estates, which had been confiscated during the Commonwealth, 
 reverted to the rightful owners. There is not a shadow of 
 doubt that, at the present day, the owner of Scrivelsby holds 
 his estates exactly as other estates are held by the Nobility 
 and Country Gentlemen of England. 
 
 Under these circumstances, then, it is that the present 
 attempt is made, to meet an acknowledged want, by gathering 
 together, in convenient shape, such information respecting the 
 Championship, as is to be found scattered about in various 
 Manuscripts and publications, which are well-nigh inaccessible 
 to the general reader. 
 
 In the historical part of a work of this kind, originality 
 is neither to be expected nor desired : but attention will 
 always be drawn to the source from which the information 
 is derived, with due attention to the verification of quotations, 
 in accordance with the advice of the late Venerable President 
 of Magdalene. And, although no pretension to infallibility is 
 put forward, great pains have been taken to ensure accuracy, 
 without which a book that treats of ancient customs and 
 family histories would be justly liable to severe criticism. 
 
INTRODUCTION. XI. 
 
 The Family of Marmyun, by T. C. Banks, has been 
 largely consulted, and free use has been made of an 
 unpublished MS. by the Rev. Mark Noble, although much 
 labour has been caused by the obvious necessity of testing 
 the statements of both these writers by other authorities. 
 
 The Rt. Hon. E. Stanhope, M.P., of Revesby Abbey, 
 has kindly placed at the author's disposal some valuable 
 papers, which were found amongst the manuscripts left by the 
 late Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S., who was, as might have been 
 expected, much interested in everything connected with the 
 Championship. These papers, unfortunately, were received too 
 late to be much used in the body of the work : but one of 
 them will be found in the Appendix (No. 17), and is likely 
 to attract attention, as it embodies, in homely ballad language, 
 a serious theory, which may, possibly, have commended itself 
 to the judgment of Sir Joseph Banks, although it runs counter 
 to the generally received opinion on the subject of which it 
 treats. 
 
 Much useful information, too, has been contributed bv 
 Lady Hartwell, on subjects connected with the family history 
 of her ancestors : and it is to her thoughtful consideration 
 that the readers of Scrivelsby will have the opportunitv of 
 seeing the interesting extract from the diary of the Champion 
 who officiated at the coronation of George IIL 
 
 Thanks also are due, and are hereby cordially rendered 
 to the Rev. W. R. Bell, for many valuable hints and 
 
Xii. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 suggestions ; and to Professor Church, for his kind assistance 
 during the progress of the work through the Press. 
 
 Reference has been made, with the permission of 
 the author, to Palmer's Baronial Family of Marmion, and 
 to the interesting little book on Parish Registers, by Mr. 
 Chester Walters, while the advice and assistance of Mr. H. 
 Carlton, in the selection and production of suitable subjects 
 for the Illustrations, have been highly appreciated. 
 
 Although it is probable that many readers will 
 nnblushingly skip the last Chapter, which treats of the old 
 Parish Registers, it will, possibly, be found sufficiently 
 interesting to a select few, to justify its inclusion in a work 
 which treats of Scrivelsby itself, as well as of the families 
 that have made it historical. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Village. Description. Negative Advantages. Patriarchal Government. 
 
 Horncastle Soke. Special Charms. Life in the Country. . . i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Lincolnshire. False Impressions. Healthiness of the County. Fen and Marsh. 
 Hills. Anecdote of lost leaves. Foliage in Autumn. Sunsets. 
 Somersby. ....... .12 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Coronation Ceremony. Court of Claims. Service in Westminster Abbey. 
 The Coronation Banquet. Coronation of Charles II. Reasons 
 suggested for absence of Champion from Early Coronations. Perquisites 
 and Claims for Service at a Coronation. ... 20 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Marmions. Origin and Settlement. The Championship. Feudal System. 
 Grand and Petty Serjeanty. Saxon and Norman. Robert Dispensator. 
 The Knave. The Old Judge. Sir Philip. ... -29 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Early Dymokes. Derivation of Name. Totemism. Rebus on Lion Gate. 
 Canting Mottoes. Sir Baldwin Freville. An Imperious Dame. The 
 Sockburn Dragon. .... -43 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Wars of the Roses. Execution of Sir Thomas Djmioke. Battle of Lose-coat 
 Field. Brass in Horncastle Church. Sir Thomas Dymoke. Table 
 Monument, . . .... 52 
 
XIV. CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 The Lincolnshire Insurrection and Pilgrimage of Grace. Rising of the 
 Peasants. Perplexity of the Gentry. Bad Faith of the King. Family of 
 Sir Edward Dymoke (i). ... • ' ' 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Martyr Champion. The Reformation. Edward VI. Mary and Elizabeth. 
 Appointment of Bishops. Dr. Cooper of Lincoln. The Duke of 
 Norfolk. Episcopal Visitation at Scrivelsby. Imprisonment and Death 
 of the Champion. Reflections. . . • • • 72 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 The Stuart Dymokes. The Plague. Mutilated Ceremonial at the Coronation 
 of James I. Sir Edward Dymoke {2). Quarrel for Precedence. Civil War. 
 Disastrous Effects on the Fortunes of the Dymoke Family. The Tottering 
 Champion. Cock and Bull Story. Break in the Direct Succession. . 80 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Latter day Champions. Lewis Dymoke (i) and his successors. The Tetford 
 Branch and the Scrivelsby Branch. First Clerical Champion. Sir 
 Henry Dymoke. Death of Henry Lionel. End of Scrivelsby Branch. 93 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The Missing Link. The Tetford Branch Restored. Vicissitudes of Fortune. 
 Tradition. A " Maze " of Genealogy. Sir Edward Dymoke (3) ancestor 
 of both branches. The Old Champion. Selection of the Descendant 
 of Youngest Son. Restoration to descendant of Second Son. Henry 
 Lionel's Will. The Marmion Barony. . . . . -99 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Reflections. Coincidences. Mock Heroic Verses. Redgauntlet. The Gold Cups. 
 Decay of Sentiment. "The Champion's Farewell," by Tom Hood. 
 Coronation of William IV. Courtesy title of Champion. . . . 107 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 Scrivelsby Court. The Park. Lion Gate. Leaden Cow. Moat. Arched 
 
 Gateway. Armour and Armoury. Family Portraits. General appearance. 118 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Scrivelsby Church. St. Benedict's. Approach from Rectory. The Church 
 Plantation. Architectural features. Monuments. The New Style. 
 
 Churchyard Cross. 
 
 123 
 
CONTENTS. XV. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Description of the Old Parish Registers from 1565 to 1812. . . 131 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 1. The Champions of England . . . 147 
 
 2. Descent from Sir Philip Marmion .... 149 
 
 3. Mm-al Tablet to Lionel Dymoke in Horncastle Chmxh 150 
 
 4. Table Monument to Sir Robert Dymoke in Scrivelsby Church 152 
 
 5. Autograph Letter from Henry VIII. to Sir Robert Dymoke . 155 
 
 6. Autograph Letter from Queen Mary to Sir Edward Dymoke 156 
 
 7. Orders by Mrs. Jane Dymoke ... . 158 
 
 8. Quarterings of the Dymoke Coat of Arms . . 161 
 
 9. Dymoke Entries extracted from Old Register . . 162 
 
 10. List of Champions who have Acted . . . .165 
 
 11. List of Champions who have not Officiated . 166 
 
 12. " The Champion's Farewell," by Tom Hood . . . 167 
 
 13. An Elegy on the death of Sir H. Dymoke, Bart., by Henry Winn, of FuUetby 168 
 
 14. Letter of Henry VI. to Robert Boulton, Keeper of the Wardrobe . 170 
 
 15. Genealogical Tables ... . . 172 
 
 16. Competition between Freville and Dymoke for the Championship . 174 
 
 17. Established Anecdotes and Unestablished Opinions . . . 176 
 
 18. The Immediate Successor of Robert Dispensator. . . 182 
 
 19. Rectors of Scrivelsby from 1246 ... . 184 
 
 20. An Account of the Procedure at the Court of Claims, &c., previous to and 
 
 at the Coronation of George III. . . 188 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 1. Escutcheon of the Dymoke Coat of Arms 
 
 2. Gardener's Cottage. 
 
 3. The Stocks 
 
 4. Coronation Banquet. 
 
 5. Gold Cup and Cover 
 
 6. Effigies o.f Sir Philip Marmion and Dame 
 
 7. The Lion Gate 
 
 8. BR-i^ss TO Lionel Dymoke in Horn castle Church 
 
 9. The Old House Before the Fire in 1761 
 
 10. Armed Figures 
 
 11. Sir Henry Dymoke, Bart. 
 
 12. Francis Scaman Dymoke 
 
 13. The Gold Cups 
 
 14. Scrivelsby Court 
 
 15. St. Benedict's, Scrivelsby 
 
 16. Churchyard Cross to Henry Lionel Dy-moke 
 
 17. The Present Rector of Scrivelsby 
 
 Frontispiece 
 . page 4 ■ 
 
 9 
 24 
 28 
 40 
 45 
 53 
 57 
 68 
 96 
 104 
 
 113 
 121 
 124 
 129 
 
 144 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Village — Description — Negative Adva7itages — Patriarchal Government 
 — Horncastle Soke — Special Charms — Life in the Coimtry. 
 
 How gay the habitations that bedeck 
 
 This fertile valley ! Not a house but seems 
 
 To give assurance of content within, 
 
 Embosom'd happiness and placid love ; 
 
 As if the sunshine of the day were met 
 
 With answering brightness in the hearts of all 
 
 Who walk this favoured ground. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 pCRIVELSBY, deriving its name in all probability 
 from some old Danish chieftain with the usual 
 appendage " by " denoting his township or 
 home, is prettily situated on gently rising 
 ground about two and a half miles south of Horncastle. The 
 population is small, and the houses few and far between. But 
 although the village is one of the smallest in the county, it is 
 far from being dull or unattractive. If "all the world's a 
 stage," it need excite no surprise that the natives of Scrivelsby 
 can exhibit on their humble boards an epitome of what is 
 going on in the great world around them. They have their 
 episodes of romance — admixtures of pathos and burlesque — 
 
2 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 veritable Enoch Ardens are not unknown in the immediate 
 neighbourhood; and while the fickle goddess still finds work ' 
 to do, shaping her ends and moulding the fortunes of mankind 
 
 " Now in cruel sport, and now with eye benign," 
 the novelist will find, amidst " the simple annals of the 
 poor" sufiicient material to satisfy the most exacting of his 
 readers. 
 
 Scrivelsby is still, as it has always been, the theatre of 
 romance and unexpected incident ; and yet some people might 
 think that life in so small a place must needs be dull. But 
 they would make a great mistake. It is true that some 
 people will be dull anywhere, and to them even the charms 
 of nature will seem flat and unprofitable. If balls and routs 
 are desired, if concerts and music halls, or even political 
 meetings and that latest development of rural happiness, the 
 Parish Council, be deemed indispensable to the thorough 
 enjoyment of life, it may be freely allowed that no such 
 attractions will be found here. But happily there are no idle 
 hands at Scrivelsby, and consequently there is no sense of 
 weariness, except that which comes from honest toil. People 
 who have or can find plenty to do are never dull, nor do they 
 feel that craving for excitement, from which others, less 
 favourably circumstanced, occasionally suffer. 
 
 A peremptory demand for the disclosure of the particular 
 attractions that Scrivelsby has to off'er would probably be met 
 in the first instance by the enumeration of its negative 
 advantages. In the first place there are no " unemployed," 
 
THE VILLAGE. 3 
 
 and consequently no really poor ; there is no one in receipt 
 of parochial relief ; sickness is almost unknown, and some 
 little time back, a period of seven years passed by without 
 the death of a single adult belonging to the parish. To go 
 on with these negative advantages, there are no shops and no 
 public houses ; and though more open to question, no Schools, 
 and no Dissenting Chapels. The absence of a School, indeed, 
 is a very serious drawback, but when the configuration of the 
 village is considered, it will be seen at once that the few 
 children of school age are on the whole better provided 
 for at Schools more conveniently situated in the surrounding 
 villages. A casual traveller passing through on the high road 
 would easily understand this. Such a one, it is true, might 
 ask "but where is Scrivelsby?" He is told that he is passing 
 through the village, and he sees here and there a house or 
 two, but invariably a long way apart ; he sees a pretty little 
 church in a large churchyard, and he sees no more. "Where 
 then is Scrivelsby " and instead of waiting for echo to answer 
 the question, the following description must suffice. 
 
 The village consists of a few houses placed apparently of 
 set purpose as far as possible from each other — a standing 
 proof of self-sufficiency — with perhaps a reminiscence of the old 
 time of our Saxon and Danish fore-fathers, when each family 
 settled in a separate homestead, distinctly protected by its 
 special enclosure, and always solitary and apart. Be this as it 
 may, all that the passing traveller can see now will be five or 
 six houses, and these at long intervals from each other. A 
 
4 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 quarter of a mile from the first cottage, known as the Image 
 House, from a quantity of figures with waving arms which 
 used to shew the direction of the wind, is one of the most 
 noteworthy features of the village— the Gardener's Cottage— 
 immediately fronting a lovely little piece of landscape— a 
 winding avenue on rising ground, flanked on either side with 
 old elm "trees, the intermingling top-branches of which form an 
 arch of nature's workmanship. 
 
 The next striking object is the Lion Gate leading to the 
 Court, to be hereafter described, with its quaint double-roofed 
 lodge ; and a mile further on is a farm house at the cross-road 
 leading to Moorby and Wood Enderby. No wonder that the 
 question "Where is Scrivelsby?" is often asked, even by those 
 who are travelling straight through it. But if the enterprising 
 traveller will take the trouble to pursue his quest, he will find 
 snugly hidden away behind the Court, and on the north side 
 of the park, a little cluster of houses, constituting the real 
 village or "town" as it is called of Scri'elsby, far away from 
 the road and a good mile from the Church. Here there are 
 no less than three farm houses and four labourer's cottages ! 
 Retracing his steps and coming back to the Lion Gate, and 
 going southwards he will come to an old-fashioned farm house, 
 prettily situated ; and half a mile further on, the Rectory, with 
 two cottages hard by on the site of the old house which was 
 burnt down in 1804. And this is Scrivelsby, which in spite of 
 the Dymokes, would probably have been little heard of outside 
 the county, had it not been one of the places enumerated by 
 
GARDENERS COTTAGE. 
 
 From a Photogmph hij Unsrs. PoiMon A.- Sons, London. 
 
THE VILLAGE. 5^ 
 
 Sir Walter Scott as forming part of the appanage of the hero 
 of his immortal poem. 
 
 However scanty may be the knowledge of the source 
 from which the championship springs, everyone has read or 
 heard of the "Lord of Scrivelbaye," and the majority of 
 readers will insist still on "believing that the Marmion of Sir 
 Walter Scott's poem was one of the Scrivelsby Champions ; 
 and it has even been gravely argued on no better foundation 
 than that which the poem affords, that the Marmions remained 
 at Scrivelsby much longer than is generally supposed. So hard 
 is it for sober fact to hold its own against poetical fiction. 
 But poets and the writers of historical romances claim for 
 themselves a free hand, and introduce historical names, and' 
 travesty historical facts, at their own will and pleasure. And 
 as the readers of poems and romances are a much more 
 numerous body than the prosaic student of real history, it is 
 little to be wondered at, that the fictitious representations of 
 the poet and novelist sink deeper and make a more lasting 
 impression, than the bare facts of history which have nothing 
 but their reality to recommend them. Would that our writers 
 of fiction more frequently remembered that 
 
 " It is excellent 
 
 To have a Giant's strength ; but it is tyrannous 
 
 To use it like a Giant." 
 It is perhaps in the matter of dates, that the majority of 
 readers are imperceptibly misled by the careless introduction of 
 historical characters into works of fiction, nor can Sir Walter 
 
6 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Scott be altogether acquitted on a charge of carelessness m 
 this respect. It is true that in one of his notes to "Marmion" 
 he tells his readers that the last champion of that name was 
 Sir Philip, who flourished in the time of Henry III., yet it 
 may be fearlessly asserted that for the few hundreds who read 
 the notes of such a work with any degree of attention, there 
 are thousands or hundreds of thousands who skim hastily over 
 the text, and carry away nothing but a vivid sense of pleasure 
 at the swing and rhythm of the poem, together with a very- 
 hazy recollection of the historical allusions with which it 
 abounds. 
 
 It may be as well to say once for all that Scott's 
 "Marmion" is a creation of the brain, and that the poem itself 
 is based on incidents connected with the Battle of Flodden 
 in the time of Henry VIII., whereas the last chariipion 
 Marmion died at Scrivelsby in the twentieth year of Edward I., 
 and it is tolerably certain that in his time, Scrivelsby consisted 
 exclusively of the baronial hall and the houses of the artizans 
 and retainers depending upon it. 
 
 The Government of the Marmions was patriarchal. The 
 lord's authority was supreme. The right of "gallows" was 
 claimed as a special prerogative of the house, and so sweet 
 and reasonable a claim was granted as a matter of course. 
 Even within living memory, some faint trace of this patriarchal 
 government might have been seen here. Not indeed that the 
 gallows was set up and misdemeanants executed without the 
 intervention of Judge and Jury; but the old-fashioned stocks, 
 
THE VILLAGE. 7 
 
 which are still to be seen in the little copse opposite the Lion 
 Gate, were occasionally used for other purposes than those of 
 ornament. The Champion of the day — and that day for weal 
 or woe is for ever gone — would have had no scruple in order- 
 ing his farm-bailiff to seize any naughty boys, found playing at 
 pitch and toss on a Sunday, and to lock them up in the stocks 
 for a couple of hours as a public example and warning. In 
 these days of more advanced civilization, the same offence 
 would have necessitated the intervention of a policeman, the 
 issue of a summons, the calling of witnesses, the formality of 
 a trial in the Petty Sessional Court House, the preliminary 
 horrors suffered by the culprits, and the possible fine of five 
 or ten shillings — to be levied on the unfortunate parents, who 
 would then probably for the first time prove that they 
 were awake to their parental responsibility by giving the 
 delinquents an inordinate thrashing at home. There is 
 something, after all, to be said in favour of a patriarchal 
 government, such as that which undoubtedly existed in early 
 times at Scrivelsby. 
 
 The Lord of a Manor held a very different position from 
 that of his modern representative, and enjoyed many peculiar 
 privileges, some traces of which are to be seen at the present 
 dav. His influence would naturally be measured by the 
 extent of his possessions. Now it is quite certain that the 
 Manor or Barony of Scrivelsby was at one time much larger 
 than at present, and the jurisdiction of the lord extended over 
 a much wider area. It is curious to note how jealously the 
 
8 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 privileges of the domain were guarded and the rights of the 
 lord secured. Horncastle and fourteen villages more or less 
 remote formed what was called a Soke or Soc, to which 
 certain rights of enquiry appertained, and a special jurisdiction 
 was attached. But Scrivelsby, though contiguous with 
 Horncastle,- and at one time undoubtedly forming part of the 
 Soke, was soon after the coming of the Marmions found to 
 be outside it. And why ? Because these powerful lords, 
 resenting the inquisitorial claims of the Soke, bought their 
 barony out by paying the customary fine. And so the Soke 
 of Horncastle, instead of comprising, as might have been 
 expected, a cluster of villages adjacent to each other* and 
 contiguous with its central town, is found to run in a peculiar 
 fashion of its own, keeping clear of the district which was 
 subject to another influence. But there are abundant reasons 
 for thinking that most if not all of the villages that might have 
 been expected to be included in the Soke of Horncastle were 
 at one time subject to the jurisdiction of the lord of Scrivelsby ; 
 and we know that in the year 1258 Sir Philip, the last of the 
 
 "'■' Thus the villages of Thimbleby and West Ashby and the two Toyntons, are in the 
 Soke of Horncastle, as are also on the south side of the town the two Marehams with 
 RoughtoHj Haltham, and Wood Enderby, each of these three touching Scrivelsby, but 
 having no other connection with it ; and then as a kind of compensation the Soke makes 
 an unexpected appearance at Coningsby, Langrick, and Thornton-le-Moor, distant from 
 Horncastle between seven and twelve miles. Now while these portions of the Soke of 
 Horncastle are found so strangely placed, we see that not only Scrivelsby, but the 
 villages intermediate on the west side between Horncastle and Coningsby are excluded, 
 viz. : Thornton, jMartin, Langton, Kirkby-on-Bain, and Kirkstead, all of which might 
 have been expected to be in the Soke. 
 
THE STOCKS, 
 
 Opposite the Lion Gate, Scrivelsby Park. 
 
THE VILLAGE. 9 
 
 Scrivelsby Marmions, obtained a royal charter for a yearly 
 
 fair, in addition to a weekly market, to be held at Scrivelsby 
 
 on the 2 1 St of March. This shews that the barony was 
 
 extensive, and although it may seem strange that so insignificant 
 
 a village should be chosen for the central place of business, a 
 
 little reflection will enable us to , see that as the tenants and 
 
 other dependants of the barony were confined to the 
 
 limits of their own district, it was only natural that the chief 
 
 place in it — chief at least in importance if not in population 
 
 as containing the lord's seat — should be selected as the proper 
 
 place for holding both market and fair. At Scrivelsby too 
 
 were the gallows, and in later times the stocks and the 
 
 pillory, and to Scrivelsby accordingly were brought the various 
 
 culprits for whose benefit these contrivances were specially 
 
 provided. 
 
 But without going back to the past glories of the village, 
 
 there is abundant reason for saying that the Scrivelsby of 
 
 to-day can hold it own against all gainsayers. The lover of 
 
 nature can revel here. There is abundant occupation for the 
 
 artist : birds in every variety abound in the various little 
 
 coppices and plantations dotted about in every direction : and 
 
 wild-flowers, including lilies of the valley, which grow with 
 
 unusual luxuriance, are to be found everywhere in great 
 
 variety. Never, too, was there such a home for a student, or 
 
 a man with literary tastes ; far from the madding strife of a 
 
 large population, he can pursue the even tenor of his way, 
 
 happy and complete in himself, amongst scenes inviting 
 c 
 
lO SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 contemplation as well as preparation for the more active 
 business of life. 
 
 Scrivelsby, moreover, is a good sporting country, and 
 those who are learned in such matters say that with its 
 natural advantages and its numerous coverts it would be hard 
 to find a better; and to those who love a ride with the 
 hounds, the neighbourhood enjoys a good hunting reputation, 
 although perhaps it is not so popular in this respect as 
 Leicestershire or some parts of the Counties of York and 
 Northampton. 
 
 On the whole it is safe to say that a place where 
 pinching poverty is unknown, where everyone is fully and 
 happily occupied, where the cultivated taste of the educated 
 can find abundant scope for enjoyment, while the illiterate 
 labourer is learning something of the refinements of life without 
 the intervention of the political firebrand, is not to be held in 
 slight esteem, because its population is scanty and its position 
 a little out of the beaten track. 
 
 It will be a bad day for England when these little oases 
 in the desert of life are swept away, and when confusion and 
 noise take the place of peace and quietness and the tranquil 
 discharge of the duties of life which are as incumbent on the 
 residents in a little village as on those whose fate it is to live 
 more in the glare of the world and amidst the haunts of busy 
 men in the restless hurly-burly of public life. But non omnes 
 omnia. Different surroundings suit different temperaments. 
 Rusticus finds his happiness in one place ; Urbanus in another. 
 
THE VILLAGE. 
 
 I I 
 
 The towns, perhaps, and the large centres of population are 
 better suited to the young ; and the more retired nooks 
 amidst a scanty population to those who are more advanced 
 in years or in declining health. Happy are they who can say 
 of their home, wherever and whatever it may happen to be, 
 
 " In all the world no spot there is 
 That wears for me a smile like this."* 
 
 ** " lUe terrarum mihi prseter omnes 
 Angulus ridet." 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 Lincolnshire — False Impressions — Healthiness of the County — Fen and 
 Marsh — Hills — Anecodote of lost leaves — Foliage in Autumn — 
 Sunsets — Somersby. 
 
 One part, one little part, we dimly scan. 
 Through the dark medium of life's feverish dream : 
 Yet dare arraign the whole stupendous plan, 
 If but that little part incongruous seem. 
 
 Beattie. ' 
 
 EFORE entering on the history of the 
 Marmions and Dymokes, it may be worth 
 while to attempt the not very difficult task 
 of removing some of the prevalent mis- 
 conceptions respecting the quarter in which their home is 
 situated. Lincolnshire people who know the real attractions 
 of the county have for the most part been satisfied with 
 chuckling over the mistaken notions of those who have not 
 enjoyed a similar experience. The present, therefore, seems 
 to be a favourable opportunity for shedding a little light on 
 a subject which is still involved in some obscurity. 
 
 It is sometimes thought, by those who ihave no personal 
 acquaintance with the county, that Lincolnshire is flat, 
 uninteresting, and unhealthy. Some people seem to think that 
 
LINCOLNSHIRE. 13 
 
 Fen and Marsh are everywhere predominant, that punts and 
 other flat-bottomed boats are the usual methods of locomotion, 
 that quinine or at least gentian is a necessary commodity in 
 every household, and that ague claims its victims by thousands. 
 Now in answer to all this, which is only an exaggerated 
 statement of what was at one time an almost wide-spread 
 belief, it will be enough to say, even m the risk of being 
 twitted with Qui s excuse s' accuse, that although Lincolnshire 
 is assuredly not a hilly county, it is far from being uniformly 
 flat ; that to the lover of nature and to the antiquarian it is 
 full of interest, that ague is, \ happily, a thing of the past, and 
 that as regards healthiness, the statement of the enthusiastic 
 native still holds good, that while "Lincolnshire taken 
 altogether is about the healthiest county in England, Scrivelsby 
 is undoubtedly the healthiest village in Lincolnshire." 
 
 The truth is that a century or even half a century ago there 
 was some foundation for saying that parts of Lincolnshire — even 
 as it might have been said that parts of Kent or Yorkshire — 
 were damp, and that ague was prevalent. The old mistake 
 was made of deeming the part equal to the whole, and 
 of applying to the one certain epithets that were more 
 appropriate to the other. Lincolnshire is in size second only 
 to the county of York, and it is not strange to find a lack 
 of uniformity in so extensive a district. 
 
 Without attempting to give a general description of the 
 county, as being unsuited to a work of this kind, it will be 
 sufficient to say a few words about the Fens and Marshes, 
 
14 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 concerning which much misapprehension exists. It is not 
 everyone, indeed, who knows the difference between them : 
 and yet the knowledge of this difference is necessary for a 
 thorough appreciation of the great drainage works that have 
 exercised the ingenuity of our forefathers for many generations 
 and have only been successfully completed within living 
 memory. Marsh, then, is land reclaimed from the sea, the 
 water with which it was impregnated being salt and brackish," 
 and as a matter of course adjoining the sea from which it 
 has been reclaimed. On a receding coast the Marsh will 
 sometimes extend for several miles. Fen, on the other hand, 
 as we see it now, is the outcome of human skill and industry, 
 converting a naturally wet and swampy soil into good and 
 productive land * 
 
 Much skill and enterprize have been exhibited in the 
 reclamation of both Fen and Marsh, but the former has been 
 the more difficult of the two and has been almost too 
 successfully carried out. So effectual, indeed, has been the 
 drainage of the Fens, that not only has ague been utterly 
 routed, but so little moisture is left in the soil that in times 
 of drought vegetation is seriously hampered. And as, contrary 
 to the general opinion, the rainfall in Lincolnshire is less 
 than in any other English county, the dryness of the soil is 
 occasionally attended with disastrous results, and the 
 
 " In Murray's HaAdbook of Lincolnshire we are reminded that the Marsh " differs 
 entirely from Fen, a word meaning " Mud " reclaimed from stagnant water, while 
 the Marshes are re-claimed from brackish or salt water." 
 
LINCOLNSHIRE. 1 5 
 
 agricultural depression, so wide-spread and calamitous, has 
 told more heavily, perhaps, on the Fen farmers than on any- 
 other. Even the productive lands of the Marsh have of late 
 years greatly deteriorated in value, pasture land that a few years 
 ago could readily be let for £z^ or £b the acre scarcely 
 realizing now more than £2 or _^3. 
 
 But it is with the natural aspects rather than with the 
 commercial value of the land with which we are now more 
 immediately concerned, and it will be interesting to see what 
 was said of the fens hundreds of years ago when the general 
 appearance of the country was much wilder than it is at 
 present. William of Malmesbury, writing in 1140, says "The 
 Fens are a very paradise, and seem a heaven of delight and 
 beauty thereof, the marshes bearing goodly trees, which, for 
 tallness and without knots, strive to reach the stars. It is a 
 plain country and level as the sea, which with green grass 
 allureth the eye." This description, it must be owned, is a 
 little flattering, and doubtless at the time when William of 
 Malmesbury wrote, there were many more trees "striving to 
 reach the stars " than suited the agricultural necessities of 
 later days. The Fens after all only occupy a fifth part of 
 the county, and have been reclaimed for purposes of 
 cultivation at enormous expense, and on the whole, with 
 great success. 
 
 Then, as to the flatness of the county, this feature is 
 only to be found in unbroken uniformity in the district of 
 Holland, one of the three great parts into which Lincolnshire 
 
1 6 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 is divided, the other two, Kesteven and Lindsey, exhibiting 
 greater variety, and often, especially on the Wolds "little 
 bits" of scenery quite sufficient to satisfy the taste of the 
 r\ 1^ most fastidious. 
 
 *% ■ / The highest of the Lincolnshire hills, it is true, does not 
 
 rise above four hundred feet from the level of the sea, but 
 each of the three chief ranges presents a wide panorama with 
 varying features of interesting landscape. Visitors to Lincoln 
 need not be told of the hill on which the noble Minster 
 stands : and even from Scrivelsby, which is not the hilliest 
 part of the county, we can take our friends a short drive to 
 Louth by way of Tetford and Ruckland, by roads which will 
 for ever put an end to their complaining of the flatness of the 
 county, and over hills, on which if our jaded steeds could only 
 find articulate speech, they would deliver anything but words 
 of grateful benediction. 
 
 The view from the broad tower of Lincoln Minster is 
 truly grand, and the late Sir Charles Anderson gives a 
 glowing and eloquent description of it in his " Lincoln Pocket 
 Guide " than which it would be hard to find a safer or more 
 valuable companion for anyone desirous of acquainting himself 
 with what the City and County of Lincoln have to offer in 
 the shape of attraction. The extensive view from the heights 
 of Lincoln Minster, however, is only an additional proof that 
 the Minster stands well in the midst of a wide and level 
 plain. It is, perhaps, this particular view which has misled 
 the casual visitor into the mistaken notion that the whole of 
 
LINCOLNSHIRE. 1 7 
 
 Lincolnshire is equally flat ; and such an impression is likely 
 to be deepened by the prospect which he sees from either 
 side of the railway carriage on his departure. But the railway 
 engineer knew his business too well to choose for his course 
 any but the easiest and most economical road. He may 
 always be trusted to leave the hills alone, wherever possible, 
 and to avail himself of the natural advantages of the level 
 ground, which will reduce to a minimum the heavy outlay of 
 construction. But it is in this way that strangers are naturally 
 led to think that what they see from the railway is a fair 
 sample of what is to be found in other parts of the county 
 through which the railway does not pass : and so the impression 
 gets about that Lincolnshire is flat and uninteresting. 
 
 It must be owned, however, that the natives of the Marshes 
 are wonderfully impressed by the sight of anything in the shape 
 of rising ground, and there are many humorous stories told, 
 told in all seriousness and possibly believed in, as if the ant 
 hills with which they are familiar were a fair representation of 
 the hills of which they hear their enterprising neighbours 
 speak on their return from some distant expedition. Nor were 
 our forefathers free from the same kind of weakness. It is 
 only a few years ago that some leaves out of an old register 
 book were found far away from the parish to which they 
 belonged : and after many surmises and much close examination, 
 some one suggested that the words supra montem, which were 
 plainly discernible, might possibly refer to Mareham-on-the- 
 Hill, a little village adjoining Scrivelsby, and standing on the 
 
 D 
 
1 8 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 self-same very gentle elevation on which Scrivelsby itself 
 stands. And by a comparison of names and dates with the 
 Mareham register it was found that the surmise was correct, 
 and that no less a sonorous description than supra montem 
 was deemed sufficient to render adequate justice to the little 
 rise which is common to the two villages. 
 
 But, if we are not mountainous, we are well wooded, and 
 few sights are more exhilarating than certain parts of Scrivelsby 
 on a sunny day in late autumn — the most beautiful time of 
 the year — when the foliage appears in its loveliest and most 
 variegated array, tints of purple, russet, and brown, alternating 
 with the fiery red of the beech, and, now and again, all the 
 colours of the rainbow combining to make such a picture as 
 must fill with despair the most skilful and enthusiastic of our 
 landscape painters — despair of representing a tithe of what 
 our farm labourers see unmoved every day when October is 
 drawing to an end, and the air resounds with the " noise of 
 rooks that gather in the waking woods." 
 
 "But who can paint 
 Like Nature ? Can imagination boast, 
 Amid its gay creation, hues hke hers ? " 
 
 We think, too, and with some reason, that our sunsets are 
 more beautiful and noteworthy than can often be seen 
 elsewhere, especially in the more hilly districts : that the 
 lights and shades in which we are permitted to revel form 
 part of the material wherewith the poetic temperament is fed, 
 and that here, as much as anywhere, the pages of the book 
 
LINCOLNSHIRE. 1 9 
 
 of nature are so displayed as to lead the student in that 
 fascinating lore nearer and closer to Nature's God. We, at 
 least, do not wonder that the genius of Tennyson was 
 nurtured, if not matured, in our own immediate neighbourhood, 
 and that his close and intimate knowledge of woodland 
 scenery, wild flowers, and the ever-varying aspect of fleecy 
 clouds and meteor lights, enabled him to see the ideal 
 visions of 
 "Larger constellations burning, mellow moons and happy skies, 
 Breadths of tropic shades and palms in cluster, knots of Paradise." 
 
 Somersby, the birth-place of the poet, is only a few miles 
 distant from Scrivelsby, and there, too, is to be seen much 
 of the same tranquil scenery, though on a less gorgeous scale, 
 than is noticeable here. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Coronation Ceremony — Court of Claims — Service in Westminster 
 Abbey — The Coronation Banquet — Coronation of Charles II. — 
 Reasons suggested for absence of Champion from early Coronations 
 — Perquisites and Claims for Service at a Coronation. 
 
 Montgomery : Ay, now, my sovereign speaketh like himself: 
 
 And now will I be Edward's champion. 
 Hastings : Sound, trumpet ; Edward shall be here proclaimed. 
 Montgomery : And whosoe'er gainsays King Edward's right, 
 By this I challenge him to single fight. 
 
 [ Throws down his gauntlet^ . 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 '\T is an old saying, and, doubtless, as true 
 as it is old, that "uneasy lies the head that 
 wears a crown," but our concern now is not 
 so much with the mental cares and anxieties 
 inseparable from regal power as with the physical torture 
 suffered by the wearer of a crown, especially on the first 
 day of assuming it. Anyone who will take the trouble to 
 acquaint himself with the full ritual to be observed during the 
 ceremony of a coronation will sympathize with the king or 
 queen who must go through it all from the beginning to the 
 bitter end. When her present Majesty was crowned more than 
 
CORONATION CEREMONY. 21 
 
 fifty years ago, it was not one of the least noticeable features 
 in her admirable deportment on the occasion, that she 
 betrayed no distress or nervousness beyond what was natural 
 and graceful in a young girl appearing in public under such 
 trying circumstances. 
 
 Such importance has always been attached to the 
 ceremonial of a coronation, that a Special Court, the Court 
 of Claims, was appointed to hear and decide upon the 
 petitions of every claimant to take part in it. Some of the 
 petitions submitted to this Court are sufficiently curious. 
 Amongst them is a claim made by the Dean and Chapter of 
 Westminster to instruct the king in the rites and ceremonies 
 used at the coronation, and to carry away certain perquisites 
 for the discharge of this arduous duty. This may possibly 
 excite a smile, but there was a real necessity for the 
 sovereign to have someone to act as prompter, to ensure the 
 observance of every formality, and to provide for the right 
 thing being done in the right way and at the right time. 
 
 The ordeal of the full coronation service in Westminster 
 Abbey, lasting as it does for several hours, is sufficiently 
 trying, especially to a female sovereign of tender years ; but 
 this is only the beginning of the anxious work of an anxious 
 day. After a brief and necessary interval of rest, the arduous 
 work of the coronation banquet has to be faced, and the chief 
 person, in whose honour the banquet is held, must at least 
 seem to enjoy it, must be perfectly at ease and gracious, and 
 above all things must beware of looking bored ! At the 
 
22 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 coronation of Richard II., Holinshed gravely tells us 
 that "the feast on that occasion was so exceedingly sunvgtuous_ 
 and princely, that if the same should be rehearsed, the reader 
 would perhaps doubt of the truth thereof." 
 
 It was during the coronation banquet that one of the 
 most striking features of the day's ceremonial was to be seen 
 — an armed knight mounted on a white charger, richly 
 caparisoned, riding into Westminster Hall, throwing down his 
 gauntlet, and challenging to mortal combat any who should 
 gainsay the sovereign's title to the throne. It was, indeed, the 
 great feature of the day, and it is a pity that it should be 
 discontinued now. The following description of this part of 
 the ceremonial is quoted by Noble, and is given in the very 
 words of an eyewitness. Dr. Kennett, Bishop of Peterborough, 
 who was present at the coronation of Charles II. Ex uno 
 disce omnes : — 
 
 "A little before the second course was ready at the 
 dinner in Westminster Hall, Sir Edward Dvmock entered the 
 Hall, on a goodly white courser, and armed at all points in 
 rich armour, having a plume of blue feathers in his helm. 
 He there made a stand for some time, and then advanced in 
 manner following, way being made for him by the Knight 
 Marshall : First two trumpets, the Sergeant Trumpeter, the 
 Sergeants at Arms, an Esquire carrying the Champion's lance 
 upright ; Mr. Owen, York Herald ; the Earl Marshall on his 
 left hand ; the Champion ; the Lord High Constable on his 
 right hand ; both likewise on horseback. 
 
CORONATION CEREMONY. 23 
 
 "At the lower end of the Hall, York Herald proclaimed 
 the challenge in these words following : ' If any person, in 
 what degree sover, high or low, shall deny or gainsay our 
 sovreign Lord, King Charles H., King of England, Scotland, 
 France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, son and next 
 heir to our Sovreign Lord Charles I., the last King deceased, 
 to be the right heir to the imperial crown of this realm of 
 England, or that he ought not to enjoy the same, here is his 
 champion who saith that he lyeth and is a false traytor, being 
 ready in person to combat with him, and in this quarrel will 
 adventure his life against him, on what day soever shall be 
 appointed.' Thereupon the Champion threw down his 
 gauntlet, which, lying some time, and nobody taking it up, it 
 was delivered unto him again by York Herald. Then all 
 advanced forward untill the Champion came to the middle of 
 the Hall, where York Herald made the like proclamation, and 
 the gauntlet was again thrown down, taken up, and returned 
 to the Champion, who ascended to the foot of the ascending 
 step to the state, and, at the top of the said steps, the said 
 Herald proclaimed the said challenge for the third time, 
 whereupon the Champion threw down the gauntlet again, 
 which, nobody taking up, it was delivered unto him. This 
 being done, the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, assisted 
 by Viscount Montagu, and Lord Paget, presented on the 
 knee to the King a gilt cup and cover, full of wine, who 
 drank to his Champion ; and, by the said Earl, sent him the 
 cup ; and he, after three reverences, drank it all off, went a 
 
24 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 little backward, and so departed out of the Hall ; taking the 
 said cup for his fee, accordingly, as being adjudged to him by 
 the said Court of Claims." 
 
 We claim to know a great deal about the appearance 
 of a Champion on a Coronation day, but our knowledge is 
 more apparent than real. At and after the Coronation, indeed, 
 of Richard II., there is no lack of trustworthy information on 
 the subject, but before that time we know but little, and that 
 little imperfectly. Between William the Conqueror and 
 Richard II. were ten sovereigns, not including the daughter 
 of Henry I. who exercised royal power at intervals, during 
 the troubled reign of Stephen. But although it has been said 
 that at the coronation of Edward III. the immediate pre- 
 decessor of Richard II., Sir Alexander Freville, knight, 
 performed the office of Champion as owner of the Castle of 
 Tamworth,* a confusion has probably been made between 
 Sir Alexander's claim and the execution of the duties which 
 the claim involved. There is, however, no well authenticated 
 account of an armed Champion taking part in a coronation 
 before the time of Richard II., although, as will be presently 
 shewn, from the time of William the Conqueror there had 
 always been a Champion in England, albeit a Champion 
 faineant. 
 
 It is by no means easy to give a satisfactory explanation 
 of the absence of this official from so many of the early 
 coronations, and to account also for the sudden and hotly 
 
 '■•" Collin's Peerage. 5th Ed., Vol. d, p. 338. 
 
I- "" 
 
 <3 5 
 
 < 5 
 
 z is 
 
 O 5; 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 o 
 
CORONATION CEREMONY. 25 
 
 contested claim to act as Champion that was made in 1377 by 
 the heads of two great families, each claiming the right as 
 eing descended from the original champion, the great Norman 
 baron, Marmion, who is better known by his court title, 
 Robert Dispensator.* No difficulty, indeed, need be felt in 
 rightly gauging the motives underlying the claims of the rival 
 families : but the task of accounting for the non-appearance of 
 a Champion at so many of the early coronations is much 
 more difficult. A plausible explanation, however, may be 
 safely advanced. 
 
 It is quite possible that after William the Conqueror, the 
 circumstances under which his immediate successors came to 
 the throne made it desirable that their coronation should be 
 conducted as quietly and unostentatiously as possible, and 
 consequently the most striking part of the pageant was 
 omitted. In this way it would come about that a precedent 
 being established by William Rufus, Henry I., and Stephen, 
 the remaining sovereigns up to Richard II. would not think 
 it necessary to require the services of a Champion which were 
 
 * This is not the first time that a great Norman baron appears in the 
 Enghsh Court, nor is tl:\is the only occasion when we hear of a Court official 
 bearing the title of Dispensator. Du Chesne in his Scriptores Normanics speaks 
 of one Hugolin, an eminent Norman, at the English Court, whom he styles 
 Regis Canccllarius et Dispensator. When it is remembered that Edward the 
 Confessor, the son of Ethelred, had lived in Normandy twenty-seven years, 
 during the usurpation of the three Danish Kings, Cnut, Harold, and Hardicnut, it is 
 not surprising that on his return to England to assume his royal dignity, he 
 brought with him several persons with whom he had contracted friendship in 
 Normandy, and whom he afterwards appointed to honourable offices in England. 
 E 
 
26 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 evidently not considered indispensable. We know that the 
 coronation of some of these intermediate sovereigns was 
 conducted with much pomp and ceremony, but the part of 
 the Champion was left out.* 
 
 Meanwhile, the two families, who shared a portion of the 
 inheritance of the last of the Marmions, were beginning to 
 put forward certain claims, of which we shall hear in another 
 chapter ; and so the coronation of Richard II. came to be the 
 pivot on which the controversy turned and was regarded by 
 each competitor as likely to settle permanently the question 
 between them. Without unduly anticipating what must be 
 said later on, it will suffice here to state that Sir Baldwin 
 Freville and Sir John Dymoke each claimed the right of 
 acting as Champion at the approaching coronation of Richard 
 II. : Sir Baldwin, as the descendant of Sir Philip Marmion's 
 eldest daughter who inherited Tamworth Castle, and Sir John 
 Dymoke, on behalf of his wife who was descended from Joan 
 the youngest daughter to whom, on her father's death, the 
 Manor of Scrivelsby was allotted. The Court of Claims, for 
 reasons which will be hereafter given, decided in favour of 
 the Dymokes, in which family the championship has continued 
 to the present day. 
 
 ""Henry II., Richard I., John, Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., and 
 Edward III., were all crowned with great solemnity in the Church of St. Peter 
 at Westminster (except Henry III., a child of nine years of age, who was 
 crowned at Gloucester) but no mention is made in history of the performance of 
 the office of Champion at those particular times." — Collin's Peerage. 
 
CORONATION CEREMONY. 2'] 
 
 Amongst other claims advanced before the same Court 
 on later occasions, Robert Ratcliffe, Earl of Essex, claimed 
 to be dapifer to the King, i.e. to have the privilege of 
 carrying the lordly dish containing the piece de resistance at 
 the coronation banquet ; but in making this claim he must 
 have forgotten the peculiar perils of the office. It is said 
 that William the Conqueror, who was not the meekest of 
 mankind, was once so exasperated with his dapifer because he 
 brought to the table a half-roasted crane that he incontinently 
 knocked him down and kicked him out of the banqueting 
 hall* 
 
 The King's Champion, in addition to the right of 
 performing the duties of his office, claimed to have as his fee 
 a gold cup and cover, together with the horse used at the 
 coronation, with the saddle, armour, and furniture, as well as 
 twenty yards of crimson satin. The cup was to weigh 
 thirty-six ounces. These several claims were allowed with the 
 exception of the twenty yards of satin. 
 
 The Champion was not the only person who carried off 
 a gold cup on the Coronation Day, for "the Lord Mayor, with 
 certain citizens of London, claimed to serve the King with 
 wine after dinner in a gold cup, and to have the same cup 
 and cover for his fee : and with twelve other citizens by them 
 appointed, to assist the chief butler of England in the 
 
 * In these days, the butler of a modern establishment would be not a little 
 startled at receiving such a practical intimation of his master's displeasure I 
 
28 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 butlership, and to have a table on the left hand of the hall. 
 This claim was not allowed, because the charter of the city 
 was at the time seized into the Kings hands. They were, 
 however, permitted ex graiid to execute the office and to 
 dine in the hall : and, moreover, they had a gold cup and 
 cover of twenty ounces of fine gold for their fee." 
 
 There was yet another gold cup claimed by no less a 
 person than the Duke of Norfolk, who, not content with 
 modestly demanding the best cup of gold and cover, claimed 
 also "all the vessels and wine remaining under the bar, and all 
 the pots and cups, except those of gold and silver, in the 
 wine cellar after dinner. Allowed with only a cup and ewer, 
 which was thirty- two ounces of pure gold." 
 
 To give two more claims — from high Church dignitaries, 
 as it happens — the Bishops of Durham, and Bath and Wells, 
 claimed to support the King in the procession, but strange to 
 say, make no demand of a fee : but the Archbishop of 
 Canterbury, according to ancient usage, claimed and received 
 as his perquisite the purple velvet chair, cushion, and 
 footstool, whereon he sits at the coronation.* 
 
 "See Bank's Family of Mar?nyun, pp. 133-158, where the various and 
 multitudinous claims are fully given, and of which the few here mentioned are 
 samples. 
 
GOLD CUP AND COVER. 
 
 Presented to the late Sir Henry Dymoke by George IV,, 
 after his Coronation. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 The Marmions — Origin and Settlement — The Championship — Feudal, 
 System — Grand and Petty Serjeanty — Saxon and Norman — 
 Robert Dispensator — The Knave — The Old Judge — Sir Philip. 
 
 They hailed him Lord of Fontenaye, 
 Of Lutterworth and Scrivelbaye, 
 
 Of Tamworth tower and town. 
 
 Scott. 
 
 EFORE the arrival of the Dymokes, six 
 Marmions, two Ludlows, and a Hillary, lived 
 more or less at Scrivelsby. Of these six 
 Marmions four were called Robert, and it is 
 sometimes difficult to assign to each his 
 proper place in the history of the family. So fond, indeed, 
 were the Marmions of this particular name, that one Sir 
 Robert, having married twice, gave the same name to the 
 eldest son of each marriage. The varying accounts given by 
 different writers of these early settlers at Scrivelsby may be 
 attributed to the confusion caused by so many members of 
 the family bearing the same family name. It will be an 
 advantage, therefore, if some characteristic title can be found 
 
30 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 whereby the several Roberts may be easily distinguished from 
 each other. 
 
 The Marmions were a powerful Norman family, closely 
 connected with the great Dukes of Normandy and dwelling 
 at Fontenay-le-Marmion, between Caen and Falaise, where 
 William lived before his memorable expedition to England. 
 Both William, afterwards called the Conqueror, and the 
 Marmions, were descended from a common ancestor, Rollo, 
 called "the ganger" from his marvellous activity. Amongst 
 other high honours the family of Marmion enjoyed the 
 peculiar privilege of acting as Champions to the Dukes of 
 Normandy, and they held their lands on feudal tenure by 
 Knight Serjeanty subject to the performance of this particular 
 service. When William came over to seek his fortune in 
 England, he brought with him, as might have been expected, 
 his Champion, Sir Robert Marmion, the Sire or Lord of 
 Fontenay. We may judge of the value of his services in the 
 eyes of his master by the noble gifts and honours with which 
 they were rewarded. In addition to his other possessions, he 
 received grants of land in the counties of Lincoln, Gloucester, 
 Warwick and Hereford, together with the governorship of 
 Tamworth Castle in Warwickshire.* Amongst the many 
 Manors given to this Robert Dispensator, as he was called, 
 that of Scrivelsby stands out prominently, as being assigned to 
 
 * Tamworth is on the border of two counties. The town is chiefly in 
 Staffordshire ; the district in which the famous castle stood is in Warwickshire. 
 
THE MARMIONS. 3 1 
 
 him under the same tenure as that by \ which the Norman 
 estates were held, the service being, as in Normandy, to act 
 as Champion at the King's Coronation. 
 
 Amongst other institutions the Feudal system was 
 introduced into England by the Conqueror. It had long 
 existed in his old home, but Was unknown in England. The 
 system is intricate, but the general principle can be grasped 
 without any great mental effort. Everyone ought to know 
 something about it, and there is a certain clue which will 
 enable those who follow it to acquire this knowledge easily 
 and one that will guide them safely through all its intricacies. 
 And this clue is Bismarck's famous dictum do ut des " I give 
 something to you to induce you to give me something in 
 return." 
 
 Self-interest has never failed to exercise great influence 
 on human affairs. In the unsettled times of the eleventh and 
 twelfth centuries especially, everyone had to look closely after 
 his own. Every man's hand was against his neighbour. The 
 strong arm had to guard what the strong arm had gained. 
 And so, above all things, it was indispensable that the arm 
 should be strong. Kings knew this and acted upon it : the 
 great barons also knew it and turned their knowledge to good 
 account : and so on through every grade, the ruling principle 
 amongst them all being this far-reaching maxim do ut des. 
 
 Thus the King or head man was not long in discovering 
 that he could not hold his own without help from others. 
 He must have soldiers to fight his battles, and ' the soldiers 
 
32 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 must be properly equipped : and so, starting with the 
 convenient theory that all the land in the kingdom or domain 
 belonged to himself, he assigned portions of it to his great 
 nobles, on condition that they should fight for him, when 
 summoned, and should bring with them a body of men, in 
 number proportionate to their holding, fully armed, and 
 equipped for their work. The King said in effect do ut des. 
 The great nobles, also, said to their dependants : " I have 
 more land than I can cultivate myself ; I will therefore let 
 you have a portion of it on condition that when the King 
 summons me to help him in his wars, you will help me by 
 bringing so many men fit and ready for service in the field." 
 Thus we have in a small compass the characteristic feature of 
 the feudal system — service to be rendered for boons granted — 
 and both depending on the land. 
 
 Then, further, in days when the art of legal conveyancing 
 was unknown there must be some proof in concrete shape of 
 the assignment that had been made. Accordingly, when lands 
 were assigned, some particular service was attached to the 
 holding, that all men might know that some return was 
 expected for what had been given. Sometimes this outward 
 sign assumed a strange shape. The great noble must hold 
 the King's stirrup when he mounted his charger. He must 
 gird himself with a napkin and serve his lord at the banquet. 
 He must undertake to act as Champion to his master when 
 required. He must cut so many faggots and present them to 
 his lord on bended knee. He must once a year make a 
 
THE MARMIONS. 33 
 
 formal offering of a white bull, or a cask of Malmsey, or — for 
 the value of the sign was not so much considered as the sign 
 itself — a fleece of wool, or a bushel of wheat, or a load of 
 straw.* 
 
 In each case the King claimed and exercised the right of 
 determining the particular service attached to the grant. The 
 most common and at the same time the most important was 
 Knight service, whereby direct aid was to be given in times 
 of war : but there were, besides, numerous forms of tenure, 
 such as those just mentioned, altogether irrespective of 
 military service. 
 
 If the tenure on which the grant was made consisted of 
 some honourable service, such as acting as Champion, or 
 closely attending on the King's person, it was said to be held 
 by Grand Serjeanty or Knight Serjeanty ; but if the tenure 
 depended on the offering some small implement of war, such 
 as a bow, a sword, a lance, a pair of spurs, or such-like, it 
 was said to be by petit or petty Serjeanty. It was in this 
 way that the championship became attached to the Manor of 
 
 * Amongst the many claims advanced by different persons to take part in 
 the coronation of James II. was one from the Lord of the Manor of Heydon, in 
 Essex, who claimed to hold the bason and napkin for the King while washing 
 his hands before dinner, this being a condition on which the land was held. It 
 was in allusion to this service that the following epigram was written by Henry 
 PoUexfen, a scholar at Winchester at the time :— 
 
 A lord, on this occasion, prays to bring 
 
 A bason and a towel, to the King : 
 
 This custom, sure, on no good footing stands : 
 
 What monarch mounts a throne with dirty hands ? 
 
34 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Scrivelsby by Knight Serjeaniy, although in after times there 
 was some little difficulty in proving it. 
 
 It is impossible to say now who was the owner of 
 Scrivelsby before the battle of Hastings, but whoever he 
 may have been, his claims were light indeed when weighed 
 against those of the powerful baron from Normandy, to whom, 
 along with many a broad acre elsewhere, Scrivelsby was 
 assigned by the Conqueror. Saxon and Norman had appealed 
 to the God of battle, and the result of the appeal was 
 unmistakeable. The well-known rule of olden times, voe 
 victts, a rule which even in these enlightened days has hardly 
 ceased to be operative, was strong enough then to solve 
 many a difficulty and to untie many a hard knot of state 
 policy. And so it was here. The Saxons were defeated on 
 the battle-field ; the Saxons must suffer accordingly. The 
 Normans were victorious : to them therefore must fall the 
 spoils of war. King William saw clearly what system of 
 government would be most beneficial to himself, and, like a 
 strong man, he adopted it. The ownership of the soil was 
 the basis on which his authority must rest : the land therefore 
 must be in the hands of his friends — his "men" as his 
 trustiest partizans were happily termed. Amongst the rest, 
 the owner of Scrivelsby had to yield up his holding, and the 
 great Robert Dispensator, the Champion and favourite of 
 William, promptly took possession of it.* 
 
 '* Sir Joseph Banks or some writer who left his MS. at Revesby, in opposition to 
 Dugdale, controverts the opinion that the noble family of the Despensers, is 
 
THE MARMIONS. 35 
 
 This Robert, the first EngUsh Champion, after basking 
 long in the sunshine of Royal favour, fell into disgrace 
 towards the end of the reign of Henry I., and was stripped 
 of all his possessions : but, upon his death, as in the case of 
 Sir Thomas Dymoke in later times, the King did his best to 
 make compensation to the son for the penalty he had inflicted 
 on the father ; and accordingly, the next Marmion, Sir Roger,* 
 received back, not only all the forfeited estates of his 
 predecessor, but he acquired besides several fresh grants, 
 amongst the most important of which were Quinton in 
 Gloucestershire, and Middleton in Warwickshire. He also held 
 the barony of Llanstephan in Carmarthenshire. 
 
 Upon the death of Sir Roger his son Robert succeeded, 
 and acquired great reputation for charitable deeds and for the 
 
 derived from Robert Dispensator, although he allows that the word Despenser 
 carries the same sense as Dispensator, each word denoting a Steward, or comptroller 
 of the household. " There is certainly,'' he says, " a similarity in the sound of 
 ' Dispensator ' and ' Despenser,' but if we lay aside this coincidence and examine 
 the ancient possessions and genealogical descent of both families, the sentiments of 
 Sir William Dugdale will be probably superseded, especially as the great officer who 
 is generally allowed to have had the honour of being Champion, came in at the 
 Conquest, cloathed with the like dignity in Normandy, and, assuredly, enjoyed the 
 two rival manors of Tamworth and Scrivelsby. For the family of Despenser to prove 
 their descent from Robert Dispensator they must show us a regular inheritance of 
 the estate according to Domesday Book. If this proof cannot be adduced they must 
 lay aside their pretensions to this stock, and instruct the heralds to derive a clearer 
 genealogy for the illustrious house of Despenser, which has at various periods 
 incurred the severity and deserved the gratitude of the nation." 
 
 * Dugdale, Collins, Banks, and others give the family name of Robert to all 
 the Marmions up to Philip. But there was certainly a Roger amongst them, 
 and the weight of evidence favours the view that the son and successor of the 
 first Champion was Roger and not Robert. (See Appendi.x No. i8.) 
 
36 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 endowment and restoration of religious houses on which he 
 spent large sums of money.. We are surprised, therefore, to 
 learn that, in spite of this, his general character failed to 
 conciliate the good opinion of his contemporaries. On the 
 contrary, instead of dwelling on his munificence, his piety, and 
 his charity to the poor, he is described by the English 
 annaHsts of the period as " quarrelsome, stubborn, and 
 matched by few of his time in ferocity and knavery." In the 
 civil war between Stephen and Maud the daughter of Henry I., 
 Sir Robert, as became the Champion, held firmly to the 
 King, and consequently, during the short time of Stephen's 
 imprisonment at Lincoln, Maud deprived him of his castle at 
 Tamworth and other possessions, and bestowed them on Sir 
 William de Beauchamp, who had remained steadfast to herself, 
 and had in his turn been despoiled by Stephen of many of 
 his possessions. 
 
 This Champion came to an untimely end occasioned 
 by one of his own " knavish " tricks. Having quarrelled with 
 Maud's Champion, he sacrilegiously drove out the monks from 
 the Benedictine Priory near to his enemy's castle, and made 
 the Church his fortress. As a master stroke of cunning, he 
 thought to ensure the destruction of his enemies by digging 
 pits which he carefully covered over with earth, but, 
 unfortunately, like the engineer, " hoist with his own petard " 
 he fell into one of his own pits and perished ignominiously. 
 His fate has often been quoted as a warning against sacrilege. 
 A valiant cobbler, seeing the Knight disabled, plunged an awl 
 
THE MARMIONS. 37 
 
 into his bowels, and a common soldier forthwith cut oflF his 
 head. 
 
 Another Robeirt followed, and by uniting his son to the 
 daughter of Sir William Beauchamp, he recovered for his 
 family the much coveted possession of Tamworth Castle, of 
 which Maud had deprived his father. 
 
 This Sir Robert was succeeded by his son bearing the same 
 name, but of a different temperament from all his predecessors : 
 he was a student, and in due course became a Judge or 
 Justiciary.* So famous, indeed was he, that in the time of 
 Richard I. he became presiding Justiciary of the barons-errant, 
 or Justices-in-Eyre, an office somewhat akin to the position 
 of the Lord Chief Justice of the present day. In 1185 he 
 was Sheriff for Worcestershire and he held the same office 
 also in 1187 and 1190. 
 
 In the days of King John when the Barons were in open 
 revolt. Sir Robert prudently retired to Normandy ; but, 
 returning to England, he openly sided with the Barons, and 
 after Magna Charta was signed sorely against the King's will, 
 he was ordered by the enraged monarch to yield up to him 
 the greater part of his possessions ; and a military force was 
 
 '■ The sentiments and usages of modern times afford no criterion whereby we 
 can safely pass judgment on what strikes us as incongruous in the 12th or 13th 
 century. Bearing in mind the still more apparently inconsistent features in the 
 character of the military churchmen, the Knights Templars of the period, whose 
 mission it was to advance the spiritual empire of peace by the vigorous use 
 of the weapons of carnal warfare, we need not be surprised to find the same man 
 performing the duties of a Champion, a Diplomatist, a General, and a Judge. 
 
38 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 sent to destroy Tamworth Castle. Nothing however, came of 
 all this. The old judge kept his property well in hand, and 
 on the death of John was persuaded to submit himself to the 
 boy King who succeeded him — Henry III. He died shortly 
 afterwards, in 12 17, leaving three sons, two of them called 
 Robert, and the youngest of the three William. 
 
 On his death Robert the elder succeeded. Hitherto the 
 Marmions held their feudal tenures both in England and in 
 Normandy ; but on the separation of those countries, the 
 representative of the family in England was Robert the 
 Younger, his elder brother of the same name remaining in 
 Normandy. These two Roberts were both children of the 
 same father by different mothers. By an agreement between 
 the brothers, Robert the Younger consented to pay a certain 
 sum for the English possessions, until a final settlement should 
 be made as to the disposition of the family property in both 
 countries. "But if before that. Sir Robert the Elder made his 
 peace with the king, so that he might have his father's 
 English lands, he should pay to Robert the Younger as much 
 as should be paid to the Crown, and answer for the rest, and 
 the latter should account to him for the issues of the lands."* 
 
 '■ Mr. C. F. R. Palmer, O.P., has with much exemplary diligence unearthed a 
 great deal of interesting information respecting the Marmions of Fontena}', and those 
 who care to investigate the early history of the family will not find a safer guide. 
 His work is entitled. History of the Baronial Family of Marmion, and was 
 published in 1875 by J. Thompson, of Tamworth, and in London by Simpkin, 
 Marshall & Co. The account here given is mainly based on information supplied 
 in this work, after verifying it by reference to the usual authorities on the subject. 
 
THE MARMIONS. 39 
 
 It was further agreed that, " the said Robert the Younger 
 
 should then enjoy the lordships of Winteringham and 
 
 Coningsby, in the County of Lincoln ; Quinton, in the County 
 
 of Gloucester ; and Berwick, in the County of Sussex. As 
 
 also, that William, his younger brother, should have East and 
 
 West Torrington, in the County of Lincoln, and lands to the 
 
 value of ten pounds per annum in Berwick ;* of all which they 
 
 had special grants from their father. These conditions appear 
 
 to have been executed ; for, in the fifth year of the reign of 
 
 King Henry IIL,t Robert, the elder son, made his peace with 
 
 the king, and had possession of the Castle of Tamworth 
 
 delivered to him, and the rest of his father's estates. J 
 
 Having occasion to return into Normandy, 17 Henry HL, 
 
 he passed over the whole of his lands in England § for 
 
 seven years to Peter de Rupibus, Bishop of Winchester, 
 
 together with the guardianship of Philip, his son and heir, to 
 
 marry him where he should think fit without disparagement. 
 
 Whereupon, the Bishop, with the consent of the same Robert 
 
 and Philip, made an assignation thereon unto William de 
 Cantilupe,|| Sheriff for the Counties of Warwick and Leicester. 
 
 He died, 25 Henry HL, anno 1241.^ 
 
 * Dugdale's Warwickshire, Vol. II., p. 8i8. 
 t Pat. 5. Hen. III. m. 8. 
 X Claus 5. Hen. III. m. 19. 
 § Cart. 17. Hen. III. m. 3. 
 
 I Cart. 24. Hen. III. m. 4 . and, Testa de Nevill, p. 106. n. 472 ; and p. 144. 
 n. 626. 
 
 ^ Matth. of Westmin. in an. 1241. 
 
40 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 The last of the Marmions, the son of Sir Robert the 
 Elder, and the most famous of all, was that Sir Philip 
 de Marmion who was a leading figure both as statesman 
 and warrior in the stormy days of Henry III. Sir Philip 
 received as a reward for his services after the battle of 
 Evesham a grant of all the demesnes in Tamworth together 
 with the governorship of Kenilworth Castle, with lands in 
 Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, Lincoln, and Leicester. Thus 
 the family was rich and powerful. They held numerous 
 estates in other counties and possessed property in other parts 
 of Lincolnshire, but, as regards the Championship, the Caput 
 Baroniae * and the fons honoris were at Scrivelsby : and to 
 the present day even though the duties of the Championship 
 have been allowed to fall into disuse, the courtesy-title of 
 Champion is given, and will doubtless continue to be given to 
 the owner of Scrivelsby Manor, whoever he may happen to be. 
 
 On the death of Sir Philip Marmion, without male issue, 
 his estates were divided between his four co-heiresses,t the 
 
 " Several baronies or parts of baronies might be vested in one person (Madox's 
 Baronia AngUca, p. 33). In each barony there would be a chief place, generalh', 
 but not always, a Castle, which was called Caput baronia:. The caput of the Marmion's 
 Staffordshire barony was Tamworth Castle : the caput of the Lincolnshire barony 
 was Scrivelsby, which as carrying with it the Championship was also the chief 
 fons or caput honoris. When, upon the death of Sir Philip Marmion, his eldest 
 daughter took Tamworth Castle and the estates in Staffordshire as her portion, 
 the particular tenure, on which Scrivelsby was held, was probably overlooked, 
 and so occasion was given for the subsequent controv-ersy that arose as to the 
 " nidus " of the Championship. 
 
 t Strictly speaking, according to the old feudal law, a barony could not be 
 divided. The exception was when it descended to heiresses, in which case it had to 
 
THE MARMIONS. 4 1 
 
 two with whom we have to do being Margaret and Jane or 
 Joan, a child of eight at her father's death. The elder of 
 these two, Margaret, or Mazera as she is sometimes styled in 
 the old charters, was Sir Philip's second daughter, but upon 
 the death without issue of her eldest sister Joan who was 
 married to William Mortein, she inherited Tamworth and 
 the estates in Staffordshire. She was already married to 
 Ralph Croumbwell or Cromwell, and their daughter Jane 
 became the wife of Alexander Freville, and was the ancestress 
 of that Sir Baldwin Freville of whose claim to the 
 Championship we shall presently hear.* 
 
 Jane or Joan, the youngest of Sir Philip's four daughters 
 to whom Scrivelsby and the Lincolnshire estates had fallen, 
 became the wife of Sir Thomas Ludlow and the mother of 
 Thomas de Ludlow, who predeceased her, leaving a daughter 
 Margaret, who subsequently became the wife of Sir John 
 Dymoke.f Upon the death of her first husband. Sir Thomas 
 Ludlow, the Lady Jane became the wife of Sir Henry Hillary, 
 who survived her, and was allowed to retain possession of the 
 
 be divided equally between them, the eldest daughter being entitled to the chief seat 
 of the barony, by reason of her eldership. The part of each heiress, before partition 
 made, was called her rationabilis pars of such a barony. It was also called Propars a 
 Purpart (see Madox's Baronia Anglica, p. 42). Of Sir Philip's four daughters the 
 eldest and the youngest were by different mothers and each had the same name. 
 
 * The Frevilles had large possessions in Cambridgeshire. The Church of Little 
 Shelford in that county is full of interesting memorials of the family. 
 
 f The old Ballad which will be found in the Appendix (No. i) gives a good 
 account of the union of the Marmions and Dymokes through the marriage of Sir 
 John Dymoke and Margaret Ludlow. 
 G 
 
42 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 family estates,* with the title of Champion, until his death in 
 1350, when he was succeeded by the Lady Margaret Ludlow, 
 mentioned above, who married Sir John Dymoke and was the 
 ancestress of the family that for more than five centuries has 
 dwelt uninterruptedly at Scrivelsby. 
 
 It is often said by people, boasting of the antiquity of 
 their family, that their forefathers came over with William the 
 Conqueror, but it is not often that their claims will bear 
 investigation. Few, indeed, even of our best families, can 
 trace their lineage so far back and with such certainty as the 
 Dymokes of Scrivelsby. The present Champion is a lineal 
 descendant of Sir Philip Marmion, through the lady whose 
 marriage with the Gloucestershire knight in the days of 
 Edward IIL is the link that connects the houses of Dymoke 
 and Marmion : and there is no doubt that Sir Philip Marmion 
 was directly descended from the great Robert Dispensator, 
 who accompanied William of Normandy in his descent upon 
 England in the year 1066. 
 
 "'■' Sir Henry Hillary appears to have twice exercised the right of patronage to 
 the Rectory of Scrivelsby, once in 1324, in concert with his wife, who is. styled the 
 Lady Johan, and again in 1325, when he presented in his own right, and is 
 on the occasion ingloriously deprived of his initial letter, the appointment of the 
 new Rector being recorded as due to " Sir Henry lUary, Kt. " ! 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Early Dymokes — Derivation of Name — Totemism — Rebus on Lion 
 Gate — Canting Mottoes — Sir Baldwin Freville — An Imperious 
 Dame — The Sockburn Dragon. 
 
 Dim with the mist of years 
 Gray flits the shade of power. 
 
 Byron. 
 
 HE family name of Dymoke has undergone 
 the usual fate of most old historical names 
 by being spelt differently at different times. 
 The most common form, however, is Dymoke, 
 as it appears in the present day. The first page in the 
 old Scrivelsby Registers contains an entry recording the 
 marriage of Mrs. Frances Dymoke* in 1565 to Mr. Thomas 
 Winderbanke. Other forms of the name occasionally appear 
 as Dimmock, Dymock, Dymocke, Dymok, Dimok, Demoke, 
 and Demok. 
 
 According to the generally accepted theory, the name is 
 derived from the manor of Dimmok in Gloucestershire, the 
 original seat of the family, before they took up their abode in 
 
 * This lady was the daughter of Sir Edward Dymoke (i). 
 
44 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the more congenial home of Scrivelsby. This may possibly 
 be a true explanation of the name, but it is also possible to 
 go still further back, and to suggest that the Gloucestershire 
 manor was itself called after the family which settled there, 
 and which, in accordance with the ancient belief in Totemism, 
 derived its distinctive appellation from the oak tree from 
 which it may be supposed the Dymokes believed themselves 
 to have originally sprung. 
 
 This belief in Totemism, which consists in the supposition 
 that each family is descended from a particular plant or 
 animal, is very ancient and widely spread.* Many of our 
 old Saxon families can distinctly trace the origin of their 
 names in this way, the separate clans being distinguished from 
 each other by their respective totems, which were consequently 
 held in special veneration as the guardian spirits of the 
 family, the members of which would generally refuse to pluck 
 the plant or kill the animal after which they were named. 
 Thus we find the Heartings or sons of the hart : the Wylfings 
 or sons of the wolf : and the Thornings or sons of the thorn. 
 Places too were often named after some plant or animal : as, 
 for instance, Oakington from the oak tree, Horsington from 
 the horse, and Wormingford from the serpent or wyrm. The 
 suggestion that in the same way the Dymokes derived their 
 name from the oak tree is not advanced without some reasons 
 that go far to suppprt it. 
 
 -' See Anglo Saxon Britain, p. 80, by Grant Allen. S.P.C.K. 
 
THE EARLY DYMOKES. 45 
 
 The visitor, who keeps his eyes open, on entering 
 Scrivelsby Park, will notice on the right hand side of the 
 Lion Gateway, a rude delineation of an oak tree — the rebus 
 of Sir Robert Dymoke, whose name appears below — the letter 
 Y being apparently formed by the stem of the tree. Again, as 
 an additional support to the oak-tree theory, attention may 
 be^ called to the words de umbrosd quercu which are 
 appended to the name of " Dimoak now Dimmock" in 
 Wright's Court hand (p. 48, 6th Ed., 1822) in the list 
 of ancient surnames as they were written in old deeds, 
 records, and charters. 
 
 The family motto pro rege dimico which was probably 
 assumed long after the establishment of the Dymokes at 
 Scrivelsby, and in evident allusion to their duty as Champions, 
 is a good instance of what are called canting mottoes.* 
 
 Sir John Dymoke, who married the Lady Margaret de 
 Ludlow, is not only the first Dymoke who settled at 
 Scrivelsby, but he must always hold a conspicuous place in 
 history as being the successful competitor for the Champion- 
 ship in his famous contest with Sir Baldwin Freville. 
 
 So much has been already said of the four daughters and 
 co-heiresses of Sir Philip Marmion, that it will be sufficient 
 
 ~' Ver non semper viret the family motto of the Vernons, Forte scutum of the 
 Fortescues, and Conanti dabitur of the Conants of Rutland, are well known instances 
 of these punning mottoes. Somewhat akin to these is the Rebus by which names 
 are represented by figures or pictures. Thus at Lincoln College, Oxford, a rebus of 
 Dr. Beckington represents a beacon on a tun or barrel : and at Jesus College, 
 Cambridge, a Cock standing on a globe does duty for the name of Dr. Alcock, the 
 founder. The rebus of the Dymokes is given above. 
 
46 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 here to repeat that to the eldest of them Tamworth Castle 
 with its appurtenances was allotted, while Joan, the youngest 
 daughter, inherited the manor of Scrivelsby and the estates in 
 Lincolnshire. 
 
 There had long been a smouldering jealousy between the 
 successors of these two sisters, and the question of the 
 Championship caused it to burst into flame. The time had 
 come when the controversy between the families must be 
 brought to an issue. The coronation of Richard II. seemed 
 to offer a favourable opportunity for securing an authoritative 
 decision as to their respective claims, and, by mutual consent, 
 the right of appearing as Champion at the approaching 
 coronation of the grandson of the reigning king formed the 
 subject matter of the appeal which was to be submitted to 
 the Court of Claims. Each claimant had apparently a strong 
 case, and each of them entertained well-grounded hopes of a 
 favourable result. 
 
 Sir Baldwin Freville, who was the undoubted represent- 
 ative of the eldest daughter of Sir Philip Marmion, based his 
 pretensions on priority of birth and as being seized of the 
 ownership of Tamworth Castle. He also pleaded that when 
 his ancestress Margaret (or Mazera) took by reason of her 
 eldership, on the death of her sister Joan, the most important 
 part of her father's patrimony, she took with it that which 
 had always been deemed the chief distinction of the family — 
 the right of appearing as Champion at the coronations of the 
 sovereigns of England. Against all this Sir John Dymoke had 
 
THE EARLY DYMOKES. 47 
 
 nothing to allege beyond the simple fact that his wife 
 occupied the position of the youngest daughter who inherited 
 Scrivelsby : and yet this was sufficient to give him the victory.* 
 
 The controversy was a repetition of the old fable which 
 enforces the wisdom of using practical methods for ensuring 
 success, instead of trusting to numberless devices by which 
 defeat can be avoided. And even as Grimalkin from her 
 coign of vantage surveyed the discomfiture of the fox, in 
 spite of his many devices, so did the wife of Sir John 
 Dymoke learn in her Lincolnshire home that the mere 
 possession of the manor of Scrivelsby was sufficient to 
 outweigh the formidable claims of Sir Baldwin Freville. 
 
 If it had been a question of seniority. Sir Baldwin must 
 have necessarily succeeded : of this there had never been any 
 doubt. But the question that the Court of Claims had to 
 decide turned on the particular tenure on which the respective 
 lands of the two claimants were held, and to which estate the 
 Championship was attached. The result, in accordance with 
 the general expectation, was that the Championship was 
 attached by Knight Serjeanty to the manor of Scrivelsby; and 
 as this manor had fallen to the youngest daughter of Sir 
 Philip Marmion, it was declared that to her representative 
 the rights of the Championship belonged.t Sir John Dymoke 
 
 * See Appendix, No. 16. 
 
 ■f "The adjudication was made in favour of Sir John Dymoke, by reason that 
 he brought forward better evidence in support of the right of ofRce being adjunct to 
 the manor of Scrivelsby than Freville could adduce on behalf of his tenure of 
 
48 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 accordingly officiated at the coronation of Richard II. as his 
 wife's deputy, and from that time forward up to the time of 
 George IV. in 1820 no coronation has been held without 
 the appearance of a Champion, and that Champion has always 
 been a Dymoke. 
 
 With the exception of this Sir John, we know but little 
 of the early Dymokes at Scrivelsby, and still less of their 
 predecessors in their old Gloucestershire home. Indeed, the 
 first two Scrivelsby Dymokes are so overshadowed by the 
 imperious Dame who was wife of the one and mother of the 
 other, that after the contest with Sir Baldwin Freville, nothing 
 is recorded of either of them beyond the bare statement that 
 Sir John died shortly after performing the duties of his office * 
 
 Tamworth Castle : and moreover because as it is reported by Speed (p. 729) 
 King Edward III. and his son the black Prince had often been heard to say 
 that the inheritance of the said office was the right of Sir John Dymoke." 
 Banks. The decision, however, was confined to the special occasion, and by 
 using the words salvo jure the Court plainly intimated that it would give a 
 dispassionate consideration to any further arguments that might hereafter be 
 advanced. As Sir Baldwin Freville failed to take advantage of this open door, 
 the Court of Claims at the next coronation gave a definite verdict in favour of 
 the Dymokes. 
 
 ■■■ Banks gives the following account from an old Chronicle respecting a part 
 of the Champion's proceedings before the coronation of Richard 11. : " In the 
 meane time Sir John Dimmocke had been to the King's armorie and stable, 
 where he had chosen according to his tenure, the best armour, save one : and 
 the best steed, save one: so that the said John Dimmocke having armed himself, 
 and being mounted on horsebacke, came to the Abbeie gates, with two riding 
 before him, the one carrying his speare, and the other his shield, staieing there 
 till Mass should be ended. But the Lord Henrie Percie, Lord Marshall, 
 appointed to make waie before the King, with divers others, being all mounted 
 on great horses, came to the Knight and told him, that he ought not to come 
 
THE EARLY DYMOKES. 49 
 
 as his mother's deputy at the coronation of Richard II., and 
 that his son Thomas officiated at two coronations, one in 1399 
 when Henry of Bolingbroke was crowned, and again in 14 13 
 at the coronation of Henry V. On each of these occasions 
 Sir Thomas acted on behalf of his mother, who must have 
 been a very old woman at the time of her death, in the 
 glorious year of Agincourt, when her son Sir Thomas had 
 already attained the ripe age of sixty. 
 
 This lady is reported to have had a strong will of her 
 own, and, on the death of her husband in 1381, she had not 
 the least thought of abdicating in favour of her son, or 
 of allowing him to replace her, either as Champion to the 
 King, or in any other capacity. To use a Lincolnshire 
 expression, she refused to take her slippers off before she 
 went to bed, and so she lived and died, "within her little 
 realm supreme" holding the reins of government firmly to the 
 end. Had she lived in these times, when "Women's rights" 
 is one of the questions of the day, she would doubtless have 
 disdained the vicarious services of husband and son, and 
 would have donned the armour, and mounted the steed, and 
 thrown down the gauntlet in her own person, and he would 
 have been a brave man that had ventured to accept her gage. 
 
 Of the next Dymoke, Sir Philip, who acted as Champion 
 to Henry VI., and lived long enough to see the beginning of 
 
 at that time, but when the King was at dinner, and therefore it should be good 
 for him to unarme himself for awhile, and take his ease and rest, till the 
 appointed time were come : so the Knight did, as the Lord Marshall willed him." 
 H 
 
50 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the war of the roses which was destined to be so fatal to his 
 
 son and successor, it will be sufficient to say that he was one 
 
 of those happy men whose history expired with himself. His 
 
 record must have been good, or we should have heard of it, 
 
 for 
 
 " The evil that men do lives after them, 
 The good is oft interred with their bones." 
 
 But although Sir Philip himself has left no mark of personal 
 
 identification, beyond the one official ceremony at which he 
 
 took part at the coronation of the Baby-king, his wife shines 
 
 with a reflected light in connection with an old and 
 
 interesting legend. This lady was Joan, the daughter of Sir 
 
 Christopher Coniers, Knight of Sockburn, in the county of 
 
 Durham ; and through her we become acquainted with a 
 
 ceremony that used to be performed by her father's family at 
 
 the Court of the Bishops of Durham, which has a close 
 
 resemblance to the service performed by her husband in the 
 
 King's Court at Westminster. 
 
 Noble tells us that "the origin of this was, as tradition 
 
 relates, that one of the Coniers' slew a dragon,* which 
 
 devoured men, women, and children, in the Palatinate. t In 
 
 '■' In confirmation of this tradition, the tomb of the gi-eat ancestor of the 
 Coniers', in Sockburn Church, has, sculptured upon it, a dog and a monstrous 
 serpent or dragon, lying at the feet of the Knight, which he is said to have killed. 
 
 f In olden times, the Bishops of Durham were temporal princes as well as 
 ecclesiastical rulers. They had many high privileges. The County of Durham 
 formed one of the three great English Palatinates, and the Bishop was placed 
 at its head. The other two were the counties of Chester and Lancaster. 
 In these Palatinates, the lord or Count exercised almost royal authority, and 
 enjoyed an absolutely independent jurisdiction. 
 
THE EARLY DYMOKES. 
 
 51 
 
 reward for this prodigious service, the Coniers' were appointed 
 Champions to the Bishops of Durham, and well did they 
 deserve this honourable post. When the story is freed from 
 its fabulous embellishment, it appears that this dragon was 
 nothing more than a ferocious Danish chieftain, who over-ran 
 the country, literally devouring by his sword men, women, 
 and children. The converting the Dane into a dragon is very 
 easily accounted for, if we suppose that the despoiler bore for 
 his standard the supposed monster, a dragon." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 The Wars of the Roses — Execution of Sir Thomas Dymoke — Battle 
 of Lose-coat Field — Brass in Horncastle Church — Sir Robert 
 Dymoke — Table Monument. 
 
 Somerset : Let him that is no coward, nor no flatterer, 
 But dare maintain the party of the truth. 
 Pluck a red rose from off this thorn with me. 
 
 Wartt<ick . I love no colours : and without all colour 
 Of base insinuating flattery, 
 I pluck this white rose with Plantagenet. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 The Gods 
 
 Avenge on stony hearts a fruitless * prayer 
 
 For mercy. 
 
 Tenny.son. 
 
 IN the death of Sir Philip, his son Thomas 
 succeeded, and his accession to the Champion- 
 ship gave him an importance which was 
 attended with fatal consequences. Had he 
 occupied a less conspicuous position, he would probably 
 have escaped the fate which afterwards overtook him. 
 He was not only the King's Champion, but he was connected 
 by marriage with the powerful family of Welles, and, 
 although we have no reason for thinking that Sir Thomas 
 

 ^p^^yjjB * ' ) 
 
 h3 
 
 m "^^ 
 
 
 ^p 
 
 ±~ 
 
 ittp^' 
 
 
 '^^^ 
 
 
 
 
 '^ M 
 
 BRASS TO LIONEL DYMOKE IN HORNCASTLE CHURCH. 
 
THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 53 
 
 Dymoke was likely to exercise any predominant influence over 
 the course of events, he was too highly placed and too highly 
 connected, to escape the perils from which men in a humbler 
 sphere would be exempt. 
 
 " The mighty pine is ever most 
 By wild winds swayed about and toss'd : 
 
 With most disastrous crash 
 Fall high-topp'd towers, and ever, where 
 The mountain's summit points in air, 
 
 Do bolted lightnings flash." * 
 
 In the history of this Champion, we see for the first and 
 only time, a Knight of Scrivelsby laying his head on the 
 fatal block, at the command of an angry King who could 
 adduce no crime on the part of his victim to justify so severe 
 a sentence. But the wars of the roses had begun, and no 
 one's life was safe. Blood was shed without scruple on both 
 sides. Amongst the many deeds of violence of which but 
 little notice was taken at the time, the fate of Sir Thomas 
 Dymoke stands out a conspicuous instance of the judicial 
 murder of an innocent man, without any adequate justification. 
 It is, indeed, almost inconceivable that the King's 
 Champion should have been thus sacrificed, more through 
 caprice and momentary indignation at the insubordination of 
 another, than for any overt act of his own. It is true that every 
 
 -' " Saspius ventis agitatur ingens 
 Pin us : et celsas graviore casu 
 Decidunt turres : feriuntque summos 
 Fulgura monies." 
 
 Horace. 
 
54 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 one, at the time, had to take his side either as a supporter of 
 the house of York or of the house of Lancaster, and the 
 sympathies of Sir Thomas Dymoke were on the side of the 
 Lancastrian King, at whose Coronation his own father had 
 acted as Champion. Accordingly, when his wife's brother, Sir 
 Robert Welles, had been commissioned by the Lancastrian 
 leaders to raise troops in Lincolnshire on behalf of Henry 
 VI., our Champion erected his standard in defence of the 
 Lancastrian King. The die was now cast, and having openly 
 chosen his side. Sir Thomas thenceforward became subject to 
 the fortunes of war : and had he been slain in battle, there 
 would have been no cause for complaint. But he was -put 
 to death under circumstances, which, even at the present day, 
 excite indignation at the abuse of power as well as pity for 
 the sufferer. 
 
 It came about in this way. An order was sent by 
 Edward IV. for Lord Welles, the father of Sir Robert, 
 and the Champion, Sir Thomas Dymoke, to appear before 
 the Council. Instead of promptly obeying the summons, 
 they hesitated for a time, but subsequently went to London, 
 when, hearing that the King was in no placable mood, 
 they fled to a sanctuary, and only left it on receiving 
 an express promise of pardon. As soon as they had presented 
 themselves at the Court, Edward received them graciously, 
 but insisted that Lord Welles should exert his paternal 
 authority, to induce his son to lay down his arms and submit 
 to the royal mercy. But when the King had reached 
 
THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 55 
 
 Stamford, and found that Sir Rol)ert Welles was still at the 
 head of his troops, he ordered, in violation of his promise, 
 the immediate execution of Lord Welles and Sir Thomas 
 Dymoke, and sent a second summons to Sir Thomas Welles, 
 who replied with natural indignation that "he would never 
 trust to the perfidy of the man who had murdered his 
 father." 
 
 A battle was accordingly fought soon afterwards at 
 Empingham,* near Stamford ; and Sir Robert Welles, being 
 conquered and taken prisoner, was beheaded, a few hours after 
 his father and Sir Thomas Dymoke had undergone the same 
 fate, at Stamford. 
 
 Deep indeed is the stain left on the character of 
 Edward IV., by this wanton exercise of irresponsible power. 
 But the deed was done and irreparable, as far as Sir Thomas 
 was concerned : and so, the King, in after years, did everything 
 in his power to make atonement for his cruelty to the father 
 by heaping honours on his son. This we shall see later on, 
 when we come to the account of his successor, the first Sir 
 Robert Dymoke. 
 
 '^ The battle was fought at Empingham. Young Welles collected 30,000 men 
 from Lincoln and the neighbourhood, and with this hastily-gathered force he 
 encountered the well-seasoned troops of the Yorkist King. Nor was the issue 
 long doubtful. The new recruits could not stand before the trained and 
 experienced soldiers of the angry monarch, and seeing many of their leaders 
 slain and the danger of their position, they broke and fled with such percipitation 
 that they flung aside their coats to enable them to make more speed. This 
 skirmish has in consequence received the name of the battle of lose-coat field. 
 
56 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 The eldest son of the murdered Champion was Lionel, 
 who pre-deceased his father, and dying in 15 19 was buried at 
 Horncastle. It is this Lionel, to whose memory a brass was 
 placed in St. Mary's Church, and which still exists, though in 
 a somewhat dilapidated condition. There was also a large 
 brass on the pavement of the north aisle at its eastern end, 
 beneath which he was presumably buried, but, though the 
 matrix of the brass is clearly discernible, the brass itself 
 has disappeared, with the exception of a small central 
 ornament. A full description of this brass will be found in 
 the Appendix (No. 3.) A daughter, Alice, who survived 
 her father Lionel, became the wife of Sir William Skipworth, 
 Knight : and another daughter was married to John Goodrich 
 of Bolingbroke. 
 
 To go back to the victim of Edward IV. — Sir Thomas 
 Dymoke, — we are told by Banks that through his marriage 
 with Margaret the second daughter and subsequently one 
 of the co-heirs of Lionel Lord Welles, by Joane his wife, 
 daughter and heir of Sir Robert Waterton, " his posterity 
 have a co-inheritance of right to the inheritance of the barony 
 of Welles, now in abeyance : with this peculiar distinction, 
 that the families of Dymoke and of Willoughby Lord 
 Middleton are the only two representatives in the male line 
 from the four daughters of Lionel Lord Welles." 
 
 Upon the death of Sir Thomas, his son Robert was only 
 ten years old, and in consequence of his father's tragic end 
 and the attainder that followed as a necessary consequence of 
 
THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 57 
 
 his so-called treason, the young Champion was in a pitiful 
 plight, in respect to his future position and fortune. But 
 Edward IV- whose unjust treatment of his father was rather 
 the result of sudden anger than of any deep conviction that 
 Sir Thomas Dymoke had committed a capital crime, was so 
 liberal and indulgent to the orphan, as to justify the suspicion 
 that he wished in this way to express his sorrow for the rash 
 act into which he had been betrayed. Accordingly when the 
 young Robert came of age, he was admitted by the King "to 
 have livery of all his inheritance, as well those lands &c. as 
 were descended to him from his father, as of those other 
 lands &c. which had devolved upon him through his mother, 
 the co-heiress of Welles and Westerton, without any account 
 to be taken either as to their value, or of such fine as 
 the King might be entitled to claim as due to him on 
 such occasions." (Prim. Pat. 21 Ed. IV. n. 7 quoted by 
 Banks.) 
 
 From this time forward, the career of Sir Robert Dymoke, 
 who was shortly afterwards appointed a Knight Banneret, was 
 uniformly successful. He lived in five reigns, viz., in those of 
 Edward IV., Edward V., Richard III., Henry VII., and 
 Henry VIII., and acted as Champion to the three last named 
 sovereigns. Henry VIII. , especially, held him in great honour, 
 and at Tournay in Flanders, he appears as the King's 
 Treasurer. (See Appendix No. 5.) Leland, the antiquary, 
 makes mention of him and his residence as follows : 
 "Dymmok dwelleth at Sckrettisby, two miles from Horncastle. 
 
58 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 The seat, a plain building, was in part destroyed by fire in 
 the last century. It was worthy the attention of the curious. 
 The Hall contained the arms of the different Champions of 
 England, and the shields of those sovereigns at whose 
 coronation they had officially attended. They were there 
 also complete suits of armour for man and horse." 
 
 This Champion died in 1545 and was buried, according 
 to Banks, at Haltham.* In addition to his son Edward who 
 succeeded him, he had two daughters, the younger of whom, 
 Margaret, was married, on the death of her first husband, Sir 
 Richard Vernon, to Richard Manners, a younger son of George 
 Manners, Lord Ross, by Ann, sister of Edward IV., and aunt 
 to Elizabeth, Queen Consort of Edward IV. She had no 
 issue by her last marriage, but it is singular that the family 
 of Manners, to which the Dukedom of Rutland is attached, 
 is descended from an elder co-heir of her first husband, Sir 
 Richard Vernon, usually called the Petty King of the Peak, 
 in consequence of his having no less than thirty manors in 
 that part of Derbyshire. 
 
 There is a fine table monument in Scrivelsby Church to 
 this Sir Robert Dymoke, which according to Banks and others 
 
 * The following extract is taken from the will of "Robert Dimock Knt. of 
 Scrivelsby," and is dated 1543 : — "I desire my son Edward Dimoke to appoint 2 
 discrete and honest priests and one poore man for 5 years to say masse daylie in 
 the Parish Church of Scrivelsby, and the poore man to help, and pray for the souls 
 of me Robert Dimoke and Anne my wife, and of Thomas Dimoke and Margaret my 
 father and mother " (at Somei'set House). 
 
THE WARS OF THE ROSES. 59 
 
 was once at Haltham, containing the following inscription on 
 a well-cut brass : — 
 
 "Here liethe the Body of Sir Robert Demoke of 
 
 Screvelsby knightXbaronet who departed owt of this 
 
 present lyfe the XV day of April in ye yere of our 
 
 lord god MDXLV- upon whose sowle almighte god 
 
 have m'ci Amen." 
 
 It is startling to see the title of Baronet given to a man 
 
 who died in 1545, whereas it is well-known that Baronets 
 
 were first appointed by James I., shortly after his accession 
 
 in 1603. The word, of course, should be Banneret, and we 
 
 know that Sir Robert Dymoke was appointed a knight 
 
 Banneret, soon after attaining his majority. It was this 
 
 Sir Robert whose rebus appears on the Lion gateway, at the 
 
 entrance of Scrivelsby Park. 
 
 With regard to this table monument, it has always been 
 supposed that, as Sir Robert was buried at Haltham, his 
 monument was originally placed in Haltham Church : but 
 there is no trustworthy information to be obtained on the 
 subject. The burial took place before the days of registers, 
 and although the Haltham Registers go back to 1561, no 
 help is to be obtained from that quarter. Assuming that the 
 burial took place at Haltham, which is by no means unlikely, 
 there are two possible explanations to account for the exist- 
 ence of the monument in Scrivelsby Church. Scrivelsby 
 being the caput baroniae would be the natural place for such 
 a memorial, and as it is probable, from the curious blunder 
 
6o SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 on the inscription, that the tomb in question was erected 
 several years after Sir Robert's death, it is not at all unlikely 
 that Scrivelsby Church was considered the fitting place for 
 its reception, although the interment had taken place at 
 Haltham. 
 
 Another plausible conjecture is that not only did the 
 burial take place at Haltham, but that the monument also 
 was placed there. But as Scrivelsby is the centre of a 
 cluster of villages, all of them at one time belonging to the 
 Champions, and as it was usual for the second son of the 
 family to take Holy Orders and to hold the family livings — 
 sometimes three or four at a time — it is not uncharitable to 
 suppose thot a clerical member of the family, finding himself 
 at the same time Rector of Haltham and Scrivelsby, quietly 
 removed from the former village a handsome monument 
 which he thought more suitable for the central church of the 
 parish in which the family dwelt. After all, it is quite as 
 likely that a mistake has been made with regard to Haltham, 
 by some old writer, and that the mistake has been so often 
 copied by later generations as to have acquired an air of 
 truthfulness. And if Sir Robert died and was buried at 
 Scrivelsby there would have been nothing to cause a flutter 
 in the breast of the curious antiquarian.* Amidst so much 
 uncertainty it is well to have one. piece of solid ground to 
 stand upon, and the present Rector has secured this stable 
 
 '•' See Appendix (No. 4) for additional evidence lately discovered. 
 
THE WARS OF THE ROSES 
 
 6l 
 
 footing. He found the monument at Scrivelsby, and, without 
 being too curious as to how it got there, he means to keep 
 it, until otherwise directed by competent authority. Here it 
 is : here it shall remain. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Lincolnshire Insurrection and Pilgrimage of Grace — Rising of the 
 Peasants — Perplexity 'of the Gentry — Bad Faith of the King — 
 Family of Sir Edward Dymoke (i). 
 
 "The ancient heroes were illustrious 
 For being benign, and never blust'rous 
 Against a vanquish'd foe : their swords 
 Were sharp and trenchant — not their words." 
 
 Butler. 
 
 IN the death of Sir Robert, at the age of 73, 
 his son Edward succeeded, and performed the 
 office of Champion at the coronation of three 
 successive sovereigns, Edward VI., Mary, and 
 Elizabeth : but he had been a conspicuous figure even in his 
 father's lifetime, and had been in some danger of sharing the 
 fate of his grandfather, along with many others, who for 
 one cause or another, had incurred the resentment of 
 Henry VIII. 
 
 The times were " out of joint " when Edward Dymoke, 
 the eldest son of the Champion, was Sheriff of the County. 
 The office in those days was no sinecure. The Sheriff was 
 responsible for the preservation of order, and was entrusted 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE INSURRECTION. 63 
 
 with adequate powers for securing it. Everyone, moreover, 
 with a grievance to be redressed, or a favour to ask, would 
 go to the sheriff, as the natural intermediary between the 
 government and the people. Even in quiet times, the sheriff 
 had plenty of business on his hands, but when social troubles 
 were rife, and the political horizon was overcast, his respon- 
 sibilities were greatly increased. And this was the position in 
 which Edward Dymoke found himself, when he entered upon 
 the duties of his office in the year 1536. 
 
 Henry VIII. had been on the throne for more than a 
 quarter of a century, and there was no longer any doubt as 
 to the nature of his rule. The days of expectation were past ; 
 the conviction was brought home to the minds of his subjects, 
 by many clear tokens, that the hopes, in which they had 
 indulged, on his first accession, were not destined to be 
 fulfilled. The rich and powerful were the first to suffer from 
 the masterful government of the King. The time was come 
 for the poor to undergo a similar experience ; and it is not 
 surprising that they were less disposed to be submissive than 
 the great nobles, who had felt the glamour of the King's 
 personal ascendancy. The immediate cause of complaint, 
 indeed, was one that affected all classes indiscriminately, but 
 to the poor man it seemed to involve the loss of everything 
 he held most dear. 
 
 Henry, with the assistance of his zealous Vicar-General, 
 had already made a beginning of carrying out his arbitrary 
 project of suppressing the greater monasteries, and of 
 
64 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 confiscating the revenues with which they had been richly 
 endowed. And it was evident that the lesser monasteries 
 would soon share the same fate. The peasantry were unable 
 to draw fine distinctions between an impartial investigation 
 into the existence of supposed abuses, and the infliction of 
 punishment for evil practices, of which they had no suspicion. 
 They only saw the results ; and these seemed to be always 
 the same, under circumstances however different. They 
 realized the certain consequences to themselves, and were 
 prepared to use every possible means for protecting their 
 own interests. They viewed with indignation the impending 
 ruin of the religious houses, which they had always held in 
 the highest reverence : they heard of monks, elsewhere, 
 expelled from their homes, and exposed to the horrors of 
 starvation : and they looked forward with well-founded 
 apprehension to the prospect of losing the charitable doles, 
 which had always been liberally supplied by the Monasteries, 
 and to which the poor people had learned to think they had 
 an inalienable right. 
 
 The rustics of Lincolnshire were especially alive to the 
 danger, for there were many of these religious houses in the 
 ■county, not a few of them being within a few miles of the 
 Sheriff's residence. Barlings, Kirkstead, Tupholme, and 
 Bardney, all close at hand, were threatened : and while the 
 higher dignitaries of these establishments were held in 
 universal veneration, moving on terms of intimacy with the 
 aristocracy of the district, the monks and poorer brethren were 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE INSURRECTION. 65 
 
 always sure of a ready- welcome, whenever they visited the 
 houses of the farmers and of the labourers who tilled the soil. 
 Under these circumstances it needed but little to fan into a 
 blaze the smouldering discontent which was general throughout 
 the Kingdom, but was more openly expressed in the Counties 
 of Lincoln and York. The men of Lincolnshire were the 
 first to rise, and under the guidance of the Abbot of 
 Barlings, who had assumed the name of Captain Cobbler, they 
 unfurled the flag of rebellion, and boldly demanded a redress 
 of their grievances. 
 
 This Lincolnshire Insurrection paved the way for the 
 more formidable movement better known as the Pilgrimage 
 of Grace, but, notwithstanding the King's contemptuous 
 expressions, it was a sufficiently unwelcome revelation to him 
 of the temper of the people with whom he had to deal, and 
 of the necessity of employing greater caution in carrying out 
 his plans.* It is no part of our task to describe the details 
 of this insurrection. It will be sufficient to say that the 
 peasants, who were terribly in earnest, compelled by sheer 
 force the leading gentry to take part in the movement ; and if 
 the condition of aff"airs had been less serious, we, who have 
 been spared a similar experience, might have derived much . 
 amusement at witnessing the shifts and evasions of the county 
 magnates, who, while feeling a deep sympathy with the 
 
 " In a little work entitled " Dorothy Dymoke," lately published by a Lincolnshire 
 man, the Rev. Edward Gilliatj an interesting and vivid account is given of the 
 Lincolnshire Insurrection. 
 J 
 
66 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 sufferings of the poor, were only too conscious of their own 
 inability to render them any effectual aid. They knew, better 
 than the peasants who looked to them for guidance, that the 
 resources of the King were far greater than any they could 
 hope to bring against him. They were painfully aware that 
 the bond of union between themselves was not so strong as 
 that which existed between the rustics who were more 
 immediately concerned in the rising : and knowing, moreover, 
 the vindictive character of the monarch against whom the 
 movement was directed, the gentry of Lincolnshire were not 
 a little alarmed at the prospect of falling into his hands. 
 They were between two fires. In their front was an angry 
 mob, proving by many a deed of violence, and notably by 
 the murder of the Chancellor of Lincoln on Roughton Moor, 
 that they would brook no evasion on the part of those whom 
 they regarded as their natural leaders : and behind them was 
 the King threatening the gallows and the block against all 
 who ventured to resist him : and they had abundant reason 
 for believing that he would be as good as his word, 
 when once he • recovered his freedom of action and could 
 wreak vengeance on his opponents. 
 
 The position of the Champion, Sir Robert Dymoke, was 
 peculiarly trying. He was well stricken in years, and in 
 feeble health : his sympathy was powerfully enlisted on the 
 side of his poor neighbours : and yet he was, or had been, 
 on terms of unusual intimacy with the King, who had the 
 gracious art of attracting to himself those who enjoyed the 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE INSURRECTION. 67 
 
 dangerous privilege of his friendship. No wonder that Sir 
 Robert pleaded his age and infirmities, and left to his son 
 Edward the difficult task of reconciling the conflicting claims 
 of the King and his subjects. And it speaks well for the 
 discretion of the Sheriff, that in those dangerous times he 
 kept his head on his shoulders, and lived to act as Champion 
 to Henry's three children. 
 
 It was on the occasion of this Lincolnshire Insurrection, 
 that Henry VIII. used the scurrilous words respecting the 
 County of Lincoln, of which so much has been made by late 
 writers. In spite, however, of his unkingly gibes, there is 
 no doubt that Henry was seriously alarmed at the formidable 
 dimensions which the movement had assumed ; and, with the 
 object of arresting its further progress, he condescended to 
 adopt the same tactics as those by which the insurrection of 
 Wat Tyler had been suppressed in the time of Richard II. 
 Lavish promises were made : the royal word was pledged : 
 a free pardon was assured to the leaders of the insurrection ; 
 but no sooner did they lay down their arms, than the 
 promises were forgotten, and many of the poor dupes were 
 unjustly executed. The same duplicity was exhibited later on, 
 when Aske and others suff"ered for the part they had taken 
 in the Pilgrimage of Grace. 
 
 The character of Henry VIII. must always be an 
 interesting study, but it is a forlorn hope to expect general 
 assent to be given to the views of those, who, while 
 extenuating the King's faults, would fain have us regard him 
 
68 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 not only as a great monarch, but a model statesman, and a 
 wise and enlightened ruler. It is unfortunate that this 
 estimate is not supported by sufficient evidence to justify it, 
 and can only be accepted by those who are content to exclude 
 everything that tells against a foregone conclusion. 
 
 It may be readily granted that Henry VIII. was 
 intellectually strong : he was an able and adroit diplomatist : 
 few rulers surpassed him in sagacity, and none in the 
 unscrupulous adaptation of means to ends : but there was a 
 fatal element in his character, which spread like a blight, 
 tainting the good qualities of which he had received from 
 nature a bountiful supply. He was intensely selfish, and 
 claiming to be above the law, he carried even into private 
 life the spirit of the French King's apothegm,* and so he 
 came, gradually, but surely, to regard himself as the pivot 
 round which all things in heaven and earth must turn. Such 
 a man is tolerably sure to be taken by the multitude at his 
 own valuation, and there is — it must be owned — a certain 
 kind of fascination in watching the efforts of a strong man, 
 striving to bend everything to his own iron will. But right 
 and wrong are not interchangeable terms : and we can only 
 apply to the King the same standard as that by which 
 ordinary mortals are measured. No man who is wholly selfish 
 
 can be really great : and, measured by this rule, Henry VIII. 
 
 ** In these days the most absolute ruler would scarcely venture to say Tetat 
 c'est moi, but in the 17th century, and from the lips of Louis XIV., the words are 
 little more than the exaggerated statement of a fact. 
 
^*^-^^ 
 
 ARMED FIGURES IN SCRIVELSBY COURT. 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE INSURRECTION. 69 
 
 is not entitled to the admiration of mankind. On the 
 contrary we regard him as a conspicuous instance of perverted 
 gifts : from the beginning to the end of his reign, there 
 is in his character a noticeable decline in conscientiousness 
 and self-restraint : and a King who, with his many advantages 
 — natural and acquired — might have been a " dear son of 
 memory" and a "great heir of fame" must be regarded as 
 a man ignobly bent on using place and power for himself 
 alone, and ruthlessly sweeping out of his path every obstacle 
 that interfered with his interests or his pleasure. Confining 
 our attention to the matter before us — the methods employed 
 by this powerful King in his dealings with the Lincolnshire 
 peasants — we can only pronounce him a bluster er, who began 
 by reviling, and ended by betraying the unfortunate men who 
 trusted to the royal word, and found their trust misplaced. 
 
 It was in the reign of Mary, that Sir Edward Dymoke, 
 who was knighted soon after the death of his father, appears 
 to have reached the zenith of his fame, and it is to him that 
 was addressed the curious letter which will be found in the 
 Appendix (No. 6.) 
 
 Some doubt exists as to the marriages contracted by Sir 
 Edward Dymoke (i.) There is a consensus of opinion that 
 he married Ann the daughter of Sir George Talbois,* but as 
 it is also said that he married a daughter of Sir John 
 
 * The Manor of Kyme passed to the Dymokes, by the marriage of Sir 
 Edward Dymoke with Anne, the fifth daughter of Sir George Talboys, and 
 Elizabeth his wife. The Dymokes continued to reside at Kyme until the close of 
 the i8th century. (Bp. of Nottingham's Skaford p. 254). 
 
70 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Monson,* it is possible that he was twice married, and as 
 there was no issue by the second, the name of Ann Monson 
 was allowed to drop out of the genealogical tables. It is not 
 a matter of any great importance, except as a proof of the 
 intimacy that undeniably existed between the old house of 
 Dymoke and the ancestors of the present Viscount Oxenbridge. 
 At any rate, by his wife Ann the daughter of Sir George 
 Talbois, Sir Edward had ten children, t three sons and seven 
 daughters, a much larger number than generally fell to the 
 Dymoke family. Of these ten children, Robert succeeded to 
 the Championship, but was never called upon to exercise the 
 duties of his office ; Charles seems to have been knighted, and 
 died in 1611.J Edward also was knighted, and died in 1614 
 
 * Collins' s Peerage, under the article, entitled "Monson." In all probability 
 Collins has made the mistake of assigning to the first Sir Edward a matrimonial 
 alliance which was contracted by the second Sir Edward Dymoke. 
 
 f There is a tradition that a certain Thomas Dymoke, presumably connected 
 with a collateral branch of Sir Edward's family, migrated to America, in the early 
 part of the 17th century, and after rising to eminence in the Colony of 
 Massachusetts, died at Barnstaple, in 1658. Even at this distance of time, his 
 memory is held in veneration by the surviving representatives of this offshoot from 
 the Dymoke family. 
 
 % The Bishop of Nottingham, in his Sleaford, p. 409, says that in Howell Church 
 there is a monument bearing this inscription . " Sir Ch : Diniok, of Howell, second 
 son to Sir Ed : Dimok, of Screelsby, Knig., Champion to the crowne of England, and 
 his wife Margaret, widow to Mr. Anthony Butler, of Coates." On a previous page 
 (406) the Bishop says that "the Manor of Howell passed to the Dymokes of 
 Scrivelsby in the year 1448 by the marriage of Sir Thomas Dymoke with Elizabeth 
 Hebden. By the attainder and decapitation of Sir Thomas Dymoke in 1470, the 
 Manor was forfeited. Subsequently, however, it was restored to that ancient family, 
 who possessed it for a considerable period ; but, from the evidence of the parish 
 terrier, it had passed into other hands before 1707. 
 
THE LINCOLNSHIRE INSURRECTION. J I 
 
 at the age of 78 ; Elizabeth was married to Henry Ascough, 
 Margaret to Lord Eure, Frances to Thomas Windebanke, and 
 the remaining four Dorothy, Susan, Sarah, and Bridget are 
 left out of the ordinary records, but whether they were married 
 or single, we are unable to say. Sir Edward Dymoke died in 
 1656, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Robert, who is 
 well entitled to hold a more prominent place in the family 
 history than that which has hitherto been assigned to him. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Martyr Champion — The Reformation — Edward VI. — Mary and 
 Elizabeth — Appointment of Bishops. — Dr. Cooper of Lincoln— 
 The Duke of Norfolk — Episcopal Visitation at Scrivelsby — 
 Imprisonment and death of the Champion — Reflections. 
 
 They, constrained to wield the sword 
 Of disputation, shrank not, though assailed 
 With hostile din, and combating in sight 
 Of angry umpires, partial and unjust : 
 Nor for their bodies would accept release. 
 Oh ! high example, constancy divine ! 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 fT the inquisition taken on Sir Edward's death 
 by the Court analagous in some respects to 
 our modern Court of Probate, his eldest son 
 and successor is described as Robert Dymoke 
 Esquire, but there is some reason for thinking that he, as well 
 as his two younger brothers, subsequently received the honour 
 of knighthood. In any case, his marriage with Bridget, 
 daughter of Edward Clinton, Earl of Lincoln, brought him 
 into connection and intimacy with the English nobility ; and 
 though he never exercised the office of Champion at a 
 
THE MARTYR CHAMPION. 73 
 
 coronation, he is no doubt correctly described as " a person of 
 great eminence " who, dying, while Elizabeth was still Queen, 
 under circumstances to be presently described, was buried at 
 Scrivelsby in 1580. 
 
 Amidst the many changes in religious matters, for which 
 the 1 6th century enjoyed an unenviable notoriety, Robert 
 Dymoke maintained his own ground consistently to the end. 
 While the cause of religion itself suffered from the indifference 
 and inconsistency of so many of its professors, it is refreshing 
 to come across a man, who, without obtruding his religious 
 belief, condescended to no unworthy subterfuge, in attempting 
 to conceal it. In the old faith he was born : in the 
 practice of its precepts and ritual he had lived : and in 
 maintaining them firmly to the end, he was prepared to die. 
 But to rightly appreciate the real heroism of his death, it will 
 be necessary to give a brief sketch of the events that 
 preceded it. 
 
 The growing corruption of the Romish Church had 
 necessitated the movement rightly termed The Reformation. 
 This movement, the chief theatre of which was in Germany, was 
 warmly supported by many persons in England, secretly at first, 
 but more openly and defiantly afterwards. Henry VIII. 
 supported it, from interested motives, although his support was 
 confined to the political side of the question. It suited his 
 purpose to be supreme Head of the Church, and as this could 
 only be brought about by breaking with the Church of Rome, 
 he lent his powerful aid to the movement, which aimed at 
 
 K 
 
74 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the destruction not only of the political status but of the 
 doctrine of the papacy. It is no part of our present business, 
 to do more than allude to the painful and dangerous position 
 of those who were sincerely attached to the religion of their 
 forefathers. They were expected to follow the King in his 
 varying moods, now compelled to accept the old doctrines 
 under stress of punishment sometimes affecting their life and 
 sometimes their personal liberty and fortune, and now called 
 upon to throw off obedience to the holy Father, and to transfer 
 to the masterful King the absolute supremacy, in matters 
 ecclesiastical, which had previously been exercised by the Pope 
 of Rome. To be burnt as a heretic, or to be beheaded as a 
 traitor, was the alternative to be faced by many of the noblest 
 of the King's subjects. 
 
 During the short reign of Edward VI., when the 
 Reformation, in spite of many difficulties from within and 
 without, made steady progress, and becaine so entwined with 
 the real life of the nation, that the blind and bigoted 
 persecution of the next reign only tended to give it additional 
 strength, the adherents of the old religion were very far from 
 the enjoyment of that liberty of conscience, which later 
 generations have learnt to prize so highly. It was not till the 
 reign of Elizabeth, that a short respite occurred in rehgious 
 persecutions; and men began to hope that the "bloody" 
 period would never again be renewed. But a Tudor Queen, 
 with many of the characteristics of her father, had merely 
 taken the place of another Tudor Queen, whose fault it had 
 
THE MARTYR CHAMPION. 75 
 
 been that she adhered too extravagantly to the religion of her 
 mother. But Elizabeth was wise, and knew how to bend her 
 own inclinations to the political necessities of the period. 
 
 The re-action, after Mary's death, in 1558, was so strong, 
 that with all the lion courage of her race, Elizabeth dared 
 not attempt to stem the torrent that was gradually sweeping 
 away every obstacle that withstood the dominant force of the 
 Reformation, albeit it was notorious that in her heart she 
 favoured the doctrines of the ancient faith. But it is very 
 doubtful whether, during any period of her long reign, she was 
 sincerely actuated by religious motives, in the administration 
 of public affairs ; and we know that, without having her sister's 
 excuse, for Mary was at least sincere, she exhibited, again and 
 again, the same tendency to persecute all who ventured to 
 differ from herself. There was this difference between the 
 two daughters of Henry VIII. Mary hated the Protestants 
 and burnt them without compunction : Elizabeth was ready 
 to sacrifice both Papists and Protestants, when they clashed 
 with her interests. It was, indeed, against a section of the 
 Protestants, that she was especially vindictive. The Puritans 
 in general, and the Anabaptists in particular, could expect no 
 mercy, and assuredly they received none, at the hands of the 
 Queen. And with the ever-growing dread of a Romish 
 re-action, in favour of her rival, the detested Queen of Scots, 
 she from time to time allowed the enemies of the old faith 
 full license to indulge in the congenial task of persecution. 
 State-policy, however, not religion, was the guiding feature in 
 
76 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the Queen's exercise of royal power. It is not surprising, 
 therefore, that during her reign of forty-five years, the 
 appointment of Bishops, to fill the constantly-recurring vacancies 
 in the several sees, was conducted on no uniform principle. 
 In one diocese would be found a Bishop tolerant, at least, if 
 not secretly an approver, of the tenets of Catholicism, while 
 in another and possibly a contiguous diocese, might be seated 
 a prelate, determined to use his power and influence, in 
 furthering the doctrines of the Reformation. 
 
 It was our Champion's misfortune to be living in a 
 diocese presided over by a Bishop of strong Puritanical 
 proclivities, stern and unpitying, who could not away with 
 ought that savoured of Papistry. It was a time of much 
 searching of heart, and the Queen was suffering from one of 
 her many fits of alarm, in consequence of the attempt of the 
 duke of Norfolk to marry the captive Queen of Scotland. A 
 raid was accordingly to be made on all suspected of Romish 
 practices. Norfolk was lying under sentence of death, and 
 Elizabeth after succeeding in bringing the victim to her feet, 
 was characteristically anxious to save his life at the last 
 moment. It was the Bishop of Lincoln of the time, Dr. 
 Cooper, who was appointed to stiffen the resolution of the 
 Queen, and to gird her to the necessity of consenting to the 
 execution of the Duke of Norfolk : and this he did, by 
 preaching, in her presence, a strong sermon, in which he 
 urged that it was needful for the welfare of the State that 
 the culprit should be cut off, and that "there was often 
 
THE MARTYR CHAMPION. ^^ 
 
 mercy in punishing and cruelty in sparing" offenders of such 
 a nature as the powerful leader of the Romish faction in 
 England. 
 
 This was the Bishop before whom Sir Robert Dymoke 
 was cited to appear. He had been more than suspected of 
 hankering after Rome : rumours were rife that the mass was 
 administered, and a Romish Priest maintained at Scrivelsby. 
 Little wonder, at such a time, that the Champion should be 
 summoned to Lincoln, to defend himself in the Bishop's 
 Court ; but a valid plea of bodily weakness prevented him 
 from obeying the summons. The Bishop, however, having 
 scented prey, was reluctant to leave it unsecured, and 
 accordingly the mountain must go to Mahomet, as the more 
 natural alternative was, under the circumstances, apparently 
 impossible. So Bishop Cooper came to Scrivelsby, in great 
 state, on his errand of "mercy," and put the sick Champion 
 through the customary interrogatories, by which heresy was 
 supposed at the time to be most easily detected. 
 
 Here was an opportunity for word-fencing and pliancy, to 
 which a weaker or less earnest man might have stooped, but 
 which offered no temptation to the hereditary Champion. 
 With one foot in the grave, he scorned to palt er with his 
 religious belief, and, knowing the consequences of his 
 obstinacy, he set himself resolutely to withstand first the 
 cajoling, and then the threatening of the angry Bishop. The 
 issue was not long in suspense. In spite of his feeble health, 
 the Champion was forcibly conveyed to Lincoln; and, as all 
 
yS SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 attempts to shake his faith were doomed to failure, he was 
 cast into prison, where, as must have been expected, a speedy 
 death put an end to his suflferings, and entitled him to be 
 venerated as a martyr by his co-religionists of the Church of 
 Rome. 
 
 However strong may be our views with regard to the 
 Reformation, and however greatly we deplore the corruptions 
 that had been allowed to spread over the old Church, 
 dimming if not extinguishing the old light which had lightened 
 our fathers, we cannot withhold our sympathy from a man in 
 the position of Sir Robert Dymoke, who consistently adhered 
 to the religion in which he had been born, and refused to 
 purchase prolongation of life, by surrendering or paltering with 
 it for an instant. No member of the Dymoke family has 
 shed greater lustre on his house than the prisoner in Lincoln 
 Castle, whose lifeless body was brought to Scrivelsby for 
 interment, in the village Church, where he and his forefathers 
 before him had worshipped through so many generations. 
 
 The honour of the family had reached its zenith, when 
 the championship was held by the victim of the Puritan 
 Bishop of Lincoln. At this time, and up to the troublous 
 period of the civil war, the Dymoke family was wealthy and 
 influential. Then followed a long period of gradual decline, 
 which continued till the time of the late Sir Henry Dymoke, 
 when something of the old state was once more witnessed at 
 Scrivelsby. Those halcyon days, unfortunately, soon came to 
 an end, and were replaced by the pecuniary troubles of 
 
THE MARTYR CHAMPION. 
 
 79 
 
 previous years ; and at the present time the position of the 
 family is seriously affected by the depression in the 
 value of land, from which English landowners have cruelly 
 suffered, and nowhere perhaps with greater severity than in 
 Lincolnshire. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Stuart Dymokes — The Plague — Mutilated Ceremonial at the 
 Coronation of James I. — Sir Edward Dymoke (2) — Quarrel for 
 Precedence — Civil War— Disastrous Effects on the Fortunes of 
 the Dymoke Family — The Tottering Champion — Cock and Bull 
 Story — Break in the Direct Succession. 
 
 With ruin upon ruin, rout on rout, 
 Confusion worse confounded. 
 
 Milton. 
 
 There is some soul of goodness in things evil. 
 Would men observingly distil it out. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 [HE stormy period of the civil war between 
 King and Parliament was disastrous to many 
 a loyal family, and notably to the Dymokes 
 of Scrivelsby. It was a time to stir the 
 blood and quicken the pulse of the loyal Englishman, while 
 the circumstances attending a Sovereign at war with his own 
 subjects were such as to enlist the sympathy of his followers 
 to an extraordinary degree, and, at the same time, to make 
 them a little blind to the Sovereign's faults. In that terrible 
 time, when father and son and other members of the same 
 
THE STUART DYMOKES. 8 1 
 
 family were often found in opposite camps, many a noble 
 fortune was ungrudgingly spent in the royal cause : and, as we, 
 with our present knowledge, review the past, it is with shame 
 and indignation that we note' the levity with which, in the 
 hour of success, the losses of the gentry were regarded by the 
 King "whose word no man relied on" and of the lavish and 
 disgraceful expenditure that followed the great act of 
 restoration in 1660. We cannot doubt that the more serious 
 and sober-minded men of the time were constrained to solace 
 themselves with the reflection, that it was for the cause, and 
 not for the man, that they had shed their blood, and exhausted 
 their treasure. The Dymokes must be included in the long • 
 roll of those whose loyalty had cost them dear ; and it is from 
 this period that we begin to hear of pecuniary embarrassments, 
 the origin of which can be distinctly traced to the heavy 
 losses, incurred by various members of the family in supporting 
 the royal cause. 
 
 It is easy for us, of the present day, to understand many 
 things, which must have seemed incomprehensible to those 
 who witnessed the occurrencies of the early part of the 
 17th century. We can see now that the seeds of that 
 disastrous harvest, which was garnered in the days of 
 Charles I. and which reached its maturity in the tragedy of 
 1649, were sown in the days of his predecessor, " the most 
 learned fool in Christendom," as he was not inaptly described 
 by his contemporaries, and, as he is more exactly portrayed 
 by Sir Walter Scott in his Fortunes of Nigel^ although, 
 
82 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 perhaps, the Wizard of the North has, in this instance, laid 
 on his colours a little too thick. 
 
 James came from Scotland, on the death of the great 
 Elizabeth, to take possession of the English throne, and 
 brought with him those exalted notions of the royal 
 prerogative, which, in after time, proved so fatal to his 
 house and dynasty. But the royal programme was fronted 
 with two insuperable difficulties. The time was unpropitious, 
 and the King was weak. He was self-willed, indeed, and 
 obstinate, and for a while, the heritage of subserviency left by 
 the strong rule of the Tudor Sovereigns enabled the Scottish 
 King to have his way, and to enjoy for a season the fool's 
 paradise of his own creation. But the first lesson to King James 
 came from an unexpected quarter. He was fond of show, 
 jealous of his supposed rights, and would bate no inch of state 
 ceremonial, albeit his own ungainly person and lack of grace 
 contributed anything but dignity to such occasions. It was, 
 accordingly, with much displeasure, that he heard of the 
 necessity for dispensing with all needless pomp and display at 
 his coronation. The necessity, however, for this curtailment 
 was urgent. The terrible plague was breaking out afresh ; 
 numerous deaths had already occurred, and the alarm was 
 universal. For fear of infection, an order was issued, 
 forbidding the approach of the people within the precincts of 
 the royal Court : and when James was crowned on the 
 25th of July, 1603, the ceremony was much more meagre 
 than suited the taste of a King, who loved "state to the 
 
THE STUART DYMOKES. 83 
 
 full." The coronation took place on the festival of St. 
 James,* the patron Saint of the King, but, on the occasion, 
 the ordinary ritual of the coronation service in Westminster 
 Abbey was, considerably abridged, inasmuch as the form 
 employed " had been drawn in haste, and wanted many 
 things which might have been considered at a time of 
 leisure." The Champion, who took part in this mutilated 
 ceremonial was Sir Edward Dymoke (2), the eldest son of 
 the martyr, and of whom we know but little, save that 
 he was thrice married. His first wife was Catherine 
 Harrington, the mother of a son, Charles, who died young : 
 the second, Ann, the daughter of Sir John Monson, the 
 mother of Edward Dymoke, who was baptized at Scrivelsby in 
 1 600, and probably died shortly afterwards, although there is 
 no entry to that effect in the parish register : the third wife 
 was Mary Poulteney of Misterton, who became the mother of 
 the next Champion, Charles, who acted officially at the 
 coronation of Charles I. It was this Champion, who had the 
 misfortune to excite the wrath of Sir George Heneage, on a 
 question of precedence, the angry knight complaining that his 
 enemy, the Earl of Lincoln, had played him a scurvy trick, by 
 placing him at some Court ceremonial, between Sir Edward 
 Dymoke and Sir John Monson — an indignity which he could 
 not brook, inasmuch as they were but " pune " knights, in 
 
 * It was customary for the coronation to be held either on a Sunday or on 
 some Saint's-day, with a natural preference for the festival of any particular Saint, that 
 for any reason was held in special reverence by the Sovereign. 
 
84 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 comparison with himself— and, accordingly, he claimed redress 
 for this "presumptuous and malicious grievance." However 
 ludicrous such a complaint may seem to us now, it was in 
 those days deemed of sufficient importance to be solemnly 
 investigated by the members of the "College of Arms," who 
 recommended Sir George to make his appeal to the Earl of 
 Shrewsbury, the Earl Marshal of England. An enquiry 
 accordingly was made, and as it appeared that Heneage was 
 knighted in 1583, whereas Dymoke and Monson received that 
 honour a year or two later, the Earl Marshal decided that 
 although the two latter were " of more ancient descent, better 
 allied and more wealthy," the Earl of Lincoln was 
 "perhaps not quite correct" in placing them on a level with 
 Sir George Heneage, who had the advantage of one year's 
 seniority as knight over Sir Edward Dymoke, and no less 
 than three years over Sir John Monson ! And so this little 
 tempest was allowed to subside, like a French duel, without 
 injury to any of the persons concerned. 
 
 It is not a little remarkable that the coronation of 
 Charles I., like that of his father, was delayed, for a 
 similar cause, till the spring of the year following his 
 accession to the throne. James died on the 27th March, 
 1625 : Charles was crowned on the 2nd of February, 1626. 
 In the interval, the mortality had reached an alarming height. 
 The plague had again broken out, and, according to the 
 records of the time, had been fatal in more than thirty-five 
 thousand instances. It is not to be wondered at, that the 
 
THE STUART DYMOKES. Sk, 
 
 constant re-appearance of this fatal epidemic should have 
 exercised a disquieting influence on the minds of the people, 
 and we know that the plague continued to break out with 
 greater frequency, and always with increasing violence, until the 
 horrors of 1665 were followed by the purification wrought by 
 the great fire of the following year. 
 
 The coronation of Charles I. took place, in the early part 
 of 1626, and was conducted with unusual attention to ritual 
 observance. The mutilated and ill-conducted coronation of 
 James I. had excited so much comment, that the King issued 
 a commission to Archbishop Abbott and certain Suffragans of 
 the southern province, to search for precedents, and to revise 
 the order of coronation. The most active member of this 
 commission was Laud, then Bishop of St. Davids, who, after 
 holding in succession the Bishoprics of St. David's, Bath and 
 Wells, and London, was appointed to the primacy in 1633. 
 Owing chiefly to the zeal and learning of Dr. Laud, the 
 coronation of Charles L may be regarded as an illustration 
 of the most elaborate ceremonial that can be used on such 
 occasions. It had at first been arranged that the Queen 
 Consort should be crowned at the same time, and every 
 provision was made by the authorities, for the double 
 coronation ; but although Henrietta Maria was duly proclaimed 
 Queen of England, she was inflexible in her refusal to be 
 either crowned or anointed.* 
 
 " See No. 38 of TAe Antiquary (New Series p. 78), where attention is 
 directed to an exhaustive treatise on the coronation of Charles I., by the Rev. 
 Christopher Wordsworth, Canon of Lincoln and Rector of Tyneham. 
 
86 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 The Champion on this "occasion was Charles, the son of 
 Sir Edward Dymoke (2), who was a leading cavalier of the 
 time, and died a bachelor shortly after the breaking out of 
 the civil war. 
 
 The Dymokes, as might have been expected, were loyal 
 partizans of the royal cause, and Charles Dymoke in 
 particular impoverished his estate by largely helping the 
 King with advances of money in his lifetime, and on his 
 death bequeathing a sum of ^^2000 for the relief of his 
 necessities.* 
 
 We come now for the first time to a break in the 
 direct succession to the Championship. Hitherto, we have 
 seen, for the long period of 250 years, son following father 
 in unbroken succession, an almost unprecedented occurence 
 in any family. Henceforward we shall find occasional 
 interruptions, culminating in the noteworthy cleavage that 
 occurred upon the death of Lewis (i) in 1760. Upon the 
 death of Charles Dymoke, who was the first Champion that 
 appeared without the knightly spurs, although, in all 
 probability, the honour of knighthood would have been 
 conferred upon him, had the times been more peaceful, the 
 Scrivelsby inheritance fell to his uncle Nicholas,t who had 
 
 '^ He also left a sum of /300 to be expended on a monument in Scrivelsby 
 Church, but, owing probably to the unsettled times, this monument was never 
 erected. 
 
 f Robert, an elder brother of Nicholas, died without male issue. His daughter 
 Elizabeth, who was married to Robert Heywood, left a son Robert, who claimed to 
 act as Champion at the coronation of Charles II., but his claim was disallowed in 
 
THE STUART DYMOKES. 87 
 
 been knighted at Richmond by James I. in 1604, and was the 
 youngest son of Sir Robert, who died* in 1580. Sir Nicholas 
 never acted as Champion, and on his death was succeeded by 
 his son Edward, who was knighted afterwards, shortly before 
 the coronation of Charles II. 
 
 It was not a bed of roses on which the new Champion 
 was called upon to lie. Succeeding to the estates when the 
 Parliamentary forces were flushed with the first taste of 
 victory, his very title excited the suspicion of the King's 
 enemies, who could be no friends to the King's Champion; 
 and so they summoned him to Westminster, to answer for his 
 "delinquency." Such delinquents had but one prospect before 
 them, and that prospect spelt — Confiscation. A heavy fine 
 was accordingly inflicted, in composition for the offence of 
 being a Royalist, and bearing a " lewd and malicious " title ; 
 and the young Champion was called upon to pay something 
 over _^7000, which, by some arrangement in the matter of 
 Church benefices, was subsequently reduced to a sum variously 
 given between ^^4000 and ^5000, an enormous sum at the 
 time, and one that contributed to the further impoverishment 
 of the Dymoke family. This Champion, doubtless, took part 
 in the subsequent wars of the period and he survived to 
 witness the restoration of the royal family in the person of 
 Charles 11., at whose coronation he ofiiciated as Champion. 
 
 favour of the son of Nicholas, who was confessedly youngei- than Robert Dymoke. 
 From this, the inference may be fairly drawn that the Scrivelsby estate descended in 
 tail male. 
 
88 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Sir Edward died shortly afterwards, and was buried at 
 Scrivelsby, on 8th of January, 1663. His wife was Jane, 
 daughter of Nicholas Cressey, of Fulnetby or Fulletby. 
 Close attention should be paid to the children of this Sir 
 Edward Dymoke, as he is the common ancestor from whom 
 the two branches of the family — the Tetford branch and the 
 Scrivelsby branch — claim to be derived. The genealogical 
 tables, from Banks onwards, mention only two sons, Charles 
 who succeeded him, and John, from whom the Scrivelsby 
 Dymokes were descended. But there was another son, 
 Edward, coming between Charles and John, and from him 
 the Tetford Dymokes spring. This we shall see later on. 
 
 The next Champion, Charles, better known as Sir 
 Charles Dymoke, was Champion to James II., who was 
 crowned on the 23rd of April, 1685 ; and the following 
 unluckv incident occurred at the coronation. The account 
 is taken from Prynnes Diary as given in the Surtees 
 Society s Vol. 54 for 1869 : " 1698, Dec. 21. I was 
 told this day a very observable thing by a very good hand, 
 which is this — When Champion Dimmock let off his horse to 
 kiss K(ing) James II. hand, after that he had challenged 
 anyone that durst question the King's rights to the crown, as 
 the custom is, the Champion in moving towards the King 
 fell down all his length in the hall, when as there was 
 nothing in the way that could visibly cause the same : 
 whereupon the queen sayd ' see you, love, what a weak 
 Champion you have.' To which the K(ing) sayd nothing, but 
 
THE STUART DYMOKES. 89 
 
 laught, and the Champion excused himself, pretending his 
 armour was heavy, and that he himself was weak with sickness, 
 which was false, for he was very well, and had none." 
 
 This last statement is rather an ill-natured commentary 
 on the poor Champion's mishap. He might have been 
 credited with the sickness, however imaginary, which he 
 pleaded in extenuation of his maladroit performance. It is 
 perhaps fortunate that this story had not been unearthed, 
 when Tom Hood was on the look out for material to give 
 point to his sarcasms on the tottering Championship. Here 
 would have been a veritable tottering Champion, and we may 
 imagine the glee with which he would have hailed a story so 
 much to his taste. In justice to our Champion, however, it is 
 only fair to remember that, whether his plea of sickness at the 
 time was real or false, he died very shortly afterwards. Up 
 to now, there has been some obscurity as to the time of his 
 death, the Scrivelsby Register not mentioning it, and Banks 
 vaguely stating that it occurred " about 1688." But in 
 consequence of a successful rummage lately made at Lincoln, 
 all doubt as to the date in question is happily removed, for 
 amongst the ninety-four entries which had disappeared from 
 the Scrivelsby register, and were found amongst the transcripts 
 at Lincoln, is an entry recording the burial of " The 
 Honorable Sr. Charles Dymoke, Nov. 2, 1686." 
 
 The recovery of this lost date is further serviceable in 
 clearing up some obscurity, arising probably from the 
 similarity of Christian names, whether Sir Charles Dymoke 
 
 M 
 
go SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 or his son Charles had officiated as Champion, at the 
 coronation of William and Mary. As this coronation took 
 place in the early part of 1689, the acting Champion 
 would have been the son, who succeeded to the family 
 honours on the death of his father in 1686. The Scrivelsby 
 register records the burial on the 7th July, 1698, of 
 Eleanor, the wife of Sir Charles Dymoke and the daughter 
 of Lord Rockingham. There were four children of this 
 marriage, Charles, Edward, a second Charles,* and Lewis. Of 
 these, the first two died young : each of the survivors, in due 
 course, succeeded to the Championship. The elder of these, 
 Charles Dymoke, Esq., undoubtedly acted as Champion at the 
 coronation of Anne, and also at that of William and Mary. 
 Both Mary and Anne were reckoned Queens de jure, as well 
 as Queens regnant, and, consequently, they were both entitled 
 to the full ceremony of a public coronation, at which a 
 Champion would appear. In the case of Queens Consort 
 there was no fixed rule. These Queens were sometimes 
 
 * The practice of giving the name of a deceased child to the next child born to 
 the same parents was very common in the i8th and early part of the 19th century. 
 It is in this way that many a supposed centenarian has been credited with more 
 years than those to which he was fairly entitled. A search, for example, in some old 
 Register for the baptism of A.B.,_ supposed to have been 100 years old, might 
 produce what would seem good evidence of the correctness of the surmise, whereas 
 a further search might have made it clear that A.B. in question had died 10 or 15 
 years after his birth, and that his place had been supplied by a second A.B., who 
 would be the person about whom the original enquiry was made, and whose years 
 consequently would be reduced to the more modest dimensions of 85 or 90. 
 
THE STUART DYMOKES. 91 
 
 crowned at the same time with their husbands, and sometimes, 
 especially if they were married after the King's coronation, at a 
 special coronation, at which the Champion would not be present. 
 Thus Elizabeth Woodville, who became the wife of 
 Edward IV., was crowned at the time of her marriage, as 
 was also Anne Boleyn, the unfortunate wife of Henry VIII. 
 none of the other wives of this King being crowned at all, 
 with the exception of Catherine of Arragon, who was crowned 
 at the same time with himself. 
 
 This Charles Dymoke was buried at Scrivelsby, on the 
 24th January, 1702. With reference to this Champion, the 
 gossiping Prynne tells another cock and bull story, though 
 the part of the cock is, unfortunately, left out : " This 
 Dimmock holds certain lands by exhibiting on certain days 
 every year a milk-white bull, with black ears, to the people 
 who are to run it down, and then it is cutt in pieces and 
 given amongst the poor. His estate is almost ^2000 a year, 
 and whoever has it is Champion of England ; but he ows 
 more by farr than he is worth, and has no children, so that 
 it will soon get into another family. The Dimmock has 
 enjoyed it ever since Will(iam) the Conqueror's days, if I do 
 not mistake." 
 
 This story of the bull is probably correct as far as the 
 baiting of the poor beast is concerned, but it is certain that 
 this was not the tenure on which the estate was held. 
 It is also probably true that the pecuniary circumstances 
 of the Champion were in a very unsatisfactory condition, in 
 
92 
 
 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 consequence of the heavy losses occasioned by the civil war. 
 Sir Charles Dymoke, being childless, was succeeded by his 
 brother Lewis, who was destined to exercise a potent 
 influence on the family history by the testamentary disposition 
 he made at the end of his long life. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Latter-day Champions — Lewis Dymoke (i) and his Sziccessors—The 
 Tetford Branch and the Scrivelsby Branch — First Clerical 
 Champion — Sir Henry Dymoke — Death of Henry Lionel — End 
 of Scrivelsby Branch. 
 
 Along the cool sequestered vales of life, 
 They spent the noiseless tenor of their way. 
 
 Gray. 
 
 *HE History of the Family from this period 
 enters upon a new phase. No longer brought 
 into the same prominence by being in close 
 association with the ruling powers of their 
 day, the Dymokes seem to have settled down at Scrivelsby, 
 quietly and unostentatiously discharging the duties which 
 would naturally fall to them as country gentlemen of 
 distinguished lineage. 
 
 Lewis, the youngest son of Sir Charles Dymoke, succeeded 
 his brother in 1702, and for nearly sixty years lived at 
 Scrivelsby as Champion. He was twice called upon to 
 perform the duties of his office, once at the coronation of 
 George I., and again at that of his successor,* and had he 
 
 * George I. was crowned on the 20th October, 1714, and George II. on the 
 nth October, 1727. It is strange that not one of the four Georges was crowned on 
 St. George's Day, which seems to have been a favourite day for other coronations. 
 Thus, Charles II., James II., and Anne were crowned on that day, 23rd of April. 
 
94 SCRIVELSBY, THE. HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 lived a few more months he might have been summoned to 
 act for the third time at the coronation of George III. ; but 
 having attained the ripe age of ninety-one, it is not surprising 
 that this duty should have devolved upon a younger man. 
 
 A little later on we shall see that it was on the death of 
 this Lewis Dymoke that the great break occurred, which 
 divided the family into two branches, the one residing at 
 Scrivelsby, and the other at Tetford. When we reach this 
 point in the family history, we shall have to go somewhat 
 deeply into the puzzling region of genealogical enquiry : it 
 will suffice to say here, that the Scrivelsby estates were 
 bequeathed by the aged Champion, who died a bachelor in 
 1760, to a distant cousin Edward, who only lived a few 
 months in the possession of the family honours, and was 
 succeeded by his son John, who was barely settled in his new 
 position, when he had to act as Champion at the Coronation 
 of George III.* This John, at his death in 1784, left five 
 children, two sons and three daughters. The eldest of these 
 daughters, Catherine, was married to John Bradshaw, esquire, 
 and the youngest, Sophia, to John Tyrwhitt, Esq., the second 
 daughter, Elizabeth, dying unmarried. Each of the sons, 
 Lewis and John, succeeded in due course to the Championship, 
 Lewis on the death of his father in 1784, and John, who was 
 in holy orders, in 1820, when his brother Lewis died, 
 unmarried, after a tenure of twenty-four years. 
 
 * A most interesting extract from the diary of this Champion will be found in 
 the Appendix (No. 20). 
 
LATTER-DAY CHAMPIONS. 95 
 
 The Rev. John Dymoke, the first Clerical Champion, was 
 represented at the coronation of George IV. by his son 
 Henry, just out of his teens, permission having been previously 
 granted by the Court of Claims, to whom the matter had 
 been referred. It is worth remarking here, that Mr. Welles 
 Dymoke also put in a claim, as " lineal descendant from an 
 elder branch of the Dymoke family, deriving their origin 
 from Sir Philip Marmion." This claim was not allowed 
 by the Court of Claims, the decision being "that the Champion- 
 ship belonged to the Reverend John Dymoke, of Scrivelsby." 
 It is important to remember this, as this decision of the 
 Court of Claims is an authoritive settlement of a question, 
 about which some little doubt had previously existed. 
 
 The Rev. John Dymoke (i) who was Rector of Scrivelsby, 
 and a Prebendary of Lincoln, died in 1828, leaving two sons, 
 Henry and John, and one daughter, Maria Georgiana, who 
 became the wife of Sir John Mansel, Bart., and died at an 
 advanced age in 1888. As in the case of the children of the 
 first member of this branch of the family, each of the two 
 sons became Champion — Henry in 1828, on the death of his 
 father, and John, who was in holy orders, when his brother 
 Henry died in 1865. 
 
 Henry Dymoke, better known as Sir Henry Dymoke, 
 Baronet, to which dignity he was appointed in 1841, probably 
 as a solatium for the discontinuance of the office of Champion 
 at the two last coronations, was held in very high esteem. 
 Few country gentlemen, indeed, wielded greater personal 
 
96 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 influence than Sir Henry Dymoke ; and the position of 
 Chairman of Petty Sessions, Chairman of the Board of 
 Guardians, and President of every Institution over which he 
 cared to preside, came to him as a matter of course. When 
 he succeeded to the family estate, he found it heavily 
 encumbered, and he made it the business of his life to 
 discharge the many obligations under which it laboured, so 
 that he might leave it to his successors as free and 
 unincumbered as such an estate ought always to be. This 
 could only be done by wise management and rigid economy, 
 and, until his self-imposed task was accomplished, he abstained 
 from every unnecessary expense, living the quiet life of a. 
 country gentleman, and thereby securing general esteem. 
 Happily, he long outlived the necessity for this comparative 
 self-effacement, and, during the latter years of his life, he 
 assumed the position more becoming the owner of a great 
 name, and the holder of an honourable office. 
 
 In 1 84 1, Sir Henry renewed the claim which had first 
 been made by his uncle Lewis, who petitioned George III. 
 to declare him entitled to the Marmion Peerage : but on 
 neither occasion was the petition successful ; that of Lewis 
 being referred to the House of Lords, where it still remains 
 in a state of suspended vitality, from which it is never likely 
 to emerge ; and that of Sir Henry receiving only a formal 
 acknowledgment that "the Lord Chancellor had presented a 
 petition from the Hon, the Queen's Champion," but no 
 decision was arrived at. 
 

 L_.. 
 
 ^^IS^iriMcA 
 
 THE LATE SIR HENRY DYMOKE, BART, 
 
 From a Pltotuijmph in thijiosscssioii of Lady Hartivill. 
 
LATTER-DAY CHAMPIONS. 97 
 
 It was in the midst of his useful and active life, when, 
 in 1865, Sir Henry Dymoke contracted a chill, which brought 
 on an attack of diptheria, from which he died at his London 
 house, at the comparatively early age of 64. It was with 
 something like consternation that the news of his death was 
 received at Horncastle ; and within a short time a public 
 meeting was held for the purpose of placing on record the 
 high estimation in which he was regarded, as well as the 
 appreciation by all classes of his many services to the town 
 and neighbourhood. As the result of this meeting, a suitable 
 building was erected in Horncastle, by public subscription, for 
 the Dispensary, one of the many Institutions in which he had 
 always taken a warm interest, and of which, as the inscription 
 over the entrance states, he had ever been a " generous 
 supporter." Sir Henry left an only daughter, Emma Jane, 
 now Lady Hartwell, the wife of Sir Francis Hartwell, Bart. 
 Her mother. Lady Dymoke, was the second daughter of 
 William Pearce, Esq. 
 
 The Rev. John Dymoke, the second clerical Champion, 
 succeeded, but, being in feeble health, he lived very little at 
 Scrivelsby, and died in Florence in 1873. Like his father, he 
 was for nearly forty years Rector of Scrivelsby, and, for the 
 last few years of his life, was invested with the Championship, 
 on his succession to which he resigned his benefice in favour 
 of the present Rector. He was succeeded by his only son, 
 Henry Lionel, who died shortly afterwards, without issue, at 
 the early age of 45. His widow, who had a life interest in 
 
 N 
 
98 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the estate, only lived a few years to enjoy it, and, on her 
 death in 1883, in accordance with the terms of her husband's 
 will, the Scrivelsby inheritance, as will be fully shewn in the 
 next chapter, reverted to the representative of the Tetford 
 branch of the Dymoke family. 
 
 Of the seven members of the Scrivelsby branch, it is to 
 be observed that, with the exception of the first John, who 
 acted at the coronation of George III., and the first reverend 
 Champion, who was represented by his son Henry at the 
 coronation of George IV., none of them left more than one 
 child, while two of the seven, Lewis and Henry Lionel, died 
 childless. It is also remarkable that every male of this 
 branch, without exception, succeeded in due course to the 
 Championship. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 The Missing Link— The Tetford Branch Restored — Vicissitudes of 
 Fortune— Tradition — A "Maze" of Genealogy — Sir Edward 
 Dymoke (3), Ancestor of Both Branches— The Old Champion— 
 Selection of the Descendant of Youngest Son — Restoration to 
 Descendant of Second Son — Henry Lionel's Will — The Marmion 
 Barony. 
 
 " Fortuna, ssevo lasta negotio, et 
 Ludum insolentem ludere pertinax, 
 Transmutat incertos honores, 
 
 Nunc mihi nunc alii benigna." 
 
 Horace. 
 
 Fortune, who with malicious glee 
 
 Her merciless vocation plies, 
 Benignly smiling now on me, 
 
 Now on another, bids him rise. 
 And in mere wantonness of whim. 
 
 Her favours shifts from me to him. 
 
 Theodore Martin. 
 
 N the death of Henry Lionel's widow, we 
 come to one of those strange turns of 
 fortune's wheel, which from time to time 
 serve to excite the curiosity and quicken the 
 interest of those — and their name is legion — who note the 
 ever-changing aspects of society, as exhibited in the rise 
 and fall of our old English families. 
 
 It is often said that " the unexpected always happens," 
 but when the truth of the saying is established, none. 
 
lOO SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 apparently, are so astounded as those who were loudest in 
 protesting that they always expected it. We have had a 
 striking instance of this at Scrivelsby. There has probably 
 not been a time within the last hundred years, when some one 
 in the neighbourhood has not said with more or less 
 distinctness, " mark my words ; the Tetford Dymokes will one 
 of these days go to Scrivelsby." In fact, ever since the death 
 of Champion Lewis in 1760, there has been a current notion, 
 expressed with greater or less precision, that a missing link in 
 the Dymoke pedigree would be found at Tetford, and that in 
 course of time the Tetford branch would regain their old 
 Scrivelsby home. Meanwhile, the two offshoots of the family 
 settled in their respective spheres, widely and socially distinct 
 from each other, until the remembrance of a common origin 
 seemed well nigh lost. The one family waxed while the 
 other waned. The tradition, however, of the missing link was 
 handed down through succeeding generations, although, as time 
 went on, the probabilities of a change seemed to be gradually 
 fading away, until at last they had reached the vanishing 
 point. And yet every now and again would still be heard 
 the old cry : " Mark my words : the Tetford Dymokes will 
 one of these days go to Scrivelsby." And now that they 
 have come back, the wonder is that so improbable a thing 
 should have happened. 
 
 Here was a family well establisbed and possessing the 
 undoubted right of transmitting their inheritance at their 
 pleasure. On the other side was a family bearing indeed the 
 
THE MISSING LINK. lOI 
 
 same name, but having nothing else in common with the 
 family in possession, and who apparently were as little likely 
 to be called by the Scrivelsby branch to the ancestral 
 inheritance as any other family in the county. And yet by a 
 series of accidents which no one could have foreseen, the hazy 
 notions of those who thought that somehow or other the 
 exodus from Tetford to Scrivelsby would be accomplished 
 have been fully verified : the missing link has been found, and 
 the wandering of the hundred years in the wilderness of 
 Tetford has been followed by the tranquil Goshen of 
 Scrivelsby. 
 
 But in order to fully understand the circumstances which 
 led to the accession of the present Champion, we must go 
 back once more to the time when the old bachelor Champion 
 died at Scrivelsby in 1760. Having reached the patriarchal 
 age of 91, it is hardly surprising to find that he had outlived 
 many members of his family who might naturally have 
 expected to succeed him. The estate was not entailed, 
 and it was competent for the aged Champion to exercise his 
 discretion in the nomination of his heir.* As has been 
 
 * The following extract from a private letter of the late Sir Joseph Banks is 
 worth quoting, because it gives a sensible and practical opinion as to a claim 
 proposed to be made by the Tetford branch of the family in 1811 : "It matters 
 not to the heirs of Champion Lewis whether the estate is held by Knight Service 
 or by Grand Serjeantry^ as neither the one or the other of these tenures have 
 any influence on the descent of the land. Scrivelsby, like the generality of other 
 lands in England, is held by the proprietor with all the benefits by the common 
 law provided for the personal advantages of proprietary of land : it may be 
 bequeathed by will, or alienated by sale or gift; and if so alienated in prejudice 
 
102 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 elsewhere observed, in his endeavour to do justice to his 
 relations, he " lost himself in the mazes of cousinhood," and 
 bequeathed the manor of Scrivelsby to John Needham 
 Dymoke, the grandson of John the youngest son of Sir 
 Edward Dymoke. 
 
 The reader is now invited to enter this "maze of 
 cousinhood," and he will then more clearly understand the 
 imbroglio that happened on the death of Lewis. Taking our 
 starting point from the death of Edward Dymoke (3) 1663-4, 
 we find that he left four sons : 
 
 1. Sir Charles, who succeeded, and on his death in 1686 
 
 left two children, Charles and Lewis, each of whom 
 succeeded in turn to the Championship, and died 
 without issue, Charles in 1702, and Lewis in 1760. 
 
 2. Edward, whose name has been unaccountably left 
 
 out from the genealogical tables since the time of 
 Banks. It is from this Edward that the Tetford 
 branch claim to be descended. 
 
 3. Nicholas, who left one son who died unmarried. 
 
 4. John, from whom the Scrivelsby branch claim descent. 
 Our business now is with Edward, the second son of Sir 
 
 Edward Dymoke. This Edward is styled in the register 
 Edward Dymoke, Junior. He married Abigail Snowden, on 
 the 1 8th July, 1654, and had issue : 
 
 of the next heir, he cannot have any claim against the vestee, unless it arises 
 out of special bargains or agreements made and confirmed previously to the 
 alienation." 
 
THE MISSING LINK. IO3 
 
 1. Robert, of Grebby Hall, who died in 17 14, leaving 
 three children. 
 
 2. Edward, who died unmarried, 1740, leaving the 
 Tetford estates to his nephew, John. 
 
 3. John, who was the father of another John, just 
 mentioned, and who continued the succession on the 
 failure of the heirs of his elder brother, Robert, of 
 whose three children, Reuben and Robert died 
 unmarried, and a daughter, Elizabeth, became the 
 wife of the Rev. Thomas Welles, Rector of 
 Willingham and Spridlington, and to whom we shall 
 refer bye and bye. 
 
 Going back to John, we find that he died at Tetford, 
 leaving a son, also called John, and two daughters. This 
 John married Rebecca Nayler, and died at Tetford, 4th 
 August, 1782. It was to this John, the eldest legal 
 representative of Sir Edward Dymoke, to whom the Scrivelsby 
 inheritance would naturally have fallen upon the death of 
 Lewis in 1760. But, as has been already mentioned, Lewis, 
 having a clear and indisputable right to dispose of his 
 property at his pleasure, left the Scrivelsby estate to John 
 Needham Dymoke, with remainder to his brother Edward, 
 from whom the Scrivelsby branch of the Dymoke family 
 derived their succession. Confining our attention to the 
 Tetford branch, the succession from this point is uninterrupted, 
 son succeeding father in regular course (as will be seen in 
 the full genealogical table given in the appendix), until we 
 
I04 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 come to Francis Seaman Dymoke, the present owner of 
 Scrivelsby Manor. 
 
 Now, turning our attention to the Scrivelsby branch, we 
 shall find that, starting from the same point as in the case of 
 the Tetford descent, viz. Sir Edward Dymoke (3), who died in 
 1664, the common ancestor of the two diverging branches, his 
 youngest son, John, became the father of Charles, who was 
 the father of the two brothers, John Needham and Edward, 
 mentioned in the will of the aged Champion, Lewis, as his 
 heirs. It has already been told how this Scrivelsby branch 
 inherited the Scrivelsby estate and the Championship from the 
 time of John, who officiated at the coronation of George III. 
 in 1 76 1, to Henry Lionel, the last representative of this 
 branch of the family, and whose death occurred in 1875. 
 
 It is at this point that the interest of our genealogical 
 puzzle culminates. Henry Lionel, dying without issue, 
 bequeathed the estate — not to anyone by name — but to the 
 "heir-at-law of John Dymoke, who died at Tetford in the 
 year 1782." It is not difficult to fathom the motive of this 
 bequest, nor, indeed, of the peculiar method adopted for 
 describing it. He put himself , in the place of the old 
 Champion who died in 1760, and bequeathed his estate 
 to the representative of the heir-at-law at the time of 
 Lewis's death, and this heir-at-law was "John Dymoke, who 
 died at Tetford in 1782," the very words employed in 
 Henry Lionel's will. Of course, he might have left it direct 
 to Francis Seaman Dymoke, who was undoubtedly the 
 
FRANCIS SCAMAN DYMOKE, ESQ., THE HON. THE QUEEN'S CHAMPION. 
 
THE MISSING LINK. IO5 
 
 heir-at-law of his great grandfather. But he had no personal 
 acquaintance with the Tetford family, and in all probability- 
 he wished to emphasize, as distinctly as possible, his desire 
 to amend what might have seemed to him a wrong, under 
 which the Tetford branch had suffered for a hundred years, 
 without gratifying any personal wish of his own in benefiting 
 a particular individual. And so, in the whirly-gig of time, 
 the Championship, in the teeth of all probability, and long 
 after the time when the inheritance seemed hopelessly lost, 
 comes back to the very man who might have expected to 
 succeed, had the cleavage of 1760 never happened. 
 
 The marvel is heightened by the reflection that, 
 although the legal representative of Sir Edward Dymoke (3) 
 is now at Scrivelsby, he is not there because of his right as 
 successor to Sir Edward, but because he was selected, as of 
 grace, by Henry Lionel Dymoke, who might have disposed 
 of his property any way he pleased. Another result of the 
 particular wording of Henry Lionel's will is that it excludes 
 all other claims. Had it stated that the property had to go 
 to the heir-at-law of Sir Edward (3), it is possible — not to 
 say probable — that amongst others, the descendants, if any, 
 of Elizabeth, the wife of the Rev. Thomas Welles, 
 (already mentioned as the daughter of Robert, the eldest son 
 of Edward Dymoke, Junior, the second son of Sir Edward) 
 would have put in a claim, and the revenues of the estate 
 would have been wasted in litigation. It is not probable 
 
 that the dying Champion had this in his mind at the time of 
 o 
 
Io6 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 drafting his will, but it is beyond question now that the 
 
 Scrivelsby estate is absolutely vested in the present owner, 
 
 and that his title thereto is clear and indisputable.* 
 
 The history, however, as it stands, is curious, and may 
 
 at least serve, amidst other instances of similar vicissitudes of 
 
 fortune, 
 
 "To point a moral or adorn a tale." 
 
 " In the statement of the claim to the Barony of Marmion, originally 
 advanced by Lewis and subsequently renewed by Sir Henry Dymoke, attention 
 is drawn to an important decision arrived at by the Commissioners who were 
 called upon to adjudicate between the rival claims of Sir Edward Dymoke to act 
 as Champion at the coronation of Charles II., and Robert Heywood, the son of 
 Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Robert, who was unquestionably the elder brother 
 of Nicholas, the father of Sir Edward, the other claimant. The commissioners, 
 after minute enquiry, having pronounced in favour of Sir Edward, who was 
 certainly not the heir general, but the next heir male of the person last seized 
 of the Manor, decided by implication that at some time, though the precise date 
 was not given, "the Manor had been settled in tail male." This decision would 
 be fatal to any claim that might be advanced by the descendants' of Elizabeth, 
 the wife of the Rev. Thomas Welles, and daughter of Robert Dymoke, of 
 Grebby Hall, who died in the year 1714. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Reflections — Coincidences — Mock Heroic Verses — Redgaimtlet — The Gold 
 Cups — Decay of Sentiment — " The Champion's Farewell" by Tom- 
 Hood — Coronation of William IV. — Courtesy Title of Champion. 
 
 The age of chivalry is gone. That of sophisters, 
 economists, and calculators has succeeded. 
 
 Burke. 
 
 'ROM what has been said of the families of 
 Marmion and Dymoke, it will be seen that 
 for more than two centuries, the former, and 
 for more than five centuries, the latter have 
 been closely connected with Scrivelsby. The Marmions, 
 however, before the division of their vast estates, were, as 
 might have been expected, more ubiquitous than their 
 successors, residing sometimes at Scrivelsby, but more 
 regularly and continuously at Tamworth Castle, in Warwick- 
 shire. But they were a martial family, and the necessities of 
 their position, entailing duties in connection with public affairs 
 as well as with the management of their estates in different 
 counties of England and at Fontenoy in Normandy, caused 
 them to be migratory in their habits, and, at this distance of 
 time, it would be difficult to say where they were living at 
 any particular moment. 
 
I08 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 No record exists of anything like continuous residence in 
 their Lincolnshire home, and, although Sir Philip Marmion, 
 the last representative of the unbroken line of the family, was 
 buried at Scrivelsby, he did not die there : and beyond the 
 existing proof of the warm interest he took in this part of his 
 inheritance, the chief ground for inferring that this was 
 regarded as his principal home is based on the fact that the 
 effigies of himself and his wife were placed in Scrivelsby 
 Church, where they exist to the present day. 
 
 The Marmions were not only a martial family, but they 
 took a prominent part in the administration of local affairs in 
 the several counties in which their property was situated. 
 They were Sheriffs at a time when the office of Sheriff 
 involved heavy and responsible duties. One of them, that Sir 
 Robert whom we have styled "The old Judge," was at 
 different times Sheriff of Worcestershire, Staffordshire, and of 
 the Counties of Warwick and Hereford. They were also 
 cited as barons to assist the King with their counsel in 
 critical times, when the affairs of the nation required it.* 
 
 Amidst all this participation in government and 
 administration, it is indisputable that not a single member of 
 
 * In the case presented by Lewis Dymoke {2) on his petition to be declared 
 Baron of Marmion of Scrivelsby, the claim is based on the petitioner's descent 
 from Sir Philip Marmion, "who, in the return to an inquisition post mortem 
 taken after his death in the 20th of Edward I., is stated by the Jurors to have 
 held the Manor of Scrivelsby, with the appurtenances of the King in capite, per 
 Baroniam, and to have died seized thereof in his demesne as of fee," and that 
 the Marmions " were of high rank and antiquity among the Barons of the land." 
 
REFLECTIONS. lOg 
 
 the family performed the peculiar duties of the office which 
 was the characteristic distinction of their house, although they 
 were undoubtedly the hereditary Champions of the Sovereigns 
 of England as well as of the Dukes of Normandy. This 
 abstention is certainly remarkable, whatever weight may be 
 attached to the arguments advanced in a previous chapter, to 
 account for the absence of a Champion from so many of the 
 early coronations. It may well be that the Marmions were 
 too much engaged in the realities of actual warfare to care 
 about playing the part of mimic warriors in the courtly halls 
 of Westminster. It is not till the Dymokes appear upon the 
 scene, that we hear anything of a Champion claiming to 
 exercise the duties of his office, at the coronation of our 
 English sovereigns : but from that time onward^ — from 1377 to 
 1 82 1* — a Dymoke has always been found equal to the 
 occasion, either in his own person, or by the substitution of 
 some member of his family. 
 
 As the English Championship was strictly confined to the 
 feudal tenure of the Manor of Scrivelsby, it would occasionally 
 happen that the feudal owner would be a lady, or a 
 clergyman in holy orders, in which case, a husband or a son 
 would represent the Champion on the coronation day. It may 
 be worth mentioning that on the first as well as on the last 
 occasion, when a Champion appeared at an English coronation, 
 
 ^' Although George III. died on the 29th January, 1820, his successor was 
 
 not crowned before the 19th of July, 1821. It was on this occasion that Sir 
 
 Henry Dymoke acted as Champion, on behalf of his father, who was in holy 
 orders. 
 
no SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the office was, in each case, performed vicariously, in the one 
 by the husband of the Lady Margaret de Ludlow : and in the 
 other by the son of the Rev. John Dymoke, who was Lord 
 of the Manor, as well as Rector of Scrivelsby, on the death 
 of George IIL 
 
 Another circumstance may be noticed, if only for the 
 curious coincidence it affi)rds. On the roll of Champions 
 there were two Dymokes, of the name of Lewis. They were 
 both bachelors, and the death of each was contemporaneous 
 with that of the reigning Sovereign of the time, George IL 
 and the first Lewis dying in 1760, and the second Lewis 
 dying in 1820, in the interval between the death of 
 George IIL and the coronation of George IV. 
 
 With regard to the execution of the office of Champion 
 on a coronation day, it will be remembered that the right 
 moment for his appearance, in full armour, and mounted on 
 his charger, was in the middle of the coronation banquet, the 
 right place being Westminster Hall. The challenge to all 
 gainsayers was in the orthodox fashion, by flinging down the 
 knight's gauntlet, in the tolerable certainty that no one would 
 venture to take it up in token of acceptance. As a matter of 
 fact, the challenge never has been accepted, although there 
 have been occasions when the Sovereign's title might have 
 been fairly questioned. It could not, for instance, have 
 excited much surprise, if advantage had been taken in this 
 way to challenge the right of any one of the Lancastrian 
 Sovereigns, or of those of the house of York. Again, the 
 
REFLECTIONS. 1 1 1 
 
 accession of William and Mary, as well as that of Ann and 
 that also of the first two Georges, might have occasioned 
 some danger of disturbance at their respective coronations. 
 But, happily for our Champions,* their task has always been 
 a bloodless one, and instead of broken bones, the Dymokes 
 have always brought back from the coronation banquet a 
 golden cup and cover, which they received as their fee from 
 the hands of the Sovereign. t Although the Champion's 
 challenge has never been accepted, Sir Walter Scott, in 
 Redgauntlet, gives a description of the coronation of 
 George III., and introduces one of his characters, a maiden 
 
 " The following mock-heroic verses were written on the occasion of the 
 coronation of George IL, by a young Westminster Scholar : 
 
 When first the new-crown'd King in splendour reigns, 
 
 A golden cup the royal Champion gains. 
 
 With gesture fierce, his gauntlet stern he throws. 
 
 And dares to martial fight his absent foes. 
 
 Where no brave Quixote answering to his call 
 
 He rides triumphant thro' the gilded hall. 
 
 Thrice happy Conqueror that the laurel wears 
 
 Unstrain'd by warrior's blood or widows' tears. 
 
 Armed at all points, should he a foe behold, 
 
 Say — would he keep the field, or quit the gold? 
 t It was customary for the Sovereign to pledge the Champion by tasting the 
 wine with which the gold cup was filled, and then to place it in his hands, when 
 he was expected to empty it and to take it away as his perquisite. But a 
 strange thing often happened. As it was necessary to remove the cover for the 
 introduction of the wine, the cup naturally came in this state to the Champion's 
 hands, and, strange as it may seem, most of the cups brought to Scrivelsby 
 were found to be without a cover ! In the excitement of the moment the 
 armed knight would not notice the absence of the lid, and afterwards when he 
 tried to recover it, lo ! it was gone. Now this is suggestive of a mystery which 
 it passes the wit of man to fathom. 
 
112 SCRIVELSBY THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 of fourteen, as surreptitiously introduced into Westminster 
 Hall, and instructed by her Jacobite uncle to carry away the 
 Champion's glove, and to leave in its stead a written 
 statement that, on the assurance of fair play and honourable 
 treatment, a fitting knight would appear to dispute the young 
 King's title to the throne. In a subsequent note, the author 
 of Waverley, while allowing that this particular incident was 
 only the fruit of his own imagination, gravely assures his readers 
 that "it was always said, though with little appearance of 
 truth, that upon the coronation of George III., when the 
 Champion of England, Dymock, appeared in Westminster 
 Hall, and, in the language of chivalry, solemnly wagered his 
 body to defend in single combat the right of the King to 
 the crown of these realms, at the moment when he flung 
 down his gauntlet as the gage of battle, an unknown female 
 stepped from the crowd and lifted the pledge, leaving 
 another gage in room of it with a paper expressing that if 
 a fair field of combat should be allowed, a Champion of rank 
 and birth would appear with equal arms to dispute the claim 
 of King George to the British Kingdoms," and that, upon 
 the strength of this tradition, he had ventured to introduce 
 the striking incident in his novel. 
 
 In the good old days of the Plantagenets, the Champion 
 claimed for his coronation fee, not only the gold cup with 
 its golden cover, but the suit of armour also in which he 
 appeared, as well as the charger on which he rode. It would 
 seem also as if he claimed the right not only to take from the 
 
REFLECTIONS. II3 
 
 King's armoury the second best suit of armour, but also to 
 the royal Mews, and to select the second best horse he could 
 find, which afterwards became his own property.* He also 
 claimed, as already mentioned, twenty yards of crimson 
 satin, wherewith to adorn his knightly person, but at the 
 coronation of James I., and subsequently at the coronation of 
 Queen Anne, this claim of satin was disallowed. 
 
 From the list given in the appendix, it will be seen 
 that the Dymokes have acted as Champions on twenty-one 
 occasions, and consequently there ought to be twenty-one 
 cups in possession of the family. But the present Champion 
 only holds seven, viz. those obtained at the coronation of 
 James II., William and Mary, Anne and the four Georges. 
 On the death of Henry Lionel Dymoke, in 1875, the Queen 
 became possessed of these cups by special bequest, but Her 
 Majesty, on ilearning the circumstances under which the bequest 
 had been made, with that considerate good taste, for which 
 she is justly celebrated, presented them as a personal gift 
 from herself to the present owner of the Scrivelsby estates. 
 In spite of their diminished number, these cups are an 
 interesting feature in Scrivelsby Court, and it is to be hoped 
 that they may long continue in the old home of the 
 
 *^' At the coronation of George III., John Dymoke is said to have ridden 
 the horse that carried George II. at the battle of Dettingen, but no record 
 exists of the subsequent appearance of Bucephalus in the Scrivelsby stables ! It 
 is probable, however, that the Champion received the value of the horse, in the 
 shape of a composition, which was generally enforced on such occasions. 
 P 
 
114 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Champions, as a lasting memorial of the past greatness of the 
 family, and of the peculiar office which they were privileged 
 
 to hold. 
 
 It will be further noticed that, while there are twenty-one 
 coronations, there are only fourteen officiating Champions, the 
 explanation, of course, being that several of the Champions 
 acted more than once. Thus, the first Sir Thomas officiated 
 twice, and, each time, as the representative of his mother, 
 who was tenacious of her position as Lady of Scrivelsby. 
 Sir Robert Dymoke, and his son, the first Sir Edward, each 
 performed the office on three coronations, while Charles 
 Dymoke and his brother Lewis acted twice. The late Sir 
 Henry Dymoke was competent to act in his own right at 
 the coronation of William IV., as well as at that of Her 
 present Majesty, Queen Victoria, but on neither occasion 
 were his services required, nor is it in the least likely that 
 the office will ever again be revived. 
 
 We live in strictly utilitarian times, where balance 
 sheets are all predominant, where pros and cons are strictly 
 weighed, and woe betide any institution that, when placed in 
 the utilitarian balance, kicks the beam for lack of power to 
 produce solid proof in justification of its raison-d'-etre. The 
 age of sentiment has passed and gone ; cakes and ale, and 
 even cakes without the ale, are an abomination to the 
 practical men of the nineteenth century : sports and pastimes 
 are no longer thought seemly or becoming for grown men 
 and women ; and even the games of our unfortunate children 
 
REFLECTIONS. II5 
 
 are turned to profitable account, the mysteries of geography- 
 being taught by the help of map-puzzles, and architectural 
 geometry by toy-bricks. No wonder, under such circumstances, 
 that our Champions are never again likely to form part of a 
 royal pageant, and that their office will in future be nothing 
 but a memory and a name. But it is hard to think that the 
 coup-de-grace was given to the Champion's office by such 
 very poor stuff as the doggerel verses of Tom Hood, which 
 were supposed to have been of assistance to the authorities at 
 the time of the coronation of William IV., when, chiefly for 
 economical reasons, they were anxious to reduce the 
 ceremonial of the coronation to the slenderest possible 
 dimensions. Tom Hood was a wit and the champion punster 
 of his day. But he was capable also of writing seriously and 
 effectively on any subject in which he was interested, and 
 when his sympathies were powerfully enlisted in any 
 particular cause, a more powerful advocate could scarcely be 
 found. The effect produced by his thrilling delineations of 
 the sufferings of the poor shirtmakers, half a century ago, has, 
 happily, not yet died out ; and he himself, by the choice of 
 his epitaph, showed his appreciation of the popular verdict 
 that was passed on his simple but painfully realistic poem.* 
 But his "Champion's Farewell" was unworthy of him, and 
 Homer was for once found napping. The lines are hardly 
 
 * The only panegyric that appears on Tom Hood's tombstone in Kensal Green 
 Cemetery is this simple line : 
 
 " He sang the song of the shirt." 
 
Il6 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 worth reproducing, but they may be seen in the appendix 
 (No. 12) by those who care to read them. 
 
 Ridicule is always a potent engine and can be usefully 
 employed for the correction of abuses, and the annihilation of 
 mischievous shams. Such an institution as the Championship 
 would naturally give abundant scope to the role of the jesting 
 fraternity. The only wonder is that the wit that was evolved 
 was so poor and trivial. A good deal of pungent satire 
 might fairly have been expended upon what might be termed 
 an unmeaning ceremony, necessitating the conversion of a 
 quiet country gentleman into a student in the equestrian school 
 of Astley, and a change from riding straight in the hunting field 
 to pirouetting and backing in Westminster Hall. The wit, 
 however, in spite of its poverty, seems to have been effectual. 
 
 The coronation of 1831 was quietly and inexpensively 
 conducted without any help from Scrivelsby, and there is no 
 prospect of any future Champion bringing home from 
 Westminster one of those golden cups which are more 
 precious for their association than for their intrinsic value. 
 Sie transit gloria. But, though the duties of the office are 
 no longer exacted, the Championship still remains as an 
 appanage of the old baronial estate of Scrivelsby, the owner 
 of which is by courtesy entitled, in his official capacity, to 
 be addressed A.B., Esq., The Honourable the Queen's 
 Champion. This title is strictly confined to the person 
 entitled to perform the duties of the office, and, like that of 
 bishops and clergymen, is not shared by wife or children. 
 
REFLECTIONS. 1 1 7 
 
 An amusing story is told of an aspiring dame, the wife 
 of a Champion in holy orders, a good many years ago, who 
 was anxious to assume the prefix of Honourable, and was only 
 cured of this little piece of vanity, by finding her letters 
 addressed "The Honourable and Reverend Mrs. D." In like 
 manner, the witty Bishop of Oxford laughed out of Court a 
 foolish claim for some distinctive title to be given to the 
 Rural Deans of his diocese, by gravely proposing that they 
 should be dubbed "Rather" Reverend, to distinguish them 
 from their Right Reverend and Very Reverend brethren. So 
 true is it that, in these days as much as in the time of 
 
 Horace, 
 
 Pleasantry will often cut clean through 
 Hard knots that gravity would scarce undo.* 
 
 CONINGTON. 
 
 * Ridiculum acri 
 Fortius et melius magnas plerumque secat res. 
 
 Horace. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Scrivelsby Court— The Park— Lion Gate— Leaden Cow— Moat— Arched 
 
 Gateway — Armour and Armoury — Family Portraits — General 
 
 Appearance. 
 
 This castle hath a pleasant seat : the air 
 Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself 
 Unto our gentle senses. 
 
 Shakespeare. 
 
 ICRIVELSBY Court, the family mansion of the 
 Dymokes, is situated in a small park well 
 stocked with deer. The park is well wooded, 
 some of the trees being very old and 
 and, though of no great size, the park is 
 judiciously laid out, so that it appears to be much larger than 
 it really is. It is, indeed, highly probable that in olden 
 times it extended over a much wider area than it occupies at 
 present. There are indications which give countenance to the 
 belief that, at one time, it extended from the present confines 
 to what is known as "Teapot Lodge," on the Dalderby road. 
 There are clear traces of a continuous avenue extending along 
 the whole distance ; and the field in which the Rectory now 
 stands was at one time, in all probability, a portion of the 
 old park. 
 
 picturesque 
 
SCRIVELSBY COURT. II9 
 
 The entrance now is through what is well known as the 
 "Lion Gateway," a stone arch of the late perpendicular 
 period, surmounted by a rampant lion. This gateway was 
 probably built by Sir Robert Dymoke, in the early part of 
 the 1 6th century. The rebus or device of the oak tree, on 
 the right-hand side of this archway, has been already 
 described. 
 
 On the south of the Court are two short avenues, one of 
 walnut and the other of chesnut trees, the latter especially 
 forming a striking object when seen from the interior of the 
 house. It exactly faces the windows on the north side, from 
 which a charming outlook is obtained. The leaden cow, now 
 much dilapidated, used to wear so natural an appearance as 
 to cheat the occasional visitor into thinking that it was a 
 veritable animal, kindly posing itself in a suitable attitude for 
 heightening the eflfect of the landscape. 
 
 A moat used to surround the house, and a fountain plays 
 in one of the two existing sheets of water, which are 
 well stocked with gold and silver fish. A small well-turfed 
 garden occupies the place of the old pleasance. The walled 
 fruit and kitchen garden is inconveniently situated at a 
 considerable distance from the house, in the lane leading to 
 the Rectory. Adjoining this walled garden, on its eastern 
 side, is a bijou flower garden, which, though fronting the 
 main road, is so well hidden by shrubs and trees as to form 
 a pleasant retreat, with everything to gratify the eye, and 
 with abundant shade to serve as shelter from the heat of 
 
I20 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 the sun in the hottest days of summer. The Court is in the 
 Gothic Tudor style of architecture, and part of it is very old. 
 It has been twice exposed to the danger of fire. On the 
 second of these occasions, irreparable mischief was done by 
 the destruction of the old Hall, the walls of which were 
 ornamented with richly-illuminated panels, depicting the 
 various arms and alliances of the Dymoke family, from 
 the earliest times. This fire happened in 1761, at the time 
 when John Dymoke was in London preparing for the 
 coronation of George III., and shortly after his own 
 succession to the Championship. The first fire was in the 
 preceding century. 
 
 At the approach to the Court yard, in front of the house, 
 is an ancient and most interesting arched gateway, evidently 
 intended to cover the entrance. It has strong oaken doors, 
 and there is an embrasure on the left-hand side with pierced 
 loop holes, to rake the passage. Over it is a tower, which 
 was probably at one time higher than it is at present. It is 
 now used as a clock tower, but was originally constructed as 
 a place of vantage, from which missiles might be discharged 
 against assailants, and was in all probability defended by a 
 portcullis and a drawbridge, which could be let down to form 
 an entrance to the Court from the moat, which used to 
 encircle the whole building.* 
 
 *• A good idea of this arched gateway can be obtained from the quaint engraving 
 of the old house given on page 57. The laws of perspective have been evidently- 
 violated to give greater prominence to this old gateway. 
 
SCRIVELSBY COURT. 121 
 
 There is nothing remarkable in the interior of the house, 
 the rooms of which are comparatively small. The old 
 reception hall, subsequently used as a billiard-room, is the 
 finest room in the house, and commanding a noble view of the 
 park. In the dining-room are a few family portraits, three 
 or four of them being valuable. A few years back there 
 were two lay figures wearing valuable suits of armour, and 
 several other armed figures representing the various Champions 
 who had taken part in the coronations of their time, but, 
 unfortunately, the bulk of these were disposed of a few years 
 ago, one of them being sold for a thousand guineas. At the 
 same time was sold a valuable picture, by Landseer, its chief 
 interest consisting in its being one of the earliest, if not the 
 earliest, of the published works of that artist. On the right- 
 hand side of the chief entrance is a small enclosure, containing 
 an interesting collection of antique arms, supposed to have 
 been used by the earlier Champions. Here are to be seen 
 halberds, and axes, and maces, and swords, with old guns and 
 pikes, daggers, and lances, the whole tastefully arranged and 
 kept in admirable order. In the same enclosure, which is 
 known as the armoury, are two armed lay figures, but of no 
 value or importance. 
 
 On the whole, we may say that Scrivelsby Court appears 
 
 to be more suitable to the status of an ordinary country 
 
 gentleman, than to that of such eminent men as some 
 
 of the older Champions must undoubtedly have been. There 
 
 is no room now for state ceremonial or display, but in spite 
 Q 
 
122 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 of the architectural irregularities of the house, the tout 
 ensemble is imposing and unique. 
 
 It is unfortunate that no good representation is to be 
 found of the original house, as it appeared before the great 
 fire in the last century. From the few engravings that still 
 exist, it would seem that the description of Leland, the 
 antiquary, was fairly accurate. At the same time, it is not at 
 all unlikely that, although the exterior was not particularly 
 attractive, it was at least as convenient and as well adapted 
 for its purpose, as the more imposing structure of the present 
 time. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Scrivelsby Church — St. Benedict's — Pretty Approach from Rectory — The 
 Church Plantation — Architectural Features — Monuments — The 
 New Style — Church-yard Cross. 
 
 The pathway, by perennial green 
 Guarded and graced, seemed fashioned to unite 
 As by a beautiful but solemn chain, 
 The Pastor's mansion with the house of prayer. 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 
 I would rather sleep in the south corner of a little churchyard 
 than in the tomb of the Capulets. 
 
 Burke. 
 
 *HE Church of St. Benedict, at Scrivelsby, 
 stands in an unusually large churchyard, 
 lately planted with ornamental trees which in 
 a few years time may be expected to add 
 much to the tranquil beauty of the scenery. As it is, the two 
 acres of churchyard, enclosed by an iron fence, is one of the 
 prettiest in -the neighbourhood, and one from which good 
 views may be obtained on every side. The approach from 
 the Rectory, half-a-mile distant, is particularly striking, the 
 last quarter-of-a-mile being through a closely-wooded 
 plantation, the trees of which form a natural archway, 
 resembling the aisle of some stately cathedral, which closes 
 over the pathway leading to the Church. 
 
124 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Many fine views can be obtained by penetrating into the 
 recesses of this plantation, which, though of no great extent, 
 is one of the most attractive "bits" in Scrivelsby. The artist 
 will find here abundant opportunities for shewing his skill, 
 and the sportsman will not fail to notice the number of 
 pheasants, whose peculiar whirr and cry are always to be 
 heard in concert with the cooings of the wood-pigeon and the 
 tuneful melody of the various birds, which haunt this choice 
 little wood. 
 
 The outside of the Church is, perhaps, not so attractive 
 as the interior. The addition of the modern steeple at its 
 western end causes the Church to look unduly long, especially 
 as the chancel roof is nearly on a level with the nave, and 
 is only separated from it by a leaden ridge. 
 
 The Church exhibits various architectural features, which 
 shew that from time to time it has been altered and renewed, 
 as was likely to be the case with a Church the patrons 
 of which were the heredi tary C hampions of England, whose 
 families have always used it as their natural place of worship. 
 Attention has been already called to the apparently undue 
 length of the Church ; and the visitor will notice in the 
 interior that the present chancel has been undoubtedly added 
 to another and more ancient chancel, which occupied its 
 natural position at the east end of the old Church. The 
 present reading desk stands in front of a massive pillar, 
 which was evidently the foundation of what was once the 
 chancel arch, the old chancel ending at the site of the 
 
.jW:f*.-f<:.. wJK',. 
 
 * «?■ •■«*?* 
 
 . ' ■ '*^'^^-^'i^'~ 
 
 ST. BENEDICTS CHURCH, SCRIVELSBY. 
 
SCRIVELSBY CHURCH. 1 25 
 
 present screen. Why this chancel was built, it is hard 
 to understand, for the Church is already too large for the 
 scanty population, and must always have been sufficient to 
 hold the congregation of so small a parish, even when the 
 Champion appeared with his full retinue of attendants. In 
 olden times, however, attendance at Church was not so 
 voluntary a business as it is now, and where all had to 
 attend, room must needs have been found for all ; and so, 
 after all, there might at one time have been some reason for 
 enlarging the Church in this way. The Church is dedicated 
 to St. Benedict,* and parts of it are perhaps 500 years old. 
 The arches of the nave are early English, the chancel arch 
 and the Church itself Perpendicular, while the windows shew 
 three different styles. The oldest are the two windows in the 
 chancel, which are late Perpendicular, and the others are 
 apparently modern, and intended to represent the early 
 
 * It will generally be found that some good reason exists for the choice of 
 the particular Saint to which our parish Churches are dedicated. One very- 
 common reason was that, inasmuch as the festival days of the Saints were often 
 used in old times as convenient dates with which everyone was familiar, the 
 Church took its name from the Saint on whose day the annual holiday was kept. 
 So it was at Scrivelsby, where Sir Philip Marmion in 1258 obtained a royal 
 charter for a fair to be held on the vigil, day, and morrow of Saint Benedict, 
 i.e., on the twenty-first day of March every year. Churches, too, were often 
 dedicated to Saints who had suffered martyrdom. To this class belong St. 
 Alban's, built by Offa and called after Alban, the Roman soldier who has the 
 distinction of being the first' christian martyr in Britain : St. Alphage, at 
 Greenwich, dedicated to the great Archbishop .ffilpheah, or Alphege, who was 
 murdered by the Danes, loii : and St. Edmund's, in Norfolk, from the East 
 Anglian King Edmund, who was tied to a tree and shot with arrows, because 
 he refused the alternative offered him by the Danish Chiefs, Ingwar and Hubba, 
 to renounce Christianity and reign under them. 
 
126 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS, 
 
 English and perpendicular period. The tower and spire are 
 modern, the windows in the tower and that also of the 
 western extremity of the nave being good specimens of the 
 imitation of early English. The least worthy window in the 
 Church is undoubtedly that at the east end, which ought to 
 be the most imposing and best of all. But the poorness of 
 the window is intensified by the poorness of the painted glass, 
 which was placed in it about sixty years ago, when it was not 
 so easy as now to obtain good glass and good workmanship. 
 In marked contrast with this wretched specimen of painted 
 glass, is the window placed in the west end of the north 
 aisle a few years ago by Sir Francis and Lady Hartwell, as 
 a memorial to the mother of the latter, the widow of Sir 
 Henry Dymoke, who was buried in the same vault with her 
 husband at the east end of the churchyard, a stately 
 monument erected over this vault recording the deaths of 
 Sir Henry in 1865, and that of Lady Dymoke in 1884. 
 
 The other features of interest in the Church are the two 
 stone effigies in the north aisle, supposed to represent Sir Philip 
 Marmion and his dame, the last of the family of Marmions, 
 who resided at Scrivelsby.* The knight's armour is clearly 
 visible, his legs are crossed, a sign that he was a crusader ; 
 
 '■■'' The late Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Wordsworth, who, from his long connection 
 with Westminster and Lincoln, must have been well acquainted with every kind 
 of monument, was much impressed with the two stone effigies. There was 
 something, perhaps, in their rude simplicity which appealed to the poetical 
 temperament of the Bishop, who spoke of them as being to his mind an ideal 
 representation of the quiet and repose of death. 
 
SCRIVELSBY CHURCH. 1 27 
 
 the wimple of the lady and the dog at her feet are also 
 worth observing. The handsome table monument with its 
 capital brass and legible inscription to the memory of 
 Sir Robert Dymoke, who died in 1545, is well deserving 
 of a careful examination. So much has been already said 
 (see p. 58) about this particular monument and its curious 
 mistake of baronet for banneret, that nothing more need be 
 said here. On the floor, at the north end of the altar, is 
 the following inscription : — 
 
 "Here lyeth the body of the Honourable Charles 
 
 Dymoke, Esquire, of Scrivelsby, Champion of England, 
 
 who departed this life the 17th day of January and 
 
 in the year of our Lord 1702. 
 This gravestone was laid at the proper cost and charge 
 
 of his widow, Jane Dymoke, in the year 1726." 
 This Charles Dymoke is the Champion regarding whom 
 some doubt had at one time existed as to his having 
 performed the office of Champion at the coronation of 
 William and Mary, as well as that of Anne. And even 
 with regard to the coronation of Queen Anne, which took 
 place on St. George's Day, 23rd April, 1702, it may seem 
 strange to find the death of the Champion who officiated at 
 it recorded as taking place on the 17th day of January of 
 the same year. The explanation, of course, is this : as the 
 year then began in March, and not in January as now, 
 the custom grew of denoting the years by two figures 
 forming part of each. Thus what we should term 1703 
 
128 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 would be termed 1702-3; and "the little gentleman in 
 velvet" having occasioned the death of King William on 
 the 8th of March, 1702, it is certain that his successor, 
 Queen Anne, could not have been championed by a gentleman 
 who was buried, according to the usual authorities on the 
 17th of January preceding. But as he died in what would 
 now be called 1703, he could well have been present at the 
 coronation of Anne in 1702.* It would not have been worth 
 mentioning, had not a difficulty been sometimes felt in 
 reconciling an apparent anomaly. 
 
 In the vestry, on the north wall, is an old brass which 
 was found in Scrivelsby Court, and a copy of which appears 
 in the old register book. It is very quaint : — 
 "Mem". 
 
 S' Charles Dymoke, buried within the communion 
 
 rails, close to the South wall. 
 
 Lady Dymoke next to him. 
 
 Captain Dymoke next to the Lady. 
 
 The late Champion by the North wall. 
 
 M*" Frances next to Him. 
 
 There are other monuments to the Dymoke family, but 
 
 of no architectural value. The most striking is a marble 
 
 monument, elaborately carved, in the chancel and touching 
 
 the handsome chancel screen, to the memory of Lewis 
 
 * The "New Style," whereby the year was to begin with the ist of January 
 instead of the first of March, was adopted in 175 1, and came into use in 
 England on the ist of January, 1752. All other European nations had previously 
 adopted it except Russia and Sweden. 
 
CHURCHYARD CROSS TO HENRY LIONEL DYMOKE 
 
SCRIVELSBY CHURCH. 1 29 
 
 Dymoke, the first of that name. This monument is 
 surmounted with the bust of the aged Champion, and has a 
 shield containing the Dymoke Arms, with crest and sword 
 erect, and we are reminded by the inscription that this Lewis 
 was the youngest son of Sir Charles Dymoke, by Eleanor, his 
 wife, daughter of the first Lord Rockingham ; that he was born 
 on the 14th of February, 1669 ; that he performed the 
 service of Champion at the coronation of King George I., 
 and King George II. ; and that he died on the 5th day of 
 February, 1760, in the 91st year of his age. There is also a 
 plain slab to the second Lewis Dymoke, who died on the 
 1 2th of May, 1820 ; and two others of the same kind, one to 
 his father, John, who acted as Champion at the coronation of 
 George III., and the other to his brother, the Reverend John 
 Dymoke, the first of that name and title, who died on the 
 3rd day of December, 1828, at the age of 64. The wife and 
 relict of this Rev. John Dymoke died on the 26th of April, 
 1856, at the age of 89, and was buried at Scrivelsby, her 
 monumental inscription appearing on a stone on the floor, on 
 part of which the present reading desk now stands. The 
 inscription on this stone gives her the name of Amelia Alice 
 Jane Elphinstone. She was the mother of Sir Henry 
 Dymoke, and of his brother, the second Rev. John Dymoke, 
 who was for nearly forty years Rector of Scrivelsby, and the 
 immediate predecessor of the present Rector. Besides two 
 marble tablets to the memory of Sir Henry and Lady 
 Dymoke, which may be seen on the wall of the North 
 
130 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 aisle, close to the main entrance to the Church, there is a 
 marble tablet in the chancel, bearing the following arms and 
 inscriptions : — 
 
 "Sable, two lions argent, crowned or. Dymoke. 
 To the cherished memory of his loved parents, John 
 Tyrwhitt, Esq. of Pentre Par, Carmarthenshire, obiit 
 Aug. 2\ 1844 : and of Sophia, his wife, daughter of 
 the Hon. John Dymoke, of Scrivelsby Court, 
 Lincolnshire, obiit March 14"' 1845. 
 This tablet is erected as a tribute of fillial (sic) respect, 
 by their affectionate Son, the Rev. James Bradshaw 
 Tyrwhitt, Rector of Wilksby and Claxby, in this 
 county." 
 At the west end of the churchyard is a stone cross to 
 the memory of Mary Anne, the relict of the second Rev. 
 John Dymoke, who died and was buried at Paris, in 1874, 
 and was subsequently re-interred at Scrivelsby, in 1880. 
 This lady was the daughter of the Revd. Dr. Madeley, who 
 was for many years Vicar of Horncastle, and enjoyed a very 
 high reputation. 
 
 There is also a handsome churchyard cross, after the 
 model of the one in Somersby Churchyard, to the memory of 
 Henry Lionel Dymoke, who died in London, and was buried 
 at Scrivelsby on the ist January, 1876. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Parish Registers. 
 
 Full many a gem of purest ray serene 
 
 The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear ■ 
 
 Full many a flower is born to blush unseen 
 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 
 
 Gray. 
 
 rMONGST the curious and eccentric irregularities 
 — not to use a stronger term — for which some 
 of our old Parish Registers are notorious, 
 those of Scrivelsby may well put in a claim 
 for pre-eminence. It is almost inconceivable that these old 
 registers should have been so badly treated. When, a few 
 years ago, the laborious task of reducing them to order was 
 first taken in hand, it seemed utterly hopeless to expect a 
 successful result. 
 
 The following were some of the difficulties to be 
 encountered. The oldest book, beginning from 1565, had 
 evidently suffered much from both fire and damp ; many of 
 the leaves were shrivelled up by the former, and rendered 
 illegible by the latter. These difficulties were in a great 
 measure overcome by a careful use of certain chemical 
 
132 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 appliances by which the old writing was restored.* The 
 ravages of mice were not so easily remedied. These 
 mischievous little creatures, in the poverty for which they 
 have a proverbial repute, seem to have been very partial — 
 perhaps for nesting purposes — to old parchment, which they 
 nibbled and carried off without compunction. 
 
 A still worse, and apparently more irreparable injury had 
 been occasionally wrought by the free use of penknife or 
 scissors, many pages having been mutilated in this way, either 
 by mischievous children or designing adults. Sometimes 
 whole pages have disappeared, and so much pains has often 
 been taken to conceal the loss as to justify the suspicion that 
 their disappearance is not to be attributed to accident. An 
 additional reason for thinking that penknife and scissors were 
 occasionally used to save the trouble of paper and ink 
 wherewith to make a fair copy, is furnished by the remarkable 
 absence of many entries relating to the Dymoke family that 
 might have been confidently looked for in the oldest register 
 books belonging to the parish in which the family had resided 
 for so many generations. 
 
 Be this as it may, and in spite of the apparent 
 impossibility of remedying such disasters, the disasters in many 
 cases have been remedied, and this is how it was done : — By 
 referring to the transcripts at Lincoln, and with the kind 
 
 '• It is worth while to suggest a caution against an injudicious use of these 
 chemicals, which, if impropei-ly applied, instead of restoring may have the effect of 
 permanently destroying the old writing. The attempt should never be made without 
 the advice and assistance of an expert. 
 
THE PARISH REGISTERS. 133 
 
 assistance of the learned adept who presides over the MS. 
 department of the Diocesan Registry, gaps have been filled 
 up, and the old entries, which mice or scissors had destroyed 
 or designing persons had removed, appear once more in their 
 proper place. As many as twenty entries referring to 
 diflferent members of the Dymoke family alone, which had 
 been given up as lost, have been recovered in this way, and 
 have been found very useful in reconciling dates and clearing 
 up certain matters that have hitherto been found difficult 
 of explanation. There are still a few Dymoke registers that 
 are not forthcoming, but it is not likely now that any further 
 "finds" in this direction will be made at Lincoln or 
 elsewhere. So much, however, has been done, and such 
 unexpected additions have been made to the Scrivelsby 
 registers as to place in bold relief the great value of diocesan 
 transcripts, and the advantage of having them placed in such 
 careful hands as those of the present Curator at Lincoln. 
 
 One very curious instance of restoration by the aid of 
 transcripts may be noticed. The page containing the entries 
 for the year 1671 was found to be cut away longitudinally, 
 leaving only a margin on the left-hand side of about two 
 inches in the upper part, which gradually tapered down to a 
 point at the lower. On the piece of the page thus left, the 
 first part of several entries were plainly visible, and then, in 
 consequence of the mutilation, they came to an abrupt and 
 hopeless ending. The Lincoln transcripts, however, were 
 brought into requisition, and the missing gaps supplied. The 
 
134 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 following illustration will enable the reader to understand this 
 
 the better. The break shows where the gaps occurred, the 
 
 words in different type show how the missing information was 
 
 supplied : — 
 
 1671 
 Marriages 
 John Bra kenbury & Judith West married May 1 1"'. 
 
 Burials 
 
 John O verton buried Apr ill 12"^. 
 
 Catherine W ard buried Apr ill 14"^. 
 
 Susan the wife of Richard Clypsam gent, buried May 5*^. 
 
 Simon Prantill a servant buried the same day 
 
 John the sonn of Nicholas Dymoke Gent, buried Nov". 3'^. 
 
 Jane the daug hter of Nicholas Dymoke Gent, buried Dec"". 26"". 
 
 Scriv elsbie Tho : Booker Rector 
 
 George Hickton') 
 
 ^, ° , > Churchwardens. 
 
 I ho^. Sparke J 
 
 Thus far, the difficulties in the way of the transcriber had 
 
 been caused by the carelessness of later generations. We 
 
 now come to a very remarkable state of things for which the 
 
 parson or clerk at the time must be held responsible. It 
 
 would have been enough to make the hair of any unfortunate 
 
 person stand on end when he first realized the work that lay 
 
 before him in his search for some particular entry. Whether 
 
 owing to the scarcity of parchment, or the economical 
 
 propensities of the good people who flourished in the latter 
 
 part of the 17th and the beginning of the i8th century, 
 
 advantage was taken of every blank space that could be found 
 
 anywhere, without the slightest reference to the order of 
 
 continuity or any other order save that of the whim and 
 
THE PARISH REGISTERS. 1 35 
 
 caprice of the entry-maker. Thus, on a page containing the 
 record of the year 1576, beautifully written in the old court- 
 hand of the period, and duly signed by parson and 
 " Gardians," will be found " an account of Births, Burials, 
 and Marriages since Michaelmas, 1703." Again, on the 
 bottom of the page for 1678, for no other reason apparently 
 than because there was a little space left, four entries are 
 introduced for the year 1706, one of the four recording the 
 "Buriall" of the Parson's son; on the next page are entries 
 for 168 1 and 1688, the entries for the intermediate years 
 being inserted in happy-go-lucky fashion, amidst the years 
 1 62 1, 1599, and 1576 ; and, in the midst of entries for 1579 
 is one for 171 1. Entries for 1693 are thrust into the page 
 belonging to the year 1586, and — the worst case of all 
 perhaps — entries for 1754 ^^^ tucked in wherever an empty 
 space could be found on five different pages, properly belonging 
 to the years 1671-1753. 
 
 These instances are specimens only, and they by no means 
 exhaust the catalogue of anomalies to be found in the oldest 
 Scrivelsby register. But enough has been said to show how 
 almost impossible it would have been to find any particular 
 entry that might happen to be wanted, without diligently 
 searching for it through the whole book. The present Rector 
 has happily been able to reduce this chaos into some kind of 
 order. He has transcribed the whole of the registers between 
 1565 and 1 81 2, numbering the pages in the new book into 
 which he has entered them, so as to make them correspond 
 
136 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 with the old book from which they have been copied. Every 
 "impertinent" entry has been ticketed with the help of black 
 lines, so that it may be seen at a glance to be "an intruder" 
 out of its proper place. And, further, to help his successors 
 and to save them from undergoing much needless labour in 
 their antiquarian researches, he has drawn out a table shewing 
 the page on which the entries, if any, will be found for each 
 year from 1565 to 18 12. The following extract from this 
 table will shew the modus operandi and the strange results it 
 occasionally exhibits : — 
 
 "Entries, if any, for the year 1565 will be found on page 2 
 
 1566 
 to 
 
 1575 
 
 1576 4 
 
 1671 54- 57 
 
 1680 5 
 
 1682 5.38 
 
 1683 22. 38 
 
 1687 3 
 
 1688 5 
 
 1703 4- 
 
 1711 78. 
 
 1712 
 
 1722 58. 78. 
 
 1750 69. 71. ^2. 
 
 1754 54. 73. 81. IIO. 
 
 1797 100. 114. 
 
 The temptation to pubHsh these old registers in a 
 
 separate volume has been resisted for economical reasons. 
 
 The majority of entries refer to humble and obscure people 
 
THE PARISH REGISTERS. 1 37 
 
 over whom no other epitaph can now be raised than the 
 famous and appropriate one referring to the father of 
 George III.* There are no very remarkable entries to be 
 found, such as are often discovered in other registers. Even 
 the Dymoke family, with one or two exceptions, are very 
 curtly described. A list of the Dymoke entries will be found 
 in the Appendix, No. 8. 
 
 It is well known that previous to the time of Henry VIII. 
 no record was kept of the births, deaths, and marriages that 
 were always occurring. It is to Thomas Cromwell, the 
 imperious Vicar-General of Henry VIII. to whom we are 
 indebted for our parish registers. He first conceived the idea 
 of preserving these records, and, as was his wont, he lost no 
 time in putting his idea into practical shape, and the following 
 injunction was issued on the 29th September, 1538 : — 
 
 " The curate of every parish church shall keep one 
 book or register, which book he shall every Sunday 
 take forth, and in the presence of the churchwardens, 
 or one of them, write and record in the same, all 
 the weddings, christ'nings, and burials, made in the 
 whole week before : and every time that the same 
 shall be omitted, shall forfeit to the said Church 
 iijs and iiijd." 
 
 ** The following quotation is probably not verbally correct, but it is made from 
 memory, and will serve its present purpose : — 
 " Here lies Fred 
 
 Who was alive and now is dead 
 And so of him no more be said." 
 S 
 
138 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 Useful as was this new departure, the very fact of its 
 being a new departure caused it to be received by the people 
 with general alarm and mistrust. Poor people especially, 
 were much excited on the subject. They " misdoubted " the 
 King, and got the idea into their heads that some new tax 
 on the offices of the church was in contemplation. Thus the 
 first clause in the list of popular grievances circulated by the 
 insurgents of the "Pilgrimage of Grace" complains "that no 
 infant shall receive the blessed Sacrament of Baptism onlesse 
 a trybette be payd to the King." These fears, however, were 
 altogether imaginary. No fees were imposed. The clergy 
 were simply ordered to take note of and duly register the 
 weddings, christenings, and burials that took place in their 
 respective parishes. But so widely spread was the suspicion 
 excited by this innovation, that Cromwell prudently stayed his 
 hand and allowed the subject to drop for a time. It is 
 noteworthy that the injunctions of the following year contain 
 no formal order on the subject of registers. New injunctions 
 were issued from time to time in the succeeding reigns, but 
 the ordinance of registers remained substantially unchanged 
 until the time of Queen Elizabeth. It was towards the end 
 of her reign, in 1597, that the clergy in convocation made a 
 new ordinance respecting registers which was formally 
 approved by the Queen under the great seal. Mr. R. E. C. 
 Waters, of whose interesting and valuable Parish Registers 
 in England the present writer has made free use, says on 
 page 1 1 : — 
 
THE PARISH REGISTERS. 1 39 
 
 " It has been wisely ordered that a correct transcript 
 should yearly be sent to the Bishop of the diocese : and the 
 utility of this provision in supplying local loss, and preventing 
 the commission of fraud, has been signally proved in 
 parhamentary and legal proceedings : but the canon attached 
 no fees to the transcript either for the parish or the Bishop, 
 and neither of them was zealous of employment without 
 remuneration. The result has been that the parishes often 
 grudged the expense of a copy, the Bishops seldom insisted 
 on its transmission, and the diocesan registrars allowed their 
 archives to remain ' unarranged and unconsultable ' : so that 
 the Bishop's transcripts, which ought to have formed an 
 invaluable department of the public records, present a 
 lamentable picture of episcopal negligence, parochial parsimony, 
 and official rapacity." In a note on this passage, Mr. Waters 
 amongst other proofs in justification of his invective, quotes 
 what he calls a " cool " certificate from the Registrar of the 
 diocese of London : — " I hereby certify that it is not the 
 custom within the diocese of London for any return to be 
 made to the Bishop's Registry of either burials or baptisms." 
 And in the same documents occurs also this sentence : — " Mr. 
 Bruce found, in 1848, that at Lincoln the parchment transcripts 
 were regularly cut up by the Registrar for binding modern 
 wills ! " 
 
 This extract is worth quoting, not only for its general 
 truthfulness, but because it gives an opportunity for saying 
 that the present Bishop of Lincoln, amongst his other 
 
140 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 valuable efforts for the good of the diocese, has engaged the 
 services of the learned Mr. A. Gibbons, who, in addition to 
 other valuable work, has been employed for the last few 
 years in the genial task of searching for, examining, and 
 docketing these ancient transcripts. The reproach, therefore, 
 of episcopal negligence in this respect can no longer be 
 brought against the diocese of Lincoln ; and attention has 
 been already called in the preceding pages to the assistance 
 rendered in supplying from the ancient transcripts the 
 deficiencies that were found in the Scrivelsby registers. 
 Happily for us, the whole of these transcripts were not " cut 
 up " in the way described by Mr. Bruce. 
 
 In our own case, and leaving out the "intruding" 
 entries to which attention has been directed, the record 
 appears to have been fairly well kept on the whole from 
 1576 to 1653 inclusive, thus covering the unsettled period of 
 the civil war, when this kind of work was generally 
 interrupted if not altogether neglected. Indeed, it is not 
 uncommon to find in many registers special allusion made to 
 the circumstances of the time, sometimes by way of excuse 
 for neglecting the register,* but more frequently as a 
 convenient method for enabling the indignant parson to 
 relieve his feelings by piling up epithets against the arch 
 
 *" Thus at Kibworth, under date 1641, occurs this passage :—" Know all men, 
 that the reason why little or nothing is registered from this year 1641 to the year 
 1649, was the civil wars between King Charles and his Parliament, which put all 
 into confusion till then : and neither minister nor people could quietly stay at 
 home for one party or the other." 
 
THE PARISH REGISTERS. I4I 
 
 disturber of the time. There is nothing of the kind at 
 Scrivelsby. The only noticeable thing is that between 1642 
 and 1650 there are fewer entries than usual. 
 
 The oldest register begins with the year 1565, but there 
 is only one page for this year ; then the record breaks off 
 and is not taken up again till 1576, after which till 1653 the 
 entries were made with commendable regularity. Up to the 
 year 16 14, when Parson Haughton died, the old court-hand 
 is used, and the penmanship employed puts our modern 
 hand-writing to shame. Then, during the incumbency of 
 Haughton's successor, who styles himself " John Dixon de 
 Screilsbye," the register was well kept and well written, in 
 the transition writing of the time, up to 1653, when the 
 following ominous memorandum occurs, badly written and 
 almost illegible : — 
 
 "Approved and sworne Thomas Sparkes Register for 
 the towne of Screelsby, according to a late Act of 
 Parliament touchinge marriages Birthes and Buryalls." 
 
 From this point all goes wrong with the registers, and 
 this bad state of things continues till the incumbency of the 
 Rev. John Brownell, in 1751, from which time to 181 2 the 
 registers were again on the whole fairly well kept. It is in 
 the intermediate period between the arrival of the Parlia- 
 mentary Sparkes and the Rectorate of Mr. Brownell that the 
 registers were so badly treated. It was then that fire and 
 damp and penknife and scissors did their deadly work. Then 
 it was that the higgledy-piggledy method was adopted of 
 
142 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 filling blank spaces wherever they could be found, and then 
 it was that the task of entering the births, deaths, and 
 marriages, was apparently left to the clerk or his wife. Here 
 is a specimen of an entry written in the worst kind of 
 peasant illiteracy : — 
 
 " ID of March Richard Lanes 
 
 1682 baptized the sun of Martha Lanes and 
 
 frances his wif 
 
 th 2 of October, 1684 
 
 Mary Lanes babtised the dautar of 
 
 Martha Lanes and Trainees his wif." 
 
 This precious information is given on the page properly 
 
 belonging to the year 1621. In this period the name of the 
 
 Rector is hardly ever given. Sometimes it is mentioned 
 
 once, and never again. 
 
 Here is a curious problem which hitherto has defied 
 solution. In 1663 and again in 1669 Thomas Booker signs as 
 Rector, having been duly instituted in 1660. He also signs in 
 1670 and 1671. His name does not appear again till 1704, 
 when in the list of burials occurs this entry :^ — "Thomas Booker, 
 Rector of Scrivelsby, buried March the 30th day." He was 
 consequently Rector from 1660 to 1704, but there was a time 
 when two Richards were to be seen in the field at the same 
 time, for a certain William Wood signs as Rector in 1671, and 
 he is buried as Rector in 1672. How comes William Wood to 
 be styled not only Rector but Rector of Scrivelsby, at the 
 time when Thomas Booker was alive and in the enjoyment 
 
THE PARISH REGISTERS. 1 43 
 
 of his professional title? If this had happened lo or 15 years 
 earlier, it might have been assumed that the rightful Booker 
 had been wrongfully ousted, and the wrongful Wood had been 
 unrighteously foisted into his place. But ecclesiastical matters 
 had shared with temporal policy the peaceful settlement of 
 the Restoration, and it is incredible that, ten years afterwards, 
 a duly qualified Rector should have been deprived of his 
 benefice, a successor appointed, and the previous incumbent 
 recalled to his post, and all within the space of two years. 
 This, however, is the problem which has yet to be solved. 
 It should be added that no record exists at Lincoln of the 
 institution of William Wood. This is a factor of which 
 account must be taken, but it does not solve the problem. 
 Every now and then the Parson for the time being or 
 some one officiating as Curate would take the opportunity 
 of recording something personal to himself. Thus a propos 
 of nothing in particular to lead up to the announcement, we 
 are told, and presumably with the expectation that we 
 should be interested in hearing it, that a certain John Mazey, 
 of whom nothing is said in any other part of the book, was 
 " inducted into the Rectory of Roughton on the 29*'' of 
 May 1673." This announcement, however important in 
 itself, is not likely to be so widely and generally appreciated 
 as a statement which appears in one of the old register 
 books of the parish of Woodham Walter, in Essex, to this 
 eff"ect, and in these words : — " Be it known unto all men, 
 that a fatt goose is better than a lean been." Albeit this 
 
144 SCRIVELSBY, THE HOME OF THE CHAMPIONS. 
 
 announcement partakes of the nature of a truism, which 
 no one is likely to gainsay, it is at least amusing, which is 
 more than can be said of the institution to Roughton of the 
 Reverend John Mazey. 
 
 Many more curiosities in connection with our old 
 registers might be mentioned. Enough, however, has been 
 advanced in proof of the opening sentence of this chapter; 
 and, although much may be said in favour of allowing our 
 old registers to remain in the custody of the parochial 
 clergy, it would be vain to contend that an equally strong 
 case could not be easily made out for transferring them to 
 the Master of the Rolls or some other authority that would 
 be responsible for the due preservation of these-, priceless 
 records. The foregoing account of the Scrivelsby registers 
 might be cited as a strong argument for thus dealing with 
 them. But it is tolerably certain that these old books 
 will be much better cared for in time to come than too 
 often has been the case in time past. *Their value is now- 
 more highly appreciated, and Incumbents who wish to retain 
 possession of their register books must realize the responsi- 
 bility which attaches to the person in whose custody they 
 are placed. They should be lovingly handled, reverently 
 examined, and, above all, carefully guarded. On these terms 
 only is it to be expected that the parochial clergy will 
 be trusted with so precious a charge. 
 
i^XFXX'gX' 
 
 -^-APPENDIX.-se^ 
 
 •XHXKS)^ 
 
APPENDIX No. I. 
 
 THE CHAMPIONS OF ENGLAND. 
 
 The Norman Barons Marmyon 
 
 At Norman Court held high degree : 
 
 Brave Knights and Champions, every one, 
 To him who won brave Scrivelsby. 
 
 These Lincoln lands the Conqueror gave, 
 That England's glove they should convey 
 
 To Knight renowned among the brave, 
 The Baron bold of Fontenay. 
 
 The royal grant from sire to son 
 
 Devolved direct in capite, 
 Until deceased Phill. Marmyon, 
 
 When rose fair Joan of Scrivelsby. 
 
 From London city on the Thames, 
 To Berwick town upon the Tweed, 
 
 Came gallants, all of courtly names. 
 At feet of Joan their cause to plead. 
 
 Yet malgri all this goodly band, 
 
 The maiden's smiles young Ludlow won, 
 
 Her heart and hand, her grant and land, 
 The sword and shield of Marmyon. 
 
 Out upon time, the scurvy knave. 
 Spoiler of youth, hard-hearted churl : 
 
 Fast mowing to one common grave 
 Goodwife and ladie, hind and earl. 
 
148 APPENDIX. 
 
 Out upon time, since the world began, 
 No Sabbath hath his greyhound-hmb : 
 
 In coursing man, devoted man, 
 
 To age and death — out, out on him. 
 
 In Lincoln's chancel, side by side, 
 
 Their effigies from marble hewn. 
 The anni written when they died, 
 
 Repose de Ludlow and Dame Joan. 
 
 One daughter fair survived alone. 
 
 The son deceased in infancy : 
 De Ludlow and de Marmyon 
 
 United thus in Margery. 
 
 And she was woo'd as maids have been. 
 And won as maids are sure to be, 
 
 When gallant youths in Lincoln Green 
 Do suit, like Dymock, fervently. 
 
 Sir John de Dymoke claimed the right. 
 The Championship, through Margery ; 
 
 And 'gainst Sir Baldwin Freville, Knight, 
 Prevailed as Lord of Scrivelsby. 
 
 And ever since, when England's Kings 
 Are diadem'd — no matter where — 
 
 The Champion Dymoke boldly flings 
 His glove, should treason venture there. 
 
 On gallant steed, in armour bright, 
 His visor close, and couch'd his lance, 
 
 Proclaimeth he the monarch's right 
 
 To England, Ireland, Wales, and France. 
 
 Then braA^ely cry with Dymoke bold, 
 Long may the King triumphant reign. 
 
 And when fair hands the sceptre hold. 
 More bravely still — long live the Queen. 
 
 Old Ballad. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 No. 2. 
 
 TABLE SHEWING THE DESCENT OF THE PRESENT 
 CHAMPION FROM SIR PHILIP MARMION. 
 
 149 
 
 I. 
 
 Sir Philip Marmion 
 
 
 2. 
 
 Joan or Jane 
 
 ^ Sir Thos. Ludlow 
 
 3- 
 
 Thomas Ludlow 
 
 
 4- 
 
 Margaret Ludlow 
 
 = Sir lohn Dymoke 
 
 5- 
 
 Sir Thomas Dymoke (i) 
 
 = Elizabeth Hebden 
 
 6. 
 
 Sir Philip Dymoke 
 
 = Jane Conyers 
 
 7- 
 
 Sir Thomas Dymoke (2) 
 
 = Margaret, daughter of Lord Welles 
 
 8. 
 
 Sir Robert (i) 
 
 = Jane Sparrow 
 
 9- 
 
 Sir Edward (i) 
 
 = Ann, daughter of Lord Talbois 
 
 10. 
 
 Robert 
 
 = Bridget, daughter of the Earl of 
 Lincoln 
 
 II. 
 
 Sir Nicholas 
 
 = Mary Danvers 
 
 12. 
 
 Sir Edward (3) 
 
 = Jane Cressey 
 
 13- 
 
 Edward Dymoke, Junr. 
 
 = Abigail Snowden 
 
 14. 
 
 John (i) 
 
 = daughter of Sir Charles Dymoke 
 
 15- 
 
 John (2) 
 
 
 16. 
 
 John (3) 
 
 = Rebecca Rayner 
 
 17- 
 
 Thomas Dymoke 
 
 = Francis Capp 
 
 18. 
 
 John (4) Dymoke 
 
 = Margaret Seaman 
 
 19- 
 
 Francis Seaman 
 
 = Mary Anne Pollexfen 
 
 N.B. — In this table is omitted every unnecessary name. Each step marks 
 lineal descent from parent to child. The full family tree will be 
 given in No. 15 of the Appendix. 
 
150 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 3. 
 MURAL TABLET TO LIONEL DYMOKE. 
 
 The interesting mural tablet to Lionel Dymoke in Homcastle 
 Church exhibits a well-defined figure of an armed knight, kneeling on 
 a cushion and holding in his hand a scroll containing in black letter 
 the following inscription : — 
 
 "S'cta trinitas unus Deus miserere nob." 
 
 On each side of this figure are two shields containing arms, as 
 follows : — 
 
 1. Dymoke, sable, two lions passant, argent in pale, ducally 
 
 crowned, or : empaling Waterton, Barry of six ermine and 
 gules. 
 
 2. Dymoke, empaling Marmion, Vaire, on a fesse gules fi-ette or; in 
 
 chief, Hebden, ermine, five fusils in fess; a crescent for 
 difference. 
 
 3. Argent, a sword erect azure : hilt and pommel gules. 
 
 4. Dymoke impaling Haydon, quarterly gules and argent, a cross 
 
 engrailed counter changed : a crescent for difference. 
 In one of the lower corners of this brass, are the figures of his 
 two sons, who died in infancy, and in the other corner three of his 
 daughters. 
 
 The brass also bears the following inscription in black letter: — 
 * " In honore sc'te et individue trinitas orate p' a'ia Leonis 
 Dymoke milit' q' obijit xvij die me'se Augusti a° D'ni 
 M°cccccxix cui' a'ie p'piciet de' Amen." Weir. 
 
 * For the benefit of those who are unacquainted with these abbreviations, it may be 
 worth while to give the inscription in full: — 
 
 " In honore sanctoe et individuoe Trinitatis orate pro anima Leonis Dymoke militis qui 
 obiit XVII" die mense Augusti anno Domini MCCCCCXIX cujus animoe propiecitur 
 Deus." 
 " In honour of the Holy and undivided Trinity pray for the soul of Lionel Dymoke a 
 soldier who died on the 17th day in the month of August 15 19 on whose soul 
 may God have mercy." lit. " To whose soul may the mercy of God's propitiation 
 be extended." 
 
APPENDIX. 151 
 
 In the pavement below there is a shrouded effigy of this knight, and 
 the following lines were once to be seen hard by, but they are now 
 almost if not quite illegible. 
 
 " Leonis fossa nunc haec Dymoke capit ossa. 
 Miles erat Regis cui parce Deus prece Matris. 
 Es testis Christe quod non iacet hie lapis iste 
 Corpus ut ornetur sed spiritus ut memoretur. 
 Hinc tu qui transis senex medius puer an sis 
 Pro me funde preces quia sic milii fit venie spes."'- 
 
 * It is not easy to give an adequate representation of these old rugged verses with their double 
 rime, but the following rough attempt will convey some idea of what was in the mind of the writer 
 when he composed the knight's epitaph. 
 
 This vault contains the poor remains 
 
 Of Dymoke, Lionel : 
 A soldier brave, within this grave, 
 
 He must a short while dwell : 
 But through the Virgin's intercession 
 He hopes for joyful resurrection. 
 
 Thou, Christ, dost know, that not for show 
 
 Or body's decoration 
 This stone we place : it is to grace 
 
 His spirit's habitation. 
 
 So pray for me, whoe'er you be 
 
 Whate'er your age or station, 
 Before you go : for only so 
 
 Are hopes for my salvation. 
 
152 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 THE MONUMENT TO SIR ROBERT DYMOKE IN 
 SCRIVELSBY CHURCH. 
 
 Since Chapter VI. was in the printer's hands, a curious, but still 
 inconclusive piece of evidence, relating to the tomb of Sir Robert 
 Dymoke, has been supplied by the discovery in Scrivelsby Court, the 
 dwelling place of the Champions, of an old brass which has evidently 
 been forcibly wrenched from a stone to which it was once affixed. It 
 is nearly but not quite square, the exact dimensions being 14 inches 
 by 13^, and on the upper part is the Dymoke Coat of Arms, well 
 and clearly cut. The inscription is much more roughly cut and is as 
 follows : — 
 
 "Under this Stone lyes y" Body of Sir Robert Dymoke, 
 Bannarett, who was A General to King Henery y= S*'^ at 
 y^ Takeing of Tournay in France, and left there his 
 Treasourer. His Monument was Remov'd under y^ Arch 
 in 1760 by y° present Champion's Orders." 
 As to this inscription, of which the above is an exact copy, there 
 are three things to be noted : 
 
 1. The proper description, Banneret, is given, and not Baronet, 
 
 as on the tomb. 
 
 2. The Monument is not now in the place where it was originally 
 
 set up. It was removed, but it is not said whether it 
 was removed from or to the arch of which it speaks, nor 
 is any reason given why it was removed. 
 
 3. The removal was affected in 1760 by the order of the present 
 
 Champion. 
 How far does this inscription help us to decide whether the tomb 
 was erected at Haltham or Scrivelsby? It is obvious that the words 
 "under this stone" may refer to the Church of either parish, and that 
 the removal spoken of may have been either from Haltham to 
 Scrivelsby or from one part of Scrivelsby Church to another. There is, 
 too, a delightful obscurity about " the order of the present Champion in 
 1760," for in that year there were no less than three Champions, viz.: 
 Louis (i), Edward, his successor, and John, the son of Edward. 
 
APPENDIX. 153 
 
 Looking impartially at the evidence as a whole, it would seem to 
 favour the conclusion that Sir Robert Dymoke died and was buried at 
 Scrivelsby, and that his monument which had been placed originally 
 over the grave was removed to its present position under the arch, by 
 order of John Dymoke, the last of the three Champions of 1760. 
 
 The fact of the brass in question being found at Scrivelsby Court 
 favours this conclusion. How did it come there ? Why was it taken 
 from the place where it had once been fixed ? If, indeed, the 
 monument were brought from Haltham, it is not surprising that the 
 plate denoting the spot where the burial had taken place should be 
 brought away with it ; but this particular plate could never have been at 
 Haltham at all, for it speaks of a removal " under the arch in 1 760," 
 and a close inspection makes it evident that the words on the plate 
 were all engraved at the same time. It is reasonable therefore to infer 
 that the monument was simply removed from one to another part of 
 the same Church, and that Church must have been Scrivelsby, for there 
 is* no arch in Haltham Church to or from which such a monument 
 could have been taken. But when the monument was removed, 
 the plate was probably placed at first on the pavement close to it, 
 but was subsequentl)' taken away, as not being over the spot where the 
 body had been interred ; and what so natural, under the circumstances, 
 as that the Champion who had ordered the removal should have taken 
 the brass to his own house, where it would be stowed away in some 
 corner, and in course of time would be quite forgotten ? The inference 
 therefore, is that Banks was wrong in saying that the monument to 
 Sir Robert Dymoke was originally at Haltham. But although such an 
 inference may be fairly drawn from the premises, it is equally possible 
 that an opposite conclusion might be arrived at by adopting another 
 line of argument. For instance, it might be said that the brass in 
 question is altogether misleading. It must be granted, indeed, that it 
 could never have been at Haltham, but it might be argued that it was 
 engraved by the Champion's order to account for the change of site, 
 the first part of it being possibly copied from a similar brass in 
 Haltham Church, but the new brass was afterwards taken away for the 
 sake of decency, because it falsely asserted that under it was buried 
 the body of the Champion to whose memory the monument was 
 u 
 
1 54 APPENDIX. 
 
 erected. So, although some progress has been made by the suggestion 
 of a possible solution of the problem, the question still remains 
 undecided. The only sure standing-ground is that given at the end of 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 In Lincolnshire Notes and Queries, Vol. 2, p. 57, "Sepulchral Brasses 
 in Lincolnshire," a good suggestion is made to account for the word 
 baronet being used instead of " banneret." It had been previously thought 
 that the brass was not cut till after 161 1, when the term baronet was 
 familiar, and " banneret " obsolete. But the learned writer points out that 
 as an interval of at least jy years had elapsed after the death of Sir Robert 
 Dymoke, and as the writing is too well cut for the 1 7th century " it seems 
 more probable that it was restored after some injury, received probably in 
 the civil war, and that the restorer imagined himself to be correcting a 
 blunder in the original inscription." 
 
APPENDIX. 155 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 AUTOGRAPH LETTER FROM HENRY VIII. TO SIR ROBERT 
 
 DYMOKE IN 1 513. 
 
 Now in the possession of Lady Hartwell the only child of Sir Henry 
 
 Dymoke, Bart. 
 
 The following is a translation into modem English of the original 
 letter written in the court hand of the period. 
 "By the King. 
 Henry viij. 
 
 We wol and co'mande you that of o' money being in y^" 
 keepinge, you do paye and delyvere unto o' Sherrif Lancastre, 
 oon of o' heralde, the somme of seven ponnde thirtene shillinge 
 and foure pens sterlinge, for suche cost and charge as he hath 
 susteyned by o"^ co'mandement to and from us and o' citie of 
 Torney and thes o' 'tres (lettres ?) shal be your suffic'ent warrant 
 and discharge in this behalfe. 
 
 Given under o'' signet at o' Mano"^ of Elth'm the xiith daye 
 of July the v*'' y're of o"" reigne. 
 To o'' trusty and welbeloved 
 Knight of o"" body Sir Robert 
 Dymmok treasourer of 0' 
 
 citie of To'^ney." 
 With regard to the foregoing the term "Lancaster Sheriff" is to be 
 noted. A "Lancaster Herald" is a well-known expression, but this 
 mention of a "Lancaster Sheriff" is unique. 
 
 -©XK®" 
 
156 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 6. 
 LETTER OF QUEEN MARY TO SIR EDWARD DYMOKE. 
 
 This letter also, written in the court hand of the time, is now in the 
 
 possession of Lady Hartwell. It is here reproduced in modern English 
 
 characters : — 
 
 " By the Queene. 
 
 Mary the Queene. 
 
 Trustie and welbelovid, wee grete you well and lett you 
 
 know herewith that the warres be open betwixte us and France, 
 
 and the King, our derest Lorde and husbande, passed the sea in 
 
 parson to pursue the enemye, wee have gyven ordre (as mete 
 
 is our honor and suretie so reguyring) to have a convenyent 
 
 sorte put in parfect redyness in preparacon I'attendre upon 
 
 our own parson, as well for the defence and suretie thereof, 
 
 as to resiste such attempts as may be by any forren ennymie, or 
 
 otherwise made agaynst us and our realme ; and knowing your 
 
 fidelite and goodwill to s'rve us, have appoynted you to be one 
 
 emongst others that shall attend upon us; therefore requiring 
 
 and charging you not onlie to put yourselfe in ordre accordinglie, 
 
 but also to cause your tenints srv'nts and others w*^ in your 
 
 rules and ofiSces, to furnj'she yourselfe w"' ten horsemen, and 
 
 one hundred footmen, well appoynted ; of the whiche footmen, 
 
 one iiii*'' parte to be harquebuttiers or Archers: one other iiii*"" 
 
 parte pykes ; and the reste Bills ; and which the said nombres 
 
 of men, horse, and furnyture well in ordre to be readye to 
 
 attende upon us, or ellswhere by our appoyntmente, upon one 
 
 dais warnyng at any tyme after the xxv*'' daye of Auguste 
 
 nexte comyng ; ann in the meane tyme untill you shal be so 
 
 called to s'rve us, remayne in full readyness and ordre to 
 
 s'rve under theyme that have charge in that countie ; and 
 
 hereof fayle ye not. 
 
 Geoven undre our signett at out Manor Richmond the laste 
 of Julie, the fourth and fyfte yeres of our reignes. 
 
 To our trustie and well bloved Sir Edward Dymoke, Knigt." 
 
 The close connection existing between France and Scotland in the 
 
 14th and 15th centuries is well known to all historical students. England's 
 
APPENDIX. 157 
 
 difficulty in France was always Scotland's opportunity in England. War 
 between the two countries, especially when the English Sovereign crossed 
 the water to conduct the war in person, was always the signal for Scotland 
 to rise and assist her friends in France by overrunning the border and 
 inflicting as much damage as was practicable on each occasion. It is very 
 true that this was not always a safe game to play. A Queen of England 
 had once before led her troops in person to punish the Scots for turning 
 her husband's absence to the usual account, and the laurels gained by the 
 wife at Nevil's Cross were not unworthy to be twined with those 
 subsequently gained by the husband at the great battle of Crecy in 1346. 
 Coming nearer to Mary's own time, the memory of Flodden Field was 
 still green, and it requires no stretch of imagination to believe that Queen 
 Mary was seriously intending to take the field in person against the Scots 
 who were notoriously preparing to help their French alhes, now that war 
 had once more broken out, and King Philip, the husband of Mary, was 
 fairly out of the kingdom, having " crossed the sea in parson to pursue the 
 enemye." It is certainly a little remarkable to find a woman like Mary 
 desirous of emulating the heroism of Queen Phillipa, but she was at the 
 time, as we well know, restless, uneasy, and full of trouble from every 
 quarter. Conscious of having forfeited the affections of her people, 
 pining for the return of her husband, whose waning love and phlegmatic 
 temperament chilled and depressed her, jealous other sister and successor, 
 Elizabeth, and ill at ease with herself, she may well have conceived the 
 idea of seeking distraction abroad amidst the stirring scenes of war from 
 the thoughts which oppressed her in the peaceful avocations of every -day 
 life at home. However this may be, it was generally supposed at the time 
 that the Queen had made up her mind to lead her troops in person to 
 Scotland, and this letter to Sir Edward Dymoke, with its minute directions 
 and hints of establishing a special bodyguard selected from her subjects of 
 most approved loyalty, seems to confirm the general report, not only by 
 its particular terms, but because it is addressed to the Champion in an 
 autograph letter by Queen Mary herself, instead of being sent in the 
 ordinary course through the Lord Lieutenant of the county. 
 Scrivelsby Rectory. S.L." 
 
 The foregoing was contributed in 1888 to Lincolnshire Notes and 
 Queries, and is now reproduced with the kind permission of the Editors. 
 
158 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 ORDERS BY MRS. JANE DYMOKE. 
 
 Mrs. Jane Dymoke, the wife of Charles Dymoke, Esq., was a good 
 woman and a benevolent, but imperious withal. After her husband's 
 death she busied herself with philanthropic attempts to ameliorate the 
 condition of her poor neighbours. Having property at Hemingby, she 
 left a sum of money and divers lands for the endowment of a Hospital or 
 Almshouses for aged widows who had seen better days, with preference to 
 the widows of clergymen ; for the payment of a School Master and 
 Mistress ; for giving a free education to the children of her tenants ; for 
 clothing a certain number of scholars of both sexes ; and for apprenticing 
 the boys to some tradesman or artizan in the neighbourhood. A few 
 years ago this last-named opportunity of beginning a career was eagerly 
 coveted, but in these days of restlessness and independence, parents do 
 not seem to appreciate the boon. "Binding out," as it is called, is a 
 restriction on personal liberty and the noble soul liketh it not. Parents 
 like their children to be free, and the children in this one point agree with 
 their parents. Thus the good intentions of the benevolent lady are 
 necessarily frustrated, and the money has to be diverted into another 
 channel. We gather from certain expressions in her will that any change 
 of this kind would have been very distasteful to a lady who constantly 
 reiterates " I will have so and so done," " I will have my orders obe}^ed." 
 Mrs. Jane Dymoke was buried at Horncastle and not, as might have been 
 expected, at Scrivelsby, where her husband died and was buried. 
 
 Extract from "Orders" given by Mrs. Jane Dymoke in 1736 for the 
 good administration of her schools at Hemingby." 
 
 "That by Mrs. Dymoke's order, the Schoolmaster and children 
 shall be visited, as she shall appoint, to see that all things be 
 kept in order, and that the children be orderly, and to hear 
 what complaints are made by the Master and Mistress of the 
 said children, and to rectify the same." 
 
 * These " Orders " though quaintly expressed, are in many respects admirable, and might 
 be adopted with advantage by many school teachers of the present day. They are worth 
 preserving, too, as shewing vividly the difference between yesterday and to-day. No one now 
 would venture to give such directions as were seriously given 150 years ago. 
 
APPENDIX. I^Q 
 
 " That the Master be duly quahfied to teach the children to read 
 English well and to write a good hand and to understand 
 Arithmetic. / do not desire the girls should learn to write— 
 only the boys." 
 
 " That the Master and Mistress be members of the Church of 
 England ; that the Master shall instruct the children in the 
 principles of the Christian Religion, as laid down in the 
 Church Catechism, and in the use of the Common Prayer 
 Book, and that he prays with them at School, morning and 
 evening, and enjoins them to do the same at home, and to 
 say Grace before and after Meat." 
 
 " That the Schoolmaster brings them to Church every prayer day 
 and sees that they behave themselves with all reverence, as 
 the Rubric directs." 
 
 " That he takes particular care of their manner and behaviour, 
 and not suffer any vice to grow upon them, but presently 
 check it by due admonitions and corrections without 
 partiality." 
 
 The following orders relate to parents. 
 
 " That they shall keep their children at School without changing 
 
 them." i.e., we suppose the school, not the children ! 
 " That they send the children clean washed and combed, with a 
 
 piece of white linen about their necks, and only Sundays and 
 
 Holidays in their School habits, without they have leave to 
 
 do otherwise." 
 " That they would set them a good example at home, hear them 
 
 their lessons, catechism, and prayers, and see they perform 
 
 their tasks properly." 
 "That they freely submit their children to the discipline and 
 
 correction of the School, and not to send them a begging 
 
 round the country as vagrants, and that they shall forbear 
 
 coming to the School, and not to speak ill of their Master 
 
 or Mistress for correcting them." 
 "That such parents and such children who will not submit to 
 
 these orders, their childien shall be turned out of the School 
 
 and lose their clothes." 
 
l6o APPENDIX. 
 
 " I do also order that all or any of the girls may be employed by 
 
 any of my tenants in sewing, and spinning, and knitting, 
 
 that they may not be idle, and for them to give the girls a 
 
 small matter to encourage them." 
 
 And then in the midst of sundry directions for carrying out her kind 
 
 intentions, the old lady abruptly addresses one of the Trustees by name — 
 
 thus : " Mr. Caborn, I desire you will take particular care that these my 
 
 orders may be performed as I have set down. And if in case anj'- of the 
 
 said Widows, Schoolmasters, or Schoolmistresses, or Children, neglect to 
 
 observe them, to let me know by the very first opportunity, and they shall 
 
 be discharged, for / will have them observed." 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 i6r 
 
 No. 8. 
 QUARTERINGS OF THE DYMOKE COAT OF ARMS. 
 Arms — Sa., two lions passant, arg. crowned, or ; Quarterings. 
 
 I 
 
 Dymoke 
 
 2 
 
 Ludlow 
 
 3 
 
 Marmion 
 
 4 
 
 Kilpeck [so stated in the books of 
 
 
 the College of Arms, but 
 
 
 this particular Quartering was 
 
 
 probably borne as the badge 
 
 
 of office of Champion (see 
 
 
 Ralph Brooke's Discovery of 
 
 
 Camdens Errors.y] 
 
 5 
 
 Hebden 
 
 6 
 
 Rye 
 
 7 
 
 Welles 
 
 8 
 
 Waterton 
 
 9 
 
 Engaine 
 
 10 
 
 Sparrow 
 
 II 
 
 Talboys 
 
 12 
 
 Barraden 
 
 13 
 
 Fitzwith 
 
 14 
 
 Umfraville 
 
 15 
 
 Kyme 
 
 Crests — i A sword erect, arg., hilt and pommel, or : 
 
 2 A lion, passant, arg., crowned, or : 
 
 3 The scalp of a hare, ears erect, p.p.r. 
 
 The frontispiece shows the Escutcheon of the Dymoke Coat of Arms 
 with the proper colourings. 
 
 V 
 
1 62 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 DYMOKE ENTRIES EXTRACTED FROM OLD REGISTER. 
 
 The following is a list of the names of the members of the Dymoke 
 family that are found in the old Scrivelsby registers : — 
 
 1566 Mr. Thomas Windebanke and Mrs. Frances Dymoke married, 
 
 the 20"" day of August. 
 1580 Robert Dymoke, buried, 26"" of September. 
 1585 Katherine Dymocke, the daughter of Edward Dymocke was 
 
 baptized the 28 of August Anno supra dicto. 
 1593 Anne Dymoke, daughter of Rob*. Dymoke Esquier, was baptized 
 
 the second daye of December Anno sup'' dcto. 
 1597 John Dymoke, gent, buried 15th day of December a" supra dicto. 
 1600 Edward son and heyre to Sir Edwd Dymoke, Knight, was buried 
 
 May 18. 
 1624 Edward Dimock, Knight, buried Septem. 2. 
 1 641 Ladye Mary Dymocke, buyried July 10*''. 
 
 1654 Edward Dymoke, Jutf. and Abigail Snowden weare married, the 
 18 of July Anno Domi 1654. 
 
 1655 Robert Dymoke, the sofie of Edward Dymoke Jun"'. and Abigail 
 was borne, the 2'j of Aprill and was baptized the same day. 
 
 1667 Mrs. Elizabeth Dymoke ye wife of John Dymoke, gent, bur: 
 July 29* Anno p. dicto {prcedicto). 
 
 \66i Jane ye daughter of John Dymoke bur. August 7* Anno p). dcto. 
 
 1668 Nicolas the sonn of Nicolas D3'moke, gent, and Anne his wife 
 buried May 16"^ Ann, p'. do. 
 
 1668 John Dymoke, gent, buried July 20* Ann p. d°. 
 
 1669 Lewis the Sonn of Charles Dymoke Esquire, andEhanor his wife 
 bap. Feb. 14*^ Anno Supra dicto. 
 
 1669 Catherin Dymoke ye daughter of Charles Dymoke Esquire and 
 
 Elianor his wife, buried Nov. d**". An. 'p. d°. 
 1669 Mrs. Penelope Dymoke ye daughter of Charles Dymoke Esquire 
 
 buried April 7*. Anno Sup. D". 
 1 67 1 John ye sonn of Nicolas Dymoke, gent, buried Nov*'^'". 0,''^. 
 1671 Jane, ye daughter of Nicolas Dymoke gent, buried December 6'^ 
 1 671 Anne the wife of Nicholas Dymoke buried March 16. 
 
APPENDIX. 163 
 
 1693 Edward Dymoke, gent, was buried May 13. 
 
 1698 The Hon**i« lady Elener Dymoke, widow of Sir Charles Dymoke, 
 
 Knight was buried on the 7* day of July 1698. 
 1702 The truly Hon'"" and worthy Charles Dymoke, Esquire, 
 
 Champion of England, was buried on ye 24*''. day of January 
 
 170^, at Scrivelsby close to the north wall within the rails of the 
 
 chancel. 
 1 71 4 Tho. Dymok, the son of Nicolas buried March 28. 
 17 14 Nicholas Dymok of Enderby, buried Dec"'. 20. 
 1743 Jane Dymoke, widow of Sir Charies Dymoke, Champion, died 
 
 January 4'^ 1743, and was buried at Horncastle. 
 1756 Mrs. Elizabeth Dymoke ye daughter of S^ Charles Dymoke, 
 
 buried May 20. 
 1760 The Honbl^ Lewis Dymoke, Champion of England, died Feb. 
 
 the 5*^, buried Feb. the 25*^, 1760. 
 
 1763 Lewis, son of the Honb'^ John Dymoke Champion, and Martha 
 his wife born March 8'*- 1760, and bapt*. the same day. 
 
 1764 John, son of the Hontf°. John Dymoke, Champion, and Martha 
 his wife born March 8'^. 1760, and bapt^. the same day. 
 
 1784 The Honb^" John Dymoke, Champion of England, died in Old 
 
 Burlington Street, London, March 6^^. and was buried within the 
 
 communion rails at Scrielsby March 17'*, 1784. 
 1799 Baptized Charlotte Catherine Jane, the daughter of John 
 
 Dymoke, clerk. Rector of Scrielsby and Amelia his wife June 2''^. 
 
 1799. 
 1799 Charlotte Catherine Jane daughter of John Dymoke, Clerk, 
 
 Rector of Scrivelsby and Dalderby, and Amelia his wife, July 
 
 25'"- 1799- 
 1799 Charlotte Catherine Jane, daur of the Reverend John Dymoke 
 
 (Rector) buried on ye 26th Oct"^. 1799. 
 1 80 1 Baptised Henry the son of John Dymoke, Clerk, Rector of 
 
 Scrivelsby cum Dalderby, and Jane Alice Amelia his wife March 
 
 6«' 1801. 
 1 801 Christened Henry the son of John Dymoke, Clerk, Rector of 
 
 Scrivelsby cum Dalderby, and Jane Alice Amelia his wife, 
 
 August 3'*- 1 80 1, by me Thomas Roe, Rector of Kirkby Bane. 
 
164 APPENDIX. 
 
 1802 Baptized Mary the daughter of John Dymoke, Rector of 
 Scrivelsby, etc, and Jane Ahce Ameha his wife, Nov', is"'., 1802. 
 
 1803 Buried Mary daughter of Rev^. John Dymoke and Amelia his 
 
 wife, Apl TS*\ 1^03- 
 
 1804 Baptised John the son of John Dymoke, Clerk and Rector of this 
 parish and Jane Alice Amelia his wife, October 8*''., 1804. 
 
 1807 Baptised Maria Georgiana daughter of the Re^*. John Dymoke, 
 clerk. Rector of this parish, and Jane Alice Amelia his wife Feb'y. 
 g*\ 1807. 
 
 N.B. The following are not to be found in the parish registers, but 
 are taken from the transcripts at Lincoln and can be depended upon : 
 1 561 -2 Married. M^ John Dymok and Mystris Doritha Gyrlyngton 
 
 XXX Julie. 
 1 66 1-2 Christenings. Jane daughter of Edward Dymocke and Abigail 
 
 his wife June 4. 
 Frances daughter of Nicolas Dymoke Gent. & 
 Sarah his wife. Dec. 30. 
 1663 Burials. M". Sarah Dymocke wife of M'- Nicolas Dymocke, 
 Gent Aprill 6. 
 Sir Edward Dymocke, K*. buried Jan^. 8*^. 
 
 Tho^. Booker. 
 1664-5 Charles son of Nicholas Dymoke Gent, and Anne his wife 
 
 bapt. Aug. 5. 
 1665-6 NicholassonofNicholasDymokeJan.il. Christened. 
 1666-7 Jane daughter of Nicholas Dymoke Feb. 14. Christened. 
 1677-8 Burial. M"^. Thomas Dymoke May 22 
 1678-9 Burial. The Hon"^. Lady Jane Dymoke. Dec. 2j. 
 1679-80 Burial. Mrs. Frances Dymoke. 
 
 1684 Burial. Anne Dymoke of M'. Nicholas Dymoke {sic.) Nov. 7 
 1686 Burial. The Honourable S'^. Charles Dymoke, Nov. 2. 
 
 
APPENDIX. 
 No. lO. 
 
 165 
 
 LIST OF CHAMPIONS WHO HAVE ACTUALLY OFFICIATED. 
 
 Sir John Dymoke, for his wife, at the coronation of 
 Sir Thomas, for his mother 
 
 Do. do. 
 
 Sir Phflip ... 
 Sir Thomas . . . 
 Sir Robert . . . 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 Sir Edward (i) 
 
 Do. 
 
 Do. 
 Sir Edward (2) 
 
 Charles 
 
 Sir Edward (3) 
 Sir Charles . . . 
 Charles 
 
 Do 
 
 Lewis (i) 
 
 Do. 
 
 John 
 
 Henry, for his father the Rev. John Dymoke (i) 
 
 ... Richard II. 
 ... Henry IV. 
 
 Henry V. 
 ... Henry VI. 
 ... Edward IV. 
 ... Richard III. 
 ... Henry VII. 
 ... Henry VIII. 
 ... Edward VI. 
 Mary. 
 
 Elizabeth. 
 James I. 
 
 Charles I. 
 Charles II. 
 
 James II. 
 William and Mary. 
 Anne . 
 
 George I. 
 
 George II. 
 
 ... George III. 
 
 ... George IV. 
 
 ■HH- 
 
1 66 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. II. 
 
 LIST OF CHAMPIONS WHO NEVER OFFICIATED AT A 
 
 CORONATION. 
 
 Robert, who died in the year 1580 in Elizabeth's reign. 
 
 Sir Nicholas, the father of Sir Edward (3). 
 
 Edward, successor of Lewis (i), who died in the same year, 1760. 
 
 Lewis (2), eldest son of lohn, who acted at the coronation of George III. 
 
 Rev. John (2), brother of Sir Henry Dymoke, Bart. 
 
 Henry Lionel, last of the Scrivelsby branch, son of Rev. John (2). 
 
 Francis Seaman, first of the Tetford branch. 
 
 Lady Margaret (Ludlow) was represented by her husband once, and twice 
 
 by her son Sir Thomas. 
 Rev. John (i) was represented by his son Henry at the coronation of 
 
 George IV., in 1820. 
 
APPENDIX. 167 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 THE CHAMPION'S FAREWELL. 
 By Tom Hood. 
 
 Otittm cum dignitate. 
 Here, bring me my breeches, my armour is o'er : 
 
 Farewell, for some time, to my tin pantaloons : 
 Double milled Kerseymere is a kind of leg clover. 
 
 Good luck to broad cloth for a score or two moons. 
 
 Here, hang up my helmet, and reach me my beaver, ' 
 
 This avoirdupois weight of glory must fall : 
 I think on my life that again I shall never 
 
 Take my head in a saucepan to Westminster Hall. 
 
 Oh ! why was my family born to be martial ? 
 
 'Tis a mercy this grand show of fighting is up : 
 I do not think Cato was much over partial 
 
 To back through the dishes with me and my cup. 
 
 By the blood of the Dymokes I'll sit in my lodgings. 
 And the gauntlet resign for neat gentleman's doe : 
 
 If I ride, I will ride, and no longer be dodging 
 My horse's old tail twixt Duke Marquis & Co. 
 
 No more on my horsemanship folks shall make merry. 
 
 For I'll ship man and horse, and "show off" not on shore ; 
 
 No fannies for me, I will ride in a wherry. 
 They feathered my skull but I'll feather viy oar. 
 
 So, Thomas, take Cato, and put on his halter. 
 And give him some beans, since I now am at peace : 
 
 If a champion is wanted, pray go to Sir Walter, 
 And he'll let you out Marmions at guineas apiece. 
 
 The ladies admired the piebald nag vastly. 
 
 And clapp'd his old sober sides into the street : 
 Here's a cheque upon Child's : so, my man, go to Astley, 
 
 Pay the charge of a charger and take a receipt. 
 
1 68 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 AN ELEGY ON DEATH OF SIR HENRY DYMOKE, 
 By Henry Winn. 
 
 On humble graves I oft have dropped a tear, 
 Yet stood unmoved beside the pompous bier, 
 Not schooled by flattery's art in cringing low- 
 To gilded baubles and unmeaning show : 
 It is no common death when such as I 
 Seize our rough quills to WTite an elegy. 
 
 Toll, Toll, thou solemn bell, and check our mirth : 
 A gentle spirit leaves this cherished earth : 
 Relentless death, whose dart no tears can stay. 
 With hasty summons calls our friend away : 
 The stroke seems cruel, but, we think, more kind 
 To him it takes than us it leaves behind. 
 
 The noblest spirit of an ancient line — 
 
 In him we saw each manly virtue shine : 
 
 His private life — a pattern served to give 
 
 How husbands. Fathers, Masters, ought to live : 
 
 In public life — he bore a noble part, 
 
 The friend of virtue, industry, and art. 
 
 Ready the poor to cheer, their wants assuage. 
 And smooth the wrinkles on the brow of age : 
 The pauper's humble plea, the culprit's cause. 
 He heard with pity, yet maintained the laws : 
 Patient he sat to weigh conflicting tales. 
 And with impartial hand upheld the scales. 
 
 Not Marmion's sword he wielded— but the pen. 
 And taught religion to his fellow men ; 
 O'er England's curse he mourned, and bared his brand 
 To smite the fiend which desolates our land. 
 Unstained by sordid greed, or vulgar pride. 
 Honoured he lived, and much too early died. 
 
APPENDIX. 169 
 
 Yet, wherefore grudge the happy soul its bliss, 
 
 And wish to hold it in a world like this ? 
 
 Its duty nobly done, it seeks for rest — 
 
 Its more congenial sphere among the blest. 
 
 Enrolled with ransomed bands on that glad shore 
 
 Where parted ones shall meet and part no more. 
 Take, gentle shade, this tributary verse 
 The muse presumptuous lays upon thy hearse. 
 
 w 
 
1 70 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 LETTER FROM HENRY VI. TO THE KEEPER OF THE 
 
 WARDROBE. 
 
 Henry VI. to Robert Boulton, i^th Nov., 1429. 
 
 (M.S. Record in the Chapter House— Robert Boulton was the keeper of 
 
 the wardrobe.) 
 
 Henry, to our well beloved clerk Robert Boulton, greeting. 
 It hath been shown to us and our council by our well beloved 
 squire Philip Dymoke, in what manner his ancestors (whose 
 memory is not obscured) have been accustomed to do certain 
 services and ceremonies at the coronation of our noble progenitors 
 in times heretofore. That is to say, to be armed on the day of 
 coronation and to be mounted on a large horse, and to do and 
 exercise whatever to the said services belongeth, receiving the 
 fees usual thereto ; so we by the advice and assent of our council, 
 will and command you that, for the holiday of our coronation 
 you cause to be prepared the trappings and other things in this 
 case usual, and then to be delivered to the said Philip in manner 
 as they have been delivered to his ancestors by the Wardrobe 
 Keepers of the said progenitors at such ceremony in times 
 heretofore, and we will that these our letters be to you a warrant 
 for the same, and that you have a due allowance for it in your 
 accompt. 
 
 To be delivered to the said Champion before the 2 ist April. 
 
 One rich great horse saddle or field saddle of crimson velvet, 
 with head stall reins, breast-plate and crupper, with daggs and 
 trappings, richly trimmed with gold and silver lace fringe, and 
 great and small tassels, with a pair of very large stirrops of 
 Spanish make, and stirrop leathers lined with velvet and gold and 
 silver lace, with two girths, and a surcingle, a bitt with silver and 
 gilt bosses, a pair of holsters lined with velvet and laced with gold 
 and silver lace, and a pair of holster-caps richly laced and fringed 
 suitable to the saddle, one plume of red, blue, and white feathers 
 (the colors of the three nations), containing 18 falls with a heme 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 171 
 
 top, one plume of feathers for the headstall and dock, and two 
 trumpet banners of his own arms. 
 It is worth remembering that Henry VI. was twice crowned. 
 It is said Robert de Mormion, the first Baron, had by gift of the 
 Conqueror : 
 
 Four Manors in Warwickshire, one in Gloucestershire, fourteen 
 in Lincolnshire, and seventeen in Leicestershire, all which were 
 inherited afterwards by the family. 
 
172 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
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 173 
 
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1 74 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. i6. 
 
 COMPETITION BETWEEN FREVILLE AND DYMOKE FOR 
 THE CHAMPIONSHIP. 
 
 Sir William Dugdale* informs us that Sir Baldwin Freville, the third 
 of that name, in the i Richard II., exhibited his claim to be the King's 
 Champion on the day of his coronation, and to do the service appertaining 
 to that office, by reason of the tenure of Tamwortht : viz., to ride 
 completelv armed upon a barbed horse into Westminster Hall, and to 
 challenge the combat with whomsoever that should dare to oppose the 
 king's title to the crown : which service the Marmions, anciently Lords 
 thereof, had heretofore performed. But Sir lohn Dimmock, being then his 
 competitor, carried it firom him, by ludgement of the Constable and 
 Marshall of England,^ in regard he was possessed of the Lordship of 
 Scrivelsby, in the County of Lincoln : which by better authorities than 
 Freville could produce,§ appeared to have been holden for divers ages by 
 that service : and that the Marmions had the said office, as owners thereof, 
 and not in right of their castle : it being descended to Dimmock, with 
 Scrivelsby, from an heir female of Sir Thomas Ludlow, Knight, husband of 
 Joan, the youngest daughter to Philip, the last Lord Marmion. 
 
 In later times an apparently weighty argument was advanced against 
 the tenure of Scrivelsby by Knight Sejeanty, inasmuch as it was said to 
 be well established that Serjeanties never paid escuage,|| whereas the 
 ancestress of the wife of Sir John Dymoke on one occasion paid this 
 particular fine, but Mr. Madox, in his history of the Exchequer, p. 453, 
 says, that "Escuage was generally paid out of Knight's fees ; but, that there 
 were also some Serjeantries which paid Escuage ; among which, Joan, late 
 wife of Thomas de Ludelow (who could not have been more than 17 years 
 of age at the time of her death), was charged for the Manor of Langeton, 
 with several Escuages of the armies of Scotland, assessed in the 28th, 31st, 
 
 * Dugdale's History of Warwickshire, edited by Thomas, Vol. 2, p. 1134. 
 f Escheat, 23, Edw. I., n. 29. 
 X M.S. in ofKe. arm. (H. 13) f. 321. 
 
 § Escheat, 23 Edw. III. F. levat. Term. Mich. I. vi. Line. 
 
 II Escuage or Scutage was the fine paid for non-attendance on the King in time of war. 
 Escuage accordingly was levied on females inheriting land from a deceased father. 
 
APPENDIX. 175 
 
 and 34th years of King Edward I., as if it had been holden of the King 
 by the fourth part of a Knight's fee : she alleged that the Manor of 
 Langeton was a member of the Manor of Scrivelsby, and that the Manor 
 of Scrivelsby with its members was holden of the King by Grand 
 Serjeantry, and not by Knight Service : hereupon, the King, by his writ, 
 commanded the Barons, that if it appeared to them, that the Manor of 
 Scrivelby was holden of the King by Grand Serjeantry, and that the 
 Manor of Langeton- was a member of the Manor of Scrivelby, and that 
 Joan or her ancestors had not formerly paid Escuage for the said Manor of 
 Langeton, then they should discharge her of the said demanded Escuages." 
 Mich. Brevia., 9 Edw. 11. , Rot. 13, a. 
 
1 76 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 ESTABLISHED ANECDOTES AND UNESTABLISHED OPINIONS 
 CONCERNING THE MARMION FAMILY AND THE 
 TENURE OF GRAND SERIEANTRY BY WHICH THE 
 MANOR OF SCRIVELSBY IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN 
 IS SAID TO BE HELD. 
 
 The lines given below, to which the above heading is appended, were 
 found at Revesby amongst the many valuable manuscripts of the late Sir 
 loseph Banks, although there is no reason for thinking that he composed 
 them. In spite of their doggerel character, they are evidently intended 
 to embody a serious argument : and the ballad form was probably chosen 
 as being most likely to arrest attention and to secure general acceptance. 
 
 The notes given at the end will enable the general reader to 
 understand the allusions, some at least of which might otherwise be almost 
 unintelligible. 
 
 When William the Bastard ^ at London kept house. 
 
 And his Frenchmen ate beef, at our English expense Sir, 
 
 His house-steward ^ who let all his purveyors loose ^ 
 Was call'd by the English Bobby Despencer. 
 
 This Bobby the Steward, was Marmion hight, 
 A name possibly coin'd out of true Kitchen Bullion,* 
 
 If his first trade was keeping the Pots and Pans bright, 
 For what Frenchman call Mariton we call a scullion. 
 
 One day when the Bastard had heartily din'd. 
 
 He said, "Bobby, if due Suit and Service you'l yield me. 
 
 To reward your good cheer I'm so warmly inclin'd. 
 
 That I'll grant you Black Coleshill and Snug little Scri'elsby." 
 
 Bobby ran for a Clerk who could minute the Grant, 
 
 While William sat boozing beside his long table, 
 But before this was finish'd away William went, 
 
 So to tell what the Service was, no man was able.^ 
 
APPENDIX. 177 
 
 Bobby soon rode to Poles worth and turn'd the nuns out, 
 
 For the which holy Editha grievously gored him,^ 
 So to Scrivelsby he went where he made a grand rout, 
 
 But the King's Court at Horncastle horribly bored himJ 
 
 At last old Bob died, and brave Robert his son 
 
 Stept forward, a Knight very fond of head breaking, 
 
 But before this great Warrior one battle had won 
 The Knight died in a ditch of his own proper making.^ 
 
 When Sir Robert the third got his Father's estate 
 
 A Jury was summon'd and sworn by their God 
 To return all his Services due to the State 
 
 But their verdict was, veril}' Nescimus quod? 
 
 Two Roberts succeeded, the Elder rebell'd. 
 
 The second was Loyal and happy and free. 
 But neither once said, that their Manor was held 
 
 By the tenure so Noble of Grand Serjeantry. 
 
 Next came Philip, a Knight of the spear and the sword, 
 
 The Family now had seen seven coronations. 
 Yet no Chronicle, History, Tale or Record, 
 
 Says they e'er gave a challenge by Right of their stations 
 
 10 
 
 Phihp ne'er had a son, so the Marmiton name 
 Which arose midst the scullery's Filth Grease and Smoke 
 
 Was left to the younger Branch, men of good Fame, 
 But the Lands went to Freviile and Sir John Dymoke. 
 
 How these youngsters could dream that the Conqueror gave 
 To Bob, his House Steward, the Champion's sword. 
 
 Is a matter good People can scarcely believe 
 Unless they've seen Faldingworth's lying Record.^^ 
 
 Neither William the First, nor fierce Rufus his son 
 
 Wanted mock men of war to demand mock concessions. 
 
 By their sharp swords they held what their sharp swords had won. 
 And left Champions to prop up disputed successions. 
 
 X 
 
178 APPENDIX. 
 
 From Doomsday we learn Scrivelsby's Tenure so grand, 
 
 By Sergeantry held, is a manifest Joke, 
 For that after the Conqueror granted the Land, 
 
 It owed suit and service to Homcastle Soke.^^ 
 
 That this Fancy was fosteir'd by Great John of Gaunt, 
 
 Who at BoUinbrook, five miles from Scrivelsby then dwelt. 
 
 That he told Sir John Dymoke, no aid we should want 
 If he'd claim that by Serjeantry Scrivelsby was held. 
 
 That the Faldingworth Roll, a most clumsy deceipt. 
 Was forg'd by John's order ^^ and brought forth to view, 
 
 That from John's wicked cunning, it got all its weight. 
 Were likely, for such things John us'd much to do.^* 
 
 When Richard the second our Monarch was crowned, 
 John of Gaunt sat alone and decided each claim. 
 
 It was then Scrivelsby Tenure the first time was found. 
 And tis then we first read of the Champion's name. 
 
 This John tried by a forg'd Roll to change the succession,^^ 
 He regarded not honor or the Law of the Land ; 
 
 This John minded not how he got wealth in possession, 
 Yet on his sole decision does this Tenure stand. 
 
 Surely George our good King's indefeazable right. 
 Which lives in our bosoms and reigns in our hearts. 
 
 Lacks not, to support it, the wager of Fight; 
 Fell Usurpers and Tyrants alone need such Arts. 
 
 An Heir, wise and valiant, prudent and just, 
 Entitled by Law to his much honor'd name. 
 
 Should dispence with a service which argues distrust. 
 And which casts a dark shade on the rights of his claim. 
 
APPENDIX. 179 
 
 NOTES TO BALLAD. 
 
 ^William the Conqueror was the illegitimate son of Robert Duke of Normandy, 
 known in history as Robert the Devil, but it is only fair to remember that the 
 Danish system of marriage was widely prevalent amongst the early Normans. By 
 this system which was a legalized form of concubinage, the woman was bound to her 
 paramour, while the man was at liberty to dissolve the connection at his pleasure. Of 
 the five generations of Norman Dukes from Rollo to William the Conqueror, all save one, 
 known in history as Richard the Good, contracted this species of marriage, which was 
 not deemed morally reprehensible, nor were the children of these informal unions 
 debarred from the rights of inheritance. 
 
 2 Robert Dispensator, the first English Champion. 
 
 'The allusion is to the system of purveyance, by which the King was entitled, on 
 his journeys, to be supplied with free quarters and entertainment. Such a custom was 
 frequently abused, and the " purveyors " had a bad reputation for exacting illegal 
 contributions to the King's necessities. 
 
 * As Dugdale does not mention any of Marmion's Norman Ancestors, we are 
 justified in supposing him to be the first of his family. 
 
 ^ In allusion to the return of the Juries mentioned in Testa de Nevill, which said 
 Nescimus quod servitium (we know not by what service the lands were held). 
 
 "Robert Dispensator is said to have been in such a hurry to secure his gi-ant of 
 Tamworth Castle, in the jurisdiction of which the Nunnery of Polesworth was situated, 
 that he forcibly ejected the Nuns from their home ; but their patron saint, Edith, 
 appeared to him in a vision, and so alarmed him by her denunciations of his sacrilege, 
 that he restored the Nuns, and made compensation for the wrong he had done. 
 
 'See page 8, where a reason is given for the disappearance of Scrivelsby from 
 the Soke of Horncastle, which is sufficiently confirmed by this statement. 
 
 8 See page 36. 
 
 ^ See note 5. 
 
 1" See page 109. 
 
 ^1 Bishop Sanderson's Collections, page 192. 
 
 '2 This is an unlocked for support to the arguments advanced in Chapter I., p. 8. 
 There is no doubt that, before the Marmions came, Scrivelsby was in the Soke of 
 Horncastle, but although the exact time of its extrusion is unknown, we find it 
 mentioned in later documents as forming part of the Wappentake of Gartree. 
 
 "So grave an accusation ought not to be brought without adequate evidence 
 to support it. It is evident that this ballad was composed by a partizan of the Frevilles, 
 and in opposition to the claim of the Dymokes to act as Champions. But it is monstrous 
 that for lack of better evidence it should suggest that John of Gaunt, the President of 
 the Court of Claims, was only able to decide in favour of Sir John D3'moke, by producing 
 a forged instrument, assigning the Championship to the Scrivelsby Manor by Knight 
 Serjeanty. If this were so, how comes it that before the investigation of the question by 
 
l8o APPENDIX. 
 
 the Court of Claims, the Black Prince gave so decided an opinion that the right 
 belonged to Sir John Dymoke ? And further, if John of Gaunt had perpetrated this 
 forgery for no other object than to benefit a neighbour, Bolingbroke being only a few 
 miles distant from Scrivelsby,"is it likely that he would have left the question open by 
 using the words salvo jure, i.e., without prejudice to any future claim that might be 
 advanced by the Frevilles, instead of at once closing it by giving a definite decision in 
 favour of the side which, by implication, he favoured ? 
 
 " See Harl. MSS. 66i. F 154. 
 
 15 It is highly probable — not to say certain — that John of Gaunt maintained his 
 son's contention that he -was rightful heir to the throne by blood, inasmuch as 
 he was descended, on the mother's side, from the eldest son of Henry III., Edmund, 
 who, by reason of some personal deformity, had been passed over in favour of his 
 younger brother, who became King on his father's death, with the title of Edward I. 
 However untenable this claim may have been at the time, its production in writing 
 cannot be called a forgery : and, after all, there was possibly more weight in the 
 contention than has been generally supposed. With regard to the whole question, which 
 forms the subject matter of the ballad, it may be worth while to examine in greater detail 
 • the arguments that have been brought forward to support it. The whole argument is 
 based on the forgery said to have been committed by the powerful John of Gaunt^ Duke 
 of Lancaster. In the first place it is said that " as the Duke of Lancaster's great baronial 
 possession of Bolingbroke was contiguous to the Manor of Scrivelsby, and as he had not 
 hesitated to forge an instrument to obtain the crown of England for his son, we may infer 
 that he would readily stretch a point to serve an old neighbour, especially if a valuable 
 consideration was connected with the obligation." Was ever so flimsy a pretext assigned 
 in support of a charge of forgery, and especially when brought against a nobleman in the 
 position of John of Gaunt ? The next argument is of a more serious character, but has 
 very little to do with the matter in hand. It is said that " in the Lincoln papers the 
 names of the Jurors sworn to make the returns relative to the scutage aid in the 
 I". Edward III., anno 1272, are, incredible as it may seem, the same as those stated to 
 have been returned for the inquisition of the same towns in Testa de Nevill, which, 
 according to the sub-commissioners of the public records, appear to have been compiled 
 near the close of the reign of Edward II., or the commencement of that of Edward III., 
 anno 1327, a circumstance so notorious, that one of the manuscripts must have been 
 falsified. For it is utterly impossible that the same Jurors could have been sworn in for 
 the same towns at a distance of time not less than fifty years." A palpable hit has here 
 been made, and it may be at once admitted that one or other of these documents has been 
 tampered with, but there is no evidence as to which of the two was falsified, nor that 
 John of Gaunt had any hand in either. Again it is said that "in Testa de Nevill, p. 331, 
 Philip Marmion held lands in Dalderby and Wilkesby, in the Wapentake of Horncastle, 
 de Domino Rege in capite deveteri feoffamento'' ; and at page 335, that "Robert Marmion 
 held, in the same Wapentake, in Scrivelsby, Thornton, Lincoln, Dalderby, Wilkesby, and 
 Holtham, septemdecim carucatas et dims bovatas sed nescimtis per quod servitimn." The 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 l8l 
 
 implication here, of course, is that at that time no record existed, which expressly stated 
 the particular tenure by which these lands were held, and that it was not till the forged 
 instrument was produced by John of Gaunt that anything was heard of Scrivelsby being 
 held by Knight Serjeanty. This is, undoubtedly, a fair argument to use, for it is clear 
 that much diflficulty was experienced in finding the original document which mentioned 
 the exact tenure on which the several estates of the Marmions were held. The whole 
 difficulty was caused by the dispersion of the Marmion estates upon the death of the 
 last baron without male issue. As long as these extensive possessions were vested in a 
 single family, there would be no need to enquire into the origin of the several privileges 
 which they carried with them. But the case was different when the fourfold division was 
 made on the death of Sir Philip Marmion in 1292. But although the evidence, as regards 
 Knight Serjeanty, is not so conclusive as might have been desired, there was at least a 
 well established tradition that Robert Dispensator received the Manor of Scrivelsby in 
 this way, and that it was deemed sufficient to justify the Court of Claims in assigning the 
 Championship to the Dymokes of Scrivelsby, rather than to the descendants of the 
 Marmions of Tamworth. In any case, the charge of forgery completely breaks down, and 
 we must be content to abide by the final award of the Court of Claims, which decided in 
 favour of Sir John Dymoke, '' by reason that he brought forward better evidence in 
 support of the right of office being adjudged to the Manor of Scrivelsby, than Freville 
 could adduce on behalf of his tenure of Tamworth Castle." 
 
1 82 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. l8. 
 THE IMMEDIATE SUCCESSOR OF ROBERT DISPENSATOR. 
 
 It is necessary to furnish some evidence in support of the statement 
 that the second Marmion in England was Roger and not Robert, as is 
 generally said by Dugdale and others who probably followed his lead 
 without enquiry. It is no slight support to this statement that Mr, 
 C. F. R. Palmer, O.P., who bestowed much attention on the subject a few 
 years ago, has satisfied himself upon the following grounds, that Robert 
 Dispensator was succeeded by his son Roger. 
 
 In the printed calendar of the Patent Rolls of Richard II. there 
 appears a Confirmation of certain donations to Polesworth Abbey in the 
 district of Tamworth Castle, made by a member of the Marmion family. 
 In this record there is per inspeximus the grant of Stephen confirming to 
 Robert Marmion all the land of Roger, his grandfather, and Robert, hi 
 father, according to the charter of Henry I. The Pipe Roll of 31 Henry I. 
 testifies that the latter Robert — i.e., the great grandfather of Roger — paid 
 relief in the year 1129, on inheriting the land of his father, and Stephen's 
 charter supplies the father's christian name which the Pipe Roll omits. 
 This Roger most exactly fits in with the Roger Marmion of Henry I.'s 
 time, who held extensive lands in Lincolnshire, as entered in the 
 contemporary list of crown tenants preserved amongst the Harleian 
 MSS. The Roger, who in the year 1107 joined in his mother's gift to 
 the Benedictine Abbey of Caen, as detailed in some Normandy deeds at 
 the Public Record Office, and the Roger, in the same reign, who was Lord 
 of Llanstephan Castle, on the authority of a MS. in the Lansdowne 
 collection, must have been one and the same person. Hence it appears 
 certain that Roger Marmion was not a mere " item " but the head of the 
 family at the time stated, in which case he is properl)- described as the son 
 and successor of Robert Dispensator. 
 
 If Roger died in the year 1129, as the Pipe Roll intimates, he cannot 
 have been the Rogier Marmion of the Conquest in 1066, whom Wace then 
 describes as an old man. 
 
 In the catalogue of the great military officers who accompanied 
 William the Conqueror, quoted in Stows Annals (p. 104) from Gwilliam 
 Tayleur, occur the names of Rogier Marmion and Le Dispenser. It is 
 
APPENDIX. 183 
 
 probable that by the titular description Le Dispenser is meant our Robert 
 Dispensator, and that the Rogier Marmion, mentioned amongst the great 
 barons, was his father, who died shortly after the battle of Hastings. 
 
 The known dates of the death of Robert Dispensator and of the 
 Robert Marmion whom we style "The Knave," favour the supposition 
 that the immediate successor of the former was Roger. " The Knave " 
 died in 1143 and Dispensator in 1107, so that ample room is left for the 
 son of the one and the father of the other to be in possession of the 
 family honours. If " The Knave " was the son of Robert Dispensator, as 
 is generally stated, he must have been upwards of 70 when he came to an 
 untimely end by falling a victim to his own knavish trick. It is far more 
 probable that he was in the prime of life at the time of Stephen's conflict 
 with Maud, and that he succeeded his father Roger about 1120. 
 
 This is not the only instance of a confusion that has been made 
 between the names of Robert and Roger Marmion. There is, according to 
 Banks, a document in the Cottonian Library, entitled Claudius, which 
 states that the following notice occurs in a Catalogue giving the names of 
 those persons who held lands per single hundreds or centuries, in the 
 County of Lincoln. " Rogerus Marmion inter Scrifleby et Torentura et 
 Ructuna, et Dalbi 17 C. et 2 B.* quas Rogerus ipse tenet. Inde in 
 Dominio 9 C. et 6 B. Ulnetus tenet &c." From the same MS. it also 
 appears that the said Roger held elsewhere other lands, which certain men, 
 whose names are given, held under him. The point to be noted is that 
 in the Cottonian MS. this Marmion is called Roger, whereas the more 
 authentic record, the Liber Niger of the Exchequer, calls him by the 
 name of Robert Marmyun. 
 
 * In primitive times, before the present system of land-measurement was adopted, a rough 
 estimate of the extent of a man's holding was arrived at by marking the average time occupied by 
 Oxen in ploughing it. At the time of the Domesday Survey, lands were described by Carucates 
 and Bovates, i.e., by the amount of land that could be ploughed in a year by a team of Oxen and a 
 single Ox respectively. There was, however, no fixed standard even for this rough mode of 
 estimating land-areas. Madox in his Baronia (p. 183, n.w.) says that octo bmatce faciunt unam 
 Caracutam, but as he does not tell us what was understood by a bovate we do not gain much from 
 his statement. There is, in fact, no established value either of a bovate or a Caracute, in consequence, 
 probably, of the variety of soils, which would make it impossible for oxen to plough with any kind 
 of uniformity, but, speaking generally, we may assume the average extent of a bovate to be 15, and 
 a Caracute 120 acres. A curious instance of this primitive system of measurement is given in 
 Homer (II. X. v.v. 351 — 353), where, what is termed a "mule's range, "representing the distance, 
 by which a team of nimble-footed mules would beat a team of lumbering oxen in ploughing, 
 appears to have been accepted as an established and recognized measure of distance. 
 
1 84 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 RECTORS OF SCRIVELSBY FROM 1246. 
 
 1246 [a°. II Grostete.j 
 
 Magister Luke de Waltham, presented by Philip Marmyun. 
 1262 [Gravesend] 
 
 Philip de Ganerey, subdeacon, by Sir Philip Marmyun, on death of 
 Magister Luke. 
 1270 [a°- XII. Gravesend] vii Kal : Maii 
 
 Philip de Ganereio subd. by the Bishop on presentation of Philip 
 Marmyun, ad commendam. 
 1270 Non : Julii. 
 
 Magister Donetus, de S. Quintin, subd : by Sir Philip Marmyun, 
 on death of Philip de Ganerey. 
 1290 XVI Kal : Ap : 
 
 Magister William Gemun Clerk, presented in minor orders by Sir 
 Philip Marmiun Kn'. on death of Magister Donetus. 
 1315 VI Id : Jun : 
 
 William de Cossale, priest, by Lady Johan de Ludelowe, Lady of 
 Scrivelsby, on resignation of William Gernoun. 
 
 1324 VI. Id : Jul : 
 
 John de Rocheford, by Sir Henry Hillary and Johan his wife, on 
 resignation of Dominus William Coshale (sic) 
 
 1325 VII. Id : Maii 
 
 John de ffylyngley by Sir Henry Illary (sic) Kn*. on resignation 
 of John, exchanged to Spene R. Samm Dioc : 
 1354 XII Kal : April : 
 
 John Soot of Leverton, priest, by John Dymmok Lord of Scrivelsby 
 on death of John Anney {perhaps a?i alias of the preceding 
 Rector) 
 1360 V Id : Oct : 
 
 Ralph de Schirburn, priest, by Sir John Dymmok Kn*. on resignation 
 
 of John Soote of Leverton — exchanged to Goxhill. 
 John de Hurley. 
 
 No record of this Institution can be traced at Lincoln, but it must 
 have taken place between 1360 and 1378. 
 
APPENDIX. 185 
 
 1378 Peter de Thirsk, x Kal : Jan : priest, by Sir John Dymmok, Kn*. 
 
 on death of Dominus John de Burley. 
 1 38 1 John de Croxby, priest, July 6, by Lady Margaret Dymmok on 
 
 resignation of Peter de Thirsk, exchanged to Claxby R. 
 1394 Magister Thomas de Welbourne, in legibus Licentiatus, by 
 
 Mai'garet Dymmok, Lady of Scrivelsby. {How vacant not 
 
 stated.) 
 1404 William Peek, Capellanus, by same, Dec : 12, on resignation of 
 
 Magister Thomas Welbourne — exchanged to Asfordby R. 
 141 1 John Grenacre, priest, April 24th, by Lady Margaret rehct of Sir 
 
 John Dymmok Kn*. and Lady of Scrivelsby on death of 
 
 Dom^ W. Peke. 
 141 1 Dominus William Spenser. 
 145 1 Dominus Richard Warner, Capellanus, by Lady Eliz*''. Dymoke, 
 
 relict of Sir Thomas Dymoke, Kn*. on resignation of Will". 
 
 Spenser. 
 1454 Dominus Robert Burght, [sic) Capellanus, by Thomas Demok of 
 
 Skrewylby [sic) gentilman — on resignation of Rich : Warner. 
 1467 Dominus Thomas Morpath, alias Sharparrow, priest, by Sir Thomas 
 
 Dymoke, Kn*. on deprivation of Dominus Robert Borow {sic) 
 1472 Magister John Croxby, B.D., by Robert Radclyf, Esq^ on death of 
 
 Dominus Thomas Sharparrow. 
 151 7 Magister Richard Sothyde, M.A., by Sir Rob*. Dymoke, Kn*. on 
 
 resignat". of Croxby 
 Thomas Bromfield. 
 
 No date given of this Institution, but y"= first pages in y^ oldest 
 Parish Register are signed by Tho : Bromfield fi-om 1566 
 to is8o 
 1584 Thomas Man, clerk, by Sir Edmund Dymoke, Kn*. on death of 
 
 D^ Tho^ Bromefeld 
 John Haughton 
 
 Signs old Registers fi-om 1591 to 1614. Buried at Scrivelsby. 
 
 1615 John Dixon, M.A., on death of John Haughton. 
 Buried at Scrivelsby. 
 
 1643 Gabriel Oflfley, M.A., by y^ Bishop Feb. 5. 
 Name does not appear in Register. 
 Y 
 
1 86 APPENDIX. 
 
 1643 John Warren, clerk, June 1 1, by Charles Dymock, of Scrivelsby, Esq'. 
 
 1660 Thomas Booker, clerk, by Edward Dymoke Esq. 
 
 Thomas Booker signs y^ old Register Book as Rector in 1669 and is 
 buried as Rector in 1704 while y^ signature of Wm. W ood 
 Rector, appears in 1671. 
 John Whelpdale. 
 
 No record of date of institution at Lincoln. The Rev. J. Whelpdale, 
 Rector, was buried at Scrivelsby in 1730 but no other mention of 
 the name occurs in the Parish Register. Wm. Wood's name 
 does not appear in the Registry at Lincoln but he signs the 
 Scrivelsby Register once in 1671 and his burial is recorded as 
 Rector in 1672. 
 
 1 73 1 William Bowes, A.B., Aug. 3 1, by Lewis Dymoke, of Scrivelsby, Esq''. 
 Buried at Scrivelsby in 1751 
 
 1 75 1 John Brownell, clerk, by Hon : Lewis Dymoke, Esq'., on death of 
 William Bowes. 
 
 Buried at Scrivelsby in 1764. It was either in this Incumbency, or 
 more probably in the time of his predecessor, that Dalderby 
 was consolidated with Scrivelsby in 1741. 
 
 1 764 John Tucker, Oct : 26, by John Dymoke, Esq. on death of preceding 
 
 Rector Brownell. 
 
 Mr. Tucker's name only appears once in the Parish Register, when 
 he signs as Rector in 1764. 
 
 1777 John Warner, D.D., by John Dymoke, Esq. on death of Tucker. 
 
 This name does not occur in the Parish Registers, but it appears 
 from the record at Lincoln that Dr. Warner was institued on 
 4th Aug. 1777 and the Rev. Jonathan Robinson on loth Novr. 
 in the same year. 
 
 1777 Jonathan Robinson, M.A., loth Nov'., by John Dymoke, of 
 Hoddesden, Esq. on cession of John Warner. 
 
 Mr. J. Robinson was Rector of Kirkby on Baine and appears to have 
 had charge of the parish first as Curate and subsequently as 
 Rector from 1767 to 1788. He probably held the living under 
 a bond of resignation in favour of J. Dymoke. 
 
 1 788 John Dymoke, B.A., April 25, by Lewis Dymoke, Esq', on resignation 
 of Robinson. 
 
 He appears to have been re-instituted 1789 and 1795 on his own 
 cession. He was the father of his successor J. Dymoke. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 187 
 
 1829 John Dymoke, B.A., March 15, by Henry Dymoke of Scrivelsby 
 Court, Esq'', on the death of John Dymoke. 
 
 He died of cholera and was cremated the same day at Florence, 
 6 years after his resignation of the Rectory. 
 
 1867 Samuel Lodge, M.A., by the Hon : and Rev : John Dymoke, 
 hereditary Champion and late Rector of Scrivelsby on 
 resignat". of said J. D}'moke. 
 
1 88 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEDURE AT THE COURT OF 
 CLAIMS, &c., PREVIOUS TO AND AT THE CORONATION 
 
 OF GEORGE III. 
 
 The following is given in the exact words of Champion John Dymoke. 
 
 " As soon as the Court of Claims was established, I proposed mine 
 immediately, and exhibited it the first Court day, when it was read, and 
 the second Court day it was read again, and allowed, and my certificate 
 signed. 
 
 The Master of the Rolls was petitioned by my Attorney in my behalf 
 to permit the Rolls to be brought into Court, to shew it was no new claim. 
 
 A day or two after the certificate was signed, I carried it to the 
 Wardrobe, and there left it (having taken copies), that they might order the 
 Banners and the Saddlery. I carried there with me an emblazoning of 
 my own single arms, crest, and motto, that they might be painted on the 
 Trumpet Banners. 
 
 I, on day after, went to the Tower (having first given notice thereof 
 to the Armourer and Secretary of the Ordnance), with a copy of my 
 certificate, to claim the Armour, Pistols, Sword, Lance, and Target. I 
 tried on the Armour I fixed upon. The Secretary told me the composition 
 last time was £60, and would have compounded with me for the same, 
 but I refused talking of it, as after I had wore it, it became my property, 
 as much as my estate, and I intended demanding more. I carried to the 
 Tower with me the emblazoning of my own single arms (tho' married), 
 crest, and motto, to be depicted on the target. 
 
 I then had an interview with the Master of the Horse, the Duke of 
 Rutland, when the Duke said he would compound the horse for 100 
 guineas, but to keep up the form of the claim, and to secure payment of 
 the money by not having forgot to claim, a day was set, and I went in the 
 Master of the Horse's Coach to the King's Meuse {sic), w^here I laid my 
 hand upon the best white horse in the stable, saying ' this horse I chuse to 
 do my service upon ;' having compounded with His Grace for ;^io5, or 
 accepted the promise of payment in lieu of the horse. I took leave of His 
 
APPENDIX. 189 
 
 Grace in the Meuse at his departure, and as soon as he was gone, my 
 chariott drove up and carried me away.* 
 
 After that I received a letter from the Board of Ordnance, desiring my 
 attendance. I went. It was then required of me, if I would accept of 
 ;^6o as a composition for or in lieu of the armour, &c. I believe from 
 thence they would have proceeded to have got me to sign a promise to 
 return it ! a thing nothing should have obliged me to have done, as that 
 ever would have been a precedent to render the claim of the armour 
 nominal, as the Board for the future would have made every succeeding 
 Champion act the same, and have given what composition they pleased, 
 and if that promise or receipt had been given, they might have insisted on 
 the armour as soon as used and been ad libitum about the payment of the 
 stipulated sum. (I earnestly recommend it to all my successors to avoid 
 this, and be as cautious as they possibly can, when they have to do with 
 the Ordnance.) This being a thing unprecedented, I replied that it was an 
 affair which required deliberation, and that the Court of Claims had 
 allowed my Certificate, which expressly ordered me one of the best suits 
 of armour, and such a one as the King would wear when he went into 
 mortal battle. This, with the other perquisites, were mine as much as my 
 estate, as soon as the coronation was over, for service performed, and not 
 
 * See page 113, where attention is drawn in a foot-note to the absence of this horse from the 
 Scrivelsby Stables, and a suggestion is made as to the probability of a composition being offered 
 and accepted. This note was printed before the author had seen the interesting extract from the 
 diary of Champion John Dymoke. The horse that carried George II. at Dettingen in 1743 must 
 have been at least twenty-two years old at the time of the coronation of George III. in 1761, and 
 must then have been tolerably safe for the Champion's performance in Westminster Hall, although 
 it is well-known that in the days of his fiery youth he was not always to be depended on for sobriety 
 of conduct. On the contrary, he was, during the battle of Dettingen, so oblivious of the precious 
 burden he was carrying, that, being frightened at a sudden and unauthorized dash of Grammont's 
 cavalry, he became unmanageable, and was carrying the poor little king into the very heart of the 
 enemy's position, when he was stopped in time, and the king, dismounting from his panting 
 steed, encouraged his men by telling them that now he could not run away, even if he would. 
 " No more running away now," he shouted, " steady, my boys : fire, my brave boys : the French 
 will soon run," and with a rapid rush of infantry he drove back Grammont's horse at the point of 
 the bayonet, winning the battle, which is chiefly interesting as being the last battle at which an 
 English King fought in person, with the cold steel. Some few years ago, there was at Scrivelsby 
 Court an interesting relic of this old horse in the shape of a white tail with a parchment scroll 
 attached, stating that it was the tail of the horse that carried George II. at Dettingen ; but, 
 unfortunately, it cannot now be found. 
 
I go 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 like any other fees payable on this occasion. Being asked if I would 
 compound when the coronation was over, I told them I would give an 
 answer to that when it was over, and further I beg'd to be excused. The 
 Board told me they perceived I was delicate for the rights and honour of 
 my family, and applauded me for it. They would report it, and I should 
 hear further. They took an extract of the copy of my certificate, which 
 they returned, so before I left the room they acknowledged the armour, 
 &c., to be my property, and said the minutes of their records corroborated 
 it. I then took my leave and came away. 
 
 Upon this unprecedented behaviour from the Board of Ordnance, and 
 assisted by Lord Talbot and Lord Litchfield, &c., I determined to present 
 a Petition to His Majesty for my armour, &c. Accordingly I drew up a 
 Petition and having had it well wrote over, I presented it, on my bended 
 knee, to the King, open, after he retired from the circle, as he went into 
 his private apartments. 
 
 After some days. His Majesty ordered me one of the best suits of 
 armour. The armourer interpreted this as they pleased, and gave me an old 
 suit, but it being only three days before the coronation when it was 
 signified to me by the Board that upon my ordering the Armour, Target, 
 Lance, Sword, &c., to be delivered under my hand, it should be done. 
 Accordingly I wrote an order of delivery to my servant, who carried it, and 
 with this verbal reserve to the Armourer, that he should keep it till the 
 coronation day and wait on me with it, when so ordered. 
 
 Upon a rehearsal of the Candles in Westminster Hall, the Friday 
 preceding the coronation, I ordered the Horse and Armour only down, 
 which I tried that night in the hall. The Armourer brought only the 
 Armour, without Target, Lance, or Sword, in a hackney coach. I ordered 
 the Armour only on the Monday morning preceding the coronation, which 
 was brought again in a hackney coach to the Riding School in Tyburn Road, 
 where my horse stood, and where I learnt to ride. I rode three-quarters 
 of an hour in my Armour. 
 
 On the day of the coronation, a Sergeant's Guard of Sir Robt. Rich's 
 Dragoons came at seven o'clock and escorted me down, when I purposed 
 going into my Booth or Stables, but it was not half built, no floor in it, 
 but a perfect hogsty, owing to the drunkenness of the workmen. It being 
 impossible to go into this half built edifice, I, with my Gentlemen, who 
 
APPENDIX. 191 
 
 were with me and I had invited to the Booth with me, went into the Hall, 
 where we staid till the procession went to the Abbey, and we all followed 
 it on the platform, having procured a ticket from the Earl Marshall for me 
 and my attendance {sic) to pass and repass. 
 
 My horse and accoutrements were sent to the Meuse the night before 
 the coronation, to be brought down with the High Constable's Earl 
 Marshall High Steward to the stables or Booth, which was done by twelve 
 o'clock. 
 
 The dress of the Esquires, in honour of the young King and his late 
 marriage, were white cloth — neatly made — with a broad open silver lace, 
 the hats were laced with the same and white ostrich feathers round each ; 
 my four pages (being my footmen) had creamed coloured coats, lined with 
 blue, and blue-coloured cloth waistcoat, handsomely laced with a brown 
 single silver lace, and breeches like the coat (in honour of the King and 
 Queen) instead of their usual Liveries, which was generally laced with 
 narrow silver instead of worsted, and hats with the same lace round them, 
 as on the coat, &c., white silk stockings, and bags. They had no shoulder 
 knots on, being Pages, but the next day, when I went to Court, I had 
 three of them behind my coach, both they and the Coachman had then 
 their silver shoulder knots on. 
 
 I went to the coronation in my dress I was to ride in, (fearing the 
 place should not be ready to receive me) and my coat over it, with a sword 
 on it, being crimson satin quilted jacket and breeches, and white worsted 
 stockings on, both which were to prevent the pressure and damp of the 
 armour. 
 
 Being dressed just before the second course went in (as I took care to 
 have notice from the Hall when it was proper to dress) the Knight 
 Marshall came for me. With him I entered the Hall, carrying my right- 
 hand gauntlet in my right hand, with the fingers towards the horse's head 
 (left-hand gauntlett being on my hand) and a little beyond the entrance, 
 the challenge was made, at the end of which I flung the gauntlett on the 
 ground, on the right side of me, a little beyond the horse, with as much 
 force as the armour would allow just then my most uplifted arm and hand 
 to throw it. I immediately clapped my hand to my side in token of 
 defiance, and remained in that attitude till the gauntlett was taken up and 
 returned me by the Herald. In the middle of the Hall was repeated the 
 
192 APPENDIX. 
 
 same, only with this difference, that after the challenge, instead of raising 
 my arm as high as the armour would admit to throw the gauntlett forcibly 
 on the ground, I this second time did throw it ascant, expressing thereby a 
 contempt of any one who should dare take it up. We proceeded to the 
 top of the Hall, and at the foot of the steps the challenge was read a third 
 time, at the end of which I threw the gauntlett down, as at first, then, 
 putting my hand on my hip (a kimbo) I turned my face and head to the 
 right and left — bidding as it were defiance. After the gauntlett had lain 
 some time, it was the third time delivered to me, which I then put on, and 
 as soon as on, I touched the forehead of my helmet, with a small bend of 
 the head three times, to pay my obeisance to His Majesty, first on the left 
 side of my horse, then to the Queen on the right side, then to the King 
 again, in token that I had finished the service : after which the King drank 
 to me and I made obeisance as before to him only once : the cup was 
 brought to me, and with the most audible voice I was master of, I drank 
 after pronouncing these words, ' Long live their Majesties.' 
 
 Having drank my liquor (keeping the cup in my hand) I turned my 
 horse on his shoulders round to the right, and rode down the hall, waving 
 my cap a little, that it might be seen. I delivered the cup to one of my 
 Esquires, when out of the hall, and as soon as I was undressed, I got into 
 my coach, and returned in the manner I came to the Hall in the morning, 
 the guard attending me home. My friends, being in another coach, were 
 before my coach within the first escort of the guards, and behind mine 
 came the second." 
 
 JOHN DYMOKE, 
 
 September i^th, 1761. 
 
INDEX.-D^ 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Agricultural Depression 
 
 Ague no longer prevalent in Lincolnshire 
 
 Anecdotes 
 
 Marehara supra montctn 
 
 William the Conqueror and his dapifer 
 
 Knavish trick of Sir Robert Marmion 
 
 The Dragon of Sockburn 
 
 Quarrel for Precedence . 
 
 The Tottering Champion 
 
 Cock and Bull Story 
 
 The Reverend Mrs. D. 
 
 The "Rather" Reverend R. D. 
 Architecture of Church 
 
 Arched Gateway .... 
 
 Armour and Armoury . 
 Autograph Letter from Henry VIIL . 
 „ Queen Mary . 
 
 Autumn Tints ..... 
 Avenues in Park 
 
 Baronetage conferred on Sir Henry Dymoke 
 Battle of Lose-coat Field 
 Bovate, extent of 
 Brass in Horncastle Church 
 „ Scrivelsby Church 
 Break in the Succession to the Championship 
 Canting Mottoes 
 Caput Baroniae .... 
 Champion, The, at Westminster Hall . 
 "Champion's Farewell," The, by Tom Hood 
 Chancel, The 
 
 Christian Names, same in same family 
 Church, Description of . 
 Church Plantation, The 
 Churchyard Cross to H. L. Dymoke 
 Civil War, The . 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1 5-, 79 
 
 13 
 
 17 
 27 
 
 36 
 
 50 
 83,84 
 
 88 
 
 91 
 
 117 
 
 117 
 
 124-126 
 
 120 
 
 121 
 
 155 
 
 156, 157 
 
 18 
 
 119 
 
 95 
 
 55 
 
 183 
 
 150 
 
 58, 127, 152-154 
 86, 94, 102 
 
 45 
 
 40 
 
 22-24 
 
 115, 167 
 
 124 
 
 29, 90 
 
 123-130 
 
 123, 124 
 
 130 
 
 80-92 
 
196 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Claim to Barony of Marmion . 
 
 Coniers of Durham 
 
 Co-heiresses of Sir Philip Marmion 
 
 Coincidences .... 
 
 Cooper, or Cowper, Bishop of Lincoln 
 
 Coronations 
 
 Richard II. 
 
 James I. . 
 
 Charles I. 
 
 Charles II. 
 
 James II. 
 
 William and Mary- 
 Queen Anne 
 
 Queens regnant 
 
 Queens de jure 
 
 George III. 
 
 George IV. 
 
 William IV. 
 
 Victoria 
 Court of Claims . 
 Courtesy-title of Champion 
 Death of Robert Dymoke in Lincoln Castle 
 Descent from Sir Philip Marmion 
 Despenser not derived from Dispensator 
 Dettingen, George II. at 
 Drainage of Fens 
 Duke of Norfolk in time of Queen Elizabeth 
 Dymoke 
 
 Derivation of Name 
 
 Origin 
 
 Lady Margaret (de Ludlow) 
 
 Sir John . 
 
 Sir Thomas (1) 
 
 Sir Philip . 
 
 Sir Thomas (2) 
 
 Lionel 
 
 Sir Robert (i) 
 
 Sir Edward (l) 
 
 Robert 
 
 Sir Edward (2) 
 
 Charles 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 96 
 
 50 
 40 
 
 no 
 
 76 
 
 22, 25, 26 
 
 83 
 
 85 
 
 22-24 
 
 88 
 
 90 
 
 90 
 
 90,91 
 
 90,91 
 
 94 
 
 95 
 
 115, 116 
 
 21 
 
 21, 26-28 
 
 40, 116 
 
 78 
 
 149 
 
 34, 35 
 
 113,189 
 
 14 
 
 76 
 
 I 
 43 
 
 41, 47, 48, 49 
 45-48 
 49 
 50 
 52-55 
 56 
 56-59 
 62,69, 70 
 72-78 
 83 
 
INDEX. 
 
 197 
 
 Dymoke 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Sir Edwai-d (3) . 
 
 . 87, 88, 102 
 
 Sir Charles 
 
 88 
 
 Lewis (i) 
 
 93, 104, 129 
 
 (Scrivelsby Branch) 
 
 
 Edward 
 
 94 
 94 
 
 John (i) . 
 
 Lewis (2) . 
 
 94 
 
 Rev. John (1) . 
 
 95 
 
 Sir Henry- 
 
 95-97 
 
 Rev. John (2) . 
 
 97 
 
 Henry Lionel 
 
 97 
 
 (Tetford Branch) 
 
 
 Edward, Junior ... 
 
 102 
 
 John (i) . 
 
 102 
 
 John (2) . . 
 
 103 
 
 John (3) . 
 
 103 
 
 Thomas . .... 
 
 103 
 
 John (4) . . . 
 
 103 
 
 Francis Seaman ..... 
 
 104, 149 
 
 Early Coronations . . . 
 
 25 
 
 Elegy by Henry Winn . 
 
 168 
 
 Epigram by Henry Pollexfen . 
 
 33 
 
 Execution of Sir Thomas Dymoke 
 
 54 
 
 Extract from Register of Dymoke entries 
 
 162-164 
 
 Family Portraits ...... 
 
 121 
 
 Fens and Marshes .... 
 
 14 
 
 Feudal System ...... 
 
 31-33 
 
 Fine, Heavy, on Sir E. Dymoke 
 
 87 
 
 Freville, Sir Baldwin ..... 
 
 • 26, 45-47, 174, 175 
 
 Gardener's Cottage 
 
 4 
 
 Gateway, Arched 
 
 120 
 
 Genealogical Tables 
 
 
 I. Direct Descent from Sir Philip Marmion . 
 
 149 
 
 2. From Sir Philip Marmion to present time 
 
 172, 173 
 
 Gold Cups ...... 
 
 27, 28, III, 113 
 
 Goodrich, John 
 
 56 
 
 Grand Serjeanty . 
 
 30, 33. 174, 175, 179. 180, 181 
 
 Healthiness of Lincolnshire 
 
 13 
 
 Heneage, S'lr George 
 
 83, 84 
 
 Henrietta Maria . 
 
 85 
 
 Heywood, Elizabeth .... 
 
 86 
 
198 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hillary, Sir Henry- 
 Hood, Tom - . 
 Imperious Dame, The . 
 Imprisonment of Robert Dymoke 
 James I. . 
 Knight Serjeanty 
 Legacy to Charles I. 
 Leland's Description of the Old House 
 Lincolnshire, Description of 
 Lincolnshire Insurrection 
 Lion Gateway 
 List of Acting Champions 
 Dymoke Registers 
 Rectors of Scrivelsby . 
 Manners, Richard 
 Martyr Champion, The 
 Marmions 
 
 Origin and Early History 
 
 Robert Dispensator 
 
 Sir Roger 
 
 Sir Robert, the Knave 
 
 Sir Robert, the Judge 
 
 Sir Robert, the elder 
 
 Sir Philip. 
 Maze of Cousinhood 
 Monson, Sir John 
 Monuments in Scrivelsby Church 
 Mottoes, Canting 
 
 Mutilated Ceremony at the Coronation of James I. 
 Old House, Leland's description of 
 Old Ballad 
 
 Orders by Mrs. Jane Dymoke . 
 Parish Registers . 
 
 Patriarchal Government of the Marmions 
 Pecuniary Embarrassments 
 PoUexfen, Henry, Epigram by 
 Quarrel for Precedence . 
 Rebus on Lion Gate 
 Rectors of Scrivelsby from 1246 
 Reformation in England 
 St. Benedict ... 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 41,42 
 
 115, 167 
 
 49 
 
 77 
 
 81-82 
 
 33 
 86 
 
 57 
 12-19 
 
 63 
 
 4, 45 
 
 165 
 
 162-164 
 
 184-187 
 
 58 
 
 72-78 
 
 29-42 
 
 30-35 
 
 35, 182, 183 
 
 36, 183 
 
 37,38 
 
 38, 39 
 
 40 
 
 102 
 
 83,84 
 
 126-130 
 
 45 
 
 83 
 
 57 
 
 147, 148 
 
 158-160 
 
 131-144 
 
 6 
 
 78, 81 
 
 33 
 
 83,84 
 
 45 
 
 184-187 
 
 73 
 125 
 
INDEX. 
 
 199 
 
 Scrivelsby 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Description of Village . 
 
 2-4, 9, 10 
 
 Branch of Dymoke Family 
 
 94-98 
 
 Church . . . . 
 
 123-130 
 
 Court . - . 
 
 118-122 
 
 Park .' . 
 
 118 
 
 Serjeanty, Grand and Petty 
 
 33 
 
 Skipworth, Sir W. 
 
 56 
 
 Soke of Horncastle 
 
 7-8 
 
 Stocks, The 
 
 7 
 
 Table Monument in Scrivelsby Church 
 
 58-61, 152-154 
 
 Tail Male 
 
 87, 106 
 
 Totemism . . . . 
 
 44 
 
 Tottering Champion, The 
 
 88 
 
 Vernon, Sir R. . 
 
 58 
 
 Verses on Coronation of George II. . 
 
 III 
 
 Waterton Sir Robert 
 
 ' . 56 
 
 Wars of the Roses 
 
 53-55 
 
 Welles Dymoke 
 
 . 95, 105, io6 
 
 Welles, Lord . . . . 
 
 55 
 
 Welles, Sir R. . . 
 
 55 
 
 Welles, Lionel Lord .... 
 
 56 
 
 Welles, Rev. T. .... 
 
 103, 105, 106 
 
 Will of Henry Lionel Dymoke 
 
 104 
 
 William of Malmesbury, on the Fens. 
 
 15 
 
 Zenith of Dymoke Family 
 
 78 
 
 ■^-^(S^XgXi 
 
 ^i-THE END.-i^ 
 
 •NSXKS*^ 
 
ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA. 
 
 Pages II and 53, to the English versions from Horace append the name of the translator, 
 Theodore Martin. 
 
 Page 26, last line, for Collin's read CoUins's. 
 
 „ 28, foot note, for Bank's read Banks's. 
 
 „ 125, foot note, for Alphage read Alphege. 
 
 „ 129, line 20, for reading desk read screen. 
 
 „ 176, second stanza, /)y Frenchman ?-««rf Frenchmen ; and^/- Maritcn ^^nrfMarmiton. 
 
 ,, 179; foot note, for Wappentake ^-^orf Wapentake. 
 
 „ 150, foot note, for propiecitur read propicietur. 
 
 „ 151, line 13, for habitation read exaltation.